#hirra

The Masked Mender was slowly walking through an alley on one of her day patrols. This was one she had without Lady Alexandria, so it had been fairly boring without the older hero's company. Mender yawned as she caught the last glimpse of the summer sun before it went behind the mountain. Turning left at the next corner, she walked further into the slowly darkening alley.

After turning another corner, this time to the right; as she often liked to make patterns when she did solo patrols to make things a bit more enjoyable; she suddenly spotted something ahead. Instantly, she was awake and alert… ish. She's more alert than previously, but still not fully awake. Moving closer, she sees that the item is just a random floating knife, with a small sticky note attached to it. In a messy scrawl, “hold on to me :3” was written. 

Any other day, Mender would have laughed at it! But today… today had been too long. So she took it before even slightly thinking about it (maybe she wasn't that alert at all).

Studying it in her hand, she mumbled to herself  “It looks like one of Hirra’s knives, what is this doing here—”

Her train of thought was cut off by surprise. Out of nowhere, the dagger had suddenly begun to move! Mender got dragged along by the knife as it shot up into the air, and then hit a nearby pipe with a loud twang! The echoes through the alleyways made the noises even more deafening, something Mender's exhausted mind did not appreciate. 

As the sound faded, Mender tried to figure out what on earth just happened. But she was soon distracted by another sound. 

Giggling. 

There was a mad giggling close by, and Mender did not need to see the person to figure out whose it was. 

“HIRRA!” she yelled, tuning around as steadily as they could.

Hirra was down on the ground, giggling like a child. “You should have seen your face!” was all she was able to say in-between more laughing.

“Hirra! Seriously, why would you?! Wait… ” It was at this moment Mender realised it, she turned back to the knife and tried to let go… but she couldn't… “You used superglue on your knife?!” 

“Oh, don’t be so mad!” Hirra said, having finally got over her mad giggle. While starting to take a few celebratory selfies. “I just needed you out of the way for the bank robbery tonight!” At that, she began to move backwards, so Mender couldn't kick at her. 

After a few failed attempts to break free, Mender finally processed what the other sidekick had said. “So… you are planning to rob the bank… again?” Mender asked casually, as if she wasn't currently trapped.

“Yeah!” Hirra yelled, clearly proud of herself. 

“Huh…” was all that Hirra got back, making her turn her head back up from her phone, to the trapped sidekick. But by the time Hirra realised what was about to happen, it was already too late.

Mender had quickly and quietly taken her phone (only one hand was trapped) and dialled Lady Alexandria. “Hey, Alexandria. Just going to inform you, Hirra is planning a bank robbery tonight. She is currently at-” 

There was a loud “HEY! That’s cheating!” from Hirra, but Mender just smiled at her smugly. 

“Lady Alexandria will be here in 15 minutes so you get a small headstart.”

A tired and monotone voice spoke "Welcome to Nizorro Blimp News with Dawn and Dima." The usual studio logo and jingle quickly flashed on the screens, before cutting to a pan of the anchors on the blimp. 

“Coming to you live from the news blimp, this is your eye in the sky…” Dima started but quickly stopped, looking over confused at their co-host. “Dawn?”

“Oh... um… Hello, goodmoring, and hi...” Dawn said in a sleepy and exhausted tone. 

“Yes, folks, as you can see it’s been a long night in the news blimp,” Dima said, trying to sound like her normal self. “This is the 8 o'clock morning news.”

Dima braced herself so she could calmly deliver the next words, “First off, an update on the Masked Mender case. It has now been a full 12 hours since the disappearance of the hero sidekick, The Masked Mender. Mender went missing during their patrol last evening. Her last known location was close to Monument Street at 19:37, where she reported that she had begun the tracking of known villain, The Shadow Man, who is still the main suspect in this case.” Dima looked over at her unusually quiet co-host; she could tell that Dawn was clearly worried. 

“All available heroes are still out searching, but there has been no official update from the agency. However there has been a rumour that Lady Alexandria has gotten in contact with Hirra, Masked Mender’s long-time rival and Shadow Man’s very own sidekick. No one knows if the rumours are true, or what it means if they are, but we can only hope for the best. And we will update you all as soon as we can…” 

 ❘〣❘〣❘★ Enemy of my enemy: Part 4 ★❘〣❘〣❘

“Get a move on!” the henchman yelled as he dragged Mender out of the small cell and in among the group. Mender, confused and scared, still tried her best to get an overview of the situation. But as soon as she and Shadows were out the door they were both blinded by sharp spotlights. 

The last they saw was a glimpse of Dragonfly who had begun to fly around the room, while his men cheered him on. 

