Chibiyu: I'm going to switch it up a bit with this story. At least, I hope I am.
Nick: Please tell me that you're going nice?
Chibiyu: Uh…define 'nice.'
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He scoffed, laughing out in disbelief. He bent over; ignoring us for a moment as he angrily bound the guy with the chains. "Bet your own life next time."
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Nick's PoV
I wouldn't have known about the smirk lifting the corner of lips as my nimble fingers fiddled with the metal ray gun in front of me, if not for the equally devious purr sounding at my feet.
"How that idiot managed to construct this is beyond me." I told the feline, looking down at the copper striped tabby before flicking the switch. A ringing sound grew, as did my smile. "I always did love that sound." The sound of a metal marvel warming up. "I wonder what it does?"
As an answer, the cat leapt from the cold sheet metal floor and settled beside me, her paws landing on the trigger.
"You're right." I whispered, lifting the thing and pointing it at the annoying picture of the 'Great' Tac holding up the world. I glanced towards the creature, watching its ears pull back and its eyes widen in anticipation. It meowed, the noise sounding like the order to fire. My finger pressed the trigger and I whooped loudly after the silent chaos.
"SO COOL!" I smiled at the exclamation, pushing the cat to the side.
"Cat's don't talk." I told her with a not-so-hidden smirk. I looked back towards the picture, elated that the ray gun had caused it to crumble to the floor in a heap of ashes. "What do you think, Para?"
The cat jumped back to the floor and inspected the pile of ash, sniffing it before sneezing. "Yuck." She looked back over to me, her amber eyes sparking. "Keep it." I nodded, bending the thing over itself until it was pocket size. That was what originally caught my eye – I had never seen a weapon that can fit in your pocket. "Use it against your brothers?"
"Nah," I leaned back on my hands as I breathed out my answer. "No matter how tempting it may sometimes be."
"Where's the fun?"
I just rolled my eyes. "Not here, Paragon."
She sighed and shook her cat head, flicking her tail in distaste. "Your brothers are bastards," she told me, jumping up on another desk and eyeing the unconscious villain. "And this one is the biggest idiot yet."
"The standards for villains must be dropping," I responded, already bored again. "Joe and Kevin should be here soon." I pushed myself to my feet and walked over to her. "Stay or head out?"
"What would piss them off more?" I glanced back to the computer screen where Joe and Kevin's faces used to occupy. I recalled Kevin's order for me to stay put. "Let's go."
Before I took a step, Paragon leapt from the table, aware that my eyes were locked on her. Her form elongated. Her paws lengthened and separated. Her legs straitened. It was always impossible to accurately describe what I was witnessing as a cat turned into a young woman. Said woman turned to me and winked, flicking her copper and black stripped hair out of her nearly colorless eyes and adjusting her black leather top. "What?"
"I will never get tired of watching that," I told her, smirking once more as I shoved my hands unto my pockets. "Now let's go before the brothers find out I'm hanging out with a villain again."
Paragon laughed and took off with a skip in her step as she strutted over to the entrance of Tac's stupidly small lair. "How many times do I have to tell you," she turned and threw a wink in my direction before pushing open the door, "I'm on my own side."
I took her outstretched hand, allowing her to lead me through the pitch black corridor. Dampness reached my nose and rocks met my shoe every time I placed it on the ground. "A cave?" I guessed, hearing the echo and immediately knew that my assumption was correct. "How unoriginal."
The villainous breathed out a light laugh, using her heightened sense to guide us through. "We all know that you would prefer a ruin or something." I rolled my eyes, not denying this statement at all. From all the times I have been taken, I can count on one hand all of the times where a lair hasn't been hidden in a cave. "The bad ones are never that creative," she told me, her deep voice sounding out of place in this abyss.
She stopped suddenly, me knocking lightly into her. "Your brothers are coming down," she hissed, pulling me against the cold wall. Something wet landed on my head and I knew Paragon was under the water's assault to as she whined lowly. We both crouched down, hoping my brothers were as ignorant as they both appeared. But deep down, we both knew that Kevin would never overlook us.
