Episode Three: “Electric Slide”
1.
“So I found out something pretty interesting,” said Sarah. She and Mandi were at Mandi’s place again. Two weeks of dating and they were already crashing at one another’s places regularly.
“What’s that?” asked Mandi.
“Some of my friends on the CCPD have been talking about one of their own suddenly becoming some kind of super-cop,” said Sarah. She sipped from her coffee and gave Mandi an inquisitive look.
“Super-cop, huh?” said Mandi. “Like how?”
“They say he can practically dodge bullets, run faster than a car… they say he can fire lightning bolts,” Sarha said. “Sounds like we’ve got another Key-Bearer popping up.”
“Think we should check up on him?” said Mandi. “Do you know who it is?”
“Well, no one’s named names, everyone’s actually supposed to keep it a secret,” said Sarah. “But the friends of mine like to gossip a bit.”
“I see,” said Mandi. She thought for a moment. “Should we look into this? At least get to know this guy… see if he’s the real deal.”
“What else could he be?” said Sarah.
Mandi shrugged. “Its possible he’s a demon in disguise. You have nearly the same powers as that fire beast we fought when we met, you know.”
Sarah frowned. “Even so, if he is a demon, why would he be working for the police?”
“Not all demons are evil, Sarah,” said Mandi. “Some just want to live peacefully; others may even feel some sense of duty or justice.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Sarah. “They also say he’s rather rough on the perps he fights. He may indeed fight for justice, but he also likes to overkill.”
Mandi sipped her coffee, and heard the familiar vioces bicker a bit in her head. Her inner child wanting to rush out and find this guy, her adult side telling her to sit back and see what happens. Mandi didn’t want to get involved in more trouble, but if they guy was a demon, and he was working some agenda, Mandi and Sarah were obligated to stop him. But if it was another fellow Key Bearer, she didn’t want to get in his way.
“Well, I think you’re right, we should check up on him…” said Sarah. “Demon or superhuman, we should make sure he’s on the up and up.”
“I’m sure the Dreammaster would pick well,” said Mandi. “He doesn’t give these powers to just anybody.”
“Well, power corrupts as they say,” said Sarah. “My friends sounded a little worried when they talked about him… I get the feeling there’s something going on they don’t want to mention.” She stood and stretched. Mandi admired her figure as she did so, blushing a bit as she caught herself doing it.
Sarah pointed a finger at her triumphantly. “Ha! I saw you checking out my goods!”
Mandi shook her head. “Whatever do you mean?” she said innocently.
Sarah gave her a sly smile. “Don’t play coy with me, or I may have to get intimate.” She leaned close to Mandi. Mandi smiled nervously. Sarah gave her a peck on the cheek, then withdrew. “I have to get to work, ‘darling’. You’ll come to my place next time, right?”
“Yeah,” said Mandi. “Be careful.”
“Ha! With these powers, there’s nothing for me to worry about now,” said Sarah. “Least not from regular fires.” She gathered her things. “Anyway, I’ll ask around at the station, but I don’t think I’ll hear much more than I already have. I’ll let you know what I hear.”
“Heh… we’ve got a regular gossip nest over at the library,” said Mandi. “Its how I get leads on our ‘other job’. Maybe I’ll hear something from an outside witness.”
“Well, just be careful on the walk home… that blasted park of yours seems to be quite a hotspot,” said Sarah. Mandi stood and the two hugged; they went out the door and onto their seperate jobs.
2.
The rumor mill didn’t have a whole lot to say, but it turns out one young woman had seen the so-called speedster. She mentioned how she had been taking a short cut through an alley, when suddenly she had stumbled upon what she said was a bear. She had screamed just as the bear had started comnig at her, but then, there was a blur and a flash of light, followed by a loud rumble. The air had smelled of ozone, and the bear was suddenly slammed into a wall. The woman had tried to see what had been going on, but then a policeman, had appeared next to her and hauled her off.
The other ladies dismissed the story as a daydream (what would a bear be doing in the middle of downtown?) and went on to talk abotu other things. Mandi wondered to herself what the bear had really been.
Suddenly, a man appeared at the counter. Tall, with blond spikey hair, and deep blue eyes, he was dressed in casual clothes, but had an air of business to him. “Would you like to check out, sir?” said Mandi. The man nodded, and Mandi motioned him to follow her to the check out computer. She glanced at the title as she ran it through the scanner. Monsters of Myth and Legend. Mandi gave the man a curious glance.
“What?” said the man, catching her gaze.
“I’m sorry, I thought… um… well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in here before, but you look a little familiar,” said Mandi. “But I could be mistaken.”
