Guardian's Rise

by Matthew Renard

  I slowed down, and let a tentacle wrap itself around me. ‘Sometimes, Sami, I really hate being right.’

  ‘Information logged.’

  The monster lowered me slowly, deliberately, back down to the ground. I thought about fighting against it, but it seemed pointless - a literal waste of energy. Since the tentacle was wrapped around my upper body and arms, I couldn’t control my Flame Foil, so I retracted it, but I could still generate fireballs. Sending a silent thank you to the crazed man who chopped my hand off, I twitched my fingers and thumb furiously, trying to generate enough kinetic energy to produce a fireball big enough to cook the Gatekeeper.

  Slowly I came down, and I saw Pukalski, surrounded by cultists. She was on her knees, beaten and bloody, but defiantly glaring at them until she saw me. Her face turned to worry, and I wished I could have signalled to her what I had planned. She struggled against the cultists, and I thought I heard one of them say, ‘You’re next.’

  I hope he’s wrong.

  Slowly still, I was pulled down to earth, and at last my feet pressed against the ground; then my knees as it pushed me against the dirt, forcing me into a position where I couldn’t jump up and escape, even if I wanted to. I looked towards the body of the beast, and saw a giant, gaping maw, surrounded by circles of shiny white teeth, dripping with saliva. Behind the opening, a pink tongue quivered and pulsed, surrounded by the pink wetness of the throat beyond. A juddering mass hung towards the back.

  ‘What the hell is that?’

  ‘It would appear to be the creature’s uvula.’

  ‘The what?’

  ‘Tonsil.’

  ‘Oh.’ A thought struck me. ‘Think it would hate being hit there?’

  ‘Most likely.’ Sami agreed, sounding more bloodthirsty than I would have necessarily liked. ‘However, wait until we are closer.’

  ‘Why? I could hit it now.’

  ‘Unlikely.’ She chided. ‘You have only been successful in 34% of your strikes with the fireballs.’

  ‘It’s new and I haven’t practised.’ I complained. ‘I didn’t realise you were keeping score of my K/D ratio.’

  ‘Again, I am uncertain as to your reference. Please wait until the last possible second to attempt a strike.’

  The mouth seemed to grow as the creature pulled me closer. ‘Define last possible second.’

  ‘Ideally, wait until we have passed the teeth.’

  ‘What if it bites down in pain?’ I complained. ‘Can the force field survive that?’

  ‘Unknown. I have never been bitten by a monster before.’

  ‘Me either, and I want to avoid it.’

  ‘Fine.’ She relented. ‘But wait until you are certain of a shot.’

  I was nearly to the opening, now. The breath of the beast stunk of hot, foul meat, and dirt. I shuddered as I took each breath in and flexed my fingers faster.

  ‘Your hand is at full charge.’ Sami noted. ‘Continuing to manipulate your digits at this point will not assist in any way.’

  ‘It makes me feel better.’ I grumbled.

  There was a pause. ‘Understood.’

  The teeth were almost right in front of my eyes.

  ‘Okay, Sami. Get ready. I’m throwing in three...’

  The back of the throat dilated and tensed.

  ‘Two...’

  The rumbling grew louder around me, and the tonsil seemed to shake in anticipation.

  ‘One...’

  The tongue reached out and stroked my chest, trying to get a taste for me. The throat dilated again, giving me a look into the inner workings of the monster that held me tight.

  I threw the fireball as hard as I could and watched as it sailed into the mouth...

  Into the mouth, and past the tonsil.

  Down into the throat and body of the creature.

  With another shriek of unremitting torture, the thing flung me back, letting go. I flew backwards, continuing my trajectory into the air, as it writhed and screamed in agony. It pulled itself back, and with a mighty crash and final wail, disappeared once more into the dark, seemingly bottomless pit below.

  I watched as it vanished. ‘How was that, Sami? Is your bloodthirst satisfied?’

  ‘Scanning... it is unknown if the Gatekeeper has survived.’

  ‘Well, if it’s not dead, it certainly isn’t happy.’ I reflected. ‘And we can come back if needed and try again. We know how to hurt it, now.’

  ‘Confirmed.’ She sounded happier. ‘We should attend to the officer and assist if needed.’