Laughter sounded and echoed down to us, the sound detached. Shivers ran down my spine form the mocking nature. We both heard muffled voices, but I had yet to hear the actual words. The thuds of footsteps resonated, making it feel like they were right in front of us. Paragon's hand slid out of mine and I heard her scraping at the thin layer of dirt, her sharpened nails screeching. I winced at the sound, looking to the ceiling even though I knew where it was coming from.
"Bats!" Joe yelled from close by. I nearly smiled at the thought of him throwing himself to the rocky floor with his hands held protectively over his hair. I looked to my left, knowing that my friend was making the thudding sounds of a hundred wings, even though I couldn't see her actions. I heard Joe scream and his footsteps received. But Kevin didn't follow.
"Joe!" my elder brother called, causing me to run an impatient hand from my thicket of curls. "There's nothing there! It's probably just a recording or something."
I closed my eyes, seeing Joe slink back to our brother with a paranoid expression, his eyes darting to the unseen stalactites. He would be cowering still, walking more carefully than before. And Kevin would just be standing straight, flashlight in hand as he rolled his eyes.
Paragon growled next to me, the sound hiding her laughter. "You'd think Mr. Macho wouldn't be afraid of a few flappers," she taunted, her voice puffing against my ear.
"He's a wimp," I managed to breathe back before footsteps started back in our direction. Soon, the beam of light entered my view and I knew kneeling here in hiding would be hopeless. So I stood, pulling the slightly shorter girl up with me. I stood in the middle of the cavern, knowing that Paragon's company would not cause a happy greeting. I nudged her, telling her silently to go, but she stood her ground, her hands coming up and resting on my shoulder.
"Jo-oe, Kev-vin," She called, her voice tantalizingly drawn out and mocking. They stopped the beam of light landing on both of us. "It figures that a villain would get to your brother before you did," she whispered, leaning closer to me as I rolled my eyes and bit back the reply that would surely get Joe to kick my ass. "And it makes sense that I was the one in that lair and making sure the idiot Tac didn't kill Nick like you so challenged him to do."
I was glad that I was used to Para's voice; used to the dramatic change between low and calming to poison and seductive. Any other man would be trembling at their knees to the malice in her sickly sweet tone. My eyes flocked down and I barely suppressed a smirk when I saw Kevin and Joe both shifting uncomfortably.
"Get away from him," Joe growled, stepping forward.
Paragon only laughed, throwing her head back and exposing her fangs from her loud bellows. "Oh, Joseph," She wiped away a fake tear, "You wish that you could intimidate me." Her fingers reached over and caressed my neck, knowing it would only further annoy my brothers. I shot her a warning glare, not wanting to put her in any danger. She just stuck her tongue out at me and winked.
"Go on, scat!" Joe tried again, waving his hand at her like she was just some fly that could me flicked away.
"I am not a dog, Joseph," she growled, letting me go and hissing lowly. "You're the animal in this situation." She leaned forward, the challenge issued as her eyebrows cocked.
"That's rich," Joe took on his hero tone as he addressed her, wanting to me make claw my ears off, "A villain is telling a hero that he is doing the wrong thing."
"Actually, Hyperion," I inserted, letting him hear the scathing disdain rushing from my entire being, "She called you animal. And I think it fits."
Kevin finally stepped forward and rested a warning hand on Joe's shoulder. His eyes jumped to me when my hand nudged the ray gun in my pocket. "Nick, what do you have there?" I shrugged, giving them a look that would let suspicion mount in their chests. They would later blame my actions on Paragon, saying that she was changing me to better fit in her lifestyle, but I knew better. I blamed them.
"Nothing important," I finally told them, looking to the only female, letting her know that I had a plan for when things got ugly. She shot me a grin in thanks, nothing but recklessness now in her richly colored eyes.
"What's the matter, Joseph?" she called out, now pulling gently at the hairs at the base of my neck. She was loving the growing look of murder in Joe's eyes. "Can't hit a girl?"
"You're more of an it than a girl."
Para just rolled her eyes. "How original. And here Nick was actually thinking that the villains had the lack of creativity."
