"What's the problem?" I asked.
I looked around for something I could substitute for my motorcycle. Squealer's power predictably came with the ability to hot wire vehicles, and while I normally would never steal a vehicle from someone, I could at least justify it while I was out saving lives.
"The PRT found out where Bakuda was holed up," Tattletale said. "And they mounted an attack. The problem is that something went wrong and they've all been caught up in an expanding bubble of ...something."
"If it's one of those null time bubbles there isn't anything I can do," I said. "I've tried, but Squealer wasn't that kind of a tinker."
Even the teleportation devices she could create only worked if they were connected to a vehicle of some kind. If I didn't know that everything he made blew up on him, I'd have gone after Leet. I still might take Uber.
"There's...someone here who says there's a good chance you might be able to do something. Apparently it's a bubble not a sphere, whatever that means." Tattletale sounded deeply uncomfortable for some reason, and I had to wonder why.
I also had to wonder why her boss would be letting me help her rescue the Protectorate members. If his plan was to take over the city, wouldn't getting rid of the heroes be the way to start? Or did he think that the national Protectorate would send twice as many heroes if the team was wiped out?
It meant that whatever it was was keeping them in, but they weren't suspended like flies in Amber. Depending on how large the sphere was I might be able to slip through to the mirror universe and rescue them, although that would risk revealing that nature of my power to them.
The easiest thing would be to leave them. After all, fewer heroes around for Gabriel to eat meant an easier fight when we finally had our confrontation. On the other hand, this might be my chance to get the PRT on my side, or at least off my back. The Protectorate members had at least some sway with them and maybe they'd be less trigger happy around my Dad.
I could hear a car weaving down the road two blocks away. The people inside were singling loudly off key and they were throwing something out of windows causing people to scream.
Reaching down I touched a manhole cover. A motion of my fingers and the bolts holding down came off explosively. It floated up and I sat on it.
Using Hookwolf's power I took the form of a something I'd seen once in a Stephen King movie. In the center I was sitting crouched on the manhole cover, but surrounding me was a form that was a thing of nightmares, a sphere with a mouth full of rotating teeth.
A moment later I took flight and soon I could see what was happening. Two drunk Skinheads were throwing bottles filled with flaming liquid at passing Asians.
The moment one of them saw the monster that I had become he screamed and gunned his vehicle. It was a 1969 Impala, not that different from one my own grandfather had once had.
I followed them as they sped away. While Rune's telekinisis was powerful, it wasn't always as quick or maneuverable as I would have liked and at first they pulled ahead.
The fact that I could send clones forward was helpful though. I created a ghost clone in the back seat of the vehicle and a moment later it skidded to a stop. The clone exited the vehicle, the two clowns inside unconscious and being dragged out of the car.
It vanished and I returned to my normal form a moment later. I gave them a contemptuous look. If they'd actually managed to hit anyone I would have done a lot worse to them, but it looked like they had a couple of broken bones in the middle of a neighborhood where they had been attacking people. I suspected that justice would take care of itself.
As I slid into the car, the engine was still running. Squealer's power told me that the vehicle had been maintained in excellent condition, which meant that the two clowns that had been driving it probably hadn't been the original owners.
There were Nazi decorations inside the car, however, so I assumed the car belonged to one of their comrades. I concentrated and metal sprouted covering those decorations. I added a skull to the hood and to the hubcaps.
Kaiser could have done so much more with his power than metal spikes and armor. I wondered why he hadn't. Had it been a lack of imagination or simply a lack of motivation?
Either way, Squealer's power came with the ability to be a preternatural good driver with any vehicle. Her reasons for not using her powers better I understood. Drugs took a terrible toll on aspects of lives, especially intelligence and often creativity.
Flames rose from the sides of the car and it didn't explode. Good; I hadn't been sure but it was better to find out now than later when things were likely to get hairy.
The roar of the engine as I slipped it into gear was soothing, but part of me thought the engine wasn't nearly loud enough. I felt an urge to go under the engine and give it more power, to really make it roar so that everyone would know who I was.
Tinker powers are annoying. It was an annoying itch in the back of my mind that I couldn't scratch because I had other things to do. I had a suspicion that if I picked up other Tinker powers it was only going to get worse.
"You'll have to guide me to it," I murmured to Tattletale.
"No I won't," she said. "Get to the docks and you'll find it easily enough."
I put the car in gear and sped by a police officer by the side of the road. As he turned on his lights I smirked and gave the car an extra telekinetic push.
By the time he'd started I was already gone. Best of all, if he chose to put a warrant out for speeding it would likely go to the owner of the car...or maybe not. Squealer's powers came with knowledge of how to drive, not of traffic laws.
Considering that I hadn't even started driver's ed yet, that was probably one of the things I needed to start remedying.
It wasn't long before I saw what she meant. The buildings on the docks were by and large single story affairs, with the occasional warehouse stretching a story and a half. The glowing purple globe stood five stories tall and according to Tattletale it was slowly growing, disintegrating everything in it's path.
