- very unpredictable -

~The Grubs, warehouse~

The villain was gone but his friend had stayed behind. Mercy was in the back office with Felix. The little brother had stayed quiet for the past few weeks. Pierce hadn't come back to the warehouse to see his plans no matter how much Mercy tells him to. Well, Felix tells Mercy to tell Pierce.

The little leader isn't working on anything. He was quiet, silently rolling around in the wheeled chair. He invited Mercy over but said nothing, she could see his thoughts with his emotions, so she stayed silent. Even while being in the same room, Mercy stayed on the other side of the office. She believed Felix probably forgot she was even there with how much he was in his head.

She didn't seem to care. Her attention was on the drugs in her hands, scarfing them down. She was living it while the male in the room felt worlds crashing down.

A sudden knock came from the office door. Before Mercy could react, the male was already up and to the door. He opened it, meeting face to face with Corbin and Octavia.

The sudden sibling invasion made the high woman shift slightly. She leaned on the back seat in the corner, watching as the two older siblings came in quietly. Still, no words were spoken as they sat down across from each other on the middle table.

Octavia gave glances towards Mercy who looked back at her. Corbin was the first to speak in the room. "Are you sure you want her in here to hear all this?" He asked his younger brother.

"She's too high to remember," he responded, shuffling around in the drawer that was on the desk. "Even so, I don't care. Who would she tell?"

Octavia rolled her eyes, casting a glare to Mercy. The woman tilted her head back, feeling tired. She really couldn't care less about what the siblings would discuss. Obviously since she started to snooze off.

"Alright," Corbin started, pulling his sister's attention back to the three. "Going back to the topic at hand. We need to see the drug Felix."

Felix looked up to them from the table. He was shuffling around for something loudly, the siblings hoped it was the drug. Only, he pulled out a large bottle of what seemed to be cheap wine. He sat it on the table in front of them. The siblings looked at it, then him.

"What?" The younger brother responded with an innocent face.

Corbin gritted his teeth in irritation. "Felix..! We don't-"

"Here, I have cups." Felix cut his brother off, pulling plastic cups in front of the same drawer. He put one in front of both of them. Looking back up, he gave a smile before grabbing the wine bottle.

"Felix…" Corbin growled out again. He noticed how Octaiva stayed quiet, she was supposed to help get the young brother to get the drugs, but she was silent the whole time.

"I'm thirsty, you guys should drink some too." Felix poured himself a drink, taking it down with one gulp. He let out a satisfied sigh, turned the bottle to the others. "Aren't you thirsty too?"

"That's not..!" Corbin sat up.

"Fine." Octavia grabbed the cup. Felix turned the bottle upside down, pouring the woman a cup full. He then turned it to Corbin as Octavia drank it down.

Corbin didn't know what to think. This wasn't a game. The only reason they came here was to get what they wanted, not tobdrink with the crazy younger brother. He acted as if this was a game.

It reminded Corbin so much of Pierce that he couldn't help but shake. His face was ashen white, gulping down his fear, Corbin pushed his cup forward.

Felix gave him a wide smile. "That's more like it."

Corbin sneered at him, taking the whole cup to his mouth, gulping the liquid down. While he did so, Octaiva and Felix stole a few glances at each other. Felix raised his eyebrow at her.

"So, I assume you got what I asked for." Felix started, directing his words at Octavia. Corbin moved the cup from his face, turning to his sister and back to Felix.

Before he could speak, Octaiva started, "yeah I do." She hissed the words out in a cold tone.

Felix responded with a smile, catching the slide of papers his way. He scanned them. No clear emotion was on his face as he read, it made Octavia panic slightly. Corbin stood still, seeing how Felix reacted, he didn't try to stir anything up.

A few more silent seconds before Felix dropped the papers back down. His head hung low, he gave out an audible sigh.

Octavia stiffened, gulping in courage as she spoke next. "I know it's not a lot. But we are still on it, actually closer this time!"

Felix mumbled a few words, shaking his head. The older siblings looked at him in confusion. Octavia was gonna ask when Felix spoke louder. "Where he lives…"

The words were known to her in an instant.

"I need to know much more then this Oct." Felix let out a hushed voice, shaking his head in disappointment.

