Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Two
...
"Thank you for waiting, everyone. We apologise for the delay in your freedom, but we needed to discuss something with you first," Layla announced.
"Our freedom?" Ivan questioned, frowning.
"Of course. If we wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead. We plan on releasing you all so you can get your revenge against whoever put you in prison, rob a bank, whatever you need after being imprisoned for all this time."
"You need to cause a distraction, not devastation," Honey added sternly.
"For those of you that've been stuck in here for a long time, the world outside has changed. It's faster than you remember, there are more people, and it's louder. There are also more supers, and they're not in flimsy spandex and rubber gloves anymore, either," Warren added, vaguely thinking of his father's first super suit.
"When you go out there, you will be up against the likes of Jetstream and the Commander, Lady Peregrine, and Papillion. Other superheroes are likely to come out to help, but because of Jetstream and the Commander's monopoly in Maxville, they will take longer to arrive," Layla said.
"If you aren't caught or killed, you will have the option to hide in our safe houses after today. You will need to stay there and lay low, though, as the Commander and Jetstream will try to find each and every one of you for months afterwards," Warren said.
"How's that any different to being locked up in here?" one prisoner asked, voice quiet against the tile floor.
"You won't be cuffed and you can technically leave at any time, though it isn't recommended for four months, at a minimum," Warren replied.
"Super Jesus, four months is nothing. Where do we find these safe houses?" Stare Flair asked.
"When you have pledged your allegiance to us, you'll be led to safety. You don't have to pledge right now, but this offer only lasts until sunset. If you're captured before then, we can still help but it will likely be a few days. Either way, your pledge must be genuine," Layla added.
"Who's us?" Ivan called, some of the other prisoners clearly uncomfortable at pledging allegiance to anyone.
"How do you know if it's genuine? I can pledge right now, it doesn't mean a damn thing," Lash pointed out.
"Peacekeeper, they can stand now."
The prisoners all stood - some slower than others - and saw the gathered group at the front. Craig tased the security guard once more, extra hands rocking four of the strollers gently. A few prisoners recognised the children and others recognised the Pacifier in Layla's hands, nervously shifting and trying to determine if they could run before they suffered the same fate.
"We've got five minutes before the auto alarm is engaged," Terrence warned, his Pacifier slung over his back.
Layla and Warren nodded, not taking their gaze off the gathered prisoners. "I am Poison, he is Fire, and together, we're Chaos."
Ivan looked from the two masked teenagers - their voices still young behind the masks and the plain super suits hiding little of their forms - to the group gathered around them. All were masked and wearing similar plain black super suits, but he knew Shirley and Sylvia hadn't made them, which meant the group had their own super designer. There were some more teenagers, likely to be friends, but all trusted at their backs even with weapons that would incapacitate them, like the one with the taser. Ivan also noted that there were adults in the group, not just due to their size - the one called Peacekeeper was barely taller than the teenage girl - but due to the muscle and lack of baby fat, their weight and postures carried differently. Some were soldiers, or had likely been in the military at one stage, and yet here they all were, following two teenagers. How they planned on getting everyone's agreement or allegiance by the time the auto alarm engaged was something Ivan couldn't work out and not knowing something was far beyond frustrating. He did know one thing, though.
"I pledge my allegiance to Chaos," he said, his voice clear and without hesitation, surprising a few of his inmates.
Layla and Warren smiled behind their masks.
"To answer your question, Lash, this is how we determine if your allegiance is genuine," Warren said, fire bursting from his hands and vines shooting out from Layla beside him.
No one had a chance to react or run, the straight line of fire and vines twisting together and pushing through bodies almost at the same time, like time itself had stopped just for this, and excruciating pain followed as time began once more. These brands weren't like the individual ones for their friends, calmly done and branded into their left shoulders, these brands tore through the right shoulder and went through the back into the next person without pause.
The screams from the Pacifier had been bad, but the screams of nearly forty prisoners at once was so much worse.
Connor gripped the stroller handles tightly. "I'll go check on the buses," he said.
"I'll come with you," Ethan said with a nod, not looking at all perturbed by the screaming as he left with Connor. "Do you need a break? I can push the stroller."
"No. I just... haven't heard screams like that for a while," he admitted.
Ethan tilted his head. "Would you like a hug?"
Connor couldn't stop his laugh of surprise. "Really?"
