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Our Paranormal Chernobyl
Scene 42: When you Gaze Into the Abyss…
Tuesday, 5:40 pm, Above and outside the schoolhouse

Ed turned away from the useless shell below, eyes falling on Pender, a smile crossing his face.

"For you, Lily. Always for you," he said softly, hands twitching slightly as he focused his power in a way he’d never done before on a living being.

Pender would be the first. Then the little guy. Then he’d find Red, and boy was he looking forward to that. He could probably use Red’s arrows in the Work—spear body parts with them and arrange them just so.

That would work, and would totally kick ass too! Lily would see how much he loved her then, fuck if she wouldn’t!

The blades shimmered into existence, pure and vibrant. Clean, coppery edges that hummed with lethal force. Tools that he could put to good use in the furthering of her monument.

Fuck yeah!

He sent the blades flashing towards Pender, his empathic senses opened wide for the pain, the lovely beautiful pain.

She was turned away from him, looking up at DuFord in his cockpit. The coppery shards struck her in the right shoulder blade and passed through. Blood fountained from each side of her.

The pain was a delicious flood. Ed laughed in spite of himself, and drank it in.

DuFord looked up from his position above the floor, eyes wide with shock. Then he jammed the twin joysticks forward. The sphere jerked on its axis, the open door facing straight down. The floor suddenly became vertical. Pender’s body slid forward and struck one of the bolted chairs. Ed reached for the door frame, but then gravity sucked him out of the ship, and he was falling.

DuFord slammed the hatch button, and the door closed.

On the street below, the assembled crowd saw the white sphere lurch and tilt. Someone screamed as Ed’s body, encased in his coppery forcefield, began to fall.

"What the fuck?" Stranger said, looking up in the sky. He turned to Maggie. "Should I save him or would you like to do it?"

Maggie didn’t take the time to even listen, instead she fired her jets and screamed towards the falling metahuman, wondering what the HECK was going on. Why would Harris eject Ed out of the Q-Ball? She resolved to be cautious, and kept her force fields at full power.

Goo saw its friend, Ed, in apparent jeopardy and sprang to help.

Extending itself into a long, vaguely cylindrical shape, it threw itself into the air, on a trajectory to nab Ed in mid-fall.

Spotting Goo, Maggie reconsidered her plan slightly and swooped lower, giving herself more leeway to catch Ed before he hit the ground—or rather Goo. If she could catch him and slow them both down before they hit the plasmoid metahuman, it would dampen the impact for all three of them. She didn’t pause to dwell on the idea of using Goo as a safety net.

Once again, Crossfire thought, all hell was breaking loose in front of him. He stood there next to Stranger, waiting anxiously while wondering what had happened this time. There wasn’t a single arrow in his quiver equipped to handle this. It didn’t help that he still didn’t have a clue what all had transpired while he was under. He wondered if this was somehow connected, but if so, how?

"NO!" Ed shouted as he fell. "No, no, no, you miserable fucks!"

He should have seen this coming, really. Fucking Dupont! He’d die next, oh yeah.

The wind rushed past him, howling like his thoughts, and Ed wondered just how much this was going to hurt when he hit the ground.

Then shiny arms grabbed him around the chest.

"You’re in good hands," said Maggie.

Hands, Ed thought to himself, looking at the odd power armor that covered the long-haired brainy chicks hands. Hands would work. Especially if I could keep them in the armor. Lily would love that.

Maggie’s hands, holding Red’s head, atop Pender’s body. God yes! And then he could put the little guy’s feet on at the end. Fuck, that would be crazy! He could almost taste Lily’s lips on his, her gratitude would be endless, and her love… her love eternal. But now it was time to play.

"Hey, thanks!" Ed said to his rescuer. "Jesus, it went fucking crazy up there!"

Below their feet, Goo arced through the space where Ed would have been if he’d kept falling. Then the creature swung about, bringing its upper point to rest a few feet away from Maggie and Ed.

Maggie’s earphones crackled, and DuFord’s panicked voice came over multiple frequencies at once. "Magnitude! PRIMUS agents! Pender’s down—Ed just attacked her! I’m taking her to Cook County General!"

"Saint-Calice…" Maggie held Ed at arm’s length, shields at full strength, and flew upwards, gaining altitude. The sphere was moving too. It shot up at an angle, gaining altitude and heading east.

"What the hell was going on up there?" she asked him.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" he asked the flying woman. He’d felt a surge of surprise pour from her, followed by something else. Something like determination and resolution, laced through with… with…

Fuck! He couldn’t get it. Couldn’t filter it past the pain he still was supping from his mangling of Pender.

"I asked you a question, dammit!" Maggie said. "What went on in there?"

Ed turned and locked eyes with the woman in the armor. Time seemed to dilate as the pair flew ever upwards, the wind ruffling through his auburn hair.

"Art," he said simply, scything his talent into her mind.

