75 Interlude: Claude Johnson

"We've got an incident on Maple and Third. Reports of gunshots and possible parahuman activity, likely it's the gangs butting heads. I've pinged you with the location, I'm sure you can handle the rest. Backup ETA 7 minutes."

Bringing my finger up to my ear I tap my piece twice.

"Roger that console, I'll handle it." I say before turning from where I am in the air to face the direction I've been given, preparing the energy that suffuses my body for a quick flight.

"Happy hunting Extinction. Give 'em hell." I don't respond this time, not knowing what to say without making things awkward.

'Give 'em hell'. It's not a phrase I like.

I gave hell once and I vowed to never do so again.

But stopping Villains from causing others to suffer is the only way I can atone for what I have done.

One life taken is not equal to one life saved and I plan on saving at least a thousand lives for every one I've taken before I will ever consider myself atoned.

So with that in mind, I allow the smallest slip of my energy to burst out from my back and despite using such a small percentage of my energy, I still burst forth like a jet.

Flying used to be a scary thing for me, but Legend taught me to enjoy the sensation. To get lost in the skies and forget all your troubles.

Unfortunately that momentary bliss doesn't tend to last long, not when you can move as fast as I can.

It only takes me a little less than a minute to arrive at the scene where gunshots are still ongoing.

Coming to a stop high above them, I take a moment to observe. Legend said that it's important not to rush into a situation you don't understand, especially when you are powerful like us.

Down below there are two side, the two major gangs of Denver. For the Street Lords I can already see a large number of their normals on the ground, either dead or dying.

The same could be said of the Xiao Long, except they are much better off as they had cover to hide behind.

But even then, both sides normals are still exchanging fire.

What takes more of my attention is the part of the street that has a few bodies that have been cut to pieces, notable including a cape that I identify as Scarface.

Though, despite being cut open, I think he's still breathing and I'll have to act fast if I want to save him and anyone else who needs it.

Meanwhile, off to the side is three other capes fighting in the midst of a bunch of broken parts that I assume came from Keeper's robots.

Two of them I recognise as Bang and Junior, but the one armed woman in red is a new mask to me.

Right as I'm about to move in, I pause as the woman's head snaps to my direction, her green eyes staring right into my own. It's only as I'm looking at her more closely that I notice the way her arm is slowly regenerating from the shoulder.

If I had to guess, from it's current speed it will be fully healed in about a day or two.

She quickly turns and says something to Junior while I move forward, blasting down until I am hovering only a few feet above them, in the middle of the two combatants.

"Cease-" Darkness covers my vision before I can even get past my first word as Bang uses his power on me.

My own energy moves in retaliation, keeping me from feeling even the slightest hint of harm and dissolving his powers effects even faster than it's natural half second shelf life.

"Surrender." I try again but unsurprisingly they don't listen to me.

Bang has already turned around and has started running away with the other two quickly following his lead in the opposite direction.

For a couple of seconds I just float there before a long drawn out breath leaves me.

Why do they always run?

It never helps them.

With that thought, I turn to the direction Bang went.

While I could go for quantity first with the other two, Bang is more dangerous than them, and it's not like they will escape anyway.

It's just an order of priority.

Blasting through the alley he ran off to, I notice a bunch of holes in the wall around me and figure he's trying to throw me off his trail.

In response to that I just fly 𝘶𝘱. From above it takes me about half a minute to find him and less than a second after that before I am floating in front of him.

"Surre-"

This time I don't even get to finish my first word before my world blinks into darkness.

Yet, almost as fast as the darkness comes it goes away as my own power fights it off.

He didn't even make it half a step before I was free from his power and I decide that if he's not going to just surrender then I'll just have to make him.

In a burst of speed I am behind him with my arm raised and charged with just the right amount of energy.

I swing out and hit him on the back of the neck and he crumbles to the ground unconscious.

It took a lot of training to be able to output a small enough amount of energy that I only knock people out, but it was totally worth it with how much easier it makes this.

With another sigh I pick him up and sling him over my shoulder so I can bring him back to where the other injured are.

After dropping him off and checking the time to know that ambulances and pickup is 4 minutes out, I turn to the opposite direction and head off to capture the other two.

It takes slightly longer to find them, mostly because they are both much faster than Bang and had more time to cover more ground.

In hindsight, going after whoever's fastest would make the most sense in the future.

Junior is carrying the new woman through an alley by the time I reach them, probably just due to him simply being faster than her but the details are unimportant.

What matters is that just like Bang, I come to a stop hovering in front of them, making Junior abruptly pause with a curse, one that is mirrored by the woman once she turns her head to look at me.

Like I've said, running is pointless.

"Surrender."

I can see the resignation in Junior's eyes. We've met before and at least he knows that with me here it's game over.

The woman doesn't seem to share that defeatism.

She wriggles herself out of Junior's grasp, landing unsteadily on the ground where she takes her time to casually turn to look at me.

"Nah." She smirks and I just sigh in response, preparing to subdue them just the same as Bang but then she keeps talking and I pause. "You can fly pretty fast by yourself but with a couple passengers who don't have the same protection from the air pressure your speed will be limited quite a bit no?"

Her words make me pause as I wonder where she's going with this. I toy with the idea of just ignoring and subduing her, but Legend taught me that when Villains like to monologue it's usually because they have a reason for it and rushing to cut them off could have bad consequences.

