14 - Kicking Asp
[Well, you're in luck. I was going to leave you on another cliffhanger, but after some rereading I became convinced it actually flowed better split a different way.]
Jon studied the controls furiously while simultaneously mapping the reactor's circuitry with his field sense. I've got to drop the control rods, he thought, that'll damp the chain reaction. He gaped all over again in amazement when he realized there weren't nearly enough rods to do the trick. Are they INSANE?!
Photon sighed. Obviously I'm going to need some help. He hauled one of the scientists to his feet and slapped him. "Wake up!" The man came around blearily. "Who're you?!" "I'm the superhero who's shutting your base down. But for now, since your reactor is going critical, I think we're effectively allies." The guy's eyes widened. "Oh my God!" [It's a very, very good thing that I made this Diplomacy check, as you will see. One of the few good rolls I made the whole day.]
Jon let him go and asked, "Where's the rest of your control rods? You guys can't possibly be stupid enough to run a fission reactor that'll go supercritical if you look at it funny." "That's what the field emitter's for! What the HELL happened to it?!" The guy looked around and his eyes went comically wide in alarm when he saw the large hole melted in the emitter. Photon shuffled his feet sheepishly and admitted, "I, uh, shot it." "You. Shot. It." "Um, yeah?"
The guy chewed on that for several long seconds before bursting out, "WHY?!" "It, uh, seemed like a good idea at the time?" The scientist burst into a series of colorful obscenities prominently featuring Photon's ancestry, but the electromagnetic hero cut him off. "You can feel free to yell at me when this is all over. For now, what are we going to DO?"
The guy visibly forced himself to calm down. "Okay, fine. What sort of powers do you have? Anything that could help?" "I've got pretty much total control over electric and magnetic fields." "Er, wow! Yeah, that should help. I don't suppose you can damp a nuclear reaction?" Jon rolled his eyes. "No, or I would have already. Think! That's strong and weak nuclear force. I can do a few things with the weak force from its coupling with EM, but not nearly enough." "Right, right... Well, can you at least do something about the radiation? I'd like to get through this alive."
Jon nodded. "I keep forgetting everyone else isn't immune. I can damp the gamma easily, and redirect the alphas and betas with magnetic fields. Neutrons are going to be harder; the magnetic fields necessary to budge them would be intense." "I'll take my chances." "Where do you want me to put them?" "Straight up!" Jon concentrated, saying, "Okay, coming u-"
There came a shrieking sound that split Jon's world. Abruptly, everything swam before his eyes as he swayed on his feet. He could blearily see the scientist waving his arms and hear him shouting, but his brain wasn't quite up to putting the words together.
[This was the most frustrating time of the whole session. I kept rolling 5 and under for my Fort saves; I was out of it for three rounds, and finally spent a hero point in disgust.]
After several long seconds of near-oblivion, things started to come back to Jon in a rush. He heard the scientist screaming, "We NEED him, you f*cking idiot!! Another minute of this, and you'll never have kids!" The (now-awake) guard growled, "I dunno; never really wanted any of the little rugrats anyway." "Fine! How do you feel about your hair falling out? Just how many orifices do you want to be bleeding out of?! Radiation poisoning is NOT A JOKE, you effing moron!" Grumbling, the guard stood down, and Jon coldly stun-zapped him again. The scientist raged, "What the hell did you do THAT for?!" "He might change his mind. He doesn't seem too bright." "...Point. Look, can I at least sound the evacuation alarm in case things go sour?" After brief consideration, "Sure." The man slapped the red button he'd been reaching for before, and now in addition to intruder alerts, the PA system began ordering everyone to proceed to their designated evacuation points.
Jon redirected the radiation while the scientist started to revive his partner, explaining, "Mark's the expert on the emitter. We're gonna need him." "Right. I'll be right back..." "Wait!"
