Chapter One Hundred and Fifty
...
Warren had no idea what had turned the warden into this monster, but he was determined not to let the monstrous warden win. He had set the office aflame, then the hallway, and then most of the floor, blowing out the windows in an attempt to get the warden to fly out of the windows along with the glass and intense heat. It hadn't happened, and he was risking losing control over the fire in an effort to win against the man.
Well, he wasn't so sure that the warden really was a man, not anymore.
Layla used a vine to pull Warren back before Warden One's fists could slam on her boyfriend's spine. Whether he could take a hit or not, she didn't want to risk him taking that.
Warden Two struggled against the vines she'd wrapped him in, and she saw his shoulders burst out of the vines. It had nothing to do with his strength and more to do with the fact that his body was changing shape, just as Warden One's had done ten minutes ago. Her eyes widened at the sight of the monstrous shape the warden had become, forcing herself to move and pull Warren away from the two wardens.
Warden One blocked their exit, Warden Two kept them contained, and with a low chuckle, Warden One grabbed the vine that was on the floor. Layla let go of Warren's hand just as Warden One gave the vine a sharp tug, sending her flying through the glass window beside him. Vines wrapped around her to protect her from the glass, Layla squeezing her eyes shut anyway. She landed on her stomach, a groan uttering into the vine cocoon around her, and Layla concentrated on the vine that Warden One was still holding. Sharp thorns pierced his skin, but the warden just grinned and squeezed tighter. He pulled sharply and Layla was pulled back through the wall and window with a cry of surprise.
"Layla?" Warren groaned, blinking back to consciousness at his girlfriend's scream.
Warden Two didn't give him a chance to stand or even see what was happening to Layla, bringing a heavy-set fist down on his chest. Warren felt all the air in his lungs escape with a whoosh, and he struggled to breathe even as Warden Two raised his fist again.
Layla let the cocoon drop to the floor, vines encircling herself and Warren, and in the next second - Warden One reaching for her throat and Warden Two aiming for Warren's chest - the cocoon sprang up to cover both herself and Warren.
"Hippie. Take it down. We've got to beat them," Warren said, his voice raspy.
"We will. But not in here. We're too closed off and - " Layla cut off sharply as fingers tore through her vines, light spilling into the small enclosed space.
Warden One grinned at her, wide and deranged, light and shadows flickering over his face from the flames surrounding them. "Come out and play."
...
Paddy loved what Curtis had done with the white space. He'd been hesitant about the yellow undercoat at first, but with the dimmed lighting option, it turned the walls from a stark white colour to a warm and soft gold.
"What do you think?" Curtis asked from the doorway, adjusting the lighting to return some of the white rather than gold.
"It's goddamn beautiful," Paddy admitted. "And the carpet's bloody gorgeous. The kids'll love it," he said, glad he'd let Curt convince him to take his shoes off to fully appreciate the soft and fluffy carpet.
"Best part about it is that those are carpet tiles, so if anything happens, it's easy to replace."
Paddy shook his head. "I don't think anyone but you thinks that's the 'best part,' Curt."
Curtis laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. C'mon, there's another ten to finish setting up."
"Ten? And you're sure you need my input for each one?"
"Yeah, they all have different undercoats. There's no red, though, that would just be traumatising," Curt said, wrinkling his nose.
"Okay, but... what's that?" Paddy asked, stopping in the hallway and peering down at the skirting board.
"Animal emergency door. They were in the specs; Honey added them to some of the apartments for the shifters. I thought you knew?"
"I did, but I thought they'd be bigger. What sort of animal's going to fit through that?"
"A bat?"
"A bat wouldn't be this close to the ground; they can fly right out the window."
"All right, then a rat."
"They can't all be rats," Paddy said, rolling his eyes.
"A platypus?"
"Have you ever seen a platypus shifter?"
"Well, no. But a friend of mine did when he went to Australia. They'd fit through that space, easy."
"No way; a platypus is too big for that."
Curtis held up a hand and jogged back to the white room, returning with a bunch of white pillows. "Look, this is the size of a platypus," he said, placing them on the floor in an approximate shape.
"No, it's not. They're bigger than that. And that's still not enough to fit a platypus or a pillow."
