Heroes Wear Capes
Chapter 7: A hard day's work

“I’m not commencing my evil plan just yet. I’ll give you some time before that happens.”

~ Archer Waters (Tornado)

A normal day for Celeste Moctezuma was already bad, but she especially hated the days when the Kingdom Hills High cafeteria ladies decided to turn up the heat.

Artic Frost didn’t enjoy heat.

It didn’t help that the heat was paired with the idiot students who went to Kingdom Hills High. The students reigned supreme because they all had rich daddies. Delilah Sivan, the daughter of the principle, Mrs. Sivan, could just about get away with anything since her mother thought she was an angel. That also meant Delilah could be your savior or your impending doom depending on your stance.

Celeste herself was on neutral terms with the girl. Their paths never seemed to cross. Other kids weren’t so lucky.

“Are you kidding me? How could you do this to me?”

The entire school seemed to be watching the spectacle in the cafeteria. Clark Rogers, the resident boy popular, had just apparently cheated on Delilah with her best friend, Candace Miller.

Clark wasn’t that bright. Or maybe that was just Celeste’s bias since he was still one of the suspects for Wild Fire. And she obviously didn’t view him as a mastermind.

“C’mon, baby. You know that I would never do that to you. You know how much of a lying bitch Candace can be.”

Okay, it wasn’t just a bias. The boy was so stupid that he didn’t realize the hole he was digging himself into.

“Did you just call my best friend a bitch? It’s one thing to want to break up with me by making up some outrageous lie, but to drag my best friend into it? You really are a monster. Have fun trying to cheat your way through calculus without my mother’s protection. I predict that you’ll be suspended by sixth period.”

Clark’s face fell as he realized what that meant.

“Wait, baby, I didn’t mean it!”

She gave him the coldest stare that Celeste had ever seen (considering that she had ice powers, that was saying something) and walked towards him slowly. “Try apologizing when you actually care for my feelings.”

He backed up as she walked forward. Celeste probably should’ve seen it coming, since she was sitting right behind Clark as the pair was arguing, but she was unprepared when he slipped on the shining tile and flipped his tray. It spun through the air and his food landed splat on her white shirt.

God, Celeste hated sloppy joe days.

The entire cafeteria was unsure of what to do, but after a couple of hesitant laughs, the crowd burst in a chorus of hoots and hollers. It was unclear whether they were laughing at Clark Rogers for being such a dumbass, or Celeste for getting food dropped all over her chest.

Delilah gave her ex one last disapproving stare before turning around and walking off with her friends. Clark’s fellow football buddies were quick to help him on to his feet. No one dared to approach Celeste Moctezuma.

She sighed and gathered her backpack before heading out of the cafeteria. Celeste got a couple of snickers and upturned stares as she left, which she combated with her own iron gaze. She wasn’t going to let anyone look down on her, not when she had immense power and could make those stupid idiots freeze to death if she felt like it.

They could go ahead and laugh at her now, but they didn’t know who they were dealing with. She wouldn’t be surprised if one day they found themselves frozen in a block of ice, only to slowly die from hyperthermia. Or maybe she’d make them suffer, freezing the water in their ear canals.

(The Artic Frost in her liked to think of the many ways she could make any person who ever made fun of her slowly suffer and die.)

Being a super villain was fun, wasn’t it?

Celeste came short when she noticed the girls’ bathroom was locked. Of course the janitor would choose now to clean the girls’ bathroom. Just her luck.

She sighed and aimed for the opposite end of the hall instead, where the boys’ bathroom was situated.

Celeste didn’t expect anyone to be in it, since it was still lunch and any rational teenager was eating the free food that the state provided the rich school, but Celeste was proven wrong.

“This is the boys’ bathroom,” The idiot said, as if she didn’t know with the urinals lining the walls. It wasn’t like the girls’ bathroom exactly offered that interesting way to go pee.

“Thank you for that small piece of information. I’ll keep it in mind for the next time I get smothered in mystery meat,” Celeste retorted, heading for the sink.

He seemed to only just notice the stains on her shirt.

“Do you need any help?” he asked.

Celeste paused her action of wiping her shirt and looked him slowly in the eye. “If I needed help, I would’ve asked you already. Now, will you please be quiet?”

He nodded and put his hands in his pockets. He definitely could be a looker if he actually styled his hair and took off the huge glasses. The guy would also need a change of wardrobe, because white oxford shirts buttoned up to the chin in a free uniform school was an idiot’s decision.

