Playing For Keeps Read online

  “Man, Peter, you’ve been through hell, haven’t you?” she said.

  He coughed dryly. “You’re alive.”

  “Yeah, funny story, I’ll tell you when we’re safe.” Keepsie said. Peter nodded, his good eye still wide.

  “Let’s go,” said Clever Jack.

  12

  Keepsie and Michelle hissed when they saw Peter’s bloody hand.

  He grimaced as Clever Jack helped him to his feet.

  Keepsie appraised him. “Well. You look like shit.”

  “Jesus, Keepsie, that’s nice.” Michelle said. She paused. “But really, Pete, you do look like shit.”

  Peter snorted and coughed out a laugh. He looked at Keepsie’s bright red skin and said, “You look positively ready for the inaugural ball, yourself.”

  “Glad you’re OK. Relatively, you know.”

  Peter opened his mouth, but Clever Jack interrupted him. “Let’s leave the tearful reunions until later, kids. We have more daring rescues to do. There’s your friends and of course, Doodad. But first—” He didn’t finish, but instead strode off toward the elevators, leaving Peter with Keepsie and Michelle, all attempting to catch up.

  “So how are we going to do this daring rescue?” Keepsie said.

  Clever Jack closed his eyes and stabbed at the elevator buttons. The second floor button lit up and he grunted. “Huh. That’s not what I expected.”

  “Why are we going up?” Michelle asked. “I thought all the cells were downstairs.”

  “So did I,” Clever Jack said. “But this is where we need to go, apparently.”

  “Your power is impressive,” Peter said. “That is, if this works.”

  Clever Jack looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I got you out, didn’t I?”

  Peter made a placating gesture, and Clever Jack smiled. “Although, you were pretty clever. The Crane went running past me in the hallway, blood all over his wings, not a care in the world except getting clean. How did you know about his little problem?”

  “My power is weak, but useful at times,” Peter said, focusing his gaze on the rising numbers above the elevator door.

  They arrived at the second floor. Clever Jack stuck his head out of the elevator and motioned for them to follow him into the hall. The hallway was deserted, but well lit and much more welcoming than the lower levels. Frames containing caricatures looking like a Hero Hall of Fame lined the walls and moonlight shone from the windows at the end of the hall.

  Clever Jack turned left down the hall and walked with a purposeful gait. Keepsie, Peter, and Michelle followed, casting nervous looks around them.

  “Nine is my lucky number,” Clever Jack said, counting the doors as he walked. When he got to the ninth door, he paused and motioned the others out of the way. They flattened themselves against the wall, and Clever Jack opened the door.

  He stared inside for a moment. “Hey Keepsie, do you know this guy?”

  Keepsie peeked inside the room. It was an elaborate office containing an oak desk, bookshelves, and a visitor’s chair, which was occupied by the only person in the room.

  “Jason,” she blurted. Her uncooperative customer stared at her. “What the hell are you doing here? You left.”

  Jason’s brown eyes were very wide. “I don’t know. Cops showed up at my place and brought me here to ask me questions about you and the bar. I met with Timson and then she said to wait here.”

  Clever Jack leaned into Keepsie and whispered, “What’s his power?”

  “Elevator control,” Keepsie said out loud.

  “Oh, excellent,” Clever Jack said. “We can use you.”

  Jason looked terrified. “I don’t know.”

  Keepsie stepped forward and leaned into Jason. “Check us out, Jason. Look at what the heroes did to me and Peter.” Peter stepped into the doorway, his face stony, and Jason gasped.

  “I have it on good authority that they have been torturing Ian as well,” Peter said. “We need to free them, Jason. Clever Jack thinks you could help us. Will you?”

  Jason nodded. “But, what can I do?”

  Clever Jack grinned the smile that was starting to make Keepsie uneasy. “The most secure cells are only accessible by elevator key card.”

  “Oh. Well I can help with that,” Jason said. “I thought you needed me to fight or something.” He snickered nervously, raising his thin arms.

  Clever Jack motioned for them to follow. “Not even a little bit.” The four of them followed him back to the elevators.

