Shard ran into the bank, eager to join the fight. The amateur superhero was new to crimefighting but was excited to take part in her first fight.

The robbers looked at the newcomer, then shared a confused look. The heroine was dressed in a shimmering costume decorated with gaudy jewelry. It was something people expected to see at fashion shows, not in combat.

“Hey, princess, get your sparkly ass out of here or we’ll put a bullet in your skull!” shouted one of the robbers.

Shard took a deep breath, remembering the speech she had practiced hundreds of times in private.

“Halt, criminals, let the civilians go or prepare to receive a deadly beatdown!”

They burst into laughter and aimed their guns at her. Too bad. Now she would have to get serious.

She used her power on the reflective floor. Black tendrils emerged from it and grabbed one of the robbers before any of them could react.

“Jesus Christ, help me!”

Then it pulled him straight into the earth, the ground parting like water in the face of a falling stone. Shard knew he would never be seen again.

“Garry!”

“What have you done with him, you monster?”

“Open fire!”

Shard raised her arms up, summoning a wall of tentacles to shield her, simultaneously creating more tendrils from every reflective surface in the area. There were a few terrified screams, and in a few seconds, the gunmen were gone. The girl had no idea if they were dead or alive, but, honestly, it was probably better she didn’t.

Shard turned to the horrified citizens with an innocent smile.

“You’re safe now.”

Then, with her work complete, she walked out of the bank.

Over the next few days, Shard received phone calls and emails from villainous organizations, asking her to join them. Meanwhile, the incident at the bank was all over the news, and superhero teams all over the city were making it their new mission taking her down.

She sighed.

“Being a superhero is a lot harder than I thought.”

The lights right above the circular tables were harsh, but it illuminated all present perfectly. It meant that Greystar could see everyone was present and correct, as they had promised, to talk over recent events.

"Council of Darkness," the first time he had joined the Council he had scoffed at the childish, yet apt, name of the group that spearheaded villainy across the world. However, after a few years sat at its outer tables he had become to accept any alternatives would also sound as similarly silly or banal. He looked at the newest member of the inner table, Bonescar, and nodded his acceptance at the man's presence there. Bonestar had won the vote with nearly 70% of Council members, joining the ranks of the sacred Inner Sanctum which gave him both prestige and powerful voting rights on all Council matters.

"We all know why we are here today," Greystar pointed at the empty chair across from him, where Lady Lightstrike should have been sitting if it were not for her presence in the ICU of Grand Central Hospital in her city "We have all had bad days in our villainy, we have all had accidents, which is why the Council has such grand headquarters with finer medical technology than the average citizen knows exist. However, to ensure everyone is up to speed on what we are to talk about today I must inform you all of the intricate details on how she came to be hospitalised."

UberGeneral shuddered, he had been first on scene from the Council but could do nothing as Lady Lightstrike had been handcuffed to the gurney. It mattered not if she was glued or cemented into the gurney, the swelling in her brain meant she would not wake up for weeks. UberGeneral had seen the carnage that had been caused, not just to Lady herself, but to the street where she raised her family.

"After Lady Lightstrike perfectly executed twelve robberies in the space of twelve hours across the Greater San Berkafrisco area, she dropped the monies here before heading to her home. She has an alter-ego, and is a single mother of two." A small murmur from the outer rings of tables rumbled like a distant train through the chamber, this was news to many and yet not shocking as those same many had families of their own that they went home to. "Waiting for her when she arrived home, was not simply her children and their nanny. There was someone else."

Greystar looked around the room. He knew what saying the name of this 'hero' would do to those who had come up against him.

"Revocan."

The murmur rumbled again, but this time it came with a shiver spiralling down the spines of all those present. Even the veterans of the business had never come up against anything like Revocan. He was different to the other heroes. So different, most refused to work with him due to his tactics. In an incredibly private and unlikely meeting with the Chief Justice of the League of Heroes, Brightflame, the head hero had promised to only ever send Revocan on missions if it was an absolute last resort. Even between the Heroes and Villains of the world, to send Revocan was deemed by both as simply inhumane.

"Not only was Revocan present in Lady Lightstrike's personal home," Greystar continued as he shook away the goosebumps that were creeping across his body "He had bound her two children and their nanny to hold as hostages."

The collective gasp of shock nearly made the chamber a vacuum, but Greystar was not finished.

"It has been confirmed before this meeting started that Revocan had not been sent by the League of Heroes, and therefore was not on official League business. They truly did not know the Lady's alter ego nor her home address, Revocan had somehow found this information out for himself. The League had recently cut Revocan off from some of their resources, and so wonder if Revocan had wanted to take some of the money that Lady Lightstrike had stolen earlier in the day. Obviously there was a battle between them, and the Lady now lies in a coma until the swelling in her brain subsides."

"How are the children?" a female voice piped up from the second row, one Greystar knew to be a mother herself.

"Traumatised but safe, and unharmed as is the nanny." Greystar nodded his quiet thanks to whomever was able to keep them safe from their home being utterly demolished in the fight "We must now decide an important matter. The heroes are going to make it clear they they do not want Revocan in their League so do we want him within ours? He refuses to abide by the light of the law, so can he be lured by the darkness of villainy?"

"I'm fine being in the grey area," a voice echoed from the shadowy crevices of the chamber.

The villains all collectively panicked, they knew who that voice belonged to even if they could not see him.

"Oh shit," Greystar muttered as he stood, sending his chair tumbling backward akin to many of the others in the room. "He's here."

"That's right," the voice bounced from a different part of the chamber "I'm here."

The lights above the tables blinked out and plunged the chamber into darkness. The villains with the power of fire or light began to illuminate themselves causing the other villains to flock to them like moths, but no matter what side of the room they lit up there was nothing to see. Greystar opened his own hand to powered up a small star-like ball of plasma for his own source of light, but as he turned he came face to face with sadistic smile of Revocan.

"No more."

"Chief!" Stormsword pushed through the doors and sprinted toward the occupied desk in the private office of the Chief Justice of the League of Heroes.

"This is supposed to be a private meeting, Stormsword," Brightflame quickly turned off the screen that he had been showing his number two, Ms Sparrow "I assume this must be important."

"Turn on the TV," Stormsword was panting, his cardio was not as good as it had been in his spritely youth.

"Which channel?"

"All of them."

Brightflame gave a quick look of concern to Sparrow before the screens reverted to the news which showed an on-site reporter pushing through the throng of other journalists, spectators, and police as they all looked at the crater in the side of Mount Falabeda.

"Is that...?"

"That's the Council headquarters..." Ms Sparrow confirmed as the other screens in the room began to tune in to the other stations, giving the three Heroes a multi-angle view of the devastation.

"Wait," Stormsword looked at the pair "How do you know where that is?"

"What happened?" Brightflame asked as the cacophony of reporters began to all speak at the same time.

"The Council of Darkness," Stormsword said "They're all dead. All of them."

