The Undoing Of Villains | ✓

nine

(a/n: wonder woman <33 how many of you have seen the movie? )

nine

FOR A MOMENT all I thought about was my family. The brothers I had grossly disrespected by not telling them about what I was doing (which was scaling burning buildings, basically re-enacting their video games in real life) before I passed. When they found out, they'd probably kill me. Rip open the casket and strange my already dead corpse. Well, of course my corpse would be dead. Kind of the idea of calling it a corpse. 

And then I thought of the shame I'd suffer, the wannabe super that failed miserably and plummeted forty stories until she was no more than finely ground dust coating the first floor. Like pathetic smear on a sandwich, except bloodier. At this thought, I really did feel like crying. 

Worst of all would probably be that they'd blame the bombing on me. The poor people I'd rescued would be 'saved' by the ever-valiant Vector, and I'd be the already dead villain, blamed for the bombing. At that, I grew angry. The helplessness morphed into a will to act, and I twirled, attempting to gain traction in the air. It was far from easy. 

Managing a slight turn, I could see the fast approaching floor. The air whipped at my face, and I tensed, involuntarily, as if my muscles knew what was going to happen. 

Not if I have any say in it. 

That in mind, I clenched my wrists. If I had been able to see myself at that moment, it looked as if I had fainted - my eyes rolled back into my head, but not because I lost consciousness. No, I was once again focusing on that glass ball, shifting into focus. 

When my eyes opened again, they glowed red. My fists opened, and the red, wispy mist I'd seen before coated them too. The floor was only heartbeats away, and I thought - 

To hell with it.

I focused all my power into the will to not die, to get out of here, to be more than the splattered villain on the floor of a collapsing skyscraper - 

My feet were blanketed with the same, wispy red light. It moved upwards, soon coating my legs, then my torso. I was glowing now, looking like a true demon once again. 

Gasping, I noticed I'd stopped falling. All was quiet, still - my feet were only meters above the floor. I gulped, then a wobbly grin overtook my lips. 

Holy shit. I'm flying. 

Perhaps it wasn't as much flying as it was levitating, but if anyone had approached me with those technicalities they would've been strangled by now. My powers were wrapped around me, and I felt myself lifting upwards, going the reverse direction. I was accelerating quickly, swiftly learning to handle my new 'upgrade', if one could call it that. 

Shooting upwards, the very opposite of a falling star, I was soon level with the place from which I'd fallen. The people I'd just rescued stood still, very still, slight awe reflected in their wide eyes. 

"Let's get out of here." I said, simply, as if this was no big deal. Xandra had said it was all about showbiz, right? I just hoped the man I'd rescued from his fall to the death hadn't seen the obvious panic gripping me when I'd lost my handle on the staircase railing. 

Floating above the broken railing, I gently set my feet on the solid stairs. Something above rumbled, and I knew for sure the fire was going to get worse - unless I did something about it. First, I needed to get the people out.