A/n: this chapter is not only my longest at 7041 words, but it also took forever to write and I'm sorry for that XP
I don't have anything to say about it other than, there are some trigger warnings at the end for (none major) character death and description of said death, as well as some other triggering topics. Other then all that, I hope you enjoy :D
"THAT'S NOT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO SAY!"
"Ok, but it really sounds like it though!"
Tonight, we find our four vigilantes on a rooftop in the 17th District (bordering on the 16th), Theseus and Stinger having their usual banter while Nightcrawler is trying to contain her laughter, and Ranboo just has his head in his hands.
"YEAH, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS INTENTIONAL!"
"C'MON MAN, YOU CAN'T TELL ME IT DOESN'T SOUND A LITTLE SUS! THINK ABOUT IT- "BOO" AND "BEE", PUT IT TOGETHER AND WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE-"
"THESEUS IF YOU SAY IT I SWEAR TO THE GODS-"
And say it he wants to, but not only is stopped by the fact that he's in a full on yelling match with his best friend, he also just didn't want to say "booby" at the top of his lungs for the whole damn neighborhood to hear. At thought alone he's sure he can hear light laughter carrying through the wind. Oh right, speaking of the neighborhood-
"EY, WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN UP THARE?! WE'RE TRYNA SLEEP DOWN 'EAR!!"
They all grimaced as the voice lifted to their ears, Theseus yelling down an apology quickly as they all decided to move to a different roof.
However, as they were looking for a new place to settle down and keep watch, a familiar black feather fell gently from the sky and onto the ground by their feet. Nightcrawler was the first to notice, and it only escalated from that point on.
"Guys we need to!-" She went to yell out a warning to the others, only to be tackled to the ground by- something? Did they have invisibility potions now, or was this one of the Heroes powers? Whatever it was was heavy and made it difficult to move. When she was able to open her eyes again, as dizziness from being knocked over so harshly made it difficult to see, she was met with the scared and surprised looks of her teammates. She didn't find out why until a familiar green cape came into view and-
Oh shit-
"So", the Hero began. "You are the four vigilantes my friends have been having trouble with, huh?" He said, picking up what could only be described as a net made of concrete that was encasing Nightcrawler, it was then she was able to understand her companions' panic.
"I honestly thought I'd be dealing with more experienced adults, and not children." Said the fourth ranking Hero in all of L'manberg, Dream. No one was quite sure what Gene's he possessed, or if he was a Hybrid or Triple Hybrid or a Pure Blood, but they knew he had the wings of an Avian and the powers of matter manipulation. As long as his hands are in contact with whatever material, he can use it to make weapons, medical supplies such as bandages, and a bunch of other things. He also has the strange ability to launch himself into the air, but it helps him glide since he can't fly with his wings, so no one really thinks about too much or what it could be.
Now, if Theseus was in the right state of mind, he wouldn't have spoken in this situation for fear of his life and how it could affect the current situation....
But come on, it's Tommy we're talking about, of course he said something about being called a child.
"Oi, fuck off!" He yelled, slightly regretting his decision to speak up once Dream, Siren, Blade and Zephyrus turned their attention to him. "We're not fucking kids you dickhead!"
And oh, how the chase was on after that.
There's a couple things the media doesn't like too much about Dream: how competitive he can get during fights with Villains, and how much of a short temper he has (not to the point he gets angry at fans or civilians, but just how quickly he can escalate a certain fight or situation if rubbed the wrong way).
And since he had just gotten back from a short break he was able to take, and jet lag is the bane of all existence in general, he was already slightly grumpy to begin with. Theseus's snarky comment only made that slightly worse.
They all ran across the rooftops with a new sense of purpose to their steps, some to capture and imprison, and some out of fear and the want to escape. Zephyrus swooped down in front of the four vigilantes in an attempt to get them to come to a halt, but instead they jumped around him to get to the next roof. He barely had time to move out of the way before Blade and Dream ran past him. It was then he realized Siren wasn't with them, or anywhere in sight. He would have gone to look for him if he didn't already know what he was up to.
