The Paragons

Chapter 7: Succumbing to Bloodlust

It took several minutes for the smoke to clear and for the plane's three occupants to return to their senses, but miraculously, all of them had survived the crash. The Viper was the first one to come to, and she quickly dashed out of the ruins of the aircraft before anything else could happen; The Crawler was the second to recover, and he grabbed Duncan's body, hauled it over his shoulder, and followed The Viper's path to the exit.

Once everyone had made it outside safely, The Crawler laid Duncan on the ground and gently rocked him back and forth, trying to rouse him. "Boss! Wake up.....come on, wake up!" he begged. "This can't be it.....I know you, and you're way too strong for some plane crash to take you down....."

"You have to get back up....." The Viper pleaded, her voice breaking. "Please.....I know you did some terrible things before, but your new life was just getting started.....plus, I don't know how to fly a plane! Or fix it, for that matter!"

Much to the lizard's relief---and after several seconds of anxious anticipation on The Crawler and The Viper's parts---Duncan's eyes started to open slowly, but they snapped fully open almost instantly after his gaze landed on the destroyed plane. Surprisingly enough, despite pulling himself to his feet and just standing there for a few seconds, blinking in shock at the dilapidated state of the aircraft, he remained optimistic. "Okay.....I think I can fix this," he said to the others. "There should be an emergency toolbox somewhere inside the plane---"

"Already got it, boss!" The Crawler interjected. "I took it with me right before getting you out of there."

"Okay.....good. We can get to work repairing this thing.....but it's going to take a lot of time, and we still need to find the enhanced individual that supposedly operates here."

"I'll head into the city and start looking," The Viper decided. "You and The Crawler focus on getting the aircraft fixed.....otherwise we'll be stuck here."

"Do we even know exactly what she's looking for, boss?" The Crawler asked.

Duncan scratched his head. All they really knew was that Giorgio Carlisle had made a recent phone call to someone in this city, asking them to join his team---just as he had done for him, The Viper, and The Crawler. There was absolutely no information on who the recipient was, how old they were, or what superpowers they had. "I.....have no idea," the doctor admitted. "Just.....keep a close eye on the streets and alleys, okay? Look out for anything.....'out of the ordinary'. Anything that a normal, everyday human wouldn't be able to do."

"Well.....I guess that's as good of a lead as any," the heroine said resignedly, her tone obviously conveying her wish that they had clearer information. "Is the speaker in the cockpit still functional? Something tells me we'll need it."

The Crawler nodded. "It is. I tested it after I woke up from the crash."

"We'll focus on working our way towards the cockpit so we can reach the speaker; and so The Crawler and I can continue communicating with you while we fix the plane and you search for our hero. If we get done before you, just radio us your location and we'll join you," Duncan instructed. "On the other hand, if you find them before we're finished, bring them back to the crash site so we can inform them about everything that's been going on."

"Understood. I suppose I'll go on ahead and see if I can't spot anything. Good luck, you guys," The Viper replied before readying her grappling hook, latching onto the side of a nearby building before swinging swiftly into the city; meanwhile, Duncan and The Crawler took the reptilian's toolbox and immediately began to get the plane back in working condition.