Lee beats him technically. Kazumi physically intercepts him. Raidou controls the space with his heat. Nanami disrupts his nervous system. Elsie helps narrow down the available routes. Rex could've manipulated his movement options, but Liam had knocked him out with that slam. Liam's body is moving on instinct, so they keep asking it questions...
And Liam's body keeps finding answers.
Jay grabbed his side as he struggled to his feet.
Then that means the solution is simple: keep asking, and use those questions of "what will you do?" to drive him into a corner. Slow him down enough for one person—me—to distract him, then get him to the person who can issue a command directly to his compromised mind.
Jay coughed into his fist as he straightened up. With a small groan, he turned to look at the others. Raidou and Nanami had run over to check on Rex. Kazumi was flexing his fingers, Elsie was sitting and rubbing her nose, and Lisa was kneeling beside Liam's prone body in silence, with Lee standing beside her.
Well, at least nobody got hurt, Jay thought as he walked over to Lisa and Lee. That could have gone very badly if we weren't organized. That red light... to think he wasn't even hostile until the last second.
When Jay got close enough, he could hear sniffing and quiet sobbing, and he froze as he realized Lisa was crying.
"This... idiot!" she hissed as she got to her feet. Lee knelt and picked Liam up, flinching from the heat emanating from his body.
...he's in pretty bad shape, Jay thought as he looked at the ashen glow around Liam's body.
"We have to get him to the Sick Bay now...!" he shouted as he noticed Lee looking at something.
Jay turned around to see three men watching them in silence. The lead man raised his dark, scarred hands and clapped.
"Raidou. Get him to the infirmary. You should be able to bear his heat."
Raidou flinched, then nodded. "Yes, sir," he responded as he took Liam off Lee's shoulders.
Kane pointed at Lee. "Lieren and Ares, you stay behind."
He waited for the others to file out, then he turned to Sixteen. "You wanted to talk with him, right?"
Sixteen nodded as Lee walked to the far side of the room to pick up his sunglasses. "Yes. Thank you, sir."
"Mm."
Sixteen adjusted his shades and walked towards Lee as Jay approached Kane and Jet. Lee put on his sunglasses and turned to face the taller, slightly bulkier man.
"You know," Sixteen smiled. "It's kind of funny."
"...I don't follow," Lee muttered.
Sixteen chuckled. "Whenever we wear our shades, we look exactly alike."
Lee remained silent, and Sixteen chuckled as he reached up to his face and pulled his glasses down a little.
"Do you wanna talk?" the Hunter grinned as his red irises glowed.
****
I used my power... on Liam.
Lisa was sitting beside the bed Liam was sleeping on. After they had arrived at the Sick Bay, a nurse had guided them to a room. Liam's wounds were treated, and he had almost choked on a piece of the blood clot protecting his teeth.
The others had left several minutes later after Liam's state stabilized, promising that they would come back. Lisa had barely responded, her mind shrouded by worry.
I couldn't do a thing... she thought as she hung her head. He broke our promise... he ended up hurt... and I couldn't do anything but watch until the last second!
Lisa clenched her fists hard as she recalled the fear that had come over her when she saw Liam change. The nausea that hit when she realized she wasn't scared for him; she was scared of him. She covered her mouth with her fist as she recalled the words Liam had spoken to her.
Oh, and thanks for not acting terrified when you heard the details about my Venma. Most people would.
I'm sorry...
Yeah well, even if you can control me, I can definitely trust you to either not to, or do it for a good reason.
I'm sorry... I was too weak...
Y-yeah sure. Anyway, I won't control you.
Sure, sure. But I did say even if you end up doing so, I'm sure there'd be a valid reason.
Lisa remained silent as tears streaked down her face. She held in her sobs before reaching a shaky hand out to Liam's limp hand.
"... I'll do better... if there's ever a next time..."
You were bleeding everywhere! Think about yourself for once you idiot! You were coughing and choking and in pain! How do you think your family would feel if they saw you like that?! How would you feel if you got permanently hurt?! How do you think I feel, seeing you like that?! HUH?!
Lisa wiped her face and put her hand in Liam's palm. "If... it does happen again..."
Promise me you won't do something like that again.
Lisa gulped as her tears flowed once more, but her expression had hardened into one of resolve.
"... I'll make sure you won't have do something like that ever again."
...That's a horrible buff.
She chuckled as she tightened her grip a little. "I hate that I was right."
****
"Well, well. Looks like the supplements did their job."
"...Yet the person who ingested them came out much worse for wear. And you did not anticipate that kind of change."
"Correct, GAIA. I knew without a doubt that they would take effect—I modified those leaves after all—but the actual manifestation was quite the sight to behold."
"You said it yourself, Master, everything will lead to one goal. I hope these lives won't be sacrificed just like that."
"...GAIA. Only those who need to will be sacrificed. Also, since when do you hope? What happened to the entity I sent to wipe out that little budding organization?"
"It was a figure of speech, Master D. You designated these lives as important, unlike the ones you sent me to eliminate, so I simply deemed it acceptable speech."
