Nearly a dozen ideas came to mind for how to best grow Nightkin.
With Doormaker and Path access, hell, the sky was the fucking limit.
I wonder if stored blood worked…
Although my mind was racing, I kept my body still. Nightkin synergized well with Devil Trigger, maybe a little too well. My body was thrumming with so much power that I worried I might crack the ground just by moving.
That wasn’t the only synergy, either.
I switched off Devil Trigger, revealing my human form to the world.
Rays of sunlight touched my skin, but I felt nothing.
No burning. No primal fear of the sun.
I grinned. It seemed I could finally get some use out of No Weakness.
“Something good?” Dragon shot me a curious look.
“Amazing.” I flexed my fingers, enjoying the sheer strength of my body. My eyes and ears felt sharper, and the entire world seemed different because of it. My sense of smell had sharpened too, enough that I could even make out the faint metallic note clinging to Dragon.
Short of some of the more esoteric capes, I doubted most people on Earth Bet would be able to kill me now. Having vampiric regeneration made me a lot more confident about tackling some of the crazier ideas I had.
I was itching to get back to ticket hunting.
First things first, I needed to–
“Hey!” Mouse Protector came into view. Despite being a grown woman, she struck a shy pose like one of those lovesick girls in dramas. “Here.”
She held out a small piece of paper with a number on it.
“I’m flattered, but you’re not my type,” I said almost instinctively.
Dragon snickered.
Mouse Protector staggered back dramatically. “Rejected! Me, the mighty Mouse! Oh, woe!”
The hero literally spun in a circle, skipped back, then popped right in front of me again. She leaned forward with a grin. “Still, while my mousey heart is wounded, that was not the true rejection. For listen here. I ask not for thy heart, but that ye pass this number along to my true object of desire. The black knight of my adoration. Dragon said he was on your team, so let him know I still want that arrangement!”
She shoved the paper into my hand before she disappeared.
“Mouse Protector… has a lot of personality,” Dragon said with a chuckle.
“That’s a kind way to say she’s weird.” I shook my head.
I looked down at the number and thought about ignoring it, but hell, if she was offering, Igris could probably use some extra hands whenever he came back.
Something to figure out later.
Right now, there was a much bigger problem I needed to deal with. If I remembered right, they should be in Boston...
“Dragon.” I turned to her. “Ask Contessa how I can find the villains known as the Travelers.”
Krouse lit the cigar and savored the smoke as best he could. The brand was pretty damn terrible, but after the last few hours, any bit of relief was welcome.
Five minutes. That was all he wanted.
Five minutes where he did not have to manage the entire fucking world.
“Krouse.”
Goddammit…
He pulled the cigar from his mouth, stubbed it out, and turned with a wide grin already plastered across his face.
Luke scowled the second he saw it, which was honestly fine by him. Leaders were supposed to be symbols of unity, and if the team was united in being annoyed at him, that was still better than them being annoyed at each other.
“Yes,” Krouse said smoothly. “What can your wonderful team leader do for you?”
Luke’s scowl only deepened at the tone, and he crossed his arms. “I’m not liking what we’re having to do for this guy. Getting into Accord’s good graces, fine, I get it. But terrorizing people just to get a meeting with the dude?”
Krouse rolled his eyes. “Do you have a better idea?”
Luke’s jaw tightened, and he opened his mouth.
“You don’t,” Krouse bulldozed on, his voice turning hollow. “Accord has more resources than damn near any villain on this side of the coast. Rumor says he collects tinkertech, too. Contracts, gear, connections, the whole package. He might even be able to get some of Haywire’s stuff and get us home.”
Luke went quiet, though he still looked pissed.
Krouse already had another rebuke waiting on the tip of his tongue.
A screech from deeper in the factory made both of them freeze.
Then they ran.
“Noelle! You need to calm down!” Marissa screamed.
They had taken shelter in an abandoned brick factory on the edge of Boston. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. There was plenty of space, and no one ever came around to bother them. The place was full of nothing but junk, broken equipment, and abandoned trash.