I have my own subreddit! /r/ocallkai

I've never lost a patient. Some call it obsession, others think I've got something wrong with me, and most think I really need to learn when to quit. But I just can't help it. I have to help others, to use my skills to aid the ailing. Because in many of the cases that make their way to my swamped clinic, they'd be a lost cause anywhere else. So I do what I must, despite the general mistrust of the public, and after a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, everyone carted in my doors is up and walking out them again, elated to have more time to spend with their loved ones. It's a very fulfilling job -- more doctors should cross-train into necromancy.

Citizens and heroes alike see me as dangerous and avoid me. Villains want to recruit and train me. That isn't the life I want. I made a home in a cave in the woods. I may not be a hero, but I can at least use my powers to protect travellers. And what, my friend, could my power possibly be?

De-skin.

Focusing my eyes on a living being, I can, without being near it, force the skin to peel away. I wish I could be a proper hero, but understandably, people fear me.

So I make the best of my abilities, saving people from being attacked, providing shelter. It's humble, peaceful, meaningful and rewarding. I would trade this life to be a typical hero... but otherwise, I wouldn't trade this life for the world.

I only discovered I had powers a few years ago and I'm still figuring things out. Normally, the League of Super Heroes or the Guild of Super Villains would have hired a new Super Person almost immediately, but not me. You see, unlike heroes my power doesn't let me hide my identity. Unlike villains, I can't get away with a crime because everyone knows if I use my powers. I'm a liability to everyone. Worse yet, when I use my powers the whole world experiences it. The whole world melts into an insanity of mental anguish in which living itself is a nightmare. I can save lives, or take them. I can give to others the things they dream of, or take them away. The only catch is, every living thing on the planet basically goes insane with fear for...well at least a little while.

I have a few "friends" at least, some Super Persons that hang out with me just to keep an eye on me. The Heroes and Villains both want to know where I am at all times, you see. The TV on the wall switches from a day time drama to an emergency announcement: a plane full of orphan children being flown to safety away from a war zone where their parents were brutally butchered is being targeted by interceptors. I can save them, but everyone in the world will suffer the most terrible nightmare, one so traumatic it can melt minds. The sanity of the whole world, for the lives of some children. What should I do?

"You could be rich", says Izchak, "if you just made a few demands in return for saving the children, y'know?". I do know, and then I'd be a villain forever.

"Shut up Izchak, he's not despicable like you", says Throndor, "sit tight my friend, we don't need your help". Throndor is your typical hero, he thinks he can save anyone. Heroes never trust me anyways, they're afraid of my power because I'm the only one who can make them feel true fear. I can also find out who they are in the nightmare, and that's perhaps even worse. The problem is, there's really no way the heroes are going to get there in time.

The first time, and so far last time, I used my power the whole world came to a shrieking realization of my existence. Planes nearly fell out of the sky as pilots emptied their bowels in their seats and vomited over their consoles. Trains screeched through their stops. Thousands of car wrecks piled up on the highways. It was a miracle no one was killed, a miracle I made happen just in time. Since then, I've never entered the nightmare again. I want so badly to help these children, but heroes won't help me and villains just want to use me. How am I supposed to learn to control my power?

I give Izchak and Throndor a glare...I hope they're prepared. Realization washes over their faces and they both lunge at me as I enter the nightmare. Just two writhing bodies on the floor now, faces melting and flesh burning in their own fear-made flames. This is the whole world now, I better be quick.

“Ex. . . explosions?” Drummer Boy recoiled, “What do you mean by that?”

“I can make objects explode.” I said, rather matter-of-factly. Had I just been hearing about this for the first time, I would have had the same reaction as Drummer Boy, perhaps even worse. It’s true, being able to create and control explosions in the blink of an eye is a horrifying ability to have, especially for the likes of someone like the person interviewing me, Drummer Boy. I’ve seen the exact same reaction from almost everybody I have confessed my secret to. It is a heinous power to be revealed to you. Imaging sitting across a desk table from someone who could explode your head before you could even register what they just said. I’m used to it however, it’s always the same, a shocked face quickly turning into inquiry, then to terror and panic.

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“Like. . . anything?” Drummer Boy said, with even more hesitation in his voice then his previous statement.

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“Yes, anything.”

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“Can you make that. . .” Drummer Boy questioned, quickly scanning the room for the least valuable thing he could afford to lose, “coffee cup over there exp. . .”

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CHRING

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The cup explodes into pieces, leaving little other than shards and dust where it once was. Drummer Boy lets out a minute yelp, reeling back into his chair, almost tipping it backwards. Before he can even think of what just happened, he sits back up and rights himself, as to not show any fear.

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“That’s hem. . .” Drummer boy takes a second to clear his throat, “That’s certainly impressive. However, what do you think you could bring to The Invincibles?”

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Is he serious? I can make him explode within a second, I could take down this whole office before he could get out of his chair, and he’s asking me what I can Bring to “The Invincibles”? I’m asked this every time, you would think my ability alone would be proof enough that I’m valuable. Why are they even called The Invincibles, I can show him who’s invincib. . .

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Drummer Boy is shaking. I did it again, I'm gripping the desk, my knuckles have turned white from the pressure, I let my anger show. Of course, he’s scared, he just made the most powerful super on the planet angry.

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“What do you mean by that?” I asked, trying to settle the rage in my voice.

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“Well. . . I can incapacitate our enemies with the soundwaves that come out of my hands, The Eagle can fly citizens to safety, et cetera, what do you think you would be able to assist us with?”

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“I can explode anything I want to; you can’t immediately think of anyway that would be helpful?” I blurt out before really considering the best way to respond. Drummer Boy shakes his head slightly before swiftly stopping. “I can ensure that our enemies don’t stand a chance.”

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“I’m very sorry, I just don’t think you’re a good fit for our team; goodbye.” Drummer Boy says with one breath before evacuating the room, not bothering to collect anything before he leaves.

After a couple of minutes of breathing exercises to stifle my temper, I stand up, fix my tie, and step out of the room, into the hallway. As I walk to the end of the hall towards the elevator, I see through a large pane window Drummer Boy whispering to The Eagle while looking my direction but avoiding my eyes. I shrug it off to avoid any more unnecessary irritation. I enter the elevator, go down to the ground floor, and walk out of the building. Once the door behind me has shut, I am immediately and uncourteously handed and envelope from a bald man wearing a three-piece suit. The envelope looks pristine, almost like a college acceptance letter, bar the wrinkles in it now of course. After checking the sender, The Red Panther, I simply toss the envelope in the air before reducing it to pieces with a miniature detonation. It’s the fourth time this month that she has sent me a letter pleading me to be her assistant, I think that makes it twenty-seven times this year. The Red Panther is a retired supervillain that was renowned for her series of bank and museum robberies in the 80’s and 90’s. She could turn me into a great villain she said, I know I could be one too. However, I do not want to be a villain, but I am slowly becoming one.

