The Prospects (Book 2): Nothing Poorer Than Gods (13 page)

“If you want to check, I’ll cover for you,” said Alex.

“Should we stay here?” asked Emily.

“It’s one of the safest places in the building.”

Portia waited until Bosillos and Ujimushi were gone before she said, “Time for your debut.”

Candilyn flipped up her sweatshirt’s hood, put on a full-face mask with a painted spider centered on the nose, and donned black gloves with lead weights in the knuckles.

Portia straightened the hood. “Practical and stylish.”

“You’re not wearing a costume. Why do I have to?”

“To remember that you are no longer Candilyn, you are Venusta. A strong external representation stimulates endorphin production.”

“Did you say ‘in-dolphins?’ What are those?”

“Forget it. The important thing is that you're someone new.”

“I hope we don’t run into anyone I know.”

Portia cupped Venusta’s chin. “They abandoned you. I’m the only friend you need.”

“You’re right. Screw those jerks. Jenny didn’t even invite me to her twenty-first birthday party. They’re getting a beatdown.”

“Where do you think Vijay is?”

“Around the corner, across from the bathrooms. Follow me.”

With the business offices closed, no one saw Venusta and Portia sneak through the hallways until they were close to the restrooms.

Gale Force leaned into the door to the ladies room, pushed it open, and spun on her crutches to the hallway. She didn’t regained her balance before Venusta charged.

“Candilyn?” she managed to say before Venusta sank her baton into Gale Force’s stomach.

“Bad news, panda bear,” said Venusta as Gale Force fell, “you’re an endangered species.”

Gale Force threw a wind-jet up strong enough to knock Venusta off her feet. The air got very cold very fast.

Gale Force rolled back and put her hands in a cone. Before she could throw another blast Ujishima choked her with her own scarf.

Portia pointed to the interrogation room’s door as it opened.

Trista felt a vicarious thrill as Vijay followed pings to hidden nodes and found a single mistake in thousands of line of code.

He was exploring a spyware system. Algorithms ran through intranets and databases of Griffin Tower and Alerion Industries. The programs installed, uninstalled, and reinstalled faster than the anti-virus programs found it.

Vijay was so warm with pride Trista almost smiled herself. Whoever made this system was a genius, but Vijay was definitely smarter. He simultaneously appreciated its intricacy while indulging in smug self-satisfaction for cracking its security programs.

There was something warm in his feeling of validation. Something almost feminine and warm. A hidden association Trista didn’t understand.

Instead of exploring how far the network went, Vijay followed the stream of data back to its source. A few transferred files had COLD WARRIOR in their titles. Again, Trista shared his excitement as he followed the data through a network of zombie computers and relays across the nation until they led back to the east coast.

Trista the struggle outside. Forgetting that Vijay was still temporarily deaf thanks to her, she opened the door.

Venusta kicked Trista’s stomach and smacked her head hard enough to knock her down. “You ain’t smart no more!”

“Wait,” said Portia, “is that Trista Gianni?

“Sure is. I’m going to pound this friend-stealing bitch.”

“Don’t. The Handler wants her alive. This is an unexpected bonus.” Portia snapped her fingers in front of Vijay’s lowered head. He kept typing without looking up.

Portia straightened her left arm and rolled up her sleeve. A 9mm pistol popped out of a spring-loaded device strapped to her forearm. In a swift motion she put the barrel in front of his left ear, directly against his pterion - the weakest spot on a human's skull - angled the barrel so it pointed towards the brainstem, and pulled the trigger.

Venusta jumped when the muffled bang echoed through the room.

Vijay fell face-first onto his keyboard.

“I thought we were rescuing him,” said Venusta.

“I said we had to get him, not get him out.” Portia pulled a smartphone from her pocket and took a picture of the hole in Vijay’s head. “Pick up Trista.”

“Why?”

“Follow orders, stupid.”

Venusta lifted Trista’s head. Blood poured from a cut at her hairline. She imagined energy building inside her head spreading in concentric circles as she projected the word
Help!

The psychic shout stunned Portia and Venusta. Vijay’s hand twitched.

Ujimushi’s grip weakened from the surprise. Gale Force ripped the scarf from his hands and threw him against a wall with a burst of wind.

In the medical ward, everyone trembled when they felt Trista’s psychic shout.

Calvin cried. Emily looked around. “Did anyone hear that?”

“Trista?” Alex wanted to run to her before he saw Emily and Calvin. He couldn’t abandon them with Noah and his monsters. The decision was painful, but he forced himself to stay.

Deon grabbed a first aid kit and ran full-speed down the steps.

Noah nodded to Ruby. She nodded to Gary. He nodded back.

Noah roared and jumped on Alex.

Ruby’s claws yanked Alex’s pistol out of the holster.

