Infinity Chronicles
Part 4
By
Scott "RaZrEsHaT" Hall

The night lights of the city flashing through the window made the paper difficult to read. It didn't matter through; Sara already knew what was there. Most of the names were completely strange to her, but the name Alex Murphy belonged to the city's DA. She wasn't sure what the list of names meant but considering the recent violence in her life, it wasn't good.

Officer Pitts drove quickly towards the DA's office. As they raced down the quiet Chicago streets, he repeatedly got on to his handheld radio and spoke with the police.

"He's not at his house. They think that he may still be at his office. Apparently he stays overnight there from time to time." Pitt's tone had become cold and distant as he raced them through the pre-dawn city streets.

"Do they realize that he may be in danger? For all we know this is some sort of hit list for that guy that visited me at the hotel."

"They know, but we are closer. That's why we are headed to his office."

Pitts' car sped around several corners and barreled down a long straight road. A historic looking building came into view in the distance.

"That's where his office is."

The District Attorney's office sat atop the historic Pearlman Building. The older building had always been associated with justice in the city. The various departments in the Prosecutor's office filled the lower 15 floors of the building, and Alex Murphy had one of the two offices that occupied the top floor.

"So do you think what happened in Kansas City is about to start here?" Officer Pitts questioned.

"Well, I don't know for sure," Sara's mind drifted back to those lost in KC, "but this list doesn't make me feel very good about the possibility. They began with the lawyers who worked on the Worthins case and worked out from there. Could this be the same situation, or an extension of KC?"

"I don't know what's going on," Pitts paused for a second as he watched the Pearlman Building get closer, "but we will do what we can to stop it."

********************

The car came to a sliding stop at the sidewalk right outside the front door to the Pearlman Building. As Sara jumped out of his car, she paused momentarily and looked at the large ornate metal plaque that marked the building both as a city landmark and as the Office of the District Attorney.

"Let's go," Pitts ran past Sara and into the building.

Shaking her head back to reality, Sara ran through the revolving door and into the building's lobby.

The lobby of the building was lined with dark brown marble. Just inside the door sat a large security desk and metal detectors to its right. To the left was a turnstile that marked the primary way out of the lobby. An odd look shown on the face of Officer Pitts as he looked at the guard on duty.

Sara came up and nudged him towards the metal detectors. Both went through and Pitts stopped and showed his badge and credentials as the alarm went off. Once the guard was satisfied, the pair was off again toward the building's elevators.

"What was that all about?"

"I had to show him that I was allowed to carry a firearm."

"Not that, the look you were giving that guard?"

"For a second I thought I knew that guy," explained Pitts, "kind of a little déjà vu."

"Ok" Sara thought it was still a little weird to try and figure out where you might know someone from in that situation, but at least they were almost to the DA's office.

The elevator opened and the pair stepped in. Looking at the panel, Sara noticed that the building had no lower levels and that the only way was up. Pressing the button for the 15th floor, the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.

Floor after floor clicked by and Sara could feel her nerves beginning to kick in. There was the very real possibility that they could be in a fight for their lives again in a minute. She wondered if she would ever get used to that. Thoughts of her family and who she was less than a week ago flooded her mind and it was all she could do not to get depressed and cry. The chime of the bell indicating they had reached their destination brought Sara back to reality.

The doors parted and the 15th floor revealed itself. A small lobby sat just outside the elevators and a nice large table sat in the middle of the lobby. A large and exotic plant sat in a vase in the middle of the table. Two doors sat off of the lobby, one for the DA office and one for another of the city's administrators. The floor seemed completely silent, but Sara knew better than to let her guard down.

Officer Pitts placed one hand on his holstered firearm and then motioned for her to go first. Normally Sara would have been offended, but given her abilities, it only made sense for her to head in first. Taking opposite sides of the table and lobby, the pair moved quickly but quietly toward the DA's office door.

Sara reached the door and turned to wait for Pitts. The police officer moved to the door and looked her in the eyes. He used his eyes to guide her vision down to the door knob. Once there, he placed his hand on it and gave his a head bob in the direction that the door would open.

Sara nodded in agreement. Pitts turned the knob and threw the door open. Sara bound threw the doorway and into the main area of the office. Pitts followed her and ended up standing off to her right rear with his weapon aimed toward the far end of the room.

The DA's office was a large long room with walls lined with bookshelves. Near the entrance was a large rug on which sat two couches which sat facing each other with a table between them. At the far end of the room sat a large oak desk with a large tall leather bound chair that was turned and facing away. A slight wiggle in the chair and a subtle sound caught the pair's attention.

