“Tell Woods to let me in,” I reiterated. “Then I’ll change your mind.”
He grumbled something about pigheaded supers but did as I asked. A few minutes later, Woods was returning with Lattimore to where I’d been patiently waiting. “You’re serious about this, Lynx?” He was sizing me up as he wanted confirmation.
“I am, sir.” I didn’t report to him, but I wanted to show him the same respect he’d always shown me. “If we don’t get this under control, we’re going to be dealing with a lot of bodies.”
“You’re going in for him, aren’t you?”
He was sharp, that was for sure. “I know he’s awake and that he’s in there. If he’s alive, yes I’ll try to save him. If he’s dead, my job will remain the same – save lives and calm the situation down enough for your riot squads to get in and do their jobs. Plus,” I maintained eye contact with Woods, “we need to get Porterhouse and end this nonsense.”
“What are you talking about?”
An explosion from one of the top floors shook the scene. The fear on the policemen’s faces around us was clear. Woods, knowing his choices were limited, finally agreed to let me go. “You got an hour. I spoke to Defense Secretary Victory right before meeting with you. Fighter jets are coming in to provide air support from Hopfauf Air Force Base.”
Never mind that the Secretary of Defense was personally getting involved in this, fighter jets? “I’m guessing they have one objective?”
Woods didn’t need to answer to actually answer. They were going to blow this place to Heaven and back. “The clock is ticking. Get the situation under control or get the hell out. The orders have been issued.”
Not wanting to waste another minute, I ran towards the prison entrance and into Hell itself.
Chapter 9 –
Monday Night; Black Lagoon Penitentiary
As I walked out of the corridor that led to the warden’s office, my head began to hurt. I knew I was Jericho Staley, The Negative Man, but there were big chunks of my life missing. There was a girl in my life, but I couldn’t remember her name. The only name that meant anything to me now, who wasn’t dead, was Kyle Wonderton. Everything else was a muddled mess.
But my powers, oh my powers were back. Whatever happened to me the night of the Stormfall, it had enhanced me in one way, but made me even more unstable on the other. There was a raging storm inside of me; white-hot feral energy wanting to be released. I needed to get somewhere and quick to create a remedy for this.
As I got closer to where all the action was happening, it sounded like a damn concert going on. The noises were all loud – metal clanging against metal, gun shots, the sounds of fights breaking out this way and that way. Considering I was a ticking time bomb, I couldn’t get preoccupied with such things. It would be best to get out of here unseen.
I entered the main part of the prison, the nexus where all the cell blocks converged. The madness ensuing everywhere was overwhelming. The cell block I’d been in, A Twenty-Two, was currently on fire. The cell block call sign triggered a few more names to pop back into my memory; Old Rich, Andy, and Wade. They were my friends; they’d helped me when I was weak. I needed to return the favor.
A guard spotted me and charged. He had his baton held up to strike me. He didn’t even know what hit him as a wave of energy arced off my body and into his. He dropped on the run, his body skidding past me. Another guard who’d been close by turned and ran from me. As he did, he yelled out, “He’s back! The Negative Man is back!”
Not many heard him over the commotion happening. To stop him from alerting more people, I jumped into a sparking transformer, how I knew I could was beyond me, and came crashing down in front of him. My sudden emergence out of the flickering emergency exit sign sent him into a panic. I grabbed him with a charged hand and sent him over the edge. My quick hop brought me closer to my intended destination anyway.
“Andy, Andy – you doing okay?”
That was Wade’s voice. Through the smoke, I saw two figures hunched over. One looked a bit worse off than the other. I ran over and saw Andy was as white as a ghost. Wade jumped at my arrival, only to recompose himself quickly. “Jericho, I think Andy’s in trouble.”
He sure was. I couldn’t tell if it was smoke inhalation or something else, but the man looked to be about to die. I picked him up swiftly and got him out of the smoke filled area. He wasn’t breathing, so when we hit a clearing on the metal pathway, I dropped him and started performing CPR. “C’mon man, don’t die on me tonight.”
