Chapter 2
The Grim Reaper got to his feet and ran to see what was happening. It was slippery, the ice gathered on the streets felt…wrong and filthy. His arm was broken at the most inconvenient time around.
His operator had gone dead silent, was she even in her seat? The power had gone off and everywhere was pitch black in the night. A few people on the street were seated on the floor having slipped when the ice gathered.
He was panting heavily, his already damaged lungs functioning worse than before.
He could hear a few of them try to turn on their phones and let out sounds of frustration when they noticed their phones would not turn on.
Oh. Oh god. Their electronic devices weren’t working, most of them weren’t thinking straight and some were panicking from the haze everyone clearly felt.
Was his earpiece not working because of this too? She must have found a way to enhance her powers even more. His breathing was getting difficult, the air feeling rancid and disgusting.
He didn’t have time. Darkness was surrounding the place, and he didn’t have any idea what to do in a situation like this.
‘Think, Sirius. Think! What are the basic protocols?’
His head snapped up at a vicious cackle faintly heard in the distance. He started to cough, his chest feeling heavier moment by moment.
He turned on his visor’s night vision. A bit too late, protocol suggested to on it the moment the hero noticed everything was dark.
It was stupid of him to forget this. The faint humming glow grabbed the attention of multiple people in the crowd. A girl who saw him screamed and slid back.
Well, a bunch of teeth being illuminated by a visor didn’t make for a pretty scene. He yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Everybody! There’s been a villain attack, I assume you all feel the nausea. It might be hard to move but I suggest you all evacuate this place to the nearest safe point you can find!”
People rustled to their feet hearing that. But confusion still lingered. “Where’s the nearest safe point?” and “Where are we supposed to go?” were heard among them.
He bit his tongue. Fuck. Usually during villain attacks there would be a bunch of back up heroes called on the spot by the operator. Mary must have lost connection to the area. The cameras could be ruled out as not functioning too, then.
The area was brighter to him then most. A street filled with people uncomfortable to touch the ice and all shuddering whenever they slipped and accidentally touched their hand to the ice.
He knew it was stupid but he swore he heard her whisper his name in the distance. Nobody else flinched, not showing a sign of hearing anything at all.
The streets were already messy with beer bottles lying around and trash everywhere. He saw a few students sitting on the wall to avoid feeling the ice only for their legs to start freezing over too.
There was someone standing by the shadows in the wall that seemed to blend in perfectly. Wait. There was someone standing by the shadows in the wall. The person’s presence became heavy and obvious as Sirius focussed on him.
He stumbled forward, his boots gripping the icy street. A few people moved out of his way as he reached the shadow and before he could grab the person with his one good arm, he ran.
“What the fuck.” He startled as he saw a flash of sandy brown hair run by at high speed, still mixed within the shadows.
“That’s a local vigilante, sir. He’s really no danger right now.” A student seated by the wall nervously explained.
The vigilante stood on a roof, standing still and watching. He was tall and Sirius felt like he knew him from somewhere.
He was wearing a red surgical mask around his face and a sort of white blindfold around his eyes. How he could see through that, Sirius didn’t know, but he could swear there was a wave of familiarity about this guy.
Dangerous or not, vigilantes were still illegal and to be arrested on sight. But this one didn’t feel scared to face a hero.
He raised an eyebrow at Grim Reaper in a way that said, “Are you sure you want to add this to your already filled roster of problems.”
There was a huge crowd in Hogsmeade and a dangerous villain approaching any minute now. The haze was already making it hard to move and fogging up his brain. He was panting like he just ran a marathon and was afraid his respiratory system would give up on him at the worst possible time and no phones or lights were working.
Sirius took a deep breath, putting both hands on where his temples would be covered by the visor, and decided to tackle the vigilante problem another day.
“All of you students and college kids, I know you’re all drinking and are very underaged to do so.” He heard a few kids scuffle to hide their bottles when he exclaimed, “But I’ll choose to ignore that. All of you, including all of the adults who don’t go there, evacuate single file towards the prep school, those who don’t go there just tell the authorities what’s happening, I’m sure they’ll let you in. There are a few gates there that you can leave from without entering the villain risk area, ask to use that area and if the phones start working there, call yourselves taxis or friends to pick you up!”
He set to work, helping people up to their feet. He saw a kid try to carry his beer pack and took it from him, “You’ll get suspended if they see it, kid.”
He didn’t know if the rule at his old school changed, but most prep schools had a ‘no student can bring alcohol inside’ policy.
The kid’s face paled and he opened and closed his mouth like a gawking fish before carrying on his way.
Sirius heard a chuckle behind him and turned to see who it was.
The vigilante with the red mask and blindfold. He was even taller up close, helping the people to their feet just like Sirius was. Well, he was an illegal hero in a way, so why shouldn’t he help the people?
The man looked towards him, and they made eye contact for a brief moment through the visor and blindfold. The hero immediately turned away.
He heard her laughter even closer now and knew she had reached the place. His heart dropped down to the floor and a building farthest away from all of them exploded, fire and debris blowing everywhere.
People screamed and ran faster; he helped the kids that slipped and flinched when he heard glass shatter in the distance.
He wanted to abandon everything and run with them, the nauseating feeling in his stomach coming back stronger. But he had to go fight her, he had signed up for this the moment he chose to step up for Alice.
He couldn’t just leave the citizens to cause a stampede. Glass shattered in the distance and her maniacal laughter hung in everybody’s ears.
