Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Nine
...
Beau was alone, lost, and getting increasingly annoyed with every passing second he couldn't find anyone. He saw yet another orange light go off and hurried to the closest spot on the ground to be rearranged yet again, only to be taken to a corridor that had a door with a bright green glowing exit sign above it and little else. "I hate this stupid fucking building!" he yelled, receiving no response. Stomping over to the exit, Beau stepped out onto the footpath that led to the parking lot, glared at the expanse of cars for a presumably empty goddamn building, and moved around the corner to get back to the front entrance again.
Heidi could send him to a floor with people on it, and - Beau stopped short as he realised a bus was blocking the building's entrance and he couldn't get inside.
Annoyance gave way to pure anger, his brand burning and painful on his shoulder, and Beau let out another yell before he powered up. He figured Grant was okay since he'd felt his power flow through like a wave, but no one had updated him or even said what was going on. Powering up around Grant's negation was difficult, but Beau's power was internal and he very rarely powered up so it almost felt freeing to finally let loose and power up without regard or worry for anyone or anything. In fact, Beau was going to -
A person threw themself from the building and landed on the concrete right in front of him, and Beau remembered why he didn't usually power up in crowded places. The person that had crashed against the ground twitched slightly, like they were still trying to get closer to Beau, and Beau freaked out and immediately took a few steps back. Another body hit the ground where he'd been standing, then another, and another, and Beau let out a cry as more people fell. One person's coat fluttered like wings, making him realise that they were a scientist and were technically the bad guys. So long as his friends weren't impacted or, y'know, the people they were here to rescue, this was fine.
"Mesmerise? Dude, stop, that's enough dead bodies," Robin called from behind him.
Beau spun around, eyes widening when he saw Robin and the bloodied wound on their shoulder. "Quake! Are you all right? What happened to your shoulder?"
"I got shot, like, ten hours ago. Where have you been?"
"I've been lost! No one's kept me updated!" Beau said frantically.
Robin frowned at his response and reached down to grab the walkie talkie off his belt. They repressed the urge to laugh, and turned the volume up, several of their friends' voices overlapping on the frequency. "You've gotta turn the volume up if you wanna hear them, Mesmerise. Wanna power down now?" they asked as yet another person crashed into the ground.
"Oh. Not yet; there's still people in there who aren't our friends, and I want to make sure I get them all. Where's that volume setting?"
Robin sighed. "You're lucky you're pretty."
Beau grinned. "Yeah, I know. Oh, did anyone find Grant yet?"
"Yes, Carbon found him, he's safe. Diamond's in the basement rescuing people that were... trapped down there, I'm not sure on the details, but the Special Forces guys are helping."
"Can I help with anything?" Beau asked, frowning.
Another body flew out of the building, this one hitting the bus with a crunch of glass.
"Uh, I think you're doing enough right now. But let's move over here; we're running out of transportation options," Robin said, leading Beau further away from the bus.
"Uh, Grant? I'm extremely glad you're safe and we can leave, but can you please power down so I can see how to make it out of here alive?" Honey asked, sounding exasperated.
"Sure thing, Hourglass. Hold on, this is gonna hurt," Grant said, inhaling and exhaling.
"Your power doesn't hurt us?" Sport replied with a frown.
"I was talking to myself," Grant said, letting go of the hold over his power.
The negation wave didn't drop away or fade: it came flowing straight back like a tsunami after pulling the tide away from the shore, or like a taut rubber band had been let loose across a room, or something else really fast and really overpowering, Beau had run out of analogies. No matter which analogy used, Grant's power flowed back to him as fast as possible, and it crashed into him like a tonne of bricks.
"Thank you. All right, everyone, the next time stop is in five, four, three, two, one," Honey advised, their FitBits vibrating on their wrists on cue. She inhaled and began, "Ace, take Feldon with you to get the guard so Merge can wipe his mind; Carbon, we need a copy to teleport the guard home safely or else his kids will cry.
"Grant, keep Thirteen, M, T, and Deimos with you. Yes, you can grab the cat; no, you can't stop for food.
"Everyone in the basement, work as hard and as fast as possible to free everyone, but don't take them upstairs until time starts again; they'll need to be carried, they're going to be broken in ways you can't imagine, and will also be extremely light-sensitive.
