Loath to admit it Erich craves for a second plate. The entire meal was uncanny, right from the way the sauce slapped in his mouth to the pull of the chicken and the chewy texture of the rice. Everything is as it was except...

Bethany’s grin wouldn’t leave her lips anytime soon Erich fears. He’d tried to be modest but whatever technique she used to replicate it made it so every bite transported him back to the sacred moments with the mother he only has a single photo of. Tears threaten to overwhelm his eyes at the thought of its loss more than anything else, more than Bethany’s devious culinary manipulation, even more than the weight of his first killing. Anger smouldered within him at the thought of it left behind with Vertigo, he’s sure he’ll never get to see it again, the time to run back and retrieve the last true piece of his mother is long past and given the entourage he strolled in with, Erich couldn’t see himself leaving the gilded cage anytime soon.

Still, amongst everything, Bethany successfully got him to let his guard down and likely filled his stomach with whatever machines, trackers or devious mechanisms they’d used to listen in and track him the first time with the delicious meal. He wouldn’t put it past the M.C.U to perverse it in such a way and so as she sat across him at the smooth granite counter top, hand propping up her head and disgustingly satisfied smirk, he silently prepares himself to be cornered all the way.

“No words needed huh?” she says, fixing him with a proud look.

Erich rolls his eyes and her cherry laugh fills the room, forcing a blush out of him— the truth is the truth. He shakes it away a second after though and demands, “How?”

“Hm?”

“What are you? How is any of this possible? I didn’t…no one’s ever…” Bethany’s grin lets up into a knowing smile that fills him with an alarming sense of being understood one he’s not felt since…. At the same time the disarming nature of her empathy sets him on edge and he quickly summons a frown to his lips as he continues, “Do you know?”

Bethany leans over with her thumb, pausing as Erich flinches for a moment before allowing her to wipe the side of his lips of sauce. She licks her finger clean and sighs, “Yes.”

“Yes?” Erich nearly jumps out of his seat, “Yes as in you know what I’m talking about or yes as in-”

“Yes, I know where your mother is.” Erich gasps, eyes wide and hurries to demand more but Bethany simply raises a hand and his impatience stifles for a moment to listen to her next words, “I don’t know exactly where but last known locations? Yeah. We can trace her from there.”

A silence fills the room as Erich gulps, wide eyed and sits with that information. The words he dreamt of hearing, of being said and of manifesting for himself are here now and it’s…overwhelming. His eyes dart about the embossed stones within the counter table as his mind turns blank with not a thought existing in it. For the first time in so long his mind is silent of demands, silent of wants and needs and plans and reminders to accomplish all the self-appointed goals and milestones. Suddenly his savings, lost or not seem trivial, even the photo he raged about a moment ago— We can take more pictures, have cotton candy again and ride the ferris wheel.

That first thought opens the flood gates to more, to questions, to nitpicking the details, plans and as he raises his eyes to meet Bethany’s soft, empathic smile, he’s overwhelmed with reminders, warnings and doubts. She’s still M.CU and you’re still a criminal. They want something.

“What now?” Erich asks, careful not to give away just how much he craves the very thing, though it may already be too late for that.

Bethany reaches into her pocket and places the slick band they’d left with him at the hospital, “We got this from your apartment.” She waves her hand above it and the band spits out a holo of the contract, “Given today’s events…the terms have been amended a bit.” She warns.

“I…I was forced, coerced to do all of that. You saw!” He taps around his body searching for whatever device they’d used to spy on his every moment since he’d left the hospital, “I know you’ve been listening, Cynthia…Frost Bitch she said things she shouldn’t have known. I didn’t want any of today to happen!”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Bethany remains quiet even after this outburst, she nods solemnly and heaves, “That’s true. It’s also true that you had your watch with you, at any moment you could’ve called the authorities. Maybe not us but at least XCPD, no? Why didn’t you? If we hadn’t had you planted, then Vertigo’s mission would have been a success or a woeful failure given how unprepared it was.”

Erich gaped at that, chewing the wrathful words back as he searches for a right way to say, “I just want to find her.”

