A Hostile Takeover and A Daring Escape
To say a lot of tension had been released was an understatement, at least for Bulma. All things considered, everything was turning out as well as it possibly could. Not only was Henry back and relatively fine, but she'd finally gotten in touch with all of her friends and assured their safety too. A few were on their way to the hospitals with broken bones or concussions, but all of them were expected to be fine. With the public phone lines down for most of the city, it had been quite a challenge getting in touch with everyone, but the effort was well worth it for her peace of mind.
She'd just gotten a call from her Mom's friend, letting her know that Kim and Ron made it back to Japan safely, which did wonders for Wade, Felix and Monique's morale. With so many of their villains in town, they were all keen to re-gather together and stomp them out.
All capable company staff available had been confirmed to have arrived and set out to assist with the crisis and were bringing in a lot of promising results too. That was great, both for the people and for business as side note. She had a feeling that her father would be hit with a lot of orders in the near future. Well, a lot more than usual, which was saying something in itself.
Finally, what truly had her smiling into the phone was the fact that a Z Fighter had appeared on the scene. Videl had finally made it back to town and dove straight into it, all the while searching for the boys.
"You have no idea how much better I feel with you out there." Bulma smiled into the phone as she took a seat in her family's living quarters. She finally had ten minutes and she was going to relax in peace. "I'm not sure what bothered me more about the boys being involved, the idea of them chasing a fight with the guys who did this or the idea that they'd do something stupid and cause more problems."
"Don't worry, I'll keep them out of trouble." Videl grinned back, even as she moved a tanker to stabilize a building, a dozen freed people running out behind her a second later. "So how's Henry? He's one of Gohan's friends from Tokyo, right?"
"He's tired and looking battered, but he assures us he'll be fine." Bulma replied. "Jazz has been taking care of him and the nurse is currently looking him over now. Since I'm not getting any emergency calls, I'm assuming it's going well."
"That's a relief. And what about the people who attacked him?" Videl asked, her face growing far more serious as the background turned blue.
"They're still in the wind." Bulma sighed, sinking into her seat. That was the one thing that was still bugging her. Normally, they had no problem finding the enemy. Just sense out the highest power level with malicious intent and off the Z Fighters went. Usually, the problem was avoiding them until they were ready to deal with the threat. It actually made Bulma nostalgic for Radditz and Lord Slug. Or even that disembodied brain that thought Master Roshi was still the strongest guy on the planet.
"In that case, I'll- ARGH!"
"Videl, what…" Bulma cried, watching wide eyed as Videl's jaw took what looked like a heavy impact from thin air before the world depicted on the screen spiraled, only to go blank a second later. She could only stare, stunned, as 'connection lost' flashed across her phone screen. A mere two seconds before everything else went to hell.
BANG!
"Wha…?" Bulma cried, leaping from the couch as heavy metal slammed down, blocking out all sources of natural light. Emergency lights immediately lit the area up, while panic alarms pierced through the area, nearly deafening Bulma, forcing her to throw her hands tightly over her ears.
'What's going on here?' She thought, rushing into the study and slamming the door behind her, only to groan as it barely did anything to block out the alarm. Groaning as she forced her hands away from her ears, she practically threw herself into the chair as she booted up the computer, her cursing at the time it was taking completely drowned out.
"About time!" The second it was finished and almost broke the mouse opening up the security reports, only to freeze as an alert immediately popped up. "You gotta be kidding me! How the heck did a virus get into the system?"
Bulma paled as white as a ghost as she pulled up the report. Half the buildings' systems and files had already been corrupted, starting with all security and communication programs, and the list was rapidly growing. It looked like it had been entered via the main security system, spread to the main computer and flooded the corporation from there. She had to stop it, fast!
Unfortunately, all her attempts were proven futile. The virus had already wormed passed and eliminated every firewall and antivirus program they had and was spreading way too fast. Every attempt to purge a file only had it corrupted again a moment later. She couldn't hinder it either! The only way to stop the spread would be to manually disconnect entire servers around the building, which she couldn't do because communications had been knocked out. The entire company was going to be compromised in less than two minutes and there was nothing she could do about it.
