Rue and Harmony - Null Part 3

Civil action

Upon receiving some bad news from Dr Indigo Upton, Rue and Harmony decide it's time to hunt down the person responsible for the unusual goings on around Blackmoore Hospital.

Rue's phone rings again at about 8am on Saturday morning with an unknown mobile number calling. They roll over on the sofa, nearly falling off it as they reach for the phone on the coffee table, ''Hello?'' They answer groggily.

"Rue. It's Indigo." She says with her usual professional tone belying a distinct downward inflection, "William Randall is dead."

Rue sits up straight, immediately wide awake, ''What?!'' They ask, moving to the hallway and putting on their boots. ''How? What happened?''

"You'd better get down here." She says, "I was looking at the security tapes and it appears that some sort of... shadow entered his room in the middle of the night."

"I’m on my way,” Rue hangs up the call, throwing on their hoodie and racing out the door. As they descend the stairs two steps at a time, they dial Harmony’s mobile, waiting impatiently for her to pick up.

"Hey Rue, Whats up?"

“Someone killed Billy.” They growl angrily. “I’m heading to Blackmoore now.”

"Wait what? When?

“Last night. Dr. Upton said the security footage shows a shadow entering his room.” A car honks at Rue as they quickly cross the road. “Someone must be trying to cover their tracks.”

"Okay. Do you need a pickup or am I meeting your there?"

“I’ll meet you there.” With their next step, they use their powers to blast themself upward, leaping across the rooftops to cut their route short.

"Okay, don't do anything until I get there." Harmony hangs up and sprints out the door nearly missing the grab for her helmet on the way out.

Rue slows down a little distance away from the hospital, the building looming ominously nearby. The anxiety in their chest is battling with fury and grief, their senses on high alert as they walk up to the parking lot, waiting for Harmony to meet them there. They grit their teeth, digging their nails into the palms of their hands as they force themself to take a deep breath.

"Rue. I-" comes the voice of Indigo, having seen the young hero, stopped quickly in her tracks as her eyes meet Rue's own, "I'm sorry about Billy. He was a good man."

Rue spins around to face Dr. Upton, their rage evident on their face. They open their mouth as if they’re about to shout, but they bite their tongue, taking a beat to collect themself, “How could this have happened?” They utter dangerously, their voice cracking slightly.

"I'm sorry, Rue, but we weren't expecting something like this," she says, keeping a respectable distance and a soft tone, "The rehab wing is not highly guarded. And the shadow... it had a key."

“How did he-“ Rue hesitates, running a hand over their face. “How did he die?”

"His heart gave out," she says, looking away, "At least that's what the coroner says."

“Right.” Rue grits out, pushing their emotions down. They know that Indigo is not the one to blame, but it takes nearly all their willpower not to lose it then and there. In the back of their mind, they note the faint sound of a motorcycle getting louder, and they take a step in the direction of the doctor, crossing their arms. “I need to see the room.” They announce, not leaving much room for debate. “If there’s any trace of this ‘shadow’, I need to find it.”

Harmony pulls into the car park in a space close to the two women, "What the hell happened?" Harmony's muffled voice comes from inside the helmet, not wasting a moment before taking it off.

"Look, I've tried doing this my way, and the worst has happened..." She says, looking understandably dejected, "Maybe sometimes my brother is right. It's time to do it your way," As she finishes her thought, she quickly undergoes a familiar transformation. Her facial features are enveloped by a featureless mask and fairly soon she looks much like the heroic form of her brother, "Follow me."

Rue takes a second to brace themself, but quickly falls in step behind Dr Upton, their heart racing as that all too familiar anxiety starts to bubble up once more. Harmony, though annoyed her question went unanswered, quickly falls in line at the rear.

A few moments later, the trio find themselves in the rehab wing of the hospital, being lead by the doctor into the room of their once-enemy Billy Crystal. The room is fairly sparse, with cream walls and matching bedding, still ruffled from the body recently removed. A single picture frame sits on the bedside table and the nearby cupboard is filled with identical sets of neutral-coloured clothes, "This is where he stayed," Indigo says, taking the frame and looking into it, "He didn't have many visitors. Not since the paranoia got bad."

