Blackjack Wayward

Chapter Twenty-Six

“I’m sorry, but I have to go,” I said, placing the teacup and saucer on the countertop. She did the same and walked over to me, clasping my hands.

“Are you going to be all right?”

“He really doesn’t like me,” I chuckled.

Ms. Hughes flashed a smile and squeezed my hands. “Be good, okay? And come back soon. Maybe I’ll make some Cuban food for you and Maddie.”

“I’d like that.”

She put her hand on my chest, looking at me seriously, “Some things are worth all the difficulties of the world.”

“Thank you for the coffee,” I said and slid the glass door open, walking across the pool deck, taking a small set of stairs and hopping the back fence to face off with Superdynamic. If he wanted a fight, this one was going to be one for the ages.

Superdynamic flew away from the house and landed beside a group of supers, beckoning for me to approach. A V/STOL silver aircraft hovered in the sky above the golf course. It reminded me nothing of Epic’s jet from the fight on Hashima, but the technology had to be Superdynamic’s handiwork because it was the same shade as his full-body costume. It was polished to a shine, yet appeared to be less an aerodynamic aircraft and more of a metallic beetle, hunched over in hovering mode with wings swept up and back and two great motors pivoted downwards. Beneath the vessel were what seemed to be the insect’s hooked claws or legs, yet on further inspection I could tell they were pylons of weapons and sensors. Another interesting fact was how large the vessel was, especially when compared to the ship on Hashima Island. Where Epic’s airplane had been like a modernized version of the SR-71 Blackbird, this thing was closer in length to a 727 and looked like a genetic experiment gone wrong, bright and lustrous, and silent as a whisper despite its massive size.

Superdynamic’s suit was as before, dark and light silver with white trim, covering the entirety of his body save for his chin and lips. His headgear was extended, with the edges flaring out into harp flanges and no marks denoting where the eyes would be, giving his face a strange, blank expression. Lights flashed around and through the suit, flaring through channels marking the edges between colors and around the joints in the armor. I knew he had a shield and some sort of light weaponry, but in truth, I had never seen him in action. In our previous encounter, back in New York City, Cool Hand Luke had shut him and Epic down with one of his temporal bubbles.

And speaking of Epic, I half expected to see him. Instead, Superdynamic had formed a new group. The others moved in, surrounding me. I didn’t recognize any of them, save for Mirage, former companion of Superdynamic’s from the Superb Seven and a friend of Apogee’s from farther back. The fact that the majority of his team was unknown to me meant that they were a bunch of rookies, an untested team, unready for what I was going to unleash on them. They were acting like professionals, though, ready for anything, holding a perfect perimeter against any escape. I wondered what madness Mirage had prepared to disorient me, but it seemed safer to play it straight, so I held steady. To the right of Superdynamic was a fellow with a costume that was somewhat similar to the legendary hero Olympic, all dark blue leather with yellow accents. He may well have been second-generation super, but he was a little guy, small and thin, and not that impressive.

Beside Olympic Jr. was a girl that looked no more than seventeen. Her eyes gave a hint of Asian descent, and she wore a white and gray China girl outfit, free around the midriff. Her arms were adorned with gold circlets and her long brown hair was partially pulled up, kept in place with amethyst hairpins. She had an athletic figure despite being quite thin, like an agile Shaolin, and wasn’t used to being given a once-over, blushing as I appraised her.

“We’re not here to fight,” Superdynamic said, noticing that I was gauging the opposition, but he was the only one of his party who wasn’t tense.

The fellow next to her, standing almost behind me, wore a half-suit of metal armor, straight out of a T.H. White novel, except only from the waist down. His upper body was bare and pale, with a series of animated dragon tattoos flowing across his skin. He was a young guy, much like Olympic Jr., no more than twenty, with long blonde hair that he had trouble keeping out of his face. He was taller than Olympic Jr., almost reaching me, and one of his long, lanky arms rested on the leather corded handle of a massive sword that looked too heavy for him to even lift.

