Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scott glares at a wall as Cleo cleans the cut on his cheek. “I could’ve handled Tek just fine,” he huffs. “Then he comes with backup. What am I supposed to do against all of BITES?”

“Well, you have ice and water on your side, Scott. It’s really not too difficult to just freeze them,” Cleo notes.

“Yeah, and then I’d be wanted by the police more than I already am,” Scott scoffs. “Honestly, what use are those guys? They just make bounties and give them to the heroes.”

“They help with traffic,” Sausage quips from the other side of the room, looking up from his book. Both Scott and Cleo jump.

“You’re the only person I know that can enter a room and leave me oblivious to the fact,” Scott sighs as Cleo bandages the cut on his cheek.

“Thank you!” Sausage says, blowing Scott a kiss. “I take pride in my work.”

“Anyways, no Cleo, I’m not freezing them, or drowning them, or taking the water out of their bloodstream,” Scott sighs. “Tek also has fire. Any ice I tried to cast, he just melted. All I had was water, and that is a lot less reliable.”

“Next time don’t go alone, then,” Cleo says. “I’m not letting you off the hook for this one, Scott. It was your choice to be an idiot and go out on your own. You should have at least brought Sausage or Pearl with you.”

“I know, I know,” Scott sighs, standing. “I just wanted to get the job done.”

“And the job will be done, but it’ll take longer thanks to your foolishness,” Cleo says simply. “Now take a day or two off of the main villain stuff. If you get hurt badly again, I’m not saving you.”

“Yes ma’am,” Scott says, rolling his eyes. He walks out of the mini infirmary, walking over to his room.

Villain headquarters weren’t as hidden as one might think. The only reason they had funding for a roof at all was thanks to most of them working jobs outside of the villain stuff. Scar and Cub own a corporation, where Scar manages to upcharge everything, offering a cookie to the customer to make the debt all better. Pearl worked as an author, which wasn’t exactly a steady source of income. Scott’s wasn’t exactly the best either, though. Flower shops don’t pay much, even though he owns it. Ren and Martyn did theater, which was great…when shows were running. And Joey simply worked at a makeup store. Pearl, Sausage, Joel, and Cleo didn’t have jobs, taking care of the base and any daytime missions instead. This landed them with a two story house in the city, away from the center area. If anyone came to inspect it during the day, they would only find four people living there. Lizzie sometimes even helped, using her hero status to steer any hero and police activity away. At night, the place swarmed with villains.

Scott’s room, which he shared with Sausage, was small. Still, it worked for both of them. All Scott really needed was a bed, a place to put his clothes, and a bookshelf. So that’s all he has, with the extra perk of a desk and mini fridge. Sausage’s side was similar, though it had a more medieval theme, while Scott’s was more elven. Together they made the fantasy room, a nice, cozy place Scott quite enjoyed.

Scott flops down on his bed, wincing as he lands on his burned arm, the bandage not sparing the pain. He rolls onto his back, taking his boots off before allowing himself to properly lay down. He needed to remove the whole villain attire too, but at the moment Scott was too tired to even think about that.

Scott didn’t know why the police were so adamant in getting citizens to help stop the villains. When he was out, he saw posters lining stores, telling people to find out who villains were and report them. Sure, Scott and the others weren’t really working to help your local citizens, but they weren’t brutally killing people. And without villains, there aren’t any heroes. Without heroes, the cops have to actually do their job. Surely the police realize it would be easier for them to just keep villains around? Alas, Scott was a genius in a world of idiots, so he could assume the police didn’t often think past what donut they were having for breakfast.

Scott looks down at a comic he has, glaring at it until it freezes over. The heroes were always there to ruin his plans, give him an awful day. IF they really wanted to work for good, they would be one of the few cops that aren’t lazy. Instead, they went for fame and cool looks, getting to wear hero uniforms instead of one a cop would wear. Selfishness under the illusion of being good. And the public loved them. Disgusting. At least the villains weren’t hiding under the illusion of good. They were just openly selfish. Who was truly the villain, if only one side admitted their wrongdoings?

The heroes never had much sense, though.

