Average Joe and the Extraordinaires (22 page)

Chapter
36

The Truth
Hurts

Joe was
out cold and sprawled across the floor.  Dahlilia winced from the impact after
seeing him crash into the wall.  He fell to the floor in a heap with the tiny
plastic balls falling atop and around him like rainbow rain.  He hadn’t moved
since, but thankfully Patrias hadn’t messed with his body.

Dahlila
focused on a single goal now.  She had to get to that ball pit.  Patrias walked
towards the back of the area, on the lookout for her ever since she’d knocked
him down earlier.  She rubbed the pain out of her back and crept through the
shadows.  She slinked around along the ground back towards the pit.  She was as
quick as a cat and just as agile on her two feet.  She lost sight of Patrias as
she crept low near to the pit.

Patrias:
“You are not nearly as slick as you think, young lady, and now you’re just in
my way.”

He
pointed his wand at her, and after hearing a faint clicking noise she felt an
invisible force slam into her chest and rocket her backwards into the now empty
pit.  She gasped for air as she quickly got to her feet.  She didn’t have time
to coddle her injuries.  She needed to move fast and capitalize on the fact
that the fool had put her just where she wanted to be.

She
pounced and grabbed the silver chain with the large owl medallion.  After that,
she couldn’t contain her smile.

Patrias:
“You’re tough, girl, but not even you will survive this time.”

He
pointed his wand dead center of her chest, but nothing happened.  She walked
towards him coiling the chain around her fist, smiling the whole way.

Patrias:
“Why!?  Why!?  Why!?  First him, now you.  My craftes are failing me.  Tell
me.  WHY CAN’T I KILL YOU!?”

He
pointed his wand at a nearby chair, making it levitate before rocketing it
towards her.  She was too fast for it.  She sidestepped the chair, then ran
straight at Patrias.  He chucked another chair and followed that with a table
for good measure.  She sidestepped, bounded forwards, and crashed her fist
right into his face, leaving an owl shaped bruise across his left cheek.  He
landed on top of a table, which flipped over and sent him tumbling to the
ground.

She
picked up his wand and snapped it in half.  It surprised her that the wand
broke so easily and with no pop. 
Then again
, she thought,
this guy
was nothing but a two bit magician.

Dahlila:
“A puny wand for a puny man.”

She
looked down at him as he snoozed on the ground.  Only novice crafters still
used wands.  To put it in perspective, all of the crafters she knew stopped
using wands as early as two to six months into their training.  This Patrias
was really pathetic.  She pressed the owl medallion to her lips and kissed it.

Dahlila:
“To answer your question: the truth hurts.”

Chapter
37

The Right
Kind of Hatred

Joe’s
breathing was shallow.  She hovered over him, checking his vital signs.  His
heart had a strong beat.  She was certain he would be fine.  She was content to
leave him like that since she had one more thing to do here.

Dahlila:
“I should tie up Houdini here before I move on.”

The two
men standing near the front door looked confused for a moment, as if they had
just realized where in the world they were.  They stared at her, Joe, and
Patrias until they decided that they had better places to be.  They hurried out
the front doors leaving her, Joe, and Patrias to themselves.  She produced two
pairs of handcuffs and cuffed Patrias’ wrists and ankles.

Dahlila:
“Stay put.”

She
crouched down low when she saw a group of men in black suits coming from the
back doors of the establishment.  They followed their compatriots from earlier
out the front door.  Most of them walked past Joe and Patrias without even
blinking.  The woman had a sudden realization that she whispered to herself.

Dahlila:
“That jerk was controlling them this whole time.”

She had
managed to break his spell.  She wasn’t sure if she had done it when she’d
broken his wand or when she broke him.  She thought back to the way the
governor’s security had just stood idly by as he was getting shot at, as if
frozen in place.  It must’ve been him.  The whole time, him.  She walked over
to Joe and put the protection pendant back around his neck.  She needed to keep
her promise to him.

