Chapter Seventeen: When you lose your head

Late in the night, the team heads out for a final climatic battle with the King and his cronies.

A phone ringing woke the pair up. Kris rolled over in bed to see what must have been Q’s cellphone. Large text read, “Paul,” while tinier text above it read, “3:00.” Kris grumbled as she answered it. “Morning Paul,” She answered coarsely.

             “Suit up,” Paul said, his voice distorted by being on speaker phone. “I’m going to pick you guys up in five.”

             “It’s the King?” Kris asked, sitting up and prodding Q.

             Kris slipped out of bed and Q hurried to get their photo in the living room. “Yeah, I heard his code on the police scanner,” Paul replied quickly. “He’s in his limousine on Tiburon Boulevard heading towards the highway.”

             “F**k,” Kris huffed. “Okay, see you soon.”

             Q reappeared in the room, transformed into their Hazel form with their costume already on. They took out Kris’s costume as she stripped. She put it on while whispering to Q, “Should we tell our guests that we’re stepping out?”

             Q rapidly shook their head. “Let’s not bother them.”

             Kris pulled her mask over her face before motioning for them to go. The duo snuck out of their apartment, not even locking the door behind them. The elevator arrived quickly. They stepped in and the door shut behind them. Coral glanced at Q before taking their hand. Q gave hers a squeeze, trying to assure her that everything was going to be all right even if they both had their doubts.

             They escaped the building without being noticed. Once outside, Coral let go of Q’s hand. She took off into the air, an easy way for her to ignore her trembling legs. She watched as a blue van sped up to the curb where Q waited. People seemed to pour out of the car as it rearranged itself. Letting Queen B drive, Ink got out and summoned his wings. He flew up to Coral and the van took off.

             “We’re going to find the King’s limo by air and direct Queen where to go,” He said hastily, gaining height.

             Coral followed him as he gracefully zoomed towards the highway. They easily left the van behind them. The city below blurred into dazzling pockets of light amongst swatches of darkness. Ink slowed down along the Tiburon that looked like a landing strip as it neared the highway. “Do you see it?” Coral asked nervously.

             If they were too late, they wouldn’t know whether the limo went north or south. They stopped over the center of the highway, scanning the eight-lane expanse of asphalt. “I see taillights heading southbound,” Ink declared. “I’m going to check it out.”

             “How do you expect to go sixty with your derpy, angel wings?” Coral joked.

             Ink clicked his tongue and expanded his wings, having them double in size. He flapped vigorously, speeding up. Coral reluctantly shadowed him, hiding underneath him where his wings wouldn’t hit her. Her surprise and dread grew as they gained on the vehicle, which was revealed to be the limo. “They must be going, what? Forty?” Coral commented, looking at Ink.

             Ink shrugged, pulling out his phone and calling. “Eon, they’re heading south. Keep you posted,” He said before hanging up.

             “Their only escape now is an exit,” Ink told Coral. “So, it’ll be easy to keep track of them.”

             “Why would they leave town?” Coral asked before realizing something. “They?”

             “He’s got lackeys,” Ink answered simply. “One’s got powers, one doesn’t.”

             “On a scale of one to me, how dangerous is the one with powers?”

             “Creates moss, so like a two?”

             “Huh.”

             Beneath them, the limo swerved into the left lane. It accelerated as it took an exit. Ink tilted his wings to glide into a turn. “That’s weird,” Ink commented before calling Eon. “Exit 299, heading east towards Mount Wy’east.”

             He hung up, explaining to Coral, “This road doesn’t go anywhere except the mountain.”

             Coral nodded, glancing behind her to see a car roaring into view. “Tell them to kill their headlights,” She hissed.

             “When they get off the highway,” Ink replied.

             They followed the limo for another few miles before it randomly pulled off the road into a field. It was big enough to hold several football fields, though its uneven hills, dips, and sporadic trees made it unsuitable for the task. The limo drove near the center before stopping. Ink motioned for Coral to get closer while he waited by the road to inform the team.

             Coral settled into a tree a few meters from where the limo parked. A pair got out of the front seats and swiftly glided to the back of the limo. One opened the door, while the other bowed, holding out a hand for the King to use. He seemed to grip it tightly, using his servant to launch himself out of the car. The man fell against the limo and the King walked away.

             He examined the area, dramatically turning his head left and right, before nodding. “This is where I shall build my palace!” He declared.

             He waved at the woman to get on with it and stepped back as she approached the center of the field. Coral kept an eye on the road where she soon saw the van pull up. It wasn’t completely silent, but the King was captivated by the task at hand. He also didn’t notice the person-sized shadow travel across the field and land in the tree alongside Coral.

