“MJ,” Virgil said quietly with fingers pressed to his ear. The lights inside the bar cut out. Everything was plunged into pitch black darkness. James heard Lindy complain, was aware of movement, but could not see anything beyond the tip of his own nose.
“Shit. Hadi!” he called into the darkness. No one responded; not that he expected them to. Instead, he grabbed Zephyr’s wrist - or, what he hoped was her wrist - and tugged towards where he remembered the front door to be. It took a few stumbling steps, a couple of squashed toes, but he finally found the handle, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the familiar jingling of the bell above his head. Both he and Zephyr burst out of the bar in time to see a suped-up Dodge speed away down the main street, nearly taking two other cars out in the process.
“Dammit!” Zephyr cursed, whirling where she stood so that James had no choice but to follow or have his arm ripped out of socket. “Ronin, I need a tail on a Dodge Charger, neon racing stripes, covered plates heading south on South Green Bay Avenue towards east 108th Street. Karma, link us up - pull Falcon in as well.”
“Pull me into-” James could not finish his sentence. His mind was suddenly spinning with thoughts of at least seven other people, probably more if he really took the time to listen.
“You could have waited until after I gave him a transmitter patch, Karma,” Zephyr said. He felt pressure just behind his ear, a wild wave of vertigo that made him wretch and then blessed silence.
“My apologies, Agent Falcon. I assumed Zephyr had already tapped you in,” a familiar male voice said. Zephyr made a face of annoyance but ran around to a side alley two buildings over and mounted a rather impressive motorcycle.
“On,” she ordered. James was not in any mood to argue, frowning at the woman’s new outfit. Somewhere in his delirium, she had changed from business casual to a stylized form of Valkyrie armor. “Hang on!”
James did as commanded, squeezing tight to Zepyhr’s middle while simultaneously trying to avoid the wings and sword at her back. Yes, his job was very interesting.
“Black Myst - Eric, are you online?” Zephyr said. James heard her voice, though he was also aware that the wind howled in his ears as they gave chase, cars honking at them or pedestrians hollering for them to slow down.
“Read ya’ loud n’ clear beautiful, whatcha need?” came another disembodied voice.
“Track down Angelo Gustavo. Retain at all cost; headless counts. Hunt with caution, the idiot is Evolved. Pyro.”
“Roger, that, boss-lady. Myst out.”
~
Hadi stared out the back window of the Charger, noting how dark it was. There were no lights anywhere, creating a cluster of cars and pedestrians, people peeking out from windows with flashlights or store owners hovering in their doorways. Amir and Lindy sat with him, Virgil in the front seat with a girl Hadi had been introduced to only the day before in the driver’s seat. The car was specially designed for her specific needs, one of the most technologically advanced vehicles he’d ever seen. Part of him expected it to talk. If he weren’t running for his life, he might have asked if it did.
“Hadi,” Amir began sadly, head hanging to his chest.
“It’s ok,” he said before Amir could finish. He rubbed his brother’s shoulders and offered an
understanding grin. Amir was only trying to help.
“Y’all, how in all of flying shit storms is any of this ok??” Lindy asked. Hadi looked at her but had no answer. In truth, the entire situation was beyond ludicrous but that was not the easiest thing to admit or put into words.
“V,” Amir said, changing direction away from Hadi. “Why did that lady call you Crush?”
“Long story,” Virgil answered. It was a story for another time. Racing through the darkened streets of East Side Chicago was not the time for stories to be told.
“We’re being followed,” MJ said. Hadi liked her. She was young, but smart as a whip and didn’t let anything stop her. The car was all hers, modified, painted, upgraded. He’d seen some of her other techy toys too and marveled at all of them. “Two teams; PeaceKeepers and someone else.”
No one said anything, looking around the car at each other as MJ dodged a trash truck that ran through the blinking intersection light. Their silent looks tried to make sense out of things, devise a plan without actually speaking or, maybe, just wrap their minds around what was currently happening. They were fugitives; all of them. Somehow, Hadi had roped Amir and Lindy into the chaos that had become of his life. He looked at them both, saw the concern and fear on their faces, then looked at Virgil.
