The Gathering

by Michael Carroll

  “Die, damn you!” Dioxin rushed forward, threw himself at Colin, just as Colin created a powerful electrical charge in his fist and slammed it against the glass.

  The window shattered; they tumbled out, half falling, half sliding down the sloping side of the building. They sank into the deep snowdrift and Dioxin scrambled to his feet. He activated his jetpack and soared away from the ground.

  Colin jumped, stretched his hands out and locked on to Dioxin’s boot. He quickly glanced down; already, they were thirty meters in the air.

  “Let go!” Dioxin roared, using his free foot to kick at Colin’s hands.

  Colin saw his chance: he grabbed Dioxin’s other foot, then began to pull himself up, hand over hand, his fingers digging into the armor.

  Bellowing with rage, Dioxin steered himself at full speed toward the nearby city of Topeka. “Stupid kid! Don’t you ever give up?”

  Through gritted teeth, Colin roared back: “Never!”

  “You see where we’re going?” Dioxin asked. “We’re heading into the heart of the city! So let’s you and me make a deal: you let go of me now and I won’t start firing on civilians!”

  “No deals!” Colin said. “You want me to stop, you’re going to have to kill me!”

  “Innocent people will die!”

  Colin reached up to Dioxin’s belt, tore off the spare missile cartridges and let them drop. “How many shots do you have left, Dioxin?” He glanced down again; below, he could see the snow-covered trees that lined the highway. Directly ahead, larger apartment buildings loomed out of the darkness. Got to stop him before we get too close to the city!

  “Get off me, you little punk!” Dioxin increased his speed and descended, steering straight toward the highway’s overpass. He swung another punch at Colin, but this time Colin was ready: he grabbed Dioxin’s hand and pulled it down toward him.

  Unbalanced, Dioxin began to pitch forward, head-first, toward the overpass. He hit the jetpack’s booster controls and they surged upward once again.

  “All of your men will have been captured by now, Dioxin! You’ve lost!”

  “You think so? We have something you will want back, Wagner! You’re going to have to let me go!”

  Far below, the traffic had stopped as the citizens of Topeka watched the aerial struggle. Directly beneath Colin and Dioxin, a bus driver desperately hurried the passengers from his vehicle.

  “I said, no deals!” Colin grabbed on to Dioxin’s left arm and tried to tear through the armor.

  “You’re an idiot, Colin!” Dioxin shouted. “If you’re holding on to me, you don’t have enough leverage to get through this armor. Whatever way you look at it, I have the advantage!”

  Colin landed a punch straight into Dioxin’s visor. “How so?” he grunted.

  Dioxin lashed out with his right fist, striking Colin in the face. Colin’s lip split open and he felt one of his teeth crack.

  “Because we’re two hundred meters above the ground and I can fly!”

  Holding on to Dioxin’s armor with one hand, Colin reached behind him and tore the jetpack from his back. “Not anymore!”

  “No!” Dioxin screamed.

  Even as they plummeted, Dioxin continued to punch at Colin. “Let go! Let go!”

  Spinning end over end, Dioxin and Colin crashed through the roof of the bus.

  Then…silence. Cautiously, the crowd of onlookers began to gather around the ruined bus. A young policeman rushed forward. “Back! Everyone get back!”

  “Are they dead?” someone asked. “Who was that?”

  “Paragon and one of the new heroes!” the bus driver replied.

  “Thought they were on the same side.”

  “Me too.”

  The police officer yelled again. “I said get back! Now! Stay clear! Come on, people! Go on about your business! There’s nothing to see here!”

  There was a sudden, sharp creak of straining metal, then one of the bus’s windows was shattered by a large steel-covered fist.

  Dioxin pulled himself out through the window. The people ran screaming for cover as Dioxin threw a huge chunk of steel sheeting aside and jumped to the ground.

  The policeman stared at him, fumbling for his gun.

  “What are you looking at?” Dioxin roared.

  Then Dioxin felt something hard hit him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.

  Colin jumped down and landed on top of him, just as Dioxin lashed out with his fist.

