A/N: this chapter has more tension than the previous ones, blood and strong language, be warned!
Time is running out
The news of Rev's cancer hit Tech right where it hurts, he had only one more time travel to make, the last and decisive one. Tech lied to everyone about Rev's exams results, they didn't need to know about it, no one needed!
It was late at night and Tech was alone in his laboratory, he continued to think of a way to come back and do the right thing so that nothing would go wrong and end up in another tragically situation, everything needed to be perfect.
Tech remembered for a brief moment when Rev was hit, when he came into the room, the robot fired and hit him and he fell dead on the floor. Tech shook his head trying to keep these thoughts away but they were very strong and kept coming with great intensity. Tech felt a sudden severe headache, if it wasn't for the fact that he was sitting he would be on the ground by now, he felt his hands tremble and he saw his lab disappear before his eyes, he was traveling back again.
"NO! I DON'T WANNA GO! IT'S NOT THE RIGHT TIME!"
"NO! NO!"
"Tech are you all right? TECH?"
"NO!"
Tech looked at his outstretched hands in the air and his magnetic field around the reactor, the robot on his left shooting and writhing on the floor and by his right, the entrance to the reactor room.
"Tech? Can you hear me? TECH?" Ace shouted
"Duck go there and see what's going on!"
Duck didn't hesitate and quacked reappearing beside Tech
"Hey Tech what's happening?"
"Please don't come in! Don't come in! Don't come in!" Tech kept repeating
"Who? Who's coming?"
"Please don't!"
The reactor room slowly opened, the difference in brightness from the outside has projected a shadow into the room, someone thin was getting in.
"NO!" Tech shouted turning off his force field as he began to run towards the entrance door.
"Tech what are you doing? GET BACK THERE THAT'S AN ORDER!" Ace demanded
"REV DON'T COME IN!" Tech shouted heading for the door.
"Rev? Rev is coming in?" Duck questioned himself.
Now Tech was having a full sight of Rev, he was just a few feet away from his friend
"Wow-I-finally-found-you-all-what´s-"
"Rev GET DOWN!"
Tech jumped in front of the Rev grabbing him, the last shot of the robot was heard and a loud yelp echoed through the place, Tech could no longer scream, he was drowning in his own blood, the shot entered drilling his lung and left through his back, Tech rolled on the floor in agony as his regeneration powers were trying to heal that serious wound.
The rest of the team approached Tech who was now trying to rise, his regeneration powers saved him once again and in his uniform you could see the bullet hole and a tuft of brown fur escaping trough it.
"Oh God Rev is bleeding!" Lexi said pointing to Rev.
Tech turned to see Rev, he was lying with one hand on his abdomen and a lot of blood could be seen dripping through his hand. Tech crept to Rev, as Rev saw his friend approaching, he called for him.
"T-tech… I'm bleeding…" He murmured
Tech stopped beside Rev, he turned his friend's head so he could make eye contact.
"Rev remove your hand I need to see the wound!"
Rev slowly removed his bloody hand from his abdomen, Tech tore the abdomen section of the uniform leaving the hit area clear for analysis.
"Can you do something?" Ace questioned Tech
"I'll try!"
"Please do something he's losing too much blood!" Lexi commented
"Tech-you-don't-have-to-"
"Duck go call an ambulance!"
"Tech-listen-I'm-fine"
"No you're not fine, you're bleeding!"
"Do you know where the wound is?" Ace asked Tech
"I can't see… there're too many feathers!"
"It's-ok-Tech-the-ambulance-is-already-coming"
"Shut up Rev!" Tech said holding his head with one hand as he tried to think properly
"Tech he's losing too much blood!" Ace said
"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Tech shouted.
"I-I-I need to see… I need to see the wound, I-I'm sorry Rev-"
"No!-wait!-what-are-you-doing?"
Tech didn't think twice, he grabbed a handful of feathers from Rev's abdomen and tugged, Rev screamed in pain as Tech kept removing feathers so he could view the wound area.