"Turn and show yourself!" Sara found a new and authoritative tone in her voice that she had not previously known. The chair slowly turned, the top wiggled back and forth as it did. Once it began to get around Sara was shocked by what she saw.

In the chair sat Captain Peters; her hands bound in front of her and a gag in her mouth. Not even her dark skin could hide the swelling bruises across her face.

"What the hell is...?" Sara failed to finish her declaration. The look of desperation on the Police Captain's face was turned to shock as she looked to Sara's right, at Officer Pitts. Sara thought to look back at Pitts when she heard the sound. The sound of the hammer cocking back on his firearm. Quickly Sara felt out with her ability and worked to affect what she could feel happening. She felt the explosion of the round. She felt the bullet struggle its way down the barrel and through the air. A fleeting notion of fire spread across the back of her head just before impact. Then suddenly blackness.

********************

Slowly sound began to register. The noise made no sense and was very distant. Slowly the noise began to take an understandable form.

"I can't believe you're still alive," the strange voice was unfamiliar to Sara. A kick to her stomach barely registered. "I mean that was all but point blank."

Sara began to role to her back. She turned her head toward the voice and opened her eyes. The lights in the room seemed blinding, like she was getting up for the first time that morning. As her eyes adjusted to the light, the figure of Officer Pitts came into view. He stood over her with his service weapon still in his right hand. A wisp of smoke lingered at the end of the barrel and a wild excited look was in his eyes.

"I was beginning to think that I would never meet another mutant. I mean, when you showed up, I knew that I had to find out more." Before Sara's eyes, Officer Pitts' skin turned a shade of grey and slowly lost detail. He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. The grey color of his skin began to fade as a new set of features formed and his hair length and color changed.

"What… the hell…" shock stole the words from Sara's mouth as before her eyes Officer Pitts transformed into Alex Murphy, the District Attorney.

"I am truly amazed that you survived," the person who looked like Alex Murphy stated. "I was happy to tie up this last loose end from Kansas City, but now I am just plan intrigued."

Sara could barely move. Her body didn't want to respond and she was afraid that there was some sort of brain damage from the blow to the back of her head. Slowly she tried to speak again.

"Why?" Pain coursed through her as she struggled to speak.

"Why?" the changeling repeated her question. "Well, because you are a threat…Oh wait I get it. You want to know about your family. Yeah…Ok." An excitement took over the man standing over her.

"Well, it started when that piece of shit Worthins got busted," grimness overtook his tone. "You see I don't like just anyone knowing that I exist. That is the only way that I can survive. Well, somehow information about me filtered down my own drug cartel to that jackass. So when he said my name in an interrogation, well, I just needed to wipe the slate clean so that I could sleep at night."

"You…killed my family…for your name…" Sara could barely get the words out.

"Of course!"

"What the…fuck…is your name?" Sara questioned. A frustrated look came across her attackers face.

"Why… Façade!" the man revealed. Suddenly Sara's mind raced back to the tape of the interrogation of Barry Worthins:

"Damn! You got to understand what you axing man. It ain't just like you goes and point a finger at him. I mean Façade man, damn! Who is gonna believe when you say it." No one even realized that Barry had said the kingpin of the drug cartel's name, but it cost them all their lives anyway.

"You fucking bastard…" Sara writhed with hatred, but she could barely speak, let alone move.

"Aren't I?" Façade raised the firearm in his right hand and pointed it at Sara's head. Sara stared into the barrel and waited for him to fire. She was ready to use her ability, but wondered if she could stop all the rounds in the weapon. She assumed she could not. Then, without warning, Façade raised the weapon and pointed it in the Air. "It would be a real shame to kill the only other mutant I know of in such a quick fashion. I think I will take you home and have some fun."

Façade holstered the police issue firearm and immediately produced a small handheld radio.

"Ed," he began, "get the car to the back entrance and meet me at the elevator." Some squabbled voice rang out from the radio in response. "Yeah, yeah…Who is that guy at the security desk? He isn't one of ours." The radio chirped away again. "Ok, I will meet you in the lobby in a few." Façade turned and put his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small old revolver. He reached down and put it in Sara's hand and forced her to grip it.

"There, thanks," he replied as he removed the weapon from Sara's hand. "Now when you kill Captain Peters, there will be some good old fashioned forensic evidence to tie you to the crime." He paused to let the thought sink in. "Why you ask? Well, because she was starting to get a little to suspicious of Alex Murphy. So now she will be killed by the murderous mutant Sara Deworth. Then, you and the valiant Officer Pitts will die fighting each other and Alex Murphy will be left to make some comforting remarks to the public."

Façade stopped and thought to himself for a minute.

