- flames that destroy -

~The Grubs, Pierces home~
After Mercy had walked off, Pierce turned to be in his room fully. His hands flew around in a frenzy, he directed his anger at the open ceiling. Fire burst through the wood, spitting the ends of the bark into complete smoke.

The roof was already falling from the sky, he only made it slightly larger with his bursting emotions. Flames escaped from his palms, letting out shallow breaths, Pierce turned his back to the hole in the roof. The reason the hole was in the roof plagued his mind with horrible thoughts. He did the bidding of blasting the hole through the roof.

~~~~

He was waiting for Rosamee in his room after he got into a fight with her. The fight was viscous, they fought over what the future had in store for them. She got into a big mess just thinking about it, she fought back with him. Yelling, spitting, and hitting him in his face. Pierce tried to make sense with her, she didn't listen. Instead, the woman ran away.

The villain knew where she went, she went to her work at the elementary school down in Formay. Pierce wanted to run after her, to follow his love into some type of agreement. He wanted to bring her with him, to run away from the grubs. From Whitedail.

But she fled.

Fear in what lies ahead scared her. Running away from her home with Pierce wasn't what she wanted. It was what Pierce wanted.

The two lovers wanted two different things. Rosamee wanted to stay. Pierce wanted to walk away. But they would end up walking away from each other if they did so, Pierce didn't want that. He would do what she wanted before his own. She meant more to him than his freedom.

He stayed in his room, the darkness taking over his stressed steps. He walked back and forth along the floor. His footprints itched into the carpet floor as he walked over and over on the same spot. His mind was racing. He kept pulling up his phone to see if he got any messages.

Nothing. Only a blank screen greeted him.

Pierce looked up to the roof. Stress was pooling off him like a fountain. He couldn't be so worked up about this. They fight all the time, she will message back soon. He just had to be patient.

He did cool himself down. Sitting on his bed with his head in his hands while he waited for something. It felt like hours, more than what he expected with just scrolling through his phone. He heard Mercy move things around from below him.

Ignoring her, he felt a buzz in his hands.

Swiping his phone down, he looked through what he got a message. Instead of an answer from Rosamee, he got the Whitedail news that popped up on his screen.

He was about to leave the page when he saw a familiar word. The news was about the elementary school his girlfriend worked at. She was there right now. Before Pierce could even stand up to put his shoes on, everything came to him at once.

Mercy's scream of shock from below his room, the words sinking as he looked down.

"The Whitedail elementary was turned ablaze during school hours.
The hero came to help put it out, saving as many people as he can.
Unfortunately, 14 children were burnt to death.
-And 3 staff members were found dead."

Pierce scanned the names. One name hit him right in the chest.

It couldn't be. He just saw her this morning, how could she have been killed like that? That quick..

His body reacted on impulse. His arms flung to the sky. A ball of fire formed all around his space, the room became aflame. The roof began to topple over, small ashes blew from below him. The wood began to burn, smoke emerging from the house and into the sky.

Pierce still felt an undying burst of energy throughout his body. His fingers itched with power. His body grew hot, fire spread across his shoulders, he didn't even feel the pain. All he wanted to do was to make the world feel his emotions.

Let all the people who let this happen burn. Burn those innocents who stood by and watched as his world burned. His world meant nothing anymore.

She was gone.

~~~~

The hole in the roof stayed as a horrible reminder that the love of his life was now gone. She was no more than a pile of ash.

Pierce kept on looking up, wondering what he was even trying to look for. Nothing but smoke and the dark sky greeted him. The stars looked back at his wet eyes, a mocking look was sitting right there.

Maybe it was just in his insane mind. But it felt like the dark sky that showered him with the cold of the night gave him the feeling of no one. Looking up into the sky always held a tight remembrance of the pain he will never get over.

Will there be someone to help heal him?

Something-

The villain jolted forward. He felt a familiar cold mist hit him from the sky. This time, it was different. It wasn't the same as the cold sky, it was following someone. Pierce could sense everything about him from a mile away.

This time, he was closer than expected. The hero was close by.

The cold mist suddenly flew away, flying into the deep abyss of the sky. Pierce desperately jumped after it. Jumping up from his bed and onto the roof with his sleepwear and a burnt top, Pierce looked all around him.

The mist hit him once more.

The villain directed his head to where he felt it. It was near Highway side, somewhere the hero was making himself known. Only known for the villain, Pierce was the only individual who could feel the overwhelming cold mist that was in the atmosphere. He felt almost honored to be the only person to feel it.

It was like.. Oxzy made it only for him. Like the hero WANTED him.

It was crazy thinking, but the villain was crazy.


