by J. B. Garner
"Unfortunate, I would have preferred to see him face Crusader justice," Epic rumbled. "He has committed great crimes against the Pushed."
"And a lot more crimes against normal folks," Hexagon pointed out. "I would figure if anything he'd wind up with us for, you know, courts and all that stuff."
"It's a moot point as no one is taking him for anything," Rachel said, something that surprised every Pushed on both sides. I was even a bit shocked; it took something special for a normal to speak up to any Pushed, let alone stick themselves into a potential argument between them. "There are more important priorities to deal with."
"Rachel is absolutely correct," I nodded. Duane jogged back up with his black bag and, completely ignoring the tension in the air, broke it open to begin work on the worst of the wounded. I only wished he hadn't decided that I was at the top of that list. "We have loads of casualties, a ravaged city center, who knows how much property damage .... we can't even be sure that we held them off from killing any of the city government. Hell, what about the governor?"
"Lord Epic, Milady and Dame Choi present a fair point," Archer added. "After all, dost we not have a duty to the normal as well as to the Pushed? We could succor the wounded and lend a shoulder to help in the rebuilding, could we not?" A few of the other Crusaders nodded in agreement, Fray Justicia in particular.
"Senior Archer speaks the truth, Epic," the masked man said. "It is a blessed thing to give comfort to the needy."
"Of course, my Crusaders," Epic agreed with a parental, almost condescending tone. "It has always been our way to protect all people, Pushed or normal." He gazed at me, his confidence restored with his power. "Indomitable, we will shelve this matter of Mackenzie's fate for now and carry on with our most vital of duties." He paused a moment, then smiled. I didn't like that smile, not one bit. "Before we begin, however, I would ask your permission to use the full extent of my powers. We have had conflict before and I would wish not to have it again, so soon after we have come together to defeat a common foe."
I could feel Extinguisher bristle beside me. Was he getting the same bad feeling I was or was he just cross at the fact that Eric was acting like I was in charge? Either way, he was essentially correct. No one behind me seemed particularly happy. The only one that seemed not to be on edge was Alma. Considering her distance from the ongoing conflict between us and the Crusaders, that really wasn't a surprise.
"Considering it would be one of the few good causes you've put all that power behind, sure, be my guest." I gestured out with my good arm as Duane finished a quick, but serviceable, field dressing around the two bullet wounds. "With all that power, we can at least fix most of the damage, attend to the wounded." I gave him a hard look. "Don't you dare try to raise the dead. They deserve peace after all this bullshit."
The other Crusaders looked lost at my last statement. Wavelength scratched at her mane of rainbow hair while Gaslight seemed more interested in adjusting his dials and gauges than anything I said. My friends, however, knew enough of the tale and made some unpleasant murmurs behind me.
"I have changed since that time, my dear," Epic's brow furrowed like a craggy mountain. "The cycle of life and death is something not even a god can overturn, that I have come to realize." With that, he turned swiftly in mid-air, his crimson half-cape billowing around him. "Come, my Crusaders, to work!" With that command, they broke off in different directions, each apparently well-drilled in the part they were meant to play. Archer lingered a moment, glancing at me, then Extinguisher. After a moment, Ex gave him a brief nod, releasing the armored archer to his own teammates.
"Guys, if you're not too banged up, spread out, help out, and keep an eye on those guys," the frozen firefighter told us as soon as the Crusaders had spread. "Outside of Archer, I don't trust them further than I can throw them. If you need to be patched up, though, don't play hero and sit your ass down, okay?" Why he was looking at me when he said that I had no idea. Nope, not a clue. Still, we were all in bad shape, honestly. My Pushed friends just recovered better and faster.
"I can go 'cause my systems are fully rebooted from that lightning and my metal parts are kinda gouged up but they all work and I don't feel any pain from 'em so I can totally keep track of stuff," Tank offered, somehow retaining a good ninety percent of his full enthusiasm despite the carnage around us. "Uh, assuming you're gonna be okay while I'm gone, Miss Eye?" The bedraggled psychic put a hand on Tank's shoulder and favored him with a thin smile.
