Devil in the Church: Chapter 4

At first, I was underwhelmed by the 'Vista Express'. Granted, she got us from the street to the rooftop as easily as stepping forward and that was no mean feat. The sensation of stepping through warped space had played havoc with my balance, but only for those moments when I was directly moving through areas controlled by her power.

We were still only moving just a bit faster than standard rooftop jumping, though admittedly, far easier and safer than had I been doing it on my own or would have trying to catch up in that Accord.

We spotted the damaged SUV easily enough once we had the high ground. Just like I would have done, they were keeping to side streets and moving steadily away from high traffic areas. While I couldn't stop them, I had caused enough damage to their vehicle that anyone looking remotely in their direction would take notice. Not ideal for the would-be kidnapper looking to get away by fading into the background

The problem for us was keeping line of sight. It just wasn't possible due to the buildings, narrow roads, alleys, and of course, their speed plus the lead they had on us. Slightly frustrated at our lack of closed distance, I asked the young heroine if that was the best she could do. At the rate we were going, we'd only ever just keep them in sight and the last thing I wanted was to let them get wherever they were going.

Then I found out why she called it the 'Express'. Our next jump covered half a city block, left me slightly disoriented, and made me stumbled after landing.

"How's that?" Vista giggled smugly.

"Much better, ma chère. Do it again."

Seemingly happy at how easily I had taken her little prank, or maybe satisfied I could handle it, Vista upped the ante and we really started moving.

There was something to be said for blitzing across rooftops at highway speeds. That didn't include the added dangers of the disorientation, shifting heights, and the fact I had to trust a hero to not drop me onto the street, or into a wall, for the funsies. Yet, Vista always put us right where we needed to be no matter the roof we landed on, and always with enough clearance from the edge that even if I had fully lost my balance, I would have been fine.

This allowed us to go from following the vehicle trying -and failing- to inconspicuously sneak away, to having to wait for it.

But as much as I wanted to, we couldn't attack. Not yet, not with as many people around as there were. I didn't want to save Dinah, only to discover I'd killed ten people in accidental wrecks along the way. Or worse, cause them to open fire on me again. Even if I didn't get hit, bullets didn't stop until they hit something. Vista said I had gotten lucky, but I doubted Mr and Ms Normal on the street would be as fortunate.

I had risked too much in my run to Lords and was more fortunate than I had any right to be in that I hadn't hurt anyone in the doing. But, that was a problem that was quickly no longer becoming an issue. Not just because of Vista, but because if they kept going the way they had been, they were going to enter the Docks soon.

And that would make them fair game. Especially considering how the area ahead looked.

Watching the SUV turn, I asked Vista, "Can you redirect them? Make them drive in circles or around the block?"

"They're going too fast," the young cape replied.

"I could slow them down."

"Wouldn't do any good," Vista said. "I need time to set up something complicated like corners, especially 90 degree corners."

"If they were on foot?"

"Even then, I don't think I could manage it like I think you're suggesting without several minutes to really grab the area. I could do other stuff, but they'd know I was doing it."

"Oh?" I asked looking away from the SUV to further down the street. "Like how I notice your power when I go through it?"

"Something like that. What I'm doing for us is small stuff. What you're suggesting is battlefield control, which I can't do easily for a large area. Not without some time to set up. Even if I could, they'd notice it right away. To warp enough area like you want will be a lot more visible than it is moving us. Kinda like being inside a funhouse, but without the fun."

"Depends on which side of the mirror you're on," I muttered, turning back to the SUV. It turned again, and I wasn't surprised to see where it was heading now. "But you can work a small area, no?"

"Yup. Do it all the time."

"Good to know."

"So," the young cape said. "What's the plan for stopping them from getting to their friends?"

"Noticed that, did you?" I asked, actually a bit impressed. I had only just noticed them.

Vista's knowing smirk would have been completely unsettling on such a young face, if I hadn't already been expecting it. "Pretty sure before you did."

Allowing a small chuckle at her tone, I nodded, conceding the point. In truth, with her power, she'd probably noticed before I had.

"You know, if the whole hero thing doesn't work out, you would do well in the private sector."

"Are you really offering me a job?"

"I'm sure we could negotiate something to your liking," I answered easily. "Just letting you know, you have options."

"Options are nice," Vista replied dryly. "But seriously. How are we going to get your friend away from those gunmen before they get to that warehouse? There's at least eight more over there and no telling how many more coming."

"Yes, they do seem to be very determined to keep Dinah," I noted flatly. The why was unimportant, though very much on my mind. Who went through this much trouble for payback over twenty large? None of this made any sense.

"If we moved over there," I said, pointing to rooftop ahead of the SUV, "could you put me right on top of them?"

"Do you mean in front of them? Sure, that's easy."

"No, mon'amie, on them."