  “Any idea where the others are?” Clever Jack asked.

  “I think Ian is in the eighth basement,” Peter said. “Barry and Tomas, I have no idea.”

  “Eighth basement sounds about right. Take us there,” Clever Jack told Jason. Jason pushed the button marked “B8.”

  “That’s it?” Keepsie said.

  “What did you expect?” Jason asked. “I can get us there without stopping anywhere else.”

  “I thought Clever Jack’s power would keep us from running into heroes,” Peter said.

  “Only an idiot doesn’t use the tools that fall into his hands,” Clever Jack said. “If I were hunting, I could probably find a deer that had broken its neck in a fall, but it’s much easier to just rely on a clear shot with a gun.”

  The elevator descended, with no interruptions, to the eighth basement floor. When the door opened, Clever Jack looked at them. “Keepsie, I need you to come with me. The rest of you wait here. Keep the elevator here. If someone comes down the hall who isn’t us, take the elevator to the topmost floor and wait for me.”

  “Wait, how will you get there?” Jason called after him.

  “Luck,” Clever Jack said.

  Clever Jack paid Keepsie no attention as she followed him. He looked at every door, placing his hand on each one, shaking his head, and moving on.

  “Jack, why me? I’m not really useful in a fight.”

  Jack didn’t look at her. “I need the device now, Keepsie. I need it to free the rest of our friends.”

  “So you can’t just luck your way into their cells?”

  “What did I just tell you about tools? I need that tool to open the cell quickly before anyone finds us.”

  Keepsie fingered the ball in her pocket and hesitated. Jack sighed. “Do you want Ian out or not?”

  She handed it to him, a sense of powerlessness coming over her as she lost her final bargaining chip.

  Jack took it, a look of reverence on his face. “Thank you.”

  He crouched down and put it on the concrete floor and spun it, just so. As it whirled around, it began to open, unhinging and revealing a small cavity inside where a handful of small, blue pills lay resting on some cotton.

  “That’s it?” Keepsie said.

  “Don’t discount it, you have no idea what these are. What they can do,” Jack said. He reached into the cavity and pulled a pill out. He dry-swallowed it and waited.

  Keepsie stepped back, not knowing what to expect. Clever Jack closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them, focusing intently on one of the doors. It was large and metal with a keypad containing several symbols on it. Keepsie had no idea what the symbols meant, but Clever Jack went to the pad and punched in a long code. A light came on over the keypad, bright red. Jack smiled and keyed in another code. The light began to blink.

  “Finally.”

  Jack bent down and picked up the device. It shut at his touch, and he slipped it into his jeans pocket.

  “This is all I needed. I’ll get the rest. You go back to the elevator now.”

  Keepsie watched the red light blink. “Is Ian in there?”

  “Not that one. It would be best to go back to the elevator now.”

  Keepsie backed away. Jack’s eyes glowed in the dim light of the hallway. He giggled at her, a high, mad sound, and she ran.

  * * * * *

  Michelle was ripping Peter’s shirt to use as bandages—with Peter protesting—when Keepsie got back to the elevator.
r />   Michelle looked up from wrapping the cloth around Peter’s hand. “What’s up?”

  Peter glared at Michelle. “That was Italian.”

  “Well, I found out what the device was,” Keepsie said.

  That got their attention.

  “It’s like a high tech pharmacy bottle.”

  Peter frowned. “You mean it had drugs?”

  “My mother’s going to be pissed,” said Keepsie. “She always said I’d get in trouble because of drugs.”

  “What were they?” Michelle asked.

  “No idea. He took one and started putting in a code at one of the cells. Then he told me to come back here and wait with you guys.”

  They didn’t say anything. Michelle turned her attention back toward Peter. Keepsie sank to the floor of the elevator, worry gnawing at her stomach that she had done the wrong thing.

  Michelle sat next to her. “Hey, Keepsie, how did you survive that lightning?”

  “Or Heretic’s fire,” Peter added.

