02x06 - ISSUE #206: 36 Good Hours

[bunniefuu]

[bird wings fluttering]

[birds squawking]

[Dion grunts] No, get... Get off!

Brayden, what are you doing? Brayden!

[Dion grunts]

[eerie whooshing]

[tranquil music plays]

[Dion] Hey, Brayden, looking for someone?

How did you get in here?

I remember the way.

- You can't do that.
- Sometimes I make up a new power.

No! Dion! This is my place!

You can't come here
unless I bring you here!

[whimpering]

[Brayden] Dion!

Dion!

[whimpering]

[Dion] Brayden, is that you?

[Brayden's mom] Brayden?

- [young Brayden] I want my mama.
- We gotta get you out of here!

Brayden?

[Dion] You're scared.
That's why Brayden's acting like this!

- Let's get you to your mom.
- Brayden, where are you?

[young Brayden] I want my mama.

[Dion] We've gotta get you
out of here! [grunts]

Get away from him! You can't be here!

- [Dion grunts]
- [lock breaks]

- [Brayden] Stop it!
- [Dion] Come on!

- [Brayden] Stop it! No!
- [Dion] Come on.

- Let's go. Run!
- No!

[Brayden's mom] Where are you?

Mommy!

- Brayden! Come here.
- [young Brayden] Mommy.

- Thank goodness.
- [young Brayden] I was scared, Mommy.

Stop it! Stop it!

No!

[Brayden] Get out!

[Dion grunts]

[Dion grunting]

Is he gone?

Dion. Come on. We gotta go.

[birds squawking]

[Dion] Stop, Brayden! Come back!

Don't go! Stop! Wait!

Wait, stop!

Brayden!

- Stop!
- [tires squealing]

What the hell is going on?

Vacation's over.

[monitor beeping]

[knocking]

I have a choice to present you.

Our best estimates.

At the rate your infection is moving,

your body will be completely transformed
in less than two days.

Okay.

So what's my choice?

[Suzanne] I had a lab
run further tests on the serum,

and we've realized that...
well, among other things,

it suppresses the parasite's
ability to reproduce.

And by "among other things,"

you mean that the last time
you put that stuff in a guy, he died?

Yes. It's toxic to the parasite,
but also the patient.

We think that in a case like yours,

where the infection
hasn't fully transformed you,

that if you were
to administer very small doses,

it would suppress
its ability to make spores.

You wouldn't be contagious.

As long as I keep injecting myself.

It's a limited proposition.

The serum will be k*lling you.

But you could go home.

Spend what time you have left with Dion.

How... How much time?

Three doses, 12-hour intervals.

Thirty-six hours?

More or less.

[cell phone chimes]

- [Nicole] What?
- [Suzanne] I'll be back.

Sure.

[door closes]

- [Suzanne] Is everyone okay?
- Yeah. Thanks to Dion.

How many rogue Powered people
do you have running around?

No idea.

Where's my mom? I wanna talk to my mom.

Your mom isn't feeling well.
We're making sure she's okay.

- I want to see her!
- Of course.

I'll take you in a few minutes,
but first, about this kid...

- His name is Brayden.
- Okay, Brayden. Let's game this out.

BIONA has a team
that could approach Brayden.

Like a SWAT team?

A team that could maybe
convince him to come in and...

He's just a kid.

Who tried to scramble Tevin's brain
and make him hurt you.

It's not SWAT.

It's just scientists
trained in de-escalation

who could explain what he's going through
and maybe get him to come in.

So any information
you have about Brayden...

Yeah, I was able to see the license plate
before they drove off.

That helps. What about his parents?
You know their names?

No, but he goes to my school.

[Suzanne] We'll call,
get an address and approach him.

I'll go. I know what the kid looks like.

I know what the car looks like.
I can protect the team.

Let's go see your mom.

Now they're gonna
send this team to his house.

Like a SWAT team?

They said no, but I'm worried.

