Clank's animatronic limbs rolled back to the center of his body. His head flopped over fallen clothes as it returned to the torso of the body. Laserdream had assumed when his eyes shut off and his body blew up into pieces, the robot was destroyed. In reality, Clank's 'self-destruct' display was only for show, meant to spread him apart so that he could re-attach himself when the coast was clear.
When his limbs magnetized back to their spots, and his head twisted back onto his body, Clank's glowing green eyes lit back up, and he headed his way out of the thrift store. His arms and legs levitated. The original design was meant to exhaust engines firing from his hands and feet, but that cost too much fuel to be efficient. Simple anti-gravity pacts were easier.
It was still warm outside. The typical chill for spring passed by while the cloudless sky lit down the sun's rays from the center of the sky. Most people enjoyed this kind of weather. It was too bad Clank didn't have a true personality to enjoy it.
Levitating over the rooftops, and tracking down Leet's location, he followed his radar to where his creator was. Arriving, Clank noticed Leet and Uber sitting on the ledge of the building, talking amongst each other like the battle had passed.
"Is it weird that I don't give a shit if she dies?" Leet asked to Uber.
"It's understandable," Uber answered looking down over the ledge, "but we're still bad people for not caring."
Clank flew over to Leet, hovering over the building gaps to see him face to face. "Did something occur in my absence?" Clank asked in a respectful tone. "I assumed New Wave was still our adversaries."
"Glory Girl death punched Rune," Leet answered. He pointed over to the capes at the center of the building. Light and Rune were huddled to the ground, with Light coupling Rune's head as he tried comforting her between her coughing fits.
Laserdream, Shielder, and Glory Girl were circled around them, unsure what more they could do. "Light is over there is holding her while she's dying, me and Uber are waiting for Rush to show up. Panacea might be able to heal her. Might not though, I doubt she can bring the dead back to life."
"I see," Clank said. Without saying anything more. Clank stepped onto the rooftop, and walked over to Light and the rest of New Wave.
"Amy is on her way," Shielder reminded them, "this'll all be fixed soon."
"Still," Laserdream said, "she should've known not to go full strength."
"It was a fucking accident," Glory Girl muttered, not wanting to let guilt sink in.
"Salutations," Clank said coming in from behind.
"Fuck," Laserdream said, "I thought I killed you."
In a simple tone, Clank said. "You will find that I am much more durable than standard humans, such as Rune."
Shielder shook his head, "just shut up. Now's not the time…."
Light whispered to Rune. Glory Girl, Laserdream, and Shielder were all close enough to hear him. "You're gonna be fine, Sabrina," it was plainly obvious Light stopped caring about cape etiquettes. He had lowered his mask around his neck, letting her see his calm facial expressions. "I know it hurts right now, but things'll get better soon."
Clank scanned Sabrina, revealing that her bones were shattered and poked into her vital internal organs. They were causing her lungs to drown in the bleeding. He looked over to Glory Girl, "I believe this is considered involuntary manslaughter, Victoria."
"Shut the hell up," Glory Girl said.
"Or perhaps it was intentional. Afterall, she is a villain and you are a hero. It would be typical to treat her as something less than human. A generalization, maybe, but perhaps it is also accurate?"
Laserdream looked down at him, "it was an accident. She'd never kill on purpose."
"I am inclined to disagree." Clank tapped into the video feed from the Loser's masks. His eyes formed a projection at the nearby building wall like he were a movie projector. It showed Glory Girl holding up Light in her arms, and her words, 'you and your friends are dead,' repeated three times, before it switched to Uber's vantage point, showing Glory Girl making her rib cracking punch at Rune.
"From my, objective perspective," Clank said, "that did not seem like an accident. Brashfulness, recklessness, carelessness. Many things, but not an accident."
The realization dawned onto all the New Wave members. The Losers recorded everything. They had a perfect visual of what Glory Girl had done, and had the power to ruin her reputation, and New Wave's.
"Fuck you," Glory Girl yelled, not knowing how to handle the panic. "We can crush all of you to a pulp if we wanted to, you're just a bunch of fucking villains."
"I'm still recording." Clank said calmly, letting Glory Girl sink in on the words she just said. Clank pointed to Light, reminding them of the more morbid situation.
"Sabrina," Light said quietly, "I wanted to tell you I think you're really cool. Your rocker look? Badass. I liked that about you. I'm glad you were a part of our team."
Glory Girl wondered if there was something between Rune and Light, the same way there was something between herself and Gallant. "Amy will fix this," she said quietly, more for her own assurance than for others.