Several stories up, in the research lab, Professor Photon used micro-macro particles to turn himself to twice-normal size. It only took two giant punches to knock Bosillos unconscious, He threw the cyborg into a thick-walled coffin-sized blast containment chamber, locked the door, and ran out of his laboratory. On the way, he grabbed the mostly empty vial of Chak's blood from his refrigerator.

In the interrogation room, Trista wriggled out of Venusta’s hold and looked into her eyes. With a quick blast of psychic energy she took full control of Venusta.

Portia shook her head and blinked quickly to stimulate blood flow and recover. This was the only thing that let her dodge Venusta’s wide swing.

Venusta caught Portia in a bear hug. Portia popped each joint in her torso out of its socket. Her body became fluid to slip out of Venusta’s grip. Everything re-connected with another series of pops.

Before Trista could make Venusta attack again, Portia somersaulted between her legs and bolted through the door. Trista ordered Venusta to chase her.

Portia slapped both hands on Venusta’s temples. The shock jolted Trista’s influence out of her mind.

Venusta shook her head. “Did someone put my brain in a freezer?”

Gale Force kept Ujimushi pinned to wall with a jet of air. She made the air cold enough to coat him in a layer of frost.

Portia pointed her gun at Gale Force’s back.

Venusta pushed Portia’s arm down with the baton. “Don’t kill my hair-dye buddy!”

Gale Force turned. Ujimushi slid off the wall, too numb from the cold to move.

Deon appeared in an instant.

Portia’s mouth tightened. She fired her pistol without taking time to aim. Deon ducked behind a corner. Gale Force dropped to the ground.

Portia and Venusta ran to the emergency exit they used as an entrance.

The small strip of duct tape Ujimushi put on the latch kept it from locking automatically when the alarm went off. With one push they were on the street. Their taxi came down the street. Portia and Venusta dashed to the backseat door, opened it, and dove in.

The taxi weaved through city traffic. After two blocks, the decals fell off and the license plate flipped to show a new number-letter combination.

Venusta said, “I didn’t know you were going to kill …”

Portia slapped her mask off. “Do you have any idea how badly you screwed up?”

Venusta – now Candilyn without the mask - rubbed her cheek.

Portia said, “I could’ve made millions for killing a New York Guardian. Millions.”

“But you killed Vijay. Isn’t that enough?”

“We could’ve bought our own island with the bounty the Handler put on Trista.” Portia slapped her again and again. “But, no, you’re too stupid to do anything right.”

Candilyn sobbed. “I got us in.”

“You made me look like an idiot in front of the others. Do you have any idea how humiliating letting trash like you lead the way was?”

Candilyn cried. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Portia shifted to the other side of the taxi. “I see why the heroes abandoned you. You’re a danger to your own side.”

Candilyn remembered Alex saying something similar in the Prospects' gym a month ago.

She covered her face and bawled.

Gale Force sweat despite the freezing air. She stared at Ujimushi but thought about Venusta.

Candilyn, the girl she used to dye her hair with, beat her up. And then saved her life. What the hell was going on?

She was still dazed when Deon knelt at her side. “Jenny, are you hurt?”

She pointed to the interrogation room. “I heard a gunshot.”

Trista staggered to the doorframe. Blood poured through the fingers she pressed on her forehead.

In an instant Deon was at her side. “Please tell me they didn’t shoot you in the head.”

“Vijay. They shot Vijay.”

Deon stood over Vijay’s prone body and stared at the hole in his temple. “Oh, damn. This is bad. He’s not even breathing.”

Professor Photon was no bigger than a speck of dust when he dropped through the airduct. Within seconds he landed and enlarged himself to normal size. “You’re a doctor and you’re superfast, right?”

“I’m superfast,” said Deon, “but I didn’t start pre-med classes yet.”

“How much do you weigh?”

“About one-sixty.”

Professor Photon took his hood off and slapped it on Deon’s head. “Strap this on.” He pulled a needle from his belt, lifted Deon’s sleeve, and gave him an injection.

“What the hell did you stick me with?”

“Micro-macro particles. They’ll compress your molecules while maintaining endothermic stability.”

Deon visibly became smaller. “You’re shrinking me?”

“Yes, to approximately twenty micrometers.”

“What?”

“You’ll be twice the size of a red blood cell.”

Deon shrank so quickly he almost disappeared into the folds of his clothes. The helmet shrank him. His voice got higher-pitched as he shouted, “That’s crazy! Why?”

“Because you’re the only one who can save him. My goggles will give you refractive infravision so you can see where you’re going.” Professor Photon pulled the vial of Chak’s blood from his belt and poured it into Vijay’s head wound. “Use your super-speed to spread this to every damaged spot in his brain you can. And hold your breath, because you don’t have an air supply.”

