14 - Awe

—Curtis Connors POV

"...Yes, I'd still love you if you were a worm." Dr. Connors tiredly conveyed as he held up a phone to his ear, one that was currently on a call with his dear wife, Martha.

He had one rough Tuesday today.

His research had been nothing more than stagnant for the last few months. With the Radioactive Spider Isotopes project going all sorts of wrong, Oscorp was getting moodier than a pregnant brown bear.

Despite being an ingenious scientist himself, Norman Osborn doesn't seem to understand how hard it was to manufacture weapon-grade serums stable enough for the human body with the funding he gave.

Seriously, Curtis knew Oscorp was primarily a robotics-focused company, but couldn't his department have gotten more funding?

Well, at least the dental benefits were great.

"What...? Billy wants to sign up for Taekwondo classes? Ah, ok, sure. Why not? It'd be good for him to learn self-defence." Dr. Connors said to the phone as Martha kept yapping.

"Why does he suddenly want to learn it? You think he's getting bullied? Well, I think it's just because of those Kung Fu movies he likes to watch." He responded to his wife as the image of their son appeared before his mind.

Billy getting bullied? He was in 3rd grade for Christ's sake! The worst they'd do is probably just steal some of his lunch or something. Curtis wasn't worried at all.

"Yeah, yeah, I already asked Robby for the..." Curtis suddenly stopped as he caught something in the corner of his left eye.

Isn't that...? His eyes naturally widened as he realized who it actually was.

Otto...? He's here...? Otto Octavius was his former coworker at Oscorp, a man who had suddenly gone missing one day without leaving a single trace.

Personally, Curtis had just thought that he had been simply doing tax fraud and had left the country—or was assassinated by a hired hitman, could actually be both as well.

But seeing as he was visibly still kicking just fine, Otto obviously hadn't been murdered in cold blood.

So he really did tax fraud, then... Curtis silently concluded as he gazed suspiciously at Otto's direction.

They were both beneath the ground—inside one of the numerous subway stations in New York City. As the loud drumming of train wheels against metal railings rapidly approached, Otto turned his head to the left, seeming to have sensed his gaze.

The man appeared surprised, saying something out loud. Yet as the distance between the two wasn't close, Curtis couldn't properly discern his words.

Holding a remote in his hand, Dr. Connors pressed it as the wheels of his wheelchair pushed him forward, propelled by a spinning device attached to its side.

——One of Oscorp's best-selling products developed a few years ago to celebrate International Wheelchair Day, a purely PR-motivated move, but one appreciated by many nonetheless.

Of course, Dr. Connors didn't need such a device to move—but it was much faster and more convenient. Some sensitive people didn't share his sentiment though and loudly proclaimed Oscorp to be an ableist company, a rather annoying minority.

"Hey, Otto!" He called out, a hand reaching upward in a waving motion.

Otto stepped back, a curious and strange look etched upon his features.

"Hello, sir." He politely addressed Dr. Connors. "Have we met before...?"

...Huh? Does he not recognize me? Curtis thought to himself with an incredulous expression.

"It's me, Curtis Connors. Don't you remember? We used to be coworkers... Well, until you disappeared on us." Dr. Connors conveyed, attempting to jog the other party's memories.

"Curtis..." Otto glanced down, seemingly trying to remember as he gazed down at his own open palm. "...The Lizard?"

"The what?" Curtis asked, baffled and confused about his former coworker's sudden statement.

"Never mind that." Otto quickly said as he gazed at Curtis's green eyes. He then glanced down at Curt's wheelchair. "You're... What happened to your legs?"

Curtis just gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? Didn't I already tell you before? The nerves cut off after a car crash."

Has he seriously forgotten me that much? Damn... Curtis mused to himself with some distate.

"...Not your arm?" Otto asked.

"Why would my arm be broken? Thank God, it isn't." Curtis said with a shake of his head.

"I see..." Otto muttered to himself with an unreadable expression before gazing down at Curtis with an awkward smile. "Could you, uh... Tell me what date this is?"

"What, are you some kind of time traveller?" Curtis chuckled. "It's the 19th of June, 2010."

"June...? Hm..." Otto silently considered the revelation before glancing back at the railway.

"Did you hear about what happened in Harlem?" He suddenly asked in a thoughtful manner.

"Harlem? Do you mean the Duel of Harlem? Of course, it was all over the news and shit. Those two green monsters are going at it like it's WWE. It's crazy stuff this world's becoming, huh?" Curtis commented nonchalantly, noticing Otto's gaze that was scanning the railway.

He seemed to be searching for something...

"Well, it's definitely going to get much weirder," Otto commented with an unusual gaze. "Did you go to the Stark Expo this year?"

