Prompt Thirteen
AU
"Mom? This…this is Jim. I'm reading off a cue card. If you want to…to see me alive again…"
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Barbara stared at the wall.
"You'll bring the Amulet of Daylight to the Arcadia Oaks Museum within twelve hours. You'll come alone." Silence fell again for a moment and all she could hear was his shaky breath. "Mom, these people want to hurt you, don't come-!"
The message ended. Blinky stared at her, all four hands in fists. Aaarrrgghh's fur stood on end. "Lady Barbara, forgive me. We should have protected the house better, I-"
She put up a finger and stood, walking around Blinky's study in silence. The trolls watched worriedly. Barbara glanced at the amulet on the table, innocuous and dim. This would never have happened if she hadn't found it.
Barbara took a deep, smooth breath. "This is the last straw. No more playing by the rules. I'm done." Taking a seat, Barbara pulled the nearest scroll toward her and took a pen out of her lab coat pocket. "Blinky, do you know of any working flashlights stored down here, maybe with RotGut? Really, really powerful ones."
Blinky, true to his name, blinked. "I…yes. There are several, though the bulbs are often broken."
"That's fine. Aaarrrgghh, I need you to go fetch the list of things I give you. They're chemicals with long names, but as long as the words match what I write they'll be what I need, okay hon? I need to run to the store and pick up some pet urine detector flashlights, bulbs if they have them…maybe UV floodlights if I can find them…"
"Lady Barbara, I do apologize, but what are you going on about?" Blinky asked. "Your son is in danger! Do we have time for this?"
"Not much, but I'm tired of our enemies being a step ahead. I don't like that we're going to be stealing, but if it means saving my son and keeping Killahead closed, I think it's worth it." She finished writing and gave the list the Aaarrrgghh. "Oh, and call NotEnrique please." She adjusted her glasses and the trolls exchanged a glance. "We're going to need someone small enough to get into vents."
The women with the swords was watching him. Jim tried not to look at her. "I don't like this. There's only an hour left before the time limit runs out." She extended a blade and Jim pulled back as much the chair would let him when she lifted his chin with the blade. "Are we really going to kill him?"
Jim looked at Strickler, disbelieving. The man refused to meet his gaze. "We'll cross that bridge when we-"
"I will kill him if Stricklander is too soft." The monster had drawn close again – Bular, if his panicked memory served – and his breath was like meat left out too long, blowing in his face. "He's small for my taste, but he'll be a pleasant snack."
Jim wouldn't pass out. He refused. But he couldn't keep himself from shaking. He didn't even know how he'd gotten here; last thing remembered, Strickler had called him to his office, saying he had a call from Jim's mother, and then…
Then he was tied to a chair in front of some bizarre stone arch and forced at sword point to read off a cue card, Strickler standing there and watching the whole thing. Bular was something out of a horrifying story, a huge, stony creature that kept talking about eating him, and the museum director Nomura was something called a "changeling" or "Impure," if Bular's term was correct. She was made of a violet rock and her green eyes glowed.
"Mr. Strickler," he managed. "This…this is some kind of joke, right?"
Strickler wouldn't look at him. Jim swallowed. "You're seriously going to try to kill my Mom? You – you're my teacher! You came to our house! I thought you lo-"
"Be quiet Young Atlas or we will have to gag you." Strickler finally looked at him and Jim screamed. His eyes were red, sclera yellow, and they glowed in a cold, contemptuous way.
"Way to go, now he's going to hyperventilate," Nomura said wryly. "You remember you were here to keep him halfway calm?" Bular on the other hand inhaled.
"Ah fear. What a pleasant seasoning. I hope she's late." He showed Jim his teeth and Jim shut his eyes tight. There was no way this was happening, these lunatics wanted to hurt his mom over some brooch or something and it didn't make sense-
The door clicked. Another person came in, their flesh a sort of lemon-yellow stone. Strickler's posture became rigid as Mom walked through the door. The other person slipped away uneasily, as if they feared her presence.
She was wearing a baggy rain coat, soaked from the storm outside. In one hand she held an amulet, glittering with rain. Droplets ran down her glasses and her expression…Jim had never seen her make that face.
Jim fought for his voice. "Mom," he whispered.
"Hi hon. Are you okay?" Her eyes warmed when she saw him and Jim couldn't stop tears when she smiled. "Don't be scared. Everything's going to be okay." She turned to Strickler and her eyes became cold again. "Walt, I have to admit. I am really disappointed in you. It's one thing to go after me, but to go after my son?"
Strickler blinked once and his mouth moved slightly. "Barbara."
"Don't." She faced Bular, toying with the amulet. The monster watched it hungrily. "This is what you want, right? And me to use it to open Killahead?"
