Characters and their Superhero/Villain Aliases
Liam Dunbar | Wolf Boy
Hayden Romero | Bubblegum Girl
Scott McCall | The True Alpha
Stiles Stilinski | The Emissary
Lydia Martin | The Banshee
Theo Raeken | Raeken
Malia Tate/Hale | The Coyote
Allison Argent | The Huntress (deceased)
Kate Argent | The Bone Woman
Derek Hale | Sourwolf
Cora Hale | She-Wolf/La Loba
Garard Argent | The Patriarch
Noshiko Yukimura | The Kitsune
Kira Yukimura | Thunder Kitsune
Rhys Reyes | The (Fallen) Soldier (deceased)
Lucas | the Chimera (deceased)
Deucalion | the Demon Wolf
Jennifer Blake | the Darach (deceased)
Kali | herself (deceased)
Nogitsune | himself (deceased)
Oni | themselves
Jackson Whittemore (alive) & Tracy Stewart (deceased) | The Kanima Twins (mentioned)
The Dread Doctors | themselves (deceased)
Isaac Lahey | the Protector (mentioned)
Superheroes
Liam Dunbar remembered the day it had first begun, the first of all their fights which had now led directly to this showdown. It had been one of those rare times when all the superheroes and villains had banded together to defeat a common enemy.
This time it had been the Dread Doctors, three scientists who had gone insane with their powers and who had basically worshipped the superhumans once upon a time. They had been recruiting rogue superhumans - the ones who didn't feel like they belonged anywhere or the ones that wanted more power - experimenting on them and setting them loose on the town of Beacon Hills, where chaos had erupted. Many deaths had occurred that day.
Their assistant whom Liam nicknamed Raeken had been the first successful experiment and had decided to join over to the good side after falling in love with the Coyote, after she'd unknowingly saved his life after the Doctors considered terminating him after failing to fulfill his mission.
Together, the two unlikely groups of both superheroes and villains were able to defeat the Dread Doctors - but not without consequences.
At the last second, the Nogitsune had betrayed them, turning his back on the others, while he unleashed his power on his shadow self, the Emissary; the Bone Woman had returned (after thought to be deceased for two years) and attacked the man the Emissary jokingly called Sourwolf, reverting him back to his mortal state before she had fled with her soldiers, the Berserkers; the Darach had blinded one of the leaders of superhumans, the Demon Wolf, with the help of the Patriarch (an elderly man with the power of producing black fluid from his body) as he jammed two explosive arrows into the Demon Wolf's eyes as he screamed in agony while the battle raged on. One of the Kanima Twins had succumbed to one of the Doctor's hands, causing her lover to let out a scream of rage as he poised for a revenge attack.
Liam had been fighting along with the Banshee and the True Alpha when she appeared. He had no idea where she had come from or why she had decided to join in the fight but the pink bubblegum she chewed and held in her hands proved to be dangerous and acidic, melting flesh whenever it came in contact with someone's skin or uniform.
A magenta mask covered her eyes, leaving her full lips exposed as she chewed on her bubblegum before throwing it at her target. A tight-fitting black costume which seemed to look like a dress half the time conformed her body when she twisted and leapt through the air. Bubblegum Girl couldn't fly, but with her quick agility and reflexes, it sure seemed like she could.
Liam couldn't tell which side she was fighting for as he was preoccupied with his own battle against the Chimera. He'd turned around to see her charging toward him, pink bubblegum in hand and without thinking, raised his fist defensively. They both succeeded in punching each other in the nose, causing them both to break. He had tried to make it up to her one day, but she'd swore vengeance upon him and threw him out. Ever since then, she'd go and make his life hell. And he'd go and wreck havoc upon hers. It was a Win-Lose situation for both of them.
"Wolf Boy."
Liam raised his shining golden eyes to the roof of Beacon Hills High School, searching in the direction of the newcomer's voice. Her voice always had that somewhat altered tone to it. He'd been waiting for a while, wondering when she was going to show up. There, sitting lazily on the edge, perched his arch-nemesis.
"Bubblegum Girl," he growled in reply, hands curling at his side. She must've had a name, he knew. A alias people called her by, but for whatever reason, he could never remember for the life of him. And he wasn't planning to.
He watched as she leaped from the roof to the floor gracefully, then straightened, eyes narrowing in dislike.
That was fine with him. He didn't like her either.
