[A/N]: I can't believe you lunatics actually did it — we've hit Rank 9! 🎉 Keep an eye out for the well-deserved 7 bonus chapters coming your way. And hey, let's not slow down now — keep those Power Stones coming so we can ride this momentum even higher! ⚡
As he reached his apartment, his phone was already in his hand.
"Bobby? I need you to bring supplies. Massive quantities."
"Christ, kid, what kind of supplies?" Bobby's gruff Brooklyn accent carried concern. "You sound like you're planning for World War Three."
"Food, drinks, medical supplies, toys for kids. Enough to feed a tunnel community." Jay unlocked his apartment door, moving toward his desk where maps of the city's underground lay scattered. "You know the one you've been handling for the past month. Time to cash in."
"Two hours? Jay, we sure it's time for—"
"Bobby." Steel entered Jay's voice. "We can't play it safe anymore. Trust me."
A long pause. Then Bobby's resigned sigh crackled through the speaker. "Alright. But you're gonna explain everything when I get there."
"Deal. And Bobby? Your codename—you mentioned wanting to use Lasso, right?"
"Yeah, Lasso," Bobby replied, his gruff tone warming with pride. "Short for Lasso of Truth, like the Wonder Woman you were telling us about in your stories. Figured it fits—I rope people in with the truth about 'em."
Jay smiled. "Perfect. See you in two hours."
ooOoo
The humid August air hung heavy around the 14th Street subway entrance. Late-night commuters hurried past, too absorbed in their phones to notice the man with the dolly stacked high with duffel bags and supply crates. Bobby checked his watch and adjusted the simple black mask covering most of his face, the fabric already sticking to his skin.
"Right on time," Jay announced, appearing beside him with his own mask in place—a sleek design covering everything except his eyes.
"Food for fifty people, basic medical supplies, enough toys to stock a daycare." Bobby gestured to the loaded dolly. "Plus some intel updates you're gonna want to hear. Some of this stuff wasn't easy to track down on short notice."
They navigated through the crowd toward a maintenance door marked with warning signs. Bobby produced a key card with practiced ease.
"Talk to me," Jay urged as they descended into the service tunnels.
"Domino's located. Currently on an assassination gig in Australia, but my contact says she's open to negotiation if the price is right." Bobby's voice echoed in the narrow corridor. "Felicia Hardy's different—she's still in high school, Jay. Kid's got potential seeing who are father is, but she's only seventeen. What exactly you planning with her?"
"Offer Domino triple her current pay to cancel the job and meet with me. For Felicia, just gather background intel for now. I want to know everything—family situation, interests, grades. You know I won't hurt the kid."
Bobby nodded, then paused at a junction in the tunnels. "Jay, before we go further... you sure it's time to cash in our goodwill? 'Cause if we do this, it'll change our whole network."
Jay just hummed.
The descent continued in silence, their footsteps echoing off concrete walls. As they went deeper, polished tiles and fluorescent lighting gave way to rough concrete lit by sporadic bulbs casting long shadows.
The transformation from subway maintenance area to living community happened gradually, then all at once. The smell hit first—cooking food, wood smoke, the scent of a community making do. Then sounds: children's laughter echoing off tunnel walls, conversation murmur, the distant clang of metal on metal.
"They've expanded since my last visit," Bobby observed, adjusting his grip as the tunnel widened into a vast underground chamber.
What lay before them was miraculous. The abandoned subway platform had become a thriving underground city. Makeshift homes from salvaged materials lined the walls, connected by catwalks and rope bridges. Gardens grew under improvised grow lights, tended by figures whose mutations had made them outcasts above.
"Lasso!" The cry came from everywhere as the Morlocks recognized Bobby. "Lasso's here!"
A woman with metallic skin like polished chrome rushed forward, genuine smile breaking across her face. "You're early this month. We weren't expecting—" She stopped mid-sentence, silver eyes fixing on Jay's masked form. "Who's your friend?"
Bobby straightened, falling into his role. "This is our sponsor. He's been funding our supply runs."
The word 'sponsor' rippled through the community like a stone in still water, creating expanding circles of whispered conversation and curious glances. Within moments, they were surrounded by figures that would have sent most surface dwellers screaming. A man whose skin hung in loose folds like melted wax. Children with scales, extra limbs, faces that defied conventional understanding.
Their leaders emerged from the crowd: Callisto, tall and scarred with enhanced senses; Masque, whose face was a grey canvas of flesh; and others whose mutations had made them rulers here and exiles above.
"So you're the mysterious benefactor," Callisto declared, her voice carrying authority, her enhanced hearing picking up Jay's steady heartbeat. "Lasso's mentioned you, but he's been tight-lipped about details. I don't appreciate mysteries when it comes to my people's safety."
"I prefer to let my actions speak," Jay replied, gesturing to the supplies.
The next hour was chaos as supplies got distributed. Jay found himself in the middle of it all, handing out medical supplies, watching Bobby coordinate food distribution with practiced efficiency.
But when the toys came out, something shifted.
The Morlock children had learned early to be cautious around strangers, their mutations often making them targets of fear and hatred. But something about this masked figure—the way he crouched to their eye level, spoke to each child with genuine interest, never flinched at their unusual features—made their wariness begin to melt.
"This one's for you," Jay told a young girl whose skin was covered in beautiful alien patterns. He handed her a kaleidoscope, watching her eyes widen as she held it to one of the tunnel lights. "Every time you turn it, you see something new."
"It's so pretty," she whispered, wonder in her voice, shifting patterns reflecting in her unusual eyes.
"Just like you," Jay replied simply.
The girl beamed, clutching the kaleidoscope, and Jay felt something tighten in his throat at the pure joy on her face.
Moving through the crowd with purpose, he spotted his real target—a small figure hanging back, watching with intelligent eyes that seemed too old for his young face. Leech had positioned himself near a support pillar, close enough to observe but far enough to avoid accidental contact.
Jay approached slowly, pulling a wrapped package from his jacket. "Hey there. I brought something special, just for you."
Leech eyed him warily. At twelve, he'd learned that adults who paid him special attention usually wanted something—something to do with his power, something that never ended well. "What's that?"
"See for yourself." Jay offered the package carefully. "It's okay. I know what your power does, and it doesn't scare me."
The boy's dark eyes widened slightly. With careful fingers, he unwrapped the package to reveal a handheld electronic game.
"The batteries are rechargeable, and I included extra games," Jay explained, settling cross-legged to bring himself to Leech's eye level. "Thought you might get bored with just one."
"Why'd you bring me this?" The question came out barely above a whisper, suspicion and hope warring in his voice.
"Because everyone deserves to have fun," Jay answered simply.
Something in his tone reached the boy, because Leech took a small step closer. "Are you like us? Different?"
"Very different," Jay confirmed. "But I'm learning that different doesn't have to mean alone."
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