Trickling water tickled Calvin’s ears— his consciousness awakened as gazed into the unknowable darkness to the source of the sound. A river, running pristine through a meadow, its banks still filled with grass and saplings, cluing-in to the infancy of the spring that was its origin.
He looked down, seeing his tiny hands, then his petite body, letting out a childish giggle as he started running around in realization. An ecstatic feeling bloomed from his chest— oh how easy it was to run around, to jump up, and roll in grass.
Calvin stopped rolling, not to fatigue, but to intrigue. His eyes stared upwards, laying his back on the softness of the green, his eyes basking in the beauty of the clear blue sky.
“What are you doing?” A pretty voice entered his ear.
He sat up abruptly, looking towards the voice. “Ina?”
There was a girl, sitting on a rock, wearing a disheveled uniform. It screamed rebel, it screamed independence, it screamed free.
Her face shone with a rosy glow, and her shimmering purple eyes took his breath away with a simple gaze. She paused at his stare, letting the corner of her lips lift, enough to send his heart a message to beat as fast as it could.
“Who else is here?” She smirked at him, then her pretty eyes focused down on the object in her hands.
He followed her gaze, finding a stick and a piece of stone in her hand. With one swift motion, she scrubbed one end of the stick, turning it into a crude but undoubtedly sharp spear.
“What’s that?” He asked, confused at her action.
“A weapon.” She paused her action, looking towards him then pointing a finger towards his back. “You already have a lot.”
Calvin followed her finger, finding three spears on his back. They were in the middle of being sharpened, but they were still enough to stab. “Where did— it’s not mine.”
“Quinn also has her own. It’s shorter, and she doesn’t like it, but it’s better than not having one.” She pointed across the river.
Quinn was there, stabbing a stick towards the water in a machine-like pattern. As if noticing his gaze, she looked up and smiled sweetly, waving the stick in the air in greeting. He waved back, only for her to stop and ignore him, going back to stabbing the water.
“I want one too.” Ina pouted cutely.
“Why?” Calvin asked. “Why would you want a weapon?”
Ina looked at him with incredulity. “Why else? To be a superhero of course!”
“Don’t. Saving people hurts.” He frowned, marching towards her with the intention of taking her stick.
“You don’t want to be a hero?” She tilted her head, the concept seemingly foreign to her.
“Of course not!” Calvin roared.
“But you already are!” She pointed at his chest.
Calvin was confused. He looked down and felt his heart dropping as he realized what he was wearing. Bunker gear, black and yellow, the type that wouldn’t burn immediately even when exposed to straight flame.
“It’s not mine!” He screamed, trying to take it off.
Suddenly the ground disappeared. Him and Ina started falling into the abyss. The two of them started screaming when a terrifying figure appeared from the darkness above.
Allen’s face, but only half of it. The other half was a skeleton, a spherical machine in its eye socket that glowed a menacing blue.
“How can you be a hero the way you are now, Calvin?!” Skele-Allen asked.
“I don’t want to be!” He shouted.
“Tell me Calvin?! How?!”
Voices started compounding on each other, shouts from the darkness asking the same question, shouting the same name.
“Calvin!”
“Calvin!”
“Calvin!”
----------------------------------------
“Calvin!” A shout jerked him awake— pain and suffering immediately greeted him via his muscles screaming for comfort. “Wake up!”
“Wha—” Calvin coughed, his dry throat feeling like it was scratched by a cat. “—what? What’s happening?”
“You’re alive. Good.” Ina’s voice trembled in his ear. “We’ve been kidnapped.”
“What? Ugh— wait, I need to…” He tried to cover his mouth to stop himself from vomiting, only to find a cold piece of metal in his wrists. “What the fuck…”
He forcefully pushed down his need to barf before shaking his head in an attempt to gather his bearings.
Calvin sat up straight, pushing his body up with his shackled hands, his eyes focusing to look around the room. It was an empty room, gray walls, ceiling, and floor. A single light bulb above, a single door on the wall, and not a single thing on the floor.
It was weirdly spacious. Marginally more spacious than his room at Sam’s place.
He looked towards Ina only for his face to redden without the use of [Color Control]. “Why are you naked?!”
“You’re naked too!” Ina immediately shouted back.
“What?!” He looked down on himself, finding only his pink boxer shorts holding the line to protect his purity. “What the fuck?! Why are we naked?!”
