by Matt Abraham
It was only twenty feet away when Mayhem’s lackeys charged past me, followed closely by Slamazon and Psy-ball. Kalamity was the last one out, but she paused and said, “Sorry about everything, Curse. I was wrong as hell. You’re a standup guy.”
“You can buy me an Octane later,” I said. “For now, split.”
She knocked my shoulder. And ran out the door.
That only left Tera and Doodle.
“Come on, sweetheart. We got to go,” I said.
“Ok.” Doodle took another step towards me.
But Tera yanked her back again. “Dane, I always knew you’d ruin everything.” The old broad’s eyes were wild. Her face twisted like a tiki. “But you’ll never do it again.” She took a deep breath. I’d never seen her inhale that much before, and whatever was about to come out of her mouth was probably going to do a lot more damage now that I was already weak from the venom.
So I ducked down. And covered my ears. Prepared for the worst. But it never came.
I glanced up.
Tera was standing still. Her look of anger turned to confusion.
I didn’t blame her. The blue gas that was rolling in thick like a sandstorm had stopped. And it was floating up into the rafters along with the three canisters it came from.
I lowered my hands. “What the hell?” It was like a bright thundercloud localized above us.
But then something cut through the azure fog. Someone, actually. Three of them. They sailed down and landed on the floor gentle. And I knew the storm hadn’t blown over.
It had just started.
Chapter 52
The three men stood in the middle of the room. Swamp was closest, looking furious. Vector was right behind him, with enough confidence on his face to go around. But the one that gave me the chills was Scourge. He was staring right at my kid and her mom when he said, “Remember, we split the rock three ways, but the dames… They’re all mine.”
“Agreed,” Swamp said. And he and Scourge charged for the girls.
I ran at them with Rico in hand, ready to intercept. But coming towards me fast was Vector. I raised my piece and-
“Where do you think you’re going?” Vector extended his hand.
And my body got heavy. Rico dipped as I dragged both feet across the floor like I was knee deep in oatmeal, and came to a stop.
“Dane!” Doodle lunged towards me.
But Tera grabbed her arm. “Forget your father, stand by me.”
My daughter looked my way. “No,” she said. “He needs me.” And she tore completely free from her mother’s grasp.
“What?” Tera said. “You stop right-” She spun from our daughter, turning to the pair of men running towards her, and screamed. The force wave blasted a hole in the floor. Scourge leapt over it, and kept moving left towards Doodle, as Swamp veered to the right in pursuit of Tera.
Doodle made it two steps in my direction before she saw Scourge was coming and stopped.
“Forget Dane,” the fiend said. “You’re mine.”
My daughter, still on the stage near her mother, snapped towards him and pulled her pistol out.
“Doodle,” I said, “look-”
“Hey,” Vector said, “we’ve got unfinished business.” He swiped a hand to the side and his power jerked me backwards through the air.
I landed flat on my chest. Blood from my head wounds poured down my face. While ahead of me, Doodle, still clutching the diamond, fired at Scourge. He rolled behind a column to the left. She couldn’t see, but he pulled out a gun of his own.
“Are you listening to me?” Vector said. He circled behind me.
I was still stuck to the ground like it was glue. No good. My baby needed me. So with my Thumper still in hand, I pressed against the floor. And managed to get a few inches up. Then I glanced back. Vector was right behind me now. Perfect. I slid Rico under my left arm, aimed comically high through the back of my coat, and fired.
The bullet shot upwards. But because of the heavy gravity the slug changed trajectory, rocketed down, and hit Vector’s flank. He yelled, “You bastard,” and clutched his hip where a red spot was spreading beneath his fingers.
Finally. I’d managed to put a pill in him. But he’d need more. I flipped over, aimed at his chest and fired again.
Behind him a window shattered.
But then another gunshot came from the stage. And Doodle screamed.
I looked over. Scourge was pointing his smoking piece up at my kid. She was bleeding from her thigh. Yet Doodle stood straight, and keeping the diamond close with one hand, fired down at him.
