CHAPTER 10: A MATTER OF FAITH, PART 3
A dark night on the town can mean many things to different people. For the most part, the idea of being alone down the streets of a big city brings feelings of anxiety and fear; believing that one could fall victim to attack or assault from an unsavory fellow lurking in the shadows.
Once, Hillwood was the defining town where such violence occurred; infamously known for its high crime rates which outdid cities like Los Angeles and Detroit. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Hillwood Heroes, the streets have become much safer to walk down, leaving one or maybe two individuals to enjoy a peaceful walk down the cool, starry night of Hillwood.
Though many seek to enjoy this sort of serenity in solitude, there are those who would share it with someone close and important to them for a romantic moment to experience together. In this case, the two who share this moment are Gerald Johnanssen and Phoebe Heyerdahl; the 'ideal couple' within their group of friends. Here, the two share a nice walk together on the town to enjoy a moment together, hoping they would find a peaceful moment before their nightly patrol as G-Funk and Lady Tetsu.
While all are more than aware of the special and deep romance shared with Arnold and Helga, their history does not compare to that of Gerald and Phoebe. Since the two were but 9, they had always developed a romance between each other, and the origins of their love may have even found their roots before that.
However, though their relationship has had much more time to evolve than the one between Arnold and Helga, its evolution is coming to something of a crossroads. As both parties just begin to enter their adult years. With high school done and gone, careers laid just around the corner for the two to pursue, but there still lays other concerns on their minds before reaching that part of their lives.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm, sure is a nice night, huh, Pheebs?" Gerald asked.
"Yeah, it is." Phoebe said.
"Hard to believe that a little over a year ago, we were afraid to walk down these streets. Now, we're the reason that these streets are safe again. Nice to reflect on your hard work sometimes, right?"
"Yup."
Where the two were usually very talkative during a walk such as this, Gerald took notice of Phoebe's new quiet nature; barely responding to his questions. Prodding further into the thoughts of his lover, Gerald sought out more clearer answers to his questions, but this time asking questions regarding her mood and feelings.
"You alright, Pheebs?" Gerald asked.
"I'm fine." Phoebe said.
"You don't sound that fine."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, you and I usually have some better conversations rather than me just getting a 'yeah' or a 'yup to my questions. Something on your mind?"
Phoebe did not answer his question; only remaining silent in response, or lack thereof. Despite his significant other not giving any replies to his questions, giving a sense that she had no interest in speaking, adding to this gesture by turning away from him. Not accepting her rejections of the conversation, Gerald put his hand on her shoulder, holding her closely to bring some assurance over her.
"C'mon, girl, I'm your boyfriend, you can talk to me. What, is it about that whole marriage thing again? I told you, I'm cool with it as long as you are. I just want you to be sure it's what you want. Just think it over, okay?" Gerald asked.
"It's not that, Gerald. At least... not exactly." Phoebe asked.
"Then what is it?"
"Would... Would you... Would you go looking for someone else if I left?"
"Huh? Pheebs, where's this coming from?"
"I... You know that we have college around the corner for us, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, of course, I definitely want to go, but, every time I've brought the idea up to you to come with me, you've been a little reluctant to talk about it."
"Yeah, but let's be real: I was never the best student. I got, what, mostly Bs and Cs? I'm not college material like you. Bein' G-Funk and kickin' bad guy butts? That's more my speed."
"But, if I left for college, would you come with me?"
Not having an easy answer to default to, Gerald turned silent in an instant, not sure what to say.
"See? You always get reluctant about the whole topic." Phoebe said.
"Sorry, I- Look, what do you want? I love you and I'd do anything with you, but think for a minute about more than just us. We got a whole city to take care of now, and a whole team of super-dudes to fight with. Plus, we got buddies here at home like Arnold and Helga. This is our home." Gerald said.
"I know that, but... But you don't think we're more important? And our future?"
"I don't know. I've always been a live-in-the-moment kind of guy, you know that. Like I said, this is our home, and we've got friends and family here. I'm not ready to give that all up just yet. Are you?"
