Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Nine
...
Peggy sat at the Hive's dining table, her hands curled around a mug of tea that had long gone cold. She didn't feel the temperature or the pitying stares or even hear the empathy or consolation from those around her.
Grant had been kidnapped.
Ever since she'd seen Ursula's fight against the Commander and Jetstream, Peggy had been worried about losing Grant to the two superheroes. She knew Ursula by face, of course. Ursula was the spitting image of her mother, and Peggy had spent all that time with her in college while the Incredible Genius experimented on them, so she'd known who she was the moment Ursula was de-masked on TV. The fact that Ursula had a power similar to Grant's was both a surprise and worrying.
What if the Commander and Jetstream came after her son because of his half-sister's actions?
Now, it was her worst fears come true except worse because it was the Super Bureau, not the two superheroes, who had taken Grant from her.
Peggy had gone through anger in blaming Warren and Layla, denial that her son had anything to do with Jetstream's fall, bargaining and pleading with everyone present, and depression with tears and such soul-dragging emotions that Nina had needed to leave the room. Now she was slowly coming around to acceptance.
As Peggy became aware of her surroundings once more, she saw Frieda sitting across from her. All of the other children and adults had seemingly escaped while she was grieving, but her son was gone.
"Will they get him back?" Peggy asked, moving the mug away and wringing her hands in her lap instead.
"They're planning on it. It's what they're currently training for; he's not being held for ransom by citizens, Peggy. They have weapons and guards and security tighter than Maxville Super Penitentiary. It won't be easy to rescue him, but they'll put their own lives on the line to do it," Frieda said firmly.
Peggy felt a pang of sympathy for Alice and Lottie. She'd met them briefly at the Sanctuary and had seen the news reports about their sons missing and kidnapped, but she'd never thought it would happen to her.
Other children were kidnapped, not nearly-adult children like Grant, not her son, and not in Maxville.
"How can I help?" Peggy asked. "I'll take time off work and do whatever else I need to do. If they need alibis or... something, I don't know what, but I'll do it."
Frieda smiled and reached across to pat her hand. "They're all right, dearie. We've got it all covered. All you have to do is wait, which is infinitely worse. Maybe a holiday so you've got an alibi?"
"No." Peggy sighed and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I can't sit and wait around, Frieda. I have to do something. Please."
Frieda gave a brief nod of understanding. "All right, Peggy. A lot is going to happen in the next few days, so it may not seem like it's directly involved with Grant's rescue, but I promise it will help."
"All right, I can handle that. What can I do?"
"Let's go see, shall we?" Frieda said, standing to lead Peggy to the lower Hive.
Peggy followed her, hoping she didn't seem hesitant or concerned, even though she could feel her shoulders heading towards her ears. Forcing herself to relax her shoulders, she stopped as she entered the training arena and heard loud arguing from a small group of people.
"Their sentences are for multiple lifetimes, not just one life!" Ethan snapped, clearly at the end of his rope or perhaps fed up with the argument.
Zach shook his head adamantly. "That only matters if they go through the legal system again! A wall doesn't care about life sentences! Take it down and they can just walk out!"
"Which would be fine if they weren't in individualised cells designed to keep them contained!" Justina said, indicating over at the Maxville Super Penitentiary's unfinished plan on the wall.
"Do we need to break into the Department of Births, Death, Re-Death, and Marriages? 'Cause that place has even more security than the Pen," Killer pointed out with a frown.
"What's a pen got to do with anything?" Peggy asked Frieda quietly.
"The Maxville Super Penitentiary, dear. It's a mouthful to say otherwise, and they've been saying it an awful lot these last few days."
"We need to kill them," Warren's voice cut through the argument, everyone pausing to look at him. "They have to go through multiple life sentences, so that means they have to go through multiple lives."
Corvin shrugged. "All right. How do we get them through multiple lives without running the risk of reincarnation? Or do we need to find out who the next incarnation will be for each of them? We might need to break into the Department, like Killer said."
"Or we can reanimate them," Zach suggested.