The slippery fiend ducked back behind his column. And chunks of plaster fell to the ground as my daughter blasted away.
Next to her, on the right, was Tera. She screamed and sent another sonic wave down at Swamp. It hit square, bursting him apart like a popped water balloon. But he reformed in seconds as a green, liquid waterman. Tera shrieked at him again. This time he flattened out like a puddle, slithered to the side, and popped back up, whole and unharmed.
Vector stepped to my flank, and looked down on me. “Still not getting it, are you?”
“I’m a slow learner.” I was flat on my back, with Rico pressing down on my chest. I aimed him up at Vector’s face as best I could. And fired another round.
It blew a hole in the ceiling.
“You must be. If I can move beams of light around my body, and compress gas, shifting the trajectory of bullets is easy.” Vector pushed both hands out and his power hit me like a waterfall, pressing down so hard the wooden planks beneath me groaned.
I turned my head so I could see my kid. She was on one knee now. Still shooting at Scourge. But then her clip ran dry.
Scourge poked his head out. But stopped when he saw me. He licked a lip, then pointed his piece my way. I could tell he was aiming for an eye. And with me stuck still, and his quality vision, he’d probably hit square, and blind me for life.
Doodle yelled, “No.” She manifested twin blades from her forearm. And tossed one at Scourge.
It hit his wrist as he fired at me, and the bullet sailed wide, striking my shoulder. Blood poured down his arm as the gun fell from his hand. “You bitch!”
“Oh yeah,” Doodle said. And then she tossed the second knife.
This metal shiv hit Scourge’s leg. He screamed again, and fell.
Doodle looked at me and winked.
But she didn’t notice that Scourge had landed right next to his pistol. He scooped it up, and from his back he shot again. This bullet hit my kid’s hip.
She spun, and dropped the Coconut.
Tera screamed, “No.”
I thought she must’ve seen Doodle.
But I was wrong.
Tera was staring at the Coconut as it rolled off the stage and fell onto the floor. She shoved our wounded daughter aside and dove after it.
Both Swamp and Scourge moved towards the diamond. Vector took a few steps that way, too. And his power eased some.
I rolled to my stomach. More blood ran into both eyes.
“What’re you doing?” Vector said.
“Shooting your boss.” I pushed Rico out, lifted him up, and tried to aim at Swamp. But the blood in my orbs was blurring my vision as the cut Scourge put in my left eye throbbed. Meanwhile the shoulder Mayhem blasted ached. And the gun, it was still so heavy. But I strained. And a number of muscles ripped in my arms.
Vector laughed. “You still think that’ll work? Bullets slide right through him. Man. Sketch was right, you are an idiot. Here. Go nuts. You’ll probably hit Tera.” He was confident. Cocky. He let up a little more so I could aim at his boss.
Ignoring the pain, I got Swamp in my sights.
“Is this what fatherhood is?” Vector said. “Being so stupid that you’ll give your life, and everything you’ve got, to help a dumb kid that resents you?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what it is.” I pulled my trigger five times. Each bullet hit Swamp’s back dead center. Green liquid sprayed fr
om his chest. But he didn’t even slow down as he moved towards the Coconut.
“See?” Vector said. “You didn’t do squat.”
“I wasn’t aiming at him.”
“Huh?”
“Those were target seekers.” As I said it the bullets turned in the air, and came back hard like a squad of angry hornets, seeking the tracer I’d put in Vector’s torso moments ago. And because he didn’t know they were coming, and was far enough away from the gravity field that had me trapped, those bullets hit true. They ripped through his body like hungry rats. Vector doubled over and grabbed the green guts and red blood that poured out of him like meat from a grinder. He opened his mouth, and blood leaked out along with a meek, “How?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I jumped to my feet, put Rico to his forehead, and pulled the trigger. The explosive tip spread his brains onto the floor, and Vector fell to the ground, not quite as attractive as he once was.
Then, without his power to hold them up, the canisters belching out viper vapor dropped like stones, while the massive cloud of blue smoke above us descended in slow motion.
