An elderly couple found themselves in a dark, dimly lit room. The two clung to each other shakily, eyes darting from each other to the villain behind them, sneering as they flexed their fingers, some kind of green aura glowing and shrinking as their fist opened and closed.
A door to the left of them slammed open, rattling the room and causing the pair to jump. Even the villain behind them looked unsettled by the sudden noise. There was a soft tapping of footsteps somewhere in the dark. The couple looked in the direction of the noise and saw a faint outline of shoes walking to the opposite side of where the couple was standing.
The footsteps stopped just slightly behind a large chair the couple had paid no mind to before.
It was large, tall, and looked uncomfortable, like something that matched the evil lair aesthetic that was matching the rest of the room. It looked to be made of the most uncomfortable material, like some kind of steel or concrete, and the top of the chair was shaped liked a pair of large horns. The arm rests of the chair were sharp and shaped like diamonds, and had a long metal diamond pattern along the front. There were no cushions on the chair, as to further match the uncomfortable atmosphere. Out of the shadows stepped a tall, luminating figure. The dim light above the chair didn't do much to cast enough light on the person, though even without the light, the couple- and everyone else in the room- was able to tell who it was.
The figure in the chair sat down slowly, crossing one leg over the other and slowly folding their hands. "You let my amplifier get into the wrong hands." The voice sneered. It was nothing more than a soft whisper, yet the couple flinched as if the speaker had screamed at them.
The couple trembled. The man tried to subtly wipe a bead of sweat from his brow before he spoke to the voice.
"We- we left it in a place we didn't think it would be disturbed!"
The shrill voice cackled, not an ounce of humor present in the mocking tone.
"Really?" They called. "Is that why my right hand has told me the amplifier was put in a shipping container, AFTER IT HAD BEEN STOLEN?!"
The couple had flinched before, but this time they jumped back. The woman responded this time, her voice shaking with every word.
"N-Not stolen! Whoever came across it could've done so on accident!"
"We would never go against you Zalic, we have no idea who this new hero is!"
"What do you think?" The voice snapped.
The couple was confused. But before they could ask who she was talking to, two figures came out from the shadows, both on the opposite sides of Zalic.
Twisters' white pupils clashed dangerously against her black scleras. The couple saw them dart from one to the other, assessing them, deciding whether or not Zalic should kill them for this mistake. She was her right hand after all, Zalic rather did anything without her say.
Twister crossed her arms as she continued to level the couple, observing them. "I found the storage container that belonged to you. Though I didn't know who you were before, I overheard some conversation between the workers who were loading up your container. They didn't mention anything about you other than the fact that you were eager to have the box sealed away as soon as possible."
Zalic leaned forward, revealing her unimpressed ad livid gaze as she stared the couple down, like a wolf staring down its prey.
"I must ask though," Twister said aloofly, her gaze lazily darting around the room, "why wasn't in the storage container the second it had been given to you?" Twister queered without thinking.
"How would you know where it was?!" The woman snapped.
"Easy.." Drawled a second voice. This voice was smooth, sultry, yet there was no warmth behind their tone. The couple heard a few clacks as the voice of the second person approached, their heels glinting under the dim light above them.
The other person stared them down in the same overcalculating fashion, piercing blue eyes pinning them down like darts, Electrina was the haphazard one, she didn't have much ability to sway Twister, but Zalic was always eager to hear what she had to say.
Electrina ran her hand along the chair as she slowly strode to the opposite side of Zalic's chair, her ice blue gaze still staring daggers at the couple as she planted a kiss on Zalic's cheek, to which the main villain did not respond to, nor acknowledge.
Their relationship made the man's skin crawl.
"I had to come back from my trip immediately when I heard about this new hero. Well, that more so because this new hero.." Zalic drawled the word hero with a distasteful sneer, "Had my amplifier."
He knew that look in Zalic's eyes. It wasn't love; it was a cruel emptiness. It was unbearably cold and one sided. To her, Electrina was nothing more than a lap dog, and the electric villain was a lovestruck puppy with a lust for power. Before he could dwell anymore on their relationship, Zalic pulled away from her with a long hiss, turning to Twister.
"Well, you went against the hero.. What do you suppose we do about this… Blunder.." She glared back at the couple. Before Twister could respond, the elderly woman spoke up again.
"We- We'll track down all of the locations the amplifier went through! If it went where we think it did, we may know who this new hero is!" The woman shrieked.
Zalic paused at this, holding a hand up to cease movement in the room. Twister's blood ran cold. This wasn't good.
Zalic put her hand down and put a hand on her chin, her cold, still gaze staring thoughtfully. A foreign emotion glossing over her eyes; consideration.
