This Ends Now pt1

It's been almost a year since Quixotic took up Dr. Baleful's offer to intern at her lab. He sat at his desk overlooking a blood sample under a microscope. The TV blaring above him.

"This just end," Said the Tv reporter. "The hero Max Dream's newest youngest sidekick Ignited stops the villain Metal Maniac from taking over a train. He tracked down the main villain after he followed a suspicious figure sneaking onto the crowded train at the train station. The older sidekicks Magnamar and Megalodon helped passengers safely evacuate the train while the hero Max Dream handled the other villains, stopping any more casualties from happening."

The camera then pans over to four heroes in the train station with the police taking away the villains in the background.

"Ignited, you're only 17 years old, making you one of the youngest sidekicks in-hero history." Exclaimed the excited reporter. "You're also recently one of the first graduates from the Xavier academies Arizona's branch, and you're already thinking about becoming an independent hero a year or two from now. How do you think you'll be able to do that at your young age?"

Panicked a blond haired man wearing white and blue spandex swiped the mic before Ignited could open his mouth.

"In my experience young Ignited here has been one of my most courageous, hard-working, determined sidekicks." The man began already covering up his panic from before."I Max Dream believes young sidekicks like the Ignited's of today, are our future heroes of tomorrow. Like I always say, dream for the future and fight for a maximum tomorrow!"

"Umm, yes, but…" The reporter scanned the crowd, finding the young sidekick again. "Ignited!" She called over spotting him. "There is hard competition for the top hero spot in Arizona, let alone America. So how do you plan to stand out as your own hero and go independent?"

Ignited turned towards the mic, his brown eyes scanning the reporter like she was asking the dumdumbest question he had ever heard.

"If you want to be a winner you have to go all-in, or fuck off and take the L loser!"

Quixotic recognized the voice instantly, he snapped up from the microscope to the TV. His green eyes wide with recognition.

"Phoenix?"

He took in his highschool bully's appearance. From his cole black harem pants to the tips of his spiky fire-red hair. His hero costume was accented with golden bangles that hung around his wrist and forehead. He would have had flawless pale skin if not for the horde of freckles that line his slim yet muscular chest, arms, and even his face. Despite his one visible flaw, he looked like a fire god standing out in a crowd of mortals. He was well on his way to becoming a top hero. Was on his way to live out Quixotics' dream.

The reporter took a second to think about the fiery response. Before replying.

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?"

"There's nothing harsh about it," replied Ignited. "You said it yourself, there is hard competition to become a hero, let alone the top hero. I'm here to tell you, I'll become number one in America. So if you don't like that then take the L and fuck off loser."

Ignited smirked to the camera before he was pulled away by a tan sidekick with gills. A woman with fire for hair took the mic and gave an awkward smile.

"As a fire type hero myself, I can say, what Ignited means is that we hope for the brightest futures in…."

Magnamar tried to soften the blow of Ignited words, but you could clearly hear Megalodon scolding him in the background.

"God damn you Ignited!" Yelled Megalodon. "We told you we would only sign you onto our agency if you kept away from reporters and kept your thoughts to yourself!"

"But it's true…" Scoffed Phoenix.

"Doesn't matter!" Yelled Meglodon. "Dam our agency for signing you on! I knew you would be bad for our PG image, but no, the big wigs though getting thoughts horny midwestern milfs to tune in to drool all over your bad boy abs would be a good thing. You and your mouth will cost Max Dream his number one spot in Arizona heros ranking for sure."

Quixotic watched the TV, never taking his eyes off of Phoenix who the camera panned to in the background. He wanted to hate Phoenix, but in all honesty, it was kinda hard to. Phoenix was always so confident in himself, capable in his ability, and determined in his goal, no one could ever keep him down or deter him. In the pit of his gut, Quixotic desperately needed to hate Phoenix for bullying him and being such a stubborn jackass, but at the same time, Phoenix was everything he had ever wanted to be.

"Hey, you working hard or hardly working?"

Quixotic turned towards Dr. Baleful who was leaning on the doorway.

