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“ This just in: after tonight’s events involving beloved hero, Narcissus—also known as Schlatt—and former vigilante, Nemesis, the vigilante has been reclassified as a villain.
“Police are still investigating the scene to understand what really happened in the few hours that Narcissus lost contact with the League of Heroes. We are asking all civilians to please hand over any information they have on Nemesis as it is crucial to taking down the newly-dangerous threat.
“The last we at the news station have heard is that there has been at least one casualty, though the cause of death is still unknown. Our on-field reporter has not been able to take photos, but he is sending in descriptions. It appears that the surrounding sidewalk has been drenched, though there are no reports of rain around the area. There also seems to be melted cement that the detectives are looking into currently.
“We’ve just been informed of evidence found by the police. It seems like Nemesis’ iconic mask was found, discarded on top of a roof.
“There will be live updates as we discover more about the situation and what happens next. Stay tuned, and stay safe out there.”
Niki sat on the edge of a roof, taking in the lights of the city around her. An overcast She had lived there for as long as she could remember. But it was now a completely different place from the one she knew.
Ever since the League of Heroes was established in the last decade, the city had become unrecognizable. Advertisements hung everywhere, promoting hedonistic amenities and too-perfect “heroes”. These new heroes were all show and no help. They managed to do even less than the old police system, and that was really saying something. Heroes were there for publicity, not for the people. They flaunted around town, kissing babies’ heads, and posing for pictures.
So, Niki took the safety of her city into her own hands. Working under disguise, she watched over the whole area, stopping crimes from being committed or from escalating. Niki had only been working as a vigilante for a little over 2 years, but she had managed to build a name for herself. Nemesis , civilians named her, goddess of retribution .
Building her way up from a scared 17-year-old donning poorly stitched gear, she became the most well-known vigilante of her generation. Sure, there were plenty of illegal heroes before and after her debut, but very few were known outside of their small neighborhoods. Everyone recognized Nemesis. From the South to the North, East to West, the outskirts—everyone knew her.
Looking down at her lap, Niki noticed the water swirling around her hand. She sometimes found herself absentmindedly controlling any water she could find around her. Despite being a prominent figure in her city, not many knew of her powers. Powers and enhancements were fairly common, but she had still managed to build a career that didn’t revolve around her water manipulation.
She didn’t know anything about her biological family, but she could assume that someone at some point had similar powers as her. Most powers were passed down like flakey genes. They appeared, then disappeared only to reappear. Niki had always known she was able to control water. It was a simple power to figure out, she saw at least a little bit of water every day. Whenever she took control of water, she felt the power under her skin and allowed it to guide her. It was like pulling and pushing the water into doing whatever she pleased.
Niki forced the water back into the small bag tied around her waist. The bag blended well into the rest of her ensembled outfit which consisted of dark greys and blacks. The only pop of color she wore was a red-accented carnival mask that hid her identity.
She stood up and made her way to the center of the roof. With her back turned to the direction she was just facing, Niki felt an odd sensation run down her spine. Someone was watching her.
Niki carried on as if she didn’t notice the eyes boring into the back of her head. She walked calmly to the edge of the roof to hop down to the next one. Her ears picked up the slightest movement to her right as fabric snapped against itself.
Not letting the presence disturb her, Niki carried on her patrol like normal. She followed her usual path, starting at the center of the city and working her way out in a spiral. A few times, the person would get too close and the wind would carry the faint scent of alcohol. She hoped whoever was following her would give up eventually so she could end her outing.
Unfortunately, the universe was not so kind as to let her follower leave her alone.
"Nemesis," a slightly-slurred voice called from behind her.
Spinning around, Niki's eyes landed on a figure covered by shadows. Even in the dark, she could have recognized that impractical outfit anywhere. A dark blue cape bellowed behind the person. Small golden star shapes lining the inside of the fabric caught the light of dim street lamps.
