Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The flickering flame atop the skyscraper lit up the cityscape, acting as a burning star on this clear night. Sirens blare from miles away, accompanied with everyone’s chaotic screams. Cars blur down the street, flashing in blue and red, toward that fire, as fast as they could. All units reporting to duty.

Officer Jonathan Sato gripped the steering wheel tightly, his eyes pinned to the road. It must be a serious case if they’re calling everyone; they never call him. Sweat trickled from his forehead; he already felt uncomfortable in full attire. The bulletproof vest sat heavily on him, but now is definitely not the time to complain. The car ride itself was silent, compared to the loudness outside.

“Hey Jon?” His co-worker spoke up. He glanced over to Officer Fiona Campbell, fiddling with some loose strands of her own hair. Tied in quite a messy bun, her hazy green hair sat just right under her green beret, looking like it would fall apart any moment. 

Jonathan’s eyes soon went back to the road as he replied, “What.”

“Do you ever-” Her eyes met his but darted away quickly, and she turned her head to glance out the window on her side, “-do you ever think about our job? I mean the arresting part- I mean- y’know the people that we catch and put away…?”

“You mean the Savants? It’s complicated, Fiona,” he replied. The city seen from the side window seemed to blur as he pushed on the gas pedal more. “They’re dangerous to us. Look at the Gwons, they’ve already decided to use their power for all this. If everyone with power does that, then we’ll all die.”

“But not everyone!” she said. “There’s- there’s… some people…”

“Of course, there’s good in everything. And that’s why there’s an entire system, you can apply to be a legal Savant.”

“But they get treated differently,” she said, “and I don’t think crimes and having enhanced abilities affect each other, it’s just circumstantial that it happens-”

“Fiona, if you’re helping someone or hiding someone…” he trailed off, but they both knew what he was thinking. She would lose her job. And worse things would happen.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Fiona opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She then went on watching the outside silently. Jonathan sighed, focusing on the road. Due to plot reasons, the ride dragged on silently. Jonathan glanced at the review mirror every now and then for a clear road, any chance to speed up. The silence was interrupted by their radio, channeled to the other police.

“They killed the hostages!”

Jonathan gripped the wheels and pushed the gas pedal, dodging cars that were ahead of him. He can’t let anyone else get hurt.

==========

“Simon, why are you taking so long to find an exit? It's not that hard,” Sven Gwon hissed into his earpiece, his back flat against a wall.

The police are shouting behind the wall of fire he had created right at the front entrance, but firefighters are coming to the scene. While Sven gets that his jacket was supposed to be fireproof to help him, it’s also steaming hot in here, and the smell of burnt plastic fills the air. He peaked from behind the wall to see the authorities already pulling out water hoses and stomping out some small fire. 

“SIMON!” He screamed.

“Shut- please shut up. How about you try hacking into a system that is designed to protect rich people's secrets,” he heard his brother muttering in his ear, “just go distract them or something.”

Sven groaned as his hand lit up in fire. He moved quickly out of his hiding spot and chucked the fire ball at the firefighter. Of course it was of no use just yet, as the fire department is pretty fireproof but not for long. He knows they’re wearing oxygen tanks. Just need to destroy one of those to cause a whole ass explosion. 

Quickly, he pulled his goggles from his head and right over his eyes, extending his paper moth wings. But now that he thinks about it, his fragile wings could never fly in this heated condition, they would burst into flame. Then he would’ve been even weaker than he is compared to his siblings.

As he summoned another fireball, he shouted into his earpiece, “Hey Scarlet, are you finished killing the rich people yet?”

“YES! Why do you think they’re coming in?” His sister’s voice shouted through. She must be referring to the police.

“Are you being for real? Do you at least have one left so they don’t all come in?” Simon’s disbelief could be heard next.

“No? Everyone here was an investor in that project. I couldn't let them get away!”

“She has a point!” Sven shouted as he dodged a stream of water jets showering the room. He crouched behind the receptionist desk, glancing over top. “Simon at least hurry the fuck up!”

“They didn’t organize the desktop…” Simon groaned, “and other projects. They really hate us. Project Starship, Contingency plans, Project 121? Okay wait I found a file on Project New Normal.”

“Well hurry up!”

“Geez okay, I’ll just read it all and memorize it through my photographic super memory ha ha ha,” Simon muttered sarcastically.

“Well don’t you have a photographic memory?” Sven hissed.

