… Imagine what a dozen or so jokers-turned-aces might be able to accomplish."
"Especially with Bloat telling us what to do."
"Especially." Bloat smiled.
[Evan, you can't allow this…]
Evan ignored John's pleading. [David, you promised me. Right?]
[Hey, man. I keep promises. Don't worry.] [Then go ahead and jump. I'll take Dominant.] Patty struggled in their arms, biting and clawing uselessly against Oddity's compelling strength. "We'll talk, Bloat," Oddity said. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's time to organize a little. But in a second, when I'm back in my own skin."
"What about Oddity?" Kafka interjected, looking worried.
"I agree with my counselor, David," Bloat said. "I thought Patty would help us control it. Perhaps Oddity's simply too dangerous."
[Evan?]
[Just give me a body, David. Like you promised.] "It'll be cool," David told them. "Don't worry about Oddity."
Inside Oddity, there was a moment of chilling vacancy [… Evan!
…] and then Patty was back, stunned and falling almost immediately to Passive as John made a last desperate attempt to take Dominant.
Evan shoved him back contemptuously. David's eyes had closed. Now they opened again and looked up at Oddity and the hidden face behind the mesh. "Hey, man. You can let me go now."
[John? Patty? I love you both. I'm sorry.] [Evan-]
[We understand we do…]
Oddity's hands came up. One was Patty's now, one John's. In a swift movement they grasped either side of David's head.
With all of Oddity's power they twisted savagely. The snap of the neck breaking was very loud. Oddity let the body crumple to the floor. They spread their hands wide, closing their eyes for the last time and waiting for Bloat to give the order, waiting for the bullets to shred their shared body.
[Good-bye Patty, John. I do love you.] It never happened.
Bloat was staring at David's body. Kafka watched Bloat. The joker guards' weapons were pointing at them, ready.
Bloat only gave a brief sigh.
"David was my key. He was willing to listen to me, to share in my dream. If you were Golden Boy or Peregrine or just another ace, I wouldn't hesitate," he told them, still looking at David's body. "But not the Oddity. Not people who know the pain of being a joker."
The tiny head on the mounded body closed its eyes. The body rippled and more bloatblack oozed from the body. The smell of corruption was strong in the room.
"Get out," Bloat told them savagely. "Get out before I change my mind."
Dutton finally opened the back fire door and stood blinking into the Jokertown dawn. The noseless, living skull face yawned. He tugged the cord of his silk bathrobe tightly around his waist.
" Oddity." He sounded relieved. "I was worried. I'd called some people I knew-"
"We came to work."
"Evan?" Dutton glanced at the hands-for the most part, they were chocolate brown and long-fingered. Dutton stepped away from the door and let the cloaked figure enter, then shut and locked the door behind them. The museum seemed gloomy after the sunshine. "It's six in the morning. What happened? Where's Patty?"
"Here. Passive for the moment. John's with us, too. It's over, Charles. We-I-was wrong. We wanted to tell you."
"Wrong?"
"About endings. Maybe things do occasionally work out. The leader of the jumper gang's dead, Charles." Behind the mask, Oddity laughed, full and loud. The gaiety sounded very strange to Dutton. "It doesn't solve everything," Oddity continued. "Probably not much at all."
"But it's one little change for the good. A few less atrocities the nats will be able to blame on us, one less excuse they can use to oppress people affected by the wild card."
"And you? What about Oddity?"
"It still hurts. But one of us got out, at least for a bit. We can think of that and hope that maybe-someday-the rest will change."
Oddity sighed.
Under the heavy cloak, shapes came and went.
"You got any cake, Charles?" they said. "It's our birthday."
My Name is Nobody by Walton Simons
Jerry walked up the stone steps into the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. He hadn't been inside a church in over thirty years. His parents had exposed him to their religious preference, which was Episcopalian, but had let him stop going after he continually went to sleep during the service. David had been Catholic, though. At least the building had a late-Renaissance look that was less forbidding than the usual Gothic stuff.
Jerry slipped in and sat behind Kenneth and Beth. They wouldn't recognize him, though. He was wearing an old look, with sagging flesh, bad posture, and gray hair. Jerry hoped he could pick up a comment from Beth saying she missed him, but they sat silently through David's eulogy. Jerry wanted to stand up and tell everyone that the man they were mourning was a bad one by anyone's standards, let alone a devout Catholic's. That David was behind the "jumper" crimes and deserved exactly what he got. Jerry wanted to, but he didn't. First off, if there was a God, he/she/it would not be impressed. Second, he didn't have any proof. That chapped him plenty. All those months of detective work and he had nothing to show for it. Nobody except Tachyon would ever know he'd found David out, and Tachyon was all for secrecy.
Jerry glanced across the aisle at St. John Latham. The attorney put his hand to his mouth and coughed. There was strain in his neck and his face was pale. He was breathing in an even, but forced manner. Latham shook his head, then reached in his coat pocket and dabbed at his eyes. Jerry wanted to bend over the pew and get Kenneth and Beth to look Latham's way. They wouldn't believe the tears any more than Jerry did. St. John was the original iceman.
Latham stood, left his pew, and headed for the back of the church. Beth and Kenneth were still focused on the minister. Jerry hobbled after Latham down the church's central aisle. He had to move slowly to stay in character and Latham was nowhere to be seen when he entered the foyer.
A young kid stood at the door to the men's room. He was wearing a new black suit and had obvious blackheads all over his face. Jerry headed for the men's room, wheezing.
"Sorry, old man," the kid said as Jerry approached the door. "It's occupe right now"
"My medication," Jerry said, beginning to shake. "I'll die."
The kid made an unhappy face. "Oh, all right. But don't be long."
Jerry heard a man sobbing in one of the stalls as he stepped in. He didn't have to see the face to know who it was. Latham was blubbering like he'd lost his own son. Jerry began running water to wash his hands. The crying tapered off. After a few moments the person inside blew his nose. Jerry turned off the water and reached for a towel. Latham stepped out of the stall.
"He was a fine boy," Jerry said.
"Yes, very fine indeed." Latham turned on the faucet and splashed water on his face. His eyes were completely bloodshot. He left before Jerry could say anything else.
Jerry stepped outside in time to see him leaving with the kid.
Something was definitely up.
Jerry savored his last bite of Imperial Duck, chewing it slowly. He'd had to let his belt out a notch already, and it was getting tight again.
"God, that's good," Jerry said.
Kenneth nodded. "Oh, yeah. I'm glad you didn't back out at the last minute."
"It's not you I'm mad at." Jerry took a sip of his hot tea and reached for his fortune cookie.
"Do you enjoy being mad at her?" Kenneth asked, his voice flat and nonjudgmental.
"I don't know. I just feel like she came down unnecessarily hard on me. I don't need that right now" Jerry cracked open his cookie and pulled out the fortune. He paused a moment to read it.
"What does it say?"
"'You will overcome many hardships,"' Jerry said. " I don't think I like that. It means I'll have to deal with them."
"On the plus side, maybe it means you and Beth will get things sorted out. That would certainly go a long way toward making me happy." Kenneth read his fortune and wrinkled his brow.