Mender let out a small yelp in pain as the henchman suddenly made a hard tug on her shoulder. She wasn't sure if the henchman was doing it on purpose, as her entire body was beginning to feel sensitive from the powers suppressing cuffs draining her healing powers. 

After another push, she and Shadows fell forward, landing on their knees in the middle of the room. There was a wince from Shadows as he hit the floor next to her, clearly still in pain from the beating earlier. The cheering only grew louder and, looking around, it seemed that Dragonfly had gathered every henchman he had to the old warehouse they were in. Clearly, Dragonfly wanted to make a show out of whatever he was planning.

Then, all the cheering stopped as Dragonfly landed in front of the two captives. The atmosphere was thick as he smirked down at them. Suddenly, he yelled “Tie these two up!” 

The people on the floor above them cheered as the group below swarmed Mender and Shadows. The henchmen made quick work of the two despite them trying to get loose from all the ropes binding them in place.

“Hoist them up!” Dragonfly yelled, now from above them.

Mender's stomach made a jump as she lost touch with the ground. Normally, she wouldn't mind, as she often lept from building to building, but when it was by someone else's will, it was unnerving. Shadows, however, still had his quips, it seemed, “Really? Dangling over a pit? You’re just as unoriginal a villain as you were a hero!” he yelled as they came to a halt, hanging together in mid air.

“Bold words from someone at my mercy. Besides, it's not unoriginal, it's a classic!” Dragonfly answered smugly.

It was only now that Mender noticed that the power suppressing cuffs had finally been taken off, not that it was of much help to either of them now. They were both exhausted from the after effects; Shadows couldn't use his shadow-teleportation abilities, and Mender's body was ever so slowly healing itself. There was no chance either of them could escape that way, and it seemed neither had a backup plan. 

“Classic? Ha!” Shadows laughed. 

This confused Mender, ‘How can he laugh at this?’ she thought.

“So you like classic? What's next, then, Grandpa?” he mocked. “Gonna bind Mender to the railroad? Or bring out the shark tank? Ooh, or maybe piranhas, which is stupid by the way. Most can't even hurt humans. But, hey, you're too dumb to know tha–"

“Shut it!” Dragonfly snapped. “I’m only doing it as it’s needed to demonstrate the true power of the most dangerous weapon ever created!” Dragonfly tried to sound threatening, but he was clearly still salty from the insults.

“What do you even stand to gain from this?” Mender asked, before yelling  “Besides making an enemy out of everyone – both heroes and villains!” 

“Because, little one,” Dragonfly snickered, as he flew close to Mender’s face, “You can’t have fame without enemies!” 

“Of course, you can!” Shadow said, kicking in the air to make him and Mender rotate so he faced Dragonfly. “You just need time and discipline. Two things you sorely lack!” 

“I do have both time and discipline!” Dragonfly snapped back at Shadows. “Do you really think it was easy to track down Professor Andaka? NO! It took months of hard work!” 

“Professor Andaka?” Mender thought out loud. “Wait, it was you who kidnapped and killed Professor Andaka?! Why? What could you possibly stand to gain from that?” she said as the dots were now forming in her head. They still weren't connecting though. But Dragonfly just chuckled darkly, sending shivers up Mender's spine.

“Ah, yes. Almost forgot that you were a hero sidekick. With the way Shadows seems to protect you, one would almost think that you were his kid instead. Bet you heard a thing or two about good old Andaka and the Emanation and Growth Genesis, the last few weeks” he smirked at Mender’s face that was now filled with horror – clearly she did, she knew exactly what was about to happen to them.

He continued. “Professor Andaka, was a weak fool for not understanding the gift given to him.” 

“Professor Andaka was a better man than you’ll ever be!” Shadows yelled, far angrier than Mender had ever heard him before. Ane if she could've seen him, she would've noticed his watery eyes. 

“Oof, touchy subject there? Forgot that you actually looked up to that old fool.” Dragonfly said mockingly as he flew further away from the two captives. “Not my fault he never succeeded, all I did was take what he started and bring it over the finish line! Now, let’s show it to them!” he yelled at the engineers below.

On cue, the tall curtains opened up, finally revealing the corruption of Andaka’s dream. Shadow looked horrified. “In the notebook of that old coot,” Dragonfly began monologuing, “he talked about the struggle to suppress the E.G.G.'s powers. When activated, it would drain any and all Aura out of a person, leaving nothing but a petrified statue, but for some reason, he seemed to think that it was a problem. I disagree. It was never and will never be a tool because it’s a weapon! And I am not a coward for being willing to use it!”

“Only a coward would resort to killing unless absolutely necessary! You are an evil excuse for a person!” Mender yelled and while she couldn't see it, Shadows gave a small smile at that one. But Dragonfly ignored her as he signalled the engineers, who all began the activation process.