Scott sits back up with a sigh, walking into his bathroom to change into his regular clothes. He puts on his normal blue jacket, white shirt with a pastel rainbow, and blue jeans. Scott then properly washes out the spray on dye, letting his hair change from blonde back to its original cyan- a sign of his powers.

Once Scott is done cleaning himself off, he looks in the mirror with a sigh. He couldn’t spend the whole day thinking about his failure with the heroes.

It was time to sell some flowers.

Chapter Text

Jimmy frowns as he listens to Tango’s boasting about the great win he and the team had against Snow, one of the villains commonly seen around.

“You had your whole team with you…it can’t have been hard,” Jimmy comments, folding his arms. He didn’t like how much Team BITES enjoyed boasting about wins that really weren’t that difficult to get. It felt wrong for a team with top tier technology and more people to brag about beating a single person who might not even get paid.

“You’re right, it was easy- you should’ve seen his face when he saw all of us,” Tango laughs, completely missing Jimmy’s point.

Jimmy lets out a sigh, standing and walking to the elevator. Tango could entertain the other people listening all he wants- Jimmy just wasn’t gonna be one of them.

Jimmy listens to the calm music as he waits for the ding that signals arrival at his floor. Once it sounds, the doors opening, Jimmy steps through, scanning his hand on the door and waiting as it opens with a whoosh. He sighs as he steps inside his neat, just like all the others room with just a few different things either they added to help Jimmy practice his avian skills or things he added himself to make the room feel at least a little homey.

Jimmy looks in the mirror, making sure his wings have none of the gold dye they put on him to represent “Canary.” Luckily, they’re the light brown a Snow Fairy’s wings are supposed to be. He wanted to go out to town today. Maybe get some flowers. His old ones were starting to wilt…

Jimmy makes his way into the lobby of the tower. Not even bothering to wave goodbye to the front staff or explain where he was going, Jimmy walks out into the streets, quickly getting away from the tower so nobody could see that he was at all affiliated with the place. No random outsiders were allowed in, the tower’s security being high key. Jimmy didn’t really mean to ignore the staff in the tower, but he was fed up with all the boasting that went on. He didn’t understand why the others had to brag about simply helping citizens. Sometimes Jimmy needed a break, that’s all.

Jimmy has always enjoyed walking through the streets, blending in perfectly. People didn’t gawk at him, practically fainting just because he’s some hero. People just passed him, as if he was invisible. Some even curse when he gets in the way. He was just another person, and he was fine with that.

Jimmy walks along his usual patrol route. Usually some of the best suspicious activity was seen when Jimmy was off duty along here, tipping him off on what to look for during his next patrol. He always carried a weapon and handcuffs under his jacket just in case he spotted something urgent. Unlike some of the others, Jimmy didn’t work for fame or the large pay heroes get. He simply worked for the people.

As Jimmy is walking, he notices a new shop that seems to have popped up. All the heroes needed to be more cautious with new shops- who knows what villains might have decided to set up base and use the shop as a front? However, Jimmy can tell the store has been around for a bit at least, since it had a paper displayed in the front showing it’s been inspected by a hero expert. Likely not a villain base, then.

Jimmy takes a closer look at the shop, curious. It was a flower shop called The Rainbow Rose. As Jimmy grows near, he smells probably the greatest scent that’s ever reached his senses. That was a bold claim, especially since Jimmy’s favorite scents weren’t even floral related, but it was true. Curious, Jimmy enters the shop.

“Hello, welcome to The Rainbow Rose!” A man at the front greets. He had bright blue eyes and teal hair- Jimmy could tell by the slightest glow that it was not dye, but instead power that the hair color was displaying.

“Hello,” Jimmy greets, approaching the desk. “I just came to take a look around- couldn’t help but come into a shop with such a wonderful scent. If I may, are any powers being used to enhance the smell, or did you manage to do this naturally?” Powers weren’t allowed to help people lure others to their shops or get them to buy an item- as a hero, it was Jimmy’s job to check for that and take those shops down.

“No, no,” the man laughs, raising his hands in surrender. “I deal with ice and snow, not flowers. This is just a side hobby of mine. I own the shop, so no big shady corporation behind it either.” He leans forward, getting closer to Jimmy. “Just between me and you though, I may or may not have gotten them from a pretty good floral powered person. Gotta make sure I have the best in the market.”