“It’s possible,” said the man. “I’m a cop. You could have seen me around. I’m a little beyond my jurisdiction, though.”
“Oh, I see,” said Mandi. “This is an interesting book… do you like myths and legends?”
The man shrugged. “My dad used to read me Greek myths and legends as a kid instead of fairy tales. Guess he thought maybe the manliness of it might make a better impression than overly romantic dreams.”
Mandi smirked. “Ah, but old fairy tales used to be pretty gorey and horrible,” she said. “Not the sappy, kiddie tales the cartoons would have you believe.”
The man seemed to ponder this. “Different times, different folk,” he finally said. “Maybe these days people just don’t want to be reminded of those times, and so they cover up the bad parts and fill in their own pleasant ones.”
Mandi gave him a curious look. “Seeing something that isn’t there to begin with perhaps?” she said slowly.
The man met her gaze with his own. “Perhaps taking what was there… and hiding it with whatever they want to see instead.” Mandi held his gaze for a bit, and for a moment, she could have sworn she saw a tiny, electric spark flash in his eyes. The man suddenly turned and began to walk away.
“Wait,” said Mandi, a little louder than she intended. The man paused and looked back at her over his shoulder. “What’s… your name?”
The man narrowed his eyes curiously at her. “Why do you want to know?” he said.
“Well… we have better, more informative books than that one,” said Mandi, keeping an eye on his reaction. “They are checked out right now, but I could reserve them for you, if you like.”
The man turned to face her, considering it. “Wouldn’t that be… inconvenient?”
“Not at all…” said Mandi. “They are due back in a few days… I can hang onto them for a few more after that, if you feel you need them for your research.”
“What makes you think I’m researching anything?” said Max.
Mandi gave him a sly smile. “I’m a librarian. I have a knack for books and why people get what kinds. Its been a long time since you read a book like that, I think.”
The man smirked slightly. “How intuitive,” he said. “Maxwell Barak.” He turned and left.
Hastily scribbling down the name, Mandi watched him go. Sarah wouldn’t be off duty till tomorrow, but they’d have something to talk about all right.
3.
“Maxwell Barak?” said Sarah, with a slight gasp. “No way! I went to police academy with him!”
Mandi raised a brow. “No kidding?”
“Yeah,” said Sarah. “He asked me out once, and we went on a date, and he tried to get in my pants. I think it was about that time I confirmed I was gay and not just bi.”
“Oh,” said Mandi. “Well… um…”
“Aw, we parted on decent terms,” said Sarah. “Pretty impatient guy, but his hearts in the right place. Wow, though, good to know the cop gig is working for him.”
“Well, looks like he may have our gig as well,” said Mandi.
“You honestly think he has an Elemental Key?” said Sarah.
Mandi nodded slowly. “Well, its might have been my imagination, mind you, but I swear I saw some electrical spark in his eye for a brief moment. And he was checking out a book on monsters.”
Sarah frowned. “Hmmm… he was never into that stuff from what I remember… but its been a while since I actually hung out with him.”
“Ha,” said Mandi. “So he could be doing some research on our enemy.”
Sarah shrugged. “But how accurate would that stuff be?” she said. “I mean, that’s based on stories and superstitions from hundreds to thousands of years ago.”
Mandi nodded. “Yes, but many of the creatures we’ve fought do seem to resemble those creatures of legend. Its possible those so-called ‘myths’ were based on fact; that maybe those creatures did exist on Earth back then and were sealed away. The Dreammaster did say the reason they are here in this city is because some ancient seal had been broken.”
Sarah frowned. “I don’t know…” she sighed. “Well, in any case, if Max is our guy, it would seem he’s inhereted the Key of Lightning.” She frowned. “I would say I hope he’s cooled down some since last I met him, but again, from the evidence of the rumors, I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Is he pretty hot-headed?” said Mandi.
Sarah said, “You know how I get all gung-ho about beating up the bad-guys?” Mandi nodded. Sarah frowned. “Max is what you’d call obsessive, if he’s anything like he used to be. Like I said, hearts in the right place, but when he gets into his work, he gets his mind on something, he doesn’t stop to take a breather unless you make him.”
4.
Maxwell Barak walked slowly towards the commisioner’s office. If he had it his way, he’d have been there the second he got the call. But he had to keep calm and play it cool… his co-workers found it rather distracting when he zoomed around at high speed. He wished he were on patrol right now. Human criminals were bad enough, but now with demons running amok… He sighed, letting himself cool off. His new powers didn’t make him any more impatient than he used to be; they just gave him a better excuse for it.
Max paused at the door. “You needed to see me, Chief?”
