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Eliza stared at the cork board on the dorm room wall.
She, her sisters and the Revolutionary Three, as the most well-known supers in the city have been tracing their most well-known enemy: Green Hurricane. She and her sisters, Angelica and Peggy, were known as the Skylarks, the most powerful female trio of Supers in the country. During the day they were students at Columbia University, at night they protected the city from the villains roaming the streets. For the most part, they worked with the Revolutionary Three, their real-life roommates. On the cork board, they had continuously recorded their progress, adding every clue the day of their discovery. Something about it wasn’t adding up.
“Still looking?” Peggy asked, walking up behind her, “You and I both know that Green Hurricane’s situation is… unorthodox, but he’s a villain. His motive doesn’t change that much.”
“I don’t know,” Eliza said, “All he does is steal. Never hurting anyone purposely either. He steals the power-suppressing serum, and sometimes antidepressants, from Hospitals, do you think that a true villain would try to make himself weaker? And all that stuff he mutters about, it sounds like he does what he does because he needs to. I don’t know Pegs. He sounds pretty depressing to me.”
“Betsey!?”
The voice of her boyfriend made Eliza jump before grabbing the corkboard and hastily putting it behind the couch. Alexander was the only one in the dorm who wasn’t a super. He had no powers and stumbled upon the groups of friends at orientation during their freshman year. Since then, she was never really able to push him out of her mind.
“In here!” she said loudly.
Alexander stumbled through the door.
“Have you seen my laptop?”
“It’s on our bedside table,” she told him, “But I thought you were having a no work weekend. You
promised John, remember?”
See, Eliza wasn’t the only one dating Alexander, she shared him with John, one of the Revolutionary Three. She and John weren’t dating, but it was almost like having a best friend who never got annoyed when you talked about your relationship.
“Right,” said Alex, sighing, “Well, I gotta head out then. I have a shift at the cafe.”
“See you later then,” Eliza said, pecking him on the cheek. “I think we’ll go out for dinner tonight. How does Italian sound?”
Alexander frowned. Eliza knew how much he hated it when they paid for him, but she and John made it their duty to spoil their boyfriend.
“Okay.”
Eliza smiled at him brightly.
“See you later?”
Alexander nodded, kissing her lightly on the lips before exiting.
“That was close.” Peggy said, grabbing the board back from behind the couch.
“I’d say,” Eliza agreed, “Anyway, what are your plans tonight?”
“Nothing much,” Peggy replied, shrugging, “I have a paper due on Friday, but I’m basically done. Do you think that Alex will edit it when I’m done?”
Eliza nodded.
“I’m sure he will. He always-”
She was interrupted by thunder, followed closely by the second strike of green lightning.
“Suit up Peggy, looks like Green Hurricane made new plans for us.”
Alexander cursed to himself as green lightning flashed through the sky shocking himself as it came. Surely this would mean that those Supers would be out, looking for him, the culprit. He didn’t actually have a shift at the coffee shop today, despite what he told his girlfriend. Instead, he was going to use the night to grab more serum. The experiment was the only thing that kept his powers in control and the rest of the world intact. Without it, they were uncontrollable, he couldn’t even think straight. And he was running out. So he pulled out his suit and flew to the nearest hospital. The lightning had given him away, surely the Skylarks and Co. would know what he was up to.
He flew towards the entrance of the Hospital. Lately, he’d learned that the fastest way for him to get in and out was to just make the secretary at the front desk tell him where it was. Normally, he could just threaten them, though he would never actually carry the threats out, the method was effective.
“Listen, lady,” he said, “Make this easy for everyone. Just tell me where you keep the repressing serum and nobody needs to gets hurt.”
Some secretaries were brave and would refuse to tell where it was without him summoning lightning. Others, like this one it seemed, really only worked there for the paycheck.
“Down the hall in the fifth door to the right.”
Alexander nodded and followed the lady’s directions, until, of course, a spiked vine grabbed him by the arm.
