Action city, p.14
Action City, page 14
"I'll say," grinned Mindy. "Actually, you know, I'd go beyond pretty. She's yummy. The drop-dead kind you know?"
"The kind I like best."
Coco raised the bazooka onto her shoulder.
Platinum strode past the Cavemen like a superstar walking down a red carpet. Her black high-heeled boots walked smoothly across the ash-stricken road as she adjusted her sunglasses and placed her hands in the pockets of her dark coat. She was almost at the door when the shot from the bazooka raced down.
She didn't even flinch and just kept striding on calmly as the missile hit the ground a few metres behind her and exploded. She felt the heat of the blast but kept at the same walking pace while the Cavemen fired back at the Hookers above.
"Big bang comin' up!"
The Hookers and Dogs leapt out of the way as several bolts of lightning rushed at them.
While on the ground, several Dogs lumbered out from a nearby building and fired at Platinum. Unemotionally, she walked on, ignoring the blasts and letting her Cavemen turn and fight for her while the Rolls Royce went up in flames.
As the Cavemen blasted back, with several shots just missing her head, she suddenly stopped in the middle of the ambush and pulled out a flashing mobile.
"Yeah?" she answered coolly. "Sorry, can't talk now. Got a meeting." Another shot flew past her head. "Can I call you back? Yeah, thanks."
She switched off the mobile and pocketed it before striding on as several shots missed her by inches.
"She's insane!" Kimie whispered.
More and more Dogs emerged as the battle grew into a bloody brawl with flashes of light, lasers and sparks illuminating the devastated streets of the City. Seemingly walking through it all like a ghost, Platinum strode regally up to the entrance where she tried the door and found it locked.
Annoyed, she looked at her watch.
"I had reservations for one."
She keyed in a sequence of numbers on a control pad. A moment later a sign appeared which said, "Access denied." Coolly she took out a small device that looked like a pen, placed the tip into the hole, pressed the button on the top, heard a beep and then the door slid open. Satisfied, she pocketed the pen as several shots flew past her and into the building while the explosions on the street continued behind her.
Kimie screamed as part of the wall blew out just above her head.
"Time to go, Instigator," Gilwain said, grabbing her hand. "There's nothing more we can do here."
"Not gonna argue," Kimie quipped as they turned and ran down the alleyway. "That psycho mightn't fear death but I sure as hell do."
"That's what makes her dangerous."
Platinum walked down the corridor and up to a lift which "dinged" as the door opened.
"Right on time," she mused. "At least that's something."
A Dog stepped out and aimed his gun at her head.
"Don't be rude," she quipped and promptly took the gun from him and threw it over her shoulder. His arm swung at her. Nimbly she stepped to the side without a care in the City, entered the lift and pressed a button. They turned to face each other as the lift doors closed.
"Bye, bye," she said.
The lift shot upwards.
Luther turned to see the doors of his private lift open as Platinum stepped out. Her hands were in her fur pockets as she strode coolly into his office.
"Not impressed with the service so far," she said. "I think this place could do with a little less dull and a little more artistic class. Of course I'd expect that from a rigid-minded economist who only thinks in numbers."
He smiled charmingly. "You're a little sure of yourself aren't you? Art can't exist without economics. Nothing exists without supply and demand and the struggle for basic survival."
"Yeah, I never struggle. I create. I mean, just look at your City. It burns like hell. My work. I think I'll call it, 'The Screaming Towers of Babylon.' "
"And I applaud you for it. You accomplished what I couldn't do openly. The City was long overdue for a major stocktake."
"I didn't do it for numbers. I did it because I wanted to see something beautiful. Now look at it. A masterpiece." She turned to face him. "Oh, you had so much Luther. You had so very much and you just sat on it and made it so damn boring. It's not the economists who make life interesting baby. It's the artists."
He smiled. "Well you obviously know my name but I don't know yours."
"Just call me Platinum."
"Fitting. What's the next stage of your masterpiece?"
"Ah yes," she said smoothly. "Tonight, I'll make it magnificent. All that's needed is a few finishing brush strokes and it'll be complete."
"And where do you intend to place these...strokes?"
She walked up to him, her face completely devoid of emotion as she spoke coldly, staring into his eyes from behind her black sunglasses.
"I want the codes for the nuclear reactors. You know, the ones you've got stashed away underground."
He was taken aback. "Presumably something will be left standing at the end of all this. How else do you intend to make a profit in the long term?"
"Hell, I don't know. But the spectacle will be awesome won't it?"
He paused, wondering what to say. "If you're telling me what I think you're telling me, which is that you only want to see my City go up in one big firework just for the hell of it, with no ramifications for economic prosperity or growth afterwards...then the answer's no."
She smiled.
