yo, my bad. i can't believe i didn't finish posting here. i'm so sorry if you'd been waiting a while ..
hopefully this super long chapter can make up for it :/
tw: peril
XIX: Into Darkness, Part 4
Despite having traveled to other planets, Tecton doesn't remember ever being in Paris. It's probably because for one, it's under the jurisdiction of another superhero. For another, the French government is just not too keen about him being there for some reason.
Still, there is one thing he knows for sure: the iconic place never looks like this – even in the wee hours of the morning.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Surge and Titanio, parts of the city have already regained power by the time they got there. Once again, the Eiffel Tower stands tall with its bright lights, extending up into the sky that's now shifting into a lighter shade of navy blue.
But, there are no people around.
It's eerie how quiet and deserted it looks. No tourists, no locals. It almost feels as if they're walking into a theme park that, while still functional, had been abandoned for years.
It doesn't help that Tecton feels eyes watching them from a distance.
"I don't know about you guys," Sharp says as she looks around, rubbing heat into her arms, "but this is giving me the creeps."
"Same here," Spotlight comments.
"Makes me wonder now how good of an idea it is to get the civilians away from here."
"You scared, Marquez?" Spotlight teases with a grin.
"Gotta have a little fear in you to make sure you survive, right?" Sharp returns with a smirk.
Spotlight only chuckles as a response.
"Skylar, anything from Kaz yet?" Tecton asks.
Skylar pauses to retrieve her phone from her boot, cuing the group to stop. She eventually shakes her head. "No," she says, slipping the phone back to its place. "Nothing from Oliver either."
"Is this something that the League would have to talk about eventually?" Spotlight asks.
"Talk about...?" Tecton asks.
"This," Spotlight says, gesturing around their general vicinity. "When the news broke out about there being bionic kids, we kind of touched on the subject of maybe reaching out to them and seeing if we can form a partnership."
"Wait," Sharp says, her hand up. "You guys had talked about the Davenports already? How come I didn't know about this?"
Tecton shoots a glare Spotlight's way before answering. "This was months ago, before you were even signed onto the League. Plus, you're not the only one who doesn't know. Blue Tornado and Gamma Girl hadn't heard about it either."
Sharp crosses her arms contemplatively. "What exactly were you guys thinking regarding the Davenports?"
"We should probably talk about this another—"
"Seeing if they needed our help," Spotlight chimes in, crossing his arms with a grin. "Seeing if they want us to train them instead of a normo training them."
"A little too quick on the 'normo' draw, Spotlight," Skylar comments.
"So? It's not like your friend Alan doesn't use it all the time."
"Yeah, we're not friends."
"Guys, please," Sharp referees. She looks up at Tecton again and asks, "You guys ended up not contacting them? That would have been a good idea."
Tecton takes a deep breath. This really isn't the time for this.
"Can we talk about this another time?" Skylar asks as if reading his mind. "My friends are in danger. If they're hurt, we need to find them soon."
Spotlight shrugs, grinning.
Tecton, relieved with Skylar's interruption, leads them forward.
They're descending down the steps when Spotlight speaks again. "If you ask me, I don't think it's such a good idea now. They run their own school, and they even ignore jurisdictions? I don't think they care about working with us at all."
"Spotlight, please. That's enough," Tecton says.
"Why? I'm right," Spotlight says, smirking up to the skies. "Marquez and Storm would agree with me. Won't you, ladies?"
Sharp brushes off the statement at first. Then, she hesitates. "Okay, they built the school because they thought no one out here would help them and their students. That doesn't mean they've written us off."
"Okay, I'd give you that," Spotlight genuinely concedes, "but what about this: we already made it clear to them that we were going to get this all taken care of, but they still decided to charge ahead. It's pretty disrespectful, if you ask me."
"We probably need to sit down and talk to them about it," Tecton says. "There must be another reason."
"What, other than they wanted to prove to us that they can do this on their own?"
"We don't know that," Sharp says.
"We do know that. Why would they do something this stupid if not for some misguided sense of heroism?"
Tecton only glares at him, but he doesn't tell him that he agrees.
Meanwhile, Sharp smirks. "'Misguided sense of heroism'? Sounds very philosophical."
"You're not the only intelligent League member, Marquez," Spotlight teases back. "I'd have you know, I watch Jeopardy! every night."
"Majority of your patrols are nighttime."
"Some nights are slow. I need something to stimulate my brain, too."