Jimmy smiles. It was perfectly legal to get products from someone with a power pertaining to what you were selling. In fact, it’s recommended. If you’re going to get anything, it might as well be the best!

“Well, in that case, I’ll go for some poppies,” Jimmy says with a smile.

“Poppies, eh? The flowers of death,” the owner notes, going to make a bouquet for Jimmy.

“I didn’t know flowers have meaning,” Jimmy comments, watching him work.

“Most people don’t,” the man says, expertly making the bouquet, precision and care going into every flower, every petal, every placement, He types the information into the register, before handing the flowers to Jimmy. “No need to pay me, it’s your first time in. Consider it a gift.”

“A gift?” Jimmy questions, looking down at the bouquet in awe. “...what if I come again and say it’s my first time again?”

“I always remember my customers,” the man says with a wink.

Jimmy looks for a moment longer, before looking up at the man. “...What’s your name?”

“Scott Smajor, at your service,” Scott says with an overdramatic bow. “And you are…?”

“Jimmy,” Jimmy replies, smiling. “Jimmy Solidarity.”

“Well then, Mr. Jimmy Solidarity, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.”

Jimmy waves goodbye, heading out of the shop. For some strange reason, he’s already missing Scott. The smile, jokes…

Jimmy shakes the thoughts out of his head. He couldn’t immediately be this attached to any boy he meets! Doing the best he can to clear Scott from his mind, Jimmy goes on to continue his walk.

Chapter Text

Lizzie watches as Katherine walks out into the crowded streets. A lot of the press was gathered around, so Katherine was sent out to handle them. Due to her ability to practically make people like her, having them stare at her for a moment longer than they would for anyone else. Lizzie was glad to not have to face them…especially on a day that they’re angry. On those days sometimes they sent Oli out first to charm them with his music. Luckily, since they had just won a fight, the press seemed rather pleased.

Lizzie still remembers the day someone had caught her spending time with Joel. The anger, the distrust. People felt betrayed, and Lizzie felt bad that Katherine had to go through that. Luckily, Katherine had been able to cover for her, understanding that Lizzie just…couldn’t get away from him. They fit so well together! Who cares if they were hero and villain? They had similar ideals, just different ways of showing it.

Honestly, Lizzie didn’t know how they had been caught two months ago. A reporter of some kind must have stalked her to the alleyway they often met at. Whatever it was, the next morning there was a report of “Shadow and Charioteer- enemies, or lovers?” Honestly, it was awful. Everyone immediately pounced on it, either defending Lizzie or deciding she was the worst person to ever exist. She hasn’t gone to see Joel since then, and tonight would be their first time properly meeting again now that things have calmed down.

Lizzie hadn’t meant to fall in love with a villain, she really hadn’t! Just…when they were fighting, Lizzie couldn’t help but smile at his dry humor, the way he smiled with delight while making the people around him feel angrier than they had ever felt before. When she sent him a letter to meet him, Lizzie was pleasantly surprised to discover how sweet and charming he is. Honestly, the real Joel could be quite shy. Even if he did wrong things, Lizzie liked that she could see him properly come alive while doing them. And honestly, it’s not like he robbed banks just to rob them or anything like that. He did everything for a reason. For his own beliefs. And Lizzie could admire that, even if it meant she might have to fight them. They had both agreed that they would fight the opposing team, but would refuse to lay a hand on each other. Therefore, Lizzie could still fight people like Snow, who she learned to be Scott, and Moon, who was introduced as Pearl the time Joel had brought her to a fake villain base. Did Joel say it was fake? No, but Lizzie knew it was a test of trust. She hadn’t told anyone anything. She never planned to. She didn’t really care about the other villains, but Lizzie would avoid doing anything that might harm Joel at all costs.

Katherine walks back into the building with a sigh, running a hand through her hair as she scans her keycard to get past the public area. She walks over to Lizzie, letting her perfect facade drop for the tired look she often wears after a political swarm. “Only one person asked about you and Charioteer today. They were asking if you guys often fought in that area though, so nothing to worry about. Somehow we’ve made everyone think of you two as enemies.”