"Look Luther, you can have all the economics and jargon you like. You can talk till you're red in the face but that'll just make you frustrated and me bored. I don't work by logic, facts and figures and all that nauseating, oh my head hurts, kinda crap. I see life in colours, not numbers and I live for the moment. If something looks so pretty that it's too good to miss and I know that I'm never gonna see it again, then to me it's a damn sin if I don't see it. Life's too short to be sittin' in an office countin' beans. I wanna see that office explode into colours that hit me right in the heart. Now I want those codes and if you don't want to hand 'em over then at least get passionate about something, even if it's killing me. Let me be the vent for all that repressed rage inside that black heart of yours. Take it all out on me. Let yourself go. Let yourself...feel. Can you do that for me? Can you just feel a little bit of fury burning somewhere deep down inside of you? A flicker of emotion, of hate, of wanting to smack me, to shoot me, to pull my hair out and then kick me in the head so hard that my blood spills out all over your office floor. Can you feel that?"
She sat down on the desk and held her arms up.
"Look, I'll raise my arms and I'll sit right here and I won't fight back, I swear to myself I won't. Take out a gun, or do you want a knife? I can supply that, but I'll have to get someone to bring it up because I don't pack weapons. You could make me into a bloodied, macabre work of art that's so grotesque it gets a gut reaction of sheer adrenalin from anyone who looks at me. Make me into something that truly expresses your hate and just flow with it. See where it takes you. Become one with that hate from wherever it comes and just channel it all into me. I'm happy to do it if it helps you develop that temperament which you truly possess because I do so hate to see squandered talent, and I know you have lots."
His lips tightened and he looked as if he were indeed welling up with anger. Then finally he said,
"Emotions are for the weak."
"Close minded rigidity has always lead to the collapse of civilisations..."
"I've had enough of this! This City's mine. We play the game my way."
"My game's anarchy."
"Then fight for it! Show me what you're passionate about then, with all your talk and ego. Let's see what you can do at this very moment, to fight back and get what you want. Let's see you do something!"
She remained silent.
"Thought so!" he sneered and stabbed a button on his desk. "Guards! Get in here!"
The only response was static.
"Guards are down, Luther," she said coolly. "There's a little blue toxin flowing throughout the building as we speak. Your communication systems are down and everything's sealed up. That only leaves you and me and what magic the two of us can make out of this cosy little situation. Now you have to release that artistic temperament of yours and do what I want, which means that you can either kill me and become the monster you truly are, or you can run and go up in flames with the City. Unless of course you can think of something even more creative. It's up to you."
He sneered. "I think I'll take the last option. You've insulted me enough. Now I need you to stop wasting my time and allow me to get things back on track. Since you won't leave willingly, I'll have to make you go."
"Sounds promising..."
He stepped in close and brought her face up to his.
"There's one thing I can do, that nobody else in the City can, and I'm not just talking about my powers as OEC." He paused. "You see, there is a...System...in place that's granted me a gift for my position. Firstly, it's allowed me to see the truth of this City and what it really is and secondly..." he raised his hand and clasped her chin, "...it allows me to share that revelation with others."
"Oh good! So now we've determined that the System doesn't come from facts and figures have we Luther? So where does it come from then? Not logic, is it? No, it's gotta be hate, or greed, or something in the dark tone I'd say. But whatever it is, it's a monster right? And now it controls you, but I can change that. Instead of being a slave to this System, you can become the ultimate individual."
"I...am!"
"Only because the System's there. Take it away and what are you? A sewer rat!"
His grip tightened. "The System's allowed me to hear just four little words. All I have to do is say them and you'll see the truth of what this City really is and sometimes that's the most horrifying of all."
"I like it."
"If I were you I'd be afraid."
"Really? You wouldn't even take a look at yourself naked in my body? How very unflattering."
"People go insane when they hear the four words. It breaks the perception of what's real and what people think they see. The greatest secret of all lies with just these four little words and then, shall we say, their entire world collapses...literally."
"You think I'd be here if I were afraid? Don't keep me in suspense. I'm up for anything. I'm listening."
He smiled cruelly.
"Very well then, you leave me no choice..."
"Actually I'm leaving you every choice imaginable..."
He clasped harder and then his face began to glow. The fires grew in his pupils from where the distant sounds of demonic shrieks came, as if something hideous was being tortured by the flames. Then he spoke the four words that stabbed so much fear into the hearts of others and destroyed the minds and bodies of all who had gone before Platinum, and as he spoke, the world faded around her.
"You're not really here."
She stared at him coolly, in fact a little too coolly. Then, to his horror, the world solidified around her and reality came back into focus. He held her face tighter as the fires within him grew, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no effect. She smiled as his hand dropped and she stood up.
"Yes," she said confidently, "I'm here big boy. I'm so much more real than you think because I know who I am and what's more, I know what this City really is too."
Horrified, he cowered back and she walked towards him.
"I did my homework," she continued. "Wasn't hard. I mean, how many other cities have robot Hookers, Starmen in flaming cars, mutant dog patrol guards and dwarves in mountains on its outskirts. This isn't normal so of course it's not really here. The City, I mean, not me. I'm all here, so's the girl you call the Instigator, along with a couple of others."
He stepped back, horrified. "How...how..."
"What? Not logical enough for you, Luther? Not something you can pack away in a little cardboard box and say, 'this is my world and I control it?' I guess blondes really are the smartest after all and I'm pure blonde right the way through. Pure...blonde...Platinum! Codes please?"
