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chapter two:

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⤷ FUTURE AS A SUPE ⤶
( an original chapter )

❝ SO WHAT!? I'M SURE SHE'S FINE ! ❞

❝ SHE'S DEAD ! ❞

WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER ━━━━━ graphic imagery, somewhat vivid depictions of fire, electrocution, death, gore and violence, unempathetic attitudes / behaviour, swearing, Valerie losing her shit and doing some very questionable things !!

If any of these trigger you ( as this one will be quite dark and gruesome, feel free to skip ! )

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HUGHIE DOESN'T mean to sound creepy, but occasionally, he found himself watching over the many pageants that Electress had done ( and won ) as a teenager. Sometimes, even his girlfriend joined him ( once he'd convinced her enough, of course ). As a super fan of both her and Soldier Boy, he'd watch many of these ( again, not in a creepy way whatsoever ) over every once in a while. He actually admired the woman. She was unlike other women at her age of time and subverted the typical stereotypes of women that they had to uphold. It was admirable. She was loud and albeit sometimes rude and a little unhinged and / or crazy, but she saved people and wore a pretty cool outfit while doing it. Not only that, but she also had a pretty cool boyfriend, too, so that was also a plus.

So, once more, he found himself putting the tape in and watching past interviews and different pageants that she had done ( the ones that were televised, at least ).

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RUBY RED lipstick was smeared across her lips in a way that was almost tantalising. Several boys her age had walked past with heart eyes and lingering stares, which she entertained far too well. It wasn't her fault boys would look at her for. litttle too long to be considered friendly. They should learn that staring is fucking rude and demeaning, not that she was offended by it however.

Accompanying that was black mascara that gave her long lashes a lift and made them stand out even more so. Shimmering silver eyeshadow was brushed on the lids of her eyes, which sparkled in the bright stage lights that were strategically hung above almost everywhere so that there was not even a speck of darkness anywhere whatsoever.

Furthermore, the brunette tresses that usually fell down her back in long and straight locks were now tightly curled into a gorgeous updo, which was simply to die for.

Finally, there was the beautiful silver and white dress she was wearing. It looked like it was made for just for her as it had fit perfectly, when in reality, it had to be altered somewhat but not too much that it was obvious.

All in all, Valerie looked heavenly, and she sure knew it alright. And anyone who tried to tell her otherwise would be in for a shock ( literally ).

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AS USUAL, Valerie found herself excelling in every segment of the pageant. In her eyes, all the other girls were merely beneath her. Equivalating to the dirt on the bottom of her shoe. It may sound cruel, but she didn't particularly care.

All that was left was the talent portion, and that was something that Valerie knew nobody could beat her at. Considering this was an all supe pageant, things would definitely get interesting, that was for sure.

Now, the girl going before her was a pretty blonde by the name of Jenny. She was perfectly nice to everybody ( a little too nice if you asked Valerie ). She was also the only person who really challenged her abilities. So, what else was there to do other than sabotage her? Some may call it cheating or unfair, but she called it winning. And that was what she was planning to do.

Jenny's whole segment was on her ability with fire. Cool, right? So, with a little encouragement from Valerie, she'd help her go to such an extreme she'd never gone before. Besides, there was never anything in the rules that said anything otherwise. So the brunette assumed it'd all be alright.

A sudden voice broke the brunette out of her plotting. Low and behold, walking past her, was Jenny. She looked beautiful. Blonde hair was all done up in a loose bun with bangs framing her face perfectly ( almost too perfectly ). Chesnut brown eyes stuck out among her face and glistened in the light. Her dress was a stunning periwinkle blue colour with long white elegant gloves to match. Accompanied with pearled earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.

"Oh Valerie, I've been looking everywhere for you! I just wanted to say good luck!"

Valerie raised a brow in confusion. "You came all this way just to tell me that?"

Jenny nodded with a small smile. "I know that you're on after me so I wanted to make sure I caught you before I went on." 

Valerie chuckled in response. "Well, I hardly doubt I'll need it. But, thank you, I guess."

