Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or its characters, settings etc, all of which belong to Disney. Original characters and concepts belong to me.
Chapter 12: Control Freak
When Hypnotic was finished with her list of commands, she turned to Layla. "Release them from their restraints and the neutralization."
"Actually, we can take off the neutralizers ourselves," chirped Zach, cheerfully giving away part of their plan.
Layla, Maj, Kate and Ethan turned to him in shock, but before they could react, Will removed his own neutralizer and broke out of the rosebush branches. He flew over to Layla, snapping the bracelet around her wrist instead and twisting her arm behind her back so that she couldn't reach it with her other hand.
He turned to Ethan, Magenta and Kate. "If you think you can remove your neutralizers, get out of your thickets and rescue her before I kill her, go ahead," he challenged them.
"You can stop pretending now, Will," Layla pleaded desperately in a low tone, even though she had little hope that this was an act.
"No, you can stop pretending," he replied coldly. He dragged her over to where Zach was imprisoned and, using his other hand, he broke the thorny bushes to free him. "Remove their biometrics from the neutralizers," he instructed.
As Zach took his miniature screwdriver out of his back pocket and began his task, Hypnotic, who had been watching all of this with an unimpressed expression, demanded impatiently, "What are you doing?"
"Obeying your order to not allow anything to hinder your plan," Will responded. "This imposter has only been acting as if she's under your control. She and her little friends here," and he indicated Kate, Maj and Ethan, "have taken an antidote that makes them immune to your orders."
While he was talking, Layla used her free hand to fish in her pocket for her spare syringe of the antidote. She aimed the auto-injector at his arm, but he was no longer neutralized so the needle just broke when she tried to inject.
"Nice try, kid," he snapped, and held out her wrist to Zach who opened a panel on the neutralizer with his screwdriver and flicked some miniature switches. When he was finished, Will let her go, and she didn't even bother trying to take off the bracelet.
Maybe Warren had been right that it was a bad idea to go into this situation without backup. Much as she hated being the damsel in distress, a nice heroic rescue would be very welcome right now…
'She and her little friends here have taken an antidote that makes them immune to your orders.'
Denise just sat staring at the monitor in shock. How could the antidote have worked on some of them but not Will and Zach? If it was only Will then there was the possibility that the physiology of his super-strength might have played a role in…
She abruptly shook herself from her scientific reverie; this wasn't the time for that. Right now she needed to call for reinforcements, so she reached for the phone number for Will's parents which Zach had taped to the side of a monitor. But there was no answer, from their regular phone or their emergency cell phones. It seemed that the Commander and Jetstream were off on a distress call, so Denise left a message on their voicemail, hoping desperately they would get it soon.
As she put the phone down, she glanced at the TV news just in time to see a flame construct in the form of a phoenix hovering over a recently extinguished fire, and she smiled, knowing exactly what it meant. At least something was going right.
Warren would probably be back soon, so it would be an idea to find out what went wrong with the antidote for Will and Zach. She went down one level in the elevator to the lower floor of the Guardians headquarters, and went into Ethan's lab.
Re-reading her and Ethan's research notes on his laptop, she took a flask of the antidote off the shelf and automatically swirled it to mix up the ingredients that had settled out while it was standing. Suddenly she realized what she was unconsciously doing and stopped reading to stare at the flask in her hand. She put it down quickly and grabbed the five syringes they had used for the antidote injections. Decanting a small amount of clean water into each one, she rinsed them carefully and poured the contents into five test tubes.
Leaving her little experiment to settle, she headed back upstairs to see how the others were doing, only to find that the monitors were all blank. She rewound the tapes, and it seemed that Will had destroyed the sunglasses' cameras, evidently seeing that as part of obeying Hypnotic's last order too. Replaying the final few minutes of footage before the monitors were all dead, the last thing Denise heard was Hypnotic saying, presumably to Will, 'Now you will take us to the Ultra-Max and you will –', after which the video feed was lost.
