Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Four
...
Shifter was going to make it! She could see the net holding Airborne down, she was only a few feet away from it, literally, in fact. Once she dodged those people with her super fast guinea pig speed (admittedly, not very fast), she'd chew through the ropes and save Airborne. He'd thank her for saving him on live TV, admit that he would have been defeated if not for her heroic actions, and she would turn things around for hero support all over the world. She would be the reason they got equal pay and equal rights and -
Splat.
She let out a squeak of fear and surprise, and a bit more fear because had she been shot again?! Shifter let out a small sigh of relief when she realised the splatter was purple rather than blood, but that relief was short lived. She was tiny, her guinea pig hair dried far too quickly, and despite the thick paint, she was getting too stiff to move. Stuck a mere half a metre away from Airborne, Shifter was set and stuck against the asphalt beneath her.
A few blocks over, Earthstone was still staring at the green splatter of paint on his rocky body in confusion. While he objectively knew what paint was, and even knew what paintball was, Earthstone couldn't seem to comprehend that he'd been hit with a paintball pellet in the middle of a very serious villain fight.
There was a laugh and cheers from the Green Spades - both the ones surrounding him as well as the ones hanging off his limbs awkwardly - and then they revealed what looked to be a white fishing net. His eyes widened as he actually realised what it was, time seeming to slow down as the net was thrown and started to descend. Ignoring the people on his legs and arms, Earthstone threw himself backwards in an effort to escape the net, everyone slamming down onto the ground even as the net covered his body from the torso down. One arm was stuck at an awkward angle thanks to the villains hanging off of it, but his face was still covered by his rocky form.
Larry lifted his head to look down, seeing his regular shirt, vest, and trousers beneath the net. Thank Super God he still wore clothes beneath his transformation. He let his head drop back against the asphalt, the rock covering putting his head at an awkward angle.
"What are you going to do to me, villains?" he demanded, closer to begging as he realised he was at their mercy.
Holy shit, was he going to be killed on live TV?!
Fear rolled in his stomach and he had to will himself not to lose any bodily functions while lying there, unprotected, exposed, and vulnerable. His hands twitched with the need to cover himself, even though he didn't know where and he wasn't naked to warrant that kind of response anyway, but as he did, Larry realised that one of his hands was outside of the net which still meant he was Earthstone.
There was no answer to his question, and the Green Spades seemed intent on ignoring him now that they had him captured. A few of the Green Spades had taken it upon themselves to start looting now that the Hero was down, but Earthstone didn't protest for the moment. Cameras whirred and focused on laughter, on jeers, on the gang of citizen villains who were lauding Jetster's genius. No one noticed as Earthstone moved his hand slowly, looping a finger through a square of the net. There was a splattering noise by his face, green paint spraying across his rocky face, and Earthstone winced away.
One of the Green Spades walked over, tucking a walkie talkie back onto their belt, and looked down at Earthstone with disappointment. "We caught you, Hero, so that means you stay still. We've caught you once, and we can catch you again if we have to. We won't just leave you lying here next time," the Green Spade warned.
"Why are you doing this?" Earthstone asked, hoping for information if he couldn't get out of the net.
Behind their mask, the Green Spade rolled their eyes. "Stay still," they said over their shoulder, moving to help their fellow villains unload a jewellery store of its precious goods.
He needed a distraction.
Shifter had failed. She was going to go down in history as the worst sidekick to ever exist, even worse than the Worst Sidekick back in the 90s. There really should have been laws introduced about letting Heroes name their sidekicks after that poor guy was stuck with that name, she mused distractedly. A sudden determination filled her and Shifter wiggled a paw to try to get free. She couldn't be worse than the Worst Sidekick, she had fans and a reputation and she'd just spent all of her money on a brand new suit! No other Hero would have her after this if she just let her Hero die on the street! Not to mention, Jetstream and the Commander would never forgive her.
