A few minutes ago, in the transformed conference room.
Helena hated sweat.
It had been a pet peeve of hers from a very young age. At one point, she had hated it so much that she used to insist that she would stay indoors no matter where they went, and even though it wasn't as bad, now, she still made it a point to stay away from this aspect of human existence that she considered a serious malady.
Yet, when she, along with the others in the room stared on in silence at the scene displayed on the wall in front of them, she felt perspiration beading at her brow and wiped it away casually, as if it was nothing.
Only her sister would have understood the significance behind this gesture, but the woman was too busy staring, too, to see whether her predictions would come true. Helena always made it a point to never touch sweat with her bare hands, but here, she had done it without a single remark.
It couldn't be helped. The tension in the room was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. The chase had been exhilarating to watch, filled with twists and turns that she knew would be edited perfectly to create an incredible montage of sensational, heart-thumping excitement.
After seeing the heroes catch up so easily, though, her heart had almost dropped to her stomach as she realized that the odyssey might soon be over. She had felt a hint of hope when she saw Al's determined stance, but the moment he turned to the car park, it had become clear that he might just be acting desperately.
As the pixie-haired girl arrived and delivered the sentence that she would soon enforce, Helena held her breath. She felt, rather than saw the rest doing the same, and when they heard the jaunty reply from the villain, a significant number of eyes widened with derision.
Only… when they saw him shove his assistants and follow them after taking that magnificent pose, the same eyes blinked while the jaws below dropped.
Helena felt her own jaw slowly open while the invisible camera, which had been programmed to follow only the villain panned over the age of the building and followed them in their flight.
'It's over. It's over! He chose suicide! It's the worst way to go!'
She almost cursed out loud, and beside her, she saw her sister grin.
"So many bold words, only to act like a coward in the end! It's a dis—"
The rest of what she was going to say was not uttered in the world as everyone witnessed the three villains reach closer and closer to the ground. The car park had been at least fifteen stories tall, which made it a humongous height to drop from.
They had all been anticipating the three bodies to fall 'SPLAT!' on the ground, and that was why her sister had begun her gloating, too. But right before this inevitable end was going to appear… Helena noticed something that she hadn't seen until now due to the abruptness of the situation.
From the moment that Al had raised his hands in a way that they were behind the backs of the assistants, the capes had begun to glow, dimly.
She had a premonition of what was going to happen just a split second before it really did. Her sister's words stopped mid-sentence and the jaws that had dropped fell even further when all three turned to ensure that the capes were below them…
… before being bounced off the ground and landing in a heap a few meters away.
Dead silence engulfed the room, broken only by the slow groans of the three who began to get to their feet. The second fall hadn't been stopped by the capes as they hadn't had the time to adjust them. It had resulted in a few scrapes, but for the most part… they were unscathed.
The manager was once again the one who spoke first. Raising one finger to the screen, he mumbled, "H-h-he figured out a usage we didn't even think about… seriously, where the hell did you find him?"
A brilliant smile came on Helena's face as she heard the praise. At the same time, her sister's face fell and she looked as if she had been slapped on both her cheeks.
"Wow. Is he really still an initiate?"
"That's impossible… he must've been a hidden villain being groomed by the young Miss."
"Yes! I've heard that powerful families do that! If he's a novice, I'm the King of England!"
"Yeah, he's clearly an expert! I'm already a fan!"
The engineers in front of her had begun to recover and chatter between themselves. Hearing them, Helena beamed even more with pride.
Clapping her hands to get their attention, she said, "How the fuck did we not think of this before? We all knew that the property of the capes was to absorb energy. Bullets are stopped by having their momentum absorbed. Why can't the same happen to a human body? It might result in a few aches… but that's about it! Fire the ideation team immediately! And begin the editing process right now! We'll use this on all streaming platforms to pull people to the channel!"
Her orders made everyone begin bustling, again, but she remained standing. Her smile lingered while she saw the three villains activate the running shoes and leave immediately.
"It's a brilliant move. He must've anticipated that they were already tired enough due to the chase, so there was no chance that they would be able to pursue even further. They can get away now, easily. They can even—"
BANG!
Almost everyone in the entire room jumped due to the loud sound that came from the direction of the door. When they turned to see who was so arrogant as to interrupt them all in this manner… their eyes became captivated by a scene that they would never forget in their lives.
The door lay on the floor, smoking due to a massive hole that had been burned into its center. At the doorway was the culprit: a flaming gauntlet styled artfully with a red, flowing design, each finger embossed with a unique pattern that lent the entire thing an air of sophisticated power.
It was large, much larger than any gauntlet had the right to be. With a single punch, it would be able to create a waist-sized hole in anything. This incongruity made those watching wonder whether it belonged to a giant…but the man who stepped in was normal.
The flames around it slowly receded and died, before it disappeared altogether, as if it had never been there in the first place. But then…a sound appeared in the room, and the source was the bare hand that had been exposed in the aftermath of the disappearing act.
All the eyes on the room were riveted to it, waiting to see just what had made it. Nonchalantly, the man raised it to his face…and a mouse ran out of his sleeve.
It contrasted so much with the fearsome form it had just taken that it was almost downright funny. With glinting silver skin that had red streaks running through it, it seemed like a being straight out of a cartoon. No one laughed, though, as it lovingly used its whiskers to meet its owner's nose before disappearing once again to where it had come from.
Walking up to the Helena, the man who was fashionably dressed in a three-piece brown suit said, "We need to talk. Come with me."
Helena nodded, already having gotten an inkling of who he might be. When he turned around, her hunch was confirmed…and his identity became clear to the rest of the those in the room too.
A golden, roaring dragon was emblazoned on the back of his jacket, proud and defiant against the heavens, themselves, if they ever sought to vanquish it. Connecting that with the silver hair and youthful features of the newcomer…all those in the room instantly understood who he was.
"The first son of the Dragon!"
One of the women mumbled this, causing him to turn around and wink in her direction. She blushed as he vanished into the doorway, and with the spell broken, the engineers broke into chatter once again.
Helena didn't let them continue this time, though.
"Shut up and do what I ordered!"
Shouting in this manner, she made her way to the corridor outside where the first son was waiting.
As soon as she emerged, he spoke in an almost unconcerned tone, using one hand to scratch the spot behind the mouse's head which was peeking out of his sleeve.
"Dad sent me to give you a message. 'Cease the broadcast, or face the consequences.' Don't ask me what they are, but man, did he sound pissed…"
Helena gawked, her mind working feverishly as she tried to imagine just what one of the most powerful men in the world meant by 'consequences'.
"My job's done, so I'm outta here. Word of advice: don't do it. Those pricks have it coming to them. But hey…not everyone can go up against the Dragon and not regret it. It's up to you. Ba bye!"
With a cheerful wave, the man stepped back…and jumped out the open window behind him.
Helena ran forward, panic surging inside her first before remembering his background, and the means at his disposal. Sure enough, he shot up a moment later, face set into a happy grin as he reached the sky and flew in the direction of the afternoon sun.
When she turned around, she gathered her thoughts. For a moment, she pondered about what she was supposed to do…but the answer was apparent.
'My father didn't raise me to be afraid of some jumped-up snake. Screw him, and his pompous son! If he didn't want to see his disciples lose on TV, he shouldn't have sent them on odysseys!'
Storming back to the room, she spoke again, and this time…everyone understood that their little miss meant business.
"Listen up, everyone! We're working overtime until this odyssey ends! No matter what happens, we're gonna go all the way! Let's do this!"