Yorke Victorsson
[November 28th]
He had been with the police when the call came in. The moment he heard the news he almost dropped his cup of tea. He and his group had just enjoyed the successful tracking down and capture of a rather twitchy drug courier. Until that point their day had been going well.
That was when the message went out across the police radio. For a moment Ravenhead thought he had misheard.
'HS at Midgard Cold Storage, Treacher Street, CS-DT-12. Confirmed one BADDIE, QDL unconfirmed. One GOODIE on site, HR-14, eight HITs. Requesting immediate backup!"
Ravenhead's blood turned to ice. This was the worst kind of report he could have heard. HS... Hostage Situation. One hero, one villain with an unknown Quirk. HR-14 was Aries' referral code. Whatever was taking place involved him somehow. All of that was bad news in itself, but nothing that an experience hero like Aries couldn't deal with. But then the report had mentions HITs... Heroes in Training. If their students had been caught up in this situation... if any one of them had been taken hostage...
He dropped his thermal cup and hurried across to the nearest officer, whose radio had just received the report. He took it from the officer and held it to his ear.
"HR-10 Reporting. Please repeat that last report."
'There's a HS at Midgard Cold Storage, Sir.' The officer on the other end reiterated. 'HS-14 was at site when incident occurred, with eight HITs accompanying them. They were responding to a possible break in. Upon entering building the gate locked behind them. We've been unable to get in contact with them since.'
Ravenhead felt his neck muscles tighten around his Adam's apple. A dry sensation filled his mouth. Slowly he ground his beak, trying to hide the panic now filling his brain. This was his worst nightmare.
"I'm on my way. I'll be bringing my students with me. We're on the opposite side of the district, so it will take us some time to get there."
'Understood, sir. HR-13 has already confirmed they are on the way, eight HITs accompanying. We will continue trying to regain contact.'
Ravenhead handed the radio back to the surprised officer, who didn't complain. He turned back to look at his students. The eight of them were sat only a couple of metres away upon several blue benches in the lobby. What was he going to tell them? How was he supposed to word it? There was no way he could get across the news without upsetting them. He decided quickly that he would be honest with them, and explain the situation calmly and simply.
"I need you all to pay attention to me for a moment." He instructed without a hit humour or patience. This immediately got their attention, even the Andersons fell quiet. "Something very serious has happened. Aries' group has been attacked by a villain. They're currently locked inside a cold storage warehouse with them. We need to get to them right away and help. Gather your things together, we're setting off immediately.
The look of shock on their faces was one he had expected, but it made him feel no happier. Not a one of them argued with him. They grabbed up everything they had brought with them and immediately were headed to the door. Ravenhead led them out, hoping that they would make it in time.
By the time they had reached the cold storage the fighting had already come to the end. The entire building was surrounded by police officers, and the street outside was blocked by rows of police cars and a couple of ambulances. News crews were trying to push their way in to get a close look at the situation, but were held back at the street's perimeter by several patient and immovable policemen.
They let Ravenhead and his group pass through without questioning. The number ten hero walked quickly through the crowding officers and EMTs. His mind felt foggy, barely able to focus. He couldn't feel his feet moving him along anymore. His thoughts were frantic and erratic. The only calm part of his body was his eyes, which remained fixed upon the shattered metal gate at the building's entrance. Once he reached that gate his eyes moved to the two heroes now walking out of the structure. They were bruised and bloodied and covered in ice and snow. Aries' horns were broken off, leaving only jagged stumps protruding from his hairline. The other hero was Silver Streak. It appeared that Peter and his team had arrived faster than he had, and had been able to help in the effort to stop the villains. He certainly seemed less injured than Kameron.
Ravenhead's attention then moved to a group standing near the gate's entrance, who were cheering for their heroes' victory. Five of its members were the senior students who had been accompanying Silver Streak. The others were what remained of Aries' junior students. Ravenhead's dark eyes fixed upon them, counting hurriedly. He counted four heads. Only four. Where were the others? What had happened to them?
The overwhelming panic shot along his neurons and flooded his veins. He felt a muscle-clenching terror seize his muscles. His thoughts were dragging up all of the awful possibilities, all of the terrible fates that could befall these young heroes when faced with experienced villains. This was the worst thing that could have possibly happened on this trip.
He had to focus on the positives. Not all of the students were missing. Most of them were here, with the police. Only a few were unaccounted for. Every single one of them could have been hurt or taken or killed, but that had not happened. He had to focus on that. He also noticed something else, something that relieved his fears far more. Despite all the chaos, all the destruction, all the ambulances and EMTs seeing to injured officers, students and heroes... there were no body bags. No one had been killed. He had to focus on that. He had to hold onto that fact, clutch it like a pillow and squeeze it to his chest. There was still news to come, and there was a strong chance that news would not be good.
He heard his students whispering nervously to each other. Despite his static observing, they chose to approach their classmates, hurrying across to them and instantly asking questions. The only one of them that didn't immediately rush over was Maisie. She stayed by his side, nervous and confused.
"I don't see Jared." She mumbled.
Ravenhead had noticed that too. The second of his extra students was among the missing. Aries had told him that Jared had run after one of their target without the rest of the group the day before. Had he done the same thing today?
Just as his group arrived at the warehouse, a trio of girls now walked out from the building, and instantly they were approached by their classmates, their teachers and the surrounding police. They began talking with Aries, who was having his scalp bandaged by a rather nervous EMT who was almost a foot shorter than him. Ravenhead couldn't tell from his distance what they were discussing. When they finished talking, Aries stood up, a half finished bandage hanging down the left side of his face. He turned and spotted Ravenhead watching them. He waved his colleague over, and finally Ravenhead's feet began to move him towards the scene.
"Sorry I'm late." He apologised upon reaching his friend. He was holding his head low with guilt for the fact that he hadn't been able to protect anyone.
"Don't apologise, Yorke." Aries told him kindly. "None of this is your fault."
"I wish I had got here sooner. Maybe less people would have been hurt." His eyes were fixed upon the spot where Aries' curling horns had once sprouted.
Aries followed his colleague's attention upwards. He chuckled weakly and pointed to his head. "This one was self-inflicted." He explained.
"What happened?" Ravenhead asked, his concern at the forefront of his thoughts.
"We were ambushed by a couple of villains." Aries told him, subconsciously trying to tie the loose piece of bandage back into the mass. "One of them was able to lower the temperature of the room we were in. Another could open these portals. They managed to separate us before we knew what was happening. Half of the students were dragged into this large underground maze."