"Yes, I was one of the company's representatives there. I'm sure you would have been one as well if you were still in Oscorp." Dr. Connors said with a nod.

"Really...?" He seemed amused at that statement.

He then went silent in contemplation before giving Curtis a deep gaze. "I think it would be better for you if you leave that accursed company, Curt."

"Huh...? Why?" Curtis naturally raised his eyebrows before his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, was it them who made you disappear?"

Otto's gaze darkened, but then he shook his head and was about to respond.

About to, but before even a single word could be formed, Otto's head snapped to the right.

His eyes widened considerably as if witnessing a terrible sight.

Curiously, Curtis followed his former coworker's line of sight, only to experience the same shock.

There, standing over the ledge that overlooked the train tracks, was a young woman holding a newborn baby.

Obviously, a mother and her child, but the mother was white and her child had darker skin, a multiracial child.

...And she was holding him over the railings, preparing to throw the infant to his imminent death.

What the fuck!? Curtis cursed in his mind a thousand times over as his blood ran cold and his body surged with adrenaline.

He needed to do something, and as he desperately clicked on the buttons of his remote, Dr. Connors realized a harrowing fact.

He couldn't do anything.

He didn't have the choice to, not with his disabled lower limbs.

"Stop!" He shouted frantically, attracting the attention of the nearby crowd, who then noticed the woman who was about to kill her own baby.

He glanced back in his former coworker's direction, intending to ask for his help, yet as his gaze fell on the floor that Otto once stood upon, the man was already gone, not a single trace of him in sight.

Bastard! Curtis cursed internally as another man from the crowd took it upon himself to rush in the woman's direction.

But Dr. Connors knew, unless that was the real identity of the Flash, the guy was too far away to realistically accomplish anything that could save the baby.

His heart started beating like crazy, as if the earth itself was shaking as a sinking feeling pierced into his gut.

That guy might have been too far, but Curtis himself was close enough to do what he couldn't.

Yet he was too slow, unable to be faster, if only, if only he could run.

It was at that vital moment, at that critical junction in time, the woman recklessly and uncaringly threw the baby boy into the air.

The sound of an approaching train reverberated, flickers in the dark iron rails signaling the inevitable arrival of death.

The world itself seem to slow down as everyone and everything held their breaths, their hearts already sunken with despair and rage.

It was unfair.

A baby that has done no wrong aside from being born, ignorant of the world around him must suffer from the actions of their parent.

It was unfair.

—VROOM

The train did not stop, did not slow down, nor did the passengers within even register what had just occured.

Curtis went completely silent and still as his mind caught up to the sight before him. He released his grip over the remote, the wheelchair he sat upon halting in its movements.

"Oh my God!" A woman from the crowd screamed as the rest let out their own respective signs of distress.

Despair and pity quickly filled every nook and crany of their hearts, even those who were scum could not help but think 'What the fuck?' after this scene.

Yet as the bystanders began to call the police and some running to the despicable woman to restrain and beat the shit out of her, Curtis remained still.

For there was a question that rang repeteadly in his mind.

Why was there no blood?

He replayed the scene over and over inside his head, each minute detail analyzed and dissected.

Still, there was no sound of a splat, no spray of blood——it was as if the baby had just vanished, erased from reality.

"Hey, wait!" Somebody called out. "Look, that's the baby!"

What...? Curtis furrowed his eyebrows as the train passed the train tracks, revealing the other side of the subway station.

And there it was, there he was.

Curtis has seen him before, it was impossible not to.

Superman was the ultimate 'hero', he was the reason why they called those kinds of people Capes.

But this wasn't Superman—the man standing there, suspended upon the air as he gazed down at the crying infant in his arms was———The Scion!

Curtis was in awe. His body relaxing as the reality of the situation kicked in. He couldn't save that baby, but there had been someone else that could.

"No!" The Mother of that babe screamed in indignation. "The Abomination... Why? Why? Why?" She screamed in pure hysteria.

Crazy bitch. Curtis instantly cursed the woman.

Scion gave her a glance, his expression completely hidden from view by that impossible layer of darkness below his hood.

The Mother had been restrained by several men, and even a woman. But the raw surge of wild, uncontrollable emotion she conveyed could not possibly be hidden.

"Let go of him, you monster! Let go, let go!" She screamed in a deranged manner.

The Scion just gave her a look before slowly levitating closer with the baby in his arms, who seemed to be in much more distress in Scion's embrace than when he was thrown in front of a train for some reason.

Unexpected, Scion landed in front of Dr. Connors as the scientist adjusted his glasses and looked up with a confused expression.

"Hold the infant. I have questions for you... Curtis Connors." The Scion said, his voice loud and clear, yet unexpectedly not that deep—more like the voice of a teenage boy in highschool.

