Sudden Emotions

Super Creature, Daniel alias Devotee, and Renegade were in the library on the second floor of the league’s headquarters. Both Daniel and Renegade seemed a little irritated, but the conversations were still casual. Finally Renegade announced, “I’m going to the media room.”
“Okay,” Daniel replied. “I’m heading downstairs.”
“Just as well,” he joked as he started walking. He extended his pinkie in a phony display of proper manners. “The music I’ll be listening to is too sophisticated for a ruffian like you.”
He snorted in amusement. “Oh, is that right?”
“I reckon it is.”
He opened the door to the stairs. “Well, if you decide the music here isn’t good enough for you, I reckon you can just go home where you can enjoy your fancy music while lying on silk & satin sheets!”
As Daniel walked through the doorway and let the door close behind him, Renegade stopped in his tracks, his face flushing with sudden anger. Then he rapidly spun around and followed after him. Daniel was partway down the steps when he heard the door at the top of the staircase being thrown open followed by rushed footsteps and an opening zipper. He looked to see The Mega Madman coming at him while taking out a couple gas grenades from his jacket.
“Are you kidding me!?” thought Daniel. He swiftly rushed to the bottom of the stairs while taking out his protective mask. Instead of exiting the stairwell, however, he closed and locked the door to prevent gas from leaking into the first floor. He then put on the mask. By that point Renegade had already thrown the gas grenades, resulting in clouds of sleeping gas, but thanks to his augmented lung capacity and the speed at which he’d donned his mask, Daniel didn’t breathe in any. His already rapid heartbeat increased as he realized, “He’s going to go after my face!”
Daniel closing the door and turning to face him rather than escaping threw Renegade off for a second or two, but he recovered quickly. As Renegade tried to slash his mask, Daniel covered his face with one arm and used the other to deliver a defensive blow to Renegade’s jaw. Renegade’s energy forcefield activated, dissolving Daniel’s shirt sleeve and causing a burning, stinging sensation in his fist & forearm, but he kept going. He gave Renegade a blow to the ribs that incapacitated the superpowered alien for a couple seconds, then shoved him back a few steps.
“It’s not that serious!”
Renegade gave him a furious glare in response, then charged at him again. It was hard for Daniel to dodge his numerous blows, but as he did, he reflected. Finally he said, “Okay, so it is serious to you! You could have told me! There’s no reason for any of this!” He was finally able to shove Renegade back again. “We can talk about this, can’t we?!”
Renegade stood for a few seconds instead of attacking again, and then, apparently having decided it wasn’t worth fighting anymore, he turned without a word, straightened his jacket, and began walking back up the stairs. Vents and fans in the stairwell, activated by the security system, had already begun to clear the gas. Super Creature, who had entered the stairwell shortly after Renegade in case Daniel needed his help, descended the stairs.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Daniel replied. “Thanks for standing by.”
“You’re certainly welcome.”
“I think I’ll-”
He stopped abruptly as his right leg suddenly seemed to lose all its muscle tone. He just barely managed to react in time to avoid falling onto the floor. He knelt on one knee and tried to steady himself. He felt a tingling sensation in his limbs and then his right leg became numb. He thought that Renegade, who had stopped walking when he fell and was now observing him, must have somehow injured his leg without him noticing. He pictured a wound on his thigh; when he looked, however, there was nothing, not even a scratch or a puncture mark. As he continued staring, his vision started to blur. He rubbed his face and tried to process what was going on.
“Can you stand up?” Super Creature asked him.
Daniel wanted to tell him that he just needed a minute and he’d be fine, but as he tried to speak, it felt like something was blocking his throat. He fought the urge to start shuddering.
Despite his mysteriously diminished senses of sight & touch, he had no trouble seeing Super Creature kneel on one knee in front of him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He managed to make out him gently saying, “Take your time.”
Daniel made a motion to indicate a walking stick. Super Creature turned to Renegade and motioned. Renegade understood, took out his retractable cane, and tossed it to him. Daniel took the cane and extended it to its full length, and after some effort he managed to stand. With the help of the cane and Super Creature, he was able to make it to the clinic on the first floor.
