Decker: Chapter 06

Hero Diary.

I’m so scared.  I’ve never been this scared in my entire life. I’m really hurt, and I’m tied up and I can’t see.  I don’t know what they’re going to do to me.   I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.  It’s taking everything not to cry, or scream, or both. 

But I can’t.  I mean, I’m a super hero now, and super heroes don’t cry, right?  Like, Black Hat wouldn’t cry if HE was tied up, would he?  No.  He wouldn’t Diary.  I’m pretty sure of that.

Decker’s entire body felt like one giant bruise from Big’s punches; punctuated by the painful welts where Fast had shot her.  Her body was still numb from whatever drug Ex had used on her.  Decker had been bound, and blindfolded, and tossed into the back of a van.  

  Decker lay on her side, her head banging against the cold metal floor with each bump Fast drove over.  She hadn’t moved since she’d come to.  Decker wasn’t sure how much danger she was in yet, and until she had an idea, she didn’t dare let Big and Fast know she was awake.

Up front, Big was talking over the radio to someone he simply called Boss.  they seemed to be talking about what to do with Decker, and really, she didn’t want to interrupt that.  Decker didn’t want to tip her hand at all until she knew what was going on.

Big looked over his seat at Decker.  She was still lying where they’d dropped her in the back of the van.  The girl had been squirming around earlier, but she’d seemed to settle out.  Big squirmed a bit himself.  At seven foot tall, and over three hundred pound of muscle; he didn’t really fit in any vehicle.  Even the bucket seats in Fast’s van were a tight fit.  But that was only one of the reasons Big was a bit uncomfortable.  He was in direct contact with their boss, Mr. Task, and Big never liked that.

Normally, Ex would converse with the boss.  The two of them would plan, and tell the guys what to do next.  Big and Fast were the hired help, and honestly, both of them preferred this arrangement.  Big didn’t like to be directly responsible for most decisions.  He was particularly uncomfortable with this one.

Mr. Task had ranted on for awhile.  He was understandably upset about a super hero being in the Fun Zone.  It had been a pretty good set-up, as far as underground kid-thief parties went.  Task was equally unhappy with being directly involved with any decisions.

“I’m not sure why you need me to tell you what to do with her,” Mr. Task questioned once he’d run low on insults.  “She’s a super hero, and she’s seen too much.  Take her somewhere remote, and get rid of her.  Permanently.”

“Get rid of her?”  Big looked over at Fast.  Fast grimaced and shook his head in distaste.  “I don’t know boss,” Big replied.

“You don’t know?  What’s not to know?” Mr. Task snapped.  “One less super hero is one less super hero.  Take her behind the chemical shed and be done with it.”

Big and Fast exchanged another uncomfortable look.  Task sighed his exasperation at their lack of response.  “I don’t understand your problem.  This seems like a simple enough task for you two.”  Mr. Task audibly sneered.  “I wouldn’t like to think you two are going soft.”

“It ain’t that boss,” Big replied slowly.  “It’s just…I mean, she’s just a kid.”

“I don’t care if she’s just a…”  There was a thoughtful pause on the radio.  “How much ‘just a kid’ are we talking here?”

Fast looked back at Decker, and shrugged at Big.  Big shrugged as well.  “Not really sure boss.  Fourteen?  Maybe fifteen?”

Decker kept quietly indignant.  She was older than that, but Big wasn’t the first person to guess real low.  Decker was old enough to hold down a job, and to have her own apartment.  In fact, she was even old enough to drink if she’d cared to.  Old enough in Canada and parts of Europe at least.

At this moment though, the normally annoying mistake was to Decker’s advantage.  There was a long silence on Mr. Task’s end.  “That is awkward,” he said finally.  “Alright.  Get rid of her: but in a less metaphorical way.”  Task sighed.  “I’ll have Ex scrub the Fun Zone; accept it as a loss.  We have to assume that she’ll just be back there.”

“We’re coming up to the bay now boss,” Big suggested.  “We could tie her to something heavy; toss her in?” 

Fast nodded his agreement, and mimed a splash.  He shot a hand up, suggesting someone flying away.  “Yeah,” Big agreed.  “We ain’t never seen a super hero actually die to that one, she should be fine.”

“Fine.  Whatever,” Mr. Task agreed shortly.  “So long as she’s kept busy.  Splash her, then get back to the Fun Zone.  Ex is going to need some help.”

“Sure thing boss,” Big replied.  He clicked off the radio and gave Fast a shrug.  “You think we can find one of those old anchors laying about?”

