As insurmountable as they may seem, villains do need breaks sometimes. Often, after heroes predictably thwart their master plan, they’re forced to go into hiding. So it really shouldn’t surprise the civilian to see Stygian in the bed, curled up with eyes as red as the stained bedsheet. Even so, she freaks.

“No! No! You can’t make me go in there!” she begs, scrambling back.

Jay blocks her vain escape, gripping her by the arm tight. “He needs surgery. Isn’t that your job? To do no harm and help anyone who needs it?”

“Look at him! That’s not a person, that’s a fucking nuclear bomb you’re asking me to defuse!”

"Actually," Razzmatazz titters, “defusing would imply you’re killing him. Which I’m pretty sure none of us could ever come close to. So don’t even try.”

“If he’s immortal, why does he need me!?”

“He’s scared. Look at him.”

The doctor pauses for a moment, glancing at Stygian. Jay notes that she’s not very old, for a surgeon. She must have graduated recently. But even new to the medical field, she must see something familiar here, see the fear on Stygian’s face.

Timidly, she approaches. “Have you had any surgeries before?”

Stygian only nods, eyes wide. Jay goes to sit on the bed, petting Gannet’s head softly. “He’s had a lot of them. He doesn’t like needles.”

“Okay. Okay. What do you want me to do…?”

“Fix him!” Jay growls.

“Yes! Okay! I'm, I'm doing it…I need to see the wound.”

Jay lifts Stygian’s shirt tenderly before letting the doctor come closer. Using the materials provided, she sterilizes her hands and gloves them up before timidly probing the area with her fingers. She jolts as Stygian does, eyes wide.

“What are you doing?” He asks hoarsely.

“I’m just checking how deep it is. I need to clean it to properly assess the extent of the damage.”

“What do you need?” Jay asks.

“That bottle right there, some gauze, and some forceps.”

Jay hands it over to her. Immediately, she soaks the gauze in a translucent purple liquid and dabs it to the wound. Red soaks into the gauze as the injury is revealed. Jay averts his gaze from the grisly sight, while the doctor’s eyes seem to widen with interest.

“You said he got this wound last week? Battling Alphaman?”

“Yes. What about it?”

“Well, it’s healed quite a bit. But…but there seems to be an abundance of abnormal growths here too. Is this typical for you, Stygian?”

“No. It usually just heals.”

“What does it mean?” Jay asks.

“Well, I almost—never mind…”

“What? Tell me, now.”

The doctor’s eyes go wide at the menace in Jay’s voice. “In school, we studied what happens to abusers of Compound Z. It gives them a brief burst of enhanced power before…before cancers in the body overtake the healthy cells. This looks remarkably similar to what we researched.”

Jay’s heart drops. “He’s dying!?”

“No! No, I—it definitely looks like cancer. I can’t tell 100% just from observation. But it's…well, look for yourself. His body is fighting back as we speak. I don’t know how his anatomy works but I’d say he can make a full recovery with treatment. I, I mean. I think.”

“What treatment does he need?”

“It’s hard to say, um, but considering how fast he’s healing, we could leave it be or try to speed up the process by removing the growths.”

“We should leave it,” Stygian growls.

“We can’t leave it, what if it gets worse?” says Jay.

“I don’t want any more surgeries. I’ll be fine..”

“Stygian…” Jay sighs, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t just let this fester. Plus, we can’t have you this vulnerable for any longer. We need you able to defend yourself. What if Alphaman attacks again?”

“I can fight. It just hurts a little.”

“And if he lands another hit on you?”

“He won’t.”

Jay grimaces. Stygian is far from rational right now. “Maybe you shouldn’t be ‘villained up’ right now. Maybe You could let Gannet—”

Stygian’s mouth curls into a snarl, claws gripping the sheets. “No! How do you think I survived Netscie? You think I could handle it on my own? Fuck you, fuck you, fuck, fuck—”

Razzmatazz steps up to the bed, squeezing Stygian’s shoulder. “You’re our only line of defense. If you go down, Alphaman is going to come after us next. We need you.”

Stygian breathes deep, closing his eyes. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Jay’s heart squeezes painfully at the exhaustion he hears in Stygian’s voice. “It’s okay. I'm sorry too. Let's get this over with.”

The doctor fiddles with the surgical tools. “I can do it, but he needs to be put under or at least anesthetized.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I don’t want the stong stuff,” Stygian growls, “Nothing addictive.”

“Okay well, our options are limited then. I, uh, can try the Amadroxinol. At high doses it's a sedative.”

“How fast does it wear off?”

“I really don’t know with you, but with a man of your size, it would take an hour or two.”

“Just give me it all. Once it stops working, you’ll need to switch to something else. I’ll develop an immunity. Permanently.”

“Oh…”

“I've got the horse tranquilizers if we need them,” Razzmatazz chimes in.

Jay ignores her, staring down the doctor. “Just get done what you can as fast as you can. Got it?”

“Okay…”

“Are you going to leave?” Stygian whispers.

Jay sits on the bed. “No. I’m going to stay right beside you the whole time, okay? I’ll be here when you wake up.”

The doctor comes closer, nervously handing over the pills to Stygian. “You need to take these now.”

With a fixed gaze, Stygian focuses on the bottle. He engulfs them entirely with his shadows, without even needing to ask for a glass of water. His eyes go glassy and shut a moment later. Although Jay can see the gentle rhythm of Stygian’s breath coming in and out, his mind still goes to the worst outcome. He needs the warmth of Stygian’s hand, the thrum of a strong heartbeat, to assure himself everything is okay.

