Hey everyone, so wow, last week's chapter went over really well with people. Guess the extra work paid off since it was a last minute addition. Let's see if I can keep the momentum going. Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed this series, and let's get going. Chapter 17: Warped Reflections
It was a solemn party that arrived at the underground bunker being used as the wanted mammals headquarters. The news that Ryan was the mastermind behind this world's crises and they'd been maybe one distraction away from walking right into his trap was disheartening to say the least. A mammal raised by the same parents as the three Wilde siblings had turned evil, and now one of their friends was under his control. Kodi was especially dour, the shock of Clara attacking him had worn off now that he had a rational if horrific reason as to why, but she was in the enemies hands all the same without any clear method of saving her.
It was for that reason Kodi was at the back of the group, scowling as he racked his brain for anything that might be of use.
Robyn was at least happy they hadn't needed to do much explaining, Looks like Ryan was telling the truth about this world dealing with this shit all the time, we barely had to say more then we're heroes from other dimensions and they got the gist of it.
Ronan had reasoned that Ryan was probably responsible for the static blocking Robyn's viewing powers. He had the means and was the only mammal outside the worlds they'd visited who knew where they were. No one disagreed but everyone wondered why.
The local mammals had promised an explanation once they got to their base, but the long run had worn everyone's patience thin.
"So what is this place?" Reginald asked as they neared the door.
"This is a powered mammal resistant bunker Victoria Todd built back when Luna was young in case she needed a place to hide from assassination attempts," Alice listed off.
"Thankfully the only mammal who really knows about it these days is Olivia," Hannah added.
"She's your tech support right?" Robyn reasoned.
"Not exactly," Alice morously replied. Right as she finished punching in the password she turned back to the group, "Kodi, you should wait by the entrance for a few minutes after we get in."
"Okay but why?" Kodi asked in irritation.
"Our aforementioned guest is the Clara Bloom of our world," Alice answered.
"Uh, thanks for the heads up but I can handle it," Kodi replied.
"It's not like we aren't sorta used to it by this point," Robyn added.
"Good to hear," Alice said as she pushed the door open, "but I meant that she was our Kodi's fiance." That got some understanding looks from the guests.
"And now she's about to meet her dead boyfriend from another dimension," Ronan stated.
Kodi nodded in understanding, "Right, I'll wait by the door." That promise proved easy to keep as the door led to a small staircase leading down. Kodi waited on the stairs as the rest of the group hurried past him.
After a few seconds of silence a familiar voice was heard, "Oh thank goodness you made it back, Bella lost contact and...what happened to her!" Clara changed the subject mid sentence.
"She was being caught by big explosion during the battle," Rani replied.
"Then why are you just standing ther...and you're already walking past me, hey wait up!" Clara's flustered ramblings would've been funny to Kodi if not for the dire situation of her counterpart.
The others also hurried away and Kodi felt safe to walk in a little further. The initial room of the bunker was clearly designed with defense in mind. It was long and fairly narrow, had numerous small walls along the side gun mammals or powered mammals could hide behind, and had another armored door at the back, which was currently still open. Kodi activated his HUD and saw that there were also several automated turrets, both lethal and non-lethal, hidden at various points throughout the room, as well as traps hidden in the floor tiles. None of them were activated right now, but Kodi still took care to avoid them. He pushed his view of the bunker out more and saw that it was a six room complex. There was a mostly barren common area that served as an additional line of defense, and led to four unique rooms. A lab, a kitchen, a living room with proper bedding set up, and a medical wing where the others probably were. Finally there was a large storage room connected to the lab and kitchen.
Kodi let himself get caught up in observing the technical aspects of the bunker because it gave him something else to focus on. He was so caught up that it took him longer than it should have to hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Kodi turned to face the doorway just as a familiar golden furred wolf appeared in it's frame. The local version of Clara Bloom locked eyes with Kodi and started walking towards him, as if in a daze. Then her paw suddenly whipped through the air and slapped Kodi in the cheek.
