Shoutout to the [Member Of Nobility]: SotoriUhska, Christopher Treadway
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-CHAPTER 6: Greg V-
Greg had found out that it was especially difficult to try and tone down his senses after the procedure.
"HELP!"
"N-no!"
"Please god!"
"Mama! Papa! Where are you?!"
"My baby!"
It was pure torture… To be able to listen to people cry, pray, yell and take their last breaths.
To be able to hear it all… Yet despite my new strength- be unable to save them in time.
It was a slap in the face by the harsh reality… That even with the power to turn boulders to dust with just the strength of my arms; I could not- and would not -be able to save everyone…
It made me grit my teeth, and clench my fists in frustration but I could not do anything but suffer in silence and try to save as many people as I could.
The realist in me knew that sooner or later this day inevitably would've come. And I was disgusted at myself for all feeling glad that it had come sooner and not later.
At what cost? That was the thought that kept echoing around in my mind.
But I swallowed it down. The anger, disgust and hate. Now was not the time, I had people to rescue… People who had just gone through something almost life shattering. They did not deserve to put up with my problems when they already had enough on their plate…
So I tried to embody the likes of the greatest superheroes I knew. Superman, All Might, Captain America and Spider-Man. Trying to act like them and give people some hope.
I don't know if I was any good at it though- I had never done something like this ever before. So I kept it short and just quietly rescued people with the help of the brave first responders and emergency services.
Finally… After what felt like hours, but was actually nothing less than twenty minutes, I was done.
I could not hear a single cry nor someone breathing beneath the destroyed debris. Either because they had been rescued or because they had passed on…
I sighed and ran a hand down on my face, wiping off the sweat after I handed off the last person to an EMT. I looked back at the destruction around the area.
The fires were still ongoing even though the firefighters were hosing it down.
The nurses and doctors that were stretched thin but yet were hard at work as they tried their best to save people.
And… The pointed, yet hushed whispers from those around him.
"Did you see how he lifted up that boulder? It was like it was not hard for him at all!" An amazed voice says.
"Of course, it wasn't! I'm willing to bet that he's a Cape!" Retorts a skeptical and harsh voice.
"That will be a losing bet Harvey. We all saw him rescue more than hundreds of people in no less than twenty minutes! There is no way he isn't a cape!" Replies a mature sounding person.
Had it been just twenty minutes!? It was mind boggling. And I had not even noticed how many people I had rescued!
Are my extra senses affecting me that much? Testing and learning to control my new capabilities just became number one on my priority list.
"Still to think someone so young could be so powerful…" Says the previously amazed voice.
"Blows your mind, doesn't it?" Comments another person.
"Still…" The voice turns into worry. "Isn't it dangerous for him to show his powers without a mask?"
"Eh, it'll be nothing!" says the harsh voice. "The kid chose this himself! And New Wave does this all the time! I'm sure that the PRT would welcome him with open arms!"
-A pat on the back brings my focus out from snooping on that conversation. I turned back to look at the person- recognizing her as the acting leader of the police officers here, and one of rescuers that had supported me in rescuing the victims. Standing alongside her were a group of police officers.
She was a short woman of Latin American origins, with beautiful olive skin, full lips and curvy body which clearly had some muscle. The police uniform she was wearing as well as the confidence she exuded made her cut a striking figure.
Seeing me look curiously at them, she smiles kindly and reassures me. "Don't worry too much kid. You did well out there."
Did I look worried or something? Looking back… Yeah, standing alone and staring into nothing in the middle of ground zero would look worrying to a bystander.
I stood up straighter and nodded. "Thank you ma'am."
"Lopez. I am Lieutenant Lopez." She introduces herself.
I smile and shake her hand in return. "I'm Greg."
Her eyes gain a pitying gaze as she flicks them to look at the whispering trio who I was snooping on, soon frowning and gaining a determined gaze. "Don't worry kid. None of us would tell anybody about how you look." She says, receiving determined and approving nods from the rest of the police officers- even some reluctant ones from a few other bystanders.
And that was when I noticed that ever since our conversation started basically every set of eyes in the makeshift camp were upon us. The lieutenant of the Police and the unknown and unmasked Cape that had rescued a lot of people…
It was almost a recipe for a tabloid article. Still, it puts peer pressure for everyone to just agree to her words if just to not stand out.
