05

It hadn't even reached 2am and I'd already worn a hole into my room.

I was worried.

Aelia had gone to sleep and I no longer had any company to keep me distracted. It didn't help that I had nobody at work to help me.

I worked for the government, specifically the vigilante section. Ironic isn't it?

I was in charge of assigning vigilantes to their cities and I kinda oversee where the villains are kept locked up.

Was that why Apatia wanted me?

Sure, Vigilantes had been going rogue now, giving me a whole lot of headache as both Vero and Rio.

It didn't help that the guy who could control fire recently went bonkers and I'd been working my butt off to catch him then Apatia appeared. The threat of Vulcan was forgotten despite the idiot committing arson several times.

my phone dinged.

reminder: Meeting with Apatia in ten minutes.

Holy cow!

it took at least twenty minutes to get there!

I quickly grabbed my signature jacket and mask and flew out my window.

it was a four story building and I knew I wouldn't make it without becoming Vero pancake.

I quickly shifted my body into wisp form and flew with the wind. It was hard to keep my body steady as the wind kept blowing in the opposite direction.

I knew the risk of using this power but I needed to get there quickly and that was the only way of getting there fast enough.

Quickly gliding through the air as a little form of wisp albeit not gracefully as I almost lost some body parts along the way.

I landed at the site just as it said 2:30am.

immediately after reassembling my body into normal human texture, I felt like collapsing.

I looked up to the sky

"Dear Universe, if there's a gonna be a fight, postpone it. I'm tired."

As soon as I finished my little attempt at prayer, the air went murky.

I could feel it. Something slithered around me and I turned, following where the strange feeling was coming from.

I could feel my brain tingle and it kept on getting stronger until I entered the building.

"Well hello!" someone greeted me from above.

I frowned.

This voice sounded feminine.

If it was a female villain then there was more trouble. They liked to mess with people and you never know what they wanted. They are more dangerous.

"Why are you standing like that Vero? You almost fooled me into thinking you were a man" Then came a chuckle like one had finally seen their Christmas present.

"Show yourself!" I ordered. I didn't like this. I prefed straightforward business where one of us trashes the other and we know where we stand.

I needed to confirm whether Apatia was a Villain or just another crazy bionic woman who wanted to mess with people.

"Why are you pondering over all that Vero?" Apatia said suddenly from behind me.

I jumped back immediately out of instinct.

That was way too close!

she giggled.

"I'm not a Villain but I wouldn't say I'm not crazy. Who knows?" Then came a mad chuckle.

"What do you want Apatia?" I asked, getting straight to the point. I hadn't seen her body yet but from her shadows, I could tell she was way taller than me.

Probably about six feet tall.

"What do I want?" She asked.

"Why not ask yourself what you want?"

I frowned. What is she talking about?

she sighed and then I heard the clicking of boots on the floor. She stepped out of the shadows and holy hell.

She was definitely tall and she was thick. She had everything! She had curly hair she kept in a messy bun.

she wore just leggings and a shirt as if she wasn't even a Bionic being.

Last of all. She didn't wear a mask.

"Do you like the look? " She said, twirling around. She seemed familiar yet at the same time, I couldn't place where I knew her from.

"You seem, smitten by what you're seeing?" She tried again and I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm not asking again Apatia. What do you want? I know you didn't bring me here to admire you." I didn't mean to say the last part and by the little shift on Apatia's smile, I knew it didn't come from me.

"So serious!" She rolled her eyes and suddenly, she was only two steps away from me. She circled me like a cat, her steps light and quick.

"We all want a peaceful world don't we?" She hummed and I frowned.

" It's okay if you get rid of the villains but leave the innocent citizens alone" I turned, following her as she Circled me. It wasn't a nice feeling but it was safer to remain stationary.

Something in my guts told me this woman had more than a few screws loose and her next statement proved it.

"Innocent? No one is innocent. If I were to rid off all the people who weren't innocent then we'd all be dead. We've all committed one crime or another. I'm just ridding this city of those who bear evil thoughts towards the bionic."

She stopped circling me and then she glared.

"Do you want to die?" It was a completely random question yet it sent my nerves into a great big frenzy.

I didn't bother answering and instead went into a fighting stance.

Apatia straightened up and stretch her left hand forward. Immediately I heard gunshots and a body drop.

"Good riddance" I turned behind me to find a body of someone who looked like an assassin.

"Killing?" I almost shrieked. "I thought you said you're not a villain?!"

She looked at me like I was stupid.

"Ridding the world of all against the bionic. Remember?"

"You could have just knocked him unconscious and sent him to jail." I sighed. She definitely wasn't a good person.

"And risk him coming back? Vero are you stupid?" She asked, kicking the body to check if it was really dead.

"What the hell?" I asked, a bit offended.

She turned to me like she was talking to a five year old.

"These guys are like cockroaches. Leave them and they'll come crawling back. Kill em, and the ants would rid them completely."

She sounded like someone who needed a brain check and a therapist. A really professional and specially trained therapist.

"If you don't want to die before your time, don't allow anyone to get in your way." She said, suddenly walking out an exit of the building.

"If you're smart Vero, you'd understand what I'm doing here is for the good of both humans and the bionic." And with that.

She disappeared.