Second Wind

Chapter 11: Detached

With the vigilante trapped here for the time being, she knew that the best course of action was to just play along and imitate what the other mobsters were doing - some were minding their own business, talking to one another, but some were also actively keeping watch of the ones in the hazmat suits, and when she noticed an unsupervised table, she quickly walked up to it in an attempt to copy what the other goons in active duty were doing. She just had to make sure that the ones in suits were actually hard at work and not horsing around. Thankfully, the person that she was supposed to watch over did not look like they were slacking off - instead, they looked to be heating something up with a Bunsen burner, with that something being a mixture of some unknown powders and liquids.

She was not some drug expert, sure, but she could not help but feel like she already knew what was going on here. It did not help that the fumes generated from heating the mixture possessed an ungodly smell - enough to make the vigilante flinch for a brief moment, in fact. At that moment, she already knew what they were cooking here now. It was indisputable.

They were cooking crystal meth here.

The fact that she was basically surrounded by it did make her feel rather nauseous as well - the smell was bound to be overpowering, which probably explains the hazmat suits and the masks that came with them. The masks that were being worn by the mobsters can only provide them so much protection against the fumes...she needed to find a way to get out of this rather sticky situation. However, seeing how she was literally in one of the spots where the drugs were being manufactured...she found herself with another slim, yet clearly possible opportunity for her to take everything down from within. The likelihood of her pulling it off with some degree of success was low due to how the odds were stacked against her, but it is very much possible...in theory, anyway.

The problem was that she needed to make sure that her identity was not exposed...for that, everyone in this building needed to perish so that no one could alert the rest of the Pathfinder of her presence. She needed to think of a plan...a complex one, so that she could cover up any loose ends, and more importantly, get out alive to see herself live another day. The building itself is rather small on the inside, and it did not look like there were any other rooms accessible other than this hall itself - sure, there was a door on the western end of the building, integrated into the middle of the wall, but who knew what was inside. Maybe the others would know, but certainly not the vigilante herself. She will probably find out in due time...but for now, she had other pressing matters to deal with.

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Blake ended up spending a few hours inside the church, and from all the fumes that she inhaled while within the premises, it was safe to assume that she was a bit on the slow lane mentally. It was getting harder for her to concentrate on what she was 'tasked' to do, and while it was rather strange that everyone else was seemingly unaffected by the secondhand methamphetamine smoke, she did not really have the capacity to think of why that was the case. Sure, while her brain, heart, lungs and blood were artificial, everything else about her was as organic as it could get, which probably explains her current state of disorientation. However, despite her need to collapse down to the ground in order for her to get her bearings, she forced herself to remain standing, knowing that she should not draw any attention towards her in such a hostile environment.

She was experiencing moments of double-vision as well, but other than the momentary visual vulnerabilities that she would experience from time to time, she was still...well, fine. However, she knew that her current situation will only get worse if she continues to remain within the building, and because of this, she quickly shifted her attention towards the church door, gritting her teeth as she tried to pull herself together. It seemed like nothing else mattered to her at this point - she was just desperate for some fresh air. With her mind pretty much fixated on the outside world, she began making her way towards the door, her movement very shaky. After what felt like an eternity of walking past the work tables and personnel that were all around her, she finally made it to the door. Finally, some freedom from those horrid fumes and its terrible ramifications...

...or so she thought.

When she grabbed onto the door handle, she suddenly felt an overwhelming pain at the back of her head as her entire body seized up in response to the pain, and before she could even realize what had just happened, she fell backward and collapsed onto the floor as she felt her strength leave her in the blink of an eye, her sight growing blurry in an instant before she passed out on the spot, her vision going completely black in the process. Behind the vigilante's limp body was a woman who wore a gas mask, army green tank top along with a pair of grey sweatpants. She towered over the unconscious Blake as she stared down at her - it is also revealed that she was holding a lead pipe in her hands with its end covered in blood which dripped off the pipe and onto the floor. This meant that the woman was the one who had struck her down in her moment of weakness, implying that Blake had been exposed.

