---------- Present Day - Beneath Velveteria ------------------

I jolted awake violently. It took me a minute to catch my breath. Panting, I wiped the sweat from my brow and clenched my fists. A deep feeling of resentment washed over me. No. I had to stop this no matter what.

But to do that, I had to get out of here. And to get out of here I had to deal with my non-existent guard first. I sat back and looked it over. It didn't move, simply staring at me. It was impossible to tell what it was feeling, if it was feeling anything at all, with its eyes constantly changing and warping.

"So, you were someone once, huh? Poor thing." I meant it. There was nothing scarier than to be erased from existence wholesale. But I didn't have time to pity it. I needed to hurry up and make a break for it.

I sat down and began to concentrate. Try reading its mind. Maybe that would give me a clue. I had doubts that things would go smoothly but the bond was easily established.

As soon as our minds connected I was gripped with the strangest feeling I had ever experienced. A profound sense of....vertigo? Disorientation? Confusion? A mix of the three, maybe. My stomach lurched and I was unable to see or hear anything but my own breathing. Just when I thought I would never feel right again our minds decoupled.

I was breathing heavily as I came to. Somehow I ended up sprawled on the floor. I got up, wiped the drool off my face, and leaned against the wall. So much for that.

I looked around until I spotted my waist bag lying on the ground next to one of the storage crates. I didn't think there was anything useful in there, not for this situation anyway, but it couldn't hurt to check. None of the Petite Group knew that it had a vastly enhanced carrying capacity, so the fact that they took it off but left it with me either meant they didn't check it at all and went by weight or opened it, maybe reached in, saw and/or felt nothing, and closed it up again. Either way, a rookie mistake.

The thing was watching me intently as I reached down into the enlarged inner space. I had never been a Villain for weapons and gadgetry. All the tools I used in my crimes except for the Third Oculus were usually just whatever my victims happened to have on them when I took them over, and it was unlikely that a flying eyeball would be of any help here.

I was just about to give up when I brushed my finger against a smooth, blisteringly hot surface. Reflexively I pulled out my hand and put the hurt appendage in my mouth. Angelica's halo. Did it get even hotter? I remembered it being fairly toasty but not to this degree.

A sudden idea flared up in my mind. The halo had been fairly sharp already when I pulled it off of Angie's head. I hurried over to the mattress, pulled the pillow out of its case, and deposited the case in the mini-fridge. It was good that Souto left one of his echoes to guard me. A person would've clocked that I was up to something immediately and put a stop to it. But this thing did what it was told, and only that. The fridge was a nice extra. I would've tried this without it too, but I bet it would've been a good deal more painful.

Satisfied that enough time had passed I removed the now chilly case from its cold prison and positioned myself in front of my keeper. Now it was a matter of speed.

I was ready, but still...I hesitated. These things were people once. Maybe deep down they still are.....but no. If my attempt at reading its mind was what it experienced in every waking moment it could hardly be called living. I would say I wouldn't wish it on my greatest enemy, but that would be a bold-faced lie. If I had the ability to inflict this on people without erasing them from history, there would be quite a few more echoes shambling about. But if I had the choice....I'd choose death over this every time. So I shouldn't hesitate. In fact, better not think about it at all.

I walked closer and closer to the thing until its shifting nose almost touched mine. With the pillowcase wrapped around my hand, I reached into the bag and grabbed hold of my greatest trophy. The heat burned my palm, but it was more manageable than before. I grit my teeth, pulled it out as fast as possible, and then before the echo had time to react, I swung the dazzling holy symbol forward with as much force as I could muster. Immediately, the searing heat tripled in intensity and I let go of my improvised weapon with a swear.

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It fell to the ground with a clang, but another, much duller thud followed soon after. After the pain had receded a bit I looked up at what I had done. The halo lay on the ground, shining brightly, and next to it sizzled the rapidly decomposing top half of the echoe's head. I seemed to have gotten it right in its mouth.

There was no blood or any other kind of residue. The body stood there, arms half raised as if ready to attack, and slowly vanished into nothing. It was almost mesmerizing to look at. It's not like it decayed into dust, or crumbled away. It was more like, one by one, tiny pieces of it just......disappeared. One second they were there, the next they were missing. It reminded me of a video I once saw of a wall ornament being painted bit by bit through jump cuts....just in reverse.

Eventually, only the halo was left. I blocked out the slowly creeping guilt and quickly scooped the blinding ring of hard light back into my bag.

