Chapter 42: High Strung With TiVo
Stumbling to her knees, the winged demoness watched the ruler of Limbo demolish the remains of her sisters. Loyalty pulled her up. Love for Master allowed her to continue. In light of Master, the considerable hole in her stomach didn’t seem important anymore; only doing what He required of her mattered.
The witch took her for dead. How wrong she’d be after a set of claws ripped out her voice box. Closer the demon edged, her weapons of choice extending from her left hand while her right held her innards in place. Say goodnight, righteous sorceress.
The electrical socket next to the demon fizzled before erupting in an unnatural surge that painfully froze its body. Amanda whipped around and split her assailant down the middle. Splattering to the shiny floor, the two halves revealed Meggan Braddock behind them.
“That’s the last one,” the blonde smiled. For good measure, Meggan cracked her knuckles (a move she emulated from Brian) and winked confidently. “I think Emma will be pleased!”
After Doctor Strange warded off the building to mental suggestion, working together resumed its typical ease. The two women were trying to shake off making complete asses of themselves: defeating a handful of Otherworld scum filled that order.
Amanda sheathed her sword. “Let’s go check on the people.”
“Of course!”
Peppy like a cheerleader, Meggan skipped, hopped, and glided to the elevator. She pressed the down button and made a big production of twiddling her thumbs.
“Meggan?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to cheer me up.”
The elevator dinged and they shuffled in. “But you’re sad,” the blonde pointed out, “As your friend, it’s my duty to make you feel better.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. When people say they’re fine, they’re always not. I learned that from watching Brian.”
Meggan wrapped an elusive innocent perception in a wise woman’s mind--maybe that’s why Amanda appreciated their friendship. Honest but sensitive, Meggan proved that bluntness could be expressed through kindness instead of negativity.
The brunette cracked a smile but her voice stayed heavy. “I’m just disappointed in myself, that’s all. It’s like... something so small and insignificant can so easily defeat us, it’s scary.”
“You can’t prepare for everything, Amanda. It’s through our defeats that we’re humbled and it’s through our humbleness that we find the drive to do better.”
Like she said, innocent perception tempered by wisdom. Few could break down complex, conflicting, and unseasonable doubt in two sentences.
“Meggan, you’re absolutely golden, you know that?”
“Yes,” she chirped, “Brian always tells me that!”
Ding.
A sea of eyes looked at them. Adults clutched children tighter while people armed themselves. Police officers drew guns, security personnel took out their batons, a few even held lamp stands like staffs.
“Easy,” said Amanda, her palms opened in a peaceful gesture, “Emma Frost told us to protect you. We’re just checking on everyone.”
A random camera from the back went click, flash.
One of the burly cops in the front asked, “How do you know you’re telling the truth?”
“Because we’re superheroes,” Meggan declared in her cheery voice, “Have any one of you been to England? Have you heard of Excalibur? Yup, the blonde girl was me and, well, Amanda here wasn’t on the team, but she was a good friend to us.”
Oy. “Think,” the brunette said to trigger happy cop, “Would evil demons or out of control mutants come up here and introduce themselves as superheroes?”
Ding. The elevator door tried to close but Amanda’s hand kept it from shutting.
Suitably placated, the bellicose refugees stood down. Barrages of questions took the place of violent threats. Everything from “Where’s Daddy?” to “Are we going to die?” flew at the women like hail. Little hands tugged at their clothes while desperate people tried to get a second of their attention. Hell, a perverted man even tried to grope Amanda, and that’s where she drew the line.
Summoning a flash of lightning, the crack of power sparking from her fingertips shushed most of the people. Yeah, some children mumbled “Cool” and “Can you do that again?” but by and large, Amanda had everyone’s undivided attention.
“Listen: Meggan and I know nothing about your loved ones. All we know is that Manhattan is in deep shit and we are trying to fix it. Now, I want all of you to stay put up here. As of the moment, we are the only people in this building, so if you see, I dunno, moving blobs or crazy mutants, come downstairs and get us.”
“Why aren’t you two staying with us?”
“There’s a riot outside and the ground floor is still the best place to get into the building.”
That and Amanda wanted to get away from the high strung tension of these people.
Ding. The elevator doors closed.
“Amanda, that wasn’t very nice.”
“I’ll apologize to them later,” she replied, “That is, if we live to see them later.”
“Wow, so pessimistic all of a sudden. Tell me, what can go wrong?”
Ding. As the elevator opened, a group of mutants, no longer drawn away by Betsy’s telepathic shroud, crashed a car through the front windows.
*****************
“There! Ooo, stop it there!”
The miracles of TiVo allowed the Stepford sisters to rewind, pause, and fast forward live television. About every channel save for Cartoon Network and Spice played endless footage of the newly dubbed “New York Nightmare.” One of the CNN cameras got close enough to Magneto before being destroyed, and in the background, Sophie thought she saw Esme.
“I told you, I saw her!”
“With Magneto?” Mindee asked.
Phoebe didn’t look pleased at the implication. “No, Esme wouldn’t do something like that.”
Celeste’s quiet voice came from the back of Warren’s living room. “She’s been acting weird.”
“Distant,” Sophie noted.
“Lonely,” added Mindee.
“Just plain weird,” said Celeste, finishing it off.
And Phoebe couldn’t believe her ears. “You three think our sister is... is...”
“Doing something bad?”
“Hurting people?”
“Betraying the school?”
The three Esme-suspicious Stepfords shrugged. “Probably,” they said in unison.
“How come I’m the last to know?!” demanded Phoebe.
“Because you were busy-”
“-chasing after Mr. Guthrie-”
“-and making kissy faces at him.”
“I did not make kissy faces!”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not!”
“Did too.”
“DID NOT!”
Not in the mood to officiate, Kurt, remote clasped in his only good hand, switched off the TV. “Ladies, behave yourselves. Your sister is probably safe with Frau Lee, and I do not want to hear about inappropriate advances at your instructors.”
Four chastised girls said a “Yes Mr. Wagner” and resumed their argument telepathically. As Ms. Frost said, “Shutting your mouth does not mean ending the conversation.”
*Did too.*
*Did not did not did not DID NOT!*
Understandably, Sooraya and Kevin stayed far away from the bickering siblings. And Kurt? After those painkillers Warren gave him, he wanted to drop to the expensive carpet and sleep. Couldn’t though--as the only responsible adult here, he couldn’t afford to fall asleep and leave the students unsupervised.
Shuffling into the kitchen, he poured himself a icy flute (Where the hell were the regular glasses?) of mineral water and hope the sharp contrast would wake a few nerves. As he gulped his drink over the sink, his eagle eyes saw a handful of quickly approaching dots in the New York skyline. Not trusting his drugged up self, Kurt splashed the remaining water in his face and looked again.
Yup. Dots. Bigger dots now, exactly seven of them.
Who could they be? The Avengers? Sentinels?
The crystal flute slipped from his fingers and shattered in the sink.
“Mein Gott,” he mumbled, running back into the living room.
*******************
- To be continued...
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