"We're not creating an undead zombie horde. And we can't spare anyone else to break into the Department; like Killer said, their security is far too good. How else can we get them to live multiple lives in a short amount of time?" Layla asked, looking around at the group.
As another discussion started - quieter this time, though Peggy doubted it would stay that way for long - she wandered over to the wall Justina had indicated in order to see the plan. It wasn't much of a plan, or at the very least there was nothing that made immediate sense to her, and she frowned as she tried to piece together scraps of information with images of the Pen. A blueprint was the easiest image to recognise, so she focused on that, trying to memorise paths and rooms and areas within the prison, just in case she ever had to visit her son in there. If he was ever rescued, that was. That thought hit her a little too suddenly, and Peggy swallowed hard, shook her head, and focused on the blueprint with more determination.
"What's this room?" she asked herself, fingertips touching the map briefly.
"Weapons room; the Pen has weapons on hand in case there's a riot again like there was in the '80s and '90s," Warren said.
Not expecting an answer, Peggy spun around to look at him. He looked tired, bags under his eyes that she was sure hadn't been there the last time she'd seen Warren, though that had been some time ago.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry. We didn't realise Grant had been taken until Monday and... it won't happen again, Ms. Read."
She nodded briefly, not trusting her voice or emotions, and turned back to the blueprint. "This... ahem, this isn't the weapons room," Peggy said, hoping her voice didn't shake like she thought it had. "The weapons room is here, closer to the security guard's station and their lockers, see? This room says weapons, but it makes no sense to have it behind three doors and on the opposite side of the cafeteria."
Warren frowned at her words and moved closer to look at the two labelled weapons rooms.
Feeling emboldened by his curiosity rather than being ignored or dismissed outright, Peggy continued, "I remember that riot from the '90s, and the only reason it was contained so quickly was because the armed guards got to the cafeteria in a minute flat. There's no way they could get from this room to the cafeteria in a minute. It would be difficult even with super speed."
"That's a good point. Thank you, Ms. Read. Ace, do you have any internal cameras in the Pen for sector 5-3?" Warren called out.
"Sector 5... uh, 3? Give me a sec, I'll check," Adam said, navigating through his phone a second later. "Huh, that's way more security than necessary. I need my computer for this, hold up."
Warren didn't get a chance to respond as Adam raced out of the training arena without waiting.
Peggy glanced over at the group, surprised that they weren't arguing again, and saw that Remi had shifted and was lying on top of some people. "Uh, are they okay?"
Warren glanced over, grinned, then returned his attention back to the blueprint with a nod. "Yeah, they're fine. Remi's very careful and acts as an extreme weighted blanket. It's Zach and Ethan's break time and if Remi doesn't hold 'em down, Ethan will keep trying to argue or plan until he drops. Craig, Jewel, and Beau should be coming in from their nap soon," he mused.
"Not meaning to interrupt, but you need to see this. I'm connecting the projector, 'kay?" Adam said through his phone, the sound of a mouse clicking echoing his words.
"Yeah, sure. Is it anything good?" Warren asked.
"Depends on whether you mean it's good for us or them. Either way, it's damned good for us, man. Look at this shit!" Adam said with a gleeful cackle, just as his computer appeared on a screen, displaying the Pen's interior.
Layla stopped her discussion with Justina and Robin as Adam's screen came into view, her head tilting to the side curiously. "Is that... "
"That's the Pacifier," Warren confirmed with a nod.
"Holy shit. Holy shit, I can use that. I can use that, right?" Terrence asked. "I haven't been able to build a replica since it was built by a group of people originally, and there's so many fiddly bits, and - "
"Yes, you can use it, Terrence. I think that solves our issue for the multiple life sentences, don't you think?" Layla asked with a bright smile.
"Do you know how to use the Pacifier?" Corvin asked.
"From what I remember, it's a point and shoot ray. There wasn't anything other than the trigger," Warren said.
"It could be designed to only respond to a specific technopath," Terrence said, concerned now.
"The Stronghold's did have it in their Secret Sanctum for a long time. You know the Commander would have played with it," Layla admitted, rolling her eyes.