I ignored the encroaching danger, wiped the blood from my eyes, and turned towards Doodle.
Scourge, with his gun out, was walking her way. His look was sickening. Between me and Doodle, Swamp danced with Tera. She somehow had the diamond in her hand. But Swamp was holding onto her head and had it encased in his watery grip. She still had some fight in her though. And my ex let loose a scream that would’ve vaporized a normal man. But Swamp was liquid. The sound waves passed through him harmlessly.
Tera thrashed some as her air supply diminished. Then, in a desperate last ditch effort, she pulled a pistol with her right hand, put it up to Swamp’s flank, and emptied her clip with abandon. The slugs all passed through their target. Three of them slapped the far wall. The fourth hit Scourge. He fell to the ground and stopped moving.
But Tera’s fifth bullet hit Doodle. And it sent a bloody spray from her shoulder.
Then my world went red. All I saw was her. All I heard was static. I screamed, “Doodle,” and charged.
And my daughter looked at me. Not her mom. Me.
And how I don’t know, but with one hole in her leg, another in her hip, and now a third in her arm, that wonderful woman stood tall. She didn’t tumble or anything. But she did take a step. She was coming my way. But another few feet and she’d fall off the stage. Which was a five-foot drop.
In her dazed condition maybe she didn’t notice it. But if she dropped from that height, her bones would break easy. Maybe one in her neck. Either way, it wouldn’t help the three holes in her body.
I had to catch her.
But between us stood Swamp. The diamond lay on the ground at his feet. And Tera hung dead in his hand. He dropped my ex next to the rock, and turned to me.
I didn’t slow down. I had to plow through him and catch my baby.
But then, just like that night outside Wetlands, he became a wave, and crashed over me.
Suddenly everything went cold and quiet.
I was inside of Swamp. And when he spoke his voice had an echo. “I told you I was going to get her.”
I thrashed, writhed, and twisted inside him, trying to push myself out. But I couldn’t see a surface. There was nothing to swim towards.
“And I told you why. You raised a bitch, a dirty little slut. Should I tell you what she did to get the secret of that rock from me? You want to know what she’s capable of before you die?”
I focused. And beyond the thick, green water I could see Doodle. Barely. She was blurry. And wounded. But if I could get to her I could save her life by stopping the bleeding like I did with Monday, back on the-
“Answer me,” Swamp said. “Or are you afraid of the truth? Afraid of knowing what she is?”
No more talk. No more time.
I reached into my jacket and pulled out Lois. She jumped to life and clung to my arm. I put her on scatter shot, aimed towards the front of the club, and pulled the trigger.
And she roared. Bright light flooded from her. And the kick sent me flying out of Swamp. I hit the ground and slid away. Blinking twice I got my sight back. The front of the building was now gone. So was much of the roof. It had cleared some of the blue vapor away, but the canisters were still belching out more.
In the middle of it all, Swamp, once again made of flesh and blood, was somehow still standing. His eyes were wide open. But they were dull. Slowly, he spun around. And the back half of the body, the skin, the organs, and the bone, were completely gone. Lois’ energy blast had vaporized half his liquid form, so when he solidified he was only partially there.
He collapsed. But before he hit the ground I was up and running for Doodle. She was already falling off the stage. And coming down hard. Her head was sailing towards the floor. Sprinting two steps I dove, sliding on my knees.
And snatching her from the air, I caught Doodle soft in both arms.
I did it. I saved my little girl. I helped her when she needed me most.
I looked down. And couldn’t believe it.
From chin to belt, my kid was a wet, red mess.
I looked at her shoulder. It was untouched. A few inches away though, on her neck, was a tiny hole. And it was spurting. Too strong for a vein. But too weak for an artery.
“Doodle. Talk to me. Say something.”
My daughter looked up at me.
