'Gurgle'
She tries to hold her breath, but for how long can she hold it? The walls of the box force her into uncomfortable positions. It's wrapping around her and flowing in between her fingers. "This feels familiar," her thoughts try to make sense of the situation. She finally breaks; she can't hold her breath anymore. Nothing. She can breathe, but how? It finally dawns on her. Her face goes pale with fear.
The scene pans out. She is trapped in the timestream; her own timescape is now a prison. The mesmerising lights and white points are gone, snuffed out. Her hand starts to age rapidly. Not that she can see it, but she can feel the tingle in her fingers.
Somewhere in Eclipse City,
Seraph's majestic wings cut through the air as he rushes to the other side of the city. The mossy tendrils of the monster are now in view. "This is going to be messy." His flight speed increases as he prepares to engage.
"Who authorised you to engage?" Countdown appears behind one of the trainees.
A tendril sweeps through one of the buildings. "I got this." A giant arm grabs the tendril and snaps it off. "Guys, did you see that? This is ea—" Another mossy tendril smacks David down.
"Boom."
The monster screams in pain and starts to burn. Mark rises from the scene, covered in sap. His hands are covered in a violent blue flame. "You can turn it off now," he signals to one of his teammates. She waves her hands, and the fire on his fists disappears. Mark, still standing on the huge amalgamation of plants, looks at Countdown and grins.
"Just as cocky as his father." Countdown shifts his gaze to Seraph and the rest of the team.
"Crack."
"I better make this fast, or I will have a lot of paperwork to fill out." Concrete cracks as Valiant hops between skyscrapers, headed for the headquarters as fast as he can.
"You need to eat your veggies if you want to grow into a big strong girl."
"Mom." She stirs. Another memory of her childhood materialises, but this time it's fractured.
"Why am I seeing this? What is this place? Someone help me—anyone."
The darkness around her seemed to purposefully swallow her cries for help.
"Just in time." Valiant rushes through the doors of the HDF and into the containment room. The cube is placed in the middle of the room. A countdown begins, signalled by the flashing lights coming from the cube. "I'll let you handle the rest." He waves to a group of researchers on his way out.
"I thought I had it; it was down and out a few seconds ago." Mystica generates a huge bubble of psychic energy to protect the students from a massive vine tendril. "That's why you're still at the academy, kid," she scolds Mark. "You just made it mad."
"Okay team, let's show these noobs how it's done." Countdown zips in between the tendrils of the monster, drawing the beast's attention. It thrashes its tentacles at him, trying to swat him. "Okay, Siphon, you can do your thing now." Water spears pierce the tentacles, holding them down.
"Since the big man isn't here, I guess I'm going to have to deal the finishing blow. Argh… this is going to get my wings dirty." He flies high and begins his descent; a sonic boom parts the clouds. The giant plant suddenly stops moving, the tentacles going limp.
"What happened?" David is confused by the situation.
"You didn't see that?" Delis points at the creature as its top half slowly slides off and falls to the ground.
A huge thud is heard in the background. "Another one?" The dust clears, and Valiant jumps out. "Looks like I missed all the fun." He looks at the scene. "Well, not all of it." Countdown quickly points at the flood of paparazzi coming onto the scene. "Best of luck, big man." He quickly exits.
Valiant sighs. "Well, let's get this over with. And you—we need to talk." He says as he passes by Mark to face the media.
"Are these the new heroes who will be protecting the city? Is this the plan you have been hinting at—a second team?"
"Well, yes and no. We were making a second team, but these were not the cadets picked for it. It was just a rowdy bunch that slipped out." He forces a smile.
"So we are getting a second superhero team. Does that mean the HDF acknowledges that the number of rogues and renegades has gone up?"
"The second team has nothing to do with the recent spike in activities. They are here to make the job of keeping our people safe easier—more hands on the field and all that. As for the increase in activity, it's less of a trend and more of coordinated efforts. We still have the same number of incidents per capita."
"So what you're saying is that there might be a bigger person pulling the strings?"
He goes silent for a second. "I have no comment on that. It's likely just some small-time thugs thinking they can do better if they team up, but I think they're starting to see that it's not working."
"We should really stop throwing the big man under the bus every time." The main door of the HDF headquarters slides open.
"Well, he does love the spotlight, so we're just giving him what he wants." Countdown pats Seraph's shoulder. "Better go wash those wings, dove boy—you're messing up the floors."
The doors to the containment facility unlock, and Mystica walks in. "How is our prisoner doing?"
Silence.
A voice crackles through the comms. "Our what? We have no prisoner in the base at the moment."
"No prisoner?" She quickly rushes back into the main room.
"Man, I hate journalists," Valiant mutters as he enters the main area.
"Where did you put her?" Mystica asks him.
"What do you mean, where did I put her? In the containment room—where else?"
A technician walks out of the security room, breaking into a cold sweat. "Guys… you need to see this."