“Yes. Yes I do.”

The light suddenly all went out, causing a building wide blackout. Now the only source of light was the fire that Sven had lit up, causing him to smile and peaked up. Quickly, he drew out of fire back to his hands and extinguished them. Now it was truly pitch black.

“Hello??? Sven? Simon? What the fuck?” Scarlet shouted into his ear. 

“That wasn’t me…” Simon mumbled, “oh no.”

“What oh no?”

“Your situationship is here,” he said lightly, followed by a snicker.

Jumping over the counter, Sven let out a chuckle, “She’s here!?” He made big strides toward the firefighters, their huge figures easy to notice in the dark. And also because his google has a night vision mode- but nevertheless!

“She is not my situationship-“ Scarlet yelled loud enough for Sven to hear without the earpiece. 

“How’d you know who I was talking about?” Simon said. Sven could hear the smile in his voice.

Scarlet groaned and definitely was crashing out. “Simon just tell us where to avoid.”

Sven used his elbow to jab one of them, hard, and knocked them over. He shot them with a fireball just in case, he had been told multiple times that he’s weak. Then, the second one was right behind him. With just the flash of fire that quickly extinguished, Sven could see that they held an axe in their hand, ready to swing.

Quickly, he rolled out of the way, right into a spot where a flashlight turned on. Right into his face. Groaning, he shielded his eyes from that and ran back toward the inner part of the first floor, but he could hear them following him; their footsteps grew louder but Sven knows he’s faster.

“Okay Sven this will be tricky but you have to go to the kitchen,” Simon suddenly spoke again. “There’s an escape from the freezer that Tanya’s team and the police aren't at.”

“Why is there an exit at the-“ Sven shouted between breaths.

“One of them is behind you.”

“I KNOW THAT THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS.” There’s a turn up ahead, that’s going to slow him down.

“They’re actually going to the kitchen too… they’ve got most of the first floor surrounded.”

At the corner, Sven extended his wings as he grabbed the edge of the wall, his finger digging into the warm wall. He swung his body around and up, letting his wings gently flap like butterflies. Except it’s a moth- you know the same thing. The police behind him turned that corner just seconds after he did that, which let him drop down and kick them down. The lumpy body at his feet was definitely unconscious.

“Um guys the emergency stairs and the elevator exits are not gonna work…” Scarlet’s voice said.

“Scarlet, just wait, I’ll find a layout of the building. Sven takes his coms,” Simon said. “Sorry,” he quickly added.

As if his body moved quickly on its own, he stepped off and crouched down, grabbing the small black device on the police’s shoulder. It had wirings attached to the vest, which is actually pretty solid there. After a couple yanks, he stopped and spoke into the earpiece.

“I got it.”

“Can you hold it up to the earpiece? And can you take off your other one? You too Scarlet.”

He grabbed the machine from both of his ears and held them to the walkie-talkie. He placed one at the audio output and one at the audio input spots and heard some slight buzzing. While Sven had no idea what was going on, he trusted Simon enough to do his thing. After 30 seconds, he jabbed the things back into his ears.

“Okay you done?” He asked.

“Done, go to the freezer- dang it- Just- you can go to the freezer.”

Leaping back onto his feet, Sven ran toward the biggest door down the hall, with the typical circle windows of a kitchen. Bursting in, he saw police officers standing, mid working, all frozen. Some were checking the oven, some were in a defense stance with their guns. A lazy smirk crept on his mouth and he slowed down, easily jazzed through the room.

“Scarlet, the trash hamper doesn’t have anyone there,” Simon said.

In the background, Sven could hear a faint ding and the sound of the elevator opening. 

“Freeze!”

“Who’s that?” He asked, kicking the freezer doors. The cold air hit his face and chilled him a lot more than he expected.

“The police…”

With the background noise of gunshots and Simon yapping in his earbud, Sven found himself at yet another problem. It’s freezing here. And the exit door had a layer of ice over top of it. His first instinct was to light a fire and thaw it, but it was too cold. His other power being his wings might as well be useless.

Thank gosh his coat is somewhat insulated, but still, he can feel the tips of his fingers getting nippy and numb. Slowly, he bought his hand up to his mouth and breathed out gentle warm air. He repeated so a few times to warm his hand up, then finally, at about the 5th time, he blew out fire and it caught on to his hands. Cupping the warmth, he brought it close to the layer of ice.