"My body is hurt but my will is strong," she told him. "Do what needs to be done, I will be with you in your mind." I never understood their peculiar bond, but I never questioned it. It just was.
As for myself, I took the chance to get off of my feet, sitting on a chunk of rubble. Brooks shook his head and knelt beside me, continuing to examine my wounds.
"Remind me to knock some sense into those F.B.I. jerks who keep dangling you on a string to see if they can at least cough up some Kevlar for your uniform," he muttered. "I'm getting awful damn tired of pulling bullets out of you, Doc." Extinguisher set up a second impromptu triage station a few yards away from Duane. There was no telling with the damage to the nearby roads exactly how soon it would be before more emergency services would make it here. To the credit of the citizenry, though, now that a short time of calm had come to pass, the survivors of the immediate carnage came out from their shelters to begin to care for those who had not been so lucky.
"Better me than some of them," I said, nodding at some of the PART officers who ventured out of the Capitol building to tend to the wounded. "At least I've got something going for me more than a gun and a badge." Unable to counter that, Duane muttered under his breath and finished tending to the gunshots as best he could.
"After we get Epic and his boys out of town, we have an appointment in the infirmary, okay?"
"Yes, sir, Mr. Brooks." I made a mock salute, which forced both of us to smile, at least for a moment. Duane took his medical bag and moved on to the next patient, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
The thing was that, as far as I could see and from Tank's reports, the Crusaders were, well, doing what we would do if we weren't about to keel over. Saving lives, helping ambulances get through the wreckage, shoring up crumbling infrastructure, the real meat and potatoes of heroism. I never imagined they didn't do these things, but when you are faced with a foe in a perpetual conflict, the human mind tended to dehumanize their adversary. In fact ...
In fact, I couldn't stop hearing Mackenzie's voice in my ear, that belief that Epic had already begun to move on Atlanta, that Archer had been sent as an unwitting spy. Was this just one more step in that campaign? The fact that I was paying even lip-service to one of Ian's beliefs was insane, but his logic was so perfect it was hard to not give it a moment's thought.
"Dr. Roman?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at the glittering face of Alma Gutierrez. She was literally unchanged since I had first met her three months ago. I wondered if that was even possible or if her inorganic form was locked like that for eternity.
"I didn't want to disturb you but -" she began again.
"No, not at all." I waved off the impending apology. "I should apologize to you. I'm sorry Rachel brought you into this, especially after I had gotten you out of it." Alma shook her head.
"Don't do that, please," she insisted in that weird, resonant voice. "I wanted to help. I needed to help, from the looks of things." She pointed one of her pointed fingers at my face, my mask to be specific. "You have to realize, anyway, that all of that talk was pretty hypocritical considering you're one of the most famous heroes in the country."
"I didn't wind up with much of a choice," I muttered. "You did. Hell, you still do."
"Yes, you're absolutely right, Doctor." She crossed her arms across her stomach, making small sparks as crystal rubbed on crystal. "My choice is to ask you and Extinguisher if I can join the team."
"Do you have any idea what you are asking? This isn't a
s fun as whatever that voice in your head is telling you." I gestured around at the dead bodies, the twisted wreckage, the moans of the injured. "You'll give up your future for a lifetime of this."
"How do you think it feels to stand back and do nothing, eh?" Alma scowled at me as she continued, "I can do things. Things no one else can do. I've been doing like you asked, trying to just be normal, but I can't do that. I can't pretend because I look like this. There's no mask to take off. All I get to do is feel bad when I hear about some Pushcrook getting away with something and saying to myself, 'You know, I could have done something about that.'." She pointed an accusatory finger at me. "If you think that's the best life for me, then you can go to hell." The crystal woman turned on her heels towards Extinguisher when I called out.
"Alma. Just ... wait a moment." I rubbed my eyes with my good left hand. It was enlightening to have the one good thing I thought I had accomplished get thrown back in my face. "You're right. You're totally right." I shook my head. "I did the same thing so many other people seem to be doing lately. I assumed that you couldn't make your own decision and that I should make it for you, assuming your best interests would be the same as mine."
