No Heroes Left Behind (Book 1)

Chapter Nine: We Have A Winner

I stand up and fall against the building which is indented and cracked from where I was thrown into it. I lean on it for support and catch my breath. In a daze, I look in the window beside me and see a bunch of people with their faces pressed up against it. I wave at them and put on a smile, then fly off to go help Jinxed.

Nano stands on a pedestal of nano-bots that have all combined together. She shoots more nano-bots at Jinxed but she deflects them with a radiation wave. I throw a fireball at Nano and it hits her in the face. She rubs her eyes and while she is distracted, Jinxed tackles her to the ground and repeatedly punches her in the face until she goes unconscious. She rips off the headset which Nano uses to control the bots, then proceeds to rip the canisters full of nano-bots off of Nano's wrists. Jinxed presses a button on the forearm of her suit and a compartment opens up. She places the canisters and headset inside for safe keeping, then looks down at Nano with a sneer.

Jinxed puts a set of handcuffs on Nano's wrists and hands her off to the Nightshade Villain Containment Department (NVCD) to deal with her. I watch from a distance as Zeus throws the ginormous DeathSkull into another truck and slams the heavy metal doors closed.

I walk into an alley, out of sight from people and lean against the wall. I cough and spit out a mouthful of blood and then wipe away something dripping on my forehead. I look at my gloved hand and realize I've got a big gash on my head from when DeathSkull threw me into the wall. I look out at the street and watch the NVCD drive off to deliver the two villains back to their cells.

I feel a hand wrap around my mouth and I'm suddenly being pulled down the alley. I squirm and turn around to see Rancor, holding a single gloved finger over his mask where his mouth would be. I furrow my brows and suddenly we shoot up in the sky, above the clouds.

Before I realize what's going on, we are in the mildewy apartment that he calls headquarters. "What's going on?" I ask when we are in the apartment.

He stands with his foot tapping the floor and he lets out a loud sigh. "You're bleeding." He says, stating the obvious. I feel the blood dripping down my face and wipe it off, but just end up smudging it around on my face.

"Thanks, Sherlock." I reply with an eye roll.

He laughs then walks over to the apparent exit out of this place. "Hold on." He says and flies out of the apartment. Within five minutes he is back and holding a towel, first aid kid and three bottles of water. He walks to the sink in the kitchen and pours a bit of the bottle onto the towel and then brings it over to me. He presses it to the gash and holds it there firmly.

"I couldn't be present for the fight because of... uh... prior commitments." He says awkwardly, looking down at my face.

I hold the towel on the gash and shoo his hands away. "School?" I ask. He hesitates, not knowing is he should reveal his age range or not, but then nods his head and goes to the first aid kit. He gets out gauze and surgical tape.

"Were you in school, too?" He asks and removes the bloody towel from my head.

"Pfft, I'm not telling you." I reply with a smirk. I can tell he smiles under his mask and I decide I'm just going to tell him. "Yeah I was at school." I say and leave it at that. 

He holds the gauze in place with one hand and suddenly there is another one of him. The other Rancor gets the tape and cuts off a piece and hands it to the real Rancor who tapes the first piece, then the second. He takes a step back.

"Viola!" He says loudly, gesturing to his handiwork. I roll my eyes and walk to a shattered mirror in the bathroom. There is still blood staining my face but overall, the patchwork is pretty flawless.

I shake my head. "Thanks." I say, super speeding into the living room. He just shrugs and rinses the bloody towel with the rest of the first water bottle. He wipes the blood stain off of my cheek and then leaves it alone.

"So I'm assuming DeathSkull is the one who did this too you." He says and flops onto the dusty couch.

"Yeah, but Zeus got him back." I smirk as I remember what happened. "Let's just say that Zeus is good at baseball. While DeathSkull on the other hand... not so much." 

Rancor chuckles at the thought and puts a hand behind his head, leaning back. "You know, even though I dislike Zeusy, the fact that he did that to DS, who I dislike even more, just brings me so much joy." 

I shake my head. "You're so sadistic." I tell him while fighting off a smile.

"Well I guess that makes you sadistic too considering you smiled as you thought of it." He shoots back, to which I shrug my shoulders. I mean, he's kind of right.

"Yeah, I suppose so." I hop up onto the counter across the room and pick at the dried blood in my hair.

•••

There's a loud bang at the front door and a clamour off the couch to go see who it is. I peek through the peep hole and open the door upon realizing who it is. "Lottie!" Erin screeches as she bursts into my house. 

"Uh, yes?" I ask, confused. I cross my arms over my chest and watch as she tosses her stuff onto the ground beside the couch.

She sits down and stares at me. "Where have you been all day?"

"I wasn't feeling well this morning." I lie, scratching the back of my head.

"Well check this out." Erin turns on the the news and footage from this mornings fight shows up. My parents migrate from the kitchen, probably to see what all the commotion was about in the living room, and gather around the couch to watch the TV.

DeathSkull, Nano and Rancor all do their thing and get their butts kicked and blah, blah, blah. Natasha Hamilton interviews Zeus who answers the questions with confidence and his winning smile. I cringe when footage of Scarlett being held up by DeathSkull appears, but then smirk when Zeus hits a home run against DS's head. But then I cringe again as my body falls to the ground.

Luckily I have accelerated healing ability, as do most Supers, so that gash is gone now and I don't have any evidence of it that could give away that I'm Scarlett. 

"That must've been intense." Erin says as she fawns over Zeus. She has had a crush on Zeus for the longest time now and has met him a couple times. She has also asked Scarlett for her autograph, which was obviously super uncomfortable for me.

I nod my head. "Yeah, I couldn't imagine." I reply quietly. I notice my dad glancing at me from across the room and scanning my forehead in search of the gash. The news segment ends and I stand up.

"Well, Erin and I should go do our homework now." I announce, looking down at Erin and motioning for her to stand up. She immediately understands and she scurries to her feet. 

We walk to my bedroom, shutting the door, and throw our backpacks into the corner. We both make a beeline for my bed and pull out our cellphones to scroll through our social media. 

As I check through my Instagram, I glance up from my phone, my eyes darting to the window. Just as they do, I see a black figure fly past and a sinking feeling falls into the pit of my stomach. I sit up abruptly and run to the window, pressing my face against it.

"What in the world are you doing?" Erin asks in confusion. She brushes her brown hair out of her face and braids it to the side. I stay silent and watch carefully and then notice the black figure waving at me from a distance. 

Erin runs up next to me to see what I'm looking at, then gasps loudly. "Is that..."

I narrow my eyes at the figure and watch as he flies away. "Rancor?" I finish for her. "Yup."