Rue takes a tentative step into the room, looking at the frame in Indigo’s hands. They close their eyes as they try to focus on the scents in the room. They tune out the sounds in the hallways, taking a deep breath to try to keep calm as they filter through the familiar smells of Harmony and Dr Upton, past the lingering smell of death, searching desperately for a trace of the shadow.

The room has several distinct scents permeating it, from the general hospital smells to the various workers that have made their way in and out of the room before and since Billy's death, but one scent in particular sticks out to them. It's strong and almost chemical, like ozone after a lightning strike, but fails to dissipate as the moments press on. It leads out of the room and back down the hall, "Do you have something, Rue?" Indigo asks, finally looking up from the picture frame.

“I might do…” Rue opens their eyes, turning around to exit the room again. “This way.” They lead the way, tracking the scent through the corridors.

Indigo follows behind Rue, quickly flanked by Harmony, as they lead the group through the halls of the building and into the office area. The scent leads them to a door marked '[Dr Farina Suguti: Rehabilitation Research.'

"Rina's office?" Indigo asks, her brows furrowing as realisation dawns on her, "She was in charge of Billy's treatment here. She... called in sick today..."

Harmony follows dutifully behind Rue, knowing this is something they are particularly good at, makes herself ready to assist but staying out of the way in order to give them enough space. Rue uses their powers to look through the door, searching for the person whose scent they’d tracked before trying the door handle.

As per Indigo's assertion, the room appears devoid of human life, but the ozone smell is particularly strong in the area. No doubt the shadow spent a lot of time in this room. Looking through the walls through, Rue can see that the room has seemingly been ruined. The desk is upturned and papers are scattered across the floor. The bookshelves have been wrenched from the walls and all the little details of a person's office have been torn asunder.

“Shit…” Rue opens the door to reveal the carnage behind it. They step past the threshold, taking in the room, scanning their surroundings for any clues that might bring them closer to the shadow, “This place reeks of the same scent that I smelled in Billy’s room. I don’t suppose you know Dr Suguti’s home address?" As Rue takes a glance around the room, they can see a number of strange-looking needles scattered among the papers and other debris. Whatever fluid they once contains has long-since been used up, leaving them worthless.

"I do, actually," Indigo replies, "It's in the employee records but, do you really think a dedicated psychiatrist like Rina could murder one of her patients?"

"Did the doctor call in sick herself? Or did someone do it on her behalf?"

"No, it was definitely her. She sounded rough though."

"Okay, well, someone else did this to her office, which means she might be in trouble now..." Harmony says, a dangerous tone in her voice, "Or she did this and killed Billy... And then she definately will be..."

"Right," she says, grim determination in her tone, "She lives at 53 Palmecho drive. It's not far from here."

"Do you guys have a way of checking to see if people are under someone's influence? Like control powers or something like that? Or to see if someone is a shapeshifter?" Harmony looks pointedly at the doctor, "And if you do, do the staff get checked regularly?"

"No, we don't," she says, "We mostly deal with the low security patients, especially in this wing. The more dangerous and powerful patients are kept in the high-security wing. But we've never really dealt with anyone with any sort of mind-control powers."

"Well... Might be worth looking into... Just in case..." Harmony looks at Rue, "You ready to go?"

“Mind control or not, Dr Suguti is clearly involved somehow.” They agree, nodding at Harmony, “I’m ready. Dr Upton, maybe you should let your brother have a look at this office.”

"Don't let anyone from the hospital inside this room" Harmony adds.

"Yeah, good idea. I'll give Alec a call," she says, pouring over the scattered details of her employee, "Are you two going over there now?"

"I don't think we have time to waste. Do you?" Harmony remarks.

“It’s like Harmony said, if she’s innocent, she could be in danger, and if she’s not she might run.”

"Yes, of course." she continues, "Go. I'll catch up with you once I've sealed up this room."

"Come on then, lets move," Harmony starts making her way out of the building and back to her bike.

Rue follows Harmony outside, “I don’t suppose you brought a spare helmet?”

Harmony stops in her tracks, "I didn't even think about it..." she mumbles, "What do we do?"