Again and again. A new party. I thought this time they would accept me, THE HERO. But they still came, those vilains. Why? Why?. They should all die, I should even be the one to kill them, make them kill each other. But I've already tried, so hard, so much, as many as time as occasions came. But once I use MY powers they start fearing me, looking at me wearily. Those parties, whom I have given my help, they reject me. Is it because "we do not deserve your help" or "we are not worthy"? I've killed those vilains, not massacred them or slaughtered them, just made them die by their companions hand without any outsiders getting hurt. It's the best death for everybody, if they turn against each other then it's for the better. SO WHY IS IT THAT I'M STILL ALONE. WHY AM I NOT ALREADY THE HERO?

I don't get why everybody is so against bagpipes.

I mean, they are an effective way of defending against planar outsiders.

Ok, I might have a nuisance to everybody there, but the sound produced by bagpipes is empirically proven to highly irritating on all lifeforms with hearing abilities.

This could be especially true for planar outsiders, which tend to depend on sound-based sensing.

The Council of Defense rejected my idea, obviously.

"This is a serious matter. You can't just... do that."

They disliked my idea so much that they removed me from the Council of Defense and made me a regular cop.

I... mean it was just a suggestion--like I didn't actually carry it out.

...

Ok, maybe I did, but it worked, didn't it?

Suddenly, my phone in my pocket started ringing.

"Hello, we are the National Militia of General Evil."

"We would like you to participate in the robbing of [insert bank here]. You can go evacuate the people and then-"

Great. Now I'm getting prank calls!

"That was a very real call from a very real organization."

...

Damn.

You would think that with there being literal superheroes people wouldn’t literally rob a bank. Of course, with a gun in my face I must agree with Einstein stupidity is infinite. “On the ground!” The burly masked man shouts, an uzi in my face. I frown, “how did you get an uzi into Boston?“ I ask, ignoring him. This actually gives the guy pause, “we bought it” I shrug, “huh, might want to squeal on your seller, it’ll shorten your sentence if you play your cards right.” I offer, the free advice never hurt anyone.

the man throws back his head and laughs, giving me just enough time to take of my sunglasses. The robber looks at me and catches my gaze. The uzi drops with a clatter as the man becomes limp, tears welling up in his eyes. “Mom?” He whispers. Sinking to his knees the masked criminal weeps, I lower my head to maintain eye contact until his knees hit the floor. “Here’s my dad’s card, trust me when I say you’ll need it.” I advise, slipping my dad’s business card into his pocket.

he can’t hear me mind you, trapped in a mindscape of raw despair. Eyes of the Void, is the official name for my ability. Meeting my eyes, even a glance and overwhelming despair, usually paired up with hallucinations, will fill your mind and soul. The only one I’ve ever met able to resist my gaze was the hero Indomitable, his will is insane, and the villain Technodrone, he’s a robot so…

the other two idiots haven’t even noticed, one guarding the hostages, the other badgering the teller. I move to the hostages, avoiding looking at them directly by looking just above the robber’s head, as long as they’re outside my peripheral they’re safe. Then the guy turns, his face well with ing my peripheral vision. “No…” he chokes, “I didn’t… i’m sorry I didn’t!” Great a screamer. I walk over, cupping my hands around my eyes to limit my AOE. I get in the screaming man’s face. “Shut. Up.” I order, it’s amazing what despair does for someone’s respect for authority.

He shuts up but not before I hear a gun shot. Great, the screaming idiot alerted his friend. Luckily they seem to have never shot a gun before because this clown misses me, his buddy, the hostages, and literally anything as the recoil throws the gun to the ceiling, peppering the plaster with holes. I turn and wince, the teller got caught up in all this, tears streaming down her face.

I block her out with my hand, stopping the accidental attack before any long-term therapy is needed, trigger-happy on the other hand gets a full dose. In a second the man is curled up and weeping on the ground. I take the sunglasses out of my pocket and put them back on, pulling out my hero license, “Apologies everyone, I’m the hero Misery, please remain calm and exit the building in an orderly fashion.”

Naturally everyone runs out screaming. Thankfully the cops arrive, or not. “Hands on the ground!” I sigh, complying as the familiar feeling of cuffs wrap around my wrists. I remain silent until one cop with half a brain picks up my discarded hero license and they pass it around. All in all it was only 3 minutes of irritation but still.

There was a lot of red tape, statements giving, witnesses questioned, apologies to poor teller staff made. I finally withdrew my funds, I was at the bank for a reason, and went on my way. I had a party planned this weekend but as I would no doubt be required to talk with one PR manager or another that was out. I grumble, I had wanted to be a hero all my life, and the ability to shut down a room of hostiles is so useful but noooo, people keep pegging me a villain and it feels like shit!

”hey,” I hear a voice in the alley next to me, “Misery right?” I sigh, “No.” “Eh?” I walk away, “wait. I have a proposition for you.” I sigh, switching on the camera on my phone, speaking of villains. I turn and walk into the alley, “what?” I ask, very much done with today. “You seemed to get a lot of shit from the cops, pretty crappy the way you were treated.” The man in the weather inappropriate trench coat said, a bad attempt at sympathy, “point, or I’m leaving.”

“Why not switch sides?” He said, “Villainy is very lucrative and we sell just as much merch as heroes, without all the moral quandary!” I frown, “So you’re trying to bribe me?” I ask, the man laughs and steps forward. Oh, that’s a surprise. “No” Superhead said, a genius villain who knows damn well his name is an innuendo. “I’m trying to recruit you.” I just stare at him from behind my sunglasses. This guy had so many open warrants for his arrest, he has to be a royal idiot savant to be out here.

”ok, two things.” I say, shaking my head, “first, if you’re going up against a guy you know needs eye contact to use his power, wear glasses or something.” I rip off my shades, “and second, I work damn hard at being a hero because I care about doing the right thing with the shit deal I got.” I lean in to the frozen so called genius, “not fucking action figures.” I grab him by the collar and maintain eye contact as I drag him to the nearest police cruiser.

as I replace my shades, I watch a sobbing Superhead get shoved into the backseat. Yep, stupid is infinite, and fucking contagious.

"Everyone get on the floor!" You sigh, taking one final sip of your drink before laying on the ground like everyone else. Crime was constant in the big city, and even small owned cafes were on criminals hit list, apparently.

Watching the scene unfold in front of you, you feel an urge to help. You knew you could change the outcome of this situation, save the day. But you also knew that without a license your win would be short lived. And with a nice pair of handcuffs, you would be going to jail with the criminals you had stopped.

You grimace a bit at your own thought as the man with the gun continues to yell at the poor barista. You notice his friends who were also carrying scary looking weapons didn't seem bothered by how much time that this robbery was taking.

You glare at them, wanting to wipe those smug looks off their faces. How dare they come in here thinking they could do whatever they wanted. You clench your fists, resisting the urge to use your powers.

You wanted to become a super hero, not a vigilante.

Ping

A notification breaks you from your thoughts as your phone goes off. Quickly glancing at it, you notice it's an email. Opening it up you start to frantically read, 'Dear Ha-' You skip past the honorifics, 'The Department of Heroism would like to thank you for you application to become a hero to help fight for justice and freedom.' Yes? 'We apologize for not returning to you about your application so soon.' Yes?! 'Our head committee went ahead and looked at your resume.' Yes?!! 'And we have decided to go with another candidate since "Omnikenisis" is to much of a liability for our legal team.'