The whole scenario from earlier about their first encounter had been flashing through his mind in a span of five minutes and he didn't understand why he was remembering it now out of all things. He shoved it to the back of his mind and forced himself to concentrate on the villain in front of him.
"So, here we meet again," Bubblegum Girl spoke as she blew a pink bubble, smiling smugly. It popped and she chewed it back into her mouth.
"Here we are," Liam agreed, rolling his eyes, wanting the fight to be over and done with. "You ready for me to kick your ass?"
"Me?" Bubblegum Girl scoffed incredulously. "I'll be the one kicking your ass again, Wolf Boy."
"I'd like to see you try," Liam threatened, baring his canines. "Bubblegum Girl."
An angry scream ripped from her mouth as she lunged toward him. Their bodies slammed against the concrete ground, leaving a human-shaped dent in it. Liam heaved Bubblegum Girl off of him as he flipped onto his feet, claws erupting from his fingertips. He swiped at her with one arm as she leapt back to avoid his claws, the palm of her hand sticking out. The surprising strength in her hand caught him off guard, connecting with his chest, sending Liam crashing and flying back against the school's sign. Groaning in pain, he staggered to his feet only to get knocked down again with a full punch to the face with Bubblegum Girl's fist.
He cursed silently in his head, unable to utter the F word out loud when pain struck the inside of his mouth.
"Bitch!" he managed, spitting out the blood that had filled up inside, knocking a tooth loose. The tooth lay untouched on the ground as he rose to his feet, preparing to attack. He heard the sound of Bubblegum Girl chewing frantically and immediately, his eyes widened.
He really did not want to get another uniform again.
Liam threw himself to the side as far as he could away from the Beacon Hills High School sign, a loud explosion coming from behind him. A shout of pain escaped from Bubblegum Girl's mouth as she too, was knocked back to the ground. He could feel the heat radiating from the deadly weapon, the sound of acid taking its course, melting the school's sign. He glanced up to see Bubblegum Girl lying on her back, sprawled out, groaning in pain as she shook her head, dazed. Liam figured that she must've thought she was far away from the blast of the explosion her gum created.
"Son of a . . ." she began, only to roll over to her side and pull herself up. She stuffed another stick of gum in her mouth, throwing the wrapper to the side.
Liam hissed in pain, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth as once again, he rose to his feet. The two glared at each other before attacking each other again.
"I will have my vengeance!" she growled as Liam's hands wrapped around her neck.
"That's what you always say," Bubblegum Girl," Liam replied. "Just let it go."
A hiss rolled out from behind her clenched teeth and her leg came flying up, kneeling him in the groin.
Liam doubled over in pain, cursing in his head repeatedly over and over for letting himself be that stupid. Bubblegum Girl took that advantage to take the gum out of her mouth and spit into her fingerless gloved hand. She pressed the gum against the side of Liam's face, to where he began screaming in pain, feeling the acid disintegrating his cheek, falling onto his knees. He grabbed a hold of her wrist and twisted it, causing her to let go of the gum, which fell harmlessly to the ground, emitting a tiny spark.
Bubblegum Girl gave a yell as she reset her wrist back to its former place, an angry glare directed toward Liam.
Liam growled as he rolled his shoulders back, feeling the flesh and bone regenerating slowly on his face as he healed. Bubblegum Girl was breathing heavily, arms and legs locked into her fighting stance, both the curls in her hair and the look in her eyes wild. He saw the marks and cuts on her neck and arms healing quicker than his ever would.
There was a time when they were going to have to call it a day or night and announce the next rendezvous place they were to meet at if they couldn't defeat the other after the fight. It was like clockwork. Another time, another place where they'd try to kill each other only to be thwarted by another enemy or random incident that caused them to escape.
They were about to charge each other when a snuffling noise caught their attention. Turning to the side, they saw two dark glowing orange orbs in the darkness of the underpass, breath clearly visible in the cool air.
The figure in the shadows stepped out to reveal a Japanese woman. She looked normal, dressed in ordinary civilian black clothing, except for the fact that she was brandishing a black obsidian object in her hand. The woman's eyes never left them as she snapped her tail in two. A small crackle of lightning erupted from it as two figures in black immediately appeared by her side in smoke. They wore Japanese masks and their eyes were a bright lime green as they cocked their heads to the side curiously.
The Oni.
