69 Interlude: Yumiko 2 Electric Boogaloo (also Nice)

Making distance is the priority against Brutes, but she's shown to be plenty dangerous at range as well so I transition to keep my hands in front of me, ready to reduce anything she sends my way to cinders.

I struggle to keep my breathing under control as memories of pain flash by me.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left? What do you want!?" The only reason I'm even talking instead of attacking is the sure knowledge that this is a fight that I cannot win.

Damnit. I disabled my bodycam for the sake of her privacy and I can't talk through my comms without raising a hand to my ear and I do not want to give her a reason to attack.

"Relaaax~ why so tense? Aren't we friends?~" She takes half a step forward but stops herself when she sees me matching her to keep us separated.

I only manage to stop myself from turning this entire alley into a furnace by reminding myself that I'll probably die if I did.

"You orchestrated a conflict that cost the lives of four Heroes. Friends. All the while leaving another one in a coma and another without her arm. You're little stunt left me in a three day long coma!" It's a struggle to catch myself from ranting at the madwoman who caused so much destruction in so little time.

To think that I actually wanted to be friends with her.

She doesn't seem affected by my raised voice and turns her side to me, walking over to one of the downed men, humming contemplatively the whole way.

"Were they really? Friends, I mean?" Her question brings me up short because no, I wasn't really close to any of them.

It's hard to get close to people in my line of work and it saves everyone a whole lot of pain if I just stay alone instead.

But that doesn't always work out.

Ethan.

"You killed Epic." Is all I say, not denying that they weren't my friends, but not accepting it either.

She doesn't respond for a moment, choosing to poke one of the men with her foot.

"I didn't kill him." Her defence is typical and makes me scowl.

She crouches down and starts staring at the man beneath her.

"Your actions led to his death." I bite out but she only snorts in response.

"I suppose.~" She pauses, her mouth pursing as she finds the words and when she looks back at me her face is so 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 that it makes me want to scream. "I didn't want him to die. I liked him. He was fun."

In spite of my training in controlling my emotions, I feel myself growing more angry every time she opens her mouth.

Just because I rejected him, that didn't mean...

And now she speaks as if 𝘴𝘩𝘦 mourns him?

"Funny, you don't sound all that upset." I spit the words out, wondering when the hell backup is going to arrive. Console can remotely activate my body cams after all, they should have done so by now to check in. "And fun? You say he was 𝘧𝘶𝘯? Is that the only reason you wanted him to live? So he could be more entertainment for you!?"

With her head bowed, I almost miss her whispered response.

"You're wrong."

Before I can respond she gets to her feet and turns to face me again, her face looking genuinely hurt and no matter how much I want to see it as fake, I just can't.

"It's not about my entertainment Foxy. He was fun. People these days are so depressive. Everyone's given up and no one even really bothers trying to just have fun and enjoy themselves anymore. Epic? He had fun. He 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 fun. And now that he is gone, that little bit of joy he brought into the world is gone. If that's not something to mourn, then what is?"

I hate this.

I hate her.

I hate that I want to empathise, that I want to accept her words.

Instead I speak again, hoping my words can keep my mind from swaying to her side.

"All this talk of mourning, but you don't seem to have spent much time grieving, if you even did at all."

She doesn't even blink at my accusation, only smiling a sad smile.

""Do not stand by my grave and weep, I am not there". Do you know that quote? Epic is gone yes, it sucks but it has happened. What does mourning bring him? What does it bring us? Epic was fun. The best way to respect him, is to have fun. To move on and enjoy this beautiful world we live in. That's what I think at least."

Realising that I'm not winning this conversation, I decide to switch tracks and stop playing at something she is clearly prepared for.

"It doesn't change the fact of how many lives have been lost because of you."

Unfortunately, it doesn't help as she is just as swift with her response as before.

"And what of the lives I've saved? Take these five here," her sweeping gesture reminds me of the men around us. "What is going to happen if they get arrested? They were fully planning on gang raping me you know?~ But it's not like I can testify with my position, so what is their punishment going to be, really? A small fine and six months community service?"

I don't answer. Because she's probably right. Without her to testify they would get away with a slap on the wrist most likely.

So I don't speak, even as I am already thinking what she is no doubt about to say.

"Do you think such a punishment will make them stop? That there won't be more innocent women, possibly even children considering these types of people? But if they were to simply... no longer be capable of doing such crimes, wouldn't that be better for the world?"

As she finishes speaking five pulsing ribbons slowly grow from her back, making their way over to each of the men.

I don't stop them.

I don't stop her even as she wraps a ribbon around each of their necks.

I don't make a single move to save them, even after the crunch tells me I'd be too late anyway.

"Come with me. Let's talk." She crouches and in a single leap she is standing at the top of the building next to us, following which her ribbons make their way down, forming a sort of elevator.

It's only then that I hear the approaching sirens and I figure she heard them before me and didn't want to be disturbed.

Caught between a rock and a hard place I decide that she's probably not going to hurt me so going with her is likely a better idea than hanging around with five corpses when the pickup gets here.

Stepping forward the ribbons bring me up to the roof and she silently leads me a few buildings away, turning her ribbons into bridges to help me cross since I lack a Brute rating.

Eventually she stops and I do too, keeping a distance between us.

Facing me she dissipates her ribbons and plops herself down on the gravel of the roof, sitting cross-legged and inviting me to join her with the wave of her arm.

Humouring her could potentially lead to me gaining information, possibly to a more efficient way to put her down, so I ultimately decide to play along.

