It was mid-afternoon before the HCC let the children go home. They were exhausted and Ethan so much so that he was dangerously close to liquefying on the spot. His parents had been given a big Tupperware box 'in case of an emergency'.
Warren and Crystal walked like zombies into the house and collapsed onto the sofa while Tullia whipped up pancakes for them but by the time she'd brought them over, the two children were asleep. She smiled and drew a blanket over them as Crystal's head lolled on Warren's shoulder, just as it had that night in the hospital.
She retreated into the kitchen where she flicked on the TV while she cleared away the untouched pancakes.
'We bring you breaking news this afternoon ladies and gentlemen,' said the reporter on the screen. 'Disturbing and unimaginable as it may seem, the heroes of the world are attacking! They are causing the very damage they usually fight so hard against. The Commander and Jetstream have already taken out several television and radio transmitters while below them the city is being torn apart. It is not safe and we urge you to remain in your houses. Do not approach any hero. They may have been compro-.'
The report cut out. Tullia stood, staring in shock at the screen, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. She was jolted out of her trance by the jangling of the telephone, which she dived for, anxious not to wake Warren and Crystal.
'Hello?' she asked.
'Tullia, it's James. I'm sure you know what's going on. We're calling all uncompromised heroes back to the HCC so we can strategise an orderly retaliation. We'll need your power to aid the negotiations – tempers are already frayed as I'm sure you can appreciate.'
'But the kids…' she said.
'You'll have to bring them with you. I know they've had no sleep but I'm sure we can do something for them here.' He sounded exhausted himself but he wouldn't rest until his family was reunited.
'Ok, I'll be right there. I'll just wake the kids,' she said resignedly.
'We've sent transport. It should be pulling up any minute now.'
'Bye James,' she said and hung up.
Reluctantly she woke Warren and Crystal to explain the situation. They grabbed jackets and made their way to the waiting mini-van already filled with Ethan and his family and Layla and her mom. They picked up Dara and her family on the way back to the HCC. It was a bit of a squash but they made it.
On their arrival, the adults were ushered into a giant lecture hall while the children were escorted to a room full of the kids of the other heroes and sidekicks who were attending the meeting. They found Will already there who called them over to where he was sitting surrounded by other children.
As Warren moved towards him, the seats surrounding Will were hastily vacated by their former occupants and he slumped down in one of them while the rest of the gang sat down around him. One by one they fell asleep until once again they were rudely awaken but this time by Medulla.
'You need to come with me,' he said to them all before turning around and walking back to the lecture theatre.
Bemusedly the six children made their way to the meeting and followed Medulla down the steps and onto the stage.
'What's going on?' asked Warren.
'We have been talking for the past three hours as to how best rectify the situation and have come to the conclusion that we need to hit the heroes with a pulse or ray or beam to reverse their polarity so to speak. So we need your observations as to the nature of the weapon used.'
They looked at each other with blank expressions on their faces.
'Come on! Was it a ray or a beam or a pulse? Did you notice anything about its nature? Anything about the gun?' he asked with a hint of infuriation.
'I think he may have used a beam for the higher concentration of particles able to be contained within it,' said Dara, surprising everyone. She rarely showed it but Dara was actually quite smart.
'Yeah,' said Ethan before a look of realisation passed over his face and he began frantically exploring the many pockets of his jacket. Pens, scraps of paper, gum wrappers and bits of plastic and wire were thrown across the stage as the hall filled with the whisperings of the assembles heroes.
'What are you doing?' asked Layla.
'I thought I'd…No, wait…Here it is!' he finally came out with producing a small black gun from his pocket and waving it about in the air.
The crowd gave a collective gasp and Will forcibly lowered his friend's arm. Smart as he may be, Ethan didn't really have a great deal of common sense sometimes.
'What is that?' asked Medulla.
'It's a gun from one of Barron Battle's men. He was in the pile of bodies and I liquefied it out of his holster. Maybe it's what Barron was using on the heroes.'
Medulla looked as though he could have kissed Ethan and the veins in his giant head started pulsing furiously as millions of thoughts fired around his giant cranium.
'And what were you planning on doing with it? Why were you keeping this from me? Did you just forget that you had it?' he exploded. 'Actually, that doesn't matter. I have work to do. Ethan you may have just saved all our asses…behinds…lives, whatever!' he cried and ran up the stairs presumably to some lab in the building.
'Right,' said James, making his presence felt on the stage for the first time since the children had arrived. 'Now that you've managed to save us again, I think we can take a break. There will be refreshments served in the dining hall for everyone. We won't be meeting again until Mr. Medulla has come up with a solution so feel free to make yourselves comfortable but you are asked to remain in the building.'
Everyone gladly made their way towards the food having realised the last time they ate was lunch yesterday and seeing as it was 7pm now they were actually starving. Having piled their plates high, the six of them sat in the corner eating for all their worth, except Will who pushed his food around the plate.
'Come on, Will. You have to eat something,' implored Layla. 'I know you're worried but you haven't eaten in hours and you could get sick. You've never used your powers so much before, your body must be exhausted.'
He was about to snap back at her but Warren cuffed him on the shoulder. 'Play nice and do what the lady says,' he growled.
Will shot him a resentful look but began eating much to the relief of everyone in the group. They hadn't wanted another fight to start.
'So,' said Crystal in an attempt to lighten the mood, 'that'll be twice Ethan has saved us all then, and in the same day. I bet there aren't many superheroes who can say they've done that. Oooo maybe there will be Ethan Davies day!'
'And we all dress like Ethan! And have to be really smart!' cried out Dara.
And so the tension was broken as everyone started discussing what Ethan day would be like and for a moment they all forgot why they were in the HCC. It was almost as though they were facing anything other than the destruction of their city. But like all good things it was soon over as they were all brought back to reality with a jolt.
Someone had been flicking through the channels on the TV on the other side of the room when suddenly the Commander's booming voice echoed through the speakers. At once Will's head snapped up and he practically ran to the set, pushing other people out of the way. Everyone in the room stared in disbelief at what they were being shown.
The Commander's face filled the screen but this was not the face they all knew and loved. The eyes were hard, the lines in his face were set and Layla barely recognised him as the man with whom she had had breakfast with on numerous occasions while waiting for Will to appear.
'We have taken over the city. The earth and sky are under our control and all television and radio stations' transmitters have been destroyed. Lines of communication are down and we are currently disabling the satellites. However if you hand over the fine men in your prisons we will spare your lives and instead let you experience the liberating feeling of pure evil. You have one hour to free these men or you will face the consequences.'
The screen went blank and was replaced with a timer counting down.