Ryan did not join in his friends’ celebratory exultations. He had eyes only for Lily, who had gone silent and still in her furry rescuer’s arms. Time seemed to slow for him until he was suddenly there, standing in front of the gorilla. Without even asking for permission, he reached for her with carefully slow hands. He wasn’t afraid of the animal. He was afraid of causing her any more pain.

The animal’s all-too-intelligent eyes watched him with an all-too-human empathy the editor never even noticed. Gently taking her from its arms, Ryan placed the young woman on the grass as gently as he could, taking special care not to jostle any of her broken limbs.

Blood-matted hair stuck to Lily’s face shrouding her eyes. White and crimson-tipped bone poked out from skin it shouldn’t, in places it was never meant to. Her chin was fractured, with teeth jutting out through her cheek where skin and jaw had been pushed past their limits. At least half her body was covered in rich purple bruising.

And those were just the injuries he could see. She looks like she crawled out of a nightmare.

Lily did not respond when he laid her on the ground. Didn’t so much as stir. With the state she was in, Ryan couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. He hoped the lack of reaction meant he’d been careful enough not to wake her…

Unless she can’t wake up.

Calling his power in that moment was the hardest thing Ryan had ever done.

Name: Lily Hosetter

Status: Unconscious, multiple (bone fractures, contusions, lacerations), internal hemorrhaging, skull fracture, brain damage--

Ryan closed the prompt immediately and opened up another. He didn’t need to read the rest of it. He doubted it got any better the further down that list he went. Only one thing really matters now, anyway.

Would you like to heal Lily’s negative status conditions? Cost: 1,750 points.

Warning: Insufficient energy.

Tears sprang unbidden in Ryan’s eyes. He blinked them away rapidly as he stared at the new prompt almost in disbelief. The cost was higher than he’d expected - probably due to the brain damage - but… a minute ago he hadn’t dared to hope. Now?

I can fix this. I can save her! I just need--

Ryan looked around quickly for a source of points. Trees. The solar panels. Anything. His eyes settled on the giant’s shorn-off leg laid next to what remained of its corpse. It was about twenty or so feet from him. That’ll work. He thought before noticing what was attached to it.

A metallic hippo from before was casually working its way through Mundus’s leg as if it were dinner on a plate. It’s enormous mouth opened and snapped shut in languid bites. The clanging of its large steel teeth together sounded akin to hammers as it feasted on its prize. If those hammers were being smashed together instead of against something else.

The sight was so out of place - even here - that it derailed Ryan’s train of thought completely.

A hippo transformed into pure, living metal bringing its enormous maw down and clamping on chunks of oversized, bloody flesh with no greater effort than a kid with an apple. Shaking himself briefly, the editor attempted to reassemble his scattered thoughts. His mind helpfully supplied a number of nature documentaries he’d seen as a child instead.

Documentaries that had all been quite clear on what happened to non-hippos that messed with them. The aftermath - whether man, lion, or otherwise - had never been pretty, to say the least.

Forcing those grisly scenes away, Ryan composed himself. Then he strode towards the severed giant’s leg, taking care not to come up from behind the potentially hostile creature. Just because it had been on his side earlier didn’t mean it would be now if he interrupted its meal, after all.

The hippo swiveled its enormous silver steel head to eye him with interest. Ryan met its gaze without flinching. He wasn’t afraid of it, despite his memories and despite what he’d just seen. If it attacked, well, he was pretty sure he had enough points to knock it out before it got too many bites in.

And if that doesn’t work…

Before either could find out how that scenario might play out an enormous simian hand reached down from above and patted the hippo on the back like it was a small kitten. The metal creature diverted its attention from Ryan to this new sensation immediately, arching its back in response. It leaned into the affection as if doing so would push the hand towards a favorite spot, summarily ignoring Ryan as if he were no longer worth its time.

“Kurt has him. He’s calm enough once scritches start” One of the Michaels said reassuringly, walking over. The clone looked back at the bloodied and broken redhead on the ground before returning his gaze to Ryan. His voice changed to a softer tone. “Now, how can I help?”

