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0asterous0 · 6 months ago

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Prologue, Finale part.

"Grian runs in to find the girl and get her (and hopefully her mother) to safety." - Previous chapter.

TW// blood, gore, death.

He ran towards the explosion. He wanted so much to just stay away from all of this, but that’s a kid, either completely alone or with her mother wounded and unconscious. What kind of person would he be, if he just left in a situation like this? He didn’t care about people around who were running in the opposite direction, away from the trouble; if they could sleep after this, without a pang of guilt consuming them whole, Grian definitely couldn’t.

The second he turned the corner, he saw the entrance to the STARR labs, enveloped in flames. Come on, who attacks a blood donor lab? Some of these villains are just complete assholes, aren’t they? He briefly sees a little girl through the broken floor-to-ceiling windows, her leg stuck under the rubble, and runs towards her, quickly jumping in through the door that flew away from the hinges the moment the explosion struck.

“I’m here,” He says quietly, the moment he goes down on his knees in front of the poor girl, trying to take off the rubble. “It’s okay, I’m gonna get you out, okay?”

The little girl looks up at her, eyes full of tears, but still nods, trying to contain her sobbing. Gods, she was so brave right now, Grian hopes her parents are proud. The last rock is lifted off her feet, and he can see the damage done to her legs, one bruised and one dripping down blood, bend in a different direction. The second the girl sees it, she bursts into tears even worse than before. Right, it’s hard sometimes to comprehend the true damage if you can’t see it, but now that she has, she’s probably terrified.

“Hey, hey, shh, it’s okay, we can take care of it!” Grian says, trying to sound as calm and collected as he can. The last thing he wants is to scare her even more. Looking down at her leg again, he could tell that it was broken, so he needed to be as gentle as possible to avoid making it even more painful for her.

“Is your mom around here?” He asks, quickly looking around the room. There was smoke and rubble everywhere, but not a single other person. Maybe she was let inside, they were probably here for a blood test after all. But thinking about it, it was even worse because that meant she was closer to the explosion than he thought. The little girl refused to answer. No– it’s more that she couldn’t answer through all the sobbing.

“No!” Grian hears the scream of a man before he runs out of the door at the end of the room. His lab coat was fully ruined and there was blood on his temple, slowly running down his face. He looked terrified running away from something. Grian had a second to grab the girl and hide with her behind the giant rubble, before a sudden yellow light covered the whole room, immediately dying down. The man screams again, and a second later, Grian can hear a loud crash followed by a choking sound.

“P-pl..ea..se” the man struggles to talk.

Grian is scared. Something in him is telling him to look behind and see what is happening, but his whole body is shaking. He has a hand covering the poor girl's mouth to keep her quiet. He doesn’t know who is behind this attack, and unfortunately, there are a lot of villains who are not afraid to hurt a child.

“Where are they?” He hears a new voice, hidden by a voice changer. Surprisingly, he sounds very calm, but Grian can hear the venom in it, his anger and annoyance fully on display. There’s another thud, the man falling to the ground. From what he can imagine, he was probably held by his collar to the wall and now was dropped to the floor.

“I.. I d-don’t know.. What.. What th-they?”

“Stop playing dumb!” The previous calmness was nowhere to be heard now, the new voice rising in anger, turning into a shout. It sends shivers down Grian’s spine. “The suitcases! They delivered three this morning! They should be here, but they aren’t, so where are they?!”

Grian lets out a shaky breath and finally, risking everything, looks out from the hiding spot to see what is happening. As he guessed, the man working in the lab was now lying on the ground, almost in tears looking up at the other man while trembling.

Grian knows this villain. Standing above the scientist was a man with heavy muscles, mostly hidden by the black cloak running down his shoulders. The black and yellow striped costume’s interior was giving a slight glow, alongside the gas mask on his face, while there was running electricity in his hair to fully cover it in a yellow light. The sparks were flying all around the room, while his right leg was pushing down on the poor man's chest as hard as possible, causing him to cough in pain.

Static.

Okay, Grian, what do you know about Static? His mind supplies.