"Dragon, stop playing around with the guy with the knife or you're gonna get stabbed."
"Wait, what? What are you - "
"Gramps, concentrate on your task, don't interrupt me again," Honey said firmly, clinging to a corridor's railing as she tried to see everything in the shortest amount of time. "Molten, re-install the black box so Nigel can get the buses in line. We've only got two, so some people are going to need to be melted first.
"Carbon, the owner of that car found a you-shaped hole in it, there will be consequences... later, we can deal with those later. This thread, here and now, c'mon," Honey muttered to herself. "Poison, stop your vines at the back so Electro and Globe can get the test subjects out. Kai and his wife will be down there soon; keep her cuff on, no matter what Kai says or does.
"Bolt, we need to get the building rearranged without the Rubik's cube, it'll take too long. Can you provide a direct corridor from the vines to the buses?"
"I... I'll have to go back to the foyer," Heidi said, glancing at the long corridor of prisoners as Sport brought down yet another door.
"Good, that's good. Thank you. What else? Who else? Quake! Get rid of the bodies, twelve feet underground, there'll be an investigation with whatever's left of the Super Bureau. No, wait... fifteen feet. Can you manage it?"
"I can do that. I think," Robin said, trying not to let the combination of blood loss and the overwhelming amount of time they'd spent powered up with the wall overwhelm them.
"Donatello... wait, where is she?"
There was a flash of pink and Najair was standing in front of Beau and Robin. "What do you mean 'where is she?'"
"Where did you come from?!" Beau hissed.
"He's been on your shoulder the whole time," Robin said with a frown.
Najair ignored both of them, waiting impatiently for Honey to tell him about his sister. "Donatello? Have you found her yet?" he asked when there was no response.
"I'm looking, Raphael, don't you give me that... Oh. Oh, no. Uhh, shit. Bear, Beast, go to the second floor, fourth door on the right. Hurry!" Honey said, not waiting for Remi or Justina's confirmation before moving to the next thread, all too aware of the time. "Raphael, stay down there, you'll be better off helping everyone on the buses, I'm sorry.
"Blaze, there's two more people on your level, be careful. Tempest, you're on the same level; help Blaze, and both of you come down to the foyer to help with the test subjects."
Warren rolled his shoulders, waited a few seconds more, then grabbed the walkie talkie. "What about me, Hourglass?"
"I'm looking, I know, just give... Come outside; when we're all safe, burn this fucking place to the ground."
Warren grinned. "My fucking pleasure."
...
The street outside of the American Bank of America was quiet until it wasn't. There were quiet murmurs, then confused exclamations, then surprised shouts. Inside the bank, Jetstream and the Commander called for the assistance of the approaching citizens, but their voices were lost beneath the sound of stampeding feet. Those same feet then trampled over the debris of the bank, the burnt carcass of what remained of machines and furniture within the bank, and the vault door itself.
Breathing in a mouthful of oxygen, gravel, and possibly some of her own hair, Jetstream put her Damsel in Distress lessons to good use, and screamed.
The noise stopped briefly, people's voices muffled beneath the thick slab of a vault door, but then there was talking again, soft murmurs like they were discussing what to do when the two world's most beloved heroes were being crushed to death by a Super Goddamned door.
It was a painful and excruciatingly slow process, but inch by inch, the door was gradually lifted off them. The citizens were red in their faces, using all of their strength, and Jetstream tried her hardest to help despite being powerless. The moment there was enough room, the Commander slid out of the gap to freedom, stood up with a body that took a second to repair itself, and lifted the door off Jetstream and Baron Battle completely, throwing it out into the street.
"Thank you for your assistance, citizens. As heroes always say: look for the - oh, no."
Jetstream struggled to her feet, her body slower at healing especially after the last bout of healing it had undergone, and silently hoped she hadn't broken any new bones this time around. She took in the Commander's distraught expression, the wide-eyed horror of the citizens around them, and followed their line of sight to see the crushed body of Baron Battle.
Part of her only felt immense relief - he could never escape from prison again, he could never terrorise citizens again, and he could never tempt her husband again - but there was another part of her that knew she could never voice that opinion or demonstrate that relief. She had to act in an appropriate way for her fans and the media, and couldn't be seen rejoicing over the death of someone, even if it had been Baron Battle himself.
