Concoctions

Maisie stood, frozen at the scene in front of her. It was like she was living a movie or a news story or something. Supes were fighting villains, and there was carnage everywhere. She swallowed. It had never occurred to her that there would be blood involved…not at all. Maisie shuffled back a bit as a trickle threatened to touch her toes.

"We have to move," Ella said. Maisie glanced at her but the younger girl was looking back at the elevator they'd exited. "The elevator is moving," she explained, turning an increasingly anxious gaze back to Maisie.

Maisie steeled herself and grabbed Ella's hand. She was the older girl, and it fell to her to protect the younger one. She took a deep breath. She'd never thought after running that she'd have to take up that mantle yet again. Maisie had convinced herself that she could go without dealing with any children ever again.

She plunged forward, narrowly missing a dart shot by an umbrella. Maisie ducked behind a nearby pillar, positioning Ella behind her. A gaudily clad man in green and purple drifted by, laughing uproariously as he wielded what looked like a tommy gun from an old gangster movie. Instead of bullets, it was firing tiny capsules that broke into gas as they landed.

Maisie held very still as he came to stop nearby. She could feel Ella shivering behind her. The little gas that she came into contact with made her throat tickle, but she clamped her lips shut and tried not to breathe. After another heart stopping moment, the man continued on, having seen someone he was anxious to confront.

"This way," Ella said, tugging at Maisie. Maisie looked back to see Ella pointing at a door on the far side of the room. Dim and waning daylight could be seen there.

They'd taken two steps forward when the elevator doors opened once again.

*****

Dawnie paused at the edge of the battlefield. She couldn't think of what else to call it. There was actual smoke and blood everywhere. The only thing missing was dead soldiers.

"Are you kidding me?" Don asked as he stopped beside her. He swatted her on the shoulder. "I see them. Over there, and is that a Midden 2000 coming out of the elevator?"

Dawnie shook her head in disbelief. First they ran out of IWA bars and now a Midden 2000? Was she simply cursed or walked under a ladder and didn't notice? Perhaps there was some spilled salt she neglected to clean up somewhere.

"I can tell. You're heading into dystopia-ville, but we've got to grab Ella and Maisie before that thing fires. We can't stand up to what it spews," Don said. His eyes were sweeping over the battlefield in front of them, and Dawnie could tell he was mapping a route. "Follow me."

Dawnie bit her lip. A Midden 2000? How did they even manage to smuggle out the parts without anyone noticing? Then again, they had managed to get their hands on Ella.

*****

"Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap!" Ella was chanting as she and Maisie ducked from pillar to pillar. The fighting had lulled just a little with the advent of the giant machine from the elevator. "We've got to move faster. That thing is seriously bad."

Maisie stopped, eyeing the two thugs that had appeared in their way. Both wore clown masks and were carrying heavy truncheons. At least she thought they were truncheons; they looked very much like what she considered a truncheon to be.

"Aren't you a weapon? Can't you do something?" Maisie finally asked, taking a wary step back from the pair.

"She can't. She's Ella, after all," Don said, coming to a stop beside her. "You need Sphinxie for that sort of thing after all… and that's why she's collared. Seriously?" He appealed to the sky.

"Day, bad, so bad," Dawnie said, arriving beside her brother. She frowned at the thugs. "I need more weird drinks for this," she muttered before moving again.

Maisie slowly shut her wide-open mouth as the thugs were thrown far away, back into the thick of the fight. Ella was wincing with every 'oof' and grunt. Then Dawnie was back in front of them, panting.

"I really need more," she muttered. "Can we go now?"

Maisie squeaked as Don scooped her up in a princess carry. She blinked up at his handsome face as the wind suddenly whipped past her. Then there was no wind, but more importantly, no Dawnie or Ella.

"Where'd they go?" She turned to look at the giant machine that was suddenly belching a weird combination of liquid and gas. Someone's minion stumbled in the path of the combination and screamed. It sounded like a dying rabbit rather than a man. And then he sort of melted.

"Fascinating," echoed from corners of the room as the fighting came to a halt.

Maisie's eyes widened at the sight. Her throat worked, and she could taste the bile that was threatening to erupt.

"Dawnie!" Don said, putting her down, and he was gone again.

"Is that really a Midden 2000?" Lucy panted as she came to a sweaty stop next to Maisie. Following her were Aarti and Court.

"Wow, I thought we destroyed all those things," Court murmured, flipping open what looked like a miniature laptop. His fingers started flying over the keyboard.

"We did. At least all the ones we found in the bases," Aarti said. She glanced around the fight. "This is a giant mess, isn't it? It didn't seem so bad on the screen."

"Screens lie," said the last boy. Maisie looked at him with wide eyes. She didn't remember meeting him before and she was positive she wouldn't have forgotten. "Don't we already know that?"

"And Dawnie's down for the count. She's—" Don juggled his sister's limp body in his arms.

"So, it's not good for the long haul then," Lucy shrugged. Maisie was confused at the reference.

"You know what is? IWAs," Don said, setting his sister down. He yawned. "I think I'm done as well."

"It's a Midden, Luce…the real thing." Court looked up from the laptop.

Lucy sighed. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a wad of crumpled twenty-dollar bills. She stuffed them into Maisie's hands.

"Take her away, San. This might take a minute." Lucy said to the new boy.

Maisie swallowed her saliva and then squealed as San scooped her up. She held on tightly to the money. This was a bit more than she'd signed on for.

"Don't worry. This won't take but a minute," San said as they rushed away.

Maisie stared up at his handsome face and just soaked it all in, forgetting all about what she'd been about to say.