“We were trying to figure out how the Maniac knew to turn his car in time to avoid the Shadow Knight, right?” I asked. “Was it X-ray vision?
Was it superpowered luck? Or something else completely?”
“Let me guess,” Norma said. “It’s something else completely?”
“Damn right,” I said with a smirk. “Look again. There are no security cameras on this street, there’s no red-light cams, so there’s no way that the Maniac could have hacked into a camera feed and seen the Shadow Knight’s tank coming.”
“Right, but somehow, he manages to turn before the tank even comes into view,” Elizabeth said. “So how does he do that?”
“He could see it happen before it actually happened,” I said.
“What does that mean?” Penumbra asked.
“I think his superpower is that he can see into the future,” I replied.
“Not very far, or he would be a lot more effective, but at least a couple dozen seconds into the future, and he can use that to predict what people will do, so he can usually come out on top.”
“Oh, shit,” Norma said. “That’s, uh…”
“A scary fucking power for a supervillain to have?” Penumbra finished for her. “Um, yeah, I’d say so.”
“That would explain a lot,” Elizabeth said as she folded her arms over her chest. “Like how the Maniac always seems to be one step ahead of everybody else.”
“Yeah, because he’s literally one second ahead of everybody else,”
Norma said. “Or maybe even a few seconds.”
“It would also explain all the footage of him in fights,” Penumbra added. “He doesn’t have any obvious superpowers, but he always wins his fights, even against stronger and faster people. Pretty much the only hero
that could ever beat him was Slade, and that’s because Slade was probably one of the best hand to hand fighters alive.”
“That’s exactly what would happen if he could see their movements in advance,” Elizabeth said. “It means the Maniac knows what you’ll do even before you know yourself.”
“True, but only for a few seconds at a time,” I said, “but he won’t be able to see or know about long-term plans against him, and I’d bet anything that he has to be close to a person to figure out what they’re about to do.”
“Yeah, I guess he probably can’t just use that power on anybody anywhere, or he’d run the whole world by now,” Penumbra said.
“Maybe he’s just not ambitious enough,” I laughed, “but I think you’re right. And besides, he can’t guess what anybody is thinking. He can only see what’s going to happen a few seconds into the future. It’s a good advantage, but it’s sure as hell not impossible to stop.”
“Good,” Elizabeth said as she reached down to squeeze my hand.
“Then how are we gonna stop him?”
“Yeah, if it comes down to a face-to-face fight, he’d be able to see our next moves before we made them,” Norma said, “so I don’t know how well we would do against him.”
“I’m fast,” my girlfriend said, “but I don’t know if I’m fast enough to make a difference against somebody who knows what I’ll do even before I do.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to be,” I said. “I think the key is going to be distraction. If we can throw enough at him at once, then he might slip up long enough for one of us to get an advantage over him. Or let’s say we put him into a situation with no right answer, so if all doors lead to death, then it doesn’t matter that he can see the outcomes.”
“But how are we--” Penumbra started.
“Hold that thought,” I told the blonde. “Aileen, turn the volume up on the main screen.”
The nervous news anchor had disappeared from the screen and had been replaced by the red-haired field reporter who looked like she hadn’t gotten much sleep since the Maniac first came on the airwaves. As Aileen turned the volume up on the feed, the camera panned back away from the reporter and then turned up toward the sky.
It was filled with fucking helicopters.
A few of them looked like run-of-the-mill police choppers, but there were also some big motherfuckers that looked like they belonged in a war zone. As the camera zoomed in on the massive helicopters, it became clear
that they belonged to the military, and I realized that the National Guard must have finally been activated to try to come help Grayville.
I wasn’t sure exactly what they planned to do, but I was certainly curious, especially since there was still no trace of Optimo or the other Warden assholes.
“I repeat, the National Guard has been deployed to Grayville,” the reporter said as the camera continued to pan back and forth over all the choppers in the mid-afternoon sky. “Given the dire nature of the Maniac’s threats, an evacuation of the city has been called for, but so far, there is no word on how it will be organized or how many citizens can actually be evacuated before the Maniac’s plan is supposed to take effect.”
“Well, they sure as shit can’t evacuate a whole city in twelve hours,”
Norma muttered. “Especially not with just a handful of helicopters. I guess it looks nice on TV, like they’re actually trying to do something, but--”
“But it’s just for show,” I finished for her. “Just watch. I guarantee that the only people these choppers are here for are the rich and powerful, and everyone else is gonna just be shit out of luck.”
I sat down on the couch, and the three women joined me as we continued to watch the footage. I had finished all four of our gas masks, so now I really just needed Aileen to trace the Maniac’s signal back to his last
known location, and then I needed her to keep working on an antidote to the inhaled gas.
Until then, I just wanted to watch the news and see what the high and mighty leaders of Grayville planned to tell their citizens once they were safely on choppers and on their way out of the city.
But as we watched the footage, I realized that the evacuation of the rich and powerful might be a little easier said than done. Every time one of the military or police helicopters dropped down a little closer to the rooftops of the city, some new supervillain or armed goon popped out of hiding to attack or shoot goddamn RPGs until the choppers were forced to retreat and try again somewhere else.
