1.4

Content warnings: mention of stitches, child abuse, patricide, depictions of torture/drowning, heavy bleeding (detail below; skip if you prefer surprises)

• A character mentions stitching up her shoulder.

• Descriptions of child abuse, including neglect and a brief depiction of a beaten child.

• An explicit depiction of patricide.

• A character is depicted with his head being forcefully held underwater.

• A character is shown bleeding heavily from a wound.

~.~

Morgan stared at the gun on her lap. She was so sick and tired of this shit. First, being blackmailed into helping, and then being trapped in this goddamn prison with no way out except to help the very people who had blackmailed her. To make things worse, the floors kept moving, and—

Morgan let out a hiss of frustration as a rumbling began to echo through the space, and the whole room started to move upwards. The movement knocked her pistol out of her lap, and she was forced to root around on the floor until she found it. After a few seconds, the room stopped moving.

Morgan glanced over at Joshua. The winged man was pacing, wings twitching every few minutes as he fumed in silence. He really did look like an angry pigeon. An angry, completely incompetent pigeon. Just looking at him made another wave of fury surge up in Morgan’s chest, and before she could stop herself, she was talking.

“So? Going to let someone else get shot today?” Morgan snipped. Joshua froze.

“You know that was an accident,” he said in a low voice. Morgan snorted.

“Still hurt like a bitch,” she snapped. “Even got a scar to show for it.” She pulled off her leather jacket, revealing a circular spot of discoloration on her left shoulder.

“Ooo, you got yourself a nice and pretty scar,” Joshua snarked. “Not everyone can afford the world’s best surgeons to patch up their boo-boos, you know. Or could daddy not afford a superpowered healer?”

“Glad you think a surgeon stitched it up,” Morgan growled, “because I did it myself in my bathroom, dickface!” They shrugged their jacket back on with a huff.

“What, your dad could afford to hire me as a fucking bodyguard—which I was blackmailed into, by the way—but he couldn’t pay off a mafia doctor?” Joshua snarled.

Guilt stabbed Morgan in the chest at that. They hated thinking about the ways their father chose to use his money, and hearing that their bodyguard had been forced into the job was upsetting, to say the least. They were so caught up in thinking about their dad that they forgot to keep up appearances.

“Maybe my dad didn’t want to spend the money on me!” Morgan blurted. As soon as she said it, icy cold regret flooded her system. She didn’t need other people to know that.

Joshua’s expression instantly hardened, and he turned away, still seething. Morgan still regretted the outburst, but seeing the effect it had on Joshua left her feeling more than a little smug.

That’s right, she realized. Joshua has daddy issues, too.

For a second, Morgan was 14 again, dreaming about a terrified, 16-year-old Joshua. She could see the image of the winged teen standing protectively in front of his bruised little brother, facing his father with rage in his eyes. She could smell the alcohol on his father’s breath. She could hear the crack as the shattered beer bottle in Joshua’s hand connected with his father’s skull at inhuman speeds.

Morgan shook herself out of the memory. It had been a lot to see at 14, but—and Morgan hated to admit this about herself—after seeing Joshua commit patricide, a small part of her had wanted to do the same. She just hadn’t had the courage.

Morgan’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a single bullet piercing the glass window in the exit door. Maybe it was because Joshua was used to protecting her—because the two of them were so used to playing the roles of guard and guardee. It certainly wasn’t because Joshua liked Morgan in any capacity. But for some reason or another, Joshua tried to push Morgan out of the way, and the bullet ripped into his shoulder, leaving bloody feathers in its wake.

Morgan allowed herself exactly three seconds to be stunned.

And then, as her ears popped, Morgan realized that the air pressure in the room was dropping rapidly. Fuck. Morgan took a deep breath—the last deep breath she’d ever get to take unless she found a way to fix this mess.

They had no idea where the bullet had come from. But the air pressure? That was a different story. Morgan could fix air pressure.

Though the oxygen content in the room was already starting to reach dangerously low levels, Morgan allowed herself another deep breath to center herself, and her eyes slid closed. She was distantly aware of Joshua yelling something in the background, but that wasn’t important right now.

