Catherine Griffiths
[November 28th]
A dead end stood before them.
The two girls skidded to a stop, sweating, panting, panicking. They had been running for ages now, yet still the villains were following them. Somehow they had been able to avoid them, narrowly avoiding being spotted multiple times, but it seemed that now their luck had run out.
They had wondered on for a while before that moment, coming across nothing and no one. Then, out of nowhere, two people had walked out right in front of them. The girls immediately recognised the oversized, muscle-bound woman that they encountered earlier. Though they didn't recognize the man, there was no chance that he was not working with her. Both pairs had walked into the same hallway from different ends, and immediately paused upon seeing the other.
And the hunt began. Vikki grabbed Catherine by the hand and turned on the spot. Dragging her with her detaching claw, they ran back down the passage they had just walked. A moment later they heard the villains shout and give chase. Their calls reverberated around them, filling Catherine's ears and making her terrified brain flood with adrenaline.
Now a cold wall stood before them, halting their escape. Immediately they turned around, hoping to go back the way they had come, but that hallway had shadows at the end of it, the two villains hunting them.
"Shit!" Vikki hissed, stepping backwards. "Shit, shit!"
She grabbed Catherine by the arm and pulled her back around the corner before either of them could be seen. Already the villain's footsteps were getting closer.
"Damn it!" Vikki growled, clenching her metal claw and biting its hard nails. "I'm sorry, Catherine. I thought this was the right path. Now we're trapped."
Catherine didn't respond. It was hardly her fault that this had happened, but she didn't have the courage to say it. Her brain was swelling with the fear of what would happen when the villains caught them. Maybe Vikki could do something to protect herself, but she... if her life was in danger, would she be able to risk it? She wanted to think that she would at least try to fight back, but at the core of her heart she felt the hard pang of refusal. Even against a bloodthirsty foes, she wouldn't allow her Quirk to hurt anyone again.
The footsteps grew closer. Letting her internal struggle consume her, Catherine leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, curled up and cowering, her arms wrapped around her chest. She missed her coat, the soft, warm feeling of its green flesh, its waxy external layer and its fluffy inner layer. Perhaps if she had it she would feel a little calmer.
Vikki was holding her clawed arm up, her jaws clenched and her teeth gritted. "If it comes to it, I'll keep them distracted. You take that chance and run, you got that?"
Catherine looked at her. How could Vikki be so brave? If she stayed behind to allow Catherine to escape then she would most certainly be killed. These people wanted them both dead. She wished she could be as brave as her. But while Catherine was not brave, neither was she going to run away. She had already abandoned Vikki once, and it was a miracle that Vikki had been able to escape. She couldn't do that again, not now that there were two villains cornering them. She couldn't live with that choice. It would feel no different than unleashing her Quirk on her. Perhaps this was a kind of bravery, though it didn't make her feel any better.
They waited together for the inevitable. Vikki leaned against the corner, peering around every-so-often to check how far the enemy were. The two villains were now walking instead of running, seemingly aware that their prey were trapped. They could here small segments of an argument between the two. Despite their hunt together, it appeared these villains did not exactly get along. Vikki suggested that this might give them a chance to escape, but Catherine doubted it. Their foes hadn't wasted time squabbling while they were chasing after the two girls. The moment they came back into sight, she suspected they would immediately stop their current argument to finish their job.
It seemed there was no escape. The chances of getting out of this situation were miniscule. Catherine hugged herself as tightly as she could. She wanted her coat back. She wanted this nightmare to be over. She wanted to go home, to her mum and dad.
She wanted Dillon to be alive.
But that would never happen. Dillon was dead, and she would never be allowed to live with her family again. Her Quirk, her own body, had ruined any chance she had at a happy life. She had become so frightened of it she couldn't even think of using it to protect herself. Now, because of that fear, she and Victoria were going to die. She could only hold herself and wait for the inevitable.
"HEY!"
The sudden yell made Catherine's heart stop momentarily. It hadn't come from the two villains. There was a third person nearby. Something about their voice sounded familiar.
The footsteps had halted. Whoever it was that had shouted, they had apparently caught the attention of the two villains. She could hear their voices, exchanging harsh words with the newcomer, though what they were saying was greatly distorted by the echo. It sounded like they were preparing for a fight. Had one of their teachers arrived, or another hero come to look for them?