"So we'll take it to Royal Pain first," Warren said with a shrug.
"Don't they have to live their lives, not be turned into babies? Even if we do turn them into babies, we can't wait around 'til they get older to de-age them again. Right? I am right, aren't I?" Zach asked, his voice muffled.
"You're meant to be resting, Zach," Warren called, though he felt his own hopes dashed as he realised Zach was right.
"I am resting. Kinda."
Silence descended as everyone attempted to think of resolutions. Even Peggy, who had limited knowledge of the Pacifier, tried to desperately think of a way to help. If it helped her son, she didn't care if every supervillain descended on Maxville at once.
"Ah, we're either late or right on time. Beth, Eliza, can I get you anything before we assist with the plans?" Mr. Medulla asked, smiling at both women on each of his arms.
"I'm all right for now, Maxwell dear, but thank you," Beth said, kissing his cheek.
"Maybe later, love," Eliza said, smiling briefly as she took in the expressions and silence.
"All right. Why are you looking at the Pacifier?"
"We need to break everyone out of the Pen, but the Pacifier only babifies people. We can't wait for them to live through multiple life sentences," Robin replied.
Mr. Medulla took a moment to translate and understand Robin's response, then smiled. "Well, I suppose we arrived right on time then. The Pacifier has a switch: it not only de-ages, but also ages people. Well, living organisms, at least," he added. A few people looked at him in varying degrees of surprise and suspicion. "I had some time to play before the Super Bureau arrived to arrest Royal Pain and her subordinates, and I'm not one to resist simple pleasures in life."
"I'll second that," Eliza said with a grin.
"The information about the Pacifier is extremely useful. You're certain? Will it take them past death to trigger the next life sentence?" Layla asked.
"It will take them to the point of death, and if you de-age at that point, it should trigger the life sentence. If it doesn't, simply re-age them and kill them, then de-age their body, and the soul should attach to the closest unoccupied body. I can't guarantee this aspect; I didn't have that much time to play, and it's difficult to find willing participants in experiments where certain death is involved."
"I'll second that," Beth said with a pout.
Warren sighed. "It's better than nothing, and we'll have the option to kill them outright as a backup."
Beth brightened. "Ooh, I can help with that! I have an experimental drug I've been dying to test on someone!"
Peggy had moved to another wall where it seemed another part of their plan was detailed. Or perhaps it was another plan all together? Either way, this wall was detailed more clearly and she swallowed hard as her earlier thought seemed to become a promise.
If it helped her son, she didn't care if every supervillain descended on Maxville at once.
...
Todd frowned at Rita, who looked way too happy considering they had Maths for Hero Support in ten minutes. "What's up with you?"
Rita grinned even broader which was just scary. "I got a job last night."
"What? How? With who? When did you apply for it?" Todd asked incredulously.
Ever since Justina and Robin had fucked off to spend time with the son of a murderer and a liar who manipulated people, he and Rita had spent more time together and told each other everything. Or so he'd thought.
"I only found out about it yesterday, don't give me that look," Rita said, rolling her eyes. Then she leaned in close, grinning as she whispered, "The job is with Jetstream."
Todd's eyes widened. "Are you shitting me? Seriously?"
"Shh! Yes, I'm serious. I get paid to be at every fight she has. Uh, after school, at least. I think she's going to start booking them for after school so I can be there."
"Can she do that? I thought the villains chose the time? What did your folks say?"
"She's Jetstream, of course she can. They're just happy I'm employed and working with Jetstream. They wouldn't have believed it if she didn't show up and introduce herself. Dad got his Jetstream and the Commander baseball card signed."
"Shit, he could sell that for millions."
Rita snorted. "He's getting buried with the damn thing."
Todd couldn't blame him. "Think she'll hire me, too?"
"I don't think she needs you to breathe underwater for her," Rita said with a snicker.
Todd pouted. "Fine."
They were both silent as Coach Boomer called attendance. Eventually, the bell rang and they filed out of the classroom and headed towards Maths for Supers like it was the gallows. Todd nudged Rita and she looked back over her shoulder at him. "What?"