"You bastard!" she screamed as she charged forward. Kodi was caught off guard and was tackled to the floor. Kodi flew back and up to the thankfully high ceiling while sending his binding scarf to ensnare the wolf's hands. She was clearly in hysterics and Kodi didn't want her to do anything she'd regret.
"Clara stop!" Hannah shouted as she and Rani entered the room, the larger lioness ran forward and wrapped her arms around the wolf; preventing her from moving very much.
"You die on me not a week after you...you...you're, you're flying," Clara seemed to regain her senses thanks to the bizarre sight. The wolf started crying even harder and buried her head in Rani's arms, the lioness gently petting Clara to calm her down.
Kodi floated back down to the floor and was about to speak up, but Hannah beat him to it, "You can fly?"
Kodi realized he hadn't shown that power off during the earlier battle, "Yeah, part of my magic training was learning how to fly."
"Oh god you even sound just like him," Clara moaned.
"Magic," Alice muttered from the doorway, "the wonders of the multiverse."
"More like horrors," Robyn argued from behind her, "the world he learned magic in was just all craziness all the time, it was too much."
"Will she be okay?" Kodi asked.
"I'll be fine," Clara muttered, "you can let go now Rani." The lioness complied and Kodi had his scarfe return to him. "I'm so sorry, that wasn't fair but I have a lot of, a lot of messed up feelings where my Kodi was concerned." Clara fished into her pocket and pulled out a little black box. The visiting mammals realized what it was just as Clara opened it to reveal a ring inside,"He was my…"
Kodi put a gentle hand on Clara's shoulder, "It's okay. Now, we're at your bunker and Fuli's getting medical attention, I want answers," Kodi demanded.
"You girls can explain, if you don't mind I'm going to go wait in the living room," Clara said as she walked off, "I'm sorry but I can't be there when you explain..."
"Alright, we'll catch you guys up in the medical wing," Hannah said as she led the group further into the bunker, "that way we can keep an eye on Fuli."
As Kodi followed he asked his teammate, "So what's the deal with their Olivia?"
Robyn shook her head, "Trust me, it's easier if you just see it."
000
A wolf awoke in a sterile white room and quickly looked around. There was a simple metal bed, an empty rectangular table and nothing else. Clara Bloom sat up, she felt woozy and had to steady herself for a moment before she could take in her surroundings.
Where am I? Clara struggled to remember the battle she'd been caught up in. Robyn, Reginald, Ronan, Fuli, Kodi and herself had wound up in another dimension very suddenly, and in the middle of a battle no less. What happened? Clara remembered a call of alarm and then…
The table.
Clara looked over at the sole other piece of furniture in her room and saw that it had several items on it. A bottle of water and a cup, her meds and some pajamas with her mask on top of them. Clara got herself to her feet and made her way to her mask as rapidly as she could manage. I have to get out of here and find the others.
Stay.
Clara's mask stopped an inch from her face. Whoever brought me here, they have to know I have powers, but they leave me here unrestrained. Clara began to suspect that her hosts were probably not hostile at least.
Safe.
It should be okay to stay here for at least a little bit, I do still feel like dirt anyway. Clara took a sip from her water bottle and made her way back to the bed. She'd been placed on top of the sheets, probably since her uniform's spikes could puncture the bedding material. Wish I had some…
Get changed.
Clara looked back at the table, the pajamas would be more comfortable. She looked over to the door and walked over to it instead. Clara turned the door handle and found it was unlocked, and a quick search revealed no locking mechanism. "Really wish I could make sure no one barged in on me," Clara muttered as she walked back to the table.
Use the curtains.
Suddenly Clara blinked and felt another slight ache in her head. After a quick blink and grimace she turned and saw a curtain covering part of the wall in the corner. How did I miss that? Clara wondered as she grabbed the clothes and went over. Beyond the curtain was a simple bathroom setup, but what mattered was the privacy it offered. Clara took a quick shower and got changed, before heading back out and laying on the bed. Thoughts of the previous few days of dimension hopping flew through Clara's mind, then the past month of starting out as a hero, her thoughts slowed down as she thought of her time on the Cauldron.
