Dennis was too exhausted to think, much less talk. He wanted to follow suit and pass out with fatigue, but the adrenaline kept him awake. He scanned his friends' faces. From victorious smiles to cocky grins, they shared a single thought:
We won.
It sounded downright crazy. After everything they'd gone through, the possibility of the end was too good to be true. For the millionth time that night, Dennis brightened at the thought of being able to go home. He had his share of life-or-death situations, and he was done.
It wasn't long until Orange regained consciousness. He awoke to the chaos of overlapping voices.
"Dude that was epic–"
"How did you do that?!"
"Let's go home and–"
"You killed it, literally–"
"How long have you been able to do that?"
Orange smiled weakly and tried to reply, but his words were lost among the noise. The mutual excitement was too much to govern. It would be a few minutes until everything settled down. But Dennis didn't care to wait. He had too much on his mind.
"Why?"
That one-word question, solemnly said, tore through the voices. The room fell into a reverent silence. Orange looked at Dennis, confused.
"You saved my life. And Yellow's, Green's, and Chosen's. I wasn't going to leave you for dead."
Dennis shook his head. He'd only done his duty. "Anyone else would've–"
"No. They wouldn't. They didn't." Orange said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "Nearly thirty people saw what was happening and ten participated in it. No one gave us any more than a sympathetic glance. Except for you."
Dennis was firm. He had broken Orange out, sure, but that didn't warrant Orange to save Dennis's life, over and over again. He hadn't forgotten the first fight in the excitement.
"What about the first fight we had? Why didn't you use your superpowers then?"
Orange's face clouded. His lips moved, but no sound came out. His eyes spoke with silent, feverish clarity.
I couldn't.
Dennis felt his stomach sink again. He understood. Of course, he'd never had dormant superpowers before, but he knew how it felt to be helpless. It was only a fraction of Orange's frustration, and it was too much for him to bear.
"In that regard, I failed. I wanted to use them – you have no idea how much – but… I couldn't. I tried and tried and tried, but… it was all to nothing." He said. The sheer emotion in the room was thick and palpable.
"But just now-"
"I don't know." He said. "I looked up. I saw you were fighting Victim on your own. I was… angry. Angry that… that you would risk your life again and again for us. Angry that Vic would fight you like that… And I guess I was also sorta moved. Everything was so intense. I got caught up in it all."
Dennis couldn't believe what he was hearing. The truth was becoming plainer and plainer: Orange actually cared about him.
"Then, when I couldn't get any more… full… something clicked. It felt like I was sleepwalking. I couldn't have stopped myself if I wanted to."
Dennis listened. His thoughts were too grateful for words. Orange actually cared about him. Orange had unearthed repressed superpowers… for him. He hadn't done anything to deserve this. He couldn't say anything remotely resembling what he was feeling.
He could only stammer, "Thank you."
Orange shook his head. "No. I think I have a hold of my powers now, but I wouldn't have been able to find them without your last act of bravery there. Thank you, Dennis."