Being a Hero was just a Side Job (Shinsou x OC)

Pride is a Sin

Once the pair reached their destination Spinel took a while to admire the dilapidated building. It was an abandoned theater smack dab in the center of the seediest parts of Musutafu. No wonder the heroes haven't been able to find it.

The once white walls were now a yellowish cream color, faded by the years in the sun. The red accent colors along the large pillars chipped off in flecks. She didn't know how long the theater was abandoned, but she certainly hoped the inside was better than the outside. Every entrance and window was boarded up with rusty nails and rotting wood, Spinel and Himiko shimmied in through a hidden entrance that left just enough space for the two petite girls to squeeze into the theater hall.

The theater stage, which was perhaps previously a gateway to plays, dance and song lay empty. Everything that made humanity what it was, surfaced in this place, be it told in vulnerable cries of emotion or harlequin feathers. Though now there were no blinding lights, no cheering audience and heart wrenching scripts, there was only the smell of dust and mildew as age took its toll.

They ascended to the second floor; the theater's white bricks illuminated by the streams of light through the wood boards. The theater was a place to drag emotions out in the open, to let them take center stage and walk in the spotlight. Though empty for years, the theater now had a new tragic story to tell and star actors for the roles.

As soon as the pair made it to the second floor Spinel's anxiety spiked. She begged her body to do something, anything, but it didn't; she only stood there like a statue. Spinel felt her stomach twist and curl. She wanted to hide. She wanted to run. She wanted to be anywhere but there. Himiko held Spinel's hand tightly as if she was reassuring her.

An intimidatingly tall man with inky brown eyes stared down the pair. His black hair was slicked back and held in place. Not a single thing on this man was out of place, from his straight nose to his black dress pants to his maroon tie. He had a lanyard around his neck with an ID that was too far to be properly examined.

Beside him was a shorter woman wearing a white lab coat who looked considerably more like Spinel apart from her chocolate brown hair and frosty green eyes, a faux pleasant expression on her face. Though she was shorter than her companion she was no less intimidating.

"Y-you found me?" She swallowed audibly as another worry got pushed on her shoulders. "H-how?" She wasn't expecting to see her parents, let alone with the league of villains. What are they doing here?

"Give us some time." The man said to the other members in the room. Without complaint the other members complied, Himiko included. In the small preparation area, within an abandoned theater, in the heart of the seediest place in Musutafu, stood three people.

Spinel.

Her mother.

Her father.

It was meeting that was never supposed to happen.

"Of course, we found you," her mother cooed. "We are from this side too."

Spinel's father grinned. This was the first time she had ever seen her father look at her with pride. "Atta girl. I knew you'd do something right eventually." He chuckled. "We wanted you to be something in the medical field, but to think you'd climb up to villainy like us." He placed his hand on Spinel's shoulder and gave her a supportive pat. "I guess what they say is true, like parent like child."

Her chest felt like it was being squeezed and her mouth sewn shut. She stood silent and unmoving as the heavy atmosphere intensified. Spinel felt suffocated. She wanted to do something, but she couldn't. What? WHAT? My parents are villains? They work with villains. Her heart quickened as her breathing became shallow. Her head was spinning, she had no idea what was going on.