“Have you met with Sink?” Khard asked. “I know they still call her out to help sometimes. She complained to high heaven about it the last time I spoke with her.”
“We met for a few hours, yes. She was able to tell me what kind of gene I had, but couldn’t do much beyond that. I’ve kind of given up on finding out, I think. Whatever I’m talking to, they think I’m like them and they’re here to help. That’s enough for me.”
“Well, that’s enough for me too,” Khard said. We stepped out from the giant tent and came across Chief Rainch waiting for us outside.
“That was some quick thinking, Agent Khard,” she said. “Agent Lochlan, good to see you’re feeling better.”
“Thank you,” Lochlan said. “To be honest, it was kind of fun to get lost in whatever that was. It was like I was rolling through years of emotion all at once. I knew Khard and I were fighting, but it was more like being a spectator. Something in my brain was going crazy. Would rather not do it again, though.”
“Probably for the best,” Chief Rainch said. “Y’all headed to see Gil and Frik?”
“We are,” Khard said. “You want to come along?”
“Ain’t much sleep to be had tonight, looks like. Sure, I’ll tag along. We can all get to know young Ivy here.” The way Chief Rainch said it made me blush. We walked slowly, the four of us, chatting easily like we were old friends. No longer a rampaging lunatic, Lochlan turned out to be quite charming, and I wished I could remember him from when I was a little girl. He was full of one-liners and quick quips, even over the course of just a few minutes. Chief Rainch laughed so deeply at one point she started to cough, doubling over and red from the lack of air. Khard simply picked her up and straightened her out, causing her to laugh all the more. Any tension that might have carried over from the fighting or previous dealings was all but completely dissipated. Eventually Lochlan mentioned that he’d make sure the Global Heroes Society worked with The Control to come and clean up the mess they’d made.
“And I’m going to get them to bring some damn food down here,” Lochlan said. “I just about fried that other chip having to watch those hungry kids run around, and the whole crowd was one giant mass of despair. The workers were hungry, too. What was that about?”
“That’s how the Midnight Circus is,” Chief Rainch said. “Most of the people working there don’t have a dime more than anybody in this city. People running those booths are just as hungry as those kids, but the men who put on the circus don’t take kindly to people stealing from them.”
“Well, I don’t think that will be an issue for a long while. Lochlan roughed the both of them up pretty good before I arrived,” Khard said.
“That’s right,” Lochlan said, his memory not wholly there. “Are they alright? Do you know?”
“They managed to slither away; I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“I was so angry about there being so much food and so many hungry people. I must have gone right for whoever was in charge. Chief Rainch, I’m so sorry for any other damage I might have caused. Khard, do you… did I kill anybody?”
“Not that I saw,” Khard said.
“No blood anywhere in front of the tent, or on the street,” Chief Rainch broke in.
“I walked all the way over, and through a couple of alleys, and didn’t see anybody hurt either,” I said.
“Well, that’s something, then,” Lochlan said. “At least—” The younger Agent stopped talking again, I thought due to the mood module again.
“What?” Khard asked for us all. Then we turned the corner, back onto the street that would lead to the GHS housing, and came up right behind Lochlan.
“I might have spoken too soon.” Lochlan said. “There’s a massive pool of blood next to our new car.”
“Wasn’t there when I got here,” I said.
Little One! You need to leave, now!
“Uh… you guys, the voi—…uh, we might need to leave. Like, now.”
Khard looked up and to the left, then pointed. “I think I can see why.”
Crouched down on top of one of the houses was the largest form I’d ever seen, long silver hair jutting out from the tiny pieces of cloth it was wearing. I remember thinking that it looked like a mismatched action figure, much too big for the playhouse it was standing on top of. Roof tiles broke away as it turned toward us, massive claws digging in when it leapt, the beast landing directly on top of the car I’d arrived in.
“Dammit!” Khard said. “GHS is gonna start charging us if the cars they send our way keep breaking.”
The beast stepped easily from the hood of the car, its body cracking audibly as it stood to its full height. Two fists formed on its sides, and the abomination turned its head, a torrent of blood falling from its mouth—a plethora of human teeth clinking as they struck the vehicle. The beast’s mouth stayed open, and I nearly lost my breath as two rows of sharpened, perfectly white fangs grew in. Slowly, with purpose, the beast made its approach.
