(Stellar POV)
I sat in the hospital bed, blankly staring at the television as it was on Super Live.
"The heroes Stellar, Foxfire, Frostbolt, and Fortify successfully captured three villains and numerous other criminals in an underground hideout without any deaths yesterday." The news reporter stated. "The villains captured are Shadow Raven, The Plague, and Venomous, and have been properly imprisoned within Novissime Prison."
"How many more villains and criminals that were at the hideout and escaped is currently unknown." The reporter continued. "However, last night leaked footage revealed a new villain to the public. Here are the clips."
The video switched to a shaky camera, videotaping as Stellar and seemingly some random guy stood across from each other with Mother Wasp standing next to the random guy. At least, that's what the majority think.
But I know better. That's not some simple grunt.
"Ski Mask." The version of me from the footage growled.
"What did you do to her?" Mother Wasp turned towards the man in the ski mask.
"Nothing!" He quickly exclaimed.
"You aren't getting away this time." I stated. "You and your accomplices."
"Oh please, my hopeful fool, we both know how this always ends up." He grinned.
Ugh, hearing it again just pisses me off even more! Who does he think he is?!
The footage ended as the news channel switched to a new video. This one was shaky and from further away, slowed down in order for anyone watching to be able to tell what was going on.
The man in the ski mask held the spear, rolling forwards on some sort of rocket powered bike as the camera shakily followed him.
He continued to speed up as he pedaled harder, approaching me as I traded blows with The Maid. He screamed out "Maid!" as suddenly the rockets came to life and he flew forwards at an much more rapid pace, the camera barely keeping him in frame.
The Maid quickly used her metallic cannon to shoot a sonic blast at me, causing me to guard. As I looked back at The Maid, she was now pointing away. I looked towards where she was pointing as he laughed. Seconds later the spear stabbed through my armor and then through my shoulder, pinning me to the wall behind me.
He crashed into the wall, falling down the ground and clutching his nose. He rolled around in pain for a second before standing up, muttering something to himself.
He grabbed the bike as he fully stood up, looking towards me. "Toodle-loo, Stellar~!" He tauntingly grinned before turning to The Maid. "We're getting out of here!"
The video stopped there, the news channel cutting back to the reporter.
"The new villain, nicknamed as Ski Mask, temporarily subdued Stellar and was able to escape." The reporter stated. "He seems to be working with both The Maid and Mother Wasp as well."
The reporter cleared her throat. "According to the recordings, it seems that Ski Mask and Stellar have previously history. Of what kind is unknown, and neither the Association yet Stellar have yet to comment."
"It is advised that you act sensible and stay away from people in ski masks." The reporter continued. "In other news, the villain known as Bloodwraith has caused a traffic accident and the death of one man. A police officer was injured, but is expected to quickly make a full recovery."
I quickly grabbed the remote, switching the channel to something else. Once again...once again he evaded my grasp!
I looked down at my hands with a frustrated growl, before sighing. He got me good this time. Stabbed straight through my shoulder. I looked over, seeing the bandages wrapped all around that area.
The healer has already done their work and my shoulder is now currently in the process of recovery. It should be fine soon, but they advised me to not do any superheoring for a few days just to make sure. But thanks to the healer, I should be completely fine as soon as he decides to make another appearance.
Five times...
That's five times now that he's escaped me.
No one has ever evaded me five times.
I gripped my face, groaning into my hands. I told them that he was a problem! I made sure that it was clear in my reports that he was someone that needed to be addressed as a threat!
And guess what?! I was right!
The news station didn't report it because the Administration never stated it, but Ski Mask is also the one who took down Frostbolt. He was able to both incapacitate me and Frostbolt within minutes of each other.
He's dangerous. He must be stopped.
Who knows what evil plans he's cooking up right now?! He has both of those damn women under his command, The Maid and Mother Wasp. He could be scheming anything.
I should be doing something instead of being stuck here. In case he attacks, I have to be ready. As soon as I get out of this hospital I am going to start specially training. Next time will be different.
Next time, I'm not letting him go.
I mumbled to myself, grabbing the remote and flipping through channels to try and find something interesting, but nothing caught my eye.