Sleep.
With her first meeting with Kodi the last thing hazily passing through her mind, Clara fell asleep.
000
"Hello Kodi, despite the circumstances of you not being the same mammal, it is good to see you again," Olivia's voice lacked her usual accent, but that wasn't the main thing that grabbed Kodi's attention. The mouse almost looked more like a machine than a mammal. When he first approached her, Kodi had seen the metallic bits glowing through her shirt along her spine, and with her now facing him he could see the metallic glint in one of her eyes.
"Olivia...what happened to you?" Kodi stammered.
"Miss Gusteau sustained much damage to her body during her career as Spitfire, this is a dangerous world to be a hero in," Olivia replied.
"And that damage made you talk in the third person?" Kodi asked.
"I am not Miss Gusteau, I am using her body while I am trapped in it," the being who was not Olivia stated, confusing Kodi to no end in the process. "Perhaps the circumstances were different in your world, but in this dimension you were the one who named me."
A few seconds pause and then, "Bella?" Kodi gasped. At the mouse's affirmative nod Kodi flailed his arms around "How is...but you're in, what!?"
"Ryan knew that Miss Gusteau and I stood the best chance of stopping his takeover while it was still in its infancy, so he targeted us first. He unleashed a virus intended to override me while injecting Miss Gusteau with his new steel blood serum when she was plugged in," at the numerous questioning looks Bela pulled out a USB head from her metal leg. "Thankfully, I am capable of thoughts and actions many thousands of times faster than a living mind, while I am usually limited by physics in the real world, in the datascape I can operate freely. I separated myself from all of my functions throughout the city, sabotaging as many as I could in the process, while my consciousness escaped into Miss Gusteau's mechanical interface."
"Woah," Reginald gasped. He and the others had only gotten the short version earlier.
"Bella trashing a lot of the systems Ryan was hoping to take over and escaping herself really gave the rest of us that got away the chance to regroup," Hannah smiled at the semi-mechanical mouse.
"But I was too late to protect Miss Gusteau," Bella expressed a bit of sadness with that statement, and the visiting mammals realized she probably wasn;t used to having the full vocal range of a living mammal. "The steel blood had already overtaken her by the time I overrode it, and the shock of having her mind taken over twice in such a short time...I fear Miss Gusteau could be brain dead. Every attempt I've made to cead control of this body back to it's rightful owner has been met with failure, she simply will not stir."
"Do not give up hope for our friend though," Alice spoke up, "the resources we have in this bunker are limited, it's possible the means of reviving Olivia are simply unavailable to us right now." Despite the hopeful sentiment, it was obvious Alice was trying to reassure herself as much as anyone else.
"I can continue to answer questions, but it will have to be with my back turned," Bella called attention back to herself, "I need to monitor Miss Duma's treatment going forward." The cheetah in question was lying on an operating table a few meters away from the group, Ronan dutifully stood by her side.
"She'll be okay?" Kodi asked. Ronan looked solom but he wasn't outright despairing and that was a good sign.
"The odds are in her favor," Bella replied as she stepped up to a panel and used the USB head to plug herself in to the bunker's mainframe. "The shrapnel missed anything vital and the rest has been removed via surgery." Kodi observed a monitor displaying lasers making small insertions in Fuli's skin and small machine arms carefully removing the invasive metal. "However this bunker is lacking in disinfectants that we would need; some of the metal sent flying by the gas station explosion was rusted and infections, so we've had to take more unique measures."
"She means we're giving Fuli an injection of floridium," Hannah cut in, "it's the stuff that's responsible for powered mammals existing in our world."
"A chemical that causes powered mammals?" Kodi asked, noting the differences to how it had worked with Doctor Doom's dimensional rifts.
"Yes, floridium is named for the state of Florida, and it's actually a good place to start our overdue explanation," Hannah explained.