Now comes the question: how did she figure it out?

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"Wake up...wake up...WAKE UP!"

All of a sudden, Blake was forced awake by a stream that water that went down on her face - although she was still very dizzy and intensely disoriented after taking the hit to the head, she was, nevertheless, awake. However, she found herself having great difficulty in breathing due to the cloth that covered her entire head, especially after the water had hit her face.

She was being waterboarded.

She struggled in place, finding herself completely unable to break herself free. Her hands and legs were bound up, and when she realized this, she struggled even harder, hoping to get herself out of this less than pleasing situation. However, the only thing she got out of her struggles was another stream of water, and when she felt it hit her face, she found herself momentarily unable to breathe as she began gasping for air, feeling a sense of panic overwhelm her for a split second amidst the chaos. Knowing that attempting to get herself unrestrained was not an option, she forced herself to remain still as she finally managed to get at least some air in, allowing her to relax herself just a little. She was still huffing and puffing, however, further displaying her far from optimal state.

It was at this moment where she heard a voice talking to her - the voice of the woman who took her down amidst her moment of weakness. She possessed a rather gruff voice, and although the vigilante could not see how she looked like, she knew that she was going to be a threat that should not be taken lightly.

"Okay, buddy...I have to commend you for blending yourself in for so long...but the jig is up, I'm afraid. If you want to live, you better answer my questions quickly. Otherwise, you're gonna be sent back home in multiple bags. I'm gonna take the cloth off your face now, and when I do that, you are not going to scream, you're not going to fight back, and you're not gonna try and act like a hero. If you even try to pull that off, I'll just shoot you dead. Then send you home in bags. You got that?"

Blake could only nod in agreement to her words, and when the woman got her confirmation, she snapped her fingers, signaling towards one of her men to get the cloth off her. They followed her orders, and when they got the cloth off her face, Blake could finally see what was going on around her. The surge of air which assaulted her nose and lungs did catch her by surprise, however, as the vigilante forcibly pulled herself up into a seating position whilst letting out a rather pained gasp, displaying the consequences of her momentary asphyxiation. Her erratic movement also meant that her hood flipped forward, going over her head and masking her face once more. Once she finally managed to regain at least enough consciousness for her to process what is happening around her, she begins looking around while the woman blankly stares at her from a distance with a deathly gaze.

She looked to be in a rather small room, surrounded by a slew of masked gangsters, all of them armed with melee weapons and firearms. When she glanced downward, she noticed that she was resting on a bench - one of the church benches, in fact. Right in front of her is the woman that knocked her out - this time, however, she had the gas mask off, revealing her face. She possessed brown hair which was left free along with emerald green eyes. She had a few cut marks on her cheeks, lips and the sides of her eyes while also having slight burn marks on her fingers. She looked way more muscular compared to the mobsters that surrounded her, which gave her a rather intimidating display overall. The woman was leaning against a door, and next to her was a small table that had her gas mask, a pair of gloves, and a lion mask. There was also something there as well in the mix - a bag of methamphetamines.

While Blake was trying to process everything around her, the woman began walking up to her, cracking her knuckles before suddenly grabbing the vigilante by the throat, momentarily stunning her in the process as Blake's fingers gripped on the restraints that were on her wrists. She gritted her teeth, staring at her whilst the woman began her interrogation session.

"Okay. First question. Who the hell are you?"

Even in the face of seemingly certain death, she sure was not keen on breaking down, despite her initial compliance from earlier.

"Tch...g-go f-f**k yourself..."

It was safe to say that the woman has a short temper, as Blake was immediately met with violence from her as she was punched square in the face, causing the vigilante to collapse back down onto the bench, her hood falling off her head in the process. This meant that the woman could finally see who she was under the hood, and when she took one good look at her face, her eyes widened as she took a step back out of surprise - she was clearly stunned by what she was seeing. Stunned enough for her to begin voicing out what she was currently feeling, actually.

"What the...how are you..."