Jenny sent the brunette a genuine grin and walked off, presumably to the entrance of the stage in order to perform. It was at that moment that a rather meticulous plan formed in Valerie's head. Following the girl, she waited until the blond had gotten onto the centre stage and began her act before striking.

But as the girl constantly rattled on, Valerie merely rolled her eyes. Did she not know when to shut the hell up? After a few moments, it was finally her time to shine, literally.

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AS MENTIONED previously, Jenny's abilities laid with fire. So, all Valerie had to do was send a little shock her way and boom!

Noticing everyone was now audibly gasping and staring directly at her, Jenny sent confused looks their way. She hadn't even done anything too impressive yet. As the shocked gasps and small shouts and screams got louder and more frequent, the blond became increasingly confused. Even the judges appeared like they'd seen a ghost, and normally nobody even got a nod from them. You'd be lucky to get even a smile.

All it took was for someone to shout a few mere words, and it sent everybody into a flurry of panic. "Fire! You're on fire!" A man cried out while standing up and pointing to the blonde on the stage. And he was right.

Jenny peered down and low and behold. She was on fire. The mystery man was right. The once periwinkle blue of the dress was now a charred black mass as the fire spread rapidly up the fabric. It wasn't long before it had spread everywhere ( poor girl really shouldn't have worn so much hairspray and perfume ). Jenny fell to the ground, dress ( or what remained of it at least ) spread around her in a circle in an almost angelic way. The girl screamed and cried but there was nothing anybody could do, it was too late. Jenny Rutherford had died on the very stage that she had yearned to win it all on.

The curtain slowly closed ( a little too late ) to block what little audience was left of the horrific view.

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THE DOOR slammed open, immediately breaking Valerie out of her actions of reapplying her lipstick. In came Joanna, her manager of sorts. Her job was to keep the girl in line, especially if her future as a supe was to happen like she so desperately wanted it to.

"What the fuck was that?" The chesnut haired woman demanded. She was utterly furious that was clear to the brunette as soon as she stormed in. Personally, Valerie believed her being overdramatic.

"What the fuck was what?" She questioned back in a bored tone.

"You just lit a girl on fire, Valerie!" Joanna yelled, veins popping out from her forhead and neck proving how stressed and angry she was.

"So what? I'm sure she's fine!" The future supe dismissed with a waving hand and dull expression plastered on her flawless face.

"She's dead! You killed her!" Her manager retaliated.

That shut Valerie up. Not because she felt bad. No. In fact, the brunette felt glee at what she'd done. Excitement coursed through her veins at the mere memory of her past actions. Now, that made the girl sound like a total psychopath but she wasn't. Valerie was just a girl getting her win, and it went a little too far. Why the hell should she care? The deed was already done. It wasn't like she could suddenly be brought back to life. So why was everyone so fixated on it still?

"Her parents are flying in tomorrow, Valerie."

"Oh, who cares!? She was just some spoiled rich slut who's parents probably just threw money at to keep her mouth shut. They only care now because she's dead. Besides, nobody knows it was me except you, and I'd very much like to keep it that way." After her mini rant, the brunette stood up flattened out her dress. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go collect that winning trophy!"

Joanna huffed, arms crossed. "What makes you so sure you're going to win?"

Valerie stopped in her tracks, halfway out the door and turned around to face her manager, and grinned wickedly. "By default, obviously. After all, poor little Jenny didn't die for nothing, did she?" She questioned in a demeaning tone, demonstrating that she didn't in fact give two flying fucks about the blond despite her tone suggesting so.

That made the older woman scoff. "You're crazy. You need help, Valerie, professional help."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Maybe, but the people love me too much to believe I'd intentionally kill her. After all, who would do such a thing?"

And with that, the future supe left the room, the door slamming as she sauntered down the hallway to the stage.

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"LET'S ALL give a warm welcome to the stage, Valerie Darling!" The announcer called through his microphone while raising his left arm to gesture to the woman.

The brunette walked out with a bright and pearly white smile adorning her face. Oh, how innocent she looked on the surface. A beautiful face that did not match the rotten heart sould stuffed inside her body.