"What's going on back there?" Vikki asked. She peered around the corner to catch a glimpse of the villains. Catherine scooted closer to her, not exactly keen to risk being spotted but still curious about what was taking place one hallway away. "I can't see who it is. That woman's taking up half the passage." She peered a little further around, seemingly throwing caution to the wind. She made a small gasp of surprise and stepped back around the corner. "It's Jared!" She whispered.
"Jared?" It took Catherine a moment to remember. Jared Wreath, who had run off after that shadowy figure the day before. Jared Wreath, who she and Ty had caught chatting with that same figure as if they were best friends. Jared Wreath, who was apparently the son of the famous progenitor. Why was he here? Had he been cornered by the villains as well, or had he been looking for her and Vikki?
In her curiosity, she drew a little closer to the corner, leaning almost upon Vikki's shoulder. She wasn't able to see much of what was happening, but she caught a few glimpses of the black haired boy and the two taller, more fearsome villains facing him. Before she could hear them talking, arguing. Now they were silent, staring at each other, preparing for the fight that was doomed to come.
"Oh god!" Vikki muttered, as the two villains stormed towards their classmate. "What's he doing? They'll crush him!" She turned back to Catherine, showing a concern she had not yet witnessed. That concern hardened into a look of duty. "We have to help him!"
Help him? How were they supposed to help him? Neither of them had been able to do anything to fend off just one of those villains before. That wouldn't change now, certainly not when both those villains were involved, not even if there were now three students to fight them.
"We can't-" Catherine began to say.
"He can't fight them by himself!" She yelled at her. Her voice was unheard by the villains, who had busied themselves with fighting their new opponent. "He's Quirkless! They'll crush him!"
"Quirkless?" Catherine repeated. She had a vague memory of the other students making a fuss about him on the first day at BHA, but she hadn't paid that moment much attention at the time. The Progenitor's son was Quirkless? That certainly explained some of his actions. What didn't make sense to her was his eagerness to run headlong into danger. He was facing down those two villains while having no Quirk to protect him? Was he insane? Most heroes would think twice about doing that. He had to be insane!
There was a series of yells from three separate voices, some in excitement, some in frustration, some in pain. A few thuds and crashes upon hard metal. The fight was getting vicious by the sound of it. Vikki wanted to jump in and help? She could do that, but Catherine wouldn't join her. She would stay back and avoid being found. If she stayed hidden long enough then perhaps those villains would leave, and perhaps someone would come to find them.
There was a gentle sound from something behind her. Instantly the hair on her neck rose. Indeed someone had found her. She spun on the spot, and found herself looking into the face of a black haired girl who was leaning out of a purple rimmed portal. Catherine yelled in shock. By some miracle her yell hadn't been heard by the battling villains.
"Anny?" Vikki exclaimed, also turning at the sound of Catherine's yell. "Don't do that! You gave us a shock!"
"Sorry." The skinny girl murmured apologetically, her gentle voice moving the long strands of hair that hung over her mouth ever so slightly. That apologetic demeanour quickly morphed into concern. "Forget that! Aries sent me to find you both. I'm here to rescue you."
Catherine felt a wave of relief full up her chest and head. She had thought she would die in this horrible place. Kameron had been looking for her all this time. She had known deep down that he wouldn't give up so easily. She would make sure to hug him the moment they were reunited, damn what the others thought.
"Wait, what about Jared?" Vikki asked, glancing back at the corner.
"He's buying us time." Anny explained, gesturing insistently for them to enter the portal with her. "It's just you two that are still missing. We should use this chance and get back to the others."
"We can't just leave him, though." Vikki insisted, still looking back at the corner. The sound of battle was echoing back to them still, with no suggestion of who was winning and who was losing.
"I'll come back for him once you two are safe." Anny reached out a hand to help Catherine into the portal. "Now hurry up before we lose this opportunity!"
A scream echoed out. The three girls all paused. Though the battle taking place just around the corner had been filled with yells and shrieks, there was no mistaking this sort of a scream. It was most definitely one of serious pain... and it had most definitely come from Jared.
"You don't think he's..." Vikki trailed off. She didn't need to suggest it. The possibility had passed through each of their minds.
"How d'ya like a taste of your own medicine?" The male villain's voice boomed through the hallways. An electrical ticking could be heard faintly repeating. The sound of flesh being struck was audible for a moment, then the sound of a body hitting the floor followed it.
"Oh shit!" Vikki gasped, her metal claw covering her mouth and scraping the skin on her cheeks.
