Chapter Text
The heroes gathered within the conference hall, some looking far more enthused to be here than others. The front row was filled shoulder to shoulder with the newest graduates, ready to serve the city. Each year, Mira could not help but roll her eyes. They had yet to see the horrors of the world, the dangers of the life they had committed themselves to. Naivety wafted through them as they perked forward, taking in every word spoken by the retired hero who led the meeting.
Mira had long since zoned out. It would be much of the same, a repeat of the arrest statistics, a rundown of heroes that performed well. Really, it was meant to be some way for them to pat themselves on their backs. Focusing on the speaker, Mira was beginning to realise that she probably should have been paying more attention to what was going on. The words were not quite making sense.
"...which is one possibility for the increasing crime rate."
From the front of the room, Starbringer stood, pointing outward to indicate the presentation that was on the board behind her. The number of villains apprehended, the crimes reported, and the total cost in damage. Stats that Mira definitely should be worrying about, but instead her eyes kept glancing to the empty seat beside her. The seat where her hero partner should be sitting, where Zoey should be sitting. She tried to ignore the twang of frustration that wafted through her at the audacity.
"...but does not explain the sudden increase of villain sightings."
Zoey had been patrolling late last night, and that made her unable to attend. Or, that was the cover story that Mira had settled on. If anyone looked too deeply into the statement, it would begin to unravel. Sorbet had been scheduled to be on patrol in the early afternoon; she was supposed to have finished by the evening. They were supposed to patrol together; that is the point of being a hero duo.
It was too late now to come up with a different cover story. Mira had a plan and just had to stick to it. Each time her eyes roamed over to the empty seat next to her, she forced her eyes forward. Mira let out a sigh as she lowered her head into her hands. She'd zoned out again, too worried about attention being drawn to her that she'd not taken in any of the information they would need.
"What about that new vigilante?"
Trying to hold in a hitch of her breath, Mira raised her head, studying Starbringer carefully. It seemed she wasn't the only one, as she chanced a glance around the room. Silence filled the room as the heroes awaited with abated breath at Starbringer's response. Nobody had been engaging her so far, or at least should have been. Mira was certain she'd seen a couple of the minor-ranked heroes fighting alongside Halcyon in recent patrols, and some of the graduates attempting to arrest Halcyon for vigilantism. And then, there was the incident during the patrol days before with Zoey.
Starbringer scowled, looking out towards the heroes. There was a stillness to her that sent a chill through Mira. "The situation has not changed. Do not engage. Report any sightings to the guild."
Another hero raised their hand, waiting patiently to be allowed to speak by Starbringer, who gestured for them to proceed with a sigh. "She seems to want to help, surely that's a good thing?"
The hero had already been dismissed, their question fizzling out towards the end as Starbringer brought her hand to her temple, rubbing it aggressively. Before Starbringer even responded to the hero, they already lost their perkiness, awaiting the reproach from the retired hero; their head lowered as they slouched forward.
"We do not know what she wants. She seems to be helping for now, but who knows how long that will last."
Another hand raised, but Starbringer continued to speak, ignoring the question to continue with her statement that could only be described as methodical, void of emotions. "It would not be the first time someone has pretended to want to help, only to try to infiltrate the guild."
The heroes let out unhappy chatter; the stance on the treatment of the new vigilante was divided amongst the room. Mira let out a huff, glancing around the room. The newer heroes were idealists - they were the ones who most wanted to offer her support, give her the chance to prove herself. They still had that blissful naivety coating their veins. She let out a dry chuckle.
It'd only be a matter of time before they learnt the realities of the world.
"Unless there are any other questions," Starbringer spoke to the room, pausing as several hands raised. She lifted an eyebrow at the heroes in question, "Not related to the vigilante."
Most of the hands lowered, the heroes in question looking sheepish. A hero on the front row was grimacing, pretending he was rubbing the back of his neck, before lowering his hand back down onto the desk in front of him.
"If there are no further questions," Starbringer announced, pointedly ignoring the raised hands. The retired hero pressed a button on her laptop, closing the presentation on the screen as they were left to stare at a blank screen. "You're dismissed."