Maggie jerked away from him as if she’d touched a high voltage line, and Ed dropped out of her suddenly slack arms. A moment later the super-scientist’s belt jets cut out, and she began to fall after him, her body slack.

"Ma-a-aggie!" Goo yelled. It swung its upper portion toward Maggie and waited to catch her like a giant, plasmoid catcher’s mitt.

Jonathan looked away from Maggie and Ed long enough to see the vaguely human-shaped pile of glue stretch out into the air. He had no idea what this new meta was all about, but he was glad he wore one of the white hats. He was saving the iron maiden just as he had saved Jonathan earlier.

Ed, well that was a different ballgame altogether. Though he couldn’t quite make out what had happened up there, it didn’t take much to figure out that Ed was responsible for Magnitude’s apparent unconsciousness. The kid was a loose cannon, Crossfire had decided that much earlier in the day. And just as he had done earlier, Jonathan knew there wasn’t much point in taking any chances with Ed.

He drew a magnesium arrow from his quiver and tracked the copper bubble down. Crossfire let the shaft fly when he felt, rather than saw, the timing of the downward momentum.

"When you land," he thought, "You’re going to answer some questions."

The arrow exploded on target, turning Ed for a brief moment into a rather pretty fireworks display.

Stranger wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was real or simply a figment of his own rather active imagination. Q-Ball flies off after lurching back and sending Ed plummeting to his death. Then Maggie’s armor seems to short-circuit just when she was about to save Ed. Now Crossfire starts shooting at Ed.

Yes, it all reminded him of a group session that had gone horribly wrong.

"What the fuck are you doing? Why don’t you just hit him in the head with a rock when he’s asleep?" Stranger didn’t wait for an answer. Goo seemed to be going after Maggie, so Stranger took aim towards Ed. He ran a few steps and jumped to meet the tumbling teenager.

"You don’t know him like I do," thought Jonathan. "You’ll see soon enough. Though Ed won’t."

The blind esper was falling, arms spread. He hadn’t screamed, which showed remarkable restraint.

And Ed was thinking, Well.

It was kind of funny, really. He’d heard someone once say that nobody understood real art. Or artists either. Now he was beginning to understand what they might have been talking about.

All he really wanted to do was show Lily how much he loved her. That’s all. Was that too much to ask? Why did everyone have to get in between him and his work? His love?

A tiny immaterial voice in the back of his mind was screeching at him, trying to get his attention. He ignored it. He had other things to worry about, like the ground. Comin' up pretty fucking fast, and you could bank on that! Not that he could see it or anything, but that was probably for the best.

"Shit," he said to the uncaring air. He’d have to make sure that Thorin paid. And whoever had blinded him too. Probably fucking Red. So he’d take those flashy arrow things and grind them into the archers eyes. That would be justice. Poetic justice. And poetry was Art too, so Lily would be pleased.

Fifty feet from the ground, Stranger caught Ed around the middle and started to arc back to earth. A second later, Goo caught Maggie in his viscous embrace.

Crossfire ran towards the helicopter where it looked like Stranger would come down. Jonathan knew that Ed had lost it again. He had to make sure Stranger understood that too.

Cradling Maggie gingerly, Goo pulled its mass into an odd, towering form. Its shape might best be described as a combination bean bag chair, dentist’s chair, giraffe and wad of gum. Maggie’s neck, head and limbs were carefully supported.

"Ma-a-aggie?" Goo asked, extending a pseudopod from its side and curving it over Maggie’s face.

"Who’s got me? What the fuck is going on?" Ed shouted. "Who in the hell blinded me?"

"Relax, laughing boy, I’ve got you," Stranger said. "Something happened to Maggie and she dropped you. And you can thank Crossfire for blinding you. You must have really pissed him off. Now hang on until we land."

Oh boy. It was Theo. Not good.

"Something happened, huh?" Ed replied, a dark look passing behind his constricted pupils. "I’ll tell you what happened, she fucking…"

EDWARD!

The voice screamed through his thoughts like a train whistle. "What!" Ed all but screamed back aloud. "Get off my ass old woman! I’ve got shit to do, and I don’t need—"

I’ll tell you what you need Edward Eugene Randall!

Gram’s voice was the voice of Doom—cold cold sanity, rolling over his psyche like the clang of a huge bell, extinguishing the false fires of love and hate and homicidal rage he’d brought back from Jigsaw’s ruddy core.

All the color drained from the young esper’s face, his mouth dropping open like a landed fish, the words faltering and stopping.

What you need is to wake up, boy! And you probably also need an ass-whoopin'! You may have kilt that woman, and why? Cause this big idgit that’s got 'holt of you teased you? Huh? Is it worth it now, that brave girl up there bleedin’ herself out on the floor just so you don’t look bad!

Ed’s mouth worked, but no sound came out of it. It was fading, but even now he could still taste the pain that Pender felt, the sick joy he’d felt upon receiving it. Oh God.