The one that most drew my attention was a busty redhead standing next to the skinny knight. She was dressed in tight leathers, but otherwise styled like a swashbuckler or pirate with a tight bodice that struggled against her ample bosom, pressing all that flesh upwards into a massed valley of cleavage. Unlike the martial artist girl, the redhead liked being stared at, raising an eyebrow and cocking her hips to one side to accentuate her figure. She smacked at her gum, dismissing me with an unimpressed expression on her face.

I must have looked pretty pathetic.

Closing off the circle was a big black dude in a long leather trench coat and a musculature to rival Epic’s. From how close he stood, how tense he was, I could tell he was the most eager to get it on. He had a funny beard and a ridiculous flattop-cut Afro, with reflective glasses and a cigar jutting from his mouth. I’d never heard of him before, but he looked like he’d been around, and he wanted a piece of me.

“’Sup, bitch,” he mumbled when he noticed my attention on him.

“You’re this group’s Epic, I guess,” I said.

He furrowed his brow, not following.

“I’m just trying to figure out who I’m going to skull-f*ck first,” I said.

“This isn’t what I want,” Superdynamic said, changing his posture by shooting forward both arms defensively when he realized how much I wanted a fight.

“I bet,” I said, the threat dripping with menace.

He turned back to Mirage, the only member of his team not encircling me, who was instead standing about thirty feet behind Superdynamic.

“Back the hell off, Moe, and don’t do anything yet, Mirage. Let me talk to this guy.” he told his teammate then turned to me. “We’re not here to fight, Blackjack.”

“That’s a lot of young faces,” I said, looking around. “Bunch of rookies going to get splattered today, Super Dee.”

He swallowed hard, trying to keep his composure. “Madelyne said you were cool,” he said.

I laughed.

“Do you hear me?” Superdynamic said again, stepping forward to draw my attention. “This isn’t a game, man. You can’t be here.”

It started softly, a low rumble in my belly, but before I knew it, I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face.

“Bugger’s daft,” said the busty heroine in a pretty heavy English Cockney accent. She crossed her arms, propping up the bountiful pair in a sassy pose, cocking her head as if to make sense of me.

“Oh?” I said, walking past Superdynamic toward her. He let me pass, in part because I must have looked like a mad man, covered in grime and tears, laughing like the world was going to end. It had to be – this was all part of the dream, and I had never left. I had to be back there, back in Utopia, the paradigm reforming to give me more difficulty, more challenges, keeping my mind busy so I wouldn’t be a danger to others.

“I’m starting to get it now,” I said aloud, but to no one in particular. “I’m starting to understand how this works!”

“Blackjack, man....” Superdynamic put his hand on my biceps to hold me back, but I strode through his grip.

“I get it. I see how this whole thing works,” I said waving my arms about. “It’s like she said: you’re just keeping me busy, keeping my mind working on a goal. And at the same time tossing me a bone here or there,” I motioned to the looker.

“Dude, what are you talking about?”

“He’s bonkers,” she said. “His mind’s all at sixes.”

I laughed again.

“Blackjack, you need to snap out of it,” Superdynamic said, clasping both my arms and giving me a gentle shake, but that just made me laugh harder.

“It’s ok,” I said. “Now I understand. This is all bullshit, and the stuff they showed me earlier, the whole thing, it was bullshit too.” I put my arm around Superdynamic and motioned to the heroine. “See, they put her here for me. So I can have something to f*ck. Well, mind-f*ck. But you know what I mean. It’s just something to keep me in line, something to keep me busy. I’m still back there, buddy.”

I squeezed his shoulders hard and walked over to the heroine, closer than she was comfortable with. She was a beauty, for sure, with full lips, big blue eyes, and a figure that could cause a thousand car accidents. I smiled and she put her balled fists to her hips, ready to strike.

“I’m Dale,” I said, laying on the charm.

“F*ck are you about?” she said, looking around uncomfortably as I stepped closer still.

“You’re the best one yet,” I said.

