Urban Renewal - 26 -   by Erin Halfelven Art by Heather Rose Brown

 
For Spartako, the world seemed to just go away.

Boosted in some mysterious way by Billy's forcefield and reinforced by Kendra's spell in some other way, Tessie's power seemed to extend into the atomic domain, increasing some quantum analog of friction -- entropy perhaps. In the capsule containing the remains of a man once called Wyatt Helmstrong; one arm, part of a spine, a neck and most of a skull containing a heavily wired brain; in that capsule, interactions of moving particles slowed to nothing -- and stopped.

For Spartako, the effect seemed no different than what he expected. Sudden darkness, silence, timelessness and unconsciousness look a lot like a point 0,0,0 nuclear explosion from the inside.

* * *

Billy's arc continued and he pulled Tess close to him as they fell away from the inert jetcopter. Both of their forcefields had been used up, time flowed normally now for them, decelerated only by adrenaline effects. Or for Billy, at least, the effort had left Tess too exhausted, mentally and physically, to do more than whimper.

One hundred fifty feet below them a vineyard waited, basically a rocky field covered at this time of year with sharp sticks pointing upward. Wrapping himself completely around Tess, Billy tried desperately to re-ignite his forcefield. He needed a spark of energy, electricity, flame, ionized plasma, something.

He thought of Hades in the Disney movie, checking to see if his hair had gone out and smiled grimly. Even with his forcefield on they would only make a big splash in the vines. Tess on the other hand....

"Tessie, honey, wake up," he murmured. "Urban? Hank? Therese Marie Munson! Wake up!"

"I'm awake," she whispered. The wind around them, the wind made by their fall, began to grab at their clothing and exposed flesh. "I don't know if I can..."

Still over a hundred feet up, their fall slowed, changed angle. They began to tumble, their clothing tearing.

Billy whispered something in Tess's ear. She nodded, her cheek moving against his chest.

* * *

Staggered by the sonic boom, Catclaw caught Lady Karma before stumbling and falling to his knees on the edge of the asphalt. "Craptastic!" he growled but the blood of monsters in his veins had already regrown the skin he'd just lost. "There's a reason I picked Paine for my new last name," he said.

"I know," said Kendra. He sat her own her feet and she looked up at the drama still unfolding. If the cyborg was already dead she could help him on his way. She opened her senses and reached out.

* * *

Seeing Billy and Tess appear out of the blazing blue arc from nowhere shocked Penny. Automatically, she dived forward to try to catch them before remembering that her descent from orbit and firing the atomic cannon would have heated her armor to red-hot if she'd been constructed of anything so mundane as steel. Even her recuperative magnetic cooling wouldn't lower her outer layers below three or four hundred degrees before she reached the falling heroes--if she could get there in time.

At least their momentum has carried them out from under the aircraft, it won't fall on them, she thought.

Nate's voice reached her from Skytower. "Laser the boy, re-ignite his forcefield."

She did that, aiming for what looked like in her sensors the hottest spot, shining a tiny focussed heat beam on Billy's shoulder armor. Then she redirected all cooling fluids to her arms and shed the outer, hottest layer of her own armor. "Talk about blowing hot and cold," she said to Skytower.

He chuckled. "Don't forget to stow the cannon before you try to catch them."

"Done." The big golden robot arced across the sky, still not certain she would be in time. Bright outer plates flaked off her, shedding heat as quickly as possible.

* * *

Todd turned the engine off and leaped from the still rolling SUV.

"Tess!" screamed Candace. She pulled the red mask from her face and threw down the buzz gun. "Tessie!"

Death Masque reached toward the cyborg with his power. Too far away, he thought. Almost a quarter mile. Oh, Tess, what's it going to be like to have you inside me? If I can reach you....