CHAPTER 28
OCTOBER 23RD, 7:15 P.M
—THE HEIST, PART 3–-
“Do you have The Piece?”
Leo reached into his suit jacket, revealing the powerful, golden relic to Tommy.
“You beautiful son of a bitch.”
“Where are the others?”
“Fuck if I know.”
Leo stared at Tommy, dumbfounded. He lay limp in the back seats of the limo; his reserve battery running on fumes. The dark interior rattled as Frank drove aggressively.
“How do you not know?”
“All signals are down,” Tommy clarified. “Can’t hear anyone.”
“We need to circle back around then,” Leo said. “Boone and Laurel should be at the museum.”
“You’re going to have to tell that to the driver.”
Leo crawled up the length of the limousine. The windows along the sides were tinted dark, allowing little light and revealing next to nothing of the surroundings. The only reliable view outside was through the front, where buildings and city blocks rushed by as Frank accelerated and swerved.
“Frank!” Leo yelled, peeking through the divider into the front.
“Yes?”
“We need to circle back around to The Palace!” he yelled. “At least around that area! We can’t leave Boone and Laurel.”
“I am aware!” Frank replied. “We must evade our pursuers first!”
“What pursuers?”
Immediately after he spoke, a sudden impact in the rear, accompanied by a loud crash caused the limo to lurch forward. Leo’s body smashed into the divider. He turned, racing to the back once again.
“What the fuck was that?” Tommy asked, his body threatening to slide off of the seat.
“We have a tail,” Leo explained, trying to gather what information he could through the tinted windows.
“Why hasn’t Boone shut off the damn bubble already?”
“Fuck if I know Tommy,” Leo returned, his anger starting to mount. “All the more reason to get back over there.”
“Oh, fuck man,” Tommy groaned like he was sick.”
“What is your problem? Why can’t you do anything?”
“I’m running low on power,” the robot explained. “I don’t feel so hot right now.”
Another collision impacted the armored luxury vehicle. Leo stumbled over, falling onto the carpeted floor as champagne glasses shattered. He regained himself, pushing Tommy back into his seat.
“I’m going to need your help here,” Leo said. He rolled down the back right window, peeking outside. Multiple vehicles chased after them at high speeds, weaving between frightened traffic and pedestrians. Gunfire deflected off the metal next to him, causing him to jump back into safety.
“I need your gun Tommy, did you bring it?”
“It’s in my leg.”
“What?”
“It’s in my leg,” Tommy repeated. “In a hidden compartment.” He patted the side of his right thigh, signaling its location.
“I’m taking it,” Leo said, ripping the fabric of his pants, trying to tear a hole where he can access the weapon.
“Woah, at least take me out to dinner first.”
“Fucking shut up Tommy.”
Leo tore through the material until most of his metal leg was visible.
“Where?”
“Right there,” he pointed to a section of his leg, where two small plates came together for a hidden compartment.
“Alright, cmon,” Leo insisted.
“I’m trying.”
“You can’t open it?”
“I’m trying, hold on.”
Bullets impacted the frame, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the resistant glass.
“We don’t have time,” Leo said, putting his fingers between where the two plates met, forcing them apart himself. As the plates separated, Tommy’s hand cannon rose, presenting itself.
“I only have two rounds,” Tommy informed. “One in the gun, and a spare,” he said, reaching in the compartment and handing him a second slug.
Leo, firearm in hand, leaned out the window. Putting a pursuing vehicle in his sights. With a pull of the trigger, the hand cannon fired, recoiling violently. The force from the blast pushed their limo; the back wheels screeching on the asphalt as they slid. On the other end of the barrel, the rail gun slug perfectly impacted the target. The front end of the vehicle smashed in, nearly compacting the car in half as it went airborne and flipped into traffic lights nearby.
Leo fell back into the limo after he fired, clutching his hand from the recoil.
“What was that!?” Frank yelled from the front.
“I’m shooting back at them!”
“Good! More!”
The firearm exhaled a plume of smoke as he unloaded the previous shell. Leo fished in his pocket, retrieving the second and final round.
“How close are we to The Palace!?” he yelled up to the front.
“Far!” Frank answered. “I cannot turn until we pass through this tunnel.”