She’d never done this particular maneuver before, but she couldn’t think of anything better.

Morgan widened their stance and focused on the feeling of air in their lungs. With another long, slow exhale, Morgan concentrated on bringing that sensation of pressurized air to their fingertips and out into the world around them. There was a tugging in their chest.

For a brief second, nothing happened. And then, there was a popping sound as the air pressure in the room began to normalize, and Morgan let out a sigh of relief. Joshua was still bleeding out on the ground, cursing like a sailor, but at least the pair could breathe again.

Now to figure out where that bullet had come from.

~.~

Lian did not like running. They had never particularly excelled in gym class, and they were quickly starting to regret it as they sprinted away from the watchtower, panicking all the while. Bullets clanged against the shield Dani had cast over the group as they fled. Of course, the comedic potential of the situation wasn’t lost on Lian, and they made the “running away” noise from Scooby Doo echo through the air, just to lighten the mood a little.

You just had to break our cover, huh, Peter, Dani snapped. What were you thinking, turning on the guards’ intercom in that tower?

Well, Peter said solemnly. I just thought the guards in the main office needed to know that the break room was out of bananas. Dani let out a groan.

When will you learn… that your actions have consequences?! Lian joked, quoting that one Vine. Their voice raised as they got to the end, and they used their power to mock the exact inflection of the person in the Vine so that the reference was unmistakable. Peter, at least, seemed amused.

Okay, okay, enough joking around, Rae grumbled. We need to find whoever’s imprisoned on this floor. As soon as Rae spoke, that god-awful rumbling noise began to echo through the hall, and the floor started to move upwards this time. Lian stumbled. They were never going to get used to that feeling.

As the group rounded the corner, Felix held out an arm, signalling for everyone to stop. The sound of laughter echoed down the hallway. There were two large, vaulted doorways on either side of the group. The one on the left had a large padlock, and the other was partially open—that’s where the sound was coming from.

Kai’s in the torture chamber, Felix said grimly. The door to the right. The glass stripe running horizontally along the walls flickered an ominous forest green.

There are… four guards in there with him, Karyme replied. One of them has powers, but I can’t tell what they are through the wall.

Felix nodded. Okay. Karyme, Rae, you two stay out here and keep watch. I’m going in—the rest of you are welcome to follow, or not. Your choice.

What kind of stupid choice is that? Juli grumbled, setting their hands on fire. Luckily, the spacesuit seemed to be made of fireproof material. Let’s just go.

With that, Felix pushed the door open. Immediately, four sets of eyes were on the group, and Lian shrank under the enemy’s gaze. There were, as Karyme said, four guards in the room, all wearing spacesuits. Two were carrying assault rifles, and of the two, one was wearing a purple spacesuit. An East Asian man was shackled to the exam bench in the center of the room, and the other two guards were holding him down as they drowned his head in a bucket of water. Various torture implements were hanging from the walls, and Lian shuddered in spite of themself as they looked around.

“I’m an escaped prisoner!” Felix yelled. “Come and get me if you can!” Blades of ice popped out of the bottom of his shoes, and he skated forward, ice materializing at his feet as he moved. Lian had to admire the loops and twirls Felix executed as he skated circles around the stunned guards.

One of the armed guards started shooting at Felix. The other—the one in the purple spacesuit—turned to look at the group. Lian couldn’t see the guard’s face, per se, but even then they could feel the weight of the guard’s gaze. Lian could tell this was someone important.

Shit, Karyme cursed from outside the room. The guard in purple—she goes by Sniper. Her power is that she never misses a shot. Don’t let her use her gun.

Roger that, Juli said with a grin. They shot a fireball at Sniper, forcing her to jump to the side.

Alley oop! Peter extended his hands, and Sniper’s gun floated over to him. At first, he greedily grasped the weapon, but upon realizing that he didn’t actually know how to operate it, he tossed the gun behind him as if it were a toy.