Catherine hugged herself tighter and tighter by the second. She couldn't see a thing that was happening to him, but the sounds that reverberated back through the hallway were enough for her brain to paint a picture. The fleshy thuds, the painful grunts, the vicious shouts of delight from the villain. Jared was no longer holding his own against his opponents. Now they had managed to overpower him, and they were going to exact all of their wrath and aggression onto him.
Her instincts were telling her to get out of there. The villains were distracted. She could run for it, throw herself into Anny's portal and be gone finally from that awful place. She had always run away in the past. It was what she was best at. Whenever anything difficult or dangerous had stood in her path, she had run from it. It didn't matter that she had been trying to go somewhere, or that running away left her feeling alone, afraid and disappointed in herself. All she knew how to do was run from her problems. She had run from her bullies. She had run from her parents. She had run from Dillon. In the end, she had run away from herself. Any responsibility, any pain, any fear. She had run from it all.
But this time was different. If she ran away right now, someone else would die.
All those other times, her decision to run had only truly affected her. Her grades might have lowered and her parents may have worried, but running had freed her from the pain of looking at all the harm she had caused. That would not be the case this time, though. If she, Vikki and Anny ran away, Jared would be killed. There was no doubt in her mind that those two villains would murder him. Her conscience told her that something had to be done. It didn't have to be her that helped, but it had to be someone and it had to be very soon. Yet the other two were not acting. Even she, she realised, could not move from fear and terror.
She had never felt so powerless before, so unable to do anything.
With that paralysing terror and conflicting urges came a shower of doubt. Why was she even considering that she could be of help to Jared? She didn't want to be a hero. It was Aries that wanted that for her. She was grateful to Kameron for everything he had done, but she couldn't be like him. She couldn't be like Aries, or Vikki, or Anny, or Jared. She couldn't rush into danger to save others at the risk of her own safety. What could she possibly do? How could she help him? Why wasn't she running?!
Faint, Quiet and exhausted, Jared voice came in gasps. Catherine's ears picked up those struggled words through the strands of her hair. They brought her attention acutely back to the present.
"I... won't... let you... hurt... anyone else!"
The male villain's voice spoke up in response. "Come on, kid. Look at yourself. You can't even stand up anymore." They mocked him. "You didn't stand a chance against us."
"I don't care...!" Jared wheezed, louder now, anger and frustration present in his voice. "It doesn't matter... if I can win or not! I won't... let you... hurt anyone...! I won't... because that's what a hero would do!"
That final sentence, shouted at the top his voice, repeated through the back of Catherine's brain. That's what a hero would do. He really believed that? He would actually give up his own life to protect others? Did he know that she or Vikki or Anny were nearby? Surely he didn't. Anny might have found them, but she gave no impression that Jared knew this. He had no way of knowing that he was saving anyone's life at that moment. Yet still he was doing this? He was willing to sacrifice himself like this, even though he had no way of knowing it would help?
She then recalled what Kameron had said to her after allowing her to visit her parents again. '-I believe that even those who seem hopeless can be saved'. Did Kameron think the same way? If it meant saving Catherine's life, would he too sacrifice himself for her? Was that truly what heroes did? She felt she didn't deserve that kind of dedication. No one should give up their own life for her... yet someone was, and they didn't even know who they were saving.
This possibility illuminated within Catherine's mind like the birth of a star.
"A hero." The two villains were laughing now. The male villain was doing all the talking, but the female's deep, guttural chuckle could still be heard clearly. "You're no hero, kid. You're just a little rat who hasn't realised how small he actually is!"
Then there was a crunching sound, and Jared screamed again.
"We need to go!" Anny muttered.
Vikki turned on her. "What? No! We can't just leave him to die!"
"We can't do anything. We'll need to get Aries and Silver Streak to help."
"But... but...!" Vikki was pulling at her hair, facing the same conflict that had been going through Catherine's mind only moments before.
Catherine looked from Vikki to Anny. Neither of them were ready to do anything to help, Anny already set on leaving and Vikki struggling between two minds. They couldn't do anything to help Jared.
But she could.
Only now that she had realised what those who cared for her were willing to do to protect her, did she know how to help them. It was incredibly risky, she knew that. She would never have dared try anything like this, certainly not after that day. She was surprised that she would even consider it, even now. But now she understood something that she had never thought of before. There were people out there who would give up their lives to protect hers. They didn't know her. They didn't know what she had done. Yet still they were protecting her. She doubted she deserved it, but she was grateful nonetheless. It was time she did something to repay them.