In short order the guest mammals were sitting in chairs near Fuli's operating table so Ronan could stay next to his girlfriend. The three local mammals sat opposite them and Bella was still at her station. Alice was the one to start the story. "Our world was forever changed by the introduction of powered mammals, and they stemmed from exposure to floridium, which itself was introduced to the biosphere in 1978 during the Florida incident. No one is exactly sure what happened since the lab where floridium was invented was destroyed in the process, but a massive explosion released the complete supply of the chemical into the atmosphere and it quickly spread all over the world." Bella had one of the monitors display old news footage of a colossal explosion in a somewhat forested area.
"That big a supply released all at once would have affected more than just the mammals," Ronan muttered, the implications of such an event were staggering.
"And it did," Alice confirmed, "I was nearly eaten by a carnivorous sunflower back when I was still an assassin, but if we go over every detail we will be here through the night."
"What matters is that exposure to floridium in a large enough dose grants a mammal powers," Hannah picked up Alice's thread, "and it temporarily boasts their immune system during the transition period." She nodded at Fuli.
"It is called the superpower lottery into this day," Rani said, "not all mammals are being winners when with floridium."
"Clara can breath underwater," Alice resumed, "and honestly a majority of powers are like hers: strictly useful but nothing life changing. But mammals who did win big quickly started making an impression all over the world." The screen scrolled through images of various events; a weasel running away from a massive cloud of smoke, a mouse standing atop a rooftop, and a hyena in a mix of black tactical gear and a sneaking suit standing with some MCB members. "Powered criminals, vigilantes and government agents have been a thing since the beginning, and they've never really stopped, but the game changers were the Mad Mammals Circus." The screen stopped on an old group shot of several mammals standing in front of a big top circus tent. Four of the mammals were in costumes; a lion, a giraffe, a zebra and a large female hippopotamus front and center.
"I was inspired by them!" Rani chimed in brightly.
"You weren't the only one," Hannah smiled, "The Mad Mammals Circus was the original superhero team, they showed up all over the States for almost two decades helping anyone in need. They proved that a group of powered mammals could work together even if they weren't equal in power."
"I'm guessing the hippo is the ringleader?" Reginald asked, eyes wide at the colors of the spandex looking outfits of the Mad Mammals. And I thought Ceartais was brightly dressed, these guys are downright gaudy.
"That, my dear Banshee, is Gloria Hippowdon; Miss Fantabulous...yes really," Alice added the last bit upon seeing the others raised highbrows.
"Miss Fantabulous, what kind of powers was she rocking to get away with dressing like that!" Robyn asked as she pointed to the hippo in question. She was wearing a bright pink full bodysuit with magenta elbow length gloves, knee length boots, a simple belt and a domino mask. There was a stylized MF on her chest in the same magenta.
"Super strength greater than Roar's, they arm wrestled once, and she can take it as hard as she dishes it out," Hannah explained, "other than that it's just skill and a whole lot of guts."
"But anyway, she and her team were the ones who brought hero teams into the spotlight and made them sort of acceptable to the world's governments. For a while anyway," the smile she'd been wearing slipped off of Alice's face.
"Let me guess," Ronan spoke up, "the lack of organization in all of these heroes and the lack of accountability for their actions eventually caught up with them when something so bad it couldn't be swept under the rug by the excuse of saving lives happened, probably let all the things that were being kept in check burst free all at once too."
The native heroes looked impressed, "The good sergeant gets it in one," Alice noted. "It started with the Mad Mammal Circus, and they were where it all went wrong. In 1999 the giraffe member of their team, Melman Girafarig was killed in action by General Bombardier; a powered mammal who could create explosives. Miss Fantabulous did not take that well. In the resulting battle she caused a lot of unnecessary collateral damage and her teammates barely held her back from murdering the bastard."
"That, that would do it," Robyn muttered. It was bad enough when I lost my temper or went savage, what would a hippo be like? Her question was answered when the screen shifted to a scene of a devastated city block. In the distance a large mammal could be seen leaping into the air.
"The next bit is a lot of legal jargon so to sum it up: for the first decade of the new millennium saw the public and the government increasingly turn against powered mammals, even the ones who were just civilians, even as the percent population of them kept growing," Alice summarized, "and one mammal in particular had the hatred and the means to do something about it."
