Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Six
...
Grant wasn't super smart like the Incredible Genius reported to be and the Morton family were, but he still knew some things, often with an absolute clarity and certainty. Right now, he knew three things.
One: the Super Bureau had kidnapped him and they had done this sort of thing before; two additional passengers who were drugged, chained, and cuffed like he was helped cement that theory.
Two: they were heading to Montana. The setting sun and shadows gave him an approximate positioning for the direction they were heading, and it was a north-eastern direction, the same way Montana was situated from Maxville. The journey usually took a full 24 hours without stopping, and Grant surmised they were getting close.
Three: Layla and Warren were trying to find him and he couldn't let that happen. Not yet, at least. If he truly was being taken to Montana, then he'd be inside the organisation's building where [unknown] was being held. He could get a look at the inner workings of the organisation and Super Bureau, and try to help Layla and Warren from the inside. He could even find out where [unknown] was being held.
Keeping himself powered up to stop the brand was one of the hardest things he'd had to do. Grant was normally powered on, all day every day, but not while drugged and cuffed with power-repressing cuffs on top of it. The brand had worked through the drug quickly and he'd woken up in the early hours with little clue as to what had happened.
He felt sweat building on his back as the brand flared again. While it had been Warren's fire at lunch, this was a sharper pain from Layla's vines, and he clenched his teeth at the sensation. The pain faded gently, soft as flower petals, and Grant slowly relaxed in response. It was just a check in, not a rescue attempt, and he tried to convey his feelings clearly. Worry, concern, determination, and love. Fatigue coated it all, but he didn't dare fall asleep yet.
Across from him, a woman and man were still asleep. They'd both woken up briefly when the Super Bureau agents had stopped on the side of a deserted road to get them to urinate. Neither one had looked alert as they were manhandled out of the van, and their clothes were stained and damp when they returned. Grant had let himself become a heavy weight and done the same when it was his turn. His pants were uncomfortable but it was better than the alternative of being drugged again or looked at too closely for being too alert and aware.
A motion across from him drew Grant's attention to the woman, her eyes flickering and her head lolling like it was too heavy to support. "Wha... where am I?" she asked, her voice raspy from a lack of moisture.
"You're in a van; we're being kidnapped by the Super Bureau," Grant said.
Her eyes widened, then drooped closed again, and she struggled to stay conscious. "Why?"
"What's your power?" Grant asked, another idea coming to him with curiosity rather than clarity.
"Sand," she replied, her chin falling to her chest as the drugs kept her drowsy and compliant.
Grant was soon the only one awake, and stayed that way for another undeterminable length of time.
Across from him, the man woke up in a similar fashion and state as the woman. He had a power over metal, and as he struggled against the cuffs, his fear burned through the drug in his system. His fear soon turned to ragged shouts of desperation, calls for help that wouldn't come, and pleas for release that wouldn't happen. His noise brought the attention of the Super Bureau agents in the front seat, and at the press of a button, gas filled the back of the van.
As Grant tried to keep his breathing shallow to avoid inhaling too much gas, he knew with absolute certainty that this was the result of France and them rescuing the kidnapped children. Sand could be construed as dirt and how Robin had broken the force field, and the metal would have been the collars Terrence had removed. They'd left the collars behind with Adam's acid eating through what remained, but it clearly hadn't been enough to destroy all of the evidence.
His own presence with these two didn't make sense, at least when it came to France. Maybe Jetstream had worked out her power had been affected by an external influence? he thought as the gas knocked him out entirely.
...
"Zero, what are you doing here?" Corvin asked in surprise as the seer ran into the Hive far too late at night.
"I can help. I promised I'd help," Zero replied, eyes widening as he glanced behind him and then ran down the trap door into the lower Hive.
"Where is he? Did you see him?" Sport asked at the doorway, looking ready to run into the forest at a moment's notice.
"Zero went downstairs. If he's here, he'll be needed," Corvin said with a shrug.