Leading the group of vigilantes, since he was taller and his legs were longer, was Ranboo. He hadn't been trying to lead, he was just trying to make sure he would be able to protect them. Luckily from him that's what he ended up doing. From the alleyway below them as they went to jump to the next roof, a whip flew through the air and wrapped itself around Ranboo's left ankle. He didn't even have enough time to process what had happened until he was being yanked down into the alley.
"RANBOO!!" Stinger screamed, pivoting on his heel to jump down into the alley with the Hero and his partner. "Stinger, wait!" Theseus called out, turning around swiftly to jump back down into the alley. He narrowly missed getting grabbed by Zephyrus on his way down, but he managed to slip under his arm and jump down into the alley, Zephyrus hot on his tail. That left Night with two of the strongest, and arguably most terrifying Heroes in the country. There was a reason they were constantly going at each other for the highest Hero Ranking. They were opposites, rivals even, but they were the furthest thing from enemies, at least Dream didn't think they were. If anything he took their continued rivalry as a half-assed friendship, and a challenge. Blade is indifferent towards Dream at best, openly passive-aggressive at worst.
Regardless, she tried to get away from them the best she could.
They'd managed to take their chase to some of the taller buildings of the 16th District; a few failed attempts to teleport away was to thank for that. Night was out of breath, her muscles were screaming at her to stop, to take a break, to find somewhere to rest. But she had to push those thoughts away, she had to push them away because two of the most terrifying Heroes were chasing her, she had to keep going because stopping and getting caught will mean she'll lose her freedom. Freedom to help people, freedom to do what Heroes and police can't- no, wouldn't do. Protect the lower Districts, really protect them. Anytime there was a villain attack in lower Districts it could take hours, almost days until Heroes who could stop them, came to do their jobs.
So no, she's not going to stop, she's not going to give up. Her District, and many others need her, her friends need her. Dream launched himself into the air, opening his white wings that looked as if green and black paint had been dumped on them, he may not be able to properly fly, but he sure as hell can glide. Quickly too. He made it back down to the roof swiftly and placed his hands on the roof with a little more force than necessary, using his power to for a sideways facing pillar shoot out, hitting Night almost off the rooftop. She grunted as she got hit, the side of the pillar having hit her in the shoulder, knocking her arm into her face and making her scratch her face, drawing an ever so little amount of blood from her forehead.
"Fuck!" She choked back, a string of curses and pained grunts left her, standing up and readying herself. As she stood, she realized that Dream must have tripped or fallen over, because he seemed to be using the pillar he made as support to stand.
"Give it up kid." The Blade said, drawing her attention back to him. She looked at him, the terrifying pig mask he wore- no, she looked away. She can't risk accidentally locking eyes with their Hero, not now, not when she's so close to getting away for the night. "You've got nowhere to run, and I don't feel like hurtin' a kid tonight."
Dream, now standing next to Blade, was holding a piece of the roof pillar in his hands. The concrete seemed to become a liquidy in his hands, turning into a goo-like substance for a moment before taking the form of a net in his grasp.
She looked between the two of them, then behind her to see how far of a drop it was off the side of the building, then back to the two Heroes. She had a plan, she just had to pray to every god that would listen that it would work. She took a few shaky steps back, the Heroes matching with careful steps forward. Once she felt the roof was no longer under her feet when she went to step back again, she stopped to look behind her once more, immediately turning back to the Heroes after.
"There's nowhere to go but down, and I have a feeling you don't want that." Dream said, carefully inching forwards as Night looked between them again. She lifted her hands up as if to surrender, both Heroes relaxed every so slightly. After a few seconds, she sighed and reached up to take off her mask. With a few clicks the mask came loose, and with that she went to take it off.
But in true dramatic fashion, because Tommy is her roommate, she lifted the mask over her eyes and let out a deafeningly loud Enderman screech. Both Heroes had to drop whatever they were holding to cover their ears. Once she was done she flipped the mask back on and jumped off the rooftop, using her wings to glide for a few moments before teleporting down to a lower building and booking it back to the apartment as soon as she got to the ground.
