chAPTER 8

I thought I'd seen it all in Empire City and New Marais. That nothing could really surprise me anymore. I even told myself over and over again "No, that'd never happen." Then it did.

Someone asked me to save their damn cat from a damn tree.

I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing before climbing up the tree and retrieving the feisty animal. Mundane to the last moment, the woman thanked me before Humanity, Jeremiah Slade's group of rejects, attacked the two of us. I used a frost shield to protect the woman as we ran to the safety of her house. After making sure she was safely inside, I turned and took down the attackers.

Once the Humanity goons were down, I checked on the woman to make sure that she was okay. Other than a scrape from me accidentally pushing her to the ground when the attack first hit, she was fine. She thanked me for the help and I left, still waiting on word from anyone about someone who could help against the Beast.

I've never been the most patient of people. I've always been better at going out to get something done than waiting for it to happen. To have to actually wait for info on the Beast, to not be able to just go to it and finish this thing, was almost more than I could handle. New Marais was a cakewalk compared to this.

My phone suddenly beeped, and Heller's voice filled my ear. "MacGrath! Conduit activity, over by Welling Square!"

I frowned. That wasn't a lot of information. "Anyone we would know about?"

"Hell if I know. Just heard that shit's flying around over there, and that a Conduit is responsible for it. I'm sending the location to your GPS."

"I'll check it out."

We ended the conversation and I ran toward the blip that had just been put on my GPS, lamenting the familiarity of the situation. In a way, Heller reminded me a lot of Moya, especially his attitude with me. Though he seemed to trust me a touch more than when we first met, it was most likely due to the fact that I was his species only hope of survival. He didn't like me, and he damn sure didn't want to be friends. Believe me, the feeling was mutual.

My thoughts were interrupted by a couple of flying humans, who hit the ground a little too hard for their liking. Frowning, I took a couple of steps toward them, trying to see what the hell was going on. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were both armed. Gang members? Military? I had no way of knowing for sure.

An explosion distracted me, and I frowned as I turned toward the source. More humans, fighting with what appeared to be debris. They were shooting at them, which would have been comical if they hadn't looked so damn afraid. Looking at the source of the chaos, I found their fear was well-justified.

It was Alden Tate.

I stopped moving as soon as I saw him. While I'd figured he was still alive and somewhat well, I still wasn't expecting to see him here and now. And from the look on his face, he wasn't expecting to see me either.

He looked as though he lost a couple years in his complexion, as well as his stance. Instead of bent over like a man hobbling on a cane, he stood straighter, and looked more intimidating. He also changed his apparel from a homeless man to just an old one. He wore baggy jeans and a black sweat shirt, and for one reason or another he had no shoes. And, not surprisingly, he looked pissed to see me. "You," he spat.

Recovering from my surprise, I shook my head. "What are to doing here, Alden?" I demanded.

"Exacting justice."

I shook my head. "Turn it down a notch, you're gonna kill somebody."

Snarling, he lifted a nearby car using his telekinesis and threw it straight for me, and I released a blast to send it back. It didn't get far, landing harmlessly in front of the bridge over a creek. "You never were a strong as I am!" Alden yelled.

Not wasting any time, I ran forward, firing a few lightning bolts in his direction to keep him occupied. Even angrier than before, he held his hand out to his side, seeming to aim at a pile of trash bags and cans. They lifted into the air, and seemed to morph from a pile of junk to a dog-like crab creature.

I groaned at the sight of them. I hated these things.

The junk monsters ran for me, skittering across the pavement too quick for me to pick them off with my bolts. Instead, I threw another blast, catching most of them to fly backwards and explode. There were still a few, though, and they all jumped at me at once. I slid underneath them and drew the Amp, ready to bat them down. But there was one behind me I wasn't looking out for. It jumped on my back and began digging its claws into me. Grabbing onto it, I hurled it in the direction of the others before losing my footing and falling toward the little ravine. Using my static thrusters, I boosted myself up to the power lines over it, grabbing on and hoisting myself up. Another junk monster was already there, making its way toward me. Lifting up my arm, I zapped the pile of junk down an out before sliding across the line to get a line of sight with Alden.

