Heroes and Villains Never go well together

chapter 2

Rain starts to pour down from the now dark sky as the five villains seek shelter in an abandoned house in the forest, there weren't any chairs so they had to sit on the wooden porch for the meantime “We can't stay here for long. They're surely searching for us.” The Pharaoh says before turning to the Explorer “What were you thinking?! You're lucky we saw what blasphemy they were putting on the news and rushed in quick to save you!” the leader scolded.

The Napoleon agreed “Yeah, if we weren't working together we would've left you there to rot.” the other two nod and look at the Explorer with a scowl. The explorer takes off his cowboy hat, revealing neat and tidy hair underneath. He rests the hat next to him “I'm sorry, I just--”

“Sorry isn't going to cut it! We're all doing this for two reasons, for money and control over the city. I don't want you screwing up again next time, you hear?!” the explorer reluctantly nods his head.

“Boss, we should go now.” Scarface–the one who was wearing mafia typed clothes– said.The Pharaoh heaved a sigh “Yes, we should go now.”
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Jedediah locks the door quietly, trying not to wake any of his brothers up. He tries his best not to produce any loud footsteps but it seems his older brother was aware of his arrival.

“And where were you, Jj?” Jedediah turns his head to the small dining table to see Austin– Jedediah's older brother– standing there.

Jed tries to hide his face by just gazing downwards the ground, but Austin walks closer to him “Jed, i know where Augustus hit you so you don't need to hide it from me.”

Austin reaches his hands to inspect Jedediah's face but he hesitates “It's alright Augie” Austin continues to reach for Jedediah's face.

“Didn't I tell you to stop doing this? You don't need to keep this up Jj.” his older brother said in an attempt to comfort his younger brother, but Jedediah only furrows his eyebrows “There you are again, when you don't like something I say you furrow your brows and put a big ass frown on your face.”

“I need to do this Tintin, you can't support us all by yourself!” the blonde said exclaiming, Austin just shakes his head “No Jed, I'm perfectly capable of making money for the four of us.” Jedediah stays silent, as Austin leads him to the dining table and sits him down on a chair.

“... How's Ira?” the blonde asked in an unhappy tone. Austin doesn't say anything for a moment, reaching for the medical kit, before muttering out “... He was a bit scared earlier.” Jedediah furrows his brows even more.

Earlier at the bank, the child who cheered for Augustus was Ira Smith, the youngest Smith brother. “I didn't knew he'd be there...”

“Me either, and I sure as hell didn't knew you'd be robbing a bank again after my last scolding.” Austin poured some hot water into a bowl and soaked a cloth in it for a while before trying his best to grab it and dry it off but due to the hot water, it'll be a difficult task for him to do.

“I sure can't stop you from becoming the Explorer again, but please, we don't need you to do any ill will to the city just for money.” Austin stated, after successfully grabbing the wet cloth and drying it.

“I still wanna bring bread to the table Aussie. And to pay for both Peter and Ira's tuition.” Austin just makes a “tsk” sound before rubbing the wet cloth on the bruised cheek.

“I said it already and I'll say it a million times just to get it through your head. I can support the family even if it's just myself working.”

Jedediah stayed silent once more, letting his older brother nurse his bruises.
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Octavius walks home, a distraught feeling gnawing him inside. He shouldn't have looked so gullible in that interrogation room, now the Explorer might think he's easy to fool.