You stop reading after that. Really? That's what they were worried about? Lawsuits?!
You groan, resting your head against the cold floor. What was wrong with your power? It had many good uses. As you grieve your loss the two criminals notice you distraught.

"What's the matter, boyfriend dump you or something?" "Naw bro, looking like that she'd be lucky to even get a catcall from some homeless dude." They snicker at their own joke. Forget a license and forget heroism, this was just plain unfair.

Getting up you brush yourself off, if you were going to wipe the floor with these dudes you weren't doing it covered in dust. Looking at the two now puzzled men you causally wave a hand out towards them.

"You know if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it probably is one. But in your case you'd be better off as pigs."

Suddenly the two men shrink. There screams turn into squeals as both turn into miniature pigs. There counterpart sees this and starts firing rapidly at you,

"Fcking Btch!"

You quietly wave your hand again, making the bullets turn into bubbles. As they pop you see the man's face go into shock.

"You know I'm quite tired of your shenanigans, so why don't you just pop off already."

Snapping your fingers the man and the pigs suddenly vanish in a puff of black smoke. Sighing you hope you remembered the police stations address correctly, otherwise you teleported three criminals who knows where.

Ah, scratch that, one criminal and two pigs.

Smiling at your own joke you hear slow clapping behind you. Turning you see an older gentleman with what seems to be two very strong looking guards eyeing you.

"Very wonderful my dear, very wonderful indeed!"

"Who are you?"

"Those in the under city call me..."

You let the small man ramble, as a huge headache hits you.

"You know what, I don't care."

You wave you hand dismissively, and the three men disappear from your site.

Clenching your head, you ignore the stares and whispers from the other customers as you ask the barista,

"Can I get another latte please?"

I've always admired heros when I was a kid. I would smile everytime I saw a hero on TV and laugh when the villain got his butt kicked. Even though Heros are so powerful—they never terrified me. Why is that? You would think seeing a person catching a bus would be scary no? Especially when you imagine what that hero could do to a person. But no, no matter what power a hero has It never scared me. So When I was blessed with powers, I wanted to be a hero. But out of all the powers I could have gotten why did I have to get this one? For the first time, a power actually scares me and it just so happens to be my own. This isn't a power a hero should have, so why do I have it? Well...who cares? As they all say it's all on how the power is used. If it is used for good then no matter how scary it is, people will come around and understand eventually right? Wrong. I was dead wrong.

First time I used my powers to stop some random thugs, a few people saw, and you know what happened? Those citizens thought I was a villain! Yeah, They called the superhero hotline and sent heros on my ass. No matter how much I tried to plead my case to the hero chasing me, she didn't believe me. I barely escaped and was forced to use my powers on a hero! I'm officially in the hero data base described as extremely dangerous. How messed up is that? I could complain All day but this doesn't change the fact that I still want to be a hero. Real Heros don't care about this kind of stuff. They just do what needs to be done. So that's what I will do.

I looked out at the skyline, my legs dangled dangerous off the ledge of a tall building. This city is beautiful at sunset. The way the sun shines on the glass is something to marvel at. The red clouds in the sky today seems to compliment it as well.

Ring ring.

I checked my phone. I had a friend hack into the hero network to pick up news of villains that are on the loose. "A villain named Slitherhead is on the loose down town, heros are advice to seize and capture on site. Slitherhead is mid tier on power rankings. Caution is advised." Time to get to work. Hopefully I get there and handle it before a hero arrives.

I looked out at the city one last time before walking back towards the stairs. What? You think every hero can fly or jump down without getting hurt? I guess I could, but I'm lazy.

(Random persons perspective)

It felt hard to breathe but I kept running anyways. How did it come to this? I was just walking my dog! Now my dog is gone. I turned a corner and ran down an alley. Everyone else seemed to have already disappeared. I'm on my own.

Rumble

I didn't dare look back. Where are the heros? Why aren't they here yet?! Is this it? Is this the end?

"Someone, anyone...please help!" I yelled as hard as I could in-between my laboured breathing.

"Kehehe, Boy just give up. You realize I'm just toying with you right? Just like I do with all my prey." A low grumbling monstrous voice spoke from close behind.

'NO! I refuse to die like this. If I'm going to die then I might as well go out my way!'

I stopped and turned around, I had no choice since I hit a dead end. I shook my head then looked at this monstrosity in it's glowing blue eyes defiantly as it's slithered towards me. From the slick scaled black green tail, all the way to it's half human-like face with that predatory smile. It looked like a snake and human mixed together in some kind of inhuman like harmony. If I'm going to die then I at least want to haunt this guy's dreams by starring into his soul. 'I'm done running.'

The snake human-thing tilted it's head inquisitively. "Oh? What's this? Your done running? Well that's boring. That look...I've seen that look before." It licked it's face with it's forked snake tongue as if finding something delicious.
"Well, now that playtime is over I worked quite the appetite, I hope you don't mind?" It laughed at it's sick joke as it's tail grabbed hold of my foot. Next thing I knew I was upside down. That didn't stop me from staring at him as I was lifted above it's head. I kept silent and glared as I watched the monstrosity open it's mouth wide enough to fit a whole person. I started sweating. No matter how brave I tried to be, I'm still scared of death.

'I don't want to go this way.'

"Hey ugly." A distorted voice called out from a distance.

The snake-human froze and looked back towards the alley exit. It's eyes glowed ominously. "who dares interrupt my meal?!" The ground shook as it spoke. I was facing the wall so I couldn't see who it was. I looked back up or down depending how you look at it. I caught a glimpse of the snakes eyes. They looked...Nervous??

"Tap, tap, tap." I heard slow steps creeping closer. " Put the guy down." The distorted voice replied casually. The snakes tail wrapped around my foot harder. The monster spoke. "You, I know you. You're that new guy. You made quite the impression the other day. Even got away from the hero Athena." The snake-human frowned. " Why does a new villain care about what I eat?" Slitherhead paused as if he just thought of something.

"Actually you should join me later. I'm sure we can have a lot of fun together." It laughed.

Silence

"Nah, I'd rather kick your face in. You might look a bit better that way."

It took a moment for the snake to catch what he meant before snarling. He flung me with his tail. I thought I was going to splatter against the wall only to slam into something soft but incredibly dark. 'I'm..fine? What was that?' I looked ahead and finally got a look at my savior. My first thought was...terrifying. A human like being wrapped in shadow... or is that black fire? The more I looked the more terrified I felt. The more I observed the more I realized that that isn't just a shadow. The shadow had demonic eyes. And a gleaming smile full of rows of teeth. My instincts screamed at me to look away but I ignored it. First it was just one pair of red eyes. Then two. Then three. Each pair of eyes were a different color. Each eye a stuff of nightmare's. Soon the shadow was full of eyes and teeth that seemed to move around the shadow.

