Chapter 58: I Did The Right Thing

The room seems to spin around him. After everything he has been through, how could it all boil down to this? Sell out his best friend or see his own dreams go up in flames?

But one thing matters more than all the rest—he knows that at the end of the day, his parents are watching what happens on The Hero Project. And he wants to do what would make them proud.

"So are you with me, Gravitate?" Rexford asks. "Are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to change the world? I'm afraid I need your answer now."

"Sorry Rexford... but I don't know anything." Travis says, standing up to leave.

"That's very disappointing," Rexford says, turning to go. "But then again, what else could I expect from a Gene Hazard loser like you."

Before Travis can open his mouth to respond, Rexford is gone. But all he can think is, he did the right thing.

He did the right thing for himself, for his relationship with Jenny, and for Jenny's potential investigation.

Now he can only hope that someday soon, he'll prove Rexford very wrong.

One day later.....

He stands in the center of the stage as his own elimination journey holo-video plays.

And he can't believe his eyes.

Last night, Rexford leaked out-of-context content from the Meek debate of Travis questioning The Meek's beliefs, attacking Lyra, defaming Mayor Victon and storming out behind The Crush. Travis didn't think this could do any real damage, but organizations like The Meek and the Victon campaign had a field day with this tidbit.

Especially because he was officially blocked from making any kind of response statement by The Hero Project producers. It seems that his enemies were able to control the media narrative and let it spin out of control all they wanted—could this have been what GG meant when he said he'd never beat Jury? Jury's positive image skyrocketed after this leak—did GG know Rexford would make something like this happen?

Although many of his fans saw this ploy for what it was, it did seem to do enough damage to his national image to drag down his public vote. And because of Null's steady rise in popularity, he knew it was going to be a close call to begin with….

So when the Finalist nominations played out exactly as GG had projected, he was eliminated in the public vote in 9th Place.

Which means that Null has made it into the Final 8 without him.

And despite his sacrifice, the public will never know what he did for Jenny and for her investigation.

Though he wouldn't have it any other way.

As the elimination ceremony finally ends, all he wants to do is crawl into his bed and stay there forever.

But the moment he walks backstage, he is bombarded with producers who pull him in a million different directions. The first thing they do is lead him past the other Finalists, giving them a chance to say their final goodbyes.

Of course, Manbeast isn't there to say anything to him. Which he thinks is better, after having to endure empty apologies and goodbyes from Inherit, Sky, and Asrid. He doesn't really listen to anything they say though, knowing it's all for the cameras anyway.

Besides, everything seems to be happening in a blur tonight, like some dream on fast forward.

The one thing that does stick, however, is when Jury leans in over a hand-shake to whisper, "Gotcha again, Fade."

He's about to punch Jury in the face—it kills him that he couldn't take him down while he was here. But before he can, The Crush taps on his shoulder, looking sadder than he'd have expected.

"Terribly sorry to see you go, Gravitate," The Crush says, shaking Travis hand. "I wish there was more we could have done to save you."

He's nodding at The Crush when Lucky suddenly jumps forward out of nowhere, hugging him tightly.

Holding back tears, Lucky whispers in his ear. "This isn't the end, Travis. I promise you, it's just the beginning."

As he stepped away again, he can see the judges coming backstage to speak to him. But after what Rexford has done to him, he has nothing to say. At least not right now.

Seeing the look on his face, Null takes her chance to pull Travis aside.

All he wants is for Null to take off that mask so that Jenny, his best friend, can tell him it's all going to be okay. But he know she can't do that, not here.

"I know what you did for me, Gravitate," Null says, placing a hand on Travis's shoulder instead. "And I swear to you this is for the best. I'm going to make sure of that."

Travis nod at Null, knowing that this will have to be enough, for now.

Still, he really do feel that he doesn't want to be a part of something as corrupt as The Hero Project anyway.

He'll forge his own path—he always have.

As he finally stepped away from Null, he spot GG rolling towards him, looking pale and blotchy from crying.

And for some reason, that's when it hits him—he has been eliminated.

His mind scrolls through the past five months, all the way back to the general auditions. He has been through so much since that day to get here—the Semi-Finals, surviving The Final Selection and advancing to the Live Finals, moving into the Contestant Mansion as part of the Final 14, the Missions against Phobus at the Midtown Tunnel and his castle headquarters, surviving three Leaderboard eliminations and two votes, navigating the politics and the backstabbing, losing and gaining allies….

But after all of that and so much more, The Hero Project is over for him. He'll never get the chance to take down Phobus or join the nation's most elite Powered team.

And even though he knows he did the right thing, in this moment, he can't help but feel cold. And alone. And afraid.

He can only hope that somehow, this isn't the end for him….

Days later....

Those blank eyes stare at him, the life drained out of them. He feels the blood dripping from his hands, pooling at his feet. It rises higher, flooding, flowing towards the hole in her chest. He tries to stand his ground, but the bloodcurrent pulls at him, washing him towards her, towards Veta, towards the open wound at her core.

And he disappears inside, his screams muffled by the blood.

As Grandma shakes him awake, the nightmare vanishes.

"Travis, I'm sorry," Grandma says, turning back around. "It's still only four in the morning, but Phobus is making his final move—it's live on 3V."

Rubbing the sweat off of his forehead, he tries to pull himself together and push that dream from his brain. He hasn't had a nightmare like that in months…what the heck triggered this one, now?

