Fisher didn't seem at all surprised or put off by Rubi hugging him. Nor was he surprised when she immediately stepped away and put her hands against her mask-covered face in embarrassment. Instead, he focused on me. “My partner and I assume you have a good reason for bringing someone we've never even heard of before to meet us, however… friendly she may be. She doesn't match the physical parameters of any of your previous allies. So she is someone new. You said in your message that this information is critical and that it pertains to the…Scion situation. I assume that means the information comes from her and you thought it best that we hear it directly from the source. Which means you've told her enough to know more than we would like.” His gaze moved a bit to look at Murphy/Calvin, taking her in. His gaze would’ve made most people, let alone someone her size (she wasn’t much taller than me) shrink back. But Murphy just glared up at him as though daring the bear several feet taller than her to try something. “And this one too. Your team as a whole knows more than we would like them to, considering what you must have told them to make them understand why this is even an option.”
He didn't exactly sound like he was reprimanding or threatening me, but it wasn't completely not that either. It was more like the potential for a threat, should things go wrong. He was pointing out that the Ministry didn’t like having information about them spread around willy-nilly, and that I should talk fast to let him and Price know why it was necessary in this case. Which was fair, I supposed. If I was part of this big secret conspiracy like the Ministry, I wouldn't want some stranger to go around blabbing about it either.
So, I quietly told Murphy to go stand with the other girl for a moment, then I explained to Fisher, “You're right, this is really important. And that girl over there is about to do everybody in this city a huge favor. But by doing it, she's going to have a massive target on her back from some of the worst people who live here. You think Pencil likes to kill ordinary people? He’ll want to kill her about a thousand times worse. And I mean that in both respects. His desire to kill her will be a thousand times stronger and he'll want to make it a thousand times more terrible. She is in danger. So yes, I told her what she needed to know to understand that bringing that information to you guys was the right call. I told her enough to make her believe me when I said I knew who to take that information to. And I told her enough to know that blabbing about any of this to anybody else is a really bad idea. Trust me, she knows that telling anybody would go badly. And I think when you hear what she has to say, you'll give her a pass. Hell, you might just give her a medal. Do you guys have medals?”
Fisher considered me for a moment, but didn't address the medal thing. Instead, he tapped a couple claws against his chin thoughtfully before slowly replying, “She's found out something he would be that desperate to keep out of anyone else's hands. It's not his identity. That's already out there. And it's not where they are, because everyone knows where they are. It could be something about what he really wants, but even if this whole situation with his sister being sick was really a game, he wouldn't be that angry about being exposed. He'd move on to another game. No, if this is as important as you say, it can only be one thing. But how certain are you that this information is accurate? She could be one of his people.”
“Your name is even more accurate than I thought,” I retorted, “because you're definitely fishing right now. And all I'm going to tell you about that is that one of my people saw her escape from them. They saw what she did, and it's not something Pencil would fake." That was a lie, of course. Well, sort of. Rubi was… in a way one of my people, between everything she knew and who her brother was. And she had definitely seen everything in that alley. So when you got very technical about it, one of my people had seen what happened. I was just being a little vague on the specifics.
From the noise he made, Fisher was clearly pretty certain there were details I wasn't sharing, and that I was stretching things. But he let it go, instead replying, “We’ll want to hear it all for ourselves. I don't suppose you'd want to allow her to take a small trip into our own private space so we can acquire this knowledge more directly.” Even as he said it, his tone made it clear that he knew I wouldn't agree to that.
But I didn't even get the chance to refuse. Rubi spoke up first, already pivoting to come back over. “I'm not going anywhere with you, in public or private. Don't get me wrong, I think a TONI bear and raccoon who share physical space is pretty awesome, actually. And you give a pretty good hug, considering how badly I needed one. The fact is, I have about a hundred questions, but they can wait. There's people out there who are in trouble, and from what Paintball right there says, you and the people you work with are the best chance at doing something about that. So you need to hear about this.”
With that, she launched into a full explanation, telling them everything from the moment she had walked into the apartment, with the excuse that she had been there to drop off an application for a housekeeping position, until she made it out of the alley. She told them about being chased, getting out through the window, seeing the orb, and what it had done for her, what it had given her. And she told them about what happened when she punched him. A part of me wasn’t sure we should tell them that many details about her power, but honestly there was no way to actually explain what had happened without giving them that much. Plus, if we wanted them to believe us and actually do something with this information, we needed to open up a bit more than I’d usually accept.