As soon as it was melted enough, he grabbed the handle and gave it a quick jab and pushed, the door swung open. He ran out, calling to his siblings. “I’m out!”

“I killed them!” Scarlet’s voice screeched.

“And I’m also ou- oh no,” Simon said.

“NOT AGAIN? WHAT OH NO?” Sven shouted as he pushed off from the ground with a leap and flew upward into the sky, then landing on the roof of a closeby building.

“I got caught.”

“L deserved,” Sven started, then finally processed the words. “Wait what.”

“Don’t get caught, both of you.”

Screams from the ground suddenly caught Sven’s attention, he glanced down and saw Scarlet running from one of the side doors. Police were swarming around her, gun shots echoed in the alley. In a blink of an eye, each of the officers had a bleeding point on them and were bleeding out, stumbling to the ground. 

Scarlet looked up at him and shouted in between breaths, “Come on! Let’s go!” She ran around the corner and he followed in the air.

==========

“They’re on the move, let’s go.” Gwen Evans, one of Tanya’s trusted friends, announced to the team.

Her team had been hiding in Rohan’s robot thing, the robot itself disguised as a truck. So maybe it is a robot machine, a clanker even, that doesn’t change the fact that it is the most reliable person in the team. The robot opened up and Gwen was the first to fly out with her floating chair, then everyone else ran out via foot. 

The Gwon took a corner down to a dark alley, but it took Tanya no time to catch up. The stinkass smell of the garbage hit her nose. What an amazing place for a battle.

Just as the rest of her team caught up, she reached into one of her many pockets on her jacket and pulled out a rock, clutching it tightly. After a deep breath, her other hand reached and from her palm, pulled it out, turning that rock into a dagger. “Nowhere to run now, Scar.”

Up ahead, trying to climb over the wire fence, Scarlet turned and snickered. She tossed her braid behind her. Tanya could already see Sven flying above the fence, with a hand reaching down, clearly was going to pull his sister up. He froze at the presence of Tanya’s team, slowly turning his head to look.

“We outnumbered you,” Tanya added, taking another step forward. “You’re not getting away with killing more people!”

“You always outnumber us! Yet we always win!” Scarlet retorted back, her eyes darting around the alley.

Just as she was searching for a comeback, Alec whispered, “Damn she got a point.” Tanya grinded her teeth and gave him the harshest side-eye, she did not need his opinion. 

“Can we wrap up the yapping and just fight them so we can get home?” Sven shouted.

“Oh yeah sure,” his sister replied. She looked at a filled garbage bag by the corner and raised her arm, levitating it. Letting out a breath loud enough for Tanya to hear (mouth breathers), she pushed her arm back and swung forward, the trash bag flew across the alley. 

Even before it hit them, Tanya’s team had already dodged and were running toward Scarlet. Tanya jumped and drew her dagger, raising it in the air. Then she rotated her body and swung, throwing it as a clean shot directly at the other woman. Just inches before her face, Scarlet held her hands in front of her face to hold it back, her back right against the fence.

Tanya landed in front of her,her hand quickly went to the handle of the dagger, pulling it back. “How hard can you resist it, Scarlet?” She hissed.

Between a shaky breath, Scarlet pushed the dagger back further, making Tanya take a step back to keep on holding it. “You think you’re so strong.”

“I know I am.”

Just as Tanya was about to strike another attack right to her head, the entire door of a car slammed into her from the side, knocking her to the side and into the wall. She got up, clutching her left as the pain throbbed and intensified, she quickly used her other arm to grab the wall. She can’t fight like this, she thought.

Lifting her head, she saw Penny running toward her as the dumpster was set on fire in the back. Scarlet was standing there with a smirk on her face and a strong chuckle, her arm held out to move a piece of a car’s door. This certainly vexed her. Her sister grabbed her shoulder and slowly guided her down, leaning against the wall.

“I got you, Tanya,” Penny said, pulling off her blue gloves. Her soft hand reached Tanya’s wrist and absorbed the pain. Slowly, she felt better, like a weight lifted off her body.

“Penny you’ll be hurt,” She said worryingly as she stood up. 

Her sister was crouched on the ground, her head lifted up with a small smile. “Throw me onto the moth guy.” 

Tanya definitely didn’t want that. Penny’s hurt and you shouldn’t throw hurting people into the sky, ever. But her sister seems very sure of it, and Tanya’s sure that she would never suggest something without a plan.

