Hi Guys and welcome back to Blizzard! So, this chapter is the aftermath of the Inferno fight, so let's crack on with it, shall we?
"So what exactly happened Blizzard?" Carlos asked as Kendall watched Inferno being cuffed and dragged away, fire blanket still firmly covering the villain to make sure he didn't try to escape.
"Well, I was patrolling the area, keeping an eye out for James when I saw someone falling from his balcony. Blond hair, green eyes"
"That would be Kendall Knight, James' partner," Carlos said, causing Kendall to nod, knowing he had to play dumb as Blizzard.
"So, yeah, I saw him falling so I swept into action, and caught him about halfway down. He was super grateful about it, but he was also worried about James up here. He said that Inferno had used him as a pawn against James, before throwing him off the balcony and that the two of them were still up there. So, I dropped Kendall down on the floor and told him to wait in the alley I dropped him into until I went and got him. That's when I came up to the apartment"
"And that's when you fought Inferno," Carlos said, causing Kendall to nod, as he glanced over at James who was currently being checked by some EMT's.
"Yeah. James was being chocked out on the fridge when I arrived, and when I confronted Inferno, he bashed James' head against it, causing him to pass out before he dropped to the floor. That's obviously when the two of us started fighting, and all this happened" Kendall said, causing Carlos to glance around at the apartment.
"Well, at least Inferno's in custody now and we're taking him to the SCIP. I'll have to get the guys to design some sort of fire retardant cell to put him in, and we'll have to find a way to dull his powers but I'm sure he'll manage" Carlos replied, causing Kendall to let out a small sigh as he glanced around once again. "What's up? You don't seem too enthusiastic about this guy going behind bars" Carlos added, causing Kendall to shake his head as he glanced back at the chief.
"It's not that, I'm certainly grateful that Inferno's in custody and that he's no longer a threat to the Diamond Family, but it's what he told me" Kendall replied, causing Carlos to raise an eyebrow at him as he pulled out his notepad ready to make notes. "Inferno said that the Diamond Family killed his entire village by poisoning the water supply that they drank from, so while I don't condone his actions in any way, I can see why he acted the way that he did. I mean, if someone took everything you loved from you, and you had the chance to make them pay for it…let's just say that I can see why he did it" Kendall continued, now thinking back to what he did to the orphanage he grew up in.
While he hadn't gone to the lengths that Inferno had to get revenge, it was safe to say that Kendall had gotten some payback of his own. The superhero shook his head at the thought, Carlos speaking up as he did so.
"I'll have someone look into it. If the Diamond Family have been poisoning rivers and killing off villages then it's safe to say that they should be held accountable for it"
"Thanks, Chief, it means a lot" Kendall replied, causing Carlos to flash him a small smile.
"Well, I'm going to have a quick chat to James about everything that happened, as having his perspective will be helpful and I'll need to chat to Kendall as well" the Latino said, causing Kendall to nod, trying to stop the smug look from growing on his face that Carlos was already talking to him.
"Just be careful with James Chief. I think he's a little freaked out by the whole situation" Kendall said, causing Carlos to nod.
"I will be, and once again, thank you, Blizzard, for all you did here today"
"I'm just doing my bit Chief" Kendall replied, flashing Carlos to small smile before the two of them split off.
Watching as the police chief headed over to James, Kendall made his way back onto the balcony, where a pile of his clothes sat. Thankful that the police hadn't found them yet, Kendall scooped them up into his arms before jumping off of the balcony, creating a slide for him to slide down towards the ground. Really, Kendall should have been a bit more careful as to where he'd thrown his clothes as James' apartment probably wasn't the best place for them, but at the time, that certainly wasn't Kendall's concern.
That was James' safety.
As the blond landed in the alley behind the Morningstar Rise apartments, he quickly slipped his clothes over his suit, hiding any evidence that he was Blizzard before making his way back up to James' apartment, ready to do his bit as 'helpless civilian saved by the hero.'
This would certainly be interesting for the blond as he'd never had to give a testimony about a crime before, especially one that he'd stopped. Coming up with a plausible story in his head, Kendall made his way to the lift and pressed the button for the 55th floor, ready to show his other persona off, which was a genuinely scared and concerned boyfriend, something that Kendall didn't even need to pretend to be.
As the lift arrived on the 55th floor, and the door opened, Kendall was greeted with the sight of Ricardo giving a statement to the police. Both he and the officer glanced at the lift door opened for a brief second, and when Ricardo saw it was Kendall, his whole demeanour changed to one of sorrow. Kendall stepped off of the lift, curious about the change that had happened, and as Ricardo finished talking to the police officer, he approached the blond, a small frown on his face.
"So, I just wanted to say sorry for, you know, letting you get dropped off of the balcony. I didn't hear anything until James shouted" Ricardo said, rubbing the back of his neck, causing Kendall to shake his head.