His hand rose instinctively to his neck but before they could get there she reached out and ripped his chain away. Desperately he lunged for it but she turned away quickly and opened up the medallion for the codes.
"But...but you can't do this!" he cried. "You're not really here! You're not! You're not!"
"Let's find out shall we?"
She walked towards him and he staggered backwards. In his haste he tripped and fell, crashing through the broken window and screaming headfirst into the night. A resounding thud followed and then there was silence.
"Now who's really here?" she quipped. Happily she held up the key and watched as it glistened in the light, then she turned to a wall and keyed in a sequence on a control pad. Part of the wall swung in to reveal a control panel. Calmly she slid the key into a space on the panel and typed several symbols.
Then a deep rumbling came from far below the City.
She keyed in another sequence and watched as a screen on the panel showed a steadily growing bar graph.
"We've gotta leave now!"
Kimie ran past two Alley Cats who were carrying a wounded Sewer Rat through an archway. Another blast from above shook the walls and a shower of dust fell on her and Gilwain.
Queen Yushera turned to them.
"Your superior was of no help then?"
"What do you think?" Kimie shot back. "It's Platinum."
Yushera inhaled sharply. "The one whose mouth is the greatest weapon of all. The City is doomed."
"It was dead anyway," Gilwain said bitterly, "all she did was rip the cover off and reveal its festering infection."
"Yeah, and I've got a feeling that she's gonna do a whole lot more than that," Kimie added.
The walls shook again, then the roar of an engine came from far below them. Yushera hissed and Gilwain's face went white with horror as the floor began to vibrate.
"No!" he shuddered. "She wouldn't dare!"
"Wouldn't dare what?" Kimie snapped. "And yes, she would!"
"She's activated the nuclear reactors," he said darkly. "They've been turned to maximum."
"The belly of the City rumbles with hunger," Yushera added somberly, "as was prophesied. True to the words of the ancients, the City shall soon devour its people. We are finished."
"Not with Blue around," Kimie said quickly. "I'm going after her. Coming?"
Yushera looked back at her empty throne room.
"The last of the wounded has been taken. There is nothing left for me here now. My kingdom is no more. All that remains are the royal treasures in the royal safe."
She indicated it on the floor.
Kimie laughed. "What, an old tattered suitcase? What have you got in there anyway? A couple of old cans?"
"The first that were here when my kingdom was founded. Be sure to carry it gently won't you?"
"Sure," Kimie said and then picked it up and dumped it in the startled Queen's arms. "There you go!"
Yushera hissed. "How dare you treat nobility with such disdain?"
"It's not a kingdom anymore your Majesty. You're just like the rest of us now. Come on."
Scowling, Yushera stomped after them, carrying her suitcase as they headed from the chamber.
"I will not be treated like a peasant girl," she vowed as she followed them. "I will not, I will not, I will not..."
The tin cans rattled inside.
"She's down there!"
From his hoverchair, the Starman flicked a switch on a device and then looked to the manhole cover. Swiftly Jazze picked the cover up with one hand and hurled it high over three blocks and into a Tower window.
"Good," she grinned. "Now let's throw down our little, blue present, shall we?"
A large heavy sack was dropped into the sewer.
"Bon voyage, baby!"
Blue ran in long athletic strides through the waters of the sewers. The air became hotter around her. She'd already heard several explosions in the distance and knew that they were only forerunners to what was coming from the reactor far below the City. She didn't want it to go off, but right now burning her past meant far more than saving it. What mattered now was the future and her past could just stay as one big blank. It was time to run, to sprint from the flames, faster than ever and never look back. She turned a corner and a shape stepped out in front of her. Skidding to a halt, she raised her pulse gun, pumped it hard and held it high.
Before her stood a small humanoid whose arms hung loosely as they stood over an empty sack.
A stab of terror thudded through Blue and her face filled with horror as she lowered the gun.
"Oh, hell no! No, no...please..."
The little girl walked slowly towards her.
"Don't do this, please don't do this. This is more than I can bear. Don't do this, don't, don't, don't..."
But the girl continued on.
"Stay back! Stay back or I'll kill you! I swear to the City I will, so just stay back! STAY BACK!"
She pumped the gun once more and her eyes widened maniacally as beads of sweat trickled down her face. The gun shook in her hands. For the first time in her life she was shaken to the core.
And she screamed in rage as the girl stepped into the light.
Standing before her was a pale twelve-year-old girl without a blemish on her skin. Her long, blonde hair was pushed back by a pink headband and her hair glistened all the way down to the middle of her back. She wore a pink top, blue pants, white socks and shiny black shoes. Her eyes were bright blue and full of deep, untouched innocence and curiosity, but more than anything, she was beautiful.
She was perfection.
And before her stood Blue, towering over her in a stained brown tank top, black boots and army pants. Her arms were darkened and full of mud, ash and slime and her face was blackened with the grime of war and debris. Her biceps were large and her short white hair was spiked but her eyes were also blue, except they were surrounded by weariness and battle scars, but as they met the girl's they both realised that they were staring into the same pair of pupils.
