Shades of Gray - By Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge Page 0,107
Steele said, “and he should be in lockdown yesterday. Hypnotic is the priority.”
Taser pointed at the street. “Something’s got them stirred up.”
First one mutant, then another turned its swollen eyes to the north, and as one they lumbered up the street, occasionally knocking over a frozen civilian. A shine glinted in the weak sunlight, and Iridium caught a glimpse of blue hair. “It’s Derek,” she said.
“And they are on him like fat kids on cake,” Taser said.
“They’re clearly attracted to extrahumans,” Lester said. “Must be something in the way we smell.”
“Terrific,” Iridium muttered. “Dad, Taser, come with me. We’ve got to clear a path for him. The rest of you, stay here and watch the rabids.”
Jet sighed dramatically, but she didn’t argue with Iridium’s orders. That was a nice change.
Iridium ran into the street, throwing a strobe not at the mutants but at the pavement in front of them, exploding concrete and gravel. “Run, Derek!” she screamed.
Frostbite froze the first giant hand that reached for him, dodged the second, then fell under the third pair. He rolled out of the way and came up while Lester used the refracted light in the air to create a dazzling envelopment of prisms around the mutant who’d been about to squish him.
Taser scooped Frostbite up and handed him off to Iridium. “Go,” the merc said. “I’ll cover the retreat.”
“Your six!” Frostbite shouted, freezing the feet of a mutant who’d been about to snatch Taser and snap him in half. The mutant swayed and fell with a crash like a tree trunk.
Iridium tugged at Frostbite. “Come on. We’ve got to get back inside before they realize it’s an all-you-can-smash extrahuman buffet in there.”
They ran, Iridium’s heart pounding like it had only a few times before. As soon as they were inside the apartment building, Lester slammed the door shut. Iridium swallowed, tried to get her pulse back under control. “You okay, Derek?”
“Fine,” he said. “I was waiting for the emergency responders when Meteorite commed me.” He rubbed the shoulder he’d landed on. “Our bloaty pals out there are not the only mutants running loose. Everyman has released a pack of them into the Downtown Grid.”
Iridium sighed. “Of course they have.” She’d beaten Doctor Hypnotic—wasn’t that enough for one day?
“How many is a pack?” Jet asked quietly.
Derek grimaced. “Enough to put it in the We’re All Doomed, Doomed I Say column.”
“Okay,” Iridium said, thinking quickly. “Jet, you and I and anyone else with long-range powers should get down there. Where’s Firebug?”
“Back at HQ,” Jet gritted. “She couldn’t face Hypnotic.”
“Well, I hope mutants are more to her liking.”
Before Jet could open her mouth to argue, there was a scream from behind.
Iridium spun to see Kindle lying on his back, wheezing for breath, the Judge’s gavel lying near him on the ground.
Knife grinned as the fire cage faded. “Feeding time at the zoo, boys and girls. And what a spread we’ve got today.”
Before Iridium could react, an ice wall appeared in front of the Squadron and the Blackbird fugitives, separating them from the rabids.
Frostbite lowered his hands. “What now?”
“Now?” Iridium peered around the shield at the advancing rabids. “We end this once and for all.” She pointed at Kindle’s prone form. “Get him help. The rest of you, pick your nutjob ex-hero and get to punching.”
The Squadron and the Blackbird contingent spread out in a loose formation. Amazing how well you could work with people you despised when your ass was on the line, Iridium thought. She picked out Sonic Scream, the wanker who’d caused all of the trouble in Round One.
He went down with one hard strobe, but that left her with Creeper, who tangled her in his rubbery arms and sent her down, hard. Something in Iridium’s arm gave.
“Remind me,” she said through clenched teeth, summoning up radiant light-heat. “What temperature does rubber melt at?”
Sweat worked down Creeper’s face while he tried to squeeze the life from her. “How much pressure does it take to break a mouthy Lighter’s back?”
She could burn him badly enough that he let go, or he could crush her unconscious. It all came down to willpower.
Finally, Creeper released her as he fell to the ground, screaming. “My hands!” He writhed on the floor, holding his smoking hands away from his body. “It hurts!”
“Tip for next time,” Iridium gasped. “Human flesh melts faster.” The sound of electric charges made her turn to the left, and she saw Taser unleash a stream of electric bolts. Three rabids dropped.