Krouse was beginning to regret that choice.
Noelle was writhing and screaming, and pieces of abandoned machinery were getting crushed or hurled through the air around her.
A ghostly woman, wreathed in chains, was trying to hold Noelle down with little success. Jess’s form was only barely managing to keep Noelle from bringing the entire place down on top of them.
A metal pipe went flying and nearly clipped Jess’s sleeping form.
Krouse cursed and switched her with a pile of bricks a split second before impact. He grabbed Jess’s body and quickly hauled her behind cover.
“What the hell happened?” Krouse asked.
“I don’t know, she just went berserk!” Marissa screamed.
“Go find Cody. We need his power to keep her still.”
Luke nodded and ran off.
Useless idiot couldn’t be around when they needed him. Damn it… they couldn’t lose this place before they even met–
A portal opened in the middle of the factory.
What the…
Like someone had cut the strings on a puppet, Noelle abruptly stopped rampaging.
A moment later, some guy without a costume stepped through, and the portal shut right behind him.
Wearing nothing but a basic pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt, he looked painfully normal.
But…
Krouse didn’t know why, but something in the back of his mind was screaming that this guy was dangerous.
“Sorry for the intrusion.” The stranger sent them a small smile.
“What did you do to Noelle?” Krouse jerked a hand toward Marissa. She grabbed Jess’s body while her ghostly form floated tensely toward the newcomer.
“I just gave her some relaxing dreams. God knows the girl needed a break.”
Some kind of Master, then.
Shit. He hated fighting Masters.
“Well, while that’s all well and good, and you very much have our thanks…” Krouse layered false cheer into his voice. “I won’t disparage a good deed, but I’m guessing you didn’t do this out of the kindness of your heart, so what exactly do you want us to do?”
“It’s more a question of what I could do for you.” The stranger chuckled. “You want to go back to your Earth, right?”
Krouse froze.
“Hmm… seems that was a bit of a shocker. I’ll give you guys a moment to get your bearings.” The man glanced behind them. “The rest of your team should be here in a bit.”
He snapped his fingers, and Noelle seemed to come to.
There was a tense moment where Krouse worried she would start rampaging again, but whatever had come over her had apparently faded.
“Krouse?” Noelle said drowsily.
“I’m here.” He swallowed the sigh of relief, trying to crawl up his throat. “You okay?”
“Yeah… it happened again, didn’t it?” Noelle buried her face in her hands. “Sorry. I’m so sorry, guys.”
“It’s fine…” Marissa said softly.
Noelle started to sniffle, and Marissa moved to comfort her.
Krouse would have joined in if it were not for the strange visitor now sitting on a pile of debris.
He realized why the guy had him so unnerved. He had the same look that Noelle did sometimes. That look she got when she was so hungry she started looking at them.
Still, Krouse had dealt with worse.
At this point, what was one more villain?
Things stayed tense while they waited, Krouse keeping his power on a hair trigger the entire time. Surprisingly, nothing happened before Luke, Cody, and Oliver finally made it back.
“Who’s that?” Cody growled. “Another kook we’re supposed to work for?”
“You’d know if you bothered to fucking be here,” Krouse scoffed.
Cody disappearing right when Noelle started rampaging, when his power was perfect for this, wasn’t suspicious at all.
Did he think they were idiots?
Cody looked like he was about to explode.
Good. Krouse was more than ready to put the asshole in his place—
“Guys,” Marissa cut in, “random stranger sitting like twenty feet away.”
Right.
Krouse took a deep breath and strode toward the stranger with his best Trickster smile plastered on. Cody muttered another curse and started forward too, but thankfully, Oliver held the idiot back.
“So, Mr. Know-It-All, you seem to know a lot about us,” Krouse said. “A bit rude not to introduce yourself, though.”
“Just call me Jordan.”
No cape name?
“I see…” Krouse took off his hat. “Then what can we do for you?”
“I told you already.” He stood up, and Krouse tensed along with the rest of the group. “I want you to go home.”