She pretty much just ran all the way home after a few failed attempts at teleporting to the apartment's roof. She was panting and out of breath by the time she got to the apartment, opting to teleport to the fire escape before tumbling through the open window.
"Oh fuck-... Did.. did y'all make it back in one piece?" She asked between pants, trying to catch her breath as she closed the window.
"Guys?" She asked after a few moments of getting no response. Confused, she turned around to look for them, but they weren't there. Usually when a big chase like this happens they'd be chilling on the couch for a bit before going to bed. But they were nowhere to be seen. She checked their rooms, nothing. Checked the kitchen, nothing. She even went up to check the roof and they weren't there. She was starting to get concerned now. They were pretty good at getting away from Heroes, there's no way they could have been caught... right?
"Alright, guys. Very funny, but you can come out now!" She said while looking over the apartment again, still not finding any of them. There was a chance they'd be at The Underground, but they would have tried to contact her to say where they were going.
The radio silence was terrifying.
"Come on guys, this isn't funny!" She exclaimed, backing up to turn into the small hallway, wanting to check the rooms once more.
But what was truly terrifying-
As she backed up, her back hit something solid, and she froze. She had just walked out of the hallway, and there sure as hell wasn't a fucking wall there before.
"Really? I find this hilarious, actually." A voice said. An all too familiar voice, the voice of the fourth ranking Hero in L'manburg.
Dream was in her apartment.
Dream was in her apartment.
She went to turn around and scream, but he grabbed her, throwing one of his arms around her chest to pin down her arms, his other hand with a cloth slapping over her face. She struggled against his grasp, trying to teleport away from him, tried to escape. But he was wearing power dampeners on the armor he wore, and her vision was starting to get blurry.
"Just stop fighting." He said, struggling a little bit to keep her still.
She struggled for a lot longer than Dream thought she would, but she eventually got weaker and weaker. Her body soon fell limp as the last of her consciousness slipped away.
The last thing she heard before the black circles in her vision took over was something she'd never forget.
"⌇⟒⟒ ⊬⍜⎍ ⍙⊑⟒⋏ ⊬⍜⎍ ⍙⏃☍⟒ ⎍⌿~"
•~~•
She sat up quickly, looking around her room frantically to see where she was.
She was in her room, in the apartment she shared with her three roommates. And she was fine.
What the fuck?
She hopped out of bed, opening the door to her room and going into the kitchen to see Tommy mixing pancake mix. He looked up at her with a smile, although the undertones of his expression were concerned.
"Ayup, you sleep alright? You look like you've seen a fucking ghost."
"I-" She looked around the open floor kitchen for a moment, looking over into the living room and scanning it over before looking back at Tommy. "Y-yeah, just um.... It was just a nightmare, that's all.."
He nodded, looking back down at the bowl of mix in his hands before speaking again. "Have... have they been getting more.. I don't know, are they getting worse for you?"
She sighed, shrugging as she leaned against the wall. "They've always been bad, but... yeah, they've been getting a bit worse lately."
Nightmares. Every kid, every person has had them from time to time. The reasons for what caused them vary from having something sweet too late at night, to watching something scary before bed, it depends on the person really. But for the four of them, it's something that happens more often than a good night's sleep or peaceful dreams. Peaceful sleep was a rarity for them, especially after the... the incident. But that is another story for another time, right now Alexa and Tommy need to eat and get ready for work.
ℂ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ℂ
A little after their conversation, Alexa helped Tommy finish breakfast for all of them, got ready for work.
There was a lot of commotion when they came in that morning, despite that there weren't a lot of coffee orders, so Alex just went to the lab. She found quite a few weapons on the repair table, she didn't have a problem fixing them all, it was her job after all. But there was something about this particular set of weapons that seemed to unsettle her deeply. They seemed familiar and she couldn't place why, that's what unsettled her the most.
"Morning Alex!" Sam called as he walked into the lab.
