Arthur peeked through the door to check if Miles was still asleep, "Good, he's still sleeping." The two walked out dressed in their hero outfits.
Gwin lightly giggled, "Look at us being so scandalous. You know, since we are together, we can share a bath whenever—" suddenly, someone knocked against the door.
Arthur exchanged a glance with Gwin, "Expecting someone?" he asked.
Gwin shook her head, "Maybe it's one of the instructors giving us lunch or new clothes."
Arthur walked toward the door before opening it, "Who is it?" he asked.
Standing in the hallway was Team 6.
Joseph, with white curls and golden eyes, his yellow-and-white spandex pristine with a plain white cape covering most of his body. Jackie, dressed in split white-and-blue spandex. Violet, with star-shaped blue eyes and long, wavy purple hair with choppy layers, a red scarf covering her mouth while wearing pink-and-white striped spandex.
"Mind if we come in?" Joseph asked, already stepping past Arthur.
Gwin tilted her head, "Ooooh, guests!"
Miles jerked awake on his bunk, blinking groggily until he saw Jackie. His blood ran cold.
Violet was the first to strike.
She stopped in front of Gwin, her starry eyes narrowing, "Stalker, it's been a while." The moment Gwin heard that name, her smile completely disappeared.
Violet lowered her scarf to reveal her burnt lower jaw, "Surprised Peter took you in. Thought Tombstone would've kept you on a tighter leash. Then again, he's in prison rotting away."
Gwin was speechless. That's when she remembered her face—the moment she burnt a high school girl's face with acid.
Violet's fingers twitched toward her scarf, "You look surprised. Thankfully, I survived your little torture chamber, but my skin tells a different story."
Gwin's breathing skyrocketed; she couldn't come up with anything to say besides stuttering over her words.
Violet towered over Gwin, her eyes staring deeply into Gwin's eyes. Immediately, her right hand choked the light out of her, "You have no idea how pissed off I am to see you. When I noticed how your behavior was no different from back then, every fiber of my being told me one thing. And that was to make you suffer for the people you tormented in the past." Before releasing her.
Meanwhile, Jackie crouched in front of Miles, his voice low with a venomous whisper.
"Coastal Forest. Five years ago, on the 24th of August. Remember that night."
Miles' breath hitched. The wyrm in his mind hissed, "No, I don't—" but Jackie grabbed him by the collar, staring him down.
"Quit lying. I saw what you did to your mom that night. When you hung her corpse on a tree to make it look like a suicide," Jackie stated.
Miles' eyes flashed before his eyes of that night—the night he wished he could forget.
Arthur watched the scene unfold, piecing it together—each of Team 6 had a personal vendetta against his teammates.
But what about himself? He didn't remember doing something like that to anyone.
Maybe it was someone he robbed in the past or something.
Then Joseph stepped forward, his pretty-boy smile curdling into something cruel.
"And you," he murmured, tilting his head, "Did you really think you'd never face the consequences?"
Arthur's stomach dropped, "If I robbed you or something, I did what I needed to—" before he could even finish, Joseph asked one simple question.
"What were my grandfather's last words, Demon Child?"
The room went deathly silent.
Gwin stopped fidgeting. Miles froze. Even Jackie and Violet stilled, waiting.
Arthur's hands clenched.
Empire Gold.
Joseph was his grandson.
Joseph chuckled at his silence, "We've all got our reasons to hate each one of you guys. And we've all agreed—" His voice dropped to a whisper, "You guys don't get to become Heroes."