“Get away from her, Blackjack,” Superdynamic said.

“Or what?” I strolled back to him. “This is my dream. I get her. She’s mine!”

“Oh, f*ck off,” she spat.

“What do we do, Superdynamic?” asked the knight.

“Just hang back,” their leader said. “I got this.”

“Hey,” I said. “Way this dream works is we’re a little hostile, maybe we fight it out. But before you know it, we’re all best friends, drinking it up.”

I turned to the knight, who was more nervous than the others. “But usually a few people die along the way,” I said. “And you have ‘sidekick that dies’ written all over you, buddy.”

Superdynamic shook his head. “You’re out of the dream, Blackjack. You’ve been out ever since Zundergrub broke into Utopia and tried to kill you.”

I paused for a second, shaking my head.

“No, no, no,” I said not knowing what to believe or who to trust. I mean, had the dream become self-aware? Was that the next step in its evolution? Maybe I’d been caught and thrown back in, and some parts were real and others not. But what was real and what wasn’t? It all felt as real as this, now. As real as Superdynamic’s hand on my shoulder, as real as his words as he tried to calm me down, defuse the situation, get the bad guy away from the scene. Was the ordeal at Utopia real? Was Claire real? The whole thing in Australia? If they caught me somewhere in there, how could I know where I was, or if I could trust my own senses?

I wouldn’t have made Superdynamic show up here so friendly. The mind-prison would have thrown him at me to tear apart, to release my anger and rage, to pummel him into oblivion and to give me that satisfaction to keep me moving forward, keep my mind active and seeking the next challenge.

“You’re just saying that to pacify me, to f*cking mollify me. It’s the machine: it’s trying to keep me busy. Just let me out for a second, man. I just want to find Apogee, make sure she’s safe!”

Mirage took a few steps forward, suddenly enraged, but Superdynamic shot his arms back at him, coming between us.

“F*cking chill, Chen,” he shouted. “Let me get this, goddammit.”

Mirage’s stern face was twisted like a mask, his eyes boring through my body as if he were ready to charge me, regardless of my strength or toughness, and just slug me.

“I got this, okay?” Superdynamic said, and Mirage, or Chen as he had called him, paused and let the team leader take command of the situation.

“Get what? What are you going to get? You’re not going to get me, man. If I’m out, if this is real, then nothing’s going to stop me. I’ve been through hell and back and there’s no way you’re putting me back. I’ll f*cking kill half of you and cripple the rest before that happens. Because you know what? You didn’t bring enough people. Token black guy here is going to last all of three seconds.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Superdynamic said. “Back the hell off, Moe. I’m not telling you again.”

“Shit,” Moe said, “this motherf*cker needs a lesson in manners.”

“You don’t have what it takes, pal,” I said, giving him my back so he would know I didn’t see him as a threat. Besides, if this was the dream, I could take him easily, right?

“Blackjack, listen to me,” Superdynamic said walking in front of me. “You’re out, you understand? The lingering doubt you have is perfectly valid, it happens to some people as an after-effect of being under as long as you were, but trust me when I tell you, you’re out.”

I just stared at his mask, not knowing what to believe. He was right, in that sense. I had moments of clarity, followed by utter confusion.

“Prove it,” I said.

He shrugged, “Okay, how?”

I looked around at his befuddled group, realizing that my antics had made them lose their professional attitude, and now they just stared at me, confused and concerned that they might have to fight a mad man.

“Take off your mask,” I said.

Superdynamic didn’t know what to say, his mouth partly agape.

“Why do you want that, mister?” the redhead asked from behind me.

I shook my head, “I’m not sure.”

“Don’t f*cking do it, Dee,” Moe said.

The leader’s confused expression changed as he shifted back a half-step, and after a moment he smiled and undid his helm. Superdynamic was a handsome guy, with the prototypical hero jawline and light brown eyes, the right slightly higher the than the left. His long nose had a nock halfway down from a break in his youth, and the top of his head was shaved, though slight stubble was growing back. He probably kept it slick so the suit would fit closer to the skin.

