Villainous Us

Skeletons In the Closet

The Hauntress

I twirled my sigil between my fingers. Now that I was finished with being the Hauntress, did I really still need it?

I shook the question off. Of course I did. How else would I keep in touch with Gerard and the others?

I continued down the empty street. To my left were the docks, with few boats left in the harbor this afternoon. The fishermen were always out at this time, especially on a day as nice as this.

The sun was high in the sky, surrounded by vast blue and not a cloud to be seen. I could feel the warm rays on my skin through my clothes. This was probably the first time in months I got any source of vitamin D. The sounds of the waves crashing against the break wall seemed to help with my nerves as well. The sounds of nature always did. But sounds like that were hard to come across in the city.

As if on cue, voices began yelling. I turned to my right toward the city, but just across the street were new buildings being constructed. A couple of workers in hardhats were fighting over something, and their coworkers battled to get them apart. I tossed my hood up and popped my earbuds in, then turned up the volume to some hard metal to drown out the voices.

I wasn't on my way to any particular place. I was just walking, hoping I might find myself somewhere I needed to be. Little did I realize, I was near the warehouse the Six once used to torture a hero into information.

I rounded a street corner and jaywalked across the street. I had to jump a fence to get there, but a moment later I was kicking in a door to get inside.

It was mostly dark, but just enough light peered in through a major hole in the roof. The place was a mess, littered with broken glass and beer cans, and the walls were coated in a layer of graffiti. It looked abandoned by any bums that might have been staying here, but I kept my eyes out.

I hadn't taken more than a few steps inside when a metal beam suddenly fell from above and landed barely a foot in front of me. It could have crushed me if I was only a second sooner, but I had a feeling it was only meant as a warning.

"Iron Crisis?" I asked into the darkness as I tugged my earbuds out, my voice echoing. A second later I slapped my hand over my mouth. I forgot I wasn't in costume, and he'd never met Shea Waters before.

He dropped from a rafter, landing on his feet about ten feet before me. His eyes were nothing more than slits, studying me. "Have we met?"

"No," I answered a little too quickly and cringed. "I mean, I was at the bank the other day. You nearly dropped a metal beam on me there too."

"Pity," he mused. "So how'd you find me here?"

"I wasn't looking for you," I answered honestly. "I was just exploring. Found my way in here."

"Hell of a coincidence, don't you think?" he smirked.

I shrugged, making sure to keep my cool. This was Iron Crisis. Shea Waters was no one to him, and I was sure he wouldn't mind killing an innocent, too-curious civilian.

But then again, if that were the case, wouldn't I already be dead?

"So why aren't you running away?" he continued, circling around me like a wolf waiting for the right moment to attack its prey.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is there reason to?"

"There is every reason to."