"Of course. It's a physical form of comfort, and I don't doubt you need some form of comfort. I can call Dragon if you'd prefer someone closer to you."
Connor smiled and opened his arms, keeping one hand on the stroller. "I think you're close enough, Molten."
"I didn't mean physically, but I just realised that you were joking," Ethan said, hugging Connor firmly for the required five and a half seconds to convey comfort. "There. I hope that helped."
Connor grinned and kept pushing the stroller down to the kerb. "It was a good hug for, what was it, five seconds?"
"And a half. It's the appropriate time to convey comfort without making it awkward or prolonged."
Connor paused as a bus pulled up, Lorcan in the driver's seat. "How do you get to a ten-second hug?
"Level 1 friendship."
"You mean I'm not at level 1 already?!"
"You're at level 3, though it is likely to increase to level 2 by the end of the day. Common trauma and adventures such as rescue missions create further bonding and solidifying of friendships."
"Super Jesus, who do you even have at level 1?" Connor asked, intrigued at this whole system and wondering if multiple rescue missions were required to increase a level.
"Zach, Craig, Adam, Ryuu, Layla, and Warren. Magenta was there when we were freshman, but was demoted very quickly. I didn't even wait the usual week between levels, she just dropped off the list entirely."
Well, even if he wasn't at the top, Connor was glad Ethan considered his son a level 1 friend.
"Hey, are you ready for this? Wait, am I ready for this? Do you have our uniforms? I don't want to have to change in the bus," Najair said all in quick succession.
"I'm ready and I have your uniforms. Please ensure they fit correctly, we don't want a baggy shirt to be our downfall," Ethan said, taking a bag off his shoulders and pulling out the guards' uniforms.
"Key, Mal, uniforms are here! I've got dibs on Benny!" Lorcan called out, grabbing the uniform.
"No! You know he's closest to my size! Give it here!"
"I brought Benny's spare uniform from his locker," Ethan said, grabbing the shirt and pants and holding them out to Kiara.
"Excellent! Thank you, Molten!"
Behind them, prisoners ran from the Maville Super Penitentiary doors in a burst of white, some sporting bruises from their uncuffed wrists.
"Remember not to kill anyone!" Ethan called out after them, but he doubted he was heard over the cacophony of noise and freedom. In fact, Lash had already stretched out over several streets and probably couldn't hear him anyway.
"Speed is staying here until his nose is healed. Don't worry, it won't take long; you'll still find Lash before he does too much damage," Honey promised.
"Thank you," Simon replied, uncertain and still confused about what was going on.
Some part of him knew exactly what was going on even if he pretended otherwise, and he loathed the fact that Lash had left him without looking back. Even Penny and all of her cheerleaders had left without a glance in his direction. Royal Pain was being led out in a stroller - that was an excellent sense of irony, and he tried not to be too amused by it - and Stitches had died only last week after Gwen had finally snapped and shivved him.
"All right. We're ready out here, is everyone ready to go?" Ethan asked into the walkie talkie.
"We'll be right out," Craig's response came, and a few seconds later, their friends left the prison doors dressed in white.
Honey guided Shirley and Sylvia down the prison steps carefully. "All right, let's get you two safe and far away from here. Nigel, the car seats for the children, please," she said as the limo pulled up beside them.
"Yes, Hourglass," Nigel's voice came from the limo and buses.
"We get limo service straight out of prison? I'll pledge my allegiance even before seeing my new room," Shirley said with a grin.
"I'll pledge mine after I see the room," Sylvia said, cackling as she let go of Craig's arm to get into the limo.
Nigel restructured the interior for the infants to be fitted securely, and in the prison behind them, an alarm started to blare.
"That should give us enough time. Thank you, everyone," Layla said, Warren returning his father to his mid-thirties.
Baron Battle flexed his hands, flames exploding onto his fists for the first time in over ten years. "Oh, that feels good. Where's the Commander?"
"In Chicago. He'll come back when you explode that bank. Stay away from the vault, Barron," Hourglass warned.
He laughed, not agreeing or even acknowledging her warning, and used a burst of flames to propel himself down the street and towards Maxville's city centre.
Nina groaned and shook her head. "He's going to get killed by a vault door, isn't he?"
"Up to him. His actions, his choices," Warren muttered, handing the Pacifier to Ethan to melt down.
"Board your buses and let's get the fuck out of here!" Craig 2.0 called.
