Hero Stalker

Part Twenty-Six

 Gravity took over and sucked me down. God, God, please save me. I screamed and kicked the air, my legs blurring out of sight, but I had nothing for them to push against—only the air, and the ground grew closer and closer and—

Wham! It felt like getting hit by a truck. It was the best thing I'd felt in my life.

"Sorry I'm late!" Peregrine shouted as she carried me back towards the Speedway, her cape streaming out behind her. "Stuck in biohazard at work!"

She set me down on the asphalt, right next to the unconscious henchmen. Cypher stared at the hole in the Edison's hood, frowning. I walked over to his side, my legs shaking. All my dreams of capturing Harpy my first time out in costume had evaporated. I didn't care. It was over.

"What does Harpy want with the engine?" I asked when I thought that I could control my tone. Please tell me it's not what I think it is.

"Bad things. Very bad things." He folded his arms across the chest. "And he ruined a bunch of really nice cars to boot."

"It's just a—"

Cypher's eyes widened as they focused on something behind me. "Ears!" He threw himself flat against the car and stuffed his fingers into his ears.

Then I heard the noise.

That sound my blades made ripping through metal? This was worse. This sound cut straight to my bones and made them hum. I curled up on the asphalt and jabbed my fingers in my ears. The sound went on. An urge to pop out my blades and carve out my eardrums swept over me.

Then, mercifully, it ended. My knees shook as I rose and threw up three times. Some hero I am. I wiped the vomit off my face with the back of my glove and stared over at the hole created by the explosion.

Peregrine stood in the gap. A henchman had collapsed at her feet. Blood trickled from his ears. "Please use knock-out needles next time you incapacitate rabble," she said. "It's more efficient. I think this one was trying to strangle me."

"I don't have the certification for those," Cypher muttered.

My head still spun. So that was what Peregrine's superscream sounded like. The descriptions I'd read hadn't done it justice.

Sirens echoed on the other side of the gap. Paramedics ran in. So did a pair of photographers. And I couldn't run away fast enough to avoid getting my picture taken.