Crowds started to filter out as Mira attempted to blend into the middle of the heroes. The heroes chattered amongst themselves as she did her best to ignore them. They were making it difficult with their raised voices. The conversation all seemed to have one topic: the vigilante.
As Mira moved towards the exit, Starbringer spoke up. "Flashfire."
She paused, a chill running up her spine as she turned to look at the retired hero, stepping out of the crowd as heroes swerved around her. There was a silence between the pair, as Mira waited for whatever Starbringer was about to say, while Starbringer studied her for a little too long, the retired hero's gaze piercing into her. The retired hero seemed to find what she was looking for, letting out a sigh.
"Do make sure that Sorbet is here for the next meeting," Starbringer said dismissively, moving over to gather up the notes she'd laid out on the desk at the front of the room. "These meetings aren't optional."
Mira froze. ‘So, she had noticed.’
The hero looked at her with a raised brow as Mira tried to shake herself out of the halt her brain seemed to have come to. "Yes, of course, Starbringer," Mira replied, moving on to attempt to justify her partner's lack of appearance. "Sorbet had a patrol that went on late."
Starbringer looked at Mira from the corner of her eyes, not moving to face her. "I would suggest Sorbet consider sticking to the schedule. She is not paid for extra work."
She can't help but nod along with the retired hero, who glances at her before subtly shaking her head. "Stick to the schedule, Flashfire, it's there for a reason."
Mira nodded along as Starbringer continued to pack away her notes. "You're dismissed," Starbringer said, not sparing a glance in her direction.
Unable to lose the tension mounting in her spine, Mira moved towards the exit of the room. Her back remained straight even as she marched out of the room, not sparing a glance back at Starbringer.
As the last villain fell to the ground, Halcyon let out a huff, trying to hold her chest from puffing up. Flowers bloomed from her blade; every so often, a petal flittered to the ground. With the villains unconscious, she chanced a glance at her blade, letting out a relieved sigh when there were no signs of blood coating her saingeom.
Spotting a couple of heroes approaching, Halcyon chanced a glance at the unconscious villains before turning back to the heroes. She may not recognise them by name, but they'd been friendly with her in the past. Taking a chance, she fiddled with her voice modifier, confirming it was active.
"Robbed a convenience store down the road," Halcyon announced once the heroes were in range, indicating towards the group lying unconscious beside her. "They're indisposed currently, but I'd get in contact with your guild soon before they wake."
The heroes looked at her for a moment. One of them was beginning to say something but seemed to be stopped by the hand on her arm; the second hero was whispering something into her ear.
Halcyon found her eyes watching the hands of the heroes, before glancing back up at their unreadable expressions. She studied them, finding herself stepping back away from their grasp.
The first hero glanced at her partner before seemingly understanding something that Halcyon could not. Whether it was the hero's frown that said something, or the tight grasp on his partner's arm, Halcyon was not staying around to work out what the problem was.
"Get out of here, Halcyon," the second hero said, grabbing the power nullifiers from his pocket. "We've got this covered."
Halcyon stepped back, not saying anything to the duo. Before turning away and dashing to the next rooftop, she willed her saingeom to dissipate. The petals fluttered around her, swiftly aging from their full bloom into a wilted wasteland around her feet.
As she ran further away, she chanced a glance back at the duo, taking a nervous gulp as they just continued to stare at her retreat. The second hero spoke into his communicator, his gaze unrelenting.
Picking up a pace, Halcyon hopped from roof to roof until she was certain the heroes were out of sight. She risked another glance back, letting out a sigh of relief at no sign of the heroes in pursuit. Adjusting her voice modifier to confirm it remained firmly on her face, Halcyon glanced down from the rooftops. Her eyes scanned the street for any signs of destruction or lawlessness.
It was unusually quiet. Not that Halcyon was specifically hoping for crimes to be committed, but it's hard being a vigilante without an obvious crime committed. She couldn't just tune into the villain sighting line within the official hero communicators - the communicators that were given out by The Heroes Guild, specifically for their heroes - nor could she somehow find them telepathically. Her plants had many talents, but knowing the law is not one of them.
Part of the job of being a vigilante was learning the ideal routes and the villain hotspots, knowing where more crimes were committed as well as where fewer heroes patrolled. This was never a guarantee; she could patrol for hours without a single crime committed. There is always going to be that luck involved; a chance whether a crime will be committed.
