EXPLOSIVE BREAKDOWN
The villain Levi was after went by the moniker of Bombastic. It was sickeningly appropriate for a Super that could cause anything to explode with a mere snap of his fingers. Worse was the fact that he could set a delay on the explosions, sometimes up to several minutes after he 'set' them. He had started off as a child with small things, like cans of soda or school books. But had eventually graduated to vandalism, cars and eventually abandoned buildings.
He had recently begun blowing up occupied buildings; usually businesses and small factories. Levi had learned from Kenny that the man had started life as Tobias Mercer. He'd been the eldest of three children and his parents had divorced when he was twelve. His father disappeared from his life, and his mother, busy with the younger siblings, paid little if any attention to him. His grades had fallen in school and he'd dropped out at fourteen. He ran away from home the same year and was now blowing up everything in sight and getting plenty of attention.
"Typical sob story," Levi grumbled. "But that's no excuse. He chose his own path, and now he's gonna have to pay for it. Three people died in that last explosion."
"Five," Kenny corrected. "One of the firefighters was killed trying to save them. And last night, Bombastic killed a Superhero named Ices."
"Not sure how to approach someone who can make anything explode from nothing. Most defenses are useless against something like that," Levi mused, more to himself that to Kenny.
"Don't know what to tell you, boy. Don't suppose you could get Faerie to fry his brain like she did with Argos?"
"Too risky. Doubt she'd get close enough before he blew her to bits. I thought about multiple people attacking him at once, but we'd still lose someone, and he can take out multiple targets at once. Damnit!"
"Maybe you oughta talk to that Codex fella you've told me about. Sounds like a pretty bright person to me," Kenny suggested.
Levi groaned. "I was really hoping to avoid having to work with the Scouts again on this . . . but as long as lives are at stake, I have no choice."
"Meh. They're probably working on the same problem anyway," Kenny added.
"It is a real conundrum," Codex agreed as they puzzled over the situation. "Even The Commander hasn't been able to come up with a plan; and he has a plan for everything!
"Obviously he doesn't have a plan for 'everything' then, does he?" Levi argued.
"Pfft! Technicality." They thought for several minutes, their brow furrowed in concentration. "You know. I've seen you use some low-level telekinesis as well as some magic . . . like that fire thing you do. Could you create a barrier of sorts to block his ability?"
"It'll take too long to learn to do that. Good idea for future reference, though." Then, as an afterthought, Levi added. "If you tell anyone I said that, I'll call you a liar."
Codex giggled. "Oh, I know you will." Then they gave an inhaled gasp. "I've got it!"
"Do tell."
"An explosion is essentially the rapid expansion of atoms away from each other. So, what would become dangerous as it expanded?"
"Everything is dangerous when it explodes," Levi deadpanned.
"I know, I know. I mean, what would hurt Bombastic if he blew it up?"
"Tear gas, mustard gas, halothane, neothyl, penthrane, fentanyl," Levi replied.
"Oooooo! Knockout gases! I'll try to get a hold of some fentanyl. It's kinda not entirely legal, but it's the most effective. The Commander should know how to get it."
"Don't worry about it," Levi told them. "I know someone who can get their hands on the stuff."
Levi's irritation just three nights later as he hunted for Bombastic was even more intense than usual. It had taken that long for Kenny to secure a large enough amount of Fentanyl for Levi to use. He left it encased in the capsule it had been delivered in. The idea was to throw the capsule at Bombastic, and when the Villain blew it up, he'd be shrouded in the gas and pass out.
His irritation mounted when he saw that the Scouts had found Bombastic before he did. The villain was standing on a rooftop, engaged in conversation with The Commander. Levi landed a short distance away, hidden in the shadows, listening to the conversation and hoping, but not really believing, that Erwin would be able to talk Bombastic into giving up. From his position, behind Erwin's position, he could look into Bombastic's eyes.
"Don't make me laugh, Blondie! You couldn't possibly know what it's like to be hated by everyone who meets you! My pa hated me so much he left the family and disappeared. Ma hated me, but she loved my younger brother and sister. My brother and sister hated me because Ma hated me. My teachers hated me for no reason at all! So, you know what? I hate everyone back. I give what I get!" Bombastic shouted. "They hate me and hurt me, so I hate them and hurt them. People like them don't deserve to live! The only way to get rid of hate is to get rid of everyone!"
Gods, this guy is completely insane! The madness shows in his eyes. No remorse and no regard for human life. Erwin isn't gonna be talking this lunatic in. As the villain raised his hand to snap his fingers, presumably to blow up The Commander, Levi stepped from the shadows. "Oh, boo-hoo. Your daddy left you and your mommy didn't give you enough attention, so you decided to get mad and take it out on the world instead of doing something to prove yourself a better person. You chose to be hateful and vindictive instead of kind and forgiving. Well, guess what? Other people have problems far worse than yours. Sorry, shit stain, but I can't bring myself to feel sorry for someone as pathetic as you."
A look of pure hate was on Bombastic's face as he snarled in blind fury at the small Super. "How dare you?" he growled menacingly.