By that point, Fisher had been replaced by Price, who perched on that air conditioning unit and stared very intently at her. He was clearly absorbing every word, every gesture, and probably would have been analyzing every minute facial expression if she wasn't wearing that mask. I couldn't tell what he thought about what she said. It was kind of hard to read the facial expressions of a raccoon. But he was definitely listening. And when she was done, he held up his paw for a moment, gesturing for us to wait. So, we did, simply standing there a bit awkwardly while looking at each other. I didn't know if he was just thinking by himself, or having a private conversation with Fisher. Hell, for all we knew, they had some way to communicate with the others in the Ministry leadership completely silently. Either way, we couldn't do anything except wait. It wasn't as though we were going to have our own conversation in front of him, and Wren hadn't gotten around to creating things that could move our thoughts to one another just yet.
Finally, Price straightened up on his hind legs fully and stretched. God, he really did look adorable in that suit. I had to firmly remind myself about his policy on hugs. Especially right now. And about the fact that he’d obviously been responsible for ordering some bad things. Clearing his throat, the little guy announced, “Okay, we believe you. If that's true, it means that psycho has a weakness after all. And you're right, that's something we can use. At least, if anyone can get to him.”
“You guys can’t get anyone through the shield either?” I found myself asking. What the hell, we’d just given them some incredibly valuable information. I could do a little fishing myself. Not that ‘none of our powers can get through an impassable energy shield’ told me very much, but still.
Price must have come to the same conclusion, because he shrugged. “Not yet, anyway. Cup does some good work. That or they found someone else and made them do it.”
“Just tell me they don't have Lion.” It had been a terrifying thought that had jumped into my head on the drive back here. After all, her entire thing was about defensive structures. If anyone could create a force field that nobody could get through, it was her. But the very thought of those pieces of shit having their hands on that little mouse made me want to rip through that first field with my bare hands, whatever it took.
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Fortunately, Price shook his head. “We checked on that. She's safe and sound.”
That was a load off my mind. Still, I asked, “What about his threat? Does he really have that many wannabe Scions who’ll kill all those people for him? Where would they even grab that many people all at once? Are they just taking people from their homes or… school isn't going to be in today, so maybe they took over some businesses or something? Have there been any calls or in--” In mid-sentence, I coughed. “Right, sorry, you’re probably not really interested in brainstorming.” I knew I could think of people I trusted more with that.
Price, for his part, gave a soft, dry chuckle. There was no humor to it. He was probably thinking the exact same thing. They had no real reason to trust me that much either. Aside from the fact that we wanted the same thing right now. But he didn't say any of that. Instead, he just replied, “Look, kid, we’ll take this information back and do something with it. So thanks. We’ll make sure it gets to the right people, and the second there's a clear shot at that bastard, we’ll have people ready to do it.”
He switched out with Fisher again, leaving the tall bear to tower over us while adding, “As my partner said, we will make certain this information does not go to waste. And if any of you come up with a way to make it more immediately useful…”
“We'll let you know,” I promised. “This is about stopping the Scions before they turn this city into a hellhole. Whoever can actually help with that… anything else can wait. If we find something out, if we find a way in, or get any ideas on that front, I’ll call that number again.”
“Speaking of that number,” Fisher replied, “We’d be interested in how you ended up getting it? The man who must have given it to you would not have done so without a very good reason. And we weren’t aware that he was in the city.”
He was fishing again, I knew. Which probably meant Bobby hadn’t told them much, if anything. I was pretty sure they didn’t know I’d been out of the city, and they definitely had no idea how long ago Bobby had given me the number. But did they know that he was hurt right now? Would he want them to know? Or did they already know everything about what happened and this was a test to see if I would lie, or to check how much I would tell them?
I had no idea, and I really didn't feel like getting into a whole thing about it. So, I just shook my head and replied, “It's a long story, maybe one he should get into if he wants. Suffice to say, he said I should use the number if we needed help, and this seemed to qualify. You've got the information about Pencil now, so you guys can do something with it. I figure if anyone has the right contacts to make sure people believe it and don't think it's just another rumor, it's you people. And you’ve got the right motivation too. This whole thing has to be pretty bad for business.”
The bear gave a soft grunt of acknowledgement before focusing on me once more. “Well, my partner and I must say that we're glad we could come to that much of an arrangement. Perhaps a closer working relationship could be arranged at some point in the future. Once we've all gotten past this situation.”