You know your limits, boy! You know you shouldn’t a gone in that thing and nosed around. But you did it anyway, didn’t you? Just like your momma, never listenin’ to anyone, always doin’ whatever she wanted when she wanted, and the devil to clean up the mess.

"No," he whispered, shaking his head. "No, it’s not like that. I just.. I… I just…"

You just. You just, Gram’s voice sadly mocked. You just had to prove who had a bigger pecker is what you just. I raised you better’n that boy, and you know it!

Something was building in his chest. Something awful, causing him to breathe in huge gulps. Blind eyes blinked back the beginnings of tears.

Now all the work you done, all the good things you done since you got out from under those criminals you useta run with is gone to hell and back. You may have kilt a person, Edward. And you gonna have to pay for that. Right now. Right here. All these people’re gonna know what you did, and they ain’t gonna trust anything you have’ta say for yourself.

The memories of what he’d done bore down upon him. Merciless. Relentless. The flash of the blade, the blood, the thoughts—oh Jesus the things he’d been thinking. The plans he’d been making. Oh Jesus.

What he’d done to Pender. All the fear from earlier, the sick revulsion at the dead men in that room. The gibbering panic of the tongueless woman. All of it collapsing down on him from where he’d tried to shelve it.

You got to wake up, boy. You got to face what’s coming. You got promise, and I love you more than anything, but I ain’t gonna let you become something bad. No sir, I won’t let that happen. You tell them Edward, you tell them what you did and don’t you lie. You face this, and you’ll be stronger for it. You listen to me now.

Her voice relentless, like the waves against the shore. Eroding the madness, washing it away.

"Yes Gram," he said in a voice thick with emotion. "Yes Gram… I’ll tell them. Oh, Pender, Jesus-God I’m so sorry Pender." His hands tightened on Theo’s arms, his own arms trembling, his face a patchwork of revulsion, guilt, and misery.

The force-field vanished.

Stranger kept his arm around the young man. "Easy kid, everything is okay. What were you saying about Pender? What happened up there?"

Ed blinked rapidly, his breathing coming in huge gasps, eyes red rimmed. "Look Theo, I don’t got no right asking you this, no right. But I can’t stay here any longer. I can’t, you understand? There’s too much here, too many emotions, too many minds. I can’t separate anything anymore, man. Do you understand? I need you to help. I need you to…"

Jonathan skidded to a stop and pulled out his next arrow. "Don’t twitch, Ed," he said, his voice as level as the bow he aimed at the kid. "Step away from him, Stranger. You don’t know what he’s capable of."

Calice, Maggie thought, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs from Ed’s mental attack. I hate whackos, I hate mentalists, I hate idiots, and I hate idiot mentalist whackos most of all!

"I’m fine," she told Goo, her voice laced with barely contained anger. That’s pretty gross, she mentally decided, as her current situation provided a much-needed mental reprieve from the recent events, but heck, it’s not like Marjorie the Mad Scientist is one to talk…

"Thanks a lot for the catch. Where’s Ed? Make sure he can’t get away, he’s gone totally bonkers." Suddenly killing people and gleefully knocking off the only thing holding him up a hundred feet above ground. Never thought stupidity and psychosis would manifest simultaneously. I gotta find a better thing than that emergency cutoff-full shield procedure when I let go of the jet trigger. I might be higher up with no one to catch me.

"He’s dangerous, murderous even. No idea how that happened." Wonder if there’s something in the mentalist makeup that makes them all go psycho sooner or later? Something about hearing the thoughts of others? That would be rich.

"Ma-a-ggie? Ed nuts once before. Ed in my head, said ‘Who am I?’, then nu-u-uts. Hurt hands.

"Maybe again?"

"Maybe… Except this time he’s injured Pender and attacked me."

Goo had a realization. True, it was holding Maggie many, many feet in the air and talking to her. But it was also on the ground near Agent Jardine.

And, apparently, it had no centralized mouth, so…

"Jardine!" The base of Goo said sharply.

The pilot, sidearm still in her hand, spun toward the sound.

"Pender down. Consider Ed hostile. Protect civilians. Inform other a-a- agents."

"Jesus," Jardine said to herself (and because its hearing apparatus seemed to be as non-localized as its mouth, Goo picked up as well). "It sounds just like—" Then her eyes traveled up the protoplasmic tower, to where Magnitude was perched.

Maggie heard a beep on the PRIMUS frequency come through her headset. "Ms. Thorin—we got the squeal from Q-Ball that Ed took Pender down. Can you confirm that Ed is hostile? If you can’t speak freely, just nod."

"Confirm that, Agent Jardine," Maggie answered through the radio. "Might be temporary psychological distress, but I don’t think we can afford taking chances right now."

Maggie could hear the pilot start to bark orders over her headset, switching from the PRIMUS bands to the police bands and back again. She told the police to push the barricades further back and to get the bystanders away from JigSaw. On the PRIMUS band she told Grodenko, the one remaining MCT on the scene, to handle Ed. The MCT was already next to the helicopter, a dozen feet from Stranger Ed, and Crossfire. "I’ll cover Ed," the agent said in lightly accented English.

