DOOM DAYS ✓

Chapter 38: Dermal Armor

Dermal Armor: the ability to have innate physical armor for protection.

Once Tiana has stopped crying and the shock from seeing her dead mother wears off, Tyler turns the attention back to Hayley. She's sitting on the couch, clutching a cup of coffee Josh's mom offered her with both hands.

Their parents had gone outside, so the four of them are left alone to discuss their 'hero stuff.'

"Will you be okay?" Josh whispers to Tiana, still holding her hands.

She nods, sniffing softly. "Yeah. I just never thought- I'm glad I saw her again, just one last time."

"That's good. I'm glad to have met her, sort of."

Tiana lets out a breathy chuckle. "This is not where I thought this day was going."

"Me too," Josh smiles. "Guess heroes really don't get days off."

"Why did you come here?" Tyler asks from the couch, sitting beside Hayley. "Did something happen to you?"

She shakes her head. "The ghosts have been quiet for a while, ever since Tiana's accident. But this morning they started going nuts, yelling in my ears about Alley Cat. They talked about how he was closing in on you guys, and how I needed to find who's helping him before he kills you."

"It's Ashley Frangipane, the assistance," he says. "We saw Alley Cat in her classroom."

"She's my physics teacher," Tiana pipes up.

"And she was my homeroom teacher last year," Josh adds. "So she knows who we both are."

"How did you see him in her classroom?"

Tyler leans on her. "Right before you came here, he talked to us, telepathically."

"That-" she chuckles slightly in disbelief. "That's not possible. I would've known if he was telepathic."

"We think the stones gave the four of us some kind of mental connection. That's the only thing that makes sense right now."

"Then how do we break the connection?"

Tiana looks up with a determination that Josh has never seen before. Her posture is straighter, making her look taller than she was. She'd been confident and strong before, but there's something different in her eyes. Ferocity.

"We hunt Alley Cat down like the animal he is."

Tyler grins. "This is why you're my favorite."

"I though I was your favorite!" Josh protests.

"No, you're my crush. There's a difference, Angel."

He can feel his face burn when Tyler says that. "Shut the fuck up."

"We are not hunting down Alley Cat," Hayley shakes her head. "I'll do it. He already has a hard on for murdering you guys, I'm not willing to put you in danger again."

"But it'll be our choice this time. We might still be kids, but like it or not, we're your only line of defense against him," Tiana argues.

"This mental connection goes both ways. We already found his accomplice. With this, we can find out when his attack on Canopy Hall is going happen before it happens," Josh says.

Tyler looks at Hayley expectantly. "Your move."

Seeing she's outnumbered, Hayley sighs in defeat, taking a long, frustrated sip from her coffee. "Fine, but we're going to need to get you new outfits."