Wiggling took nearly all of her strength, but Shifter found reserves she didn't even know she had, desperate to please and desperate not to be hated by Airborne, his parents, all of Maxville, the world itself. She finally freed her paws from the sticky and cement-like paint, bursting forth in a purple-covered ball of fur. She raced for the net, grabbing the first threads between her sharp teeth. As she did so, her head transformed back to her regular human-sized head, awkward and huge on a guinea pig body. Letting out a squeak of surprise, Shifter let go of the net and scrambled back, just as a splatter of paint hit where her giant head had been a moment ago. Guinea pig size all over now, she tried to determine how to save Airborne without grabbing the net as a guinea pig.
(All over Maxville, people were calling at their TV screens for Shifter to just shift already!)
Not seeing a way to get Airborne free without some part of her body being impacted by what she now knew was a power-repressing net, Shifter heard the now-familiar sound of a paintball pellet flying through the air. She dodged it, her heart beating painfully against her ribs, paint splattering on Airborne's ankle rather than her body again. Shifter scrambled beneath some debris, and tried to think about what to do. The Blue Hearts were still stomping around, the sounds of their feet against asphalt like bombs falling to her tiny ears, and she knew she only had one chance to shift and drag the net off Airborne without being hit by a paintball or stopped by one of the Blue Hearts gang.
She needed a distraction.
...
Craig followed Corvin out into the wide space of air above the parking lot, soaring high in front of the sun so that anyone following them with a weapon or scope would be blinded momentarily. He was sure he could talk in this form, just like any other shifter, but Craig didn't have time to test it as Corvin dive-bombed someone just outside of Robin's wall. Seeing with a bird's eyes was far different to human sight, and Craig wondered how Lady Peregrine didn't get a headache by seeing the world like this 24/7. Admittedly, when he'd last turned into her, he'd been far too distracted to concentrate on her field of vision.
Seeing a perimeter guard taking aim at Corvin, Craig folded his wings in tight and dove for the black-clad figure as fast as possible. The movement - or perhaps his throaty cry, Craig not even certain if it was human or animal - caught the guard's attention and the gun was pointed in his direction instead. Another guard cried out in warning, even as Corvin continued to attack, the ray gun lying forgotten.
Craig reached out with talons splayed wide, grabbing the goggles and hat off the guard's head while they were distracted and not aiming their gun at him. He had no desire to find out what roasted bird of prey smelled like.
Probably chicken, he mused, dropping the hat and goggles towards Robin before circling and diving again as Corvin took up into the air.
"Why'd you stop me?!" the guard snarled.
"It's an endangered species!"
There was a moment of silence where even Craig glanced over at the other guard in confusion.
"You fucking idiot."
More guards were being alerted to their presence - the giant wall erupting into existence out of nowhere probably helped with that - and they all seemed to be armed with devices that ranged from regular rifles to ray guns to things that Craig had never seen before. He had absolutely no desire to find out what they did and flew up into the air once again.
"You okay?" Corvin asked once he'd made it up to the higher thermals and out of range. Hopefully.
"Peachy. I'm trying for an eyeball, but I keep getting hats and goggles instead," Craig said.
"You went with a vulture; they're not going to get anything unless it's already dead or dying."
"California condor, thank you very much. It's better to scare the shit out of them."
"True. Oh, shit, look out!" Corvin cried, flapping hard right as a ray shot between them.
"What was that?!"
"Fucked if I know; I'm barely passing Mad Science."
"All right, let's not find out, then."
"Agreed," Corvin said, then betrayed his own words by diving down towards the guards again.
Considering they were there for distraction so Robin could keep their wall going and everyone inside the building could be safe and saved, Craig truly hoped they'd continue being this lucky with the newer guards. He inhaled, drew his wings in close, and started a spiral down towards the group of guards.
...
"Commander, we have to leave," Jetstream announced the second she'd been led into the interview room.
The Commander looked between his wife, the police detectives he was assisting, the citizen he was currently intimidating, and - more importantly - the box of doughnuts sitting on the table in the break room behind Jetstream.
