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Carnage surrounded him on all sides, filling the sky with black smoke and clouds. Hax wrinkled his nose and readjusted up his face mask to rest more securely against his face. Bleh, this was why he avoided going out when others did; their powers were always so flashy and wasteful—their energy leaked out of them like a faulty faucet. The air felt heavy with all of it, making everything seem to ripple, like there was a particularly bad heatwave hitting the area despite all the rain.
Black smog leaked from buildings-turned-rubble and coated the sky in faux clouds of it. Hax jumped down from the roof he was perched on, down four or so floors, and landed lightly on the floor to get away from the heavy ash now falling from the sky.
This had to be an organized attack, no? He was doubtful even Nobody could produce this much energy at once—though maybe he was wrong. It was always a tossup with the top Powered, Hax pursed his lips and brushed the thin layer of water that had built up on his outfit.
Light on his feet, he waltzed through the area, jumping from pile to pile, never staying in one place for too long. Heros would be here soon—he could still feel ripples in the air that signified power usage coming from up north, the same direction he was walking in.
Alcor would probably be deployed—maybe with Lauren… mmm, probably with Lauren. They were a fun duo to fight, Hax walked with a pep in his step, Alcor was almost guaranteed; he was the only one able to clear out the thick layer of energy efficiently.
Perun could do it, probably, if he didn’t turn off his brain, but that would take a few dozen lightning strikes and he was needed for PR stuff almost constantly. There was no way Ranked would deploy him now, if the higher up’s brain’s hadn’t degraded fully.
For support and fighting purposes, Lauren was the perfect choice, in his opinion. He could move well along difficult terrain and clean up the rubble easily with his trees and flowers or some bullshit.
Well, 7rowl could, at least. Maybe 7rowl was just tas and Lauren was unc. From what he’d gathered, Lauren was pretty young. Of legal drinking age, probably, judging from how Hax would sometimes smell the alcohol wafting off him during a few fights.
Hax was only sliiightly disappointed to see the only one left at the scene was some random villain-of-the-week he’d never heard of before, balls of energy at his hands and feet, aiming for-
Before he could register everything, Hax dove in and scooped up- Infume. What the fuck? Hax had barely managed to duck under the attack in time, and could smell smoke clinging to his own clothes. There was no universe Infume—chud-like lazy bum who refused to eat a single vegetable— would be able to dodge.
If- oh Void, Hax felt nauseous. He’d- fuck he didn’t even want to think about it. Why was he here? Did Infume have no sense of self preservation? Why didn’t he move? His heart raced, pumping bile farther up his throat.
Laughing incredulously, no-name rando asked, “Boreas? Why’d you-?”
Focus, his eyes snapped towards the rando, who was wavering from where they stood. With an annoyed huff, Hax stomped his foot and made his energy flare out, paying extra attention so Infume, safe in his arms, wasn’t affected by the burst of cold.
“What?” Panic spread across their face, and Hax couldn’t help but feel vindictive. Good. How dare you think of laying your hands on him?
The figure in front of him was lanky, uncomfortable in their own skin. Just a kid who didn’t deserve to die for some stupid mistake they didn't know they were making.
He ached to eat and consume Infume wholly. So they could be together until the end of infinity. It would be a simple matter; to dig his teeth into soft flesh and crack bone with molars, grinding it down into a powder he could sprinkle on all his meals, keep with him forever.
Gathering water from the rain and puddles around, he forced the water to cover the upstart villain’s body, leaving the shoulders-up free. Within a few seconds, the water froze into ice reinforced by energy. They wouldn’t die, Hax breathed, his ice wasn’t a parasite unless he willed it so.
“What the hell?” The rando clicked their tongue, shaky and nervous, “If you wanted me to leave that guy alone you could’ve just said so. There’s no need to hand me over like a narc.”
Everyone was a teen once, there was no need to punish bad attitudes, even if it was annoying to deal with. What was he, Ranked? Hax just rolled his eyes and turned away. Leaping up to a non destroyed building, he searched for a line to parkour away. It was chill for now—it wasn’t like Infume died… for real or anything. Hax just neeeeeded to stay chill and not get ragebaited by assholes like that guy.
It was, like, soooooo chill, or whatever, he sighed, and took off again. It took conscious effort for Hax to not tighten his grip against Infume’s body until he couldn’t move, couldn’t run, couldn't put himself in danger like a fool. His fool. Always and only his.
No, that would only scare him off, meek and timid Infume, who shone brightly as a guiding star. He had Alcor to stave off most of his hunger anyways. Ah, Hax was truly blessed in this life.
“Um,” Infume spoke up for the first time since their encounter after they were a few blocks away. Hax snapped towards the sound before he almost missed a foothold and decided to just cock his ear towards Infume. “So, you come here often?” Infume seemed to be radiating heat.
Oh. Hax’s grip loosened, before he tightened it again, midair. Um, what the fuck? He almost didn’t put enough force behind his jump and made them splat onto the concrete below.
“Woah woah! Like- you didn’t need to kill me for that!” Infume yelped, wrapping his hands around Hax’s neck and squeezing himself tighter against Hax. “But like- you’re… cute…” he whispered the word like it was a secret, “so, um, I might as well shoot my shot..?”
Yeah, this fuckin guy was gonna give him an anyuerism, Hax almost tripped over himself while running across a roof, flushing beneath his layers. “Uh,” his eyes flitted to where he knew Infume lived with him, five or so streets down, and made his way down from the rooftops. “thank... you..?” How were you supposed to respond to that?! Setting Infume down in an alleyway, he asked, “Can you make it back home from here, or nah?”
Infume searched around and seemed to recognize a street name, thankfully. “Oh yeah, this is fine. Thanks man.” Well, it would be concerning if he didn’t since even Hax himself remembered
“Any-“ time, Hax cut himself off. He was supposed to be a super intimidating villain right now. What the hell was he doing, exchanging pleasantries with a civilian he supposedly didn’t know?!
Before he could make things any worse for himself, Hax made his way back up, parkouring up the fire escapes, and ignored the faint-sounding “Bye!” that came from behind him. His cheeks burned, heat collecting in his chest.
What the fuck?