Corbin finally caught on to what this was about. He sat up, shifting the chair he once sat on, onto the floor. "This is about Oxzy!? Really Felix, why does it have to be about that asshole!" He yelled out. Felix stayed motionless as Octavia tried to calm her older brother.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Felix responded. Sitting up, he pointed to the papers on the desk, he then pointed to the shelf behind him where the drugs lay. "If you want it so bad. Get me the information." He directed his last words to Octavia.

"This is fucking bullshit! Octavia, why did you agree to this!?"

"Just shut up," she responded, trying to push him away and to the door. She turned to Felix. "I told you before that it takes a long time. But the man is closer to Milo now." She turned herself to him, almost pleading with her younger brother. "Please, I promise to get that for you. We just need the drugs."

"No location," Felix responded, staring down at the messed up table. "No drugs for you."

The sweet smile made the older siblings glare at him. Corbin cursed out swears as he left the office. Octavia gave him one last look, words silently spoken between them before she exited the office as well.

"Ugh.. So noisy.." Mercy covered her head in irritation. Felix turned to her, a smile forming on his face.

"Yeah," he whispered, "so damn noisy."

~Hallway side, the streets~

The hero was where he was last week. Standing near the trees, replanting the tree that Pierce had put up in flames. He had grown a new one to take its place, putting first over the roots, the hero was a bit more comfortable than he should.

He was right near the grubs, the smell of fire and drugs not too far from his high sense of smell. He kept his eyes open, and body ready for anything.

When he was done with the tree, he looked down at the small plant, putting his fingers in between the branches and leaves, he took in a breath. The tree suddenly grew bigger. Sprouting new branches that grew thick and longer. Bright green leaves grew along the branches, growing higher and higher within the sky.

When the hero saw how it reached the same height as the ones around it, he removed his hand. The tree instantly stopped growing with his energy gone.

Oxzy let out a small breath, feeling calm even after using his energy to regrow a tree. It was a weird feeling, but after the days of regaining his energy at home, Oxzy felt a bit alive. Pierce hadn't been out since their talk. He hadn't caused any commission within Oxzys knowledge.

It was both a good and bad thing. The villain was unpredictable. He can do anything, whenever he wants. Seeing how he stayed silent after their "meeting", Oxzy thought the worse.

He had to be at the ready for anything that the man might do.

Not only did Oxzy have to worry for Pierce, he also tried his hardest to ignore Milo and the station all together. He hadn't got any calls, Milo might be ignoring him right back. It was the best thing to have.

Even if Oxzy knew he would have to talk with the sheriff again, he soaked in the feeling of being ignored by the man.

He couldn't feel the same about Pierce. The villain was on his mind when he didn't want him to be. Unknowingly, Oxzy thought about him, worrying most of what he was feeling, but a small amount of curiosity was there as well.

Not only that, but he knew Pierce would always seek out for him. He could never truly ignore the villain. It was impossible for his stature as the hero of the small town.

That being said, a dark voice came from behind the distracted hero.

Oxzy swung his head around, meeting the villain's dark brown eyes. He immediately put his hands up and at the ready, digging his feet into the dirt, he glared daggers at Pierce.

Surprisingly, Pierce stayed in the same spot. His arms in his ripped hoodie, the evil man gave Oxzy a smile. Mocking or not, it still unnerved Oxzy.

"Soo, your back here hm?" Pierce looked around, ignoring Oxzy's actions. The villain's eyes landed on the tree standing tall behind Oxzy. A smile grew on his face, a little softer this time.

"Picking up the mess."

Oxzy watched his moves, ready for a sudden attack at any moment. He thought Pierce would, but instead, the evil man walked around the side of him, eyeing the tree, he grew closer.

The hero was about to strike him, instead, Pierce looked back at him. A raised eyebrow, relaxed position standing back at him. The villain wasn't gonna attack him, if anything, Oxzy will start it off. Soon he will have to fix up the mess he started all over again. He didn't feel like cleaning up the place he just fixed.

Silently, he put his arms down. His whole body was still tense, moving slightly at the villains every motion. Pierce took notice of it. "Woah, do I scare you that much?"

"Scared my ass." Oxzy responded through gritted teeth.

Pierce gave him a smile, he crossed his arms. "A response, that's nice of you."

