The Business of Time Travel Tourism

Chapter 25: The Man in Scuba Suit

July 1, 2014. Tuesday.

The man in scuba-suit was already jumping over the second fence when Sally got over the first. She flew above benches, chairs, and bushes lying in George neighbor's garden and went over the fence. The villain was fast but not fast enough to outrun her.

When Sally was about to grab him by the hand, he stopped in his tracks, ducked down, turned at her, hugged by the waist, lifted up and slammed to the ground. "How 'bout you take some rest," he said in a deep, persuasive voice, then pressed a point on her neck and Sally's eyes closed before she could hit back.

The villain ran onward jumping over the next fence with a somersault. During the flight, he saw Max lagging behind. The distance between them was increasing with every passing second. An old geezer was no match for the endurance of youth.

The fools have underestimated me, he thought with a grin beneath the mask.

After one more fence, he found himself in an open area with an empty street stretching endlessly to both sides. He turned to the left side and saw nothing, then turned to the right and noticed a tiny point on the road in the distance, slowly growing in size. A vehicle would be a great means of escape, he figured, but after making two steps towards it, he had to let the idea go.

A barely visible, transparent projectile coming from behind passed him by a hair. The villain jumped to the side and avoided another one. He then rolled backward and dodged a shot coming from the left. A little annoying guy with a troublesome gun was teleporting all around the place, shooting at random angles.

"You are never going to hit me, fool," said the villain after he dodged a bullet coming from above. He shoulder-rushed the closest wall and ran into the house behind it.

Zoop teleported around the house and waited for the shadowy person to leave. A scream came from inside, it was followed by a sound of shattering windows. For a second Zoop teleported above the house. It was enough to see where the man was. After another second, Zoop was back on the ground behind the running man, who now rushed towards the street with a shiny tray in his hand.

The projectiles Zoop fired were now blocked by the villain using the tray as a racket. The man appeared to possess a magic that let him parry the shots without even looking at them. Even though Zoop tried to shoot from most unpredictable angles, his fire was reflected every time. It appeared as if the man knew where the bullets would come from before they were fired. Zoop checked the charge meter on his weapon. It was getting low. There was no way he could catch the man if he did not come up with something clever.

Zoop turned around and saw Max following them; running fast, but not fast enough. The little gray man pointed his weapon at the time cop and glanced at the villain. That moment the man in scuba-suit froze, and took a fighting stance.

Max appeared in front of the man and jumped on him. They fell down and rolled on the ground. The fight was similar to that of a wolf fighting a python. Max was strong, had dirty tricks and experience, but the villain had the technique. At some point, Max got into the upper position. The instant this happened they were teleported two meters above the ground. After hitting the ground with his back, the villain passed out.

Max carried the prey back to George's place on his shoulder while Zoop made a detour to return the shiny tray. George and Sally were already waiting for them by the back door. The time police girl appeared to be sad and disappointed. George, it seemed, did his best to cheer her up.

They brought the man to the George's room and strapped him to the toughest chair they could find. George removed the belt off the villain's waist and put it into the drawer in which he kept his savings.