#ts terrence

Logan was sitting on the low entrance wall, bouncing his leg in boredom. Virgil lounged on top of the roof, in theory keeping a lookout, but in practice he was just picking up tiny pebbles to toss at his best friend to see if the jittery leg was moving so fast that projectiles went through it. It was these small expressions of his friend’s ability that fascinated Virgil. His own powers didn’t do anything small, unless you counted floating in midair or lifting cars with ease “small.”

Another pebble fell through the vibrating leg. Without looking up, Logan said, “Virgil, I’m still aware of that, even if I can’t feel it.”

“Yeah, but it’s funny.”

“Regardless of your entertainment value, I’d rather you-”

“Heads up!” Virgil interrupted, leaping to standing. He pointed towards the city, where two forms were flying across the bay towards the island. “We’ll hide and watch?”

“I’ll take the first two floors, you take roof down to three,” Logan said, speeding into the building.

Virgil ducked behind a vent on the roof to watch the approach of the two forms. From the footage they’d been shown, he was confident that these were indeed the Crimson Marauder and Gale Force, the scourges of Harmony City, responsible for untold numbers of crimes and attacks. So why were they flying in loop-de-loops around each other as they approached?

Keeping his head low, Virgil watched as Gale Force spun around his companion once more then dropped to the ground. Good, Logan would be covering the ground floor and would be ready to counter his plans below. Crimson Marauder floated up to the roof, however, and Virgil tensed, not wanting to attack until he knew what they were up to.

It didn’t take long to find out. The villain pushed back his red-and-black cape with a flourish and started creating constructs on the roof in front of him. He seemed strangely at ease, which confused Virgil. Had the villains somehow discovered that there was an excursion that had emptied out the school for the day? Pushing aside distraction, Virgil narrowed his eyes at the items the villain was assembling. He recognized the components of a bomb when he saw one. He leapt out of his hiding place to land directly in front of where the villain continued to combine his glowing red constructs.

“Stop right there.”

Roman looked up, blinking from the rays of the setting sun. Outlined in light stood a dark-clad hero glaring down at him. His eyes met cold hazel eyes surrounded by a mask and he froze in place. His eyes roved down to muscled shoulders over even more muscled arms, to a trim waist and sharply defined V that was visible even through the man’s costume.

Oh fuck me, Roman thought as his mouth went dry, this one’s hot.

“Did you hear me? Stop and back away from the bomb,” the hero said sharply. Roman lifted his hands, keeping them visible as he smiled.

“I’ll stop, but clearly there’s more than one bomb here.”

The tall hero looked at the villain sharply. “What do you mean? How many have you planted? Does your partner have more?”

“Nope,” Roman replied with a grin. “It’s your butt. Your butt is the bomb.”

The hero rolled his eyes. “And yet my ass has no intention of blowing up a school anytime soon. Break down the constructs now, and no one gets hurt.”

Roman pouted. “But it took so much practice to get them right, Mr. Tall, Dark, & Stormy. Aren’t you impressed?”

“Not in the slightest, Red Light District.” The hero took a step closer, ready to grab the villain if he tried to flee. “I know you can make them disappear. Get on it.”

Roman gasped in indignation at the nickname. “Excuse you, that’s Red Hard Light District to you.”

“Oh I bet you are,” the hero replied with a smirk, advancing ever closer. Virgil as a civilian was never able to flirt, but when he was in character as Reflex, most of his shyness melted away. If he was able to use flirtation instead of violence to capture this villain, all the better. And it appeared to be working. The construct-dynamite was fading away the closer Virgil got, and the villain’s eyes were huge underneath his mask. He was pretty sure he’d even heard the other man gulp audibly. This was going to be easy, for once.

That was when he heard the thwump of compressed air and felt the entire building shake. The sound had come from the lower floors. Where Logan was. Fuck.

Roman used the hero’s momentary distraction to jump off the roof and fly to meet his partner. His descent was immediately halted as he was jerked to a halt by his cape. He twisted to look up at Reflex leaning over the side of the roof, casually holding him back against all Roman’s effort to get away.

“Going so soon? I thought we had something special here, Marauder.”