Sharp laughs.
"Spotlight, Sharp, can we focus?" Tecton commands, ignoring the ugly feeling that shifts somewhere inside him after Sharp laughed at Spotlight's joke. "He could be watching us."
"You're right. I'm sorry," Sharp says. She exchanges grins with Spotlight before tapping into her earbud. "Gamma Girl, anything in the streets?"
"No, sadly."
"Thanks." She hesitates to tap her device again.
Spotlight catches it. "You can talk to Surge or Titanio." He smirks. "It's time for them to communicate with us anyway."
Sharp only looks at him. She's thankful for the encouragement – but the call won't happen. Surge had been fickle about non-superheroes lately, and Titanio would just hit on her again.
At that moment, the sound of a ringtone ringing faintly in the distance stops them cold in their tracks.
Skylar looks around for the source, her phone in her hand again. Soon, she finds a curled form by the fountain, wrapped with a neon green lasso. "Kaz. Kaz!"
The form startles. He struggles to turn until he sees them. "Skylar!"
"Kaz!"
"Skylar!" Sharp calls after the teenager, taking off after her. "Skylar, wait!"
"There could be a trap!" Tecton says.
Skylar continues to run, not hearing them.
She also doesn't see the fear that came to Kaz's eyes, increasing more and more the closer they got. Kaz shakes his head fervently. "No. No. Stay away! Stay away! Skylar, no!"
A powerful force throws the four superheroes up in the air. They crash down hard and roll ungracefully – resulting in their first round of injuries of the night.
The Incapacitator appears from a neon green cloud, smirking. "Tecton. You took a bit longer than I was expecting." He glances at the others, also struggling to get back on their feet. "I see you brought friends with you. Four against one. I didn't think you thought so much of me."
"You kidnapped five kids, forced a city into darkness, and endangered many people." Tecton pulls himself up straight to face his nemesis directly. "You caused absolute chaos."
"It's an awful city that deserved it." The Incapacitator looks at Kaz thoughtfully as he says, "As far as the children, I hardly think kidnapping is the correct word for it. They came to me, without being prompted. The fault's on them."
"Where are the others?" Sharp demands.
The Incapacitator looks at her, as if surprised. Then, he smiles superciliously. "You must be new," he says. He looks at Tecton. "The League is trying to show some diversity, I see."
"Where are the kids?" Sharp asks again. "Where are the rest of them?"
The Incapacitator chuckles. He waves a hand towards Kaz, and it causes the lasso around him to vanish. He nods at the terrified teenager, gesturing for him to go join the other side.
Kaz hesitates at first. Then, he starts off towards Skylar.
"There," The Incapacitator says as Skylar asks Kaz of his condition. "Since your league have come this far. I'm not an unfair man."
"Where's Oliver?" Skylar asks the villain.
He only smirks at Kaz.
"I – I don't know," Kaz says when the others turn towards him. "He took him somewhere earlier. I haven't seen him since."
"What about Adam, Bree, and Chase? Where are they?" Tecton demands.
The Incapacitator hitches his brows. "I said I wasn't unfair. I didn't say I was stupid."
"You can't hold onto them forever, Incapacitator."
The Incapacitator smirks. "Davenport acts like his children are God's gift to mankind. Probably why they're so cocky and don't think things through. It might not hurt to show them how things usually work in the realm of the mortals."
"You can't hurt them," Tecton says. "You shouldn't. In a way, they're part of your family, too."
The villain chuckles bitterly. "Family?"
"Think of your son. Think of how hurting them will hurt him."
The supercilious grin stays on his face, but it's obvious through the subtle, cutting glare he directs at Tecton that what he said had touched a sensitive nerve.
It's further worsened by Spotlight frowning at Tecton, confused, and whispering, "Wait. He has a child?"
"I think you're mistaken, Tecton. I'm not one you can appeal to with plain emotions." The Incapacitator clicks on a button on the cuff of his suit. "Air, water, and earth. Just three of the elements essential for us to survive. Sadly, it will have the exact opposite effect on these so-called bionic heroes. Or teenagers, since their abilities are all blocked."
"If they die, how would you face your son?" Sharp reasons. "He loves you, but he loves them too."
The Incapacitator sighs. "If I had known the League would overuse him like this, I would have gotten rid of him a long time ago."
Those words shock the heroes into hurt and anger. "Monster," Spotlight mutters under his breath, his frown sharpening.