"No, but I'm not talking about leaving tomorrow or something like that. But I'm talking about a future between us. We can't do this forever, you know."
"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't mean that I want to quit right away."
"Gerald, I told you, I'm not saying that."
"I don't know what you are saying, Pheebs. Wasn't your initial question 'Would you go looking for someone else if I left'? What's that about?"
"What I meant was... If I left and you didn't come with me, would you go chasing around some other girl?"
"Hell, no, Pheobe, what kind of a question is that?"
"Well, I know you and I were a thing, but I did hear a lot about a few flings you had as a kid, like when you eyeballed that Green Eye girl back in San Lorenzo. I know you and I were just young then, so it might not mean much now, but..."
"Phoebe, look. That was the past, okay? I admit I was a bit of a player back then, but I don't want anybody else now. You're my girl."
"Then would you come with me if I went to college?"
"I don't know, Pheebs. We'll have to talk about that later."
"And what's wrong with right now? We've got plenty of ground to cover before we head to Buckley's. The sooner we talk, the better I can plan. I wanted mainly to head to a more science-oriented school, but, if you're coming, then I'd have to settle for a university where you and I can still be together."
"C'mon, Phoebe, can we just do this another time? All I really want to do is just enjoy a nice walk with my beautiful lady."
"Of course, Gerald. That's all you want to do. That's all you've ever wanted to do, just always 'live in the moment' with no regard for the future. Well, some of us do care about the future, and about the futures of the people they love. The least you could do is at least try to take it seriously for one moment. Sometimes I think you don't even care at all about what happens in our lives."
"Hey, Phoebe, I absolutely care about the future, but the future doesn't mean much if you don't have an enjoyable present. You and I are supposed to be having a nice walk now, so how about we just enjoy it now and worry about this thing later at home?"
"That's just like you, Gerald. Always put it aside until later until it's too late. Fine, you want to enjoy your walk? Go ahead. I'll shut up."
No longer voicing her concerns about the future, Phoebe instead walked on past Gerald and sought to walk away on her own.
"Hey, wait, Phoebe. Phoebe!" Gerald called.
Wishing to have some time to herself and clear her mind, Phoebe ignored Gerald's calls, continuing her pace just ahead of him while letting him follow behind. Not able to reach his significant other, Gerald gave out an annoyed sigh, disappointed in his own actions that led Phoebe to remain silent to him. The walk that he once sought to enjoy with the company of his woman was now left to be finished in silence; the air growing cold and hollow without her sweet voice in his ears.
Pushing the unpleasantness aside, Gerald continued on his walk.
Dreams have never been fully understood by human science, nor might they ever be. With their minds going to rest and conjuring up all sorts of bizarre imagery and eliciting many emotions, there are those who try to analyze their dreams and find meaning to the images they are fed. Some try to use their dreams as a way of understanding themselves, others believe them to be messages from their deities, and some simply believing them to be random and without meaning.
Willie the Jolly Olly man has had many dreams similar to one another, but he does not care what these images mean; for he already knows. All that he hopes for within these dreams is that they leave him for good, and their departure might finally grant him a good night's sleep.
Sleeping on his dirty carpet floor, somehow falling asleep under the carpet's coarse feel and horrid stench, Willie is indulged within another of these strange dreams. He might be in an unconscious sleep now, but his tosses and turns, the numerous churns that he makes in his humble covering of a torn blanket, no one would even believe that his state qualified as sleep.
Just as his body does not have any peace in the physical realm, the psychic realm of his mind leaves him without peace as well.
Inside the dreams of the Jolly Olly man, the images that come to his mind are not too outside of the ordinary of the real world. Here, he continues on a shift of working in his ice cream truck, selling various frozen treats to the youth of Hillwood. Making his stop in an area densely populated with children, Willie makes his stop to take orders from his young customers.
With his stop into the neighborhood, Willie set the truck to its parking position, heading to the service counter to make a sale. Just as he stepped to the window to the truck, there stood one young girl at the ready with a dollar bill, ready to make her purchase.