“MJ,” he said. “Swing back around and head north. Go to the Bean.”
“What? Why?” she asked, daring to glance over her shoulder. That’s all it took. A split second and all of them were screaming, screeching metal ringing in their ears or shards of glass tearing through their flesh. They rolled and flipped, the roof of the car, squashing down until Hadi felt it pressing on his skull. He braced himself on the back of the driver’s seat and the one bar that remained intact, watching the sparks fly as they skid across the road. Eventually, they came to a stop, the car teetering on its top like an overturned turtle. There was a crackle of voices that echoed out into the night, squealing tires and honking horns from other vehicles that tried to avoid the totaled Charger. They were hit twice, spinning in circles or skidding across the pavement to bank against a flickering lamp post. Hadi could smell gas, and his ears were ringing, and shoulders sore from where the seatbelt dug in.
“Amir?” Hadi choked out, unable to twist around enough to see his little brother. “Lindy?”
“Present,” Lindy said weakly. Relief rushed through half of Hadi, the other half tense and afraid for his brother. Hadi tried to move, tried to pry himself out of the seatbelt that held him upside down but failed. He heard slow, calculating footsteps and stopped moving, watching a pair of heavy black boots move towards the vehicle. He did his best to stay quiet, feeling a burn in his scarred palm that he pressed to the thick nylon of the seatbelt. He could smell it, feel it smolder beneath his hand, melting away thread by thread until it finally snapped. Hadi landed face first onto the crumpled roof of the car, scrambling backwards to relieve Amir and Lindy of their harnesses as well.
“I see you, little hellfire,” a deep voice said. Hadi looked at Amir, unconscious and bleeding from his temples, then at Lindy, her face pale and eyes wide. “You’ve been a good scape goat but, it’s time for your story to come to a close.”
Hadi looked at Lindy, shaking his head, pressing a finger to his lips. Tears flowed out of her eyes but she remained quiet, grunting when Hadi finally burned through her straps. He put a hand over her mouth, scooting back with her beneath him until they were both out of the car on the opposite side. Virgil, Hadi noticed, was conscious but stuck. He jerked his head, silently ordering Hadi and Lindy to run but Hadi shook his head. Much to his horror, Lindy stood up first.
“Lonny?” she sobbed. “You did this? You set all those fires?”
Hadi ignored the conversation. It was enough of a distraction for him to get back into the car to free Amir and drag him out. Virgil had no straps holding him down for he was too large to fit them. The vehicle cinched in around him, effectively pinning him to the wreckage. Short of blowing the door off - and potentially hurting Virgil - Hadi could not do anything to help him.
“…Rae, please!” the booted man pleaded. Hadi peeked at him from time to time, or over at Lindy. He had his hands on the door frame, the warmth emanating from his palms working to soften the fiberglass and metal frame of the crushed up car. It was working. Virgil wiggled his shoulder enough to push the door out while Lindy vehemently shook her head and shouted at the man she called Lonny.
“A little more,” Hadi whispered to Virgil, melting away more of the door frame until the man was able to shove the rest of it aside like it was a hunk of PlayDoh. Lindy squealed, hollering when Hadi grabbed her by the waist to pull her back down, switching spots with her. He threw a
blast of flames at the elder man, catching him off guard long enough to scoop Amir up and dart away into an alley with Lindy following behind. He heard the crunch and tear of the car, followed by a grunted order to run. Hadi did not have to be told twice, throwing Amir over one shoulder so he could clamp on to Lindy’s wrist and drag her along.
“Go!” Virgil hollered right as the alley lit up like a torch. Flames flew above and behind, singing the walls and making the trash bins groan from the heat.
“Leave them alone!”
James. Hadi’s steps slowed, watching the elder man literally walk through the flames that filled the alley. He fired a weapon at the other pyro-Evolved, the gunshot echoing against the brick walls.
“Lonny!”
“Going somewhere?” another voice cooed. The figure literally appeared out of nowhere, blocking the alley exit.
