by Wyatt Kane
Ty knew she was right. With a sigh, he cast his own sheet aside and climbed into his trousers, doing his best to ignore his growing reaction.
“Although, maybe,” the demon woman added thoughtfully. “Would it be all right if just the two of us … when we get back…” the demon woman paused her thought incomplete, then tried again. “Do you think Dinah or Tempest would mind?”
Ty understood what Lilith was asking. He wrapped the pouch that contained his power supplies around his middle, then put on his shirt.
“I’m sure neither of them would mind at all,” he said, already looking forward to the future. It felt good to be on this side of the equation as far as the relationship between him and the girls was concerned. Usually, it was him trying to figure things out.
For him, it had been different from anything he’d experienced before, but now, he understood it more clearly. He knew without a doubt in his mind that neither Tempest nor Dinah would begrudge either Lilith or himself a moment of pleasure. Lilith had been included in their lives, just as Ty had been. Within that small circle, anything was permissible, as long as it was via mutual consent.
The demon woman was the first to get ready, but Ty wasn’t far behind. He was just climbing into his shoes when both his and Lilith’s devices pinged to indicate a call coming through.
Lilith answered first, and a holographic image of Dinah appeared floating above her device. “Lilith, good,” the deerkin said. “I have located the event. It is in West New Lincoln, near the Harmony Bridge. Restaurant district, with apartments above. Not the tallest buildings, but lots of people even at this time of the morning. Do you know the area?”
Lilith nodded. “I think so. I can get us there.”
“Good. Good luck,” the deerkin said.
It seemed she was about to ring off, but Lilith stopped her. “Can you tell if this is just a random event? Or is the Master somehow involved?” she asked.
It was a question Ty had been wondering about as well. The Master had effectively declared war against them. His first move, the opening gambit of that war, was to cast the Architect out into the street. Could this destruction be his next step?
The Master had threatened public destruction before. Only Tempest’s superhuman strength had prevented a disaster at Scare Kingdom, New Lincoln’s amusement park. But in that case, the Master had telegraphed his intentions, leaving a threat on the newsnets that Dinah had decoded.
This time, there were no threats. No messages at all. Did that mean the Master wasn’t involved? Or was he just no longer advertising his intent in advance?
Either way, Ty couldn’t help but wonder what it meant. If the Master was involved, what did he hope to gain from destruction like this?
What did he want to achieve?
“I have no information,” Dinah said. “But I’ll keep looking.”
“Okay, thank you,” Lilith said. The demon woman then turned to Ty. She seemed both nervous and excited, and Ty didn’t have to ask why. Lilith had been more hesitant than him when it came to joining their team. While Ty’s first thought when it came to being a superhero was that of beating up bad guys, that wasn’t what Lilith was about. She wanted to help people more than anything else.
This was her chance to do so.
Despite her nervousness, it was Lilith who spoke. “Are you ready?” she asked.
But Ty had thought of something. “Let’s go back to the workshop first,” he said. “If this is the Master’s doing, we don’t want to turn up unprepared.”
Lilith nodded. For the third time in just a few minutes, she stepped close to Ty and held him tight. Despite the demon woman’s warm softness, Ty couldn’t help but become tense in preparation for the moment of cold he knew to be coming.
5: Scene of Destruction
Ty wasted no time. As soon as they reached the workshop, he ordered the fabricator to produce the only effective weapon against superpowered people that he’d been able to create. EMP grenades, good for a blast radius of about a dozen yards. Any device-wearer caught within that radius would suddenly find their device no longer working. The devices would drop to the ground, and then withdrawal would kick in.
Ty knew from his own experience that withdrawal from the device was debilitating.
As the fabricator did its work, Lilith asked a question. “Why don’t we take some of your nanites with us?” she asked.
Ty looked at her.
“For the wounded,” she clarified. “Wouldn’t they help them as well?”
Ty wondered just how much of an impact his hangover from the AZT-407 was having. He should have thought of that for himself.
As soon as the fabricator finished with the grenades, he had it fabricate another couple of petri dishes full of nanites as well. That was done, he looked at the demon woman.
“Is there anything else you think we might need?” he asked.
Lilith shook her head.
“Okay then. Let’s go.” Once more, he stepped in close.
This time, the moment of cold lasted longer than usual. It was like being caught in a frozen hole for an eternity. For Ty, it was like his worst nightmares come true. In this place between worlds, he could sense nothing. There was no light, no sound, not even Lilith’s earthy scent to anchor him. Only the pressure of the demon woman’s warm embrace gave him any comfort that she was still with him at all.
Between one moment and the next, the cold seeped into him. More than just in his fingers and toes, Ty felt it in his chest and lungs, in his very bones. It was the type of cold he might expect in the gulf between worlds, where not even the stars had the power to shine. It ate at him, permeated through his flesh, and seated itself in this space behind his eyes where the dull ache of his hangover waited.
It was beyond painful. It was an indescribable pressure, and it went on for so long Ty couldn’t help it. In the darkness between two disparate points, Ty opened his mouth to let out a wail….
The wail never fully formed. Just as Ty was about to give voice to his darkest terror, he and Lilith popped back into existence.
