The SVE Club

42. Distress

Red Phoenix stalked through the dark hallways, his ears straining to pick up any remaining sound. He heard voices for sure, but he'd thought he was the only one in the building. Everyone else was having fun with that Overdrive fight out front, while he was stuck with guard duty.

As he approached the corner, he could hear breathing, footsteps. He was getting close. Just as he turned, he saw two figures at the end of the hallway.

"Don't move!" one of them shouted.

Red Phoenix squinted. It was dark but his excellent vision allowed him to see Midas and Rachel at the end of the hallway. His heart jumped when he realized Midas had a hand wrapped around the base of Rachel's head.

"Help!" Rachel shouted, her voice sounding strained. Her hair was disarrayed from its braid, strands falling around her face. Her mask was nowhere to be seen.

"Take one more step, and she blows," Midas threatened.

Red Phoenix's hand clenched into fists. "What are you doing here, Midas?"

"That's none of your concern," Midas said. "You're going to let us pass here and you're not going to tell anyone about this. Or she's gonna be one head short of a body."

Rachel trembled. "Do what he says," she pleaded. "Do what he says."

Red Phoenix shook his head, furious. "This is low, even for you, Midas," he muttered.

Midas scoffed. "What are you going to do about it?"

Red Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "I was hoping you'd ask." Before anyone could react, Red Phoenix shot off towards them and his fist connected with Midas' jaw in a punch nobody saw coming. Midas reeled back and hit the floor. Wasting no time, Red Phoenix took Rachel's hand and quickly led her around the corner where they would be out of Midas' field of vision.

"Are you alright?" Red Phoenix asked Rachel, gripping her shoulders. "What's he doing here?"

To his surprise, Rachel embraced him tightly, pressing a cheek to his chest. "Thank you," she seemed to sob.

Red Phoenix found himself returning her embrace. "It's my job," he said.

"I... have to tell you something," Rachel said, standing on her toes to whisper something in his ear.

Red Phoenix slowly turned his head to hear. "What is it?" he asked, his heart pounding.

Rachel took a breath, her lips almost touching him. "It's... NOW!" she shrieked into his ear as loud as she could.

Red Phoenix stumbled back a step, disoriented from his senses being overloaded suddenly, clutching his ears. This gave Rachel a chance to pull the green duct tape from her jacket and wrap a few layers around his ankles. He tripped and fell to the floor with a shout. As this happened, the rest of the SVE club scurried out of hiding and began holding Red Phoenix down, who struggled to no avail.

Midas staggered towards them. "Make sure he's tied really tight," he said sourly, rubbing his jaw.

"Why are you doing this?" Red Phoenix spat at Rachel's direction as she continued with the tape. In his struggling, he managed to kick Evan in the head, who simply took the blow and continued to hold him down.

"Because heroes suck," Rachel answered, ripping off more tape with her teeth.

Red Phoenix yelled and his chest heaved upwards, nearly knocking everyone else out of the way.

"Will someone please sit on him?!" Rachel yelled. "Willow?"

Willow's eyes widened and she rapidly shook her head no.

Taro stood up. "I got this," he said, sitting on the hero's chest. Red Phoenix let out a pained sound as the air was knocked out of him. He glared at Taro.

"You weigh more than you look," he said.

Taro smiled patted his stomach. "It's all muscle."

"I think you broke a rib," Red Phoenix coughed.

Nate shook his head as he pushed the hero's arm to the floor. "This is so wrong what we're doing," he said. "We're gonna get arrested."

"Not if everything else goes according to plan," Midas promised.

After a few more minutes of shouting and struggling, Red Phoenix was more tape than superhero. Midas and Rachel dragged him back to the utility room. After propping him up against a wall, Rachel took another small piece of tape. She hesitated as she approached him.

"Hey," she said, "Don't worry. It's not your fault. If you knew me at all, you'd know that I'd rather fight tooth and nail than play the damsel in distress." She quickly taped his mouth shut and turned to Midas. "Just so we're clear, I'm never doing that again." She swiftly kicked him in the shin.

"It was worth it," Midas muttered, stepping out of kicking distance.

"So I take it my plan went well," Sam asked.

"It went perfectly," Midas said with a grin. "We're going to head to the control tower now. Everything still good?"

"Ready when you are," Sam answered. "Oh, hey, while you guys were busy, I was looking through all the schools functions and I think I have access to all the intercoms. What would you say about some heist music?"

     Midas shrugged. "Go ahead, whatever you want."

     Almost immediately, music blasted through every loudspeaker in the school, playing AC/DC's 'Back in Black.'

     "And I immediately regret that decision," Midas mumbled. "Let's just get ready to go." He glanced at the others, who were listening to the intro with varying degrees of appreciation, Willow beaming ear to ear but Rachel raising an eyebrow.

     Nate noticed Willow's expression. "You like this music?" he asked.

     Willow laughed and nodded, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Yeah," she said.

    Rachel shook her head. "You never cease to surprise me, Willow."

     "Let's head out!" Midas shouted. They ran through the archives, ready to complete their mission.

<><><><><><><>

Overdrive couldn't believe she was wasting her Wednesday evening like this.

     On the positive side of things, this sudden jaunt had forced her to upgrade her rocket boots, which she supposed would come in handy later.

     On the negative side of things (which was a much longer list), the rocket boots were now running out of fuel much quicker. Overdrive knew she had only moments before she had to descend and continue the sparring on the ground.

     She grimaced as she used a grav-glove to fling away a couple of dynamopsychs that were attempting to mess with her gear. This really wasn't her style. This really wasn't her choice, either.

      Resignation welling in her chest, she began to lower herself to the ground. If it hadn't been for Midas and those kids asking her for help, she wouldn't be out here risking her neck- not to mention her reputation.

     Oh, I'm gonna help you, Midas, she thought vengfully as she diverted more power to her gloves. And after that? I'm going to kill you and your old friend.

     She raised her palms towards the closest building. It was time for the real evil to begin.