I gripped the railing of the ship. I was standing on the deck of Queen's newest battleship, The Tower. It was bigger than The Spire. Its guns were more sci-fi than last time too. Though I'm sure it still had plenty of conventional weapons.
Night had settled over Brockton Bay, although I couldn't say the same for Brockton Bay itself. It's toughest heroes, including Alexandria were scouring the city at the moment, investigating any sign that could lead them to Tick Tock. They always travelled in pairs and took such extreme caution that I doubted they would be able to pursue Tick Tock even if they picked up his trail. Too afraid he left the trace on purpose, for those who found it specifically, and had traps for them. Not an unlikely idea actually.
After some time I convinced Queen to let The Undersiders and New Wave stay on her other ships. The Lighthouse for New Wave and Beacon for The Undersiders. Amy, James, and Anna were staying with us.
I didn't like this, I didn't like any of this. I was helpless when it counted, played right into his hands every time. It wasn't hard to do, Tick Tock made sure it was easy to catch and kill him, you just had to make a greater sacrifice to do it. And because of his power, he knew exactly what kind of sacrifice you couldn't make. If it had been me instead of Brute, if anyone of my friends up there in that chair cutting them like that, I would have let those officers die. I'm not heartless, but my friends come first. No doubt Tick Tock knew that and built the game with that in mind. Something specific to Brute.
Damn him.
"You know, that isn't the only way to catch him." Tenant floated into my vision as he spoke.
'What do you mean?' I thought back at him.
"There is one other way, but it is much more risky." He paused a moment to see if I would ask him to continue. When I didn't he pressed on. "He makes people cautious. You noted just a moment ago that heroes are too slow to move against him because Tick Tock has proven on multiple occasion to know exactly how people will react and what actions they'll take; allowing him to set traps specially tailored to each individual following him."
'Right.' I responded slowly.
"So all it would really take is for you to take a risky move to chase him when he expects you to take precaution."
'The downside being if I took risk when he expects risk then he would have me. " I finished for him. Tenant nodded in agreement.
"As you may have guessed, there is no easy answer when it come to Tick Tock." I nodded dismissively and looked past him towards the lights of Brockton Bay. At that moment a gust of wind blew bay and whipped my hair to the side. I hadn't cut it in a while, but it wasn't really necessary as I could now get it to change lengths along with the colour. Right now it was a short blond, close to my original style.
I felt someone enter of range and I turned to looked to see who it was. Alex greeted me with a sly smile before joining me on the railing.
"How are you doing?" He asked me. I shrugged.
"Eh, I'm managing. We're not exactly in a great spot right now."
"We'll pull through, I'm sure." I shrugged again.
"Let's hope." We fell silent and spent a few moments just looking out over the ocean towards the city. I could almost pretend this was peaceful.
"What do you think he'll do next?" Alex signed at me.
"I have no idea. But it'll shock us, probably make us want to deny it was possible, something like that."
"You certainly know how to inspire people don't you?" Alex said sarcastically.
"Oh shut up." I rolled my eyes at him. Suddenly I felt another person enter my range, this one slightly shorter. I turned and saw Queen standing behind me. She was in pink pajamas and looked tired.
"Tsu," Queen said quietly. "Too many people on my ships, I can't sleep." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"They make you nervous?" She nodded. I smiled at her. "You don't have anything to worry about, if they do anything to your ships, we'll hunt them down together." Queen cast her gaze downward and held her hands behind her back, almost nervously if I didn't know better. Was there something else that was bothering her? Tick Tock maybe? He did proclaim Queen as his first target, and Brute recent info made that sound a hundred times worse. I'd be scared too if it were the other way around.
"Could you keep me company? Just until I fall to sleep." I paused for a moment, then nodded. If she was feeling scared, then I would have to be there for her. It's what I do. I walked towards her before looking back at Alex.
"Catch you later," I told him before Queen and I went off. He offered a small wave and went into his ghost form, sinking below the deck of the ship.
Queen lead to the captain's quarters, a room completely identical to the last one in The Spire. I gave Queen a gentle smile before climbing in the bed and pulling up the covers. Queen clapped her hands and the lights went out. She cuddled up next to me, rolling herself into a ball. It wasn't long before we fell asleep.
When I woke up Queen was still asleep, now laying across my arm. She snored lightly, like a purr. It was cute.