"Thank you for your assistance, citizens. As heroes always say: look for the helpers," she said, finishing off the Commander's earlier phrase. "If one of you could kindly assist further now by calling the police and ambulance, the Commander and I will cordon off this area to keep it safe from looters."
One of the citizens wiped sweat off his forehead, his face starting to calm down from the brilliant red it had been a moment ago, and gave a smile that was part-charming and part-guilty. "Of course, Jetstream. We were hoping... uh, that is, we saved your lives. Could we get - "
Jetstream held up her hand and smiled. "Of course, say no more. Autographs and photos are more than welcome while we wait for the police to arrive."
The part-guilty smile got guiltier still, and the citizen looked at the others, hoping someone else would take up the thread. No one did, so he set his shoulders and turned back to Jetstream. "Actually, we were hoping for something more... practical," he said with a delicate cough, nodding behind her.
Jetstream glanced over her shoulder briefly, saw the vault, and frowned as she turned her attention back to the citizen. "You're asking to steal from the bank while the Commander and I turn a blind eye?" she asked lightly.
The citizen swallowed hard, but didn't seem to take her words for the threat they were. "We saved your lives. We could have just walked straight over you and taken it, and no one would have known! What's the difference now?"
"The difference is now I know," Jetstream said, voice firm and cold. "Commander, tie these citizens up for attempted villainy."
"Whoa, what?! We were just asking!"
"We weren't asking! That was all you!"
"I told you we should've just taken it first!"
The citizens broke out into a fight and only stopped when the Commander knocked their heads together, each person collapsing to the debris-covered ground. "Can you believe it, dear?" he asked.
"I'm rarely surprised by citizens these days; their greed knows no bounds," Jetstream said with a disappointed sigh.
"No, not that. Him. Baron Battle. It wasn't even a proper fight, not like the good ol' days," the Commander said with a disappointed sigh of his own.
Jetstream raised an eyebrow. "He almost blew us up, Commander. That's as close to the good ol' days as you can get." She went to say more, to tell Steve to get his head on straight, but then she stepped out of the bank and saw that it wasn't the police, nor the ambulance, or even the Super Bureau that had arrived first: it was the media. "Vultures probably flew over buildings to get here before emergency services. I'll deal with them, you call the police and see what the hold up is, we've got potential villains and Baron Battle to be reanimated."
The Commander glanced out of the bank to see a van parked and reporters piling out. Realising his wife's words, he nodded and took his red phone out. "I'll call the reanimator services first; the first twenty-four hours are the most critical for reincarnation."
Jetstream didn't bother to lecture the Commander about following instructions because she was determined to get the reporters' required twelve minutes for herself. Besides, that would be an argument more suited for home when they were far away from reporters with long-reaching microphones and cameras.
"Jetstream! How did it feel to be crushed by the same vault door that killed Baron Battle?"
Jetstream felt her stride falter at the reporter's question. The citizens who had found them had been detained just a moment ago and certainly hadn't had time to call the media to let them know what had happened in the bank itself. "How did you hear about that?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound as surprised as she felt, starting her stride once more.
"The cameras, of course!" the reporter called back.
Jetstream wondered if that earlier citizen throwing debris had missed a camera; if she had, had she missed hitting it on purpose? How had neither Jetstream nor the Commander heard the camera whirring, especially when the street had been so quiet? Another thought almost stopped her dead in her tracks, but Jetstream had been doing this for years now and kept her smile broad and plastered on her face as she continued towards the reporters. What had she said or done while she had assumed the camera was off?
...
The Sanctuary foyer exploded in a flash of purple light, but by the time Simon's eyes cleared, he only saw two people on the ground floor. He frowned and looked at Zero in confusion. "Are they Chaos?"
Zero laughed and shook his head. "No; that's Molten and Carbon Copy. They have Chaos, though. Quick, quick!" he called, already out of Simon and Alex's grips and running for the elevator.
Simon and Alex glanced at each other, and hurried after Zero. Realising that he could power up now, and would never be cuffed again if he could help it, Simon grinned and ran downstairs as fast as superhumanly possible. He arrived in time to see the redheaded teenager violently puking his guts up into a nearby potted plant, and then the other teenager collapsed to the floor in a heap. The elevator opened behind him and Simon spun on his heel, his hands in the air. "I didn't do anything!"
