Chapter 37

° Laurel Mansion, Underground Testing Chamber

The moment when Thena's eyes flashed with the strange dark energy passed so quickly that it left Matthew unable to react properly.

A dark beam of energy stuck him in the chest hard enough to throw him backwards, slamming him a good few inches into the seamless white wall behind him.

Matthew groaned as the beam disappeared, his hands reaching out to his burnt spot on his chest where a painful patch of red skin was giving off intense heat and steam. He winced as his hands touched its raw surface, the pain became worse for a moment before it subsided.

"What the hell..." he trailed off as he looked up and his eyes widened in shock.

Thena was standing before in the air, a good 5 feet from the room's floor and her whole body exuding waves of dark energy like a dark super saiyan. The look on her face betrayed the inner conflict she was feeling as she looked at him with both pity and regret.

"I can't let you leave this place, Matt" she said, her tone sad but firm.

Matthew got to his feet and pushed off the ground to fly to the side, putting some distance between them as he took a short moment to go into the defensive.

Unfortunately, Thena wasn't about to let him do so.

She fired another beam to intercept, missing his ear in just mere inches as Matthew maneuvered around the beam. Just when he expected to fly away further, a dark bolt crashed onto his side. Blasting him out of flight and sent him rolling to the floor.

He quickly got to his feet and only then noticed the pair of heels in front of him.

"For your sake, please stop moving" Thena said, her tone full of remorse "You are only making this harder for both of us"

"What are you talking about!?" Matthew asked desperately.

Thena pursed her lips and lightly shook her head, saying nothing as she raised a fist. The dark energy that emanated from her pulsed and grew thicker as she prepared to slam her fist down on him.

Matthew was still confused and angry at her, but he didn't want to harm her in a fight.

He closed in on her, caught both her wrists mid-drop and held it there firmly.

"Mrs.Laurel! Please!" he begged while holding her back "I don't have a clue what's happening, but I'm sure we can talk it out instead of--"

"No" Thena cut him off as he eyes glowed darkly. Matthew barely moved his head out of the way as another beam fired out of them.

"I cannot. Not right now" was all Thena said before she slammed her forehead to his face.

Matthew recoiled as the pain registered, much to his immense surprise. He staggered backward a few steps before he caught himself, touching just below his nose in time to catch the blood trail from his nostrils. It didn't take him much to realize that his nose was somehow broken.

He looked to Thena in disbelief just in time to see her turn and land a kick to his abdomen. The force of it sent him back a few feet as another burst of fresh pain washed over him.

Thena looked at him letting out pained breaths, somewhat disappointed that he was still standing.

Matthew let out another breath while he struggled to speak, "Jesus...how...why...."

"I've always had powers, Matt" Thena stated "Every single cell in me is power since the moment I was born. You cannot defeat me as you are now"

"I...I don't even know what's going on, Mrs.Laurel" Matthew said.

"Then just surrender and do not fight back" Thena said, relaxing just a little "Stay here for the rest of the day and I will let you go. I will even provide you with anything you want, just as long as you stay here for the day"

"What's happening? Why are you doing this to me?" Matthew stood, clutching his abdomen from the intense pain he felt from the kick alone.

Thena closed her eyes and took a deep breath "You will not understand it now, but I am trying to help you Matthew"

"Help!?" Matthew shouted in anger "You expect me to believe that attacking me was some kind of weird way of helping me?"

Thena was silent for a moment before she replied simply "Yes"

Matthew felt his anger rise along with his annoyance at the continued mysteriousness Thena was displaying "I do not know what is going on, Mrs.Laurel, but I'm not gonna stay down here without resisting"

Thena just sighed and gave him a sad smile "I know"

Matthew stood ready but still decided to ask, if only for one last time.

"Please" he said, pleading "Tell what's going on. We can handle it together or I'll deal with it myself"

Thena actually winced and shook her head sadly "That is what I am afraid of. So no"

Matthew gritted his teeth and raised his arms "Then I'm sorry, but I will get out of here. In one way or another"

***

° Laurel Mansion, Ground Floor

Madison hummed and hugged her new violin, a large smile widely crossing her face as she made her way down from her room and towards the living room. Thinking of ways to effectively show off her latest prize to Matthew and what kind of faces he'll make when he sees it.

She turned the corner to the living room area and found no one sitting on either of the couches.

Madison looked around and began saying loudly "Matt? Mom?"

No one answered her for a good minute, which made her think that either Matthew left and her mom was seeing him out or they were in her office for some reason. But then, someone answered her calls.

"In here" Thena's voice echoed from the bathroom as it opened and shut behind.

Madison walked to it and found her mother wiping her hands dry with a towel, blinking at her stare while giving her an innocent smile.

"Where's Matt?" Madison asked.