But both Liam and Bubblegum Girl knew what was hiding underneath their masks: complete and utter darkness with only fireflies for their eyes and medieval katanas for weapons.
"You called her?!" Bubblegum Girl screamed at him, voice rising in a panic.
"You're the one that did it!" Liam tried to convince himself as he shot her a dark look. "Why'd you call her?! You said that this was between you and me!"
"It is! It is between you and me! I didn't-!" Bubblegum Girl screamed back in his face, stammering for an explanation. "I would never call for her!"
He froze, golden eyes wandering over her wide eyes and trembling lips.
He knew she wanted to kill him but she'd never go this far, accepting anyone else's help but her own.
But why now would she accept the Kitsune's help?
Unless she didn't.
Unless the Kitsune came on her own accord.
Shit.
"We can kill each other later," Liam told Bubblegum Girl.
Bubblegum Girl nodded quickly, eyes wide as she stared at the Kitsune in front of her. "Sinema, parking lot, 12?" she suggested.
"Yup."
"Cool. Kill you later, Wolf Boy."
Liam began to run. He heard Bubblegum Girl's footsteps after his, hearing her rapid breathing and frantic beating heart. If there was one thing they both could agree on, it was never come across the Kitsune and her Oni. They were unstoppable.
And if the Kitsune was here, it meant three people had to be close behind:
There was her daughter, the Thunder Kitsune, who wielded the power of electricity and fox fire with her katana.
There was the Nogitsune, the Kitsune's arch-nemesis, whom the Kitsune had created out of fear and hopelessness after losing her beloved Rhys, the (Fallen) Soldier.
And finally, there was the Huntress, the Oni's enemy, who always came armed with her silver-tipped arrows.
If they could, the True Alpha and his partner, the Emissary would come to help the Huntress and the Thunder Kitsune ward off the Nogitsune. To stop him getting a hold of the Oni.
With the Oni as warriors at his side, the Nogitsune would unleash chaos and strife.
The Banshee (who was also the Emissary's girlfriend, Liam supposed) might be able to appear too, provided that she wasn't still entrapped in her own battle against the She-Wolf, Sourwolf's sister, who was trying to get revenge on them for letting two of her brothers and sisters die on the eve of the lunar eclipse. (When their identity had been revealed, their names had been Vernon Boyd and Erica Reyes.)
But the She-Wolf had it all wrong, Liam knew. The True Alpha had explained to him that it had been the Darach's lover who had done the deed, Kali. The Protector had killed her.
It was her scream that made Liam turn around. He knew he shouldn't have. That he should have just went and kept on running.
But he didn't.
Her scream sent chills down his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. This wasn't a I-just-broke-one-of-your-arms scream.
No, this was a death cry.
It was his name she screamed, voice unaltered for the first time.
He saw Bubblegum Girl's body arch up in pain with one of the Oni's katana in her middle, passing through her costume, her blood on the edge of the sharp blade. Her mouth was open in a pained scream.
Suddenly, a silver arrow appeared, impaling the Oni, which disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The Huntress dashed onto site, firing arrow after arrow, destroying the Oni while the Kitsune looked on in horror.
_oOo_
"Hi, Noshiko."
The Kitsune turned and saw the Nogitsune standing behind her. She raised a hand but he caught her wrist and slammed her to the ground, grinning evilly. He looked so much like the Emissary that it was hard to forget that it wasn't him. "Long time, no see," the Nogitsune muttered, stepping over her unconscious form, hands rummaging through her clothes.
Liam knew what he was looking for. The last tail the Kitsune had. With it, he would be able to control the Oni.
Her cry for him continued to ring in his ears:
"Liam!"
His heart stopped beating and his world froze. His golden eyes returned back to his normal color, a bright blue. The sideburns from his transformation receded into a smooth and strong jawline.
"Hayden?" he whispered. He stared in disbelief, wishing that wasn't true. That his arch-nemesis had - was . . .
Bubblegum Girl crashed onto her knees, falling facedown. He didn't understand why he was running to her - she was his enemy for God's sake. He bent down, hearing her wheezing as he pulled the katana out. He gently rolled her over onto her back, propping her up against a column.
"You idiot," she gasped out, hands clutching her bleeding abdomen. "Wolf Boy . . . run."
"Don't let him get the tail!"
"No," he said. His eyebrows furrowed. He reached out and grabbed her bloody hand, squeezing it as he siphoned her pain.