But Jon had already zipped over to the 'front door' to check on the team there (their communicators weren't very effective in the mostly-metallic base). They were under heavy fire, but giving a good accounting of themselves; they'd already racked up an impressive stack of unconscious bodies. Jon filled them tersely in via communicator, then told them, "You'll have to get the unconscious people out of here." Sirocco rolled his eyes and griped, "Way to make our lives easier!" but he and A.E. concurred. Jon then told Beta to have Alpha pass the news to the cops. Alpha piped up through Beta's radio voice,
Defusing a bomb that threatens the city? That's so two weeks ago.
Jon rolled his eyes at the reference to Technoid's construct, then zipped over to check up on Demeter.
He needn't have. She had the two subs hung lengthwise from the ceiling by massive ropes of algae, and was in the process of ripping holes in them via kelp so she could scuttle them properly. After staring a moment in astonishment, he passed on the news. "Understood, Photon!" "You having any trouble?" "Nothing I can't handle!" There were indeed a number of unconscious bodies around her as well, immobilized in algae cocoons. "Can you get them out through the grate?" She shook her head, "Not safely, not while they're unconscious. I'll have to rip the gate open." She sounded quite confident, though. "Okay. And it looks like you'll have no trouble binding them." Demeter grinned. "Disgustingly, but yes, I can do it." "Okay, when you're done here, go around and help the others." "Got it, Photon."
Just then a guard popped out from behind a pillar and aimed. Jon was about to shoot him, but Demeter just grinned and scattered some seeds from the pouch at her waist. Instantly a writhing stand of kudzu engulfed the man, coiling him up. "Wow," Jon said, "I didn't know you could do it that fast." "Neither did I! I seem to be improving - it's fun!" "Heh. Well, keep up the good work."
Then he zipped back to the reactor. "Where the hell have you been?!" his 'friend' wanted to know. "Just letting my friends at the two ends of your base know what's going on." The guy rolled his eyes. "Oh great! I guess the alarm's funneling people right toward them, isn't it?" "Probably, yes. Don't worry, they'll get people out of here - in custody." "Joy."
Meanwhile, Mark, the other scientist, was coming around. He went through the various stages of denial, anger, despair, and so forth with record speed. Jon patiently absorbed yet more anatomically-impossible comments about his mother. "Can we get to the part where you do useful things that save our lives?" The guy contained himself. "Right. We've got a spare emitter, but it'll take time to get it here and in place. You're going to have stand in for it while we work." "And just how do you propose that I do that?"
The guy rolled his eyes. "It's electromagnetic, Mr. Light-Up-Your-Life. You shouldn't have any problems." "Well, give me the specs on it." The man described the frequency range and intensity of the field he needed, and Jon collated the information and fed it to the fabric of spacetime. "Okay, but I won't be able to keep it up indefinitely. It'll tire me out." "You can draw power from here." The guy passed him a cable, and added, "Stick this up your ass and start generating, light bulb." He then waltzed out just to be annoying - though at a more rapid pace than most waltzes call for.
Jon got the field up, drawing current mightily from the cable. [SP ruled that under these circumstances I didn't need to take fatigue to do the power stunt.] "He's kind of a jerk, isn't he?" The remaining scientist rolled his eyes. "Oh, he's a complete [MENTION=40136]SS[/MENTION]hole. But a competent one." Checking his instruments, he added, "You're doing it! It's not a perfect fit - no offense, you can't modulate the same way a computer can - but we've bought some time." "Good. How much?" "At least fifteen minutes. Plenty of time to get the other emitter in." "Even better."
Meanwhile the two guards started to stir, moaning. Jon mentioned, "I don't feel like getting shot again." "Relax, I disarmed them while you were off gallivanting about. And I'll talk them down if they get antsy." "Okay..."
Eventually one of the guards woke up (not the one who shot Jon before) and asked blearily, "So who's Moonbeam the Spaceman?" (Jon was still wearing his space suit.) "The mask who's keeping the reactor from going boom, Peter. So chill." Jon said "That's 'cape', please," just as the guard growled, "That's Petrov." When the scientist glanced between them trying to sort that out, the guard suddenly stared at the emitter. "What idiot shot that thing?!" Jon contained his sigh as he concentrated on maintaining the field. "That would be me." Petrov demanded, "What the hell did you do that for?!" "Not important right now," Jon told him. Petrov launched into a tirade about their training never to shoot high-tech-looking stuff, which Photon bore patiently as his lot in life.
