Fictober Prompt 24: "Is this supposed to impress me?"

Protection Services

As if the mission could go any farther south, it rained. Heavy droplets beat down on Mikhail. They soaked through his coat and his uniform, chilling him to the bone. He shivered, clenching his teeth. He squinted through the rain that shifted in the rapid winds, and he charged ahead, his boots hitting the grass and propelling him forward.

He should have expected the rain. His target, Xavier Symanski, was talented in hydrokinesis. When he could have used his powers to bring water to areas suffering from a drought, he had been accused of drowning his wife and her attorney over a bitter custody battle. He was wanted on those charges along with kidnapping his three daughters.

Mikhail and Phoebe had been assigned the mission to apprehend Xavier, and their plan was simple. Phoebe's pyrokinesis was useless against Xavier, and they decided she was better suited to rescuing the children. As soon as Xavier left his homely cabin in the woods to go into town, Phoebe had slipped in through a window and retrieved the young girls while Mikhail pursued Xavier.

But while Phoebe's portion of the mission had gone smoothly, Mikhail had been spotted almost instantly. Mikhail wasn't sure how or why he had been recognized. He had no time to ponder that when Xavier suddenly crashed his car into the woods. Mikhail had thought the man killed himself and attempted to pry open the door when Xavier had escaped through the passenger side window. Mikhail had started gaining on him through their mad dash in the woods, and that's when Xavier summoned the storm.

You'll never get me! You'll never get my girls! Never! Xavier's voice bled through Mikhail's head. Each frenetic thought filtered through Xaiver's poor mental defenses like air through a vent. Mikhail read him like a book, following his every move, listening to his every thought.

But then, he saw something that revolted him. His stomach flipped. Every muscle in his body tensed, his legs almost stopping altogether. Growling to himself, Mikhail ran faster.

Xavier jumped over tree roots and stumbled across wet patches of grass. Mikhail followed his rhythm. He knew where to leap and where to stick his landing. He could have easily levitated, but the challenge was in the hunt. He already had the advantage as he focused on Xavier's thoughts. Even when the rain pelted on him and forced him to blink the water out of his eyes, Mikhail took control and sprung his trap.

He swiped his arm to the left. Instantly, Xavier crashed into a tall birch tree. He writhed, pinned in place as Mikhail slowed to a stop. His burnt orange telekinetic hand gripped Xavier with enough force to make him cry out, but Mikhail refused to loosen it. With Xavier's concentration broken, the downpour became nothing more than a gentle drizzle that trickled onto them.

"Wait!" Xavier shouted as Mikhail carried him in the air. Mikhail gazed up at him. "Please, don't. Don't do this. I did this for my daughters. They need me."

"Is that so?" Mikhail evenly remarked. "Killed your wife and her attorney in the family bathtub." He narrowed his eyes. "In front of those girls you say need you."

"I - I had no choice! The girls wouldn't leave! And that shrew and her attorney tried taking them from me the moment my parenting time ended!"

Xavier's excuses rang hollow. He continued to beg, spittle flying free from his lips. Despite the anger brewing in his stomach, Mikhail ignored the temptation to smash him against the tree. It would go against his objective; the Psychonauts wanted him alive, after all.

His struggle resumed. The pace of rain quickened and slowed, varying as he squirmed. A vein bulged in his brow just as thunder rumbled overhead. The clouds fluctuated, some wispy, others thick. The rain speared down behind Mikhail while another patch came in like snowflakes.

"Is this supposed to impress me? Do not bother," Mikhail scoffed, curling in his fingers. Xavier yowled, tossing his head back, but it wasn't enough pressure to break his bones.

"They're my daughters! Mine! I'm their father! They should've just done what I said, and they'd be fine!" Xavier roared, and Mikhail breathed in deeply through his nose.

He had enough. He formed a fist and punched forward. Xavier immediately collided with a tree, grunting in pain. His eyes rolled in his head only to snap back to reality as Mikhail raised his fist high in the air, letting the branches press against Xavier's skull.

