School of Hard Knocks
1
Laurence Elbe walked around his almost finished building. Memories drifted to him as he checked for flaws. Everything had to be just right if he wanted to usher in the new age of Father's return.
The people working in the offices below would be his first meal so he could quickly charge up his powers to deal with any threats the world's protectors might pose.
His main worry was the Chemist, but he knew there were other magicians out there who could throw everything off.
He had worked too hard to let that happen.
He planned to hire somebody to try and kill the Magistracy as a distraction when his plans were further along.
It bothered him that he had lost several encounters with the government School. They didn't even have a magician in their employ.
He needed to get rid of the Saint. He seemed to be the lynchpin in their success.
He had lost the group of Sons he had organized to attack the School's headquarters. The last one had tried to kill their leader in his sleep. The attack had been rebuffed and sent the dream killer into a coma of his own.
Laurence was glad to be rid of the man. He had more important things to do than torture the helpless.
It also made it apparent that he would have to assemble a group that could overpower the government agency before they got too close to learning the truth. At least their headquarters had been partially destroyed in the attack he had initiated.
He would have loved to have killed some of them with their building. That would have taken him off the hook of Father's displeasure. He had to make sure the pointer worked if he wanted to keep his mind intact.
Otherwise he would be discarded and one of the other Sons would be placed in charge of bringing Father back to his realm.
He had to make sure everything went off without a hitch.
The elevator hummed from somewhere to his right. He looked around. He should be alone on the floor. Who could it be?
He walked down the hall, checking the space set aside for offices that would never be used. He didn't see any traces of memory as he passed.
The elevator dinged before it slid to a halt. The doors opened. A man dressed in layers of clothing stepped out in the hall, hands in his pockets. He had a hood pulled low to conceal his face and what looked like bandages over his features.
"This floor is closed to the public." Laurence didn't like the lack of trace coming from this scarecrow figure as it looked around. "You should go back downstairs to floors that are safer."
"Really?" The bum seemed to smile. It was hard to tell under the swaddling.
"Yes." Laurence didn't approach the apparition. He found that he was unsettled by the lack of life he usually perceived in people.
"You haven't done anything you can't fix yet." The hooded man looked around the room. "I'm willing to give you a pass, but this building has to be altered. I can't let you set it up as a supernatural antenna. That will attract too much trouble to the city."
"You're going to give me a pass?" He reached for the pistol he wore at the base of his spine. "That's magnanimous of you."
"I don't think you understand." The bum paused by a pile of tile. "I'm the protector of the universe. I can't let you threaten the existence of the world. Back off and I'm willing not to put my foot up your butt."
"Too bad." Laurence pulled the pistol and fired it until it was empty. His target looked down at the holes in his jacket and hoodie. He shook his hooded head.
"I'm bulletproof, idiot." He waved his hand and the pistol came apart. "I should break every bone in your body for that."
Laurence wished he had something more lethal than his ability to read memories.
"I'm giving you the warning." The protector of the universe walked toward the elevator. "Back off before something bad happens to you."
He touched the call button. The doors opened silently as if waiting for him. He got in and pressed the floor button. The elevator hummed to life to shut the doors and descend.
Laurence looked at the screws, pieces of metal, rubber squares that used to be his pistol. He looked around and saw a broom. He got that and a dustpan and swept the remains up. They went into a trash barrel.
He would have to contact one of his brothers and hire him as a guard. He needed someone that was instantly lethal to anyone who crossed him. This protector of the universe was a new thorn in his side that would have to be removed while he tried to accomplish the rest of Father's grand plan.
Force might not be enough. He might have to keep the protector busy until Father could bring his whole power to bear on the problem.
He certainly wasn't going to defy Father by not finishing the pointer. He liked his mind, and having it the way it was. He wasn't going to give his master reason to crack it into pieces.
Laurence looked around the floor, trying to see some way to turn this mess into something he could take advantage of before things got out of hand.
He watched the traces of memory dance around the space as the workmen put things together to his exact specifications.
Maybe he could arrange a sacrifice to move the schedule forward. Anyone killed in the building would automatically feed Father and make him stronger.
Who could he use for his sacrifices?
He decided to try to get rid of the government agency. It would be risky, but if he could sacrifice them, that would push back any official response. Then he could get ready for anyone else who might try to interfere.
The Chemist was the next major threat to his plans. He had to think of ways to get rid of the Magistracy next.
Laurence decided to initiate his plan, he needed to make a call. He had to lure the School into his trap with some promise he didn't plan to keep.
Maybe he could promise them information about the school they had exorcized earlier with the help of the New York police.
It was risky. If he lost the building, his plan to rescue Father would be up in smoke. He weighed the risks as he looked out the windows. He had to do something before the protector of the universe decided to stop him.
The bum had been right about one thing. The building was threat to the existence of humanity. He planned to show how much of a threat it was before anyone could wreck his destiny.
He walked to the elevator bank and pressed the call button. He considered what he was about to do as he waited. He hoped to succeed. He had failed too much already.
The doors opened with a ding. He got on and pressed the button to the lobby. He should use the office staff in his plans too. Their numbers would provide life energy to power up his trap.
He needed to consult with one of his adopted family to set things in motion. Once he threw out the bait, the School would come. Their leader had a streak of vindictiveness that would demand a showdown.
The rest would follow like dominoes.
Then he could move on to getting rid of any other threats to his work.
If he lost, he could say goodbye to his mind. Father would take it right out of his skull and do things to it until it was unrecognizable as human.
He stepped out in the lobby. He started for the front doors. The guards waved at him as if they hadn't seen a harmless bum a few minutes before him. Maybe they hadn't.
He checked his watch as he stepped out on the sidewalk. His consultant should be in Central Park somewhere at this point in the night. He started down the street, ignoring the traces of people as he passed.
They would be reduced to nothing when Father regained his rightful place. There wouldn't be traces except from those that had been kept as playthings.
A bum and a man in a suit from the past watched him as he made his way toward the park.
"There's a man who won't take a hint." The man in the suit tapped his cane against the sidewalk.
"Until he causes the breach, there's nothing I can do." The protector of the universe looked up at the apex of the building.
"We should have made sure Kailorm was exiled beyond even the ability to talk to the Earth." The man in the suit turned to make his way down the sidewalk in the opposite direction from Laurence.
2
Jeff Ashcroft looked at the pictures of a skyscraper on his monitor. He checked the address given with the picture. New York City ran in a smooth line of type at the bottom of the photo.