Meanwhile the other guard stirred and started feeling around for his stun-rifle. "Where the hell-" "I moved it so you wouldn't shoot the guy keeping us alive," the scientist told him tersely. "Dammit, I figured that much out! ...Why'd he zap me again?" Photon told him, "Because I didn't trust you. Still don't, in fact." "Well, as long as you're keeping the reactor together, I sure won't shoot you..." "And after it's fine? 'Good' doesn't mean 'stupid', you know."
Petrov sneered, "You coulda fooled me!" and shifted his rant into one on VIPER propaganda about the strong dominating the weak, the evolutionary bankruptcy of traditional morality, and so forth. The two other VIPER representatives present rolled their eyes in unison; evidently Petrov was regarded as a tiresome True Believer.
Eventually Mark returned, rolling another emitter carefully on a cart. He took in Petrov's rant in frank disbelief, then smirked to Photon, "You set him off, didn't you? Peter, put a sock in it and help me lift this thing." "Dammit, Mark, I keep telling people to stop calling me Peter!" "Yeah, but you're not strong enough to make it stick, so who gives a sh*t? Now make yourself useful, okay?"
Petrov hesitated, then did as he was told. Mark told Photon in high humor, "Don't worry about the names, by the way, we aren't all named after Gospels." The other scientist interjected, "Actually, my middle name's 'Lucas'. And 'Peter' isn't a Gospel anyway." Petrov mumbled something about the weakness of Christian slave morality, but clearly nobody cared but him.
"Whatever. Hold it there, Peter. Don't jostle it. And drape this lead there..." Mark went up a stepladder and got to work installing the new emitter, the other guard handing tools up to him when requested, while 'Lucas' monitored the reactor and Photon kept the field as steady as he could. Things were getting positively cozy when a new individual in formidable-looking powered armor came on the scene and surveyed their work, taking special note of Photon's presence.
Petrov paused to salute as this newcomer stated, "I bet it'd ruin your whole week to know I've booby-trapped the reactor for just such occasions as this." He held up a small transmitter and gloated, "This city will feel the consequences of defying VIPER! Nuclear fire will..." Photon was just about to shoot him when Mark drawled, "Sir, with all due respect, shut the hell up." He cranked a dial over hard on the emitter, and the field flared briefly into being, intersecting the man's armor, which promptly froze up. With a creak, he fell over with a crash, the transmitter going flying... only to be caught by a magnetic field of Photon's creation.
Mark said smugly, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time," while Petrov gaped. "You... You can't do that! He's a superior officer!" Photon suggested, "Can we PLEASE get back to saving the city?"
Mark told Petrov, "So? He was acting against policy, and he wasn't strong enough to carry it off. By the manual, that makes me right, doesn't it?" Petrov chewed on that for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, it does... sir." "I'm glad we've got that settled."
Photon: "Saving. City?!" Mark: "Oh, right, about that." He strode insolently up to Photon. "I want to make a deal with you."
"Oh?" "Yes. I've jury-rigged the emitter. Once I turn it on, it'll last for about ten minutes, and then short out permanently. You'll never repair it in time. There is, however, an alternative." Jon gritted out hostilely, "Go on."
The man gestured to the control panel of the reactor. "I've got all the schematics of the emitter password-protected on there. I'll give you the password and the two of you will have plenty of time to hook it up properly - you seem smart enough and I know he is. In exchange, you let me walk out of here. I'll take my chances with your friends; I just want your word that you personally won't try to stop me."
Photon told him coldly, "I'll let you walk out of this room." Mark smiled, showing his teeth. "Not good enough. You'll let me walk out of this base. After that, I'm fair game. Oh, and by the way? The countdown's starting..." he glanced ostentatiously at his watch, "...now." Sure enough, the emitter's field activated. "Do we have a deal?"
