Chapter 36: Runaway
Jace raises his arms in fear. He knows that voice, but it’s impossible that it’s them.
Jace: “Henry?! Is that you!?”
Henry: “Yeah? Don’t sound so scared, man. You look like you’ve seen a gho…”
Henry walks out of the living room into the main hallway to see Jace’s frightened stance.
Jace: “You have to be a ghost. I killed you.”
Henry: “Woah, woah! You didn’t kill me! I’m literally standing right here.”
Jace: “I punched you in the head with electricity. I fried your brain.”
Henry: “Oh, you mean this?”
Henry pushes his bangs out of the way and shows Jace the burnt impact mark he left.
Henry: “People get struck by lightning and live all the time. Yeah, that really stung, asshole, but you didn’t kill me.”
Jace: “How do I know you’re not here to kill me?”
Henry: “Okay, just what the hell happened? I remember being at the top of that skyscraper, then everything kinda became muddy until a few hours ago.”
Jace: “It’s been a long few days since everything happened. It would be a lot to get into right now. It’s really late, I’d like to get some sleep.”
Henry: “Right, sorry. I’m just happy to see you.”
Jace: “Me too.”
They go to their separate couches and soon fall asleep. The morning sun rises. They wake up to its gleam hitting their eyes through the shades. Jace stands up and heads to the bathroom to take a shower. His battle with Ren left him looking more rough than any previous battle, even the one where he got shot. Henry stands up and makes a pot of black coffee. He yawns and rubs his forehead, the pain of Jace’s punch is still present. He pours a cup and takes a sip as Jace finishes his shower. He walks out in a second red tank-top and a darker pair of jeans. He places his old set of clothes in the washer down the hallway.
Jace: “Looks like we’re waiting here for a minute. I can’t run out there looking like absolute shit.”
Henry: “That’s fine with me. I need a shower too. The other version of me wasn’t too keen on hygiene it seems.”
Jace: “Gross.”
Henry: “Yeah, it is. I’ll be changing that right now.”
Henry walks towards the bathroom to tag out with Jace, but he immediately remembers a question he meant to ask him last night.
Henry: “Hey, where did you come from last night?”
Jace: “Oh, Morning Glory Hospital. Why?”
Henry: “What the hell were you doing all the way out there?”
Jace: “Kien wanted to kill me by luring me out and isolating me from the rest of the world.”
Henry: “And what about Mythril?”
Jace: “What about him?”
Henry: “Wasn’t he there too? Did you punch him like you punched me?”
Jace: “Yes, but in the back of the neck where the mind control device is. I was hoping to catch Kien with the punch too.”
Henry: “Do you think he’s still alive? I’m here after all and you thought I was more than dead.”
Jace’s eyes widen as the realization finally hits him. He grabs Henry’s shoulders.
Jace: “I GOTTA GO FIND MYTHRIL!”
Henry: “Well, I’m sure he’s still ther-“
Jace: “You stay here! Gimme like an hour!”
Henry: “An hour? The walk there is an hour.”
Jace: “You have no idea what I’m capable of now.”
Jace grabs a spare pair of black tennis shoes and makes his way out of the tavern and west towards Morning Glory. He uses the same strength as last time to make it to the hospital in record time. He tries his best to retrace his steps as he runs around what feels like a maze at times. Finally, he finds who he’s looking for.
Jace: “Mythril! Mythril, it’s me!”
Jace runs towards him and crouches to one knee. Mythril’s head slowly shifts up and towards Jace.
Mythril: “Huh? Where am I?”
Jace: “You must’ve just come back to your senses.”
Mythril: “What do you mean?”
Jace: “Do you even know where you are right now?”
Mythril: “Not really…”
Jace: “Now don’t panic, but we’re currently in Morning Glory Hospital. I’m just as fucking freaked out as you and I would like to leave right now.”
Mythril: “Same.”
Jace helps Mythril up as they make their way out of the hospital and head east back to Bluestone. Back at the apartment, Henry gets out of the shower and puts on a black long-sleeve shirt. He sits down on his couch and grabs the remote. He turns on the TV and yawns. He begins to flip through the channels before landing on Above’s news station. He sees a name that catches his eye as he stops channel surfing.
Henry: “Looks like we have another. Jace isn’t gonna be happy about this.”
On cue, the door opens and Jace walks in with Mythril around his shoulder.
Jace: “Found ‘em.”
Henry: “I found someone too. Come look.”
Jace guides Mythril to his room before walking out to the living room and staring at the TV.
Jace: “Ah, shit. It’s her.”
Henry: “Looks like we’re going back to Above.”
Jace walks back to Mythril’s room and knocks on the door.
Jace: “Get yourself cleaned up and meet us downstairs! We found someone.”
Mythril: “R-Right!”
Mythril wastes no time as he throws his hoodie in the washer and takes his turn in the shower. Jace and Henry grab their jackets from the dryer. They put them on and nod at each other. Together, they walk downstairs and await Mythril. Not too long after, Mythril makes his way downstairs and they make their way towards Above. After a long walk and a big staircase, they find their way to the chromatic utopia. Once there, they soon catch up to the action.
Henry: “Is that a duffle-bag she’s carrying?”
Mythril: “She’s never carried them around before, I wonder what the occasion is.”
Jace: “Oh, shit. That’s right. I need to explain something to you two.”
He grabs the two on their shoulders and rotates them into a team huddle.
Jace: “While that is technically Ana, she is not acting like herself. I have no idea how she’ll respond to us, so be on your best guard.”
Henry: “Got it.”
Mythril: “Okay.”
Jace pats their shoulders and they go back to looking at Ana. She finally notices them and takes off away from them.
Jace: “Shit! Catch her!”
The three run towards her, but have some distance to close if they want to even attempt catching up to her.
Jace: “Henry, you go left! Mythril, you go right! I’m gonna find a way to get in front of her and from there, we corner her!”
The two nod and split off in their respective directions. Jace swaps his arm to Burst and hops off the ground before pointing his arm below and creating an explosion to propel himself forwards through the air. With a stylish front-flip, he uses another blast to shoot himself towards a set of hanging cables. He grabs onto them with his left arm, absorbing the intense shock as he glides his way towards Ana. This time he back-flips off the end of the cables and focuses on Ana. He lands on his feet and continues his chase, significantly closer than he just was. He sees an upcoming 3-way intersection. The others need to appear right now if they have any chance of stopping her. Suddenly, Ana stops and spins on her heel. She stomps the asphalt and pushes her glasses down with her index finger.
Ana: “Jace? I thought it was you. What are you doing here?”
Jace: “I’m here to save you, Ana.”
Ana: “Saving? Do I look like a damsel-in-distress to you? I’m perfectly fine with what I’m doing right now.”
Jace: “Which is?”
Ana: “Robbing the West Bank.”
Jace: “WHAT?!”
Ana: “You heard me. Sirens went off and everything, but no one’s come to stop me yet.”
The other two finally appear behind Ana and close the distance. Jace smiles.
Jace: “Looks like the red and blue caught up to you.”