Deon, who was an inch tall and getting shorter, yelled as loud as he could. It came out as a barely audible squeak. “You’re a lunatic!”

“I’ve been called that so often I don’t even care if it’s true anymore.” Professor Photon picked him up with a pinch and dripped him into Vijay’s wound. “Time lost is brain lost.”

In the medical ward, Ruby plucked the pistol from Alex’s holster before he recovered from Trista's psychic shout.

“What the …?” Alex grabbed for the pistol.

Ruby’s crab-claw hands kept her from pulling the trigger or holding the grip, so she tossed it.

It flew past Alex and landed in Gary’s hands.

Noah threw himself on Alex. They both fell to the ground and wrestled. Alex’s hand-to-hand combat training kept Noah from getting the upper hand.

“Gary, use the gun,” said Ruby.

Gary held the gun with both hands. “I might shoot Noah.”

Ruby pointed her claw at Emily and Calvin. “Shoot them.”

“No!” Alex rolled out from under Noah.

Gary pointed the gun at Emily.

Emily wrapped her arms around Calvin and pressed herself against the wall.

Calvin cried.

Alex raised his hands. “Don’t hurt them.”

Noah got to his feet and picked up a pair of angled scissors. With two snips he cut off the psychic nullifier.

“If you want to save your family, agent, do everything I say.”

The colorful detailed drawings of brains Deon saw in his mother’s old nursing books looked nothing like the darkness around him.

Professor Photon’s words seemed louder than thunder. “The on-switch for the goggles is on the right lens.”

Deon flipped the switch. Stacked circles spun long strands all around him. He blinked a few times before he realized they were red blood cells and the strands were fibrin.

Clots. The blood was clotting. Watching it happened fascinated Deon so much he forgot he couldn’t breathe.

After a quick trip back to the entry hole for a breath, Deon ran back through broken veins. His superhuman reflexes narrowly kept him from getting cut on a fragment of skill that seemed like a bladed wall.

He looked around. Some of the cells were distinctly darker than the rest. Small disc-shaped fragments shot off of these and formed thick messages of fibrin. It had to be the healing factor making them form so quickly.

Professor Photon said, “Take the dark cells and move them to the basilar artery. Restore his blood flow.”

The basilar artery. Right. Deon learned to read from his mother’s nursing school books. The basilar artery was ... which one? Forget it, he didn’t need to know what the blood vessels were called to fix them.

Deon grabbed two dark-red cells. The membranes squished under his fingers. They were light enough to carry one in each hand through the viscous fluid. He grabbed another one and pulled it deeper into the brain.

The pink cells that made the walls around him were softer than he expected. Wait, the cells had cracks among the wrinkles. Of course, the shock from the bullet must have disturbed everything. But everything the dark-red cells touched became smooth and whole again.

Deon saw a shiny metal blob in front of him. The bullet. It wasn’t round anymore, it lost its shape after being fired. Cells sprayed out around it.

With a heave that twisted his whole body, Deon threw his dark red blood cells into the gap. Strands of fibrin shot out and interlinked into a web over the hole. As he watched, the blood cells stopped leaking.

Professor Photon said, “The healing factor cells won’t last long. Keep spreading them.”

A stabbing pain in Deon’s lungs interrupted his fascination. Pulling cells at superhuman speed without breathing wasn’t easy.

“Hurry,” Professor Photon shouted, “you only have two minutes until the micro-macro particles wear off.”

Noah took off the psychic nullifier and fixed all four eyes on Alex. “Gary, shoot the woman if Agent O’Farrell drops his arms.”

Ruby pushed herself to her legless feet. “About time we’re blowing this joint.”

Joey tugged the IV tubes attached to his arm. “What about me?”

“His abdominal wounds could reopen if you move him,” said Alex.

“Shut up, government stooge.” Noah’s upper right glowed orange. “Yours won’t be the first family I killed.”

Alex raised his arms higher.

“I have a lot of healing to do,” said Joey.

“Then stay.” Noah stared at his shackles. His upper left eye glowed blue. The chain links froze until the metal became brittle. With one yank he shattered them at the cuffs on his wrists and ankles.

Calvin cried.

“Shut that kid up,” said Noah.

Emily held Calvin tightly. “He’s two. You can’t tell him what to do.”

“Gary, Ruby, follow me,” said Noah. “We’re getting out of here.”

“Where are we going?” asked Gary.

“Away,” said Noah.

“I know some abandoned places we can squat in,” said Ruby.

Alex said, “Take some medicine and bandages.”

Noah’s upper eyes glowed. “I told you to shut up.”

“Gary’s wound could get infected,” said Alex. “There are antibiotics in the cabinet behind you. Take them all.”

