Chapter ThirteenBagheera tore through the oak door with his claws, sending splinters of wood everywhere. The remains crumbled to the floor as he made his way in to the building. He didn’t know if the Order was still here, and he didn’t much care. He would find someone who could take him to Athena. A tuxedo-wearing front desk clerk yanked a shotgun from somewhere beneath the counter. Bagheera braced fort eh shot, but it never came. Air Raid swooped in through the door behind him and delivered an energy bomb straight to the clerk’s chest. It exploded and sent the man slamming in to the wall. He crumpled to the floor unconscious. Nessa followed them in a moment later. She had barely said a word since her rescue hours ago, despite all of Air Raid’s attempts to get her to open up about her ordeal. She wore multiple hospital gowns over her unblemished, hairless skin. All of the gowns were in various state of disarray as the slowly dissolved from the invisible layer of acid coating her body. Air Raid landed softly between her and Bagheera. “Anything? Was Athena here?” Bagheera sniffed. “She is still here, kid. We just got to find her.” Air Raid floated over to the double doors that made up the only other exit from the room. He yanked on the handle, only to be thrown back when the doors flew open. A massive form of goo, puss, and various bits of garbage flowed through the door. Ooze laughed as Bagheera growled at him. “So this is another damn Brethren trap, is it?” Bagheera bared his teeth and claws. “Bring it, water boy. Without your boss, you losers are nothing. And I sure don’t see him being a problem.” “I’m more than enough to handle you, panther.” Ooze shot a solidified hammer-shaped arm straight at Bagheera’s head. Bagheera easily side-stepped the attack. He slashed out with his claws and through Ooze’s limb. But the arm shifted back to liquid and his attack passed harmlessly through the viscous goo. Air Raid threw a pair of energy bombs at Ooze’s feet. They exploded in to the walking mass, but only served to splash more of Ooze’s liquid form around the room. “Move. I’ll handle this blob.” Bagheera and Air Raid turned to look at the suddenly-vocal Beauty. “But, Nessa—” She cut him off. “My name is Beauty, and I’ll handle this bastard. You two get moving. Now.” “You heard her, kid. You think you can get over him?” Air Raid nodded. “Good. I’ll go around.” Bagheera sprinted towards Ooze as Air Raid swooped up and in to the air. Bagheera closed his eyes and dove claw first for the blob-man. Ooze was nearly totally liquid, and he cut through with ease. Ooze lashed out at Air Raid, but the winged epsilon juked and jived away from the blows. A second later he was past and through the door. Ooze turned to pursue them. “Don’t forget about me.” The voice was soft, almost a whisper. Ooze turned to see the little black girl in her tattered hospital robes. Her arms were crossed and her only expression was a slight grin. “Sorry, lady, I got bigger fish to fry.” “Funny you should say fry.” Beauty stepped forward and buried one arm in to Ooze. The muck and goo instantly burned beneath her acid touch. “That hurts, girlie-girl. But if you want to play, I’ll play.” Ooze slid forward and engulfed more of Beauty. She took a deep breath before he completely surrounded her. The smell was utterly repulsive, but she had bigger problems. She would run out of air in no more than a minute or two, though the crushing weight of Ooze’s slowly solidifying form would kill her long before that could happen. She closed her eyes and let herself float for just a moment. She opened her mouth and cried out as the liquid form of her captor flowed in to her. The cry unleashed more green gel, but this flowed from her own pores. It coated her face and skin as it slowly expanded around her body. The last time, the concentrated acid had turned her in to a monster, but now she could feel herself in control. The acid thickened and formed a layer of burning hot armor around her. She pushed out her hands to either side of her, and the acid flowed out in to Ooze’s form. The Blob-man’s body wavered, and he roared out in pain as Beauty continued to unleash more of the concentrated acid in to his body. With one final strangled cry, Ooze’s body exploded outwards and splattered against the walls. Beauty dropped down to her hands and knees. The last bits of Ooze’s form burned off