“Sadly, I’m already committed to another,” Roman replied loftily. “You heroes think you can just flutter an eyelash and turn any poor man’s heart, but you won’t defeat me with your muscled wiles.”

Virgil shrugged. “Guess I won’t, then.” He tugged at the fabric and pulled Roman back onto the roof easily. He proceeded to tie the villain to a radiator using his own cape, ignoring the offended squawks. “Looks like all I needed was just the muscles.”

Roman scowled, and wiggled his hand just enough to make a construct of a rope that snaked out to knock the hero off the roof. Virgil saw it coming and faked a yawn as he stepped into mid-air to dodge it, then tightened the knot. Flicking the bound villain a lazy two-fingered salute, he jumped into the air to fly down to the site of the earlier explosion.

~~~~~~~~~

Logan wasn’t able to see the villains’ approach from where he was tensed inside the school building. The long hallways may as well have been tailored to his power, though. Unfettered, he could easily speed from entrance to entrance, and classrooms offered convenient hiding spots. He listened hard, adjusting his goggles as he picked up on sounds of the front doors opening and wind rushing in. He frowned as he realized that he didn’t hear any footsteps. Both villains could fly, but why take such precaution unless they knew they were expected?

He risked a peek out of the classroom and immediately spotted Gale Force floating his way down the hall, carrying some sort of red device. Unfortunately, the villain noticed Logan at the same moment.

“Well hey there! You must be the welcoming committee!”

Logan stepped out into the hallway, standing directly in Gale Force’s path. “You’re mistaken. I’m a superhero, here to prevent you from any plots you may have for this school.”

“Don’t you mean mist-taken?” The villain said with a chuckle, cooling the air around him into a tiny cloud of moisture.

Logan groaned internally. Not only was Gale Force an unknown quantity who flouted the norms of supers by not wearing a mask, he was a punster too?

“What is that device you’re carrying? What are your intentions here?” he asked, voice clipped.

“Oh, nothing you need to worry about!” the freckled villain said brightly. “Just gonna blow this super-school Sky High!”

Logan froze, his brain still catching up with the reality of the villain’s words. The stark dichotomy of the threat to blow up the school with the happy tone and more goddamn puns. The universe just had to curse him with a villain whose sense of humor was identical to his father’s, didn’t it.

“Um, you - you know I’m going to have to stop you, right?” Logan said, scrambling to regain his mental footing. “You can’t destroy this school. Too many children and young adults rely on it. It’s too important to the city.”

The villain’s smiling face darkened for such a brief moment Logan thought he’d imagined it. But when he spoke again, there was a new heat to his sunny tone, and Logan knew something he’d said had hit a nerve.

“I’m really sorry there, kiddo, but I’m gonna have to do this anyway. Sometimes life can be a little messy and complicated! Don’t you worry about it,” he finished with a huge grin. The winds around him picked up as he flew down the hall towards the basement stairs.

With a thought, Logan was speeding down the hall to grab the device, whatever it was, out of the villain’s hands. In a blur, he snagged it and passed the air manipulator completely. He stopped and turned to face his opponent, braced and tensed to move or dodge.

Gale Force still faced Logan’s original location with his back to the hero. He’d flinched as the device was snatched out of his hands but still stared into empty space.

“...a speedster, huh?” he said softly. “How… convenient that must be.”

Logan had to strain to hear the villain’s mutters, but something in the air had shifted. He could practically feel waves of chill emanating from the villain’s form. The back of his neck prickled with unplaced discomfort as he waited for his opponent’s next move.

