Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 14
There wasn’t enough time for Boyd to throw together more than the simplest plan. He would try to knock the largest threat out first while he still had the element of surprise; that was the beam user. His second priority was the telekinetic.
Boyd needed to get Silvie to safety before he could deal with the pursuit and capture of these Powered Criminals. He folded his wings and started to dive, leaving them extended just enough to control his trajectory. Boyd didn’t take the time to approach from their blind spot but wasn’t too worried about being spotted until it was too late, given that he was descending from above. There was a chance the orange telekinetic might look up and see him, but his diving speed was fast, and the criminal wouldn’t have enough time to act or even to call out a warning.
Boyd dove at the beam user, the figure rapidly growing in his vision as he sliced through the air between them. His fist flashed forward as he closed, slamming down onto the criminal’s shoulder. Boyd felt the man’s collarbone shatter.
He wasn’t holding back as much as he should, but at the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care. This asshole had hurt Silvie. Boyd’s wings extended and he tilted them to loop around while maintaining as much of his velocity as was possible. He glanced back over his shoulder and confirmed the criminal was spiraling down to the ground, still somewhat in control of his flight but out of commission for the time being.
Boyd gave a powerful beat of his wings to regain some speed before tucking them in tight as he zipped towards the telekinetic. The Powered Criminal saw him coming but didn’t have time to react, there was barely enough for his eyes to widen in surprise. Boyd snapped one wing out to spin him in a tight turn just in front of the telekinetic in the biker's jacket, whipping his tail into the criminal's center mass.
His tail was nearly seven feet long, and started out six inches thick where it protruded from the end of his spine before tapering to an inch thick right below the two-inch spaded tip. It was strong, too. Boyd could lift two tons with it.
That, combined with the momentum of the maneuver, would be enough to tear a human clean in half. He caught himself at the last second and pulled the strike. He still felt several ribs shatter under the force of his blow and the criminal was sent skipping across the pavement down the road.
Boyd slammed his clawed feet into the pavement to bleed off some of his momentum, leaving a furrow in the concrete. Boyd’s eyes darted up to Silvie. She was starting to fall, as gravity reasserted itself now that the telekinetic no longer had ahold of her.
Boyd leaped towards her and pumped his wings, catching her as gently as he could before she fell more than ten feet. His wings extended and caught the wind, slowing their momentum and sending them into a glide towards the ground. On the way down, he checked her for injuries.
Boyd considered immediately taking her to the medical center back at The Tower. There were several inch-thick round holes in her bodysuit that exposed the bronze skin beneath. He felt the low growl in his chest more than he heard it. He should have hit that fucker a little harder. The skin that was left exposed beneath her suit was red and irritated.
Silvie’s eyes were a little out of focus, but she must have recognized him, because a tired smile came to her lips. By the time they landed, her eyes no longer looked glazed, and she’d leaned her face into his bare chest.
“You came…” she murmured as they touched down.
Chapter 14
Boyd wrapped his wings forward and around his wounded love, shielding her from prying eyes and potential danger, but allowing her to look up at him.
“Of course I came,” he said as he surveyed the area, categorizing facts.
Silver was okay. She was safe. That was good, but there were still Powered Criminals left to subdue.
The telekinetic had come to a stop fifteen yards down the road. Most Powered were a lot tougher than the average human, and he was stirring but down for a little bit longer. The beam user wasn’t moving. Whether he was dead, disabled, or unconscious, Boyd couldn’t say. He was perfectly okay with any of those result. The fucker had hurt Silvie. His Silvie. That left…
The flier with the mace was a tech user. His jetpack roared as he rocketed toward them from the left. Boyd spun and shifted Silvie so that he could cradle her in his right arm. He dropped his left wing as the arm on that side rose, catching the tech user’s descending mace-wielding arm at the wrist. He squeezed until he felt the small bones in the man's wrist crumble.
