Chapter 8

As the group walked into the main hall of the Heroes Association they stopped and looked around. It was mostly empty, a far cry from the day they had last been here. Mary looked around with wide eyes and the marble floors and pillars. She smiled most at the air conditioning.
“They have electricity here!” Mary said as she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and began flapping it to get as much chilled air up it as she could.
Darius laughed and looked up towards the receptionists. They were looking at them with a clearly fake smile. They were dirty and bloodied, they looked as if they were a truck stop bathroom personified. Darius straightened his collar with his good hand and approached the counter.
“Hello! Welcome to the United Heroes Association! How may I help you?” She asked.
“We uh… Need to talk to someone.” Darius said.
“Uh-huh? Do you have an appointment with someone?” She asked.
“Uh no… We are actually the proprietors of the Caster Park Trading Post.” He said with some pride.
“Okay, we are only allowing people with appointments to enter the building at this time.” She said to them.
“B-But we need help.” He said back.
“Okay, the Association is incredibly busy at the moment. I’m afraid we can’t help you without scheduling an appointment.” She said to them never dropping her faux smile.
“Okay… Can we make an appointment?” Darius asked.
“Sure thing! Name?” She asked as she began to type on her computer.
“Darius Grey.” He said.
“Okay…. Darius…. Is your last name with an E or an A?” She asked.
“E…” He said.
“Grey… Okay. Reason for an appointment?” She asked.
“Uh… Mob trying to kill us? Look, we really need to talk to someone now.” Darius said.
The woman looked up at him and reaffirmed her smile, she then looked at her computer and began to type.
“Okay. I have you for Tuesday the 28th.” She said.
“The 28th? That’s like two weeks from now!” Darius said appalled.
“The Association is very busy.” She said to them.
“I-I know but… There has to be someone we can talk to!?” Darius said looking around and saw a man in a short cape and goggles getting some coffee from a table to the side of the lobby.
“What about him? He looks like he’s free!” Darius said and pointed.
They all glanced over at the hero sipping a smooth cup of joe. The hero looked over at them and smiled then gave them a thumbs up and turned to leave.
“I’m sorry but Mr. AV Guy is a very busy man.” The receptionist said to them.
“This is…” Darius said with a hint of laughter in his voice as he backed away.
“Look ma’am. We are in serious danger. We were attacked earlier today and-” Trevor said as he approached the counter but was interrupted by a man entering the building behind them.
“Oi! Key Lime Pie!” A man shouted at him and raised his hands.
Darius, Mary, and Charity stared at the man and then to Trevor. Trevor blinked and then smiled.
“Mindrome! Hey!” He said out.
“What?” Darius asked looking at the man walking up to him.
“Been like a week! How have you been doing, man? You look kinda beat up.” The man with the thin face said.
“Well, I’ve been better. Actually, I’m glad to see you again! I need a favor.” Trevor said.
“Wait, You know Mindrome? How?” Darius asked.
“Oh, we meet at the auditions. He interviewed me.” Trevor said.
“Yeah, This guy is amazing! Made my water taste like delicious Key Lime Pie! I only wished I could justify giving you a badge but… you know.” He said.
“It’s fine, I understand.” Trevor said.
“So what did you need?” The man asked.
“We need help!” Mary said.
“Huh? What up?” He asked looking at Trevor.
“Is there a way we can talk in private?” Trevor asked.
“Sure. Uh, follow me.” Mindrome said and began walking.
Darius locked eyes with Trevor and he did the same with a smile. They followed him into a side room and then he walked over to a table and at on one of it's the edges.
“So what’s up?” The man asked.
Darius let Trevor fill in the man as they seemed to be on good terms. Mindrome listened and looked over at everyone as Trevor told the story. Once he was done he was silent for a few moments.
“We need some sort of help.” Trevor told him.
“I see… That is quite the predicament… Why didn’t you just give up your supplier? It would suck for your business but at least they would have no need for you get hurt.” He said.
Trevor looked at Darius and then to the rest. Darius sighed and nodded.
“If you trust him, you can tell him.” Darius said.
Trevor nodded and turned to Mindrome.
“We are the source. Darius here can create clean drinking water and I flavor it to taste like spring water.” Trevor said.
“Oh!… Okay then… Uh… “ He said and fell silent in thought again.
“Wait here. I might know someone that could help. Let me go talk to them.” He said and got up and exited the room.
“I hope we didn’t make a mistake telling him.” Darius said.
“He’s a pretty cool guy, We talked a bit during my interview.” Trevor said.
“I’m happy for you.” Darius said.
“Still sore about your crush?” Trevor asked.
“Shut up…” Darius said.
