I Don't Want To Be A Hero

Chapter 6 The Lab

Leeann held the humming scanner a few inches from Davina's skin. A soft lattice of green light swept over her body, shifting in intensity as it mapped bone, muscle, and tissue. Davina felt a faint warmth, almost like standing too close to a sunbeam.

Ben hovered nearby, arms crossed but jaw tight, watching every flicker of the device.

After a few passes, the scanner emitted a gentle chime. Leeann exhaled, her shoulders relaxing.

"Good news," she said, turning the display so Davina could see the translucent skeletal outline. "No fractures. No internal bleeding. You're bruised to hell and your muscles are screaming, but nothing serious."

Ben let out a breath he'd been holding. "Thank God."

Davina managed a small smirk. "Told you I've had worse."

"Doesn't mean I like seeing it," he muttered.

Leeann set the scanner aside and reached into a drawer beneath the exam table. She pulled out a small vial and an injector pen. "This is a fast‑acting analgesic. Won't knock you out, but it'll take the edge off."

Davina nodded. "Please."

Leeann pressed the injector gently against her upper arm. A soft hiss, a cool rush under the skin, and the tension in Davina's muscles eased almost immediately. The pain didn't vanish, but it dulled into something manageable—background noise instead of a roar.

"Better?" Leeann asked.

"Much," Davina said, rolling her shoulder experimentally. "Thank you."

She slid off the exam table, steady on her feet now. Then she reached into a hidden pocket on her suit—one the nanites had reformed seamlessly—and pulled out three small vials. Each one glowed faintly, the blood inside swirling with an unnatural shimmer, like something alive was still moving through it.

Ben's eyes widened. "You still have the samples?"

"Of course I do," Davina said. "Those guys weren't just juiced—they were unstable. Whatever Lucifer's giving them is evolving." She held the vials up to the light. "If I can isolate the compound, I might be able to reverse it. Maybe even create an antidote."

Leeann blinked, impressed. "You did all that while getting thrown through a wall?"

Davina shrugged. "Multitasking."

She turned to Leeann, her expression sharpening with purpose. "Do you have a lab? Somewhere I can examine this properly?"

Leeann nodded and gestured toward a corridor lined with reinforced glass panels. Behind them, Davina could see glimpses of equipment—microscopes, analyzers, containment units, and tech she didn't recognize but desperately wanted to get her hands on.

"We've got a full diagnostics lab," Leeann said. "Mavrick and I use it for field samples and tech testing. It's not exactly a Ren tech‑grade facility, but… it's close enough."

Davina's grip tightened around the vials. "That's more than enough."

Ben stepped forward, concern flickering again. "You sure you're up for this right now?"

Davina met his eyes—steady, determined. "If Lucifer's escalating, we don't have time to wait."

Leeann pushed open the lab door, lights flickering on automatically. "Then let's get to work."

Davina worked fast.

Slide after slide. Sample after sample. The lab lights buzzed overhead, the only sound besides the soft whir of machines and the occasional frustrated exhale from her.

It didn't take long for her to find out that there was a parasite in the drug.

Then—

A reaction.

The parasite recoiled violently when exposed to a specific compound in the analyzer. It shriveled, spasmed, and then dissolved into nothing.

Davina froze. "No way…"

Leeann leaned over her shoulder. "What did you do?"

Davina swallowed hard. "It's a neural disruptor. Strong. Too strong. If I put this in a human bloodstream…" She shook her head. "It could kill the parasite, yeah—but it might fry the host's nervous system."

Ben, who had just returned, stepped closer. "But if the parasite reaches the brain first…?"

Leeann finished for him, voice low. "Then the host is gone anyway."

Davina's hands tightened around the vial. "I don't like this. I don't like playing God."

"You're not," Ben said gently. "You're trying to save people who don't have time."

Before she could answer, Ben's comm crackled. A frantic voice came through:

"Speed—Lucifer was spotted downtown. He never left the city."

Ben's eyes snapped to Davina's. The air between them shifted—fear, anger, purpose all colliding at once.

Davina capped the vial with a sharp click. "If he's still here, than there's a reason."

"And those people out there don't have long not with the drugged brutes still out there on the loose," Ben added.

Leeann grabbed a tray and began prepping syringes. "I'll start diluting the compound. It's risky, but it's the best shot we've got."

Davina hesitated only a second longer, then nodded. "Okay. We give them the "cure." And while it's working…"

Ben finished with a grim smile. "We go after Lucifer."

Davina's expression hardened, resolve settling into her bones. "lets get this over with"

"Hey, Vi!" Mavrick's voice cut through the low hum of machinery, bouncing off the metal walls of the underground lab. Davina and Ben had barely stepped out of the main chamber, the door sliding shut behind them, when he called out again. Behind them, Leeann was still moving like a whirlwind—hands flying from vial to vial, mixing, scanning, muttering calculations under her breath as she tried to produce as many doses of the "cure" as humanly possible.

"Vi?" Davina echoed, brows lifting.

"Yeah," Ben said with a shrug, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. "Mavrick likes giving people nicknames. It's his love language."

Mavrick strutted over with a grin that was way too proud for someone holding a pair of gloves. "And speaking of love—your gloves." He held them out like they were a priceless artifact. "Fixed them. Upgraded them. Made your fake power look a whole lot less fake."

Davina slipped them on, feeling the faint vibration of the nanite circuitry syncing with her pulse. "Thanks," she said, flexing her fingers. The gloves felt lighter… sharper… almost alive.

"Give 'em a try," Mavrick said, bouncing on his heels.

"Right now? In here?" Davina asked, glancing around at the equipment, the cables, the fragile-looking monitors.

"Yup," he said, popping the 'p' as he pointed dramatically toward a wooden training dummy in the corner. "Hit that."

Ben folded his arms, already smirking. "This should be good."

Davina took a breath, squared her stance, and raised her arms. The gloves responded instantly—charging, humming, building pressure. Then—

BOOM.

A concussive burst of sonic energy erupted from her palms, rippling the air like heat off asphalt. The wooden dummy didn't just break—it atomized. Splinters exploded outward in a cloud, raining down like wooden confetti.

Ben let out a low whistle. "Nice aim."

Mavrick beamed like a proud parent. "Told you. Upgrades."

Before Davina could reply, the lab door hissed open again. Leeann emerged, arms full of syringes—far more than anyone should be able to carry safely. Her expression was tight, focused, the kind of look that meant she'd been doing mental math for the last hour straight.

"Alright, no more games," Davina said, her voice shifting into mission mode.

"Good," Leeann replied, carefully lowering the bundle of syringes onto a metal table. Each one glowed faintly with a pale blue solution. "One syringe should be more than enough per person. But—" She shot Davina a stern look. "Be extremely careful. If you prick yourself, even by accident, you might die."

She slid the syringes into a reinforced metal bag, the kind used for transporting volatile chemicals. The clang of the lid locking shut echoed through the room.

Ben exhaled slowly. "No pressure."

Davina tightened her gloves, the faint green circuitry pulsing along the seams. "Pressure's fine," she said. "Failure isn't."

TO BE CONTINUED