Mine 36 (Fuck you Dean)

Cole stared at Dean and felt like flipping the table from this turn of events. Vista was staring at her crush with clear worry, nothing else on her mind but the boy's state of mind, which drew more attention to his oddity. Dean on the other hand might as well be a statue considering his current state.

The situation had flipped the mood he was building in a near instant. Miss Militia was suddenly guarded and was staring at Cole with intensity as several weapons flashed in her hands demonstrating her unnerved mood.

Armsmaster was even worse as he fiddled with something on his belt. He had no idea what the thing was but Cole was sure it would only spell problems. It was also difficult to read the guy as he had the emotional spectrum of a teaspoon. To Cole’s eyes he looked stoic and ready for action which was a far cry from the awkward stiff movements he was displaying earlier.

All that planning ruined because he did not think to account for a single boy. He knew about Dean’s emotional vision when he came here and while he thought it was a problem he thought he could glide by on how valuable he would be to the PRT. They would know he was lying about some things but they would still sell their souls to him to get him to join.

It was not like he had done anything truly monstrous. He just stole from one fucking electronic store and broke one teenager out of prison. Not exactly criminal of the year, it was not like they knew he sentenced Coil to a likely eternity of torment. Nor did they know he was effectively the leader of a shadow cabal that had infiltrated their organization with ease.

Fuck, he can still savage this. All he had to do was play on the power interaction between them being off. So he faced the two adults with a nervous look on his face as he fidgeted in place.

“Uh, I know you wanted me to do power testing but should I heal him?” Cole asked nervously as he bit his lips and stared at the duo with a subtle shake running through his body. That offer did not calm the mood at all as the two of them simply stared daggers at him.

Vista on the other hand seemed to notice that things were going in a strange direction as she stood defensively in front of the frozen boy. Cole felt his lips twitch despite him trying to keep the nervous energy about him.

The sight of the determined little girl defending her teammate with everything she had was adorable. It was also hilarious as he could kill everyone in this room without really thinking about it.

Decay was highly lethal when he had no control but now that he could use the energy itself as a weapon he could kill with ease. Since his Cursed Energy pool was so large he could flood this entire building with Decay and kill everything with very little effort.

Not that he was going to share that fact with anyone. He did not really want to go around murdering people for the most part. He really only had a couple people he would even consider worthy of that treatment and despite his mixed feelings about the PRT he did not think anyone here deserved that.

Even Shadow Stalker did not deserve such treatment. A strange stance to take considering her actions but while she was a rather despicable person in Cole’s eyes she did not cross any line that would warrant death in his eyes.

While he felt for Taylor her pain was not something he was willing to murder for.

Seeing the building tension in the room he shrunk in on himself and flipped his cursed energy from Negative to Positive and felt a rush of sheer elation that slipped by despite his tight hold on his emotions. That movement caught Armsmaster’s eye and he finally took the thing he was holding out of his belt and Cole saw it as a remote that had two tiles on the ceiling shifting and pointing two nozzles at him that he did not like the sight off.

Miss Militia glided across the room and stood in front of the two wards with a Taser forming in her hands that would really ruin his day. He could not see what the two wards were doing but the space around him shifted and contorted in a way that told him he was all but trapped here if he wanted to escape by foot.

He was able to calm his rising mood as he used his control to keep his RCT from flooding his body, it was just sitting docile in his core now. Too bad he already showed his current emotional instability.

The room seemed like it was finally going to explode from the tension that was building but a sharp gasp tore attention away from Cole. Dean collapsed to his knees and was taking deep desperate breaths as he shuddered in his over designed mess of a suit. He was shaking and it must feel like he was restarting his heart after this mess.

The quivering space around him shattered for a moment as Vista lost focus on her power as Dean was too important to her little heart. That did not stop the two adults from acting.

The nozzles came to life as gooey foam was thrown at him and was on the move to coat him in that confining mess. Alarms blaring as the situation reached a point of no return. Cole felt himself twitch in annoyance as he contemplated just leaving this fucking place and flipping the table but let out a sigh.

He was here for a reason and he was going to stick to it despite it being annoying so he accepted his fate. Fucking Dean, you deserve to be cucked all the time. Freaking ruining his good deal just because you have bullshit powers. 

