Villains of Their Stories

[Jackson]

11/03/2021

The night had become relatively quiet when Mira had found herself sat in a chair outside a cute little 24-hour bakery and cafe at a table for two, her phone up to her ear, "Jackson. It's Mira... could I interest you in a free pastry? Need to talk about a couple of things. Pretty important, if you wouldn't mind. I'm at that 24/7 place in Old Market... you know the one."

Jackson wandered down the street as his phone rang, he held the phone to his undamaged ear as he curiously listened to what his friend wanted, “Oh hi Mira!…… Oh? Uh sure, uh give me a second to get there. I’ll hang up so I can teleport real quickly.” Jackson spoke quickly as he hung up his phone, and stuffed it back into his pocket. He clapped his hands together quickly and when he did shadows overtook his form. One second the man was in the streets, the next he was stepping out of a sort of shadow gateway, right in front of where Mira was.

Mira ended the call and leaned down to put her phone back in Zazni, giving her a knock to get a cigarette and her lighter out. She appeared to be in good spirits... though it also looked like she had been chain-smoking there for a while, an ashtray was about a half-inch full of burnt butts and cinders. She brought the cigarette up to her mouth, lit it, and reached back down to the case.

Knock, knock.

Another cigarette slid out of the case from a different location, this one she slipped behind her right ear as she waved to him. The table had a fresh French Press full of coffee, two cups and two plates, both with a very delicious-looking pastry that looked kind of like a croissant, if it was drowned in butter and then had sugar torched onto it.

"Hey, Jackieboy! Come sit! I already got you set up!"

At the side doors of Old Market Dance Academy a young man dressed in dark clothes was working his way through locks, out of the line of sight of the other two, but only one was unaware of his presence.

“Oh, hi Mira!” Jackson called out as he waved to his friend. Jackson then made his way over to her, thankfully his injuries from the night before appeared to have been healed thanks to the slayer’s salve. His ear looked normal, and his limp was gone. Jackson took his seat and gave the cambion a smile, though he asked her a very important question before he dug in, “You didn’t poison these did you?”

"C'mon! I got them for a friend!" she said, as she poured the coffee into the cups and took a drag on her cigarette as she did, "Ethiopian single-origin coffee and kouign-amann... a croissant with extra butter and sugar between all the layers. It's sweet."

Mira took another long drag, a deep breath in...

... and out.

"Doing better from last night?" she asked, her mint green eyes leveled to stare at Jackson’s face. "No lingering effects, I hope... that was some nasty effect you were going through on your arm..."

“Ah, ok then, just wanted to be sure. And thank you Mira, I really like coffee.” Jackson said as he grabbed the cup, and raised it carefully to take a sip. His eyes actually widened at the flavor, it was good. The man then set it down gently on the table to go after the pastry, but stopped to answer Mira’s question first, “I am doing better, I actually learned something thanks to that whole experience. What was happening to me was Necrotic, essentially mass cell death. Though I once fought a being whose whole point was causing that, Blight, Death of Nature. So when I killed him I gained the ability to kill plants on contact. Though it appears that thanks to his abilities I’m able to control any necrotic effects that happen in my body. Then when Sofia applied the antidote to help with whatever caused it in the first place I was able to heal up.” He said as his own eyes leveled with the cambions. A sort of tired expression in them as he relaxed in his chair. He felt comfortable in Mira’s presence, able to show just how tired the man was without judgment.

"Well... no disrespect to this place but the stuff we brew at Endless Nights is way better. They have us beat on pastries, though, by a country mile...heh..." she said as she took another puff, "Geez... so it's okay now, though, right? No lingering effects?"

“Well the one you gave me last time did taste pretty stale,” Jackson said as he finally grabbed and took a bite from my pastry. His eyes went wide as he chewed on it, clearly, he enjoyed it. When he was finished with his bite he took the time to comment on it, “Oh they definitely have you beat…. Oh, ya, I’m fine. I fought a dozen mimics today, but Ettyn gave me a salve to heal that up as well.” He took another bite as he waited for Mira to respond.

"Alright, smartass, I did that because I wanted you gone at the time... have I ever mentioned that you have a knack for cramping my style?" she said with a grin, sure to puff away from her companion. The cigarette was already nearly gone!

“So you did do that on purpose? Remind me to set off a stink bomb in your cafe one of these days.” Jackson said as he grinned right back at her. At least until he took another bite of the pastry.