"Um, excuse me? You're blocking the hall. Why are you standing outside my apartment with a bunch of pillows?" Corvin asked, holding a box.
"We're trying to work out what would fit in the emergency animal exit."
"What do you shift into?" Paddy asked curiously.
"Paddy, you don't just ask someone what they shift into. Ignore him. Also, does that look like a platypus to you?" Curtis asked.
Corvin looked from the pillows to Curtis and Paddy. "They look like pillows."
Curtis scowled and grabbed the pillows to return them to the white space room, Paddy following as they continued to argue over the animal exits.
Corvin set the box down in the apartment - the living room was a fire hazard by this point - and went to his room to inspect the emergency exit for himself.
"Were you talking to someone, Core?" Ammie asked as he passed by.
"I think it was the designer and architect; their photos were on the pamphlet."
"Were you messing with them?" Ammie asked as sternly as possible while her attention was focused on a very delicate penguin cupcake.
"Only a little," Corvin said with a grin, shifting and hopping over on his talons to see if he could get out of the exit.
It was too small for him to fit through properly, and Patrick McKinnon was right: he had a window he could fly out of. Wondering why he had an exit that he couldn't even use, Corvin decided to mull on the answer while he unpacked some of the boxes.
It would really suck if they were the first apartment to set off the fire alarm, after all.
...
Terrence was shaking by the time Adam made it to the basement. He stared at Adam, the whites of his eyes showing, terror etched in every inch of his face.
Adam stopped short at the sight. "What's going on?"
"You need to help Terrence. He needs to get the collars off," Ry said.
"You need acid?" Adam asked, stepping forward with acid already building in his palm.
Terrence shook his head. "Strength."
Adam frowned. "To remove a collar?"
"It's... it's in their brains. Ace, Adam... I can't. Please," Terrence sobbed, his voice breaking.
"If we don't get the collars off, they can't leave. None of them," Honey added.
Adam looked from Honey to the three children, collars around their necks and a cluster of wires reaching into their skulls. "Holy fucking fuck."
Honey nudged Connor and Ry upstairs; almost shoving the former to leave the two teens alone. "I've got this. Go. Upstairs, they need you."
Connor looked to Terrence and Adam, and the three children, then forced himself to nod and follow Honey's direction.
"The collars, they're tech, right?" Adam asked, moving to the three children and looking at the collars and connection between skin and wire. "So, it's like pulling a plug from a computer. It's just... taking out a USB, yeah? Y'know, that shitty USB that I hate that never goes in on the first or second try? It's that USB jammed in them, that's all. You just gotta get the USB out, okay? Look, I'll help you. Gimme your hand."
"What?" Terrence asked, swallowing hard and certain he hadn't heard Adam right.
"Give me your hand. C'mon, dude. We got this, okay?" Adam said, holding his hand out for Terrence.
Eyes wide, mouth dry, and palm sweaty, Terrence forced himself to step closer to Adam, placing his hand against his.
He hated that these were the circumstances that would get Adam to hold his hand. Hell, it was probably the only chance he'd ever have, and Terrence hated that what he had longed for for so long would be marred by this experience. Still, he couldn't hate it entirely.
"All right. We're going to grab onto the wires together, okay? We're going to do that, and you're going to pull this ugly sonofabitch the fuck out of there, okay? And then I'm going to destroy that piece of shit with my acid, okay?"
Terrence nodded.
"Gotta hear the word, Terrence. Okay?"
"Okay."
Adam swallowed hard, trying not to show his own nerves. They weren't coming all this way via toothpaste teleportation just to leave these kids behind, so if Terrence needed his strength, then he'd get every last fucking ounce that Adam could spare.
"One, two, pull!"
...
Rain roared a battle cry from the top of the slide, barrelling down towards his sister with all the fierce determination of a four year old. Storm squealed loudly, and was pulled away from the slide opening by her older sister Candra, who glared over at Bader. "Would you mind helping?"
"Yes, yes I would."
Candra muttered under her breath, carrying Storm over to their brother and dumping her on his lap. Storm squealed happily at the new game, and grabbed at Bader's long hair.
"Whoa, no. You are sticky! Don't even think about it, Storm cloud," Bader said, grabbing her hands before she could touch his hair, wincing when he was right. She was sticky. "What did you eat?"
