Big Trouble in Little Dock

Chapter 6

"Fuck. He really is police," the tall, unflappable, Caucasian gang leader commented as he saw Markus's police paraphernalia.

Just from demeanor alone, Markus knew he had to be high up in the organization. Perhaps even the kingpin, judging from the sudden silence and deference when he had walked in the room.

They had tied Markus and his particularly tall, attractive Indian friend securely to some wooden chairs. His now smashed police radio, badge, and gun were resting on a table.

"Long way away, though. LAPD. Must be something precious you're after here. We're just some dock workers doing business."

The man was smooth as silk. His speech, even in their slangy accent, was refined, his confidence unshakable.

"Yeah. Dock workers who tie up people and interrogate them, no doubt," Markus spat.

"WHERE'S MY COUSIN!" Titaness blurted out.

"Shh!" Markus hissed. But it was too late.

"Cousin, huh?" Their captor didn't miss a beat. Intelligent too. "Sounds like we got ourselves a good hostage here, boys!"

"So you admit it!" Markus declared.

"Ain't you supposed to be a detective? Ain't dicks supposed to be smart? You think I'd be here talking to you in person if..."

"If you weren't planning to kill us," Markus completed his thought.

"Long way from home," the gang leader grinned, his teeth straight and gleaming. "And these waters are awful choppy. It'll be a minute before anyone finds you. And we'll be long gone by then..."

Titaness had already begun growing larger as Markus tried to goad as much information out of them as possible.

"And the hostages? The girls?"

"Oh, we ship them all over. Hungary. Dubai. It's so easy to tell a Trace from a normal, once you've had enough practice. There's just that... something, how do the French say it? About them. That... mmm!" He licked his lips for show, really driving a stake into their hearts. "It makes them so... desirable. Enough for people to pay a pretty penny for them."

"And her cousin?"

The leader spat. "You think I know who that is? Why the fuck would I care about that? But if she's particularly close to you, I could give her some... special attention."

The whole crew laughed, whooping and hollering.

"That's... that's Titaness!" A strangely pretty, waifish, out of place woman pointed. She was dressed in all black, with black face paint all over her pale face. "She's a core member of the Golden Guard!"

"What!?" The leader looked to his female henchwoman who'd issued the warning. "We got a fuckin' superhero in here!? They working with police!?"

Titaness effortlessly ripped apart the scratchy rope that was binding her wrists as she grew. Her head burst through the roof, raining rubble down upon them.

Markus was long forgotten as he got up and attempted to hop away, still tied to his chair. The gang members had all drawn their guns and were pointing at Titaness. Those who weren't shielding themselves from the falling roof, at least.

"GIVE ME BACK KAREENA!" Titaness screamed as she lifted her foot.

The last thing the gang leader saw was the bottom of her silky soles before she crushed him into paste underneath her foot, grinding her heel to make sure he was well and truly pulped.

"Oh fuck! Boss!??!"

All of the gang members opened fire.

"Everyone, get out! You don't stand a chance!" The petite woman immediately tried to take charge. Those nearest her acknowledged her words, but her voice didn't carry over the sound of rapid gunfire. Not like the man whom Titaness had just stomped.

But Markus made a mental note of it. She appeared to be second in command. And she was composed and decisive.

Titaness shielded herself from the bullets with her arm. At her current maximum size, the metal pellets merely stung. They would leave some welts, but she would be fine within a few days.

She grabbed one of the shipping containers within reach and twirled it until it was facing long-side down. Using it as a huge mallet, she brought it up and through the roof before crushing the fleeing gang members as if they were ants.

One by one, she squashed the people who had dared to threaten Markus and kidnap her cousin. Bloody red stains and lumps of unrecognizable flesh dotted the building floor, covered up by huge chunks of plaster and wood.

The woman now in command fled, surrounded by a group of other thugs who were clearly protecting her.

The sound of gunfire could be heard all around the dock. The sun was starting to come up.