  Keepsie shook her head. “I don’t know. I—”

  She was interrupted by the elevator doors opening. There was a tense moment before Clever Jack lowered an unconscious Ian into the elevator.

  “Present for you!” said Jack, giggling again.

  Keepsie tried to let her concern and joy at seeing her friend keep her from retching at the smell. Ian had clearly fought back, and was covered in shit for his efforts.

  Barry and Tomas entered the elevator behind Clever Jack, looking astonished and gratified to see them. They did not look as if they’d gone through the same hell as Keepsie and Peter.

  “Gosh it’s good to see you,” Barry said. “We thought you were dead.”

  “I feel dead but I keep moving.” Keepsie grimaced as she struggled to her feet. “Is Ian OK?”

  “Oh he’s fine,” Clever Jack said. “Just the recipient of the powers of the up and coming hero, Inert. The Academy couldn’t have him filling the place with shit.”

  “Inert?” Keepsie asked.

  “One of their teenagers. Knocks people out with a touch. Right bastard in a fight, cause you don’t expect it coming from him.”

  “Oh. Where are they all, Clever Jack?” Keepsie said suddenly. “Why haven’t they launched the red alert or something? I mean, I took care of Tattoo Devil, Heretic, Cage and White Lightning, but I know there are more.”

  “No doubt they’re on their way,” Clever Jack said. “In a moment, they will see a group of rogue Third Wavers as the least of their problems.”

  “What did you do?” Keepsie asked.

  Clever Jack ignored her. “One more to go, and we can blow this popsicle stand.” He ran back down the hall.

  “What is going on?” Tomas asked.

  Keepsie stared after Jack. “A rescue. I think.”

  “Where are the heroes?” Barry said.

  Michelle patted Keepsie on the shoulder. “Keepsie caught them in her power. How many did you get?”

  “Four,” she answered.

  Barry and Tomas made impressed noises, but Keepsie focused down the hall. A door opened, sounding as if it was held closed by hydraulics. Then Clever Jack and Doodad came running back, shouting at them to close the door and hit the main lobby level.

  Jason scrambled to comply, and Clever Jack and Doodad made it onto the elevator as the others got to their feet.

  “Why the hurry?” Keepsie said.

  “You’ll see,” Clever Jack said.

  “Hello Doodad,” Keepsie said.

  The massive man bowed to her. “Please call me Eric.”

  “Eric?”

  “Yes. Doodad was the name my mother gave me. I’m not fond of it.”

  “I see. OK, Eric—”

  A loud rumbling interrupted her, shaking the building.

  “Shit! What was that?” Michelle said.

  A crack sounded above them. “Was that a cable snapping?” Keepsie asked, her voice cracking.

  Jason put his hand against the wall of the elevator. “Yes. It’s broken now.”

  “Why do we not fall?” Tomas said.

  Jason grinned at them, and Keepsie tried to remember if she’d ever seen him smile. “It won’t fall. I’m here.”

  “Wow,” said Clever Jack. “Is that lucky or what?”

  They arrived at the ground floor as the building rumbled again. Clever Jack smiled at Keepsie as they got off. “You wondered where the other heroes are? They will soon be there, trying to deal with what I set free. Thank you for the pills, Keepsie, I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  Doodad bowed to them again and they ran down the hall and out the front doors.

  Michelle and Tomas hefted Ian between them. “We have to get out of here!” Michelle said.

  Jason stepped off the elevator last, releasing his hold on it to send it crashing down to the bottom level. Keepsie swallowed the panic in her throat.

  “I think running is a good idea,” she said. “Who’s with me?”

  They ran, dragging Ian, following the villains. Outside, night had fallen. Keepsie had completely lost track of time. In the light of the streetlamps, she saw that Doodad had created a climbing machine out of a fire escape and he and Clever Jack stood atop a Moroccan bakery. They watched the Academy with glee on their faces.

  When Keepsie and her friends had crossed the streets, they ventured a look back.