"You don't mean that," Sharp says.
The Incapacitator only smiles a 'don't I?' smile. "The other doctor also brought out the same concern you've brought out, so let's extend the time from six minutes." He taps on a few buttons on the same cuff from earlier. "Seventeen minutes. Seventeen, for my son – the only reason they're still alive today and might live today. But I wouldn't count on it."
No more negotiating, Tecton concludes. The villain's offer is as good as it would get, so there's no use sitting there and wasting time. "Take Kaz and contact Blue Tornado," he instructs Skylar. "Update everyone, too, of what's happened."
Skylar nods. "I'll come back."
"No. Just be on standby." The Incapacitator smiles at him when he glares his way. "We need to rescue Adam, Bree, and Chase in time. The three of us can take it from here."
Skylar hesitates for a moment. Then, after assessing the situation, she nods and leads Kaz to a safer place.
Once the teenagers are gone, Tecton turns his full attention to his nemesis. "We don't want to hurt you, Incapacitator."
"Oh, but I want to hurt you," The Incapacitator grins.
"Last chance to surrender," Sharp loudly declares, her knuckles glowing a bright bluish white.
The villain watches her and Spotlight with interest as they move to surround him. Soon, his hands begin glowing an intense neon green.
Tecton locks eyes with him, and he knows from then that this is going to be a long fight.
– Ϟ –
Bree awakes to a sharp, bitter chill pressing onto her arms and legs. She tries to move, but an even sharper, more malicious pang of pain shoots from her rib cage and her leg, causing her to yelp in agony.
Soon she realizes that it's not only the ache that limits her movements: she's wrapped in a net of some kind, encasing her fully.
For a moment, she thinks she's just back at the island, accidentally entangled in a hammock of some sort. Looking up, she sees the stars and a towering shadow she thinks is a tree.
But then she hears the cold, howling wind. She hears traffic at a distance, cars impatiently bellowing with their horns.
Cars. Horns.
There's no place for those on an island.
She's further shaken awake by the realization that the noise isn't coming from a distance in the horizon – it's coming from beneath.
And she's leaning against glass.
She gasps. She turns a little to her left to look – then screams.
Clouds, and the moon in an unusually closer distance. She's surrounded by open air. A thousand feet beneath her is New York City, its people unaware of her presence.
Bree tries to move, to get up – but the pain on the left side of her body pins her in place. "Adam! Chase!" she calls. The cold air, thin and unforgiving, only chokes her and sends her coughing. "Help!"
No one responds.
With a grunt, she pulls her right arm up, and realizes that her hands are cuffed together. She takes a moment and shakes off the bad feeling it gives. She tries again, with her left hand helplessly joining this time, to tap the communicator in her ear. "Mr. Davenport – can you hear me? Mr. Davenport?"
The wind only sighs.
She pulls out the communicator to check it, but soon she finds that it wouldn't turn on.
No, no, no…
She coughs again, the cold quickly drying out her throat and lungs. Okay. It's okay. It's going to be okay, she tells herself as desperation begins to beat violently within her.
Training taught her to assess the situation. What she knows at the moment is that she's injured, maybe broken ribs and fractured leg – the latter of which is not good considering speed is the only thing that might save her.
She tries to move her legs.
They're tied together, too.
Looking up the net that held her within, she finds a device that holds it shut, like a thicker, bigger zip tie. It glows neon green in the middle, which makes her think of a timer.
A timer.
Dread swallows her whole.
The best way to survive would be to shake the cuffs off her hand using super speed, open the net, and climb up as far as she can to give herself enough ground to run on to get to the ground. With a fractured leg, it would hurt extremely, but it's her best chance. It's better than hurtling down to the ground, she thinks.
So, she lifts up her hands and begins moving it back and forth.
Nothing happens.
"No," Bree murmurs, fear spreading like a dark night within her. She tries again – but nothing happens.
Her speed is gone.
Her brain scrambles. It flashes different memories at her, of trainings, of her family, of New York city.
Of the violent death that will meet her below if she does nothing.
She remembers Eiffel Tower, how dark it was when they got there. How three steps in, a neon green lasso wraps around Chase and electrocutes him. How she tries to help, but then the floor beneath her explodes, and a second later she's falling helplessly.
She fell into a net before blacking out – but she doesn't know if Adam landed safely.
