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Working with Criminals

Chapter 5: The Escape

For Taiko

By Draconicon

He landed with a thump behind city hall, but he didn't dare stop to look behind him. Instead, Nor kept running, pumping his legs as hard as he ever had in pursuit of a criminal, hoping that it was going to be enough. At least feet were good for something, his toes digging into little cracks that his hooves would have missed and flinging him forward all the faster as he ran from his alternate self and the Lord in Lavender.

Get to the port, get to the port, get to the port, he thought, leaning forward in hopes of catching a bit more speed. Get to the port, and you're home free.

Then again, that was dependent on the hope of the Man in Red still being there and watching for him. If he wasn't, if the mule was late and the mouse cut his losses in case of being followed, then he was doomed.

Please be better than I think you are. Please, fucking please...

THUMP!

That was the real Alt hitting the ground, and he could hear the hard thumps of heavy footsteps chasing after him. The irony of the situation, of a hero running from villains, was not lost on him, but it was also not particularly appreciated at that point in time.

Nor ran through the alleys, trying to twist around to get himself pointed at the port. Thankfully, nobody got ahead of him or in his way, and anyone that did spot him as he ran down the streets were quick to get out of the way of the chief Interrogator.

Bet they're going to be confused in a second, he thought as he leaped between a couple walking arm in arm with one another. Come on, come on, where's the path?

"Get back here! I don't know what you are, but there's no way that there's another me in this city!" Alt shouted at him.

Wanna bet?

Giving up on finding a path on the ground, Nor swung to the side, grabbing hold of a drooping store sign and swinging himself up. He spun head over heels, then landed on top of a laundromat just beside the store.

Rooftop running was more his speed, anyway, and he beat feet along the street, jumping from one building to another, gradually gaining height.

He was just about to leap to one of the shorter tall buildings in the area when the city started to change.

"No, no! Come on!"

If this had been his Novus Ager, the change would have happened instantly, the buildings shifting while he was still in mid-air and leaving him somewhere to land. As it stood, the buildings creaked and cracked as they shifted further apart, widening the gap and leaving him with less and less of a chance of grabbing a handhold. Nor fell through the air, arms windmilling desperately -

THUNK!

Until he slammed face-first into a concrete bar between the windows on a lower story of the building. He groaned under his breath, feeling the ache that was settling into his face already, but didn't dare stop. He punched into the concrete and started dragging himself up the building.

"Well, you've got stamina," Alt shouted. "But that's not going to be enough!"

THUNK!

Someone else had landed on the building, following him from below. If that was Alt, then the other mule wasn't very far away. Maybe a couple dozen meters away, at most. They were going to meet up before long.

Climb. Climb. Climb!

Nor pushed himself as hard as he could, kicking and punching his way along the side of the building as much as he could. The disguise around him flickered again, Alt's shell fading as his timer continued ticking down to zero. He grimaced, shaking his head as he kept climbing.

Finally, he reached the top, several hundred feet above the ground. He swung one leg over -

"Gotcha!"

Alt had finally caught up. Nor grunted as he was almost pulled right off the top of the building, grabbing hold of it as tight as he could. He looked down, panting softly as the purple mule held him by the ankle.

"You're not going anywhere," Alt grunted, huffing softly. "Not until I find out what you are."

"I'm you," Nor said, trying and failing to pull his leg free.

"You're a copy of me. At best. And -"

The other mule took a closer look at Nor's foot. His eyes narrowed, flicking back up at him.

"And you not only slept with Lil, but you got him to do that?"

"He started it. Not me."

"Yeah, but you let him."

"Are we really arguing morals at the moment?"

"I'm a hero. I take care of people!"

Throughout the conversation, Nor had been shifting himself around little by little to try and get a bit of leverage. Finally, he had an angle, his leg bent just enough to kick. Which he did. Hard.

"OOF!"

He caught Alt right in the cheek, sending the other mule tumbling off the side of the building. Nor didn't feel particularly worried for him; if he could survive that sort of fall, no doubt that his alternate could, as well. They were alike in most other ways, and he doubted that there was any real difference in their stamina.

Huffing softly, he pulled himself onto the roof and peered around the city. He'd been completely turned around with the spiraling nature of the buildings and rings of the city, and now he had no idea where the port was.

Where? Over there, or...or over there?

