How To Ruin A City

Chapter Twenty One

Catalina

I grinned at Inferno even though he couldn't see my smile, my eyes lighting a fire into the back of his neck. Tossing a horrified and thoroughly creeped out look over his shoulder, he asked, "What?"

"I'm just snickering at the IDIOCY OF YOU FUCKERS TRICKING ME INTO TRYING TO TAKE ON A GROUP OF SUPERVILLAINS!"

"Hey," Ghost interrupted. "We're even in numbers."

Viper groaned, running a hand through her short red hair before putting her beanie back on.

Riptide simply stared into the distance like this was the worst job he'd ever had. "I'm so bored. We've just been standing here watching each other for ten minutes."

"Oh, sorry," Oleander said, gesturing to Inferno and me. "I was waiting for them to finish arguing before I threw a punch. So, like, should-"

Riptide knocked her back with a wave of water and an eye roll.

Viper looked back at her girlfriend with a funny expression before fully facing us. She shrugged and made a wild gesture. "You want us to fight you?"

"No," I said. "We just want Evergreen."

Bliss giggled. "Not happening."

Viper tried not to react, but her eyes widened just a little, and she didn't refrain from commenting, "You're high."

"Kind of," Bliss snorted.

Oleander stomped back over to the group. Evergreen stayed seated, picking at her nails. I took a moment to check my surroundings. We were at an empty warehouse with the overhead door open, allowing us to see the two girls seated inside. Somewhere behind me down the rocky driveway that led to the river, there was a single tree. The only witness.

I wonder what the tree thinks of this...Pause. Are YOU high?

I snapped back into reality and took a few steps away from Bliss, blaming her for any irrational thoughts. Viper and Oleander didn't seem to care about the fact their teammate was on drugs, while if Evergreen did, she was only annoyed.

"Where's Fauna?" the blonde finally questioned, looking up at us. "We made a deal with her."

"Deal's off," I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a superhero now," Oleander scoffed.

Evergreen frowned. "Yeah! Why is the supervillain your spokesperson?"

"Don't ever call me a superhero, you stupid little-"

"Enough!" Ghost snapped.

"Can we just take a small break before we fight?" Bliss pleaded.

Inferno pinched the bridge of his nose. "My fucking word..."

"Want a soda?" she added, rising to pull a can out of a mini fridge. She plopped back down in her chair and opened it, fizz crackling through the silence.

Riptide frowned. "What is wrong with all of you?"

"How about we talk about what's wrong with that get up?" Bliss gestured to my hoodie and mask. "Why the skull theme? You have ice powers, Frosty the Snowman."

I exhaled through my nose.

Evergreen shook her head and sighed. "Why are you guys singling me out anyway? Why not Paramount. Not to be a bitch, but between the two of us, she's more of a risk to be left out on the streets."

"You're easier to find," Riptide answered honestly. "And for once, TVAH is trying to fix a mess that one of our members made."

"Mostly because none of us are filing out that paperwork," Inferno muttered.