"A maze?" Ravenhead repeated in astonishment. "Underground?"
"Right underneath the building." Aries continued. "Thalassa found the entrance during the fighting and officer Moffat went to try and find him a minute ago. According to Anny, Catherine and Vikki, the maze is massive and almost a mile below the city. It might be as big as both Scarow and Galafrei combined."
"Good god!" Ravenhead's beaked mouth clucked in shock. "We need to get someone to examine this place. A labyrinth like that, right underneath all of us? How could we not be aware of that?"
"The police are already making arrangements to map the entire structure." Aries said. Hopefully our theory is wrong, and the maze isn't that large. Otherwise..." He trailed off, his expression becoming much darker. "...we may be facing a mass incursion situation. The wall might be breached!"
The thought sent chills down his feather-covered spine. If these villains had access to such a structure then perhaps they could use it to go wherever they wanted. If the public learned about this there would be mass chaos. Everyone would panic.
"We have to keep this quiet." Ravenhead told him in a low voice. "If news of this gets out..."
"I agree." Aries told him before he could finished. "I've already let the chief of police know. We can't hide what happened here today, but we can hide what we found in that place. A few officers are going to be stationed inside the building at all times. No one is to mention the maze to any news teams or interviewers. The public mustn't know."
Ravenhead felt that this should have reassured him. The truth was it didn't. He already felt so fearful and so astonished. Any one of the officers or EMTs around them could accidentally or intentionally let it slip to a partner, a friend, a co-worker, or worst of all the media. Even their students might tell someone without thinking, and then the news would be out that there is a massive maze underneath the entire Greater London region. This situation was an absolute travesty. He had to remind himself again that at least no one had been killed.
"Jared." He said suddenly, glancing at the students. "Jared's still missing."
Aries' expression looked no more hopeful, despite his voice's attempt to make the news sound positive. "Volksmarcher, Brail and Catherine were with him. They were fighting off another two villains inside the maze. Thalassa charged in and protected them. Once the villains fled through one of their portals, he then grabbed Wreath and ran off with him. Volksmarcher brought the other two back here. As for where Wreath and Thalassa are..." He shrugged. "Hopefully that criminal is bringing him back here. If he isn't..."
"If he isn't..." Ravenhead finished for him, his voice a low and cold growl that echoed within his hollow beak. "...if he's hurt Jared in any way I'll turn him into shark fin soup!"
Aries laughed. Despite the chaos and fear that filled the street, his mild laughter did something to alleviate all of that. To his own surprised, Ravenhead realised that he was laughing too.
They heard someone else laugh behind them. The two turned around, and saw Dubstep approaching. He had apparently heard Ravenhead's statement and found it funny too. While he was approaching his colleagues, his own group of students were passing them in a hurry to see what was happening.
"There'll be time to make Chinese delicacies from our colleagues soon enough." The Russian hero stated. "Personally, I'd like to turn him into a nice shark-tooth necklace. My mother would love one of those as a birthday present."
"You're also late?" Ravenhead said, surprised that he was not the only one to arrive after the action. He was sure his group had been the furthest away from the site.
"Ve vere held up by a rather troublesome couple of drunks by the southeast corner." Dubstep told him. "Vhat did I miss?"
With some small abridging, Aries went to the effort of retelling the events that he had just explained to Ravenhead. Once he got to the part about the labyrinth, the Russian-born man's mouth dropped. At first he didn't seem to believe it, but after Aries reassured him it was true, he fell quiet for a few seconds.
"Blyat'!" He exclaimed in his native tongue. "There's really something like that underneath the city... and ve missed it!?"
"I know." Aries agreed. "We'll have to keep our eyes open in future. We weren't able to catch any of the villains who attacked us, and it's completely possible that there are more people who know about this place than just them." He paused with a look of great concern growing on his face. "There's also the problem... that this might not be the only entrance to that maze."
For the first time since either of them had met him, Niko Mikhaelov looked pale. His usually grinning mouth was now twisted with horror at the possibility.
"Well..." the Russian hero muttered, trying to put on a brave face. "Sounds like ve're fu-"
His comment was cut off by a yell from the students. In a moment of panic Ravenhead thought they were screaming. Then he realised that it was not a shout of shock or horror, but one of delight and relief. They were shouting a name.
"Jared!"
The three teachers turned back towards the cold storage warehouse. From its entrance, the large, grey, aquatic form of Megalodon was walking out, followed closely by Officer Moffat. Draped upon the criminal's shoulder was a black haired teenager, struggling frantically to be let down.
Ravenhead's entire body relaxed all at one. His fears could be laid to rest. No one had died. He had to remember that, despite all the other negatives. Not a single person – hero or villain, criminal or cop – had been killed.
"Jared!" Something sped past them, small and slim and with long brown hair that waved behind it. In his hastiness to be reassured that everything was okay, Ravenhead had forgotten that he had left Maisie by herself. Now she was reuniting with her classmates, more eager than any of them to make sure Jared was okay. One of the officers trying to restrain Megalodon had to hold her back. Even though the fear that had been in his heart was still present, he found he couldn't help but smile upon seeing how desperately she fought to get to her friend.
"That's all of our students present and correct." Aries muttered. "Madam should be on her way. I'll call her and let her known that everyone's safe."
While Aries wondered off to send his message to their headmistress, Ravenhead listened in to the eager questioning that was now taking place.
"Give him some space!" An EMT was instructing, helping to move a stretcher through the group towards the young hero.
"I'm fine. I can walk." Jared insisted, as Megalodon finally lowered him to the ground. "It's my hand that's messed up."
With a sharp clenching in his gut, Ravenhead noticed that Jared's left hand was hanging limply at his side, the bone in his wrist prodding through the skin. A shard of guilt pierced his heart. He should have gotten here sooner. He should have been there to protect his students.
"Oh my god! Jared!" Maisie screamed, finally pushing her way through the crowd and leaping on him like a panther. She gripped him in a bear hug that she had no intention of breaking, despite the difficulty Jared was now having with breathing. The poor boy almost fell over as she leapt on him.
"Easy, easy!" He grunted, trying to gently push her off.
"Step back, miss." One of the EMTs instructed, trying to move her away from their patient. Unfortunately for them, Maisie had no plan to break her hold around her friend.
"Alright you two, get a room." George Asher mocked. But despite his rather rude comment, even he seemed to be impressed and – to a much smaller extent – relieved that Jared had come back alive.
