IV: Disaster Med
Kaz flinches when Chase's laser bo staff slams against Gray Granite's staff. The superheroes are currently locked on a heated battle against the bionic trio, and while he knows this could result into someone getting hurt, he doesn't feel inclined to clear out the misunderstanding that started it.
"We should tell them, Kaz," Oliver says worriedly as they watch behind a pillar. "What if someone gets hurt?"
Leave it to his best friend to know exactly what he's thinking of not doing. "Dude. Do you—"
They're both knocked off their feet as Adam's blast wave missed Tecton and hits their hiding place instead. Stars dance in front of his eyes as his left arm, exposed from the pillar, feels like it had been run over by a truck three times over.
He groans, struggling up to his feet. "You want to get in the middle of that?" he asks Oliver quietly as he pulls him up his feet.
Oliver says nothing, only winces as he retreats even more to safety.
They startle when Gamma Girl crashes against Tecton after Bree tackled her. The two superheroes are left dazed while the bionic teenager uses her free time to help Adam with Gray Granite.
Kaz grins. This is definitely a lot better than going to any comic book store in Amsterdam.
– Ϟ –
Leo knows he's come just a tad bit too late. Running towards the quarters, he could hear his stepfather screaming as blasts boom at a regular rate inside. When he finally arrives, he sees he's right: the place is a mess, his stepfather is on the floor looking up in fear at the superpowered trespasser, and The Incapacitator holds close the container bearing the energy transponder.
He frowns. He knows he really should be worried about other, more important things, but - has his father's suit gotten tighter or is he just imagining things?
Noting his presence, Donald looks his way. "No," he says fearfully, especially when The Incapacitator looks his way, too. "No. Leo, get out of here!"
Leo doesn't move. He only stares at the supervillain defiantly. "Incapacitator," he says neutrally – a greeting of sorts.
"The Incapacitator."
He almost rolls his eyes. "Are we gonna be hung up on that 'the' the whole day, or…?"
The Incapacitator only chuckles.
He's suddenly reminded of the fact that he lied to him. "Why are you here?" he says as he stares him in the eye.
"Mr. Davenport tells me that the only way to open this box is by getting past this retina scan," The Incapacitator says. He sits the container on top of the overturned coffee table and grins superciliously. "I can't decide: should I take an impression of his eye, or should I just take the whole eyeball out?"
"Please don't."
"Leo, don't," Donald orders, stopping him from coming any closer. "He's not bionic. You can't escape this like you escaped Marcus or Krane."
Leo's jaw locks then unlocks as he looks at his stepfather then his father. He was able to escape from Marcus due to a series of good opportunities that opened up and some quick thinking.
Krane, he didn't escape.
The Incapacitator killed him.
He could see from his dad's eyes that there's no stopping him. From what he can piece together, he knows the energy transponder is necessary for whatever new plan he has. So, hating himself for what he has to suggest, he asks in resign, "If I open it for you, can you promise not to do any of those things?"
"It depends. Some people, I just can't stand these days. I don't know if I can promise."
I don't think you know how to promise either, Leo thinks bitterly as he makes a move towards the weapons case.
"No, Leo!" Donald stops him. "We can't just give it to him. He's going to drain the whole world of power. He can't have it!"
Leo hesitates. It's not his father's first world domination plan, but it sounds a lot deadlier than the other ones.
The Incapacitator charges up energy in his right hand. "Tick tock," he softly presses.
Leo glares at him. He said he would never put him in a spot where he had to choose between doing the right thing and making a decision as his son. "I feel like you're breaking something here," he says in disappointment.
The grin on The Incapacitator's face remains, but a small spark of recognition has gone off in his eyes.
However, it doesn't stay long. An idea comes to mind, and a new, wolfish grin comes up to his face. He constructs a lasso of green energy then throws it.
It wraps around Leo's torso all too quickly and all too tightly. "What are you doing? Let me go!" he screams, struggling against it as he's lifted up in the air.
"Please! Stop!" Donald asks, horrified.
"What about it, Mr. Davenport?" the supervillain says. "The energy transponder or the boy?"
"Big D, don't!"
"I can take energy from other things around me, or I can take energy from him."
When Donald hesitates, The Incapacitator pulls Leo closer until he's hovering just above them.
Then Leo feels it, the energy lasso closing in tighter around him. It presses his arms against his body, the growing pressure squeezing out his breath slowly. His heart panics like a spooked bird in a cage.
Doubt suffocates him even more. His father is not going to kill him, right? He loves him, right?
"Okay, okay!" he hears his stepfather yell as dizziness has begun setting in. "I'll open it. Just – just let go of my son."
As the restraints eases and the sudden rush of oxygen makes his head swim, he sees an outline of movement towards the container. He's slowly let down on the ground. Once the scanner emits a beep, the energy lasso vanishes altogether.