"Pepe gave us a lollipop," Storm said, sticking her orange tongue out for him to see.
"Of course he did. We'll go get ice cream later, okay?" Bader asked, grinning when Storm's eyes widened with glee.
"Bade, don't you dare. Mum's been feeling sick this last week."
Bader blinked at Candra's words, knowing exactly what she meant by that. Figuring his clothes were ruined already, he stood up and carried Storm back over to the playground, where Rain was pelting balls at the slide. "Jesus, again? Any bets on how many she'll have this time?"
"Obviously the condoms you bought them for Father's Day didn't last long," Daren called out, laughing.
"No one is ever to refer to that again; you all suck," Bader said, making sure neither of the tadpoles were watching before he flipped their brother the finger.
The door to the playground opened and Aleph walked in, two children and a woman following. Bader, Candra, Daren, and Eos all fell silent as they watched Aleph lead the children over to Rain and Storm, making an obvious show of putting their gloves on over their sticky hands. Bader stepped back, his feet guiding him over to his other three siblings and they watched with growing interest as their eldest brother flirted shamelessly with the civilian woman.
"He's cleaning those gloves, I don't care what anyone else says," Bader muttered under his breath.
Eos smacked his arm to shut him up. The woman looked over when Aleph indicated to them, and smiled shyly, waving. Daren fluttered his eyelashes and waved back, Candra punching him in the arm.
"Don't be a dick," Eos hissed.
"She's a civilian; it's not going to last," Daren said with a shrug, rubbing his sore arm.
"I'll punch you in the dick if you don't stop being a dick," Candra muttered.
Daren rolled his eyes and mimed zipping his lips shut.
"Do you think he's fucking around? He doesn't usually go after single mothers," Bader murmured.
"He wouldn't do that. Aleph likes dating and flirting, but he wouldn't do it to kids," Candra said, her tone promising pain for their eldest brother if he proved her wrong.
"Oh, shit. Rain's got his glove off," Eos said, running for the playground.
Thana's eyes widened when she saw that Damien had taken his glove off and was reaching out to shake the hand of a little boy with rainbow hair. She practically pushed Aleph out of the way to get to the playground, wondering if she should just call the ambulance now and apologise later. This wasn't going to be good.
Rain giggled as Damien shook his hand solemnly, the bright sound making everyone stop when neither child seemed to be in danger of the other.
"Um... I'm going to guess they're not citizens, either?" Aleph asked curiously.
"Poison dart frogs; what about you?" Eos asked with a wry grin.
"Death and disease. Are you... are you sure he's all right?" Thana asked, her heart hammering and feeling like she had some vital organ stuck in her throat.
"He'll be fine. Our poison works pretty fast. He's basically Damien-proof. Uh, wait, is he death or disease?" Aleph asked curiously.
"Disease," Thana answered, still feeling a little faint of heart.
"Rain, what were you thinking?" Bader asked, reaching up to grab Rain and pull him close, checking to make sure he was all right.
Storm buried her face against Daren's shirt and cried big fat tears, not sure why everyone was upset but not liking it either way.
"We got married," Rain said, defiant and confused by their reaction.
"You did what now?" Thana asked in surprise, looking between Rain and Damien.
"We got married," Damien repeated with a serious nod. "Rain's my wife now."
Eos buried her hands in her face and laughed.
"Oh, is he? Okay. I... I think I need a hug to congratulate you," Thana said, hoping her hands weren't shaking with the adrenaline and shock. "Gloves first, sweetheart."
Damien pulled his gloves back on and slid down the slide, Thana catching him and hugging him close. "You're not angry that we got married, are you, Mama?"
"Of course not. But what have I told you about touching people without your gloves?"
Damien winced. "I shouldn't?"
"Exactly. So you and Die can come help me unpack the car now, okay? Would... your wife like to join us?" she offered, looking to the group of siblings.
"We'll keep them in here, if you don't mind. Frogs and traffic don't mix well," Bader said with a wry grin.
Thana snorted a laugh, feeling some of the tension leaking from her shoulders. "Okay, I should've guessed."
"Why don't we look after your boys while Aleph helps you unpack?" Candra offered, nudging her older brother forward.