"Adam! Chase!" She tries to shake her feet off the binds, but the restriction only twists tighter on her ankles.
The tears threaten to come, but she fights it.
She can't cry now. She can't.
"Help! Help!" she cries out to anyone who might hear.
But the cruel evening breeze blowing through the city only laughs.
– Ϟ –
"Okay, I know you're tired, Douglas. I am, too. But it's the kids." Donald runs a hand through his hair, not caring how it will look anymore, as he listens to his younger brother grumble. He takes a deep breath after Douglas repeats his request back. "Yeah. Just in case. You'll see which program it is as soon as you access the cyber desk."
He impatiently nods when Douglas repeats the sentence. "Yes, that one. Exactly." He looks up when his brother asks where he is and finds Blue Tornado working a program that looked similar to the one he has on the island. "I'm somewhere where I can access the tracking devices. Look, I can't stay long on the phone. Just call me back as soon as you find something, okay?"
Douglas grumbles his reply then hangs up.
Donald sighs. The adrenaline hitting him right now does the complete opposite of what it's supposed to do; it's exhausting him even more. "How much longer we have?" he asks as he joins Blue Tornado.
Blue Tornado clicks on a button. On the big screen in front of them, a countdown clock slowly descends, showing a remainder of 11 minutes, 37 seconds.
"That's hardly enough time," Donald mumbles.
"I've tried several times to locate your children through the GPS built in their chips," Blue Tornado says, "but our locator can't trace them. It's highly possible that Incapacitator have placed a signal blocker on them. We need another way to find them."
"Is this legal? How can you track them? There's no way you can access their chips. The only one who knows how to do that is me and my brother."
"I hate to brake it to you during this time, Mr. Davenport, but there are other people smarter than the ones in your family. One of them happens to be a member of the League of Heroes," Blue Tornado answers factually, pulling up a facial recognition system.
Donald's brows hitch. "Let me guess: you?"
"Sharp."
"Okay, don't need to be sarcastic."
"No, I mean the person I'm talking about is Sharp. That's her name," Blue Tornado says. "Now I know comparing IQs is something we can put away for the meantime. I'll keep our locator running to search for your children, just in case, but we need another method of locating them."
Donald scoffs. "What, your smart female superhero can't figure out another method?"
Blue Tornado turns around and looks at him cuttingly. "She's currently fighting The Incapacitator so the others can rescue your kids. She's trying to survive after buying them more time," he says. "I know you're tired, Mr. Davenport, but everyone's pulling their weight. Now's not the time to minimize what we've been doing for your family since this all began."
Donald doesn't know which digs at his conscience more: the superhero turning his back on him or the guy not speaking to him anymore afterward. "Okay. I'm sorry. You're right; it's not the time for this," he gives in. "Uh, I told my brother to look for them through a program I had at home. This has happened before: Adam, Bree, and Chase had shut off their GPS which made it near impossible for me to find them.
"When I reconstructed their mission suits, I made the hilts of their belts with a mineral put together in our lab in Davenport Industries. It has a unique energy signature."
"Energy signatures we can do," Blue Tornado mumbles. Then, he pulls up another program.
"Now, again, it's unique."
"You still remember the specifications?"
"Yeah?"
Blue Tornado clicks on the Advanced Search option. He scrolls down to Companies. "You said you grew it in your company?" he asks as he scrolls down then clicks on US Companies.
"Uh...yeah?"
A bar shows up under the US Companies option. Blue Tornado types in Davenport Industries.
To Donald's surprise, the program soon spits out a complete inventory of what his company has produced. He gapes at the screen. "What – How – " He points at it. "You guys keep tabs on me! This is illegal!"
"Illegal is subjective, Mr. Davenport," Blue Tornado says as he searches for the correct category. "I would also appreciate it if you would refrain from calling our activity illegal."
Donald watches speechlessly as the superhero continues to narrow down on the mineral. It makes him feel a certain way, knowing that his company had been watched so closely that a complete list of inventions had been compiled and stored in someone else's computer.
However, the indignant feeling is held at bay by the urgency that is Adam's, Bree's, and Chase's situation.
"Was it just recently that it was manufactured?" Blue Tornado asks as he gets down to the Year Manufactured option.
"2014," Donald grumbles, annoyed. "It was around spring when I got started on it."
Blue Tornado zeroes in on the year then on the spring months.
"April," Donald says with a roll of the eyes after Blue Tornado pauses. Once the list unravels, he points to the prototype number. "That one."