"Morning Sam!" She called back, not noticing the other figure entering the room. She got to working on the different broken weapons. There were a few blasters, some mechanical katanas, a mini gun that shoots tranquilizer bullets. Checking the barrel and the trigger mechanism, she noticed the clicking noises coming from it weren't quite right.
[Shush, author doesn't know what broken guns sounds like >:/]
She started taking it apart, making sure to make mental notes on the inner mechanisms and taking a few moments in each place to commit where everything went to memory. She heard voices, more than just Karl and Sam, but she was too focused on taking apart the gun in her hands to process what they were saying or who the other person was. She was just listening to the song Karl had been playing in the lab, Feed the Machine by Poor Mans Poison. It's a good song in her opinion, Karl has a good taste in music.
"So do you know how long it'll take you to fix it?"
"It shouldn't be too long, especially with our new intern. She's great!"
"Respectfully, Sam, I'm sure they're great, but I'd rather a professional fix my stuff than a newbie."
Alex rolled her eyes at the comment. Yeah, she gets it, this is important equipment that- whoever this is needs, but at least try to be quieter about your conversation. Damn. With a sigh, she continued to work on the tranq gun, blocking out the rest of the conversation as she found the cause of the sound and why it wouldn't work properly. The pin behind the trigger was broken, and the spring was out of place. With a quick dive through the spare parts box she managed to find the pieces fairly quickly. It didn't take her long to get it all back into place and put back together.
She looked over the gun after putting everything back together, she tested the trigger a few times, finding that it no longer made the clicking noise.
"Who says I can't fix things," She mumbled to the living mushroom she had sitting next to her, it seemed to blink up at her before smiling and tilting it's head to the side. She chuckled, patting it's head before going to work on the other weapons.
"'Get a professional to work on my stuff'." She mocked in a low whisper, rolling her eyes as she grabbed the mechanical sword.
"To be fair, I didn't know you've been here for a little over a month." The other voice in the room said. And she froze.
She recognized that voice.
That was the same voice from behind her in the nightmare from last night.
Dream was in the room.
She instinctively teleported to the other side of the table, her wings fluttering some, turning around quickly to find the same blank smiley face mask staring back at her. The dawning realization that last night was not, in fact, a nightmare, shocking her down to her very core. She looked at him for a moment, then glanced over to see Karl and Sam walking over.
Taking a moment before speaking, she sighed and gave him a shaky smile.
"Oh uh-" She chuckled a little bit. "I'm sorry I- didn't hear you come in."
"It's alright, I didn't mean to startle you." He shrugged, holding his hands up in defense for a few minutes. "So you're the new intern everyone has been telling me about?" He inquires, making a hand gesture towards her.
"Um, yeah.. That's me! Or- well, its either me or my buddy Thomas." She said walking back over to the table to grab her tools, her feathers ruffling a bit, deciding that having her hands occupied would help her better control her anxiety. I mean, it's not often you get to see the fourth ranking Hero.
Dream tilted his head, his own wings fluffing up as he seemed to zone out for a moment before turning back to Alex. "Ah, so you two know each other?"
"Yep! Him and a couple others make up my roommates."
"Oh, that's cool." He nodded, picking up his tranq gun and looking it over. "So you managed to figure out what was wrong with it? I couldn't get it to work for over a week."
"Oh," She gazes at the gun in his hands, blinking quickly before speaking. "The pin attached to the trigger was broken, and the spring attached to the broken pin was way out of place. What did you even do to break it this badly?"
"Ehhh.. it's best not to talk about it for right now." He shrugged, strapping the weapon back to his hip.
"Alex?" Sam called out, causing her to lift up her head to look at him. "Yeah?" They engage in a soft conversation about different kinds of mechanics and coding and what not, Dream just standing there and watching them converse. She pushed her hair out of her face, her curly bangs moving aside to reveal a small cut along her forehead. Dream tilted his head to the side as he inspected the cut. It wasn't deep, and wouldn't get too infected if she were to properly take care of it. But there was something else, something that nagged at his mind, a vague familiarity.
