Myke Phoenix 6: The Puzzle of the Talking Dinosaur

Act 5: Volucris ex machina

As he ran, Myke Phoenix realized he was limping. He looked down at the unfamiliar sight of a large gash in his thigh. This wasn't going to do.

He stopped and ripped the right sleeve off his tunic, quickly fashioning it into a tourniquet on his leg. Like the day Alan Pinkstaff was murdered, he could easily follow the path the talking dinosaur must have taken – although unlike that day, this time the path was strewn with the occasional wounded person, slashed at random as the horrible beast ran toward whatever sanctuary she was seeking.

Down the streets of Astor City he ran, until he saw her a block ahead and screamed "DEINONYCHUS!"

Two jeeps sped past with helmeted men in brown uniforms, followed by a couple of troop transport trucks. The National Guard was joining the fray. As he began to close the gap between himself and the prehistoric horror, Myke Phoenix saw other military vehicles approaching from the other direction.

The little dinosaur stopped on the sidewalk in front of the marquee for one of the city's handful of skyscrapers. Darting her head birdlike in every direction, she decided going up was the best alternative and hopped up on top of the marquee, then used her claws to start climbing the brick structure.

Myke Phoenix gave a running jump to the top of the marquee. He landed with a THUD and a bullet bounced off his shoulder, knocking him against the wall.

"Hey!" he said, turning toward the sniper on the street who had taken a shot at the scrambling Deinonychus and instead struck the equally lightning-fast superhero. The marksman shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

"What happened to 'Be sure of your shot?'!" Myke hollered.

"I was sure," the sniper called back. "I never had a target move that fast."

No time to dwell. Myke Phoenix looked up to see the dinosaur halfway to the roof and dodging here and there to what nooks and crannies she could find, now that she knew men with rifles were willing to take a shot.

"Why would she trap herself up on the roof?" he mused, then realized with deadly certainty that she was confident she would not be trapped up there. Deinonychus would hold the high ground until her prey was dead, then scurry away and disappear as only she could. "Not gonna happen," he said firmly if not confidently.

And with that, Myke Phoenix braced his mighty legs and took a running vertical leap up to the top of the 23-story building. A sharp twinge as he left the ground reminded him again that a piece of his thigh had been ripped out, and his trajectory took him just shy of the roof. He had to scramble up over the edge before he could stand under the bright blue sky.

She stood on the little structure where the stairs led out onto the roof, tail flicking like a whip. She drew her claws, stained with Kenneth Ronnegan's blood, up to her face and licked them. If a dinosaur could smile, she smiled now.

"Myke Phoenix, protector of Astor City," she scoffed, drawing out the "s" sound so the last word came out "ssssittee." "You have no protection against the likes of me."

"You may be right," he replied, "but I'm going to stop you anyway."

"There is no ssstopping us," hissed the dinosaur. "We already rule this city and this world. You are merely a hindrance."

"Now, see, you seem to be a little confused there," Myke said, strolling almost casually toward the monster with the flicking tail. "You have a lot of people scared, but you don't rule anyone. They just avoid you and go about their business same as always."

"The effect is the same. We are free to do as we please, and they –"

"They have me," said Myke Phoenix, suddenly grabbing her by the tail and pulling her off her feet. The momentum of his grab pulled her off the structure. He swung the little dinosaur around three times and slammed her against the corner of the staircase entrance, crying out at the exertion.