Blue Tornado clicks on it. The program then asks if he wants to run a search.
He hits yes.
"I'm not comfortable that you have all of this information on my company," Donald voices as the program thinks. "I know you said you hate the term, but none of this seem right."
"Don't take it personally, Mr. Davenport. We only use this for the safety of others."
"What about our privacy?"
"We respect it. That's why even if we knew your children existed, we didn't meddle. Your affairs are your affairs."
Donald blinks. "The superheroes knew about us?"
Blue Tornado says nothing, but the apathetic look in his eyes affirm it.
"We were struggling to take down a bionic madman, and you guys didn't help?"
The computer beeps. Blue Tornado takes a deep breath and turns toward it. "Despite what you think of us, we know what lines not to cross. We're not the kind to get in other people's business just because we can, especially when we're uninvited," he says, taking the program's offer to start the search.
He looks up at Donald afterward. "When boundaries aren't respected, especially in our line of work, it only causes chaos. It only puts people's lives in danger." Then, he adds, "Hopefully, if everyone survives this night, you and your children would learn that."
The pointed comment kicks up in Donald a new cloud of anger. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, the League has asked Adam, Bree, and Chase to stay away from The Incapacitator, but they didn't listen. Stopping him was our responsibility, and if they didn't jump in and got themselves in this mess, we would have had more time to prepare and arrest him more safely."
"Well, maybe they wouldn't have done that if you guys had been better at your jobs."
"We are good at our jobs," Blue Tornado counters. "Being a hero doesn't mean going in blindly towards danger to save others whatever the cost. Being a hero means knowing what's right and respecting other people's right to live."
"My children know that."
"Do they? Is that why they went back to the island and loaded up on weapons that could seriously hurt, and even kill, Incapacitator?"
"He's a pain in your neck! He's been trying to eliminate every single one of you for years now! And he also stole my invention while hurting others in the process. If he dies, wouldn't that be a good thing?"
Every bit of anger lifts from Blue Tornado's face. For a moment, he only stares, stunned. Then, the anger comes back – but this time it's cold and detached. "I wonder if you'd have the same courage to ask your stepson that."
He then spins his chair towards the computer and allows the resounding silence to speak to Donald the rest of the night.
– Ϟ –
Skylar checks the time on her phone then huffs. Just a little over five minutes left. Blue Tornado had updated them earlier, telling them that he had gotten Donald Davenport to help him in the search, but it seems that even the duo is not doing so well in it either.
Five minutes is plenty of time if Adam, Bree, and Chase are nearby.
But, she has a feeling they're not.
"Seventeen minutes," she mutters as she continues to pace. "That's not being generous."
"Can you please sit down?" Kaz asks, clutching a shock blanket closer to him. "You're making me feel sick walking around like that."
Skylar pauses. "Oh. Sorry. It's just - " She takes a seat next to him in the back of the abandoned ambulance. "I'm just getting really anxious. Blue Tornado hasn't gotten back with us. Adam, Bree, and Chase don't have much time left."
"You're a superhero, Skylar. You know five minutes could still be a lot of time."
Skylar sighs, a foreboding feeling looming in her gut. "I don't know. It feels different this time."
Kaz blinks, at a loss for any comforting words. "Have you even slept yet? You've been working with the League since this all started."
"I'm fine."
"Skylar."
"I had some sleep. I was about to eat when you called me." She looks at him, frowning. "Horace is not going to be happy about this, you know. You should have called us as soon as you realized they were going after Incapacitator."
"How many times do I have to apologize?" Kaz says. "Plus, it's not like they would've allowed us to call you. When Oliver tried, they chucked his phone into the fountain."
"They threw his phone into a fountain?"
"Chase did, technically, but I'm sure any one of them would have done it." He frowns, contemplating. "Well, Bree might have done it, but Adam wouldn't have."
Skylar rolls her eyes. "I can't believe he'd fall for someone like her," she mutters.
Kaz smirks, knowing exactly who 'he' was. "Why wouldn't he? Bree's pretty and a bionic hero. It doesn't hurt that her family's pretty loaded, too."
Skylar glares at him. "That's shallow."
Kaz shrugs. "I'm just saying," he says. "Look, Skylar – after almost dying, I realized that some things I just have to say: you and Oliver are my friends, and I want you both to be happy. I think it's pretty obvious even to you that he likes you."
