Chapter Sixteen

Ravager struggled. Writhing to and fro, the parahuman's attempts went nowhere. It certainly didn't help that she was on the floor, while I stared at her from my chair.

When she realized the futility of her struggle, the woman turned her gaze back to me, rictus fury marring her face.

I exhaled through my nose, lips turning to form a grin. "You done?"

In a last effort of defiance, Ravager spit at me. Her saliva didn't even reach my shoes.

"I'll be honest. I don't have much reason for keeping you around at this point. It wasn't hard to connect the dots for why you travelled to New York and you would've died if not for my intervention. But I'm feeling merciful today, so I'll give you an opportunity to show your worth." As I leaned forward, the wooden chair creaked under my weight.

Contrary to what I expected, the parahuman remained silent. The rage still burned in her eyes, but no sound left her mouth. I waited a couple minutes for anything, but instead I received nothing.

"Cat got your tongue?" Cherie shifted behind me, putting more pressure on my shoulders. I had completely forgotten she was there.

The words, however, seemed to do the trick, as Ravager's killer glare shifted to my partner. "Shut up you fucking bitch! No cat has my tongue- I am not a fucking cat! Don't you dare compare me to some weak ass animal. The only animal here is all of you when I get out of here. I'll slowly cut you up until you're nothing but a smoldering mess and you won't-"

"Yeah yeah. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but such hostility over a simple figure of speech is uncalled for." I brushed off Ravager's tangent, waving away her threats. "Seeing as you're still so hung up over Mouse Protector, I guess I'll have to do something about that."

Raising from my seat, I pretended not to notice Cherie leaving the room. I couldn't really think of any way to get Ravager to be less aggressive, so I decided to go with a more traditional form of torture.

Stepping to the prone parahuman, I placed my foot on her sternum.

Her forehead creased as her brows lowered. The woman's breath hitched as I applied more pressure. "Do your worst."

A soundless chuckle left my lips. "No, I don't think I will."

The floor opened up below us and Ravager fell into the room below. Said room was not actually a part of the building, but of its own space. It was pale white with blindingly bright lights. The walls were featureless. The floor was featureless. And the ceiling would be without features soon enough.

"Time works differently in there, so don't worry about starving. I'll let you out when you're more cooperative. I have better things to do."

Then the hole closed.

I dusted my hands off and proceeded to leave the room to meet the others. The living room was pretty silent, even with the remaining Travelers all together.

Clearing my throat, I grabbed the attention of the room's occupants. "So, how's the planning coming along?"

Noelle, whose mirror was set up on the couch, spoke up first. "It's fine. I think we were just finishing. Right guys?"

There were mutters of agreement around the room as the remaining Travelers did their best to avoid eye contact. A bit confusing, but I was confident in my power, so I wasn't worried.

"Anyway, I'll share what we came up with." Noelle continued, "Based on what Jess found, we know that Oliver and Cody were last seen at the evac shelter close to Central Park. But with the Butcher… out of the picture, things are calming down. And with things calming down, there's a greater chance that officials find out they have no legal documentation."

The monstrous parahuman took a breath. "Not guaranteed, but enough that we have to plan for the possibility. So Krouse and Luke are going to scout out the shelter, while Mars and Jess keep watch over the nearby police station. Best case scenario: Oliver and Cody are let go. Worst case: we'll need to plan a rescue."

The faint sound of collective breathing was left when Noelle finished speaking. I thought over the information before letting it settle. "Cool plan. Hope it goes well, I guess."

"Er. Thanks." Noelle glanced between myself and her friends. After a beat, the rest of the Travelers got to work assembling their gear and outfits.

With that, I was left with nothing to do, so I pulled up a game on my phone.

— — —

Once the group was prepared, they left out the back door, leaving behind Noelle, Cherie, and myself. There were two couches in the living space, so I sat down on the one without Noelle's mirror. Cherie followed suit, scooting uncomfortably close to me.

I ignored her in favor of daydreaming.

This was kind of a hectic week. Maybe I should take a break. Not like the S9 is going to get itself destroyed anytime soon.

My head rested against the sofa cushion. Yeah. There isn't any hurry. Not like anything important is happening in the near future.

"Are you two a thing?"

Blinking, I stared at Noelle, who I assumed asked the sudden question. The girl seemed… not uncomfortable. I couldn't quite parse her expression.

Cherie, who was closer than I remembered, opened her mouth to say something. But she was not fast enough, as the word left my lips before I even registered the question.

"No."

Emotion shifting to something recognizable, the parahuman's jaw dropped. "No?"

Before I could clarify, Cherie began nudging me with her elbow. "Come on Morgan, we've known each other since, like, forever!"

"Concerning. Last I checked, we've known each other for less than a week." Shifting to the side, I tried to put some space between us.

Cherie followed up by covering the distance. "Oh, that's just semantics. We've done so much together. Like meeting at that restaurant, facing off the Teeth, going on a road trip, shopping at Seams, and so much else."

"Like when we went to Poughkeepsie and-"

"And so much else!"

Cherie stopped, putting on a brave face. I wanted to move further to the left, but I was already at the armrest. Noelle was just as silent as the rest of us, watching with a mix of concern and trepidation.

"Is there a reason why you're so... against? Yeah, against a relationship," the girl behind the mirror asked.

Scratching my head, I gathered the idea best I could. "Because, well. What would be the point?"

"I don't know, fulfilment? Someone you can trust to have your back?" Noelle adamantly countered my question to a question.

"But why? Last I checked, I don't need 'fulfilment' or 'trust' or anything along those lines. And I'm not getting it here, that's for sure."

"Of course you need it! Proper relationships are necessary to be a healthy and stable individual..." As Noelle uttered the last portion of her statement, she understood how meaningless her words were. "Ah. I guess I'm not really one to talk, huh."

My phone buzzed.

Cherie jerked in her seat, as she was close enough to feel the vibrations. Pushing her away, I reached into my pocket to pull out the device. I received an email from… probably Emma, all things considered. She was the only person with it, so it couldn't be anyone else.

Unlocking the device, I was brought to the email service. The message looked interesting to say the least.

Im Sorry
Ebarnes96
to me

sorry im realy sorry i didnt know htyed take the mirror i thought itd be fine to tell btu i dont know what happened it was the prt i think but it wasnt my fault i dont know why it happpned

sorry

...

Excuse me?