The Powered Criminal cried out in pain, but it only lasted a moment before Boyd’s tail snapped forward and wrapped around his throat, tightening until the carotid artery compressed. He held the man up the required ten seconds to ensure unconsciousness after the criminal's body went limp. Then his tail loosened, and he lowered the neutralized criminal to the ground by his shattered wrist. The Powered Criminal had dropped his mace, but Boyd kicked it ten or so yards away just to be safe before refolding his left-wing around Silvie.
He checked on the other two. The telekinetic was trying to push himself to his feet but tumbled back to the ground as Boyd watched. The beam user remained unmoving. There were no immediate threats.
Boyd saw a small cafe across the street, where there was a couch in a covered alcove by the entrance. He walked over towards it, rechecking Silvie’s condition. She was smiling up at him with her normal, cheerful eyes.
“Hello, Darling,” she said. She sounded fine but made no motion for him to set her down.
“Hello, my love, are you okay?” Boyd asked as gently as his rumbling voice let him.
She nodded and pressed in tight against him, rubbing her cheek against his bare chest. “Everything feels fine… that beam didn’t tickle, though.”
“I got him. I might not have held back as much as I should have, but either way, he’s down.”
Boyd grabbed a clean-looking tablecloth from one of the cafe's tables as he passed it. He gently laid Silvie on the couch before wrapping the tablecloth around her shoulders. It would have to do, for a makeshift blanket.
“I have to go make sure they stay down. Will you be okay if I leave you here?” he asked.
Silvie nodded and pulled the tablecloth a little tighter around herself. “Go Hero, Darling.”
Her smile was dazzling. He could see the excitement in her eyes, and it took him a moment to realize why. He was in the field, and he knew there was at least one news crew around.
People were watching. Hell, half the city would have tuned in for something like this. By now, he was sure there was live commentary going on. He couldn’t help the grin that stole over his face, though he was filled with equal parts apprehension and excitement.
Would they accept him? A Hero who looked like a demon? Were the children screaming? Were they more scared of him than the criminals? Did it matter?
No. It didn’t matter if they were afraid of him. Not right now, at least. Boyd was strong and could make a difference. He could save lives. It didn’t matter if the people he protected loved him. Silvie loved him, and that was more than enough. And Silvie was thrilled to see him in the field.
“Damn right. Time to Hero.”
With a departing grin, he squared his shoulders, turned, and leaped into the air with the strength in his legs and wings. He took in the scene, quickly calculating what to do next. Officers showed up in their flying vehicles and had started setting up a blockade a few blocks away. He doubted they knew Boyd was in the city, so they were being cautious and not moving in until they figured out what was going on.
The telekinetic was limping away, clutching his side with several shattered ribs. With two flaps of his wings, Boyd propelled himself in the wounded man’s direction. The Powered Criminal looked over his shoulder as Boyd closed on him.
The telekinetic spun and raised his good arm, sending the orange energy to shoot forth and wrap around Boyd’s waist in a strange sheet almost like a window with a hole the size of his waist at the center. It halted his movement and the edge of the pane of energy dug into his abdomen. Boyd realized the criminal had just tried to cut him in half.
Boyd clasped his hands into fists and lit them with his black flame before he brought them down on the orange pane of energy projected by the beam that extended from the Powered Criminal's hand. It shattered upon impact and the criminal cried out in pain, his hands clutching his head as he crumbled to his knees.
Boyd dropped ten feet to the ground with a thud. He was pretty dense and weighed close to five hundred pounds. Running forward, he once again choked the ailing criminal out with his tail in a few seconds.
Just before he turned to check to see if the beam user was still alive, a searing pain hit him in the lower back. It burned. It felt as though someone had taken a white-hot piece of metal and buried it a couple of inches into his flesh.
Boyd hissed and took a step forward. The burning stopped a second later, leaving a throbbing ache in its place. Boyd used his Mental Domination power on himself, walling off the pain.
Spinning into a crouch, his wings came forward in a defensive position, shielding his body as he looked over the top of them. The leathery skin of his wings had a higher resistance to most energy attacks for some reason, so he’d learned to use them as a shield against energy manipulators.
