Kaze asks Nick if he sees any of the enemy heading their way.
"Yes, I do. I think I see all of them."
"How close are they?"
Belle draws her gun and stands ready.
"Let's see," says Nick. "Four of the Iron Guard are in a line ... all the street signs are in Chinese, or perhaps it's Japanese. So they can't be closer than San Francisco. Not our immediate concern."
"Then there are six fellows who look a bit like the hit men we met in Tulsa. They are ... ah, Oklahoma plates ... in a car on a highway in the high grass. There's no snow, so they can't be closer than, I suppose, Illinois? We have several hours, even if they turn and move closer to our location."
"I'm not being very helpful, I'm afraid."
"Oh, and there's the Tattooed Man. He's undergoing further tattooing from, ah, some kind of demon, with a very wide head and fingers which appear to have been replaced with tattoo needles .. they're dripping smoking ink. The Tattooed Man is screaming. It seems very painful. Hm ... nearby are ... Negroes eating .. a bookstore ... a subway. A very large subway. I think, everything considered, he is in Harlem."
"That is helpful," she says, smiling encouragingly. She doesn't smile much. It's a bit of a new look.
Speaking of looks, she looks at Richter, expecting him to do something with this intelligence.
Richter is indeed interested. He starts to smoulder.
"You have eyes on Hitomi RIGHT THIS MINUTE?" Richter gasps. "We can .. is he surrounded by .. I mean, how many people are around him? We could pounce on him right now!"
"He's a thousand miles away, sir," Nick points out. "By the time we get there --"
Richter cuts him off with a chopped hand, trailing flames.
"NO, no! You keep him in sight all the time, and when we get there, we watch until he's alone, then hit him with everything at once! And while you're watching, we call everyone we know and get them all converging on his location ... this could work! We've GOT the bastard now!"
Nick breaks off his unfocused starting to glance at Richter. He seems to think Richter's getting too worked up.
"You're gonna burn my carpet," rumbles Jake Sullivan.
"No problem, I got it," says Mrs. Sullivan, who is indeed siphoning the flames into a swan shape in the kitchen.
(Janet notes alarm from many small animals in the house's vicinity. The flames have them worried.)
Kaze bows to Richter.
ReplyDelete"Mr. Richter, I believe your new torch power is influencing your actions if not your long-term decisions. Do you need to set it aside while you plan?"
"No! It's MINE and I ..."
DeleteHe sees how people are watching him.
"You're ... right, of course," he says slowly. "Christine, would you kindly hold my Torch while we work out our course of action?"
"Sure, Mr. R," she says, and carefully palms the burning brand off of Richter.
"Whoo!" she says afterward. "You're right, it does feel ... different. No wonder Scorchy was always so up!"
"It might be a demon," says Kaze mildly.
ReplyDeleteChristine: "Wait, what?"
DeleteRichter: "Oh, I'm sure it's not a DEMON ... per se. Just a spirit with strong inclinations, forceful opinions on ... burning things ... odd, I feel a bit less focused without it. Christine, if I could just borrow that back for a moment --"
Christine: "A DEMON? I want this thing out of me!"
She makes shooing motions with her hands, and foot-long streamers of flame leap forth.
Mrs. Sullivan captures the flames and confines them against her bosom.
"It is not a demon, Miss Tay-un," she says soothingly. "You will grow used to it in time. Do not be alarmed."
That seems to help, some.
Richter: "Well, never mind ... I can see this is going to be difficult. I'll soldier on without it. Now, ladies and gents: go straight for Hitomi, or keep him under the eye until we're ready? Is there really a lot else we need to do?"
Kaze, after raising an eyebrow at Mrs. Sullivan to see if it acceptable since she is otherwise occupied, elegantly pours Mr. Richter--and anyone else who wants it--some tea.
ReplyDelete"While it would be... wrong--and foolish... to set the local, mundane authorities on him, perhaps other allies might be employed to delay him... or herd him ... into a more advantageous position for us. It would have to be someone who was working at a distance, not knowing what he was being asked to do--or someone who could shield himself and any others involved."
She adds hastily, "...I do not recommend keeping them uninformed as a matter of guile, but rather one of caution. Should he be using powers of detection."
ReplyDelete