"I know. You can help now. Pick Molten up and be careful; he's bloated and it's dangerous."
"How is being bloated dangerous?" Simon asked, uncertain how bloating could cause a seer to look pale or a person to collapse.
"If mishandled, he'll die. So, like I said: be careful. We're going to have to get everyone out through intense heat. Alex, go let Dr. Spattle know to start the sauna and to get a basin ready. Oh, and let her know Ace will be fine when we get everyone out."
Alex nodded and pressed the button on the elevator. Simon gingerly picked up the collapsed teenager while Zero went to lead Carbon Copy into the foyer's second elevator. Carbon Copy was shaking so hard his curls bounced, and Simon didn't know if that was also considered dangerous, but followed them into the elevator when Zero nodded with his head for him to join them.
Going up a few levels to where the hospital - and sauna - awaited, both Simon and Carbon Copy were led down the hallway and into a room where multiple medical machines waited, and a woman was scrubbing her hands at a basin. Alex just finished pulling scrubs over his clothes and tucked his mohawk down into a cap, then joined the woman at the basin. "They're here, Doctor."
"The sauna's heating and I've got the basin ready, but I don't understand why," Ida said.
"Ethan needs to melt down and we can separate him from everyone he's gathered. The buses didn't work, and there were barely enough jars for everyone. But Maleah's in a jar and you need to see her as a priority," Zero said.
"That leaves everyone as drops of water, Zero; how do we reform them?" Ida asked.
"I can do it," Carbon Copy said, raising a hand weakly. "It's, like, all I'll be able to do, but I can do it. Then I'm gonna puke again and lie down in the first free apartment I find," he added with a groan.
"What happened to teleporting across states?"
"Couldn't do it. Super Bureau turned up in a chopper. I think someone got shot as they were being melted. Mal's been shot. It's bad, Dr. S," he slurred, collapsing on the chair Zero tucked under him in the same instant.
"Uh, excuse me? Where do I put Molten?" Simon asked, looking between the doctor, the teenagers, and the seer.
"This way. Quick, it should be warm enough to start sweating and we can get Maleah out first. Or maybe it will be the C4 ingredients," Zero mused as he guided Simon over to a doorway with a red light above it.
"Was the sauna always here?" he asked, even as he gently set Molten down in the basin and followed Zero back out, the door closing in a rush of steam behind them.
"Yes, of course. The building has an indoor pool, too, but it's covered. Hold me up so I can see in, please?" he asked, holding his arms out for Simon to pick him up.
"Uh, sure. What are you looking for?" he asked, holding Zero up so he could see through the sauna window.
Zero didn't reply straight away, clinging to the edge of the window's sill in the door, and watching silently. "There! Grab a jar and follow me! Quick, quick!" he said, wriggling in Simon's hold to be let down again, hurrying into the sauna without seeming to care about the hot steam.
"A jar?" Simon muttered, glancing around him. A cart nearby had several jars sitting on it, so he grabbed one and followed Zero into the steam that instantly made him sweat. "What do I do now?"
"Lid off, scoop the water. Sponges cause trauma, and we can't wait until Ethan fully melts to tip them in, so make sure to get it all."
Simon had a vague realisation that just that morning, he'd been imprisoned and wondering what knowledge Old Walter or Ivan might impart today, and now... Now, he was scooping what was essentially someone's sweat into a jar. Still, he was good at following directions, so Simon did as instructed and scooped all of the water into the jar as larger-than-sweat drops fell off Molten's body. "Is that all of it?"
Zero thought for a moment, then nodded. "It's Maleah. Quick, take her out to Craig, and bring three jars back."
Running the jar out to Carbon Copy - assuming he was Craig - Simon returned to the sauna with three jars. He was curious about how these were people and how they were being reformed, but there was a blood-curdling scream from the hospital room behind him, and Simon suddenly wasn't as curious anymore.
"This is the C4, but Ex will want it later. Put it aside, I'll label it when you come back with a pen. Uh, who... oh, this is Ryuu; he got stabbed, after all. Oh, grab Grant, quick! Bring back four jars and a permanent marker."
Simon ran the three jars out to Craig, returned with four jars and a permanent marker, and scooped up Acidic, Bolt, Bear, and Globe. They weren't as bad as the damage on Maleah or Ryuu's stab wound - Alex was muttering under his breath that scars weren't as impressive as Ryuu clearly thought they were - but they all looked as though they all had heat blisters and debris damage that were similar to an explosion.