"Sorry, bad joke…"

She unconsciously shoved her tiny hands into her lab coat.

"No, it's just…" Quixotic ran his hands through his shaggy black hair. "I, mean…"He took a big gulp, he had to ask her, he needed to know… "These samples you keep asking me to look at, they're unusual. It's like, it's a person's DNA but it keeps morphing, and before it can stabilize more pressure to change gets put on it. Then it strains, and dies."

Quixotic waited for her to answer, but Dr. Baleful just stared at the white tile floor, not really looking at it. Quixotic watched her going over something in her own head before speaking up again.

"It's not that I don't trust you, or that I'm not grateful to you or anything, just, I've been getting strange samples like this from you for a while. I know you said this was a private project, and you have to limit what you can talk about with it because of potential leaks. But, I was wondering. Where are you getting these DNA strands from? Can you at least tell me that? Because what's happening to these peoples DNA looks horrifying."

Dr. Baleful looked up at Quixotic, her dark eyes looking stern. Quixotic started to feel sweat bead down his pale cheek. The look she gave was... intense.

"You…" Dr. Baleful started. "...said it looks like there is something wrong with the stabilization when it keeps morphing?"

"Ye...yes. It's the DNA, it's trying to change. But the stain it undertakes is too much, so it, it just, dies, instead." Quixotic rested his chin on his hand. "Whatever is happening to the patient, the added substance becomes too much, especially near the end of the trail. It's going too fast, the body can't keep up with whatever drug this is. Maybe if we fix the dose, then heightened it as we go along….but we would have to be careful or else the body might too quickly adapt and erase what progress we have…"

Quixotic looked up at Dr. Baleful, who now stood right next to him. He didn't even notice her moving; he was so lost in his own world.

"I see," Dr. Baleful's stern look faded away into a smile. "Good work Quixotic, you have such a good eye. This is why you're my favorite intern."

"I..I'm your favorite intern?" Quixotic stamerd. "But, I mean. It would still be nice to know what exactly…"

Dr. Baleful put her soft hand on his cheek. He leaned forward, the soothing feeling of her hand combing through his hair washed over him in calming waves.

"You're pretty thin, any skinnier and you'll be nothing but bones. We should break for lunch soon." Dr. Baleful took her hand away from Quixotics head. Quixotic's eyes snapped open at the loss of touch, drool hanging out of his mouth. "I'll just finish up then come get you. Consider it a date."

"A..a..date!?" Quixotic blushed. "I..uh…"

Quixotic had turned towards Dr. Baleful, but she had already left the room. He turned back to his microscope but he couldn't concentrate on his work. What's going on? Where does she disappear to for a while? These thoughts sat at the back of his head, after a while of impatiently thumping his leg and blankly staring at the microscope he couldn't stand the not knowing anymore and got up and left his lab.

Not shortly after looking for her, Quixotic had spotted Dr. Baleful getting into the elevator. Usually a number would show up on the screen above telling him which floor she pushed, but nothing appeared just like last time he got curious and followed her. He pulled out a piece of paper from his lab coat, looking at it he had crossed out most of the floors. The only floors left despite this one were the floors on 2B and tower 9S, which was the second building across from them, and the tiny security stand you go past before getting into the parking lot. Neither of which you would need the elevator for unless you were to get into your car in the underground parking garage and drive ten feet to…

Wait, the underground parking garage just underneath the building. Quixotic shoved the paper back in his lab coat pocket and began running down the stairs to the parking garage.

When he made it down he quietly hid behind the wall next to the stairwell. But looking around the parking garage it looked like, just... a normal parking garage.

"Of course it's just an ordinary parking garage." Mumbled Quixotic. "I'm so stuiped."

Ding!

The sound of the elevator opening jumped Quixotic out of his thoughts. He laid flat with his back to the wall, looking over to his side he saw Dr. Baleful stepped off of the elevator. She dug into her lab coat until she found an old looking key, sticking it into the lock she pressed against the red door of the janitors closet until it opened.

