by Ford, Lizzy
“I’m there,” he said. Kimber leapt across the river of shit and paused beside the pipe. “Um, you sure about this pipe?” He peered into it. Water and waste streamed down the pipe, but it was its width that gave him reason to hesitate.
“Third from the right?” Igor asked.
“Yeah.”
“That’s it. It’ll take you straight up into the dungeon.”
“All right.” Kimber eased back and switched gloves, from the waterproof ones to those with silicone grippers, and crawled into the pipe. The fit was snug enough he couldn’t roll over, and he had to hunch his shoulders. “I’m in.”
Thank God I’m not claustrophobic. He shuddered at the feel of cold sewage against his back and concentrated on hauling himself up the sloping pipe with his upper body strength.
The arduous climb had been allocated the most time – a full hour – and he soon began to think sixty minutes weren’t going to be enough. He quickened his pace as much as he could, given the tight quarters. The pipe’s slope went from gradual to a full ninety degrees, where he pulled himself straight up.
Water and refuse trickled down onto him, wetting his hair and sliding down his face. His shoulders were soon burning from the awkward position and his weight, and he paused more than once to shake them out. Kimber began using his legs as much as possible to help push him upward.
“How’s it going?” Officer Ford broke into his focus.
“Good,” he grunted. “How much time do I have?”
“Ten minutes.”
Kimber looked upward but wasn’t able to tell how far he had to go. “Okay. I’ll check in when I get there.”
He went faster, anxious to finish this objective and move onto the next. At long last, one of his hands met an open space, and he shifted the best he could to shine the flashlight on the area.
“Just reached it,” he said, relieved. “Give me a minute to squeeze out of this damn pipe and I’ll let you know what I see.”
No one answered. Kimber hauled himself up the rest of the way out of the pipe and through an access point leading to a maintenance tunnel. He emerged from the sewer system and wrenched open the door leading into a brightly lit room with whitewashed walls and a stairwell. Water mains and valves lined one wall.
“Thank God!” he breathed. “In the maintenance area.”
“Five minutes,” Officer Ford replied.
Kimber flung off the mask and the hair covering. He reeked something terrible – but had no alternatives at the moment. He had one uniform and was wearing it. Trotting to the stairs, he climbed them two at a time then pulled the door open leading into a plain, narrow service hallway.
He paused to listen for sounds of anyone approaching. This level was the hub for water processing and electricity, along with any other utility, for the off-grid lair. The air hummed with electricity. The doors along the hallway were marked with letter-number combinations, and emergency spill and burn kits hung on walls at intervals of ten feet.
Assured no one was present, Kimber jogged down the corridor and followed it around two corners and past two intersections.
“I can’t remember where to go after the two corners and two intersections,” he said, pausing at the third intersection.
“Left at this intersection. Right at the next, straight …” Igor replied.
Kimber bolted, trying to run as fast as Igor spoke. The utility areas were clear of workers this time of night, and he made it to the stairs leading out of that part of the lair.
“At the door,” he said breathlessly.
“Remember. This is where things get tricky,” Officer Ford said. “According to Igor’s information, there are cameras. They’re going to see you the minute you step foot into the main compound. We’re hoping for a five to ten minute delay, since it’s shift change. But that gives you a narrow window to find her.”
Kimber took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Ready.” His heart was racing, his muscles primed and ready from the journey.
“Take an immediate right, smash the guards in front of the dungeon doorway, and take it down,” Igor said.
Kimber pulled open the door and peered into the hallway of the next level up, the dungeon. He crept down the quiet hall towards the security room outside the prison entrance and paused to peek in and determine how many people were present.
Four guards were playing cards around a table situated in front of vending machines. One of them would have the key to the dungeon door, though he didn’t know which one. On the other side of the room was a bank of monitors, rotating through the different cells.
Kimber balled up his fists. He wasn’t going to try to lecture these men into surrendering, as Igor suggested a superhero should. He was going to knock them out and tie them up – without killing anyone – and move on. Concentrating hard on how to rein in his strength, he boldly entered the room.
The delay between the shocked guards spotting him and their reaction was long enough for him to close the distance to the table. He punched the first man to rise and ducked a fist thrown at him by one of the others. He took more blows than he liked but did so because he was trying to aim and control his limbs as carefully as possible.
Even when he thought he was being gentle, he managed to throw someone across the room and kick another into the vending machines. But after a five-minute brawl, he came out the victor.
Kimber checked the vitals of all the men to ensure he hadn’t fatally hurt anyone and then zip-tied their hands. He pulled the keys to the dungeon and cells from the pocket of one of them. Almost euphoric at his first real superhero victory, he stood after binding the wrists of the last guard and looked around.
“Guards neutralized,” he reported proudly. “And none of them need the hospital.”
“I personally have no problem with putting villains in the hospital,” Officer Ford said dryly. “But good work.”
Kimber went to the bank of monitors and watched, looking for the cell number of where Keladry was kept. Her image popped up on screen. She was lying on the floor of a cell with no bed or other amenities – aside from a toilet – and appeared to be unconscious.