“I wonder who will be brave enough to call me a coward when I become the most powerful and famous villain in the world! And what a start to my legacy: to be known as the villain who finally defeated the legendary Shadow Wraith!”

“Sir, we are ready to go in 120 seconds!” the main engineer called out. 

“Start the countdown,” Dragonfly ordered back before turning to the other two. “Shame how the little hero fledgeling ended up mixed up in all this.” He said in a mocking tone “I don’t need a healer right now, and the ransom that the agency is willing to pay for the return of a sidekick is just not worth the work. So, off she goes. But it’s nothing personal, just villain business.”

“That’s not true!” Mender yelled, but before she could continue, Dragonfly had already soared out of range. She felt her heart pound against her chest as all the henchmen began chanting along with the numbers. Then in all the panic, she suddenly felt a hand. 

“Hey…” Shadows said in a soft voice as he grabbed her other hand. 

“Are monsters good at maths?” he asked.

“What?” Mender replied, confused.

“Not unless you Count Dracula…” 

Mender’s panic seemed to subside a little, replaced with confusion. ‘Egging on a villain with the power to end you is one thing, but now he’s making maths jokes?!’

60 seconds... 59 seconds... 58 seconds... 

“Sorry” He said after some silence, “force of habit… I always joke with Hirra in stressful or dangerous situations… helps calm her nerves. Also, I’m not giving Dragonfly any more attention. So yeah…”

“I see...” Mender answered, thinking a bit before asking, “um… do you have any more jokes?” 

Mender was not sure, but she could almost feel Shadows smiling as he began, “Who’s the king of the pencil case?”

42 seconds… 41 seconds… 40 seconds... 

“I don’t know? Who’s the king of the pencil case?”

“The ruler.” Shadow said, smiling as he felt Mender begin to relax.

Then there was a sudden “Hey, what are you doing! You're supposed to be crying about the fact that you’re about to DIE!” Dragonfly yelled as he noticed that neither of them were focusing on the situation. 

35 seconds... 34 seconds… 33 seconds…

But before he was able to take Mender’s concentration Shadow started again louder this time “What’s the smartest kind of tree? A geomeTREE!” At that Mender gave a small giggle; geometry had been her favourite kind of math in high school.

So… when Dragonfly yelled “STOP!”... 

Of course, he did one more. 

“Do you know why seven eight nine?”

“Why?”

19 seconds… 18 seconds… 17 seconds… 

“Because you’re supposed to eat three square meals a day!”

He knew he had her, as Mender began laughing out loud. And the angry yelling from Dragonfly became an incoherent mess. “ARRRR!!! Shut up! STOP LAUGHING!!! YOU LITTLE—”

3 seconds… 2 seconds… 1 second… 

The entire building shook and smoke filled the room. For a few seconds, Mender thought she had truly died as the shock wave hit her and Shadows, sending them swinging backwards in full force. As Mender's ears were finally able to hear again, the first thing she was greeted with was a loud scream “NOOOOOOO! My weapon!” turning around Mender saw Dragonfly land by the rubble of what was once his master weapon. 

Mender looked down in shock as the engineers shakily got back on their feet “What happened?” one of them asked.

“The idiot probably built it wrong,” Shadows said smugly. There was still smoke coming from the machine and people were running about everywhere. The two looked down at Dragonfly as he tried to get a grip on what happened. 

Then, there was suddenly another loud bang coming from one of the walls of the base! “Oh, great! It's really my day!” Dragonfly cried as he jumped into the air and began to soar. All eyes shot upwards just in time for someone to break through. 

“Alexandria!” Mender and Shadows beamed when Lady Alexandria came into view. 

“And Hirra too!” Hirra yelled, smiling, as she appeared from behind Lady Alexandria with her favourite sword in her hand. 

“You brought Hirra? Here?” Shadows' look of gratefulness was replaced by a deadly glare. Lady Alexandria was unfazed though. 

“Sorry, but she just wouldn't take no for an answer!” she said, shrugging. Before turning her focus to Dragonfly who had moved up all the way to Shadows and Mender “You better have a good explanation for this!” she yelled out to him.

“What, I am just trying to deal with two trespassers, nothing out of the ordinary,” Dragonfly waved dismissively. “And I guess now I have more pests to deal with.” 

Suddenly, he signalled to his guards, who began charging at them. They were quick, but Alexandria was quicker. Wasting no time, she grabbed her famous shield and tossed it at full speed towards Dragonfly who went down with a bang at the other side of the room.