"That's not the point. The kids are meant to stay at the Sanctuary, not sneak into my car and scare me half to death!"
"Mmm. Want a drink before you go down? Craig's going to stop time again in five minutes."
"Yeah, sure. What did you tell Ammie?"
"Having a sleepover at Craig and Ryuu's new place; what did you tell Ma?" Corvin asked curiously, heading for the kitchen.
"Working. I don't like lying, but it's a half-truth," Sport admitted.
Corvin made another sound of non committal, drinking a glass of water before refilling it as he waited for Sport to get a drink. "Ma wouldn't be upset about this, y'know. She's big on getting revenge and justice, no matter how they're achieved."
Remembering how Ammie had kissed him after hearing about the arrest of her husband's murderer, Sport could only nod in response. He still wouldn't be the one to tell her, especially not without discussing it with Corvin in more detail. First, they had other priorities to deal with.
"You've only got a minute to get downstairs! Quick, quick!" Zero called.
Corvin and Sport followed the seer with drinks in hand, heading down to the training arena where several walls were plastered with the final satellite images of the building Grant was being taken to. The surrounding landscape was barren, and a circle had been drawn to indicate where the force field was. It aligned with several road signs warning that trespassers would be prosecuted and shot, and not necessarily in that order.
"I see we have newcomers; when did they get added?" Sport asked Corvin, his voice quiet.
"Milo and Remi both got branded this afternoon. Mrs. Morton brought Remi over herself."
" - can't just turn up! The forcefield stops anything getting in and out; there isn't even an ant in that space!" Justina snapped.
"Well, they have to have a way to get through with the prisoners. Any indications or ideas from the traffic cameras, Adam?" Layla asked.
"Nothing sticks out on the road in or out of the forcefield; it's a normal road, potholes and all. I can't see anything different or special 'bout the Super Max Pen prison buses from any of the previous images, either."
"Maybe if I tear the fucking thing apart, we'll find something!" Craig called, a growl in his tone.
Sport glanced over automatically, then did a double-take when he saw Craig wrapped up with vines that were on fire. "What the - "
"He's fine; Layla and Warren are just keeping him in Ohio," Corvin said, nodding to where Warren was sitting beside Craig and holding his hand to help keep him calm.
Adam worked on his computer with Terrence projecting maps and images onto the far wall. Ryuu was discussing rescue options with Connor, Justina, Milo, and Layla. Pat and the frogs were talking with Remi and Robin about the possible opponents they might go up against. Zach kept up with Jewel who alternated between pacing and sitting, looking ready to fly out the door even without the power of flight. Donny, Ethan, Beau, and Wendy were discussing defensive tactics, with Beau wearing a power-repressing cuff on each wrist so he wouldn't accidentally power up and stop everyone's discussions again.
"What have you been helping with?" Sport asked.
"Defensive tactics. We're taking spikebombs, and if the wardens show up again, Robin's going to break them apart."
Sport had seen the aftermath of the wardens with Layla and Warren and how they'd been more bruise than body, but he'd heard about the wardens from the children at the Sanctuary, too. They still had nightmares about them, bringing them out of their apartments at odd times of the night and sometimes needing to talk to someone who would listen without judgement, or for help with washing machines and new bed linen. Zero was often found sleeping beneath a beanbag in one of the white-coated rooms rather than staying in his bed after one of those nightmares. Speaking of...
"Where's Zero?"
Corvin looked around the room, then nodded to a far corner where Zero was sitting in Honey's lap, hugging her firmly and whispering something that Sport doubted anyone else could or even should hear.
"The buses would work, but we can't just use random school buses or even Sky High buses; there has to be something in the prison buses to get them through the forcefield. They don't stop and they're already known by whoever's in the building in Montana!" Milo said, his skirt swishing around his ankles as he paced between the images of the prison bus and the forcefield.