Di, that kid tried to hurt you.

That doesn't mean he's bad.
I went into his memory palace.

M-Memory palace?

[Dion] This place in his mind.

I saw him.
He was little and crying out for his mom.

She died when he was four.

I don't want them to hurt him.

Di, you're such a kind kid, but...

I... I can feel him, Mom.

I don't understand it yet,

but I went into his head
and now I can feel him.

He's really scared.

How long do you have to stay in here?

Until they can be sure I'm not contagious.

I wanna go home.

So do I.

Hey, do me a favor.

- Tell Auntie Kat I'm coming home.
- Yes!

[Nicole chuckles]

- I'll go meet you outside. Okay?
- [Dion] Okay.

- [door closes]
- [sighs]

[quiet tense music plays]

You said we were going home!
You didn't say I'd have to do homework!

[Nicole] I got a text saying
school's opening tomorrow, Di.

You're gonna have classes
and a show to rehearse for, so go on.

[Dion groans]

Now do you want to tell me
what's going on here?

[keys jangle]

[sighs]

I have two more shots.

It'll slow the spread.

And I won't be contagious for 36 hours.

And what happens after that?

[case shuts]

It's all over.

[Kat] What?

No!

BIONA has all that technology
and this is the best they could do?

It's a miracle I'm even alive.

And they gave me 36 good hours.

No! I'm gonna go down there. We're gonna
figure this out. I cannot lose you.

And find a cure by tomorrow?

[sighs] I'm not going down as a lab rat.

Dion has healing powers.
Maybe he can fix this.

Last time he did it, it almost k*lled him.

[Kat] He's older.

Nic, h-he's strong.
He's stronger than he was.

[sighs]

I'm not gonna risk
my son's life for my own.

Why are you just giving up?
Why aren't you fighting?

[Nicole] I'm... not.

Don't you get it?

This is the end of the line.

Because I messed up, Kat.

I should have never
gone down to that sinkhole, but I did.

And now I won't get to do the thing
that I want to do more than anything else,

and that's raise my son.

[whimpers]

[whimpers]

If you... If you take that, then you die?

I can't...

But if I don't...

[Kat sighs]

[Nicole] I'll become a thing.

A mindless, not even human thing.

[sighs]

No.

I-I am choosing
to give Dion the perfect day.

Okay?

And he's gonna go to school,
and he's gonna have his musical.

[Kat whimpers]

And we'll be in the audience,

and he'll look out
and he'll see how proud I am of him.

I can't lose you.

[Kat cries]

I can't.

[man] We're gonna go around back.
Gonna check the perimeter.

That's the car.

[door creaks]

Hello? Anybody home?

Can we come in?

[flies buzzing]

[sinister music plays]

Sir?

Ma'am, can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

[snapping]

Let's get 'em in the van.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[sinister music continues]

[sinister whooshing]

[electric crackling]

No! I don't wanna see you!
I don't wanna hurt anybody else!

[Crooked Energy] What you want
is irrelevant.

No! You need me or you will die!

You fed me well, and now I am strong.

You are lying!

[Crooked Energy grunts]

Use your mind control and you will finish
what we came here to do!

No!

I wasn't asking!

[Brayden yells]

[dramatic music swells]

[electricity crackles]

Wait, so you wanna make
a cloud out of Legos?

Yeah, so our Bermuda Triangle
has a storm that eats ships.

What kind of storm are we talking about?
A hurricane, monsoon, tropical depression?

- [low whooshing]
- [Dion grunts]

[Dion grunts]

[Nicole] Hey, Di?
Hey, buddy, are you okay?

He's gone.

- [Nicole] Who's gone?
- Brayden.

It's like he just vanished.

But it hurts like he's...

Is he dead?

I don't know.

He's just...

gone.

Come here.

Aw.