  ‘Yeah.’ I turned, descending towards the crowd. ‘Although, it doesn’t look like she needs the help.’

  I looked down over the crowd. Pukalski was glaring at the subdued cultist she had somehow managed to handcuff. Landing next to her, I nodded, and she looked up at me.

  ‘I know they say clothes make the man, but you seem taller.’

  ‘I get that a lot.’ I nodded, then gestured towards the prisoner. ‘How did you bind him?’

  ‘He had a tie on.’ She shrugged. ‘You learn to make do.’

  I smiled appreciatively. ‘Want me to take him to the station for you?’

  ‘No, he also had this on him.’ She held up a hand - a gleaming Borleath phone was in her grip. ‘I called this in when you were busy throwing fire at that... whatever it was.’

  ‘It was the Gatekeeper!’ The tied-up cultist warbled. ‘The Gatekeeper to the Gates of Disorder!’

  ‘Yeah, yeah. So you said.’ Pukalski patted him on his head. ‘Look, there’s going to be a chopper coming in for me, and this guy.’ She nudged her prisoner none too gently. ‘You’ll need to make a formal statement as part of the arrest, since you’re deputised and all.’

  I nodded. ‘I’ll make my own way there.’

  ‘Oh. I didn’t get your name.’

  ‘It’s... Knight. Jasper Knight.’

  She pursed her lips together, and I could tell she didn’t believe me. ‘Okay. See you at the station. Mr Knight.’ She raised an eyebrow, and I flew up, to avoid her accusatory stare.

  I flew around for a while; in part, because I needed time to clear my head. Another part was because I honestly didn’t know where I needed to be headed. Sami had shown me that there were a lot of police stations nearby, and I didn’t want to look stupid by visiting the wrong one. I hung back, and let Sami monitor the air-traffic until I knew where the police helicopter was going. I decided against giving it an escort and flying side by side with it, because I thought it would look dumb - instead, I kept my distance, and landed shortly after Pukalski had removed the cultist and brought him through a door on the roof and out of sight. Touching down, I nodded to the pilot, and tried to casually hurry after Janine. Of course, since I didn’t know where I was going, I got lost repeatedly, and to the amusement of the officers I ran into, had to stop and ask directions, before I made it to her, several minutes after I thought I would.

  ‘So!’ She said, sat at her desk, typing away at her computer and not looking at me. ‘It turns out your name actually is Jasper Knight. And here I thought you were full of sh-’

  ‘Pukalski.’ I interrupted through the costume, sitting down opposite her. ‘Janine.’ I tried, quieter. ‘Why would you doubt me?’

  She looked at me, and the hint of a mischievous smile lit her face. ‘Because you look an awful lot like the Anson guy.’

  ‘Oh?’ I froze, to not give anything away.

  ‘Yeah. And he’s British, too.’

  ‘Huh.’

  ‘Yeah.’ She continued. ‘Of course, that would mean that he falsified information on a government form, which could prove to be problematic for him, as well as his Foundation.’ She leaned back, studying me. ‘So it’s a good thing you’re not him.’

  ‘A good thing.’ I echoed, looking at her.

  Then she winked. ‘So. Mr Knight. Shall we go see what our friend has to say for himself?’

  ‘I’m not talking.’

  Pukalski sighed, and leaned forwards over the table.
‘Look, Frank.’

  ‘I’m not talking.’

  ‘I get that, and I completely respect it.’ She sat back and jerked her thumb over her right shoulder. ‘The problem is, Frank, that my partner here doesn’t.’

  It took me a moment to realise she was referring to me.

  I was leaning back in the corner of the room, watching everything. I knew nothing about suspect interrogations beyond what I’d seen in movies, and I guessed nothing I had seen would work in real life.

  ‘So, Frank,’ Janine continued, ‘you can refuse to talk to me. You can refuse to talk to my boss. But can you really refuse to talk to the guy who made barbecue out of your pet monster?’

  Still silent, I took this as a cue to raise my right hand and ignite a fireball, which I let sit in my hand before it burnt out, slowly. I turned my head so that Frank could see he had my undivided attention.

  ‘You... you can’t!’ He stammered.

  ‘Yeah. I can’t.’ She agreed genially. ‘However, the War Act says that anybody in possession of Danti biochemical weapons can be treated as a hostile enemy force by Powered Individuals. Like my partner here.’