Celeste exhaled and continued to pat her shirt with water. She had managed to get most of the gunk off, but the stain was still there, loud and proud.

“So, what happened to you?”

She sighed, annoyed, and paused her actions. “I thought my instructions were clear.”

He shrugged. “I was just making conversation.”

Celeste turned and looked him in the eye again and spoke with a sarcastically chipper voice. “Well, first I got soaked in rainwater on the way to school yesterday, because I’m one of those kids who can’t afford a car, and then Clark Rogers just decided to break up with his girlfriend right in front of me at lunch, causing him to somehow spill his entire lunch tray onto my shirt. Not to mention I failed my history exam for the third time in a row. So, what happened to me? Well, isn’t it obvious? The universe hates me.”

He let out a long whistle. “It does seem to.” He paused and looked up at Celeste. “What’s your name?”

She crossed her arms shifted her weight into her hip, enacting the famous tough girl pose. “Celeste.”

He smiled. “Cool, I’m Ross. Ross Gustin.”

Celeste huffed. “You can cut it out with the James Bond act. I know who you are. Everyone does. You’re Clark’s favorite punching bag.”

Ross was kind of a mystery. He was a huge geek, but he didn’t fit the profile. He had the persona, but even Celeste could beat him at Jeopardy if the subject wasn’t history or advanced level science. If she didn’t know better, Celeste would say his whole getup would be the perfect cover for a super villain. But, maybe not a hero. Heroes liked the limelight too much to stay on the outskirts of it.

Another reason Clark was still on the suspect list.

“I’m glad to see that my reputation precedes me.”

Celeste chuckled and turned off the water, “Yeah, just not in the way anyone wants it too.”

Ross shrugged and took off his jacket. “Here, take my jacket. You can’t walk around school in a grease stained shirt for the rest of the day. I know what it’s like to wear someone else’s lunch, but in my case usually it falls on my shirt because the intentions were malicious.”

Celeste sized him up and took the jacket hesitantly. She didn’t want to look too eager for his help, for she was no damsel in distress. Hell, Celeste Moctezuma was an evil mastermind. But, she also did need something to cover up her shirt.

“Thank you.” She had to force it out. Villains weren’t used to apologizing.

He grinned. “See, it’s not that hard to be a nice human being. You should try it sometime.”

Celeste clenched her fists and the air around her grew a bit colder. “And you should try not insulting the first girl to talk to you since pre-K.”

That shut him up a bit.

Ross walked past her to the door, but turned before he opened it. “It was nice talking to you, Celeste.” He smiled genuinely and disappeared through the door.

Celeste lifted her eyebrows. No one was ever happy to be around her. Ross would soon learn.

Tonight was a special night. Celeste had been planning it for a week, and she couldn’t fail. She kind of needed a pick me up after her horrible experiences at school, right?

The targets were Mr. and Mrs. Schow. Mr. Schow was the proud owner of the Schow Corporation, which was invested in everything from electrical power to dog food. They even owned a small percentage of Rossi Corp, just about the most evil business in existence. In short, the Schows were basically dirty billionaires. They were revered in Kingdom City for their fortune, but there was more to them than meets the eye.

For instance, Mrs. Schow was cheating on her husband with Mr. Schow’s business partner and Mr. Schow was encouraging the shipment of cheap but potentially dangerous goods in their daughter companies. One of their branches was Paramount Pharmaceuticals, which gave some of its recipients superpowers a couple of years ago. Not a safe drug.

They were the kind of people that Celeste despised. They were already rich, with bathrooms bigger than her apartment, but they didn’t appreciate what they already had. They were greedy and selfish and horrible.

They didn’t deserve their money.

She guessed that was where Artic Frost come in.

Celeste never really considered herself a villain. In some peoples’ terms she was a modern day Robin Hood. And by some people, Celeste meant herself.

Mr. and Mrs. Schow were just getting back from a very expensive fundraiser for the Kingdom City police department. It was part of the reason their corporation was staying out of eyes of the law for so long. The department was probably one of the most corrupt in the world.

People with money somehow always managed to get away with their crimes. It was like having money was somehow supposed to make you an angel and not having money somehow made you automatically a criminal.

And if everybody already expected you to grow up to be a criminal, you might as well meet their expectations fully.

As the couple got out of their car, Celeste created a cool breeze in the air. The oblivious Mrs. Schow only pulled her fur coat tighter around her. Celeste grinned and waited until they were right under her.

A sudden stronger burst of air ripped Mrs. Schow’s purse from her hand. Mr. Schow went to grudgingly pick it up, but another gust brought it further away from his wife. Puzzled, he went after the purse.