While he was being crushed in Maisie's boa-like grip, another of the EMTs had taken Jared's limp hand and was giving it a careful examination. They tried moving it lightly, which made Jared wince in sharp pain. A moment later this same EMT turned away from the students and approached the observing heroes. Though most of their face was covered by a mask, their eyes looked solemn. Ravenhead's back automatically stiffened. He knew that they were going to give him some bad news.
"I'm afraid his left wrist is fractured..." The EMT explained to him. "...pretty badly by the look of it. We won't be sure how badly until he's had an x-ray."
This certainly was bad news, though not as bad as it could have been. Jared was still very much alive, at least. "Will he recover?" Ravenhead asked.
"He should do, so long as he lets it heal properly. If we take him straight to the nearest hospital beyond the wall we'll be able to heal it up, and he should be back to normal by tomorrow morning."
Ravenhead exhaled. Though his student having a broken hand was still bad news, it was not nearly as bad as he had feared. Jared would quickly recover from his injuries, certainly with help from Galafrei's top medical experts.
"Ve should take him to see a doctor straight avay." Dubstep interrupted. "So that it doesn't get any vorse."
Ravenhead agreed with him. Though this was a better outcome than he had dreaded, it could still become problematic. Jared could get sick if his injuries weren't attended to quickly.
"Okay." He said.
With his consent, the EMT turned around and walked back to their patient. The other students were still crowding around Jared, asking him questions.
It seemed that some of the other students had now stepped closer to him, asking him questions, making sure he was okay. Ravenhead knew that those students were a part of his friend group. He wanted to complement them on being there for him. One of the girls stepped forwards and suddenly punched him on the shoulder. He almost moved to stop her, until he recognised that girl as Aaren Whitley. She was yelling at Jared, striking him with half-hearted punches to the shoulder.
"You idiot! You big, dumb, reckless idiot!"
"Ow! Aaren, stop it!" He complained.
"You could have died! Those villains could have killed you! Why do you have to run headfirst into danger?!"
Jared seemed completely bewildered by her unusual concern. Normally Aaren was a very reserved person. It shocked him even more to see tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Hey, Aaren, I'm okay." He reassured her. "I'm fine."
Despite her volley of punches, it was clear even from a distance that none of them were intended to hurt. Aaren was just letting out her emotions in the best way she knew how. Ravenhead had never seen her so upset by something. He felt rather proud of her, proud of both of them. Their friendship must have been really strong if she reacted to his injuries like this.
Maisie was still hanging around Jared's waist. Somehow Aaren's attacks were not shaking her off. If anything they made her hang to him even tighter. Her instinct to protect her friend was almost motherly, though in expression it came across as terrifyingly animalistic. It would be easier to remove a barnacle from a rock then it would be to remove her from Jared. Poor boy. It was never fun being caught up between the affections of two different women, despite what movies and television might suggest.
"We're all glad you're okay, mate." Jon Laverick was telling him. "You had us worried for a moment."
"What happened down there, in the maze?" Payton was asking, his wings ruffling with excitement.
"Nothing much." Jared bragged humbly. "I fought a couple of villains and helped rescue those three." He gestured at Anny, Vikki and Catherine."
"Yeah, right." Vikki huffed. "You tried to rescue us. If it wasn't for Catherine, you'd have been killed by those villains."
Everyone now looked at the nervous young woman who was trying to hide at the back of the group. Their eyes fixed on her curiously.
"Really?" Melanie Yarrow asked in double.
"She was awesome!" Vikki exclaimed. "You should have seen it. I didn't know what her Quirk was before, but it turns out she can fire lasers from her t-"
"Tell them nothing!" Catherine interrupted, speaking louder than she usually did. "...please." She added a little more meekly.
"She burned a hole through several walls at once!" Vikki finished.
"Bloody hell!" Freya exclaimed.
"Good job, Catherine!" called Lavender.
The shout went out around the group. Each of the students were congratulating her, cheering for her. Catherine hid her face, thoroughly embarrassed, but even Ravenhead could tell that she was blushing, smiling with joy that she was now being respected by her classmates.
"Make space, please." One of the EMTs was instructing. "We need to get this young man to a hospital immediately."
"I'll be fine, guys." Jared told his friends as he was led to the back of a nearby ambulance. "I'll see you later."
The other students made room for him and the EMTs to pass. It took a bit of force to break Maisie's grip, but eventually one of the officers that had been restraining Megalodon helped to remove her. As Jared was being helped into the back of the ambulance the other students made space for the vehicle to leave, watching and he waved goodbye to them.
"I should go with him." Ravenhead realised, turning to Dubstep. "He'll want to be reassured that everything is over and everyone is safe."
"I think Madam vill vant to speak to all of us." Dubstep told him. "She sounded pretty mad vhen she called me."
"She called you?" Ravenhead asked.
"She told me vhat was happening." Dubstep explained.
"Don't you have a police radio on you?"
"I did..." Dubstep began, looking suddenly embarrassed. "But one of the drunks I was dealing vith took it from me vhile I was trying to restrain them."
Ravenhead shook his head. Of course Niko had made a silly mistake like that. He was usually pretty good at his job, but unfortunately he had difficulty with focusing his attention on more than one target at a time. Normally this was only a minor, momentary problem. Niko had little issue resolving these problems a few seconds after they occurred. It was just unlucky that it was at that moment an important call had come through.
"Madam wants to speak with us?" He said, returning to the intentional subject in Dubstep's previous comment.
"About vhat happened here today." Dubstep explained. "She's very concerned... and very angry."
"I don't blame her." Ravenhead said quietly. "I feel exactly the same way."
Though he didn't want to readily admit it, there was a part of him that felt angry. He wasn't completely sure what he was angry at. To an extent he was angry at himself for not getting here on time to help, but another part of him was angry at the villains for attacking his students and his colleagues. Another part of him was angry that no one had discovered the labyrinth beneath the city until now. How could they have missed that? He wanted answers to what had happened today. No doubt Madam felt the same way. Problem was, he didn't have answers for her. No one did. She certainly wouldn't be happy to learn that.
On cue, a long black limousine began squeezing its way through the tightly packed street towards the ware house. The narrow vehicle slid through the just as narrow path that had been made for it, avoiding collisions with street lamps and stationary police vehicles. A few unobservant officers quickly moved out of the way before they could have the limo's front licence plate pressed into their backsides.
