Distant Thunder

[shazam]

"He's down," says Wonder carefully, listening to the words from inside the house. "I'm going to take him away. Do you need help in there?" He scans the house quickly, drawing on the Wisdom of Imhotep and Fred Fawcett's architectural knowledge. "That wasn't a load-bearing wall he went through; your repairs should be moderate. Call Bryson, they do this kind of structural repair in super-emergencies at close to cost."

[Heridfel]

"I think we'll be ok," she says. With the wisdom of Imhotep, Captain Wonder notices the odd use of the first-person plural. Cadence hadn't let on that anyone else was inside. Before he can comment on it, she speaks again, cutting him off before he can give her advice on the contractor. This time, the words are urgent.

"Wait... oh no. Come quick!" she shouts. He can hear her pulling at some rubble on the other side of the wall. If he goes to help her, he won't be able to keep an eye on the man who called himself Donar.

[shazam]

There's really no choice but that for a hero. Wonder leaves the unconscious Donar without a backwards glance, flying straight for the woman in peril. He's guessed there may be someone else in the back, perhaps the hero he came to see, but right now what's important is helping the people who need help. Donar's mysterious words, and the god himself, will have to wait.

[Heridfel]

Inside the building, Captain Wonder can see that the damage that he did by throwing Donar through the wall isn't the only damage done to the building. It seems like one of the blows outside cracked the house's foundation. The entrance to a room has collapsed, and Cadence has pulled away enough of the rubble to reveal that it is a bedroom with a woman on the bed. She too is covered with some rubble, and the machinery that she is attached to is beeping frantically.

[shazam]

Even in the heat of the moment, Wonder doesn't actually cuss. Though he is sorely tempted. "C'mon," he says urgently, his accent thickening under stress, "McNider's the nearest hospital, ain't it? Can she go without that stuff till we get there?"

[Heridfel]

"I don't know," Cadence says. She sounds annoyed at Captain Wonder's question (though that's probably misplaced anger at the situation, rather than something directed at him). "I need to get inside to see what the machines say. Help me move this, and try not to knock down any more of the house."

She continues to move the things in front of the door, but some beams are still blocking the way from either of them being able to crawl through.

[shazam]

Wonder studies the beams carefully, sussing out the best way to get to the unconscious woman. Despite the emergency, his eye is keen and his knowledge substantial. He methodically picks his way towards the fallen woman, tossing beams aside or simply punching through them, using his knowledge of houses and structures to make his way through without bringing the whole place down on them.

[Heridfel]

The rubble gets moved quickly with Captain Wonder's help. Cadence's difficulty seemed to be her lack of strength, rather than an unstable threshold. She rushes inside, then reads the machine's display quickly.

"She's not breathing right. Something must have crushed part of the hose," she says as she looks over her sister. "Get the rubble off her."

She begins tracing the hose from the canister of oxygen towards her sister, trying to see if it was cut or just temporarily interrupted.

[shazam]

Wonder hurls the debris aside with gusto, though he's careful to keep it out of the house as he looks the injured woman over himself. "If the floor's secure and so's her bed, we're all going to McNider." He doesn't press for details, having some experience with emergencies.

[Heridfel]

Captain Wonder's actions seem to do some good immediately. One of the numbers on the medical equipment's display begins to decrease, and with it, the rate of the beeping. Cadence breathes a sigh of relief.

"No, she's alright. It must have been a kink in one of the I.V. lines. She sometimes knocks them off herself, and that's what it sounds like. I just wasn't sure, and I couldn't get in here... Thank you for your help, again," she says. She smiles ruefully. "I don't suppose you know someone who could fix the wall?"

[shazam]

Wonder gives her the name of a good contractor. "His card is in my, er, other wallet. But you can look them up in the phone book." He looks down at the unconscious woman, studying her closely to look for anything familiar. When he speaks, his voice is soft and apologetic. "How long has she been like this?"

[Heridfel]

"It's been nearly eight months now," Cadence says quietly. "Something happened back in December, just before the new year. We thought she might be waking up, but nothing changed."

Cadence pets her sister's hair, then looks back to Captain Wonder. "I should probably call that number. What did you do with the man who attacked us?"

[shazam]

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Wonder asks, careful of boundaries. "I know people who know...arts. I left him outside," says Wonder, "after giving him a beating. That was no man," he adds, his voice tight, "that was an aspect of the god of thunder made flesh. Have you ever heard of Donar?" With something like alarm, Wonder rises up into the air, through the knocked-away parts of the ceiling, to peer down at where he left the god of thunder.

[Heridfel]

Cadence barely voices her "No" - probably to the part where he asked whether she knew of Donar - before Captain Wonder shoots into the sky to see where Donar had lain. The god is gone now, his impression in the pavement clearly marked. It seems that Captain Wonder's beating didn't keep the thunder god down for long. No matter what else was off about him, Captain Wonder was sure that it was the same god he had fought before.

[shazam]

Wonder says an Egyptian word that isn't very nice, scanning the area for any signs of the fleeing god. When no obvious great signs present themselves, he drops back down to join the two sisters. "He's not going to bother you any more. I'll make sure of that. Do the two of you...need anything?" He finally asks, his face full of concern.

[Heridfel]

"No, we'll keep on," she says. "It sounds like you have bigger things to worry about than me and my sister, anyway. Whoever that Donar was, it sounds like he'll be after you again." There's not much that Captain Wonder could say to argue with that - even if the two hadn't been enemies before this day, the beating that the hero laid upon him would be enough to make Donar seek revenge.

[shazam]

"All right," says Wonder, a little shaken by the spectacular events of the last few hours. "If you see any sign of him again, give the Freedom League a call, all right? They'll know how to deal with an angry god." There's not much more to be said, now, so with a heartfelt farewell Wonder takes off into the sky, his head swimming with all the mysteries he's uncovered. He'd come to solve one problem...and now he's only been handed more.