Hopelessly Heroic (Rewritten)

one

Willow sat on her couch, watching the news. She was waiting for the story they would run on her. Her latest crime wasn't the biggest one she had ever done; but she was sure it would still be aired fairly quickly. After the fire she set - which had yet to be put out by the time she made her escape - had spread enough to settle the nerves in her stomach, she had come straight home, where she had been for the last ten minutes, waiting to see what they would say about her this time.

Nothing good, she knew, but that wasn't what she wanted, anyway. She wanted her name on the screen. She wanted to see the fear in the newscaster's eyes as she told everybody what Willow had done this time, how many people she had hurt. She wanted people to be so afraid of her they wouldn't approach her. She wanted to be left alone. 

As she waited to hear her name, she peeled her gloves off, cringing when she inevitably peeled some skin off as well. There was an opened bottle of water on the coffee table, which she guzzled down. She held it with her fingertips, making sure to keep her still-warm palms away from the plastic. She hated the smell of melting plastic. 

The picture on the TV switched to an overhead view of the woods Willow had lit up, and she realized they had already started talking about her. It was hard to focus on the noise when all she could see was the destruction she had caused. There were three firetrucks in the shot, but they were doing nothing to contain the flames - at least, not in comparison to Tidal.

Tidal was flying above the trees, shooting water down on them like the heaviest rainstorm Willow had ever seen. She was methodically working on the farthest reaches of the blaze, trying desperately to douse the fire. With the firefighters on one side and Tidal on the other, Willow knew her flames stood no chance, but she didn't mind. The damage was already done. She took her mask off and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at Tidal.

Tidal was the one who always had to clean up Willow's messes. Fire and water. A perfect match. Still, they had never met. It almost made Willow sad that she'd never had the pleasure of seeing Everton's favourite Superhero - in those spandex leggings - in person, but not enough that she stuck around her crime scenes any longer than she had to. 

So she settled for watching her on the screen, always putting out Willow's fires with a smile. She seemed so happy to be good. To be loved. It drove Willow crazy. She didn't understand it.

The fire was put out. A few teenagers who had been drinking in the woods got injured, but nobody died. Of course nobody died; Willow wasn't evil, and Tidal was always right around the corner, rushing in just in time to smile for the camera and save the day. 

When they stopped talking about her, Willow turned the TV off. Sometimes she liked to just sit in the quiet space her house provided. It made a good place to think. This time, though, she made her way down the hall, to the only room she had. It was intended to be a bedroom, but she converted it to her very own security room and put her bed in the living room behind the couch instead.

In her spare time over the last couple years, Willow had set up cameras all around the city, including a few aimed at her own house. In this room, she had monitors showing the live feed of all those cameras. On a daily basis, not many interesting things happened, but today she knew something would.

From watching the cameras after previous crimes where Tidal had been there to put out the flames, Willow knew the general direction she lived in. From the woods she had just soaked, the main route for her to get home would have to pass camera-6 and camera-11, in that order. Willow watched and waited, feeling creepy, but not guilty.

It was only five minutes until she got her first glimpse of the Hero, still in her black and blue costume, walking home. If Willow could fly, she figured she'd never walk again, but Tidal seemed to prefer being on the ground. Her mask was still on. Her blonde hair was still up in its signature ponytail. She looked tired. Walked slow.

Then she was out of frame. Willow took off her costume while she waited for Tidal to pass the next camera. She knew it would be at least another ten minutes. Her gloves and mask had been thrown on the couch in the living room, but she left the rest of her costume on the floor where she was, not caring that the next time she needed it she'd have to search for each individual piece.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked to camera-11. The camera was set up in an alley that went between an often empty side street, and the main road. There was rarely any movement on this camera save for Tidal, who, at that exact moment, was walking toward the main road. Unlike when Willow last saw her, she now had on jeans and a sweater. Her mask was off, but her hair was still in the same ponytail that was ingrained in Willow's mind. This was her favourite part of watching Tidal walk home. She always got to see a glimpse of what she really looked like, even if it was just from the side.

This time, though, Tidal reached in her pocket for her phone and ended up knocking it on the concrete. She stopped to pick it up and examine the screen, and as she did so, she caught sight of the camera. She cocked her head as she stared at it, probably wondering why anyone needed a view of an alley that didn't see any action, and then continued walking, out of sight for the last time. 

Willow released the breath she had been holding. Realistically, she knew Tidal couldn't see her, couldn't even tie her to the camera, but when she had stared right into the lens, it was like they were making eye contact. And, for the first time, it was like someone was looking at Willow without judgement. 

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YAY! Here is the first chapter of the Hopelessly Heroic rewrite. It's not finished yet but I love the direction it's going in and i couldn't wait any longer to show you guys since so many people have been commenting on the original that they needed more!

There will be a few changes. First off, it's in third person. I chose to do that because I think it gives better insight on both characters without immediately knowing everything they're thinking. Instead of saying "im sad" i can describe what the character looks like or is doing, and it paints the same picture without being so plain and uninteresting.

And though it is in third person, each chapter will switch perspectives. The first chapter is from willows perspective, the next one will be from Junes, so on and so forth.

This version is also set slightly before the original. In the original i was writing impatiently and wanted to get to the action, so i made them already know each other and lazily gave the details of their past instead of making it a part of the story. This version starts before they've ever met, and we get to see how that happens.

And i just think its better in every way. Its going to be longer, it will actually have a storyline, there will be an actual conflict and antagonist and things they have to work through realistically. It will now be a real story, and not just a clip from an idea i had.

Ill probably wait a bit before i begin to post regularly, just because i want to get some more written and edited, but i wanted to give you guys this teaser to get you hyped (hopefully).

I love it so much. I hope you do too.

Stay tuned!