CentrePoint - Saving Grace

One second there was an empty alley. Next there were two men stood in it. One was smoking.

“I don’t know why you’ve always got to smoke those god damn cigars when we go through. It’s not like it doesn’t smell enough in there.” Said the first man.
“Precisely why I do it, plus it calms my nerves.” replied the second. “I seem to remember you enjoying a cigar or two yourself, last I checked.”
“Only difference is that they don’t stink o’ horse shit like those evil things”
“Maybe you should try one, maybe it’d change your mind.”
“And smell like you? You’ve got to be kidding me. Come on, we’ve got a job to do.”
“You sure we’re in the right place?”
“Only one way to be sure, and that’s to look, you got the bag?” The second man nodded. “Good.”

The two strolled out of the alley, past the refuse strewn liberally around and out onto the street. As they stood there they looked around, taking in the sights. It seemed a fairly normal street in any one of a million major roads in a million major cities in any corner of the world. There was a coffee shop on one corner, a bookshop or two, a fashionable clothes shop for fashionable ladies, and just down the road, about a mile or so down easily visible was a 200 foot high lizard creature, smashing up buildings. This did not seem to be causing any concern for the passing pedestrians. Those that bothered to look in it’s direction scanned it and took it in as part of the scenery.

“Well, god-damn. I suppose we’re in the right place then.” said Jeremiah, taking another drag of his cigar “You know, I ain’t been doing it that long, but damn I love this job. I ever stop appreciating that, you gotta shoot me.”
“Not like it would do much good”
“Probably not. Look, I’m gonna grab a coffee before we get on it, you want one?”
“Sure”
“Then hold this, I’ll be right back”

And with that, he handed the bag to Jacob and strolled across the road to the coffee shop. Jacob reached into the bag, rummaged for a second and drew out a pair of binoculars. Taking a second he carefully focused them on the face of the giant lizard. With it’s short stubby snout it was using it’s forelegs to do most of the damage, ripping into the skyscraper. Pulling the focus back to study it in full, he spotted a white blur streaking across the sky. A slight smile crept across his face. A grumbling and a waft of smoke indicated the return of his partner. Empty handed.

“Can you believe it? Thrown out of a damn coffee shop for smoking. Didn’t even get to the counter, they just threw me out like I was some god-damn leper.”
“Serves you right, I told you it stank. Anyway, look who just turned up”

He handed over the binoculars to Jeremiah. After a second to watch he let out a low whistle.

“She’s good. I take it that’s her”
“You any clue as to who else it’s gonna be?”
“Fair point. She ain’t too bad on the eyes, neither”
“Down boy, you can look after your baser instincts later.”
“Right. You picked where yet?”
“I’d say the tallest building would be the best bet. Well, maybe not the tallest right now, second tallest, then. You still want a coffee before we get it done?”
“Lost my taste for it. I’ve still got this,” indicating the cigar “I’ll be fine.”

The Ishiro Building looked like it would be tall enough, being 381 meters high and 102 storeys high. (there was a sign on the outside of the building). Although getting past the front desk was the current problem. With it not being a public building the security was bound to ask questions. And they did.

Or at least he would have done. Jeremiah walked up to the counter with a wide smile on his face. The security guard looked up from the newspaper he was reading.

“Good morning, assuming it is morning. My friend and I would like to go into the building, if that’s ok?”
“Do you have a pass, sir?”
“Certainly, it’s here if you’d care to check”

Drawing back his long leather duster Jeremiah showed the revolver sat in it’s holster strapped to his hip. He raised his eyebrow in a questioning look.

“Sir, that’s a gun”
“Oh, yes, that’s right, my mistake. It’s a gun, used for shootin’ people stone dead, and not some form of identification. However it could be said that a man that shows a loaded firearm, (and trust me, it is loaded), doesn’t need much more in the way of identification. Now my thinkin’ is that you’re gonna go back to reading that there paper and not notice where me and my friend went to, yeah?”
“Erm, yes. Sir.”
“Thank you kindly”

Tipping his hat, Jeremiah waved casually to Jacob to tell him they were in and off they went. First door on the left turned out to be the main staff hallway, and it didn’t take long to find the main stairs. Both of them stepped into the middle of the room and looked up.

“Damn.”
“How many steps do you think that’s gonna be?” Jacob looked quite happy as he asked the question
“Close on a billion, if I was to judge from here. I say again, Damn.”
“How long do you think it’s gonna take to walk up them?”
“Too damn long. I hate you. Always with the god-damn roof. Why we can’t do this from the first floor window I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do know.”
“Alright, but I ain’t gotta like it. Oh well, here goes.”

He pulled the cigar out from his mouth and ground it on the carpeted floor, eliciting a filthy look from Jacob. He shrugged, sighed and started up the stairs. After about ten steps he looked back to see Jacob still standing in the middle of the floor looking up.

