March 30, 1986
Horror was always running behind someone. He never led a charge into a highly dangerous building. His brothers and sisters had been, for some reason, under the impression that this was because he wasn't brave or he didn't possess the necessary leadership skills. It was, in fact, option C; none of the above.
If they had been paying attention then they would've realized that he was brave and could be a leader when push came to shove. Whenever the first few went down, meaning Kraken and Spaceboy, he was generally the one to assume command. That was when they had actually been a team, so that was saying something. His bravery was proved by the fact that he was still with the Academy after all these years.
In fact, it was because he wasn't stupid and leading the charge seemed very stupid to him. Whoever was leading said charge was generally target number one. They were also blinded because they couldn't see the big picture or the layout. From his position in back he could do that, as well as stop suddenly if need be.
This point was illustrated when Kraken collided head on with Spaceboy as they entered a new hall. Horror was far away enough so that he could stop in time. Strangely enough, so was Séance. The two of them shared a look, not of a private joke, but more of a mutual understanding.
"Get the fuck off me!" Kraken snapped angrily.
"You're the one who ran into me!" Space insisted.
There were a few more muffled curses as the two struggled to get back to their feet. With Kraken's obstinence and Space's sheer bulk, it took quite some time. Once more Séance and Horror shared a look. This would have never have happened if they hadn't been leading the charge.
Just then a sound something like a mixture between a scream and a sizzle came to their ears. Each Hargreeves looked at each other before leaping to their feet and continuing on.
.
.
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Claire gasped as she moved behind more crates. That had not gone well, not at all. She looked down at her badly burnt hand and wrangled up some fake tears. It wasn't hard. She was still well-trained from the days when all it took was the complaint of a sore stomach and tears to keep you away from school.
"Awww?" Jormungand cooed, finding her easily due to her tears, "Got your wing clipped didn't you? You talk a little too tough for such a wuss."
He took a step closer and she grabbed his foot with her good hand. She had found that it was much easier to transmit electricity through contact. He screamed as she put as much voltage as she could muster up at that moment. Claire held on for about thirty seconds before releasing and scrambling up to her feet.
Jormungand was, well, there was no other word for it, sizzling. She felt rather nauseated at this unforeseen side affect, the smell was ghastly, but took it in stride. With his blackened flesh healing up and his eyes coming back, apparently they melted rather easily; he managed to growl out;
"You are going to pay for that!"
Vi kicked off from her position on the ceiling and landed a hard kick in the middle of his back. As he was knocked back Claire said casually;
"You know, I don't think I am."
"You-" he started, flames curling around his hands.
"Tag team!" Vi yelled.
She and Claire quickly split up heading separate directions around him. They'd known they would have to circle up and surround him. It was a maneuver they had practiced many times. Behind the crates Claire had acknowledged that he seemed like a good fighter, but there were two of them and really only one of him.
Jormungand had overlooked one very important fact about them. Yes, they were crime fighters. Woe to the miscreant that met them separately. However, what he had overlooked was that the ones that met them together were truly fucked. They worked together, and they had always excelled at what they did.
When he aimed flames at both of them they simultaneously dropped to the ground. They both got up soon after, Vi grabbing a crate to throw at him. It hit him and from the dazed look in his eyes also managed to disorient him. Trying hard not to breathe in the clouds of white powder Claire took him head on.
With her being as clumsy as she was, it wasn't easy. He seemed pretty good at hand to hand as well. Apparently he had also remembered which had been burned. When she dropped to the ground he stepped on it. Tears welling in her eyes she aimed a well placed kick towards his crouch. Apparently, judging from the tears in his eyes, it was a lot more painful than what he had done to her.
Still, he seemed to have enough control of his faculties. When he raised his hand Claire had been expecting fire. Instead an unknown force had knocked her backwards, sending her crashing into the wall. More pressure was applied and Claire was starting to find it very difficult to breathe. Seeing this Vi picked up another crate and tossed it at him.
Suddenly the pressure decreased and Claire dropped to the floor. When she looked up again he was raising his hands. She rolled out of the way as fire was aimed at both her and Vi. Claire covered her head with her hands and waited for the barrage to end. Finally hearing the flames stop crackling she got up and started booking it for him.
Vi, being closer to him then she was, had gotten up immediately when the flames stopped. She aimed a kick at him, which he dodged. For a minute or two they went head to head, almost moving in a blur. Any fire he aimed at her she dodged quickly, almost as if she was gaining speed as she went along. Claire was at point-blank range when he first showed signs of teleporting.
"Oh no you don't!" Claire howled, hitting him with more electricity.
He screamed again. Vi, ignoring every single safety tip they had ever established, launched herself at him while Claire was still pumping voltage. Perhaps it had been the fact that she knew she would heal. Or perhaps it had been something else. There had certainly been a good deal of fire in her eyes. Either way, from her facial expression she was in a good deal of pain.
"Vi!" Claire screamed, stopping immediately.
Without even acknowledging her friend Vi shoved Jormungand down onto the ground. Both of them were charred in some places, although Vi was healing a lot faster than him. He groaned from the pain of her attack and Claire reflected that she must've really been in control to not have been blinded by the pain. Vi leaned down and hissed in his ear;
"You think you could fuck with us you miserable bastard? Think again."
