Pacific Station Vigilante (Book 2): The Negative Man [Stormfall]

by Jeremy Croston

  Kim was telling me the truth. Grimes would use whatever tactical advantage he could. “Where are they now?”

  “I don’t know. When she transforms into that thing, it’s like she’s no longer the same person. Titan has a mind of its own, it’s not my wife!” More to himself than me, “She was even able to fool Becky’s super senses.”

  I had no idea what he was talking about, nor did I care. This really put a damper on things. I was left in an awkward spot, to let this man continue to live or to kill him and put him out of his misery. Heather no doubt would want him dead, yet Father Reigart’s words wormed into my mind. I saw a visage of the big, bearded man telling me to spare a life.

  With nothing left to do here, “Tonight is a very lucky night Mr. Krummel, you get to live.”

  “Will you spare my wife?”

  I said nothing until I got to the door. “I make no promises.”

  Back on the streets, my phone rang. At first I thought Heather had woken up faster than I imagined and was ready for that conversation. Instead, it was a secure line from inside Wonder-Tech Tower. “Hello?”

  “Jericho Staley, or do you prefer The Negative Man?”

  I bit my lip, drawing blood. “How do you know who I am?”

  “Meet me at the top of Wonder-Tech Tower now or else.” The line went dead.

  I rushed into the closest power line and made my way to my building. I flew out of the line on to the roof to see a figure standing there in a yellow cloak. “So you figured out who killed your dad, did you?”

  The kid didn’t move, fury locked every joint in his body. “They called you a stable force for the city, the one who could build Pacific Station back up. Little did they know you were the wolf in sheep’s wool.”

  I really wanted to know who this kid was. “You know me, it seems only fair I should see your face.”

  He dropped his hood and took off the orange tinged goggles. It was the kid who followed Becky Walker around. “My name is Kyle Wonderton, son of John Wonderton. Tonight you die.”

  Just like before, he rushed at me as fast as he could. Knowing his attack pattern, I was ready this time and phased into the power lines before he ever had a chance to hit me with that Stormfall attack. He went through the open air where I’d been, coming to a stop close to the edge of the building. When he turned around, I was there and grabbed him like a child.

  Dangling him over the roof, “I could kill you right here, just like that. In fact, I already spared your pathetic life once.” I spun around and tossed him to the rooftop. “Before you die, let me drop some hard knowledge on you about dear old daddy.”

  “Don’t you sa-”

  “Shut up.” I zapped him in the chest to knock the wind out of him. “Your hero was much less a hero and more of a bad guy like me. He killed without care, he broke the laws, yet because it was against criminals, no one cared.”

  He tried to talk back but I hit him again. “And don’t even get me started on what your uncle Wayne Motts told me. Did you know John Wonderton knew your mom was pregnant and ran? Instead of telling her the truth about himself, he ran away like a chicken.”

  I saw tears in the boy’s eyes. “You don’t get to judge people. You’re as evil and vile as they come!”

  Throwing my hands into the air, “It’s all about perspective young Kyle. Believe it or not, I want this city to succeed. I want a place that’s safe and orderly for everyone.” Here I was, preaching like a typical villain. “When people see my final plan, they’ll appreciate it.”

  A snort came from the kid, who wasn’t as down and out as I thought. Unexpectedly, he jumped up and connected with a right hook to my ribs. As I doubled over, he delivered a heel kick to my head and then a knee to my chest. He was very fast.

  I just had been doing this a lot longer. His next punch was caught in midair by the hand wearing the fusion gauntlet. Using the juice I had built up, I slammed him on to the rooftop, effectively ending his attack. He looked broken, but still as defiant as ever.

  Spitting, “Come on tough guy, just kill me already. Or are you afraid I might have more left in me to give?”

  “The only thing you have left to give is more bones to be broken.” Even that may have been questionable given how bad he was contorted. “You lost, admit defeat.”

