No Master Plan Here (Madness Runs in the Family) Page 10
Denise walked to the bed and sat down, considering Anansi. He hadn't been lying when he said he had changed, coldly and calmly telling her of the deaths he had orchestrated, and yet, a part of him remained. She saw his posture change as he spoke, like a weight was lifting off of his shoulders in the telling, and once he was finally finished, she shook her head with a sad smile.
“You're right,” she said. Anansi tilted his head to the right, something he did whenever he was unsure or questioning something.
“You have changed,” she continued as she stood. She crossed the distance between them and placed a hand on his shoulder. Anansi looked up at her, surprised by the contact. “But you're still you under all that. I'm going to go take a shower before we take off.” She patted him on the shoulder and left the room, leaving Anansi behind with a look of confusion on his face.
Chapter 14
June 12, 2017
The Cicada touched down on the helipad of the Seascape Research facility, waited for its occupants to disembark, then took off again. Anansi allowed Mantis to lead the way to the door, where several lab coat-wearing men stood with several men in blue uniforms with handguns on their hips.
“Afternoon, gentlemen,” Denise called as she approached, holding her badge out in front of her, her submachine gun slung across her chest, a duffel bag slung across one shoulder. “I'm Agent Sanders, Codename Mantis, from SHIP.”
“Frederick Galle.” The main was short and fat, brown hair cut short and balding. He stood at the front and middle, and his security badge confirmed what he said and that he was the head of research here. His arms were crossed across his chest, and he wore an expression of irritation. “We spoke on the phone with your boss, Agent Doyle, a few minutes ago. He said you would explain the situation.”
Mantis nodded. She gestured to the door. “May we speak inside?”
“Until I am appraised and know who your colleagues are, no.” The man had a face that reminded Anansi of a toad. Kay sent a message agreeing and used her end of the link to exaggerate his facial features just enough that he looked like a frog, complete with a bulging throat. Anansi stifled a chuckle, glad his helmet speakers were off. He shrugged his shoulder to better hold the duffel on his shoulder, even though he barely felt the weight with his armor on.
Mantis shrugged. She stepped to one side, gesturing behind her. “With me is Agent Lopez, Codename Stone, also of SHIP, and Anansi. We-”
“Anansi? The Anansi?” Galle interrupted, paling considerably. He took a step back between his colleagues as the security guards stepped forward, hands on their pistols. “He can't come in. This is all classified research and not only could he steal it, he-”
“Is currently in our custody.” Mantis cut back in, moving her hand to rest on the grip of her weapon. Galle looked about to protest again when Mantis continued. “And is crucial in preventing your facility from being successfully raided by a Class Four Works intent on stealing SX-203, so unless you are equipped to handle a threat of that caliber, I suggest you give us access to your building and start preparing your people for evacuation.”
Sufficiently cowed, Galle stepped aside, allowing the agents to pass. Anansi paused, looming over the shorter man. He crouched down to put his head on Galle's level and adjusted his lab coat for him. “So who's bright idea was SX-203, anyways?” Galle began to sputter a response when Mantis' voice interrupted.
“Anansi, get in here and stop tormenting the poor man. We need to set up.”
Anansi chuckled and patted Galle on the shoulder, standing back up. “Don't worry, froggy, I'll keep the destruction to a minimal.” He followed after Mantis, leaving the flustered scientist to his guards.
Mantis shook her head at him as he walked past her, her stance showing amusement over irritation or disappointment with his behavior. She let the door swing shut behind them and began following after him, holding on to the bag of tricks that matched his. “Did he look like a frog to you?”
“Straight out of Spirited Away,” Anansi replied, eliciting a laugh from both of them. They stopped in the middle of the hallway, letting the duffels slip to the ground simultaneously, and opened them, beginning the trap setting.