"You know, Mikhail can deal with many types of people. Crude ones. Nasty ones. Suck-ups." He rolled his wrist, his knuckles and Xavier now facing the ground. "But I cannot stand those who harm innocents."

Mikhail's fist shot for the ground. He jabbed it deep through the wet soil, the slick mud and grass staining his glove up to his wrist. Xavier crashed head-first, his body going slack on contact with the earth. Mikhail wrenched his hand from the ground. He released Xavier, shoving the unconscious man on his back. Xavier uttered a hiss of a groan, and Mikhail silently hoisted him underneath his arm, the rain ceasing all at once.

He looked at the sky through trees. Completely out of place was a rainbow highlighted by the sunlight. Instead of using his powers to bring beauty into the world, Xavier had committed such cruel acts of violence upon his family, terrorizing his daughters to keep them silent about the murder in the wake of their kidnapping, all of which Mikhail saw when he read Xavier's mind.

It was incomprehensible to him. Harming one's family under any circumstance sickened him. He was fortunate to have loving parents, and he reminded himself that the girls were in the care of a professional. Phoebe was one of the top therapists in the Psychonauts. She'd help them, even if Mikhail knew they never should have been subjected to such horrors at their young age.

Footsteps squelched on the mud. A warm presence approached Mikhail from behind him. He lowered his tense shoulders, dragging Xavier into the air. He faced Phoebe, who gazed at him with worry etched in her pretty features. Her eyes were wide, and her lips slightly parted. The rain had matted her curly hair, her ponytail sticking to her neck.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a voice that came out no higher than a whisper. She glanced between him and Xavier, waiting for his response.

"Is obvious?" he casually replied, and the corner of his mouth raised.

"Your stress is ebbing off of you. I could feel you all the way from the car wreck," Phoebe said, a small smile tugging at her lips. "It's how I tracked you down."

Mikhail chuckled. He watched Phoebe reach into her pocket, retrieving a cloth headband. She tied it around Xavier's forehead. The PSI lock glowed a faint yellow from the psilirium shards sewn into it. It made Mikhail wish the Psychonauts hadn't banned the usage of the thicker helmets like the one Loboto placed on him as a child. He felt a little squeezing pain around the man's brain was acceptable.

"Disgusts me what he did to those kids," he murmured as she tightened the knot.

Pulling away from Xavier, Phoebe took Mikhail's dirtied hand. Although the soil clung to her palm, she squeezed it and said, "I do, too, he can't hurt them ever again. Those girls are going to live a better life now." She gave it a second squeeze, which he returned. "We saved them."

Her words always soothed him like a special kind of music. She was right, of course. They had done what they needed to do to protect those little girls. Their father would never harm them again, the notion reassuring to Mikhail as those memories he had seen played in his head.

"We can talk about what happened after we deposit this guy at the GPC," Phoebe offered, reaching up and cupping his cheek. She smoothed back a stray lock of wet hair with her pinky finger. "Was it bad?"

He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized was held. "Yes. Terribly so," he muttered, then looked around. "Where are little ones?"

"I put them with relatives on their mom's side for now. The local authorities are questioning them over what happened." Phoebe frowned. "They were tight-lipped. Frightened. They thought their dad was going to ambush me. She paused, glancing at Xavier. "Wait. Did they-?"

Mikhail pursed his lips. That was all he needed to convey for Phoebe to close her eyes. The girls had sobbed by the bathtub, frantically trying to free their mother all while their father roared for them to stop, to listen to how much he loved them. Their fragile voices replayed in his mind like a record with a scratch.

Phoebe embraced him, cutting off the memory. She stroked his back, his warmth pressing against him. Mikhail wreathed his free arm around him, shooting a glare at Xavier, before fully committing to Phoebe. Closing his eyes, Mikhail sighed into her hair, knowing she was right. They had saved the children, Xavier would be punished for his crimes, and she was with him. That was all Mikhail needed to hear.