It was official. Beacon was no more.

Pippa could stare at her golden light powers that have turned into shadow all she wants, but it stays true. She crossed a boundary, and she can’t pretend like it didn’t happen.

Kidnapping and hurting Ink Spill was premeditated. If she was being honest with herself, the desire to stop her life short just like she did to Salen was pretty high. But she stopped just short of killing her.

But her powers seemed to disagree because they turned dark. Or maybe they are just reflecting her mindset.

“Pippa!”

Her head whips over to where the echo is coming from. She knows who it is. She’s memorized how her name falls from his lips. It normally is smooth with usually a hint of amusement. It’s not today.

He’s desperate.

Ink Spill smirks at her, even with the bloody bandage, she looks like she thinks she’s won.

Water Craze appears at the open door, out of breath, eyes wild and frantic. He looks like a man out of time. Which he is.

Once he laid his gaze on Pippa, the desperation calmed down for a split second before he got a glimpse at the villain tied up and bleeding behind her.

“What did you do?” His gaze turns disappointed. Like she is a child that doesn’t know better and colored on the walls. That’s how Ink Spill looked at her. Probably how a lot of people viewed Beacon. Pippa is far from that.

With exasperation, she just gestures to the Ink Spill and asks a question of her own. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to stop you from doing something you’ll regret,” Water Craze says with such conviction. If Pippa was who she was before Salen’s murder, she would have melted at this heroic action. Save her from herself.

Yeah right.

She doesn’t need saving.

“Well I haven’t regretted anything yet,” she comments with a casual shrug.

He looks like he doesn’t believe her. His eyebrows raise in unison. His head tilts. His whole body questions her.

“Salen wouldn’t—“ he begins.

He doesn’t get to finish.

“Well she isn’t here, is she?” She cuts him off, her voice sharp, like a knife. As sharp as the dagger she used to cut Ink Spill’s throat.

“It still stands, Tink.”

Pippa’s tired. She’s done with people thinking that pretty words will make her best friend’s death better. Salen died. She can deal with it however she wants. She thinks she’s earned at least that much. “Does it? I’m tired of the injustices in the world. Salen didn’t get justice. Ink Spill was still running around. She should die the same way.”

Ink Spill’s half lid eyes shift lackluster between them as they argue. She can’t speak, but Pippa can feel the boredom radiating off of her.

“Tink, that isn’t how justice works either,” he scolds, lecturing her about the very thing she began.

She was the hero first. He was her rival!

He was a petty thief. Maybe he still is.

“Who are you to tell me that? You were a villain before me,” she reminds him.

Her nails dig into her palms. She doesn’t want to hurt him. Water Craze. Cotton. Whatever mask he has on at the moment. It doesn’t matter.

The boy in front of her is the person who opened her heart. Before, she thought that was romantic. But now she knows.

He left it an open wound.

Her inner darkness didn’t need to slip in. It walked right in.

But she didn’t know she was going to slice into Ink Spill’s flesh until it was already done. She doesn’t want to do the same with Water Craze.

“What you’re doing isn’t very hero-y,” he says, matching her tone. He’s challenging her. Like he has always done.

It almost makes her nostalgic for their dynamic before they knew one another.

Things were different back then.

“I’m taking out someone who will hurt more people,” Pippa reasons. Though part of her knows that she is making an excuse. She wants vengeance. Taking out a villain and saving potential victims is just a bonus.

“If you were going to kill her, you would’ve done it already, Tink.” She sighs. He knows her too well.

Or knew the Beacon before. Before Salen dying.

Not even Pippa knows what she’s capable of.

He used to be the unpredictable one. He said to her that she couldn’t predict his next move because he didn’t even know.

Maybe she’s taking a page out of his book.

“Stop calling me that. It doesn’t apply anymore.”

Conjuring up what would have been a sphere of light, instead it is pitch black. Obisodian swirls in her hand, almost darkly beautiful.

It feels different than her light powers. Cold. It feels really cold.

His eyes widen, the shock evident. It’s like he’s entranced by the inky darkness in her grasp.

“What does that mean?” Water Craze asks, his gaze still on her new display of power. She closes her fist and it disappears. She almost misses the breeze in her veins.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.”

With a scary amount of ease, a knife appears in her empty palm, encased in the ebony swirls.

Twirling it between her fingers, she sets her sight on Ink Spill, sending a threat with just a single look.

“We both know that’s a lie,” Water Craze attempts to talk her down.

It’s a valiant effort. Heroic even.

But it isn’t enough.

“I think the only thing we can agree on is that Salen died because of Ink Spill,” she points out, cruelly.

She doesn’t have time to be kind. Or maybe deep down, she feels like she deserves to act cruel. She deserves to act how she wants.

Salen is dead.

His face has this determination to it. It’s all tense lines and narrowed eyes. “Salen also died to protect you.”

A headache forms in her temple. What’s the use of arguing. It doesn’t change what happened. All she can control is what she does after.

Which is revenge.

Even if it isn’t what Salen would have wanted, it’s what Pippa needs.

Her death didn’t protect Beacon. It broke Pippa.

“She died for nothing,” she spits out.

His entire existence softened. He looks…sad.

Slowly, he reaches out a hand and lets it rest on her shoulder. The warmth from his palm feels dizzying, reminding her of the thrill of her once light powers.

“She will have, if you continue this.”

——

(I wouldn’t say evil per se, but she’s definitely going to a darker side.)