of her as she let her acid armor melt away. The wooden floor singed black at the acid’s touch. She stood up again, completely naked. Her new powers seemed to destroy her clothes even quicker than before. Time to rid myself of modesty, I suppose. She saw the unconscious receptionist in the corner. He lay next to a dresser, which she walked over to and opened. She found several loose fitting robes inside. Maybe a little modesty wouldn’t hurt. She donned a robe and followed her teammates deeper in to the mansion. ***** Devil Boy awoke to a burning sensation in his nostrils. He blinked his watering eyes open to see Thief standing before him, holding some kind of packet under his nose. “Smelling salts,” Thief said in explanation. Devil Boy realized the gag was gone from his mouth, and for a moment he considered barbequing Thief where he stood. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. “What do you want?” “I’m here to rescue you,” Thief said. “I can’t keep helping these people hurt my friends. No matter what happens.” Thief pulled a key from his pocket and set to work freeing Devil Boy’s legs. “Why? Why would you do this to the team, man? Why would you do it to me?” “I didn’t have a chance, D.B. They have my family, my little sister. They may all hate my guts, but I still can’t let that bitch hurt them.” “Fetish?” Thief nodded. “She kidnapped them right before the big fight over Seaside, at the same time Mindwarp was killing Wave. She made me steal the database from Mainframe in exchange for their lives. But she refused to let them go and forced me to help them here instead. I haven’t seen my folks since the first time I got to this damn place.” “Mac, I’m so sorry. If I knew, I—we—you should have told Athena. She could have helped us.” “Us? I don’t think so, bro. Fetish warned me she would know. I think I wasn’t the only plant by the Brethren in the school.” “That’s not possible. The Brethren just aren’t that strong.” Thief said nothing. He finished freeing Devil Boy’s second foot and then moved to his left arm. “We need to find Athena and get out of here,” Devil Boy said. “But first we need to find your family.” “You’ll help me?” Thief said. He released Devil Boy’s hand and moved towards the other manacle. Devil Boy grabbed Thief by the chin with his free hand. He pulled Thief’s face up to his own until their eyes met. “I would do anything for you, MacDonald Nash. Anything. I love you. And not just as a friend, either. Every second you were gone, every moment I thought you had betrayed me, and the team, it tore me up inside. I couldn’t imagine—” Thief lightly placed a palm over Devil Boy’s mouth. “You talk too much.” He moved his hand away and leaned forward. Devil Boy’s eyes went wide as t heir lips met. Seconds later, he kissed Thief back as all the pain washed away from his body. Thief broke away and looked back up at Devil Boy. “I love you, too. It’s hard for me to say it, but I do. I guess I always have.” He raised the key between them. “Now let’s get you out of there.” The sound of a single pair of hands clapping emerged from the hall behind Thief and Devil Boy. They turned to see Fetish emerge from the shadows. “How sickeningly touching,” she said. “But if I knew you were going to fag out on us, Thief, I would have killed you a long time ago.” She grinned and chuckled to herself. “Like I did your family.” “No, it’s a lie!” Thief pulled the escrima sticks from his belt. He held the foot long steel rods at the ready to attack. “Tell me you’re lying! Tell me!” “Your little sister, Emma, I believe it was? You should have heard her scream as I roaster your patents alive. Although she was far louder when I sliced her skin off her bit by bit. Her pain was exquisite, one of my greatest projects.” “No!” Thief charged towards her. “No! I’ll kill you for this, you bitch. I’ll fucking kill you!” He dove forward and swung an escrima down at her skull. Fetish calmly touched the turtle tattoo at her collar bone. Her skin thickened in to a steel-hard shell and the blow ricocheted away from it. “Thief,” Devil Boy yelled. “The keys! Let me help you!” Thief wasn’t listening. He continued to batter away at Fetish but with no effect. Fetish threw an arm up and around the end of a baton and twisted it away. She threw the escrima stick away as she let the armored hide fade away. Her hand flashed down to her right thigh and knife