Layla grinned. "I guess we've been told. See you over the state line, Fire," she said, kissing him firmly before boarding her bus, cuffs on her wrists.
Warren grinned with tingling lips and headed to his own bus, cuffs heavy on his wrists.
Nina sighed, watching her ex-husband leaving in the distance, her son boarding a prison bus, and her future daughter-in-law laughing in the back of her own bus. "They'll be okay, won't they, Hourglass?"
"The Super Bureau's been deployed; we need to go before none of us are okay," Honey replied, guiding Nina and Shirley into the limo.
Ethan swallowed hard, pressed a hand against the first bus and carefully started to melt it down. The alarm blaring in the background didn't help his concentration and the puddle was bright yellow when it should have been clear. He didn't have time to change it though, and guided the puddle into a jar before moving onto the next bus.
...
"Sir? The alarm at the Super Penitentiary's going off somethin' awful," Bill informed Mr. A. "I checked the cameras, and the place is empty, 'cept for the guards locked in the weapons room. It was cleared of everything of worth, down to the nuts an' bolts," he added, somewhere between impressed and horrified.
Mr. A felt a cold dread creeping up his spine. "When did this happen?"
"Not sure, sir, but I've sent agents to check. They're en route and due to arrive in ten minutes."
"What about the agents in the field?"
"One car had to be towed to the mechanics; the car's GPS was fried and somehow rerouted the car. Agent H is blaming the new AI. The other agents are just as far away," Bill added.
Mr. A's jaw clenched. "We'll deal with Super Motors later, just get everyone available to the Super Penitentiary right now."
"Yes, sir. I'll head there myself," Bill said with a firm nod.
Mr. A's phone started to ring. "Wait, Bill. We need to deal with the villains that escaped. Get the subordinates to call every super in the book. I don't care if they're interstate or an hour away; the Commander and Jetstream can't handle every villain by themselves."
"Yes, sir."
Mr. A didn't respond, answering his phone. "Good afternoon, Mayor. Yes, I'm aware of the situation, and it's being dealt with - "
"Well, deal with it faster! Baron Battle just blew up my brand new car!" Hank said, staring out at the glob of metal.
"I'll call Jetstream personally," Mr. A said, ending the call to do exactly that.
...
Jetstream knew within five minutes of starting the hostage interviews that she wasn't needed. The Commander was the show of force, and all he had to do was glare or flex his muscles and the hostages started talking. Her time was better spent elsewhere, and as she'd checked Yichen's schedule at the museum, she knew he would be at work and the apartment building would be free to investigate. Excusing herself from the police station, Jetstream flew back to Maxville, stopping by her home to get a change of civilian clothes. Josie could investigate and Jetstream would reveal herself at the perfect moment.
Landing a block away from the apartment building, Josie changed, adjusted her glasses, and stepped out of the alley to make her way down towards Gemstone's and the building's entrance. As she approached, Josie realised she didn't have a reason to go into the building. The sign for Frank's bodega flapped in the wind and an idea struck her. Buying a stick of gum at the corner store would give her an excuse to get into the building's foyer if she pretended she didn't like the flavour and needed to dispose of it in the bathroom.
Pleased at her quick solution, Josie headed into the bodega, her eyes adjusting from the bright sunshine to the darker interior after a moment. Browsing the aisles, she searched for gum high and low, instead finding chips, chocolates, over-the-counter medications, various tinned food and super quick microwave meals, peanuts and cashews among an assortment of other packaged nuts, and a cat asleep on top of a box of drinks. Shocked by the cat - Josie wasn't fond of cats at all - she flew backwards and cried out in surprise when she hit something solid.
There was a very human cry behind her, then an unfortunate sound of cans crashing to the floor, and Josie turned around with an apologetic expression. "Oh no! Are you all right?" she asked, even as she realised the gum was right by the front counter.
"Super fucking Jesus, that hurt," Enzo groaned. He'd not only knocked over the display but had also gone down with the damn thing, too!
"Here, Enzo. Let me help you up," Angelina said when it looked like Jetstream's attention was on the front counter instead of her fallen husband.
"It's all right, Angel. I can stand," Enzo said, standing carefully and checking if his body was all right after the unexpected fall. He winced at the sight of the cans strewn across the floor, blocking everything from here to the counter.
"It's great that you're all right, sir. I, uh, need the bathroom," Josie said, realising that she couldn't get the gum with the floor covered but she could still skip that part and get into the building.
