Liberty & Justice for All

by Carrie Harris

  Christopher shook his head slowly. “Man, I’m usually the hyper-rational one, and everyone hates me for it. For the first time ever, I understand how they feel.”

  “Trust me, I don’t like it any more than you do.”

  “I’m glad you’re with me, though.” He grinned. “Can you imagine how awful it would be if it was just one of us here with Fabio and David complaining about tacos the whole time?”

  She groaned loudly, rolling her eyes.

  Christopher straightened his goggles on his forehead, scanning the trees.

  “I can sense the Box,” he said excitedly. “We should be able to follow its signature to Sabretooth.”

  “I’ll bubble him, and we’ll take it,” she said. “There’s no need to fight him. We just need to get the Box and go. If he gets his hands on the remote, he could take the X-Copter and leave us stranded here. A direct confrontation would be a bad idea.”

  He nodded in intense agreement. “You can say that again.” She opened her mouth. “But don’t. Seriously, Eva, that joke is so tired now, and we don’t have the time. Come on. The Box is this way.”

  With Christopher leading the way, they descended down into the depths of the park once again. A long row of lampposts drove away the early evening gloom. This path wound down, taking a roundabout and scenic route through some pretty ornamental gardens and finally emerging near a group of basketball courts. Sabretooth had clearly come and gone. The bleachers alongside two of the courts had been ripped from the ground and twisted into impossible shapes. Two basketballs and a single high-top shoe sat abandoned on the court, left by panicked players too afraid to retrieve them.

  On the far side of the complex, one of the fences had been torn down and shredded to pieces. Eva pointed it out, and Christopher nodded.

  “Well, at least he’s making it easy for us to follow him,” he said. “That’s nicer for me. I won’t end up puking so much this way.”

  “Yeah, he’s a stand-up guy, that Sabretooth. Next thing you know, he’ll be nominated for the Nobel Prize or something.”

  Eva’s attempt at comedy fell flat. Maybe it was the rampant destruction or the eerie abandonment of the park in the wake of Sabretooth’s rampage. It seemed like there should be screaming or police or something. The unbroken quiet made it seem like everyone might be dead, even though that was ridiculous. But they continued, Christopher walking closer to her, his shoulder brushing hers. Something didn’t feel right. They both sensed it.

  They passed through the basketball courts and came to a large courtyard featuring an ornamental fountain at its center. The heavy stone fountain had been knocked clear off its pedestal, and water sprayed from the broken base, spattering the surrounding ground in a wide circle. There was no way around it without getting wet. They held their arms up over their heads and dashed through. Under different circumstances it would have been fun. It made Eva think of warm summer days spent sprinting through the sprinklers and sneaking frozen ices to share with her friends down the street when her mom wasn’t watching. But now all she could think of was the immense strength it took to blast through all of that rock, and the unchecked aggression Sabretooth had displayed when he’d come out of nowhere to attack it.

  Christopher had wandered toward the tree line, his attention caught by something on the ground there. His shoulders slumped as he looked at it, and her stomach sank as she joined him. Whatever he’d found, it didn’t look good.

  Dead birds littered the ground. One or two could have been a coincidence, but there had to be at least twenty of them. She saw no signs of violence, although she was no bird expert. It looked like they had made a habit of congregating here. Feathers and droppings littered the patchy grass, and empty shells suggested birdseed. Someone had been feeding them, and so they’d made the area their home. Sadness and horror gripped her by turns as she looked around the park with new eyes. Could this be why the park had fallen so silent? Could they be the only things left alive in the entire place? She thought of all the rowdy children and the boy at the hot dog stand and didn’t want to believe it.

  “It was the Box,” said Christopher, joining her. He clenched his jaw tight as he fought to retain control of himself. “It killed them. I’m sure of it.”

  “I figured as much,” Eva replied. “We have to stop him before that…” She jerked her thumb toward the dead birds. “…spreads any further.”

  She almost asked if he sensed any other dead things. Christopher’s healing abilities and work with the Box put him in a unique position. If anyone would know, he would. But she wanted to stay in the dark just a little bit longer. If Sabretooth had killed everyone in the park, they would find some way to bring him to justice, and she would face that reality when the time came. But there was no need to borrow trouble, as her mother would say. She’d spent her entire childhood pining to get away, but right now, all she wanted was to go back to the things she knew and loved. Although she’d outgrown her hometown, it felt good to think of returning there to rest and regroup before she went back out again to do her job. After she graduated from the New Xavier School, of course. Assuming that she got out of this mess without getting expelled.

  “We should keep moving,” she suggested. “The longer we wait, the more damage he can do.”

  Christopher nodded, but he didn’t move. He seemed rooted to the spot, and when she looked at him, he swallowed hard.

  “He’s going to fight us, Eva. This is Sabretooth we’re talking about. You know the things he’s done. The people – powerful mutants, even – that he’s killed.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m so freaking scared.”

  She looked down at her boots. Somewhere during all of this mess, she’d managed to put a hole in one of the toes. It reminded her of Graydon’s awful boots and his indignation at having to wear them. But he’d done it anyway, and he’d found some kind of redemption at the end. At least it had seemed like it to her.