“Like she said, it’s not far,” Rue shrugs, taking a few steps away from Harmony, “Guess I’ll meet you there.” They turn in the direction they need to go and blast themself forward with their powers.

Harmony stands there for a moment not entirely sure what just happened. Without a visual stimulus Rue appears to have just exploded into nothingness, "Huh, that wasn't in her power list..." She throws on her helmet and starts riding.

Not having to deal with any traffic and leaping from building to building, Rue swiftly makes their way to Palmecho Drive, landing just as Harmony is parking her bike. They're a little out of breath, having worked up a bit of a sweat. They glance over at number 53 a few houses down, keeping their eyes and ears sharp for any sign of life.

"You are definitely going to have to explain how that specific power works at some point"

Rue arches a bemused brow, ''Uhhh, fire goes boom, I go zoom?''

Harmony cannot help but let a laugh escape at Rues blunt response, "Okay okay, fair enough." she laughs, the jovial moment giving way to seriousness again, "I'll take the front, you take the back?"

''Works for me.'' They agree with a nod, walking in the direction of the house and turning down a little pathway between the buildings to get to the back.

Harmony give Rue a minute to find an entry point before making her way to number 53. She listens intently on her approach trying to focus on any kind of detail she can pick out from inside the building. There's a distinct muttering emanating from inside the building, like two people having a whispered argument. It sounds like at least one of them is crying.

Rue quietly hops over the fence and into the garden, making sure to steer clear of any windows as they creep towards the back door. They use their enhanced sight to look through the wall and get a read on the situation. The house's interior is much like the office, with the various comforts of a home torn from their normal position and thrown to the floor and amid all the carnage, the far corner, near the front door, is completely dark. It's like a localised black hole where no light may escape, but it seems to twitch slightly with every passing moment.

As harmony approaches the front door she pauses again, listening for another moment before rapping her knuckles against the door. As they hear the knock on the front door, Rue carefully tries the handle, hoping that it won't be locked or make too much noise. They see as the black shadow moves closer to the door and a woman's voice rings out, "Wh-who's there?" Meanwhile, the back door gives and begins to open, Rue taking special precaution not to make any sudden noises.

"Dr Suguti? How are you feeling? Indigo asked me to check in on you, she said you sounded pretty rough on the phone and she wanted to make sure you were okay?"

Rue gradually opens the back door further, taking a tentative step into the house, their senses on alert as they silently move closer to the shadow.

"I don't know you," she says, seemingly getting agitated, "But I can feel you... you have powers don't you?" The shadow slowly begins to rise, its whole form shuddering with every movement, "This isn't really about me is it? Who are you!?"

Harmony takes a small step back from the door, not wanting to be so close but not wanting to show any weakness she continues the conversation, "No, we don't know each other, I am just doing Indigo a favour because she wasn't able to come herself. I do have powers yes, how did you know?"

"Why won't you tell me who you are!" She cries, her voice raising in pitch as she slams her fists against the door, "Null can feel your powers, stranger. And she's so very hungry."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, my name is Harmony. Who is Null?" Harmony does her best to keep her cool and keep the woman concentrated on her.

The woman's voice drops down to a steady cadence once more, "Harmony?" She mutters, "One of those new heroes... the ones who brought Billy and his friends back..." a sudden change in her tone denotes a different attitude suddenly, "Powerful... Yes, no doubt about it..."

"I am Null," she says, raising her voice to speak through the door once more, "Rina gives the powers... and Null... feeds...." a hand moves to the handle of the front door and it begins to open outwards, a jittering, shadowy hand wrapping its way around the door.

As the door begins to open, Harmony quickly takes action and a sheet of glass begins to materialise before the shadow-wreathed doctor, but as she places one dark claw against it, the structure loses integrity and collapses. Harmony gasps, the effort feeling like far more than they would usually expend with such a maneuver.

"Hungry..." Null growls, its voice becoming raspy and strained.

