Calling her a “hero” was stretch, to say the least. She could look like a hero if she wanted to, she could act like one on occasion, but when push came to shove Madeline Cooper was nothing more than a weak-willed pessimist with too much in her history for her to look towards the future. Over the course of the last week Maddie was made painfully aware of her standing on the hero-villain food chain; a bottom-feeder at best, Maddie lacked the resolve necessary to keep to her decisions.
A passive and reclusive person as of late, Madeline was beginning to struggle against those with a strong will, a quality that made her an incompetent if not inept super-hero. As if to prove her own point, on the night that her dorm room had been vandalized, her preserverance had dissolved within the hour. Having given up on the idea of supporting herself outside of the school housing and having lost her determination to discover just who it was that had uncovered her identity, she had made it back to the school before her clothes had even had the time to dry.
Wet, room-less and holding onto a great amount of cowardice, Maddie was dreading the events of later that night. Though she didn’t want to confront whoever it was that knew about her and her powers, it had to be done and Maddie had more than a sneaking suspicion about who it could be. She just had to get conformation. But first she had to report the state of her room to the main office, wait to be relocated later that night and make a few necessary preparations in order to ensure that things went according to her plan. First, though, she needed a pen and some paper...
[Later that night, 11:05 PM, Bristol College]There before her stood a slim figure beneath the one slightly unreliable light that highlighted the cement block that was Hidden Park. A blonde bob greeted her at the late hour, provoking her to stand tall against a seemingly defenseless opponent, but she wouldn’t be fooled despite the villain’s girlish appearance. Madeline Cooper might have been a weak-willed pessimist, but Epione was a completely different matter. Epione was the body of the justice that Madeline wanted to see achieved, the “E” on her chest a symbol of her newfound (and slightly false) confidence, but it was enough.
Not an hour earlier, Maddie had planted a letter in Violet Church’s bag, a letter addressed to her personally that invited her to this exact location, though in a round-about way. Maddie had made certain to choose her wording carefully and she had been successful. Violet Church had proven herself guilty just by showing up at the right location. Violet didn’t seem to be very concerned given the circumstances, but Epione went on as planned.
”How did you find out who I was?” Epione demanded, keeping her shoulders stiff as she spoke.
”You could say that it was an accident,” Violet said slowly, eyeing Epione as if she was the dangerous one rather than the opposite way around. “It’s not all that unimaginable, is it? We live in the same room, after all, so I think it’s rather possible that it could of been just an accident.
The blunt way Violet spoke made it obvious that she was lying, at least in Epione’s opinion. Her vague answer only aggravated Epione, but she wasn't going to give in to her frustration so easily. The point of calling Violet out here wasn't to find out how Epione's identity was discovered, but to evaluate Violet as a threat and decide where to go from here. Epione decided to let her get away with avoiding her first question.
”What do you want with me?” Epione said, attempting to appear much bigger and more threatening than she actually was. Her voice gave her away.
”To be partners.” Violet replied blandly, not seeming to give her answer a second thought. Taken off guard, Epione faltered. Partners? Partners in what, crime? Was Violet a villain?
“Partners? I’m not a villain!” Epione shouted quietly, as quietly as any shout could be, and felt the heat in her cheeks rise. What
gall.
”Neither am I,” Violet snapped, approaching Epione calmly. “I’m just not very good at being a hero yet. I keep making mistakes, so things don’t always turn out how I want them to. But it isn’t intentional.”
For just a moment,Epione felt that she was similar to Violet. Many times, she had thought the exact same thing and blamed herself for making things worse than they already were. But that moment was gone quickly; there was a high probability that she was lying and Epione wasn’t going to make herself easy to manipulate.
”How am I supposed to believe an excuse like that?” Epione said, finding her proof once more as she recalled what had happened last Tuesday, “You endangered people’s lives! You started a three way collision!” It got her angry just thinking about it. The heat in her cheeks from earlier was steadily progressing into an urge to set her stupid, blonde head of hair on fire. She settled for the few weeds growing in the cracks in the cement nearby Violet. Violet hardly seemed to notice as the dandelion’s caught fire.
”That was an accident, too. I’d just meant to hit you with the car, not anyone else.” Violet said shamelessly, making Epione fume. Was she trying to take the mickey out of her?!
”Why would you admit to that!” Epione shouted, though it wasn’t a question. With less restraint, Epione was finding herself easily angered by the monotonous way that Violet spoke.
”What? Is that a problem? You’re a hero, right? Getting hit by a car shouldn’t be a big deal.”
”I’m not immortal! I’d still die if I got hit by a car going that fast!”
”Oh. I’m sorry I tried to hit you then.” Violet apologized, though Epione only heard sarcasm in her words. Violet suddenly lifted her arm -- Epione reacted before she could fully think about what she was doing. A flash of orange struck across the night as Violet’s hand lit on fire. With a scream (Epione was almost relieved to hear something so human out of her), Epione realised her mistake. There was no weapon in the hand she had extended, no malicious intent and in that second and not a moment earlier
Epione suddenly realised that she was the bad guy in this situation.