The Angel shouted in righteous wrath and sprung like an unforgiving fury at the Witness. He grabbed her, catching her around the waist, but leaving her arms free. That was a mistake. Her first blow cracked his left cheekbone, her second knocked out two teeth. The third smashed his right eye socket, the fourth glanced off his forehead. Already she could feel his grip around her waist slacken.
“Ray was right!” she hissed into his face. “You’re a weakling who’s afraid of pain. But I’m not!”
She head-butted him, smashing his nose flat, and the Witness groaned and let her go. She dropped to the floor, pivoted on her right foot, spun to gain momentum, and kicked him through the wall. He hit the wall of the corridor beyond, bounced, and fell flat on his face.
New York City: Jokertown Clinic
However this all worked out, Nighthawk decided that he had to try to save the boy, and perhaps the world. “Come with me,” he said to the bodyguard.
Jerry looked at Fortunato, who nodded, and then followed Nighthawk back into the suite’s living room.
“Blood,” Nighthawk said.
Jerry groaned. “Not this again?” he asked.
Nighthawk nodded, then turned to the joker/ace. “You’ve been to the Jokertown Clinic?” he asked.
“He’s been a patient there,” his handler confirmed.
Nighthawk took his leash. “Let’s go,” he said.
“Finn’s office,” Jerry said helpfully.
Blood turned to the nearest wall, and after a moment a black circle appeared in it. When they passed through Blood’s tunnel through space, nausea hit Nighthawk like the mother of all hangovers. Somehow he managed not to throw up as they walked out the hole in the wall in Finn’s office, right before the astonished doctor who was standing behind his desk trying to catch up on some paperwork.
“John Fortune?” Finn asked in an unbelieving voice.
Jerry shook his head. “Nope. Jerry Strauss.”
“This is John Nighthawk,” Jerry said. “I believe you know Blood.”
Finn nodded dazedly. “He’s been a patient.”
“Thank God for that,” Jerry said. “Otherwise he couldn’t find his way here so quickly. Listen, Dr. Finn, we’re on the clock. We need a dose of the Trump Virus. And we need it fast.”
Finn nodded. “Of course,” he said.
Peaceable Kingdom: The Angels’ Bower
Fortunato went back into the living room, pacing impatiently, almost unable to bear the thought of what he was about to do to his son. He only had to wait a few minutes. Nighthawk came back through the hole in the wall, leading Blood. He gave him to his handler, and both he and Jerry followed Fortunato back into the bathroom where the boy was burning so hot that no one could approach him. Jerry put a syringe, already loaded with the Trump, by the side of the tub.
“Okay, John,” he said, “you’ll have to inject yourself, but that’s no big deal. You can do it.”
The boy looked at them. Fortunato could read the fear in his eyes. “I know it’s scary,” he said, “but it’s your best hope.” Am I condemning him to a terrible death, Fortunato thought, or saving him from one? He could barely breath. He couldn’t imagine how the boy felt.
“Hey,” John Fortune said, his voice cracking only a little, “I’ve beat worse odds before.”
“That’s right,” Jerry said. “You can do it, kid, I know you can.”
John Fortune reached for the syringe. His hand trembled only a little. He took it in his hand, and the glass melted like snowflakes on a griddle. Fortunato felt something like death pass through him as everyone groaned in anger and frustration.
“There’s only one thing left,” Nighthawk said. He took the glove off his left hand and stepped forward.
Peaceable Kingdom, The Angels’ Bower, courtyard
Dagon growled like a beast. He took a step backwards, and was suddenly among the Allumbrados, claws and teeth flashing. Screams etched stricken expressions on the gunmen’s faces as the Butcher moved through them.
“Dagon!” Ray shouted.
He must have heard, but he paid Ray no attention. The Allumbrados were dead in moments, all of them, and suddenly Dagon turned back into a naked tubby man.
“What the Hell are you doing?” Ray asked.
Dagon smiled. “Turning coats, right?”
“We’ve got to fight this out,” Ray said.
“Do we?” Dagon asked with raised eyebrows. “We tried that once before, and neither of us liked it very much.”
“I liked it enough to try it again.”
“Ah, but I don’t, dear boy.”
“I should kick your ass.”
“Don’t be a dolt,” Dagon chided him. “Don’t you have more important fish to fry? You shouldn’t even be wasting time talking to me.”
Ray ground his teeth in frustration. The bastard was right. “This isn’t over between us,” Ray flung over his shoulder as he rushed back into the Bower’s lobby.
“For now,” Dagon said smiling, “it is.”
Peaceable Kingdom: The Angels’ Bower
“No!”
Fortunato stepped in front of Nighthawk, blocking his path to the boy. The old man looked at him with sorrowful eyes.
“You know how dangerous he is,” Nighthawk said in a soft voice. “He’ll burn hotter and hotter, but he won’t die. He’ll eat up the world, maybe even ignite the atmosphere. He has to be stopped.”
A noise came from John Fortune, a squeak of fear that he couldn’t control.
“I know,” Fortunato said replied in equally low tones. “But you can’t do it.”
“I only have to touch him for a moment—”
“He’s too hot already. You’ll die before you can touch him. Your flesh will shrivel and burn.”
Nighthawk smiled. His eyes crinkled and Fortunato could see something of the true age that was in them. “I’ve had a long life,” he said. “Maybe it was my fate to live it this long so I’d be here today to stop him.” He paused and looked at Fortunato pityingly. “It’s quite painless, you know.”
“You’ll throw your life away for nothing. But maybe I can do something,” Fortunato said. “Besides. I’m his father.”
Nighthawk looked at him steadily for a long moment. Then he nodded.
Fortunato nodded back, then he looked at Jerry Strauss and Mushroom Daddy. “I want to be alone with my son.”
“You sure about this?” Jerry asked him.
Fortunato nodded again.
“Good luck, then,” Jerry said. He and Nighthawk exchanged glances, and Fortunato was aware of the surprise they felt about being on the same side of this conflict.
“Luck, John,” Jerry said.
“Luck, boy,” Nighthawk said.
“Thanks,” John Fortune said in a small voice that could barely be heard as they went out of the bathroom.
Mushroom Daddy paused on the thresh hold, turned and said, “God bless us, every one,” and closed the door as he left the room.
Fortunato turned to his son and smiled. “Are you frightened?”
John Fortune nodded. His halo danced like the rays of an agitated sun. “Yes.”
“I am too. That was why I went to Japan, you know.”
“You were afraid?” John Fortune asked, as if surprised at Fortunato’s admission.
“Yeah.” Fortunato sighed. “Afraid of losing more pieces of myself. More of the people around me. Afraid of being the most powerful ace in the world, yet in the end being alone.”
“You’re not alone now.”
“Neither are you.” He held out his arms. “Come to me, son.”
“I’ll hurt you.”
Fortunato shook his head. “I’m Fortunato. Nothing can stand before me. Not the Astronomer. Not the Swarm. Not even the wild card virus.”