Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 69
Were the methods she’d been taught to use to suppress her Change-induced urges really going to make her go Primal? If Laura was right, and she seemed very certain about it, then Connor was at risk. Daisy would never hurt him; he would just become her very well-cared-for prisoner. She knew it.
“Good. I have your contact information, so I’m going to send you some information on the new courses. They can even be done remotely.” Laura returned to patching Daisy’s torn wing back together.
“The methods are easier to learn, easier to perform, and have proven to be much more effective. Most Changed that have made the switch say they are glad they did—but I would still recommend a temporary separation from your brother if the urges revolve around him… as I suspect they do.”
“Um, I have a neighbor he could stay with,” Daisy offered.
“That might work, as long as the urges don’t involve moving or bringing him somewhere,” Laura advised.
“Oh…” Daisy sighed. The urge to bring him back to their apartment and keep him there had been so strong.
“I’ll also send you information on a program set up for Changed with dependents in need of temporary homes. There is no charge, you won’t relinquish custody, and they are there to help get Connor back to his real home, not to protect him from you.”
“Thank you,” Daisy said. It was suddenly hard to breathe. She wanted to cry, but the nurse was being so nice that she felt it would be rude.
“I’m going to finish this up, then I’m going to step out and have your clothes taken care of. It won’t take me long, but you’ll have some time to… think,” Laura said with gentle understanding. “If someone were to start thinking while I was still working on their wing, I wouldn’t notice as long as they didn’t move their wing.”
“Thank you,” Daisy said again, with a sob.
Being given permission made it impossible to hold the tears back, but she managed to avoid jerking her shoulders as she sobbed—and through them, her wings. She didn’t want to send Connor away, but the kind nurse was right. She was very quickly becoming a danger to him.
Chapter 36
Boyd continued practicing with his propulsion pack while listening to the briefing provided by Director Davis. “We have five minutes until a flock of two hundred and eighty-three Diamond Claws reaches the walls of Glorith City. Turbine, we are going to have you move forward and create the biggest cyclone you can right outside the walls. Hopefully, that will scare them off. If it doesn’t, Turbine will fall back to support Kitsune, Gold-Fist, and The Pulse Brothers while Silver and Crimson Contender hold as many as they can at the edge of the city.
“Kitsune, Gold-Fist, and The Pulse Brothers are positioned on the southern side of the city, which the Diamond Claws are approaching from. Gold-Fist might be able to hurt or kill them, but being flightless his utility isn’t ideal for them. You four, as well as Turbine if he falls back, are to protect any civilians that didn’t make it into the shelters. The shelters are leaving the smaller doors open, so guide as many stragglers as you can to them. Dashing Devil, you are to guard the tower. Any questions?” Davis finished with a tone that indicated he didn’t expect any questions.
Whether it was the tone, or the looseness of the plan not requiring questions, nobody had any questions. Nobody except Boyd, that was.
“Why aren’t we having someone attempt to kite the flock?” he asked.
“We don’t have anyone with the right Power set,” Director Davis responded as if he was explaining a simple concept to a child.
“Yes, you do,” Silvie answered for him. “Devil’s aura and Mental Domination proved effective at kiting during training.”
“Shit, why isn’t the kid up front then?” a gruff male voice that Boyd didn’t recognize said over their comms. “It’s a big flock. Kiting them is the safest bet.”
“It’s an unacceptable risk. Dashing Devil doesn’t have the flight speed required to safely use such a tactic,” Davis grumbled, displaying his agitation.
“Tinker made me a propulsion pack,” Boyd said carefully. “I haven’t tested max speed with it yet, but it is more than fast enough to outfly Diamond Claws.”
“Good, use it to defend The Tower,” Davis responded sharply. “It’s an important task. Moving on…” He took a breath. “After reviewing the sensor readings, there is a chance the Diamond Claws were deliberately driven towards Glorith City. Everyone, keep your eyes peeled for further signs of foul play.”