Then, just before the henchmen was about to reach them both, she grabbed onto Hirra and tossed her into the air towards Mender and Shadows. Soaring through the air, she cut through the main rope in one slice. The only thing Hirra heard as she continued in her forward momentum was Mender screaming as she fell backward on top of Shadows after he fell to the ground first with a loud thud.

But Hirra had no time to check on them, as she landed on the boxes next to the now grounded Dragonfly, who barely just got the nearly 40 kg shield off of him. 

They both locked eye contact with each other. 

Hirra may be smaller than Dragonfly, but she was clearly capable, and the other villain wasn't unaware. Dragonfly gulped almost cartoonishly when he realised Hirra was about to go for him. 

“Not so brave now without your henchmen, are you?!” Hirra snarled as Dragonfly finally tossed the shield off him and got up. 

“Isn't it past your bedtime or something?” he said, trying to regain composure as Hirras eyes practically lit up with rage.

“You tried to hurt them! I won't let you get away with this!” She pounced forward and began to move to attack him but Dragonfly was too fast.

The attack was quick, and in one swift moment Hirra fell back several feet and landed on the floor, while Dragonfly started to bolt past her to the exit. 

Scrambling to get back up on her feet in time, Hirra turned towards Dragonfly who was nearing the exit, and in one continuous motion she created a small knife and tossed it towards him, before she fell back down. What followed was a loud ear-piercing scream as one of Dragonfly’s wings fell off, but that didn’t stop him from running. 

The last Hirra heard of him was an angry “I’ll get you for this!”

Hirra sat in shock looking at the fallen wing before she remembered. Looking back to where Shadows and Mender had fallen, the anger in her face shifted to worry, a single whisper slipped her, “Dad…?”

While Hirra had dealt with Dragonfly, Lady Alexandria had made quick work of all of his men. They seemed to take the hint after she easily picked one of them up and tossed them at a whole group, sending them all to the floor. There was full chaos, as they all began to flee out the same hole that she had made only minutes prior.

Meanwhile, down in the pit, Mender had gotten loose from all the tangled ropes, then she had dragged a barely moving Shadows away from the centre to hide, before trying her best to heal him.

One by one, Mender used what little energy and power she had available to heal all his broken bones. Even with the gentlest touch she could give, Shadows still winced in pain as the area began to glow. After going over both feet that had broken in the fall, she made sure Shadows did not have any critical damage, then she stopped. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t heal you any more than-” she began, but he interrupted her.

“Don’t apologise! Thank you! And don’t worry, I have a healer friend that can patch me up when I get home.”

Mender just nodded in response. There was a sudden silence between the two, as all the fighting around them began to calm down. 

“Sorry that I got you into this,” Shadow said, breaking the silence. “I… I should have noticed you. This is all my fault.” 

Mender only looked at him curiously.

“You’re getting good at sneaking though” he continued. “I had no idea you were following me,” he chuckled, only to regret it immediately as pain overcame him. 

There was a sudden yell from above as Hirra jumped down and ran to them both. “Dad- uh.. S-Shadows!”

“Hirra! There you are!” Shadows smiled as she sat down next to him.

“Is he going to be alright?” she asked, looking over to Mender. 

Mender sat down on the other side of Shadows and answered in a tired voice “I have done everything I can.”

“Don't worry, Dagger,” Shadows said, trying to be cheerful. “I’m in a little pain, but I’ll be fine. Mender healed me as best she could with the little energy she had to give.”

Hirra just nodded, as she made a little sniffle while holding back tears. She was silent for a moment before finally speaking “I… I cut one of Dragonfly’s wings off” she said in a tone of mixed feelings.

“Did you? So that was what that scream was?” Shadows asked her, holding her hand. 

“Didn’t mean to cut it off, I just… I’m sorry”

“Don’t worry, Hirra!” said a calm voice. “He loses them all the time, he doesn't even feel pain. Dragonfly is just dramatic like that.” Lady Alexandria smiled and joined them. “He’ll probably grow a new one by next month.”

“My lady. I was wondering where you got off to.” Shadows said, smiling. His earlier anger about Hirra being allowed there was put aside. 

“I was securing the area, and giving the signal to the search team.” Alexandria answered, kneeling next to Mender, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m not badly hurt,” Mender replied, “and right now, I just feel tired.” 

Alexandria nodded, and was just about to say something when Hirra chimed in, “Bet you feel lucky though? That we were able to get here in time!” she smiled, seeming to have finally gotten over the wing incident.

Both Shadows and Mender answer together “Um… Actually, you weren’t here in time…”

“WHAT!?” was all that Hirra was able to say. After all that effort they had still been too late to… well Hirra wasn't really sure but it sounded like she and Lady Alexandria had missed something. 