  “Never!” He pushed himself up one more time and attacked. The attack was in slow motion compared to his earlier offering and I sidestepped him. With his momentum carrying him off towards the edge of the rooftop, I gave him an extra push. His body went flying off Wonder-Tech Tower and into the night. Another lion had been slayed.

  From street level, “Negative Man, this is Chief Grimes with the Pacific Station Police Department. You are surrounded. We have no intention of capturing you.”

  I stepped up to the edge and looked down. There must’ve been over a hundred riot officers with assault rifles around Wonder-Tech. Beside Grimes was Titan, looking ready for its return match.

  There was no way for me to project my voice down to their level, so I strapped in the polarity accelerator and unleashed a torrent of white lightning into the sky. If it was a fight they wanted, I’d happily oblige.

  Titan took my display as an invitation to come up, so the rockets kicked on and it flew up to meet me. It landed with a thud and it had its gun out. “Lethal force has been okay’d by Chief Grimes. Executing Omega Protocol.”

  That meant nothing to me. With all the positive energy reverberating inside, I was ready for whatever the thing using Diana Krummel’s body had instore. We attacked at the same time, our energies colliding in midair and lighting up the darkened sky over the city. As the two of us began our final fight, the riot officers broke down the front doors to Wonder-Tech and started storming the building.

  Chapter 31 –

  Saturday Night; Wonder-Tech Tower

  I pushed back, keeping Titan’s attack at bay. Then it stopped out of the blue. “Energy signature does not match. Positive identification cannot be made.”

  The fool! I blasted it in the chest with a round of energy. Titan stumbled backwards, towards the edge of the building. I ran forward and jump kicked it in the face, sending the armored super back down to the street. Doors behind me blew open, depriving me of the chance to watch my foe crash. Bullets began raining down on me and I needed to put up the energy shield.

  Seven or so riot officers circled me, not letting up on the bullet storm. The sheer amount of projectiles coming towards me meant I couldn’t focus any other blasts of them, as I needed to focus on the shield. What I could do is run, so I took off towards the open door. As soon as I entered the stairwell, the bullets stopped hitting me and I went down a level to set a trap.

  Two more officers were surprised by my sudden appearance and paid the price. I kicked their sizzled bodies to the side and went into my office. I ripped off a power socket cover and tapped into the buildings electrical. By adding my own juice to the wiring, soon every socket in the place was ready to go. As the riot police showed up, I turned it up one more notch, blowing out every single one in the building.

  I laughed as they all took the full brunt of the attack. Not even their vests could save them from being overcharged. My hope was that latest scheme took out quite a few of them, making it easier for me to get to the street level and check on Titan.

  Turns out I didn’t have to. Titan crashed through my window and tackled me to the ground. “Threat level assessed – suspect is The Negative Man.”

  I ducked out from another blow and pushed it off of me. The thing weighed so much. “That was a new window!”

  A gun appeared pointed at my head. “Termination is imminent, prepare for death.”

  There was no way I was going to let Titan kill me in my own office, thank you very much. I ducked behind the desk as it fired and my computer was blown away. I rolled out into the reception area and back into the stairwell. I heard the heavy feet following behind so I ducked out three floors down.

  There were three dead off
icers greeting me on the floor along with two more who were very much alive. When I came through, they turned their guns on me and fired. I put my shield up and continued to run. Titan followed me in, pursuing me.

  I had one choice, to jump out the window. We were still on the twenty-seventh floor, but I had no other options. I needed to create some space. With my shield still up, I crashed through the window.

  As my descent started, I let the polarity accelerator leach some more power and convert it. With a full charge, I created an energy blast to slow my fall, allowing me to land on my feet. Titan, with rocket boosters on, landed beside Chief Grimes at the front of the building.

  I was directly across from them on the other side of the plaza. Two officers were flanking Grimes and they drew their weapons. The grizzled police chief looked on, not scared or even intimidated by me. “You finally show yourself you piss ant. I hope the people of this city remember this day for a very long time.”

