~(Y/n)'s POV~
"In other news, last night two convicts escaped from prison. They are considered armed and dangerous. The two escapees, Roger Kingston and Henry Campbell, were previously arrested for armed robbery by the hero, Zephyr. In other news, the number one hero in Wellview City, Ignite, has mysteriously gone missing. He hasn't appeared to stop a villain in the past two weeks." The news anchor reported. I sighed, then turned off the TV.
I heard a sudden knock on the door, and when I answered it, May shoved herself past me.
"Hide me."
"Come in, I guess." I closed the door.
"Sorry, no time. Just hide me, please. I just learned multiplication after weeks of nonstop learning, and she won't let me take a break!"
"Huh, who?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but there's another knock at the door.
"She's already here!" May ran into my room.
"Huh? Who's already here?" I opened the door again, and Winter was standing there, tapping her foot.
"Is May here?" Winter shoved her way past me. Oh yeah, I forgot she was tutoring May.
"Is everyone gonna do that today?"
"So, she is here?"
"...I never said that."
She starts to search my dorm.
"Why are you looking for May anyways?"
"She needs to study! She has twelve years of school to catch up on! Twelve!"
I blinked. "Huh, she's in my room." I sat on the couch, and started to play games on my phone.
Winter stormed into my room.
"There you are!" Winter yelled.
"(Y/n), you traitor!" May yelled, while Winter was dragging her out of my room by her ear.
"Sorry May, you'll thank me one day."
Winter drags her to the door, then stops. "Go wait for me downstairs! I have to ask (Y/n) some questions about a class."
"I'll never forgive you, (Y/n)!" May yelled. "...That's not true, I already forgive you." She smiled, then skipped down the hall.
"At least she's learning quickly, or else this would be so much harder." Winter groaned.
Then, she looked at me, and started eyeing me up and down.
"You..." She walked over to me, and stood in front of me, looking down at me. "You're...Ignite, aren't you?"
"...I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm not an idiot, (Y/n). First I hear from Cass you're missing from your dorm one night when she went to check up on you, then you appear in the hospital looking like you lost a fight with a bear a few hours later. Luckily, I just happened to be volunteering at the hospital when you showed up. Then you hole up in your room for the past two weeks, barely sending messages out to Cass or May, which, by the way, has been making it a lot harder to tutor May! She keeps looking at her phone, looking all depressed! She has no motivation!"
"Er...that's...just a coincidence? But I guess...I should be visiting May more often..." Wait a minute. How does she know I was at the hospital? She said she treated me? "Wait! You're...Levia?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm Levia. That doesn't matter right now." She sighed. "I had a feeling you'd deny it, but I have more proof than that." She walked over to me, grabbed the leg of my pants and rolled it up. "The scar on your leg from Armory shooting you. It's still there. Where else could a scar like this come from?"
"It's...a birthmark?"
Winter crossed her arms, and shot me a glare.
"F-Fine." I scratched my head, got up, and walked to the kitchen, grabbing some water. After chugging a glass, I turned back to Winter. "You're right, I was Ignite."
"I knew it! Where've you been the past few wee-" She stopped. "Wait...was?"
"...It's a long story. Don't really feel like talking about it."
"Oh, come on! You've done nothing but worry Cass and May! Not to mention, me! After I found out you were Ignite..." She shook her head. "Nevermind that. You owe us an explanation."
I stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. "Fine."
I walked back over to the couch and sat down.
"The night you saw me in the hospital, I was out on a date with Douse. Then..."
I trailed off. She looked at me expectantly. I felt a pain in my chest.
"Then..." I choked out. I looked away. "Sorry."
After a few seconds, I felt a soft hand on top of mine, then a warmth started to envelop me. Is she...healing me?
"It must really hurt to talk about this..." Winter said. I looked back at her, and she smiled. "It's fine, take your time."
The pain in my chest started to disappear.
"...I was out on a date with Douse. We went up to the cliff again, and while we were on the bench, a wind built up, and Zephyr appeared. Douse..." I breathed in. "Douse...betrayed me. Next thing I knew she was in his arms...kissing him."
"What...? Wait, that...that doesn't make sense. She always seemed like she loved you. I mean...I always kinda hated her, but..." She mumbled that last part.
"Huh? Why?"
She looked at me, confused. Then her face slowly started to become red. "N-Not because of you, or anything! S-She just always...gave me bad vibes! That's all!" She looked away again. "A-Anyway....you were saying?"