Decker shifted her head slightly, hoping to maybe  be able to peek at the guys from beneath her blindfold.  She had absolutely no luck, and didn’t dare trying harder.  Even now she couldn’t be certain that Big and Fast hadn’t noticed her moving. 

Ok Diary, do I even need to tell you that I don’t want to be tied up and thrown in the bay?  I just need to know what’s going on, then I can make my move.  I mean, if I could just see where I was even.  I need this blindfold off.

Ok.  You know what?   I’m a telekinetic.  I move things with my mind.  I should be able to gently lift my blindfold off, right?  It’s a case of concentration.  That’s all it takes; a bit of concentration.

I can do this.  I can lift my blindfold just a little bit, and they won’t even notice what I’m doing.   It’s my power after all.  All I have to do is show a bit of control.

Decker’s hair stood on end, and her eyes flared as she concentrated on a simple lift.  The back of the van exploded dramatically in a flash of blue kinetic energy.  Decker’s blindfold fluttered away behind the moving wreckage. 

Decker blinked at the sudden brightness.  Her hands were still tied in front of her, but Decker could see at least.  She pushed quickly into the air, and watched the remains of the van careen away.

Ok, not exactly the effect I was going for?  But you know what, I did get my blindfold off, so I’m totally calling this one a success!

It dawned on Big, as he was punted out of the van, that he hadn’t really thought about what Decker would do when she woke up.  It was easy when she was unconscious to mistake her for just a twiggy little girl.  Easy enough to forget that she’d managed to knock him about pretty good back at the Fun Zone. 

Big wondered if this was how Decker always woke up.  It’d probably suck to be her roommate, he mused.  It wasn’t that he was considering a new roommate, it was just idle back of the mind thoughts as he bounced along the ground away from the van.  Big shook his head as he skidded to a stop, and turned to comment to Fast about exploding roommates.  Only, Fast hadn’t gotten out of the van.

Big looked back at the van.  Decker’s blast had shredded the back off of it, and Fast was inside still, slumped over the wheel.  Fast didn’t make a move to get out, even as the van went over the pier, and splashed into the bay.  Big stared hesitantly at the sinking van.  One of the downsides to Big’s super strength and a near impervious physique was that he was pretty dense, physically speaking.  Big and water didn’t get along, because Big sunk like a stone.

Decker didn’t show the same level of hesitation.  She bolted past Big, and dived in after the van.  She didn’t even consider that her hands were still tied until she hit the water.  Fortunately, flying underwater worked much the same as flying in general.

Equally fortunate was that the van didn’t have that far to sink.  This was water off the edge of a pier, not the edge of an abyss after all.  It sunk faster than Decker could fly, but it settled onto the rocks only a few dozen feet beneath the waves. 

Decker circled the van once, hoping to find a sharp section of metal or glass to cut her bonds with.  Inside, she could see Fast still buckled in his chair.  His eyes were closed, and his mouth was open.  Decker had taken a deep breath before diving in, and she was already struggling.  Fast didn’t have that luxury.  Decker flew/swam into the back of the van, still tied.  Freedom would have to wait.

Decker braced her back against the back of Fast’s seat, and placed her hands against the floor.  She concentrated, and fired as much power as she could into the floor of the van.  Decker grit her teeth against the strain, as the seat fought to stay attached to the van.  It felt like forever before the chair finally broke free of its mooring.  Decker spun around, and grabbed Fast by the seat belt as she flew fast as she could to the surface. 

Decker gasped for breath as she shot up from the bay.  Her chest felt like a furnace, but it didn’t stop her from cheering triumphantly.  Her jubilation lasted a whole ten seconds before the dead weight of Fast and his chair overcame momentum, and dragged her back towards the pier.

Big watched Decker stagger as she tried to stay in the air.  She had an awkward grasp on Fast’s chair; what with her hands being tied up and all.  Big, on the other hand, had a perfectly fine grasp on the van door.  He had been planning on throwing it at Decker when she surfaced, but now was having second thoughts.  She had saved Fast after all.  Yeah, it was what super heroes did supposedly, but Decker had actually done it.  Big thought about it for a second.  He tossed the van door aside, and opened his arms to catch.

Fast coughed up water, and stared confusion at Decker about where he was, and why she was there.  Decker accepted this as a ‘good enough’ on his condition, and let the chair drop to Big as she passed by.  She then shot off as fast as she could back towards Regal, and back towards the Fun Zone.