Jon wrestled with his conscience for a moment, then sighed. "Deal." "Good. The password's 'c*cks*cker', all lower case." "Named it after yourself, did you?" "Quite. Ta!" With a little wave, he strolled out of the room. After some hesitation, Petrov and the other guard followed him. [I've got this funny feeling I'm going to be hearing from Mark again at some point.
Mainly because I know the eldritch workings of SuentisPo's evil, evil brain.]
'Lucas' had already typed the password in by the time Jon dropped the cable and joined him. The two of them pored rapidly over the schematics they found, and breathed mutual sighs of relief; it didn't look all that complicated. They got to work, Photon helping hold the thing up with magnetic fields while they started rewiring. "You can call me Photon, if you hadn't already guessed. What should I call you?" "'Lucas' will be good enough for now."
After working a while longer in silence, the guy asked, "So how'd you get your powers, anyway?" Jon shrugged. "Beats me." "What?! You've got all this power over electromagnetic whatever, but you don't know how?! You just woke up one day and it just... worked?" "Pretty much." "Wild."
A little while later, Jon asked, "So what about you? How'd you get involved with VIPER, anyway?" The guy shrugged. "The research is interesting, the pay is good, and they don't mind hiring a guy who padded his expense account a bit. ... Okay, a guy who padded his expense account a lot. ... Will you put in a good word for me, seeing as I'm helping you out?"
Jon nodded. "Yes, I will. How interesting of research?" When 'Lucas' hesitated to answer, he added, "You may as well spill the beans, you've cast your die with me now." 'Lucas' nodded. "Lots of interesting stuff with fusion. It's what I've worked on my whole professional life. Pocket fusion is possible, I tell you!" His eyes glowed with enthusiasm, but when Jon said easily, "I know, I've seen it," he deflated and said without rancor, "I hate you." Jon chuckled as he slipped another wire into place. "We can't all be super-geniuses. I never did figure out how Technoid got his reactors that small."
With a sigh, 'Lucas' nodded. "Yeah. This design - with a fission stage - was a huge mistake in my opinion. I think they wanted a bomb in case things went sour, frankly. I put in to work on the pure fusion reactor downtown, but wasn't accepted." "Oho! So that office building downtown IS yours, is it?" After another hesitation, the man nodded. "Well well well. I'll definitely have to - WHOA!"
A wave of green light passed through the room, momentarily dazzling Jon's eyes. Clearly, once again, it had nothing to do with photons... 'Lucas' asked, "What the hell was that?!" Jon said grimly, "Nothing good. You've got things under control here, so I HAVE to go check that out." "Wait! Send my assistant in here to help, just in case. His name's Al - he'll be easy to spot, nobody could miss that nose."
"Nose?" "Yeah, he could easily be nicknamed 'Pinocchio'. Well, for the nose, I mean. He's actually really bright, and..." Jon said impatiently, "I get it, he's a regular Cyrano de Bergerac! I've got to go." "Nah, he has no luck with the women, at all... Oh my God, that reminds me! If some of your friends are, well, heroines, there could be trouble." Jon raised a brow, and 'Lucas' said sadly, "When you're already a criminal, it's not always easy to hold back from adding more to the list."
Jon didn't pause for more chit-chat. Instead he light-formed his way over to the 'front door'. Beta and A.E. looked to have things well in hand - the evacuation order was sending them plenty of unarmed and unprepared mooks - but Sirocco was down. (His sandstone mask had crumbled, but a bandanna had been tied about his face as a makeshift substitute.) "What happened," he demanded, while stooping to check the young man's pulse. A.E. reported, "He collapsed for no apparent reason a couple minutes ago. Seems stable, though. We haven't had time to evac him." Sure enough, Sirocco's pulse was thready but strong.