Jordan simply raised his hand. “Door to Madison, Wisconsin. Earth Aleph.”
Another portal snapped open in the air, revealing a sight Krouse could barely believe.
It was Madison.
Not the screwed-up hellscape they had been dragged into.
It was…
“Home…”
Krouse didn’t know who said it.
Through the portal was a park that every one of them could have recognized. The big hill at Picnic Point that overlooks the city.
After everything, after all the shit they had gone through, they could finally go home.
It was almost too good to be true.
No.
It was too good to be true.
Krouse looked at his team and saw the same desperate, aching look on every face. Did these idiots not realize how absurdly convenient this was?
“Genesis, go check the other side. This might be a trap.”
That jerked the rest of the team out of the moment. It couldn’t be this easy.
“I assure you there’s no foul play, but feel free to check.” Jordan simply gestured toward the portal.
Jess’s ghostly form slowly, almost tentatively, floated through. They could only watch with held breath as she drifted around on the other side before finally vanishing from view.
It was only a few minutes.
It felt like hours.
Then the ghost returned.
It dissipated, and Jess gasped awake. “It’s… real.”
Marissa started crying and immediately threw her arms around Jess.
Luke, Cody, and Oliver looked about ready to sprint through the portal.
Even Krouse couldn’t help the rush of excitement, relief, and joy welling up in his chest.
Their fucked-up journey was over.
Deep down… he’d never really believed they would pull it off.
But it was right there.
“Noelle, it’s—” Krouse turned, and even on Noelle’s face he could see it.
Hope.
Then, like cold water down his back, Krouse remembered.
He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want to ruin this happiness, this miracle of a moment, but he had promised.
“What about Noelle?” His voice came out hoarse.
The excitement fell away almost instantly, replaced by that same old hopelessness.
Because it was obvious, wasn’t it?
Even if they all went back to their Earth, how the hell were they supposed to cure Noelle there?
There were even fewer parahumans on Aleph than there were here.
“I don’t have a way to heal Noelle right now, but I was hoping she’d be amenable to staying at my friend’s place until we can figure out a solution,” Jordan said.
There was the goddamn catch.
He wanted Noelle.
A hot, almost vindictive anger flared in Krouse’s chest. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.
The words were already rising in his throat. He was about to tell this guy exactly what he could do with his offer when Noelle spoke first.
“Okay.”
Krouse’s head snapped toward her. “What?”
Noelle kept her eyes on Jordan for only a second before looking down.
“We’ve been trying for so long, Krouse. We’ve been looking for ages, and we never even got a lead.” She swallowed. “This is more than we’ve had before. It’s okay.”
Krouse opened his mouth, but nothing came out right. He could feel something tight and ugly building in his chest, a mix of anger, helplessness, and the sick realization that she had already made up her mind.
“This isn’t okay,” he said, though the words came out rougher and weaker than he wanted. “Noelle, you don’t have to just…”
He trailed off.
Because what was he supposed to say?
That they would find another way?
That they would keep trying?
They had been trying. For so damn long. Running, lying, scraping, humiliating themselves for scraps of help, and where had it gotten them?
Nothing.
Krouse looked at the others, desperate for somebody to back him up.
Marissa’s face had fallen, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. Luke stared off to the side. Cody, for once, didn’t have some bitter comment ready. Oliver just looked close to tears. Even Jess looked quietly miserable.
None of them argued.
None of them said he was wrong.
Noelle gave him a small, sad smile, the kind that made something twist in his gut.
“It’s okay,” she repeated. “You guys can go home.”
Krouse felt his throat tighten, and he felt tears come to his eyes.
“…Not to ruin the moment or anything, but it’s not like you guys won’t be able to see her,” Jordan said, pulling out a phone. “My friend has access to the portals. All you’d need to do is message her, and she can open a door so you guys can visit Noelle whenever you want.”
Oh…
You couldn’t have started with that, you bastard?
***
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I have advanced chapters if you wanna read ahead.