It seemed Sunray and his friends had arrived. Alexander shocked the plant violently, causing it to die instantly, freeing him of its grasp. He passed the third door, switching to flying as he sped towards his destination. Behind him, he could hear the wings of Angel as she flew behind him. He made it into the room, grabbing the vials as fast as he could before directing a bolt of lightning towards the wall so strong that a hole, big enough for a human, namely Alexander himself to escape. through. It seemed though, that his time had run out. He hissed as flame burned his hand.
“Stop running Green Hurricane.” said the voice of Phoenix.
Another one of the spiked vines wrapped itself around his arm, while a couple of its friends wrapped them around the rest of-of limbs and torso.
“Just let me go,” he growled, “I don’t understand why you do this anymore. You catch me, do something stupid and then we both go home. Why do you even bother?”
“I don’t think you’re in the place of asking any questions,” said Angel, joining the other supers in the light. “But we have a couple. So do us a favour and answer them, okay?”
Alexander rolled his eyes.
“The first question is simple, Hurricane,” Sunray began, “Why the hell are you taking this crap?! You know how dangerous this is right? And you're stealing it? It’s untested! Seriously, man, this could kill you.”
“I’m so glad you care.” Alexander replied sarcastically.
“I’ll be honest dude,” the Tailor said, emerging from the shadows, “I don’t hate you. Why are you even doing this?”
Alexander could feel his powers fighting to break out from under the surface of his very skin.
“I need it,” he said, “I have to take the stuff. I need it so I can control my powers so I don’t hurt Besty and Jonathan. I’m doing it because I have to.”
“ Mon enemi ,” said Creation Crusader, “Do you wish to cause destruction? Or have you stopped looking for other ways to get what you need?”
Alexander ignored, summoning the power from underneath his skin. He felt a bead of sweat drip down his face from the sheer effort. He grit his teeth to keep himself from screaming as lightning could be seen from under his skin before-
BOOM!
John screamed as Green Hurricane seemed to explode.
His vision was filled with bright green light as the room shook with a delayed rumble. His skin was numb as he blinked his vision back.
“Holy shit!” he heard Peggy hiss, “What the fuck.”
“He’s gone,” Eliza announced, “He took the serum with him.”
“Are you guys okay?” Lafayette asked, “That was a big fucking explosion. I feel tingly all over.”
“Same,” Herc replied, “God! Let’s just head home, I doubt he’ll be back. We’ll wanna get out before the cops and reporters get here.”
Everyone agreed and made their way out of the building. Angelica using her wings, grabbing Eliza. Peggy transformed into Angelica and followed her out. John made his plants, much gentler and softer than the ones he had used against Hurricane, grabbed his two friends and directed them through the city, right back towards their apartment.
“Don’t you have a date with Alex tonight?” Lafayette asked, “How are you going to explain the injuries?”
“Probably the usual,” he said, shrugging as his plants let them down onto their balcony, “Since ‘Liza can heal up most of it, I’ll just say that we were in the area and got caught in a little bit of the after-shock of the explosion.”
“Well I hope that you can do it,” said Herc, “I think Alex might be getting suspicious.”
John nodded.
He walked into his room and changed out of his costume and into a button-up and jeans.
“‘Liza!” he screamed into the halls of the apartment.
“In the living room!” her voice boomed.
John ran towards the room, when he entered, he was greeted with the sight of Eliza, also ready for their date. She was dressed in a green jumpsuit.
“We’re all healed up,” she said, “Now come here. You need to be all fixed up before Alex gets here.”
John obliged, letting Eliza’s pink glow roam his injuries. He smiled subconsciously as she healed them.
“I got pretty much all of it,” she said, “Just be careful of your upper left arm. I think it probably would’ve suffered some bad electrocution damage if I hadn’t stepped in.”
John nodded.
That’s when Alexander walked back through the door.
“Hey guys,” he said, “Just give me a second. I need to get changed.”
John and Eliza nodded in unison.
“So we’re getting Italian,” said Eliza, “I can’t remember if I told you.”