"It's alright, there was nothing you could have done anyway. Inferno was pretty unstoppable" Kendall replied, causing Ricardo to relax slightly, the tension leaving his shoulders.
"I know what you mean, I ran into the room after hearing James shout, and he knocked me out cold. Still, I'm just grateful that Blizzard was there to help. He's a real hero"
"Yeah, he is" Kendall replied, a small smile growing on his face. "Anyway, I better get in there and see James. Let him know that I'm ok" Kendall continued, causing Ricardo to nod, stepping aside to let Kendall pass.
As the blond walked into the apartment, he made a beeline straight over to James, who was just finishing up with an EMT. When Kendall approached, the EMT flashing him a small smile before packing her stuff away, leaving the two of them alone, Kendall noticing that James was still shaking. Taking a seat next to the brunet on the chairs which used to sit around the dining room table, Kendall reached out and took one of James' hands into his own.
"How are you holding up?" Kendall asked, squeezing James' hand as he spoke.
"I'm ok. The EMT said that I might have a mild concussion, which would explain why I lost it with Inferno" James replied, causing Kendall to squeeze his hand once again.
"James you did nothing wrong"
"Kendall, I…" was as far as James got with a response before the brunet looked up to see Carlos approaching them.
"Mr Knight, would I be able to have a word with you? I just need you to make a brief statement about what happened" the police chief said, causing Kendall to nod his head, as he gave James' hand one last squeeze before letting it go.
"We're not done here," Kendall said, before he got up, and stepped away with Carlos, glancing at James, who had his head in his hands.
"As I said, I just need a brief statement about what happened. So, in your own words, could you tell me?" Carlos asked, pulling his notepad out, ready to make notes.
"Well, I was sat on the sofa while James offered to make me some dinner, and I was listening to James talk about his dad and what he'd done today when I felt someone wrap an arm around my neck and put there hand across my mouth. I was terrified, so I didn't try to call for help or do anything because I didn't know what I could do, and when James asked a question, I couldn't respond, so he turned around, and his face dropped when he saw who it was. I still didn't know at the time, but when he spoke up, I knew exactly who it was." Kendall began, wiping his hand over his forehead to wipe away the small bit of sweat that had formed there.
"Inferno started to taunt James, saying that he was here to kill the one he loved most, which he said was me, and the whole time, the two of us were backing towards the open patio door. James asked him not to hurt me, and Inferno said something like 'I'm not going to hurt him, his death will be quick and painless' before saying that after he'd killed me, he was going to kill James, and that's when he threw me through the glass railing, off of the balcony" Kendall replied, letting out a sigh as he glanced back at James, who still had his head in his hands.
"So, what happened next?"
"It was about halfway down the building, and I remember thinking that I was going to die when I felt someone catch me in their arms. It was Blizzard, and I was so grateful to see him. He carried me down to the floor, into a back alley, and he told me to wait there until he came and got me, so I knew it was safe, and that's what I did. When he finally came and got me, he told me that the police needed to interview me, so I came straight up and he skated off" Kendall finished, causing Carlos to nod as he finished up writing his notes.
"Perfect, thank you, and I'm sorry this happened to you. You were an innocent in something much bigger and I'm sorry you nearly got killed because of it" Carlos replied, causing Kendall to shrug, as he glanced over at James.
"I knew the risks of dating him, and I'd heard all the threats that Inferno was making, so it's mostly my fault" Kendall replied, a small smile growing on his face as he glanced at the brunet. He certainly knew the dangers of dating him, but not once did that ever put him off doing it.
"Also, I have to ask, would James be able to stay with you for a couple of nights. I think that it will do him some good to leave this apartment and go somewhere different, especially with the memories that he now has associated with here. If not, we'll provide a hotel for him to stay in,"
"Yeah, he can stay with me" Kendall replied, causing Carlos to nod.
"Perfect thank you once again. Would you be able to provide us with your address, just so we can keep an eye on the two of you? Inferno's threat has passed, but we understand that you might be on edge for a couple of days, so we just want to you know that we are there for you if you need us" Carlos continued, as he passed the notepad to the blond. As Kendall wrote down his address, Carlos spoke up again. "I also want you to have this, it's my phone number. If you or James feel like you need to talk to someone, give me a ring, and I can refer you to someone you can talk you, either a counsellor or a psychologist."
"Thank you Chief Garcia" Kendall replied, passing the notebook back as he took the business card from his hand.
"No worries, now we'll get out of your hair, and the two of you spend some time together" Carlos replied, causing Kendall to nod before the police chief began to walk away, Kendall now making his way back to the brunet. Neither of them spoke as they watched the police leave James' ruined apartment, and when the door was shut, three of them remained with Ricardo hoovering by the door.
"I'll be outside. I need to give a report to my boss" Ricardo said, causing them both to nod as he left the room once again, now leaving the two of them alone.
