"Well great, what god are you? I don't think I've pissed off Athena yet. I know that one. Are you her?" I check in the direction Notos ran. She's already long gone. Thanks a lot, bitch.
"You'll not confuse me, villain! You can call me the Ice Queen, and I'm the one who should be asking questions. Why are you running around killing people and pretending to be me?" I finally turn to face the most recent person to impale me. That list is getting long. She's almost as short as Anna, with dark hair partially obscuring her brown eyes. She's already stabbing me and chewing me out, if I wasn't already taken, she'd be my type. She's wearing a genuine superhero costume, only missing the cape. Am I in a comic?
"I'm not pretending to be anyone. And I'm not a villain! You just let the villain get away."
The strange woman follows my gaze. "The fire woman? I assumed she was your partner. I'll find her next. But she's not the one that killed all of those people! How can you say you're not a villain? Everywhere you go I find a trail of bodies impaled by shards of ice! It's to the point that now when I try to save someone they run away out of fear that I'm you."
I look back at the bank. It's on fire. That's not good. "She killed two of those people," I offer weakly. It is really hard to make me sound like a good guy. "Everyone I killed was a mobster from another family. Killing them doesn't count. I haven't killed any innocents or anything."
She stares at me, her mouth hanging open. I don't think she buys my story. "Oh, so the tellers were actually mobsters? Like with tommy guns and stuff? Why do I find that hard to believe?"
"This isn't the twenties, lady. We use M16s like grown ups."
Her brows knit as she stares down at me. Harem pants swoosh as she shifts awkwardly. I don't think she's ever tried to assassinate someone before. "So you're a mobster too? So you are evil."
"I am a mobster, yes, but I'm not evil. We just took over the family from someone who actually was evil. Now my girlfriend runs it, and she's as good as they come. She knew that us sending this message was the only way to limit future bloodshed." I adjust myself into a sitting position. The motion sends waves of pain through my body from my various burns and holes. I check the javelin in my shoulder. It's lodged pretty firmly, taking it out is going to be a bitch.
"Killing doesn't save lives! That doesn't even make sense. Wait, girlfriend? Like, you're gay? I swear I didn't know. That's not why I'm attacking you. It's just the murder thing. I'm not a homophobe. Some of my best friends are gay. I'm a good guy, we accept everyone. Just not murderers, 'cause murder is wrong." She folds her arms over her chest, looking even less sure of herself than before. She's definitely new at this.
"Okay, and how is throwing a javelin at an injured woman better? Are you not trying to kill me? What exactly is your goal here?" With a slight tug the javelin comes free and the world disappears in a haze of white and red. I feel bile in my throat but I manage to keep it down. Ow. That hurt worse than branding. Not quite as bad as a flaming finger inside of your stomach though. Little bit more than a bullet in your ass.
She turns away, holding her hand to her mouth. "Don't just yank it out! That can't be safe! We need to get you to a hospital."
I let the spear roll away and freeze over my various wounds. The burns on my back are acting up again too. My body is a wreck. The hospital might not be the worst idea. "I'll look into it later. First, I have to kill Notos."
She turns back to me, her eyes narrow, her posture seeming more sure. "I won't let you kill anyone." A new spear appears in her hand.
"How're you going to stop me?" I haul myself to my feet. It's enough to make me see stars for a moment. I might actually not have another fight in me. No, I'll manage, I'm not losing to this idiot.
"I'll fight you and then I'll turn you over to the police. That's what superheroes do. We don't kill people!" Her finger prods my chest.
I grab her wrist and twist the hand behind her back, wrenching her off balance. "You clearly don't know what you're doing. Why don't you go home? This is dangerous and you're going to get yourself hurt. Superheroes aren't real, kid."
"I'm not a kid!" She tries to spin back around, with her fist flying in the general direction of my head.
Instead, I just drop her on her face. "Then stop acting like one. This is the real world, and in the real world when people go out looking for a fight, they either kill or get killed."