"Can, I don't... " Eos pinched Daren's side sharply and he hissed, continuing, "mind looking after two children who have the potential to kill me."
Thana shook her head. "I promise they're fine. If they keep their gloves on," she added firmly, Damien looking abashed as he always did. "Damien here has a tendency to take them off, but you'll only get a small cold, depending on how much he does or doesn't like you. Diablo is very well-behaved."
"And has the potential to kill us? Got it," Daren said, poking Eos before she could pinch him again.
"I wouldn't mean to!" Diablo said, eyes wide and expression far too close to tears.
"They know that, don't you?" Aleph said urgently.
"Of course. We probably wouldn't die anyway; we're strong enough to beat lots of things," Candra said, winking.
"Really? Can I get some of your blood?" Thana asked. She winced and blushed. "I'm a cytogeneticist, I work with DNA and blood. I designed their gloves to keep their power contained," she added.
"Daren's just being a... dumb-dumb head," Eos said, shaking her head at her own choice of words. "He also doesn't like needles; I can spare some blood," she added with a grin.
"I can, too. How about we talk more about your job while we unpack your car?" Aleph offered, ignoring his sibling's looks of disbelief.
They all knew he hated needles even more than Daren, but that wasn't the point. If a pretty woman wanted his blood, then she'd get it.
Aleph led Thana out of the playground and back to her car. As the playground door swung closed behind them, Aleph was sure he heard his quintuplet siblings laughing their asses off.
Dumb-dumb heads.
...
Connor followed Ry's ascent into the burning floor, trying to determine who needed him and where. It didn't take long to find out, Warren flying through the air and landing at his feet, his body bloodied and bruised.
Warren looked up at him, eyes unfocused for a second and then struggled to his feet. "They've got Layla."
"Not for long," Connor promised, his hand settling on Warren's shoulder. "Ryuu."
His son looked back to him, already halfway to the small office, and Connor made a series of hand motions. Ry nodded determinedly, then stepped back.
Connor's hand fell from Warren's shoulder as he ran forward, grabbing a picture frame off the wall, and rearranging the wooden pieces, the generic art drifting to the floor and catching alight.
Warren watched as Connor moved toward the office armed with nothing more than a wooden sword, and stepped forward to stop him. He couldn't win with that, not against the wardens. Ryuu stopped Warren, holding him up just as much as he was holding him back.
"Papa will be all right, you'll see," he said.
Connor stepped through the broken wall, the wardens turning to face him. Warden One grinned at the sight of the wooden sword, and stepped forward, hands clenched together in a tight fist to bring them down on Connor's head. He raised his arm and sword in return and Warden One howled in pain as the sword connected, blood spurting from wounds on his forearms.
"What the fuck?" Warren asked.
Ry glanced from his father to Warren. "It's the other part of our power: we can create weapons."
"Holy fuck."
Ry grinned broadly. "You should see what he can do when he really tries. You stay here for a second; I'll get Layla," he said, letting go of Warren and ensuring he could stay standing on his own before darting forward to get Layla's cocoon out of the office.
Connor was still pissed about the fact that Ryuu had been hurt, the sight of the kids with collars and wires in their brains not lessening the feeling at all, and he swung and fought against the two wardens with all his strength. He refused to let these sick bastards live after what they'd done to children. He was going to tear them apart limb by fucking limb and he wasn't going to be sorry about it, either.
Ryuu grabbed Layla's cocoon, lifting and carrying her back over to Warren while Warden One and Warden Two were distracted by his father and wooden sword. He set the cocoon down and knocked gently to let Layla know she was safe, the vines spooling on the ground below her a second later. She looked as bruised as Warren, a large black bruise already starting to form over her cheek. Warren touched it gently, frowning when she shied back at the barely-there touch.
"I'll kill them for hurting you, Layla. Sorry I didn't do it before," Warren said, even as he pushed himself off the wall, flames surrounding him and covering him. The flames from the burning building around him crept towards him, making their way up his body until he was covered completely.
"Get down, quick!" the seer called out, ducking and jumping, pushing Ry to the ground.