The snake-like human also seemed startled. But it quickly got ahold of itself before swinging it's tail. "Die!" The tail tried to flatten the shadow. The shadow stuck it's hand out towards the tail. when the tail touched the shadow It was as if the tail was getting sucked into an endless black hole. Space itself seemed to collapse.

The snake-human screamed in agony as the black shadow consumed it from the tail up.

" Ahhhhhh! No stop! Please! Mercy! Mercy!"

I watched in horror as the snake slowly disappeared.

In the end, nothing was left. Then the eyes gazed at me. I closed my eyes. I felt like I would go insane if I continued to look. " No, please!" I cried out. I heard a distorted sigh. " I just saved your life man...whatever." A few seconds past by before I dared to open my eyes. Gone. I let out a huge sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding.

This was my first shot at a [WP]

“Everyone gets a cool power…” He sighed as he watched the large muscular man smile for the cameras as a man in red spandex is put in handcuffs, “Hercule have you anything for our viewers at home?” one reporter asked “Yes, just remember kids whatever power you have, you can always make society better”

Winking at the camera he shot into the sky leaving a trail of dust and cheering onlookers behind him.

“Yeah sure anyone can help people, just not me… that jerk gets his super strength and flight, his idiot wife gets to be flexible and here I am… stuck with my power”

Entering his apartment he threw down a worn briefcase and slumped into a large worn chair “sure my power isn’t the best, I mean I’m not gonna end any top tier villains, but for the everyday stuff like muggers or robbers I could help”

Picturing himself in an all white costume with a black cape he thought of times he’d tried to help “I even stopped that mugging last week, sure there was a mess for the police to clean up but it was better than letting him steal that kids wallet”

Chuckling to himself as he remembered the police officers face upon arriving at the scene “Now son I know you want to help but sometimes the best help is to just let the real heroes do their jobs” the officer had chided him but otherwise offering sympathy.

“Yeah the big boys in the league like their club to be exclusive, if you’re on your own helping they’ll make sure you end up like that crazy rich guy who dressed as a dog” as he switched on his television he pondered his life choices, from top of his class with a scholarship to any college of his choice to a simple office worker, he wasn’t sure what was worse, disappointing his parents or being a nobody.

His daydreaming of potential life as a hero was interrupted by a knock at the door “ugh it better not be” he thought opening the door “Hey, I’m sorry to disturb you my name is Doctor buzz” the tall man said, the only skin visible was his face from beneath a garish silver costume, plastered with a grin that said “I want something”

“Hello, no” he barked, slamming the door as he did a silver wand stopped him abruptly “Please sir, just hear me out, I am here to make a proposition that I think you will find very lucrative” rolling his eyes with obvious frustration “I have heard it all, from you, from the KS crew, and every idiot in-between, I am not interested” as he slammed the door he thought of all the people who had tried to use his power for, well not good stuff.

“These idiots really think I will join them, and their idiotic groups, what would mom say if she was just watching TV and she saw me with those morons and their little schemes”

Switching through local news mainly about other heroes saving the day he wished he had been born with another power, anything that would make them value his unique talents “I wish they’d just give me a chance, just one I’d prove I’m useful” again he sighed looking over his drawings of what he would wear

“I’ve even thought of a cool hero name, The Big O, the orgasmic avenger”

Riz- Power: Void Shaman

Can call and summon the power of the Black Liquid, the Life Draining Void

Abilities;

Can summon energy draining, sticky black liquid in a variety of quantities

Can summon the Dwellers of the Dark, The Liquid Lurkers.

Can solidify the liquid.

And here, our story begins.

Screaming and panic filled terror traverses through the street as the slobbering villain bellowed a howl of hunger. But little did he know, his huge exterior and rows of sharp teeth could not seduce what was to come above. I soared down and prepared a landing punch, with the force of the hardened void in my hand. I pulled back, extended my reach, and from the soaring sky, the pavement caves and the monsters head cracked. He screamed with horror as the lights went out. I expected a lot of cheers and sighs as I defeated the monster, and his corpse laid in a smoking heap on the hot pavement. But, they stood in shock.

“THE MONSTERS OWN LEADER KILLED IT!”

“HOW RUTHLESS!”

“GET AWAY! HE’LL KILL US!”

Confused, I stood there. But nonetheless, I hopped from the corpse and walked towards them in an attempt to explain, but like a flash, I was tackled, and apprehended by an unknown force. They cheered in delight as I was flung from the street to the middle of the lake with incredible force. While in the air, I extended my hand, and a pillar of void reached to my. I turned my hand into a long tentacle and grabbed on. I kept up, and looked. Oh, perfect. Number One Hero, Grandboom, has zoomed and stolen my spotlight. He can summon fire in numerous quantities, which explains how he tackled and flew me to drown.

“I’ve never seen a villain quite as obnoxiously stupid as you. Who might you be?” He says, in a haughty tone

“I-villain? No sir, I tried to help those people.”

“But… your abilities. I’ve only seen countless villains past use that, and I know when I see a villain.”

“I can assure you sir, I mean no harm.” My heart beat in my chest like thunder asunder. I was presumed a villain for my abilities?

“Even so…” He trailed off. The people looked at him with awe and might. A couple people started recording and pointing their phones and cameras directly at me.

“No. The abilities you wield are to powerful to be wielded with the people in mind. Give up being a hero now, or I will see to it you are made to quit. If you become a villain, I’ll kill you anyways.”

“So, umm, lose-lose?”

“Yes. Or you win and don’t “lose-lose” your life”

“With all due respect sir, It’s been my dream to be a hero all my life. I idolized your predecessor, Univar. I can’t quit”

I hadn’t noticed, but more heroes showed up as I talked. A and B ranking heroes, mainly.

“Then for this, I apologize. You seem like a capable young man. Maybe you’ll survive.”

In an instant, he charged, with intent to explode me instead of fight me. I rose a wall, and he crashed into it. His Will didn’t falter, and he kept charging. He kept going into it, and the wall cracked, but didn’t break. I prepared a punch, and he broke through. I punched, and he flew against the bottom wall of the pier. The crowd of heroines and heroes, and civilians all gasped in awe.

“Leave him. Hell will come in time.”

The next day, the papers arrived. They claimed I was neutral, not villainous or good. Neutral Powers are considered the most dangerous of all, because their actions are seen as a flip, to switch. I am not a hero, or a villain. I’m the worst kind of intersection.

"You gotta help me, man. There must be something you can do," I tell the man. He's known for being able to cure people with impossible diseases, and can give you powers with magical drinks he concocts himself.

The potion man moves his eyes back and forth across his shelves, which are covered with glass containers with names labeled on them. "Zach . . . I wasn't the one who gave you these powers. I don't think I can take them away. Tell me again, how did you get them?"

I sigh, trying to remember every detail from five months ago. "I was asleep in my apartment when I was woken up by a light. It was a kind-of-pink white and there was also this voice. It wasn't saying words but I heard it somehow." This is still really hard to describe. "And that kept going on. I can remember the voice saying it right now, but at the time I heard it."