He checked his current caseload. He had nothing going on in New York at all. Most of his files were related to criminals that were at large, on trial, or dead. None of the current crop had connections to New York.
He wondered if the picture had something to do with the stone case they were still working on. Nothing solid had come in on the bush leaguers his team had put down when they attacked the Office. Watchman had run into a monster school in New York. Maybe that was the connection.
He looked around the bullpen. No one else was in evidence. He forwarded the picture to his counterpart before he shut down his computer. He checked his watch. He might be able to arrange a flight to the Big Apple if he hurried.
His curiosity and gut had declared war and he had decided to go with the curiosity until he knew more about what was going on.
This had to be about the stone case. A picture arriving out of the blue looked like a trap to him. He wondered what was really involved behind all the hocus pocus. What was the main goal of everything?
If he knew that, he could shoot the brain and move on to the next case.
Jeff made a call to Dulles as he headed down to the motor pool. He reserved a seat on a shuttle heading up to New York. He just had to be at the airport in a couple of hours.
He signed out a Charger and drove across town. He didn't plan to be in the city long so he didn't need a bag. He just wanted to scope this building out for himself, and then have someone with more technical skill go over everything about it.
He parked his car in the long term lot and headed for the terminal. He used his badge to get on the plane without a ticket. He found a seat in third class and settled in. He would need to get a car in New York if he wanted to reach the address given.
Jeff watched the people around him as he waited for the plane to take off. Most of them had the look of people rushing to do business on too little sleep and too much coffee. He probably fit right in with them.
If things didn't work out with the building, he would go back to the Office and delete the picture. Just because something was randomly forwarded, it didn't make it important.
It bothered him that it had been sent to his work mail. That was why he kept thinking it was a trap. Otherwise, why not send it to someone else that would forward it to the School from a sister agency?
It also meant they were tracking him while he was trying to figure out what was going on. He didn't like that at all.
He liked to surprise people before he shot them. Since they knew he was coming, he would have a hard time finding the right target to shoot.
What was waiting for him at that building? He doubted cupcakes and soda pop. A sudden death at the end of a knife on a stick would be about right.
Maybe he should have grabbed someone for backup. The Replacement would be great for something like this. The man in black was an invulnerable flying missile.
And he was silent which was what endeared him to Jeff.
The plane took with a few minutes of delay. The flight north from Washington was smooth and without incident. The night sky subtly altered as the landscape changed. The flight landed after being in a holding pattern for another half an hour. It would refuel and head back to the District when it had enough passengers.
Jeff checked his watch as he headed across the terminal. He could rent a car and head into the city if he hurried. Then he could look his target over at his leisure.
If he couldn't get a car, he would have to hail a cab and pay for the trip.
He didn't want to do that. He might be able to justify a rental to the bean counters. He definitely would be waiting forever for reimbursement for a cab ride.
He might as well ask for a diamond pinky ring the way they complained about small change.
He reached the desk for Hertz. He gave them his badge and signed the paperwork for a car. He headed out of the airport lot a few minutes later. He joined the rest of the people heading into town.
He had some familiarity with the city from other trips into its concrete canyons. He found the address from the picture after a small amount of searching. He found a place to park and walked back to look at the front of the edifice.
It looked like a face glaring down on him.
He decided to walk around the steel and glass tower before he tried to go in. Maybe that would give him some clue to what was inside.
The outside of the building looked ordinary from the ground. He didn't see any monsters, or villains, lurking anywhere. Maybe they were lurking inside.
He doubted he was wrong about the place. It gave him a bad vibration when he looked at it. It was the same kind of feeling he got when trouble came calling.
He was about to run into something he could shoot. Did he want to go in without backup, or wait until he had a team assembled? What was the thing to do?
Jeff decided that he needed to at least get his team together and get them moving. They might have to rescue him when he got into trouble.
He walked back across the street from the front. It definitely looked like a face to him. He wasn't prone to flights of fancy, but he didn't like glass eyes following his every move. He pulled out his phone and called Poster Girl.
"What's going on, boss?" She sounded like she was eating something.
"Get the team together, get a command center, and get up here to this address." He gave her the address. "Get what you can on the building, owners, everything. Let Watcher know what's going on."
"Got it." She sounded unhappy. "When do we have to be there?"
"Yesterday." He frowned. "I'm already here. Kiss your date good night, and get to work."
"All right." She harumphed in the phone. "I'll make the calls."
"I'm going in to look around." Jeff hung up and put the phone away. He took his tie off and put it in his jacket pocket. He might need it to strangle someone.
He walked back across the street. He tried the door. Of course it was locked to keep riffraff like him out of the spacious lobby with its marble floor. Not many riffraff could blow a hole in the lock with a thought gun like he could.
He stepped inside, examining the floor a little more carefully. It looked familiar. He put a divot in the surface with a shot. The floor cracked like a spider web. He pulled out one of the fragments and put it in his jacket pocket.
He didn't know anything about magic, but maybe that would prevent the stone from doing whatever it was supposed to do. He doubted it would help.
The Saint said the first stone they had encountered was some kind of conduit. Something as big as the lobby floor would be sending energy from all over the city to somewhere else. He didn't like the thought the skyscraper was some kind of antenna.
Where was the security? He had put two holes in the building. They should be trying to get rid of him, or calling the cops.
Maybe guards had been told to take the day off.
He didn't like that thought at all. It meant that someone was waiting on him to look around. What was going to jump out at him?
He smiled at himself. He should have waited for the others. It looked like he had rushed to his death.
He planned to shoot his way out if he could. That was his method of operation, and how he liked to do things.
He decided to use the stairs. The shaft would be narrow, but better than using the elevators. Being trapped in a moving room was a quick way to die.
He looked around. He noted the cameras so he expected humans to jump out at any time. Clearing them out was the first step in flooding the room with something lethal without worrying about friendlies.
He pushed the stairwell door open. Nothing jumped out at him. He started up. Where was his enemy?
He pushed upward, pausing at each landing to listen at the door. Nothing stirred. Shouldn't someone be working at his/her desk?
The building grew progressively unused and unfinished as he climbed. He felt a stirring going on. Maybe he was about to see the face of his enemy.
He reached a floor still under construction. He stepped out of the stairwell and looked around. It was a big space with tools and material packed away for use later. He thought he heard a buzzing on the floor.