  “Sabretooth loves his kid,” she said. “He’s still a bad guy, and I know he wouldn’t hesitate to throw us to the crows for Graydon, but he’s capable of caring.”

  “Yeah,” said Christopher bitterly. “Just not for us.”

  But Eva wasn’t so sure. Now that she looked back, she saw that Sabretooth had been manipulating them from the beginning, but she wondered if he’d started to care about them despite himself, because it seemed like he’d gone out of his way to be likeable. They were helping him anyway. So he hadn’t had any reason to connect with Christopher the way that he had any more than Graydon had had a reason to confide in Eva, except that they wanted to.

  She contemplated arguing this with Christopher, but this wasn’t the time or the place for it. Not with the Box killing birds left and right and Sabretooth knocking fountains over in his fury. But once they were safely back on the X-Copter and on their way back to the school, she might bring it up, because she could see how much the betrayal hurt him. He’d thought the connection was real. Maybe he’d had dreams of redeeming Sabretooth and bringing him back to the school as another instructor, and now those dreams had died despite Christopher’s best efforts. She knew he’d been through some rough stuff, and stress tended to bring all of those old fears to the forefront. It sure had made her reckless, just like in the old days.

  So she shelved the topic for now, but she would definitely bring it up later. Maybe they could help each other. Sometimes she felt desperate to prove herself so she could join the ranks of the super heroes where she knew she belonged, and it had made her rash a few times in the past. Really, it had gotten them into this mess in the first place, and she saw that clearly for the first time. If she didn’t chill out and quit trying to be the next Captain America, someone was going to get hurt or even die. Christopher helped balance out her eagerness with logic, and she could help him in turn by soothing his pain at Sabretooth’s betrayal. For now, she contented herself with squeezing his h
and in hers, hoping that it would offer some comfort. Together, they left the fountain courtyard and emerged from a wooded area into the soccer complex.

  With so much open space, at least Sabretooth wouldn’t be able to sneak up on them, and there weren’t many things for him to destroy. Eva scanned the long expanse of green fields but didn’t notice anything strange. The goals seemed to be goal-shaped. She didn’t see any giant piles of dead animals. Rows of shade trees lined the fields, and all of them seemed to be standing. Even the bathroom building all the way on the other end appeared intact. It didn’t look like anything squirted from it, and she was pretty sure it still had all of its walls.

  “I’m starting to think we lost him,” she said.

  “Huh?” Christopher asked.

  “Sabretooth. We might have lost him. If he came this way, he would have destroyed one of those goals at the very least, don’t you think? Or uprooted one of the trees?” She pointed.

  “Oh.” He furrowed his brow. “I’m pretty sure I can feel the Box back there, though. And I think the grass behind the bathrooms is yellowed.”

  She squinted. The setting sun didn’t provide great lighting, and there were two full soccer fields between them and the area he’d indicated. She just wasn’t sure.

  “You could be right,” she said. “Frankly, I trust your Spidey-senses more than I trust my eyes at this point. If you say we should check it out, then we should.”

  “I think it’s a good idea.”

  They began the long walk across the smooth, damp grass. Neither of them spoke, but it was a companionable silence. As they grew closer to the squat brick bathroom building, Eva could begin to see what Christopher had been talking about. The grass behind the building had turned a sickly yellow which sat in distinct contrast to the well-watered, lush green of the fields. A line of demarcation arced around the building, separating the dying grass from the healthy. But if memory served, that line would only grow as the Box spread its influence. They had to keep that from happening.

  It wouldn’t have been first on her list of places to hide, but Sabretooth hadn’t exactly been rational last time she’d seen him, and the trail of chaos he’d left in his wake suggested that his mind hadn’t gotten much clearer since then. But she reminded herself not to underestimate him either. He’d taken them by surprise once, and she didn’t intend to allow it again.

  She turned to Christopher, a questioning look on her face. He pointed, indicating that she should go around one way while he went the other. He would distract Sabretooth to give her the opportunity to freeze him. She grimaced. It wasn’t her favorite plan, but she couldn’t come up with another on short notice, and they didn’t have the time to sit here and debate. Every moment they wasted would increase the chance that Sabretooth would sniff them out, if he hadn’t done so already. She nodded and began to creep in the direction he’d indicated.

  Christopher waited, allowing her the opportunity to get a nice head start. At the corner, she paused, looking back. He gave her a thumbs-up and a confident smile, which she returned. At least she tried to look confident. Mostly, she felt like throwing up. That would have been ironic, considering what he’d been doing most of the day.

  The open entryway to the men’s room loomed before her, its shadows deeper than they had any right to be. She stayed right up against the building, not daring to leave the safety of its walls, but what if Sabretooth waited for her right inside the entrance? She wouldn’t be able to see him until she was right on top of him, and then it would be too late. He could squeeze the breath out of her and she wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. Her heart began to hammer so loud that she was sure that if he was anywhere nearby, he had to be able to hear it. His senses were so attuned anyway. Her heartbeat probably sounded like a stampeding rhino to him.

