Dozens were captured. They were spread across multiple vehicles, all trying to leave Gotham from different exit points. Some of the potential escapees were sent straight behind bars, while others were taken to get medical attention due to combat injuries. Among those numbers, a few were given special treatment.
Five mind-controlled victims were rescued from the escaping vehicles and placed under protection. At some point while they were in temporary accommodation, all of them suffered severe migraines, high fevers, and bled from their eyes and noses. Similar cases were reported throughout Gotham, though the intensity of the symptoms varied between individuals.
Most of these cases were concentrated around properties owned by the Donovan family. Even their matriarch and patriarch were affected, leaving their eldest child—the only one left unharmed—to manage everything that was left in the crisis that followed the incidents.
As news of the sudden simultaneous outbreak spread across the city, Commissioner Gordon went live on television to make a statement. He told the press that he and his officers, as well as a group of anonymous collaborators, had already apprehended the one responsible: the Donovan family's youngest, Aleck Donovan.
In addition to that statement, he presented them with evidence that had been gathered during the past month. Every single piece of it tied Aleck to numerous criminal operations that had been uprooted in that period. Moreover, he gave over proof that Aleck was a metahuman that could control people's minds. As such, his family was labeled as victims, which saved them from further scrutiny—besides his sister, Sandra who was somehow exempt from his direct control.
Due to Aleck's deep and personal involvement in the human trafficking department of his operations, the commissioner implied that the following trial would only be a formality. That he would end up in Blackgate Penitentiary was inevitable.
"Commissioner!" One of the present journalists piped up in the middle of Gordon's speech. "Many of Gotham's people, even in this crowd, are demanding that we push for the death penalty, even against our laws. Every time an arrest as big as this is made, this sort of thing happens. What do you have to say to that?"
Gordon fixed the journalist a sharp gaze. "While I don't disagree with this opinion, there is only so much that can be done," he replied. "But... in this case, I don't believe that an execution will be necessary."
"How come?" asked the journalist. "Do the victims not matter? What about their families? The rest who were indirectly affected?"
"Like I said," Gordon insisted, glaring sternly. "An execution won't be necessary where Donovan is going. That is all."
৹ ◎ ◉ ◎ ৹
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
[[ Quest: Retribution ]]
Description: The one responsible for many of the evils you have seen and vanquished is close at hand. Hunt him down and bring him to justice. Do not let anything get in your way
Time Limit: Until the targets escape.
Objectives:
[1] Defeat Aleck Donovan's right hand man, Ricardo Arnaldo Orwell.
[2] Defeat Aleck Donovan before he can escape Gotham.
[Optional 1] Kill Ricardo Arnaldo Orwell.
[Optional 2] Kill Aleck Donovan.
Penalties:
• Objective [1] failed: no rewards. Suffer temporary weakness.
• Objective [2] failed: no rewards. Radiate a baleful aura.
Rewards:
[1] 1,500 EXP; one C-grade item or one Intermediate non-class ability of your choosing.
[2] 2,000 EXP; one C-grade item or one Intermediate non-class ability of your choosing.
[Optional 1] 1.500 EXP.
[Optional 2] 2,000 EXP.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
This was the quest that Lucian was given while chasing after Aleck earlier.
He'd succeeded in both mandatory objectives and received his rewards for them. He even racked up 160 EXP each for the rabble that he ended up taking down in the process, which was a great bonus. His total EXP rewards reached 3,820, which was more than enough to level him up. This also left him with 5,035 more EXP before his next level.
As for his secondary rewards, he picked up another Blink Blade. It would be a dagger when wielded as the Phantom for a thrown option, and a jagged greatsword for the Manticore, as Stinger was already its tail. As for the other secondary reward, he took a non-class ability for the first time. His choice was an Intermediate ability called [Inertia Cancel].
He chose that because making sudden turns was too difficult at the speeds he could go. This was proven earlier, during the fight against Aleck and Orwell. Making any sharp or abrupt turns took more effort and energy than he would've liked. Now, with [Inertia Cancel], he should be able to change directions on a dime without having to absorb the impact of his own momentum first.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
Host: Lucian Albrecht
Titles: Vengeful Guardian
Matrix: Quirk User: One for All
Level: 22
Classes [Brawler - Level 5] ; [Acrobat - Level 5] ; [Criminal - Level 5] ; [Monk - Level 1] ; [Magician - Level 1] ; [Unassigned - 5]
-[Attributes]-
Power: 57 ››› 60 [159]
Vitality: 57 ››› 60 [159]
Agility: 57 ››› 59 [157]
Intellect: 35 ››› 36
Mentality: 35 ››› 36
Spirit: 35 ››› 36
Luck: 1
Free Attribute Points: 0
New Non-Class Ability!
• Inertia Cancel:
With a small flex of your mind, you can arrest all of your momentum in an instant, allowing you to immediately stop moving no matter how fast you were going. This ability only affects you, your equipment, and whatever you are carrying in your hands.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
After ruining Aleck's face and slamming him headfirst into the ground, Lucian left with a roar of triumph. He took to the skies and landed somewhere secluded to channel his ki. His chest injury was still very much present, so he accelerated his healing until it stopped throbbing with pain. By the time he was done, what was left of Orwell's lifeforce in his system had been consumed.