“Thank you, Katherine,” Lizzie says with a grateful smile. “It means a lot to me that you’re willing to fend off the presses so we can meet up again.”

“I still don’t see why you like him,” Katherine sighs. “But I’m not going to end your story, wherever it’s going. Just don’t end up like Juliet, okay?”

“Alright,” Lizzie laughs, running a comb through her hair for the tenth time since she had combed it this morning. She needed to look her best for Joel, after all. If either of them were going to feel underdressed, it had better be Joel. Once she’s given herself a thrice-over, Lizzie decides that she's satisfied with her outfit, heading out into the crowd.

Luckily, with the disguises all heroes are required to wear, nobody recognized Lizzie. Her light pink hair and ruffled white and blue dress was a stark contrast to the black wig and suit she had to wear, only a few pink accents on the costume. Lizzie could pass through the news people and fans without others even casting a glance at her.

Lizzie hurries over to her favorite cafe, determined to not be late. She’s a hero, so she needed to do her best to be perfect on the date. Maybe she could convince Joel to retire from being a villain! Lizzie would never expect Joel to be a hero, but maybe he could stop worrying about whether or not he gets caught, and possibly killed.

Lizzie arrives a few minutes before their meeting time, standing in front of the cafe while she waits. Soon enough, she sees Joel coming from the distance, looking about as nerdy as she could expect him to look.

Joel had a collared button up shirt and suspenders. Honestly, Lizzie couldn’t help but wonder how people didn’t catch him, with the obvious green streak in his hair and green and purple clothing, which he didn’t hide with his villain outfits. Still, at the same time, a lot of people made their outfit styles based on that of a hero or villain. Lizzie has seen a few with that same green streak.

“Hi, Lizzie!” Joel greets as he walks up to her, smiling. “I’m not late, am I?”

“Nope,” Lizzie replies with a smile. “A minute early, as a matter of fact.”

“Good, that’s good,” Joel replies, holding the door open for Lizzie. Once they’re both in and seated, Joel lowers his voice to a whisper. “Ah…good job the other night. Scott said you guys did well. Or, well, I think he said that. He was too upset to say anything nice, really.”

“Thanks,” Lizzie replies softly. “I hope he didn’t get too hurt.”

“He’ll be fine,” Joel says. “He just got his ego bruised a little. He could use a bit less of an ego, to be honest.”

“You say that like you’re not the same,” Lizzie replies with a smile.

“Hello!” Both of them turn at the sound of a voice. A woman stands in front of them, a notepad in hand. She had goggles perched on top of her head, a red and white striped shirt, a green jacket, and brown shorts. “Welcome to Kitty’s Corner! Are you ready to order?”

“I’ll take a strawberry milk tea, please,” Lizzie says with a smile.

“And a Yorkshire Tea, please,” Joel adds.

“No problem, that’ll be out in a minute!” The waitress says, turning and walking away. The couple relaxes, always feeling the need to be tense whenever they have the risk of being caught.

“I found this park a few days ago…” Lizzie says, turning to Joel. “It’s really pretty, and always open. People aren’t really going to be there at night, so I was thinking maybe we could go there together, in maybe a week?”

“I don’t know…” Joel says hesitantly. “We could be caught…’

“Then we’ll do it when we’re off duty!” Lizzie says. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Alright,” Joel replies with a sigh. “But if we’re caught, you’re breaking me out, okay?”

“Deal,” Lizzie replies with a nod. “If I’m not arrested too.”

“You’re a hero,” Joel replies, looking out a window. “They arrest you, and the citizens attack.”

Chapter Text

Grian sits at a park bench, looking up at the birds in the leaves, the ones that thought they were oh so hidden. The ones that could be taken out so easily, but wouldn’t be, for Grian was in no mood to put in the effort of hunting a bird just to show that he could hunt it.

That’s what humans are for, after all.

Grian had managed to stay under the radar of both the hero and the villain organization. He had no qualities about him that displayed he had power, except for his purple eye color, which he simply wore contacts for to hide their true color.

