Chapter 22 #2
"I am just not a good fighter," he admitted, voice quiet. "I never really learned. So, when it comes down to a fight and nothing else, I am useless."
"Don't say that! You are young. You are practically a baby. Hell, I am your babysitter, after all." I nudged him with a playful wink.
He smiled at that. "Even young guys know how to fight."
"You will learn. The team needs you. Today, you get people out of danger. Tomorrow, you can learn how to fight. Then you will be a double threat out there."
“Is that one your favorite?” he asked.
“What?”
He motioned his eyes to the tattoo on my forearm. I had been rubbing it and not realized it.
“You always touch it when you are deep in thought.”
“Yeah, it’s my favorite,” I agreed. It was the serpent around a dagger. It was simple and maybe too common, but it meant the world to me.
“One of my foster dads, let's call him 'Warden of the Year,' liked to lock the fridge. And the pantry. And our bedroom doors. He thought hunger built character. So I learned to pick a deadbolt with a bent bobby pin and sheer spite. I became the skeleton key for every kid in that hellhole.”
Donvan kept his attention on me,
“I got really good at picking locks. I unlocked a cabinet and found a fancy dagger. I took it with me. I had every intention of using it if any of us were attacked.”
“Did you ever have to use it?”
I shook my head. “Nope. But I still carry it on my tattoo to remind myself to attack when needed. And the snake? That’s not for decoration.
All the kids used to call me a python because I could squirm my way around the house without being seen.
I could slide between walls, sneak through crawl spaces, and hide in the shadows. They looked up to me.”
“Sounds like you were a hero before I was, for those kids.”
“I guess.”
He leaned in to kiss me. But as our lips met, we heard a storm of heavy boots and angry voices barreling in from the garage.
Donovan pulled away. "Sounds like they’re back," he murmured, voice rough.
I exhaled through my nose, rolling off him with reluctance. I threw on the oversized t-shirt. It slid down my thighs and draped over me like a dress as I stood up. Donovan reached for his discarded pants, yanking them on with the efficiency of someone used to suiting up fast.
"You good?" he asked, glancing at me as he zipped his fly.
I smirked, running a hand through my messy hair. "Peachy. But if this is another ‘we almost died but look at this cool rock we stole’ situation, I’m throwing someone out a window."
Donovan’s lips twitched. "You say that like it’s a daily occurrence."
The arguing outside sharpened. Frustration. Blame. The kind of tension that could either explode or implode.
The door creaked when I pushed it open.
The common area was a wreck. Tables were overturned, Roger's helmet was embedded in the ceiling, and someone had punched a hole in the wall. Costumes were thrown everywhere.
Roger had his arms crossed, jaw set like he was two seconds from throwing a punch. Matt loomed behind him, radiating dangerous energy. Johnny was pacing, hair standing on end. Sebastian looked like he’d just chewed on a lemon, his slicked-back hair coming undone.
No one noticed us at first.
"How the fuck were they ready for us?" Roger snapped. "We had the drop on him. We had the element of surprise, and you just—"
"Oh, I just what?" Johnny whirled on him. "I am fast as hell, but my speed doesn't do any good when I can't see shit."
Matt let out a low growl. "What was all that black smoke? We were in the middle of a desert, but it felt like we were inside a burning building."
"That wasn't my dad," Johnny said defensively. "He can make smoke, but he needs something to burn, like trees or something. But we were in the middle of nowhere. Plus, we triple checked, and he wasn't there."
"Capital Punishment is getting stronger. That has to be it," Roger said with too much confidence.
"Or he has more help," Johnny suggested.
"Another super villain?"
Johnny shrugged. "Who knows? He already had three working for him. Wouldn't be a surprise if he was still recruiting."
Donovan finally spoke up. "What exactly happened?"
Roger took a deep breath. "A lot of shit. We get to this desert in Sudan to stop them from getting this rare mineral, just like the boss wanted. It looked like we got there early, but then we were ambushed. Like they were waiting for us."
"It sucked," Johnny said, jumping onto the counter.
"Capital Punishment knocked us around like balloons.
Then we were covered in smoke and couldn't see anything.
We must have started hallucinating, because we started to see ourselves out there.
I saw a guy who looked just like me. Matt saw someone that looked like him too. "
"It was like looking into a mirror," Matt agreed.
"I am glad you guys are okay," I said softly.
Roger wrapped an arm around me, needing the contact more than he let on.
Johnny took everyone's attention. "Now, the real question on all our minds should be this: What the hell are we doing? We are scrambling to fight this guy we know nothing about; we don't know what he is doing, and we have no idea what his intentions are. So why are we risking our lives for this?"
"Because the boss said if this guy got too powerful, there would be no one to stop him," Roger answered.
"But how does he know that?" Sebastian put down his scotch. "Our fearless leader must know something he isn't telling us. This is too much ambiguity. Something isn't right. They know us better than we know ourselves. And we know even less about them."
"You hit the nail on the head, Doc," Roger said, releasing me.
"You guys need a new leader," I said.
Silence.
"None of us knows exactly what is happening," Donovan murmured, self-doubt creeping in.