"What happened to them?" Simon asked as he scooped up another four - Electro, Beast, Sport, and Tempest.
"A building blew up by accident. It shouldn't have blown up, but they didn't see the Super Bureau helicopter until it was too late. The last time stop was the only reason they all survived with this amount of damage," Zero mused. "Grant powered down too soon, but Hourglass couldn't have known that."
"Isn't she meant to be a seer?" Simon asked incredulously.
"Yeah, Hourglass is a seer who was in direct proximity to a super who negates powers, including internal ones. Not to mention, Grant had just been tortured on a daily basis for a week and his power had extended beyond what even he knew. It's going to cause a few issues, but he'll get a handle on it again eventually. Oh, eww, gross," Zero said, his nose scrunching up.
"What?"
"I just saw them having sex. Ugh. Oh, grab Merge! He can bleach my brain later."
None of it made sense, but Simon left with the jars, and returned with another armful. Baby, Ex, and Lorcan were next with strict instructions not to reform Lorcan until both Dr. Spattle and Alex were ready.
"Oh, there's Quake! They can help with the others. They're probably just as messed up as the rest, but that'll help since they'll know what they're all feeling. Ooh, that's Phaser. She's not going to handle this well."
"Phaser's alive?" Simon asked incredulously. "Old Walter only saw her for a day and that was years ago."
"Yeah. Time and torture haven't been kind to her. She'll need a lot of therapy. Physical as well as mental. I should let Doc know."
Simon frowned. "I can tell Dr. Spattle."
"No, Doc is the therapist in the building. She's... oh, she's coming down now. Drago didn't go, but he's been waiting for everyone to come back." Zero thought about it for a moment, then focused on Ethan once more. "This is Poe, and that's Sport. Oh, and Blaze will make it out before Ethan melts entirely. Here, we've gotta take his clothes off or people are gonna lose limbs," he said, tugging Ethan's shoes off without waiting for a response.
Scooping Poe and Sport into jars, Simon set them aside before quickly undoing the super suit Ethan was wearing. "Who made the suit? This isn't the Spinner Sisters' material."
"Blaze designed it. Speaking of, he's arriving now, quick!"
Simon managed to scoop the larger drop a second before Zero wrenched the last of the super suit off Ethan's body, and in the next instant, Ethan completely melted into a puddle. "Oh. I remember him."
"Hmm. Take the jars out, come back with the rest of the cart. I need to make a call; we're going to need assistance when the rest of the test subjects start reforming," Zero said, ducking beneath Simon's arm to run to the building's phone, calling several apartment numbers.
While he did that, Simon watched Craig reform Sport and Poe, fascinated by the water turning into human-shaped water, and then the water popping like a bubble to reveal each of them. Before he'd taken the cart back into the sauna, Simon saw Poe get attacked into a hug by an older, though shorter, blonde woman.
"I'm all right, Ma. I've gotta help the others."
"You're not all right, look at all of that blood and soot! Clean up before you touch anyone, you know how deadly bacteria can be," Ammie said firmly.
"I will. Sport, Ma's been anxious about us," Corvin said, practically handing his mother over to Sport, who gathered her up into his arms and against his chest for a firm hug.
"We're all right, Ammie. We're home safe," Sport said.
Simon closed the sauna door right as the woman burst into tears. Relief, concern, worry, or whatever else she was feeling as a result of those words and seeing her family back home, Simon didn't know that he'd ever had anyone that had ever felt so relieved or happy to see him come back from anywhere or anything.
Zero returned a moment later with the empty jars from the others within Chaos, and set them on the cart as he moved to stand beside Simon. "All right, ready? We've got to be even more careful or they'll mix together; Ethan will help when he's conscious again, it shouldn't be too much longer. Oh! There's Poison and there's Fire. They're Chaos."
"Yeah, I remember. I pledged allegiance to them a few hours ago," Simon said with a wry smile, grabbing two more jars to scoop and save his new leaders.
...
"Now, you're certain we can't change your mind? There's more we can do, I'm sure!"