"One strawberry, please." The girl said.
After an annoyed look at the girl, Willie took the dollar, silently heading to the back to retrieve a scoop of strawberry ice cream for her. Taking a waffle cone from a box and scooping out a serving of strawberry ice cream, Willie returned to the window with the strawberry ice cream, handing it to the girl.
As the girl left with her ice cream, seeking a place alone to enjoy it, Willie propped himself on the edge of the window, resting his head up with his arms. Waiting for another customer to come any moment, Willie closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment's rest, savoring the peace he can get before another customer comes.
"One strawberry, please." A girl said.
Opening his eyes to the sound of the voice, Willie looked to see another customer arrive at the window, but this customer was not quite as different as he was hoping for. The same girl who had ordered the same ice cream not moments ago returned to the window with another dollar in her hand, making the same order yet again.
"What-? I just gave you the ice cream, kid." Willie said.
"One strawberry, please." The girl repeated.
The sudden re-arrival of the girl made Willie start to question the strange and quick reappearance of this customer, but the desire for her to leave and the dollar being offered towards him made him abandon such thoughts in an instant and a shrug. Within that same instant, Willie returned to the back yet again, returning once again with a strawberry ice cream cone. Handing off the treat to the girl and watching her leave, Willie once again took a resting position.
However, his rest does not last long.
"One strawberry, please." A girl said.
"I'd like a chocolate." A boy said.
Opening his eyes to the same voice yet again, Willie found not only this same girl reappearing, but also a boy alongside her, also requesting an ice cream of his own. While the third appearance of the girl made him confused yet again, the new customer of the boy served only to add to the larger conflicting emotion: His hatred of children.
Not wanting to have the youths around any longer than he wanted them, Willie took both payments of the children and returned to the back, collecting the ice cream cones for each child. Returning to the window yet again, Willie handed the cones to each child, allowing them both to enjoy their treats.
As the children departed with their treats, Willie still lingered on his confusion regarding the girl's three appearances, but his reassurances that the strange event was over allowed him to forget those troubles. Happy at last to see the children gone from his sight, Willie took in a deep breath and let it out again, closing his eyes as he did so.
Upon opening them, however, he was met with more customers.
"One strawberry, please." A girl said.
"I'd like a chocolate." A boy said.
"I want mint." Another boy said.
This time, not only had the girl and the boy returned, but also another boy had joined the two. The relief that he felt by the children leaving him at last soon and again came to a screeching halt; his anger and annoyance added with the arrival of this new child. While dealing with his own frustrations in dealing with children, the new reappearances of these children left him more confused; feeling strange and scared.
Wanting to just make the children go away once again, Willie headed once again to the back, collecting the ice cream cones of the children, not even bothering to collect their payments this time. Such an offense would never be forgiven by his boss, but he cares more about ending this strange encounter than he does the threats of his father.
Handing off the ice creams for free, Willie once again sent the children on their way, allowing them to enjoy their ice creams in peace and leave him to find some peace of his own. This new and strange encounter might not grant him even the minimal amout of serenity that he gets throughout his day, but the heavy breaths and the sweat he wipes off his brow do help, at least, so he hopes.
"One strawberry, please." A girl said.
Turning to the familiar voice yet again, Willie this time was not only encountered by the same girl, and not only the two boys that accompanied her earlier, but an entire crowd of children all lining up to buy a cone of ice cream. The voices of the children, all beginning to overlap one another, left Willie unable to handle the sea of youth that flooded at his window.
"Give me a pistachio!" A boy said.
"I'll buy a scoop of turtle tracks!" A girl said.
"I'll take a rocky road!" Another boy said.
"Raspberry cheesecake for me!" Another girl said.
Trying to escape from the strange appearance of dozens of children at his window, Willie shut the shudders for the truck's window, proceeding to drive away from the neighborhood as fast as possible. Locking the shudders to the window behind him, Willie dashed up to the driver's seat to make his escape from the crowd of children.