The other two guards stared on in shock, and Lian took the opportunity to create a high-pitched screech in their ears. As they fell to the side, clutching their ears, Lian ran over to the exam table and threw the bucket of water to the side.

Lian, look out! Juli cried. Lian whipped around, then froze as they realized Sniper was aiming a pistol straight at their heart. For a moment, both of them were still. Then, as Sniper looked around at the room—at the losing battle—she seemed to reconsider. In a flash of silver light, she was gone. Lian shuddered.

Meanwhile, Felix shot a dagger of ice at the other armed guard, piercing his heart, and the guard crumpled to the ground. With a wave of his hand, Dani trapped the two remaining guards in translucent barriers of light, then turned to Peter with a smirk.

All yours, he said wryly.

Oh, perfect! Thanks, Dani! Peter said giddily. He and Dani converged on the trapped guards with menace in their eyes. Peter materialized a tube of wasabi. Lian shuddered again and turned back to the man on the exam table.

"I don't know if you can hear me,” Lian mumbled. “But we were sent by Haku. We're here to help you." The man just nodded, staring blankly at the ceiling, his gaze a thousand miles away. Juli ran over and started melting the man’s shackles, and Lian let out a sigh of relief as the man sat up.

“Thanks,” the immortal said dully, rubbing his wrists. “I’m Kai, by the way.”

Now that Lian could get a better look, they saw that this man was strikingly handsome, with chin-length black hair tied in a half up, half down style and gentle sienna eyes. He seemed regal, almost, despite the bruises across his cheekbones and the dark circles under his eyes.

“I’m Lian,” Lian replied, trying their best to look reassuring despite the circumstances. “Uh… are you feeling okay?”

“I’m…” Kai wiggled his fingers and toes. “Alive.” Lian let out an exasperated sigh through their nose. It was so annoying that these immortals had such poor regard for their health.

“Kai!” Felix exclaimed, skating up. He seemed a little short of breath. "You look like shit!"

"Et tu, brute?" Kai deadpanned. Felix’s grin widened.

“So you are okay. Good!” he said cheerfully. At that moment, the rumbling sound started up again, and the floor started to move upwards, settling into place with a click.

A second later, a single gunshot echoed through the air. Felix’s smile immediately disappeared, and the two immortals exchanged glances.

“Sniper,” Felix muttered. Kai hopped off of the exam table with urgency, and though he stumbled on the first few steps, he quickly righted himself.

“We need to move,” he said gravely. “Your friends—the ones you left in the pressure exchange chamber—are in danger.”

An icy hand gripped Lian’s heart, and before they could fully process that statement, they were already following Kai and Felix out of the torture chamber. They felt numb as they ran.

It wasn’t like Lian knew Morgan all that well, but Joshua? Joshua was the caretaker of one of Lian’s students. Joel’s innocent smile flashed through Lian’s mind. If Joshua died here, Joel would be left alone. Lian picked up their pace. There was no way they were going to let that happen.

When the group arrived at the pressure exchange chamber, they found Morgan and Joshua in the middle of an argument.

“—your fault,” Joshua was saying. He lay on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, surrounded by fragments of broken glass. Lian had to suppress the urge to gag at the sight.

“It is not,” Morgan snapped in reply. At some point, Joshua had shed his jacket, and Morgan was using it to staunch the blood flow. Her hands were stained red.

“Move,” Kai said rigidly, pushing Morgan to the side with glowing green hands.

“Wh-hey!” Morgan protested. Kai ignored her and threw Joshua’s jacket to the side, exposing the wound. As soon as his glowing green fingers brushed against Joshua’s skin, the bleeding stopped, and the flesh began to knit back together. The pained expression on Joshua’s face eased a little bit, and within seconds, the wound had closed completely, leaving nary a scar.

“How do you feel?” Kai said gently, easing Joshua into a sitting position. Joshua experimentally rolled his shoulder, wincing a little. Then, he looked mournfully at his ruined jacket.

“That was expensive,” he muttered.

“Ask Haku to make you a new one,” Kai said dismissively. He stood up, swaying a little on his feet as he did so. “For now, we need to move.”

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