The man is nodding, invested. "And what did it say?"

"It said that I was chosen for a special role. A special role is The Story. But I don't know what that means. Anyways, I felt my skin buzzing and my heart was beating really fast and I went unconscious or something. It actually felt pretty good, like I was in a deep sleep." I still remember the whole thing, clear and vivid in my head, like I'm seeing a movie filmed with a good camera.

"Then when I woke up I felt no different. I tried to ignore what happened but I kept thinking about it the whole day. At some point I was walking around the campus, you know, when I was still in college, and a student was walking out and waved at me. I recognized her from my communications class and waved back. But right after I did, she exploded."

"Exploded?" the potion man gasps.

"Yeah, but there weren't guts and blood anywhere. She kind of just turned into dust. She was declared missing later on and no one found the body because, obviously, it was blown away by the wind. So I tried doing it on other things, like trees and water bottles, and it all worked. But sometimes I can't really control it and that's why the Heroes don't trust me. I can kill with these powers and even though I have no intention of doing that, they won't accept me."

"Dang, that's tough. You don't want to join the Villains?"

"No," I groan. "They've been trying to recruit me but I don't want to be with them. The leader tries to mentor me but it's annoying."

"Why not? It'll probably be fun."

I sigh again. I have considered it but . . . I don't know. My parents raised me to be a good person and the villains are literally villains. "No. It's not for me," I say. "So are you sure you don't have a fix?"

He bites his cheek and exhales before shaking his head no. "Yeah, no. It looks like it was Fate who gave you these powers. Can't do anything about that."

I want to get mad at him, but I guess he can't do everything. "Thanks, anyway," I smile. We both nod at each other before I leave the little room he sells in.

As I'm heading out, I feel someone put a hand over my mouth. Laughter behind me. I can't breathe. "Come on, Zachary. You could be useful," a voice snarls.

"No!" I yell, but the gloved hand muffles it.

"You don't have a choice, kid. No one wants you. Not your college, the Heroes. You have no friends."

Hey, I have friends. And the only reason I'm not in college anymore is because my powers really messed me up and I just couldn't afford it anymore. No job accepted me either so there was not way to work for money.

I use all my strength to push myself away from the man and start running. But as soon as I step a foot, he appears right in front of me. "You can't run from me, boy," he smiles, but even his smile looks evil. He starts walking towards me and I walk backwards instinctively but end up falling on my butt.

"Get away from me!" I plead. I don't want anything to do with the villains. Why can't they understand that?

All the man does is laugh. I close my eyes and clench my fist, my heart beating in my ears and my breathing horribly fast.

Poof!

My eyes fling open. "No, no, no, no, no, no . . ." I mutter. The spot where the man was standing earlier is only filled with a pile of black sand.

I killed him.

Not again.

I have two deaths on my conscious. That's two too many. I stand up and linger there for a bit before running away. I keep going until I reach home.

My house isn't really a house. It's like fifteen boards I put together to create some kind of roof over my head. It's not much but . . . okay, it's not much, period.

This is another reason why I want to be part of the Heroes. I can get my own living area. My own room, along with other good people to share it all with. The people of the city donate to the Heroes a lot too, so they're loaded.

But I know that even the Villains have a lot of money. All the jewels they've stolen, banks they've robbed . . .

Maybe . . . maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I joined the Villains. They want me, don't they? It's a win-win if I go with them. I'm guaranteed a job, a home, and people to protect and teach me.

I can't imagine myself a villain. But I'm gonna have to if I want to live.

"But..but I can help!" In an emotional moment, I slam my hands on the desk of the secretary, having rejected my 20th hero application.

The secretary raises her hands, horrified as she stares right behind me. "Dont....dont hurt me".

I turn around and see a giant 6 foot man in a wife beater, holding a chainsaw, staring at the secretary and licking his lips.

"Sorry about that, I got emotional". I snap my fingers and the strange man disappears.

"I have full control of them you know, they dont so anything without my orders" I explain, but she is having none of it. Still staring at me in absolute shock, ive decided to call it a day and leave.

Walking outside the registry, I spot the detonator, a villain with the power of explosives. He's beenl following me for the past four months trying to make me his apprentice.

"Ringmaster! There you are. Rejected again I assume?" I sigh and nod. Ringmaster was the villain name he has chosen for me. I still cant pick a hero name.

"Well maybe today I can finally convince you to come with me to my lai..." An axe swings, detonator dodging just at the right moment. In an instant detonator was surrounded with 6 of my minions. "Dibs on his third rib!" one of my minions yells, as he charges for detonator with a barbed wire baseball bat.

Detonator snaps his fingers and explodes, sending all 6 of my minions flying into giblets. But just before he could blink, I resummoned my minions, and detonator was surrounded again.

"Again! Again! that was fun!" one of my minions yells, staring eagerly and creepily at detonator with lustful eyes.

Detonator chuckles "Your true nature is staring at me, quite eagerly ,Ringmaster" Detonator explodes upwards, making his escape. "Mark my words ringmaster, youll join me one of these days!" Detonator yells as he flies off like a firework.

I snap my fingers and my minions vanish without a trace. The power to summon and control deranged serial killers. I cannot even THINK of a more villainous power. And yes theyre just ordinary powered, but they always bring their favorite weapon with them, and they seem to be incapable of feeling pain, which makes them walking nightmares.

I can summon around a 100 at a time, which is a small army. And I have no distance limit, which is very unusual and rare for a summoning type power. Theoretically - I am a supreme catch for the heros!

Think of all the good I can do! How many people I can save with an immortal 100 man army!(I can always resummon any dead ones).

But my minions are just too...scary. Victims run away on sight and often get into even worse trouble when I try to help. It doesn't help that theyre always armed, and have a fixed lustful look in their eyes, CRAVING violence.

I start crying, resting my back on the wall of the hero registry. "Cheer up boss, im sure we can find something you want dead, hah!" A minion appears next to me. I have a habit of accidently summoning one when I get emotional. "Like what?" I ask. Staring right into his deranged violent eyes. You honestly get used to it, besides what type of hero would scared of their own minions

"Youre not seeing the big picture boss, theres a third option! hehe!" "A third option? explain" My minion gives me the creepiest smile "Why the option that is always there - Kill kill kill!!" "Im not turning into a villain. Forget it" "But you can kill the villains boss!"

I stare at him in disbelief. That...is that an option? Truly? "We can start with that dickonator, fucker needs to die, right boss?" I nod. "The detonator needs to die" I say outloud. "Hahaha thats my boss. LETS CHOP HIS LIMBS AND..." I snap my fingers and my minion disappears, with an idea in my head that I cannot shake off.

On this day, resting on the walls of the hero's guild. The villain hunter was born.

Osteomancy is an honourable power.

It’s the delicate ability to control bones. Someone swings their arm towards and bam, stops in its tracks. Gun man holding a hostage in place? Simply make sure their finger can’t possibly bend any more. When I started I figured hey, there’s no way the league wouldn’t want me helping out!

