Vandermein

XVIII

The force of my fall sent me rolling into the pool. I kicked hard to get my head above water, only to find my limbs still too stiff for such violent movement.

I was taking too long to surface, and through the blurry waves above me I watched Boone kick and struggle seemingly against nothing.

Come on, kick! Was I talking to him or myself?

I finally broke the surface, to see Boone's eyes, red and bloodshot, begin to take on the thousand yard stare of one receiving too little oxygen to his brain.

I swam to the edge and pulled myself out.

"Frank!" A voice from across the pool room. It was Kenzie, mask on, holding my utility belt. She threw it across the water and I caught it in my stiff hands.

My confidence rose. This transparent tyrant was now contending with not one experienced fighter, but two. Three, if we broke Boone loose.

I pulled a vial of Vigor from my belt and stuck in my thigh. The stiffness dissolved into warmth. Then, a prickly, powerful sensation that rushed through every muscle of my body. I rushed forward, roaring toward the spot behind the detective.

Kenzie bounded over the water and rolled on the concrete floor, extending a baton that sparked with a surge of electricity at its end. Our minds were in sync: tackle and zap, the tried and true strategy to down more problematic opponents.

I reached the spot where the invisible woman was and felt the satisfying thud of impact. She grunted and loosed the string around Boone's neck, sending him to the ground, gasping desperately for air.

Kenzie stuck the baton into back, knowing that with the Vigor, I could take the current, but the invisible woman could not.

The energy that rushed through me was a cackling, hot sensation that felt oddly relieving, though it sent the invisible woman into a screeching fit.

Those mirror panels on her body began to pop and flash with odd images of the space around us. For a split second I saw her face, just enough for the hint of recognition to take hold, but too quickly for me to place it.

Her hand reached for her opposite wrist, and in an instant, she slipped from my grip, as if she dematerialized entirely.

Kenzie stopped the current and pivoted on her heel, getting low, preparing for an unpredictable assault.

Boone was struggling to his feet, shaking his head and reaching for his side arm. "Where'd she go?" He croaked.

"There!" Kenzie shouted and pointed to splashes on the wet ground as footsteps rushed to my right flank. Kenzie thrust the baton onto the ground and the electricity flowed from puddle to puddle, sending a staticky shape shaking before us.

"Don't let her touch her wrist!" I shouted. "She can phase through solid objects."

Boone grabbed her wrist, allowing himself to be electrocuted to stop this villain. I pulled back a fist and socked her in the stomach with all my strength. Despite the powerful current going through her body, she curled into herself.

I took out my Hibernation vial and and stuck it into her neck. "Nighty night," I smiled.

The mirror panels were becoming transparent as her eyes drooped with sleep. I started pulling them off her face, one at a time. As soon as Kenzie saw it, she stopped the electricity.

"Oh my God," my wife whimpered.

"Oh jeez." I couldn't help but vocalize this complication.

Boone relaxed and saw both of our faces take in the truth.

"Yeah, I reacted the same way when I found out," he told us with guilt and the kind of exhaustion that only comes from being choked and electrified.

His ex-wife fell into a deep sleep before us, and Boone helped her to the ground.