It was funny, the terms “hero” versus “villain.” Just words, really. Both sides think they’re doing the right thing, when all they end up doing is run around, destroying things because the original disagreement was lost when the public pressured them into fighting each other for a goal they no longer remember.

Now, the villains were desperate for approval. They wanted help. Wanted hope.

Minds perfect for manipulating as Grian pleases.

Grian sees Scar along the path leading to him long before Scar sees him. He makes sure to fix his face, putting on a friendly smile.

“Hey, Scar,” Grian says with a smile as Scar approaches. Grian could tell Scar had some level of crush on him, but Grian made sure to keep him at arm's length as a friend. Keep Scar on the edge of his seat. Keep him needing more. “Thanks for meeting me here.”

“Of course, of course!” Scar says with a smile, pulling a bag of cookies out of his jacket pocket. “I brought these for you!”

“What’s in them?” Grian asks, taking them warily. “Teleportation? Death?”

“Wha- no, those ones are just cookies!” Scar says. “No magic infused. Those ones are in my other pocket.” To prove his point, Scar pulls more cookies out of his other pocket, labels on them showing which magic Scar infused in them.

“You label your magic cookies?” Grian asks with a smile.

“Well, yeah,” Scar admits. “Cub made me start doing it when I accidentally brought sleep cookies into the office once. Luckily only one worker had eaten any by then, so I just infused energy into them too and they cancelled each other out.”

“So you can really infuse anything in here, huh?” Grian asks, making sure to sound impressed. Scar doesn’t know of his powers yet, and Grian would wait to tell him. He’d let Scar ride on the idea that he’s seen as cool to Grian a bit longer.

“Yup! Anything and everything!” Scar replies, placing his hands on his hips proudly.

“You could kill people with these? Or make them do anything you want?” Grian questions, turning one of the cookies in his hand, examining it.

“I…suppose,” Scar says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve never really thought about doing anything really bad with them.”

“Not a very good villain then, eh?” Grian replies.

“N-No! I’m very good!” Scar says. “I’m just more used to hurting others with a bow than some cookies.”

“Well, maybe it’s about time you start proving it,” Grian says smoothly. “You’re a good person, Scar. Surely you want this whole thing to end?”

“Yeah,” Scar replies. “Of course I do. That’s why I’m a villain after all. I want everything to be back as it should be.”

“Well,” Grian says, smiling coyly up at Scar. “There’s one way to win this thing, and it’s certainly not to play at any specific side.” Grian stands, placing a hand on Scar’s shoulder. “Listen, I’m putting together a small group of people to end this whole thing altogether. Heroes. Villains. No identities shown to the public. We’re going to be working from the insides of both organizations to choose each side to choose peace and resolve this conflict. It’s not going to work if you guys just keep throwing yourselves at each other, yeah? I need charming, powerful people like you to help me on this journey.” Grian smirks as he sees a hint of pink appear on Scar’s face. “So, whaddaya say?”

“I think that’s a great idea, G,” Scar says with a smile. “The less people that get hurt on the way to victory, the better.”

“Perfect!” Grian says happily. “I’ll give you more information on that later then. I gotta go, though. Told a friend I’d help him with something.”

“Oh. Right.” Scar deflates a bit realizing he can’t spend more time with Grian, but perks back up when he remembers the rest of what Grian said. “See you tomorrow then, Grian!” With a happy wave, Scar heads off, leaving Grian alone in the park.

Once Scar is gone, Grian reaches into the satchel he always keeps by his side. He deposits the cookies in there, not planning on eating them, and takes out a small notebook and pencil. He opens it up, flipping to a page.

Scar
Mumbo
Skizz
Joel
Scott

Grian smiles to himself as he scratches off Scar’s name. Half of the people on this list didn’t even know Grian’s name. But Grian made sure to memorize theirs, as well as their faces, abilities, and weaknesses.

This would be easy.

By the end of the year, the world would no longer have a hero or villain association to turn to.

Not because the war ended.

But because they would all be dead by then.

Chapter Text

Cub narrows his eyes as he inspects the sample, the black inky substance generating a fog that was starting to glow a pale blue. Scott gazes at it over his shoulder, not missing the slight movement, the black outlines with a similar blue color, speckles of blue floating inside like stars.

