Hardly A Hero [REWRITTEN ON NEW ACCOUNT]

Chapter 38: Villains Don't Fall In Love

"I guess..." He started, sighing as he rubbed his shirt violently with a napkin, which didn't do much to get rid of the stain but made the encounter way more convincing. "I guess I should go and rinse this."

"I need to take the tray back to the kitchen." I picked up the bottle and hesitated before I began tailing him, Veronica scowling at me the entire time. Funny how she could treat someone she had no way of recognising as a threat. The others stared at me, ignorant to who I truly was and only seeing me as a minor complication in a major plan, but resenting me for my imposition nonetheless.

I swerved around the corner and came face to face with TerraStorm.

"Why are you here?" He yelled, storming down the hall but turning around momentarily, as if to lead us away from the main hall at the same time as refusing to look at me. He didn't want to see me and now I understood why. "I am in the middle of something huge, which you happily decided to skip out on-"

"TerraStorm, NASEB are here."

He doesn't even flinch at the news and continues despite what I thought would be rather a frightening revelation.

"I wanted to do this with you, we all did, but you chose to stay, with that... that asshole. You were the one who wanted to keep out of this, you were the one who decided to stay. You just keep coming back and it sucks because I've been trying so hard to keep you out of my head and stay focused but this... this robbery that I'm trying to pull off may not even work because I can't even sleep and I'm pretty sure I got the escape route wrong which all happened because of you which is... it's stupid because you weren't even there, which hasn't happened before, it just doesn't happen to guys like me. Villains don't fall in love-"

Without a second thought, I took another step forward and put my hands on either side of his face, our lips smashing together as if another second away from each other would cause the world to split into two. He was shocked first, that much I could tell, but he melted into it and so did I. His hands found their way around my waist and my knees seemed to liquefy, causing everything else to slowly fade into nothing; the sound of the busy hall, the walls surrounding us and everything that I had come here to do. It meant nothing for that short, sweet minute that TerraStorm and I were wrapped up in bliss together.

Then I pulled away and everything flooded back, but that heavenly feeling stayed with me and, according to the look on TerraStorm's face, it stayed with him a little longer too.

"You need to get out, all of you." I said, the urgency diluted by the rosy filter that clogged my systems. "NASEB are in there and they know who you are."

"What-how are they going to let us leave?"

"I'm going to shut off the power to distract them." I said, slipping my hands out of where they had found themselves in his. "I can't risk using my powers just yet. Tell the others then meet me on the roof when you get the signal."

Just as I moved away to run back to the storage closet, he caught my hand in his.

"Be careful."

I gulped.

"You too."

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I fitted the mask around my face as I jumped down the stairs. The boiler room was lit by only a single, dull bulb and the position of the fuse box was hidden amongst shelves and shelves of boxes and an abundance of cleaning supplies. I jogged between the rows, eyeing the walls for something that looked like it controlled a heck of a lot of electricity. Nothing stood out which didn't help but, at the sound of the door to the basement slamming shut, I realised that may be the least of my worries.

In a split second, the shelf in front of me tipped over and I dived out of the way just as the contents smashed against the wall. I rolled over quickly and landed back on my feet, my eyes running over the gaps in between the still-standing shelves. A figure lurched across the room.

"Stop running away, Rose."

The voice exhibited no emotion and I mean literally; it was robotic. To say it sounded familiar would be a lie, but that made it all the more easier to hate. I wanted to know how it knew my name and what it was doing down in the boiler room with me, but more than anything I wanted it dead, which was not something I easily wished on people. But this was no person and I had reached the end of my patience with NASEB a long time ago.

It's like something clicked in me, a survival instinct that had circled but never driven my actions. I didn't need answers anymore, I needed vengeance.

With one, rapid stride, I had thrown towards the shelves and soon the domino effect took place. One by one, they collided against each other with the clutter and junk that occupied each layer tumbling to the ground, dust erupting through the room. Something darted across the back wall, almost out of sight, but aggravatingly safe from the attack I had just made. 

Soon the thing was in front of me, so fast that it took me a few seconds to realise its grip was around my neck and it's purple eyes piercing into mine, so much so that I couldn't make out the rest of its face.

I couldn't breath. My heart was beating against my chest, begging to get out of my body and all my limbs became hot and red. I kicked harder against it's shins, I pulled at it's wrist with all the strength in my body. When my Telk couldn't seem to release its grip, I knew what the purple in its eyes really was and I still didn't know what would knock me out first; the ultraviolet or the asphyxiation.

Instead of kicking, I scrambled backwards, my heels digging into the concrete ground and the thing had to move forward or let go. Soon I felt the cool metal box behind me, my fingers tracing the handle and gripping it tightly before opening it, the sweat on my hands making it hard to keep a hold of it.  

"We will make you fall to your knees. We will make you one of us!"

My fingers curled around the wire and I breathed in deeply, making sure my grip was good enough before I did anything insanely dangerous. In one, rapid twist, the wire came loose and something crackled behind me. The only light in the room went out. 

I wrapped an arm around the box and pulled myself up, my legs managing to lift away from the ground. With every last bit of energy in my body, I pulled my legs towards me and shot them outwards, colliding painfully against the thing's core. The grip slipped away and I took the most refreshing breath I had ever taken. Sure, it sounded like I was being exorcised, but nothing had ever felt so blissful. Well, except maybe the kiss...

The creature lurched towards me again and I dodged out of the way, coming up behind it and giving it one last shove into the fuse box, a terrifying crackle and hiss erupting straight away as it came into contact with the exposed wire. The silhouette of the thing attempted to scramble away, hitting at the box, crying a petrifying, robotic screech. 

I didn't stay long. 

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A/N:

Hey guys!!!

It's been a while since the last update and I'm very sorry about the delay. I hope everyone had the most amazing Halloween and, if you are a Christmas enthusiast like myself, then I hope you are getting into the festive vibes. Since I like in the UK, I'm not really celebrating Thanksgiving but I will definitely watch The Simpsons special.

As for the chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed this and with only a couple chapters left, I seriously hope you are looking forward to the ending. I know I always ask for your suspicions, but if any of you have any ideas how the ending may conclude, then feel free to leave a comment. 

Have a great week everyone!

~SkyHunterXoX