“What… what is that?” I gasped.
“The man you replaced, if I’m seein’ right,” Chief Rainch replied.
The beast, O-Rell, snarled, fangs bared as he continued walking forward. To my right, Lochlan’s body began to hum, and one of his hands opened from the middle of his palm to reveal something bulbous. Khard looked from Lochlan to the monstrous O-Rell, then flipped back a part of a finger, revealing a spigot. The Agents dug themselves in, preparing for the inevitable attack.
O-Rell stopped walking forward when he was close enough that he didn’t need to yell, maybe fifteen or twenty feet away. His breaths were huge, his giant stomach and oversized chest heaving up and down calmly.
“I’ve come for her,” O-Rell said, his voice full of gravel.
“Me?” I asked.
O-Rell snarled. “No! I’ve come for Chief Rainch.”
Chief Rainch stepped forward, calmly pushing aside the Agents. The humming inside of Lochlan grew louder. Lights on buildings nearby began to flicker and the hair on my arms stood straight. “Alright, O-Rell. I’m here. What do you want?”
“To make you pay, Syndi.”
“Ain’t sure I owe you any money, O-Rell,” Chief Rainch replied.
A low growl emanated from O-Rell, the force behind it strong enough to drown out the humming coming from Lochlan. “For every comment, Syndi. For every slight and derisive remark. Do you see me now? Do you see what I have become? Would you call me weak again?!”
O-Rell nearly screamed his words, and my pulse began to race as my body responded to his aggression and fresh adrenaline its way into my muscles.
Little One, we do not think you are safe here.
Relax. The Agents got this. I probably won’t even have to do anything.
“O-Rell, why don’t you calm down and we can go talk about whatever it is you’re upset about,” Chief Rainch began.
O-Rell cut her off immediately. “Upset?! Don’t put on a show for these people, Syndi. You know what you’ve done, the way you’ve treated me. I told you I wouldn’t let it slide any longer, I told you—”
“Look!” Khard yelled. “We get it. But you’ve got two choices here, O-Rell. You come back with us, or we make you come back with us.”
O-Rell snarled once more, and the battle began.
Chief Rainch tried to draw her firearm as the beast of a former Cape leapt forward, his huge legs shooting him the rest of the distance much faster than the old woman’s arms could move. Syndi lost her gun arm in one clean swipe of O-Rell’s claws, her bones snapping like celery. Her gun still in her holster, she fell forward as she attempted to catch her own appendage. O-Rell’s other hand shot out with preternatural speed, grabbing Chief Rainch around the throat to lift her high in the air. Before he could, the monster was met with a swift kick from Khard, the older Agent splashing what remained of the caustic liquid on top of Syndi’s arm to cauterize the wound. Syndi screamed out again in pain as she fell to the ground, though her wound stopped bleeding and instead sizzled.
<
br /> Lochlan stepped forward and pulled the trigger inside of his arm, a loud BZZT echoing off of the houses around us as he fired his weapon at O-Rell. Some of the hair on the Specian’s body was singed, but O-Rell seemed mostly unharmed.
“Not enough electricity nearby!” Lochlan called out as Khard advanced on O-Rell. The older agent attempted to deliver another kick to O-Rell’s side, but O-Rell caught his leg with his massive, yeti-like arms. O-Rell swung Khard into Lochlan, the clang of metal on metal ringing out before both of the Agents went flying across the road.
O-Rell breathed easily, and looked at me, then drew in a deep breath. He made like he was going to approach, but stopped just short of actually moving forward. “You…” he said. “You smell…familiar. Why do you smell familiar?!”
Okay, maybe I was wrong.
“I can hear you doing that,” O-Rell said. “I can hear your words.” O-Rell’s yellow eyes narrowed. “Who are you talking to?”