"Tell me. Over the past, shall we say, five years. How many Villains have the Heroes of this city taken down, permanently, either via death or imprisonment that isn't immediately escaped?"

I can already see where this conversation is going to go. Villains don't really get stopped these days, because the top brass wants more bodies to throw at the Endbringers, resulting in prison ending up as something of a revolving door.

Yet her stunt completely reshaped the criminal underworld and took out nearly a dozen of them, permanently.

She must have seen the understanding in my eyes as she doesn't bother continuing with that line of conversation, knowing that I already understand without being told.

"Why are you even a Hero anyway? You seem far too smart to be one because you believe all that propaganda bullshit, so what is it?" Her words sound genuinely curious, but I've been wrong with her before and I won't make that same mistake again.

"My reason is something you might understand. Loyalty. I have given my everything to this country for my entire life. Getting powers doesn't change that."

Whatever I expected her response to be, from laughing to insulting, I never expected her to smirk at me like I just fell into a trap and I don't understand why until she starts talking again, her bleeding eyes staring into my soul.

"Loyalty. Loyalty is a two way street you know? You've given everything to your country, but tell me. What has it given you in return?" She speaks like she's already won and I hate the nagging feeling that she might be right.

Government wages are notoriously low, even with the danger of my previous job. Being a Hero is only so well paying so that there are less Villains.

The truth is that they've never really given me anything.

I work in CI for most of my life and then when I- when 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 happened. When I triggered, they just shuffled me off to another job without a word of condolence.

"Loyalty that isn't rewarded isn't loyalty earned. I'd give my Clowns anything they wanted and all that I even ask in return is that they enjoy themselves and be willing to help others enjoy themselves."

I almost choke on air as my brain processes her words.

"Are you 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 with me? You really must be insane if you think I would ever join you."

I can't believe she is actually trying to recruit me right now.

"Why not?" She asks, so innocent as if the answer shouldn't be obvious already.

"Why not? Why. Not. Oh, I don't know, maybe because you are an insane madwoman, an unrepentant serial killer and a fucking cannibal for Christ's sake!" I exclaim, finding it hard to believe she's actually think I'd join her.

With a roll of her eyes she takes a syringe out of her pocket and waves it at me.

"Before you ask, this is the cure for HIV. A fellow Clown is going to be selling these, probably nationally at some point, maybe even globally."

I stare uncomprehendingly at the vial in her hand, not really sure where she's going with this.

"You seem to think that being a Clown means you have to be some kind of psychotic monster so allow me to educate you. There are two requirements to becoming a Clown. You need to be fun, that's most important and you need to have something to offer. No one says you have to have fun hurting people, you could just enjoy doing business or something equally benign.~"

I stay silent, not really knowing what to say but she seems happy to keep the conversation up herself.

"Don't you want some friends? Join me, not as an underling but as an equal. Become a Clown, make some friends that you know will have your back no matter what and learn to actually enjoy your life, rather than just following the orders of some faceless organisation that couldn't care less if you live or die."

Fuck me. Why is she so convincing?

I have been so god damn alone for so long that the offer of genuine friendship is difficult to pass up.

It's not like she's even wrong either. What has the government ever actually done for me?

Jack all that's what.

"You said I'd need to have something to offer. What exactly do I have to offer? I'm not nearly as strong as you."

She smiles like she's already won which, in fairness, she just might have.

"Well you're already playing spy. You could just change who you're loyal to. Information is valuable after all.~ Even better, if any of you Heroes manage to capture a villain then you could set up a little 'accident' for them with the help of your fellow Clowns.~"

Damn it, that is an attractive offer.

Too many of those assholes get away with nothing but a slap on the wrist, it would be nice to see them end more permanently.

Additionally, even though I never wanted to admit it to myself, I have always missed my days at CI. This Hero business was never my decision in the first place.

Still, without being the leader of the local protectorate it will be difficult for me to get away with much and when I relay that to Tear her response shocks me.

"So? Become the leader then.~ By joining us you have gained access to incredible amounts of resources~ I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult for someone of your calibre to use them to rise in the ranks. Who knows?~ Maybe it'll even be fun?~"

You know what? Yeah.

Maybe it will be fun.

"I hate you." I say, but she just laughs and waves me off.

"And I don't particularly care~ I'll still come to your aid should you ever call me now that you are one of us.~ Hate me or love me it doesn't matter. So long as you are a Clown? You will always be my friend. That's the whole point after all~ life is more fun with friends to enjoy it with.~"

I really do hate this woman.

She corrupted me so easily that it's almost insulting.

No, it is insulting.

But fuck is she convincing. It doesn't help that everything she's said has rang true and there's something genuine about her that really draws you in.

Because if there's one thing I've figured out about her, it's that she doesn't just want to have fun, she genuinely wants other people to have fun too.

How can you hate someone who only wants you to be happy?

Despite myself, I leave her with a smile and a phone.

Truly a detestable woman.

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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

eehhhh idk how I feel about this chapter. It was better in my mind but then Yumiko ended up acting completely different to how I was expecting her to and it kind of threw the whole thing off.

Now it kind of feels like I forced it with her joining the Clowns, it doesn't feel very organic. Then again, it could just be me, idk.

Also, i just now decided to actually use my discord server for something so if you want to see the timeline rn as well as all the other information i'm keeping track of (it's prolly not as much as i should) in all it's poorly organised glory as well as all of my MS paint adventures then feel free to check it out.

(5+)Advanced chapters with the links below!

pat/reon.com/user?u=41732867 (get rid of the first slash or check the description)

Also, join the discord with this invite code! Pj3Dttwses