She didn't wait for a response as she headed to the door leading into the building's foyer.
"Could you get some baskets, Angel? I'll put the cans in there to clean up," Enzo said as Frank rounded the counter to start picking up the cans himself.
Heading straight to the elevator, Josie pressed the button and looked up at the screen impatiently when neither elevator immediately arrived. The numbers showed each floor, and it looked like both elevators were stopping at every single level in the whole damn building.
(In one elevator, the boy and girl were pressing the buttons for each level and challenging each other to race to the next floor to catch it. In the other, Finnley was keeping Phineas distracted by making out with him, all of the buttons brightly lit without a care.)
Gritting her teeth and determined to wait it out, but not wanting to draw attention to herself by standing here for what could easily be another fifteen minutes, Josie looked between the bakery and jewellery store. Several people were in the bakery already, and she was trying to lay low. Besides, it couldn't hurt to see Gemstone's store for herself and potentially check if the so-called hero was doing anything nefarious with her citizen-facing business.
Gemma swallowed hard as Jetstream approached the store. She'd never met the superhero face-to-face before, but she had heard her father's stories about Captain Stronghold and seen the news segments about the Commander and Jetstream, just like every other citizen. Of course, the other citizens hadn't heard of Captain Stronghold's cruel nature or mean streak or the violence he inflicted on others, just because he could. The Admiral had often sounded sad as he relayed the death of his superior at the hands of Captain Stronghold, and Gemma had stopped asking for stories so her father wouldn't be sad. Even as a child, she'd wondered how Captain Stronghold was raising his son, and as an adult, she could still see the influence he'd left on the Commander with every destroyed building and injured citizen. Now, she wondered just how awful Jetstream might be since she had managed to impress Captain Stronghold enough to marry the super's only son.
Josie was surprised to see an exquisitely beautiful woman working behind a counter of a plain old jewellery store when she should be modelling the latest Jetstream swimwear line. Josie stopped in the doorway, stunned, and for a brief moment, not sure what to do or even why she'd walked into the store.
Gemma smiled, just like she would for any other customer. "Good morning. Can I assist you or are you just looking?"
"J-just looking," Josie said quickly, her cheeks burning.
She swore the store had music playing - she could hear Black Velvet by Alannah Myles - and she vaguely remembered something similar happening when she'd first met Laurie, so it was just ridiculous that it was happening now. Josie remembered Laurie crooning that song at karaoke, in the car, in her bed, like she'd plucked it right out of her head, and the heat that spread across her body in response both then and now. Swallowing hard, Josie fought to control her expression and stamp down on her lust; she was just buying time.
"Great. I'll be here if you need anything."
God, if it was Laurie, Josie would have laughed and said 'anything?' just like she had when they were younger, and she would have laughed and pulled her close with a whispered 'everything,' just like she always had. Josie bit her tongue to focus on the pain instead; she had to focus and get her head in the game, and stop thinking about her old sidekick.
She looked out to the elevators and saw that they were still descending slowly. "Do you have any rings?" Josie blurted out, desperate to do something, anything, to keep her mind off Laurie.
She hadn't thought about Laurie in years, why now?!
("Lie," a soft voice whispered in her head.)
"Yes, of course. For yourself or someone special?" Gemma asked, glancing at Josie's hands to determine her ring size.
"Um... Me. I lost my wedding ring and need a replacement," she lied, slipping her ring off behind her back.
"Lie."
The voice in her head was louder than she thought.
Gemma raised an eyebrow at her, clearly unimpressed. "If you want a ring, you don't need to lie about it. It's fine to buy things for yourself."
"I... uh, well... " Josie floundered and felt flustered and she wanted to leave but wanted so desperately to stay as well. "I lost a pair of earrings. Pearl ones," she added, remembering the gift from Queen Kamehamayhem that she'd been unable to find for the movie premiere all those months ago.
"No problem at all, we do have a few to choose from. Do you prefer drop or stud earrings?" Gemma asked.
"Stud, please. It's easier to... get around in," Josie said, remembering that she was in civilian clothes and not Jestream at that moment.
"Of course. There are some different styles and designs, the pearls are in different sizes as well, and there's also the option with or without additional gems," Gemma said, putting together a board of different pearl stud earrings.
Josie heard the ding of the arriving elevator, but she told herself she had enough time to search the building and could catch the next one.
"Here you are, what do you think?"
