Travis flies after kevlar-girl but as he reaches the roof he finds that she isn't fleeing—she's pointing The Gravitas directly at him. Before Travis can react, he feels the air around him twist with a sucking noise and feel himself being pulled downward.
He tries to fight it but he can't stop himself from crashing into the roof. It's like someone suddenly turned his Powers off and a giant, invisible hand is crushing him down.
Then it clicks—The Gravitas must control gravity. No wonder Smyther wanted to get his hands on it. An object that powerful would be useful to anyone, let alone a mob boss with a strictly defensive Power set.
"Feels nice, huh?" Travis hears kevlar-girl say from above him.
But he doesn't have the patience for snappy banter—he knows this girl won't hesitate to kill him.
"Listen, I don't know who you are," Travis start, "but we both want the reward for The Gravitas and we both found it at the same time. Why don't we split the credit and I'll tell the police you killed all those people in self-defense?"
In response, he feels the weight pushing down on him double and hear kevlar-girl start to laugh.
"Is that what you think I want, Gravitate?"
Travis groans under the weight of The Gravitas push, knowing kevlar-girl is about to kill him, just like all those Splice Circle members. As his ribs start to creak under the pressure, he hear police sirens blaring from the street below. He never been so happy to hear that sound!
Suddenly, he felt the weight lifted off his shoulders and he spring to his feet, just in time to see kevlar-girl strapping a layer of plastic explosives to The Gravitas.
"Wait, stop! What are you—" Travis start, moving forward.
But kevlar-girl just pulls away from him and holds The Gravitas out in front of her body.
"The name is Veta, chicken," she says. "And you'll be seeing me again."
Without another word, the girl named Veta drops The Gravitas.
Horrified, he watches as The Gravitas explodes at Veta's feet. A plume of silver smoke erupts into the sky as shards of shattered gemstones go flying in every direction. Travis steps back, covering his eyes to protect them from the explosion.
And when the smoke finally clears, he finds that Veta has vanished. Only The Gravitas remain in charred pieces, destroyed beyond repair.
"No! Why would she destroy The Gravitas? Now it's no use to anyone. It doesn't make any sense!"
Then another thought hits him—before she leaves, Veta called him Gravitate. She knows Travis codename. But how? He's only been on the hero scene for a few hours. How would she know.
He heard the sound of police choppers swooping overhead, so he doesn't have much time to ponder this question.
Travis about to wave down a police chopper when suddenly, every nerve in his body screams at him to stop. Think for a second….
With a case this big ruined, not to mention over a dozen murders involving The Splice Circle committed, no one in the MCPD is going to care whether he's innocent or not. This whole debacle is going to make the police look terrible and they're just going to want a scapegoat to pin it all on.
And if he stays, that scapegoat will be him, considering that with Veta gone, he's currently the only one standing next to the destroyed Gravitas and a building full of dead mobsters.
He flies toward home, his mind racing with questions. What will happen to his reputation now that The Gravitas is destroyed? Will the police blame everything on him? Will he become a fugitive?
Then his thoughts spin completely out of control. Will Jury and Madame Vice be gunning for him after what he did to them? Even worse, will the remnants of The Splice Circle be out for revenge? And who is this mysterious Veta, the girl who sabotaged his first mission? Why didn't she kill him when she had the chance?
He's too exhausted to even begin to contemplate the answers to these questions. He pushed his Powers to their limit and have taken more than a few hits tonight.
But all he can think about right now is getting home to his bed, knowing that Grandma will help him sort it all out in the morning.
It isn't long before he sees his bedroom window waiting for him invitingly. Thinking he might collapse before he can reach it, he give one final push to land inside.
All he wants to do is get in bed immediately, but he needs to let Grandma know that he's all right. His muscles aching, he move slowly toward the door.
"Gran, it's me," Travis shout. "I'm all right, but I'm—"
"Well, look who it is," Travis heard a familiar voice say, stopping him in his tracks.
Sitting in the living room is none other than...Mayor Victon, and he does not look pleased.