“They’re sitting ducks there! We need to hurry!”
“I am aware!” Frank yelled.
Gunfire riddled their limo; some more accurate shots zipping through the open window. Tommy leaned over, rolling the window back up. Before it could fully close, it cracked, peeling over from the damage and tumbling out of the frame.
“We’re up shit creek and if you don’t start shooting more, we’re going to lose the paddle!”
“I know Tommy!” Leo dismissed. “Give me more ammo and I’ll do that.”
“If only it were so simple!”
The receding, red orange sunlight suddenly disappeared, replaced by a cool, blue glow. Surrounding them was an aquarium, filled with wildlife and fish in the shape of a tunnel. In an arching semicircle, on both sides and above them, a delicate glass facade was the only barrier between thousands of gallons of water and marine life. The roar of racing engines echoed inside, compounding on each other.
Leo reached out the window, preparing to fire his next shot. Just as his arms emerged, a wave of bullets rained on the door, grazing his hands.
“Shit!” he yelled, falling back into the limo. A pursuing vehicle seized the advantage, accelerating and ramming into the side, rocking their limousine. It slammed again, this time dislodging the door, as it now dangled from the car, scrapping along the pavement.
“I’m going to need you to go faster Frank!” Leo tried to yell, but the now compromised soundproofing allowed the screaming of tires and motors in, overpowering his voice.
“Leo!” Tommy called. “Sunroof!”
He took his advice, forcing the sunroof open and standing up through it. As fast as he could, he acquired a target and fired. The blast propelled their limo forward with a burst of speed; the round impacting its target directly again. The tailing vehicle smashed into the tunnel wall, cracking the glass and destroying its integrity. It shattered in a wave, spreading out from the initial point of contact. The suspending water suddenly fell without support, crashing down onto the street.
Leo was blasted by a heavy downpour of water, folding him back down into the limousine interior. Nearly a foot of water now flooded the inside sloshing around and draining out the exposed door. Several unlucky fish fell in as well, splashing and writhing about.
Leo gagged and coughed, trying to expel water that entered his body.
“Again!” Frank yelled.
“We’re out!”
“What?”
Natural sunlight returned as they exited the tunnel. Sharp turns sloshed more water around as Leo regained his composure, rising to his knees. His hair was drenched, sticking to his forehead as water streamed off of him.
“We’re out of ammo!” he confirmed.
“We still have tails! Figure out something!”
“Tommy, we need more guns,” Leo pleaded.
“I can’t, I just can’t,” he replied, pained. “I can’t aim and stay awake at the same time.”
“Then I’m aiming for you”
“What?”
“Give me a gun, biggest one you can do. You shoot, I aim.”
“You better not fuck this up, Leo,” Tommy said.
“Haven’t let us down so far.”
Tommy’s right armed disassembled; components and sections morphing and shifting as parts rearranged themselves until a tri-barreled machine gun formed, with a belt of ammo attached to it.
“Reaerer…” Tommy glitched.
Leo lifted the arm up, placing it overtop of the back seat, pointing at the rear window.
“We’re going to have to shoot through the glass,” Leo assessed. He looked down at the weapon before him, examining it for a trigger. “Fuck, how do I shoot this thing.”
The barrels spun briefly, making a soft whirring noise, like Tommy was trying to communicate.
“Can you hear me?”
Spinning.
“Shoot on my go, you got it?”
Spinning.
The car lurched and drifted, making Leo stumble to hold himself up, throwing out the remaining water from inside. Tire screeches and burn marks covered the street as their heavily beaten limousine dashed back to The Palace, with enemy agents in hot pursuit.
“Hold them off for just a little longer!” Frank yelled. “We are almost there!”
Leo held patiently, waiting for the right moment to fire. Too soon, without a proper opening, they would disperse, and they would miss their chance. Too late, and the vehicles would be able to pull around on both sides and box them in. The pursuers rapidly gained on them. Leo held firm.
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“I can not go any faster!” Frank yelled. “Do something!”
Leo tuned him out, holding patiently for just a moment longer.
“Now!”
