WARNING!
Gore, harassment, and other mature themes may be included in this chapter.
Reader's discretion is advised. :)
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One last kiss, I love you like a broken pot.
One last kiss, I love you like a pack of dogs.
One last kiss, I need you like I need a gaping head wound.
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- Taxpayers (I love you like an alcoholic) -
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Prologue -
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Her heartbeat quickened as she ran faster, trying not to fall. That day's rain showers were pleasant and light but now that she was on the move, it was causing her some trouble. The focus of the tyrant behind her was aimed more towards the small box she held tightly in her hands. She had stolen a small blue package that seemed to contain something valuable. At least, she hoped.
Her ocean eyes caught a glimpse of a dark alleyway to her right and she immediately slipped out of the man's sight and into the shadows. It was almost as if disappearing came to her naturally. Not bothering to look at where he was going, the man followed her.
"Come here, you little brat!" his booming voice rang through the back alley. He stopped, chest rising and falling dramatically as he huffed and puffed. His fists curled when he noticed that the girl was just standing in the alley, unconcerned by his presence. She was cornered, stuck between her pursuer and a building, there was no hope for an escape...
So then why did she look so calm?
The child pulled her hands closer to her chest when the man began to move towards her. With every step, she blended more and more into the shadows until, finally, she was one with the darkness.
"I'll take back what's mine then break those thieving hands of yours. How's that sound?" the man snarled, cracking his knuckles. The small pops weren't enough to drown out the sound of the little girl's giggling.
"What the hell's so funny?"
"Is that any way to talk to a child, Xiao?"
The man stopped. He furrowed his eyebrows as his mind comprehended the fact that the voice he just heard couldn't have come from the girl. No, he recognized this voice from somewhere...
"Out of all the children you could have terrorized, it had to be mine…" another figure stepped out of the shadows, clicking his tongue disappointedly.
When the dim light provided by the moon shone on the newcomer, the muscular man froze. His face turned a ghostly shade of pale and his composure wavered.
The villain who appeared before him tucked his hands into the lab coat he was wearing, blue scrubs peaking out from underneath. Round glasses reflected the moonlight from underneath his wild, snow-coloured hair.
"K-Kaos...!" the burly man croaked out, his throat suddenly as dry as a desert. He held up his hands apologetically, "I'm sorry! I-I didn't know it was your kid!" The white-haired villain stared at him for a moment, grinning mischievously. He cackled.
"Come on, Xiao! If you're going to address me, address me right. I have a PhD, y'know?" a soft breeze picked up, entangling itself in the villain's coat.
With a stupid amount of courage, Xiao spun around on his heels and began to run for it. His pathetic escape attempt didn't carry on for too long. Doctor Kaos appeared in front of him, dawning a smile that reached his eyes.
"Stabbing me in the back, trying to lock me up, invading my privacy...You plan on selling me out to that hot-headed prat, aren't you?" he laughed and shook his head.
"Of course I do! Your experiments are insane! Human experimentation?! No one in the lab would agree to that," Xiao laced his words with more venom than a viper's fangs. Despite his stupid amount of courage, he fell to his knees, unable to control the fear inside him. The white-haired villain standing only a few feet away looked down upon the display with a malicious grin, licking his cracked lips.
"Don't be such a Negative Nancy, Xiao. Isn't this what you wanted? To corner me?" he asked cheerfully. His attitude matched that of a kid in a candy store. "Well, you've done it! Happy?"
"S-Someone's gonna notice my disappearance and when they do...it's gonna be your ass on the line," Xiao bellowed. The villain went silent. His hands fell down to his sides, swinging slightly. Approximately ten seconds later, his smile had faded into a glare of disgust and the curious gleam in his eyes vanished. Even his body language had changed to be that of someone more mature.
"I'm counting on it."
The little girl which Xiao had been chasing wordlessly crept out from the shadows. The muscular man furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, studying her face, or rather, lack thereof.
A tattered brown mask shaped like a rat was now strapped onto her face. The sharp teeth on the end of the mask were still threatening despite their slightly yellow tint and the left ear was nowhere to be seen. Crystal-blue irises could be seen through the eye holes.
As for Kaos, his stance changed completely. He was calm now and seemed like a scientist even more. His cold hard stare froze the blood in Xiao's veins.
"To put it bluntly, Xiao, you aren't dangerous in the slightest. However, your connections are," the doctor adjusted his glasses, face blank and unemotional like there was a new mind behind it; a polar opposite from the cackling man he previously appeared to be.
"D-Don't come near me!" Xiao inched back until he hit a brick wall. He now cornered himself.
The girl whom Kaos referred to as "Lab Rat" rummaged around in something behind a garbage bin, somewhat resembling a racoon.
"How about this? I'll let you pick how you want to go," Kaos raised an eyebrow. His victim turned green. He was about two seconds away from throwing up out of pure terror. His day couldn't get any worse, right?
Wrong.
Oh, so wrong...
Lab Rat came out from behind the bin, a decorated bat in hand. The white barrel was wrapped in barbed wire and had silver spikes coming out of it. What made it even more overzealous were the stickers. Dozens of the childish pictures littered the length of the bat.