Pat could practically taste the desperation wafting off of Goldie and it turned his stomach. He'd already been through two time-stops and found far more than he had anticipated from Goldie and Bev's office about their plans for Super Motors. The first step had been to get on the Super Bureau's radar, use that money to create Morton look-alike cars and limousines for cheap, and then charge buyers through the nose for every part, addition, and change, right down to the steering wheel. It probably would have worked, especially considering the surveys and focus groups they'd run. However, just because it would have worked, it didn't mean Pat liked or agreed with their plans.
He gave Goldie a regretful smile and shook his head. "I'm sure. Thank you for your time, Goldie. I'll be back if I change my mind about the hearse," he lied.
Goldie looked like she wanted to grab him by the arm, dig her brand new nails into the meat of his arm, and not let go. "I hope that'll be soon. Bev, say goodbye to our newest friend, would you?"
Bev jumped to attention from where he'd been sitting at a desk, and hurried over. "Of course, my golden goose. It was great to meet you, Mr. Kinnon; I hope you'll be back soon," he said, holding out a hand to shake.
Both Bev and Goldie watched him, expectation and anticipation and that blood-hunting lust still in Goldie's gaze. It gave Pat the sudden thought that maybe something in Super Motors was super, after all. He ignored Bev's hand, gave a nod in response, and turned to leave. In the reflection of the glass walls, Pat saw Bev's eyes widen and turn to look at Goldie frantically. Goldie gestured at Bev and in the next instant, Bev hurried after Pat, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder as he reached the door.
Pat dodged his hand, just barely, and let out a sigh of relief as time stopped for the third and final time. He reset the timer on his FitBit and looked at the frozen expressions on Bev and Goldie's faces. "Super fuckin' Jesus. I don't know what you can do, Bev, but fuck you for trying when I had my back turned," he said, flicking the frozen man in the forehead.
Not wanting to stay in place to find out, Pat left the car yard and hurried across stopped traffic to get to the car his Mam was waiting in. Ellie had an anxious expression on her face, her lip caught between her teeth, and was looking over her shoulder towards Super Motors like she was planning on going in there herself.
Taking a moment to sit and get belted into the car, Pat inhaled and exhaled as he fought the urge to text everyone and find out what the fuck was going on. He'd been told not to ask, and had promised to see everyone as soon as he and his mother returned to Maxville that evening. His FitBit vibrated against his wrist now and Pat pressed the button to turn it off as time restarted.
" - maybe I should go in," Ellie muttered, clearly distracted and halfway through talking to herself when time had stopped.
"I'm here, Mam," Pat prompted.
Ellie screamed in fright at his sudden appearance from one second to the next. "Super fuckin' Jesus, lad! Are ye tryin' to give me a heart attack?!"
"No. I came back while time was stopped. Bev was going to use his power on me and I don't think it would have been good."
Ellie pressed a hand to her chest as she tried to recover and then Pat's words sank in. "He tried to use a power on ye? Did ye ken what it was?"
"No, but I didn't stick around to find out. It seemed to need touch since he was trying to grab me."
Ellie considered his response as she turned the car ignition on, and merged into traffic to start the drive back to Maxville. "I'll have ta get a new private investigator. This one didn't say a thing about Bev havin' a power so they're either a shite PI or they've been compromised. Don't ken which I prefer, really."
"Can we get food on the way home? I got a lot of things you need to see and I haven't eaten since breakfast."
"Good idea, lad. I've gotta get outta this car, my arse is numb from sitting this long."
"Good to know, Mam."
Ellie grinned. "You're welcome. Now, burgers or chicken?"
"Burgers," Pat said decisively.
Ellie gave a nod in response and flicked on her indicator to turn into the fast food restaurant's car park. They had a lot to talk about, and she only hoped that whatever Pat had found would make the takeover easier for her and Honey.
...
Ocky's arms still had circles of sucker marks showing despite being cuffed with the strongest power repressing cuffs the police station's armoury had to offer on both wrists and ankles. He'd set off Tyrone's shellfish allergy, laughing even as Monty had dragged Tyrone out of the interview room.
Fisher didn't have a shellfish allergy this time around, thankfully, but he wasn't as thankful as he could have been considering he now had to deal with Ocky instead. "Name, prisoner number, and reason for original capture?"
"Ocky, prisoner number 839, and the Commander and Jetstream refused to fight fair."
