Charlotte, Jasper, and Dylan were gathered around one of the screens in the Mancave watching the news. Someone named Drex was accidentally released from Swellview prison. It was a big issue, as Drex was one of the most dangerous criminals housed there.
Ray rushed into the room already in his Captain Man uniform, getting ready to leave to catch Drex.
"Don't you wanna wait for Henry?" Charlotte asked just as Ray was about to leave.
"Yeah, Henry's not here." Jasper joined in.
"You want me to call him and ask him how far he is?" Dylan pulled out his phone, ready to call if needed.
"No." Ray answered a bit too quickly.
"Why not?" Charlotte asked.
"Uh... because I already contacted Henry, and he said he's gonna meet me there, so." Ray tried to come up with a plausible lie so the others would believe him.
"Are you sure?" Charlotte questioned Ray's mannerisms.
"Woah, hey look! That's Henry calling me right now."
"I didn't hear your phone ring." Jasper noted, the others agreeing with him.
Ray started a fake conversation with "Henry" who just so happened to exit the elevator ruining Ray's lie.
"Why are you in uniform?" Henry looked Ray up and down with a confused expression.
"Uniform?"
"Why do you have all those extra weapons?"
Ray avoided Henry's questions by pretending to take a phone call with Schwoz, who also walked into the room not long after ruining Ray's second lie.
"I thought you said you were going to leave before Henry got here?" Schwoz asked, causing Ray to glare at him.
"Ray, what's going on here?" Charlotte crossed her arms with her question, picking up on her boss' odd nature.
"Dude, if there's something going on tell me, I'm your sidekick." Henry stated to a nervous looking Ray.
"Wait, I'm confused," Schwoz re-entered the conversation, "I thought your plan was to go fight that guy, Drex, but not tell Henry, so that Henry would never know about it." Schwoz did not know how to keep a secret, causing him to not only get yelled at by Ray, but also have an entire pineapple shoved into his mouth.
"Okay, you kids have fun! I should be back around dinner time." Ray began to make his exit but was stopped by Henry this time.
"Hey!" Henry grabbed one of Ray's arms, forcing the other to look at him. "Talk to me!"
"Look kid, I gotta go fight a really bad guy, Drex. And I gotta fight him alone."
"Well, why?"
"Because I know Drex and he's extremely dangerous. He's bad on a whole other level."
"Well how do you know him?"
"Oh uh, just from you know, stuff." Ray's shifty attitude came back.
"Why don't you just tell Henry that Drex used to be your sidekick?" Schwoz was finally able to take the pineapple out of his mouth, blabbing another secret out in the process.
"You had a sidekick, before me?" Henry didn't know if he should feel betrayed or not. "I can't believe this."
"Oh you say that every week." Ray tried to downplay Henry's feelings.
"I just always thought I was your first sidekick, but you really had a sidekick before me? And you never told me?"
"Well, no. But only because I didn't want you to know."
"So, this bad guy, Drex, he was your sidekick?"
"Yes, for a little while." Ray was finally being honest with Henry about the situation. "Look, I hired Drex like nine years ago. It was before I even had this Mancave."
"Why did you hire such a bad guy to be your sidekick?" Charlotte questioned.
"And here I thought you only made that mistake with me." Dylan half-joked to the crowd.
"Because he seemed perfect at the time." Ray answered.
"Well why? What made him so perfect?" Henry didn't like that Ray just casually threw that word around.
"Drex had it all. Bravery, extreme fighting skills, hot mom..."
"Ray!"
"Well... not as hot as yours!"
"Ray!"
"So why wasn't Drex the perfect sidekick?" Charlotte brought everyone's attention to the main focus of the conversation.
"I found out that Drex has a dark side."
"Dark how?" Henry asked.
"Evil, mean, tardy," Ray began to list off everything he could remember, "Chewed with his mouth open, never flushed... and he was violent, cruel, and dangerous. One day Drex and I just had it out."
"You guys fought?" Charlotte was semi-shocked at the news.
"Oh yeah."
"It was horrible." Schwoz remembered that day like the back of his hand.
"But you won, right?" Henry almost didn't seem confident with his question.
