by P. S. Power
The next fight was a lot harder. He tried to do the same thing, using his fist to take off the head of the man who appeared. That one was smaller, being a few inches shorter than Willum was, even. Thin as well. In fact, had they met on the streets of Noram’s Capital city, he wouldn’t have thought twice about the fellow. He had plain brown hair, golden skin and plain eyes that looked disturbingly insane.
When Will, and then Turner, hit him, the man just stood there. There wasn’t even a clap of force from being struck, which should have happened. When the man hit them back however, they moved. It was Turner who was struck first, flying back in a way that made him wonder for a moment if she’d gained the power of levitation.
When it was Will’s turn, the ground under him shook, as the man encountered his shield. A thing that normally didn't turn on, even in a fight for his life. Not any longer. He was simply so tough that his body didn't really need it, so his mind didn’t bother to protect him that way. Except that now, in front of the skinny man, it did.
It took him several seconds to get the idea. Any force they hit the man with was being absorbed. Then it made him more powerful, on a level that was clearly amplified by a good bit. Probably more than fifty to a hundred times. It would take a lot to hit Marcia Turner hard enough to actually knock her out, after all.
Instead of engaging again, after working that out, he took a deep breath and looked around. There were a lot of others there that could fight and who would. Even if it meant dying. They knew that magic worked though. At least the shields did.
“Captain Morse. Please move in with the cutter. Shield on.”
The man might have been using new equipment, but he wasn’t a coward. The idea that he wasn’t strictly sane was also in there, but he moved well, now that the damage was gone from his body. He still looked a bit plain, but that was just his face, not damage from old wars and battles. The other man, the attacker, just stood there, sneering, as the magical blade was waved through him. The man didn't even try to attack, clearly thinking he was going to take in the energy of the magic. Except that didn’t happen. At first, it seemed like nothing did.
Then the dangerous man simply fell apart. Where there had been one, there were now six pieces.
“Great work, Captain. Back to position, please. Stand ready for the next one.”
That still took a few seconds, about twenty, and Marcia was back, even if her clothing was half off of her. Where she’d hit the ground it had ripped and torn her tan outfit. If it bothered her at all, she didn’t let it show in the moment.
There had been a time, not that long before, when little Willum Baker from the woods would have ducked his head and looked away in fear or shame from her partial nudity. Now he just focused, waiting for the next person to get there. It was a woman again, and instead of relying on Captain Morse, it was Cindy who moved in.
That part was interesting, since she moved rapidly, if not as fast as he could have managed, and choked the lady from behind. There was a lot of purple and green flashing in the air, but after a half minute, with a bit of twisting, her neck popped.
“Sorry about grabbing the glory there, but she had a specific weak spot at the back of her neck. It would have taken too long to explain. Plus, you know, bored.”
She moved back then, letting Will and Marcia take on the next three as they came in. One of them, the last, was running as they got there and moved so fast that Argos and Twitch had to subdue him. He was a small, but very muscular man. It was the woman that ended his life though. Hitting the man ten or fifteen times at a speed that was nearly impossible for Will to follow.
They all stood for a bit, though Cindy broke the spell, groaning.
“Fuuuuck! There’s another one there. Essentially a bomb. An Infected that can blow up… I missed them before since… well, they aren’t really threatening, compared to the others. The deaths from their power will… Probably take out the city there. All of it, not just the building. We don’t have pictures of them, since they were carried in a bag, going in originally. Fudge!”
Everyone just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do at all. Finally, Brian Yi took several steps away.
“Looks like I’m up then. I’ll go in and try to teleport them away.”
Mableton scowled then.
“You won’t make it. We have twenty seconds. You aren’t fast enough. Not for two trips.”
Willum found himself running at the man then.
“Go! Get me there. Now!” He was trying to think of a plan as he did it, to come up with something. Anything really.
There wasn’t a lot that he could do that way, using his powers. Line walking was out, being too slow, even if there had been a node point right there for them to use. Taking an exploding person into the space between worlds, well that might work, he knew. It might kill him, of course, but he might also avoid something like that, in a place that had nothing in it at all.
Yi, even if he didn’t really know him very well, didn’t stop to ask about what was going to be happening. The man simply grabbed him and then started the transfer. It bent space a lot around them. It kind of tickled, as it happened, and from there Willum could have gone into the void. Even taking Yi with him. That wasn’t the plan though.
Really, he didn't have one, to be honest. When they got into place, they found the man they needed right off. He was humming with power and glowing red, which was useful for identification. The fellow was also rather lumpy and misshapen. He had a rough tan shirt on, and as Will closed with him, it was clear that there wasn’t a lot going on inside of his head.
“Ehhh.” That was all the man said as Will hugged him, then, trying not to drop him, which was hard to do, since the shield tried to push the man away, he flew, directly up into the air. As fast as his shield would take him. The glowing man didn't stop, even after being bashed through two floors and the wall, though it was kind of clear he wasn’t alive any longer.
