"I have something for you, before we go," Doc said.
He pulled a small pouch from his coat pocket and dumped its contents onto the table. A set of flat metal objects toppled out with a clang. He tossed the first to Titus, who caught it easily.
"No joke," Titus said.
"What, we get presents?" Emily said.
Titus held the object up. It was an emblem in the shape of an abstract wolf's head. Doc tossed the next one to Emily, who caught it with her gravity powers and drew it to her hand. It was the same nuclear fallout warning symbol she'd adorned her entire costume with.
"Wicked," she said.
The third went to Billy, a silver-blue comet. Doc handed Jane hers, an idealized, artistic version of the sun done up in gold.
"I don't have a symbol," Kate said.
Doc slid a final emblem across the table to her. She stopped it with the tip of her finger.
"I took my best guess," he said. "I hope it works."
Kate held it up between her forefinger and thumb. It was a woman in silhouette, a dancer, spinning in a pirouette. She examined it with a lost and longing look, and then set it back down on the table.
"Close enough, Doc. Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said. "Back in the old days, we kept our personal symbols on the backs of our chairs. Don't know why, it's not like we wanted to stake a claim to a particular seat. It just . . . felt like the appropriate thing to do. To make it official. Whenever someone new joined the team, they got one of these for their chair."
"So we're official?" Titus said, smirking.
"You've been official for a long time," he said. "Consider this your graduation gift."
"No turning back now, is there?" Billy said.
"Like there ever was," Emily said. "We were in it the minute the big guy showed up."
Everyone stood, brushed invisible dust off their costumes, checked buckles, exchanged worried glances.
"Here goes nothing," Billy said.
Emily followed him out into the hall, taunting Titus about his pending bike ride. Jane stared at Doc a moment longer before joining them. Doc caught Kate by the arm as she walked by.
"One minute, Kate," he said.
"I knew you had something on your mind," Kate said. "What's wrong?"
"There's someone you should contact if anything happens to me today," Doc said.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm going to do something particularly stupid and there's a chance I might . . . be gone for a while," he said.
"Is particularly stupid a technical term in the magical vernacular?" she said.
"I'm going to set a trap for the woman controlling the girl in the storm," Doc said. "If she tries to hit back at me, we might . . . get kicked out of this world for a little while. I don't know how long."
"Kicked out of this world?" Kate asked
"I'm gonna lead her on a merry chase," he said, a sad smile across his face suddenly tugged on a part of Kate's guts she spent most of her time trying to surpress. "And it might take me quite a while to get back."
"You're going to die, aren't you?"
"I'm not," Doc said. "There's rules to what I do, Kate. She and I can't murder each other. It's just not done. It's not allowed."
"But you're going to lead her away. From us."
"I'm going to lead her away from you."
Kate shook her head at him, musing.
"You're the old man in that parable."
"What parable?" Doc said.
"I remember a story once. Maybe it was a Buddhist story. Maybe it was in the Bible. I don't know," Kate said. "But an old man helps a snake, or maybe it was a scorpion, cross a desert, or a river, or . . . somewhere. And at the end, the snake bites the man, and asks, why did you help me all this time, when you knew in the end I'd bite you? And the man tells the snake he was leading him away from his village the whole time, and he'd led him too far away to ever do any harm."
"I wish I could remember that story," Doc said.
"Is she really that bad? That dangerous?"
"The most dangerous person I've ever met," he said.
Kate rubbed her eyes. She studied Doc's face again, saw the worry, saw how thin he'd become since they first met. He wasn't an old man, but he was older now than he was just a short while ago, and it seemed terribly unfair to her.
"You'll come back," she said.
"Fast as I can."
"I wish I was kinder to you, Doc Silence," Kate said. "I could have been easier to get along with."
"You've been exactly the way you had to be," he said.
She nodded. In a lot of ways, he was precisely right.
"So this person I should meet. Who is he?"
"Neal will help you find him. Just ask him. He'll be able to tell you where he is."
"Why me?" Kate said. "Why not Jane?"
"Because you remind me of him," Doc said. "He was like you. An ordinary person who willed himself to be extraordinary. He always distrusted those of us with great power for that reason. He'll like you, respond to you. And you might need someone to turn to while I'm gone."
"Is he as good a teacher as you've been?" she said.
"No," Doc said. "He was always afraid to teach. But he never refused to help when we asked."
Kate pursed her lips, nodded again, held out her hand.
Doc shook it.
"I hope you're wrong. Hope you're here when I get back."
"Believe me, Kate, so do I."
She released his hand.
"The others know?"
"Only Jane."
"Great. Always her and I, isn't it."
"Get used to it," he said.
Kate smiled a crooked grin.
"Safe travels, Doc."
"Be careful out there."
Chapter 57:
To strike fear
Agent Black found the Lady and Rose talking on the deck. The storm was closer than ever and out here on the open ocean the enormity of the thing — of her, he reminded himself — became clearer. She stretched on for miles in every direction, clouds so dark they were nearly purple, rain so heavy you could see foam forming on the ocean surface with the human eye.
