Rain hammered the roof of the car, streaming down the windshield in thick rivulets that made everything beyond the glass look like an oil painting left out in the rain. The wipers could barely keep up.
Marco and Darnell sat in the darkness, the SUV tucked into the tree line about two hundred meters from the massive suspension bridge leading to Blackgate Island. Through the rain-blurred windows and Marco's binoculars, they had a clear view of the prison at the far end of the bridge.
Right now, that prison was lit up like a war zone.
Muzzle flashes strobed across the main gate. Explosions bloomed orange and red. Even from this distance, Marco could hear the distant pop-pop-pop of automatic weapons fire and the deeper crump of grenades or breaching charges.
"They're already fighting," Darnell muttered, shifting restlessly in the passenger seat. "I thought that bridge was supposed to raise. You know, like a drawbridge. Isn't that the whole point?"
Marco lowered the binoculars and stared at the bridge. The massive steel span should have been raised by now, severing the connection between the island and the mainland. That was Blackgate's first line of defense, and standard operating procedure called for the bridge to be raised and inspected every two weeks. Instead, the bridge sat flat and solid, allowing Black Mask's convoy to roll straight across like they owned the place.
"Someone didn't raise it."
"Inside job?"
"Has to be. Eighty percent chance, maybe higher." Marco chewed his thumbnail. "The bridge is supposed to be fail-safe. If someone didn't raise it..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "Or maybe they're just incompetent. It's Gotham."
Darnell leaned forward, squinting through the windshield. "Either way, Black Mask is already inside."
The firefight at the main gate was intensifying. Through the binoculars, Marco could see Black Mask's people advancing behind a wall of suppressing fire. The ESU team trying to hold the gate was pinned down, unable to return effective fire.
Then the explosions started.
BOOM. BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.
Even from their position, he felt the shockwaves. Fireballs rose into the sky, and chunks of masonry tumbled from the prison's outer wall.
"Rifle grenades!" someone was shouting over the radio chatter, Marco had tuned into the GCPD emergency frequency the moment they'd arrived. "We need ESU backup at the gate! Repeat, we need—"
"Fuck! Where the hell did these guys get M249s?! Damn. Black Mask came prepared."
"Yeah." Marco adjusted the binoculars, trying to get a clearer view through the rain. "But he's about to hit a wall. Blackgate's got overlapping fields of fire from the guard towers. I've been here twice before. The interior defenses are no joke. Even if they breach the gate, they'll lose half their people before they get ten meters inside."
As if on cue, the main gate exploded.
The blast was enormous, far larger than the previous grenades. The shockwave rolled across the water and hit the car, rocking the suspension. Marco's ears rang, and for a moment all he could hear was a high-pitched whine. When his vision cleared, the gate was gone.
Darnell was half out of his seat, staring. "The gate's down! They—"
"Shut up." Marco's voice was flat. "Watch."
Black Mask's forces surged forward, cheering, weapons raised. They poured through the shattered gate, boots splashing through puddles of rainwater.
Then the guard towers opened up.
BRRRRRRT...
Heavy machine guns, probably M2 Brownings, maybe even something bigger. The muzzle flashes were so bright they left afterimages on Marco's retinas even through the binoculars.
The lead attackers didn't stand a chance. They were shredded, literally torn apart by the interlocking fields of fire. Bodies jerked and spun and collapsed into the mud, some of them missing limbs, others just folding in half. The ones behind them scrambled for cover, diving behind wrecked vehicles or chunks of concrete.
The momentum of the assault stalled abruptly.
"Jesus Christ," Darnell breathed.
"Yeah. ESU doesn't fuck around. Black Mask might have numbers and firepower, but he can't punch through that kind of crossfire. This assault's over before it..."
He stopped.
A figure was pushing through the scattered gunmen toward the front line.
"What the hell is that?"
Darnell leaned forward, squinting. "I don't... is that a guy?"
