Staring daggers at him, Waid finally laid back. Alarms began sounding all over the property now — she knew when it was time to quit. Spitting out more blood, she groused, "You knocked my teeth loose."
"So sorry. I don’t suppose you want to tell me why you’re here tonight?"
"Go to hell."
"Didn’t think so."
"I suppose this is the point where you tell me your name is ‘Batman’ and I should pass it on to all my friends, right?"
Steve smiled behind his mask. "I guess it is. But last I checked, ‘Batman’ was already taken. Wouldn’t want to get
sued
." He gestured toward the multi-circular symbol on his chest. "You can call me ‘Vortex.’ "
Despite her discomfort, Waid rolled her eyes. "Oh, Jesus. You should meet ... never mind."
Not sure what to make of that remark, Steve looked around, spotting one of the frozen security guards for the first time. "That your handiwork?"
Waid said nothing.
"Guess you were all tuckered out by the time I showed up, huh?"
"Go to
hell
," she repeated with greater vehemence.
"Touchy." Pulling the 9mm from her now-numb fingers, Steve released her and drew back out of her reach. "Don’t move. I’ve got you covered with bullets, lasers, and a vortex wave."
"Whatever."
Steve confirmed that the guard was still breathing, however shallow. He then pulled off the guard’s belt and moved around behind Waid. "Don’t—"
" ‘Don’t move,’ I know. Just shut up and get on with it, will you?"
Steve wrapped the belt around her head, covering her silver eyes, and tied it off. He then removed the clip from the 9mm, ejected the bullet from the firing chamber, and dropped the various pieces around her. Security cars were approaching from the far end of the property, and he didn’t need experience to recognize the time for his "dramatic exit."
Still, he couldn’t resist signing off, "Remember: ‘Vortex.’ Pass it on."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah ..."
Wrapping his black cape around himself, Steve smiled like a little kid and disappeared into the shadows ...
PCA
"Make sure they don’t take off her blindfold," he whispered into Alan’s ear.
Alan jumped, not having heard his approach. Steve’s hair was a sweaty mess, but other than that, he could tell that the young man was none the worse for wear from his little adventure. Still, he could not help but whisper back, "Are you all right?"
"Thanks to the uniform. The cape makes it harder to move than I expected, but the suit saved me a hole in the arm." Steve winked. "See, I told you I needed your help."
Alan snorted. "Don’t remind me."
The police were nervously holding the three rogues while they waited for the PCA to arrive and take custody. As near as the medics could determine, the force-bolt woman had not so much had a cardiac arrest as she had gone into some kind of shock. Her sternum
was
impacted, however, and it seemed very likely that there was undo pressure on the heart itself. The man who looked like a bat was not resisting as they tried to tape up his broken ribs without adding further injury to his damaged wings. Miss Flashy Eyes merely sat on the ground with a cold pack against her jaw.
Alan shook his head. "As much as I hate to admit it, though, I’m impressed. Did everything function properly?"
"Perfectly."
"The wave?"
"Like a charm. But I didn’t know what would happen to the woman when I—"
"I’m sure you did what you had to do. I’d rather see
her
lying there than
you
."
Silence fell between them for a few minutes. At length, Steve asked, "So ... does this mean we’re on?"
Alan glanced unhappily at him. "Let’s just say I’m not going to pull the plug just yet."
"That’s all I ask." He glanced over Alan’s shoulder toward the PCA cars that were now heading their way. "I think I’m going to beat a retreat. If that Takayasu guy is with them, I’d just as soon not talk to him if I can avoid it."
Alan nodded. "If he’s with them, I’ll try to head him off. Get going."
Steve got going.
TAKAYASU AND SHOCKWAVE
Michael Takayasu did more than just show up with the PCA contingent — he was
leading
it.
The rogues were quickly secured, each appropriate to their paranormal abilities. The winged rogue’s hands were bound —
loosely
, to accommodate the injuries to his ribs and the large bandage on his right thumb. The woman who reportedly discharged force-bolts was fitted with a psi-jammer, which could be activated on a moment’s notice if she were to surface from her shock unexpectedly. And the woman whose eyes had been crudely covered was switched to a more secure blindfold. Michael would have preferred to have slipped her into an opaque helmet, but her jaw was fractured and he didn’t want to push his luck with the courts later. He’d also been concerned that she might try to use her power — which was apparently a paralyzing flash from her eyes, one of the few thus-far-unique paranormal abilities he’d encountered — during the switch over, but having Shockwave stand behind her with his hands resting lightly on her shoulders was all the deterrent she needed.
As they were being carted away into separate ambulances, with P C Agents in tow, Shockwave turned to Michael. "I gotta admit,
Davison
security didn’t do a bad job with this bunch, you know what I’m sayin’?"
Michael nodded. "Yep. The raid was stopped, with each rogue injured but not killed." He scratched his chin. "I’m curious about what weaponry was used, though. I’m not sure
how
they were stopped."