The vigilante was able to deal with the pain she had sustained from the punch to the face as she slowly returned back to her sitting position. She was bleeding from her nose and lower lip, but it did not look fatal, at least. Blake also had a rather dazed expression on her face as well - another consequence from the woman's rage-induced strike. Upon seeing the stunned look that she had, she cracked a smile before letting out a small chuckle before speaking up.

"You look like you've...seen a ghost...hehe..."

"...you're not supposed to be here. Hell, you're not supposed to be alive! Who the hell are you?!"

Out of sheer frustration, she quickly drew her firearm, which was revealed to be a silenced pistol as she aimed it right at her, not wanting to play around at this point as she stared down at the vigilante, only to be met with further ridicule from Blake as she attempted to taunt her for what she had discovered.

"Ugh...you know, I was hoping that I could continue keeping my identity a secret from start to finish...but it seems like that's a task that's too difficult, even for me..."

"...we saw everything. How you bled to death on the street. How the boss shot bullets right at you. And yet...you're here..."

"Maybe it's got something to do...with the fumes you got over there, ehehe...something to think about..."

"...you're here to stop us, aren't you? You think you can tear down the Pathfinder by yourself, huh?"

"Bingo...and even if you kill me over and over again...I'll always come back to mess you guys up...until there's no sign of you parasites left on this damn city."

"...that's what you think."

The woman, with great reluctance, then proceeded to bring her weapon down, implying that she was not going to shoot Blake down on the spot. However, what she had in mind was probably a lot worse. She walked up to the table next to the door, staring at the things which were scattered on it before momentarily glancing over at the vigilante, cracking a vicious smile at her as she placed one of her hands on the bag of meth.

"Tell me, buddy...you ever wanted to experience a high?"

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Everything was not right. Every color of the spectrum assaulted her vision. She was hearing things that sounded almost...unreal. Supernatural, in fact. Double-vision was prevalent - it was hard to tell what was real and what was merely an illusion. There was this headache which repeatedly hammered her head...in fact, it felt like more of a migraine if anything. Everything around her looked like it was moving rapidly and erratically - nothing remained still. A rather nauseating display, really. If that was not bad enough, there were also the auditory hallucinations as well - she was hearing things ranging from low hums to deafeningly high-pitched screeches. To say that she was disoriented would be an understatement.

She was tripping out of her mind.

She had no idea where she was - she felt chained, and yet, at the same time, she felt like she was flying. She felt like she was faster than light, and somehow, she also felt like she was trapped in place, only able to move at a snail's pace. Her senses were overwhelmed, violently attacked. Amidst all the madness, she could finally hear a voice that actually sounded cogent and grounded in some form of reality - however, that voice came from the woman who interrogated her in the first place.

"How do you feel? Do you feel like you don't know what is happening? Do you feel like you're floating?"

"The...fuck...what...did you...ugh..."

She did not even know where she was - was she even alive? No, she could feel her fingers touching one another...unless this was just an illusion. It was hard for her to tell, honestly. She could not find the woman that was talking to her as well, despite how loud her voice was. Her voice was constantly resonating in echoes, reverberating within her ears. She frantically looked all around her, desperately trying to figure out where she might possibly be while the woman's voice kept messing with her already damaged psyche via her repeated taunts and menacing quips.

"Come on, why do you have to panic so much? People LOVE this stuff! Let me tell ya, the things I've done to perfect this...it's like your standard methamphetamine, but think of every stimulant imaginable in it! Just one huff will send you on a journey of a lifetime! Surely that's how you feel, no?"

"Guh...ugh..."

"Then again, it might be too much for first timers. You strike me as someone who hasn't really gotten much experience with drugs in general. If that's the case, then damn, you must be going through hell right now."

"You think...?!"