She left
Joe and Patrias behind in order to look for Melissa.  With the guards gone,
there was no need to sneak around.  She walked past the play area and through
the thick wooden double doors.  Through the doors was a small kitchen filled
with large pots, pans, other cookware.  There were three large pizza ovens near
the center.  Further on, she spied a set of stairs which led upwards.  She
carefully navigated the stairs, not quite sure who was still here.  Halfway up
a man in a black suit jumped out at her, but she was ready.  She disarmed him,
smashed his face with the side of her palm and sent him rolling down the
stairs.  Behind her, another man in black tried to jump out and grab her, but
she hooked his leg and sent him scrambling down the stairs, then ran after him
and touched his neck, applying a low-powered sleep crafte that would leave him
snoozing for several hours.  She continued up the stairs and found herself in a
large room that overlooked the front of the Fun Zone.

There
were balconies up towards the front of the room.  A chair was set in the middle
of the room with a small tangle of ropes around its legs.  The woman saw no one
around, just rows and rows of boxes and crates.  They were stacked so high that
they easily obscured her view of the rest of the room.  She could only walk
straight ahead, thanks to all the boxes and crates on either side of her.  She
walked on looking for any minute signs of where the girl might have gone or if
she was even here.  There were aisles of empty space that crossed the empty row
she walked down.  She cautiously peeked around the corners of those, past boxes
filled with prizes.  She stopped in her tracks when she heard the click of a
gun behind her.  She recognized and despised the raucous voice as soon as she
heard it.

Blonsky:
“It’s you again!  You have some gall on you, little girl, coming in here and
interfering with my operations again.  Hands up and turn around.”

She did
what he asked, but moved as slowly as she dared.  When she turned to fully face
him, she saw that his left arm was around Melissa’s tiny throat, while his right
hand held the gun that was now pointed right at her.  Melissa’s mouth was
gagged with some sort of cloth.

Blonsky:
“Good, good!  Funny seeing you here.  Just when I was starting to think that
you didn’t like me, that you were trying to escape me, here you come right
back.”

Dahlila:
“I can assure you that I didn’t come back for your company or your
conversation.”

Blonsky
bore an overacted look of surprise on his face.  Melissa looked straight at
her, tears in the little girl’s eyes.

Blonsky:
“Oh?  Then why are you here?”

Dahlila:
“I’ll let you figure it out.”

Blonsky:
“That’s one thing my parents always told me.  What about your parents?  What
did they teach you?”

Dahlila:
“Never to trust strange men, especially bald ones.”

Blonsky
laughed raucously to the point of almost doubling over, dropping his aim on her
in the process.

Blonsky:
“Oh that’s good!  That’s rich!  I’d expect nothing less.  Oh, and sorry about
that comment about your parents; I know you ain’t have ‘em.  You took that
surprisingly well though, compared to last time.”

He smiled
at her and then straightened up as he stared into her eyes.

Blonsky:
“You almost convinced me.  That smart mouth of yours was spot on.  What you
lacked was the right kind of hatred.  You see, I’m well versed in malice.  I
can spot a faker.  You didn’t show the hatred of someone trapped by me for
weeks being tortured, humiliated, belittled.  The girl showed me that kind of
venomous hatred every time I saw her.  A hatred so deep you’re like to choke on
it.  You, however … your hatred belongs to someone who’s only been in my
presence for a short time.  Who’s been maybe slapped around and humiliated a
little.”

Dahlila
stood quietly still with an annoyed expression on her face.  Blonsky smiled at
her.

Blonsky:
“You’re good, but you won’t fool me twice.  That girl was spotted leaving with
the boy when we had you.  She couldn’t have escaped on her own like you did. 
Give it up already.  We already know that you’ve been interfering at every
step.”

Dahlila:
“You meant to say, ‘You won’t fool me three times.’”

She
laughed at him derisively.

Dahlila:
“You don’t know nearly as much as you pretend to know.”

Blonsky’s
frame became more rigid.  The woman could tell that she had successfully
angered him.

Blonsky:
“I KNOW several things.  I know it was you that caused that stadium explosion,
which set me back a lot of money on Pickers’ games.  I know you were the one
who freed the girl that you’re masquerading as right now.  I know it was you in
my restaurant the day my boys got beaten up by a nut in tights.  I know you
were that nut in tights.  I’ve lost a lot of money because of you, and I know that
you’ll show me your real face.  Otherwise, you and this girl will go bye-bye.”

