"Mm." Shea hummed, her eyes never leaving the estate. "Any traps, guards, bloodthirsty dogs?" She shoved her hands casually into the tiny pockets of her jacket, leather boots hitting soft green grass as she walked. The scenery wasn't much. Endless green hills stretched on and on, only disturbed by the occasional grove of trees and a ranch house. It looked too peaceful to be the lair of a maniacal villain.
"No dogs, at the least. Don't look to me, though, things changed constantly while I was here." The only reason Hailstrom hadn't been killed by one of the traps was that his father was the one directly controlling everything he did. They wished they'd just been allowed to die. This place… it inspired no peace in the vigilante.
"Hmm. Mystery box then." Shea continued her trek, just a few steps ahead of Hailstrom. "It'll be a surprise. It'll be freakin' great." Her stupid smile never left her face, and she was sure that her grin shone through the reflective visor of her helmet.
"No, it won't." Hailstrom couldn't believe how Shea was handling this. This wasn't some romp through the woods, they were facing down one of the most powerful villains in the world- and one who could control Hailstrom just by looking at them.
"You need to lighten up." Shea stepped on top of a fallen tree, momentarily balancing one-footed before landing on the other side of the log. Now Shea wasn't stupid - dense at times, but never stupid. She could feel Hailstrom's uneasiness grow as they neared the estate, so she dealt with it the only way she knew how. Blunt, blind, and painfully bright confidence.
"Because this is something to be light about," Hailstrom snapped back. They couldn't quite bring themself to look at the building they knew their father was in, hand clenching and unclenching as he calmed himself down. He could handle this. He had to.
"Okay," Shea replied with a near-hysterical laugh. She decided that it was best that the two vigilantes travel in silence for the last bit of the trip and closed her mouth. She had absolutely zero experience when it came to this new villain, but Shea was always one to overcome any hurdle that the cruel higher power through at her. She wasn't one to back down from a challenge; this was just a fairly large one that could potentially end in disaster.
Why did she have to laugh like that? This was serious. They could both easily die in there, but she found that funny. This man had most of Europe under his control, could steal free will with a glance- and she was laughing!! They were both going to die here…
Shea was silent for the rest of the walk to the estate. The braincells she usually used for talking were now forwarded to the awareness department. Her eyes scanned the peaceful landscape, the air was cool and crisp and the only sound were the footsteps behind her and her own. Who would've guessed that an evil mastermind chose this beautiful and green countryside for their lair. The media always liked to depict evil headquarters as dark, musty and usually located at the bottom of the ocean or in a volcano. This… This was a clear outlier to those stereotypes.
What use was hiding when anyone who came to challenge you could so easily be defeated?
"…I want to burn this place to the ground," Hailstrom said softly under his breath.
(sorry I disappeared for a month I was just in a funk… Hopefully, I'll be able to be more active on these!!)
"I didn't strike you as an arsonist, Frosty," Shea chuckled, shoving her hands into her pockets and sparing a glance back at the other vigilante. The phrase Hailstrom had muttered was near-silent, but Shea didn't miss it. Despite her outwardly aggressive, sarcastic, and brash personality, she was actually quite skilled and intelligent beneath.
(ahahaha… yeah, hopefully I'm gonna be more active too–)
"I'm not, usually." Hailstrom took a deep breath. "Now, are we going to get this done or not?" They didn't care anymore, they decided. No matter what happened in there, it would only go one of two ways, and no matter which one occurred, this would be over for him.