8: Johnny Ballistic - Fault On Both Sides

How was he to know? 

No one tells you that layering up creepy jpegs can knock out the electrical grid for half the city, do they? 

Johnny had realised his mistake as soon as his workshop's systems were back up and running. Avalon Live News were reporting a power cut, which was affecting a rescue operation at the disused Lovington tube station, where Zac Brinkman was apparently on the scene.

Studying the suit's diagnostics revealed an inexplicable energy spike around the same time that Johnny had lined up the images. Coincidentally, Johnny’s public social media account had received a direct message from Natarani's official profile, at the exact same time. 

Johnny’s heart began to race. This was too much. Not only had Zac Brinkman messaged him a couple of days ago, about a possible collab (to which Johnny had, so far, been too scared to reply). But now, Natarani had also slipped into his DMs. Everything was getting way, way too intense!

He read Natarani’s message. It said, 'Mr Ballistic, I need to speak to you about the graffiti image on your profile page. Please respond as a matter of urgency. Regards.' 

Everything was happening far too fast for Johnny to cope with. Whatever the deal was with these creepy symbols, it was enough to make Natarani take notice. Something very weird and very big was going down. 

So, obviously, Johnny wanted out. Immediately.

It was clear that Natarani was locked in and could sort out whatever-it-was. She was on another level from him. The premier league. She was so far beyond anything he could comfortably get his head around. A vengeful mythological warrior. Natarani was all about the twisty, trippy, magic stuff. What use could he possibly be to a mod of her grade? She was perfectly qualified to deal with this cosmic situation. Johnny could do his bit, of course. He could send her all the images and information that he had gathered. Let her do her thing and he could get back to doing his.

He quickly replied to Nararani’s message, saying; 'No problem. Here’s a link to everything I have on these symbols. It’s all yours. You don’t have to credit me on any of this or anything at all. HTH’

Once he had sent his reply, he had fully expected to feel a weight lifted from his shoulders. But as he got back to fixing the suit, he found that not only was weight still there; if anything, it felt even heavier.

No further reply came from Natarani. According to the news, the situation at the Lovington tube did not seem to be getting any better either. Now, the reporter was saying that Brinkman had possibly gone completely missing down in the derelict station. 

Johnny found that hard to believe. He switched off the news, put on some loud music and picked up his soldering iron. Even if he had wanted to help, the suit still needed work. It was unfortunate, but there was no getting around it. Natarani was now in the loop. She was tight with Brinkman. They would have everything under control in no time.

The playlist began to blast out Pretty City by The Modified.  

Johnny paused.

He sighed and switched off the soldering iron. The major systems of the suit were fine. Given that he could not be of any real use to whatever was going on, he thought that he should be on stand-by, for moral support, if nothing else. It was the least he could do. In order to prepare, he decided that it was probably a good idea to give the suit a proper test run. 

If all was working as it should be, whilst he was out, he could maybe swing by the Lovington tube situation and check it out how everything was going. Maybe he could even grab a word with Brinkman. He could explain how that he really had too much on right now to consider a proper collab. He could mention that Natarani had also reached out.

Once Brinkman and Nararani were both on the case, then Johnny could easily step back. The situation would be in their capable hands. Johnny would only be getting in the way.

He could get back to streaming himself making street criminals look like dicks and earning a few quid from the subs and the merch.  Johnny was good at that. 

He checked the suit's primary functions. Everything was running at 87% efficiency. Clambering back into the repaired exoskeleton, he was comforted by its warm, plastic embrace. 

Taking the skylight exit, Johnny engaged stealth mode and headed straight up at around two hundred miles and hour.  Lovington tube was not that far away, but Johnny wanted to make a proper entrance. If he got to talk to Brinkman, then obviously that would need to be confidential. But up until that point, he could stream his arrival at the site and that needed to look spectacular.

Johnny rocketed across the city towards a huge construction site, surrounded by a henge of gigantic cranes. They surrounded a glass and steel superstructure that was nearing completion; the UK’s newest, tallest building; the Catsash Hundred Tower.

It was a controversial addition to the city’s skyline. The developers had tried to popularise the nickname, ‘The C-100’ for the tower. But the inhabitants of Avalon City almost exclusively referred to it as ‘The Toothbrush.’ The tower was cylindrical, with a tapered top that ended in a great, haloed antenna, giving it more that a passing resemblance to a colossal dentist’s tool.

Paid for by a consortium of dubious donors, its construction had been a lightning rod for controversy from the moment its foundations had been laid. The finished product was either loved or loathed by the locals. Johnny Ballistic was in the minority who loved it. 

