Sisters, Kinda

I Forget That Evander Died

November 12, 2020- Look for the Gummy Bead album in stores on November 13th with lots of music, videos, and extras

Nova took the extra long route to Renegades HQ.

This is crazy. Why do I have to make a speech in front of the Renegades?  Wait I am willingly doing this.It makes absolutely no sense. Completely random. Okay. This is fine. This is actually not a problem. 

The night before, Nova actually did end up falling asleep next to Adrian. It seemed that she could only sleep when she was with him.

They woke up a little late, but they didn't have to be at Renegades HQ until 2pm. They all went out for breakfast with Hugh and Simon.

Nova separated from the group to prepare herself to reveal her life to the world.

She arrived at Renegades HQ.

• • • • • • • • • • •

"Aren't you a villain? I don't know why they still let you be here with the superheroes." Magpie stopped in front of her.

"Maggie. Normally, I would have some sort of insult to hurl at you, but you are a child, so I won't. Please leave me alone today," Nova replied and walked away.

"Hey Nova!" Adrian waved.

She walked up to him eagerly, and reached up to kiss his cheek.

They were all standing in a group. Danna, Narcissa, Ruby, Oscar, Nova, and Adrian.

"Hey guys! I'm terrified. Just kidding. Not scared at all. I'm Nightmare." Nova laughed.

"Miss Ma'am. Chill out," Oscar rolled his eyes at her dramatics.

"Chill. I'm chill. Anyways, let's go find our seats, please."

They walked into the arena where the Renegades Trials were held. They decided to discontinue them, and they actually listened to some of Nova's suggestions about having a non-prodigy sort of police force. Of course, everyone and their mom's are prodigies now, but the effort is still there. There was a statue of Blacklight, who was killed in the second Battle for Gatlon.

There were reserved seats for them. They took their seats just as Captain Chromium started speaking. As always, he was wearing his iconic costume, just like the rest of the council

"We're here today because we have risen above anarchy and defeated Ace Anarchy. I am going to keep this super short because we have someone who is going to share her story. We could not have defeated Ace Anarchy without the help of his niece, who we used to know as Nova McLain. Please welcome to the stage, Nova Artino.

There were more cheers than she expected as Nova nervously walked up to the stage. They were polite, but confused on the last name.

"Hello. My name is Nova Artino, and I was the Anarchist known as Nightmare."

There were gasps and whispers that spread through the crowd like wildfires.

"My father was David Artino, my mother was Tala Artino. I had a baby sister, Evie, who was 11 months old, and my uncle was Alec Artino, more commonly known to the public as Ace Anarchy. My uncle was good to me and my family. My parents, Evie, and I lived in an apartment. Uncle Alec brought us things that we needed. When I was six years old, I fell asleep holding my baby sister."

She once again told the story of the night she lost her family.

"And I put him to sleep. I held the gun to his head. Pull the trigger, Nova I whispered to myself. Over and over. But I couldn't. I didn't. Ace showed up. He killed the man. He took me to live with him. He raised me. My sister never got that chance. The chance to live. The chance to love and to be loved. For a short time, I blamed myself for her death. But then I shifted my blame to the Renegades." She looked behind her toward the council and saw the Captain putting his head down and he closed his eyes.

She had to pause.

"10 years later, I found out that the intruder had not been sent by the Roaches like Ace had told me. He sent him. He sent the assassin to kill me and my entire family because my father had sold out his secrets to the Renegades! Ace planned on killing me too. He only saved me because I am a prodigy.

Lady Indomitable was killed that night too. She was tasked to protect my family from Ace, should he come for us. Ace lured her away while my family's murders took place."

She looked at Adrian. His expression was unreadable.

"I lived with Ace and the Anarchists for 10 years. They became my dysfunctional family.

Evie would be 11 years old. Not a day goes by that I don't mourn her."

She looked to the crowd for some familiar faces. Her eyes landed on Magpie's. She looked confused, but also curious.

"Ace is dead. He killed my family. He lied to me about everything. But now I'm free. I can do whatever I want with my life now. Choose any path.

Someone told me that there's no such thing as villains anymore. He said that maybe there never were. I'm not sure I agree with that. But I do believe that everyone deserves a good redemption arc. Thank you."