Unmasked

Audrey stumbled back to the bathroom after Matt left, banging open her medicine cabinet and trying to find something that would knock her out. Or maybe kill her. She felt like her insides were shredding apart and her heart may as well have been put through a meat grinder. She fumbled out a bottle of something but spilled all the pills in the sink as soon as she opened it.

Audrey let out a frustrated scream and banged her hands on the sink, barely noticing the pain. She crumpled to the bathroom floor and started sobbing. Everything was wrong. Matt wasn't supposed to be her enemy. Her parents weren't supposed to be dead. She curled into herself and sobbed against the cool tile.

Nichelle came over but Audrey barely noticed as her friend tried to coax her out of the bathroom.

"You should eat something, sweetie."

"I don't want food," Audrey snapped. She pushed away from Nichelle and staggered to her bed, crawling beneath the covers and covering her head. She heard Nichelle sigh.

"Audrey, I know you're hurting. It's hard to even breathe in here right now from all these damaged vibes. But you can't lose yourself to this. I know you, and I know you're going to do something dangerous."

"What does it matter now anyway?" Audrey demanded, tears starting to spill from her eyes again.

"Because you're my best friend and I'd rather not see you dead, that's what matters."

"I'm not going to die. I have too much work to do."

"What does that-"

"Nichelle, please. Go away. I'm only going to ask you nicely once."

There was a long pause. Then she heard Nichelle let herself out. Audrey cried herself into a fitful sleep, and when she woke she felt hollow and all cried-out. The Sunflower Festival was today. The hot agony of yesterday had formed a hard lump of fury and hatred in her chest and Audrey got out of bed. She left herself behind and became Phantasma as she went to find Fade. The chaos had already started when she arrived, and she could see a few heroes were already there, locked in battle with masked villains as people stampeded from the scene.

Someone spotted her, some young hero whose name Audrey didn't even know. He rushed at her and she made an abandoned car swerve into his path. It hit him and knocked him back. He hit the ground and groaned loudly.

"Go home," she told him flatly. "The grown ups are talking now."

Audrey didn't even know what exactly she intended to do there. She barely drew any notice as she drifted through the fight; the heroes had their hands full. Hammer Hands was there, noticing her at the same time she noticed him. She flashed him a feral grin and waved. He leapt toward her, huge metal hands raised to crush her. Audrey ducked his blow gracefully, kicking him square in the kidney as he landed. He grunted as she made a car roll forward and knock him over. As he flailed he hit himself in the head with his own hand and went limp. Audrey stared in disgust.

"Heroes," she scoffed. "Right."

As she approached the North Bridge she spotted Fade crouched on a heap of rubble. He didn't look so hot. True to his name, he faded away and vanished, leaving his comrades to fight on their own. Audrey stalked onto the wrecked bridge, climbing over broken concrete. Her body went rigid.

Titan. He looked exactly as she remembered him. A huge man dressed in black, his face completely obscured by a thick mask that covered his whole head. He didn't look like a man when he was Titan; his body was all wrong. It morphed into this monstrous thing, hands sporting claws like butcher knives. The hands that killed her parents in cold blood. So much blood.

He was surrounded by other heroes, who seemed to be congratulating themselves on a job well done. Then Fade appeared again, calling something to Titan. Titan turned on his fellow heroes, cutting them to ribbons and smashing out the concrete from under their feet. They tumbled into the ocean in a bloody heap.

Audrey's heart was pounding like a hurricane and it was like she lost all control of her own body as she scrambled over the debris and ran at him. Fade seemed startled as she came tearing over the bridge. She flew at Titan, trying to claw her way to his mask but he was too tall. He seemed as startled as Fade, but it quickly turned to amusement. He swatted her off of him like a fly.

"What do we have here?" His voice was muffled and eerie sounding behind his mask. Audrey grabbed a piece of broken concrete and chucked it at his face. It struck the eyepiece and he cursed. He reached down and seized her leg, dragging her behind him. Audrey kicked and screamed.

