kittenwolfmage

kittenwolfmage t1_j58we9a wrote

"Get down on the ground, NOW!"

The shout was authoritarian, demanding.

A dark skinned figure in a green costume sprinted across the screen, fleeing the direction of the voice.

" I SAID"

A bolt of red energy flew across the screen, hitting the figure in the back and continuing out through his chest.

The figure collapsed off camera, and four more figures walked into frame.

"Get on the GROUND"

The white armoured teen leaned down to check the figure. Ultraviolet

​

"Awww, did his mommy turn him yellow by mistake?" That was a blue costumed boy holding a crystal. Clearcast.

Ultraviolet stood back up. "Oops. Hit him a bit hard, thought he was better protected. What a shame." He turned to the rest of the crew. "Least we won't have to worry about him again. Call the cops for the corpse and lets get pizza?"

The rest of the four cheered and one of them, half his face covered in metal, cocked his head to the side and several lights lit up "Hello. Police. Teen Force here. Armed bank robber has been.."I wiped the screen, restarting the recording."Get down on the ground, NOW!"

The area around me lit up with electricity, there was a crackle and then a gentle thud as someone settled on the rocks next to me.

I didn't look up.

"Get down on the ground, NOW!"

I swiped again, flipping to a different recording. This one showed the victim's face after he'd fallen. His jade mask had shattered, and the pain and fear were writ clear across his face.

"Oops. Hit him a bit hard.."

Swipe.

Swipe.

Swipe.

Tears blurred my vision. I don't know for how long."He was a Villain, but he wasn't *bad*"

"I know"

The other person's voice was calm, controlled, and nearly as familiar as my own.

"He never really harmed anyone. A year and nobody got worse than a few broken bones"

"I know"

"It didn't have to go like this. All he did was breaking and entering"

"I know"

I choked down a sob."He's.. he's the third..."

"But the first caught on camera. I know"

I finally looked up, snarling. The figure was as familiar as his voice. Tall, gold clad, built like a Demigod. Tempest. I thrust my phone in his face.

"Get down on the ground, NOW!"

"Is THIS what you lot call Justice??"

He turned his head away from me and raised a hand to block his view. "Please, don't. I've watched it too many times already" his voice strained slightly, and he looked sick.

I deflated at his tone, staring down at the rocks below. "I guess there's no chance then, that Spectrum, Glare, Fly and the rest are all wrong?"

Even without looking, I could hear him shake his head "I'm sorry, no. Confirmed on our end as well. Heard their stories... I identified Raki's body myself"

He held out a hand, holding a greenstone pendant in the shape of an Adze. "Here. I.. didn't want to risk something going missing from the police morgue"

I gently took the pendant, the stone a twin of the twisted spiral I wore. "Thankyou"

There was some hesitation to his voice "You know that this isn't what we're like, right? This.. this isn't normal""I know""We're here to help people. Look after them. Not.. this"

"I know"

"You know that the only reason we're on different sides is because you won't work within the system to.."

my glare had barely been raised to shin level when he held up his hands, placatingly

"I know, I know, not the time"

He took a breath "Raki shouldn't have even become a Villain. The kid could carve just about anything with more skill than I've ever seen. He shouldn't have been carving his way into bank vaults and museums"

​

I shrugged.

​

"Amazing what a racist art community and a shitstain of a father will do to a kid"

​

"Yeah. I still.. don't know why you let that prick remain free after what he did to you."

​

"Mostly for Raki's sake. He loved his dad in spite of everything. I tried to guide him, but his father is manipulative even without mental influence powers."

"So what're you lot going to do about.. this?"

​

He grimaced. "The rest of us.. the rest of us are sickened by what's happened. The first, well, we both know what Blackfire did. Lot of people think it was deserved, on your side too. And Flowgrey really did seem like an accident. But this... look. They're going to be arrested later this afternoon. They'll be.. put through due process"

​

I just raised an eyebrow at him and he fell silent. He looked nearly as sick as I felt.

"You know there's some serious Utu to be balanced here"

"I know. And I know I can't stop you"

A tiny piece of amusement made it into my voice. "Oh, you know do you?"

He snorted. "I've been your Nemesis since we were nineteen Chroma. I know what you can do, what you can *actually* do"

He looked directly at me, eyes serious "The public, and most of the heroes just think that you're a silly moron, a colour manipulator who couldn't handle not getting her own way in partliament and who now changes the colours of things to annoy, embarass or to confuse people. Most of them don't even realise you're altering government documents on the sly."

I shrugged. "Gotta make a difference somehow. Thanks for people like you distrusting computer records so much that they rely on paper, makes it a lot easier."

He shook his head, not letting himself be deflected. "I also know your power works on people, I saw you change that girl's hair, and that your area of effect is much larger than most suspect." His tone went hard. "And I know basic physics. Exactly how long would this city last if you just turned *everything* perfectly black, in the middle of summer?"

I shrugged at him again "Here's hoping we don't find out""Yeah. Right."He stood up, and held out a hand "Okay, what're we doing?"I stared at his hand "Excuse me? We? I'm not relying on your 'due process' "

His posture was shaky, but his voice was firm "Neither am I. I'm just coming with you to... prevent civilian casualties"I took his hand.

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