"This thing is making me feel all tingly in weird places. Loopie, how much longer do you have to have that thing on?"

"You know Freak, no one is making you stay inside the zone. Just walk like, five feet that way," I said, pointing over toward a wall where DuskBreaker, BrainCraft and Swansong were all watching from. "Or you could always run back over to Glen Oaks, keep an eye on the egg, maybe try and evacuate some of the people close to it for whenever it does decide to hatch?"

"Run? Back to Glen Oaks from here? That's a funny joke, Loopie."

We only lingered at the intersection for a brief moment after Freak put Ice Box Ian down for the count. After Hank's… display… I wasn't surprised to hear that Ian turned into a literal ice cube the moment Freak had struck him hard enough to inflict the KO debuff. It felt like… well it was cruel to say the very least and part of me didn't know why others didn't seem to have the same hang up. Even if they were grown in a lab in just a few days, it felt like… well a basic test of human decency.

Regardless of how they were made. They looked human. I hadn't exactly had time to have extensive talks with any of them, but if it wasn't for my HUD and being able to scan them, it was impossible to distinguish them from actual people. It shouldn't matter if they were grown out of convenience…

I kept this feeling to myself, especially knowing that I had aggravated more than a few people on the squad with my unease over the act, even in situations that arguably called for it.

While Freak did still have the token on him and would need to hold onto it for another thirty minutes or so before he could actually enter the base, we decided it would be a better idea if he came along just in case TechWarden decided to send more of his colorfully named goons. There really had been no rule that said that you had to stay near where it spawned, Freak had just been doing it out of habit to avoid giving away our base location to anyone else.

Barracuda still had nearly fifty minutes on his KO debuff and since he wasn't an ally, I had to scoop him up in my arms as I activated my flight. With the possibility of TechWarden doing something, I still didn't want to risk taking him out of the Dead Zone.Unfortunately, that complicated things for us just a bit as we tried to evacuate the scene. Because even though I was still able to use my powers, Freak couldn't benefit from the ally portion of my Gravitational Field. This, unfortunately, meant I was once again playing the role of transport.

Freak used plenty of his armor to create a band around my waist, while also thankfully creating a platform and band to keep Barracuda's sleeping form in place. Even with my enhanced strength, I found myself straining just a bit under the added stress as I flew.

I wasn't exactly sure how that worked since my flight came from gravity manipulation, but just because I was basically weightless, it didn't mean the things attached to me were too. This was especially true because Freak had to use enough of his metal that he could be attached to me but still be hanging down below the Dead Zone. Because of all of this, I moved slow enough that Swansong actually outpaced me for once.

It took us an extra few minutes to cross the city, though it wasn't hard to spot where we were heading the closer we got. Glen Oaks was in Queens, but to say it was a part of the city might have been a little bit of a stretch. There were hardly any buildings over two stories tall and it made the skies feel rather empty to someone who had been living amongst skyscrapers for the better part of a decade and a half. More importantly though, a giant egg, far larger than two stories, sat in a pile of debris with shades of yellow, teal, and pink rippling out and around it.

Pinky had been quite literally covered in dust and debris when we finally made it over to Glen Oak. While she had been able to burst through the building in a matter of seconds, causing the already decrepit building to collapse inward, it apparently hadn't destroyed whatever was counting as the forge and with the exterior of the building destroyed, the much larger inside had to expand to take up the space it should have been taking.

We had arrived just in time to see as Pinky launched herself off of BrainCraft's hamster wheel, a loud sonic boom echoing outward not just once, but twice as she hit the multi-colored barrier only to be deflected down and into the rubble. Since we did still have to handle the sleeping duo, after ensuring there weren't any civilians immediately behind the egg, I put every bit of my Stamina into a Mass Driver.

The barrier shone brighter than the sun the moment I hit it and after a moment that felt like I had slowed things down, I felt a force out of nowhere smack into me, knocking me backwards and out into the street. My health was practically bottomed out from the strike and I actually found myself tempted to use some of my Time Bank just to undo the pain it had caused me.

But instead, I picked myself up, made sure the egg hadn't somehow turned my attack into energy, and decided to just… well leave it be.

While Pinky stayed behind, DuskBreaker opened a portal and moved the rest of us from Glen Oaks, all the way across the city over to Chelsea. In truth, there were probably a few places we could have gone to, and entering Hydramental's original territory did feel like a risk, but it was also one of the few places I had managed to get the one thing I was going to need to take care of the sleeping duo and where we were unlikely to run into more droids.