"You can put me down now," Maggie said to Goo. "I’m not really hurt."

Goo pulled itself into a sort of sideways sofa, setting Maggie down near Agent Jardine.

"Thanks, Goo." Maggie said. She nodded to Jardine. "Agent."

Jardine nodded back, still issuing orders over the radio.

Already blind, Ed squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

Not him.

Not now.

Please God no.

And again he was caught, snared in something along with Theo August, Red’s emotions burning in the distance.

"Theo, man? If you can, please get me out of here. I have to go to a police station. I have to tell ‘em what happened." His voice was fast, almost hysterical.

"Too many, too much. Not here… Can’t be here." His voice trailed off into a sob.

Stranger kept his arm around Ed and positioned himself directly in Crossfire’s line of fire. "Easy, Hoss. I think whatever happened is over now, so please stop pointing that thing at me."

He turned towards Ed. "Relax Ed. You don’t need to go to a police station, there’re plenty of cops around here to talk to. Besides I just can’t leave right now, not in the middle of all of this. You’ll just have to make due for now. But don’t worry, no one’s going to hurt you. Now, I think you had better start explaining what the hell happened before things get really out of hand."

"But there’s too many, Theo!" Ed hissed, clutching at the masked man’s arm like a drowning sailor would a piece of timber. "I can’t focus. I need quiet. It’ll happen again, and somebody else will get hurt!"

"I can talk to you, see, ‘cause you, you’re a nothing. A zero. Can’t read you at all. But I can feel them all right now. They’re mad and scared and suspicious and some hate me and oh fuck…" He took a few gulps of air, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Please, Theo. At least get me to a cop car or something. Away from everybody. Just you and me and a cop, okay? You can stop me, I can’t hurt you, and, and just… please? Please keep Red away from me?"

"Okay, kid. First let’s get a cop," Stranger said, turning towards Crossfire. "Hey Crossfire, this kid is really freaked out. He needs a cop, maybe that Hammersmith guy. I think his powers are running away with him and he needs to be isolated." A dozen feet to Stranger’s left, an armored PRIMUS agent stepped around the side of the helicopter, his large weapon aimed at Ed. "So," the masked man continued, "could you also see if there’s a patrol car he could sit in for a while until he collects himself? Thanks, man."

Jonathan spotted the PRIMUS agent leveling his weapon at Ed. Something had happened with the kid. Ed’s powers sprang from his mind, and maybe they were affecting Stranger.

"Let’s just wait until we find out what’s happened here first," Crossfire said, keeping his entangle arrow at the ready. "I’d rather not have Ed out of my sight, thanks. You’ve got to trust me on this, Theo. Like I trusted you earlier."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Stranger said, noticeably more agitated. "This kid is just about to lose it and you’re only making it worse."

"Great, so he’s just about to lose it and you want to just sit him in the back of a cop car." Jonathan shook his head. Not that he wasn’t sympathetic, but if the kid couldn’t control himself, as he hadn’t all day, that wasn’t his problem. But it sure as hell always became everyone else’s. "Sorry Stranger. I’m not sure what’s the best way to help Ed, but I’ve got to make sure the worst thing doesn’t happen for the rest of us."

Ed leaned his forehead against Theo’s chest, shaking it back and forth.

"No. No no no no. Theo, it’s changing, it’s all changing. They know, Theo. They know what I did, and they’re mad and they want me. It’s getting in my head, Theo. I can’t keep it out forever, there’s too many of ‘em. Too goddamned many, and Red isn’t a fucking cop so he can eat shit and die! I ought to fucking sue him for what he’s done to me, I’m probably blind for life, YOU HEAR THAT ASSHOLE!" he shouted, chest heaving.

Stranger felt a dull ache in the back of his neck.

They know… the voice echoed in Stranger’s mind. They know what I did, and they’re mad and they want me… I can’t keep it out forever, there’s too many of ‘em.

"That’s it, young man, you can’t keep us out forever. We know what you did," the voice whispered from outside. "We remember even if you don’t—we remember."

Theo sat alone again in that place he had forgotten about since this morning. A spotlight shone on him from above. Black filled the space beyond the brightness, and there lived Theo’s army, its ranks swollen by a lifetime’s sorrow. Crushed puppies and burnt mothers would stumble into the light only to scurry back, shocked by the horror of their own existence. Outside Stranger’s wall, young Theo could not escape the world that Ed’s cries had resurrected.

"We all know what you did, young man." The words drifted out of the darkness, rising up on the mist of the creature’s hot breath.

"But it wasn’t my fault… it wasn’t my—uuhhmmpp—" His words were stopped by the mouth restraint. The familiar leather-covered bar still tasted bitter in his mouth. He pulled hard on it, hoping to somehow break loose.

From above, the crocked smile of Dr. Moore came into view. "Now now, this is the only way to keep you still, Mr. August. Besides, you can’t keep us all out."