Tanya looked up into the dark sky. The other Gwon was on fire, illuminating. He was flying around Rohan’s big, gigantic robot. The mech tried to grab him, but he was too tiny and fast. Meanwhile, Gwen was pulling out a huge neon blaster and shooting at him from below. Bright purple blasts went up in the sky like stars, all missing completely.

“Come on, I’m sure!” Penny called, she had already stood up, stiff but steady. She was definitely in a lot of pain, noticeable by the way she stood, favouring her left side. Tanya placed her hands together into a support boost like a cheerleader. Penny stepped onto her hand and got boosted up, launched upward into the air. “Rohan catch!”

Tanya watched and made sure she landed on the mech’s hand, then she turned to Scarlet and picked up another rock, turning this one into a longer sword. Alec was fighting against her without progress,since all he did was float around. Meanwhile, Scarlet had gotten hold of his cloak and was pulling it down, so that the collar would choke him out.

Before Alec could die, Tanya ran and did a drop kick, swooping Scarlet off her feet by surprise. She yelped and shot at Tanya a glance, and kicked her off. Just as Tanya was getting up, she heard a loud, deafening scream from above.

Everyone froze and looked up to see Penny grabbing Sven by the ankle, dangling in the air, probably transferring injury to him. She lets go as he recoils, his wings flapping slower and slower. Rohan caught her with one mech arm and used the other hand to flick him off the sky. 

The moth man was launched right into Scarlet and they were knocked to the ground into a pile. A weak groan from the Gwon could be heard, especially from Scarlet, who had Sven lying like a dead bug on top of her. As Penny jumped back to the ground, the team cheered. 

“No way! We won!” Gwen said, a hint of disbelief in her monotonic voice. 

“Oh my gosh! We actually did!” Penny cheered. Everyone high-fived each other, back turned to the Gwons. Even Tanya was surprised that they beat them in a fight for the first time.

She smiled greatly, “Good job, guys! Now all we need to do is to turn them in to the police!”

Tanya turned her head back to where the Gwons were by the wire fence. They were no longer there. Besides the team, the alley is a ghost town, with garbage. 

“What- where did they go?” Alec said, going toward the spot. “They were just here!” 

They collectively ignored the suspicious sewer cap and how it shifted just to close off, making the loudest noise. I swear they’re blind just for the plot. 

==========

The world is filled with such cheap lights nowadays. My parents used to tell me that I was a star in the earlier days of my life. They used to see all my bright colours, until I shone a bit too bright for the human eye to see.

My parents didn’t like that I’m outstanding like this. They wanted me to be good at everything except what I’m good at. But I was Scarlet. And I am good at everything. I should be allowed to be good at what made me me, too.

A cup. All I did was move a cup, and in this moment, I felt fuel to my fire that made me burn bright. They held the water that extinguished it. Ever since then, it was as if I was a red glow to my parents’ deuteronopia, and my brothers were some other colours that didn’t involve red. I was jealous of them, yes, but over time, I realized that a fire under watchful glass can never burn bright enough. We’re all stars in the sky after all.

So I ran away, taking the flames and all the warmth with me. This made the name Scarlet Gwon known, even if it’s not in the way I would’ve wanted it. My goal is great and is worth achieving, but people just can’t see that. But that’s okay, because the ends will justify the means.

It’s better to be known and feared than forgotten.

Chapter Text

The police station was quietly doing their work until the obnoxious tap dance sound broke in from the door to the front desk. Jonathan looked up from his paper to meet face to face with a bright smile. “Mitchell… What misfortune brought you here to us?” They all hate his ass so much.

“Hey Jon! Nice to see you too! Miss me?” Investigator Patrick Mitchell said, towering over the counter. “Say, can I talk to one of the people that you’re holding here? The guy. From last night's fire.”

“No,” he replied, going back to whatever he was doing.

“Would you believe me if I say that many lives could potentially be saved if I talk to the guy you’re holding?” Patrick added.

“You don’t even know his name do you?”

Patrick held up his index finger confidently, then slowly put it down, “I just need to talk to him about something.” He gave a small smile, although smiling is his face's default mode.

“Good luck with that, he hasn't talked for like 16 hours. Our 24 hour hold on him is almost up,” Jon told him.

“Saaaay,” He started, leaning over the top of the wooden counter even more, “if I can get a word out of him…”

“Fine. You’re good at yapping anyways.”

