Hero & Villain

Calen | 1466w

  I stop purring as soon as I sense Amelia and Elli's presences, and turn to look at them when Amelia speaks.

  "We have to go."

  I blink slowly, then cling to Lance's shirt and rise to my feet along with him. "What happened?" He asks, seeming distracted as he grabs behind my knees and picks me up.

  I consider telling him I can walk myself, but decide against it as he starts toward Amelia and Elli. I smile at Elli when we get close, and she smiles back and bounces in Amelia's hold. "There's an evil person here to see us," she chirps, a worrying amount of glee in her tone.

  I mold myself tighter against Lance as I nervously ask, "Who?"

  Amelia shrugs, eyes flicking from my ears to my tail, then back up to look Lance and I in the eyes. "I don't know, never seen them before. Medium blonde hair, rather androgynous," she pauses for a second, then adds, "Glowing white aura... sound familiar...?"

  I shake my head, then turn to a see a slight frown on Lance's face. "Blonde and androgynous you say?" He asks rhetorically, walking over to a window and looking out. I squirm until he puts me down, but I stand in front of him and grab his hand as I peek out the window.

  "Unbelievable," Lance mutters as I study the figure standing in the middle of the road. There's a misty white aura floating around them, and every time they shift the aura shifts with them.

  I've just noticed their fingers moving rapidly, twitching and waving as they lift their arms, when Lance tugs me away from the window with a growl. It takes me a long moment to realize the growl wasn't directed at me, and when I do I relax and tune into what Lance is saying.

  "-ossword, that's their name. They're the one that told me someone took the kid. They must have followed me here!" He snarls, taking another glance out the window.

  His eyes, which had faded almost to his normal blue, are blazing with color once again. "Back door, Amelia. Take Elli and Calen, get them out of here," he orders, a sudden wave of heat radiating off him.

  I grab his arm, hissing softly at the uncomfortable heat of it. "Let me-me stay with you," I plead, resisting a flinch when I meet his eyes.

  He shakes his head firmly, but when he tries to brush my hand off his arm I only tighten my grip. I only realize my claws have emerged when his eyes flick down to my hand, then he raises an eyebrow at me.

  "If things get bad, you leave," he says, tone broaching no argument. Apparently I take too long to answer because he reaches up and grabs my jaw gently, undeterred by my flinch at the sudden heat. "If things get bad," he repeats. "you leave. Is that understood, Kitten?"

  I shudder slightly at the dominance radiating from him, and nod against his hand. He lets go of my jaw, brushing his fingers through my hair as he passes me. "Follow me."

  I trail after him as he leads the way to the front door. I look back just in time to see Amelia hurrying through the back door, Elli meeting my gaze for a half a second before the door clicks shut firmly behind them.

  I jerk back around to look forward when I hear Lance pull the front door open and step out. I follow close behind him as he stalks down the walkway, stopping on the sidewalk to face the figure in the middle of the road. What did he call them? Crossword?

  "Why are you here?" Lance demands, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. I draw in a deep breath, trying feebly to steady my raving heart. I don't know where this sudden courage has come from, but it occurs to me that maybe this is how Falcon feels while protecting people. Powerful. I take a firm, resolute step up to stand beside Lance. Beside Macer.

  Crossword flicks their wrists, ghostly aura flaring momentarily. "I'm here for you, Macer," they purr, a smirk appearing on their face. "And because of you, Falcon has become collateral damage."

  I bare my teeth at Crossword, a gravelly hiss bubbling from my throat. "I am not Falcon."

  My eyes widen when Crossword looks directly at me, fingers twitching and spasming, causing their aura to warp and roll dizzyingly. "No, no you are not Falcon," they murmur considering, nearly too soft for my twitching ears to pick up. "Too bad, I would have been interested to see what you became someday."

  Macer takes a threatening step forward, hands bursting into flame. "You did not answer my question."

  Crossword lifts their arms slightly, rolling their wrists lazily. "Oh I did, you're just too slow to grasp it. Let me make it simpler for you. I knew the child was taken by your friend Amelia, I just didn't know where they were. You see, I have some questions for Amelia, and even though I couldn't find her myself, I knew you could. It was only a matter of time before you went crying to her for help. She is an Original, after all."

  The flames creep up Macer's arms, and I can feel the heat radiating off him from six feet away. "What do you want with me?" He asks, voice low and dry sounding.

  Crossword seems unbothered by his threatening gestures, even going so far as to roll their head back and stretch their arms over their head. "You have been deemed too powerful and unpredictable. Especially being another's creation, running rampant. It will no longer be tolerated."

  With that, Crossword leaps into the air, arms and fingers blurring in front of them until they seem to throw something at the ground, eight feet below them. A misty white shockwave hits the pavement, cracking it before blasting out in every direction. The force of it knocks me back a few steps, though Macer holds his ground, flames flickering slightly before flaring back up even brighter.

  Macer lifts into the air until he's level with Crossword, who's whole face has changed. Their eyes are completely white like they've rolled back into their head, their skin has paled so much I swear I can see the fuzzy outline of their skull underneath it.

  "You're a Hunter," I hear Macer say, and my whole body stiffens.

  I've never met a Hunter. Nobody I know has. They're illusive, only slipping in when a corporation or Villain grow too powerful to control if necessary. Mostly they're like executioners, killing without mercy or remorse, but in the case of corporations they hand most people over to the police. If certain scientists and torturers are missing, the police don't mention it.

  Crossword raises their hands again, and this time I'm able to make out what they're doing. They're spelling. Tracing letters into their mist, then crushing them into a muddled mass and throwing it toward Macer.

  Macer is blasted back at least five feet, and I've begun to worry for him when his whole for seems to distort, and a  fraction of a second later it feels like the sun has fallen from the sky. I throw my arms and shield my face from the sudden heat wave.

  When I looks up again, a shiver of fear runs through me. I don't think I've ever been more intimidated by Macer. Crossword said he had gotten too powerful, but I hadn't fully grasped what he meant.

  Macer's whole body is slight with swirling white-blue flames, his hands held in front of him defensively. His hair, almost seeming to float around his head, is dripping flames like water. The cement below him looks melted, an as the drips of flame hit the ground they sink in slightly, and I quickly realize they're more like drips of molten lava.

  Macer slowly turns to meet my gaze, and I gasp raggedly as I see his usually blue eyes glowing a vibrant purple. "Go," is all he can get out before Crossword is hurling a wave of glowing white knives at him.

  I choose not to argue, instead turning and running around the corner of Amelia's house. I stop as soon as I'm out of sight, peeking back around the corner. As capable as I felt a minute ago, it's obvious  I can't deal with this like I am now.

  My claws would be effective if I could get close enough to Crossword to use them, but cats can't fly, and he can. Not to mention I have zero experience in this form.

  I need to be Falcon.

  No.

  I need to be more than Falcon.