There was a police cordon all around , although the police were keeping well away from the sphere. In the moment I had to observe it looked like the PRT were using regular police agents to help bolster their numbers.
They were just noticing me when I switched over to the mirror universe.
I felt dismayed as I realized that there was a distortion here as well as in the other universe. Had the mirroring effect assumed it was part of the landscape the same as the trees and houses and cars? Or was the effect somehow pandiminsional?
Whatever was going on it didn't look like the same kind of solid barrier that existed in the other world. This looked permeable.
I stopped the car and I got out, leaving it running. As I reached the barrier, I grimaced and I touched it, hoping that it wouldn't simply disintegrate my entire body.
There was resistance, but I could push through. I wasn't sure that whoever I was trying to rescue would have it as easily; after all, I had multiple brutes under my belt.
I got back into my car and I closed my eyes. Metal began to sprout all over the car, armoring it so that it would be able to better push through. It would never ride as fast or as maneuverability again and I found myself regretting that.
Adding spikes helped satisfy Squealer's powers need for a certain aesthetic appeal.
I opened my eyes and I pumped up the flames. Putting the vehicle in reverse I backed up a block. A moment later I switched gears and floored the accelerator.
Passing through the barrier felt like passing through thick mud. It washed over me and I felt time seem to slow for a moment before I came out on the other side. I felt the mirror universe shatter around me as I passed through.
I could see the Protectorate members in front of me; apparently I hadn't lost any of my momentum no matter how it had felt, and so I was forced to use Squealer's enhanced driving skills and Cricket's enhanced agility and speed to force the car into a spin so that I missed all of them.
Armsmaster and Miss Militia were standing there, along with Velocity, Assault and Battery. I didn't see Triumph, but Clockblocker and Vista were there.
Miss Militia suddenly formed a rocket launcher while Armsmaster readied his halberd. The others looked as though they were ready for a fight.
I rolled the car window down slowly as they all stared at me.
Leaning my head out, I said "Come with me if you want to live."
I'd wanted to say that ever since my father had showed me that Earth Aleph movie. Apparently the Protectorate members got the reference although the Wards looked confused.
"Are you here to fight us or steal our powers?" Armsmaster called out.
"NOT TODAY," I said.
"You can get us out?" Assault asked, staring at my car like it was a miracle. I suppose it did look like something post apocalyptic.
"YES," I said.
"Can you get us in?" Armsmaster asked.
Apparently there were two layers to the sphere and the Protectorate were trapped between them. The Inner sphere covered an old tenement building, presumably the place where Bakuda had kept her lab.
"She's inside with hostages," Armsmaster said grimly. "And there's no way of knowing what kind of traps will be inside."
"WATCH THE CAR," I said.
None of them with the possible exception of Battery were all that tough, although Armsmaster's armor might offer some protection. I could ameliorate that for a certain length of time with Othalla's power, but only for two minutes at a time, and with as many of them as were here I'd spend all my time renewing their protections, leaving no time for anything else.
"YOU," I said, pointing at Armsmaster. Having a tinker on my side who was good at things other than vehicles might be a blessing. Once I got Bakuda's powers I'd understand how to disarm her bombs and avoid them.
Before he could respond, I grabbed his arm. He flinched, but then he asked, "What did you just do?"
"GRANTED YOU IMMORTALITY," I said. He stared at me and I continued. "FOR THE NEXT TWO MINUTES."
"Othalla," he said knowingly.
Before he could say anything further I switched us both into the mirror universe. He stared. "Where are we?"
"THE UNDERWORLD," I said "A PALE REFLECTION OF THE WORLD THAT IS."
"Meaning the barrier is weaker here," he said.
He wasn't slow on the draw at least. I nodded and grabbed his arm. Pulling him through the barrier we found ourselves inside, although this time the mirror universe didn't shatter. Instead everything was distorted and wrong.
"WHERE IS SHE?" I asked.
"The top floor," he said. "We think she has the prisoners up there. There will be traps everywhere."
Grabbing him I created a metal platform on the ground. I made it larger than I'd need and I added rails. As he stepped onto the platform my fingers moved over the railing.
He was watching. "So you were the one who took Rune."
"NOT THE SECOND TIME," I said. "IT WAS ANOTHER. I DO NOT KNOW IF I HAVE SEEN HIS TRUE FACE."
"The same one who destroyed New Wave?" he asked.
I nodded. We started floating upward.
"Why conceal it from us if it's true? We are the best to fight against him," he said.
"LIKE YOU FIGHT THE ENDBRINGERS?" I asked. "WITH A GOOD DAY BEING ONE OUT OF FOUR DEAD?"
"We have the Triumvirate," he said. "Nothing he has could beat that."
"HE CAN APPEAR AS ANYONE. TAKE EIDOLON BY SURPRISE AND THE OTHERS WILL FALL. WITH IT FALLS THE WORLD."