The mule was taking too much time to find where he needed to go, and he knew it. Anxiousness started to pile on as he ran from one side of the tower top to the other, trying to find any sign of the -

There. The harbor. In the complete other direction. Nor groaned, sagging over the side of the building as he realized that he'd have to run back towards city hall, get around it, and then run back through the city again. The Lord in Lavender would already be setting up traps, no doubt, particularly if he'd figured out just how Nor had managed to get into this particular world.

"Right now I really wish I had a phone..."

"Wish granted, for the next five minutes," the Man in Red's voice said through his ear.

"How - okay, not the time. The Lord in Lavender's figured me out, and the Nor from this world knows where I am."

"You need an exit."

"Badly."

"There's a helicopter that's taking a night-news flight through the city. It'll be passing by the skyscraper to your left in forty-five seconds. Think you can make it there?"

Nor turned. The skyscraper was twice as tall as the office building he was in, and about three buildings away. Just past it, he could see the approaching dot of the news helicopter, moving in quickly. Probably on the trail of something, for all he knew.

"I can make it."

"Get moving."

Not questioning how the Man in Red knew this stuff, Nor ran to the side of the building and leaped. It was a short fall down to a nearby office building, then a jump from it to a taller one. He never stopped running, his feet starting to ache as they pounded against rough and rougher surfaces.

Downside of - ow - these things compared to hooves...everything hurts more...

With a grunt, he launched himself off the latest building, managing to grab a flag-pole that was jutting out of the side of the other office building. Nor shook his head, swinging himself around it and upwards, flinging himself as close to the roof as he could.

The helicopter was still coming, swinging around the far side of the building and making its way forward. He reached the top just as it was passing the far corner, leaving him no time to consider, aim, or figure out a better plan. All he could do was run, particularly with Alt's grunts chasing after him.

Run, jump...and fall. Nor couldn't even bring himself to scream as he fell through the air, looking down at helicopter blades that looked like nothing less than a guaranteed death machine. He tensed up -

"Annnnnd pull."

Just like that, Nor was yanked down so fast that he might as well have had a chain through his guts. He gasped for breath, only to find himself underneath the helicopter blades rather than over them. Desperately grabbing for one of the landing struts, he held tight as the chopper wobbled from side to side from his weight.

What the hell? What the...

"You're welcome. Now, get inside. You might have to be a bit rough, but take it over and fly it to the harbor."

"How the hell - what happened?"

"Get in the chopper, Denith."

Hearing the annoying note of command that he knew that the mouse was using just to get on his nerves, the mule did as he was told. A fox and a rat stared at him as he pulled himself up, but they quickly got out of the way. They must have seen him as Alt, still, which meant that they weren't going to interfere.

Nor grabbed the control stick, feeling a buzz in the back of his head. It was like -

Download complete.

There was a sudden barrage of information, and his hands adjusted themselves slightly on the control stick, swerving it away from the building as the first course of action. He did it just in time, too, as Alt went plummeting past the chopper just a few feet out of reach. The purple mule screamed up at him, and Nor shook his head.

"Harbor, Denith. There's not a lot of time now."

"What's going on, exactly?" he muttered as he turned the chopper in the right direction.

"From everything I'm seeing, the Lord in Lavender's wise to my interference now. He's doing what he can to close off all escape routes from the world. Considering that time is short, why don't you skip the questions for now and get to the escape point, hmm?"

"Alright, alright. No need to be so patronizing."

"On the contrary. It's the most fun part of the job."

"Grrrr..."

Nor shook his head. There was no point getting into it with the Man in Red. At least, not until he was out of here.

As he piloted the helicopter around the city, he looked down at his other hand. The control rod that this whole thing had been about glittered in the moonlight above, reminding him of the power that it had. He could turn anyone into a total slave, if he wanted. Which he didn't, of course, but he knew that the power was there. If he needed to...

If I needed to, could I use that against the Dane?

The thought of turning the criminal's own tool against him had a sort of poetic justice, but it still felt wrong considering what the tool actually did. Taking away someone's free will always stung, even with the number of times that it had happened to him. Using it now, even as a way to get free, didn't feel right.

Still, it was a back-up. He didn't want to use it, but knowing it was there gave him a sickening sort of relief. It meant that he wasn't completely helpless...even if it was only a tool to use in greatest desperation.

Just get to the harbor. Get to the harbor.

