A Winners Tale

Ace’s soft brown hair blew gently with the wind, stormy grey eyes meeting Annabella’s dark ones, his soft lips turning up into a grin, “the city doesn’t need a hero, it needs more than that.” He was saying looking up into the night sky.

Annabella hummed, bracing her feet on the roof of the tall building they stood atop of, hair flying into the air behind her, hands on the gun at her hip.

The man before her looked so beautiful under the stars, his hard eyes turning back to her, his men standing behind him.

“This city needs someone who understands the people. This city needs me.” 

“Oh?” She asked, breathing shakily as she swallowed, finally meeting his eyes. “It needs...you?”

She was hardly listening, too busy trying not to blow away with the wind and off the roof.

She was the city’s hero, the one who saved countless innocent lives when the authorities weren’t able to. She was the one who had stopped hundreds of robberies, solved murders, and saved children from the kidnappers who tried whisking them away. She was there when the police were not.

But all that had changed last month when Ace, the city’s latest vigilante had appeared out of thin air, ruining everything she had worked for in the past year, discovering her identity in a matter of days, and finding her hideout in only a week.

It had been a disaster. 

Annabella knew she had nowhere to go. She was stuck on the tall fifteen-floor office building, the hundreds of workers below them stuck with a bomb, the switch in Ace’s back pocket. And there was no way she could get it.

He had made her one deal. 

Work for him for three years and help him with whatever endeavors he was up to, and he would leave the city untouched. If she didn’t agree, the many bombs he had placed all over the city ready to blow with one turn of a switch was a silent reminder at the back of her mind.

And everyone would die.

Annabella knew that her choice was easy, and all she had to do was...say yes.

She had to.

She had to.

And yet, the thought of doing what the villain told her to and failing as the city’s only hero...was daunting.

“We can do this together, me and you. No hero, no villain.” He continued, gloved hands putting his mask back up onto his face, “three years, Annabella. And then you are free.”

Annabella would find a way to escape the agreement and take him down. She just needed time. Ace seemed to have been planning his city take over for months, every plan devised strategically, his team of masked men eager to help him in his dream.

He wanted to take the city and he wanted her to have a hand in it. 

The hero turned into a villain.

He wanted them to work side by side as he ran the city.

Breaking the agreement when the time was right and taking him down was her only hope. 

And so, Annabella took a risky leap of faith.

“Yes,” she breathed, the wind choking her as goosebumps climbed up her skin, “yes.”

Ace blinked in surprise as if he had been expecting her to have a master plan to stop him or had prepared a scheme to turn the unfortunate events around and into her favor.

But she had nothing. 

She was alone on top of the tall building, under the night sky with only the hope of breaking the agreement when the time was right in her mind. 

“You agree?” He asked, surprise laced in his deep voice. “You agree to work for me for three years?”

“Yes,” she said, fingers shaking violently. “Now disarm the bombs and let the innocent people go, Ace.”

He stepped back, his eyes twinkling under his mask as he laughed loudly, “if you say so.”

Annabella looked back, heart climbing into her chest as she realized how close she was to the edge of the building, swallowing thickly as she edged slightly closer to Ace, almost an arm's length away.

She had to act now. She had to make her move, now.

“Give me the switch,” she demanded, holding out her shaking hands, watching Ace’s eyebrows go up in amusement. “Give it to me!”

She watched as his hands slipped into his back pocket and pulled out the switch, throwing it to her.

Annabella caught it with both hands, sniffling from the cold as she monitored it, the red light blinking over and over in the night.

“You’re in control of the city now,” he grinned. “But don’t worry. Three years will go in a jiffy-”

“Ace,” Annabella interrupted. “Why did the light just turn green?”

Ace froze, “what?”

She stepped slightly back, heart beating fast and fast in her chest, “y-you lied. You liar! You turned the bombs on-”

“What? Let me see. Annabella, give me the damn switch-”

“You liar!” She screamed, tears stinging her eyes, “you damned liar!”

“Annabella!” He yelled as he reached for her, eyes wild, “give me the switch!”

She grabbed his arm, pulling him close to her until they were almost a hair breath away, his stormy eyes meeting hers, as she whispered, “sorry. I lied.”

And then she tipped over the edge of the fifteen-floor office building, hands still gripping Ace’s, watching his eyes widen in horror as he opened his mouth to let out a yell.

But it was too late.

As they fell, Annabella closed her eyes, Ace’s grip on her hands tightening slightly before breaking away.

If she couldn’t have the city, then he couldn’t either.

No one could.

Not the vigilantes and the hero wannabe’s who did more harm than good.

Nor Ace. 

He had been her biggest competition of all, pushing her into a corner, forcing decisions she didn’t want to make out of her.

But now, she would decide for him.

And for herself.

It was her city after all. The city she had worked so hard to protect, putting her life on the line while she saved all those innocent lives.

It was her life for the life of thousands.

As she fell to her death, the thought of Ace going down with her gave peace to her heart.

And so, Annabella smiled