With a power like Eidolon's Gabriel would be able to do anything; teleport, detect Capes who were trying to hide, maybe even worse, and unlike Eidolon he wouldn't be limited to a few powers at once. He'd have an ever growing arsenal.
Before he could reply we were there. I blasted the windows open with Stormtiger's powers and I saw the lab inside. It looked like something out of a mad scientist's lair, although I recognized some of the tools with Squealer's skills.
In the center of the room was what looked like a bomb the size of a Volkswagon. It was only a replica on this side, but it still looked ominous.
"A REPLICA," I said. "BUT EXACT. WHAT CAN YOU LEARN?"
He spent the next five minutes looking over the bomb. "Something this size is likely powerful enough to take out the Eastern Seaboard," he said. "And I don't have the skills to defuse this, at least not with a hundred percent accuracy."
"THEN I SHALL TAKE THE SKILLS YOU NEED," I said.
I'd hoped to avoid having to add another tinker, but it looked like I wasn't going to have much of a choice. The desire to build bombs was probably going to be problematic, but I'd manage somehow.
If I kept adding tinkers though there would come a day where I wouldn't be able to resist; once that happened I would be trapped in a lab, possibly for the rest of my life.
The actual lab was probably trapped to hell. The only way was to get in and out before Bakuda knew what hit her. To do that I had to resort to revealing another of my secrets to Armsmaster.
There was a mirror over the sink. I approached it and Armsmaster followed. I put my fingers to my lips and then the scene in the mirror swirled and changed.
"We'll force them to let us go, or I'll blow the entire country to hell!" a muffled female voice said.
A woman in a gas mask was lecturing several people who were tied down. One was apparently in the middle of surgery on his brain.
"Or maybe I'll just send you all out there and let the PRT deal with you...and you deal with them," she said. "Do you think they'll start shooting you dead before you blow them up?"
Muffled screams came from her victims, all of whom were apparently gagged and bound to the tables.
I took careful note of where she was in relation to the room and stepped to an area behind that. I appeared in the real world and with Cricket's speed I grabbed her by the throat and we were suddenly in the other world.
"What the hell?" she screamed. "You aren't sending me to the Birdcage!"
She was apparently trying to activate her bombs but nothing was happening. Radio signals and lasers didn't cross the dimensional barriers. It was possible that some of the things she had did.
A moment later the world exploded around me in fire and fury. Apparently if she couldn't destroy others she was willing to destroy herself. The bomb hurt, before I tamped down my pain response, but it wasn't as bad as some I'd already experienced this evening.
I tried to push regeneration into her, but I knew at a look that it was going to be too late. I saw her heart slowing and I could see her spine. Like me earlier in the day she was missing her lower half. Unlike me she didn't have any convenient regenerative abilities and this was beyond Othalla's ability to heal.
There was one thing I could do.
I pulled her to the floor, pulled her mask off and I touched her face. I pulled her ability and started pulling as much of her skill as I could. It wasn't much, because the light in her eyes died almost immediately.
Understanding flooded into me, and I knew that I'd be able to undo her traps with the smallest of clues. Armsmaster was staring at me with an expression I couldn't interpret.
"I HAVE THE SKILLS WE NEED," I said. I held out my hands and reluctantly he took one.
A moment later we were in the other universe. People were still screaming, but no one was dead, other than one man in a corner who had probably had a reaction to some of the medicines she had used.
Bakuda's body appeared next to Armsmaster as I let go of the mirror universe.
"We need to get to work," I said. "Also, stay very still. There's an area six inches to your right that will create a miniature black hole and pull you in if you trip it."
It took almost thirty minutes to undo all the traps. It took forty five to remove the bombs from people's heads. It was amazing to suddenly have surgical skills, and I used Othalla's regeneration on each victim as I finished with them, instead of sewing them up.
"I WILL REVERSE THE BARRIERS," I said. "AND THEN I WILL LEAVE."
"You can't leave!" he said. "You are under arrest!"
I shrugged. "I CAN LEAVE YOU HERE OR SET YOU AND THE OTHERS FREE? CHOOSE."
He scowled. "Fine. We can consider it a truce. This doesn't mean that we have a deal the next time we meet."
"I AM NOT THE ENEMY," I said.
"Then come down and make a statement," he said. "Come into the Protectorate building as a friend, or at least an ally instead of an enemy."
"YOUR PEOPLE ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED," I said. "MISS MILITIA HAS TRIED TO MURDER ME ONCE ALREADY."
"You appeared to be trying to kill Crystal Pellham," he said. He was silent for a moment. "We did find her body."
I grimaced. I'd liked her. We hadn't been friends, but I'd felt like we could have been, had there been more time and had things been different.
"MAYBE LATER," I said. "I WILL CONTACT YOU IN THE FUTURE."
He had no choice but to let it go at that.