At least he was not going to be tased. He did not want to have a shared experience with Alec. Lisa would laugh at him for ages if she found out secrets not tied to him were bound to get out eventually to her.

She might not bring it up to him considering their current relationship but he knew she would be laughing to herself about it. Stupid smug fox.

Well, if Miss Militia was going to use her Taser he was likely to replace himself with one of his Clones. He did not want to sign up from being tased after all. 

He was soon coated in the foam that quickly hardened and expanded around him sealing off his movements with ease. He let out a panicked startled yelp as it happened even if he felt more annoyed about all of this internally.

Thankfully his acting did not have to continue for very long as the foam finally enclosed his head and he was greeted with the sight of white foam blocking out everything else in the room. He thought he would be in total darkness from the foam covering him but the light in the room was able to pass through the foam coating him.

He could still technically see as his eyes could map out the room using Cursed Energy but it was just not the same thing.

He felt like he was encased in stone and it had his heart racing despite knowing he could leave at any moment. There was something about this enclosed tight space that gnawed on the nerves despite him knowing it was safe.

Honestly how did Dragon make a cage that can trap people completely and allow them to breathe at the same time. Tinkertech is fucking bullshit and Dragon was the queen of that bullshit.

Leet being the unknowing king and court jester at the same time.

“Target contained.” Armsmaster spoke out sternly from the other side of the foam. The alarms finally stopped blaring at that and he heard shuffling from the other side of the wall. He could tell that Miss Militia  was comforting Dean as she patted his back and ran him through motions to calm the panicking teen.

Vista was staring at her crush with quivering lips that displayed her worry clearly. Armsmaster was standing stiffly at attention as he stared guardedly at Cole current prison.

“What the hell! Look, something is happening but this has nothing to do with me!” Cole shouted out in aggressive panic. His words seemed to fall on deaf ears but it was not like he was expecting them to really matter here. He just had to say something to keep in character.

So he just waited calmly for all of this to blow over. After a couple minutes of silence in the room Dean seemed to recover from his panic attack.

“What the hell was that?” Dean muttered out as he stared at where Cole was standing with a quiver running through him as he did. He was no longer seeing that pit of all consuming darkness but the memory was still engraved into his very being.

So the mix of all that is good coming from Cole currently did not give him any relief. Just confusion and fear of the maddening sight returning and claiming him in the abyss.

“Likey a master effect from Cole.” Armsmaster commented without much fluctuation in his voice. Just stating a simple fact.

“Slander! I don’t even have a Master Power!” Cole shouted out from his prison desperately trying to defend himself. Well, he did with his clones but he was not going to tell them that not that he was planning on sharing much with them.

Armsmaster looked stiff at his response but did not say anything to Cole. His program was telling him that Cole was telling the truth but he might be under a master effect as well. Which was going to lead to everyone in this room going underneath Master/Stranger protocol which would lead to a delay in his research but that was the price you paid when dealing with new capes.

“Are you okay Dea, Uh, Gallant?” Vista asked as she fidgeted in place, not sure what to do with herself now that things had calmed down. Great, they were still ignoring him. He was going to get suitable revenge on Dean. The guy was rich right? He might have better targets but getting revenge was also a good thing and it would advance his goals.

He let out a sigh as he was being petty. He had more tempting targets already arranged and people that genuinely deserved his retribution. Jack, Lung, The Warrior, hell even Skidmark had a higher place on his list….Maybe just send one Clone to target Dean's riches.

He had nearly unlimited Clones so he could afford to send one of them on a quest of petty vengeance. It might even endear him to Amy. Who was he kidding? Getting on her good side was like trying to tame a wild mangy cat that ran from everyone but one girl.

Vista’s question tore Dean’s gaze away from the foam trap for a moment. He gave her a stiff smile as if trying to reassure her but not feeling it. Before any more words could be said Cole decided to push some oil on the fire.

“Okay, if you guys are going to trap me here I’m switching my power back to the Negative state, clearly you don’t need healing!” Cole shouted out sullenly but his words were finally heard by one person.

Not the adults that should be worried about the Power change nor Vista who was worried about what was happening but Dean. The guy’s nerves were already on edge and the sudden comment was another triggering point. Dean may have no idea what this Negative state was but considering what just happened to him he wanted to not see that again.

