The Push Chronicles (Book 3): Incorruptible (16 page)

Chapter 19 Change

Despite the high of navigating my current slate of personal problems, the reward of a good night's sleep was still out of reach.  You could argue that no one could sleep well in a sewer, but that wasn't the cause.  Now that my mind was clear, all it could do was try to figure out how to deal with Epic and whoever else was calling the shots for the Crusaders now.  That was the last obstacle ... without them out of the way, we would never be able to free Alma from her crystal prison in the Plaza and even rescuing Choi and Brooks would be a minor gesture at best.  What had, at first, seemed so simple was now a tangle of strings, not to mention our mysterious impossible figure that seemed to be tweaking everyone's nose.

Though the abbreviated six hours of rest had only given me fitful bouts of sleep, near the end of it, I had a break-through.  A single, insane thought.  The problems with it were myriad, not the least of which was selling it to a crowd of justifiably eager-to-fight Push Heroes.  Still, I had to try.

Our next meal, which Quentin refused to acknowledge as meeting the standard of a real breakfast (he swatted Hex on the back of the head with an improvised spatula when he suggested such), was scarce and unfulfilling, but it was something.  It was also a very real indicator that our time in this sewer sanctuary was over.

"That's that, folks," Strange said.  "Unless you want to go cook sewer rats.  I know an excellent Rat on a Stick recipe I've been meaning to try."

"Had it, ain't a fan, son," Twister frowned under his handlebar mustache.  "Besides, it's time to get to doing instead of hiding.  We licked our wounds, got some shuteye, nothing more to do."

"Except we ssstill don't have a plan," Medusa hissed.  "We can't go up there and jussst sssstart punching thingsss."

"I've been trying to think of an alternate plan but so far I've got zilch," Extinguisher confessed.  "We can only make a stab in the dark at how many chiefs there are now in the Crusaders.  What did you tell me right before I crashed, Twister, there's at least four?"

"At least.  I'd wager that Battalion's little army is working on its own now.  Gaslight and Bio have always been more wrapped up in science than anything else, so no doubt they're doing their own work now.  Then you've got some folks still waiting for Epic to come out and take the lead again and, finally, us who are looking to break away."  The lawman adjusted his Stetson.  "And that's not even considering anyone else who's put on some big-boy pants and started ordering folks around in Epic's name."

"I can confirm that," Archer said, looking up from where he was feverishly tinkering with his gear.  "'T would seem that, with how dominant of a force Epic was, that all it takes is to drop his name and to not waver in confidence in your ruse and most Crusaders will do whatever you order."

"Shoot, I hate to say it," Hexagon said with surprising softness, "maybe we
should
bust down the dome then.  Let the government sort all of this out.  We can just concentrate on minimizing the damage, right?"

"Henry, I don't think that would work ssso well," Meds frowned as her snakes writhed.  She put a scaled hand over one of his six.  "Who knowsss what they might do?  Thisss kind of thing hasss never happened before."

"Well, ma'am, not since the Civil War," Voltage buzzed in.  "From my own experience, I would say that the Army does have very specific rules of engagement and will try to minimize any collateral damage unless pressed."  His electric pattern distorted.  Anxiety, I thought, was the intended effect.  "The problem is, well, they are going to get pressed and pressed hard.  I doubt any of those Crusader folks are going to just stand down."

"I've got an idea."  I finally decided to say my peace.  Quentin and Meds had already been looking at me before I even spoke as if expecting the final answer to come from me.  The others seemed to snap to as soon as I opened my mouth.

"There's only one way I can think of that we can fix this."  I glanced around at the ragtag resistance around me.  "There's only one person who can get this situation in order."

"No one's going to like what you're about to say, Doc," Quentin smirked.  Ex shot a glance at the cook in black, but quickly moved his eyes back to me.

"No, probably not."  I took a deep breath.  "The fact of the matter is we need Epic.  We, I, somebody needs to fix him."

