Twister landed in a dingy location.
It was an underground entrance to Zalic's laboratory, a place that looked like nothing more than an unassuming abandoned train tunnel to the naked eye, but Twister had been here long enough to see through its diffident façade. Twister ran her fingers along the old brick walls, hearing a leak drip in the distance and smelling the putrid stench of what she was sure was black mold. Twister walked far enough along the wall to find a familiar loose brick. She pulled it out and pressed a large round button on the inside. Withing seconds, a secret door opened, the wall scrapping and groaning in protest. Twister put the brick back in the hole, the stepped through the entrance quickly, as she now only had a few minutes to enter before the door closed again, and when it did it would not open for another half hour.
Twister had learned this the hard way.
She walked further into the dark brick room, the walls groaning and protesting a final time before it closed with a rumble and thud. Before the sound made Twister uneasy, it reminded her of those haunted houses she was afraid of when she was younger. But it didn't really phase her now…
She walked down the hallway slowly, reflecting on the events that had transpired prior. Psycha's debut had been a success, the people loved her! And they were too distracted bombarding her with questions that they didn't even realize Twister's escape. Still, even though she felt happy for Psycha, Twister still felt something was missing. A void in her chest that hadn't been filled. But what was it? Perhaps it was too early in their plan to tell. She should really give herself a break, it had literally only been a few hours after all… Even though the world had a new hero, Twister still wasn't satisfied. She shook her head. It's too early to tell, she reminded herself. It's too early to make any judgment. She needed to assess the situation with the other villains before she and Psycha made their next move. Twister was sure they were all planning Psycha's demise the second they learned of her existence.
The walls finally changed from the moldy brick to a sleek white drywall. She had now officially entered the underground of the facility, the old storage floor that never really got used for anything other than unused old janitorial equipment and cobwebs. Twister walked up a flight of weathered white stairs, the sound of the crunching pebbles and her ragged breathing the only sound to fill the silence. She held onto the old rusted railway as she hoisted herself up the unimpressive staircase, the dull light flickering and buzzing above her pathetically.
As she reached the top of the staircase, Twister stepped onto a tile landing and found herself facing in front of a tall dark brown door, that's paint was chipping and was as equally unimpressive as everything else in the hollow room. Twister reached down and pulled a small key card out of her boot, further approaching the door and swiping it on the small black card reader, that sometimes took multiple swiped to work. Most people would assume it doesn't work because of how lame and bland everything else in the room is; however, Twister had a theory that it was because Magware, a villain with the ability to manipulate technology, was just simply deactivating the slot every time they saw her approach on the tiny 720p security camera that everyone missed every time they approached the door.
Twister was sure the camera didn't have any other use except to aid Magware in being a nuisance.
And as she predicted, the second she tried to swipe the key card, the red light on the reader turned off. Twister sighed and leaned forward, allowing her head to hit the door. She really wasn't in the mood for this, but Magware was always in the mood for watching her suffer. She tried swiping the card again with completely no success before she grew frustrated and kicked the door, glaring up at the security camera. The card reader turned off again, which was her final straw. She looked up at the security camera and created a rough gust of wind that immediately took the aged thing off the wall and onto the ground with a loud clack!
She huffed and glared at the blasted thing. She angrily swiped her keycard again, glaring down at the card reader until after a few painful seconds the light flashed green and the lock on the door clicked from the inside. Twister roughly kicked open the door and stepped inside the chroma themed hallway. She slammed the door closed and stuffed the card back into her boot pocket, huffing angrily as she stalked down the higher budget hallway. The walls and floors were sleek and pristine, a contrast to the dingy unimpressive entranceway that came before it.
