Chapter 26
[Haunted - Unknown Floor]
Professor jolted awake, vaguely aware of being in a strange place. Indeed, he was still on the living room couch. With a yawn and a stretch, joints popping, he sat up and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was half-past midnight.
Yawning again as he stood, he hoped napping right before bed wouldn't spoil his sleep.
Then he remembered the broadcast. Would the Harvester take the bait tonight? Should he hope that he did, or that he didn't?
Those thoughts lingered with him as he crept upstairs, and by the time he mounted the second floor he was aiming for Bubbles's bedroom rather than his own.
Her door squeaked softly as it swung open. Professor poked his head in the room, smiling at Bubbles. Or at least as much of her outline as he was ever able to make out from the door in this light.
With his anxiety over the Harvester business, Professor wanted to see her peaceful, sleeping face and try to forget everything that was happening in the world outside. For once, Professor carefully crept into her room to steal a closer look. For just this one moment, to be a normal father of a normal little girl.
Her covers were drawn over her head. But she seemed...somehow...
Professor gripped the edge of the covers and slowly pulled them back. He saw her pillow first. Then...
With a whoofle, he yanked the covers down. There was nothing but pillows and clothes.
Of course... She had seen the broadcast that morning. Just because she shut off their TV didn't mean she wasn't listening somewhere. Just because she'd seemed too worn out to care about anything didn't mean she'd stopped caring about everything. She'd seemed so distracted at breakfast... For that matter, had the entire day unsupervised to dig deeper. She could easily know more then Professor by now.
His eyes darted around the room, his lethargy fading. Her cell phone remained on the nightstand. He strode over to the windows, confirming what he already suspected—that one window had been left open just a crack.
A moment later, Professor was thundering down the stairs. He wanted to call Ms. Bellum, someone, but worried that might distract them at a critical time. We wasn't certain who was or wasn't involved in this plan, or how.
As he peeled out of the garage, he wondered what he could even accomplish. Wasn't Bubbles in the better position here? He hadn't even packed any special equipment. Nor was this a tricked out supercar that turned into a giant robot. Anymore. He just didn't have endless time to hide giant robots and death rays in mundane things for the fun of it.
As he drove, really testing the limits of the law and good driving habits, he began to think more rationally. Bubbles might just be taking a glide through a cool breeze.
At 12:45 in the morning.
Okay, so probably not that. Maybe. But even if she was at the warehouse, what could Professor do to help? Bubbles was probably more than enough for this. Like Princess had said during their earlier meetings, people of Bubbles's level of power didn't just pop up all the time. Based on what they knew so far, the odds of this Harvester character being a threat to her were virtually nil.
So what was his panic?
Of course. That made much more sense. Bubbles had been pushed so far. She'd been some mixture of afraid and uncomfortable with the idea of going after the Harvester, and now he thought she was actually going to do it anyway.
Professor felt a sinking feeling in his gut when he realized he might be less worried about her safety, and more worried about what she might do to the Harvester in this state.
Fortunately, the streets were virtually empty. The drive to the address Sedusa had given was only twenty minutes, but that just meant he was at least twenty minutes behind.
He turned off his headlights as he pulled into the winding lots around the warehouses. If there were police watching outside, they weren't obvious, but he didn't want to distract anyone inside the grounds. Occasionally he turned on his parking lights, using their dim glow to help him maneuver around corners. Eventually he spotted a blue flicker through some high windows.
He stopped the car and hopped out, seeing the flash again. Beside him was a flight of metal stairs leading to a door at the level of the windows. There didn't seem to be any ground-level entrances or windows where he stood.
He caught his foot on the way up, nearly tripping, before he forced himself to slow down just a little. He peered in through the grimy windows into the darkness below. Whatever was happening seemed...electrical. E-Male, probably. But...if it was, shouldn't this be over already?
Professor's stomach tightened as his heart seemed to strain to beat. He tried the door, finding it unlocked. He crept inside, walking along metal grating that formed a second floor catwalk. Although, given their height above of the ground floor, it was really somewhere between a third or fourth floor catwalk.
In the day, it a safe place to walk while forklifts and heavy things moved about below. Now, it was a safe place to spectate. Professor peeked around a large stack of small boxes.
E-Male was definitely busy down below, turning to and fro, spewing arcs and sheets of lightning. Professor spied a dark, spry form darting around. The strobelight-like effect of the flashes made it difficult to keep up, but he thought he saw the gleam of a sickle.
His breath caught. He had to remind himself to start breathing again.
She's not here, he thought, relieved and terrified.
Spying movement on the catwalks out of the corner of his eye, Professor watched as, during one of the flashes, Sedusa's flowing hair was briefly illuminated. She stood on an area of catwalk bridging the two halves of the building, whereas Professor lingered along the outer walls.
Professor moved to hide behind a shelf full of white boxes. Office paper, apparently. Sedusa didn't seem to notice him.