Circling the massive construction site, he wove between the attendant cranes, booting up the suit’s live stream as he did so. Once the number of views reached Johnny's preferred levels, he opened up the suit’s engines and soared up into the cloudless sky. At around eight thousand feet, Avalon City was spread beneath him like god's thumbprint. 

He hovered for a moment, then locked the suit’s guidance systems to the Lovington tube station. He powered down the suit’s stealth settings and hit the lights. The suit lit up like a UFO.

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Johnny went into slow descent, feet first, giving the impression to everyone below that he was arriving from heaven via an invisible elevator. It was an absurdly flashy entrance, designed to impress the general public and give the cops pause for thought. Johnny checked the live feed and saw that the whole world was watching. 

Arriving at the scene, he was greeted by a flurry of police, targeting lasers and a megaphone warning;

"Armed police! Do not move!"

Johnny boosted his electro-voice to ear-splitting levels. "Please relax," he said, the robotic emulator, echoing his words. "I mean you no harm. I need to speak to Doctor Brinkman. It's vitally important. Could you please stop pointing your guns at me?" The suit was supposed to be bullet proof, but so far, Johnny had only had it successfully tested during an incident with a small handgun at an off-licence hold up. He did not fancy seeing how it would cope against a squad of trained police marksmen with assault rifles at this present time.

Johnny appraised the scene below for any sign of Brinkman. The suit’s scanners momentarily freaked out at the surprise appearance of a blonde girl in pink goggles. Initially, it looked like she had just teleported in from somewhere, but once the suit’s scanners caught up, it turned out she had been moving at hyperspeed. It was then that, Johnny’s heart sank and toes curled. He recognised her. It was Fast Eddi. 

"Alright?" she said. "Can I help you?"

She didn't recognise him. Or, she was pretending that she didn't.

"Who are you?" he said, feigning ignorance.

"Who am I?" she replied. "I'm working here, mate. You're freaking everyone out. Do you want to get shot?"

"I need to speak to Doctor Brinkman," said Johnny. "It's important. Where is he?"

"He's busy right now," she said. "Why don't you come down and tell me about it? I'm Fast Eddi."

She genuinely did not recognise him. When they had first met, it had been before he had got the suit. When he had just been streaming pranks. Maybe she had not made the connection, he thought.

Johnny descended, landing gently next to Fast Eddi. She was better-looking in real life, he thought. Johnny began to feel a bit guilty about what he had said about her before.

She turned to the cops and told them it was fine. "He's friendly," she said.  "This is..." She paused, indicating that Johnny should introduce himself. For a second, he considered giving a different name, but then thought that that would only complicate things even further. "Johnny Ballistic," he said.

As soon as Johnny said his name, Fast Eddi began to slowly nod. Her expression turned from friendly to ice cold. Now she had remembered him.

Johnny thought that maybe he should apologise, straight away. Then, he thought that maybe it would be better if he just ignored her look and make like he did not remember anything bad had happened at all. He had his mask on. There was no way she could tell that he knew that he had been rumbled. Say nothing, plead ignorance. This was always Johnny’s policy.

DCI Eavis appeared, marching towards them, flanked by two SFOs. “What’s all this about?” said Eavis. “Who are you? Are you filming? This is an active crime scene!”

“I’m sorry, sir!” said Johnny, glad of the interruption. He cut his live stream. “I’ve stopped streaming now. I’m Johnny Ballistic. Doctor Brinkman requested my help with a case. I have some confidential information that he will find useful.”

“Doctor Brinkman is unavailable for the time being,” said Eavis. “But this is a police matter. So, any information that you have can be given over to me.”

“Of course,” said Johnny. This was perfect, as far as he was concerned. Let the trained professionals do what they are paid to do. “Is there somewhere I can upload my files?”

“Follow me,” said Eavis, who briefly turned to Fast Eddi and pointed at her. “Thank you for your help, Miss. We will take it from here.” 

Johnny did not look for Fast Eddi’s reaction, but he could feel the daggers of pure hate from her eyes, trained on him, as he followed Eavis and the two police marksmen towards the tube station.

As they reached the station entrance, the ground beneath their feet suddenly shook. Half a second later the sound of massive explosion boomed out of the tube station, followed by a blast of hot air so powerful, that everyone within ten feet were knocked to the ground.

Car alarms were blaring from all directions. Johnny was first back on his feet. “What the hell was that!?” he said as he helped up Eavis. The DCI coughed and shook his head. Johnny glanced over his shoulder.

Fast Eddi was nowhere to be seen.

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Chapter 9 in two weeks!

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