Khard came flying fist-first, striking O-Rell directly across the jaw. Lochlan had jumped so high that he landed directly on top of O-Rell a moment later, slamming both of his feet into the back of O-Rell’s head. The abominable former-Cape nearly toppled over, growling loudly as he grabbed Lochlan’s legs and smacked the Agent into the concrete. Lochlan hit so hard the ground rumbled underneath me, a sheet of dirt falling from the GHS house to my left, where Gil and Frikshen were likely sleeping. O-Rell squat down and planted a monstrous knee on Lochlan’s belly, his other leg out to the side like a rudder. One of O-Rell’s gigantic paws covered Lochlan’s entire face as the agent struggled to move his hips from under O-Rell’s knee. Lochlan should have just pushed O-Rell’s foot down, but that was probably hard to do since he couldn’t see.
Gil opened the front door and peeked outside. “What’s… What the hell!” he yelled, immediately slamming the door shut. Khard was back, delivering two quick uppercuts to O-Rell’s chin as the Specian shifted his weight to keep himself heavy on top of Lochlan, the older Agent forcing O-Rell back upright. O-Rell’s head had clearly been rattled, but he regained his composure quickly, then swiped at Khard so hard the older Agent went flying once again. Chief Rainch grabbed her felled hand and began crawling away, stopping when she’d made it to the sidewalk.
Seriously, if you can help at all, now is the time.
We are trying, Little One. But others do not want us to help. They are making it… difficult.
“There it is again,” O-Rell said. “Are you my replacement? Is this what the Global Heroes Society thinks of me, that I could be so easily replaced with a low-rated Telepath?”
“My name is Ivy,” I said. “You and I don’t need to have a problem. You want to keep this city, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to send me somewhere else.”
O-Rell laughed, his sharp, porcelain-white fangs catching the moonlight. “Oh, I won’t be staying here,” he said. “Now that I can truly be of service. Now that I am pure.”
Any time, please.
We are working as quickly as we can.
“Again!” he yelled at me. “What is this game you’re playing?! Why would you use that name?”
Lochlan’s leg shot up, kneeing O-Rell in the back of his thigh, forcing the massive Specian’s knee to buckle forward. As it did, Lochlan punched the joint hard, once, and then more, trying to move O-Rell off of him. O-Rell’s leg shifted with the second hit, and he stepped down to kick Lochlan hard with his other foot, sending the Agent skittering like a soccer ball into the GHS housing. Lochlan crashed through the door, and a cloud of dirt erupted outward into the night air. Gil peeked his head around the broken architecture.
O-Rell sniffed the air, turning to look directly at his battered teammate. “Gil!” the Specian yelled. “Come out here and help me. We have much to do now that I am complete.”
“Uh. That’s alright, O!” Gil called back. “It looks like you got it.”
O-Rell snarled, making as if to move toward Gil, but was met with a spinning back-kick to the chest from Khard, who had used his modification to strengthen his legs. The hit finally seemed to be enough to knock O-Rell off balance, and Khard continued to kick at the Specian with the practiced precision of a master combatant, striking O-Rell in exposed pressure points. Khard’s foot came forward once more, delivering a kick straight into O-Rell’s stomach, and O-Rell caught the blow as it hit. Before he could be pulled off balance, however, Khard jumped with his back foot, swinging his free leg around to strike O-Rell across the cheek. The Specian yelled, chipped teeth flying free, and he bit down on Khard’s metallic leg. The metal underneath Khard’s skin held under the strength of O-Rell’s massive jaw, though the metal underneath began to dent with an audible crunch. Hanging upside down, Khard tried desperately to free himself as O-Rell swung him from side to side, eventually loosening his jaw to send Khard to the side, where the older agent hit hard against the pavement.
Lochlan came running from the house before Khard had landed. Before the younger Agent reached him, O-Rell releasing a small cough. My body tensed as I thought the voices had managed to end the fight, but then I felt my heart sink when O-Rell turned his head to the side and spat up a piece of Khard’s leg. Lochlan took on a wide stance as he punched up at O-Rell, the Specian catching one fist and then the other in his oversized paws. The metal man held his ground against his giant of a foe, the both of them waging a silent war as they tried to shift their weight, pushing and pulling to gain the proper leverage to throw the other to the ground. O-Rell tried more than once to shift his weight back and pick Lochlan up, but the Agent simply got a hold of O-Rell’s hands, then pulled them both back to the ground.
