The Archway, Part 11 (Patreon)

We stood in the darkness. My mind raced, along with my pulse. It hadn't occurred to me that Cross might kill the lights, but it made sense. The only windows I had seen were further back in Level One, where the low-security inmates slept. The rest of the building was lit by fluorescent ceiling panels. It would be pitch-black throughout the whole building, except near the windows. The only one of my merry band who could possibly compete with Cross physically was the Knight who was currently being comforted by Nurse Wipes, and I doubted that she would be ready for combat duty any time soon. My fancy new gun wouldn't do me any good if I couldn't see what I was aiming at.

“Does anyone have a flashlight?” I asked, without any real hope.

“There are some in the utility room on Level Two.” said Nurse Wipes in her impossibly reassuring voice. She was still trying to soothe our newest recruit.

“Might as well be on the surface of the moon for all the good that does us.” said Larry bitterly. “There are windows in all the sleeping quarters. We can hole up back there.”

I shook my head, realized that no one could see me, and then vocalized my opinion. “Cross will expect that. She might have cut the lights hoping to herd us toward a trap.”

“She probably has a plan for anything we might do.” said Cynthia. “She's a Bright.”

“I doubt it.” said Larry. “She really thought she had us with that elevator ambush. I don't think it occurred to her that we might get out of that. She wouldn't have let a valuable asset like Nora here fall into our hands otherwise.”

“Unless that was Cross' plan.” argued Cynthia. “Having her here really makes us vulnerable. She is still there, isn't she?”

“I won't let her get loose.” assured Larry. “But stumbling around in the dark is not going to work. Cross is sure to have night-vision goggles or something.”

“We can't move everyone in time!” said Cynthia. “We have two wounded, one prisoner, and...well, whatever you want to call Keynes there. Wait...Sammy, can you get us back to the basement?”

“I could maybe get two or three, and that's with Jang-Mi to help me.” said Sammy. “Sorry, but I've already pushed myself a lot today.”

I clapped my hands. “People, focus. We need light, and badly. Any ideas?”

“I...I have a light.” said a reluctant voice. I heard a click, and a section of the room was illuminated by a soft, white glow. The sandy-haired Knight who Cynthia had called Keynes cast her light around the room, illuminating frightened faces and padded rears. It wasn't much more than a reading light, but if it was all we had, I was in no position to complain. I approached the confused woman.

“Hello.” I greeted.

She shone the light in my eyes, blinding me again briefly. “...hi.”

“Can I have that?” I asked, trying to make my voice as gentle and comforting as Nurse Wipes'. I did not succeed. She looked downward sadly.

“I...I don't know if I should.”

“I know. It's okay. What's your name?”

“...Cassandra. Cassandra Keynes.” she admitted. She still hadn't made up her mind as to whether or not I was her enemy.

“My name is Miranda.”

She nodded. Of course she knew who I was. Of course, she thought I was an evil mind-controlling Knave bent on world domination, which is...almost completely not true.

“I'm sorry. This must be very confusing for you.”

She paused. “Am I...am I gonna have to wear diapers, now?”

I almost laughed. Even with the threat of imminent imprisonment, painful death, or permanent enslavement hanging over our heads, what she was really worried about was her potty-training.

“Do you want to?” I asked.

Another pause. “...I don't know.”

I took a risk. I reached out and patted her shoulder. I hoped that she wouldn't take the opportunity to rip my arm off. It occurred to me then that I could just take all her strength as my own, if I wanted to. Hell, I did want to. Part of me was screaming that this was my chance. I could be strong enough that Cross wouldn't be able to do anything to me.

“Its okay. You don't have to.” I heard myself say.

She looked up at me, seeming surprised. “Really?”

I nodded. “We all just want to be free. That's all we're trying to do. Not spend the rest of our lives in this prison.”

She nodded very slightly. Her eyes were shiny with tears. “Cross is really mad.”

“I know. She'll probably be spraying bullets when she comes in here. That's why I need that light.”

She looked at the little flashlight in her hand. She pursed her lips. Slowly, she extended her hand and let me take the small light.

“Thank you. I'll make sure you don't regret this. I promise.”

“I...I believe you.” she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. It was touching to have her trust me like this, but the fact that her trust was entirely the result of my weird powers kind of spoiled it.