Super Creature messaged the other leaguers in the building to let them know what had happened. Then he noted to Daniel, “When Renegade came here for treatment all those years ago, your servant mentioned the elevator, but as shaky as he was, he took the stairs instead. You have that same pride and determination.” His comment brought a smile to Daniel’s face.
Renegade went to a bathroom to inspect his wounds. His jaw and ribs were already bruising, but there were no loosened teeth or fractured bones. Even in an agitated state Daniel had great muscle control and reflexes. Renegade sighed and reflected. In the face of danger, Daniel had chosen to mitigate damage, to make a stand, and to adapt to the situation. He thought in admiration, “I sure have some kind of rival!”
In the clinic, Super Creature ran tests on Daniel. Thankfully his paralysis soon cleared up. When he could speak again, Super Creature asked some questions.
“Has this happened before?”
“It’s similar to what happened when I met Renegade that first time, but other than that, no. It’s different from when… well, you’ve heard how I was after what happened with my folks.”
“Your servant understands. Did you have any hallucinations?”
“I had a vision my leg was injured, but I don’t think I’d call it a hallucination.”
“While Renegade has been known to cause people to hallucinate from fear, it sounds like you were just imagining what you expected to see.”
“I’d say you’re right. I expected to see an injury, but there isn’t one.” He thought a moment and then observed, “He seemed surprised when I collapsed, so I don’t think he poisoned me.”
“Your servant thinks you’re right.”
By the time the remorseful Renegade came to the clinic to check on Daniel, the results were in. Daniel told Super Creature, “Give it to me straight- this was all in my head, wasn’t it?”
“The only way it would be all in your head is if you’d hallucinated the whole thing. Your symptoms weren’t imagined or fake. Just because symptoms are psychosomatic doesn’t mean they’re not real. What you have is most commonly called conversion disorder. It’s similar to what some people call ‘falling-out.’ It’s more common in women, but it also happens more often to those with mental illness, those with a history of stress, and those who have a hard time talking about their feelings. What happens is the body converts emotional or psychological stress into physical symptoms.”
“Makes sense.”
“It can sometimes be due to internal conflict. For instance, if there were an event in which you were made to attack members of Basilisk or members of the league, your system might induce paralysis to prevent it.”
“I actually hope it does.”
“Your servant understands.”
“So… what happens now?”
“The fact that you recovered quickly is a good sign, and so is the rarity of episodes. Your servant is optimistic. Let’s continue with the hypnotherapy and counselling. Things like exercise and physical therapy will help too.”
“Even though it’s psychosomatic?”
“Yes. Calming activities should help too. We’ll see how it goes. There’s work to be done, but your servant thinks your prognosis is good.”
Daniel sighed in relief. “I feel better already. I didn’t want to have to change my identity to freaking Fainting Goat Man.” Super Creature and Renegade both let out a chuckle. “Speaking of which, this sounds weird to say after having an attack, but I’d like to go on more missions.”
“Your servant understands. It might be good for you, but we’ll see.”
“Yeah. I’m going to get some exercise now. I’ll just go up and down the stairs.”
Super Creature nodded, understanding he wanted to recover.
Daniel arose and handed Renegade his cane back. He knew what it was like to lose control. After the anger faded, shame took its place. He calmly asked, “What was that earlier? And don’t tell me, ‘Nothing,’ because that would be worse than attacking me.”
“I’m sorry. I lost my head.”
There was a pause and then Daniel continued, “You know we can be straight with each other. We can always talk after I’m done exercising if you don’t want to-”
“We don’t always get what we want. I mean, you probably didn’t want to get gassed and attacked in a stairwell today.” After a pause he half-jokingly added, “Or maybe you did. After all, you’re not right in the head.”
Daniel couldn’t help snorting in amusement. “Well, I do like a little excitement in my life.”
“What were you trying to do with that crack about silk and satin sheets?”
“It was just a wisecrack, no different from when we normally joke around. You made a smart aleck remark so I made one back.”
“It wasn’t wishing something bad would happen to me?”
“Hmm? No.” He started to look confused.