He knows who I am? Curt was genuinely surprised, even a bit terrified if he was being honest. Can he read my mind? No, maybe he overhear my conversation with Otto?

"Y-Yeah." He stuttered a bit, something that couldn't be held as his heart was still beating fast, he reached out with both hands and received the loudly crying infant.

"You just experienced an adrenaline surge now, explain how." The Scion practically demanded.

"W-What?" Curtis asked, his eyes blinking. "Adrenaline...?"

"I was born with a condition that barred me from adrenaline, I would like to understand it more." The Scion briskly revealed. "Why did you have an adrenaline surge?"

"Because I saw a baby almost die..." Curtis answered as he gazed down at the crying child, trying to comfort it the same way as he had his son years ago.

"Curious." The Scion commented. "It's not your child though?"

"It's still a child regardless." Curtis said with a strange expression. "I have a boy of my own, just imagining him in a situation like this is terrible."

He would think that something was off with Scion were it not for the Cape's previous statement. After all, for someone who didn't have adrenaline, he probably couldn't relate.

"I see." The Scion commented as his gaze turned to Curtis's stomach for some reason, and then to his disabled legs. "Thank you for your assistance, Cripple-Man."

W-What did he just call me!? A vein appeared on Curtis. If he had been drinking at this instant, it would have been a guaranteed for him to spit it all out.

Scion seemed to have notice his annoyance before giving a non-comittal shrug. "They call him Superman, so by process of elimination, you must be Cripple-Man."

"A-Ah..." Dr. Connors was at an utter loss for words.

It was in the brief moment of silence after the conversation did Scion turn his head back at the screaming woman.

Before Dr. Connors could even register what was going on, Scion moved on his feet, leaving afterimages that themselves also left afterimages.

In the next second, the woman was floating in the air, not by any superpowers like Scion or Superman, but suspended off of the floor by the iron-like grip around her neck.

"N-No... Let me go, you Abomination!" The woman frantically screamed as she sent rapid punches into Scion's chest.

Yeah, she only managed to hurt her own fists.

The murmur of the crowd got louder as they witnessed the scene before them, some already having started recording with even a few news anchors setting up shop in the side.

"Cathleen Actias, you have tried to kill your own child, any reason———or are you just moody?" He wasn't shouting, but his voice was loud and clear, bouncing off of the walls like the declaration of a king.

"Ah..." She groaned from the preassure applied around her neck, obviously in pain. "He... Uh... I slept with a Mutant!" She started crying.

"He's ruining my life! I had to get rid of him! I was having the baby of a Mutant, that means my baby is a Mutant too!" She started to uselessly hit Scion's chest again.

"Well, I see that you are clearly an idiot." Scion commented. "Of all the places you chose to dispose of what you deem garbage, you decided on this vehicle bay where everyone can see?"

"It d-doesn't matter!" She screamed back. "My life is already ruined, might as well be remembered, right?" She said with a hollow smile.

Ah, there must have been a tragic tale here——too bad no one present cared enough for a woman willing to throw her own child into the train tracks to listen.

The Scion chuckled, and then he gave her a... Thumbs-up?

"I agree!" He annouched. "Let's have you remembered then!"

To everyone's shocked gazes, Scion flew back with the woman's neck in his left hand.

He flew straight for the train tracks, the woman's shoes barely touching the ground.

"Holy shit..." Curtis couldn't help but mutter as the baby in his arm dozed off to sleep.

The woman was frantic, terrified beyond her wits as the dark tunnel before her gradually brightened, the familiar sound of wheels running atop the tracks filling the air.

Another train.

"No, no, no! Let me go, please, p-please! I'll do anything, please!" She cried, desperately pleading for the continuation of her life.

Scion didn't budge.

The crowd went into a frenzy as they witnessed this scene, murmurs turning into heated debates, the journalists noting every minute detail down in their little notebooks.

"Money! God, I don't have a lot, b-but I'l give all I have, please!" She begged for mercy, for a saving grace.

"Currency is irrelevant to me." Scion simply said.

"I'll g-give you my b-body, please! I'll do anything!"

"You are ugly to me." The Scion didn't care.

And it was then.

—VROOM

"——AAAH!" The woman cried her eyes out as her body hit the stone cold floor, the Scion standing over her as the train went passed without any incidents behind them.

"I'm sure you won't be forgotten now." The Scion said as he knelt down and patted the crying, ever more traumitized girl's head. "Call my name if you ever want suicide, I'll help." He whispered the words, a double-meaning contained within.

He then glanced back at the awed crowd before walking up to them.

"If any one of you are specialists, please explain to me how adrenaline works!"

=== AN)

Powerstones, please. I am starving and supporting a family of 5 skinny mole rats.