The city hadn't changed again, but he could see people moving in the streets. Heroes and policemen, as well as villains that were on the Lord's side. They were massing in the streets, some leaping onto buildings, and still others starting to take to the air. If they heard from Alt where he was, or how he was getting through the city -

Must go faster, must go faster...

Nor leaned the chopper forward, biting his lip as he felt the acceleration press down on him and the aircraft. It wasn't a good feeling, and he knew that this thing wasn't going to be able to take the acceleration for long. It would start ripping itself apart as it tried to hold together against that forward thrust, particularly as hard as he was pushing it. News choppers were not made for pursuit of this level.

At the same time, he didn't dare wait. He had to -

The smell of smoke caught his attention just a split second too late. Nor glanced down, saw the glow that was burning through the underside of the chopper, and threw his head to the side. The laser beam still caught him along his mane, cutting through it and scorching a hole in the hair.

Worse, it had cut through the main fuel line of the chopper. Fire was already spreading through the underside of the console, burning through the fuel lines and melting circuitry. The chopper beeped at him, starting to sway and fall, the blades overhead starting to slow down as they no longer had fuel to keep them spinning.

Come on...this isn't fair...

"Uh, Interrogator...what...what's going on?" the rat asked from behind.

"Yeah, um...what's going on?"

"...Crash landing."

"..."

"..."

"Hold onto something."

The helicopter ended up smashing through two buildings before coming to a full halt in a warehouse just south of the harbor. The two reporters lived through it, though mostly because Nor had pulled them into a bear hug and had taken the hits for them. They were completely out of it, too, not able to help themselves get free of the crash.

The mule dragged them to a safe distance, then limped away. He still had the strength to rip the door off of its handles as he stepped out of the warehouse, but the speed to keep running from his pursuit? Yeah, that wasn't happening.

Nor groaned as he limped past the walls of the warehouse cluster, stepping through the gates into the edge of the harbor. The docks were half a mile away, with more ships than he remembered attached to the pier. Not all of them were the modern sort that he was used to seeing, either, some of them smooth and rounded like alien craft. He groaned, rubbing his arm; his shoulder was dead from impact, and hadn't recovered yet.

There was a road down to the water, though, used by trucks to get the goods up from the boats to the walled warehouses. Nor took a step down the path -

"That's far enough."

Not Alt, this time. The Lord in Lavender stepped out from around the corner, the Great Dane pulling at his gloves and shaking his head. He was followed by a cluster of heroes and criminals, with Alt - bruised and battered - at the head of the former, and a lion in a business suit at the head of the latter.

"How'd you get Nemean on your side, huh?" Nor asked. "Thought that he didn't want to work with you."

"A certain accommodation has been reached." The Great Dane shrugged. "It means giving up a certain resource that I might have been able to use, but said resource has reached the limits of my tolerance."

"In other words, he gets me if he helps you out right now."

"Indeed."

Nor shook his head. He was so close. If he could just clear the crowd...

But there was no way in hell that was happening. There were too many villains, too many heroes. They were all convinced that he was some sort of threat, and he knew that if there was one thing that the various Novus Agers would share, it would be a unified front against any threat to their city.

Even the villains would get in on that. They didn't want to see their place of operations destroyed, and some of them cared enough about their hero rivals that they weren't going to let anyone else do something to them. And from the sound of things, the Great Dane had already rallied and persuaded them.

Nor tightened his grip around the control rod, shaking his head as the Lord in Lavender approached. The Great Dane arched an eyebrow behind his monocle.

"I will say, you have courage. Not many would think to continue defying me in front of a host like this."

"I know what you want. I know what this does."

"...And you have experienced something like it before."

"More times than I can count."

"Ah, so a feeling of empathy, then."

"And other things..."

"You know why I'm doing this, too. Don't speak," the Lord in Lavender said, holding up his hand before Nor could respond. "Nod, or shake your head."

Nor slowly nodded.

"Then you know why this is required. Hand it over, and there may be a renegotiation."

Clenching his fingers all the tighter around the control rod, Nor shook his head again. Whatever it took to save this Novus Ager, it had to be done right. Letting someone like this criminal mastermind take over was against everything that he knew to be right. Particularly with this.

The villains rustled, Nemean in particular looking rather annoyed. He bore some startling resemblances to the one back home. Both of them were prideful in the way that they looked down their noses at everyone, both lions deceptively lean before they went to work. Both of them with the same sort of control that made them look so cold compared to the people around them.

