More men ran on stage and jerked Jack away from Mark. He tries to fight them but clearly he's distraught by what just happened. One pulls him back slightly as the rest hurry to get Mark medical treatment. They can't allow him to die or else they lose an insane amount of money. They wheel him off stage and out of sight.
"Anyways, back to the show: Subject 03 is priced at $100,000..."
I tune out the man and look down at Jack. He's staring the way Mark went.
The man stood next to him and placed a hand upon his shoulder, leaning forward to whisper something to him.
That's a little strange.
"It's Trixie, Ethan. Don't worry about Mark, we got the healers in the back."
Bob! What are you doing here!
I look around, trying to locate him.
"Did you really think we were going to leave you guys trapped here?" Bob questions. I can't see him anywhere.
Where are you??
"Don't worry about where I am. Rose has taken care of the song over the speakers. Wade is working on freeing Tyler and he's sending the keys to your cages. Stacy and Reed are going through the audience and removing the guns from their security guards that are spread throughout the crowd. As you have said before whatever happens after freeing everyone, is up to you." Bob explains. A key floats its way to the lock on my cage door and opens it.
I smile, Thanks Wade.
Felix doesn't waste a second as he jumps down to the stage and lets out his own screech. The crowd reels back slightly but not in much fear as they assume it's a part of the show.
Felix grumbles, gesturing to Jack and myself to join him. Jack takes his moment. His screech is more sad and desperate. I jump down but move over to Tyler as Wade manages to unlock the cuffs upon his arms.
"Ty, you alright?"
His eyes look dull once they make contact with mine. I wave a hand in front of his face but he barely reacts.
"Tyler?"
Still nothing from him.
"I'll take him." Wade makes his way over to my side. "Who knows what they've done to him." He grabs Tyler by his arm and moves him from his spot. The giant stumbles slightly before Wade steadies him. Wade pulls his hand away from Tyler's back and we both reel at the sight of blood.
"No wonder he's not present." Wade says, "They must've been showing off his strength and pain tolerance."
The sight makes me angry.
"I'm taking him out of here." Wade shuffles a bit and shifts Tyler's arm over his shoulder, "You be careful." He begins to hobble Tyler backstage.
"Okay, everyone has been released. We are taking Tyler and Mark back to the mountains. Whatever happens here is up to you three." Bob states and then I feel his presence leave my mind.
I make my way back towards the front of the stage, I willingly allow the transformation to take over my body.
It feels so freeing each time.
Felix and Jack turn slightly to see me join them and they smirk at me.
I return the smirk, "Shall we?"
Jack immediately grabs hold of the man who had the microphone and then teleports elsewhere. Felix takes flight, hovering over the audience, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your final hour. You have been a part of this whole situation, that have changed millions of lives against their will to better yourselves and weapons for your government. I'm proud to announce that we will not allow this to happen."
I follow Felix up in the air, "These people aren't worth the time to torture, they only aided money wise."
"You're right, we have more important people to worry about." Felix nods his head, "I'll allow you this time to burn them all, but do not expect me to do this again."
"Okay?" I wasn't sure what he was talking about but allowed him to do it regardless. Felix shifts his arms in a wide circle, his hands glowing in a beautiful electric blue, "I command the hands of time to freeze within this building."
He brings his hands back towards his body and then thrusts them upwards, "I will you ten minutes." The electric blue shoots to the ceiling and then spreads throughout the walls of the room.
Felix turns to me, "Time is frozen here. Get whatever information you wish but once the time is up, they can move freely. Maybe killing them before then would be best."
"I didn't know that you could freeze time." I look around in awe.
"I don't mess with time much anymore." Felix sighs softly. His sharp eyes glow as his ability is in effect. "I learned that lesson years ago." He crosses his arms over his chest, his wings pump ever so steadily to keep him in place. I kept a mental note to ask him about his ability later before looking down at the crowd still in shock at what was happening. Obviously the time freeze keeps them in their seats.
I move closer, "This will be brief..."

"Jack, what did you do with the stage guy?" I ask, once we make our way out of the, now, empty building.
Jack turns to me, "I did what needed to be done." His expression is difficult to read. "The others left earlier, I waited for you two to finish inside so we could head back together."
"I appreciate that." Felix nods his head slightly, "Did you get any information?"
"What kind of question is that?" Jack retorts as he grabs both of us and immediately we are whisked away. Jack's ability has range to it so it takes a couple of teleports before we make it back to our place within the mountains.
"Dad!" Hailey immediately rushes over past us, tackling her father into a tight hug. "I was so scared!"
Felix wraps his arms around her tightly, "Everything is alright now."
Jack makes his way forward, "Bob?"
"Don't worry, we got to Mark in time." Bob makes his way over to Jack, "The bullet grazed left lung and the fall broke his wings."
"Both of them??" Jack whispers.
"Yes, they will heal with time and care, but it is going to be a long time before he can fly again." Bob answers.
Jack mutters softly, he nibbles his thumb, before his hand makes its way to his back. Almost as if he is grasping at the memory of the loss of his wings and how painful it is to deal with the urge to fly yet unable to get off the ground.
"And Tyler?" I break the silence.
"His wounds weren't terrible. They were easy to heal and he has been given a few pints of blood to replace what he lost." Bob informs me, "Whatever they did to him mentally is a whole other conversation."
"What is our plan now?" Wade walks over, he's dragging someone behind him. I don't recognize them, "Who?"
Wade shoves them forward and they stumble over their own feet and faceplant the ground.