"Careful, Jackson... I might be able to take a joke, but Ordark is in charge of security. I don't think you want him on your bad side... I know I wouldn't..." she said, as a small shiver went up her spine. As the now tiny cigarette gave up the ghost, she put it out in the ashtray with the others, "Hey... speaking of my stuff... I, uh... I dunno if you heard last night, but... I asked for Kira's hand, and... she said yes, so... we're... heh... getting married!"

She blushed a bit as she knocked on Zazni, another smoke was ejected into the air for her to catch. The lighter was already on the table, she struck it and proceeded to light up again. She looked over to Jackson with an honest smile in her eyes.

It was curious that she did not take the cigarette from behind her ear…

“Heh, to be fair we are fairly different. Though I will take that into consideration, just tell me his shifts ok?” Jackson spoke as he took a sip of his coffee, only to do a spit-take right towards Mira’s face when she told him that she was getting married, “Holy shit! Oh my god, I’m so happy for you! Oh my lord! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I’m so fucking happy for you man!” The man’s voice was a flurry of happy, excited words. He had noticed that there was an unsmoked cigarette. He just didn’t think much of it at the moment, being happy for his friend.

Mira grinned ear-to-ear at the response, "Yeah! I... I'm outrageously lucky, is what I am. The fact that she loves someone like me... crazy, you know? In fact, I was thinking of taking her to a ballet as a celebration! Dress up to the nines! Pop champagne and stuff... the works!"

“While you are lucky that you found someone like her, you need to stop thinking of yourself as a villain. Cause here in Rhydin you aren’t. Right now you’re a person who’s about to marry the love of her life, and a hero to some with what you did at the festival. So you better dress up, and celebrate girl!” Jackson was just so happy for her right now, having completely forgotten about the goods in front of him. For the moment he was just focused on Mira, cause she always said she would not get a happy ending, yet here it was. Her one happy ending that she fought hard for, and it made the man beyond happy she got it.

At the dance school, the side door slowly creaked back open as there was a flurry of movement, first at it, then on a nearby rooftop moments later.

Mira chuckled a bit, her eyes just going wide for a moment as she pulled the cigarette from her lips before she took a sip of coffee and a bite of pastry, "Damn... that really does blow us out of the water... the pastry, I mean..."

She took another drag and pointed behind her to a large, five-story building with a neon sign that was flickering. “A lot of people think I'm a blunt object because I carry around a big, heavy case all the time, but I actually trained in ballet as a kid... I'm much more nuanced than people give me credit for. In fact, one of Rhy'Din's most notable ballet schools is right there! Old Market Dance Academy! Storied history... know anything about it?"

“Heh ya, the pastry is really good.” Jackson then looked over to the building Mira was pointing at, “Really? I mean you are terrifyingly smart at times…… Wait, really? Heh, I forget that some people actually had a decent childhood…. I actually took part in a few plays when I was little….. hmmmmmmm, I can’t say that I’ve heard about it, Mira. So I’ll have to tell you a no to that.”

BVVVVVVVT... BVVVVVVVT…

Mira pulled a pink Motorola Razr flip phone out of a belt pocket. It was not her usual phone. She smiled softly at it while she closed it, placed it back in its pocket, and took another long drag of her cigarette, eyes leveling to meet Jackson’s eyes yet again. He may have noticed just a flicker of eerie green light from them, easy to assume it was just a reflection...

... Perhaps…

"They're actually listed as a charitable organization in official records, which gives them considerable breaks on city laws and requirements! They take girls in from less fortunate, at-risk situations and gives them room and board, teaches them manners and ballet... if you can believe it, they say they make up their costs in the shows that they put on in their in-house theatre! Looooooot of big wigs pass through the place, but... crazy to think they can fund all that with just the income from shows, eh?"

She took yet another long drag from the cigarette as she pulled the life out of it, three-quarters of the stick left. She let the smoke slowly pour out of her mouth and nose, it caused her to look almost like a dragon. Her eyes definitely flickered with light.

Jackson saw the flicker, and it did cause the man to raise an eyebrow, but in the end, nothing happened so he thought nothing of it, “So it’s a charitable organization that houses kids…… I do have to admit it’s hard to believe that they fund it with that alone. So I doubt it’s just that, like I bet there’s a mystery donor, there’s actually a lot of those here in Rhydin.” That’s when something dawned on him, bringing a question to mind he had to ask, “Wait, why are you going through official records?”

