Breaking Butterfly

Eye of the Storm

The sky grew darker and darker as I made my way downtown. It appeared as if the entire storm cell was swirling around the city council building. It was obvious that Vortex was trying to get my attention. If he was trying to be discreet, there wouldn't be any clouds in the sky.

He must have known what he was doing by choosing the city council building. My powers are telekinesis and invisibility, not flight. During emergency situations the city council building goes on lockdown, which causes a complete shut off of the building's elevator system.

He's toying with me. I can almost envision the smug expression on his face as he waits for me. He probably thinks he can tire me out before the fight even starts. In the near two years that I've fought against him, he has never once made things easy for me. It's almost like he hates me more than I hate him. How dare he.

When I finally reach the entrance to the roof of the building, I find a group of officers posted by the door.

"Any progress on the hostage situation?" I ask as I approach them.

"We can't reach her, and we can't get a shot at him," replies an officer.

"Everything gets blown away, or he throws lightning whenever the door opens," another officer replies with a solemn expression.

I purse my lips and nod my head slightly. "Fun times," I mutter sarcastically as I try to think of what to do.

I focus on my powers, gathering it up to try and deflect anything thrown at me. Lightning is too fast to dodge, but if I have my power active, I can at least slow it enough to deflect. Then I make my way to the door and step out towards the battle awaiting me.

"Alright," I start to say as I begin to put my plan in motion. "I'm going to need a couple officers to try and open the door. The point of it is to create a big enough gap for me to turn invisible and sneak out. Once the situation is under control, you can retrieve the hostage."

I turn invisible before anyone can contest my plan. Once the officers open the door, I dive through the gap. As I do so, a bolt of lightning strikes the door and forces it shut. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I distance myself from where the bolt struck.

"I guess no one ever taught you how to knock. I thought heroes were supposed to have better manners," Vortex deadpans before I can make it much further. His voice has a slight mechanic lilt to it since he uses a voice changer.

Immediately, I fall silent on the off chance that he's bluffing. I'm invisible so there's no way that he knows where I am. I make eye contact with Vortex while I wait for a clue as to how to proceed. I can never really tell if he's looking back at me, since the lenses in his mask hide his eyes and their color. His mask is a simple black one that effectively conceals his identity. His brown hair appears to have either been messed up by the wind or by static electricity, or maybe a bit of both. His suit is a two tone black and dark gray material that appears to be more durable than spandex. On his chest is a yellow V on the chest that is stylized to look slightly like lightning. The V obviously stands for Vortex, because what kind of egotistical supervillain doesn't parade around with their name on their chest.

"If you think you're being quiet, you're not," Vortex continues on. The winds change to blow in my general direction, causing me to stumble back slightly. "Your noisy footsteps give you away everytime."

"I'm still here you know," whines the mayor's daughter, Monica Barlowe. She's currently duct taped to a lightning rod on the roof. "My dad can pay you to let me go," she tries to bargain.

Due to the pure shock of the situation, I turn visible for a moment. Clasping my hands together, I ask, "Duct tape? You seriously duct taped her? Did Nimbus cut off your sidekick funds so you have to shop at the discount villain stores now?"