"Barely."
"Barely?" Now Charlotte was extremely shocked. "But you're like the best fighter in the whole world!"
"Oh no, not better than Drex. If I wasn't indestructible, believe me I would have been destructed."
"I just can't believe I'm not your first sidekick." Henry was still hung up on that part.
"Hey, you're my first sidekick that I really care about."
"Oh sure, did you tell Drex that too?"
"No! Maybe. Drex and I were only together for a few months. We never even fought crime together."
"Did you think about it?" It was like watching a really bad romcom break up.
"Henry..." Ray turned, not being able to fully answer the question.
"Oh god, really?"
"Uh, you guys there's breaking news." Charlotte interrupted whatever was going on between Ray and Henry. "It says that 'Mistakenly released criminal, known only as Drex, has been spotted in North Swellview, traveling south on East Avenue.'"
"I know where he's going." Ray announced to the group. "The bakery district!" Ray ran towards the tubes, ready to leave. "And when he gets there, he's gonna have to deal with me!"
"No!" Henry walked over to Ray, his tube of gumablls in hand, "He's gonna have to deal with us."
"No chance!"
"I'm going!"
"Forget it! You can't."
"Give me one reason why I can't go."
"Because... he used to be my sidekick and now you're my sidekick, and if we're all there together, I don't know man, it's gonna be all weird."
"How about I go?" Dylan stepped forward and raised his hand.
"Why do you want to go?" Henry turned around to question his boyfriend.
"Why not? It'll be fun!"
"There is nothing fun about Drex." Ray stated in a serious tone.
"Please, I've dealt with worse. Dated worse even."
"Oh no, this guy is way worse than that stupid ex-boyfriend of yours." Ray would always, and forever be, a Henry and Dylan shipper.
"Look, you need help, and if you're not letting Henry go, then I'm going." Dylan emphasized his point by materializing his uniform and stepping up onto the platform with the tubes.
"And I'm going to." Henry stepped onto the platform with them.
"We're not having three people go!" Ray stated, still not wanting Henry to join.
"If you're going to see your old sidekick, then I'm going." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.
"Just let him go!" Charlotte yelled at Ray.
"Fine, but if you're coming you're gonna need this." Ray handed Henry a device that shot tranquilizers to hopefully use on Drex.
Henry changed into his uniform, ready to leave with the others. "Okay, let's meet your first sidekick, that you used to love."
"Don't be so dramatic Henry." Dylan stated as he wrapped his arms around Henry so they could both fit in one tube together.
The three of them left, heading towards where Ray thought Drex might be.
—
They entered a place called Schneider's Bakery. No one was in the bakery, but Ray was adamant that Drex would be there. The tension between Ray and Henry was thick and became even worse once Henry learned that Drex and Ray used to visit the bakery together twice a week. It took all of Dylan's might to not slap both of them for behaving like children in such a serious situation.
And of course it would be Ray who would not only stumble upon a trap but also be dumb enough to activate one. He found a box labeled for Nut Clusters, some sort of desert he really enjoyed. Both Henry and Dylan told him not to reach for one, as it was a very obvious trap, but he didn't listen. Ray got both of his hands stuck inside of the box just as Drex walked into the bakery.
It didn't take long before Henry aimed the tranquilizer device at Drex, ready to shoot. Drex looked over to Dylan, his gaze honing in on him.
"Well if it isn't Dylan. It is Dylan right? Dylan Montgomery?" Dylan froze at Drex's words along with everyone else. "Your mother told me a lot about you. Shame I have to tell her that you're still kicking."
"What?" No one in the room could believe what they were hearing.
"I mean she told me how you weren't cut out for the life."
"How do you know her?" Dylan demanded as he materialized a knife from behind him. Drex just smiled before continuing on.
"She was disappointed. Real disappointed in you. Told me she couldn't bring you along anymore, that you were a threat."
"A threat to who?"
"That fire... you weren't supposed to make it out."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"She thinks you're dead, and is quite happy about it too." Dylan had enough of listening to Drex. He threw the knife he was holding but Drex dodged it. More and more knives kept getting thrown but none of them landed. Dylan's aim was off, his mind too clouded by what he was just told.