"Like, on the roof? You want me to put you on the roof of a moving car?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of on the hood, actually."

"You're nuts."

"It's been discussed," I smirked. "Can you do it?"

"I'm putting it in my report, that this was all your idea."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Vista huffed, obviously not liking my plan at all. "Why? There's other ways we can disable them."

"It's not enough to just stop the car," I answered seriously. "I want to rattle their cages a bit, make them nervous. And nothing makes people nervous like suddenly appearing right on top of them when they think they are safest."

"You know, making gun wielding psychos nervous usually doesn't end well for most people."

"Those people aren't Gambit."

Shaking her head, Vista stilled for a moment before waving at the air in front of her. I knew from prior jumps she didn't need to use her hands to shape her power, she just did it so I would know it was safe to jump.

Another express leap brought us to the building I'd indicated. Together, we moved to the edge overlooking the empty street. To our right, the SUV approached at a steady pace for how much damage I had managed.

"Set up so that I land on them mid turn," I advised the younger girl. "If I disable the vehicle there, that should give you more time with clean line of sight to use your power."

"Yeah, because nothing can possibly go wrong with this plan," she snarked.

"Relax, ma chère, Gambit was wrestling gators before she could write her own name. It'll be just like going home."

"I'll be sure to mention to Clockblocker that his girlfriend likes to stand on the bridges she's burning. Just so everyone can see her level of commitment to crazy."

"You're not wrong," I said flatly. "I do tend to throw dice for absolutely no reason, but to be clear, Clock and I are not together."

"But I thought…"

Shaking my head I pointed to the SUV bringing her attention back to business. "I've lost enough playing nice with heroes. Only a fool allows herself to be burned twice the same way, and Gambit is nobody's fool. Now, they're almost here. Just a bit in front of the old mail box would be perfect. Do you have enough time to set that up?"

"Um, yeah? I mean, yeah. Yeah, I can do it."

"Good," I nodded, my tone letting her know the prior topic wasn't to be brought up again.

Looking around while Vista did her thing, I couldn't help but shake my head. This area had a few empty storefronts in it. When I had first started exploring Brockton Bay, I had noticed this trend here and there and had asked Danny about it. He'd mentioned that areas like this used to serve residential districts that dotted the docks back when the factories, warehouses, and other similar industries were all in operation.

Today, however, this area was mostly abandoned. Storefronts that once boasted large windows were now boarded up. There were no cars parked anywhere I could see. Not even a lonely newspaper fluttering abandoned in the wind, like a tumbleweed in those spaghetti westerns Penny loved. It was almost striking really, how crossing a certain street brought you from a normal looking city to...this.

All of that, depressing as it was, didn't change the fact that it also made this area a criminal's paradise. Case in point, three blocks down the road, where I was positive these guys were going, I could just see the shapes of a few people moving around, obviously forewarned of their companions' imminent arrival.

Seeing the our target slowing for the turn, I asked, "Ready?"

"If you time this wrong…"

"Then it this will become very exciting very quickly," I finished for the flustered cape. "We need to thin their numbers and to do that, they need someone to chase once I disable their car. Even together, we won't be able to deal with all of them at once and rescue Dinah."

"And what am I supposed to do while you're doing your bug on a windshield imitation, or getting run over? You don't just expect me to sit here and do nothing, do you?"

"Of course not," I replied sharply. "But, I have advantages in close quarters you don't. Only a idiot plays to their weaknesses instead of strengths."

"Sorry," Vista said, sounding contrite. "I just thought…"

"No matter, and just so you know, you have the harder job here. You have to make sure they don't go far."

"For how long?"

"Until I get back," I answered, eyes narrowed as I tensed for the jump.

Watching carefully and trying to not think about how if Vista was just a bit off, this was going to end badly, I leaped off the edge, instantly feeling the world distort around me. In a blink, I went from a second story rooftop, to just a few feet above the asphalt, and right over the hood of my target.

My boots hit slick metal even as my hands slammed into the windshield hard, but thankfully not hard enough to break it or cut my hands. Inside and in front sat two men in suits like those I had dealt with at Lord's. In the backseat, two more, plus the guy I hadn't managed to get. Between him and another suit, was Dinah.

Five pairs of eyes widened behind sunglasses as Dinah let loose an eardrum rattling scream that made me glad I was on this side of the glass.

"Bonjour," I shouted to the driver. "Did you know your tail lights are broken? You could get in trouble for that."

In plotting this particular idea, I had planned for Dinah screaming, furthering the bedlam my sudden appearance created. There really was nothing quite like a little girls scream to put people's nerves on edge quick fast and in a hurry.

Even grinning and staring directly at the driver, I could see two of the quicker-witted inside reach for weapons inside their coats. Legs tensed and ready, I was prepared to roll over the roof to avoid it. Making them shoot in close quarters like that would increase the chaos, especially when they blew out the windshield, partially blinding the driver. Even if it didn't do what I wanted, I was also putting in just enough of my power through my boots that in seconds this car's engine block was going to be nothing more than scrap.