"We have to work out how to get them in the first place, let alone work out how to use the buses for a rescue mission several states away! The Super Penitentiary won't let us go without a fight, and even if we win, we'll be lucky to get to Westville with the Super Bureau or someone else coming after us in the bright yellow buses," Layla said. "We have to fight there and then go on to fight again in Montana, and that's after a solid twenty-four hours of driving between the Special Forces guys. We can't depend on Craig to continually stop time like this; he'll be too exhausted to fight, and we need his duplicates."
Milo fell silent, Justina looking at the forcefield map, and Layla focusing on creating another box of spikebombs as both a distraction and a way to feel useful when she felt so very useless.
"What if... " Milo stopped, trailing off and shaking his head. "No, it's too much."
"We don't have any other ideas, Milo. Go ahead," Justina said, gesturing for him to talk.
Milo sighed. "Fine. What if... ah, fuck. What if we release the prisoners? They'll be so busy chasing after them that they won't care about the buses."
"They might think the prisoners are in the buses," Justina argued immediately, then frowned. "Unless... unless we release the prisoners first, then steal the buses while they're busy chasing after them."
Milo nodded and pointed at her excitedly. "Yes! Can we?" he asked, turning to look at Layla.
"I don't know," Layla said, trying to think of the good and the bad and all the other possible angles.
"I do," Honey said with a firm nod, her eyes red from crying, and holding tightly onto Zero's hand beside her.
...
The cry for help came from a woman this time and certainly not Guy, but Will wasn't disappointed, not at all. Her cries were the same sort of desperate pleas that Will had heard a hundred times before during Save the Citizen, though thankfully less robotic this time. Airborne sent a hurried text to Earthstone, then flew down towards the sound. He saw a woman stumbling after a thief who had her bag in hand, and with his arm outstretched, Airborne flew down to grab the thief just as Earthstone arrived, Larry's jet pack nearby.
"Unhand the villain, Airborne! He's mine!" Earthstone announced right as Airborne caught the thief by the back of the shirt and bodily lifted him off the ground.
"He is mine, Earthstone! I caught him!" Airborne replied, script stilted despite his practising.
Earthstone glared as best he could then moved forward as though he was going to rip the thief right out of Airborne's hands. Airborne flew back and up abruptly, making sure not to drop the thief or knock into the woman he'd just helped.
"Can I get my bag back, please?" the woman called, which was kind of ungrateful, really.
Earthstone reached up for Airborne and the thief, jumping up and landing hard a moment later. He'd missed both Airborne and the thief but had grabbed the bag, and turned to hand it to the woman quickly.
The woman looked between the two Heroes, uncertain about who to actually thank. "Thank both of you."
Airborne flew down closer and smiled broadly at her. "You're most welcome, citizen! Remember that Airborne came to your rescue today," he said, going a little off script but it was fine.
"And Earthstone returned your bag and belongings," Earthstone added, which wasn't in the script and not fine at all.
The woman nodded, clutching her bag to her chest and hurrying off before the Heroes' fight brought another building down.
"I'll call the police to assist, Airborne," Earthstone announced.
Airborne glowered, determined to tell him to stick to the script and plan next time.
"C-can you let m-me down now? Please? I won't do it again. I promise. I... I just... Please put me down," the thief sobbed.
Airborne and Earthstone looked at each other, then to the thief. "Are you scared of heights?" Airborne asked.
"Y-yes!"
"Wow. I didn't think that was a real thing. Like, how high? What if I go down here, is this okay?" he asked, closer to the ground.
Earthstone waved down a police car a few streets over, his rocky form towering over the smaller buildings; they'd chosen this street for that reason, after all.
"Uh... yes? Are you letting me go n-now?" the thief stammered hopefully.
Airborne shot up into the air, almost as high as a Maxville skyscraper. "And what about at this height?"
"Let me down! Let me down!" he screamed, a sound of pure and utter fear cutting off abruptly a moment later.
