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Chapter 10
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There was the sound of gunfire for a moment.
The officer spun around to face the darkness, firing off two shots while the skeletons dogpiled the shadows. Renner ignored the commotion as his focus was set on reviving his Dreamer, who revived immediately after having the bag ripped off his face.
I’m joking of course, he did nothing.
“Come on!” Renner stomped the ground, looking hastily about for something to write on. An overflowing trashcan caught his eye, but as he began to move towards it, one of the yellow-eyed Dreamers flew over his head and careened into it.
He turned around in time to greet the massive silhouette of agent Bird, who was effortlessly restraining another Dreamer in spite of its repeated blows. “Hi.” He threw the Dreamer over another couple rooftops. “I don’t think we’ve properly met. Were you on that flying boat?”
“I was.” Renner replied, his body language making it painfully clear he didn’t trust officer Bird. “Where’s that snappy friend of yours? Did the tower get him?”
“No, oh but you shouldn’t bring that up with him.” Bird recoiled and raised a finger to the mouth of his mask. “He broke his arm diving out of it at the last moment, and this whole mind control thing has got him riled up.”
As if on queue, the black-armored Pakari-wearing member of Volume’s personal guard, Pakari, struggled over one of the rooftops. “Couldn’t restrain him, had to put him away.” His voice was strained and weary, and seemed to Renner to bear a great load of grief which hadn’t been there before. “Alright you, get your hands up. I don’t care about your motives, you’re not going anywhere.”
“How did you handle those Dreamers so easily?” Renner inquired, his hands slowly beginning to rise.
“It’s called permafuse armor.” Bird pointed at his palm, which much like the rest of him was thoroughly covered in grey woven plates of some plastic-esqe material. “It seems to repel these skeleton things, ‘Dreamers’, fairly well. Don’t know how, but I’m glad it does, right? Sorry.” He sulked back at the vicious glare of Pakari.
“Right, well, that’s cute,” Renner tensed, having traced on the ground with his heel during the deep lore. “But I’m kind of in a rush. Sorry, but I’ve gotta go!” The armor across his body doubled down on itself as Pakari fired a shot at his head, which bounced off as the miracle metal multiplied its density.
Grabbing Diero’s head, the quicksilver quibbler mashed it into the asphalt, its teeth digging into the cold ground below. Bird had descended the rooftop and reached to restrain him, but was repelled by the vicious cowhide heel of one flaming, furious deadsperado, his mouth full of freeway ingredients, who sent the oversized officer reeling backwards from the force of the blow. Another attempted approach resulted in a cratered wall and a dazed Bird, holding one hand up to prevent the dumpster Diero had lifted from striking him again.
Renner stood, grinning smugly at the efficiency of his bodyguard, when an unseen tackle from Pakari rolled him into the shadow of the building. “Tell your friend to keep quiet.” Pakari whispered, his gun against the side of Renner’s neck. “And to stay that way.”
Diero’s questioning glance was answered with a nod from his chromed cohort, and the deceased dimwit retreated into the corner Bird occupied, setting the dumpster down with a gentle tap. Slim figures appeared silhouetted of the rooftops as behind them hovered a distant helicopter, its lights sweeping the ground below.
“We’ve got to locate them!” A voice was heard, and a growl of frustration was given in reply from very close to Renner. “This city’s like a maze. They could be on the other side of the ridge by now!”
The officer who had spoken hopped down into the alleyway, oblivious of the hidden party. “Look, that gunfire could’ve been a misfire from one of the officers on duty, or a hundred other things. It’d be a huge benefit to us if these things could relay any information they may have seen.” He gestured to one of the silhouettes, which stepped forward and revealed itself to be one of the rampant Dreamers.
“Get the rest of your group, start looking in the buildings to the south of here. If we can build a wall to sweep, we can push them to the furthest corner of the city - if they’re still here.” He turned to ascend the roof again, and looked back at the motionless Dreamers. “Oh, right… Uh, Zippy commands you to follow that officer’s input.”
At once all the Dreamers turned and descended towards where the first voice had come from. It was no less than a full minute before Pakari stopped tensing, and that moment was enough for Renner to break his grip and roll away. The dumpster went flying over his head and into the corner where Pakari lay, but Bird’s long arm caught up to it before it collided with him.
Skidding to a halt, Bird swung the dumpster back around and clubbed Diero with it, smashing him into the same wall he had been in a moment prior. Renner, who had backpedaled to avoid a similar fate as his bony bodyguard, sunk further into the darkness and disappeared from view, prompting the waste-wielding enforcer to approach his hiding spot.
Pakari was suddenly caught by the throat and thrown into his associate’s backside. The pair were up on their feet in a moment, but there was no one there. Diero had silently slipped away during the search for Renner, and the officers were left with an empty alleyway, which now echoed the distant sounds of conflict across the city.
It was a solid three minutes before Diero spoke up . “Boss, you had that the whole time and didn’t use it?”
“Eh.” Renner shrugged, the armor unfolding off his face and turning visible once more. “All of this armor is powered by whatever I want it to be. There’s a finite amount of it, but it can become whatever I want it to. And that’s why we’re back here.”
I quit looking for a brief moment. The card was here, slowly approaching in the atmosphere of this peculiar planetary body. With thousands of eyes observing the card, every angle, every reflection of light off its surface. I reached out to intercept it, then I
then…
The card crawled towards my extended fingers. This mechanical host would not last forever, but the Dreamers could. I could live forever. Here, on the moon, in perfect solitude. All I had to do was leave one Dreamer behind.
…
Diero watched as his boss ascended very slowly into the air. “Hey, ths is a bad time, but I was curious when you were planning to reset your Dreams and stuff.”
“Oh yeah,” Renner’s ascent stopped. “Here, hand me a rock, I’ll just write the-”
There was a terrible crashing noise all around them. Rubble peacefully living its best life exploded for no good reason as matter which had no good reason to be there suddenly forced its way into existence. The ruins of the tower were now pitted with holes that only a moment ago had been rather solid indeed.
Diero growled and reached for a revolver that wasn’t there. Renner’s armor shifted into a more defensive configuration. All across the dark night-smothered remains, thousands of orange lights suddenly glowed.
“Hi.”
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