The Descent Chapter 3: Reborn Part 1

Full Novel Synopsis: Sequel to 'The Spiralling', itself a sequel to the Kick-Ass (2010) movie. However, this novel can be read on its own. After Big Daddy died, Mindy was driven mad, subdued by Dave, and locked away in an Institute after killing all who she deemed responsible but Dave. Will she recover? What will happen next to a New York without her nor the Motherfucker? Elements of the Kick-Ass 2 (2013) movie and comic series will be taken in.

The Descent

Chapter 3: Reborn Part 1

We were walking down the hospital again. A tiny part of me was glad that this would be the last time, and that I won’t be going through the low and high security areas into maximum security, but the rest of my brain was a battlefield pounded to dust by heroes and villains.

“The effect of the retrograde amnesia I induced in her had to be widespread, thorough.” The doctor continued as we were walking through the endless, white corridor, making me wish for amnesia myself. The more I hear the more fucked up I feel, “This father of hers you wrote about did quite a number on her. More than half of her short life had to be axed away, but of course, don’t worry. That is an oversimplified explanation.”

Inside, I was wishing for him to just stop, to just pause for a second, that the complex explanation would absolutely kill me, but as Mindy’s friend, or as I’d like to think, family, I knew I had to take it, one wallop at a time. Somehow, it was even worse than all that beating I took from those streetfights I got involved in as Kick-Ass. It was more insidious, screwing my insides left and right.

“Her range of expression will still be similar. She will retain most of her vocabulary and speech skills. Her motor skills are more or less intact… With the right chemicals and procedures I managed to wipe away most, if not everything that was violent.” The doctor said, and my confidence in a happy ending was dwindled into a midget shorter than Mindy.

“Similar? More or less?” Rhetorical questions aside, I didn’t like the way the doctor puts it.

“Well, she might stumble on her own words and feet once in a while, but don’t worry, yeah? It’s not permanent. Think of it as the hurdles a normal kid would have to cross before establishing her personality. The neurochemicals I gave her and the dosage were strictly controlled, but collateral damage cannot be avoided.” The doctor elaborated. Upon hearing more about the science fiction nightmare Mindy was put through, I had to stop and lean on the wall. My morning cereal mixed in with acid could be felt coming up my gullet, so I had to push it back down and put a hand over my mouth in case some of it decides to pour out.

“What else do I have to worry about?” I said, and couldn’t help but to feel tired and lethargic, even this early in the day. I couldn’t help the cynicism in what I say. It was overwhelming right from the start, and now it was like the Golden Horde Hellboy had to face.

“As I have iterated before, keep her away from any physical activity even resembling what she used to do as Hitgirl and Demoness. While she was under my care, I’ve forbidden her from physical exercises.” The doctor continued.

“So, what, do I lock her up in her room for the rest of her life?” The sarcasm can’t be helped either. I was falling beyond the point of no return, and it didn’t make me a very happy man. This wasn’t normal, even after all I’d seen, and just 2 years ago, real life superhero costumes weren’t even normal. I was falling too fast, “Mindy would have been better off dead.”

“No, by God, no.” Somehow, the doctor, after everything he had done, sounded a little shocked. I looked at him again, and he looked confident. The only saving grace was that he looked sympathetic, concerned. I was expecting him to fall into the disinterested physician category, “Some jogging and aerobic exercise would be fine, and whatever other exercises girls do to keep fit and their figure good. Just no martial arts, no extreme sports, nothing of what you people would term as ‘hardcore’.” This time, I kept silent, I kept falling.

“Mentally, I believe she’s lost about a year or two of basic development, but with some hard work I’m sure she could catch up. From what I gathered all these months, she’s very intelligent, just that her intelligence was used in some… unconventional ways.” I almost retched. So not only have you turned her into a klutz and a babble-mouth, I mentally criticized him sharply, you dumbed her down!? The old Mindy would have preferred a bullet to the brain.

When I was ready to walk down the same whitish, spotless corridor again, we did so in silence, and I was stewing in all the new shit the Doctor had thrown in me. My anxiety was about to go supercritical. Slowly but steadily, the low security checkpoint came into view around the next bend. I could easily hear my own heartbeat, and I wasn’t sure if it was even beating the right way anymore. I was more worried about Mindy’s health than my own.

“A final word of advice, Dave.” It was as if the doctor decided that the million bombs he dropped on me wasn’t enough. I knew he was doing his job, doing the right thing, that it was good for me to listen, but there was just too much of a good thing. I had to psyche myself up into listening, “When I say ‘stir her clear from all that nonsense that drove her down to my Institute’, I mean right down to the specifics. I don’t even want her to like the same colours anymore, am I clear? This is important for Mindy’s recovery, do you understand?” I nodded, again. It was all I could do. I was completely done over by him. I felt brainwashed myself.

After clearing the checkpoint, we came into the same patient lounge area, the same place where the more docile patients were kept. There were patients milling about, playing card games, reading, watching televisions or zoning out, supervised by orderlies. My stomach twisted again, the way Mindy would twist my arm back if she wants to subdue me. I was hoping to see her there, but none of the patients were even remotely her size. It was reminiscent of the many times I had gone through the low-security zone without seeing Mindy. My overactive Kick-Ass sense told me she had somehow tricked Dr. Paul and escaped. The next few steps were difficult as I fought back both the anxiety of seeing ‘Mandy’ and the irrational fear of a sudden Demoness ambush. But as the lounge came completely into view…