Saviors of Hearts (and People) Chapter 7 END
And after way too long here is the end, at last, of this fic. I'm very sorry that it took so long, and perhaps the ending isn't as... climactic as I originally intended.
To be quite honest, I had envisioned the ending before anything else about this fic and perhaps I lost my way as I meandered through all the chapters prior. I didn't want to pin myself down to an ending I might not end up agreeing with. But still, I'd like to thank you all for reading through this fic and sticking with it for so long. I do have an idea or two for a bonus chapter or so. Perhaps some untold stories and other scenes that never really made it into the fic. So if you're still interested, please keep your eye out for them.
Otherwise, thank you again for reading and please continue to look forward to the next fic!
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“Don’t be nervous,” Ae said as he helped Pete with all the straps and buckles for his protective gear. “We’ll go easy on the pace today. It’s just your first patrol.”
“If Ae is with me, I won’t be nervous,” said Pete, his eyes were soft, but resolute. “I won’t be a burden. Ae can count on me.”
“Okay, quiz time.” Ae handed Pete a helmet. “If we engage with combatants?”
“I will stay behind the front lines to provide support and attend to victims first,” Pete said before putting on his helmet.
“And if someone gets past me?”
“I will first evade and if I have no choice, then I will engage with the intent to stall until you can help.”
Ae leveled his most serious look at Pete. “And if things go badly?”
“I disengage and call for help from dispatch first before thinking of helping you.”
“And-”
“And if Ae is hurt beyond my ability to help,” Pete said with clear, but solemn eyes. “Then I will get out no matter what.
“Okay.” Ae pinched Pete’s cheek. “Then you’re ready. It’s just your first patrol.” Ae smiled. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
It turned out, a lot could happen.
Pete huddled behind a counter top, sheltering several bank patrons with his body as Ae duked it out with several men, each wielding some variety of construction crew implement, but each possessing a strange power. The man with what looked like a simple hammer could smash craters into the floor. The one with the crowbar was able to make things float. Pete hadn’t been able to catch a peek at what the guy with the magic safety helmet or wheelbarrow could do, but he was fairly certain as to what the chainsaw was for.
Pete took a glance around the corner. Ae had already requested for permission to use his next level of force and Techno had readily approved. The one with the safety helmet had already been knocked out and the one with the crowbar was currently nursing a broken arm. The wheelbarrow man had his head sticking out of his magical wheelbarrow which made Pete wonder if it actually was magical or he had simply come along for the ride. The last two, hammer man and chainsaw man, were the ones providing Ae with grief at the moment, but his construct armor was holding firm. At least until his chest plate took a direct blow from the magic hammer.
Fine cracks spread outwards from the impact point and gradually grew bigger and bigger. Ae had already knocked the man aside, but the damage had been done and one swipe of the chainsaw cut a wide swath of the armor away.
“A- Paladin!”
“I’m fine, Cleric,” Ae ground out before taking a step back. “Maintain distance and keep the civilians safe.”
“Not for long!” The revving of the chainsaw covered up the painful thumping of Pete’s heart. “I’ll start with your arm and work my way up!”
Pete winced as the chainsaw made contact with the armor on Ae’s shoulder and nobody could tell if the grinding sound was the chipping away at the armor, the chainsaw blades, or something else. Ae moved to swing the war hammer he held in his other hand, but instead it was met with the magic hammer and shattered.
Ae’s eyes widened a fraction even as he bared his teeth in a snarl. But everyone froze at the sound of Pete’s combat baton hitting the side of chainsaw man’s head. Pete’s eyes were firm, even as his hand shook, frozen post throw.
“Alright, you want some too.” The two men kicked at Ae, knocking him to the side before stomping in Pete’s direction.
Pete stood firm and just as the two were within striking range, Pete exhaled and a bright burst of healing light covered him. The result was exactly as Pete had hoped, the two men covered their eyes which was enough time for Ae to stomp over and bash their heads together.
“Paladin!” Pete’s hand hovered over Ae’s broken armor breastplate. “Are you-”
“That was dangerous,” Ae said in a huff. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“I just-”
“Good job.” The pinch of Ae’s fingers on Pete’s cheek was both consolation and punishment. “But, don’t do something like that again.”
******
A week later, Pete found himself in a familiar situation as before. Ae tightened every strap properly and fastened every buckle.