"Hm... to think there would come a time when an Artificial Intelligence would speak without wasting a fragment of processing power."
"You built me, after all."
"True enough."
****
Wednesday passed with Liam still asleep in bed—the fight had occurred on Tuesday—and all his friends, especially Lisa, were increasingly worried.
I had to run... Hannah thought as she recalled the scene. Liam seemingly transforming into something that wasn't him, fear overwhelming her, and the shock she had experienced when she realized what Liam's Venma was.
Blood manipulation...
Jason had already left before the fight had escalated, saying there was nothing there for him to see. When it did escalate, Jay had ordered her and Ruby to get the teachers. Hannah had felt a strange compulsion to agree, and she and Ruby had ran out to search for their teachers.
Not much time passed before Hannah saw Kane, Jet and Sixteen approaching them. They had stopped to listen to her frantic plea, then had turned towards the Crucible and vanished like the wind.
I left my friend there... she thought as she approached her workshop.
Is he... really your friend?
Hannah flinched as she took a different path to the back of the building. Of course he is!
That doesn't change how dangerous he is—
"Shut up!" Hannah yelled as she punched the wall of the building with all her strength. As sharp, crisp pain shot through her hand, Hannah took several deep breaths to calm the anxiety and fear within her.
Yes, he's dangerous. The others said he didn't recognize them, but so what?
He's dangerous—
I know that, goddammit! she exhaled sharply. He's dangerous sure, but he's still my friend!
Hannah recalled the look in Liam's eyes when they had talked about building the robot, the gauntlet, and when they had just talked about different things in general.
There's no guarantee that it won't happen again... so I'll just get stronger. Even if it's for a selfish reason like protecting myself, so what? I can protect myself, and protect my friends from that.
Hannah walked towards the back entrance of her workshop, her hand throbbing from the pain.
"Looks like I'll have to take the initiative and ask Kazumi to help me..." she chuckled.
She opened the door and walked in to see Bruce arranging equipment, Elona tinkering with a few parts, and Bob sitting in a swivel chair with his legs crossed.
The other two looked up at Hannah, then glanced at Bob, then turned back with a wave. Hannah waved back, then stood over Bob's sleeping figure.
"Hm?" Bob mumbled as he felt a shadow looming over him. "Wha—ARGH!"
Hannah grabbed his head and squeezed, leaving Bob yelping for mercy.
"Did I say you could sleep in my chair?" she asked as she tightened her vice-like grip.
"No ma'am... I'm sorry ma'am..." Bob gasped as he put his hands together, as if in prayer.
Hannah clicked her tongue and let him go, and Bob fell on the ground in fetal position. She crashed down into the chair and held out a hand. Several wires, a circuit board, and a clip flew out of different boxes towards her. They assembled themselves together whilst hovering above her palm, and thirty seconds later, a small continuity tester was sitting in her palm.
I'm too slow... she thought as she gritted her teeth.
"Hey, Hannah," Bruce said as he approached her. "I heard Liam got hurt. Is he okay?"
Hannah glanced up at Bruce before handing over the tester. "He will be."
Bruce nodded before taking the tester and walking back to the bench.
To think his Venma made him such an obsessive person, Hannah thought as she looked at Bruce's back. What did he say it was? Patterning? Yeah. He can do almost anything as long as there's a pattern, so he developed an obsessive tendency to organize things... pretty scary how quickly he cleaned the place up.
The entire workshop was orderly and neat, all spare parts placed in designated boxes, all tools placed in their proper place. Any of Hannah's impromptu creations were given a separate corner of the workbench, and all cases were stacked in a corner of the room.
Bruce had tasked Elona and Bob with cleaning every nook and cranny of the place alongside him, and Hannah had immediately deemed him the most useful of the three.
Elona was a shark Muta, identified by her large tail and her jagged teeth. More importantly to Hannah,she knew electrical engineering. Liam had convinced Hannah that they couldn't be the only two to do all the thinking, so Elona and Bruce had joined the team.
Bob was kept on for three reasons. First, he and Liam had gotten closer by bonding over money, which had irritated Hannah to no end. Second, Bob had a surprising number of good ideas that Liam had gone through, which had inevitably added more things to their plate. And third, Bob's Venma: Veritas.
The slit on his forehead turned out to be the lid of a third eye, which had creeped everyone except Liam out. Through his third eye, Bob could see an object's usable, aesthetic, and rarity values. Hannah suspected there were more things he didn't say, but she didn't pry, since it would be rude.
The three had revealed their Venma without much prompting: Liam had identified Elona's Venma, Bruce had revealed his own whilst cleaning, and Bob had popped the eye open when he was speculating how much the tools could cost.
Hannah closed her eyes for a brief moment as she went through the different methods she could use to speed up her construction speed.
Maybe if I memorize blueprints instead of putting things together with my own intuition... that would still take a huge amount of time. I'll save that idea for when I get stronger.
An hour later, long after the other three had left, Hannah was walking away from the workshop when she received a message.
"...Huh?!"