["Back From the Dead"
by Buck Slenderly plays]

♪ Look into my eyes
All the tears I cried ♪

♪ Dead on the inside
Nothin' left to hide ♪

♪ First, I had to die to become alive ♪

♪ First, I had to die to become alive ♪

♪ Puff up my chest, **** up a check
Aim for the neck, yeah ♪

♪ I be on deck, I be up next
I be the best, yeah ♪

[Kat] Gone to BIONA. I finally remember
why I wanted to be a doctor. Love you.

[groans]

[groans]

[groans]

[groans]

[tense music plays]

[Nicole groans]

[sighs]

[knocking]

[tense music plays]

[Dion] Mom?

Hey, Bug.

Are you okay?

[Nicole] Yeah.

You know those famous pancakes
I make that you love so much?

- You're gonna make pancakes?
- No, you are.

- I'm gonna teach you.
- Really? Race ya.

[Nicole chuckles]

[reporter] After an avalanche
of complaints from busy working parents,

the district superintendent
has cleared McKoy Elementary to reopen.

A gas leak caused by a nearby sinkhole
closed the school...

- [TV clicks off]
- Morons.

[door opens]

Thirty-six hours.
That's the best you could do?

Send Nicole home with a death sentence?

- We are doing everything we can.
- Did you try neutralizing the disease?

- With antibodies from the creature? Yeah.
- [Kat] What about antibiotics?

Try the metallic complexes?

I have lab teams
working every medical avenue.

Everything you've suggested and more.

I promise you, our best people are on it
and more are on the way.

- I can't lose her.
- We are not going to.

[Nicole] Now you're gonna
fluff up the flour.

- [Nicole laughs]
- Fluff it, grab it, level it, drop it.

[both laugh]

On the table.

♪ ...love, I really believe that... ♪

[Nicole] Nice and light. [laughs]

[Dion laughs]

Sorry! All the way filled?

- [Nicole] Now give me two of those.
- [Dion] Okay.

♪ We could take off
To the end of the world ♪

- ♪ 'Cause we found ♪
- ♪ Good love, good, good... ♪

[laughs]

[Nicole] Good job.

- [Nicole laughs]
- [Dion] My Mind Mover breakfast!

[both laugh]

♪ Can we last forever? ♪

[phone rings]

It's Esperanza.

Hey, what's up?

I need help.

What's going on?

It's Mr. Kwame. He's a lot.

Any chance your mom could help me?

Hi, Esperanza. I can help.

- Go get changed.
- [Dion] Got it.

[Esperanza] Mr. Kwame
cannot know that I called you.

He says that the show is his vision.

Kwame wouldn't mind. He knows you guys
are just supposed to be having fun.

Does he? Please don't tell him.

Okay, I won't.
Well, when do you want to get together?

- Now.
- Now?

[knocking]

Let's do this thing.

This is an exposure radius
of patient zero's whereabouts

before he was brought in.

We're monitoring local hospitals
for any uptick in symptoms.

The hospitals haven't reported anything
yet, but it's only a matter of time.

Time's up.

He was my patient.

So whatever this infection is,
it's out there and it's multiplying.

I called the top epidemiologists
who specialize in outbreaks.

They're on their way.

Do any have medical experience

- working with Powered people?
- No.

How many have tracked the progression
of this infection in real time?

I need to be in that lab.

Oh, uh, Kat, you're... here. Uh...

Uh, sh-shake hands or

hug it out?

Tell me what's going on.

So it looks like this is
a protozoal infection

that infiltrates the bloodstream
and multiplies fast.

The serum we made stops the infection,

but doesn't stop the patient's
immune system from breaking down.

- We still don't know why.
- So what's your new strategy?

Well, we were able to isolate
Powered strands of DNA.

You isolated Powered DNA?

No. A young woman named Janelle did.

She has the power of breaking things down
into their elemental blocks.

[Pat] Okay, whatever.

So I thought, if this parasite
is infiltrating cell walls

and disrupting its functions,

what if we targeted these cells
and replaced them with Powered strands?