  Colin was knocked into the air. He spun around and landed on his feet, facing the armored man.

  Dioxin aimed his rocket launcher at the policeman. “Stay where you are, Wagner, or I’ll fire.”

  “Didn’t we just go through this same thing a few minutes ago?”

  “This time it won’t have the same outcome! Try anything and you’ll be responsible for killing this man!”

  The police officer began to back away from Dioxin.

  “If you run, you die!” Dioxin roared.

  “Let him go, Dioxin,” Colin said. “You know you can’t kill me. No matter what you do, sooner or later I’ll stop you.”

  Still keeping his eyes on Colin, Dioxin said, “You married, officer?”

  “Y—yes.”

  “Kids?”

  “We have a little girl.”

  “Be a shame for her to grow up without her daddy, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes,” the officer said.

  “Wouldn’t it?” Dioxin roared.

  “Yes. Yes, it would.”

  “You hear that, Wagner? You try anything, and you’ll be responsible for making that little girl a semi-orphan!”

  “I hear you, Dioxin.”

  “So what are you going to do, huh? What does the Hero’s Handbook say about situations like this?”

  “It says I should keep you distracted while my partner sneaks up behind you.”

  Dioxin paused. “You almost convinced me with that one.”

  Then the young police officer said, “So you’re not Paragon? You’re Dioxin?”

  “That’s me,” Dioxin said, still watching Colin.

  “What does the Villain’s Handbook say about taking your eyes off an armed police officer?”

  Dioxin turned to him. “What?”

  The policeman had his gun aimed at Dioxin’s face.

  Dioxin laughed. “I’m bulletproof, you moron!”

  And Colin landed a flying kick into the middle of Dioxin’s back.

  He ripped into Dioxin’s armor, just as Dioxin smashed him across the face with a powerful punch. Colin forced Dioxin on to his back, but the armored man kicked out, knocking Colin backward.

  Colin crashed into the wreckage of the bus and Dioxin charged after him.

  Colin tore the door off the bus and slammed it into Dioxin’s helmet, knocking him to the ground.

  “This time, stay down!” Colin said. “You’re beaten!”

  Dioxin slowly raised his head. “I’m not beaten. I’ve never been beaten!” He aimed his missile launcher and fired.

  Colin jumped forward, somersaulting over the missile, and landed directly in front of Dioxin. Behind him, the missile struck the wreckage and exploded, showering the street with flaming debris that melted the packed ice where it struck.

  Dioxin fired again and this time Colin deliberately didn’t dodge it: the force of the explosion knocked them both backward.

  Oblivious to the intense flames that covered his body, Colin darted forward and locked his arms around Dioxin, trapping the missile launcher between them. “Fire another missile and it’ll blow your own arm off!”

  “No!”

  “Your armor protects you from the heat and my own skin protects me. But what’s protecting the rest of your missiles?” Colin quickly looked about and spotted the young policeman. “Clear the area! When the missiles go up they’ll tear the whole street apart!”

  Dioxin struggled. “Get away from me! The explosion will kill both of us!”

  “No, I’m betting tha
t it’ll only kill you,” Colin said. “And I’m not one of those noble heroes who has sworn never to take a life. You burned once before, Dioxin. Now you’re going to burn again!”

  Screaming, Dioxin reached up with his free hand and pulled off his helmet: the armored suit immediately powered down and Colin let him go. Scrambling like crazy, the scarred man began pulling off the rest of his burning armor and staggered backward.

  Colin looked down at his own body. He was still burning, but couldn’t feel the heat. Heat is energy, he thought. And I can control energy! He concentrated, willing the flames to die out. Then they faded, the heat absorbed into his body. He raised his hand experimentally and a bright spark of lightning arced between his fingers.

  Dioxin collapsed to his knees. “You think you’ve won, Wagner. You’re wrong. You might have beaten me, but you haven’t won.”

  Colin replied, “Well, I’m pretty sure you haven’t won.” He called to the police officer: “Can you handcuff this guy? And, you know, feel free to beat him up a little if he tries to escape.”