“Why would someone send Diamond Claws at a city?” another unknown male voice asked.
“That’s just five kinds of messed up. What do they plan to do, rob the place once everyone is dead and the Diamond Claws clear out?” a third male voice asked, it matched the second so closely that Boyd assumed they belonged to The Pulse Brothers.
“We have no way of knowing their intentions, but given recent events, it seems likely they may be targeting you Heroes,” Davis continued in a grave tone. “Keep alert and stay safe. Any further questions?”
There was a chorus of voices saying ‘No, Sir’ on the comms—Boyd, Raev, and Silvie amongst them. Of course, Boyd knew that if a Hero was being targeted, it was probably him.
Could this be the next attempt at his capture after Omega Ray had failed? There was nothing to do except be ready for anything—which was more or less impossible. There was always something you weren't prepared for, no matter how much effort you put into countering every contingency.
Time passed in tense silence and Boyd used his FDU to pull up a camera feed that had eyes on the forward position. Silvie floated at the back of a reverse triangular formation about fifty yards from the two other points. The forwardmost points of the triangle were taken up by Turbine and Crimson Contender. Turbine was a tech user with a massive pack on his back that worked to produce small cyclones of air under his feet that were responsible for his flight. Crimson Contender, almost by necessity, wore a tight crimson suit that displayed his tall, beanstalk frame.
He watched Silvie fidget with her hair a little as the time counted down. About three minutes before the flock was set to arrive, Boyd started to see specks on the horizon to the south that rapidly grew into a small cloud of birds. It was at that point that Raev’s concerned voice broke the silence.
“Uh, we have a problem at the Seventh Street and Alabama Avenue shelter. A group in white is stopping people from entering. It looks like they are giving the NPOs there trouble. There is no way all of these people are getting inside in time. I’m moving forward to lend assistance.”
Davis sighed, sounding tired when he responded. “Pulse Brothers, you are closest, move to assist.”
“On our way.” Boyd got confirmation that the matching voices belonged to the Pulse Brothers.
Another couple minutes passed in tense silence. “Turbine, prepare to move forward. Silver and Crimson Contender support him. Kitsune, Pulse Brothers… what’s the status at that shelter?”
“Pretty messed up, Director,” one of the Pulse Brothers replied. “When we got here, they were throwing stuff at Kitsune and the officers on location.” Boyd felt his jaw tense and he turned towards the southwest where Seventh and Alabama meet.
“A couple of low-end Pulses quieted them down, but they are getting rowdy again. Permission to treat them as hostile?”
“Do it and get those people inside. We are almost out of time.” Director Davis’s voice sounded tight. “Turbine, go!”
Boyd switched his FDU to the intersection of Forty-Six and Alabama, which wasn’t nearly far enough away from the Diamond Claws for his comfort—especially given the situation he observed through the view screen. Roughly fifty people dressed in pure white had posted up in front of the shelter’s entrance, preventing a group of twenty Changed from reaching the safety of the reinforced bunker. The real problem, though, came from the several hundred people behind the group of Changed.
The rest of the group was mixed, with a few Changed scattered in it. It was mostly filled with very scared civilians. The crowd jostled and pushed forward in their panic. They had lost any line cohesion and had formed a mob, instead.
It was a bad situation that was about to get worse. What pisses Boyd off was seeing one of the white-clothed mob throwing rocks at Raev and a group of Non-Powered Officers, who were trying to diffuse the situation without violence. The time for reason was over though.
The Pulse Brothers, suited in mirrored blue and yellow leotards, came soaring in on jetpacks mounted to their backs. Unlike Boyd’s propulsion pack, theirs left a thin line of gray smoke in their wake. Landing to the side of the white-clothed group they raised their hands together. The air seems to ripple in concentric circles in front of them before it slammed into the group. White clothed people scattered through the air, skittered across the ground, or smacked into the wall of the shelter.
