The SVE Club

51. Sorry

"When I was two, Insomnium legally adopted me," he began. "You met him. He called himself Finn Pierce. He's the one who taught me how to use my powers. He trained me to be a weapon. His goal was for me to become powerful enough to take his place one day, to become Insomnium. Everything I learned was evil and meant to harm people. Twelve years of that. Until ISH."

    "Wait," Sam said, trying to process this. "If Insomnium wanted you to be a villain, why did he let you go to ISH?"

     "My first mission. Insomnium told me to try to turn some students to villainy. He wanted a sort of team. But after spending a month at ISH... I didn't want to leave. I liked being White Flame, and for the first time in my life I felt good. I had friends, I was helping people- I was happy. After about three years of trying to drag out the mission, Insomnium finally caught onto me and he... He was very upset, to say the least. One day, I was with my team... And he made me turn on them. And I..." He took a moment, hesitant to continue.

"Did he... kill any of them?" Sam managed to ask.

"No," Midas said, sounding somewhat relieved. "But I put Iron Ice, Masquerade and Bondette in the hospital for a while. I was expelled from ISH, but Insomnium erased all the digital records of the incident. After that, he essentially tried to beat all the heroism out of me until I could think like a villain again. He forced me to dye my hair and wear the mask wherever I went, so it would be harder for people to recognize me as White Flame. It was easier to comply than to fight. Then he sent me to Cherokee North. To look for supers."

    "You didn't find any?"

    "I thought I hadn't," Midas answered, a long pause filling the room. He continued his explanation. "Anyway, during my search, Insomnium changed his plans. He didn't need supers anymore, he needed some things from ISH. Of course, he didn't think to ask for those things before I got kicked out. Would have made my life a lot easier."

    "And that's why you set us up with the ISH mission," Sam said. "To help him."

    "No," Midas said, managing to shake his head gently. "To help myself. If he didn't get what he wanted, he planned to use me as a weapon. I didn't want to risk being forced to hurt- or even kill- any of you, and I know he would have made me do it. He promised that if I did this job, he'd leave me out of his next big move. But when I brought him what he needed, he went back on his deal. He needed a way to restrain me. And..."

    "And thus the sudden coma?" Sam asked.

    "And thus the sudden coma," Midas responded. It was silent for a moment, and Sam glanced away, looking at the walls, the ceiling, anything but Midas. Her foot bounced nervously, tapping the floor softly as she tried to understand it all.

"So... you are the White Flame that I knew?" Sam asked. "The White Flame that saved me?"

    "That was me."

     "Do you... Do you even remember that day?" Sam asked, her voice cracking.

     Midas hesitated. "Like it was yesterday," he finally admitted. "Although it took me a while to remember who you were. It didn't dawn on me until that day we were setting up B3 for the interviews and you were asking me about White Flame."

Sam cringed. "Oh jeez, and I was totally fangirling that day. If I'd only realized that you were-" She stopped short and face palmed with her free hand, shaking her head. "God, it's so obvious. I should have figured it out sooner."

"White Flame isn't who I am anymore," Midas said quickly. "I can't ever be him again."

"Is that right?" Sam murmured, glancing away again. Her face turned expressionless and exhausted. A silence again settled over the room and became stale.