The evening was darkening: star and moon were quenched in gray rainclouds. Gray they were by day; by night they looked sable. Black Tiger was given to close observation of nature; as every change passed, they were noticed by him. The beauty of earth and heaven was something he never took for granted.
As Black Tiger switched into slumber mode, he wished he could dream, all the way back to his first meeting with the woman he'd grown fond of. Leanne with the laughing eyes and short dark hair.
Images of her flashed more frequently in his coded memory. He got closer to her every chance he could get – obsessively so, and without caution. His coded memory took him to the day Leanne confessed her true feelings.
He could see her disappointed face as she shut the door. She was crying – his Leanne with the laughing eyes was sobbing behind closed doors, and he was the cause of her sorrow. In his mind, Black Tiger could see her tear-stained face as she opened the door and pulled him back inside, her mouth moving.
He shifted in his spot, awake and fully charged. This was new. He didn't remember her calling out. She'd done nothing but cry as she cut ties with him. It was the way he'd remembered it for the time they were apart. So why had the memory been different?
Did she still need him?
Black Tiger stood from his spot in the abandoned warehouse piled to the roof with rubble. There was no man in the empty warehouse; only machinery. He gave himself time to decide if he should leave. Finally, the android walked out of the warehouse.
The air was sultry and still.
What if he reached Leanne—even if he was no longer a part of her life anymore? He wanted to see her—no—he needed to protect her, even if it destroys him.
— — — — — — — —
Keeping his movements broad and slow, the Double Chaser responded to Barnaby's shifting weight. Leanne was glad she wore her brown leather jacket, snugged around her small frame and repelling the worst of the weather. Through the visor of Barnaby's helmet, the world flowed past in shades of grey and the water-shattered reflections of passing cars.
As Leanne closed her eyes to ease the tension, the wind had edged its icy fingers into her jacket. She often thought how strange the turns her life had taken. Had anyone told her that one day she would risk her life to save an android, she would have called them crazy.
Her illness has reached the critical stage, and at the age of twenty-four, she's lucky to have lived so long. Leanne had always imagined herself going into old age surrounded by children and grandchildren with a loving husband by her side—the highly intelligent and responsive Black Tiger is the closest thing to a loving husband in her eyes, anyway.
Sacrificing her life for him was an ominous thought, but it somehow fit the rainy day. As if reacting to her ominous thoughts, the pain she'd been living with for a lifetime took a sharp upward spike, making Leanne reach out for her chest. She waited until the worst of it passed, but Barnaby had already pulled over. "You're in bad shape," he said. "I have to turn back and drop you off at the hospital. I'll handle the rest on my own."
"What? No, I'll be fine!" She hadn't hesitated in snapping a retort.
"Do you want to die that badly?"
This had been followed by a short silence. Barnaby waited. Eventually Leanne spoke. "No, I don't want to die." She lowered her voice. Now it was as if she was talking to herself. "But understand that this is my life. My life. And I'll spend it however I like."
Something happened. The utmost force of an explosion was felt. It was loud, and the power of it made the earth tremble. Leanne sprang up from her seat as though shot. It alarmed them, and yet, her large grey eyes had an expression of firm determination in them. Barnaby hit the gas pedal abruptly, at the same time shouting: "Hold on tight!"
With a flash of fire, a spray of broken glass and an earsplitting boom, the world exploded behind Blue Rose. Shattered glass might have lacerated her bare skin as flames burst from the building in front of which she'd been standing, but strong arms had closed around her, lifting her off her feet and carrying her out of danger.
"Are you alright?" Sky High inquired, in which she nodded her head. As they watched the company building fill up with dense smoke, there was the sound of many voices shouting unintelligible things. The smoke was thicker once they found a way inside and the people nearly suffocated. The whole floor was one mass of leaping flames. She could hear an ominous crackling that increased every minute.
"Follow me!" Sumo Thunder from the Second League supported the victims, trying to sound confident as to not cause any panic. Meanwhile, Sky High scanned the area once more when a roaring fireball came down on him with a crash, sending him flying through the walls like it was nothing, then skidded to a halt on the pavement outside.
Out of the rubble appeared the pyromancer; a man whose body was entirely engulfed in flames, hovering above the debris. "So you're the perpetrator," said Sky High, standing up on his feet.
"Watch out!" cried Blue Rose in a high, cracked voice. Even as her words flashed through his brain he received a heavy blow to the face that nearly knocked him down. Sky High staggered, and saw the fire-powered fist coming at him in a wild swing. He ducked, and the fist flew harmlessly past, pivoting the man who had driven it.
Sky High attacked, landing a mighty burst of wind on the flaming man. Before the eyes of the Heroes, the flames only crackled and roared, growing bigger and stronger. Smirking, the man released a large fireball up close, blasting his opponent into an abandoned house.
Blue Rose looked on with bated breath, leaning slightly forward, then blasted away with her guns. They were in serious trouble. Since there were three simultaneous attacks on the table—an unusual circumstance, even for Sternbild City—Agnes told the Heroes that they'd be skipping the standard procedure and getting directly to the scene of the crime in groups, together with the Second League, which everyone agreed to.