"Is everything all right?" one of the detectives asked, looking alarmed and starting to stand.
Jetstream wanted to ignore the question, but she recognised the look on the Commander's face and knew he needed a motive to leave. "Baron Battle has escaped prison."
The Commander looked at Jetstream, doughnuts forgotten, and forced himself to keep his expression stern and not let his jaw drop incredulously. "We need to leave."
Jetstream raised an eyebrow as if to say 'I already said that, dear' but just nodded and moved forward to scoop him up beneath the arms and fly out of Chicago and back to their beloved and besieged Maxville.
Flying down to the American Bank of America on First Street, Jetstream and the Commander didn't have to wait or announce themselves, as Baron Battle was waiting in the broken window of the bank, several cars exploded and flipped in front of him. He was lounging back against the window frame like he'd been waiting, the white prison outfit only bringing out the colour of his skin, the deep colour of his eyes, and the bright orange flames on his fists.
"Took you long enough," Baron Battle called, indicating out at the street of destroyed cars. "All of these people's cars would've been saved if only you'd been here five minutes ago."
"We'll defeat you, Baron Battle! We've done it before, and we'll do it again!" Jetstream called out.
Baron Battle grinned up at the duo. "Still got the Commander's balls in your purse, Jetstream? Of course you do. Look at that pathetic piece of shit, he can't get anywhere without you, can he? Wouldn't know how to tie his shoelaces if you didn't tell him, would he?"
"I know how to tie my shoelaces!" the Commander said, glaring down at Baron Battle.
Barron always made him feel tongue-tied and stupid, just like Josie made him feel tongue-tied and stupid at times, but it was different. They were grown men now, they had children. Well, child. Didn't that mean they were old enough to let bygones be bygones?!
Baron Battle grinned and gave a whistle, one that the Commander knew all too well.
Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day,
I got a beautiful feelin',
Everything's goin' my way.
The opening song to Oklahoma! To hell with bygones, the Commander thought fiercely.
"Launch!"
Jetstream didn't have a chance to bring up any tactics - she had to launch the Commander when he said 'launch' or it would look like they didn't trust each other or have a plan or the fans would speculate why she didn't launch when he said so - so she let the Commander drop to the sidewalk in front of the bank. He landed in a Hero's Kneel, rising up to his full height within the small crater, and stepped out to follow Baron Battle into the bank.
Jetstream waited until there were the usual explosive words, followed by an actual explosion of compressed force from Baron Battle's fists and flames, and flew down to catch the Commander as he inevitably flew back out of the bank, breaking a different window on his way out. It was good to know that some things didn't change.
"Keep it together, Commander. We can win against Baron Battle now, just like we did back then."
The Commander forced himself to nod in agreement, straightening his shoulders the best he could while in Jetstream's grip. "Understood, Jetstream. Fly us in. Tactical manoeuvre 2-3."
As no such manoeuvre existed, Jetstream fought the urge to roll her eyes. She simply nodded and flew forward down into the bank - their only manoeuvre - and let the Commander go at the pivotal point. She hovered, watching as her husband's body flew towards the vault door and Baron Battle with his fist drawn back, ready to punch.
Baron Battle turned, a maniacal grin lit up eerily with his flames, the largest fireball she'd ever seen held between his palms. "Bring it on, big boy."
Time felt like it slowed down for Jetstream. She didn't know whether to fly forward or backward. Forward might stop the Commander's collision, but that was a big 'might' and if she grabbed his cloak, his lower body would likely swing out to connect with that explosive ball anyway. Backward would save her and she might have enough time to grab the Commander as he flew back with the impact, but that was also a big 'might' and the fans would know that she'd left to save herself. She couldn't let that happen.
Jetstream flew forward as fast as she'd ever flown - even faster than that time when she'd flown up to the Moon on a dare from Laurie - but like she'd suspected, it wasn't enough to stop the Commander's momentum. Struggling to reach back to grab her cape to wrap and protect them the best she could, Jetstream could only watch in horror as the Commander's feet swung out and connected with Baron Battle's explosive.
