4.08 – Tug of war

Aurora was plummeting, blind.  Air rushed through her hair and across her wings and she knew that sooner than later, this sensation would come to an abrupt end.  The world would have one less active superhero.

Mr. Mechanical cackled and laughed, hanging from her hip.  She had just enough power to maintain the halo clip she’d attached to him, and regretted that she had to listen to his cackling in her last moments.

“Shhh… be calm.” Dark Angel’s voice crooned soothingly at her. “I won't let you die, after all.” Her tone was soft and breathy, nearly seductive.

“Feel me. I’m not befuddled by your physical state…” she whispered to Aurora and something like physical hands seized her body, pulling her slightly, positioning her as though she had a body of her own and was flying with her.

“... trust me in this, and I shall let you alone for a time again.”

Aurora wasn’t sure if the direction she pointed her in was the path to safety, but since she was dealing with a conniving supervillain, she couldn’t let herself have any faith in the woman.

“You’ve left me alone for a long time already,” Aurora murmured. “What you really want is control, isn’t that right?” With tightly closed eyes, she tried to recover from them being seared by the possibly atomic blast up at the edge of the atmosphere of the planet.

“Have you come to see the value of what I do?” She addressed the spirit of the passed villain within. At least, she halfway thought it really was her, despite what Mistral had told her. Her explanation of the situation was that this Black Angel was a manifestation of some ‘bad’ side she was supposed to have.

“Oh, child,” Black Angel said, sighing, “if you are fatally wounded, I will die too… I promise that I will not take control from you, but let me position you so you won’t fly straight at the water.”

How was she able to see? Was it because Aurora knew she should be over the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of California?

Aurora responded, shaking her head, “I have to take responsibility for my own actions, Black Angel.  I’ve made several mistakes recently.  If harm comes to me because of my errors, then so be it.  I can’t be seduced by you.”  Aurora was definitely blind but she was also stubborn.

Mr. Mechanical heckled and laughed.  “My nefarious plan has broken your weak mind! HAHAHAHAHA.” His voice echoed creepily.

“Thanks for reminding me of something, Mr. Tool.” Aurora grinned and seized the clip and refashioned it into a long bungee-style tether, and then she dropped his head, focusing on sensing what direction he was going. There would be some wind resistance, but whatever direction he would go should generally be down.  Gravity would play its part.

Mr. Mechanical gasped and screamed like an old modem.  “AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE! YOU CURSED SUPERHERO!”

Meanwhile, Black Angel was freaking out. “No! I won’t let you endanger us like this!” She cried loudly only for Aurora’s ears and her voice oozed desperation when Aurora rejected her yet again.  The villainess started to push and jostle against her will and id in a bid to try to take control.  Her influence was still very weak, even if Aurora was injured. At the very least, the sensation was distracting.

Aurora forced herself to focus despite the modem-like shrieking of Mr. Mechanical, which actually she realized was helping her.  His silly screaming was exactly the right thing to do. The guy was a real genius.

She had a sense of which direction was which but there was no guarantee that she was right in her guessing. Nodding, she committed to her course of action.

Throwing out her wings, she trusted her intuition to what felt like the right moment. Tumbling was all she had been doing until now, but realizing her wings weren’t enough to break her fall on their own, because she had recharged a bit of her solar energy while she was in freefall, she converted the tether into a large parachute and integrated Mr. Mechanical’s head, which became like a morose and gaudy and not to least, an annoying decoration.

“AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE REEEEEEEEEEEE DAMN YOU!” The mechanical villain cursed her.

Her ploy helped to slow her falling a bit, but it didn’t work out like she’d hoped.  Aurora’s eyes watered and tears streamed across her cheeks, partly because of the damage to her ocular organs.

Even though she was in extreme danger, she twisted her body against the wishes of Dark Angel as her phantom hands tried to pull her in a different way.

Gradually she steadied her own course, but based on the sensation of wind rushing around her face, she found she was pointed mostly downwards. That was a compelling clue about what direction she was facing.

The problem with her parachute was that it wasn’t elastic enough to catch the air.

Aurora cursed softly and converted the parachute back into a tether.

“Grab the head again!” Dark Angel cried.

Aurora rolled her wet eyes and reeled him in again.

When he was safely in her custody again, Mr. Mechanical yelled, “I’m indifferent to your so-called charity, idiot superhero!” His mechanical panicking, however, came to an end just as soon as her hands touched him.