Mender continued, telling both her and Lady Alexandria about Dragonfly and the E.G.G. and how the weapon got destroyed, and Shadows explained what Dragonfly had admitted about Andaka. Meanwhile Hirra just sat silently and held onto Shadows’ hand, while Lady Alexandria listened silently to every word; clearly there was more to learn of the situation than what time would allow. Finally, when they were coming to the end of it, there was a sudden sound from Lady Alexandria's work phone. 

After looking at it for a moment she turned to the group. “The area is about to be secured, Shadows if you can make it out of here on your own, then now is the best time to leave. The hero agency will deal with the rest of Dragonfly’s base.”

“So, you’re letting us go?” he asked suspiciously. 

“Yes,” she said smiling, “since Hirra was so kind and heroic in helping us free you, I think it would be wrong to arrest you both right now.”

“Oi! Don’t call me that!” Hirra yelled, but both Lady Alexandria and Shadows ignored her.

“Yeah, I got enough energy to get us home, thank you!” he said, smiling back at her. He slowly got back on his feet, and with support from Hirra, they began to walk into the shadows. 

"Wait!" Mender cried out. 

They stopped and Shadows turned with a look of concern on his face. "Is something wrong?" 

Mender bit her lip and then spoke, "No, just… Do you know which king loved fractions?" 

Shadows paused, confused, and then smiled. "No, I don't, which one?"

Mender giggled to herself and then replied, "Henry the eighth!"

Shadows burst into laughter that then turned into coughing and then turned to the shadows once more. As he walked into the shadows, he called "Good one, kid!" before disappearing with Hirra.

Lady Alexandria then gently picks up Mender who now was completely exhausted, up in a bridal carry. She was confused about the exchange that just happened, but would ask when Mender was less exhausted. 

“Hey, Alexandria, did you find the E.G.G.?” Mender asked

“I did not see it in the rubble but please leave that for now and rest. I’ll get you out of here and hand you over to the healers.”

“I wonder where the E.G.G. is now, it can’t have been destroyed?” Mender continued in a meek and sleepy tone.

“Mender, please, less wondering, more resting, okay? We will deal with everything when-” She stopped in her tracks, eyes locked in place.

“What is it?”

Alexandria stood still for some more time before she spoke again “Kim… I think I saw Kim beside the ruins of the weapon for a second, but when I looked back, they were gone…”

Mender, whose abilities seemed to make it easier to counter Kim’s, looked over to the spot Alexandria mentioned and began searching but… “I can’t see them…”

“Well, if it was them,” Lady Alexandria said “then we at least know who it was that sabotaged the weapon. And…”

“And? And what?”

 Lady Alexandria turned to look at Mender. “There is no way the E.G.G. is still here.” 

And at that, the echo of several heroes yelling Mender and Alexandria’s names began to fill the now abandoned base. Lady Alexandria called out to them.

Meanwhile, Kim tossed off their lab coat and easily snuck past the incoming heroes. The E.G.G. and some other objects were securely hidden away on them. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Part 3 : Epilogue

Hirra kicked open the front door of Kim’s apartment building. She seemed to be in a grumpy mood after failing to rob a jewelry store earlier that day, but was still looking forward to today's meeting.

While the "Sidekick Club" (the name stuck after Vulcan used it) didn't have much information to share on Shadow's and Alexandria's relationship, they had still chosen to meet.

Each member had their own reasons, but Hirra had told herself the free snacks and the look on Mender’s face when she lost at a board game was too good to give up. It would hopefully make her day a bit better… 

But as the echo of the door finally subsided, she stopped as the open hallway was filled with strange clicking noises followed by annoyed grunts. They seemed to be coming from the floor above, which was concerning ‘what if someone was trying to steal something from Kim?’ and annoying ‘and why are they so loud about it?’. 

Sneaking up the stairs to Kim’s floor, she looked around for the source of the sound. It was only then she got to Kim’s front door, she saw what it was.

“OI! MENDER!” she yelled, making Mender jump up in fear and drop the lock picking kit.

“Hirra! Why did you scare me like that?!” she yelled back. But Hirra was too busy going for the kit to reply, “Hey, that’s my lock picking kit!” Mender yelled as Hirra grabbed it before her.

“Why are you trying to break into Kim's place?”

“Well…” Mender looked at Hirra as her cheeks reddened. “I couldn't get through the window and I have already knocked, but Kim was not home, so I…”

“Tried to steal my thing?” Hirra sounded offended, “I’m the one that picks locks here and you- eh, wait… what did you mean you knocked?!” 