Oxzy gave an eye roll. The response was a laugh coming from the villains deep vocal cords. "I knew that's all I could get from you, anyways.." Pierce looked up at the tree again, "it looks so much fuller than the last one that stood here."

Oxzy wanted to reply with a snarky comment, but he shut his mouth, watching as Pierce moved closer to the tree from the side. Oxzy stepped back, creating distance from the man who was now next to the tree.

The hero had no idea what to expect next. Like always, the villain was unpredictable. To Oxzy's surprise, the villain put his hand to the trunk, only what surprised him was that no fire or black dust came from the soft touch.

The hero watched as the villain took in the tree, eyes looking soft. A human feeling was coming from Pierce, memories from high school were in his head. The tree looked like the one he, Mercy, and Rosamee used to smoke next to.

It brought back memories that made the villain slightly happy.

He turned to the hero, the man who made the tree. The villain got a flush of nostalgia running through him, he turned around and slumped his back on the trunk. Falling to the dirt, he stayed leaning comfortably with his back firmly to the trunk.

Oxzy stared in shock. Not knowing what to do or how to react to the villain's weird behavior. The villain opened his eyes, staring at the leaves that flew from above him. He then turned to the hero who was in the same position, only a look of confusion was on his face.

Pierce gave him a chuckle. "What? Want to come sit with me Ox~?"

Oxzy blinked a couple of times before the words hit him. A small blush grew on his but he shook it off. He growled at the villain in his usual tone, "why the hell would I do that?"

"Well, you're still here for one." Pierce responded.

The hero rolled his eyes, feeling his body relax slightly. "Not because I want to." His words earned an eyebrow tilt from the browned eyed man. Oxzy didn't feel like he needed to explain himself, especially to the villain. But he did. "I don't know what you're gonna do, I have to make sure you don't do anything bad."

"Oh? What would I do?" Pierce let out a laugh, pushing himself from the tree as a mocking smile was on his lips. "Actually, don't answer that."

The giggled pissed Oxzy off more, he glared at the giggling villain, wanting nothing more than to grow a plant from under his ass. That would shut him up.

"Okay, okay, I know you enough to understand you won't sit next to me. I haven't seen you relax your whole life. Not even in high school!"

High school? Oxzy flinched slightly at the thought of those days. He wanted to respond with a comment that he was always tense because of the villains doing. But, that wasn't exactly true.

Yes Pierce is the main reason for his tense shoulders, growing brows and dark eyes. But it wasn't all him that made the hero this tense.

This broken.

Oxzy shook his head, sighing out loud. "So annoying."

"I get that a lot. Not just from you of course," Pierce laughed, looking up at the leaves before continuing to ramble on. "Actually, I think I hear you swear at me the most. I mean, you're not afraid I will kill you for doing it so it makes sense!"

"So fucking annoying." Oxzy let out a groan again.

A laugh came in response. The atmosphere was light between them, of course the tense and rude comments were still there, but it just felt different. The feeling was broken when both of the men heard the same thing before it came into view.

The men heard sounds of chatter, loud talking and rolling of cars coming from behind Oxzy. The direction of Daylight where the markets were.

Oxzy recognized the voices more quickly then Pierce did. He heard Milo call out orders within a car to men who walked behind it. A static sound from a walkie talkie came to his ear as well, Milo gave orders to men in other cars trailing behind him.

The sight of two police cars and at least four policemen made the villain stand up from the tree. He watched as the police came forward before stopping completely in front of the two powered males.

Pierce recognized the annoying voice coming from the sheriff's mouth. He watched as he stepped from the car, his hand over his gun while he didn't eye the villain like the other officers, but the hero instead.

"Oxzy?" Milo said slightly, walking in front of the car and officers who were at the ready. They all looked at the villain with their hands hovering their guns, waiting for Milo to give an order.

When the sheriff shook off the feeling of shock, his face turned upside down as a deep frown grew on his lips. "Why are you with the villain.. Oxzy?"

Pierce watched as the man in question gave no response, his face emotionless to the police in front. Only, Pierce saw his shoulder immediately tense up.

The quiet response only seemed to anger Milo more. "The fuck are you doing talking all sweetly to the villain!?" He shouted out, as if he wanted all of town to hear him. "Your the fucking hero, talking with a killer...!"

