Chapter Text
Jon’s eyes flashed neon green and he froze. Oh hell no. He pulled out his phone and opened a new group chat, quickly Knowing and adding the numbers of the various avatars he was acquaintances with.
Jon Sims: Please read this whole message before you leave to try to kill me. There is a corporation in the USA called the Avalon Corporation that is experimenting on magical/supernatural beings. They have kidnapped many beings and are treating them horrendously. I am texting you all to ask if you would like to destroy them.
Mike Crew: you type like an old person lol
Mike Crew: but yeah ill help
Jude Perry: i hate you so much but i do like destroying things and killing people
Annabelle Cane: Of course I’ll help Archivist. I’m sure many of us agree that no matter how little we may care for the lives of others, when it comes down to it we will have the backs of those like us. After all, who knows when they might come after us?
Nikola Orsinov: I Would Love To Help!
H̷e̴l̸e̴n̶: ÿ̷̻́é̵̺ḁ̴̌ḩ̴͋ ̶̜͌i̵̥̓l̸͍̚ĺ̷͚ ̴͍͑h̶̯̓e̷͙͠l̸̦̀p̴̜̆ ̷͈͑a̴̲̓n̶̦͆d̸͍̈́ ̷̪̔i̶̲̿l̷̫̇l̴̜̈́ ̵̞̋b̸͇̀e̴̝͊ ̴͈͑t̶̫̚r̷̥̅a̸̞͑ṋ̸̿ş̷͝p̸̊ͅo̵̟̅r̴͉̂ẗ̷̪́a̴̰̓t̷̩͐i̷̘̕ǫ̸̾n̴̠͒
Oliver Banks: I may not be able to help much by attacking people, but I can take care of their files.
Jon Sims: Great. Thank you, everyone. Is anyone busy, or would this afternoon work as a time to meet up and leave?
– - –
Everyone agreed on that afternoon, and so they split into two groups for transportation. One taking Helen’s hallways, the other using the Vast via Mike. The second group was just Mike himself and Jude, who was liable to get lost with her inability to hold on to people or things long enough to get through. Soon enough it was mid-afternoon and they were all standing in front of the main headquarters of the Avalon Corporation. Jon Knew the passcode, and in they went.
– - –
One might be tempted to compare the ragtag group of avatars to a SWAT team efficiently making their way through the building. Unfortunately, that would be incorrect. Instead, it was pure chaos. Some of them (Mike, Nikola, and kind of Helen) didn’t have the means to free any of the captives so they mostly went around killing/taking the people working there. Annabelle was forcing people to open the cages. While it was true that Annabelle preferred to manipulate people the human way, in a pinch she could just force people to do what she wanted. Jude melted through both the locks on the cages and people's heads. Jon was Knowing passcodes left and right, making his way through the building. Oliver had, in fact, found the room they kept the records and such like in and was systematically deleting everything off their computers, just in case there was anything that would stay if he only destroyed the physical computers.
– - –
Eventually, Jon found a room deep in the building. There was what looked like a very large bubble in it, and in the bubble…Jon tensed. There was what looked to be a small child in the bubble, curled up, and looking understandably miserable. Jon walked over and knocked lightly on the bubble. Solid. He quickly texted Jude, asking for her help, and spoke to the child.
“Hello?” no response. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. A few of my acquaintances and I are freeing everyone trapped in this building, and that include you.” the kid turned around and looked at him.
“You’re talking to me?” they asked, sounding hopeful. The Eye dropped a nugget of information in his head, and he barely kept himself from noticeably reacting. Peter Lukas would fucking love this place , he thought bitterly.
“Yeah. I am.” it was at that moment that Jude walked into the room, and in rapid succession noticed Jon, the bubble, and the child.
“Well, fuck.” she swore, walking over. “Hey kid? You might want to back up.” She didn’t warn Jon, but Jon was an adult who knew Jude and had logical thinking skills, so he backed up too. And that turned out to be a very good decision, as the temperature surrounding Jude skyrocketed, and her hands slowly sank into the material of the bubble. Until her hands went through, and the bubble s h a t t e r e d. The kid almost hit the ground, though they managed to catch themself and start hovering inches above the ground, before plopping down. “Well, my work here is done. Have a great life kid.” the kid in question was looking around in awe, seemingly in shock that they were free.
“What’s your name? I’m Jon, he/him.”
“Oh, I’m the Collector, they/them.” Jon smiled.
“It’s nice to meet you. Want me to help you get out of here? Because my acquaintances have been wreaking havoc on this place, and I don’t think you want to see the bodies Jude left in her wake.”
“Jude?”
“The woman who broke the bubble you were in.”
“Oh. Um, do you think you could help me find someone? Her name is Luz and she’s from the human realm. Well, we are in the human realm. So she’s from here.”
“Yeah, I can do that. Would you like me to call her?” they nodded. Jon pulled out his phone and Knew the number of one Luz Noceda.
“Who is this?”
“You don’t know me. I’m Jon, short for Jonathan Sims. He/him. I just found a kid named the Collector who asked me to find you for them.”
“How do you know this number?”
“That’s a long story I can tell you when we meet up. What location would work best for you?”
“I don’t know. And how do you know the Collector?”
“My acquaintances and I just raided the headquarters of the Avalon Corporation, a company of unethical scientists experimenting on magical and supernatural beings. I found the Collector trapped here. Would you like to talk to them?”
“Yeah, sure.” Jon handed his phone over.
“Hi, Luz.” the Collector's voice was high and nervous. “Um, yeah, Jon was telling the truth.” pause. “Um, well I’d prefer to call King but you’re from the human realm so I thought you’d make more sense.” pause. “Ok.” they handed the phone back to Jon.
“Where are you?” Jon told her the general area of the headquarters. “Ok, that’s not good. I live in Gravefield, Connecticut.”
“Distance isn’t a problem. I’ll be there…hopefully soon. I’ll call you once I’m in your general area.” Jon hung up, then texted Helen.
– - –
Jon and the Collector walked out of the hallways with matching headaches. Still, Jon turned around to wave goodbye at Helen.
“Thanks again!”
“No problem!” Jon called Luz.
“Hi. We’re in Gravefield.”
“What? It’s only been half an hour!”
“I have a friend. She can be a bit of a gamble because you never know exactly how long your trip will take you but I guess we’re in luck today.”
“Ok. I guess you can meet me at my house.” she rattled off the address and Jon put it into his phone.
“Great, be there soon.”
– - –
“KING!” The Collector shouted as soon as they entered the house, their face lighting up. Jon left them to their reunion, and looked around. There was someone else in the room, a teen with short brown hair. He walked over.
“Are you Luz?”
“Yeah, I am. And you have a lot of questions to answer.”
“Fair enough. But it’s a really long explanation, so I’d prefer to only do it once.”