“Nice.” said John, “Anywhere specifically?”
“I was thinking Queen Margarita?” Eliza said, “Afterall, it’s one of Alex’s favourites.”
“Sure, why not?” John said.
John smiled as Alexander exited their room. As always, he looked great. Except for one thing.
“What happened to your hand, Alex?” Eliza asked, sharing John’s concern. Alex’s hand was wrapped in bandages.
“I just burned it at the coffee shop,” he said, waving them off, “A customer spills their coffee on me.”
John wanted to ask more but dropped the subject.
“Well, let’s go then,” said Alexander, pulling on his coat. “Don’t want to be late.”
Eliza was worried about Alex.
Lately, more than ever, he was seeming sicker and sicker. The poor boy was feverish but still insisted on attending his classes. Now though, Eliza was taking a break from everything and meeting up with one of her friends, Maria.
“So you said that Green Hurricane mentions names when he fights?”
Maria had the power of projection but liked to stay out of the fights. Instead, she liked to report, only keeping some of the details to herself. Things like this.
“Always about a Jonathan and Betsy,” Eliza said, nodding.
“Have you ever considered- ?”
“Look,” she said, “I get it. John is John and I’m Betsy, but Alex would never do that. He doesn’t even have any powers. There’s like a million other Elizabeth's and John's in New York City and Alex isn’t Hurricane. He’s too busy to be him anyway. He has work, school, everything ! And he hates storms . Besides, Alex would never hide that from us.”
“If you’re sure,” said Maria, “I’m just saying. It would make sense.”
“He’s always talking about stealing the money for them, so it really couldn’t be us, you know?” she said, “Both John and I come from money, Alex knows that.”
“Fine,” Maria said, “I’ll drop it. Just remember what I’m saying, okay? Maybe it’s time to consider the other options, even if we don’t want to.”
Eliza grimaced.
She heard Maria and understood what she was saying, but try as she might, she couldn’t accept the facts being laid in front of her. Alexander had never even shown sign of having powers, he barely looked like Hurricane, the only real similarity being his ethnicity and hair length. She was sure that Alexander would never hide something like that, let alone do it.
“So how are you guys holding up?” Maria asked, “That explosion was pretty huge, I mean he’s never done something like that before, right? Is he getting stronger or something?”
“We’re doing fine,” she said, “We’re pretty much all healed up, mind you my healing powers. helped, but we’re okay. And yeah, he hasn’t really done anything like that before. It was weird, it looked like his power was almost trying to break out of his own skin. But… I don’t think he's getting stronger. You know the only thing he steals is that suppressor? I think he steals it because he actually needs to. It doesn’t really make sense otherwise for him to steal it, that thing can kill you. And it has been the longest break since his last theft so it would make sense.”
“What are you trying to say?” Maria asked, leaning in.
“I don’t really know,” she said, “Maybe I’m scared for him. Maybe I feel bad for him. He needs help so badly that he has to steal something that could kill him- I don’t know Ria.”
“Well maybe that is something you need to figure out,” Maria said, “Listen. I know that your rivalry and whole investigation operation is a thing for you guys, but honestly? You need to think about this and what you really want to know about the Green Hurricane.”
Eliza’s phone rang.
“Sorry,” Eliza said, pulling her phone out of her purse, “Give me a second.”
Maria nodded.
“Liza. You need to come home. Alex, he’s burning up.”
John’s worried voice made Eliza’s mind move towards the worst.
“I’ll be home as fast as I can.”
She hung up quickly and looked towards Maria apologetically.
“That was John,” she said, getting ready to leave, “Alex is feverish. I’m really sorry about this. But I-”
“I get it.” Maria reassured her, “Don’t worry about it. You wanna meet up on Wednesday? At like three maybe? Same place?”
“Sounds good! See ya!”
“Bye Elizabeth!”
Alexander’s vision was clouded, he was dizzy and even thinking hurt.
He groaned loudly.
“Shhh, shh, shhh,” John whispered into his ear. “Eliza’s on her way. You’re okay Alex, stop moving.”
