T.N - Chapter 66

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The plan we had conceived was nice and simple, almost to the point where the invasion sounded like a walk in the park. However, it didn’t come as much of a surprise for me when I ended up stuck in the truck while outside it was raining bullets. Ok, so I wasn’t expecting that exact scenario, but I was anticipating some sort of roadblock.

Thankfully, the glass in the windows was still intact, though cracks spider webbed the surface. I peeked up from where I had instinctively ducked and looked outside. I could see several of the henchmen only a few meters away from us. They too were dressed in black, though their armour was much bulkier. I also saw some other black figures on the house with sniping guns.

I fingered the array of grenades that we were given, trying to think of a way out without killing anybody. I temporarily lapsed out of reality, and it was only because of Kent that I didn’t get shot in the head by the first bullet that punctured through the glass. He pulled me down while simultaneously covering my head to protect from the downfall of glass.

“Watch what you’re doing!” scolded Kent. “Once you’re in plain sight, they target the glass where your head is until it breaks.”

“Sorry,” I said, and swallowed hard. I had nearly died, and it was because I wasn’t paying attention. We needed to act and think fast.

I looked down at the grenades again. Tear gas grenade? Nope, they would make moving outside difficult. Same goes for the glue grenade. Explosive grenade? They would probably kill or seriously injure somebody, and I don’t want to go that far yet. The only ones left was the mysterious perfume grenade.

Laura had no time to explain what it was, as she was busy alternating between shooting and ducking; the same went to the other “ninjas,” as Charlie calls them. I decided the perfume grenade would be worth a try.

When I heard a lull in the shots outside (probably thanks to Laura) I yanked the cap off of the grenade, popped out of my hiding spot, and threw it as far as I could.

The henchmen closest to the truck dove out of the way of the incoming grenade, and the snipers stopped firing in fear of accidentally setting it off too early.

The grenade exploded, sending small shards of the shell flying. Following it was a large cloud of purple gas. The henchmen were caught in this billowing cloud, and promptly doubled over coughing and wheezing (and some losing their lunches).

The cloud diffused into the truck, and I was surprised to see (or rather smell) that it was rather fragrant perfume. It reminded me of those nights that my mother would accidentally spill a bottle of her expensive, musky perfume, causing the room to become slightly nauseating. Granted, the perfume grenade was slightly more sickening, but not bad enough for me to feel like I had to faint.

“Ugh, what is that smell?” said Dennis, pinching his nose.

“A little bit of Chanel No. 5, sandalwood, lilac, and a secret ingredient I made myself,” said Laura. “For some reason, most people can't stand it. I think it's quite pleasant." She took out her own perfume grenade, and threw it towards the snipers in the back. “Good call, Theo.”

Heathcliff behind me gagged. The fact that he was probably still quite intoxicated probably didn't help his nausea from the perfume. 

"She had to train us to get used to the smell,” said Graham, and he jerked his head towards Laura to indicate he was talking about her. “It was absolute hell that we had to go through…rooms full of this perfume that we had to stay in until we passed out.”

“Or until you got better and didn’t gag at the smell of it,” said Laura. She smiled rather wickedly at her colleagues.

By this time, all firing has ceased as the snipers gagged at the scent. Laura opened up the door and walked outside. She grabbed one of Kyle’s henchmen from off the ground by the collar and brought him up so she could look him in the eyes.

“Where is your leader?” she asked calmly.

“I don’t know,” said the man, “he’s somewhere around here…” His eyes nervously darted around.

 She twisted the collar and brought the man’s face close enough to hers that their noses were touching.  At the same time, she took out her gun and placed the muzzle right at the base of his neck. “I asked,” she said with a cold, piercing stare, “if you knew where Kyle North was.”

I shivered. I kind of felt bad for the man, even if he was working for the Kyle, and subsequently the Dragon.

“He’s—he’s in the house. In the Justice League headquarters,” he stammered out, his face pale and his teeth chattering.

Laura let go of him and smiled. “Thanks for your time.” He could only stare at her as she turned around to face us.

“What are you guys doing, sitting around twiddling your thumbs?” she yelled over to us.  “Let’s get going to the Batman cave.”

“So I’m not the only one that thinks it came straight out of the comic,” Charlie says, and hops out of the vehicle.

We all climbed out of the truck and went over to where she was standing except for Kent, who to my alarm, had fallen over. I rushed back to where he was now sitting and helped him up. He winced in pain and leaned against the side of the truck.

“Ah, I’m getting old,” he said. He grimaced a bit. “Seems like I pulled a muscle or something. My knee is killing me, and my hand is strained. Won’t be able to walk over to the headquarters, or be of any help.”

“Will you be ok?” I asked. “One of us can always stay behind and help.”

“No, it’s fine,” he replied. “Go on ahead without me.”

“But Kent—“

“I said go!” he said vehemently. I jumped back a little to hear the tone of voice. He seemed to have noticed my surprise as his voice softened a bit.

“I can defend myself. Now go on, join the others.”

I looked back at the others, and saw that the others had already started heading towards the house. I started towards the group, and then glanced back behind me. For the first time, I saw that he had aged a lot; he had grey streaks through his hair, and there were more wrinkles in his face. And, for some reason, he seemed so much smaller. He waved at me to keep on going, and I turned back to the house and started to run.

If Kent, the caretaker that had seen me take my first steps as a baby, thought I was strong enough, then I’m definitely stopping Kyle. No matter what.