"Right, well...They attacked me. I don't know why, but they did. I tried my best to fight them, but even I can't take down the number two hero in Wellview, along with Douse. Plus, wind and water isn't really a great matchup for me..." I sighed. "I lost. When I did, they threw me off of the cliff." Winter tightened her grip on my hand. "At the bottom, someone, I don't know who, found me before I passed out. Then I woke up in the hospital."
Winter sat there, stunned. Who wouldn't be? Two heroes doing something a villain would do? It would shock anyone, especially hearing that the two who did it are so highly respected in the community. Not only in the eyes of the civilians, but in the eyes of heroes as well.
"...And you couldn't tell Cass or May because it was the secret side of your life, right?
"If Cass knew I was Ignite, she wouldn't stop worrying about me. I'd probably come home to her hugging my pillow in tears if I was out for longer than expected." I sighed. "I'm happy she cares enough to worry about me...but sometimes she worries too much."
"Give her a break, you're her best friend, of course she's going to worry about you. From what I hear, you make it hard not to worry about you. But...you're right not to tell her. Because she would be a lot more worried about you. I don't think I would've been able to take it at that point."
"She can be...a lot to handle. But I like that side of her. She's a really caring person."
"That's true. Everywhere we go, she finds a way to worry about someone. Mostly you or her brothers."
"You're really caring too, you know?"
Her face grew red as she was processing what I said to her. "W-W-Why would you even say that?! What a stupid thing to say! You're an idiot! An idiot!" She quickly let go of my hand, and walked away from the couch. "Saying things like that is just confusing! You say such stupid things! I hate every word that comes out of your stupid mouth!"
Damn. She's really going in.
"S-Still! That doesn't explain why you haven't been showing up to fight villains! You're fully healed now, this city needs you. What do you think a city with Zephyr as the number one hero would be like? Especially after what you just told me, I'd rather have anyone else but those two at the top of the charts in Wellview." She came back to the couch and sat down next to me again. "You may have been reckless, and it may have made me upset more than anything, but...you were a good number one hero. You were actually making a difference!" Tears started to well up in her eyes. "I...I always looked up to you, you know. So many people did. Civilians, other heroes, we all aspired to be like you! You save so many lives, not to mention you're the one who catches most of the villains in the city! You've caught hundreds! The next highest is Zephyr with eighty-four! He can't be the number one hero in Wellview! If he is, the entire city would collapse! His personality is horrid, all he does is get mad or be cocky! We only tolerate him because of his strength, we heroes actually liked you!"
I stared at her. I never thought I was that good of a number one hero. If anything, I always thought that all the heroes wanted someone else at the top.
"I wasn't really that good...and besides. Even if I wanted to become Ignite again, I can't."
"Huh? Of course you can! Come on, let's go right now! Wait, I have to tutor May. After that, then!"
"No, Winter! I mean I can't! My power...it Twisted."
"...No way..." She sat there, dazed. "Isn't your new power good, though? J-Just use that instead!"
I shook my head. "My new power...is useless for a hero."
"What is it...?"
"All I can do is change my eye color to black." I start to pool my smoke behind my eyes, changing them to black.
"Don't! Change them back!" Winter demanded.
"O-Okay." Her outburst startled me, and I changed my eyes back to normal.
Winter sighed, then looked me in the eyes. "Never do that again! That's disgusting!" She grabbed my face. "I like your eyes just the way they are! You should never change them!"
I felt heat rush to my cheeks. "Y-You really...think so?"
Her face became the most red it's been the whole time she was here, and she turned around. "F-Forget I said that! I take it back! I-I didn't mean it! Your eyes are just as stupid as the rest of you! Die! Just drop dead!"
I chuckled. I kind of feel like messing with her.
I let out an exaggerated sigh. "If you hate my eyes that much...then I might as well keep them black..."
"W-Wait! Stop!" She whipped back around, grabbing my face. She looked into my eyes with a frantic expression, then let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god..."
She realized the position we were in, but her hands didn't move. She just looked at me, her lips were quivering, like she was about to cry.
"That was mean..." She pushed my cheeks together, distorting my face. "Don't do stuff like that! Especially right after I told you they're fine the way they are!"
I closed my eyes and laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I yield!" I put my hands up.
Next thing I knew, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Winter was holding me in an embrace. "But...I'm so sorry that happened to you...You don't deserve that..."
It took me a minute to react, but I wrapped my arms around her.
"It's not your fault, you know?"
"S-Still...I feel so bad for you..." She sniffed. "Why would they do that to you? I don't want your time as a hero to be over...I'll never get to heal you again after fights..."
"I thought I was always a burden to you."
"You were, but still...I started to look forward to needing to heal you, even if I'd gotten worried sometimes. I wish...I could heal the pain that's undoubtedly fogging your heart."
I sat in silence, holding Winter in my arms.