“What are you guys talking about?” Mary asked.
“Nothing, Hey Charity! How is everything?” Darius asked changing the conversation.
“……..Everything is fine. We started trading again. Your walls are still up.” She said.
“That’s good.” Darius said thinking how handy his new power is.
“You said crush?” Mary asked.
“It’s nothing!” Darius said.
“O-Okay… So… What’s our plan now?” Mary asked still curious.
“Well, Still pretty much the same… “ Darius said.
“But we told him you guys make the water? I thought the most important part of the plan was not to do that.” Mary said.
“Okay then… The new plan is we don’t tell them my real ability.” Darius said.
“No offense Darius but… Maybe we should tell them.” Trevor said.
“Okay, You can tell them that a Meta that can steal other Meta’s abilities is currently sitting in the middle of UHAHQ and that one of his abilities formerly belonged to one of their friends that is now dead.” Darius sad looking at him.
The group went silent for a few moments.
“Well, when you say it like that…” Trevor said.
“Look, You guys know it might be funny but I’d rather not be suspected by the UHA for murder.” He said.
“The UHA’s not dumb man, they would know you didn’t kill Cataract.” Trevor said.
“You don’t know that. I saw him, all beat to hell…” Darius said.
“You said that there were other people that tried to save him. All they would have to do is find them and ask.” Trevor said.
“Try to find like three guys in a city that has a few hundred thousand?” Darius asked.
“Couldn’t they just put out an alert on the radio or something? Like, ask for information?” Mary asked.
“Even if they heard it, They might not even know that was Cataract they found… I only recognized him by his uniform. His face was uh…” Darius said taking a deep breath.
“… Okay, Say we don’t tell them and they find out later! You’re going to look even more guilty!” Trevor said to him.
Darius looked at him and then at Mary and then to Charity who seemed disconnected from the conversation. He took a deep breath and ran his good hand through his hair and began walking slowly around the room.
“Look Darius… I’m- We are your friends… We wouldn’t suggest anything that we thought would hurt you.” Trevor said.
“Trevor is right! My brother and I would be starving if it wasn’t for you.” Mary said to him.
Darius looked at them and nodded his head. He didn’t know why he was acting so paranoid. He looked to Charity only to see a disappointed look on her face.
“….. God! That guy who keeps bringing baseball cards to trade is back… What are you guys talking about?” She asked looking around.
Darius sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
“Just offer him a gallon of water and take them.” He said.
“Darius?” Trevor asked him looking concerned.
“I-I know… You’re… You’re right.” Darius said sighing.
“So, Are we going to tell them?” Mary asked as the door behind them opened.
“Oi! I’m back!” Mindrome said as he opened the door and walked in.
“Hello there!” Thomas said walking in behind them.
They all turned to see Stalwart in full uniform walk in with his hand raised.
“Uh, Hello.” Darius said as he watched another person walking as well.
“Shit…” He said out loud.
“I don’t know why you’re dragging me to some meeting with… you…” Elizabeth said staring at Darius.
“You two know each other?” Thomas asked.
“Oh yeah! We know each other…” Elizabeth said with a smile.
Darius glanced over at Trevor who was looking straight at him, his mouth despertly truing not to smile.
“Small world!” Mindrome said.
“Y-Yeah…” Darius said as he could feel his heart sink into the pit of his stomach.
“… Everything’s still fine! I think I’m going to burn the cards though…” Charity said as she looked up and saw Stalwart standing in the middle of the room.
“Holy shit!” She shouted and then covered her mouth.
“Are you sure these are the guys you were talking about?” Thomas asked Mindrome.
“Yeah… Uh.” He said looking over to Trevor.
“S-Sorry about that. I’m Trevor!” He said holding his hand out.
“You can call me Thomas. This is Elizabeth.” He said motioning to the petite girl wearing sunglasses and sipping from a large bottle of water.
“Hi, This is my business partners, Darius, Mary and-” Trevor said till Charity stepped forward and took his hand.
“I’m Charity!” She said shaking his hand enthusiastically.
She then turned to Elizabeth and walked up to her quickly. Elizabeth took a step back almost dropping her water as Charity took her hand.
“P-Perennial! I am like, aha, I am like your biggest fan!” She said shaking her hand.
Thomas coughed as he held in a chuckle. Elizabeth glared at him. She looked back to the taller, more full figured woman and put on a smile.
“It’s just Elizabeth now, I no longer go by Perennial.” She said to her and shook her hand.
“Oh! Aha, sorry! It’s a real honor to meet you!” She said still shaking her hand.
“L-Likewise… so…” Elizabeth said as Charity continued to shake.