Clank replied, "I don't doubt that. But there may come a day where miracles won't save you. When that day comes, my hope is that you will not be forced to say; 'I could have avoided this.'"
Leet looked over to Clank, surprised by what he was doing.
When the team had first formed, Edwin had confided in Aryana that he often felt doubtful before he tinkered, and brash after his inventions were complete. She suggested making a robot that could exist as his inner voice. One with a second personality from him, designed to bring him up when he was down, and cut him down a peg when he was high.
Leet was surprised to see Clank doing to Glory Girl what he typically did to him.
Sabrina choked some more, no longer able to breathe. She stared up at Light while lowly humming. He said to her, "hey, Sabrina, you're gonna go to sleep for a little while. Because I know you're really tired. Right now, what you're seeing here, it's just a dream, see? So I need you to close your eyes, so that you can wake up a little later."
With that, Sabrina finished choking, and Light stayed still as he looked down to her in silence. He didn't move as she stopped moving. It wasn't like the movies, there were no last words from her and he didn't feel anything as her hands became calm. They just held still, like nothing had changed from a few seconds ago.
Rush flew in from the distance. Spitfire and Amy Dallon were behind her, gravitated with Rush's power. Rush put her hands in her pocket as they all touched the ground. She firstly walked over to Glory Girl and said, "you're a shitty hero."
"Oh fuck you," Glory Girl yelled, "you don't get the right to tell me what makes a hero!"
"All the more ironic that I have to."
"You can't-" Rush placed a finger on Glory Girl's lip, and then another finger on her own to signal for silence. She pointed a thumb to Light, and walked over to him.
Rush placed a hand on Light's shoulder, "C'mon, let Amy do her thing."
Light was quiet. He mechanically moved away but his stare still held onto Sabrina.
Amy placed a hand in Sabrina's and guessed what Light's concern about death was, she answered, "you know how the heartbeat can stop, but can be brought back after twenty minutes of cpr? This is the same. I can jumpstart her heart, I'll just need to fix what's broken first."
To Amy's relief, she wasn't gone for long enough to cause brain damage. The first thing she did was pump oxygen into her head to prevent permanent damage, and then begin the removal of obstructions to stop the bleeding. Amy thought to herself, she's gonna cough a lot of blood. She'd even be woozy for a few days, but she'd survive.
Spitfire walked over to Leet and Uber at the ledge of the building. They didn't bother watching Amy heal Rune. "You guy's pushed her too hard?" Spitfire asked.
"Fuck no," Uber said in a huff. "We never told Glory Girl we could survive her punches, for an Alexandria package, she sure is stupid."
Spitfire rubbed at her forehead, causing a slight squeak as she touched at her mask. That easily could've been me, she thought to herself.
Rush turned to see Glory Girl again, "so, since this footage has been relaying back to base, would you say you'd still look like a hero after we upload this online?"
"Don't even think about it," Glory Girl pressed her finger at Rush's chest, even demonstrating her strength as she did. "Because at the end of the day, you're just a villain. If you do anything to hurt my family's reputation, I will personally make sure you get locked away in the birdcage. I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."
"Hehe," Rush pointed to her brother, "'light' of day." Her brother was still quiet, but she thought it was funny.
Typically, Glory Girl gave off an aura of fear and strength when people were around her. Rush had felt it when she initially met her, but rather than react to it, she was intoxicated by it. Like a drug she enjoyed tasting it whenever she was near. But her raised heartbeat and goosebumps across her skin never changed how she responded to Glory Girl, Rush was far passed being afraid of people in costumes.
"Victoria," Amy said, not stopping the healing process. "It's okay, she won't share the footage with anyone." Amy thought about her flight there, and the deal she'd stricken with Rush.
"We'll bury you," Rush said in a calm voice. Amy and Spitfire floated to her side as they flew over to their teammates. "Our masks record everything. If you can't help Rune, New Wave will get buried by the footage. And Glory Girl will go to prison in her honor."
Amy gulped, hoping Rune wouldn't have brain damage when she arrived.
Amy breathed heavy as she finished Rune's healing. Just as she predicted, Rune fell into a coughing fit when she gasped up for breathe. Balls of blood spat out as she sat up to lean down to breathe. Amy still held her hand tightly, making sure to complete the process.
"Ugh," Rune said between heavy breaths. "That.. Hurt…"
Spitfire placed a hand on her shoulder, and Amy finally let go, not really relieved by what she did. Rune wobbled as Spitfire tried carrying her up. "You'll still need to rest for a few days," Amy explained. "I couldn't give you a blood transfusion, so you'll feel light headed for awhile."
