The Original Chronicles of the Nightshade

The Heroes' Banquet

*Note to readers, I really struggled writing this one, and setting up what I want to happen in this episode, so forgive me for it's disjointed and incomplete nature.

The guest arrived not long after she took her waiting spot. She looked down at the lines of cars and people spiraling into the body of Payne Tower, which stood forty stories high as the center of the city, surrounded by buildings and connected to the police station at its base. The light drizzle of rain was enough for a monochrome roof of umbrellas to come up and out to protect what dignified appearance they could muster in the miserable weather. Underneath, she could see a rainbow of blues and reds, whites and golds, blacks and browns, dresses that were too long, dragging along the wet concrete like a lame tail and skirts that were too short, making legs shiver and curl around themselves. There were far more people here than Nightshade anticipated. The grand reappearance of Victor the Great wouldn't go uncelebrated in full. Not if the fortunate of Tsunami Bay had anything to say about it.

Nothing but perfection.

She remembered Belle talking about how the rich and fortunate were simply pawning off those below them, taking advantage of those around them. She said it simply and without much care, but it started to burn within Nightshade--fuel to fire already lit.

She wondered what is was like to have that sort of luxury. She wondered what these people really thought of superheroes and their banquets. She wondered if they would freeze in fear when they saw her. They always do. They were just people after all. Normal, ordinary people. The ones who screamed loud enough could be heard by the supers.

She waited until the security team was preoccupied with a patron's complaints before moving. According to Dark Crimson's map, there was an air vent on the third floor that would allow her access the building before she had to climb up to the tenth floor to crash the party in the Ballroom.

She let her scale flutter open, catch air to slow her fall, but with her freshly repaired jacket, the air didn't filter through the fabric and she felt herself falling faster than she wanted to. Instinctively, she tucked herself into a hard roll as she tumbled into the side parking lot of the police station, and scampered behind a trash bin. Her heart drummed in her ears as she tried to slow her breathing.

Peeking around the corner, she breathed out slowly, smiling to herself. No alarm sounded yet. Looking up the side of the Tower, she craned her neck to find her hand holds.

Voices echoed into her ears, and she launched off the ground and grabbed onto the ledge of a window. Move fast. Don't hesitate. Remember to breathe.

She found her vent easily and wrenched it open. Pulling the vent cover in with her, she looked up and started to crawl, releasing a breath with each effort. She had forgotten how much she hated to be in small spaces such as these. They were too constricting. The heat the poured through the vents and past her didn't make it any easier to move. It was forturnate that she was small.

By the time she made it to the tenth floor, she could hear a microphone announcing the

"Friends, Benefactors and Sponsors, alike. We welcome to the Twenty-fifth annual Heroes Banquet!" There was a round of applause, and Nightshade began to swallow. This was it.

She squirmed her way toward the sound, now crawling on her hands and knees and found herself able to look into the room.

The first thing she locked eyes on, sitting among other colorfully clad heroes below stage in his hat and dark trench coat, was the Jack of Spade, gazing over the audience in a scrutiny Nightshade was familiar with. He flicked a toothpick onto the table as everyone was staring at the stage. He simply scrunched up his nose.