“Just relax,” Ae said as Pete laughed. “It’s just your second patrol.”
“Yes,” Pete said, mirth in his eyes. “How bad could it be?”
Ae kissed Pete’s knuckles and Pete wanted to swoon just a bit. “You’ve seen how bad it could be. And it could be worse.”
“And I’ll still be here.” Pete kissed Ae’s knuckles in return. “And I will still be by Ae’s side.”
******
And on the next day…
“It’s just your third patrol.”
******
“It’s just your tenth patrol.”
******
“It’s just your fiftieth patrol.”
******
“It’s just your-”
“Ae…” Pete rested a gentle hand on Ae’s as he fastened Pete’s bulletproof vest. “It’s not just my one-hundredth patrol. It’s my one-hundredth patrol with Ae.” Pete smiled. “Thank you, Ae.”
“Ai Koon chai…” Ae drew closer and Pete’s eyes fluttered shut, but both separated at the beep of their earpieces.
“Attention all supers! Trump Card has been sighted downtown, south-west quadrant,” Techno announced. “Situation is rapidly evolving. Trump Card has managed to procure a tank and has already neutralized two other supers. Anyone available and registered for level three engagement, please respond and engage.”
Ae immediately pressed the button on his earpiece. “Paladin reporting in.”
“Ice King reporting in.”
“Hyper reporting in!”
“C-Cleric too!”
Ae whipped his head around and silenced his earpiece. “Pete…”
“It’s time,” Pete said softly. “He’s been circling around us for months.” Pete looked down at his hands. “I think it’s time we dealt with him. You and me.”
“Command acknowledges Paladin, Ice King, and Hyper. Cleric is permitted on support,” Type replied. “Gear up and engage.”
“Race you all there!” Hyper crowed before the sound of rushing wind cut him off.
******
The minute Tin heard Can crowing about racing everyone to the fight, Tin nearly burst all the plumbing within a kilometer of his position trying to catch up.
“Hyper,” Tin said quietly into their private channel. “You can’t underestimate him.”
“Oh don’t you worry about me, last time he only got one punch. Today, I’m going to make sure he gets the full Hyper Experience!”
“Cantalope.” Tin could hear Can coming to a screeching halt. “There’s a reason why his name is Trump Card. Think about that.”
“Is it because he’s got a military grade tank? Because that’s a pretty sweet Trump Card,” Can said over the sound of explosions around him.
“Shit, you’re there already?!”
“Speedster!”
Tin fought the urge to facepalm and failed. “Focus on disabling his tank first!”
“On it!”
“And don’t get hurt!”
Tin couldn’t see it, but he could hear the wink in Can’s voice. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
By the time Tin arrived, shots were still being fired out of the tank as Can worked on unscrewing the top hatch. “Hyper!”
“Nearly done!” Can yelled as the hatch opened. But instead of a person, a strange combination of pillar and antenna popped out as if forced out quickly by a spring, and with a whir, Can found himself struggling to fight against gravity. “What the-”
Tin moved to slice the mechanism with a wave of water but had to shield himself instead from gunfire to his right until Can screamed out, blood blossoming out from his leg from a gunshot.
“Ah… We meet again, my liege. And speedster pleb.” Trump Card emerged from an alley, sights locked on Tin as Can’s muscles started to give out and his body was pressed against the top of the tank. “Amazing, isn’t it? Speedsters are so hard to deal with, but just multiply gravity by ten or twenty times and it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.” Trump Card immediately swiveled and shot another bullet into Can’s other leg. Tin’s arm raised up and Trump Card clicked his tongue. “Another move, and I’ll blow his brains out. There’s no speeding his way out of that, is there, Ice-” Trump Card was cut off as a cannonball construct was launched into his chest.
Tin immediately turned around and tried to cut the gravity amplifier as Paladin engaged Trump Card. However, the amplified gravity pulled down all his projectiles.
“Let me help.” Tin turned to find Pete, now Cleric, at his side. Tin bit back his words and Pete touched a hand to his shoulder. “Try now, Ice King.”
Tin fired off another volley, now tinged with some of Cleric’s white glow. The amplified gravity still pulled, but it was just enough to slice the pillar down. Can groaned, breathing heavy, when the gravity was released. Cleric offered a small smile. “Assist Paladin, Ice King. I’ll take care of Hyper for you.”