Zalic leaned back, the dim light casting a harsh glare over her head. Twister scoffed quietly. There was something that was bothering her… A string of events that was begging her to connect them.
Twister's eyes widened, "The diner…" She whispered. "Huh?" Zalic asked. Twister's heart stopped in her chest as she looked over at Zalic, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression.
"How do you know about that.." The man hissed. Zalic sent a sideways glance towards him, then back at Twister.
"That's where she found the new hero, did you not?" Electrina interjected in the beat of silence Twister was taking to think of a valid excuse. The attention in the room shifted to Electrina, who was standing with her arms crossed and a cool expression on her face. Although she looked calm on the outside, Twister could see through her façade, the tapping of her feet and the way she tightened her grip on her arms, Twister could tell she was nervous, and thinking quickly.
Zalic and the elderly couple didn't look fully convinced, while the couple was now glaring at Electrina, Zalic was still focused on Twister.
Electrina started tapping her foot faster and scrunched up her face slightly.
She glared back at the couple. "Twister has the ability to detect supers after they transform," She sent a cautious glance back at Zalic who was giving Twister a suspicious gaze, "She wasn't able to find the super after she transformed because she was busy looking for something else that day, but she was able to find where the transformation happened. She mentioned it to me offhandedly the other day. There was no one there so she just brushed it off as a dud," She sent a harsh hiss and more obvious glare towards Zalic, which finally got her attention, "Especially given the circumstances." She growled.
Twister pursed her lips slightly, now she knew Trina was nervous, but.. why would she cover for her, the two never got along before..
Zalic shifted in a way that only Electrina and Twister knew meant she was uncomfortable. Clearly Electrina had struck a nerve and gotten her attention off of Twister's slip up. The element was more important to Zalic than Psycha, after all; if she had the element, Psycha wouldn't even be a problem, nor would Twister's plan…
Speaking of her plan; "I only found out about the missing amplifier while I was on another search. Turns out the lead I had found was to you." Twister said coolly, successfully getting the heat off of her.
Zaic growled and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly annoyed at the situation. Twister smirked internally.
Zalic raised a finger and looked bac at the elderly couple, who were staring at her with a mix of fear and anticipation.
"If you can find this new hero and bring her to me, you'll be spared." The couple visibly deflated, muttering mindless pleas of thanks and meaningless promises of not letting her down that the villain could barely contain her eye roll at. "HOWEVER-" She called out, causing the couple to immediately stop talking. "If you fail.." She growled. The couple clung tighter to each other.
"Pardon my curiosity, but what are you going to do with that hero when you find her?" Electrina asked, a hint of worry in her tone.
Zalic smirked a cold and mirthless smile. "I've been so busy focusing on the effects of how the amplifiers change the body and just how far it can take it, that I've never considered what would happen if I tried to take it out." She breathed coolly.
Her statement sent a cold shiver through the room.
"You don't mean-" Twister breathed. Zalic nodded. "Maryland's new hero is about to become my newest science experiment," She glared back at the couple. "And you two bumbling idiots are going to bring her to me and watch what happens to someone who thinks they can get in my way.."
--
Twister and Trina walked out of the meeting room in silence.
Trina heaved a heavy sigh and pushed open the door to the 'red room' as she called it, despite the fact that the only red thing was the line of paint along the floor.
She strode coolly into the room and approaching a dark maroon counter top, picking up a small water heater and filling it up under the sink next to it, putting it back on the heating pad. The heater letting out a low hiss as it began to heat up the water.
Twister walked up behind her, watching the electric villain in silence as she pulled two dak mugs out of the overhead cupboard, not paying Twister any mind. "Why did you cover for me back there?" Twister finally asked Trina quietly.
Trina turned to Twister, slightly surprised by the question. She pursed her lips as she stared back at Twister, calculating her response. The water came to a boil, the low growl coming to a halt. "Tea or coffee?" Trina asked. Twister glared, "Trina.." Trina turned, pulling some instant coffee mix out of the same cupboard. Twister sighed. "Coffee is fine. Now answer.." She growled.
Trina paused, before opening two packets of coffee and pouring them into their respective cups. Twister rolled her eyes as she poured in the hot water, handing one to Twister when she was done. She held her own mug in front of her and staring down into it.
"Just be more careful." She said at last. She looked back up at Twister. "Whatever it is you're doing, others might start to catch on."
Twister stared back at her, the temperature of the mug in her hand being the only indication of how much time had passed.
'How much does she know…' Twister thought to herself.