His voice was stone cold and threatening, it only gave the villain annoyance. His eyes rolled like a teenager getting a lecture. "Damn, who said he was talking to me?"

His voice caused the police to flinch, their guns almost instinctively moved up to him. Milo flinched slightly, taking a step back when he looked the villain in the eyes. Pierce only gave a smile and a joking response. "I mean, he didn't even talk while I blabbered on."

Oxzy groaned quietly at the man behind him. He heard the villain walk away from the tree.

Then all of a sudden the sheriff made a daring move.

His gun now raised, he shot at Pierce three times. His aim was bad, instead of striking the villain, it hit the branches of the tree that is now behind him. The branches crashed down to the ground, leaves flying around from the force.

Pierce glared at the broken branches, without looking back to the police men, a line of fire ran up from mid air in front of Oxzy and the sheriff. It made the men step back in shock, Milo shouted to his men who stood in shock at the sudden fire.

At Milo's command, the men shot at the villain all at once. Flying bullets came from in front of the powered men. Oxzy ducked away as soon as he realized all the men were shooting at them. They were trying to get Pierce, but they forgot Oxzy was standing in front of him.

The hero dashed away from the bullets, the fire blocked his front path so he walked back to the buildings and trees. He watched as the bullets flew all around him, hitting the building, shattering glass, and leaves flying all around him. More branches fell from the trees, paired with more shouts from Milo.

Pierce had felt the sting in his heart as he watched the tree get shot at. He walked backwards into a dark shadow, forming into the dark his arms moved out and a spark came from the fire. The fire grew bigger in front of the officers, shouts of pain came from beyond the sparking flames.

The villain still had bullets fly at him. Milo's yelling voice made him grow angrier, that made him emerge from the shades, full energy came from his hands that were now covered in flames. He had his hoodie burnt all along his arms, smoke coming from the burnt fabric, a foul smell of burnt flesh came from all around him.

He had hoped that some of the men had gotten burnt from the growing flames. He used the fire that was on his hands as a shield. It hurt like for him, but it did melt the bullets that came after him.

The villain bent down and with a loud smash of the ground, more fire burned brighter, taller. It seemed to have a mind of its own as it came closer to the police cars.

Milo noticed it, turning away from the growing heat that already sparked at him, he shouted to the people behind him. "Back in the car! Stopping shooting!"

The men did what they were told, rushing into their cars that had started to deform in the front the fire.

Before the fire got worse from Pierce's growing rage, Oxzy stood from the ground, ice came from the end of the fire. Starting from the bottom of the flames, it sucked in all the heat, turning into water that burst into steam.

Pierce felt a hit to his side from the hero who came from another direction. He lost his balance, the fire being sucked inside of him as he looked to the curly haired male in front of him. Without so much of a thought, Pierce swiped his hand to the side.

A blast came from Oxzy's left, blowing up right next his face, he staggered back from the blast. All he heard was a tight buzzing in both his ears. He was distracted for the second, enough for Pierce to rush forward, pushing him from his position until he hit a hard surface from behind.

The villain was ready to light a fire from below the still hero, but he stopped when he noticed what was behind the man. The standing tree that grew tall and bright stood shaking from the fire that burnt the end of its leaves. The branches were all over the ground, holes covered the once sturdy trunk.

Pierce stopped to stare, he looked from the tree to the standing hero. Oxzy was holding his head, blood came from his busted ears, and a hole was in his shoulder that was slanted. His body was still tight at the ready for an attack, or to defend off what came next.

His eyes were hostile, but behind that was pain.

Pain that Pierce realized wasn't just caused by him.

Oxzy saw Pierce still, running forward and low to the ground he kicked the villain in the chest. Pierce fell back onto his back, looking up at Oxzy who was about to come down on him with a punch. He moved off the ground, dodging the hit.

Pierce watched as the hero didn't seem to notice the pain, he was fully focused on him. It made him feel all giddy, the hero was trying so hard to stop him.

So hard that he was causing more pain to himself like an idiot. The villain was annoyed that he wasn't the full cause of Oxzy's pain. The police had shot him without notice, and that pissed Pierce off.

The villain took the hero's delayed reactions to use. Grabbing the man by his now bloody sweater, he flipped Oxzy around. The hero would have fallen to the floor if not for the villain holding tightly onto his waist.