Static first appeared around five years ago; first as a vigilante, helping Boatem’s citizens with everything he could, from cleaning up the parks to stopping the street robberies even though he never worked under the law, which caused him to be the victim of police hunts for years. That was just over two years ago when his official status was changed to a villain after an attack on a public place.

Static is known for attacking mostly large companies. He does leave a lot of casualties behind, but it’s rarely lethal and never a direct attack on civilians, mostly because of his very destructive enchantment. That means that if he sees them, there is a big chance he will just let them go.

“I d-don’t.. I-I-I c-can’t,” The man is choking on his tears, looking up at Static petrified. Even Grian understood that lying in a situation like this didn’t make any sense. When dealing with villains, you always need to remember that most of them don’t show any mercy. The lightning around Static disappeared for a second. He slowly lifted his leg off the man's chest, immediately hitting him once again harder, but this time, he can hear the man screaming, surrounded by the yellow sparks. Fuck, did he just electrocute the man? It lasted for a few seconds, Grian desperately holding the poor girl in his hands who was shaking in horror, listening to the agonizing screams. It cut off as quickly as it started.

“Last chance,” Static’s voice sounded flat again, no emotion peeking through the gas mask covering his mouth. If the smell of this place was bad before, with all the rubble and fire around, now it smelled like a lump of overcooked meat– it made him shiver. “I can find out on my own, you know, you can’t hide them from me– so speak before I hurt you even more.” As if on cue, his electricity sparked once again, crackling across the room and missing Grian’s face by an inch. He jumped, his face hiding behind the rubble once again to calm down. That was very close.

“It’s in Falsewell! P-please, It’s in F-Falsewell!” The man screamed, and Grian shifted, his shoulders slightly dropping. That’s… That’s good, now that Static has information he will leave; that is what he’s after most of the time, right?

“Which lab?”

“B-18! I-It’s… the one in front of-of the historical museum,” Grian slowly relocated back to the corner, looking out towards the two men. He could see how the poor guy was still shaking, lying on the ground, now with his eyes closed. Static’s boot was still on his chest, and Grian could see that he was not planning to move anytime soon.

“What’s your badge number?”

“HC-24, I-I don’t know anything, I p-promise!”

“Dust?” Static asked, turning his head slightly left. A few inches and he would have looked directly at Grian, but that was definitely not the plan, he still didn’t know they were there, no, he was talking to someone. He could see from here a little device in his ear, the control over his powers was terrifyingly good if it didn’t get destroyed in this lightning show, so close to his hair which was constantly buzzing in yellow light. But that gave Grian another question. Who’s Dust? He never heard that name before, someone new around here? And Static always worked alone before, but suddenly he has a partner? That was… a problem. What was in those suitcases that they were after?

“No… No, n-no, please! PLEASE!”

“Oh, well,” Static started, turning back towards the man. He lifted his leg, putting it down next to the man, and squatting down to look closely at him. “It’s your lucky day!”

Grian didn’t have time to look away. Barely under a minute, the poor man lying on the ground gave a relieved smile just before Static grabbed his face by hand. There was no scream of agony, just a growing sound of electricity, and an explosion under Static’s palm. Being blinded for a second wasn’t enough– Grian wished he hadn’t seen the moment that blood with pieces of meat and skin and muscle was splattered around Static; the man’s body was still shaking, seizing with electricity while blood dripped down his fully exposed and shattered skull. The body twitched and writhed with the aftershocks of the very dead man’s adrenaline, and Grian nearly vomited at the sight and the smell of the burnt up bits-and-pieces of the corpse.

Grian has seen injuries before– he has seen death before, but nothing was as gruesome as this. He couldn’t let the child see it. No, no, no, she couldn’t see it, this would ruin her for the rest of her life. He needed to… To hide, yes. They just needed to stay there until Static left, and then he would get her out, and he-

For a second, their eyes met. Grian immediately retreated towards the corner, hiding deeper behind the rubble, and holding the girl by his side, trying to shield her. Just a few minutes ago he was sure that they were okay, but now after witnessing this, he couldn’t risk it. He heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to their hiding spot, and he could feel the girl trembling in fear, trying to say something through Grian’s hand. No, no, no, not now!