"Huh. That is so weird. I've never been scared of heights, but I guess that's what happens when your mother can fly, hey? Oh, I can see the police from here. Let's hand you over... Uh, thief? Are you all right?" Airborne asked when he realised the thief had gone limp in his hand. "Oh, shit."
" - and I saved the day, of course. Airborne is just... teaching the thief a lesson he won't ever forget. It could be part of the reformation program, and, oh, there he is with the villain I caught," Earthstone added hurriedly and earnestly and just a touch too loudly.
Airborne landed beside them, trying to wave his hand in an 'abort mission' sort of way while still holding the thief in one hand. Earthstone frowned at him, then saw the blue tinge to the thief's lips.
"I believe he fainted from fear. We should go and continue our patrol. Thank you for your hard work, Officers," Airborne said.
"Yes. We need to... continue patrolling this fine city. Goodbye," Earthstone said, hurrying away as fast as his large frame would allow.
Airborne flew ahead and around the corner before the police officers could stop him.
Larry shifted as soon as he could, putting a hat on to cover his bright red hair, and hurried to get his jet pack before it was stolen. He needed to get to the rendezvous point to find out just what in Super God's name had happened with the thief.
...
"Welcome to Maxville's Evening News, I'm Tasha and tonight's headline: Airborne and Earthstone captured a villain in Westville today, but the thief soon died of a heart attack. It seemed the unemployed man was a serial bag snatcher and known to police. His wife has gone on record stating he was trying to get enough money to save for a heart transplant and no one would employ him despite his Doctorate degree in metaphysical engineering. Viewers, I am sure you good citizens do not need to be reminded that this is not the way to go about saving money for medical expenses.
"Airborne and Earthstone have been fined for not taking the villain straight to the police, but rather attempting their own brand of rehabilitation and justice. The villain's wife has requested legal aid to sue for manslaughter, though a pre-existing condition and his own villainy may be her downfall," Tasha said firmly.
She kept her expression neutral, as was required of her, even if the thought of Airborne brought up another thought of him naked in her bed. She'd had plenty of sex before and since then, but there was a certain thrill in having super sex, especially with a super as well-known as Airborne. It wasn't like there was a dating service that let regular citizens match with supers, unfortunately. It really was a shame that he'd blocked her number.
"In other news, the search for the missing tattoo artist, Kai, and his wife have now come to an end. It seems the money raised to continue the search was not enough to last indefinitely. A memorial service will be held at Sharp 'n' Pointy tattoo parlour this weekend.
"The search for the missing father of five, however, is still continuing with Xander's wife providing additional funds to expand the search beyond Ohio's borders. The public are being asked to come forward with any potential leads, suspects, or witnesses. A purely heart-wrenching video from his tearful youngest child begging for his Daddy to come home has been released along with his wife's plea."
Tasha's serious expression fell as the camera moved away from her to show the snotty three year old begging and wailing for their father. She didn't get what the big deal was; it was obvious that the man had realised he had far too many children with a woman who was getting older and uglier with every passing interview, and had left to enjoy his money and mistress. The tattoo artists had either left so they wouldn't have to pay for their shop on top of all of their other expenses, or it was drug related. Anyone who had a speck of intelligence would think the exact same way.
"Such a poor child; I hope his father's found again soon," her co-anchor said with what was obviously a TV-appropriate frown.
"Let's hope so," Tasha replied, then smiled and continued to read out the news headlines. "For all you art lovers out there, Chicago has a brand new art installation: the Copper Bean. The Copper Bean is made from pure copper and shaped like a coffee bean. The artist said it is a metaphor for the citizens' dependence on superheroes, much like its caffeinated counterpart."
"Mute that for a sec, would you?" Donny asked, waving at the TV and hoping whoever had the remote would do as he asked.
"What's up?" Adam asked, muting the TV.
"I've been trying my power through radios and TVs and phones, shit like that. I got a read on Tasha as clear as a bell, and fuck, I wish I hadn't."