As he turned the key in the ignition, trying to turn over the engine, Willie's escape attempt soon came to a dead stop, just as the truck itself was stuck in. Every turn of the key only resulted in the engine stalling, never allowing the vehicle to move. Being left to remain stationary in the middle of the street, the ice cream truck then became surrounded by the various children, all shouting off their orders.
By this time, hundreds if not thousands of children began surrounding the ice cream truck, with the group now combining their strength to shake the truck. Being completely surrounded by this strange appearance of an army of ravenous children, Willie found himself unable to make any more escape attempts; instead opting to fall to the floor and grip himself in fear, hoping the truck will protect him.
Soon, the protection the truck does not last its time against the children. Displaying absurd and bizarre amounts of strength for mere small children, the kids tore through the metal build of the truck with their bare hands, as if the metal were sheets of paper. Moving through the open entry to the truck, the children then made their approach to the Jolly Olly man.
Making one last desperate struggle to defend himself, Willie rushed to the cooler and began tossing buckets of ice cream towards the child mob, hoping that his offers would placate the crowd.
"Here, eat it, eat all the goddamn ice cream you want, just leave me alone!" Willie shouted.
After tossing various buckets of ice cream towards the mob of children, even tipping over the freezer to allow the contents to pour out and roll towards the crowd, it was still not enough to make them end their attack. Additionally, just as the attack was not yet at its end, neither was the amount of strangeness in the event.
The children did not retain their forms that they once appeared to be, but now began growing fangs and had eyes that darkened to a pitch black. These forms that once held the appearance of youth and innocence now turned to growling and snarling monsters; vicious creatures hunting Willie as their prey.
No longer did they crave the frozen dairy treats that they previously demanded, but, now, their only craving of food now liad on Willie himself. Watching the monstrous and hungry demon-children make their way towards him, Willie ran to the windows of the truck to try to escape, only to see more demon-children pressing against the glass, soon to break through.
Not too long under their pressure, the glass broke and shattered, leading Willie to run away from the other crowd of children that forced him to flee to this other end of the truck only seconds earlier. Now, he was trapped between both crowds of children, and without any means or hope of escape.
Almost immediately, Willie was taken in the arms of the horde of demon-children, being tightly grabbed in their holds; their claws digging into his flesh and drawing forth blood. The blood pouring on the floor of the truck was lapped up by various other demon-children seeking a quick snack, but those holding their grip continued to dig for more filling meals out of Willie.
Tearing into the skin of his arms, the demon-children began peeling back the flesh covering his arms and legs, skinning him alive. Taking the skin for themselves, many of the demon-children began eating the torn skin, feasting on the findings they had taken from his body. Others, however, continued to pry for their own food.
With his skin now gone and no longer covering his body, many other demon children continued to eat away at his muscles and tissue, tearing through the meat and devouring his flesh as if it were nothing more than a meal for them. Despite all his screams and cries for mercy, Willie's calls went unheard by the demon-children, as they all continued to eat his flesh away.
As loud and as pained as Willie's screams were, these finally came to an end as well. Taking hold of his legs, the demon-children grabbed both ends of his body and tore it in half, leaving his guts and organs to pile on the ground. With his lungs falling out along with these torn pieces and gobbled up by the demon-children, his screams finally came to a stop; his lips moving, but no air being pushed through to let his screams out.
Finally, with little of a body remaining, Willie came to an end; his body torn apart and feasted on for the demon-children, eaten down to nothing but a pile of bones.
In the wake of his death within his dream, Willie finally awoke from the nightmare; his physical pains coming to an end, but not his mental ones. These dreams have occurred for years now, and never have they loosened their grip on him. He still hates children passionately, he blames them for everything in his life, and, most importantly, he blames them for his hunger.
He feels the hunger bite at his mind.
Trying to push away all uncomfortable thoughts and unwanted feelings, Willie tried to force himself back to sleep, hoping that these bad dreams would not return. He has never slept peacefully in years, and never known any sort of peace. The hatred is the only thing that keeps him alive, but it only drives him more mad, and the hunger that stays with him has only made him less sane throughout the years.