It reminded him of the first thing in the field. He looked around for buzzing motes. Those things had been like killer bees.
Luckily he had the thing to take care of them.
"What have we here?" The voice filled Jeff's head. He concentrated on trying to find the owner. "I see why Laurence is scared of you. You have an iron will. It will avail you nothing on my homeground."
"I'm here to stop you." Pointer raised his hand, pointing his finger. "I don't know what you're doing, but it's over."
"Bold claim but you're all alone, and your friends are days away." The voice grated in his head. "You'll be dead long before they'll arrive. Then I'll get rid of them one by one."
Jeff's phone buzzed. He didn't take it out of his pocket. He smiled quietly. One of his friends had sent him word to let him know he was on the way. All he had to do was hold out for a few minutes.
He could do that. Making threats to bad guys was his secondary skill.
"You know why your henchman is scared of me. I put holes in bad guys. As soon as I find you, I will put holes in your noggin too." Jeff turned in place. He felt a stirring around him. Something bad was about to happen.
"There's only one being that can stop me." The voice laughed. "You're not him. You're just a rabbit I plan to chase down and eat to alleviate the minutes to the end of my exile. There's nothing you can do about that."
The voice receded to allow Jeff room to think in his own head.
The air stirred around him. A fog drifted around him as he stood in the center of the room. He had a feeling he was about to see something he didn't like.
Things with too many teeth and claws formed out of the fog. Glowing eyes burned under the overhead light as they glared at the agent. Something like words accompanied them.
Jeff didn't listen to the background chanting. He raised both hands. Holes appeared in the fog. He switched to light beams as they closed on him. He switched to sonic pulses as he retreated. That seemed to give them pause for a moment.
His thunder blasted the fog away into smears on the walls. He worked the room, blowing out the outer windows as he retreated to the staircase.
He just had to hang on for the next few minutes.
Something stuck its head out of the emergency stairwell. It tried to shout something about killing kids at him. He put two blasts through its head to clear the door. He looked down the stairs. More of the monsters stood in each other's way to climb up and get shot.
He blasted away at the monsters in the stairwell and on the floor with him. He couldn't let them get close. They would rip him to ribbons.
The Replacement burst into the room through one of the opened windows. He punched the nearest monster with a gloved hand. The thing became a streak of itself across the room.
"I think we should get out of here." Jeff unloaded on more monsters trying to get in his way. "The Saint is the only one of us who can beat this."
Replacement knocked one of the monsters out of the way. He grabbed his leader and jumped out of the window and headed for the street.
3
Pointer looked up at the building. It looked innocent despite the illusion of a giant face it projected. He frowned at the thought of the monsters that waited for him to return.
At least they weren't down on the streets, chasing civilians.
"We need to get the Saint up there to exorcize the building." Jeff rubbed his face. "We can't let those things loose on the city."
The Replacement sent a text to inform Jeff the rest of the team was arriving as fast as Poster Girl could carry the command center. She had copied his powers and planned to carry the rest as fast as she could through the sky.
The Watcher's team might be needed to clear the place out. He should have made sure the second team was ready to go before he left.
He needed to let them know what was going on, so if his team was killed they could take over for him. He didn't know what they could do without someone with the Saint's ability.
They would probably get killed without someone to end the influence from the building.
At least he knew there was something behind everything. It was locked up and trying to get free. All he had to do was shut the building down, and that was the end of that.
Replacement pointed at the windows of the place. Creatures stared out of most of them in the floors just below the unfinished area. They seemed to be working their way down to the doors and expanding in numbers.
"We have to buy time." Jeff frowned at the growing army. "If that gets out on the streets, they might kill a bunch of people before we can stop them all."
Replacement flew into the building, smashing through a window. His fist sent the first enemy he touched flying into a group behind it. They all fell down.
Pointer went to the door. It would take a lot to stop the Replacement. He didn't think the monsters had enough ump to do that. They might slow him down with sheer numbers while some of them tried to escape through the lobby. Jeff had the main doors and a side hall covered from where he stood. All he had to do was hold his position while he waited for the others to get there.
He hoped Poster Girl hadn't stopped to get some chicken somewhere.
The stair door opened. Things poured out into the lobby. They made noises as they rushed the human standing beside the main door. Some of them would eat well before they rushed out in the streets of the city.
Pointer worked his pistols back and forth along the line. The pulses burst the monsters as he stood in front of the main doors. He figured sheer numbers would push him out of the way. Some diverted toward the back door to escape from the barrage he was using.
He doubled his firing rate as he tried to hit the monsters employing their various forms of locomotion to escape away from his withering fire power. Ectoplasm splattered the walls, ceiling, and floor.
The creatures kept pouring out of the staircase. Some of them ran at the agent. They swung their unnatural limbs to claw at the gun man. He splattered them as he backed up. More took their place.
Jeff realized they were trying to push him through the door. If they could get out on the street, they were as good as gone. He kept firing as he tried to blunt the charge.
Finally one got through his guard and smashed him into the doors. He fired into the beast as the rest rushed the exit. He tried to stop them, but they ran over him with an acceptance of their casualties.
He groaned as he tried to get out of the way. He used his guns to clear a path, as he rolled to one side. He hoped Replacement was doing better than he was.
Jeff got to his feet as he watched the crowd rush the doors. Some of the monsters threw themselves at him. He put them down as he caught his breath. He had to get back upstairs and try to shut things down at the source.
He couldn't round up all the monsters fleeing down the street on his own.
Maybe the Replacement could do it with his flight and strength.
This hadn't worked out as well as he thought it would when he had decided to fly up from Washington.
He frowned as he decided to clear the lobby. He had to keep as many as he could from escaping. The swarm decided to rush him.
He blasted away, working his way to the security desk. He went behind the counter and used that for a shield. He poured sonic pulses into the mass as they tried to overflow the counter and get to him.
He fell back from his barricade as the things kept coming. He braced himself for the end as he kept up the firepower. He wasn't going down that easy.
Pulses of light burned through the creatures as Jeff's team finally arrived to help him out.
"You're not supposed to leave us behind." Poster Girl flew into the lobby. "What were you thinking?"
"See if the Replacement needs help." Jeff took a breath at the space his crew had cleared for him.
She flew into the stairwell in a matter of seconds.
Holo flew into the lobby. Light blasted across the room from his hands. More of the monsters burned up as he fired his natural lasers.