Ina growled, anger apparent in her voice. “It’s… tinker tech. They took everything on us. Probably our clothes too, just in case.”
“Fuck…” Calvin cursed. “What happened?”
Ina calmed down and started to recount the events she could remember. The two shared pieces of memories and painted the picture: someone impersonated Allen, someone attacked the HQ, and someone spiked the snacks with drugs and kidnapped them. Whether that someone, or some-many, did all of that, they don’t know.
“What happened here? Before I woke up?” He asked Ina, now worried with their state of undress.
“Nothing.” Ina turned away, “I don’t know, I don’t think they did anything other than throw us in here. And put these on us.”
She raised her wrists, showing the same metal shackles he had on. It was like a pillory, without the hole for a head, and made of metal and circuitry instead of the historically accurate wood.
“Tried to break it yet?” He asked.
“What do you think?” Ina sighed, showing him red marks on her wrists. “I wasn’t awake longer than you were. Maybe ten minutes? Can’t check.”
“Fuck… what do they want? Where are the others?”
“No idea.” She shrugged.
Calvin looked around once again, this time trying to find cameras. Whether there were some or none, he couldn’t see. There might be invisible cameras in this world, but he just had to trust what he could see and assume there was none.
‘Maybe they thought there wasn’t anything to be scared about a couple of powerless kids anyway.’
“Wait a minute.” He realized something and started pulling on his power. With a simple thought, he coloured both of their skin and turned it into black. At least, that’s what he wanted to do. “What?”
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“What is it? What’s wrong?”
He tried to do it again, focusing on the familiar feeling of his power. Nothing. “I can’t use my power.”
“What? Oh— these might be tinker tech too. How do they have these?” She started muttering. “Well, it’s not like your power could help with these.”
‘[Color Control], maybe not. But the ol’ trusty [Impervious Pebble] could’ve. How did they even know I have a power?’ He thought. “What do we do?”
As if to answer him, the door opened with a loud creak. Calvin immediately stood up, as did Ina, and both took a stance to ready themselves against whoever was coming in.
“Howd— oh. Both mundanes are awake, eh?” A large scruffy man entered, his face unfamiliar to the two.
“Holy—” Another entered behind him, a man who’s physique would make supermarket staff hide their tray of free samples. His eyes widened, magnetized as he sent a perverse look towards Ina.
The other man knocked his head. “She’s a minor, you disgusting fat fuck. We’re freedom fighters, not perverted monsters.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Who are you?” Ina interrupted, still not putting down her guard.
The man raised a brow at Ina’s fearlessness. He slowly walked closer, making the two back away until they hit a wall.
“That’s not good. I think both of you should take a—” he lowered his stance and punched Calvin in the stomach, “— seat!”
“Ugh.” Calvin knelt and doubled over, clutching his stomach from the pain.
“Calvin!” Ina immediately tried to kick away the man.
Unfortunately, like a paper towel thrown against a brick wall, her kick only hurt her foot. With a simple swing of his arm, the man pushed Ina’s leg to the side and kicked her away, letting her smash against the wall beside Calvin.
“Driver! Porto! What the hell are you doing?” A woman entered the room, swinging a bat and smashing the offending man’s head onto a wall. She spun around and kicked the other out of the room. “What the fucking— what if you killed one of them? That’s one less! And one of them’s a fucking a ransom you goddamn morons!”
“Fuckin— Batty! Why in the head again?” Driver casually stood up, cracking his neck. “My neck— ugh. Look, they’re not dead. That’s good enough.”
“If one of them fucking hatches I’m going to drive this up your ass.”
Driver’s eyes narrowed before he laughed. “Ha! I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t know you were gullible too. A hatching? From this?”
“The boss fucking told us not to do that.” Batty started winding up her swing as Driver was going to kick Calvin again.
“Alright— damn. Can’t have some fucking fun around here.” Driver raised his hands in surrender. He grinned, glancing towards Calvin who had doubled over from pain and vomit.
With another quick movement, he kicked Calvin again, making him fly to the wall and fall down facing away, still clutching his torso. Ina crawled over, trying to shield her friend just in case he did it again.
“Get out.” Batty threatened, the bat in her hand glowing a menacing aura.
Driver tutted and walked out the door, hitting Batty’s shoulder while giving her a side-eye. “Come on, fatso. We got a wannabe-cape here, she might ‘arrest’ us.”