They couldn’t stand up to an S-ranked like Silvie at full power for long, but it was better than letting the beams hit him elsewhere. He found the beam user had rolled to his side and lifted his usable hand to his temple. Boyd leaped and gave a single flap of his wings, pouncing on the tenacious criminal. Boyd realizes his mistake as he started to descend. He’d used a very predictable trajectory.
The criminal's face scrunched in intense concentration as he used his power.
Bringing his wings forward to block the beam now would send him tumbling to the street. Instead, Boyd raised his hand and activated his other non-passive Power. Black Flames rose from the skin of his hand starting at the wrist, flicking across the surface like a shadow of fire itself. They hadn't figured out exactly what the ability was, but the black energy seemed to soak up most others, and it allowed him to bypass some Powereds’ resistances. He couldn’t hold it for more than a few seconds, but the Powered Criminals beams didn’t last any longer than that.
The green beam flashed forward, and Boyd caught it in his palm. The Black Flame behaved just as he’d hoped and absorbed the energy. He descended as the beam ended, remembering to pull his blow as he palmed the beam user's head and slammed it against the concrete instead of through it. It was still more than enough to rob the last Powered Criminal of consciousness. The ones he’d choked out wouldn't stay down for long, though. That was better than the potential of unnecessarily causing brain damage.
Boyd looked down the street to the cafe where he’d left Silvie. The reporter in the red blouse and beige skirt and her cameraman had moved up to stand beside Silvie, who still lay wrapped in the tablecloth on the couch. Gutsy, Boyd thought. One stray beam or piece of debris that ricocheted and a normal human like the reporter would be paste. Such courage would get them one heck of a scoop for taking the risk.
He turned towards the nearest group of officers and yelled “All clear! Three down, unconscious, though not yet restrained. Two are in need of emergency medical attention—one with head trauma and the other with broken ribs. And there’s a shattered wrist, too.”
By now, the officers would have gotten confirmation that he was a friendly instead of an extra threat who had been attacking other criminals for one reason or another. Boyd waited long enough to see the officers start moving forward to make the arrests and secure the Powered Criminals for transport before he turned and walked back to where he’d left Silvie.
The cameraman focused on Boyd. So, as he approached, he folded his wings up tight and tried to look as non-threatening as he could with a closed-lip smile. He noticed that someone had given Silvie a bottle of water and saw the cap in the reporter's hand.
“Thank you for giving Silver some water. I appreciate it,” he said in the friendly voice he’d practiced a thousand times. He dredged up the reporter's name from the report that brought him here, “Kayla Bailey, right? With News2?” he asked as he closed the distance between them.
“Um, yeah,” she said as she took a step away from Silver. “Do you have time to answer a few questions?”
“I really wish I could, Miss Bailey, but I have to get Silver back to The Tower so we can have her checked out.” Thinking back to Royce’s many coaching sessions on what to do when encountering the press, he decided a joke might help people warm to him more quickly. “And frankly, I’m not supposed to be in the field so I must report to my superiors for an immediate dressing down.”
He chuckled, which earned an awkward laugh from Kayla and a giggle from Silvie. It was better than nothing. “Seriously, though, thanks for the water. I won’t forget it.”
He bent to pick up Silvie, cradling her in his arms before turning to walk a few paces away to take off. But Silvie surprised him by rising up and pressing her lips to his. After overcoming his temporary shock, Boyd returned the kiss and allowed Silvie to deepen it for a long moment. Once she was satisfied, she lowered back down and snuggled into his chest.
Boyd didn’t miss the fact that she’d waited for the camera to have a good angle on them before initiating the kiss. He looked up at the reporter and the cameraman, who was staring past his camera. Each look more surprised than he was.
Boyd grinned, gave a shrug of his shoulders, and leaped in the air, catching them with a gust of wind from his first downbeat because he forgot to move away far enough after Silvie had so expertly distracted him.