Having tugged him so hard and rapidly back to her made her arm twinge from her hauling on the tether after the extreme exertion she’d experienced. She was in pain, but she had the annoying ancient villain safely in her hands again and the moment of pain caused gave her some clarity so she could orient herself.

Black Angel’s voice was full of sullen and sulk.  “There, now I’ll leave you to your mistakes again,” she said bitterly as her presence faded again.

“I have to be responsible for my actions.” Aurora murmured softly, feeling slightly sorry for the woman. “I won’t let you control me.”

“Truly, you’re crazier than I!” Mr. Mechanical yelled. “Hmph… don’t celebrate too soon.  I assure you that we shall now live, but your mind is quite gone!  This was my victory!” He maniacally declared. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Aurora rolled her eyes, finally able to see a few of the features of the city off to the side. She glided through the currents off the ocean.  Shaking her head, she questioned her own judgement. She had to do everything herself.

Letting Dark Angel have a foothold in her heart or soul had to be a colossal mistake.  Unlike Mistral, she wasn’t a jailer, and yet she couldn’t take this situation too lightly.

Her arm was aching, but she was in full control and her body gently and softly sailed through the air while she recovered.  The rush of air wicked away her nervous sweating and by the time her heart slowed its hammering and throbbing, Aurora’s vision returned enough to where she was able to bank towards the city with some confidence that she wouldn’t ram directly into one of the buildings.

“Let me go!” demanded Mr. Mechanical.

“In the city down onto the hard pavement below, or into the ocean? I don’t mind which.” Aurora rolled her eyes and her lips twisted humorously.

“I didn’t mean that! Let us look at the reality of your ruined mind! It was my great plan that took your mind from you!  So, follow my orders, you shill!” The ranting head bellowed.

“Shut up!” Aurora barked a laugh.  “You’re far more insane than I ever will be.”

Crossing the last bit of the bay, she slipped among the skyscrapers closest to the beach and flitted among them.  He continued to babble ceaselessly, but she mentally muted him.

Aurora was exhausted, but she had to consider what to do with this strange talking head.  Maybe he could be a part of her gallery collection that some superheroes seemed to collect over time, or rather became the first of one since she had none, but this guy was still technically a dangerous supervillain, so the odds were good he’d really drive her insane if she had to put up with him every time she walked past wherever she stuck him.

Good old Kirby would know what to do.

She flew through the air and Mr. Mechanical bellowed on, complaining, “Listen to my complaints! What are you supposed to be, some kind of a dictator?”

Aurora sighed. “What were you saying?” She banked around the last skyscraper towards her end of the city and the precinct Kirby worked at a leisurely pace.

“Oh… you suddenly have a degree of interest in my words, I see. My masterful baiting has paid dividends.  Hahahaha…” He laughed lamely. “I was just detailing how once I’ve captured you, I would exact my revenge.  I gave you the whole plan.  How would you rate it?  No. I don’t care what a dull idiot woman thinks.  You vapid fool! I said I would start by imprisoning you in one of my many secret laboratories left untouched around here in California…” he droned again and Aurora stared off into the distance, tuning him out, again.

“Uh huh.  You sound like you think you’re some kind of a big time criminal, but I never heard of you, Mista Michael.” She grinned.

He screamed like a modem again, and when he stopped, she slid her communicator from its pocket in her bosom to do a verbal search command. “Search: Mr. Mechanical.”

“Y-you cretin! I believed you when you misspoke my notorious name! You bumbling moron! How dare you!? How can you have never heard of Mr. Mechanical?!” He spluttered as Aurora scanned over the case files.

Mr. Mechanical.

Last known location: Copper Flats Penitentiary, New Jersey, USA.

Current Status: Deceased known foe of the Sentinels of Liberty; Specifically

sworn enemy of the Midnight Avenger, American Eagle, Vanguard.

Known powers: None; Highly skilled mechanical and robotics engineer using

advanced concepts to construct robots.

Most recent case: Attempting to hold Meridian City hostage for $5,000,000

in 1957, defeated by Midnight Avenger.

“Hmm… dead…” Aurora murmured, thought-filled.

“W-what… did that device say to you? I heard the recording! My voice is more sophisticated than that stupid thing! I clearly am NOT deceased!”

Aurora pocketed her card and lifted his head with wires hanging from the stump of his neck to look at him in his steely and angry eyes. “Are you, the old supervillain who supposedly died really somehow ‘alive’ inside this robot head? Are you a ghost in the shell? Or are you remotely controlling this thing? If that’s the case, this thing is just scrap metal to be melted down for soda cans.  We recycle these days, by the way.”

