After doing extensive research, I found absolutely nothing about this guy Maximus. He must be a new hero because there are no articles of any kind on him.
"Nothing! There's nothing!" Erin cries out, slamming the laptop closed in an angry fit of rage. I rub my face and huff a huge breath out.
Milo walks into the room and both of our heads snap up to look at him. "I bring gifts!" He says dramatically and throws a bag of food at us. We dig into it greedily and stuff our faces with the chicken nuggets and french fries.
"You're the best!" Erin says through a mouthful of food. He smiles victoriously and sits down at the end of my bed.
"So what're you guys doing?" He asks, grabbing my computer from me. He looks at the screen thoroughly and furrows his brows. "Who's this chump?"
I wave my hand, trying to swallow my food as fast as possible so I can answer his question. "I don't know," I finally say, "that's what we're trying to figure out."
Another person appears in the doorway and I internally groan.
"Landon what're you doing here?" I ask in a strained voice. "You can't just keep inviting yourself over." I tell him.
He ignores me and walks into my room and closes the door. "I didn't invite myself over, though." He replies as he spreads himself out on my bed beside me, arm wrapped around my back.
I look at him over my shoulder and narrow my eyes. "Then who invited you?"
He nods in the direction of Milo and I look at him with evil eyes. "Milo invited me." Landon has a smug look on his face as Milo shifts uncomfortably under my glare. Landon interrupts before I can yell at Milo, though. "Come on Charlie, don't act like you don't want me here. I know you love me." He says as he tugs my shoulder, pulling me back so that I am laying right beside him, nestled into the crook of his underarm.
I glare at him with stone cold eyes. "Landon, don't touch me." I push him off of the side of my bed and he clatters to the floor loudly. Erin and Milo let out loud laughs and I sit back up and watch Landon struggle to get up and return to his spot on the bed.
We finish the food Milo brought, that I'm not realizing was an offering so that I didn't kill him for inviting Landon, and now we sit in silence as we scour the Internet for something on Maximus. I explained what I saw, leaving out the parts where I was Scarlett and why I was really out last night. They agreed to help and immediately started searching for something.
"Hey check this out." Landon says, tapping my arm repeatedly. I turn to look at the screen and see that an article was just posted on the Nightshade City Newspaper. "It says here: New hero, Maximus, saves 250 children in a burning school. The fire was started by Hellfire who had escaped the scene from his most recent appearance with the explosion at the harbour. Maximus apprehended him and Hellfire is now being taken to the Nightshade Villain Containment Department (NVCD)." He scrolls down and continues reading.
"In an interview, Maximus says that he hopes to be the hero that this city needs and would like to collaborate with some of the well known and praised heroes of Nightshade, including Indigo and Scarlett." I freeze. He wants to work with me? Landon stops reading and glances up at me. I shift my gaze from him, to the screen, then back to him. Then I have to play it off like it doesn't affect me at all.
"Hmm that's interesting." I say weakly then immediately want to punch myself in the face for my poor acting skills. His face twitches and he nods his head and turns to look at the screen again.
•••
Landon had to leave about ten minutes ago for something that was apparently really urgent, but he didn't specify what, and Milo, Erin and I have just been sitting on my bed doing nothing in the meantime.
"Milo, I gotta tell you something." I say abruptly. He turns his head to look at me and Erin has a confused look in her eyes. "You got to promise not to freak out though." Erin sits up when she realizes what I am doing and she nearly falls off of my bed.
He props himself up on his elbow and stares at me in confusion. "Why would I freak out?" He asks.
I chuckle lightly. "Because I know you very well and what I am about to tell you will cause a massive freak out." I say, and he nods his head and gestures for me to continue. I tell him about me being Scarlett and his jaw drops. He doesn't say anything. He just stares. Erin and I glance at each other uncomfortably as he remains silent.
"Holy. Shitballs." He finally says, breaking the silence, and before I realize what's happening he's climbing to his feet and bouncing up and down on the bed like a kid.
I watch him and then my eyes widen as he grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me roughly. "Are you kidding me right now? You're Scarlett?" He asks, clarifying the information he just heard. I nod my head hesitantly. He shakes me again and then let's go. "I totally knew it! I had a feeling you were Scarlett, and now you just confirmed."
My eyes bulge out of my head. "Wait, what? How?"
"You guys look the same, from the times I've met you and seen you in person you walk the same and act the same." I turn to Erin with an amused look on my face.