"Alright." He got up and stretched every which way, popping enough joints to make bubble wrap jealous. "Oracle, you there?"
"I read you, Kit-kat."
"Woo, nicknames. Anyway... now that my chest's fully healed, where's Wraith at? I need to check on her."
"About that..." She paused. "Wraith's friend had an incident. Have you caught up with the news?"
"No," Lucian replied. "I was kinda stuck healing myself for a bit. Tell me what happened."
Oracle relayed everything that occurred as a consequence of Lucian giving Aleck a monumental head injury.
"Shit... which hospital did Red Hood take them to?" he then followed.
"West Mercy again. Wraith came with them as a civilian, though she's not allowed in while the doctors work on the victims. She's outside right now. You should hurry."
Lucian got up, and once again pushed One for All and his lifeforce. "Thanks. I'll be out for the rest of the night, then."
৹ ◎ ◉ ◎ ৹
Maxie took a deep breath. 'Tammy's gonna be fine,' she told herself. Over and over, she spoke this in her mind. Her faith in the mantra dwindled with every repetition.
She wasn't sure what happened, but believed she had a good grasp on it. Aleck had put Tammy in a deep and constant state of mind control for years. Then, all of a sudden, that connection was cut.
'If you look at it a certain way, what happened was probably like ripping a tree out of the ground. Fuck...'
She leaned her elbows on her knees, chewing at her lip while hiding her face behind her knuckles.
'Deep breaths, Max. Deep and steady breaths. Just like Spoiler taught you.'
She closed her eyes to concentrate. It didn't help. All that closing her eyes managed to do was remind her of what even brought her there in the first place. One moment, Tammy was sleeping peacefully on a spare bed. The next, she was awake, her entire body convulsing. She hacked and gagged as blood streamed from her eyes and nose.
The worst of it for Maxie was being so close to Tammy as she tried to help, only to achieve nothing. She could still remember the ungodly noises that she heard. The feeling of that light, thin body shaking in her arms. All she could do in the end was hold her and scream for anyone to help.
Then, the hospital. She didn't even remember going into that car. The trip back to West Mercy didn't register. She only came back to the real world when she felt feedback on her fist. In her daze, she ended up punching away one of the nurses who were trying to keep her out of the emergency room.
She felt disgusted with herself as she ran. It was her scarred hand that made that blow. The one she had given herself, that solidified her resolve to fight against the city's corruption like Lucian did.
'That should've gone to protecting someone,' Maxie admonished herself. 'Look what you did with it. You hurt someone just trying to do the same thing as you. What the fuck are you even here for?'
And that was why she was outside the hospital. Out on the curb, sitting on a broken television, having seen herself out of the building after what she'd done. She didn't even know if anyone chased after her to take her in for assault.
Out from the darkness came a set of footsteps.
Startling, Maxie's heart rate spiked. One of her hands flew to her pocket where the Telescopic Blade lay hidden. Eyes bloodshot, she stared out into the shadows and saw a figure there, whose hands were raised in a placatory gesture.
"Max," called a familiar voice. "It's just me."
Her hand left her pocket. She rushed to her feet, stumbling. Lucian was with her before she could even brace, and he helped her stay on her toes.
"I heard what happened," he said.
His voice sounded so... sad. Like he felt what she did. This broke her. She hugged him tight, hands clutching at the back of his clothes like she was trying to tear them open. Tears fell from her eyes, and her mouth gaped in a silent scream.
His arms tenderly wrapped around her, holding her head to his chest. He pulled her into a dark alley where he swaddled her with his tendrils and raised his body temperature.
"You're gonna be okay," he whispered. "Tammy's gonna be fine, too. You just have to believe."
...
It took an hour for Maxie to be calm enough to separate. Even then, she wouldn't move. She just that there on the cold ground, unwilling to leave her hiding spot.
"I hurt someone, Luce..." Her voice was muted. It was barely even a breath—more like a small wheeze forced out of her windpipe.
He leaned his head against the wall behind them both. "You were worried."
A hiccup pulled itself out of her. "I still shouldn't have done that."
He turned his head to look at her. Curled up into a little ball, she kept her eyes on her sleeves. "I'm sure the nurse would understand," he said.
"... maybe," she replied. "I just... it just feels like I keep failing whatever the fuck I try to do..."
Lucian breathed out his nose. "Well... if anything, success isn't all that good of a teacher," he said slowly. Then, he stood up. "Come on. Let's go back in there."
Maxie hugged her arms tighter around herself. She stared up at him after a beat, then his outstretched arm. With her scarred hand, she accepted it and let him help her up.
"Can you do the talking for me?" she asked, deciding not to hold it in.
"I will," he replied and pulled her close. "Now, let's go. Tammy would wanna see you if she wakes up soon."