Tommy’s gatling arm spun to life, tunneling at high speeds as bullets rained out the back windshield, easily penetrating the reinforced glass as it fell away, battered and destroyed. Expended shells ejected and scattered throughout the limousine interior, rounds hailing at their aggressors. Enemy cars were shredded apart, tearing through tires and fenders, immobilizing and destroying all in its path.
Leo clenched on to the weaponized arm tightly, holding it steady, the recoil threatening to disrupt the attack. His ears were completely numb; point blank sonic booms at thousands of rounds per minute silenced his hearing. Eventually, the gunfire stopped. The barrel’s spinning waned, slowing down and stopping with a hiss from the expelling heat. Tommy was out of charge.
No more vehicles chased in their wake, for now. Leo rushed up to the front of the limo; The Palace and its circular courtyard just ahead.
“I don’t see anything of them!” Frank yelled.
“The museum! They would have gone there!”
They veered right, speeding towards the museum.
“Keep an eye out the window,” Frank advised. “When we see them, it needs to be quick. Signal them to get in.”
Leo peered ahead, spying the museum, as well as the defenses that guarded it.
“They’re all over it!” he said.
Their armored limousine roared, quickly approaching the destination . Just before their vehicle arrived, before they even had a chance to slow down, a thick, metal street pole pierced through the middle of the vehicle perpendicularly like a javelin, tearing through the chassis. The limo spun around, tires burning, the weight of the armor weighing it down enough to not flip over. The pole cleanly exited the other side, but the damage was done, leaving a massive opening and exposing them.
“What was that?!” Frank yelled, correcting their path, but now beyond their target.
“I don’t know, something hit us!” Leo said. He took a second to assess what just happened: someone extremely strong had to have done that. Was Rayshe here?
The narrow road, occupied with frightened drivers, horns blaring, along with cars parked on the curb preventing the long vehicle from a u-turn.
“I need to find a way back around!” Frank said.
“There’s agents all over it,” he answered.
“What other options do we have?”
“I don’t know, but they aren’t there!”
“You suggest we drive around until we find them?!”
“I don’t know, Frank,” Leo growled.
“What should we do then?!”
“I don’t know Frank! Just hang on!”
/
Laurel kicked off her heels, hurrying down the steps in front of The Palace. Civilians hurried with her, clueless to the nature of the chaos, but aware of it nonetheless. During her escape, she noticed droves of agents running out, and now on the street, she saw them sprinting down the sidewalks, heading somewhere else. Something has them swarming.
“They must be heading to the museum,” she said to herself. That cuts off her backup plan. But, without a means to contact the team, it would be impossible to find a place to regroup that wasn’t already covered. It wasn’t enough to find a random corner and hope they stumble across each other. Nevertheless, she began in the other direction, towards the opposite side of the circular courtyard. Maybe she could make it outside the bubble on foot, if she avoided detection until then.
Her hand ached; blood soaking through her improvised bandaging. Panicked pedestrians flocked around her, some bumping into her, smacking her hand and adding to the pain.
Laurel reached the sidewalk, scanning up and down the street for any sign beyond speeding drivers. Nearby, a local store owner took in passerby’s, getting ready to lock up the shop.
“Lady! Quickly!” he beckoned with one hand, holding a knife in the other.
“Give me that,” she said, hurrying to him and taking his knife from him. He stood there, stunned. Laurel cut the fabric of her dress down her leg, easing the tightness of it, allowing her to run faster.
“Thanks,” she said, handing him his knife back.
Emerging from an alley wall not too far down the sidewalk from her was Boone. They quickly identified each other.
“Boone!” she yelled, sprinting towards him. “Oh thank god.”
“What happening to you?” he met with her, noticing her missing finger.
“Someone inside the party got me,” she explained. “They know what they’re doing.”
“Why would they cut off your finger?”
“They know what they’re doing,” she repeated, stress overwhelming her. “I can’t make portals anymore.” She swallowed hard, on the verge of hyperventilating. “I need all my fingers to do the signs.”
“What?” Boone said, worried. If the PD bubble were to go down, the plan was to get The Piece, then portal away as fast as possible. Not only was the former out the picture, the latter was now impossible, potentially stranding them there.
“What the fuck do we do now?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, putting her hand to her forehead, blood smearing on her skin, trying to suppress the mounting panic.