Jonathan stood up, swished his bubble braids behind his desk and took out a key. He led Patrick across the station, passing where other people were busily working and typing away at their computers. The place is just as Patrick remembered: an organized mess of a place. He was hoping to see Fiona here, but in the crowd of normal coloured hair, he couldn’t see green. 

Finally, they went to the back, across rooms with a single sided mirror on the wall, where the people in the hall could see the inside. They stopped at a room in this blank hallway, peering through the mirror, Patrick could see a man sitting up straight, staring right forward at the empty chair across him. Nothing special. His hand was cuffed to the table, his eyes make him look like he’s dead on the inside (but aren’t we all?) and his hair was the one characteristic that Patrick was wary of. It's purple. He’s a main character in this godforsaken story.

“What’s his name?” Patrick asked. 

Jonathan sighed, adjusting his walkie talkie, “he comes around a lot. We know him as “Simonella” but that’s obviously not his real name.”

“I see, well okay, here I go!”

Jon nodded and took out a key card, swiping it on the tab right by the door, a clicking sound indicated that it was unlocked. “Also we have cameras in the room. And make it quick,” he reminded him.

“Yeah yeah I know the procedure.”

==========

Simon had been sitting in this isolated room for… a long time. He’s tired and hungry, but he can’t accept anything they give him. It’s all a trick, the water cup used to collect their DNA, or really anything they give. 

Multiple officers had come and talked to him. The first guy was calm, he tried to be friendly. The second person, a green-haired woman, was nervous but she talked a lot. Then the third person was just shouting at him. They really got this entire good-cop bad-cop thing going on. But not once did he utter a word, because if he did, he might accidentally trigger his stupid powers and then they would know. 

Just a few more hours, and he would be released. They only have a 24 hour hold on him anyways. There’s nothing here, he’s handcuffed to this metal table that’s actually attached to the ground. The walls are dark green, except for the wall in front of him, there is a mirror, he can see himself sitting there pathetically. He knows people on the other side can see him, although there’s not much to see. Beside, there’s a camera in the corner of the ceiling, no point in that mirror.

The door clicked open, Simon turned to see yet another person, but this man wasn’t dressed in a police uniform. He wore a trench coat over a button up with black ties and suspenders. Shoot. They’re bringing in a detective. 

“Heya! How are we feeling?” He started with a friendly manner, as he pulled the chair out and sat on it.

Simon didn’t answer, he glanced at the Detective up and down, noticing a gun on their belt. 

“Well okay, that’s fine. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions.” This is exactly what the others had said. Do they have a script or something? “You know you were at the huge fire last night. I’m sure you remember that…. Unless you have amnesia or something…”

Simon just stared at him. Green hair… This is a main character and if he’s not careful, he’ll get dragged deep into the plot too (little did he know)...

“Well… you see, they found you at the computer in the control room,” He continued, “Not that I should know anything about this but I happen to receive information from other sources that you encountered some project files hidden away in there?”

That caught him off guard, none of the others had asked him about it.

“Yeah something about Project 121? No? Okay well- It’s apparently supposed to be a help to Project New Normal. Now that one I’m sure you’ve heard of: it’s pretty popular, getting rid of all Savants for good. Assuming you are one, you’d try to find out all about A New Normal, to stop it at all costs. Assuming you’re just one of us though, there’s no justifiable reason for you to be aiding the Gwons in the assasination of… whatever those rich guys were, so tell me, are you a Savant?”

Holy yapper. 

“Because if you are, you have a very good reason to be doing all this. I mean, heck if I was one, I’d hate it here! I would totally go and kill these guys that’s supporting my own downfall you know, I wouldn’t judge.”

He’s trying to be… relatable. And failing miserably. Simon thought. Or maybe, he is one of us… that ugly green hair does check out for not being a Beige.

“Listen, you seem like a pretty nice guy. Maybe you’re just confused. Working with the Gwons is never the answer and it’s also pretty dangerous,” He added. Simon is getting annoyed. His goofy ass looking smile never wavered during this conversation, and that’s disgusting.

“You’re not gonna talk, I get that. Okay that’s fine. Maybe you… can’t talk?”

You know what, I’m going with that.