In hindsight, holding out even a sliver of hope that Vertigo would deliver on his promise— whether the M.C.U intervened or not— was a terrible idea.

“You will, with our help I promise you that. But this is the last time we’ll offer this type of deal Erich, it’s either this or Hielo.”

Gritting his teeth Erich glances at the large window pane and then at the short corridor leading out the room, “I could kill you...I’m sure you’re a metahuman but you don’t seem a speedster. You’re not faster than my powers.” They’d failed to press him with suppressants like they did Frost Bitch, probably thinking he’s exhausted from halting Tareh’s monster for so long but having Vie for the first time had lasting perks and Erich could bet on another five seconds of Pause.

Bethany’s grin returns in full force, “I didn’t take you for the type, threats don’t suit you, not yet anyway. Whether you kill me or take me prisoner, the fact remains you’ll fall faster than the M.C.U and you’ll be in Hielo the moment you wake up. Kiss any chance at seeing mommy goodbye.” She waves her hand at the ethereal prospect as her smirk widens. “But we’re better than that aren’t we, Erich? Let’s not turn this into a dick measuring contest, alright? First why don’t you see what’s changed? I promise it’ll never be as bad as Hielo.”

That’s parts true enough. Erich breathes, unclenching a fist he hadn’t realized to scroll through the terms. The lump sum is still there as well as the demand he attends Yelnat Academy but at the end in a series of convoluted words is what boils down to, “You want me to impress the Mayor before I see my mother? That’s not fair. I’ve never met the man and I know he’s an asshole that’ll never see the light in the metahuman criminals his actions directly create. Not all of us are in it for chaos, some of us just want to survive.”

Bethany shifts in her seat, “The Mayor is…an eccentric man that’s true but I’ve got to say Erich, your abilities, stalling motion or time or whatever they truly are. They’re a game changer for the M.C.U. Imagine it, you master the extents of your ability and help us round up these so called villains. Gamma rank threats like Vertigo, Invincibill and others would be trivial for you to capture.

“You’re right about his actions but you can’t say some of them aren’t provoked. With someone like you on our side we could extend the prosperity here to the rest of Xoxia’s burrows. We’re not the bad guys here Erich”

Erich shakes his head, waving the contract away from his sight, “That doesn’t change the fact you’re essentially trying to make me a puppet, worse, a slave. What if nothing I do ever impresses him? What then?” Bethany’s about to say something but Erich leans in, eyes narrowing dangerously at her, “I don’t know what kind of fool you people think I am, I’m not going to fall for some homely meal and fat check then sell myself and dreams. No, fuck, if I signed this contract and the Mayor indeed proves me right in being an asshole I’d kill him the same way I’m thinking of killing Vertigo right now. You lot failed to capture him didn’t you?”

Her silence betrays her. Erich snorts and knocks on the granite counter, poking at it as he thinks back to what Cynthia said before they arrived, “There’s no making the best out of this deal, I need assurances not vague promises. I’m a middle school dropout sure but I’ve dealt the street and its dealt with me enough to recognize an empty promise when I see one. Eroteme is right about the M.C.U, you’re as scummy as they come while presenting a front of heroics and compassion. Either give me guarantees or I might as well jump off the fucking building.”

Erich’s fuming and nearly out of breath by the time he’s got it all out. Both fists clenched and barely restrained from smashing something, preferably the damned band hosting the contract. Bethany, to her credit, doesn’t flinch away from his fiery gaze but much worse she fixes him with that same empathic look he’s beginning to hate as much as everything in his sight right now. She inhales deeply and swipes the band off the counter as she stands and tucks her shirt in.

Patting her hair down she nods at Erich, her eyes telling of some newfound respect she lights him in as she drops the visage and the darkness he glimpsed at the hospital seeps under the hood of her eyes, “I spoke of this with Rick but this time I’ll communicate directly with the Mayor on it. I truly wish all the best for you, Erich.”

Without another word she struts out of the kitchen, kicks on her shoes and walks out the sliding brown door. It clicks shut behind her, leaving Erich in a penthouse a size smaller than the turbulence of thoughts searing through him.

Fuck me. Did that actually work? Or are am I going to wake up in Hielo tomorrow?