He had to stop her. His chest was squeezing itself dry and he was out of ideas. He was a hero, he had to come up with something! He caught sight of the brown-haired man from the corner of his eye, and sighed as he already regretted the idea forming in his mind.
He ran and caught the tall vigilante by the shoulder. The guy inhaled, and he couldn’t see his face, but Sirius knew he was a little afraid.
“Take care that all the citizens get to the school safely.” He instructed like he was talking to a fellow hero.
The man hesitated. He was wearing a dark brown coat over everyday clothes and light blue jeans that didn’t pair at all with the jump boots. He still pulled it off somehow and looked handsome in the eerie moonlight.
“Aren’t you supposed to be arresting me?” He said after a moment. His voice was deep like a bass guitar, and it sounded slightly taken aback.
People were running but a few kids paused when they saw the hero and the vigilante talking.
“What are you looking at? Go!” The blindfolded vigilante pushed.
“I don’t have the time, backup or experience to explain anything right now, help the citizens evacuate and I’ll go fight her.” He instructed, his eyes catching the woman approaching them leisurely.
“Wait-” He didn’t hear the rest of the sentence as he sprung forward to run towards her.
He forgot to breathe as he ran by. The villain laughed maniacally, grinning wider when she saw him. He knew that grin so well. It haunted his nightmares.
The cold feeling and hazy air. This had caused him to quit hero work for six years. And here she was setting fire to buildings and shattering glass with who knows what kind of devices the Death Eaters cooked up.
“Dementis! Stay right where you are!” He yelled, lacing his words with his powers knowing full well they barely affected her.
She stayed, but only out of her own personal choice, not because any power or person could force her to.
Her hair was sleek and thick. Long dark curls fell from her head looking like dreadlocks. Her wicked grin was uncovered. Her identity was known by everybody anyway. What use to cover her best features?
Lipstick marred her smile in a Joker style, making her look crazier than she already was. Her power was to cause this dread and ice that made her seem more like a bad omen rather than a woman.
“Escaping prison once wasn’t enough for you?” He gnashed his teeth together. Her appearance was scaring him more than he was letting on.
His arm was still damaged, making him want to cry out in pain. He could barely defeat her with two other heroes, an operator and an undamaged body. And the fight had damaged his lungs permanently.
Now he had harmed lungs, broken bones and was alone in her cold domain while she was better than ever.
“Grim Reaper! It’s been an awfully long time.” Her grin widened.
Her upper face was covered in a pearlescent skull mask with etchings carved into it. Her eyes were barely visible through it and he almost wished for the old mask to return and cover her face entirely.
Her eyes were grey and fringed with long eyelashes. They were painfully like his but unfamiliar at the same time. She didn’t know his identity or his eyes. But he knew her’s.
“Put your hands up Bellatrix. Stop running from the consequences of your own actions.” He said. His tone came out far more commanding than he intended but it still had no effect on her.
She burst out laughing. The burning building did well to illuminate her bony figure. She was in a tattered black dress. He knew better than to think she couldn’t fight. The ice surrounding the place didn’t even touch her.
“You could barely defeat me then. You can’t defeat me now. How are your lungs? Did they heal well?” She asked playfully.
He ran forward and tried to tackle her. He took her by surprise, but she avoided it just in time.
“No desire to chat?” She pouted, “That’s alright.”
She made the atmosphere colder. The air thinned around him and made him almost delirious. He could sense the citizens had left for the school and prayed that the vigilante did his job.
“Get warmer.” He whispered to the air, letting his power flow through the words.
He couldn’t charmspeak Bellatrix, but he could manipulate her powers. Her agitated expression put a smile on his face.
She jumped back near the ashy remains of a building. She took out a glass bottle the size of her finger from her long sleeves and tossed it towards him.
He dodged it by a second. The ice shattered along with the bottle and greenish fire erupted on the street.
“Douse down!” He told the flames.
To anybody who didn’t possess a power like his, talking to fire and air would have felt silly. But among heroes and con artists, there was a simple rule. If it worked then it worked and there was no shame in using it.
Bellatrix clenched her jaw. She sent a wave of ice towards him Elsa style. He put his broken hand to cover his face, ignoring the pain and the sharp biting of the ice.
She strengthened her hold on the ice she had cast in an effort to encase him there. He felt his limbs go weak but charged forward in the cold.
He lunged and she dodged again. He bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn’t going to win this fight like this.
“What is even the point in trying to catch me, dear hero? I escaped once. Who says I can’t do it again?” She said to him.
She ran forward, her large nails right in front of his face before she tried to scratch through his jacket. He tilted his head into her hand and heard her scream out in pain.
He had teeth for a reason. The fangs on his mask tore the skin on her hand and left a bloody gash. Dementis’ face glowed with rage.
“You’ll regret that.” She hissed.
“No he won’t!” A sound like a bass guitar interrupted their fight.
They both drew their attention away from the other and to the voice. A vigilante with a red mask and a blindfold emerged out of thin air.
It must have been his power. Shadow walking, or something like that.
The vigilante stalked next to Sirius. He couldn’t see the man’s face but he had a feeling he was smiling.
“Need help?” He whispered.
Sirius knew vigilantes weren’t supposed to help heroes, but he’d broken one rule already letting the man help the civilians, what was another rule broken?
Bellatrix glowered, but she knew the odds were still in her favour, “You won’t win this no matter who you seek, Grim Reaper.”
“We’ll see about that.” He retorted, lunging forward.