The Indestructibles (22 page)

Chapter 50:

Earthquake

From above, it looked like a giant anthill, a dirt mound rising up out of the street, with a gaping hole at its top.
Jane flew down to investigate and discovered something had blasted or burrowed its way up from the city's subsystems. She peered all the way down past the subway and into the deeper earth.

      Jane turned to see Emily pointing at an equally large hole torn into the side of the Tower itself. Glass shards and concrete blocks littered the street, the interior of the building left gutted and unrecognizable.

      And then the culprit of this destruction emerged.

      "You've got to be kidding me," Jane said.     

      A monster the size of a city bus crawled out of the building. Its body, sloping and shambling like a grizzly bear's, was covered in short, shiny, mottled fur. Instead of paws, the two front limbs terminated in tarnished, chrome-plated lobster claws. Jane caught sight of an extra set of limbs set halfway back on its torso which allowed it to creep on four legs while snapping away with those massive sickle-shaped claws.

      As for its head, she found no eyes to speak of, and its muzzle consisted of a drill half the size of a car. When the creature noticed her, the drill began to spin.

      "I think he likes you," Emily said. "Can we keep it?"

      Instead of attacking, though, the creature reentered the hole in the Tower. It started to dismantle the tower at its roots and the building shook.

      "Do something!"

      "What should I do? Pull its tail?" Jane said.

      And then the creature roared in pain.

      The building rocked, the monster struggled, lashing out with all limbs. Its cries, and the whines of the drill, deafened.

      Titus, twice as big in werewolf form as he'd been upstairs and still wearing that ridiculous hooded sweatshirt, bounded out of the building's side; his muzzle covered in blood.

      The creature pursued him. Those huge claws snapped, but the werewolf remained one step ahead, digging his own claws into sensitive flesh on the monster's arms with each missed swing. Titus scurried underneath and raked the creature's underbelly. It rolled over, swatted the werewolf away and scampered into the hollowed out side of the building. Windows seven stories up shattered and fell under the pressure.

      "It's like the thing is chopping down a tree," Jane said, gesturing towards the building.

      One whole corner began to buckle, most of its supports torn away. Jane pictured the entire structure toppling like a cherry tree.

      "Emily, catch the building if it falls."

      "You kidding me?"

      "You control gravity!"

      "I can barely control myself!" Emily said.

      Meanwhile, Kate dashed from the building, scurried up the back of the creature and planted something at the base of its skull. She leapt off gracefully and thumbed a trigger. The monster howled in pain again and Kate hit the ground, rolling like a gymnast.

      "We gotta get that thing out of there," Jane said.

      "Can Titus bait it?"

      "He's not very rational at the moment," Kate said. "You got anything else?"

      Jane flew in fast, leaving Kate standing there waiting for an answer. She punched the monster in the spot she hoped was between its eyes. The skull felt like concrete.

      "Hey, beautiful," Jane said, flying just out of reach of the huge metal claws.

      With surprising speed, the creature scaled the edifice, its back legs breaking through glass and metal to locate footholds. Jane flew higher, leading the monster up a distance from street level — not her best idea, but at least she'd lead him away from civilians.

      The Tower creaked and groaned. Jane sensed Emily's bubble of anti-gravity wash over her, and suddenly she was no longer in charge of her own flight, spinning loosely in the air.

      The monster grabbed hold of her in one of its massive claws, its grip impossibly strong.

      "Oops!" was all she had time to say before the monster slammed the claw, with her in it, into the side of the building. The beast moved slow, obviously impacted by Emily's bubble as well, but it held the upper hand over Jane with its clutch of the structure. It smashed her into the exterior walls a second time and climbed higher, one claw at a time.

      Then Titus flew into sight.

      In other circumstances, Jane might have laughed at the sight of a flying werewolf, but she could barely breathe clamped down by the monster's crush. Titus must have deliberately jumped into the gravity bubble, letting his momentum carry him like a bullet to the monster. The werewolf landed and sunk his teeth and claws into the creature's skin to keep from floating away. The beast roared again. Globs of its own blood drifted in the gravity field, flesh torn by Titus. With its free lobster-like arm, it swatted the werewolf away, sending him earthward. Jane witnessed the exact moment Titus went from drift to freefall, exiting Emily's gravity field and dumping unceremoniously to the pavement.