“I knocked on the door and Kim isn't home, and I'm good at lock picking. But I think Kim replaced the lock with a better one, because it's really complex!” Mender refused to look Hirra in the eye when she said all this. 

“Well, then,” Hirra's demeanor changed completely, “guess it’s time for you to learn from a lock picking master!” She said proudly and shoved Mender to the side. “Now look closely! This is how it is done, just take it like that, and there we go!” she said as the door clicked open.

“Wait now, hang on! You didn't tell me how to do it!” Even with her mask covering parts of her face, you could still see how the hero's… everything scrunched up in annoyance. 

“Tough luck” Hirra smirked and walked into the small apartment, Mender quickly followed, but with a frown. It still felt strange being here when Kim was not home, but that never stopped the two from entering anyway. 

After the ‘pockets incident’ as they called it, Kim had to move out of the other apartment (as the location was compromised now that Lady Alexandria knew where it was), and into somewhere new.

Earthly and natural, would be the words Mender thought of to describe it with its old and mismatched furniture. On the surface, nothing in the room matched anything else, and yet it still somehow worked together.

It wasn't a bad place per se, though it was a bit cramped.

There was a sudden thump, as Hirra lay down flat on the sofa, typing away on her phone. 

“What are you doing?” Mender asked, looking down at her. 

Hirra looked up at her for a moment before turning back to the phone, and kept typing. “I’m trying to find out why Kim's late, but they won't answer me.” 

“Can you at least move, so I can have a seat? I’m tired from work,” Mender said. “Also, I want my lock picking kit back.” Hirra shoved the kit at Mender without looking up from her phone.

Mender just sighed and went to the kitchen in search of the hidden club snack storage. ‘Might as well prepare for the meeting’ she thought as her stomach made a loud growl. 

“What was that?” Hirra snickered from the sofa. 

“Not my fault. We had four villains all of who committed crimes during my lunch break today, so I haven't eaten since breakfast!” but Hirra only laughed at her, until her stomach made an equal sound, making Mender snicker.

After some looking she finally found it, the metal box labeled "candy"... she could feel Hirra’s eyes looking at it. 

“Any word from Kim yet?” Mender asked as she grabbed the box and brought it to the table. 

“Not yet,” Hirra sat up as she answered.

“Well, at least we can have some snacks!” Mender was trying to cheer up the mood a bit, so she placed the box on the table, plopped down on the couch, and opened it to find... 

“WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE LEFT!!!!” They yelled, looking down at the sad lonely chocolate, surrounded by the red licorice Kim had mistaken for raspberry toffee some weeks earlier. 

But before they let the thoughts of who had done this, and why, there was a more urgent matter to attend to

‘Who is going to eat it?’

They both stood up and looked at each other, clearly thinking the same thing. 

“This chocolate bar ain't big enough for the two of us, pardner.” Hirra said as she moved to the side for a better fighting angle.

Mender confusedly moved in the opposite direction, though she made sure not to move too far away from the little candy box. “Why are you talking like that? Never mind, I’m starving and Kim’s out of snacks and food!” 

“If you want food, best you mozy on down to the grocery store and get s'more then. Git.” Hirra snickered back at her. 

“I won't be mozying anywhere! If anyone will be mozying, it's you! Pardner.” Mender said in a stereotypical "cowboy" accent matching Hirra back; clearly neither were backing down, which meant only one thing.

There was a loud crash, followed by an even more concerning bang! As red starts to spread everywhere from all the scattered licorice, Hirra and Mender lay bound together on top of the now broken coffee table. It seemed like they fired their weapons at the same time, and Hirra's net guns and Mender’s grappling glove clearly don't mix well in a tight space.

They were both stuck in a tangled mess of rope and… more rope, both from the net and grappling hook. 

As they both twisted trying to get loose there was a snarky “Well… that was clever of you!” from Hirra. 

Only for Mender who was currently on top of Hirra to yell back “Yes, REALLY clever of you to use a NET GUN INSIDE! Where did you even hide that thing?”

“Like I would tell you!” Hirra used her power to create a knife. “Now, please move! I need to cut the grappling rope.”

“What?! No, you can’t do that! Cut the net instead, that’s what's really trapping us.”

“No way I’m cutting my precious net!” Hirra yelled.

“Well, there is no way I’ll let you cut my rope!” Mender replied, laying down so that Hirra could not cut anything. 

What followed was an “Ugh… FINE!” as Hirra relaxed as well. 

The room almost fell into silence before Mender chimed in, “… so, will you cut the net then?”

“No.” Hirra answered with a straight face. “I’ll wait for Kim to come home, so that they can do it.”

“Fine! But don’t complain when Kim has to cut the net open!” Mender said. 