“I was told you ran the Trading Post out of Caster Park, is that right?” Thomas asked to get the meeting back on track.
“Yes, that’s right.” Trevor said.
“I was told you guys had a bit of trouble earlier today.” He asked looking over at an uncomfortable Elizabeth as she tried to gently free her hand.
“Yeah, we were attacked by some Mob people…” Mary said.
“Mob people?” Elizabeth asked as she finally got her hand back.
“Yeah! But we were totally able to take care of them though!” Charity said trying to impress her idol.
“Uh-huh.” Elizabeth said.
“We came to you for help. They attacked us and were trying to get us to give up our water supply.” Darius said.
“Why didn’t you just do as they asked?” Thomas asked.
“… Because Trevor and I are the supply.” Darius said.
“Oh, that’s right… You can create quote, unquote delicious water?” Elizabeth said with a smile.
Darius glared at her and then sighed.
“I can create water and Trevor makes it taste good.” Darius said.
“I see… So what is it you want? Protection? I’m not sure if we have the manpower to guard you all 24 hours a day.” Thomas said.
“N-Not that… Uh… “ Darius said scratching his head.
“Truth is Darius’ power is not to create water.” Trevor said.
“What? So you lied during your interview?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes narrowing on Darius.
“No! It… I didn’t fully know what my power really was.” He said.
“What is it?” Mindrome asked.
“I can… Well, I can steal others abilities.” He said.
“What?” Thomas asked as he turned to face him completely.
“I can’t do it easily though! Don’t worry I’m not going around talking powers and stuff.” Darius said holding his hands up.
“It’s true! Darius got his water ability by accident.” Trevor said.
“You stole someone’s power by accident?” Elizabeth asked not convinced.
“I was… I was trying to help save a person’s life and I accidentally triggered my ability for the first time and took his power.” Darius said.
“This is serious, the person you took the power from has every right to press charges.” Thomas said to him.
“Uh… The person I took the power from was… The Hero Cataract.” Darius said lowly.
“What?” Thomas asked with a far lower tone of voice.
“He was buried in rubble and I tried to help dig him out and… It just happened.” Darius said.
Thomas looked over at Mindrome and then to Elizabeth. Darius silently gulped, or at least tried to but his mouth had gone dry.
“Zane… Go talk to Tanya and see if they could re-examine Stanley Weber’s body.” Thomas said to Mindrome.
“Uh, Sure.” He said and walked out of the room giving Darius a wide berth and exited the room.
“So, you said it wasn’t easy to steal a power? What’s the condition?” Thomas asked.
“Uh they have to be cut and bleeding, And so do I… And my wound has to touch theirs.” Darius said.
“Okay… So I take it Stan- Cataract was bleeding?” He asked.
“Yeah, he was bleeding badly. I had my own hand cut and when I tried to pull him from the rubble it just happened.” Darius said.
“I hope you understand that I’m just trying to get all that facts right now. We lost a lot of people and I’m not aware of the extent of the damage their bodies suffered. I just want to make sure his wounds match up to what you’re saying.” Thomas said.
“Right… Uh, He was in a collapsed building… His face was unrecognizable… One of his legs were missing…” Darius said to him.
“Okay, I’ll get a report from our medical staff and if it matches…” He said.
“I’m sorry… For your loss. I’m sure that doesn’t really help but…” Darius said and raised his hands.
Elizabeth watched as Thomas paced around the room in silence for a bit. She had not known Cataract but had heard a couple of stories about him over the last few years from Thomas, they seemed to have been good friends. She looked back at Darius, her eyes falling to his bandaged hand.
“Is that the wound you took his power through?” She asked him.
Darius looked down at his hand and raised it up.
“No, actually every time I use my power. The wound I take it through heals.” He said.
“Every time? You’ve stolen more than one?” Elizabeth asked glaring at him.
“W-Well…” Darius said.
“We ran some tests between ourselves.” Charity said.
“Tests? What kind of tests?” Thomas asked her.
“We cut ourselves and tested if he could copy power or if he just took them.” She said.
“Wait… Hold on. You took their powers?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah, but he gave them back.” Charity said.
“Huh?” Both Thomas and Elizabeth asked simultaneously.
“We found out that I can give them back or to someone else entirely if we do the same process.” Darius said.
Elizabeth looked at Darius and quickly walked over to him to get a better look. Thomas had to take a moment to process what he just heard.
“You’re not fucking with us are you?” Elizabeth asked getting up close to his face.
“N-No, ma’am!” Darius said.
“I have never in my 260 years heard of someone that can not only take someone’s powers but can then transfer them to another.” She said.
“Well… It’s not like it’s impossible right?” Darius asked with a shrug and a chuckle.
