Anthem's Fall

Chapter Sixty One

"This isn't the time or the place for some immature prank." Professor Vatruvia stood from his chair and glared at the newcomer, Vengelis Epsilon. "Very poor form, young man. Not the time or the place."

The man calling himself Vengelis ignored him. "I need to speak with you. Now." He was still looking only at Kristen.

"Please do as he says! Do whatever he says!" the woman Kristen had seen enter the ballroom alongside the handsome psychopath was now hurrying down the aisle. Everyone in the audience had by now risen from their seats. But with nowhere to exit, all eyes were beginning to watch the peculiar drama unfold up by the podium.

As the beautiful young woman ascended the steps to the stage, she called out directly to Kristen. "Give him whatever he wants!"

"I need you to tell me everything you know about the technology you were just discussing," Vengelis said. The coolness of his features flickered with a wild anticipation as his gaze bore into Kristen.

"Now wait one minute!" Professor Vatruvia said. He stepped between Vengelis and Kristen, placing a firm hand on Vengelis's shoulder. Vengelis slowly and reluctantly drew his gaze away from Kristen and looked at Professor Vatruvia. They were about the same height, but the stark contrast between their appearances was staggering: the arresting splendor of this Vengelis Epsilon next to Professor Vatruvia's corduroys and beige sport coat.

"Don't, Vengelis." the beautiful young woman said.

Vengelis knocked away Professor Vatruvia's arm and grabbed him by the throat. Professor Vatruvia's neck and cheeks turned a dark shade of purple crimson and he choked and flailed in agony.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kristen demanded with incomprehension, at last finding her voice.

The security men shouted and hustled to the stage. Kristen watched in shock as the young man lifted Professor Vatruvia into the air by his neck. Her mentor gurgled and desperately pointed his feet to find footing, but the toes of his loafers only groped at the wood. Vengelis stared at him emotionlessly for a moment before turning and hurling him into the rear wall of the stage. Professor Vatruvia's body was thrown backward, and his shoulder blades hit the hard wall with an awful smack; the exposed supports behind the drywall splintered loudly from the impact.

Kristen immediately recognized the peculiar young man's strength as unnatural and recoiled in panic and disgust, holding her arms out and aligning the podium between her and the strange man. The hotel manager stood and gawked, a dark stain running down the front of his trousers.

Vengelis turned to the impending security guards, and Kristen dashed over to Professor Vatruvia's side, kneeling down to him in repulsed disbelief. He was unconscious, his head limp in her hands and his eyes dilating blankly at the ceiling. Kristen wheezed with fear as she looked away from his face and turned to the confrontation between the mysterious man and the security guards. There was a hardened NYPD officer leading the group of three Marriott Marquis security personnel. The cop must have been in the room before the doors were barred, and the hotel security guards followed uneasily in his wake as he approached the stage. There was a no-nonsense look about the officer, and Kristen could not have envisioned a more fitting person to intercede this Vengelis figure.

"Get on the ground now!" the heavyset cop bellowed, reaching a thick-knuckled hand down and unclasping the holster to his gun.

Kristen watched in disbelief as Vengelis gave the cop a scornful smirk and made no attempt to hit the ground. The cop pulled out his handgun and pointed it straight at Vengelis's chest.

"Stop! Oh god! Don't fight him!" the beautiful young woman pleaded. "He's with the people who are attacking Chicago! He'll kill you all!"

"I don't know about all of you, but certainly you," Vengelis said, staring down the barrel of the pistol and speaking only to the cop.