“Actually in that case, we could get you some paper so you could write something. Or if you would rather not because we both know that it would still get your DNA, any other forms could work. Or don’t say anything, that’s fine, you’re gonna be released in… 8 hours? That’s a long time. Now if it was me, I’d just disappear back where I came from. There’s no record of you, everyone will forget about you after a while, since we have no evidence that you actually helped the Gwons. Heck we wouldn’t even remember you.” His smile slightly dropped, it was turning into a smirk. “You know, no one had come here for you actually. Maybe you’re just a lackey. But hey! That’s a good thing, less charges on you, am I right?”

The Detective really hit his weakness, and from the look of it, he knew it too. Also… eight more hours is going to be torturous. With someone in the room right now, Simon could easily make an escape. Yes absolutely he’s leaving right now. Just need to get this guy off of him.

His eyes went to his gun. Perfect. Now how does he make a threat with that?

“Kill yourself.” Simon made a statement so wild, he himself paused. Why did he say that? 

The Detective’s hand instinctively grabbed his gun and pulled it up against the side of his head. “So you are a Savant,” he said as it happened, calmly.

“Stop,” Simon said sharply, “don’t kill yourself.” He stood up and raised his hands as much as he could from the cuffs and table. “Aim for this.”

“Why didn’t you do this 3 polices ago?” The detective asked as he shot the chains connecting the handcuffs, freeing Simon. Also fuck logic. 

“Shut up. Help me get out, and get me back my stuff then you can carry on your day, have a nice day, whatever,” Simon retorted, walking toward the door, as The Detective threw his phone at him. Simon caught it.

Wait. Why did he have his phone? Shouldn’t it be in police custody or something?

A huge slam can be heard, and the door was kicked open. 

Without a second look back, Simon walked down the hallway, leaving him behind. He took long strides down the back door, obviously the front would be filled with officers and that would just make things hard on himself. There’s obviously a camera down this hallway, there’s cameras everywhere in a police station, but he didn’t quite care. Besides, he needs to leave before his siblings burn down the place.

==========

Penny Katchadourian walked into her apartment to the sound of a loud heated argument. Oh shit shit shit, the team was supposed to have a meeting today, she was late. Not that she would get in trouble or anything, she just hates being late.

In all honesty she isn’t sure why they bother to have weekly meetings. All of their plans end in failure and at the end of the day, dealing with wanted criminals. But her sister has big dreams, almost impossible if you ask Penny. Them and the Beiges getting along? Never. People are afraid of the fact that they’re more powerful, which is exactly why they all have a huge stack of money on their head.

Except for herself of course, Penny along with some other ‘Savants’ have offered their power for the good of the public instead, to prove that they won’t harm anyone. She had been working at the hospital, taking care of green level cases in the waiting room, a twisted ankle or dehydration. It backfires on her, of course, but she has to do something to be able to walk down the streets freely.

“Hey guys! Sorry I’m late, I did pick up some donuts from my workplace,” She announced to see everyone sitting around and on the couch in a circle. Warm smiles welcomed her in as she set the box on the kitchen counter.

“Penny! You’re finally here!” Alec said, “We’re discussing the good part.”

She joined them, sitting next to her sister, right on the arm rest. Finally, some rest after the entire fucking day.

“Okay Alec, tell her what you saw.” Tanya commanded. Everyone directs their attention toward their psychic man (with an incredibly limited psychic power).

“Right so yesterday, during the fight, I was able to cough a glimpse of Scarlet’s… I want to say goals but it’s not the right word for it,” He started, his hands waving around animatedly.

“Well what did you see?” Gwen muttered, leaning back on the wall. She sat on top of the couch, her hair all messy and sticking to the wall. She was fidgeting with her fingers and braiding then unbraiding her hair.

“It looks like her past- I’m just saying we should probably be smarter,” Alec continued, “Like wait. Guys, have we thought about learning about the Gwon’s past so we can target their weaknesses? We’re taking a lot of Ls lately. It had been 3 years of non-stop fights, had we ever thought about that?”

The room was silent except for the buzzing lightbulb for a full minute. Rohan took a deep breath and then said, “Why the hell haven’t we thought of that?” 

“Plot reasons? The writer's known for concepts, not planning,” Gwen offered, shrugging, “Whatever, it’s not too late to start. Considering how their parents are the two most influential people in Montario, in arts and politics. Mr. Gwon is quite literally the Mayor.” 

Penny still hasn't processed the part where they literally wasted three years of their life when bagging these criminals could’ve ended earlier. And if it did, it might’ve made the public and city less wary of people with superpowers like them. Tanya could’ve came up with this earlier, why didn’t she? Is this group really cursed to be the dumb hero team?

