Enjoy!
Kurt must have been in shock. There was no other explanation for his reaction. It wasn't like he didn't want to talk or at least stand up from the uncomfortable chair, but he couldn't. He was completely frozen, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at Blaine. It seemed so surreal. Why would Blaine, the handsome guy in his late twenties give up everything he had and become a superhero once he discovered his powers? Wait a second, how had he gotten those powers on the first place? Things like this didn't just happen to people.
Blaine gave him time. He made them another coffee and sat back down beside Kurt, watching the boy patiently. He had surely done this before. Kurt looked at him briefly but then turned away again. It seemed so unbelievable.
Okay, what Blaine had told him was absolutely understandable, although it seemed like a bad superhero movie. Blaine had woken up one day with creepy superpowers he couldn't even control at first and had thought that it was a good idea to create a superhero for New York and fight against villains. It had been dangerous. Blaine could have gotten hurt, just like his friends who he had introduced as Sam and Santana. Blaine had told him that one day, his friends had been caught and almost killed but they still hadn't left Blaine's side. They must have been good friends if they had kept Blaine's secret for all these years.
And then there was the incident three years earlier. Kurt remembered the big fight Nightbird had had with Professor Black and that he had killed the villain. Apparently, Professor Black had been the last one in New York and Blaine had had nothing to do after his death, that's why he had slipped into depression and had only gotten out of it when Kurt had come into his life. He also told Kurt that he had lost his powers for a while but he had gotten them back the night when he had saved the boy.
Kurt didn't know what to think about Blaine. He was a kind man and Kurt wouldn't deny that there was something going on between them, something he very much liked, but... he wasn't sure if he liked Nightbird. He was the reason Kurt had started robbing those people and it had been his fault that Kurt was in trouble. Kurt shook his head immediately. It wasn't true. He liked the idea that there was someone else to blame for his stupidity but he knew that it wasn't Blaine's fault that Sebastian was after him. It was all because of what he had seen in the lab.
He looked at Blaine, considering what to do. Blaine was a superhero, somebody who seemingly cared about him and maybe about others, too. Blaine had changed a lot since they had met and looked like someone Kurt could trust. He had to talk to someone about the lab. It was so much for him and if he got caught... Somebody had to know what Sebastian was doing.
"You were right" he started quietly. "When I broke in to Smythe Labs, I..."
Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"You've seen something, right?" Blaine asked gently.
"Yeah" Kurt nodded. "I didn't know... I just wanted to stop Sebastian."
"What is he doing in that lab?" Blaine asked.
Kurt looked at him in fear.
"Kurt, you have to tell me, so I can help you. If it's something dangerous, Sebastian might hurt people. We have to stop him" Blaine said.
"He's... Oh, God" Kurt cried.
Blaine pulled him into his arms, trying to soothe him.
"It was horrible. They did something to those rats and then Sebastian gave Hunter an injection and locked him up. I don't know what it was but Hunter was so scared. He didn't want it" Kurt said. "He's his friend. How can somebody hurt their friends?"
"What kind of injection was it?" Blaine asked.
"I don't know" Kurt shook his head. "I think it changes people somehow."
Blaine knew. It wasn't the first time he heard about the mysterious injections and human experiments. He had seen it before, three years ago. He had thought that Professor Black had been the only one trying to create metahumans but it looked like someone else knew about his plans. If Sebastian had found the solution, it meant...
"Blaine."
Blaine turned around and looked at his serious looking friends. They must have listened to their conversation and came to the same conclusion.
"We have to stop him" Sam said.
"I know" Blaine nodded.
"If he succeeds, it means..."
"I know!" Blaine shouted in frustration.
"What are you talking about?" Kurt frowned.
"Professor Black had the same experiments three years ago" Blaine explained. "He tried to create metahumans, people with superpowers, to take over the city."
"People like you?" Kurt asked.
"Yes" Blaine nodded. "People who were strong enough to..."
He sighed and turned to his friends. It was so obvious.
"He wants to kill me" Blaine said quietly.
Kurt pulled away from him, so he could look into Blaine's eyes. Now that he knew what was going on, he was more scared than ever.