"Now, I understand you're no stranger to this stage, is that right?"

The girl nodded and leaned closer to the shared microphone in between the pair. "Yes, that's correct."

"And from my knowledge, the last two years you've come second place, to Miss Jenny Rutherford."

Valerie sent him and the crowd a tight ━━ lipped smile. "Yes, that's also correct. But not this year, Michael."

The man, Michael, gave her a small chuckle. It seemed that he didn't seem all too fazed about the incident.

"Well, after the incident, shall we say, the judges have decided to award you, Valerie Darling, first place and announce you the winner of this years pageant." He spoke with his head tilted to face the girl. A small, friendly smirk on his face.

Instantaneously, the brunette's eyes lit up. Not that she was surprised, of course, but she had to act that way in order to not throw the judges and audience off. "Really? Oh, thank you all so much. This is such an honour." Her perfectly manicured hand sat across her heart while she said this, as in pure disbelief.

"Would you like to say a few words to the judges?"

Valerie grinned. "I would love too Michael." She replied, moving to the side of the stage where the mic stood.

"First of all, I just wanted to thank you all as it is such a tremendous role to uphold as first place prize winner. I would also like to send my condolences to the whole Rutherford family. What happened tonight was truly a tragedy, which unfortunately couldn't have been prevented."

The audience looked on in despair and awe. They respected her. They loved her.

"If there's anything that I'm going to do tonight is promise that I'm going to find the fucker who did this and they're going to pay!"

By now, the audience were practically jumping up from their seats in pure admiration for the brunette. After all, why wouldn't they? A strong young woman advocating for their country, what could be better than that?

"They're going to regret what they did to that poor girl. To America! To our fucking country!"

That's what made them lose their shit. It was fucking pathetic. A bunch of fully grown adults losing their minds when somebody says a few good words about their country? How sad.

Nevertheless, Valerie soaked in their praise with open arms, literally.

"Thank you all!" She raised her hands to her lips and then threw them back out wide to either side of the stage. These people loved her. And who could blame them?

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A DEEP frown was set on her face. A deep crease set in between her brows. The brunette tore off her sash and threw the red roses that had been thrown to her at the end of her mini speech to the side. Joanna came back in quickly after her. She didn't say anything, nor did she have to.

"It's fucking pathetic." Valerie muttered while stood facing a mirror. The white porcelain sink gripped tightly between her knuckles, so hard that her skin began to turn white. "All I have to do is spew a few words about how great our country is and they fucking fall at my feet." Valerie spat with disdain.

"Is that not what you wanted all along?" Joanna questioned incredulously, though her tone had a slither of anger laced in it.

The younger woman scoffed, not turning around to face the dark ━━ haired woman. "Of course it is. I just don't want the whole of the country kissing my ass the whole time. It's fucking irritating."

"I thought you loved it." Joanna commented, clearly very confused.

"No, I don't. It's like, no matter what I do, they'll all just cheer me on like nothing even happened. It's like they worship me."

Joanna looked ahead, not knowing what to say to her. What could she say? Sure, before this incident, Valerie was a little unhinged and sometimes unreasonable, but not it had seemed that she had well and truly lost it. America loved her.

Now, the general public would never know about what really happened to Jenny Rutherford that fateful night. In their eyes, it was a tragic accident. A special talent gone wrong. The only two who would ever know what actually occurred would be Joanna and Valerie.

After all, her future as a supe had never looked brighter. And nothing, and certainly no one would tarnish her squeaky clean reputation.

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TAG ( S ) ━━━ @j-futz , @superpink24 , @-ginnjensen , @starkovs_love , @BRUJ4S , @GirlPotterheadXx

This chapter is a little messed up ( but so is Valerie tbf ).

Soon enough, we'll be getting into actual episodes. I just want to write some things in their ( mainly Valerie's ) past to give some context as to what kind of person she is.

I hope you all enjoyed it even though it was super crazy !

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to @novxscomets for the stunning cover made for this book ! Currently, they have a graphic lotto out, so you should go apply for an amazing cover, pfp, etc, by them !

©️coast_by_coast
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