Notes: Quick warning, Henry's a bad guy here and despite him being a nice, friendly and well-mannered boy when he's being a normal citizen, he's still not exactly a good person. If we're being honest, He's kinda toxic and a bit of a creep in this fic so yeah, you have been warned. K thx, love u 3
Full disclosure, all the main characters here, except for Ray, are high school seniors and are all 18-year-olds.
The plan had been simple: go in, scare everyone into compliance, take a primary hostage, retrieve the item he was looking for and make a swift exit without any trouble. If everything went according to plan, he would be able to be in and out fast enough to be able to avoid Captain Man and his sidekick. And even so, if something did go wrong and he ended up taking longer than expected, he would still have the restaurant patrons, and an unlucky guest he picked out of the crowd to take with him on his search, to fall back on.
He headed inside. The blond was using a hyper-realistic mask, that was really more of a hologram type thing. Dr. Miniak had explained it to him and Veronika had re-explained it, but he ended up zoning out both times. Unless it was about any of the grander weapons of mass disruption, or the meticulous details some of his schemes entailed, he tended to not really pay attention to any of the technical details and would usually leave any information of the sort for his partner to figure out. She kind of hated him for it, but she was also his best friend and therefore still loved him, so it was all good.
Going unnoticed with a fake name that Nicky managed to get into the reservation files, he lingered around the restaurant for a bit before subtly making his way to the kitchen and knocking everybody in there out. He made sure to seal any potential escapes and/or entrances off, ensuring that they would be impenetrable unless it was by his own hand.
After all, he didn't want any unwanted superheroes and their sidekicks trying to spoil his night, now did he?
In all seriousness, it was Friday night and he wasn't really in the mood to put up a show tonight, hence the simplified and quick plan. He pulled up the object description of the famous Montego's family plaque that Veronika had been ranting to him about for weeks now. The object supposedly contained within itself a very important mineral, or gem, or something, that was necessary for some sort of chemical, which was required for some type of weapon, that would then play a crucial role in their multi step state domination ploy. Again, Nicky explained it to him; again, he didn't listen.
A loud crash filled the air and he was forced to break out from his train of thought to look up. A horrified waitress stared at him, paralyzed with fear at the scene in front of her. The tray of porcelain plates she had presumably just dropped lied at her feet near one of her many co-workers that currently lay unconscious on the floor.
Henry rolled his eyes, he knew there was a possibility of this happening if he wasn't quick enough within the first stages of his mission, but the mere thought of having to chase after the underpaid employee before she could properly warn anybody still annoyed him. As if reading his mind, the young woman seemingly snapped out of her trance and all but booked it towards the main entrance of the restaurant.
"Goddammit." He muttered under his breath and pressed a button on his wrist watch, effectively getting rid of his hologram-mask-thing and dressing him up in his supervillain costume. Donned in all black and green leather, with a helmet that very closely resembled that of a bikers that had his signature logo imprinted on it, he pulled up his map, routing the locations within the head gear's internal screen and quickly walked out of the kitchen door, locking that too in case somebody decided to get smart and try to get some sort of weapon in there.
"Everybody get down!" He shouted as he walked into the main dining hall, his voice boomed throughout the entire restaurant making any and all clientele shockingly look up from their meals. Time seemed to freeze for a while, the words seemingly not fully processing in any of the citizen's minds.
The masked villain rolled his eyes once again and pulled out his laser gun from it's holster. He really didn't have time for this. "I said get the fuck down!" He fired a couple shots into the ceiling, purposely hitting one of the chains on the chandelier and making it drop down slightly, stressing his point.
At this, many people let out small shrieks and scared screams, immediately abandoning their meals and sitting down on the ground, cowering by their chairs. Henry quickly clicked a few buttons on his wristband, effectively cutting out any cell phone reception within the restaurant.
"Alright," He began, walking over to the doors of Montego's and sealing them shut with another customized lock. "I have locked all the doors and cut out all of your phone's signals so none of you can escape or try to contact the police. So," He let out an impatient sigh, his voice modifier slightly statizicing the huff of air. "Let's just cut down to the chase. I need something from the offices of this restaurant and I am going to go get it." The blond then turned around and started walking around the main floor of the place, scanning his eyes over the patrons to make sure nobody made any sudden moves.
"You all," He extended his arms in a dramatized, taunting way. "get the incredible honor of being my hostages!"
Quiet murmurs made their way through the crowd and people began to look more and more terrified. ' As they should be' , he thought.