Behind the mask, he squints, his head tilted to the side in thought when something seems to click.
"Hey, Alex, was it?" He calls out, grabbing her attention enough for her to look up from the grappling hook shooter in her hands.
"Yes, that's me."
Dream crosses his arms as he leans back against the table, seeming almost as if he's looking towards the wall his head is facing. "Where'd you get that cut on your forehead?"
She takes a moment, seeming to process something as realization glints in her eyes.
"O-oh uh- yeah, that's... that's actually a bit of an embarrassing story." She chuckled, averting her gaze once the hero turned his head towards her. "I may have Enderian Gene, but uh- the height didn't come with that unfortunately. I ran into the corner of an open cabinet last night before bed."
"Oh, alright." He dragged out the 'oh' in a mocking manner. "Are you ok from, hitting your head then?" There was hesitance in his words, almost as if he didn't believe her story.
"Yeah, all good. I didn't wake up with a headache so that's something I guess." She chuckles, going back to fixing the mechanical swords. It was clear she was a bit nervous while talking to him, which makes sense. Not only was he one of the most terrifying Heroes, she also just hasn't met or talked to him yet.
Dream turned his head back to the wall, it was hard to tell if he was just done with the conversation, zoned out, or waiting for the rest of his weapons to be fixed. Either way, his attention was fixated on the wall, squinting at it from behind his mask.
It didn't take long before Alex was done with the swords, she pushed them towards the still zoned out Hero. It took a minute for him to respond, but he eventually snapped back to reality. "Ah, right. Thank you." He turned to reach for them, but found they were just barely out of arm's reach even though Alex had put them within arm's reach moments before. He took a deep breath and clenched his hand into a fist, causing his joints to pop faintly before relaxing and stepping forward to grab his weapons.
"Alright, thank you for fixing my things. I need to go talk to Siren about some things. See you guys later," he went to walk out of the room, but paused and turned to Alex. "And Alex?" She looked up from one of the other weapons that needed tuning up, unknowingly making eye contact with the masked Hero. "Make sure to close all your cabinets in the evening, just to avoid any more injuries."
She tensed up slightly, giving a shy smile as she nodded. "Yeah, I'll uh- I'll keep that in mind."
And with that, Dream was off on his way.
ℂ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ℂ
"Thomas, you have work to get done, you can't just go and escape your responsibility by going to Siren's office!" Manifold screamed as he tried to chase the young intern who had just spent the last two hours in the top Heroes office.
"He invited me in bossman! Am I just supposed to turn down an offer from my boss?!" Thomas shouted back as he dodged people walking through the hallway, laughing the whole time, and laughing harder when Manifold seemed to have tripped and fell over. He hadn't been paying attention while his running was coming to halt, his head was turned back to look at Jack trying to get off the floor. He had barely gotten two steps in after he fell when he ran into something and fell over.
He landed with a grunt, managing to stay sitting while he rubbed the side of his face that had hit what felt like a wall. "What the fuck-"
"Sorry about that," The wall- no, the person he ran into said, reaching down to help him back up. "You should be watching where you're going, and not running in here since it's cramped."
Thomas, slightly embarrassed and upset that he had run into a person, tried his best not to have a sour face as he looked up at them. But once he saw who it was, he froze.
He had just run into Dream.
Fuck he'd just run into Dream.
He just stayed and stared for a few moments, ocean blue eyes staring into the eyes of a blank smiley face mask. It was unsettling, that mask was equally interesting and terrifying. A symbol of hope and a symbol of fear amongst villains and most vigilantes. It took him a moment, but he eventually, and hesitantly, reached out to take the Heroes hand to help him stand again.
"Uh, sorry about that. That was my fault." He apologized, putting on the best nervous smile he could while he tensed up ever so slightly.
The Hero chuckled and shook his head, waving a hand dismissively. "Ah, don't worry about it. It's not the first time, and I'm certain it won't be the last."
They both just stood there for a moment in silence, neither saying anything or making an attempt at conversation. They were both tense, and the atmosphere was uncomfortable.
