And it’s a good thing, too, considering how often heroes are slammed through brick walls, thrown across the city, injected with mutagenic pathogens, etcetera. Having a healthcare plan in place to make sure they’re not going into medical debt routinely is a must-have.
As a sidekick, Jay also gets these benefits, though not as many as the more popular heroes like Pixamena or Scoops. However, ever since his “transplant,” the Network has been increasingly interested in his health, especially now that he’s a “Dawnbreaker.” Which is why poor Jay is currently strapped to a treadmill, feeling like he’s going to die.
“What exactly is the point of this?” He pants, a trickle of sweat running down his face.
“Please keep pace the best you can, Quickwit. We’re measuring your lactic acid levels,” says Zenith, “I was optimistic that your new powers would give you an edge against Stygian, but your last battle with him was rather pathetic.”
“I wouldn’t say pathetic…”
Scoops, on one of the other treadmills, gives a loud “Whoop! Hang in there, Witty! We’re all in this together now!”
Jay glares at Scoops, teeth gritted. “You all are here for training. I’m here to be poked and prodded like a lab rat.”
“Better they poke and prod you now, than you randomly find out this is how Stygian reproduces; through chest-bursting transplants,” Pixamena huffs from the weight-rack.
“Ugh! Don’t even joke,” Delta scowls from her yoga mat.
“I really doubt that's why he did it,” says Jay.
“Why did he do it? I mean, wouldn't a villain want a hero to, um, die?” Says Delta.
“Maybe he wants to rub it in. Like, ha, hero! You only live because of me now!” Says Scoops.
“I think he’s just obsessed with torturing Quickwit,” Pixamena says, setting down the pink weights with a sigh.
Jay groans, pushing the emergency stop on the treadmill. The belt comes to a standstill as he grips the support rails. His entire body feels sore—he’s been running for what seems like eternity.
“Do we have anything to drink?”
Pixamena trots over, handing Jay something pink and glittery in a bejeweled bottle. Jay swallows it down, not even wincing at the cloying sweetness of the drink. In fact, the strawberry refresher is absolutely delicious at the moment.
“Quickwit, your reflexes and endurance have been enhanced somewhat, but not by any superhuman metrics. Are you trying to tap into your powers at all?” Zenith scolds.
“I'm doing the best I can.”
“Well, if you want to keep up with Alphaman, you’re going to need to try harder. Go use the weights next.”
Jay glares, but flinches when a warm hand rests on his shoulder. Delta smiles sheepishly. “Don’t listen to him, Witty. Alphaman isn't so bad, he won’t judge you.”
Jay rolls his eyes as he heads towards the weights. He loads up the bar with a little more than his usual, 185 pounds. “Can you spot me, Scoops?”
Scoops floats over as Jay starts. He’s never lifted for vain reasons, but he can't help but feel a little inadequate in this room of superhumans. He breathes slowly as he starts to lift, focusing on trying to activate some semblance of superhuman strength. But it’s not happening—the strain of the weight is still there, disappointingly.
Before Jay has the chance to berate himself though, the memory of Gannet’s voice echoes in his mind; “...You were fine before—you didn’t need to change.”
Although the sentiment was sweet at the moment, insecurity is now trickling in through the cracks of Jay’s self-esteem. He can’t help but disagree, of course he’s better now. It never made sense Gannet was so enamored with some random C-Class in the first place. That fact makes him even more uncomfortable…Gannet is so in love, but is it even real? Jay huffs as he lifts the weights more aggressively, gritting his teeth. He wonders if Gannet would put up with anything to be with his hero. He’s basically sacrificed his closest friendship, his sense of normalcy, and his fucking cat for Jay. Surely Gannet has limits, right? Is this love really just an obsession? Would Jay even be able to put a stop to it, if it was? Even if he’s feeling a little obsessed these days?
The thoughts continue to swirl about his mind as he continues to question himself. Suddenly, though, as he’s finishing up his last set, his phone buzzes. Setting down the barbell, he opens his phone. Darius appears on his screen.
“Jay, Pixamena, we have reasons to believe an illegal laboratory located in the heart of the Brazos Bend State Park is drawing massive amounts of power. We need you to scout out the location and locate the perpetrator.”
“On it!” Jay and Pixamena proclaim in unison.
They exit Network Headquarters swiftly as they head for their vehicles. Pixamena leads the way on her motorbike as they speed towards the state park, blazing the trail through the heavy rainfall. Jay follows close behind—with the empty roads, they reach the destination quickly. His van smoothly transitions from the road to the marshy forest trail, the all-terrain tires navigating the dirt path effortlessly, while Pixamena’s motorbike glows a vibrant purple as it turns on the hovertires.
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After turning down a few isolated, unmanaged paths, they stop as the GPS leads them to an unmarked clearing in the trees. Jay pops up his hood as he steps out of the van and into the murk. Houston is always humid, being smack-dab in a subtropical zone known for its storms, but here in this densely forested area the air feels as thick as pea soup. The effect is a suffocating an oddly ominous atmosphere, a feeling compounded by the fact that the usual hovering drones are absent.
“I don’t see any laboratory,” Pixamena says, sheltering from the sprinkling rain with a purple umbrella.
Beside her, Pixiepuff wags his tail. He’s dressed in a green raincoat, complete with a little hood and four sparkly boots. “Maybe I can sniff it out!”
Pixiepuff lowers his purple snout to the ground, shuffling around for a moment before he finds something. Suddenly, as he sniffs one of the lone trees in the clearing, he gives a few high-pitched barks. “Yip! Yip! Yip!”
Jay uses his staff to feel up the tree. A resounding clang reverberates up his arm through his weapon. “It's metal.”
