Whiteout Ch. 12

Gibson pinned Val's wrists and stood in front of her. "Val, please, just stop. We just want this to be over."

Reuben stood up and carefully approached Weiss, slowly melting the ice in front of him so he could walk more easily.

Weiss tried to stand, but kept sliding on the slick surface.

Gibson turned his head towards Reuben. "Dude, we don't have all-"

Suddenly he fell forward, landing on top of Val. He rose to his feet and looked around, bewildered by the unexpected change in his surroundings. "This is..."

"The lobby," Val smirked. "Thanks for the advice!"

A purple circle opened under her, and then she was gone.

Reuben glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Val land on the floor behind him. He started to run towards her, but before he knew it his face made contact with the damp tile.

Brayden pressed his knee into Reuben's back, his face blank and emotionless. His swift efficiency was almost uncanny, a far cry from his more lackadaisical approach.

"Dammit, Brayden!" Reuben shouted. "Wake up!"

"I already told you," Weiss said, leaning against the wall for extra support as she stood up, "it's pointless." She carefully approached the two superheroes from behind as Val advanced from the front.

"Val, please!" Reuben pleaded. "Why are you working with Blanc?"

"I'd rather work with her than Raymond," Val replied. "We're doing this to save you!"

"Save us?" Reuben paused. "I... so you're not... you're okay?"

"Good as new," Weiss said. "And I'll do the same for the rest of you, if you stop making things difficult."

Reuben furrowed his brow, then sighed. "Val, I hope you can explain all this after you get Mr. Hawthorne out of here."

"I'll give you the whole story," Val said.

"Okay." Reuben took a deep breath. "Do it."

FLASH.

Reuben blinked. "Wow, that's... that's-"

FLASH.

"-s-strong..."

FLASH.

Reuben's body relaxed into Brayden's grip, a soft sigh escaping his mouth.

"Okay, I think he's good," Weiss said. "Brayden, get off him."

"Get off him..." Brayden stood up robotically and stared off into space.

Val released a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Alright, that's two down."

Weiss looked forlornly down the hall. "...You think Patti's okay?"

"Well," Val sighed, "I haven't heard any more booms, so I think she's probably fine."

"You're right, you're right, I just..." Weiss leaned against a wall and let out a long exhale. "I feel guilty about bringing her into all this. I was just going around in this ridiculous outfit to help her pay for the Mansion, I never thought I'd wind up involved in this superhero stuff."

"She got involved on her own," Val said. "She didn't have to come with us to Raymond's place, or here for that matter."

"I know, but... but she wouldn't be in that position if it wasn't for me. We were struggling before, but we could manage it. I just couldn't leave well enough alone." Weiss looked down at the device in her hands. "I think... I think I'm gonna stop. After we're done here."

"Stop what? Being Blanc?"

Weiss nodded. "I don't think there's a place for her. She's a bad temptation."

"You're talking about her like she's another person."

"Isn't she? I mean, whenever I went out as her, I didn't feel like myself. There was this... confidence that came so naturally with her."

Val paused for a moment. "I think I know what you mean. I sorta compartmentalize how I view myself and how I view being Violet Angel. Whenever I put the suit on, I try to be this, like, ideal of what a superhero should be. I take it all really seriously, I don't even call my teammates by their real names."

"It's like when I do my online stuff," Weiss said. "Sometimes it's just me, but often I end up playing into this role of what I think a domme should be."

"Well, you're good at it. And you're good at being Blanc, too."

"Tell me something I don't know," Weiss chuckled.

Val smiled back, then sighed. "Does she have to be a bad temptation?"

Weiss thought for a moment.

SLAM!

Both women jumped, startled by the sudden loud noise. A pair of large metal doors flew away from the elevator shaft, followed swiftly by Gibson. He stumbled forward, slamming awkwardly into the wall.

"Fuck!" Val shouted, her heart beating hard enough that she could feel it reverberating throughout her entire body. "Jesus, Gibson!"

"Elevator was slow," Gibson mumbled, shaking his head as if he was dizzy. He took a moment to catch his breath, then turned to face them. "Shit, am I the last one?"

"S-Seems that way," Weiss replied, gripping the machine tightly to try and keep her hands from shaking.

"Well, that sucks." He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Let's just get this over with. You ready?"

Val nodded. "One-hundred percent."

"Then let's go!" Gibson sprinted forwards, hoping to grab Val and blow everyone else away.

"When I say 'now,'" Val whispered, "turn around and flash him."

"Got it," Weiss replied.

When Gibson was a couple dozen feet away, Val opened a portal right in front of him. Before he could react, he ran right through it, suddenly finding himself approaching Val and Weiss from the opposite direction, and on a very different surface.

