Galatea peeled off to help the retreating civilians along. Both could take down normal opponents, even street-level villains without blinking; to the godzilla they’d merely be crunchy.
Seven, hands in his pants pockets, watched the monster advance. I looked up at him, happier now that he was here, and tried to act as casual. Somehow we’d deal.
I tried a smile. “Do you remember when you said people would like us better if there were alien invasions, giant monsters, or nasty things from other dimensions that thought humans were tasty for us to fight?”
“I take it back,” he said. He flashed his movie-star smile, eyes on the monster. With his natty hat and sport coat and blond-haired, blue-eyed movie star looks, he looked ready to go clubbing with the New Rat Pack.
Lei Zi ignored us, studying the creature.
Riptide splash-landed beside us, changing from water to flesh and blood. “At least your dark look will hide the soot, chica,” he said to me. “That is one ugly mother.”
The godzilla waded through the flaming wreckage of the hall now, bathing in the heat. Its mottled green hide shone, the disk-shaped ridges running from its crown to its tail glowed, and jets of plasma-breath burned with laserlike intensity. Pyrokinetic attacks were obviously going to be useless. I looked over at Lei Zi. Electrical attacks hadn’t done much better against the insulating hide of the one that hit New York.
Seven shrugged nonchalantly. “Since nobody else is going to say it, I am. This is a whole bucket of crazy. Who makes Godzilla knock-offs?”
“Some pajero who thinks the Big One was a good start,” Riptide sneered and spat.
I couldn’t decide if his aggressive contempt trumped Seven’s casual joking. He hadn’t changed much since trading LA for Chicago. His long leather coat, with its Pisces symbol picked out in silver-studs, bordered on villainwear, and he still shaved his head.
“So what’s the plan, chief?” he asked Lei Zi.
She turned to us.
“They lost eight capes in New York before they appreciated its plasma attack. So before we draw its attention, let’s create some cover.” She gave him the nod. “I want enough harbor water on that fire to blind it. Do it now.”
He grinned and lifted his hands, palms out. A water-spout climbed over the pier to slap itself into the burning buildings, and the godzilla disappeared inside an explosive plume of smoke and steam. Its roar changed pitch, its plasma-jet winking on and off randomly. The pier shook as it danced about on its flaming stage.
Lei Zi nodded approvingly. “Your turn, Astra. As hot as it is, its head has to be lit like a spotlight to your infrared vision. Get some height and drop something on it.”
I fired off a sloppy salute and picked up the grounds-keeping truck. We’d reimburse them later. I headed straight up; Lei Zi had set me to practicing target drops at the rural practice range weeks ago, when the reports came in from Tokyo and New York.
“She’s told the other CAI capes to stay back for the moment,” Shelly said. Wonderful; the first pass was mine, for the honor of the Sentinels.
A couple thousand feet up, I looked down at the rising steam cloud. She was right; hidden by smoke and steam, its head glowed like a light-bulb on the infrared end of the spectrum. I hesitated; gravity could throw harder than I could, but my aim wasn’t very good yet.
“Lei Zi,” I said. “I’m guiding it down.” And I let gravity take over.
“Negat—” she began, but chopped it off.
I fell with the doomed truck. The pier leaped up, expanding, and I shifted our trajectory as I hit the rising cloud. Almost...now! With a last nudge I parted ways with my improvised kinetic missile, rocketing sideways with all the force I could bring to change my angle of decent to something less terminal.
I’d waited a bit too long; even as Shelly gave an exultant “Yes!” I hit the surface of the bay and skipped like a stone, snapping the mast of a family yacht in passing. I surfaced and spat out water, pushed my cape out of my face, and checked to make sure my mask, wig, and earbug were still secure before flying back.
The random jets of plasma burned brighter and the godzilla roared non-stop. It might have a headache, but it was pissed now and still advancing, almost to the parking garage by the amusement park. Drat.
Lei Zi nodded when I landed back at the top of the pier. “Good try.