Chapter 10: 9. Everyman

A map of the building is splayed across the rooftop, Sarah holding the opposing side down while I hold this side. I point towards a door at the back of the building, I marked it out earlier while I was planning this. “We’ll enter here. The door is metal, so I should be able to cut and bend it without triggering the alarm on the lock. The security room is in the basement, and we likely won’t be able to get there before being found. We’ll want to act fast.”

Sarah nods, looking over the map. “It’s a fairly straightforward path up to his personal room. We’ll have to deal with guards at every corner though.”

I nod at that, looking at the tiny marks she had made on the map of the guard positions she remembers. “They shouldn’t be a problem. You’re wearing the shirt I brought you underneath your suit, right?”

She nods, pulling her collar down slightly so I can see. “Yeah. Lighter than I expected it to be. A little big, but I’m glad for the extra protection.”

“Yeah, then the guards shouldn’t be a problem. I’m more worried about the two Supers he has working for him.” I say, reaching into my belt and unfolding two sheets of paper. Each paper explains a Super that Everyman has working for him.

I point to the first paper which depicts a gruff man with wolf ears. “Fadegaze, one hit from him will cause our stamina and energy to deteriorate faster. We want to avoid getting touched by him at all if possible.”

I point to the other paper. “And Pollock. He flings a liquid that he can travel freely through.”

“Did he seriously name himself after the painter?” She asks, unimpressed.

I chuckle at that, shrugging. “I can’t say that it doesn’t fit. More inspired than calling himself ‘paint’.”

I point to a room on an upper floor. “And finally, Everyman’s place.”

She nods solemnly, looking at the map. “What do we do after we beat him?” She asks. No doubt, she could consult her power for the options, but the fact that she cares about my opinion in the matter means a lot.

“We turn him over to the heroes.” I say simply.

“And then?”

I look over at her, noticing her looking at me seriously. I sigh, shifting backwards slightly. “And then, I guess we turn ourselves over. Plea for reform.” I say.

She doesn’t say anything for a bit, but then she nods her head. “Alright.”

I tilt my head at that. “Alright?”

“Yeah,” She shrugs, smiling at me, “I’ve known where we’re heading since I met you. The three outcomes still haven’t changed.”

I quirk an eyebrow at that. “What path are we on?” My tail flicks behind me anxiously.

She smiles at me conspiratorially. “That would be telling.” She looks back at the map. “If you want to become heroes, I’ll join you. I’d rather be a hero with you than a villain without you.”

I smile wide at that. “Well, then. Let’s go bust a gang boss.” I cheer. She smiles, rolling up the map and placing it into a small side pouch. “Do you have the gun I gave you?” I ask her.

“Sure do,” she pulls the high tech glue gun out of its holster. “Remember how to use it, too.”

“Good,” I say, “be careful with it, you don’t want to get yourself stuck in a bad position.”

“Please, this isn’t my first time using a gun. I’ll be careful.” She says, before thinking for a moment. “It’s my second. The first was when you taught me how to use it.”

She sticks her tongue out at me and I shoot her a withering look. There’s nothing for it though, it’s safer in her hands than in mine. If Everyman could manage to manipulate me into shooting her, she wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

“Come on.” I pick Sarah, no, Present Perfect, up bridal carry style and then hop off the building and down to the ground floor. It’s work time, so we’re in Super name mode. I set her down on her feet carefully, trying not to alert the nearby guards. I motion for her to stay where she is, softening the ground beneath my boots as I rush for the two guards.  I hit the first one with a vicious chop to the neck, softening his fall to the floor.

The other guard turns to me, attempting to train his gun on me. I rush forward, covering his mouth and softening the trigger before he can pull it. He pulls the trigger, the metal warping as he does so, but not firing. His eyes go wide in panic as I bring one of my tonfa up to his head. He gets knocked out cold and I lay him on the floor. He might have a headache when he wakes up, and maybe a concussion, but really it’s his fault for working for a gang.

Present Perfect walks over to me as quiet as possible, her tail swishing behind her. “Nice moves.”

I smile, turning to the door. We need to work fast. I soften the door, pressing a button on my tonfas. The blade pops out and I cut through the metal as if it were butter, using my hands to pull the buttery metal apart down the middle. I work it like play-doh to the point that both me and Present Perfect can step through easily. Present Perfect takes the lead, guiding me through the building. She’s been through here once before, so she remembers the map layout the best. We almost make it to the stairs and past several guards when the alarm blares. I curse slightly, taking the lead and rushing towards the stairwell.

A pair of guards are blocking the stairwell and they see us coming. They open fire, bullets flying at us. I soften the bullets, trying to block them from sailing past me at all. I feel Present Perfect pull in closer to me, getting into my radius. A couple of the bullets slip past me and hit her, but the reinforced shirt I gave her combined with my softening power allows her to shrug the shots off easily. As we draw nearer, she slips past me and attacks the guard on the right. I hit him over the head with my tonfa and kick his legs from under him.