"Oh no the shot pierced his spleen… I need to remove the bullet and stanch the bleeding!"
"No-you're-not-doing-this"
"Shut up Rev that's the only way I can-"
"The-ambulance-is-coming-they'll-heal-me-in-no-time"
"REV!"
"They'll-help-me-don't-you-worry"
"Rev you ain't gonna make it!"
"I'm-gonna-be-ok-they'll-"
"Rev listen to me!"
"And-then-when-they-heal-me-and-I-get-better-I'll-come-back-when-I-fully-recover-and-I'll-come-back-to-you-and-then-we-can-all-go-out-to-eat-or-just-to-have-fun-or-maybe-you-"
"FOR GOD SAKE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Tech screamed out
Rev's face changed from pain to sorrow, he wasn't talking anymore, Tech was showing his teeth as he breathed heavily on the verge of a nervous breakdown, his eyes began to glow green as he used his power of magnetism to remove the bullet lodged in the spleen, Tech tore a sleeve of his uniform and strapped around Rev's abdomen making a bandage, he grabbed Rev in his arms and started to walk out of the reactor room.
"I need to take him to the ambulance-"
"Tech…"
"They'll finish what I started-"
"Tech!..."
"And he will be ok!"
"TECH!"
Tech stopped.
"What do you want? He's losing time!"
"…"
"What? ANSWER ME!"
Ace closed his eyes and looked away, Tech gave a growl and turned around to walk out of the room. Tech looked down at Rev, he was with his arms tightly clenched into his chest and he was staring at Tech with those big roadrunners eyes slightly open, without blinking.
"Rev?" Tech said shaking Rev in his arms.
"Rev? REV?"
Tech shook Rev again, Rev's arms loosened from his embrace and were hovering in mid air, his head reclined backwards making his beak open, Tech dropped the body in horror, Rev's body make a loud noise as he hit the ground and just the way he fell he there stayed. Tech fell behind as he crept away in terror from Rev's dead body.
"NO! NOOOO!"
"HOLD HIM!"
"NOOOO!"
"Charles apply the sedative!"
"Applying the sedative!"
"Noooo…no…"
"Easy… easy buddy…"
"No… rev…"
"and… he's out"
"sigh I hate this job!"
"Come on let's get out of here"
All the Institute of Psychiatry heard a patient screaming, counting on this one this would be the eighth relapse of patient 104.
Tech slowly opened his eyes, he tried to scratch his face but he couldn't move his hand, indeed, he couldn't move at all, he was paralyzed. Tech looked to his side, he saw something on his hands, something metallic full of wires, in his torso five straps were holding his body strapped to a bed, his legs were tied, even his neck was tied.
Tech looked up and saw two cameras pointed straight at him. There was a door with a tiny window, outside Tech saw a man in uniform standing at the door, Tech looked around but saw nothing, just walls, no windows, furniture or anything, he felt his head throbbing and before he could even say something, he collapsed.
"Tech?"
Tech woke up breathing heavily, his head spinning fast, he looked around and saw who was calling him.
"Hello my friend"
"Who are… Ryan? Is that you?"
"Yes"
"What happened?"
Ryan sighed, he ran a hand through his hair and looked up.
"What happened?" Tech asked again
Ryan pulls from inside his jacket a newspaper, he unfolds the newspaper and shows the first page, where you could read:
- Member of the Loonatics is diagnosed with a severe case of mental disorder -
"They diagnosed you with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and paranoia after... you know..."
"How long… I've been here?"
"One month"
"One whole month! How… how did I get here?" Tech started to cry
"You…"
"Tell me!"
"Well you…"
"TELL ME!"
"You freaked out! After Rev died you freaked out! You were out of control… and you blew up the plant"
"I blew… the plant?"
"Yeah… a good portion of it, unfortunately not all the employees left the plant… later that they brought you here"
"That's… that's the truth?
