Chapter 4
“Me?” she asked timidly.
“Of course. That is why I said you” the woman said with a smile. But something about that smile, seemed, sinister. She wore huge platform boots and something that looked like a dark purple leotard, with a large vine in the form of a V on it. She had a long flowing cloak and her dark purple hair seemed to have a life of its own, it flowed around when she walked like a creeping shadow. Marissa noticed her skin seemed to be almost tinted purple. She was attractive, but not in the same way as Mirage. She was a more intimidating kind of attractive.
“What do you want with me?” She asked.
“To bring you on a path to greatness.”
“Excuse me?”
“Here.” She put her hand on Marissa’s shoulder and snapped her finger. All of a sudden, they were in a huge dark room with dark purple walls and a large throne at the end.
“Are you a super?” she asked. The woman laughed.
“You catch on for someone so powerful.”
“I’m powerful?”
“Marissa, darling! If I didn’t think you where powerful, why would I bring you here?”
“Wait, how do you know my name?”
“I think we are getting off the subject.” She sat in the throne. “My name is Vertax. have a wonderful offer for you. I want you to join me in my work.”
“Superheroing?” The woman laughed again.
“No, darling! Just the opposite.”
“I’m not gonna be a supervillan!”
“I like to think of it as having ‘ambition not for the greater whole’.”
“So selfishness.”
“Selfishness!?! If you are a superhero, thats all you serve! Stuck up, snobby people who pay no attention to you until they are in trouble, until THEY need help! Then if for one time you don’t save them, for one time you think about yourself, they tag you as selfish and undependable! Is that what you WANT? And those MEN! All of those male superheros. Those old comic books have brainwashed them to think that all women supers need to be cared for and protected. Well it is not so! Do you want to spend you life being a servant to idiots like them?”
“No.”
“Then join me!”
“But what about the Parrs? They did take me in.”
“And what have they taught you?”
“Well, nothing yet. But I’ve only been there for a day-”
“A day that was wasted! One day can quickly turn into ten, and that can turn into a year!” Her tone softened.
“And think about their friend. She killed your mom. Most likely your dad, too. How can you trust their word if they can’t seem to pick healthy friends?”
“I guess…”
“And if you stay with me, you can be my predecessor. All this will be yours! This huge castle! My multi millions!”
“That would be nice.”
“All you have to do is join me.”
Marissa reached out and hesitated.
“Come on, child. You will never have to worry about anything again. No people to answer to. No laws to follow. Only fun.”
The girl reached out and shook her hand.