Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (53 page)

“
A lot of it was Jack,” Kazou said
with a grunt, clutching at his sides. He seemed to be in more pain
than all of them.

“
That, I can believe.”

There was an ear piercing shout from behind
them, and Michael felt the return of fear. Even Sarah sat up to see
what new trouble was heading their way.

“
No!” screamed a voice. “I
wanna!”

“
Don’t even think about it,”
answered another voice in a high-pitched yell. “You’re not running
out there looking like that.”

“
Too late, I’m already
there.”

Scrambling into the terminal from the
street-side entrance came Jack, Melissa, and an unconscious and
shirtless Andy. Jack was wearing what appeared to be a cape made
out of Andy’s shirt.

“
You look ridiculous.” Melissa
snarled at him.

“
I’m here, everyone!” Jack shouted
to the room, flinging his cape over his shoulder.

“
I’m not doing it,” Melissa said,
folding her arms in a position of defiance.

“
But Melissa, you promised,” Jack
insisted. Michael had no idea what they were talking about. “Are
you someone to go back on your promises, Melissa?”

Melissa frowned at Jack. “Fine, whatever, just
make it quick. This is going to be humiliating.”

Jack cleared his throat and addressed the room.
“Prepare for trouble!” He shot Melissa an expecting
glance.

Melissa sighed. “Make that double.”

“
To protect the world from
devastation!”

Melissa seemed to be forcing the words out. “To
unite all peoples within our nation.”

“
To denounce the evils of truth and
love!”

“
Okay, that’s it. This is
ridiculous. Get inside, Jack!”

Jack scratched his head when he looked around
the room, pausing a second to glance at each one of them. He
shouted in surprise when Melissa ripped off his ‘cape.’

“
Whoa, what happened to you guys?”
Jack said. “You look terrible. Wow, Paro, you’re alive! I’m so glad
you’re not dead or dying a slow painful death crushed between
fallen beams!”

“
Jeeze, thanks,” Paro mumbled in
reply.

Andy was lying on his back with his hands bound
beneath him, and Melissa dragged him by his left leg. She pulled on
him without care, his head occasionally bumping into things as he
scraped along the floor.

“
Wow,” Jack said. He pointed at the
subdued forms of Ruin and Requiem. “You guys already took down
those two? Damn, I need to use some of this power. It’s killing
me.”

Michael had no idea what Jack was talking
about, and from the looks of things nobody did, except Sarah, who
nodded at his words. Jack extended a hand toward the street-side
entrance. There was a bang, and even more of the terminal was
destroyed, chunks ripping apart.

“
What did I say, Jack? Stop with
that nonsense.”

“
I can’t help it. I need to get rid
of some of this power. It burns!”

Paro limped over to Jack and looked down at the
unconscious form of Andy. “I’m too wounded or exhausted to care
about any of this right now, Jack, and I’m even willing to let that
unauthorized use of destructive force slide. Just don’t let me see
it again, okay?”

Jack looked worried. “Fine, I won’t use any
more bursts, I promise … after this next one.” Jack once again sent
another burst, creating another large bang, causing more sections
of wall to be blown out. Pretty soon, there’d be no walls left. It
was a miracle the building was still standing at all.

Melissa slapped him. “Cut it out, Jack! I’m
serious. You almost killed us like, five times on the way out of
that tunnel. Using power isn’t like going to the bathroom. You
don’t just ‘get rid of it.’

Jack shook his head. “I’m telling you, it’s
different for me. It burns, it really does. Okay, just let me use a
little more, and then I promise—”

“
No,” Paro interrupted. “We’ve done
enough damage here. Let’s just grab these three and head back to
H.Q. This time, no less than ten Psychs will stay with them at all
times. I’m done leaving things to chance.”

The recon officers were getting back to their
feet, and they rushed to once again secure the perimeter. Michael
felt gratitude towards them. If not for their actions, the Psychs
of Paro’s team would have died.

“
Alright, I’m going to call for
medical personnel immediately. We’re also going to need an
emergency transport for the prisoners,” Paro said, regaining
control of the situation.

“
That won’t be
necessary.”

Michael turned and felt a return of his
previous terror. Approaching were the last four people in the world
he wished to see.

“
Cemmera,” he growled.

Jack, Kazou, Sarah, Paro, and Melissa, all
turned their heads to see the four Op. team members glide
confidently into destroyed terminal, watching their step and taking
care not to fall through the several holes in the floor created
during the battle.

They were all bloody, worn, and still injured
from the incident at Alana’s home. Cemmera looked just as twisted
as Ruin or Requiem, only her face was pulled back in an expression
of delight. “
Finally,
” she hissed. “Finally, I will have
my kills. I’ve been waiting for this. I need this.”

“
No,” Sarah moaned, “after all of
this, after everything we’ve been through, for them to just show up
like this? No, I can’t accept this.”

Ruin and Requiem, still pinned to the floor,
each let out a moan as well, remembering Sarah’s words and hearing
the pitied ones she spoke now. Paro walked to meet them.

“
You look like hell,” Cemmera said
with a laugh. “Out of my way, Carebear.”

“
Hold a minute,” Paro demanded. “I
am the team-leader here, and I am personally declaring Jack Harris,
Melissa Sayre, and all members of my team not-guilty of any illegal
acts. I know you tried to murder Jack earlier, but I am here now,
and I forbid it. Are we going to have a problem here?”