As if reading her thoughts, Trina said in a hushed whisper, "I know enough." Twister blinked in surprise as she looked at Trina in a way she had never done before.
Before Twister could say anything else, Trina nodded her head stiffly behind her, making Twister's eyebrows furrow at her in confusion. Before she could ask any other questions, Trina turned on her heels and walked further into the dark lounge, leaving Twister to turn and see what she was looking at.
She felt her breathing shallow for what must had been the third time that evening as she saw Zalic closing the door of the red room, walking towards Twister with an unwavering calculating expression. Twister turned fully towards her, eyebrows furrowed further wondering what Zalic could possibly want at this hour.
'Did she know? Does she want to fight?' Twister asked herself, her grip on her mug tightening as she prepared for the possibility. Zalic stalked closer towards her, neither woman saying anything as they stared each other down. 'If I have to make a few changes to my plan, so be it.'
After what felt like an eternity, Zalic finally reached Twister, her gaze still as cold and unforgiving as it was before.
Twister raised her eyebrows at her. "So, your little rival.." Zalic drawled in a bored tone. Twister cocked her head. "You've had no issues eliminating some wannabe heroes in the past." Zalic furrowed her eyebrows. Twister rolled her eyes. "Is everyone going to say that.." She drawled exasperatedly.
Zalic wasn't amused. She leaned down a bit to be at Twisters level as an intimidation tactic, but Twister wanted nothing more than to punch her in the face.
Zalic's eyes scanned Twister's face, as if searching for something; guilt, Twister guessed.
But she didn't feel guilty. Despite how much Zalic thought all of the people she kidnapped and experimented on might view her as a savior like the deranged criminal she was, they didn't. At least not all of them.. Twister found her mind wandering to Darcy, who spent her days hiding away from Zalic so often she wasn't even sure if Zalic remembered she existed. Twister also found her mind wandering to Trina. She always thought the electric villain was too far gone to ever oppose Zalic, and even viewed her as a potential threat in her plan if she ever found out, but now….
Zalic huffed, an unsatisfied expression on her face as she leaned away from Twister.
Twister snapped back to the present, so absorbed in her thoughts she completely forgot Zalic was there. She readjusted her expression to be that of a glare as she stared daggers back at Zalic, waiting for her to get to the point of this conversation.
Zalic scanned Twister's face some more, clearly displeased with what she was seeing. Twister guessed she hadn't found what she had been looking for.
"The next time you see that little blemish," Zalic finally continued. Twister felt her blood boil but did her best to keep a straight face. She took the mug from Twister and crushed the mug in her hands.
"Kill her."
Twister didn't trust herself not to slip up any further than she had before, however….
"I'll tell you like I did everyone else," Twister sneered. "I'm tired of this same old same old, I'm going to entertain this rivalry, this is the most interesting thing that happened in years." She spat.
Zalic glared back at her. "And if she gets the upper hand?" She glowered.
Twister shrugged. "That'll certainly make things interesting."
Zalic continued to glare, but upon realizing there was no convincing Twister otherwise, she decided to switch to a topic she found more interesting.
"Have you found any developments on the element, or are you too busy playing cops and robbers? There was nothing at that laboratory in Texas."
Twister sighed, genuinely frustrated. "I told you earlier, I thought I had a lead, turned out to be another dead end. Whoever took that element hid it well. I'm getting too many conflicting frequencies these days."
Zalic sighed, thoughtful. "Well, whoever has it can't keep it locked up forever."
Twister nodded. "It'll turn up. I have a few leads, but I don't have any good feelings about them." Zalic rubbed a hand over her face. "I have a few of my own as well," she said, glancing at Twister briefly to gauge her reaction. "I'll be looking into them soon. I expect you'll keep me updated.."
It took every bone in Twister's body for her to nod in agreement, not trusting her mouth enough to not let off a series of obscenities. With nothing further to be exchanged within the two, Twister made an offhanded comment about cleaning up the mug before Trina had a fit, and at the mention of Trina, Zalic suddenly had somewhere else to be.
Twister glowered as Zalic quickly stalked out of the room, though she was finally able to breath a sigh of relief after she left. But what she didn't see was Trina standing just out of sight, listening in on the whole exchange.
She walked over to the small storage cabinet next to the countertop in the red room, hitting her back against the wall in between as she let out a low groan. Twister's slip up earlier had nearly blown both her and Psycha's cover.. She slid down the wall, sitting down and hitting a hand on her head. She spent years carefully crafting and plotting her revenge against Zalic, and she almost blew it all up with a stupid minor slipup. Now Ana's identity was being hunted and Twister had a limited amount of time before the couple found out who she was.
Ana needed to know about this, and fast.