After a few more seconds, we pull away from each other, and Winter stands up.
"I-I have to go. I still have to tutor May." Winter started to walk to the door.
"Oh yeah, I was wondering. Couldn't she have just run away again?"
Winter stopped in her tracks. "...Ughhhhh." She groaned. "Great, guess I'll be looking for her around campus then." She turned towards me. "See you later (Y/n). I'll make sure to avoid healing Zephyr and Douse, so don't worry."
She started to walk towards the door again.
"Ah, Winter!" She stopped, and turned around. "What's up?"
"Uh...I just wanted to say thanks..." I scratched the back of my head, and averted my eyes. "You're the first person I've told the full story too...and you were so nice about it, so thank you." I looked back at her. "You're a really nice person."
Her face became red, but she smiled this time. "T-Thank...you..." She scratched her arm. "Um...bye..." She hurriedly walked off.
Once she was gone, I went to my room, and pulled out a mask that would completely cover my face.
"Sorry, Winter..."
~Time Skip~
~Roger Kingston's POV~
"Get back here, bitch!" Henry yelled.
We were chasing a woman through a bunch of alleys.
"Shit, I can't believe she saw us!" I swore under my breath.
"It's fine! We needed money anyway!" Henry yelled at me.
"That's true, but what if that bastard Zephyr shows up again!"
We finally cornered the woman, and she was throwing money at us.
"T-Take it! Just leave me alone, please!" The woman yelled, pleading for her life.
"Listen, don't say things like that. If anything, he doesn't have time for us anymore, especially with how popular he's been getting. He's only going after big name targets these days. Don't have to worry about that Ignite, either. He's been missing for a few days." Henry upholstered his gun, then pointed it at the lady. "No witnesses."
I nodded, and he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through her skull.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Henry waved his hand for me to follow.
I started to follow, but then, the alley started becoming filled with smoke, and we started coughing.
After a few seconds, it began to disappear.
"W-What the hell? Smoke?"
"I'm sorry...it seems I wasn't fast enough." A mysterious voice said. They were behind us. We quickly spun around, and...
~(Y/n)'s POV~
"I'm sorry..." I said again. "I should've gotten here sooner...now you're dead because of it. Because of my error."
"W-Who are you?!" One of the thugs cried out.
I snapped my head at them and gave them a deathly glare. "Roger Kingston and Henry Campbell, correct?"
"Y-Yeah? So? What's it to you?" Henry yelled.
I ignored his question, and stood up. "Why did you shoot this woman? It looks like she gave you her money, was there really a reason to shoot her?"
"She would've ratted us out to the cops! We had too!" Roger yelled.
I clicked my tongue. "Tsk! You disgust me. Killing innocent people in cold blood. You think you're above the law just because you have a little bit of power." I ran towards them.
"H-He's gone! Where'd he g-" I grabbed them both by their faces, pointing my palm into their mouths. "S-So...fast..." Roger mumbled out.
"You did this to yourselves." I lifted them off the ground by their faces, then let black smoke pour out of my palms, and into their mouths.
They clawed at my arms, but I didn't budge.
"P...lea...se..." Henry started to beg.
"You didn't think twice about killing that innocent woman, did you?" I glared at him. "So why should I think twice about this?"
After a while, they started to cough blood onto my palms. I felt their heads expand in my hands. After a few more seconds, they exploded, splattering blood and brains all over the alley.
I dropped their lifeless bodies on the ground. I looked at my hands, then at the alley wall. Killing them...isn't leaving me in a state of panic like I thought it would. I smiled.
~Time Skip~
~Zephyr's POV~
"What...happened here...?" In front of me were three dead bodies. One was holding a gun, while one had a bullet wound to the head. Two of them...didn't even have heads anymore. It looks like they exploded.
I heard the news reporter behind me, but I couldn't tell what she was saying. All I could think about was the scene in front of me.
"Hey, I'm here. What's u-" I heard Douse behind me, but she got cut off by herself vomiting. "What...the fuck happened here?" She wiped at her mouth.
"I don't know...but look..." I pointed at the message that was left.
It read, in blood...
"J-U-S-T-I-C-E."
A/n:
Phienix0629: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter of Twisted. Who's your favorite girl and character so far? I meant to ask after Douse betrayed us, but now that Winter was given some spotlight, I'm curious. Also, I put a spoiler as the first words last chapter, and a lot of you listened to it. But how does the updated character page have more reads than the chapter before it when there is a spoiler warning?? Lmaooo, just want some of you guys to know you're reading it in the wrong order.
Trenchcoat: Here we gooooooooo! I've been looking forward to this part for a while!