             The flying duo watched in amazement as Moss worked. She paced a large rectangular route, moss creating a trail behind her. When she finished her first lap, all the moss had grown about shin-high. It was different than her normal moss. That moss that ate through materials looked like a carpet with short grass-like extensions; this appeared to be Spanish moss that had fibrous tendrils bind together and to the ground to prop themselves up as walls. She walked atop the short walls, her outheld hands encouraging it to grow higher.

             Regaining her ability to speak, Coral leaned closer to Ink. “What’s the plan?” She whispered.

             “You and I are going to charge at the King with earplugs in,” He muttered, his eyes fixed on the King. “Everyone else will take care of his assistants… One of my protégés is going to show up soon and that’ll be our cue.”

             “Protégé?”

             “She lives out here,” Ink explained. “And she has super speed, so she might be useful.”

             Coral glared down at the King who wandered closer to their tree. “I thought this was dangerous,” She mumbled, implying that a child shouldn’t be included in their plan.

             “Cheyenne might be our other ace in hole,” He admitted. “She could get close enough to silence him, but we gotta make sure she has an open path.”

             Coral tiredly rubbed her forehead, trying to alleviate a forming headache. Moss’s “palace” was near completion. She stood on a wall the same height as their tree. She stretched out her hands to create a steepled roof. In the time Coral blinked, leaves rustled and there was another person in their tree. She balanced between the two branches where the Coral and Ink crouched in wait. Ink held a finger to his lips.

             Thankfully, the King was focused on his forming palace. Ink whispered the plan to Cheyenne and pointed to a bush where Eon and Light hid. She saluted him silently and disappeared. A blur could be seen taking its long way around to field to reach the bush on the other side of the palace. “Alright, she’s in place,” Ink said, mostly to himself. “Earplugs in.”

             He reached in his pocket to pull out something. It hid in his hand and he pointed it above him, causing Coral to confusedly watch him. With a press of a button, a red laser beam flashed into the sky. Then he jumped.

             As he glided down, he could see Queen B tackling the orderly. She cuffed him as Q stuffed a cloth in his mouth. The King wouldn’t see that on the other side of his new building. Ink landed gently a few meters behind him. Coral touched down beside him. Everything was going to plan, so long as Light and Eon could discretely take out Moss.

             Feeling a rumble from the ground, Ink knew that the plan was out the window. The King gasped as Cheyenne appeared on the roof beside Moss. She swiftly swept his worker off her feet, dropping her to Light. Ink sprung forward as he faintly heard, “Hey!”

             He punched the King in the back of the head. The King tumbled forward. His scream of pain was easily audible, regardless of the earplugs. He rolled onto his back to face his opponent. Ink grabbed the front of his loose suit and struck his face again. The King’s head rolled back.

             Then he kicked Ink’s knee with what felt like the force of a horse. Ink collapsed with a tragic whimper. Coral rushed to his side, helping him get up. She slung his arm over her shoulder as the King quickly got control of the situation, throwing out commands. “You can hear me, you heathens!” He shrieked.

             Coral winced as his sharp voice exacerbated her headache. “Gather around me,” The King ordered, returning to his haughty, normal voice.

             Coral felt Ink pulled against her, his frame longing to be closer to the King. She sensed that urge in the back of her mind, somewhere under her splitting headache. She lurched forward with him as the rest of the team surrounded the King. He observed with an apparent feeling of satisfaction. “You know,” He started, wagging a finger. “I can’t let you traitors out of my sight… You even grow in numbers… No matter.”

             He turned to face his palace, smiling with pride. “This is a special day,” He continued. “So instead of executing you, I think I will make you into my knights. You can execute my will as I see fit… Does that sound good?”

             He looked at around as if he expected them to answer. Maybe he heard one because he responded, “Excellent! Kneel before me, my knights!”

             Ink practically flopped out of Coral’s hold to kneel for the King. The others quickly fell onto their knees. Coral could see herself kneeling in her head, though she didn’t, knowing it would hurt her arthritic-like knees.

             The King turned in a circle to bask in their obedience, instantly noticing the standing Coral. His brow furrowed. He hadn’t seen someone so easily disobey him before. “New one,” He said, his tone unclear. “What is your name?”

             “Coral.”

             He stepped closer to her, turning all his focus on her. “Coral, kneel before me.”

             The urge in the back of her mind grew stronger, causing her to tremble. Imagining herself kneeling made her feel better, though she knew it wasn’t her reality. Her whole body shook as she responded, “I am kneeling.”