"DAMN IT! Alright, who did this?" Growling and glaring at the screen, she set her fingers to work over the keyboard again and forced her way into the security feed. She may not be able to stop this, but this was not going to stop her from spying the culprit and punching them through a wall. The only way this was possible, much less could happen without plenty of warning, was if someone implanted it from within. The only other possibility would be if someone like Henry did it and he had probably the rarest power Bulma had ever heard of! There was no way that there was a second technopath nearby.
"Come on, come on!" Bulma muttered, her eyes whipping over a number of camera feeds continuously. She didn't have long, her hacking was barely keeping the virus at bay, it wouldn't be long before even this was beyond her. But there was so much to look over and… "Oh no, where did they come from?"
Bulma could only stare in horror as area after area was busted into. Monkey ninjas, men in Drakken and Dementor's grunt uniforms, what looked like a biker mob, dozens of what looked like men in full black and maroon body suits, they were everywhere! The workers were screaming and backing away or running to other exits, only to be kicked, tossed or electrocuted to the ground before ropes were pulled out and tied around them.
Her own lab door hit the ground with a resounding bang, scaring Wade right out of his chair and whipping around only to tense and gape as Drakken himself strutted in, his sunflower petals surrounding his smirking face and his vine poised to strike. Wade barely wasted a second before scrambling for a gadget on the far side of his desk, but he couldn't so much as touch it, Drakken's vine sprung like a snake and wrapped itself around him, eliciting a strangled scream as it ripped him from the ground.
From then on, more and more big time faces started making their own appearances. Motor Ed burst into the mechanic bay with an air guitar solo. Professor Dementor and Senor Senior were strutted into the robotics engineering division. Monkey Fist sprung into her father's animal habitat, threatening her parents. Some guy in a suit and the loony toon who tried to ransom the internet for a dollar per person led some thugs into department of various gadgets. A…nurse was standing over two fallen security guards in the security office? Wait, why was her body…
"Camille Leon!" Bulma exclaimed, realization striking and freezing her core. She knew that woman! Who didn't know about the hyper socialite who was disinherited and turned to some crazy metamorphic experimentation to frame other celebrities for her thefts? She was in the security office? That meant she did this! How did she even get in? The only person who'd entered Capsule Corp, who hadn't already left again, was… "Oh my God!" She should have known Henry's return was too easy! She'd let the little bitch strut right in under her nose!
She needed to get help and she needed it now! But how could she possibly get anyone? All communication lines were gone and even if she could find a guard or someone willing to fight inside the building, once she left this screen she'd have no way of knowing whether or not that person was the damn shapeshifter! There was no way to…
No, that wasn't true! There should still be one way to get information out, an outlet was sitting right there in her draw.
"Oh come on, this is no time for the junk draw dilemma!" She cried panickily, ripping it open only to start throwing random objects and notes all over the place. Her frustrated glare quickly turned in a bright, relieved smile and gasp a moment later however, as she finally pulled a silver, rectangular device out from under a few blue prints. She knew she'd kept the Vcom prototype in there! Opening it up, she smacked her password into it, ignored every other option to light up the screen and practically slammed Kim's call button.
"Henry was a fake!" She screamed the second Kim's face came onscreen, not giving the girl a chance to talk. "Capsule Corp's getting atta-"
BOOM!
"AAHHH!" Once again, her call was interrupted, this time by an explosion on her end obliterating her door. It was only the sheer distance and reflexes a lifetime or stumbling into disasters with Goku that allowed her to drop and roll out of the way of the resulting burning wood shards flying her way, the Vcom skidding out of her grip in the process. Following its trail back to the door, she looked up just in time to see a beeping golf ball drop onto the screen and blow up, destroying the device.
"Now, now, Lass! Can't have you doin that, now can we?" Slowly raising her head, Bulma whimpered in fear as she found a squat, chubby, bearded man in a kilt sneering down at her, a golf ball in one hand and a club in the other.
"Duff Killigan. What would a temperamental golfer want here?" Bulma asked snarkily, trying to cover her fear as she slowly got back to her feet.
"Heavy duty explosive chemicals will be nice, but honestly, this ain't my plan. I'm just after the end of the cheerleader. Now, it seems to get our new stuff, we'll need you and your daddy, so I do hope ya come peacefully." Duff smirked, waving the ball in a very clear threat. Bulma just glared back for a moment before letting out a deep breath and slowly walking forward. All she could do right now was follow along and stall for time. She'd find a way out this, she always did.