Celeste dropped in front of Mrs. Schow then. The wife tried to scream, but a quick formation of an icicle in Celeste’s right hand shut her up quick. Celeste grinned malevolently and put a finger to her lips so that the trophy wife would know not to talk. She’d rather not have the husband involved.

Celeste motioned for her to hand over her necklace and she obliged without arguing. It was worth more than Celeste’s entire apartment, and probably more than the entire income of the apartment building. But, Mrs. Schow knew the smart thing was to hand it over, especially when a villain wielding the power to kill you in a nanosecond was the one wanting the priceless artifact.

Celeste grabbed it as soon as it was off of Mrs. Schow’s neck and put it around her own neck. The precious gems glittered nicely on the white of her super suit. She nodded to Mrs. Schow and made to run off, but it seemed Mr. Schow had finally found his wife’s purse.

“Hey! Give me that necklace back!”

Celeste sighed and turned around. Mr. Schow was foolishly charging at Artic Frost, the super villain. Some people were just idiots.

He reached a hand into his jacket for what was to be assumed as a firearm. Celeste waved her hand and his hand plus the object in it froze into a block of ice. He fell to the ground quite ungracefully due to the sudden weight on his arm. Mrs. Schow just stared at the villain with a horror filled gaze.

“Have a good night, Mrs. Schow.” She said, winking at the terrified woman.

Celeste flashed snow in her face and while she was disoriented, fled from the front yard. Celeste was finally able to find an alley to hide behind and ducked inside it. She could already hear the police sirens heading toward the Schow residence.

(Giving thousands to the police station did have its perks)

Celeste brought the necklace closer to her face and admired it for a bit. It was an original arrangement, almost priceless. She had a dealer set up who knew how to dismantle the necklace into its separate diamonds, able to sell it off as many different pieces without the police being the wiser.

Yes, this necklace would get her a lot of money.

“Not so fast, Artic Frost.”

Celeste cursed. “Wild Fire,” speaking to him like an old enemy, “how nice of you to show up.”

He stepped out of the shadows in his perfectly crafted red and orange suit. His hair was wild, and his suit looked fresh after their fight last week. Of course Mr. Perfect Superhero would have his suit back in mint condition as soon as possible.

Celeste’s own suit was white with hints of gray. She wore a white wig when she went out, as did most female supers (Like, do people really think Andromeda’s hair is really purple?). Her real hair was as black as coal, so it was a good thing the ever-present frost around her in the suit and her mask covered her eyebrows and any stray hairs that fell out from under the wig.

“That wouldn’t happen to be a priceless necklace owned by Mrs. Schow?”

She grinned and gave her nemesis her best stare down. “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just bought this necklace from some local place, the jewels are probably fake. I just thought it’d go dashingly with my outfit. What do you think, Wild Fire?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You know I know that you’re lying, right?”

Celeste sighed. Sometimes these heroes weren’t too bright. “Now, why would I lie to you, Smokey? We’re such good friends.”

He crossed his arms and set his hip. “Artic, you have one chance to hand the necklace over, or you know what happens.”

She frowned. “Oh, you mean I get away with the diamonds and you fail yet again to capture me?”

Celeste saw that she had hit a chord. Despite the fact that they were each other’s arch nemesis, he had never brought her to jail. Unless you counted the time the police accidentally put her in their regular holding cells, which any super could escape from in seconds. Those bars don’t hold up too well when met with below freezing temperatures.

“No, when I take the diamonds back and finally arrest you.”

Celeste laughed. You know, that stereotypical villain chuckle you hear all the time in the movies. “And what makes you think this time will be any different?”

He smiled. “Let’s just say that I’ve been having a bad day and I really need a win.”

She pouted. “Awe, poor little hero upset his perfect mummy? He didn’t save the proper number of defenseless citizens today? He let a villain walk free? His precious girlfriend break up with him?”

Wild Fire’s eyes flashed and he sent a wall of fire in Celeste’s direction. She countered just as quickly with a gust of icy wind. His fire was put out, but he sent a fireball at her before she could recalculate. Celeste created a hasty wall of ice and dove to the side. The fireball melted through the ice and grazed her side, but she didn’t suffer a direct blow.

Before Wild Fire could notice that he actually hit her, Celeste started a hail storm above his head. He radiated enough heat to melt the ice into water before it actually hit his body, but he was distracted enough to give Celeste time to run away from the scene.

Not every day could be a win.

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