Chapter 4

Writer's block sucks. So bad. Honestly, I'm not SUPER satisfied with how the fight scene turned out, but then again action was never going to be the main focus of this story. Updates might be a bit slow from here. But enough mopey stuff. Enjoy the chapter!

A few minutes earlier

"How about another lap, and we'll go for lunch?" Kassandra said, dusting off her hands from zip-tying a pair of thieves. 

"Sure." Ivy snapped her fingers and sent the thieves to the nearest police station. They would have gotten there anyway in the back of a cop car, this was just faster. The cops were used to this new method of transporting criminals already. "While it's nice that crime has been going down lately, we're getting way less work these days. I almost wish something interesting would happen." Ivy faked a sigh, internally cackling at the hilarity of her words.

Kassadra shot her a glare. "Now why did you go and say that! Now it's almost guaranteed that something bad will happen," the superhero grumbled. "I just know it. Come on, Ivy, you should know there are three things you can never say as a superhero!"

"Oh? What's that?"

Kassandra huffed and began stroking her chin like a wise old man. "Well, you see, you never ever want to say the words 'This day can't get any worse', 'That was easy', and 'It sure has been peaceful lately'." Kassandra scolded. "Don't tempt fate." 

Ivy opened her mouth to retort with "I am fate", but before she could say her epic line, their comms beeped. It was Levi.

"He-"

"No time to talk! President's convoy being attacked at Woodroll and 36th! Go now, it's not looking good!" their tech guy yelled.

Ivy timed herself to perfectly glance up in tandem with Kassandra, acting surprised. Inwardly, she was grinning. Her plan was coming along very well. 

"Let's go!" Kassandra yelled, blasting off towards the south. Ivy followed, doing her best to keep up with Kassandra. The superhero's whole demeanor seemed to change depending on whether the mask was on or off. 

Either way, Ivy expended a ton of concentration to follow right behind Ignatia despite her internal calm. It wouldn't do for her cover to be blown after all. It certainly had nothing to do with the view of Kassandra she has in this position, the superhero's cape flaring up, exposing the tight pants she wore underneath. Nope, not at all.

Within minutes, they arrived at the scene of the massacre, Kassandra letting out an involuntary gasp at the many, many bodies that lay unmoving on the street. They arrived just in time to see the Director of the FBI collapse to the ground, pale and dead.

Ivy barely had time to pat herself on the back for a scheme perfectly timed before Kassandra let out a shout of rage and blasted herself towards the villainous duo. One of them was the terrorist, Haze, and the other was a massive man. Seeing as Kassandra was holding both off pretty well with her superstrength and flames, Ivy quickly evac'ed the three remaining hostages with a snap of her fingers. It wouldn't do to plunge the US into too much anarchy at this stage.

Ivy fell down to the ground where she'd transported them, in an alleyway a bit off the main fight. "Alright, you three, stay here and stay out of sight. We'll handle this." With that, she ran back towards the fight.

By the time Ivy made it back to the main road, it was full of craters and molten metal. This was Kassandra's first time seeing death in her line of work, and the fiery superhero's response was rage. Flames so bright it hurt to look at burst from Ignatia's hands and burned the big man's clothes to ash, causing a scream of agony. 

Epsilon had come over and was blasting at Kassandra ineffectively. But it did distract her for a second, as she growled and shot a condensed stream of almost-plasma at the flyer, making her dodge sloppily. 

Ivy looked around for the camera drones and subtly made sure that they recorded everything that was happening. This triumph had to be broadcast to the world to maximise impact, after all.

While Kassandra was distracted trying to swat Epsilon from the sky, Assault had recovered enough to launch a punch at her. Caught off guard, she was blasted into a building. Assault panted. "Did we get her?"

"I think s-" Epsilon was cut off as Kassandra burst from the 8th floor of the building and tackled her midair, throwing her with a heave into the ground. She let out a shrill scream of pain as the asphalt cratered under her, tumbling into an unconscious heap against a turned-over car.

With the distraction gone, Kassandra went back to pummelling Assault into the ground, not letting the big brute get even a punch out. 

Meanwhile, the dark fog was trying to encircle her, seemingly vulnerable to the flames. The superhero was too busy uppercutting the brute and burning him to notice, so Ivy stepped in. With a wave of her hand, Haze reformed into human form, visibly confused as he tried to move himself forward, only to flop onto the ground like a fish. 