Wait, the janitors closet? But Quixotic didn't have much time to think about it, the door was beginning to shut. Quickly he took the key card that hung around his neck, but when he went to wedge it into the door frame the door had already shut completely.

"Nooo, darn it!" Quixotic murmured, kicking himself. "I was so close!"

He pouted at the doorknob. Then without really hoping, he turned the knob and of course it doesn't...

Opened!?

Quixotic couldn't believe it. The door just opened when he turned the knob. Carefully, he peaked in the crack of the door. When he saw no one he opened it all the way and carefully stepped inside.

The janitor's closet of course didn't look like a regular janitors closet, but it had white walls with white tiled floors like the rest of the lab up stairs. He continued to walk around cautiously, when he noticed that insided the big windowed rooms instead of desks and lab equipment there were hospital beds with people hooked up to IV pumps.

Quixotic pecked into one of the windows with a sleeping person in it, he wasn't able to see much of the person under the covers, but could tell by the slight movement that there was a breathing person underneath. Was this lab supposed to be connected to a hospital? If so he didn't know about it, he wondered what kind of sickness these people could have to put them apart from the main hospital. Also, why is a hospital even in the basement of a lab of all things?

Quixotic backed away from the window continuing down the hall. But where did Dr. Baleful go? He saw no sign of her ever since he came in here.

But right as he was about to get worried, in one of the rooms he spotted a laptop on a portable computer desk that they use to wheel around the lab. A laptop, that would have to have some answers to what's going on around here inside.

Quixotic opened the sliding door walking inside. He got to the laptop before he noticed that it was locked and needed to scan for ID. He took the keycard from around his neck holding it up to the scanner.

BLEEP!

Ah, of course, the blar of denial. He should have known it wouldn't open for him. His key card wouldn't work on any of the equipment or doors on this floor.

"Maybe I could ask to borrow someone's ID claiming to have lost my own, but if anyone asks that person about the recent activity on their ID it could lead back to me snooping, and the fact that I had now tried to scan my card…" Quixotic bit his lip, oh why didn't he think of that before!? It's already too late, if someone checks the card scanner for everyone who has scanned their cards in this port… "Damit Quixotic think, or else it won't end too well for mEek!"

Quixotic's blood curdled when he felt a big hand touch his shoulder. He could only think of one word, caught. Cold sweat beaded down his face, the room vividly shook. He was afraid of being caught by Dr. Baleful, but, this hand couldn't be Dr. Baleful, it was too big and cold... Maybe Dr. Behemoth knew about this place and he was working down here?

No wait, calm down this is a good thing. Though Quixotic. Just tell him you got lost looking for Dr. Baleful, that's not uncanny you are her assistant, and you bumped into the laptop which scanned your card by accident. That's not weird right? But before Quixotic could open his mouth a voice rasped out.

"I'm... sorry...kid…"

The man sounded dehydrated and old. It wasn't Dr. Behemoth's voice, or any of the other scientists in the lab, but it did somehow sound uncanny yet familiar. Quixotic slowly turned around to face the person the voice belonged to.

AHHH!

Quixotic screamed and fell over at the sight of the man. Who he saw looked like a plucked chicken, wrapped in bumpy pink flesh.

"I'm...sorry...for what I did to you at the marketplace…"

The man reached his hand out towards the boy. Quixotic began scooting away horrified until he got to the other side of the doorway.

"Please help me…" The man rasped.

Quixotic heard something rattling on the wall and noticed that chains wrapped around the man's throat and wrist. He then looked over at the samples of blood and skin tissues that were locked up in a clear case in the corner of the room.

"Please help me…" The man repeated. Quixotic stopped shaking long enough to see that the man had cuts and stitches, suggesting he had been non stop poked and prodded in an inhumane manner. "She knew what she was doing when she ran into me at the market, kid she knew! She was hunting me down!"

Quixotic felt a hand behind him pull him away and shut the door.

"Dr. Baleful!"

He looked up into his master's dark green eyes.

