Prologue – Meet The Triad (Part 5)

"Bingo!" He cheered while Patsy clapped his hands sarcastically. "That's right. I can bend, manipulate, and sharpen any kinds of light source. That's why I can shoot, whip, or even this..."

He is pulling the laser on his hands like a rubber band, and make a star out of it.

"Thank god you didn't say that I'm one of those Gante fucks!" He said, while omitting his lasers. "If you did I would've put a hole in your head by now."

Giving no mind to him, I couldn't help but think about the reason for all of this. Then I realized he hadn't told us why he had brought us here. I decided to ask him.

"What do you want?" I said urging him to reveal his intentions.

"We'll get to that, no need to rush. In the meantime..."

"..."

"...tell us about your power."

I don't know what he wants to do after knowing about my power. That's why I won't tell him.

"And what if I say no?"

"Ha—." He paused. "Haha—hahaha—HAHAHAHAHA!"

His maniacal laughter can be heard all across the room.

"Do you realize how funny that was?!" He's swiping tears out of his eyes. "But seriously, you have no other choice."

He stares at me with a deadpan stare.

"..."

I keep my mouth shut.

"Oh—hahaha! I love stubborn people like you guys. It feels so satisfying to crush and break that will of yours." He crumpled his laser into a ball and crushes it with his palm. "Patsy, go ahead and wake those two people up."

Patrice gets up from his chair and goes inside the room. He quickly comes out dragging Adeera and JN by their hairs. They're still unconscious even with all the commotion. The Doom Patrol must use some heavy sedatives on them.

Patsy throws them to the ground beside him and Dom.

"Okay, so, here's what will happen. This little brat right here—I will tore her whole body open. From head to toe." Dom says as he puts his pinky on Adeera's forehead. "You have no idea how much toying with The Gantes can get you off."

Strangely enough, he quickly retracts his hand.

"But don't worry, I'm not gonna do that to her just yet. Gotta save the best for last, you know." He turns his attention away to JN. "Instead, how about this lump of muscle right here? He can heal but he does feel pain, doesn't he?"

Pointing his pinky on JN's chest, he slowly starts generating his laser.

"Here it comes."

The laser begins slowly cutting JN on his chest. JN suddenly jolts awake. He opens his mouth to scream, but the pain is so intense that no voice comes out.

"Okay, okay, stop!" I immediately stop him.

The laser stops. JN is rocking back and forth in pain before suddenly passing out again.

"That was fast." He said with a smile on his face. He signals to Patsy to bring both JN and Adeera back inside the other room.

I stare at JN and Dee as Patsy drags them away, before I turn my attention away back to him..

"I can read the minds of the people I touch."

"Hmm..." He closes his eyes and crosses his arms. "Patsy."

Patsy takes a quick glance at him and then walk outside of the room. But not long after that he comes back inside. He picks Dom up and starts wandering around the room.

"Okay, so where were we? Ah—yes, you were asking about what I want from you."

They disappear into the corner of the room. And suddenly, with the sound of a click, the whole room lit up. It was so bright, I went blind for a second because of the sudden change in brightness.

"Let's recap, shall we?" They slowly approaches me, step by step. "First, you laughed at my face."

"..."

"Second, you stole the diamonds which, as far as I know, I still haven't got back."

"..."

"Third, you forced me to do all this shit on my day off! Do you even know how busy it is to be heroes?"

They stops right in front of my face. Dom grabs me by my neck and lift me up from the ground.

"So, here's what I want. I want to peel your skin off, layer by layer, until all that's left of you is just meat and bones. I want to burn the meat off of your body and feed your bones to the dogs. I'll have you healed and do it all over again."

Patsy spread his wings and speed up. The chains on my hands got yanked off from the ceiling. My back got smashed to the wall.

The pain on my ribs from before, combined with the new one on my back, made it hard to breathe.

"Though, I don't really need to say it, right? You should be able to see it for yourself when I touched you. So, use it. Won't make much of a difference anyway."

"Ackghh!"

Dom throws me to the ground. I struggle with everything I have to break free from his arm but he overpowers me easily.

"Haaa... it's really such a waste that you're not a Gante. This would've feel so much better." Dom lets out a big sigh. Patsy steps and crushes my stomach. "Still, you do not need to worry, kid. The people coming here for you specifically asked to keep you guys alive, so, you won't die."

"..."

"But, it'll hurt really, really bad."

Patsy kicks me on the stomach and sends me flying across the room. I brace myself for impact, but Dom lassos my legs and pulls me back. He punches my face but luckily I can block it with both my arms. But it still launches me all the way to the opposite side of the room.

