Chapter 55 - What does water plus voltage equal?

POV: 3rd person

Wrathful doesn't even describe half of what Wendy was feeling right then. It was too soft of a word. Not only was her entire scheme, that she'd been planning for months, on the verge of collapsing, her old singing group mate/enemy was the one to crush her plans and completely humiliate her, put her down, insult her and utterly embarrass her. She'd never been this slandered in her entire life and she's an Oscar nominee.

Aiden on the other hand, couldn't give less of a shit about her feelings that were targeted towards him, as demonstrated by his head bobbing. He just wanted to go back to Erwin's building so he could finish a couple of things for a hopefully earlier clocking out than usual.

The captured was still sitting in the chair, his emotions schooled. Even though a lot had happened, he was adamant about not letting anyone having a read on him. Internally, he was confused beyond his sane mind and the initial intrigue for the new employee turned into full-blown fascination (and slight attraction). How did Aiden have all these connections with well known individuals? Who was he and how did he grow up? Why was he doing what he's doing? The questions were endless and as much as he wanted to enquire, his pride refused to let him do so. Feeding into his curiosity would give another one up to the other man in the sudden (and unnecessary) game they were playing.

As soon as Wendy finished her one minute of scowling, she pounced and configured a huge wave of water out of the carpet, targeting it towards Aiden. It was about half the height of the room, so it was going to drench everything in its way without any mercy. Luckily for Erwin, Aiden happened to be standing on the other side of the room, so the former just experienced droplets hitting him. Aiden, unsurprisingly, completely dodged the wave by jumping/flying to the other side of the room, to the left of where Erwin was situated. The wave disappeared out through the newly broken window. The water user gave no chance for recovery as she immediately called for a string of water that was floating freely in the air. It morphed to shape into a whip, which genuinely shocked Aiden and he couldn't help but clap for her as he praised her improved ability.

"Oh my god, you can create a whip? I remember last time you couldn't even control a water ball enough to hold its shape. You HAVE grown. I'm so proud of you." Now to anyone else in the world, this would sound condescending as fuck but Aiden honest-to-god meant it. He only hoped she saw it like that as well. However, her scowl turning into pure rage and her face turning red told him maybe she didn't see the genuity of his words. She sent a harsh whip towards Aiden, which he avoided, once again by hopping and for once, he was a bit freaked out because the whip made an enormous crack sound which resonated throughout the penthouse and split the bookshelf that was behind the man.

As soon as Aiden landed by Erwin's side, he couldn't help but cringe a bit and the CEO – who had been blank without showing any sort of reaction – couldn't help but flinch a tiny bit. Regardless, Aiden wasted no time putting his plan (that he formed twenty seconds ago) into action. He stood behind his intrigued boss and quickly set his plan into action.

"BEFORE YOU BEGIN WHIPPING ME AGAIN, a kink I would love to explore for another time," said Aiden with a joking undertone, to lighten up the mood (he didn't want to be whipped. He tried it before. It's not for him), "I am genuinely curious. That attack of yours was so powerful and I'm in awe. Surely you could explain where and how you learnt to do that, please answer as an old friend?" The blue-haired man knew as much as she currently wanted him dead, Wendy would never miss an opportunity to flaunt, brag and flex anything or any trait of hers.

And what do you know, he guessed correctly because she began going on a tangent about how she struggled, had some sort of teacher and blah, blah, blah. Aiden immediately zoned, even though he was intently looking at her. It's only so he could achieve his underhanded goal of getting the captured finally uncaptured.

Subtly, the shorter man pulled out the special anti-anti oddities pocketknife (named and designed by himself) that he carried around everywhere and coated it in electricity. He smoothly began grinding the blade against the stiff rope that was wrapped around Erwin's chest and the back of the chair. Erwin was great at playing victim because he didn't look fazed or flinched at the knowledge that there was some sharp object that was sharp enough to stab him through the back. Instead, he kept looking forward at his kidnapper with a blank face and mock interest.