“And you’re saying you found this by an abandoned Alliance base?”  Cub questions, turning his gaze up to Scott.

"I did," Scott confirms with a nod.

"Right…" Cub sighs, tapping his pen against the table. "I want you to get me more. I want to run some tests and I'd like to have more on hand for that. If this turns out to be some sort of super weapon, might be good for us to have it too, eh?"

"I suppose," Scott replies, adjusting his gloves. "How much more will you need?"

Cub takes three vials out of a box, handing them to Scott. "Just fill these up and you should be good," he says. Scott nods, placing them in his belt.

"I'll get those right now," Scott says, heading for the door. "I'll be back in a few."

-

Scott walks across the grass, staying silent as he heads for the edge of the small shed. It may just seem like a random location for some, but anything in the middle of nowhere with no house attached like this was a clear indication of a hero base. They really needed to get better at that.

Scott scans along the edge of the base, eventually spotting the small patch of black and blue spreading from one of the base's edges. Scott crouches over it, taking the vials out of his pocket and gently starting to collect the samples. He's just finishing up putting the last vial back on his belt when he hears someone clearing their throat. He stands, whirling around to see Canary glaring at him, arms crossed, golden wings catching the last of the sunlight.

"What do you think you're doing here, villain?" Canary challenges, bristling.

"You know, it's a lot easier to catch a villain when you don't try to squeeze in some snobbish catchphrase," Scott points out, shooting Canary hand guns. "Might make it…you know…possible to catch me."

Canary glares at him, pulling out his lasso, intertwined with magic. "I don't go after defenseless people. Even if they're famous criminals."

"Well, aren't you sweet?" Scott replies, layering false sweetness onto his voice. With the opening spotted, Scott turns, sprinting away from Canary. However, he doesn't get far when he finds himself tripping over a rock. Canary. The power to cause bad luck to his opponents.

"Your days of villainy are over, Snow," Canary says proudly, lassoing Scott's ankle when he tries to get up.

"I am not about to get arrested by someone who uses that as a line," Scott mutters, placing a hand under his chin. Once Canary is close enough, Scott twists, pulling his knife out of his belt and digging it into the gap in his armor right above the knee, twisting and pulling the blade out when he hears the shriek from his enemy.

Canary curses under his breath, pulling out his axe.

"Oh, we're serious now?" Scott asks, tilting his head in amusement. With a flick of his wrist, ice spreads over the axe, rounding out around the blade. "It was nice while it lasted, Canary," he says sweetly. However, as he turns to leave, he's surprised to hear the soft sound of a blade being drawn. He turns, just barely managing to block Jimmy's sword with his dagger. From the too-close look, Scott can see the faint red glow of a heated blade. It seemed to have some sort of heater on the inside. His ice could only render the weapon useless for a few seconds. It would only be a waste of energy trying.

Scott delivers a swift kick to Canary's gut, getting himself out of the situation. He rolls away, turning to face Canary just to earn a punch in the face. "Rude," he mutters, deflecting the swipe of the sword that follows.

"Look, if you just let me go, I'll be out of your hair and you can go home uninjured, yeah?" Scott suggests, trying to kick Canary but being countered with a block.

"You're up to no good! I'm not just going to let you go free!" Canary snaps, managing to tie a knot around Scott's arm in the scuffle.

Scott takes out his dagger, pulling back and slicing the weapon down in an arc, cutting Canary's lasso.

"My lasso!" Canary shrieks, holding the rope to his chest.

"Yeah yeah, cry about it," Scott mutters, stepping back. "Well, since you seem rather upset, I'll leave you be." He turns, taking off running. Canary follows with an angry shriek, his run soon turning into flight. Scott curses under his breath, diving into the forest nearby, hoping to at least slow Canary.

However, slowing Canary meant slowing himself. Scott managed to trip over almost every root and rock he came across. If he didn't know better, he'd think he somehow got drunk. He manages to twist his ankle, cursing as he straightens himself. Ignoring the amount of energy it would take, Scott summons a wall of ice behind him, hoping it would slow Canary down. He continues to run, panting as he eventually reaches a metro. He runs down the stairs, pushing through the crowds, ignoring the shrieks and insults. People start to move more as they realize who exactly is running through. If it was out of fear or awe, Scott wasn't sure.