“You don’t work here,” Grian didn’t even notice that he had his eyes closed, before he had to open them, meeting face to face with the villain, who crouched in front of them. The same way he did with the man. No. no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

The child let out a quiet sob, shaking. Looking down at her, he could see a wet puddle growing around her. Gods, this poor girl. He wanted to cry with her. He should have just picked her up and run when they had a chance, she wouldn’t need to be here.

Static’s hand reached forward towards the girl, and Grain instinctively tried to shield her behind him. Fuck it, if they were dying here, he would at least try to protect her with his life– he would not go down without a fight. He just needs to… skin contact, right!! Grian, you spoon! He needs to touch Static’s skin and he can fight, but..

“I’m not gonna hurt her, calm down,” Static sounded peaceful, his glow around disappearing, only staying in his hair, which Grain knew was part of his costume to hide the identity. Grain observed him carefully, trying to find a hint of a lie in his voice, eyes, and body language, but Static looked… relaxed, as if he didn’t just take someone’s life. He was also reaching towards them with another hand, not the one still dripping blood, with remains of skin now attached to the black glove. He didn’t know what kind of reaction the girl would have if he did.

He saw a hand getting closer and closer, and he scanned from the skin, he just... He just needed to get in contact with his skin, and everything would be fine… He just... He couldn’t see an open skin anywhere but Static’s face above the gas mask, and he knew that reaching for his face would be a suicide. His hand touched the girl's broken leg, and for a second Grian stilled, forgetting how to breathe. There was nothing, and a second later, he saw lightning enwrap her leg before the girl let out a scream.

“What the hell?!” Grian screamed, jumping backward and taking the girls with her, as far as possible. “You said you weren’t gonna hurt her!!” He looked down at her, trying to see if it left any marks or burns, but he couldn’t see anything, other than the damage that was already done.

“And I didn’t, she just got scared,” Static responded, slowly standing up. “I numbed her pain, broken bones are very painful to deal with, especially at her age when they are so fragile. The ambulance will be around here soon, she will be fine.”

With that, he turned around and went towards the exit, the doors missing from the hinges. Grian’s blood boiled. He was the one that attacked the blood donor lab, he was the one that got civilians into trouble, he was the one who’s actions broke that bone– and now he’s trying to act as if he isn’t? As if the girl should be thankful that he helped?

“She was here with her mother!” He screamed at Static’s back, seeing him stop in place. Fuck, he shouldn’t have done that, right? He can just turn around and kill him, he said that he wouldn’t hurt her, not him.

“People are still inside,” Static countered, still not turning back and continuing to walk. “I told them not to leave before the heroes or police get them out, she’s probably fine.” With that, the form of the villain got wrapped up in the air in a lightning strike, disappearing from view. Right, he can control electricity and turn into it.

“You alright?” He immediately asked, looking down at the poor girls, who continued to sob. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but instead of answering, she just burst into more sobbing, hugging him and hiding her nose in his shoulder. He let out a sigh and picked her up, holding her close to his chest. “Just… stay like this for a second, okay?”

He slowly left their hiding spot, trying to keep the girl's face in the opposite direction from the corpse, hoping that she wouldn't see it, and finally got outside. He could still smell the smoke, both from the reception that they just left, and the second floor– which he could see through the window– was still in flames, worse than the first. If Grian’s not mistaken, the second floor is where they keep all documents and blood tests. Static probably wanted to destroy something specific but found out that it wasn’t here anymore. He wonders what was in those suitcases that drove him to these measures. And who the heck was Dust?

“Let’s just… wait a little longer, okay? I’m sure heroes will be here soon,” On cue, from the corner of his vision, he saw something jumping onto the second floor from the roof, clearly in a costume; after that, an ambulance and several police cars followed.

Grian didn’t leave until a group of people ran out from the lab, one of them bursting into tears and immediately approaching the ambulance where the girl was seated. They wanted to take her to the hospital, but after telling them about her mother still in the lab, they decided to wait– and for a good reason, considering the woman approaching them had a gushing wound on her forehead, the red liquid running down to her eyes.