Skylar sits up, cautious. She knows that, of course, but the bluntness of Kaz's words still takes her by surprise.
"I don't know how you feel about him, but I'm sensing some jealousy. My guess is that you maybe like him, too," Kaz says. He puts his hands up as Skylar opens her mouth. "Hey, you don't have to answer. That's your business, and I'm staying out of it.
"But, what I am asking is that if you don't like him the same way, or if you maybe prefer not to date right now...Skylar, just tell him. Oliver's not a jerk. If you say no to him, he'll listen to you. He knows how to take no for an answer."
It's definitely not a subject she wants to discuss at the moment, not only because the timing's inappropriate but because it makes her very uncomfortable.
But, she can admit to herself that it's been on her mind. She'd seen glimpses of Bree flirting with Oliver, and the ugly feeling that rises up within her every time brings the subject of her affection towards him to the fore.
Or, rather, the confusion she feels.
Static crackles in her earpiece, and it comes as a much welcome reprieve. "We pinged their locations," Blue Tornado announces.
"All four of them?" Skylar asks, sitting up.
"Just three. I'm still looking for Oliver."
Skylar looks at Kaz and sees the same hope she had before Blue Tornado's answer crushed it. "I'm just on standby. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No. Just stay there for now. They might need you. Now, Solar Flare…"
"Skylar," Kaz calls to her. "Did they find Oliver?"
Skylar shakes her head apologetically. She wishes she'd had better news to give him.
Kaz looks away, deep in thought. "Well, I'm sure they'd find him, too. The only people Incapacitator doesn't like are the Davenports. He didn't look like he wanted to hurt Oliver," he says in an attempt to comfort them both. "Oliver will be okay."
They run their own school, and they even ignore jurisdictions? I don't think they care about working with us at all, Spotlight's statement rings in the back of her mind.
It's horrible, but Skylar hopes Kaz is right.
She hopes that if only one person could be spared, it would be Oliver.
– Ϟ –
"Look, Chase, I know your first instinct is to panic," Oliver says, "but you really have to get your breathing under control."
Chase lifts his eyes up to him slowly. "I'm running out of oxygen to breathe in," he snipes, glaring. "What do you mean I really have to get my breathing under control?"
Oliver huffs. Since Chase woke up and discovered that the amount of breathable air inside the bubble is dwindling, he'd become increasingly difficult to instruct.
Given, he is going to die if help doesn't come soon, but Oliver thought that the leader of the bionic trio would at least respect his credentials as a doctor who can help him through it.
He looks down at his binds at the moment and wishes he'd had Crusher's super strength. It'd be nice if the main reason for wanting it is to save both of them from the situation they're in.
Really, though, he just wants to get as far away from Chase as possible. Adam's right: he's super annoying. He's also extremely rude.
At that moment, Chase stops his attempts to break free from his own chains to frown at him. "Is there really nothing you can do to get yourself out and help me?"
"How? Tell me how I'm going to do that," Oliver snaps. "Between the two of us, you're the one with abilities. If you can't get yourself out of it, what makes you think I can do it?"
"I don't know! Aren't you supposed to be a doctor?" Chase irritably tugs at the cuffs anchoring him. He huffs, failing miserably. "Why don't you figure this out?"
"I didn't go to med school, remember? But you and your siblings have four great years of training. Why don't you put that to use now?" Oliver says. "And aren't you guys supposed to be better than superheroes?"
"I didn't say we were better."
"Right, because you didn't just ignore the League when they asked you to wait."
"How can we not?" Chase fires back. "They completely took over without involving us, and they interrogated Leo without our permission."
"What do you mean 'without involving you'? Your uncle and your dad were working along with the League since the attack! Skylar made it a point to update your mom whenever she can regarding Leo," Oliver points out. "And as far as your brother, why do others need to ask for your permission when they want to talk to him? You don't own him."
"That's not what I'm saying, and you know it."
"Oh, really? Because it seems to me that between the two of us, I'm the only one seeing why this is all happening in the first place." He scoffs. "You know, maybe if you stopped thinking so much of yourselves, this whole thing would have been avoided."
"We're not selfish."
"Selfish? No. Borderline narcissistic?" Oliver nods. "Very much so."
Chase glares. "Don't pretend you know us."
"Oh, I'm not pretending to know you – not that I want to. I'm just saying what everybody else is probably too afraid to tell you."