"Quixotic, there you are…"

Dr. Baleful reached her hand down to pet his hair, but Quixotic hit it away. He quickly stood up running through the hallway towards the red door he came in from.

"Listen to me Quixotic…" Dr. Baleful walked towards her scared pupil. "I'm not your enemy here."

Quixotic's hands clambered for the knob, but when he turned it, it wouldn't open. Dr. Baleful stopped mid walk, she was shorter than him, shorter than most people, but there she stood towering over him.

"Quixotic…" She sighed.

"You, you're experimenting on people!" Quixotic cried pounding on the locked door. "Is that what you're going to do to me!?"

"Now why would I do that?" Dr. Baleful asked. "Look around, you have wonderful deduction skills. What's the one thing you see in common with everyone here?"

Quixotic looked around the lab. He started recognizing all the faces around him, some were on the news for petty thievery, to sexual assault, to straight-up murder in lower income neighborhoods. He also began to recognize the man he bumped into who was chained up. He was unrecognizable at first without his scales, but he was the villain who chased after him at the market when he first met Dr. Baleful.

"They're all…"

"Villains." Continued Dr. Baleful. "I told you, I'm not the enemy."

"But why?" Asked Quixotic. "I mean how? Wouldn't the heroes...?"

"Wouldn't the hero's what?" Dr. Baleful asked. "We're in Arizona, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nothing and nowhere. There isn't enough glory in catching something in nothing now is there? And these guys know that." She motioned towards the caged villains. "These aren't normal people, these are monsters who hurt normal people and laugh knowing they can get away with it. The man whose cell you walked into was willing to kill a small woman and a young teen without a second thought. You were there to see it yourself. He was just going to keep going about his business racking up a body count like this was some kind of game until he was enough of a nuisance to finally warrant a hero's attention. I didn't bring you on for nothing Quixotic, I know you'll do the right thing."

Quixotic leaned his head on the door, his grip losing on the knob.

"Can I show you something?" Dr. Baleful asked.

They went into a room that looked more like an office room, with nice cushy leather chairs and a big wooden desk with a computer on top. On the wall above her work desk was a machine gun. Dr. Baleful ran her painted green fingernail over the slick black gun.

"You know, I don't think I've ever told you this, but your junkyard kinda reminds me of my old trailer park. We were poor, my mother left, my dad, drunk." Dr. Baleful looked back to Quixotic, who winced. "As you can imagine, I had a hard time, being powerless and all. I was picked on and belittled a lot when I was younger." Dr. Baleful picked up the machine gun off the wall and held it. "I don't think I ever told you this story, but I hope you understand why, it's a hard one to go back to." She paused, taking a sharp breath. "It happened one day in the middle of July, some boys came into my trailer in the middle of the night when my dad was out drinking. They quickly became furious when they couldn't find anything worthwhile to steal. I ran to my parents bedroom, the only room besides the bathroom with a door and shut it. They kept shouting about how they could overtake me because I was powerless, and there was no point. Painiced I looked around the room until I found one of the machine guns my dad was going to sell at the upcoming gun show. That's when they busted down the door and I shot them. There was no hero to save me, nothing powerful about me to protect myself, all I had was that machine gun. By the rate some people are evolving even that won't be enough anymore. That's when I finally understood. This world was off balance, some were much more stronger than others. The system isn't protecting us, we're oppressed. Now you understand I have to make this world equal again. Not only for my safety, but for everyone like me who can't defend themselves from the powerful and strong. We have to be the heroes, by finding a way to get rid of superpowers."

"Get rid of superpowers?!" Exclaimed Quixotic. "But without superpowers there would be no super heroes, and super heros protect citizens. They're supposed to be the champions of the people."

"Well, what do you think of the chosen heroes of today?" Dr. Baleful said. "Are they heroic?"

The TV above her desk played a rerun of Phoenix's interview with the reporter at the train station. He looked up at the image of his bully being displayed as a hero. Quixotic unconsciously rubbed the burn mark on his shoulder. Before looking at the machine gun Dr. Baleful put back down onto the desk.