  Don’t wave, don’t wave, don’t wave…

  ‘And, let’s be honest here, Frank. I saw the animals in the woods. They’re Gnarlers. And since animals weren’t infected by the chemical attack the Danti did, that means you found a way to make them. And I bet your monster thing is one too, somehow.’ I could see her glare in the wall-to-wall mirror. ‘So, spill. Or I’ll ask my partner here to stop playing nice.’

  Frank stared at me. I looked back at him, and since he couldn’t see my eyes, he must have assumed I was staring back. After a few seconds of this, he slumped in the chair. ‘Okay. What do you want to know?’

  ‘So AwaTen have been draining the kinetic energy of their clients?’

  I nodded. It was finally the morning of the 1st of January, and after a long and tiring night I was back in my office, with Doctor McMannus sat opposite me sipping on a coffee. For my part, I was working through a chocolate milkshake that I’d made in Sammy’s office and snuck over, whilst he was still crashed out on his couch. ‘Yeah. It looks like the WalkWidgets upload the stored energy somehow, giving users an endorphin high to make them addicted to getting as many APPs as possible, and the AwaTen Cult were using the siphoned off energy to reanimate a Danti monster they’d found in Tarkenden.’

  He peered at me from over his glasses. ‘Danti... monster?’

  I nodded. ‘It looks like some sort of biological WMD. It was... massive. The size of a building, easily.’

  ‘And you took it down.’

  ‘Well, I don’t know if I killed it.’ I mused, swirling my milkshake around the crystal glass. ‘But I sent it back and I think it’ll think twice before coming back out.’

  McMannus was peering sadly at his WalkWidget. ‘You know, I was really enjoying this. I thought I was getting in better shape. It turns out I was merely fuelling a creature that could have eaten the city.’

  ‘It was a real destroyer of worlds type.’ I agreed, setting the glass down. ‘But there’s no reason you can’t still enjoy it. The cult’s been disbanded, and although Dakari escaped it’s only a matter of time before we find him.’

  ‘We?’

  ‘Yeah, Janine and I. Officer Pukalski.’ I amended. ‘She’s going to look for him, and I’m going to come help take him down when the time comes. He’s sick, Doc...tor.’ I finished, catching the expression on his face. ‘He thought he could transcend his body by being eaten by the monster. By “casting off the new flesh”. I think he thought he was worshipping some Lovecraftian Elder God type creature.’

  ‘And not a run of the mill alien monster.’

  I grinned at him. ‘Something like that, yeah, I guess.’ I sighed. ‘So, what about Sammy?’

  ‘What about him?’

  ‘Well, I was hoping that injuring or killing the creature would... reverse the effects and make him better.’

  McMannus stared at me for long seconds. ‘I see.’ He said finally. ‘Young man, take that... is that crystal?’

  ‘It is.’

  ‘Good. Take that crystal tumbler there and throw your drink out of the window.’

  I looked at him, not understanding, but he smiled and nodded encouragingly. ‘Go on. It’s relevant, I assure you.’

  Looking at him suspiciously, I turned, opened a window, and tossed my remaining milkshake into the wind.

  ‘Good!’ He cackled. ‘Now... put it back in the glass.’

  ‘What?’ I stared at him, dumbfounded. ‘That’s impossible.’

  ‘Yes, it is.’ He levelled his gaze at me meaningfully.

  ‘Oh... ohhh.’ I got it.

  ‘You cannot return the siphoned energy to Mr Edwards. However, he will not need it.’ He pulled out a pad and pen, and scribbled on it. ‘This is a prescription for something to help him recuperate. He needs rest, Mr Anson. Give him time to recover and he’ll be right as the proverbial rain.’

  I nodded. ‘Thanks, Doctor.’

  ‘It’s what I do.’ He beamed at me, before slowly undoing his WalkWidget from his wrist, and laying it on my desk. ‘This, however... I shall give up.’

  As he walked towards my office door, a thought flashed through my mind. ‘Hey, Doctor?’

  ‘Yes?’ He turned back to me.

  ‘One thing I don’t get - how did the AwaTen Cultists get their hands on Danti chemicals to make the animal Gnarlers? It couldn’t have been the monster, or it would have been awake ages ago.’