When the vehicle stopped it doors swung open. A bright pink light escaped from within, and a vision of sickeningly sweet colours blinded the observers.
Ravenhead caught sight of Aries waving at him from across the road. He saw that Cyanide was standing beside him. Had she also been late to the scene, or had she just been hidden by all of the vehicles and officers that filled the street. The gesture was obvious. They were expected to enter the vehicle.
"She's here." Ravenhead realised, trying not to show the terror now filling his heart. They were about to have a conversation with Madam. He always hated these. "Come on."
He and Dubstep approached the vehicle. From some distance behind he noticed Silver Streak was also walking in that direction, though he was doing so with more obvious apprehension. One by one they clambered inside, Ravenhead going first.
The interior had the same garish shade of pink that was used for the headmistress's office, though fortunately there was nowhere to hang up all the photographs and paintings that had adorned those walls. Even the seats were a ghastly shade of salmon that reminded Ravenhead of expired milk.
Madam was sat at the far back end of the vehicle. Ravenhead had expected her to look furious. He had not been expecting her to look so calm. Known her, she was probably hiding a lot of that anger deep down, behind her makeup and her pink suit. The moment she wanted to she would erupt like a sugar-filled volcano.
The others entered in after him. While Ravenhead sat directly opposite to Madam – a decision he instant knew to be a mistake as she continuously stared ahead, directly at him – the others sat around him, upon the seats to the left and right. Aries and Dubstep sat to his right, while Cyanine and Silver Streak to the seats on his left, nearest the door. The only member of their staff who was not present was Dr. Cutter. Ravenhead would have asked where was, but before he could Madam pulled a laptop out from one of several pink bags and places it on the seat beside her. As she lifted the screen up, a live video feed flashed open. Through it the teachers could see their missing colleague, who appeared to be taking the call from within a surgical theatre.
"Are we all here now?" Madam asked.
The five present heroes all nodded together, and the one video call hero nodded a few seconds later.
"Good." She said in an unnervingly sweet voice. "Now that we're all here could 0ne of you please try and explain to me... what in god's good name happened here today?!"
Ravenhead looked at his colleagues, and they looked back at him. This was not the first time they had seen their headmistress angry, nor was it the first time they had been interrogated by her. It was the first time, however, than any of them had been angrily interrogated by her.
"Well, ma'am..." Aries spoke up bravely. "...my group was attacked by a couple of villains while we were inspecting-."
"I know that part!" Madam interrupted, gesturing with her hand. Her voice had suddenly become nasty, losing all of its sweetness. Her angry side was beginning to show itself properly. "I mean what happened? Who were these villains? Why did they attack us? What did they want? Did they succeed in whatever plan they had? Why were you unable to capture any of them? Why did you let them get away?"
Ravenhead felt that she was becoming rather accusatory, trying to find someone to pin the blame on. He didn't blame her for that, he wanted to blame someone, too. However, he wasn't going to pin that blame on his colleagues. They had all done everything they could to prevent this situation and resolve it. As much as he understood Madam's anger, he wasn't going to let her blame them.
"Ma'am, that's unfair." He stated firmly. "Most of us were too far away when the attack happened. We weren't able to get to the site quickly because we had students with us, we couldn't just leave them behind."
"That is hardly an excuse." Madam retorted. "Heroes are supposed to be efficient. All five of you should have been at the scene within minutes of it happening, yet by the time it ended only Kameron and Peter had been present. If you three had been there then perhaps we might have captured one or two of these bastards!"
Ravenhead noticed Dubstep's head lower with embarrassment at her claim. He was probably blaming himself for what had taken place. Ravenhead still felt guilty that he had been late. It was likely the other three also felt some amount of guilt for failing to protect the students and stop the villains. Even Cutter – despite his silence and slightly out of sync video – was probably feeling some amount of guilt for being in a completely different part of the country when the attack happened.
"I agree with Yorke." Aries spoke up. "It's hardly fair to blame him, Niko or Lorraine for what happened today. It was my group that was attacked, and I had no idea it would happen. Surely I am most at fault for what took place today."
Ravenhead wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that he was no more responsible for this awful situation than any of them. He stayed silent, however, because he realised what Aries was doing. He was appealing to Madam's better nature, trying to make himself the scapegoat for her rage so that the rest of them wouldn't be blamed. It seemed to be working, too. Madam's anger appeared to subside slowly.
That was until Silver Streak spoke up.
"What right do you have to blame us?" He stated. "You didn't show up either. Do you ever even do hero work? From what I could tell, you're just a celebrity over in America. The daughter of a billionaire. What right do you have to tell us what to do?"
There could not have been a worse time to bring this subject up. Peter Jensen Jr had essentially just thrown a whole pack of small round sweets into a full litre bottle of fizzy cola. Now the cola was erupting violently, spraying fizzy liquid everywhere.
"How dare you!" Madam screeched. "How! Dare! You! My father may well be a moneyed man, but that fact has nothing to do with my career! I have spent the last twenty six years working as a hero, both in training and as an official member of both the American Hero Association and the Hero Movement! He might have paid for my studies, but I did all the work needed to pass them! I made my career by myself, by my actions, by my efforts! How dare you suggest that I took the easy way!"
Madam's hands were clenching the arms of her seat, her long nails digging through the leather and pulling up the soft stuffing within. None of them had ever seen Destiny Broadhurst look so furious before. Clearly Silver Streak had touched a nerve with his comment. Even he seemed a little taken aback, though surprisingly he was choosing to hold his ground.
"Blame us all you want, but if you're going to do that you should be blaming yourself for the exact same reasons. Don't be a hypocrite about it. If you thought you could have done something, you should have."
"I am the headmistress of this academy!" Madam bellowed. "It is not my job to fight villains or keep an eye on the students at all times. It is my job to make sure that we continue to receive funding, to make sure our academy's governors aren't upset. It is my job to make sure that all of you get paid, to make sure that you are doing your job and that our courses are actually teaching the students rather than just wasting their time. Most importantly, my job is to make sure that we are obeying the law, that we are following the guidelines set by the Hero Movement, and that there is no chance, not in heaven or on earth, that our academy may be shut down."
There was a momentary silence while the room quietened down. Madam's voice continued to echo through their ears. Ravenhead's more sensitive sound organs reverberated painfully within his skull. For a second he thought that this was the end of the argument, but as Peter had already proven he was prepared to fight this battle with tooth and nail.