There was a flash of upset inside of Will at that. The man was a danger, but hadn’t seemed like he was evil or anything. Just someone being used for his abilities. In a way, he could kind of sympathize with that. The big difference between them was that Willum Baker knew what he was doing and he was nearly certain that the body he was carrying didn’t. It, he, hadn’t, even while alive.
To his right, as he saw daylight, there was water. An ocean. So he moved that direction, as fast as possible, even as the humming got louder and the energy, the red glowing death shroud, got brighter. For all that Cindy had spoken of there not being time, he had nearly a full minute before he couldn’t hold the body any longer, and had to drop it.
He was moving along at about two thousand miles per hour. That meant he was about thirty-three miles from the city that he’d started in when the explosion took place. The thing was huge and even as he fought to fly away as well as he could, still blind from the light, he was taken by an undeniable force.
Thrown away, mainly, but also into the water.
It didn’t really hurt, but everything went black. Silent as well.
When he finally heard something, and opened his eyes, he was back at the IPB base. Captain Morse, of all people, was over him, holding a healing amulet to his cheek. Willum had to cough up some salty brine then, so turned to the side. His clothing was gone, of course. So was everything that he’d had on him. All of his amulets for instance. After a moment, he reached up and realized that his hair was gone as well. Even the eyebrows.
That got him to snort. They’d grow back, of course. The healing amulet just didn't speed that up for him, for some reason. What he noticed, other than being naked, was that he was starving. That and he couldn’t really move.
Glancing down, he saw why. His right leg hadn’t made it, for some reason. It wasn’t bleeding all over the place, but below the knee it was simply gone. It wasn’t clean or pretty looking either. What it was, of course, was growing back. Even as he watched.
He couldn’t speak, to articulate his needs, so Cindy,
his good friend, did it for him.
“He needs food. Protein to start with, then fat and carbs. A lot of it. We…” She didn’t get to the next line before food was at his lips. It was a drink of some kind, but was thick and sweet. It tasted good, actually. Mark Steinberg was the one doing that part, holding the straw to his lips, so that he could suck on it as Captain Morse helped him sit up.
It took a bit, about half an hour, for his leg to come back, then he pretty much had to keep eating for a while after that, and would doubtless need to for a while. His arms and legs were all back, and whole but he was so skinny it was nearly fearsome to behold. Like a walking skeleton. He could stand though, after a bit, and someone rather kindly, brought him clothing. Real things in gray. Sweats, used during exercise. His, the ones he’d been given, said Team One on them, but fit pretty well. Argos had been the one helping him. The very nice looking man was actually named Jason, he thought. They’d worked together, on cooking, at times.
The man didn't speak, running away at speeds that shook the world, and came back with an arm load of wrapped foods for him to eat.
“Here. It doesn’t all taste that good, but it has what you need. I can get you more. We need to have you eat as much as you can for… well, until your weight is normal again.”
Willum was barefoot, though he didn't feel the ground. Glancing around he saw that Brian had come back from their adventure. His familiar face took things in, ending in a nod. That was somber, but still happy enough.
“You’re alive! That worked then. The explosion was huge. Not nuclear, thankfully. The S.R.R. got you back?”
The littlest one there, Steven, was sitting on the ground. He looked a bit tired, but didn’t sound too worn out or pained at all.
“We will not leave you.”
That was all he said. For the moment, it was enough. Will was happy to hear the words. He was standing and felt all right. At least there was no pain. There hadn’t been the whole time, interestingly enough. It was very clear that he’d nearly died, moments before. Still, when he bowed, going very low, it didn’t hurt or anything. He didn't know if it was the custom of Gwen’s world to do that kind of thing, but it was done back, the small boy standing up to make it happen. He matched Willum, which was pretty polite of him, even if it was happening by accident.
When they both stood up, Steven smiled.
“Now… Is there more for us to do? I have school in the morning. I can miss it, if I have to, but then Gwen will beat me. At least if I’m playing around. Not that she’s ever been anything but kind to any of us. I doubt that I could beat her in a fight though, so, to prevent a sound thrashing…”
Willum nodded at that.
“That sounds like it’s for the best. Especially since we might need your aid in the future. Thank you. You saved a lot of lives today. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to repay that in kind, but if I can do that, I will.” He meant it so bowed again. This time, Marcia Turner did it with him. Matching how low he went. Then almost everyone else did it. Not all of them, but the few who failed to seemed to have a reason behind it. Like the huge armored form that didn’t seem able to bend like that very easily. It was clear that they were trying though.
Willum actually felt fine, he realized. Thinner than he had been, but not like he was weak or feeling poorly. It was a combination of what he’d become thanks to Timon’s changes, and the healing amulet. The magic was powerful, but added to his new nature it was miraculous. Which meant that carrying one of the things with him, if not a half dozen, was a great idea.
That he’d lost a few million gold worth of amulets that day kind of stung, even if he could replace them for free. Not that he wouldn’t have willingly spent the things to save the lives of innocent people. He moved then, to get the others back, taking them from the void, directly to their homes. They each tried to give him the magics back, but that was waved off.