Wade hunched over my shoulder as I kept pushing down hard, trying to get his lungs working again. Then, when it seemed all was lost, Andy began gasping for air. “Son of a bitch, don’t do that to us,” I sighed in relief.
He was in no condition to walk, let alone fight his way out. Plus Rich was still unaccounted for. “Wade, where’s Rich at?”
“We got separated trying to get out of the block. Frosty and his thugs chased after him, for protecting you.”
Frosty, the guy who’d been in Warden Porterfield’s pocket. That scumbag had tried to ambush me. I’d be in a bad way if it hadn’t been for Andy. As much as I wanted to go after Frosty, I just couldn’t leave these two prone like this. Then my answer came swooping down in the form of a yellow cloaked stranger. Except this was no stranger, this was Kyle Wonderton.
“Jericho Staley.”
I stood up and faced him. “Help these two. I have to go save a friend of mine.”
As I tried to walk by, he grabbed my arm. “You remember?”
My first instinct since my reawakening was to rid myself of potential problems. Not with Wonderton – there was a respect associated with him. “Some bits here and there. I know who you are, though.”
He gave me one quick nod. “Where’s the warden? He needs to be brought in for his crimes.”
“Porterhouse has answered for his sins. Get my friends out of here and yourself. You don’t want to be around for the grand finale.”
He hadn’t let go of my arm yet. “We’ve got forty-five minutes to get out of here. Fighter jets are en route to blow this place sky high.”
“I guess I better hurry then.” I pulled my arm away and pointed at Andy and Wade. “You too.”
He looked antsy, but he helped Andy to his feet. “The clock’s ticking, if you want to keep living.”
Satisfied that my friends were safe, I tore off the opposite way. For some reason, I felt Frosty would’ve taken Rich to the prison chapel. I don’t know why, but that’s where I was going. Along the way, I had to take out a few pests who tried to hinder me, no regrets or remorse in my decisions.
There were two guards standing out front, barring entrance into the chapel. “Get out of my way,” I commanded.
“Frosty said you’d be showing up, Jericho.” The one on the right produced a pistol and fired. My force field popped up, eating the bullet and keeping me from harm.
“Tsk, tsk.” I blasted the field forward as a web of energy. Both men were killed on spot. The energy also blasted the door down, giving me free access inside. As I stepped over the broken wood, Frosty with three of his goons looked up. Rich was lying on the floor, roughed up and bleeding. “Not another finger on him, jackass.”
“It looks like that loco villain The Negative Man has returned.”
He should’ve been cowering in fear. I didn’t like people who weren’t scared of me. For his insolence, “Die!” I reached out with my arm and sent a blast of negative energy, charged electrons with one job – to incinerate my foes.
Where Frosty had been was just a void of open air. The attack continued forward and blasted one of his goons who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place. A fist connected to the base of my skull and wobbled me. I stumbled forward, yet stayed on my feet. The two other goons rushed me, thinking it’d be easy picking. Their tragic demises proved otherwise.
“You’re not the only loco villain in this joint with powers.” Frosty poofed into existence beside Rich. He was a tele
porter! “It took some convincing, but Porterhouse eventually took the cuffs off. You ain’t leaving here alive.”
Nothing was ever easy. “Porterhouse is dead. You want to end up like him?”
The smile on his face began to falter. “It doesn’t change anything, amigo. Once I take a contract out, I don’t just drop it.”
Annoyed, I sent another blast towards him, knowing full well it’d miss. I was hoping to gain some insight to how his powers worked. As the arc approached, Frosty closed his eyes real quick and that’s when he vanished. Everyone had a tell to be exploited.
Figuring he’d show up behind me, I turned around real quick. He wasn’t there though. In fact, he hadn’t appeared at all. That’s when I heard Rich’s groan. “Rich, you doing okay man?”
“Hell no I’m not doing okay,” he sputtered. “Chances are, his dumbass is gone, just like we need to be.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” I whispered. I grabbed him and picked him up. “Let’s get out of here.”