"Interesting that you didn't bring up the students health, or their learning, or their happiness." He said quietly. "All you talked about just now was the business side of things. What the government wants to see. What your shareholders want to hear." To everyone's surprise, Silver Streak seemed to be just as angry as Madam was now. Though he was restraining his anger much better than she was, his teeth were still gritted and his hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. "Our students aren't just statistics. They're young people, with their own hopes and dreams and plans and goals. Or had you forgotten that? Our job must look so easy to you, up on your high horse. But it's not easy. We have to make sure those young idiots don't get themselves killed."
"You almost failed at that today." Madam retorted, her voice quieter now. "From what Kameron was telling me over the phone, it seems Jared Wreath got pretty badly hurt. Where were all of you when he was being attacked?"
"We were almost a mile above him." Silver Streak told her bitterly. "He was one of the students that the villains took. We didn't know where he was at the time. How could we have guessed that he was beneath our feet, in some giant underground labyrinth?"
"He's safe now, though." Aries interrupted, trying to end the argument. "All of them are."
Madam leaned back in her chair, and began stroking her chin in thought with one of her sharp nailed fingers. Despite her small size, she seemed to fill up the entire back row of chairs. "Since we're talking about this labyrinth, I'd like to know how you found out about it, how those villains found out about it, what they were using it for, and why no hero has never stumbled across it until now?"
"We can't answer all those questions, Ma'am." Aries explained. "We don't know what they were after or why they attacked us. That ice villain said something about protecting his family, but I'm not sure what he meant by that. There was no one else in that building other than us and them."
"If a may speak, Ma'am." The echoing, slightly distorted, slightly distant voice of Dr. Cutter said as his lips noticeably moved almost a fraction of a second slower than his voice. "I attempted to get in touch with one of the HM record keepers before this call. They just got back to me. They've only done a quick search so far, but it appears there's no record of a maze or labyrinth ever being built beneath Scarow or Galafrei. This construct that these villains were using is likely something they were building themselves. I find it highly unlikely we would have missed something so big for any longer than a few years. Some villain would have surely used it to get about if that were the case."
"He's got a point, Ma'am." Dubstep agreed. "No doubt someone would have noticed a structure like that before now."
"Other villains have hidden their secret weapons from us before." Silver Streak reminded him. "It took the Spanish heroes several years to learn about the Don's Armada, and by then he had already used it to attack Faro, Lagos and Lisbon. Who knows what these villains might have hidden from us. Perhaps this is just one of a long list we are yet to unearth."
"This speculation isn't helping us." Ravenhead told them, growing tired of the arguments. He wanted things to start calming down. They certainly needed to discuss what had happened today and what they could do to prevent it from happening again, but their arguing and speculating was not helping them get anywhere.
"In any case..." Cutter continued, his voice cutting out for a brief second. "...it isn't likely that we have anything more to worry about. From what I've heard these people sound like they were unprepared. They weren't able to defeat Kameron or Peter, even when their numbers increased. Even our students were able to beat them. Most importantly, the moment they got the option to flee they took it. To me that sounds like they're a new group of inexperienced villains, a fresh batch so to speak. It's not likely they'll try and get back at us, not for some time at the very least. After a defeat like this they'll be licking their wounds."
"They certainly seemed young." Aries agreed with the video. "But what they lacked in experience they made up for with talent and willpower. You weren't there fighting them, Charlie. That ice villain, he was tenacious. Even after Peter had him bound, he refused to quit fighting. I had to pin him to the wall with my horns."
Ravenhead tapped his beak together. This villain sounded rather a lot like Jared. Determined to get the job done, no matter what might happen to him.
"None of this does anything to comfort me." Madam grumbled, folding her arms like a stroppy toddler.
"We should leave it for now, Ma'am." Cutter told her calmly. "The Hero Movement already know what happened. They'll have people look further into it. Right now we need to focus on the students and their safety."
Madam nodded for a few moments. Then, with an exhausted sigh, she rubbed her face and groaned, letting her frustration seep out. "I apologize for taking my frustrations out on all of you." She said tiredly. "This situation... it's not one I ever hoped to be in. If I can be honest for a moment, I'm not sure what to do."
"We should get the students out of Scarow." Silver Streak told her without pause. "They're not safe here. They never were."
Despite having disagreed with Silver Streak on this matter only a few days before, now Ravenhead found himself on the arrogant merc's side. After a situation like this, they couldn't risk letting their students run of after villains any more.
There was no discussion between the heroes. Each and every one of them agreed with this decision.
"Okay. Once this conversation is over we'll gather up our students, take them back to the hostel to collect their things, then we'll grab the bus back to Galafrei straight away." Madam decided.
"This was a bad idea." Aries murmured, clutching at his damp, red-stained hair. "I'm sorry I suggested it."
"You didn't know this would happen." Cyanide tried to comfort him.
"I brought my foster children back to this awful place." Aries told her with worrying self-hatred. "I made them a part of my group. I thought they would be safe with me. Instead they were put directly in harm's way."
No one spoke up to argue with him. Even Ravenhead, who knew all about Kameron's attempts to be a parent to Ty and Catherine. He knew just how hard he was trying, how much work he was putting in. To see him look so guilty, so ashamed, so defeated... it was heart-breaking.
The stationary vehicle was silent for a while, every passenger sat in deep thought. Then Madam clapped her hands together, and instantly the silence was broken.
"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can talk about our plan for Christmas." She declared.
The other teachers looked at her.
"Our plans for Christmas?" Silver Streak repeated.
"What plans?" Asked Dubstep.
Madam rubbed her hands together with eager, childish delight. "I've been thinking about this for a while." She admitted, her mouth wide in a pearly white grin. "Most schools and academies have some sort of celebration before the winter holidays. Since Broadhurst Heroism Academy is a new foundation, we don't have any seasonal or celebrations yet, so I spent this week thinking of some... and I've decided on one I think would be great for Christmas."
Ravenhead sat up, interested. Their plan to have a weeklong trip to Scarow City might have ended badly, but surely a simple party or celebration couldn't hurt any of their students.
Seeing the interested gazes, Madam explained her idea. "When I was a little girl my father used to hold these balls."
There was silence from the teachers. Dubstep covered his mouth, trying desperately not to laugh.
"These amazing Christmas parties that we had in the second ballroom." Madam continued. "I used to love those. So, I thought maybe we could do that for our students."
The male teachers all looked at each other. "What, a dance party?" Aries said.
