Unwanted Heroes

chapter seven and a half: a plan

"Your plan is working. Much better than I expected," Minerva remarked, closing a holo-file with an air of irritation.

"What exactly did you expect from my plan, Minerva?" Keen asked in a bored voice. He inspected his nails with mock interest, giving her a side glance.

Minerva harrumphed. "That it would not work," she replied.

"You've watched it work since the VCC was established. This plan is accepted globally. The whole point of this place was to keep these freaks of nature in one place to keep the extermination process easy," Keen explained as though he were engaging in a casual conversation.

Minerva's frown deepened. "So you're saying you're going to kill them?" she clarified, her fists clenched.

Keen raised an eyebrow. "Are you still worried about Alexis?" he asked.

"She doesn't deserve the stress she's being put under," Minerva replied. She gripped the holo-file in her hand tightly. "Fighting crime every day and every night, it's putting more and more guilt on her than I realize."

"Each year, around the accident, she somehow sleeps lesser than she already does. Shes more anxious, more stressed, more pressured. Al's changed a lot over the eight years I've been gone," she mused. And it's not a very good change, to be honest."

Keen gave the holo-file she held a side glance. "Is that Alexis's?"

Minerva stiffened. She nervously rubbed the edge of the file. "Why do you care?" Minerva asked lowly.

"Because she plays an important role in this plan," Keen answered with no hesitation. "Remember that little outburst eight years ago? I'm going to use that to fan the flames."

"And how are you going to do that? Capture one of her friends?" Minerva scoffed.

"I've seen them fight. They're almost invincible. Even the mild-mannered Scottish boy who can trip on his own underwear if he weren't careful with his own two feet," she mentioned, adding her own dry attempt at a joke.

Keen shrugged. "You're right. No one else in the city is valuable to her, her friends can protect themselves, but..." The city lights that shone below them glinted in Keen's eyes maliciously.

"I have you."

"What?"

Keen turned to Minerva, his cold eyes meeting hers. "This tower of stress is something Alexis has built herself," he said grimly. "You will bring the whole thing down."

A beep from Keen's table sounded. "Administrator Keen, the twins have arrived in Chrimata Airport and are now on their way to the VCC. Shall we send someone to introduce them to the facility?" the receptionist informed him.

Keen gave Minerva a we'll-talk-about-this-later glance before pressing the button to convey his message. "Of course. Send at least two members of our vigilante team," he instructed.

~•~•~

"What do you think the VCC's gonna be like, Shyama?" the 13-year-old Indian girl asked, twisting a small strand of her hair into her braid.

"Really stupid," her twin Shyama Joshi grumbled, sliding lower in his seat, glaring through the window. "You look too happy about this situation, Sharmila. Care to explain?"

Sharmila Joshi shrugged. "Oh, I don't know," she singsonged playfully. "Probably because Maman and Papa were nice enough to get us out of that rotten school."

Shyama shrugged. "Fair enough," he mumbled.

A/N: THE TWINS ARE IN! I REPEAT, THE TWINS ARE IN!

Please excuse my weeklong (?) absence. I lost some motivation along the way, but I assure you, I will try to update regularly from here on out, maybe a few well-placed hiatuses here and there if I'm busy enough.

Hope you enjoyed the update! Thanks for reading!