"Yea, maybe around 4 or 5." She suggested. Around that time, she believed the rides were the nicest and she could see the city clearly, without heat blasting down on her, in between crowds of sweaty and dirty people. Veronica quickly finished her food and resumed watching the movie. Once again, she fell asleep, belly full, and very sated.
“That sounds good with me too.” She turned her attention back to the movie. After a little while, it ended. Noticing her roommate had once again fallen asleep, she collected her food container and put it with her own on their coffee table, too lazy to get up. Turning off the tv, she leaned back and stared off into space, daydreaming. Eventually, she drifted off as well.
Time skip
Veronica woke up with her arms around Clove and her legs over the beanbag chair. She immediately realized that she needed to get to her hideout and plan for her fight with Zodiac. She carefully retracted herself from Clove and ran up to her room to get changed for the day.
Clove groaned slightly after Veronica left, her main source of heat gone. She honestly enjoyed cuddling with her, feeling safe. A few minutes of burrowing down under the blanket later, she forced herself awake. Seeing the sunlight already spilling into the apartment, she went to her bag and grabbed her super suit before walking to the bathroom to take a shower.
Veronica quickly brushed her teeth and combed her hair before grabbing her suit and running downstairs for a quick breakfast. She scarfed down her cereal, threw her bowl in the sink, and slammed the door in her rush.
(BTW, If you wanted to know, her villain name would be Imposter just because it sounds cool)
Stepping out of the shower, Clove wrapped her hair in a towel before pulling on her super suit, then throwing on a sweater and pair of jeans until she left the house. Hearing the door slam, she smiled, thinking Veronica must be late for something. Finishing with her hair and makeup, Clove walked out into their kitchen and quickly ate a granola bar. Grabbing her hero mask, she walked outside, locking the door on her way out.
((Oml that is super cool!! ^^))
Veronica got in her car and zoomed off to her hideout. She was planning on trapping Zodiac before blackmailing her into doing what she wanted. When she got to her hideout, she immediately stepped down the stairs and into the lab where her serum was waiting. She was going to take the hero's mask off and use that as blackmail and if it didn't work, well, that was what the serum was for.
Clove thought hard while she took the bus to the police station. She knew she was going to fight Imposter today. Today would be the day that she would try to end it all. This fight had been going on for too long, and the Villain behind the mask needed to be put to justice. She sighed thinking about it. Finally at her stop, she got off the bus and went into a public restroom to take off her sweater and pants. She walked across the road and entered the police station, a hard day full of file reading ahead of her.
Veronica quickly changed out of her day clothes and put on her suit while preparing a trap for Zodiac. She had a realistic hologram of herself talking about plans that she doesn't have and then would lure her closer into a hole covered very well. It would shoot her down a chute through the city and into her lab. They'd then be seated into a chair and their mask would be removed.
Clove sighed. She ran a hand through her long gold hair. Looking over the files laying open over the floor around her lap, she slumped over a little, feeling completely defeated. An hour and a half of reading and she still had no clues as to where to find her. She glanced up as the door opened to see a young cadet walk through. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, but slightly cringed away, looking intimidated. If only they knew that she was really a teenage nerdy girl all signs of respect and intimidation would be gone. She laughed quietly, before starting to pack up the files, ready to check camera footage.
Veronica sat down in the chair, tired from all the planning and work but happy for when Zodiac would fall for her trap. She leaned back and sighed quickly while calling down her bots to clean-up around the place. It would only be a few minutes before the hero came in and attempted to save hostages when they were really just more holograms. When they figured that out, along with the other part of the plan, it would be too late because Veronica planned to have them restrained the second they got a hint of that. When the bots were done, she got up and stretched her legs while adjusting her suit, ready for the hero to enter any minute now.
()Should I just timeskip to her falling into the trap??))
yea.//
Clove had no idea how it all went wrong. One minute she was reviewing security tapes, the next she was trying to save hostages and getting herself trapped in the process. Well, luckily, they weren’t real hostages, or the real Imposter. It was all holograms. Of course, Clove was too stupid to notice that until she was half way down the hidden trap chute. Now restrained to a chair, she fought against the straps holding her in place, knowing she needed to get out of there before the villain arrived.
Veronica purposely clicked her boot heels as she went down the stairs just to cause suspense. "So, it finally worked. I finally managed to catch a hero." She said, knowing it was cliche how villains would just surround the hero, tell them their plan and then kill them. "Don't worry though, I'm not going to kill you, or even hurt you in the slightest." Veronica got closer to the Zodiac's face and placed her hands under their chin. She lifted it up slowly while placing her other hand on their mask, keeping it there, not moving it up, just building more suspense. "I'm just going to remove your mask and you're gonna have to abide by what I say, or the world is going to know who you are and your life will be ruined."
Veronica moved back into her chair and sat while motioning a bot over to remove the mask. She quickly got her camera ready to take a picture just as it was being done. Veronica left the camera there as the bot removed the mask and rolled her chair to her desk to type something up. When she rolled back, she didn't look at Zodiac yet and absentmindedly turned off the camera. She took the SD card out and then finally looked up to the unmasked hero. She suddenly dropped the camera and card while her mouth stood agape.
