City of Shadows

Chillin' like a Villain

(Aurelia's POV)

"Well that's too bad because now you don't work alone." I tell Jasper while smiling at him smugly. After all the crap I've put up with from him over the years, if he expects anything thing other than a salty attitude from me, then he's dead wrong.

"She's right Jasper." Apollo chimes in, "No more working alone."

"I've been working solo most of my life, I don't need help." Jasper tells Apollo. "I especially don't need help from Aurelia. She doesn't have a single evil bone in her body."

"I can learn how." I object while defiantly clenching my fists.

"Hey Raffe!" Maddy shouts from upstairs, completely interrupting our conversation. "You need to wrap it up down there. Your cousin Astrid will be here soon."

"Alright, you guys heard her, you need to go." Apollo announces.

"Who's Astrid?" I ask, letting my curiosity get the better of me.

"She's my cousin." Apollo explains. "Her family was killed in a car crash and now she's coming to live with us."

I furrow my brows in concern as I say, "Oh my goodness, that's awful. If she ever needs a friend to talk to, let me know."

"See what I mean," Jasper says while gesturing towards me, "she has a heart of gold. She'll never be able to pull off being a villain."

"Well then, I guess you'll have to teach her." Apollo declares while shoving us towards the stairs. "Take the back door out, I can't risk having Astrid see you two."

"I don't want to teach her." Jasper admits.

"Well that's too bad because you're stuck with her now. So don't be a stick in the mud, Sparky." Apollo says while shooing us up the stairs. "Go out the back door, and don't let Astrid see you."

Before having so much as a second for any questions or complaints, we are already at the top of the stairs and Apollo rushes out of the room.

"Now what?" I ask.

"Now you wait in the alley while I change out of my suit." Jasper replies.

"How can I tell if you're not going to use this as an opportunity to ditch me?" I ask him.

"You can't." He replies with a smirk as I step out the back door.

A few minutes later, he joins me in the alleyway. He is now wearing jeans and a hoodie, and he has a backpack slung over his shoulder. It's obvious to me that he has his suit in the backpack. I think he looks better when he isn't wearing that suit.

"You need to dye your hair." Jasper says unexpectedly.

"I need to what?" I stammer.

"Your hair color will give away your identity. Only two people with telekinesis have had hair as blonde as yours, Crystal Violet and Butterflygirl. You should dye your hair brown. You're identity would be less obvious, and you'd look more like Nighthawk." Jasper points out.

I cringe knowing that he's right. I probably should dye my hair, but I don't want to. I like my hair color the way it is.

Reluctantly I say, "Ok you're right, I'll dye it."

The next thing I know, I'm standing in a nearby store, looking at shades of hair dye.

"I don't want to do this." I admit.

"The feeling is mutual." Jasper says as he grabs a box of dye and tosses it to me. "This one should be a good color match."

I turn the box over in my hands, Jasper is right again. This color is a decent match. I sigh as we walk to the register and purchase the dye. My poor hair, dyeing my hair is going to suck.

"You know," I say to Jasper, "It's not too late to return the hair dye."

Jasper smirks at me and says, "So you'll fight supervillains, and fake your own death, but a box of hair is where you draw the line. That's hilarious."

I glare at him, "You're not the one who has to dye their hair."

We walk out of the store, and Jasper hails a cab. Then once were in the cab Jasper tells the driver to take us to Silver City. I turn and anxiously look out the cab window. Things are about to get real, we are heading back to Silver City. We are heading home.

The entire ride back to Silver City, we sit in awkward silence. Several times I contemplate trying to start up a conversation with Jasper, but every time I decide against it. Things are still just too awkward between us. I wish they weren't, but given the circumstances, I don't think things will ever be anything but awkward between us. I mean it's weird sharing a cab with a guy who is supposed to be your nemesis.

When the cab pulls into Silver City, I have the driver drop us off a location roughly a block away from the hideout that Dr. Morris recently gave me. Then I silently lead Jasper to the hideout.

Once inside, Jasper comments, "This is a nice place, but can't Star find us here?"

"Nope." I reply. "Star doesn't know about this place. Um.... I guess you can just sit somewhere, I'm going to go dye my hair." I rush to bathroom and lock the door behind. Oof, I can't believe I'm going to do this.

When I'm done, I examine my new hair color in the mirror. I don't like it. The color is nice, and the dye was evenly distributed throughout my hair, but I don't like. This color makes me look like an entirely different person.

I step out of the bathroom so that Jasper can see my new hair color, "There no more blonde hair." I announce. "Now what?"

"Now you put this on." Jasper tosses a pile of clothes to me.

I examine the clothes, a pleated khaki skirt, and a polo with the Silver City Academy logo embroidered on it. Puzzled, I ask Jasper, "Why do I need a Silver City Academy uniform?"

"If you want to infiltrate the Meta Alliance, you'll have to go to school at my school." Jasper explains. "The Academy has a reputation for rejecting most applicants. That's because you have to be a villain, the child if a villain, the child of a supporter of the Meta Alliance, or you need a recommendation from a member of the Meta Alliance. A recommendation from Vortex should be enough to get you in the doors, but it'll be up to you to ensure that you stay there. The Silver City Academy is the unofficial training grounds for new members of the Meta Alliance."

My pulse quickens, will I really be able to pull this off? Sure I have a connection to the Meta Alliance, but I don't know how to play the bad guy. I only know how to be a hero.

I inhale sharply before making eye contact with Jasper, "Well then it's a good thing I have you to teach me."

***
After what was probably too long of a wait and a case of writer's block, I finally updated. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

QOTC-

What would you like to see at the Silver City Academy?

Will Aurelia be able to last long at the Silver City Academy?

Do I still have any Jalia shippers hanging on out there?

Until next chapter -AureilliaSkyland