Sorry to leave you with the cliffhanger back there. But here's some more of the story. Let's see how it resolves!
Oh, man, where do I start?
A lot of things happened in that instant. Sonic grabbed Phillips and shoved him away from the desk. Imira extended her hijab and snapped the end toward the detonator, lassoing it handily. Another yank and it was out of Camford's hands. Amos ran and kicked at the C-4, which was awfully close to his mother. Vinny Lee's claws came out (how long had she had the safety disengaged?) and with a couple of swipes, the wires connected to the explosive were severed.
At any rate, no explosion occurred.
"What the –" the mayor began. Not that I blamed him for being shocked. That was awfully unhinged, trying to let off an explosive in the sight of the mayor. So much for decency. But now that meant it definitely was our problem. VLADJI had to deal with unreasonable types, remember?
Rich groped around for his detonator. Unfortunately for him, it had landed by my foot. When he got close, I force-fielded him against the wall.
"Do not come near us," I said coldly. "You brute."
Amos glanced at Rich from where he presently was, then turned his gaze toward Tails. "Care to get that bit off?"
Tails understood. He began concentrating, and the C-4 came out from under the desk.
"What is this?" Camford asked.
"This really shouldn't be new to you," Mom said.
He tried to get up and move in toward me. "Did your daughter call me –"
"GET AWAY!" Imira shouted, her hijab flicking around and out, forming a wall around her. Rich stepped back and it retreated back into its folds. "What the HECK gave you the right to do that?"
The mayor glanced between Rich and the rest of us, his mouth open in a mixture of shock and horror.
I caught a voice softly singing this time.
You write your words, but I don't see
Past your horror, lies, and tragedy
You smile to my face, but I know now
You couldn't stop destroying and kicking them out
I caught Sonic, now standing over the desk, his stripe glowing fiercely. Why would he be channeling Sirensong now? But I couldn't mistake his baritone.
This isn't going to end well
When nobody can tell you no
Destruction and you shouldn't have
And now you just have to go
It ain't right, you should know it's wrong
And now you'll hear the beaten song
This isn't true, you let it through
You destroy the world, why so cruel?
He stood in front of the mayor and began voicing another opinion.
How can you be so cruel?
To leave no one a place to stand
How can you be so cruel?
To leave everything in a destroyer's hands
With that, he completed the song of me and Courtney, our plea to the heavens. The prayer for vengeance complete, the plea for help now finished, the mayor frowned and turned to face Camford.
"I am afraid I cannot let you remain here, Richard," he said. "Phillips?"
"Yes, Mayor Thomsen." Phillips got up and glanced in Richard's direction, a now very wounded and furious expression on his face – understandable, since he'd almost been blown up. "I am afraid I will have to expel your daughters for our own safety – and you for enrolling them under false pretenses."
"And we will see each other in court, Richard," the mayor added. "I'll make sure to put a restraining order on you. The arson at St. Francis also nullifies your claim to that building. It shall stay where it is – and continue providing. I am also subjecting you to a fine for embezzlement from Oscar Kawatogama."
"What?" Camford asked. The question would be excusable if he knew how to deliver it, but it came out with a protest.
Mom shot him another hard glare. "Serves you right for putting so many homeless in danger. Not to mention my daughters."
"You may go now, Richard," the mayor said. His tone properly connoted that if Rich didn't get out now, he was going to be glad the mayor just let him go. "I expect you will show up at the courthouse."
I don't think I'd ever seen anyone storm out of a building quite like Rich did. He took his daughters and abruptly left, slamming the door behind him.
"Should I make a pass through the building?" Sonic said. "I don't think we got all the C-4."
"The bomb squad was already looking through," Thomsen said calmly. "Tails here has given me a map of where he detected the plastic explosives. And without his detonator –" he gestured toward the device that was still at my feet – "Rich won't be able to destroy it."
"Thanks for that optimism," I muttered.
"There's still so much to be done around here," the mayor continued, gesturing toward Sonic and Tails. "These two, for one, appear to belong to the strange newcomers I've been hearing so much about."
"Some of them," Sonic replied.
Mom walked up to him and spoke next. "I've been hearing that they don't get proper housing," she told the mayor. "No one can prove they exist. And considering these guys saved us from a bombing – and you from a serious scandal – a house in Kensington is the least you could do for them."
"That can be arranged," the mayor replied.
"As for my daughter and her friends –" Mom began.
"We're already calling off school early," Phillips responded. "The bomb threat's that severe."
"That's not what concerned me and Liz," Mrs. Darvosky said with an even tone, brushing a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "There's an old school building my son, her daughter, and their friends have been frequenting. It troubled me to think Camford could have any claim to it."
It took me a second to realize Mrs. Darvosky was referring to the Hangar. How had she found out about it?
"Why do you use the past tense, Bathsheba?" Thomsen asked.
"Because I helped take care of her problem," Mom replied. "We're both on the school board, and she brought up that her son was attending with my daughter. Not only that, but they were hanging out in the old building. I still had some funds left over from Casey's salary, and I pooled them with Bathsheba's earnings to buy the place."
I couldn't believe what I'd heard. My mom, and Amos's mom, had worked together to buy up the Hangar and keep it out of Richard's hands. If Richard was listening, he'd be pretty torqued beyond belief – but now I was starting to realize I didn't really care a hoot what he thought.
More importantly, my mom and Amos's mom were becoming quite the chums with each other. How else would Mrs. Darvosky be willing to share her money with Mom's to save my hideaway? But I also caught more similarities between them than I normally saw with mothers – the same fierce determination to keep their kids safe from harm, no matter what strings they had to pull to do it.
"Bold of you, Liz," Thomsen replied. The mayor must've really respected Mom and Mrs. Darvosky, otherwise he wouldn't use their first names. "If it's to serve these young heroes –" he gestured toward us – "I can't really care about political alignments here, as long as they save lives. And these kids save lives. I'll let you keep it."
"I also talked with the Fadjirs and José," Mom continued. "Ali was willing to contribute to catering. And José volunteered to maintain the building. No one can touch it. It's active now – but as a headquarters for the new heroes of Philadelphia – the Virtuous Lived Adolescents Dealing Justice Impartially."
"Very well," Thomsen said quietly. "My party is unlikely to agree, but I think your daughter and her team have been instrumental in keeping this country stable. I will not tolerate any further interference to their work."
With that, he walked out.
I was glad to have his approval. Unfortunately, I suspected our ragtag little team had just been given a bureaucratic warrant.
"Who wants a burger?" I asked.
A burger would be really great about now. Verse for the update: Mark 3:24. Stay tuned!