Blue flames stretched out from Warren in a fit of anger, knocking Connor and the wardens off their feet with their intensity, Layla's hair flying out around her head in a halo. The wardens recovered faster than Connor, making their way to the open door that the seer had exited, intent on gathering their wards.
Connor saw Warren walking past, the teenager barely aware of him, and looked around for Ryuu and Layla. He relaxed when he saw them where he'd left Warren originally, frowning on seeing a young bald child with them. Standing with his sword, Connor walked through the no-longer-burning floor over to the three children. The seer grinned and waved up at him shyly.
"Hello. What's your name?"
"Number 081."
"Nice to meet you. Can I carry you outside?"
The seer nodded and scrambled up into Connor's arms.
"We're not waiting for Warren?" Ryuu asked.
"He'll be fine. Layla will help and bring him back," the seer said firmly. "Now, downstairs. Quick!"
"You sure, Lay?" Ry asked quietly as Connor headed down the stairs.
"I'm sure. You go on," Layla said with a distracted smile, heading to the room where she could hear screams sounding.
Ryuu nodded and followed after his father and the seer.
...
Hyacinth finished reviewing yet another one of her older cases, adding notes to a post-it and sticking it to the front of the manilla folder. "All right. I'm not overturning that one; it was a hit and run, and the evidence showed they were there. They had the victim's DNA on their car bumper."
"All right, I'll add it to the pile," Victor said, taking the offered folder and placing it on the table across her office. The pile of cases to be left alone were smaller than the ones Hyacinth planned on reversing, and he felt a sense of accomplishment at the sight. "Are you done now or do you want to do another?" Victor asked. "We promised Honey we'd be at the apartment building by twelve," he said, looking to the clock.
"What time did we start this morning?" Hyacinth asked, blinking and rubbing her eyes. They were aching and she'd lost her reading glasses sometime in the last week.
"I don't remember. I saw the clock when we had coffee at six-thirty, but we were here for a while before then," Victor said, yawning widely as his body reminded him that he was only human.
"Ooh, I could use a coffee. I'll get started on one more case and then we can go. We've got enough time for another one if I get started while you get our coffees?" Hyacinth suggested with a grin.
"All right. I'll bring a pastry back, too," Victor said, seeing from her colours that she was hungry.
"Thank you," Hyacinth called after him, already turning her attention to the next case.
Victor was helping by arguing the cases, whether he had initially represented them or not. He was doing all of this pro bono, and often without informing the incarcerated person to begin with. Neither he nor Hyacinth wanted to bring someone's hopes up about being released if she wouldn't even consider overruling her initial judgment in the first place. There were, unfortunately, more cases than she would have liked that she did plan on reversing with a full pardon and probably a lot of apologising on her end. It made her wonder what she'd been thinking when she'd sent often-innocent people to prison.
Fewer people were calling on her to judge their cases now, especially if they didn't have all of their evidence or arguments prepared, but Hyacinth didn't mind. She was working hard and righting her wrongs, and that mattered more than taking on new cases. When she was finished with all of her old cases, then she could return to the bench and feel more confident with her decisions. Lawyers would start to request her again when they realised she wouldn't be fooled by bias and skewed information. Not anymore, not ever again.
There was a knock at the door that had Hyacinth looking up. She was about to stand to let Victor in, thinking he'd been fast at the cafe and had his hands full, when the door opened. Two people walked into her messy office, both dressed in black suits, and she recognised the minimalist business card one offered even before she'd read the single ten-digit phone number.
"What do agents from the Super Bureau want from the Maxville Supreme Court?" Hyacinth asked, adjusting herself and looking at them with all the muster of a woman who had been a judge for nearly thirty years.
"Not the court, Judge Salt. Just from you," one agent said, taking a seat across from her.
The other agent wandered the room - not that there was much space for wandering - and looked at the manilla folders and the post-its added to each with obvious interest and fascination.
"You can take a seat or you can leave," Judge Salt snapped.
The agent smiled, their lips thin, and moved to sit beside the other agent.
"Now, what exactly do you want me to do?" Judge Salt asked, doubting she was going to like the answer.
"It's not what we want you to do so much as it's what we want you to stop doing," the first agent said emphatically.
Hyacinth blinked. "And what is that?"
"You have been making waves, Judge Salt. You don't want to know what lives in the ocean you're disturbing."