Amy nodded to Rush, signalling for her completion. Satisfied, Rush said, "Leet, Spitfire, Light, and Rune, rewspawn to base."
The four of them disappeared from sight. Uber and Rush behind stayed to face with New Wave. "Okay," Rush said clasping her hands. "Here's the dilemma. We had intended to upload the footage today to give people our weekly update, but boy, did Glory Girl fuck that up."
Glory Girl clenched her fists, but was still careful not to do anything that would look bad on camera. Rush continued, "so, we're gonna need some compensation for the waste of time."
"Waste of time?" Amy yelled, "you guys fucking started this! Did you really think you could go around playing games and never get hurt? Are you that fucking stupid?"
"So," Rush said ignoring Amy. "For compensation, I want you." Rush pointed at Amy, to which she cocked her head back.
"What?"
Rush took a walkie talkie from her belt buckle, and tossed it to Amy for her to catch. She typically used it as a prop, but it still functioned as a regular communicator. "From now on, you're an honorary Loser. In your case, you'll be on call for when one of us need healing. And if you don't," Rush pointed to Glory Girl, "poster girl goes to jail."
"You can't fucking do that!" Glory Girl sprinted to her and squeezed Rush by the shirt. "This isn't a fucking game, I'm not letting you blackmail my family!"
"Rune is my family," Rush said calmly, "I'm entitled to protect my family, as you are to yours. Therefore, Amy will be on call when we need healing. She'll give it to us, or else your Alexandria ass will go to jail."
"Do you know what I could do to you right now!?" Glory Girl raised a fist in the air.
Rush wrapped her hand around Glory Girl's grip, pulling it closer to herself. "Bash my head, break my bones, murder me to a pulp. All very unheroic things. Either way, I'm numb to that. But feel free to try though, the footage I'm recording right now is delightfully eye opening. And it'll do wonders once I'm dead."
"We'd make sure to upload it," Uber said, adding himself to the conversation. He was good at staying calm, hiding the real concern he had for Rush's safety. "If you go down that route, it won't stop the footage."
Rush faced toward Amy, "so what'll it be?"
Laserdream groaned as she shook her head, "Victoria, for once in your fucking life. Calm down, and let go of her."
Glory Girl swallowed, and released her, feeling defeated for the first time in her life. Amy said, "I'll do it. But if you ever try to hurt us, come after us again, or hurt our reputation even a little, it ends."
Rush nodded, and extended her hand out for Amy to shake. Amy stared down at her hand, and squeezed it tightly when she held it. Tingling sensations ran across Rush's skin as Amy touched through Rush's fingerless gloves. "And if you ever break that promise, I'll rip your body in ways you couldn't even imagine."
"Hmmmm…." Rush said with a smile. "That is one great handshake. And I'll take your word for that. I'll watch out for my family, and you'll watch out for yours."
They let go, and Rush nodded to Uber. Uber said, "Rush and Uber respawn to base." And with that, their masks teleported them away.
Amy looked down at her hand in shame. She wasn't sure how real the threat was, but it still made her feel like a monster. Dormant guilts were now blossoming. Shaking Rush's hand felt like she'd just sealed the deal to her path of villainy.
Glory Girl rubbed her hands together, "Amy," she said softly, "I'm so sorry."
Amy shook her head, "it's okay, let's go home."
XXX
Sabrina put on her black leather hoodie and headed out the apartment doors. Some chains around her belt buckle jingled as the door closed behind her. She strapped on her backpack. Inside, her green robe and nordic mask were stashed away, along with a few hundred dollars she always carried around with her.
Outside, the moon shape was hidden behind a cloud covered sky. Sabrina had forgotten how much light the moon normally emitted at night. Since their apartment was in the outskirts of town, it was the first time she ever noticed the difference between a cloudy night and a cloudless night.
"Going out for a walk?"
Sabrina turned around, Aryana was leaning against the wall next to the entrance. The blunt in her fingertips had just been lit, and based on her sweatpants and pajama t-shirt, Sabrina could see that she was outside for the sake of relaxing.
"Sure," Sabrina said. "You guys go on walks too, so why shouldn't I?" She said it like she needed to justify it.
"Can I come with? I was gonna go in a few minutes anyway." Aryana offered Sabrina her second cigar, almost like it were a bribe.
"Sure."
They walked for a few minutes in silence. The near death experience was still fresh in both their minds. Sabrina had watched the footage a dozen times, from different angles and viewpoints, easily memorizing the faces and words expressed towards her. It was surreal, because she was certain she was truly dead for at least a few minutes.