"You know, it's funny... I wasn't," she said as she took the cigarette from behind her ear and twirled it in between her fingers like a coin, "Haru was, though... Hey, did I mention that I'm adopting him? I'm really excited... proud to call him my son..."

She took another sip of the coffee and set the glass down carefully.

"You know... heh... 'mystery donor'... wild... mind if I pitch a metaphorical to you on where they get that money from, Jackson?"

The movement that had been near moved to a closer rooftop, not yet visible, not unless one would look up, where they would see a familiar set of glowing red eyes.

“Wait Haru was-“ Jackson then started to put the pieces together, and a very horrified look came over his face. As he looked towards Mira he asked one vital question, “Please don’t tell me you did what I think you did.”

BVVVVVVVVT... BVVVVVVVVVT…

Zazni spat Mira's normal phone out to her and she grinned. "Boy... really blowing up tonight... gimme a second. Ellie just texted..."

She typed a short message out and turned the phone completely off before she placed it back into Zazni. She looked Jackson in the eyes again. A nefarious grin ran across her lips and showed off her pointed teeth.

"I am merely talking in hypotheticals, Jackson... I just wanna pitch an idea... a possibility..."

She lit the cigarette and ensured that there was a kindled cherry at the end as she puffed gently at it.

"What if... that place wasn't as squeaky clean as they claimed they were? What if they allowed special donors the opportunity to have private conversations with the young girls? 'What happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors.’ I know you know what I'm getting at, you're a smart kid, Jackson."

Another short, drag and another sip of coffee to clear her throat as she began to twirl the cigarette around her fingers, still lit.

"’But if that was true, it would've been reported!’... I can already hear you saying it. Well..." she said as she kicked Zazni, a manila folder popped out of the case at the end closest to Jackson, “... What if those records were buried because a bunch of city officials were on the take? What if it was airtight and hands were tied for officials like you? What if... there was nothing that could be done... on the books?"

She put the cigarette to her lips again and took another puff. It was a quarter of the way finished.

"That'd be a shame, right? Well... bad people love to take advantage of those... hypothetical situations. Not my kind of villain. My son, though? My kind of villain. The kind that does good with their bad. We had a talk the other night and... well... came to a bit of an understanding, he and I. I... I haven't been working, you know? I've been taking it easy... cafe... relationships... retirement plan, yeah? But people like that... people that are so insulated good guys like you can't do anything about 'em or risk throwing away their important positions from the fallout?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, "... Those kinds of people really piss me off..."

"I... I can't stand the way they bend the rules... Bend them, but never break..." she said as she bent the lit cigarette until what was left cracked in the middle. Her eyes were full-on glowing at this point.

Jackson barely heard the end of the monologue before he ran past Mira towards the building. He had already fished his phone out of my pocket and dialed a number. He held it up to his ear until he got through. He then started to give orders the moment someone picked up, “This is Jackson! There is a bomb at Old Market Dance Academy!….. Yes, I am being serious! It hasn’t gone off yet, but I want a full response!” The last bit shouted before he went quiet, not answering for a few seconds, “…No... I don’t know who made the bomb.”

The hidden figure dropped from the rooftop in front of Jackson and pointed to the phone, "The innocents and civilians are out, I would... put that away hmm? You know why this is being done." His voice was cold and calculating, distant, familiar, and not.

Jackson skidded to a stop in front of Haru, his drop-down surprising him. He quickly muted the phone before speaking to the young man, “No, I’m not letting her do this. We don’t know what might happen, there’s too much risk.” His tone was urgent as he looked at the teen, not understanding why he would use a bomb.

"Hey dummy!" she called as she walked over with Zazni in her left hand, the bent cigarette hung from her lips. She tossed an identical pink phone as the one she got earlier to him. "Lists are gonna be arriving on it. Pay attention to them, alright? And don't worry… 'Norwegians-In-The-Boiler-Room' have a habit of being very reliable."

She took a long drag on the cigarette, the light finding its way to the bend and...

K R A - K O O O O O O O O O M ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Mira put a hand on his shoulder as the building collapsed perfectly in on itself. "Kids are out of there. Everyone else is safe. Just wanted to let you know I'm... working again..."