His stepfather crawls towards him. "Are you okay?" he asks.
Leo nods.
They watch helplessly as The Incapacitator holds the invention up as a test. Lights flicker and technology crackle all around the quarters as the transponder draws power. It keeps taking, taking, taking – siphoning too much power into the wrong hands.
Once he's satisfied, The Incapacitator powers off the transponder and smirks at the device.
It's then that they hear a rush from the hall. Not a moment later, the room fills with the very people Leo both wished he would and would never see. "Don't move, Incapacitator," orders Tecton.
"You're too late, Tecton," the supervillain says. "I already have what I need to make you and the entire world bow down at my feet."
He draws a super charge of energy and encases Tecton, Gamma Girl, and Gray Granite within a sphere before they can act. With the powerful superheroes imprisoned, he sends them out through the roof.
Spackle and debris spray around them. As destruction lies all around, Leo realizes that for the second time in his life, he's truly afraid of the darkness his father holds inside.
"That's it," Chase says, furious. "I got us into this mess. I'm going to get us out."
"No! Chase," he tells his brother, staggering up to his feet. "He's too powerful!"
Fueled by a sense of duty, Chase activates the laser bo staff. Then, he comes at the supervillain.
The more experienced of the two, The Incapacitator blocks the attack easily. He overloads the bo staff with energy to anchor Chase in place.
Chase freezes, the surge of electricity locking him to vulnerability.
With this advantage, The Incapacitator charges a deathly blast of energy to finish him.
"No!" Leo screams. When the supervillain looks at him, he shakes his head pleadingly. "Please. Please not my brother."
The Incapacitator considers it a moment. Then, he sets off an energy blast similar to Adam's, knocking Chase out and knocking the others off their feet. "Nice doing business with you, Mr. Davenport," he says, smiling at the inventor.
Donald only glares at him.
It surprises Leo when he grabs him by the arm. As he looks into his eyes - wearing that suit, knowing to what extent he'd go just to get what he wants, and seeing just how little he valued the lives of others, he realizes then that he doesn't want to be like his father.
He doesn't want to be a villain.
Before he could shake his hold, though, a surge of energy hits him. It overwhelms his brain for a long, agonizing second.
Then, everything fades to black.
– Ϟ –
"Leo!" Bree screams as The Incapacitator takes her little brother on his shoulder.
"Let him go!" Adam demands.
"You got the transponder already," Donald says. "Let him go!"
The Incapacitator smirks. "I spared your kid," he says. "This is only fair."
"No!"
A neon green cloud swallows the supervillain and the teenager, and in a moment they are gone.
Bree feels as if her heart has fallen into a hole. She's shaking with nervousness and adrenaline. Prompted by instinct, she staggers to her feet then comes to Chase's side.
She checks his vitals, hoping for a beat, a breath, anything.
She sighs of relief when she feels a pulse. She tries to wake him, but to no avail. "Chase," she persists, "you have to wake up."
"Mr. Davenport…" Adam looks to their father as he sits beside her, the same look of urgency and loss on his face.
"He must have fried his whole infrastructure," Donald says, rising to his feet. He shakes his head. "I don't have the equipment here to fix it."
"Chase…"
"Well, we can't just let him die," Adam protests.
"You don't have to," Oliver, now back up to his feet like Kaz, says. "Mighty Med. We have the equipment there. It's a superhero hospital, and Kaz and I are doctors. We can help."
Donald thinks it over a moment before nodding. "Okay. Adam, Bree, go with them. Make sure that Chase is okay," he says. Then, to Oliver and Kaz he asks, "Please. Save my son."
"We will," Kaz says.
At that moment, Tecton flies into the room. He helps Gray Granite to the ground and asks, "Where's Incapacitator?"
"Gone. He took the transponder with him," Oliver reports. "Worse yet, he took their younger brother as hostage."
"Hiding behind a child, huh?" Gamma Girl asks as she lands beside Gray Granite. The anger hidden under her unaffected expression is searing. "He must be desperate. He's changed his MO."
"I don't like this," says Tecton. "We need to find that kid."
"I'll call my brother and have him assist me," Donald chimes in. "We can locate him faster if we have two sides searching. For the meantime…"
Oliver nods, taking out the wormhole transporter from his pocket. "We'll do our best to get Chase back to you in good health."
Donald nods appreciatively.
"Okay. Kaz? Everyone, hold on," Oliver instructs.
Bree's heart races as she holds onto Chase and Adam. They've dealt with many nightmares and many near-deaths before, but she doesn't think she'll ever get used to them.
What gets to her this time is the uncertainty of where Leo is and what's going to happen to him. Is he hurt? Will he be okay? Will he be able to come home?
Her chest aches as she realizes that she couldn't even protect her little brothers.
"Bree." Adam nods. "It'll be okay."
As the five of them vanish into a wormhole, Bree wonders if it really will be.