Aryana wanted to ask if she was feeling alright, but she knew she would've gotten a hostile response. Emily had been prying at Sabrina with questions all day long. It was purely out of compassion, but it had reached the point where Sabrina was plainly upset by the barrage of questions.
"Tomorrow we're watching a movie," Aryana said. "We'll be livestreaming our reactions. There'll be food, we'll be in masks, and I was hoping you'd come and watch it with us."
"What movie are you watching?"
"The Last Airbender. We'll be taking shots whenever the pronounce the names wrong."
Sabrina chuckled, not really knowing how much alcohol that would involve. Sabrina answered, "I don't think so. I don't really trust myself with livestreaming yet."
Aryana nodded, not willing to question the reason why. "Hey Sabrina, you asked earlier if we let you join us as a joke. The real answer is yes and no. Our team itself is a joke, but we're not trying to prove anything or piss anyone off by having you join. We just like adding new things to the mix."
"I almost died today," Sabrina said, finally spelling out reality. "It doesn't seem like a joke to me."
Aryana nodded, not feeling the urge to argue. Sabrina was inclined to disagree with Aryana's outlook, and she wasn't going to begin harassing her into her own mindset. "It's ironic really," Aryana said, "It doesn't matter if you have a master tinker on your side, the protectorate backing you up, or the best hate group in town with you. We're all like ticking time bombs, waiting for an end, never knowing when it'll happen."
Sabrina swallowed. She remembered the excuse she gave for joining the Losers, 'I'm doing it for the rep,' and they accepted it. But that wasn't far from the truth as to why she stayed with the E88. For the longest time, she'd been fed to believe that she was a sort of prodigy child. Like she'd become something big if she just gave it more time.
The Losers was meant to be an outlet to that path. A stepping stone to becoming something more within the E88. But as she re-watched the video of herself dying, It became plainly obvious that she might not ever reach adulthood. Either with the E88, or without them.
Sabrina said, "you know, my uncle explained something to me once. He said there's an unwritten rule about capes, that they can never have good endings. And that that's why he wanted me to be strong, so that I could at least go out as something big enough to be remembered."
"Yeah," Aryana said, "but can you live with yourself if you never reach that point?"
"No," Sabrina said coldly. It was also why she got angry when she saw the video footage of herself dying. She wanted to be something, more than anything. Yet she'd almost died with the title Loser in front of her. "I'm not going out as a..."
Aryana opened her mouth, then closed it. Sabrina didn't finish her sentence. Once they'd walked a few blocks forward in silence, Aryana said, "I'm heading back now, I didn't wanna stay out for more than an hour."
Sabrina nodded her head, "I'm gonna keep walking for awhile."
"Kay, we'll be at the apartment when you get back." Aryana turned around in a casual stride. Sabrina continued forward deciding not to return.
It was ironic that Aryana had called her family in the video. She'd stood up to Glory Girl in her namesake, and treated her as more than just a teammate when they were alone. Sabrina hated to admit it, but she no longer had a future with the E88 after meeting her.
She walked forward, determined to push out future expectations.
XXX
Edwin sat on the sofa with his sweatpants and white t-shirt. He felt very comfortable. He hadn't had a late night game marathon in a long time. Tinkering in the lab was often distracting. Now, sitting on the living room sofa, with a playstation remote in his hand and a soda by his side, he finally got the chance to relax for the first time in days.
"Hey Edwin," Robert said washing the dishes from the hadn't talked to each other for almost half the night. It had literally reached the point where Edwin was giving him the silent treatment. "You need to man the fuck up."
That was the last straw. Edwin paused the game and hissed to Robert, "you fucking talk to him, I'm in the frigging middle of something."
"No you're not," Robert said, "you're sitting on your ass like a kid, too scared to talk to another kid."
Edwin brushed his dark wavy hair from his forehead, to rub at the circles around his eyes to relax his muscles. "Look," Edwin explained, "you're better at talking to people than me. I'm an asshole, and everyone knows it. So when it comes to talking, that's your job, because I don't have time for that shit."
It was true, when Aryana and Vivan had first joined the team, it was Edwin who was ridiculously awkward. Robert could speak with them casually, like he had known them for years. But Edwin was self conscious. Aryana was too cute for him to form complete sentences around, he often stuttered and second guessed his words when he was around her. The only person he could respond well with was Vivan, but that was because he treated Vivan like an annoying brat. He'd insult him and tease him, and Vivan, luckily, responded to insults positively.
"Vivan isn't as close to me as he is with you," Robert explained. "He sees me like an adult. I talk to him, sure, but now it's just gotten to the point where it's like I'm lecturing him whenever we talk. He doesn't need that right now. He needs to talk to someone he thinks of like an equal."