O-Rell looked beyond Lochlan. “Gil! I won’t tell you again. Get out here and help me!”
Gil walked onto the lawn sheepishly, clearly in no shape to fight. “I’m… I’m all beat up, O. I’m not sure I can really—”
“No excuses!” O-Rell screamed, snapping sharp fangs at Lochlan’s face. “Unless you want me to come for you next, you’ll do something and help me!”
Hands still covered in green, crusty mud, Gil spread his legs, then reached down with his power into the earth. Two large pieces of dirt raised from the lawn in front of him, floating shakily in a mirrored movement of Gil’s hands, which trembled violently as he held them out. Gil looked like it pained him greatly to use his powers, his teeth grinding against each other inside of his skull.
“Gil, wait!” I called out. “You don’t have to do this.”
Gil looked at me, clearly unsure of whether or not he could choose me over O-Rell and live through the night. So I pressed on.
“Gil, listen to me. Put down the dirt. If you help him now, we won’t be able to look past what happened before. Helping him will be a clear violation of the GHS Code of Conduct. Think about your future.”
O-Rell roared, bright red blood spurting from his hand where Lochlan had managed to cut him with the scalpel in his finger.
“Good distraction!” Lochlan called out. The Agent’s foot came flying up, his leg stretching farther than a natural one would be able to, and kicked O-Rell underneath his chin—the massive Specian to stumble back.
“Gil, help us,” I said.
Gil’s face grew serious, and his arms stopped their shaking. The large clumps of dirt flew around Lochlan, slamming into O-Rell from both sides and exploding as they landed. Gil’s arms flew out wide then, forming a great ball of flame in the middle. He sent the missile flying and singing the hair on O-Rell’s stomach as Lochlan dipped out of the way. The young Agent stood just after the explosion, striking O-Rell again in the chin with a swinging uppercut.
Khard came soaring through the air, his broken leg removed, and wrapped his arms around O-Rell’s neck. The oversized Specian’s face turned red as Lochlan landed blow after blow to O-Rell’s stomach. Gil pulled his arms forward to suck the air away from near O-Rell’s mouth and nose, ensuring that he would be unable to breathe.
O-Rell retaliated, kicking out as he held his brea
th and sending Lochlan sliding backwards. Lochlan tripped on the sidewalk and crashed into the ground, the scalpel in his finger breaking off. O-Rell reached up, thick fingers trying desperately to gain a hold underneath Khard’s robotic grip. The monstrous Cape struggled, still unable to breathe, his eyes going bulbous as Gil continued to keep the air away from O-Rell’s face. Finally, right as he went cross-eyed, O-Rell managed to grab onto Khard’s arms. He flung the older Agent headlong, turning Khard into a living missile aimed at Gil. Gil had plenty of time to dodge, and side-stepped around Khard and easily side-stepped, though the metal missile forced Gil to stop manipulating the air. Free to breathe once more, O-Rell came forward in a flash, drops of blood still hanging in the air as his preternatural speed carried him over to Gil.
O-Rell lifted his former partner from his feet, growling low, and ripped Gil’s arms from their sockets.
“No!” Chief Rainch screamed, and O-Rell turned his sights on her. She had managed to regains some of her wits, her gun free of its holster and leveled at the massive Specian. O-Rell turned, and Chief Rainch unloaded her entire clip, a stream of pops exploding in my ear one after another. The tiny bullets bounced off of O-Rell’s skin, and he slowed not at all as he walked toward Chief Rainch, who was nearly prone once again.
It’s officially gone from bad to worse. Anything yet?
Yes, Little One. We are holding off the others for now. The machines you’ve befriended have given us an opening, but it wasn’t enough.
What do you mean?
You’ll have to finish him.
O-Rell pointed at me. “You and I are going to talk when this is done. There’s something… wait… no. No! What are you doing? Not me! You said it would never be me!”
O-Rell fell to his knees, the ground shaking as he landed, and blood began to stream from his nostrils. He tried to talk, coughing on the blood, and reached out for Chief Rainch where she sat.
I ran over when O-Rell hit the ground, and I picked up the broken scalpel a few feet away. O-Rell looked up at me as I approached, seeming too weak to lift his massive arms.
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