...
Adam had reached the top floor of the building with his group in the elevator, but was on his own now.
Ex and Buddy had gone in one direction, barely glancing at each other before deciding on a hallway, and it showed their years of experience and friendship. Hell, only seconds before, Ex had been teasing Buddy in the elevator about using the C4 to really make them fly while Buddy had scowled in response.
Honey had looked lost, goosebumps trailing her arms as she realised she had no idea what to do or where to go. Adam had nodded for Sport to go with her, and he'd thankfully done so without protesting or trying to convince Adam and Remi as the teenagers to stay with an adult. They'd gone in the opposite direction to Ex and Buddy, Honey ready with a taser to stun anyone that moved.
With two hallways left to investigate, Adam had turned to Remi. Remi had grinned back at him, then rolled his neck and shoulders, and shifted into his bear form. "Meet you back here in fifteen!" Remi called, loping off down the left hallway.
Facing the last hallway, Adam bit his tongue to build up a mouthful of saliva, spitting it out onto his gloves and forming it into acid. He really had to thank Zach for getting a fibre that withstood his acid, Adam mused as he walked along the hall, testing door handles and using an acidic-coated hand to open locked offices and broom closets. Looking at the chemicals within the closet for a moment, Adam grabbed the super-sized bottle of hydrochloric acid to take with him. He didn't want to think about why a place like this would need such large containers of a cleaning agent designed to clean bricks and concrete, but he'd read the Super Bureau reports in far too much detail, and it wasn't exactly a stretch of the imagination.
He made it five minutes before anyone noticed his presence, and Adam stopped as the person called out to him in the darkened hall, a flashlight shining in his direction. Adam glanced at his FitBit around his wrist, seeing that the countdown still had forty seconds remaining.
"Hey! What's in your hands? Put it down! Put your hands up!"
"Which is it? Hands up or put this down?" Adam asked, keeping his arms out by his side as he turned slowly to face whoever had the flashlight.
"Put it down, then put your hands in the air!"
Adam held a hand out in a gesture of peace, slowly bending to place the hydrochloric acid on the floor. "I'm standing up again, my hands are in the air, okay?" he said, keeping his voice even and steady as he saw the guard was armed with more than a flashlight.
The freeze ray in his hand was similar to the ones Mr. Medulla had them building as freshmen, and this moron had his finger on the trigger, likely to set it off without even aiming.
"How'd... how'd you get up here?"
"Same as you, probably. Elevator," he replied, then grinned broadly beneath his mask and threw a ball of acid at the guard.
As predicted, the guard shot before aiming, the freeze ray arcing wide enough that Adam almost felt embarrassed for the guy. He watched as his acid ball flew through the air, a far better aim, and directly towards the guard. The guard's eyes widened in fear, his arm moving the freeze ray to hit either Adam or the ball uselessly, and right as the acid ball was about to hit, time stopped.
"Aww, come on! I was about to get my first hit!" Adam's FitBit vibrated on his wrist, like he didn't already know time had stopped, and he reset the timer. "Everyone good?" he called loudly down the hallway.
"Okay!" Remi yelled back.
"We have talkies for a reason," Ex said, his voice filtered through the walkie talkie on his hip.
"Yeah, yeah. You good?" Adam asked, moving over to the guard and looking him over for any sort of identification.
"We're good, Ace. You? You find anyone yet?"
"Hmm, yeah," he replied, finding a wallet and flipping it open. "Aw, man. How many kids you got?" he muttered, seeing photos unfolding and continuing to unfold far too many times. "Geez, how much does this job pay to get you a stay-at-home wife and six kids? You'd best be appreciating your wife, look how clean those kids and countertops are. Both are a bitch to clean, trust me, I know."
The guard didn't answer, for obvious reasons.