"Precisely. Do that and your precious little boy won't be hurt." Jim gasped when Bular grabbed the back of the chair he was tied to, shaking it like he weighed nothing. "Though I can't promise the same for you."
Mom looked around the room thoughtfully. "Sure. In fact, here." She pitched the amulet and it soared into the air, clinking as it rolled into the corner of the room. Bular stared at her and then paced toward it, steps loud and making the room rattle. Then Mom pulled something out of her pocket and Jim barely knew what was happening.
It looked like a heavy-duty flashlight, the kind a miner might use. She switched it on and for some reason the light was purple. A UV bulb? Jim watched in bewilderment as she shone it directly into Nomura's face.
The woman screamed, stone hissing and steaming where the light hit. "It's a trick!" she screeched. Bular spun in place and roared, the very floor vibrating with the noise. The doors burst open and another huge figure came though, this one with green fur on its head and gray stone for skin. It met the roar and galloped on all fours toward Bular, colliding with him and pushing him back toward the corner. The two began to wrestle, the gray one gripping Bular in a sort of bear hug.
Nomura cursed and Jim tensed as she lifted the blade, but Mom's grimace grew darker and she opened her hand. The amulet, lying in the corner only a moment before, appeared in her hand with a flash of blue light. At the same moment another troll, this one blue with four arms and six eyes, barged forward and shone another flashlight right in Nomura's face. Two beams were too much – she retreated, and suddenly she was the museum curator again. She blinked against the light but it obviously no longer hurt.
Strickler finally moved. "Barbara, stop this! If you value Jim's life-!"
Mom bared her teeth. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!" The amulet flew to her chest and brilliant armor swarmed over her body and limbs, covering her head to toe. A horned helmet fixed itself around her head and a long, large blade appeared in her hand. She tossed her flashlight to the blue troll.
At the same moment the vent nearest them popped open, as if something had kicked out the metal plating. A hissing noise emanated from it and Jim realized Nomura had been pushed in that direction on purpose. She coughed once, wavering and stumbling. "The heck…?" she began.
"Nitrous oxide. And a few concentrated anesthetics." Mom said helpfully. Strickler wavered and in that moment Mom was there, swinging the blade at him. He danced back, eyes wild with shocked anger. "They work a lot better on humans than trolls."
The blue troll directed both beams at Bular, careful to keep the light off the gray troll. Nomura was dazed, dizzy, and Mom cut the robes binding Jim's hands. If terror hadn't been pumping through his body, he might have been amazed. "Stay behind me sweetie. Things might get messy."
"Mom?" he began. Strickler moved forward with a speed and sharpness that frankly scared him; people shouldn't move that fast. A knife was in his hand. But Mom met him, and instead of lashing out with the blade she grabbed his wrist, dropping the sword that was way too huge for a person to hold to grab it, and twisted his arm. In the same move she brought her knee up.
"Rule number three!" Strickler made a sound probably audible to dogs in the next state and fell clutching himself. The gas from the vent went silent.
Nomura was there suddenly, swinging at his mother drunkenly, and Jim grabbed the nearest thing he could find – some kind of ancient vase that was probably older than the Constitution. He apologized mentally to whatever culture had made it before hurling it at the woman. It shattered against her face and she instantly looked horrified.
"That was Mesopotamian you human piece of-!"
Mom hit her with the hilt of her sword in the moment of distraction. It had flown back to her hand like magic. "No swearing at my boy!" she snapped. Jim yelped as something else came running toward them, scrambling on all fours like a chimp in a hurry.
"Boss lady, goblins are heading this way! Let's get the heck outta here!" It wore a diaper and had bulging yellow eyes, and before Jim could make sense of it his mother had grabbed his arm.
"Honey, I need you to get outside and go home. There's someone there to protect you. His name is Draal, you can trust him. He's got a bad attitude but he's on our side." Jim stared at his mother, stunned. Her warm, smiling face had turned into that of a warrior, a fierce mother bear, and her glasses were cracked from the fight.
"But-But what about…?"
She kissed his cheek and turned him around, patting him between the shoulder blades and scooting him toward the door. "Mama's gotta see about killing Bular."
End of Prompt Thirteen
Please note that I am hardly a chemist and am not really certain of the details of how concentrated nitrous oxide or gaseous anesthesia would have to be to make someone woozy. I did do some research, and I really do hope the FBI doesn't come after me for researching how much laughing gas it takes to knock someone out. Please be a dear and chalk it up under the same grace as shows where characters can get thrown into a wall by creatures that weigh more than cars without their spine splintering.
Don't pretend Barbara wouldn't use any and all resources to protect people if she was chosen. That Krav Maga would be very helpful in combat training. Also I feel she would be able to keep the secret better than Jim simply because of the benefit of being an adult and not being stuck in a school with Strickler, who found out about the amulet just by glimpsing it in Jim's book bag.