No doubt, the Maniac had promised these small-time villains and hired thugs that they would be safe from the coming purge if they did whatever he told them, but they really should have known better. The Maniac didn’t care about anybody but himself, and they were fools if they thought any differently.
“Do you think they’ll try boats if they can’t get to the choppers?”
Norma asked.
“I think the bigger question is whether or not the Maniac really has something in place at the river to keep people from trying to escape,” I said.
“So you think he’s bluffing?” Elizabeth asked as she leaned back into the couch cushions beside me.
“Yeah, I do,” I replied. “The Maniac is smart, but even he’s not well-funded or well-organized enough to pull off something with all the waterways that surround Grayville. Not on top of whatever his plan is to release the gas all over the city.”
“Well, I guess that’s something,” Norma said. “But I--”
My mousy assistant stopped herself when a phone started to ring from across the room.
“Whose phone is that?” Penumbra asked.
“Ah, that would be my public number,” I said.
“What does that mean?” the blonde superheroine asked.
“It means that Miles has two phones,” Norma answered, “or at least only two that I know about. He has his private phone, but he also has a public number that people can find if they look hard enough for it.”
“I usually use it for business calls,” I said as I pulled the phone out of a drawer, “but I’m not so sure that’s what this is about to be.”
The number was unknown, so I gestured for Norma to go turn the volume down on the TV
, and then I answered the call but immediately put it on speaker.
“This is Miles,” I said.
“Oh, I’m so glad that I reached you,” the Maniac’s smug voice crackled into the phone.
“I’m sure you are,” I said. “Who else can you gloat about your plan to?”
“Have you figured it out yet?” the Maniac asked. “Have you figured out my beautiful plan for Grayville?”
“Oh, you mean the gas?” I held my finger up to my lips to tell the three women to keep quiet. “Yeah, we figured that part out, but thanks for checking.”
“But did you figure out how I plan to distribute it to the entire city?”
the Maniac demanded. “Did you--”
“It’s quite a substance you’ve got yourself there,” I said, so I wouldn’t have to answer his question. “Did you create it yourself?”
“I may have had something to do with its creation,” the supervillain replied. “I have been waiting to use it for quite some time, so I suppose that I have you to thank for making it possible for me to finally use.”
“You’re welcome?” I raised an eyebrow.
“I mean because you killed the Shadow Knight,” the Maniac growled, “and that means you broke the rules, so now I can, too.”
“Meh, I don’t like rules,” I said with a smirk.
I really enjoyed hearing the irritation in the Maniac’s voice. I knew that he was used to dealing with Slade, who always bent over backward to work with the Maniac and try to keep him appeased. But now that he had to deal with me, he didn’t know quite what to expect or exactly what I would do.
And that was right where I wanted him.
“So, my dear Miles,” the Maniac continued after a brief pause, “you never answered my question about whether you figured out my plan of how I’m going to gas the city, so--”
“Turn the volume back up,” I interrupted him as I pointed to the TV.
Norma immediately jumped up and did as I asked, while the news station flipped back and forth between the frantic red-haired reporter on the ground and one of the military choppers in the air.
“So sorry, Maniac,” I said, “but you’ll have to forgive me if I want to listen in on this little tidbit on the news.”
“Those bastards!” the Maniac screeched into the phone. “They were supposed to wait for my fucking signal!”
“I had a feeling that you had something to do with this,” I chuckled.
The military helicopter veered wildly back and forth, but less than a minute later, the pilot seemed to gain control over it and then steadied his course away from the offices of downtown Grayville. It was hard to tell what had happened at first, but the reporter quickly filled in the rest of the details, or at least enough of them for me to guess everything else.
“We have just received word that the mayor and his family, along with two city council members and their families, are on the chopper that you just saw almost crash,” the reporter said. “They were trying to evacuate, but it seems that their helicopter has been hijacked, and now…”
“So I take it that the pilot is one of your usual thugs?” I asked the Maniac. “You must have a few hired guns on board, too, just to keep everyone in check so no one decides to try to play the hero or anything.”
“It’s a good plan, don’t you think?” the Maniac asked, and he sounded like he had recovered from his earlier irritation. “It would have been better if they had waited for my signal, of course, but unfortunately, I can’t do everything myself, so sometimes I must rely on whatever help I can get.”
“It must be tough out there for a supervillain,” my superpowered girlfriend muttered with a roll of her eyes.
“Is that the lovely Dynamo?” the Maniac asked. “Oh, I’m so glad that she’s there with you, so she can hear every detail of my little plan for the two of you.”
I glanced at Elizabeth, but she just shrugged and folded her arms over her chest.
“You see, no one will be leaving Grayville unless I get exactly what I want,” the Maniac said. “And what I want… is Dynamo.”
Elizabeth sat forward on the couch like someone had just sent an electric jolt through her body, but I shook my head before she said anything in response. I wanted to let the Maniac do as much talking as he wanted to, so I could get more information from him and keep his knowledge of my own plans to the bare fucking minimum.