"Sorry…"
Tech's cries increased, he was forcing himself forward against the straps trying to get free, Ryan sighed again and approached Tech.
"How could I have done that?" Tech started to struggle
"Tech please call down"
"I'm… I'm a… monster!" Tech sobbed
"Chill will you?"
"I don't wanna live anymore!"
"Tech…"
"I lost everything! I lost my best friend, I lost my dignity and now I'm a cold blooded murderer? I don't wanna pass through this anymore! I don't wanna! I DON'T WANNA!" Tech kept yelling
"Tech this is not the right time for a crisis! I'm losing time!"
"Why that thing didn't kill me instead of Rev? Rev! Rev!"
"Tech snap out of it!"
"What they'll say about me?"
"Don't make me do this to you Tech!" Ryan said raising his palm in the air
"MURDERER! MURDERER!" Tech screamed aloud
Ryan slaps Tech in the face with the strength of a punch, Tech was quiet now, he had a lost glance on his face, his eyes wide open, he could fell his face burning from the slap and the sensation that Ryan's finger were still on his face. Ryan sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed, he glanced over Tech and stood still for any reaction, he could use strength again if he needed to.
"Ready to have a talk like a real man?"
Tech didn't answer verbally, he just looked at Ryan. Ryan glanced at Tech, he saw a disappointed face, those green eyes widely open not daring to blink, he even saw a single tear rolling down his cheek.
"welcome back to reality!" Ryan thought
"I need to set you free" Ryan said after a brief moment
"Why?" Tech questioned in a low tone
"Because I need to"
"I don't wanna go Ryan…" Tech said in sadness
"You chose my friend, I can get you out of here in no time or you can just stay here for the rest of your life, it's on your call"
"I prefer to rotten in here…"
"You don't know what you are talking about"
"I know what I want for myself"
"Ok, I'm getting you out of here" Ryan said approaching Tech
"NO YOU'RE NOT!"
"Tech you can't imagine the real situation we are passing now, this isn't anymore about you saving your friend, it's about me saving you"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you think it's weird that I showed up only after a month?"
"No"
"Not even when I appeared in that store?"
"Not even when you… appeared in that store… you're back in time?"
"Yes"
"What will happen?"
"You may not want to know that…"
"I don't care! Tell me!"
"-sigh- as you insist… today is the day that you… die"
"The day that I… die?"
Ryan pulls out from an internal pocket under his jacket a syringe with some strange black liquid inside of it
"Lethal injection… just took from a guard outside. So I'll ask you one more time Tech and I really want you to thing properly before you answer me, what do you want? Live or die?"
It took a while for Tech to answer, he appeared to be having trouble in picking up an answer.
"I want to… live" Tech answered closing his eyes to not cry again.
Tech felt a hand pressing down his shoulder, he opened his eyes and found Ryan smiling at him. The human made a simple gesture with his head and tapped Tech on the shoulder in sign of approval, Tech felt his body being filled with a slight sensation of hope, he didn't knew how Ryan managed to do that but all his dark and negative thoughts disappeared, his self-confidence was coming back.
"So, what's you plan to get me out of here?"
Ryan smiled, from inside his jacket he pulled out a small piece of metal, he approached the strange apparatus that kept Tech's hand arrested and started to poke it.
"What are you doing?"
"Just wait up… ops!"
"What? What happen?"
"My device broke"
"Great!"
"I think… I'll have to do this on the old fashioned way"
From inside his jacket Ryan pulls out a crowbar and hits the device
"Why don't you just bring a blowtorch?"
"Yes the blowtorch I knew I forgot something"
"I'll be saved by a comedian, that's just perfect"
"Alright then I'll leave you here, bye" Ryan said hiding his crowbar under his jacket and walking in the direction of the door
"Just get me out of here dammit!"
