Day 23 (July 29th): Bad Guy Syndrome: The series had its swarm of enemies: whether it be Divine, Ruder/Roman, Rex, or Z-ONE. Today's prompt is all about antagonists.

Focus: Divine meets his end.

Characters: Divine. OC.

"Divine Kaiser," I spoke in a low grumble. I felt like a snake lurking in the shadows. Aki had just left. It was only me standing in the dimly lit hall of bars.

She doesn't know what I was planning to do. This. Whatever I'm doing. This plan I had in my head ever since Misty had called earlier this week.

Stop him, Misty had said in a deadpan matter void of any sort of emotion. Don't lie to me, Asakawa. I know you're capable. You can take his power. If you do, you would save countless people. Don't fool yourself into thinking he would never harm again. He will escape, and he will go after-

I know! I know. I know if he gets out, he'll go right back after Aki. I know I could save people, but fuck, that's not me. I have never been the type who plays the hero. I might not be a villain anymore, nor would I ever want to be, but I can't ever be someone's knight.

I don't know. Maybe it's not true. Yet. I would have just walked away if he hadn't have spoken to Aki the way he did. I would have let him done whatever he had planned.

Maybe. I don't know.

I step into the light just as Divine's eyes look up to search for whoever had spoken. His eyes narrow at the sight of me.

"Godwin," He hisses.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves," My voice is clipped. I hold my head high. "My name is Reika Asakawa. I have been told you knew my mother, Airi Asakawa." I pause to watch him. His breathing is ragged. I realize he is watching me. "The two of you attended the same school for Psychics until you betrayed your family by sending your materialized monsters after the student population, killing twenty-nine students under the age of seventeen, and four staff members. The only reason you escaped is that you stole the school's private helicopter."

"I know my history," Divine's voice is low, rumbling with power. I don't flinch. His power is hot, like fire. It's different from Aki who feels like an electric whip- ready to snap at any second. No, he is burning, with the power to destroy everything around him within seconds.

"My Mother tried to heal those you injured, but failed. She blamed herself until her death," My voice is lifeless. "She tried to stop you. She begged you to run away with her, as long as you stopped hurting others. But that wasn't enough. You had to rule the world, you and your Psychic army," My eyes narrow. "It's how you knew so much about my Uncle. Because you knew my Mother. Before Zero Reverse, the two of you met. She saw you bought a tower. She knew what you were doing. She tried to convince you to stop. You said no. You were saved by the Zero Reverse. She was planning on stopping you, you know. My dear Mother."

"Shut up," Divine is shaking.

"She was the only person who ever cared for your black heart," My smile is cruel. "Your only friend. And you cast her aside."

"She would have stopped me!" Divine stands up and snaps. "She didn't understand- none of them did! Those commoners deserve what they get- for what they did-"

"And the actions for Psychics against commoners are exactly why they persecute us. Like witches," My hand goes to the bandage on my arm. Slowly, I start to unravel. "We hurt. We kill."

"For the good of-"

"Because we're selfish and ruthless," I keep my even tone as my mark is fully freed. Divine doesn't seem to notice. "We strive to fit in, to be normal, but when we fail we lash out. We ostracized ourselves. People like you are why hundreds of Psychics are killed each year, and why more go into hiding."

"No, I save them-"

"You save nothing, Divine. You yourself are responsible for forty-two of Psychic deaths in the last year."

"Do you understand the power you have?" Divine steps closer. "You could have been something great- a prodigy. Think of what you could have done for the Movement! Think of the war we could have waged against those who spurned us- the tables we could have turned." Divine's eyes are crazy. "You could join me still. With your power-"

"I refuse," I look Divine up and down. "You're nothing, Divine. You will always be nothing."

"NO!" Divine slams himself against the bars of the cell. "I am salvation. I am the one who should be feared! Listen to me-"

"No," I step closer to him. Our faces are inches apart. I smile. "You will listen to me." I reach out, my hand gripping his thin wrist. Divine doesn't seem to process what I'm doing. For a second, my mark glows. Divine's face changes to fear as he finally understands what's happening. He begins to thrash- to get out of my grip- but I laugh.