“Warlock!” Hadi heard. It was a woman that spoke, her very proper accent thick even dripping with threats and anger. “What fuck up let you out of the Hole?”
“Hot pants!” the man dubbed Warlock said with a crooked smile. “Fancy meeting you here, cutie.”
“Shut up, you wanker,” she spat. “I’ll only extend professional courtesy once: walk away.”
“No can do, gorgeous. I got a job to do, just like you do.”
Chaos exploded around Hadi. He felt someone grab the scruff of his shirt, dragging him sideways as Zephyr and Warlock went toe to toe. Heat brushed against Hadi’s face, the fire blasting its way down the alley. Before Hadi knew what was happening, he was huddled in a corner with Amir slouched beside him, Lindy sobbing on his shoulder and MJ in his lap. Virgil and James made quick work of the pyro-Evolved, shoving him into a trash bin that Virgil literally smashed shut. Warlock and Zephyr fought, grunting and screaming at each other while other figures darted around. Hadi heard sirens or alarms, shaking his head with hands over his ears. Everything overwhelmed him, turning the entire alley into a pit of raging fire.
11
“Zephyr, report!” Karma shouted. He shared the same accent that she did, the same colloquialisms.
While he’d been doing this for much longer, he passed the torch of leadership to her when the vote came around. He was too old, too jaded to make the tactical decisions needed for the type of work the PeaceKeepers did. Case in point: she’d dropped communication over ten minutes prior. “Ronin?”
“I cannot reach her. There is too much fire. Warlock is here,” the youkai woman said.
“Who is making the fire?” Karma demanded as he circled the state-of-the-art glass touch-panel desk to look over a young woman’s shoulder. ‘WiFire I need visual.”
The flat, transparent screens above the young woman popped to life with six different images, all different angles of the same location. The narrow alley between a bakery and a bank glowed bright orange. There were remnants of a crushed up vehicle leaning against the bakery wall and Zephyr’s bike not far off.
“Dammit, girl…” Karma cursed, eyes darting between images on the screen. “Eric, Aidan - redirect to the following coordinates…”
“HADI!” James hollered, shaking the young man roughly by the shoulders. Lindy held on to the young girl MJ who, James learned, could not walk. Amir still slouched against the wall, sweat and blood mixing together at the temples. Every now and then James looked behind him where Zephyr still fought with some over-powered pop-rock and he’d lost sight of Virgil entirely. Then, of course, he remembered the thing Zephyr had pushed into the back of his ear.
“Hey! Anyone there?” he hollered, though he was fairly certain the hollering was entirely unnecessary. “WHOA SHIT!”
A twisted metal ladder clattered just above his head, slamming into the ground beside Hadi. Ironically enough, that rocked him from his stupor, making him look up at James with fear and confusion on his young face.
“Get it together, man!” James hollered at him while reloading his gun. The fire immediately shrank to something a little less violent, making it easier for James to see. The fire didn’t hurt him, but it sure as hell blinded the crap out of him. Staring into the sun did that and his eyesight was piss-poor as it was. He glanced around the alley, noting the dueling pair at the far and and took aim. It took a little too long to calibrate his shot, but when he pulled the trigger, it hit its mark. The idiot known as Warlock took a good tumble to the left, giving Zephyr a reprieve and pushing him out of the burning alley. That’s when James found Virgil again. The large man shoved a metal trash bin over Warlock’s head, backing up suddenly when the ground exploded in a wild spray of blackened tentacles.
“What the f—”
“Zephyr!” that familiar pretentious voice said in James’ head.
“She’s hurt,” James reported, marine training making him press his fingers to the back of his ear as if to activate whatever that little thingy was. Logically, he knew that was unnecessary, but habit made him do it anyway.
“To whom am I speaking?” the voice demanded.
“Falcon,” he answered, jogging over to Zephyr to pull her back into the alley. She bled from the side, a hole ripped through the armor with a piece of iron stair rail shoved through her side. “This is gonna hurt.”
That was the only warning he gave her, yanking the rail out in one swift motion. She screamed, dropping to her knees and then glaring at him.
“Where’s Haze?” Virgil asked, looming over James and Zephyr like a giant ogre. James jerked his head back to where he’d left them.