“WAIT!” Dean shouted out, desperately setting off the room again. The guy took shuddering breaths as he tried to get his panic under control. The two adults seemed confused about the sudden urgency from Dean and Vista was also nervous about him nearly breaking down again.

There was a tense moment as Dean collected himself. Finally the laboured breath coming from the boy calmed as he was able to get a handle on himself again.

“What do you mean by Negative state?” Dean asked with a nervous energy clear in his tone. Miss Militia seemed stumped by his question before a look flashed across her face. Armsmaster on the other hand stiffened as if recalling something himself.

“Uh, does it really matter you got me trapped for no goddamn reason!” Cole shouted out angrily letting some of his real irritation dye his tone. Dean seemed to stumble over his response as he needed to know what was going on but the situation was already really off.

“Cole, we understand that this situation is less than ideal but you saw what happened to Gallant. We could not risk his health if you were doing something with your power. So could you answer some questions to ease the situation.” Miss Militia coaxed from her position, a certain sense of awkwardness about her now that things were looking less dire.

Vista was looking back between Dean and the adults with confusion clear on her face but she held back for now. Armsmaster just left the talking to the more emotionally attuned person.

Cole took in their words for a moment before letting out a deep sigh that was heard from the other side of the foam.

“Yeah, he did look like he was dying. Uh, well like I said earlier my power provides me with a pool of energy that I can use to do things. In the Positive state I can heal and in the Negative state I can enhance my body and use that energy destructively.” Cole explained awkwardly, Miss Militia and Armsmaster already knew that from his explanation earlier but they did not really understand it till now.

Dean was shaking as he stared at the foam with a glint of understanding but horror still prevalent in his eyes. Vista stared at her crush in worry as his shaking frame was far away from the stalwart and charming figure she was used to.

“Cole, is there a reason you label these states as Positive and Negative?” Armsmaster asked stiffly as he realized what exactly was happening but he needed confirmation.

Dean also needed that answer desperately, and Miss Militia was trying to ease the tension building in the panic stricken boy.

“Uh, it’s a bit complicated but my energy is pulled from emotions. I pull energy from Negative emotions, expanding my energy pool.” Cole explained awkwardly. There was a stark silence in the room as everyone got a handle on what was happening now.

Dean looked like someone just smacked him with a stick and Miss Militia was nervously looking at the foam with her maternal affection back into play even if she was also awkward. Armsmaster just let out a deep sigh that was filled with annoyance.

Vista was fidgeting as she now knew what was wrong and she could no longer blame Cole for everything. Clearly it was just bad luck that things turned out like this.

They were a bit too trusting in his words here but the ‘truth’ he was throwing at them had already built a picture of who Cole was in their minds. This sudden situation was not really about him and more about protecting a minor under their aegis.

Armsmaster dissolved the foam and kind of just looked at Cole stiffly. The teen in question was looking at the room with irritation clear on his face but was also not making eye contact with anyone.

“Cole, if Gallant is ever near you do not put your Power in the Negative State.” Armsmater stated simply. 

Dean grimaced at having to interact with Cole again but he knew that this was not Cole's fault but it was still traumatizing. Vista was not sure how to deal with Cole either, clearly her crush did not like him but she could not really blame Cole for that.

So she just kept quiet a habit she developed from hearing her parents argue over and over again. 

There was a certain awkward tension in the room that simply could not be driven away. Not after the experience everyone in this room went through.

“So, how about power testing.” Dean spoke out stiffly trying to close the gap even if he did not want to. Cole shifted his gaze to the guy and gave him a flat look that belonged 100% to him. Dean just coughed awkwardly and broke eye contact.

Hell, considering the awkward interaction between Cole’s and Dean’s power one of them might get sent out of the city. The PRT would not like to have one of their Wards drop dead out of sheer fright after all. He would be worried about him being sent away but Cole was valuable. Far more than a Ward that just sat around doing jack shit.

So they were probably going to send Dean away, or maybe he would leave under his own worries. That would not exactly endear him with the Wards but he was just here to get the PRT off of his back. 

Cole let out a sigh.

“Fine.” He spoke out quietly clearly just wanting this moment to end.

-----

Was going to include power testing now but figured I delayed enough. I will write it out in about 6 hours depending on how detailed I am about it.