  The Academy was imploding, the walls caving in and dust flying everywhere. From the ruins rose a woman—no, a teenaged girl—bathed in a halo of light that was difficult to look directly at. She wore a white bodysuit that looked less like a hero costume and more like a futuristic suit out of a sci-fi movie, complete with dials and gauges.

  Peter’s voice sounded very far away. “Keepsie, I think it might be time to release the heroes.”

  She gasped—she still held the heroes paralyzed in the lower levels of the Academy, where they likely could be dead by now. She freed them with a thought and held her breath.

  They came, then, from all directions. White Lightning burst from the Academy, at a speed that, despite her dislike of him, impressed Keepsie. The others teleported in, holding on to Blink. She must have rescued them before the Academy fell. The heroes went into immediate action, heading for the young woman.

  “This is not our fight,” Peter said.

  “But it’s my fault,” Keepsie said.

  “Let’s go. The bar is closest.”

  “But it’s my fault.”

  Peter’s panicked eyes softened as he took her arm. “There’s nothing we can do, we need to get somewhere safe. Please, Keepsie.”

  She nodded and let him lead her down the stairs to her bar. Michelle struggled to hold Ian up as Tomas grasped the lock on the door, concentrated briefly, and pulled it off. The doorknob came with it and he shoved the door open. They tumbled inside, shoving the door closed behind them.

  Michelle and Tomas went to lay Ian down. Jason and Barry collapsed into a booth. Keepsie stayed by the door, watching the light show outside.

  “Do you know who she is?” Peter asked.

  “I have no idea, but I’m betting she’s not a hero,” Keepsie said.

  Peter looked up the stairs. “Well, that’s not something I expected to see.”

  Clever Jack was floating, drifting down the stairs. He touched down lightly outside the door and opened it.

  “Did you know he could fly?” Peter whispered. Keepsie shook her head.

  Clever Jack still had wild eyes and a half-smile. He looked around at the bloody, excrement-covered group. “You might want to get your friends cleaned up and get the hell out of town. This is going to get interesting.”

  “What happened out there?” Keepsie asked.

  “We just released another unjustly imprisoned person, like Ian.”

  “Who is she?”

  He just smiled at her. “Remember. Leaving town would benefit you. Thank you for your help, Keepsie, and please let me know the next time you screw with some heroes. I’d lo
ve to hear the story.”

  “I hope I never have to again,” Keepsie said. Clever Jack, never losing that grin, took the drugs out of his pocket and winked at her, then left, jogging up the steps.

  “I wonder why he didn’t fly that time,” Peter said. “What was in that drug?”

  * * * * *

  “Keepsie, we’re in need of medical attention,” Peter argued.

  “They patrol ER’s for criminals, Peter,” Keepsie said, washing his still-weeping wounds. “They’ll throw us back into jail immediately. And do you think they’re going to listen to how we got this way?”

  Peter pursed his lips as she bound his hand in gauze. Keepsie felt guilty, having the job of tending to Peter’s blood while Michelle and Tomas did their best to wash Ian so he was less offensive. Both Peter and Ian had their tattered and filthy shirts replaced by Keepsie’s Bar t-shirts, and seeing suit-wearing Peter in a t-shirt made the day all the more surreal.

  Peter had wanted to go to an ER but Keepsie could think no farther than getting the hell out of town.

  “Where are we going to go?” Peter asked.

  “I don’t know. My mom lives in Raleigh. I guess I could go to her place.”

  Peter shook his head. “They’ll be looking at our relatives first.”

  Keepsie slammed the gauze back into the first aid kit. “Then you lead, Peter, because I’m sick of it! We’re hurt and we need to get out of town. You figure it out! If you don’t like my suggestions, why don’t you come up with some?”

  Peter opened his mouth to reply, but Keepsie stormed out of the kitchen.

  Michelle sat on the floor watching Ian with a concerned look on her face. She raised her head when Keepsie stomped into the bar. “What was that all about?”

  “I’ve just had a really bad day,” Keepsie said. “How’s he doing?”

  “I think he’s waking up, but it’s coming slowly. The others are in the bathroom. Barry and Tomas are patching each other up.”