Chapter 14
Tench was the first of the three to
see it. The cloud was dark, brooding and sat low over eastern San Francisco. Tench
slowed to a hover, and Lora and Sarra did the same
“What is that? That’s a mean looking storm.”
Lora asked, her voice wavering.
“That
sucker must be a mile in diameter.” Sarra said.
Tench cracked his neck, the sound inaudible
from the wind.
“That looks like it’s your very first day on
the field, ladies.”
Sarra snarled.
“Doesn’t the first day come after extensive
training? I thought that first days with no experience only happened in the
comics.”
Tench
and Lora replied simultaneously.
“Where do you think the writers get these
kinds of ideas?”
The
two exchanged glances and laughed. Sarra got a kick out of the synchronicity.
She pointed at them with a rounded elbow.
“Wow. The stars shine on you two, hard.”
Their laughter fell to nervous levels. Tench
fiddled with a dial on his goggles while Lora watched him with a swelling
chest.
“Rachel, hey, it’s Tench, I’m seeing an odd
cloud in what looks like Dogpatch. Is anyone on this?”
Rachel sighed. Levan was asking her what was
going on, frustrated at being ignored.
“Not really, you’re the first to call after I
received the distress signal, Andy. Looks like you’re on the job. Is anyone
with you presently?”
Tench pointed at the two women.
“Lora and Sarra, the new EnWol are.”
The voices got fuzzy as Rachel spoke to a
different someone.
“Rachel?” Tench asked.
Lora and Sarra exchanged glances. Rachel came
back on.
“Okay, Florence
gives her best wishes to her new protégés, and Juno Osbourne will be present to
monitor the site once she’s set up.”
A
new voice came on, clear as a bell.
“I’ll
join them too.” Levan said. Tench could see him raising his eyebrows with
seductions intent at Rachel. Tench heard a slap and a thank you from Levan.
“Fine, that idiot will be joining you too,
just get him out of my hair!” Rachel yelled.
Tench chuckled.
Sarra mocked his laugh, slightly frustrated.
She stretched out and stroked her finger across his face, digging into it at
the same time.
“Yeah, hey cutie, can you let us in on stuff,
like, say just what that thing is?”
Sarra pointed at the cloud with a twenty-foot
arm. Tench ignored her. Lora floated up and rubbed Sarra’s back. She was cold
to the touch.
“Hey, easy, easy, Sarra. He’ll tell us. You’re
part of the club too.”
Sarra
snorted with her breath shooting out in cold streams from her nose.
“That sounds okay, Rachel, we’ll keep an eye
out.” Tench said.
“Good luck.” Rachel sounded relieved.
Tench broke the connection.
“Okay, we’re going to go investigate that
thing… whatever it is. Rachel sent out a scientist to help out on a technical
side and Levan will accompany us as we check it out up close.”
“We’re going in that scary thing?” Lora asked
while pointing at the growing anomaly.
Tench
puffed his cheeks.
“Hey, I’m scared too, but what else is there
to do but attack that big splotch?”
“Ask someone else to do it?” Sarra asked.
Tench looked at her with his lopsided smile.
“And
get bad PR? No way.”
The
cloud made itself known, and a shockwave pulsated from it. Lora shrieked and
latched onto Tench as a strong wind blew past them. The three of them stared at
the angry, flashing cloud. A mangled symphony of car alarms wafted up from
below.
Tench
blushed, all too aware that Lora was clutching him. Sarra hovered up with a
smile on her face.
“We really should go check out what’s raging
down there, but I don’t want to rush the raging that’s up here.”
Lora looked at Tench, her own face flushing.
She broke off and started to giggle. Tench was unable to speak and his
perspiration disagreed with his spandex. He pointed at the cloud and flew
toward it with the sisters trailing behind.
They arrived within a few minutes, both Lora
and Tench having settled down enough to function without giggling. They swooped
underneath the cloud and noticed that there was dry warmth radiating from its
center. It was generating a very low drone, like a slowed thunderclap.
“It’s always a warehouse, isn’t it?” Sarra
asked.
“I’ve been to quite a few that had some bad
guys in them.” Tench said.
20th street led to a shore side lot
surrounded by rustic buildings. Spare parts, tools, parked cars, overgrown dead
plants and poorly stacked resources of different verities sat wherever a spot
could be found. A shipyard was a few hundred feet to the north; it looked just
as dirty and uninhibited as the preceding buildings. The warehouse under the
cloud had its two front windows blown out.
Tench
saw a crowd of workers who matched the area. They stared up; slack jawed at the
swirling mess. He turned to Lora and Sarra.