Hannah addressed the Wilde siblings, "This is where your parents come in."
"Geez," Reginald groaned, "Mom had it hard enough in our worlds, imagine how hard it was being the first bunny cop in a world of superheroes."
"I'm sorry, a cop?" Hannah asked with a slack jaw.
"Yeah, first bunny police officer, solved the missing mammals case of 2016, first bunny police chief, deputized Team Ceartais after the wave…" Ronan rambled off his mother's achievements.
Reginald interrupted him, "Okay Mama's boy they got the point."
"The multiverse is having craziness, a cop pioneer in one world is being a politician in ours," Rani explained in a chipper tone, she was enjoying the strangeness of the situation.
"Why is everyone I know a politician in other worlds?" Reginald threw his hands up.
"Well yes," Hannah composed herself, "Miss Wilde, Miss Bellwether and Mr. Wilde were the ones who foiled Mayor Lionheart's anti powered mammals scheme."
"Bellwether?" Ronan gaped, "Dawn Bellwether?"
"Yes," Hannah answered with a head tilt.
"She's...you know what? Nevermind. It's not important," Robyn wisely cut off the group's reactions before they opened that can of worms.
Thank you Robyn, Kodi thought, this world's a mess and they haven't even gotten to Ceartais yet.
000
Wake up.
Clara awoke to the sound of knocking on her door, "Hello, are you uh, presentable, in there?" a somewhat nervous voice called.
It took Clara a moment to regain her senses. She was still in the makeshift hospital bedroom and wearing the clothes she'd been provided. "Uh, give me a minute, I'm getting changed!" She quickly grabbed her hero gear from the table and hid behind the curtain. Clara wasn't used to being this flustered, but she was in a completely new world and all on her own. She wasn't really sure why she hadn't just phased through the walls and out of the building.
"Take your time goldie, it's no rush," a much louder and obviously female voice called from behind the door.
A minute or so later Clara's hasty suit up was complete and she stood at the ready, the position she was in would let her blast anyone who came in the door before they saw her, "Okay I'm ready!"
The two mammals who entered could not have been more different unless one sprouted gills. The smaller was a hybrid, and Clara knew the odds were good this was Robyn's counterpart from this world, which due to not looking like any she'd met so far meant he was probably Ryan. She didn't expand on that realization because of hippo that followed Ryan into the room, the same hippo her teammates were being shown in their bunker; Gloria Hippowdon aka Miss Fantabulous. The now much older hero was still dressed in her garish bright pink costume. It was the latter who directly addressed the stunned wolf, "Hey darlin, good to see you back on your feet, you took a nasty spill back there."
Clara didn't respond right away, still taking in the larger than life hippo. This left Ryan the time to chuckle, "Don't worry Clara, Miss Fantabulous here may be loud but she's harmless unless you're a criminal."
"How do you know my name?" Clara demanded, "and where are my friends, Ryan?"
Ryan nodded, the tuff atop his head swaying with each moment, "Yes, my name is Ryan Wilde, and to answer your questions: I am the same Ryan you've been seeing in Robyn's mirrors, I know your name because I know the you from this world, your friends are fine and are currently dealing with the latest problem in this city, and the static blocking Robyn's powers is still in effect."
Ryan's easy smile was eerily similar to Kodi's, but it seemed off to Clara, It feels so...forced? Maybe the situation is worse than he's letting on? "Can I see them?"
"Follow me my dear, I'll explain what's going on," Ryan beckoned Clara out of the room.
"Abridge some of it Wilde, girl wants to get to the point," Gloria said as she followed Ryan out.
Follow.
Clara went after the two to get her answers, and before long she was caught up to where her friends were, "Lionheart did what?"
"Started using nighthowler to target powered mammals and turn the public against them to the point he could take more drastic measures," Gloria said with disdain.