"Shh, it's okay now. I know how it feels."

She cooed running her soft hand throughout his messy hair. Quixotic let the unfair feeling of letting go of his one big dream of being a hero wash away with the warm affection he got from Dr. Baleful. His green eyes lolled in his head, the last thing they landed on before he lost consciousness was the machine gun that sat on her desk.

Phoenix ran up the decaying metal stairs fury in his heart, the very same machine gun Dr. Baleful had in her office all thoughts years ago in his hand. But when he got to the top a full fled fight had broken out between Tin-Can-Tim and all the villains. It was chaos, the thugs were throwing everything they had at the huge metal monster, but there he stood untouched and guarding the building. But he noticed that in the monster's determination to guard the door, he hadn't noticed the metal vent on the side of the building.

He figured the best way to get past everyone is when both sides are distracted, he noticed every once in a while Tin will send out a wave of sharp metal thorns, in which naturally the other villains will doge, or at least try to.

Phoenix strapped the machine gun to his back and pulled out two machetes. The metal wave of thorns came, Phoenix darted across the landing. He dogged and swerved the thorns as they came, he was midway when a metal thorn headed straight for him, they were coming to split him in half. He didn't have time to move out of it's way, so he held out one of the machetes to block. In the split second before the clash thick vines came up out of the ground right in front of the metal thorns taking Phoenix's machete up with it. When the metal thorn couldn't cut through all the vines in its way, it retracted back to its place to charge up for the next round.

"Hey, you know Quixotic right?" Asked the man who summoned the vines. "You and that crazy ass went to school here together right?"

"Who's asking?" Retorted Phoenix. "Also I thought you and that "crazy ass" were working together, what happened around here?"

"Alloy's fucking bitch fucking betryed us. Thats what happened around here. He plans to fill the air waves with that gas that can take away super powers not just on our enemies anymore, but on all of us."

"Oh what a shocker," Phoenix said sarcastically. "The meniptivle ass hole who betrayed your old gain leader is now…" The words took a minute to sink in. "...releasing an airborne drug? No way, that's,"Phoenix's brows furrowed. "I mean he was nowhere near figuring out how..."

"Do you have any idea where he went?" Interrupted the vine villain.

Phoenix looked up to the glass dome at the very top of the building.

"Ya, I know where he went." Said Phoenix shifting his gaze back to his current gole. "I just need a way to get myself to that vent...."

"I can help you out with that. Every once in a while King Lord Boomy will create a bomb with his stored up fats to throw at that big ugly monster. While trying to protect the biding, big ugly will deflect the bomb with his sword arm which literally blows up in his face. Now he doesn't seem to take any sort of damage from this, but all the smoke and flash blinds him for a hot minute. When that happens I'll create a pathway to that side vent with vines. Got it?"

"Simple enough." Said Phoenix. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

"If I wanted to, I would have just let you die when the metal thorns were coming after you. Besides you know so much about Quixotic that you're the only one who can really stop that jackass. I mean you better because who would want to have their superpower taken away, you know?"

Phoenix grimaced, looking down at his hands. It's been about a decade since he has been a prisoner in Quixotics and Dr. Balefuls lab. But his beautiful flames were permanently gone.

BOOM!

A bomb went off, and in an attempt to save the building Tin swiped at it. And just like the vine guy predicted it blew up in Tin's face.

"Go now!" Yelled the vine user. He grew his wild vines up towards the vent on the side of the building. "Oh, and Phoenix, punch that crazy fuck in the face, and break his nose."

Phoenix turned without a word, his messy orange hair blowing in the cold night wind. As he ran higher and higher on the vine. He made it just over halfway across when Tin skewered the vine man in the stomach. Shaking the man slowly reached down towards his missing abdomen.

"But I...it's not fair… *hack* *hack*"

The man coughed up blood before Tin retracted his blade and the man's cold body hit the rusted landing. Not soon after, the vines that made his pathway up to the vent had already begun to shrivel up and die.

"Shit!" Yelled Phoenix.