Four B, he said to himself.
Kimber unlocked the door to the prison and walked into it. The quiet, white hallway lined with closed doors reminded him a lot of a hospital wing. He went to Keladry’s prison cell and unlocked it.
The moment the door opened, an alarm sounded.
“Hey!” he hissed, sliding inside. “You okay?” Kimber knelt beside her.
“I was, until you showed up and blocked my healing ability,” came the acidic response. Keladry lifted her head. “What’s that awful smell?”
“Talk later,” Kimber replied curtly and gripped her arm very carefully. “Can you walk?” He hauled her up.
“I think so.” Keladry wobbled. Her clothing was torn in more than one place and caked with blood. Bruises ringed her neck, and one of her eyes showed traces of a black eye.
“Where are you hurt? I brought supplies,” he said and pulled off his backpack.
“I’m good,” she replied.
Kimber studied her with a frown.
“Mostly.” She reached into her mouth and pulled out a tooth. The supervillainess had a clear gaze, though she appeared unsteady on her feet. She focused on him, as if noticing him for the first time. “Wait, Doc, are you rescuing me?”
“I am.” He replaced his backpack. “When someone needs help, whether or not they deserve it, that’s when I step in. You got a problem with that?”
“Let’s just say I’ve seen your track record on successfully being a superhero.”
This woman is such an asshole sometimes. “We have to leave.” Kimber went to the door and yanked it open. The blaring alarm echoed around the confined room. He stepped into the hallway and glanced anxiously towards the direction he’d come.
Keladry trailed him at a slow pace, limping. When she reached the four tied men, she stopped.
Kimber was ten feet dow
n the hallway before he noticed she wasn’t following. He glanced over his shoulder and stopped fast. “Come on, Kel –”
“Reader!” she snapped.
“Whatever. Hurry!”
She reappeared, carrying knives she’d found on one of the guards. “Shit, Doc, did you come up through the sewer?” she asked, nose wrinkling as she drew abreast of him. “You’re lucky your uniform masked your body temperature, or the alligators would’ve gotten you.”
So Igor wasn’t joking about the fucking alligators. Kimber didn’t answer but shoved open the door leading to the utility quarter. He trotted down the stairs before pausing again to wait for her. When she reached him, he started off again.
“Wait, Doc. What’s your plan?” she called above the sound of the alarm.
“To leave the same way I came.”
“That won’t work.”
“It did ten minutes ago!”
“Yeah, but they’ll know how you did it and know how to stop you,” she said.
Kimber frowned.
“Everyone knows about the lair’s weakness,” she continued. “No one who’s ever tried to break in that way has survived to reach the inner fortress.”
“Thanks for telling me that one, too, Igor,” Kimber growled.
“I didn’t want to scare you,” Igor replied.
“We’re ahead of the security. We can stay ahead,” Kimber said to Keladry and strode away. “Walk fast!”
The supervillainess didn’t reply, but she did follow.
“They’ll start lockdown right … now,” Igor said into his earpiece.
Kimber was about to ask what that meant when he saw the steel door sliding out of the ceiling right before the intersection. He launched forward and raced down the corridor, stopping to grab the steel door when it was at about his thighs to keep it from closing. He grunted. The door itself wasn’t heavy – but the force of whatever propelled it downward was enough to make him strain.
“Hurry!” he called to Keladry.
She slid under the door, leaving a streak of blood. Kimber knelt, still holding the steel up, then released it and rolled quickly.
Three more steel doors had closed off the other corridors leading away from the intersection. Kimber glanced at them then at the injured supervillainess.
“I have a first aid kit,” he said again. “If you’re hurting, let me know.”
“Nothing I can’t handle, superhero,” she said mockingly.
He clenched his jaw and went to one of the other steel doors. Bending down, he smashed the cement beneath the door so he could wiggle his fingers under to try and lift it.
“Did you have a backup plan?” Keladry asked. “Or were you just hoping not to get caught?”
Something about this woman always left him agitated and angry. For once, those emotions came in useful. Kimber channeled his frustration with her into lifting the door. At first, it fought him, pinned in place by braces somewhere in the ceiling he couldn’t see.
Kimber started to lag, until he thought about how Keladry had shot him three times. With a flash of anger, he snapped the braces and sent the door smashing upward into the ceiling.
Keladry trotted forward, and he followed, shaking his arms loose. Igor gave him reverse instructions for navigating the utility maze, and he followed it until they reached another door.
The supervillainess shifted away to give him room to pry it open, and he knelt. Kimber went through the same movements as before and sent the door back up into the ceiling. He started forward, only to realize he didn’t hear her following.
Pausing, he turned back and saw Keladry leaning heavily against the wall.
“If you need help, fucking ask me!” he said with more heat than he intended.
“I don’t!” was the saucy retort.
“If I can lift a steel door, I can carry a damsel in distress with my pinky.”
Her head snapped up, and she flushed. Dark eyes sparking, she glared at him. “I am not a damsel in distress,” she hissed.
Taken aback by the visceral reaction, Kimber couldn’t help but feel a little proud. Finally, after all their interactions and the state of shock and confusion he’d lived in since first rescuing her, he had found a pressure point.