Thomas was tense because he had just run into one of the most terrifying Heroes here. Dream was tense for another reason. There was something about Thomas, something familiar. Maybe it was the eyes, maybe it was the way he spoke, maybe it was the mop of curly golden hair on his head. Whatever it was, it tickled something in the back of Dream's mind, a memory or two floating around his head as he tilted it to the side.
Thomas's wings buzzed anxiously as the Hero inspected him, nervously shifting his weight as he stood there. And without taking a moment to think through what he was going to say, and without a single moment of hesitance, he spoke.
"Take a picture pal, it'll last longer."
There was a beat of silence as the Hero snapped his head upright. They seemed to stare at each other for a few minutes before the Hero broke out into uncontrollable laughter, wheezing and doubling over slightly as he tried to calm himself down.
Thomas was both confused and slightly unsettled by the sudden outburst. He knew he was funny because he's a big man, but this is ridiculous. Thankfully he calmed down after a few moments, catching his breath and placing a hand on Thomas' shoulder.
"Sorry about that! You just reminded me of someone I knew for a second." He chuckled. Thomas tensed a little bit when contact was made with his shoulder, but he quickly relaxed and laughed a bit with the Hero.
"Of course I reminded you of someone, I am a big man with that kind of appearance." Thomas says smugly, closing his eyes and pointing his thumb at his chest dramatically. This only caused the Hero to laugh again, but it was more controllable this time around and he was able to calm himself quicker.
They stood and chatted for a little while before Dream had to leave for a meeting.
"I'll see you around Thomas, it was nice talking with you!" He exclaimed happily as he started on his way to Siren's office.
ℂ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ℂ
The rest of the day went by normally. Tommy finished up his paperwork for the day, and Alexa cleaned and repaired a good amount of weapons and other appliances the Heroes used. They made it home a bit later than usual, but they weren't worried about it. They had all agreed that it wouldn't be safe to go out the night after they came so close to being caught. Especially since there was supposed to be a bad thunderstorm tonight, and it may be very unlikely, but none of them were feeling up to tempt fate and get struck by lightning.
"I should have taken some Healing potion last night, Dream nearly recognized the scar." Alexa whispered as they walked up the stairs leading to their apartment, Tommy turning his head to her immediately after she ended her sentence.
"He almost what?!" He whisper shouted back at her, she only sighed and hung her head.
"Tommy, I didn't even remember that last night actually happened. I thought it was just a bad dream."
"Damn it.."
The remainder of the evening was spent talking about precautions they needed to take in order to keep from being caught, as well as silly banter and a full on rough housing match between Tubbo and Tommy.
All in all, they had a good night to relax from vigilantism.
If only they knew what was happening while they were having fun.
ℂ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ℂ
Back at the Hero Agency, Siren, Blade, Zephyrus and Dream were still in their meeting. This was a meeting meant for the top four ranking Heroes overall in the city, but would be shared later on once they had more information.
"Do we even know how long she's been back?" Zephyrus piped up.
"There's supposed to be a file somewhere on her, but it's just taking a while to find." Balde drawled out in his monotone voice, they had been silent since Siren stepped out to look for the file. It was important that they learned as much as they could about these situations before announcing anything to the rest of the Heroes and to the public.
"From what I heard Siren mumbling about, there's been influx these past three weeks? Possibly longer." Dream added, shrugging as Zephyrus looked over at him.
"It gets impossible to get anything out of him when he's in a mood like this, I really hope he knows what he's talking about this time around." Zephyrus sighed, his wings fluffing up and his feathers ruffling.
It wasn't too long after that that Siren came back, his mop of brown hair messy and unkempt after having to dig through his personal office on the third floor. With the file in his hand he walked back over to the meeting table with tense shoulders.
"I'm sorry it took me a while to come back, I misplaced it a few weeks ago and forgot to look for it earlier in the day." He said, sitting down at the table and tossing the file in front of him.