"I- well, thanks, Dr. Roman." A smile came over her faceted face as she looked back at me.. "Does that mean I get your blessing?" I let out a short laugh and nodded.
"Sure, you even get an extra A+ for saving the city today." Alma smirked and turned back to Extinguisher once more. I stared down at the ground. Was that a loss or a victory? I had trouble even keeping track at this point.
The next few hours passed with no conflict, no fighting, even a few bits of cooperation as several of our team got back on their feet. As much as I hated to admit it, having someone with the nigh-infinite power that Epic had on hand for this kind of clean-up made a tremendous difference. While there was still a considerable bit of work left to do, the amount the Crusaders had managed to do in that short space of time was admirable.
The pause in our collective efforts was called by Rachel. While we had been busy licking our wounds and dealing with the aftermath, she had managed to get through to the city and state government, as well as Captain Braxton. It was at Braxton's request that we all gathered, Foundation and Crusader alike, at the crumbling front steps of the Capitol building.
"I- well- I don't mean to hold up the fine work all your people are, well, doing for our fair city," Braxton said, "but the Mayor and the Governor both wanted me to personally, uh, extend their gratitude to both of your groups for, well, saving the city." Epic seemed pleased by this, or maybe it was the intimidating effect he had on Joe.
"Though in the past, the Mayor has remained distant from my overtures to her, I am very pleased to see that she has now realized what an asset our kind can be to the city," Epic said, arms akimbo and chest puffed. I groaned inwardly.
"Well now, I wouldn't, uh, put it quite like that, Mr. Epic," the captain added. "While she's, uh, appreciative of all of this, the Mayor is still pretty set that she doesn't want the Crusaders as a fixture of, uh, the city." He glanced at all of us, then back at the Crusaders. Was the Mayor trying to start the Battle of Washington part two right now? I glanced sidelong at the team, then across the divide at Archer. The bowman seemed uncomfortable at best.
"I see." Epic folded his hands behind his back as he hovered there, silent for a few moments. "I had hoped that, in light of all that had transpired, that she would see the error of that judgment." He took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow sigh. Eric's expression, even to me, was unreadable. "If that is her wish, that we will abide by it."
"Please don't-" Braxton began to plead. "Wait, what did you say?" I had to admit, I wasn't sure I was hearing him correctly either. Maybe that flashbang had caused some permanent hearing loss.
"There is no need for additional bloodshed today." I was more wary now than I had been, but everyone else there seemed greatly relieved. Epic turned away from Braxton and began to hover down towards the street. The rest fell in line, save for the Argent Archer. He seemed frozen, as if his armor had locked up, but I didn't think that was the case. He turned his visor towards us, as if he wanted to speak.
"Archer!" Epic's voice was deep, resonant, commanding. "It is time to go."
"No." Archer turned back to his lord. "You don't mean to go. This cowardly act, I cannot be a party to -"
Archer was blown off of his feet by a single intense blast of white energy. He tumbled hard and landed in a barely moving heap, smashed against the wall of the Capitol.
"Join your new friends then, my noble Archer, in the dust of history."
I didn't wait for the rest of the incoming monologue as I moved. Everyone else would gape and listen, making it the perfect time to strike. Even so, by the time I had crossed the space between Epic and myself, a dozen glowing white portals opened up. Epic had decided that he preferred the way of the conqueror more than the way of the diplomat as a dozen Crusaders, with more on the way, poured out.
"I declare that this city is under the domain of the Crusaders!"
Chapter 22 Epic
I had the distinct satisfaction of driving a stiff left uppercut right into Eric's smug mouth right after he said that. I grit my teeth as his invulnerable shell sent vibrations up my arm, but unlike every other time I had hit Epic, I knew what I was doing now. Instead of breaking my bones and then passing through, the discomfort faded fast, then I pushed hard, busting Eric's lip and sending his head rocketing back. Eric might have summoned enough Crusaders to take over the city twice over, but I'd be damned if he was going to get away with it scot-free.