The Ultimate Security Prison for super-powered offenders? What could she want there? Just another thing about this whole set-up that was totally out of character. It was a well-known fact, almost a trademark, that Hypnotic worked alone and she was on no one's payroll. So who could she possibly be wanting to break out?
Musing over the oddities of the situation, Denise went back down to Ethan's lab to check the test tubes. As she'd suspected, there were tiny crystals in the bottom of two of the test tubes that had evidently been left behind in the syringes. She could rule out the possibility of it just being a coincidence because she knew that if the antidote was missing any of its ingredients it simply wouldn't work.
Just then the elevator arrived with a ding.
"Welcome back," said Denise without looking around.
Warren smiled slightly, knowing she meant more than just to the building, and crossed to Ethan's cabinets next to her. After a few moments of searching he found a bottle of the headache cocktail Ethan had developed for him, and he handed it to Denise. "Could you fill a syringe for me, please?"
"How bad is it?" she asked sympathetically, taking the bottle and picking up a new syringe.
"Not too bad."
She finished with the syringe and handed it back to him. "If you need an injection, how can it be 'not too bad'?"
"I was expecting it to be a lot worse. I should probably be passed out by now, not that I'm complaining." He flicked a neutralizer around his wrist and injected himself. "How's it going with the others?" he asked as he sat down at Ethan's desk to wait for the medication to take effect.
"Fine up until the antidote didn't work on Will and he destroyed the surveillance equipment."
"Zach must've gone spare."
"Uh no. It didn't work on him either."
Warren looked up sharply and instantly regretted the sudden movement. "Any idea why not?" he asked, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.
"I have a pretty good idea actually. Judging from the precipitate remaining in two of the syringes – "
"The short version, please. I already have a headache."
She rolled her eyes, which he fortunately couldn't see, and tried a different approach. "It's like when you haven't stirred the sugar in your coffee properly. It doesn't taste as sweet and there's some left behind in the cup."
Warren mumbled something about drinking his coffee without sugar, and then he pulled himself together. "Okay, so it's a question of what, making sure the antidote's stirred properly?"
"Yes, it requires agitation. You need to shake up the syringe before administering the dose. I know, it's ridiculous that the problem should be something so simple, but –"
"Yeah yeah. How much more of the stuff do you have ready?"
"Plenty, and I think you're going to need it."
"Why?"
"The last order I heard her give was for Will to take her to the Ultra-Max."
"So this is all for a prison break?" Warren thought for a bit before saying, "I'm assuming the two of them will still be under her control even in there?"
Denise nodded and was about to elaborate, but he got up carefully and went over to Zach's workshop. She trailed behind him curiously as he crossed to a cupboard in the corner, warning her to stand well clear as he opened the door from as far to one side as he could. The reason for his caution became clear when the door opened and an avalanche of gadgets from the cupboard poured out over the floor.
"What's that lot?" she asked.
Warren started hunting through the scattered debris of half-broken gizmos. "Super villains' weapons and other toys confiscated by Stronghold over the years. But, unlike his father who has all of his trophies on display, Will just gives his to Z to play with."
"What are you looking for?"
"Well, I reckon Stronghold might think it a little suspicious if I just waltz into the Ultra-Max, apparently on some sort of rescue mission, unarmed." He picked up a tranquilizer dart gun which appeared to be in working order.
"Yeah, but can you even shoot with a gun?" Denise pointed out.
"Never tried." He took a shot at the cushion on a nearby couch but his aim was way off. "Okay, apparently not. But Stronghold doesn't know that, so I can at least look the part." He fetched the dart that he'd just fired and handed it to her. "Can you fill this with the antidote?"
She looked at it doubtfully as she took it. "With that little volume, the effects will be minimal."
"Yeah, well, so are my chances of actually hitting anyone."
Denise smiled slightly as realization dawned. "It's a red herring."