Clove gave up trying to break away from the chair. It was too late now anyway. Cringing away from the villain and the bot, she jumped when she heard the camera hit the floor. Trying to give herself a more powerful demeanor, she leaned forward against the restraints and spat out, “What’s wrong!? What do you want from me!? What did I ever do to you!? It’s you’re own fault that you even have to hide from the law!” She hoped that this would scare the Imposter in the slightest. Now her whole life would be ruined. Maybe if she stalled her long enough someone would find her… Glancing at the ground, Clove noticed the SD care within her reach. She subtly reached her boot out and tried to grab the card, so maybe she could make it out with part of her identity intact.
"…Clove?" Veronica said, still in doubt that that was who Zodiac was. She didn't even care that she was trying to get the SD card. It was the only thing she managed to get out before she went back to the state she was in before. Veronica contemplated if she should remove her own mask but decided against it and only turned off her voice modifier.
Clove froze. She forgot about trying to get the SD card and looked up at the Villain. She started shaking, anxiety setting in. “How… How do you know my name!?!!” Panic laced her voice. Now that they were aware of who she was… Her entire life and career was ruined. She’d probably have to fake her own death or something. Although… Imposters voice… Something about it without the modifier sounded so familiar.. She continued to stare at them, trying to figure out what was going on.
Veronica ran her fingers through her hair and put her head in her hands, thinking of how she should handle the situation. She looked away from Zodiac,- no, Clove, and turned her chair around, not facing her. She took off her mask and stayed like that for a minute before turning around to reveal herself.
The suspense of the whole situation killing her, Clove wasn’t quite sure if it was any better after they finally turned around. A loud gasp escaped her. Confusion bright in her eyes, she hardly whispered, “Veronica…?” It was more of a question than a statement.
Veronica lifted her head up without speaking a word. "Yea…" She finally locked eyes with Clove, seeing the disbelief in her eyes. She got up from her chair and walked over to Clove, removing her restraints. She didn't look at her at all while doing it and when she was done she turned around, not able to meet her eyes again.
After she was released, Clove instantly jumped to her feet. “Veronica… Why? Why…. why did you do this? Why did you never tell me? We could have.. worked things out.. I could have helped you…” Her voice was choppy, and it sounded like she might cry any second. Eyes burning, she blinked quickly, keeping the tears back. She had no clue why, but a huge feeling of betrayal filled her. She reached out and grabbed Veronica’s hand, trying to get her friends attention and have her turn around.
Veronica turned around but still didn't even look at Clove. She looked down to he feet and began explaining. "I- I had to do it because…" She choked on her words a bit, it was hard admitting why and she really didn't want to say it but she owed it to Clove. "Because I… was jealous. You had everything and I wanted some of it, the fame, the money, you had it all and the only way I could do it was by…" She trailed off because she didn't want to say it out loud. She figured Clove understood what she was trying to say. "It's embarrassing, that's why I didn't tell you." She finally looked up to see her face, tears were begging to come out of Clove's eyes, and she could see the anger and disappointment.
Cloves eyes flicked across her friends face. Out of everyone in the world, Veronica was the person she thought she knew best, the one she could trust with anything, and now… Seeing the embarrassment etched on her face, she leaned in and tightly hugged her, feeling it was the only fitting response. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that Veronica was “evil”, or that she had done some bad things, she was still her best friend. She was still the person that she had eaten Chinese food with late last night. Nothing changed that for her. A few of the tears spilled out, and she hid her face in Veronica’s shoulder.
"I'm sorry." It was the only thing she managed to get out before she started silent crying too . She betrayed her friend's trust and did cruel things just for her own benefit. She returned the hug and buried herself in Clove's shoulder. Veronica silently vowed to herself never to do anything like she did ever again and work thing out in the future.
Clove hugged her tighter, then started to rub her back. Quietly hushing her, she whispered, “Shh, it’s all gonna be okay.. I promise..” To be honest though, she wasn’t sure if it was a promise she could keep. As more tears ran down her face, her mind started working, trying to think of ways that she could help her. If anyone revealed her friend… She’d for sure spend a lifetime in jail. No matter what it took, Clove would make sure that wouldn’t happen.
"Are you going to turn me in?" She asked, now worried about what would happen after this. If she was being honest to herself, she deserved it. She deserved 32 life sentences for all that she did. She wrecked havoc on the city, separated tons of families, and lost many resources.
Clove pulled back a little bit and held onto her shoulders. “Of course not.. I never would.” She had a look of sincerity, and she wished there was a way she could better vocalize the way she was feeling. “You’re my best friend… I couldn’t..”
"But I did horrendous things to you! How can you just forgive me for that?!" Veronica said, still in denial as to how Clove could still look at her the same way as she did before. "I deserve to go to jail for what I did. All those people need justice. If I don't go, how else are they going to see what needs to be done?"
She sighed, then looked at the floor. “Those people don’t know you the way I do.. Sure, you did some horrible things, but maybe the most justice you can give them is by changing yourself for the better and healing past wounds..” Squeezing her shoulders, she finally looked up and met her eyes again.