“I’m going to tell them to evacuate and to
spread the word. You two scan the perimeter of our vacant void and see if
anyone is hurt. Don’t go in until I join you.”
Sarra wrinkled her nose.
“Hey, who’s the more powerful one here? Me,
I’m EnWol.”
Tench smiled.
“And who’s your senior? Who’s been a Meta their whole life and has a confidant grip on their
powers?”
Sarra’s wrinkled nose intensified. Tench
continued.
“That was rude of me to retort that way, but
it’s the truth. I’m open to suggestions, but you do what I say or someone could
get hurt. That goes for Lora too. If I’m not around, or you’re on your own
before you know what to do, think of what is morally right, and act on it. All
right?”
Lora nodded. Sarra sneered.
“What about exceptions?”
Tench’s own nose wrinkled.
“We’ll talk later. Lora, you’re in charge,
go.”
Sarra’s jaw fell.
“What?”
Tench left before he could answer.
“Okay
Sarra, let’s mosey.” Lora swung her fist across her chest. “I want to make a plan of
action before we—”
“Bullshit,
you’re not in charge.”
Sarra
shot down to the building. Lora frowned and followed her sister.
“Hey, wait, wait. Sarra!”
Lora followed her sister and watched her shoot
once around the building in a blur. Lora dropped to the pavement, trotted up to
the 800 foot deep building and started to look around on foot. Sarra zipped up
behind her sister.
“What are you doing? I’m done.” Sarra asked.
Lora hesitated.
“I’m just double checking, Sarra, it’s
alright.”
Lora
jogged away. Sarra watched her for a moment and sneered. “It’s alright…”
Lora
stopped to look at something at the midway between the front and rear of the
building. She bounded back into the air, and waved to her sister.
“Oh, Sarra, come here, look!” She was hopping
up and down.
Sarra rolled her eyes and flew over.
“What, did you find a kitten and a baby ducky?
I don’t have time for…. Oh…”
The
two stared at a pudgy man in a dark suit. He was disheveled and knocked
unconscious.
Sarra held her arms out.
“Okay, how in a horrible void could I have
missed this guy?”
Lora
ignored her sister. She had bent down on Sarra’s approach to try and wake him.
“Sir? Sir, please wake up and tell us what
happened. Please?”
Sarra pushed her sister aside. Lora fell to
her butt and Sarra wrapped her arms around the man. He had a nasal groan.
“Sarra! You put him down. What if he’s hurt?”
Lora stood up and grabbed Sarra’s shoulder. Her hands went through her sister’s
body to her mid forearm. Sarra showed no signs of noticing. Lora recoiled and
wiped her hands on her hips on instinct.
Sarra brought the man close to her. His
glasses were off on one side, and his two front teeth were prominent. He tried
to focus on Sarra. She drew him close and spoke through gritted teeth.
“Okay
you rat, listen up. I want to know who is responsible for that beast hanging
above us.” Sarra shook him. The man replied by retching. Sarra sneered. She
wanted to drop him.
“Be
nice!” Lora called. She was torn between either letting Sarra talk, or acting
out and stopping her. She didn’t know how hurt the man was or if Sarra would
cooperate if challenged.
Sarra
ignored her sister. Lora saw the man wince. She stepped up, grabbed Sarra’s
shoulders and tried to shake her.
“Sarra,
stop it, put him down already! This isn’t a good way to be a hero.” Lora
yelled.
“What are you doing?” Tench swooped in from
the front of the shop and approached Sarra, who decided to drop the man anyway.
“Great Gaia, who’s this? Did you rough him up
like that? You were in charge, Lora, what happened?”
Lora pointed at Sarra while sputtering. Tench eyed
Sarra with an arched eyebrow. Sarra felt her defense strengthen from Tench’s
intimidation.
“You don’t rough up an innocent found at the
scene.” He said.
Sarra crossed her arms.
“I didn’t pulp him, I found him like that.”
The man stood up, using the wall for support.
Tench helped him up and Lora came in to assist.
“Regardless, I saw you drop him on purpose.
There’s no excuse for that.”
Sarra cured her lip and widened her eyes. She folded
her arms into a tight cross.
“Yes, mother!”
She spat. “I’m sorry for ever upsetting you. Why, I would love it if you would
forgive me!”
Lora looked up and held her hand out at Sarra.
“Sarra, easy,” she said.
Tench gave Sarra a look, and then went back to
the man. He handled his chin with care as Lora stroked his forehead with a cold
palm.