"Did they ever find that baseball the Commander hit?"
"I think it surpassed Voyager I last month."
"Ha. Nice."
...
"Are you ready, querida?" Mrs. Yolanda asked, looking into her daughter's hospital room.
"Not yet, Mami. Will might still visit; can we wait another hour? I'm sure he'll be here soon."
"If he's not here by now, he won't be here later," Mrs. Yolanda said with a sniff.
"You need to leave; there are people who need this bed," a nurse said, looking unimpressed.
Magenta blushed crimson and slipped out of the bed to join her mother. "If Will stops by, could you let him know I've gone home?"
"No; I'm not your messenger and I have no idea who Will is anyway. Text him yourself," the nurse said, moving to strip the bed linens.
"Can I have my phone, Mami? Please?"
"It is at home, querida. You will sleep on the way home and won't need it. Only Layla texted you, anyway."
"You read my messages?" Magenta asked, her eyes wide.
"The alert showed on your screen. We need to go, the parking is expensive," Mrs. Yolanda said, checking her watch and tutting as she guided Magenta through the hospital and to the car.
Magenta looked out the window for the whole ride home, pretending to rest even as she tried to see if Will was in the sky. Arriving home twenty minutes later without sighting Will, Magenta sent a text to let him know she was home and no longer at the hospital, then navigated through her phone to find Layla's message.
Layla: I hope you're all right! If you get paid for stopping the robbers, you should be able to redesign your outfit, right? Take care and keep me updated!
Realising that Layla was right about her outfit, Magenta kept her tears at bay as she sat in front of her computer to finally design an outfit that she wanted. This time she'd even pay for it herself so she wouldn't feel guilty about using the Stronghold's money for a replacement! Well, she needed to check her bank account first, but that wasn't the point.
Opening her browser, Magenta saw a blinking dot on one of the tabs. Opening her email showed three new bookings for fights in Westville, two of them against her and Airborne, and one against Earthstone. Checking the dates and times, Magenta saw that she'd have to take an extra day off school this week, but it didn't even matter because she was finally going to fight properly! In her brand new suit, if she paid extra for express shipping.
Feeling far more excited than she had since being shot, Magenta navigated to the suit design site. The first additional feature would include bullet-proof material...
...
Josie passed the Super Bureau's assessment, just as she knew she would, and had her first scheduled fight with a villain in two days' time. She was determined to show the world that she was ready and certainly not a has-been hero who needed to retire of all things.
Josie spent those two days organising the house and rearranging furniture and sorting through Will's old Sky High textbooks and yearbooks. She read through both at intervals, trying to determine if she'd forgotten half of the Mad Science information or if anyone at Sky High could be useful to her and Steve, especially after Ritchie's theory about why her power had stopped working. She organised a job with Rita, ensuring she would never fall again. Josie felt her tension-filled shoulders relax when the girl agreed to minimum wage and her parents were won over with nothing more than a signature on a baseball card.
By the time two days had passed, Josie was almost as anxious to leave the house as Will usually was. She was in her super suit long before the fight was actually scheduled and flew around the house in short bursts to ensure everything was all right. Her alarm went off to signify it was time to leave and Steve changed into the Commander's supersuit in a split second. They were out the door in the next, Jetstream holding him up confidently and with a smile for the fans and cameras.
They arrived early, though the villain was already there. Polarise had started monologuing to the gathered citizens about how the time had come for Jetstream and the Commander to lose, how he would win, and how they might as well hand over their expensive belongings now.
"Not today, Polarise! You leave those hard-working citizens alone," Jetstream called.
"Yeah!" the Commander said, putting his hands on his hips.
The citizens called out eagerly at the sight of them, though Polarise looked surprised to see her with the Commander. Jetstream was determined to make Polarise regret challenging her and the Commander.
"Today marks the day you'll lose!" Polarise called out, pointing at them dramatically with his cape blowing in the wind.
"You wish, Polarise! Launch," the Commander said.