Josie forced herself to look at the board of earrings rather than the woman holding it, and was pleasantly surprised to find she did like some of the styles. "These are lovely. The gold pair?"
"Ah, that's an excellent choice; those are set in twenty karat gold, and the pearls are from the South Sea."
Josie nodded like she knew what that meant. "Can I buy them on card?"
"Of course. They're $10,500, in case you need to change your card limit. It's a common occurrence," Gemma said with a grin.
"Ten thousand? For earrings?"
"Well, yes. They're all hand-made by Gemstone herself and have a lifetime guarantee, if that's your concern."
"I... I paid a far cheaper price for my lost pair - "
"Lie."
" - and they were very similar to this!"
"Lie."
Gemma bit back a smile at Jetstream's obvious confusion over someone or something calling out her lies. "There is a truth detector in the store," she said, knowing 205 was hiding somewhere but not exactly certain where in the store. "We offer payment plans, if you'd like to pay it off in instalments."
Josie almost said no just on the principle of the thing, but realised it gave her another excuse to return to the building. She didn't have to search for everything right now, and if it gave her another excuse to see this woman again, that didn't hurt either. "All right. How much is the payment plan?"
"You can pay it off in four instalments; that would be $2,625 right now and three more payments over the next three weeks."
It was still far more than she wanted to pay, but Josie needed to get to the elevator and at least start searching for Yichen's apartment. "Very well. I'll pay in instalments," she said, just as she heard the ding of the second elevator's arrival. She really needed to catch this one, damn it.
"Excellent. There's some paperwork to be signed and I'll need your card to process the first payment. It won't take more than five minutes," Gemma said with a winsome smile.
Josie's protest died on her lips at the sight of her smile, and she could only nod.
Five minutes later, the elevators were returning to the lobby once more, and Josie stood by them firmly, determined not to spend another cent in this building. The elevator doors finally opened and Josie hurried to step inside at the same time as another person. She had been so focused on the elevator numbers that Josie hadn't even realised someone had been waiting beside her, and she glared back at them. "Watch where you're going!"
"My apologies, I thought the doorway was clear," Indigo said, tapping each side of the elevator doorway with her cane. She stepped inside with a careful movement, biting back her smile at the guilt she could practically feel radiating from Josie. "Could you press level eighteen, please?"
"Of... of course." Josie told herself that the woman hadn't seen who she was and wouldn't be able to identify her, but she hadn't felt guilt like this for some time. "I'm getting off on level fifteen; do you need help anywhere? I can always come back down," she added quickly.
Indigo bit back the response she wanted to make - she lived in the building and got around perfectly fine when Josie wasn't hovering over her in an elevator - and remembered Zero's instruction to play it up. "That would be lovely. I'm visiting friends here and don't know my way around yet. Thank you so much for your kind offer."
"Of course! You're most welcome," Josie said, relieved and absolved of her guilt.
Indigo waited quietly as the elevator slowed to a stop, stepping out onto the landing, the cane sliding across the carpet as she moved forward.
"Wait! Miss, this is level fifteen," Josie called, flying out to redirect her back into the elevator.
"Oh. My apologies. I feel so silly! You said you were going to fifteen and it just didn't click," Indigo babbled, moving slower than normal.
Josie let out a soft sigh of annoyance as the doors closed and the elevator continued up to level eighteen without them.
"Did we miss it?" Indigo asked.
"Yes. Unfortunately, the doors closed too quickly. It's all right, I'll call it again; there's another elevator that's close by," Josie said, seeing the other elevator's number at seventeen while their original elevator moved up even further.
Indigo waited for five whole seconds before asking, "Is it coming down?"
"Uh. No. Maybe it's stuck?" Josie suggested, frowning.
In the Security room, 503 and Zero were giggling as they watched Finnley and Phineas in their rabbit and fennec fox forms jumping in and out of the elevator on level seventeen, activating the sensor each time and stopping the doors from closing.
Fifteen seconds passed and Josie was tempted to fly the citizen up to level eighteen herself. Perhaps she could search this floor while the elevator descended?
Even as she thought that, Josie's phone rang. She reached into her pocket, both hoping it was and wasn't Will. He had his first booked villain fight today and had snapped that he didn't need her help as he left this morning. If he needed her help now, she'd leave in a second to assist, of course, but she'd also be sure to remind him of that attitude... oh, it was the red phone. Glancing at the blind woman and thankful she didn't realise she had two phones, Josie answered Mr. A's call on the red phone. "Hello?"
