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“No ! Please don’t hurt me ! I have two little boys, they need me !” The female citizen cried desperately.
“Shut up and sit next to the other hostages, woman !” Vendetta yelled in her face, loosing his temper, while his steel cards floated around him.
He was currently robbing a bank. His brother’s words pulled him once again on the right path. He was loosing it, with all the things that happened. He grabbed the sack of money and was about to go towards the exit of the bank.
“Don’t you dare move, inferior ones, for my babies shall keep you company ” Vendetta spoke, threateningly moving the steel cards closer to the hostages. He was about to turn around to face the door leading outside, but stopped midway when he saw a fire ball barely missing his head, hitting the wall in front of him, about 8 meters away. After waiting for his heart to start beating again, the super-villain managed to fully turn around. He wasn’t surprised to see Blaze at the entrance of the bank, in his well known charming looks.
“You know what to do, so let’s just get to it already. ” The superhero said, but he knew the villain was not planning on just leaving with his hands empty. At least not without a fight before doing so.
Vendetta smirked behind his iron mask. His plan was working. He reached to his belt, and took a gun out of his newly attached gun holder. He didn’t ever use guns, but this time he made an exception.
Blaze frowned in confusion. Why would the villain use a gun ? That thing wouldn’t be able to kill him.
The hero lost his frown, his eyebrows rising in shock instead.
Vendetta lifted the gun to his own temple.
“If you won’t let me go away with the money, I’ll shoot. Of course, the bullets are full of black magic, the only thing that could make them actually able to harm me. ” He said calmly, like he was talking about the weather.
The super-villain couldn’t help but smile at the hero’s expression. His plan was brilliant ! If the hero was just going to let Vendetta shoot himself, he was actually going to do so, therefore finishing what he started back on the roof. If Blaze was going to obey, the villain would just go away with the money. There was no way the plan was going to fail that time. Blaze was either going to loose his enemy forever, which would lead to the citizens not needing the hero anymore, either going to let Vendetta leave.
Meanwhile, the hero was not aware of that plan. He just thought the same thing he did back on the roof, that the villain was doing that sort of stuff just to play with his mind.
However, as the click of the hammer cut the silence, the hero acted on impulse.
With a strong jump, he went flying towards Vendetta. He pinned him against a wall, holding the wrist of the hand holding the gun. His free hand was around the super-villain’s throat.
“Stop it with these mind games, damn it ! ” He yelled as strong as his lungs let him in Vendetta’s face.
“Just let go of my hand and I can assure you the mind games will stop.”
“No. ” Whispered Blaze.
He took the gun out of Vendetta’s grip, then pointed it towards the wall, right next to his enemy’s head. He started shooting bullet after bullet making hole after hole in the wall. The villain flinched each time a bullet left the gun, the loud noises echoing in his head even as the shooting stopped. A heavy silence fell over the bank, as the enemies just stared at each other and the hostages looked at them shocked and confused.
Vendetta had this weird feeling in his stomach, and felt tingles go all around his body as the warmness of the hero embraced him.
He was brought out of his trance as the silence was broken by the familiar sounds of the police cars. He shoved the hero away, moved his steel cards back into his pocket, grabbed the sack of money and ran away. Blaze just stood there, staring at the wall where the villain was pinned against just seconds before.
Vendetta got outside, where 5 police cars stood, the policemen having their guns pointed at him. With a swift move of his hand, using sorcery, he destroyed them. Not wasting time, he ran away, entering an alley.
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“I did it… ” He mumbled to himself… “There’s a full sack of money… on my couch…” Vendetta continued. He did not sound surprised, nor did he sound excited. He just stared at the sack of money.
“Zero ? ” he spoke to his brother, trough telepathy.
“Why hello there, beloved brother. What brings you to my piece of mind ? “ His brother casually responded.
“I… did it…. ”
“I am pleased to hold knowledge of the information, but may I ask what you have accomplished ?” Zero replied.
“Robbed a bank ? ”
“……”
Vendetta didn’t know what to expect from his brother’s silence, so he awkwardly shifted on the couch.