And the rambling went on, with a newfound fire (due to Erwin's sudden interest) as she kept adding to her story with all the nitty gritty details. Aiden was nearly done cutting through the ropes but before it was completely cut in half, Aiden skilfully and rapidly brought his head down, lips next to Erwin's ears and whispered out, "keep the rope around you for now. Make it look like you're still tied up. Make sure the rope doesn't drop."

He didn't really need to subtly do it, seeing that Wendy was in her own world but heck, Aiden would be lying if he didn't want to get up close with his cold boss at least once and smell his musky cologne.

Aiden swears Erwin shuddered a little when he was speaking to him but it was too small and too quick to pass proper judgement, so Aiden just assumed he was seeing things. Blue haired man assumed that Erwin's silence was silent compliance. All he had left to cut was the rope around his wrists, which he worked at immediately. Erwin was even kind enough to lift it as much as he could so Aiden didn't have to bend down as much.

What a nice guy.

He could probably slow his pace considering how Wendy went on a completely random tangent on how her daddy bought her some sort of mansion on some sort of Caribbean island. How the fuck she got to that topic of conversation (well, monologue), Aiden had zero fucking clue but he's all for it. Well, he's slightly annoyed because his song approached the end, meaning he couldn't finish this in under five minutes but when Arabella by Arctic Monkeys began playing, he didn't mind so much. Wendy didn't notice the change in the song and conveniently, turned her back towards the boys as she continued her storytelling.

Aiden could probably just shoot her down then and there but he didn't actually how much attention she was paying and for all he could know, she could be quite attentive and an attack against her might ruin everything, so Aiden kept to his original plan.

Finally, the electric user finally cut through the rope and had Erwin's wrists free but before he could move it, Aiden grabbed both wrists (he needs to use two hands because who fucking knew that the tall guy would also have monster-sized hands) and kept it in the same position, keeping a tight grip. Erwin felt disgruntled at the sudden move and seemingly wanted to lash out but Aiden tended to his dissatisfaction and answered the non-verbalised question in the same manner as before. "Calm your dick, Jesus fuck. Clearly, you're not cut out for the submissive role. A shame really, we could've had so much fun if you were a switch."

A quiet but deep growl erupted from the base of his throat and Aiden couldn't point out if it's from irritation or lust but regardless, he probably would've laughed and continued teasing the guy but even he knew it's not the TPO. Instead, he ignored the growl. "Anyway, I need you to stay like that for a bit longer, for my plan to work–"

Erwin immediately cut in and somehow managed to ask back, "What plan? Your underhanded method to touch me?" without any suspicion from the third party member. His mouth barely moved but he somehow coherently responded. This man should be a ventriloquist what the fuck was Aiden's immediate thoughts, then it was an outraged WHO THE FUCK WANTS TO TOUCH WHO?! Because he is a mature adult, Aiden ignored the jab.

"Explaining the plan is not important right now nor do I have the time to do so. She's soon going to snap out of it and realise that she needs to kill him, so listen to what I tell you what to do. And yes I know, don't tell me what to do blah, blah, I'm not submissive but shut up if you want to get out of here. Anyway, you should be free to freely use your Oddity once you get rid of all that rope but I need you to do that when I tell you. Timing is perfect," Aiden stopped his explanation temporarily to attend back to Wendy and she still had her back (conveniently) facing towards them, "When I say the word surge, you remove the ropes and when I follow up with the word fifty, I need you to teleport yourself out of here immediately. It's going to happen fast and–"

"What?!" Erwin hissed out, "What about you–"

"What happens to me does not matter. I know what I'm doing and my job right now is to get you out of here safe–"

"I did not ask for your he–" Erwin's voice began rising in volume.

"Shut up," Aiden hissed out this time, "You're gonna get us caught. Suck up your damn pride and do what I–"

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT OVER THERE?!" screeched Wendy.

"Welp, time's up," Aiden blurted out unintentionally and shot a zap of lightening her way to occupy her. She moved out of the way in time and immediately retaliated and threw another sphere of water, which was fortunately avoided by Aiden but unfortunately not by Erwin. He took the full brunt and both Wendy and Aiden were surprised that not only did he manage not to crash to the ground but he also somehow hold the ropes together. He did look irked and rightfully so. The expression caused Wendy to fluster about and apologise profusely, which garnered an amused snort out of Aiden.

