Yin and Yang [A Superhero AU] - Book Three

Chapter Twenty-One - Stage One

Phil exits his office, his bag too heavy on his shoulder and his head too heavy for his neck. How long has it been since he last saw Dan? A day and a half? More? Time seems to drag on when he's stuck at work with nothing to do, and he hates it. He just wants to go home. Mark already went home, and Phil finds himself wanting to follow that example.

"Hey, I'm going to head home," he says to Matthias as he approaches the front desk.

Matthias looks up and nods, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sounds like a good plan. There isn't really anything to do around here right now." Phil nods, and before he can walk away from the desk the sound of static erupts from Matthias' computer. The American's eyes widen. "Actually, don't go home yet.  You should come look at this."

As Phil rounds the desk, Matthias calls the other heroes to the front desk through the intercom. A man with dark brown hair appears on the screen, a glint in his eyes, and as he adjusts himself in his chair the other heroes show up and crowd around the monitors.

"Good evening, citizens of San Francisco. A lot of you are probably frightened right now, but there is no need. I am here to give you the truth. Many of you know about Curatrix and the hold it's had in this city. Well, I'm here to tell you that they are corrupt. They've been lulling you into a false sense of security, allowing you to believe that what they're doing is helpful. They are lying to you. The only reason they protect this city is because they want to protect themselves and get paid for it. Citizens, do not believe them. Arm yourselves and focus on protecting you and your families. Don't wait around for some glorified police officer to save you. Here marks the beginning of the new age. I, along with the rest of my group, will give you the city you need and deserve. Omnis enim qui se ipsum; every man for himself. Put your trust in us, and you will live to see the beginning of something revolutionary. We are the New Age Institute. Prepare for revolution."

The man's face disappears and the seal of the institute replaces it. Phil stares, his fingers clenched at his sides, and tries to remember how to breathe. The other heroes look just as shocked, their eyes wide and their jaws slack. The doors swing open and Mark enters, looking just as shaken, and the heroes gesture him over.

"Did you see the announcement?" Matthias asks.

"Yeah, I did," Mark replies. "What do we do?"

Ken crosses his arms. "Everyone is afraid of us now. What are we supposed to do?"

Phil's blue eyes flicker to Ken before returning to Mark, the worry in his eyes perfectly reflecting Phil's. "We do what we can. Matthias, what do you know about this?"

Matthias exhales and runs his fingers through his hair. "The person that did the announcement was Matthew, their missions-control guy. From that alone, we can figure out that this was the villain's doing. Plus, I've done a lot of research about the villains and apparently, their boss used to refer to his experiments and his work as 'the coming of the new age'."

Phil bites his lip, worry spiking in his heart. Dan is involved in this? Is he going to get hurt because of it? His train of thought is broken by alarms blasting through the Curatrix headquarters, and he races off towards the changing rooms and gets his suit on without a moment of thought. Within minutes, they're heading into the streets. There are almost no people around, which makes him feel more nervous than he already was.

The villains head into the street and Phil immediately finds Dan, who races towards him and drags him off to a secluded corner between two buildings. Before Phil can speak or ask any questions, Dan pulls him close by the front of his suit and kisses him on the lips.

"Dan—"

"I love you."

Phil stares with wide eyes as his heart does roughly one hundred somersaults in his chest. His breath leaves him completely, and it takes a moment for him to even be able to respond.

"I love you too."

Dan nearly laughs, his eyes twinkling, and kisses Phil again. "I have to go, but I promise that I'll come by and see you tonight."

"Okay."

With that, Dan runs off again. Phil reenters the street, but his mind isn't with it. He feels like a lovesick puppy, and all he wants to do is find Dan again and kiss him senseless. He doesn't have time to feel all giddy, however, because a fist is flying at his face and he has to dodge it. The female villain, who Phil was told to be Stephanie, throws another punch towards him before managing to grab a handful of his suit and drag him over to where all the other heroes are being herded. Phil struggles, but she's strong. She lets him go and Jack starts gathering all of the heroes together into a tight bunch, going top speed. Ken and Felix try to hit him and knock him off course, but none of them can land a punch. Stephanie approaches the group once again, but this time she's dragging with her a very terrified Marzia.

"Marzia!" Felix yells, taking a step forward and stopping when he realizes he can't go anywhere. Phil watches, horror filling his countenance.

"Felix!" Marzia calls back through a strained voice.

Stephanie clenches her jaw, and Phil can see a pain in her eyes that reflects the pain he so often sees in Dan's eyes. She drags Marzia away from the group, the Italian girl growing more and more distraught the further away she gets. Beside him, Ken transforms into an eagle and takes off into the air, but Stephanie just raises her hand and takes control of him, dragging him back down to Earth with ease.

"I suggest none of you follow. Unless, of course, you want your little Italian to die," Stephanie says. When nobody moves, she smirks. "That's what I thought."

Phil's heart starts to race as he looks around, confirming for himself that there are indeed no possible exits or ways to save Marzia. So, he watches with growing terror as Stephanie releases Marzia's arm and raises her hands, taking the Italian girl under her control and playing with her like a puppet. Under the villain's control, Marzia raises her specialized pen and starts drawing, filling the air with the sound of stones grinding together. Seconds later, explosions shake the city and cause everyone, even Jack, to stumble slightly. Phil holds his hands over his ears, wanting desperately to sink to the ground as the atmosphere fills with dust and debris.

"What the heck is going on?!" Phil shouts, his voice barely audible over the noise and confusion.

"A wall around San Francisco was just built," Matthias replies through their earpieces. "And the Golden Gate bridge has been blown to smithereens. We're trapped."

The heroes grow silent as the grinding sound finally ends and the Earth stills. The silence is almost disturbing, and Phil wishes his ears would stop ringing. Marzia lowers her hands and then stands there, Stephanie's control never relenting.

"You know, now that we've done what we needed to do, do we need her?" Stephanie asks, leaning on one hip.

"Leave her alone!" Felix yells.

Stephanie doesn't glance over as she raises Marzia's hands, bringing them to the side of the Italian girl's cranium. Before anyone can react, she twists her head to the side with one swift motion and snaps her own neck, a sickening crack permeating the air before she crumples.

Jack stops running instantly and stumbles to the ground. Felix screams and races forward, but Phil can't focus on any of that. He stares at Marzia's body, panic threatening to consume him as Felix's sobs cut through him like knives. He stumbles back, his gut churning, and doesn't even bother to fight the tears that stream down his face.

"Why don't you heal her?!" Felix screams, turning to look at Phil. "Why don't you save her?!"

Phil shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut as his entire body trembles. "E-even I can't bring someone b-back from d-death."

Felix turns back to Marzia, cradling her against his chest as he screams and cries and begs her to please, please come back. Phil takes a few steps forward before sinking to the ground, covering his mouth to stop himself from vomiting. He shakes and sobs, panic making it hard for him to breathe. The other heroes gather around Felix, trying and failing to calm him down at all. Phil gasps for air and retches, and that's when Ken moves to his side and tries to calm him down as well.

"Get back to Curatrix," Matthias says, his voice choked with emotion. "We'll deal with this when we're all together."