It's Complicated

[Cadence Calloway]

The ride always hurt. This was the price the Loa paid for the ride. And with it this time came an inexplicable sense of loss and disappointment so deep that it sat like a painful weight in Etienne’s chest. This was unlike that giddy, dizzying ride with Shining Hope. This was the essence of regret, of feeling forever repentant of lost opportunity, forever missing a chance at happiness and fulfillment. Cadence felt it too, on top of her own anxieties as Etienne slipped through the shadows. The Loa led them away from campus, past Brickstown and into Crey’s Folly. The acrid scent of the thick green mist that hung so heavily in the air in this blighted part of Paragon assailed his senses, burned at his lungs. The shadows were much deeper out here, and he quickly made advantage of that, crossing great distances. He followed the Loa’s urging, until he arrived outside a seemingly abandoned warehouse. The place looked deserted, but he knew better. He could sense life within, could hear people milling around below ground. This was where he needed to be. He slipped through the shadows once more and emerged into the lab hidden below.

Etienne felt Cady’s apprehension rise, and could hear her thoughts. What if the tip was false? What if there was no cure? What if all of this was for nothing? What if this was a trap? Perhaps this was a mistake, bringing her along sidecar, but there was no going back at this point.

“Do not worry, ‘moiselle. I ain’t going let dem even know we here.”

With that, he slipped into the shadows. Despite the hour, there was plenty of activity going on in this laboratory. He could hear the heavy footfalls of Crey tanks on patrol, could smell the chemicals in use here. Mingled in with all of these was the scent of sickness and death. He frowned as moved from one shadowed corridor to the next. True to his word, no one seemed to know Etienne was even in the building. As he moved deeper into the facility, the scent grew stronger. His path crossed entrance labeled ‘AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY’. He heard nothing coming from within, so he silently slipped inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was a man, presumably a Paragon protector, lying on a slab. A Y shaped incision had been made on the chest. He wasn’t the only body in the room either. There were at least 4 others there as well, with at least one of them autopsied already. The scent of death, likely too subtle for any of the lab workers to pick up, nearly overwhelmed him. But the panic coming from Cadence at the sight of the bodies was the more immediate danger. He had to get her to calm down, or else he’d find himself not only trying to keep her under control, but the Loa as well. That was the danger in having someone ride sidecar. He didn’t want the Loa to take control. He certainly didn’t want Cadence to feel the guilt that would come from knowing she was the cause.

“Oh my God…oh my God, oh my God…”

“Listen to me, ‘moiselle. Dese people dead,” he said firmly. He wasn’t unkind, but he was direct. “Dey won’ hurt you. Dey won’ hurt anyone else.”

After a moment or two, Cadence calmed down. He could still feel her apprehension, but the panic was gone. “We should…there should be paperwork or something here. Charts and stuff…”

He strode toward one of the slabs. Just as she’d said, there was a clipboard nearby. He snatched up the chart and quickly stuffed it into the pocket of his alligator skin coat. He took a step back into the shadows, reappearing once again in the hall outside.

“We should keep looking, and see what else we can find.”

“You up for dat, ‘moiselle?”

“Yeah…yeah just…I’ll be fine.”

Etienne slid into the shadows once more and continued his search. Apparently he wasn’t the only one searching for answers either. Guards were stepping up their patrols, and he could hear people barking orders. So far he’d gone unnoticed, but how long would that last? He sank into the shadows as he heard another pair of footsteps heading his way.

“Just how long do you think we have before they notice their guys trussed up in the security room?" a woman’s voice asked.

A second voice, yet another female, replied, "Given that it's Crey and they should be used to this happening? I'd say we have a good hour. Maybe more."

"Good. You fried the cameras?"

"Course I did. You'd think they'd have a backup plan for that sort of thing but nope. We're golden."

"Great. Think you can avoid frying anything else until we can lift information from their systems?"

"It'll take all of my concentration but I think I can manage. I've been house-trained."

Two women rounded the corner, coming to a screeching halt as the caught sight of Etienne. Electricity arced across the blue skin of one of the women as she prepared to fry Etienne. The other intervened before things could get out of hand.

"Aquashock, don't!" She peered at Etienne. "Etienne? What are you doing here?"

Etienne turned his head to the side, peering with unblinking eyes. He watched their hearts beat, slightly out of sync with each other. They smelled of fear and adrenaline and excitement. Close, but not quite like prey. He forced his vision back to the surface, recognizing one of the women: Sam, Cadence’s guardian. Etienne had met her over Christmas, when Cady had invited him out to the boarding house. She was wearing her hero garb, a drastic change to the domestic look she’d had going for her in December.