As it turns out, the ability to move bones or stop them came with some… drawbacks. The public generally frowns when you make bones bend and twist into a stopping position. Maybe it was my upbringing, waiting by the surgeons table for my mother to finish her work on the trauma patients that came in, that made me less sensitive to these things. Like come on, I cant control bones forever, and if I just left them they might get up and leave!

So yeah, maybe I had to snap a few out of place to make sure they couldn’t escape. At least it’s clean breaks, the big hitters of the league do waaay more permanent damage when they hit some poor mugger in the skull. And yes, I found out the hard way that stopping a few of someone’s bones in a car chase would leave the rest… less than connected. Momentum and physics or something.

At least I’ve never done anything like necromancy. After all, Osteomancy is an honourable power.

My name is Alice. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

It has been five years since it happened. Five years since my powers came to fruition. Dreams turned to dust. Families turned to strangers. Everywhere I looked, only fear and revulsion stared back.

The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos. And as soon as that diverged too much from their idea of a perfect world, they locked me in here. Stripped me of everything I had. My clothes, my name, everything.

Once, people gasped when they saw me. The daughter of Esmerelda Bloodstone. The daughter of the woman who saved us all. Who gave up her life to save countless more. Now they scream. Because I'm not supposed to exist.

I stare at the door. It's locked, as always. There's a little slot meant to push food in, and a plate underneath it. It's made of plastic, of course. Then again, there really isn't much point. The drugs disable my power. Destroy my focus.

Had my mother not abandoned me, I would've learned to break through mental blocks like these. I would've known that my powers are greater than anything the world has seen before. I would've known that once I lost control, there was no going back.

But she did it anyway. And she's not coming back.

Reality manipulation, they call it. The ability to bend space and time to every whim and fancy. As far as they know, I'm the first and last of my kind.

But they're wrong.

They're so wrong.

They're so horribly wrong.

They don't know.

And that's the worst part. They don't know what's coming. And I can't tell them. I stare out through the window, the tears beginning to roll down my cheeks. I can see it now. Death. It comes for me.

Comes for us all.

It begins so small. A tiny pinprick of darkness. But it expands. Screams echo through the air. Men pray to gods that fled long ago. Creation and destruction are concepts warped and twisted beyond relief. My flesh twists with it.

My blood turns to ice. My body burns from the inside. And yet, I am not scared.

Maybe I'll see mom again after all.

Maybe...

Being a flaming skeleton has little to no advantages.

People don't want to be anywhere near you, clothes are a waste of time, and you can't sleep on a bed. On the plus side, those charity people who stop you on the street don't bother me.

When it first happened I woke up in the ruins of my apartment, it had burned down around me and I slept through it. Luckily nobody was hurt but seeing a charred skeleton emitting an ethereal flame didn't exactly endear the rescue services to me. The firemen tried to hose me down at first, probably thought I was a burn victim, but the water just turned to steam before it could touch me. The police tried to shoot me as I stumbled toward them for help but the bullets just melted and spattered me with molten metal. That quickly slid off me leaving little puddles of liquid metal.

Walking down the street messes up the concrete and if I brush past something it catches fire so I did my best to avoid touching anything, but a couple of cars and an inquisitive cat got singed.

I tried to go to the Hero HQ for help and explain I wasn't bad or doing this on purpose but I was met with calls to cease my attack and turn off the fire, obviously I can't turn off the fire and I don't have any vocal chords so that was a bust. They tried to take me down, and I tried to let them, but I injured the guy who dresses like a flying rodent and even the red and blue got a little burn so i got out of there.

Went into an abandoned factory which I think was old smelting place. I was able to get some sleep in one of those big bucket thingies and the next day I found one of those foil suits that protects people from heat. Its held up pretty well so far but it's taking damage. I try to only keep it on when I'm near burnable stuff. Stayed in the smelting place for about a week but the concrete and rebar started to melt and I didn'twant to cause it to fall. Thought the desert would be a fitting place and far away from people so I made my way there.

I don't need to eat or drink anymore so I suppose that's good, I don't have go near people and risk hurting them. Every now and then some big villain or other finds me and gives me the whole "they don't understand people like us" monologue but I don't want any revenge and I certainly won't hurt anyone. They usually leave after I grab onto them for a few seconds.

Now I just sit in my cave, I write sometimes, using my suit so the cave wall doesn't char and cover the words I scratch into it or I accidentally melt the piece of rusty metal that serves as my pen. I really hope I can at least die of old age but we'll see. Hunger and thirst won't do it, tried sticking my makeshift pen into my skull but it just melts and drips before it touches me. Maybe the heroes will find a way to neutralise me, until then I'll just sit and wait, and hope to whatever god is out there that I don't hurt anyone.

So here I sit, watching the world go by. Not in the colloquial sense either mind you, quite literal when you’re leaning against a piece of space junk in low earth orbit.

I had grown up normal, mostly at least. I enjoyed science and math more than others in my age group, particularly physics. I found it to be a fascinating field with so many things to learn and wonderful mysteries yet to be solved. It had the unfortunate but predictable result of leaving me left out of most social events, in ways only the cruelty of teenagers can devise.

Then on my 17th it happened, an awakening of power from somewhere. No one knows why or how, most heroes or villains have it run in the family, they are prepared for it. For me one day I was your average girl, and the next I had become possibly the most powerful person on the planet, and had no idea that I was or what to do.

It took some effort to learn how what I had worked, though thankfully I didn’t cause any incidents while learning to control it, but never seemed to be able to make it do much.

I moved away to college, electing a major in engineering physics, working toward a dream of helping make new discoveries…. until The Party happened.

It was a Halloween party, the year I was supposed to finish my undergraduate, my boyfriend at the time had gotten an invitation to a costume party, and so we had gone to have a little fun. It turned out to be a nightmare.

Everything started well enough, In typical nerdy fashion I had gone with an anime theme, and he had gone with a semi-matching cyberpunk-ish style costume. It was around midnight that everything went awful, apparently the host of the party had made some deals with a drug gang he couldn’t cash, and so some guys had been sent to teach him a lesson. Instead they found a party full of people, and intimidation became confrontation. One of them fired a shot after a struggle, and all hell broke loose. The last clear memory I have was seeing my boyfriend’s eyes wide open as he lay on the decking.

I was told later it looked like the assailants had been put in a car crusher, broken bones sticking out at odd angles, organs crushed to pulp. I don’t remember any of it. The next thing I remember was being on the other side of a table, being interrogated by heroes I had thought the world of. The more questions they asked, the more ‘tests’ they did, the more visibly scared they got. Eventually letting me go. That was a few hours ago.

My power in its purest form is quite simple, the ability to manipulate gravity. However that power when applied at the atomic and subatomic level can have many other interesting effects. Being able to alter elements into others by making them shed or gain protons, forming isotopes with great precision, halting or controlling electrical flows and chemical reactions. When you can fly, create seemingly impenetrable shields of force, or make a nuclear bomb from just about anything with the right amount of material, it really can be quite terrifying. But I emphasized I was no danger to them, or anyone else. That I simply wanted to help people.

