One Thousand Words left after this.   (The epilogue will put me well over 50k.)   Thanks for the support over the month.

Stay tuned for a post NaNoWriMo Post on Monday, then it’s business as usual for Memories of a Dimanagul.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the ride, as much as I enjoyed writing it.   Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger, you only need to wait one day to get the end.  😉

Final Chapter — Judgement (Part One)

 

Russ entered the studio to find Fanny shaking up Negator.  IT only took a glance, alongside removing his mask to make the plan clear.

It was frustrating really.   His friends struggled outside, fighting the good fight while he played the antagonist.   He wanted more than anything to just play the hero.

“Oh, so the jig is up, huh?”  Negator’s disguise melted away leaving him in his typical monochrome form.

“Mr. Seiser?” Phinneas raised a brow.  “Why would you–“

“Buying time of course.”  His body shifted out of reality, allowing his to free himself of Fanny’s wrath.   “Though, the real thing showing up has made this difficult.  I don’t approve of your current company.”

The truth, huh?

“You should have told me you had other help.”  Negator narrowed his eyes.  “The plan would have went smoothly if you had stuck to one contingency.”

“Oh, I see now.” Phinneas chuckled.  “You and Lady Nerissa aren’t on good terms.   I thought as much.   I had a feeling this may be the case.”

“You mind filling me in on what the hell is going on here?” Russ said.

“Mr. Seiser has gone traitor.   He tried to spoil the plan by impersonating you.”

“Right, but who’s this Lady Nerissa?” Russ knew of course, but he needed proof.

“The future,” Phinneas said.  “We have no need for super powered goons running amok, only a well deserved higher class to provide leadership.   You wanted the truth Mr. Belken, here it is.   Lady Nerissa will make sure we have a place in this new order.”

“Better to rule hell than serve in heaven?”  Russ said.  He shook his head.   “Man, Phinneas, I’m disappointed in you.”

He lost his smile.  “What?”

“I’m sorry to say it, but John isn’t the only traitor.”  Russ pulled out a hand recorder.   Of course, it was just a prop.   The real deal couldn’t be destroyed.   “Phinneas.   I want the Macro Corp to disband, sure, but I need it to be the right way.   The only person going behind bars today– is you.”

“But you– you are an accomplice.   Don’t think you can just turn to your conscience now.

“I can if I’ve been working with the police from the start.” Russ hooked a thumb in his belt.  “Captain Teller and I go way back, he’s practically my dad.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Phinneas snapped his fingers.  “Ms.  Filcher, see to it he doesn’t leave this room alive.”

Fanny glanced over to Russ and smiled.  “What was that saying again?  The enemy of my friend is and enemy?”

Russ took a cautious step backwards.   He couldn’t use his powers outright, he was just Russell Belken now, but he could fake it.   Fanny lunched forward and time slowed to a crawl.   The best he could do is buy time, hoping he could get the data to Ray in time.

Something flew over his shoulder, a pellet cruising through the air at incredible speed and slammed into the center of Fanny’s forehead.   Her dense body caught it and stopped it dead, floating harmlessly amongst her amorphous form.

Russ fell backwards, scurrying away in careful desperation and bumped into someone.  He looked up to find Mech, aiming her MSP, ready for a second shot.

“Bullets?   Really?” Fanny said.  She tapped her forehead.  “You can’t kill me with any weapon.”

“Oh, is that so?” Mech said, smirking.  “Who said I’m trying to kill you?”

The pellet burst, sending a wave of cold through Fanny’s body.   She froze mid pose into a statue of solid ice.

“You OK Mr. Belken?” Mech said without looking down.  “If you’d be so kind, I can take it from here.”

He looked up at her with a forced scowl.  And scurried out of the studio.   As soon as he made it past the door, he embraced the smile, put his mask back on and hailed Dave on the comm.  “TF.   How’s it going out there?”

“Not good.  They’re not relenting,” he said.

“Well I got good news.  I have evidence.  Forward it to the brass of the military, delivered with love from Russell Belken.”

“I’ll do what I can.  Get out here ASAP.”

“We’re about to have a fight in here too.   Mech needs back up.   She’ll be fighting three of the Elemental Lords by herself.”

“Three?”

“Yeah, she iced Slipstream.”

“Ha!  I was wondering where all that freon went in the storage.  Mech always has been a cool customer.”

“TF, please,if you have time for puns, you have time to help.”

“Fine, spoilsport, we’ll send in backup.  I’m maintaining the transmission silence on the building.”

“Could you give me an alibi?   It’s… gonna sound strange, but I need you to be me in the Micron costume.”

“As long as I don’t have to fight.”

Russ hurried to the entrance and caught a glimpse of himself.   The Form worked fast, making a convincing duplicate.   He handed over the tape recorder and his phone.   Dave’s ‘fragment’ could make a convincing report to the new data to the police while Russ handled the heavy lifting outside.

Stepping outside triggered his instincts immediately, a barrier of green energy protected the main body of the Macro Corp.  It intercepted sprays of bullets and rolling gouts of gas.   The offensive push of the military escalated faster than he could have ever dreaded.

Russ hurried to Russ and relaxed his focus.

“Boy am I glad to see you,” Ray said.  “We are allies again right?”

“I never stopped, pal.” Russ patted him on the shoulder.

“They’re setting up snipers on the far buildings.  Can you take them out?”

“Yeah.   No problem.”  Russ broke through a tiny gap in the barrier and activated his scanners.   With careful use of his focus he could streamline a balance of assessment and action.  Four soldiers in four locations.  He didn’t need to hurt them, only render their weapons useless.

He closed in on the first, the most dangerous in terms of angle, Russ tore up the side of the building and onto the roof.   The soldier hadn’t set up his weapon yet, scoping the terrain with binoculars.

Russ snatched up his ammo and a grenade from the target’s belt.  Russ pulled the pin, and launched high into the air.   He counted under his breath, counting the milliseconds like seconds and approached the desired height.   He abandoned the bundled ammo and let it coast skyward.

He tore towards the second target, letting time return to full speed.   The explosion rocked the air behind him, no doubt catching the attention of quite a few people.

One down.

The second soldier, shouted into his comm. below, lining up his shot.   Russ landed in front of him, wagged a finger and tightened his focus.  He snatched away the rifle, dismantled it (with limited knowledge from movies) and stuffed it back in the case.

He took it and broke towards the third.  The damn thing was pretty heavy.

Russ’ HUD finally  caught wind of the military comm. channel.   The third sniper received a transmission.  “Take the shot, Tango.”

The soldier took aim and put his finger on the trigger, Russ ramped up his focus and changed route for interception.

Easy peasy. Russ gauged the distance and trajectory and made it as the third soldier squeezed the trigger.   Russ held out the sniper case, released it and slammed his fist into its side.   The combination of heavy steel, momentum and six well-placed punches might not had been enough to stop the bullet, but it veered it off course high and wide.  The twisting plasma trail cruised over Russ’ shoulder.   The crisis had passed.

That’s three.  Chances were good they were gunning for Mac.   A well-placed rail gunshot would be faster than his body’s reaction time.  Worse, Russ had no way to stop the shot.

Russ bolted to the fourth soldier.  There was no time to warn Mac and at Russ’ fastest, the fourth sniper had time to do the deed.   The answer was obvious.   He needed to be better than his best, by a great deal.

TO BE CONCLUDED!—>