"It's a sad story really, the lion had his father killed by a powered criminal and he started seeing all the negatives," Ryan filled in the blanks, "not that I feel sorry for him. What matters is that those events brought the parents of Ceartais together. Mom's a powered mammals rights politician and she teamed up with future Mayor Dawn Bellwether to form a platform. Dad was an activist who met Mom at a Lionheart protest led by Gazelle…"
"Are you okay?" Clara asked at Ryan's sudden trial off.
"Im fine it's...nothing," Ryan shook his head, "Anyway, Gazelle married Wade Jones at that time. Dad and Mom put together some leads they'd figured out, and they brought that to detective Dawson and his escort, Officer Priderock. Dad had an old friend in the MCB who slipped them the missing pieces and it all fell into place, even if Hannah's Mom almost ruined it for them."
"Skye was with Lionheart?" Clara gasped.
"She was with the law, but she was never fond of powered mammals running free and all the problems that came with them," Ryan explained, "she ate a big slice of humble pie when she found out she'd been defending a monster, or a least that's how Mr. Savage tells it."
"What matters is that the mammals were saved, that jackass lion was imprisoned and the public cooled down on powered mammals, but only after Mayor Bellwether made superheroes illegal in Zootopia, and a lot of the world followed suit," Gloria summed up.
Clara put the pieces together, "They were playing the long game, make the public miss the good while they worked out some issues behind the scenes?"
"Just as bright as our Clara, yes, though they wound up bringing heroes back sooner than expected," Ryan answered.
"And you're to blame for that you little trouble maker," Gloria teased.
"Ceartais became the heroes of Zootopia after the wave and Chief, er uh, Mrs. Wilde deputized them, making government back hero teams the new model?" Clara was actually smiling as she put the pieces together.
"They were a sight to behold," Gloria sighed, "Ruby Rose, the Mage and Bullet were like seeing the old days come back, Roar, Spitfire, Andraste and Blade Dancer came afterwards. I still remember seeing the broadcast where Mayor Bellwether officially deputized them on national TV."
"Wait, you three started it? Where were the M.M. Gang?" Clara asked.
"Those jokers?" Gloria laughed, "they weren't bad but they were scrubs next to powered agents. Oh we're here." Ryan pushed a button on the wall and an elevator door opened. The three stepped inside.
"This will take us to the command room," Ryan announced, "and to answer your question, Robin Wilde and Little John were caught by a powered agent in New York, some hyena who could crawl on walls and shoot sticky webbing. We didn't find out till years later that Nana was their missing third member, and that was when Mom asked her to sign up as the team's tech support, speaking of which." Ryan waved his hand at the door just as it opened.
Clara stepped out to a decent sized room where several mammals were at computer screens. There was a large map of Zootopia on a central screen and a window wall in the back gave them a view of a large field below. Clara figured it was used for larger tests since this was clearly a lab. Marian Wilde stood front and center, overseeing any and all operations. She turned to the approaching mammals and offered Clara a handshake, "Nice to see you up and running Miss Bloom, welcome to the control center."
"Thank you Mrs. Wilde, but I'd like to know where my friends are and what's going on here."
"What's going on is this," Ryan walked up to the central platform, "someone is using a modified version of Project Steel Blood to take over the minds of various mammals throughout the city."
"Mind control!?" Clara gasped, "that's why they were fighting back in Sahara Square!"
"It's true, once the nanomachines enter the body there's nothing you can do," Ryan conformed, "even a mammal as strong as Gloria was helpless against it."
"It's true," Gloria said plainly.
"It's that powerful!? But how did, how do we, is Kodi…" Clara stammered. Even Doom wasn't that powerful. The implications were staggering. Clara, who had faced Doctor Doom down in his own ship, was scared.
"Yes, quite the achievement in nanotechnology wouldn't you say?" Ryan asked with a calm smile that was creeping Clara out. "It can mess with your perception, make you think things aren't there, make you do things you wouldn't normally do, and all subconsciously so you don't realize it." Ryan empathized the word very clearly.
Suddenly, Clara's mind was overloaded with new information. The table and curtain were there the whole time! I should've bolted the moment I woke up! I...he did this! Clara went to blast Ryan with energy but her arms wouldn't respond. "What?" She gasped as her body didn't respond to her. Ryan's face twisted into a light smirk.