Warren nodded and then changed the topic. "At least she won't be able to get anyone else under her control in there."
"You wish. Her powers are required only in creating the substance." She handed him the tranquilizer dart when she was finished with it, and he loaded it into the gun. "After that, the power neutralization zone will have no effect on administering it and giving orders."
"Then why this elaborate scheme to infiltrate the Guardians? Surely she could just 'hypnotize' her way past the guards and the security systems and everything?"
"Oh I'm sure she could 'hypnotize' her way in, that's subtle enough to not draw too much attention; the problem would be trying to get anyone out," Denise explained as she filled a number of syringes with the antidote. "She has to be in physical contact to administer the substance and give the orders. There are so many guards and people watching security cameras, some of them even from remote locations, that it would be really difficult for some arbitrary person to just walk out with a band of convicts." She handed him one of the syringes, which he shook up and then injected himself.
"So she recruits a little army to do her dirty work, and because they're heroes they're free to leave with a few bad guys in tow," he surmised as she took the syringe back and checked that no residue had been left behind in it.
"Sure, if Will Stronghold tells the security forces that he's got orders to transport some prisoners, who'd even think they need stop him?"
"Mmm," Warren agreed. "Okay, I think that's probably enough. I need to get going." He took the syringes and put them carefully into the hidden pockets in his long coat. Picking up the dart gun he walked over to the elevator and hit the 'up' button. As she got into the elevator with him, he continued, "You'd better call the NCS for a clean-up crew to set up a blockade around the prison, but no one else goes in."
"You don't want to risk further contamination," she guessed.
"Yeah, also the guards in there are armed and there's a chance she's controlling at least some of them. If the military start storming the place, it could turn into a shootout."
On the upstairs level, Warren ducked behind the screen to quick-change into his uniform. He took an old pair of aviator sunglasses out of his locker, reckoning that Will would trash them as soon as he could so it was pointless to take a working pair.
"Warren, be careful," Denise said as he put the sunglasses on. "Some of the first orders she gave them were to not feel pain or fear for their lives, or let anything interfere with her plan. That's going to make Will more dangerous than you'd expect him to be with his powers neutralized. Zach too, actually. Don't underestimate him either."
"Thanks. Any tips for dealing with Hypnotic herself?"
She shrugged. "All you can really do is nullify her minions with the antidote and don't let her make any more. Without them she's pretty defenseless. The trick is knowing whether you've got them all – she could have some arbitrary person lurking somewhere and all she has to do is give an order… "
"Right." Warren picked up a roll of duct tape that was lying on Magenta's desk, and then went upstairs to the roof and flew off in the van.
"Sorry, no visitors today," said the guard at the first security checkpoint of the Ultra-Max, without even glancing up. Warren just leaned on the counter and after a few moments the guard looked up and, when he realized who it was, exclaimed, "I thought you were dead!"
"I'm much better now, thanks," the pyro replied dryly. "Had any guests recently?"
"Uh, yeah, Eagle, Lumo and some civilians came to do a prisoner transfer."
"Right, well, I've come to help with that."
The guard thought about that for a moment, a delayed reaction which was a clear sign he was trying to check Warren's statement against his programming from Hypnotic, and then answered, "Okay. They're in the central control room next to the courtyard."
So far so good, and so Warren decided to push his luck a little. "You wanna let the guys at the other security checkpoints know that I'm coming? We're kinda on a tight schedule here and I really don't have time to keep going through all this."
This required a little more thought from the 'hypnotized' guard, but in the end he agreed. "Sure." Warren gave him a short smile and headed down the corridor. "Good to have you back, sir!" the guard called after him.
"Yeah, yeah," Warren muttered to himself. He passed the other checkpoints with ease and made his way to the central control room. All around him the activity of the prison seemed perfectly normal, which suggested that Hypnotic's plan to avoid suspicion was working.