"Then maybe Alex will run for Mayor!" A frown slowly sank in on the large smile that was plastered on his face, "or maybe the current Mayor will take an unscheduled vacation if he wins the election." The radio in Façade's pocket chirped and he pulled it out.

"Ok," he stated into the radio. "Looks like the untimely demise of the good Captain will have to wait till I get back." Façade stated to the pair of women. "For now, let's get you out of here," he grabbed Sara beneath her arms and picked her up. Dragging her to the elevator, he pushed the button and got in when to doors opened.

The elevator began its decent and Sara wanted with all her being to be able to stand up and punch the shape changing mutant in the face. Her body wouldn't respond and all she could think about was how after all that work and struggle, she had let herself be shot in the back of the head.

The actual act of being shot replayed again and again in her mind. Something about how the bullet had felt to her as it traveled down the barrel of the weapon and through the air was sticking in her mind. Then answer occurred to her.

"Friction!"

Sara closed her eyes and forgot about trying to move her limbs. Reaching out with her mind she could slowly but surely feel all the moving objects around her. Focusing as well as she could in her current state, she finally focused on the moving objects she needed to save herself and punish Façade.

********************

The elevator shook momentarily. Then it stuttered several times. A several loud twangs rang out from the shaft above the elevator and Façade looked up in confusion. A finale loud twang rang out and the elevator fell several feet before its brakes kicked in.

"What the hell are you doing bitch?" Façade looked down that the closed eyes of Sara and began to pull out Officer Pitts' service weapon.

It had been surprisingly easy to increase the friction on the elevator cable to the point of shearing, but the breaks were another matter entirely. Feeling the way the break pads griped the rails, Sara fought to take control of the interaction. Focusing her mind, this time she tried to reduce the friction. The breaks resisted at first, but suddenly their grip on the elevator rails disappeared and Sara began to feel weightless as the car fell free.

********************

Sara felt herself beginning to wake up again. The same feeling she experienced in the DA's office after being shot. Pain coursed all over her body, which she realized was a good thing considering her head wound. Looking up, she could see the mangled elevator car warped and smashed around her. In her peripheral vision she could see the unconscious form of Façade lying against the elevator wall. He was beginning to turn grey and loose the features of the DA. The doors to the elevator were broken and hanging askew. Suddenly a figure appeared in them.

"Crap!" The man declared as he pushed the doors apart and jumped down into the elevator. Moving to Façade, the man checked his pulse and looked him over. "Ok, good, you're alive. Can you move?" No response came.

"I need to get you out of here now! Ok, here we go." The strange man grabbed Façade and pulled him up and over his shoulder. Quickly he scrambled out of the elevator and disappeared.

"Who the hell are you?" A voice from the hallway outside the elevator declared. Slowly Sara felt the energy to stay awake drain out of her and the darkness engulfed her.

********************

The lights seemed incredibly bright. Sara blinked her eyes to try and ease the pain of their adjustment to the brightness of the room. A voice to her right took notice.

"She's awake, get the doctor!" Several unfamiliar faces in hospital garb crowded around and blocked out the bright lights. Within seconds one of them began to ask questions.

"Do you know your name?"

"Sara Deworth."

"Do you know where you are at?"

"A hospital…in Chicago?" The last place she could remember being was in Chicago.

"Very good," The man in the white coat stated. "I think she's gonna be fine. We will run some more tests to make sure." The ring of faces slowly pulled back and moved away. From behind them one familiar face remained.

"Good to see that you are out of the woods. I think this belongs to you."

A tear welled up in Sara's eyes at the site of the bag that contained all that remained of her life with her family in Captain Peters' hands.

"Uh, thanks," Sara felt confused at the Police Captain's friendly actions.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by your reaction. I was kind of rude the last time we spoke."

"A little," Sara offered.

"I think I owe you an apology, I shouldn't have been so rude. Plus I owe you my life." The captain offered her hand. Slowly Sara took the captain's hand in hers. The handshake quickly gained enthusiasm and within seconds the two women were smiling at each other.

"Thanks."

"I have done a lot of thinking since that night in Murphy's office," Captain Peters began, "wait, do you realize that you have been out for two weeks. At first we thought you might not make it, but it turns out that you're really hard to kill."

"Hard way to find that out," Sara began to laugh. "What has happened since then?"

"Well, that man who tried to kill both of us goes by Façade," Captain Peters explained, "which I think you already knew. We have no idea what his real name is, however that list you found are all of the people he has replaced and used as aliases. He had taken control of several city departments, business, and illicit operations."

"What?" Sara could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"Apparently this guy is also a mutant and he can assume different identities. We raided the Hawthorn and found his operations and all his identity information. We also found Officer Pitts' body there."