~Hallway side, the streets~
The villain walked out of the end of the grubs, turning the corner to where he felt the wave of mist. It stilled in the air, walking around his hot body like cool water. Steam came off of him, he watched as the hero was now coming into his line of sight.

The hero had his hair in a tight, small pony tail. His curly black hair fell onto his pale face. Oxzy didn't even bother to move them away, his focus was in front of him.

His eyes were closed, lips tightly closed onto each other. He was in full concentration on something. Pierce took in the whole picture, looking to see that Oxzy was sitting on the growing grass that lined the streets and the empty streets. He watched as Oxzy's hands twitched, his veins came to the surface of his skin, growing bright green.

His face began to sweat, his body looked ready to collapse. But to no surprise of the villain, Oxzy finished growing the grass as well as a few greenery shrubs that lined the grass before taking a breath in.

The curly haired male fell forward, catching himself before falling to the ground. He caught in breaths to calm his racing heart, his body was obviously sore from the amount of energy he put into the streets that lined the grubs.

The villain couldn't help but notice its beauty. The bright green almost hurt his eyes, the growing nature was nothing out of the ordinary. To the villain, he could feel the full hit of new life all around him.

Still. He watched as Oxzy shook his shaking legs to stand up.

He used a lot of energy, it was the perfect time to attack him for the villain.

Oxzy wouldn't be able to protect himself, the perfect time to take the win and kill him. The villain did feel like doing so. But something was stopping him.

Was it pity? The villain never felt such a thing before.

Maybe it was just the sight of Oxzy in a weak state. Pierce wanted to take it all in, it was better than any beer or weed he had ever smoked or drank. Oxzy's drenched face and hair, his shaking legs with a hint of prying determination just turned Pierce on a bit too much.

Why would he want to ruin this view by attacking him?

"Son of a bitch.." Oxzy cursed, almost falling back down. He caught himself with a step, leaning on his knee with his head in his hand. The hero looked more annoyed than hurt.

Pierce smirked, leaning on the fence beside him that separated the grubs from the rest of the town. He watched silently as the hero mumbled inappropriate words to himself. Pierce held in the giggles, he knew that the hero let his true emotions and capability with himself when no one was around.

Hiding was something he was good at without anyone even noticing.

Pierce saw through it all. Looking deeper than everyone else to see Oxzy's true thoughts. His real emotions.

It was a reason he likes to talk or mess around with him. Mentioning his mother was something he never did, but that was Oxzy's weak point. Everything Oxzy ever held back would come pouring out at the mere word of his mother.

Pierces knew all this for different reasons. One, of course, was because he could see through the man. Two, was that Pierce was the exact same with Rosamee. He didn't know if Oxzy knew that about him, if he did, the hero never used that against Pierce.

Unlike Mercy who mentions her to piss Pierce off. She did that in their fights all the time, it was hurtful but Pierce wasn't any better. Sometimes he did deserve it.

Oxzy had enough energy to stand up fully. The villain scanned his body, watching as he breathed in small breaths one after another. All he did was watch.

The hero's cold mist that surrounded him had dulled just enough so that the air became completely normal to Pierce. The hero was done, looking around to make sure he was alone before trailing on the side to walk away from the grubs.

Pierce jolted up, watching him leave he had an urge to stop him. Instead of doing that, the villain waited for the man to be farther away before letting a swarm of black dust cover him. He moved silently in the air before he was on the buildings above the hero.

Looking down to him, Pierce followed silently to wherever the hero was going so late.


~Oakway, pet store~
The pet store? Pierce thought, watching the hero enter silently at the designated area. The villain followed him for a long time just to see him go to a pet store? He did assume Oxzy had pets, he could smell a feline scent from him sometimes when they were close in fighting.

Pierce sat down to rest his tired feet, watching the door of the shop like a hawk, waiting for a similar black haired man to exit.

Oxzy walked in, looking around for the cat food. The store was almost about to close since it was almost 10pm. Oxzy came in later when he remembered that Cirilla was almost out of food. He would get some treats for her and Kamari as he went all the way to Oakway to get it.

Picking up a bag of cat food, he went to the rodent section to get some treats there. He picked up small things like a new toy for Kamari to play with since she tore apart the other ones before heading to the counter.

It was a different woman that he had noticed worked the night shifts. She was quiet, giving him a few glances as she rang the stuff up. He enjoyed this worker who didn't ask questions, letting him leave with the stuff he wanted with an open mind.

Cold air greeted him when he exited the store, holding the bag that held all the pet stuff he made his way in the direction of Parrway.