They lay in silence for a while, before there was suddenly someone calling Hirra’s phone. Hirra tried to get up but was unable to, swinging the net uncomfortably for the two.

“Hirra! STOP! We can't reach it!” Mender yelled. The call stopped and a message began to play. 

“Hey, sorry, Hirra, I’m going to be late!” said Kim’s voice from the phone. “You guys just go ahead and enjoy some snacks in the meantime, see ya when I get home in an hour!” 

And then silence… 

“A whole hour…” the two breathed out defeatedly.

It took one hour and thirty minutes before the sidekick duo heard the door open, and Kim finally rounded the corner of the small hallway.

"Sorry, I'm late,” they said, not fully looking at the duo, as they brought in several grocery bags. “Vulcan held me up in some dumb meeting, and then I also had to get groceries after... What are you two doing…?" Kim said as they finally looked at the two of them. 

“IT WAS ALL MENDER!” the villain yelled. 

“NO, IT WAS ALL HIRRA!” the hero yelled.

“I can’t believe you two!” Kim says in a defeated voice as they rub their forehead in annoyance.

There was a cheeky “Can you get us out?” From Hirra, but Kim just looked back at her before answering. “Nope.”

“WHAT?” they both yelled.

“I need to get this food in the fridge. In the meantime, you two can explain why you are bound together like this and apologize for breaking my coffee table.”

As Kim got to setting the food in place, the two begin talking. 

And they began recapping their day, and everything that happened before the fight started.

“And I've been having a hard day since I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!” Mender piped up trying to support her argument “Just been one villain after another!”

“Like my day was any better!” Hirra interrupted. “I spent weeks planning that robbery of that jewelry store, but then after everything went PERFECTLY, guess what?” 

“What?” Kim said, having left the remaining food to sit down on the sofa and listen to the two.

“IT WAS ALL FAKE! And because of me, they got arrested! And I was left with a bag of worthless junk!” Hirra yelled. 

“Yikes…” Kim said, shocked. 

“Yikes, indeed.” Hirra huffed. “And then I come here, and I can’t even successfully steal a single small piece of candy.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Kim said, finally noticing all the red licorice, spread all over the floor.

“Hirra refused to share!” Mender grunted. “And I was so hungry!” she pouted while giving Kim her best puppy dog eyes.

While the hero didn't have any siblings, she did have older cousins, and most teachers liked her; she'd had many years to perfect the sad sad eyes. But before she could get Kim to feel bad for her, Hirra interrupted!

“WELL, SO WAS I!” Hirra yelled back. “But when we opened the box—”

“The Box!” Kim yelled and jumped up from the sofa. “I forgot about that!”

The two looked up at them in confusion, before Mender began to ask, “What do you mean 'you forgot'…? Kim…? Why was it filled with only licorice???”

But Kim was no longer keeping eye contact with the two. When they sat back down on the sofa did the duo notice Kim’s cheeks had reddened. “I… I ate it all…” they said in a defeated tone.

“YOU!!!” Hirra yelled.

“I mean it does make sense,” Mender said. “Who else would have? But what I want to know is WHY?”

Kim was not looking at the other two as they began talking sheepishly. “Well, the thing about adult life and living alone is that you have to remember things like how much there is left of stuff and all that, and then yesterday I had forgotten to buy more food, but I did not feel like going out so… I ate it. I had planned to refill it before the meeting! But I got caught up with work…''

“What happened yesterday?” Hirra asked sounding almost worried.

Kim looked like they would rather not answer. “I got stood up... on a date…”

“You went on a date?!” Mender suddenly asked. “With who? Do we know them? Are they a villain!? I can get them arrested if they are! Who are they!?”

But Mender’s questions were quickly downed out by Hirra yelling her own questions. 

“WHO DID IT?! TELL ME KIM! AND I'LL BEAT THEIR SORRY ASS!!!”

“Who it was is for neither of you to know.” Kim finally answered once the two quieted down. “And, yes, I was supposed to go on a date yesterday. Would have been nice to know that they changed their mind, before paying TOO MUCH for a new dress and dinner reservation, and then letting me sit there for over an hour waiting, but hey, that's just how dating a villain is sometimes.”

“So it was a VILLAIN!” Hirra yelled, making Mender and Kim jump. “Mender, I think we got our next case! We need to find out who the villain is and beat them up!”

But before Mender could answer with her already forming plan, Kim had gotten up and brought out an old hidden knife that Hirra had made for them years ago.

This immediately took the duo’s focus.

Kim began to move and test the different parts of the bindings. “Looks like I need to cut both the net and grappling rope to get you loose. So let's make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Since we're all a bit to blame and all of us seem to have had a bad day.” Kim began. “I’ll cut you loose and then fix your weapons after. In return, you two need to make dinner and help me either fix or get a new coffee table. Does that sound good?”