It was the fact that it was so antithetical to my own desires that I had wanted to avoid this most simple of solutions.  After all, I had promised Stephanya a few boots to Epic's head.  The rampant chaos, though, was because Epic had lost power, lost faith, and so anyone and everyone was in charge.  If he was back in control, well, the situation simplified greatly.  That was only the tip of the iceberg though, but the rest, well, was a hunch.  One that I was sure the others, mostly in the thrall of the Whiteout's reality, wouldn't understand.

"Uhm, Ms. Indy, maybe I'm waaaaay out of place but," the Mighty Polymer said, raising another oversized hand as if in a classroom, "making the most powerful person in the world more powerful before we fight him doesn't really make much sense."

"I must agree with the young one," Mind's Eye joined in.  "It is tactically unsound and, to be frank, still relies on a degree of conjecture, mainly that empowering him once more will provide an antidote to the splits in the Crusader army."

"Eye, your stock-in-trade is hunches and prophecy.  Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith, you know."  This wasn't going to be easy, convincing them, and this was still the easiest part of the whole scenario.

"Well, I for one think Dr. Roman is dead on with this," Strange said, flashing two thumbs up.  "It's a great idea and I'm proud to be a part of it."

"Though I am pained to do so in the wake of such a tired reference," Frost rumbled, "to be true, there is a hint of brilliance in the insanity of your conjectures, Indy."  She began to pace, gesturing animatedly as she spoke.  "It is like any other tale of a broken fellowship.  An aging king lets his nobles run rampant and must once more take up the mantle of leadership to reforge what once was and make it even stronger.  True, this would seem to be an ill omen for us but the other options are even worse.  Maybe -"

"- there is a chance for something greater to come of this!"  Archer was on his feet and Frost gave him a broad smile, showing far too many teeth for anyone's comfort.  "What if, in reforging the fallen Lord Epic, his guiding principles are restored and fortified?  Perhaps we can not only bring the wayward Crusaders to heel, but reinvigorate the order with new, stronger principles!"

"I hafta admit, when you put it that way," Twister said, his eyes lost in nostalgia, "I'd have to say I'd like to see that.  Shoot, it's not even been a year, but at the start of all of this, everything seemed so ... golden.  If we could have that back and more -"

"Hold on a moment," Ex interjected.  "You guys can't be serious!"  He looked at everyone with exasperation in his eyes.  "We can't put the Crusaders back together stronger than they were.  They're the problem here, not the solution."

"I know it seems crazy, Ex, I really do."  I stood up now, it was time to really push this.  Frost had actually stumbled on to, in her own creative way, what had struck me last night.  Despite the lingering throbs of pain in my calf, I stood straight and tall, trying to sound as confident as I could.

"
The real enemy has always been the bad guys -- the criminals, the people who bully, oppress, and live with prejudice.  In this whole war with the Crusaders, we've been beating each other up not about who the bad guys were, but how to deal with them.  Think of all the blood we've spilled because of it and, more importantly, of all the innocent people who got hurt because we were too busy infighting to save them.
"  I raised my hand to deflect the oncoming objections; I was far from finished.

"Now, guys, it wasn't wrong of us to do what we did, standing up to the Crusaders, providing a different answer because, sorry you former Crusaders, the way you wanted to do all those good things was the wrong way.  The end does NOT justify the means, it never does.  Still, though, at the basest level, we're cut from the same cloth, as loathe as some of you might be willing to admit it."

Ex looked uncomfortable and Hex looked uncertain.  Mind's Eye was, as always, playing her best poker face and Tank seemed more concerned to see how she would fall than to listen to my actual argument.  Twister looked thoughtful but Polymer looked like a lost and shaken girl half her age.  As for the others, well, Frost and Archer seemed rather pleased with themselves while Quentin kept that same smirk from the start of our discussion.  Voltage, well, I still couldn't really read him, even now.

"So, where does that leave us?  It leaves us with one narrow shot to not only free the city, but keep the government from making a horrible mistake.  I don't want to sound like the crazy lady on the corner of Peachtree with the 'The Doom is Nigh' sandwich boards, but dollars to doughnuts if the military does get involved, it's the end of the Pushed being accepted and the beginning of registration, restriction, and probably war.

