Different [A Superhero AU] - Book One

Chapter Twenty-Two - Split Apart

When Mark wakes up, Jack is gone. Panic gripping his heart, he bolts into the darkened hallway. As he races down the long stretch, he stumbles across a bruised and bloodied Matthias.

"What happened?" he asks, pulling himself to a stop and kneeling down next to the hero. 

"I stayed late at the office." Matthias groans, gently touching the bruise on his face.  The red-haired hero helps him sit up.  "When I went to check the doors, some invisible force knocked me out."

"Cry." Mark curses, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dammit."

Matthias glances at him.  "Where were you?" 

"Jack's room."

"And you couldn't stop him from leaving?!"

Mark's face falls. "I was asleep."

Matthias' mouth opens and closes multiple times, his glare growing in intensity. "You were asleep? On guard duty?"

The hero doesn't respond, instead helping Matthias off the ground. The injured hero leans against Mark, but seems hesitant to do so. He holds his glasses in his hand, the arm bent out of place.

"I trust Jack. He wouldn't just leave," Mark insists.

"Why wouldn't he?" Matthias counters. "If someone gave him an escape, why wouldn't he take that chance?"

Once again, the red-haired hero can't find a response. His comrade closes his eyes momentarily, a deep sigh escaping his lips.

"Maybe that's your problem, Mark. You can't trust a villain."

Mark bites his lip, reaching the hospital ward and setting Matthias on one of the beds. He grabs a medical icepack and hands it to the hero, who places it on his bruised face with a sigh. Mark treats him in utter silence, his eyes conveying all the emotions he won't say out loud. Matthias watches him, twirling his damaged glasses in his hand absentmindedly.

"Why do you care so much?" he asks.

Mark pauses, turning towards his teammate. "A lot of reasons."

Matthias applies more pressure to the icepack, falling silent. Mark sits on the bed across from the scientist, fiddling with the sheets below him with downcast eyes.

"Mark, you've just gotten yourself into a lot of trouble," Matthias says softly.

The red-haired hero glances up at him for a brief second. "Yeah, I know."

—

As soon as Jack enters the villain institute, he can feel dread weighing on his shoulders. Cry leads him with a firm hand, never saying a word.  All the Irishman wants to do is turn and run back to Curatrix, where he can find Mark and apologize for leaving and beg for forgiveness. If he stayed there, he would never have to worry about being abused again. They could even find a cure for his curse.

His thoughts are interrupted by Dan, who embraces him in a tight hug. Jack tenses up instinctively.

"I thought you were dead," he mumbles, gripping the back of his shirt.

"I'm okay," Jack replies, hugging back after a moment. At least, through all of this, he still has Dan.

"What did they do to you?"

The Irishman releases him. "Nothing. They didn't do anything."

"Come on, there's no way that's true," Cry cuts in, crossing his arms. Jack can almost see his scowl beneath the mask. "Heroes are vicious. They hate us. They'd take any chance they could get to hurt us."

"That's not true!" Jack snaps.

Matthew and Stephanie enter the room, the man's arm wrapped around her waist. The three bickering males fall silent under Matthew's gaze.

"Welcome back," he says, gesturing towards Jack. The Irishman nods, his lips pulled into a thin line. "The boss needs to see you. He's in UR #1."

The UR's, or Unknown Rooms, are a group of four rooms whose purpose is known only by the boss. Their use could always change, but it's become common knowledge that if you get called to a UR, it's bad news for you. Jack gives Matthew another nod before striding down the hallway towards these godforsaken rooms, leaving the other villains behind. The sound of his shoes against the floor is the only noise in the hall.

It doesn't take long to reach the room.

Without a moment of hesitation, Jack pushes open the door of UR #1 and steps inside. A single chair sits in the centre, an ominous circle of light surrounding it. Jack can't help but think of how cinematically stereotypical it is, for a chair to be bathed in light and surrounded by darkness like this one is. The boss stands there, his sallow face half lit as he waits for the villain.

"Sir," Jack greets monotonously.

"Seán, so good of you to join us again," the boss replies. A light smile crosses his face, but his eyes are dull.

The Irishman folds his arms over his chest. "Why did you call me here?"

"Ah, yes." The boss takes a step towards the villain, making a motion with his finger. Two men, both taller and burlier than Jack, step out of the shadows. "According to Cry's report, you've been speaking for the heroes. You should have known that I would find out."

One of the men steps past Jack and locks the door, blocking the only exit that the Irishman could have escaped through. The villain moves away from him, only to be cornered by the other man.

"You can run, Seán. Hundreds of times faster than these men," the boss says, approaching the villain and holding his chin in his hand. "Yes, you can run, but you will only tire yourself out if you have nowhere to go."

Jack swallows, the sense of dread growing in his gut.