Ryan tapped the severed leg, bringing up a prompt. Looking at Michael, he slipped back into the command voice he’d used to give orders at the hospital. It felt forced, but he hoped the tone projected more confidence than he felt after seeing Lily’s injuries.

“I need you to bring me anyone who is injured. I know it’s been a while, I know you saved us in a big way just now, and I’m glad to see you’re alive... but I need to make sure the rest of my people stay that way before we catch up.”

The clone stared at Ryan for a beat, his expression going from empathetic to carefully neutral. His eyes flicked upwards to something behind and a bit above Ryan’s right, then returned to the editor.

“Understood, chief.” Michael said, without a hint of mock assent. Then his father’s old friend turned on his heel and marched off. Issuing orders at a practiced clip, Michael began quickly rounding up his other clones to gather the wounded.

When Ryan turned, Lucas was standing right behind him in his towering lupine form. The blood-soaked werewolf watched Michael leave, then raised an eyebrow at Ryan.

“He’s a friend.” Ryan said quietly. “So is the big one, Kurt. The rest are new, but shouldn’t hurt anyone.” He stole a glance at the hippo now happily lifting its rear again and then amended that. “As long as nobody tries to take their food, I guess.”

Lucas nodded and then made the universal ‘you good’ gesture that all grown men instinctively recognize, even if one of them was currently an enormous bipedal wolf.

“Yeah. I’ve got this. Sheila’s inside, she said… she said at least some of them made it to the vault.” Ryan couldn’t bring himself to meet the werewolf’s eyes. Sheila hadn’t been up front with names, so he didn’t want to give his friend hope - or despair if it was unwarranted.

Focusing instead on the severed leg and his prompts, Ryan learned the stump would give him about 1,500 points and change. Perfect. With what he already had left, it was just enough.

A rush of wind blew past him as Lucas leapt almost the entire distance to the base entrance in a single bound. Ryan accepted the prompt to absorb the stump and began walking back to Lily even as it melted down behind him. The fluid followed him, flowing up his right arm in a blend of dissolving flesh, bone, and blood.

It must have looked quite disturbing as the hippo let out a distressed sound, but Kurt quickly reached down to block its view. The big gorilla watched him go, but did not add his own comment to the situation.

The ‘over energy capacity’ warning prompt flashed in Ryan’s vision. He dismissed it with a thought and ignored the pain swelling up inside him as he knelt beside Lily. Calling up his power once more, he selected everything that needed done and let the healing begin.

Broken bones melded themselves back together as he watched. Audible pops that Ryan had never quite gotten used to sounded as each bone snapped back into one piece from many. Color returned to Lily’s cheeks as her formerly pale skin knitted itself back together in dozens of places. The purple bruising faded into her arms and legs as if draining away.

Within seconds, Lily’s chest rose and fell in the normal breathing pattern of deep, restful sleep.

Ryan let out a sigh of exhausted relief. The tension he’d been carrying left him all at once, and he sat down on the grass next to her for some air. His lungs had finally stopped recycling oxygen, he realized absently. The evening air tasted of smoke and battle, which seemed fitting.

He sat there for a moment to collect himself. Thinking nothing. Saying nothing. His gaze empty as his mind began to process what had just happened.

Ryan might have stayed there longer had Lily not twitched in her sleep, rousing him immediately from his post-battle fatigue. Turning and checking her condition with his power, he saw that everything had been removed except for the ‘unconscious’ status - just as planned.

There’d been no reason to wake her right away. The brave woman had almost been crushed to death moments ago, he figured she’d earned at least a small nap for the trouble. He’d also spent a couple of extra points cleaning and repairing her clothing.Hopefully, when she woke up, Lily would be as put back together as he could make her.

I’ll have to thank her, too. And everyone who managed to survive. Ryan thought as he turned back to the field, watching the Michaels gather up his people and carefully bring them over. So many hurt or killed… And for what? How is a small town worth all of this?

Giving himself a shake to unsettle those unpleasant thoughts, Ryan stood back up. There was still work to be done. He was about to head back over to absorb the rest of Mundus when the massive lunatic’s corpse slid its way over to him in the grass.

Looking up, Ryan saw Kurt’s simian face looking down at him. His expression the same soft understanding one he’d often wore as a man on visits to the hospital. It was a look Ryan recognized despite the clear difference in Kurt’s current appearance.