"Ugh, you can't go home disfigured with acid, your kids are gonna cry and I'll feel bad. Look, I'm gonna lock you in that cupboard back there, you're gonna stay in there, and... shit, I'm taking your freeze ray. You need to learn how to use the damn thing first," Adam muttered, cuffing the guard with his own pair of cuffs and dragging his time-frozen body back to the cupboard.
It was a tight fit, but the guard would be safe and out of the way, if extremely confused once time started again. Adam figured a broken finger to get the freeze gun out of his hand was better than an acid-eaten face.
With that done, Adam hurried down as much of the hallway he could while time was still stopped for the next two minutes. Right as he was about to call the hallway a bust, he saw a familiar glow of computer screens. Not just one or two screens, but enough to spill light out into the hallway from the tiny window on the door like the room was a star. Adam stepped closer, the glow not changing with the time stop though he swore it did. As he looked into the room, the white glow almost blinded him, and he blinked a few times to see clearly once more.
Written across a wall of twenty screens were two words: [Hello, Acidic]
In front of those screens were seemingly hundreds of wires leading down towards a bed where a young super was lying, each one of the wires connected to nodes covering their bald head.
Even though the vibration on his wrist indicated that time had started once more, Adam didn't dare look away. He reset the timer without looking, knowing his way around his FitBit easily enough, and tried not to worry that they only had two more time stops scheduled. Getting in had been hard enough, and they hadn't even found everyone yet, let alone attempted getting out. But that was a worry for later.
With a hand dripping in acid, Adam unlocked the door to finally meet and free [unknown].
...
Agent G hadn't slept well since returning from the last Montana run. He was almost glad that the newer Agents M and T had taken it on this time around, even though it was usually his job and G was usually very particular and proud about doing his job. The lack of sleep, nightmares when he did sleep, the headache that continued to thump and pound at his brain like having literal horns curving out of his head weren't enough of a headache already, and that goddamn song that ridiculous test subject had been singing during his processing was going to drive him insane. It was worse than if he'd had the whole thing on repeat in his head; instead, he heard snippets that played every now and then.
(Every now and then I get a little bit terrified,
And then I see the look in your eyes.)
Fucking song. He was going to find a way to burn it out of his memory forever. G had the distinct impression that he'd felt this way years ago, but... well, he couldn't remember what had resolved the feeling back then, and that made his stomach roil. He hadn't had a stomachache since his first shift as a kid. Of course, he was fairly sure the song hadn't been a part of his insomnia or nightmares last time, they were just an added bonus this time around.
He'd snapped at his secretary to be left alone when he'd gone into his office that morning, desperate for some peace and quiet. Despite having a very efficient secretary who was clearly following that instruction, G still felt awful. His headache wouldn't go away, the song wouldn't stop, and his stomach just kept churning.
He rubbed his temples, trying to remember what had helped last time he'd felt this way. He swore it was someone or something at work, but why would he talk to anyone at the Super Bureau about insomnia? His stomach lurched again and he was busy throwing up when his phone rang a minute later.
Wiping the back of his mouth, G found himself sitting on the floor beneath his desk. He wondered if he could just sit there until his head stopped aching or his stomach stopped churning, and maybe he could even get a moment of peace long enough to sleep. Goddamn, he was falling apart.
(Every now and then I fall apart.
Turn around, bright eyes.)
On the desk above him, his phone continued to ring incessantly. He was sure he had a meeting with Mr. A today, and he could be calling early for an update.
Fuck.
"'Lo?" he answered his phone gruffly.
"Ah, you are there, you old goat. I was about to head out with Charlie; I thought you'd gone ahead of everyone already," Bill said cheerfully.
Bill's words didn't make a lick of sense, but G felt oddly reassured by the sound of his voice, and for a blissful moment his headache eased. "Gone where?" he asked, hoping his raspy voice didn't sound as bad aloud as he thought it did.
"Maxville's city centre, 'course. Haven't you heard? Every prisoner escaped from the Super Penitentiary; it's chaos out there," Bill said.
"What?!" G tried to stand, his horns getting caught in the desk. "Ow, fuck. Shit."