Henry was ready to pull the trigger now more than ever, but Drex noticed and ripped the device out his grasp. He threw it out of the bakery, causing Henry to run after it. Drex locked the door behind Henry, leaving just Dylan and Ray.
Dylan and Drex circled around each other before Dylan lunged forward. Drex quickly grabbed hold of one of Dylan's arms, twisting it, causing him to yell out in pain. Drex grabbed Dylan's other arm and held it in an awkward position much like the other.
"Can't do anything now with your hands occupied." Drex commented, his grip on Dylan's arms tightening.
"That's what you think." Dylan could make metal appear out of anywhere, and he didn't always need his hands to do so. He materialized a small dagger attached to the back of his shoe and rammed it into Drex's shin.
Drex let go of Dylan due to the pain, cradling his leg. Dylan thought he had gotten the upper hand, but it was all to fake him out. Drex quickly got up off the ground, seemingly unfazed by his new wound, grabbed Dylan by the shoulders and slammed his head into one of the nearby tables, causing Dylan to go unconscious.
Now it was just Ray, whose hands were still stuck inside of the trapped box. Drex brought another box out and forced Ray's head inside of it.
Henry came back right as Ray's head got stuck. He noticed Dylan on the floor, unmoving, and banged on the locked door. Drex happily opened it and immediately noticed how Captain Man's sidekick practically ran to Dylan, attempting to wake him up. Henry then went over to Ray and tried prying the box off his head but was unable to do so.
Henry, once again, whirled up the tranquilizer device, this time going through with pulling the trigger. Drex shielded each of his attempts until Henry ran out of ammo. The two went head to head, but Drex was a better fighter than Henry, throwing him into a vat of cake batter.
Ray was able to somewhat get unstuck from his situation, prying the box his hands got stuck in off its hinges. Drex had tricked Ray into thinking Kid Danger left the bakery entirely, causing Ray to run out of the building, still not being able to see.
All three of them had been bested by Drex, something Ray was afraid would happen.
—
Everyone made it back to the Mancave in one piece. Henry was able to get himself cleaned up, Dylan was dealing with a horrible headache and possible concussion, and Schwoz was working on getting Ray's head and hands free.
They all watched as the news reported on a clip of Kid Danger getting spanked by Drex, something Henry was still feeling the consequences of as he was currently sitting in a bucket of ice.
"So, how's your bottom?" Jasper asked Henry as soon as the news was turned off.
"Spanked." Henry replied in a monotone voice. "It still hurts."
"Isn't the ice helping?" Charlotte asked.
"No, the ice is just giving me numb butt." Henry tried his best to turn his body so he could face Dylan who was laying down on the couch. "How are you holding up?" Dylan groaned in response, unable to think about words at the moment.
On the other side of the room Schwoz was unable to take the metal box off of Ray's head and the wooden one off his hands.
Jasper ended up firing a blaster at the box around Ray's hands, causing Ray to become angry with him even though it got his hands free. Ray sent Jasper upstairs regardless.
Charlotte suggested that Ray take a nap, but he couldn't. With Drex on the loose and his head stuck in a box, Ray felt useless, commenting his feelings out loud.
"Then I guess Henry and Dylan have to stop Drex." Charlotte commented.
"Are you serious? I can't take on Drex." Henry stated, Dylan groaning in agreeance.
"Well, why not?" Schwoz asked the two of them.
"Because we tried to fight that guy, but he stuffed me in cake batter and then spanked me." Henry replied.
"And I'm pretty sure he gave me brain damage." Dylan sat up on the couch, instantly going dizzy from moving too fast.
Henry got up from where he sat, making his way towards the tubes.
"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked her friend.
"Home."
"Home?"
"Henry, you can't go home. Not when this town needs you the most!" Ray stated from inside the metal box.
"This town needs a superhero. Or at least a decent sidekick, with skills, or has anything." Henry felt dejected from being defeated by Drex, taking off his watch and placing it on one of the chairs in the room. "I'm nothing. I'm not even wearing pants." A very true statement due to him sitting in ice moments ago.