As Alden came into view, so did another car he threw at me. Instinctively, I threw another blast, knocking it away. Then, thinking quickly, I jumped after it and landed on it while it was still in the air. Thinking quickly, I focused energy into my hands and spread them out, creating a kinetic field that kept the car in the air. Alden looked concerned for the first time since our little fight started. Smirking slightly, I leapt off the car and blasted it, the extra energy from the kinetic pulse sending the car flying back towards him. He held his hands in front of him, his telekinesis shielding him from the attack. I landed on the ground a few yards from him, and surprisingly, he smiled at me. "Impressive," he said simply.

I shrugged. "I aim to please," I replied nonchalantly. His fist clenched tightly, dust and debris beginning to fly up around him. I clenched my own, electricity sparking around both of them.

We glared at each other for a few moments, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Every instinct I had told me to attack first, to bring him down before he got the chance to do the same to me. But something held me back. Some nagging feeling that there was a better way to handle this. If Alden had the same feeling, he barely showed it. He looked more ready to kill me than when he lost the Ray Sphere in Empire City.

Shots suddenly rang out, barely missing either of us, signaling the start of an ambush from Humanity. Turning from Alden, I fired bolts toward the grunts, hoping to at least keep them suppressed until I could deal with the more manic Conduit. I risked a glance to Alden and was surprised to see him also preoccupying himself with Slade's goons. We may not have liked each other, but we did share a common enemy, at least for now. He'd hold. I now turned my full attention to the ambushers, reaching for the Amp only to remember that I dropped it in the creek when Alden's junk piles tackled me off the bridge. Guess it's the hard way, I thought.

Two of the grunts came at me at once, shotguns at the ready. I shocked one with a bolt and ducked under the other as he fired, the bird shot flying harmlessly over my head. I grabbed the gun's barrel and laid some electricity into it, igniting the gunpowder and causing the rear end to explode and embed itself into the carrier's skin. By now, the other shotgunner was recovering. I threw a blast to get him off his feet, then I brought my arm in a downward arc, summoning a lightning strike that hit the guy dead in the chest.

We weren't yet in the clear, though. More of Humanity's soldiers came for us, firing weapons, throwing grenades, one even had an RPG. I blasted the rocket back to the sender, blowing him and a couple of his friends backwards. Realizing I was running low on energy, I did a scan of the environment, hoping to find a source of electricity to draw from. Luckily, there was a car that Alden hadn't thrown around, and I drew as much energy from it as I could. It wasn't as good as a fuse box, but it would do.

More screaming caught my attention, and I saw Alden throwing four grunts into a nearby wall, the humans landing with a sickening crunch. As the last of the ambushers ran away, Alden started to follow. I placed an arm on his shoulder to stop him. "One fight at a time, Tate," I cautioned.

"What the hell do you care, Electric Man?" he demanded.

"Seeing as I don't have a death wish, I care quite a lot. Any move a Conduit makes will come to me, Slade will make sure of that."

Alden glared at a few of the unconscious fighters. "He send them?" he asked. I nodded. "Then he'll go down with the rest of them." He turned his gaze to me. "Just stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."

I sighed. "Look, I know you were screwed over when you were a kid. What Kessler did... I get it. I've got my own reasons for hating him." Alden seemed to understand, at least to some degree. "But there's something a lot bigger out there than you and Kessler. Than you and me. If we're gonna have a chance at surviving that thing's rampage," I took a breath, seriously questioning myself for even considering this, "we're gonna have to work together."

I held out my hand, and he looked at it for a moment. "That... thing. It's really a threat?" I nodded, glad he at least knew about the Beast. Made me wonder what else he knew... Alden continued. "Then I'll work with you." He took my hand and have it a sharp shake before pulling me closer and glaring straight into my eyes. "But this does not make us friends."

Truth be told, I could live with that.