They were just two wayward heroes, vengeful, stubborn, with a pair of unique goals in mind that wouldn't stop them from destroying all of Paris nor themselves to fulfill. What they didn't expect was the find their goals to slowly change, despite all...
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nnika blinked.
"W-...what..?"
Zander's fingers felt like shafts of iron on her arms. His eyes burned like coal with something she couldn't quite identify. He leaned towards her, lips parted, shoulders locked, that strange looks in his eyes that she felt she needed to be afraid of. Even it was at this moment that, as he held her within clenched fingers, all she could think about was the last thing he said, a word that sent fear spiraling into her core.
"Ailurus.." It wasn't a question this time. He said it more forcefully, sounding more sure of himself as he stared her down.
Annika was terrified. She didn't know what to do. How could he know, how could he possibly know? "W-..what are you talking about?"
"I think.." He started, pausing momentarily as his fingers unclenched from her arms and lifted to rest on her shoulders. "...you know what I'm talking about."
The red head just stared at him, grey eyes wide and exposing her fear. She didn't want to know. She didn't want to know what he was talking about. How could he possible know? How could he possible have any idea on who her alter ego was? She'd never met him as Ailurus. She had never gotten close enough to him that he would be able to recognize her in any way. So what was it with him? He was almost accusitory, as if the likelihood of her being the red panda somehow angered and confused him.
But how the hell could he know?!
The befuddled Annika breathed steadily to keep herself from exposing anything else that could enforce his accusation. "I don't think you understand, I- I don't have any idea what you're--"
"You hesitated."
The red head took an expression of offense. "Excuse me?"
"You hesitated. Hesitation is a form of deception. You know what I'm talking about because you are Ailurus. You are the Red Panda."
"I am not." She spat at him, feeling her anger rising as he pestered. Ragardless that she really was lying, he had absolutely no right to assume so. She brought up an arm to knock his hand from her shoulder. "I don't know what you think you're doing, trying to convince me that I'm some superhero. Do I look like a superhero to you?"
Something deep inside her forced her to deny his discovery. In no way would she let him know who she really was. She just couldn't, even when what he was saying was true to the point. She wanted to deny him with all her power, to keep him in the dark because something made her desperate to do so. She may not have known the oddly certain Zander for a very long time, but she knew she had to keep her secret from him.
Somewhere in the depths of her desire to lie about her identity, a part of her knew that she was trying to lie to herself as well. She didn't want to think of herself as the scarlet hero anymore. The initial thrill was gone, replaced by regret and despondency. Being the Red Panda wasn't something she wanted to be anymore. After Lady Lust, Annika no longer want to be Ailurus.