He threw his gumball tube to Charlotte, almost ready to leave.
"Dylan!" Charlotte called out to her other friend. "Aren't you going to say something?"
"Yeah," Dylan tried his best to stand up but was a little wobbly. "Henry?"
"Yeah?"
"Take me with you?" Dylan extended his arms out in the direction of Henry, who picked him up and carried him over to the tubes, both of them making their exit shortly after.
"What just happened?" Ray could only hear slightly what was happening.
"I think Henry just quit his job." Charlotte responded. "And he took Dylan with him."
"Aww, man."
"Well, you can't blame Henry. I mean, everyone expects him to act like a superhero, and he doesn't even have one superpower."
"Yeah, well... maybe we need to fix that." Ray stated in a serious tone. "Schwoz, I think it's time."
"For me to get my colonoscopy?"
"What? No! Gross!"
"But my colon!"
"I want you to call Schwabbit and Kooschtello!"
"Schwah-who?" Charlotte was confused as to who they were talking about.
"Two very powerful people from my homeland." Schwoz supplied, running over to the monitors to make the call.
Hopefully Henry would be able to get something out of it.
—
A couple of hours later Schwoz was introducing Charlotte and Ray to Schwahbbit and Kooschetello. Ray instructed Schwoz and Charlotte to go to Henry's house and bring both him and Dylan to the Mancave.
Henry and Dylan were laying on the couch. Well, Henry was laying on the couch and Dylan was laying on top of him taking a nap. Henry had balanced his laptop of Dylan's back, constantly just watching videos of people making fun of Kid Danger.
The doorbell rang, causing Dylan to wake up just as Henry shouted "Do not come in!" Charlotte and Schwoz entered regardless. "What did I just say?"
"You gotta come back with us to the Mancave." Charlotte stated.
"No," Henry closed the lid of his laptop as Dylan moved off of him, half-awake and semi-delirious. "I'm not going back, no matter what you guys say."
"Then we won't say anything." Schwoz fired up a machine that caused Henry to fall asleep and land on the couch just inches from where Dylan was sitting.
"What's happening?" Dylan asked, confused as to how he even got to Henry's house.
"We're going to the Mancave." Charlotte told him.
"I thought I was in the Mancave... how'd I get here?"
"You asked Henry to take you with him when he left."
"I do not remember that at all."
"Can you help us drag Henry to the Mancave?" Schwoz asked.
"Yeah, sure." Dylan helped Charlotte pull Henry off the couch so they could transport him.
The Mancave was covered with various items by the time the four arrived.
"What is all this stuff?" Dylan asked Schwoz and Charlotte, not knowing entirely why they needed him and Henry back.
"It's for to give Henry the power!" Schwoz answered enthusiastically.
"What power?"
"You'll see."
"Where am I? What happened?" Henry finally woke up.
"You died!" Schwoz answered.
"What?"
"Just kidding!" Schwoz laughed at his own mini joke. "We brought you here against your will."
The alarms to the Mancave started going off. Jasper had pulled the emergency alarm due to Drex barging into the store and wanting to know where Captain Man was. Drex was grasping Jasper by his shirt collar, demanding answers. Jasper told Drex that the Mancave was located in the playground at Swellview Park, lying to protect the truth. Drex kidnapped Jasper, taking him to the park.
"Guys, you gotta stop Drex." Charlotte told her two friends.
"Listen I'm game," Dylan started, "but I'm gonna need some back up."
"I can't." Henry was still in denial.
"You can, if you have the power!" Schwoz exclaimed.
"What power?" It was Henry's turn to ask that question.
Next thing Henry knew he was being dragged towards Schwabbit and Kooschtello's set up in the middle of the room. They explained to him the plan. Henry had to breathe in some weird venom vapor from a lizard and spider in hopes that it would give him super fast reflexes. He was practically forced into it, but soon the ritual was over and they needed to test Henry's reflexes.
Schwoz told Henry to inspect the elevator buttons while he pulled out various rockets. Schwoz launched one of them but Henry dodged it with lighting speed. Every rocket that was thrown Henry's way he either dodged or caught. Everyone in the room cheered for his new ability.