He voiced echoed all around Theo. "It’s just a little shock. Why, cattle take more than this everyday. It’s really the best thing for you. Trust me."

The doctor’s face hovered just in front of his own. Theo tried to hit it, but his hands were bound. He could hear the dull hum of the machine as it built up its charge. Slowly the sound trailed off and all that he could see was the doctor’s face.

"That’s a good lad. It’ll just take a second." His eyes dissolved into lollipop swirls as a dollar’s worth of ComEd’s finest charged through his body.

"Fuck," Stranger said under his breath, shaking his head.

Ed coughed.

"Theo, Theo, Theo… Get me away from here, Theo. I’m sick. I’m gonna pass out or throw up or start freaking again. Just please help, okay? I promise I’ll go along with the cops. You can come. You can knock me out or something if I start freaking, okay?"

Ed’s voice was the voice of a child, and had an almost dreamy quality to it. He trembled, and was tapping his forehead lightly against the masked man’s chest. Back and forth. Back and forth.

"I know, Gram… I know…" he whispered softly.

Stranger held the kid, gazing down at the top of his head. The metal mask over his face hid all expression.

Stranger had a plan, but he needed to talk with Ed without Crossfire hearing, and the archer was only six feet away with his telescopic site trained on them. In the barest whisper Stranger said, "I’m not gonna fucking touch you. Nobody is. You tell me when you can see again, ‘cause when we leave there’re going to be many unhappy people and I’m gonna need your help. Say yes if you can understand me."

It was a moment or two before Ed realized that Stranger was whispering as well, in a voice so quiet it barely came through the mask. The kid caught only fragments of a sentence: "… or help … say yes… stand me."

The boy turned blind eyes up to the mask, hands clenched tight around Augusts’ arm. His voice was soft and hushed, still possessed of that child-like tone.

"Okay. Whatever you want, Theo. Okay. I understand. I know, fuck if I don’t know what it’s like to never be alone, never get a break inside. Let’s find a cop, okay? I don’t want to do this anymore. I just want to tell them so I can sleep."

"Christ," Crossfire muttered. "Just get him to the top of that building over there and don’t let him out of your sight. That should keep him away from everyone till we know what happened. I’ll deal with the shit down here."

The boy’s head whipped around, his tear-stained face contorting with a mixture of rage and desperation, pupils so constricted his eyes seemed full of chipped copper.

"No! No, I have to tell them now! You don’t know. You don’t even know what you’re talking about! What happened, huh big man? You even have a clue? All you know is shit. You disappeared. You weren’t there, you didn’t see it! You didn’t see what was in his head, the things he’d done. You people, fuck you people, so safe in your own little worlds. You don’t know the half of what’s out there, what hides behind people’s eyes and smiles and… and… God, I have to leave. I have to tell them, and I have to leave! I need to be away from here, but I have to tell them!"

"Why don’t you start by telling us, Ed," Crossfire said softly.

Stranger was getting more agitated. "Yeah, what are you talking about? What the hell happened to you up there?"

"You want to know so bad, huh? Do you? Fine, it got inside me, it changed me. I played by his rules, and you were all meat! Pender was there, and and I had to finish the work, I had to make her love me!"

The boy was shouting through a voice thickened with emotion—one second a rage that could almost be felt, the next a sadness that threatened to break the young esper. As if two different people were at the wheel of his psyche.

"So I used my power, and I cut her. I fucking tore off her shoulder, and the pain ran in and it was like … like… I had to cut her for Lilly. And then it would be you, and Thorin and everybody. Cause you just don’t matter, you’re just meat! That’s what was in my head, that’s what I have inside. You fucking happy now, huh? Sleep better tonight? Well I WONT!" The last few words were a shout. "And it’s still right there, it’s laying right there, and it’s going to wake up and start it all over. But oh no, let’s worry about the kid. Let’s fuck with Ed some more."

"I can’t be here now. I can’t take it. You’re all pushing through, you’re destroying me! I told you how it was. I told you. You should know. You should remember. You don’t have it in your head!"

Crossfire felt a pang of regret for blinding Ed again. It was the right thing to do, but right and wrong tended to blur at the edges, meld together to form something reasonable but unfair. Nothing seemed fair, but all of it was life. How could he ever explain to Ed that his actions were only because the kid was a threat? Better blind than being shot at. As it was, whatever happened had repercussions still to be realized.

Jonathan had thought earlier about the overwhelming responsibility Ed’s powers represented. He’d wondered at the time if a kid like Ed, impulsive and hot-tempered, could handle such a gift. The archer decided now that maybe no one could. It wasn’t a gift but a curse. Forces were dueling inside Ed, and the outcome wasn’t something Jonathan would bet on. Maggie and Goo might know something more, and he wondered why they weren’t over here yet.

"Ed, we’ll do what we can. Please get yourself together if you can. We want to help, even if helping means preventing you from hurting anyone else." Jonathan started to walk towards the PRIMUS agent. "Get him out of here, Theo, get him to that building. But watch him close."