Around the corner, a ravaged limousine drifted onto the street, pushing its engine to the limit. Behind it were multiple, all black SUV’s trying to catch up. The motors echoed against the buildings. The hot rubber streaked the asphalt. Gunfire began to crack through the air, eliciting screams from bystanders yet to find shelter. That had to be the others.
“That’s them!” Laurel yelled before she and Boone were suddenly grabbed.
“Get in here! It’s too dangerous!” The shop owner turned hero held onto her shoulders, trying to direct her into safety.
“No! Get off me!”
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to get killed?!”
Laurel freed herself as he conceded, letting her go as her and Boone began down the street.
“We need to get their attention!” she yelled.
“There’s no point in running after them!” Boone replied. “If they saw us, then we need to stay where we are!”
“If they saw us it means they did too!” she said, referring to their adversaries.
“We don’t know if that was even them!”
“Who else could it possibly be?”
/
“That was them! I saw them!”
“How would they know that was us that went by?!” Frank questioned.
“Who else could it possibly be?!” Leo fired back. “Get back around to them!”
Bullets ricocheted off their limo from new pursuers. Their resources were endless, and they will eventually succumb if they do not escape soon.
“It is not so simple!”
Leo scurried to the back on the limousine, shaking Tommy’s inactive body, trying to get more life from him.
“C’mon, you have to have more guns on you somewhere.”
“Can you deal with our tail?!” Frank yelled.
“I’m looking!”
A deep, resonant pulse passed through his body. His hairs stood up on end. His ears perked up. For a moment, it seemed as all went quiet.
A second, more forceful pulse passed through them again, through the entire NLV, shaking the ground.
Leo looked up at the dim sky, noticing the usually translucent bubble that encapsulated the area was tinted more blue than usual. It also seemed glassy, like there were ripples on its surface.
A pillar of blue light erupted from the middle of the NLV, towering over the surround buildings. It was shaped like a funnel, sucking in energy pulled up from the ground, draining away
A third pulse, this time lighter, but faster, swept over them. All of the power retreating back into its generator.
For a brief moment, respite.
A blast wave erupted at the base where the energy was pulled into. A pale blue, like an inflating soap bubble rapidly expanded, leveling nearby buildings and severely damaging others farther out. Quickly, the shockwave reached their limo, flipping them over, thrashing them with its force.
Leo tumbled inside, pin-balling along the interior as they rolled violently. He struck his head, turning everything to black.
/
Laurel stopped in her tracks. She felt rumbling in her feet, rooted in the ground. Strange, invisible pulses of energy passed through her. Above her, energy funneled away, like a bubble retreating back into its base.
Behind her, Boone suddenly gasped. His skin resonated. His tattoos ignited. His power was unlocked. And too was hers.
Boone gripped at his chest. Veins in his forehead beat. Not only was his powers back, he was now absorbing volumes of energy, which he had gone too long without. The sudden change pained him, his body struggling to adjust.
A viscous blast wave erupted, encroaching on their position at supersonic speed. She quickly casted a barrier, but couldn’t reach full strength before they were engulfed in its destruction. Debris collided against her barrier; it protected her from direct impact, but wasn’t enough to deflect the force of it. It knocked her over, burying her underneath a mound of rubble.
/
“Mr. President, there was a detonation.”
“What do you mean detonation?” Rayshe snarled.
His advisors fumbled with their tablets, processing the rapid influx on information. Their jet sped across the sky, high in the clouds, still a ways away from the NLV.
“We’re just getting the data now sir,” they continued.”
“What happened? Somebody set off a bomb?”
“No sir, this is different.”
“Different how?”
The agent stuttered. “I-I don’t… I’ve never seen these readings before.”
“What’s the damage?”
“Severe.”
Rayshe’s blood went cold.
“The surrounding buildings at the epicenter are leveled. The Palace is rubble. Significant damage on the structures farther out.”
“And you have no idea what happened?”
“I don’t know what these readings are sir,” they insisted, turning the tablet to him. “It doesn’t read like a bomb. It’s some kind of energy release.”
Rayshe scanned the data. He attempted to decipher, but had no clue what any of it could mean.
