Hellfire on the Other Side Book 2

Chapter 6

   "Why are we just walking through the forest to find your bike? Couldn't you have just teleported us there?" Charlene groans. "C'mon! It's Scotland! How often are we gonna be able to see such beautiful scenery?" Shane answers. Shane and Charlene are heading back home from visiting Merida and her twin nieces in Scotland. Their names are Maebh and Mikaeh. They've been raised by Merida their whole lives, since no one really knows which of Merida's triplet brothers they belong to. Unlike their aunt, Maebh and Mikaeh are really interested in bears and magic, respectively. They have an older brother that takes after Merida's interests, but no one in the family acknowledges him. "Well, you have a point there," says Charlene. "So we're looking for a big, round shadow, right?" "Affirmative. Shouldn't be too far," says Shane.

   Deep in the forest, a young man with curly ginger hair lurks, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He raises his bow and arrow, aims at Shane's head, then shoots. Fortunately, Shane manages to stop himself and Charlene before the arrow hits him. The arrow ends up in a tree next to them, but not before lightly grazing Charlene right above her left eye. She winces in pain, then covers it. "What the heck?! Where did that arrow come from?" Shane looks at the arrow closely. "I think I know where," he says. "Show yourself, or this is gonna get ugly!" The young man emerges from deep within the forest, holding his bow in his hand. He is wearing a long, green trench coat with one of his arms exposed. "Well, well, well. So the rumors are true," he says in a heavy Scottish accent. "The son of Dr. Facilier's gone full hero. What brings you here to Scotland?" Shane heals Charlene's wound with a snap, leaving behind a small scar. "Thanks, Shane," says Charlene. The young man prances about. "Shane! Why, that's a wonderful name! But how about I call you 'Shaney'? That sound good?" he says. "Who are you?" asks Shane. "What? My family didn't say anything about me? Well, I'm not surprised. They consider me a disgrace. My name's Midas. I'm Maebh and Mikaeh's older brother." Charlene holds onto Shane tightly. "Well, that explains the arrow," says Shane. "You can keep that, by the way. I've got thousands at home. I make them myself," says Midas.

   Shane pulls the arrow from the tree. "What's your problem, Midas?" asks Charlene. Midas faces Charlene and strides over to her. He lifts up her head and gets chuckles sinisterly. "Ooh, what a fine young lass. Is she with you, Shaney?" Shane tenses up. "Just over two years," he replies with a hint of anger. No one touches Charlene, unless they want to suffer a fate worse than death. Midas sigh dejectedly. "Shame. Oh, the things I'd do to her," he says, ending with a flirtatious growl. Charlene scoffs and elbows Midas in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards while clutching his gut. "Ooh, a feisty one! That combined with her incredibly buxom looks. Oh, you picked a good one, Shaney." Charlene draws her sword and points it at Midas. "Back off, you creep!" Midas laughs maniacally. "Oh, Shaney, if you're into girls like her, why are you wasting your time being a hero? It's a known fact that the villain dames are always the hottest," he teases.

   Charlene yells as she swings her sword, cutting Midas's exposed arm. She catches a glimpse of a pin on his coat that ways "VS" as he scowls at her. "I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm a Hero Kid turned villain," he says. "I didn't even think they existed," says Charlene, sheathing her sword. "Unfortunately, just as not all VKs want to be villains, not all HKs want to be heroes," Shane sighs. "I wasn't always a pure villain, though. I was just so sick and tired of constantly having to do the right thing. I wanted to cause a little bit of trouble. I'm sure you're familiar with the name Markus, right?" Shane points his cane at Midas after the name drop. "What do you know about him?" he inquires. "The takeover of France. I was there when it started, and I was there when it ended," says Midas. I bumped into him once. Tried to fight him, but it didn't end well. Wanna know why only one of my arms is completely covered up?" He pulls back the sleeve on his covered arm, revealing a bad bruise. The work of Markus, no doubt. Shane and Charlene are left speechless. "I got a taste of his incredible power, and that was the decisive moment. The moment I started my path to pure villainy. And I'm not the only one. There's a lot more out there like me. And they're all coming to destroy you traitorous wastes of flesh!" Midas takes out a smoke bomb. "For Villainy!" He throws down the smoke bomb, then vanishes without a trace.