"Interesting." Dylan stated as he materialized a knife.
"Woah, wait." Henry thought it was about to be thrown at him but he noticed the way Dylan was inspecting it. "What's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong, it's just different." Dylan ran his finger along the blade of the knife, taking in its new state.
"Different? What do you mean different?"
"You've got a new knife." Dylan held it out for Henry to take.
"So you can feel when it becomes different?" Henry never understood the limits to Dylan's power and was constantly learning something new about them.
"I mean yeah, it's part of my body."
"What makes it different?"
"This one moves faster, so you'll have a hard time dodging it even with your new abilities."
"I'm so glad you're my boyfriend and not my sworn enemy." Henry joked, handing Dylan his knife back.
"Me too."
"Alright, now we need to find Drex and Jasper." Henry looked to Charlotte who was already tracking them.
"They're still at Swellview Park, either on or near the playground."
"Okay, give it to me." Henry held out his hand towards Charlotte, who understood exactly what he meant and handed him his gumball tube, transforming into his uniform. "You ready?" He looked over at Dylan who quickly materialized his outfit.
"Ready as I'll ever be." He smiled at Henry, who reciprocated.
"Schwoz, you fly Dylan and I in the Man-Copter." Henry stated, to which Schwoz agreed. The three of them went to the tubes, Henry and Dylan sharing one like usual.
—
Henry and Dylan dropped down onto the playground just as Drex was about to punch Jasper. Henry grabbed Drex's arm, turning him around to face him so he could hit Drex in the face. Jasper ran to the other side of the playground as Drex got off the floor. Henry and Dylan stood in front of him, ready for anything.
Drex went to attack Henry first, but he was able to avoid all of his attacks thanks to his fast reflexes. Dylan materialized a metal pipe, gripping it like a baseball bat. They exchanged attacks on Drex. Every time Henry landed a punch Dylan would whack him with the pipe.
It wasn't long before the two of them had beat Drex to the ground. Henry hauled Drex onto the park bench and into his lap, performing the exact same maneuvers Drex had done to him. Dylan stood by and laughed, pleased with Henry for getting back into the groove of things.
—
Back in the Mancave Ray was still having issues with the box on his head. Schwoz ended up attaching a magnetic device to it in order to get it unlocked. Everyone clapped at the sight of Ray's face.
"What happened with Drex?" Ray asked shortly after getting used to the bright lights in the room.
"Oh, Henry and Dylan brought him here." Charlotte stated.
"Drex is here?" Ray got up and turned around, going wide-eyed at the sight of Drex. He was strapped to a board, unable to move. "Is he...?"
"He's totally fine." Dylan responded to Ray's question before it could even be answered.
"He just can't move." Jasper provided.
"Or talk, or think, or kick, or punch, or pee." Henry continued. "I hope."
"Well how did you...?"
"I used this," Schwoz held up one of his devices, "You blast a person with a beam from this, and it's like pressing pause on his brain."
"Yeah, he's totally fine. He just can't do anything." Charlotte brought back up Dylan's point from before and expanded on it.
The news began playing on one of the monitors, Jasper being the first to notice. "Hey look! Henry's on the news!" Everyone walked over to the screen, catching the broadcast.
"Thanks to Kid Danger's new and unexplained lightning speed, he was able to completely frustrate and engage Drex, who we all hate." The news cut to a clip of Henry punching Drex in the face and then to a video of Henry spanking Drex.
"Yes well it seems like that wasn't the only person who got in on the action." The news was brought back to the two anchors, Trent and Mary.
"That's right Trent, the new hero who helped save a man on Mount Swellview not too long ago was spotted at the scene." They pulled up a photo of Dylan in his uniform, his face hidden. "When asked about this mystery person, witnesses said he was there one minute and gone the next."
"It seems like this new hero has a habit of fading into the darkness." Trent quipped, an exaggerated laugh coming from him.
"The Darkness, indeed."
The news transitioned into another story, one about a local squirrel winning a beauty pageant.
"Wow, that's twice you've been on the news." Jasper turned to Dylan along with the others.