By the time he'd dislodged himself from the desk, G had put a large hole in the bottom of his desk drawer. Tearing his curtains open, he saw the destruction and smoke columns that rose into the air in the distance. Grabbing his phone off the floor, G paused when he saw a white square on his carpet beneath his desk, picking it up curiously and turning it over to see a photo.
"G? You all right?" Bill asked, his voice louder like he'd asked several times without receiving an answer.
G only realised his hands were trembling because the photograph was shaking. He raised the phone to his ear, trying to still that trembling, too. "I'm fine, Bill. I'll meet you there," he said, putting the phone on the receiver before Bill could respond or question him further. This time, there was no doubt that his voice sounded as weird as he thought it did.
Opening his desk drawer, G pulled out stacks of paper and notebooks, snacks and work-related alike. He dug down deeper into the drawer, curving his fingers until his nails caught beneath the false bottom. He pulled it out entirely, tore a nail or three on his hands, and ignored the brief flare of pain. It would pass and his power would heal him soon enough.
The false bottom had tens of Polaroids hidden, each one featuring himself and Bill in some capacity. Arms wrapped around each other, sitting on a lounge with their heads bent close together, an awful blurry selfie that G had obviously taken but had no memory of. Bill's smile was just as infectious in photographs as real life, and G found himself smiling in response. He felt like he hadn't smiled in years, his cheeks already aching with the unfamiliar action.
An explosion in the distance had G remembering Bill's words about going to Maxville's city centre. Scooping up as many photos as he could, G stuffed them into his vest's inner pocket, and ran out of his office to find Bill and answers.
(And I need you now tonight,
And I need you more than ever.)
G broke several laws as he sped from the Super Bureau Headquarters into Maxville itself, but he doubted anyone would give a shit about speeding fines when Zephyr was blowing goddamn buildings over. He dodged office chairs as often as cars: most citizens had given up on driving and just started running.
G almost collided with a parked car when he saw Bill's car on the side of the road, doors open with no sign of Bill himself. Or Charlie, though it might explain why all of the car's doors, trunk, and bonnet were all open for no apparent reason. Parking his car and leaping out, G looked around at the buildings, trying to determine where Bill would be by sight alone. Everything was still around him, but then he heard an evil cackle, and looked up.
Zephyr was using a gust of wind to hover off the ground, laughing as he sent a fierce wind through the building's broken windows. "Come on out! Let's see how fast you can run!"
"There's kids in here!"
Bill.
G felt his heart leap to his throat, and he still wasn't entirely sure why. Either way, he refused to let Bill be killed by a C-grade super like Zephyr, especially without getting his answers. G let out a huff, loosening his tie and kicking off his shoes. He hated doing a full shift, but desperate times called for loathed measures.
(And if you only hold me tight,
We'll be holding on forever.
And we'll only be making it right,
'Cause we'll never be wrong.)
G could hear too much. The buildings still had electricity running through them, hundreds or thousands of phones and computers and fridges and kettles and microwaves all plugged in and making his ears far too sensitive. It didn't help that he could hear Bill reassuring the children and their parents, Charlie frantically opening and closing doors to stop Zephyr's wind from enclosing them in one spot.
G could see around himself, and it took a second to adjust to the view. Behind and in front views allowed him to see predators, which would have been fine if he was a goat out in the middle of nowhere. But he was in the middle of Maxville and a wind super was right there. G was tempted to close his eyes entirely, but he needed to see the building.
Ignoring his own reflection, G moved towards the building, eyeing it carefully before jumping up nimbly. There were miniscule ledges on each of the floors with inset windows, and he could jump and climb each one with ease. G was soon far too high off the ground, even for his own liking, and at feet level with Zephyr.
Zephyr's wind obscured his monologuing, but his evil cackle felt like yet another noise added to G's headache, and he let out a soft bleat of annoyance and pain. G tensed, readying himself to grab onto Zephyr's pants leg and drag the fucker all the way down to the ground.
