The Bad Guy Wins in This One - Chapter Fifty (Patrick)

“I think we have a problem,” said a voice from the cockpit. “A big one.” The accent was thicker than Mirkoff’’s but not nearly as bad as Cracker’s. Before he’d parachuted off the helicopter, Mirkoff told them the pilot’s codename was Good Sight and he could see ten times the distance of a normal person. So Patrick wasn’t surprised that he saw nothing when he went up and stuck his head next to Good Sight’s. To see so clearly and well, is it a gift or a curse? Sometimes life is much more blissful if we surround ourselves with blurry delusions.

“For reals?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re coming up on The Seer’s mansion now. But there’s something in front of it, maybe a kilometer out. Our other teams are about to engage it.”

“What sort of something?” Patrick could at best make out a dot on the horizon. But at the speed they were going, it was getting bigger rapidly. He still couldn’t make out what it was though. A tall building maybe.

“Something with lots of teeth and claws. Der’mo! It just took out two helicopters.” Patrick wasn’t sure what Der’mo meant, but as small lights flashed around the glowing blob he was inclined to agree with the sentiment.

“Tasha Knight?” Jared asked.

“Most likely,” May said. As they finally got close enough for Patrick to make out the creature’s features part of him wanted to laugh. At this distance it looked like nothing more than a tiny lizard, practically harmless. But as they got closer and it doubled in size, then doubled again and again his amusement faded. He saw that the helicopters weren’t cloaked as thoroughly as they were and watched as a thin but incredibly long tail lashed through the air to swat one out of the sky in the blink of an eye.

“Guess that answers our question of whether they’re boosted. Ok Patrick, think we can take this bitch again?” The copter decelerated rapidly as they entered into Tasha’s shadow. Patrick smiled grimly as he watched Tasha’s massive jaws close around a speck hurling a full blown blizzard at her.

“Y’all, I got this. You kids get to the mansion,” he told them, flashing them a wide grin.

“You sure?” May asked, a look of concern crossing her features. “Feel like I remember her throwing you through a wall last time. And she wasn’t boosted then.” “Got sucker-punched. This time, think I’ll be able to show a couple plays I thought up. So you guys just get around her, ok?” And with that, he hurled himself out of the helicopter. Man, I got to stop doing this. But this time, instead of letting himself crash down to the earth he let loose his power beneath him and found himself rocketing upwards.

He focused heat out of his throat, vibrating the air molecules around him more quickly in the hopes his voice would carry further. “Hey, psycho bitch, miss me?” The power erupting from him felt better than it ever had in his life. It was true Yves kept him from exploding back when he was boosted, but he’d also done a hell of a job focusing on not blowing up. He’d learned more about controlling his powers in that hour than he’d managed to in the entire time since gaining them. What had always felt like a raging inferno inside of him that he had to keep at bay was now a torch he could wield however he so chose.

One of Tasha’s eyes focused on him. The pupil alone was now twice his size. The ground shook with what he could only guess as was laughter. “Oh girl thinks I’m funny.”

Her tail whipped towards him, trying for a repeat of last time. But this time he expected it and focused all of his power into a thin band to his left. The tail hit the band and split in two, both pieces passing harmlessly around him. There was a surprised groan of pain, shaking the air around him.

“Yeah, whose laughing now? You play with the sun and you’re going to get BURNED!” Patrick aimed straight at her oversized pupil and blasted her with everything he had.