Chapter 177
Getting to the Convention Centre was a pain and a half and they had to throw the Sanctuary off of them multiple times as they insisted that they must have finished with their assignment because they had finished all the other assignments quickly. Even Ryan had pulled a face at that logic.
Once at the Convention Centre, Valkyrie followed Dexter and Tanith through security, having left all their weapons behind in the car, far away. A massive building like this had a lot of security and Valkyrie found it hard to believe that a bomb the size of a building had been brought in – that was, until they snuck out the back side and went over to the North Hall, a little out of the way of the main building, and they all saw the building work. It had all been abandoned for the holiday, which surprised Valkyrie considering how much money this construction must be costing, but she was very grateful. They just had to disarm the bomb and have it destroyed before Foe's gang did the opposite.
There were four halls, so it certainly took some time, but Valkyrie was the one to find it, Ryan practically stuck to her hip as she walked around. She pulled the tarp off the box, which was built into the back of a stage with room for performances before the grand finale of setting off the Machine. It was a monstrosity of a box but also a lot smaller than Valkyrie had been led to believe. It must have been the height of a lorry, and slightly wider in width but not massively. Very metallic and almost crude from the outside, very simple. It almost baffled Valkyrie that this box was enough to destroy the entire world, but she still pushed Ryan further behind her body, just in case he tripped into the control panel and ended them all.
"You found it," Tanith's voice echoed into the dark room. All the blinds were closed and they hadn't turned on the lights. "It's smaller than I expected."
"Same. We should call the Sanctuary to have them disassemble it. Maybe Kenspeckle would be willing to help."
"He is a genius," Tanith said in a sing-song voice, pulling out her phone to speak to the Sanctuary.
"Is this really it?" Ryan said after a moment of silence when Tanith had left the room.
Valkyrie looked over the Doomsday Machine, taking Ryan off the stage and down to the open floor. "Seems like it. We'll find out when it's taken apart, I suppose."
Ryan screwed his face up. "But… what if it isn't? And Foe's gang are somewhere else? Ready to, you know, capture me?"
"You can't think like that, Ryan," she said quietly, looking at the floor. "Right now, Nadia and Tanith's baby are at our hotel, alone. There's nothing Nadia can do to protect them both, she's not a fighter at all. She's a sweet girl, suited to being at the home and looking after her friends and family, maybe running a business and some employees. I'm not being mean to her, it's just that she's a home girl, strong in a lot of other ways, and that puts her in danger because people could seriously harm her and the baby to get to the rest of us. If I think about that for too long then I'd never be able to leave her alone. And that's not fair to either of us."
Ryan looked at her with a bit lip. "Has she been hurt before?"
"Yes. Recently. We're training her to be stronger but she'd never want to be at the level she'd need to be to stand against people like Foe's gang. Any one of them would have her dead in less than five seconds. They could have done that already and I wouldn't know for hours because I'm here with you instead, or any other mission. She knows the risks of dating me and so do I but – well, what else can I do but not think about the bad bits and focus on the positive?"
Ryan didn't seem to know what to say back to that so he just nodded. Tanith came back into the room and told them the Sanctuary was on the way and Dexter followed her, having already gotten Kenspeckle's agreeance to take apart the Machine.
"That wasn't so hard," Dexter grinned, stretching and putting his hands on the back of his head, showing off a sliver of waist and a trail of hair. Valkyrie caught Tanith looking and shoved her.
Tanith went to fight back when they all heard a laugh ring out. Valkyrie sense something behind her and spun around to see nothing but the Machine. There was another laugh, this time from somewhere else and Ryan squeaked, grabbing Valkyrie's arm. She pushed him off.
"Who's there?" Valkyrie asked the dark.
"You don't recognise me?" The voice giggled. "Not even Sword Girl?"
Tanith growled. "It's Springheeled Jack," she said simply.