Jon nodded. "Okay, get him out ASAP." Feeling at the young man's chest, he went cold as he realized the Amulet was gone. A.E. suddenly yelled "Freeze!" holding a high-tech gun on a man with a knife and a dangerous, contorted expression. Jon straightened, recognizing the nose. He said calmly, "Al, Lucas needs you at the reactor." The guy's knife wavered. "Who the hell is Lucas?" "Your boss. At the reactor. It's going supercritical, and he needs your help." Al visibly calmed as he absorbed that information. He gestured to his knife and asked, "Uh, can we forget this part if I go and help?" "Yes," Jon told him firmly, and Al ran off. A.E. glanced thanks at him, but Photon had already sped to the 'back door' to check on Demeter.
She was busy plucking a VIPER guard off a catwalk with ropes of algae and coiling him up. "Demeter?" She didn't respond, and jerked her captive to the ground with seemingly unnecessary violence. "Demeter?!"
The woman started and drawled slowly, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize you were speaking to me." She turned to him, and Jon had the cold creeping realization that it wasn't Demeter.
Oh, it looked like her. But Demeter had brown eyes flecked with green; this woman had eyes so green they practically glowed. Demeter didn't have that cruel smile, or that coy tone of voice save as a joke. The chest of her costume was in rags - evidently she'd been hit there by an energy weapon of some sort. And Jon spotted the mangled remains of a chain hanging from her neck which hadn't been there before...
Mind racing, Jon said, "Hello. Pardon me for my mistake. Whom do I have the honor of addressing?" Not-Demeter smiled slowly, seductively. "I've had many names over the millennia. You might have heard of me as 'Eris'."
Oh GREAT, Jon thought. "Yes, I've heard of you. I'm called Photon." "Yes, yes, I know. I observed, when Sirocco wore me. And Charm before him. And so many others. ... You're boring, you know. So much science." "I see... So, ah, Eris... How's Demeter right now?" She grinned. "She's not taking calls at the moment. Maybe later."
"And Sirocco? Is he going to live?" Eris shrugged, uncaring. "Oh, probably. He didn't use my power for long. ... Don't look at me that way," she chided, "I didn't DO it to them. It's a side-effect; my power wears down the human body and soul. They chose to make use of my power, I can't help what it does to them once I leave them." "So why do you leave? Why did you leave Charm?"
She growled in frustration. "He wasn't DOING anything! Oh, believe me, I'm five thousand years old, I understand the concept of taking a break. But he wasn't taking a break, he retired! He was planning on resting on his laurels indefinitely! I was BORED!" Jon nodded slowly. I've got to keep her talking, he thought; otherwise she might teleport out at any moment, and who knows if we'll ever track her down again. "And Sirocco?"
Eris smiled slowly. "Well, I couldn't pass up a chance like that, could I, Science? This 'Demeter' of yours is practically a druid - a plant witch. She doesn't even know it of course, poor thing. Thinks she's one of your 'mutants'. But I knew, oh yes. And she's female, too. Definitely a plus!"
"So what are your plans now?" She shrugged. "Honestly? Sex. Lots of it. I've been cooped up in that amulet for millennia with no physical body, Science! Do the math."
Jon nodded encouragingly, feeling sick to his stomach. "Millennia, huh? You must have seen a lot of history!" "You have no idea. Oh -" and suddenly her face was a mask of fury, "and that lying Homer BASTARD?! Ignore him! That blind lying SOT -- ! He wouldn't know the truth if it bit him!"
"I never did enjoy the Iliad much," Jon agreed easily, not mentioning he'd always rather liked the Odyssey. Eris continued to fume, "He got it all WRONG! Trust me, Science. There was no Athena. No Hera, no Aphrodite. Faugh! He even made ME out to be a goddess, but don't you believe it! I'm a human woman, with a woman's needs." Jon nodded sagely. "I'll definitely bear that in mind."