He slipped and fell backwards, landing a couple feet away from the hypnotized Brayden.

"Now!" Val shouted.

Weiss spun on her heels.

FLASH.

Flash.

Flash.

Gibson blinked. His head was a little foggy, but his train of thought was still mostly on track.

The machine sputtered and fizzled, and then fell silent. Weiss hammered the button on the remote, but nothing happened. Her face went pale. "Oh, shit!"

"Huh... Guess your luck finally ran out." With a sigh, Gibson stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Val."

In one fluid motion, Gibson grabbed ahold of Val's arm and pulled her close while extending his other arm forward. The hallway shook, and Weiss, Reuben, and Brayden were all flung backwards.

With a flick of his wrist, the air suddenly shifted direction, slamming the trio into the ceiling and then back down to the floor, holding them down with a strong, constant gust.

Val threw a wild punch at Gibson's cheek, causing him to lose his grip on her arm. Thrown off by the sudden change in balance, Val fell to the floor.

Then the light flashed.

Instinctively, Val closed her eyes. The sound was instantly familiar, a metallic twang that reminded her of electric cables bouncing in a strong breeze.

When she opened her eyes again, Gibson was on the ground, moaning in pain. She turned around and saw a familiar face. Two, actually.

Yun-hee chuckled as she looked down at the dumbstruck Val. "Why do I always have to be the one to save your ass?"

Patti helped Weiss stand up, the taller woman leaning against her for support. "You okay?"

"Peachy," Weiss groaned.

"Yun..." Val smiled. "You're alright?"

"Eh." Yun-hee gave a noncommittal wave. "I can fight it, at least." She turned around and noticed Patti and Weiss approaching. "You're Weiss, right?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You remember?"

"Patti unlocked it for me."

"Hm..." Weiss narrowed her eyes, noticing how smudgy Yun-hee's lipstick had become. She glanced at Patti and noticed a blue smear around her lips. "And I take it that's not all she did?"

Yun-hee blushed and looked down at the floor.

Val stood up and stared in astonishment. "Did... did you two make out while we were fighting those guys?"

"The important thing is that we saved you!" Patti beamed.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Oh, before I forget. Yun?" She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a wallet. She opened it up and procured a $50 bill. "Didn't even last one day."

Yun-hee stared in confusion, but then smiled as the realization set in. "Give it to me later. I don't have any pockets in this thing, anyway."

"Fair enough," Weiss replied, putting the money back in her wallet. "Can I ask a small favor?"

"Oh?"

Weiss held up the car battery attached to the machine. "Can I get a top up?"

* * *

Raymond took a moment to catch his breath. Whatever the team had done to take Val out, it broke the elevator, and even someone with their physiques would get winded trying to run up twelve flights of stairs.

When he got to the main floor, the lights were all dark. Maybe the blue one shorted out the power? It would help explain why no one on the team had contacted him. And he was more willing to accept that explanation than the alternative.

"Somebody, please," Raymond shouted as he barged into the meeting room, "tell me you got her."

Four members of Team Rainbow were sat around the meeting table. Val's seat was still empty.

"God dammit!" Raymond fumed. "What are you still doing in here? Did you give up?"

No one said anything in response.

Raymond stepped closer, and noticed something off about the scene. Everyone was staring straight forward, not even looking at each other, and their faces were blank and expressionless.

He waved his hand in front of Brayden's face and got no reaction. There's no way... she couldn't have gotten all of them, could she?

The PA clicked to life. "Now."

FLASH.

Raymond gasped and spun around wildly. "Blanc?! Where are you?" His words echoed off the high ceiling.

FLASH.

"Sh-Shit..." Raymond blinked rapidly, feeling the fog descending on his mind once again. He couldn't go out like this. He couldn't let her win.

FLASH.

He staggered drunkenly towards the door, already starting to forget why he needed to leave. It was so hard to resist the pull on his mind, to hold firm and not slide back into blankness.

FLASH.

Just as Raymond felt himself start to slip completely, his hand somehow gripped the door handle. He shook his head to try and clear it and swung the door open.

He felt himself being pulled forward.

"Sleep," Weiss said firmly.

Raymond's eyes slipped shut. His mind went silent.

Weiss walked him over to the empty chair.

Val followed quickly behind. "Does he have to sit in my chair?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Weiss said, rolling her eyes. "It'll just be for a minute." She sat Raymond down and stepped over to Reuben, gently removing the remote from the hypnotized superhero's hand.

She stood behind Raymond and whispered in his ear. "Now, Raymond? I believe you have something you'd like to tell the team."