Grian wanted to leave, he wanted to hide from the cops as soon as possible; and now with heroes in sight, his anxiety was rising even faster. Which is why the moment mother and daughter were reunited, he turned away from his dark little corner and took off.

By this time the rain had already stopped, which was quite inconvenient. Like- how is it that it rains the whole day, but stops the moment something explodes and bursts into flames? Grian let out a shaky and anxious chuckle, finally approaching the apartment.

“Oh, no…” Grian mumbled when he finally looked down at his phone; he could spot at least 3 missed calls in the last hour from Ren, alongside many worried messages. It’s okay, Ren will understand.

“Dude! You scared the hell out of me! Where were you?!” Ren exploded the second Grian took a step into the apartment, making him sigh. Taking off the shoes and the coat, he immediately turned towards the bathroom, mumbling on his way as he knew that Ren was following him.

“I was walking back when the STARR Labs exploded, you probably saw it?” Opening the door, he went inside and dropped the coat inside the washing machine, then took off his shirt. It still smelled of smoke, rubble, and urine– and while he’s not the most hygienic person these weeks, even he can’t walk around with this on. Also, he’s pretty sure he will get fired the moment he shows up to work with his uniform smelling like this.

“Of course I saw it! I was here when the explosion went off, and I could see the smoke rising! What were you doing in the lab that had you caught in the middle of this?” Ren asked, crossing his hands, his dog ears nervously twitching.

“I wasn’t in the lab, I just..” Grian stopped in his tracks after throwing the shirt into the washing machine and looked up at Ren, before moving his vision to anything other than Ren. “I heard a scream... A little girl yelling for her mother, so I… I decided to help, and then couldn’t leave the lab, because the villain was right at the door…”

“You were in the same room as a villain?!” Ren exclaimed, his hands dropping down. He stared at Grian for a few seconds, before his expression softened. “You helped her?”

“Yeah…” He answered, unsure what to do with himself, but still met Ren’s eyes when he smiled at him.

“Of course you did, you have that in you,” Ren whispered. It sounded like he was… proud, which made everything inside him twist. He was a coward. The whole time he spent there hiding, not even trying to help the pitiful man who fell victim to Static’s hands. And even then, when the villain approached them, he couldn’t do anything but sit there and watch. What if he did hurt her? Would he just sit there, holding the corpse of the poor girl, seeing a mess of unrecognizable gore instead of a face like Static did to that man? He didn’t, but what if he did? In the end, Grain did nothing to protect her.

“I don’t think that’s right,” Grian murmured, avoiding Ren’s gaze again. He quickly moved around him and left the bathroom, the washing machine now on and spinning as fast as his day managed to spiral. Ren followed him back to his room.

“Oh come on, Grian, you know I’m right,” He said, overly enthusiastic. “I... Grian, listen,”

“I’m listening,” he responded, though he didn’t even look back, searching through his closet and grabbing the first t-shirt he saw to get dressed. As much as he loved being without the shirts, his wings out and breathing, the small holes on the back were enough to get them through and move around. Ren let out a sigh, and Grian heard a sound coming from his bed. Sitting on his bed, the other spoke up.

“I know that… something happened with you before we met,” He starts, and Grian instantly tenses. They never talked about Grian’s childhood, it was basically a taboo in this house, never to be discussed. Hearing Ren finally mention it… scared him. “And you don’t have to tell me anything, you know this, we talked about this before, but I’m not blind, Grian– I can see a spark inside of you.”

He can’t. There’s no spark inside him, and there hasn’t been one for a long time now. It all died years ago, the day he made the choice of a coward and ran away.

“But whatever happened scarred and scared you, that’s why you’re so careful right now. Sometimes I look at you and see the mischief in your eyes, but then you notice it too and try to lock it down, acting like helping others or having fun is the worst thing that might happen to you.”

