A Dark Trail - Chapter 11

The gnome in question had jumped from the cart as it careened out the window and now stood on the ledge, listening. The entire front of his body hurt, between the bullet impacts, the acid, and the metal shards embedded in the melted remains of his face. It sounded like that time-obsessed fool Etereo had failed, and he didn't have much hope for Geiger, considering the smell of burning flesh and sounds of screams hadn't drifted down to him yet.

He couldn't win alone. At the rate he was losing blood, he might not even survive. He jumped away from the building, but as he did, saw the other two pests stepping off a fire escape. What was worse, they saw him, if the looks on their faces were anything to go by.

The girl shot towards him, in deceptively slow loping strides, but covering ground quickly. Still, she wasn't ready for him to kick off the air and spring above her while still a foot off the ground, and dashed by harmlessly beneath him. He saw her turn in mid-stride to face him and he twisted to be ready for her next move. So he never saw the metal disc when it smashed into the base of his skull. His body went parallel to the ground, face down, twitching uselessly. He was dimly aware of the girl catching him easily as he fell.

The platter bounced off the asphalt parking lot and shot back towards Calvin. He'd wrapped his hand in his handkerchief, so catching it didn't hurt quite as badly this time. He rushed over to Cass.

"Oh crap, I didn't kill him did I? I was trying for stunned!"

She shook her head. "He's still breathing. Already badly injured, though. Won't last long."

"Don't worry, I'm sure the Savage Avengers are still accepting applications," a voice called from behind them. "Or maybe the T-Bolts."

"Never to the first, and only if Hawkeye's leading them for the second," Calvin retorted without turning. "Which of you did he attack?"

Rhodez raised her hand. "My rifle blew up."

"Aw shit, really?"

"Yeah, but I think I have a useful power now!" she said with more cheer. Behind her, Deadpool shook his head "no" emphatically before interrupting.

"What'd you bring him down with? Rocket launcher? Novelty cartoon anvil?"

Cassanee pointed at Calvin. "He threw that drink tray at him."

The others gawked, and Calvin rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm not bad at throwing things," he explained.

Clever Adolescent Panda had arrived by the tail end of this and swallowed Calvin up in a Hug. "That's so awesome!"

"Thanks pal. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, it isn't good, but we're OK. Pollock and I are gonna take some of the computers in the lab with us. We'll see if we can find anything on them. Where's the one who attacked you?"

Calvin gestured towards the roof. "Hopefully still KO'ed up there. We didn't have anything to tie him up with, and carrying a guy with electric powers down a metal staircase seemed risky."

"At least you know where he is. I think ours sank into the foundation of the building."

A raspy laugh clawed its way out of the gnome's throat where he lay on the ground, drawing their attention. Cassanee crouched nearby. "What's funny?"

"You idiots have no idea what you're up against."

"Wow, cliche alert. Are we messing with forces we cannot possibly comprehend, too?" Wade asked, yawning and digging a finger in his ear (through his mask, not sure how effective that is). "You shouldn't stick your finger in your ear, haven't you heard Narrator? Especially not my finger." Well, OK then.

Calvin and Clever Adolescent Panda exchanged glances. "Yeah, that's not exactly new for us," the panda said calmly.

"And I'm sure you will enlighten us?" Pollock had followed CAP at a more sedate speed, and stood at the rear of the group, arms folded across her chest.

"Don't count on it sweet cheeks." The gnome's grin, with only a few remaining teeth, through that ruined landscape of a face, was not a pleasant sight.

"Oh no, you've made a demeaning comment about me based on my looks," Pollock stated flatly as she moved closer. "Do you want me to cry, or lose control and kill you quickly?"

Before the gnome could respond, Cassanee shouted "Move!" and tackled Pollock. Clever Adolescent Panda did the same to Calvin, and Deadpool for Rhodez. Electricity arced down from above, scorching the pavement in a ring around the Gnome with No More Syringes(?)