Twister went down the well-lit hallway and passed a small map of the building, walking down the path towards the elevator without sparing the map a glance. Twister punched the up button on the shiny metallic elevator and waited for the soft ding, then stepped inside the bright lift as soon as the door opened. She hit the button for the third floor, then leaned against the cold metal handle against the wall. She took in a deep breath and then exhaled in an effort to ease her nerves. The door pinged again and opened much sooner than Twister would've liked, then with another deep sigh she stalked out of the elevator and onto the white third floor, which was somehow more pristine than the lobby Twister was in before. Twister passed dozens of laboratories and study rooms as she slowly walked down the hallway, hearing the muffled voices of scientists and villains as she made her way throughout the research center of the third floor. A few years ago it was a place that she had been excited to go to. A place she thought would kickstart her career into making the world a better place in the name of science. Not make her the henchman of a power crazed dictator.
Twister shook her head.
She had more pressing matters at the moment, and they were down a red line that led towards a much darker section of the third floor, the lighting matching the ominous feeling of the hallway that got increasingly darker the more Twister walked down. To others this hallway was uncomfortable and frightening, it was unnecessarily long and each light got dimmer and dimmer until you reached the large black unmarked door, the red line on the floor disappearing under it.
It used to make Twister queasy before; she always imagined something had been dragged kicking and screaming towards this room, something that had once suffered the same fate as her, but now it just made her roll her eyes. She knew Margret liked the theatrics of being an evil overlord wannabe and this just fed into her villain power trip fantasy.
Twister pushed the door open, the light from the outside illuminating her in a way that caused whoever was inside the room to gasp. Twister raised her eyebrows and walked in the room, the door closing behind her. The research room was dark, and looked more like a lounge at this point than a lab, however the computers and testing stations in the back kept the room from looking like a complete lobby.
Upon approaching one of the large dark red chairs, Twister was able to get a better view of the person who gasped, which was the person she didn't want to see, nor the person she wanted to murder for annoying her with the card slot.
Electrina, a villain with the power of electric manipulation, was a Morena woman with large salon blowout curls and wide, mildly panic stricken, amber eyes stared back at her with a mix of panic and annoyance.
"Bloody hell, you can KNOCK!" Trina exclaimed. "Or better yet, ANNOUNCE YOURSELF!"
Twister merely rolled her eyes and didn't respond.
She pulled her mask off of her face and flopped down onto the large chair opposite of Trina, closing her eyes to take a few moments rest when she smelled a scent she couldn't place, and sent a questioning glance to Trina.
"What's that smell?"
Trina stared at her with a look of apprehension and mild embarrassment before puffing up her chest and declaring, "It's a humidifier, and it's used for aromatherapy, you know, that healing treatment that uses natural plant extracts to promote health and well-being- " Twister rolled her eyes as Trina drew out the words. "I know what aromatherapy is." Twister drawled. Trina hummed and reached over to a small night table behind her, which Twister saw the stream of smoke coming from, and pressed a button on the humidifier, making the line of steam increase in size. Trina turned back to Twister and went back to what she was doing, which Twister also hadn't paid attention to before. She had a small manicure set on the arm of the large chair and was putting some kind of oil on her fingers and was pulling her skin with a sharp tool that made Twister cringe and shift uncomfortably with every small snip and push.
"This one's a cinnamon leaf blend," Trina said, making Twisters eyes snap back to her face. "It's a stress relief." Trina's eyes met Twisters. "Figured you would need it." Twister looked away. "Then why'd you freak out earlier when I came in if you were expecting me?" Trina huffed. "You scared the hell out of me."
Twister crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows. "What." She said flatly.
Trina raised her hands in mock surrender. "What? I'm just sitting here.." "You have a habit of doing a mildly considerate thing for someone before you drop a massive bomb on someone. So what is it?" Trina made a show about putting her manicure set away, making Twisters eye twitch as she watched Trina pad for time, the smug look on her face proved that she knew exactly what she was doing.
"We all heard about the new hero." Trina said casually as she set her manicure kit onto the same table her humidifier was sitting on.
Twister did her best to remain poker faced. "Oh? Already? Hasn't been that long.." As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was genuinely impressed as to how fast word about the new hero spread, though she couldn't be too surprised as Psycha was the first real hero since Margret's rise.
"Yeah.." Trina trailed off. "The others are kind of suspicious." Twister felt her heart spike, but she quickly steadied her breathing just in case Turbulent, a villain that was able to detect a persons blood levels heart rates… Twister didn't know the full extent of his power but she remembered he was always kept around for interrogations, was nearby.