All the same, she really hoped help would come soon. Gutsy and tough enough to scare Vegeta into submission when she wanted to she may be, but there was no way she could handle this all on her own.
….
"There you go, just a few more steps." Monique said soothingly, slowly guiding a concussed man to the nearest emergency vehicle. She was more than grateful as the paramedic met her halfway with a gurney. Helping rest the guy down onto it, she gave a medic a single nod as he rushed him back to the van before almost crashing onto the nearest bench, her chest rising and falling heavily as she rapidly took in deep breaths.
"I think…I'm done." She muttered between breaths, flinching as she slowly rolled her shoulders. She'd been at this for hours and the only rest she'd allowed herself was when she was waiting for lifts with or to other trapped people. It was amazing that she hadn't collapsed ages ago. As she was right now, her legs felt like jello and her arms were absolutely killing her, to say nothing of her mental state. She was ok right now, what with the crisis ongoing and full of distractions to focus on, but she was going to need therapy after this. She'd found far too many dead people and crushed limbs.
'Girl, don't think about that.' Forcing her head up with a shake, she looked around for any distraction she could find, only finding more wreckage on the ground before a flicker of light above her caught her eye. Tilting her head back, a grin made it to her face as a dark haired girl bathed in a white light flew overhead at impressive speed. Monique barely got a glimpse of her, but she did get just enough to recognize her from the photos the Briefs had around their home. She had to be Videl Satan, the only living female Z Fighter and daughter of the last winner of the World Martial Arts Tournament.
"Now that girl makes a good replacement. Suddenly I don't feel so bad about tapping out." Monique muttered as she watched the girl begin her descent. After all, not only could the girl fly, she had super strength, speed, energy abilities and was even able to sense people's locations, right? With that resume, she should be able to find and save everyone still alive and trapped with ease. This was perfect.
Or it would have been if she didn't suddenly slam into the ground with a resounding boom a moment later.
"What the heck was that?" Eyes wide and jaw dropped, Monique was up and running as fast as her tired legs would go toward the resulting dust cloud. Fortunately, she only had to round a corner to see the result, but the sight before her left her dropping to her knees in fear rather than exhaustion.
Gasping herself, Videl's head was whipping around like crazy as she pulled herself to her feet. Her jaw was already swelling, but she wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to that, she looked far too panicked. Monique could see why, for before the girl could even finish straightening up, she was suddenly sent flying face first again into a wall, screaming as she was indented into it. Though only for a second, for before she even finished screaming her foot was jerked and suddenly she was smacked against the ground and back into the wall, crumbling it right on top of her.
"What…what is this?" Monique muttered, her whole body shaking at the sight. There was no way this could be happening! Videl was amongst the top ten most powerful people in the world. Her skills and abilities were on par with Gohan's, at least according to what she'd read and heard from Mrs Briefs. No one should be able to strike her down like this. Even if her opponent was apparently invisible, she should be able to sense them, so what the heck was going on?
"HAAA!" Monique's panic attack was put on hold there, as white and yellow energy exploded from the rubble, blowing it all away from the now standing Saiyan hybrid and whipping up another bout dust. Which, though it left Monique in a coughing fit, turned out to be a boon as then, just for a fraction of a second, two lines broke through the smokescreen, both heading straight for Videl, and it proved to be just enough for Videl to reflexively pulse the energy around her. The two girls had just enough time to catch two blue and black metallic objects sputtering in place before they disappeared again.
"Robots?" Videl gasped, only to cry out as her body was rapidly jerked and flung in multiple directions before smashing through a window, all in about two seconds.
"That's crazy!" Monique exclaimed, stumbling back as best she could on four limbs. That was absolutely unbelievable! Ghosts, those she was ready for and expected at this point, but robots that could move faster than the eye could see? Well, that explained why Videl couldn't sense them out, but how could that even be possible…wait, now that she thought about it, didn't Kim mention something like this before? "Oh God, don't tell me…"
"Show yourselves, you wannabe dishwashers!" Videl shouted, exploding back out of the building and constantly pulsing energy around her as she headed up. It was a good idea, her energy had repelled her enemies before and if Monique was right then Videl still had the advantage in the air.