~ o ~
Sebastian watched his new toys in satisfaction. Although Karofsky's change wasn't complete, the doctor had informed him that everything was fine with him and within a few hours, he would be ready to go. Sebastian couldn't wait for that moment, they had so much to do. He had planned this since the death of his father. Revenge. The sweetest thing a person could dream of.
He had been young when his father had been killed by Nightbird but it didn't mean he forgot what the superhero had done. His father, best known as Professor Black, had had so many plans... And that asshole had stopped him. But it was time to fight back and show Nightbird who was in charge. He had had the city for way too long and it didn't look like he wanted to claim it for himself. The idiot could have ruled the place but he was so lost in his depression that he hadn't noticed the enemy getting stronger behind his back.
Nightbird wanted a real villain to fight? Well, Sebastian was more than willing to give it to him. Now he had his own metahumans, people who were just as strong as Nightbird if not stronger. He had the perfect weapons to kill the man and it was just the beginning. He was about to create a whole army of villains and he was going to be their leader. He couldn't wait to inject the matter into himself and go through the change. What was his power going to be? He hoped that it had something to do with fire. He always loved fire. It was so beautiful and dangerous.
He smiled at the thought. He would walk down the streets of New York, destroy everything that came into his way, make people run from him. And in the end, he would walk into his favourite shop, destroy everything that was important for Kurt and his family and take the boy. Maybe he would change Kurt, too. If he could behave, of course. It would be the perfect gift. Kurt would be his forever and rule the world with him. Such a sweet dream.
"Destroy!" Hunter shouted, shaking the door of his cell.
"Patience, sweetheart" Sebastian smiled.
"Let me out of here!" Hunter said. "I want to destroy this place!"
"No, not this place" Sebastian replied calmly. "We still need this lab but I promise that I will let you out if you promise me that you would do what I tell you."
"What do you want me to do?" Hunter asked.
"I need you to find Nightbird" Sebastian said.
"I don't know how" Hunter replied.
"Oh, that's easy" Sebastian said. "Just walk out onto the street and destroy a few buildings. He hates chaos, especially if people can get hurt. He will be there."
"You want me to kill him, right?" Hunter asked.
"I told you" Sebastian shrugged. "What do you think? Can you do that?"
"Open the door" Hunter said.
Sebastian smiled and quickly opened the door, letting the giant out of his cell.
"Make me proud" he said.
~ o ~
"How could he know about Professor Black's experiments?" Santana muttered.
"Maybe he worked for him?" Sam offered.
"I don't think so" Blaine said.
"Wait, you don't know who Professor Black was?" Kurt asked.
"How were we supposed to know? He always wore that mask" Sam said.
"Blaine killed him" Kurt said as he turned to the superhero. "You surely saw his face."
"No" Blaine said, looking away. "There was an explosion and... what we found from his body wasn't enough to identify him."
"There has to be a way to..." Kurt fell silent as a crazy idea came into his mind. "Sebastian's dad."
"What?" Santana asked.
"His dad died three years ago" Kurt explained. "What if..."
"Sebastian Smythe is Professor Black's son?" Sam asked.
Kurt nodded in agreement.
"That's..."
Both Sam and Santana looked at Blaine, curious what he thought about it.
"Kurt should be right" Blaine said in the end. "And if he's right, there must be a connection between Smythe Labs and the experiments of Professor Black."
"I'm on it" Sam said and rushed to the computer.
"Break up the police's system. We have to see their reports about the case" Blaine said.
"Just a minute, my friend" Sam said.
Kurt stepped closer to see what Sam was doing. For him, it was like a dream coming true. He had always wanted to see how Nightbird as his team worked and now he was here... Too bad he was trapped in this place because Sebastian was after him.
"Here it is" Sam said proudly and turned the monitor towards his friends.
"The lab was completely destroyed that night" Blaine read. "And it was deserted for almost..."
"Two years, before Sebastian Smythe bought it" Santana finished for him. "Gentlemen, I guess we have a trace."
Suddenly, the room went dark for a second and when the lights went on again, the whole place was swimming in red light as the alarm turned on.
"What is it?" Kurt asked in fear.
"Oh God" Sam gasped as he turned on the cameras. "Look at this."