Chase says nothing more after that, but it's obvious from the faster rise and fall of his chest that the argument have left him heated.
At that moment, Oliver notices the oximeter displayed on the translucent neon green bubble. 96% drops down to 95%. It's not bad, but it's not healthy either. Chase had been irritable, and he'd seen him massage his temples, too.
Horace would be better at diagnosing this, or maybe even Dr. Yoon, his friend from the outside hospital who he would occasionally consult with, but Oliver knows enough that Chase's chances aren't looking good.
Another five to ten more minutes inside the bubble, or maybe one lengthier intense argument, and Chase could be looking at something more fatal and permanent.
Oliver looks at the heart rate and then at Chase. He and his siblings are the type of people he strongly dislikes. Rich, owns everything, popular. Entitled. They know the whole world revolves around them, so they don't take into account the others who could get hurt by their recklessness.
And why would they? They know they're above the law.
For a brief second, a dark thought prods at him. No one can see them there. All it would take is to get Chase riled up enough so he'd thrash and argue and scream. Then he'd pass out.
And he would get his silence. No one bossing him around and questioning his skills or abilities. No one telling him what to do.
And if something was to happen...this is their fault anyway. It's only fair they learn a lesson about how things work in the real world.
Then what are you waiting for?
Oliver realizes how horrible that thought was. He blinks, shakes his head, and hopes for forgiveness for even feeling that way. "I'm sorry," he tells Chase. "This isn't the time to argue, so let's not do it. You need to conserve as much energy and air as you can. My advice is to just lean back and chill until help arrives."
Chase frowns, offended. "How can I..."
Oliver closes his eyes as Chase continues to nag. He takes a deep breath and imagines any place but here. Hearing that the bionic leader had gone silent, he looks at him. "6%. You're about 6% away from potential brain damage," he says. "Your call."
That seems to have done the trick. Though still smarting from the harsh reality, Chase finally closes his mouth. "Sorry," he mutters.
Oliver looks at him a moment to gauge his sincerity. Then, he nods. "Okay."
Silence blankets the church awkwardly, but it doesn't stay long. Soon, they hear cautious movements.
The shadows dancing from around the corner causes Oliver to sit up as he think of frightening things. "Uh… You heard that, too, right?"
He had hoped Chase would be braver, even nonchalant – but he finds similar fear. "Maybe someone's coming to spray paint?"
The sound increases in volume and soon they realize they're footfalls.
The Incapacitator? Oliver wonders. But he would have just teleported like he did earlier if it was him coming back.
Plus, there are two shadows, both women.
And both familiar.
He releases the breath he's been holding when they round the corner. He smiles in relief. "Gamma Girl. Alley Cat – you came," he says.
Alley Cat grins. Meanwhile, Gamma Girl only smirks. She presses on something in her ear and reports, "Found Oliver. Chase Davenport is here, too."
"How'd you find us?" Oliver asks.
"Mr. Davenport. He had a homing device on his children," Alley Cat answers.
Okay? Strange? Oliver thinks, but he's too overwhelmed with relief that he decides to dismiss it for now. "I'm so glad you're both here."
Gamma Girl nods at Chase as they carefully circumvent the rusted debris and broken glass. "What's with that?"
"I don't know. Incapacitator locked him inside," Oliver explains. "The oxygen levels in the bubble are going down. We can't disengage it."
"Well, I might have something for that," Gamma Girl says. She smirks. "Unfortunately."
Chase glares at her. He looks away – then his eyes widen. He gasps then looks at the women. "Hey, watch out!"
But the warning came a little too late. An earth-shaking roar had sent both women flying into the air.
Gamma Girl crashes against the fence. Meanwhile, Alley Cat is tossed onto the steps where she lands gracefully.
As they work on getting back on their feet, another person emerges from the shadow.
Oliver and Chase both note the skin visible from his nearly engulfing leather coat: pale, grayish like the garment. Spotted with black all around.
His irises are unusually gold, alarmingly fierce.
They match the knife-like canines peaking from his mouth. If that isn't unsettling enough, the predatory smirk that pulls at the edge of his lips chills them to the bone. "You've been away for too long, Kitty," he tells Alley Cat in a hoarse, growl-like voice. "The pride misses you."
Oliver's eyes widen as he realizes who their unwelcome visitor is. "Cannibal…"
Chase looks at him. "Please tell me he picked that name because he wanted to sound metal, not because he actually eats people."