With great deliberation Vi broke both of his arms and twisted them behind him like a fleshy pretzel. She was tying him in a knot. Yeah, it was gross, but it had been the plan. Vi figured that he might heal wrong and thus not be able to get up again. It had been a solid plan. Getting to the plan had been somewhat difficult, but the pleasure her friend took from it scared her. He screamed as Vi finished her work with his arms and moved to his legs.
Briefly Claire closed her eyes as the snap of his legs echoed in the air. Getting up Vi walked to his head.
"Nighty-night," she said sweetly, before stomping on his head as hard as she could.
The crunch of his skull was sickening.
"Guh…" Claire said.
"He'll heal," Vi said darkly, "For now he'll just be unconscious. He can't teleport like that."
She turned and walked away, her stride determined. At first Claire didn't know what she was doing. Surely they should be waiting for the Academy. Maybe she should even be explaining about her father. When Vi bent down to pick up the knife, she got a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was only confirmed by the demonic look in Vi's eyes as she strode towards Jormungand again.
"Vi," said Claire carefully, "What are you doing?"
"Ending this," replied Vi curtly.
Claire stepped in front of her.
"No, no you're not."
"Get you of my way," Vi snapped.
Trying to remain calm Claire said;
"This isn't what we do Vi. We don't kill people. We don't-"
"He deserves it!" Vi howled.
Scared by her friend's intensity Claire took a step back.
"It's his fault!" she continued, "Everything! He told me…that bastard told me…my mom's Vanya Hargreeves! He kidnapped her when she was pregnant with me, nearly fucking killed her, made it look like he did, made it look like the Kraken, my father, died, he did it all!"
She was screaming furiously by the end of it. Claire glanced back at the unconscious man. God, had he thought it was smart to tell her that? What a moron.
"He took away so much!" she continued, seeming strained for breath, "All because he wanted my fucking powers. He took it! My father, an easy life, just fucking took it from me and my mother! Then he comes back and fucks everything up again. I'm ending it Claire. I'M FUCKING ENDING IT!"
Neither of them said anything for awhile. Claire swallowed hard.
"You're right," she said, "He does deserve it."
"Good," said Vi, "Then we're both in agreement."
Claire held up a restraining hand.
"Let me finish," she said, "He deserves it, but you don't."
Puzzled Vi furrowed her brow.
"I…don't quite follow-"
"Kill him now and it's murder," Claire said.
"He's murdered people," Vi accused, "We've both killed before-"
"We've killed," stressed Claire, "Not murdered."
"Same difference."
"No, it's not," Claire replied, "We've killed in self-defense. This is murder and you don't deserve to have that weighing on your conscience. You're better than that."
She saw the tears start forming in her friend's eyes.
"But…but…I just can't…"
"We'll put him in the Hotel," Claire said firmly, "That's what we'll do. We can have the Academy do it."
"But…" Vi said miserably, "We're not the Academy."
At first Claire had no idea what she meant. Then it hit her. Putting him in the Hotel was an Academy ending. Putting him in jail was a police ending. They weren't either and hence didn't know how to deal with this. She fumbled for an answer as the knife slid from Vi's hand and Vi gently collapsed to the floor. Claire walked over slowly as her friend started crying from the stress, the anger, and perhaps a miniature breakdown.
"Nah," she said, "We're not."
"Then who the fuck are we?" Vi sobbed.
This, this Claire knew the answer to.
"We're the Dayton Girls," she said.
There was an odd pause where Vi stopped crying.
"We're the Dayton Girls," repeated Vi.
For a moment Claire became scared, worried that she had said the wrong thing. Then Vi lifted her face upwards. Although it was tear-stained it still bore the cocky smile that Claire had always associated with Vi.
"And do you know what?" said Vi, getting to her feet, "I know exactly how the Dayton Girls would handle this."
.
.
.
The Academy and Kraken had rushed forward, hearing every word spoken. Kraken had quickly run through his entire vocabulary of swear words, even making a few up. Although it sounded like the battle was over, they pushed on. At long last the two groups made it to the storage room.
When he first looked Kraken stopped short. None of them had said a word. In the middle of the area a garbage can had been wheeled in, and Jormungand unceremoniously dumped inside it. Sitting on the edge of several crates were his daughter and niece. Vi was bandaging up Claire's hand with something. Claire looked up, saw them, and nudged Vi.
She looked up and her eyes widened. Almost hesitantly he went down the stairs. He was scared, scared shitless. The two of them met half way and did nothing more than stare at each other. Vi bit her lip and looked at the ground.
"I uh…maybe we could put him in the Hotel?" she said, jerking her head towards Jormungand.
He nodded mutely. As much as he wanted to kill the bastard, Vi's life had been more fucked-up by the man's manipulations than he had. Grudgingly he had acknowledged that it was her choice to make. Another uncomfortable silence fell. Kraken felt like it was his duty to say something, anything. She beat him to the chase.
"It's okay," she said, "Really, it's okay."
Kraken continued staring.
"Who the hell are you?"
Vi looked at him, confused and perhaps a little hurt.
"Huh?" she asked.
"Because you're too damned good to be my daughter," he said, "You did a fucking better job than I would've."
She blinked at him. Then she hugged him, flooring him.
"Really?" she said, "'Cause I think I'm just right."