  “You’re gloating and I’m still very much alive. Too bad the same can’t be said for most of your force you sent to their dooms.”

  He pointed at me and barked at Titan. “Kill him.”

  Titan fired again at me but my shields nullified its attack. It let up once again. “Energy anomaly detected. Reverse charge is nullifying my attacks.”

  Grimes kicked the ground in anger. “How is this possible? I was told using positive energy would destroy you!”

  “It’s a true shame you don’t understand science or I’d explain it to you.” Tired of Grimes and all his skullduggery, I used the fusion gauntlet once more to great success. A concentrated beam of energy entered his forehead and went out the other side. I was amused by the look on his face as he died.

  I quickly took out the two police officers who were beside them, leaving only Titan and myself. With the chief dead, I wasn’t sure what would happen.

  Well Titan must’ve been still loyal to the cause or Diana’s mind inside still worried about her husband. Either way, it went on a rampage, blasting everything on the block. Deciding it was best to lure this thing away from the city, I kept my physical form and started running down the street. Not disappointing me, it took chase.

  Titan created a path of devastation as it tracked me. Each turn I made led it to a new area to unleash its wrath. Energy blasts and wild attacks happened at almost every step. A few times I had to put up my shields to protect myself from the mad giant’s tirade. I tried to fight back, but it had too many options to either evade my counters or just power through them. I couldn’t get close enough to attack like I needed.

  That gave me an idea. Docked in the harbor was the Cruising Warship Poseidon. It had been decommissioned about five months ago and was a popular tourist spot. Its narrow corridors and tight confines would be the perfect place to ambush Titan.

  So I kept going, running in the streets leading it to the harbor. The very few people we encountered fled in fear, but there were a few deaths along the way. Mind you, it wasn’t from me, but the one who’d been tasked to protect the city from me.

  After a long trek, we made it to the harbor. I stopped to face my attacker before going on to the ship. “If there’s any part of your humanity left, you need to stop this. Your husband’s safe with Grimes dead.”

  It fired another shot at me, one that barely missed. “Omega Protocol is in place. I cannot deviate from my orders.”

  My God, just what did Grimes do to this lady? It seemed that the moment for reasonable negotiations were over. “I’m sorry Kim, I did try.”

  I hopped the railing and ducked into the battleship. It was cold, dark, and empty. Due to it being completely metal, I could hear everything. Titan’s loud footsteps echoed with each thud on the metal. My first chance came not long after we boarded. With the accelerator at full throttle, I jumped out of the shadows with my hands charged. Titan turned in time and smacked me away like a fly with its gun. I landed hard and had to duck into another corridor to avoid the follow up blast from its gun.

  Safely with my back against the wall, I watched it stalk to where I was hiding. It was too big for most of the areas on the ship, so it had to push through, bending the metal with each lumbered step.

  I ducked away right before it put its hand in to grab me. I circled back in the maze of darkened corridors trying to find a way to sneak up on it. I knew I’d gone too far when I no longer could hear it pounding around. I had two options, to either go back and search for it or wait until it found me. I picked to be the aggressor.

  I did my best to retrace my steps, but no luck. I came to a staircase that led up so I took it. At the top was a hatch that led out to the open deck. Needing some fresh air, I went.

  No sooner did I exit than did Titan grab me. “Omega Protocol complete.”

  Instead of attacking me with another pulse, it crashed its right hand into my face, destroying my mask. The impact of the blow sent me skidding across the deck and crashing into a pole set up for crowd control. Titan took to the air with its rocket boosters and tried to land on me. I got clipped by one of its heavy feet and felt my arm get crushed. The fusion gauntlet was destroyed in the process.

  A kick to my ribs flung me back to the middle of the desk. It now knew that energy attacks were pointless and it was concentrating all of its skill on physical. It rushed at me again, trying to use its shoulder to inflict more harm.