The door to the control room was closed, and the only other entrance was through the courtyard, so he had no option but to simply walk in. He didn't really have the element of surprise at this point anyway, particularly considering all the security monitors in that room which would no doubt have given his presence away long ago.
It appeared that Will was trying to pull rank on the warden seated at his desk, while Hypnotic and Zach stood to one side. Warren noticed that his two friends were dressed in their uniforms, which certainly made things appear official. There had been a lot of debate that morning (was it really only that morning?) about whether or not to pack their uniforms, and now it turned out that the decision to take them was ironically helping Hypnotic's ruse to look more legit.
Beyond the warden's desk was a large window overlooking the indoor courtyard, where Warren could see an assembled group of super villain prisoners, including some rather familiar faces. As he watched, another prisoner was escorted to the courtyard by a guard, apparently at Will's instruction.
Layla and the others were strapped to chairs with cable ties in the corner closest to the door he had just entered. A security guard was covering them with his submachine gun. He appeared to be the only one of Hypnotic's crew who had noticed Warren's presence, but he didn't seem at all alarmed.
"I'm with them," said Warren softly, pointing to Hypnotic, Will and Zach.
"I know, sir," replied the guard, indicating his ear piece. Evidently the guard at the first security point had tipped this guy off too.
Warren nodded in response and walked quietly towards the desk where the warden was arguing with Will.
"I'm sorry, Eagle, but that's the regulation," he was saying, standing his ground despite Stronghold's imposing stance at his desk, "I can't allow prisoners from the D.I. row to be released into your custody without authorization from the National Council of Superheroes."
Warren raised his eyebrows at that. It suggested the possibility that Hypnotic was in league with inmates from the Dangerously Intelligent section of the solitary confinement wing, which could explain quite a lot.
The super villainess sighed impatiently and injected the warden with her spiked ring. As she was ordering him to release the prisoners she asked for, Will looked around and noticed Warren coming up behind him.
The pyro put up a bit of a fight for the sake of appearances, and then, with a suitably defiant glare, allowed Will to disarm him of the dart gun.
"This is my gun, you fool," Stronghold sneered. "Did you think I wouldn't know this is a lame attempt to dart me with that antidote?"
Even without his powers he was strong enough to smash the gun. As Warren had hoped, Will then seemed to be satisfied that he had successfully disarmed him. After destroying the sunglasses as expected, Will didn't search him further, which meant that the other syringes of the antidote were safe.
Hypnotic also seemed to think he was harmless. "I expect you've taken this antidote too?" she questioned, but he didn't bother answering. "Even so, you're powerless to stop me."
"Are you sure about that?" Warren asked as he casually tried to position himself within arm's reach of both Will and Zach.
"Why shouldn't I be?" she countered. "I am busy releasing some of the State's most powerful super villains, and very soon, they will all be controlled by one person."
"Let me guess, that person would be you."
She just stared at him for a moment and then, instead of answering, she turned around to view her future army, only to find that she had a mutiny on her hands. The gathered prisoners had evidently worked out that they far outnumbered the guards and made the most of the opportunity. In a few moments they were holding two of the guards hostage with their own weapons, but neither side was prepared to back down.
Hypnotic seemed to take a few seconds to realize that she needed to get the situation under control. Pressing an intercom button on the warden's desk, she snapped, "Security to the Central Control Room!"
Warren made use of the distraction to take out a pair of syringes and shake them up, about to inject Will and Zach when Hypnotic turned to them and ordered, "You two – go and sort them out!"
As her two minions headed for the other door which led to the courtyard, Warren made an attempt to inject Will, who was closest to him, but Will caught his wrist and gave it a crushing squeeze until the pyro had to let go of the syringe in pain. With a scornful look, Stronghold stood on the auto-injector as he reached for the chair next to him and swung it at Warren.
The blow crashed painfully into his ribs and threw him off balance, but thanks to years of training he managed to land on his feet in a low crouch. In almost the same motion he swung one leg around, hooking Will's ankle and knocking him on his back, but Stronghold was on his feet again in an instant and he kicked Warren backwards before he could get up.