Kitsune looked shocked but acted quickly, moving forward into the pile of white-clothed rabble-rousers. She kicked, flipped, or pushed them out of the way with the assistance of the non-powered officers while waving the mob of civilians forward. They started moving, but without a clear line or direction, Boyd could tell getting them all into the shelter would be a slow process.
Boyd switched his view screen back to a skyline camera that should show the area where Turbine was supposed to engage the Diamond Claws and growled in frustration. The cyclone that Turbine generated was active, looking like a horizontal tornado that spread out in a line in front of him.
It didn’t deter the Diamond Claws in the least. If anything, it made matters worse as they flew into it as if displaying their complete lack of fear to their companions. Instead of a large but concentrated flock, they ended up scattered across the skyline.
With them scattered like that, Silvie and Crimson Contender would have an even harder time holding them at the edge of the city. Boyd watched as they both made the attempt, Silvie unleashing a torrent of silver energy from her hands into bird after bird and hurting but not crippling or killing them. Crimson Contender did the same, but with little fist-sized cubes of energy that exploded with flashes of crimson on contact. He at least left a trail of bloody feathers in the wake of those he attacked, but they weren't going to take the flock down quick enough to matter to those civilians trapped outside the shelter.
“Silver, now isn’t the time to hold back,” Boyd growled. “Lives are on the line.”
“Right, Darling. Sorry. I just didn’t think about it,” Silvie replied, punctuating the statement by unleashing a blast from her eyes. Unlike the bolts and bars of energy she expelled from her hands, her stronger eye beams pierced one of the birds, cutting it in half. The bisected bird left a trail of blood and gore as it plummets to the ground below.
“Much better,” Silvie chimed.
“Good job, Silver.” Boyd emphasized her name, reminding her that they were on open comms. “Just two hundred and eight two to go.”
Boyd’s worst fears were confirmed as most of the flock flew right past the desperately fighting Silvie and Crimson Contender. He switched his FDU back to the shelter. About a third of the group had made it inside but the rest were only moving forward slowly. The Diamond Claws would make it to them first.
Boyd switches to the Mission Map, which showed the positions of the other Heroes in blue dots and the birds in red. With a glance, he judged that if he left now, he would reach the mob at the same time as the three birds that had started moving toward them.
“Director, I would like to move forward to provide air support at the shelter,” Boyd said.
“Denied, defend The Tower.” The Director’s voice was tight.
“Clause two of article three of the Hero’s Handbook dictates we prioritize the safety of civilians over The Authority's property, which includes The Tower,” Boyd growled.
He probably hadn’t built enough goodwill to get away with disobeying orders again so soon after Omega Ray, but he was sorely tempted to.
“Devil…” the Director started.
“He’s right about the propulsion pack,” Royce cut in. “Plus, the analysts give better than even odds of Dashing Devil’s Black Flame cutting right through Diamond Claws. Tinker also made him a sword that functions the same way as the dagger he used to kill fucking Omega Ray. Deploy the kid… he can help.”
Boyd sent a silent thank you to his handler.
After a frustrated growl, Director Davis replied, “Fine. Go.”
With that, Boyd was off. He quickly discovered the propulsion pack was fast—really fast. Almost too fast. He nearly overshot his target intersection, having to use another wing-straining air brake to halt his momentum. Fortunately, the burst of speed had him on location before the three Diamond Claws. Unfortunately, it wasn’t by much.
He was probably three hundred feet above them as they approached. They were only flying about a hundred feet above the buildings, which were between six and ten stories tall in this part of Glorith City. Given their size, they didn’t need to be high to generate a lot of force in a dive.
Fortunately, the Diamond Claws seemed confident that nothing would ambush them from above, so they keep their eyes down, scanning for prey. It would give Boyd the advantage of a first strike. Given the fact that a Diamond Claw could kill him as easily as he hoped to kill it, Boyd would take any advantage he could get.
The crowd let out a combined, horrified scream, and tried to push forward as the birds crested the nearby buildings. They were still pretty high up, but not nearly high enough to miss the large mob of panicking people. Boyd pulled the shield from his back and strapped it to his left arm as the birds begin circling back around to get the proper angle to dive on the crowd of tasty treats.