He feels the hunger bite at his mind.
Elsewhere, while Willie attempts to get some sleep yet again, there is one more who does not get any sleep, either. This man is Buckley Lloyd, better known by night as Valiance. Earlier, this man had attempted to gain some sleep to prepare himself for a night on the streets of Hillwood, once again going out to bring justice to the streets.
However, despite taking medication and alcohol to ensure himself a good sleep, he does not gain the rest he sought out.
Instead, the sleep he got at last for quite some time, that sweet drink of sanity that he needed so dearly, was tainted by a splash of insanity. The conscious mind of Buckley Lloyd slept to give way to his unconscious, giving him strange and bizarre images that made his sleep lose all sense of rest. A bad dream is no unordinary occurrence for anyone, but it is the character in this dream that has made him lose sleep.
In his dreams, Buckley was not alone in his own mind, but joined by Rhonda Lloyd; his deceased daughter. Returning from her own afterlife and learning of her father's plans to resurrect her, Rhonda entered her own father's subconscious to warn him not to tamper with the laws of nature, instead asking that he let her rest in peace.
While still only believing this to be a dream and not realizing that this was actually his daughter speaking to him, Buckley reacted harshly to the specter; attacking the form of his daughter when repeatedly asked to end his obsession with cheating death. The belief that this image was not truly his daughter was not shaken, but his mental state was; his reaction to hitting his own dead daughter making him act accordingly.
Waking to tears and pain yet again from his own nightmares, Buckley no longer made any attempts to sleep, instead downing more alcohol to forget his own troubles. Removing himself from bed and placing on a bathrobe, Buckley moved himself to another area of his manor, trying to get himself away from the birthplace of this nightmare as soon as possible.
His journey for a temporary peace takes him to the underground base of the Hillwood Heroes, located below his mansion. Passing through various weapons and equipment used by the various other members of the Hillwood Heroes, looking past various costumes and other belongings, there is only one costume that matters to him.
At one end of the base was a shrine dedicated to the member known as Elite, better remembered by Buckley as Rhonda Lloyd. The length of her being a member of the team and even a caped crusader might have been one of the shortest, but her impact on each of their lives was beyond measure, especially for her own father.
Falling comatose after a brutal shooting and rape by Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, known better as 'The Freak' by many, Rhonda pushed herself out of her coma to seek revenge on the perpetrator of her awful fate, but quickly found that she was not alone in that goal. Enraged by seeing his daughter under such an attack, Buckley Lloyd too sought out for revenge, only to find Rhonda back once again.
While the killer known as the Freak was finally brought to justice, their victory was not without cost. One last bullet from his gun fired a round through Helga's heart, dooming her to a young death by his hands. After seeing Arnold push himself so hard to defeat the Freak, Rhonda gave her own heart for Helga to live; giving her life for another.
Buckley could hardly approve of losing his daughter a second and permanent time, but the chance to save a life was a matter of now-or-never, and he had no choice but to allow her and respect her wishes. However, that decision has not allowed him to accept this reality so easily.
Turning his attention away from the shrine of his daughter, Buckley instead moved on to take a look at the real thing. Moving to a secret compartment embedded within the wall, he pressed a secret passcode, 2-7-6-6-5-3, to open the compartment. With his keypad accepting the code, Buckley pulled out a secret compartment of the wall, revealing the refrigerated body of Rhonda Lloyd.
Carefully moved to this secret compartment long ago, Buckley had kept a close eye on it for some time, waiting for the exact opportunity to give life to the dead body again. Having a new heart transplanted within and waiting patiently for some other sort of miracle to come his way, Buckley never lost any hope, holding onto this hope as long as he can.
Reaffirming himself that he will eventually complete his goal, Buckley ran a light stroke across the face of Rhonda Lloyd, waiting patiently for the day in which this cold flesh would once again feel warmth with blood rushing through it once again. Thinking over that day for when it would come, Buckley let out a sigh.
