Dang Convergence Vol. 1

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE TIGER TELLS A STORY

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

TIGER TELLS A STORY

Tiger sat in the front of the cafeteria, which now smelled less of food and more like a clinic, and they attended to the kids who needed their wounds redressed, all while completely lost in thought. Now that Daedalus and Dante were leaving the team, they were at a serious disadvantage, and the last thing they needed was to give the enemy an edge.

They thought about their fight a few hours before, against Kai, and how they'd been embarrassed by him, and how it would've gone so much smoother had any of the Dangs been there, but they hadn't, and it was up to them and Wombat, but they failed...miserably. They'd tried their best to hide it and put on a brave, worry-free persona but it was eating away at them on the inside.

Maybe they made the wrong choices? Maybe, if they'd been smarter, they could've avoided anyone getting kidnapped at all. Maybe if they'd been stronger.

The entire scene kept replaying in her mind; From the twins noticing the threats first – which was their job – to them leaving Caden alone with Anna and the rest of the kids and then finally getting knocked out in battle...

Any confidence they had in themselves before that, was depleted seriously, replacing itself with anxiety.

And now, two of their heaviest hitters were walking away. Just as things were starting to heat up...

That did not help their anxiety at all.

"...and that's why I had to remove the bandages in the first place." The kid they were currently attending to was saying. They recognized him from the orphanage. His name was Liam.

They scanned him, trying to remember when they'd first provided his treatment. He had a few scratches on his face but nothing serious enough to warrant attention. They then scanned his outstretched arm, where the actual injury was.

A piece of one of the orphanage walls had fallen onto his arm and taken a piece of his dark skin with it, leaving an area of exposed flesh.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Okay." Tiger responded, feeling guilty for not having heard anything he'd said.

Liam stared at them as they reapplied another bandage to their arm.

"Make sure this one stays on, okay?" They said, after they were done, "Or else, the next time you come back, I'm gluing it to your arm."

Liam's eyes widened in fear, and he muttered a quick thanks before scurrying off.

Tiger smirked to themself, proud of their joke.

They scanned around the room and, for the first time, realized how drab the atmosphere was. It had been busier before, when they and the other staff members had been running around attending to each injured kid, but now that the commotion had died down, and everyone had realized the severity of the situation, it was quiet.

Some of the kids had huddled up and were comforting each other, telling them everything would be okay and that they would be okay. Others had isolated themselves. The staff that had been lively and active a couple of hours ago, helping with the kids, had cordoned off a section for themselves and had all gone to sleep.

Tiger couldn't blame them. They themself were exhausted, but they were more used to sleepless nights than the average person.

Woe to those who live the life of a superhero.

One of the kids that had been sitting alone caught their attention. They had a bandage wrapped around their head and had stayed huddled up in a corner sulking. He had his arms wrapped around his legs and his head buried in them. Tiger walked over to him.