Different [A Superhero AU] - Book One

Chapter Forty-Three - City in Chaos

For what feels like ages, the heroes stare at a blank screen and attempt to process the video footage they just witnessed. Men, incredibly powerful and influential men, have just been murdered. Mark grips the edge of the desk as he hears the first gunshots ring from outside.

"What can we do?" Ken asks, leaning down to Matthias' level.

The hero shakes his head and leans on his hand, tapping a few keys on the keyboard. "All we can do now is save lives. At this point, the New Age Institute is too strong for us to beat them."

Phil takes a shaky breath and lowers himself into a chair, covering his face with his hands. Felix, whose eyes no longer sparkle like they used to, crosses his arms across his chest and clenches his jaw.

Mark starts off towards the door, but Ken grabs his shoulder and stops him.

"Let me go, Ken," the red-haired hero demands.

"No! You're going to go off and do something stupid!"

"How would you know?" Mark exclaims, spinning on his heel and facing the taller hero as his voice grows to a yell. "What do you think I'm going to do!? Race out into the street and yell 'I'm a hero, come shoot me?!' That's ridiculous!"

Ken clenches his jaw. "You're going to go find Jack. That alone is dangerous enough."

"Jack is not a murderer. Now, I'm going out to save lives. Are you coming or not?"

"Mark, calm down. We'll go out later, but right now it's too dangerous."

The red-haired hero takes a deep breath, his hands starting to shake as he moves slowly back towards the desk. The gunshots grow in volume and frequency, leading Mark to curl up in his chair and attempt to block it out.

"I refuse to stay here and be idle," Felix states. "People are dying outside, and if I have a chance to kill the woman who killed Marzia and save some lives in the process, I will take that chance."

"Felix..." Matthias begins, but cuts himself off. Arguing with the Swede is fairly pointless. Now that Marzia's gone, he's been more reckless and more closed off than ever before.

"I'm going with him," Mark says, standing up. "I can't sit here anymore."

Ken sighs heavily. "If they're going, I'll go."

"And they'll need a healer to save their butts," Phil adds.

Matthias watches the four heroes for a moment before hanging his head and handing them their earpieces. "Fine.  If you're going out, don't forget these. I'll need to be in contact with you."

The heroes each take their earpieces before exiting the building. Already, scared and rowdy people race through the streets, yelling and firing off guns.  Bodies litter the streets, drenched in blood and riddled with bullet holes.  Some people rest against buildings, nursing their injuries and trying to mute their sobs.  The building across the street from the Curatrix headquarters has "THE END IS HERE" spray-painted on its side, the letters dripping red paint like melting wax. Mark walks forward, stepping over "Curatrix will fall" in sidewalk chalk.

"Hey, look who's finally come out of hiding!" a man with a pistol shouts, his words considerably slurred. A couple of his friends look over and immediately start yelling as well, waving their guns around. The man fires his weapon, leading Mark to slow the world around him and snatch the bullet out of the air.

"Well done, Mark.  Keep handling this situation.  Phil, heal the injured people and otherwise remain relatively close to headquarters and out of danger," Matthias says. "Felix, there's a group of out of control teenagers with lethal weapons about a block down. Please handle that. Ken, there's a hospital a couple streets away. Make sure nobody with weapons is entering."

As he's speaking, the heroes head off in their separate directions. Mark tosses the bullet to the ground as he avoids another shot.

"You ain't doing nothin'!" another man yells, stumbling forward a bit. "You're more useful when you're dead!"

"Purge the city!" one exclaims in a slurred voice, firing a couple bullets into the air.

Mark grimaces and races up to them, knocking one of the guns from their hand. The group breaks apart as Mark slows everything down, giving him an opportunity to dodge three oncoming shots. Before the drunken men can react, Mark snatches their guns from their hands and shoves them into his belt.  When their weapons are unavailable for use, they turn to using fists.

"Alright, five against one," Mark murmurs to himself, raising his fists.

The men throw punches at the hero, and Mark soon discovers that fighting a bunch of drunk citizens is hundreds of times easier than fighting even one villain. Within minutes, he's knocked all five of his opponents down.

"Phil, get over here!" he exclaims, hoisting two of them over his shoulders and helping up another.

"Coming," the Brit replies, panting a bit in the earpiece. His arrival is signified by the scuffing of boots against pavement as he approaches from behind. Phil slows to a walk as he leans down, supporting the two remaining men. The two heroes don't speak as they help along the group.

"If you leave them in the Curatrix entrance, I'll get the nurses to help them out," Matthias says.

"Alright," Mark replies.

"I dealt with the teens," Felix says. "They weren't dangerous. Just scared and acting out because of it."

"Good. Ken, how's it going?" Matthias asks.

"Fine, fine," the hero replies. He grunts, followed by banging on a door. "There's a couple of people with firearms trying to get in, but I can handle it."

A sigh comes from Matthias' end of the line. "I'm glad that none of you have gotten hurt, I just wish I knew why this was happening. What is the N.A.I hoping to accomplish by taking over San Francisco?"

"Don't think about it right now, Matt," Mark replies as Phil pushes open the doors of Curatrix. "It's too stressful."

Matthias sighs heavily.  "Yeah... Oh, you're here! I'll send the nurses down."

Mark nods, fully aware that Matthias can't see him. He settles the drunks down against one of the walls and turns on his heel, heading back out into the chaotic streets.