Visionary

Chapter 11: Revenge and Rescue

After an hour or so, Thomas and the rest of the Guard apprentices had to leave. They hadn't found anything. He and Valerie had decided to meet there every Thursday, the day when Sir Rent always made the Guard apprentices do research. Valerie had walked home through the rain. The route from the library to Oliver's underground warehouse was new to her, and passed by The Ocean. The Ocean bordered Washington City, huge waves of blue water, fish lurking in the depths. The rain had pattered against it, and it was a sea of ripples.

The only other areas of land visible from the shore were a tiny, seemingly deserted island bordered by black towers that had been there for who-knows-how-long, and a fairly big island which was nearly all mountain. On top of the huge peak was the impenetrable Fort Titanium, owned and built by President Weatherford himself. No one knew what he kept in there except, of course, himself and few officers.

Valerie had returned, told Oliver about her reunion, returned the Chameleon Band to the workbench, and then had gone to bed just as the city's blue lights were activated, Shadow on her pillow.

She woke up outside of the warehouse entrance on a particularly sunny day. She stood up, confused-- until she noticed the young Paul, Ed, and Jonathan opening the entrance. She leapt up excitedly. Now she could finally find out what the Midnight's Wrath was! She followed Paul, Ed, and Jonathan down the ladder, marveling at how new the warehouse looked compared to the present version. Polished silver and blue lights decorated it, and in the middle of the room stood the familiar round table, containing a silver, blue-glowing sphere. The Midnight's Wrath. The tall, shaggy-haired man-- Kresco, was waiting for them.

"So you said the project was finished, Mr. Kresco?" questioned Paul as he eyed the Midnight's Wrath.

"Yes, it is," agreed Kresco. "It has a name as well. Midnight's Wrath."

"Fitting," commented Ed, observing the sphere, impressed.

"The plan is all set, Paul?" asked Kresco.

"I know where to put it, and The Midnight's Wrath seems to be ready, so yes, it is indeed."

"There's another perk to it," said Kresco. "I used antigravity placements to make it light as a feather."

Paul thought for a moment. "Hmm...the antigravity Midnight's Wrath combined with the Chameleon Band should help us pull this off."

Kresco paused, fiddling with the handle of one of his hammers. "Paul, what exactly is the reason you're forcing me to build a doomsday machine?"

"President Greene will pay," said Paul simply. "He'll see his precious city destroyed for what he did to my father."

"Paul, I'm sorry, but Jason Nightman was a murderer. Can you really blame President Greene for his actions?"

"He may have been a murderer," began Paul, turning away. "But he was still my father." He walked slowly towards Kresco, talking quietly. "Are you saying you want out of this operation, Kresco? You know what'll happen if you back out now." Kresco's eyes widened. "No, not at all. Take the Midnight's Wrath and go." Valerie had a feeling that Kresco really did want out of the operation, but simply had no choice but to follow along.

"So it's revenge that Paul wanted," thought Valerie, watching Paul grab the Midnight's Wrath and beckon Ed and Jonathan to follow him. Valerie followed the three criminals out of the warehouse and back to the sunny streets. She noticed something in peripheral vision and turned around to see Kresco sneaking away, seeming very fearful. Her vision started fading away again, and she wasn't surprised this time. However, she was surprised a moment later when she appeared somewhere else, a dark room containing two machines-- and three people. She gazed with interest when she recognized one of them as President Weatherford. The other man seemed very old, and he was lying on the ground, seemingly too feeble to walk. Suddenly, the old man lunged at Weatherford, causing the third man to shoot him with a tech gun. The old man was dead.

The third man opened the door to the room, and Valerie gasped when she saw another Officer escorting Peter, the new Host, inside. Peter seemed panicked.

"Why's there a dead guy here?" he asked.

"Never mind that," dismissed Weatherford. "Now it's time for you to do your job. Strap him in, officers." The two officers strapped a struggling Peter into the machine, hooking him up to an IV.

Weatherford rushed to something that looked like a control panel. "Hurry!" he shouted. "We've only got a couple minutes left." Weatherford then proceeded to close the cylinder, then hurried and locked it using the diamond key the Masked Man had stolen. Weatherford turned towards the officers and tossed the diamond key to one of them.

"Make sure that gets to Fort Titanium ASAP," he commanded as the group of three left the room, leaving Peter trapped inside the glass cylinder.

Her vision faded away once again, and she woke up so abruptly that Shadow yowled and scrambled off of her pillow in surprise. Oliver heard the racket and peered inside.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Not really," she responded. The first vision of the night had been expected-- the continuing saga of Paul Nightman-- but the second vision had been completely unexpected, and must have happened very recently. Valerie decided she trusted Oliver enough to tell him about the visions, and she related the entire saga of Paul Nightman that she knew to him.

"Well, Paul seems like a shady guy," Oliver commented when she had finished. "So does that Midnight's Wrath project. And Peter being trapped by President Weatherford isn't great either. The only question-- how are all of these events linked?"

Valerie thought for a moment. "Maybe the cylinder Peter was locked in has to do with The Midnight's Wrath. Although I don't know how-- it seems like The Midnight's Wrath is just a bomb that was supposed to completely destroy Washington City as it was being built."

"Weird," said Oliver. Shadow had returned and was now sleeping in Oliver's lap.

How was Peter linked to The Midnight's Wrath when it had happened so long ago?

***

Paul and Ed Nightman still hid deep in that dark alley while Paul recovered from decades in the most guarded prison in the entire city.

"Well," Ed began, watching Paul attempt painfully to exercise, "What are you planning to do once you're ready?"

"Even though President Greene is dead, said Paul in between push-ups, President Lloyd Weatherford is his successor, and Washington City will still pay." He sat up.

"We must activate the Midnight's Wrath."

"How? We both know it's hidden deep below The President Spire," Ed reminded him.

"Yes, but I have a plan for that, too," replied Paul ominously.

***

"There's another thing, though," said Valerie. "President Weatherford told one of the officers to bring the Diamond Key to Fort Titanium, and that key may be the only way we can save Peter."

Oliver's eyes widened. "Do you know what you're suggesting?"

"Yes."

"First of all, Fort Titanium is quite a ways down the Ocean. We'd need a boat. And second of all, it's one of the most heavily armed and guarded places IN THE COUNTRY."

"Yeah, but we can still do it."

"No, we can't," he denied.

"Yes, we can," she insisted. "It's the only way."

"It's not the only way, there's still the off chance that one could fall from the sky in our exact spot."

"Emphasis on 'off chance'."

"Well," Oliver began, conflicted. "I do have some Tech Guns in the back room. And we have the chameleon band...and a boat wouldn't be too hard to make. Okay, I'll do it as long as you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Of course I do."

"There's a chance we could die."

"There's a chance we could not die."

"Okay, then," Oliver agreed, shrugging. He left Valerie's room and started work on a boat strong enough to sail The Ocean. He looked behind his shoulder.

"Besides, I've always wanted to see Fort Titanium in person."