"She's one of ours, Titan," Fade said, trotting along behind them.

"Not anymore," Titan grunted. "Now scurry off before someone sees us together."

Fade hesitated for all of two seconds, then shrugged and vanished. Audrey's head banged against the concrete and sharp pieces jabbed into her back as Titan dragged her off the bridge.

"I'm going to kill you!" she shrieked. "You goddamn son of a bitch!"

"You talk too much." Titan swung her up by her leg, making her wince. Then he slammed her back to the ground and the world went suddenly black.



Her head felt like a piñata that had finally burst open. The rest of her didn't feel too great either. Audrey pried her eyes open to find that she was laying on a cold floor in a dimly lit room.

"Good, you're awake."

Her hackles instantly went up as she recognized the voice. She forced her throbbing head to turn. Titan was lounging against the wall, though now he looked like a man again. His mask was even off, but it didn't make him less formidable. He was still a large brute, with an ugly fave covered in scars and cruel eyes.

Audrey lurched to her feet and he looked her up and down.

"So what grudge does the great Phantasma harbor against me?" he asked.

"You killed my family."

His eyebrows rose. "Did I? What a small world."

"You broke into our house and murdered them. You kidnapped me and my brother, and he died because of you."

He cocked his head. "I'm afraid it's not ringing any bells."

"I'll have to refresh your memory," she spat.

"You really think you're going to kill me, little girl?" Titan smirked.

"I can certainly try."

He chuckled, unfolding his arms and stepped toward her. Audrey tensed but didn't shrink back.

"The IHC should be pretty interested to know you're working with Fade," she said. "I saw you slaughter those heroes on the bridge."

His jaw clenched slightly. "It would be my word against yours. Who's going to believe a lowly thief like you?"

"You're not exactly the superstar you were fifteen years ago. You're practically a retiree. Maybe they're not as interested in protecting you as they used to be."

Titan sneered. "Don't worry about that, sweetheart. I don't need IHC's protection." He paused and considered for a moment. "Still. It couldn't hurt to shut you up."

Audrey saw stars as he backhanded her against the wall. Her stomach lurched unpleasantly from all the pounding in her head. She was going to end up with a concussion if she didn't have one already. Or maybe permanent brain damage. She barely managed to spin away as he lunged for her again. She lashed out with her booted foot, catching him in the gut. He grunted slightly but kept coming at her. She hated feeling caged in the little room and it was hard to think when someone was jack-hammering inside her skull.

"You know, I think I might be starting to remember you," Titan said. "Your brother cried a lot, didn't he? Little twerp."

A flare of rage kindled some of her ebbing strength, and Audrey rammed the table into his stomach. He swore loudly, shoving the table away. Audrey stuck her hand into her pocket and fished for her tiny stun gun. She didn't move quick enough when he grabbed for her, arms wrapping around her and squeezing like a boa constrictor. Audrey gasped and a scream escaped her lips as she felt a couple of ribs crack. She heard the door bang open and Titan's grip loosened. Audrey wrenched away from him, hand finally closing over the stun gun.

She whirled and leveled it at the back of Titan's neck while he was distracted. She paused in shock as she realized that Matt was the one who had come into the room. Her vision was going blurry at the edges and she almost wondered if she was hallucinating.

"Sorry, Cryogen. I already caught your cute little nemesis."

"Why do you have her in here? We have new interrogation rooms. And what did you do to her? You know we're not allowed to torture prisoners."

Titan laughed. "Don't be naive, ice maiden. The IHC is changing. I don't care what the likes of that uptight blonde say I'm allowed to do."

His hands twitched as his limbs started elongating. He took a swipe at Matt with his claws and Matt jumped back, shooting ice from his fingertips to freeze Titan's hand. Audrey zapped him with the stun gun and Titan dropped to his knees with a violent twitch. He caught her ankle as she tried to slip past him, yanking her down. She fell on her wounded side and hissed in pain. She twisted and kicked him hard in the face. Matt froze his other hand his feet in big blocks of ice.