Just a few blocks away from them, an unnaturally large man was destroying an office building, sending huge pieces flying in every possible direction. People were screaming and trying to escape but some of them were trapped in the building that seemed close to collapse.
"I have to do something" Blaine said hastily and rushed out of the room to get his costume.
"What are you gonna do?" Santana asked as she followed him. "It could be a trap."
"We don't have time for this" Blaine said as he ran back, now dressed in his costume. "Keep Kurt safe."
"Blaine..."
Kurt wanted to run after him but Sam caught his arm and stopped him.
"He will be fine" Sam said. "He knows what he is doing."
Kurt nodded reluctantly. He had a bad feeling that Blaine was in great danger.
~ o ~
About a minute later, thanks to his super speed, Blaine arrived at the scene. He looked around at first, giving himself a few seconds to figure out what he was dealing with. The giant – he was sure that it was a metahuman – had already destroyed the biggest part of the office building, it was slightly moving from side to side, the trapped workers inside screaming in fear. Blaine took a deep breath and avoiding the giant, he rushed inside.
It was surely his lucky day because everyone gathered in the hall and Blaine could bring them outside in a few rounds. When he was done, he ran back again, getting through the other floors of the building to check if there was someone else inside. He couldn't let anyone die.
It looked like the metahuman didn't notice him at all, he was completely lost in his work. Blaine knew that he had to take advantage of his preoccupied state but he forced himself to stop for another few seconds. He didn't know anything about this man or his powers, he had to be careful if he didn't want anyone get hurt.
Suddenly, his opponent stopped his hand midway towards the wall and turned around slowly. Blaine didn't know how but he knew that he was there. Could he feel him? Or did someone tell him about his presence?
"Nightbird" he smiled. "I was waiting for you."
Blaine considered staying hidden for a second but there were too many innocents around them, he had to defend them. He took a deep breath and walked out from behind the ruins where the man could see him.
"I'm here" he said.
The giant looked at him and smiled.
"Finally" he said. "I was waiting for killing you forever."
~ o ~
"So what are these metahumans?" Kurt asked conversationally as they watched Blaine save people from the building. He was so nervous as he watched the superhero, he had to find something to distract himself.
"People with superpowers" Sam explained. "According to our research, there are a few people like Blaine who get powers like superspeed or excellent hearing. We still don't know how it is possible, it's very rare. He's the only one alive in this century."
"In this century?" Kurt asked with a raised eyebrow. It seemed so unbelievable that there had been others. Maybe in the middle ages. Or in the ancient Rome. It was certainly weird to think about it.
"Yeah" Sam smiled. "But most of them use their powers to save the world. Like Blaine does. And hopefully the others in the future will do the same."
"I don't understand. If metahumans don't hurt people..."
"The original metahumans don't" Sam corrected him. "But there are people like Professor Black or Sebastian who try to find a way to create new metahumans. And I'm sure Sebastian succeeded because that one can only be his work."
Kurt looked at the giant in worry. Blaine was so tiny compared to him, the boy was afraid that he would kill Blaine. He stopped breathing for a second as the man turned towards Blaine and they could finally see his face. His eyes widened and he gasped when he recognized that face. He had seen him several times. He had been in his home not too long ago.
"Hunter Clarington" Kurt whispered.
"Excuse me?" Sam asked.
"It's Hunter Clarington" Kurt said, not knowing if he could trust his eyes.
When he had last seen Hunter, he had been held down by Sebastian's men and...
"Oh God" Kurt said and took a few steps away from the computer.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
If Sebastian did this to him... if only one injection could make such a monster from Hunter... Kurt knew that he was dangerous but he had never thought that Sebastian could be this dangerous.
His eyes found Blaine on the screen again and he was more worried than ever. What if Blaine wasn't enough to stop Hunter? What if he would hurt Blaine?
"We have to help him" Kurt decided.
"We have to stay here and..."
"Where's my costume?" Kurt cut in.
"Kurt, we can't go there. It's too..."
Santana who was still looking at the screen gasped when she saw Blaine being grabbed by the other man and slammed into the nearest building.
"Come on, Blaine, stand up" Santana said.