"Now, I'm gonna be honest with you all, I am very tired, and I really rather just get this over with." The criminal slowly made his way to the back of the restaurant, still keeping his eyes on the disturbed citizens looking his way. "I have a gun, and I am pretty sure that you have all heard of me and are aware of what I can do even without any weapons. So, if you all cooperate with me and none of you try to be dumb and play hero, I can promise you that no one will get hurt. Except, you know, the people in the kitchen that I already knocked out." He placed his gun back into it's holster, as if to emphasize his words.
He heard some frightened gasps and rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I've done worse!" He turned on his heel, making sure nobody was currently trying to sneak up on him while he had his back turned and upon confirming there was no one, quickly turned again. "Now, while I am sure that you are all very intelligent here and nobody's gonna try anything funny while I'm gone, I am still going to need a bit of insurance perse, which means-" He had finished scanning the entire room and was just about to make a grab for any random person to his right to finish his statement until he saw… her.
There, just a few tables in front of him, with her meticulously manicured golden nails gripping the dark, wooden flooring, sat no other than the famous sidekick to Swellview's protector, Kid Danger.
She wasn't in her uniform. No, of course not, instead, she was wearing a long-sleeved forest green dress. Her ears and chest were adorned by golden jewelry that made a perfect match to her warm toned makeup.
He slowly walked over to her, seeing how her wide, perfectly highlighted brown eyes followed his every step until he stopped in front of her, looming over her figure.
He had only found out about Kid Danger's true identity a few months ago, in a happy accident of being in the right place at the right time.
He had been gathering some supplies that Veronika had told him that they needed at the town's abandoned car assembly factory, when she rushed in. It was a brunette who he recognized as Charlotte Page, an, admittedly very attractive, girl that went to his highschool and who by then, he had only really interacted with on a few occasions. Dressed in sweatpants and a pink shirt, the girl came into the aging building in a hurry looking more than agitated. She had inspected her surroundings, trying to make sure she was alone, and upon making a quick clear of the place, -and completely missing him- the girl deemed the place empty enough to pop a piece of bubblegum in her mouth and transform into Captain Man's long-time companion.
Even now, he still doesn't know what happened, but seeing that scene play out in front of him shifted something in him that day. His feelings for the Swellvillian sidekick changed significantly. Before then, he had regarded her with the general irritation he had with anyone who tried to get in the way of his plans, and frankly, most super heroic figures he encountered. Although admittedly, he also held a muted praise at her ability to hold her own during a fight just as well as Captain Man, despite having decades less of experience than him. Not to mention just being able to tolerate the conceited super on a daily basis was an achievement on itself.
He thought this confidently, considering how many times he had observed how out of the two, the supposed underling was usually the one who made more rational decisions. The villain legitimately wondered sometimes how the hell Swellview hadn't already gone up and been engulfed by flames before Kid Danger showed up.
What he experienced after that day however, was that with his recent discovery, the slight acclaim towards the town's sidekick had mixed itself with his already established physical attraction towards Charlotte. And when those feelings came together, she had constantly plagued his thoughts.
Henry hadn't been able to believe his luck at the time, and for many nights he had admittedly no idea on what to do with his newfound knowledge he had just uncovered. The boy never told Veronika, for fear of what she might attempt to execute with that kind of information. Yes, Captain Man was his sworn enemy (especially after what he did to Drex.) and Kid Danger was a nuisance, but a very heavy, very persistent part of him still didn't want anything truly bad to happen to her. Telling Veronika would most definitely put the sidekick at that risk, so he decided to keep that information to himself.
One day, he would use his knowledge of her identity to his advantage but until then, he would keep her secret.
And my oh my, look at how soon 'one day' had arrived?
He smirked. How perfect was this opportunity? No, how fucking perfect was just this situation in general? Just tonight, he got to see the one girl that was always at the forefront of his mind (for better or for worse), without her alter ego; which meant that one: Captain Man wouldn't have his precious sidekick to help him by his side. Two: said precious sidekick couldn't do anything about this situation even if she wanted to.
-In order to keep her identity a secret she couldn't use either her powers or gadgets to try to get out of this situation, especially if she knew that he had his eye on her, and considering that she didn't know that he did know about her secret identity, she wouldn't risk it. Lest she expose herself and put her whole family and friends in danger.
Ever since meeting her, Henry had always thought that despite working for one of the most annoying, reckless and self-absorbed heroes he's ever met, Kid Danger was very smart, and in his personal opinion? She was way too good to be working for Captain Man.-
And finally, three: he got to spend the rest of his night with her (in the restaurant at least), and got to stare at her for as long as he pleased, because holy shit, did she look stunning.
"You're coming with me princess."
The masked villain reached out and grabbed the dark skinned girl by the arm, forcing her to stand up with him. She let out a small gasp, but besides that, refrained from making any other sounds of protest.