“But it should be! It suggests that Metahood may not entirely be genetic!” She said to him.
“Uh, how is that?” Trevor asked.
“Everything science knows about Metahumans suggest that it’s all genetic. There is a strong chance of abilities being passed down by heredity. If someone in bloodline is a meta, there offspring being one too raises almost seventy-five percent.” She said.
“Same with twins right?” Charity said smiling at Elizabeth.
“Uh yeah, that’s a little bit different. Twins aren’t really a genetic thing but when a fertilized egg splits and forms twins, there is an above ninety five percent chance that they will be born with Meta abilities. Something about that process seems to turn on whatever gene that makes a human a Metahuman.” She said.
“I still don’t get how my ability-” Darius said before Elizabeth started again.
“It means that a person shouldn’t be able to just take another’s ability the way you do. You can’t just scrub a person of their genetic code and-” She said until Darius interrupted.
“But I heard there have been people that could copy and turn off-” He said before Elizabeth cut him off and stood on her tip-toes and looked him in the eye.
“A person mimicking a ability is completely different from what you’re doing! And a person generating a field that disrupts another’s abilities is also completely different! Not to mention no one person has had both of those abilities and they were almost always temporary. But throw in the ability to swap powers… I need to study you!” Elizabeth said looking him over like a piece of meat.
“W-What? Wait a minute! Hold up!” Darius said.
“Uh yeah, This isn’t why we came here.” Mary said.
“You need help right?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah?” Darius said.
“I can help you.” Elizabeth said.
“What are you talking about Eliza?” Thomas asked.
“They need to feel safe, you guys are what? Staying in flimsy tents? I can set you up with something a bit better.” She said to them.
“Uh… Like?” Darius said.
“I’ll have you know I own property all of the city. I’ll give you a building on one condition.” She said.
“What is it?” Trevor asked.
“I get to study you.” She said pointing to Darius.
“What?” Darius asked.
“Peren-… Elizabeth helped a lot with understanding Metahuman Biology back in the 50’s. She helped John Kole develop the Kole Telepathy Scale!” Charity said enthusiastically.
“What can I say? It’s a bit of a hobby.” Elizabeth said.
“O-Okay… If I agree you will just… give us a building? What kind of building?” Darius asked.
“One that won’t fall over every time there is a strong gust of wind? You live in a tent! Stop being a picky little bitch.” She said to him.
“Elizabeth… What did I tell you about being mean to people?” Thomas asked sternly.
“… Not to be…” She said grumbling.
Darius looked over at Trevor, he nodded back. Mary smiled weakly and Charity was smiling as if it was her birthday and she just received a unicorn.
“Okay… I agree.” Darius said to her.
“Yes!” Charity said jumping up and down.
“Hold on, this still all depends on the Coroner’s report. I want you all to stay here till I can go over it.” Thomas said.
“Sure… But I’m worried about our friends at the Trading Post.” Darius said to him.
“I can arrange someone that is in the area to check in and stand guard till we are done here. Will that be alright?” He asked.
“Uh, Yeah! That would be great!” Darius said.
“Wow! You guys are actually going to help us?” Mary asked relieved.
“Well, to tell the truth, your Trading Post has helped us out a lot.” Thomas said.
“What do you mean?” Mary asked.
“The city is too big for the UHA alone to handle giving food rations out. You guys helped allow for a circulation of goods. Honestly, you guys probably helped avoid major riots when the shops closed.” He said to them all.
“About that… Uh, We heard the government is collapsing?” Darius asked.
“It was touch and go for a moment. A lot of the higher-ups in the government died during the Invasion. The line of succession was a bit murky for a while. I few people were claiming the presidency.” He said.
“But?” Darius asked for him to go on.
“The Alexandria branch helped settle things and hopefully everything will start getting back to normal soon.” Thomas said to them.
Darius looked at Trevor and locked eyes with them. This was a confirmation that money was still going to be worth something. They still had time before a real announcement was made and other people would start accepting cash so they needed to start as soon as possible. He made his way to Charity and took her aside.
“I need you to tell everyone else that we are now accepting cash for food, water and everything else. $100 per gallon and you can scale everything else to that.” He told her as Trevor walked up to them.
“What? Why are we… Oh…” She said realizing.
“Okay, got it.” She said as she disconnected a little and it became clear she was doing something at the other end.
“What are you guys talking about?” Mary asked joining the group.
“Nothing, we’re taking money now for trades. Don’t talk about it here though.” He told her.
“O-Okay.” She said.
“You guys are being really secretive over there.” Elizabeth said out.
“Just a business meeting. So… What kind of buildings do you have?” He asked as they turned back around.