Like if someone has a bomb in a hospital and they want to give some kind of ultimatum but you cut them off and the bomb goes off as a result.

It's an extreme case, but it's something to keep in mind.

She seems to take my silence as an invitation to keep talking.

"I left Scarface pretty messed up back there you know? And I'm pretty experienced with these things. With the amount of time we've been talking and the wounds I left on the spic, I'd say he's got about.. 20 seconds before he's too far gone to be saved. You think you can make that trip with the both of us on your shoulders?~"

Shit.

My eyes widen behind my mask and I don't even bother responding, just blasting back to where the injured lay.

I became a Hero to save lives. Even if it's the life of a Villain, I will do my best to save everyone.

Moving as fast as I can without causing damage to the city below I reach the scene of the fight in less than five seconds and I rush to the small pile of bodies surrounding Scarface.

The gangsters around him have all been cut to pieces but I try my best not to think about that as I close in on Scarface.

One of his hands is missing but the other arm seems mostly unharmed. The main damage is the obvious gorge cut into his gut with what looks like a set of claw wounds that reveal his organs.

When I get closer however, I see that none of the cuts have actually gone deep enough to tear any of his organs open, making most of the damage marginally superficial, though still dangerous without rapid treatment.

But it's not nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be, something exacerbated by Scarface himself as he tiredly opens his eyes to look at me.

"'Sup Hero. It's worse than it looks, trust me. Just go get that red cunt for me will ya?" His voice is tired and weak from the blood loss, but otherwise he doesn't seem to be in immediate danger of dying.

Sonofabitch! She tricked me!

With a deep sigh, I figure that it's too late at this point to try finding them. They've had enough time to cover even more space and they are closer to more crowded areas now, so it'll be even easier for them to blend in and hide.

Instead of dwelling on that, I do as Legend told me and focus on what's in front of me.

I spend the next few minutes moving between each of the men on the ground and checking for pulses while also performing what little first aid I know to help stabilise them for the paramedics.

𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩

What a day.

Now I'll have to give a report on how I got tricked and let two Villains get away. How fun.

Three days later and nothing much has happened since then.

Yet that all changes as after another long day of overtime I make my way home, looking forward to a good night of sleep so that I can repeat the process all over again in the morning.

Only, after entering my house and getting a snack from the fridge I move to the living room to be greeted by an unwelcome surprise.

The room is dark without the light on, only the moon to illuminate it through the windows, yet I don't fail to notice the shadow of a figure sitting in the corner of the room at my work desk.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house!" I demand, immediately on alert, my power coursing through my veins, ready to react at a moments notice.

𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬.

My lamp flicks on, revealing the figure to be one I vaguely recognise from how she made the news recently.

Dressed in a worn and torn prison uniform with it's edges flayed and some parts crudely stitched back together from where holes have clearly been made. Such as each of her shoulders that have a line of stitching as if she's been stabbed straight through.

Her most notable feature however, will always be her eyes. They scream of danger and death. Eyes of blood will only ever seek blood.

"Tear. I've seen you on the news. What are you doing here?" I once again demand, but she just chuckles in response.

"My my~ Extinction~ that's no way to greet a lady.~ Did your mother not teach you manners?~ Or perhaps she was too bust being dust before she got the chance hm?~" Her words are like acid with the way they burn my ears.

Yet I force myself not to react, to fall into her rhythm. Legend taught me that much. The real dangerous Villains will try to get in your head. You can't let them.

Instead, I ignore her question entirely and try to turn things on her instead.

"Threatening me in my civilian identity is a major violation on the unwritten rules."

"Ah~ but I'm not here to threaten you.~" She responds blithely despite the fact that no matter how powerful she may be, I am stronger.

Energy flows from my skin and coats me in its warm embrace, bringing me a feeling of strength that always makes me uncomfortable with the memories it brings back.

"Be that as it may. What's to stop me from just taking you in right now?" I only ask because from what little I remember hearing of her, she's not supposed to be stupid.

So it stands to reason that there is a reason for me to not take her in right now. Probably something reprehensible too.

"Obviously that would be the hostages.~" She rolls her eyes at me as if the answer was obvious.

My teeth clench together at the fact that there is a Villain right in front of me yet I am morally bound to not do anything to her.

"What do you want." I spit out, hating that I have to play along with this psychopath.

But my words were clearly exactly what she was wating for as she leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees and clasping her fingers in front of her all the while her eyes seem to glow with anticipation and when she speaks her voice is leaking with 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

"What I want is simple.~" She all but purrs at me, "you and I are going to play a game.~"

=================

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

I seriously hate myself. I don't even have a proper plan for what the game is going to be. Like, I know where it's going to end, but that doesn't fucking help me write it!!!

So now I've got to come up with a fucking game that makes sense for Tear's end goal while also being something Extinction would play along with, while also being something that won't be ruined by outside interference.

God I'm such a fucking idiot.

Also, just realised that no one has mentioned Lusia calling Mini James as James after the one chapter ended with her saying she was proud of him. ACKNOWLEDGE MY SUBTLE REFERENCE TO LUSIA GROWING TO SEE HIM AS NOT BUT A REPLACEMENT JAMES BUT AS HIS OWN INDEPENDANT PERSON!!!

(5+)Advanced chapters with the links below!

pat/reon.com/user?u=41732867 (get rid of the first slash or check the description)

Also, join the discord with this invite code! Pj3Dttwses