Venomous Illusions

One (New; Read me! I'm better!)

     The sound of muted footsteps filled Mina's ears. Black spots were dominating her vision as pain overtook her senses. Her mind reeled from shock and confusion; what should have been a simple job as a newbie low tier hero had taken a serious turn for the worst.

     Less than five minutes before, Mina had gotten a call to help stop a robbery at a jewelry store. She had donned her skin-tight white cat suit and mask before casting an illusion of an old woman across her own face and, thus, had become the new hero Illusia. It had taken her three minutes to get to the store and two to find herself struggling to breathe on the floor. The attack had been swift, merciless, and unnecessarily painful.

      A pair of black boots landed directly in front of Mina's face as her vision started to clear and she looked up, following the muscular legs that sprouted from the boots up to a man's waist. Eventually her gaze made it to meet the green eyes of a well known super villain - Venom. He stared down at her and she up at him, neither of them moving an inch. The pain from the blow to her stomach lingered, but unlike the rumors she had heard about this man's main power, she could feel the throbbing start to ebb away.

    "...you..." the man muttered, his voice low and almost seductive.

    With a start, Mina realized that her illusion had vanished from her face. While the mask would hide most of it, those who were determined may be able to find out who she was. She reacted without thinking. From her spot on the ground, lashed out with one of her legs, sweeping Venom off his feet and throwing him to the ground.

          The villain went down with a grunt and she swiftly rolled away, straight into a pile of glass left behind from when Venom had first entered the shop. She struggled to her feet, but Venom beat her and had a hand on her shoulder. He shoved her down to the ground simply with his strength alone. His entire body was covered in black save for his eyes which gleamed threateningly as Mina tried to struggle free.

     "What is a thing like you doing here?" Venom growled, coming across as furious.

   "That's what I want you to answer! This isn't your territory!" Mina snarled, struggling not to let her fear take control of her.

     She grabbed his wrist and twisted away from him. He let her go and stared down at her as she crouched on the floor defensively. Her legs were shaking too much for her to actually stand. She weighed her options; she could use an illusion to try to escape or maybe even delay him long enough for a super more his match to show up. And she had to wonder; what was he even doing robbing a no-name jewelry shop?

     The two were at a standstill for too long.

    "Holy-! It's Venom!"

     "Isn't he supposed to be like...a thousand miles away in Asu?"

     "Who's that he's fighting?"

     "Oh wow, I'm going to be famous on TubeYou with this!"

     A crowd had started to gather outside the shop when they heard the fighting die down. They had assumed it safe to approach. Phones were out and recording and all the blood drained from Mina's face. She had worked hard to get to the point she was at. She had basically been the company slave for two years until she was 18 - old enough legally to become a hero. Before that, she had escaped from the hold of her father, a Tyrant in a little Zone town no one cared about, after years of abuse.

      And with this coverage of her failing to even stand up to Venom...she was likely doomed.

     Venom glanced at the gathered crowd and then down at the woman at his feet. She had fully turned away from him, what skin he could see as white as paper. Seeing this, he became irritated and turned toward the crowd. Screams erupted and people scattered in an absolute panic as the villain made his way to leave. On his way out, he paused to smash his fish into a display case, shattering it, and pulled something out before calmly walking out into the city and vanishing.

     Mina stared wide - eyed at the last place she had seen the intimidating man before she collected herself. People were starting to gather again and now she could hear sirens. She swiftly collected her thoughts and forced herself to her feet. By some miracle, she managed to look unshaken as she stood to shoo the regathering crowd from the front of the store. She would have to stick around to make sure nothing else happened until the police could get things under control.