Jetstream let the Commander go, his body a falling weight that would directly hit Polarise. She continued to fly forward, flying around the back of Polarise so she and the Commander would hit at opposite sides, effectively crushing the villain between them. It was a move that worked well for them in the past, especially with the villain distracted by the Commander falling directly towards them and unable to see Jetstream's super fast flight to the other side of their body.
Polarise powered up mere seconds before the Commander - and Jetstream - hit, and they both flew back in the same direction they'd come. For a heart-stopping moment, Jetstream wondered if she'd lost her power again. Then she righted herself, still floating in mid-air, and exhaled in relief as she could fly on her own. She still had her powers.
Polarise laughed as the Commander flew backwards head over heels, and stayed powered up as Jetstream flew at him again. While he was powered up, neither hero would be able to get close. He would be the first villain to win this fight and then... then he'd get keys to the city, or something.
Jetstream looped around, trying to find a weak point in Polarise's power. She grit her teeth when she realised that there wasn't one, but then a thought came to her mind. It seemed reading Will's Sky High textbooks had helped her after all. Electricity and copper would negate polarisation, and while they were surrounded by electricity poles, the copper would be harder to come by. Unless there was a big ball of copper...
Wait, there was! Chicago would forgive her, Jetstream decided.
"Commander! Get a battery! Quickly, a 12-volt! I'll be right back," Jetstream called, waiting for the Commander's nod in response to her instruction before flying to Chicago.
For something that was made entirely out of copper, the Copper Bean wasn't as heavy as Jetstream had expected. She was glad for it, though, since she would have had to go back to get the Commander to lift it.
Returning to Maxville in record time, Jetstream tried not to feel too annoyed that the Commander hadn't found a battery yet. He seemed to be deliberating between cars while Polarise ran at him to make him bounce and fly down the road, head over heels. His head was leaving dents in the asphalt and Jetstream made a mental note to ensure the Mayor wouldn't take that out of their paycheque. Ever since he'd been punched by the Commander, put into a medically-induced coma, and released from hospital with the subsequent bill, the Mayor had charged them for every little thing the greedy man could think of; just last week, he'd charged them to replace the lamp posts that the fifty-foot villain had wrenched out of the ground!
"Commander! Grab an electricity pole," Jetstream called.
It was going to be more than a 12-volt battery, that was for certain, but she couldn't stand to watch Polarise terrorise them any further.
"Thank you to the citizens of Chicago for your contribution to this fight. Together, we'll defeat this villain!" she added to the cameras, nodding to the Copper Bean in her arms. There was a wrenching sound of concrete being crushed as the Commander ripped a pole out of the ground. "Now, Commander!"
The Commander wasn't entirely sure what to do, but figured trying to hit Polarise with the giant electricity pole was probably along the lines of what Jetstream was thinking. He held onto the pole and started to swing it down, even as Jetstream flew forward with the Copper Bean in her outstretched hands.
Polarise realised what they were going to do, his eyes widening as he backed up and tried to run. If Tyre-One and Monument could run away, then so could he!
"Not so fast, Polarise! You've been negated," Jetstream called, electricity and the Copper Bean combining to break through Polarise's natural barrier and smashing down on top of the villain.
Jetstream dropped the Copper Bean to make sure she wouldn't be hurt, and watched to make sure Polarise was knocked unconscious before directing the Commander to move the still sparking pole. His thick rubber gloves made that work possible, thankfully, and the citizens were safe as the electricity pole was moved out of the way. There were cheers from the citizens at their designated barrier and Jetstream grinned widely, waving to them all, her loyal fans.
"Uh, Jetstream? Dear, is this meant to be melting?" the Commander asked, picking up what goop remained of the Copper Bean, liquid melting between his gloved fingers.
Jetstream frowned at the sight. Copper wasn't meant to melt because of electricity. That was the whole point!
"Are you sure it was copper?" the Commander asked, sniffing and wrinkling his nose at the burnt smell.
"It's called the Copper Bean, Commander."