"Titaness! Free me! We need to go after her! She's important!" Markus yelled.

Titaness leaned down and broke apart the chair that Markus was bound to and left him to his own devices. He could take care of himself.

"Kareena! Kareena! Where are you!" Titaness yelled as she crashed through another side wall of the building.

"Officer down! Officer down!"

"Fuck you pigs!"

"Ahhh!"

It was a pure firefight now. Titaness stomped across the arena, flattening gang members by shoving large containers onto them, swatting them with her hands, or stomping them to death with her strides.

"Titaness! Titaness! Stop!" Markus yelled at her, but she was too far gone in her rampage.

"Where's my cousin!?" she screamed.

The sound of a crane operating caught Titaness's ear.

"Stop! Stop loading that ship!" She ran her way over.

The ship already had four containers on it, about to be five.

"Drop it!" The goth-looking woman from before commanded.

"And lose this shipment?!" cried out the operator.

"Yes! You don't drop it, we lose everything! Boss is gone! I'm in charge now!"

He let the crane tilt and watched as the container full of slaves began to tip and slide.

"Nooooooo!" Titaness made a running leap to catch the precious crate of potentially kidnapped girls.

She heroically grabbed the container, trying to be careful about not jostling it too much as she stood knee deep in the shallow ocean. Bullets pinged off of her exposed back. She winced and bore the pain as she set the long rectangular tube down gently along the dock.

All the while, the henchwoman had her eyes closed, her hands crossed in a hex, and was muttering some dark incantation. A dark blob of energy flowed out of all of the corpses of the deceased that littered the dock, congealing between the dark sorceress's hands into a pure bolt of maleficent energy.

"Titaness! Look out!!!" Markus cried out as he took aim with his trembling hands at the henchwoman.

The bolt of energy fashioned into a wickedly barbed spear, its portent tip pulsing ominously. She let the projectile fly with one final incantation, opening her black, soulless eyes wide, dark aura blazing.

Markus squeezed the trigger twice. His aim was true. Both shots pierced the sorceress in the heart.

She gasped in pain as her burning, blurry glow began to fade. But with one last effort of will, she put her own soul into the deadly bolt, fashioning a black feather at the end of her arrow before expiring.

It was all over in an instant. Her bolt struck Titaness in the back as she had just begun to stand up. She screamed in pain, but only for a moment. Then her eyes closed, and she fell forward, face first, onto the concrete docks. Unconscious, she began to shrink, stopping at double her civilian size.

"Titaness! Titaness!!!" Markus screamed as he made his way over.

"Cathy! Cathy, are you okay!" he sobbed as he cradled his girlfriend. Her pulse was faint, but it was still present. Just barely.

The police had the smuggling boat surrounded. They licked their wounds and began to open the containers. Kareena was not among them.

Chapter 7

"Shit! Fuck! Cyka blyat!"

Raceway was huddled over Titaness's limp body. She was dressed in her superhero outfit, along with an out-of-place looking backpack full of her sugary snacks.

"You are her friend? Markus?"

"Yes," he nodded, tears still falling from his eyes.

"What happened? I came as fast as I could. It is long distance for me... sorry I am late."

"There was this... paranatural. I don't know what she did. It looked like... black magic. I shot her dead, but it was too late." He pointed at the dark wound that was festering in Titaness's flesh.

"Fuck. I am calling Marathon."

Marathon was dressed in his blue and red uniform with his yellow emblem of a man running on his chest. His superpowered apex girlfriend, Melody Park, flew by his side.

"We're getting close, Melody. Here, hang onto me. Just act like you can't fly or something."

"We really need to get our story straight," she rolled her eyes as she flew into his arms. He carried her, pressing the long legged, busty, slender Korean-American witch against his burly chest.

Well, this wasn't so bad.

Melody wrapped a slim arm around the back of his neck and held on like a damsel in distress. She chuckled at his mask, admiring his thick beard, knowing that underneath that sleek latex hid underneath a shiny, bald head.