The Loa inside of him screamed to be unleashed. Hunting should be done alone, mule. End these and reclaim our territory.

"Same ting you is here for, I 'spect, Miss Sam."

Sam rubbed her temple. Of all the sorts of happenings she had thought might occur, this was not something she had taken into account.

"I don't even want to know how you found out about this," she muttered softly.

Aqua peered at the newcomer from behind her sunglasses, her shark-like eyes remaining as dead to emotion as ever. Ah right. This was Cady's boy.

"Sam, dude, who cares? You ain't gonna mess up anythin' in here right, kid? There, all set. Let's get this show on the road," Aqua said with her usual amount of tact.

Etienne turned his alien gaze on Aqua, cataloging the differences. Teeth, skin, cold blooded. Behind her flippant words something much warmer. Another hunter, perhaps, and one that wanted to be thought of as solitary. He’d only seen her once, briefly, while on a ride, but Cady knew her from Evolution-X.

He turned back to Sam, "Follow."

Without another word, he turned and stepped into a shadow, emerging from another down the corridor pausing long enough for them to see which direction he headed before stepping back in. The trio made their way through the facility. Etienne flitted in and out of the shadows, staying in sight just long enough for Sam and Aqua to follow along before disappearing again. The veteran heroes made quick work of patrols along the way, disabling them and moving unconscious bodies out of sight. Their path eventually led them to a room lined in fluid filled tanks. He could feel Cady’s fear rising again as he took in the sight of Paragon Protectors just floating, suspended while probes and lines attached to their bodies monitored their condition and administered treatment.

“Aqua, keep an eye out for company.”

“Fine sure, whatever. Let the fish girl play lookout while you and the creepy kid make with the real heroics,” the blue skinned girl said, her tone full of snark as she sent Sam a dismissive wave.

Sam just nodded, and then moved past Etienne to one of the consoles. His gaze lingered on the sickened clones in their tanks. They looked at peace, asleep while they floated in stasis. It was hard to imagine that these same beings were what Crey touted as peacekeeping forces for the city, that operated as powerful guards for their facilities.

“I don’t want to be here. Can we leave?”

“Ain’ can leave yet, moiselle. Not till we get what we come for. You want dis to end, right?”

“Yes, I do. I just…they put me in one of those things, Etienne. I couldn’t fight back, and they put me in one of those tanks. I was awake when they did it, and I was so scared. And just…just looking at them floating there like that just...”

She didn’t even have to complete that statement. “I know. Dere ain’ no reason to be feared now dough. You stronger now dan you was den, right?”

“…yes.”

“Den don’t be afraid. Dey ain’ do dat to you ever again.”

Sam’s voice broke through the silent conversation going on between Etienne and Cady. “Got it. Crey’s research on Cady’s illness.”

“Good news, right?” Aqua tossed back.

“Definitely. Etienne, there should a sample of Crey’s cure over there.” She looked at the screen again as she started transmitting the information from the console to the House of Heroes satellite. “Label should read PINCU#13.”

“Hey guys, generally good news is followed by bad news, right?”

Etienne moved to retrieve the sample Sam had indicated, pocketing it with the chart he’d taken earlier. Sam didn’t look up as she pulled a thumb drive out of one of her belt pouches. The second the information she’d found was finished transmitting she plugged it in and started running a log deletion program to ensure Crey wouldn’t be able to see where the information was sent to. “Generally speaking, yes. What’s the bad news?”

“Bad news is we’re about to have company. Hope you’re done with that computer, because I’m about to make like an electric eel and fry these guys.” Even as the words left her mouth, arcs of electricity began to dance up Aquashock’s arms. She created a force field in front of the entrance. “I can hold them back for a bit.”

Sam frowned and looked to Etienne. “Get out of here with that sample. Take it to Ellis Industries, ask for Dr. Ellis. Do you know how to get there?”

“I can tell you where it is,” Cady told him. Etienne nodded in reply.

“Good. Tell them Sam sent you, and there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Guys, got some pissed off Crey tanks wanting a word with us,” Aqua warned. The thud that rang out just added more to the argument. “Mind talking this over later? Y’know, when we don’t have bad guys beating down the door?”

Etienne disappeared into the shadows before Sam could issue any further orders, and making his way to the Ellis Industries building. There wasn’t time for either of the House of Heroes veterans to ponder where the boy had gone off to. Sam jerked the thumb drive out, and then took a defensive stance beside Aquashock.

“Alright, transmission’s been sent, logs have been deleted. Show our guests in.”

The blue skinned mutant grinned, bearing her rows of shark teeth as she did. Those tanks were in for one hell of a reception.