"Jetstream, you and the Commander are needed in Maxville. Maxville Super Penitentiary has had a breach and the villains have escaped," Mr. A said.
Her jaw dropped. "Which ones?"
"All of them. How soon can you and the Commander be here?"
Jetstream had left the Commander in a police station in Chicago. The citizen she was with would have to get to level 18 by herself; if she didn't leave now it could spell trouble for everyone in Maxville.
"Five minutes. We'll be right there."
"Good. Lady Peregrine's already on scene, Papillion's on his way, and I'll add you to the list. Tell the Commander that Baron Battle is challenging him from the American Bank of America on First Street."
"We'll be there, you can count on us."
She didn't dare ask why Lady Peregrine and Papillion, of all supers!, had been contacted before her... and the Commander. Mr. A ended the call before she could let the temptation get the better of her.
Josie looked at the elevator, then the citizen. "I'm so sorry, but I have to leave. It's an emergency. The elevator will be here soon and the buttons are labelled; you'll be okay, won't you?"
"Oh, of course. I can call my friends to help," Indigo said. "Which level am I on now?"
"Fifteen," Josie called, ducking down to change into Jetstream's super suit.
Jetstream stood on the landing's railing, flying down to the lobby and out the revolving doors. She flew to Chicago, putting the building and young woman out of her mind, though some part of her thrummed in anticipation as she realised she'd get the opportunity to talk to Gemma again next week when she paid the next instalment for her earrings. She could find Yichen's apartment then. Now, she had bigger fish to fry and put back in prison.
...
Airborne could hear the whirr of the cameras in the background, even as he fought off villains from the Suite Quartet. These weren't the green-clad villains he'd fought off at the Maxville Aquarium Conservation, but rather their blue counterparts. He was fairly sure they were the Blue Hearts, considering they all had heart shapes etched into their lapels, but Airborne was busy throwing them around and hadn't stopped to ask. He made sure each throw was as perfect for the cameras as it could be, keeping the villains within range so he could tie them all up once he - and Shifter - had won this fight. It would be the talk of Westville and Maxville for weeks!
A few blocks over, Earthstone was busy fighting off the Green Spades, his heart pounding beneath his rocky protective form, and he let out a roar (definitely not a terrified scream) as four of the villains grabbed his arms. They weren't super strong, but he'd been fighting for what felt like hours and he didn't have a sidek- uh, Hero Support like Airborne did. Despite his exhaustion, Earthstone refused to lose to a group of citizens, no matter how well-dressed they were. Letting out a roar, he shook the villains off his arms fiercely, dropping them to the ground. He scooped them up and threw them down the alley and into the dumpster, the lid slamming closed on them. He'd need to think of a suitable pun when he handed them over to the police later; maybe something about taking out the trash? A noise and wet sensation distracted Earthstone from his thoughts, and he glanced down, frowning in confusion when he saw a green splatter of paint on his arm. What on earth?!
Airborne was super fast when flying but that didn't mean he couldn't be caught. His mother had been caught by a net back in the '80s through a combination of luck and planning, but mostly luck. Since then, people - citizens and supers alike - had created weapons to deal with super fast flight, and there were even shooting ranges with targets that moved as fast as Jetstream or had impenetrable 'skin' like the Commander. It was a mark of respect to be able to hit either and cause damage, and Jester had earned that respect tenfold. She ignored the sound of the super's flight distorting both air and her eardrums, inhaled, and focused as her Blue Hearts herded the young super in the direction she wanted. Then, on her exhale with a steady heart and hand, Jester took her shot.
The Blue Hearts cheered as Airborne stopped mid-flight, a splatter of purple paint expanding across his shoulder. Knowing that Jester had their back, just as she'd promised, they grabbed the net before Airborne could recover from his surprise or shock, and brought the super down. Airborne struggled beneath the net, his body weakened and far too human instead of superhuman like it had been only minutes ago. The fibres were made from the same material as the rope his father had lost to Monument only last week, (it was still a sore point with Jetstream as it was on back order and a replacement hadn't arrived yet) and Airborne called to Shifter for help.