৹ ◎ ◉ ◎ ৹
A chandelier hung from a vaulted stone ceiling, glowing with a soft, warm light. It casted life onto the grey stone bricks that made up the chamber's walls. Sconces jutted out from the rounded pillars that supported the structure, and cold moonlight filtered in from every tall window.
Roman sat on a plush leather chair at the head of a long table. It was turned to face the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out towards Gotham City. The Sionis estate was isolated. Distant. Much like the Waynes' property near the city's border, it was separated from that rotten cesspool.
Leather shoes clicked against the polished marble floor in a slow, relaxed rhythm. Approaching the table behind Roman was a bald man in a lab coat. That man's eyes, smoldering with gleeful malice, were hidden behind small round glasses that reflected the mingled lights. The beard that decorated his jaw poked outward like dense thorns, completing his visage of perpetual menace.
"Strange," Roman greeted without so much as turning.
"It's ready," the scientist replied, ever-grinning. "One of your plants managed to steal a blood sample from Donovan's transport. Extracting the meta-gene was a simple matter."
Roman finally turned, his chair rotating slowly and without noise. "Ensure that it works," he commanded. "You haven't tested his strain yet. I won't settle for half-measures."
Hugo Strange clenched his teeth, laughing through them. "That boy would've lived much longer if he acted more like you." He walked further until he was beside Sionis, and placed a glowing blue vial before him. "And here's something that the doctors collected for us when the rabble's implants were... partially removed. I have other samples in my lab. Feel free to admire it, or use it as a nightlight."
With that, Strange left, leaving Roman all alone in the hall once again.
"Blue Venom," he mumbled lowly. "Less power than Bane's formula, but it retains the mind... interesting. I'll see if I can't equip my own forces with this."
He rose from his seat, gingerly holding the vial between his thumb and index finger. Raising it, he held it over the full moon, visible only outside of Gotham's densely-packed landscapes.
"Maybe Dorrance can be useful here... between myself, Strange, and him, our mutual hatreds of the Bat would surely be... satisfied."
He turned, leaving to retire to his bedroom. "Ah, but then there's that new thing to worry about," he mused aloud, more entertained than concerned. "Man-Eater, some people call him. I should see if he has a price."
৹ ◎ ◉ ◎ ৹
Maxie fell asleep at some point during the night, but Lucian stayed awake. When Bailey called in the late hours to ask why they weren't home, he conjured a story for why it was.
The tale was easy to weave with his accelerated mind. Half the facts would have been enough. Tammy had an emergency as one of the victims of the recent incident. He and Maxie were awake and could come, and so they did. Nobody would ever question their presence—Maxie had been tied at the hip with Tammy since their freshman years in high school.
During that call, Bailey was heated, though not at either Lucian or Maxie. She herself had always disapproved of Tammy's relationship with Aleck. However, as she was only the sister of a friend, she could never say so directly. Then, seeing as Tammy was never herself during that period, Bailey felt guilty about her personal feelings on the matter.
In the end, she set all of that aside. She was only glad that her baby sister was alright, and that Tammy was finally free of whatever hell she might have been living in for years. As for Brodie, he didn't talk. Exhausted as he was from working for nine full hours for the first time, he collapsed into bed the moment he got home.
...
Morning came. As there were no living relatives who could come for Tammy and Joseph, they settled with breaking the news to the young couple who stayed there all night for the patients.
Physically, Joseph was fine. He had even woken up already. With his injuries, all he would need is some time, and to keep physical activity to a minimum to give his body a chance to recover.
Tammy was in a far worse situation.
Malnourished as she had been for years, the toll that the sudden psionic rip had taken on her was immense. Numerous blood vessels burst, and parts of her nervous system were fried. What little muscle she had was also being cannibalized by her own body just to feed its recovery.
The people working on her doubled and even tripled their efforts just to get her to survive.
Even worse still compared to her bodily injuries, her brain had effectively been scrambled by what she suffered. The doctors weren't sure how it would affect her recovery—if she could recover from it at all—and it was, by far, the most miraculous thing she had lived through.
It was a total medical nightmare and a veritable miracle at the same time.
Apart from extensive rehabilitation, the doctors predicted that Tammy would also have to go through psychiatric care as well.
Devastated by the news, Maxie retreated further into herself. Lucian, for his part, became resolved.
'Okay. We can still help. My lifeforce is potent, so I can help with her body if I can just figure out how. The toughest part would be her mind...'
[ I know what you're thinking. ]
'Would it work?'
[ Based on Academy records that the young mistress made you study... it's feasible. But for that, you'd have to sacrifice time somewhere to focus on developing a treatment. ]
'Worth it. I'll start tonight.'
—=—=—=—=—=—=—=—
[A/N]: Part 1 of vol. 1's ending. These chapters are where the narrative winds down and gears us up for what comes next. Where the dust settles and rain washes it over before another fire starts. Or maybe a storm would be coming instead.
Speaking of storms, this massive one's rolling over where I live. I'm not sure if it'll pass us over or wreck everything, so if this chapter comes late, shit's fucked and I had to delay.
Well, if you're reading this, at least you're sure I'm still alive.
Last chapter of vol. 1 next. See y'all there.