He took another second to ready himself because there was a lot of distance between up here and down there, and G figured he deserved at least one more second before he sacrificed himself like a lovesick moron.
Lovesick? Oh, Super God, he really was. How long had he loved Bill? How had he forgotten that he'd loved Bill? What the fuck was wrong with him to have forgotten something as important as that? Another thought lodged into his mind, one that seemed to make the headache even worse: what had been done to him to make him forget?
Clenching his jaw and letting out a louder bleat this time, for himself, for what had been taken from him, for what had been stolen from both of them, G launched himself off the side of the building and at Zephyr, mouth open wide and reaching for the super's prison uniform.
Zephyr had been so focused on tormenting Bill and Charlie that he hadn't noticed the goat on the side of the building. Huddled at the back of the building with the small family they'd rescued, Bill and Charlie only noticed that Zephyr had suddenly decided to leave them alone, the wind tunnel fading slowly.
Falling down towards Maxville's concrete footpath, G could hear Bill and Charlie ushering the small family out of the room and down towards the exit so they could go downstairs. G figured he'd make it down sooner than they would, made the terrifying mistake of opening his eyes, and fainted in mid-air.
(Once upon a time I was falling in love,
But now I'm only falling apart.
There's nothing I can do,
A total eclipse of the heart.)
...
Layla could feel where each of her friends were located in the building, and tried not to let herself get distracted by the feel of the prisoners running rampant in Maxville. They were finally free, emotions of relief and happiness and pure glee and revenge and anger flooding her system as they were able to use their powers for the first time in years. It took a lot of willpower to just concentrate on the building around her, and Layla headed towards Warren and Ethan.
The hallways around her were quiet, unnaturally so, and the rooms were empty. The whole building felt like it could have been deserted, and if not for the parking lot full of cars and the guards outside, Layla might have been fooled into believing it had been. She let out a soft sigh of relief as she saw Warren up ahead, Ethan wound around his ankle.
"Fire, are you okay?" she asked, hurrying down to meet them.
Warren nodded firmly, then looked her over for any damage, and she remembered the sound of the gunshot and being in that exact spot only a second prior.
"Poison. You're all right?" Warren asked, his hands cupping her face gently.
"I'm fine. We're going to lose our element of surprise walking around like this."
"I think that's already long gone, hippie."
"Then where is everyone?" Layla asked, looking around with a frown.
Warren shrugged. "Maybe we never had the element of surprise to start with."
"I don't like the sound of that, Fire. We have a seer on our side who can't see anything, so what do they have for us to not surprise them?"
Warren raised an eyebrow. "They have cameras, Poison. We arrived here in four giant yellow buses, and Bolt and Electro didn't get control of the cameras until we got into the building itself."
Layla let out a huff of annoyance. "Stop being logical; there wasn't that much time between us arriving and getting into the building for everything to be empty! They've got a full parking lot out there."
Suddenly, lights appeared in the floor on each side of the hallway. An orange light started to flash and they both remembered Donny's earlier message. Layla stood on one light but before Warren could stand on the other, a guard appeared at the other end of the hallway. The guard didn't hesitate or ask questions, they simply ran forward, each flash of the light bringing them closer and closer. Warren threw a fireball directly in front of them, but the guard had stopped anyway and looked far too pleased with themselves for Warren to feel any kind of satisfaction.
"Molten, go with Poison. I'll keep them distracted," Warren said, his fists burning with flames.
Ethan slid off Warren's suit and over to Layla's as fast as he could, the orange flashing light turning to red.
"Be careful," Layla called, scooping Ethan up into her hands right as the hallway cracked open and sent them spinning and spiralling in the opposite direction to Warren and the guard.