She grinned at him and purred coyly, "Only in mind? My needs are... extensive, Science. Sure, you're boring, but you're kind of cute... and it's been a long time." Jon, flustered, could only say, "Uh." "I may not be a goddess in the metaphysical sense, but I assure you that I can be heavenly in the sack!" She bowed modestly with a wicked grin, adding, "And don't look at my boobs, it's rude. Unless you plan on touching as well..." Jon managed to get out, "So, uh, Homer got everything wrong?" "Oh! Right, him. Yeah, most of that stuff he wrote about is totally fake..."
Eris trailed off, apparently lost in reminiscence. Eventually she murmured, "Helen was real, though. She wore me, you know." "Oh?" "Oh yes. And she was nearly as hot as they say - I helped with that, of course." "Of course." "Pity she was married to that Menelaus oaf. Mind you, the guy had a great body! You could bounce a drachma off his abs and make change. But no brain to speak of. And to him? Women are for sex, keeping house, and making babies. Blah. So this Paris kid comes along, right? And he's like, 'Gee Helen, I kind of appreciate you as a human being,' there's potential to work with there, you know? He wore me too, for quite a while."
"Did he really?" "Yeah. Sure, he was male, but we shared similar tastes in women. Different tastes in men, but hey, he was Greek, he was willing to learn." Jon decided, stomach roiling, that it was time to get things a little more back on-topic. "So, Eris... How exactly is Demeter doing right now?"
Eris laughed. "Relax, Science. I'll let her come out and play at some point, when I get bored. It's her body too." "Kind of hard on her, isn't it? I mean, she didn't choose this. You're sort of using her, aren't you?" Eris glared - that barb seemed to have struck home. "I didn't choose it either, Science. I grabbed the opportunity I was given, that's all!"
Jon said politely, "Eris, I would really appreciate speaking to Demeter and hearing what she has to say about it. Now, please."
Eris went stone-cold at the word 'now', her glare intensifying to a glowing green threat. She hissed, "You don't give me orders, Science. You never give me orders." Then, relenting just slightly, she added, "Anyway, I can't. She's unconscious right now." Oho! Jon thought. If I can just keep her around until Demeter wakes up, things could get a lot less one-sided!
"I apologize, Eris. I'm just worried about my friend, that's all. You can understand that, can't you? ... It just doesn't seem quite fair for Demeter to have to rely on your boredom. Surely the two of you can work out some sort of timeshare arrangement?"
Eris mulled that over. "Well... maybe." She sounded bored with the whole concept, so Photon changed the subject in a bright tone: "Say, I'm sure Demeter will want to continue being a superhero. What do you think of that?"
Eris replied breezily, "Sure, why not? Sounds fun! You need another member for the team anyway, don't you? And that Forestrike fellow seems to have predicted me, too. I think I'll use the name 'Jade' - 'Eris' would probably lead to unfortunate misunderstandings in modern circumstances, don't you think?"
Jon asked, nonplussed, "You don't mind being described as 'faithless' and 'worthless'?" Eris laughed. "Oh, Science! I've already told you I don't believe in gods, any of them. Never seen one, have no use for 'em. So there's 'faithless' for you. If you'd seen the cruelties I've seen in the names of various gods, you'd be with me on that... Charm got so tiresome, with his Catholic-this and his Catholic-that! Though," she added reflectively, "I do have to say, even the Spanish Inquisition had NOTHING on the Assyrians. Once you've seen those lads piling up skulls in neat pyramids, well, let's just say nothing much shocks you after that. And the Aztecs...!"
Photon cleared his throat. "And 'worthless'?" "Oh please! Obviously Forestrike spread partial lies into each of his prophecies. I'm clearly not 'worthless', am I?"
Jon had no idea how to answer that question tactfully while retaining any shred of self-respect. He finally settled on, "You're certainly... unique, that's for sure." "You got that right, Sci-" Eris suddenly frowned and swayed on her feet. "Eris?" Jon prompted.
Abruptly she shrieked and clutched her head. Jon swiftly asked, "Demeter! Is that you?!" "I... I... think so?!" "Concentrate on the plants, Demeter!" Jon urged, "You can sense them, right? That's you, not her!" "Right, I... Yeah! Th-thanks, Photon..."