Ryan pulls out the crowbar again and hits the device, in no time Ryan breaks the two devices that held Tech's hand, Ryan quickly removes the straps from the coyote's chest and legs while Tech released his neck. Tech gets up with difficulty, he was still dizzy and very weak, Ryan help Tech to straighten and walk to the door
"Very clever of you but how we're going to pass the guard?"
"How much do you think your freedom cost me?" Ryan said with a little smirk on his face
Ryan opens the door, peering down the hallway Ryan makes sure that no one was coming. Giving support to Tech Ryan drags he hero trough the halls of the institute, Tech stared at his reflection in a windonw, his natural brown colored fur had disappeared and a grayish tone had appeared, his eyes were red, his ears were pointing down, he was a completely mess.
"All right we need to get to the elevator!" Ryan said peeking into a corner.
"Ok. Ryan you bribed the entire building or what, there's nobody here" Tech said looking around.
"No, just that guard, he's cleaning our way out"
As soon as Ryan finished talking two guards appear at the end of the corridor, one of them talking with somebody else though a communicator, Ryan saw the guards approaching and as fast as he could he tossed Tech into an empty room right next to him, the two guards saw Ryan, they ran to meet to him.
"Who are you?" The guard to the left asked
"I'm Ryan, I was-"
"This is a private section of the institute, you're not supposed to be here!"
"The secretary told me to come up, I just did so"
-Jeff come in" We have a problem!- A man called one of the guards through the communicator
"Not now, standby"
From inside the room Tech raises from the ground, he still didn't understand why Ryan had thrown him into a room, Tech heard someone yelling at Ryan, he approached the door to hear what was going on outside.
-Jeff that's an order! You better answer me you idiot, this is not a game!-
"Gimme that!" The guard to the left said, taking the communicator from the other guard
"This is Gordon, what do you want, over"
"For the last time I'll ask you to get out of here!" The guard to the right threatened Ryan
"No you don't understand my son is in here and came to see him!"
-Its patient 104, he escaped!-
Tech peeks through the door window, he saw a guard with a communicator wielding his truncheon and having it ready to hit Ryan, despite his physical state Tech opens the door and get out to try to defend Ryan, but he was too slow, the guard hit Ryan in the head and knocked him out, now who needed to be defended was Tech.
"Look is 104!"
"GET HIM!"
The guards lunged against Tech who tried to defend himself the best way possible, the first guard grabbed Tech by the arm and the second was ready to hit Tech, using his powers Tech managed to avoid the attack by manipulating the clock the guard was using, Tech did the guard hit the other guard who was holding him, the guard fell on the floor unconscious, Tech retreat a little bit and took a fighting position, the remain guard almost hit Tech with a right hook but he missed it, he tried once again, Tech dodge and using the guard force against himself Tech grabbed the guard's arm throwing him against a wall.
The guard hit the wall and fell back with a cut in his forehead, Tech knocked out both guards, he went to see Ryan's condition, he took a severe blow to the head and was still unconscious, Tech heard more guards coming down the hall, he grabbed Ryan and together they went into another room, larger than the previous one and with several furniture inside, Tech puts Ryan on a sofa and went to the door to make a barricade. Stacking cabinets and a desk Tech blocked the door way and returned to join Ryan, he seemed to have recovered his conscious.
"Ryan? Are you all right?"
"Argh… this is gonna hurt tomorrow"
Outside the room the guards arrived at the fight scene and rescued the knocked out guards, one of them woke up and said that patient 104 had escaped and one man was his accomplice, through a communicator the same voice that called before Jeff and Gordon was now speaking, the man gave the order to search for patient 104 and the accomplice in the entire building.
"Tech, I'm running out of time!" Ryan said holding his head with a hand
"No! You can't go now! What am I supposed to do?"
"You spent your last trip, don't you?"
"Yes"
"Shit…"
Ryan got up and started to walk randomly in the room, he glanced over Tech and saw the "we're screwed" face the hero was making. Ryan could hear the guards approaching their hideout, he had an idea but its functionality wasn't sure, he walked over Tech, he grabbed the hero's hands and kneeled in front of him.