Once they were over the buildings, Silvie squealed in his arms “That was so cool! You just swooped in and took them out, one after the other. They didn’t even stand a chance!”
“Element of surprise.” He shrugged. “Seriously, are you okay?” He looked down at her as he set them on a course towards The Tower, though he flew much slower than he’d done on the way out.
“Yeah, I feel fine. I could fly back on my own, but this is nice.” She nuzzled back into his chest. “I might ham it up a bit, see if I can’t get a couple days off.” She frowned. “You, however, have a hole in your back. Blocking out the pain?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. I shut it down. It feels like it should heal in an hour or so. I’m just glad you’re okay. When I heard your screams, I thought…” He choked on the words.
“Hey… it’s okay. You came and saved me, just like I knew you would. It was strange, it’s like I could feel you coming,” Silvie said just loud enough to be heard over the wind.
“Yeah? Strange…” He pursed his lips. “Actually, I knew you were in danger before the report came on. I don’t know how, but I just knew.” Boyd frowned in confusion.
“It must be a part of your Power. That’s pretty cool,” Silvie replied, pushing her head up under his chin as they rose and fell with each beat of his wings.
“Yeah, that must be it.”
Even at their slower pace, they were quickly closing on The Tower. There was a pad attached to the side of the building about halfway down from the top. It was marked with an ‘H’ indicating that it was a hospital landing point. He glided down towards it.
“Well, let's get you checked out, and I suppose it’s time to face the music.”
Chapter 15
Facing the music turned out to be a bit anticlimactic. Royce found him in the medical wing after the doctors and nurses had finished fussing over his wound. They’d disinfected it and covered it with a layer of artificial skin, despite his protests about how unnecessary it was. They were taking longer with Silvie, though.
Boyd was waiting for her to finish her exam in a room designed for the purpose when his handler tracked him down. He was the only one there. Like all hospital waiting rooms, it was clean, sparsely decorated in light colors, and not a place meant for enjoyment.
During business hours, Royce put a little more effort into his appearance. His hair was combed, and he’d recently shaved his weathered face. His gray suit was free of wrinkles and buttoned up appropriately, his white dress shirt was tucked into his slacks, and his black tie was only a bit loose. When he’d walked in, he was wearing a smile—which went a long way to easing Boyd’s worries.
“Hey, kid. How's the back?” Royce asked as he crossed the otherwise unpopulated room, thumbs tucked into his belt.
Boyd’s handler was still in decent shape, though he was starting to soften up around the middle. Even while sitting down, Boyd had no problem meeting the man’s eyes without looking up. Royce was neither short nor tall, his height being somewhere in the upper five-foot range, but Boyd’s height made it so he seldom had to look up at anyone.
“It’s fine… mostly healed up already. Doc insisted on putting that fake skin on it, though,” Boyd grumbled. The stuff was itchy, and it wasn’t like he’d ever had an infection. Or an illness, for that matter.
“Good, good,” Royce replied, plopping into one of the too-small-for-Boyd but right-for-most-people metal and plastic chairs next to him. “The report said Silver was alright, but that’s just the physical stuff. How’d she take it?”
Boyd grunted his agreement at the statement of physical wellness before replying. “Fine, as far as I can tell. It didn’t seem to shake her much.”
“That’s great. Real good. You looked great out there, too. Here,” he reached into his pocket and took out a handheld device that looked like a sheet of clear plastic about a quarter-inch thick, three inches wide, and seven inches tall.
Royce tapped a corner of the portable interface and it lit up, filling with the still image of a preloaded video. Boyd recognized it immediately as he accepted the device, it was a recording of the report Boyd had seen before his hurried flight to reach Silvie.
After fast-forwarding through what he had already seen, Boyd once again flinched as he heard Silvie crying out in pain several times before his arrival. After the first one that he’d witnessed on the report, the beam user hit her with five more beams, eliciting a pained scream each time. The angle of the camera allowed them to get a good view of both Silver and her attacker.
