Disclaimer: don't own.
A brief chapter, by way of transition. It'll be the next chapter that the you-know-what truly hits the fan.
Robbie had never been so frightened in his life. In an instant, the silent little street in the East End had been transformed into a forest of green obelisks and whirling, glowing scythes. The roof of their car had been sheared clean off, and if not for Trina's uncanny instincts, their heads would have followed suit.
He crouched in the shadows on the doorstep of a curry shop as the creatures swept up and down the street; he would have killed for better cover, but none was to be had. Fortunately, everyone had made it out of the car safely, so far as he could tell. Everyone except…
Rex. I left him in the back seat.
Going back to get him would be sheer madness; Robbie knew that. But he couldn't abandon his closest friend to be torn to shreds by those things. He would have to make a break for it.
As he watched for an opening in the swarm of obelisks that surrounded the maimed vehicle, Jade's earlier words suddenly echoed in his mind: "It's a goddamn PUPPET!"
A lie. It had to be a lie. Didn't it? Jade was bitter and cruel, he told himself; lacking happiness herself, she couldn't abide it in others, and would go to any lengths to extinguish it. She knew Rex was his psychological weak spot, and she had moved to exploit it with characteristic deftness. He had to block her mocking voice out. Rex's life depended on it.
-What life? A puppet doesn't breathe, or move, or speak on its own. You make it live. Jade is absolutely right – you use it as a repository for your repressed emotions; it shields you from a terrifying world.
-More lies. I have to go get him now…
-Leave it.
-Him, not it!
-Leave. It.
A gap had finally appeared, as two of the creatures moved off to comb the alley behind the council estate at the end of the block. If he sprinted, he could avoid the whipping tendrils of the handful that remained and reach the car, then pull Rex out and make it to the rubbish bin on the other side of the street. But if he was to have any chance of succeeding, he had to go now.
Right now.
Now, dammit…
But he didn't move. He was frozen – not from cowardice, but from inner doubt.
I don't want to make the wrong choice. I don't want to die for a block of wood. I want to live, to help my friends – my flesh-and-blood friends. They need me.
And then a voice whispered inside his mind – not Jade's sarcastic tones, but a voice of infinite calmness and self-assurance, a voice that evoked his instant trust:
Time to grow up, Robbie Shapiro.
There was a glint of movement down the block. One of the obelisks spun to lash out at it, but was too close to the car; its tendril pierced the gas tank.
A ball of flame rose into the night sky, leaving a twisted hunk of metal behind it.
Robbie, to his astonishment, did not weep. He did not scream Rex's name. Instead, he merely felt a dull ache in his chest; and even as he watched the dancing flames and the wisps of smoke, that ache diminished into nothingness.
He focused his attention on the matter at hand. There has to be a way to fight these things. What I wouldn't give for a firearm right now… He did have a hunting knife, but hand-to-hand (or, rather, hand-to-tendril) combat didn't seem likely to have a positive outcome, even if there had only been one creature, rather than a dozen.
At least I can distract them for a little while. Maybe that'll give the others a chance to get to safety, if they haven't already.
He laid his hand on the hilt of the knife and prepared to draw it from its sheath.
A sudden screech of tires and blaring of a car horn startled him, stopping him in mid-motion. A Land Rover swung around the corner, moving so fast that it careened onto the sidewalk and struck a hydrant with its rear tire. It came to a halt blocking the intersection diagonally; André, whose left arm was in a makeshift sling, leapt from the driver's seat, while Tori, her right leg in a splint, lowered herself to the pavement from the passenger's side. They advanced toward the creatures, which moved into a tight mass to confront them.
This is insane, thought Robbie. They must have a death wish.
As they came closer, he saw tasers in André's left hand and in both of Tori's.
What good can that possibly do?
They began to fire. The creature at the forefront of the mass, hit by three blasts at once, lasted not even half a second before it disappeared into light.
…Oh.
The battle was hopelessly one-sided. Obelisk after obelisk exploded as André and Tori advanced the length of the street. Seizing the opportunity, Beck, Jade, Cat, and Robbie himself broke from cover, then armed themselves from the cache Andre had assembled in the back of the Land Rover and joined in the assault.
Almost as soon as the fight had begun, it was over. Silence and darkness descended on the block once more.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but goddamn, is it ever good to see you, Vega." Jade shook Tori's hand.
Tori grinned and spread her arms wide. "How about a hug?"
"Don't push your luck."
Robbie realized that Cat had silently moved beside him and taken his hand in hers. "Do you miss Rex?" she asked, in her soft, melodious voice.
"…I miss being a kid."
"Me too."
"Trina, you can come out now!" shouted Beck.
There was no response.
Oh, no. Robbie's heart sank. We can't have lost somebody else. Not when we just won our first victory.
Beck looked frantically this way and that. "Did anybody see where she went?"
"I think she was hiding behind that garbage thingy," Cat replied.
They searched behind the rubbish bin. Jade pointed to a dark stain on the sidewalk: "Fresh blood."
"Oh, God," murmured Tori.
"Relax, Vega. It's not nearly enough to come from a serious wound." Jade's voice was as sharp and snarky as ever, but, Robbie could not help noticing, all semblance of color had drained from her face.
Beck bent to examine a shoeprint in the mud nearby. "Is it just me, or does this look like…"
"Sinjin's," nodded Jade.
"Okay, so he took Trina," said Robbie. "But where? This is a huge city, and we can't possibly search it all in time before he does…whatever he's planning on doing with her." He didn't care to speculate any further.
"Um, maybe we should start by looking over there?"
They followed Cat's pointing finger with their eyes.
Several blocks to the northeast, a vast column of swirling light and fire shot into the heavens, piercing the clouds and drowning out the stars.