The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 53

Remi POV

"What... why-" Remi began, unable to form comprehensionable words in her confusion. "How can you be a superhero?!" It made so much sense, but at the same time she couldn't piece it together. Did Kuyo know Rei was a superhero before? Did they work together? Why didn't he tell me?

"You shouldn't be here!" Kuyo exclaimed, rushing towards her. He seemed just as confused as she felt, his green eyes wide behind his mask. He likely had a ton of questions for her, though she would be sure to demand her own answers first. As he came closer, she took a step forwards.

"How long have you been doing this?" She asked, crossing her arms. She had to fight to prevent herself from glaring at him. It was possible that he was in the same situation she'd been in, and had started superheroism after Rei's death. It was also likely, however, that he'd been with Rei... maybe even when her brother had died. If he was, though, why didn't he save him? She bit her lip. Maybe it wasn't so safe to be out here after all.

Kuyo looked away from her. "A while. What about you? You know this is dangerous. It... it killed him, after all."

They both knew which 'him' Kuyo was referring to. Remi frowned. "I started after he died, to get revenge. How long is 'a while'? Before he died? After?" Once she started asking questions, she found that she couldn't stop herself. "Did you two go together? Did you see... did you see EMBER kill him?"

Kuyo held up a hand to silence her, glancing around in worry. "Let's talk somewhere else." He turned and walked quickly past her, gesturing for her to follow. Remi glared after him. She hated waiting for an explanation. There was nothing else she could do, though, so she followed. They walked past the many houses and out of the town altogether, finally stopping near the train station. Here, Kuyo pulled off his mask to reveal the face she knew well. She'd already known it was him, but the revelation of his face confirmed any doubts.

As she watched, he pulled a sweater out of his bag and pulled it over his head, hiding his superhero costume. Sighing, Remi removed her own mask. She wished he would hurry up and answer. It seemed he was delaying it as long as he could. Finally, once he'd stopped moving around, she crossed her arms. "Explain."

Kuyo avoided her eyes. "The answer to all your questions is yes. Rei and I were superheroes together. We went out to fight with each other, and I was there... when EMBER came." He paused. Unwilling to wait, Remi launched right into her next questions.

"If you were there, why didn't you stop it?" She asked, her voice growing louder with every word. "Why didn't you help him? Why didn't you save him? If you could've done something, why didn't you? He could still be alive-" She was yelling by the end. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes at the words; Kuyo finally cut her off at the end.

"Remi, I did everything I could. The EMBER agents tricked us. We fought off one, but then another appeared... it was too much. I had to get away, or they would've killed us both." He sighed, staring at the ground. He appeared just as depressed as Remi felt. "I couldn't even get his body back once they'd killed him. They were watching it. He tried to use a last blast of electricity against him, but it didn't do much... I had to give up and leave, or they would've found me too."

Remi nodded, fighting back tears. I shouldn't have blamed Kuyo. He was Rei's best friend. He had tried, and hadn't managed to do anything. Nothing could've changed. Rei went out like a hero, though. She almost smiled through her tears. He'd always tried to save everyone in the end. If anything, she was glad he'd died fighting back with his last electricity. Remi sighed. Even if his death saddened her, at least Kuyo had managed to survive. EMBER could've killed both of them.

"Pinky?" Kuyo asked quietly, disrupting her thoughts. "I think we should head back now... and please, stay safe. Being a superhero really isn't a good idea."

Remi frowned at him, wiping away her tears before looking back up. "You're still a superhero. You're not going to stop."

He avoided her determined gaze. "That's... that's different. You're younger."

Remi continued to stare at him. She wasn't going to let him stop her from trying to get revenge for her brother and her friends. "No, it's not. I'm not going to stop either, Kuyo. They took so much from me."

They both stared at each other for a moment in silence. It seemed that neither was willing to give up their position, until finally Kuyo sighed. It seemed he'd finally realized that the determination in Remi's eyes wouldn't fade away, no matter what he said or did. However, that wasn't the end of it.

"Come with me, then. I don't want you going out alone; you can come with me to be a vigilante," Kuyo proposed. "At least that way, I can protect you." Remi bit her lip. Partnering up... just like he did with Rei. She fought back a wave of sadness. She wouldn't let their lives end as her brother's had.

Letting out a deep breath, she extended her hand. Kuyo stared at it for a moment before taking it. She shook hands with him, staring him right in the eye. "Deal."

She hadn't expected the night to go this way, but now there was no going back. She would work with Kuyo to avenge those she loved. He'd brought up a good point; while working together, he'd be able to protect her. What he hadn't mentioned, though, was that she could protect him too.

She wasn't going to let anyone else die to the hands of EMBER.

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Hello, hope you're enjoying the story! I'm taking a short break for the holidays, so the next update will be around January 13th. Happy holidays!
-ILoveWriting186