“Sir, the heroes are here, what happened?”
Tench asked. “Is there a threat that you know of running around?”
The
man pointed behind Tench and his eyes widened. Lora followed his gaze and
gasped.
“Him!” The man squeaked.
A yellow tendril came from out of nowhere and
slammed the man’s head against the wall. Lora screamed. In the span of a
second, Tench turned on his heel, tracking the end of the tendril as it
returned to its owner. He released a spray of ice, and Lora followed that lead
another second later. The blasts lacked the pressure to hit the target and fell
short.
The person for whom the tendril belonged floated
off the ground one hundred feet away.
Tench went into a fighting stance and Lora
copied him. Sarra studied the yellow suited male assailant with a lack of
interest.
“Who’s that?” Lora asked.
Tench growled.
“Trouble.”
Lora nodded and her heart quaked. Her
breathing increased.
“I’ll say.”
“No,
he’s dead meat!”
Sarra shot ahead like a bullet.
Tench
held his hand out.
“No,
wait. What are you doing?”
He
took a glance at Lora.
“Keep
an eye on our...” Tench looked back to see the injured man hobble into the
building.
Tench
sighed.
“Never
mind, I guess.” He said and they lifted off to chase after Sarra.
Sarra cocked her arm back, eager to unleash
her icy fist on the fiends confidant smirk. She approached, roared and released
her fist into her opponent’s chest. Sarra’s fist stretched out from the man’s
back like a yellow tree branch and rebounded back. The man tilted his head with
a grin. Sarra pulled her fist back, but it was stuck in the man’s chest.
Tench
put a hand put in front of Lora when they were several feet shy of Sarra.
“What are you doing?
Sarra is—”
“Hey, this is another stretcher with some kind
of adhesive so unless you want to get stuck, than stay back, alright?” Tench’s
voice cracked.
Lora looked out at her struggling sister. Tench
cupped his hands over his mouth.
“Use your ice powers!”
Sarra
glanced back at him; both her arms and her knee were caught. She started to
panic.
“You’re a crazy idiot!”
The
man had not moved. He laughed at Sarra.
Tench looked back at Lora.
“I’m sorry, does she ever learn?”
Lora bit her lip.
“Usually the hard way…”
Sarra looked the man in the eye and her
courage deflated. The cloud was growing. It obscured the sun and put the face
of her assailant in shadow.
The
man smiled and his eyes glowed yellow.
“Brain
freeze…”
His
head split down the middle revealing silver within. Sarra’s breath caught.
Every instinct screamed at her to run, but she wanted her extremities back. The
split went down the man’s chest and stopped at his navel. The back was unbroken,
showing off Sarra’s horrified reflection. The new cavity grew four sets of
teeth that swirled around the bloodied parameter. Arcs of electricity appeared
down its throat in the center.
Sarra
lost her impermeable nerve and screamed at the abomination before her. Lora huddled
in Tench and looked away; her sister’s cry shook at her core.
The thing’s lips stretched out to encompass its
prey. Sarra snapped and broke for all. She turned to fly away without her appendages,
only making it far enough to see the last sliver of light before she was
consumed. Sarra pounded frantically at the rock solid wall while crouched over.
Dozens of electrical tendrils reached out from the things pit to ingest her. Sarra
tried to fend them away in the small space, but the crackling tendrils numbed
her on contact and dragged her away.
Sarra
was there and gone in eight seconds.
Tench
and Lora watched through bleary eyes as the thing’s body deflated and resumed a
human shape. Sarra tried to escape in the compressed space, and it showed
through impressions in its body. The thing laughed and twirled its arms upward.
Its elbows hooked together and it spun them around as one like a baton. It
gained velocity and the budges of Sarra moved toward the arms. The ends of its
arms blurred as they spun now left to right in an arcing figure eight.
The twirling slowed and it held the stretched arms
up as if it had something to throw. They reached a climax, and then released.
Globs of Sarra blasted from the ends of its hands onto the concrete below. Lora
and Tench watched her rain down and the ground with a splash. Sarra remained
motionless, reflecting the sky.
The thing approached Tench and Lora and spoke as
they studied their partner on the ground below. The two heroes eyed the thing,
and Lora hid behind Tench. It had a wicked smile.
“The Cherry Tart was delicious, there is no
doubt in my mind, but I really must have had my supper before desert. I think
that I would enjoy the main course… the Lemon Chicken.”
If you would like the whole book, a souvenir of the experience, check it out at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87111
If you would like the whole book, a souvenir of the experience, check it out at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87111
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