Still, I was not naïve enough to think that this would stop my identity from going public. That ship had sailed long ago.
She then continues pointedly. "And I'm pretty sure the people you rescued wouldn't do it either." The trio whose conversation I was snooping on looked down in shame.
Did she misunderstand and think I was worried about that?
I smiled, grateful for their support but- "It's alright ma'am. If I cared about being 'unmasked' then I wouldn't have jumped into the fire in the first place. And… with the changes to my body it was going to be a stretch to hide it anyways."
I had made peace with this fact long before I had even gone through the procedure. And it did not worry me at all. It wasn't like I- or Greg –had someone that we really cared about whose life could be in danger.
And plus, villains in this city- even the PRT in a way -especially did not care about the secret identities and had canonically gone after each other in their 'civilian identities'.
So in a way, it was better for the paper shield to be removed before I got dependent on it.
The only thing that was on my mind was… how troublesome everything would get now. Public gaze and scrutiny would be on my every action even if I didn't continue this hero thing.
And without a doubt everything will change. I did not have the advantage of preparing for my unmasking, it had happened earlier than I wanted to but I was ready to roll with the punches.
If my canon knowledge holds right… Then Lung would free by now and then… a few days later all the Gangs will hold a meeting at Somer's Rock- a low end bar somewhere in the city. That's my deadline to make the Omnitrix usable.
Lieutenant Lopez smiled and nodded at my reply. "That's true. I'm glad that you helped Greg but rest now." She says a little forcefully. "You have helped enough. Rescue efforts would go on and support and reinforcements are going to be arriving soon. Take a rest for a few hours."
I wanted to argue with her, but she was right. I have done the best I could and saved everyone that I was able to. I couldn't hear anyone anymore, yet that did not exactly mean that there was no one, just that I could not locate them using my senses…
But… I was too tired. Mentally especially. It had been a long day- too long in my opinion. And my body and mind demanded rest. I'll return a few hours later… Maybe someone could be trapped deep below who they would be able to rescue… These guys are the experts in this right? They must have some kind of equipment for this.
Still, I could not rest until I had given it my all. So…
"Okay, lieutenant." I nodded to her and started moving towards the medical tent with determined purpose.
But-
I guess me agreeing to her demands without protest was unexpected to her because she ran after me. "H-hey! Wait! Where are you going!? Slow down!"
I looked down at her 5'5 frame. Standing in front of me and trying to slow me down- a person who had demonstrated that he could lift boulders the size of a car without breaking a sweat. Honestly, she's a little cute. If I was my past self I would not be against taking her out for dinner. Unfortunately, I was inside the body of a 15 year old now and there was absolutely no way she would be ready to go out on a date with a minor.
Still, she was a good person. So I decided that giving her a small explanation and assurance wasn't going to hurt me. I smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry officer. I agree that I have done all I can in rescuing people… But people can still be saved." I said pointedly looking towards the stretched thin medical crew.
Lopez gained a look of realization on her face then gained a serious look. "Are you sure you can help them?"
I looked back into her eyes resolutely and nodded. "A hundred percent."
She chewed on her lips for a few seconds before nodding resolutely. "Okay." Then she grabbed me by my hand and marched up with me to the medical tent.
It was chaos, even more than what it looked from outside. The smells of blood, ammonia and death almost overwhelmed my senses. There were many patients left unattended because of the low number of medical professionals. Many nurses were actually treating two or more patients at the same time while the doctors tried to save the critical cases.
But we didn't stop there. Lopez grips my hand and instantly marches up to a senior aged man in white coat, with fully grey hair and beard who was conversing furiously with another man in a white coat.
"What do you mean the rest of the doctors are on a holiday!? It's an emergency for Christ's sake! Call them back!" Shouted the grey haired man.
"And I'm telling you that they won't make it back on time!" Tiredly replied the younger doctor, his shoulders slumped. "For at least 24 hours it's going to be just us here."
"My god…" The older doctor's face becomes dire. "We don't have enough people to operate on all the injured…" Then catches sight of us and instantly straightens up. "Officer Lopez." He nods.
"Dr. Croft." She nods back. "I've brought help." And I step up.
"Ah yes, the hero boy!" The older man gains a small smile on his face but it becomes dimmed as he is reminded of the dire situation they were in. "What can I do for you?"
