Broken Hero

Chapter 7

“Blackout!” Vinyl screams as Volt finally cuffs her, sweat dripping down her forehead.

She stands up, wiping away the sweat. “I’m pretty sure she’s not coming to your rescue.”

Volt looks around at the surrounding scene. The four syndicate leaders were cuffed on the ground as Doc checked on each of the other heroes. She freezes up as she notices that Blackout is missing.

“Damn it, Eclipse. Where'd you go this time?” Warfalcon mumbles under his breath as she looks at him.

“Who’s Eclipse?” She furrows her brows in confusion as he jumps a bit.

He looks at her a bit sheepishly. “That’s Blackout’s real name. I didn’t realize you were listening.”

“Wait, do you know her civilian name?” She looks at him incredulously.

“Well, yeah... We grew up together.” He turned towards Doc before she could ask anything else. “Hey Doc, where did Blackout go?”

Doc looked confused as he looked towards where he had left her. “Gold Claw said she’d stay with her while I checked on the others.”

“Then maybe she took her home.” Warfalcon sighed with relief.

Vinyl started laughing behind them, “Wait, you mean that her ex was the last one seen with her? Serves her right for betraying us.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Volt spins on her heel, glaring at the woman.

Vinyl smirks as she looks between the two, “Oh? She didn’t tell you?” She snickers. “Blackout became a villain to get away from that bitch.”

“Why would she do that?” Warfalcon scoffs.

The woman rolls her eyes. “You don’t know? Figures, she did mention how you stopped caring about her.” Warfalcon glares at her as she continues. “Her ex had been abusing her behind your back for years. She got tired of putting up with it while you ignored her and decided to leave. How much do you want to bet she’ll come back to us again once that cycle repeats?”

She continues to laugh as the police drag her away. Volt looks up at Warfalcon, who looks like he’d been punched in the gut.

“Is that true? Could she be in danger?” Volt asks quietly, not wanting to push him over the edge but also feeling worried about Blackout.

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “I... I don’t know. To be honest, we had grown apart for a couple of years before she left. However, I always thought she’d come to me if something like that was happening.” He motioned for one of the other heroes and wrote something down on a paper before handing it to them. “Go to this address and see if you can find anything. I won't be far behind.”

Light warped around the young man, and he disappeared as Volt grabbed Warfalcon’s arm. “I want to go with you.”

“What? Why? You barely know her.” She looked away sheepishly as he put his hands on his hips. “Volt, what did you do?”

“I know you told me to stay away from her, but... I snuck over the river.” Warfalcon rubs his face with his hand as she tells him about her visits. “Well, it’s too late to do anything about that now. Let’s go.”

He sighs as he motions for her to follow him. They hurry down the street for what feels like forever before Warfalcon stops her in front of a two-story town house. Even from the sidewalk, they could hear laughter from several people inside. Warfalcon frowns as they get closer, raising his hand and knocking hard. The place quieted down immediately, and slow, deliberate steps approached the door. *

“Warfalcon? What are you doing here?” Lindsey opens the door and gives him a small, confused smile.

Warfalcon pushed past her into the house, barely glancing at the three men looking nervous on the couch. “Where is she, Lindsey?”

Volt follows him as Lindsey glares at her before turning towards him with a smile. “Eclipse? She's upstairs resting. I told you I was taking her home. Didn't you hear me?”

He ignores the question as he starts up the stairs with the two girls following close behind.

“Wait! I would let her rest. She only lay down a few minutes ago and...” Lindsey gets between him and the door.

He glares down at her, making her shrink away. “Then she can take it out on me. Now either move or I’ll move you.”

She gives a nervous laugh, “OK, fine... I’ll wake her up.”

She opens the door slowly, the light filling the bedroom. Eclipse didn’t stir as the light fell on her, sound asleep on the bed.

“Eclipse, wake up. Warfalcon came to check on you.” Lindsey enters the room, but Eclipse doesn’t move. “Eclipse... I said wake up.”

Lindsey starts to sound irritated now as she stands at the end of the bed with her hands on her hips. She opens her mouth to speak again, but Warfalcon brushes past her, shaking Eclipse’s shoulder.

“What did you do to her?” He spins towards Lindsey, furry in his eyes that causes Volt to take a step back.

Lindsey raises her hands in a defensive gesture as she also backs away from the furious man. “I... I didn’t...”

“Oh? Spectrum?” Warfalcon stops her as he looks towards the door.

Spectrum, the hero from earlier, appears in the doorway. “She drugged her, from what I heard, but I didn’t get the specifics. She had just come downstairs not long before you arrived and was bragging to the guys about it. Considering the conversation, I think there was more to it. But they never said anything outright.”

Warfalcon spins back around, and Volt thought he was about to murder Lindsey.

She grabs his arm. “Don’t! We don’t know what she did or if we can reverse it.”

“Listen to Volt. I’ve called the authorities, and they are arresting the men downstairs as we speak.” Spectrum agrees.

Warfalcon huffs, pulling his arm away and grabbing Lindsey. He cuffs her hands behind her back as she stays quiet, glaring at everyone.

“Take her downstairs to join the rest.” He pushes her towards Spectrum and walks back to the bed, picking Eclipse up. “Don’t tell her I carried her like this... she’ll murder me.”

Volt chuckled slightly, but it was hard to feel anything over the worry she felt for Eclipse.