  If he tried to kill her, she’d bubble them both. Hopefully, Christopher would realize something was wrong, and he’d be there when the bubble popped. Together, they’d handle it. At least she wouldn’t have to face Sabretooth alone, because for all of her earlier confidence, now that she was here, she felt like prey.

  She screwed up every ounce of courage she possessed and stepped out into the men’s room entryway, looking inside.

  Empty.

  Relief gripped her with such intensity that she almost laughed aloud. She had to clap her mouth shut before the noise escaped her, letting only a huff of breath out of her nose. Moving as quietly as possible, which probably wasn’t quiet enough, she hurried to the opposite wall and flattened herself against it. The dead zone seemed to be centered on the far wall. If she turned one more corner, she should come face-to-face with Sabretooth. She would get to the corner and wait for Christopher to distract him, then pop out and freeze him before he could hurt her friend.

  She edged closer, barely daring to breathe. It seemed like every movement she made was hugely loud in the otherwise silent late afternoon. Gravel ground beneath her feet with every footstep despite her best efforts to place her weight with care. Her breath sounded enormous to her ears, and the more she tried to quiet it, the more starved for air she felt. Her nose itched, and she felt the sudden, desperate urge to sneeze, but that would make noise too. She wiggled it, knowing that the problem was all in her head, but it didn’t make it any better.

  “I know you’re there,” said Sabretooth, his voice just around the corner.

  Chapter 30

  Eva froze against the brick wall, her throat gone dry with fear. Of course Sabretooth had heard them coming. Only an idiot would try to sneak up on a mutant with enhanced senses, so maybe she was an idiot. But even though she felt silly, she would have done it again. At least this way, she knew she’d tried to do the right thing, no matter what it cost her.

  Sabretooth’s voice sounded unusually quiet and close to breaking. He must have worn himself out with screaming and crying and tearing metal and rock into pieces with his bare hands. Eva still didn’t move. Even if he was exhausted, he would be a formidable opponent. She had to stick to the plan. Besides, maybe it would do Christopher some good to get things off his chest. If Sabretooth was spent, he might actually listen for once.

  “I figured you would,” Christopher said. “We came for the Box.”

  “Well, you can’t have it.” Sabretooth’s voice regained a little of his usual verve.

  “Oh my god.” Christopher’s voice registered horror. “What happened to you?”

  There was no answer.

  “Eva, come out here,” Christopher called.

  Eva paused. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what to do, but he wouldn’t throw out the plan like that unless he had a good reason. Cautiously, she peeked around the corner, just in case Sabretooth had grabbed him around the throat and somehow forced him to call to her. But all she saw was Christopher, standing there with a look of dismay as he looked down at a huddled figure on the ground underneath the water fountains. When he saw her, he gestured for her to come out.

  “I don’t think we’re in any danger from him,” he said. “From the Box, maybe, but not from him. Not any more.”

  At first, she thought he was talking crazy, until she got a better look at the thing on the ground. It was Sabretooth, or it had been once. The previously enormous figure had been stripped of its vitality and now was a shadow of its former self. In just the short time since they’d last seen him, the Box had sucked the life from him. Much of the thick, golden hair had fallen out, leaving only patchy spots. The claws and teeth remained but had gone brittle and yellow with apparent age. His eyes had taken on the same rheumy tint, and they seemed to struggle to focus in his sunken face. His clothes hung on him, and even the leather of his trench coat now seemed dry and brittle. It looked like he might turn to dust at any moment and blow away.

  She covered her mouth with her hand, tears springing to her eyes. She’d been afraid of him moments before, but now she pitied him. But Christopher was impla
cable despite his obvious horror.

  “Where’s the Box?” he asked.

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Sabretooth.

  “Come on, man,” said Christopher. “It’s killing you. Quit being so stubborn and hand it over.”

  “I’ll heal.” Sabretooth’s voice was raspy and dry. “It’s nothing personal, kid. I need it to save my son. That’s all. It’s just business.”

  To Eva’s shock, Christopher kicked him. Not hard, but in Sabretooth’s condition, any contact would hurt. Sabretooth grunted.

  “Yeah, well, that’s business too, then. Is that how we do things now? Maybe I should follow in your footsteps and do business like you. Is that what you want?” demanded Christopher.

  “No,” said Eva. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t go down that road, Chris,” said Sabretooth, closing his eyes. “You won’t be able to get back out.”

  “Who are you to give me advice?” Christopher demanded. “You don’t give a damn about me. You set us up. Everything you said to me was a lie. I told you about my dad, man. I told you stuff I never told anyone, because I thought you’d understand. It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done, because why would Sabretooth care about anything? He’s a cold-blooded killer. Of course he cares about nothing.”

  Sabretooth sighed. It rattled in his chest.

  “You’re right, kid. I’m a cold-blooded killer. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nothing’s black and white like people like Summers would lead you to believe. Good guys like him can do evil things. He’s done them too; just ask him. And people like me? Like I said before, sometimes we can do the right thing for the right people.”

  “Yeah, like Graydon,” said Christopher, kicking at the gravel. “But he’s gone now, and you probably think that’s my fault. I was trying to save him, but apparently that doesn’t matter to you.”