      Finally, Doc appeared from the base of the Tower, waving his hands left and right, turning hunks of concrete blocks and building bricks into dust or butterflies. Then he focused on Jane trapped by the monster.

      She pushed at the claw with both arms, trying to pry herself free, but its grip was still too tight. Jane allowed heat to generate in her hands, which turned the metal claws red hot, but all that did was cause her own costume to start smoking in a low-level burn.

      The monster remained unfazed.

      Then, the top of the building began to give way.

      Not fall, though; rather, the upper level floors of the Tower separated and floated up into the sky like a zeppelin.

      "Emily, whatever you're doing you need to stop!"

      "I'm not doing that!" she yelled back. "My bubble doesn't go up that high!"

      "Then what's — " Jane began.

      Doc flew up beside Emily and fired off spell after spell to obliterate the falling debris before it could land on any of the spectators or rescue workers who had begun to arrive.

      "I should have told you," Doc said. "The Tower isn't really a tower."

      The top of the building peeled away; Jane noticed machinery, like jet thrusters, affixed to the bottom of the detached floors. The upper levels then tore free completely and flew away from the structure.

      "Dude, we were living in a space ship?" Emily said.

      "I'll explain later — can we get you out of there, Jane?"

      "Can you turn this thing into a pumpkin?"

      "Not with you in it," Doc said. "We need to give you some distance. Where's Billy?"

      Of course, at that moment Jane caught sight of Billy's signature light trail streaking across the sky. Zeroing in at top speed, his aim was directed right at the drill monster like a bullet.

      "Oh no," Jane said. "Billy, tell me you're wearing your radio . . . "

      He wasn't, obviously.

      She filed it away in the back of her mind to scold him later about maintaining proper communication, if they all survived, then watched Billy's elegant arc of attack turn into an awkward, gravity-free tumble the second he contacted Emily's bubble. He gurgled a stream of obscenities and spun, pathetically, toward the monster and to Jane.     When Billy ground to a sad little stop within earshot of her, he shrugged apologetically. "Oops," he said.

      Then the monster swatted him and drove him tumbling back up into the air.

      "Enough," Jane said.

      She lifted both fists above her head and started pounding on the claw holding her in place, over and over again, with all of her strength. It's metal began to dent and the creature roared; still, she was trapped. The monster continued to thrash the side of the building to pieces. That drill snout made several petulant passes across the surface of the structure, tearing it apart.

      "Emily, drop your gravity field for a few seconds," Jane said.

      "That's a terrible idea. You should probably reconsider," Emily said.

      "I can't get free, so I'm gonna fly straight up. Take this guy with me."

      "You're insane," Kate chimed in. "Good luck."

      "Jane, I can let go of the building but if it falls, I'm almost positive that I'll not be able to grab it fast enough to catch it again before it crashes."

      "I've got it," Doc said.

      "You sure? You don't look so good," Emily said.

      "I got it, Em. Let go."

      Jane's stomach swam as gravity returned in full force. She felt the building lurching, teetering toward complete collapse. The monster slammed her down against the tower again, but this time she caught the blow with her feet and kicked off the building for leverage, pulling herself, and the creature, into the air.

      The monster flailed about. Jane's flight sputtered weakly, bobbing and weaving she tried to pull them higher. Its drill and claws tore chunks from nearby buildings when they swung in too close.

      Above her, the tower fell.

      She watched Doc's magic at work.

      Instead of stopping the fall, his supernatural powers converted the edifice — or what was left of it — into something else, a fine, silvery powder. The spell erased the building, transforming it into white dust — a taste in the air led Jane to think Doc had turned the building to salt — which drifted to the street below. Not fast enough though, as the last few stories tumbled to the earth unchanged. At the last minute, these solid pieces stopped falling and floated slowly to the ground when Emily caught hold of them.

      "He's too heavy," Jane said, still holding the bus-sized monster aloft but making little headway getting it further into the sky.

      "Would it help if I pushed?" Billy said, nearby.

      The air grew bright then, and the weight of the creature lightened when Billy flew up from below.

      He was not nearly as strong as Jane, but between the two of them they thrust the creature up above the skyline and out of reach of other buildings. The monster howled in frustration, yanking its arm as if trying to pull Jane back to Earth.

      Kate's voice chimed in Jane's ear.

      "Has anyone seen Titus?" she asked.