"What the hell are you think you doing? This is not the time for a proposal!" Tech said in an altered tone
"Shut up, I'll try to lend you more power"
"But you said that wasn't possible!"
"I know, I know!"
"But what if you fail"?
Ryan stopped, apparently Tech's comment affected Ryan. Ryan licked his lips and faced Tech
"Let me tell you something Tech, in my whole life I did absolutely nothing, I never had a job, I had never learned how to drive, my wife supported me, I was afraid to fly, I was afraid of death, I failed a lot in my life, I failed in being a person… when I was I kid I used to dream that one day the entire world would know my name; Ryan, the guy that eradicated the flu; Ryan, the hero; Ryan, the guy that won the Noble Peace Prize… everything were nothing but mere fantasy! A long time later my dad told me a saying: "It's never too late to be what you might have been", that saying changed me, but I knew that I would never become the one that eradicated the flu, I wasn't a scientist, or the one that earned the Nobel Peace Prize, I wasn't important, so I got a job, I learned how to drive, now I'm the one who support my family, I love to fly and I don't give a fucking damn about death! I became Ryan, the guy that the world doesn't even know that exist that now is saving a super hero, that doesn't sound like a fail for me. If you do think that I'll fail go ahead, but I'll let you know something, the saying is right, because right now, I became a hero!"
Ryan squeezed tight Tech's hand, he was expressing a pain face as he kept trying to pass his power to Tech. Ryan's nose started to bleed, Tech was impatient seeing Ryan bleeding and trying his best to lend more of his power, Tech felt Ryan let go of his hands, the human crouched and leaned against wall breathing heavily.
"Tech I think… I think I did it!"
"THEY'RE IN HERE!" A guard shouted
One of the guards had found the hideout, they were now trying to break into, each hit the door received the furniture used in the barricade bounced and slowly where getting away from the door.
"Are you sure you did it?"
"No"
"NO?"
The guards were just about to enter in the room, the barricade wasn't going to last much longer.
"I gotta go Tech!" Ryan said cleaning his nose, living a blood trail on his hand.
"No you can't go now!"
"Listen to me Tech, I know you can do it!"
"No I can't!"
"Yes you can… I believe in you!… stand for something Tech, it's your turn, be the Hero!"
These were the last words of Ryan before he disappeared, the guards had shot down the barricade and entered in the room immobilizing Tech against the floor. A guard dressed different from the others approached Tech grabbing him by the ears, pulling him up.
"Where's the man?" The guard questioned angry
"What man?"
"Don't play silly, the man who helped you out!"
"I think I'm not the only one here with mental disorder"
The guard hits Tech in the face with his truncheon, sending him backwards.
"You two (pointing at two guards) go search for the man! The rest of you stay here! And you…" The guard said looking straight at Tech
"I'll ask you one more time and if you don't cooperate my little buddy over here will do some good damage to your doggy face!" The guard threatened with his truncheon.
"Where's your accomplice?" The guard said poking Tech's nose with his truncheon.
"Kiss my ass!"
The guard hits Tech one more time but now with great intensity, making the hero to spit blood on the floor, along with one of his canine.
"You ain't no more a hero…" The guard said walking away from Tech
"Where's the syringe?" The chief guard asked to another guard
"It's right…here… where is it? That man! A man took it from me!"
"You asshole! Fine than… just make him suffer, a lot, I'm not gonna wait anymore for the real justice to act, we'll do it on our own way-" The guard was turning to face Tech
"…and we don't like murderers!"
The chief guard gives his truncheon to another guard and walks towards the door, before he exited, he said:
"You guys have five minutes! Later cut his throat and toss the body anywhere else, (glancing over Tech) the poor little doggy killed himself!"
Tech wasn't believing what the guard just said, the four remain guards in the room raised their truncheons and have started to walk towards Tech, one of the guard went ahead of the group and stopped them, he turned around and faced Tech
"I believe we should grant him his last words, what about that?" The guard in front of Tech said.
