In the Shadows We Fight (for justice and ourselves)

Do you remember our past?

The Captain had been in the heroing world for a long time. She had been on nearly every type of mission, from fighting giants to protecting animal life from poachers. She had been to more hero meetings than she really cared to pay attention to. She had stopped attending much more frequently, but she would occasionally stop by to check up on her wayward student and his sidekicks. She wasn't a stranger to parties or get-togethers. However, the Captain had never been invited to a banquet that was also attended by vigilantes and villains along with other heroes. She had never been in a giant red themed ballroom wearing a dress with a low neckline and dark purple-green vines wrapped around like belts. Even with her usual mask covering her face, it was a new experience.

There were other attendants at the banquet. Some the Captain knew, either in passing or intimately. Royal was a retired hero that the Captain had known when the former was active. Kitsune was a relatively new hero who was bordering on the vigilante side. She had heard things about the master architect Foolish, and she had met him on occasion. It was safe to say that they were something akin to friends, if not the actual term. Halo was another person she knew intimately. She had been the one to find him and introduce him into the hero world. They tried to stay in touch, but she had stopped receiving replies from him a few months prior. She was glad to see that he was doing fine. The Warden was a vigilante that she had fought with multiple times. They would always end up in a stalemate until a more pressing issue arose that one of them needed to deal with. The Captain respected the Warden, at the very least. There were some strangers present, too. The Captain didn't know Cait Sith, Ponk, or Rose. She only knew their names because of the cards that were folded on top of the plates that dictated where they would sit.

There was one more person in attendance. Nemesis was sitting across from the Captain. She leaned back in her seat with her pale brown hair braided down her back. She was wearing a beautiful red dress with a heart shaped neckline with spaghetti straps and ribbons around her upper arm. Her dress was wrapped tightly around her body with a cut down her leg to reveal a golden ring around her thigh. She was lazily looking around with a glass of dark red wine swirling around in her fingers. She even had a golden necklace that was decorated with the symbol of the Syndicate. Even with the mask, the new hair color, and the revealing dress, the Captain recognized the woman she loved. With how Nemesis was purposefully avoiding her gaze, she must have known who the Captain was as well.

"Thank you all for coming. I am sure you're wondering why you were all invited. I can assure you that the only reason is that me, Ponk, and Cait Sith missed our friends. We wanted to have a party for all of us to have fun! I know this is a banquet, but there was a problem with the food that we're taking care of now. In the meantime, I will put on some music for us to dance," Halo said, hitting a fork against his glass to get everyone's attention. True to his word, music started to filter in through speakers that were bordering the perimeter of a cleared out section right beside the table. Rose immediately jumped to her feet at the thought, pulling Foolish out of his chair to dance with her. Ponk and the Warden awkwardly looked at each other and looked away in rapid succession. Halo seemed to enjoy swaying by himself, and Cait Sith laid right on top of one of the speakers, his body curled up and tail flicking like the waves of a calm ocean. Kitsune watched with bright eyes, and Royal finally took the initiative to push the younger one onto the dance floor. Royal had a smirk on his face as he joined the group.

The Captain sucked in a breath as she walked along the edge of the table. She didn't stop until she was bright beside Nemesis' seat. The villainess looked at the Captain from the corner of her eye, but she didn't acknowledge the hero in any other way. The Captain didn't let that dissuade her. She raised her hand towards Nemesis with her palm up and fingers slightly curled. She placed her other arm behind her back, leaning down while looking at the ground. With all the confidence she could muster, the Captain asked, "May I have this dance?"