Though not much of one, for a moment later, small booms and fluxes of power looking almost like dents in Videl's aura were going off like a fireworks display all around her. Flickers of blue, black and yellow were only seen for split seconds, gone before Videl could do anything about them, and were getting closer to Videl with every strike. To make it worse, Videl was puffing hard. The level of power needed to block objects going that fast, and with the force that implied, had to be high and constantly released. As powerful as she was, it wasn't likely that Videl would last long like this.
She needed a successful strike and fast, but that was one hell of a problem. To have any hope of striking such speedy opponents as they were now, Videl would need to blow up the area, which would kill anyone still stuck nearby and was still far too likely to be dodged by its intended targets. Normally, Monique would shoot some ropes and trip up her opponents, but if she remember what Kim had said correctly, then it would make no difference. At the speed they were going, it was as if Monique wasn't moving at all. They'd never fail to see her attack and avoid it.
Either way, it was already too late. Two impacts came down on the same side a second later and ploughed through Videl's defense. The warrior didn't even have time to tense before they pressed on and crashed into her, eliciting an ear piercing scream as she was sent crashing into the pavement.
This time however, rather than take off again, the two metallic bodies remained in place, their forms a vibrating blur as they kept pushing down on the Saiyan.
"AARRGHHHH!" Videl could do little more than scream as she twisted and writhed under their grip, that too being cut out as they grabbed her throat. Even from a distance, Monique could see the horror and panic in her eyes as she struggled for air. She'd either used up her power or couldn't focus enough for it. She was stuck and quickly suffocating.
At that point, Monique would have declared enough and dived in, her low chances of survival be damned, but fortunately, she didn't have to. For it was at that moment that two more white glowing projectiles surged down from the rooftops.
"No flesh creature can match the Hiv-"
"Says who?"
"Get off!"
Before the machines were even aware of the new threat, both had been struck, one losing its head to a slash from Trunks and the other ripped right in half by a kick from Goten. The hand on her throat disappearing, Videl barely took to the time to take in a huge breath of air before unleashing an energy blast from each hand, completely obliterating both remaining bodies before flopping back down, just breathing and letting her body relax. "Thanks boys. I owe you big for that one."
"You're welcome." Goten beamed down at her, before a concerned frown crossed his face. "But are you ok? You don't look so good."
"I'll be fine. Besides, I have these." Videl grinned up at him as her hand slowly slipped into her pocket and pulled out a small sack. A huge smile immediately replaced the frown as Goten saw her pull out what looked like a bean. "Senzu Beans! Great thinking, Viddel!"
"What's a Senzu Bean?" Monique asked, drawing the group's attention as Videl slowly sat up, making her way toward them. "And how does a bean help here?"
"Oh, hi Monique!" Goten called cheerfully. "I didn't see you there."
"Or helping." Trunks added with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry that I can't fly or break metal with a single punch." Monique retorted lightly, getting a conceding shrug from trunks as she turned back to the heroine. "I'm sorry I couldn't help, but yeah, even if I wasn't exhausted, I'd be useless against them. I'm Monique, a member of Team Possible."
"Monique's been helping with evacuations too." Goten added happily. "She's really good with ropes."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Videl." Videl grinned, ripping the bean in half before offering one to Monique. "Here, if you're exhausted, eat this. Senzu Beans are magical. They can fully heal and reenergize the body in moments."
"Thanks, but are you sure you don't need it? You got banged up pretty bad." Monique responded in concern, taking the offered half, but not bringing it to her mouth.
"Oh, I'm not that bad. Half a bean will be enough and there's no sense wasting the rest of it. It won't last like that long enough to give it to anyone else." Videl smiled back, popping her half into her mouth and swallowing it. Monique could only stare in amazement as with a slight jolt that looked more like surprise than anything else, every hint of pain disappeared from Videl's face and every wound closed in an instant. "See? Good as new." She grinned, jumping to her feet and rolling her joints.
"Wow. Talk about a miracle drug." Monique gaped before chewing her own half. The moment she swallowed it, her whole body felt like someone had filled her with energy, obliterating her exhaustion and even the slightest of aches in her body. Show couldn't remember the last time she felt nearly this rejuvenated. Maybe never. "Wow! That. Was. AMAZING! Why don't you mass produce this stuff? You'd save countless lives and make a fortune!"