It takes me a minute to process what he said but then I burst out laughing, pointing a finger at Erin. "Hah! He guessed it and you had no clue!" I shout. She throws her arms up in the air as if to say 'I was more focused on the fact that there was a person flying in front of me to notice that it was my best friend'.
"I'm so awesome." He high fives himself victoriously and sits back down. I roll my eyes and lean back. He suddenly gasps loudly and looks at me. "Can you take me flying?" He asks excitedly.
"Sure. Let's go right now." I stand up and walk to the painting hanging on my wall and retrieve my costume. He stares at me wide eyed in disbelief. I super speed into my costume and am perched in the window sill before they can say the words 'I'm ready'. Milo runs over to me excitedly and I grab him into a hug sort of thing. He holds onto me tightly and Erin is killing herself laughing from my bed as she watches. "Ready Milo?" I ask him.
He lets out a chuckle and nods his head in my shoulder. "Yeah, let's go." And with that, we shoot up into the sky. Milo hollers wildly in my ear and laughs hysterically. "This is awesome!"
Once we are far up, I stop flying and just let us float. He looks around at the cityscape and a smile forms across his face. "This is so awesome." He repeats, more to himself than to me.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but we should probably head back." I say quietly into his ear. He nods his head and I fly, slower this time, back to my window.
•••
I sit on my bed, crosslegged, and work on some homework that I got assigned. My classical music plays quietly in the background, helping me focus on my task, until I hear a knock on my window. I snap my head up to look and see the black suit and creepy mask of Rancor. I had totally forgotten that he knows my identity so I almost just had a heart attack, but I scurry off of my bed, nearly tripping over myself, and open the window for him. He flies through and stands in front of me with his hands on his hips.
I mimic his actions mockingly. "What're you doing here?" I ask quietly.
"I heard you got kicked from the League." He replies with a tone that is almost sympathetic. "I also heard that Maximus wants to 'collaborate' with you."
I let out a long sigh and sit at the edge of my bed, then lay down with my legs hanging over the side. "Yeah, both of those are true. The League is bogus anyways. Who needs 'em right?"
Rancor flops down beside me. "Umm, we do."
"Right... well, maybe Maximus could help us since he so eagerly wants to work with me." I suggest. Rancor sits up so fast I didn't even have time to blink.
"You're actually considering working with that guy?" He asks in shock. I open my mouth to speak but he cuts me off. "There's something fishy about this guy. There's something not right." I close my mouth and consider his points.
"Okay," I say, seeing his point, "but he's all we have right now." Rancor throws his hands up and looks at me sharply.
"What about your friends? Rush, Zeusy, Ghost, and even Indigo? What ever happened to them?" He almost sounds desperate in the way he speaks.
I sigh, feeling a sudden sadness at the reality that I'm no longer in the League. "They'll get kicked out of the League if they help us." I mumble, and I can see his eyes narrow behind the mask. He looks around my room to distract himself, and then stands up and begins walking to the door.
I super speed in front of him and block his path. "Where do you think you're going?" I ask him with a hint of venom in my voice. I can tell he raises his eyebrows at me because his mask moves up slightly.
"I'm just going to go explore."
I shake my head. "Uhh no you're not. My parents are out there." His eyes widen with an emotion that I recognize as excitement.
"Ooh, can I see them?" He asks, jumping a little and clapping his hands.
I slap his arm. "No way! If they see you... oh gosh. I don't even want to know what'll happen if they see you."
He lets out a loud chuckle and I hastily cover the part of his mask where his mouth is hiding under. He grabs my wrists and pulls my hands away. "Charlie Brown thou shall not silence me." He exclaims dramatically. I narrow my eyes at him and at what he just called me and point to my bed.
"Sit down and shut up." I whisper-yell at him. He groans and turns around, sassy walking to my bed.
He lays down and does a pose one would do when trying to be sexy or seduce someone. "If you wanted me in bed, all you had to do was ask." He says and I punch him in the arm, only causing him to laugh.
"You're such a child." I frown.
"Being a child is way more fun than being an adult, therefore I shall forever be a child." He stretches out, taking up most of my bed, only leaving a small portion for me to occupy.
I sigh and stretch out as best I can next to him. He stares at my ceiling in silence and I watch him carefully, watching how his chest rises and falls with each breath, and noticing how he has hardly blinked this whole time.
He notices me staring at him and turns to look at me. "Stop staring." He says with an amused voice.
I look away from him and feel a small blush rush to my cheeks. "Okay, Peter Pan."