Purple Phoenix

Chapter Nine

Sorry for the late update. To make up for it, I made it longer than usual. 

Windrider swooped down, carrying me in his arms. Finally, we landed on a rooftop, and I sighed in relief, never having been so happy to be on solid ground before. He surprisingly gently put me on my feet, so I could stand on my own.

"Thank you," I murmured. I didn't even know exactly what I was thanking him for, it just felt right to say that.

"No problem. Here, this way," he said, placing a hand on my lower back and directing me towards an elevator. Again, I wondered where exactly we were going. Sure, he told me we were heading to a meeting, but he didn't say where we were heading for that meeting, so here I was, a villain, blindingly following a hero. I wanted to grab his hand and shake the information out of him, but since we were here on good terms, I needed to act with manners as well. We entered the elevator, and he pushed button '-1'.

I asked, "Negative one?"

He nodded. "It's one floor underground."

"Ah, I see." I wrung my hands, becoming slightly nervous as the elevator dinged after each floor we lowered. "So who's here with us?"

"Along with me," He flashed me a smile. "There's Light Shine, Animalia, Poseidon, and the one you've already met, Spectre." I grunted when I heard her name. I was looking forward to seeing her again, so I could kick her butt for kicking mine. However, now that we were waving around a white flag, it looked like I would need to delay that. Too bad. Next time, I supposed.

The elevator doors opened. "Come on." Suddenly, I felt as though it was a bad idea to come here. I was nearly defenseless against the five strongest supers in Shard city. No way could I leave if they would try to prevent me. Then again, it's not like I can do anything now. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the elevator with Windrider and gaped at the gigantic room before me.

This was like a villain's (or superhero's) dream: a lair underground that was fitted with screens and electronics on every surface. Huge windows showed large training rooms with all types of weapons lined up against the opposite wall. On the other side, a red light said, "Medical room" with an automatic door underneath. Whoever built this had clearly the big bucks.

Two people who had stared at screens turned and spotted us.

"Windrider, glad you're still alive," snapped the girl in green. I recognized her as the one who could shapeshift into different animals: Animalia.

Windrider put up his hands as if he was surrendering. "Give me a break, Ani. We both know we needed to find her quickly. I couldn't risk losing her."

"Yeah, but she's dangerous." Animalia bit out, and my pride rose. I'm dangerous. I've been getting this from the news, and now a super even called me dangerous. Hell yeah!

"But-" Animalia was cut off by the boy in blue, who I assumed was Poseidon, a person who could control water.

"She's here now, and Windrider is not hurt. You two can stop bickering." He said, keeping his eyes on mine. I expected them to be blue because of water and all that, but they were a warm dark brown. Windrider and Animalia also turned their attention to me, so I had three heroes studying me.

I rubbed the nape of my neck. "So... what am I doing here?"

"Well-" Animalia was cut off once again by nearing laughter. Two people, one I recognized as Spectre which meant the other one in white was Light Shine, were playfully shoving each other. That is until they saw me, and their smiles dropped off their faces and turned into scowls. My heart panged as their scowls neared the ones my parents constantly gave me. The ones that accompanied the verbal abuse.