tattoo there. She touched it and her hands suddenly melted in to steel blades. One blade came up to block the remaining escrima stick as Thief aimed for her skull. The other she slid up and forward. It sliced smoothly through Thief’s side. “No!” Thief pulled away from the wall. The chain gave away as he charged at Fetish. She brought her blades up, but Devil Boy batted them away with minimal damage to his leathery hands. His pounce took them both to the floor. He opened his mouth wide and buried his fangs in to her shoulder just beneath her neck. Blood and ink flowed in to his mouth. He ripped upwards with his entire body. A chunk of flesh tore away with it. Blood spasmed out of the open wound. Fetish opened her mouth to scream, but only a strangled cry came out as blood and air poured from her open wound. Devil Boy wiped the black blood from his mouth as he stood up and walked to his friend. Thief clutched at the wound in his side. He smiled weakly as he saw Devil Boy coming toward him. “I think I really messed up on this one, D.B.” Devil Boy bent down and moved Thief’s hand away. The cut was a couple inches below his ribcage. It bled profusely but didn’t seem to have struck anything vital.” “You will be fine if I stop the bleeding,” he said. “But it’s going to hurt like a bitch if I cauterize it.” “I know,” Thief said. His hand reached up and stroked Devil Boy’s cheek. “But you’re all I have left. You’re what I have to live for. Do it.” Devil Boy lifted one of Thief’s solid steel escrima sticks from the floor. He inhaled deeply and ignited the embers in his throat. He blew softly over the end of the baton. A thin trail of fire covered the end of the stick and within several seconds its outer layer brightened to a hot orange. He turned back to Thief. “You ready for this?” Thief nodded. Devil Boy brought the heated baton down against Thief’s side. Thief cried out as the flesh burned closed. His cries turned to a soft whimper before he passed out completely. Devil Boy held the baton steady for another few seconds and then pulled it away. He saw no more blood flowing from the wound, so he gently hefted Thief over his shoulder. He started down the dark halls hoping to find an exit sooner rather than later. He failed to notice Fetish reach for the lizard tattoo on her breast as the life blood flowed from her neck. ***** The walls of the next room, some kind of antechamber, were solid black. They blended with the roof and floor, thus creating a dizzying optical illusion. The room seemed to go on forever. Air Raid wavered in the air. “Get down here before you fall, kid.” Air Raid looked down at Bagheera and nodded. He landed as well as he was able at Bagheera’s side. Bagheera’s senses were assailed by the smell of blood and paint. This was an ill place, he could feel it. Death lingered in the air. Death and secrets. This Order of Nephthys was far more evil than they could have ever expected. He picked up a slight breeze emanating from the far wall, and a familiar lilac scent. Athena was till alive, but he didn’t know for how much longer. “Far wall, hidden passage. We don’t have time to find it. You want to go to work?” “My pleasure,” Air Raid said. Two plasma bombs coalesced, one in each hand. He hurled them at the wall, and they exploded with a massive boom. One bomb had hit solid wall and served only to tear a chunk away from it. The other exposed a passage of light leading downwards. Air Raid hurled another bomb to blast the passage fully open. Bagheera barreled through the passage. Air Raid followed a few steps behind him. The time for stealth was over. Bagheera wanted nothing more than to kick some tail. The passage spiraled downward and in to some kind of dungeon beneath the mansion. The dungeon branched off in two directions, left and forward. Bagheera sniffed at the stale air. He ignored the left and followed the smell of lilacs forward. “Door,” he said. “End of the hall.” Air Raid immediately understood and hurled a plasma bomb in to the large oak door. It exploded off its hinges and fell inward. Bagheera continued past the broken door, not slowed by the smoking ruin. Athena lay unconscious on a stone pillar in the center of the room. Dried blood stained the sides of the pillar brown, but Bagheera knew none of it was hers. But there had been gallons of it. These Nephthys freaks were not only kidnappers, but mass murderers. They