“H-how dare you suggest such a thing! Brute! I am a master of robotics! No robotic system could hold my prodigious mind! Of course ‘I’ am not the real Mr. Mechanical, but only the great man himself could possibly activate me!”  Was this evidence he was contradicting himself?  In this case, he wasn’t a real person, but he was sophisticated and experienced emotions, so maybe in some way he should be accorded some rights?

“I am, for all intents and purposes Mr. Mechanical, but rest assured if I am here, then I… the real Mr. Mechanical… is alive and well!”

“I see… interesting.” Aurora mumbled, considering.  Maybe it’d be best to notify Midnight Avenger or Vanguard about this since they tangled with him ages ago.  Leaving him at the Precinct might not be the best idea, but the Society of Sentinels would have this robotic villain in their custody when they caught wind of him.

“Hold that thought, Mista.” She hooked him to her hip again and retrieved her card again to dial Vanguard.

The card dialed the super strong and just hero and after a moment, she received an automated SoS message. “Be advised that Vanguard is currently on a mission with the Society of Sentinels, and on closed-system communications. If this is an emergency, I can break into the closed-system.  Be advised that an emergency is considered… ... at least of level Epsilon, endangering a statewide area of population and/or property. Is this an Epsilon-level threat?”

Aurora sighed and facepalmed. “No… cancel it and dial Midnight Avenger instead.”

She waited as the card switched lines as she lit on a rooftop at the edge of the business sector of the city.  Her pace was in part due to her condition after taking the edges of the probably nuclear explosion.  “Be advised that the Midnight Avenger is currently on a mission with the Society of Sentinels, and on closed-system communications. If this is an emergency involving Fort Casimir, or an Epsilon-level threat or higher, I can direct communications elsewhere. Is this such a threat?”

Aurora groaned.  These guys were too busy.  She nearly fell over.

“NO! Cancel and get me Mistral!” At least, hearing the voice of her hero and lover would help soothe her nerves, even if she might not be able to do or tell her anything.

Anyhow, whatever Midnight Avenger and Vanguard were doing had to be a huge crisis.  Maybe the fate of the world was at risk, and she knew nothing of it.  How many times did they fight for the survival of Earth monthly or weekly?

What she wondered most at the moment was if Mistral would have any idea of what to do with a ranting robot head.

After a moment, there was a voice on the line, and this time it was her sweetheart’s and not another annoying robotic voice telling her she couldn’t talk to her. “Aurora? Are you OK?” Mistral asked worriedly.

“Hiya, Mistral.” Aurora, giggled, feeling a little loopy. “I’m okay, I just had a hairy day.” That might have been clever if she’d faced off against trained gorillas.  “I just finished facing off against an old supervillain’s ghost, so to speak.”

“I AM NO GHOST!” Mr. Mechanical chimed in helpfully.

“Have you heard of Mr. Mechanical?” Aurora asked after the latest rant.

“Yeah. He was a big supervillain way before our time. I don’t know where he is now, but you should be able to find out more via the Sentinel’s database. If it’s a ghost, do you need me to exorcise it or something? I think I might have heard it just now.”

“You totally did.  Anyhow, if it is, it’s a ghost in the machine.” Aurora chuckled. “I’ll tell you all about my crazy and scary day,” she moved on to tell her love everything that happened, whether it was a failure or a success.

Aurora finished her long narration, “MA and Vanguard were the last to fight him, and they’re pretty busy with something big right now.  The talking head of a replica of Mr. Mechanical seems a bit… big to just leave in police custody.”

“Of course I’m a big deal,” Mr. Mechanical added.

Mistral responded, “Hmm… if you don’t think your local authorities can handle him, use a clubhouse to drop it off at SoS HQ. Or put it someplace safe if you have something like that, or deposit it someplace hard to get to, like the sea floor maybe, I’d suggest.” Mistral said with an edge of humor.  “No offense, but I have to get back to my class, but I’ll be free to talk in around fifteen minutes if you want me to call back.”

“No problem.” Aurora smiled dryly. The local police could be trusted since Detective Kirby was in charge.  “Sorry, I bugged you with this.  I’m pretty dizzy after everything.  I’ll talk to you later.”

She disconnected the line and looked down to Mr. Mechanical, who was blessedly quiet for the moment.

MA would be interested, she was sure of it. At least he would be as soon as they finished whatever they were doing. She was on her own for the moment.  Shrugging, she took off with a little more energy, from the break and made a beeline to Kirby.

Would they dissect the villain she’d picked up?

Maybe.