"Probably end world hunger to boot." Videl nodded, her smile turning a little wistful. "If you don't exert yourself, one bean can keep you full and healthy for days. But only one person's successfully grown them and it's a time consuming process. Growing just a handful takes a while." She sighed, waving her sack for emphasis. "That's why they're for emergencies only. I'd say today definitely qualifies."
"Oh yeah. Especially now that those are running around." Monique nodded, turning a dark look toward the surviving head.
"Why would they matter? They're toast now." Trunks asked proudly, crossing his arms behind his head.
"I highly doubt that's the last of them. Last time Kim saw them, they'd learned to reproduce themselves." Monique explained, causing all three Sayians to tense up right before the head's mouth opened, sending chills down all four of their spines.
"The hive will not be stopped. Bebes are perfect."
Sadly, even Trunks smashing the head into pieces didn't relieve any of them of the sense of foreboding that gave them.
….
"Well, I suppose I should have expected more design flaws." Vlad mused as the head was stomped. Keeping himself invisible, he'd opted to stick around for the fight. After all, it wasn't often one got to see a Z Fighter in action and seeing one defeated was even rarer. More importantly, he'd wanted to assure his faith in the Bebes wasn't unfounded.
Overall, they appeared to be quite a success. Two of Drakken's fembots had almost taken a Saiyan down, even without a tail to grab. That was a feat of legend in itself and that only became a greater victory every day as the warrior race only continued to rapidly grow stronger. They were certainly worth the time Vlad took to correct their flawed programming. Had the children not arrived for a few more minutes, they would have actually won and moved on to the boys. They may have even won a three on two battle. But sadly, the robots appeared to lack battlefield awareness. Their narrow minded vision was a weakness that greater numbers found easy to exploit. Granted, if the boys had appeared at any earlier moment, when the Bebes were separated and noting more of their surroundings, it again could have ended very differently, but still, Vlad should have checked all of their programs more carefully.
"But no matter." He grinned to himself as he pulled out a remote and hit a big red button. "They still performed superbly with but two. If nothing else, the rest will be more than capable of keeping those three out of our way."
Floating into the sky, he took just a moment to check the crate he'd brought and smirked when he found it empty before taking off at top speed for a very distinct building.
Quickly arriving at Capsule Corp, a dark chuckle left his lips as he placed his hand flat on the roof without so much as a flicker of pain. Mr Briefs had already had the place set up with anti ghost defenses back in the days the Guardians were a well known team, but the virus had completely shut them down. He had no problems phasing inside.
"It's about time you got here." Bertrand grumbled the moment he was through. Vlad frowned at that. He was still invisible, only those who could actually sense ghost should have noticed his presence. Though the answer to that discovered the moment Bertrand dropped his own invisibility to reveal the form of a giant, green bat.
"Relax, my comrade. So far all is going according to plan. I was simply ensuring the last new details were adequate." Vlad replied, charming as ever.
"They better be." Bertrand scowled, turning back into his blob form as Vlad became visible again. "Word got out that a Z Fighter came back to town. Some of us are getting antsy."
"Well rest assured that all three alien freaks in the area are about to die." Vlad waved it off uncaringly.
"Be warned, we're charging extra for all the additional hassles you've given us." Bertrand declared, not looking the least bit convinced. "Next time we want something, you'll provide it without delay. Unless you want all your secrets revealed to the general public."
"A deal is a deal." Vlad accepted with a nod. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's one thing I'm curious to see here before you blow it up. And as there is no more need for communication between us at this point, I suppose I'll say farewell for now. When you want your favor, you know where to find me." Not that that would last for long.
Turning invisible and intangible again, Vlad sank through the floor continued on his way down. He took a few detours on the way, just to see how things were going, and he had to say, these fools were quick when they wanted to be. The place was quickly being stripped of anything useful or valuable that wasn't stuck to the ground, plenty of trucks were already being prepped to take off with the loot and almost all of the hostages had been gathered in the very centre of the building. Right next to a bomb.
"Wait, where is the Fenton girl?" Drakken's voice screeched, startling Vlad as he'd been about to leave. Taking another look around, a small frown cross his brow as he realized that the girl truly was nowhere in sight.
"I had to knock her out early. She's probably still slumped in tech boy's bathroom." Camille responded with an uncaring shrug.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go drag her down here!" Spectra snapped, surprising Vlad a little with her intensity. "I do not want that little brat out making a nuisance of herself. I want her strapped to that bomb!"