      Jane heard Titus's distinctive roar, but it was definitely not through her earpiece.

      The werewolf clung to the side of the monster, his claws leaving a bloody trail as he held on. Titus continued to make his way toward Jane, stopping at the monster's shoulder, before sinking his teeth deep into muscle.

      The creature emitted a horrible howl of pain, but the claw opened, sending Jane rocketing in the air, unburdened by the weight of the beast. Titus was shaken free and sent plummeting back to the ground, snarling and waving his claws. Billy cursed again as he tried to take on the full weight of the creature and failed, barely able to slow their descent.

      "Leggo, Billy!" Emily said, grabbing the flailing Titus with one hand and picking up the monster with the other. Billy's flight sputtered — nearly caught in Emily's gravitational anomaly — but instead he was able to swoop in to snag Titus and carry him back to the ground.

      Jane and Emily hovered near each other, staring at the huge, pitiful creature that destroyed their home. High above the ground with nothing to break, it seemed more tragic than threatening, a miserable hybrid of animal and machine.

      "How you doing?" Emily asked.

      "Feel like I'm gonna throw up. You?"    

      "I'm cool," she said. "Can you ask Doc where the wild things are discarded? I don't want to float around with this giant centipede mole bear forever."

Chapter 51:

The Children

Black watched their pet storm on the horizon, moving against all nature and heading out to sea.
He wondered if she knew they were here, or if it was just a coincidence. Their personal hurricane had been moving at will up and down the eastern seaboard for weeks. It was difficult to tell what movements were deliberate and which were just confusion and rage.

      "I've never met one of them in person," Rose said.

      She took a sip from her coffee and placed her feet up on a conference table. They hadn't seen the Voice since he presented his speech. Or, was that manifesto? Instead, the masked man remained holed up in the inner chambers of the oilrig, conversing with his betters.

      "All these years, all these gigs, never met one of them face-to- face," Rose continued. "Always through an intermediary. Lawyers or soldiers."

      "You really think he's one of them?" Black said. "I've never met one either. What's to say he's not just another peon like us, a hired actor to be the face of their organization so they can remain in the shadows?"

      "The Lady knew him," she said.

      "But that doesn't make him one of the Children," Natasha said, entering the room without a sound. "He's a cog. The Children never come out to play. They know where they belong. Cutting checks and winning wars."

      "But you recognized him," Black said.

      "He's been working for the Children for years, much as you two have."

      "What, you don't work for them too?" Black said. "I figured we were all their hired agents provocateur."

      "I'm working on their behalf, but not working for pay, darling," she said. "One doesn't simply hire someone like me. You have to offer something much more significant than money to me."

      Black watched her for a moment then returned his gaze to the storm.

      "What do we think of the attack on the city?" he asked.

      "Not as much collateral damage as we would have liked, but knocking over an old super team's home base was pretty thrilling," Rose said.

      "Didn't exactly knock it down," Black said. "One part flew away  . . . "

      "And the other turned into a pillar of salt," the Lady said. "There aren't too many magicians who know that trick. One of them used to live in that tower. I'm guessing he probably still does."

      "How does that work, anyway?" Rose said. "You point at a building, say
abracadabra,
and it turns into dust?"

      "Why, pet, you have to
ask
the building to change to dust. And you must ask it to do so using its real name," the Lady said.

      "What?"

      Black turned around and leaned against a heavy glass window making up the wall to the outside world.

      "Did we realize they had some kind of massive hovercraft that comprised the top floors of the building?" he asked.

      "We had to know they didn't just have a bakery and a shoe repair shop on the top floors," Rose said.

      "What next, then?" he said.

      "We wait," said the Lady.

      Black looked at Rose.

      "She's right," Rose said. "I suspect they'll want to use the storm again."

      "Which we don't fully have under our control," Black said. "Where's that damned scientist?"

      Rose looked at Black like he'd said something horribly offensive.

      "What?" he said.

      "Don't remember seeing him since we got here," she said.

      "I spoke to him on the helicopter. He has to be here," Black said.

      "Did he get off the helicopter?"

      "Had to," he said. "Right?"

      "We . . . did we lose our scientist?" Rose said. "I'll kill him."

      She hopped out of her chair and stormed to the door.

      "Well, Mega Man? Come help?" she said.

      With little choice in the matter, Agent Black followed.