Ex-Nemesis

Chapter 8: He Killed Who-?

"Hazel..."

The name slipped soundlessly from his lips.

And she threw herself at him.

Nico was in a daze, his head was spinning. He did nothing to evade the coming blow.

Once again... man, chimneys are hard! Who the heck INVENTED these damn things?

But the harsh blow and Sunshot cry of, "HEY!" managed to jolt Nico from his trance. A smile fell to his lips, hidden by his mask and he sprang back to his feet.

After all this time, after searching for such a long time, she's here! He found her!

Or rather, she found him!

God, little sister, where on Earth have you been this whole time?

But that twinkle faded quickly when Nico saw her fist careening towards his face. Nico's eyes widened and he ducked.

What...

Hazel's blows rained down on him, not easing up one bit. Nico ducked and dodged, masterfully evading possibilities of being crippled for life. Her punches were that strong.

What was wrong?

Did she not recognise him? She had been five when they took her, and he was no longer the fat-cheeked, doe-eyed kid any more.

Or wait...

Nico was under cover.

God, Nico, did you honestly forget you had your Ghost king facade on? She can't SEE you!

Slowly, the situation came into better focus.

He noticed that Hazel too was wearing a suit. Bright colors flashing and glimmering, red, gold, blue, and green, eye-blinding. (* Sigh * did everyone make it their goal to assault Nico's eyesight with such offending colors?)

Was she one of the gifted too?

He found that out soon enough when she pulled back her fist once again.

It was like watching ice form.

Gemstone formed a layer over her fist like a boxing glove.

Did she just... wow... That's cool!

Then she swung her gemstone boxing glove at him, he back flipped away.

That... was not cool...

If that fist had made contact, Nico would've surely broken a few bones.

A thought surfaced in his mind as he continued the dance of death with his sister.

Was she a hero too? And did she have it out for him too? Did she think he was a villain too?

He felt sick.

"Hazel!" Nico talked in between her fierce hits, "where have you been this whole time?"

"How do you know my name?!" Hazel gritted out. Her voice was so much different from that adorable squeak she used to possess. It was elegant and strong, feminine yet commanding. It would've made Nico swell with pride... if those had not been her words.

"I'm your brother!"

"My brother's dead!"

What... I'm dead?

I'm pretty sure I'm not? * looking at the audience for help*

"What?" Nico questioned blankly.

Right then, a distraction came in the form of a ball of sunlight. The sunlight shot between Nico and Hazel, making them both jump back.

"STOP!" Will roared, "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Nico blinked at him. "To be honest, I have no idea."

"Who are you?!" Will directed the question at Hazel.

"I'm Paragon!" Hazel claimed, her voice strong and confident, "and you're the famed Sunshot, I presume?"

Idiot Mary Sunshine actually looked a little proud as he said, "Yes, yes, that would be me."

Hazel cracked a smirk. "Good! I'm here with a proposal."

"Hm?" Sunshot inquired.

"I want to join forces with you—" Hazel gave Nico a nasty side eye. "—against him!"

Whoa wait wait—

WHAT—

Nico opened his mouth, a retort already on his tongue but Will beat him to it: "Of course! It'll be a relief when he's behind bars!"

Hazel scoffed, "Behind bars?"

Will narrowed his eyes, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Hazel clenched her other fist, and encased it in gemstone too, as gold as her eyes.

"I want him dead."

"...."

"...."

Will chuckled nervously. "Look, isn't that a little too—"

Hazel glared at him with such intensity that Sunshot swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly. "I mean, we're heroes! We don't kill!"

Hazel's eyes swirled with emotion, whether it was anger, or sadness, or madness...

"Guess I'm not a hero then." With those words, she aimed a kick at Will, who was too busy being confused to react.

Will fell backwards, and didn't get up. He slumped over, his form limp.

Hazel then turned her focus on Nico.

"Hazel!" he called desperately, "What are you doing?! I'm your brother! I'm Nico!"

Hazel shook her head, eyes flashing. "My brother is dead!"

"N—"

"He's dead because of you!" Hazel's voice hitched. "You killed him!"

Wait wait wait, can we please rewind to the part where you said I killed myself?

Hazel's laughter was dark, and Nico felt a chill run down his spine, it had nothing to do with the chilly night air. Her voice was murderous when she spoke.

"And I'm gonna make sure you go the same way."

WTF????

Word count (E/N: which I forgot to include the first time, but shhh): 863

A/N: Heheyyy! Who doesn't like a bit of brother-sister violence eh? My brother once dragged me around the living room by my feet, true story! But we get along.

Once again, toast to Sunny for letting me post this on their account, and for letting me steal their marvelous idea!

E/N: I finally found a faster way to edit these! If I copy it into a Google Doc before uploading it here, most of the formatting is done for me. No more meticulous line-by-line formatting work! I can't believe it took me eight chapters to figure that out lmao