-~-~-
“Here they come,” Anansi said, looking into the sky. Denise looked up and saw only clouds for several more seconds before she saw the bright light that had to be Spark. Archangel's dark form and massive wings came into vision moments later. The two flew in formation straight towards the landing zone of Seascape Research. Anansi nodded and turned towards the door. “They'll be in momentarily. We should head inside.”
Denise nodded and followed him through the doors into the lobby. She and Anansi had dragged a couch from Galle's office and set it up in the end of the lobby, against the wall where it split into a T intersection and went down separate hallways. She had asked why at the time, and the only explanation that he had given was “Theatrics.” When no further information had been forthcoming, she had stopped asking, but the question still burned her. He had told Stone to wait in one of the larger laboratories with the Faraday cage trap they had set up for Spark. The plan was for them to split Spark and Archangel up, with Spark chasing Denise and Archangel chasing Anansi. Anansi had said to leave that all to him.
Denise couldn't help but wonder what he had in mind.
Anansi plopped down on the couch, spreading his duster out so that the large coat covered much of the couch and patted the cushion beside him. Denise sat down to the right of where he had indicated, keeping an arms span distance between them. Anansi shrugged, kicked one foot up atop the other knee, spread his arms across the back of the couch, and waited. He started humming the tune to “It's A Small World.” Denise began to grit her teeth, considering punching Anansi.
Fortunately for Denise's sanity, Archangel didn't keep them waiting long. The doors exploded inward, warped by the force applied to them by the rogue agent, sending shards of glass skittering across the entryway. The usually immaculately groomed hero's hair was a bit mussed up and his neck was red. He looked furious. A vein throbbed on his forehead.
“You're late,” Anansi said. Denise could hear the smirk in his tone, and the way Archangel's hands clenched into fists, he probably could as well. Spark hovered over his right shoulder, the inverse silhouette of her head seeming to face Anansi.
“Traffic was killer. Didn't you learn your lesson last time we met, norm?” was Archangel's reply. Anansi turned his head pointedly to Denise.
“Do you think he won last round?” he said, his tone innocently quizzical. Denise shrugged.
“I think he was losing, before Spark saved his sorry ass,” she replied, catching on to the game. Archangel was quick to anger, and he fought more recklessly when furious. Spark also had a bit of a temper. “Too bad Spark can't generate enough voltage to kill someone, or he wouldn't be having this problem right now.”
“A shame, truly a shame. Were I the over-muscled pretty boy, I would have punched my head right in. A proper villain doesn't run away when he's won.” Anansi turned his head back to Archangel. “I could teach you a few things about being a proper bad guy, but with the density of your head, I doubt it would penetrate.”
“Thanks for the tip, now how about I break your head like you think I should?” Archangel said, punching a fist into his open palm, the clap echoing through the room louder than a gunshot. Denise flinched.
“Wouldn't you like to know the game, first?” Anansi asked, raising a finger into the air. Archangel growled, taking a step forward, then another. Anansi shook his finger. “Ah ah. If you do that, you don't get your serum.” Archangel paused. He straightened his stance and rolled his shoulders, using the action to physically calm himself.
“What's the game?”
“You versus me, your girlfriend versus my devious ex. It's really simple. If there's a tie, winners go against each other to determine the victor. Winner takes the serum and the loser gets to play winner take all at point four.” Anansi shrugged and place
d his hands behind his head. “Unless you don't think you can beat me.”
“How about I break every bone in your body until you tell me where you've hidden the serum?”
“That's less fun for me, so I vote no, also, I might not know where it is. Mantis might.”
Archangel growled. The vein on his forehead looked about ready to burst, and for a moment, Denise thought the hero might have an aneurism. Archangel turned his back to Anansi and Denise, talking quietly to Spark. Anansi slid over on the couch until his hips were touching Denise's, placing his helmet against her. Denise felt a slight buzz in her ears, followed by Anansi's voice.
“He's telling her to kill you once she's sure you don't have the location of the serum, by the by. Be careful. You probably know her fighting style better than I do, so good luck. They're going to attack as soon as he turns around.”