But this one...this one looked more like a mafia don than a mere company boss. The way he stood, the way that he was surrounded by other villains, made it clear that he was a boss in this city in a way that the Nemean from his world could never be. He had...

He had something different. He had a sort of respect, something that pulled everyone together around him. Nor could see why the Lord in Lavender would have been having a hard time with him. There was a unity to the villains that was lacking back home.

Not that this helps me in the slightest.

The Lord in Lavender sighed, shaking his head.

"I suppose it was a fool's hope that you could see as well as Nor here does. You might copy him, but -"

Shwoom-woom. The Alt shell around him had finally reached the end of its timer, and it was fading quickly. Nor bit his lip as he felt the shimmering field disappear, revealing his blue-red skin, his hooves, his - for once - restrained package down below. The mule slowly crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at them.

"I'm not a copy. I'm him."

For the first time, he saw the Lord in Lavender shocked. Not merely surprised or caught off-guard, but shocked. The Great Dane's eyes widened, looking from Nor to Nor before finally looking back at the multi-colored mule.

"...The mouse. This is his plan, isn't it?"

"And if it was?"

"God-dammit..."

Suddenly, the world shook. Not merely the city as it changed, but the world, the ground quaking and the water rising, the air trembling and the skies cracking. Most of the crowd fell, and so did Nor, his legs giving out from under him from sheer exhaustion.

"What's going on, Lil? What the hell is this?" Alt shouted.

"A very annoying visitor!"

Nor dragged himself back to his feet just in time to see the harbor part, the water swelling up and spitting out the very battleship that had carried him away from his Novus Ager. As it rose through the air, almost like it was flying, the guns on top aimed down at the streets of the city. More than that, dozens of blurs were launched from the ship, flying down to the streets.

Thump!

Crack!

BOOM!

And as they landed, Nor found himself surrounded by people that he didn't even know. A hissing xenomorph landed at his side, skinny black body shimmering in the darkness, crackling drool falling from the extended mouth and claws bared. Further forward, cratering the earth at Nemean's side, was a tank of a robot creature, something that landed as a ball but then unfolded, becoming like a sentry robot with weapons bigger than most of the villains' arms.

And right behind Alt was Olag.

The topless bear stood up, his axe laid over his shoulder as he glanced at the crowd surrounding him. He shook his head, then looked at Nor.

"Little buddy, ya really know how to pick a fight."

"I didn't pick this one," he protested.

"Heh, ain't complaining. I like it when I don't have to hold back."

Alt had already turned around, lifting his fists. He obviously had no idea who he was fighting, and Nor winced in sympathy. He could already see where this was going, and he knew that the other Nor wasn't going to like it.

The purple mule threw a punch, and Olag brought his axe down, catching the blow on the metal near the head. Alt blinked.

"Wha...who are you?"

"Someone that's been thinking of alllll the ways to fuck with ya."

POW! The return blow - thankfully delivered with the flat of the axe - sent Alt flying across the street, taking several heroes and villains with him at the same time. They slammed into a parked truck just across the way, sagging against it.

The heroes and villains stared at the sudden invasion, most of them caught off-guard. Nemean had held out his hand, silently keeping the villains from doing anything stupid, while the Lord in Lavender was seething.

"So. His second in command, and all of this crew...how long have you been watching, hmm?"

"Eh, long enough," Olag said, leaning on his axe.

"And you think that this is a good idea? Look at this universe. It's on its last legs."

"Eh, I've seen worse."

"You've caused worse."

"Not for a long time. Now, ya gonna let my little buddy go, or are we gonna have words? And by words, I mean a fight."

"Don't look down on me, Olag," the Great Dane said, narrowing his eyes. "You have no idea what it means to threaten a member of the Colorful Council."

Nor still couldn't believe what was happening, but the fact that the hopeless fight had been averted was something. He groaned as he limped forward, aided occasionally by the xenomorph that had landed at his side. It was...strange...to be held as gently as that thing managed. It felt like he should be shredded the second he was touched.

He hobbled over to the polar bear, watched by the Lord in Lavender the whole time. Holding the control rod tighter than ever, he deliberately looked away when the canine narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to be caught by that stare again.

Olag laid a hand on his shoulder, pulling him close.

"So, what's it going to be, big guy? We fighting, or we leaving?"

"You'd sentence this reality to its fate, then?"

