Act VII – Chapter 20 "Do You Think I'm Pretty?"
Las Vegas. Massive commercial warehouse, industrial zone.
Gwen and Enzo pushed open the manager's office door. A potbellied guy, wrinkled shirt, greeted them with a smile too wide to be honest.
"Inspectors. What brings you here?"
Enzo placed his hands on the desk, direct.
"We're looking for info on a guy nicknamed 'The Supplier.' He's mentioned in several human trafficking reports. You heard of him?"
The manager shrugged, innocent air.
"Never heard that name. We sell furniture here, not people."
Enzo nodded, but leaned discreetly toward Gwen, low enough for only her to hear:
"Can you scout the area? Like last time."
Gwen narrowed her eyes, annoyed.
"Why don't you do it yourself? You have the same power."
Enzo murmured, almost embarrassed:
"I didn't even know that was possible. Me, I just… absorb electricity and blast it. I don't know how you do it."
She sighed.
"Ok. I'll take a look around."
She went out, slightly raising the finger of her good arm, extending her power like an invisible antenna. She walked the aisles, eyes half-closed, listening to the building's electric hum.
Suddenly, she froze. Stressed. Took a step back, then another, toward Enzo.
"There are over a thousand active phones here," she whispered, panicked. "That's not normal. We can't see shit."
Enzo tensed immediately, gaze hard.
"Talk to him. Two minutes."
He calmly walked to a blind spot, pulled out his radio, and started tapping Morse code on the PTT button. Coded, precise.
At headquarters, the operators noted:
"REQUEST IMMEDIATE BACKUP. SPECIAL FORCES."
"Special forces?!" one of them whispered. "Not regular backup?"
They launched the call without waiting.
In the office, the manager stared at Enzo returning, smile intact.
"Everything okay?"
Enzo chuckled nervously.
"Yeah, perfect."
The manager tilted his head, still smiling.
"I heard you made a good find recently."
Enzo felt cold sweat run down his back.
"News travels fast."
"You know… you're on TV."
Enzo blinked, smile frozen.
I was sure it was the commissioner who got interviewed.
Silence.
Their gazes met. Two strained smiles.
The manager pulled his gun.
Gwen reacted in a fraction of a second. She shoved Enzo with her body, plaster arm or not. They bolted.
Men surged from everywhere — aisles, offices, invisible corners.
Chase.
Enzo fired blindly behind him.
Gwen stood and tried to dematerialize, become lightning to escape. The pain from her injuries nailed her to the ground.
"Damn it!" she growled.
A thug appeared on their flank. Enzo blasted raw lightning, sending him flying.
Behind them, another. Gwen fired a discharge from her good hand, covering Enzo.
They kept running, knocking over cabinets, shelves — anything to slow the pursuers.
"What the hell were you trying to do?!" Enzo yelled between breaths.
"Dematerialize!"
"De-what? Is that even possible?"
"You can't do it?! It would help us a lot!"
"How do you do it?!"
"I don't know! Feel the electric flow. Come on, try!"
Enzo focused while running, eyes narrowed toward the end of the corridor.
He turned to lightning — but his trajectory veered. Attracted to a metal cabinet behind them.
BAM. He crashed into it, screaming in pain.
Gwen, back to the wall, unleashed a volley of lightning on the approaching goons.
"Damn it, what are you doing?! This isn't the time!"
Catching his breath, grimacing:
"Ok, ok… cover me. I need to recover."
The situation worsened. Bullets whistling, furniture flying, lightning crackling.
Enzo barely got up, and they resumed their escape, taking cover as best they could.
Bullets flew.
The situation escalated. The thugs multiplied. Bullets flew from all corners of the hangar, ricocheting off metal cabinets, shredding crates.
Gwen and Enzo panted, cornered behind a collapsed shelving unit. Lightning, bullets, shouts. Chaos.
On the other side of town.
Leo pushed open Emilio's office door.
The old boss was doubled over, hand on his chest, coughing as if a lung was about to detach. Purple face, on the verge of collapse.
"Emilio!"
Leo rushed, caught him just before he hit the ground.
Don Javier, catching his breath, raised a trembling hand.
"Thanks, kid… Don't worry."
Leo forced a smile, trying for levity.
"The great mafia mastermind coughing like a teen on his first smoke… You should take care of yourself, old man."
Silence. The two men looked at each other.
Then Emilio let out a rough, broken laugh.
"You're not wrong…"
Leo laughed too, helping Emilio straighten up, back to his chair. He glanced confidently out the window. Below, traffic, pedestrians…
Suddenly, his smile faded.
Civilians running everywhere, screaming, shoving.
"What the…?"