"She's angry," Black said.
"Your men ready?" Rose asked.
Black had watched Rose's agents, her ninjas, setting up their positions throughout the rig. In a way, this structure was easier to defend than a land-based location. The perimeter was the edge of the rig, and with guards at the proper points, they could set up a three hundred and sixty degree lookout.
But there was also nowhere to go if things went bad, and it was a large rig — a lot could go wrong very quickly.
"They're ready," Black said. "You think they'll come?"
"Yes," Rose said. "Wegener revealed enough to pique their interest."
"He spoke longer than that," the Lady said. "Do you know what he told them, exactly?"
"No," Rose said. "And he was smart enough to encrypt his outgoing message. We could crack it, given a little time, but . . . "
"We have things to do," the Lady said.
The Lady raised her face to the sky, feeling the mist of the ocean gathering on her skin. Black found himself wondering, as always, why she did what she did. It all seemed beneath her, working with the Children. Maybe it was just a game to her. Maybe they were simply bugs to pull wings off of.
"You won't let your problem with werewolves get the better of you, will you Rose?" the Lady asked.
"I don't have a werewolf problem," Rose said.
"We both know that's not true," the Lady said. "But I do hope you have fun killing the pup. It must be so much less satisfying killing one that isn't fully grown."
"A pelt's a pelt," she said.
"And what about you, Agent," the Lady said. "Any special vendettas you're hoping to feed today?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'd like to stay afloat long enough to get paid."
"We all have our motivations," she said. "Would either of you care to join me du
ring the ritual? I love having an audience for these things."
Black shook his head.
Rose's face was blank.
"I won't be of much use if the little things do try to attack us," the Lady said. "I imagine they'll do something to try to stop my pets from corralling the storm toward land, so I'll be adding a bit more complexity to my spells. Some additional security, so to speak."
"We'll have guards posted at your door," Black said.
"No," the Lady said. "If I can't have the two of you, I'd rather work alone."
"Done," Rose said.
The Lady flashed them her radiant, seductive smile.
"Well then. Enjoy your party," she said, and walked off toward her chamber.
"You see their list of demands?" Black asked.
"Yeah," Rose said.
He spit into the ocean.
"So what happens if they don't get everything they asked for," Black said. "They send a hurricane against the East Coast every day 'til they do?"
"Maybe," she said. "We'll be pushing her across to Europe too, you know. They want to hit England next."
Black spit again.
"Lotta work."
"Yeah."
"It's not really about the demands, is it?" he said.
"Is it ever?" Rose said. "It's about creating fear. It's about making everything unstable. The Children always did best in times of chaos."
"So their goal is really just . . . to make a mess?"
"Yep," she said. "And then, be there to pick up all the pieces. It's an old game."
"Huh."
"You having cold feet, Agent?"
"Nah," Black said. "I'd rather be on the side picking up the pieces than on the side losing them."
"So long as the check clears."
"Exactly," he said.
Black scanned the horizon again, his cyborg eye looking for signs of an impending attack and coming up empty. He felt tired, just then.
"Oh, c'mon," Rose said. "Have a little fun. You didn't get into this to have a normal life."
"That's for damned sure," he said. Black checked his stubby rifle one more time and started to leave.
"Have fun slaying your werewolf," he said.
"Don't fall into the ocean."
Chapter 58:
Into the eye
Three figures raced across the surface of the ocean, each with their own unique wake: a trail of golden fire, a blue white light, and a faint signature like heat distortion. Jane, in the lead, kicked up mist below her as the warmth of her flight path changed the water to steam; Emily created tiny realities, turning choppy water still and still water into waves with whitecaps. Billy passed in near silence, his bright energy signature transforming to silvery highlights on the sea's surface.
The storm grew ever closer, becoming more threatening, more ominous, and vaster with every meter traveled.
They pulled up short, less than a mile from the wall of blue-black clouds terminating the horizon, and watched as lightning flickered like pale veins beneath the storm's skin.
"Oh yeah, I can totally just put this in a bubble," Emily said. "Totes easy."
"This is turning out to be such a bad idea," Billy said.
"It's our only choice," Jane said. "Would you like that thing hitting Florida?"
"Is this a multiple choice question?" he asked.
Jane surveyed the storm from left to right, marveling at how alive it appeared, how organic. Every time she looked, it seemed as though the storm were taking on a more definitive shape, an amorphous animal.
"Emily, fly up a bit. Maybe if you can get an idea of its dimensions you'll be in a better spot to contain it."
"Are you watching the same storm I am?" Emily said. "I'm gonna need to be like, satellite height to get a good look at it."
"So go atmospheric," Jane said. "You know you want to."
"What about us?" Billy said.
"I'm going to head in. Maybe I can find and then reason with her one more time. Talk to her like a person," Jane said.
"That went really well last time," Emily said.
"We didn't know as much about her last time," she said.
"And what am I going to do?" Billy said.
"You're going to deal with them," Jane said, pointing to the south, where dozens of targets were suddenly flying their way.
"What are they?"