Keeping his guard up, he felt nothing out of the ordinary. The sky was clear, nothing but cars were in his senses. He expected it to stay that way all the way home, but he was jolted to a stop when a different sound came to him.

It sounded like the swinging of air. Closing his eyes, Oxzy took in the sound more carefully, it was someone hitting someone else. The sound echoed silently, an even more silent grunt came in reply.

The hero just wanted to head home with his stuff, but he couldn't just ignore the alarming sound. Not a lot of bad stuff happens in Oakway. It was the safest place out of the whole town. Even knowing that, Oxzy turned in the direction of the sounds, looking around the corners of the alleys until the sound became louder and louder.

When he was close enough, he stopped to peer around the alley. The sound and image was what he expected. A tall man was beating up another man who was already knocked out on the ground. A few other men were surrounding them, snickers and harsh words came out of their disgusting mouths.

Oxzy immediately noticed that the men were of the grubs. They looked like gang members with big builds, tattoos, and a horrible smell of drugs coming from them. The hero took a second to peer at the man on the ground. It looked like a senior with a small build, bags with groceries around his curled up form.

After the second was over, Oxzy kneeled down, intending to set the bag with pet stuff down when a hand took the bag from him. Turning around quickly, Oxzy came only inches away from Pierce's face.

Oxzy was gonna shout at him, but Pierce's other hand covered his mouth. It was a silent move, Pierce moving both of them around the wall before pushing Oxzy into the bricks behind him. They were both out of view from the group of men, the hero and villain only inches away from each other.

Pierce took the bag from Oxzy's tightly gripped hand. His large hand held tightly onto his mouth, shushing him when Oxzy growled curses. "Shhh, they will hear you." The villain whispered, moving his face closer to the hero's.

Oxzy moved his head around to avoid him, trying to pry the hand that was on his face away. Pierce kept him in his hold tightly, squeezing lightly with a silent warning. "Not moving until you stop Ox." The man whispered once again, giving an innocent smile to the man.

The hero had sweat coming from his face, body completely tense with the villain who stood feet above him keeping him in a hold. Oxzy would risk getting found out and the men who were assaulting the gentleman would as well if he fought back with Pierce. That and getting in a fight with the villain in their certain environment would not be ideal.

If he complied, maybe the villain would want to do another type of "talk" they had before. If not, Oxzy had to keep his guard up no matter what.

Silently, Oxzy let his hand fall, glaring daggers at the villain who gave him a smile. "Good boy." He cooed, Oxzy growled at him, keeping his body tense as Pierce removed his hand for this mouth.

"Pierce.." Oxzy warned, about ready to push him away.

The villain stayed close, shaking his head in response. "Not a good idea. You know that Ox." To prove his words, Pierce tilted his head in the direction of the group that had started to holler in laughter.

Oxzy looked in the direction, stiffening at the sound of the old man's desperate pleas. He tried to move from Pierce's hold, only the villain stepped in his way, blocking the hero fully with his larger frame.

The hero was pressed into the wall, pressed into the villain's body. He felt hot. Warmth on his bare skin. The villain had a tanktop on at 10pm, yet his body was warmer than the heroes who had two sweaters on.

The hero felt goosebumps run along his body. A weird feeling rushed into his stomach. It felt abnormal, the villain was close to him, so close that the man's rising breaths of his heaving chest was paired with the hero's ragged and quick breaths.

"What the fuck do you think your doing…" Oxzy whispered, looking up at Pierce. The villain gave an innocent smile, the look in Oxzy's gray eyes spoke something other than hostility to him.

Leaning closer to Oxzys face, Pierce aimed his breath to his ear. "I just wanted to make this easier for you.."

The villain's hot breath made Oxzy jump slightly. His ears turned red immediately, ducking away as much as he could.

"What-?"

Pierce had the heroes bag before he could realize it. Pierce backed up to give the man room to move, Oxzy turned to him, his eyes directed at his bag in the man's hand. The hero met the man's eyes, Pierce only motioned to the group in reply.

"Go on. Stop them."

The hero didn't want to at that moment, but he just shook his head before directing his anger at the men who mercilessly beat an elder.

"HEY!" His shout caused the whole group to take a step back.

Before they could even run, Oxzy swung his hands forward. The ground beneath the group shook, a crack forming from underneath them, the men fell into it.

Shouts and screams came from them, Oxzy ignored the sounds. Hitting the ground where the crack started to form, the ground beneath the group bolted upright in an instant. The men shouted once more, being slung into the air before crashing onto the ground.

They stayed motionless on the cement, groans came from them as Oxzy walked forward. He glared at them, using ice to close the group so they couldn't run away. Oxzy doubted they could, he probably broke a few ribs on them.