"It doesn't have to be that way," Nor muttered.

"Really? And what makes you say that?" the Lord asked, stepping closer, out of earshot of the heroes and villains. "Because if you have an idea, I am all ears."

"I don't exactly see Meshiah here..."

"He's busy. Drugged. I made sure of that before I came to see...what I thought was my Nor."

There was a certain stab of guilt there, but not as big of one as he had expected. Nor shook his head, pushing through it.

"Then keep him there. He doesn't have any powers that'd let him escape; let him stay there, away from the city center. He can't heal the whole city from there..."

"..."

"It'll fix itself."

"And what do I get out of that?"

"The fucking amazing feeling of a job done right," Olag said. "Or did you mean what kinda paycheck do you get?"

"Obviously the latter. The Council is not a charity."

"You need to be paid to do the right thing?" Nor muttered.

Both the Lord in Lavender and Olag looked down at him, eyebrows raised as if he had said something completely insane. The mule shook his head. He should have known. Criminals were always going to be criminals.

But there had to be something that he could do. He had come so close already, done so much. Why couldn't he just figure out the final solution to this stupid situation?

Once more, the Lord in Lavender held out his hand.

"This is going nowhere. Give me the control rod, and I will allow you and yours to leave."

"We're not gonna just bend over for ya, and ya know it," Olag said.

"I suppose we are at an impasse."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

Every eye on the road turned to the source of that voice. The Man in Red stood on the ruined truck that the other Nor had slammed into, and floating all around him were the heroes and villains that had been knocked out as the purple mule went flying. Even said mule was floating around the masked mouse's head, just out of reach.

Leaning on his cane, the mouse seemed to concentrate, and Nor felt a sudden pressure around him. Not directly under him, but around him, like there was a disk just beneath his feet that was normal, but everywhere else was suddenly...heavier. The Man in Red stepped forward wordlessly, shaking his head as his cane ticked, ticked, ticked against the ground.

"What is the meaning of this interference...Man in Red?" the Great Dane said, his voice just short of a growl, almost like he had barely restrained himself from saying something else. "This is my base."

"Hmmm." The mouse looked around. "A bundle of minions that haven't sworn loyalty to you and aren't compelled, a city that's completely out of your control, and a world that you haven't openly claimed despite having the power to? I don't think so."

"It is effectively mine, with my agents."

"Hmmm, again, not really," the mouse said, shaking his head. "The rules might have agreed with you, if you openly claimed it in the Council when that Meshiah was in charge, but even then, shaky. You didn't have control of at least a third of the power block of the world, and we all know how much the rest of the Council would argue semantics on that."

"They're following me now. I have their loyalty until the end of the operation."

"Ah, but there's another power block in this world now."

"And that is?"

"Mine."

The mouse gestured all around them, at the crew that he had dropped right into the streets. Nor had no idea what was going on, but he could feel the tide turning. The Man in Red had said something that had put the Lord in Lavender on the back foot, and it showed even through that poker face.

"Among our customs, one Councilor can't claim a world if another Councilor is in that world at a given time. Correct?"

"..."

"I'll assume that's the case," the mouse said with a chuckle. "Combine that with the fact that my men are both more loyal than the majority of yours, and currently able to match your forces, the percentage of those under your will don't really match up to what you need to claim the world, either."

"What is your point?"

"My point is this. All of you have been telling me that I need to settle down and be a 'real' Councilor. Have a 'real' base that's not just a sailing ship." The mouse gestured about himself with his cane. "This seems to be quite a nice place. Maybe I should take it off your hands."

The silence that fell would have made a dropped penny seem loud. Nobody breathed, nobody spoke. Not the heroes under Alt, not the villains under Nemean, not even the crew that the Man in Red had sent to shore. Nobody said a thing, because they knew that whatever the Lord in Lavender said next was crucial.

Either he would give them peace...or he would start a war.

Even Nor understood that, his eyes wide as he watched the stand-off between the diminutive mouse and the towering Great Dane. The two of them faced off, the mouse's plain white mask hiding any emotions that he might have been feeling, and the Great Dane's face was a picture of austere, barely restrained anger.

The mule looked between them, almost feeling the clash in the air as the two crime lords held their standoff. If it came down to it, Nor honestly wasn't sure which side was the better one.

I'm a superhero. I'm supposed to do what's right...

But in a situation like this, what was right?

The End