“The blast originated from the PD bubble generator. I think someone shorted it. Turned it into an energy bomb.”
Rayshe buried his knuckles into his lips. “Tell them to hurry,” he muttered.
“We’re going as fast as we-“
“Tell them. Go. Fucking. Faster.”
The agent gulped in fear. “Yes sir.”
/
Echoing screams.
Burning.
Suffocating smoke.
Destruction.
Leo lay face first on a bed of glass, in a pool of water that still dripped off of him. The limousine torn to shreds around him, flipped on its side. Dirt layered the street. More raining down on him.
He looked up, only to see a thick, brown swarm of dust. His ears slowly overcame the ringing, inviting more cries of pain from innocents.
Help! Somebody help my daughter!
He struggled forward, sliding his forearms out from under him, crunching glass underneath him as he established a base. Slowly, the fuzziness of his ears subsided. He heard the drops of water falling from his suit striking the metal frame. He had ringing ever since the first gunshots inside The Palace, but now, it was subsiding somehow.
Realization struck him. He looked at his palms: cuts were sealing over. Bleeding was stopping. A once bright red gash below his thumb slowly turned dull brown.
Leo slid to his knees, his suit tattered and covered in dirt. He crawled out of the vehicle, exiting through a gaping hole in the exterior, stumbling onto the road. He held out his hand, opening it to the sky. He waited and waited. It hadn’t arrived yet. He dropped his arm, clutching onto his ribcage as pain ached throughout his body.
“Frank?!” he yelled amidst the aftermath. He rose to his feet, coughing dust from his lungs.
“Tommy?!”
Leo limped away from the wreckage, trying to examine his surroundings as much as he could through the smoke. People cried. Writhed in pain. Others lay dead. They clutched onto their loved ones, calling out for help.
“Leo?”
A synthesized voice finally answered. He looked around, spotting a set of rectangular, glowing eyes through the haze. Tommy approached, thrown from the crash, but more importantly, awake. A shard of scrap metal was lodged into his knee, forcing a limp as his metallic joints clicked against the blockage. Leo panted, holding onto his abdomen.
Please somebody you have to help me!
“What the fuck happened?” Tommy asked.
“There’s-“ he tried. His ribs flared up in pain when he tried to speak. “There was-“ He pointed in the direction where the shockwave came from. It wasn’t an explosion. He wasn’t sure what it was.
“Leo, what happened?” he asked again.
“There was some kind of explosion, or, or shockwave,” he stammered. “The PD bubble went down and then some force wave came out of it.”
“Came out from where the bubble went down?”
“Yes,” Leo confirmed, holding his hand out again. “It all got sucked into one spot then blew up outwards. There wasn’t fire. It wasn’t a bomb, it was something else.”
“Did the shield generator release all of its energy?” Tommy questioned.
“I don’t know,” he said, dropping his arm once again. His axe flew in, smacking into the ground and sliding across the pavement to him, not making it all the way with Leo’s wavering call.
“Did you know it would do that?” Leo asked with an accusatory tone.
“It… it shouldn’t have,” Tommy said. “I don’t know how this happened.”
Leo limped over to his weapon, reaching down, groaning as he did.
“Frank?!” Tommy yelled.
Please help her! She’s dying, please!
Banging from the front of the overturned limo sounded in response. The two of them walked around to the front, where they found Frank hanging sideways, wrapped up in the seatbelt with the car laying on its passenger side.
“Hang on Frankie,” Tommy said, peeling back the top of the car. Leo sliced the seatbelt with his axe, making Frank drop down.
“You good?” Tommy asked. His hands were shredded from the hail of broken glass and his forehead bloodied.
“I need a minute,” Frank said, grimacing in pain.
“Just stay here, we’ll figure out something.”
Leo limped away, now in search for the others.
“Laurel!” he yelled. There was no way to know if she was close, but he yelled out of desperation anyway.
“Hang on a second,” Tommy called after him.
“We saw them this way,” he persisted, pointing the axe. “Laurel and Boone-“
“Leo, relax for a minute,” the robot suggested. “We need to figure out-“
“Whatever. I’ll go find-“
PLEASE HELP ME!
They froze in place. The cries of a desperate mother overtook the rest. Her screams echoed the smokey streets, sending chills down their spines.