With the guards down, we run into the stairwell. I soften the metal door behind us, twisting it so it can’t be opened.

We make it up to the third floor when we hear footsteps above us. Present Perfect turns to me and grabs my arm lightly, “Come on, we can avoid them by taking the other stairwell.” I follow her, twisting the door behind us the same way I did the previous one. We rush across the floor towards the opposing stairwell when someone rushes out of the shadows at us.

He swipes at Present Perfect fiercely, and she skips back several steps to dodge his swipes. “Fadegaze,” She says evenly. He snarls, chasing her down the hallway with her swipes. I’m about to chase after her when I sense a spot on the ground directly behind me bulge outwards and reach out at me.

I dodge forward, looking behind me quickly and finding a hand reaching at me through a splatter of what looks to be orange paint. It retreats quickly back through the puddle. Pollock.

I look around the room and realize that I had overlooked something upon first entering the room. the room is filled with dozens of orange still dripping puddles, even the walls. I take a step back away from the puddles, looking around carefully. A gunshot rings out and I immediately soften the air around me. The bullet hits me in the side, stinging slightly despite it’s softening. I dip backwards at the next shot and it barely misses me.

I take another step back and trip over a hand that appears suddenly. I slow my fall, turning it into a combat roll. I draw too close to a wall and I feel a hand grabbing at me from behind. I pull back, turning to the wall. The hand is already gone. I curse as a shot rings out. I’m too slow in softening it and I fall to one knee. That’s going to bruise in the morning.

I get up and step away from another hand grabbing at my feet. I need to find him fast, I can’t let my guard down. I need to think smarter about this.

Wherever Pollock is, he can clearly still see me. I glance behind myself, seeing that I’m coming up on a wall with lots of paint. Or maybe I need to let my guard down. I press my back against the wall, looking anywhere but the wall.

He falls for the bait.

His arms shoot out of the wall, wrapping around me. “Got ya,” I say quietly, softening his arms. I stretch his arms forward, tying them together like a knot before slipping away from them. “Gee, I sure wonder what would happen if your hands were to leave my two meter radius while tied together like this?” I say out loud. Somewhere from another room, I hear a muffled scream of panic. “Poke your head through one of these portals for me and I’ll untie them.” I yell out.

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Slowly, he pokes his head through and I grab a hold of it. I untie his arms with the other hand before knocking him over the head with one of my Tonfas, hard. He falls back through the orange paint like splatter on the wall and I rush over to the room I heard him yelling from. He’s out cold.

I leave the room and find Present Perfect returning from the hall looking slightly winded. Her tail is drooping a little bit behind her, exhaustion setting in. “Glue gun, very useful. He still managed to touch me, before I could glue him down.” I grimace slightly at that, gesturing for her to lead the way. Hopefully we can finish this up before that impedes her.

Two supers down. Only one left to go.

We continue up the opposite staircase, finally reaching the top floor. I open the door carefully, looking for an ambush. Surprisingly, it doesn’t come. We continue forward, eventually coming to a large open room.

“You know, Present Perfect, I thought I had made myself perfectly clear before.” I tense at that, the voice coming from every corner of the room. A man steps out of the far room, stepping into the middle of the room. “You seemed like such a smart girl, too. To think that you would even dare to openly defy me.” I scowl at him, his voice still booming over us at a normal speaking volume.

“Everyman.” I say, looking him over evenly.

“I see you even brought your girlfriend with you, this time.” He sneers, looking at me derisively. “Have you so easily forgotten what it is that I can do?” He asks, bellowing out a laugh. “Oh, wait, of course you have. Silly me.”

I stand up straight, looking him in the eyes. “Everyman. I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I wouldn’t want to lie to you.”

He snarls at me, pointing a finger at me. “You’d best watch your mouth, you have no idea what I can do.”

I step towards him slowly, keeping my eyes trained on him. “Suit yourself,” He points at my feet and a fire springs out of the ground between us.

I stop, feeling the warmth of the fire as it flicks against my legs. I look down at it, worried. I can feel the fire. Did I misjudge the situation?

“Soft Paw!” Present Perfect is looking at me, worried.

I give her a thumbs up, taking a deep breath. The fire is making my legs feel warm, the flames drifting towards me slightly and flicking at my outfit. I step forward, feeling the fire rage against my legs. I grit my teeth against the pain, taking several more steps forward.

My dress catches fire, the fire slowly crawling upwards and burning my skirt. I smile, feeling some of the pain ease away at that. I finally step out of the fire, my entire body aflame, but none of the pain from before. Everyman is looking at me, eyes wide in disbelief.

“I wasn’t sure about your power before, but I’m more certain now.” I say, brushing the fire off of myself easily. The fire flickers out easily.