  ‘Hmm.’ He mulled this over. ‘Your best bet would be to talk to the city’s expert on the Danti and see what he has to say.’ Doctor McMannus chuckled. ‘Of course, I say the city’s expert. I think Doctor Penderghast is probably the world’s foremost expert on the Danti.’

  ‘Penderghast.’ I repeatedly softly.

  ‘Indeed.’ McMannus nodded, touching his finger to his temple, and left.

  ‘Yeah.’ I said to myself, rotating my chair gently from side to side. ‘I think it’s high time I had a little chat with Doctor McMannus. About the Danti... and Project Chronos.’

  Chapter 19

  New Years Revolution

  ‘And she had no idea what you were talking about?’

  ‘None.’

  ‘That’s... troubling.’ Sammy’s voice came over the intercom that SAMI provided. I nodded, even though I knew he couldn’t see me, as I flew through the air.

  ‘Tell me about it.’ I snorted. ‘If it’s not a watch...’

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ He sighed. ‘Stupid supervillains.’

  ‘He’s not a supervillain, Sammy...’

  ‘He’s a very naughty boy!’ He parroted back to me.

  ‘I was going to say,’ I continued, my patience slipping, despite the weakness I could still hear in Sammy’s voice, ‘that he’s a scientist who runs his own multi-national corporation which helped with the war effort. He had access to technology we can’t even begin to imagine and...’ I drifted off.

  ‘Yeah.’ Sammy’s smug voice echoed through the force field helmet. ‘Say it.’

  ‘Alright, yeah. He’s a super villain.’ I sighed. ‘Which is why I’m going to check out the construction site.’

  Five miles south-east of Willowbrook, Lemniscate had a new building they were constructing. The only thing I definitely knew about it was that the billboards made good targets for Gnarler tossing, but decided it was worth an investigation. After having discussed it with Sammy, whom I had left in my office in the much comfier plush leather chair, as opposed to his own ergonomic monstrosity, we decided it would be better if Fire Guardian checked it out, rather than Jason Anson.

  ‘So...’ Sammy’s voice cut in again, as I was spinning myself through a cloud for the amusement of it (come on. You’d do the same thing... flying is amazing!) ‘When’re you going to tell me about this whole Danti Monster thing?’

  ‘Later, Sammy, I mean, one evil plot at a time?’

  ‘Did you at le
ast take time out to see in the New Year with Emily?’

  I frowned. ‘And here I thought you were too busy having your life-force drained to wake up a monster to think about my love life.’

  ‘I’m never too busy to intrude on your love life, Jay.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘After all, it’s so rare that you have one...’

  ‘Hey!’ I yelled, although it was half hearted at best. I knew he was right. ‘For your information, I was a little busy worrying about my best friend, and trying to track down a cure, or at least a reason, for why he was wearing out in front of me.’

  ‘Oh.’ Sammy was, for once, stunned quiet.

  ‘Also, Emily said she had to get to SabrexTech, to get some paperwork done. And she was definitely rattled over Penderghast and the whole thing with Project Chronos.’

  ‘...Which,’ Sammy interrupted, ‘is definitely nothing to do with a watch.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Which means it’s definitely something to do with-’

  ‘Yeah, Sammy.’ I cut in. I didn’t want to hear the words.

  ‘I mean...’ he continued, regardless. ‘It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?’

  ‘To us, sure. To Penderghast?’ I shrugged. ‘I dunno. He doesn’t seem the type to get his own references.’ I looked at the co-ordinates Sami had provided. ‘Speaking of which, I’m nearly at the site.’

  ‘Pick me up a souvenir!’ Sammy said cheerfully, before I heard a beep.

  ‘Call disconnected.’ Sami informed me.

  ‘Okay, Sami. Let’s stay overhead for a while. I want to be out of sight.’

  ‘Compliance!’

  As we hovered overhead, I switched my vision through the various modes casually, my thermal vision allowing me to watch the men at work through the cloud coverage. They moved around the steel beams and sandy ground in a regular fashion, never stopping for long. After a while, however, I noticed something odd.

  ‘Sami.’

  ‘Working.’

  ‘Is it my imagination, or are those workers more intent on looking like they’re working than actually doing any work?’

  ‘Unable to ascertain.’ Sami informed me. ‘I cannot see what is going on.’