Before he could get up, Ivy tased him in the back with her trusty taser. It was a rather anticlimactic end for such a great villain, but then not everyone could be as brilliant as her. That taser was really handy, though. Ivy didn't really have a lot of good finisher moves that don't reduce people to a dust pile.

If Ivy were honest with herself, if not for her powers inversing Haze's state, the man would have been a nightmare to pin down. As evidenced by the number of corpses he left in his wake, Ivy supposed. That was very good, truthfully. The more damage Haze and his goons caused, the more reputation Fortuna and Ignatia would gain from defeating them.

As Ivy looked up again, it seemed Kassandra was wrapping up her own fight. With an uppercut that lifted the Assault a few dozen feet into the air, Kassandra flew up above him and blasted him with an absolutely massive stream of fire, slamming him into the asphalt with a concussive bang. 

"And stay down!" Kassandra spat. Ivy inwardly cheered. That was a great finish line. With that done, Ivy discreetly destroyed the recording drone. 

"Nice line," Ivy commented as she walked up to Kassandra, looking down at the human bruise that was Assault. "I guess you have a point about that jinx thing, huh?" she quipped jokingly. 

Kassandra huffed. "Yeah. So you better listen to me next time when I tell you something!" Before Ivy could come up with a clever response, both of them turned around to the sound of footsteps. They were surrounded by FBI and Secret Service agents. With guns pointed at them.

"Down, down, on the ground!"

Ivy and Kassandra share a long-suffering look. No matter which side of the law you were on, institutionalized law enforcement was a pain to deal with.

***

"Well, that was a pain," Ivy said, stretching out her sore muscles as they were finally released from the impromptu interrogation. 

"At least it's over now," Kassandra muttered. "And at least we got something out of it." Kassandra and Ivy were each offered a 10-million-dollar reward for their actions today, which was quite a good haul for a single day of work. Ivy didn't even make that much as a supervillain!

"Aw, I thought you were all, 'Heroism isn't for the reward'?" Ivy teased. "You rejected my idea to take on corporate sponsors after all." Ivy really hoped this was going to go where she thought it would go. She'd pitched the sponsorship idea a few weeks ago to test the waters and see if Kassandra would be open to taking things to the next level.

Kassandra blushed. "Well, it's the government. I'm not going to say no to free money from the government," she murmured. "Besides… I do kinda need it."

Ivy nodded sympathetically. "Superheroing isn't exactly cheap, what with all the gadgets and replacement costumes and all. That's why I suggested sponsorships."

Kassandra bit her lip. "I know, it was a good idea… I just don't like the thought of losing sight of doing good for making money, you know?"

Ivy patted her on the shoulder. "If it were just me, that might be a valid concern. But you? You'll be just fine, Kassandra. Trust me." You should NOT trust me, Kassandra, but don't worry. I'll make sure you don't feel guilty even as we rake in tons of cash~ It'll be good for you too! I'll make sure you learn to enjoy it.

Kassandra looked thoughtful. "I'll… think about it. We probably won't need to do it for a while with the money we're getting, but I'll think about it."

"Speaking of the reward money, I think it would be a good time to come out," Ivy said.

Kassandra tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Our secret identities will be paper thin once we receive the money, unless we use it for only superhero activities, which isn't realistic, since some dealings need to be under the table. So, I think the award ceremony would be a great time to put aside the secret identities. We can announce it when they give us the mic and inspire other supers to join the team. And, honestly, we won't grow past a city-scale team otherwise. Trust me on this." 

"This coming from your future knowledge?" Kassandra raised an eyebrow.

"Yep." Ivy nodded. "You were a great hero before you took off the mask, but superheroes in general didn't really… catch on, if you get what I mean, until the first unmaskings. A masked superhero is a symbol. And symbols are beyond concerns like money and sleep. Taking it off gives us more leeway and the ability to act more freely."

Kassandra shrugged. "Well, I won't pretend to understand all the nuances, but I trust you. If you say this is the best way forward, I'll listen to your advice."

Ivy grinned. "Excellent. Most excellent." She carefully held back her cackles. "I'll write a speech. I love writing speeches."

Kassandra did her best not to look worried. But she definitely was. When Ivy smiled like that… Kassandra just knew she was going to be dragged along for whatever mad scheme her new friend concocted.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always, feel free to put up any comments you feel like posting, I appreciate all feedback! Have a great day~!