             “What?”

             Coral took an unsteady step toward him. The King leaned back uneasily. “Stop,” The King commanded, his voice timid.

             She paused, shutting her eyes. It was easy to picture herself frozen in place. She rolled her shoulders, as if shrugging off his words, and started walking again. “I’m not moving.”

             “Go away!” He shouted, gesticulating.

             Raising a quivering hand, Coral pointed to the van beyond him. “I’m leaving.”

             The King started to back away. “As your King, your treasonous behavior will condemn you to death. You shall hang!”

             Coral shrugged, humorously seeing herself dangling by the neck from the tree behind her. “In a minute, my King.”

             She lurched forward, grasping the King by his collar. She slugged him in the jaw. The uppercut knocked him unconscious before he hit the ground. Her shaking legs gave out and she slumped over. Someone rushed to her side. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Queen B handcuffing the King and putting a cloth in his mouth. More people arrived. One cradled Coral by the neck and another grabbed her hand.

             She blinked slowly at Light. He held her close, examining her eyes. Her focus shifted to Ink, who stood over them. “How did you do that?” He asked, tugging off his mask.

             That was a cue for everyone else to; Theo gently helped Kris take off her mask because of the tremor in her hands. “Man,” She said. “I’m f*****g tired… At some point reality is just whatever I decide it is.”

             “What?” Paul responded.

             Alicia propped the King up into a sitting position as Cheyenne and Tae carried over his weak, distressed victims. Theo pulled out a small flashlight to check Kris’s pupil response. “Does that mean the King’s mind control only works when it’s false?” Alicia reasoned. “If your reality is that you are kneeling, then his words have no effect on you until he changes the command.”

             “He works in fiction,” Tae quipped as Theo tossed him the flashlight.

             Tae slowly panned the light over Moss and the orderly’s eyes. He nodded like it was a normal response as Theo added to his thoughts, “That would make sense how all the ridiculous things happened… Like us hearing him while wearing earplugs.”

             “Fiction,” Paul repeated with some sense of serenity. “New codename, a more fitting one.”

             He held out a hand to help Kris up. She took it and he easily pulled her up. Q wrapped an arm around her to make sure she remained steady. Paul surveyed the scene. Moss and the orderly seemed out of it, though their anxiety was slowly increasing. “Coral,” He said. “I know you’re tired, but can you take Fiction to the police? A certain detective has been missing you.”

             Kris couldn’t resist smiling as Q put her mask back for her. “Sure,” She answered, taking a steady step away from the supportive arm of Q. “As long as I don’t have to fly with him.”

             Paul shook his head, amused. “No, we’ll get you set up in the limo,” Paul replied with a smile. “We’ll set the K- Fiction in the back and you can drive him. We’ll take the others to a hospital after we ask them a few questions.”

             Coral nodded. Theo and Paul picked up Fiction and carried him to the limo. Tae helpfully dug the keys out of the orderly’s pocket. He tossed them to Coral, who clumsily caught them between her chest and hands. After that, Tae helped Alicia take the others to the van, whispering assurance to them that they were safe now. Q reluctantly followed them as Coral got into the driver’s seat of the limo.

             Paul suddenly ran up to her window and she rolled it down accordingly. “What’s up?”

             “Can you tell Kidman something for me?” He asked before giving her a quick speech.

             “Alrighty,” She responded, confidently pretending that she understood and recalled everything he said.

             Paul stepped back as she put up the window. She waved goodbye before peeling out of field.

+++++

             The van ride was silent as if the team inside hadn’t realized what they had done. Yet, the two people sleeping in the center row told them that they had accomplished the impossible. They stopped Fiction. Saved the city from a mind-controlling tyrant. All it took was breaking in to a mental hospital and almost wanting to murder a guy.

             Maybe that made it bittersweet, or a victory that they couldn’t truly revel in. They traded a crime for an arrest that benefitted all. They traded their bane for an ally. They traded one problem for another. If it ever came to light that is. Perhaps that guilt kept them quiet.

             Paul drove to Kris’ apartment first as the sun crept up the horizon. Espe would be up in an hour, he thought fretfully. And he hadn’t had a wink of sleep. He could probably get away with telling her he had a long night stopping bad guys, so he wanted to sleep in. She’d just serve herself some cereal and watch cartoons.

             Looking into his rearview mirror, he knew it wouldn’t be the same for his teammates. Theo was asleep against a window as Q soothed the orderly by stroking his back. Alicia stared out the window, her expression unreadable.