Adam looked between the smiling anchorwoman and Donny, who had his eyes closed and was rubbing his temples like it would stop the impending migraine. "I'm guessing it's not sympathetic or empathetic in any way, shape, or form for that little kid who's dad's gone missing?"
"Fuck no, but it gets worse. She had sex with Will Stronghold."
Adam looked nauseous. "What the actual fuck?"
"And she recorded it."
Adam shuddered. "Wait... recorded it on what device? I can't do shit if it's a voice recorder, but if it's her phone? That I can work with."
Donny looked at the screen and focused on Tasha for a moment. "It's on her phone."
"Awesome. I mean, it's really not, and I'm totally squicked out by it. After we've got Grant back, want to help me drag her down?" Adam asked.
"Kicking, screaming, and in the most painful way possible," Donny confirmed with a nod.
Adam turned the volume back on at a lower setting, then headed back to the training arena with Donny where their friends were still discussing ways to break into the Maxville Super Penitentiary and release all of the prisoners.
...
Bill couldn't get Agent C's words out of his mind about G's recalibration and how he'd be retired if it didn't stick. Retirement at the Super Bureau certainly didn't involve a remuneration payout and the rest of a person's life to relax or take up a hobby. He hadn't seen G in two days and while it wasn't unusual since G still went out in the field every so often, Bill couldn't stop himself from thinking the worst had happened.
He hadn't heard of a recalibration taking place; surely one of the agents would have been there for G's retirement if it had happened. Though they might not have thought to tell him about it, he mused.
There were two things he could do: call G to find out where he was, which he'd never done in their twenty years at the Super Bureau; or he could access the GPS bouncy ball he'd put in G's coffee and hope it was still in his system. Not only was it the smallest bouncy ball he'd ever created, but it was designed to withstand stomach acid. At least, he hoped it had survived; he knew G's eating habits and the old goat would and could eat nearly anything, so maybe his stomach acid was stronger than normal?
"Ah, fuck it. I ain't twisting myself into a bundle'a nerves a minute longer," Bill groaned.
He flicked through his phone, opened the app, and held his breath as it took a moment to load and access the GPS device. Bill frowned at the longitude and latitude that was displayed, zooming out to see the map on his phone properly. Why the hell was G in Montana?
Bill switched apps and made a call, waiting impatiently as it connected. "Hourglass, why is G in Montana? He's meant to be here for the next stage of recruits."
Honey waited until Bill had taken a breath before answering. "Project Family was destroyed so there should be no more recruits, Bill. G's in Montana because he's one of the agents transporting a friend of mine that was kidnapped last night."
Bill shook his head. "You've got your wires crossed on something, darlin'; we've got new recruits arriving at the end of the week. Mr. A told me himself. I'll take your word about G, though."
Honey frowned. "Mr. A told you? Recently? Okay, did he give you any indication where they're coming from? We stopped Project Family - "
"He said they were a backup and Project Family would recover its losses within the year. I can give you numbers," Bill said, flipping through a folder. "493, 520, and 368."
"What? That can't be right, 368 is... "
Deimos was joining the Super Bureau? If he'd been willing to do it, he would have graduated from Project Family when he had the chance. Scientist Thirteen hadn't said anything about Deimos being transferred, either. This just didn't make any sense!
"Sorry to end it early, but I've got another meeting to get to. Can I call you back? Excellent, talk later," Bill said, ending the call as his office door opened. "Ah, good to see you, M. I see you were partnered with T after all."
T, formerly 21, had seen what was left of 20 as she'd been brought into the room with the machine. That terror and disgust had overridden anything the machine had attempted to do to her, but she was a quick study and had copied her colleagues to avoid rousing suspicion. Once she'd shaken Mr. A's hand to accept her new position within the Super Bureau, she'd been offered the designation U to keep in line with her number. She had requested T to ensure the lettering continued correctly, as would be emotionless and logical. Internally, she'd resolved to never forget what the Super Bureau had done to her friend, and what might have happened to herself.
"Good morning, Agent B. M has told me you have a mentorship position available," T said, keeping her voice monotone and expression blank.
