Chapter Text
The gravel crunched underfoot, the silence of the park disturbed by James, and the small crew of news reporters who were following, watching him with a strange reverence that James wasn't used to.
He would say he didn't mind, but truth was, it really irked him. He hid it well, though. He thought. He wasn't too sure. He hoped he was.
"James. What's your opinion on the Creepy Fashionista and the Retaliator's secret... uhm... allyship?" The one with the mic asked, shoving the mic into James' face a moment later.
James sighed. The allyship... Retaliator and Lofi secretly working together had been surprising, but the two Urban Legends - alongside Honor Entity - made a pretty formidable team. That, and the other two let James see how Retaliator acted around others.
(...Aaaaaand it was funny seeing Honor Entity accidentally adopt, not one, but TWO of the very beings she was meant destroy, even if it wasn't anything close to official.)
"It was... unexpected," James admitted, "But now that I think about it... idiocy does travel in herds, doesn't it?" James added with a small chuckle. The two Legends were pretty smart in their own ways, but James had to keep up the charade.
The news crew provided uncomfortable chuckles, trying to match James. The one with the mic cleared his throat and brought the mic back to himself.
"And... What of the Retaliator? What do you have to say about him?" The reporter asked.
James couldn't help but chuckle, his smug grin stretching further. He slowed to a stop, standing in front of a pretty spot; a scenic shot, a shallow lake behind him and to his right, in front of some slightly wild trees. James had no idea what species they were.
"Retaliator? Same as always. Even after working with him, I have to say, he's nothing but a liar and a phon- AGH!"
James was caught off-guard by the blur of grey-purple, black and red in the corner of his vision, which heralded the feeling of an impact on his side, pushing him toward the lake.
SPLASH!
James surfaced, coughing and sputtering, utterly drenched. He brushed his hair out of his eyes, but it didn't help - he still couldn't see anything.
A smudge of red and purple surfaced beside him, and he heard a soft gasp for air, and then a rare, but familiar laugh. He sounded proud of himself.
James' glasses were slid back onto his face by damp hands.
"How's that for a phony, dipshit?!" Retaliator asked through his laughter.
"You motherFUCKER!" James snapped, shoving Retaliator back under the surface of the lake. Not far, mind you, and he let go a moment later, Retaliator surfacing once more, shaking himself, laughing.
James sighed, trying not to grin.
As much as he hated being so wet, that was a little funny.