All of them watched in horror as Hunter walked to Blaine, gripped his shirt and lifted him up, throwing Blaine to the wall again.
"My costume, now!" Kurt shouted. He had no idea what he was doing but he surely wouldn't let Blaine die.
~ o ~
Blaine was pretty sure that he would die. Apparently, the other metahuman was a lot stronger than him which was unbelievable, considering how strong he was. But the man threw him around like a puppet that weight nothing and Blaine could do little to stop him.
"What is wrong with you?" the man asked. "Why don't you fight back?"
Blaine groaned and pushed himself up to his shaky legs. There had to be a way to stop this giant. Everybody had a weakness, he just had to find his.
"Fight back!" the man shouted and grabbed Blaine again, sending him flying back across the street. "You're weak."
Blaine moaned in pain. He tried to stand up, he really did, but he was severly injured and couldn't make himself move.
"This is your superhero" the giant said, looking around. "This weakling is your protector."
He stepped to Blaine and pushed him to the wall, keeping him there with his strong arms.
"Say goodbye, Nightbird" he said.
"Hey!"
Blaine looked over the man's shoulder and his heart stopped for a moment when he saw who was standing behind them. Kurt, in his costume, bravely and confidently. He smiled as he took a step towards them, pointing at the man holding Blaine.
"Kurt?" Blaine whispered.
"Is that all you can do, Hunter?" Kurt asked.
"How do you know my name?" the man growled.
"I know a lot more about you" Kurt smiled. "I know all your dirty secrets. Do you want me to share them with these people?"
What the hell was Kurt doing? Blaine wanted to tell him to run but nothing came out as he opened his mouth to talk. But he had to do something. Kurt would just get himself killed.
"Who are you?" Hunter asked and let go of Blaine, taking a step towards Kurt.
"Robin Hood. I broke into your home, remember?" Kurt said. "God, what I found there... You're really sick, you know that?"
"I will kill you" Hunter growled.
"We will see about that" Kurt replied.
The giant started walking towards him with big, thundering steps but Kurt stayed still. Blaine watched helplessly as Hunter got close to Kurt, so close that he almost reached him... But then Kurt turned around and started running, away from them.
As he watched Kurt and Hunter get away from him and the other people around them, Sam and Santana appeared out of nowhere and rushed to his side, helping Blaine get back to his feet.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked in concern.
"What are you doing? I told you to keep him safe" Blaine said, his eyes searching for Kurt again.
"He's a stubborn one" Santana replied. "I like him."
"Me too" Blaine sighed. "Especially when he's alive."
"We will figure out something" Sam said. "Hunter surely has a weakness, we just have to find it."
Kurt appeared again, running back and force on the streets, with Hunter right behind him. Kurt was getting tired, Blaine could tell. He was breathing heavily and his steps became slower with every second. It was just the matter of time that Hunter caught him.
"I don't think we have time for that" Blaine said in worry.
"I will catch you" Hunter shouted. "And once I catch you, I will tear you to shreds."
"Aren't you a little too slow for that?" Kurt smiled.
Blaine shook his head. Kurt was exhausted and what he did was just so stupid. He didn't know why the boy was playing with Hunter, it didn't make much sense.
Unless he was waiting for help. Of course.
"You can let go of me" Blaine told his friends. He felt slightly better and his injuries were already healing. If they could take Hunter down fast, he would be fine.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked in concern.
Suddenly, as Hunter got tired of chasing Kurt, he stopped and picked up the first heavy object he could find: a car. He lifted it into the air without problem and hurled it across the street, towards Kurt. It didn't hit Kurt, or at least Blaine hoped it didn't, but Kurt fell and didn't get back to his feet.
"Damn" Santana muttered.
Blaine took a deep breath and forced his body to move. Hunter was too close to Kurt, he could get him in any second and Kurt didn't stand up, he must have been injured or unconscious.
"I told you, little one" Hunter said as he crouched down beside Kurt's unmoving body. "Nobody can stop me."
"Except me" Blaine said loudly.
Hunter got up and turned around to face him.
"Are you still alive?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. And ready to kick your ass" Blaine smiled.