The surgery isn’t a quick procedure. Jay watches the clock on the wall as the doctor works diligently. He can’t help but feel like time is passing slower than usual—only thirty minutes in and he’s fidgeting anxiously like it’s been hours. He’d entertain himself with a book or his phone to get his mind off things, but he can’t bring himself to tear his sight away from Stygian’s sleeping face. Jay needs to make sure he stays asleep. The last thing they needed was more unnecessary pain.

There's one mercy, at least. Ever since he started his medicine, there hadn’t been a single voice in his head that wasn’t his own. Jay thanks his lucky stars, because with the stress, he really doesn’t want to tack on his lost marbles scattered across the city.

Jay smirks. Of course it was all in his head. What other explanation made sense?

Pulling his mind away from thoughts of delusions, Jay’s phone buzzes in his pocket. Quickly, he glances at it, intending to check for a moment before putting it away again. However, what he sees next makes his stomach twist.

Echo: I just got a text from Influentia. The guards at one of Netscie’s hidden labs have informed her Frame is being held there against her will.

Echo: She's not well. You need to hold up your end of the deal. Now.

Jay: Can this wait?

Jay: Stygian is tied up at the moment.

Echo: No, this can’t “wait” my sidekick is being tortured.

Echo: Either hold up your end of the deal, or I'll make you regret it.

Jay groans, raking his hand through his hair. Shit, could the timing be any worse?

“Razz,” he hisses, “come here.”

Razzmatazz leaves the doorframe she was leaning against. “What?”

“They found Frame, she’s at some hidden Netscie facility. We need to go get her.”

“Right now? Are we waking him?”

“No—I need you to go with Texas and Taurrage and retrieve her.”

“I think you should come with us.”

Jay frowns, squeezing Stygian’s hand. “I can’t leave him here alone.”

“Leave him with Texas. We can’t fit a centaur in the van anyway.

“I promised I wouldn’t leave, Razz. We need our heavy hitters on this one.”

“You are a heavy hitter. You take on supers who are supposed to be three times as powerful as you. We need you, especially if Stygian is out for the count.”

Jay looks down at Stygian again, face pinched with concern.

Razzmatazz smiles. “It’s going to be okay, he’ll understand.”

“Fine. Go get Taurrage while I get ready, please.”

Razzmatazz nods sternly. “On it!”

Jay leans over, kissing Stygian’s forehead. “I’m coming back, I promise. I love you.”

There’s an uncomfortable clearing of the throat from the doctor. Jay lifts his eyes to meet hers. She jolts, freezing in place.

“I—uh—“

“Have something to say?”

“No! I, I just didn’t expect a villain to be so…doting?”

“I’m not spending my Saturday night kidnapping randoms for shits and giggles.”

“No, uh, yeah.”

Jay stands from the bed, adjusting his mask. “I did it because I need him to get better. That means if you fuck up, either intentionally or on accident, there’s going to be hell to pay. Understand?”

“Yes,” the doctor squeaks, looking pale.

“Good. Once you’re done, we’ll release you. Tell the Network you got tortured or something. Get a few weeks off work.”

“Uh, okay.”

Jay nods, leaving the bedroom. He takes a quick second to swipe a cup of coffee off the counter, chugging it as he leaves through the front door. Razzmatazz and Taurrage are already outside, leaning against Jay’s van.

“Ready to go?” Razzmatazz asks.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Jay opens the car door, sliding into the drivers seat as Razzmatazz takes shotgun and Taurrage takes the back.

Razzmatazz giggles. “This is the big one, isn’t it?”

“It's definitely going to make your other schemes look like small potatoes,” Taurrage grunts.

“I hope we’re up to the challenge,” says Jay.

“It’ll be fine!” Razzmatazz cheers, “worse comes to worst, you get taken to the Lone Star Psychiatric Center. Baby’s first incarcerationnn.”

“God, I hope not. Now quiet down. I need to call Echo and ask for the coordinates to this God-forsaken place.”

Jay jumps as the car’s ignition turns on by itself and turns onto the dirt path. A static-filled voice comes through the speakers. “No need. I’ll take you there myself.”

“Echo?!”

“Hold onto something.”

Before Jay has a chance to argue, they’re already speeding down the road at a breakneck velocity.

“Shit! Be careful! We didn’t put our seatbelts on yet!”

Razzmatazz laughs insanely, sticking her head out the window. Her hair shimmers with iridescent rainbow hues as it whips in the wind. “Woo! Let’s go team villain!”

“Razz! You’re going to get your head chopped off!”

Razzmatazz yelps as they turn a corner abruptly, pulling onto the main road so fast the van nearly tips over. It’s only by the grace of Jay’s paranoia she’s yanked back in before taking a tumble out the window.

“Do you want to become a meat crayon, woman!?”

“You can't criticize me for being reckless now, you’re just as bad!”

Jay’s unable to form a retort as the van swerves again. Echo is haphazardly weaving them through traffic, forcing the passengers inside to hold on for dear life. Jay attempts to keep track of where they’re going, but the signs are nothing but green blurs on the side of the road. They continue on like that for a considerable stretch of road before the speedometer increases even more.

“Echo, you’re going to kill us!” Taurrage brays.

“I’ve calculated that the risk of death is a minimal 20%”

“Do you understand how statistics work?! 20% is not low enough!” says Jay.

“This is the most efficient route to Frame.”

“We can be efficient and safe, there’s no reason to choose one or the other!”

“Please hold on. The risk level will be rising to 25% shortly.”

“Wait what—”

As they climb up the steep hill of a large overpass, Jay’s heart leaps into his throat as they take a sharp turn into oncoming traffic, nearly hit a semi-truck, dive through the guardrail, and freefall over the edge.