"How dare I?" Levi repeated blandly. "My father got my mother killed and hated me so much that he tried to kill me when I tried saving his life. How's that for a tragic back-story? But you know what? I don't go around killing innocent people for no reason at all. You don't see me going around destroying what good people have worked so hard to build. I don't judge all people based on the actions of my father. Yeah, Dad was a piece of shit, but I won't let what he did to me dictate how I live my life. I won't let his actions ruin my life. I won't let him win. That is how I dare to judge you. I went through things worse than you, yet I chose not to let hate rule my life. You chose to let hate consume you. You chose to suffer. You're choice. Now you can deal with the consequences."
Bombastic let out an enraged cry and snapped his fingers. Levi couldn't explain what he did next, or even why he did it. As the villain began to snap his fingers, Levi's silver eyes glowed brightly, and he extended his right hand, palm out and an ornate, dark-blue circle formed in front of him. The energy of Bombastic's attack was visibly absorbed by the circle. What was that? Did I do that? How? How did I even know how to?
Wait . . . his attack was deflected . . . so he's not just blowing things up out of nothing. He's transferring his energy into his target to cause it to explode. It doesn't matter. I need to get him to blow up this capsule, so he'll pass out, so I can kill him without getting blown up myself. He jumped into the air and used his Thunder Shock. Bombastic countered with an explosion, the shockwaves essentially cancelling each other out. Good. He'll counter any attack with an explosion.
The Commander, having been alerted three days ago by Codex that Levi intended to use knock-out gas to take down Bombastic, had retreated to a safe distance. Levi, still airborne, threw the canister of fentanyl at the insane villain. As expected it exploded, and the released gas surrounded Bombastic. "Don't kill him!" The Commander shouted.
Levi ignored the man and, holding his breath, swooped in and sliced the nape of Bombastic's neck, severing the spinal cord. Once out of range of the gas, he inhaled a deep breath. He hovered for a moment, looking back at the scene. His heart clenched as he saw Erwin looking up at him as if asking, 'why?' The large blond flew up to him. Levi was just turning to fly away when all of the windows of the building across the road from where Bombastic now lay dead exploded outward in flames.
For a split second, Levi froze in horror, knowing that the building was a fully occupied apartment complex. He reflexively started towards the burning building to rescue survivors. He let out a surprised yelp when a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, stopping him. "LET GO OF ME!" he demanded.
"It's too late, Levi. There's nothing we can do." Erwin told him gently.
"GODDAMIT! LET ME GO!" Levi struggled against the hold, but he was no match for Erwin's brute strength.
"No one could have survived that. You'll only get yourself killed if you try to go in there."
The fight suddenly went out of him. "Let me go," he said weakly.
"Levi . . ." Erwin's hold shifted slightly, and Levi took the opportunity. He thrust his wings out, breaking The Commander's hold on him, and flew away, but not towards the burning building.
He continued to fly, at top speed, until he reached an abandoned bridge outside of the city. He landed in the middle and fell to his knees, his body trembling violently and tears running silently down his face. All of those people! All of those poor people! Men, women, children, old, young . . . how could he? If only I'd gotten there sooner . . . before he set the explosions. If only I'd talked to Codex sooner and thought of the gas. All those innocent lives! He doubled over, arms wrapped around himself. He took in a long, deep breath, then released a long, primal scream echoing into the night. Once wasn't enough, so he unleashed the heart-rending cry a second time before he started heaving. His empty stomach revolted against him, turning in violent knots as it ejected the nothingness from within.
Erwin had arrived just in time to hear him scream and then try to vomit. He said nothing as he landed beside the smaller Super and began to gently rub his back. "That wasn't your fault, you know," Erwin eventually told him.
Levi remained on his knees, eyes downcast and trying to catch his breath. "I know. Really, I do. I just . . . Logically, I know it's not my fault all those people . . . died . . . but a part of me still blames myself anyways. It keeps saying, 'what if' and 'if only'."
"You don't seem to deal with death very well, do you?" Erwin asked. "And yet you can kill villains so easily . . . or rather, it looks that way. This is third time I've seen you try to vomit up your stomach after killing someone." Levi closed his eyes in shame as The Commander knelt beside him and continued gently. "Usually this only happens the first one or two times one human kills another, but this happens every time to you. So why do you do this? Why do this to yourself?"
He kept his eyes closed, refusing to look Erwin in the eye. "You know why."
"Yes. I do. But it's a terrible burden to carry."
"I suppose you wanted to 'talk' to that sicko," Levi assumed.
"No. I just don't like seeing what killing does to you."
Levi's eye snapped open and took a sharp intake of breath in surprise. There was confusion written all over his face as he finally looked at the other man. "Why?"
"Why?" Erwin echoed. "Why does one human being need a reason to care about another?"
He looked away again, his heart still breaking, and rapidly losing the ability to keep holding himself together. He closed his eyes tight, trying to maintain his crumbling protective walls. His trembling became worse. A choked sob escaped his throat, despite his best efforts to the contrary. Once that one sob escaped, more followed, and there was just no stopping the flood now. He doubled over again, sobbing uncontrollably while Erwin just knelt quietly beside him, rubbing his back and shoulders.
Levi hated that The Commander was witness to his breakdown. He hated showing his weakness to anyone. At the same time, he was grateful to have someone offering comfort without lying and telling him that everything was okay. Just having an understanding someone present was comfort enough.
When he finally ran out of tears, his stomach still in knots and now his head throbbing, he stood on shaky legs and prepared to fly away. Before he took flight, though never looking back at The Commander, he said quietly, "Thank you."