She approached the wall, standing close to the corner but just behind it. She wasn't brave enough to walk out and face the villains herself. Besides, this way she could surprise them. She was thankful now that she was no longer wearing her thick coat, as removing it would take up valuable seconds. There was one major obstacle in her way right now. That obstacle had kept her Quirk in line. It had stopped her from hurting anyone else.
"Catherine, what are you... oh!" Vikki sharply turned away, covering her eyes, as Catherine lifted up her shirt and removed her lead bra.
It was difficult to aim, but she had a general idea of where her target was. She only hoped that Jared was lying down, or he might be hit too. Now she had to focus on building up power. Her Quirk worked off her emotions. She thought of everything she had been through, all of the pain and grief and fear and self-loathing. She thought about her time at school, about her family, about her time in prison... about Dillon. That had done it. That was enough.
Making sure that Vikki and Anny were far away from her, she aimed her Quirk... and released!
Jared Wreath
[November 28th]
The room was suddenly filled with a bright red glow. For a brief moment he had thought this was his own blood filling his eyes and the muscular woman's foot crushed his skull. Then he realised that that same villain was now stumbling backwards, cowering.
Two bright, burning beams of light pierced through the hard metal walls, melting them into sliver slurry that slid to the floor as a pile of slag. The horrid smell of molten iron filled the air, filling his lungs and leaving a horrid tang on his tongue.
Jared rolled over. He had no idea what had just happened, but he was grateful for it. If those burning lasers had come a second later his head would have been squashed like a tomato under a mallet. Now the villains that had threatened to take his life was recoiling and panicking. He could feel his muscles regaining some of their strength, not yet enough to stand, but enough to sit up.
Two circular holes were bored in the hard metal wall, allowing him to see right through to the other side. Upon glancing behind him, he saw that the wall opposite also had two holes in it, and through those he saw the wall behind which also had two holes in it. The beams had been so hot they had burned through several layers of metal. He could see on and on through them, perhaps for miles. His flawed human eyes simply could not tell just how far those beams had burned.
The second thought that entered his mind, after the gratitude and the shock, was the question of who had just fired those beams. He turn toward the wall on his right, the one through which the beams had come. On the other side of the wall he saw a girl. She was lowering her shirt over her stomach and looking rather stunned. Immediately he recognised her.
This was the second time in two days that Catherine Griffiths had surprised him.
He smiled at her, both a little impressed and a little terrified. "Did you do that?" He asked.
She nodded awkwardly.
"Bloody hell!" He chuckled weakly. He had wanted to say something witty to follow up, but all he could manage to do was repeat "Bloody hell!"
"Bloody buggering hell!" Skin-Walker was yelling as he rose out of his cowering form on the floor. "What in buggery was that?"
"Looks like he's got back up!" The muscular woman exclaimed, the tips of her hair singes and glowing.
"Bugger this then!" Skin-Walker shouted. He grabbed something from a pocket in his leather jacket and raised it to his head. "Janus, get us the blood hell out of here!"
"You're not running away yet!" The woman growled, grabbing her companion by the head and spinning him around. "We've still got to finish this little runt off!"
Jared was now get himself back onto his feet. He had been trying to steady himself against the wall with his good hand when the villains drew their attention back to him.
"You want to risk that while someone's shooting lasers at us?" Skin-Walker exclaimed, clearly shaken by the experience.
His companion was less frightened. "We'll make it quick. Janus will be here in a moment, so let's take them all out before he arrives. We gotta finish the job!"
The scrawny man seemed conflicted for a moment, split between running away and completing their mission. He quickly came to a decision, however.
"Alright. We'll make it quick." He decided.
The woman grinned, and turned sharply on Jared once more. She marched towards him, flexing her muscles and pulling back her original right arm. Jared had only just managed to steady himself. Though he was just about able to stand without leaning on the wall, he wasn't sure his legs would allow him to manoeuvre himself and avoid incoming attacks as they had done before being electrocuted. He wasn't going to back down, however. He had felt so weak lying there on the floor, but now that he was back on his feet he felt able to fight them again. He no longer felt powerless. He knew now that there was another student nearby, and he needed to give them a chance to escape. Catherine had just saved his life. He owed it to her to protect her while she got to safety.
Tritan stomped towards him, ready to strike, ready to pummel him until he was little more than pulp.