Stranger was in shock. He had no great love for Pender, but she didn’t deserve whatever the kid had done to her. He was his own worst enemy and Stranger had to try to snap him out of it.

He shook Ed lightly and yelled, "YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN." And then he said, voice only slightly lower, "Kid, you had better calm the fuck down or they’re going to haul you off in an I-love-me jacket. No one is trying to fuck with you—yet. Now you have about five seconds to pull it all together before everyone and their brother is going to be all over you. And you had better stop with this poor me attitude—it’s not gonna fly with the cops or PRIMUS. I sure as hell hope that you’re a fast talker, otherwise you’re going to be living the rest of your life in a test-tube somewhere where the only thing you’ll have to look forward to—" He pointed to Goo. "—is a game of cards with Jell-O boy over there. Now, we’re gonna take a little ride up to the top of the building we were just on."

Ed began laughing. He laughed and laughed, laughed through the tears, laughed through the pain, through the images of blood and death, through all the emotions he’d been pounded with in the last hour and a half.

Theo was shaking him, telling him to do something. Something about not being a crybaby. About test-tubes and food. Okay, fine. Fuck it then. Laughter was the last resort of the truly fucked up, and baby, Ed was about as fucked up as he’d ever been.

He felt Stranger pick him up, heard what Red was saying, felt the change in the archer’s attitude towards him. But it was all just funny now. He had to laugh or he’d snap just like a cheap rope—he was fraying around the edges, his mind unraveling like the twine of a rope. Fuck, he could almost hear the whirry noise it would make.

Edward!

The laughter simply stopped—as if his vocal chords had been cut.

Edward, just shut it all down son. Just think about me. Remember the times with me, Eddy. Can you do that for me? Can you think about that Sunday last year, the one where you and me went over to Six Flags? Huh? And you tried to talk me onto that roller coaster, and I kept tellin’ you no sir, I was too old. Remember that Eddy? Her voice was steady and low, soothing like honey in hot tea.

Ed nodded weakly. "Yeah, I remember it."

And I stood there and watched you sittin' in the front car, and your face was all red from the wind and from you laffin'. Oh Lord, but that was a good day, wasn’t it boy?

"Uh-huh. It was fun."

He remembered the wind, rushing past. The funny way his stomach lurched as the cars would drop and rush past the curves of the track. The joy of the passengers around him, filling him so much he thought his head would explode with the sheer thrill of being alive.

"Fun. I miss that. I miss the fun," he murmured, sniffing. "It’s not fun anymore, Gram. It’s all blood and pain now. And lies and people pointing at you and being scared. I’m sick of being scared. I just want to go home and sleep." Images of blood and death and Lilly leered at him from the edges of his mind. Taunting him. Terror.

You can sleep in a bit, son. Just a bit more. You have to tell them what went on, and then they’ll let you sleep. Just keep on rememberin’ ‘bout that park and that train, son. Just listen to me and remember.

Ed nodded, shutting out all that he could, sprinting back across the years to a time when he was just a kid on a rollercoaster, laughing with everybody else.

"Sorry, but I can’t let you do that," Grodenko said flatly. All the back-and-forth between the three heroes didn’t mean much to him; he’d heard that Ed had taken Pender down (and possibly out), and that was enough. He held a large gun that he knew should’ve looked familiar to the young esper. "Come with me peacefully, Ed, or I’ll be forced to immobilize you."

I’d better not go near Ed, Maggie thought with uncharacteristic restraint. I don’t think I’d help matters much and it looks like PRIMUS has this under control. She noted that August and Ed seemed to be discussing quietly now. A delusional paranoid and an occasional psychotic. Splendid. She smirked. Just the thing to go with a borderline manic-depressive.

She approached the fallen chunks of Jigsaw, noticed that the piece she’d moved away before hadn’t moved, and picked it up. Hmm. Quite a bit of heat still. The air should have dissipated more than that. I guess he’s not dead. She let the chunk down and approached the Jigsaw-pile. No sign of any kind of energy, kinetic or otherwise, she noticed, picking up another chunk. It’s also warm.

She flipped it over, turning it in her hand. Warmth’s only on the concave side, the one that should be inside. Slight pulsations, too, compensating for dissipation. A heartbeat of some sort? She rolled her eyes. No heart of course, but figuratively probably appropriate. Looks like Jigsaw’s energy, his essence as it were, is contained in the rocks and that the energy core is just manifestation.

She timed the pulse, trying to figure out if it was accelerating. It seemed to remain steady, with a pulse about every two seconds.

Goo extended a tentacle toward Agent Jardine. "Other a-a-agent handling Ed," the tentacle observed. "Good. Cover me, Maggie, Jigsaw. Remember, ‘Down is not out.’"

"Yeah, I…." Her voice trailed off as the confusion created by Goo’s familiar voice was reinforced by an equally familiar phrase. "I’ve got your… back," she finished lamely, and signaled her intent to Grodenko, who, though embroiled in his own situation, nodded in acknowledgement.

