Blood Obsidian

Issue 28

The unbearable weight of waiting ... - Part 4

The tiny, almost invisible, grapple released, the cord retracting and Caitlyn dropped like a rock onto the gravel that covered the roof of the next building. It only proved that every single incredible gymnastic act she had performed as Blood Obsidian came from the suit. Thankful that this suit given to her by Kyle protected her from scrapes as well as, maybe, bullets, she dragged herself back to her feet. This was not the first, or only, time she had made a terrible landing.

Pho-Boy sat on a parapet, awaiting her, and she tried to show a modicum of dignity as she moved toward him, glad that he couldn't see the pained expression beneath the mask. To his credit, he hadn't said a word about the numerous falls, the several times she had swung one way, or the other, when she should have swung the opposite. Or that one time where she almost lost both her dignity and virginity on a smoke stack that just appeared from nowhere.

"This doesn't feel like training. It feels like some kind of show made from videos posted online that really embarrass the ..." Caitlyn paused as Kyle held a finger against his exposed lips before pointing down below. "Is this it? Is this ..."

"No. This is what we call 'opportunity'." He waited until she neared him, looking over the edge. "On the job training. What do you see?"

Bad people. That was obvious. People moving boxes, into an unmarked van, in the middle of the night tended to be bad guys. She got the impression that Kyle expected more than that. If it was obvious, he wouldn't ask her what she saw. Taking a closer look, she wished she had the enhancements her own suit provided. She could use the night and telescopic vision that it gave her. Instead, she had to rely on her eyes and they weren't helping.

Then she saw it, something swishing inside the doorway. It looked like a tail. And, to the other side, a man with a rifle. Kneeling, almost hidden behind boxes, that man covered line of sight out of the alley. She pointed to the gunman and then wiggled her finger as pointed at the door. Kyle nodded.

"So, what do we do?" She eased herself back, out of sight. "What's the plan?"

"Punch bad guys." Kyle jumped up, pirouetting in the air and, as he began to drop over the side of the building, lifted his arm to fire the miniature grapple. "Plans are for smart people."

Caitlyn almost fell over the parapet as she rushed to see Kyle leap downward. He had already landed on top of the van, rolling along the top, coming to a stop in a crouch. The guy with the gun reacted immediately, but didn't fire wildly, sending two shots Kyle's way, moving, firing two more. The other goons threw the boxes into the van and reached for hidden guns, but Kyle had already moved, bouncing and leaping. He turned his hand toward one guy, firing something that struck the bad guy in the face, popping and covering him with some kind of smoke.

The man began to scream, swatting away at something only he could see, firing his pistol in random directions. Unfortunately, one of those shots caught Kyle in the leg, dropping him to the roof of the van. Caitlyn had moved before she even knew what she was doing and, like an idiot, had dived head-first over the parapet. She had fractions of seconds before she splatted into the ground and she doubted Aunt Mary would forgive her breaking curfew.

At the last moment, she lifted her hand and whatever wonder computer was inside the gauntlet, it recognised what she wanted, firing the grapple and allowing her to arrest her fall with a twang as the cord drew taut. She swung, legs held tight together, and smashed her booted feet into the face of the man with the rifle. She almost made the landing, too, but her foot landed on the man's shoulder, a cruel sounding snap reaching her ears and the man howled in pain.

"Don't apologise to the bad guys!" She whispered to herself as she tried to regain her feet. "Don't apologise to the bad guys!"

Something struck her, sending her spinning backward and lowered her centre of gravity to catch her footing, spreading both hands out to the side, only to find a bizarre sight in front of her. It was a man. At least, she thought it was, with great, fluffy, mutton-chop whiskers and a half-face mask that resembled the look of a monkey. In fact, his entire outfit made him look like a monkey, and it was the swishing tail that had caught Caitlyn. Now that tail whipped out toward her again. Somehow, she would never be able to say how, she managed to flip backward, out of the tail's range.