Chapter Thirty-Three

Travis stared across the desk at his probation officer while she leafed through his file; she made the occasional tsk as she jotted down things in an indecipherable script. As the seconds ticked away on the old-school clock on the wall, the pit of anxiety and dread in his stomach grew larger. 

Ten minutes had passed, allowing his mind to conjure up worst-case scenarios, such as his death in juvenile prison or having to kill someone and never seeing Josh again.

He jumped when she finally spoke.

"It seems you've kept out of trouble since our last visit. Your parents told me you've been on your best behavior, aside from talking back to them a few times. How are your classes going?"

"Well. Josh, the Squad, and I usually do our homework together so we can help each other out (not that I need help). I've continued doing community service after school; I have my timesheets if you'd like to see them?"

He reached into his messenger bag for them, but she waved him off. "That won't be necessary. By all accounts, you've done well, so I'll recommend the judge add more hours of community service to your sentence instead of sending you to juvy. Keep up the good work, and I'll check in with you in a few weeks to see how you're doing."  

With that, she dismissed him, and his father drove him to school. He'd missed the first two periods, but Josh told him he could borrow his notes. The day was uneventful, and with Labor Day Weekend upon them, they rushed home, did their homework in record time, and chillaxed in the pool, spooning each other.

"You doing anything Monday?" Josh said, nuzzling Travis's neck.

Travis sighed. "I have to go to the cabin for tests this weekend and won't be back till Monday afternoon."

Josh pulled away from him with a hurt look. "But I thought we were going to spend all weekend together?"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he said, pulling Josh close and kissing his neck. 

Josh pouted. "Promise you'll sneak away to see me when you can?" 

"Of course, mein Lieber." 

They stayed in the pool until it got too cold for them. Then they gamed until Travis's parents called and said he had to come home. They kissed goodbye, and Travis Popped home.

***

Yawning as Jenny took his vitals, Travis wanted to get the tests done.

"Left or right arm?" Jenny asked as she prepared to draw several blood samples. Out of habit, he flung his left arm out, inadvertently unleashing a telekinetic blast, causing her to fall.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that," he shouted as he helped her up. Dusting herself off and gathering her equipment, she said she had a bit of a sore ass but would be fine. She drew his blood. Then she told him Agent Anderson wanted to speak with him in private. Shrugging, he went to see Agent Anderson, who was in the study going over a stack of files when he entered.

"Hey!" Agent Anderson said as he rushed to hide the files. "How's it hanging?"

"Cut the crap and tell me why you wanted this meeting."

He frowned. "Has anyone ever told you how much of a dick you can be?"

"Get to the point, Mr. Anderson."

"Hey now. Mr. Anderson's my father. Call me Tommy. Anyway, you know how your abilities have been growing? Well, my boss's boss predicted this as well and has given an extraction team the green light to capture you by any means necessary."

Travis shook with fear. "I thought you'd been feeding them false data?"

"I have, but they're on to me."

"Why do they want me so bad anyway?"

"Because you're Subject Prometheus, the holy grail of Metahumans. You were the first and, thus far, most powerful subject the DMRC has ever encountered. Thus, they've made your recapture their top priority." 

"Subject Prometheus?" Travis mumbled. He had a flash of memory; he was two or three and had wandered away from his parents and into an alley where the men from his dreams offered him a Three Musketeers candy bar. He smelled gas. Then only pain as they set him ablaze.

Agent Anderson shook him. "Travis, are you listening to me? After experimenting on you for several years, you escaped, killing many in the process. No one save for Dr. Hu and the few others who survived Day Zero knows exactly what happened."

Putting aside that he had no memories of these events, he said, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"So you're prepared to do what's right when the time comes. If you fight them, people you care about are going to get hurt."

Rage welled up, threatening to pop the lock on its box in his mind. "In other words, you want me to go gently into that good night. I don't think so!"