Commisionner McVey looked up from the papers on his desk and nodded. “Close the door,” he said.
Max did so and took a seat. Commisionner McVey sighed and gave Max a stern look.
“I hear, Max,that you have been running rather rampant,” said McVey. “Dashing all over town, smacking thugs and pushers around left and right.”
“I can’t deny that I have, sir,” said Max. “I have simply been doing my best to…”
“You have been leaving your assigned routes to take care of other cops business,” said McVey. “You have been constantly ditching your partners to handle situations without any back-up.”
“With all due respect, sir, no-one else on this force can outrace a motorcycle by foot,” said Max. “Everyone else on this force needs a gun to shoot things with. I do not.”
“Three times, Max, you have broken up stings which would have allowed us to topple some of the more complex heirarchies of the drug ring. Five times, you had interrupted raids on meth and crack houses, smacking down both criminal and bystander alike, not to mention endangering your fellow officers with your powers.”
“I have very good control over my lightning,” said Max plainly.
“I would say that you do,” said McVey, “Save for the reckless abandon with which you fling those bolts. I’ve seen you in action, Max. You fire those bolts right over or around your fellow officers to hit thugs they were chasing down.”
“I’m just doing my part to help,” said Max.
“You’re doing too much,” said McVey.
Max narrowed his eyes. “Are you implying that my ‘fellow officers’ are afraid I’m stealing their work?”
“Of course not,” said McVey. “I am implying your are running yourself ragged, and getting in the way of your fellow officers. You may think you are able to control your lightning with accute precision, but you are relying more and more on it. With all that power you are slinging around, you will eventually slip.”
Max frowned, but stayed silent.
Commisionner McVey rifled through his papers. “Stan Reilly reports that while he was working undercover to discover the whereabouts of a particularly elusive illegal weapons dealer, you burst into the building where he was working.”
“There was a violent crime in the process the next block over,” said Max. “It spilled into his area, and the shooting began.”
“And you acted bravely, dashing into the firing zone and taking down most of the shooters,” said McVey. “You also slammed Reilly into a wall.”
Max was silent for a moment. “I didn’t recognize him, as I had said in my report.”
“Had you taken more than second to look, you would have,” said McVey. “My point is, one of these days, if you continue your reckless behavior, you are going to get an innocent, or one of your colleages maimed or even killed. Or, yourself.”
Max rubbed his side. His boss didn’t know of it, but he had been in a fight with several knife weilding goblins the other night. He had been careless, and had let two of them get close while he was busy blasting the other three. They had cut him, and only Max’s now accelerated healing had made him healthy enough for active duty before his days off had concluded.
“Max,” said Commisionner McVey, “We appreciate you using your gifts to enhance our crime fighting effectiveness. But you need to get a better handle of yourself. I’m afraid I have no choice but to suspend you for now.”
Max gawked. “What?!”
McVey simply met his gaze.
“I’ve helped stop more crime in these past two weeks as I would have in six months,” said Max. “How can you suspend me? This is about saving people’s jobs, isn’t it? Or is it because our wonderfully slow justice system can’t handle too many people at once?!”
“Max, take a look at yourself,” said McVey.
Max looked at his hands. Sparks and lines of electricity were crackling over his fingers. Max looked up at McVey who calmly looked back. Max could see a light sheen of sweat on the Commisioners brow, despite his calm demeanor.
“Max… you’ve always been a little hot-headed,” said McVey. “You have always taken that extra step, taken that extra bit of risk, but you have always made sure no one else but you would get hurt in your doing so. Now these powers give you lee-way to take those risks without endangering yourself. However, this has made you overconfident, and you no longer have the patience, it seems, to double check your actions. You just see something happened, and boom, you blast your way in. You need to get better control of yourself. I am putting you on two weeks suspension, during which time, I suggest you get a grip. I don’t know if its the powers or the overconfidence that comes with them… but you need to regain some control.”
“But…”
“That’s all,” said McVey. “I’ll need your badge and your gun.”
Max fought to prevent himself from scowling, and with a sigh, put the requested items on the desk. Then, he turned and left. Once he was outside, he dashed all the way to his apartment, a five-mile stretch which took only two minutes to run, an aura of electricity sparking around him. As he walk through he front house, he hit the wall hard with his fist in frustration. Couldn’t they see he was just doing his best?
