by The Eurostar and I'm Not Mister Mxyptlk
Edulcore Cicciotto:
When I am at the midsection of the Citadel, Tobias catches up to run beside me.
"Ihvntfndanysurvivors.Onlylizardguardseating human flesh!" says the speedster, progressively lowering his velocity.
"I have found only this man. Lance Lorenzo, meet Tobias Christopher!"
"Hi!" says Tobias abruptly, while the metahuman on my back is mute from the shock of running at Mach 1. Then, the temperature suddenly drops. "It looks like Velo's succeeded!" says Tobias happily.
"Yeah!" I exclaim. It's easy to find the infirmary, then, where all our friends have met after they accomplished their tasks. In front the door, dozens of Leviathan guards are lying on the floor, immobilized by the extreme cold.
"Well done!" I say, stopping in front of the gathered heroes.
Then I notice the cryogenic womb. Jason is inside, but the device is not working. Naecken says, "It was not wise, Edulcore. He is resting in peace, now."
"We could have found a way to restore him to life. I know a doctor, in Europe, that..."
"All this struggle for who, Eurostar?" asks Nowhereman. "For him, or for you?"
The question takes me off guard. Nowhereman is right. The truth is that I don't want a fallen soldier right out of our first mission. I don't want to take the responsibility of the death of a fourteen-year-old boy. I don't want to recognize that, in giving his life to freed us, he has been the true hero among us.
I haven't ever shed tears in all my life, even when my parents died. But a tear, a single tear, this time runs over my fake Santa beard. "After all, you have gained membership in our team, son," I whisper.
And then, a giant trembling shakes the tower to its foundation. "The Leviathan! The marine serpent!" I shout.
We run to the windows. In the dense mist, lighted by the tower projectors, the gigantic form of the Leviathan appears and disappears.
"We haven't finished yet, guys!" says Marv Velo.
"Let's smash him!" shouts Nowhereman.
"Yes, let's go," says Danny, with a fiery expression that I have never seen before on his face.
"No, wait a moment. That thing is poisonous. It produces this mist that destroy each person's will. If we go out there right now, we will be reduced to mindless slaves. We must bring it inside the tower, and AT THE SAME TIME we have to leave it. Then, when it is imprisoned here, we'll take down the whole building. Okay?"
As the team stands silent, trying to quickly figure out a way of accomplishing the hard, almost impossible task, M'xy breaks the silence and says, "I look good in an elf costume, don't you think?" All of us look at him. "Don't you think I look good in an elf costume?"
Nowhereman groans and says, "I knew this serious thing wouldn't last."