He leaned against the wall. “A lot of people have been hurt by satin sheets. They slide off the bed and onto a wall or the floor, and they get broken limbs and such. People think it’s funny, but it’s not because people get seriously hurt or worse.”
Daniel began to understand. “So you thought I was making light of people getting hurt, or wishing you’d break an arm or something.”
There was another pause. “That’s not all of it.”
“Well… you have permission to speak.”
He gathered himself and then asked, “How much would you guess city councilmen earn?”
Daniel felt a sense of dread because he had an idea where this was going. “I’d say most of them make a good living.”
“Yeah. My father did, I can tell you that. My family wasn’t what you’d call filthy rich or anything that that, but we were pretty well off. Some would even say we were privileged. People used to make joking comments like, ‘Oh, it sure must be nice to sleep under fancy sheets!’ and I always had to stay silent or make some joking comment back. Sure, I did sleep under fancy sheets, sheets of luxurious material and what you call a high thread count, and between those sheets… was a body with bruises and scars. Sometimes it was even burn marks. Not just me, but my siblings too. Does that sound privileged to you?!” His claws started to dig into the wall from rising ire and pain. “‘Oh, it sure must be nice to sleep under fancy sheets!’ ‘Oh, it sure must be nice to sleep under fancy sheets!’ ‘Oh, it sure must be nice to-’ I would have rather slept under cardboard on a dirt floor in a shack where I’d feel safe than between fancy sheets in a place where I was terrified!”
There was a silence as Renegade started to shake with emotion and Daniel absorbed everything. Finally Daniel replied, “I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t have. You’re not a freaking prophet.”
“I wouldn’t have made that crack that if I’d known.”
Renegade rubbed his face. “I know. You may be a rough maniac, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a stand-up guy. Don’t worry about it; it’s not your fault. I just…” He sighed. It wasn’t often that the crazed alien felt remorse, but he did now.
“I know what it’s like to… to have issues like that. Like I said, you can talk to me. After all, we’re… we’re teammates now, right? Not too long ago you said, ‘Do what you want.’ Well, this is what I want to do, not to mention what I’d want someone to do if I were in this same place.” He held out his hand.
Renegade accepted his handshake. “It’s good of you to be understanding.” Daniel nodded, knowing that he often said, “That’s good of you,” as a way of saying, “Thank you.” “I’ll try to talk about things like that from now on.”
“You want to talk anymore? I mean, flashbacks like that aren’t easy.”
“Like you said, we can after you’re done exercising.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“And I’m holding you to do well as befits one of my rivals.”
“You know it! I’ll be ready to spar with you before you know it!”
They exchanged a friendly smirk. “I’m glad to hear it!”
Daniel started to leave, but Super Creature interjected, “One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to give Sacrifice or Dart Tongue a call?”
“That slipped my mind, but now I’d be disappointed if you hadn’t thought of it. I’ll give them a call while I’m exercising. I’ll call my friend Kent too.” He shook Super Creature’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Your servant is happy to help.”
Daniel went to a staircase to begin his exercise while Super Creature & Renegade went to a different stairwell to return to the library. Renegade still seemed shaken, but he was feeling better since he and Daniel had resolved things. He asked Super Creature, “You’re not doing too much, are you?”
“Not at all,” Super Creature replied. He remarked, “Your servant is glad both of you are opening up and learning to handle things in healthier ways.”
“Devotee’s the one you should be proud of,” Renegade replied. “By now I’ve seen Danny Boy in costume numerous times and out of costume numerous times. I’ve seen him training and I’ve seen him strategizing. However, this is the first time he’s actually looked like a hero.”
As he started walking up the stairs, Daniel reflected on what had happened and what Super Creature had told him. He thought, “I hate to hear about having another disorder, but at least I know what happened. A couple disorders aren’t going to make me give up!”
As he walked he called Simon, Gerard, and Kent and explained the situation. They were understanding and gave their support & well-wishes. He also chatted with any leaguers he encountered during his exercise. After he was done he rehydrated and decided to take a shower & have a dip in the pool. He found himself smiling on the way to the gym. He felt blessed because while he had obstacles, he also had a lot of people who cared about him.
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By Raidra
==Narrations==
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Category:Stories
Category:Raidra