When the resident villain Antennes found the hero NightHawk unconscious after their latest fight, he did what any villain would do, and took the opportunity to capture the hero. He expected the hero to fight back, lash out, probably kick his butt an...
So Edward had a plan. Not the best plan, maybe, but a plan non-the-less. It started like this;
"Wait, so that's why we were sucking so bad back there?" Edward said as they hid out in a random cubical of the office building they were in.
"Apparently."
"So... If we can't touch her at all, we just need to do some long-range attacks, keep our distance." Of course not, he thought silently; there was no way that was enough. The gears in his mind were turning even as Micheal nodded.
"Sounds like it's the only way. With those Smog's gone, it should be easier. But we still need a plan." Despite the heavy feeling that was settling in his stomach, Edward smirked, a mischievous look crossing over his face.
"I think I may have something in mind." And he did, for the most part. There was no way they'd come up with long-range attacks strong enough to defeat Visne; getting up close and personal was the only way, and Visne knew this, which was probably one reason she was so smug. With this thought in mind, Edward told Micheal one plan while simultaneously coming up with another, guilt gnawing at him as Micheal followed blindly.
"That is a HORRIBLE plan!" Micheal shouted.
I know. After all, he was making things up as he went.
"Oh, that's right, because you have a better one tucked into your boot, right?" Edward bit back, covering his anxiety with sarcasm like a pro. Micheal groaned miserably, shaking his head. They went back and forth a bit, and Edward allowed himself to get lost in watching Micheal's expressions shift as he talked about how awful Edward's plan was. He really, really wished things had gone better for them. He wished he'd just been honest, or rather, he wished Micheal had never found out about his powers. He'd seriously considered giving up being Antennes, a decision he'd not told even Pam about because it didn't matter. Being a villain filled a void in his life, a void that Micheal started filling as soon as he literally crashed into Edward's life. He didn't need to be a villain to be happy; he'd just needed Mike. Now, he might have lost him, and that hurt more than anything else possibly could, but maybe they could fix this. He'd certainly be willing to try. Micheal rubbed the bridge of his nose, stood up, and stared down at Edward with an outstretched hand.
"Let's do this." Edward grabbed the hand, savoring its warmth, and nodded.
He felt jittery on the elevator ride as he continued to flesh out his plan, watching Micheal run across the rooftops a few minutes later, forcing himself to do the same. Coming across Pam and Carla truly had been a coincidence, one he was glad for because it felt good to hug them both and took his mind off things for a few minutes. After a quick conversation ending with Pam and Carla agreeing to hijack a police helicopter and steal a pair of handcuffs, Edward was off again. He found an abandoned motorcycle and figured, why not use it? After that, he found the hotdog stand, and the idea of throwing a hotdog at Visne's head was too funny to pass up. Long story short, he threw a hotdog and some bricks, Carla and Pam stole a police helicopter, Micheal also threw bricks, and Edward had guiltily been planning on throwing himself off of a roof for a little over an hour. Having to see Micheal look at him with that same expression of betrayal as the night with Radiex as Edward cuffed him to the fire escape was beyond hard- it was gut-wrenching- but Visne showed up not long after that. He forced himself to walk away from Mike to take her on, hoping his plan would work. What was his plan, you may be asking? Well, after hearing about the rune on her chest, he came up with a theory. A high-powered attack aimed right for her chest may be able to destroy the rune, rendering her unable to drain energy from others and maybe even killing her if the attack was powerful enough. Then he wondered how he would get close enough to pull something like that off, and that was when he came up with the idea of luring her to one of the skyscraper roofs, tackling her off of it and hoping that it would allow him the upper hand. Hey, he'd never said it was a good plan.
So here he was, screaming as he used every ounce of power he had; his entire body lit up in flames as he grappled with her in mid-air, hands pushed up against her chest. Even as the ground came closer in almost slow-motion, Edward distantly realized he wasn't scared. He'd always been scared of heights ever since Tom had pushed him out of a tree when he was ten, but somehow, jumping from the roof of a towering building didn't bother him. Maybe Visne distracted him too much, maybe knowing Micheal was safe was giving him strength. Then something strange happened. The ground disappeared from his sight, replaced with a purpling sky and Visne's gleeful face, and he realized numbly that his grand, half-baked, really poorly thought out plan had failed. Time, funnily enough, sped up, and he only had a second to reflect on how pretty the sky looked as the sun began to set before his back met the ground with a sickening crunch, and everything went black.
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"EDWARD!" Micheal yelled, jerking on the handcuffs and hissing when his thumb dislocated, ignoring the pain as he ran to the edge of the roof. No, no, no– This wasn't supposed to happen! What the hell was Edward thinking? He watched the two fall, fire trailing behind Edward like the tail of a comet, and Mike gaped as he realized what Ed was trying to do, what his plan was. For a second, he even thought it might work, but then the tables turned in a literal sense. He was already using blasts to get down the side of the building before he even realized it, watching in horror as Visne slammed Edward into the asphalt. The impact shook the ground and rattled Micheal's teeth, fire, rubble, and smoke billowing up in all directions and blocking his sight. He landed harshly on the sidewalk, running down the street with only one thought in his mind; Please be ok. Please, please, please be ok. Through the dust, a single figure rose slowly, and his heart leaped with joy as he thought, thank the Gods, he's ok. But then the dust cleared, and his throat tightened when he saw Visne staring back, blood on her hands.
"Whoops," She said lightly. "I think I broke him." Heart pounding, Micheal almost couldn't make himself look, but his eyes trailed to the crater, and the limp body underneath Visne and all the air left his lungs. Oh Gods, no, not Edward. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen. He locked eyes with Visne as she casually turned, one foot absently stepping on Edward's hand.
"I told you I'd make it quick for him. I keep my promises." Micheal clenched his fists, shaking with rage as Visne came closer, his eyes bitterly dry.
"I'm ending this. It's over." Visne nodded, her expression oddly blank. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and serious.
"It is."
Micheal grabbed the front of her suit as she flew into the air, holding on for dear life as she rose higher and higher, above the clouds, the sky turning from purple to dark blue as he followed through with what he assumed was Edward's plan. He placed his hand firmly over Visne's chest as his body crackled with electricity, eyes glowing yellow before he pulled his hand back and punched Visne's chest with a yell, feeling bone shatter beneath his touch. Her back arched as she let out a soundless scream, both of them hovering in mid-air for what felt like an eternity before falling back. Micheal placed both hands palm down on the rune, staring her in the eye as they rushed back to Earth like a morbid shoot star, the world blurring around them.
