When Flex didn’t follow up with a sarcastic response, I knew there was something wrong.
Oracle hadn’t budged. I had assumed she’d simply frozen. Then I noticed that every white-eyed news reporter, cameraman, technician, and computer hacker in her house had formed a tight circle around us. There had to be nearly a hundred of them, and several more were funneling in from outside.
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Oracle.
“Disneyland?” Flex suggested with a shrug.
Oracle shook her wiry gray head. “Get them.”
The crowd closed in around us like zombies with gaping mouths and reaching hands.
“Marrow,” said Flex. “Do you remember me telling you about the Whip?”
My brain was in such a panic at this point, I had to remember to breathe just to register what he was saying.
“Uh…yeah?” I said uncertainly.
“Let’s go Indian Jones on these stiffs.”
“Indiana Jones?” I repeated. The name alone seemed to empower me. Renewed confidence flooded my veins. “I can do Indiana Jones.”
Reversing the density in my fingertips, I retracted my claws into my fingers. And yes, it hurt just as much as it did pushing them out. I shoved the pain aside as Flex and I clasped hands. Increasing my bone density and fortifying my arm, I became an anchor.
And then I swung.
Flex was surprisingly light as I whipped him out. His body stretched ten feet, nailing one man in the face with his feet.
My arms didn’t stop. Flex flew in a circle. The first wave of people collapsed simultaneously. I kept swinging and Flex’s elongated elastic body smacked the army of white-eyed faces seamlessly, mowing them down in droves.
Whackawhackawhackawhackawhackawhack!
Wave after wave fell. Flex’s body swirled, stretching fifteen feet. Twenty feet. His body was almost unrecognizable—a colorful blur with flailing dreadlocks. Despite the friction of constant pummeling, his swift form hummed as he sliced through the air. The rise of piling bodies became an obstacle course that our attackers were forced to climb over. They were practically sitting targets.
“Yee-haw!” I hollered.
“G-g-g-e-e-e-t-t-t-t-t-t-i-i-i-n-n-n-g-g-g d-d-d-i-i-i-z-z-z-z-z-z-y-y-y,” Flex wailed in a vibrating slur.
One moment we were an unstoppable force of nature, even though Flex looked like he was going to barf three hundred and sixty degrees. The next, Havoc appeared directly in front of me in a burst of swirling mist.
His sledgehammer fist nailed me in the face.
Fortunately, my increased bone density could easily withstand a blow from Havoc that would otherwise be crippling. Unfortunately, I was so heavy that I hit the floor like a boulder, smashing into the floor.
Flex, meanwhile, catapulted in the opposite direction, hitting the ceiling fan. His elastic body wrapped around it several times before the entire thing crashed to the floor.
Before I could normalize my density, Havoc grabbed me by the collar of my jumpsuit and hoisted me off the ground. Though I probably weighed more than he did at the moment, his biceps rippled in defiance. It would have seemed really cool if I wasn’t scared for my life.
Come on, Marrow, use your head. Use your…
I grabbed Havoc by the forearms and pulled myself up to his eye-level. My skull was a bowling ball as I head-butted him in the face.
Havoc dropped. Making myself light, I barely managed to land on my feet.
I had hardly regained my bearings when a burst of bluish-white flashed in my peripheral vision. The blast hit the wall, encrusting the entire surface in ice. Flex stumbled out of the way, nearly backing into me as Sapphire stalked toward him.
“Your girlfriend is a real peach,” he said.
“She’s not my—”
A feline growl cut me short, followed by a hiss. Several more growls and hisses followed in a terrifying feline choir.
Cornering us from our other side, Whisp approached, flanked by an army of cats. Each feline crouched low as it prowled forward, preparing to pounce.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.
A familiar gray tabby led the army of cats, arching his back and baring his claws.
“Maximus!” Flex exclaimed. “Bad kitty!”
Behind Whisp and the legion of felines, the scattered and beaten news crews rallied together. Even Havoc crawled up from the floor and joined the mismatched ranks, proving that his skull was every bit as thick as I had always assumed.