"Robots, I think," Jane said. "Same as the ones that attacked Kate and me at her apartment."
"I'm going to be in a dog fight with flying robots."
"You have a problem with that?"
"No," Billy said. "Been hoping to fight flying robots my whole life."
Kate and Titus raced across the water's surface as well, trying to stay low and underneath whatever sensors the rig might have searching for them. Kate drove, hunkered down on the hoverbike like a professional racer. Titus, in his lean human form, clung to her waist.
"Why didn't I drive!" he yelled.
"Because you're chicken!" she hollered back. "Don't fall off!"
"Would you save me if I did?"
"No!"
She could distinguish figures on the deck: men in fatigues, clearly carrying firearms. She pointed.
"Don't take your hand off the controls!" Titus said.
"Stop being a wimp!" Kate snarled. "We're going to have to come in hot!"
"What does that even mean?"
"It means we're going to have to hit them as soon as we get off the bike!"
Titus was silent.
Kate looked back.
"You okay?"
"I've got an idea!" he yelled. "Fly up there and pull a U-ee!"
"A what?"
"Make a u-turn!"
Kate squinted at him then turned back to the rig. She gunned the controls of the bike and kicked up speed, narrowing the gap between them and surface of the deck. At the last second, she pulled up and above the deck and then slammed the controls to the right, banking a hard turn.
Titus let go of her and jumped off.
The werewolf could be a graceful critter when he wanted to be. Titus transformed smoothly mid-air, doubling in size, the silvery fur of his werewolf form sprung into existence, huge jaws projected where once there was a boyish face.
Kate floated mid-air long enough to see the looks of the two guards closest to Titus as two hundred and fifty pounds of wolf-man crashed to the deck. Titus wrapped one massive paw around the first guard and tossed him overboard as if he didn't weigh a thing; he swatted the gun from the other man's hand, sending stray bullets skittering across the deck, and then grabbed him by his fatigues and hurled him into the water.
More men rushed in to assist, setting up a firing squad and taking aim at Titus. Kate jumped from the bike, leaving it hovering fifteen feet off the deck, and landed a kick to the face of the closest mercenary on her way to the ground. His partner tried to turn his gun from Titus to Kate, but she punched him in the throat and kicked his inner knee, dropping him to the floor, yowling in pain. She picked up the man's rifle and clubbed him with it, knocking him unconscious. Then, she jogged over to catch up to Titus, who just made a mess of two more mercenaries. They lay bloody, but alive.
"You gonna be okay?" Kate said.
Titus stared at her with those enormous yellow eyes and opened his jaws.
"Behind me," he said, barely human, a deep, rumbling, monstrous voice Kate hadn't heard before.
She smirked.
"You got it, big guy. Let's find us that lab."
Billy was having the time of his life.
He wanted to send a thank you note to whoever decided to send inanimate objects to try to kill him. Without fear of injuring anyone, he was able to fly like a lunatic, blasting through heads and chassis with blinding white light, tearing the robots apart. He got into an aerial dogfight with two of them; they attempted to catch him through pirouettes and loop-de-loops.
Dude, this is the most fun I've ever had in my life.
You need to be more careful, the alien said.
Why? I'm not hurting anyone.
Billy heard a mechanical whine; the robots opened up a pair of hatches on their backs. Now, small rockets bristled there, and with a harsh whistle, they launched, trailing smoke and fire. Billy kicked up his speed, trying to outrace the missiles, but they followed, heat seekers like those in blockbuster films, so he figured he'd try something he saw in the movies a few hundred times. Spinning with stomach-lurching speed, he turned back on the robot attackers and sped between them. One exploded at the receiving end of its own rocket, the other got torn apart by two of its own, but Billy was still being chased by a remaining missile.
What if I blast the rocket? Billy asked.
Try to be responsible, Dude said.
Billy fired a hand-blast at the missile, which detonated on contact. The force of the blast knocked him out of his flight path momentarily and he skipped along the surface of the ocean, salt water kicking into his eyes.
Well that burns!
I told you to put goggles on your mask, Dude said.
They keep fogging up.
Two of the robots closed in, trying to hit Billy with some sort of laser weapon strapped to their metallic forearms. Too close for a proper blast, Billy clenched both fists, causing them to glow bright white with built up energy.
Rock 'em, sock 'em . . . he thought.
Some day you will learn you are not meant for comedy, Dude said.
Billy punched the head off of each robot with wild haymakers. "I love this!" he yelled.
His victory was cut short, however, by a barrage of laser blasts. More robots headed his way, including one that looked like the bigger, nastier sibling to the others, a winged monstrosity ten feet tall.
How does it even stay in the air? Billy asked.
Physics, Dude said.
Right, Billy said.
He charged the oncoming robots, blasting through the smaller ones easily. His energy beams staggered a larger model, but it seemed to be shielded against his attacks. Each blast knocked the robot off its flight path but otherwise it remained unharmed.
Dude?
He appears to be a later version than the others.
No kidding. Any suggestions?
Try harder?
You want to get me killed?
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