“Pe- I mean Cleric-”
Pete’s eyes widened. “How do you…” He stared a bit deeper into Tin’s eyes and Tin knew he’d been found out. “You’re-”
“Not now.” Tin squeezed Pete’s hand. “Please take care of Hyper first.”
Pete nodded. “I’m on it!”
Tin immediately glanced back to Paladin and found his constructs breaking on contact with Trump Card’s body.
“You really never learn your lesson, do you?” Trump Card cackled as he fired off several rounds into Paladin’s armor. Tin replied by slicing Trump Card’s rifle in half. “Oh! Back in the game are you?”
“Paladin, fall back. He’s already immune to your power,” Tin said as he barraged Trump Card with wave after wave of ice.
“Just have to beat the clock on it,” Paladin muttered before firing off several construct arrows into Tin’s conjured maelstrom.
“Not if I beat him first!” A blur sped into Tin’s bubble of water and Trump Card was sent flying into the nearest car.
“Hyper! Don’t try to use your speed to accelerate his molecules!” Paladin called out. “Trump Card’s power will activate if you do!”
“Got it!” Can sped up his pummeling of Trump Card only to suddenly stagger back, clutching his chest. “W-wha-” Can coughed and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.
“Doesn’t have to be your speed,” Trump Card cackled before popping open a bottle he pulled out of his coat and chugging it down. As Paladin and Tin approached, Trump Card chucked the bottle at them before springing up and pulling out dual pistols from concealed holsters. “Well, back to it then! HAHAHAHA!”
Cleric ran over as Tin and Paladin followed the side-stepping Trump Card. However, Cleric had moved too soon. Trump Card circled around and pulled Cleric close, pressing the muzzle of one of his pistols to the underside of Cleric’s jaw before he could begin healing Can.
“Now… My most favorite pet… Welcome back, Pete.” Trump Card licked his lips. “I’ve missed you so. None of my other trump cards were ever as good as you.”
Pete glanced back at Paladin and Tin. Both of their jaw muscles were jumping as if grinding their teeth. He looked to Can. Can’s chest continued to move shallowly as he lay on the ground. “Let me go.”
“After I worked so hard to get you back? You must be joking,” Trump Card said as he started to walk backwards, taking Pete with him. “All those months of skirmishes, and now you think you can just run onto the front lines and heal your friend? Foolish!”
Pete clenched his fist. “I’m not going back.”
“And where else do you think you can go?”
Pete’s eyes met Paladins before he blinked twice. Paladin seemed to blink back. “Forward.” Pete kicked backwards, knocking a booted foot into Trump Card’s crotch. The trigger was pulled but the bullet ricocheted off Paladin’s barely there construct sticking to Pete’s skin under his jaw and down into the asphalt.
Pete stumbled away before going into a combat roll and placing his hands gently above Can’s chest and getting to work. Meanwhile Paladin had erected a screen between them and Trump Card as Tin restarted his assault. Can’s breathing started to ease before he sighed and sat up.
“Wound reflection as a counter?” Can rubbed his own chest. “What in the world…” Can moved to run back into the fight, but Pete caught his wrist before he could.
“Hyper, wait. If Trump Card is capable of wound reflection, it’s time I upped my support,” said Pete. “Ice King, Paladin, level two combat support engaging in five, four…” Pete stood up and Can blinked as Pete cupped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes. His hands filled with what looked like liquid light. “Three, two, one.” From the liquid light, three spheres shot out hitting Can, Tin, and Paladin in their chests, causing a glow to cover their bodies. Pete opened his eyes. “Trump Card… His power has a timer, that’s true. But we don’t have to wait!” Pete pointed at Trump Card. “Just overpower him!”
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Can ran off, nearly tripping over his own feet at his enhanced speed.
Can’s fist made contact with Trump Card’s jaw five times just as Tin burst every pipe underneath them, creating the largest sphere of water and ice possible. Can sped off, his jaw already healing from Pete’s support, before it came crashing down on Trump Card’s head. Half of it evaporated before the rest made contact. Paladin closed his eyes and a thousand pinpricks of light surrounded the sphere before each turned into a spear that rained down, shattering the ice and piercing through. Can dodged and weaved through the torrent of constructs landing blow after blow. Many of the constructs burst into nothing just as they stopped short of piercing Trump Card’s body, but a few started to leave scratches and cuts as they grazed his sides.