"Guess they just love me." Dylan shrugged his shoulders with his words.
Everyone left the Mancave to go home shortly after, calling it a day. Drex ended up getting moved to one of the basements in the Mancave to be forgotten about.
—
Dylan was pacing the floors of the Mancave's main room. It was around three o'clock in the morning and he couldn't sleep; hadn't been able to for the past couple of days. Drex's words stuck with him, the one about his mother. He couldn't exactly ask Drex for information since he couldn't do anything in his current state. He could turn to one other person for information, the last person he wanted to see, but he was running out of options. The possibility of his mother being alive grew by the second, and Dylan turned to desperation for answers. He knew what he had to do, who he had to talk to, had known for two days now.
He paced the floors for three hours before the need for sleep overtook his body, forcing himself onto the couch where he was found by Ray later on in the morning. Ray had asked Dylan what he was doing out on the couch and Dylan brushed it off, replying that he just couldn't sleep.
There was more, and Ray knew it. He had noticed how Dylan's sate kept getting worse by the day. If he were to take a guess, Ray would say Dylan hadn't slept in four days, the same amount of days since capturing Drex. Af first Ray thought Dylan was uncomfortable sleeping knowing that they were housing an extremely dangerous criminal in the basement, but he realized that there was more to it than that. There was something Dylan wasn't telling Ray and he didn't think he'd be able to get it out of him either.
He had to call in the big guns: Henry. If anyone would be able to get Dylan to open up it would be his boyfriend. Dylan had begun acting even more strange the longer the day went on, always glancing at the clock like he was waiting for something. Henry came in at around one o'clock, getting called over by Ray to stage an intervention. They joined Dylan on the couch, exchanging looks with one another to see who would speak first. Dylan took notice of their odd state, breaking the silence for them.
"Can I help you?" Dylan asked the two of them.
"We were just wondering if everything is okay." Ray started out.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Dylan's words were slow, slightly confused with what was happening.
"Because you haven't been sleeping."
"You know about that?"
"I found you on the couch this morning."
Dylan went quiet, looking anywhere but to the two men in front of him.
"We just want to help." Henry dragged his hand across the table, reaching for Dylan's who let it be taken.
There was a moment of hesitation on Dylan's part before he spoke. "He knew who I was," His voice was almost a whisper, "He knew my mother. He said—" He couldn't finish the sentence.
"You can't believe everything he says." Ray tried reassuring Dylan.
"But he knew so much. About me, about the fire... I need to find more information."
"How? You can't talk to him."
"Then I'll just have to talk to someone else." Dylan looked towards the others, almost ashamed with himself.
"Who?" Ray asked, a tad nervous from Dylan's demeanor.
"Michael."
"What? Why?" Henry entered the conversation, the mere mention of Michael causing negative emotions to run through him. He let go of Dylan's hand, letting it fall onto the table.
"He knows something about my mother."
"Like what?" Ray was becoming more concerned by the second.
"I don't know, not entirely." Dylan hung his head, staring at the table. "Before I got my powers Michael never involved me with his 'activities'." He emphasized the last word with air quotes, everyone in the room knowing exactly what he meant.
"What does that have to do with your mother?"
"The night of the accident Michael took me back to my house. We thought it was a miracle that nothing bad happened to me. We didn't discover my abilities until I was home; my mother was the first to see them." Dylan lifted his head back up, taking a brief pause before continuing. "After that she dragged Michael outside to the front porch to have a conversation with him. I always thought she just wanted to know what happened, but now I'm doubting it. After their conversation something in Michael switched. He started dragging me along, using me for what I had become."
"You think she said something to him?" Ray's voice had gone almost soft, trying to piece everything together.
"I can't help but think so."
"Why haven't you said anything about his before?"
"Because I never thought my mother would—" Dylan couldn't even finish his sentence, not wanting to admit anything in fear of it being true. "What Drex said, I can't stop thinking about it."
"We will find what happened to her, but I don't like you having to resort to speaking with Michael." Henry came back into the conversation, his arms crossed over his chest, clearly upset with something.
"I don't like it either, but I don't know where else to look."