Looking at the roof from beneath his furry buddy, Calvin saw the Old Electric Man standing at the edge, glaring down. Maybe it was the angle, but he felt like the man was glaring specifically at him. "Get off," he hissed. "He's gonna fry you to get at me!" He felt the panda shake their head firmly, and began trying to squirm free.

"What are you doing?!" The Gnome found the voice to shout from somewhere. "You know what you're supposed to do!"

The six looked at him, then back to the frail man as he spread his hands out, electricity flowing from his hands in greater amounts than ever. He was glowing blue now, brighter and brighter, energy arcing down the walls and into the interior of the building through every opening.

It was obvious to Pollock he was trying to destroy the building, and possibly them, somehow. She shoved the girl in the hood off her and rose, searching for a cartridge, one to wrap him up. If the foul-mouthed runt was near death, another person to interrogate would help. Maybe she'd finally get Ca-the sullen girl to leave her be.

As she raised the gun, something crashed into her back, sending the shot wild as she was driven to the ground. Before she could react, she felt two small hands clamp, vise-like, on either side of her throat. Far too small to choke her, but more than enough to cut off her carotid arteries. She tried to roll, dislodge him, but no luck. Her head was wrenched back as far as it could go, back bowing under the strain. She couldn't concentrate enough to try and shapeshift, was out of practice anyway. Her fingers clawed at his, but it was as though his hands had grown roots into her skin.

Looking over her shoulder, she could see the sullen girl trying to pull him off. Strong as she was - and Pollock had been hit by her enough to know - she wasn't making much headway, although Pollock thought the grip might be loosening slightly. Or she was blacking out already. It only took a few seconds, she knew.

She saw a blurred image of the gnome opening his mouth to try and bite one of the hands holding him, but the moment he did, a red-gloved hand jammed a serrated blade in the opening. The grip tightened for a second, then released. Pollock's head fell forward, she was just able to shift one arm so her forehead landed on it, rather than the pavement.

"I'm gonna go ahead and finish the fun-sized serial killer, OK." Deadpool said, in a tone that implied he wasn't asking for confirmation.

"We still need to stop him," Rhodez gestured towards the man on the roof, still flooding power into the structure. "Can you hit him from here, Deadpool?"

The merc ignored her, focused on the gnome. She looked around. "Anybody have anything?"

Clever Adolescent Panda was sorting through Pollock's satchel. "I don't know what any of these cartridges do."

Calvin sighed, pressure situations weren't really his thing, but. . . "Worth a shot." He hefted the tray, took a couple of steps as he drew his arm back, and then let it fly. He pretty much expected it to bounce harmlessly off the building on the first floor. Maybe the second, if he got a tailwind. If that was what happened, he must have gotten one hell of a tailwind, because it flew true, arcing cleanly towards the Electric Man, arms still outstretched.

Rhodez could see the man's eyes widen, but he didn't try to defend himself. Instead, the amount of energy pouring out of him increased. Just as the tray was reaching him, there was a loud rumble from somewhere beneath their feet, and the man slumped, exhausted. The tray flew harmlessly over his head.

"Shit. Sorry." Calvin said.

"Don't apologize, that was a really good throw," his fuzz buddy reassured him. "He just moved at the last second. At least we can go talk to him now."

Which is when the entire building collapsed. Whatever his powers triggered, the building couldn't stand under it any longer. It trembled internally first, and as it began to collapse from the middle, the ground around it also gave way, forcing everyone to retreat towards the cars quickly as the rest of the structure fell into the depths. Dust billowed up from the hole, before gently drifting over them like a special fog bank, made just for them.

"Great, we're probably all gonna get mesothelioma," Calvin grumbled as they stumbled through it in the direction of their cars.

"Not me!" Deadpool exclaimed. "Healing factor! High five!" He raised his hand, and after a moment, Clever Adolescent Panda high-fived him.

"You don't have a healing factor, you stinker," Calvin snapped. "Do you?"

"Not really, but I couldn't leave him hanging."

"You're dead to me, Clever Adolescent Panda."

"Does that make Deadpool Dippy Fresh?" Rhodez wondered.

"He is a very '90s idea of cool, so yes."