Comet city chapter 10
Ehehehe I have plans. Many plans. Hush, enjoy.
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You were heading out to run some errands and drop off library books (and hopefully see your favorite super handsome librarian), but as soon as you stepped onto the main street leading to the busier parts of the city, you find a swarm of Techbyte’s spiders demolishing a large monument to the heroes of old: a large park lots of people used. To be honest, you liked the park a lot too.
You curse under your breath, trotting to the nearest bathroom to change into your costume, and exit to start smashing the tech-spiders.
Some days just felt like a blur of bullshit where you couldn't catch a break. So why the fuck was it always on your free days?! This could have been done any day of the week, why did they do it on your errand day?!
As you work on smashing the spiders, you can't help but notice how many are already smashed… it's too early for a hero to usually be here.
You turn, just in time to see a spider open it's hatch, moments away from shooting something from a small cannon. But, suddenly in a whoosh of air and light, it's halfway across the courtyard, smashed and impaled on a bench. You try to follow the blur with your eyes but it's just too quick. You'd heard of mutated humans with super speed, but this wasn't one you'd seen before. But it seems like it's on your side so you don't consider it a threat. It streaks around the area, but you can't focus too hard since there's more spiders to fight.
You grab a spider with your shadows, hurling it over your head, sending it crashing against the side of a building.
On the other end of the court yard, you note the police roll in. If they're here, then the situation is safe enough for then. Which means you should roll out. You feel like you didn't do much, but whatever. It's not like you got paid for it anyway.
With a sudden rush of air, the blur stops. Before you stands a young woman, perhaps early 20s. She's wearing a t-shirt and jeans. You can't recognize her, but she seems to recognize your mask.
“Oh you're the Dove, right? I've seen you like, all over the news, can we talk?” She asks, approaching.
You stare at her, trying to figure out why she's talking to you, or even who she is.
“I haven't heard of undercover heros.” You mutter. Usually they wore flashy costumes and traveled in small packs. You side eye Zenith, who's talking to the police, likely giving a rundown on what's happened. You see his head tilt to you, looking you over before approaching.
“Listen, I gotta go- Wait shit there's one more.” You grumble, watching a busted spider drag itself across away from a corner and up a light pole by the street.
“Got the last one!” She chirps, chuckling a random brick at the last of Techbyte’s spiders. It cracks open, now a pile of exposed wire and cracked metal. It smashes against the light pole, causing a sharp dent in the pole.
You watched as it slowly leans, creaking as its descent leads it squarely on top of the car. The car screams in anguish, it's anti-theft alarm filling the air. You blink slowly, just observing what the hell just happened. This young woman isn't a hero, they wouldn't just train her to not think of that. You slowly turn to the young woman beside you, who has her eyes locked onto the wreckage.
“I'm sure today's just not your day.” She hums, casually. You open your mouth to speak and then close it. Today was just not one of the days you felt like debating these things.
“Well… I'm glad nothing else stupid happened.” You mutter, scratching the back of your head as you ponder the small amount of damage. It would… probably be fine. The hero agency tended to pay for damages like this, so you felt less bad than you would've.
“Soooo, now that we're pals, we can, like-” She starts before you cut her off.
“I'm sorry, what was your name?”
She pauses before beaming, putting her fists on her hips and announcing: “Velocity!”
You stare at her for a moment before deciding to move on.
“You need a mask. I suggest you get out of here before the cops get a good look at you. Unless you're with the hero agency.” You say, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh, no I'm… I'm not, but today's been weird. I'll get out of here, but thanks!” She chirps, before disappearing in a smudge of color and wind.
You stand there a minute and then use your shadows to swing out of the area, before Zenith can catch up.
—-----------------
Patrolling was… quiet despite the incident earlier in the day. However, you wanted to stay out a bit longer, so you wandered around until you found yourself walking down a busy street in a shopping part of the city. Not every patrol was fighting crime. Sometimes it was just wandering and keeping an eye out.
You spot your favorite soft serve cart open, across the street. It was one of those mobile ones, like a hot dog cart but for sweet creamy goodness. It was one of the few ones that didn't have that awful gritty texture some others did… maybe you should get some if things stay quiet around here. Now you were thinking about hot dogs… maybe if you were lucky you'd find one of those good stands that had those good beef hotdogs and-
Breaking you out of your soft-serve fantasy, you suddenly bump into something hard, and tall, and smelling of expensive cologne. You feel the forces of luck cackle distantly as the form turns around, and you grumble as you see Zenith beaming down at you.