He took
his hand from the little girl’s throat to rub her head.  The woman laughed,
instantly calling his bluff.

Dahlila:
“You won’t harm a hair on her head; we both know that.  You don’t want to cross
your boss.  I’ll give you what you want anyway, just for giggles.  I’m sure you
pushed your brain to its upper limits trying to figure out just who I am, so
I’ll help you out.”

Blonsky:
“Well, go on, make with the magic already.”

With her
hands still up in the air, her body began its transformation.  She became
thicker around her hips, waist, chest, and thighs.  She grew taller and her
skin darkened a few shades to a rich olive tone.  Her hair became a sea of
thick black curls atop her head while her clothes remained the same; dark
jeans, a dark gray t-shirt, and her brown fingerless leather driving gloves.

Blonsky:
“Well, look at you!”

He
whistled in a derogatory way.

Blonsky:
“I can’t believe my eyes.  You’d make Mrs. Blonsky really jealous right now. Well,
ex-Mrs. Blonsky.  Why, look at me!  I’m blushing.  You know, if your friend
hadn’t told me firsthand what you looked like, I wouldn’t have believed that
this was your real face.”

Liandra:
“So my face amazes you, not the fact that I can change it?”

Blonsky
snorted loudly.

Blonsky:
“Seems you’re the one who doesn’t know as much as she thinks.  I’ve seen magic
before.  I see it every day, as a matter of fact.  Yours ain’t special.”

She
assumed he was talking about Patrias.  He lifted the gun back at her chest and
wrapped his arm around Melissa’s neck again.

Blonsky:
“Now, this has been fun, but it’s time I took my leave of you, permanently.”

Melissa's
scream was further muffled by Blonsky's hand.  Liandra couldn’t think of
anything else to do or say.  She was surrounded by a wall of crates and boxes,
leaving her with limited options for escape.  There was only one way out of
this, but she knew it would hurt.  She looked at Melissa and motioned for her
to close her eyes so she wouldn’t see what was to come.  The little girl was
already crying a river of tears, wetting her cheeks and shirt.

THWACK!  CRACK! 
SNAP!

The
British Grenadiers March
filled the air for a few seconds before
slowly fizzing out.  Blonsky crumpled to the ground, dropping his hold of both
Melissa and his gun.  Joe stood behind Blonsky’s prone body, clutching a broken
giant wooden model of a British soldier from the game Revolutionary Heroes.

Melissa
flinched from him at first, until she realized that it was Joe.  His smile was
worn well, but also looked to be well worn.  He did all he could to assure the
little girl that it would all be okay.  He was fond of her.  He picked her up
and embraced her as if she were his own sister.  He whispered to her so low
that only she could hear it.

Joe:
“It’s over.  You’re okay.”

He put
her down on the ground and she ran over to Liandra.  Blonsky jumped to life and
grabbed Joe by the wrist.  He looked at the figure in Joe’s hand, and then up
at Joe with a look of painful confusion painted on his face.

Blonsky:
“The British!?”

He
released his hold and fell to the ground unconscious.  Liandra walked up with
Melissa behind her to observe the man.

Joe: “I
think we should handcuff him too.

Liandra:
“Noted.”

Joe:
“Thanks … Dahlila.”

They both
looked at one another and smiled.

Liandra:
“When did you figure it out?”

Joe:
“Only after I woke up with your necklace on me.  Dahlila wouldn’t know about
it.  I kept thinking about that when you were asking me to find it.”

Liandra
turned her attention to Melissa.

Liandra:
“Are you alright, little dove?”

Melissa
beamed up at her.

Melissa:
“Yes, thanks to both of you.  Thank you so much!”

Liandra
smiled back at her.

Liandra:
“Let’s get out of here.  You two wait downstairs.  I’ll get this guy.”

Joe:
“No.  I’m not letting anyone else clean up my messes.  I’ll bring him down and
call the police.”

Liandra
chuckled at his stubbornness.

Liandra:
“I can honestly say that you’ve mostly helped me clean up my own mess and
you’ve done so excellently.  Let’s do this together.”

“There’s
no need,” came a familiar voice from the steps.  When they looked around they
saw Dahlila, the real Dahlila.  At least Joe hoped it was the real Dahlila.