"Yeah!" Madam said, trying to encourage the idea into them.
"I don't know." Ravenhead thought. "I can see most of the girls enjoying something like that, but I doubt many of the boys will be interested."
"You'd be surprised." Cyanide told him. "I remember taking ballet as a child, and a third of my class were boys."
"But that's different." Dubstep argued. "Those boys made the choice to learn ballet. Our students aren't training to become dancers."
"They don't need to master the waltz." Madam Broadhurst told him. "It'll just be a fun party. Anyone who want to dance can, but if they want to just sit and watch that's fine too. We can provide music and drinks and little snack foods on sticks."
"No alcohol!" Silver Streak stated immediately. "Not even for the Senior Students. I don't want to see any funny business taking place, nor do I want to have to clean up their vomit the next morning."
Madam blinked, confused. "I thought none of the junior students were of age." She said.
"Eighteen is the legal age for drinking alcohol here." Aries reminded her.
Madam nodded, remembering. "Ah, of course. Sorry, I was thinking it was twenty-one."
"Not all of the juniors can drink alcohol." Aries continued. "Just the few that are already eighteen. I agree with Peter, though. We should provide non-alcoholic drinks."
Algernon Fitzroy
[November 28th]
He collapsed to the ground. The moment his companions released their grip upon his arms he fell forwards, the strength leaving his legs. It had all gone so wrong. He had tried his best to make sure their foe could not disturb them, but he had been too weak. Now they had lost their base, and been forced to flee to a new location.
Janus reached down and offered him his a hand up. Algernon almost took it, but as he reached out he noticed his friend's skin turn paler and develop gooseflesh. He quickly pulled his arm away and instead struggled back to his feet by himself. He stumbled for a few moments, using the nearest wall to steady himself. His companions remained behind him, out of his Quirk's range. He kept them distant, as he always did. It was safest that they never got too close to him.
"I need to go get the other two." Janus told him emotionlessly. Algernon simply nodded. The misty eyed man stepped backwards into his portal, disappearing into the swirly darkness.
A moment later he stumbled back through, dragging Geoff and Jael with him. Instantly the room was filled with shouting and screaming. Algernon had slipped down into a sitting position while Janus was away. He sharply rose back to his feet upon seeing the injuries the two had sustained.
"This really hurts!" Jael was yelling, clenching the stump of her severed left arm with the two remaining right ones. "Get me a doctor, now!"
"Stop shouting in my ear!" Geoff complained, clenching the sides of his head in pain. "I'm going deaf."
"What happened?" Algernon asked them.
"We had those kids cornered." Geoff explained, having to yell to be heard over Jael's pain filled wails. "Then this shark guy showed up out of nowhere and bit right through Jael's arm. He bit it clean off!"
Algernon stared at him in disbelief. A shark man. They must have been attacked by that same shark man he had faced in the warehouse. If that slippery criminal had found his way into the labyrinth then most certainly the heroes had also discovered it by now. His fears were confirmed. They could no longer use it to traverse the city without risk of being caught.
"Get her to Patch." He instructed.
Janus nodded and with the help of Geoff he carried the still screaming and complaining Jael from the room.
Algernon turned now to Xavier, who stood quietly in the corner with his arms folded. The man just stared at him, emotionless as ever.
"Thank you for helping me back there." Algernon said quietly.
Xavier didn't say thank you. He just grunted and nodded. Algernon expected nothing more from him. The man was an enigma.
Knowing that his silent companion would never be interested in interacting with the rest of his family, he chose to move on alone, following after Janus, Geoff and Jael.
He walked through a doorway to the left, following a grey concrete hallway which lead to three rooms – two on the right, one on the left – and a flight of stairs at the far end. They had gone to see patches, so he took the one left turn into her surgery.
"Oh stop whining already. It's a clean cut, nothing I can't fix."
"Hurry up and fix it then!" Jael screamed, flailing about on the surgical bed. "It hurts so much!"
The woman who stood beside her, dressed in a stained white lab coat, sighed in irritation.
"I can't fix it if you keep moving about. Now, please, stay still." She gripped the stump that had once been and arm and squeezed the end of it, all while trying to wind what looked to be a layer of skin around it.
Algernon watched from the corner of the room while the doctor worked her magic. Jael didn't stop screaming for a second, nor did she stop swearing or blaming the others for the injury she had received. Though he pretended to shrug it off, the insults she was throwing at Geoff were upsetting him. Algernon had learned to recognise this. He had known some of his family members for several years now. Others he had only known for a shorter time, a month or two in one case, but even in that small time he felt he understood a lot about them. It was interesting how observing others from a distance could allow one to pick up on all their little behaviours... all their quirks.
Once the operation was finally complete, the woman in the lab coat stepped back to admire her work.
"Feeling any better?"
Jael sat up and raised her left arm. The stump, which had once been freshly cut and profusely bleeding, was now completely healed over with a brand new layer of skin. She moved it about awkwardly. It was not quite the same as having her hand back, but it was certainly better than bleeding to death.
"Thanks, Patch." She said with a slightly hoarse voice.
"Don't pick at it, don't scratch it, don't bite it." The woman explained strictly. "Let it heal and in a weeks' time your arm should be completely back to normal."
"How do you work your magic?" Geoff asked her.
"You know how." The woman responded. "Now, all of you, get out of here. I need to clean up."
While the other three members left the room – Jael still examining her fully healed stump – Algernon remained behind. He leaned against the doorway, his attention fixed on the woman. After a moment she glanced back, finally noticing him.
"Need something, Al?"
Wilma Kelsey; their group's health expert and doctor. In the underground communities she was known as Patchwork, though she preferred to be called Patch. That title was fitting, since the entirety of her body was covered in different squares of skin. It was tough to tell which parts were originally hers and which were cultivated squares she had been growing. From what he could tell it seemed that the left half of her face, which was the half completely untouched by any added patches, was really hers. That area of dark brown skin stood out against the patches of pale white, tanned and light brown. He had to wonder if it ever hurt to have so many different kinds of skin grafted onto your body. Surely itching the areas beneath those spots was a nightmare.
"No." Algernon answered her. "I'm just making sure everything is okay. Did you move all of your stuff successfully?
"With a little help." She said. "It would have been nice to have more time to prepare everything. I'm certain I broke a few test tubes while packing them away."
"But you got everything we need?" He continued. "You got... it?"