“Yes! Deal!” Mender and Hirra nodded in agreement, seeming very ready to get separated from each other. 

Then, as Kim was about to begin cutting they stopped. “Oh, and one more thing… There will be no looking to find the person that stood me up, okay?” 

The duo was silent for a moment, before Mender answered, “Yes, we won't do that!”. She didn't like it, but anything to be free of Hirra. After more silence, Kim then made full eye contact with Hirra who after some time gave a half enthusiastic “Fine…” 

Turns out they were a bit more tangled together than any of them originally thought, but after fifteen minutes both Hirra and Mender were out of the mess.

"Soooo, what's for dinner, Kimball?" Hirra asked, looking curiously towards the kitchen and the half empty bags of groceries.

“Kimball?” Mender whispered in confusion. 

“I bought food for some Nortusen isle's style Tacos, though with some authentic spiciness.'' Kim said as they got up to look for a toolkit to fix the broken weapons.

Meanwhile, Hirra was walking over to the open kitchen throwing several fist bumps into the air in joy, clearly approving the choice. 

Mender, on the other hand, looked down at the broken coffee table. “Sorry, for breaking it, it was stupid of us to fight like that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” Kim said as they dropped all the needed stuff on the small dinner table. “I got it for free from some guy online, the only annoying part was carrying it here. But I think I can fix it. If not, then at least I got two people to carry the new one for me. And hey, got to say I’m impressed! With the weapons used, it is quite unbelievable that you two only manage to break the table and nothing else!” They laughed at the end of the sentence, making Mender smile. 

In the end, it was a not so productive meeting, but at least it was a fun one. The trio ended up spending a lot of time chatting over good food and weapon repair.

“WHAT! What do you mean, you're not my mortal enemy???” Hirra yelled as she dodged Menders' staff. 

Mender wasted no time and kept the attacks going, trying her best to get a hit in. But Hirra kept dodging. “You do know I fight like several villain sidekicks a week, right?” Mender answered in a huff.

They both got distracted for a second as there was a loud boom coming from the side. The two Sidekicks were quick and skilled, and were getting better by the day. But it only took a few seconds looking at Shadows and Lady Alexandria fighting against one another before things were set to scale. 

There was another boom as Shadows had jumped out of a dark spot above Alexandria and thrown something towards her. Mender was just about to run to Alexandria’s aid, when Hirra began her counter-attack. 

“So,” Hirra continued as Mender began dodging her attacks, “you're telling me… that after all these years… I’m just some random villain to you!” 

“Oh, COME ON, Hirra! That’s not what I meant!” Mender said as Hirra kicked her staff out of her hand. “It’s just a bit early to call anyone my mortal enemy.” She gave a quick glance at the staff now laying on the other end of the road before continuing to fight without it. 

As the two kept fighting, neither of them seemed to have noticed that Shadows and Lady Alexandria had gotten eerily quiet.

“We've been fighting for 4 years!” Hirra yelled, as she started materializing a knife, causing Mender to activate her grappling glove. Hirra attacked, but a sudden twang sound from the rocket-boosted grappling glove caused her to miss. Mender shot up above her, only to pivot mid-air to refocus the hook, which was pulling her along, towards Hirra. She tried to quickly jump away, but it was too late. 

She fell backward onto the floor and was now trying to wiggle loose. “I thought I was special…” she mumbled, as Sadie landed next to her. 

“Well… You are especially annoying!” Mender smirked at her victory.

“YOU’RE ANNOYING!!!” Hirra yelled back.

Lady Alexandria, silent throughout this, suddenly piped up, “Well, Hirra," she smiled reassuringly, "if it's any help, remember that you're the only villain sidekick Mender has added to her scrapbook.” 

“Don't tell her that!!!” Mender yelled. It was only now the two sidekicks noticed that Alexandria and Shadows had stopped fighting, choosing to just observe the other two instead. 

Alexandria continued, “So, you are her friend, and what is a friend in this job?” She paused for dramatic effect. “Basically you are her mortal enemy whether she admits it or not.”

“And, hey,” Shadows laughed, “at least you two got the bickering down!” 

Mender seemed to have been stunned silent, but Hirra gave a smug smiled. “HA!” Hirra yelled. “See? You are my BFF!”

“YOUR WHAT?!” Mender yelled back in confusion. Hirra had just gone to 'we should be mortal enemies' to 'you're my best friend' in less than a minute. But before Mender could voice this, Hirra yelled back. 

“You're my Best Foe Forever! And there is NOTHING you can do about it!”