“Not necessarily,” said Malcolm. “Rose and Fantasy grabbed Joab as their hostage again. If they manage to hold out for long enough, the fight might still be ongoing when we get back.”
Tapestry frowned at him.
“How do you know their names?” she asked.
“Uh…” He shrugged. “That’s what they were calling each other. I just overheard them.”
She let it drop, probably for the sake of letting him concentrate. Malcolm sighed. He closed his eyes and tried one more time. Tapestry made a surprised noise.
“You did it!” she said. “Alright! Phew, I was starting panic, to tell you the truth.”
“Uh…” Malcolm shrugged. “I guess I did? It seems like I just… have to have my eyes closed for it work.”
Tapestry stepped toward the portal. Malcolm reached out and grabbed her arm.
“I’m not… positive where this portal leads,” he said.
“Probably to wherever you were just picturing,” said Tapestry. “The casino, right?”
“Yeah, but…” He stepped forward, stepping up to the edge of the portal. The surface of it was shimmering, wavering green, and showing nothing of what lay beyond it. He pushed his head through.
The portal had appeared several hundred feet in the air, giving them a view of the casino from half a mile or so away. Malcolm had been picturing the casino, as portrayed on the tourism pamphlet.
“Hold on,” he said. “Let me–”
“Whoops!” Tapestry took a wrong step in her high heels crashing into Malcolm from behind and knocking them both through the portal.
Why does something always have to go wrong?
Tapestry screamed as she fell, still clad only in her bra and panties. Malcolm called for the wind as soon as he had the mind to, pushing himself toward her with all the speed he could. He grabbed onto her, feeling her legs wrap around him as he held her tight.
“Hold on!” he shouted.
His manipulation wasn’t quite strong enough to let him fly easily, even on his own. With Tapestry in tow, it was barely enough to slow their fall. They hurtled toward the ground at too fast of a speed for a safe landing. Tapestry fingernails dug into his back in terror.
“Why are we still falling?” she shouted.
“I don’t know,” said Malcolm. “How much to do you weigh?”
“Malcolm!”
He gritted his teeth and put more focus into using his power. A part of him was thrilled by the need to push his wind manipulation to its limit. Malcolm felt a rush of excited glee at the sensation, which was only amplified by Tapestry’s mostly naked body clinging to the front of him.
“Think we have time to join the mile-high club?” Malcolm laughed. “Or… two hundred feet high club?”
Slowly, their speed of descent leveled off, until they were falling like two tangled feathers. Malcolm rolled so Tapestry was on top of him. He met her eyes for a moment, seeing both her fear and excitement. He cupped her cheek and gave her a deep, passionate kiss.
Tapestry pulled back at the end of it, shaking her head.
“I’ll let that slide,” she said, sternly. “You need to calm down as soon as we hit the ground.”
“I can think of a few things that would help me.” Malcolm reached his hand up to her cheek again, but she gently slapped it away.
They touched down alongside the road to the casino. Malcolm didn’t have his suit jacket to offer, but did have his dress shirt. He took it off, feeling slightly trashy in his sleeveless undershirt and dress pants. Tapestry pulled on the shirt he offered her, looking a bit like a half-naked secretary after a session of afternoon delight.
“We don’t have any time to waste,” she said. “Can you use a portal to get us back into the theater?”
“You’re barely even dressed,” he said. “Maybe we should regroup?”
“We don’t have time!” snapped Tapestry. “Can you, or can’t you?”
“I think so,” said Malcolm. “But that’s assuming that Golden Joab and the sprytes are still there.”
“It’s worth a shot,” said Tapestry.
Malcolm nodded. He closed his eyes, pictured where they’d been sitting in the theater, and created another portal.
CHAPTER 26
The two of them stepped out into the theater, and into a scene that was almost unchanged from when they’d left it before. Fantasy and Rose had Golden Joab under guard on stage. From the wariness in their expressions, they were still in the middle of a fight, though Jade Portal was nowhere to be seen.
Fantasy immediately opened fire on Malcolm and Tapestry. The two ducked behind the row of seats in front of them, staying low and out of the path of the bullets.
“I’ll distract these two,” said Tapestry. “See if you can get behind them.”
“It’s too dangerous,” said Malcolm.
“Not for you!” she hissed. “Use a portal, stupid.”
“Hey,” said Malcolm. “Easy with the name calling, you big meanie.”
He pictured what he’d seen of the backstage area and made a portal on the floor. Malcolm rolled through it, immediately coming out on stage, just behind Rose and Fantasy.
He was about to tackle Fantasy and get the gun out of her hand when something hit him hard from the side. Malcolm had just enough time to get a glimpse of Jade Portal before being knocked through, unsurprisingly, another portal.
Water immediately soaked his clothes, and only a split second of hesitation kept him from reflexively trying to take a breath. He was underwater, deep enough under for only hints of light to be making it down to him.
Is this how she’s going to try to fight me?
Malcolm closed his eyes, knowing that he only had one shot at making a portal to get back. His lungs were burning by the time he’d pictured the scene of the theater and conjured it up. He swam forward and a little down to go through it.
He fell back onto the stage in a wet heap, feeling like a nearly drowned rat. Jade Portal fell upon him in an instant, fumbling to get an arm around his neck. Malcolm rolled, letting her hold onto him and getting a grip of his own. Another portal burst into existence, and both of them tumbled through it… into the freezing cold.
They were in a polar climate this time. Malcolm screamed the instant he felt the biting touch of the cold against his soaking wet skin. Jade Portal tried to draw back from him, and discovered that she couldn’t. The water drenching Malcolm’s clothes was enough to freeze the two of them together at the points where they’d been in contact.
“Brilliant move!” coughed Malcolm. He made a portal of his own and tipped the two of them through it.
They came out on the other side in the park across the street from Malcolm’s apartment, still frozen together. Malcolm slammed his knee up into Jade Portal’s hip, wincing at the feminine sound of pain she let out.
“Sorry, but until you get up, I’m authorized to attack you,” he muttered. “Even if you’re a woman.”
Jade Portal responded with an elbow of her own, finally managing to twist loose of the ice bond between them. She took a step back and charged at Malcolm. He realized, too late, that she’d created another portal behind them.
They fell through it, and into the open air. Malcolm, twisted, seeing skyscrapers on either side of him and pedestrians the relative size of ants walking below. He frowned, realizing that Jade Portal hadn’t thought through her attack very well.
She thinks this is an easy way to kill me. Teleport in, drop me off, teleport away.
Malcolm called the wind to him, pushing himself toward Jade Portal. He managed to close the distance between them just as she made her escape portal, and tumbled through it with her, back into the Hawktail Theater. He realized that he knew what her weakness was, and smiled to himself.