Which was how we ended up in an alley off of West 20th Street, babysitting a pair of Miscreants, one of which raised a whole hell of a lot more questions than I really think we'd get answers for.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that Barracuda-"

"Still looks like he belongs in One Piece even though he's in a Dead Zone? Yeah, it's really weird," Freak said, cutting me off as he bent over the man. "Like, he can't've looked like this before he got Augmented, right?"

"Statistically unlikely as I'm unaware of any disease that would make your body look like a fish. There's also the fact that the KO debuff is still evident over his head, which would essentially mean that even as much as the Dead Zone cuts off your power access, it doesn't necessarily disable all of the system's features either," BrainCraft said and he took a few steps forward, stopping near a chalk mark he had placed on the ground after we had set up. "Codex would also like me to point out that there have been a few Augments that had permanent modifications to their bodies, effectively making any chance of a Secret Identity impossible."

"Yeah, wasn't there some politician over in Africa that was like that? He'd been in some accident and woke up with powers that gave him permanent wings right?" DuskBreaker said, leaning against the wall of the alley and trying very hard to seem like he wasn't trying to keep his distance from the Dead Zone.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Codex would know better than me… but I guess if that's the case, maybe the Dead Zone can't eliminate physical modifications… Really gonna need to make a list of things to talk with The First about," I said with a shrug.

"Don't worry, he's chattering about it now, I can fill you in if you'd like," BrainCraft offered but I just shook my head.

"No, no… I'm good," I said, turning my attention back to the pair.

Skim didn't actually have a KO debuff, so I wasn't exactly sure what was keeping him asleep unless TechWarden had forced him out with a compromised Acceptance Matrix. But if he could do that, it was even more cruel for him to have Barracuda physically knock himself out. It had been a while since I had gotten a Resuscitation Injector and I really didn't want to wait another half hour for him to wake up. For all I knew, the egg would hatch at any moment and we'd have to go rushing all the way back across the city before that half hour could pass.

"Hey Swan, can you try your Song of Cleansing? That should get rid of Barracuda's debuff… right? Or… would it not work because of the Dead Zone," I said, my brow furrowing as I thought about it. "Eh, worse that happens is nothing."

"Only one way to find out," Swansong said before she began to sing. Her songs didn't have words, only melodies that came out in a variety of tempos. It had taken some time to get used to hearing the overlapping sounds of some of her more commonly used Songs while we were in battle, but this was one I had only heard a few times before and the soft, soothing tone washed past me.

Only a moment later, the debuff vanished from Barracuda's Status Bar and the man slowly began to stir.

"Ugh…" he groaned, pushing himself to a seated position. "I, what is… wheres is… oh gods! Why can'ts I feel my powers!? What did youse do to me!?"

"Your powers are still there, just stole a bit of TechWarden's tech to cancel them out until we can get you fixed up," I said, fudging the details slighty as I stared right back into Barracuda's glaring eyes. "More importantly, I need you to disable your Acceptance Matrix, now. It's how TechWarden was controlling you and if you want to not be told to punch yourself in the face and be compelled to do it, I really suggest you listen to me."

"Punch myse– Oh gods…" Barracuda said, his glare vanishing as his eyes bulged out of his head. His head turned on a swivel, searching for and finding Skim still unconscious next to him. "Skim… Youse asshole… Coulda just left me behind…"

"Why isn't he waking up?" Freak interjected, causing Barracuda's head to snap over to him.

"Restorative Sleep. It's his Secret Powers thingamajigs."

"That… doesn't exactly answer a lot," Freak replied but I held a hand up.

"We don't need the details of his Hidden Power. Is he going to be okay?"

"Oh he'll be just fine. I'd say he's probablys got one of the strongest powers out there. Most anythings that can compromise him just puts him into a forced sleep for a whiles instead. I don't really gets it, but it's probablys why the asshole didn't just ditch me. He knew whatevers got its claws into mes… again… wouldn't be ables to do the sames to him, " Barracuda sighed. "Okays, you wants me to disable the Matrix? I can dos that."

"I'd also like you not to pluralize every other word please… your accent is an assault on the ears," BrainCraft called out and I heard Freak cough to suppress a laugh.

"Heys I don't makes fun of how youse talk four-eyes," Barracuda snapped back before he closed his eyes. After taking a long, deep breath, his eyes opened back up. "Okays, it's disabled cans you let me use my powers again. This feels itchy and I hates it."