The video paused and returned to Brian Anderson, who tutted and shook his head. "As you can imagine, viewers, the city of Chicago are very upset that their new art installation was removed and destroyed in such a way. The artist of the Copper Bean released a statement saying that the Copper Bean was only coated in copper and not made entirely from copper despite what was previously said about the artwork's composition. Jetstream and the Commander will need to do something very heroic to make up for this blunder, especially for those in Chicago.
"This follows on from Airborne's fatal heroics earlier this week where two thieves were killed in a failed robbery attempt; another thief has died from their injuries as a result of the young Hero's brutality, leaving citizens and experts to wonder whether this kind of force is truly necessary. All of the thieves were citizens rather than super villains, and there are calls for Heroes to only fight against super villains who have booked fights in order to avoid these kinds of unnecessary fatalities."
"Oh, Layla? Warren? I've got an idea on how to get rid of the Commander and Jetstream!" Milo called with an evil cackle.
"Nice work on the evil laugh, Milo. What's the idea?" Justina asked as she brought a tray of fruit into the room.
"C'mon, you'll see. Ooh, I'm stealing that," he said, grabbing a thick piece of watermelon from her tray as he ran past on his way out of the room and to the training arena.
Justina glanced at the TV screen without seeing what had given Milo any ideas - the news had moved onto the newest zoo animals to be born; they were cute even though they were terrified to be out of the warmth and in a new environment, but certainly didn't help with Jetstream and the Commander - and ran after him.
...
"I'm going to throw up," Jewel announced suddenly.
Craig set down one of the gift bags. "Are you nervous, babe?"
"Yes. Well, no. But also, yes," Jewel said, pacing back and forth, her arms curled over her stomach. "It's just... it's the auction and Grant isn't here. He was going to help and... fuck, I miss him so much."
"I do, too, Jewel." Craig moved to hug her firmly. "It sucks, but we can just straight-up cancel. I don't care about the people who've booked, they can go fuck themselves."
Jewel sniffled, laughed and shook her head. "I can't, Craig. Imagine the reviews? Citizens can hate supers for any reason, and I can't have them hating me or my business. I only just started as a super and this business is meant to be my livelihood outside of that. I have to go. I have to and I hate it and I don't want to, but I have to," she said, her words ending on a sob.
Beau entered the room to see them hugging, and immediately set the trays of jewellery down. "Jewel, you okay?"
She shook her head and Craig opened his arms for Beau to join them. "We'll get him back, babe," Craig promised, fierce and convincing.
"We will, and we're going to tell him all about your night. Ethan's promised to record everything," Beau added. "It'll be all right, babe. It's just one night and we're getting him back in the morning. Way too early, so you'll have an excuse to leave the party early, hey?"
"Maybe I should just cancel it. Oh, I feel sick even thinking about that, but... "
"Jewel, babe. Grant will understand. If he was here, he'd be saying the exact same thing. If I was stuck in there, I'd want you to do this. This is one night that guarantees your future, babe. It's not going to change anything about Grant's situation, and it sucks dick, but you've gotta do it. Doesn't she?" Beau asked, tapping Craig's shoulder.
Craig sighed softly against Jewel's neck, pressing a kiss to rough jewelled skin. "It sucks dick and balls, babe, but I've got an idea. You don't have to go."
"What? How?" Jewel and Beau asked, pulling away to look at Craig properly.
Craig smiled briefly, stepped out of their embrace, and shifted. Jewel stood before them, shimmering with her skin and outfit. "What do you think?"
Jewel started to cry suddenly, burying her head in her hands. "Shit. I'm okay. I am, I just... I saw you shift and I knew I'd be so disappointed if this happened without me being there. Oh, fuck, it's the worst. I don't want to go but I do, and I hate it."
"All right, babe. How about a compromise?" Craig!Jewel asked. "You do the first half and I do the second; I'll be there for the whole night either way, so you won't have to worry, just tag me when you need to leave. Okay?"
"You can't, babe. You're needed for the prison break and Montana. If you stay here all night, you'll be exhausted."
"I can use a duplicate tonight then. I'll go to the Hive with you when you're ready to leave. I'll be okay, babe, and so will you. If you need to leave after five minutes or an hour, we'll get through it, okay?" he promised, kissing Jewel firmly.