They all just sort of stared at the file for a few moments, silence encasing them for what felt like hours before Dream sighed and reached to take the file from Siren. It was only after he read the Villains name that he understood the severity of what has been happening for the last few weeks.
File on Villain:
Name: Unknown
Known Alias: Snow Angel[Villain]; The White Lady[Children]
Race: Pure Blood - Elytrian
Sub-Race: Snowy Owl
Gender: Female
Lair Status: Unknown
Location: Spotted everywhere, mostly active in the winter
They ran as fast as they could, ran to get away from the monster that had been chasing them since a few blocks down. He wouldn't stop, he wouldn't leave them alone. He just- wouldn't stop.
Description: Snow Angel is a Snowy Owl Pure-Elytrian who preys on her victims at night. She wears mostly white and grey clothing that looks like a dress from afar, but upon closer observation, appears to be loose fitted pants. Her attire appears to be entirely one piece with a single long grey coat with a hood that drapes over her head. On the back is an opening for her wings, the base of which appear to be protected by a thick but flexible dark grey leather covering. Attached to the hood is a face mask intended to cover her nose and mouth but leave her eyes uncovered. She does not wear goggles or any sort of eye protection. During the sightings where the hood is down, it can be seen that the villain has shoulder length silver hair that is usually either tied back out of her face, or not bothered with at all. Her wings are white with faint black speckles on the back, similar to Snowy Owls. Noises that are reported before and after sightings include similar noises to said owls, such as hooting, screeching, clicking or even sometimes sudden silence.
Soon enough they were cornered in an alleyway, the drunken man that was chasing them laughed as he got closer. His words slurring as his shadow loomed over the kid. The poor child that was separated from their family, subjected to be the target of a drunk man's rage.
Background:
First sightings of Snow Angel date back ~15 years or so, disappearing about 6 years later. Attacks back then were not so targeted. There were less sightings but the killings and reports of bodies were the same. Targets were randomized and could range from teens to the elderly. Innocents were a much more frequent victim of the villain. After her disappearance, many missing persons reports started arriving. It is suspected that she was involved in the laboratory located shortly after a hero was murdered. Read incident report [#%&$*@] for more details. A year ago the villain resurfaced with a violent entrance and a long trail of bodies. It is uncertain as to what has caused this reaction.
Just as the man got a little too close to the child for their liking, a deafeningly loud screech came from above, and before the man had proper time to react, he was grabbed and lifted into the air. White and black speckled wings beating in a steady, loud rhythm as she lifted the man higher and higher into the air. He knew what this was, he knew who this was. It may not be well known in the greater parts of the city, but in the lesser parts it was a known fact that messing with a child, intoxicated or not, was a death sentence. Suddenly he was sober, and within seconds he was screaming, absolutely begging for her to let him live when she hissed out a response.
"If you truly wanted your life, you wouldn't have even thought of laying a hand on that child." She said, her voice cold and icy as she took him higher and higher. Bright lightning accompanied by loud claps of thunder adorned the sky the higher they went.
Style of Killings:
Snow Angel's killing style is not completely known, but witnesses have stated seeing her flying into the air at incredible speeds with the victims in hand. The witnesses always state seeing her pause in the air about 200 feet above where they are standing before falling to the ground after letting go of the victim. She dives alongside the victim until they reach approximately 25 feet from the nearest horizontal surface before pulling up at the last moment to catch herself. Most of her victims consist of self proclaimed and convicted pedophiles, felons, murderers and/or rapists. Sometimes even wanted criminals.
It is assumed she gets into scuffles regularly with those who are attempting to start a fight, or is hunting for sport. There is also the possibility that they just got on her bad side, as is common with villains.
Either way, the victim always ends up dead on impact, or beforehand because of a heart attack or sudden stop.
It wasn't long until they were at Snow Angel's desired height, and that's when she really started to lecture the man. From below, the kid watched as an Elytrian with wings of pure white held their attacker hostage in the sky. They couldn't hear what Snow was talking about, they could barely focus on their breathing. They had pressed themselves into the corner after Snow had grabbed the man at first, having slid down the wall and brought the knees to their chest as they violently shook. The loud thunder not helping them calm down as they curled into themself.