That was the hero within her, always making sure to put on a brave front in the face of danger. Well, as brave as her anxiety ridden eyes could convey. She probably knew everything that he had just thought about, and any opportunity of her slipping off after he went off to retrieve the plaque and sneaking up on him as Kid Danger had just been thrown out the window.
As she stood up, Henry noticed that the dress she wore not only was one of those that was skin tight and hugged her in all the right places, but also had a slit on the side that rode up from her mid calf, all the way to her upper thigh, giving him a clear view of her silky smooth, mocha legs.
And what a sight she was.
"Damn." He muttered under his breath and quickly started to pull on her arm to take her with him before a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Let go of her, you piece of shit!"
He abruptly stopped and turned back around in the direction of the voice. In his whole process of checking out the glammed up woman, he hadn't even noticed her apparent companion.
Sitting on the floor, at the same table that the curly haired girl had been sitting on, was an olive skinned, not-as-curly haired guy, glaring at the supervillain with a much uglier shade of brown eyes. He seemed to be dressed in a casual black suit, fitting for the restaurant they were in.
Who the fuck was this guy?
And why was he sitting with her at the same table?
"Let. Her. Go." The other male said once again.
The helmeted teen sneered at him. Who the fuck did this asshole think he was? And what the hell made him think he had any right or power to tell him what to do? Especially when it came to the girl that was currently in his hands?
Did he just happen to forget which of the two was the armed one in this situation? Or had the very fact that he was one of the most dangerous criminals in not just Swellview, but the entire State, slipped his mind? He must have hit his head when he first went down to the ground.
Despite his initial annoyance with the brunet, he still decided to have a little fun with it and rile him up, just to see if he would be stupid enough to take the bait.
"Make me." The masked villain said.
Aaand, he fell for it.
Apparently those two words were all it took for the curly haired male to stand up. Then, just as he was coming into his full height, Henry quickly swept a foot under him, effectively knocking him back on his ass, or well, stomach.
"Jack! Oh my god, are you ok?" Charlotte shouted beside him, moving slightly while still being in Henry's grip, to stand closer to her date.
"Listen buddy," Henry said while pulling her back. "I'm seeing that you're not the sharpest tool in the shed here but let me remind you that not only do I have a gun, but I can send you flying out the window without even touching you. So, if I were you I'd stay down. If not for your sake, do it for the lovely lady in my arms, since you care about her so much, ok?"
Jack groaned from the impact, gripping his nose that managed to hit the ground due to the amount of speed in which he was knocked down. Nevertheless, having some more fight left in him, he still looked up at the masked man.
"You want a hostage? Take me instead!" He called out. Only, this time it was even less intimidating and more just comical from his spot on the floor. Henry scoffed, his voice modifier once again leaving out a rush of static at the huff of air.
"Ugh, and have to deal with that the entire time? No thanks, I'd rather have... nicer company."
He purposely let his tone drip with lust at the end of his statement while turning his head in order to look at the girl next to him. He also took his chance to let go of her bicep and instead wrap his leather clad arm around her waist.
And boy, did it get him the reaction he wanted.
The brunet gaped at the villain's words and his face contorted in rage. "You goddamn bastard! Don't you dare talk about her that way-" He started to prop himself up on his elbows in order to get up again as he shouted at the criminal that stood before him.
Now, Henry had really only known this dude for about two minutes, but considering that the guy had already made a terrible impression upon him by going out with his little hero (a.k.a Kid Danger, a.k.a Charlotte), Henry found out he already loved riling this guy up, just so he could shoot him down.
He took the boy's actions as his cue to plant his foot on the (in his opinion) pathetic guy's face and push him down onto the floor, making sure to press down with even more force as the other's cheek hit the floor. "I said stay down, Romeo."
"Stop!" You're hurting him!" came Charlotte's agitated voice from beside him, making Henry scowl at the distress in her voice. He had enjoyed fucking around with the other male, but the dark skinned girl's level of concern towards Jack proved to be really getting under his skin. His grip around her waist tightened, before letting go.
"Alright I'm done with this." He grumbled and took the gun back from it's holster.
Henry blasted the Chandelier once again, shooting off another chain and making it drop down even more. He turned towards the crowd and snaked his arm around Charlotte's neck only for his hand to pinch both her cheeks between his left hand as the right one still pointed his blaster towards the ceiling.
"Anybody does anything stupid and dollface here gets it! Don't fucking test me!" He turned once again and with a firm grip on the brunette's wrist he made his way upstairs towards where the locator pointed him in the direction of the plaque.
"Hey Ray?" Jasper's voice rang out throughout the man cave, catching the older man's attention that had, up until this point, been solely preoccupied on his latest birdhouse arts and crafts project.
