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It wasn’t supposed to happen like that, it wasn’t supposed to happen at all.
The heroes had always been careful, pulling their punches and using their powers cautiously, ensuring no one got fatally injured even when their opponent's goal was to hurt or even kill them .
They were supposed to help and protect the citizens of the city, a promise and an oath that stretched to vigilantes and even villains. The hero core believed that all life was sacred even those who had been led down the wrong path deserved a second chance to make it right.
Of course, accidents had happened before, times when they were too late and people lost control of their powers. When they had to decide to save one person or a hundred, it often left everyone at the HQ in a mourning-like state for weeks when incidents like those happened.
But still, none of those times even compared to what had occurred today.
Techno had been tasked with bringing the new sidekick with him on morning patrol, a former villain that had been rehabilitated and now decided that she wanted to make a difference and join the hero core.
The others had chosen him specifically for the task considering their similar past, the only difference being she had been a low-level villain, and Techno had been one of the most feared throughout the city before Phil and Wilbur got through to him with a lot of stubbornness and refusal to give up on the scared and angry teenager he had once been.
Everything was going well the girl- Hannah was showing good potential, talking and listening to the citizens who stopped them to ask for help, her reaction time in dangerous situations was remarkable, almost like she had a sixth sense for when something was about to happen.
They had just made it onto a rooftop and were about to circle back toward the hero tower when Hannah stiffened and a red and golden blur zoomed by them, a familiar voice calling out ''Ayup Big man!''
Theseus landed a few meters in front of them, always careful to maintain distance no matter how many times he had done this before. His hands were on his hips and with a bright grin plastered on his face, he opened his mouth probably to deliver another one of his quick quips-
It happened so fast that Techno had no way of stopping it, one second Hannah was standing beside him the next she was lunging forward tackling Theseus and sending the boy to the ground with a startled yelp and a harsh thud
Techno was frozen, unable to move even as Hannah’s vines snaked around the vigilante’s limbs, sharp thorns breaking through his suit and maybe even his skin.
It wasn’t until another vine snaked its way around Theseus' throat making the thrashing vigilante’s eyes blow out wide, that Techno could finally move again, throwing himself forward and grabbing Hannah by the shoulders.
''What are you doing?'' He hissed, attempting to pull the other hero off the vigilante with little success as she seemed to have anchored herself to the ground using the same vines currently cutting off Theseus' blood and airflow.
Hannah didn’t even turn her head when she snarled; ''What I'm supposed to.'' before sending Techno flying backward using a vine to land a well-aimed punch straight to his gut.
He landed on the ground a few feet away, all air punched out of his lungs for a moment.
He didn’t get time to recover though, snapping his head up at the sound of gasping breaths, Theseus’ mask having been ripped off, his face steadily turning a dangerous purplish-blue color, a clear sign of lack of oxygen.
They were out of time and damn if Techno was gonna let anyone kill the vigilante that had been one of the first people to not fear him after he became a hero.
Acting quickly he sprang onto his feet, focusing in on the blood running through Hannah’s veins, giving a hard tuck on his powers that had the other hero going completely limp losing all control over her own body, and then sending her flying backwards away from Theseus, her vines falling away and disappearing with her.
Techo was by the boy’s side in mere seconds scooping him up into his arms carefully, he couldn’t be older than sixteen, perhaps seventeen at most. Golden-blond curls, that rivaled some of his favorite jewelry, spilled out over his eyes, eyes as blue as the sky, blinking frantically as he still struggled to take in air.
Techno was already walking, doing his best to try and comfort and calm down the panicked child, and oh prime he was just a child, one hand clinging so hard to Techno’s shirt that he was worried it might break, the other clawing at his neck in an attempt to remove the invisible barrier that had already been removed.
Techno knew Hannah was capable of creating poisonous vines, had heard Phil’s warning that she was never to use them during a fight. Seeing it in action, used on someone he considered a friend, on a child , was utterly terrifying.
''Shhh it’s okay, you’re okay.'' He whispered, desperately trying to believe it as he ran a gentle hand over the boy’s curls. Theseus didn’t respond, his too-quick and gasping breaths turning even more frantic for a second before his eyes rolled back into his head and the hand clinging onto Techno for dear life fell limp as the boy went unconscious.
Panic set in and before he knew it Techno was running as fast as he could toward the hero tower.
He could have been carrying a boy without a pulse for 3 miles, he didn’t check. He just
ran
.