“She’s going to die, please!”
Leo changed course, trekking into the fog in the direction of the screams. Tommy following behind.
“She needs help! She can’t be out here!”
The mother’s pleading grew louder.
“Oh my god,” Tommy muttered behind them, seeing through the haze. The others approached soon after, now able to see the source of the screaming with their own eyes. A mother, hysterically crying, clutching onto her daughter, no older than eleven years. She shook violently. Her eyes rolled around under her eyelids. Her veins pulsed a throbbing, deep purple. Her skin was turning black, starting from the hands and legs, progressing towards her organs.
“What’s happening?” Leo asked, trying to approach closer, but facing an invisible resistance.
“She can’t be out here!” the mother repeated.
“What’s wrong with her?” Leo tried to push forward, but it was as if something was pushing back against him. His feet slid against the dusty pavement as slowly made progress towards the girl. How was the mother holding onto her?
“She needs to have her powers neutralized!” the mother finally explained. “She needs help!”
“Fuck, Leo!” Tommy called, rushing in to help and meeting the same resistance.
“What’s going on?!” Leo asked him. A piercing whistling noise began beaming out of the girl. Her skin was rapidly turning black; they were running out of time.
“She’s having a reaction, I don’t know!” Tommy explained, his voice difficult to hear over the whistling. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He slid backwards flat footed, pushed away by the mysterious force.
“What?! What’s happening?” Leo asked confused.
“Please save my daughter! Please!”
“Leo, she’s going to detonate,” Tommy said, his voice uncharacteristically frightened.
“What?!”
Leo lost his footing, slipping to the ground and sliding away.
“She’s going to explode! She’s going to level this whole damn city!”
“What do we do?!”
“I don’t know!”
“Please! Please, don’t let her die!” The mother’s voice cracked. Her face flooded with tears.
“Leo, she’s going to kill everyone here!”
“Everyone get out of here, run!” Leo yelled out. Those who hadn’t already, fled in a panic.
“No, please don’t leave!”
“What do we do, Tommy?”
“I don’t know!” he said again. “Fuck. We can’t stay here. We can’t stay here.”
“No please!”
“We can’t leave her Tommy!”
“We’ll never make it far enough in time anyways!”
Leo tried sprinting towards the girl, but was flung backwards, the force growing stronger as the girl was reaching supernova.
“Tommy, we can’t get to her!”
“Shit, shit!”
“We can’t leave her Tommy!” Leo yelled again. “Help me do something!”
He didn’t answer. He stared at the volatile girl, hand on his head. His metal face bore no expression, but it showed fear. And… sorrow. In his optics he saw everything. He knew what had to be done.
“Leo!”
A voice called out from the fog. Leo looked over, spotting Laurel emerge into view.
Gunshot.
The whistling disappeared.
Leo looked back suddenly. Tommy hand, morphed into a sidearm, with a smoking barrel.
A blood curdling scream.
The mother held onto her daughter.
Limp.
Lifeless.
One, clean shot through the heart.
“NO! TOMMY WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
The mother screamed hysterically. Over and over, air entered her lungs, only to be expelled in a bone chilling wail.
The robot stood stiff. He stared forward, traumatized by his own actions.
“Tommy…” Leo said, unable to look at the mother. He looked over at Laurel. She held her hand over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Tommy…?” Leo asked but received no response. The robot stood completely frozen. He took the life of a young girl, but in doing so, saved thousands more. Deep down, he knew it was what had to be done. It still doesn’t change the nightmare that he now has to bear for the rest of his life.
Frank emerged, having witnessed it all. He grabbed the motionless machine across his torso, pulling him away as he stumbled from his own injuries. Laurel ran up to them, with Boone appearing just behind her as well.
The mother continued to scream in agony.
Tommy was shuffled away, unable to bring himself to move or look away from what he did. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. He may not have been flesh and blood like them, but over the course of his life, he has learned how to love. Leaned the bond of friends and family that superseded everything. He learned to have a heart.
Now, his heart broke for this mother. He stripped her of her world. Ruined her life forever. Circumstances be damned, how was he ever supposed to make peace with his actions?
“I’m sorry.”