"More like you tried to rob the police station's armoury," Mia scoffed.
Ocky folded his arms over his chest. "Because the Commander and Jetstream refuse to fight fair. You think I'd need anti-super riot gear otherwise? I'm a cephalopod and have no vertebrae or skeleton while shifted, meaning my squishy shifter form leaves me vulnerable to having a literal hole punched through my head after that meat-handed barbarian tears my legs off! I didn't and still don't want to have a fist go through my brain."
Fisher raised an eyebrow. "What exactly would constitute a fair fight to you?"
"Me, protected to the best of superhuman ability, the Commander dead, and Jetstream without her utility belt."
"That's just a fight you'd win!"
Ocky grinned and shrugged. "Sounds fair to me."
In the next interview room over, Carmel and her partner were dealing with Zephyr, who still looked wild and windswept after his morning of havoc and freedom.
"You killed at least ten people and injured hundreds," Carmel snapped, trying not to let her worry show as her girlfriend had been one of those injured, mere moments away from being one of the killed instead.
Zephyr shrugged. "A Hero should've stopped me since I'm a breeze to defeat."
Carmel blinked, looked at her partner, then back to Zephyr. "You killed people because you're upset about an interview with the Commander from over ten years ago?!"
"He insulted and degraded me!"
"How is that worth citizen's lives?!"
"He didn't stop me."
"No, a goat did," Carmel's partner said drily.
Zephyr's cheeks turned red. Truthfully, being taken down by a goat was embarrassing enough, but it wasn't the part that frustrated him. Instead, it was the fact that he'd been plummeting to the ground in one moment and then in the next, he had been lying on the ground without the expected impact. Zephyr still didn't know what had happened, and that was far more frustrating than a brief embarrassment with a goat taking him down.
In the next room over, Kelson was assisting the Chief with Old Walter's interview. Jimmy, his usual partner, was busy processing other villains and Kelson was trying to keep a straight face as Old Walter continued to talk about everything and yet nothing at all. He certainly hadn't talked about the prison escape that morning, and Chief was likely going to need more anger management classes if the vein on his temple kept pulsing like that.
"Oh, my Olive was the loveliest girl at the ball; we spent the whole night dancing and - "
"Walter. Please, just answer the question about what happened this morning," Chief said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"This morning? Oh, well, we had oatmeal for breakfast. They call it oatmeal, at least; it is actually gruel with some brown stuff sprinkled on top. They say the brown stuff is brown sugar and cinnamon, but it most certainly is not either of those things, but by now I do not want to know. Then after breakfast was recreational time. I went to the library with young Speed, and we talked about families. He's an orphan, poor thing, and it has really impacted the way he views relationships. I always try to impress how important relationships are. Not just family, of course, but friends, guards, and even enemies."
Kelson was going to take a recording of Old Walter's voice and use it to sleep at night; he had a lilting sort of voice, almost soft and musical, and Kelson struggled to actually focus on what he was saying. "You have relationships with enemies?"
Chief shot a glare in his direction for interrupting Walter's long-winded tale when he'd finally started talking about the present day. Kelson swallowed hard and kept his attention on Walter.
"Of course; there is a reason we have an arch-nemesis, and it is not just the fact that the hero turned up to fight us. There is a whole psychological aspect of the dichotomy between villains and heroes, just like every other relationship, and even if it is a five minute fight or a hatred that lasts for years. It can be just as fraught and intense as a relationship between lovers. Why, I remember the first fight between the Commander and Baron Battle, now that was intense. We had just gotten televisions installed in the prison's recreation room, though it wasn't called that back then, of course."
"Walter, what happened after the library?!" Chief snapped, exhausted and his patience whittled to nothing.
Slow and careful, Walter took his cuffed hands out of his lap and placed them flat on the table between them. It was a move as a result of being in prison, with suspicious guards armed with batons and prods and the power to use them at will, and all prisoners soon learned to show they were empty handed at a moment's notice or a raised voice. "Well, I assume you have no interest in my bathroom breaks, so I will skip ahead to lunch instead."
"Thank you," Chief said, trying hard to lower his voice and regain control over his temper.
"Lunch? The first attacks were reported by eleven this morning," Kelson said with a frown, glancing at a report in front of him.