Pixamena flutters into the air, observing the tree closely. She tugs a stray branch, which makes a screeching sound as it’s pulled down. The result is the ground shaking and rumbling, like an earthquake has just hit the city. But rather than the shifting of tectonic plates, the cause is the ground parting to reveal a subterranean laboratory. But more than just buzzing machines and fizzing beakers, the ground reveals a startled villain hunched over some kind of giant ray-gun. The short stature, twitching cat-like ears, and goofy expression of the man identifies him as no other than Paradoxico, the mad-scientist alien.
image [https://img.wattpad.com/86d387a9fe9cb3241c252c95fd188e55674581d1/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f39305f39454b5f6d4958593043673d3d2d313432363032333134392e313762373433303566616364663438343733353836393939353937312e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Jay sighs a breath of relief [https://img.wattpad.com/d5d6210eaaaaf4ba5be9cb164dcea542d985e436/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f645865587959446331376b3943413d3d2d313432363032333134392e313762373433303963653363636138643439313630383236323835322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Jay sighs a breath of relief. Although Paradoxico is an A-class villain, he’s much less of a threat than who Jay thought was behind the scenes of this latest conundrum, Techtra. Although it appeared like Stygian had…dispatched her, you could never count a villain truly gone until you see the body—and hers was never recovered. Even then, there are many convoluted ways for a Super to come back to life.
Pixamena summons a katana, pointing it at Paradoxico. “Villain scum! Just what is your plan?!”
Paradoxico cackles, whiskers twitching with comically evil glee. “You’re too late, heroes! With the press of this button, I will rip the veil in the multiverse and summon each Houston hero's evil counterpart!”
Jay starts forward, attempting to bat the remote away with his staff. But Paradoxico is nimble and small, so he avoids the attack effortlessly. He pushes the bright red button with a grin, causing the giant ray gun to buzz and point straight up into the sky. With a deafening boom, a ray of bright red shoots into the sky. A wave of electricity passes over the whole of Houston, and Jay tenses as he feels something buzz deep in his bones. The supers pause, waiting for something to happen…
“Shit! Did I break it?” Paradoxico whines in a high-pitched voice.
Jay snorts. He should’ve expected this. Paradoxico’s schemes never go the way he plans. But before there's a chance to celebrate, two entities materialize with a crackle—A dark purple copy of Pixiepuff with little bat wings, and a copy of Jay with a red-accented suit.
Jay points his staff at his double. He’s had to tango with “dark” versions of himself before, so this isn't anything new. Only…Jay’s a villain now. So does this mean that this alternate is a true hero, completely loyal to the Network?
Jay’s double seems to be thinking something similar, eyes darting around as he observes his new surroundings. “What’s happening right now?”
“Aw come on, where’s the good Supers?” Paradoxico growls, hitting the remote, “this universe is supposed to be filled with evil heroes why did it summon so few!?”
The alternate Jay turns his gaze toward Pixamena, eyes narrowing. His hand comes to his chest, caressing the spot where he too, bears a scarred handprint.
Suddenly, the bat-winged Pixiepuff cowers, wings trembling in fear. “Faye, you need to run. He’s going to kill you again.”
Pixamena’s eyes widen at the use of her real name. Her eyes dart to Jay’s before swapping an astonished look with Paradoxico. “What? Again?”
The bat-winged Pixiepuff turns to Paradoxico, snarl on his little snout. “You have doomed everyone in this city! There are no more heroes or villains from our universe!”
Before Paradoxico has the chance to respond, the alternate Jay barks an order; “Shut, up, mutt.”
“Please don’t call him here! You already got what you wanted! This world is innocent!”
The alternate Jay moves abruptly, staff raised to hit the alternate Pixiepuff. Jay springs forward last minute, catching the staff. Pain radiates from the force of the strike, but before he has a chance to react, a black boot kicks him right in the stomach. Jay tumbles the ground violently, the pain knocking the wind out of him.
Pixamena starts her transformation with a sound of rage, but it seems this alternate Jay is just as smart. He jumps, dragging Pixamena down from where she’s fluttering. She yelps as the doppelganger delivers a brutal punch to the face. She falls to the ground, passed out as Pixiepuff trembles at her side.
Jay struggles to his feet, wildly searching for anything that could give him an advantage here. He spots Paradoxico frozen with horror as Jay’s doppelganger turns around, wiping off his knuckles with a glare.
“Help me take him!” Jay shouts.
Infuriatingly, Paradoxico decides to flee instead. Jay curses as the cowardly alien runs into the forest, clearly not expecting his plans to go so south. As he flees, maniacal laughter echoes in the damp forest. Jay flinches, turning back to the doppelganger. He’s laughing, a crazed expression in his eyes as a string of lightning streaks across the sky. Blinding white backlights him for a moment, creating the uncanny effect of two glowing emerald green eyes against a pitch black silhouette.
“What is this, a universe where I'm a loser?” he crows.
Jay grits his teeth. Glancing down, he spots the alternate Pixiepuff cowering at his feet. “Is it true? He killed all the supers from your universe?”
Before the alternate Pixiepuff has a chance to respond, Jay’s doppelganger interrupts. “Of course I did. Why haven't you?”
“Why—I don’t even have the power to—to—” Jay stumbles over his words, trying to comprehend what exactly is being communicated. “Did what Stygian did to us give us this power? Enough power to destroy Neo Houston?”
“Let's make one thing clear—he needs me a lot more than I need him. His little transplant was helpful, but it's not what did everyone in. It was my plan that got us where we are now, my powers.”
“How could common sense do that?”
“Common sense? You still haven't figured it out?”
“Figured what—”
“This story is about us. It’s always been about us.”
Jay takes a step back, heart pounding. Is this version insane? Just then, as if to answer his question, a voice trickles into his mind;
…poor Jay, I would be pretty devastated If my world was not real. Ignorance is bliss…