Batty sighed, looking towards the two at the other end of the emptied storage closet. There was an unknowable cocktail of emotions swimming in her head right now, seeing their sorry figures. Unfortunately, they were still useful to the boss.
Her bat disappeared with a wave of her hand and she turned around, walking out the door and locking it behind her.
Ina turned around and started examining Calvin who was in a fetal position holding his stomach. “Are you okay?”
Calvin coughed, the acid in his throat was irritating but he still smirked. “You know, once you get used to getting your shit kicked in, you really start anticipating it.”
“What are you talking about?” Ina was now more worried, brushing his hair to look for blood.
Calvin said nothing, pushing himself off the ground to sit up. He still groaned from the pain, but the small success from earlier was more than enough to endure it.
He lifted his wrists and showed it to Ina.
Her eyes widened, looking at the wrecked vestiges of the once-shackles connected to his wrists. “Huh. You have a plan?”
“Somewhat. You wanna bet?”
“Always.”
----------------------------------------
Porto stared at his holowatch, looking to see if the watchmen shifts had changed. He was waiting for a particularly… lax watcher.
He slowly got up from the break room table, careful not to hit any bottles of alcohol and wake up the others. He gently pushed his chair back and stepped away, dodging the rogue arm from an unconscious recruit lying on the floor.
‘Newbies.’ He thought with clear disdain, sending a judging glare at the few that were out cold and scattered around.
Most of them wanted to be villains for the freedom of it, but none were prepared for the villainy.
A sigh escaped his lips as he slowly made his way to the exit, dodging bottles and bodies until he was out of the door. A smile appeared on his face as he started walking faster, in anticipation of what he’d wanted to do since earlier.
With another check of his holowatch, he spied none of the ‘morally positive’ villains were close or awake. The guard currently on watch was one that usually nodded off, and even if he was awake, he’d be easily bribe-able with some fancy tinker tech.
“Hoh---” He stopped from his journey, peering through the large room where all the other kids were put inside.
A grin bloomed on his face, watching them react in terror upon seeing his menacing smile through the glass on the door. His heart beat in ecstasy, there was no feeling better than seeing trembling eyes as they looked at him.
He wanted to come in the room, but there were defenses on it, just in case someone were to ‘damage’ them before they were drained.
‘Better the mundanes.’ He thought. Punishment would still come, but some urges are more than worth it.
He grinned menacingly and waved goodbye to them.
He continued walking, glancing briefly at the machines they were going to fire-up again tomorrow. Simple human pods, cylinders made of glass filled up with a geniusly-made life-supporting unknown green liquid.
A tinge of jealousy and admiration came at him when the tech arrived at their hideout, how it wasn’t tinker tech but just plain science was almost frightening. Some person made this, through sheer genius, not like him who was guided by his own power.
The liquid was tinker tech though. Which didn’t make him feel better, as it was still out of his league.
Walking a while more, Porto smiled, passing by the guard who was expectedly sleeping on the job.
He carried on, nearly reaching his destination. The storage room they emptied to keep mundanes in. It was almost laughably easy how it was to keep them from escaping. Just a normal room with concrete walls and a steel door and it’s basically impossible.
They didn’t even need shackles, but the boss insisted just in case they were to try something.
He arrived in front of the room and practically salivated from the expectation.
Porto reached behind him and grabbed a large rolling pin he had tucked in his pants. He raised the rolling pin up to the light, examining imperfections on his latest creation. With a quick action, he swung it downwards, letting the air whistle from the wind generated from his swing.
“Great.” He grinned, finally having a useful invention. He lowered the ‘weapon’ to his side and stepped forward, unlocking the door’s latch and slowly turning the knob.
His heart beat with anticipation— the agonizingly-long creak of the door’s hinges only added to the terrifying atmosphere he wanted inside.
“Hello— oh?” His shoulders slumped, the dramatic entrance he had planned was thwarted with the pair’s current unconscious state. One of them was even snoring. “Who sleeps in this situation?”
He knocked on the metallic door, making sure it was loud enough to wake them. Unfortunately, the two were still conked out in each other’s embrace at the corner of the room, sleeping blissfully in ignorance.
Porto’s eye twitched. He stepped in the room, closing the door behind him with a slam. That still didn’t wake them up.
‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.’ He thought, anger rising up. He wanted to see their fearful faces, he wanted to see them beg, he wanted to stand over the subservient mundanes. “Hey! Wake up!”
Just as he said that, the room was blanketed by shadow. Every surface disappeared. The light was gone. The door was void. And, more importantly, the two children had been taken by darkness as well.
“What?!” He looked around in confusion, brandishing his rolling pin. “What the fuck?!”
Footsteps rang around him, the sound of skin tapping on cement.
‘Did a cape fucking come?!’ Cold sweat poured down his back as he started swinging his weapon in the darkness. “Who is there?! Show yourself!”
Suddenly, an impact, right at the back of his skull.
“Ah!” He screamed, tumbling forward and slamming his face into the cold darkness. He scrambled to stand up and turn around, looking to where he was hit.
Darkness, still. With only his rolling pin and himself visible as if still lit up by an incandescence.
“Fuck!” He swung wildly in the darkness, hurting his wrist as his pin hit and cracked cement. “Fuck you! Where the fuck are you—”
He felt another impact on his skull, this time at the side.
Then another on his leg, making his knee buckle.
He swung a second time, hearing a metallic clang as his rolling pin ripped through whatever it was that was hitting him.
“Ha! How’d you like that you fu— Ah!” A searing pain spread through his body, originating from his groin. He doubled over, dropping his weapon and putting his hands over his member as it pulsed in agonizing punishment. “You fucking—”
Another impact, then he blacked out.
----------------------------------------
“Did you have to hit him in the nuts twice?” Calvin winced. He may have been a villain, but there should be limits.
“Yes.” Ina answered from the dark. “Did you have to snore?”
“Of course.” He nodded.
He couldn’t see her, but he knew for certain she was rolling her eyes at him. “Can you turn the lights on?”
With a pull on his power, the colors he changed turned back to the way it was. The cold grey cement abandoned room aesthetic returned, leaving only him and Ina standing like two shadowy figures from another dimension.
“Why am I still…” She looked down at her body, remembering both were still in their underwear. “Thanks.”
“Nice job with the shackles, by the way.” He looked towards her wrists, the manacles were crushed just as his was.
“Just copying what you did.” She shrugged. “He didn’t seem that strong.”
“Might be tinker tech. Apparently it’s not as fucking rare as I thought it was. “ Calvin nodded at her, then looked towards their attacker. “Fuck. I was so sure it was going to be the other guy.”
“I won the bet.” Ina grinned.
“I’m poor.”
“I take favors as payment.”
“Fine.” He nodded. “But we need to survive first.”
Ina nodded. “Be glad it was this guy. If it was the guy that hit you, we’d have to get luckier to take him down before he alerted anyone. This guy got dropped faster than I thought he would.”
“Maybe his power is summoning a rolling pin.” He shrugged
“Might be.” Ina muttered, crouching down to the man on the ground. “Help me with this.”
The two of them flipped the fat guy over, checking to see if he really was unconscious. After confirming it with a few slaps until his face reddened, the two proceeded to gather their spoils.
Super Equip
Super Gear: Heavy Rolling Pin detected. Equip? Yes No
Immediately equipping the tech, he checked the information using the system.
Super Help
Heavy Rolling Pin A rolling pin made from recycled wood, designed to increase the user’s strength to help with flattening dough.
“Tinker tech. I think you better take this.” He tossed it over to Ina.
“How’d you know?” She caught it and looked at the rolling pin.
He shrugged, “try swinging it.”
She did as he said and swung the rolling pin. Her brows raised as the air whistled from the force of the swing. “You sure?”
“You’re the better fighter.” He admitted. ‘Plus, my pebble is back.’
They continued to strip the man naked, either as revenge or precaution. Ina took the oversized shirt, tying a knot on the side to make it conform to her figure and stop it from hindering her movements.
Calvin looked at her, glancing away as she noticed his gaze. He took the pants from the man and tried it on. Unfortunately, it was too big, baggy, and noisy for him to use.
“This is weird.” Ina muttered as he was taking off the pants.
“What’s weird?” He looked at her, who was fiddling with the stolen holowatch.
“The map.” She raised her wrist and showed the holographic display to him. “Why is it like that?”
Calvin’s eyes widened in surprise and recognition. “I think I might know where we are.”
“What? Where?” Ina asked, staring at him.
He stared at the map, looking at the GPS marker jumping around the entirety of Bastion.
“Villainopolis.”