“John!” he exclaimed, cheerful, happy, content in what he had brought. “Oh, John, I can’t believe you came, I’m so glad, I was assured that you would get lost among the useless rabble! But now you’re here. Thank goodness. You really had me worried sick, especially with your past time and all. Do you think they’ll let me be apart of the caped society? I know I shouldn’t have kept this from you, but if you know what I was going to do, I knew you’d oppose. And, heh, maybe you do feel that way, but, I mean…” He shrugged, smiling not a hint of remorse on his face. “Soon, you’ll understand. I’m sure of it. Didn’t you always tell me that, the ends justify the means?”

John stood petrified, his feet glued to the roof of the mayoral building. He was dressed in his regular outfit, all dolled up, and if he had been afraid that some cruel heel had been listening, he might not have called him his real name, but rather his persona: White Mask. John didn’t seem to mind though, as he simply stood put, hands clenching and unclenching, his nice white cape billowing silently in the sooty breeze. Another explosion rocked the city, catching the cape in its clutches, making it whip back and forth again. Regardless, John didn’t react.

Just as he was about to wonder if John had gone mute, the man said, in a voice so breathy he might not have caught it over the fire and the screaming, “Oh, Matt… What have you done?”

Matt scoffed and let his eyes wander the city skyline. It sported a lot fewer buildings than it did a few hours ago, but that was for the better. Then again, he’d never told John about what he’d been thinking of doing, so his question really did warrant a question.

He began pacing up and down, letting his thoughts finally spill out into the open like blood from a fresh wound. “It’s very simple, really. There’s a lot of heels here, right? And lots of capes too, but they do good, usually. But we can’t tell one from another, and we especially can’t tell heel from civilian.” He lit up. The expression on his face made John flinch. “However, I found the solution! See, if you just set a few blasts to go off here and there, then you can super easily find out who survive them, and then you can just pick off those that survive. Isn’t that simple? It is, isn’t it? Gosh, if only your power had been something like mine, you would have done the same thing years ago, I bet!”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“When?” John asked, rudely ripping Matt from his thoughts. “When did you gain this ability?” There was an odd intonation in his voice, something deep and growly and Matt took it for curiosity.

Matt shone up. “I meant to tell you that, too! Oh, I wanted to tell so badly, but you were always out on your missions, and I had my hands full planting the burst-seeds here and there, so, you know…” He shrugged familially, like he always did when he didn’t want to explain something too much. “If you’re wondering how it happened, I’m not so sure myself, it was all…”

An explosion burst just a block or so away, snuffing out several dozen screams, deafening John to the origins of Matt’s new, terrific ability.

Matt smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that, they’re going off at random now, can’t really stop them.”

“Please,” John said. “Please, please, stop them. Stop this.”

Matt blinked. “What are you talking about?” Had John dropped his brain off somewhere? “Why would I do that?”

John flew across the rooftop in one bound, his blade stopped inches from Matt’s face, only stopped by an instantly grown wall of flowers and stems. Matt chuckled and caressed one of the larger blooms. “Oh, come on, guys! There’s no need to erect walls, John’s just joking around. Right, John?”

For some reason, the blade pressed against the stems of the flower wall was trembling. Maybe he’d gotten a cold or something? Now that Matt took a closer look, John almost seemed on the cusp of breaking down or something, his eyes trembling and his lip trembling and his everything trembling. “Oh, gosh, John. Are you alright? You look pale.”

He grit his teeth. His jaw muscles bulged against the underside of his namesake white mask. “How could I let this get this far? I should have noticed before, but I was so occupied with The Rake, and you… Matt, I let you down. I betrayed you. I should have noticed before, but to think that you would take it this far…!”

“What are you talking about?” Matt asked with a half-smile. It was getting tough to keep it on. John was hardly even talking to him anymore, more so at him. “Aren’t we on the same side?”

John’s sword was suddenly engulfed in white flames, the bright embers outshining even the flames around them, eating throuh the wall of flora in a matter of moments. Before Matt had time to understand what was happening, the sharp blade was pressed against his throat. “No,” his lifelong friend croaked. “We aren’t. Not anymore.”

And, like that, the newly-made heel Bloom Doom was stopped for good.