"Why bother? She's just a nosey nobody." Camille said, staring at her nails.
"BECAUSE SHE…because she is a ghost hunter with access to ectoplasmic weaponry and knows how to use it. That probably makes her the most dangerous hostage we have." Spectra answered, visibly forcing herself to calm down. "Just go get her!"
"Whatev's. I'll take a thug." Camille replied nonchalantly, snapping a finger in the air, a grunt in a black and red bodysuit immediately popping up behind her. "He can grab the brat while I look for some clothes more worthy of my body."
"Fine, whatever, just get her here." Spectra snapped as Camille strutted away.
'Hmm, Maddie won't like that.' Vlad mused, watching over the scene a little longer as he pondered what just happened. He still couldn't help it. Even if his hopes of getting Maddie to be willingly his were crushed, he still had that picture of his greatest desire in his head and Jazz was a part of it. She was Maddie's daughter, as beautiful and witty as her mother and, most of all, another person he could take from Jack and another person he could use to keep Maddie and Daniel with him. In fact, now she was probably his best chance at getting them by his side, even if it was a forced situation. And even if that didn't work, taking her would make the Fentons hold back when he did make his next play on taking over the world. It was best for all of his hopes and plans if that girl survived.
However, Spectra seemed to have a grudge against her. That rage and the look in her eyes did not suggest a ghost's sense of self preservation near a competent ghost hunter, but a burning desire for vengeance. The two must have met before and clearly, Jazz came out on top. That meant that saving her would mean retribution from Spectra.
Well then, he'd just have to stick around a little longer than he'd intended and save her at the last minute. That was hardly an issue.
Deciding everything else was well in hand, Vlad simply went on his way down. Past the basement and a bunker and through the ground. However, right before he could make it to his destination, what felt like a bolt of lightning surged through his entire being, eliciting a bloodcurdling scream. It took every shred of willpower he had just to keep himself intangible as he was flung away, only just managing to direct himself into the underground hallway before collapsing, taking in deep, loud breaths as his powers gave out and reverted him back to his human form. His whole body feeling like it was on fire, it took almost all the strength he had just to stare at the door before him, clenching his teeth and moaning as every cell in his being was screaming in pain.
"B-butter biscuits!" Was all he could say before dropping his head, his body demanding rest. "T-this are-ea must have its o-own p-p-power source." And what a charge it was powering! He couldn't remember ever being shocked by a ghost shield that powerful. Whatever was in that room, Bulma was not taking any chances with it. What could be so important that she would go this far to protect it?
Sadly, that would have to remain a mystery for now. He couldn't get close to it and if any of his pawns tried, they'd be more likely to simply bring the place down on them than succeed. The only person who could open this quickly and safely was Bulma and, judging from what Vlad could already see of the security down here, letting her anywhere near it would most likely end disastrously. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that she'd rigged the place with either more offensive measures or self-destructive ones. You never put in that much effort to hide and contain something without ensuring that it never got into the wrong hands. No, he'd have to give up on this for now.
That was quite disappointing. Especially since he was still reeling from the shock. He wasn't going anywhere for a while.
….
Henry truly couldn't remember the last time he'd struggled this much to fight off panic. Or when a situation seemed any more hopeless.
Getting the ropes off hadn't been too difficult. The ground was full of sharp, jagged pieces of rock and shrapnel for him to run them across. Once his wrists and arms were free, the rest took less than a second. Unfortunately, that was the only easy part.
Rising to his feet, Henry had placed his hands on the nearest wall and gone around the area multiple times, trying to feel for a gap. High and low, he'd slid his hands over every detail. He completely lost hope for an exit the first time around, but he'd pursued anyway, hoping his fingers could at least find an air hole. Sadly, he had no such luck.
As such, a panic attack was the absolute worst thing he could do right now. He had no idea how long he'd been down here, but he was confident that his air supply was already getting low.
Though that fact only made it harder to contain one. That ghost had no intention of coming back to save him. That much was obvious. He was also probably the only person who knew where he was and this far underground, there was no chance anyone would get here in time to save him. It'd be weeks before they got even close to him, if the ghost's claims on his location were true. There was far too much of a disaster above ground. Add in the fact that the place was forever creaking and groaning and you could forget waiting for help, Henry probably wouldn't survive long enough to suffocate.