"I hear you're low on medical staff. While I can't do anything to help with that, I can buy you enough time to help these people." I go straight to the point, discounting the arrow that hit my heart when I heard him call me 'hero boy'.
I hope that isn't official or something. And if it is, then I hope that it doesn't catch on…
He frowns, flicking his eyes to Officer Lopez and then back to me. "Look kid, I know and understand that you're a cape and grateful that you helped rescue these people but you're not Panacea and whatever you do would be untested and could have side effects on the patients. I cannot allow you to do that to them."
Frustration threatened to bloom in my heart but I tempered it. I had expected this, but I would not back down. "You're right Dr. Croft. You don't know me, and you don't know what methods I will use to heal the injured. But, you must also acknowledge the undeniable truth." I looked him straight in the eyes.
"The whole city was bombed by some unknown party. The police, firefighters, EMTs, even the PRT. Everyone is stretched as thin as a thread and if we don't do anything right now then a lot of people will die. Not because they were bombed but because they weren't able to get treatment on time." I took a deep breath and showed him my watch- it glowing green slightly as if it enjoyed being acknowledged. "With this I can repair a person's body enough that they would no longer be in a critical situation. Allowing medical personnel to focus on other patients too. It isn't full proof, it doesn't regenerate blood and can't bring back lost arms or legs, but it will correct broken bones, heal wounds and even organs. And save a lot of lives that would be lost."
They looked at me and my watch with wide eyes of surprise, wonder and slight skepticism.
"You don't know me, but you know of my deeds. You don't know me, but you know that I want to help people… You know I have been unmasked because of this tragedy so whatever the consequence of my action, it will follow me for my whole life… So I ask this of you, Dr. Croft. Please let me help you save people." I genuinely requested him.
Dr. Croft looked at me with a stoic face, barely showing any emotions on his face but his eyes… They showed me the complicated feeling bubbling inside of him.
But he's not fully convinced yet… I bit my cheek internally and stepped forward to give another speech-
"I'm willing to take responsibility if this goes wrong." My head whipped as I looked back at Officer Lopez in surprise. Why is she willing to go that far for someone she's just met not an hour ago?
"Why?" I asked her, my eyes wide.
She smiles, her eyes holding the weight of a hundred tons. "This isn't the first time I was leading a search and rescue operation Greg. I've seen things… I've lived through the horrors that those who lived through these disasters go through. How they try and hope that someone will get to them in time… And how many die before we even reach them."
She takes a deep breath. "But today… Today was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Today, a kid barely the age of my younger brother stepped up and rescued hundreds of people and saved even more lives from a tragedy that would shape their lives. Not caring one bit about the risk to his own health or even identity. You took the action because it was the right thing to do." She then looks me in the eyes. "And that… to me makes you a hero that I'll be willing to trust with my life."
I looked at her speechless. Had I made that much of an impact in a few hours? That someone would trust me with their life?
"I-I don't know what to say." I let out, utterly overwhelmed. But gratefully I continued. "Thank you." I smiled at her and she nodded back.
Dr. Croft lets out a huge sigh, slumping down in both tiredness and relief. "You guys really make it hard for a man to retort without making him sound like an asshole."
I winced and guiltily apologised. It was a bit manipulative… "I'm sorry doctor."
He shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it." He then takes a deep breath and continues. "I'll allow you to do your thing… And the responsibility will be mine."
I looked at him in surprise and he chuckled ruefully. "After working so long in this industry, if I cannot even take responsibility for my patients and own decisions then I would have failed as a doctor." He smiled weakly. "I don't fully trust you hero boy, you'll have to earn it but… I'll trust the respect and admiration that people hold for you."
I let out a breath and looked at him with deep emotions. "You won't regret this."
He looks back with the same. "I hope so too."
"So uh… what do you need?" Asks the assistant doctor that I had almost forgotten was there too.
"HAH!" Lopez jumped in surprise. Looks like I wasn't the only one who forgot he was there.
I stifled the laughter that was bubbling within me and started. "Okay, so I need you to gather everyone in one place…"
…
It took three minutes.
Three minutes for Dr. Croft, his assistant and the rest of the medical group to gather all the patients in one large clearing.
It also took me three minutes to make a slight modification to the Patchbody Program that would extend its "patching field" for upto 20 meters around me. Once again, it was just programming the DNA changing energy of the Omnitrix to work in a slightly different way so it wasn't hard and didn't require any additional materials except for a radio antenna which I easily jammed into the watch with some duct tape and screws.