“Are you sure? I can carry you,” he said and stepped forward, holding out his arms.
“Fuck you, Doc,” she snarled and shoved past him.
“That was the wrong thing to say,” Igor whispered into Kimber’s ear. “She’s very sensitive about that, Kimber.”
“I crawled through a fucking sewer filled with alligators for her,” Kimber shot back. “After she shot me three times! And you’re going to try to lecture me about hurting her feelings?”
“Her dad has always said she was a weak damsel in distress,” Igor explained.
I will not feel bad. Kimber told himself as he started forward again.
Keladry was limping ahead of him with a jerky stride, bracing herself against one wall. Blood dripped from some part of her, but she didn’t slow or stop. Her shoulders were hunched, her form tense.
I really did hurt her feelings, Kimber thought. Despite his resolve, he felt a little guilty. Wasn’t he supposed to be the noble superhero? Shouldn’t he try to be better, kinder, and fairer than the villains of the city and above malice in every form?
They reached another steel door, and she folded her arms across her chest and waited.
He paused beside her.
“Get us out of here, Doc.”
Frustrated, Kimber flung this door back into the ceiling even faster than the others.
He led them to the final room before the pipes and picked up his mask from the ground. He dug a second one out of his bag for her and held it out without speaking.
“Stop right there, Doctor.”
He froze and then whirled to face the stairs. General Savage stood at the top, flanked by two of his ninjas in black.
Fuck, Kimber thought.
Seven: Cornering a superhero only makes him stronger
Keladry snatched a wrench out of a toolbox.
“I underestimated you,” the General said and deliberately descended halfway down the stairs. “I’ve been watching your performances. You’ve yet to best my little girl. I never dreamt you’d break into my home.”
“He bested me none and you once,” Keladry said in satisfaction.
“Shut up, Reader,” was the cold response. “This is between a supervillain and a superhero. You don’t belong here.”
Keladry didn’t even blink, as if accustomed to the treatment.
“I have a deal to offer you, Doctor,” General Savage continued.
“I’m not interested in a deal,” Kimber replied. “I’m interested in stopping the violence in the city.”
“Turn my daughter over to me, and I’ll declare a truce between us. I’ll absorb Reader’s assets, and the violence will stop.”
Kimber was quiet, surprised by the offer.
“If you haven’t learned not to trust supervillains yet, then you’re slower than you act,” Keladry said to him.
“And if you ever want me on your side, you have to stop being a total bitch,” Kimber snapped.
She rolled her eyes at him.
“This offer intrigues me, General,” Kimber said to her father.
The Savage family patriarch smiled, while Keladry glared even harder.
“What happens to Reader?” Kimber asked.
“She goes away,” replied General Savage.
“You’ll kill her.”
“Is it that hard of a choice? You can save the city or you can save that.” General Savage lifted his chin in Reader’s general direction without looking at her.
To her credit, Keladry was silent for once.
Kimber shook his head. “No deal, General. I’ll best you without sacrificing any lives, even Reader’s.”
“She’ll die either way. The reason she hasn’t healed completely is because I injected her with blood I siphoned from you whe
n you were unconscious in my medical wing,” the General continued. “It’ll slow her recovery long enough not to be able to survive from the bomb I implanted in her last night. If you go more than a quarter of a mile from here …” General Savage made the motions of a bomb exploding.
Kimber had never been able to register the depths of General Savage’s loathing for his own children without shock. The supervillain was completely devoid of compassion of any kind for his children.
“Take this. Fling it at his head with all your strength,” Keladry said, handing him the wrench. “You can make his head explode.”
“No one’s going to die,” Kimber said firmly and pushed the wrench away. “Not you. Not him.”
She fumed, one hand on her stomach.
“We’re leaving,” Kimber said and turned his back to General Savage. He braced himself to be shot and motioned for Keladry to move towards the maintenance tunnel behind them.
“No deal?” General Savage called.
“Nope!”
Keladry went and walked into the darker tunnel. Kimber hurried past her, hearing the steps of the supervillain’s henchmen pounding down the stairs. He stopped at one of the pipes in the walls, the one where he’d left his gloves so he could remember how to get there.
Expecting bullets or punches at any second, he risked a glance towards the entrance of the tunnel.
To his surprise, it was closing.
“Fuck!” Keladry breathed. “They’re going to flush the system!”
“Fortunately, our drop is straight down,” Kimber replied. “I’ll go first, so I can control the pace of our descent. Try not to kick me in the head.”
“No promises.”
Pausing, he gritted his teeth and faced her. Keladry’s features were chalky, her pupils dilated and skin clammy. Something was wrong, and he had a feeling it was the bomb in her gullet.
“With a father like that, I’m not surprised you have a penchant for murder,” he said. “The truth is, I came back to the city for you, which makes me more fucked up in the head than you are. But I’m not, nor will I ever be, your enemy, Reader. I’ll protect you from him. I promise.”
“You done fucked up now, Doc,” she said. “I know another of your weaknesses.”