Marco focused the binoculars. The figure was humanoid. It wore what looked like a full-body suit of thick black rubber, like a hazmat outfit crossed with a bomb disposal rig. A massive instrument panel was strapped to its chest, lights blinking red and yellow. Its back was hunched under the weight of a huge metal box, some kind of power source, maybe, and its arms ended in thick gloves with metal rods extending from the fingertips.
The rods glowed faint blue.
"Oh, that's not good," he muttered.
Several of Black Mask's core gunmen moved to cover the figure as it advanced, providing suppressing fire while it walked toward the killing zone. Bullets zipped past it, ricochets sparking off the wet stone, but the figure didn't flinch or duck. It didn't even slow down.
It raised both arms.
The metal rods came together with a sharp CRACK.
"Oh, fuck—"
KZZZZZZZZZT!
A massive serpent of blue-white electricity exploded from the tips of the conducting rods, branching and splitting. For one instant, the entire island was lit up brighter than noon.
Then the arc hit the guard towers.
"AAAAHHH!"
The screams started immediately. Marco could hear them even over the thunder of the discharge. Through the binoculars, he watched ESU officers convulse and collapse, smoke rising from their bodies. The heavy machine guns went silent. Lights along the wall flickered wildly, then exploded in showers of sparks that tumbled down into the rain.
The smell of burn meat and ozone hit a moment later, carried across the water by the wind. Burnt meat.
"Did he just... did he just fry them all?" Darnell whispered.
"Yeah." Marco lowered the binoculars.
The figure stood in the rain, arms still raised, as the metal box on its back began to glow orange-red. The conducting rods were dimming, but slowly starting to brighten again.
"It's getting ready for another shot. We can't let it..."
He was already moving, throwing open the door and running to the back of the car. He yanked open the rear hatch and dragged out a long hard-case, dropping it on the wet ground and popping the latches. Inside was an SSG 69 sniper rifle. He had acquired it from Cobblepot a few weeks back, just in case. He dropped to one knee, brought the rifle up, and sighted through the scope.
The range was longm, wind was gusting, the target was partially obscured by smoke and the glow of its own electrical field. Every instinct he had told him this was a bad shot.
He took it anyway.
CRACK.
The rifle kicked against his shoulder. Through the scope, he saw the bullet strike. But the figure barely moved. The round had hit the helmet dead-center, but instead of penetrating, slowed by some kind of electromagnetic field and deflected harmlessly off the armored skull.
The figure's head turned. It was looking at them.
"Oh, that's not good," Darnell said from somewhere behind him. "That's really not good..."
The figure raised its arms again. The conducting rods slammed together.
KZZZZZZT!
Another massive discharge tore across the guard towers, catching the remaining ESU officers who'd survived the first blast. More screams. And then Black Mask's forces were surging through the gate, pouring into Blackgate's courtyard. The figure stood in the rain, head still turned toward them. Then it started walking in their direction.
"Fuck this." Marco threw the rifle back into the case and slammed the hatch shut. "Start the car!"
"What?! But—"
"Start the fucking car!"
Darnell scrambled into the driver's seat while Marco threw himself into the passenger side, slamming the door just as the engine roared to life. Through the rear window, he could see the figure still walking toward them.
"Go! Go go go!"
The car lurched backward out of the tree line, tires spinning on wet grass, then swung around and tore down the access road. Marco kept his eyes on the side mirror. The figure had stopped at the bridge. Then it turned and followed the rest of Black Mask's forces into Blackgate.
For a long time, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the rain hammering the roof and the labored roar of the engine as Darnell pushed the car well past the speed limit.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"What the fuck was that thing?" He tilted his head. "Thor or something?"
Marco stared out the window at the blurred lights of Gotham rushing past.
"I don't know. He's got enough voltage running through him to fry a whole ESU team." He rubbed his face. "We need bigger guns. And next time, I'm bringing rubber gloves and insulated boots."
"Next time?! There's not going to be a next time! I'm not going anywhere near that guy again! You think he was military? Some kind of black ops thing that went wrong?"
"Maybe." Marco closed his eyes.
---
---
40 Advance Chapters!
Visit my profile page for more information.