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Infume turned right into an alleyway and kept running, aware of the approaching hero. This really wasn’t his night– what seemed like a lost citizen needing help turned out to be an ambush set up by Boosfer, looking to bait out the vigilantes operating in his territory, and now he got spotted by a patrolling Silver. At least it wasn’t Couriway. While he wasn’t overly violent when apprehending people, no matter their affiliation, his capture rate was astronomical. This was bad news for Infume, whose only shield from getting arrested for vigilantism was his identity remaining a secret. Not to mention how embarrassing it would be, having to use his one phone call to beg Derapchu for help. He would never hear the end of it.
He saw an escape ladder on the side of one of the buildings and launched himself up using his enhanced boots to reach it. He quickly climbed up the rest of the way and kept running across the roof. He could hear Silver charging up his Aura behind him, which meant he didn’t have much time. Infume was good at parkour, the skill often coming in clutch during his nighttime patrols, but it was still very difficult to outrun a hero.
That’s why he wasn’t even going to try.
He reached the other side of the roof and clambered down, ducking into a windowsill. He activated his Invisibility Cape, another invention of Fulham’s, and prayed that it would last long enough for Silver to move on.
Above him, the hero made the jump across buildings, not anticipating for Infume to stop running. He stopped for a moment, looking around and speaking quietly into his earpiece, probably communicating with the Headquarters. He peered down into the alley separating the buildings and looked straight at Infume, who held his breath in anticipation. Silver’s eyes seemed to slide over him, and after a while he sighed to himself and took off running again, this time across rooftops.
Infume waited for another five minutes, remaining invisible until he heard the chime in his earpiece, letting him know he was almost out of battery. Only then did he hit the button on his watch that turned off the device. He climbed back onto the roof and down the ladder before he could be spotted by any other heroes or villains.
When he was once again standing on the ground, Infume decided that it would be a good idea to quit while he was ahead. His battery was on the verge of dying, and he didn’t have Aura to save him. Not like it would be wise to use it anyway. Every week there were news of arrests made based on some clip going viral on social media, showing a vigilante forced to use his Aura during a fight. They were usually pretty distinct, and after that it was easy for the police to scour the Aura Registry for the name.
‘Wait, what hero was this? I actually didn’t see. Was it Couriway?’ Infume yelped in surprise and jumped away, slipping into a fighting stance. The voice seemed to be coming from the end of the alleyway, bathed in darkness. He couldn’t make out more than a vague silhouette of the person speaking. They were a bit shorter than him, but that was all he could see.
‘No? Why would Couriway even be here? He goes to sleep at like nine or something’ maybe it was a bad idea to antagonize a mysterious stranger while in his vigilante costume, but he just couldn’t believe someone would ask such a stupid question.
‘Man, I guess I’m just washed. You’re Phantom, right?’ the person stepped out of the shadows and Infume watched as the permanent grin and coal-black eyes of Blizzard’s mask came into view. He was so fucked.
Infume took a few steps back towards the mouth of the alley and tried to think of a way to get out of this. All his gadgets were useless, since he wasted too much battery listening to Laufey earlier, and parkouring away wasn’t an option. Blizzard’s Aura was very strong, allowing him to create and control large amounts of ice, and he knew how to use it. Infume still remembered that video of policemen falling over themselves, slipping on the ice-covered street, while the villain breezed past them. He was laughing and pulling a silly-looking sleigh being ridden by Mongey, holding a painting they had just stolen from a museum. At the time Infume found it funny, but now he could only remember how fast they were going.
The villain must have noticed his apprehension, and his distinctive laugh filled the air. Infume tensed, preparing himself for an ice attack, but nothing happened.
‘What do you want, Blizzard?’ he asked, trying to sound intimidating.
‘I just wanted to ask about your Aura’ Infume was staring to notice that the villain always sounded happy, no matter how unhinged the things he was saying were. It was unnerving. ‘What is it?’
‘Why would I tell you that? Are we stupid?’ he cursed himself for antagonizing Blizzard again, but in his defense, what kind of question was that? He also felt a bit insulted. It made sense to assume he had Aura, a large majority of people did, but it still hurt that no one would ever know about all the effort he had made to get closer to being a hero despite his limitations. It was a cold comfort that unless he got caught and unmasked by law enforcement, his identity would remain a secret forever.