Sensing the threat behind the shadow's movements, Rue moves more quickly towards the hallway, using their telekinesis to hit the shadow with a nearby chair. The chair collides with the shadowy form and shatters, as if hitting a brick wall, while Rue themself feels an uncomfortable pull, as if their telekinesis were activating on its own, before the shadow turns its head to them, flickering with sudden realisation. Within a moment, and with an unnatural haste, the shadow is upon them, taking Rue's face between its fingers and continuing to chant, "Hungry..."

In the moment that Null touches Rue, they're frozen in place, their enhanced senses quickly beginning to leave them as colour returned to Suguti's face, her expression marred by ravenous malice. Realising this creature feeds on other powers, Harmony runs up behind the shadow and throws her entire weight behind a right hook

Much to the surprise of both heroes, the punch connects with the side of Suguti's head and she's knocked to the side, dropping Rue to the ground as she reels from the blow.

Null isn't down though, and she quickly reorients herself, her fingers and face now back to normal while the rest of her remains wreathed in shadows. She throws forward a hand and a number of objects, including a chair, table and books, fly towards the two heroes.

Still shaken from the bizarre attack, Rue barely manages to duck to the side before the table could hit them, a book smacking against their shoulder but doing little damage. They feel drained, but they use their fire blast to launch themself forward and towards Null, aiming a punch to her gut.

Rue's fist connects with the shadowed part of Null's form with a sickening crunch and they quickly understand the meaning of the word regret. Her form refuses to yield to Rue's attack, leaving several of the bones in the young hero's hand no doubt broken.

"Stop using your powers!" Harmony cries, launching herself at the figure again attempting to knock them to the ground.

As Harmony throws herself bodily against the figure of Null, she finds herself facing a similar problem to Rue, met with a nigh-on immovable object. Null wastes no time in capitalising upon this error and takes ahold of Harmony, quickly holding her close in a vice-like grip. Harmony quickly begins to feel her strength draining away as her grip on consciousness begins to wane.

Rue lets out a scream as their hand breaks, clutching it close to their chest. ''Fuck!'' They grind out as the shadow grasps Harmony, instead using their fire blast to aim a high kick at Null's head, silently hoping that they won't break another bone.

As the rocket-assisted kick connects with the deranged doctor's jaw, Rue is relieved to feel the telltale give of flesh and bone. Null releases Harmony as she's knocked sideways once more, falling to her hands and knees on the floor before them. Barely human anymore, the creature before them hisses with barely-contained rage, spitting out a handful of teeth and a large gout of blood onto the carpet and growling through its shattered jaw, "Hun...gry... Hun... gry..."

Harmony scrambles to her feet, "Who are you!?"

Null's repetition becomes frantic and soon enough she throws herself at Harmony in one last feeble attempt to devour her power, but before the creature has a chance to do so, Rue moves forward, aiming another sharp kick to her face, causing the shadowy form to crumple to the ground.

''You okay, Harmony?'' They ask, not taking their eyes off the creature until they're certain it's been knocked out.

"Been better, are you okay? Your hand sounds crunchy..."

''Yeah, crunchy sounds about right...'' They wince when they try to move their fingers, the pain shooting up through their arm.

"You call Indigo and I'll call the tower? Probably not a good idea for us to try and bring her in on our own."

''Works for me.'' Rue agrees, using their non-dominant hand to pull out their phone, dialling the number that called them that morning.

Harmony walks a few paces away from the scene, not taking her eyes off the collapsed shadow on the floor. She calls the direct line to the Vigil and relays the situation and location to the operator.

While Harmony arranges a Century group pickup, Rue gets through to Indigo who sounds frantic, "Rue! Thank God you called! It's Rina. I think she's developed some sort of way to give and remove powers. Be careful out there!"

''Yeah, about that...'' Rue starts awkwardly, mumbling a curse when they accidentally jostle their hand again. ''We've caught her, but she wasn't really... Well, I'm not sure if she's still human. I don't suppose you could bring some sedatives, just in case?''

"Uhh, sure..." She says, "I'll be right down," Within the hour, both Dr Upton and the Century crew have shown up and have made their preparations to transport the shadowy doctor, "Oh, Rina," Indigo mutters, forlornly, "What have you done to yourself."