I made a quick mental note to get it checked out by someone later, The Enchanters perhaps, and ran down the now accessible corridor in the direction Souto and Smear left earlier.

A minute or two later I reached a dead end. A huge painting of Souto's little private atelier, with his one blank canvas prominently displayed. Fitting. I reached out to touch it and smiled when my hand went right through. Too easy.

No one was in the room, as I expected. When I cracked open the door I could see the rest of the hideout was much emptier as well. A few people were still present, most working on their own projects, but sneaking past them would be no problem at all. Manet was sitting on a crate with his back turned, instructing his students with a cigarette in hand. Good. No one was paying attention.

The dismal state of the hideout proved to be quite an advantage to me in my escape, the many haphazardly placed tools, boxes, and crates doing most of the work for me. Before I could blink I found myself back in Velveteria proper. Confident in my victory I walked towards the exit when a voice stopped me.

"Miss Chelsea, what are you doing here?"

Damn. I forgot about the receptionist. I turned slowly, ready to defend myself.

"Honestly, shouldn't you be preparing for the big gala tonight? I'm sure the owner gave you some kind of job, so I am shocked to see you aren't doing it right now."

Huh. She didn't look nervous, or panicked. More like slightly annoyed. Did Souto not even tell his own goons that I tried to take him out? I let out a sigh. So the sneaking session just now had been completely pointless. Great. I looked at the frowning woman with my best attempt at an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry, I overslept. You know how it is."

She grabbed my shoulders with a huff and started pushing me out the door.

"I most certainly do not! I would appreciate it if you took this collaboration seriously! Now go and do your job!"

My reply of "Sure thing." came just as the door was slammed in my face. Right. Escape done. And I even managed to free someone from an existence of confused misery. Now to the main event. My next actions would depend on how much time I had left, so I could no longer avoid looking at the clock. I pulled out my phone and turned the screen on.

9:17 in the morning.

So I had more than 12 hours left. Finding Souto now would be too much risk for too little return. Everyone who needed to know where he currently was already did, and he was well aware of my Possession. Even if I took over someone like Manet, the fact that someone was making inquiries would come back to him and put him on guard. If he really didn't tell anyone about my turn then gaining access to him at the Memorial Hall of Legacy was my best shot. No one would question why I'm there.

That gave me the full 12 hours to prepare.

Should I call Jess? Tempting. She would relish in me admitting she was right all along. But I didn't know where she was. She could be with Souto right now, and me calling her in his presence would be like announcing my escape. So shelve that for now. What I needed most was information. The agency that kept him was bound to know more than what they wrote in the report, but good luck finding a way to gain access. That left just one avenue for intel. I needed a prop for that though.

With a turn, I marched in the direction of Davison's little shop. He always had stuff like this lying around to cash in on anyone who needed it. And it shouldn't be too expensive. Still, I needed to hurry. You never knew what curveballs life had in store for you.

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I rang the doorbell and impatiently waited for the door to open. Getting the merchandise was quick work, and Davison was glad to see me, but I had forgotten that the only clothes I had on demand were ratty old streetwear (and my costume, but wearing that would've been more than counterproductive), so I had to make another stop to get a few more presentable, official looking duds. But what took by far the longest was going home and having a thorough cleaning session. This was the first time in forever I had properly combed my hair, and getting the knots out alone took ages.

When I saw myself in the mirror afterwards I had mixed feelings. It was as if looking at a ghost. Or a risen corpse. The person in front of me was dead, so seeing her was wrong. Not to mention dangerous. I still wore no makeup but the chance of me getting recognized out on the street had risen dramatically. Just another reason to get this over quick.

The address I was at was a flat smack-dab in the middle of a low-income housing block that had been established by Daylighter when he first reached the top of the popularity charts. He had grown up with little money himself, and I had always admired how he fought to better the lives of the less fortunate. So much for that.

I had added a pair of sunglasses to make it just a bit more difficult to identify me, but nevertheless, my nerves made every step on the way here a step through hell. I was constantly on the lookout for anyone that even looked remotely familiar and any and all idle chatter I heard in the background was sure to be from someone who had recognized me. When I finally arrived I felt more exhausted than after my first day as a Hero Intern.

It didn't take long for the door to open. A tired, but friendly-looking older woman stood in the doorway. I didn't hesitate to pull out the fake badge I bought and flashed it. Her eyes widened.

"Miss Freeman? We need to talk about your son. He's been found."