Realizing that the flashlight was probably also fairly steeped in my quantum effect, I touched it to the pacifier-tipped barrel of my new gun. Sure enough, the two objects fused into one with only the light exertion of my will. It transformed into a little figure of a smiling crescent moon. It took me a second to realize that it now resembled a child's night-light.

I illuminated the heavy steel doors that I had, only a short time ago, bent upward with my bare hands. I really missed having super-strength.

I took a deep breath. “Alright gang, here's the plan. I need all of you to hunker down in one of those rooms in the back and hide. When Cross gets here, I don't want any of you to be caught in the crossfire.”

“You mean...you're not coming?” asked Nurse Wipes, concern evident in her silky voice.

Objections were raised from all directions.

“What? That's a terrible plan!” complained Larry, one of nature's optimists.

“What if you're hurt?” asked Cynthia.

“Or worse!” said Sammy.

Jang-Mi yawned. “...why is it all dark?” she asked. She had obviously slept through the whole ordeal.

“Listen.” I said. “Cross is after me. If she gets me, there won't be anything you guys can do to stop her. She could kill any us, even Cassandra, with barely any problem. All we really have is this (I raised my spiffy new weapon). If she wins, you guys will probably just turn back to normal. You can go on with your lives.”

“We don't want to!” said Sammy. “Our lives sucked before you showed up!”

“Yeah!” agreed the groggy Jang-Mi.

“Besides, you don't know what'll happen!” complained Larry. “They could all end up like Suki or the Princess here for all you know!”

“I know! I wish I had a better plan, I really do. But we're all too vulnerable here, and we're running out of time. Cross is desperate now. I don't want any of you to get hurt because of me. Please.”

I wasn't at all sure about this, but I didn't have many options. Cross could crush everyone here in a straight fight, so our numbers didn't help us. Without being able to see, everyone except me was just a target. Even Cassandra couldn't do much to stop Cross, if she was even inclined to try.

“Actually, there is another option.” said a voice over the loudspeakers. I jumped. Had Cross been listening the entire time?

“You can surrender. Let Nora speak. She will make you a good person again. Otherwise, I can't be responsible for what becomes of you.”

“I already tried dealing with you!” I shouted. “You back-stabbed me the second you had the chance!”

“I will not apologize.” said Duchess Cross in an infuriatingly calm voice. I swept my flashlight through the darkness around the ruined door. It occurred to me that Cross could be talking to us from anywhere. “I have acted appropriately given the circumstances. You can hardly blame me for attempting to place you under mental domination, given your own proclivities. Allowing you to operate independently was never a real option. You must realize that. Surrender, or I will be forced to use stronger measures.”

“I have a better idea.” I snarled at the ceiling. “Take my original offer and get the hell out of here! You can probably figure out another nullifier before my effect takes hold on you. You can still get out of this with your free will and your dignity intact!”

Cross clicked her teeth in mock disappointment. “That is most unfortunate. I wonder how many of your companions will be forced to pay the price for your stubbornness?”

She was trying to rattle me. Trying to get me angry enough to do something stupid. The trouble was, it was working. She was threatening all the people that were depending on me for their survival. How could she not see that that was wrong? How could she still think she was the good one here?

I motioned for my companions to move back into the recesses of Low Security, a name that had never been more appropriate. I hoped I had been wrong about Cross herding us into a trap. I backed up against the wall near the door, taking a defensive position.

I listened. Frantic whispering and scuffling came from the main room as the slow process of moving the entire group began. Between the darkness, the two nullified women, and the dangerous prisoner, I guessed that they would be at it a while. I had to protect them as best I could.

I heard something behind me. Slow, gliding steps, coming down the hallway, almost completely inaudible. I held my breath. This was the moment of truth.

With a loud crash, a fist emerged from the wall near the door. If I had been standing a foot to the left, it would have sailed right through my skull. I backed away from the doorway. The footsteps I had heard weren't Cross. There was more than one person out there, and one had been a mere distraction.

A bestial snarl broke through the silence. I recognized the sound from my earlier fight in Analytics. It was Judith, and if the sound was any indication, she was in full-on dining-out mode.

Two huge feline eyes loomed in the darkness outside the door. Two massive paws reached out and tore the door open even wider, crumbling the concrete wall in the process. I squeezed the pink, plastic trigger.