Canary was slowed a bit, needing to both track Scott and make sure anyone Scott shoved out of the way was okay. Scott lets out a huffed laugh as Canary bends down to pick up a teddy bear a little girl had dropped, giving Scott just enough time to hop on the subway right before the doors close. The last thing Scott sees is Canary's defeated expression before he enters the tunnel, the outside world going dark.

The passengers all make a clear birth for Scott, not wanting anything to do with the famous hero Snow. Scott decides to get off at the first stop, not wanting to give Canary time to call in the other heroes. If that happened, the lot would be at every station. Thanfully the bad signal and Scott's icy glare kept the passengers away from their phones.

At the first stop, Scott steps off, ignoring the collective sigh of relief from the passengers. He quickly exits onto the streets, staying in the shadows and making his way back in the wilderness. He takes a roundabout way back, not wanting anyone to be following him. Eventually, Scott's able to sneak down to the villain base.

"I'm back," Scott singsongs as he bursts into the lab area. Cub turns, looking Scott up and down.

"You got into a scuffle?" Cub asks, raising an eyebrow. "You took an hour longer than I expected."

Scott frowns. "I got you your stuff. Now play nice and do your job instead of wasting time coming for me." Scott passes Cub the vials carelessly, ignoring how one almost falls. He walks out of the room, tossing his hair as his goodbye before exiting.

The cyanette sighs once he's in the empty hallway, running a hand through his hair. "What a day," Scott sighs, heading for the restroom. He needed a bath.

Chapter Text

"I was so close, and he just- he broke my lasso!" Jimmy seethes, gripping the soft blankets on the bed beneath him. He winces as Tango dabs wound wash over the cut Snow had given him. Luckily, Snow hadn't gotten him enough for it to require more than a bandage.

"He's a jerk. All villains are," Tango replies with an eye roll.

"Yeah, but…you'd think they'd understand how important weapons can be to people," Jimmy whines, laying back on the bed with a huff, even more frustrated when his wings make him adjust so they don't get squished.

"That's probably why he broke it in the first place," Tango says, leaning over the other side of the bed so he can make eye contact with Jimmy. "Villains are like that, Jimmy. They're bad people."

"But there are so many…" Jimmy sighs, sitting up. "Surely some are just…misled?"

"Or just bad," Tango snorts. He sighs, moving around the bed to sit next to Jimmy. "Look- maybe it's not their fault they're bad people. They were raised poorly or something. But they still hurt people, Jimmy. They still are bad people. Didn't you say that Snow practically shoved a child out of the way?"

"Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration," Jimmy scoffs, crossing his arms. "But yes, I suppose it can be seen like that."

"If the kid was forced to step back and drop her toy, I think that counts," Tango replies dryly. Jimmy lets out a sigh, staring at the lights hanging from his ceiling. Tango notes his expression and stands, moving in front of him.

"Jimmy, look. I know you want to see the best in everybody, but you just can't when it comes to villains." Tango opens his hand, a small flame sparking in his palm. "The city has a flame, a spark. Right?"

"Right…" Jimmy replies.

"Okay. And what do heroes do?" Tango continues.

"We…protect? The flame?" Jimmy replies, looking up at Tango with a slight tilt of his head.

"Exactly! And villains…"

"Smother it!" Jimmy finishes, getting excited to be catching on to the topic.

"Right." Tango extinguishes the flame, dusting his hand off on his shirt. "And if we just let villains do what they want or let them off easy under the assumption that they're misunderstood, we might as well be smothering the flame ourselves."

Jimmy frowns, the mental image of the flame lingering.

If they were supposed to be protecting the flame…why did it seems like civilians tried to tear it down as much as the villains? The media was cruel…always trying to find a fault in the heroes.

Then again, maybe the media was ruled by villains. They never really knew what other jobs villains took, after all.

-

The bell to the flower shop lets out a pleasant chime as Jimmy walks in. The flowers were amazing, and still alive, so really he had no reason to be returning. However, some sort of pull led him here. Maybe he could get some flowers as a gift. A gift for…he wasn't sure who it would be for. Maybe Lizzie. She had seemed stressed ever since the rumors of her dating a villain. Honestly, Jimmy hated that rumor. Who in their right mind would even date a villain?