Eyes wide at the sight of Airborne being taken down, Shifter pressed a button on her thigh, her suit expanding out to a large bubble and effectively pushing everyone away from her, their grips loosening and curses following. As they were distracted by her expanding suit, Shifter shifted to her guinea pig form inside the suit, and scampered out of the leg opening. Running as fast as her guinea pig feet allowed, Shifter dodged blue shoes, fallen debris, and tried to remember the direction Airborne had been taken down. She would save Airborne, he'd promote her beyond sidekick, and propose to her. She'd never have to worry about a job or being alone ever again.
Jester saw movement through her paintball gun's scope and watched the purple guinea pig's progression. Shifter was a smaller target but not any less challenging than the likes of Jetstream or Airborne. Inhaling, Jester waited until Shifter was a mere metre away from Airborne's prone form, then took her shot.
...
Ethan felt nauseous but he wasn't certain if it was a result of containing jars that contained buses that contained all of his friends and some acquaintances, or if he was just nervous.
"You 'kay, dude?" Craig asked.
"I'll be fine. Are you certain you can get us in the right spot?"
Craig grinned and hugged Ethan firmly. "We'll be fine. Just breathe, hey?
Ethan inhaled, exhaled, and as he inhaled once more, Craig teleported.
"Ow, shit, fuck."
Ethan stumbled back out of Craig's grip, his friend caught half-in, half-out of a parked car. "I thought we checked the cameras?"
"We checked five minutes ago. Someone must've come in, goddamn."
"Next time we're checking the cameras before teleporting," Ethan said, melting Craig so he could slide out of the car safely to reform.
"There won't be a next time. It's all right, just one minor setback; as long as they don't discover the car with a person-shaped hole in it before we rescue Grant, it'll be fine."
Ethan stepped away a few metres, drawing the various jars out of his body carefully. Tipping the first puddle of water out, he reformed everyone, then moved to the next jar. This one contained the bags with equipment and weapons, everyone oddly quiet as they started grabbing the things they needed. The next jar had a yellow puddle tip out and Ethan reformed the first bus, relieved when he saw Najair inside and alive.
"Nigel, are you still in the bus?"
"I am, thank you for asking. May I please enquire about Miss Maleah's welfare?" Nigel asked.
"Her bus is next," Ethan said, reforming the next puddle into a bus with Maleah safe and sound, the next two jars reforming buses with Kiara and Lorcan at the driver's seats. "Is that everyone and everything?"
"It is, thank you, Ethan. Rest while the buses are being driven out to the building, okay?" Layla said, squeezing his shoulder gently.
"Thank you, I will," Ethan said, boarding Kiara's bus and sitting on the first available seat, already looking exhausted.
"All right, quickly, everyone get on board and get ready. If we get stopped, let me do the talking," Sport said, wearing a guard's uniform.
"Still don't know why you got to be a guard," Champ muttered, wearing prison whites as he boarded a bus.
"You and Buddy drew the short straws, it's not my fault."
"We need to leave," Honey said, guiding the last of the group onto the buses before boarding Lorcan's herself.
The doors all swung shut and the buses rumbled to life thanks to Nigel's work of the engines.
"Hold the steering wheels but don't pretend to drive. Let Nigel do his job," Honey called.
Lorcan gave a brief nod, gripping the steering wheel, and tried to avoid the urge to drive manually. Without a word of warning, the buses started to drive toward the parking lot exits. The boom gate didn't open automatically and Lorcan glanced out at the machine stopping their exit. "Anyone bring money to get out of the parking lot?"
"I'll get it," Terrence replied.
The boom gate lifted, a smiley face displaying on the ticket machine's screen with 'have a good day!' written for added measure.
"Thank you, Terrence," Lorcan called over his shoulder in relief.
The indicator turned on and started blinking. The bus turned onto the street and the other three followed. They drove through Montana carefully, maintaining the speed limit and obeying road rules, and headed out of the city centre and towards the large building hidden within the forcefield.
...
Grant found out that Thirteen was right: some scientists liked to start at half-past on the dot, and Eleven and Twelve were exactly those kinds of scientists. Twelve was a grumpy bastard no matter what time of the day it was, but Eleven seemed to have a chirpy insanity to her that gave her an energy boost or something, and she could have gone long past the structured time. Sometimes the only reason she stopped was because the room alarms went off and had to be reorganised. Grant wondered if the sadistic bitch ever slept or just stayed up all night concocting new ways for them to hurt each other.
"We've got something special for you today," Eleven said eagerly, probably proving him right on some level.
