Gods of Manhattan (31 page)

El Sombra wondered if he was changing.

Experimentally, he prodded his sword at the steel door, and the thing he'd fixed to the end slid into the steel as if it were made of butter.

Good.

"Don't." whispered Crane, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Don't let him back in."

El Sombra smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, amigo. I'm going to go and make sure nobody ever needs to see him again. And I couldn't have done it without you." He squeezed lightly. "You didn't mean to, but you did some good. Remember that."

Then, gently, he pushed the tip of the sword through the front of Crane's skull and into his brain.

He was not incapable of pity, he knew. But he was who he was, and he did what he did.

And broken or not, the bastards had to die.

Doc's head snapped to the left, then to the right as the massive red fists slammed into his jaw. Blood flew from his nose and his split lip. One eye had swollen to the point where he could no longer see out of it.

"You know," Lomax grinned, "I've tried a lot of ways to get rid of you over the years. I've tried bombs, I've tried bullets, I've tried poisons. I've tried to create superhard metals. I've tried to dig up radioactive elements. You know what I've never tried? Beating you to death."

He laced his fingers together and then swung his joined fists up in an arc underneath Thunder's chin, sending him flying back with a crack that sounded like bone breaking.

"It's incredibly satisfying." Lomax laughed, that terrible rockslide laugh. "If only I'd thought of it sooner!"

Doc shook his head as he picked himself up, trying to concentrate, or at least to stay conscious. Lomax's serum was still working. He'd gained at least a foot in height since the start of the battle. Doc doubted he'd be able to pin him again, even if he could somehow circumvent the tail. The best he could do at this point was survive; as long as Lomax was concentrating on him, he wasn't endangering innocent lives. Every moment Doc managed to stay on his feet was a victory.

Of course, Lomax was getting stronger all the time. The fact that he was making Doc bleed now meant that his punches were as strong as exploding shells. How long before they were strong enough to tear his head right off his body? And was Lomax ever going to stop getting stronger, tougher, bigger? Would he eventually become too big and heavy to move, or would he continue his rampage even as he outgrew buildings or even cities?

Lomax smashed another punch past Doc's defences, slamming his jutting bone knuckle into Doc's open eye, and in the white-hot flash of pain, Doc had a nightmare vision of Lomax, the size of Manhattan itself, using the city as his throne and issuing orders like a dictatorial Gulliver among Lilliputians. The absurdity of the image only made it seem more terrifying.

Another blow snapped Doc's head back, and he found himself sinking to his knees. He needed a few minutes to heal, and it was clear he wasn't going to get them. Blackness crowded his vision, and his heartbeat was a drum pounding constantly in his ears. He waited for the blow that would finish this unequal combat and set the monster Lars Lomax loose on an unsuspecting world.

It never came.

Instead, he heard laughter. Laughter like rocks tumbling down into a quarry. Lomax's laughter.

For a moment, Doc thought the laughter was directed at him. Why not? Hadn't he failed anyone who'd ever counted on him or cared for him? Wasn't he dying because he'd committed one inexcusable act of stupidity after another? Because he hadn't seen what was right under his nose until it was too late?

Then he realised Lomax was laughing at someone else, and a chill shot through him to the pit of his stomach.

El Sombra was about to die, and there was nothing Doc Thunder could do about it.

Lars Lomax couldn't help himself. The laughter just came tumbling out.

El Sombra had run out of the chapbook store and now he was standing there with his puny little sword, pointing it at Lomax as if it would actually do any good at all.

"Really? Seriously? You thought, 'Oh! There's Doc Thunder, the most powerful man on earth, getting his hide handed to him by someone much bigger and stronger than he is! Wow, he needs some help! I know, I'll run forward with my little toothpick and wave it menacingly in the bad guy's face! That'll help!' Oh, you kill me, you really do." Lomax almost bent double, laughter exploding out of him. "I might even have you stuffed."

Then he saw what was cemented to the end of the sword, and the laughter stopped instantly.

"No." He whispered the word, taking a step back, shaking his head. "That - that won't work. My skin's too tough. The cement won't hold."

"Won't it?" El Sombra grinned.

Lomax snarled, moving forward, pulling back an arm ready to smash El Sombra with a single blow, hard enough to pulverise his bones and liquefy his flesh, to turn him into flying specks of red jelly just as if a bomb had hit him at point blank range. And at that moment, El Sombra thrust forward and up.

The augmented tip of the sword slid effortlessly through the crimson skin of Lomax's chest, between his ribs, piercing his heart in one swift motion.

Lomax gasped, blinked, and took a step back. He coughed, once.

"You can't..." Black blood trickled from his mouth. "You can't plan for things like that, can you?"

Then, the look of disbelief froze on his face. He toppled backwards, hitting the tarmac hard enough to fracture it.

The red eyes closed.

Doc blinked, slowly getting to his feet. The blackness was clearing from his vision. He was already starting to heal, but he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "How... how did you..."

Wordlessly, El Sombra pulled his sword from the man-monster's body. Glued to the end of his sword with rubber cement, still glistening in that strange, alien way, was a single bullet of inexorium, as sharp and deadly as it had been when it was fired, as indestructible as it had been when the masked man had dug it from one of the marble pillars in Grand Central Station with his sword. He smiled.

"A bullet in the right place can change the world, amigo."

And quite suddenly, Doc Thunder had nothing to say.

Epilogue

One Fine Day in New York City

"...and so, once again, we can thank Doc Thunder, America's Greatest Hero, for safeguarding our fair city from the machinations of those who would destroy our very way of life."