"Narcissus," Niki said cooly. Her voice had a static quality as it ran through a voice modifier. She really thought that whoever Narcissus’ PR manager was ought to do some more research into the hero’s namesake. Who would willingly call themself a narcissist?
"Please, call me Schlatt." The man stepped out from his hiding spot; revealing in all its 3D-printed glory, a dark grey mask that resembled a ram's head.
"I think you forgot how secret identities work," she ignored his request.
"Now, do I have to do the whole hero spiel, or do you already know what's gonna happen?" Narcissus asked, getting straight to the point.
It was far from the first time the vigilante and hero had crossed paths. Narcissus was meant to arrest any uncommissioned individual, whether they were enforcing or breaking the law. And Niki was meant to stay under his radar. Not deinging to answer him, Niki turned back around and ran away from the hero, hoping to get a head start. She luckily had the room on the roof to gain enough momentum and leap over a gap between buildings.
She was halfway across the second roof when she heard Narcissus crash down on the pebbled roof. Risking a glance over her shoulder, Niki saw he was catching up to her quickly. On the next jump, after landing, she grabbed water from the pouch on her hip and froze it onto the roof. Just as she expected, Narcissus was too committed to his jump and slipped on the newly formed ice.
Niki turned to face her pursuer as he scrambled to get on his feet again. The ice at his feet started to melt around him. Steam spiraled behind him like cigarette smoke.
“ Really? ” Narcissus sounded exhausted. But Niki was just getting started.
Taking back control of the steam around him, she forced the water vapor to cover his face and disturb his eyesight. Niki tried to open her water pouch again, but the lid had suddenly heated up. She quickly pulled her hand away, barely burned from brief contact with the bag.
“I thought you would’ve given up on trying to arrest me by now,” Niki taunted him.
“Yeah, well,” Narcissus shrugged, “the reward for turning in a vigilante just got raised.”
Niki scoffed before charging toward the hero. He was still disoriented from both his fall and the obvious alcohol running through his veins. At the last second, she dropped low and grabbed Narcissus behind his knees, pushing him with her shoulder. He went down fast but was still able to get up faster than Niki had expected. Narcissus grabbed a handful of pebbles that seemed to instantly melt in his fist. The molten rock made contact with Niki’s upper arm, singeing her rashguard.
She stumbled back, clutching the raw skin of her arm. Her bag had since cooled off, so she grabbed some water and threw it toward Narcissus. While the water was in the air, she willed the molecules to freeze into icicles. One ice blade managed to make a small cut on the side of Narcissus’ neck.
“We don't have to do this,” Narcissus tried, holding out his hands. “This would be a lot easier if you just let me arrest you.”
“Fat fucking chance,” Niki spat. She reached for the ice around Narcissus and pulled it back to herself. The water covered her fists like gloves. Every hero was assigned to arrest vigilantes, villains, and low-grade criminals, but over the years, Narcissus had grown some vendetta against Nemesis. His pursuits got more frequent, more reckless. Sometimes he won the fight, other times she did. It was a never-ending cycle of momentary and fleeting victories.
“Of course,” Narcissus mumbled as he fully got to his feet again.
Not waiting any longer, Niki shot out a tendril of water to wrap around the man’s ankle. At the same time, Narcissus held out his hand and Niki smelt burnt rubber. She looked down and saw as the soles of her combat boots started to melt and fuse with the rooftop. Before she could consider moving her feet, her shoes solidified again, still mixed with the gravel of the roof.
Niki tugged on the water and sent Narcissus flying into the AC unit a few meters away. He softened the metal of the cage at the last second to cushion his impact, though it didn’t do much. He rolled on the floor and got to his knees and hands. A small crack could be seen across the eye of his ram mask. His slicked-back hair became unruly as he kept getting jostled around.
The hero and vigilante continued to trade move for move. Small injuries accumulated over both of them. Neither could get close enough to end the fight. Narcissus tried several times to throw handcuffs at Nemesis. For whatever reason, he kept hoping that the cuffs would do all the work for him.