"You've never just walked away before." Trina accused. Twister felt her jaw twitch. Of course, Trina would go for the straightforward, hard hitting questions… Twister should've expected this as her entire career beforehand involved being asked straight to the point insensitive questions.
"Yeah, well I've never encountered a hero before either!" Twister spat defensively.
Electrina rolled her eyes and shifted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere. "There were plenty of 'heroes'. You've wiped the floor with them."
Twister felt herself getting increasingly more impatient the more Trina's icy blue eyes stared into her own dark ones, as if searching for any trace of deceit. Twister scoffed and looked away.
"Yeah, those losers were just that. Losers. This girl's different. She actually has powers, and knows how to use them." She said, crossing her arms over her chest tightly.
Trina didn't look convinced. "You called her 'rival'. Do you have any idea how Marget and the others are going to take this?" She asked incredulously. "It's just like what you said earlier, the others are going to be hunting her down like crazy now.. You should've just spared her the fate and the humiliation and killed her off then." Twister furrowed her eyebrows at the surprisingly soft tone in Trina's voice.
Why did she care so much about Psycha's safety? Though she wouldn't say it out loud, Twister was concerned as well, of course she couldn't let Trina know that. "Look," Twister growled. "I don't give a shit if you don't believe me. The point is there's a new hero around here, and dammit I'm fucking bored of all these fruitless acts of terrorism that don't do anything other than cost the state tax dollars to fix. You'll forgive me if I entertain this a bit."
Trina tutted and looked away, a sign that she agreed with Twister and she didn't want to admit it.
"Just know she's got a bounty on her head now. She better be careful… Not all of our powers are public information." Twister made eye contact with Trina, an undeniable hint of curiosity in her chest. Trina was giving her a look that made Twister think she knew more than she let on about Twisters relationship with Psycha, she had a heavy unreadable gaze on her face that made Twister think for a quick second that maybe she could trust her.
But for now she couldn't take that risk.
Twister looked away. "Hers aren't either." She shifted again and looked back at Trina, kicking her feet up of the large chair. "I feel like you and I both know why her power in particular is going to cause problems for us." Her gaze was serious now, she had expected to hear from Zalic much sooner than this, and judging by the way Trina was biting the inside of her lip; she was too.
Trina sighed, "We'll hear about it soon enough. I'm sure the only reason we haven't is because Marget isn't here." Twister felt a twinge of satisfaction at that. "Still in Texas?" Twister asked trying to hide her smug smile. Electrina sighed, "Yeah but I'm sure she's on the way back now.."
"Where's Darcy." Twister asked, no longer caring about Zalic or Trina's concern.
Electrina shifted uncomfortably as she tightened her arms. "You shouldn't get too close to her. Zalic's gonna notice.."
Twister stood up angrily, glaring down at Trina, who at least had the decency to look apologetic about the topic. "So what? She can use you like a play toy but I can't have a friend?"
"First of all, that isn't true-" Twister rolled her eyes. "And secondly, secondly! Cut the shit. You clearly have feelings for her, and that's what Margret has a problem with."
Twister clenched her fists tighter as Trina's words sunk in.
"I don't give a shit about what she wants. Where. The hell. Is Darcy." Twister spat through gritted teeth.
Trina scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Did you listen to anything.." She stopped at the hard glare on Twister's face, then rolled her eyes again.
"She's in the greenhouse, like always." Trina huffed.
Twister turned and stalked off in the direction of the greenhouse, no further acknowledgment to Trina.
"You're welcome!" Trina called after Twister's retreating frame sarcastically. "Asshole.." She grumbled once she was out of earshot.
--
There were four different greenhouses around the facility; two on the second floor, one on the fifth floor and the main greenhouse was located on the top floor of the building.
Twister headed towards the main one on the top floor, as that was the largest one with the most access to rain and sunlight, and also the one that Darcy, a villain who manipulated plant life, spent most of her time.