needed to be stopped. But not today, Athena’s hands and feet were bound by leather cords. Bagheera sliced through them easily with his claws. He sat her upright but she wouldn’t stir. He checked for head injuries but found only a few small cuts and bruises, nothing major enough to induce unconsciousness. Which meant something or someone was keeping Athena from waking up. Bagheera glanced around the room. He couldn’t smell anyone else, but a telepath or any number of other powers could mask those. “Stay on guard, kid. We’re not alone.” “Bravo as always, Bagheera.” The old man clapped as he emerged from the shadows. Bagheera recognized him even without the ruptured boils that once covered his skin. “I don’t know what your game is, Rubicon, and I don’t care. I’m going to see you and the sick freaks responsible for this dead.” “I might imagine that as no idol threat, but I’m sorry to say it is you that will die today. You’ve walked in to my trap after all.” Four more figures emerged from the shadows. Bagheera recognized the television psychic, but the other three were ciphers. He hated the bastards already, and he planned to show them just how much. “Get the psychic, kid. She’s got to be the one keeping Athena asleep. I’ll handle the rest of these bastards!” Bagheera dove towards Rubicon, but the former degen blasted him with a gust of suddenly-generated wind. Bagheera tumbled back in to the hands of the twenty-something girl. Her hands grabbed him by the shoulders and burst in to flame. The fur on his upper arms lit up almost instantly. Bagheera ignored the pain and the smell of his own skin burning. He pivoted and brought his hand up and across the woman’s face. His claws sliced through her chest and chin. Her blood boiled on her skin as she fell back to the floor. Bagheera patted out his fur as he turned back towards the Order. Before he could take a step, a horde of little gray creatures swarmed around him. They bit and clawed at him. Bagheera lashed out with claws on both hand and feet. He tore through them two or three at a time. Each vanished when wounded, but two more seemed to be taking their place. They were minutes away from overwhelming him completely. Across the room, Air Raid lobbed a pair of energy bombs Phantasy’s way. But the bombs passed through thin air as the illusionary form dissipated. A well-dressed human charged at him. He held a vase in his hand and swung it towards Air Raid. Air Raid brought an arm up to block the blow, but the vase shifted as it fell. It flowed in to a solid steel baseball bat, and Air Raid’s arm shattered under the blow. He threw up his other arm and unleashed an energy bomb in to the man’s chest. He hadn’t had time to focus its power past that of a strong firework, but the blast was enough to send the man tumbling to the ground a few feet away. Air Raid let his bad arm fall limply to his side. He ignored the pain as best he could as he took back to the air. He had to find Phantasy in all this mess. A bolt of lightning struck him in the back just inches off the ground. He lost control and crashed to the ground a top his bad arm. The excruciating pain paralyzed him momentarily. Rubicon stood over him. Air Raid looked up in to his enemy’s eyes as Rubicon’s hand crackled with another bolt of lightning. This was it, it was all over— An orange and black streak smashed in to Rubicon’s side. Rubicon stumbled away and the lightning blasted up and through the ceiling. Daylight shone in through the blast. “Solid, back up Cheetangus. Alter, you take Dresden. Balloon Boy, the old man. Beauty, see to Air Raid. Epsilon, take them down!” Air Raid smiled as he saw them. They had been the underclassmen when he left the Eastman Academy. But now they looked like a team, and they were here to rescue him. The team moved in to action, and Flint stormed in to the room behind them. Balloon Boy dropped down on to the creature generator. He inhaled and puffed up to three times his normal size. He completely obscured the old man from sight. Solid sliced one diamond sharp arm at Rubicon, but the weather master flew out of her reach. He fired a bolt of lightning in to her chest, but it reflected away. Cheetangus charged in from the side, and again knocked Rubicon away. Dresden swung his steel bat at Alter. Alter threw up his arm and took the blow. Before it could cause any more damage, his body was already