Fire Emblem, Dragon Kid and an eager Bombeman were dispatched to North Gold where, ironically for the Second League Hero, a bombing took place. With an elaborate scarf covering her bejeweled hands, together with her long eyelashes, vibrant green eyes, black hair and sharp features, their opponent greatly unsettled the trio.
Their powers proved to be a bad combination with this one's NEXT ability; out of thin air, she creates and launches bombs that range from small explosions to near-nuclear blasts.
At South Gold, Rock Bison, Miss Violet and Origami Cyclone faced a strong-looking, senior-aged man, dressed very well, very snuggly in a grey overcoat, burgundy silk scarf, thick gloves and dark felt hat, twirling his wooden cane. The old man had demonstrated the ability to control geologic materials such as minerals, dirt and rocks, as shown by the way he brought down several buildings with only a snap of his fingers.
"Barnaby," Agnes's voice reached the spectacled Hero. "I suggest you rendezvous with Rock Bison, Origami Cyclone and Miss Violet as soon as possible. They're closest to your current location."
"That's not gonna happen." Barnaby drew in a deep breath and broke his connection. Ignoring orders wasn't his style, but there really wasn't anything he could do seeing as there were eight FBI agents blocking his way.
The pair listened as the leader rambled on about the consequences of running from the law, and then asked, "So you're Leanne Reed?"
"Maybe," Leanne said.
"Meyer," he addressed one of his burly co-workers. "Get her in the car."
There wasn't any warning. One second she was standing beside Barnaby, the next, Meyer grabbed her around the waist, then tossed her over a very broad, very hard shoulder. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled as blood rushed to her head, making her a little dizzy.
"My job."
When she tried to kick him, he wrapped one arm around her legs, holding her still. Wriggling didn't help. The man had muscles like rock. "Help me," she began, as Barnaby turned and walked away. "Don't leave me behind!"
He stopped, then turned to face her. "This is for the best. You'll only get in the way."
"Bullshit! You need me for the same reason these blockheads do—you need Adam to come out and then take advantage of him, just like everyone else," she yelled. "I actually thought you were different. I trusted you!"
"This is necessary to keep you safe." There was a tremor in Barnaby's voice. Good, Leanne thought furiously. She hoped Barnaby felt guilty for the rest of his life. "There's nothing else to do in this situation," he continued, sounding less than sure.
"Adam would never turn his back on me," Leanne screamed. "Don't think I'll ever forgive you. Ever!" The last word was cut short as she was tossed back in the rear of an SUV. The door slammed shut before she could run. She lunged for the door handle, only there wasn't one.
She looked outside as a mysterious pair of individuals entered the scene. Attired simply in a low-cut tunic dress, with long raven-black hair flowing down her back, the female easily blended with the background.
The man, dressed in a shabby gabardine trench-coat and black trousers falling upon classic shoes, kept walking ahead, at the same time putting an air of faintly mocking gallantry into his stride. His wavy, chest-nut hair fell over his straightened brows, and a black silk patch covered one eye. His left eye, small and deep-set, was metallic-blue.
He introduced himself as Reuben, the leader of the Four Horsemen currently wreaking havoc in Sternbild. Greg, the commander of his squad for almost twelve years now, knew most of the people doing mischief in this town, but he'd never run across one who dressed so proper with the ominous Ouroboros sign embroidered on his eye-patch.
"That does beat all," he said. "What's the snake stand for? You some kind of snake charmer?" he joked.
Inside the SUV, Leanne heard a disturbing splat! A gout of blood and fragments of Greg's skull blasted across the floor to the window. At the same time, the agents jumped into action despite Barnaby telling them to stay put, and they suffered the same fate as Greg.
Crack!
Raising his hand upwards, Reuben made use of his NEXT ability and forced the top of their heads to flap open, cranial matter springing out. He casually walked past the dead men, their blood blossoming into widening pools. "Where's the girl?" he asked carefully.
Leanne caught her breath. Please, God, don't let him die, she thought.
Barnaby faced Reuben. "You're not getting away with this," he said, controlling his temper by an effort and speaking with dignity. "Stop while you still can."
Reuben grimaced, then laughed. Calling up his NEXT ability again, he focused on Barnaby, "Fucking hilarious!" before a part of the Hero's leg exploded, blood oozing onto the concrete. "Let's try this again, Hero,"—his voice sank low—"Where's the girl?"
Barnaby's response was a quick power up of his Hundred Power—rendered unusable for at least ten minutes before—and savagely attacked him. Reuben, in turn, had countered this move and slammed the Hero vehemently against the pavement with the use of his blood manipulative powers.
"Wrong answer."
Applying pressure on his busted leg, the bone drilled into his flesh with crushing savagery and the agony of that moment is not to be imagined. Barnaby screamed at the top of his voice. He was beside himself.
Leanne's skin prickled with fear, her heart hammering against her chest; despite all this, she tried her hardest to get the damn door open. Success! "Please, stop it!" she stumbled out. "Here I am, so stop torturing him!"
With a sweaty face, she looked at Barnaby's lifeless body on the concrete, seeing the eye-patched criminal, Reuben, leaning over him, and with a face so dark and wild, he grinned as soon as he saw Leanne had come out of hiding.
"I suppose it's only fair that I let him live," He stood erect, and without effort he constricted her heart, his left eye glowing brightly. "But I need you to drop dead."
