Chapter Five
May 23rd, 9:58 PM
"Yeller!" the Rattlesnake called out, holding the bullet in the air. "It's got the yeller mark!"
Erin let out a deep sigh. The yellow bullet. The only one that didn't involve her getting punished. What luck!
"Durn," Tex said. "Not the one I wanted." He stepped over to Erin and the Spaniel, his spurs jingling. "But no one said I just got one bullet."
"Well, unmask me first," the Spaniel said. "And then you can continue your ridiculous game."
Erin blinked. What was he doing? Asking to be unmasked? Did he have a plan, or was this all just talk?
"Don't you tell me what to do, boy," Tex said. He was in front of the Spaniel now, where Erin couldn't see him. She watched as a few of the other Rattlesnakes gathered nearer to the scene, probably curious about who was behind the Spaniel's golden mask.
"You made the rules," the Spaniel said. "Now play by them."
Tex chuckled. "Pretty durn eager to have your little crimefightin' career ruined, ain't ya?" His voice was slightly louder now, and Erin could feel his hot breath wafting past the Spaniel's face.
"Are you going to do it, or what?" the Spaniel said. Erin could feel her respect for him building again. It took courage to do what he was doing. She just hoped he had an endgame...
"Alright, alright," Tex said. "So durn impatient. Don't know why." He had moved even closer to the Spaniel, his face maybe just a yard or two from Erin's.
Tex cleared his throat. "Alright, then. Here goes nothin..."
And then, the Spaniel was up. Erin felt him jump from the ground, pushing off her back, leaving the ropes loose around the Blue Lynx's body. She flicked her head around to see him lifting an uppercut into Tex's jaw. Tex let out a cry of pain as he flew into the air, bouncing off of the Spaniel's fist and then plummeting to the ground.
The next moments were a frenzy. Immediately, the Rattlesnakes moved in. Erin pushed the ropes off her body and tried to get up, but found that the bonds on her ankles were still too tight. She reached down to her boots, tearing at the knots, her field of vision alternating between her situation and the Spaniel's, who was now running at the thugs, taking them on one at a time, incapacitating them with swift punches and kicks. The Rattlesnakes were focused only on him, and Erin found enough time to remove a Lynx Dart, cut at the ankle ropes, and eventually free herself. She kicked the restraints off and leapt to her feet.
"She's free!" a voice said. "Get her!"
Erin turned around to see two men plowing in her direction, both of them wielding cattle prods. Without a second of hesitation, she tossed the Lynx Dart at one of them. The Dart sunk into the thug's wrist, forcing him to squeal and drop his weapon to the ground. Erin pulled her taser from her belt and moved toward the second man, sliding away from a swipe of his prod, and then plunging the taser against the man's neck. He howled out in pain, exposing his body to two rapid gut punches. Erin shoved him to the ground and moved back to the first man, who was still crying out over the Lynx Dart in his arm.
"Come on, it's not that bad," Erin said, before she socked him across the face with a massive right hook.
She looked up from her two defeated foes and saw more bodies lying prone across the rooftop. The Spaniel was making quick work of the Rattlesnakes, spending just a few seconds on each man. They couldn't touch him. He was annoying, and maybe not the sort of ally Erin wanted, but she had to admit: the guy could hold his own in a fight.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar drawl. "Now, now, missy... I suggest you put your hands in the air."
Erin looked to the side to see Tex, climbing to his feet and maybe ten yards away, one hand holding his jaw, the other clutching his pistol, which he now aimed in her direction.
"Guess any of these bullets can be a death bullet, providin' there's a durn fool in front of it," Tex said. He was still trying to talk tough, but he looked off-balance, unsure. The punch from the Spaniel had clearly taken a lot out of him.
Erin smiled, turning her body to face him. "Well, that's only true if you can hit me. And I don't think you can hit me, Tex."
Tex growled, thrust his arm forward, and fired the gun. Erin ducked, but it didn't matter: nothing came out. The only sound the pistol made was a small click.
"Shit," Tex said. "Forgot about that."
Erin raced forward, covering the distance between them in seconds, and pushed her shoulder into Tex's body. The small man took off, floating through the air momentarily, and then striking the brick wall edging the rooftop. Erin dashed off to his body, preparing for another attack, but found that Tex was unconscious, his tongue lolled out, his gun laying on the ground yards away from his outstretched hand.
Satisfied, Erin looked toward the Spaniel, who was dealing with one last Rattlesnake. She scanned the fallen figures behind him: there were probably twenty altogether, most of them unconscious, some whimpering in pain, clutching their abdomens. She heard a final anguished bleat from the last standing thug, and watched as the Spaniel pushed him over with a comically light tap.
"Well done," Erin said, moving casually over to where the Spaniel stood. "You're almost as good as me."
The Spaniel let out a guffaw. "Almost as good? I'm better."
Erin shook her head. "I don't think so, bud. You've only been doing this superhero stuff for... what... a couple weeks? You've still got a lot to learn."
They were standing just a few yards apart, surrounded by inert thugs, the night still warm. Erin felt her heart racing from combat. Looking at the Spaniel, tall and muscular in his golden spandex, didn't help her to calm down.
"You should have some respect," the Spaniel said. "I got you free tonight. This is the second time I've saved you this week."
"The first time, yeah, you helped me," Erin said, knowing-- but not willing to acknowledge-- that he had done much more than that, that night at the Paradise Casino. "But it was I who saved you tonight. Those men would've torn you apart if I hadn't dropped in."
The Spaniel crossed his arms. He wasn't just going to let these comments fly. Which was fine with Erin-- she wouldn't allow anyone to talk to her this way, either.
"I was setting up a trap," the Spaniel said. "I was luring them on the roof so I could take them out and not worry about any distractions. You showed up and blinded me. Because of you, I got hit fifty times with a cattle prod."
Erin laughed. "A trap? Come on. I saw you holding your arm. You were retreating. I bought you time. It it wasn't for me, you'd be lying on the ground next to Tex over there."
Erin saw the Spaniel's muscles tense. "The Spaniel never retreats!" he bellowed. "I never would allow myself to get captured. But you seem to have no problem with that, Blue Lynx."
"Excuse me?" Erin said. She felt her muscles tense, too.
"You're always getting captured, tied up, etc etc etc," the Spaniel said. "Because you never have a plan. I saw you at the Casino. Flying in there, so cocky, trying to take on all those men. I thought I admired you. But thinking about it now, I see that you're just a fool. A little girl trying to play with the big boys."
Erin squeezed her hands into fists. Her face blushed red. "A little... girl?" she stammered, furiously.
"Why don't you just step aside, little lady? I'm the hero. You go get tied up, be the damsel in distress." The Spaniel was enjoying himself. "I'll save you, I promise. So long as you shut up and do what you're told."
Erin couldn't take another second of this. She took a deep breath, let out a yell, and sprang at the Spaniel, lifting her fists high in the air, ready to make him pay for these insults.
On to Chapter Six
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