He looked down below. E-Male was now suffused with a bright blue glow that was hard to look at. Briefly, the lights in the building flickered on halfheartedly. For a brief span, Professor saw the Harvester. It was a sight both terrifying and ridiculous. A big burlap sack was pulled over his head, bare, spindly arms sticking out through holes in the side. A second sack was tied around his waist with a rope, like an odd sort of skirt. And beneath that, plain white socks and a pair of geta—wooden sandals with a pair of blocky "teeth" that elevated them about two inches from the ground.
The lights went off again when arcs of electricity shot from E-Male in all directions. Professor braced himself as they licked the catwalk, but they seemed to do him no harm. He glanced over to Sedusa, who recoiled in surprise, but also seemed uninjured.
It only lasted a few moments, taking longer for Professor's eyes to readjust to the dimness after that bright display.
"Did you get him?" Sedusa called out.
Slowly, E-Male started to glow again, but it made him stand out more than illuminate the area. "Must have. Hold on," he replied tersely. He held his palm out, and it shed a beam like a flashlight. He pointed it at one area for a while, though it was out of Professor's sight. Then he started sweeping it around. "Don't see him," E-Male informed.
"Then look, you imbecile!"
"What you think I doing? Why you no go do useful and turn on lights?"
"Why don't you flash over and turn them on."
"Why you no shut up? Beside, he move like—"
Professor heard the sound. It wasn't one he was familiar with. Something between ripping open an orange and closing scissors over empty air. Professor could almost see the source of it. A flicker of black against E-Male's soft blue.
Once from behind. Another from the side. Finally, as E-Male started to spin, the Harvester tumbled into view and made a final slice with his sickle from the front. E-Male's glow faded as he dropped to his knees, then to the floor.
Sedusa uttered a profanity and turned to run right towards Professor, to the exit behind him.
The Harvester appeared between them, as though he'd jumped from the ground. Sedusa's gasp reminded him to restrain his own, clasping his hand over his mouth. The Harvester stood on the railing, the bar between the teeth of his geta. His balance seemed remarkable.
In one hand he held his sickle, dark in the blood and moonlight. In the other, chains clinked.
Sedusa's hair shot forward, but the Harvester was quicker. Had to be a quick one, if E-Male was...
What am I doing? Professor asked. I need to leave!
But he couldn't. The Harvester was as close to him as he was to Sedusa. He'd make noise. Be chased. His car would make noise starting up. What could he do?
Before Sedusa's hair reached her adversary, the Harvester flung the chain around her neck. It made a wide arc, almost hitting the Harvester on its first spin back. As it made its second round, he grabbed the tail in the same hand that was holding the rest of the chain.
Professor carefully reached into his jacket. There was one thing he kept on him for emergencies. It wouldn't do much good here, but it might serve as a distraction. Worst case.
The Harvester yanked the chain, sending Sedusa off balance and making her hair snakes miss their target. She landed on the catwalk beside the Harvester, but remained there only a moment before the Harvester pulled the chain again, bringing Sedusa roughly to her feet.
Professor fumbled with a setting on the device, setting it to spray a solid jet at a distance rather than a small cloud. He'd have one shot. It'd sting the eyes a bit, if he hit his mark. Anything less...
The Harvester adjusted his grip on the chain and pulled up again. Sedusa soared into the air over his head, going nearly upside down before beginning her descent. She swung in a wide arc, screaming in fear and confusion. In the darkness, the physical sensations probably told her more about what was happening than her eyes.
Professor raised it up, trying and failing to hold his hand steady.
The chain bent underneath the catwalk as Sedusa continued her swing. Finally, she reached its end. A crack resounded in the quiet warehouse, and her screaming stopped.
The chains rattled through the Harvester's hand as he let go. Shortly after, a loud thud and muffled crunch signaled Sedusa's landing.
"Raaagh!" Professor screamed, mind unable to form real words. The Harvester's head jerked in his direction, and Professor squeezed. A small jet of dark liquid erupted from the end of the small thing in his hand. It looked like it could have been a breath spray. A little antidote X dispenser he kept handy, just in case. He'd used it once before, to sedate Buttercup for amateur, emergency brain surgery.
The Harvester seemed surprised, failing even to put his hands up to shield his face from the spray. With any luck, some would get in his eyes. It may not be what it was designed for, but it was something.
Professor turned around, ready to bolt for the door and hope for the best. He stopped when he heard a shrill, high-pitched scream from behind.
"Help!"
His head spun around. The Harvester's perch on the rail became unsteady. He—she bent at odd angles, trying to not fall, or at least to not fall backwards off the catwalks.
"No," Professor breathed.
"No!" came another shrill cry as she lost her footing. Professor ran forward, reaching out and trying to grab any part of her. All his fingers found was the sack over her head. It only briefly halted her descent before her arms slipped out.
Professor watched helplessly as Bubbles's face disappeared into the darkness below.