She sweeps her leg at me, knocking me back on my ass. My back hits the pavement and the burns ignite yet again. "You're just making excuses! No one has to die. I was given this power for a reason, and I'll use it to keep society safe. I won't have someone running around hurting people in my city!"
"So how'd you get your powers? Whole lineage of magical deadbeat dads?" Using a nearby car I manage to pull myself back to my feet. Unfortunately, if I let go of it, I'm genuinely convinced I'll fall back down. It has been a really long couple of days.
"What? No. My father is great. What does that even mean? I found this magical artifact – or maybe it found me – it's supposed to be the hunting spear of Skaldi, but it's just a weird bracelet. It never really made sense to me, but it gave me a calling. I can save the world. Are you okay?" She approaches me and offers me her shoulder, helping me finish righting myself.
I make a staff out of ice and elbow her in the gut, supporting myself on the new stick. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." I gently shove her over. Her stance is awful. This is why Uncle Pete made sure I at least knew how to box.
As she falls she grabs my wrist and pulls me on top of her. She looks up, her cheeks coloring. She screams. "Get off of me! I'm not that kind of girl. I don't swing that way, not that there's anything wrong with it." Fucking straight girls. "I'm not interested. No means no."
I headbutt her to make her shut up. "You're the one that pulled me over, you fucking idiot."
She clutches her nose. I may have broken it. "Superheroes don't use that kind of language," she replies, her voice nasally. Yeah, I definitely broke it.
"Oh for fuck's sake." I knock her hand aside and pull her nose back into place. She screams again. "Stop yelling! I was just fixing your nose."
"That doesn't seem very evil." She eyes me suspiciously, her lower lip protruding in a pout.
I roll my eyes and use my staff to help us both stand. "What's your name, kid?"
"I'm not a kid!"
"What's your name, fully grown adult woman?"
She sticks her tongue out at me. She is hardly proving her point. "I'm Jasmine. What's it to you, villain?"
"Name's Elsa. Now how about, instead of delaying me, you let me go kill the bitch who just set this neighborhood on fire?" I gesture around us. The fire has spread from the bank. It's feeling very hot. My staff is starting to melt.
"Oh." She swallows, gazing at the flames. "I mean, no, I won't let you kill anyone!"
"Good grief." I swipe at the back of her leg, knocking it out from under her, then head back to my car. I need to put some clothes on before my goddamn armor melts. I manage to climb into the backseat without blacking out from pain, and change back into the three-piece Armani suit I'd left in the car.
The door is wrenched open and the wannabe superhero glares in at me. "We're not finished yet. I told you, I'm taking you to the police."
Doesn't she ever quit? "There's someone running around in your town causing all kinds of damage, and you're more concerned about the harmless mafiosa who's only a threat to other murderers?"
"Even murderers have a right to a trial!"
"Then why are you attacking me?"
"So you can have a trial! I'm taking you to the police! I keep telling you this." She materializes a pair of handcuffs. So she can make more than spears. I don't think Anna would approve of me letting another woman cuff me.
I kick her in the face, sending her flying back, and giving me enough room to climb out of the car. She's adjusting her jaw, but I managed to miss her nose. Good. I had just fixed it. "I'm not the one you want, believe me. Fine, I'm not one of the good guys, but I'm hardly one of the bad guys."
"You're a murderer!" She clamps one end of the cuffs around my wrist. I use them to fling her over my shoulder, smacking her into the trunk of the car. I then punch her in the temple.
Her body sags and she drops to the ground. I work at materializing a key. Ice forms in the lock and slowly takes shape until I can turn it and free myself. I let the cuffs fall to Jasmine's feet. Now what am I going to do with her? I can't just leave the stupid girl here, who knows what could happen to her?
I open up the trunk and toss her in it. Not used to having live bodies in there, but hey, I've never been averse to breaking traditions.
Once I'm behind the wheel, I pull my phone from my pocket. The cracked screen shows two missed calls from Pete, one from Tony, another two from the estate's landline, and two more from a couple numbers I don't have saved. What the hell happened? I return Uncle Pete's call.