“Baby. Don’t worry,” I said. “There’s an ambulance outside. I got the cops. They’ll save you. They’ll-”
Then something brushed my cheek. It was gentle. And soft. It was a butterfly. A lone butterfly. With bright blue and pink wings, and long, curling antennae. I looked at Doodle’s arm. The beautiful clutch of fluttering insects that she’d tattooed there were leaving her. One-by-one they peeled off her skin and jumped into the sky in search of their sisters, and as they did they brushed my cheeks.
When they were all gone there was movement beneath her shirt. And a pair of doves crawled out of her sleeve, and flew up into the rafters.
Then, from Doodle’s back, a pair of white angel wings unfurled, their tips landing on the ground. She pointed upwards. “Pretty,” she said. “So pretty.”
Above us, like a kaleidoscope, the butterflies and the doves shined and shimmered as they flew in a large circle.
I gazed at her work. And was moved. Then I looked at her. And was awed.
My daughter. The artist.
Her chest was rising. But those breaths were shallow. And with a hand that shook when it moved, she reached up and touched my face. “Hey Dad,” she said. “I knew you’d come.”
And then she smiled.
The dewy kind.
Right before she died in my arms.
And I sat there. It was quiet. The blue mist was thinner. Most of it had moved to the hole in the front of the club. But there was still enough floating around me to make it all seem unreal.
I was snapped from my trance by something striking my shoulder.
It was a dead dove.
The second one landed to my left. And then, like autumn leaves, the butterflies floated down. The angel wings fell to the ground in a pile of feathers. All the knives and weapons, the flowers and fairies, peeled off and fell from Doodle’s body, and for the first time in forever she didn’t have a mark. Not a smudge. She was pure and perfect, and about as heavy as a baby bird.
I put her down as gentle as I could, then lifted my two shaking hands and wiped my face. There was no blood though. The tears I just realized I was weeping had washed it all away.
Then, from a few yards out, came an, “Uhg.”
I quelled my crying and looked over.
Something in a black suit, with an oversized left eye and some tangled scars beneath it, was crawling away.
I got to my feet. A few steps away sat the Coconut. With steady hands I scooped it up, and brought it over to Scourge.
“You forgot your diamond,” I said.
Scourge flipped to
his back. “Dane. Dane, listen.”
I got over top of him and sat on his chest.
He said, “Listen. Listen to me, I don’t… I didn’t… I never wanted to hurt her. I just wanted the stone, see?”
“You want the Coconut?” I grabbed his jaw and held it shut as I raised the diamond high. “Then have it.”
Scourge looked at the shining orb with naked terror. Its bright reflection lit up his eyes.
And I brought it crashing down onto his forehead. The skin there split as the skull beneath it cracked. Scourge’s eyes went funny. I lifted the Coconut up again. And hammered it into him once more. This time his skull collapsed while his throat made wet sounds like a garbage disposal.
But I could still recognize him.
So I beat his face with that rock again. And again. And again. I beat his head until nothing remained that would make you think he was ever human. And when I finished, everything above his neck, his skull, eyes, teeth, and brain, were pounded into the planks below. And that wood was wet and red. Like a butcher’s block.
“Drop it, police!” someone yelled.
I turned. Standing alone on this side of the wall of smoke, with his service revolver drawn, was Monday. “Dane, are you… is that you?” He holstered his sidearm and ran over.
I rose to my feet, walked over to Doodle, and scooped her up in my arms.
He looked at what I had. “Is that…”
“Yeah,” I said. “The most precious thing in Gold Coast City. And a God damn diamond.”
Monday spun around and yelled, “Do not enter. The building isn’t safe. Gas is too thick, hold your fire I’m coming out.”
From beyond the haze someone said, “Hold your fire and positions, officer coming out.”
Monday covered the distance between us. “Is she dead?”
I had his answer in my eyes.
“I’m so sorry. But you have to… you have to go. I’ll take her from here.”
I didn’t move. I just stood there.
“Dane, the SPECs are here. All of them. And a few white capes, too.” He reached out. “Give her to me. I’ll get her home. I promise.”
As gentle as I could I handed my daughter to him. Then I took the Vandenberg Coconut, far and away the world’s largest and most valuable diamond, and placed it on her lap.