             “We’re here,” Paul whispered, parking in front of the apartment building.

             Q looked at him, conflicted about what to do. They didn’t want to leave the orderly but taking him upstairs wasn’t a good idea either. Alicia leaned forward from the backrow. “Quinn, Moss, and I will head up. You can take the orderly to a hospital.”

             With wrinkles forming between his eyebrows, Paul nodded. He had a simple question for her. “Powers?”

             “Yeah, I’m going to ask about them when she wakes up,” She replied. “For now, it’ll be a struggle just to get her inside.”

             Q pulled away from the orderly with a soft apology. They opened the sliding door before helping Alicia out of the back seats. Working together, the pair of them got Moss out of the car and shut the door. Tae’s window rolled down as Paul decided he had something else to say.

             “In case, I don’t see you for a while, just know I’m proud of you.”

             Alicia rolled her eyes, a smile sneaking onto her stiff features. Adjusting her grip on Moss, she said, “We’re proud of you too, Leader. We look forward to the next supervillain.”

             Paul laughed, but it quickly petered out. Tae didn’t share in his amusement, and he wasn’t surprised. It was reasonable to say they all hoped that they weren’t going to have to deal with another “supervillain” any time soon.

+++++

             Coral parked the limo on Tiburon under a streetlight. The spot she chose was abandoned; storefronts that boasted tech, haircuts, and car repairs had all closed years ago. She called the police on the drive over, requesting that Kidman come. Leaning against the limo, she almost fell asleep. Her head bobbed with the act of falling in and out of consciousness.

             She lurched into a standing position as she heard sirens. A police cruiser quickly pulled up beside her. Coral recognized the driver as he opened his door; it was Wu, Kidman’s supervisor. Kidman got out of the passenger seat and came around the front of the car.

             Coral noticed that she rested her hand on her gun holster. That wasn’t reassuring. She patted the limo’s rear door while greeting them awkwardly. “Hey guys, I got Charles Dauphin, aka Fiction, in the stolen limo.”

             Kidman stepped closer to Coral as Wu opened the back door. He wrapped an arm under Fiction’s armpit and surprisingly held him upright with ease. Dragging the bound and gagged Fiction to the police car, he grumbled to himself. Kidman commented, “Fiction?”

             Coral barely heard Fiction being read his rights before being placed in the back of the car. “Yeah, his codename is Fiction,” She answered. “Because his mind control depends on whether what he is saying is true.”

             Coral grinned as she thought of a good, if cheesy, explanation. “For example,” She continued. “If he said that I don’t want to kiss you, it would become true in his presence.”

             Kidman crossed her arms with a soul-crushing sigh. “You’re flirting with me now?”

             Coral chuckled at her response. “Ink mentioned that you wanted me to be the team’s representative with the bureau,” She said teasingly.

             “I wanted you because it seems we have a repertoire,” Kidman responded coolly. “You knew my name back when you turned over the telekinetic.”

             “Oh, you’re curious about me knowing you?” Coral raised her tone as if to taunt Kidman. “We’ll we have met before.”

             “When?”

             “If I say too much, you’ll figure out my identity,” She answered cheekily. “You already have some theories in mind, so I don’t want to help that clever detective brain out.”

             Kidman rolled her eyes. “Right,” She replied caustically.

             Coral decided to give her a few hints. “Do you know what happened this week?” She asked.

             “What, in your personal life? Or in general?”

             “It would fall under both, hint hint,” Coral said with a wink.

             Kidman raised her chin, acknowledging her suggestion. Coral’s smile faded as she remembered why they were here. “Anyway, please be careful with Fiction,” She added, trying to sound somber. “With a phrase, he drove my team close to death. Think of what he could do to your force.”

             Kidman nodded, her eyes downcast. She rubbed her face with her knuckles, covering her mouth. “I’m well aware of the risk… Fiction told us to shoot your team,” She admitted.

             “And you did, of course,” Coral said generously. “It’s okay. I don’t hold grudges.”

             She interrupted herself with a laugh as she realized something. “Maybe that’s why they sent me… No hard feelings though, everyone is fine.”

             “That’s good,” Kidman responded, her arms dropping to her sides.

             Coral took a bow, her feet drifting off the sidewalk. She only floated a few inches up before Kidman called, “Wait, one last thing.”

             Coral landed as Kidman went to the cruiser. She pulled out a file and a pen, writing something on the cover of it. She handed it to Coral. “We need your team’s help,” She said cautiously.

             Coral smiled at her. She opened the file and read part of it before meeting Kidman’s expectant gaze. “Alright.”