As she predicted, Darcy was on the top floor and was nursing a plant by the time Twister found her, the plants all around her lifting and rising in sync with her chest and shoulders, like they were breathing along with her. Twister stood in the doorway and watched her from a distance, mesmerized by her appearance and movements, nearly jumping out of her skin when a vine came in front of her face, and poking her on the nose.
She hissed quietly as she jolted back, the action getting a chuckle from the dark-haired woman inside the greenhouse.
"Getting a bit slow there Megumi.." Darcy chuckled quietly. "Usually you'd be able to spot that trick from a mile away.."
Twister straightened out the torso part of her costume and stalked into the room. "Yeah, well.. I was a bit distracted." She said. As Twister walked further into the room, Darcy, a woman with dark green hair and light brown eyes, turned to look at her with a small smile on her face, welcoming Megumi as she approached.
"Or.." Darcy drawled when Megumi was in front of her. She shimmied her shoulders gently as she looked up at Megumi with a playful expression. "I could just be getting so good with my power that I'm better than everyone else now." She joked.
Megumi snorted. "I mean, you're better than Magware." Darcy rolled her eyes. "A rabid dog can control itself better than Magware can." Megumi snorted, resting her forehead on Darcy's. Darcy closed her eyes and leaned into the contact, the stress from Megumi's earlier conversation with Trina slowly melting away.
Ever since the two met, there was always about Darcy that made Megumi feel calm and relaxed, perhaps it was that she had a secondary power that allowed her to release different hormones onto her surroundings, she usually used them on plants but Megumi had suspicions that Darcy used them on her as well. Megumi never had the courage to ask in case she was wrong and her feelings for Darcy became obvious- more obvious than they were now anyways- and she might sour the relationship they currently had, and Megumi really didn't want to lose Darcy.
Maybe Megumi could ask Ana or Tiffany, those two seemed to know a lot about dating and feelings..
Darcy was the type of person to show kindness to anyone or anything, from a small baby to an inanimate object, she was terrible for destructive missions as the only time the public had seen her attempt to cause destruction of property; she ended up being the star of a viral video which showed her crying and profusely apologizing after knocking over a small statue of a wooden cat.
Needless to say, none of the other villains tried to force her into destruction ever again; not that Megumi would let them, her resentment for Zalic grew deeper when she kidnapped Darcy and forced her through the same suffering as everyone else.
Megumi looked into Darcy's eyes, light brown in color with small flecks of green and amber scattered through them, and with the close proximity that the two were in now, Megumi could see the faint traces of freckles and beauty marks out of the corner of her eyes. Megumi put her hand on the side of Darcy's face, absentmindedly rubbing her cheek with her thumb.
Darcy had a way of disarming Megumi in a way that no one else did, no matter what was said about her in the media and She wasn't Twister with Darcy, she was herself, she wasn't a super villain that was responsible for God knows how many crimes, she was human; she was Megumi.
"Something bothering you?" Darcy broke the silence, making Megumi's eyes flit to her face. Megumi did something that she rarely ever did in that moment; she hesitated. She wanted to tell Darcy everything, about Ana-Psycha, how she was going to destroy the element, how she felt about… But she couldn't do it, as much as she trusted Darcy, she cared too much for her and her safety to put her in the crossfire of her and Ana's plans.
Megumi would tell her after, she'd understand. But for now, Megumi had to go with the safest option.
"Have you heard about the new hero too?" Megumi asked her.
Darcy opened her eyes, pointedly focusing on something in the background and huffed. "I mean.." Her light eyes flicked back up to Megumi's, "No..?" Megumi let out a soft huff through her nose. "You're bad at lying." She said with a soft smirk. Darcy bit the inside of her cheek and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Well.. Who hasn't honestly.."
Megumi huffed again and looked around at the various different plants in the greenhouse. Her eyes flicked back to Darcy after a few moments of silence. "What do you think of her?" Megumi asked.
Darcy tried to hide a bashful smile. "I think she's kinda cool." She said quietly. Megumi rolled her eyes playfully. "Well- You think she's cool too don't you?!" Darcy exclaimed. "I saw the news, you called her a rival, that must mean something doesn't it?" Megumi thought for a moment, concern stretching out onto Darcy's features as she did so.
