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Something was up with Ace. Niki couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was there. And it was going to drive her insane.
Maybe it was to do with the magpie. Wilbur Minecraft, latest hero Ace had tried his luck at seducing, and apparently the first one it had worked on. Well, second.
They didn’t talk about Time Stop much these days.
“Hey Ace.” She shot a glance at Wilbur, glued to the shrike’s side. “What’s up?”
Loki swung by, somehow slightly drunk, and cackled in glee on seeing the TNT villain.
“Hello, my favourite terrorist! Have you seen that’s what they call us these days? After the debacle with the reports coming out about Ti-“
Niki firmly placed her hand over Loki’s mouth, cutting them off before they said something stupid. No one needed to discuss that. It was in the past, and far enough they all should have forgotten by now. Then she turned back to the pair of them, smiling brightly.
“Got yourself a new partner, bomb boy?”
“Partner? Yes, I suppose so.” Ace grinned, his fingers intertwining with the magpie’s. “Care to introduce yourself, songbird?”
Niki’s expression flickered for a second, into what was almost a frown, but the Minecraft was grinning, pulling his head up a little.
“Absolutely. Anarchy? And Loki, nice to meet both of you.” Holding out his gloved hand, the former hero ran his gaze over both of them like he was analysing their every move, cataloging every speck of information somewhere far behind those mismatched eyes. “Persephone. Mythology names, you know?”
Shaking his hand, Niki tried to pin down what sent prickles up her spine as she smiled in return. Guy was freaky. There was something… wrong, something almost rotten. Hard to tell. She was probably being paranoid.
“Greek!” Loki beamed, shaking his hand eagerly as Niki withdrew hers. “Goddess of the Underworld? Wife of Hades?”
The Grey Villain wasn’t sky about their pointed look at Ace, and the shrike smirked.
“If you want. Pretty bird, aren’t you?”
Wilbur- or Persephone- grinned right back, ear feathers twitching in some unreadable emotion. Huh. She’s never seen those when she’d fought the rescue hero before. But avians were weird sometimes, if knowing Ace was anything to go by.
“Hey! Magpie fucker!”
My President’s voice rang across the hall, and Niki rolled her eyes. Drunk asshole. Every time she came here, the urge to just shove a fireball down his throat and see how much of him ignited on the spot was almost uncontainable.
Wilbur’s eyes went wide, and he looked over, even as his expression settled back into a serene, knowing smile. He waited for the Ram villain to speak first. Power move. Niki approved.
“If I wanted to kill y’father, how would I do it?”
“Why do you think I would ever tell you?” His response was lightning fast, dismissive and mocking all at once. “Neither of you deserve to win.”
The hero’s eyes met Mr President’s with cool confidence, one eyebrow raised. Niki was taking notes. Maybe they’d finally have someone to stand up to the top dogs around here, gods knew they needed it. Oh, she was going to enjoy seeing what this magpie made of Smile.
Grunting, the ram hybrid threw his glass at the wall, and skewered Wilbur with a gaze that was nothing less than loathing.
“You Minecraft’s are all the same, huh? Too high and mighty for us?”
“Yes.”
Mr President’s face twisted into confused rage, then he turned away, pointedly ignoring the avian. Wilbur smiled smoothly, dropping his gaze again.
“You show him, mi amor.”
“Ha!” Loki chipped in again, grinning from ear to ear. “I knew it! You two are dating~”
Niki rolled her eyes, taking a brisk step to the side to avoid the Grey villain’s tail, slithering back and forth across the floor in their elation. Loki had definitely had a few too many drinks.
“Oh, didn’t I mention?” Ace couldn’t contain his happiness as he went on tiptoes to kiss the magpie’s cheek. “Of course.”
Niki felt her heart soften. Maybe she’d been being too harsh on the shrike villain. People did strange things when they were in love, maybe she should cut him some slack. And turning a hero was a pretty stressful process, if Pyro had been anything to go by.
But still, she shot Wilbur a half worried, half playful look.
“What about you, Persephone? You dating this short fuck?”
In the corner of her eye, she saw Ace scowl, but waved it away. They insulted each other all the time, it wasn’t like he’d actually be offended. Her focus was on Wilbur, even if she was mostly joking.