“Dove! Hey, I was just here with my coworkers!” He beams, throwing an ensnaring arm around your shoulder, shifting his body so you could see who he was talking to. Before you stands two of the elite heros of the city. There weren't many A-listers, and you'd never come face to face withbthem. They stare at you with equal discomfort.
Before anyone else can speak, Zenith practically dragged you by his arm around your shoulder.
“Anyway, let's meet up back up in a bit, I need to talk to Dove.” He says, giving his coworkers a good natured smile and wave. They look like they want to say something about him running off to hang out with a well known vigilante. You're sure your expression is equally perplexed as you're dragged off.
“Aren't you in the middle of a patrol?” You ask, as you walk (see: marched down the street by a 6’ 5” wall of muscle)
“I can take a break, it's a slow night anyway.” He chuckles. Eventually he finds a bench across from the park that got wrecked this morning.
“Why did Techbyte do this, anyway?” You wonder out loud. You knew it had to be him based on the fact his spider robots were at the scene. Hell, they were the whole scene.
While you didn't expect an answer, Zenith answered unusually professional, “We aren't fully sure. But… we're thinking it was just a diversion. Our technology caught someone trying to hack into some database for blueprints to some important buildings. Our tech team managed to stop the hacker, but… I don't know much else.”
You nod, absorbing this information. It was nice when he was actually helpful. You decide to keep the information about Velocity to yourself.
“Must've wanted to get all eyes to the distraction so he'd have time to get what he wanted. All signs point to Techbyte… Can I ask what blueprints he got to? Or what he was after?” You ask.
Zenith rubs the back of his neck, “I'm not even supposed to be talking about this. But, I'll let you in on it, since I can tell you can keep a secret. He was probably after the blueprints to the Gala.”
You think for a moment, confused. “What about the Gala caught his interest?”
“Another thing I'm not supposed to say. It's actually top secret.” He mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. You lean in, curious and frustrated. Despite not being able to see your face, Zenith crumbles quickly under the pressure of your gaze.
“Don't give me that look, I can't tell! But we think Techbyte’s got plans to cause trouble for the Gala because of an important presentation that'll happen there.” He rambles. You lean in further, trying to see if he's being honest. He pauses, slowly getting a big grin.
“Well… if you promised to come to the Gala, I could tell you more, since you'd be there to help.” He says, slyly, getting a shit eating grin. You groan, hating that you're actually getting baited into this.
“I already said I can't! Showing up uninvited to a place with so many heros is asking for trouble. Vigilantes are illegal, even if some people support me.” You explain, crossing your arms and sitting back up normally. Zenith lets out a whine, leaning in.
“B-but if you stick near me no one will bother you, I promise! We can wear matching outfits, it'll be fun! You can keep your mask on!” He says, grabbing your wrists, pulling them close to his chest.
“Zenith, all the best heros will be there, I doubt you'd need me to go.” You say. Zenith pauses, thinking.
“Well, you were great at fighting Techbyte the last time you saw him! I think you have the most experience dealing with him!” He says, still with the same sunny conviction. You think for a moment. It was true, but you doubted you were needed. Zenith seems to sense this. Because he adds: “Plus, if Techbyte actually shows up we'll need everyone to help!”
You sigh, hating that he's actually convincing you of something so dumb.
“I won't go, but… I can keep close by. If he shows up I'll help.” You sigh, giving in.
“What? No, you should come with me! It'll be soooo boring, all anyone wants to talk about is brand deals and crime rates.” Zenith groans, leaning back and resting his elbows on the back of the bench. You turn your head to look at him.
He's honestly an impressive looking hero. It's obvious he's strong, by the way his biceps are pronounced despite him being at rest. His costume (he once insisted it was a uniform despite your efforts) didn't make any efforts to hide it. You're actually pretty sure they designed it to make it known that Zenith is quite sturdy with muscle mass. You mean… he has a nutritionist, who says he doesn't have a exercise coach too? You're pretty sure he did an ad for a protein shake brand. Honestly you were considering investing in it if it let you look more like that. Maybe if you had more bulk you could show off for Arlo…?
He side eyes you before grinning, suddenly flexing his bicep. “Like what you see?” He purrs with a smug half grin. You swear you'd strangle him if you could. You look away, startled and embarrassed. You can't believe you were just staring at him like that.
You look back to make a retort before you notice the bracelet you saw earlier, when you went on your date with Arlo.
“Oh right, I wanted to ask about that.” You change the subject, pointing to the bracelet. His eyes light up as he sits up, showing it to you.
“I got it custom, pretty nice, right? I got you one too!”