Anansi slid back across the couch and began playing with his coattails. Denise looked to him. She could feel the adrenaline beginning to pump into her system.
Archangel turned back to face them, and as Anansi said, launched himself forward. Anansi disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing a dozen paces down the hallway on Denise's left. Denise rolled from the couch and started sprinting down the right hallway a split second before Archangel sent the couch into the wall. A blast of electricity seared the wall as Denise ran, cutting off as she gained the hallway and lost line of sight to Spark.
Denise ran like her life depended on it, which it probably did. When the hallway lightened and she began chasing her shadow, she dipped to the left, barely dodging a blast of electricity. She planted her left foot and spun, scattering a handful of metallic flakes in the air. She completed her spin, shifting more muscle into her legs to run faster, and sprinted again. When the next blast of electricity dissipated harmlessly into the cloud of particles, she laughed in spite of herself.
“Come back here, you-” Denise darted around the corner at the end of the hall as the last of the particles either settled or were consumed and a blast of electricity seared a hole in the wall beside her, losing the last of what Spark was screaming to the sound of her own breathing in her helmet. She shifted more, lengthening her legs, her armor stretching to the new dimensions of her body. She crossed the distance of the hallway, past laboratories and other hallways, until she came to a set of double doors. A blast of electricity caught her on the shoulder, burning through and searing her arm. She howled at the pain and darted through the door before Spark could get a second blast off.
This particular laboratory was more of an operating arena, with raised ceilings and a second floor observation room. It was mostly empty, which, like the hallways, presented the issue of a lack of cover. Denise gritted her teeth, blocking out the pain in her shoulder, and sprinted for the other side of the room, where a single door awaited her.
A blast of electricity soared over her shoulder, welding the door in front of her shut just as she reached it. Spark hovered in the entrance to the lab, arcs of lightning orbiting the shapes that represented her arms.
“That's better. Now. Tell me where the serum is.”
Denise panted, watching as Spark approached. “Ruthers...Heather. You're not seriously going to kill me, are you? What about all we've been through?” She looked for something to use as cover, but the only desks were too far away from where she currently stood. She wouldn't make the jump.
Spark laughed, continuing to approach, hovering just off the ground. “Realizing you chose the wrong side won't save you. This is for the greater good, and nothing you can do will stop us. If you tell me where it is, I'll make your death quick.” Spark hovered in the middle of the room, still approaching slowly. Denise smiled. She stood straighter, confidence replacing fear in her posture.
“It was worth a shot,” she said. “Stone!”
A metal frame covered in mesh crashed down from the ceiling, landing over and containing Spark as she loosed a blast of lightning. She screamed as the blast connected with the mesh, and instead of the short, controlled burst, it continued, and with it, Spark's screams, until finally, she collapsed to the ground, reverted from energy to flesh. Spark gasped weakly, twitching on the floor with tiny arcs of electricity fitfully dancing around her body.
“Wow. That was not what I expected,” Denise said as she walked towards Sparks prone form and the cage. Stone walked down the stairs from the observation area, a pair of manacles designed for containing superhumans, including those that could project or become energy. Stone opened a door in the side of the cage and walked through, placing the manacles on Spark's wrists.
“Do you think Anansi is doing this well?” he asked as he pulled Spark up and tossed her limp form over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Denise shrugged as an explosion rocked the building. She sighed and started towards the door.
“We can hope.”
Chapter 15
Anansi laughed as he teleported away from Archangel's second attack, sending the man flying through the air and into the wall. “You're slow!” Anansi called as he dropped a pair of grenades. Archangel came back through the wall, plaster in his hair and on his uniform. Anansi rolled his shoulders, using the motion to disguise palming a tracking beacon from his belt. Archangel started stalking towards Anansi, hands curled into fists.