Currenta paused at the door. She flung herself forward. One of her tiny fists punched through the first monster that rushed her. She kicked it away before looking for another enemy to put down.
The Saint came in last. He looked at the things trapped in the lobby with his friends. He raised a hand. Golden light flashed from it. The creatures near him burned away from the light. Their ash drifted to the floor.
They cleared the lobby a few minutes later as the Saint repelled their forces with his inner light.
"We have to get upstairs." Jeff headed for the stairs. "There's a voice up there that needs to be exorcized."
"What's going on, Jeff?" The Saint looked at the damage around them. The lobby had suffered from the blasts thrown by the section leader.
"I have no idea." Pointer started up the stairs. Sometimes he wished he could fly instead of shooting things. He put that out of his mind as he started climbing.
"Why are we using the stairs?" Currenta began summoning water from the air as she climbed after her boss.
"I didn't want to get stuck in the elevator." Jeff glanced back at her. "Fly ahead, Holo. R and Poster Girl might need you."
"Got it." The light man rocketed up the stairwell in a streak of light.
"Let me get us upstairs a little faster." Currenta concentrated and water became a fountain lifting the three of them upwards. She stopped when she heard the sizzle of Holo's light blasts. "Looks like this is our stop, boys."
She dispersed the cloud of water after they had dropped on the landing. A wet impact sounded just beyond the door.
"Open the door, Saint." Jeff pointed at the door. "I'll clear us a way so you two can get out of here and on to the floor."
"Ready?" The Saint raised one hand, as he grabbed the doorhandle with the other. Jeff nodded. He opened the door with a quick yank of his arm.
Pointer took aim and blasted anything that was too close to the door that might have blocked their exit. Currenta followed. She had to rely on punching, but that was enough to put any of the small critters down as she passed.
The Saint stepped from the stairwell. Gold light burned like the sun from his hand. Things burnt from his touch as he forced his way forward. That changed the battle into a massacre as the monsters vanished.
"Some of them got away into the streets." Jeff hated to admit a failure. "Replacement, Poster Girl, and Holo; I need you to chase down any that didn't go to ground. We have to limit civilian deaths as much as possible."
"Got it, boss." Poster Girl flew through a smashed window with her borrowed power. Holo and the Replacement followed.
"There was a voice up on the top floor before those things came out of the woodwork." Jeff started for the stairs. "Maybe the guy is still there."
"Maybe he can make more of those things, Pointer." Currenta followed. "Take it easy."
"Maybe it's worse than what we thought." The Saint straightened his white cassock and fell in behind his friends.
4
Jeff paused at the floor where he was attacked. He pointed at the hall, scanning for more of the things to jump out at him. He frowned when he didn't see anything moving.
Where was the voice?
Currenta stepped out on the other side. Water flowed over her skin. She shook her head. Nothing seemed dangerous to her.
"It looks like the event is over, Pointer." The Saint stepped out on the floor. He raised a hand. It didn't twinkle like it would when faced with forces trying to stop him from moving forward. "I don't like this building."
Jeff moved forward, checking the points of the compass. He glanced at the ceiling. Monsters always tried to attack from above when they could. He frowned at the lack of evidence.
"I swear there was a voice." Jeff turned completely around. "Then those things attacked."
"We saw them, boss." Currenta stood to one side. She watched the floor, but it was clear they were alone. "It might have been all the voice could do to send what he had after you."
"He might need charging like the rock." The Saint dropped his hand, and examined the floor with normal eyes.
"And the Replacement is fast." The water woman almost shuddered at the ride they had endured with Poster Girl carrying the van as fast as she could through the air.
The thing had shuddered like it was coming apart in her hands as she flew.
"We look into the building, and the owners." Jeff blinked away his confusion to put his game face back on. "We look for connections. Let's go. When we have something we can use, we look into tearing this place down."
"That's a little extreme, Pointer." The Saint raised his eyebrows at the thought of taking down a new building in the middle of Manhattan.
"If that's what it takes." Pointer headed for the steps. "I'm tired of this voodoo crap. If blowing up the building stops it, then we blow up the building. I'll talk to the Chemist and see if he can get us a pinpoint to target first."
"What do you think is behind this?" Currenta exchanged looks with the Saint as they followed their leader.
"Probably some end of the world crap brought on by too much ego and not enough sense." Jeff headed down the stairs.
"Sounds like a lot of who we deal with normally." Currenta grabbed the railing. "I'll see you down on the ground."
She plunged over the side, dropping in the central column produced by the winding of the stairs.
"End of the world?" The Saint and Jeff walked down the stairs.
"Or close enough, it doesn't matter." Pointer looked upward behind them. He expected more monsters to show up, but nothing happened. "I'm sure this has something to with the rock, and the attack on the Office."
"So we're looking at a mastermind working through proxies." The Saint nodded. "It'll make him difficult to deal with if we can't narrow down our suspects."
"The guy we want might not be human." Jeff tried to remember the events that led to his rescue. "What I heard didn't sound human."
"And the rock acted like an antenna." The team had dealt with the artifact because Jeff had been assigned a ghost hunt. The Saint had exorcized the thing in the middle of a fight with its protectors.
"This might be the receiver where all that energy had been going before we interfered." That scanned right to the team leader.
"Whomever we are looking for might be trying to unlock things that humans shouldn't interfere with." The reverend nodded. "That makes this more important than any other case we have handled."
"It makes it the same." Jeff frowned. "We have a bad guy. He's trying to do things. We're here to stop him. It's the same as any other job. We just might need more backup to handle our perp."
"So we're going to ask the Magistracy for that?" The relationship between the groups was almost workable despite the different sources of their orders.
"At least the Chemist." Pointer nodded. "He knows all about things men weren't meant to know. He might be able to give us something we can use. Maybe he can disrupt the network and stop things before they go too far."
"And his spells would come in handy to locate the voice you heard." The Saint smiled. "I don't think you will be able to shoot that person."
"Watch me try." Jeff clenched his teeth. "No one tries to feed me to monsters and gets away with it."
"You're taking this too personally." The Saint smiled. Pointer took everything too personally.
Jeff didn't answer. Everyone at the Office knew how he worked cases. He ground down the evidence until he had a target. Then he shot the target.
Sometimes he shot more than once so he was sure the target would quit moving.
It made the bad guys think twice when they knew he was coming after them. That gave him an advantage that he exploited as ruthlessly as any weapon he could grab.
He had a feeling this bad guy was in a weight class he would need assistance to touch.