“M fine,” he said, trying to sit up, “It’s fine John. I gotta work.”
“No.” John said sternly, holding his hand to Alexander’s chest. “You are not getting out of bed, you’re sick Alex. You’re burning up. Does anything hurt?”
Alexander resigned himself to his fate, his head hurt too much for him to protest much anyway. He sighed.
“My arm.”
John nodded in silent thanks before rolling up his sleeve. Alexander watched as John’s jaw dropped in shock.
“Alexander what happened?” he asked, “You arm- it’s not good. Alex, we need to go to the hospital. It’s all purple and infected.”
Alexander froze. The serum. He couldn’t go to the hospital, if he did, he would get caught, go to jail and never be able to see John and Betsey ever again. He knew the serum was taking its toll - he was used to being sick at this point. It was worth it though. He didn’t want to think about a world where he didn’t have the suppressant. He hated it when he didn’t have it. He felt out control of his own powers, instead, his powers controlled him, paining him constantly. He was never really able to learn how to control his powers and he guessed that it was part of the reason why he even needs the suppressant.
“Alex?”
Eliza’s voice rang out through the apartment, making all of his fears felt. Eliza. Eliza would keep him safe; Eliza would never make him go to a hospital.
“Oh, John,” she said, rushing to Alex’s side, “What’s wrong with him?”
“I’m not sure,” John admitted, “His arm is the worst of it. It’s all purple an infected.”
Eliza frowned and inspected her boyfriend’s arm.
“It almost looked like a shot that got infected,” she said, “Alex, honey?”
Alexander grunted in response, worrying silently that he was about to be found out.
“Did you get a flu shot or something recently?” she asked, “Could that be why you aren’t feeling so hot, hun?”
Eliza was dangerously close to the truth, barely dancing around the answer. Alexander opted not to respond.
“I think we might need to head to the hospital.” she said, rubbing his forehead.
Alexander shook his head anxiously.
“No hospital?” Eliza asked frowning.
“He never wants to go to the hospital,” John said quietly, “They scare him… ever since his mother.”
Eliza nodded.
“Why don’t you take a nap?” she said soothingly, rubbing his shoulders, “You could use the rest.”
At her words, Alexander’s eyelids instantly felt droopy. Eliza had that effect on him, except today he didn’t want to fall under her spell. He struggled to stay awake.
“Sleep Alex,” John whispered into his ear, playing with his hair calmly, “Just a little nap won’t hurt.”
Alexander knew it would, but couldn’t help himself, falling into unconsciousness.
Eliza inspected Alexander’s arm carefully, making sure not to wake him as he did. The wound seemed to be spreading throughout the rest of his arm like spidery purple veins.
“What is it?” John asked her softly, “What happened to him?”
“I’m not sure,” Eliza replied grimly, “We both know that he’s been pretty sick lately. Could this, whatever this is, be the root of it?”
Eliza glanced back at the wound. Something about the colour was eerily familiar to her.
“Isn’t that purple awfully similar to the colour of the suppressant serum?” John asked her, voice shaking.
Eliza’s blood ran cold.
“Maybe it’s time to consider the other options, even if we don’t want to.”
Maria’s voice was booming in her mind.
“You’re right,” she whispered, “Come on. Let’s go inside Alex’s office.”
“Are you sure?” John asked her, “Don’t you think that Alex would tell us about something as big as this?”
Eliza grimaced.
“I’m not so sure anymore.”
John followed her to the end of the hallway, approaching the door to Alex’s office. It was the one place that was off-limits to every but Alexander. They had always respected his privacy, after all, he was their friend. Until now of course.
They opened the door tentatively and the smell of lavender that Alexander always seemed to carry hit their noses. Eliza’s jaw dropped as she took in the sight before them. There were shelves full of the suppressor serum and in the corner, there was a familiar green costume laid haphazardly on the floor.
“Holy shit.”
Eliza nodded, agreeing with John.
“Alexander is Green Hurricane.”