With that, Goo rolled toward Maggie, positioning itself near the bulk of Jigsaw pieces.

"Ca-a-areful. Maybe let me handle."

Goo motioned toward the spot where the burning Jigsaw piece had cut through it. The spot had all but healed, leaving only a slight pucker.

"See-ee-eems that hurt me, I get better."

Ed, cradled in Stranger’s arms, blinked a few times, as if slowly taking in the PRIMUS agent’s words, then said, "Whatever. Whatever. I’m tired."

Crossfire had already gotten between Stranger and the agent. "Just relax," he told Grodenko. "We’re trying to get him peaceful. That’s the best start we can hope for right now. Back down the gun. You can always use it if you need to. The kid’s blinded."

"Just somebody take me away from here," Ed pleaded. "Please?"

"Sure thing," the MCT said in his lightly-accented English. He still hadn’t lowered his weapon. "Stranger, you want to carry him to the van over there? Might be easier on everyone."

Stranger looked towards the vehicle. "It might be easier on everyone if you back off with that super-soaker you got there. This kid is in no shape to do anything right now. And whatever you might shoot at him will also hit me, so if you don’t mind, point that thing somewhere else."

"If he’s in no shape to do anything, then I won’t have to use it," Grodenko answered. "But we have an agent down because of him, so I’m not about to take the chance. Let’s all make nice, and no one gets hurt."

Stranger shook his head. "You guys are something else. Could someone open up the van so I can put Ed in? And by the way, just who’s in charge here anyway?"

"Agent Jardine."

Stranger took a step towards the van and stopped.

"If you really feel the need to point that thing at me that’s fine, but please stay in front of me so I can see what you’re doing and we don’t have any accidents."

The PRIMUS agent just nodded in reply and sidestepped ahead of him towards the vehicle, keeping Ed in his field of view all the while.

Ed never said a word. Waves of excitement from the crowd rolled over him, with the occasional spike of crimson anger or suspicion from a Primus agent or a policeman stirred into the mix. But he had shut as much down as he could, turned his talent inward, focusing on another time and place with all the power he could.

Still, it was a house of cards at best. He knew very soon he’d have to re-live it all again. They’d want to know the facts, and he would have to tell them. He suspected that for people like himself, memory worked very differently than from the norm. He felt his memories as well as saw them. The stronger the emotional ambience, the more real the memory was.

So no—he wasn’t looking forward to this. And he still couldn’t see. But at the moment that was more of a blessing than a curse. In the dark all he had was himself and his memories. He was pretty sure he’d crack if he had to look at the faces that surrounded him right now. Yup, just like an egg.

So he hummed to himself in the dark, using the steady intonation of Gram’s voice as a shield to keep the monsters at bay. Fully realizing that one of the faces leering in the dark vista of his mindscape might be his own.

"Join me when you’ve gotten Ed taken care of," Jonathan called out. "I’m going to see what Maggie’s up to." He also had to thank Goo for his life, according to Stokes.

When Stranger, Ed, and the agent were a few feet away from the armored vehicle, the agent tapped a code on a keycard and a section of the side of the van slid open.

Inside was a small metal closet: a steel bench, armor plate walls, and recessed lights behind thick glass. Black straps of some shiny material hung from metal o-rings set into the walls: the straps looked like they could be assembled into anything from a seatbelt to a straitjacket.

Today, Ed would soon discover, it would be "straitjacket."

Stranger set Ed’s feet on the ground. "Looks like you’ll be enjoying that game of cards after all, kid. Oh yeah, a word of advice from a guy who’s been there: no matter what they tell you or how good it tastes, the yellow sponge cake has salt peter in it. See ya in funny papers, kid." He turned and started to follow Crossfire.

"Theo?"

Stranger turned and walked back toward the van. "Are you talking to me? See, my name is Stranger, not Theo. Theo was this poor shmuck who spent his whole life trying to get away from the place you seem to want to go."

Ed blinked. "Oh. Okay. But, I still can’t see. Can you… you know… give me a hand inside or something? Please?"

"No I can’t, mother fucker. If you really want to leave yourself to their tender mercies, it’s your business, but you have to take the last step on your own. I spent a lifetime in their hands, and the only thing I have to show for it is a healthy respect for the role of generic drug manufacturers in our society. Do you really thing these sons of bitches are going to help you with anything?" Stranger shook his head in disgust. "They’re gonna poke, prod, and probe until you won’t know the difference between getting treated and fucked. And when you’ve given all they want to know or study, they’re gonna pump you full of drugs and sit you down in a corner to make little animals out of Play-Doh. Oh yes, it will be a good life. Why, when it’s all over, you’ll probably be responsible for the creation of a half dozen Ph.Ds."

The funny thing about this, Ed thought, the really funny thing was that while he could hear what Theo was saying, he had no feelings, no empathic context in which to put it. And since he couldn’t see August’s face either, it was… surreal. Like listening to a book on tape or something.