Once again, Tinker powers don't make sense for shit.
Lopez meanwhile communicated with her cops to make the operation smoother for everyone.
We were on a time crunch here, as every second wasted could mean that someone could die. I had also not helped things by telling them not to cut the normally unrecoverable limbs of the victims as Patchbody could heal them. But that meant that they would lose blood in the meantime…
Finally almost every patient had been jammed inside the biggest tent they had, the only ones that were not here were those that didn't have a life threatening injury.
Unfortunately, even after twenty or something minutes the Omnitrix had only recharged to 95% of its full charge. That was the primary reason I had insisted on all of the patients being in the same place. That way I could heal them all in one swoop and save some energy for emergencies.
So without wasting any time I got to work. I nodded to both Dr. Croft and Officer Lopez before stepping in the middle of the tent- as per my instructions those with more critical injuries were the closest to the centre while the ones with less dire injuries were by the back.
Patchbody would work better for those who were closer to me. It was an unfortunate flaw in its design.
"Patchbody: Activate." I commanded as my watch beeps green.
"Program: Patchbody Activated!" The metallic and alien sound from my watch responds. "Scanning Host… No Injuries Found! Scanning Host Vicinity…! Multiple Critical Injuries Detected! Commence Program: Patchbody?"
"Yes." I replied as the onlookers looked on in interest.
Sparks~!
"Program: Patchbody Activated!" A wave of green electricity burst out of my watch, washing over every injured person in the room in a heartbeat.
ZING~!
CRACK!
POP!
CRACK!
"Ah!"
"Ow!"
"Eep!"
Multiple shouts and yells of pain fill the tent as people's bones, limbs and all injuries are healed on the spot, and seeing that I let out a sigh of relief- now utterly spent.
"I'm so glad that worked." I muttered under my breath but couldn't stop myself from smiling.
"You did it!" Officer Lopez comes around and slaps me on the back encouragingly.
Dr. Croft looks at everyone with a critical eye, but after making sure that the green wave did what it was supposed to, he lets out a deep exhale before turning towards me and nodding with a smile. "Good work kid."
It didn't take long for people's pain to turn into joy. It would feel pretty wondrous to be healed of something critical in an instant…
Once again, Greg couldn't stop himself from smiling as he saw the joyful faces of people.
For the first time in a while tonight, things were looking up a little bit. But the work was still to be done, there were still many injured left and maybe even a few civilians that weren't rescued from the rubble…
Yet, Greg had reached his limit. He at least needed to take an hour of rest lest he becomes a liability on the field.
I'll take a break for an hour then get back at it. I promised myself. Patchbody was a real boon here and it would be a shame if I didn't use it to do good.
And not to mention some reinforcements and support would also come soon so things would get much easier-
BOOOOOOOM!
-A loud sound of an explosion echoed through the tent and instantly people jumped, terrified that the bombing had started again…
But he quickly noticed… This… this wasn't the sound of an explosion.
He shared a quiet look with both Lopez and the doctor before they hurriedly rushed out of the tent and he saw-
Everything went to hell.
BOOOOM!
CRAASH!!
A falling goliath of steel and fire crashed directly on top of a nearby small building that had managed to survive the bombing with little damage and instantly collapse it whole.
BOOOM!
The dust and rocks flew out of the collapsed building as people ducked and ran screaming.
"SCREEECH!"
Shivers~
But then a terrible and screeching roar of anger filled the clearing as everyone froze in their tracks.
Fire, terrible hot fire bloomed into existence. Illuminating the monstrous and dragon-like figure of the most infamous Cape in the city.
The Dragon of Kyushu had arrived.
"ROOOOAAAARRR!" The metallic dragon roared as fire surged around him as he wrestled a dog-like creature with bone spikes and armor running out of its muscular flesh.
Things had officially gone from bad to nightmarish. And I was straight in the middle of them all…
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A/N: This chapter got a bit large but I didn't want to end it halfway through, so sorry if it feels slow. This chapter also tells you how WORM likes to escalate things out of nowhere, I just felt inspired by that. The next chapter will show behind-the-stage stuff and basically explain what happened for things to take a turn like this and then… Big monster fight it is. Hope you liked this.
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[EDITED FOR SPELLING MISTAKES]
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3796 Words
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