The others guards started to laugh and together they formed and circle around Tech. One of them hits Tech on his knee making the hero to kneel
"On your knees!" The guard said
"Your last words?"
Tech did get up, he just dropped his head and asked the guard in front of him:
"Why?"
"Why? I'll tell you why… we (pointing to the guards around him) waited to damn long to justice to act, they serve for nothing! You know, a lot of people died that day at the plant, my father died"
"My mother died too" One other guard said
"Our brother died too" The two remain guards said
"And it's your entire fault! Now…" The guard said raising Tech's head with his foot
"…you gonna pay!"
All the guards started to kick Tech, the unprotected hero tried to get in vain some protection by assuming a fetal position
"That's it… I'm dead!" Tech was thinking
"After everything I passed… I'll die"
-It's your turn-
"Ryan… I'm sorry! I didn't make it"
-Stand for something-
"Rev… I'm sorry too, my best friend, I miss you so much!"
-I believe in you!-
"I…I…I can't…I'm just…"
-Be the Hero!-
"I…I… I'll be… the… hero, Ryan is right… it's time!"
One of the guards had stopped the aggression, he thought he heard something
"Stop! Stop! Wait a minute!" The guard interrupted his friends
The guard bends over Tech and turns his ear in the direction of the hero
"What? What's wrong?" A guard questioned
"I think he said something"
The guard backs off from Tech
"What do you want?" The guard asked Tech
Tech moved on the floor, he slowly stretched his hands and suspended his body for a moment, one of the guards was about to kick Tech but he was prevented from doing that by another guard.
"Wait up, Let's see in what this gonna end!" The guard laughed
Tech was now trying to get up, his body were all sore, his legs were shaking and on his arms he had no strength, the coyote staggered for a brief moment but he stood still, his regeneration power wasn't being effective, his actual state let him too weak for even using his power. The guards above him were cross-armed waiting the injured figure in front of them to do something, Tech held himself on his knees to not fall again, through his mouth ran a thin stream of blood, result of all the beating he suffered.
"Come on, we're waiting"
Tech spit on the floor a mixture of saliva and blood, now that the he was sure that his throat was clean he closed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak
"I'llbethehero" Tech said quietly
"What?"
"I'llbethehero!"
"Talk like people you retard!" One guard said throwing his cap at Tech
Tech opened his eyes, the guards freaked out with the strange green light that was eradiating from the coyote's eyes.
"I said, I - will - be - the - HERO!"
*outside the room*
"Bunch of jerks, they can't do anything right, the five minutes has gone, I'm going in!"
The chief guard was waiting outside the room where Tech was being kept, he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from inside the room, a loud scream and one of his men being thrown through the room wall, the guard hit a window on the other side of the passageway and almost fell from the building, the chief guard runs into the room to see what happened. Inside the room he found the other three guards down on the floor and among them, patient 104, with his eyes glowing green.
"What the hell?"
The chief guard picks up a truncheon from the floor and starts an onslaught against Tech.
"I'll make you pay for this you sucker!" The chief guard said throwing his truncheon at Tech
Tech catches the truncheon in mid air and takes aim at the guard, not managing to stop the guard ran right into Tech's aim, Tech swung the truncheon and hit the guard right in the face, making him to perform a back flip. The guard was agonizing on the floor, Tech ignored the man and left him alone in the room as he walked out of it.
"And now… now it's time to end this mess once and for all!"
Tech closed his eyes and concentrated the much he could, his whole body wasn't supporting itself after all that action, his head was hurting so bad from the countless kicks and his blurred vision wasn't helping. Tech felt the pain in his body increasing, his head started to hut more and more but that was good signal, he was coming back in time, for the last time.
"Thanks Ryan for your help, but I'm afraid we won't see each other again…"
A/N:
Chapter seven, two more to go until the end…
Sorry for the delay, I literally forgot to update, so sorry…