"Oh, he already left" Thena answered calmly "I'm guessing it was some kind of family emergency with how he quickly flew off"

Madison was disappointed at the answer, her grip on the loosening as her enthusiasm dipped.

"He could've told me before I played to show this off" Madison shrugged "Oh well, maybe next time"

Thena smiled sticky "Maybe next time"

Suddenly, the entire building started shaking as a brief earthquake shook the entire property. Thena grabbed onto her daughter as they both settled to safety but stopped as it subsided almost as quickly as it came.

"Woah. I didn't expect that" Madison commented "Think that why Matt went home early? Dealing with that earthquake guy that disappeared somewhere in Mount Rushmore?"

Thena nodded slightly "Maybe. I'm sure that, whatever it is, Matthew will be fine regardless. But we should get to safety just in case of aftershocks"

Madison nodded and followed her mother to her office, not noticing the blank expression she maintained while not facing her daughter.

***

° Laurel Mansion, Underground Testing Chamber

Matthew extracted himself from the wall and shot forward, once again aiming for the door and was once again flung backwards when Thena's hand caught him by the ear.

In the last minute of his attempts to escape her, not once did she resort to more painful means of stopping him in his tracks than her powerful energy beams and bolts. Those still stung his skin when the hits landed, leaving noticeably angry red patches each time. Her retaliatory punches and kicks also hurt less with each attempt.

It was as if she suddenly decided to change her mind for some unknown reason.

"Why do you persist?" she suddenly asked.

Matthew floated to the floor and stood his ground angrily "Seriously? How would you feel if I kidnapped Madison for a year and didn't tell you why even after a year?"

Thena was silent as she moved the topic on "Why can't you just trust me in this and simply sit still? Let the day pass without fighting or injury? Wouldn't you like that instead of doing what you're doing now?"

Matthew gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so tightly he heard his knuckles crack.

"Because I would rather die than allow myself to be forced into any kind of cage again!" Matthew snapped, shouting "Not again. NEVER AGAIN"

The memory of his past surged and fueled his pain that he almost allowed a tear to fall from his eyes.

Thena just watched him, expression unchanged and figure glowing with dark energy. Then, she sighed.

"I understand" she said, the energy around her flaring as her eyes turned glossy in deep thought.

"No. You don't" Matthew looked away, a shame for himself.

"But I do" Thena said calmly and gazed into his eyes deeply "More than you would know, but this must be done"

"Why?" Matthew insisted.

"Because, if I let you go and let you do what I know you will do today, then my daughter will lose her dearest friend" Thena answered with emotion "Because I let you go now, you will never come back again"

Matthew was taken aback by the answer, confused and utterly unsure of how to respond. But Thena continued.

"Tell me, Matthew" Thena said, settling in front of him "What would you do if your father asked you to kill someone?"

"I wouldn't do it" Matthew said immediately "But Dad would never--"

"What would you do if your father kills someone right in front of you?" Thena interrupted, cutting him off.

Matthew blinked a couple of times before he answered, the memories and thoughts slowly puzzling out an image of his father he hadn't thought of even once before slowly creating one clear picture.

"He..." Matthew swallowed a lump that formed in his throat "He wouldn't"

Thena raised an eyebrow "You hesitated just now. You aren't sure about your answer, are you?"

Matthew stayed quiet.

Thena shook her head "Last question then. What would you do if your father asked you to kill your own brother?"

Matthew flexed his muscles and stood in a sudden surge of anger "Dad would never!"

Thena watched him and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she pulled out her glass pad and placed it on the floor. The moment it touched the ground, all of the unbroken white squares flashed and began to show different images and video clips that Matthew understood immediately.

"That's--"

"Surveillance data gathered from your house. On Cecil's orders" Thena explained, waving both hands around the hundreds of different images around "He purchased a large bulk of some proprietary designs for miniature mobile surveillance devices and has been using them heavily"

Matthew was horrified at seeing his house fully exposed, with pictures seemingly from every small service to videos taken from every available corner, and knowing that Cecil of all people was the culprit behind it all.

"This is...beyond breach of privacy"was all he managed to say as immense disgust filled his mind.

Thena scoffed "Trusting someone like him in matters other than the safety of the planet is a stupid choice, Matthew. Trust me, I worked for the man over the last few months, I know"

Matthew flicked towards her in anger "You helped him spy on me, on my whole family!"

Thena looked down in shame but offered no reply.

Matthew clenched his fists hard and closed his eyes, trying to hold back the intense anger he was feeling at the moment, feeling the weight of all the revelations of the last few minutes crushing his self-discipline. And he failed.

He screamed and lounged forward, bringing a first down on one tile after the other in a vain attempt to destroy everything he could see. Everything that reminded him of the betrayal and his own inability to accept what was now so clear.