"What's up man?" The out-of-disguise superhero questioned his employee in a nonchalant voice, not looking up from his very important project . Those birds weren't gonna house themselves you know. (Well technically they were and actively did as part of their bird nature, but that's beside the point. Ray just wanted to feel important even when he wasn't fighting crime dammit!.)
"Charlotte's not really been answering any of my texts and I'm getting kinda worried."
"Yeah?" Ray asked, still unconcerned. "Well she is on a date Jasper, I don't think texting back and forth with you is gonna be her main priority while she's out with what's-his-face." the man said dismissively.
"Well, I mean yeah, but her date apparently has to leave early tomorrow morning and he couldn't give her a ride back to her place so she asked me to do it. She had just sent me a text telling me that they were almost done and that she would text me the address to come pick her up." The hazel eyed teen looked back down at his phone. "That was over thirty minutes ago, now not even my texts will go through."
At this, the 37-year-old finally looked up, a small frown forming on his face. "Well," he began, trying to look for some sort of explanation."Who knows, maybe her phone died? Or maybe she ended up smooching with her little boyfriend for a bit too long and forgot to text you the deets-"
"Charlotte is way too responsible to not charge her phone before going out, you know that." Jasper retorted, Ray nodding his head in agreement. "And I thought about the possibility of her wanting to spend a bit of extra time with her date too, but for thirty minutes? Apparently this guy runs on a very strict schedule, she told me it was a miracle they even managed to set up a date tonight."
Ray sat back on the booth, crossing his arms. "Well, maybe-" He was about to continue his rationalization before the screen monitors behind him came to life and started playing the local news channel at full volume.
"Breaking news! A possible hostage situation going down in Swellview's most exclusive restaurant? Just less than thirty minutes ago, tonight, police were dispatched to the famous Swellview steak house known as Montego's by one of the restaurant's staff that upon trying to enter the building, found herself unable to do so despite knowing that the place was still open. She tried contacting her fellow co-workers to let her in but never received back any replies, along with the fact that the closer she got to the restaurant, the weaker her phone signal became and none of her attempted phone calls or texts went through. Despite seeing and hearing people inside, the employee claimed that even when she knocked on the front door, nobody ever came to open it." The news anchor known as Trent rattled off the story while giving the camera in front of him a very serious look.
Both Ray and Jasper stopped their banter, paying full attention to the words coming off the TV screens.
"That's right Trent. The police who are currently on the scene have reported that neither they nor the fire department have been able to open or even break down any of the doors. This is leading them to believe more and more that this is a sign of foul play. Now Trent, do we happen to know exactly who could be behind this extremely-possible-but-not-yet-confirmed hostage situation?" The other news anchor, known as Mary, asked. Her usual chipper tone was gone and she seemed to be taking the situation just as seriously as her co-worker.
Jasper held his breath, the gears in his head turning as he put together the puzzle pieces. "We're not actually a hundred percent sure Mary, but according to authorities, through the process of ruling out all of the villains that are currently in prison, discarding the ones that are being held under close watch by the local government and taking into account that Montego's is an incredibly difficult place to infiltrate considering the many security measures the ultra-exclusive restaurant has implemented, the most likely suspect is now believed to be the infamous supervillain who has proven to be a serious menace and a difficult challenge to even our local town heroes, Obsidian Eye."
Jasper's and Ray's eyes widened at the name, their mouths agape. After a few seconds, both men seemed to recover from their shock, each coming to their own realizations.
"Obsidian Eye… Drex's former trainee! He got away from me and Charlotte last time we encountered him. But that was over 7 months ago, why is he back?!" Ray began pacing around the main floor of the man cave, silently ranting to himself, failing to notice Jasper approaching the screen, a small 'Oh no' falling from his mouth.
"Montego's… she's at Montego's Ray!" The curly haired boy shouted at the older man. This made Ray stop mid-pace and look at his informer confusedly.
"Montego's? What do you mean Monte- are you talking about Charlotte?" Ray asked, approaching the multiple screens and watching the current live stream of the restaurant from the news helicopter. Jasper nodded and Ray shook his head. "No, no it can't be Montego's Jasper! Why would you even think- you need to be personally invited to have dinner there, Charlotte doesn't have those kinds of connections."
"Yeah, but that guy, Jack -her date-, is a relatively famous musician. And he would have those kinds of connections."
Ray shook his head, vehemently denying the possibility and proceeded to point an accusing finger at his subordinate. "No, no it can't be. Because if Charlotte's at Montego's then that means that she's stuck inside, by herself, in the same restaurant as Obsidian Eye, who might I remind you, is incredibly dangerous!"