“Wh-what do you mean! You can’t possibly know what I can do! I can do anything!” He shouts, panic setting in. A wall shoots up in front of me, blocking him from my sight. I step forward, touching the wall. It feels solid, and it doesn’t budge as I push on it. I pull out one of my Tonfas from its holster, waving it through the wall easily. Just as fake as the fire.

I call out over the wall, “Your power makes me believe whatever you want. Those things are only as real as that belief, though.” I take another step forward, stepping through the wall easily. “And I don’t believe you.”

He smiles nervously, looking at me. “Your mind is just conjuring false memories as you approach me. You think you know what I do, but part of my power is that you can never know what I can do!” He holds a hand out, a knife flying at me. Reflexively, I try to soften it. There’s nothing there to soften.

Panic fills me as the knife pierces my leg, but I continue walking. I try to ignore the pain trying to trick me into believing that any of this is real. I close the distance between us, grabbing his collar and dragging him closer to me. “Sorry, Everyman. Your tricks won’t work on me anymore.” I smile at him and he just smiles conspiratorially.

I frown, eyes widening briefly as I realize that I can’t sense him in my radius. I throw the fake version of him to the ground, looking around frantically. Out of the shadows, all around the room, he steps out of the shadows. Multiple copies of him all around the room.

“It won’t be that easy, I’m afraid.” His voice booms from around us, his doubles stepping closer and closing in around me. “I don’t know how you learned what you did, but now that you know what you know, I’m sorry to say that I can’t let either of you leave here.”

I tense, my eyes shifting around the room carefully. I notice Present Perfect slumping against one of the walls, doubles of Everyman closing in on her. “Close your eyes!” I shout at her, “He can’t make you believe he’s hurting you if you can’t see it!” She nods, clenching her eyes shut.

Several gunshots ring out, flying through the air towards her, but she doesn’t move at all. I turn away, trusting that her power will keep her from getting seriously hurt. I can’t rely on any of my senses to know how she’s doing. I ignore the cries of pain I hear coming from behind me, glancing around the room.

If I was a gang boss with an ability to make people see whatever they’ll believe, where would I be? My eyes drift towards a corner of the room near the stairs. I start making my way towards it, shrugging off the body doubles rushing me. The room spins and suddenly I’m walking away from that corner.

I pause, turning around and looking at it. Bingo. I start to turn around and run for it, but I pause, reaching out with my softening power. I press against the floor, softening it. My foot sinks into the floor.

I didn’t actually get turned around, he’s just making me think that I did. I keep going in the same direction I was, the room spinning around me. I close my eyes, focusing on the sense of my surroundings that my power gives me. The room stops spinning and I continue walking forward.

Someone enters my two meter radius and I soften his legs before he can run. He turns, trying to run, but falls flat on the floor. I reach down, grabbing him by his collar. “Gotcha.”

He’s shaking in my hand, his hands up in surrender. “I c-can see that you’re very capable. Why don’t you join me? Together, we could rule this town!” He glances to the side, looking at Present Perfect. “You and your girlfriend both! You can live comfortably!” He says, smiling at me hopefully.

I frown at that, tapping his head with my Tonfa. “Not gonna happen. I don’t want to rule this town. I want to help it.” He looks at me in confusion, but I don’t give him a chance to respond. I hit him over the head, hard.

The room is still. I walk over to Present Perfect and she looks up at me, completely worn out. “Did we win?” she asks.

I chuckle, reaching down and picking the glue gun out of her fingers. “Yeah, we won.”

I take the gun, gluing Everyman to the floor. My ear twitches to the side, finally able to pick up on the sound of sirens outside. I sigh, looking over at the stairway. Stuffing the glue gun into the back of my belt, I walk back over to Present Perfect. To Sarah, and see that she’s fast asleep. I shake my head at that, picking her up bridal carry style.

I jump down the stairs, softening my descent and landing, jumping down the staircase one flight at a time. Once I’m on the ground floor, I set Sarah down long enough to cut my way through the metal doors.

I can see lights pouring in through the front windows, the sounds of sirens much louder now. I steel my resolve, carrying Sarah with me as I leave the front door. The moment the door opens, I can see dozens of guns trained on me. The heroes are standing between me and the rest of the police force, ready for a fight.

“Soft Paw.” Reflex says slowly. “It figures that you would be here. Do you work for Everyman, now?” He asks carefully. I set Present Perfect down against a nearby wall, turning back to the heroes.

“No. Quite the opposite.” I very slowly pull the glue gun out of the back of my belt, the heroes freezing slightly and then tensing. I drop the gun onto the floor, holding my hands up in surrender. I kick the gun across the floor over to them. “I just finished fighting Everyman, he’s secured upstairs.”

Reflex picks up the gun, testing it against the floor carefully. His eyes meet mine and he searches my face carefully. “Are you surrendering?”

I nod, my tail flicking anxiously behind me. “Yeah. Me and Present Perfect would like to become heroes.”

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