Spectacular World

Not Cinder

"Should we get straight to business, or is there anything else you'd like to do first, Cinder?" Ward asked, giving a casual wave of his hand. "After all, you and I are friends. I was there with you on stage when you demasked."

This was the man Sky told her about.

She had actually seen him before on the news. He had been one of the men standing next to the fake Cinder. He looked almost stereotypically evil. She still wouldn't quite say that she viewed the Hero Branch as an evil organization. They were helping more people than they hurt, after all, but when it came to Dean Ward, the man looked like an evil CEO would if this were some sort of cheesy tycoon novel.

He wore an expensive black business suit complete with a red tie, which he fiddled with. His skin was dark, and he had black hair that was combed and tied back into a ponytail. Unlike many people she had grown to respect, Ward's eyes lacked the bags under them, showing he had been getting plenty of rest during these trying times. That or he was wearing a lot of makeup. He didn't appear to be stressed out, though, at least not that she could tell. He had a smile present on his lips, but it was the kind that would change into a sneer at any moment, and already one of his eyes was twitching as he stared at her.

Sky had told her everything she needed to know. This was one of the men who had been behind the fake Cinder plot, as well as the man who had tried to prevent Sky from arriving on the battlefield with the Beast. He was also the one responsible for stopping the people from Oleander from being able to get out.

Dean Ward was one bad apple.

Just like his father.

The fake memories Avalon had forced into her head were really helpful in times like these. She had seen the previous head of the Hero Branch, thanks to them. Ace Ward was a near identical match to Dean Ward, right down to the fact that both of them hated heroes. It was no wonder Dean was the way he was if a man such as that had been his father. It did make her wonder, though, what exactly happened to the late Mr. Ward. After all, Ace Ward was almost never mentioned. Nor was the fact that he helped out the Emperor against his will...

She still remembered what she had been shown. The blue-eyed Emperor stood in Ace Ward's office, a hand on Dean Ward's shoulder, back when Dean had been just a young boy. She wondered for a moment if Dean recalled that event or if he had been too young to remember it.

"Well, go on." Her thoughts came to an end as Ward spoke up once more. His lips broke into a frown for a moment before forcing the smile back on. "You should say something, Cinder. Everyone is waiting on you after all."

"What do you mean?" Hope asked. She frowned at the man, but then she noticed it. "Oh... Right. People actually know who the hero Cinder is. I'm kind of a big deal now, aren't I?"

Ward calling her Cinder had seemingly caused a chain reaction in the officers around them. Many of the Hero Branch soldiers who had their guns held up had instantly dropped them at the first mention of her name. The fact that there was a fake Cinder running around was likely a closely guarded secret that only a few of the higher-ups and trusted agents got to know about, so many of these people likely thought she was still the very same hero who had removed her mask and helmet live on stage. That Cinder was friends with the Hero Branch, after all.

"When did she change her costume?"

"I thought her hair was blonde."

"Doesn't she seem a little off from how we were told she acted?"

Her enhanced senses allowed her to hear the various mutters that came from the different soldiers. She resisted the urge to sigh and face-slap herself. They weren't the only ones either. Now that the fire was out, a large crowd had formed behind all the workers and Ward, and many of them had heard the name Cinder. Flashes of light went off as hundreds of pictures were snapped at her, and she had to turn her hearing down in order to stop the barrage of questions that were being flung out.