Jasper slapped away his boss's finger, taking said boss by surprise. He was usually a pretty passive guy and not many things managed to ruffle his feathers, but breaking his superior out of his ridiculous denial and trying to save his best friend from a very dangerous criminal was something that would most definitely bring out his harsher side. "You think I want her to be there? It's not about it being dangerous or not Ray, it's about the facts! And the facts are that Charlotte is one of the most responsible girls you and I know yet she hasn't been answering any of my texts, none of my calls are getting through and the restaurant just went into some kind of weird, phone-signal-blocking, impenetrable-door-having, lockdown. And all of that happened around the same amount of time as when I last heard from Char!"
Realization seemed to hit Ray like a million bricks and his face contorted in horror.
"Schwoz!"
Henry groaned, his helmet had just finished analyzing the glass nameplate in his hand and despite it having literal diamonds encrusted into it, according to the big red 'X' that appeared on it's screen, it wasn't what he was looking for.
"God Dammit." He groaned as he let the panel slip from his grasp and crash into the floor, glass shards flying everywhere. "How many of these things do these people need?" He asked himself as he shook his head. Apparently, according to his locator, there was multiple of these things in the building that all used the same golden plating within themselves that the magical-special-mineral-whatever-having one possessed, and since the locator didn't work to its full potential at a distance, this meant that the masked villain had to track all of them down within the different offices in the upper floor and scan each of them separately until the right one turned up. "What a load of pretentious bastards am I right?" Henry asked with a small chuckle.
In front of him, and well within his line of sight, stood Swellviews currently out of commission sidekick looking at him with distaste clearly written all over her face. She didn't really reply or otherwise make any move to acknowledge his question, drawing another snicker from the supervillain. "Yeah I guess you probably don't care."
The leather clad male stepped over the shards of glass, the bigger pieces breaking under his steel-toed boots and made his way in towards his heroic counterpart. He looked down at the much shorter woman and gave her a click of his tongue. "Let's go." He hooked his finger in between the metal ring that kept both the cuffs together and easily pulled her along with him.
Before starting his search, he knew he couldn't just leave her unrestricted, even though he kind of wanted to. A part of him was curious to see if the famous sidekick would actually risk either exposing her identity and/or endangering the rest of the guests in the restaurant in order to attempt to stop him or somehow gain the upper hand on him using her hyper motility.
There was this thrill seeking side to him that encouraged himself to let her hang around, free of any physical constraints. Would she actually try something? Or would she continue to be smart and play the part of the good little defenseless citizen?
The latter thought was also nice. Knowing that he had Swellview's incredibly smart, powerful and righteous sidekick in front of him at an arm's reach while he committed several illegal acts. Yet because of the power dynamic that he had already established (and her most likely wanting to keep her identity a secret), he could very well turn his back to her, go about his business and be confident that when he turned back around she would still be there, quietly waiting for him to finish, as long as that guaranteed the safety of everyone else.
Yes, those were all very good scenarios to think about and his curiosity gnawed at him to go through with it.
Yet, his rational side (that very much sounded like Veronika sometimes) reminded him that this was supposed to be a quick errand, and the plaque was crucial to have. He knew that risking something bad going down just for a quick power trip wasn't worth it and would most definitely earn him an earful from his partner.
Other opportunities where he would be able to one-up her and force her to fuel his arrogance would present themselves in the near future, so he ended up putting some metal handcuffs that fully covered both hands on her. Plus, restraining her would also lead her to believe that he still viewed her as just another civilian.
"What is it that you're looking for?" A soft voice behind him asked as he opened the door to the (hopefully last) office and went inside. Spotting a wooden name plate, with what he presumed to be a few onyx stones encrusted and a golden plate that read 'Montego's Vineyard, since 1854' , sitting on the top shelf of the second bookcase within the room, he let go of the girls handcuffs and made a bee-line towards it.
"Heh, wouldn't you like to know, princess." He snorted, rolling his eyes that she actually thought he would reveal any part of his plan to her, (Honestly? He might've. If only, just to see how much she would prematurely freak out before she had any chance to tell Captain Man, but then she had to go and sour his mood by going out with some loser that was stupid enough to try and go against a dangerous criminal when he couldn't even dodge a kick to the legs properly.) and held the heavier-than-it-looked wood piece in front of his helmet so the technology inside of it could get a proper reading of the tablet.
Charlotte knew better than to try him, but after years of dealing with this guy and his antics, those accumulated feelings of frustration and disdain couldn't help but reveal themselves. Her patience with him had severely dwindled over the years and sidekick or no, Charlotte was still a person and Obsidian Eye was an asshole.
"Don't call me that."
Henry looked up from the overly expensive paper weight in his hand, interrupting the scanning process from his screen to actually look directly at his captive. He raised a brow at the scowl on her face in addition to her annoyed tone. 'Yeah, annoyed I ruined her shitty date.' he thought and a grimace of his own appeared on his face. "You're my hostage here, princess, I'll call you whatever the hell I want."