Snow was shouting at the man now, they could just barely make out whatever words she had said to him. Something about having to watch his back if he were to survive the fall.
Addendum:
After having a conversation with a guardian of a child who had interacted with Snow Angel, it is apparent that she is a legend among the young in schools. Several statements from those who claim to have met her state that she protected all of them from several of her victims that had aimed to harm them in some way. Many of the children in the schools call her 'The White Lady'. Most are terrified of her. In each of their statements they claim she came from above silently and usually left with her screaming victim within moments. On a few rare occasions the victim is ripped apart on the spot in front of the child.
It didn't take long for Snow to be done with the man, she held him by the collar of his shirt for a moment before letting go, and letting him fall as she dove down next to him. At some point having moved an alley down from the one the kid was in while in the air. Bright, almost blinding strikes of lightning spread throughout the sky as they fought.
The child stopped watching as the man began to fall, his screams echoing across two blocks as he was helpless to catch himself.
She does not catch the victim in most cases, though at times she has been known to catch them if the witness states that the victim and the villain seem to come to an agreement of sorts(those of who get close enough to actually have seen it or have improved vision). Victims who are found are questioned and none have answered or been able to speak about the experience without mania becoming prevalent. They are let go but kept under watch. No victims that have survived are ever seen meeting with Snow Angel again.
They could hear them both yelling at each other as he fell, seeming to talk about something as the man was plummeting to the asphalt. And from then on they covered their ears, they didn't want to hear anything more, they just wanted to get back to their parents...
Snow tried to reason with the man, tried to make a deal, an agreement that would allow him to keep his life.
But the man was just- too stubborn....
Addendum:
One victim had managed to speak about the experience, claiming that Snow Angel, while flying, and falling, with the victim, had carried on a conversation. The victim didn't specify what the terms were, but the basics were that they would exchange something for their life. Further questioning on that topic brought a swift change in conversation. They gave in once there was mention of powerful protection. They were given a chance to rest, eat, drink and use the restroom before the next session. Within 2 hours the victim was found dead in the bathrooms. No other victims brought into questioning ever answered questions again, but are still kept under watch for at least 3-4 weeks before pulling agents or officers. It is unknown how the perpetrator got in and out of the facility without being seen or found out. The cameras didn't pick up anything either which is further concerning.
Snow stopped trying to reason with the man, concluding that it wasn't worth taking up space. Decided that he wasn't worth leaving alive. Wasn't worth the oxygen that it was breathing.
And so, with that final thought as she pulled up to stop herself from continuing to fall with the thing, she let it hit the ground with a loud thud. The air filled with the sickening sound of bones snapping and breaking as the now lifeless body bounced before falling completely limp on the concrete. Blood pooled around the body's head as lifeless eyes stared up into the sky.
"Pathetic! Useless!" Snow hissed as she went to find the child.
She was gentle when she found them, whispering reassurances to them to try and calm them. Cooing and clicking as she made her way closer, making sure they were comfortable with her getting close enough to pick them up and hug them. She softly hooted to them, making sure they were alright with her taking them out of the alley before carefully standing with them in her arms.
"I-is there a-anything I can c-call you?" They asked, their voice shaky as they gripped onto the back of her cloak.
Snow stayed quiet for a moment before deciding to answer. "You may call me Snow if you like."
"A-alright.... Ms. Snow?"
"Yes darling?"
"What... what happened to the bad man that was chasing me?"
There was a beat of silence as Snow exited the alley, using her wings to cover the childs view of the freshly killed body as she walked past it.
"That's not important right now. But I can tell you that, that thing, won't be bothering you anymore, alright?" They nodded, snuggling into her shoulder and taking a shuddering breath in. Snow didn't say a word more than that, she didn't need to. As long as she knew that cruel creature was dead and this kid was safe, she would make as many corpses as she needed to....
Wanted Status of Snow Angel: Subdue if possible; Kill if necessary.