"Something amusing?"

"Just you. Thinking about jumping your bones when we finish up here. You know you're no match for me, right? And that's your own damn fault," she sniggered.

"Melody, this sounded serious. Raceway never texts me on the emergency line unless it's serious."

"Hey, I said after, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah," he brushed her off. "One more thing..."

"I know, I know. No magic. Don't wanna upset the unwashed masses." Melody sighed.

The two made the trip from San Francisco to San Diego in two hours. The police appeared to be arguing amongst themselves. And at the center of it... was that Markus, their liaison?

He saw a blue blur that heralded Raceway. That's how she managed to get his attention from above. She led his eyes with her streak of color, leading him to Titaness's body.

"Titaness!!"

Marathon flew over as fast as he could.

"Oh shit..." Melody was no longer playful.

"Raceway! What happened! Is she alive?"

"She was hit. With... magic. She is alive. Can your friend help? You said she has some paranatural investigative abilities?"

"Yes, let me take a look," Melody stepped in.

"Very, very pretty," Raceway whispered to Marathon.

"Not now, Raceway. Let's give my friend some space," he looked knowingly at Melody. "What's going on with the police?"

"They are trying to decide what to do. Titaness went... she killed a lot of people. Bad guys. But still."

"What!? She was always impulsive, but..."

"They took her cousin. Is blood, like sister. Her closest family."

"Shit."

"Police are discussing if they should arrest her as well after taking her to a hospital. But paramedics have come and don't know what to do."

"Let's go talk to the police and Markus. Maybe he can help us sort this out."

"He is fighting them for us. Trying to put her into our custody."

"God..."

The two made their way to the crowd of police.

"Is your friend alright?" one of the officers asked.

"Yes, please, is she alright?" Markus chimed in desperately.

"We don't know yet. But she's breathing. That's something," Marathon declared assertively.

Markus turned away to hide his disappointment.

"Marathon, Titaness may have broken a lot of laws today. I'd say there's bodies everywhere, but it's more like... stains, not corpses. We may need to detain her once she's healthy. Detective Shi has been arguing to release her into your custody for now. We understand your Golden Guard has a good reputation back home, but to us, you're just a bunch of masked vigilantes. You'll need to answer to the law."

"Sorry Marathon, it's the best I could do," Markus added.

"Thank you. I understand. We shall see what happens when Titaness is recovered. Due process will be observed."

"We leave her in your care for now. Good luck."

The SDPD rolled out. The slave girls had long since been unloaded, and any surviving gang members had been rounded up.

"You're not going to release her to them, are you?" Raceway asked when it was only Markus and Marathon remaining.

"You can't!" Markus yelled.

"I... I don't know," Marathon sighed. "We'll get the best lawyers."

"I thought she was your friend! A teammate!" Markus continued.

"Detective Shi, please calm down. I have no desire to see Titaness in handcuffs. But we must show we are not above the law..."

"Aren't you!?" he yelled. "If people want the good that you do, they may have to accept the reality that you are human too! You can't just let those meddling bureaucrats throw Titaness into the system! You can't!"

"Detective Shi, please calm down," Raceway interrupted.

She'd always had a way with words and tone. Both men, quite a bit larger, simmered down.

Melody took the brief window of silence to trot her way over, remembering not to fly.

"What have you discovered?" Raceway asked.

"Please, tell me she's okay!" Markus whined.

"She's... I don't know. Marathon, can I talk to you? In private?"

"Yes, Ms. Park."

The two walked back to Titaness's body. Her wound was festering and looking blacker than ever.

"Zack. That's a fucking death curse."

"A... what!?"

"I recognize some of the symptoms in my auntie's spellbook. This is some of the blackest magic. Powered by souls of the departed. I need to take her to my apartment. You need to make some sort of excuse for this to happen."

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Can you heal her?"

"I don't know, Zack. I don't know."