'Your daughter is up to something, and it's not good.'
Mark's ear twitched slightly as he heard what the voice said in his head. 'Scram you ashole! My daughter is not like that! How many times will I say it?!'
'Don't say I didn't warn you!' The crazed voice said one last time as it shut up.
Mark took a peek at his daughter, and sure enough, her gaze was fixed on the top of the bookshelf.
This act made him wonder if what the crazed voice said in his head was true, bit he discarded those thoughts. His daughter was a sweet girl who hadn't committed any form of crime.
At least, that's what he knew.
'My daughter is not like that.' He inwardly said to himself.
He didn't want his daughter to be like him. Although he acted like a role model to countless people, all those things were just acts. Only he knew what a monster he was, and for the past years, he had been trying to suppress this monster.
"Papa, if you don't mind, can I see the book?" Megan suddenly asked, jolting Mark out of his trance.
"As I said before, that's an important book, and I can't show it to you," Mark said in a gentle voice.
Megan put on a pout as she stared at her dad with puppy eyes. Of course, this was an act. She just wanted to see what the book looked like so that it would be easy to steal it.
"Okay, okay, I'll show you, but not now," Mark said as he gazed around the library, which was crammed with people. "At least when the place is empty, I'll show you."
It seems like what he said worked, as Megan's gloomy face disappeared.
Although he said he would show her, he was planning to show her a fake book. That way, he wouldn't have to worry if something happened to the book.
If it were a different occasion, Mark wouldn't hesitate to show her the real book, but the thing was that the book was just too important. He didn't want to gamble with that book.
even if it was a family member.
Megan finally averted her gaze from the shelf and peered at her dad. She was now having second thoughts if she should steal the book or not. Just from the way her father spoke about the book, it seems like a valuable book, and it must be really important to him.
After thinking for a while, she made up her mind that she wouldn't steal the book. She didn't want to spoil her relationship with her dad just for her own greed.
'Sorry hon, I'll have to let this one go, just for the sake of my dad. I hope you understand.' She thought.
The duo continued to scoot around the library, then, after some time, they left and explored other areas of the White House.
Megan would ask questions from time to time, and Mark would wholeheartedly explain.
Just like that, minutes merged into hours.
The two were currently on their way back to the living quarters, with the butler behind them.
Sometime later, the butler's phone buzzed. After answering the phone call, he approached the president and whispered something in his ears.
The president's shoulder tensed when he heard what the butler said. He briefly stared at his daughter and said, "Something came up, and it's important."
Just those few lines, and Megan grasped what he meant. "It's ok, you can go. I was planning to leave anyway."
"I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but you know? This country needs a president."
With that said, the butler and president Mark scurried away with hurried footsteps.
Megan gazed at their backs as they disappeared. She glanced back at the way to the library one last time before walking away.
As she proceeded to step forward, a towering figure with a black hoodie shuddering his crimson eyes strode past her, with their shoulders nearly bumping into each other.
Megan caught a glimpse of those red eyes as she peered at the figure, who was walking as though he owned the place.
'Weird." She shrugged her shoulders and strode away.
Meanwhile, in the president's office—
Mark Black stood opposite a figure in all black with a pair of alluring red eyes, which radiated a dangerous aura that would make most people piss their pants.
The office was quiet as the two men stared at each other. No one spoke for a full minute before Mark Black spoke.
"You failed!"
"I know, but, correction, he ran away." Hades calmly said with no trace of fear.
"No matter how he got away, it's still your failure. I don't see that as an excuse." Mark raised his voice slightly as he smacked the table, and a spider crack appeared.
Seeing the dent on the table, Hades gazed at the president in a new light.
It wasn't everyone who could smack a desk and put a dent in it, so hades take it that the president also had superpowers.
"Mr. President, I was just about to get him when he got away. I promise you next time it will be easy. Honestly, I don't know how he did it, but he found a way to counter my abilities."
"Yeah, yeah, a silly excuse for your failure. He is a rookie, for fuck sake, and you... you have been in this vilian business longer, and yet you couldn't kill a small boy who is, maybe, 18 years."
Hades could feel that the president was mocking him, and that's what he was doing.
For some reason, the mocking seems to have worked because he now doubts his strength. How could he allow a teen who hasn't reached full adulthood to escape from his clutches?
The president continued:
"If you know you can't do this job, then I'll give it to a low-level villain who is maybe not in the top ten most dangerous villains because I assume that your top three is just for show."
"Mr. President, I don't think any other villain would be able to catch him. He has a lot of skills and tricks, and I don't know when they'll pop out.
"For instance, throughout our fight, he was just changing weapons from god knows where. And to top it off, he has a strange ability that lets him teleport.
"And if I could remember, your fucking assistant didn't mention that he could teleport and change weapons out of thin air!! If there is any side that is at fault, it is you, Mr. President!!"
"He can teleport and change weapons?" Mark raised a brow. After all, from what the meta-organization informed him, that Nightmare didn't have any abilities and made use of only gadgets.
Hearing what Hades said, he could only come up with one thought: that Nightmare had used a serum on himself.
"So that's the reason?" The president spoke after some time.
Hades crouched back in his seat. The president's sudden change of tone surprised him a bit.
"Since the fault is on our side, I will give you more info and manpower. Your job is just to get rid of that bastard!"
***********