Chapter 59 : Snapped

Hi, everyone ! I hope you're enjoying your summer. Personally, I'll enjoy it a whole lot more when I'll be on vacation. Still… it's okay.

As usual let's get out the self-advertising out of the way. You can visit my Patréon page to read advanced chapters or discover some of my other stories. Also, please leave a comment, review or a stone. I'd be grateful !

Now, what am I gonna talk to you about… let's talk Korean drama ! One I particularly liked and watched a couple of times is Healer. Like most Korean set in modern times, it's mostly a story about the corruption of the government positions and big industries with the protagonists fighting for revenge and/or the truth (and exposing said truth). There's also, as always, a love story which is a big part of the story… The opening and general theme played on the piano is awesome ! At least, I love it. Anyways, I recommend it !

And now, please enjoy the chapter !

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As the huge dude covered in exoskeleton lumbers my way, I spot movement from the corner of my eye : Doreen. She's getting up. She seems dazed if the shake of her head is any indication. I bet I'd be too if I just went through a wall !

Focusing back on Scorpion, the man has just taken his second step… Man, is he slow ! Maybe he just wants to play on the intimidation factor of his enormous build pressing slowly upon my own, smaller frame. Or maybe my sense of time is getting slowed because of adrenaline. In any case, it gives me ample time to prepare a little… something something.

While he walks, writings start traveling on the ground, heading for him. Not directly though. No, what I want is to create a circle around him. And keep the circle moving with him. Until he can't…

His steps suddenly sink, as if the ground's turned to mud, which it did at this point. It takes another step for him to realize what's happening, but by then, it's too late. The more he struggles, the more he sinks.

While I ponder whether or not I should Harden the ground again, to trap him, his 'tail' raises behind him and he shoots. Instinctively, I dodge to the side. But suddenly, I feel as if my arm just caught on fire. My tentacle sizzles, disgusting bubbles of flesh and acid forming where his shot struck me. Of course, I yell in pain. Like a pig being slaughtered. And a little girl. At the same time.

Instantly afterwards I feel shame. I try to rationalize that it's normal to react… unseemly when something unexpected and painful happens. It doesn't work. So the shame turns to anger and I decide : Fuck trapping him, I'm gonna boil him !

So that's what I do. The mud starts to bubble and steam almost immediately as my will changes and Scorpion, feeling the heat, panics :

« Oy, man ! It fucking hurts ! Stop that shit, you're supposed to be a hero ! »

With a sneer deforming my face, I tell him :

« Newsflash, genius ! I never considered myself a hero ! Never even wanted to be one… » I add the last part under my breath.

The next moment, Doreen jumps on the Scorpion's massive frame, clawing and punching at his face, back and pretty much anywhere within range of her arms. Seeing her, I change the ground into ground again, preventing Scorpion from moving. A few seconds later, she knocks him out.

Once she's sure Scorpion's out for the count, she turns to me and opens her mouth… Before closing it without saying anything. I don't know what kind of face I make. Especially with an octopus-like head. Probably not a pretty one. I know I don't feel like smiling.

I am hurt and that's natural, given what we're doing. The thing is, I feel like it's unfair, you know ? I know it's childish. It's stupid and thinking this makes it sound like I was dragged into it by my friends or the circumstances. That's wrong, though… I chose this ! Sure, I chose this out of desperation and the certainty that, no matter what, I'd have to take a stand at one time or another. Because that's just the nature of this world.

Still, at the moment, I can't help but resent Doreen and Peter. Less Cory, because she's like a sister, and I'm not sure whether she wants to be a hero, or not. As I heal myself of the chemical burns and the pain lessens, so does my resentment and anger. And then, the shame comes back. This time, not at the fact that I cried like a girl, but because of how I felt. It's… unbecoming.

Lost in thought, I tie the two unconscious villains up in materialized black chains before our other two friends join us as I finish this. Cory's nose is bleeding while Peter seems to be overflowing with energy for some reason. He must have found some amusing quips and now he's all proud of himself…

I'm so bad ! So obnoxious ! Perhaps there's another reason why he's happy. Maybe even something serious and/or important. Let's try to think of something else…

« How'd it go ? » I ask them.

Cory frowns and admits :

« This jackass just refused to stay down ! He's not even an Alter… He just has a couple of high tech gauntlets mimicking my vibrational powers. »

« Don't be racist, Skye ! » Peter interjects. « As for me, I managed to get the birdie back in his cage without hurting him too much ! » Before Cory can protest Peter's first comment, he redirects the conversation to us : « How about you guys ? »

« I was just about to knock out Zappy McZapper over there when a wall fell on us. It knocked him out and me down, but I got back up. Just in time too, when I saw your cousin about to kill Squirrel Girl. I blasted him, he got back up so I sunk him in concrete, started to boil him alive when SG got back in the fight and turned his lights off. »

« Zappy ? » Doreen asked, one eyebrow raised, visibly unamused.

« My cousin ? » Peter echoed, confused.

« Boiling him alive ? » Cory half-shrieked.

It's my turn to divert the conversation so I suggest :

« Why don't we try to find what Kingpin's trying to hide here, guys ? »

We split up to search the building, even though I object to it, saying it's what people do in horror movies. Thankfully, it seems this cliche won't be fulfilled today… After maybe half an hour, Doreen calls for us from the basement. She found crates there, filled with what appears to be stone tablets. At first, I really thought those were tombstones…

There is stuff written on it and no matter how inexperienced I am, I can tell… I bet even Cory can tell : those are magical. I can't tell what they're used for and forget trying to decipher what's written on it since it's not in any dead languages my parents taught me. The only thing I can tell is… those feel off. Ominous. Maybe even malevolent.