Like super-powered gene therapy.

Whoa, "super-powered gene therapy."
I like the sound of that.

Yeah. And so would my sister.
You know, the one who's dying.

Sorry. Please, carry on.

So, the Powered strands
could give a regular human the ability

to fight a super parasite
on a cellular level.

Now, it's just a matter of finding
the right combination of Powered DNA.

Reproducible gene therapy
made from strands of Powered DNA.

This could be
the growth industry of the century.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

Suzanne, could you
ask him to leave, please?

No, she can't.

She no longer has authority over me.
Isn't that right, Suzanne?

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Well, while you're counting dollar signs,

I'm counting the minutes
I have left with my sister.

We're running out of time.

I'll take a step back.

[door closes]

[Nicole] Okay, I asked Dion
to give us some privacy.

Tell me what's going on.

Mr. Kwame expects me
to sing this huge song

and it's all gonna be garbage.

[tsks] No, it's not.

Why don't you show me what you got so far?

[piano music plays]

♪ And I am telling you ♪

♪ I'm not going ♪

♪ You're the best friend I'll ever know ♪

♪ There's no way I can ever go ♪

♪ No, no, there's no way... ♪

Okay.

Let's pause for one moment.

I told you it was bad.

Hey, I didn't say that.

You got some pipes on you, girl.

It's just the song
doesn't sound like you yet.

I don't know what to do with my hands.

Your hands, they're not the problem.
Well, not the main problem.

- Do you know what this song is about?
- No.

Okay, well, you're playing Effie,
who is really talented,

but really difficult,
and so she ends up getting kicked out

of her own singing group
and her fiancé breaks up with her.

Why are we doing this musical?

That's a great question.

But that ship has sailed.

So,

some of the best performances
are when you use the song

to tell us about you.

I'm ten years old. I don't have a fiancé.

See, but all this emotion here,
you need to put that into the song.

Just don't even think about the words.
Just let that emotion come through.

I'm gonna be terrible.
Everyone's gonna laugh at me.

Hey, no.

When you share
your feelings with the audience,

they'll feel it too,
and they'll love you for it.

[phone chimes and buzzes]

[Esperanza] What am I supposed to do?

Don't think about anything
but the moment. Okay?

Just show your heart.

Try again?

[piano music plays]

- [Tevin] Thanks for the coffee.
- Thanks for meeting me.

Dion's school is just down the street,

so I wanted to be there today
for when the bell rang.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

Well, uh, I'm flattered to be your coffee...

Date. You can call it a coffee date.

So... So this is a date?

Sure.

[Tevin chuckles]

So, all things being normal,
you would say that this is a thing?

Usually it takes a few dates
before you can call it a thing,

but sure.

I think it would be.

So, about Dion...

I know you just started coaching him,
but he has really taken to you.

All he ever talks about
is your training sessions.

I know Kat will take care of him...

but she's not Powered and...

Nicole. You don't have to ask.

I will protect him.

I will be there for him, no matter what.

I promise.

Thank you... so much.

[Nicole chuckles]

We should do something
to commemorate the moment.

I don't think I'll forget it,
but what'd you have in mind?

Well,

um, these donuts are incredible.

And the fact that I'm sharing it with you,
I mean, that's a moment in itself, so...

Wow.

- Cheers.
- [Nicole chuckles]

Next trial, healing power chromosomes

with added strands
of mental manipulation DNA.

Side note, that's probably
one of the coolest things I've ever said.

Pat?

Yeah, no. Uh, right. Focus.

[computer beeping, chiming]

- [Pat] Damn it.
- The parasite cell is too aggressive.

[Pat] Whoa.

Wait a second. It looks like the healing
and mental manipulation powers are

bonding?

That's impossible.
Those chromosomes shouldn't match.

It's like the P-DNA strands
are able to adapt

and bond with each other,
no matter who they came from.

Does that mean we can
fuse different powers together?