She allows the Century agents to take her away and turns back to the two heroes, Rue having been provided with an icepack and told they should go to hospital as soon as possible, "Thank you for everything you've both done. Hopefully, now Rina and her patients can get the help they need. It's just a shame it had to come at so steep a cost."

Harmony waits for the scene to calm down and brings Rue to one side, "They're right you know, you really should get that properly treated. I know you don't like doctors, so would you like me to come with you?"

''It's not like they can do much to help it heal...'' Rue grumbles reluctantly, their knuckles already significantly swollen and bruised despite the ice pack. ''I should be fine with some painkillers and rest.''

"Well it all depends on how bad it is, you might need pins to reset the bone. I don't want to scare you off but it's really a good idea to get it checked at least. Come on, I'll get us a taxi."

''It's fine, '' Rue tries again, taking a step back rather than forward. ''It doesn't even hurt that much.''

"Rue. I know you are scared, so I'm not going to force you," Harmony holds her hands in the air trying to diffuse the tension, "We can go to the tower and see if Ghost has an xray machine? That way there are no doctors and at least you know how bad it is?"

Rue still seems hesitant, their eyes darting around as if looking for a way out, but eventually they give a small nod, ''Fine...''

Harmony's shoulders visibly relax, releasing the tension she didn't even know was there, "Thank you Rue, I know this is hard for you. Come on, let's get some air while we wait for the taxi," Harmony wanders outside and sits down on the pavement curb.

Rue follows behind slowly, pausing when they see Indigo not too far away, her usually professional demeanour lacking its usual gracefullness, ''I'll be right back.'' They say to Harmony, adding ''Promise I'm not running off.'' when they see her questioning expression.

''Dr. Upton,'' Rue begins when they're a few paces away. ''I just wanted to apologise for the other day... You were only trying to help us, I shouldn't have behaved the way I did.''

"That means a lot, Rue," she says as she brushes away a single tear, her usual professionalism slowly returning to her, "I hope next time we meet, it'll be under more... pleasant circumstances."

''I hope so too...'' They agree, giving her a small smile. They're about to turn away when another thought comes to mind. ''Will there be a funeral? For Billy, I mean...''

"I'm not really sure," she says, shrugging slightly, "It's up to the family. His daughter is coming up tomorrow to collect the body. Were you thinking of attending?"

''Maybe...'' They say hesitantly. ''Not sure if the family would welcome me there, all things considered... But I'd like to pay my respects.''

"Well, you were the one who got justice for Billy," she says, "Maybe I could give them your number and see what happens?"

''Also the one who brought him back to his killer...'' Rue mumbles faintly. ''If you could give them my number, I'd appreciate that.''

"I will, but don't beat yourself up over it," she says, "You were only doing your job. It wasn't your place to keep him safe at the hospital," she pauses for a moment in solemn contemplation, "It was mine. Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got a lot of work to do."

Rue says their goodbyes to Indigo before joining Harmony on the curb.

"You shouldn't blame yourself you know," Harmony pauses for a second, "I didn't eavesdrop deliberately… I just... You know?"

“Yeah, I know..” They are reminded of the various times they’d ended up unintentionally eavesdropping on others. “I just can’t help but wonder if there was more I could’ve done… maybe then Billy wouldn’t have had to pay for it with his life.”

"You did more than any else did. If you hadn't done what you have, nobody would be any the wiser about what was going on. That... Thing would still be in that hospital doing whatever it wanted until someone else noticed."

''I guess...'' Rue mumbles, not entirely convinced. They pick up a small pebble, rolling it between their fingers before lazily throwing it across the street. ''Thank you,'' They say suddenly, looking a little embarrassed. ''I couldn't have done anything without your help.''

"I don't really know how much I actually did," Harmony takes her turn looking embarrassed.

'Seriously? You threw a mean punch in there,'' They say with a small smirk, ''not to mention that I wouldn't have done very well visiting doctor Upton on my own...''

"Shall we just call it good teamwork and celebrate the win?"

''Yeah, I suppose...''

"Well, our taxi is right around the corner so let's get your hand checked out and then grab some breakfast? I don't know about you but I didn't get a chance to eat yet this morning?"

Rue lets out a huff at the notion of getting their hand checked out, ''I could grab a bite''