"Ah, that's right, T. Charlie, get the door for me, please?"
"Sure thing, Bill."
Once it had swung shut and stayed closed, Bill gestured for M and T to sit down. "Go on, now. I don't bite and I won't tell anyone you've still got your emotions, lass. Just like M there," he said with a nod, T barely refraining from looking at her partner in surprise. "It's a tough mask to wear, ain't that the truth of it? Now, so long as Charlie's got that door shut, you're free to emote in here. Go ahead, let it all out."
"Oh, my god, I can't stand R! The prick is an even bigger jerk now that he doesn't feel anything. Before he could at least shut up if enough people peer pressured him into it, but now he just doesn't care and fucking steamrolls over everyone and everything else!"
T had been worried that this was a test, but on hearing M rant, complete with their arms waving around and displaying more emotion than she'd seen from anyone in a week, she felt a shudder of relief. Then another shudder racked her body as T finally had the space to process and feel properly. She was crying in a minute, her words coming through hiccoughing sobs. "They killed 20. That... that machine, it killed 20 and then... then they dragged me into it without even cleaning the blood off first."
M stared at T as she bawled her eyes out, and felt like their own complaint was minuscule in comparison. "Fuck, you've been carrying that around all week, T?"
She nodded, sniffled, and accepted the tissues that Bill offered her. "I couldn't risk saying anything. No one else feels anything anymore," T said, nauseous at the thought.
"I do. We're going to bring them down, T, I promise," M said with more conviction than Bill felt after his most recent phone call with Hourglass.
Seers couldn't be wrong, could they?
Swallowing hard and knowing he couldn't rely on Hourglass to do everything, seer or not, Bill looked at the two new lettered agents in front of him. "How do you feel about going on the Montana rotation?"
...
"I can stop time when we get them, and we can drive straight through the state lines; they won't look for them outside the state, at least not straight away!" Craig said.
"We can't rely on you stopping time, Cee; you'll be needed for Montana when we get there, and you know how exhausting Chrono's ability can be for you," Layla said firmly.
"I know, but I don't like Eth's solution. It has so many ways it could go wrong."
"So does yours," Ethan said defensively. "I know it could go wrong, that's why yours is the back-up plan."
"You're sure you can do this, Popsicle?" Warren asked, hoping he sounded firm rather than accusatory.
Ethan swallowed hard and nodded. "I will test it on one of the monster trucks in the gymnasium tomorrow morning and confirm, but I am ninety-nine percent positive it will work."
"Without bloating you?" Warren asked.
"That's the remaining one percent," he admitted.
"You're sure about this, Honey? Like, two-hundred percent sure?" Champ asked, looking between the board with the current plans, backup plans, and 'oh shit, everything's gone to Hell' plans.
Honey winced at the question. "Maybe lower it to ninety-nine percent, then yes. It's difficult to hit a hundred when Grant's power keeps flickering in and out; I'm pretty positive up to the Montana state border, but from there... well, it's either fuzzy or completely gone."
"It's the same for me, too," Zero piped up.
"We've worked with less before," Sport prompted Champ, who didn't look pleased at the reminder.
"I need something to eat, and then I'm going to go through that backup plan. Killer, love, darling, light of my life, you'll look at the main plan for me and make sure we won't be killed, won't you?"
"I won't let you be killed, Champ. But yes, I'll look over the plan. Kid, help me out and see if your survival instincts start tingling?"
"That's not how it works, and you know it!" Kid called, even as he went to join Killer at the board.
"Hey, Warren, you okay?" Layla asked, taking his hand in her own and squeezing gently.
"I'm worried about Grant; I did a check-in and it's not good, hippie. I don't want to tell the others, but I know they need to know."
"All right, we can tell them once we've all eaten, how about that?" Layla offered, Warren nodding in relief. "I was also asking if you're okay because of what we're planning on doing with the prisoners. Your father - "
"Not right now, hippie. Please, this isn't where or when I want to talk about him."