“No… that can’t be right. Why would they enforce so much hate toward us Savants and even authorize Project A New Normal if their kids are literally Savants??” Tanya said. 

“Tanya, some people have shit parents,” Rohan told her as-matter-of-factly, “it’s the truth.”

“Shitty parents would contribute to why they became shit people,” Gwen added. Penny herself nodded along to it.

“It also matches up. It was the City Hall that got burned down last night,” Alec said. “Revenge.”

“Yeah! They’re not purely evil people, they just have parental issues!” Gwen said. 

Everyone looked at Tanya for a decision, because she always knew what to do. And her plans are always good (even if they’re never successful), just good enough for the team to follow. She turned and glanced at everyone then sighed.

“Okay so if we go back to the City Hall, we could collect anything the Gwon left behind: more about the family and perhaps even evidence about A New Normal,” Tanya said. 

“Yes, all the information on that project should be in the control room with a hugeass screen- oh that reminds me,” Gwen informed them, shifting in her spot, “they have a third person.”

Rohan sighed yet again, he seems to be doing a lot of that. “There’s another one? Do we just not know about them because plot reasons?" Gwen nodded, her ponytails swished back and forth.

“They’re multiplying?” Penny asked. “Wait, that's why we’ve been failing so much, they have other help!” As if that would excuse their failure, they still have 5 people on their team, plus a giant robot. 

“We know nothing about the third one… except for the fact that they’re probably my nemesis on Chess.com,” Gwen said. “This info… fuels me more to put an end to their tyranny.” It’s true, Gwen had been very unenthusiastic about their entire quest. Although Penny can't blame her. After 2 years of this bullshit, you start to look for other motivations to keep going, and Gwen's happen to be Chess.com.

“GUYS FOCUS!” Tanya said, rubbing her forehead tiredly, “okay tonight we go back to City Hall.”

“Isn’t that trespassing because that’s a crime scene now?” Alec said, “I’m not against it but aren’t you against crime?”

Rohan and Gwen looked at him like he had just said '1+ 1 = 4'. They all know damn their nightly well street fights and city vandalism are not legal.

Their leader balled her hands into a fist tightly, gripping the air. She just stared at him with her eyes slightly twitching and exhaled slowly, “right haha you are completely right. We’ve already made all of the Savant’s reputations bad. If only we know someone who can legally go there- NO ALEC WE DON’T! ITS FOR THE GREATER GOOD IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH PEACE!”

“Geez Tanya I’m just reminding you of your beliefs…”

“The ends will justify the actions,” She replied calmly, doing some breathing techniques. Then, she added, "I know it's taking a long time but the end will come."

Penny spoke up. “I mean if it helps, I know a guy who can legally go there,” She said to her sister. She saw a glimmer of hope in Tanya's eyes, sparkling the same way they would when they stare at her arch nemesis, Scarlet, right before they fight. "And he wouldn't ask any question, wouldn't turn us in," Penny added, to seal the deal.

She really didn’t want to pull that card, considering how the said guy happens to be a stupid normal Beige. But Tanya is really in a lot of stress, and she’d do anything to take a bit off for her (heck, she'd arrange a date for her and Scarlet if she could). Besides, a professional view on this would certainly save them a lot of time. A lot. 

==========

I always know that the world is unfair one way or another. Ever since people with special and different abilities emerged in the city, everyone was afraid of such 'corruption'. The truth is, they’re afraid because someone is more powerful than them. The lies they tell of us are of concern that the power would control them.

I hate them. I’ve never done anything wrong but I had to prove my worth, every single day. Every person I heal is another pain into my collection, because my power isn’t even scary or dark or twisted, and yet they’re afraid of me. All I can do is make others better, yet I’m treated like low tier criminals. Maybe it's time to act like one.

The world is angry and everyone’s in flames. Everyone’s a walking burning light. So bright and ambitious yet so hateful. Spiteful. Hate. 

Hate. Let me tell you how much I’ve come to hate this society we live in. I’ve never gotten anything good out of it, and I really hope my sister’s plans work out. So that I don’t live in fear of others being in fear of me. 

While my sister shines like a star, while she tries to build peace, I’m in her shadow. I don’t shine bright enough. And I love Tanya, really I do, I just think after years… well the change isn’t going to come so soon. I want a change, so I will do something on my own.

A change to turn the tide. A change I have to make.