Chapter 17: Old Friends

Kira had a splitting headache.
She had been putting Quantum Collapse through another series of tests when she noticed his smile waver. She thought the experiment might be having an effect until he smirked at her and said "Well, I think it's time for me to go."
Then he'd broken containment like walking through tissue paper and laid waste to the lab, quite literally bringing everything crashing down on Kira's head.
When Kira awoke, the first thing she noticed was her headache, then she opened her eyes and took a look around, noting that nearly everything was on fire. Then she found a steel girder over her midsection that was preventing her from turning herself over. Only then did she notice that she couldn't feel her legs.
Kira tried to pull herself out from under the girder several times before she noticed that someone else was in the room. Out from the smoke came a creature of blackness that stared at her with wide eyes and a nervous posture.
"Paradox." Kira said, scoffing; "Maybe I should have expected you to be here."
Paradox said nothing. He just stared at her with childlike eyes, apparently unsure what to do.
"What?" Kira said; "Have you come to gloat? Or maybe you came to kill me. Don't be shy! Maybe you can finish me before the girder does."
Paradox didn't move. He sat stock still for a solid few moments, just staring at Kira.
Kira got angry, even though she wasn't sure why. "What are you waiting for? Why are you here? Just kill me already and all your problems will be solved! There won't be anybody coming after you or getting in the way of you tending your precious garden! Just get it over with already!"
Paradox stood for another few seconds before shaking his head, putting his paws forward, and closing his eyes. Kira closed her eyes too, waiting for the blow that would kill her. Then, to her surprise, she felt a weight lift from her abdomen. Kira opened here eyes again and looked back, seeing the girder that had been pinning her down enveloped in green light. In a second, it was flipped up into the air and leaned against a nearby pile of rubble. Kira began to crawl forward on her hands a bit before she found herself being scooped up into Paradox's arms.
"What are you doing?" Kira yelled.
Paradox struggled a little under Kira's weight. "People dying... isn't good... for anyone." He puffed out.
Kira could think of several instances off the top of her head, including this one, where that was flat-out untrue. Instead of pointing that out, however, she put an arm around Paradox's neck for support and clamped her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to look at this idiot.
Soon enough, Paradox found some emergency paramedics that were running onto the scene and handed Kira off to them.
"Take care of her." he said. "I need to be somewhere else." Then he took off down the hallways. Kira was left lying on a gurney, being given a checkup by one of the medics, and she couldn't help but think that he was probably going to find Quantum Collapse.
After a few tests, Kira couldn't stand it anymore. She sat up, looked her handler in the eyes, and said "Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, duchess..." the medic said nervously.
"Good." Kira said. "I need you to get me a wheelchair or something and bring me to the control room, STAT."
"I... I don't think that's advisable. You may have sustained damage to-"
"Not an option." Kira said adamantly. "It's a matter of life and death; and not just for this facility. I can take your tests after I'm done saving lives."
The paramedic clamped his mouth shut and waved over his superior. Kira didn't have much trouble convincing him, either, and soon enough she was being pushed down the halls in a wheelchair, trying to get the medic to speed up.
Kira finally entered the control room, which was a collection of security screens showing camera feeds, as well as a few wide control panels that regulated everything from lockdown protocols to temperature control throughout the building. Kira took a loot at the central screen, which showed a 3D blueprint of the building. Red flashing areas indicated a growing trail of destruction from lab one to somewhere in the northeastern sector of the structure. Good; Quantum Collapse hadn't exited the building yet. Then, Kira searched the security feeds for Paradox. Soon she found his silhouette moving up the central northern passage.
Kira picked up the intercom mic and dialed in on Paradox's room so only he could hear. "Hello? Paradox! Quantum Collapse is heading east of your position; that's a right at the next intersection."
Paradox stopped for a moment, evidently in surprise, but soon resumed his course as Kira had directed.
"I have a sort of plan." Kira said as she adjusted the intercom to Paradox's new room. "The labs and storage areas here are rigged up with forcefield generators. I probably won't be able to stop him completely with them, But if I divert some power I might be able to slow him down."
"Okay." Paradox said. "Then what do we do to stop him?"
"That's the big, blurry part of my plan." Kira said "But the only sort of weapon that we have on hand that can even fight him is you. I'm going to stall him in lab five. You need to be there before he breaks the forcefield and subdue him somehow."
"You know that I'm gonna have to destroy him, Kira." Paradox said. "You won't have anything left to study."
"I think I can accept that now." Kira said. Then, in a more reverent tone, she said; "I- I'm sorry."
Paradox didn't ask for what, nor did he say whether he accepted. After a few seconds, he asked, "Do you have any idea what I can do to destroy him? He's beaten me the last two times I tried."
"I might have an idea." Said a familiar voice from the back of the room. Kira looked back, not daring to believe it, but there in the doorway was Professor Forban.
"Permission to enter the control room, Duchess?" Forban asked.
"Permission granted." Kira said.