Jimmy is pulled out of his thoughts as he hears the smooth voice he had grown to miss.

"Hiya, Jimmy!" Scott greets, smiling at the hero. "What brings you back so soon?"

"Well, I couldn't resist! Your flowers are so amazing, I had to get some for my friends," Jimmy replies, walking over. Scott's eyes flick down as he notices he uneven rhythm of Jimmy's steps.

"What happened with your leg, if I may ask?" Scott asks, looking back up to Jimmy.

"Oh, this funny little thing?" Jimmy looks down to his leg, trying to put more pressure on it with a wince. "Yeah…this is nothin'. Twisted my ankle while gardening."

"Gardening?" Scott's eyes light up as he quickly becomes distracted by the idea of gardening. "I hope you didn't plant the bouquet from me. I have flowers suited much better to actual gardening. Less fragile, good for this weather…"

Before Jimmy can say anything, Scott disappears to one of the back rooms. Jimmy's left standing awkwardly outside until the shop owner returned, his wings twitching restlessly.

Jimmy had to give it to him, the man seemed quite trusting. He didn't seem to care about shoplifters in the slightest. Then again, Jimmy remembered him saying something about snow and ice. Maybe there was some sort of protection system relating to his powers.

Now that Jimmy looked around a bit more closely, he noticed small icicles hanging from the ceiling near the door, the light just barely able to reflect off of them. Jimmy had to guess that those would grow in an instant should anyone try to steal. A frown crosses the canary's face. Wouldn't that be dangerous…? He really didn't want to report Scott for anything unsafe. Maybe there was another way around that.

Ice and snow…

The fight from last night was still clear in his memory. Of course, ice related powers were never really rare. Powers like Jimmy's were more one of a kind. It became difficult when the heroes had to investigate people with those powers- finding and keeping track of them was difficult.

Still…maybe if Jimmy investigated Scott, and he turned out to be right, he could remind the presses about the good heroes supply! And the fire can remain lit. He doubted Scott would be any type of villain- the man was simply too nice- but Jimmy refused to believe he might unconsciously have ulterior motives to wanting to get to know Scott better.

A flash of cyan brings Jimmy back to the present as Scott walks in, dumping flowers on the table in front of him, all lovely and neatly potted.

"Alright, I forgot to ask what type of garden you have- full yard or planter-so I brought things for both," Scott says, looking through the flowers. "Roses, Dahlias, Oakleaf hydrangea…do you have any pets?"

"No outdoor ones," Jimmy replies.

"Perfect! We don't need to worry about anything poisoning the poor pets should they get out and eat them, then. If you have indoor pets though, be careful. The last two can be toxic and cause some vomiting, so if you ever bring the plants in, keep them firmly out of reach." Scott pauses, realizing something. "Ah- if you get them, of course."

"Why would I bring plants inside?" Jimmy asks with a light frown.

"For extreme weather…" Scott replies. "Some plants are sensitive to that stuff, right? So if you had them out during freezing temperatures or droughts, they could die. Instead, some people bring them inside to make sure they stay safe."

"Right…" Jimmy replies, trying to wrap his head around all the information. "Uhm- okay. I think I understand?"

Scott hesitates, looking around. "I really should add some planters in here to demonstrate…" he muses, before turning back to Jimmy, clasping his hands together. "Well! If you want a demonstration, you could always stop by my house!"

Jimmy looks up, surprised finding a way into Scott's life was so easy. Unfortunately, that means he also needs to be cautious. "Uh- yeah! Sure, that sounds great!"

"Lovely." With an overly sweet smile, Scott takes out a glittery blue pen, writing an address on a card and passing it to Jimmy. "I'll be free next week in the evening. Come on over."

Jimmy takes the card with a smile. "Thanks, Scott. I'll be there." Jimmy pays for his chosen flowers, then turns to walk out the door. As he leaves, he misses Scott's gaze fixed firmly on the bottom of one of his feathers, where he had forgotten to completely wash off the paint on his wings.