Of Heroes and Villains

24:00:00

Failure was no option at this point. Running through the soaking streets of the city with rain dripping down my face and onto my coat, I could see my target only a couple of feet ahead of me, holding in their hand a leather sack. That bag is what I need, or, well, what was inside. My heels clicked against the concrete sidewalk as I slowly closed the gap. I could feel myself tiring as the minutes went on, the gunshot wound in my left leg continuing to bleed. I had a reputation to uphold.

I reached out my hand towards the figure in front of me and then squeezed my fist shut. The figure collapsed onto their knees, screaming in pain. I could feel relief as I stood above, my leg now painless. They dropped the bag as they clutched their leg.

"Not so fast now, are you," I loomed over them and picked up the bag, slinging it over my shoulder, straightening my posture. The hard rain continued to beat down on my hair, as I looked down at the hero in front of me.

"I- I guess not" the voice shook. I then met a familiar set of eyes. The figure pulled back their hood to reveal his short brown hair now in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, his cloudy blue eyes meeting mine. Rilen, kneeling in front of me in acknowledged defeat, held my gaze in a stern lock.

"Rilen- I.." I trail off. I hadn't seen him since the decision day. In shock, I dropped the transfer of pain from his leg to mine and winced. "It's been quite a while... "

"We shouldn't be seen talking," he abruptly said as he got up, dusting the raindrops off of his jacket. "I'm glad to see you're still alive, Lorelei, but I better go" he dropped his voice to a whisper barely audible over the rain.

I simply nodded and watched him run off into the fog. I lingered for a moment, before starting to walk back in the opposite direction.

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Keys jingled in my hand as I walked down the street. I arrived and stopped in front of a large, probably 25 story building covered in black glass panes. It loomed over the city like an intent watcher, seeing all and knowing all. I opened the front door and made my way up to the 16th floor and to the door of apartment 4.

I unlocked the door and walked in. Mirrored black tile floors reflecting the floor-to-ceiling windows lined the room. It had a minimalistic yet refined and polished look, everything was in a specific place for a reason. I put the bag down on the dining room table and sat down before it. Inside was a hard drive containing blueprints and plans stolen by the heroes years ago, and I had been tasked with stealing it back. After months of searching and tracking, I'd managed to plan an interception with a hero transporting it outside of the city to their compound.

I unzipped the bag and grabbed the box to open it and found the box full of... chocolates.

Shit. "How... " I sighed, "thoughtful."

I raked my hands through my hair, staring at the wall to hear the front door open behind me. Heels clicked on the floor and I knew who it was, though it wasn't hard to guess as only one other person had keys. I turned to see her standing there, strawberry blonde hair in a tight bun, some rain still dripping down her coat as she shrugged it off. Cassandra Vadoma: my partner since the beginning. We'd been assigned to work together when we first got chosen. The Program had decided our abilities and measured skills would work well together: she focuses on the mind while I focus on the body.

"Good afternoon, Lori," she began to walk over to where I sat, "I see the interception went... well." She reached over me and grabbed a chocolate out of the box, popping one into her mouth. She gave me a look of understanding and sat down next to me. I knew I wore the frustration loud on my face but I didn't want to say a word. Time was running thin, and I was starting to get impatient.

"Darling," she put her hand on my knee. A voice then came through my head, Cass's voice. "We'll get it, I know. Those damn heroes can't keep winning for long, especially not against us."

I looked up at her, meeting her gaze. "I knew him, the hero we tracked, the messenger. He was an old friend of mine back at the academy... I guess it just took me out of my focus. I hadn't seen him since the decision day, he was hoping to be a Bystander and seeing him there..."

She could tell I struggled with the words to describe it, I flexed my hands in my lap. Her voice returned in my mind "It's all right, we all make mistakes and lose our focus, even people as perfect as you."

She gave me a soft smile and lifted her hand. "Oh my- Lorelei you're bleeding." Cass stumbled and got up, quickly running to the kitchen, grabbing a first aid kit before hurrying back.

"Ah- I must've forgotten about that" I laughed dryly. I moved my leg up to rest between two chairs, wincing at the pain I'd tuned out.

"I was thinking though," Cass continued as she began to patch up the wound on my leg, "if this didn't work out, not that I didn't trust your abilities, in case the heroes changed their plans, or I guess did something like this. We know the drive's general location, so maybe instead of waiting for them to take it out and move it, why don't we just take it from them, on their home soil?"

"Hm, that's a possibility. I know we originally ruled that option out as we would be extremely outnumbered and we believed that there was an easier option, but now- with recent events in mind..." I tensed as she cleaned the wound, wiping the blood away.

"You know you can transfer some of it to me, I can handle it, Lori." Pausing, Cass cleaned the cloth and looked up at me.

"No. I can handle it, Cass- it's my pain to bear and I will, I'm the idiot who got shot."

"If you insist," she sighed. Her voice came back in my head, "I know stubbornness is one of your defining qualities, but it's okay to accept help once in a while. Yes, even if it's totally your fault or not, even if you feel like it makes you lesser. We're in this together and I can't have you solely punishing yourself for everything wrong that happens."

I sat there, letting her words resonate through my skull. She was right but I also hated being wrong. A few minutes went by as Cass finished up and stood up.

"It'll heal, though it's a shame about those pants, I liked them on you." She winked and took the dirty rags to the kitchen. I laughed and readjusted my leg down on the floor.

"So who do we ask? We both know we'd be outnumbered at the heroes compound. We'd need to form a crew, a pretty damn good one if we want to pull this off." Cass walked back over, grabbing her notebook and setting it down on the table across from me. She flipped it around and on the pages was a list of names.

Alias: Muse - Name: Yara Ermendrud - Ability: Mind Control

Alias: Reverence - Name: Silas Atreides - Ability: Gravity Manipulation

Alias: Bliss - Name: Greyia Soltryce - Ability: Darkness Manipulation

Alias: Mayhem - Name: Torin Luava - Ability: Teleportation/Phasing

"Well... that's quite a group." I stared at the paper in front of me, smiling. "But, I'll give it a shot, I mean what else do we have to lose."