Wish you were Sober || Boat Boys

18: Where The Music Ain't Too Loud

Cold.

That's all Joel could think as he sat up.

He had imagined this before: he would wake him in a jail cell with nothing to earth-bend and Justin Bieber's Yummy (nightcore version, by the way) on repeat as the only thing he can listen to. He imagined being chained to a wall, forced to eat human shit or something disgusting like that.

Not in a comfortable bed.

But here he was.

Not constrained or tied to the wall—alive and well. The worst thing he feels right now is his paranoia and the incoming headache, but not as bad as he imagined. Joel swiftly got out of the bed; they didn't even take his ring. Why didn't they take his ring? Are they that dumb?

His latest memory is of Ender's face, which makes him feel physically unwell. Not that he doesn't like the man's face, but because he knows what's hidden behind that mask. He was flirting with a supervillain and he didn't notice until it was too late, like a rookie.

Joel scanned the room; there's only one door.

Only one way out unless he was to break the wall. But judging by the lack of windows and the coldness of the interior, he was probably underground. Not an issue for an Earth-Bender but bending takes time to do, if he wants to make a break for it, it has to be quick. The initial bang of smashing the wall with his elbow or something will be too loud. No time to bend his way out of the madness he's somehow gotten himself into. Plus... he can still feel the aftereffects of whatever Orange injected into him.

Joel grabs a pillow and checks under the bed for any weapons; nothing. He takes a deep breath as he tries to twist the doorknob, it clicks open—"Joel!" He freezes in place as he's being grabbed. He hisses as he's being spun around, what is going on—

That voice.

As the rapid spinning comes to a stop, Joel quickly pushes away from the man who grabbed him. "J-Jimmy?" His voice breaks, he stares at the blonde in front of him. A half-smile, his hair is different than before, he's not sick anymore, he's wearing different clothes, he has dark eye-bags—this can't be.

"You—How do you know the victim's friend's name?" Joel grabs the man by the collar, even though 'Jimmy' is taller than him, he manages to pin him to the wall, eyes scanning up and down rapidly. The Listener is good. Despite all those differences, he still looks like Jimmy. He looks like Joel's best friend.

"It's me, Joel." Jimmy's smile melts away Joel's entire being. Joel stumbles back, unable to look the man in the eyes. "You—" He makes a sharp turn, he sees stairs. So he runs to and up them, finding a locked door. Joel bangs on it, maybe the villains rented out some poor citizen's basement for this.

"HELP!" He yells out, using his gained strength as a hero to try and launch his way through the door. Joel manages to make a fist-sized hole through the thin wooden door before he's grabbed again, he tries to kick whoever grabbed him down the stairs; he's frozen.

"Shut up, will you?" Atlas asks, rolling his eyes as he yanks Joel's arm out of the hole he made in the door. "HELP ME! I'M BEING HELD HOSTAGE!" Joel yells, groaning a bit as he feels the splinters of the wood dig into his skin. "This is my house, Jimmy you were supposed to be watching him." Atlas drags Joel back downstairs, the ice and water pool trailed behind them.

Joel tried to brute-force his way out of the ice, "What the fuck do you want?" The answer was stupidly obvious. They want him, that's the only possible answer. "Justice." Atlas leaned in, his face annoyingly close to Joel's. "Your form of justice presents itself in a kidnapping?" Joel laughed, his head already hurting once more.