A cheer went up from the crowd, and Mayor Ambrose adjusted his tie, smiling genially. "Although Doc has asked me to point out that the final blow against the nefarious Lars Lomax, the most dangerous man in the world, was struck by a brave Mexican hero -"

More cheers, a cry of "Viva El Sombra!" from the back of the crowd, then a wave of spontaneous clapping. Ambrose smiled genially, and motioned for silence.

"- a brave Mexican hero who has requested to remain anonymous, lest the worldwide reporting of his deeds interfere with his quest to rid the globe of a certain other enemy of the USSA, who I will likewise refrain from mentioning by name..."

The crowd grumbled.

"...though I understand he only has one ball."

A riotous cheer, a few hats thrown into the air, and another surge of applause, this time lasting for a full minute.

"Naturally, we wish him all the best, and hope his success will lead to Untergang's final exit from the world of terror. I have of course issued a full pardon for any, ah, crimes of violence he may have committed while a guest of our city, and hope that, should he ever complete his task, he finds his home here in Manhattan, where he will always have a place among our heroes."

Another surge of clapping, more "Viva El Sombra!" from the kid at the back.

"Only next time, please, use the flat of the sword."

Polite laughter, some of it uneasy.
Damn it, Darren, the crappy joke goes in the middle, the good joke goes at the end. Jesus. Learn to write a damned speech, why don't you.
Despite his thoughts, the Mayor's smile never faltered.
Okay, time to open it up.

'"
Any questions, ladies and gentlemen of the press? You, sir." Ambrose motioned to a rat-like man in a dirty overcoat.

"Rich Uben, sir,
The
Daily Bugle
. What happened to Lomax's body?"

"Well, obviously, since he was stabbed through the heart by Mexico's Greatest Hero -" More cheers and applause.
That's how it's done, Darren.
"- we feel he's no longer a threat to anyone on this side of the grave. However, to make sure, we removed his head from his body by means of controlled explosion. Seventeen controlled explosions, in fact, utilising more than one hundred sticks of dynamite."

The crowd made an appreciative 'ooooh' sound. No doubt most of them were wishing they'd had front row seats.

"The head and the body have been flown separately to Langley, where they are being studied extensively by top men."

Uben narrowed his eyes, looking suspiciously over the top of his glasses. "Uh-huh. And which men might those be, Mister Mayor?"

Ambrose smiled back at him, a trifle frostily. He paused a moment before giving his answer.

"Top. Men."

In the dream, Maya was chained to the altar again, and the giant roc was circling overhead, swooping down towards her. This time it had Doc Thunder's face.

"Don't worry," said Doc, as he opened his mouth wide to bite into her naked flesh, "I'm Doc Thunder, America's Greatest Hero, and I never make a mistake."

She tried to scream, but in the dream something had stolen her voice.

At the last second, someone sprang from the rocks, slamming a fist into Thunder's head, knocking the great bird down into the valley below. She couldn't see his face.

"Wake up," said the Stranger.

Maya jerked awake with a start, blinking at the sun streaming in through the window. "Who on earth-" she muttered, shaking the sleep from her eyes.

"Wake up," said Doc, lounging in the doorway. He was holding some sort of bundle in his hands, gently, as if he was afraid he might break it. There was something about him that seemed different, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"What do you mean by this intrusion?" she said, frostily, staring ice daggers at him. He only laughed.

"You need to start making a habit of getting up earlier, young lady. You're sleeping half the day away." He laughed again at her look of astonishment. "Come on, get up. You can sleep in when you're back in your kingdom. You are still planning on going back?"

She nodded, slowly, not looking at him. Why on earth did he want to drag this out? "Yes. I'm sorry, Doc... Hugo... whoever you are. But I need to sort a few things out."

He nodded. "Fair enough. Oh, that reminds me, Monk wants to go too."

Maya's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open, and then she laughed despite herself. "Monk's awake?"

"Awake and asking after you. And like I said, he wants to come with you. I figure he might end up being pretty useful if any more viziers or high priests have been plotting. The only trouble is, you might have to wait for him to be ready to travel. And maybe while you're waiting, we could talk a little. Sort a few things out." He grinned, and the thing in his arms moved.

Maya smiled, relaxing on the bed, her green eyes glowing with their familiar warmth. "We'll see. No promises. What on earth is that you're holding?"

Doc smiled. "It's a present for you. Just something to say sorry for... a lot of things, I guess. Keeping secrets. Not being the man you thought I was." He shook his head, then held the bundle out, tugging back the swaddling clothes to reveal the pink face of a baby piglet. "I'm thinking of calling him El Chancho. When he grows up, he can be my new sidekick."

Maya put her hands to her mouth, gasping in delight. "Oh, he's adorable!" She reached to take hold of the little bundle, looking down at the snuffling little snout of the piglet. Then she looked up at Doc Thunder, smirking. Doc raised an eyebrow.

"What's that for?"

"Oh, I was just thinking." Maya smiled wider. "Doc Thunder saves my life from a treacherous high priest armed with a mystic gem and a giant roc. Hugo Donner gives me a pig."

Doc smiled, looking at the floor. "Maybe Hugo Donner wants to make a more realistic impression." He looked up, suddenly serious. "And Hugo Donner wants to come along to Zor-Ek-Narr too."

Maya winced, frowning. "The whole point is-"

"We'll leave Doc Thunder in New York. I promise. It's not like anybody needs him right now anyway. Who's left for him to fight? Besides, I need to get my blood away from all the would-be super-scientists wanting to be the next Lars Lomax. It's either the Forbidden Kingdom or a beach in Malibu and a shave."

Maya's frown lifted. "Hmmm. A holiday at home with Hugo Donner and Monk Olsen, two big, strong and very ordinary men about town." She smiled. "We'll see."

Doc smiled. "No promises."

They looked at each other for a long moment.