But he shakes it off and stumbles to his feet—he doesn't want to miss this battle.

He walks down into the living room and is thankful to be home—GG pulled some strings and arranged for him to stay with Grandma for a few nights before his appearance at the Finale, instead of being stuck in the eliminated Finalist Sequester House. Rexford wasn't happy about it, but Travis couldn't give a flying sh*t what Rexford thinks anymore. Him and Grandma had to thumb about a hundred non-disclosure contracts, but it's all worth it.

"The Hero Project is airing with special live coverage," Grandma says as Travis sit down next to her on the couch. "Rebellion is addressing the Finalists now."

"Today we can't just be heroes," Rebellion starts, "today we need to be legends. Today we need to put aside whatever divides us and come together to defend this city, this nation, these humble people. Today we show the world why this country is so great. We show them exactly what we have to offer and what we stand for. We show them that we are not to be threatened."

"Today is the perfect day, one day before we rise to elect our new President. And two days before six of you will become this nation's first roster of truly elite heroes. That's what makes today the perfect day to end Phobus's reign of terror and begin the golden age of The American Protectors."

"Now, for the first time, I will be leading you into battle myself," Rebellion continues. "We will have one common goal: to stop Phobus from launching his bio-weapon. Phobus is just as obsessed with fame and validation as he is with his misplaced revolution, so that's where we will find his greatest weaknesses."

"I have also assigned solo sub-missions for all of you to handle first, working towards that goal. We're going to shake and bake, folks. That means divide-and-conquer—you'll each be responsible for taking down one NewOrder member before coming together to shut down Phobus's weapon. So here it is."

Rebellion pulls up a Mission schematic on his H-Chip, then turns back to the Finalists.

"First up, Null, you'll be responsible for taking down…"

As Rebellion announces the matchups, Travis have to turn away from the screen. Words can't express how hard it is to have to watch this on 3V and not be there, not have the chance to take down Phobus and Smyther himself. It's hard not to feel like he's right back where he started, watching other people live his dreams.

It's just…depressing.

The impulse to fly across the city and join the battle is overwhelming, but he knows that even if he did he know firsthand how tightly controlled the entire area will be—there will be a full military lockdown to allow The Hero Project to operate.

So as much as it hurts, he has to sit this one out.

"I'm proud of you, Travis," Grandma says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know this must sting, but the alternative would have been completely unthinkable."

Travis force a smile for Grandma, knowing she's right.

But right now, knowing doesn't really have anything to do with feeling.

The Hero Project has arrived at the scene of Phobus's final stand—it looks like he chose an abandoned rail yard outside of Hoshi City as the place to launch his ani-morphing bio-weapon. He'd be invested in the outcome of this battle no matter what, but seeing that him and Grandma are within the weapon's bio-range takes things up another notch.

The Hero Project Finalists have already engaged The NewOrder and his 3V gives him the option to swivel between the different match-ups. As the holo-menu rolls out, you decide that you want to watch, Rebellion, Inherit, and Jury VS Phobus.

Of course these two got assigned the most prestigious task alongside Rebellion—who claimed it was a reward for their near-flawless Hero Project performance records. But Travis know this is Rexford and the show placing their top assets front and center.

The trio is across the rail yard, where a crumbling tower still half-stands. They've been fighting their way through a mini-army of Ani-Powereds and other deformed followers.

It appears Phobus's philosophies on outcasts rising are shared by many more than just his NewOrder inner circle. Besides, after the Ani-gangs and the Splice Circle disbanded (thanks to Travis), all those people had to find someplace to belong….

While the rest of the Finalists were occupied with The NewOrder, Rebellion, Inherit, and Jury managed to take down the entire mini-army (which is annoyingly impressive). They now charge towards the tower, where Phobus and his weapon must be holed up.

As Rebellion, Jury, and Inherit approach, they are joined by Null, Sky, and The Crush—the others must still be mid-battle or taken down already.

As The Hero Project Finalists approach the tower, Phobus appears at the top window terrace.

"Look at you puffed-up heroes, thinking you can stop me," Phobus buzzshouts. "But I do not stand alone—I stand for all the broken and downtrodden, the forgotten and discarded. To stop me is to ignite the fire that burns within them twice as hot!"

"It does not matter what you do, because now that my weapon has finally been powered to launch, all of Hoshi City will know what it's like to be deformed—and there will be no more outsiders. Think of how glorious it will be when we're all the same, all Animalistic, all united by one common scar! All those souls lost in our attacks will find a renewed purpose, as their sacrifice will give power to—"

As Phobus continues to play to the cameras, he doesn't even notice Rebellion crouching and leaping into the air, his superstrong legs launching him up to Phobus.

Caught off guard, Phobus shuts up and slashes forward with his proboscis. But Rebellion twirls around to strike midair, then grabs Phobus by the neck and rips him off the balcony.

Phobus unfurls his mosquito wings as Rebellion pulls him down, but Rebellion slams him into the tower head-first, disorienting him. Then Rebellion spins so that Phobus is pinned underneath him.

Helpless and buzzing, Phobus can do nothing to stop Rebellion from driving him into the ground. And as the piledriver lands, Travis actually wince at the sound of the sickening squish.

Standing up and dusting himself off, Rebellion then turns to the nearest camera and says. "Does anyone else have any grand ideas they want to try out?"