Hyacinth frowned. "Are you threatening me or trying to get me to visit Maxville Aquarium? Speak plainly or get the fuck out of my office before I call Security."
"Stop reassessing your old cases, Judge Salt. You're messing with the wrong people."
"No, I believe I did that initially. You've said what you wanted, I presume? Made all the idle threats and whatever that bullshit was with the aquarium?" she asked, staring down the agents.
They nodded.
"Good. Message received. Get out of my office."
"You're not going to stop?" the second agent asked.
"These are innocent people's lives and they're not pawns for you to try to barter with. Get out!"
"I got you an almond... who're you?" Victor asked, frowning at the two people sitting in the chairs.
"They're leaving," Hyacinth snapped.
The agents stood and left, the second agent looking around the room again before Victor closed the door on them.
"Almond pastry, hazelnut coffee. Want to talk about it?" Victor asked.
"No. I want to do more of these cases before those bastards come back," Hyacinth said, her voice practically a growl. She took a large bite of her pastry and continued reading the case.
Victor sipped at his own coffee and ate his muffin with less angry chewing involved, and tried to work out what felt so wrong about the two agents.
An hour and three cases later, Victor stopped so suddenly that even Hyacinth noticed.
"Victor? Are you all right?"
"Fine, Aunt Cinth," he murmured, his voice distant.
He'd finally worked out what was wrong: neither of the agents had colours. After seeing them for so long, it was disconcerting to see two people completely void of colour or emotion. Even psychopaths had emotions. How did those two agents have nothing at all?
...
"Get ready, they're almost here!" Justina called.
"I've found it!" Robin called back loudly, trying to project their voice over the sound of the impending stampede and the screams from the building above them. "Ready for it?"
"Not yet! Almost!"
"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen... "
Justina had no idea who was counting, but a chorus of voices joined with the thin high-pitched voice coming from the direction of the building. She looked over as Connor and Ry walked out, a young child in Connor's arms.
"Eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven... "
Justina joined the count herself, her voice amplified by the microphone and speaker. Robin waited in the hole they'd dug, waiting to smash the device that controlled the force field stopping the animals from getting on the land.
"Three, two, one!"
Robin smashed their foot down, crystal and glass breaking beneath their heel, and the stampeding noise got louder and faster. Robin's eyes widened when they realised they were stuck in a goddamn pit with nowhere to go and what could be hundreds or thousands of animals headed their way.
"Robin, hurry up! Get your ass outta there!" Justina snapped from the top of the hole.
"Right!" they called, digging fingers into the earth and starting to climb up towards their friend and freedom. "Don't let them trample me," Robin added.
"I'll think about it," Justina called with a laugh.
...
Mr. Medulla had advised the juniors that they would have a Mad Science test on Monday, and strongly recommended that they prepare over the weekend. Will had studied for fifteen whole minutes so far and determined that Mad Science for the Modern Scientist was the most boring book on the planet. He had thought that Lionheart's autobiography was bad enough! Deciding to reward himself for making it through fifteen minutes, Will set aside the textbook and went online to check his fan page.
As he opened his browser, a red alert appeared on the top-right corner, which was his own personal alert as Airborne for any news about Westville. Clicking the icon, Will frowned when he saw Earthstone's name in the headline, rather than his.
Breaking news: live in Westville, Earthstone has captured another gang of thieves!
Airborne flew out of the window without a second thought. How dare Earthstone capture another gang of thieves? Westville was his territory!
Flying over to Westville, Airborne didn't have to find out what street they were on since Earthstone's big rocky body stuck out like a sore thumb. He flew over and landed in the middle of the street, glaring up at Earthstone. "What are you doing, Earthstone?"
Earthstone looked down at him in confusion. "Uh, capturing the Black Club gang and handing them to the police?"
Flying up into the air so he was directly in front of Earthstone, Airborne glared harder. "What are you doing in my territory, Earthstone?"
"Patrolling and keeping the citizens safe. It's not like you were here doing it."
Airborne's jaw dropped. "What did you just say?"
"I've been here every day for two weeks, Airborne, and this is the first time I've seen you. If you're going to be the Hero for Westville, don't you think you should be the one here every day?"