As the sun lay lower in the sky, Halcyon let out a sigh, growing a wilted bush outwards from a balcony below and taking a leap off the roof. She landed gracefully against the plants, feeling a pulse of power trickle through her as she was slowly lowered to the ground.
Turning back up to look at where she had been, the bush receded, moulding itself back into place. Satisfied with the lack of evidence, Halcyon ducked into an alley. The plants whispered a thanks for the revival she offered to the previously dying bush.
The plants' whispers followed her as Halcyon continued walking away, lifting her hand to disconnect the voice modifier. As the modifier disconnected with a loud *click*, the plant's whispers grew louder, piercing into her. Panicked shrills cascaded out of the plants that surround the alley, bounding in from the streets connected to it.
"Not safe."
"Back away."
"Stop."
The plants all whispered similar variations of the same fearful warnings. A dandelion wrapped itself around Halcyon's leg, holding her in place.
Looking down, Halcyon frowned, reaching for the connection between them. The gates remained open, the spark within her palm as she carefully shrunk the dandelion back with one hand, keeping the other attached to her modifier. With a second click, Halcyon reattached her voice modifier to her face, taking glances to the side.
Calling the aid of the plants, the flowering dandelions formed within her hand as her saingeom took shape. The dandelions hardened into a blade; their petals interlocking together. No longer was there the soft touch of a flower, but instead a solid, metallic blade.
Twirling it in her hand, Halcyon's ear twitched at the step at the entrance of the alley, twisting around and holding the blade up without a moment's hesitation. The blade landed right in front of the intruder's jugular; a threat if they take a step forward.
With a sharp gulp, Sorbet lifted her hands placatingly as Halcyon's eyes widened. The vigilante took a step backwards, lowering her saingeom from the hero's throat while scanning around for an ambush. If Sorbet is here, then Flashfire would not be far behind.
Sorbet's eyes were wide as she met Halcyon's own. Halcyon watched them closely through the domino mask upon the hero's face. The duo was at an impasse, neither saying anything.
Slowly stepping away, Halcyon turned and darted down the alley.
"Wait," Sorbet called out to her.
She tried to ignore the surprise that bloomed within her chest at the sound of Sorbet's voice growing quieter. It was not keeping pace, chasing her for threatening a hero, being a good little hero for the guild.
Glancing back, Halcyon caught Sorbet letting out a sigh and pulling out her communicator. Whether to send a message to the guild or to Flashfire, Halcyon was not certain. Neither option felt particularly good, and she was certainly not staying to find out which one it was.
Heading out swiftly, Halcyon dispelled her blade, the dandelions carted away by the light breeze that flicked through the alley. Their aged white fluff danced through the air, embedding itself into the ground.
Keeping her connection open, Halcyon listened to the whispers of the flowers. Each step away from Sorbet, the quieter they drew. Their warnings are slowing down, becoming fickle whispers in the wind. Then, there was silence. Halcyon slowed down to a walk as the plants whispered their safe wishes, promises that she was alone again.
This time, with more confidence, Halcyon removed her voice modifier, placing it firmly within one of the larger pockets in her cargo pants, zipping them up to securely hide the evidence.
Lowering her hood, Rumi slid off her hoodie, holding it tightly in her arms. A slight breeze flicked through her, sending a chill up her arms as she tried to ignore the goosebumps crawling up.
There was a beeping coming from one of her cargo pockets as Rumi rushed to unzip her trouser pocket. Pulling out the beaten-up flip-up phone, she quickly glanced around before answering the phone.
Before Rumi could have a moment to speak, the other voice on the line began a tirade. Rumi nodded along. "Sorry, Celine, I'll be there soon."
Celine continued with her lecture, and Rumi nodded along even if the other woman could not physically see her. "I know, I'm so sorry for being late. I got held up with something. I swear I am on the way."
Pausing, there was silence on the other end. "I'll be there in five minutes," Rumi confirmed, ending the call.
With a final glance around the alley, Rumi tossed the hoodie in a dumpster that sat beside the back door to some restaurant. She dashed out of the alley, blending into the crowded street on the other side.