"Who the fuck cares?" I snapped. "If Capital Punishment tries to hurt someone, you guys go in with one of you leading the charge. Hell to Quantum Knight and his wild goose chases. You guys are better off without him. Tell me I'm lying."
Roger smiled grimly. "You aren't lying. But..."
"But what?"
Donovan shook his head. "This new foe… he is only getting stronger. If he keeps getting more powerful, I don't see us beating him. With or without Quantum Knight."
"Jesus, you guys are hopeless!"
Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn’t productive. We need to assess what we do have, not fixate on losing."
"Oh, we lost?" Roger’s laugh was sharp. "We didn’t lose, Sebastian. We got outplayed. Capital Punishment knew we were coming."
Donovan shifted beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. I could feel his body go rigid. He hated this.
Johnny threw his hands up. "Okay, genius, how’d he know? You think he’s got a crystal ball?"
"Or a mole," Sebastian said quietly.
The word hung there, toxic.
Matt’s eyes narrowed. "You're accusing someone?"
Sebastian didn’t flinch. "I’m stating a possibility."
Roger’s smile was all teeth. "Yeah. Which one of us would do that?"
My spine locked up.
Johnny’s expression shuttered. "Oh, come on. The only one of us not there was Quantum Knight. It was his orders that led us there."
"He brought us together," Sebastian argued. "He wouldn't organize us just so he could destroy us."
I stepped forward. "I like how you all are upset with Quantum Knight keeping secrets from you. Now you all know how I feel that none of you will tell me why I am really here."
Roger didn’t back down. "That's different."
"It's really not, dude," Johnny shot back.
Sebastian’s eyes were on me, dark and unreadable. "We have a lot to sort out. Emotions are running too high."
Donovan looked up. "So, what’s the plan?"
Roger looked at him like he was insane. "The plan? The plan is we figure out how the hell he knew we were coming."
"And then?" I asked.
"And then we stop him," Matt said simply.
Johnny snorted. "Oh, sure. Just stop the guy who’s always ten steps ahead. No problem."
"Enough!"
The word cracked through the room like a whip. All eyes turned to me.
I hadn’t meant to yell. But the way they were circling each other was stupid. Childish.
"You’re all acting like this is the first time Capital Punishment has outmaneuvered you," I said, stepping forward. "Newsflash: he’s better at this than you are. He plans. He anticipates. And right now, he’s laughing because you’re in here tearing each other apart instead of fixing it."
Roger’s jaw clenched, the muscles feathering under his skin. "You don’t know that."
"I know him," I shot back. "Better than any of you. The day I was taken, Victor, my boss, the man I hate more than anything, said exactly this. He told my whole department that you lacked a true leader. He spoke about you like you were messy children playing dress-up."
I stepped closer, my voice dropping, harder now. "As much as I despise the guy, he was right. Quantum Knight is a ghost, and you’re all flailing in his shadow. If you don’t get your shit together, Capital Punishment isn’t just going to beat you. He is going to bury you."
Silence. The kind that rang in your ears.
Then Johnny let out a low whistle. "Damn. Remind me never to piss you off, Weaver."
I ignored him, my gaze sweeping over the rest of them.
Matt stood like a statue, arms crossed, expression unreadable, but I saw the tension in his shoulders. Sebastian’s academic mask was slipping, revealing something raw and frustrated beneath the polish. Roger’s pride was warring with the sinking realization that I wasn’t wrong.
And Donovan. Donovan stood just behind me, his presence a quiet, steady warmth at my back, the only one who didn’t look like he wanted to punch something.
"So," I said, my voice softer now, "what’s the real plan?"
Johnny groaned, dragging a hand down his face, smearing soot across his cheek. "Maybe we should crash and figure this out in the morning. My brain feels like scrambled eggs."
Sebastian exhaled, the fight draining out of him all at once. He looked old suddenly. "Tomorrow will be better. And perhaps Mandie is right. We need to have a serious discussion about a change in leadership."
Roger nodded, sharp and final. "And we figure out how the hell they knew we were coming."
"Agreed," Matt rumbled.
Johnny threw his hands up. "Fine. But if we’re doing this, we’re doing it smart. No more ‘charge in and hope for the best’ bullshit."
I watched them disperse, the adrenaline fading into exhaustion. I almost smiled. Almost.
But the truth was, they were going nowhere fast. Morning wouldn't change anything. Sunlight wouldn't burn away the rot at the center of this team. It wasn't just bad tactics holding them back. It was them.
I looked at Sebastian, turning away to pour another drink, drowning the guilt of the patient he couldn't save.
I looked at Matt, staring at his hands like they were weapons, terrified that he would never convince his daughter he was a good man.
I looked at Johnny, vibrating with restless energy, convinced he would never outrun his criminal past no matter how fast he moved.
I looked at Roger, the golden boy, terrified that deep down, he was more villain than hero.
And Donovan. Sweet Donovan, who could save the world but didn't know how to fight for it.
They were broken. All of them. Beautiful, powerful, and utterly paralyzed by their own ghosts.
The world needed them to save us. But first, someone needed to save them.
I watched them retreat into their separate corners of the Keystone, and I made a promise to myself.
I was going to be the one to do it.