The towering gorilla then beamed down at him, lips covering its teeth in a way-too-wide grin that looked distinctly… human.

Ryan chuckled in spite of himself at the sight. Kurt looked pleased with the reaction, and made a quick series of hand motions. The other gorillas quickly moved over to form up next to him. Once they all had, the ape squad moved as one in the direction of the trucks still loaded with injured former prisoners.

Curious, Ryan looked around to see what the other animals were doing. Out of place as the clearly not-local bunch was, they couldn’t be hard to find. Especially now that each animal appeared to be making noise again. A trick Ryan reminded himself to ask Kurt about when he had time.

Crocodiles wreathed in wispy black shadows were the first ones he noticed. The dinosaur-era survivors were busy tearing apart chunks of their meals by rolling them away from the source, only one or two still protesting with weak screams.

Ryan did not care for their suffering, but he felt no pity for them. Turning to the outer edges of the clearing he saw the warthogs appeared to be on patrol. Circling the field like trained hounds, a few of them would pause every now and again to sniff the air. Resuming only once whatever smell they’d caught some hint of was deemed non-threatening.

The editor had to admit… Kurt and Michael’s new ‘pack’ was impressive. There was no doubt they’d turned a lost battle into an overwhelming victory practically by themselves. How they’d managed to find him was a mystery he’d have to resolve soon, and he still hadn’t seen Smith yet, but those were concerns for later.

As the various Michael clones began bringing over the wounded, Ryan placed one hand on the defeated giant’s body and began channeling healing into his people.

He soon found that if he siphoned off just what was needed for each person, he didn’t have to risk overflowing his capacity. Doing so melted large chunks of the corpse away at once, which didn’t make the process less gruesome. In fact, from the looks on the faces of those around him it probably made it more so - but it let him take his time doing it instead of having to rush.

Ryan’s thoughts grew distant as he worked. Removing himself from the injuries he was seeing and placing his attention on a simple cycle of diagnosing, channeling, and moving on helped him manage his feelings somewhat.

Instead of his emotions, Ryan’s thoughts lingered on Lucas, whose family he could only hope was still alive. On the still forms of his slain people who weren’t being brought to him. Who he still didn’t know how to get the points in order to bring back. On Renee, whose whereabouts were still unknown. On Lily, sleeping soundlessly in the grass behind him.

Eventually his thoughts returned to where this all led. To Marcus, who he swore would not live to see another week. If Ryan were being honest with himself, thoughts of revenge occupied him for longer than might be entirely healthy.

Watching the wounded be brought to him over and over… again… made it hard to think any amount of revenge would be sufficient. Instead, Ryan resolved himself to a simple promise.

This never happens again.

…

Ever.

After that, he settled back into his cycle of healing the wounded.

It took a few hours to get everyone healed and/or accounted for. The final count after the attack was 23 dead with two more having injuries severe enough that Ryan had left them unconscious just as he had Lily. Twenty-three people who’d either been killed in the initial attack or had died before Ryan could make it to them.

Fewer might have fallen, but the story his people continued to share with him was one of determined, if desperate, resistance. Precious few had been willing to just stand there and accept captivity again. Much less risk another round of the cruel experimentation they’d been subjected to.

It had made them fight fiercely… but only a handful of the hospital rescuees had possessed the power, ability, or capacity to resist. Ferocity had only gotten them so far.

John Stone, Ryan’s former head of security, hadn’t made it. Neither had Kevin, the one-time boxing champion who had taught Ryan the basics of how to fight. Both of them had died defending the base. John outside, and Kevin inside. But the news that twisted Ryan’s gut in on itself wasn’t from those reports.

It came in the form of a haggard Lucas emerging from the base entrance in human form, cradling a small body so charred and burnt it was almost unrecognizable.

Almost.

“No…” Ryan breathed out in horror before rising up from where he’d been seated next to Lily. He accessed his power even as he ran headlong towards his friend, hoping that he might be able to help.