The hero was at the elder man's side, kneeling and helping him up. The elder couldn't stand, tears rolling down his eyes with a blessed voice he thanked the hero over and over. Oxzy nodded to him, calling the sheriff with slight hesitation.

It wasn't Milo who answered, it was Jamisen so it made it easier on the hero. The officer agreed to come after Oxzy gave him the location and information about what had just happened. They agreed, bringing an ambulance as well as a team to deal with the group of men.

Before Oxzy turned back around, he was sure the senior was away from the group who were huddled inside the ice case. The elder was bleeding everywhere, the hero had to clean it up before feeling like it was okay to leave. He turned back around ready to leave when he stopped. He felt like he was missing something.

"I should be getting back, the stations gonna come running after me if they notice I was here." Pierce's voice made the hero realize what he was missing. Turning, the villain was in the same spot, watching everything that happened.

The man walked forward, handing the hero's bag back to him, Oxzy looked down at it with a bit of suspicion.

"Do you think I shit in it or something?" The villain asked sarcastically.

Oxzy growled, swiping it away from him in a huff. When the bag was in his hand he began to walk towards Parrway. He ignored the sound of footsteps that followed him.

Whenever he quickened, the feet following behind did so as well. He knew who it was, he didn't want to give the man the right to know that it was bothering Oxzy. Soon it did bother him enough to stop in his tracks, they got to Parrway when Oxzy turned to face the man.


~Parrway, near Cleoi~
"Why are you following me?" Oxzy asked the man. Pierce stopped, looking around like he was seeing an invisible person talk.

"Huh? This isn't the grubs."

"Ugh," Oxzy shook his head at the man. He didn't want to continue, the villain would find out where he lived. He stayed in the same spot, crossing his arms at the villain.

Pierce turned back to him, a look of suprise making its way on his face. "Oh, right I wanted to talk with you more!"

"We didn't talk." Oxzy gave a cold reply.

"Right, what did we do then?" Pierce looked up, trying to remember something as he walked forward. Oxzy stiffened, watching as Pierce took big steps forward with his long legs. "Since we didn't, we can right now."

"It's 10pm. Go home." Oxzy shook his head with a short reply.

"God, I'm so lonely there! The grubs are just so boring, can't I spend the night with you?"

Oxzy's face twitched with irritation, he was completely flabbergasted with the man in front of him. It was a joke right?

"What the hell do you expect me to reply with?"

"A yes?" Pierce closed his eyes with an funny expression.

"Then you're more stupid than I gave you credit for." The hero took a step back when the villain was now much closer to him. The man with auburn hair looked down at him, something almost like a silent plea in his eyes.

As soon as it was there, it was now gone. He looked back at Oxzy in a mocking way. "You scared I'm gonna fuck you right?"

"What-!" Oxzys face turned red immediately, glaring daggers at Pierce, his hand shot up.

The earth beneath Pierce formed a small crack. The man took a step back, hands up with a look of defeat in his eyes. "Alright, alright! I get it, I'm not allowed in the hero's house. No one ever had the privilege, I'm no exception."

"Fuck off Pierce." Oxzy kept his hand up, warning the man off.

The man nodded, turning back around when the hero stayed in the same spot. "Fine, fine." Turning back in the other direction, he began to walk off, he stopped about a few stops when he heard that the hero hadn't moved yet. He turned around to meet his eyes, "stay safe."

With a smile, Pierce walked off without looking back. The hero looked on at his leaving form in shock, confusion rolling around in his head at the villain's words. He thought he heard the man wrong, what did Pierce just tell him?

When the villain was completely out of view, Oxzy turned back around to head to his apartment. He still couldn't process what Pierce told him, or what Pierce had done today if anything. What was up with the man? What was wrong with him today?


~Cleoi, Oxzy's apartment~
It was very out of character, Oxzy felt thoughts swarm all around without answers. He made it quickly back to Cleoi, turning the corner to where his apartment lay, he kept his head low. He knew that his questions would stay unanswered, the villain and him only fought. Was he expecting the mad man to be sane at all? Was he expecting an explanation?

He looked back up to where he lived, his eyes went to his window and his feet stopped.

Smoke was coming from his apartment window. A few people swerved outside of it looking up at the window in confusion, running people came from outside before going in the apartment complex. Some were on the phone with the fire department, some with the police.

Oxzy's feet quickened, eyes looking back and forth. When he got close enough, the words of the people on the phone made his face turn pale.

"Yes, the apartment was the only one on fire. We heard an explosion too.."

The words came to him all at once. His hands were free, his head suddenly felt lighter as he dashed past the people and up to the window.

Only his desperate thoughts were heard.