The brown-eyed girl furrowed her brows. She knew that Obsidian eye was a super villain, but she didn't know he was a jerk. Ok, no that was a complete lie. She absolutely 100% knew that, she literally just called him an asshole like a minute ago. The response, still somehow managed to take her by surprise. "You're rude."
Henry actually gave a small laugh at the comment and went back to scanning the wooden object. It didn't seem to matter if she was presenting herself as a sidekick or as a civilian , this girl never backed down did she? "I'm actually not." He retorted. " As a matter of fact, I've been told by multiple people that I'm a pretty chill guy."
At this, the brunette scoffed and rolled her eyes "Yeah right…"
"What was that?" Henry snapped.
"Nothing." Charlotte said and began looking to the side to appear as innocent as possible. This made the blond smile genuinely. Even when being infuriating, she still always somehow managed a way to charm him.
The head piece's scanner finished it's scanning process and as it began the procedure of analyzing the glorified slab of wood's components, he was finally free to look around the office as he pleased. He settled his gaze on Charlotte and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Look, I usually try to be an easy going guy, at least as much as my job will allow me to." He waved a dismissive hand. "I'm just not in a very good mood tonight. My partner has been yapping to me about this plan for a week straight, my brother hasn't gotten back to me since I called him 4 days ago which is annoying as fuck, and worst of all, I recently caught my girlfriend out with another guy. So yeah. I'm not exactly in a super friendly mood tonight."
In those statements. Henry might have been telling a few half truths here and there. He actually had a sister, not a brother. And he wasn't annoyed, he was worried, but he wasn't gonna let her know that. Superhero or no, he didn't wanna give her any kind of upper hand with any type of information. Also, Veronika hadn't been talking to him about her idea for a week, it had been three days at the most, if that. In his defense however, it had felt like a week with how many details she went over and re- went over. And lastly, no, Charlotte wasn't his girlfriend.
But she was his.
Regardless of whether she knew that or not.
The curly haired girl, on the other hand, frowned slightly at her counterparts' words. Obsidian Eye was a villain, and a jerk, but that didn't take away from the fact that he was still a person who had feelings just like everyone else. Against her better judgement, she felt sympathetic for him. "I'm sorry you saw your girlfriend cheating on you."
Henry cocked his head to the side, slowly approaching her figure only to look down at her. "Oh, I know you are." he said in a serene yet ominous tone, leaving the brown skinned girl confused.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a beep came from inside the villainous male's headgear and his attention completely shifted from the woman in front of him to the bright blue circle that appeared over the analyzed information.
"Finally!" He exclaimed, happy that his quest for the mineral-gem-thing was finally over and he could return back to base with yet another successful mission under his belt.
As she watched her rival tap a few buttons on his wrist watch and put away the wooden plaque in some sort of hidden pocket his jacket possessed, Charlotte began freaking out. Obsidian Eye had finally gotten what he needed and she had no idea what it was nor what his intentions with it were. It couldn't just be the golden plate, or the onyx stones. He had dismissed several other pieces with the same golden plating and other even more precious gems. It had to be something inside or composing it, and not knowing exactly what it was fueled her unease. She was currently out of uniform, cuffed up, unable to use her powers and she had no idea if the police or Ray were on their way.
Part of her wanted to believe that yes, somebody somehow had contacted the authorities or Jasper, who was supposed to take her back home, had realized that something was wrong when she failed to get back to him with the directions of the restaurant. Even if her friend usually spent the day with his head in the clouds, especially when he was younger, he was much smarter and observant than people ever gave him credit for.
There was a chance of all that happening and help being on the way. But, no matter how much she hated to think about it, there was also a chance that nobody had done anything and both Captain Man and the local authorities were still oblivious to the situation at hand.
Regardless, trying not to think too much of the second scenario being the reality, the green-clad girl tried to stall him. "U-um, if it makes you feel any better," She spoke up. "Your girlfriend might not have even been out with that other guy romantically, sometimes a guy and girl go out as just friends, you know?"
The blond arched a brow, sparing her a brief glance. Was she really going to do this?
…
Alright.
Nicky did tell him to get back to base ' As soon as you have the plaque in your hands Hart!', but he probably had a few minutes to spare. So he humored her question. "Doubt it, they weren't exactly at a place you would call 'casual', you know? " He asked the last bit in a mocking tone and returned his attention to his wrist watch. Not getting the chance to watch as her lips tightened in a line, most likely resisting the urge to roll her eyes again.
"That still doesn't mean they're dating. Trust me, I would know… " She didn't mean to say that last part, honestly it just slipped, and as soon it did she immediately regretted it. She was supposed to be distracting the villain long enough until Ray got here, not telling him about her relationship problems!