Wavelength, as fast acting as the light she manipulated, let loose a rainbow wave of energy in defense of her leader. Maybe it was instinct, or perhaps Eric hadn't been totally forthright with his Crusaders about my true nature. It didn't matter either way, as the blast of multicolored light accomplished nothing but giving me a mild sunburn on my exposed face. Battalion, apparently all too eager to start the invasion, swung the two massive Pushtech rifles he wielded in my direction, only to be flash-frozen in a slab of ice.
"Keep them off of Indy, folks," Extinguisher called out over the com, already sending a spray of jagged ice shards into the bulk of the Crusaders. "She takes Epic, it's game over for them, no matter how many of us they take out." It didn't surprise me one bit that the only response to that suicidal order was for each and every one of my family to call out targets. All the more reason to take out three months of pent-up aggression on the man that caused all of this.
Covering his bleeding mouth with one hand, Epic swatted at me with all of his insane might. It was a crude swing that would have been a joke if not for the man throwing it. I bobbed under the blow, my hair flying from the tremendous wind it left in its wake. The problem with fighting a flying opponent with any tactical sense was that their three dimensional movement, much as Epic was starting to hover back and up away from me. Before he could pick up speed, I threw myself at him. All I needed was to get a solid hold on the real Eric.
The demigod put on a burst of speed but somehow I managed a grip on his left ankle. That's when he blasted straight up. While whatever physics-defying means Epic used to fly seemed to protect me to a degree as well, I was still jerked painfully down, every joint screaming in pain. There were only moments before I would slip free and fall.
I screamed and pulled, finding the strength to throw my dangling legs up at Epic's ascending body. His body was not my precise target. When taking on a god, I figured it was alright to fight dirty as the tips of my boots smashed into Eric's crotch. Unfortunately, I couldn't properly slow then push the strike through his invulnerable skin. The backlash rattled my body and shook my weakened right hand free. The good news is that the sudden low blow arrested Epic's ascent before we reached an airless void that would kill me instantly, assuming that was his intent. I frankly wasn't sure at this point. The bad news is that I was only holding on by one weakening hand.
"Irene!" he shouted above the roari
ng winds. "You will not stop this! You can not stop this!" The strain in his voice gave me a grim smile. "Now, take my hand and end this foolishness. I want you by my side, not under my heel." He bent over in mid-hover, one herculean hand stretched out to me. What choice did I have? I took his hand.
That strong grip as Epic pulled me up towards his chest made for a great leverage point to drill another punch into his face.
"You end it, Eric!" His head rocked back and swung to normal, only to meet my fist again. "You're the one attacking my home, you're the one who betrayed my trust, you're the cause of all of this!" No matter how powerful Epic was, Eric was a mortal man and those two hard punches dazed him. His grip on my hand lessened and we both started to fall through space. I didn't care, not one bit. Grabbing his collar, I twisted us in mid-fall before rearing back another fist. "Answer me, you bastard."
"You proved you can not protect this city yourself, what else would you have me do? Can you not see your own failure?" I growled and let my fist fly, but there was a pulse of white light and he was gone. Teleported away, the coward! That left me in a very real problem. The Earth was rushing up to greet me at an alarming rate and one of the few things I didn't have in my utility bag was a parachute.
I had a brief flash of regret when Epic materialized right next to me. Not regret for beating him up. Regret that plowing into the Earth at terminal velocity would be less painful then what was about to come as he rocketed into me from the side. There was no way to dodge, no amount of twisting in the air could have possibly helped. All I could do was curl up into a ball and pray I didn't go splat when he hit me.
Pain rocketed through my body as he plowed into me. If I had been a normal human, I would have been very very dead. As it was, I was lucky that nothing was broken. At the instant of the impact, another white flash heralded another teleport before I could retaliate in any fashion.
As I tumbled through the sky, now hurtling both down and sideways from the impact, I tried to focus past the pain and the churning in my stomach to find him, before he could strike again. I could have called on one of the Five (Six now?) or Archer to help, but from the sounds on my com, they were barely staying alive themselves.