Just… sterile.

"I’m not you, Theo… Stranger," Ed whispered. "I’m not you. I… I…" He shrugged.

"The door’s a few feet in front of you," Stranger said. "So just reach out. You know you’re there when you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up—but watch out for the first step, it’s a killer. When they let you out in thirty years or so, be sure to look me up. We’ll swap stories and you can tell me if they helped you just like they helped me. Hell, maybe I’ll even change your diapers for you."

He turned for the final time and walked away.

Ed laughed. "Right now, I don’t care. I just need to get away from here. That’s all. Just… get away. And tell them. I have to tell them."

He could sense someone come up behind him, someone coldly determined. But at least they helped him inside.

Into his prison. Perfect. Fucking perfect.

He was still laughing, softly. And sobbing. A bit of both, for the record. Yup.

See: The esper freak out! Hear: Him crying like a baby! Watch: As he’s tied up again!

It just didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. He had to tell them, and he had to sleep. Get control. that’s all.

Grodenko was quick and efficient about it, and the esper soon found himself securely immobilized. Clearly, though, it wasn’t enough. He reached into one of the van’s many interior side panels and withdrew a piece of metal about the size of a credit card and nearly as flat. A ribbon of wires connected it to the power system of the van.

"Hold still," Grodenko ordered. His voice held all the intimidation and authority of a dentist telling a patient to rinse and spit.

"Okay."

The agent pressed the device against Ed’s forehead, manipulated some of its miniature controls, and stepped back, surveying his work in satisfaction. Somehow or other, Ed noted, it was fastened securely above his brow.

"Sit tight," he concluded, and slid the door closed.

Crossfire walked toward Maggie and Goo, rotating his head in tight circles. His neck was stiff and his forehead had begun to ache again. He fought a moment of nausea; the head circles had thrown off his equilibrium. He shrugged it off and kept walking.

There were a lot of questions and no answers. He wondered where Darius and Woodbridge had gotten to, and not for the first time worried about his uncle’s safety. The plastic Ken and Barbie dolls had escaped, according to Stokes, but to where? This Goran character that Maggie knew and Hammersmith wanted to find was another unknown. Involved or not, and if so then how and where? Every time it seemed like they were on track with a lead, another meta popped up out of nowhere to cause grief. Jonathan felt like he was running around in circles. Most of all, he wanted the merry-go-round to stop.

Crossfire stepped in with the two metas and the PRIMUS agent. He turned to the protoplasmic form before him. "I never got to thank you. I hear you saved my ass earlier. Thanks."

"Welcome, dearie," Goo replied. "Glad hear I helped. I don’t remember clearly."

Crossfire seemed like a nice young man. It was good to meet nice young men who hadn’t hit Maggie.

Crossfire would have done a double take if he hadn’t already been looking at Goo. Jonathan could have sworn it sounded like he was being spoken to by his old kindergarten teacher. Jonathan slowly turned away to look at the jagged pieces of rock that lay in the shallow crater. "I know we still have to clean up this mess, but we’ve got to figure out what’s going on before another meta pops up." Jonathan quickly ran through the list of questions he’d had. "Anything else I’m missing? All these clues lead somewhere, but how?"

Goo leaned forward so that its words wouldn’t be picked up by the nearby crowd of people.

"Don’t know where pla-a-astic are. They ran. Had planned to ask Ed how I—um, PRIMUS agent—got captured. I—agent—might left tracking sphere behind. Find sphere, I thought, maybe ambush. Plastic find us. Then…"

Goo’s mood seemed to brighten just a little as it said its next words.

"…get ‘em!"

"I’ll fill you in on what I got told", Maggie put in, "as soon as we have a less-hectic moment. I’d rather deal with Ed and Jigsaw first."

"Bu-u-t," Goo continued, "Plan won’t work with Ed in MCT. Ed coming out soon? Or new plan, maybe?

"Also, news on Acting Pender? How doing?"

"We’re gonna need a new plan," Maggie said. "I don’t think it’s safe to let Ed out, considering, and besides, I don’t think PRIMUS are too happy with him right now."

How’s that for an understatement? she thought.

"O-o-okay, new plan," Goo agreed. "Track plastic transmissions? Maybe check map, find pattern? Get Q-Ball, Acting Pender on this, say."

Jonathan was a little confused listening to the conversation. He did, at least, catch enough to start putting some of the pieces together. "Okay, so we’re worried about Jigsaw. Fine." He turned and fired his still notched glue arrow down on the sharp-edged rocks that lay scattered in a close man-shaped form. The contents of the arrowhead spread rapidly, expanding to form a sticky mass that looked not unlike Goo.

"There. That should keep him under wraps for awhile if he does wake up again. I agree we need Ed. He was affected by an encounter earlier today with a meta—that may have happened again. We need to find out how Pender is doing. Maybe Ed won’t be in trouble after all."

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