He narrowed his eyes. In the middle of the panic, a man on the ground floor. Shouldered. Rocket launcher. Aimed straight at the office.
"ROCKET LAUNCHER!"
Leo dove onto Emilio, grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to the floor.
"MOVE! NOW!"
"Damn it, it's them—"
"SHUT UP AND RUN!"
They raced down the stairs, Emilio limping, Leo half-carrying him. Diagonals, urgent shouts.
BOOM. The explosion gutted the office behind them. Windows shattered, debris flying.
In the lobby, heavy gunfire. Bullets whistling.
Don Javier, back to the wall, sighed as if commenting on the weather.
"Broad daylight… These idiots have no class."
Leo pulled out his phone, dialed frantically.
Busy. Gwen.
The phone vibrated somewhere, abandoned on the hangar's concrete, amid lightning and bullets.
Gwen and Enzo kept fleeing, out of breath. They knocked over everything in their path — crates, cabinets, anything to buy time.
"When do the backups arrive?!" Gwen yelled, blasting lightning at a pursuer.
"Soon!" Enzo shouted. "Hold them!"
The thugs were everywhere. Bullets flew. They took cover, ran, fired, blasting lightning when they could.
Gwen unleashed a burst of electricity to cover their retreat.
"Enzo! There are too many! In my condition, I can't be as effective as usual!"
"HOLD ON!" he growled, emptying his clip. "We hold!"
Sirens in the distance. Finally.
Backups stormed in — flashing lights, sirens, special forces.
But on the other side of the hangar, enemy reinforcements surged too. Black trucks, masked men, automatic fire.
Total chaos.
Gwen, pinned to the ground behind a gutted crate:
"I can try something… but I won't be able to hide my powers from them. And I could only do it once."
Enzo, last clip in hand:
"Do it!"
A soft voice resonated amid the gunfire.
"You're in a desperate situation, apparently."
Gwen looked up. Lune stood in front of her, white dress intact, wavy hair floating slightly.
Gwen froze for a second.
"It's dangerous here! Take cover!"
Enzo, emptying his clip:
"I'm out! What the hell are you doing, Gwen?"
"I…"
"We move!"
"Wait!"
"What? We don't have time!"
"But she…"
"WHO? Damn it, focus! There's no one!"
Enzo grabbed her arm and pulled. Gwen turned back one last time. Lune walked away calmly, standing in the middle of the firefight, ignoring the bullets whistling around her.
They reached the police barricade, out of breath.
"Inspector Alvarez!" an intervention leader yelled. "The situation is critical on our side too! We're caught in a crossfire!"
"How?!"
"There's a group causing havoc in town. It's really a shit day!"
"What?"
Gwen understood immediately.
"Where?" she cried.
An explosion cut them off. Rocket launcher against police vehicles.
Damn it.
Special forces escalated the threat level. Request for additional reinforcements.
Gwen panicked. Stuck. Unable to dematerialize to check the situation. Then she thought.
Enzo was reloading a machine gun, resupplied by the intervention team, firing bursts.
"Enzo!"
"What, damn it? Stay in cover!"
"You're sure there was no one earlier? You didn't see a girl with wavy hair, white dress?"
"Damn it, Harper, what are you talking about? I'd know if there was a civilian! You think I'm an idiot?"
Gwen thought. Flashback. Zero Program. Among the 50 kids before the purge… some talked to themselves. Played with an "imaginary friend."
"Enzo… do you trust me?"
"Not at all, Harper."
"On this one, you have no choice. Cover me."
"WHAT?!"
Gwen ran. Straight into the battlefield.
Enzo covered her, clumsily, machine gun smoking.
She zigzagged, electric perception accelerated, optimizing every step.
CRACK. Bullet in the leg.
She collapsed but rolled to cover, panting.
"Lune!"
Lune appeared in front of her, unharmed.
"Yes?"
"You're one of us, aren't you? If so… help me."
Lune knelt, soft smile.
"Alright. But it won't be free."
"Your price will be mine."
"Good deal," she concluded.
She leaned in. Very close. Her green-brown eyes locked into Gwen's.
"To lend you my power, I need you to love me."
Gwen, disturbed:
"I don't even know you!"
"You're right."
Lune placed a finger on her cheek, thoughtful.
"But we're short on time. Let's try another way."
She placed her hand on Gwen's cheek. Whispered:
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
Gwen, intrigued, gaze lost in the green eye then the brown one:
"I…"
Lune placed a finger on Gwen's lips then plunged her charming gaze into Gwen's.
"Shhh… no need to answer. The link is established."
CRACK.
An enemy thug surged, gun aimed at Gwen.
Then, without a word, he turned his gun to his temple.
BANG. Instant death.
Gwen, mouth agape, stared at the body.
Lune smiled.