Thena watched him silently, uncaring of the damage, but tried to calm him down.

"Matthew. I--"

"No" Matthew turned and screamed at her "Shut the fuck up! I don't wanna hear it!"

Thena flinched and cautiously took a step back. Matthew's eyes widened as he realized what he had done and covered his face in anger and shame.

"Sorr--No!" he said, confused "I'm not sorry. I--Just stop talking!"

Thena tried to step forward but Matthew shouted at her once more, "Stop! Just--go away!"

Thena didn't listen and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I said GO AWAY!" Matthew shouted and stared her in the eyes, unknowingly forcing all of his considerable mental power into his words.

And suddenly, as if reality glitches at that moment, Thena's entire person disappeared like sand being blown away by a strong gust of wind.

Matthew took a bit of time to realize what had happened, given the haze of anger and frustration in his mind, but when he did his eyes grew wide and his mix of emotions were overtaken simply with confusion.

Not even a moment passed when the room's main door opened and Thena walked in and gave him a slight smirk.

"Well, that was a surprise" she said, glancing at something in her glass tablet "I can't believe that you managed to get out of it so quickly. Most don't manage it in a day, much less an hour or two"

Matthew stared at her in stunned and confused silence.

Thena saw the look on his face and sighed "You were fighting an illusion of my making, Matthew. That is my superpower"

"Bullshit! You were flying and blasting black lasers into my che--" Matthew paused as he patted the spot on his chest, his hands touching and pausing at the perfectly fine fabric and not bare skin.

He looked down onto himself and found not a scratch on his entire body at all, not even so much as a trace of any burnt smell he had clearly smelled just earlier.

"My illusions are quite convincing" Thena explained "The full scope of how it works is a little drawn out but basically I can completely trick your entire nervous system into believing what I want you to believe. As I'm sure you can tell for yourself, it can be quite convincing"

Matthew stared at her, "So...that was all some kind of fucked up lie?"

Thena's expression faltered and she looked away, "Most of it, I had to try. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that what was said while you were fighting my illusions are all true"

Thena motioned her glass tablet towards the few, still intact white panes as the dreaded images he saw of his home once again came back.

Thena met his eyes fully "Your father...a murderer"

The panes showed him an image of his mother throwing a bloody Omni-Man costume on the counter and shouting angrily at his father as well as a clear picture of a red devil wearing a long coat and hat.

"That call I received earlier was from Cecil, informing me of what happened and that I should keep safe while the situation was being handled. Obviously, I had to try and extend that safety to you for my daughters sake" Thena explained.

"How? How did this all happen under my nose? I'm telepathic for gods sake!" Matthew asked indignantly.

Thena grimaced before she continued.

"Your father has been...acting suspiciously ever since the death of the Guardians and him being the only survivor Cecil prioritized surveillance on him and your family. Which resulted in him hiring me. Then Damien Darkblood, the demon detective, revealed his suspicions to your mother about a month ago which led to the exact confrontation that resulted in all this" Thena answered, motioning to the carnage on the screens "As for why you hadn't picked up on it through your telepathy, I could suspect that your attention has been focused elsewhere and thus it slipped past"

Matthew grimaced and slammed a foot on the floor. He then shook his head "No. I don't believe you"

Thena gave him a sad smile "I know this is difficult to take in, but believe me when I say that I haven't ever lied to you, Matthew, and I don't plan on starting now. What I'm saying is all true"

Matthew still hesitated in believing her.

She traced the golden earrings as she continued "I would offer you to scan my memories, but I cannot afford the risk at the moment"

Matthew looked up at her "So what now? Are you still gonna keep me here? Put me in another illusion?"

He realized something and took a step back, raising both arms defensively as he cautiously asked "Is this entire conversation even real?"

Thena shook her head and hid a laugh "No. Not after that emotional projection you did earlier. I cannot concentrate enough to make any illusions right now. And besides, once I explained it to you my powers affect you much less than before"

Matthew nodded and sped towards the door, stopping by her side as she raised an arm to block his path. He looked at her in frustration but she didn't move her gaze towards him and just let it stay ahead.

"If you leave now, you know what you will have to do. Don't you?" Thena asked quietly.

Matthew said nothing as he clenched his teeth.

"Alright then" Thena lowered her arm "Whatever happens after today, just remember that you are always welcome in this house"

"What?" Matthew snapped "Do you really think I can ever come back here again after...after..."

"You will. Because, in the coming month or so, Madison will need you to teach her about her powers" Thena said nonchalantly.

Matthew turned to leave "I hate you"

Thena closed her eyes and sighed "I know. I am sorry for--"

Matthew didn't hear her next few words as he silently dislodged the closed door open before flying through the elevator shaft and out of the Laurel home.

Heading towards his house.