"How are you feeling?" "...Weird. She's still there, pushing..." After some further thought, clutching her temples, she continued shakily, "I don't think she can get through unless I let her..." Jon noticed her eyes were back to their normal color. "Let me... It's so confusing. Wait a minute..." Then suddenly, she burst out with outrage, "TIMESHARE?!"
Soothingly, Jon told her, "I was just trying to keep her talking, Demeter. I didn't really mean it." "This is my BODY, not a CONDO!!" "Yes, I know. Can you tell me what happened to the Amulet?"
Demeter visibly struggled to remember. "After the planning session... Sirocco offered it to me and I took it. It seemed somehow... like it was the right thing to do. I don't know why." Jon sighed. Great. "And where is it now, Demeter?" "It... I don't know, I think it got shot? No, I got shot..." Jon asked slowly, patiently, "Is it all right with you if I look inside your body for it, just in case?"
For a moment, she smirked and said, "I knew you couldn't resist me... Aaargh, no, that's her talking. No, Eris! We're going to keep our relationship strictly professional! Not that kind of profession!
Professional! No, not Sirocco either! What, him? Gross, no way!" "Who?" asked Jon, feeling lost. "A co-worker of mine who's a real jerk." "Ah. Is it all right..." "Yes, sorry. Go ahead."
Gingerly using his X-ray vision, Jon scanned for the Amulet. There was nothing left of it except shrapnel, little pieces embedded in Demeter's skin. She didn't seem injured other than mild contusions, though.
After sharing that info, Jon asked, "Are you going to be okay for now? There's a lot going on." "Yeah.... I think so. Yeah. She can't take control unless I let her... She would've by now if she could." "You sure?" "Yeah. Go get 'em. And make sure Sirocco's OK!" "I will," Jon promised.
He zipped over to the 'front door'; things were getting a lot less chaotic over there. Scooping up Sirocco's slim form, he radioed the others,
I'm taking him in. Then it's off to the office building. Alpha, tell Smith to get some people over there, I'd appreciate at least a little backup. I've confirmed they're VIPER, by the way. Alpha replied,
Done. Oh, and there's cops on-site now, they can take care of Sirocco. (The base's infirmary had been decommissioned about the same time Mike's body had been moved.) A.E. added, "I'll head over there when I get a chance!"
Jon sped out the circular door, then out of the warehouse. Sure enough, the place was ringed with cop cars, and police were busy cuffing VIPER personnel, both conscious and unconscious. He tersely informed the man in charge of the situation, especially that the reactor was under control. "I'm heading downtown. Take care of him!" The cop nodded and saluted. "Will do, Photon! Good hunting!" "Right," Photon said, and vanished...
...Only to reappear just outside the building in question, glowing with determination. Espinoza and Doyle must be getting quite the show, he thought, let's not disappoint. The security systems he'd spotted before were all electronic in nature; shorting them out was easy. Diving into the building, he found people frantically shredding papers and wiping computers; a few stun-zaps was all it took to send them down the rabbit-hole.
His X-ray vision couldn't penetrate several VIPER-related rooms, though, too heavily shielded. He was rapidly considering his options to pry them open when the question became moot: An explosion rocked the building, tearing a huge hole in the wall. For a moment, all Jon could think was, Yep, they're getting quite the show... Then he was off after the rocket-sled that'd just departed the building the hard way.
He studied the thing as it lay there pinned in mid-air, streaking around it in light-form. It seemed to be mostly made of carbon composites, so magnetism wasn't going to be any help. Its engines were huge; it had already picked up a lot of speed, and was only going to get faster. It'll be almost anywhere in the world before too much longer, he thought. Radar-baffled, too. If I snuff the thrust, it'll plunge straight into the city - can't have that. Maybe crashland it in the ocean?
Disturbed by a sudden thought, he flashed back to the building to see how it was holding up. Sighing silently in dismay, he saw that its structural members were buckling. The upper floors are gonna pancake within minutes if I don't do something.
