"Okay, so the basic plan is that we somehow convince Spectre to let go of his control over Slimecicle. Correct?" Swift glanced sideways at Paradox, who nodded.

"But we'd need to figure out where they are first." Wildcat reasoned, tilting her head slightly, and Adapt let out a murmur of agreement.

It was a meeting between the heroes and the vigilantes to decide how to get Slimecicle back without giving up Deactivator.

It was also the first time I'd seen Adapt and Wildcat.

Adapt was a boy with messy blonde hair and a purple mask, similar to Paradox's, that covered his mouth and nose. He was wearing a purple hoodie with the hood up. That was one of the most well-known things about Adapt- he had never been seen without some purple on him somewhere.

Wildcat was a woman with long, pale brown hair and tabby striped cat ears and tail. She followed the trend and also had a mask covering her mouth and nose. There was a belt around her waist with all sorts of throwing knives and vials of mysterious liquids attached to it.

"Well, we know that the longer he controls someone, the weaker Spectre gets." Paradox reasoned. "So either he hasn't let go of his control over Slimecicle, which will make him weak, or there's periods of time where he's taking a break from controlling Slimecicle, in which case there'll be times that we can just get Slimecicle and get out."

"Where will he be is what I'm worried about." Swarm said quietly. "There's no way they'll use the warehouses like they did with Echo- it's too obvious."

"There's no harm in checking." Gemstone muttered.

"It's settled then. Heroes, you can search the north side of the city and the northern warehouses." Swift glanced sideways at Paradox, who had seemed to take the role of leader amongst the vigilantes, being the only one who was there for the confrontation.

"Vigilantes," Puffy continued, finishing Swift's sentence, "you can search the southern side of the city and the southern warehouses- and take Azalea and Echo with you in case you need backup." I straightened, exchanging a glance with Azalea, and we both nodded.

Wildcat tossed a wary glance in our direction, but the other vigilantes seemed fine with it.

"Ok, lets go then!" Swarm exclaimed, and Paradox nodded, leading the other vigilantes from the deserted street they had gathered in. I rushed after them, Azalea following me closely, and kept my gaze fixed on Obsidian, who was closest, taking care not to look at any of the top three heroes- namely, Zaeim, Crepitus and Lucendi, in order.

——

"So... what's it like being a vigilante?" I asked Adapt, trying to stop the awkward silence.

We'd been told to look through some of the warehouses and had had no luck so far. Azalea had gone with Wildcat and Paradox to check the upper half of the southern part of the city, and Obsidian, Deactivator and Swarm had gone to check the lower half.

"I mean, you could say it's like being a hero, only you don't have to train, you don't get paid, and you can get arrested by the police as easy as anything." Adapt said with a shrug. I watched in amazement as his right hand hardened into purple scales and he knocked the door he had been struggling to open off its hinges with one punch.

"How did you do that?"

"It's my power. If I want to have scales, or wings, or gills, I can immediately adapt my body to have them. Hence the name, Adapt." There was a thoughtful pause as he went into the next room, shaking his hand slightly as it returned to normal. "It's basically super fast evolution and shape shifting mixed together."

"What do vigilantes even do anyway? I mean, there's a high risk of being arrested- aren't you better off applying to be a hero?" I queried, glancing around the mostly empty room.

"Most of us have tried. Well, I say most- the oldest three have tried. Although, when I say oldest, I don't mean most experienced- me and Wildcat started vigilantism together when I was seventeen. And vigilantes stop small crimes- they only get involved with villains if the villains are actively harming citizens." Adapt paused. "I don't know why Slimecicle and Paradox got in a fight with Blood God. Vigilantes aren't supposed to pick fights. Pretty stupid, if you ask me."

"I mean, he was definitely intending to harm someone, but he wasn't actively doing anything if that's what you mean, which makes sense." I muttered. "Nothing in here. " I added, glancing around.

"I'll call the others, see if they've found anything." Adapt muttered, reaching for his phone. "Wait, where did it-"

"Looking for this?" A voice taunted. I spun around, recognising the metallic rasp that represented Spectre's control.

Slimecicle was stood behind us, tossing Adapt's phone between each hand.