"We have to go," Matt said, kneeling to help her up. Audrey recoiled, using the table instead to pull herself up. It hurt hearing Matt's voice coming from beneath Cryogen's mask and made her angry all over again.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she snapped.

"Nichelle sent me to get you. You're hurt. You can't fight him like this. He's going to thaw soon."

"Fuck off."

"Look, you can hate me all you want but we have to go."

Audrey stumbled as Matt took her arm and tugged her from the room. Her energy was sapped, her side screaming and her vision going gray. She wanted to sleep for a thousand years but she also wanted to go back and relieve Titan of his head. She was barely even aware of Matt leading her out of whatever building they were in and taking off her wig and mask. It was a struggle just to stay conscious and her vision faded in and out a few times.

She was dimly aware of being carried somewhere and laid on a bed. She mumbled a protest but wasn't sure if it was even coherent. Her head hurt. Her heart hurt. She felt like she was just made of pain now. Her vision blurred again and she closed her eyes, letting sleep finally rise up and overtake her.

This time Audrey woke up to the sound of voices. She stared blankly at a wall covered in soft blue and white wallpaper. This wasn't her room. She blinked a few times, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind. Why did she hurt all over? She sat up too fast and groaned, feeling queasy. It all came rushing back and she realized with a jolt that she was in Matt's room. She kicked the blankets off furiously and then winced. Right. Titan had nearly squeezed her to death. She climbed out of the bed more gingerly and went to look in the mirror. She grimaced.

Death warmed over. That's what she looked like. Her silver eyes looked haunted, dark circles beneath them. She had a small bruise on her cheek and when she lifted her shirt her sides were positively riddled with them. There was a nice egg-sized lump on the back of her head too. The door opened and Matt froze.

"You're awake," he said. "Do you need anything?"

"I need to not be in your bedroom," Audrey snarled. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I didn't know where else to take you, Audrey." He ran a hand over his face, looking tired.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours. You should sleep more."

"Fuck sleep. I need to go find Titan. He's a double agent, by the way. He killed a bunch of your buddies on the northern bridge. I guess the justice league is having some problems."

"Why do you hate them so much?" Matt asked softly. "I don't understand. You're not like Phantasma. You dedicate your life to helping people. Your parents-"

"Don't you dare talk about my parents!" Audrey rounded on him. "Don't you ever mention them again! None of you spandex-wearing, self-proclaimed 'heroes' are worthy to talk about them."

Matt was quiet for a few long moments. "You said their killer was never found. Is that what this is about?"

Audrey let out a noise that was half sarcastic laugh and half sob. "You think I would hate IHC this much just for that? I know not all crimes get solved. I hate them because I knew who killed my family. I told them who the killer was. They didn't believe me. They laughed in my face, thinking I was just a confused, traumatized little kid. The killer walked right out with them like nothing happened." Audrey hugged herself and glared at him. "Titan killed them. Butchered them. He ripped them open, and then he took me and Wyatt and locked us in a trunk. My whole family was dead and your precious IHC let him walk because he was a 'hero.' They wouldn't even listen to me. That's why I hate them, Matt. That's why I can't even look at you right now."

Matt looked like he was trying to figure out what to say, but he phone rang then. Audrey recognized Nichelle's voice.

"Please tell me you got her out of there."

"She's here with me," Matt said.

"Oh, thank God. Put me on speaker for a minute. Listen, you two. You guys need to lay low right now. I mean like lower than dirt. You've been marked as a rogue for helping Phantasma escape. You're both wanted, and not just by IHC. Fade and his cronies are wreaking havoc right now, taking out heroes all over the place. It's not safe for anyone right now, least of all the two of you."

Matt had gone a little pale. "Thanks for the heads up, Nichelle."

"I'll try my best to keep you posted. Audrey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Audrey."

"I said I'm fine."

"Matt, take me off speaker."

Matt held the phone up to his ear and Audrey couldn't hear what Nichelle said. Then he hung up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Long live the justice league," Audrey said sarcastically.