Airborne spluttered at the accusing tone. "I have been here every day!" he said finally, hands on his hips and striking an Authoritative Pose.
"Uh huh. And what have you achieved in the last two weeks? How to perfect your pose?"
"I've done more than that! What have you done?" Airborne snapped.
"I've stopped two gangs with connections to the Suite Quartet. From what I've seen, you've patrolled and stopped thugs from stealing a car from a mansion, and that's it."
Airborne had had enough. He flew up into the air and stopped right in front of Earthstone's face. "Remember what happened the last time I punched you, Earthstone?"
Earthstone glared at him. "I'm going to put these thieves down, and we're going to talk about this, Airborne. Like the professional Heroes we are," he added, all too aware of the news crew on the ground.
Airborne fumed as Earthstone set the citizens down. He was a professional Hero, but Earthstone wasn't! He had a contract with the Mayor and Earthstone didn't! He had a professional super suit and Earthstone didn't! He was Westville's Hero, not Earthstone!
"Thanks, Earthstone!" one of the police officers called, the unconscious gang members cuffed in the back of the police van. "See you at the meeting tomorrow."
"See you then, Officer Rodriguez."
Airborne's eyes widened. Earthstone was attending police meetings? Since when? And why? He hadn't been invited to anything to do with the police!
Earthstone looked away from the police and gathering crowd, and turned his attention back to Airborne who was an unsightly red colour. "Are you okay?"
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Westville is my territory!"
"According to my contract, Westville is my territory, too. I swore an oath to use my power to stop acts of villainy, both citizen and super."
Airborne had sworn that oath in front of the Mayor, too. "It was mine first! Westville isn't big enough for both of us!"
"It clearly is, if I haven't seen you patrolling every day for the last two weeks. We can split it, if you're that upset. We could cover more territory together," Earthstone offered reasonably.
Airborne glared. "No! I'm strong enough and fast enough to cover all of Westville by myself! I work alone!"
"So I've heard," Earthstone said, rolling his eyes. "You weren't very nice to the Commissioner of Police when he introduced himself; things like that travel fast."
"I... I was nice! I don't even remember meeting the Commissioner."
Earthstone grinned. "Clearly. You called him a beady eyed monster."
Airborne's mouth dropped. "I was talking about the prawns, not him!"
"The Commissioner doesn't remember it that way. Can I go now? You need to patrol over on Sycamore Street, don't you?"
Airborne puffed his chest out and straightened his shoulders. "Yes, I do."
Earthstone laughed, the sound like falling rocks. "Sycamore Street is in Maxville, not Westville. You should know your territory after almost six months of being Westville's Hero, shouldn't you?"
Airborne glared. He knew his territory! He just didn't remember street names and things were different from the air!
Earthstone kept laughing, even as he moved to pass Airborne.
"I was still talking!" Airborne snapped, shoving Earthstone with a significant amount of strength.
"Whoa! Careful, Airborne. There's three heritage listed buildings on this street," Earthstone said, stepping back carefully and trying not to squish any citizens on the ground.
Airborne clenched his jaw. Who knew or cared about that? They were just a bunch of buildings. He shoved Earthstone again, harder this time.
Earthstone caught himself from falling by grabbing a nearby skyscraper, rock fingers scratching the glass windows. He straightened up and glared at Airborne fiercely. "What are you doing?! We agreed to talk, nothing more can be said, so it's over Airborne. Go home."
"No! Westville is mine! It's not fair! You're stealing it from me!" Airborne said, an idea forming. "You're committing an act of villainy by stealing my territory."
Earthstone's jaw dropped at the accusation. Then he clenched his teeth and ground them together, pebbles falling to the street. "Well, you're committing an act of villainy by trying to push me over! There are citizens down there!"
Airborne glared. "So you're trying to hurt my citizens?!"
Earthstone raised an arm as Airborne flew at him with a fist pulled back. The punch landed solidly, but Earthstone remained powered up.
Airborne took that as a challenge and started to pummel his fists into Earthstone's rocky build, determined to make him shift back. The world would see Earthstone as he truly was: a kid who had no business being the Hero of Westville. That job belonged to a Stronghold.
...
End of the hundred and fiftieth chapter.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.
