The Undoing Of Villains | ✓

seven

My cheeks reddened, and I struggled to form the words to explain what happened. Xandra smirked.

"No worries - I get why people fall for his superhero charm. He's ruggedly handsome, that one." 

I raised a brow, "You've seen him without his mask?"

"Sweetie-" Xandra began, "I made his mask. Once, we were well-acquainted." She smiled again.

I nodded. Then my blush reappeared, "Oh." 

"Not in that way, child-" Xandra waved my embarrassment away with a tinkling laugh, "- I meant as in partners. Then we went our separate ways, as you well know." She gestured to our surroundings. 

"Either way, your suit's equipped with the usual stuff. Padding, for hits and things, some good hidden pockets, fortified grip on both gloves and boots-"

I was itching to get out of there with the suit. I wanted nothing more than to try it on, preferably kick some ass while I was at it. I hadn't been out utilising my talents for a few nights, thanks to the ever-valiant Vector, but I was more than ready to get out and start the real fight. For the good of the city. 

Kind of needed to get on Vector's good side for that one to properly lock into place, but all good things come to those who wait. 

"Now, get out of here with your suit-" Xandra started, "I can't wait to see how you'll fuck up Dynamo next. I sincerely hope you'll be up to no good." 

This time, I frowned in confusion, "You already know I'm trying to be some form of a superhero, so why would I be stirring the criminal pot?"

Xandra headed back to her desk, reaching for an elegant champagne flute resting atop the flat expanse of its top. She took a light sip, studying me from behind intense eyes. She'd done her eyeshadow in a bright red, which made her look part feral. 

"The criminal pot's already stirring. I simply wish to see if you'll be the one to throw the bad mix out, or fall in." She downed the rest of the champagne, "Good luck, little Charlotte." 

I suddenly didn't feel so confident anymore.

≄

Smuggling the suit back on the bus seemed stupid, when all I wanted to do was put it on, and so I did. In a small back-alley right beyond the edge of the harbor, I shrugged it on, squeezing myself into the tight material. 

To be fair, once it was on, it sat like a second-skin. It proved to be a bit more ventilating than I'd thought, effectively keeping me from overheating in the swamp heat that smothered the metropolitan city in its summer nights. 

There hadn't been rain for a month now, and the exhaust fumes mingling with the harsh sunlight created a cocktail of ill that had most citizens grumbling about the awful dryness of the usually Seattle-like weather. 

Coming from the country, I knew a lot about swampy, intrusive heat. At least here there weren't an army of mosquitoes waiting to suck me dry. 

Thinking of mosquitoes, an image of Vector immediately conjured into my mind. Maybe I could apologize to him the next time we crossed paths, asking to leave me and my crime-fighting ways alone - 

It was then it all went to hell. I'd only just glanced up at one of the glimmering high-rise corporate buildings, admiring the way its facade shone even in the nighttime. The moment I chose to admire the moon's eerie reflection in its glass panes, the upper two floors went up in smoke.

My heart leapt into my throat, and for a moment, I simply stared. 

The blast had splintered the glasspanes, and I heard the sound even from my position on the ground. My feet started moving, almost on their own accord. This was my chance to prove myself, and actually help - 

Something dry was stuck in my throat when I thought of the people that might still be there. There had been lights on in the building before it'd been engulfed in flames, and now I thought of nothing but those people as I forced myself to run faster. 

Skidding to a stop in another alley, I lunged for the fire escape, taking the ladder nearly five pins at a time. Then I reached the roof, and from there on I felt like a shooting star, a dangerous crashing comet heading straight for the building. 

I took longer jumps, longer strides. I barely noticed it when my powers had kicked in, enabling me to move with a metahuman speed, jump longer, reach further than I normally would. I didn't question it, since it got me to my goal a lot quicker than I would've otherwise. 

It was too bad I couldn't fly, really, but it truly felt as if it was precisely that which I was doing as I hurtled forward over the rooftops, the towering building seemingly growing taller. 

My heart stuttered when the building's structures shuddered under the weight of the collapsing floors, and I ran even faster, heading for the front entrance. In a trance, I jumped straight onto the building's glass facade, my gloves latching onto the glass with ease. Xandra hadn't been kidding when she'd said 'fortified grip'.

I felt more like a shadow than a super, scuttling across the facade while the moonlight chased my shadow. The city stretched out from beneath me like a blanket, the plaza in front of the high-rise crowded with blinking blue and red lights. 

Adrenaline pumped through me as I trudged ahead. The building groaned, and I saw the remains of a tall metal pole lean out over the edge, and then gravity took and it toppled. It was headed straight for the police cars below.

My fingers clenched even harder, my grip on the glass securing.

If there had ever been a more ample time for me to prove myself as the hero I wanted to be, someone would have to show me proof of that. Tonight, I would pass the mantle to a new part of my identity - one the media hopefully named something admirable after tonight. 

My eyes narrowed. Game on. 

≄

a/n: hey lovelies, hope you enjoyed <3 a bit of a shorter chapter, didn't feel like cramming tons of stuff into here, but here we are! hope you enjoyed <3

__qotc:__

__will charlotte succeed or just massively fvck up?__

xo, cleo