"How did you get that?!" Adapt demanded, glaring at him. I noticed the skin on his hands start to slowly morph into hard purple scales.

"You were distracted during your rant about how vigilantes and heroes are two different things. And I can still go invisible while controlling someone." He smiled. "No backup for you!"

I heard the spray of slime before I saw it, grabbing Adapt and pulling him out of the way as the slime flew past him and hit the wall.

"How did you-"

"Super senses. That's my power." I explained in a rush, grabbing my sword. Adapt nodded, grabbing an arrow and nocking the bow, aiming it at Slimecicle.

"Try it, I dare you. It doesn't hurt me. It only hurts your friend. So please, fire at will, if you wish." Slimecicle spread his arms in a defenceless gesture.

Adapt let out an annoyed mutter, adjusting where he was aiming the bow. "Sorry, friend." I heard him mutter under his breath as he let the arrow fly, hitting Slimecicle in the shoulder.

Slimecicle flinched, but his expression didn't change, proving that Spectre was unaffected by the pain.

"That was stupid, wasn't it?" Slimecicle scoffed. "Now your friend's hurt."

"He may be hurt, but you can't use his powers anymore." Adapt narrowed his eyes. "If you look closely, you can see that the slime gland that he has is right where the arrow hit. No more slime powers for you. I know my friend very well. It'll heal, but not quick enough for you to use it in a fight."

Slimecicle let out a rather impressive string of curses, trying to reach for his knife. "Oh, by the way, I think I hit a nerve, so you can't use that arm till it heals properly." I couldn't see his mouth, but I could tell that Adapt was smiling. "It turns out studying biology while being a vigilante who uses a bow is incredibly helpful."

I glanced at him in surprise. "You're studying biology?"

"Yep. I have a life outside of being a vigilante, you know." Adapt joked, nocking his bow again.

I pointed my sword at Slimecicle. "I suggest you hand over the phone and relinquish your control of Slimecicle."

"'Relinquish'? You been hanging out with Blood God or something?" I could hear the eye roll in his voice.

"I said hand over the phone." I muttered, glaring at him.

"Okay, okay! Here you go." He dropped the phone on the floor, pushing it gently with a small kick and sending it sliding across the floor until it stopped by Adapt's feet.

"Good. Now stay there." Adapt said sharply, picking up the phone and calling someone.

I walked over to Slimecicle as Adapt explained what had happened to someone over the phone, presumably Paradox. "Turn this way." I instructed.

He stared in surprise but obeyed. "Why?"

"So I can bandage you. Just because Slimecicle's being controlled by you doesn't mean I'm gonna let his arm potentially get infected." Slimecicle raised his eyebrows, and an expression I couldn't read clouded his features.

I carefully used a knife to trace a line around the arrow wound, cutting off his sleeve so I had a clear view of where the arrow had hit. I then pulled some bandages out of my pockets that I had brought in case we got in a fight. I frowned.

"I know you aren't meant to pull whatever stabbed you out of you if you get stabbed, but I can't really bandage it otherwise... I was gonna say brace yourself, but you won't feel anything, so..." I carefully pulled the arrow out, and, same as he had done when he got hit by the arrow, Slimecicle flinched but his expression was unaffected. I then started bandaging his shoulder, which was quite awkward since I had to wrap the bandage around his shoulder and underarm.

I stood back. "That should do." I passed the sleeve that I had cut off to him. "If it bleeds through the bandage, which it shouldn't, hold that to the bleeding and apply pressure, then it should stop." Slimecicle nodded slowly.

Adapt looked over with a frown. "What are you-"

"Do you really want Slimecicle to get an infected arm and shoulder just because Spectre's controlling him?" I said pointedly. "It's still your friend's body, no matter who's in control."

"Ah, fair point. Obsidian, Swarm and D- Obsidian and Swarm are on their way." He had stopped before he said Deactivator's name as I shot him a wary glance and he nodded.

I dragged him to the side out of Slimecicle's earshot. "We can't risk bringing Deactivator here in case it's an ambush."

"Oh, you're right- I'll call them now." Adapt muttered, pulling out his phone again and calling someone else.

"Good. I'll wait with... Spectre?" I froze. "Spectre?!"

He was gone.

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