I had too many thoughts running around my mind to keep them straight. Thoughts of Amy and James and wanting to see how they're doing. Thoughts of Stravik and Jess and knowing there wasn't anything else I could do for them right now. I thought of Tick Tock. What he has done so far, what he will do. Who he has attacked and how, who he might attack next.
"I can't help you with the other ones," Tenant said, suddenly appearing in my vision. "But if you want to speculate on Tick Tock, I think I can give some insight."
'Tenant, the friend I can't get rid of even if I wanted to, what brings you to this mind?' I asked with a silly grin. Tenant rolled his eyes and began to pace around the room, his cane making tapping noises only I could hear.
"I've had all night to think about Tick Tock and I have come up with a few ideas."
'Alright, shoot.'
"Tick Tock works in twelves and multiples and thereof, right?"
'Right.'
"According to Brute, his first six are just practice. So I thought about it. There are three major groups in Brockton Bay, another multiple of twelve mind you, villians, New Wave, and the Protectorate. He took two from New Wave, then two from us, so-"
'The next two victims are both going to be from the Protectorate.' I finished. Tenant nodded.
"Then we can expect him to slow down and do things one at a time. This is where he is really trying, so things will take some set up on his part."
'And he'll probably take from New Wave, villains, and the Protectorate again.' Tenant nodded in agreement.
"But probably in a random order."
'So we need to warn the Protectorate that Tick Tock is coming for two of them." Tenant shook his head.
"The Protectorate is already on alert for Tick Tock, nothing you say could make them increase the security they already have. And if we know Tick Tock at all yet, he likely already a plan of action in place for the ones he wants to the point we couldn't stop him."
'So there is nothing we can do to help?' Tenant shook his head.
"Not these ones, but if we skip ahead to the next target we might be able to do something."
'Queen.' I stated. 'That's who you're talking about.' Tenant nodded.
"Yes, now think. What is the first thing people would do with this knowledge?"
'Put Queen in the safest location possible and hope it's enough to keep Tick Tock out.' Tenant nodded.
"But we know we can't do that, not with the intelligence and resources he has. So out next option is to use her as bait to draw him out and spring a trap."
'Not much of an option.' I said coldly. Tenant rolled his eyes.
"Of course. So you can't keep her safe here and you can't use her, so what's next?"
'Leave the city and don't look back?' I suggested. Tenant considered then nodded.
"Good, but Tick Tock would anticipate this too and have plans for it."
'So we're back into a corner? Tick Tock has already predicted any move we make and has countermeasures for it."
"Not quite, there is another option. That we take an action he expects, but we do it wrong."
'How do you mean?' I asked skeptically.
"We use Queen as bait, only there is no trap. We throw you into the mix, let him capture both of you. Then when you're in there your power will kick in as he hurts your friend and you kill him there."
'That is an incredible amount of risk and a lot of ways that could go wrong. Not to mention Queen getting hurt is part of your plan.'
"Remember what we said, risk when he expects caution. If we're going to get him, this is the way." I sighed as I thought about it. As much as I didn't like the plan, it was the only one I could think of that seemed likely to work. I groaned as I thought about telling Queen. Well, no time like the present. I gently touched Queen's shoulder and shook her awake.
She moaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. I felt my eyes widen as I noticed, this woman wasn't Queen.
"Where am I?" The woman asked. I leapt to my feet immediately.
"Who are you! Where's Queen!" The woman looked shocked for a moment, then her expression turned to terror.
"Y-y-you're Tsundere! The Paranorms!" I growled in frustration and stormed out of the room, kicking the door open in front of me. Tick Tock had come straight into our home, took Queen as she laid in the same bed as me! Words could not express how furious it made me, and I tried too. I had my second mind search my entire memory for any word or string of words that could properly portray the sheer, unadulterated, anger I felt right now.
I kicked open the door into the cafeteria and saw most of us had already gathered for breakfast. Good, I needed to talk to them.
"Queen's gone," I shouted, startling everyone in the room. "Taken, right out from under our noses. We need to go and find her. Now!" Alex stood up and faced me, and frown etched into his features.
"Troll is gone too." He signed. Immediately I felt the walls containing my anger burst and suddenly I lost all momentum. I was so thrown off by the fact he had gotten Troll too that my will broke and my anger became a dark grey cloud of depression.
"Anyone else?" I asked weakly. As an answer, Alex went into his ghost form and possed the television. A moment later a recording of Tick Tock appeared, his smile still plastered across his face.
"Good morning Brockton Bay, I'd just like to say I find your attempt to stop me from hacking into every screen in the city very admirable. But I need to get my message out, so it was all for not in the end.