   Agent Anderson grabbed Travis's shoulder, shaking him. "This isn't about your fucking ego. Think of Jenny. Think of Josh."

Travis fought back the urge to roast him alive. "With all due respect, keep their names out your mouth, or we're going to have a problem."

"Hey, if they get hurt, it's on you."

Travis didn't bother replying. He Popped outside and trained harder than ever, only stopping when he passed out. He vowed to do so the next day and the next so he'd be ready for the DMRC. He didn't care what happened to him. But if anyone hurt Jenny or Josh, no force in the universe would stop him from tearing them apart.

***

Travis was curled up in bed, spooning Josh, as they enjoyed the last minutes of Sunday night together. It'd taken more effort than he'd expected to Pop to Josh's house from Dr. Hu's cabin, and he didn't feel like making the return trip, so he texted Jenny to let her know he was at Josh's, and she needn't get up early to drive him home. He spent the morning at Josh's, too, before Popping home to feast on leftover grilled hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers.

 Between school, community service, homework, and training, Travis was asleep most days as soon as he crawled into bed with Josh. He slept so soundly that Josh had to dump cold water on him to wake him up, and they had a few close calls where Josh's mother or father had almost walked in on them, prompting Travis to set multiple alarms on his phone. 

By Friday, they'd fallen into a rhythm: Travis would sleep with Josh, get up at 5:00 AM, train till 6:30 AM, be home by 7:00 AM, shower, and have breakfast. Then he was off to school. And after homework and community service, he and Josh would chill. He then went home until his parents went to bed, trained again, and slept at Josh's. 

Their system was foolproof but not Josh-proof. 

The night before his birthday, Travis and Josh were in bed, enjoying a bit of mutual masturbation.

 "Mmm, that's nice," Travis began, "but stop for a second."

Josh whimpered. "Babe, you tryna give me blue balls?"  

 "Well," Travis said between kisses, "I thought we could try something new."

    Travis pulled Josh into his lap, kissing him full on the lips. An explosion of sensations washed over him as he worked his way down Josh's neck, moaning as he struggled to control his powers.

So many new feelings, all happening at once, overwhelmed him as he rolled Josh onto his back.

"What are you--oh!" He caught on and ground himself into Travis. "God, this feels so . . ." He trailed off in a moan. 

As Travis edged closer to the precipice, doubt and fear crept into his mind.  Am I doing this right? Does Josh like it? Does he like me, or does he think I'm a pervert, a sex fiend? 

"OH, GOD!" he scream-moaned. How Travis managed to not explode anything when he climaxed, he credited to a combination of his training and luck. 

Afterward, as Josh handed him tissues to clean up, Travis looked at him sheepishly while fumbling to get his underwear dry. "How'd you like that?" he said, in what he hoped was a debonair tone.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to do it again, like right now. Ha."

Josh liked it?

"But next time, I should be on top. No offense, but ya damn near crushed me."

All the energy went out of Travis, and the post-coital bliss he had been experiencing was gone. In its place was only rage. He didn't bother finishing getting dressed. Without a word, he Popped home.

How could I have been so stupid to think he liked me? I'm a freak, and that's all I'll ever be. I've been such a fool. I've broken all my rules. And for what? I should have never let him in. I shared something precious with him, bared my soul, and he thinks it was a joke?

Objects in his room levitated and whirled around as the storm inside Travis spiraled out of control.

"Travis, calm down. You're better than this," Oblivion said.

Shut up! You don't know how much this hurts.

"On the contrary, I know what it means to be betrayed by those closest to you. But I've come to remind you of your rules. What was it again? Rule three: crying solves nothing. Rule four--"

 Rule Four: All attachments are pointless. I should have never gotten involved with Joshua-fucking-Giovanni. 

"Yes. Now use those emotions for good. Go to that lake you like and train."

Over Prometheus's objections, Travis listened to Oblivion.

 He dressed, then Popped to Harrison Lake. 