“In the burning vortex of hell,” he said. “Hey, disembodied voice - I need ideas here. We’re a little, uhm, overwhelmed and grossly underpowered. I’ve got an injured kid, a panicked waitress, a paraplegic techno- geek, a human bowling ball, and your little winged Valkyrie plus whatever just exploded out the ground to suck down that Warlock asshole. Aaaaand… I’ve got half a clip left. Options would be nice.”
“Jimbo!” Virgil called, jerking his head towards another alley that was not on fire. He carried the girl that could not walk in one arm and had Amir slung over his other shoulder. Hadi stood beside him with Lindy clinging to him like glue, big streaks of black mascara running down her pale cheeks. James did not wait for a second option, scooping Zephyr up into his arms to follow Virgil. He stumbled, his leg choosing the worst moment ever to stiffen up and go unresponsive. Cursing under his breath, he forced compliance, hobbling after Virgil with an extra load in his arms.
“I’m fine,” Zephyr insisted weakly.
“The hell you are,” James bit back. “Just don’t wiggle too much or I might drop you. Virgil! Where are we going?”
“Not here,” the giant man answered. It was good enough for James. They walked quickly down the street, trying to be a little less noticeable than they were. Blessedly, they had the late hour on their side and a giant conflagration behind them that was drawing a great deal of attention away from them.
“Tsch!” someone hissed from a darker alley. “Isoide!”
It took a moment for the word to translate in James’ mind. Hurry. Hurry where? His eyes darted around suspiciously but saw nothing except Virgil moving on ahead.
“Virgil!” he hissed, making the large man stop. Hadi and Lindy turned around as well. “This better be one of your folks, Ms. Z.”
“She is,” Zephyr said with barely enough strength to make a whisper. He glanced down at her and sighed. He did not have time to build trust with talking shadows. He went into the alley, making sure Virgil, Hadi, and Lindy followed along. All he saw were the outlines of large trash bins until a single pair of pale gray eyes popped up right in front of him. He jumped in spite of himself but managed not to back away. Whoever it was put two slim fingers to Zephyr’s pulse and looked at him.
“Come,” she said. The woman in all black. Now he knew her. He followed without question this time, walking deeper into the darkness. The pain he felt next made him cry out, falling back out of the dark with Zephyr still in his arms.
“James!”
James landed har
d on the pavement. Zephyr rolled out of his arms, groaning. She did not move much, trying to push up but failing. Something hot and sharp had him by the shoulder, burning him from the inside out. That was something he could not shake off like he did other burning things. Minor powers were great when they were useful; this was not so useful.
“Lonny, stop it!” Lindy screeched. James could see her and Hadi, see Virgil and the girl that couldn’t walk.
“I’m sorry, Lindsay-Rae.”
Agony tore through James, making him scream. He tried to pry the heat off of him, only to feel the burning hot metal sticking several inches out of his shoulder.
“JAMES!”
The dark street suddenly lit up like a firecracker. It hurt to keep his eyes open. It hurt anyway. James was aware of things groaning, of feeling steam rise up from the cracks in the pavement and panicked voices in his ear or head.
“…ent Falcon!!”
“Aidan, get over there!” someone else said. “On it, broheim…”
James didn’t hear anything else, finally passing out from the pain as the fire grew worse.
~
James jerked awake with a loud snort. His breath caught, making him choke. He coughed violently, rolling sideways to see a pristine white room with what he could only imagine were medical supplies and tissue boxes. Even the bed was white.
“Welcome back, Agent Falcon.” Zephyr.
“Where am I?” James croaked. He continued to cough until Zephyr offered a drink of cool water that he guzzled. His shoulder was on fire and immobile, his head pounding and chest tight.
“PeaceKeeper headquarters,” Zephyr answered. She let him drink more water, helping him to a seated position. “Thank you, by the way, for what you did.”
James glanced at her, at the red spot on her shoulder and the bandage beneath the white tank she wore. She wore no mask, he realized, her brown hair in a simple braid that fell down her back. She was so young; like Hadi.
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