"Why—why did you do any of this?" I desperately ask him.

"Why, you ask? Well, I can't let you guys roam around freely knowing my secret." They wander around the room carefreely. "It's hard being a hero, you know. There's never enough crime for me, so the only way to solve it is to become the villain."

I hold myself from showing my surprise.

"So, we give the guys the diamonds, let them do a few trades, Doom Patrol comes barging in, and then we save the day and rise through the ranks! Isn't that a beautiful plan?"

"..."

"Of course, there's nobody that know about this, cause, well, they're dead. And you would've too, but what's waiting for you is actually going to be worse."

I sit down, trying to comprehend the evil and madness of the so-called heroes before me.

"Now, enough talking! Let's get back to the action, shall we?"

My whole body is burning in pain. My feet feel wobbly as I try to get myself back up..

"The—cough, the people I touched—cough cough."

My right arm is swollen from the kick. Two of my ribs are positively broken now. I have trouble breathing, probably because they punctured my lungs too.

I tried so hard to speak despite coughing out blood. They approach me defenselessly, knowing full well I can't do anything against them.

Dom chokes my neck and lift me up in the air. I struggle to break free of his arms, at least enough to let out a voice.

"The—the people I touch, I can't— I can't read their minds."

"..."

"But I— I am able to wish some—something upon them."

I lied before.

Of course I did. What kind of people just voluntarily tell their enemies about their powers?

Their expressions changed. You can see the exact second when they suddenly realize what they've gotten themselves into. Fear appears in their eyes. Dom tries to quickly pull his arms away.

But, with every bit of strength left on my body, I hold on to him.

"I wish... that you become a Cursed."

I release my hands that desperately clung on to him and fall down on my knees.

Everybody stays in their place, waiting for something to happen.

But nothing happens.

Exactly nothing happens.

Not even after Dom savagely swung his hands everywhere.

Not even after he broke his fingers after flexing them to the extreme.

Not even after he screams painfully trying to recover his power.

No.

Not a single flash of laser comes out of his fingers.

"AAAAAGHHHHH!!"

Dom falls down to the ground. He's screaming, howling, wailing for his power. He points his fingers on his eyes, trying so hard to generate something, anything.

Patsy kneels down before him, trying to calm him down. But, he already lost his mind. The power that he always brags about, had just disappeared in front of his eyes.

"No, no, no, no, no—NOOOOOOO! I'm gonna kill you! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"

The last strength I have left on my leg is gone. I drop down with my back against the wall while watching this magnificent event unfolds in front of my eyes.

It doesn't last long, unfortunately, as Patsy look at me viciously with his eyes.

He wants my head.

He doesn't care about the deal. He just wants to kill me right now.

He stands up, three wings on his back. I prepare my last effort to defend myself.

"JN!"

I shouted his name. JN suddenly bursts out of the room, with chains on his arms. At the same time, Patsy disappears from my sight.

Just as he's about to thrust his hand against my head, JN jumps in front of me and take the punch on his stomach.

"Ackgh!" JN whimpers.

The punch is enough to rearrange your insides, but JN took it. Patsy zaps back, getting his hand out of JN's clutch.

But as usual, the bruise JN got just healed in an instant.

"Is it a necessity to let him put a laser on my chest?" He said as he turns his back to me.

"How is it? Did you like it?"

"I very much dislike being hurt, thank you."

"C'mon, JN! Loosen up a little! This is why people like your other self more!" I point to his whole body. "Besides, I need to check you're not really dead, you know."

"You have the knowledge of my power, Kyten."

"I know—enough of that! Please come fix me up, I can't feel my legs."

He kneels down and places his hand on my stomach. Surges of energy and vitality come rushing into my body. I can feel my wounds closing up, and my broken ribs healed.

In a short amount of time, I feel rejuvenated. My fatigue and pain, all of them have gone. I can easily stand back up, as if everything that happened was a dream.

"In case you're wondering, he doesn't just heal. He regenerates. That's why any sedatives, drugs, or even alcohol wouldn't work on him."

I stand up and swipe the dust of my ass.

"Now, should we do something?"

I said that to Patsy, as he's been standing in place the whole minute JN was healing me. I can feel how much bloodlust he has for me. I can feel how much he wants to punch a hole on my stomach.

But he's cautious. He's aware that he can't touch me.

In the middle of the standoff, there's suddenly a knock on the door.

"HAHA—HA—HAHAHAHA!"

Dom who was sobbing the entire time, suddenly start laughing like a maniac.

"YOU'RE FUCKED! YOU'RE ALL FUCKED, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

The knocking on the door continues for as long as Dom is laughing.