"The only way we win is if we can reign in the chaos and make the Crusaders and Epic as a whole surrender.  Offer themselves up for real justice, by the rule of law.  You know how this works, Ex.  Remember all we had to go through after Washington?"

That did it.  I could see the sparks light up in the firefighter's brain.  Ex was a brilliant leader, really, and all he needed was those events to be brought back up to him.  He remembered as well as any of us, if not more so as the Five's leader, the endless hours after the Battle.  Testifying before Congress, grilled by who knew how many alphabet agencies, the real chance that we would all have been thrown into jail.  Still, it was that willingness to face justice that turned around the rhetoric against the Pushed after the horrific damage to the National Mall.  Maybe it would work again.

"I do."  The nod Ex gave me was slow, thoughtful.  "It's crazy but I think you may actually have a point."

"You sure about this, chief?"  Hex's expression was knotted up.  "I remember all of that too but there's a fair bit of difference between messing up a park and taking over a city, y'all."

"The thing is, big guy," Quentin jumped in before I could speak, "do we have any other choice?  Me, I'd prefer to take the long shot than no shot at all."

"You are correct, Quentin Strange."  The Indian seer finally broke her expressionless silence.  "Consider this an approval of your idea, Indomitable, though I must still say I have reservations."

"If Mind's for it, then I'm for it but I don't think I'm as reserved because, like, now that I've met more Crusader people and not tried to beat them up, I'm starting to think that they aren't all that bad and maybe things just got all messed up back at the start and we can all just be friends!"  To no surprise of mine, Tank shot a glance over at where Twister and Polymer were sitting.

"Shoot, well, even if y'all weren't convincing me, I'd be outvoted anyway," Hex said with one of his usual big grins.  "If we're gonna do this, I better be all in instead of dragging ass, right?"

"I just want to be with the good guys again."  Despite a bit of a nervous tremble, there was a certain conviction in the Mighty Polymer's voice.  "If you think this is the right way to do that, I'll do whatever you tell me to do."

"I'm not one for blind devotion, Polymer," I said, "but I guess it's a start.  So we're all in then."  I glanced at the only one whose stance I wasn't sure on.

"Ma'am, I'm just happy to follow orders," Voltage said, snapping off a salute.  "Though, to speak freely, I trust Quentin and Frost with my life.  I'll march straight into the gates of hell with them if that was what they thought was best."

"Awww, I didn't know you cared."  Quentin fluttered his eyebrows at the electric man.

"Cut it out, smart-ass."  Voltage glared, I think, at the man in black.

"Goddess, you two will be the death of me."  Frost folded her arms, rolling her eyes at her two comrades.

"Okay okay," Ex called out, "I appreciate the horseshit, but let's cut it."  He took a deep breath and let out another frost-filled sigh.

"The trick is, now that we have a goal, how the hell do we achieve it?  Obviously the first part is to get to Epic.  That, we have covered already, right?"  He glanced to Twister, who nodded.  As the lawman began to speak, I had the deep desire that Rachel and Duane were here with us.  Ex was a good planner and I was no slouch either but, at the end of the day, the two agents were the masters of the plan.

"Assuming things ain't gone to total hell overnight, with a little telepathic help, I can get our folks still on the inside to get us into the Capitol building.  That's where Epic's been holed up this whole time, to the best of my knowledge."

I glanced at Archer and he gave me a small nod of confirmation.  Not that I didn't trust Twister, but Archer had definitely been in Epic's direct company.

"Sssoundsss ssimple, but what do we do once we get in?  How do we, well, get Epic back off of hisss lazy asss?"

"That's the million dollar question," Ex nodded.  He looked directly at me.  "Indy, thoughts?  This is kind of your idea after all and, well, you've got ... insights."  Everyone of the Five knew my previous connections with Epic.  Extinguisher, on top of that, knew the full story of what started the Whiteout.  He knew I was the only one who could possibly have the answers.