But he couldn't heal her. He couldn't heal her.
He could only take her pain.
"You . . . really are . . . an idiot Wolf Boy," she gurgled, a strange laugh escaping her mouth.
Liam didn't understand what he was doing, but next thing he knew, he was unwrapping the mask from her eyes and pulled it away so he could see her face.
He had to know. He had to know that it wasn't a trick. That Hayden wasn't right here in front of him, dying.
But she was.
"Hayden?"
"Stop him!
Her eyes blinked as she stared back at him in disbelief, seeing him clearly for the first time, without him in transformation. "Liam?" she whispered. She started shaking her head furiously. "No. No. It's a trick. You're not - you're not really here. I'm dreaming. I'm just dreaming."
She screwed her eyes shut briefly for a moment before they snapped open again as realization hit her. Tears began to fill her eyes. "Oh, God. Liam . . . I didn't know. I didn't -"
"This is my game!" The Nogitsune screamed, retrieving the Kitsune's tail, breaking it into two. More Oni materialized by his side, now under his control.
"Shh, it's okay," Liam pressed his lips to her forehead. He put his hand over hers, to double the force of stopping the bleeding, her blood seeping through his fingers.
Hayden, his first crush . . .
The girl he enjoyed hanging out with when Mason wasn't around . . .
The girl that he'd constantly bicker with at school in Mr. Yukimura's class in History 103 . . .
The first girl he swore he was falling in love with . . .
She was dying.
And there nothing he could do to stop it.
He wanted to cry. But that was stupid.
Superheroes didn't cry.
A tear rolled down his cheek before he could stop himself. He forced himself to hold back the tears for Hayden's sake.
He had to be strong.
"You're a wuss, Dunbar," Hayden croaked out, smiling a little as blood stained her lips. "You can cry over me."
A sad chuckle erupted from his mouth, as he wiped the blood away from her lips. Hayden swallowed, the sound of it seemingly painful in Liam's ears.
"When?" she asked finally. Meaning when did he first get his powers?
"Since the Wendigo," he told her.
He'd been minding his own business at the hospital waiting for his broken ankle to heal when the Wendigo - a seventeen year old kid - had attacked the hospital, devouring anybody's flesh that came close to him. Then the Wendigo had set his sights on Liam and had chased him onto the roof until the True Alpha had come in to save the day - or so Liam thought. Hanging off the edge of the roof had resulted in his transformation caused by the True Alpha.
And he hadn't been so pleased with it.
"You?" he cut in, staring down at her as he brushed a strand of her hair off her face, cradling her in his arms. Anything to keep his girl awake and breathing.
"One of the Kanima Twins," she said. "The girl . . . Something happened and suddenly, I - I was healing fast, you know? I still don't know what happened."
She was quiet, save for the fighting in the background. Liam turned his head, glancing forward at the scene in front of him - them - seeing the Thunder Kitsune and the Huntress exchanging each other's weapons as the Nogitsune fired black lighting toward them. The True Alpha and the Emissary were battling the Kitsune, much to her daughter's pleads not to kill her.
"She's dead, isn't she?" Hayden asked Liam softly. "The girl that scratched me. She's dead."
Liam nodded. He had witnessed it firsthand along with the others. Until they had ripped each one of the Dread Doctors from existence. "Yeah, she is."
"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it," The Kitsune was whispering over and over, making sure her daughter could hear it. "I see I'm no longer the fox now, Kira. You are."
Suddenly, they whipped both of their heads in the direction of the Banshee's scream. The scream of death no one wanted to hear. For a second, Liam thought he had lost Hayden, but when he looked down, she was still breathing but barely. Which meant . . .
Someone else had died.
"Who is it?" Hayden tried to crane her neck to see.
He couldn't move his lips, unable to speak, unable to comprehend the situation in front of him. Because it was impossible that it had just happened.
But yet . . . it had.
The Huntress fell to the ground, crashing onto her knees, eyes staring up in horror at the demon in front of her, the Nogitsune. The Nogitsune grinned as he pushed the blade down further into her stomach, then pulled it out and tossed it to the side.
"Allison!"
The Banshee wailed her best friend's true name, then anger crossed her face as she stormed toward the Nogitsune, both hands raised as she held them up like she was going to shove him. A loud howl and roar ripped from the True Alpha while he charged toward the murderer also. When the Banshee's powers lifted the Nogitsune up into the air, the True Alpha slammed into him, fist repeatedly punching violently in his face.