But he would be touched. That was a given now that the Pointer was looking for him.
The agents reached the lobby. NYPD whites were on the street with uniforms talking to Currenta. They didn't seem happy that the government was breaking into a building on their turf.
They would never match Jeff's unhappiness that someone got away from him.
"What happened here?" One of the uniforms glanced at Pointer and the Saint as they walked out on the street.
"Monster attack." Jeff showed his badge. "Do me a favor and set up a cordon five blocks away from this building until we figure out what's up."
"I can't do that." The cop frowned. "That's up to the Captain."
"Then hit the bricks." Jeff waved him off. "I don't have time for useless people."
"What did you say?" The cop tried to loom over the agent. Jeff's remorseless glare beat on his ego before he could reach full height.
"He said you might want to call the captain and talk to him about our request in the hopes of preventing problems for the citizens of New York, officer." The Saint smiled at him. "It would hopefully allow the police forewarning if something major happens here and the public was not allowed to approach and put themselves in danger."
"Or you could eat a bullet and make the world a better place." Jeff pushed pass. "I'm good with either one."
"Don't worry." The Saint said in a soft voice to mollify feelings. "He won't file a complaint with the department."
He didn't say that was because Jeff usually shot the offenders.
Jeff headed for the command center. He had a short list of things to do. The first was report in, then call the Chemist. He could file a request through channels later. A phone call was what he needed to do now.
The Watcher's team might need to be put on alert. They might be needed if things get worse than what Jeff expected.
The others could check on the owners of the building, and see what they could track down. He would be surprised if there wasn't something connecting them to the attack on the Office. He needed addresses so he could talk to them in person.
He idly wondered how many of them he would have to shoot before he got the answers he wanted.
Jeff spotted a bum wrapped up like a mummy watching the fracas from across the street. The man looked too big to be living on the street. He waved when he saw Pointer looking at him.
Jeff couldn't decide if he should hurry the guy along, or ask him what was so funny.
The bum moved off on his own.
Pointer shook his head. He knew that bum. He had seen him before. It would come to him.
He boarded the command center and headed for the computer link. He might as well start making his calls. The sooner he was done, the faster he could have help on the way.
He decided to call the Office first. He could count on the Watcher moving his guys to help out. The other crew chief just needed to be alerted first.
Pointer placed his call, letting the computer do its work while he tried to figure out a soft point to go for in a mysterious voice. He favored blowing up the building more than anything.
The Watcher might be able to suggest a better course of action that prevented a lot of collateral damage. The boss frowned on having to pay out money for repairs.
"What's going on, Jeff?" The Watcher peered from the computer screen.
5
Pointer, Watcher, and the Chemist stood outside of the half-finished building. Pointer wore his usual rumpled suit. Watcher wore his helmet/shoulder pads over overalls gear. The Chemist wore a gray sweater and pants, and his usual sunglasses.
"This has all the earmarks of a dimensional rip, gentlemen." The Chemist frowned at the building.
"What does that mean?" Pointer wanted some coffee. "How do we stop it?"
"It means we're looking at another Kansas." Watcher worked the dial on the side of his helmet. He scanned the structure for anything unusual.
"I hope not." The Chemist had dealt with the main brain behind that after the School and Magistracy and the Corps had shown up to stop two worlds from blending together. The protector of the universe had arrived and pushed the two realities apart.
"You said there was a voice, Jeff?" Watcher frowned at the normality of the place. Nothing stood out to his helmet.
"Yeah, and a bunch of monsters." Pointer indicated the parts of the building he had used for target practice backstops. "I killed a bunch before R arrived. Then he and the rest helped clear the building."
"He might not have had enough power to present himself." The Chemist made a face. "The monsters probably came from loose energy in the air."
"Loose energy?" Watcher didn't hide his sarcasm. He and magic didn't quite mix.
"You know." The Chemist smiled. "Quantum manifestations."
"Whatever." Pointer glared at the magician. "How do we stop it?"
"I don't know." The Chemist shrugged. "What did the Saint say?"
"After we cleared the scene, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary." The agent decided that he needed to get some coffee before he went on with this conversation. "The effect was gone."
"So it's a smart link." The Chemist frowned. "Or the other end can shut things down so it looks normal to an expert, but it isn't."
"It has to be the same people as the ones that hit the Office." Watcher pulled off his helmet. "It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise."
"A cult makes perfect sense." The Chemist fiddled with his glasses. "Let's look at our battlefield."
The three men headed for the front doors of the place. They needed a better look at the unfinished top floors.
They took the elevator up to where Pointer had heard his mysterious voice. The building's renters had been asked to stay closed for the day. Some of those things could still be loose.
Pointer led the way out of the elevator. His hand twitched as he looked around. He already had sonic pulses in his head as he looked around.
Anything jumping out at him was going to be splattered before it got close.
"Looks ordinary enough." The Watcher put on his helmet. "I don't see anything with the normal vision bands."
"I don't see anything on the mystical vision bands." The Chemist played with his sunglasses. "Maybe it was a single instance."
Jeff doubted that. Whatever was going on was more than a single time thing. The voice he talked to acted like he was coming to dinner.
And people were what was on the menu.
"I'm telling you there was a voice and it created those monsters we cleared out of here." Pointer turned in a circle. "It said its exile was coming to an end, and it was ready to go."
"There's nothing here now." The Chemist waved at the opened floor.
"I can see that, genius." Pointer glared at him. "That doesn't mean there wasn't something here."
He pointed at the spots where stray blasts had gone through some of the monsters and hit the floor, ceiling and some of the interior in other places.
"Mr. Ashcroft is exactly right." Metal cords dropped from the ceiling and wrapped around the three men. The restraints yanked them into the air, keeping them off-balance. "I think it's time that I make my entrance."
Jeff tried to point his hands at a target, but he couldn't see anything to shoot. The voice was in his head. He struggled against the cables holding him up from the ceiling.
"Thank you for the assistance." The Chemist tried not to scream. "This is a pleasant surprise."
Energy rolled down to the end of the construction. It formed an iris of blue mixed with light green floating in the air. A shape stepped out of the gate, changing as the heroes tried to get a good look at the outline.
"That little push was what I needed to end my exile." The outline became a dark haired, dark complexioned man in a black suit. "Thank you very much."
"Too bad you got to go back." The bum appeared at the end of the hall. "You know you're not supposed to be here."