He began to pick up speed as the plant wilted behind him. He got to the last stretch of the wilting plant and jumped before it fell. Phoenix plunged his remaining machete into the side of the building just underneath the vent. He swung his leg up towards the vent to kick it open, but right when he was about to he felt a sharp pain going through his calf.

"Aghh!"

"You should be the one most grateful to Quixotic." Tin kept his metal blade in Phoenix's calf as he spoke. "To have once hurt everyone you touched by your destructive nature. Only to be blessed, given a second chance at life as a man instead of being a monster. Soon we shall all be cleaned of our demons by the purifying rain that'll wash over us all, will you really be as stubborn as to be consumed by the flames of hatred?"

"Ha ha, blessed? Pure? Ha ha ha." Phoenix's bitter laugh escaped his raspy throat. "You really think sin can be washed away just like that? If you really are so full of yourself as to believe all that then…" Phoenix tightened his grip on the machete. "Then take the L and fuck off loser!"

Phonix bit his lip as he swung his leg around. Tearing his calf off of the metal blade, blood and skin flew in the air while he kicked the rusted vent breaking it off the wall with one felled swoop.

"Noo!" Screamed Tin.

Phoenix dived into the vent. Tin reached his bladed arm in after him. Phoenix slid down, his blood from his calf leaving a trail down the metal grating. Tin's metal thorns extended from his arm tearing up the inside of the vent as he tore after him. Phoenix continued to slide down, his heart beat a mile a minute, he couldn't do anything but continued to look forward. His foot hit the vent at the other end, the rusted vent broke away instantly.

Phoenix came out of the wall on the inside of the school tumbling onto the white tiled floor. The blades continued to extend after him, Phoenix sat up scooting backwards away from the blade until his back pressed up against the white wall. The blade was only an inch away from his temple when it reached it's full laughth and stopped.

Phoenix let out shallow shaky breaths, sweat dripping down his forehead. The blade finally retracted itself, he let out a long sigh of relief slumping to the floor. When he heard the outrage screams of the zealot

"Ahhh!"

BANG

The big monster punched the outside of the building in defeat, the dimed ceiling lights shook, and some of the ceiling crumpled off into speaks onto the tiled ground. But Phoenix knew he was safe, Tin wouldn't dare bring the building down and risk hurting his lord and savor Quixotic.

"Tch." Phoenix scoffed. "Lord and savor Quixotic the pure pfft!"

Phoenix took a minute to look at his wounded calf, the dark blood was still leaking out. He Shut his eyes tight, leaning back against the wall. He knew what he had to do and was dreading it. Taking out his lighter he heated up his rambo knife before proceeding to gently press it to his wound.

"Ngahhh." Phoenix gasped in pain as soon as the blade touched skin.

He didn't know how good he used to have it as a fire user before, all he used to have to worry about is if his fingernails were blacked, or if his fire left a bald spot when he used it too much without his special hair gel. If you would have asked him fifteen years ago he would have never guessed how much fire or cauterizing a wound would have hurt.

Meanwhile Quixotic opened the door to his school's media class room. He headed straight for Alloys machine, which he was glad he set up earlier because it would have been a pain to do so now. It was also the perfect place to put it, the room which was set up so high it can reach the radio waves and send out the perfect signal, was now going to be used to spread out a mist that will put an end to this superpower society. Will put an end to the inequality in people's abilities, no longer will the powerful and strong pry on the week.

Quixotic put his old teacher's disembodied hand on the console. He began to implement the code to release the mist.

BANG!

Quixotic moved to the side just in time, the bullet whizzed by his head and hit the machine cracking the screen, (Thankfully not breaking it). Quixotic turned around to meet face to face with Phoenix. He saw the recognizable machine gun clutched in his hand, the machine gun that was Dr, Baleful's salvation and her demise.

"Ignited," Quixotic smiled. "Oh, how seeing you makes my heart race. How did you even get past Tin-Can-Tim?"

Phoenix held the machine gun in his hand, panting before he rasped out.

"This ends now."