The Lone Knight (Under The Cowl Book #1)

CHAPTER 50

     The magnitude of her strength was eye opening. Stephanie watched the massive woman, about seven feet tall, she freed rise up from her shackles and turn to face her prison. It was with one fluid motion where Stephanie stood and watched explode from the rear end of the transport bus, with a single push kick, the entire rear end of the transport bus.

Severed by a force far from human, the back of the bus ripped from the rest of its body and slid across the open road as the bus continued to move at high speed.

Stephanie quickly secured the nearest foothold she could find by grabbing hold of the loose chain anchored over her head.

Pulled by the wind seeking to rip her out the transport bus, Stephanie watched as the woman in front of her did not move an inch. She stood firm, balanced in a way that showed nothing could move her from where she stood.

"I guess your size wasn't just for show." Stephanie complimented in an attempt to shout over the thrashing wind, her sights discovering the bus they are on was not an ordinary transport bus.

The road, or what was supposed to be the scenery of a desert to the right and left through the windows as depicted, was instead the same rip tide tunnel she saw while surrounded by a breach through the giant hole in the back of the bus. The bus was taking them through a breach. But where was this breach taking them?

"We don't have a lot of time?" the woman replied as she stepped toward the hole in the bus she made.

"If you could do that, how come you needed me to get you out of that cage?" Stephanie shouted her question.

"You say you are from Earth-One, in some regards so am I."

"What does that mean?"

Stephanie watched the burly but lean woman with long black wavy hair grab her by the shoulders and lift her up with ease. The woman stood nearly a half a foot taller than her, likely taller than Wonder Woman.

"The chains and shackles were coated in radion. It was not enough to kill me but it enough to keep me immobile."

"Who are you?" Stephanie asked after place back down on her feet. She looked up at the woman, skin nearly flawless without a single blemish and hair without a touch of gray, the wheels were quickly starting to spin. Not sure of what to say, it's what Stephanie was thinking to herself when she found it hard to accept even if she were to say it out loud.

"I am Barda Free, Miss Brown."

"That doesn't really give me the answer I want. How do you know me?"

"I struck a deal, and in return I help you escape."

The list of candidates to help her escape the clutches of the Collectors was not a very long list. "Who did you strike a deal with?"

Barda looked over Stephanie's shoulder. "You are going have to hold them off first if you want a detailed explanation."

Stephanie whipped her head around and watched more guards close to making their way through to this side of the bus. "And what will you be doing?"

"If she's right, Collector Carter will have called for reinforcements the second I was set free."

Reinforcements? There was only one name that came to mind that could go toe to toe with this woman on short notice.

In the distance behind the bus a tiny speck crosses  a breach while in flight. The tiny speck slowly grew bigger after each passing second. "I'm going to need you to trust me when I tell you to stay close to me no matter what happens, no matter where I go." Barda said as Stephanie watched as it was none other than Daria Zartron flew towards them, and in her new uniform, mask in all ready for combat.