“So you've chosen to be slower to prove me right? I'm not sure how that works, but let's go!” Anansi dropped back into a fighting stance. Archangel closed the distance in the blink of an eye, launching a haymaker at Anansi's head. Anansi felt his dispersion field take effect, scattering the force of the punch and reducing it to something a bit closer to that of a normal human's punch. Anansi deflected it upwards and dealt an open palm strike to Archangel's stomach, driving him back a step and opening his guard for a strike to his left ear.
Archangel stumbled back another step, blinking as the blow disoriented him. Anansi pressed the attack, dropping low for a sweeping kick to Archangel's legs. Anansi nearly fell when his kick felt like kicking a steel girder. It threw his balance and broke his momentum. Archangel kicked Anansi in the chest, sending him flying. Anansi clipped the ceiling as he reached the apex of his arc through the air, sending him spinning. He hit the wall at the end of the hallway halfway between the floor and the ceiling with enough force to crack the plaster before falling to the tiles.
When his vision cleared, he saw Archangel caught in a web of black goop that clung to the walls, the floor, and the ceiling around him. As Archangel pulled, the goop would stretch, but as soon as he stopped pulling, the goop pulled his arm back into place and each time it was harder for Archangel to pull.
Anansi stood, dusting the plaster off of his coat. He shook his head to clear his senses and checked himself for injuries. Bruises, certainly, and while it hurt, he felt fine. “That went better than expected.”
Archangel growled and pulled against the goop again, trying to escape its embrace, and failed. Anansi smiled and leaned forward, still at a very safe distance from the winged man. “How do you like my Tar Baby?”
“Tar Baby? What are you, Briar Rabbit?” Archangel struggled again against the goop, making less progress than he had before. Also known as “working exactly as intended.”
“This is why you can't beat me. I'm smarter than you. I've got cooler toys than you. My girl is hotter than yours,” Anansi said, taking his eyes off of Archangel to count off the items on his fingers.
[You're monologuing, mister villain,] Kay sent. Anansi stopped as he was about to list another way in which he was better than Archangel and instead looked up at the trapped once-hero.
In response, Archangel spread his wings.
His big, white wings.
Completely untouched by the Tar Baby.
Oh, crap.
Archangel flapped his wings. The Tar Baby gave several inches, and it didn't pull back quite as hard as it had before. Several tendrils snapped.
Oh, crap.
Archangel flapped his wings again. More tendrils snapped, and Archan
gel's left foot broke free. Anansi cursed and spun to the hallway, pulling up a map of the building up. Kay highlighted several routes, and Anansi chose the one that led to the section of the research facility that didn't have any explosive or volatile projects in it. Galle had refused several times to provide the information about the nature of the projects, but what he didn't know Anansi had took wouldn't hurt him. It wasn't like any of the projects were interesting, anyways.
A snap resounded through the hallway as the last of the Tar Baby gave in to the strength of Archangel's wings. Anansi concentrated on increasing the distance between them. He had another Tar Baby core, but he'd not really anticipated needing it and only brought it as a just in case. Now, with the just in case looming over him, he felt a little silly.
“Bring up equipment list,” Anansi said. The list filled his screen and he used the neural link to scan through it. Shape charge cores, stun cores, explosive cores...Ah! There it was. Anansi grabbed a grenade and slammed a shock core into it. The beating of wings heralded Archangel's imminent arrival. Anansi ducked and slid, throwing the grenade up. Archangel altered course to catch the grenade, which exploded before he caught it, sending a scattering of particles into the air. The particles suddenly came to life, creating a mesh of electricity that coursed across Archangel's skin, causing his muscles to spasm and sending him crashing to the floor as Anansi returned to his feet and continued to run.
[That should keep him down for several seconds. I didn't expect that to work.] Kay sent a feeling of amusement and congratulations across the neural link.
“I was going to test that next time Tom was in the states, but I was pretty sure it would work on Archangel,” Anansi offered as explanation. He followed a prompt around the corner and paused, disabling the dispersion field to activate his invisibility generator. It was a gamble. Archangel had obviously strong senses, but how strong was merely speculation on the net, and he obviously used his eyes as much as anyone else.