The Emissary tugged the True Alpha off of his former shadow self. Mainly, because of his "no killing" rule. The True Alpha stumbled his way to the Huntress pulling her into his arms just like Liam was doing to Hayden in this very moment.
"Allison, don't," the True Alpha pleaded. He sounded so much like a normal teenager, his voice now broken and pained. "Please don't. Don't."
The Huntress was speaking softly to him now and Liam felt like it would be rude to intrude on her conversation so he focused on Hayden below him. But bits and pieces kept cutting in.
"You're my first love . . ."
Her eyes had drifted somewhere off to the left and Liam feared that she was dead, except the tell tale slow thrumming of her heart proved that wrong. "Don't die on me, Hayden," he said in a hard voice. "Who else am I gonna fight with when you're . . .?" He couldn't bring himself to say the last word. If he said it, then it would happen and she'd slip away in his arms and he couldn't have that. A hysterical laugh escaped him before he knew it.
"The first person I'll always love . . . Scott - Scott McCall . . ."
"I forgive you," Hayden breathed out suddenly, tears rolling down as she met his eyes once again.
"What?"
"For breaking my nose," she gave a wheezing chuckle, then coughed, blood splattering her lips. "It's . . . it's . . . a stupid, stupid thing . . . to get . . . revenge for. I'm . . . so - so sorry."
"My dad . . . you have to tell my dad . . ."
"I'm sorry, too," he told her, entwining their hands together. She gripped it tightly, letting out a soft cry of pain. He forced himself to forget all the fights they had as each other's enemy, only focusing on the memories that they had had together -
When they were just themselves.
When they were just Liam Dunbar and Hayden Romero.
The Huntress was fading . . . her breaths became quicker and quicker until eventually, they faded and slowed, heart finally stuttering to a stop.
"How . . . sweet."
Liam looked up in horror.
The Darach stood there in front of them, a sardonic smile spread across her face. Liam knew she might've looked normal here, but lurking underneath was a monster.
"Stay away from us!" Liam shouted, pulling Hayden closer to him. He felt her power slam him back down as he tried to get up. He knew should get up and run, take Hayden away from this place, to the hospital . . .
How long had she been standing there? How long had she been listening to everything they'd been saying?
"Now, why would I want to do that?" The Darach stepped closer before eventually bending down into a crouch. She wore no mask, her shoulder-length dark brown hair curled to her shoulders, dark eyes glinting mischievously. She reached out and placed a hand on Hayden's forehead. Her eyes glowed a pure white, and Liam tensed, ready for a fight, but he couldn't move.
He watched as Hayden's eyes clouded becoming white as she gasped and his eyes darted down to her bleeding stomach. It was healing. The Darach was healing her!
"Wha -?" He had no words. Why was the Darach doing this? She was one of the villains!
As quick as she appeared, the Darach quickly drew back her hand, white eyes fading back to normal. She smiled at them. "I may not have the same values and beliefs as Scott McCall -" Her eyes turned to where the True Alpha was, still cradling the Huntress' lifeless body in his arms, "- The True Alpha over there, but I'm not exactly heartless. You . . ." She pointed a finger toward him, straightening as she stood up to survey the fight behind her. "All of you . . . have a lot to learn. Losing the love of your life isn't one lesson I would subject to anyone anyway," she continued bitterly, looking at the Huntress' body.
Hayden's eyes cleared and she coughed violently, rolling onto her side as she dribbled saliva mixed with her blood down her chin. After she calmed down, wiping it away,her head raised up to the Darach standing over them, eyebrows curved into a frown, confused.
"Why -?"
"A simple 'thank you' would all right," the Darach told her, then winked. "Call me Jennifer. You wanna come help your friends or should I?"
Liam helped Hayden to her feet, still at a lost for words as the Darach leapt away to join the fight, disappearing and materializing in front of the Nogitsune.
"Hey, baby," Jennifer grinned as she head-butted the Nogitsune. "You miss me?"
"Isn't she suppose to be dead?" Hayden asked, looking at Liam, who shrugged his shoulders uncertainly. "Nevermind. C'mon, we can talk later. Let's go save the day."
Whatever the Darach had done must've revived Hayden's energy and strength too, because there she was, punching one of the Oni in the face with one of the Huntress' broken arrows. Liam transformed and began to run at full speed, scooping up a silver arrow lying on the ground on the way, stabbing with it several Oni as he went by.