"We eat early in the prison, which I appreciate these days. Lunch was unfortunately wet vegetables and mystery meat lasagne, which is supposed to have nutritional value, but it is severely lacking in nutrition or value in my opinion. I was only able to eat a few green beans when the cafeteria doors burst open, and people in masks and black super suits started attacking guards."
"Did you recognise any of the people?" Kelson asked eagerly.
Walter blinked. "I have been imprisoned for over forty years, young man; there are some days where I barely recognise my own family members."
"Uh, right. Sorry. Go on."
Walter gave a nod and continued to relay the lunch prison break in great and long-winded detail.
"I'm not pledging allegiance, like what the fuck do they think we are? Who even pledges allegiance anymore? It's not a fucking sorority!"
Jimmy wished the anti-super riot gear included muzzles because Lash had been ranting for nearly ten minutes straight and he wasn't even interviewing him. He still had several prisoners and other criminal citizens to process, but Lash just wasn't getting the hint to shut up already, no one cares and Jimmy couldn't get his thumbprint to finish the processing.
"You can tell your story to the officers or detectives that will be interviewing you. I just need to get your fingerprints on file," Jimmy prompted for the third or thirtieth time.
"Shut up, Lash!" Layer called out, clearly as fed up as Jimmy felt.
Lash swung his head around to glare over his shoulder at Layer, who just raised both of their cuffed hands and gave him the finger in return. "You want to go, Layer? There's no trays to save you here, you piece of shit!"
"Yeah, well, you don't have your minion to save you, either! Bring it, string bean!" Layer called.
Lash went to rush back to Layer, but was held by the back of his shirt by Jimmy.
"Stop it! Or you'll get resisting arrest and inciting violence on citizens. Fingerprints, now," Jimmy snarled, his face turned to a tusked boar.
Lash's eyes widened and he meekly pressed his fingers to the inkpad.
...
At first, Alex had needed to force himself to concentrate on each patient because his first patient had been Ryuu. Now, what could have been hours or even days later, he was focused on each patient because they were each a new patient and they all deserved his full attention. Even if he was working out his lecture for Ryuu in the back of his mind each time he went to scrub up for the next patient, Alex refused to let himself slip when he'd finally been trusted to stitch and suture and heal.
Dr. Spattle came by a few times to ensure his work was correct, and then a few other times when Alex had no fucking clue what to do - Phaser's bones were brittle, broken, her body was swollen, her hair had fallen out, there were so many things wrong that he didn't know where or how to start - and he tried not to feel too much pride in Dr. Spattle's praise or too much devastation in her corrections. This was a learning experience and a show of trust at the same time, and he wouldn't let either go to waste.
Others were assisting where they could by helping people to the required medical equipment and pressing the buttons they needed to press, even though Dr. Spattle was the one actually reviewing the results. Lex had even come down when Gemma and Lottie had told him what was going on, and was operating where needed.
Alex heard a soft curse and a sniffle as he finished dealing with Phaser's unconscious body, and looked over to see Dr. Spattle wiping away tears. "Are you all right?" he asked, hesitant and not sure if he should ask, let alone if he was allowed to ask such a personal question.
"I lost a patient," she replied, her voice trembling as she looked at the machine flat lining. "Time of death: 3:36pm."
"Take a five minute break, clean up, and come back," Lex said.
His voice wasn't harsh or cruel, but even with Alex's poor bedside manner, he still thought that his Great Uncle could have been more understanding. Ida just nodded, ripped off her gloves, and left the room.
"What the hell, Lex?"
"We've got close to fifty patients to deal with, and Ida knows time and grief isn't a luxury we can afford right now. Later, we'll grieve together, but for now we have to keep going."
Alex didn't know what to say or do, and since he was taking a moment to scrub up for his next patient, he detoured past Ida's operating area to see who she'd lost. Part of him was curious, another part was anxious, and then as he saw who she had been operating on, all of him was horrified.
Maleah was lying on the table, void of her usual coloured mottling, looking deathly pale despite the blood that covered her, not moving and she never would again.
A soft groan of pain came from the beds where they'd set everyone waiting treatment, and Alex felt like his legs were made out of lead as he walked over to his next patient.
Lorcan saw he was missing a significant amount of his arm, and screamed.
...
End of the hundred and ninety-ninth chapter.
Thanks for reading! Almost at 200 chapters!