Paris glanced over the Top, and grinned at the utter lack of people. Next to him, Corrosion looked equally pleased. Sure, there were farmers and technicians going in and out of the farms, but nowhere near as many as in the Business District. It wouldn't be long now before the field trip showed up.
Already, a few farmers were gathering to welcome them. If they just kept anyone from calling the military, they'd be able to do whatever they wanted for as long as they wanted. With fewer people around, they'd have an easier time keeping an eye on all of them.
If only Cold Snap could be here. She'd probably enjoy this, and she'd be far better at restraining people than either Paris or Corrosion. They were plenty good at doing damage, but if they simply needed their targets restrained, the ice did better.
Alas, she had been sent to Angel for medical treatment. The wound was still bothering her, so they were hoping Angel could manage something with their resources. She'd just gone there the other day, so they didn't have an update yet, but Twin was hoping for something soon.
There. The school group was coming up the stairs. Several middle schoolers were laughing and chatting, one or two messing around until a teacher told them to quit it. The scene felt nostalgic. One upon a time, that had been him and James. How amusing that they grew up to be Paris and Achilles, still messing around for fun even fifteen years later.
"Say the word and we move," Corrosion said, tense and ready to go. Paris smiled and held up a hand. They'd let the teachers corral the kids into a greenhouse first, then they'd strike.
One minute. Two. The farmers greeted the children, then ushered them into one of the greenhouses. With a wave of his hand, Paris and Corrosion blasted towards the doors. They were made to lock upon close, so Paris made sure to catch one before it fully closed.
"Hello," he said with a smile. The adults all went pale while the children took a minute to figure out what was going on.
Corrosion slid past him and managed to grab one kid before she thought to run, then held her in front of him, one hand threateningly close to her neck.
"We wanted to join the fun," he said with a wink. "Hey, what's your name, girlie?"
She shuddered as he tightened his grip on her, her face deathly pale.
"Let her go!" One of the girl's classmate stepped forward, even though she herself was trembling. How cute.
"Nah," Paris said with a laugh as he let the door close behind him. The greenhouse was filled with artificial sunlight and rows of some kind of plant. He couldn't be bothered to identify what was on the rows of shelves. Below the bottom layer of plants, tanks of fish gave off a slight odour. The fish swam without a care in the world, making him want to laugh. The silly things had no idea they were nothing but food for humans.
"What do you want?" The man who spoke looked like someone in charge. Whether he was the head farmer or the head teacher didn't matter.
"Nothing much. We're just bored," Paris replied. "What about you? What do you want?"
"Leave! And let Dahlia go!" The girl from before glared at them while her friend trembled in Corrosion's grip.
"Now that doesn't sound fun at all," Corrosion said. "The Legion and their pals have made it really hard to do what we want lately. If we're in here, though, they can't get us. I really doubt any of them have a greenhouse key."
True. Each building on the Top had its own key that needed to be swiped, on top of needing a passcode. Without those, no one was getting in without breaking a few walls.
"Now...should we call our military friends? Demand a ransom perhaps?" Paris asked with a giggle. Truthfully, they didn't have much of a plan. They just wanted to run wild. But giving them hope would be amusing for a while.
One of the adults reached for their phone, but Corrosion grabbed Dahlia tighter by the neck.
"Nuh-nuh-nuh," he chuckled. "No phones. Paris is gonna pass around a bag. Everyone put your phones inside or the girl gets it." He held his other hand over her nose and let a drop of acid fall on her. She squealed as it burned her.
Paris tossed the bag to one of the students, who obediently put their phone in and passed it to the next person. He carefully watched to make sure no one was going to try anything funny. No one did, which was slightly disappointing. Each person got a turn with the bag, and each person put a phone in.
When it got back to him, he tossed it behind him. Maybe it would be funny to destroy them just to watch everyone's faces fall. Then again, with everyone's focus fixed on Corrosion, it would be just as funny to watch them as he scarred her cute little face.
"What now?" The teacher who spoke up looked at them coldly.
"I think it's my turn," Paris said, glancing at Corrosion with a grin. "I suppose we don't need a hostage anymore. Time to go nuts."
"Sure thing, boss." Corrosion laughed wickedly as he tossed a drop of acid into the girl's eye and shoved her away.
She screamed, clawing at her eye, but it didn't help at all. The friend who'd been trying to protect her earlier caught her as she fell, trying to calm her down and reassure her. Unfortunately, there was no hope for them now.
Corrosion generated a large amount of his acid on his hands and flung them towards the crowd. The kids scrambled back, trying not to get hit. They'd seen what had happened to Dahlia.
At the same time, Paris took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of purple mist. It twisted around the greenhouse, uninhibited as it worked toward their victims. The kids started coughing and stumbled, while the plants started shriveling slightly and the fish slowed their swimming.
Corrosion noticed the fish and walked over, dripping acid into the fish ponds.
Twin's words about attacking the food supply echoed in Paris' head. Guess that was what was happening now.
He put out more gas, grinning as it coiled through the stagnant air. Corrosion had worked a gas mask into his usual face covering, allowing him to keep operating normally despite Paris' Miracle.
This was so much fun. Why would he ever want to play the hero? Being a villain was a million times more entertaining. Heroes desperate to stop him. Civilians desperate to avoid his notice.
But everything came to a stop when a giant vine grabbed Corrosion and wrapped around him, lifting him up into the center of the greenhouse. Its leaves were about as big as your head, and they seemed to almost absorb Paris' poison.
He glared at the group of trembling hostages. Who was it? Who had that stupid Miracle that let them counter them?
Corrosion tried to generate acid to dig through the plant, but it kept regenerating. As Paris checked each of the faces, he found the culprit.
A guy not much younger than him, trembling even as he held his hand out and manipulated the vine. Paris growled and ran towards him.
He was gonna pay for messing up their plans.