"Okay. I'll do it. I want to, really. I just wish... " Jewel bit her lip, closed her eyes to inhale, exhale, and then opened them again, looking between them both. "You promise you'll both be there?" she asked, sniffling and wiping her tears.
"All night, babe. Come on, you need to get ready if we're gonna get there on time," Beau said, kissing her then moving to kiss Craig. "You too, babe."
Craig shifted back and kissed Beau once more. "I bet I can get ready faster than both of you!"
"Don't stop time, that's cheating!" Jewel called, already running to grab her clothes. She knew Craig had done it as a way to distract her but she'd take it over wallowing and worrying all night.
...
After the disaster involving the Copper Bean, Josie had spent time focusing on real villains that she needed to defeat. Or, in this case, that she needed to prove their villainy. At the top of that list was Yichen Zhao from the museum who lived in that building where Gemstone's jewellery store was situated. She was certain he was the leader of an anti-super group, and therefore a threat to all of Maxville, not just herself and the Commander.
She hadn't been able to return to the building since being called out by Gemstone in front of citizens, and the whole Peeping Tom fiasco, which had hindered her search. Despite researching databases with her real estate connections as well as searching generically online, Josie hadn't been able to find Yichen's residence, and that was obviously the work of a supervillain. Gemstone herself also needed to be taken down a notch or two since the public had practically ignored the reveal of her cheating ways.
Gemstone had her auction on that night and Jetstream knew it would be the easiest way to infiltrate the building and search Yichen's apartment once she found it. The store was also called Gemstone's, like the narcissist she clearly was. The whole charity thing was obviously a PR stunt to promote her new store, especially since it had been months since Maxville Fashion Week. It wasn't like Gemstone would have forgotten about her promise to donate the proceeds of the disgusting and morbid rib cage to charity; she'd told the media about it, after all!
According to Gemstone's exclusive interview with Labyrinth that morning, every item in the store would be sold off in a charity auction, with the final piece being the ribs and newly-created anatomical heart together. She didn't state which charity it would be supporting, which Josie found immediately suspicious, and since Yichen lived in the building, it just added to the villainous undertones that the whole building was obviously a part of.
Josie had paid through her spandex just to get a ticket to the event, and was still chafing at the exorbitant cost. The front window - which apparently was a sheet of diamond rather than actual glass - had been removed so the large crowd could fit in Gemstone's, people spilling out into the building's foyer and the sidewalk outside. The open store just made the cost all so much worse.
Gritting her teeth, Josie walked down towards the crowd with her ticket in hand. As she approached the building, she wrinkled her nose as she heard Gemstone's voice even from across the street. Looking over, just as any curious citizen would, Josie was stunned into stopping at the sight of hundreds of glittering and pretty jewellery that was on display.
" - for those of you who remember Maxville Fashion Week, we have the very lovely Beetroot Soup joining us tonight. Bertie will be modelling the bracelets and necklaces, and promises to give them back at the end of the night," Gemstone said, grinning over at a lady in a wheelchair.
"Good luck with that, girlie!" Bertie said with a cackle.
Gemstone's responding laugh sounded like diamonds tinkling together, and Josie scrunched her nose up at the obviously false sound. Seeing that the people surrounding her were focused on Gemstone's and not her, Josie moved around the crowd to go into a side alley, and flew up into the air.
Landing on the Sanctuary building's roof gently, she undid her duster jacket to reveal her utility belt. Her newest tool was designed by Royal Pain that the Super Bureau had created and promised would work. It would short out a fuse box, and in this case, disable both the internal and external cameras. Josie knew that it would result in Security running around trying to find the cause, have the added bonus of disrupting Gemstone's PR stunt, and give her plenty of time to find Yichen's apartment. Josie hadn't dared to test it on her own fuse box, knowing that both Steve and Will would pout about the loss of power for far longer than it was worth.