"Ah, the protector." The suit smiled. "You're right on time."
"Really?" The protector pointed at the three humans. The cables holding them snapped apart. "I'm usually early."
"It doesn't matter if you are early, or late." The exile waved a hand. "I have stored enough power to deal with you for the moment."
A wind swept through the construction zone. It picked up anything loose and flung it in front of it. The bum stood there, mummy wrappings fluttering.
Jeff saw the opened window coming at him. He made a split section decision to stop himself and his two allies. He pointed his weapons at the other two and fired. Gel stuck them to the floor as he kept going.
Pointer saw the frame about to let him pass. He fired a line down the row of smashed windows as he flew out in the air. He swung out into space and around toward the monster from the gate.
The gate pulled against the Suit, trying to send him back. The bum seemed to be throwing energy flares at him. They exploded against a shield as the exile moved forward from the hole in reality.
Pointer landed in the wrecked work area. He released the line gun, calling on projectiles. He was putting this thing back in its box now that he had a target to shoot. He held the triggers down as he pointed the blasters at the enemy.
Explosions rocked the air as the miniature missiles hit. Part of the ceiling collapsed under the pressure as the shield took the blasts. The exile smiled as he raised a hand. Force reached for his opponent in a beam of distorted air. Pointer jumped out of the way as the floor ripped toward him.
The bum closed the distance, swinging a big fist. He struck the shield and sent it skidding backwards. Green light burned from his eyes.
"I think that's enough of that." The exile brought both hands down. The top of the building came down like a giant weight. "Don't cross me again if you live through the next few seconds."
The escapee flung himself through one of the opened windows as the rest of the upper floors came down on his enemies. He floated to a landing to another building's roof. He watched as his antenna collapsed toward the street. It was a sacrifice, but perhaps necessary so he might start his rule again.
He needed to have a talk with Laurence to see how his followers were doing with their little lives before he changed everything.
The protector of the universe raised his hands. He caught the collapsing rubble, extending a wall to keep the three humans from being crushed by the tower.
"Looks like we screwed up." The Watcher aimed the laser in his helmet at the glop holding him to the floor. He burned it away so he had room to move. "He wanted the Chemist here to finish his escape."
"We have to get out of here." The Chemist pulled a card from a pocket. "Where's Pointer?"
"I'm here." Pointer scowled. "He got away."
"Not for long." The Chemist wrote on the card. "But we have to get out of here before the building comes down."
He threw the card into the air. It formed a slide to another building as it fell. He threw himself on the slide and headed away from the impending disaster.
"What about you, buddy?" Pointer pushed the Watcher on the slide as he looked at the protector of the universe holding up the top part of the building. "Coming?"
"I'll be fine." The mummy smiled. "Look for Larry Elbe. It might be a clue to get him back to where we want him."
"Got it." Pointer sat on the slide and headed for the other end. He looked over his shoulder. The top of the building collapsed on the protector of the universe. Then the building started toward the ground, and pedestrians in the street.
Pointer landed on the other roof. He stared down at the street. It was suddenly clear of people and cars. He paused as the antenna compressed into a mountain of rubble that threw dust at his perch.
"What happened?" He fired a wind gun to blow some of the cloud away.
"I got the Replacement on the net to clear the street." The Watcher indicated his helmet.
"I called Quick." The Chemist's three words was enough explanation for the other two men. Quick had tested out as one of the fastest, if not the fastest, superhuman on the planet.
"We have to regroup and try to figure out what we can do about that guy." Pointer sat down on the roof. "We can't let him walk around any longer than it takes to send him back where he belongs."
"He played us like amateurs." Watcher studied the scene with his helmet. "What about the mummy? He's buried under all that."
"The protector of the universe can take care of himself." The Chemist threw a card down in the cloud. The dust collapsed into a pile suddenly.
6
The city of New York was unhappy that a building had collapsed in Manhattan without an explanation. The Office invoked national security while only explaining that a terrorist had decided to trigger his plan early.
The fact that the terrorist in question was a monster from some other dimension was left off the books.
Jeff, the Watcher, and the Chemist inspected the site of the collapse after helping emergency services clear any building around their target. At least they had kept the damage to a minimum as far as the city was concerned.
The only problem was the antenna had finished its job with the unknowing help of the Chemist before they had wrecked it. At least they had escaped with the help of the mummy bum.
"So what can we expect?" Jeff looked at the pile of rubble. The actual building meant nothing to him. The culprit was already gone from his base of operations.
"This thing might have been weak, but will be feeding to grow its strength." The Chemist adjusted his sunglasses. "It probably lives off life energy."
"That rock had killed the grass around it." Jeff was glad they had dealt with that permanently. It was one source of food denied to the exile.
"He might have others lined up." The Chemist frowned. "We don't know how far his followers reach."
"The mummy said Larry Elbe was behind everything." Jeff had discovered several Elbes when he used Google on the name. "I got Poster Girl running a search for him."
"As a proxy, he might give us a clue to what we're facing." The magistrate nodded. "Some of the old ones were put down so humanity could grow. That might be what we're facing here."
"So we might have let some moldy physical god loose on modern New York where he can eat people as much as he likes before anyone notices enough to call 911 if they care enough to do that." The Watcher shook his head. "This gets better and better."
"He doesn't have to eat people directly." The Chemist smiled. "He just needs life around him. Think of it like photosynthesis."
"Photosynthesis?" The Watcher glanced at Jeff. The investigator seemed like he wasn't paying attention. "I don't understand."
"Imagine our bad guy is a plant." The Chemist pointed to a nearby bush in a planter. "Imagine that plant standing in a place where all he has to do is stand still. Light from the sun equals life energy. It will bombard him and cause him to grow until we shut him down."
"So all we have to do is keep him away from people until he loses all of his power?" The Watcher shook his head. "Sounds like a tough row to hoe."
"It's the best thing I can think of until we know exactly how much he needs to keep going." The Chemist rubbed his hands together. "If we can cut him off from his supply, we can wear him down and send him back to his cell."
"He'll come after us first." The Watcher nodded at the rubble. "We know what he is and what he can do. He'll want to get rid of us just for that."
"I have to agree that might be his only course of action." The Chemist shrugged. "The Tower is out in the middle of the ocean. If he comes out there, the water will shut him down unless he has enough reserves to ignore it."
"He'll come after us here, or in D.C." Jeff broke into the conversation. "Major cities are his feeding grounds. Why give up the advantage?"