I could tell he pitied me – nothing overt, a twist of the mouth, the cast of his eye, the slightest hunch in his shoulders. This wasn’t that arrogant prick I’d fought in New York. That guy wanted to crack my head like an egg and fry my brain sunny side up. The guy standing in front of me was telling the truth. He didn’t want a fight.

“Okay,” I said.

He nodded, clenching his jaw in a gesture that made his face look rather severe.

“What were you expecting?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know.”

“This is all real, Blackjack. You’re going to have to deal with that.”

I lost my balance a second, shifting on my feet, and he reached out and caught me, slowing my fall to my knees.

“I don’t understand…”

“It’s a sickness,” he said. “It can get real bad if you let it. Some people loose themselves between the fiction and reality. If you rest, it will pass. For some people it takes months. You were down a long time and it takes awhile for the mind to catch up.”

“How long?” I asked, scared to find out the answer, and looking up at Superdynamic when he hesitated. “How long was I down?”

“Eighteen months.”

My mouth slacked, and I mumbled “Oh, God,” under my breath, fighting the welling tears at the edges of my eyes. If not for Zundergrub, I’d still be there, like old milk wasting in the back of the refrigerator shelf.

“Damn, he didn’t know,” Moe said.

“I’m not going back,” I said, though I didn’t mean to be threatening.

“You’re putting me in a tight spot, here.”

“All I want is to see her again,” I said. “You understand? To make sure she’s okay.”

He looked over at his team and gestured with a curt, tense wave of the hand. They moved away, leaving us alone. The last to leave was Moe, who needed additional prodding from Mirage.

“Blackjack,” Superdynamic started after giving his words some thought. “I know how you feel about her.”

“Do you?”

He nodded. “I do, believe me. But I don’t have time for this.”

“I’m not going back to Utopia. I don’t know how else to tell you that.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Superdynamic said, kneeling so we were at eye level. “Things are happening that require my attention and I don’t have time to be babysitting you.”

I shrugged, “Fine. Fly off and leave me alone. I’ll find her on my own. And I’ll find that piece-of-shit Zundergrub too.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I said, motioning to Ms. Hughes’ house.

Superdynamic nodded, granting me a measure of resourcefulness, but I could tell he was growing increasingly frustrated with me.

“I can’t leave you here,” he said.

“I’m not going to hurt anyone. Well, except for Zundergrub. I’m going to rip him apart.”

“It’s not that,” he said. “It’s just not how we do things. Blackjack, we had almost 1,400 other villains escape when you did. Can you understand what that means? Yeah, it’s not good at all and the vast majority of them are…” Superdynamic paused, rubbing the growing scruff on the pate of his head.

“What?”

“You know what’s happening in D.C.?”

I shook my head, not really understanding.

“It’s Civil War, Blackjack. Three days ago a retired general walked into Ft. Meade, just outside of the capital, and took over the whole base. If you don’t know it, Meade is where the army’s first mecha division is located.”

“Maxwell?” I said, recalling some of what I had been hearing the last few days.

“Right. He and his men took over every base surrounding D.C. and formed a perimeter around the capital. No one can get in or out.”

“What about supers?”

“Every active super is involved.”

“Apogee?”

He nodded, and I came to my feet.

“So let’s go help her.”

“It’s complicated,” he said. “We’ve lost contact with everyone, and there are hundreds of villains–”

“We have to go,” I said, suddenly grasping his arms. “It’s up to us, you see?”

Superdynamic stared at me, deciding my fate at that very moment.

“I don’t know what you know about me,” I said, letting go of him, but he put his hand up, pausing me.

“She told me,” he said.

“So let’s go, man. We’re wasting time!”

Superdynamic looked over at his team, then up at his ship. The silver plane dropped out of the sky, aiming to land near the others.

“Okay,” he said, finally. “You can come with us, but one thing....”

I nodded, expecting him to lay down the “rules for the bad guy”.

“Behave.”