“How about now?” Can yelled over the sounds of falling spears and icicles. “Where’s your next trump card now?”
Trump Card moved to pull something out of his jacket, but Can snatched his hand away and broke Trump Card’s arm for his troubles and tore his jacket away. Tin then blasted Trump Card off the street with another torrent of water and right into Paladin’s box he’d just constructed. Laying his hands on the box, Paladin sealed it and reinforced the construct with several enhanced layers with the remaining energy of Pete’s support ability.
Trump Card thrashed and wailed against the walls. All four heroes stood still, waiting, until at last Trump Card slumped into the corner, only yelling. Pete walked up to the box and lay a hand on it.
“You’ll never be able to hurt anyone ever again,” Pete said softly. “I won’t allow it. WE won’t allow it.”
“Don’t be dumb! It’s just a matter of time! Once I-”
Pete laid his other hand against the box construct and Paladin stepped away. “The reason why you have your power is a genetic instability.” Pete’s hands began to glow. “Your DNA adapts and changes to encode for a power that counters whatever it is that is hurting you.” The glow from Pete’s hands began to fill the box. “So I wonder… What would happen if I cured that first mutation that lets your DNA be unstable?”
“You don’t have that kind of power!” Trump Card started to bang on the walls with renewed strength. “You wouldn’t even know where to start!”
“I might not, but… There are supers that do.” Trump Card had no choice but to shut his eyes as the intensity of the light increased. “And one of them was very happy to share that knowledge with me because you tortured them half to death. And now that I know what to heal, I can heal it.”
“No! You’ve never-”
“No, YOU’VE NEVER known the true extent of my power,” Pete yelled. “You’ve never known the true extent of ME.” Pete shed a single tear, but his face remained still behind his mask. Paladin placed a hand on Pete’s right shoulder. Tin did the same on Pete’s left. Can put a hand on Pete’s back. “But now, you will know. And you’ll never hurt anyone else again.”
The light reached its maximum and Trump Card howled in agony. When the light faded, Trump Card was curled up in a ball in the corner, ready to be taken away for trial and judgement. Pete staggered into Paladin’s arms
------
In the cafe across the street from the police station, Can sat at a table, politely telling everyone the seats were reserved and impatiently bouncing his leg. Tin arrived and after a small quirk of his lips as Can waved at him energetically, he immediately stood in line to get drinks. Can whipped out his phone with lightning speed and tapped out his order before sending the text. Tin checked his phone and rolled his eyes, but continued to wait in line patiently. A few minutes later, Can spotted a pair leaving the police station and walking over, hands held tightly, smiles evident.
“So now we get to meet properly as civilians huh,” Can said as Pete and Ae walked over. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“The same here too.” Pete offered Can a wai before sitting down. “It’s nice to meet the person making Tin happy.”
“Not sure I would say the same.” Tin gave Ae a frosty glare as he put Can’s extravagant drink down in front of him.
“Na, Tin,” Can tugged on Tin’s sleeve to make him sit down. “Don’t be so rude. Officer Ae is my friend and-”
Ae returned Tin’s glare. “If you think you can intimidate me…”
“If you hurt Pete, I’ll freeze all the blood in your body.”
“And if you hurt Can, I’ll launch you to the moon.”
“I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement.”
“Likewise.”
Pete and Can watched as the two shook hands and said nothing else about the matter, but only vaguely continued glaring. Pete continued to look between them as Can took a big gulp of his drink, whipped cream now covering the top of his lip before saying, “Well, now that we’ve all settled down, here’s to a great job!” He held what remained of his drink aloft. “Let’s continue to work well together!”
Pete could only sigh while listening to Can’s rambling, Tin’s interjections as he wiped at Can’s face, Ae’s suggestions for drinks, and the buzz of the television in the corner as the case against Trump Card was concluded and he was given the maximum sentence. It was quaint. A slice of life he almost would have never gotten to enjoy if Ae hadn’t saved him.
Pete reached down to squeeze Ae’s hand under the table when four earpieces beeped at the same time.
“Calling all available registered supers!” said Techno, his voice hitting a higher pitch than usual. “An unregistered super is summoning giant animals out of a weird clay pot downtown, northeast quadrant! Requesting even off-duty supers to respond!”
The four men gave each other one look before bolting for the door.