But before she could attack, a sudden heavy thudding sound began to echo through the hallway. It came from somewhere far off, but was rapidly getting louder and closer. As it did so, the ground began to shake. Each thud came with a half-second interval, making the metal floor shake and the hanging lights shudder. Jared found that his attention was drawn to sound. The closer it got, the more it sounded like... footsteps.
Suddenly the wall to his left shattered, as a large shark ruptured through the hard metal. The two holes that had been burned into the surface had allowed him to break through, leaving the metal snapped and twisted in his wake. Jared jumped back in surprised, which was fortunate, as the large shark man was headed for the gap between him and the female villain.
She was less fortunate. Her hand was already swinging out towards the point where Jared had been. Now the shark criminal's mouth was there, open wide. It clamped down around her arm, its many serrated teeth burying into her flesh.
A moment later, Megalodon was colliding into the opposite wall, breaking through that too. He skidded to a stop past it, turning around and staring back out at the villain he had just struck. From his jaw Jared could see blood leaking out, and bits of muscular flesh poking through. He then turned back to look at the female villain. Where her right arm had once been was now a profusely bleeding stump. The criminal had bitter her arm clean off.
Almost instantly she began to scream. It was tough to tell at first that it was a scream, since her voice was already so deep and butch sounding. She gripped the bleeding stump with her two remaining arms and stumbled backwards into her companion. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back, away from the trainee hero they had been so keen to beat up only moments before.
Jared looked from the two villains to the blood-covered criminal. How had he gotten here? Better question, why was he here? Anny hadn't said anything about him being taken, and as he had just witnessed he posed a great danger to these villains. Had he found a way into the maze? But why had he come to find them? Why had he just protected Jared?
A rectangular portal opened up behind the two villains, who were quickly backing away from their opponents. A third villain leaned out through it. Though he looked mostly normal, his eyes were completely black and full of swirling mist. So this was the man who had separated them?
"Ready to go?" He said, before spotting what had become of his colleagues. "Jesus! What happened to you two?"
"Get us the hell out of here!" The female villain shrieked through her screams.
The misty eyes villain didn't need telling twice. He leaned out further and pulled the two stumbling and terrified villains towards him and his portal.
Jared had never felt so relieved. The villains were finally leaving. He and the others were safe now.
He turned to look through the ruptured metal wall, expecting to see Catherine and Vikki and perhaps Anny looking back through at him. He did see them, but what he saw first was the large, bloodied shark criminal approaching him quickly.
Immediately Jared felt a wash of panic fill him. Why was the criminal walking towards him suddenly? A terrified thought filled his mind. Had he been aiming for Jared in that attack? Had he really been trying to bite him rather than that villain?
He stepped backwards, but it did nothing to get him away from the oncoming predator. Megalodon walked with large, fast strides, so that he crossed the hallway with only a few steps. Within seconds he was upon Jared, blood still dribbling from the side of his jaw, the smell of rotted fish emanating from his large grey body. His muscular arms were reaching out, his webbed fingers and sharp nails aimed for Jared's throat.
Jared raised his good arm, but it was simply pushed aside by the criminal's excessive strength. Frozen to the spot in terror, Jared was unable to avoid what came next. Megalodon grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him off the ground, his legs dangling almost a foot from the cold floor. He could her the girls yell in alarm, but all of his attention was focused upon the closed maw of the criminal that was now inches from his face. Megalodon looked him in the eye, his black orbs twitching and tempting to roll over into white.
He held Jared out, lifted him a little higher over his head... and placed him on his shoulder.
Jared had been expecting to die at that moment, to be crushed by the shark's powerful jaws, just like what he had done to that villain's arm, to other people's heads. He wasn't at all sure of what had just happened, but suddenly he was lying upon the villain's shoulder, looking back at the hole into the next room where Catherine, Vikki and Anny were all staring at him.
Then the criminal was moving, running back through the maze, through the shattered walls he had charged through only moments ago.
I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to update regularly. I haven't been feeling great the last few weeks. I don't like to be too personal in these notes, but this year has taken a lot out of me, and to be honest I just want it to end already. At least it's December now. Just one more month to get through. I would say that I hope next year is better than this one, but I fear that might jinx it to be worse.
I'm not going to leave a question for this chapter. Honestly I can't think of one and I'm too tired to put that effort in. The next chapter will be the last one for this act, and then I'm going to take a break until the new year. I hope you can all hold out until then.