"You can help my little Lab Rat raise her cold body count…" On cue, she scraped her bat against the wall and began to walk closer. "Or I can see how long you can last against my quirk before kicking the bucket. Your choice," the madman put his hand over his heart. Xiao was unable to move, paralyzed with fear.
"So, what will it be Xiao? Don't make me choose for you," Kaos crouched down until he was eye to eye with the muscular man. Xiao flinched.
"P-Please…I'll do whatever you want…Just don't kill me…" his eyes were bloodshot from trying to hold back so many tears and his lip quivered pathetically. Kaos raised an eyebrow, amused by how this tough-looking man cracked almost instantly.
Without warning, he roughly grabbed the man's ankle and stretched out his leg. Xiao yelped, surprised by the abrupt use of force. His petrified eyes went wide as the sudden realisation hit him like an oncoming train.
Lab Rat stepped aside, standing at his right. For a moment, the white-haired lunatic before him stared into his eyes. This was, indeed, checkmate.
"Break it."
"W-What?!" he cried, thrashing about wildly as if it would delay the inevitable. Kaos clutched his leg tightly. Lab Rat levelled her bat with his knee, taunting him subtly by waving it. The burly man wept pathetically. "You sick son of a bitch!" he shouted, voice cracking.
Lab Rat raised the bat and tightened her fists around the black grip, all while the man she was about to bludgeon continued to shout profanities at her. His courage dwindled when she swung. The midnight silence was interrupted by a sickening crunch, followed by blood-curdling howls of agony, all belonging to Xiao.
"Was stabbing me in the back worth it?" Kaos quipped, pleased by Xiao's pained expression and definitely broken leg. Satisfied, he stood and turned to the child next to him. They locked eyes, silence floating between the two.
"I do hope you enjoyed playing with my daughter," he grabbed her shoulder, a small but proud smile on his face. Lab Rat's shoulders shook as she let out a childish giggle. She twirled her bat in her hand while Xiao cried on the pavement. "She certainly seems to enjoy playing with you." Xiao let out a pitiful sob of despair. He had completely lost his composure and no longer cared about his tough-guy act.
"Come now. Your mother expects you to be home early tonight," Kaos adjusted his glasses again. Lab Rat moves like she is going to walk closer to him but pauses to look back at Xiao. Her head tilts to the right ever so slightly. This small action is enough to convey her unspoken question to her father.
What do we do about him?
The madman sighs and turns back to Xiao, whose pathetic wails had yet to quiet down. "I suppose we could put him out of his misery…" Lab Rat hesitated for a moment before approaching the injured man again.
"I-I'm begging you, Kinzo…" he rasped while his moist eyes pleaded with the doctor. He paused, eyes dark and desolate. Lab Rat looked at him as if she was waiting for a queue.
"I would tell you to think twice before you speak but…" Kaos's ocean eyes narrowed as he placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, "I don't believe it will matter in a few minutes."
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Endeavour furrows his flaming eyebrows as he approaches the groggy police officer who called him to the scene. With a huff, he scans the area. It's a nice morning and he's spending it at a crime scene. It's not like he has anything better to do, anyway. The day's been almost excruciatingly slow.
As he passes under the yellow tape, he hears a news reporter going over the story.
"Earlier last night, a man was found brutally beaten to death with a bat. Police are giving no information at this time but the nature of the kill resembles one of notorious criminal Doctor Kaos and his colleague Lab Rat, rivals to Flame hero; Endeavour. The true identity of either of these villains have yet to be uncovered"
"Tell me again why I'm here?" Endeavour barks out, ignoring the newswoman.
"Short answer? That Doctor Kaos guy and his Lab Rat killed again last night. We think you might be able to tell us who he offed this time," the officer explained while sipping his coffee. The flaming man next to him tsks.
This would make it the third time this week that that damned villain slipped out from under his fingers. The bastard even let a child tag along with him so he could taunt the heroic society. Endeavour was starting to get pissed off. Even more so than usual.
Yoshida Xiao was an undercover informant that had been working for Endeavour for about two weeks. He managed to contact the villain and was so very close to putting him behind bars.
Look where that got him.
Endeavour's scowl somehow intensified when he gazed upon the crime scene. There was blood splattered on the wall behind a badly beaten body. It was barely recognisable.
If he didn't know what Xiao looked like, Endeavour would deny he knew the corpse. Nevertheless, he gave the tired officer a nod. The muscular state of the body was a give-away. That messy excuse for a cadaver was Xiao.
"No doubt about it. That's Xiao...Damn it," the redhead folded his arms over his chest. The officer beside him scribbles something down onto a notepad then sighs.
"I guess we should get someone to go console the family. Sorry for the inconvenience, Sir," his exhausted eyes offer a quick apology before the policeman walks away to talk to someone else.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the street, a man clad in a beanie and sweater holds his daughter's hand. He smirks to himself, eyes narrowing in on Endeavour's brilliant flames. A curt chuckle escaped the depths of his throat before he enters an innocent-looking floral shop.
The girl holding his hand lets her eyes fall to the ground. On their way down, they briefly stop at her nails. She gently tugs her sleeve to wipe away the red speck that almost went unnoticed.