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Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 195: Brown 354
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Takano 144
As he had ascended the stairs traffic had grown denser, but he had beaten the rush, gotten enough of a start on the panic that he was now standing on the roof. It was much as Tommy had described, two attackers, one apparently human wearing what was probably an asbestos-lined suit, protective headgear, and a flame-throwing jetpack the exhaust of which he was aiming strategically but awkwardly at points on the building. The other was either alien or mutant, perhaps eight or nine feet tall, and seemed to hold himself in the sky by emitting flames. Derek wondered if it might be some kind of fire elemental, but decided it wouldn t help him to know.
Turning his attention to the man in the jetpack, it struck him that the flaming exhaust was in fact burning gas, and he had learned to move gasses telekinetically. He focused on the stream and took hold of it, bending it back and away from the building.
The change in direction of the thrust forced the wearer into a forward tumble, falling toward the ground. That could be a problem. He couldn t see the ground from where he was, but couldn t risk the villain crashing in the midst of fleeing office workers. Releasing his hold on the gasses he grabbed hold of the device and stabilized it, with the operator pointing out toward the river. As he released it, the man abruptly surged forward.
Derek still faced the alien. He was certain it would spot him soon enough, so it was time to reveal himself. He transformed into Michael Gabriel, tossed the chain over both shoulders and the belt around his waist. He made sure both knives were loose in their sheaths, hung the frying pan on the belt, and tried to think of what he could do next.
The river--it wasn t that far, only a few blocks. Could he make a difference? Reaching out again, he attempted to get hold of as much liquid as he could lift, and shortly had a rather large bubble of water moving toward him. He needed it to come faster, and he gave it another push--but in doing so, he dropped it. He hoped that however much water it was that came crashing down somewhere in the city didn t hurt anyone; with luck it landed on a building, and was dispersed. He tried again, but found that he was starting to panic and lose focus--and that this fiery alien was now coming toward him.
He pulled both knives with his hands, and threw them. The alien made a noise Derek took to be laughter, and extended a shield of flame in front of itself--but Derek grabbed both knives with his mind and swung them out and around to opposite sides, then brought them inward. He didn t have much speed or force, but he had sharp knives and fairly good control, so he was able to bring them in close enough that the alien had to fly upward and away to avoid being stabbed.
Hurling the chain with one hand, he pulled the knives back to himself and chased the alien with the chain. He sheathed the knives in case he needed his hands, and rose into the air, flying toward the alien. It seemed at this point to panic, moving away from him, but he managed to get the chain ahead of it and caught it around the neck.
Hopefully it breathed air through its throat, he thought, as he tightened the chain.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