This was getting old very fast. The no-pain business was working heavily in Stronghold's favor and Warren was tiring quickly, partially thanks to his previous heroics that day, not to mention his headache although that had mostly worn off. But, if he was honest with himself, he had to admit it was also largely due to being a bit out of shape after six months of inactivity. He would have to wrap this up soon.
He pulled himself to his feet and called after Will who was heading for the courtyard again. "Hey, while you're putting down the rebellion, who's protecting your mistress?" he challenged.
This conflict between orders stopped him short, and Warren was finally able to inject him in the neck, which caused him to blink a bit and look around in confusion. Warren left him and quickly went over to Hypnotic who was busy injecting the first few security guards who had arrived in response to her call. Tearing a piece of duct tape off the roll, Warren came up behind her and taped over her mouth before she was able to issue any orders. He dragged her quickly over to a chair and sat her down, binding her arms to it with cable ties.
He glanced over at the warden and the security guard who was holding Layla and the others captive, but fortunately neither jumped to Hypnotic's defense. Most likely, this was because the warden's only order had been to release the prisoners she wanted, and the guard had been ordered to not let the hostages escape, and as with Will the discord between that order and the need to protect Hypnotic was causing him to hesitate.
Warren was removing the super villainess's spiked ring from her finger when Zach seemed to notice that she was in trouble and headed back to rescue her.
"Snap out of it, Flyboy!" Warren growled over his shoulder.
"Oh hey, what are you doing here?" asked Will somewhat vaguely as he came up to the pyro.
Warren took out a syringe, not noticing the brief look of fear that crossed Hypnotic's face, and handed it to him. "Here. Go fix Z. And shake it up before you jab, okay." Warren removed the super villainess's ring and wrapped it up safely in duct tape.
"Right." It seemed Will was still a bit out of it, but he nonetheless managed to take care of injecting Zach with the antidote.
While Warren injected the warden, Will and Zach did the same for the security guard in the corner and released Layla, Kate, Maj and Ethan from their bonds. The warden seemed a bit dazed and confused when Warren told him to lockdown the prison, even after he saw the stand-off in the courtyard.
"Oh, I'll do it," said Magenta a bit impatiently, and she pushed him aside to sit at his computer. In seconds the whole prison was secure and anesthetic gas was released into the courtyard and adjacent corridors, rendering the battling super villains and guards unconscious almost immediately.
With the immediate threat taken care of, Ethan was taking a closer look at Hypnotic. "Do you have any more of the antidote left?" he asked Warren.
"Yeah, why?"
"I think she's been 'hypnotized' herself."
A chorus of "What?" was followed by Kate asking, "Is that even possible?"
"It's the most likely explanation for the fact that the only time she showed fear during this entire time was briefly when Knight-Fire was holding a syringe of the antidote near her while she was powerless to escape," Ethan reasoned.
"So?" asked Warren.
"One of the first orders she gave us was to not reveal that we were under her control," he explained. "If she received the same command from whoever's controlling her, she would naturally consider the antidote to be a threat. Plus, she's taken a few moments over a couple of decisions she's made, and that's a pretty good sign that she's been 'hypnotized'."
Warren shrugged, reckoning it was worth a try. Taking out a syringe, he walked over to where Hypnotic was tied to the chair, and she starting to struggle as he approached. Will and Zach held her still while Warren injected her and then pulled the duct tape off her mouth.
She blinked slowly a couple of times as the antidote took effect and looked around in confusion.
"Who was controlling you?" Warren demanded.
Hypnotic appeared even more puzzled, so Ethan tried a different tack. "Who's the last person you remember talking to?"
The confusion gave way to a look of fury as she realized what had happened to her, and she spat out a name they knew… all too well.
A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews and encouragement!
Stay tuned for the final chapter when all will be revealed…