Boyd spotted Raev’s red hair and tails in the crowd below. She was near the shelter’s entrance, trying to help calm and guide the civilians inside. “No fucking way,” he growled. “You will not get your nasty claws into my woman!”
Chapter 37
Boyd drew his sword, watching the Diamond Claws circle in a loose formation. He angled his wings to line himself up, aiming to catch the lead bird before it began its dive. Hopefully that would cause the others to abort their attempts and buy more time for the people below. When the timing felt right, he pushed his black flame into the untested sword.
He growled at his own stupidity. Again, he should have tested it out before now. Fortunately, his trust in Tinker was not misplaced. Black Flames licked up the edge of the blade, unaffected by the wind his flight caused.
With a grin, Boyd activated the propulsion pack and leaned on his aura. pumping up the juice instead of trying to restrain it. That was the limit of his control over his aura’s effects, more or less. More meant a more dramatic effect and increased range. Unfortunately he couldn’t control whether the aura caused fear or attraction. Some training fights back in the PAC got particularly awkward back when he’d used it more readily.
Hoping to intimidate instead of making the creature enamored with him, he closed the distance. The first was slow to react as Boyd rocketed towards its back with only the outermost portion of his wings extended to control his trajectory. He pulled the sword down near his shoulder, preparing for a stabbing thrust.
One of the birds that followed the first screamed out a surprised warning as Boyd closed, but it was too late. Boyd’s sword struck true, but not without resistance. He felt it as the sword pushes through the hair-thick strands of crystallized carbon that made up the Diamond Claw’s feathers before sinking into the flesh underneath.
The placement of his strike was good, though, piercing the bird’s natural armor at the center of the creature's spine. Boyd lifted his shield to slam into the bird, not wanting to know what those feathers felt like against his skin with that much force behind the collision.
Boyd must have severed the bird’s spine, because it didn’t even manage a cry of pain. He used the shield to generate the leverage he needed both to withdraw his sword and knock the bird towards an empty rooftop. He had a brief moment of pride before he heard screams from the crowd below.
The second bird aborted its dive to gain some altitude, keeping an eye on Boyd and likely lining up an attack on him. The third bird must have been too far back or resisted his aura’s effect, because it ignored him. Instead, it dove toward the crowd of screaming civilians as they desperately pushed into the shelter.
Boyd chased it, dropping into a dive assisted by the propulsion pack. Its lead was too great. He would only be in time to catch it after a successful pass that would likely slaughter at least one of the citizens he’d sworn to protect, if not dozens.
Boyd growled his frustration just before a two-story-tall, green and red scale-covered, bi-pedal creature appeared, standing over the crowd. A creature Boyd remembered learning about being called a dinosaur back on Old Earth snapped a large maw filled with razor-sharp teeth at the bird with a roar that rivaled Boyd’s. In fact, he was fairly certain it was a copy of his roar.
The Diamond Claw aborted its dive with a back flap and an angry screech. Boyd hit it a second later, wrapping his tail around one wing to support its weight before stabbing his sword into its back three times in rapid succession. The bird jerked in his grasp before going limp, its weight completely supported by his tail.
“The propulsion pack can’t take that weight, you’ll have to lift it manually,” Tinker advised.
“Got it,” Boyd grunted as he used powerful flaps of his wings to lift the bird. He had lifted more than this before, but he couldn’t carry much weight and rise very quickly—too much of each flap of his wings had to be spent countering gravity.
“Nice save, Kitsune,” Boyd said as he looked for the closest spot to drop the giant bird's corpse. His tail had plenty of nerve endings and holding the weight of a bird as big as he was with diamond feathers hurt. It chafed so badly that Boyd could see his own red blood staining the blue-white feathers of its wing.
“Glad it worked,” Kitsune replied with relief in her voice. “Look out!” she screamed immediately afterward.