Blizzard sighed, and Infume thought he must be pouting under his mask.
‘We were trying to figure it out on our own, you know, for fun, but the only consistent factor in all the recordings was your parkour ability. Mongey and Rowl just wanted to kidnap you and find out that way, but I thought it would be a good idea to ask first, no?’
‘Wait, hold on, you were going to kidnap me?’ Infume took another step back, but his back hit a solid surface. He looked back, confused, and saw that the entrance to the alleyway had been blocked off by a wall of ice. It was at least two floors high, which meant that if he wanted to get out he would have to go through Blizzard, since he didn’t have enough battery left for even one enhanced jump.
‘I still might to be fair, if you don’t answer’ Infume instantly looked back at the villain, who was slowly walking closer to him. ‘Our arguments are lowkey terrible for team cohesion, we keep getting ragebaited’
Infume watched Blizzard wearily, desperately thinking of a way to escape. Before he could come up with anything, the villain came to a stop just a few steps away, still looking at him with anticipation.
‘Listen man, I really don’t think it’s a good idea for me to tell you that’ as soon as he finished the sentence he dodged to the side, narrowly missing Blizzard lunging for him, his outstretched hand sparkling with Aura. Before he could reorient himself, clearly thrown off by the vigilante dodging his attack, Infume used the last remains of his battery to charge his gauntlet. His hit glanced off Blizzard’s shoulder, clearly protected by some sort of armor under his costume, but he still stumbled under the force of the blow.
Not waiting to see what Blizzard would do to someone who landed a hit on him, Infume started running further into the alley. He remembered that there was a dumpster at the end, and with a bit of luck he could maybe manage to reach the escape ladder again if he used it as a vantage point. It wasn’t the kind of plan he usually liked, preferring to have more room for error, but it would have to do.
Unfortunately before he could get away, he felt the ground under him becoming slippery and went down, wincing when he hit the ice. He started to get up, but felt his boots getting encased in a thick layer of ice, trapping him. He could only watch helplessly as Blizzard approached him again. The smile on his mask looked very ominous, and Infume braced himself for another hit. To his surprise, the villain only laughed.
‘Yo, that was actually kinda impressive. But you still need to tell me what Aura you have, or I’ll be taking you with me’ Blizzard must have forgotten that he was about to walk onto the ice and tripped, falling straight onto Infume. For a moment they just stared at each other in silence, before the villain burst out laughing again.
‘Noooo, I’m actually chopped! I leave the base for the first time in a week and this happens. That’s so embarrassing’ he clambered off Infume, ignoring his surprised yelp, and sat down in front of him. ‘Let’s move on. What’s your Aura, like actually?’
Infume considered his options. He could lie, try to convince Blizzard that one of his gadgets was actually a manifestation of his Aura, but they were all out of battery. If the villain demanded a demonstration he would be cooked, and he didn’t want to find out what an angry Blizzard was like. He was unpredictable enough when he was in a good mood. He lost his chance to get away, so he really didn’t have much choice.
‘I don’t have one’ he muttered, looking away.
Blizzard didn’t reply, and Infume thought maybe he didn’t hear him, but when he hesitantly looked back he found the villain staring at him, only a few inches away from his own face. He would have flinched away, if he wasn’t still trapped by the ice.
‘Wait, you have no Aura? And you’re such a good vigilante? That’s actually so impressive’ Blizzard sounded amazed, which was unexpected. The villain appeared almost… reverent? Infume felt himself blush, thankful for the mask covering his face. People usually reacted to him not having Aura with pity and awkwardness, not wonder. It was nice to finally be appreciated, even if it was coming from a villain.
Blizzard, apparently satisfied with his answer, stood up from the ground and called off the ice covering the alley, and offered Infume a hand. He took it, surprised at the strength with which he was pulled off the ground. Instead of letting his hand go, Blizzard held onto it, looking at the vigilante, expression unreadable behind his mask. When Infume pulled at their linked hands, the villain instantly let him go with a laugh.
‘I’ll be seeing you again, Phantom’ he waved and turned the corner, leaving Infume standing alone in the alleyway. He brushed off the ice still clinging on to his costume and started heading home, deciding that he wouldn’t tell anyone about his encounter with Blizzard. No matter how scary it felt that someone who knew about his vigilante identity was aware of him being Auraless, he hoped they would meet again.