- Create new ones that could be...
- Injected into the body.

Yes.

[Pat] Theoretically, you could
give someone powers they didn't have,

or-or change the ones they have.

Will this help Nicole?

Keep running as many trials as you can.

I'm gonna go back to the drawing board
on Pat's antidote.

- Pat?
- Yup. Yes.

What were you like in school?

Uh, middle school, okay.

High school, hot mess. [laughs]

- [Tevin] No.
- College, so much worse.

- [Nicole laughs]
- Okay. [chuckles]

[Nicole] Yeah.

I mean, what about you?

I bet you were on the honor roll,
and president of the student body.

[Tevin] Uh,

nah.

I was way too nervous
for that kind of thing.

You, nervous? Really?

Yeah.

The, uh, proper diagnosis
is anxiety disorder.

But we didn't know that then.

My parents worked a lot.

I had younger siblings, so when
I was old enough to take care of them,

I, uh...

I would... I would be so scared that...

that they would just get lost or hurt.

I had this overwhelming fear
that I would let them down.

To the point I had this tightness
in my chest where I couldn't even breathe.

It sounds like a panic attack.

[Tevin] I'm sure they were.

Mental health really
wasn't a conversation in my family.

I sort of had to learn
how to internalize it,

convince myself that it wasn't there.

By putting up walls?

[Tevin] Yeah.

It's actually the reason
I started running.

Because, you know, out there, it's just...

It's just me, and I get to clear my head.

And it worked for a while.

Until I got my powers.

Yeah, well, that couldn't have helped.
[chuckles]

No.

No, it, um...

It set everything off again.

You know, the fear, the...

worry.

The scariest part was that I didn't know
what was happening to me.

I didn't know what to do.

Literally, it felt like I was drowning,
and I didn't know how to ask for help.

Not even from my wife.

Ex-wife.

[Nicole] Hmm.

[Tevin] I shut her out.

The relationship just fell apart.

But it did lead me to get help.

Too little, too late.

I just want to make sure
I don't make the same mistakes again.

No more walls.

I like that. No more walls.

- No more emotional walls.
- [Tevin chuckles]

Where, force fields...
I can do that all day long.

[Nicole chuckles]

I wish we had
a few more of these, because...

it definitely would be a thing.

I mean, we could just,
you know, go ahead and...

Call it?

Why not?

- [Nicole groans]
- [Tevin] Are you okay?

[Nicole grunts]

Yeah.

- Oh.
- Oh.

[Nicole exhales]

- Uh... I need to go home.
- All right, let's go.

[Ms. B] A lot of Atlanta's
Civil w*r battlefields have disappeared

because buildings
were built on top of them.

- Like our school.
- [students chuckling]

But just because we can't see something
doesn't mean it's not...

[supernatural whooshing]

[Dion] Jonathan?

What's going on?

[ominous music plays]

Brayden? I thought you were gone.

[distorted] Not until I take out
everyone you care about.

[Dion grunts]

No!

[grunting]

- [grunting]
- [groaning]

Jonathan, the TOJ needs you. Wake up!

[Brayden grunts]

[dramatic music plays]

[electricity crackling]

[distorted] Dion!
You can't get away from me!

What?

[Brayden and Crooked Energy] Am I really
here, Dion? Or am I inside your head?

You can't fight us if you don't know
which one of us is real.

[Dion yells]

[Brayden chuckles]

- [Dion] Why are you doing this, Brayden?
- [Brayden, distorted] You have everything.

A home, a mom, friends.

Now you're going to know
how it feels to be all alone.

[dramatic music plays]

- [Jonathan yells]
- [Brayden yells]

[Brayden grunts]

[Esperanza] Triangle power!

[supernatural whooshing]

[yells]

[Jonathan] Give it up, Brayden!

- [Brayden] You. You're on my side now.
- Nope.

[Brayden] I said, you're on my side.

Oh, I heard you.
I'm just not listening to you.