"Yes, I did." She turned around to face him, leaning on the surgical bed. Its edges were matted with dried blood. "That thing is nightmarishly heavy, but Opey helped me bring it in."
"Where is he?" Algernon asked, realising that he hadn't seen the other remaining members of their family yet.
"He and Yusuf came back a few minutes before Matt left to get you." Patch explained. "I think he's unpacking his stuff in one of the left wing rooms."
"I'll go check on him." Al told her. "Make sure it's kept somewhere cold. If it goes off all our plans will be ruined."
"I stuffed in the freezer." Patch said. "Right beside Geoff's ready meals and several packs of frozen veg." Al gave her a serious look. "I'm joking." She admitted with a slight smile. "Now, get out of my surgery already."
Algernon left the doctor to her work. It must be a bizarre job cultivating and growing other people's skin upon your own body. No one other than her could attempt that sort of thing. It was thanks to her Quirk that she was able to do it, and because of her Quirk she was such a useful asset to their family. Most people would have no idea what you meant if you told them you were a living DNA Splicer.
He followed the corridor back to the room they had arrived in. Now that he was getting a second look at it, he realised that it was supposed to be some sort of entrance room, though there was no front door to speak of. He had known that upon picking this place as his secondary base. Working above the surface had its benefits, but when it came to lying low there weren't many places better than unfinished underground bunkers.
Something popped into existence to his left. He knew immediately that it wasn't Janus. Janus didn't just appear out of nowhere without warning. He also knew that it wasn't Xavier, who he had left in this room a few minutes ago. The room had been empty when he walked in, so obviously Xavier had moved on to do whatever he did in his spare time. Also, Xavier couldn't teleport. There was only one other member of their group capable of travelling from one place to another in an instant.
He turned to face the newcomer. "Yusuf."
The Pakistani man smiled at him and nodded. "Al." He said back. "Have fun with those intruders?"
"Not especially." Algernon told him, his voice a little colder that he had intended. "We could have used the extra help.
"Well, I was already helping Patch." Yusuf explained. "Like you asked me to."
"I had hoped you would finish quicker." Al said quietly. "Then maybe you could have come and helped us. Xavier and I had to face two well trainer heroes up there, and poor Jael lost her arm to this shark man they had with them."
"Shark man?" Yusuf repeated, puzzled. Then he laughed. "Actually, I've heard that there was some shark man running about. Megalodon, he was calling himself. You actually fought him?" Algernon nodded, to which Yusuf chuckled, impressed. "You're lucky. From what I've heard Jael could have lost more than just her arm."
"She'll recover." Algernon reassured him. "So long as she lets it heal, Patch's Quirk will get straight to work."
"So, we're all good now? No heroes followed us?" Yusuf asked.
"How could they. None of them came through the portal with us, and even if they have a portal opener of their own they won't be able to get to us down here."
"So the plans all ago again?"
Algernon nodded. "Yes. The plan is ago once more."
"I could pay some of those heroes a visit, make sure they don't bother us again." Yusuf suggested.
Algernon shook his head. "No. We don't need to make them angry. That'll just cause more problems. Leave it for now. Don't go and make anyone vanish"
"Understood."
The two men walked down the left hallway, turning right halfway down into a much larger room. The rest of the family were inside, helping to move a large collection of tools, tables, machinery and other assorted objects into various places. In the middle of the group, currently cleaning one of multiple wooden masks, was the last member of their family; Opeyemi Olatunji.
Despite his massive size, excessive muscle and all-round intimidating appearance, Opeyemi was in fact a very kind and gentle man. The other members of the family usually called him Opey for short, in a strangely loving way for them. Most of them saw him as a father figure, despite the fact that he was one of their younger members, being only twenty years old. He had this way of talking to people that just made them relax. Algernon would have assumed this was because of his Quirk, if not for the fact that he knew his Quirk had nothing to do with language or manipulating other people. Though all of their family members were odd and interesting people, Opeyemi was one of the more unique individuals. When they had first met, Opeyemi had been a Nigerian immigrant newly arrived in Scarow. After only a month in the UK he had learned how to speak English almost fluently, so much so that most people who met him after that point assumed he was born locally. He wasn't just impressive in his physical abilities. He had the kind of brain that allowed him to adapt to situations and pick up new subjects very quickly. Al could imagine him getting full A grades if he had been given the chance to go to school. Apparently he had come to this country to make a name for himself. Well, he would certainly manage that.
Algernon approached the group, watching from afar as he always did. While most of them didn't seem to notice him, Opeyemi gave him a cheerful wave, his darker skin standing out against the pale grey walls and the harsh white ceiling lights.
"Welcome back, Al." He called.
Algernon waved back, and he couldn't help but smile. "Manage to grab all your stuff?" He asked.
"I think so." Opeyemi said. "I have my masks with me, and my necklace, and my axe, and my agbada, and-"
"You don't need to list it all off." Algernon told him.
Opeyemi smiles slightly. "Sorry. But yes, I have everything."
"Good." Algernon said with a pleased nod. "And what about the important stuff."
Opeyemi thought for a moment, seemingly not sure what he meant. Then it dawned on him. "Oh, you mean that!" He nodded vigorously. "Yes, I got all of that. The others ae setting it up for you."
The two of them glanced back at the group of struggling adults trying to move various heavy equipment from the large pile at the centre of the room.
"You could help us!" Geoff complained, trying to carry something that looked like a broken jet engine by himself.
"You need to work your muscles, skinny man." Opeyemi told him, flexing his own arms. "It will make you big and strong."
Geoff groaned. "I would punch you, but I know I would only hurt myself."
"We're still missing some pieces." Opeyemi continued, now turning back to talk to Algernon.
"I know. We haven't get them yet." He said. "But we will soon. We're so close now."
A sudden crash made them both turn. Geoff had dropped the engine, and it had broken into chunks.
"Idiot!" Jael yelled at him from the other side of the room.
"I'm sorry, It's to heavy for me." He complained.
"You're such a wimpy little-"
Before an argument could break out, Opeyemi stepped in and intervened. This left Algernon all by himself.
Today had been a grim defeat, but it was not the end. They still had a goal to work towards, and while they had been slowed down they had not been stopped yet. He had made a promise so long ago that he would do what needed to be done. He would fix this broken world, no matter what walls stood in his way.
"No more setbacks." He whispered to himself. "No more mistakes. No more interruptions... No more heroes!"