"First thing's first… Can you describe the sound a dog makes?"

"A dog? What's kinda dumb question is that? Those damn things yap, or bark or whatevers it is you wanna call it. Now come on, don't make mes beg…"

"Okay, okay… I can … if you promise not to try anything," I said

"Trys something? Against the majority of the top of the leaderboards? Look I'm a bits crazy, but I ain'ts that crazy… Lemme guess, youse are gonna turn us in for the points, aren't'cha?"

"That's… Yeah, actually. Did Skim tell you that?" I asked, fingering the activation switch on the Dead Zone device behind my back, before pressing it to disable the field. If for some reason Skim was being controlled, I could always rewind and just refuse to disable it.

"Ohhhhhs that's the stuff," Barracuda said, visibly seeming to unclench his body before he scrambled to his feet and looked back down at Skim. "This assholes knew youse were gonna capture us? Some friend…"

"Hey that's a damn good friend you got there," I said, my tone coming out maybe a bit more stern than I meant for it to. "I'm not sure if you've exactly been paying attention Barry, but you two are kinda playing out of your league right now. He was trying to get you two captured because if you were behind bars, at least you couldn't be used as a puppet."

"Youse a bit of a cocky prick, ain't'cha? I means… your not wrong… Those fights youse get into Loops… Well I knows a monster when I sees one," Barracuda said before gently kicking Skim. "And I can stills be pissed at him for being a traitor… evens if it was for a good reason."

Barracuda's tone broke a bit as his face distorted slightly in a smile that didn't look natural with his features. After a moment, he let out a sigh and shook his head.

"Fine… arrest us or whatevers the hells youse gots to do… If it'll stop this moron from getting himselfs into these dumb disney princess sleeps, maybe it's for the best…"

"Swan, can you run inside for me? Ask for Lt. Nester and tell him what we got out here, tell him I'm here if you need to, just get him," I said over my shoulder. She nodded and headed out toward the end of the alley. I was more than prepared to just sit there in silence until she got back, but Freak seemed to have other plans.

"So if Skim didn't tell you he came to us, how did you know we were gonna turn you two in?" he asked, causing Skim to raise a non-existent eyebrow at him.

"What you've never been in an alley by a police station before?"

"Before this? I mean, maybe? But it just looks like an alley," Freak responded and Barracuda laughed.

"Oh that's wheres youse are wrong Freakyboy, youse just gotta look at the little details."

I could tell that Freak was just about to respond when I heard Swansong already on her way back. She rounded the corner with Lt. Nester in tow and his eyes went wide as he took in the scene.

"Well, well, well. You've come a long way from a kid saving a bank in a ski mask," Lt. Nester laughed. "We've had more than a few reports get sent through the city database about these two, I'll be happy to take them in. Who captured them? We'd like to give proper credit in our reports?"

"It was actually Duskbreaker back there," I said quickly, nodding over my shoulder at the man who jumped in surprise. Most of us really didn't need the points except for him at this point and while I was confident we'd get him over the finish line, it was better to be safe. "He's the one who got everyone over here so that we could count it as a capture."

"I didn't-"

"Well hey, good for you Duskbreaker," Lt. Nester said with a smile as he cut off Duskbreaker's feeble attempt to shift the attention. His smile quickly faded once he noticed Barracuda standing without being restrained. "Is it just the unconscious one… or this one too? We've had reports all along the East River of these two stealing."

"I ain'ts looking for a fight," Barracuda said, putting his hands in the air the moment Lt. Nester started to reach toward his handcuffs. "I guess it'll be a nice break after the last few days…"

Lt. Nester said a few things into the radio buckled to his shoulder before he quickly read Barracuda his Miranda Rights, something I was actually kind of surprised they would do since I knew that Augments didn't exactly go through the same system as "regular" criminals that got taken into custody. A few moments later, a few other officers appeared with a stretcher to pick up Skim.

"New Achievement! Arrested! You've successfully been involved in arresting your first Sapient Augment! As much as you were trying to push off all of the credit to Duskbreaker, who did get the Phase Points you were clearly trying to give him FYI, we're gonna go ahead and still give you the achievement for this. This is a Silver level Achievement. Reward: You have received 2500 credits and a B:Tier loot box."

The achievement was just fading, Barracuda being led from the alley when he stopped, saying something to Lt. Nester that I couldn't quite make out before he turned back to us.

"I… Thanks Loops… and the rest of youse guys… For uh… saving us and all that."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.