Niki was running out of water quickly. She glanced around the rooftop, careful to not take her eyes off Narcissus for too long. Their impromptu battlefield had become quite a mess. Melted rocks were scattered all around. As were the few throwing knives that Niki had on her, though those quickly became unusable as metal became too got to handle.
Just as Niki thought about trying to run away again, Narcissus’ communicator buzzed angrily.
“ What? ” he hissed into his earpiece.
Niki couldn’t hear the person on the other side of the line, but it didn’t matter to her. She used the small distraction to gather more water. Looking at the clouds above, she got an idea.
“ I’m kinda busy right now. ”
Focusing all she dared on the water in the clouds, Niki sensed the water and pulled down until it became visible. The sight resembled a drizzle of rain. Water fell all around the building, but most of it gathered around Niki, creating a belt of the swirling tide. The atmosphere suddenly got freezing as Narcissus realized what was happening.
“ Shut up, Quackity, ” he whispered into his microphone.
The air kept getting colder as he walked toward Niki. The closer he got, the cooler the area around them got. Niki could see Narcissus’ breath curl out from the sides of his mask.
Before he could reach her, Niki brought down as much water as she could, pushing it all into Narcissus and knocking him back. Surprisingly, he kept his balance. Water droplets continued to fall around them as they slowly turned into something more like hail. Maybe the faux-weather would have been more impressive if Niki wasn’t preoccupied with putting all her energy into creating her own water cycle.
“I’ve had enough of this, Nemesis,” Narcissus finally said. Bringing his hands out in front of him once again, he took a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Niki felt an uncomfortable heat rise up from under her skin. Her temperature was steadily increasing.
The heat started at her fingertips, traveling through her muscles. It kept getting hotter. The water around them wobbled as Niki’s vision was dotted with black spots. She tried to pelt Narcissus with more water, but it kept flickering in and out of her control. Eventually, she could no longer concentrate on the water around her. Niki fell to her knees as the heat got unbearable.
Sweat dripped from her hairline. She could see Narcissus from the corner of her vision, approaching slowly. Even when Niki thought her body couldn’t take anymore, it got hotter. It felt like her insides were boiling and bubbling. Without thinking, she ripped her face mask, hoping for even the slightest bit of relief from the heat that was consuming her from the inside out. Narcissus startled at the sudden unmasking. That hesitation was all Niki needed.
She shakily got to her feet as she searched for water, any water . Niki couldn’t see what her powers locked onto, but she leaned into her instincts. Narcissus stiffened up and she could tell that her internal heat was falling back to its normal temperature. Niki wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she didn’t need to. She just kept pulling and pushing any water that she could latch onto.
“What the fuck?” Narcissus demanded as he wiped blood coming from under his mask.
Niki’s conscious mind finally caught up to what she was doing—what she was controlling. She was manipulating the water inside of Narcissus. She was controlling his blood . She honestly might have been more scared of herself if it weren’t for the fact that blood-bending is objectively badass.
“I’m finishing this fight, Schlatt ,” Niki replied.
She kept twisting his blood, and she didn’t hold back. Narcissus’ body contorted as it was moved without his input. He would cry out in pain occasionally, begging for mercy more and more as Niki didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop if she wanted to. She didn’t want to. Niki was controlling water just as she had known for years. It was just water. But it was still so much more . She was completely in control of Narcissus.
Niki didn’t stop prying on Narcissus’ blood. She kept her face steady, not wanting to show the hero any emotion as he was forced to look at her. At some point, he passed out from the pain, but Niki still didn’t stop. She took steps closer to his convulsing body until she was standing over him. For all the time that Niki had known Narcissus, he had always physically towered above her. But now, as Niki pulled his blood away from his heart, away from his brain, he never looked so small. And Niki never felt more powerful.
Narcissus finally stopped twitching, so Niki released her hold on his cooling blood. She stepped back, examining the twisted form of the dead hero.
She did that
. She used his own body against him. And now, the sick game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” they had been playing was over. Nemesis had won.