"You know my rules do you not Jackie?" His head tilted to the side, this was not the happy fun Haru, "No hurting innocents or kids, or those coerced, that is how people find themselves on my list." There was a pause, "They were making money off of hurting innocents, the records will be on your desk in the morning." He looked to the cambion, eyes black as coal, "Thank you, Mom."

“Why dammit! I thought you were past this! I thought you made a new life Mira.” Jackson said as he let the phone hit the ground, and then felt Mira’s hand on his shoulder. Though he quickly shrugged it off, and shouted at Haru, “You ever think you might break your own rules dumbass! All it takes Is one mistake! Just takes one factor you didn’t plan for, for all of this to tumble down! I can put up with murders, but I can’t put up with bo-“ He heard the explosion, and his head jerked to see what happened. When he saw the building collapse he instantly started to run towards it. Jackson pushed his way past Haru while his gauntlets started to glow. It was as if this was something more than the man doing his job, it was as if he was talking from experience, about how one little mistake can cost so many lives.

Haru grabbed Jackson by the coat and pushed him against the wall, arm across his chest, his other hand with a knife held to his throat, "Listen to me, I know what a mistake can cost, I lived that life for years, I have made those mistakes, and at one time, I did it to try and extinguish my own pain. I sleep at night knowing if I made a mistake, at least they are no longer under the boot of their torturers, and they can have no more victims." His voice was a hiss, and his shadow rippled in anger, "So go ahead, assume we are monsters, we did everything in our power to protect the innocents," The arms dropped and Haru backed up, his movements carried him towards his mom, "We did more than the law."

When Jackson got pushed to the wall he finally realized something. So while Haru was holding him at dagger point he said nothing, and just waited for him to let the older man down. When he did, Jackson restarted his charge, his charge took him towards the flaming debris, and in the distance, fire truck sirens wailed as they approached. There was one last thing that Jackson was glad that they did not see as he ran, the tears flowed down his face. He knew that he had failed Mira in more ways than one. He failed to make sure she did not go back to that old life as he intended, he failed to see this before they did. He failed so many people this day, that was what Haru made him realize. In the end, he changed nothing.

Mira nodded, she knew. She knew all about one little mistake. That was why she did not make them, not anymore. She puffed away on her cigarette and just listened. Haru knew how far to push it... and she was going to let him say his piece, "Yeah, I can do that..."

The few people on the streets were screaming at the sight of it, tragically unaware of the good that was done as the building was brought down. Mira would never have set the bomb off without getting the 'all clear' from Haru that the kids were out. The explosion amazingly did not affect anything around it... no collateral damage... nobody harmed except for the bastards inside. Mira was very good at what she did. She had a century of practice, after all.

She put her arm around Haru and grinned as she gazed at the flames. "Like the maw of hell opening on earth... really is a beautiful sight."

The smoke from the explosions had just made it to them and Mira took a deep breath in, reveling in the scent that she had not experienced in over a decade. She looked down with those green eyes of hers that glowed and she smiled warmly. "You are quite welcome, son. Want a celebratory coffee back at Endless Nights? My treat!"

The shadows began to melt away, their lashing out slowed as he melted against his mom, "It truly is, and can you spike my coffee? I may need it."

"C'mon, kid... he'll figure it out or he won’t. We need to keep moving. People raise eyebrows at people running towards explosions..." she said as she put an arm around his shoulder and ushered him down a nearby alley, “... really proud of you... hope you know that."

Haru watched Jackson run, "He will figure it out the second he looks up my rap sheet." His voice was losing that chilly edge as he practically melted against his mom, "Also those who threaten a cop at knifepoint..." His voice was quiet before he whispered to Mira, "The things they did to those girls... I don't even want to send them back to their families.” before he looked up, "I'm beginning to know."

Mira's grin faltered at the whisper... and she squeezed him tight as she whispered back, to him as they disappeared into the night, "Lot of 'em didn't have families to go back to... we can help 'em at Second Chances." She guided him into the night, far from the carnage they had caused.

Jackson finally reached the debris. He saw the fire, and rubble around him. He knew full well someone was dead, so he did the only thing he could have thought to do. He tried his best to put out the fire and to clear the rubble. He used magic to help him as he did.

A fire truck eventually arrived to see the man trying to put out the fires by dropping gallon after gallon of water on them. So they helped him, using the hose that they got set up to put out the flames over the rubble. Giving Jackson the chance to start clearing it, something he would be doing well into the night.