While taking in a look at his deceased daughter, the sound of footsteps began making their way into the base, coming very close to Buckley's current location. Not able to afford anyone seeing the secret of his daughter's body being hidden, he closed the refrigeration unit, ensuring that no one would find it.
Turning to the sound of the approaching footsteps, Buckley found his visitor to be Nadine, Rhonda's best friend. Feeling more secure by a familiar face enter the base, Buckley gave out a relieved sigh from seeing her.
"Hey, Mr. Lloyd. What're you doing down here?" Nadine asked.
"I could ask you the same thing." Buckley said.
Before answering his question, Nadine made an approach to the shine for Rhonda/Elite, paying some of her respects to her best friend.
"We've got a meeting tonight, I wanted to get in early. I like to take some time to say hi to Rhonda before we get started. What about you?" Nadine asked.
"Hmm. Much of the same, I guess. Didn't think you cared that much."
"Of course I do, I'm her best friend. I thought you, of all people, would know that best."
"I do. Still, you don't think about friends that much when you get older."
"Well, Rhonda was my friend, and you were her dad. In my book, that makes you my friend."
"Hmph. If you say so."
Buckley proceeded to head towards a nearby piece of equipment, fiddling with it as if he were trying to adjust or fix it. He paid no immediate attention to what he grabbed, only grabbing something to keep his mind off the conversation. Observant enough towards the actions of Buckley Lloyd, Nadine did not let him continue on his avoidance, driving further into the conversation.
"Mr. Lloyd? Buckley?" Nadine asked.
"What is it?" Buckley asked.
"You know, we all know how Rhonda's death was on you. If you ever need to talk to someone, we're right here. Like I said, I consider you my friend, and I'll help you if you need it. You'd probably feel a lot better."
"Thanks, but no thanks. Nothing to talk about."
"Why's that?"
"Rhonda's dead and talking won't bring her back. No reason to talk about it when it won't help."
"But you've barely been able to deal with her being gone since, well, she left. When you haven't been pushing orders on us, you've been quiet and distant. Maybe you'd feel better if you'd talk about it, help you let it go."
Being brought back in the conversation, Buckley set the item down, precariously dropping it back in place. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, he turned back to Nadine to continue the conversation properly.
"Let's get something straight, Nadine. I don't care how close you and my daughter were. You don't understand how I feel, so don't try to or pretend to try. Just know this: Losing Rhonda is what made me Valiance. Before that, I was just Buckley Lloyd; a rich, stuck-up prick that I gave money instead of love and spent all my life doing nothing but living in leisure with my wife. Now, not only is my daughter dead for good, my wife is dead, too; she died in some mental hospital when she heard the news." Buckley said.
"Wait, Brooke died, too? When did that happen?" Nadine asked.
"About a few months ago."
"Are you kidding?! Why didn't you say anything?"
"Nothing to say. None of you knew her or cared about her, and I doubt she would've known or cared about any of you, either. Like I said, no use talking about things that don't need talking about."
"So, now, you're all alone?"
Before answering the question, Buckley took a brief pause in his speech, reflecting on the question itself. Never before had he thought of himself as 'alone', always having Rhonda and Brooke in his life. Now, with both parties dead, it seemed all too obvious that he was now alone, but had never stopped to realize this fact.
"Yeah. I guess I am." Buckley said.
"You don't have to be alone, Buckley. You helped Arnold start this team because you wanted to help the people of Hillwood. The least that this team could do is try to help you, too. At least, why don't you talk to Arnold? You know how good he is with helping people." Nadine said.
"There's no need. All I have now is Valiance, which is fine by me."
"No, Buckley, no. You can't just make this your whole life. You think any of this make this thing our whole lives? Arnold still has his own life, Gerald and Phoebe still have their own lives, and so do I."
"You're just kids. You don't know what it's like living as an adult with my problems. Maybe this is what I need to handle my own issues."
