The whole room shook as it started to descend, the view being replaced with a grey wall, eventually reaching a white double door, which opened to the arena that the two were. The man was currently helping Birgit stand up, while she looked to be extremely annoyed at him.
I picked up my jacket and followed Jensen as he approached them, shivering slightly in the cold atmosphere that the room somehow managed to retain even after all this fire.
The two siblings, at least I assumed they were siblings, turned to us and I noticed just how tall the man was. He was almost a head taller than me, and I was no slouch. He looked down at me appraisingly, frowning slightly before he turned to Jensen and made a few gestures I didn’t understand. Jensen nodded at him before he strode off through a piece of the wall that opened like a door.
“What, what just happened?” I asked, looking between the two people still in the room with me.
“That’s my stupid brother.” grunted Birgit as she slipped in the ice and water on the floor and used the wall to support herself.
“Do not mind him Alexander,” said Jensen as he looked at Birgit pointedly. “Young William is unfortunately deaf and sometimes prefers not to talk, using sign language instead. He doesn’t have anything against you.” he explained. “Well, I would hope not anyway.” he added as an afterthought.
“You came early.” commented Birgit almost in shame, using her broken Greek instead of English like back in the pier.
I sighed and turned my attention to her, noticing that she didn’t look to be too okay. She had bits of frost all throughout the exposed parts of her body, seemed to be bleeding slightly from some small scratches through her body, and a completely defeated look dominated her face.
“You were really impressive.” was the first thing that came to my mind and it was true. I hadn’t seen a display of power like that up close ever before.
Even Iraklis and other powerful people that I knew, had powers that were more subtle than this. Powerful yes, but not really as explosive as what I had just witnessed in this fight.
“You’re bleeding.” said Birgit as she pointed to my face, not responding to my comment.
Right, I had been scratched by a piece of glass. I’d almost forgotten in the chaos. I noticed that Birgit seemed to be trembling in the cold as well. She surely had some sort of resistance to cold due to her powers, but it didn’t seem to be that strong.
“Here.” I offered her my jacket.
I was going to put it on myself, but she honestly looked like she needed it more than me. Not because of the cold. I had the suspicion that I felt more cold than her, even with the frost and ice on her body, but she looked like she could use some comfort.
Plus, if I was going to be a hero like Alpha Surge, I should be willing to do even the smallest things to help someone, right?
She hesitated but seemed to take it reluctantly, muttering a quick ‘thanks’ before she put it on.
“Birgit, go take a warm shower. Your training will begin in half an hour. Alexander, you may go to the computer room on the second floor and occupy yourself until then. I’ll meet you upstairs.” instructed Jensen, before sharply speaking something that I didn’t understand in his mother language.
Birgit nodded and turned to leave while I just turned to look around the room like a gaping fish. On one hand, this would make a pretty cool story to tell to Iraklis and my parents, but on the other, this was insane.
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I sighed and silently prayed that this wasn’t going to become my new norm, and followed behind Birgit. There was a lot of stuff I didn’t know, but wouldn’t ask about, and probably shouldn’t ask about out of discretion if nothing else.
If there was one thing that I knew for certain, it was that this was probably the strangest start to a day I’d had up until that point, and that was saying something.
--
After years of fighting and searching, I was finally there. I had expected a grand hall, a magnificent testament to the long lost ages of villainy.
Instead, what I actually found was a cramped basement, with a single round table surrounded by six cheap looking chairs, and barely enough lighting to tell what was going on. The only sign of this being something more, well something just more was the insignia on the table.
A large cartoonish hawk, with its wings open and a capital V in front of it, inscribed within a double circle that had six stars on its perimeter.
“Three years of researching and struggling. All for this. Disappointing.” I sighed as I fickled with my moustache and then rubbed my chin in concentration. Small hairs were beginning to grow.
“What are you doing over there?” came a raspy feminine voice from behind me.
I turned to see my companion in this dark journey, Carolina Rosita Cardozo Rivera, a woman with a name so stereotypically Spanish, that I never stopped doubting its legitimacy.
She had tan skin and black hair, paired with yellow glowing veins in her arms and yellow glowing eyes, a signal of her powers being active. Blood was dripping from her arms, and I suddenly knew that I didn't need to wonder what the fate of the house’s residents was.
Hell, even I was feeling slightly intimidated by her, considering our alliance was one of convenience and nothing more.
“The Houses of Doom,” I sighed as I paced the room. “The single richest, most powerful villainous organization to ever exist. They nearly brought society down to its knees and this is what they leave behind?” I snapped, slamming my hands on the table.
“Have you thought that they may not want to be found?” said Rosita smugly, as if her asking that simple question immediately proved me wrong.
“I know what the truth is. I know that they are out there, and that they will answer our call!” I said, gradually getting louder and louder. “The eternal battle between good and evil, heroes and villains, is one that can not stop! Not like this at least!”
I raised my hands in front of my face, clenching my fists tightly. “Either by choice or by circumstance, we became the villains of this world. And I’ll be damned if I let us stay scattered and weak while the heroes become more and more dominant! The Age of Villainy is near, and we shall be the ones to bring it here!”
Rosita smirked. “You are nothing if not passionate. Let’s see if you are going to be the one to finally shake things up in this stale world we live in.” She deactivated her power and neared the table.
She raised one bloody finger, dragging it along the V and leaving a trail of blood on it. The symbol started to glow, and the back wall of the basement backed up a little, before opening in two, and sliding behind.
Behind it was a corridor, a very long one by the looks of it, leading to Lord knows where. There were also lamps on the corridor’s ceiling, but it had clearly not been used in a while, since they flickered, but ultimately didn’t turn on.
“Ha ha!” I said out loud with a huge smile on my face. Yes I actually said ‘Ha ha’ that was just my level of excitement. “I knew it!”
“Be careful of what you wish for,” warned Rosita from behind me as she placed a bloody hand on my shoulder.
I cringed and shrugged it off. I was wearing a fine navy blue suit with a blood red tie and white gloves. I wanted to look my best for what I hoped to be a momentous occasion, and bought it specifically for this.
Well, bought was too strong a word, but my point still stood.
“You’re going to clean this, you know,” I said to her, still smirking somewhat.
This was the first of many glorious victories to come, I was sure of it. I wasn’t going to let it be any other way.
“You’ve got motivation, but you also need realistic expectations, gain experience and not be afraid to improvise,” she said as she walked into the corridor.
“Oh, not to worry my dear Rosita.” I smiled as I followed her. “The future is as clear as day to me. And our new order is near, I can guarantee it.”
At this, Rosita actually laughed. “Of course. What else could I expect from a man who seeks to start the world’s greatest revolution.”