***

The regular fishers were nowhere in sight, which suited him fine as he took out his hurt and frustration on the trees. He hammered his fists into their trunks, leaving softball-sized dents, but that wasn't enough for him. He ripped them from their roots, set them ablaze, and watched them turn to dust. Yet this did nothing to abate his anger.

Oblivion whispered to him, "Stop holding back. Let it all out." 

And he did.

The ground quaked and broke apart as power poured from him. Hopping into the lake, he vaporized the water with the intensity of the bluish-white flame that rushed from him. The wind moaned into his ears, whipping around him until it formed a tornado that sucked up the remaining water in the lake. 

Travis didn't care about getting in trouble, didn't care about giving the DMRC an excuse to move up their timetable for capturing him, didn't care about the physical pain he was in. His emotional pain outweighed all that.

"Yes, that's it. You were born for this. You are my vessel, destined to bring on The End of Everything. Josh and everyone else are but worms beneath your feet, not worthy to lick the excrement from betwixt your buttocks. Long have I waited for this day. You are the one I've--"

"Travis, stop this," Josh said.

 "What are you doing here?" he shouted over the wind and the roar of the thunder in his ears.

"You looked hella mad so . . . I knew you'd come here."

"How do you know that?"

Josh looked away. "You told me."

"I didn't. So how do you know I come here when I'm uber angry?"

Josh faltered, stumbling over his words before saying, "I've been watching you for months."

Bile rose in Travis's throat. "Before or after we started hanging out?"

Josh didn't reply.

"It was before?!" Travis shouted.

He nodded.

Travis's emotions swirled inside him, repulsion and betrayal warring for control of him. "You've been stalking me!" 

"Travis, please? Let me explain."

"Shut up!" Travis formed a fireball and aimed it at Josh while Oblivion laughed, egging him on.

  A wave of nausea wracked him at the thought Josh had been lying to him this whole time. Was he a joke to him? A bet? It didn't matter. They were done.

"Please, babe. I give me a chance to--" 

"I said shut up." The fireball in his hand grew in size and intensity, casting the area in a white glow. 

"Don't listen to him. He will only hurt you again. You opened your heart to him, and he betrayed you. He deserves to be punished."

Prometheus cut off Oblivion. "Don't listen to him, kid. I know you're pissed. But icing Josh would be the dumbest thing you could do."

He ignored Prometheus and focused on Josh. How could he have been so stupid? Was he a real person to Josh or just his creepy obsession?

"Babe, stop, please! I love you." 

At Josh's words, Travis's emotions slipped from their reins, and his powers went crazy in an eruption of black light. At the back of his mind, he heard chains breaking and the screech of the blackbird.

***

In the next instance, he was reliving the moments leading up to the men setting him on fire. Only this time when the match ignited him, the memory continued, and he watched as Prometheus took control of their body and tore the men apart, drawing the attention of soldiers. A protracted fight ensued in which they were shot, the sting of the bullets hot and throbbing. Eventually, the soldiers captured them and took them to a holding facility where the DMRC began their experiments.

 Every step of the way, they used the promise of his going home to his parents to win his compliance, even going so far as to bring his mother into the lab. But they never let him go until he broke free.

The memories came in a jumble of faces and sensory information and emotions, but he made out a younger Dr. Hu and a giant spider. The latter, Prometheus rode as they laid waste to the lab. But their freedom was short-lived, for soldiers doused them with a purple liquid that burned them like nothing he'd ever experienced. Catatonic from the pain, he almost missed Prometheus receding into the depths of their mind.

***

When Travis exited the black ball of light, he knew three things: the true origins of his burns, everything that happened to him and the powers that came along with those lost memories, and that his parents didn't care about him.

He Popped home, ignoring Josh's calls for him to wait.   

His parents had sown the sparks, and now they'd reap the inferno.

 

Author's Note: What a wild ride that was. Next time, Travis confronts his parents and faces off against DMRC agents.

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