It came without warning. One minute Gale Force was staring away, seemingly glued to the spot, and the next he had spun to face Logan and a funnel of wind was screeching towards him. Logan zipped to the side, only barely dodging despite his inhuman speed. The full force of the air thudded into the wall, and Logan could feel the whole building shake. He raced to pass the villain again, hoping to get out of his wind range, or at least frustrate it. He felt the cutting wind following just on his heels as he evaded another attack.

“Look at you,” Gale Force commented cheerily. His smile was stretched tight across his face, baring his teeth in a decidedly un-friendly way. “Running like the wind.”

Logan’s attention was caught by the pun and held for just a moment against an opponent where ‘just a moment’ made all the difference. His focus wavered, and the villain’s wind caught him. The funnel twisted around him, pinning his arms to his sides and trapping him in place. Harsh air spun around his face and body. If he hadn’t had his goggles, his eyes would have been tearing up. As it was, he found it harder and harder to breath as the force of the wind slowly cut off the air from entering his lungs.

“Hey there, Vectorious. Looks like you might need a Doctor,” the villain said happily. Logan struggled to free himself, but the edges of his vision were starting to go black. He needed to focus to run, but he couldn’t focus. He couldn’t breathe.

A purple-and-white blur appeared in the air as Virgil sped through the door to collide with Gale Force, knocking him out of midair. At the moment of impact, the air trapping Logan lost its strength, and he fell to his knees, gasping. His first thought was the explosive that he’d grabbed from the villain. Luckily, it was near him. As oxygen brought back his normal thought processes, he disassembled the construct bomb in a blur. Threat destroyed, he looked for his partner. Virgil and Gale Force had apparently busted straight through a wall, as Logan could hear the sounds of blows being exchanged through the hole in the brick wall.

He ran outside after them to see Virgil standing on the roof, in between Gale Force and the Crimson Marauder. The latter was bound by his own cape. Logan snorted. This was why he thought the costume accoutrements were so impractical, and kept urging Virgil to do away with his.

“Hey, let my partner go!” Gale Force shouted.

“He’s under arrest for the attempted sabotage of a school,” Virgil replied coolly. “And you are, too. Stand down, or the drama queen here gets hurt.”

The bound villain scowled. “Just like a hero, isn’t he, Pat?”

“Just like.”

“You should be very offended on my behalf and do something about it.”

Virgil had just a moment to dodge as Gale Force barrelled towards him, heating the air around him as he went. His breezes untangled the Marauder’s cape as he flew over. Freed, both villains wheeled into the sky.

Virgil almost chased them, but caught sight of Logan still standing shakily on the ground. He flew down.

“You okay, Lo?”

“I’m… a little out of breath still. Thank you for your timing - I was starting to lose feeling.”

Virgil hugged the man tightly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. But I’m glad you’re okay.”

Logan hugged back. Physical affection wasn’t his strong suit, but with Virgil it was always okay.

“Can you believe Gale Force? No mask, and the Marauder is just tossing his name around. Pat or something?” Virgil asked as they parted.

“Yeah. He’s a cold one for all the smiles and jokes. Quite unsettling.” Checking the sun’s position, Logan offered, “I think it’s time we fill the Mayor in on what we’ve learned about our city’s newest supervillains. Maybe he’ll have some more research for us, as well.”

Virgil nodded and tapped his watch to let City Hall know they were on their way, and sent a call for repairs of the school. “Are you okay to run, Lo? Or do you need a lift?”

Logan grimaced. “You know I hate being carried but… I am still a bit unsteady. I won’t be able to cross the water in my present state.”

Virgil turned and kneeled, letting Logan throw his arms around his neck and loop his legs around his waist. With his friend riding piggyback, Virgil leapt into the air and flew over the harbor towards the mainland.