taking on its properties. Alter slammed a steel fist in to Dresden’s nose. It crunched down in to a bloody mess before Dresden twisted and fell to the floor. “Desdemona,” Dresden said from the floor. “Get us out of here.” Desdemona Faust still clutched at her wounds as she dragged herself to Dresden’s side. She grabbed Dresden by the arm. A fiery aura surrounded them both, and a second later they were gone. Rubicon waved one arm and a blast of wind crashed in to everyone in the room. “This isn’t over, you fools. The fight has only begun!” He blasted the ceiling with another bolt of lightning, expanding the opening. He floated up and out of the room. “Let him go and secure the room,” Flint said. “Phantasy’s still here and we need to flush her out.” The psychic materialized in the corner, just past Athena’s perch. She slowly raised her hands in to the air. “I give up. I never wanted to be a part of this anyway.” Athena stirred only seconds later. Devil Boy ran in to the room a moment after that. He held an unconscious Thief in his arms. “We’re a little late, I guess.” “Better late than never,” Flint said. “Welcome back. Not it looks like we need to get half the team to the hospital. And it would probably be in our best interest to be gone before the authorities arrive at the premises.” “Isn’t that my job?” Athena said as she sat up. She clutched at her forehead as the room started to spin. Bagheera caught her before she could fall. “You need a doctor first, lady. Don’t worry; we got it all in hand.” “Thank you all for coming,” she said. “I’m so sorry for all of this.” “Rest now,” Bagheera said. He turned to Flint. “Jet still prepped?” “Yep. Let’s move it, Epsilon. Balloon Boy, Alter, bring Phantasy and the other one. The have a lot to answer for today and I don’t plan on letting them talk their way out of this. “But for now, our fight is over.” ***** Bobbi looked at the table and the phone sitting silently next to the uncooked hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats. “You gonna flip that or let it burn?” Cyberpath’s words brought her out of her stupor, and Bobbi turned back to the grill. She flipped the burning hamburgers as Psalm walked towards them with an empty serving tray. “These kids are like vultures,” Psalm said. “How much longer to the next batch?” “A couple minutes,” Bobbi said. She rearranged the brats to keep them cooking evenly. The cookout had been Flint’s idea before he left with the rest of the team. He figured it would help the kids keep their mind off the lack of defenders in place as well as give them all something constructive to do. It seemed to be working as the kids ate or played volleyball, horseshoes, and a variety of other games. It didn’t stop Bobbi from hoping Flint would soon with an update. Her eyes traveled back to the phone. Why won’t it ring? “They will be fine,” Psalm said. She patted her friend on the shoulder and looked down at the grill. “Now you going to concentrate on the cooking or should I take over?” Images flickered in to Bobbi’s mind eye, and she fell back against Psalm. “No!” Bobbi yelled. “No! They’re supposed to be gone!” “What?” Psalm said. “What is it?” “Your visions. They’re back. Worse than ever.” Psalm grabbed Bobbi’s hands. “Look at me, Bobbi. You got to concentrate and push them back down. The kids need us focused. I know you can do this.” Cyberpath looked on with concern. “Is everything all right?” “Focus on me, Bobbi. Give the images back to me. You can do this.” “I can’t. It’s too much this time. They’re so much stronger now.” Bobbi’s vision blurred. “Oh God, please make them stop!” Everything went out of focus and the world seemed to disappear from beneath her felt. She felt herself falling— falling— Bobbi collapsed to one knee as the visions faded. She looked up at Psalm. The older girl stared off at the school proper and didn’t even see her smile. “Thank you, Psalm. You helped me through it. I don’t think I could have done it without you.” “Bobbi, turn around.” Bobbi turned to look at the school. Only it wasn’t the school anymore. It wasn’t even a building. The massive crater still smoked from where the school once lay. The entire grounds were a burnt ruin. The sky was an eerie red above them. “What happened?”
“As a great woman once said, Bobbi, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
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