Squeezing James' hand once again, Kendall spoke up. "So, what were you going to say? You…"
"It doesn't matter" James replied, causing Kendall to shake his head, putting his finger under James' chin so that the brunet was looking at him.
"You're the one that said we should talk about our feelings remember" Kendall replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face for a brief second.
"I just can't stop thinking about what I did. I mean, I beat the guy Kendall. He was on the floor defenceless and I just kept swinging. I was just so angry, with everything that he put me and my dad through, and at that moment, I just couldn't stop myself, it felt…good" James said, his emotions getting the better of him by the end as tears streamed from his eyes. "I'm a bad person, aren't I? Doing that shouldn't feel good, and I don't feel good about it now"
"Hey, hey, it's ok," Kendall said, pulling James in for a hug as the brunet cried into his shoulder. "You're not a bad person James. If you were, you wouldn't be feeling bad about it now, and I need you to remember that you saved my life. If you hadn't done what you did James, then…" Kendall began, before shuddering at the thought, not wanting to say it out loud. "You saved my life James, so I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all. Inferno wasn't hurt, and because of your quick thinking, he's now in custody and will no longer hurt anyone else, so try to focus on that" Kendall continued, causing James to nod into his shoulder. "Now come on, it might do you some good to get out of here and clear your head. Besides, your place is completely ruined" Kendall joked, causing James to let out a little chuckle as he sniffled, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Yeah, it's completely wrecked. Do you think my insurance will cover superhero versus supervillain fights?" the brunet replied, trying to focus on what Kendall had said about him being a good person.
"If they don't, I'll help pay for some of the damages. I mean, after all, I did break-" Kendall glanced around briefly, thinking about what he was responsible for breaking. "All of it. I broke all of it" Kendall finished, causing James' eyes to widen dramatically.
"And I didn't even ask if you're ok? Oh god, I am a bad person" James replied, tears welling in his eyes once again, causing Kendall to shake his head. The blond knew it was the concussion causing James to have mood swings, so he just had to be patient with him.
"I'm fine James, honestly. I'm a little sore, but it's nothing I can't handle. You're my top priority at the moment, and I promise James, you're not a bad person" Kendall replied, causing James to nod once again, stray tears falling him his eyes. "Come on, let's go pack you a bag, and then we can head to mine, and get some rest. After the evening we've had, we definitely need it" Kendall said, causing James to nod.
As Kendall helped the brunet to his feet, the blond trying his best not to look at the damaged he'd caused to James apartment; the destroyed dining table, crumbled island, toppled sofa, smashed TV and shattered patio door and balcony railing as the two of them made their way to James' bedroom.
With James settled in his bed, safely asleep after today's events, Kendall found himself in his bathroom stripped out of both his clothes and his suit to reveal the damage that Inferno had done to him. Like Kendall said to the brunet, he was fine, but that didn't mean that he was completely ok, and the blond was feeling some pain when he moved a certain way or did a certain thing.
Finally pulling off his suit, the blond saw how his whole stomach was pretty much black with bruises, probably from landing on the slide front first, as well as from being thrown into James' kitchen island, and when Kendall turned around, he saw that a few sections of his back were damaged as well, from where he was launching into the TV. His throat was also slightly red from where Inferno arm was before Kendall throw off of the balcony and then from where Inferno was choking him out on the wall, but as Kendall had said to James, it was nothing that he hadn't handled before.
Sighing, Kendall headed back into his bedroom, where he slipped some pyjamas on, and just as he was about to climb into bed, his stomach rumbled once again, acting as a reminder of how this whole thing started. Letting out another sigh, Kendall made his way into his kitchenette, where he rummaged through his fridge trying to find something to eat.
After eventually finding some frozen bits in his freezer, Kendall shoved them into the oven, before turning on the TV, keeping the volume low so that he didn't wake James. However, the volume of the TV didn't affect what Kendall saw, which was a one-second clip of the blond falling towards the ground before hitting a slide of ice. Kendall's heart dropped in his chest as his ears suddenly couldn't focus on any sound that was being made, the blond dropping onto his sofa as he tried his best not to panic.
Still, the one thing that kept going through his mind was that his secret was blown, and that alone was enough to cause his panic to grow tenfold.
So there we have it! Everyone is mostly ok after the fight with Inferno, some minor injuries were sustained by nothing major, but of course, the big cliffhanger this chapter is whether his secret is out! The next chapter will pick right up where this one left off, so get ready for that!
So, I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You're right, they definitely do make a great team, but James certainly is going to struggle with what he did. This chapter showed it a little bit, but it will come up again! Also, I'm so glad that you loved the fire blanket! As soon as I thought it, (I saw the one in my kitchen), I knew that I just had to include it! Like you've all said, it's cheesy but it certainly worked! Plus, some of you felt bad for Inferno as well, so I decided to explore that a little more in this chapter!
I hope that you all have a great week, and I will see you on Thursday for the next chapter of Rush and Response! But until then,
TTFN 😃❄