Oxzy winced at the tight hold Pierce had at him, pushing his chest away his little energy left. The villain was pushing into a wound in his shoulder that he didn't even notice he had.

The hero had learned to dull out the pain, so he focused on the villains instead, pushing hard at his chest until a blast of ice came and pushed the two away from each other. Pierce staggered back still on his feet, grounding himself as Oxzy slid on the dirt before picking himself up.

The two looked at one another. The villain was more annoyed than the hero at the moment, he watched as the police fled away from the chaos they had started. All he wanted to do was kill the blonde man, tear his flesh apart right in front of him.

It would have to wait, the hero was still standing in front of him, blocking the villain from running after the police.

"You're protecting them after they shot you?" Pierce huffed out. A fake smile came on his lips, shaking his head in knowledge. "Your so fucking pathetic."

"Mh.." Oxzy gave a short but understanding reply.

The villain, instead of striking another fight, took the reply with a chuckle. Turning, he walked away from the hero and into the shadows.

~Formay, police station~

The sheriff pushed everything off the desk, a shout coming from his mouth made the men that followed after him back track out of the office. Only Jamisen and Jayce stayed in the room with the sheriff.

Jamisen didn't understand the anger coming from Milo, in all honesty the team should have passed the two men and to the grubs to finish what they went there to do. Instead, Milo got scared, impulsive with his first bullet. The villain was already distracted with the hero, the men could have passed him no problem and do what they went there to do.

Instead, they fled back to the station with melted cars and burnt officers. It was indeed the sheriff's fault for not thinking of a better idea. Jamisen was ready to get on his ass about it, but he was too late when the door was closed behind him.

"That damn villain! He does whatever he wants, destroys all the work, the environment!" Milo shouted out loud to the only people in the room.

Jamisen couldn't help but roll his eyes, Jayce on the other hand came closer to the blonde male. "Why was Oxzy there though? He wasn't fighting Pierce, they were actually.. Talking."

Milo looked at him, a raised eyebrow as he took in the information. He wasn't wrong. The thoughts of Oxzy talking, being with the villain in a way that he ever had better made his heart throb. His skin began to boil at the thought.

The image of Oxzy being so calm, standing with no purpose in front of the villain, blocking the police from getting to him. The villain touched him, hands running down his waist and a smile on his lips. It wasn't what Milo thought, it was obvious the two did end up in a fight. Milo only saw it as the villain and hero being close in a way that didn't involve hatred.

It needed to involve hatred.

Jayce watched all Mios reactions, coming closer to lean forward to look Milo in the eyes. "Do you think.. The hero might be on his side? Like being with the villain?"

"That's fucking stupid." Jamisen shook his head at the thought from the young officer. He was expecting Milo to shut him down as well, but to his surprise, Milo looked like he realized something important. "Milo-"

Before Jamisen started, Milo suddenly stood fully up. "That would be very dangerous if those two worked together. The hero would betray the town."

"Oh my fucking god." Jamisen moaned out in an annoyed tone.

"Right, he could be a danger to everyone and we didn't even know it. Its like he's playing us…" Jayce agreed with Milo right away, making the man by the door look like he heard pigs talk.

Milo shut his eyes, taking in the information, the evidence that showed it might be a possibility. The hero did play him, so he could be doing the same thing the whole time. Milo was the sheriff, the protector of the town. He had to stop it before it turned bad. Even if it was just a possibility, even if he had a crush on the hero.

"We should be more careful about him now." Milo finally answered.

Jayce got an idea, turning his attention to Milo 's files. "You have information about him right?"

Milo looked back to the files as well. "Yeah, but not a lot."

"Don't you think we should know where he lives?" The question made Milos' head spike. He felt stupid for not knowing or figuring it out sooner. Oxzy keeps everything about him secret, so no one knows where he lives.

"We should investigate him."

"Milo!" Jamisen cut in between the two of them. Milo in question looked at him. "Our focus is on the killings happening in the grubs. Not the hero!-"

"We will still focus on that Jamisen." Milo quickly responded, turning to him. They then motioned to Jayce. "-Have a group go to the grubs again. I will find a group to start investigating Oxzy."

Jayce quickly nodded his head, leaving the office with a smirk.