'Panicking won't help matters.' He reminded himself for had to be the fortieth time, letting himself take a single, deep, calming breath as he sat down, shifting into a meditative position. 'Calm down. Relax. Think this through. What options do I have left? What can I safely try?'
Admittedly, that would be a lot easier to determine if he had so much as a speck of light down here. Everything had been pitch black ever since Bertrand left. While his eyes did glow when he concentrated on his power, that didn't alter his vision in any way, not that he'd risk gathering that much power down here. If he accidentally turned on one piece of miraculously still functioning tech anywhere around him, it could set off a cave in. That wasn't an option.
So since sight was useless, what else could he use? Touch had failed, the place was sealed tight. Which also made sound nothing but foreboding. Taste and smell were completely useless, so all five senses were out. Ok, so if nothing new could help him, what about something old? Could any of his previous experiences help him out now? He didn't think so. He'd been caged before, but never like this. His captors had always either wanted him alive or trapped him with his friends. And his weapons. And his pants, damn it! 'Ok, those aren't important right now, backtrack a little.'
If his past was useless too, then he should focus on what he had, right? Ok, he had his underwear, enhanced physical abilities, an enhanced intellect and electromagnetic abilities that allowed him both to control machines and detect and move small amounts of metal. That's it.
Henry could only scowl at that. Normally, metal manipulation would be great in this scenario. Releasing a few small pulses, Henry could see that there was plenty of metal around, enough at least to shield himself if the place did come crashing down, probably enough to carve a hole to the surface, but he just wasn't powerful enough to use it. He could only move a little more than his own weight for a short period of time. He'd doubled his weight once when he got lost control of his anger, but that's the most he'd ever done. Wasn't it?
"Wait." A small frown crossed his face as his last fight crossed his mind. He'd moved more, hadn't he? He'd…flung a car, right? Or had he turned it on and used its own momentum to help. He wasn't sure, it all happened too fast, but…he didn't think so. Actually, while he was thinking about it, he'd broken through his limits a few times in that fight, didn't he? The fact that he'd fought at his usual level at all after straining his magnetic powers moving around so long was a testament to that all on its own, but…he'd gotten desperate and he'd pushed through his limits, hadn't he? Could…could he do it again? Could he go bigger?
Rising to his feet, Henry made his way back to the most stable wall he could find, took another deep breath to calm his nerves as best he could and slowly, carefully, released some weak pulses into the area.
It worked a lot like echolocation or sensing vibrations. The electromagnetic pulses sank into the world around him and showed his mind's eye every bit of metal in the area. Even metallic minerals in the soil, like nickel, stood out to him. Sighing in relief as nothing shifted, Henry took a moment to collect himself before trying again, this time pushing right to the limits of his range.
Those results came back a little more disappointing. It seemed that after a few meters, the amount of metal in the earth quickly receded. Even if his idea was possible, that would make it a lot more difficult and dangerous. But he'd worry about that later. First, he had to know if he could force himself to go further. So, planting his hands firmly against the wall, he clenched his teeth and concentrated on drawing every bit of power he could and sent out another pulse, hit his range and growled as he forced himself to push harder, his eyes growing from his usual faint glow to one so intense that for just a second, he could see it bouncing off the wall.
"Come on, come on, come ON!" He snapped, actually snarling at the wall. The pressure was building in head fast, promising a migraine, but no matter how hard he focused, he just wasn't seeing any further. He couldn't understand it. He had to have the power, if he could move heavier metal than he'd thought, then he had to be able to sense more of it out too. He had too. It all came from the same source. He had to be able to do this. But he was focusing so much, his head was really starting to scream at him and he wasn't getting any further than before. Why wasn't it working? Why couldn't he release more energy? It was there, it was hurting him, it just needed to GET THE HELL OUT!
It was at that moment that it happened. The growing pain in his head, his frustration, his panic and his desperation, it all became too much for Henry to contain. Riling himself up as much as he could, he let go of all mental restraint and slammed everything he had out into a scream, causing the whole area to rattle as the gathered power exploded from his mind along with it. Enough so that the range of his pulse doubled. "YES! This is…this is amazing. YES!" His head hurt like hell, but he didn't care. A huge smile burst onto his face as he laughed and cheered, letting himself fall to the ground and relax his body and mind. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it! He'd gone further than ever before. What was even better was that he hadn't lost control of his power. In retrospect, it was terrifying that he'd let his mental barriers shatter now of all times, but he did it and his power had not only increased, but stayed in control. It was amazing, absolutely amazing! And to make it even better, he'd succeeded at the most important thing. He'd found a way out and one much closer than digging to the surface. He could escape. This still was going to be crazy dangerous, but he had a genuine possibility of living and he was going to take it. Whatever it takes, he was getting out of here.