Travis heart begins to pound and he clenches his fists—it's just about all he can do not to pummel Mayor Victon on sight. The only thing holding him back is seeing Grandma sitting in the living room behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Travis say, willing himself to stop shaking.
"Now, now, there's no need to be rude," Mayor Victon says. "After all, your grandmother was kind enough to invite me inside."
Travis send Grandma a look and she returns it with a calm nod. Not now, Travis, he imagine her saying.
"I received an urgent call from my son, claiming that some rogue rookie attacked him and sabotaged his latest case," Mayor Victon says. "I had my office discover which so-called hero this was and a quick background search gave us your address. Then I had some of my more…colorful staff pay you a visit."
Travis eyes flash back to Grandma, but she nods once again, indicating that she's all right. If this scum had hurt her…he doesn't even want to think about what he'd do.
It's terrifying that his private information is out there, too. Sure, he have a secret identity, but since all heroes have to register with the government, there's a secure database with all of the licensed heroes' information in it—a database that Mayor Victon clearly has access to, one way or another.
"Imagine my surprise when they found an old woman living here instead of some young buck hero. And then my absolute delight to learn that I had walked right into the new life of my dear, old friends, the Fades," Victon nearly coos. "I had heard you'd both been enrolled in the PFPP but I rather frustratingly hadn't been informed of your whereabouts."
Mayor Victon pauses, hitting Travis with the warmest politician smile he can muster. He's got the same wonderful marks as his son, but Travis can slightly see his replugged hairline and concealer-covered cheeks.
"It is rather gratifying to finally have found you, after all these years. And even more gratifying to know exactly where you live," Victon says, his voice dropping. "Do keep that in mind the next time you happen to come across my son."
"Get the hell out of my apartment, before I throw you out myself," Travis says, his voice trembling. This man took his parents away from him and now he has the audacity to threaten him in his own home? Not tonight.
Especially because, for all Mayor Victon's posturing, he has his eye on a bid for the upcoming presidential election. He's beloved by the people of Hoshi City for regulating Powered activity and making the city a safer place to live. Taking down Travis "murderous" parents was spun as a positive, but coming after their innocent, shattered family won't play well to the public—especially not with the PFPP backing Travis up.
So Mayor Victon won't want to make any waves here…at least not today.
But Mayor Victon eyes him, seemingly pleased by his aggression.
"Of course, I have a full security detail positioned outside your door, in addition to the considerable defenses afforded by my H-Chip. So I'd caution against any…rash decisions."
Mayor Victon smiles at Travis—a smile that sends ice through his veins.
He's about to respond when suddenly Mayor Victon shouts in pain and jumps sideways. He's quite delighted to see that one of Grandma's Venus flytraps has had its way with Mayor Victon's thigh.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry about that," Grandma says. "De Milo sometimes has a mind of her own. Now if you'll excuse me, I do think it's time you were leaving. That is, unless you have something constructive to add to this conversation?"
Mayor Victon looks from Grandma to Travis, the smile draining from his face.
"I just wanted to drop by to let you know you always have a friend in me," Mayor Victon says as he walks toward the door. "Feel free to call me any time. And now that I know where you two live, do remember that I can call you any time I'd like, too."
On that discomforting notion, Mayor Victon exits the apartment.
"Bastard," Grandma says, petting De Milo. She looks as if she wants to say more, but stops once she gets a closer look at Travis.
"Oh my word, you look dreadful, Travis! Are you all right?"
So much has happened, so quickly. A few short hours ago, it was the best birthday of his life. But now…
If he just had a second to stop and collect his thoughts, he's sure he'd be all right. He tries his hardest to block out the failures, to forget that his costume is still covered in bits of human ash. He thought being a hero would be glamorous and exciting but tonight was just…
He could barely save his own life, let alone anyone else's.
As the adrenaline finally drains from his body, one thought pounds in his brain, pushing out everything else.
He wish his parents were here.
It isn't long before he's on the floor, the room blotching into blackness. The last thing he makes out is Grandma kneeling beside him, looking more worried than he ever seen her.