This Author's Notes is going to be rather personal. If you're not interested in reading it or simply don't care that much go ahead and skip it, I honestly don't mind. It's mostly just going to be my rambling thoughts.
So, 2020. The year that never ends, except it just did. I was hoping to get this chapter out before new years, but sadly I wasn't able to. Hopefully posting on the first day of 2021 is good enough.
This year has been tough all around for pretty much everyone. I don't think it will do us any good to argue about who had the worst time because we all suffered to an extend. Dealing with a pandemic and lockdown is simply no fun, regardless of who you are and where you live. I hope that all of my followers and readers have been coping okay. If you haven't then you have my sympathy. I want to say that I hope 2021 will be a better year for all of us, but I feel saying that will only jinx it to be worse. I know some of you will say that jinx's or curses aren't real, but at the end of 2019 we were all saying "let's make 2020 the best year to start a new decade!" and look how that turned out!
I'm going to get into some more serious, personal stuff now, so just be warned.
I myself have not had to deal with the virus fortunately. I have not caught it, neither has anyone in my family. We've all done our best to follow the UK's rules, and so far it seems we're doing okay. That being said, this year has been a living nightmare for me, not just because of the virus but because of everything else that came with it. I don't generally use social media, but everywhere I look it seems like the world is falling apart. I'm not even being metaphorical. I swear I saw the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding the other day! (Okay, maybe that didn't happen.) The struggle I've been facing hasn't so much been a physically one as it has a psychological one. Some of you might not understand what I mean, so I'm going to try and explain.
I don't like talking about myself or my personal life in these notes, but I feel I have to just so you guys know where my mind has been this year. I've been struggling with anxiety and depression for a large part of my life now, and in the last few years I've also been dealing with suicidal thoughts. This year has only made all of that so much worse. I'm constantly paranoid about going outside, even though I live in a small suburb rather than a crowded city. This whole pandemic has made me germophobic, which I never was before. I used to be nervous about being around other people, now I'm terrified of it. I've always struggled with socializing in the first place, and this just hasn't helped with that. I'm not much of an outgoing person, but before I had the option to step out and go for a walk or visit some place for an hour or two. Now I don't have that option. Because I'm stuck inside all the time my depression has taken complete control. I switch between gorging on food and starving myself, never sleeping and lying in through the entire day. The only thoughts that pass through my mind are ones of doubt, of fear and of loneliness. I'm in a constant state of panic about my health, my work and my relationships, all of which feel like they're crashing and burning. I'm sure there are a number of you reading this that have experienced similar feelings this year. I hope that hearing about my pain brings you some kind of comfort.
I usually try and meld my emotional, physical and social struggles into my work (you can find a few examples in this very story) but because of the absolute trainwreck this year has been I've felt completely unable to write. It's not just a matter of writer's block. No matter what I put down on any document, it just feels wrong. Not a single string of words I have written this year made me feel capable as a writer. Maybe I am getting worse, or maybe it's all in my head. I honestly can't tell anymore. I feel so unmotivated to do anything because of this. Someday I don't even feel like waking up. Some days I wish I could just fall asleep forever.
But I tried to tell myself throughout this year that I should see it through to the end, that I should bare with it, that everything will get better. For a moment I almost convinced myself. But, of course, this year couldn't end without first ripping my life apart. About a week ago, just before Christmas, my grandfather passed away. Some of you might not have close relationships with your grandparents, but I've always been very close with mine. I grew up just down the road from them and I would always visit on weekends. Even as I got older and moved onto secondary school, collage and then university, I still kept in touch, calling them both regularly and visiting when I could. This year, however, I've seen very little of them in person. Because of lockdown I couldn't go and visit them, even though they live in a small secluded village in the countryside. For the whole year I wanted to visit them, feeling so separated from them, even phone calls weren't making me feel better. My family had made plans for them to visit on Christmas day, as the one time we would see each other this year. Sadly that was not to be. I'm still dealing with the grief, and it's going to take some time to handle. I may need to take some time of writing because of this, I've already told my boss that I can't work in my current state. I think the fact that upsets me most is that it wasn't even Coronavirus that took my grandfather from me. It was just an ordinary common cold that his body was too weak and frail to fight of. The experience of losing him has made me feel a wave of different emotions, from sorrow to loneliness to anger to hopelessness. I think it's going to take some time before I feel any better about it. Right now I'm just trying to make sure that my grandmother isn't lonely. Thinking that one day I will lose her too is the most unbearable feeling in the world.
I'm sorry if any of this is upsetting you. I just need to get it out. I need to explain why I haven't been writing so much this year, and why the quality of my writing is going down the shitter. I don't mean to make anyone feel bad with this. There's that saying, 'there's always someone who's going through worse'. I've always felt like that's a very cruel saying. People use it to imply that your suffering isn't important, but I disagreed. Everyone suffers differently, and its not right to pick and chose which you feel are more important. Everyone needs help and support at times. So I hope none of you reading this feel the way I do. I hope that you can get help, that you are loved and that your future will be better and brighter from now. As for myself, I am getting help. I started seeing a psychiatrist a few months ago and she's helped me come to terms with a lot of my struggles already. We still have much to work through, though, so it'll be a long battle for me. I'm also finishing up my book, Where Darkness Lies, and I'm planning to start looking for a publisher soon. Hopeful I'll be able to publish it finally this year.
I've said most of what I wanted to say already, so I'm going to leave this note with a question, like I've been doing. This one will be a little different to the other ones though.
This Chapter's Question: Are you enjoying this story?
I know it's a little unfair of me to ask this. I'm not trying to fish for complements or anything like that. I don't mind if you say no or if you don't respond at all. I'm asking this because it's a big aspect of my depression. I constantly feel like everything I do is worthless and meaningless and unimportant, that's why I try so hard to make it important to someone. That's what I want to know. Is this story important to you? Has it made you feel anything, any kind of emotion, any idea, any thought that you hadn't had before. Does it make your day better or worse when you read it. Do you eagerly wait for the next chapter or wish it would just end already? Do you like the characters or hate them? Do you find the plot interesting or obvious and dull? Do you understand what you are reading or does it all look like a bunch of deranged, schizophrenic gibberish? I want to know. I want to know what my works has done for you... so I can remind myself of why I'm still writing it, especially when I'm in my darkest place.
Thank you for reading all of this. Sorry for dumping so much personal stuff out there. Hope you're all doing well and that you stay healthy. Here's to a better year for everyone worldwide!
Cheers! *clink*