"You gotta point," Westmore agreed, dropping his Shockwave persona for a moment. "Did you see the winged guy’s thumb?"
"I saw that it was heavily bandaged."
"No, I mean his
thumb
," Westmore clarified. "Most of it was cut off and laying on the ground. They’re not sure if they can reattach it or not."
"Cut
off
?" Michael glanced toward the winged rogue’s ambulance, but the doors were already closing. "You’d think there’d be more
blood
involved."
"Don’t look at me. I’m no doctor. I know it was
burned
, too. That’s why they’re not sure if it’ll reattach."
Michael looked thoughtful, an expression Shockwave was coming to recognize more and more. "I’ll have to ask their head of security exactly how that happened."
A muffled female voice called from behind them, "While you’re at it ..."
Michael and Westmore turned. The blindfolded woman, still holding the ice pack to her jaw, was just being assisted into her ambulance. She’d clearly been listening to them and was now speaking in their direction, even though her discomfort in doing so was evident.
"... be sure to ask them about the
freak
they’ve got running around here."
"Excuse me?" Michael asked, moving towards her. He gestured for the P C Agent and medic to wait for the moment.
The woman grimaced in his direction. Her cheek puffed slightly as she ran her tongue over and through her teeth. "You PCA schmucks are a
law
-enforcement agency. The ‘good guys.’ Am I right, kiddo?"
"You’re right."
"Well, then, be sure to ask about the
maniac
in the black-and-gold Halloween outfit."
"What the hell are you talkin’ about?" Shockwave demanded.
The woman tried to smile, but her swollen mouth didn’t want to cooperate. "Either
Davison Electronics
is getting flamboyant with their security force, or you boys have a paranormal
vigilante
on your hands. A vigilante who thinks he’s a
super-hero
. You guys may like your asinine codenames, but
this
guy dresses the part." She looked away and gestured that she was ready to get into the ambulance.
"Would you care to clarify, ma’am?" Michael asked.
"Maybe," she shrugged, now playing up her obstructed speech for all it was worth. "Come see me after they fix my jaw and we’ll talk."
"Talk
bargain
maybe," Shockwave snorted. "Forget her, Mike. She’s makin’ it up. And even if she’s tellin’ the truth, so what? So somebody’s playin’
hero
instead of
villain
for a change. More power to them."
" ‘Playing hero,’ all right," the woman said from inside the ambulance as they seated her on the Gurney. "A ‘hero’ who assaulted and nearly
killed
us, even after we tried to surrender. He cut my friend’s thumb off with lasers from his eyes
after the fact
, as a message that ‘
Vortex
is a force to be reckoned with.’ Have fun, kiddo. ‘Vortex’ is
your
problem now." She finally managed her smile just as the doors closed.
Michael stared after the ambulance as it pulled away.
Westmore chuckled. "Loony bitch."
"Maybe."
"Oh, come
on
, Mike. She’s messin’ with us, tryin’ to draw our attention from what
she
was doin’. Forget about it."
"I’m not so sure," Michael said slowly, thumping one fisted hand into the palm of the other. "I’m getting that feeling again that all is not as it appears ... and here we are at
Davison Electronics
once more."
Shockwave wasn’t following him. "What’re you sayin’, young’n? That the Davison kid has something to do with this after all? You think he hired this ‘Vortex’ to—"
"You’re getting ahead of me, old man. But keep an open mind." He turned and surveyed the remaining crowd with intense scrutiny.
"
Now
what?"
"I was curious if Davison had shown up — after all, it’s
his
company now, remember? Looks like he’s not here, but I believe
that
man is Alan Russell, the civilian VP."
"Are we going to ...?" But Michael was already on his way. Sighing, Shockwave followed.
Michael
wanted
to share his thoughts with Mark. He really did. The problem was that he wasn’t quite sure
what
he was thinking at the moment. He was "running on gut," as his old roommate Ray had so fondly coined it. Skeptical logic suggested just what Mark had implied, that the blindfolded rogue was making the whole thing up to divide their attention. But there was
something
... something nagging at the back of his brain. All he knew ... well, that’s just it, he didn’t know anything really. But what he
felt
was that something was happening in the state of
Davison Electronics
— whether it would prove to be
rotten
, he could not say.
"Excuse me," he called, "Mister Russell?"
The man glanced his way, and Michael was fairly certain that he glimpsed apprehension in that look. "Yes?"
He showed his PCA ID. "Ensign Michael Takayasu. This is my partner, Shockwave. We’ve been assigned to the McLane case."
"I see," Russell nodded. "Not to sound unappreciative, but why are you
here
, Ensign? Do you think our offenders are working for that bastard?"
"That has yet to be determined, sir, but we’ve been operating on the assumption that McLane might seek some sort of revenge on
Davison Electronics
itself."