Long story short, these aren't the kinds of things you want a crime lord with too much money and a growing power base to get his hands on. Especially now that it's clear that he's teamed up with the Hand and has Alters on retainer. So, we decide to take the crates with us : I shrink them and store them in my notebook before we get out of there.

You know the worst part ? I know we'll see and fight these guys again, since they haven't actually committed any crime. That I know of, anyway. Let's cross our fingers that when the cops get here to find them, they'll all have warrants out on them ! Chapter 59 : Snapped

As the huge dude covered in exoskeleton lumbers my way, I spot movement from the corner of my eye : Doreen. She's getting up. She seems dazed if the shake of her head is any indication. I bet I'd be too if I just went through a wall !

Focusing back on Scorpion, the man has just taken his second step… Man, is he slow ! Maybe he just wants to play on the intimidation factor of his enormous build pressing slowly upon my own, smaller frame. Or maybe my sense of time is getting slowed because of adrenaline. In any case, it gives me ample time to prepare a little… something something.

While he walks, writings start traveling on the ground, heading for him. Not directly though. No, what I want is to create a circle around him. And keep the circle moving with him. Until he can't…

His steps suddenly sink, as if the ground's turned to mud, which it did at this point. It takes another step for him to realize what's happening, but by then, it's too late. The more he struggles, the more he sinks.

While I ponder whether or not I should Harden the ground again, to trap him, his 'tail' raises behind him and he shoots. Instinctively, I dodge to the side. But suddenly, I feel as if my arm just caught on fire. My tentacle sizzles, disgusting bubbles of flesh and acid forming where his shot struck me. Of course, I yell in pain. Like a pig being slaughtered. And a little girl. At the same time.

Instantly afterwards I feel shame. I try to rationalize that it's normal to react… unseemly when something unexpected and painful happens. It doesn't work. So the shame turns to anger and I decide : Fuck trapping him, I'm gonna boil him !

So that's what I do. The mud starts to bubble and steam almost immediately as my will changes and Scorpion, feeling the heat, panics :

« Oy, man ! It fucking hurts ! Stop that shit, you're supposed to be a hero ! »

With a sneer deforming my face, I tell him :

« Newsflash, genius ! I never considered myself a hero ! Never even wanted to be one… » I add the last part under my breath.

The next moment, Doreen jumps on the Scorpion's massive frame, clawing and punching at his face, back and pretty much anywhere within range of her arms. Seeing her, I change the ground into ground again, preventing Scorpion from moving. A few seconds later, she knocks him out.

Once she's sure Scorpion's out for the count, she turns to me and opens her mouth… Before closing it without saying anything. I don't know what kind of face I make. Especially with an octopus-like head. Probably not a pretty one. I know I don't feel like smiling.

I am hurt and that's natural, given what we're doing. The thing is, I feel like it's unfair, you know ? I know it's childish. It's stupid and thinking this makes it sound like I was dragged into it by my friends or the circumstances. That's wrong, though… I chose this ! Sure, I chose this out of desperation and the certainty that, no matter what, I'd have to take a stand at one time or another. Because that's just the nature of this world.

Still, at the moment, I can't help but resent Doreen and Peter. Less Cory, because she's like a sister, and I'm not sure whether she wants to be a hero, or not. As I heal myself of the chemical burns and the pain lessens, so does my resentment and anger. And then, the shame comes back. This time, not at the fact that I cried like a girl, but because of how I felt. It's… unbecoming.

Lost in thought, I tie the two unconscious villains up in materialized black chains before our other two friends join us as I finish this. Cory's nose is bleeding while Peter seems to be overflowing with energy for some reason. He must have found some amusing quips and now he's all proud of himself…

I'm so bad ! So obnoxious ! Perhaps there's another reason why he's happy. Maybe even something serious and/or important. Let's try to think of something else…

« How'd it go ? » I ask them.

Cory frowns and admits :

« This jackass just refused to stay down ! He's not even an Alter… He just has a couple of high tech gauntlets mimicking my vibrational powers. »

« Don't be racist, Skye ! » Peter interjects. « As for me, I managed to get the birdie back in his cage without hurting him too much ! » Before Cory can protest Peter's first comment, he redirects the conversation to us : « How about you guys ? »

« I was just about to knock out Zappy McZapper over there when a wall fell on us. It knocked him out and me down, but I got back up. Just in time too, when I saw your cousin about to kill Squirrel Girl. I blasted him, he got back up so I sunk him in concrete, started to boil him alive when SG got back in the fight and turned his lights off. »

« Zappy ? » Doreen asked, one eyebrow raised, visibly unamused.

« My cousin ? » Peter echoed, confused.

« Boiling him alive ? » Cory half-shrieked.

It's my turn to divert the conversation so I suggest :

« Why don't we try to find what Kingpin's trying to hide here, guys ? »

We split up to search the building, even though I object to it, saying it's what people do in horror movies. Thankfully, it seems this cliche won't be fulfilled today… After maybe half an hour, Doreen calls for us from the basement. She found crates there, filled with what appears to be stone tablets. At first, I really thought those were tombstones…

There is stuff written on it and no matter how inexperienced I am, I can tell… I bet even Cory can tell : those are magical. I can't tell what they're used for and forget trying to decipher what's written on it since it's not in any dead languages my parents taught me. The only thing I can tell is… those feel off. Ominous. Maybe even malevolent.

Long story short, these aren't the kinds of things you want a crime lord with too much money and a growing power base to get his hands on. Especially now that it's clear that he's teamed up with the Hand and has Alters on retainer. So, we decide to take the crates with us : I shrink them and store them in my notebook before we get out of there.

You know the worst part ? I know we'll see and fight these guys again, since they haven't actually committed any crime. That I know of, anyway. Let's cross our fingers that when the cops get here to find them, they'll all have warrants out on them !