~~~~~~~~~ 

Joan and Talyn were already waiting for the heroes when Virgil flew in the office window. Both looked concerned as Virgil gently deposited Logan on a chair.

“Fuck, is he okay?” the mayor asked.

Logan nodded. “I will be. We finally encountered Gale Force and the Crimson Marauder. Gale Force is… powerful. The incident you mentioned from last week, with the sidekick Emerald Prodigy, was clearly not an anomaly. While I’m recovering now, if Virgil’s timing had been just a bit slower, I might have had lasting side effects from the air deprivation.”

Talyn, their hair a bright orange today, frowned and tapped a pen against their mouth. “Did you speak with either of them? Any idea of motivation?”

“Gale Force uses an unsettling number of puns and then went into fight mode very easily,” Logan began.

A page from Joan’s executive assistant interrupted them all.

“Swallowtail to see you, Mayor Stokes!”

“Send him in!” Joan said through the intercom. The door opened to reveal a short black man who grinned as he saw the mayor’s company.

“Terrence!” Virgil cried happily, crossing the room in three long strides to greet his fellow hero. He swept him up in a huge bear hug that lifted the much-shorter man completely off the ground.

Logan hung back, though he had a matching smile. Terrence had graduated HEARTS in the same year, and they’d been good friends despite their three-year age difference. Terrence had also been one of the first other heroes to become friends with Virgil when he’d enrolled at the school, and they remained close.

“What brings you in today?” Talyn asked as Virgil deposited Terrence back on his feet.

“Research! I heard you two tangled with the new team today,” Terrence replied. “As the resident villain enthusiast, I gotta know more. And maybe I can help with some background for next time.”

Virgil nodded. “So the biggest thing we learned is that Gale Force can go stone-cold in a second, and his name is ‘Pat.’ I also learned that the Marauder is uh. Super gay.”

“V, you do know that probably means he’s regular gay, right?” Logan asked, rolling his eyes. “You tend to have that effect on everyone who’s attracted to men.”

Virgil scratched his neck. “Oh. I do?”

Joan cut in, also rolling his eyes. “Super strength, super flight, and super oblivious. Yes, Virge. I’ve had to remind the building staff not to ask out any of our supers five times more since you officially joined.”

“Anyway,” Talyn started, glaring at their partner.

“Anygay,” Joan whispered.

“This is just more information to add to what we already know about the Marauder and his past. We even knew his name is Roman, though the family name remains a mystery.”

Virgil frowned. “How do we know anything about him? He’s never been arrested, has he?”

“No,” Terrence replied. “But he was initially a hero.”

“Yes. He was a hero. And he chose to become a villain,” Logan said, disdain dripping from his words. “He was called the Scarlet Prince, before. And then he decided to blame the whole city for one unfortunate accident.”

“He was a sidekick, and his hero was killed in action. After that, he disappeared until he re-emerged as the Crimson Marauder,” Terrence explained.

“Ah. But that could be understandable, right? Losing someone you care about can… change you,” Virgil said.

“Doesn’t change what’s right, though,” Logan replied tightly.

Virgil reached out and laid a gentle hand on Logan’s shoulder, a silent offer of comfort. The speedster almost shook him off, but after a moment let the tension ebb.

“As the villains were escaping, they were making particular digs at us as heroes,” Virgil told the others. “I think it’s safe to say that they aren’t in it to target civilians. Between that and their attack on HEARTS on a day when no one was in the building, I think they’re doing this for, I don’t know. Symbolism, maybe? Or to attack active heroes particularly.”

Joan nodded. “And you got that impression from Gale Force, too?”

“Yes, approximately. Though he may bear more animosity towards the city itself, it’s still not directed towards the citizens as a whole,” Logan said.

“In good news, we’ve gotten better at identifying uses of their powers,” Talyn told them. “Unless you say otherwise, we’re going to keep you two as the primary call for them.”

“That is satisfactory,” Logan said. “I believe I’ve devised a way to avoid the attack that caught me this time.”

“Virge, did they see all your powers?” Joan asked. The tall hero shook his head. “Then there’s still an upper hand. I hope you can catch them soon.”

~~~~~~~~~

D.R.E.A.M. Index #337261

Classification: A.3.i [Tertiary Tier Hero, Legacy]

Name: Swallowtail

Status: ACTIVE

Civilian Name: [CLEARANCE: TOP SECRET] Terrence Williams, Jr.

Affiliation: Hero

/////////H.A.T.C.H. Status: Specific Calls and Blackout Only

Partners/Sidekicks: N/A

Primary Foes: N/A

Powers: Shape-shifting: size reduction and addition; Tech-assisted flight;

Costume: Bodysuit in bright florals; yellow, black, and white jet pack painted with namesake butterfly wings

Age: 25

Height: 5’3”

Pronouns: He/His

H.E.A.R.T.S. Class of ‘11

Note: Unconfirmed relation to members of DI#Z-3286 - Fang Patrol, but confirmed hero and son of supers; Classmate and fellow scientist to DI#337255 - Dr. Vectorious; A less active hero, primary role as research/support to S.E.A.M. Stokes and Mayor Stokes;