Call Me the Villain

1: I Am A Villain

Villain.

Vil-uh-n. Noun.

1. a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.

2. a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.

3. The infamous Riot....sometimes, that is. 

Wren's eyes narrowed at the cheeky blurb before continuing to (discreetly) peer over the business man's shoulder to see the magazine article he was reading.

While the masked crusader Riot constantly informs the press of her less than saintly habits (typically through vandalism or petty theft), she has on multiple occasions been caught doing good for the city. Last week, for example, I was lucky enough to snap a photograph of the self-proclaimed villain stopping a school bus crash and-

Ugh. Wren turned back around, sinking down into the subway's uncomfortable seat. Just what she needed; another person trying to make her seem like a better person than she really was... Not to imply that Wren didn't like herself. Wren loved herself, maybe a little too much. But if there was one thing Wren was, it was a realist, and she knew better than anyone that she was not a good person.

She wasn't really a bad person, but the citizens of Jericho City were very much into the concept of duality. You know, day and night, black and white... good and evil. Wren was closer to the evil side of the spectrum than the good, so she broadcasted herself as such proudly. Why bother trying to impress the masses when what she really wanted to do was have a good time and get free stuff?

Didn't sound very heroic to her.

The metro lurched, signifying it had reached yet another stop. Wren's stop. Hoisting her backpack higher onto her shoulder, the young villainess hurried out onto the platform, scowling at those who nudged her a little too often. Wren paused to check her phone. 11:32. Huh. She had about five minutes to get where she needed to be and there was, at best, ten minutes worth of foot traffic. Brilliant.

Oh well. She'd at least tried being good for the day. 

With a swift motion of her arm, Wren flung her hood over her head. Hopefully that would be enough to obscure her identity. She'd need to do that if she were really about to do what she planned. In the back of her head, Wren could practically hear her mother scolding her. Don't use your powers if you're not in costume. You never know who's watching. Someone could see your face and find out who you are and come to your home and-

Blah-blah-blah.

Wren really didn't need to be hearing that, not when she had four minutes and twelve seconds to make it to the rendezvous point. So, with one last cursory glance around the packed subway station, Wren took a breath, opened her mouth wide and... screamed. She screamed.

Honestly, she was a little proud of herself with that particular one. Usually it took a second for her sonic screams to really start hurting people's ear drums. But that time, she noticed that almost immediately, the people around her were dropping to their knees, placing their hands over their ears. It didn't take long for the scream's radius of pain to increase, to spread to other unsuspecting subway-goers, to drive them to the floor in back-bending, ear-splitting agony. Wren held the note just a little bit longer before closing her mouth.

Throughout the subway, moans and groans resounded through the sloped corridor. Wren grinned. If she hurried, she could probably maneuver her way out of there in two minutes, three if she gloated a little (and she did love gloating). The mutant readjusted her hood before taking off, hopping and flipping and, yes, even skipping her way to the other side of the subway station.

Ah, it was good to be bad.

*

"You cheated." That was how Hellhound greeted her upon literally dropping to the ground. Wren didn't flinch (outwardly), just turned her head and smirked.

"You're the one who flew to get here." Hellhound's red eyes narrowed as he curled all of his fingers, save for the index, and pointed above his head.

"Fire escape." Oh, hum. "Anyway. Did you bring the stuff?"

"Of course. Why else would I have come?"

"Because you have a secret thing for me." Wren hesitated in shrugging off her bag, scrunching her nose at the mere insinuation.

"You know the shameless flirting is my thing, don't you?"

"Nah, I believe I started it."

"Besides..." Wren unzipped the backpack, digging inside of it until her fingers glided across a smooth surface. Bingo. "Why on Earth would I have feelings for you?" Hellhound placed a hand over his (chiseled) chest as his mouth dropped open in faux-shock. "Cut it out, you look like a fish."

"I thought what we had was special."

"Heh." Wren shoved the box into Hellhound's hands. "Do you want this or not?" With tilted lips, the man snatched the item from Wren, lifting the lid enough so he could peer inside. His eyes sparkled in delight. "Don't do anything stupid with it," Wren remarked as she watched Hellhound place the small box in the back he carried. "You would not believe what I went through to get that."

"Please. You probably just did your nails-on-a-chalk-board scream to daze the guards and stole it from him yourself." He wasn't wrong. But Wren didn't tell Hellhound that, instead re-shouldering her bag with a small smile. "You know, you're more than welcome to join me. It'll be fun to see the look on his face when he realizes his precious amulet has been stolen." Yeah, that was true, but...

"I have to get going," Wren lied. "Stealing from one of the biggest heroes in the world is enough fun for one day, don't you think?" Hellhound shrugged.

"But you could spend more time with me. Maybe even make-out a little." And on that note...

"Bye." Wren turned on her heels, leaving the dark alley the way she'd came.

"Hey, Riot." She paused, but didn't turn around. "You really should start wearing your mask whenever you do stuff like this. You have no idea who could be lurking around."

"You sound like my mom." Not wanting to hear what rebuttal Hellhound had stored, Wren stalked off. In her mind, it had been a successful day. She'd delivered Guardian's amulet to Hellhound, just as she'd been instructed. Now, all she had to do was wait to see the hero learn of his most prized possession's disappearance, wait to see the famed Guardian lose it. Not exactly her usual cup of tea, but since the money was good...

A shoe store caught Wren's eye. She really should've walked passed it but... with her most recent delivery, it was no doubt that her bank account (one of the fictitious ones) had grown considerably in size. Surely she deserved a new pair of kicks...

With a smile and a shrug, Wren headed towards the store, not at all aware of the eyes following her every move.