The two of us exited the chapel and back out into the ongoing riot. I wasn’t sure how much time we had to get out of here before the fighters came in to blow this place up, but we kept moving. As I got back up to where I’d left Wade and Andy, I saw the familiar form of Kyle Wonderton coming back. “You got your friend?”
“Rich, go with him, he’s a good guy.”
Both of them looked at me. “Where the hell are you going?” Rich asked.
“Frosty isn’t leaving here. He’s the last thing I need to clean up from the whole Porterhouse situation.”
Kyle realized arguing with me as a dead end. “You’ve got fifteen minutes. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Just take him and go.” Kyle supported Rich and took him back the way he’d come.
The prison was lost. I had one sure fire way of drawing Frosty out. All that wild and untapped energy, I called it up. Like a waterfall, it rushed from me and out into the crowds below. Prisoners, guards, everyone was caught up in the waves of damage I sent out. I couldn’t help but laugh at the mayhem I was causing.
My attack was interrupted by someone slashing at my arm. There weren’t many survivors, but those who did should’ve been thanking Frosty at that moment. “You’re one loco nut job.”
“No more running and hiding, Frosty.” The familiar crackle rushed back to me. “Time for one of us to become a permanent resident.”
Chapter 10 –
Tuesday Early Morning; Black Lagoon Penitentiary
The integrity of the prison was beginning to falter. The fire was spreading like crazy across the different levels; the heat was beginning to get to the point of being unbearable. Yet neither Frosty nor I flinched. I was going to kill the arrogant little snot rag for what he’d done to my friends and for his association with that jerk, Porterhouse. Torrid amounts of energy were just waiting to be guided towards the jumper.
Frosty’s fingers were twitching. He was nervous, but he was trying not to show fear to his enemy. “Fear is a fickle thing, Frosty.” He stopped for a second at the sound of his name. “I’m like a shark, I can smell it.”
He closed his eyes and jumped, thinking I was going to attack. It was the perfect set up, getting him to do what I wanted. And, seeing as there was a limited amount of space for him to jump, I’d be ready. I spun on my toes and caught him by the neck when he appeared. “Checkmate.” Captured as he was, I had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to jump anymore. “Well, that was easy.”
With wide eyes, “Don’t kill me!”
I remembered I hated the begging for one’s life schtick. Where was the honor and glory in a warrior’s death? “Let me guess, you have information I can use?”
“How did you know?”
“Because people always have information right before they die.” I mean honestly, did he think this was my first rodeo? “We’re on a bit of a time limit, so start yapping, now.”
I hadn’t let go of his neck, which I think he was hoping for. Still, he began sputtering out words, hoping to save his sorry ass. “Porterhouse was working for someone way bigger, man,” he choked out. “This goes high in the sky!”
Damnit, I was intrigued. Information gathering was a fatal flaw of mine. “Just how high are we talking?” I asked.
“You think a prison warden could pull together the kind of cash he was offering to take you out?” Hmmm, he made an excellent point. “You know as well as I do, someone else wanted you dead.”
“Stop telling me things I know and start telling me things I don’t.”
The fear returned to his eyes; he knew he was close to meeting his end. “I know it is someone involved with the government. I overheard Porterhouse talk about dealing with a secretary or something.” Judging by the context of this conversation, he wasn’t talking about an assistant; he was using secretary as in a title – someone who held a position in the cabinet more than likely.
This investigation had to end sooner or later. Either the fire was going to consume this place or the jets Kyle Wonderton told me about were going to blow this place up. “I need a name…”
“He never said the name!”
The roar of a jet went over the prison. My time was up. “Sorry Frosty, this isn’t your lucky day.” My hunch was right; his powers wouldn’t let him jump while someone was holding on to him, which made it pretty easy to fry the rat. I sent his dead husk into the flames, the fire doing the dirty work of cleaning up my mess. Another flaw was enjoying watching my handiwork. I wasted some precious seconds watching the fire eat him up.