Oliver only swallows.
Cannibal looks over at the boys. His eyes light up. "I'm not going to let you walk out of here with them, Kitty. You know that, right?"
"And I never cared about what you think, Cannibal. You know that, right?" Alley Cat returns.
"Let me guess," Gamma Girl says, "The Incapacitator sent you?"
Cannibal shrugs. "I get to check on my sister and have dinner," he says. He grins a grin at Chase. "I've never had to eat around wires before, but I'm not picky nowadays."
"We're not family," Alley Cat says. "The pride has long rejected you."
Cannibal's expression slowly turns dark. "Yeah? I guess I'll just eat then."
Gamma Girl takes a step in front of the boys. "If you can get past us, that is."
Enraged, Cannibal draws in air then lets out another earth-shattering roar. This time, Gamma Girl draws up a shield to protect the four of them.
Before they know it, Cannibal is charging forward. Alley Cat is ready for a fight. She had pulled out a pair of batons and is charging towards the person she once knew as family.
She lets out a war cry – and the once silent church once again fills with the sound of battle.
– Ϟ –
Adam winces as the cramps on his arms worsen. His hands had been tied behind him for what feels like hours now, and his muscles are burning for the relief of freedom.
It's not like he hasn't tried for it. He kept trying to break the steel cuffs that dug into his skin, but it was all for naught.
He somehow had lost his bionic abilities – and it wasn't until just an hour ago that he realized that.
"Ugh, that really hurts," he mutters, his voice echoing within the small confine The Incapacitator left him in.
Coming up with escape plans had never been his thing. That's usually Chase's, sometimes Bree's. He was just the guy they can count on to break and smash things.
Getting out of situations like these isn't his specialty.
A sharp pain shoots to his neck, causing him to muffle a groan. If I was Chase, what would I do? he asks himself as he tries to work the cramp out by slowly moving his shoulder.
He thinks back on the things his younger brother usually said whenever he nagged at him on mission sites but comes up with almost nothing.
For a very rare moment, he kicks himself mentally for not listening. If he had, he would've been better equipped to deal with his situation.
Figure out where you are first, idiot, a voice like Chase's rings at the back of his head.
Adam frowns. That was kind of a dumb thing to ask of him. How can he know where he is? It's pitch black where he sits. Not only that, he's also convinced he's caged by boxes that reeked of salt.
Wait, he thinks. Salt? The sounds that he heard earlier comes back to him. He thought he had just imagined it, but he heard someone barking orders to another person in the distance. He also picked up the whirring and clanking of chains above.
He vaguely remembers the room swaying, but he thought that it only felt like that because he was dizzy from the lack of space. Maybe it really was moving.
His frown deepens. Boxes. Salt. Machines.
Perhaps a boat.
Think, Adam, he imagines Chase telling him. If you put all of those together, where are you?
He processes all of the four items as a unit, over and over for a period of time.
Then, it comes to him: "Shipping dock."
A loud explosion rocks the container he's in, causing him to slam against something and for boxes to fall over him. Just when he's beginning to realize the need for balance, another explosion rings in the distance.
A loud, metallic groan follows in a matter of seconds. As the ship underneath cries to the dark skies, Adam finds his world tilting in a nerve-racking axis.
As everything slides forward, slower at first then faster and faster, a container outside slams against the one he's in, generating a loud, thunderous sound.
He tries to get to his feet, sure now that he had broken a few bones, when the container begins to tilt forward even more. "No, no, no! No - "
Another boom! rings throughout as another container slams against the one he's in.
The collision sends him flying forward and landing on a cushion of boxes.
Relief washes over him when everything suddenly stops. His heart beats a million miles a minute as he both savors the silence and fears the sound of things falling into the sea outside.
Things ease into a standstill for what feels like long enough.
Then, he hears the sound of water trickling in.
"No," he mutters, looking around him for the source. However, with limited amount of light, all he can rely on is that subtle but threatening sound. "No, no, no…"
Without his watch, he can't communicate with his father and his siblings. Without light, he can't explore other options. Without his bionics, he can't break out of the steel cuffs and swim.
Not only can he not swim, he also can't breathe underwater like he used to be able to do before.
Adam swallows, his throat dry. "Help! Someone still here! Help!"
He can't die like this. He can't, he can't, he can't.
However, despite his will to live, polluted ocean water only continue to fill the container.