Name: Carrie Fulmon

Status: Deceased

The prompt’s text struck him harder than Meatfist’s best punch ever had. The steam he’d picked up left him all at once, causing him to stumble to an unsteady stop just fifteen feet from where he’d been. Tears welled up in the editor’s eyes that he couldn’t find the strength to stop. With a wipe of his face across his sleeve, Ryan forced himself to move towards his friend once more.

Lucas was walking carefully. Almost hesitantly. As if afraid the slightest movement would cause Carrie to suffer additional pain. When he met Ryan’s eyes, the wolf’s held a glimmer of hope. A hope the big man must have been clinging to since finding her. Hope that Ryan would be able to fix her as he’d fixed so many others.

That hope died when he saw the tears in Ryan’s eyes.

Even so, Lucas did not stumble as Ryan had. His face was unreadable, but the man’s jaw firmed as he kept walking. When the pair met in the middle of the burned, blood-splattered field, the former park ranger turned werewolf hesitated for only a moment. Then he asked the question they both knew the answer to.

“Can you… help her?” Lucas asked in a voice like a man far from his own body. Ryan could hear the dwindling hope in it.

“No, I… I can’t. She’s… She’s already gone.” Ryan said, barely able to get the words out. Answering that one question - even though he knew it would crush his friend’s hope - had felt like it had taken everything out of him.

The editor knew there was a chance that he could bring her back, if he could get enough points, but he wasn’t sure he should give his friend that hope right now.

If I die before then, she’s gone forever.

Lucas shut his eyes, tears streaming down his otherwise stoic face. The big man clenched his jaw even tighter and trembled as if he’d been struck. Raw emotion making the hands holding his dead wife flex already-strained muscles as they pulled her body in close.

The immense pain of Lucas’s reaction found a resonance in Ryan that shamed him to his very soul for his earlier hesitance. How could he deny his friend the hope of his wife’s return?

Quickly, Ryan added. “I might be able to bring her back… if I can get enough energy. I’ve already checked the cost. “ The editor felt like he was talking over himself, but he didn’t stop. “It’s a lot of points. More than I’ve ever had or used before, but if I can get them - and not melt doing it - then I can bring her back, Lucas.”

Ryan reached out a hand towards his friend to reassure him, placing it on his shoulder. In his most sincere voice, he said: “I will bring her back.”

It took Lucas a minute or two to respond. Ryan didn’t blame him… he removed his hand, stepped back, and let the man have his grief.

Eventually, the tears and shaking stopped long enough for the wolfman to speak. In a voice softer than Ryan had ever heard him use, Lucas asked. “How many?”

“A hundred thousand, give or take. I… Don’t know where I’m going to get that many points at once... It’d probably take a whole power plant for me to channel that without the energy going all oven-bake on my insides.”

Lucas nodded slowly, then pressed Carrie’s burnt cheek to his own. It was another few minutes before either man said anything. When Lucas finally did speak again, a bit of his former steel had returned to the man’s voice.

“The mayor controls the town’s power supply.” Lucas pointed out.

“He… does.” Ryan admitted. “For now. From what you and the others have said… it’s also one of the most heavily guarded places in town.”

“When we kill him. Will you bring her back?”

The question, simple as it was, rocked Ryan to his core. Not because of the implied threat to the mayor or how Lucas had casually suggested Marcus’s days were numbered.

It was the ‘we’ part that hit him. Ryan had lost almost all of his friends after the accident, and he’d lost his father before even waking up. He’d never had much of a family growing up. But meeting Lucas, Renee, Lily, Kevin, Sheila and everyone else had felt like he was making his own in this new world.

They’d fought together, eaten together, and bled for one another. They were his family now.

And while there was nothing Ryan wouldn’t do for them, it was an altogether different thing to hear the feeling was mutual. A part of him had expected Lucas to leave and take his kids once he’d seen Carrie had fallen.

It took a lot of trust to stay after something like that.

Reaching over to grab his friend’s shoulders with both hands this time, Ryan responded in the most reassuring, confident tone he could. He let all of the day’s stress and emotions wash off as he looked his best friend in the eyes.

“You’re damn right I will. Even if we have to melt every merc and cable in this city down for points to do it, we will bring her back. I promise you. As long as I am still breathing, Carrie is not gone.”