  The police officer cautiously approached Dioxin, who offered no resistance as his hands were cuffed behind his back.

  “Whatever happens, do not take your eyes—or your gun—off that man. I mean it; give him one chance to get away and he’s gone. He’s responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people—maybe thousands.”

  “Are you OK, son?” the policeman asked Colin.

  “I will be…I’ve got to be somewhere else. Can you arrange for a helicopter or a really fast car?”

  The officer nodded. “Whatever you say, Titan.”

  Colin smiled. “My name’s not Titan anymore. It’s Power.”

  28

  DANNY COOPER WHIRLED ABOUT AS HE heard a sound outside the door to the machine room. He looked up to see Warren Wagner peering down. “I need help here!” Warren said. He was carrying Mina.

  Danny ran up the stairs, followed by Razor and Butler. They saw that both Warren and Caroline were wounded. Butler took Mina in his arms.

  “Where’s Colin?” Danny asked.

  “I wish I knew…” Warren replied. “He tackled Dioxin; last I saw they were in the air, heading toward the city. Razor, what’s the fastest way out of here?”

  “The roof. It’s the only way.”

  “What happened down there?”

  “It was Yvonne,” Razor said. “She ordered everyone to sleep. I think they’re going to be OK though. A couple of them are starting to wake up.”

  Caroline said, “That must be what happened to Mina. When the alarm sounded we found her like this in her room.”

  They heard voices from farther down the corridor and ducked into the doorway. “It’s all right,” Razor said. “I recognize them.”

  Four labcoats appeared, one of them injured and being carried by two others. The woman with the gun said, “We were trapped in the computer room. Renata managed to get us out, but now it looks like she’s trapped!”

  “How many?” Danny asked.

  “Three of them.”

  Danny said, “In the video of the attack on the airport, Dioxin had eight men with him. If he didn’t bring any others, then they’re all accounted for. The four of them in the machine room and the one Josh shot in his office.”

  Warren nodded. “All right. I’ll go and help Renata. Butler? We’ll need your strength to carry everyone out.”

  Danny stopped him. “No, you get the others out; I’ll help Renata. And I need Butler with me.”

  “Danny…”

  “We’ll be back. Butler, let’s go!”

  Butler passed the unconscious Mina to Razor, then he and Danny raced toward the computer room. They stopped when they saw that one of the massive Cray supercomputers had been wedged in the doorway.

  “How are we going to get past that?” Butler asked.

  “Turn your force field on,” Danny said to Butler.

  “But…”

  “Just do it!” Danny said. “You want to be one of the new heroes, then start acting like one!”

  Dumbly, Butler nodded. A shimmering glow appeared around him, close to his body.

  “Now extend it forward; push that thing out of the way!”

  The translucent bubble stretched out from Butler’s body and pressed against the supercomputer. Butler turned pale, shaking from the effort.

  “Come on,” Danny said. “You can do it!”

  The supercomputer creaked; the side caved in and it shifted forward a little, then stopped. Butler swayed and looked as though he was about to collapse. The force field vanished.

  “One more push!” Danny ordered.

  His voice barely a whisper, Butler said, “To heck with you, you one-armed freak!”

  Danny grabbed Butler’s arm and pushed him toward the doorway. “Insult me later. Just do it!”

  Butler took a deep breath and straightened up. The force field appeared around him again, but instead of using it to clear the doorway, he simply charged at the supercomputer and slammed into it with his shoulder. The Cray burst free and crashed to the ground just inside the door.

  Butler paused at the entrance, took another deep breath and stepped into the room.

  There was a single gunshot; the bullet struck Butler in the shoulder, spinning him about, dropping him to the ground.

  Danny couldn’t see any blood: it looked as though the force field had stopped the bullet from piercing Butler’s skin, but it hadn’t lessened the impact.

  Butler started to get up, then groaned and collapsed on to his back.

  If he passes out, he’ll lose the force field! Danny thought.