“Oh, no, we aren't doing friendship bracelets.” You scoff, standing up and backing away as he shows it to you. It's looks to be an alternating pattern of milky blue stones and a mossy green stones. Attached to it is a half heart charm, matching the one on his bracelet. You wonder why the bracelets don't look exactly the same.
“Come on, it's a present. It's rude to turn down presents.” He hums, extending it out for you to take. You look at it, and then the one on his wrist. Something clicks in your head.
“Zenith, did you do that dumbass trend of making bracelets based on each other's eye colors?” You scoff, slowly getting pissed. You stare at the bracelet on his wrist and… yup, it's not obvious but you could call it your eye color. It's not a perfect match but it's clear he tried.
He grins, puffing his chest out, proud.
“I know, it's very thoughtful. I actually ordered the beads custom so they'd look right.” He gloats, nodding to himself. You just stare at him, slack jawed. What the actual fuck was wrong with this guy.
“Zenith-”
“Actually, you should just call me Zen.” He chuckles, before turning to look at you, still grinning. He nods to the bracelet, a silent request for you to take it. You don't. His eyes flick away for a moment before returning to you. You needed to shut this down - quickly.
“No- uh, listen-”
“Woah!” He says, sitting up, his eyes sparkling with glee, “Dove, I didn't know we were on a first name basis! You gotta give me your first name now if we're that close!”
“What the actual fuck are you talking about?” You murmur, startled and confused. What was he talking about? He pouting a little, tilting his head like a puppy.
“... The name I was given before Zenith was Noah. Most people just call me Zenith. Or Zen if we're buddy-buddy. I just thought….” He shrugs, casual.
“Why would I call you that?” You ask, squinting at him.
“... I was hoping you'd play along, babe.” He says, giving the hand holding the bracelet a little shake, another offer to take it.
“Play along…?” You murmur to yourself. Zenith said and did some weird shit, but you had no clue what he was talking about. Why would you call him by his given name if you didn't even like him? Did you miss something or was he just being a weirdo again.
“Listen, just forget about it. Here.” He hums, giving the bracelet another shake, trying to direct your attention to it. You shake your head. He stands approaching you, his eyes focused.
His smile shifts, tensing up. You take a step back and he glances over your shoulder for a moment, before returning to you. Fucker probably just wanted to bait you into looking over your shoulder to do something, so you don't follow his gaze.
“Zenith. We're just work… buddies.” You say, even and calm. You didn't want to be buddy-buddy with him, but if he was going to be a persistent problem, smoothing things over couldn't be a bad idea.
“You know what your problem is? Your just scared of everything.” He chuckles, but despite his tone and smile, something feels deeply wrong. There's a layer of bite that you hadn't seen from him before. Before you can ask him what he's talking about, he continues.
“You're terrified of people. You're shy, and I let you keep your civilian identity a secret because you like having your privacy, and you don't like the system, and– …and my dove, that's fine.” He coos, approaching slowly as you back away. Suddenly the open space doesn't feel so safe, having nowhere to quickly duck away.
“But… this is getting old, yeah? I try to connect, you give half assed answers and then flutter away before we can have a meaningful conversation. The chase is fun, it really is! But… you gotta give me something. Something real.” He says, grabbing your wrist. His grip is tight, locking you in place. Where was any of this coming from? He was so sweet and goofy a minute ago…
“Zenith, what are you-”
“No.” He says, his expression falling completely. His eyes harden, his jaw sets as his words come out as a sharp hiss. He pauses, taking a deep sigh to level out and adjust his expression, into a tense smile.
“I just want us to be closer.” He hums evenly, as if he didn't just do a complete Jekyll/Hyde. You scoff and shake your head.
“What the hell are you on about? We're coworkers at most. And listen, as far as coworkers go, you're like-” You start, before he cuts you off.
“No.” He says, his tone calm but the slightly manic look in his eyes makes you incredibly uneasy. “We work together but that's not all we are.”
His hands move from your wrists, to suddenly cupping your jaw. It was more like a death grip on the lower sides of your head. The pads of his thumbs dip under your mask, smoothing over the skin on your cheeks.
You get startled, putting your hands on his chest and trying to push him away. You start grunting, as your effort does little to deter him.
“Just to think… if I wanted this little game to be over I could do it… I could follow you home, or ask the right questions, or even just tear the mask off.” He hums, eerily at ease. “But I won't… not for a little longer. It's a fun game…”
Using his thumbs, he lifts the mask up, just enough to uncover the lower portion of your face. Before you can think, or move, or even breathe, he moves in, pressing his lips to yours.