The Whip was great for knocking people over, but these creeps kept getting back up. We needed to hit them with something heavier. As much as I hated it, I already knew the weapon we needed.
Me.
“Ball and Chain?” I suggested.
Flex’s open jaw curved into a smile. “Now we’re talkin’.”
Flex and I clasped hands again. I took a deep breath like it might be my last and retracted my bone density.
“When I squeeze your hand, let’s get things heavy,” said Flex.
I nodded, trying hard not to acknowledge how completely awkward that sounded.
I was immediately glad for my last breath. Flex whipped me back and slung his rubber arm forward, pitching me like a baseball. You know…except for the part where you actually let go of the ball. Everything became a disorienting blur. It felt like the last time I was freefalling out of an airplane without a parachute.
Thank you, Nightmare.
Flex squeezed my hand. I tapped into my bone structure, exploding in a brief burst of density. My timing was flawless, smashing into some poor sap who flew into the wall while I bounced back.
Flex’s hand-squeeze was all I could focus on. He squeezed, and I went from a flying squirrel to a human wrecking ball. Impacting at such high speed over and over again in every direction made me feel like I was a slab of meat being tenderized. But I could hear bodies soaring and crashing through Oracle’s living room—some as big as Havoc, some as small as—
“Meeeeeeeeeeoooooooooowwwww—!”
WHACK!
“Sorry, Maximus!” Flex exclaimed rather distraughtly.
How Flex was able to talk while he was swinging me around I’ll never know. I could barely breathe. Take the worst roller coaster in the universe and times that by infinity and you might have a smidgen of an idea of how nauseating this was. I definitely wasn’t tall enough for this ride.
Naturally, the Ball and Chain had to end as smoothly as the Whip. Flex had just slung me for another blow when he simultaneously screamed and, instead of squeezing my hand, he let go.
I tapped into my bone density, hoping to slow my insane momentum and preparing to hit just about anything. SMACK! BAM! POW! I plowed through an obstacle course of indistinguishable people and furniture. When I finally came to a crash-and-burn stop, I was lying face down in a tangled pile of people. My human cushion was soft and smelled like cool mint.
I opened my eyes to find that I was lying on top of Sapphire, face to face. It was a lot less romantic than I would have hoped for, considering her bloody nose, her blank expression, and her pure white eyes which were infinitely creepier when they were inches from my face.
Of all the people to land on—seriously. The universe clearly hated me.
Normalizing my density, I squirmed off of the tangle of human limbs and scrambled to my feet. I soon realized I had made a mistake. The moment my body wasn’t there to pin Sapphire’s arms down, her palms came up with icy mist crackling at her fingertips. I lunged sideways, barely dodging a concentrated burst of blizzardy energy.
My redirected gaze skimmed past Flex who was now enveloped in hissing and clawing cats. The Ball and Chain clearly wasn’t as effective fending off the smaller targets.
“Bad kitties!” Flex screamed. “Bad, bad—GAAAAAHHHHH!”
My brief moment of distraction was shattered as the carpet underneath me exploded in freezing mist and hardened to ice beneath my feet. I barely managed to scamper to my feet on the slippery floor.
Too late.
The zombie news crews came down on me in a fleshy tsunami. I felt like that dude who catches the football at the very last second before getting crushed into the ground by every single player on the opposite team. I didn’t have a chance to tap into my bone structure and brace myself. I hit the carpet hard, completely immobilized under a wriggling human mass.
My power was useless without the ability to move. And apparently Flex's power was useless against an army of evil mind-controlled cats. So much for going Indiana Jones.
Defeat, however, took an unexpected turn for the strange.
The human dog pile writhing on top of me suddenly became still. Not a bump or a nudge. Not even a twitch. It was as if they had all suddenly died—minus the part where they were actually dead. I could still feel heartbeats and soft breaths.
The smothering weight of a dozen bodies lifted, toppling off me. I heard their limp forms tumbling a few feet away.
My brain faltered at my sudden freedom. As I rolled over onto my back, I gazed up at a man towering over me—bigger than Havoc and more frightening than Nightmare. The guy was built like something beyond human.
