1/9/2022
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Cursed
Chapter Forty: Lightspeed
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I stare blankly as Gizmo lowers himself from the ceiling of the museum, careful to contain my excitement. Everything has to be perfect tonight. Tonight is the night that I get my answers- the night I find myself one step closer to solving the mystery of my powers as well as my very existence. Tonight is the night we hit our highest profile target since leaving the Academy. It's the night we step out of the shadows of our previous incompetence, and take our first steps towards greatness.
And tonight, if everything goes right, I'll be one step closer to fighting side by side with my hero.
I control my emotions, forcing myself to stay calm. The last thing I need right now is to lose control of my powers and blow our cover, or worse- key my teammates in to how I'm really feeling. It's hard, though. All my life, I've wanted nothing more than for Madame Rouge to take me under her wing and teach me her secrets. Only her mentorship can fill the void left by those who have abandoned me. When we meet, I'll be complete.
"Well Gizmo?" I ask, steadying my voice.
Gizmo flips around in the air to face me, laughing quietly to himself.
"Easy! Security system stinks!"
He pauses to resume his hacking, and soon the lasers disappear from the museum floor entirely.
"Check it out!"
I quickly leap down the hole, closely followed by my teammates. Striking a small pose with my hands on my hips, I survey the area. Is this what true villainy feels like? Will today finally be the day we move on from petty crimes and begin our journey to impress the Brotherhood of Evil and join their ranks? I can only hope.
"Gold, jewels, priceless artifacts... way better than the mall," I say, hoping once more to ingrain our future into the minds of my teammates. "Hive Five, rob 'em blind!"
I stand back for a moment, watching my team as they immediately rush to take our treasures. A feeling of pride wells up inside of me, and I sigh in contentment. Now all that's left to do is join the fun.
As I walk past Billy Numerous playing with something worthless, I once again feel the need to steer him in the right direction. "You know what they put in those things, don't you? Mummy guts!"
One Billy dares to open the lid of his jar and the others peek inside, clueless. The quartet immediately jump back with a collective shudder, slamming the lid back on the jar. I leave them to their devices, making my way to the back corner of the museum.
Sure enough, there it is. Sitting primly in a case of its own is a golden necklace shaped like an eye. A large ruby sits where the iris should be, reflecting my image. I take a deep breath, smashing down my hopes. This could answer everything, or it could solve nothing. Either way, as the museum's newest and most expensive display, it should fetch a high price on the black market.
"This is what I came for," I say, smirking as I hex away the display case.
"Wait!" See-More, yells urgently as I swipe the necklace from its display. "Isn't that necklace supposed to bring good luck? And if you're all about the bad luck-"
"It's just a dumb legend!" I snap, pushing past him.
I fume silently to myself. Of all the teammates to have some resemblance of a brain cell, it had to be the one who noticed me taking the amulet. Explaining to my team why I want it so bad isn't how I want to spend this night, especially when I'm not even sure of the answer myself. Some part of me wants to argue that by selling it to someone more knowledgeable, I could learn some information from the buyer about my powers. But deep down, I know that's not it. Every time I researched the museum prior to targeting it, that necklace caught my eye. And every time I saw the stupid thing, I thought about Gran-
No, it doesn't matter what I thought. I'm being ridiculous. We're so close to our goal. It's time to leave.
"Hive Five, fall back!" I call, running to the exit.
"But we just got here!" Mammoth whines, dropping one of the jars he was carrying. Gizmo catches it before it can hit the ground.
I shake my head. "We have enough. If we stay too long, we'll risk being caught."
"You heard the boss lady! Time to move out!" Billy Numerous whoops, merging back into a singular Billy to conserve energy.
I push the door open, and my team follows me out. But before we even reach the steps, something amazing happens. A streak of red and yellow flashes before our eyes, there in one instant and gone in the next, only to suddenly appear again a moment later. It isn't until several flashes of color have passed that I realize that whatever it is has taken our stolen treasures from us.
I'm holding back a scream of anger when I feel the amulet leave my hands. Only unlike the others, I soon discover that the thief has given me something in return.
A single red rose.
...
"Need a little luck?"
"It's only a myth! Who are you?"
"Fastest boy alive."
"Are you supposed to be a good guy or something?"
"One of the best."
"Well? Aren't you going to take me to jail?"
"I thought I'd get to know you first. Why do you hang around with those losers? That team of yours is only holding you back."
"I know! That's what I keep telling- what do you know?"
"I know that you're too smart for all this."
"Oh, is this the part where you try and convert me? Make me see the error of my ways? You're wasting your time."
"When you're as fast as me, time is something you've got plenty of. Croissant?"
"It's too late for me, anyways."
"It's never too late."
"What about the Hive Five? They'd come after me."
"Let me worry about them."
"Where will I go? What will I do?"
"Trust me."
…..
"On second thought… nah!"
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Hi again! This chapter was a little short, and probably a bit repetitive since it just covered the intro for Lightspeed, but this was mostly a set-up for Kid Flash's involvement in the story from here on out. Next chapter will be directly dealing with the fallout from the episode, and then we'll be going into the Hive Five's time with the Brotherhood/Jinx's eventual redemption.
Expect the next update sometime around the 22nd.
Quote of the day!
"I can't decide if she's level-headed or just air-headed," Okabe Rintaro, Steins;Gate
May the odds be ever in your favor,
~Spectrobes Princess