"How long do you think we have before he makes his play?" The Watcher gave his friend a skeptical look.
"I don't know." Jeff checked his phone. "He'll want to be better than the minimum that he had when he came through whatever that light show was at the top of the building."
"So we might have time to find him and get rid of him before he starts taking action." The Chemist nodded. "He might think there's nothing we can do to him."
"We can't count on his ego giving us a free pass as being too weak to kill." The Watcher knew that knowing you could hurt someone also meant wanting to do it more than allowing bygones to be bygones.
"Larry Elbe?" The Chemist went back to the name. "How does he fit in with everything?"
"He's the human face of our monster." Jeff put his phone away. "He helped arrange the building of the antenna through a shell company."
"And he is in the wind." The Watcher crossed his arms.
"He is supposedly some small time accountant with no money." Jeff glared at the building. "All of a sudden he has enough to hire a staff and start working on this."
"Leading a double life?" The Chemist nodded. "Makes sense. Why mix his normal life with his cultish life if he didn't have to? He might have already sacrificed any family he had to our master menace."
"As soon as we're done with the action report for the chief, I intend to pay his house a visit." Jeff flexed his hands. "I want to talk to him and figure out how to kill his boss."
"That might not be possible." The Chemist looked at the ground as if drawing up some memory. "The best we can hope for is probably another exile if we can put him back in his cage."
"That's fine with me." Jeff didn't sound like it was fine. "His humans have to be put down. Otherwise they will keep trying to bring him back."
"They might repent when they meet the object of their affection." The Chemist looked at the Watcher. The other man shrugged. "We might not have to kill them to get the job done."
"We might not be able to do anything else." Jeff frowned at him. "These guys have already gone after us on our own turf."
"They had some superhumans." The Watcher had been in the middle of repelling the effort. The octopus man still bothered him sometimes when he slept. "At least we took them down."
"Probably powered up by our demon." The Chemist frowned. This was the first he had heard of a specific enemy taking on the School's headquarters. It had made the news, but not specifics. And the agency didn't share information with his group if they could help it.
While the Magistracy and the School went after menaces to the world, the Magistracy typically filed its paperwork with the United Nations. The School worked as part of the United States government. There wasn't a lot of trust between the bureaucrats on either side.
The superhumans working on the ground tended to work together because they had to get things done. Jeff didn't care as long as his targets went down. Putting down bad guys was all he cared about doing.
Paperwork and security issues didn't matter as long as a bad guy was gone to jail, or damnation.
Jeff planned to give Larry Elbe those same two options when he caught up with the mook.
No one got away with trying to kill him, and his colleagues. He just wouldn't allow it.
"We'll send what we found." Jeff reached for his phone. "Maybe you can get something out of the rock we took apart."
"I'll look at it." The Chemist put his hand to his ear. "If it has been neutralized, I might not be able to get more than a trace."
"That's more than what we have now." Jeff punched in the number for the Office. One of the field investigators would have to get the things out of the evidence locker and box it for shipment.
"I'll ask Quick to pick it up." The Chemist spoke over his radio link. He vanished a moment later as the Tower called him home through its matter transmitter beam directed from satellites orbiting overhead.
"You won't catch me doing that." Jeff shook his head at the fading energy aura.
"You still think a lap top is what a stripper does, Jeff." The Watcher shook his head. "Someday, that will be how we commute to our jobs."
"Driving in a car is good enough for me." Jeff paused as a voice from the office came on. "This is Pointer. I need everything we have on the rock cases packed up and readied for transportation to the Magistracy Tower. Also send over the mug shots of the guys we put down for that attack on the Office."
Jeff listened for a moment. He pulled out his notebook and read off the case numbers from them. He nodded when he got a guarantee that the evidence would be pulled for him.
"Either one of them will show up, or they will zap it." Jeff smiled. "That was exactly what I said, Ernie. The Watcher can't wait until his molecules is scrambled."
Jeff smiled.
"I agree with you one hundred percent." Jeff nodded. "One of their guys will probably call ahead for the material if they want to pick it up."
"Thanks, Ernie." Jeff hung up his phone. "It looks like we are in wait mode until Larry Elbe surfaces."
"It won't be long before something happens." The Watcher checked in with his drones and watch satellites in orbit. He had an all clear so far.
"What makes you say that?" Jeff had the same feeling, but he didn't always like the other team leader agreeing with him. The Watcher was the more idealistic and positive team leader.
"He got out of other dimension jail after a few years of maneuvering before we were aware of his network. He's going to do what he can to go up to full power. Then we'll see what he can really do." The Watcher frowned at his assessment. "All that matters is how long it takes for him to power up."
"You're thinking it will be world wide devastation on the scale of what would have happened in Kansas if we hadn't stopped things." Jeff clenched his teeth against the possibilities.
"Maybe, depending on how much juice this guy has." The Watcher nodded. "Hopefully the Chemist can help us find this guy and exorcize him back where he belongs."
"The protector of the universe?" Jeff frowned. "Same guy who vanished from Kansas at the end."
"The one who vanished from the picture." The Watcher agreed. "We only had our words at the end of things."
"Think he got out of being crushed?" Jeff saw Poster Girl approaching.
"I think the only reason he was caught like that was because he was holding up the roof for us." The Watcher smiled. "He didn't hang around after we got out of there. That's why the building collapsed in the first place."
"What do you got, Poster Girl?" Jeff hoped her smile meant she had something they could use.
"We got twenty Laurence Elbes." She opened a folder to show them pictures. "Which one is your guy?"
Jeff ran his finger along the pictures. He didn't know which one was the right one. He started to snarl at the back of his throat in frustration.
"This one." The Watcher picked out one sad looking man in a suit.
"How do you know?" Jeff glared at him.
"Facial recognition matched against a bystander that was in the neighborhood when the Office was attacked." The Watcher smiled. "I accessed all the cameras I could and loaded everything up in my network in case I needed it."
"What the heck?" Jeff stared at him.
"That's impressive." Poster Girl smiled. "I can't believe it."
"I keep loading things up." The Watcher smiled. "Most of it is useless."
"That's still impressive." Poster Girl looked at Jeff. "Why can't you do things like that?"
"Because I decided it was better to put holes in people than being able to see them run away from me." Jeff glared at her. "Background?"
"Still working on it." Poster Girl smiled back at him. "I'm expecting a ton of background on each of these guys."