The magpie nodded, chirping happily. Niki nodded in return, smiling. That would do. Every relationship had their own, weird dynamic, and it wasn’t her place to overstep too much. Still… there was something that didn’t sit quite right with her. Maybe she’d try for a private chat with him later.
Their conversation trailed off after that, and Ace wandered off, trailing a magpie after him like a bodyguard. Niki frowned, turning to Loki.
“Was something up with them? Or am I going mad?”
“Girl, I’ve got no clue.” The Grey villain watched Wilbur for a moment, and a second later had royal blue feathers of their own behind their ears, and giggled like a maniac. “Ace is losing it though. Did you see his face when you called him short?”
“I know. That’s why I’m worried.”
Niki kept her eyes on Wilbur for the next half hour, but the magpie never left Ace’s side. He spoke to others, but only when they spoke first, and replied shortly. He laughed, and smiled, but only when people were watching. The rest of the time he was clinging to the TNT villain, following along and watching. Dammit. It was going to be impossible to get them apart.
Flagging down Pyro, Niki spoke in a hushed whisper, even though they were in a corner.
“Hey, you’re friendly with Ace, right?”
“Uh, not sure I’d go that far. What do you need?”The Hellfire villain followed her gaze, to where Wilbur seemed half asleep on Ace’s shoulder, and sighed. “You want a distraction, right?”
“Aw, thanks! I just need like, five minutes of getting the magpie away from him.”
Pyro rolled his eyes, looked around again, and shrugged.
“Smile still hasn’t turned up. Sure, I’ll go be your distraction. You owe me.”
“Hey, arsonists gotta stick together?”
Giving her a look that could almost be called friendly, Pyro headed over to the other side of the room. Niki made her way around the other side of the table, making sure to appear casual.
She still hadn’t figured out quite what she was going to say. But she needed to say something, or she’d drive herself mad with what ifs.
Pyro walked up to Ace, who stiffened immediately on seeing him. Niki watched with interest as the TNT villain’s face fell, turning cold and tense. He allowed himself to be lead away to a quieter corner, looking almost numb. That was her chance.
Darting over, she appeared just next to Wilbur, chatting cheerful nothings as she lead him a few steps in the opposite direction.
“Persephone! Lovely to see you, honestly, I love your wings-“ It was an effort to keep up the energy, especially with how reluctant the magpie was to move away, so she gave up, dropping her voice and speaking in a whisper. “Are you ok? I swear, I won’t tell anyone, but if you don’t feel safe…”
Wilbur blinked, confused, and looked over his shoulder, chirping weakly. Niki followed his gaze, pursing her lips when she saw his pleading look over at Ace. Snapping her fingers, she tried not to let her increasing concern spill over.
“Hey, Persephone. Wilbur. Is something wrong?”
She just needed to find the right question. But every word she said was met with a blank stare, as if the magpie didn’t even understand her.
“Did Ace tell you not to talk to me?”
There was a slight edge to that one, and it actually got a reaction out of Wilbur. The hero growled under his breath, and took a small step forward, glaring at her. Still, he didn’t speak. This was definitely worrying.
“Do you feel safe with him?”
Her voice was pure concerned agitation, and Wilbur went still. Then, with another brief glance over his shoulder, he nodded.
“You’re worried about me.”
His voice was strangely undulating, like he was speaking in bird calls cobbled together into speech. Niki hesitated for a moment, then nodded. No point denying it.
“I might be intruding, but if there’s anything… wrong between you and Ace, I’m here to help.”
For a moment, his ear feathers twitched, then relaxed, and the hero let out a soft breath.
“Sorry. I- I thought you… never mind. Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine.”
He flashed her a grin, but she could see past it. The fear hadn’t left his eyes. Now she was looking, his pupils were unnaturally wide, and there was something about the way they darted from side to side that was decidedly unnerving.
“You sure? Trust me, this is the place to ask for someone’s ass to be kicked.”
“Mhm. All good. He’s helping me with… all this.”
“It’s quite a lot, isn’t it?” It took a little effort to keep her voice level, but his reassurance helped. “Being a newbie. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”
Punching his arm affectionately, Niki tried to show how incredibly genuine she was being in a brief, fond smirk.