It is. He does not deserve any of it. He couldn’t save the people he wanted to save the most, he was a coward, and if he let them down, how can he help others? People that he doesn’t even know. And how can he have fun, when he ruined the lives of so many? He should rot. They are probably wishing the same on him, after what he did. It wouldn’t be a surprise.

“You need to pick up the pieces of your life, Grian, and finally get it together because you will be so much happier when you look up and do something that you want to do,” Grian wanted to cry. Ren continued to talk and his voice never quivered, always the same determination, the same trust and belief, belief that Grian actually deserved to be happy.

He doesn’t know what his life would end up like without him. He never had a “lucky” life, but Ren? Sometimes he thought that Ren was the gift from above, and he wasn’t even a believer– it was just so surreal, that someone like Ren would stumble across someone like Grian, and instead of moving forward, approach him and offer him help. His roommate didn’t know anything about Grian’s childhood, didn’t know anything about his trauma; and yet, he stayed by his side. He doesn’t deserve a person like Ren in his life.

“Just… just think about it, okay? I know you’re not having the best days of your life, and I kinda understand why,” It was a cycle. It happened every year around February, it was only a matter of time before Ren noticed it. “But I… You need help, Grian.”

“What?”

How did they get here? Ren started this conversation by saying that Grian wanted to help others and that he should if he wanted to, so why… Why are they suddenly switching to this? He doesn’t need help. Help for what?

“You don’t feel well, Grian, It might not be me, but you need to talk to someone,” Grian fought every impulse of looking at him. Everything was telling him to do it, to meet his eyes and finally put an end to this, but he couldn’t. Not today.

Ren exhaled, and Grian heard the bed shifting. “As I said, just think about it– I’m gonna go make us some dinner, you’re probably very hungry,” Ren left the room as he said it, but before closing the door behind him, he quickly added, “Someone left that mail in front of the door today, by the way,” Ha? “I didn’t open it because it’s addressed in your name.”

With that, Grian was left to his thoughts. He let out a shaky breath and held back a sob, trying not to break down. Gods, why did it affect him so much? How did Ren know just what to say, to almost bring him to tears?

He turned around, facing the bed Ren was just occupying, and noticed a small box lying on top of it. He doesn't remember buying anything online, and even if he did, the box wouldn’t be delivered to the door– they would have gotten a piece of paper telling them about the package, and Grian would have needed to pick it up at the station. This was left by someone else.

Curiosity in him won, and biting down on his lip, he took the paper knife from the desk and slowly cut the top of the box. After dropping the knife to the bed, he opened the carton and noticed the pink.

Huh???

He dug into the box and took out a crop-top jacket: the wool was painted pink with a red heart in the middle of the chest, the heart outlined in black. Grian loves red, but he doesn’t think he has ever worn pink out of his work uniform– and screw that, why is someone leaving clothes at his door? Putting the jacket aside, the next thing he grabbed was the white pants, once again dotted with small heart patches around, this time colored in pink instead of red.

What the hell???

Is this spandex?? And here it was, on the bottom of the box, a black turtleneck made of spandex, with a black domino mask on top looking back at him. Was Ren pulling some kind of a joke on him? What does this all mean? There’s no way someone actually left this at their door and addressed it in his name.

He took out the shirt, ready to turn around and go to Ren to ask some questions when his eyes were caught by a piece of paper falling down, which was hidden between the domino and the spandex. He picked up the paper from the floor and opened it. A letter.

Listen to your friend and remember my words.

You know where the suitcases are.

Time is ticking.

- Oracle

P.S. You will need this soon, good luck!

Grian doesn’t remember how long he stood there, rereading the letter over and over again, trying to wrap his mind around it. He wasn’t sure it was from Ren anymore. Time is ticking. Remember my words. The stranger. Of course. Grian knew that there was something strange about that man in the morning, but he didn’t think that it might evolve into something worse. The suitcases? The ones Static was after? Did they want Grian to intervene? But why?

Grian sighed, sitting down on his bed and looking back towards the new clothes. Something was telling him that he was about to get into something much bigger than he ever wanted to. And something was telling him that his boring day-to-day life was about to become much more interesting.

_______

'-.° Masterpost - Next Part °.-'

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