A loud howl of rage echoed through the area and Liam realized that it was the True Alpha. He watched as the boy gently laid the Huntress to the ground and rose menacingly to his feet, growling, eyes glowing red.
The Nogitsune smirked as he saw him heading his way, slamming Jennifer into the elder Kitsune, knocking them to the ground. Thunder Kitsune let loose a wave of electricity, sending it flying toward the Nogitsune, but he summoned his own, to where it collided and blasted everyone off of their feet.
Groaning, he could see the others, shaking their heads, dazed as they rose to their feet. Scott - the True Alpha had a name now - roared at the Nogitsune, their arms gripping against the other's, trying to push each other back so that one would lose his balance.
"This is my game," the Nogitsune taunted at Scott, black lightning crackling around their silhouettes. "You think you can beat me?! You think you have any moves at all?! You can kill the Oni, but me? Me? I'm a thousand years old! You can't kill me!"
"That's why we're here," Thunder Kitsune called out. The Nogitsune turned his head back in surprise, obviously confused.
Scott took that chance to twist one of the Nogitsune's arms free, sinking his large canines into it as the Nogitsune let out a howl of horror, realizing what had just happened. Scott stepped back to allow the Thunder Kitsune to drive her katana through his chest. The Nogitsune fell to his knees, body and limbs jerking and contorting strangely as if he were a puppet on strings, before finally becoming still and ashy. Everyone watched as the Nogitsune's face cracked like it was dry clay, then collapsed forward to the ground to where he became a pile of ash.
No one spoke. No one dared to breathe.
"Well," the Emissary spoke the silence as all eyes turned to him. "So glad that isn't me."
Liam exchanged a glance with Hayden. Liam was glad they were still alive for now. He shot a grateful look toward the Darach, to which she only nodded in reply. Watching Hayden, she met his gaze before she turned and disappeared into the night, but not before mouthing an apology. He wanted to go after her. But something told him that she probably needed space.
The True Alpha studied the Darach for a minute before he said softly, "You can't bring her back, can you?"
Jennifer shook her head sadly. "It's not within my power. I can only bring back the near dead. She's already . . . passed."
There was silence again as no one spoke. All them knew what needed to be done.
A few weeks later, they were able to hold the Huntress' funeral, giving her a proper burial.
It had been an very emotional day for the town of Beacon Hills. The fans, the civilians, her friends and family wept for the mortal girl-turned-superhero who swore that she would protect those who could not protect themselves.
And she had.
Until her last breath.
And no one would best forget it.
_oOo_
Liam Dunbar had been sitting on the roof of the Sinema club, yellow eyes searching for any hints of trouble within the night, when he felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around him, lips being pressed against the top of his head.
"Bubblegum Girl," he said, pulling Hayden to his side.
"Wolf Boy," she had replied, nudging his shoulder.
They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the setting sun in front of them and each other's company, hands pressed together.
Hayden waited for a bit before she said, "Did you hear?"
He nodded, recalling the news report airing on television a week ago. Sourwolf's psychotic uncle had escaped from Eichen House, a Super asylum. On his rampage, several people had been killed - the Darach had been of them.
He wasn't sure how he should feel. He had basically spent almost the whole time as a superhuman thinking she was a villain, when all of a sudden, she went and changed it. She had saved Hayden's life and would have saved Allison's, if so much time hadn't flown by. He still didn't understand what her true motives behind everything had been, but the True Alpha had let the Darach go, just that once, for helping defeat the Nogitsune.
"Yeah. I heard." He turned his head to look at her as they shared a smile, Liam leaning forward to kiss her forehead, then her lips. She tasted like bubblegum. She always did.
The day they both had returned to school had been awkward. He wasn't sure how to proceed with everything, knowing that the girl he'd liked (loved?) was his sworn enemy. Or arch-nemesis.
Was she even his arch-nemesis anymore?
Ugh. Why did everything have to be so complicated?
Mr. Yukimura had the day off and a substitute was in his place, letting the students have a free period. Mason was sick that day so Liam had really no one to talk to except for Hayden.
After several minutes of considering his options, he grabbed his bag and headed toward her seat, the strap over one shoulder. "Can we talk?"
Hayden stared at him. "Sure," she said softly.
They both got a note from the substitute teacher, which allowed them to head to their newly constructed library to "study for their Physics test."