"Don't you dare say his name!" Joe shouted, trying to protect me from nothing. He failed to see the growing rage that boiled in my twitching eyes or the way I clenched my fingers. "Paragon, you're nothing more than a monster and you will stay away from my brother!"
"Make. Me," the villainous pressed a kiss to my cheek, whispering for me to calm down before Joe really does kick my ass.
"Don't goad him, Elizabeth," I whispered back, using her actual name so she knew how serious I was about this. "He looks ready to tear you in half."
"But you have a plan, so I can afford a little fun." She pulled away from me and we both met my brothers' dual glares.
"Does Kevy have a problem with this too?" her voice morphed again, high pitched and patronizing. "Why don't you speak up then?"
Kevin pointed at me, his jaw set. "Nick, come here."
"No." His eyes widened at my outright and unhesitant defiance.
He tried again. "Nicholas, she is bad. She will hurt you given the chance. Let Joe and I take care of this before your ignorance kills you."
He took a step back at my expression; wild and unhinged. "Don't you dare," I growled out, even causing Paragon to take a step back. "I may not have powers like you two, but I am not ignorant. I am not vulnerable. I am not weak." No one rose up to contradict me. No one moved in fear of an attack. No one breathed in worry that they would miss my next heated words.
"I may have gotten the short end of the stick, I may be a Normal, but I'm smarter and more aware," My gaze flicked to Kevin, him ducking away, not able to handle the look of hatred seething from my eyes, "and I am stronger," I shifted my gaze to Joe, only to find him looking right back, flinching every few seconds I held his gaze, "then both of you."
"You're not." Joe informed me, taking a step out of Kevin's reach and one away from being in mine. "If you were smart then you wouldn't be kidnapped every other day. If you were aware then you would realize that this monster," he shoved Paragon away from me, her stumbling back and landing hard on her butt, "Is out to hurt you." He took a step so we were nearly nose to nose, both of us glaring without a single care. "And if you were stronger, you would actually be useful."
His words struck me to the core, chilling the base of my heart and feeding the flames that boiled my blood. "Useful?" I laughed out, stepping back and reaching into my pocket. I pulled out the metal bit and started unfolding it. "Who runs the lair? Who makes sure that when your asses are in trouble, that backup comes? Who steals data from villains? Who defeats them every other day?" Joe lost his look of steal, backing down slightly when I raised the now assembled gun. "And who outwits anyone who crosses him?"
Kevin pulled Joe back, looking only at the gun he had sensed was there. "Nick, please put that away." I heard Para shuffling behind me as she stood. She whined slightly and rubbed her backside before lopping her arms around my stomach and resting her head on my shoulder. Joe was beyond livid at that. Kevin only closed his eyes, trying to accept something that Joe could not.
"I suggest you both get Tac before he escapes." I told them before pointing the gun to the sky in between us. I fired once, the flashlight beam instantly vanishing under the downpour of gray flakes. Paragon let go of me, only run in front of me. I hung onto her now thick body of fur, loping my arms around her neck as she climbed with speed and power unmatchable by any man.
By the time Joe managed to fight his way through the ash and take a swipe at where we had been standing, there was nothing but open air. And even on the ground and covered in sunlight, we could hear his aggravated scream.
"Good thing you're not heavy." Paragon grimaced, shaking out her arms as she turned her huge head towards me, her eyes soft.
"Good thing you can turn into a giant gorilla."
She smirked, before standing upright. Only this time, I turned my gaze to the hole in the ground. A human hand rested on my arm and she shook her head.
"It absolutely sucks," she dryly commented. I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. "Well, I'm going to go rob a convenient store. You want to come?"
I eyed her oddly before she shrugged. "Don't get caught."
She laughed and waved to me over her shoulder. "Please, like anyone could ever tame me."
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Chibiyu: So I introduced a main villain pretty early on. Paragon isn't like a BLOW UP EVERYTHING kind of girl, as I am sure you've noticed, but she is quite fun to write. Until Next Update! (Written on 9/11/11)