"Yeah.." She said at last. "Trina and I talked about her earlier.. She thought it was weird that I didn't try to kill her." Darcy flinched at the word 'kill', but didn't make any comments about it, nor did Megumi. "She's weird.." Darcy replied meekly, getting a soft chuckle out of Megumi.
Darcy picked at the skin on her fingers and bit the inside of her lip, a mannerism that Megumi learned was what she did when she wanted to ask something but was too hesitant to do so.
"What is it?" Megumi prodded softly. Darcy gave her a grateful look. "Well.." She said quietly. "Why did you decide to call her a rival? I didn't know you cared much for that stuff."
'There's a lot you don't know..' Megumi thought to herself. "It's just.. I'm bored of this life." Megumi exhaled honestly. "I'm just so tired of the same old same old, and I really just wanted a change.. Plus the joy on those people's faces when they saw her.. I couldn't just.." The unspoken 'murder' hung out in the atmosphere, though luckily for her, Megumi didn't need to say anything for Darcy to understand.
Darcy gave her a such a soft smile that it felt like the wind had been knocked out of her, which Megumi thought was quite contradictory.
"What?" Megumi asked softly.
"You care.." Darcy said. Megumi looked away. "Of course I care.. I didn't want to be in this life, none of us did. I'm just trying to survive; and I guess I'm curious to see what happens with the newbie."
Her response didn't falter the look on Darcy's face, instead she leaned closer into Megumi's space, gently pulling her face closer to hers, Megumi's breath hitching in her throat as Darcy stood up slightly on the tips of her toes, Megumi felt her eyes flutter softly as Darcy leaned in…
"Twister!" Magnetron burst in through the door, making Darcy jump back and recoil back into her vines that Megumi hadn't noticed were so close to them before.
Megumi's head whipped towards Magnetron angrily, her usual sympathy for the man gone as her eyes grew heavy and dark, her voice being fluctuated by her power as she hissed at him, her powers involuntarily activating and lifting Magnetron off the ground. "What could you possibly-"
"Zalic's looking for you!" Twister felt her heart stop in her chest as she briefly glanced at Darcy, who had retreated further into her vines and was near invisible at this point. Twister looked back at him with s slightly clearer head.
"What for? If it's about the hero then-"
"Yes, it's about her! But, well, not really her- rather her amplifier.." Twister raised her eyebrows in a gesture for him to continue, the magnetic villain seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was suspended in midair. "From what I've overheard, there were two people responsible for looking after it! She's found them! Zalic wants you there as a witness in case they try to play dumb."
Twister straightened up and stared back at him. Of all the things she expected Margret to do, this wasn't one of them. Not to mention the fact that Magnetron just dropped a very important piece of information. She had her suspicions about where the amplifier had gone, but she didn't know anything about someone being tasked to hang onto it..
Who on Earth could Margret possibly trust with an amplifier that had made her uneasy before… And were these the same idiots that put an empty box in a shipping container?
"I'll be right there." Twister told him, more levelheadedly than before.
Magnetron nodded, and Twister finally set him down, the man taking a few moments to stabilize his footing before running off, to where Twister didn't see as she turned back to Darcy. Twister approached the large wall of vines to the area where she last saw Darcy standing.
"I… Have to go.." She said quietly.
The vines parted into a small gap, revealing a bit of Darcy's eye, but from what Twister could see, her face was a light pink.
"Okay." Darcy squeaked. Megumi chuckled silently as she watched the vines recover Darcy's face, the woman squeaking out a tiny 'goodbye' as Twister turned to leave, the wind villain raising her hand in a curt wave as she walked to the exit.
She met Trina just outside the door, the electric villain in her costume, giving Twister an unimpressed gaze as she held out Twister's orange and white mask. Twister snatched the mask out of her hand silently and quickly pulling it over her face, the two of them walking after Magnetron into the dark hallway, curiosity slowly replacing Twisters previous frustration.