Larsen stared up at the spot where Jumper had disappeared moments before. He'd leaped up three levels of the city, which should have been impossible. Jumping down one level would be possible, but anything else would either require more muscle power than the human body possessed or result in serious injuries. A few months ago she'd heard a case of a college student who'd dealt with that very reality.
Superpowers indeed. She should have guessed he could pull a stunt like this based on his name, but hindsight was 20/20. Even if she was more open to the idea of the supernatural after the Achilles incident, Larsen was still grounded firmly in reality as it had been before Achilles showed up.
A wave of awe flowed through the crowd, and the sergeants were yelling at the present officers, one calling headquarters for backup. But Larsen was pretty sure the kid was gone. He'd probably ditch the popcorn bag at the earliest opportunity, and his clothes looked like something any guy his age would be wearing. If he ditched some of the clothes too, they'd be hard-pressed to find him. His skin tone was all they really had to go off of, and that was not enough to pick one person out of hundreds.
Their best bet for finding him was to put out an alert for a male with second-degree burns on his hands. He'd have to go to a hospital at some point, or at least go out somewhere where he'd be seen. Larsen looked at Achilles and tried to regain control of the situation.
"I guess he won't be giving a statement today. What about you?" she asked. Achilles laughed boldly, as if his life had not just been in danger and he was not under even more military scrutiny than he had been before.
"I'll tell you what I know, but the mask stays on, Officer. I was going through the crowd as normal, taking pictures and giving autographs when asked, when I suddenly noticed a man with a knife. I grabbed the knife, only to realize it was a cell phone, and the next thing I knew everyone had knives pointed at me. And each other.
"They can't hurt me of course, but I was worried they'd all hurt themselves with those weapons. So I started confiscating them and it devolved into a brawl. I tossed the knives over the edge, but then people started pulling out rayguns - but all this, of course, was the work of that illusionist. The blond woman who vanished in the side streets. She's obviously a villain - but what is her name? Who is she exactly? I wish I knew, but for now...we can call her Phantasma!"
The rest of the discussion went relatively smoothly, but in that same vein. Achilles made a lot of conjectures she didn't need, but Larsen wrote them all down anyway. Someone in that department could sort through it later. Better too much information than too little. It was why she always made sure to investigate every inch of each crime scene she was called to, and take more pictures than she thought she'd need.
By the time he was done, Achilles had started dramatizing things, so Larsen made a mental note to write down everything she remembered about the situation at the earliest opportunity. Better to have more perspectives to determine the truth of the matter. She was pretty sure they'd deduce that "I chased the fiend through the side streets until she began running on the walls to avoid me. Then I naturally leaped up and ran on the opposite wall, weaving through the trash while she rapid-fired raygun shots at me" was not what had happened. If she'd had a raygun, why hadn't she used it on Jumper? That would have allowed her to escape earlier.
And why did the effect on Achilles fade as soon as the effect on Jumper began? Larsen had always had a fondness for mysteries, and the facts seemed to suggest the woman - Phantasma as Achilles had dubbed her - could only affect one person at a time. That was their one saving grace. If she could use her power on a whole squad of officers, they'd be hooped. But as is, one could fall while the others flanked and used whatever means necessary to apprehend her next time she showed up.
Larsen was only halfway through her train of thought when Achilles asked if he could go home.
"Sorry, I think the sergeants want to talk with you more," she replied, shelving the train for later. She wanted to see what its destination would be.
"What more could they need? I told you everything." Larsen nodded slowly, desperately trying to come up with an excuse to keep him there for another minute until the sergeants could decide what to do with him. But not a moment later, Sims walked up to them.
"Achilles, or whatever your name is, you're under arrest for assault and a plethora of other charges. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and reached for Achilles, who stepped gracefully out of the way.
"I don't think so. I'm going home. If you want to talk more, leave a message on my website." He started moving away from them, so two officers shot him in the legs.
It was just as effective as it had been earlier.
"Hold it!" Sims yelled, but Achilles had pushed his way through the crowd and was gone in a blink. It did not help that some of his fans were holding the military back.
Shit. At least Larsen could unshelve that train now.