Sara felt a deep sadness in her stomach at the thought of Officer Pitts. It was easier for her to think that he had always been Façade rather than killed right under her nose.

"I am sorry to hear that he is dead," she offered in condolences.

"He will be sorely missed," Peters responded, "but he would be proud to know he helped in stopping a threat as big as this. Façade's control of city operations was growing. It is a shame that he managed to get away. But that is where you come into play."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have been thinking a lot about you the last couple weeks while you were recovering," Captain Peters admitted. "I think that we actually need someone like you."

"But you said that mutants like me were a threat."

"Mutants ARE a threat," the captain reiterated, "and at the present a threat that quite possibly only other mutants can counter." Sara began to understand where Captain Peters was heading.

"And you think I can offset those threats?"

"Why not?"

"Well, first I am not sure I even want that job," Sara replied. "I am just a housewife. I don't know anything about law enforcement or fighting."

"First off, you have done fine so far. Second, who better than a woman who knows what the losses feel like. I think that could make you a prefect protector for the city. The city will need someone if the mutant situation is going where I think it might."

"Still…" Captain Peters cut Sara off before she could argue more.

"Still nothing, I can make sure you are trained on law enforcement, fighting, and any other skills you might need."

"What will I do for a living? I need someplace to live, food, cloths…"

"I think there is a position as a police consultant that just came available which you would be perfect for."

It became apparent to Sara that the captain had used the last two weeks to find answers to just about any argument she could come up with. Slowly she began to root through the bag containing family mementos and think about the life that ended three weeks ago at her front door.

"What changed your mind about me, about mutants?"

"Obviously what you did to save my life was big, but there was also this." The Captain turned and picked up the TV remote. She changed the channel to a cable news station. The news showed images of another battle between mutants somewhere in the U.S.

"This time the mutant terrorist group known as Ground Zero's plans were opposed by other mutants. A group calling themselves "Impact" fought the mutant terrorists to a draw in downtown San Jose." The station's anchor reported. Scenes of a mutant flying through the sky with another mutant over his shoulder were mixed in with scenes of a large member of Ground Zero being knocked down the street by a white flash of light that had burst out of a female member of Impact.

"See, I guess mutants can be a force for good," Captain Peters admitted. "If it will save lives, especially so officers aren't hurt like in San Francisco, then I am willing to give it a try."

Looking through the bag containing her family mementos, Sara began to think about the past and the future. She looked at the picture of her and Matt and remembered the loving man who had built a family and a life with her. Next she pulled out Michelle's doll and Jonathan's comic book. The children's mementos caused tears flow from her eyes. The pain and loss that she had suppressed during her quest for revenge finally came out. As the tears rolled down her face, the comic book in her right hand began to draw her attention. As she leafed through the worn out book, the heroic actions of the character began to take new meaning for her.

"Ok…I'll do it." A dying reluctance echoed in Sara's voice.

"Really?"

"Sure, I don't really have anything else."

"Well, that's good for the city. We will have to come up with a name and costume for you."

"What?" Sara was a little confused. "Why would I need those?"

"You don't want to use your name and personal identity, do you? You'd never get a moments peace then. It would be a never ending ordeal"

Sara was pretty sure that it was the Captain who would be making sure she never got a moments peace. She continued to leaf through her son's comic book. Again she found herself looking at the image of King Sisyphus. The ancient Greek King who was curse with the never end task of pushing a boulder up hill. Infinitely burdened.

"Never ending…infinitely burdened…" Sara's mind was struck with the similarity of the task she was about to embrace and the curse the Greek king was enduring. "I think I like the name Infinity."

"Really?" The captain responded, "Why?"

"Because if I do this, I will be doing it for the rest of my life. It will be my Sisyphean task," Sara felt strangely comfortable with the thought. "Despite that, I think I will accept your offer."

"Infinity it is," Captain Peters agreed, happy that her city now had its defender.

********************

The wind gusting through her hair made Sara feel alive; it was a nice change from how she had felt since the death of her family. Her short brown hair flowed out the top of her mask and moved with the wind. The grey, white and yellow of her costume blended surprisingly well with the shadows at night, as well as helping her to build a public image during the day. Looking down off of the fire escape off of the side of the 8th story of the Hawthorn Hotel, Sara, no Infinity felt ready for anything the city could throw at her.

A vibration on her waist stole her attention back from the city around her. The impact resistant cell phone in her outfit's concealed compartment easily slid out and up to her ear.

"Yes?"

"There is a problem near Wrigley…" the voice identified by her caller id as "Source" informed.

"On my way."