The Library of Powers

Chapter 15 - Part 2

Both of them stumbled even further back. The man was still moving slowly, but that slow was speeding up, uncomfortably so. They could visibly see his run now, legs moving like molasses, arms flailing about.

"Grab the PEZ dispenser," Jackson thought fast, remembering Ivory's frog-faced artifact that kept its subject stationary.

"It doesn't work when we're not at normal speed. Let's exit slowdown and hit him quick," Ivory suggested.

"Ivy, at this level of slowdown, that man is moving faster than the speed of sound."

"Then how come the glass hasn't shattered yet?"

He looked around. Indeed, not even the pane attached to the door-frame, inches away from the man's torso, looked remotely damaged.

"He has more then super speed?" one of them said. In the confusion that followed, Jackson wasn't sure who. In a moment flat he was on the sidewalk. Everything hurt. He looked to his side, Ivy was in a similar situation.

"Indeed, I am not just super fast," The chillingly familiar voice said. Jackson strained to look at the man towering above them. He took off his mask, long blond hair tumbling out. With a wicked grin, the man told them, "I am the master of everything fast."

"It's fucking Qwick," Ivory swore.

"That's Doctor Qwick to you," The man corrected.

Jackson would have expected Dr. Qwick to break into maniacal laughter, but he didn't get the chance. Jackson beat the Supervillain to it, his lungs hurting more with each wheeze. He couldn't contain himself.

"What's wrong with your sidekick, lady?" Dr. Qwick asked Ivy.

Jackson explained himself before she could. "Oh, no, don't mind me. I just can't believe this is actually how I'm going to die. The one person in this city who could get the drop on me. One so out of our leagues it would be pointless to even fight. Just my luck."

"Well, I don't mean to spoil your fun, but I'm probably not going to kill you. Someone has to know who pulled it off. My crime of the century!" He called all his crimes that. "But, so that you don't interfere with my getaway, I am going to have to hit you until you stop breathing."

Jackson looked at his hand. Ivory was somehow still holding on to it. That was a relief. Dr. Qwick pulled out a small metal baton. That wasn't as good. He went for Ivory first, clubbing her over the head unceremoniously. She went limp. "Out so easy?" Dr. Qwick mocked. Jackson's heart pounded. Dr. Qwick went for him. Almost involuntarily, Jackson squeezed Ivory's hand. Weakly, she squeezed back. Was she not actually unconscious? That gave Jackson an idea. He waited for the cudgel to fall. It didn't take long. As Dr. Qwick swung, Jackson entered The Library.

He woke up in Bernard Harbour Public Library, a terrible headache to match his terrible everything-ache. He wondered how Dr. Qwick had swept them to the floor so quickly. Perhaps it was only a few well-placed hits of his baton. Jackson suspected it was less methodical than that. The Supervillain didn't strike him as the type.

Ivory lay on the floor next to him. She seemed in similarly bad shape. "Good thinking," She whispered as if it was all she could do.

He very slowly sat up. "Playing dead with a Supervillain," He rubbed his head, "Thank god being in The Library looks so much like being unconscious."

They sat in silence for a moment. Jackson was unable to come up with a solution to their problem. Perhaps it would be best if they just stayed in The Library until they could be certain Dr. Qwick was gone. It would only take a few days. While they didn't have the camping supplies anymore, they wouldn't have to stay in one place. Jackson knew of a room with a shower a few hours walk away. He could give Ivory his secret hammock, as she was his guest, and he could finally drag some sort of mattress into the room. He looked at Ivory still laying on the floor and knew it wasn't going to happen. They were heroes. He was a hero now.

During Jackson's near incessant ruminations, Ivory was working up the courage to speak. "Hey, if we're about to die, there's something I have to tell you."

"Yeah?" Jackson seemed nonplussed.

"I don't know why I haven't told you yet. I was planning on it, but the right time hadn't come up. When you were showing off your plane, uh, I saw Phoebe Winter. Here, in The Library of Powers."

He shook at the mention. He deep down hoped he'd hallucinated their first encounter. "What did she say?"

"It took some chasing, but I caught her. She told me-"

"Wait, you chased her? She didn't come after you?"

"She didn't seem to really care about me. She was there for you. Did you let her in?"

"Ivy, if I let her in, she would have to exit every time I left."

"I know. Just needed to check. She had something for me to tell you. Do you want to hear it?"

"I don't know. I met her once too."

"I'm not sure if you've put it together yet, but you know my father worked for The Calypsos, and you know Phoebe..."

It dawned on Jackson that he had been a very bad friend. "Shit, Ivory, I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

Ivory waved him off. "She said that you should look into the real Bernard Harbour Public Library. Any idea why?" Ivory stood up and gestured at the shag-carpeted fashion travesty they were in. "Why are you always appearing here, of all places?"

Jackson glanced at the locked door. "We need to promise each other, no more secrets. Something big is going on, and like it or not, we're involved."

"We're a team," Ivory concurred.

Jackson headed to the locked door. He turned the knob, showing Ivory that it was locked. "Only one in the whole Library."

"Shit."

"Yeah. What do you think's behind it?"

"I suspect if we go to the real one we can find out."

"I've been thinking the same thing. In fact, I think this door has moved up to top priority."

Ivory gave him a look. "I think our top priority is stopping Dr. Qwick."

"Do you even think we can?"

Urbanity was gone. Ivory, for the first time in Jackson's brief time knowing her, looked vulnerable. "Probably not."

Jackson looked at the floor. They were helpless.

"We'll go sometime soon." Ivory consoled.

Oh well. He had already examined the new layout of the library, online. It probably didn't even exist anymore. The old floor plans, the ones before the building was renovated, still existed, but what would that do? If only he knew where they were, there had to be a copy of them somewhere in The Library of Powers. The problem was it could be anywhere. He had checked this section, and couldn't find them. And anyway, paper records were nice and all, but seeing it would be... 

Paper. The Library of Powers had so much paper. And they could bring things both out and into The Library. What could they do with all that paper?

Jackson smiled. "I think I might have an idea for distracting Dr. Qwick." He walked over to a nearby bookshelf, carefully looked for the right book, lovingly took it from its place, and viciously tore out a page.

"God, Jackson, I know you're around books a lot, but I didn't realize they were so traumatizing."

"It's a geology textbook, no one will mind." He took the page and folded it. Then folded it again. He made a crude but serviceable paper airplane. "Do you have the pen?"

Ivory unslung her backpack of artifacts and grabbed the glass pen from within. It twirled and twisted up its side, intricate and scary. Ivory thought back to when Jackson had stolen it and set his desk on fire. Good times. "I see where you're going with this. But remember, it won't work if it's not on vellum, and I don't have any on me."

"Oh, I'm counting on it."