“So here’s the deal, Miles Nelson,” the Maniac said. “You’ve got two choices. If you choose door number one, I’ll agree to spare every person on the helicopter, and I’ll even let them leave Grayville… but only if you hand over Dynamo to me.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said with a roll of my eyes, “because you’re so trustworthy that I can really trust you to keep your word. Psychopaths lie, Maniac, or did you miss that little memo?”
“I do not lie!” the Maniac screeched. “I would not lie about Dynamo, not when she’s so--”
“Please don’t finish that thought,” Elizabeth hissed.
“So you’ve given me one choice,” I said before the Maniac could continue his description of my girlfriend, “but I have to be honest, I’m not really feeling inclined to accept that offer. So what’s behind door number two?”
“Oh, your second choice means that you can keep Dynamo with you for now,” the Maniac said, “but I’ll kill every person on the helicopter, and then I’ll just capture her instead of have her come willingly to me.”
I laughed.
I couldn’t help it. It started as a snicker and then turned into a guffaw that evolved into a full belly laugh. Norma, Elizabeth, and Veronica stared at me like I’d lost my mind, but I didn’t really care.
This was just too damn funny.
“Okay…” I gasped into the phone as I wiped a tear away from my eye. “You… sorry… just… how fucking dumb are you?”
“What are you laughing abo—”
“You think I give a fuck about the mayor in the helicopter?” I laughed again. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a year, Maniac.
Anyways, I’m gonna let you go now. Thanks for the laugh. This has been a real treat, but I’ve got important shit to do--”
“Wait!” the Maniac interrupted.
“Oh, was there something else?” I asked.
“Listen, here’s the new deal,” the supervillain said. “I guarantee that I can capture Dynamo, and I think we ought to make a bet on it.”
“Ehhhh,” I said and then glanced over to see my girlfriend narrow her turquoise eyes at me.
“If I do capture her in the next six hours, then I’ll let everyone on the hijacked helicopter go free,” the Maniac panted.
“And if you don’t?” I asked.
“Then I’ll kill everyone on the helicopter and capture Dynamo anyway,” the supervillain growled. “And what will you do, then, without your precious Dynamo to help you fight me?”
“You still aren’t being smart about this,” I sighed, “I just told you I don’t really give a shit about the mayor or the city council members on the helicopter. Especially not when you’re going to gas the whole city to death anyway.”
“But you’re--” the Maniac started.
“One of the good guys?” I smirked. “Not really, or at least not in the way that you think.”
“Then you really don’t care if I kill all the families on board that helicopter?” the Maniac demanded.
“Nah, knock yourself out,” I said and then shook my head when Elizabeth looked like she was about to go ballistic.
“Six for six,” the Maniac blurted. “If I capture Dynamo in the next six hours, then I won’t release my gas on the city for another six hours past my original deadline, so you would have eighteen hours instead of twelve to try to figure out a way to stop me.”
“And if you don’t capture her?” I arched an eyebrow.
“Then I’ll release the gas in twelve hours, as planned,” the supervillain replied, “and you can all die in the city together.”
; “Don’t care, buh-bye, dumbass.” I hung up before he could say anything else.
“Asshole,” Elizabeth growled.
“Oh, don’t worry,” I laughed. “I just made him super mad. It will distract him while we work on a way to stop him before he can release the gas.”
“But he’s still gonna try to capture me,” my girlfriend said.
“Yeah, but I kinda figured that he was gonna do that anyway, with or without a little extra motivation,” I said. “It’s not like he’ll actually be able to, and it’s certainly not like we’d actually let him take you.”
“Actually,,” Aileen chimed in through the speakers in the living room, “I think it could be a useful distraction.”
“What could be a distraction?” Penumbra asked.
“We should use Dynamo as bait,” the AI system responded. “We should let the Maniac capture her.”
Chapter 12
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Elizabeth said as she stood up and turned to face me fully. “What the hell, Aileen? I thought you and I were friends now.”
“If you mean that we had a threesome with my Creator, then yes,”
my robotic assistant replied, “but that does not mean that I cannot view the situation fully rationally and objectively.”
“Damn, Dynamo,” Penumbra said with a grin. “Getting it on with Miles and Aileen, huh? Can I join next time?”
“That’s hardly the topic right now,” Elizabeth groaned.
“So, um… what is the point?” Norma squeaked from her seat on the couch.
I glanced over at my mousy assistant to see that she was about ten different shades of pink, and I wondered how much of her embarrassment was at the idea of our threesome or at the fact that Penumbra and I had obviously just had sex, too… or at the fact that Norma was so deeply in love with me herself.
“The point is that I will not let the Maniac capture me,” Elizabeth said. “We all know what a sadistic motherfucker that bastard is, and I’d
rather die than let him get his hands on me.”
“It would not get that far,” Aileen replied calmly, as if she was completely unaware of how upset my girlfriend was. “We would put a tracker on you, and we could follow you to the Maniac’s hideout.”
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