Layla spent the next minute spinning wildly and trying to keep her balance on the single spot beneath her, walls and ceilings and floors rushing past, her tightly braided hair flying out behind her. Eventually, they slowed to a stop, and Layla held onto the wall to steady herself and calm her stomach and heart rate. Her heart rate was flashing wildly on her FitBit and the brand around her wrist let her know that everyone else had just gone through a similar experience. Taking a second to work out where everyone was in the building again, Layla realised that she was at the very back of the building while everyone else - including Warren, still fighting that guard - were at the front or middle. Grant and Craig were together, so that gave her a moment of relief that he'd been found and their main objective should be completed.
Ethan slipped out of her hands and reformed. He didn't look like he'd enjoyed that ride any more than Layla had, and took a few unsteady steps forward, his whole body still feeling like it was swirling wildly.
Ethan? Can you come to the front? Michelangelo's been hit and she needs to be melted down quickly, Donny said.
I'm sorry, but I've been rearranged to the back of the building with Poison. I don't think I can get there quickly.
Okay, I'll check with Cee. Donny was silent for a few seconds, then added, He's sending out a copy, so don't worry.
Thanks for keeping me updated, Merge. Good luck with Michelangelo.
As Ethan focused on his surroundings properly, he frowned and blinked behind his glasses. "Poison, do you see this?"
Layla let out a shaky breath and followed Ethan to see what he was looking at. The hallway ... ended. It was normal for hallways to end, of course, but this one ended in the middle of a doorway, the door impossibly cut in half on the corner of one wall to the next. The door handle was on the side that they could see, and Ethan glanced at Layla as he reached for it.
She shook her head quickly, grabbing his wrist before he could touch it. "Can you go under the door instead? We don't know if there's anything connected to the handle."
Ethan knew he should have thought of it himself, but he was still recovering from seeing a half-door in a wall and the full minute of being flung around a building while liquified in Layla's hands, so he forgave himself for not immediately thinking of that very obvious solution.
"I'll try to work out what's going on with the hallway while you're in there. If you can open the door when you're inside, then do it, but if there's people and you'll get caught, just stay hidden, okay?"
Ethan nodded and then melted down. There was a gap under the door, but it was protected on the other side by a door seal, rubber and metal stopping him from going further. Ethan stretched and thinned himself as best he could, and found a gap at the end of the seal, slowly and carefully sliding out of it in a small puddle of water and hoping he wouldn't be noticed if the room was occupied. He waited for a few seconds, trying to listen and understand what sort of room he'd gone into. He could hear the beeping of monitors and machines, but there were no footsteps or sounds of fabric being moved, no signs of life beyond faint soft breaths that could have been human or animal.
In the hallway outside, Layla investigated the corner of the wall with her eyesight, vines circling her feet as she focused and concentrated. Pressing a hand against the door carefully, Layla could feel the cool metal beneath her palm, and she closed her eyes, sliding her hand along the door further, past the point where she should have hit against a wall. Opening her eyes at the realisation, Layla felt goosebumps running down her arms and legs as she saw that she had gone beyond the wall. She'd walked through it entirely, and this was the other side of the door, and a far longer hallway than she'd anticipated.
In this part of the hallway, Layla could hear and see shadows moving from people within rooms, and she glanced behind her to see the wall still there. Her mind recognised it as solid, even though one of her vines was still circling around her feet on both sides of the wall. Layla reached out a hand, her palm and fingers disappearing through the wall up to her wrist.
The hallways are an illusion, she realised, then focused. Merge, the hallways are an illusion! The end isn't the end.
Donny passed the information on to the others, and Layla almost jumped out of her super suit when the door beside her opened suddenly. Ethan was standing there and she wanted to tell him about her discovery, but something on his face stopped her.
"Molten? What's wrong?" she asked.
He opened and closed his mouth, then shook his head. "You need to see this for yourself," Ethan said, stepping back.
A sense of curiosity and dread filled her; if Ethan couldn't articulate something, then it was definitely a cause for concern. Layla steeled herself for something horrible - the people they'd come to rescue lined up in cages, experiments being run on them without mercy or pause, something worse but she didn't know what else - and stepped through the doorway.
...
End of the hundred and ninety-fourth chapter.
Thanks for reading!