Chapter Text
“Sylvie… Sylvie!”
Sylvie screwed his eyes shut. Someone was calling to him, but they sounded so... distant. Where… where even was he? The more he tried to remember, the more his head began to swirl. Why did everything hurt so much? He heard something to his left, almost like the clattering of wood, before something grabbed his shoulder.
“Sylvie, wake up!”
The voice was louder now. Wait, that was Molly’s voice, wasn’t it? What was she doing here? Sylvie forced his eyes open, flinching a bit at the sudden flood of light. He was on the floor, the ceiling fans motionless above his head. Right. The museum. A hand reached over to brush the stray hairs from his face. Molly sat beside him, concern clear on her face. Sylvie squinted, his eyesight still blurry.
“... Molly?”
Her immediate relief was interrupted as his body was wracked with a series of coughs. He was suddenly uncomfortably aware of how much his entire body ached . Molly, panicked, quickly helping him sit up. Unconsciously, he put an arm around her shoulder to support himself. It felt like someone had pushed him down a series of stairs. He flinched as a pang of pain flashed through his chest. Okay, so maybe worse. That was cool too.
“What… what happened?” He managed. The last thing he remembered was going off to stall for time, and there was a scuffle, and then Molly was there and--!
“Molly, are you all right!?” He blurted out, but he hissed as the sudden movement irritated his lungs again.
“Me!? Sylvie, you’re seriously hurt!” Molly protested. “I- I didn’t know if you were okay after she…” Her voice grew quiet. “...after she took your epithet.” Sylvie fell silent. Instinctively, his hand clutched at his chest, the fabric of his hoodie crumpled between his fingers. His senses were still reeling, but even through the noise, there was something… wrong. Inscrutable, almost, but unmistakably wrong. It was almost like he was unfamiliar with his own body-- unsteady, uneasy… cold.
Oh.
Then, there were footsteps. The two of them looked up quickly as a caped figure ran over, baseball bat in tow. He skidded to a stop beside them, pausing to catch his breath. Giovanni. Of course he was still here.
“I...” He huffed, hands on his knees. “I lost ‘em.” Sylvie froze. What?
“Wh… where did they go?” Molly pressed. Giovanni growled, shaking his head frustratedly. “I don’t know!” He said, tossing his hands in the air.
“What do you mean you don’t know!?” Sylvie raised his voice suddenly.
“I mean I don’t know! I went after ‘em, but they’re faster than they look!” Giovanni protested, beginning to pace frustratedly. “The big guy tossed up a barrier at the door, and by the time I found a way around, they just… ARGH! ”
Sylvie watched in stunned silence as the Banzai Captain kicked aside a stray fragment of wood from the shattered crates around them. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to pretend that, somehow, that anger would make anything better, but… it wouldn’t. It wasn’t right, and he knew it. He bit back the raging emotions, threatening to overflow, and replaced it with… quiet. Taking in an unsteady breath, he shut his eyes and shoved it all back-- and in its place rose a practiced stillness. He wouldn’t acknowledge it now. Hopefully not ever.
The stillness remained even as Molly placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes full of concern. He still hadn’t said anything, had he?
“Sylvie, are you okay..?” She asked gently. Sylvie gritted his teeth. He... should’ve said something. He took a breath, hoping the words would come, but... What was there to say? He squeezed his eyes shut again. His head hurt.
“BOSS!”
Oh good, what now ? Six uniformed figures burst into the room, skidding to a stop not too far from the entrance. The tallest of the bunch had another on their shoulders piggyback style, unconscious. Giovanni stood up sharply, alarmed.
“We kept them off as long as we could, but that wizard cop’s like, scary strong!” The one with blue hair reported.
“Yeah, a wizard cop’s way outta our pay grade.” Piped up another. Giovanni let out a huff, swinging his bat onto his shoulders.
“Don’t worry, my boys.” He announced, standing up straighter. “You’ve done enough. I’ll take care of The Fuzz.” He glanced around, gauging the situation. His eyes quickly fell back to Molly and Sylvie as the former helped the latter shakily to his feet. He nodded.
“Flamethrower! Car Crash! You take care of these two and get them to the getaway car!” He turned towards the entrance.
“B-but Boss..!” The tall blaster began, but Giovanni quickly shushed him.
“Worry not, dear minion! They don’t call me the Greatest Banzai Captain of All for nothing!” He crowed.
“Does anyone really call you that?” Sylvie mumbled, still trying to find his balance on his own two feet. Giovanni just laughed, a sly grin spreading across his face.
“They will.” He swung his bat into position. “Now go, my boys! I’ll catch up with you later.” The blasters shared a quick look, then nodded.
“Right away, Boss!” They chanted. Quickly, two Blasters rushed to the two’s side, swiftly sweeping them off their feet. Sylvie yelped, startled at the sudden movement.
“Hey! Do I not get a say in this!?” He protested. The Banzai Blaster-- with curly brown hair and a banged up uniform-- shook his head.
“Sorry dude, Boss’ orders. We gotta go!” He said. Sylvie bit back a retort, grumbling as his assigned blaster began to catch up with the others through the exit. He was too tired to come up with anything as biting as he felt. Now, with the newfound quiet of the museum and the droning footsteps, he felt… more exhausted than he thought. He probably used up all his stamina in the fight against that woman. Great help he ended up being. He squeezed his eyes shut again.
This couldn’t have possibly gone worse. Every chance he had to mess up, he did. And now he was practically getting kidnapped. His head was pounding, and at this point he couldn’t tell if it was because of his earlier screw up or the thoughts racing around his periphery. He just needed everything to stop, just for a few minutes. Just some time to collect himself, to figure out what to do next, that was it. That was it. And, even if he didn’t intend it, the quiet came as he drifted out of consciousness once more.