Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (41 page)

Once, twice, thrice, a fourth, she lifted her
hand into the air, crashing it down on the man’s nose, blood
covering her knuckles as she did as much damage as she could. With
a wail, Neil grabbed her throat, picking her up and throwing her on
the ground a few feet away.

Melissa hit the floor hard, and she felt the
wind knocked out of her. She managed to jump out of the way just in
time. The Reinforcer struck his fist where her head had been only
moments ago, causing grass and dirt to scatter in the
air.

“
You’re a third my age and a third
my power, you stupid, stupid, little girl. I’m going to enjoy
killing you.”

Melissa laughed and spat at the man. “I think
I’m glad that one of us is going to die. Because I know it’s not
going to be me.”

Behind her, there were loud sounds of
commotion. Melissa heard the banging of various objects crashing
and colliding into others. She hoped Jack would be able to handle
himself for the moment. Cemmera and her boys were only interested
in the three targets for the time being, and Melissa was fairly
certain that the three young Psychs wanted Jack alive, so right now
he would be the last thing any of them cared about.

Melissa slammed her fists together and let her
aggression run wild. She was going to win.

Melissa looked at the Reinforcer and smirked.
The odds didn’t matter, stacked against her as they were. Melissa
was going to beat this man, and if not for her own sake, then for
Jack’s. For a brief moment she felt bad about destroying Alana’s
lawn, but with a peek behind her at the hole torn in the side of
the house, she realized that at this point it hardly mattered. She
was startled when she heard Michael’s voice shouting in her
mind.

“Don’t even think about
it!”
Michael screamed in her head. With all
the chaos going on around her, she had forgotten about the device
in her ear, which in addition to audio also allowed them to see a
visual of the situation.

“Melissa, this is Paro. Just
hang tight. We’re almost there. You are not to engage this man, do
you understand me? I’m already on the phone with General Deven
Moore, and he’s furious. Let him handle these Op. team animals,
it’s his job, not yours. Do not make any attempt to engage Neil
Witherson, age forty-four, Reinforcer. We are almost there. I
repeat, do not engage.”

“
Forgive me, Paro.” Melissa cracked
her knuckles.

“
Hmm?” Neil gave Melissa a
questioning look. “So, you’re wearing one of those devices, are
you? Let me guess, we’re in quite a bit of trouble—so much for all
that false bravado, girl.”

Melissa grinned. “You’ve got nothing to lose
now, do you? Don’t worry yourself. I’d never pick a fight I
couldn’t finish.” To prove her point, she removed the device from
her ear and crushed it between her powerful hands. “Let’s see
what’cha got, big-boy.”

The man wasted no time, charging at her and
taking a swing aimed at her head. Melissa ducked under the blow and
attempted to return one of her own. Despite the man’s massive size,
he evaded the return-swing with ease, throwing yet another jab
directed towards the center of Melissa’s face. She stepped back
just in time, feeling the wind from his punch on her
forehead.

What the man had said was true. He had about
triple her experience. However, he’d been wrong about one thing—he
was
not
more powerful than she was. Everyone was born with a
certain amount of power. It was unchangeable. Melissa estimated
that she might even be the stronger of the two, although in the end
it didn’t really matter. To a Psych, experience and skill accounted
for eighty-percent of the fight. Power had very little bearing in
the long run. As if to prove this theory, Neil dashed forward and
swung at her yet again.

Melissa reached deep and pulled out everything
she could draw. She assaulted the man with a jab-cross, pivoting
off her back foot and throwing her weight behind the punch. Their
two fists connected with a loud crunch, and pain shot through
Melissa’s arm, cascading from her knuckles all the way up into her
shoulder. Still, she held her ground.

Their two fists remained connected, struggling
against the force of the other. In the end, the man’s experience
won out, as he started to push her fist back, following it up with
an unexpected hook from his free hand.

Melissa’s head was snapped back as the man’s
fist collided with her cheek, forcing her to retreat a few steps.
She tasted blood in her mouth and spat it onto the grass. She
swished her tongue around her mouth, checking for any loose teeth.
It was only her cheek that had been damaged.

Neil advanced on her yet again, and Melissa
began to worry. Already people were turning on their porch lights
to see what all the commotion was about. In a risky move, she
charged to meet the older Psych head-on. He braced himself, ready
for her assault.

Before the two met for another round of
attacks, Melissa stopped short and jumped into the air, well over
the man’s head.

“
Huh?” he said in surprise as she
came to land behind him. He turned to meet her, but found only her
fist to greet him. He was knocked off his feet as fist hit bone.
There was a disgusting crackling sound. She’d caught him off guard
and he landed on his back.

Melissa blew on her first like it was a smoking
gun. The man, Neil, screamed as he jumped back to his feet and once
again rushed at her. Now, there was murder in his eyes.

His attacks were a great deal faster than
before, swinging one-two combinations with his full strength. If
even a single one hit Melissa, she’d probably close her eyes and
never again wake up. She ducked, sidestepped, and even spun her way
around his fists, narrowly avoiding each attack. The man was in a
rage. He threw one punch after the other, each one almost close
enough to graze Melissa’s face.