Unable to keep herself standing, she fell down to the ground...well, it was hard to tell if she fell on anything in the first place, given how it looked like she was surrounded by nothing but colors and noises, which even included the 'floor' that she was standing on. She stared down into the endless swirl of colors underneath her body before noticing outlines beginning to develop in front of her visions - it sounded like the auditory assault on her ears were beginning to die down a bit as well. While she desperately tried to get a grip, she closes her eyes amidst the madness so that she could at least try to be alone with her thoughts. As soon as she closed her eyes, she soon heard another voice, with the voice sounding distinct enough for the vigilante to separate it from the continuous ringing that kept disorienting her. She felt like a helpless child, unable to do anything due to the lack of control on her end. All she could do now was just listen to the voice that called out to Blake.

"Free yourself from what binds you...unleash the rage within you."

"The fuck...rage...what rage...?!"

"Rid yourself of your delusions. They are not real. Let your fury guide you..."

"I don't have...time for your fuckin' philosophy class, dammit...! Who is even talking to me...?!"

"Oh, you don't know it yet...but you soon will. In due time."

"Grrr...!"

The vigilante was suddenly overwhelmed by a sudden burst of emotion - it was a feeling that felt almost...suppressed in nature, but it gave her such an unimaginable high now that it had been unleashed - a high more potent than any drug in the world could possibly provide. The hallucinations began to die down at a considerable rate as she opened her eyes, with the ringing and droning quieting itself down to a much more manageable state. The visual chaos was greatly toned down as well, with the colors being reduced to something more greyscale. The swirling and contorting that she was witnessing had calmed down as well, finally allowing the vigilante with at least some vision. She found herself in an open field, but as to where she really was location-wise, she did not know for sure. She was laying on grass, with her hands and legs still bound up. She could see someone in front of her, and when she squinted her eyes so that she could focus her vision, she could see that it was the woman, who was leaning against the tree and watching Blake struggle in place with a gleeful look on her face.

When the woman noticed her calming down after she watched her struggle and convulse in place like a lunatic, she raised an eyebrow as she began to pull something out of her pocket, which was revealed to be another bag of methamphetamines. The vigilante was able to notice this due to effects of the drug wearing down, but due to all the struggling that she did earlier, she found herself just too fatigued to even move any longer. All she could do now was just stomach the watered down side effects that she was still experiencing while the woman walked up to Blake, coming to a stop once she stood before her as she crouched down so that she could speak with her at a close distance.

"Damn, it wore off so quickly, huh? Then again, it is a new experimental thing that we've been trying to cook up for weeks now, so I guess the effects will be short-lived. But damn, you definitely want more of this, don't ya?"

The vigilante did not give her a response - instead, she merely stared up at her with a tired, yet clearly anger-induced glare as she let out a huff, displaying her infuriation involving this situation. It was something that made the woman laugh as she opened up the bag, taking one good look at the drugs in her hand before speaking up, with her voice sounding like she was trying to give her some parting words. Her voice was filled with twisted enjoyment, to say the least.

She was going to forcibly make her overdose.

"You know...at least you aren't alone on this one. It's so easy to die this way - writhing in suffering, realizing that you could've stopped yourself if you had some form of restraint. But nope...you just desperately wanted some instant gratification, even if it kills you in the long run. I don't know how you came back, but you're definitely not gonna come back now."

At that moment, the woman grabbed Blake by the hair, forcibly pulling her head up as she shoved the bag right up her nose and mouth - due to the constant panting caused by her fatigue, she ended up basically huffing the bag's contents as she felt her vision grow blurry again as the auditory hallucinations began to return back to its unbearable, former variant. As the vigilante started to violently convulse in place again, the woman stood herself upright once more before turning away from her, planning on letting Blake die on the field on her own, but after taking a few steps away from her, she glances over to the side before uttering these words:

"Good riddance, whore."

And just like that, something snapped inside Blake - the hallucinations halted in a split second, and nothing but a calming silence could be heard all around her. She stopped convulsing in place, and her eyes began to dilate. Whatever expression she had before, it was wiped off her face. The huffing and puffing had ceased, making her completely quiet in the process. The woman, believing that she had died, merely let out a scoff before looking back ahead of her and moving on.

This was it. This was the part where she just lost herself. Whatever rationality she had before...it was gone.

She was now seeing red.