Clipping the tool to the fuse box, Josie pressed the button and waited for pandemonium to descend. Nothing happened. In fact, from the reflections in the buildings around them, Josie could see that the power was still on. She'd clipped the tool correctly, hadn't she? Pressing the button again, Josie whirled around when she heard a buzzing noise behind her. There was nothing there, just some plants, she realised in relief. However, she hadn't become one of the top two Heroes in the world by ignoring noises, so Josie floated a foot off the ground and made her way around the roof to check. Plants, plants, more plants, bees, plants. Wait. Bees?!
Flying over, Josie wondered what kind of cruel person had locked them in a box on top of a building. The door to the roof opened abruptly, Jetstream turning and hiding next to the bee prison. Flying over the top of the exit, she waited and watched as the security guard's attention was taken up by the fuse box, so something must have been turned off even if it wasn't the entire building like it should have been.
Certain he wouldn't notice her, Jetstream dropped silently and flew into the building before the door closed. It shut behind her with a click and she made short work of the lock thanks to another supervillain-inspired gadget from her utility belt. She actually couldn't remember who had designed this one; perhaps it was the Super Bureau themselves? Jetstream really needed to check up on them in person - if they were creating their own weapons to help her, the next step would surely be weapons to stop her - and resolved to organise a meeting with Mr. A himself sooner rather than later. She could do it under the guise of discussing her results with Agent B.
The door rattled as the security guard tried to get back inside unsuccessfully, disrupting her thoughts, and she focused on her main task: find Yichen.
Flying down the corridor, Jetstream stopped abruptly as she came into the main part of the building. The building outside was a normal square, but the interior was circular, with each of the levels having its own wrap-around landing. Unfortunately for her, it also meant that the cameras had a clear and unobstructed view across the whole floor, each one covering a broad direction. With her new tool not working and the fuse box potentially fixed by the security guard, Josie knew she would be seen the moment she flew out onto the landing.
She hadn't brought the camera-deflecting mirror with her, so certain that ruining the fuse box would work. It was a mistake she vowed to never make again, but it didn't help her problem now. She had no way of finding Yichen's apartment discreetly without some sort of camouflage or deflection device, and she couldn't leave the way she'd come thanks to the ruined lock on the door behind her. Damn it all to Super Hell.
There was another rattle in the door, a muffled curse, and then a loud bang! Jetstream realised that the door had been broken down entirely, and quickly flew up to flatten herself against the ceiling. She watched and waited, as quiet as a mouse, so she could slip out and fly away at the first opportunity. She needed more time to prepare; it was her own fault for not getting a look at the interior before she attempted this. Jetstream had been so sure that Yichen's apartment would be easy to find, but from the number of apartment levels she'd seen from that quick glance, she knew she needed to prepare better and try again. That was what Heroes did, after all: if they failed once, they got back up and tried again, as many times as it took. She would have to come back during the day to do her reconnaissance when she was certain that Yichen would be at work.
The security guard was tall and bulky, taking up significant space in the corridor, and Josie held her breath. He was so tall that she could have reached down and touched her fingertips to his bald head. He muttered under his breath the whole way down the corridor, rubbing his sore arm. She waited until the security guard had passed before flying back out of the building and up into the sky. Laughter rang out from Gemstone's below and she grit her teeth at the sound, sure that they were laughing at her failure.
Sport glanced back at the open door on the building, then unclipped his walkie talkie. "All clear, Kid. She's gone."
"Yeah, I know. How's your arm?"
"I'll live. Can we get that door fixed? I don't want anyone else getting in while we're gone tomorrow."
"I'll call Curt and Paddy. I think they're at Gemstone's auction, actually," Kid said, looking at the security feed.
The lack of cameras on the roof were both a blessing and a curse, but his power had blared as soon as Jetstream had flown in and landed two blocks away, so he'd known exactly where she was this whole time. He was kind of amused that she'd tried something like this with so many potential witnesses, rather than waiting for later in the night when everyone would be gone, but he certainly wasn't going to give her pointers.
"Great, thanks, Kid. I'll be right down," Sport said, rotating his arm and shoulder as he headed to the elevator. His brand was already taking the sting of pain away and he knew he'd be fine in the morning after a solid night's rest.
...
End of the hundred and eighty-ninth chapter.
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