The Secrets Within

Chapter 3: Trouble is the New Curiosity

        Maria ran towards an alley, taking a short moment to catch her breath. "Of all times... it was now..." she groaned as she punched at the wall beside her. Her hair changed to a dark brown colour and her eyes changed so her right eye was red and her left eye was black. 

        She looked around her, black taking over her tanned skin. She moved quickly to the roof so she could look around, not noticing that the HeroTV helicopter was nearby. She started to run away from Justice Tower, in hopes that she could avoid the path of the heroes. As she was running she would hear the talk of some citizens below her. "Did you hear about the girl in our class?"

        "The one who committed suicide?"

        "Yeah, she was actually a slut. She had sex with every guy in our class."

        "Really!?" 

        Maria had jumped down to the girls, giving them a harsh stare. The duo stared at her. "Is this some type of freak show? Why are you dressed like that?"

        The other girl froze there, gripping her friends wrist. "That's... Twisted... we need to leave... Like now!"

        Maria gave a smile. "My dear children... I'm flattered you know me, but I am saying this now... Just because someone was raped by a large group of men, who all are in your class and claim she willingly had sex with them, is not a slut. She wasn't desperate for attention, she wanted escape and you caused her to kill herself," she threw cards at the girls and snapped her finger to create explosions and make the two girls run away. 

        This stupid move caused the helicopter to start towards her direction. "Shit" she muttered as she quickly ran into the alleys again in hopes that she would avoid the other heroes.

        She took a deep breath and released, running towards the warehouses. She glanced up every now and again to see if she was being followed. She was thankful each time she wasn't; however the other heroes had been called to check out the scene. Without her really noticing, Barnaby came up behind her and reached at her arm. "Who are you!?" he yelled out at her, taking this next opening to yell out "Stop right there!"

        Maria heard the voice of Barnaby and started to sprint, dropping cards under her feet and snapping her fingers to use the force of the explosion as a way to speed her up more. She was breathing heavily, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get away from the man that would ruin her whole plan as well as cause her life become a living hell. She kept using her abilities, her body becoming worn out due to the continuous use. Barnaby closed in on her flowing cape and grabbed at it, managing to hold on it. Maria's eyes were wide, but she quickly moved to remove it from around her neck. "Stay away from me!" she yelled out, her voice lower than her normal tone.

        Barnaby started to jump after her, only to get called back by Wild Tiger to go back to headquarters. He opened his mask to watch Maria run, getting ready to jump once at her, but decided against it. He almost knew that they would run into each other again. 

        Maria glanced back, noticing that Barnaby wasn't there. She stopped by an abandoned building and started to cough from the pain in her chest. "D....dammit... why him!? He is the worst..." she coughed between each word.

        Her heterochromatic eyes looked around to see where exactly she was, but she continued to cough. She gripped her chest slightly and punched at the ground to change back to her normal, everyday look. She grit her teeth as she tried not to cough more. "Then again... if it wasn't for Tiger... he would have still gone after me... or was I just lucky that he listened..." she leaned against the wall of the building and slid down to her feet. 

        "This is the worst day ever. I became the top hero and was chased to the point where if Barnaby was called off a moment later I would have been captured by him. Fuck my life. Why did I have to come here? Why couldn't I stay in the other city where being Twisted was normal and I was called a hero rather than a villain. Fuck it all..." she muttered before letting herself close her eyes while staying against the building.