"I'm going with you." Henry didn't ask, didn't want to.
"No." Dylan's tone was strict and unwavering.
"I don't trust him."
"You don't have to."
"I'm going." Dylan looked over to Ray, wanting him to say something about Henry's stubbornness, but it was a lost cause. It wasn't often that Henry was determined to do something, but with the threat of Michael coming back into Dylan's life, he would do anything to make sure that Dylan was safe no matter what.
"Fine." Dylan didn't want to argue with Henry. "We leave now."
"Right now?"
"Yes." Dylan started making his way towards the elevator, Henry following close behind.
"Wait." Ray's voice caused both Dylan and Henry to turn around.
"What?" Dylan asked.
"What's the plan here?"
"I go talk to Michael." Dylan stated.
"Okay, but then what?"
"I don't know. I haven't thought that far yet."
"So you just plan to walk in there and grill him?"
"Yeah pretty much."
"What makes you think he'll talk? If I remember correctly he didn't speak at all during his arrest or after." Ray was right. It was unknown if Michael was still not speaking, something that would be found out with Dylan's visit.
"Well then I better hope and pray he does."
"I just don't think it's smart to head out right now."
"You and Henry have done more with less." Dylan crossed his arms, emphasizing his clear annoyance with Ray.
"That's true, but Henry and I are... you know." Ray moved his hands around a little, trying to communicate something.
"No, I don't." Dylan's tone of voice was now fully dripping with annoyance.
"Superheroes, Henry and I go out and fight crime!"
"Oh, so because you two are good people, and I'm, what a horrible person, I can't go out on a hunch?" Dylan raised his voice.
"That's not what I mean."
"Then what do you mean?"
"Kid," Ray looked at Henry for backup, "help me out here."
"Uhh," Henry was at a standstill; he didn't know if he should agree with his boss or his boyfriend.
"Look, I'm leaving." Dylan turned back around, heading over to the elevators once again.
Ray and Henry shared looks, each of them saying things without speaking at all. Ray wanted to communicate how he thought this was all a horrible idea, while Henry was trying to communicate that he would not let Dylan walk out alone. In the end, Henry followed Dylan, the two of them taking the elevator up and leaving the store.
—
Michael was being held in the Swellview prison, not having been sent back to Jonsville for security reasons.
"We can't just walk in there, can we?" As they were nearing their destination Henry became more and more nervous about how they were going to execute everything.
"That's exactly what we're going to do."
"But how? Don't we have to schedule and appointment or something?"
"Good thing I scheduled one two days ago."
"What?" Henry stopped dead in his tracks. "What do you mean?"
Dylan turned towards Henry, unable to look him in the eyes. "I scheduled something after being unable to stop thinking about what Drex said. He's the only person who might know something."
"You were never going to say anything to me, were you?"
"No."
There was tension between the two of them now, an unspoken feeling of betrayal and ashamed-ness. The two continued walking, no longer exchanging words.
Checking into the facility wasn't an issue. IDs had to be checked as well as both Henry and Dylan needing to go through a metal detector and a full body pat down to ensure they weren't sneaking anything in. The two were led to a room consisting of a small line of chairs that sat in front of a glass window, another room with the same set up beyond the glass. Each chair was in its own little cubicle, a phone connecting the two sides. They were directed to a specific chair, one across from Michael, who had been sitting for some time.
Dylan was the one who occupied the seat with Henry standing behind him, his eyes never leaving Michael. Dylan picked up the phone, Michael picking it up shortly after.
There were two minutes of straight silence. Nothing but a mere staring contest between Michael and Dylan. Dylan didn't want to speak first, still not entirely knowing what he wanted, or why he was here.
"Why'd you bring him?" Michael spoke first, glancing towards Henry and breaking the oddly comfortable silence.
"Moral support." Dylan's eyes never left Michael's gaze.
Another minute of silence passed.
"Why are you here?" The silence broken by Michael again.
"I need information." Dylan supplied, his expressions calm.
"About what?"
"My mother."
Michael's eyes went wide; Dylan couldn't tell if it was because he knew something, or was just confused.
"What about her?"