  Then…Renata’s skin shimmered as she turned back to human and she ran toward Butler. The first gunshot missed her. She grabbed hold of Butler’s leg and started pulling him to safety. A second shot struck the wall next to Renata’s face.

  “No!” Without thinking, Danny ran into the room, then stopped: he could see Renata, Butler and the two mercenaries, but they were all moving in slow motion.

  The mercenaries spun about, aiming toward him, firing. Danny watched as the bullets moved past him at the speed of a paper airplane.

  He easily and quickly stepped out of their line of fire.

  My God…I’m doing it!

  Danny knew—somehow—that he wasn’t able to move as fast as he could before he lost his powers and that he’d never be able to attain that speed again. But for now, this was enough. He walked over to the two astonished mercenaries and pulled their weapons from their hands, then quickly tied them up with discarded lengths of cable.

  Danny shifted himself back to normal time, to see Renata staring at him in shock.

  “Your power’s back.” She smiled at him and placed her hand on his face. Then she collapsed to the floor, clutching the wound in her stomach.

  29

  “EVERYONE’S OUT,” FAÇADE TOLD COLIN as he piloted the helicopter back to Sakkara.

  “Are they all right?”

  “No fatalities, but some serious injuries. Josh and Renata have been shot. Mina’s in some sort of coma.”

  “God…Why didn’t anyone else come to help?”

  “When the attack started, the air force received an order to assist, but the order was almost immediately rescinded.”

  “By whom?”

  “No one knows,” Façade said. “General Piers—the base commander—insists that he was instructed to order everyone to stand down, but he can’t remember who gave him that order. They’re on the way now.”

  Colin looked out into the night. “There they are…” He pointed. “On the grounds in front of the building.”

  “You can see them?”

  “Enhanced night-vision, remember?”

  “Of course. Hold on, I’ll set us down.”

  “No need,” Colin said. He unclipped his seat belt and jumped from the copter, landing heavily in the snow.

  He looked over toward his family and friends, then there was a blur and a gust of wind, and suddenly he saw Dan
ny standing next to him, a flurry of snow settling.

  “So you’ve got your speed again?”

  “Yeah. I can’t move as fast as I did before I lost my arm, but…I’m still a lot faster than anyone else.” They ran over to the others.

  “Façade said that Renata…”

  “She was shot in the stomach…I don’t know what we’re going to do. She turned herself solid just after I got to her. Colin, we can see the bullet inside her! Your dad says that she needs immediate surgery, but there’s no way anyone can operate if she’s solid, and if she turns back she could die before they can get the bullet out.”

  “Colin!” Caroline ran up to her son. “Is everything…?”

  “I stopped him, Mum. And…I have something to show you. Later though.” He stepped past her and went over to his father, who was crouched next to Renata, a medical kit open beside him. “Dad?”

  “She’s in a bad way. At least, I think she is. I don’t know what to do, Colin. We can’t possibly operate on her like this, but being solid is probably the only thing that’s helping her. Looks like the bullet is pressing against her spine. If she were to move it could paralyze her or worse.”

  “If she wasn’t solid, what would you do?”

  “I’d go in and get the bullet out.”

  “Is it a delicate operation?”

  “Under ideal circumstances, yes. But in an emergency…you just have to dive right in and dig it out.”

  Colin looked at Danny. “We don’t have time to get in touch with Renata’s family and ask their permission. So I’m asking you, Dan. You’re her best friend. What should we do?”

  “She can remain like this for, well, probably forever. She was frozen for ten years after Ragnarök’s battle. But that was different; she wasn’t conscious then. For all we know she could be in constant pain.”

  “What should we do?” Colin repeated.

  “Operate. Get the bullet out.”

  “All right,” Colin said. “She can’t hear when she’s solid; someone get me a piece of paper and a pen. Dad, what’s the procedure? If you’re doing an operation like this, how does it go?”

  “The bullet’s deep, so I’ll have to make a lateral incision in the stomach, about four centimeters on either side of the wound. Hold the skin and muscle open and, well, just reach in, find the bullet, take it out, then sew her up.”