"I'm four years older than him," Edwin reminded him, "and he sees me like an equal? That's fucking great."
Robert shook his head, "Edwin, we know Vivan. Aryana either doesn't know he's acting weird, or doesn't wanna deal with it. He won't like me talking down to him, so he needs you more than anyone."
But Edwin didn't like being sentimental. He thought it was bullshit because he didn't feel like talking to Vivan just for the sake of comforting him. It seemed weird.
Robert added, "you are his best friend."
Edwin threw the controller to the ground, "alright, fine!" He stepped out the apartment door and muttered loud enough for Robert to hear, "fucking ruining my gaming night…."
Edwin stepped up the stairways and to the rooftop. Opening the door, it was daybreak. The light was already hitting the sky to make it a purplish blue, and light was finally shining on the rooftop to reveal what Vivan had done.
"Holy fuck," Edwin said. There wasn't a gimme of dust on the rooftop, it was completely spotless from natural filth. Vivan had waken up in the middle of the night and began brooming the roof with no explanation. When Marvin had mentioned it earlier, Robert began pestering Edwin to ask about the strange behavior.
Vivan was quiet. He was half asleep, and surprisingly glad he couldn't take the limitless pill. When he'd first taken the pill, he seriously thought he'd become a God. But after they realized he couldn't recharge his powers without sleep, he had to suffer through the terrible withdrawal symptoms just to get back on his sleeping schedule.
Thinking back, Vivan was glad he couldn't have the pill. Because with the pill, he couldn't sleep and had the chance to remember everything. The problem with that, was that he could remember all his memories vividly, and staying awake to think about that was something he wanted to avoid.
"Uh… Vivan…" Edwin squandered, "what the hell are you doing?"
Vivan wasn't sure how to answer. He kept brooming, wondering if ignoring him would make him go away.
"Vivan," Edwin yelled, "I said, what the hell are you doing?"
Vivan shook his head, remembering this wasn't his original home. "Oh, hey Edwin. I'm just… cleaning up the roof." He grinned, knowing how stupid he sounded.
Edwin looked around some more, "uh… I think you already finished."
Vivan looked around, not really caring about the spectacle he'd made. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Vivan put his broom to the side, and took a seat at the wall next to the door. "Everything's clean now," he twirled his finger, like he'd just accomplished a small victory.
Edwin took a seat next to him. He was a head taller than Vivan, but he was also certain Vivan was still growing. Edwin wasn't sure how the fuck you're supposed to comfort someone, so he simply stayed as blunt as he usually was with Vivan. "Uh… why'd you clean the roof? I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to clean outside."
Vivan looked down for a minute, and nodded in agreement. "My mom used to make my sister broom the sidewalk as a kid. She'd say, 'if you're gonna act like a brat, clean up like a brat,' and she'd make her start brooming the sidewalk. I always got jealous, because I never did anything worth getting in trouble for. So instead, whenever she was in trouble, I'd broom for her instead. My sister would be happy, my mom would get pissed, and I'd be happy that I could help out in something. So now, whenever I'm feeling like a little brat… I broom."
Edwin stayed quiet, he said the only thing that came to mind, "your family is fucking weird."
Vivan laughed aloud, "fuck yeah we are, and I love it for that."
Edwin guessed at why he was acting strange. "Hey Vivan… Do you, have a thing for Sabrina?"
"What?" Vivan looked to him in surprise. "Uh, of course not. I mean, yeah, she's pretty, but I'd never stick it in crazy."
Edwin bursted out laughing, "thank God."
Vivan smiled, glad he could still make his friend laugh. But as he thought more about Sabrina, a remorse fell over him. "I am so fucking selfish," he blurted out. He thought back to the images of Sabrina dying, and tried to put into words what he really felt. "When she was dying in front of me… I didn't give a shit about her dying… I gave a shit about the fact that I was on the same side as her. And that that could've easily been me… I don't wanna go out like that… I don't wanna go out, like a useless villain."
Edwin wasn't at all offended, he knew what Vivan meant. Edwin had long come to terms with his own villainy. "How do you wanna go out?" Edwin asked.
Vivan paused, and stared forward, "in a glorious fire… Like a hero."
"Then what the hell are you doing with a bunch of losers?"
Vivan thought long and hard about the question. To him, he valued everything except himself, which was exactly why he stayed with them. He rubbed at his finger cut glove, covering the swan styled tattoo that perfectly matched his sister's. "Just trying to have fun, before we can't have days like this anymore."