“Do you think I’m stupid, agent? I won’t turn my back on you.”

Alex spoke calmly. “I’m a medic. I’m looking out for my patient.”

Ruby opened the cabinet and clamped some bottles of pills. “Let’s see … ah –mox-il … sy … clean?”

“Noah, whoever attacked your farm is still out there,” said Alex. “If you leave, we won’t be able to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Noah sneered. “You’ll throw me back in prison.”

“We don’t have a choice. You were convicted in a court of law. But if you care about the others, leave them here.”

“Like hell,” said Ruby. “I’m staying with him.”

“And Gary doesn’t want to go back to his parents,” said Noah. “Do you, Gary?”

The gun trembled in Gary’s hand.

“Wait, there are still superheroes in the building who may try something.” Noah pointed at Emily. “She’s coming with us.”

Deon ran through the tunnel-like veins in Vijay’s brain. Only his own momentum kept him from falling on the squishy cells.

“I’m administering artificial respiration,” said Professor Photon, “Reattach as many nerves as you can.”

On the way back to the entrance wound, Deon saw a severed strand of segmented cells in front of him. A nerve. It had to be a cranial nerve. He lifted the cells to the broken ends. In a matter of seconds they split, dissolved, and changed into two nerve cells.

He didn’t realize how badly Vijay’s brain was damaged until his fifth trip back for air. He threw the healing factor-enabled blood cells around as fast as he could, but there was too much blood and not enough red blood cells to go around. He also had to fight the currents of air rushing into the wound and blood vessels losing pressure. The resistance made each step harder than the next.

On his sixth trip, he climbed through the thick knots of fibrin at the entrance wound and breathed deeply. Scabs covered most of the wound. Vijay was healing. He almost ...

Wait a minute. This was Vijay, they guy who allowed the world’s worst villains into Griffin Tower a month ago. Vijay was the reason Jenny hated him, which hurt because he definitely didn’t hate Jenny. He only played along with Vijay’s and Candilyn’s cruel jokes and insults at Jenny and Trista because … why did he do it? What was Deon thinking, or was he even thinking at all back then? He must have hurt Jenny’s feelings if she still nursed a grudge.

Professor Photon’s voice was much louder outside of Vijay’s head. “You have twenty seconds. Redistribute as much blood as you can and get out of there before you grow to full size in his head. Hurry, or the boy will die.”

The boy will die. The words echoed through Deon’s head. Vijay was a jerk, but did he deserve to die?

Deon couldn’t make that decision. He tried to be a hero and became a healer. He couldn’t let anyone die, not even a villain, not if there was a chance to save him.

He grabbed a chunk of blood cells and kicked furiously towards the center of Deon’s brain. He came back and grabbed more so intently he didn’t notice the clotting completely overtake the entrance wound. The wound he used as an entrance slowly sealed itself with a giant scab.

Gary pointed the gun at Emily.

She hugged Calvin tightly.

“No,” said Alex, “Leave them here. Take me instead.”

“Like hell,” said Noah. “You’re a trained agent. You’re probably thinking of how to disarm me right now. Besides, it’s so much worse when women and children are at stake, isn’t it?”

Emily breathed hard as Calvin cried louder than ever.

Noah grabbed Gary’s hand with the pistol and pointed the gun at Calvin’s head. “If any heroes so little as look at us, Gary will kill them both.”

“This is wrong,” said Gary.

Noah turned to him. “Don’t wimp out on me now.”

“I can’t do this.”

“This is our only chance to escape.”

“But taking a woman and child hostage?”

“They’re the people who rejected you, the ones who called you a freak. They made you feel worthless for being different.”

“These two never hurt me.” Gary lowered the pistol. “I won’t hurt them.”

“If we don’t get out of here, you’ll go back to your parents. They’ll force you to undergo the gene therapy. They’ll change you because you’re a freak.”

“I may be a freak, but I’m not a monster.”

“Traitor! You’ll burn here and in hell.”

Gary’s wings crinkled. Wisps of smoke poured from his hair.

He raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

All four of Noah’s eyes widened. He looked down at the black bleeding circle in his stomach.

Alex ripped the pistol out of Gary’s hands and put it under Noah’s chin. “Now I’m in control.”

The dark red blood cells got harder to pull as they dispensed more fibrin. They felt like lead weights in Deon’s hands as he ran back from the brain steam.

It felt like he had been in there for hours. That couldn’t be right. He remembered his science teacher saying something about how the world goes in slow motion for small things. Things didn’t get much smaller than he was at that moment. But how much slower did time go? And how much longer did he have left?

He sure couldn’t run much more. His lungs felt like they were on fire. His legs became rubbery against the soft tissue. Even his arms felt strained. He had to get out.