I absorb his powers. When I'm done, I fling his hand back, causing him to land on his back. I know he's drained.

I've never taken someone's full powers before. It feels exhilarating. I feel the wild energy coursing through me. When I was the Lady of the Underground, I knew I was evil. I wanted to rebuild our Earth as a goddess.

But Divine? His energy is different. I can't call it worse. But it's frightening.

"What the hell are you doing?" Divine sounds vulnerable. "If you continue my legacy-"

"You misunderstand," I let out a low laugh. "Yeah, I'm my Father's daughter. I'm also my Mother's." I took a deep breath.

Misty was right. I was the only one who could do this. The temptation to keep his power is there. Oh fuck, I crave it.

I exhale. Green energy releases from my hands, escaping from my body. I look to it with a slight laugh.

"How ironic," I let out a slight hum. "Green for envy. Green for jealous. Green for greed," I shoot a glance to Divine. I meet his eyes as I release the last of his aura into the air, where he could never reach it again. "And all that's left is one commoner."

I turn around, breaking eye contact, and start towards the exit. I hear Divine shouting after me, but I don't stop to listen.

However, I do stop. I reach for my deck and pull a card. It's the King of Swords in reverse. A smile touches my lips. I know I did the right thing. Divine was a tyrant who wouldn't have stopped in his path for power.

I saved Aki. That's enough for me.

"Where were you?" Aki frowns as I step outside of the Public Maintenance building. She spots the unbandaged mark that I am currently rewrapping.

"About that," I smile sheepishly.

"What did you do?" Aki doesn't hesitate.

I don't answer right away. I finish bandaging my arm. "I took away his powers." A beat goes by. I clip the bandage in place, then look up to see Aki's expression. It's frozen. Her brown eyes are wide, as if they didn't register what I said. "You good?" I raise an eyebrow. Aki doesn't move.

"You...took away his powers?" Aki's words are slow, questioning, as if she doesn't believe me.

"Yeah," I nod. "'S nothing. I wasn't planning on doing it, 'till he said something to you. He pissed me off." A stretch of silence passes by. "And...I thought, you know, it would be one less bastard out there to hurt you- others."

"You did it for me," Aki's eyes start to water. I put my hands up, not sure what to expect, but Aki lets out a breathless laugh. Her hands go to her face. I realize too late she's crying. My arms go around her, but she's sobbing. I have to catch her when she falls to the ground and hold her. I pat her back, but the other hand stroking her hair.

"It's okay," I whisper soft words to her. "You're okay. He won't touch you again."

I can't hear her. It takes me minutes to realize she's thanking me.

"Don't," My one-word sentence is spoken gently.

"No, Rei, shut up," Aki wipes the back of her hand across her eyes. "Without you-"

"I told you I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't pissed me off," I murmur.

Aki looks at me like she doesn't believe me. Like she sees some good in me she thinks is there. Still, it makes me smile, and she smiles back. "Thank you, Rei." Aki looks up at the sky. "I've always felt this shadow over me, ever since I left the Arcadia Movement. I...I don't know if it's gone, but I think...I think I can start to move on." Aki looks at me with warm eyes. "Thank you for saving me."

"Yeah," I let her words wash over me. All of the Signers, they make me feel like one of them. They make me want to be better. "Any time."

A/N:

Tune in tomorrow (or today, oops) for Day 23, We're Here Too! It's all about under-appreciated characters. Let's see if I do Sherry for the third year in a year ;)

If you didn't read the disclaimer in the last chapter, please do so. I apologize for the OC content today, but I remembered I had it, and didn't wish to be any more late. It was written about a year ago. I hope you guys still enjoy it. This OC is from The Road to Hell. The story has since changed since I wrote this one-shot, but I still like the intensity

See you tomorrow (hopefully!) :)