VI
The Mobile Command Center in New Jersey was bustling with activity… but then again, it always was. Officers ran this way and that, monitoring the land, sky, and water around Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey.
A group of men marched up to a tent on the east side of the compound and saluted. As they did, a tall, but stocky man named Hicks emerged from the tent.
"Gimme your regular reports please." Hicks said.
"Everything's normal," said Sgt. O'Neil. "Absolutely nothing to report."
Hicks smirked. "One thing you should learn about this city is that there is always something to report. Do you have the data on that mass fight down in the subway?"
"Yes sir." O'Neil said. "And it was resolved very quickly thanks to Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels."
Hicks's face turned sour. "I hate Sliwa," he muttered. Before he could speak again, a massive crash rocked the tent and sent boxes and personnel tumbling to either side.
"What the hell was that?" Lt. Dan cried. Another boom had the same effect, and the base began to panic.
Hicks looked out across the Hudson towards Manhattan, and was aghast to see orange flames spurting up all over the place, followed by more quakes and crashes.
"Somebody better tell me what the fuck is going on!" Hicks screamed, scrambling to get out of the tent. "This had better not be the A-rabs again!"
"It's not, sir!" said Dr. Kravin, tripping over some barrels, "It appears that this was entirely unintentional!"
Hicks snorted. "Yeah, okay. Then tell me what the hell caused it." Kravin was silent.
More crashes continued to rock the base, and everyone could see flames shooting sky high from the island of Manhattan.
Suddenly, an unkempt young man in a leather jacket and baseball cap came running up to Hicks.
"Who the fuck are you?" Hicks asked.
"My name is Jimmy." The man said. "And we, er, uh, got something that might shed some light on this whole thing." He looked around him, then called, "Freddie! Freddie! Get over here!"
"Jimmy!" said another man, running over, "You know that bad feeling I always get when something really bad is gonna happen? I got that feeling right before this shit, man."
"Whatever!" Jimmy said, rolling his eyes, "Just show him the tape!"
"Oh yeah…" Freddie took a tape out of a camcorder and quickly shoved it in a nearby TV. Everybody watched as Times Square showed up on the screen. Then, right before their eyes, flames jumped up out of the ground, and the earth began shaking.
"It's like it just happened by itself!" Hicks exclaimed. "But what the fuck? This sort of shit doesn't just happen!"
As the blaring of fire trucks and rescue workers made their way towards the city, the emergency phone in the main trailer rang.
"I'll get it." Said Sgt. O'Neil. He dashed inside and picked it up. "NJMCC, O'Neil here."
"O'Neil, my name is Bob Tarkin, I'm with the Manhattan Science Research Lab."
"So you're safe?"
"No. In fact, our lab was destroyed last night in a very similar fashion to the destruction now occuring."
"So do you have any info or not?" O'Neil snapped.
"Despite how ludicrous this may sound, we have reason to believe that this destruction is being caused by one of our creatures that escaped last night."
O'Neil laughed. "Yeah, right, buddy. What kind of animal could be causing this?"
"As a matter of fact," Tarkin said smoothly, "It's not so much an animal as it is a person. We were studying a girl that evolved from a creature we found in the sewer, and she had claimed to be a goddess or something."
This made O'Neil laugh harder. "Yeah, right. And I'm Al Pacino."
"I too find it hard to comprehend," Tarkin conceded, "But again, we keep coming back to the connection between how our lab was destroyed and how Manhattan is being destroyed. Would you call it a coincidence?"
O'Neil fidgeted with the phone cord. "So where is this 'subject' now?"
"I told you, she escaped." Tarkin said. "However, I believe that if the military is capable of hunting down and finding the girl, they should do so to prevent further disaster."
O'Neil became firm. "So you want to divert our efforts, based solely on some 'goddess' theory?"
"Yes."
O'Neil sighed. "Let me talk it over with my superiors."
"Very well. I thank you for your time."
After a two-hour-long meeting, and having Tarkin on conference phone with the heads of the base, it was finally decided that the subject posed to big a threat to the city, and that it must be captured. And so, the tanks, planes, and jeeps were loaded up, and after each man earnestly crossed himself, they deployed to go and find Myria, Goddess of Destruction!