  With my good arm, I wrapped my hand around it as it passed and began channeling everything I had into one last attack. On my chest, I could feel the accelerator working overtime, converting more and more of the negative energy into positive. Titan started bucking like a bull, trying to get me off of it and away from my attack.

  I whipped my broken arm on to its armor as well, using the limp limb as another conduit for energy to be released. The more I poured into it, the more Titan stopped fighting back and began falling. Like before, the armor began receding, so I kept it up. Grunting, I finished the job with one large blast.

  At that very moment, as I was putting all my effort into putting Titan down once and for all, a figure burst out of the water and on to the deck. It rushed towards me and when the loud pop of a sonic boom carried across the water, I knew what was coming.

  **Kyle Wonderton**

  I should’ve been dead, but I’d been able to catch on to the building beside us. I took my time to recover while Jericho dealt with the police and Titan. I’d stalked them out here and with my final chance here, I timed my strike accordingly. He was operating at full capacity and with Jenkins’ calculations; I lined up the perfect attack.

  As I burst out of the water, I saw his mask was gone and I could see the look of fear in his eyes. He knew this was the one attack that would end him. I felt my body accelerate past the speed barrier, each step doing what Jenkins told me it would – bringing me to the breaking point. The pain was hard to overcome, but I formed a fist and looked my father’s murderer in the eye.

  With victory in hand, with my father’s death about to be avenged, I saw Becky’s face, the faces of all those I saved from the burning gl-O-bal building, and then my mom’s. Was I really about to die for something like revenge? As I looked into the eyes of my father’s murderer, I made a split second decision that would change everything…

  **Jericho Staley**

  As the blur lined up his attack, at the very last moment he veered off to the side. I was still hit by something, maybe his elbow or a grazing knee, but not the full blast. Titan, or I should say Diana, fell to the deck. Her lifeless body no longer attached to that awful power or Chief Grimes machinations.

  I landed a few feet to her left, my body physically numb from Wonderton’s attack. Above us, flashes of lightning began to appear in the sky just like in the warehouse. Even though it wasn’t a direct hit, whatever energy I had in me entered the atmosphere and was supercharging into a localized version of The Stormfall.

  Kyle approached me, conflicted emotion evident. “I see you survived.” A miracle considering I flung his body off Wond
er-Tech Tower. Helpless and broken, “Why didn’t you do it?”

  A strike from The Stormfall struck the water beside the ship, sending a wave of cold saltwater over us. “I’m not like you. You’re still alive because I’m a better person than you.”

  I tried to get up, but I had nothing left. I looked down and the polarity accelerator was cracked in the middle. “You need to get out of here. One strike from that lightning will kill you.”

  He tried to pick me up. “Not without you. Death would be too easy.”

  He wasn’t strong enough to pick me up and another bolt hit the top of the ship, sending sparks everywhere. “Listen you dumbass, get out of here before you die. Take Diana’s body back to her husband.”

  “Why do you want me to leave? I figured you’d be happy if I died.”

  A smile appeared on my face. “This city needs a strong leader and you proved tonight you’re the man for the job. You bested me.” Just like his father had once before, Kyle showed me he wasn’t about to let a thing like death hold him down. I respected that above all else.

  I don’t think he was ready for that admission. “I don’t get you.”

  There was no time to explain as more and more of The Stormfall fell around the harbor and the warship. I pushed myself up, barely, but at that moment, I felt the energy on the storm zeroing in on the unsuspecting Son of the Lion.

  In a moment of weakness, I pushed him out of the way and took the full blast of the storm.

  Epilogue –

  Sunday Morning; Wonderton Estate

  **Kyle Wonderton**

  “Today’s top story is obviously the capture and revelation of The Negative Man’s identity. Jericho Staley, CEO of Wonder-Tech was captured early this morning by a vigilante folks are now calling The Morning Lynx. From all the tragedy that happened last night, knowing the most wanted man in Pacific Station is behind bars is a small victory.”