Blaine gathered his strength and started running towards the giant as fast as he could. He had done this before once, when he had been fighting against a similar monster. It had worked then, maybe it would work again. He arrived at Hunter with full speed, jumped up and kicked the man in the chest, sending him flying back across the street. Hunter landed on the other side of the street and didn't move anymore.
Blaine knelt down beside Kurt, checking him over. It looked like Kurt had a head injury but it didn't seem too bad. He was conscious but seemed slightly disoriented.
"Blaine?" he groaned.
"Hey, you will be alright" Blaine smiled. "It was stupid of you, do you know that?"
"I had to do something" Kurt whispered.
Blaine smiled at him gladly. He had always known that Kurt was a great guy but he liked him more and more with every passed minute.
Blaine put an arm around Kurt and helped him get back to his feet. Santana and Sam joined them again, both of them seemingly worried.
"Blaine, you have to see this" Santana said.
"What's wrong?" Blaine asked in concern.
"Hunter" Sam replied.
Blaine lifted Kurt up into his arms, so they could reach the villain faster. What they found, though, made Blaine's heart stop for a second and he almost dropped Kurt. Hunter was back to his normal size, his body was covered in injuries and he wasn't moving. Blaine turned to Santana with wide eyes.
"I didn't... He isn't..."
Yes, he had killed before. Only once in his life but he hadn't had a choice and it had been awful. He usually caught criminals and locked them up and that was his intention with Hunter, too.
"No" Santana said. "He's still alive. Injured but mostly fine."
"He lost his power" Sam whispered to them.
Sam was right. Whatever Sebastian had given him, it hadn't changed Hunter completely. He was a lucky one. Even if he had to spend the rest of his life in jail, he didn't have to deal with a power he couldn't control.
"Let's go" Santana said as the first policemen appeared. "Let them handle it."
Blaine nodded. He and Kurt shouldn't really show up on a crime scene together, at least not until people considered Kurt as a criminal. He made himself a mental note to do something about it. If he would let Kurt help him again, of course.
~ o ~
Sebastian hated failures. He had planned this out, it must have been worked. Nightbird should have been dead by now and Hunter shouldn't have lost his powers. When he had seen what had happened to the man, he had had a quick conversation with his team, threatening them every possible way to make sure they corrected their mistake. It couldn't happen again. Sebastian was so close to success, nobody could stop him.
He looked at the screen and watched the recording again. Honestly, he hadn't been prepared for this. Nightbird and Robin Hood fighting together against villains, that was so unbelievable. But it was his mistake, he should have had a plan for this scenario, too.
He watched the two fight against Hunter, stopping the video a few times. He had to know everything about these two, every weakness, so he could send Karofsky after them. Maybe he should create a few other ones, too, and send a whole army against the superheroes. He had to make sure he got them out of the way before taking over the city.
"Kurt?"
Sebastian leaned closer to the monitor and went back to the moment when Robin Hood had appeared. Had Nightbird called him Kurt?
"Kurt?"
Yeah, there was no mistake. Robin Hood's name was Kurt. But it couldn't be...
Sebastian started typing on the keyboard rapidly, a stupid idea running through his mind. He found a picture of Kurt and ran a quick search, comparing his photo to Robin Hood's. He knew that it was crazy, Kurt didn't seem like a superhero type, he was so innocent and...
The computer gave a beeping sound as the search ended and Sebastian gasped when he saw the results. There was no doubt, the body structure of Kurt Hummel and Robin Hood was the same. It couldn't be anybody else but Kurt. His Kurt.
Sebastian leaned back on his chair, smiling. It was pretty good, actually. He had been playing with the thought of making Kurt metahuman for a while and as he looked at him in his costume, he got turned on. Yeah, he had to change Kurt. He would be such a beautiful toy for him.
He grabbed his phone and dialed a number, pressing his phone to his ear as he watched on the screen that Nightbird and his friends fled from the scene.
"Yeah?" the man on the other end said as he picked up his phone
"You followed them, right?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes. They didn't notice me" the man answered.
"Very good. Stay there and keep your eyes on them. I might have an idea" Sebastian said and disconnected the call.
He looked at Kurt again and smiled.
"A very-very good idea."