Needing to take a bit of time and a few bigger, slow breaths to calm his body down anyway, Henry just laid there for a few moments pondering his new hope. He could only speculate, but he was pretty sure that it was an underground tunnel or a sewage system. He couldn't be sure, he wasn't working with something he'd seen, but something that was missing.
Most sources of earth at least had metallic ore minerals, especially rock, like the ones surrounding him and his ability could find it all. In his current situation, searching for metal made rocks look like stars in the sky. As such, the large, blank area had to devoid of them, especially when it had such a long, perfect shape. That was something manmade.
However, that didn't mean that it would save him. He could only see so far and only the metal and its absence. The passageway could be blocked. It could be flooded. Or it could simply be too protected for him to access it. He could end up bringing his whole prison down without even succeeding to make an opening, he could get himself drowned or just find a new place to suffocate in. This was a huge risk, even if he could generate enough magnetic force to rip walls apart.
"But at least I'll have tried." He muttered, pulling himself back to his feet, taking in one last, long breath before narrowing his eyes toward the wall. "To do nothing is to die anyway, so I might as well…go…FOR IT!"
Calling on his power once more, he only waited long enough to rip some metal from the ground and wrap it around each wrist and ankle before letting out a furious scream and thrusting his hand straight at his target, completely disregarding every urge to restrain himself and letting his emotions run as wild as his power.
The results were immediate. Every fibre of his being felt like it was slowly being ripped apart, but the power being unleashed was like nothing Henry ever dared to believe he was capable of. The wall practically imploded in an instant, all the metal spinning viciously against stone and carving everything out of its way. The roof collapsed half a second later with a thunderous crash, but all that touched Henry was lightly pouring soil. Everything else was blocked by the green glow that was Henry's power forming a swirling sphere around him. The power attracted and held all the metal coming down and used it to block the earth just long enough for Henry to dive into the newly forming tunnel. He didn't stop there, however. Even as the old space was consumed, he simply forced metal behind him to block the entrance while all of it before him continued to dig. Every rock before him was weakened as he pulled the metallic minerals from them, breaking them down from the inside and adding to the metal he had to worked with. Every large piece of metal was either ripped out of place or curved aside, something that was made much easier thanks to it already being damaged. He was doing so good. He'd only had to get through two meters and already done one and a half. He was almost there.
"GAAHH!" Though his body was not taking it very well. He couldn't help but cry out as his whole body spasmed. He still had more power, he could feel it, but it hurt so much to use it. He felt like every cell was on fire. It was so bad that broke his focus and caused an all new level of panic as the place started collapsing on him and force his power back into action. His next gasp only made it grow again as he realized just how low on air he actually was. Fortunately, that did still a favorable result, as his panic and adrenaline overrode his pain and with one last scream, his power surged once more and broke right through the wall.
And immediately started flooding his tunnel with water.
'A sewer system or storm drain, then.' Henry thought, struggling to take a deep breath before the place filled. 'That's gross, but fine. It's probably for the best.' Grateful he managed to get a full pair of lungs, Henry finally let his death grip on his power go before recalling just enough to move his makeshift bracelets and anklets. With them pulling him, he had no trouble shooting to the water's surface and onto a dry walkway where he promptly flopped down, leaning bonelessly against a mercifully solid wall and almost hyperventilated as he tried to get enough air into his burning body.
"Well…I hurt like…crazy…I'm wet, I…smell awful and I…am really, really exhausted. But…" He added, opening his tired eyes as a relieved smile slowly grew on his face. "I made it out. I'm alive."
He wasn't moving for a bit, but that was ok. He could rest now. No one would blame him. And the sound of running water was really soothing.
"…Man, do I stink." He realized things were bad right now, but after all he went through, would it be alright if he got a shower and a bath before he went out to face it all again? The universe could wait an hour, just this once, right?