[Dion] You can't beat
the Triangle of Justice.

[triumphant music plays]

[Suzanne] This isn't working.

[sighs] We just haven't found the right
combination of Powered strands yet.

So I'm throwing them all in.
One of these has to work.

- [Suzanne] That's way too many variables.
- Well, we have to try.

Guys, I think I found something.

I figured out how Pat's antidote works.

You mixed healing P-DNA with an inactive
pathogen contained in the parasite, right?

Yes, to trigger the immune system

into recognizing
and destroying the invading cells.

And the healing DNA
is able to revert the mutated cells

back to their pre-infected form.

But they continue to attack those cells,
even once they're healthy again.

Attacking healthy cells,
like really aggressive chemotherapy.

Right. The body is turning on the cells
that were previously infected,

so the more infected cells
the patient has...

The faster they die.
That's what's happening to Nicole.

[Kat] And that's why
our patient died so quickly.

The P-DNA isn't working.
We need a different strategy.

Specialist team is here.

But before they come in,

you and I need to have
a private conversation.

In a minute.
Uh, please escort Pat back to his cell.

- [man] Yes, ma'am.
- What? No, I'm working lead on this.

You helped us during a crisis,
but now the experts are here.

Wait, y-y-y-you can't do this.
This is my research. That's my antidote!

Hold on. Just everybody calm down.

Didn't you say this was
an all-hands situation?

Pat's trials have failed.

- Uh... [chuckles angrily]
- The experts can explore his ideas.

But we are working with
highly sensitive information.

We need to be able to trust our team.

Are you... Are you kidding me?

How much more do I need to do?

I mean, I... At some point,
I deserve to be forgiven.

Deserve?!

You haven't changed one bit.

You k*lled a lot of people, Pat.
What did you expect?

That you would find a cure
and suddenly be the hero?

So you're just gonna keep me
locked in L5 forever?

We are going to do
what we were always going to do.

Find a way to extinguish
every last spark of power inside of you

so you can't hurt anyone else.

But until then...

[guard] Okay, let's go.

[David] You just took
a valuable asset off the team.

Cutler is gonna be pissed.

I don't care.

Look around.

We are all trying to stop a parasitic
outbreak that could end all of us.

So stop worrying about your career
and show the specialists in.

[Suzanne] I'm sorry.

[Kat] Listen up. This is what we know
about the infection.

[sighs]

[grunts, sighs]

[sinister music plays]

[gurgles]

[moans]

[grunts]

[grunts]

[moans]

- [Jonathan] Dion.
- No sign of Brayden anywhere.

It doesn't seem like anybody
saw what happened.

We're lucky we cleaned everything up
before they woke up.

Sorry I didn't tell you guys
about Brayden having powers.

Dude, sorry your friend
turned out to be a demon.

We've been through a lot,
but the Triangle stayed strong.

Invisible Girl.

Mind Mover.

Admiral Annihilation.

- Okay. Yeah.
- Yeah, he's earned it.

[all] Three become one.
We're stronger together.

Triangle of Justice!

There you are.

[Dion] Tevin.

Brayden came back, but we defeated him.

We gotta get you home. Come on.

What... Mom?

What's going on?

Dion, your mom is sick.

- No...
- She didn't want you to worry, buddy.

- Didn't want you to worry.
- Let me...

Okay.

[Dion struggles]

[Dion panting] Mom?

Why didn't you tell me?

I can heal her.

Mom, wake up. Wake up!

Dion, please back away from her.

Dion... no.

I'm older now. I can heal you.

[whooshing]

[Nicole] Oh.

[Nicole yells]

Dion, stop!

[Nicole whimpers]

- [Nicole whimpers]
- [Dion cries] Come on, please.

Mom, no. Are you...?

[Nicole breathes heavily]

You can't heal me now.

No! [sobs]

No! [sobs]

No, no, no, no.

[Dion sobs] No.

[Dion cries]

[melancholy music plays]