Grant looked over as the door opened, a machine being wheeled in by two people in black suits. Their expressions were as blank as the walls, sending a shudder through him. The machine itself didn't look overly impressive but he knew the consequences of underestimating shit the Super Bureau had built. Across from him, his partner 368, had gone extremely pale and was trying to back up despite being against the wall already.
"No! You're not putting me in that thing!" 368 yelled, his eyes wide and filled with complete and utter fear.
Eleven's bright voice came through the speakers. "Now, now, don't spoil the surprise, 368. 809 hasn't seen this before! Twelve and I just got to see it on 520; it's so fascinating!"
Well, now Grant was even more terrified. Eleven's idea of fascinating usually translated to pain for him or the other subjects.
"Now, who wants to go first?" Eleven asked.
368 tried to make a run for it, dodging one agent and then another, reaching out for the door, only to be slammed to the ground by one of the agents. He trembled beneath them, glasses affixed to his eyes firmly, and shoved his shoulders and elbows back, fighting beneath the agent. Grant stepped forward as he realised the agent was whispering something to 368 - it didn't stop his trembling, but he had stopped fighting back, so he hoped it was important or useful information; Grant had never seen 368 not fight back to everything they went through - and drew the scientists' attention to him instead.
"I'll go first."
Eleven's smile was broad and bright and so very cruel, even through the glass. "Excellent. Thank you for volunteering, Subject 809. Why don't we get you ready?"
"Thirteen, go in there and help the agents; they clearly need it," Twelve sneered.
Thirteen nodded and left the room, their heart pounding as they desperately tried to think of a way to give 809 more time, to delay this awful machine and what it would do to him. They hadn't thought of anything by the time they made it around to the testing room's door, and Thirteen felt their stomach roil as they came closer to the machine. Like Eleven and Twelve, they'd seen what it had done to 520, and doubted they'd ever forget.
Their hands trembled with real nerves as they assisted one of the agents to prepare 809, the other agent holding 368 down. They didn't have to pretend the sweat that ruined first one node and then another was anything other than real sweat and outright fear. They could practically smell it on themselves, fear and terror wafting off in a pungent aroma that probably filled the building.
"Here, the gloves will help lessen the sweat," T said, her smile hidden from the camera by the machine as she offered gloves to Thirteen.
It took Thirteen a good thirty seconds to realise they'd seen an actual emotion on Agent T's face, and they stared; hadn't T been through this machine, just like every other new agent? If she had, then maybe she knew how to stop it from working; maybe 809 wouldn't become an emotionless and soulless drone for the Super Bureau to use until he was no longer useful.
"Can you help?" Thirteen whispered.
"Gloves are generally designed to be put on without assistance, Scientist Thirteen," T said, raising an eyebrow and smiling.
Grant looked between T and Thirteen incredulously; were they fucking flirting when he was about to be tortured?!
"Not with those, with this," Thirteen said, nodding at the machine and Grant, scratching at the peel on the back of the node with a short fingernail.
T's smile faded and she shook her head. "I can't."
"If you can't handle a few electrical nodes, I'll send Eleven in to do it instead," Twelve threatened.
Grant shuddered at the threat. "Give them to me, I'll do it myself," he muttered, grabbing the nodes out of Thirteen's hand to unstick and attach them in the correct places.
Thirteen blinked; they'd mostly been fucking around with the sticker peel to try to delay this whole clusterfuck, but they'd also never seen a subject attach their own nodes in such quick succession without looking.
"Thank Super God, you're finally done! Get moving, I want to test the results of this machine against the electricity," Twelve said, clapping his hands and rubbing them eagerly.
Grant was seated by the two agents as Thirteen held 368 back. There was something akin to pity or revulsion on Agent M and T's faces, and Grant wondered just what the fuck he'd signed himself up for.
The top half of the machine lowered to cover his head, surrounding him on all sides. As it clicked into place, his arms were cuffed to the arm rests. Grant felt his breath quicken, his heart speed up, his pulse slamming in his ears until it drowned out the voices of Eleven and Twelve.
He wanted to protest, to shout that he'd made a mistake and would like to get out of this contraption now, but the words were stuck in his throat. Grant couldn't make a sound. His fingers curled around the arm rests so tight that his knuckles turned white.
Over the sound of his pounding heart, Grant heard the machine powering up.
...
End of the hundred and ninety-second chapter.
Thanks for reading!