My not stopping to think undoubtedly saves me valuable action time. But T.V is so much faster to react with his eyes, and even with the brief window of hesitation that flashes through them, Neil is not subject to such. Even worse, my impaired limb has me moving and firing at a much irregular rate than I would otherwise.

The result is an immediate dispersal of the hostages, as though they know instinctively that we scarcely have any of this under control, that it’s now or never.

Neil’s spray of bullets meets mine in the chaos and many, myself included, do not come out unscathed. The panicked patrons enter our crossfire, dropping like dolls. More death than I’d like, but to Neil’s sadistic pleasure it’s all he could want, that and the new bullet lodged in my thigh.

In less than a quarter of a second, the deck is stained red, bodies twitching, people screaming and my rifle out of bullets.

“Stop this and come with us now, Vern!” T.V screams, his hand pushing against Neil and his swiftly reloaded weapon, “You said you wanted these people to be free, but what you’ve done now has killed them instead. Drop the rifle and come with us, now.”

The urgency in his voice is hard to miss, the sound of that engine, what by now I’m certain is a motorboat, is loud and clear. It’s haunting, the uncertainty of what it carries here.

As far as I know, it could be nothing, nothing at all, but as long as he keeps demanding for me to turn over, to come with them with that look of panic in his eyes I have to believe it’s not good for him.

Although the number of things that aren’t good for a person like T.V are few, I can list off a few. The Suppressors, it could be that while we chatted away one of these now-deceased security officers was the least bit competent and called the proper authorities.

Barring that it could be a rival gang, a meta more powerful than he or a gang he has explicit orders not to cross. A gang like Letharguy’s gang or even The Lynx, especially Lynx. But The Lynx aren’t as civilized enough to not cause absolute chaos and howl all the way here. It’d be as obvious as daylight if it were them.

Then maybe...maybe it’s the Question? I almost snort at this speculation. If it isn’t any single gang rival then it could be a vigilante, or as they call themselves, Superheroes.

Colourful masked crusaders of justice...some version of justice anyway. But this is as likely as the Question coming to save my sorry ass. Xoxia may be a cesspool of metas but most of them are conscripted to the service of the Suppressors, especially the powerful ones.

The Mayor doesn’t let any power run around his city unchecked. It’s a common theory that many of these Superheroes are put down when they can’t be recruited. Fortunately or unfortunately, that isn’t to say we don’t have any left.

Gritting through the pain I forgo my thoughts of a saviour and let the rifle drop to the deck as I do, exhausted and now crippled in two limbs. Whatever that motorboat holds the sound has come to a crescendo as it starts to pass by us, clear to see, or in my case, hear.

No one stopped. All that optimism for nothing.

“Go get him.” T.V orders.

Neil scrunches up his face, his nose wrinkling with distaste and dissatisfaction as he sets his weapon aside, albeit reluctantly. I won’t be killed, at least not today. I have a hunch that if I am to die it will be at the hands of Steve himself.

That doesn’t inspire much hope for life either. Death from Vertigo is a thing, and Steve doesn’t hesitate to employ it on the ones he most despises.

A category I'll fall into if he believes for a second that we cannot be aligned and I am a threat...a viable threat. Am I a viable threat?

The thought amuses me even with a new bullet in me.

“Get up you.” Neil grunts, dragging me up by my slinged arm while T.V watches. I barely stifle a scream. As much as I’ve failed to present myself as a powerful and dangerous meta-villain thanks to my powers failing me, I’d rather not have T.V see me as a vulnerable child either.

“Take it easy would you.” I manage to say through the pain of my arm and my thigh forced to take on pressure they can't handle at the moment, “Wouldn’t want to give me a reason to despise you any more than I already do.” I spit the thinly veiled threat all while staring him in the eye.

He flinches and a flash of satisfaction bursts within me. For years I’ve longed to stand over Neil and punish him as he did me. It’s quite the opposite right now but the possibility of my hatred finding its outlet has increased with T.V bringing me back to the gang as its third prospective main meta.

Even though it’s all theory, I completely outrank Neil right now.

His eyes harden and he leans in, whispering seething words in my ear, “Don’t think I’m blinded by your lies, I know you’re as powerless as ever.”

You have no idea how true that is right now, do you?

Without much protest, I drag my feet with Neil’s reluctant help over to T.V, “How are you going to get me over?” It’s hard to suppress my amusement at the man. He’d crossed over here from the other ship on a ladder like a circus monkey and now he has me with a bullet lodged in my thigh.

He doesn’t flinch, “I don’t have to.” He takes hold of me and nods to Neil who just stands there for a while, lost in thought or waiting for further illumination on what the nod means, “Ugh, go take command of the ship, get them to turn it around.”

As sound a plan as that sounds, thinking about it, I would like to leave this ship, or at least, have Paige far away from T.V and Neil.

With Neil gone to take the helm, it’s me and Neil. He sets me down by the deck, a deck soaking with blood. I don’t have much choice but to sit in the fluid and stare back at Paige, desperately trying to pause time.

I sense I’m being watched and look up to find T.V smiling down at me, “What’s so amusing?” I groan.

“Oh, nothing much really...just, Neil may be right. After all, I came in after you expecting a challenge, expecting to be fought back...yet here you are, captured with little fuss.”

This is what little fuss looks like?

“I can’t help but wonder...where is this dangerous meta-villain the news is so insistent about? The one the Police have such a hard-on for. You aren't holding out on us again, are you, Vern?” His smile vanishes as he presents the accusation. I turn away.

Gritting my teeth, both pain and frustration I answer him, “Trust me, if I could help it you would be dead and Neil would be screaming.”

He laughs heartily, “Good.”

The mirth in T.V doesn’t last long though. The ship shudders abruptly.

“Can’t even get a single thing right.” He groans, sneering at Neil’s incompetence.

Not a second after he says this I spy a figure in my periphery. Turning my focus to the figure, or as I see it clearly now, figures. I find a familiar shape among them.

“Rey?"

“You should have more faith in your subordinates, T.V.” a long, slender man with a strange head declares. Walking out of the lower levels of the ship, Rey follows close behind this man.

T.V stands straight, his shades taken off in a swift motion, “And what business do you have here...Frasier.”

Frasier? Frasier...that’s...the lieutenant. Invincibill’s Lieutenant.