"And she figured it out," Marian frowned, "was all this necessary?"
"No, this was cruel, even by your standards Ryan," Gloria glared. "I'm sorry Miss Bloom, he's telling the truth, there's nothing we can do, believe me I've tried." The formerly proud and boisterous hippo looked truly defeated.
This can't be happening! Clara was past panicking and was simply fidgeting in place. She watched the grin slip off Ryan's face, replaced by an unsatisfied frown.
"Damn it, it's just not the same," Ryan muttered, "Sorry Sirius, this was a complete waste of time. I have...reasons to be mad at my Clara Bloom, but she already knows about my steel blood and there's only so far it can warp a mind, so I thought to use you to recreate the experience but it's just not the same."
"A waste of time! That's what you're sorry for?" Clara finally was able to settle on an emotion and it was fury.
"I could've rewritten you without you feeling a thing but I wasted time on this elaborate freak out," Ryan sighed, "I guess after meeting Robyn I just figured another world version of a mammal could substitute for anyone, definitely not true."
"Why are you doing all of this!?" Clara swept her arms out across the room.
Ryan thought for a moment, "As my apology I'll explain what happened while you're still the original you."
Across the city that didn't know of the takeover that was happening, two separate groups were told the story of TNTiger's attack on the city. The day the first modern superhero team fell apart.
In the bunker the visiting mammals watched the sadness and grief on their host's faces as they had to trade off storytelling duties towards the end of the sad tale. Gloria stepped in for Ryan and Marian at a few points as well. All of the visitors were pained to hear of Kodi's sacrifice, and it was clear that the events had ripped the team apart. Robyn and Kodi had flashbacks to their Marian and Robin's deaths during the snow day attacks.
"I...require a tissue," Bella called, light tears fell down the mouse's cheeks in thin lines.
"Ryan was never the same after Kodi died," Hannah tearfully recounted while Rani secured Bella a tissue. "He stopped smiling, left the team, started blaming everyone for this until he eventually just locked himself away for a while with his experiments. The next time we saw him he was trying to take over the city.
"I stepped in to cover for Ceartais after that tragedy," Gloria recalled those sad days, "I tried to comfort this little devil, really I did, I knew exactly what he was going through. Suspect that's why he let me keep as much of my mind as he has."
Clara was distracted from her current situation as she tried to process all the new info she'd been given. "Ryan," she called gently, "I can't imagine what you or your team went through, but I still don't see how this leads to...all of this," she waved at the control room.
"My team," Ryan seethed "If it wasn't for them Kodi would still be alive!"
"What!?" Clara gasped.
"So many ways Kodi could've lived, if Olivia hadn't been so reckless, if Alice had dodged just a bit earlier, if Luna had just left her at the hospital and joined the fight, if Hannah and Esso had chained that bitch Slipper properly! But no! None of that happened! And Kodi's dead for it! And Kion, Kion had the gall to say we were all suffering equally!? I lost my best friend in the world because my so called teammates screwed him over!"
"That isn't fair and you know it Wilde!" Gloria stepped forward.
"Go back to being a drone Gloria!" Ryan snapped. Instantly the fire faded from Gloria's eyes and she stood at rigid attention; blank faced and still.
Ryan turned back to the horrified Clara, "I realized that if I had been in control of everything from the start this wouldn't have happened, same with who knows how many other tragedies. So I found a way to give myself that control, so that nothing like this ever has to happen again." At Clara's speechless face, Ryan sighed, "You don't understand, not that I blame you. I'm sorry once again for my earlier stunt. I promise that the next time you awaken you will be working for me willingly." Ryan stood straight as he addressed Clara before she could form a response. "Be a drone Clara."
AN: Our heroes, and all of you, get a good look at just how dire the situation in this world is, the question becomes how will they get out of it?
Next Time: The counterattack begins as soon as our heroes find a way to start it, Ryan faces some harsh realities and Kodi steps up to the plate.