He sighed and sat down. He rubbed his side again; despite the fact that the wound was healed, the spot where he had been stabbed still ached. He looked at the clock. Almost seven. It would be sun down soon, and that meant the demon activity would be on the rise. He smiled humorlessly. There was a breed of criminal he didn’t need to hold back on. He just wondered if he could fight them now without his fellow cops catching wind of it. He had a feeling the Commissioner McVey wouldn’t be pleased if he thought Max was doing vigilante work. If only the Commissioner could see the demons as well. Then he’d understand Max’s rabid need to butt into all these criminal situations. Many demons were now infiltrating the gangs and drug rings. The reason Max kept dashing off to fight battles he hadn’t been asked to fight were because of these monsters creeping out from under the woodwork. He was just trying to protect his fellow officers from thigns he knew they couldn’t handle.
Max sighed. Maybe, though, he was being overconfident… or maybe just underconfident of his colleages. He hoped they wouldn’t run into anything they couldn’t handle while he was away.
5.
Mandi ducked as the ogre threw a heavy punch over her head. Crouching low, she leaped up into a powerful uppercut, snapping the creatures neck and sending it crashing into the brick wall some twenty feet away. The ogre’s friends all thought to overpower Mandi at once. but before they could get close, Sarah was upon them, attacking with a flurry of burning kicks and punches.
“Dammit, Sarah, get back!” yelled Mandi. She slammed her fist into the ground, causing it to shake. The pavement infront of her shattered, and then a line of concrete spikes surged like a wave towards the ogres, who were trying to nurse their burns. Sarah cartwheeled out of the way as the ogres tried swinging at her, just in time for the concrete spikes to rip into the ogre’s feet. They hit the ground, roaring.
Sarah dashed over to Mandi. “That was awesome! How’d you do it?” she said.
Mandi shrugged. “Same way you shoot fire from your hands, I guess,” she said. She turned and gave Sarah a stern look. “Sarah, for the love of god, we’ve been over this… those things could break you in half, and they’d do it beofre their stupid brains would register the burns they’d get from touching your aura.”
“Awe, c’mon, I’m quick enough to get out of the way,” said Sarah. “I was just setting them up for you.”
“It only takes one slip, Sarah,” said Mandi.
Sarah shook her head. “No pleasing some people,” she said. The ogres were getting back up, though it seemed they were all suffering from shattered ankles. This didn’t stop them from hobbling on their knees towards the women. Sarah shook her head, this time mockingly, and held up her hands, ready to incinerate them.
Suddenly, their was a whoosh of wind, and a sound like thunder. The three ogres suddenly writhed and howled as electrical arcs exploded over their bodies. A moment later, and Maxwell Barak was standing in solemn triumph over the fallen ogres. They all became shadowy, and vanished, as happened with every unearthly being the Key Bearers took down.
Max looked up towards the women. “I guess you didn’t need my help, huh?” he said.
Sarah grinned. “Max! So it was you!” She dashed over and gave Max a hug. A little taken aback, Max just gave her a quick pat on the back before Sarah let go of him. “This is great!”
Mandi walked up, smiling a little at Sarah’s outburst. Max recognized her as their aura’s died down. You pointed at her. “You’re the librarian.”
Mandi pointed at him and mimicked his stern face. “You’re the cop.”
“So it was you I was hearin’ rumors about,” said Sarah. Max looked at her quizzically. Sarah rolled her eyes. “Come on, Sarah Candice? That lesbain you tried to get into the sack with? We went to police academy together.”
Max nodded. “Ah, yes,” he said. “Sarah.” He looked a little awkward at the moment. “So… how are things?”
“Pretty good,” said Sarah. She skipped over to Mandi and snuggled up against her. “I got a girlfriend, these days.”
Max nodded. “Good,” he said.
“So are you… on patrol?” asked Mandi, trying not to squirm too much from Sarah’s open display of affection.
Max gave her a flat look. “You see a uniform on me?” he said.
Mandi frowned. “No, but you don’t have to be a dick about it.”
Max sighed. “I’ve been… relieved of duty for a while. Until I can get myself under control.”
“You always were impatient,” said Sarah.
Max’s mouth twitched into a frown. “Yeah,” he said. “I know.” He looked at the two. “Well… I guess we’ll meet again sometime later. That book is coming in handy, I might add. I look forward to reading the others.”
Mandi nodded. “Well… good luck… with your job.”
“Thanks,” he said. He nodded at Sarah. “Good to see you again.”
Before the women could say anything more, he was off in a shot. A little bewildered, the two women watched him dash of, losing sight of him in a mere seconds.
Sarah frowned. “Well…”
“Well, indeed,” said Mandi.
“I guess he’s on our side,” said Sarah.
END.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, this ended more lamely than I remembered. I can only surmise I was already out of steam. I vaguely recall intending to go back and flesh this part out with a proper closer, but I guess I never got around to it. Oh, well. : P
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