Jon resigned himself to letting the VIPER bigwigs get away. What's a hero for, if not to keep buildings from collapsing on innocent people? [SP gave me a hero point for doing the right thing.] Materializing, he heard deep basso groans as the huge structure slowly started to give way.
Photon extended his hands, gritting his teeth; I've never held anything this big up before. Magnetic field lines coiled and snapped in response to his will, extending to embrace the upper half of the skyscraper. Jon groaned sympathetically as he 'felt' the load impinge upon his will. No, not today, he thought - someday you'll fall down, but today is NOT. THAT. DAY!
It held. Gasping and sweating, Jon managed to fly over to one of the damaged members and spot-weld it with laser light and arcs of electricity. He melted concrete to fill cracks, straightened bent beams with magnetic fields, and shifted lesser structures to load-bearing positions. When he guessed it would probably hold, he did some more for a while, then gingerly let its weight settle back to its natural state.
There were loud creaks and groans for a moment... but it held. Jon breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly exhausted. He announced over the police band,
Photon here. The building's safe for now. I've got unconscious people, evidence, and materiel on floors 12, 13, 14, and 15. (Cop cars had sped up to the building not long previous.) After they confirmed and started taking matters in hand, Jon sped off looking for the rocket sled again, not with the highest of hopes.
After a long but fruitless search, he streaked over to the marina. Things had been mopped up there by now, an exhausted but glowing American Eagle greeting him with high spirits. Beta stood impassively to one side, waiting for his talents to be called upon... Demeter was sitting on a step, head in her hands. After receiving word from the cop he'd spoken to before that Sirocco had been taken to Swedish Hospital, he went and sat next to her.
"Hey. How are you doing?" "I'm... kind of sorting that out." "I understand. But Tex-Hex'll be here soon, he'll check you out." "Yeah."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" "Not really... I just need to think for a while, then probably sleep for a week." "Um. Will Eris be able to seize control while you're out?" "I... Wow, hadn't thought of that. I don't think so. And she claims not, for whatever that's worth." "Not much." "Yeah."
"Maybe you should spend the night in the base, so Alpha can keep an eye on you?" Demeter sighed. "You're assuming he'll be able to; remember how the Amulet affected him?" "Oh. Right." "Honestly, I'll do best in my own bed. Eris has a vested interest in not pissing me off." "Does she? Is there anything stopping her from jumping to someone else?" "Apparently - she wasn't able to jump out of the Amulet short of it being destroyed. She claims she needed it to stay together without her body."
Jon nodded. "Well... Be sure to check in with Alpha every so often, okay? So we know you're all right, and so you know when Tex arrives." "Okay, I will."
A young cop approached them. "Mr. Photon? Captain Smith said he wants to talk to you tomorrow morning." "I'll do that, officer, thank you." The man grinned at him. "No, thank you, sir! This's been a righteous bust." "I certainly hope so." "Never seen anything like it before. But I guess you supers get this kind of excitement all the time, huh?"
Photon and Demeter looked at each other. Jon sighed. "Something like that. One does develop a taste for boredom after a while, let me tell you." Demeter laughed suddenly, with a faint edge of hysteria. "I'm of two minds on that subject." Jon laughed bitterly at the pun himself, and the cop edged away a bit. "Uh, I gotta get back to work."
"So soon?" Demeter purred, then clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in fury. Utterly bewildered by that reaction, the young man all but fled from them. Jon asked softly, "Demeter... are you sure you're going to be okay?" After a moment, she said. "Yes. I'm getting a feel for how this works... and making it clear to that bitch where the boundaries lie." "Well... Let me get you one of the new cell-phones so we can call you, all right?" She nodded. "Yeah... not a bad idea." Photon went and fetched one, pausing to give Alpha a rapid radio summary of events, then she animated a tree to leave.
Jon then zipped to Swedish Hospital to check on Sirocco. It's been a long day, he thought to himself. And it's not over yet.