Nothing happened.

A soft whine sounded from my fancy weapon, but nothing emerged from the pacifier muzzle. I wanted to scream. My ace in the hole was a dud. I squeezed the trigger as hard as I could, but Judith's massive form was coming through the door anyway. Once she had squeezed through the opening, she would need all of a second to eviscerate me. The whining of the strange weapon was barely audible over the scream of steel being torn like tissue paper. I staggered backward  from the door. Without thinking, I released the trigger.

I felt a jolt that threatened to knock me off my feet. The yellow nipple of the gun produced a brief flash of pinkish light. For an instant, Judith's enormous panther-body was illuminated, and seemed to glow faintly from within.

The sound of gunfire erupted from the hole in the wall. I heard several bullets whip through the air nearby and ricochet around the room behind me. With a clean shot, I would have been done for, but a small hole does not provide much room to aim. Silently hoping that my companions had managed to evacuate in time, I turned and desperately dove for the relative safety of the small kitchen area. Gunfire continued to spray around me, occasionally punching through the cabinets under the sink. I had to fight the urge to scream when one of the bullets found its way into my calf.

The shooting stopped, but I was pinned down. If I showed my face to try to squeeze off a shot, Cross was sure to get the shot off first, and her gun didn't seem to need a few seconds to warm up first. My ears were ringing from all the noise, so I couldn't even guess whether Cross had entered the room or was still waiting near the entrance. Judith wasn't coming in after me, so I had to assume that my shot had done something to her. But without looking, I still had no idea what. It certainly hadn't instantly converted her to my side, as I had hoped.

Something compact knocked against the wall behind and clattered to the floor of the kitchenette. I rose to try and kick it away, but my injured leg gave out the instant I put weight on it. The next moment, a loud bang and bright flash left me sitting in a haze of pain, unable to see anything except a greenish blur or hear anything but a high-pitched whine. I began desperately firing my weapon, pulling and releasing the trigger over and over, unable to even tell if anything was even coming out of the barrel. Finally, the weapon was ripped from my grasp. I heard it slide across the floor.  A slender but powerful hand grabbed my arm and hauled me painfully upward. My vision began to clear just as the cold barrel of  Cross' weapon pressed against my throat.

The lights abruptly returned, leaving me blinded yet again. I moaned.

“Listen up!” shouted Cross. “I have your Dear Leader! I want you all out here with your hands up! Bring Nora! One way or the other, I'm ending this nonsense right now!”

With slow, even steps, Larry stepped from the protection of the hallway. His hands were above his head, and his face was grim.

“Hi.” he greeted flatly.

“No tricks.” snarled Cross. “One false move, and I'll pop her head like a grape.”

My eyes cleared. Cross was still wearing her special headgear, which I could only assume was a countermeasure to Nora's ability. It was joined on her forehead by a set of goggles with green lenses, just as Larry had guessed. Cross' eyes were cold and determined.

Larry matched her expression. “You won't kill her. You need her to stop Laura.”

The barrel left my neck and leveled on Larry with one smooth motion.

“Don't push me, Dunbar. I definitely don't need you. Bring out Nora. Now.”

Larry twisted his face into a knowing smirk. “I don't think you can do that either. You see, what you have there is a twenty-round magazine, and you already fired twenty shots.”

My heart leaped. If I had been in less pain, I might have cheered.

Another loud bang. A hole appeared in the wall beside Larry's head.

“Nice try. This is a thirty-round magazine. I can also count.” said Cross.

Larry nodded apologetically. “Yeah, I know. I just wanted to sound cool. Well, and that.”

Larry pointed to spot just behind Cross.

Cross fired again. Larry cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground. “I said no tricks. You think I was kidding?”

I heard a faint whirring noise from behind. “Let go of my Boss.” said Sammy.

Cross whipped the gun around, but my Diaper Elf was quicker. A burst of pink light illuminated Cross. The machine gun sprayed its remaining bullets around the room, but Sammy was already gone. I watched as the light spread through Cross' body. She shuddered. Her eyes filled with revulsion. The light began to gather together.

“...shit.” breathed Cross. The light formed around her mouth. It focused and congealed into shape. In seconds, Cross' mouth was covered by the plastic shield of a light pink pacifier.