Autumn & Winter (A Villains & Monsters Novella)

Chapter 3

AHHHHH here we goooooo! -Rae 

A few days later

Simon laughed as he threw another fireball, destroying the last inner wall of the bank that held the cash. The alarm blared, but it didn't matter. Cameras were disabled so they wouldn't be seen, and police wouldn't stand a chance. In addition to his powers, he brought quite a team with him.

"You won't believe this," Austin said as he came up beside him with a huge, excited grin on his face. "City just called a code red."

"Oh? Damn, I wasn't even expecting to make that much of a mess. But that's great."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Code red equals the heroes showing up."

Austin caught on, and he laughed as he clapped him on the shoulder. "Damn, you're right. We could finish this tonight! You know, I'm very happy we decided to do this just because we were bored. We end the heroes and we get some cash. Speaking of, what're you going to do with your share?"

"I'm going to get something really nice for Sisi," he said as he started stuffing a bag with cash. "She's been working really hard lately. Something about preparing to interview a shit ton of interns for the company. Then she's going to manage them on top of her usual work."

"I hope baby Reid is taking care of herself. She already does so much for us."

Sierra was the bridge between Simon's work and their mother's work. She lives for being busy and tackling complex projects -- just like their Mom -- but Simon can't help but worry about her mental health overall. He'd been helping out as much as he could while doing his own work, getting her coffee here and there, making sure she eats and reminding her to get away from her laptop screen for breaks.

"Once all of her interviews are done, I'm going to tell her to take some time off. If I get Mom to help me, she'll definitely listen."

"Good plan."

When they both stepped outside to go towards the truck, Simon whistled at the sight of some of the burning buildings around them. His henchmen, plus a few supporters were really going all in tonight.

Once he emptied his hands, he heard a painfully familiar voice, "Stop right there!"

He turned around and saw them. The sight made him excited, despite his blood boiling. The heroes were dressed in their uniforms and ready for a fight, despite how tired they looked.

Aniya glared at him and crossed her arms. "Simon."

"Hello, Aniya," he grinned, then he turned to the other two. "Fiona, Justin, always a pleasure."

Hm. Either Jamie is hiding somewhere or he's back at the facility. I'll find him at the end of this, he thought to himself.

"Starting trouble at two in the morning?" Justin scoffed. "Why am I not surprised?"

"You really shouldn't be. I get a kick out of knowing you guys don't sleep when I'm around," he chuckled, and his flames wrapped around his fists.

Fiona's more than likely to teleport while Justin and Aniya rush. This shouldn't take long.

Aniya started saying something -- probably laying his options out on the table -- but Simon wasn't paying attention to that. He was looking behind them, towards a car.

Someone was there. A civilian in play? No, they were too close, and it looked like they were hiding and snooping. Was it Jamie? When he squinted his eyes and shut out Aniya's talking to listen, he heard some frantic whispering, then he saw a brief flash of hair.