If things kept on going the way they were, then
it was only a matter of time before he managed to actually hit her,
and when that happened the man was sure to knock her head off. She
waited for the perfect moment, a chance to counter. She needed him
to aim straight for her nose—an opportunity for her to win. If he
threw even a single straight-punch, she’d be able to use something
Kazou once taught her.

For another few heart-wrenching moments, she
backed away from him as he pushed her towards the street, ducking
and side-stepping his deadly fists powered by his massive arms.
Finally, when she was almost against the curb, with the street just
a foot behind her, he went for it. With a grunt, he sent his right
fist soaring at her, a blow that if connected, would probably crush
her nose and kill her.

She kicked off her right foot while at the same
time she grabbed his wrist with her left hand and his shoulder with
her right. With all the strength she could muster she continued
along with his own motion, pushing him in the same direction he was
punching, and positioning herself to the side of him. Using his own
force against him, he was hurled to the ground at a speed that made
him look like a homing-missile. He threw out his hands to defend
his face, landing on the ground in a pushup position, smashing the
concrete with his open palms.

It’s now or never,
Melissa
thought.

This was her only chance—there wouldn’t be
another. Neil, for the shortest moment, was unable to defend
himself. His palms were sunken into the concrete, and he was
attempting to push himself back up.

Melissa ran at him, and at the risk of her own
safety, she gave up all her own defenses. Even a weak Reinforcer
could put their fist through her head as her tough-as-steel body
softened to normal human flesh. She diverted all of her power into
her right foot, every last drop, and then she launched it at the
face of the Reinforcer, who was still in a
crawling-position.

For a moment he met her gaze. He locked eyes
with Melissa and he actually trembled. Her front-kick connected
with his jaw, and the impact was so powerful that it sent him
airborne. There was a terrible crunching sound, as teeth and blood
parted his mouth, causing him to once again fall on his back in the
middle of the street. He cried out in agony, rolling on the ground
and holding his face. Blood dripped from his open mouth like a
leaky faucet.

All at once, Melissa returned to reality. The
adrenaline was gone, the hatred was gone, and now she looked on
with pity at the man she had just harmed. She’d never hurt anyone
as bad as she’d just hurt the whimpering Reinforcer.

Neil looked up at her. His expression was one
of disbelief. His mouth was completely red, and the extent of the
damage she’d done disturbed Melissa. Even for a man like Neil, she
felt guilty. Melissa was no Telepath, but at that moment she knew
what the man was thinking.

Did that just happen?

“
K … kill … m … me,” he begged,
tears in his eyes, his voice raspy and pained. Melissa must have
knocked at least half the man’s teeth out. “S … Santos,” he
murmured.

Melissa didn’t know who Santos was, but she
suspected it was the Telepath Alana had killed. She felt a new kind
of anger grow in her. Not the raging, murderous hatred she’d felt
earlier. This time it was a disappointed, saddened
anger.

“
Everything that has happened,” she
said to wounded man. “All of it. These are the consequences of your
actions.”

Melissa looked down at her bloodied hands, and
even through her pity, she had a sense of empowerment. She had just
beaten a forty-four year old man, humiliating him in a way he’d
probably never recover from.

The commotion from the house was becoming
louder, and she realized with a gasp she had forgotten all about
Jack and the unconscious Alana. She took the time to grab Neil’s
foot and drag him back across the street, or at least far enough so
that a car wouldn’t hit him, before dashing back towards the
home.

Jack watched as Cemmera and the two men she was
with—Telekinetics, if he’d overheard correctly—positioned
themselves side-by-side, ready to take on Andy and the two others
he was with.

Jack struggled to remember their names, close
to moaning with the frustration. He hated it when a name was on the
tip of his tongue and he just couldn’t remember it.

Damn,
he thought.
Was it Rupert
and Roberta? No, that wasn’t it. Was it Rambo and Rhonda? No,
that’s not right either.

“
Cemmera,” one of the two
Telekinetics said, “we should not fight this battle, you know. We
don’t have a Telepath, and they do. One-on-one I can understand,
but to fight as a group without a Path among us, well, that’s
suicide. Their Manipulator is going to tear through us.”

Cemmera snarled at the man. “I know that, you
fool. But they’re just children. I don’t care how powerful they
are. Hey, you,” she said, pointing to Jack.

“
Me?”

“
Yeah, you need to help us here, and
maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you live. I need you to focus on
keeping their Telepath occupied, so we can take down the other two
brats.”

Jack didn’t like the woman, and from everything
he’d seen she looked to be pretty evil herself, even if she was on
the same side or whatever. Looking over, Jack saw Andy and his two
creepy friends grinning at Cemmera. No matter how wrong Cemmera was
for destroying his home and hurting his mom, Jack knew that he’d
have to back her up. He made a promise to Paro to help stop the
murderers for everything they’d done, for everything they’d still
do.