Dark, knotted hair erupted from his scalp, blending with his grisly beard. He wore a long leather jacket which seemed to be substituting for the shirt that he wasn’t wearing. Nope. Nada in the shirt department. Nothing but a vastly hairy, bare chest beneath his unbuttoned jacket. But beneath all the grit and scruff, his crisp blue eyes were eerily familiar.
This man was my father—Spine.
CHAPTER 27
For several long moments, neither of us moved. We didn’t even open our mouths. We just interlocked gazes, each carrying unspoken weight. I couldn’t read anything in his eyes. That alone made him ultimately terrifying.
Finally Spine extended a calloused hand so big it could palm my entire face. Dirty, chipped fingernails protruded from fingerless, leather biker gloves.
“Marrow…” he said. His voice was a deep, resonating growl with a peculiar calmness to it.
Instead of the harshness I’d expected, I detected concern.
“You have to come with me,” he said. “Now.”
My gaze shifted across the room. Every person and cat in the vicinity was lying unconscious. Except for Flex. Still sitting on the living room floor, surrounded by motionless balls of fur, he stared at Spine just as slack-jawed as I was.
Despite the countless bodies littering the room, I somehow singled out a lone figure lying in the wreckage—Oracle. Her withered eyes were closed and a drop of blood trickled from her wiry gray hairline.
Was she…?
I couldn’t finish the thought. I couldn’t even move. Every muscle in my body was concrete.
“We have to get you somewhere safe,” he said. Urgency became evident as his hardened blue eyes wavered. “You’re in danger.”
“Stay away from him!”
Flex had snapped out of his stupor. Standing upright, he pointed an accusing finger like the barrel of a gun. His eyes were wild and furious.
“Stand down, Flex,” said Spine. Considering his rough appearance, his calm composure was baffling. “There’s no time for this. Marrow is coming with me.”
“Oh, so you can train him to be like you?” said Flex. “Another bloodthirsty monster?”
“You don’t know anything,” Spine growled. “I don’t care what you think you know about me. Marrow is my son and nothing can change that.”
“Is that what this ‘good guy’ spiel is? Think you’re going to win some twisted father of the year award?”
Flex paced slowly until he was standing between Spine and the door.
“You’re not leaving here with Marrow,” said Flex. “I’m not letting you.”
In the short time I’d known Flex, I’d never seen him so livid. His arms were rigid with balled fists.
“I’m warning you, Flex,” said Spine, narrowing his gaze. “I’m taking Marrow, and that’s final.”
Flex shook his head slowly. “Over my dead body.”
Spine’s nostrils flared behind his beard. “Your choice.”
No sooner did he speak than he was gliding across the floor like a skipping stone across water. Rearing his arm back, his fist became coated in a bone-plated glove. Flex didn’t even have a chance to blink.
I had tapped into my skeletal structure before I even realized what I was doing. Flying across the room, my bones became lead at the last second and I pummeled myself into Spine. It was like running into a mountain, but I didn’t hold anything back. We hit the floor so hard it rattled beneath us.
Flex froze as his wide-eyed gaze shifted between Spine and me. I ignored him as I staggered to my feet.
Spine shifted on the floor and slowly crawled to his hands and knees. His blue eyes met mine. There was no anger or even shock in his gaze.
Instead, he looked hurt…but not in a physical sense.
Why did I feel bad? I didn’t know this guy. How could I even pretend that he was really my father? He was just a phony who happened to share my DNA.
“Son…” he said. He stopped there. He seemed to be out of words, which was fine by me.
“Son?” I said. “What? You think you can suddenly show up and decide to be my dad? Where were you when Mom died? Where were you when I actually needed you?”
“Marrow…you don’t understand…” He staggered to his feet, but yet again, there was no threat in his stance. In fact, he appeared defeated already.
“No, you don’t understand,” I said. “You think you can just waltz up and decide to be my dad because you saved us from Oracle? Let’s get one fact straight, okay? I. HATE. YOU!”