"I wasn't just going to outright kill him." Jack walks forward and grips the person's hair, jerking their face up.
"The stage man?"
"Yup."
"You brought him with you?" Felix asks.
"Of course, I have a lot of questions." Jack shoves his face back into the dirt, "Here we can ask anything we want. He has no contact with anyone outside our group. And we can do whatever we want. There we have the risk of him somehow calling reinforcement."
"A lot of people have a personal grudge against him." Wade leans against the rock wall.
"I'm going to check on Tyler." I excuse myself from the crowd. As much as I would want to beat answers out of him, I was new to everything. I had only been this way for a few months; others have suffered for years. They deserve to beat whatever out of him.
I make my way down the path until I come to our makeshift medical ward.
Amy is standing near the entrance, she seems lost in thought.
"Hey Amy, everything alright?"
She jolts slightly at my voice and then turns to me, "Oh, hi Ethan, I didn't see you there. Yes, everything is alright. I'm just thinking about everything that has happened over the past few days."
"Pretty crazy isn't it?" I ask.
She nods her head, a distant look in her eyes.
"Are you sure everything is okay??" I pat her shoulder. She gives me a small smile, "Yes, everything is fine. Are you here to see Tyler and Mark??" She switches the conversation quickly but I let it be. "I am."
"Just through here." Amy jabs her thumb behind her, "Mark is still unconscious and he is doing alright for being shot in the chest. Tyler is awake but he hasn't spoken."
"Hm, maybe he'll talk to me." I suggest as I make my way past her.
"Good luck." I hear her say behind me.
I step into the room to see Mark in a corner of the cave? He's laying on a makeshift bed. His chest is wrapped tightly and he has a machine breathing for him. He looks pale and caked in sweat. He must have a fever.
I turn to see Tyler sitting in a different corner. He, too, is pale. He has an IV sticking in his arm, also his back wrapped in bandages. I slowly make my way towards him, "Tyler? It's Ethan, are you doing okay?" His eyes are slow to move from where he is staring to meet my gaze. Again, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness washes over me.
I take slow steps until I'm crouched in front of him, "Tyler, I'm not going to pretend I know what you are going through because I don't know. I don't know what hell they put you through, but I want you to know that we are here with you, to help you recover."
He lets out a soft breath.
I take his hand, "No matter how long it takes you to work through this, I will be here for you."
He doesn't speak but I can see the tears well up in his eyes before he blinks them away and glances in Mark's direction.
"Bob told me his healing will take a while but he avoided death." I fill him in, "The people in the building are dead and Jack brought the stage man to get information from him. And soon as we are free from these chains, we can all search for a new home, start life new."
Tyler's hand barely moves under mine. I take it as him acknowledging my words.
"...Mark?"
Jack's voice makes me turn to see the Irish man enter the area. He takes swift steps to make it to Mark's side, clutching his arm that lays at his side.
A soft sob leaves his mouth, "I'm so sorry," Jack rests his head upon the edge of Mark's shoulder, "I'm so sorry, Love, if I had fought back even just a little bit, you wouldn't be in this mess."
"You don't know that Jack." I speak up.
Jack raises his head and looks at me, "Even so, I could have teleported us out of the danger zone. We all heard the shot." He wipes some of the snot from his nose onto his shirt sleeve.
"You have the speed of a bullet??" I tilt my head as I try to imagine how that would have played out.
Jack sniffs loudly, he doesn't answer my question, turning back to his partner. He sobs harder. I stand to make my way to Jack but something tugs my wrist. I turn back to Tyler, his hand firmly wrapped around my wrist.
"Ty?" I'm confused by his actions.
He just barely shakes his head no.
I take a seat again.

It had been a few hours.
Jack sobbed himself to sleep, curled as close to Mark as Amy would allow him to be. Tyler had also fallen asleep, resting on his stomach to allow his back to heal. I laid down, staring at the ceiling. I had tried to fall asleep but sleep would not greet me. I raised my hand, wiggling my fingers around in boredom. It's oddly peaceful.
I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and I sit up, almost in a panic.
"Calm down."
It was Felix.
"You startled me." I admit, rubbing the back of my neck.
"I came to deliver dinner." He stalks over, handing me a plate. It was a steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. "I didn't know we had this in our supplies."
"Angie had gone into town with a few others while you were on the rescue mission." Felix explains. He finds a seat and plops down. "They took it upon themselves to gather food stacked with protein and information."
"What kind of information?" I begin to cut into the steak, my mouth already salivating from the smell.
"Information on places that could be new homes." Felix takes a bite of his steak, looking over at the pair. His gaze softens slightly and I suddenly realize just how much he really did care for them. Maybe he was always so harsh because he was frightened at the possibility of losing someone else so close to him. I scooped up some mashed potatoes; the food gives me a fond memory of home and safety.
"Angie said that there's an abandoned village out to the East of the mountains. The people in the city told her that it used to be an old military operation but was abandoned due to being too small. They say that no one goes there anymore. I questioned Rose about this information and he confirms that she is right, after searching through some computers. If we wipe away this information, we could essentially disappear off the face of the Earth." Felix looks back at his food, taking a few bites. I listened to him and then shrugged my shoulders, "It's worth a shot, what did the stage man tell you?"
Felix is quiet for a few minutes before he opens his mouth to answer me, "Enough."
All I needed was confirmation.
He can fill me in later, now is a time for peace and rest.
I nod my head and we fell into blissful silence, finishing the wonderful dinner.