Valkyrie knew, vaguely, who that was. Something not human, but certainly humanoid. It considered itself male and could jump to extreme heights and lengths but seemed to be the only of its kind. It thought and acted like a human, bar the psychopathic tendencies, but its face… it was said to be naturally slightly green, hideous, possessed claws and he always wore a hat that never fell off, much to Tanith's aggravation.
"Come out, Jack," Valkyrie called. "We would like to talk to you."
"So you can just arrest me again?" He called back from somewhere else.
"Well, I've never arrested you before, have I? I'm sure Tanith can restrain herself for a little while," Valkyrie replied.
There was a good thirty seconds of no sounds at all. Valkyrie, Tanith and Dexter were ready to fight or bargain and were getting antsy, when they realised there was a scuffle somewhere and three people fell into view from behind a tarp. Remus Crux, Springheeled Jack and that idiot, Vaurien Scapegrace. On the other side of the room, a tut, followed by Mercy, Foe and Samuel. Obloquy wasn't with them.
"You found the Machine, then," Foe said, ignoring the three men that were standing themselves up. Valkyrie glared viciously at Mercy, who smirked back.
"Your pet doesn't look so good," Dexter said, looking at Samuel who was tense with his vanes popping out. It must be getting late. Valkyrie had thought it was still afternoon, but she supposed it must be evening. They really didn't need a vampire running loose in here.
Foe shrugged. "He's taken the last drop of his serum and that's all that's keeping him from ripping off his skin and killing us all right now. Your boyfriend took something similar didn't he, kid? What was his name? Caelan?"
Valkyrie took a moment to catch up to what he meant and then snarled at him. "Don't you talk about that."
"Bad break-up was it? Actually, don't answer that. I already heard about it," he grinned viciously.
"I thought you were a lesbian?" Ryan muttered.
Foe smiled, Mercy laughed and Valkyrie swatted him with the back of her hand. "See?" Mercy snickered. "Told you he fancies her."
She felt her hackles raise. "Shut up about him," she snapped. "What's the matter, Mercy – jealous that he likes me and no one in their right mind would ever like you?"
Mercy glared. "Plenty have liked me."
"Yeah," Valkyrie said, "I've heard."
Mercy's glare turned to a scowl. "Not like that."
"You don't have to justify yourself to me."
"Says the girl who defends her father after he caused a terrorist attack."
Valkyrie was about to retaliate but Crux beat her to it – "Shut up, both of you!" He shouted, storming away from Jack and Scapegrace to stand next to the maniacs. "Stop calling each other sluts and let's get this over with!"
Both Mercy and Valkyrie froze for half a moment. "Excuse me?" Mercy hissed.
"I never called her that," Valkyrie defended, watching Jack hop up on top of the Doomsday Machine out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be enjoying the show. Scapegrace was just cowering behind them. "That's just too far."
"Enough!" Crux snarled. "Our Master gave us the orders. Get the boy. Kill the rest. Enough talk."
Crux pulled a giant machete out from under his coat. Valkyrie put her hand up. "Wait! I have to ask something first!" Crux and Foe's gang stopped. "Why do you want to destroy the world?"
She saw Jack's head tilt but he made no move. "There's no more need for its existence," Mercy snapped. "There's no point in life."
"And the Doomsday Machine will really blow it all up? Including you?"
Mercy didn't reply, she just launched herself towards them.
Valkyrie pushed Ryan behind her and Dexter dropped his phone that he'd been texting for reinforcements on and met Mercy's attack. She pushed the woman back with her fist, and then rolled to the side to avoid the stream of energy coming from Mercy's mouth. Ryan screamed behind her but wasn't hurt. It melted the ground everywhere it touched. She desperately wanted to get this bitch arrested – or other otherwise end her – today.