Flex no longer had the raging fury award—it now belonged to me. I was fuming so heavily I could barely control myself. I wanted to scream and punch and run and cry all at once. But all I could do was stand there and breathe like a wild animal, fists shaking at my sides.
I didn’t know how far Spine could fake this caring father routine. But the single tear trickling down his cheek shattered any and all expectations I had. This act was suddenly way too real for comfort.
No. This was no act. It was real.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you,” said Spine. He maintained a firm tone despite his glistening eyes. “But I’ve always loved you…”
A distant whistle sliced through the atmosphere, intensifying to a scream in seconds.
Then the wall exploded.
CHAPTER 28
A rippling shockwave threw me back. I hit the floor hard, feeling numb as I rolled and smacked into the far wall. Wood chips and splinters rained down with an assortment of shattered and tattered household debris. Everything was smothered in a choking veil of smoke. As the smoke dissipated two figures emerged from the haze, staring each other down in a psychological standoff. On one side, Spine raised both fists and bone spikes sliced out of his knuckles.
On the other side, a red cape flared in the haze.
Fantom.
It wasn't until now that I realized it. This was it—the scene from Oracle’s premonition. The smoldering hole in Oracle’s wall. The police lights flashing around her home. The bodies on the floor. It all made sense.
“Going somewhere?” Fantom asked through gritted teeth.
Spine’s face was an impenetrable mask. No emotion. Nothing. Although his raised bone spikes seemed to speak for themselves.
Spine charged.
He had obviously tapped into his bone structure because, despite his size, his movement was a blur. I barely noticed the bone-like scales that sprung from his face. They formed a solid mask over his entire head, engulfing all but his eyes and nostrils. He lunged headfirst, smashing into Fantom’s face. Fantom’s head snapped back. Before he could even fall, Spine caught him—only to head-butt him in the face again. And again. Over and over and over again. On his final blow the bony scales shattered, sending fragments everywhere.
Fantom’s head was draped back, prominent chin up and jaw o
pen. I couldn’t see his eyes, but he didn’t seem to be moving.
Flex had been sprawled across the floor, but he struggled now to push himself upright. “No way…” he gasped.
Then it started—a flat, eerie sound. As it quickened, I realized it was mock laughter. “Ha…ha…ha…” Fantom lifted his head slowly, adjusting his jaw and tilting his head from left to right to crack his neck. The slightest trace of a smile hadn’t left his face.
“My turn,” he said.
Fantom head-butted Spine so hard he flew across the room, tumbling and smashing into the adjacent wall. Fantom streaked after him. No sooner did Spine hit the wall than Fantom’s fist connected with his face, smashing it into the drywall. Then, gripping Spine by his coat collar, Fantom ripped him out of the wall and chucked him at the ceiling like a doll.
A shockwave of air burst beneath Fantom’s feet, sweeping the floor clean of debris as he launched into the air after him. Fantom zipped past Spine’s soaring form, directly into his path. Spine’s momentum caused him to collide with Fantom’s fist once more. As Spine fell, Fantom plunged down with him, driving him faster to the ground.
Flex and I exchanged knowing glances. We hastily scrambled away until our backs were to the wall. I curled into a ball, bracing myself for the worst.
Fantom smashed Spine into the floor in an explosion of shattered floorboards, shredded carpet chunks, and all of the unconscious bodies that were still strewn about the room. Even crouched low, I was jolted off my feet, sprinkled in splinters and specks of obliterated debris.
As the haze cleared, a small but very distinct crater became visible through the house’s foundation infrastructure. In the center of it, Fantom was straddling Spine, decking him in the face over and over again, shattering the few scales that remained of his skeletal mask. Spine’s face whipped from left to right as he interchanged fists with each blow. Even though his black mask obscured the top half of his face, sweat was visible on Fantom’s exposed cheeks. His smile was gone, replaced with clenched teeth.
His eyes shifted to me.
His left fist was raised for another blow, but it halted. He lowered it. Standing up from Spine’s unconscious body, he dusted his bodysuit off. His gaze shifted from me to Flex.
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