Buckley attempted to step towards another area of the base, hoping that he would have some solitude all to himself and be away from this issue at last. Still not allowing him to escape this conversation, acting in intervention to his life, Nadine stopped him once again to heed her warnings regarding their costumed lifestyle.
"Hold on right there. You don't think the rest of us have issues? Is that what you think?" Nadine asked.
"Not like me." Buckley said.
"Oh, 'not like me'? You think you're so special with your own problems? People all have their own kinds of problems, and a lot of theirs worse then yours, you with all your money and power. Look at me, I'm mulatto. You don't think I had my fair share of problems down the road, being the only black girl in my school? I had my own problems, but I had friends like Rhonda to talk to about them, and, when she had a problem, I was right there, too. Sometimes, you need to talk to people about how you feel. You can't just forget about how you feel."
"Watch me."
Walking over to his Valiance power suit as it laid on its rack, Buckley Lloyd began changing into it, no longer wishing to hear the complaints of Nadine or her advice on dealing with his own life issues. Removing his bathrobe and stepping inside the power suit, Buckley Lloyd, now giving way to Valiance, continued on his own rituals and diagnostics before venturing out into the city once again.
Before he could do this, however, Nadine shared one last thought to ponder on.
"Do you know why I'm so interested in insects? The vast majority of them work in groups. Ants have hills, bees have hives, and wasps have nests. They create entire small cities all to themselves with nothing but teamwork. They all rely on one another to survive. Just like them, we're a team, and we all work together for something. That's why I chose to become Insect Girl." Nadine said.
Valiance paused for a brief moment, but did not give an immediate reply. After a small moment of silence, the metal knight finally gave a reply, but he did not seem to acknowledge the point. Instead, he gave out one last command to his subordinate before continuing on his own task.
"The others should be here in half an hour. I suggest you get suited up then." Valiance said.
As Valiance continued to suit himself up, Nadine finally did the same, no longer pursuing the intervention towards Buckley. With no more progress to be made with the conversation she was having with him, Nadine instead took her own costume and proceeded to change to Insect Girl, preparing for the subsequent meeting of the Hillwood Heroes and what sorts of patrols they would carry out next.
She still holds her concerns for Buckley, but, for now, she pushes them aside to focus on the job at hand.
Somewhere far away from any sorts of problems such as this, the good Doctor Peyton Harvey Scott relaxes himself at his decent-sized apartment, making himself more comfortable before continuing some of his work. For a man as passionate as him at his job, his work on his patients is never done, even when he does not work.
For now, he has enough to focus on with this particular patient. Tasked with curing the insane and infamous Thaddeus 'Curly' Gammelthorpe, better known as the Freak, he has plenty of work cut out for him in this department. Working on this patient for nearly a year, there has never been an easy moment in the path of making a breakthrough to his patient; Curly choosing to remain silent most days.
Recently, on the anniversary of his debut as the Freak, Curly has been far more open with his doctor then he ever had been with anyone, allowing progress to be made on his mind at last. However, this streak of luck was not without its drawbacks, as Dr. Scott discovered some conflicting information regarding his patient and his past.
Where it was believed that Curly had burned down his childhood home, a visit to the house had quickly found this to not be the case. Along with picking up some other incongruities in his stories, there only laid two possibilities to explain this:
Either his patient was lying, or perhaps the truth he believed was not the truth.
Whichever possibility might be the true one, each answer would change the facts regarding Curly altogether, and might give the good doctor a path towards making a proper diagnosis at last. Fortunately, with his visit to the former Gammelthorpe house, Dr. Scott had come into possession of a hidden camera; the contents within possibly finally able to give him the answers he sought out.
After a long day of letting the camera's battery sit on a charger, the task in finding the proper charger itself a hassle in itself for an older camera, Dr. Scott finally has the opportunity to view the MiniDV videotape inside and at last have some videographic chronicles of his patient to learn more about his past, without any sort of bias or issue with authenticity.
Now, leaning back in his chair and drinking a Yahoo Soda out of the bottle, Dr. Scott held his hand over the camera and pressed 'play'.