She brought her immediate attention back to her former classmate. Aiden was back to where he was originally, meaning he could finally put an end to this. Arabella was a good song to end things on.

Wendy sent a smaller wave towards Aiden but this time, Aiden allowed it to splash himself, intentionally not dodging the attack. It confused the shit out of the girl but it didn't faze her enough to attempt another attack, however, she abruptly stopped when Aiden asked a question with a neutral expression. "Say... Wendy, do you know I have an Oddity?"

Wendy was lost. "What the fu- what does that got to do with any–"

"Just answer the damn question." Aiden's tone was strict and semi-frosty, causing the celebrity to jump a little."

"... Of course I know you have an Oddity."

"Hmm, and what is it? Do you remember?"

"Uh, it's electricity? You literally just tried to zap me and- Where are you going wi–"

"Wow, I'm so glad you remembered," Aiden interrupted, "I have a slightly bit of faith in you. Now, have you completed high school?"

"Huh?" "What?" The latter was from Erwin who looked and felt as muddled as his capturer about this train of conversation.

"I didn't really ask a difficult question. From your lack comprehension, it can be inferred that you did not complete high school?"

Wendy was offended and sputtered out, "W-What n-no! I did complete high school."

"Oh that's great. Then do you remember anything from science class?"

"Seriously Aiden, get to the fucking point," Erwin was visibly irritated and was ready to jump up and just get the fuck out of here.

Aiden put his hands up in surrender. "Sheesh ok, just wanted to help a friend use their brain, since it isn't exercised on a daily basis–"

"Fuck you!"

"–but my point is, she's water and I'm electric," Aiden called forth current during his explanation and let it run through his blood and veins. His hair stood up (floated really) due to the static and blue static sporadically flashed through his clothes. "Water can conduct electricity, unless it's completely pure due to the lack of ions. Now, it's completely possible she's been using pure water but just in case, I've been spreading salt all over the floor and room, that was conveniently in my pocket (Aiden picked up salt on the way here) as well as secretly thrashing all the electrical wires so they're exposed," at this point, Wendy completely paled at the turn of events. Erwin's eyes widened at the realisation of my words and figured out the plan. Their reaction didn't stop Aiden from explaining though. "Now, Wendy, you've done me a blessing by completely soaking the entire room and setting me up for my only and final attack."

She crumpled on the floor and shook her head vigorously. Tears that were pooling in the corner of her eyes began streaming down her cheeks like a dam that broke and her limbs were visibly shaking, along with her voice as she pleaded, "Wa-wait pl-please don-t. I-I'm s-sorry. I'll l-l-let him go. J-just–"

Aiden would've honestly used this time to get the fuck outta here.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'm no murderer. I'll just... put you to sleep, among other things. You can try escape instead of sitting there."

She knew this but she couldn't move. Her body wasn't responding to her brain, just listening to the newly instilled fear. All she could do was plead some more. It slightly irked Aiden. "Don't make me out to be the bad guy here. I just said I won't kill you and I mean it. I'm reforming you. It's about time. You've pushed it too far this time."

"H-Huh?"

"I ceebz explaining." As the song approached its end, an unreadable smirk grew on Aiden's face and he slowly brought out his right hand and shaped his fingers to form a finger gun, pointing it towards Wendy's forehead. Her eyes widened and the trembling caused the Richter scaling to shoot up further. She's blanked out. No mercy. One last glance towards Erwin, Aiden found the other man to be extremely concerned for the girl and looked as if he's about to physically protest. Aiden groaned out loud, expressing his growing annoyance and clarified for the last time, "Oh for fucks sake, I just said I'm not killing her. You have my word that she'll be fine, just do as I told you to do. If she dies, you can kill me straight away or turn me in. I'm not one for killing myself. We have discussed this before."

Without wasting anymore time, I stared into her eyes and with a sad smile, simply said, "Power surge... fifty volts edition."