“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll need it.”
The line came out almost practised, and Niki’s worry came back in full force. But she didn’t know how long she had left, and a half glance over Wilbur’s shoulder was enough to show her Pyro wasn’t going to keep Ace distracted much longer.
“If you’re sure. But there’s more of us than Ace, and plenty of us can run rings around him.”
Grinning, she conjured a small, curling flame in the palm of her hand, and Wilbur smiled in appreciation, before turning more pointedly. Ace seemed to catch his eye, and a moment later the shrike was at his side, looking furious, but keeping himself restrained.
“I think we’ll be leaving now, songbird.”
Tears glistened in his visible eye, and Niki half frowned. She’d asked Pyro to distract him, not traumatise him. Still, Ace couldn’t be serious.
“Already? But we’ve barely started!”
She pushed false enthusiasm into her voice, analysing every movement between the two. Ace glared her down, and she could have sworn a tear rolled down his cheek.
“Yes. Don’t bother getting anything done. Things are going to change soon.”
As he pushed past her, Niki faltered, her energy abandoning her as a strange sense of guilt settled in her throat.
That was the last time she saw the shrike in person.
For a while, at least.
——————
“Anarchy, right? I’ve been looking for you.”
Fire still burning around her fists, Niki cautiously stepped out of the shadows, tension barely faltering as her eyes landed on Scarlet. Shorter hair, less elegant clothes, more visible weaponry, but still undeniably the ex-number one villain. Even more reason not to trust her.
“I promise, I’m a friend. Look, I know it doesn’t mean much, but I swear, I think we’re on the same side.”
Scarlet held her hands up placatingly, even if they both know it barely impacted her ability to kill, with the wide range of powers at her disposal. Niki didn’t waver for a second. She’d been through too much in the last few months to trust anyone.
“And what side would that be? Because you look like a villain.”
Her voice shook, broken time and time again by too much in such a short time. The hawk avian smiled sadly, and Niki realised something was up with her wings. Some of her inner feathers seemed unnaturally straight, like they’d been cut. Still, Scarlett held them proud, and there was nothing but confidence in her lean stance. A solider. Like she’d become.
“Not anymore. And I doubt you’d call yourself one either.” Scarlet sounded almost desperate, even if there was an almost wistful gleam in her cobalt eyes. “Vigilantes of the new age, how about that? And- well, I need some friends. I- I’ve been trying to get to the heroes, but they just kill anyone who even looks like a villain. Not a good time to be an avian, especially if you’re not a hero.”
There was something harried in her voice, something pleading and paranoid that spoke to something deep inside Niki’s heart. She lowered her hands, by just a few centimetres, sympathy swelling inside her. Even the slight movement was enough to make Scarlet gasp in relief, taking a small step forward.
“Ok, thank you so much, this is going to sound crazy, but-“
But Niki never heard what she was going to say.
The gunshot only registered after the pain did, a stabbing burst of agony in the back of her head. Her hands fell entirely, and she collapsed with them, falling against a wall as everything slowed.
“Aw, you didn’t invite me?”
Ace.
Niki tried to move, tried to speak, tried to fight, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing at all as she lay there, dying, except watch the number one villain cock the gun at Scarlet. The hawk was frozen, chest rising and falling, staring at the space Niki had just been, that Ace now occupied.
“My hawk. Thought I killed you the first time.”
There was a note of laughter that burst into a cackle at the end, the tremor of insanity. Niki’s vision began to blur over, and it was all she could do to cling to the words.
“This isn’t over, Ace. There are still people fighting.”
“Oh, I’m glad for it. So much more fun, you know? Seeing them all down in the streets, scrambling over each other’s bodies… but it’s nice to be here too. Feel the adrenaline. The blood on my hands.”
“I hope you’re happy, dear shrike.”
Scarlet’s voice was barely a murmur. Niki wanted to scream for her to fight, to not give him what he wanted, but she was falling, further and further.
There was one last thing, a final handful of words before she was gone.
“…I wish I was too.”
A gunshot. A screech.
Niki hoped Scarlet had gone down fighting.