“I am coming over ! Expect my physical presence in no more than a week ! ”
“What ? You serious ?! You can’t just show up because of that ! It’s no big deal, really ! “
“Vendetta. ” Zero replied sternly. “Ever since you were a little kid, I taught you sorcery and even handed you my pack of cards. I trained you all those years just to get to know you managed to do something a super-villain is supposed to do. This deserves celebration ! I am coming over. “
It was true. Zero was not much older than the villain, there was a 4 years difference. Since Vendetta turned 9 until he got 18 his brother trained him, and on his 18th birthday he got the pack of cards from his brother, Zero moving on to a scythe. At the moment, he was 28 while his brother was 32, but the age didn’t seem to show on their bodies. After his 23th birthday, Vendetta realised that his and his brother’s bodies were not getting any older as the time passed.
“Wha- When, exactly ? “
“When you’ll expect the least ! “ His brother replied, putting an end to the conversation.
Vendetta slumped against the couch, once again letting the silence be his company. He looked at the sack of money, and felt his fists clenching in frustration.
He didn’t feel the excitement he was supposed to. Without a good old superhero vs super-villain battle, he felt like the money had no meaning to them anymore. He knew that if it wasn’t for that little trick back there, he wouldn’t have been able to get away with the money.
Well… He thought to himself. I might not be able to beat him physically, but I guess I’ll just stick on with the mind games.
He got up from the couch, and took a look around the room. Drawings were plastered all over the walls, mostly of the hero, since they were the only ones he wasn’t posting in the gallery.
He didn’t know why he was doing this, since he had all that money, but he grabbed his jacket and headed out towards his gallery.
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It wasn’t crowded. Vendetta wandered around, looking at his drawings, talking to customers, advising them what instruments would be right to buy.. basically doing his job, letting all his super-villain drama behind. When in his human looks, he introduced himself as Victor.
“Excuse me. ” He heard a voice.
He turned around, and saw a man standing in front of him. He couldn’t tell what seemed to be so familiar about the person.
“You’re a fan of Blaze ? ” He asked, pointing at a drawing of the hero. Vendetta only posted the ones who just looked like a normal fan art. The ones at his home were drawings of the hero in some situations a human would never have the chance to see, that’s why he kept them there, not wanting to loose his human identity. The gallery had a few drawings of Blaze, but just normal portrets or drawings of him in random positions.
“Not really… He’s just photogenic.”
“Why not ? I mean he’s the hero of the town after all… ” The stranger said, his expression turning slightly sad.
“I’m more of a Vendetta sort of guy. He seems clever. And awesome. ” Vendetta said, smirking.
“Then why aren’t you drawing him ?”
“Because he’s the villain after all. The people coming in the gallery wouldn’t be too pleased to see drawings of an evil guy who probably ruined their days with his crime attempts. ” He replied.
“Hm… That’s a shame. Judging by your style, drawings of Vendetta would look nice. You got this Gothic thing going on, so a super-villain would be a great subject. “
“You… You’re right… ” Vendetta said, frowning. He did have a point there.
“Oh, forgot to introduce myself. My name is Blake ” The stranger said, lifting his hand.
“My name’s Victor.” Vendetta said, shaking Blake’s hand. As he touched his warm skin, a familiar tingling went trough his hand.
“So… I would like to buy this drawing. ” Blake said, pointing towards the drawing of Blaze.
“Sure thing.. So, I take it you’re a fan of Blaze ? ” asked Vendetta, not able to hold back the coldness in his voice.
“You could say so… ” Blake replied, smirking like he knew something Vendetta didn’t.
“Hm. Well, that would be 30 dollars.”
“What ? Don’t you think that’s a bit unfair ? ”
“Uh… It’s not that expensive… “
“No, no it isn’t ! ” Blake said, with a frown on his face. He took a look on the other drawings around him, looking at the prices. “Why are they so cheap ? You deserve way more money for these drawings!”
Vendetta stared at him for a moment, not knowing what to say, and looked away when he felt himself blushing.
“No I don’t ” He said, and handed the drawing to Blake.
“But… “
“That would be 30 dollars. ” Vendetta said once again, with an edge to his voice. He didn’t like the way the human made him feel. Blake seemed to realize that, and with a slight frown on his face he got 50 dollars out of his pocket. Vendetta reached to his wallet, wanting to give him the change, but the man just walked away with the drawing in his hand.
“Your change !” he said, just as Blake reached for the handle of the door.
“Have a nice day. ” Blake said, then left.
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Hey. The image is a drawing made by me. It represents the drawing Blake bought 🙂
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