There was a lot I wanted to say to that as well, but again, it wasn't at the time. So, I just shrugged. “Yeah, we’ll see. But if you don't mind, we've got a lot to do.”
His head inclined, those bear eyes that sparkled with far more intelligence than you normally saw in such a creature regarding me. “Yes, I imagine you do. And I hope that you will request any other assistance you might need when the time comes.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the nearby roof access door. Halfway there, he switched places with Price, who spoke aloud, just two words. “Yellow brick.” Then the door in front of him opened and he walked through. I couldn’t see very well from where I was standing, but I did catch a glimpse of what looked like… space? Or just a dark, empty void. Either way, it definitely wasn’t the interior of the stairwell like it should’ve been. Then the raccoon was gone, the door closing behind him. Except I caught a blur of motion pass by the door, before Rubi landed hard on the far side of the roof, catching herself against the raised wall there with a grunt.
“Wait,” I managed, “did you just--”
“Used my power,” she confirmed. “I wanted to see what was behind the door, so I froze everything and went through a whole thing to jump from one side of this roof to the other. Every time I jumped, I went a little further. Partway through I started being able to see into the doorway. Then I just kept jumping until I was all the way past it. So I could see it from every different angle. I jumped and looked that way, rewound to the start, then jumped and looked that way again, over and over. It took about thirty times, and I'd say I got a decent look through the door for maybe twenty of them.”
“What’d you see?” Murphy quickly asked.
“Not here, not now,” I interrupted. I didn't know for sure that those two had left recording devices behind, but I wasn't going to take that chance. I didn't think they'd be too upset about one of us using our power to see how they were leaving this place, otherwise they wouldn't have done it right in front of us. But still, there was no sense in pushing things. Besides, Roald had to be pretty anxious right then as he watched from the other roof.
So, Murphy grabbed both of us so we could teleport back to where the boy was. Even then, we left that roof too and went a few more blocks just to be on the safe side, before stopping to talk about what had just happened, and what Rubi had seen.
A void, just like I had caught a glimpse of. That’s what was on the other side of that door. Plus some sort of amber-colored bridge leading to another doorway about thirty feet away. Amber-bridge. Yellow brick, like the Wizard of Oz. Yeah, it made sense.
So that was definitely a person’s name. We had the Touched name of another member of the Ministry. Not that that actually told us that much, but still. Clearly this person had the ability to link two doors together. That had to be how members of the Ministry got around the city quickly. What sort of limitations did it have? Would it create a door where there wasn’t one if they needed to go to a spot in the middle of nowhere? I had so many questions. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure calling up the Ministry to ask for more details wouldn’t go over well.
Instead, I focused on what was important right now. “Okay, so now they know to spread the word about Pencil’s weakness, but we still don’t have any way through the shield, and neither does anyone else. And we’ve got… about a day and a half before those wannabe Scions start killing people. Which, oh yeah, we still don’t have any idea who or where those people are, except for Broadway’s sister.” I had sent a message to Pack asking if they’d managed to get any more details about that yet, but hadn’t gotten a response yet. Either she was asleep or busy. Since it was basically the crack of dawn and she was a supervillain in the middle of a gang war, it could’ve been either.
Seeing Rubi yawn out of the corner of my eye, I felt a sharp twinge of guilt. Of course she was tired. All these guys had to be. Unlike me, they hadn’t slept for hours in a van recently. “Okay,” I announced, “we need to go back to the shop. You guys can all get some sleep. You’re not going back to your place until we’re sure the Scion thing is dealt with. What about your little sister?” I asked Rubi, remembering the elementary-aged girl.
“She’s staying overnight with a friend,” she informed me. “She--she’ll be okay, right?”
“I don’t think they have any idea who you are, but we’re just--we’re just going to be careful,” I assured her. “Leave your sister with the friend for now, but you guys come back to the shop and get some sleep. We’ll figure out what to do next after we all get a chance to regroup and… and all that.”
“If Wren gets the teleport machine working by the time we figure out who these wannabe Scions are, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone,” Murphy pointed out. “Teleport them straight to Breakwater.” She immediately turned and held both hands up when Rubi opened her mouth. “I’m kidding. I’m just kidding. Umm…. mostly. They deserve their day in court, everyone gets a lawyer, blah blah blah.”
Snorting despite myself, I let out a long, low breath. “Either way, no one’s going to be doing anything right now. We’ll head back, you guys can rest for awhile, and then… well…
“Then we’ll see what we can do about stopping the Scions from burning this whole city down around us.”