"Elsa?" he asks.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Oh, thank God. Are you okay?"
"Not especially. I ran into the same chick who saved your life last time."
I can hear him gulp over the phone. I guess he didn't like being reminded that I tried to kill him yesterday. That's fair. "She just came here too. I don't know what happened, but she charged through the guards and straight into your father's – Anna's office."
My heart stops in my chest. I swear saliva actually freezes in my throat, the lump is so solid. "Is she okay?" No. Please. She can't have hurt Anna. She can't. She can try to kill me – hell, she can kill me – but not that. Anything but that.
He takes in a breath.
"Pete, answer me. Is she okay?"
"We're not sure. She's injured. Badly. It looks like she was stabbed, but Notos ran away before we made it to her. She's unconscious, but she's on her way to the hospital."
"Which hospital? I'll be right there." I turn the key in the ignition, ready to floor it to whichever hospital I need.
"Martha's driving her to St. John's. I don't know when she'll be able to take visitors."
"She can take them right the fuck now. I'll be there in five minutes."
"All right. Thank you. I have to stay here, someone needs to keep the men in line. There's utter chaos. She had just taken over, and now she's already – it doesn't look great. I need to make sure that no one tries to mutiny while she's recovering."
The tires squeal as I take a left through a red light, cutting off a few oncoming vehicles. I'm immortal, they can try and hit me all they want. "Thank you, Pete. There's no one else I would trust with that. I'll give her your love."
"Do whatever you can. I don't know how those powers of yours work, but we need her. Please look after her, Elsa."
"I will. Always."
~o~
I make the six mile trip in four minutes. I may have seen some police lights at one point, but I left them in my dust. I fly through the parking lot and park in between two vans, then dash to the emergency room.
Before I make it to the desk to ask where she is, I see her being wheeled in through the front door. All of the color is gone from her skin, her hair clings damply to her forehead, blood is already soaking the bandages tied around her waist. She looks like hell. "Anna." The word scarcely makes a sound as tears flood my eyes. I rush towards her and grip her hand tightly. "I'm here, Anna."
The men carrying her in don't meet my eyes. We have our own gurney at the house, I think this is it, so presumably they're two of ours, but I can't take my eyes off of her long enough to see who. It does explain why they wouldn't want to risk offending me. They failed to protect her. They had one job. They're supposed to be security at our compound and they let the bitch fly in and hurt her.
I let her do it. I let her get away. She did this just to hurt me.
No, Jasmine let her get away! I was chasing after her when that idiot impaled me. If she wants a villain then I'll give her one. I'll crush her useless little windpipe. It's her fault! It's her fault that Anna was hurt. I would have killed Notos if not for her!
I want to run back to my car and strangle the life out of the stupid girl, but I can't leave Anna's side. I need to be here the second she wakes up. I need to be here to keep her safe from Notos – from anything. I won't let anyone hurt her ever again.
Apparently we've been admitted. A nurse comes to us, with one of the men. He must have gone to the desk. I hadn't noticed. We're guided to another room. They transfer her to a bed and a doctor comes in.
One of the men says something to him. I can't even hear it. My entire world is Anna. The slight rise and fall of her chest is the only sign that she's still alive. It's too much. I can't lose her.
A nurse starts to pull her away and I place a warning hand on his arm, the sleeve frosting over under my fingers.
"We're taking her into surgery," he explains, his voice calm and soothing. "We'll do everything we can for her. It'll be okay."
My grip loosens and my hand falls back to my side. "If anything happens to her –" the threat sounds hollow, even to me. Everything about me is hollow right now. I can't lose her. I'm a goddamn god. It's not fair. There has to be something I can do. Something other than just sitting here while they work on her.
"Just leave it to us. She's in good hands."
They take her away. I watch as they wheel her into a room that I'm not allowed inside. I want to threaten, cajole, or force my way in, but I can't risk making things tougher for her. I have to let them do their job.
I have to kill Notos.