If I'm stuck in this hospital I might as well enjoy myself instead of feeling sorry. I turned off the television, grabbing my phone from the stand and clicking onto YouTube. I started to scroll through recommendations until something caught my eye.
Stellar's Secret Past? Hero Theories #37.
By HeroHero. 2 Hours Ago.
The hell is this?
I grabbed my headphones from off the stand, plugging them in and clicking onto the video.
"Hello everyone and welcome to another video of Hero Theories!" A man spoke, staring into the camera with a smile. "And I've got a few new theories for you today, all centered around Stellar this time! And yes, the final theory will be about yesterday's incident!"
What?
I quickly moved the time, fast forwarding to when he started theory number three, the final of the episode.
"Now for what you've all probably been waiting for." He grinned at the camera. "And that is my theory about yesterday's events! And based off of the leaked footage, there is only one conclusion that I can come to..."
He paused for dramatic effect. "...and that is that Stellar and Ski Mask are former lovers!"
WHAT?!
"Just replay the videos and tell me that you don't see the tension." The man smirked. "First off, this so-called 'Ski Mask' obviously flirts with her! Clearly with his first comment, but in the second clip he also showcases a playful nature towards her."
I cannot believe what I'm hearing.
"And as for Stellar? Well, doesn't Ski Mask sound like the kind of cute nickname a girlfriend would give a boyfriend?" He questioned. "Cause the name isn't threatening it all! And from their short conversation we know they have some sort of past! After all, Stellar doesn't want him to escape again."
He's a CRIMINAL!
"But maybe she doesn't mean that the way we think." He nodded to himself as if he was wise. "What if he didn't escape her as a criminal before, but escaped her as a boyfriend? Maybe it's discovering that they were on opposite sides that caused them to break up!"
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS?!
The man continued to ramble on as I quickly moved to the comments. There has to be tons of comments from rational people telling him there's no possible way for that to occur.
And then I stared at the first, top, most liked comment.
Anon3547: Okay guys, time to brainstorm ship names. My input is Stellar Mask.
WHY?!
I clicked on the replies, only to see more horrifying comments. Not a single person was stating how it couldn't be possible.
Starboy58: I like Skillar
BlindfoldedSnek: that just makes me think of skillets lol
TheWalker: What about Ski Stellar?
Yuifanatic137: no we need something more out of the box. Like Balacastellar
XxStepOnMe: okay now that's clever
Grayfate: Stelleisty? Combine shiesty with stellar
HirotheHero: tf is a shiesty
...have you all gone insane?
You can't be serious? You can't be serious, right?!
How could you ever ship me with HIM?!
I quickly closed YouTube, holding my head in my hands as I almost had an existential crisis. What was wrong with these people? I would never get together with a man like him! It doesn't matter how much he flirts or how alluring his red eyes are!
This has to be a nightmare. Or a fever dream, or something?!
I stared at the ceiling for who knows how long in pure shock until a hospital worker came and checked my shoulder. Seeing that it had healed as expected, I was released from my captivity in the hospital.
I need something to clear my head. I'm going to go head to my favorite corner store and check out the comics. Reading an issue of Starboy always helped lift my spirits.
After a short walk I found myself inside, walking to the back where the row of comics were. Let's see here...
There's some graphic novels, mangas, and some other things...here we go! The comics!
Ah, a new Starboy issue. This will be fun. I grabbed it, before looking at the other comics. They seem to have some new ones?
The Anti-Cliffhanger Alliance? Hm, seems like it's a worth a try I suppose.
Crime-Man, Issue #1? This seems interesting. But for some reason the person on this seems familiar.
I flipped through the pages, my eyes widening in horror. The ski mask he wore, with those red eyes and that annoying attitude...
SKI MASK?!
You dare to invade my favorite corner store too?!
I numbly grabbed the comic, bringing it up to the brown haired and blue eyed cashier. I placed the comics on the counter, where he started to scan it as I stared out into the distance. He looked at the first issue of Crime-Man and the proceeded to smile at me.
"Thanks for buying the first issue." He awkwardly chuckled. "I made it myself and somehow managed to convince boss to let me put it on the shelves."
I looked at him with my mouth agape.
SKIIIIIIIIIII MAAAAAAAAAAAAASK!!!!!!!!