It was my turn to scram. If the jets were here, that meant the missiles were coming in. I took off towards the exit to the cell blocks, but not in time. The first attack struck the top of the prison, the explosion it created sent me flying backwards away from the easiest way out. Chunks of rock fell, making sure my preferred path was no longer an option. Picking myself up, I had to come up with a plan b.
The warden’s office! It had been close to where the first missile hit and it was located against an exterior wall. It was also one of the few places with a window in this hell hole. Maybe luck was on my side and there would be a hole for me to get out. With my mind made up, I climbed the steps back up, heading back to the spot where I had been born again. As debris fell from the ceiling, I knew this was going to be a rough ride.
I was two floors under where I needed to be when the jets came back around for the second pass. I grabbed on to the iron railing and held on as tight as I could. The prison shook under the back to back impacts from two more missiles. Both hit the opposite side of the building, collapsing it into the moat below. As much as I didn’t want to leave the safety of the railing I clung to, Black Lagoon couldn’t hold up to another passing. Taking the steps two at a time, I didn’t stop until I made it to the final landing.
The hallway that led to the warden’s office was blocked. Giant chunks of cement from the ceiling had fallen on to the metal walkway, making it impossible to pass. I couldn’t believe it, this was how I was going to die. I shouldn’t have let pride get in the way, I shouldn’t have sought revenge against Frosty. The jets were coming back, this time to finish the job.
I was weirdly at peace with the chance to die. All the memories of my life that were coming back, they all were drenched in pain. No, it was going to be okay, moving on. I closed my eyes and began to wait for the inevitable. A smile crossed my face.
Then, like a beacon calling out to me, a faint trace of electricity sparked for me. It was coming off one of the phones in the office adjacent from me. Curious, I walked over and picked it up. My God, there was actually a dial tone! How was this possible? The dial tone was replaced by static, and then it cleared right up.
“Jericho, jump!” a woman’s voice commanded.
I held the receiver, shocked someone was talking to me. Apparently, she knew what my powers could do and was giving me a way out. I phased into the phone line, just as the jets came back one more time.
****
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br /> When the world was no longer spinning, I opened my eyes. I was in a darkened store of some sort. Figurines, playing cards and comics lined the shelves. The name Krum’s came to mind. I’d been here before, but not as a shopper. No, I’d come to find out the truth about Titan – the deranged mechanical super the police tried to eliminate me with.
Only it wasn’t a deranged mechanical monster; her name had been Diana, wife to a man named Kim, and she’d been forced against her will to help Grimes. The hate I held for that man, Harvey Grimes was immense. Knowing that I was the one to bring an end to him was a sweet victory. He’d been a bigger blight to the city than I ever had been.
Pushing it down, I walked outside, into the night. The door was unlocked and there appeared to be no alarm system. Hmmm, the proprietors of the shop were begging to be robbed. Out, beyond the cityscape, you could see the out of control blaze lighting up the sky. Smoke billowed from the wreckage. Helicopters were circling the prison and the surrounding areas, their spotlights shining down.
I needed to find a place to go as I was technically a fugitive. Not that it was my intention to break out of prison; I doubted anyone would’ve believed that. On the plus side, at least the police probably thought I was dead. Still, being out in the open wasn’t ideal. I just had no idea where to go.
There was another mystery to solve. Who was that who spoke into the phone? It was a female, the voice was very familiar. I remembered pieces of this and that, but nothing that gave a clear answer to who my guardian angel had been. It was weird, but even though I didn’t know her, I knew her. The technical term was déjà vu I joked to myself.
I went back inside Krum’s for a moment. Against the far wall towards the back of the store was a section of costumes and such. I found a black hooded jacket and a dark blue t-shirt with a raven’s head on the front and the words Hat Trick: Ragnarok on Ice embroidered on the back. There was nothing to do about the pants, so I hoped this would at least get me to where I needed to go.
The Negative Man_Legends Can Die Page 9