Our heroes arrived at The Fortress. Tyler was the first through the door, moving fast while the rest followed behind. Without stopping, he made his way straight to the sick bay.
When he entered, he saw Commander Layla standing beside Timothy. Next to them was Bethany, seated at the side of a bed.
On the bed sat Tomika — upright, smiling, alive.
Tyler slowed his steps, a wave of relief washing over his face. He glanced at Bethany, who returned his look with a soft smile.
Tomika spoke first, teasing him.
"Did you miss me that much, dummy?"
Tyler smiled. "I'll let the insult slide… just this one time."
She chuckled quietly. "I heard you were ready to kill someone because of me."
Tyler stepped closer. Tomika's tone softened.
"Brother… I never want to see you go down that road. I know it was for me, but please—don't do something you'll regret."
She placed her hands on his cheeks. Tyler leaned into her touch.
"I won't. I promise," he said.
He hugged her, then looked to Bethany and nodded for her to join. She stood, and the three embraced together.
"Sniff, sniff… what a young, happy family," Derick said.
Larry folded his arms, glancing at him. "Why so emotional? If you want a family, go start one."
"What? No! Why would I want a family at my age?" Derick shot back.
Larry shrugged. "What's wrong with starting a family now? I know tons of guys our age with kids, and they're fine. And if you're worried about finding someone—don't. You'll find your type. In fact, you can start looking in this room. We've got three women: one's with Tyler, another's way out of your league, and the last…" Larry turned toward Layla. "The Commander. She's single—go for her."
The ever-composed Timothy suddenly burst out laughing.
"Pfft—hahahaha!"
Everyone stared at him.
"Sorry, sorry," Timothy said between coughs. "Layla—like Layla Bremm—getting into a relationship? Marrying? No way. I can't even picture it."
"Oookay," Larry muttered. "Guess Derick will have to look elsewhere."
Layla finally spoke, her tone sharp. "I let you all have your little reunion, and that was nice. But then you start weird conversations—and involve me? And you—" she pointed at Timothy, arms folded, "—I've been in a relationship before. Get that into your head."
Timothy smirked. "When was that? Let me guess… you were six—"
"Enough about me," Layla cut him off.
Meanwhile, Rudy was scanning the room. "Hey, seen Jakson anywhere?" he asked Sage.
"No. But I saw him not long ago. If he'd left the building, we'd know. He should still be here," Sage replied.
"You're right," Rudy said. "He's still around."
A moment later, Jakson walked in—holding a bouquet of red roses.
Everyone turned to watch as he went straight to Tomika's bed and handed her the flowers. She looked flustered but took them gently.
"It's good to have you back, Miss Tomika," Jakson said with a calm smile.
"Th-thank you," she stammered.
The room stayed silent for a moment before Larry broke it.
"Let's all just pretend the weirdest, most awkward thing we've seen today didn't happen."
"What's awkward about what I did?" Jakson asked.
"Nothing, nothing… you were just being a gentleman," Larry replied.
Jakson walked over to Rudy as everyone kept watching him. Slowly, the atmosphere in the room began to shift.
Rudy leaned toward Jakson. "Was wondering where you ran off to… but you come back with flowers? Where'd you even get those?"
"Oh, the flowers?" Jakson shrugged. "Remember that show that sets people up on dates through phone calls?"
"Yeah, I remember. The Maddinton Show, right?" Rudy replied.
"That's the one. I had a date lined up, totally forgot about it. I bought flowers for the lady, but since I never showed… I figured I'd give them to the lady who just recovered instead."
Rudy smirked. "That's actually nice of you."
On the other side of the room, Bethany leaned toward Tomika as soon as Tyler stepped away.
"Hey, cutie. Flustered much?" she teased with a sly smile.
"I'm not flustered, I'm just… surprised," Tomika said, gripping the bouquet and staring down at it.
"Surprised, huh? Want me to have Tyler put in a good word with Jakson? Who knows, he might be into it."
"Into what?" Tomika asked quickly.
"Into whatever's going through your head right now," Beth said, grinning.
Layla, who'd been silently watching, turned to Timothy. "I miss girl talks."
Timothy glanced at her, then at the two women, then back. "I still can't picture you doing that kind of thing."
Layla frowned. "You talk like you've known me my whole life. We met ten years ago, Timothy. You have no idea what I was like before then."
Timothy held up both hands. "Alright, alright. I'll drop it."
Raymond approached and cleared his throat. "Glad you two are enjoying yourselves, but… don't you have something to tell everyone?"
"That's right. Should we say it here?" Timothy asked.
"Why not? You have the floor," Layla replied.
Timothy stepped forward, calling out to the group. "Alright, everyone. Time to be serious." The chatter died down as all eyes turned to him.
"When I left earlier, I went to report the ambush to Layla. She was just as shocked about how Scythe knew our identities. So she called the head branch in Starc City to get info on him. Here's the thing—Scythe has never been in their villain prison. Not once.
"So in his case, it's either he's got someone working for him inside the Hero Association… or he's been hired by someone with ties to the world government."
Max raised a hand. "Wait—you're telling me they have a prison for villains? Why don't we have one?"
Derick nodded. "Yeah, and speaking of, Sage—what did you do with Sultan's allies?"
"They're fine," Sage replied. "I've kept them in an endless slumber inside one of my mystic portals."
"Good," Derick said, satisfied.
Raymond lifted a finger. "The part that stands out is what you said—Scythe having allies in the Hero Association or ties to the government."
"Exactly," Timothy said. "Scythe's always been an on-and-off villain. Shows up when he feels like it. Now he's in Ultra City—a place he has no connections to. Someone's paying him to stir up trouble."
Jakson exhaled sharply. "So… bottom line? We catch the bastard alive for questioning."
"That's the job," Timothy confirmed.
"Alright then," Rudy said, locking eyes with Jakson. "We hunt down Scythe."
The two bumped fists.
The group was still talking when a voice cut through the room:
"No need to hunt. I'm here myself."
A figure stepped into the doorway.