Cemmera laughed. “No, no, of course not, my
dear, there is no problem at all. Consider that awful situation all
cleared up, an accident if you will. We are not here for any
members of your team, and as they say, let bygones be bygones, yes?
No, we are here for those three. We have a signed kill order for
each of them.”

Paro did not move. “Well, as I’m sure you can
tell, we’ve already apprehended them. There’s no need for any
killing, Cemmera.”

Cemmera grabbed his bloodied shirt and leaned
her face into his. Her voice was a whispered hiss, spoken in an
enraged, maniacal tone. “
No,
” she said. “
No, I need
this kill. I’m not leaving here until I’ve killed something, do you
understand me? Get the hell out of my way.”

Michael felt the hopelessness of the situation.
They had gone through so much to apprehend the Psychs, and now in
the end they’d end up dead anyway, the Op. teams arriving just in
time to make the kill. Michael had no doubt that they’d been
watching the entire ordeal, waiting to see if Paro’s team got
killed, definitely hoping for it. When that didn’t pan out, they
made their move.

Paro closed his eyes, opening them a moment
later with a saddened look. “You can’t have Andy,” he said. “By
law, we were able to bind and secure him for a period of longer
than ten minutes. He has been subdued, and you have no right to
kill him while he remains in our custody.”

Cemmera growled but then nodded a moment later.
“Fine, fine, I’ll settle for those two,” she said pointing at Ruin
and Requiem. “If I don’t kill something soon, I’m going to lose
it.”

Neil laughed—it was a disgusting sight. The
Reinforcer was missing half his teeth. From what Michael
understood, Melissa had ruined his face.

The two Kinetics followed Neil and
Cemmera.

“
Hey, Melissa, what are you doing?”
Jack yelled. “Why are you covering my eyes? What’s
happening?”

“
Don’t watch, Jack,” she whispered.
“Don’t watch.”

Jack‘s vision was as dark as night. Melissa’s
hand covered his eyes. “What’s going on?” he asked
again.

Jack tried to pry her fingers loose, but she
clutched his face with a force that only a Reinforcer could manage,
almost to the point of pain. Jack tried to remove her hand, using
both of his own in an attempt to lift her one, but all he did was
make her grab at him tighter. He even tried to duck and squirm, but
she followed along with his motion, handling him like a
child.

“
I’ve been waiting for this,” the
voice of Cemmera said. Jack could hear her just fine though, and
from the sounds of things, she was walking towards where Andy was
secured with the other two Psychs.

“
Paro!” Jack yelled. “If you really
want me to be part of this team, then stop trying to baby me. Tell
Melissa to let me go.”

There was a moment of silence, and all Jack
could hear was the occasional shifting of feet, his vision still
covered in darkness.

“
Let go of him, Melissa,” Paro
commanded.

The hand on Jack’s face pressed tighter.
“Jack’s not ready to see this, we can’t let him—”

“
That’s an order,” Paro interrupted.
All at once Melissa removed her hand and let go of him. She didn’t
look happy, but neither did the rest of the team for that matter.
Sarah was once again sitting on the floor, weeping quietly into her
sleeve.

“
At least we saved one,” she said
with a resigned sigh.

Cemmera, Neil, and the Kinetics were hovering
over the pinned Ruin and Requiem. The two Psychs had a look of
fear, though overshadowed by a tremendous glare of defiance. They
did not avert their eyes while the four peered down at
them.

“
I won’t hold them in place,” Paro
said. “If you’re going to do this, you do it alone.”

One of the Kinetics, Joseph, if Jack recalled
correctly, seemed to grow excited upon hearing this. “Good,” he
said. “It looks like my brother and I get a small taste of the kill
after all.” He licked his lips, kneeling down with his brother,
carrying a look of hunger mixed with lust.

“
Melissa,” Jack said. “What do they
mean by that? He said he’s gonna get a ‘taste of the
kill.’”

“
Do you remember what we told you
about the Op. teams, Jack?”

“
Well, yeah, but we captured the
three of them. They’re not really going to kill them, right? They
were too late, so now we gotta take them back to H.Q, just like we
said we would.”

Michael walked over to Jack on unsteady feet.
He wasn’t limping as bad as Paro, but he was definitely not at
ease. He put a reassuring arm on Jack’s shoulder. “This is the way
it works sometimes, bud. Are you sure you wanna watch
this?”

Jack shook his head, trying to clear his mind
of the growing confusion. “Wait, we’re going to
allow
this
?
This is just a
joke to scare them, yeah? We’d never actually let these creeps kill
them, right?”

Sarah stood to her feet and joined Michael in
embracing Jack. She rested her chin on the back of his neck and
hugged him with tears moist in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she
whispered. “We saved Andy, but we were too late for the other two.
They’ve got signed kill orders. There’s nothing we can do at this
point. The only reason we’re still here is to ensure they aren’t
tortured. It’s against the law, but Op. teams do it
anyway.”

Jack felt a tremor of nausea travel the
distance from his feet to his eyes, creeping along his body in a
cascading wave. It had nothing to do with the power he still
held—it was a sickening feeling of realization, as he allowed
Sarah’s words to dawn on him.

“
I still don’t understand, Sarah. We
captured them. How can they be killing them right in front of us?
You told me that if we captured them then they wouldn’t have to
die!”

Jack felt the back of his neck grow moist from
Sarah’s tears. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do
anymore. It’s the law, and it’s one that we don’t have the power or
authority to change. We can’t stop these four now. The fate of
their lives is up to the discretion of the Op. team
now.”