"The night of the incident you and my mother had a conversation on the front porch." Dylan didn't beat around the bush, getting straight to the point. "What did you two talk about?"
"Why don't you go ask her?" Michael's tone was becoming agitated.
"Because I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because she's missing."
"Missing?" Michael leaned forward with a smile. "Interesting."
"What did you two talk about?" Dylan repeated his question wanting nothing to do with any of Michael's antics.
Michael glanced up at Henry, his smile still present. "You sure you want him to know?"
"Anything you say to me can be said to him as well."
"It's Henry, right?" Michael asked, gaze still staring beyond Dylan.
"Don't speak to him." Dylan warned.
Michael's eyes fell back onto Dylan's face, studying it for a brief moment. "You moved on fast."
"Stop avoiding the question."
"Fine." Michael leaned back in his chair. "But I'm only gonna tell you this because I know it'll ruin you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" For the first time since sitting down Dylan's voice wavered. He could see that smile begin to slightly form again.
"Did you know what your mother did for a living?" Michael asked, looking pleased with himself.
"She was in real estate." Dylan answered honestly.
"No, she wasn't. I used to work for her."
"In real estate?"
"She wasn't involved in real estate!" Michael leaned forward again, his face inches from the glass. "Your mother used to run The Underground."
"What?" Dylan's voice was barely audible.
"So that night? When we all discovered what you could do, she pulled me aside to tell me how we could use you."
"No, that's—"
"We started talking about how valuable you'd be. She had been trying to figure out a way to introduce you to the lifestyle, and that was it."
"You're lying."
"Do you really think that?"
The answer was no. Dylan knew when Michael was lying, having all his tells memorized, and in this moment he was telling the truth. Nothing about what was being said was false, and that realization broke Dylan even more.
"Why did she leave Jonsville?" Dylan was visibly shaking at this point. He wanted desperately to run, but he needed more answers.
"Something about a boy." Michael mumbled. "What was his name?"
"Drex?" Dylan supplied, nervous for the answer.
"Yeah, that was it."
Dylan shot up out of his seat, causing the chair to fall over. "I have to go." He slammed the phone back into the wall just as he heard Michael's laughter.
He couldn't get out of the building fast enough, it all feeling too confining, too restricting. Henry had to run after him, finally stopping once they were both out of the building.
"Hey, hey." Henry kept his voice low in order to calm down Dylan.
"It's all been a lie, Henry. My entire life has been nothing but a lie." Dylan faced his boyfriend, hands shaking in front of him. Henry grabbed both of them for comfort. "Here I thought she was some normal person with a normal job, but no; she's in charge of The Underground. I don't even know what to do."
"What is The Underground, exactly?" This was, now, the second time Henry ever heard this term.
"It's one of the most well known crime syndicates in this side of the country." Dylan began to explain, "Michael worked for one of the lower levels and introduced me to it. I spent so much of my time in those months trying to figure out who was at the top so I could take them down, and it's been my mother this whole time!"
"You didn't know, couldn't have."
"She's alive. She's alive and we have to take her down."
—
Ray was patiently waiting for Henry and Dylan to return. It had been a little over two hours at this point and he was starting to get worried. He wasn't worried for long though, the tubes to the Mancave coming down, occupied by the two boys.
Immediately Ray noticed Dylan's state. He looked like a deer in headlights, speed walking over to Ray as soon as he was able.
"What happened?" Ray glanced between Dylan and Henry.
"It's bad, it's really bad." Dylan's hands were still shaking from before.
"Tell me everything."
And they did. Henry and Dylan took turns explaining everything that went down. It ended with Dylan telling Ray the same thing he told Henry; how they needed to find his mother and stop her.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Ray cautiously questioned.
"What am I supposed to do? Pretend I didn't hear anything?" Dylan didn't know exactly how he should react.
"I don't know, I mean, she's your mother."
"Who threw me away when given the chance. You heard Drex, I was supposed to die in the fire that she started." Dylan let out a deep sigh. "I know that she raised me, but she can't be my mother, not anymore. I won't give her that right."
"What will you do?"
"I don't know, but we have to find her. Hopefully she'll make it easy soon."