What I didn't account for, but probably should have but it was kind of late now, was the driver spooking as quickly as he did, and hitting the gas jarring everyone inside at the sudden acceleration.

The SUV jerking forward threw me off balance enough that instead of rolling over the roof, I ended up with my knee on the hood and hands gripping into the slick glass. A quick look over my shoulder provided me with the sight of the light pole we were headed for, telling me that maybe Vista hadn't been too far off in her assessment of my plan.

The only good news about this sudden shift was that the surprise burst of speed had kept the gunmen from shooting me. They were too busy adjusting to the change. Shifting balance and altering my charges in the hood slightly, I braced myself for the impact, which wasn't long in coming.

My charges went off, causing the nose of the vehicle to dip downward sharply. Both front tires exploded, the bumper slamming into the asphalt just a split moment before we hit the pole in a thunderous crash.

Another aspect of my tactic was that my power diverted just enough of our momentum downward to allow me to slightly control my flight. Twisting my body, I flew past the pole with only my jacket grazing it. The boarded up window and empty shelves inside the old store front however, I couldn't do anything about.

I smashed through both in a shower of broken wood, glass fragments, and pain before a second set of shelves stopped me. Instead of breaking through that one, it fell over, bouncing me over a third set, allowing me to finally come to a stop on the ground behind it once I hit the fourth.

"Okay," I moaned, trying to figure out just how badly I had screwed up. "That could have gone better."

Everything hurt, but I didn't feel crippled. Somehow, I had managed to not break anything, but I was definitely going to feel this in the morning, and probably for the following week. Tears in my jeans and sweater showed that I was already bruising and bled from several cuts, but nothing that needed attention right this second. Worse than how my clothes looked, my jacket was ruined, showing similar tears and rips along my back and sleeves showing it's battle with shelves and window hadn't gone well.

This was exactly why I never bothered with a civilian ID and always wore my armor before coming to the Bay. Never should have let Danny talk me into going to school like a normal person...

"Fucking Christ," someone shouted outside, bringing me back to the matter at hand.

"Goddamn it, John, what the fuck were you thinking!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do? Huh? What the fuck would you have done if a goddamn devil looking girl jumped out of nothing at you?"

"So you decided to ram a light pole?" the prior voice asked disbelievingly. "You couldn't think of something that didn't fuck us too?"

"It got her off us, didn't it?" John shouted back. "If you think you could do better when motherfucking fire eye'd capes jump out of thin air, then you can fucking drive next time!"

Moving hurt, but not badly enough to keep me down. The area around me looked like this place might have once been a general store or something, though whatever it used to sell was long gone. Anything that hadn't been taken when it had closed would have been in the following years. Judging by the graffiti and other indications of prior trespassers, I was probably the first visitor in a while as everything was dusty and what tags I could see looked faded. The only light in here came from the hole my body had made, leaving most of the interior pitch black to eyes used to daylight.

Keeping low, I moved away from my landing spot, and around the shelf that blocked my view. Outside, I could just see the smashed front end of the SUV, white smoke boiling from the hood as green liquid spilled from somewhere inside it. Two holes in the hood where my feet had been issued more white smoke, like chimneys. I couldn't see Dinah, but all the doors of the broken vehicle were open with the suits standing around it as they argued.

"How the hell did she get ahead of us?" the one in back asked.

Shaking his head, a swarthy looking guy walking toward the front answered, "Capes. Does it even matter?"

"Shut the fuck up!" another shouted. This one I recognized. White guy, close-cropped blond hair. It was the guy who had gotten away from me at Lord's. Standing at the rear, he turned, facing the one walking to the front, looking at the damage. "Ben?"

"Car's wrecked, James," the new confirmed Ben answered. "We're on foot."

"How far are we from Echo Post?" asked who I thought was John. He was the one standing by the drivers door.

"Not far," growled James.

"The kid still alive?"

"She's fine, just shook up," James answered. "Ben, grab her. John, get the rifles, I'll call Echo in case they didn't hear this shit go down. Vance, Edward? Will one of you, please, fucking kill this bitch for me!?"

"Shit, James. I doubt there's anything left to kill in there," said the smaller of the duo being addressed.

"True," the second of the pair nodded in agreement, tossing aside his broken sunglasses. "Even if she isn't, it'd be a shame to waste a pretty one like that."

"I don't care how good looking you think she is. The mission is for the kid, not the cape," James snarled. "You can find tail after the mission is done. I'm not taking any more chances with this one. Get in there and shoot her, and when you're done, shoot her again to make sure she stays down."

From where I was crouched, I watched John head to the back of the broken SUV, opening the back hatch. Ben, moved toward the back doors, leaning inside, probably to get Dinah, while James took out his phone.