Tanith was thrown bodily into Mercy a moment later, cutting off the stream. Valkyrie took her moment as the other women rolled to their feet and touched Mercy on the head, pouring energy into her skull. Mercy jigged and fell to her knees, her hair catching fire, and Valkyrie let go quickly as she felt bile rise in her throat. She hadn't meant it to be that strong. She almost put out the flames when she suddenly turned and had to punch Scapegrace in the face, making him cry out and fall to the ground with a whimper.
She saw Ryan being dragged up the stage and Dexter fighting Foe, and then felt a prick of pain in her head. She swirled again, seeing that Mercy was now on her hands and knees – she tried not to be relieved she wasn't actually a brain dead – to see Obloquy running for her. She threw energy at him but he didn't fall to her magic again. He sidestepped and tackled her, immediately causing her extreme, head-splitting pain the second he touched her. She wailed and couldn't move, didn't even feel the crunch of her collar bone or the split in her lip as he punched her.
As soon as it started, it ended. Tanith stood over her, one leg on either side of her torso as she traded hands with Obloquy. The man was sweating badly, obviously exhausted from the exertion on his magic hurting her like that, but she was too weak to see that herself. She stayed staring at the ceiling until the noise came back and she heard her name called and the pain suddenly disappeared as if it never happened at all. She pulled herself to her feet and looked around. Mercy was on the ground, gasping breaths but unconscious. Obloquy had been stabbed but she wasn't sure who by. Dexter had Ryan behind him and they were backed into a corner by Foe who was hunting them. Samuel was beginning to pull his skin off as he transformed, Crux was walking towards her with his knife, and Jack was standing in front of the Machine angrily. She took a breath and focused on Crux.
She ducked his first swipe and kicked him in the crotch. He swung again and she stepped in, pushing his armed hand back and zapping his arm so that he dropped the knife. Unfortunately, she was too slow to stop him from grabbing her around the waist and jumping on her – she fell down, disoriented, feeling his legs wrapped around her arse and bending her spine painfully. She gritted her teeth and headbutted him, feeling the panic when she heard the full-fledged vampire howl. Crux had no cares for that though, punching her back and only grinning manically above her when she started wriggling to get free. She heard her name called again, and saw Tanith drop next to her only to pick up the machete and run at the vampire, having no time for her. Obloquy and Foe were making their escape, leaving them with Mercy and Samuel to deal with. She moved her head, hearing the bones crack in Crux's fist when it collided with the concrete floor. Spittle flew from his mouth onto her face. He flinched back from the pain and she flipped them over, getting the upper hand. She moved so her knees were on his crotch, making him scream, and pounded him with fists, ignoring the burn in her collar even as it forced tears from her eyes.
She had only a moment where she saw the bluish tint of skin and then had thrown herself off of Crux to escape the snapping jaws of the vampire.
It sadly ignored Crux and went only for her, snarling and not caring when she hit it with magic at all. There was no use running – she shouted at it and it roared, jumping up, twisting in mid-air to avoid the steaming magic she sent to turn it to ash, and had the wind blown out of her when it landed on her, racking its claws over her again and again but unable to get through her Bespoke coat.
They both heard Ryan's shouts to get the creature to follow him, and it did. Valkyrie cursed and jumped up to help when Erskine and Anton came skidding into the hall. Erskine put his hand out and the creature soared into the air as far as the ceiling went, and then he pulled his arm down, hard, and the vampire hit the concrete with a sickening thwack. Its leg twitched once and then no more.
"Well, fuck me," Valkyrie heaved, hunching over.
Crux laughed behind her and Scapegrace's nervous laugh followed. They all turned on Crux, who walked towards Valkyrie again as if no one else was there.
It didn't take long for Dexter, Anton, Erskine, Tanith and Valkyrie to subdue him and get him in handcuffs alongside the unconscious Mercy and pleading Scapegrace. Jack coughed from the stage.
"Sorry about that," he grinned disgustingly. "It seems I was lied to by this group of foul fellows. You wouldn't mind terribly if I ran along and you didn't fight it, would you? Seeing as how I did save yours and Blondie's lives when you were all knocked out there for a moment, hmm?"