When Morse did it, the man smiled. Looking normal, like he did now. It was a plain enough face, but a good and trustworthy one.
“This was a miracle. I’d trade back to how I was for the ability to give such a thing to others in a similar state.” The man didn't really mean it, but the idea wasn’t a horrible one. They’d just had a war, after all. There were people who would need that same kind of help.
He nodded.
“Keep that one for the purpose. I’ll try to bring some more of them past, if that will work? It might take me a while to get that done. I can drop those with Gwen Harrison? I mean, she can get them to you, if I understand that correctly.” That way he could limit people’s exposure to him, in case it was dangerous to have him around.
Or he could stop being lazy and learn the things he needed to.
How to move into the void from anywhere he was, and then to protect his mind totally, from whoever might be trying to rip the data from it.
There was a nod and a look away from the fellow. The sense from within him was one of being touched, emotionally. It didn’t show on the outside very much, though the man was choking back tears.
“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Baker. I think I speak for all of us that we hope that you and your friends will be there to aid us in the future. What we saw this day was… Incredible. I’d thought that our people were strong and powerful warriors, but none of us here would be able to stand against the weakest of the beings we saw earlier.”
There was a strange feeling to the whole thing. A bit of shame, oddly, as if fighting was more important than almost anything else. The ability to be good at almost anything was more important though, at least to Will’s mind.
“Yet, it was two boys who saved all those lives earlier. Yeah, everyone else there helped, but Steve and Carlton did the heavy lifting for us.” Which was true enough.
The man, who was being returned to his office, smiled, then touched his face.
“They did their part, agreed. I’d noticed though that when a new danger came, it was yourself and that other fellow who dove personally into danger. You nearly died. When you came back, naked and bleeding as you were, I’d figured that you’d given the final payment to save those you didn’t know. There were heroes enough for the day, don’t you think? It doesn’t hurt that you fixed my face and other things.”
That got waved away. Not because Willum didn’t get it, but rather because the man needed him to do something like that. Morse was willing to be grateful, and felt that way deeply. It was simply that it was always hard to hold that kind of thing and maintain your own spirit.
So it was Willum’s part to make certain the Captain didn’t have to worry over it.
“My pleasure. Thank you. Please let everyone here know that for me? I’ll also send a letter, if I can. If you need anything that I can provide you, please let me know.” He nearly added a second anything, but that would be taken as an offer of sex in too many worlds.
Not that he wouldn’t have done that with Morse, if he needed it, but the man wasn’t interested, except in a way that caused him pain to think about. Willum was rather good looking, normally. Much like a woman might be, through the face. That could confuse some men in ways they didn’t enjoy.
He probably should have gone back to the IPB, in order to let them know what was going on, but there was a pressure suddenly, in his mind. A desire to make certain that he learned to protect himself from the danger that had presented itself. Protecting his mind wasn’t more important than learning to open Nodes, but it was near that for him at the moment.
The big difference was that he knew that Avery Rome was going to come and teach him the one thing in a few days. Or weeks. He had to think about things to work out how long that would be, and understood he was probably wrong about the timing. It would be closer to a month and a week away in time, he thought. Even after spending half a day in different worlds that were closer to Avery’s in time. How he was supposed to find out how to keep others from his thoughts as completely as he needed was harder than that. Mainly because he didn’t know what to do
at all.
In the end, he went to his home. The Black Tower. It was at least four days later than when he’d left, which meant that it wasn’t too surprising to find out that there were people there, when he got in. None of them were a tiny Prince, so they were probably visitors. They hadn’t taken all of his things, yet, so that was a good sign. When he walked in, several of them smiled at him. At first. Then one of them jogged over. It wasn’t anyone that he knew, at first, until she was nearly on top of him. Then he got it.
She was tall, about six inches more so than he was. She was slender enough, but had an ample chest and a youthful face. Her hair was blonde and she was, he decided, pretty enough. She was also his Aunt. Alyssa. The woman that had married the Wizard Tor. She was also a wizard herself. They’d met, in passing, but hadn’t actually spoken at length. They certainly weren’t close or anything.
“Willum! You look half starved. Only, no, it’s more than half. What… What happened?” The concern from her was honest, which was interesting to see.
Several others came over then, including Count Ward, who looked nearly as concerned.
“Ah. Well, there was an issue, in a different world. Um… I managed to find some people who could get some hostages to safety, using magic. They needed pictures to work from, and it turned out there was one left at the end. Brian Yi… From the IPB world, he was able to take me to the danger, and I flew the poor man who was about to explode away, over the ocean. He blew up, powerfully. Like a nuclear weapon, without the radiation. I ended up in the water. The S.R.R., the people I’d gotten in to help, they got me back when they’d heard what had happened. Apparently seeing me in person worked for them that way. Thankfully. Then one of them used a healing amulet to save me. It took a lot. They fed me, but I could use some more to eat, to be honest.” He wasn’t starving, but it was time to begin that process.