At this Henry stopped everything he was doing and his gaze snapped up to look at Charlotte. That had most definitely gotten his attention and his mood seemed to improve, even if by just an inch.
"Yeah?" He let out a snort. "Wait.. don't tell me that that's what's going on tonight between you and pretty boy down there."
Charlotte felt herself swallow thickly, suddenly aware of how incredibly narrow the distance between her and Obsidian Eye had gotten.
She hated her own reaction at his proximity and she knew she was more than incredibly stupid for having these thoughts. Somewhere, somehow, between fighting, exchanging banter, and holding a sick admiration for him, for being able to be the only villain besides Drex that she and Ray had to actually be careful around, there was a weird type of attraction that she had gradually developed towards Obsidian Eye.
Not to mention that although she had never seen his full face, there had been that one time during a fight where his helmet had gotten slightly displaced as he had gotten knocked back and before he had any chance to fix it, she had been given a glimpse of the lower part of his face. From what she saw, she could probably say with confidence that he was a very attractive guy.
"It's complicated," She muttered a soft response, looking down. "and anyways I don't think that's something that concerns you."
Henry felt himself smirk. Despite starting the night off tired, getting ticked off by bothersome patrons in the middle of his mission, and having to scan and discard over five different types of golden plated objects, he had managed to find the mineral-plaque without any police interruption, Captain Man was still nowhere in sight and he had just found out that Charlotte's prince charming wasn't really all that charming. The night had suddenly taken a turn for the better.
He took a hold of Charlotte's chin with his gloved hand and made her look up at him with those lovely chocolate eyes he adored so much. "Well, maybe not," He licked his lips "but I am of the firm belief that pretty girls like you shouldn't go out with idiots that can't appreciate what they have in front of them."
Charlotte found herself thanking the heavens for her darker skin tone as she felt her cheeks heating up while looking up at him. It never really registered in her mind how much taller he was than her, but now in this position, she became very much aware of that fact.
It would now forever be stuck in the back of her head.
All of a sudden, a loud crash was heard in the downstairs floor, drawing the attention of both teenagers, and in came the ever familiar and ever irritating voice of Captain Man "I know you're in here Obsidian!"
Knowing the hostages had probably already been released and wanting to end the night on a good note, Henry took that as his cue to leave.
"Green looks really good on you, you know that?" He turned to ask her, before reaching up towards her chest and snatching the golden necklace from her neck. The clasp easily broke under his enhanced strength and Charlotte let out a startled gasp. She looked at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar. God , Henry thought, she is mesmerizing . "I think I'll keep this, maybe give it to my partner so she doesn't yell at me. Or hell, maybe I'll even wear it myself, to remember you by." He chuckled
He sauntered towards the office balcony, opening the door and climbed over the railing. "Au revoir ." He said before giving her a captain's salute and letting himself fall backwards.
"Oh my god!" Charlotte shouted and ran towards the balcony to see how badly the villain had hit the pavement. Only, instead of being greeted with Obsidian Eye mush, she was greeted by the very same male lightly floating away from the restaurant in a semi-lying-down position off the ground, waving goodbye at her.
The girl squeezed her eyes shut. Despite knowing about his telekinesis, she couldn't help her knee-jerk reaction every time he pulled a stunt like this. "Douchebag." She muttered under her breath.
On his end, the brown eyed boy hadn't really intended on using his powers that night, hence why he brought his blaster. Using them too much could be draining, but a small, childish part of him simply wanted to show off in front of his crush. He looked at the necklace currently in his hand and placed it in his pocket. Tonight had gone way better than expected.
Back at the restaurant's office, a loud yell interrupted the silence left by the pair.
"Kid!" The mentioned girl suddenly turned, stepping in the direction of her name being called. There, standing at the door of the office was her boss in his Captain Man disguise.
"Ray." Charlotte breathed and was knocked back a bit as the older male's arms engulfed her in a crushing hug. "R-Ray I can't breathe-"
The superhero let go of his sidekick while still keeping a firm grip on both her shoulders, looking her over. "Are you hurt?! What are these cuffs!? Did he threaten you? Did he do something to you? What did he do? I swear I'm gonna kill him!"
Charlotte blinked at her boss bombarding with questions, and a small smile crept up in her face. Even though Ray could sometimes be selfish and lacked tact in many situations, it was moments like these that reminded her that no matter how dumb her friend could be at times, he was still a very caring person that always sought out to protect those he cared about. In her mind, he had well earned his title as Swellview's guardian.
Slowly, she tried processing each of the questions that had been asked of her and went about answering them one at a time.