"Last night, I walked into the most dangerous places for a man like me to go, one of Queen's ships, the Protectorate Headquarters, and one of The Undersiders secret bases. Once there, I captured all but one of my planned victims." Tick Tock's smile widened. "I don't want to keep you in suspense, so here they are; Clockblocker, Kid Win, Assault and Battery, Queen of the Castle, Troll, and The Undersider's own little Imp. Now the last five have some very special dates with me that are going to take some time to set up. But I don't want to leave you all bored, so here is your entertainment in the meantime!" Tick Tock twirled out of the way to reveal Clockblocker and Kid Win, both put in a mechanical contraption of some sort. Clockblocker had a towel pulled over his face, masking him from view. The machine he was in appeared to have thousands of drills posed over his skin all over his body. The bad thing was, he was just standing there. There weren't any restraint or anything holding him. Just thousands of little drills.
Kid Win was also standing with nothing to hold him back from leaving. The device that surrounded him was a little hard to tell what it was supposed to do. But I could see it had a lot of wicked looking arms to it.
"Now, I'll tell you what this does," Tick Tock explained as he began pacing gleefully around Clockblocker and Kid Win. "The idea of this is that if either of the moves any more than normal chest risings as they breathe, the other gets punish. In time boy's case, every millimeter Kid Win moves causes those drills to activate and go a little deeper as water jets into his face simulate drowning."
"Kid Win on the other hand," Tick Tock moved his whole body back other to him. "For every bit that Clockblocker moves these arms will come down and draw sandpaper and cheese graters across his skin. And of course if either one leaves the trap entirely, the other one dies.!" Tick Tock threw his head back and laughed maniacally. Suddenly he straightened and pulled out a pin.
"And now, a demonstration" He pricked the back of Kid Win's neck, making him flinch. In response a splash of water struck the towel that covered Clockblocker's face as the drills turned and bit into his costume. In response a single arm came down and knocked Kid Win's mask off as it grazed his forehead. He tensed and bit his lip in response, causing Clockblocker's drills to go a little deeper. Thankfully Clockblocker steeled himself against reacting to it and the cycle stopped for a moment. Tick Tock giggled gleefully and then grew into full-scale laughter.
"Now, there is a very simple way you get out of this." Tick Tock said. "One of you kills the other by leaving the trap. You'll be spared torture, and really, would a true friend want you to suffer?" Tick Tock grinned at Kid Win, getting very close to his face. "You are friends after all right? Hm, such a shame only one of you can see and neither of you can talk. Kid Win, you stand an obvious advantage here that I urge you to take up." Tick Tock paused and thought a moment.
"There is another way if you two would rather suffer. Stand there for three hours and don't die and the traps will disengage. That's it, three hours without betraying each other or dying in the process. The choice is yours. Oh, and it is also going to take about three hours for the Protectorate to be able to trace my single here, so be on the lookout for that and have fun." Tick Tock strode out of the picture with a silly grin on his face. And then it was just Clockblocker and Kid Win standing there in complete silence.
Alex flew out of the television a moment later, the screen shutting off as he did so. He landed gently on the ground and waited a few seconds before he could go back into a solid form. When he did he signed at me.
"It's been an hour and a half since that aired and Tick Tock has been streaming it on every online video source there is, including hacking back into televisions after he gets removed. They aren't doing well. Clockblocker just had a coughing fit from the water. It was ugly." I couldn't even bring myself to respond. Instead, I turned and started walking out the door.
Alex suddenly floated through me before materializing in the doorway, blocking my path. His ghost form had a warm fuzzy feeling to it.
"Where are you going?"
"To look for Queen and Troll."
"There is an entire city out there, she could be anywhere." I grit my teeth.
"Then I'm going to have to look harder." Alex paused for a moment then opened his mouth.
"Then let me come help you." I was stunned by how smooth his voice was before I remember he was a singer once. A singer who was able to perfectly perform soft country songs to hard rock songs.
"You speak," I said stupidly. Alex smirked and gave me a smug look.
"I'll go grab my costume, I'll be right back." He signed at me before sinking through the floor. I shook my head to clear it of that revelation. I had to get my costume on too, but I was out of qipaos, Troll had all my fresh ones. I found a red kimono and pulled it on. It was heavier, and according to my power it wasn't as tough because it was less revealing. But it was also warm, which I almost liked better. I took a deep breath and grabbed my katanas before heading for the door, leaving my bokken behind.