The other two, who had to be Vance and Edward, disappeared around the back where John was. When they came back into sight, both carried rifles just like the guy who cut the fence at Lords. Both of them shouldered the weapons and approached the building in a manner that left little doubt to their competence, both with the weapons they carried, and how they approached.

While I might have been able to get most of them from here, I wasn't so sure I could do it without hurting Dinah. Especially considering that even in here, I could smell leaking gas from the SUV. Anything power related from me was likely to cause a very big boom.

No, I could work with this, as it was. Stepping backward, I slowly moved deeper into the darkness, letting them come to me. Hopefully Vista could keep them from going too far while I dealt with these guys. Three on two were better odds, and ones I'd bet on. Even if they had tinkertech rifles.

The bigger of the two stepped in first, aiming where he looked. After a few moments, he moved in deeper, letting in the second. Keeping their backs to the entrance, they moved in tandem to where I'd landed. When they noticed I wasn't in the rubble, they looked at each other. Hand signals I didn't understand preceded a pair of nods before the smaller one -relatively speaking as the guy was still pretty big- moved deeper, while the other headed my way.

Keeping tabs by the sounds of their boots steps, I shifted position, going in deeper, keeping several standing shelves between me and the big guy. My light steps were easily missed by the hunting duo until I was in position, right behind the second man. Once I was only feet behind him, I purposely stepped on piece of glass, breaking it.

Not letting him do more than spin around, I swung, punching him in the throat. My jab was quickly followed by me yanking the weapon out of his grip, then a sharp kick into his side. Before he could so much as choke from my jab, I was already sweeping his legs out from under him.

What little light there was here showed his face well enough for me to see his surprised, pain filled expression. It also allowed him to see mine. My wink was the last thing he saw before my fist connected with his face, sending him head first into the ground hard enough to make him bounce. I wasn't surprised when he didn't get back up.

No shouts and no calls preceded the rain of laserfire shot at me through the shelves. It was a quick burst, only a few shots, but I wasn't sticking round to gloat over an unconscious kidnapper. The second I was sure he was down, I went low, away from him and where I thought the other one was. The burst of purple death only just missed me as I moved. That was the only thing that kept me from ending up like the fence at Lord's, or the swiss cheesed shelves blocking Big Guy's line of sight.

Circling around, I moved quietly, staying low, avoiding anything that would give away my position. Listening to the slow and steady footsteps approaching the downed man I left behind, I managed to reach the end of the aisle just as he moved over his downed friend, rifle sweeping around as he looked for me.

Nudging a lone beer can from some forgotten party with my foot, I rolled it into his aisle. Spinning at the noise, the merc pointed his weapon but didn't fire this time. Leaning away, I tossed a card down my aisle, hitting and breaking a piece of glass reflecting light from the entrance.

Hearing that, the gunmen spun again, this time slowly stepping over his friend and heading away, allowing me to come around the corner and approach. Soldier or not, I could see by the slight shake in his dusty suit that I had succeeded in I'd rattling this one, at least.

I wasn't sure if it was natural paranoia, or perhaps instinct, but when he reached the end of the aisle, he spun around toward me. It was still too late, I was just behind him. Reaching out, I grabbed his weapon. A flash of my power causing the thing to emit smoke from its casing instead of lasers from the barrel.

Shocked, he backed away. Casually, with no expression on my face, I tossed his broken weapon aside, not saying anything, matching him step for step until the wall stopped his progress. I could hear his quick breathing and without his sunglasses, could see the fear in his blue eyes as he stared into my pitch black.

It was the kind of fear I'd seen in others before. The kind of fear that had earned me the name, Le Diable Blanc long before people even knew why they should have been afraid of me. Normally I went out of my way to show that people they had nothing to fear, but this wasn't one of those times.

I continued advancing until I was right in front of him. This close I could smell the harsh taint of tobacco on his breath when he opened his mouth.

"Shhhhhh," I whispered, putting my finger over his lips. He'd seen what I'd done to his rifle with the same hand that now touched him. It wasn't surprising he thought I could do the same to him. A lot of people who knew of me did.

"I hear the first time can hurt," I continued, my voice soft and intimate as I leaned closer. "But don't worry, chérie. Gambit will be gentle."

In his eyes, panic melded into confusion. It lasted all of two seconds before my left knee slammed into his groin with enough force to momentarily lift him off his feet. Leaning back, I quickly grabbed a hold of his ears, aiding his head downward as he folded, right into my right knee as it rose to greet him. This time, he didn't rise into the air a little bit, but slammed into the wall hard enough to rattle empty shelves halfway toward the exit before falling limply to the ground.

'Three left,' I thought silently, leaving behind the unconscious duo to their well-deserved, pain-filled dreams. Hopefully, Vista had managed to keep the others from getting too far.