Crisis In Infinite Plexes - Anomaly Three

v.Reunion

Suki blind-fired two rounds through the window, glass shattering outwards and inwards, the attackers' weapons appeared to be using normal bullets this time, just lots of them, shredding the curtains, chewing up the bed, the opposite wall. She was talking with them, two shots like nodding politely during conversation, letting them know that she was still hearing them, still paying attention – Max once told her that gunfights were just another form of communication, usually an argument, but they could also be a debate or a confession or a lecture or even therapy, and that all the standard techniques of active listening applied. So Suki was listening and replying while she was also trying to puzzle out why they had reverted to standard ammo after using those weird mind-guns before, trying to understand the point they were trying to make... And she was also waiting for Max to come out of the bathroom, Joy and Pain blasting, a moment she had waited years for, except that Joy and Pain, like the Godhammer, had yet to manifest during any shifts and Max, despite the spectacular eruption of violence in the motel room, was still nowhere to be seen.

“I'm going to check on him!” Angst shouted from where she was crouched beside the bed, holding a scavenged hunting rifle instead of her uzis. Suki had missed this, when they all became borderline telepathic during combat. She blind-fired another three rounds, interjecting to change the flow of the exchange.

Angst had not kept up with her cheerleading but she could still round off a wicked one-handed cartwheel that had her at the bathroom door in a smooth second, then slipping through.

No Max.

And a pause in the enemy's gunfire, a moment of silence while they gathered their thoughts, prepared to articulate the real point that they were trying to make. Suki reloaded; she was pretty sure that she knew what they were going to say.

Angst looked at the empty tub. Her heart was aching. Her cellphone buzzed.

Suki shouted, “Here they come!”

The gunfire resumed, more intense. Angst answered.

A voice she didn't recognize. Bullets started splintering the bathroom door. “Beware the Morganfokker.”

“Who is this?” she asked. “Professor?”

Suki was shouting something. The voice said, “What the KLF is going on?”

“Max?”

“To be continued.”

Suki was still shouting, gunfire like thunder. Angst shouted into the phone, “WHO IS THIS?”

The motel room went quiet. The voice said, “This is Control. Is Max there please?”