The Undoing Of Villains | ✓

nineteen

(a/n: TYSM for reaching the goal, love y'all, here's a KICKASS black canary GIF and the chapter's dedication Enigma1502 don't know if I've dedicated something to you previously but you voted for the chapter like two sec after I published which made me grin like a madman so - MUCH LOVE <3<3<3 hope you enjoy the chapter!)

nineteen

AS A WANNABE super, it would've been real career backlash to be framed as a murderer and boat-sinker, hence my initial relief at not being the target of a citywide manhunt. Key word: initial. The realization of what Tetra had done hit my conscience a heartbeat afterwards- she'd effectively removed her strongest opponent from the chess board, paving the way for her to do whatever she willed. Vector was the city's foremost protector, the mere mention of his name enough for most criminals to turn into honest citizens - he stood above the police because he held the true power, being a supernaturally gifted individual and all. It was far more than Tetra getting her revenge for him having put her behind bars, it was a power move, tilting the chess board to her advantage.

Every pair of eyes in the city would be on the look-out for the iconic Vector wherever he showed up, no matter the amount of good deeds he's done in the past. The police would eventually find out it was a sham, they had to, but by then it would probably be all too late - Tetra was already here, and she'd set plans in motion that were now beyond Vector's ability to stop. Sure, the city had an otherwise admirable collection of superheroes to fall back on, but how many truly knew who Tetra was? How many had personally fought her? How many had a skill set which matched Vector's?

As far as you know, only one. You.

I had no way of getting in touch with Vector, and he would probably be more than careful with his nightly patrols. I could always return to his hideout and leave a note, hoping to get a response. After all, we were - presumably - on the same side.

The first step of damage-control would be re-acquiring my stow-away bag before anyone else stumbled upon it. Even if the risk of that happening was slim, I wanted to cut any possible losses before they bit me in the behind. The planned night of stay-at-home rest was now replaced with the fervent scheming of my mind. I could only imagine what Vector was going through - even if he hadn't done all of those things, the media backlash would be enough to halt his usual efficiency in crime-stopping. Tetra was intelligent, powerful and dangerous - worst of all, she was out for blood, and Vector had been the only barrier she perceived as powerful enough to knock down before getting to work.

Well, Tetra's about to see Dynamo's upgraded their superhuman defenses the slightest bit.

I'd already semi-beaten her once, even sunk her boat. Hopefully the loss of yacht worth a few million dollars felt like a nice little economic slap her way. I assumed she hadn't counted on someone like me showing up, and it seemed she didn't believe I was enough of a threat to prioritize neutralizing me. No, in her mind Vector was all that stood between her and dominion of the entire city.

She could go on believing that for all I cared. If she saw me as a lesser threat, it left me with my hands untied to do practically whatever I wanted to counter her plans.

Moving from the couch back to the kitchen, I discarded my empty coffee cup in the sink (among many, many others, to my shameful realization) and reached for my toast, which had gone cold by now. I didn't bother making another one, and instead bit into the cold, crunchy slice of bread without a care. It was rapidly approaching 3 o'clock, which meant I had a bit of time to kill before dusk fell over Dynamo's skyline. A nap - or five - was sorely necessary, as my powers were still only drops of the usually filled well I could access.