Principles of Evil - Act 4
Logan let the bolts of energy fly, backing up. Wehx didn’t seem to feel it, but at least it made him blink. The ground was frozen with each step Logan made, but he knew it wasn’t on his account. It was winter now and the biting wind was making him shiver. The trick of heating his body didn’t work to simply keep him warm. And teleportation was too exhausting to do more than once in such a short period of time. He didn’t want to end up ten feet away but too tired to run.
Logan reached out with an invisible hand and took hold of a mailbox, ripping it from the sidewalk and throwing it at the advancing wolf-demon. The demon didn’t even flinch as the metal box wrapped itself around him and clattered to the street.
Wehx, advanced slowly, intent on backing this man into an alley or somewhere where he could take his time. He didn’t want anyone seeing and giving Wolfram and Hart a harder time than necessary to get him acquitted. He wasn’t an insensitive client.
With a howl he charged, going down on all fours and gnashing his teeth. With a shout of fear, Logan rose suddenly into the air, hovering about twenty feet up the side of the building.
Wehx stopped beneath him, leaping once and realizing he couldn’t reach. He let out a whine of disappointment and pawed at the wall of the building.
Logan struggled to breathe. It was taking all his strength to keep this high. If he let it slip — if he even looked down, he was sure he would fall into the waiting jaws.
Wehx licked his lips. He could wait. Soon the lawyer would tire, then— the demon’s head snapped to the side as Niki’s foot connected with its jaw. She did a back flip out of range as it swung its paws towards her, then rolled to the side as it charged her. She drove her foot under its stomach as it tried to turn towards her mid-charge, making it yelp in pain.
Wehx scampered back and got back up onto two legs. With a snarl of a smile, he looked over to see Logan standing on the street again, one hand against the wall, panting. The demon dropped back onto all fours to charge.
But the Slayer took him in a bear hug, pulling the wolf-thing onto its back. She drove her fist into its throat since she didn’t want to risk getting a took lodged in her knuckle. It whined and she slammed her elbow into its ribs.
Finally Wehx got a hind paw under her and threw her off. She landed hard and he charged, falling on her, tearing at her leather coat with his claws. Then something heavy landed on his back, striking him over and over.
The demon snarled and turned his head from Niki’s defensive arms and caught the mail box to the face. The demon leapt from the fallen Slayer and jumped back a safe distance as Logan raised the bent metal for another swing. Instead he helped Niki to her feet and the two stood panting, waiting for the demon’s next move.
“What did you do,” Niki panted, slowly removing her nearly shredded leather jacket, “to get him so pissed off?”
Logan slowly set down the heavy hunk of twisted metal. “I decided the penal system wasn’t right for him.”
“He’s your client?” she demanded with an incredulous expression. “Did I miss something?”
“Didn’t I tell you I was a criminal defense lawyer now?” both kept their eyes firmly on the hulking wolf which was deciding exactly how to disembowel them both.
“Hm,” Niki said with a raised eyebrow. “You any good?”
Logan slowly turned to look at her. “So far I haven’t really had an opportunity to—”
“Look out,” Niki shoved him out of the way as Wehx chose his moment to attack. He landed on the Slayer and they rolled to the ground, exchanging punches for slashes and bites for curses.
Logan limped away from the pair and doubled over, breathing deeply as he tried to summon power he prayed he still had. With a rush of cold winter wind, he raised his hands and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his pupils had darkened to nearly black and in the quiet street, wind was rushing only around him.
Niki got her hands under the wolf’s chin and held his deadly mouth as far away as she could, while the bulk of his body kept her pinned to the ground. Finally, she got her knee under his ribs and gave him a vicious jerk. A distant rushing soon got louder and Niki tried to look past the twisting wolfish form to see what was making it.
Suddenly the wolf’s body was torn from her own as a huge dark mass swept over them. With an earsplitting crash and the sound of shattering glass, Logan’s small brown car flew a foot off the ground and ploughed into the demon, smashing into the brick wall and pinning him there.
Niki slowly got to her feet, brushing the bits of glass from her clothes and hair. She turned and looked at the remains of the car sandwiching the demon against the wall. Its neck was broken and a faint gurgling was coming from deep in its throat.
She turned and looked towards Logan who was sitting on the cold sidewalk, his head cradled in his hand. She stared at him for some minutes, thinking what to do. Two years ago she wouldn’t have hesitated to go over to him. She would have cradled him in her arms, kissed him. Maybe more. But he wasn’t her addiction anymore. She let her gaze fall and swallowed. With quiet steps she made her way away from the mangled wreck of the car and the mangled wreck of the man and headed for home.
Logan wondered seriously if he would have enough strength in a few moments to draw breath. He tried not to move, tried not to think. Tried not to think about how hard he was trying not to move. His brain felt like an empty vacuum which might implode his skull at any moment.
When thinking became easier, he finally allowed the mess to sink in. So much for taking the law into his own hands. He laughed inside. Who, if not a lawyer, was more justified in taking the law into his own hands? Hadn’t that demon been evil? But it certainly would have won. The injustice in the simple order of nature had made sure of that. Injustice wasn’t just a fact of the system, or even of his place in the firm which thrived in the system. Injustice was the air he breathed and the cruel choices he was given.
The air was thin now and the choices... Logan chuckled and immediately regretted it. His choices were the evil. Choosing virtue got you killed. Choosing good over evil made you evil’s first target.
He slowly tilted his head to search the street for Niki. She was gone. Good. He had chosen her, once upon a time. What an evil that had turned out to be. Chosen to help a seemingly helpless girl. Chosen to be the only one to give her love. How could the cruel divinity which guided the universe possibly let him get away with that choice?
Logan slowly lowered his head so it was cradled by both hands. Soon the police would come to clean up this mess. The result of yet another of his priceless decisions.
Niki rode the elevator in silence, carrying her beloved leather jacket in her arms. It had endured gunshots, knife wounds, teeth, claws and probably a tryst or two. In her weary state she didn’t want to put it back on for fear of shoving her arm out one of the tear holes and making things worse. She laughed. How could things possibly get worse?
She took a breath as the elevator doors opened. Well, for one, Addison could be awake and wondering why his bags were packed with her things. That would certainly make things worse. She wondered as she walked down the hall to her room if she had the chutzpah to just knock him out once and for all. Massaging her shoulder, she realized she probably couldn’t beat up a six year old.
She blinked. Her door was open. She was sure she had—
An officer saw her and called to the others. Soon she was surrounded by uniforms and her arms were being forced behind her back. She was shoved against the wall. Hands moved all over her body, patting her arms and legs and torso. Her jacket was snatched from her grip and she felt metal around her wrists.
Niki Valtaine, you are under arrest for the murder of Megan Brandon. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney...
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