"All right. Later though?"
Warren swallowed hard and kept his concentration on the Montana map in front of him. "Later. Thank you. Y'know, for checking."
"Of course. I would have done it sooner had I known what Milo and Justina were going to propose," Layla said, then forced herself to stop - Warren had said this wasn't the time or place, so she wouldn't exacerbate it further - and turned her attention to the Montana map. "There's not much in the way of roads or traffic, is there?"
"No, but I suppose they want it that way; less traffic means there's fewer people potentially hearing or seeing something as they pass by the building."
"Imagine getting lost out there and pulling in to ask for directions?" Layla asked, a smile quirking at her lips.
"I doubt they'd get far; there's two guarded gates. We'll be lucky to get through the first intact, and if it's both without any alerts going up, I'll go to church and thank Super God myself," Warren said, trying not to show how worried he was about all of this going wrong.
There were so many worse things than death, and there was no guarantee that they'd be persecuted or killed if they were caught.
"Everyone's come up with several plans to get through. I think the main idea is good in theory. As long as it all goes to plan, we'll all be fine," Layla said, squeezing his hand again.
Warren squeezed back hard and brief in return. "Yeah. We'll all be fine."
...
Will flew through the air as fast as he inhumanly could, stopping abruptly and disrupting so much air that Magenta's window shattered. "Oops. Maj, you ready?" he called, brushing the pieces of glass that remained off the broken frame and down onto the ground below.
"Yes! I'm here," Magenta squeaked, shifting on her desk and glad she'd had the foresight to stand to the side as Will arrived.
"Great, let's go. We've got a villain to catch, Shifter," he said eagerly, scooping her into his hands and tucking her into his suit.
"You really think this one will get villains actually booking in?" Shifter squeaked as he flew them back to Westville.
Airborne wasn't flying quite as fast this time, but they were on a deadline so he was as close to 'as fast as inhumanly possible' as he could be without injuring his Sidekick along the way. "Yes, I'm certain of it. This one will be the first time we're properly paid, too!"
Magenta decided not to bring up the fact that she'd already been paid since Will was still sore about the technicality and not being paid himself. She was still upset about the whole "your money is our money" schtick that Josie had pulled, but had decided to keep the peace with her future mother-in-law and future husband by not telling Will about it.
"Awesome! Let's kick evil's ass!"
"I don't think that's family friendly, Shifter. We'll need to think of a different catchphrase."
"Let's kick evil's butt?"
Airborne stopped flying and didn't respond. He stopped in front of Westville's American Bank of America, landing on the street and looking into the bank's windows. Several people were lying on the ground, and five people in masks were behind the counters, several tellers looking terrified as they typed or emptied registers.
His first real, true fight and it was a bank robbery! Maybe he'd get that sack of money, after all!
Airborne smashed through the window, glass splintering easily beneath his gloved fist. "Your time's up, robbers! Airborne and Shifter are here to stop you! Put your hands in the air and we might show you mercy," he added smugly.
One of the robbers looked at another robber, who nodded firmly in response.
That must be their leader! Airborne thought, flying towards them with his fist outstretched.
The leader pointed a gun directly at him, Airborne grit his teeth and continued flying forward, and just as he punched the villain, a gunshot rang out. The noise was echoed by several screams from the citizens lying on the floor, even as the leader crumpled to a heap and the bank teller ducked low to hide beneath their desk.
Airborne let out a laugh as he realised they'd missed him. Even from this range, they'd still managed to miss him entirely! What a pathetic villain!
Airborne felt Shifter trembling beneath his suit, and reached up to release her so she could assist the citizens while he rounded up the villains now that their leader was unconscious. He felt something wet, rather than his suit zipper, and Airborne frowned in confusion as he looked at his fingers, his mouth dropping open in horror as he saw them coated in blood.
...
End of the hundred and eighty-sixth chapter.
Thanks for reading!