But this time, instead of appearing on the ground, they were maybe two hundred feet in the air.
Ty hadn’t activated his personal shield. He compulsively clutched at Lilith and kicked out in momentary panic to find himself so far away from solid ground.
“Sorry,” Lilith said. She hadn’t let him go, hadn’t even loosened her grip. “I should have warned you. That was a long one. The house shield – it really does interfere with my power.”
Ty took a deep breath and held the demon woman tight. He was annoyed with himself. There was no need to panic. Even if Lilith had somehow let him go, he could have activated his shield in an instant. It wouldn’t stop him from falling, not exactly, but it would catch him before he smashed into the ground.
“It’s okay,” Ty said. “Where are we?” As he asked, he looked around. It was still dark, or at least, as dark as the city of New Lincoln ever got. The ever-present layer of cloud blotted out any stars in the sky, and already Ty was starting to feel damp from the light drizzle in the air. But this part of the city, as with most others, was still flooded with light. Neon signs and streetlights turned the night into perpetual gloom as they advertised everything from the latest technological device to the more obscure body enhancements. There were even holographic displays, sometimes many stories tall, fighting for the attention of passing strangers, enticing one and all to sample their wares.
Enough of them remained to clearly show what had happened. Directly below where Ty and Lilith hovered in the air was a scene of destruction.
Not every part of the city of New Lincoln sported massive mega-corporation buildings hundreds of stories tall. This was an older part of the city. The buildings were shorter and spaced farther apart. Ty had never been there before, but he instantly sensed that this was a more pleasant part of the city. There was even a hint of a river burbling nearby, under a bridge.
Where so many of the New Lincoln inh
abitants struggled to make ends meet, Ty knew without thinking that this part of town was for those who didn’t need to struggle as much. Instead, this was where people came to spend money on good food and drink with those they cared about, and basically just to have a good time.
Some of the buildings were still standing, but others hadn’t been so lucky.
When Lilith had been under the control of the Master, she had used her power in an attack against Tempest and Dinah’s building. It had felt like an earthquake, and great sections of the road had been ruined.
To Ty, this looked like that, but on a much larger scale. It truly was like an earthquake had hit, as Dinah had mentioned. A small, localized earthquake that packed a considerable punch.
“Oh my God,” Lilith murmured.
Ty had to agree. For much of a city block, the damage looked monumental. “Take us down,” he said.
Lilith did as he asked, drifting through the drizzle until they stood on what had once been a pavement.
They surveyed the scene of disaster. Buildings had been reduced to rubble, with chunks of masonry jutting left and right. Broken pipes sprayed water into the air, and a large fire was burning off to one side. There were people crying and wailing, others calling out the names of people they loved. Somewhere in the distance, Ty heard sirens, and despite all the destruction, at least one alarm still worked.
Nor was that the end of it. Already, there were drones in the air, whether owned by the newscast or the emergency services, he didn’t know. All he knew was that they were facing a tragedy of significant portions.
“What do we do?” Lilith asked. By the sound of her voice, she was in shock. But she was still willing to help.
Ty took a deep breath. “Whatever we can,” he said. “Find the injured. Take them to the hospital. Those that look bad, give them some of the nanites.”
Lilith nodded, looking determined. She glanced at one of the drones that had come near. “What about them? What if we’re seen?”
Ty looked at the demon woman. He knew that for her, all this was brand new. “Will you let a camera stop you from helping someone who needs it?” he asked.
Lilith didn’t even need to think. “Of course not,” she said. Yet she didn’t seem to like the idea of using her abilities in public, either.
She shook her head, apparently putting the concern out of her mind so she could focus on the task at hand. She called Dinah to let the deerkin know they had arrived, and asked about the New Lincoln hospitals that were likely to have the capacity to treat multiple victims.
Dinah replied with a list, and asked if they had seen any hint of the Master’s influence.
Lilith looked at Ty, who shook his head. “All I can see is a ruin. No idea what caused it,” he said.
The deerkin said she would keep looking, and signed off.
“Maybe we should concentrate our efforts in areas where others can’t go,” Ty said, thinking it might also help with the problem of being observed. “You see to those trapped high up, and I’ll stick to those on the ground.”
Ty would have preferred to work with the demon woman by his side, but it made more sense to separate, and Lilith seemed to agree.
“Be careful,” she said, and with that, she took to the air, beating her demon wings as she flew.
Then Ty was alone in the ruins. He activated his suit and got to work.
6: Searching the Ruins
It was slow going. Even with his shield, Ty had to choose his footing carefully. He paused every so often to listen, hunting for survivors, and took his turn to shout so they would know he was there. At first, he saw no one trapped in the rubble, and he started to wonder if there were any survivors at all
Ty was grimly aware that he might be standing on top of any number of broken bodies beneath the ruins. He just didn’t know.
As he searched, he started to understand the limitations of his shield. Lilith and Tempest could both cover far more ground than he could, at a far greater speed. And Lilith could get anyone to the help they needed almost instantly. All Ty could do was use the augmented strength his shield offered to lift debris out of the way.