“You coming? If I recall this was your plan, you know”
“I know, I was just planning on taking the elevator. There’s got to be some around here somewhere” and with that, Jacob walked off out the door again.
“I Hate You” Jeremiah shouted after him. “I really do”

On the roof, they could see the mighty battle was still raging. The giant monster was swiping the air ineffectually while the flying woman in white’s blows were doing no good. Even a mile or so away the sound of her blows were echoing this far.

“How long do you think it’s gonna take?”
Jacob looked at him for a minute “What do I look like to you? Some sort of expert on beating up giant lizards?”
“You act like you’ve seen everything else, thought you might guess”
“Well I’m not, ok?”
“In which case I’m having a drink while I wait”
“You get drunk and screw this up, I’m throwing you off this roof”
“Fair. Throw me the sticks will you”

Jeremiah opened the bag and grabbed out a bottle of whisky, and a half dozen thin tubes which he threw to Jacob. Jacob positioned himself with a good view of the fight as he heard a match flare behind him.

“They’ll kill you, you know”
“I doubt it. You want one?”
“Go on then, looks like we may be here for a while”
“They’ll kill you, you know”
“Too late now”

Sat on the rough floor of the roof, backs to the wall of the edge they watch as ‘Saving Grace’ (for such was she) fighting the giant mutant beast. Twin tails of smoke led into the air as they got comfortable and pondered the idea of bringing cushions on the next job

“How do you think they breed?” asked Jacob
“What? Superheroes? Same way as anyone I would imagine”
“No, you fool. The lizard thing”
“Probably very carefully. You never know, there could be a documentary on tape in one of the shops down there. Which kinda disgusts me, thinking about it. Why do you ask”
“Because I’m bored”
“Oh… ok, hey, here it goes”

A lit cigar went sailing over the edge of the roof as in the distance the mighty beast came crashing to the ground cracking concrete and windows on countless buildings. “Time” said Jacob. He picked up a couple of the tubes and tossed them to Jeremiah and picked up a couple for himself “…Light ‘em”. Snapping the ends off each stick, the flares jumped to life sending bright blue smoke and light into the air. Standing apart the two waved them as signals. It didn’t take long for Saving Grace to see them and be attracted by the smoke. She flew to the roof and hovered about a meter from the ground.

“Ho There! Good Citizens! Can I Be Of Service On This Fine Day?” She cried with a sense of willing helpfulness in her voice.
“Miss, you are Saving Grace?” Jacob asked a tone that wouldn’t be out of place on a boy of ten.
“I Certainly Am, Is There Anything I Can Do For You? Otherwise I Must Be Off, The World Is Always In Peril Somewhere”
“Saving Grace, aka Grace Dawkins of 187 Felson St, Lincoln?”

She dropped to the ground so fast and heavy that the tarmac of the roof cracked. “Alright, shitbreak, what the fuck’s going on? And don’t even think about it, you, or I’ll pull your heart through your ears…” She thrust a hand out at Jeremiah as he put a hand inside his coat. Jeremiah slowly withdrew his hand and folded his arms.

“Quite simple, Miss Dawkins, now we’ve identified you then I now have to place you under arrest under section 2a of the Centrepoint Commission’s Rules of Dimensional Travel. I’m Jacob Phillips and this is Jeremiah Storm, we’ll be taking you home now.”
“This is my home now, this world needs me”
“No miss.” He said, matter-of-factly “This world has no place for you. Superheroes do not belong here, if they did you wouldn’t be the only one. But you are, and you’re not needed here”
“My ass, you saw that thing, they come along once a week, lizards, moths, robots, slime. They need me” she was getting quite offended now.
“They’ve been dealing with them for decades now without any help from you. You being here just stops them from being able to defend themselves. If you’d come over just for a sight seeing trip then it could have gone un-noticed and no-one would care, but you’re here and making a splash. You’re getting noticed and that’s why we’re here and we can’t have that. So I need you to give us your key and come with us.”
“You can get stuffed. I’m not going anywhere with you or your silent pal Stormy over there, and from how it looks to me, you’re in no position to demand anything. I think we’re done here, and you can shove the Centrepoint Commission’s Rules of Dimensional Travel up your ass and bounce on them, you got me?”
“Miss Dawkins… Grace, I’m asking you one last time. You have to come back with us.”
“Or….?”
“Or we’ve got to make an example of you to stop people from doing this again”
“Not a chance, now I’m gonna go, and if I see your faces again I’m gonna declare you as supervillains and have you encounter an accident or jail right here, capiche?”

With a salute and a smile, she took two quick bounds to the edge and leapt off into the air.

It took her at least 10 seconds to plummet the 102 floors to the ground. Jeremiah went over to the balustrade and looked down.

“You know, even at this distance, that’s not pretty”
“I never expected it to be. I’d say it works though. How about you?”
“Looks like…” Storm reached into his inside pocket and brought out a little silver case. As he pressed a button on the front a red light on it stopped blinking and turned to green. “.. Aaaand we’re done. Fancy a beer?”
“Sure, let me dump the flares over the side and we’re gone.”

One second there were two men standing on a roof. One was smoking. Next second, there was just an empty roof.