"No, I'm not hurt. These are metal cuffs that he put on me, I'm guessing so he could make sure I wouldn't try anything. Yes, he threatened everyone-"
She paused for a second, seriously considering whether or not to truthfully answer the last two questions. Frankly she worried about doing so. I mean, how would she even go about telling him that besides handcuffing her, he had just been flirting with her and made several dubious comments and actions towards her throughout the night? Knowing him, her boss would go absolutely ballistic and leave the restaurant to go out on a manhunt right then and there, not stopping to think of any of the possible consequences.
Obsidian Eye already posed enough of a threat when it was two against one and yes, although Ray was much larger and stronger than her, not to mention indestructible, he had a tendency to act without thinking. The hero's sidekick knew that she ran the risk of unintentionally getting her friend in a bad spot while he tried to avenge her if she revealed any sensitive information, ending up doing more harm than good. Ray may be indestructible, but he was still prone to traps and other physical barriers.
No, first, she needed to gather her thoughts and process whatever the hell just happened tonight with Obsidian Eye.
Because honestly?
"No Ray, he didn't really do anything besides cuffing me."
She didn't really know how to feel about it herself.
"Took you long enough.'' Henry heard as he walked into his underground base near Swellview's abandoned train tracks. He removed his black helmet, running a hand through his hair and letting out a sigh of relief. The headgear was great for keeping his identity hidden but he still reveled in the fresh air he got to breathe after removing it.
"I ran into some problems." He replied, setting down his blaster and taking off his gloves near a metal table. Veronika frowned with an arched brow, crossing her arms.
"Problems? What kind of problems could you have possibly ran into? All you did was run in there, put everyone in their place and gather the plaque with the mineral. Speaking of which, do you have it?" The blonde girl asked.
Henry nodded, reaching into his jacket to retrieve said item. He handed it to his friend and stripped off his jacket. "Yeah, but you know how it is, you make plans to buy eggs at the supermarket and you end up coming back with a cart full of groceries."
The other girl raised a brow at his analogy, making him sigh in slight annoyance. "Some shit came up ok?" Veronika groaned.
"Like what? We made sure to put security measures in so nobody would call the police and even if they showed up along with Captain Man and his little helper, it would still be hard enough for them to enter the place." She walked towards him and inspected his face, noting the lack of bruises or scratch marks. "And by the looks of things you didn't get into any altercations. So what happened?" She cocked her head to the side, waiting to know what she could have possibly overlooked when coming up with tonight's scheme, so she could then know what to watch out for in the future.
The blond gave her a tired look. He could tell her. He could tell her all about how he saw Kid Danger in the crowd, how she was accompanied by some weakling in what he presumed to be a date, how that had pissed him off, how he intentionally provoked the guy and how concerned the girl had been for him which only served in irking him more.
He could go on about how he took her hostage and saw how she watched him with distaste, he could tell her about the five different golden plated door stoppers he had to scan until he got to the right one and how he had meant to leave right then and there. He could tell her about the small banter that he shared with Charlotte, how she made him smile with her boldness even at a disadvantaged position and how the information she revealed about her current relationship status significantly improved his mood.
He could tell her about how he cornered the girl who never left his thoughts against the wall, how he got to hold her close and essentially tell her that her date wasn't shit. He could tell her about how she looked at him with those gorgeous brown eyes, in what he liked to think was awe at his words and how he noticed her swallowing thickly. He could tell her about how much he struggled in that moment to not just take off his helmet and kiss his heroic counterpart, consequences be damned.
He would think about her face in those moments and her reaction at his words for weeks to come.
Realistically, however, he knew he couldn't say any of those things without giving away the fact that he knew Kid Danger's secret identity. So the taller male settled on just telling her about the annoying wild goose chase he had to go on for the right plaque.
"I'll see if I can make any improvements to our technology so we can avoid stuff like that from happening in the future. If nothing improves we can always call and the nurse." Veronika replied as she sat down in front of her computer and finished up some of her work.
Henry nodded, he grabbed a water bottle from the kitchen countertop and took a swig. "Any messages from my sister?"
At this Veronika perked up slightly. "Actually yes, she called up apologizing for not being able to talk these past few days. Apparently her friends sprung some type of surprise, last minute camping trip on her for the fall break and she got too caught up on the chaos of it all to let you know about it when her phone still had signal. I told her you were busy working so she agreed to call you again tomorrow." His friend smiled at him and Henry smiled back, more than relieved at the news.
"That's awesome, thanks Nicky." He walked towards her and planted a kiss on her cheek, laughing at the 'Eeew' that came off her mouth. "I'm heading to bed, don't stay up too late."
"Sure thing, goodnight." His friend replied and he walked into his room, ready for some much needed rest.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Honestly I just had to get this idea out of my mind but I might do another story expanding this universe. Thanks for reading!