Valkyrie glanced at Tanith, who shrugged. "Will you leave American?" She asked. "We have business here."
He shrugged. "'S'pose I can, Miss. Sorry about the mix up. I don't want nothing to do with blowing up the world."
"Neither," she muttered, and he bounced onto the beams way above them.
"Thank you!" He called, and was gone.
"He's strange," Ryan said.
"Yeah," she said. "Fuck, my head feels awful."
"You were knocked out for at least five minutes," Tanith said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should have a rest and meet us later?"
"I was?"
"Obloquy's magic is quite damaging," Anton said. "I did not feel like myself for several days after being subjected to his torture."
"I don't have time for that," she moaned.
"It will get better though," he said with a soft smile.
She sighed and demanded to know when the bomb disposal unit would arrive with Kenspeckle.
"Soon," Dexter said. "But before that, we need to tell you something. You see, when we were at Crasis' house, me and Tanith worked something out."
"Yeah?" She said, sitting on the edge of the stage. When she stayed still, the world didn't spin nearly as much and her thoughts were clearer. It didn't hurt, but it was uncomfortable.
"It's about Ryan. See, he told us Deacon Maybury is actually alive."
"What? Really?" She asked.
"Yep," he smiled, putting a hand around Ryan's shoulders. "Our ride over here confirmed it too. Remember when Ryan put his drink on the map? It circled the Convention Centre. And then he needed to pee three times and made us stop, which caused us delays. And Ryan, you haven't wanted to call home or tell anyone where you are. Isn't it strange that a fifteen-year-old would just travel across countries to escape a group of killers rather than go to the police?"
Ryan tried to pull back but Dexter didn't let him go. Valkyrie started to get worried. "What do you mean? I've travelled alone before, loads! And – and I didn't call home because I was already running away," he admitted with a blush. "It had nothing to do with Foe."
"And then you went to the library," Dexter continued. "You knew exactly where to go to get that key. You knew where it was."
"I did not!"
"Ryan, what I'm trying to say is, you're not really Ryan. Your body has been made by Crasis just as he did for Mercy. This body isn't real. And all your memories? They also aren't real. You are Deacon Maybury. You used your own magic to mask your personality and turn yourself into an ordinary young man so that no one would look at you or cause suspicion. Exactly what you needed to hide from your problems until your magic failed and you started having gaps. You started going places that Foe's gang noticed, and then you decided to suddenly go to America and collect this little key. That's how they knew you were you."
Ryan spluttered. "That's not true! I live with my mum in Ireland and I go to school there! I wouldn't remember that or – or – I wouldn't love my mum if I wasn't real!"
"Your mother doesn't exist," Dexter said more softly, looking the boy in the eyes. "Neither do your feelings. Right now, we need your help to disassemble the bomb, and then you're going to turn back into Deacon Maybury. Alright? It's not going to hurt. But I think even you are starting to remember things that don't add up. Aren't you?"
Ryan went quiet and tears started to fill his eyes. Valkyrie looked away. She hadn't suspected Ryan wasn't Ryan this whole time. Tanith came over to the stage and put her arms around Valkyrie and they hugged. Ryan sniffed a few times, crying into Dexter's shoulder, and then asked if Deacon would be really mad if he helped destroy the bomb. Dexter said he would be and Ryan agreed to do it right in time for Kenspeckle to come in with a group of other people to disarm the bomb, plus Fletcher. He grinned at them and then cringed when he saw Ryan's tear-stained face.
Oof poor Ryan.
In other news, I am officially out of school because the government said so and I have to put my wedding back.
Remus Crux: Sanitising with an 'S' is very important! Also, please don't join the other plebs licking toilet seats. We're all going to get the Caroony-voony disease, there's no way out of it realistically, but you might get something a tad more permanent from a toilet seat...