"Load it all up." Jeff paused. "See if these guys are related to each other."
"Will do, boss." Poster Girl walked away with a low whistling.
Jeff shook his head. There was such a thing as too much optimism, and she had it. He hoped it didn't get her killed.
"I did have one question." The Watcher frowned. "When did you start varying your ammo?"
"I had a dream." Jeff shrugged. "Someone was trying to kill me. I killed him first. That kind of showed me I could do things with the guns that was better than solids, or light."
"Thanks for saving my life." The Watcher smiled. "I would have been blown through the windows otherwise."
"No problem. Let's see if we can make sure this thing doesn't get another try."
Epilogue
"Laurence."
The voice emanated from the air as Laurence Elbe watched the news about the collapse of the building he had worked so hard to use as a channel for Father. He couldn't believe all of it had been destroyed before it had accomplished its purpose.
"Laurence, I'm here." Father sounded in his head. "I have crossed over."
"Father?" Elbe looked around the hotel room he had been using while working on the construction of the tower. "The antenna is gone. The news said the building collapsed."
"I had to destroy it to make my escape." Father sighed. "The protector was there with the humans. He can match me at the moment."
"What can I do?" Elbe knew his own limited ability was not in the same realm as Father's, or the protector.
"I am going to build up my strength." Father sounded glum. "Be aware that the humans might know who you are. You must take precautions now so they don't find you before I ascend."
"I understand." Elbe had established two other identities he could use to hide himself. "I will leave the city as soon as I can."
"When I am ready, I will call you again." Father paused. "I plan to have these superhumans serve my purposes when I begin gathering my forces. Until then we have to stay silent and gather our strength."
"I understand." Elbe thought about some of the plots he had that fed money into the organization he served. He couldn't be captured and have any of that discovered. The other sons would be left in the cold with nothing to use to fight for existence.
"Goodbye, Laurence. I will call you when it is time to take the next step in our plan." The mental presence vanished from Elbe's mind. He flexed a hand to show that he could move again.
Elbe stood. He cut off the television. He went to the closet and pulled out his clothes. He stuffed them in a bag. He had to get out of the hotel, and out of town, before one of the government agents found him.
His power only allowed him to track memories. He couldn't stand against anyone with that power. He had to get out of town as fast as he dared.
Elbe decided that he should check out of the hotel that moment. He had to get across one of the bridges before they thought to shut down exits from the city.
They might not know where he was, but once they started looking for him, his credit card would pinpoint his room for them with one search. He couldn't be there when that happened. He couldn't count on Father bailing him out if he was captured.
Command of the brotherhood would go to the next available son who was free.
Elbe carried his bag down to the front desk and checked out. He thanked the woman and headed for the front door. A valet went to get his car when he showed them the slip. He planned to head out of the city and drive west. He could lose himself in some other city, or keep on the move across the country, until Father told him to return.
He had an idea that Father would draw his strength from the line network from the stones the Brotherhood had sought to use to power his escape. The natural lines across New York City would feed him that much faster.
He put his bag in the trunk of his car before getting behind the wheel. He joined the traffic and pointed his car south towards New Jersey. He would cut west across the state when he could. He would have to switch licenses and other identification at some point.
He didn't want to get caught with two kinds of identification. That would mean a trip to jail while he was questioned and held. If his identity was sent out, the government would have him then.
He couldn't afford that at all. He took his wallet out while he was driving. He took the cards out and put his wallet back in his pocket. He would have to somewhere and cancel the cards before he got rid of them.
He might give one away to see if it would mislead pursuit.
He didn't know how much that would help him in the long run but it might divert attention away from him as he did Father's bidding.
He doubted any decoy would hold the enemy's attention for long. Once it was clear they had made a mistake, they would go back to checking to see if he would use another credit card to keep ahead of them.
He might need to switch cars so he could stay ahead. He considered it as he drove across the bridge.
Did they know what he looked like? He considered it. He decided that they might be able to get a picture if they knew his name. He had no reason to think they didn't know his name by now.
If they had his name and picture, he would have to do something about both.
He couldn't do anything while he was driving.
He would deal with that when he was in New Jersey and headed away from the city. A few minutes in a public restroom would help him if he had some hair dye. He needed to grow a mustache, and a beard.
Elbe concentrated on the signs as he worked his way south. He decided that he should stop at a drugstore, and then a motel. He would make the changes he could there. Then he would head west as he planned.
He idly considered when he would hear from Father again. He had done things to appease the voice in his head. He had never considered what had issued him the orders he had followed. Now that voice was real and alive. He didn't know what he would do when Father took over everything.
Elbe saw a sign advertising a small town ahead. He didn't want to stop, but felt he had to do something about his appearance before he went on.
He should have thought about disguises when he was getting the credentials for his other identities. It was too late to worry about that now. He couldn't worry about spilled milk.
Elbe pulled off the highway and paused at the top of the exit. He turned to go to the brighter side of the bridge. He almost smiled when he saw the strip malls full of shops and two signs for motels. All he had to do was get the dye and check in for the night. Tomorrow, he could get back on the road.
He reminded himself not to use his Elbe identity cards. If the cards were flagged, fleeing the city would be a moot point.
He pulled into a lot of a strip mall when he saw that it had a Brite Aid in a standalone building. He parked his car and went into the drug store. A few minutes of looking netted him a box of red hair coloring. He paid and went back out to his car. He drove over to the motel and parked next to the main door. He went in and got a room for the night.
He drove around to a slot next to his room. He left his bag in the car since he was only going to be staying for one night, but took the dye into the building with him. He went to his room and used the magnetic card key to get inside.
He took off his shirt and jacket and hung them on the hangers provided in the closet. He went into the bathroom and examined the directions for the dye. He felt he could use it with little problems.
He opened the box and set about dyeing his hair a red color. He winced at the redness of it when he was done. It did alter his appearance. He wasn't sure if it looked fake. He decided that it would have to do until he was recalled.
He had served Father faithfully. He had no doubt he would rise in the ranks when his master returned to full power and began crushing his enemies.
It would be a pleasure to watch the School suffer for getting in the way of that return to glory that Father wanted.
No one would stop Father when people saw him in action and started actively believing in him. That would grant him more power as he fought the powers of the world.
The more people who knew what he was, and what he was capable of, the more his power would grow.
Not even the protector of the universe would be able to stop if the war got to that stage.
Elbe smiled at the thought of a world at Father's mercy.