ASBO-Boy - Disassembled: Part 2

Squeeze found Bark down by a small stream that ran its way through the trees near the walls of the University, though he very nearly missed him. When Bark moved the extent of his transformation became clear. Leaves fell from his back as he shifted to watch as Sqeeze approached, it sounded like a breeze but the air was calm, devoid of movement, stagnant and waiting.

"Say what you need to say," Bark muttered.

Squeeze coughed. "I've just read something disturbing…" He paused, waiting vainly for a sign of interest. When he didn't get one, he carried on, "Gwen left me, us, a note. It says that she expected things to go wrong – well, she didn't so much expect as she was prepared for every eventuality, which included planning for my screwing things up. Anyway, it says she's gone to Cefn Coed to hack into their computers to try and find a way of helping Flicker."

Bark nodded.

"Yeah. Well, it was one of those 'If you haven't heard from me by such and such a time then I'm probably…'," Squeeze cleared his throat again, "Well, you know."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to break into Cefn Coed and rescue her."

Bark said nothing, so Squeeze felt compelled to say something.

"You know me… why start one fire when you can start…" He didn't finish the sentence, the look from Bark quelled it in his throat.

"I'm not going with you."

Squeeze nodded. "I thought you might say that."

"Arc-Light wont go either."

"I know."

An edgy silence fell between them like a blackout curtain. Squeeze wondered back on the months inside the Sandfields facility, how Bark had looked after him and followed him when his mind had bent to the power of the authorities. As if reading his thoughts Bark spoke up, "The trees burned, Mike. They all burned along with the houses and the people. My people. Make it right. Get Gwen, help Flicker, do whatever – just make it right."

Squeeze recoiled slightly at the words, but they were what he needed. With a nod he left the small glade and trudged his way back up the hill to where Vue was waiting.

"Told you so," Vue said.

"I had to ask."

Vue nodded and looked at the towering cloud of smoke pluming out of the belly of the Sandfields. Squeeze was wringing his hands and staring up at Core. "Do you think she's up to the task?"

"Of course," Vue smiled, "My girl's ready for anything."

"You guys were together before Dyfatty?" Squeeze asked, trying to steer things away from the cloud that loomed behind him, his pillar of guilt.

"Oh yes. Life can get pretty cramped and hot in that tower. People become close."

"Do you love her?"

"Stupid question," Vue chuckled, "Of course I do. I wouldn't have spent every waking hour trying to figure out a way of getting her back if I didn't. You and him breaking out of that helicopter was the best thing that ever happened to me, up until getting her back, that is."

"Maybe there'll be a way of bringing her back properly at Cefn Coed."

"There might be a lot of things there," Vue replied coldly, then immediately cheered up. "Is there anybody you care about, let's say, more than the usual?"

"Love, you mean?"

Vue replied with a look and Squeeze coughed, "I'm too young for love."

Vue started to laugh, "That'll be a yes then." With a flash he was standing on Core's back looking down at Squeeze and laughing. Squeeze felt his colar become unbearably hot as he climbed up Core's lower back, all the way to her shoulders. When he was standing next to Vue, Squeeze found he couldn't quite make his eye. Vue smiled, "I remember when my power first emerged, I launched myself across the street and ended up in a tree. It was scary. When I met Core, it felt almost the same – like something had been turned on that I'd never known was there. Some impossible things can be like breathing or walking, they're so natural that you don't know they're happening. Teleporting. Stretching your body like an elastic band. Meeting someone and just knowing they're something more."

From this vantage they could see a lot of the city beneath them. Squeeze didn't say anything, he just stared off into the middle-distance and tried not to think about what came next. "You know what," Vue said, his mind changing gear, "It's probably about time I told you about Dyfatty."