They picked a table upstairs, somewhere away from prying human ears and sat across from each other, awkwardly sitting in silence.
"So . . ." Liam began, hating the uncomfortable silence, tapping his fingers against the wood.
Hayden looked a little startled, then recollected herself. "So."
He studied her for a moment before biting his lower lip, before rambling on. "You're Bubblegum Girl."
Hayden gave a small chuckle. "And you're Wolf Boy. Jesus."
"I really should've known," he told her, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "That you were Bu- I mean, you were practically screaming it in my face and I was too stupid to notice, what with you chewing that pink bubblegum all the time."
She nodded, unable to meet his eyes, hands fidgeting around. There was more uncomfortable silence taking place. "Liam . . ." Hayden started. She let out a deep sigh. "I . . . I honestly don't know what to think here. I mean, just yesterday, we were enemies . . . and now we're not? And - and this whole thing started because of our noses breaking? All because I had to go and fuck it up when you tried to make it up to me?"
"You didn't - you didn't fuck it up. You were just -"
"Defending what was right?' She finished his sentence for him, eyes bearing into his, giving him a knowing look. The look in her eyes made it seem that she was remembering the day they first met during the battle. When they'd broke each other's noses.
"Look, it was a misunderstanding," he cut in. He could tell this was getting out of hand than he meant it to. He wanted tell her that it was his fault that this all started. That he'd acted first.
"I tried to kill you, Dunbar." She sounded frustrated and be honest, so was he. Why wasn't this going as planned?
"And I tried to kill you too, Romero. And look where that got us." The words that came out his words were sharper than he had intended it to be. Immediately, Liam knew he was fucking this up.
Hayden stood up, glaring at him in disbelief. "You're an asshole."
She began shoving her things back in her bag, wadding up a blank paper and tossing it into Liam's face. He reached for her, hand curling around her wrist as he straightened his body. He had to make her stay. "Hayden, just listen to me!" he shouted, not caring if anyone heard him.
"You're an asshole!" she repeated, storming down the stairs. "I can't believe I ever liked you!"
"I can't believe I ever liked you!" he retorted back angrily.
They both knew that they were making a scene but they pushed it back into their minds.
Hayden whirled around, poking a finger to his chest. "You wanna go again, Dunbar?!"
"Hell, maybe we should!" Liam shouted back. Her steely gaze didn't waver from his, and he could see his golden eyes shining in her reflection. "All we ever seem to do is fight!"
"I should've killed you earlier when I had the chance, Wolf Boy!"
"Well, maybe you should've, Bubblegum Girl!"
They huffed and panted, glaring at each other. Then Liam couldn't handle it anymore. He reached out, grabbed her face with both of his hand and kissed her as hard as he could.
A muffled "Oh" came from her lips, then he felt her arms immediately wrap around his neck as she relaxed, body pressing up against his, lips overlapping his. He tasted her bubblegum flavor and he didn't mind.
She pulled back and with a somewhat surprised look on her face, her doe eyes blinking up towards his, a genuine smile etched upon her face. "Not bad, Dunbar," she said softly.
He could've died right there and then.
He was glad he didn't.
"You okay?" Hayden's voice entered his thoughts as he recalled the memory.
He blinked and looked down at her. "Yeah. Just thinking."
"About me?" she asked suggestively, wiggling her thin eyebrows.
He pretended to think about it. "Hmm. Maybe."
They agreed never to talk about their past encounters when they tried to kill each other. Hayden said it was before they knew. Before they didn't know about them being each other's enemies. He had spent the last weeks making it up to Hayden after the fight they had. Taking her out on dates, holding her hand, being there when she needed him. And so had she. Hayden supported him at his lacrosse games, wearing his jersey number, and when his transformation occurred on the full moon. They both backed each other up when they had to clash against the Patriarch and the Bone Woman again.
Simple things that eventually paid off. .
They were mortal once. Being superhuman didn't change that. Sometimes things had to change and people had to go veer off course in revenge or in seeking vengeance, like the Darach/Jennifer had. Sometimes people wanted to kill for reason reason at all, it seemed. Other times, mostly, it took time to forgive, to heal, to grieve, to mourn, and to love.
But in the end, it was worth it.
- FIN.
This started off pretty good and somehow went downhill, I guess? But whatever, I'm pretty proud of this and I hoped you enjoyed!