He worked his way in and around some of the more dangerous areas, where partially collapsed structures teetered ominously, confident that his shield would withstand it should they start to collapse. But he quickly grew frustrated at his lack of success.
There had to have been people who needed his help, and he wanted to help them. But he was limited to his own senses when it came to finding these survivors. And if he couldn’t even find them, then what could he do?
Finally, he heard a whimper from nearby. He turned and saw a middle-aged man with a deep gash on his face. The man was caught beneath a slab of concrete and steel that pinned his legs. He was covered in dust and looked at Ty with an expression that suggested he’d accepted his fate. In his mind, there was little Ty could do.
“It’s okay,” Ty said. “I’m here to help you.”
The man coughed against the dust in the air and offered a disbelieving snort. “You got a team of helpers with you?” he asked. “Because this thing crushing my leg isn’t budging.” Then he looked at Ty properly. “What’s with that blue glow around you? What are you, some kind of street entertainer?” he added.
Ty ignored the question and examined the damage. “Let’s give it a go anyway, shall we?” he said. “Unless there’s anything else I need to worry about?”
“Blowed if I know,” the man said. “I can’t feel anything down there at all.”
Ty heard the fear in the man’s voice and knew there was little he could do to assuage it. “Well, here we go.”
He set himself, took a strong grip on the chunk of concrete, and heaved it off the middle-aged man. It wasn’t easy, and he was sure Tempest would have done better, but he did it. The piece of concrete must have weighed more than five hundred pounds, and yet Ty moved it without really breaking a sweat.
As the weight came off, the middle-aged man groaned with pain and started to pant. His leg had been crushed. He was bleeding, although how badly, Ty couldn’t tell.
“You might want to put some pressure on that,” he said.
Despite the pain he was obviously in, the middle-aged man complied. “Now what?” he asked. “I don’t see any ambulances anywhere close.” As well as the pain, Ty still heard resignation in his voice.
“Don’t worry about that,” Ty said, and offered the man a grin. He took out his petri dish of nanites and used the lid to separate a small amount from the rest, which he then tipped onto the man’s wound.
“What’s that?” the man asked through gritted teeth.
“It’s a kind of magic,” Ty replied. “In a few hours, you ought to be good as new. But we might take you to a hospital anyway, just to make sure.”
With that, Ty used his device to call Lilith, and in moments the demon woman had teleported the man away.
Feeling good about himself, Ty moved on through the rubble, searching for other survivors.
◆◆◆
Over the next several hours, Ty found more than a dozen people who had survived the attack. Some were in a bad way, even worse than the middle-aged man, and Ty sent them away with Lilith.
An extremely lucky young couple with matching geometric tattoos on their faces had somehow managed to survive completely unscathed, but were trapped in a small space close to a fire. Ty dug them out, gritting his teeth against the burns he gained through his shield, happy to accept the price with the confident knowledge that his own nanites would cure him within hours.
There was an elderly man who survived with little more than a broken arm, and a woman who looked stunned, and kept calling out for her daughter.
And then there were those who were beyond Ty’s help. He didn’t even recognize the first body he saw. The young man was covered in dust, and Ty nearly stepped on him before he realized. When he did, he bent down to help, and even though there was no visible mark on him, Ty knew at once he was dead.
There was nothing he could do. Ty paused for a moment, regretting that he hadn’t been able to get to the man sooner, then moved on.
He soon lost count of the dead he saw after that, and did what he could to focus on those who still lived. At some point, he began asking those he helped if they’d seen what happened. Most of them hadn’t, but a young girl who couldn’t have been more than six years old said something that chilled his blood.
“It was a man,” she said. “He clapped his hands and everyone died.”
As soon as she said it, Ty knew who she meant. One of the Master’s men had that power. Concussion, they called him. He could create a concussive blast with a single clap.
And yet, the man Ty and Tempest had fought couldn’t have done this much damage. His concussive claps had been powerful, but this? Could they really collapse buildings?
In Ty’s mind, the man would have had to level up considerably to be able to do that. Yet it wasn’t something Ty could afford to dismiss.
And if it was Concussion, did that mean it was the Master behind all this destruction? To what end?
◆◆◆
The ache behind Ty’s eyes was still there, adding pressure to the inside of his skull. It was as if someone had introduced a fist-sized chunk of ice to his head without ensuring there was sufficient space.
Ty had never eaten ice cream regularly as a kid, but had suffered brain freeze from time to time nevertheless. This wasn’t like that, but more urgent, more compelling, and it throbbed to the tune of the beat of his heart.
As the hours passed and Ty’s exhaustion increased, the pain only grew worse. Yet he didn’t let it impact what he was doing. A headache, a hangover from the drug he had taken, was no excuse not to help those in need.
He wondered if he could tweak his nanites so they could act as an analgesic as well. But if he could, that was for later, after he and Lilith were done with this disaster.
Ty worked steadily, doing his best while lamenting that his talents were only minimally useful in this situation. Yet, even though he wished he could do more, his shield gave him an advantage over the others who had come to help. It would protect him against dangers they couldn’t afford to face, as well as enhancing his strength.