“Hey, Jim,” Jack called out without warning. “You okay, fella? You need some help?”
I ignored his taunting and instead focused on getting out from under the solar panels. With a little effort, I was confident that I could lift the racking enough to shimmy out, but it would take a little time, and certainly make noise. Needless to say, noise of any type was bound to bring Jack on the double, and I wasn’t sure I could get away before he reached me. (And I had no illusions about what would happen if my evil twin got his hands on me again. Forget “game on.” It would be “game over.”)
“Come on, Jim,” Jack went on as he continued to walk forward. “This is getting old. You can only evade me for so long.”
I kept silent, but he was more right than he realized. He was walking a path that ran right next to what had been the top of the solar array, and I was pinned at the top of that same structure. In short, if he kept walking, he was going to run right into me.
“Say something, Jim,” Jack said, continuing to step in my direction. “My nose tells me you were close by when I brought these solar panels down. If you’re hurt, there’s no need to suffer. I can put you out of your misery. Even if you’re not, staying quiet isn’t going to throw me off your trail – you’re upwind of me.”
I wanted to scream in frustration. The wind was blowing from me to him, taking my scent (for lack of a better term) to him, which meant he was probably locked in on me. Not for the first time, I wished I’d brought a weapon with me – a submachine gun or something along those lines, regardless of whether or not Jack could be hurt by it.
Fighting a growing sense of desperation, I looked around but didn’t see anything nearby except shards from broken solar panels. Casting my gaze farther, I didn’t see anything in close proximity that could help – and then my eyes lit upon something potentially useful.
Not far from where I lay was one of the AC units Jack had knocked free earlier. It was leaking water that had pooled in a small recessed area near the top edge of the fallen solar panels. In addition, a shorn piece of electrical cable with exposed wiring extended from said panels to the water. If Jack kept walking along his current path, he’d step right into that electrified pool.
In short, Jack’s own actions had created a potential weapon that could be used against him.
Once Jack stepped in the water, the ensuing electrical shock would hopefully – at the least – disorient him, as Electra had done in the teen lounge. At that point, I’d have to act fast. I needed to squirm free, locate the syringe, and then find a way to inject him without getting shocked myself (assuming he hadn’t recovered by then). Taken altogether, it was a heady project to attempt without my powers.
With the thought of my abilities, my mind turned to Mouse. My mentor had said he’d try to fix the nullifier, and I was tempted to reach out to him telepathically, but decided against it. Communication with me would only distract him.
The sound of metal banging on metal – Jack’s makeshift white cane striking the solar panel array – brought me out of my reverie. And then my eyes widened as a new thought occurred to me.
What if Jack banged the metal pipe against the solar panel just as he stepped in the water? What if, while still in the water, he collapsed against the solar panels? I was currently pinned down by that self-same structure, and not too far from where the electrified water had pooled. I suddenly realized that there was a very real possibility I could get electrocuted.
Now gravely concerned, I started to feel an overwhelming need to get out of my current predicament, but how? Jack was closer now than he’d been a few minutes earlier. If I didn’t think I could wriggle free before he reached me then, the odds were much less favorable now.
With nothing to lose, I started cycling through my powers again, hoping something useful would work this time. For instance, if I could phase, any potential electric shock wouldn’t harm me. Unfortunately, phasing didn’t work. Neither did telekinesis. I then reached for teleportation again and – surprisingly – felt something there. However, it seemed a bit…off, in a way I didn’t understand, but I was so overjoyed at having a life-saving power back that I just chalked up any odd sensations to the blow I’d taken to the head.
Feeling better than I had since starting this mission, I prepared to teleport out from under the solar panel, and then stopped.
Thanks to his super-sniffer, Jack was locked in on me. If I teleported, my scent would immediately go with me. More to the point, Jack probably wouldn’t keep going – that is, step into the electrified water – if he didn’t still think he was headed to me. On my part, I felt like I needed the advantage I’d gain by him getting shocked.
In short, I had a bit of a dilemma: I needed to stay in place in order for Jack to become vulnerable, but I needed to get away to avoid any risk of electrocution. It wasn’t possible to do both, unless I found a way to lay down a false trail of blood, sweat, and tears (and whatever else he could smell on my skin) for Jack to follow. And with that, I got an idea, based on something Mouse had said.
According to my