It took maybe fifteen minutes for the first call to come through after I walked out, an unlisted number offering me things in exchange for my ‘help’. Another five minutes before I had figured out the caller wasn’t up to anything good. Another three more in quick succession, it seemed word got around fast that there was someone the league was afraid of. I wasn’t interested in any of it. I needed a place without cell reception to think.

So here I sit, watching the world turn, and trying to decide if I should try to help people, or just go back to being Kat.

But hey, Gravity always wins, Right?

(Something of a twist on a previous WP response, which could be the same or an AU thereof: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/xvm8rv/wp_there_is_one_ironclad_rule_in_the_world_if_you/ir51g1d/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3 )

My name is Meridith, i am 23 years old and I live in a small apartment with my cat. And for almost anyone who looks my way, that's all I am.

But that's not really it...

You see I have this ability (although most would call it a curse) to lets say... Debilitate people. If I'm mad at someone all these words pop into my head-no they're completely meaningless to me, but they drive the target absolutely insane.

My mother was the target of one of these such attacks before I was fully literate, meaning I (thankfully) didn't have all the words I needed- she was in the hospital for 8 months after some... Interesting choices on what to do with a knife.

Needless to say I was taken away to be 'taught' where some sort of mafia boss trained me to have a trigger word. Fun. He did not however have the forethought of questioning who those words would be pointed towards- I'm not certain his body was ever found. I then threatened the new 'in command' and got myself a pretty good deal, a free apartment.

So then I went out looking for work- turns out heros aren't too keen to put someone into battle who might accidentally kill someone by saying the wrong thing (hypocrites-) But as soon as I got rejected, I started getting "Evail the evil-est mail around" put in my mailbox-

I cannot explain to you how weird some of these adverts were- "Vampira's top ten KILLER tricks" "Frankenstein's exploding lightbulb" "How to rob a bank: five easy steps" No matter what I tried they just kept coming!

So in a fit of rage, I tracked down 'Evail Inc' and told them exactly what I thought of their company...

The streets were littered with the bodies of executives.

The ceiling stared back at me as I stared up at it while I laid in my bed. All my hard work and dedication just to be put aside by all the heroes.

My powers? Well some might say that if I wanted to be a hero then I should ignore my abilities. What are those abilities? Well for starters, my powers are powered by blood.

The powers just kinda take over and everything goes red when I use them. I usually wake up afterwards either over the bodies or in some alleyway. In both cases I was covered in blood, unsure if it was my own or not.

This is how most heroes seem to have heard of me.

During a meet and greet for superheros that were visiting the city a villain started to run rampage in the convention. Two heroes died when it all started, many others were injured. The heroes were focused on protecting the civilians so none of them could focus on attacking the villain.

That's.... That's when I stepped in... Someone's blood got in my mouth and then it got into my system. It was all red after that. Next thing I know, I'm over his body, covered in blood. So. Much. Blood. It was barely mine and the villain had very few wounds that would produce so much blood. The only thing going through my mind was how many people I must have killed.

Then I saw it. The two heroes that died when it all started, drained of blood. Then I saw four other bodies, also drained of their blood.

Heroes were looking at me, shock in their eyes. Frozen where they stood. Eyes wide with fear.

After that they took me in and interviewed me while I was in restraints. They asked me about what I did and how I did it. Eventually they let me out and sent me home, they made sure to keep tabs on me just to make sure I didn't end up killing people.

I know that they're afraid of me. They know I could kill them and I wouldn't even have to put a thought into it.

“The league of superheroes already has a few of us. Animal whisperers calling animal hoards to battle. Sharks follow Waterman and rodents follow Ratgirl. Me? I can control animals around 20-30 kilos. Superhero name? Oh I am not in yet.”

I say that to her and feel the urge to explain myself but what can I say that will not terrify her?

“I am… I am told I need to work on control and intensity first.”

I smile. She takes her drink and walks away. I guessing a not-hero is not as cool in these kinds of parties where 30% of the invitees re heroes already.

“Look who is there! My favorite super Vil…”

“Human. You wanted to say human right Bill?”

“Well you can always be part of us you know. We could be great together! With my abilities and your summoning cry. Oh we could take over the world!”

“That is very rich coming form a guy who is not getting his teeth beaten in only because this is a peace ground.”

This bar is the worst. A place where no superpowers are allowed. In a way it’s a place for superheroes and supervillains to relax without fearing retribution. It has also become a place of recruitment and negotiation. For me it is the worst of both worlds. I am both rejected and reminded that I could be, in fact, a monster.

“Come on… ” Bill rests his forearms on the bar. ”You know they will never let you in. I tried that ones too. They are too righteous to accept folks like us. You know… with ambiguous potential.”

“You turn people into meat puppets Bill.”

“Indeed but nothing would have stopped me from doing that ONLY to villains. But no… It was too much. They wanted to take my powers away, so I fled and so should you.”

“I don’t know if it is your line of work or the shit-smeared grin on your face but I don’t trust a word you are saying.”

“Poor us! Always misunderstood even when when we try to help!” Bill raises his cup with a theatrical movement takes mine too and turns away. “You drink too much kid.” He adds in a fatherly tone. “You are not going to be useful to anyone if you continue this way.” And walks away.

Well, Bill is right. I drink too much, I sleep too little, I haven’t practiced in a while. But I can’t get the news reporter voice out of my head. “Dozens dead in an altercation between Police and a raging super villain in times square. The video shows a hoard of dogs gathering around the individual followed by ” her voice cracks, she dry coughs. “…y what seems to be children. Dozens of children attacking the super villain. They seem to be controlled in a similar fashion as the dogs. The police is forced to order ceasefire before more children are harmed it s not clear what happened….”. She goes on and on for 3 minutes and 12 seconds.

I only tried to help. I only tried to control the dogs.

"Um-- Leslie S-s-streward, sir." she said in to the microphone in front of her. The feedback gave a painful hiss. Several of the shadowy figures sat around the table on the webcam briefly tapped their ears to reduce the volume. "I'm thinking about adopting the name 'Large Lass.'"

Leslie Steward was not the kind of girl you would call 'large' in any sense of the word. In her home-made purple domino mask and matching purple hoodie she barely cracked 4'10" and was routinely called a 'bean-pole' by her grandmother. Usually in between extra helpings of pasta. Still, she sat up a little taller, proud of her chosen name.

"Leslie," came the calm, adult voice on the other end of the call. It was the kind of father figure that would unironically use 'I'm not mad, just disappointed' and really mean it. "I need you to walk me through what happened that day at the bark. Bank. The Bank. Start at the beginning."

Leslie immediately felt the glow in her cheeks. She'd done her research. Literally. She knew that part of being a responsible hero was keeping detailed notes. She reached in to the middle pocket of her DYI utility belt and pulled out a small composition notebook. She thumbed back to yesterday morning and began reading. "Tuesday morning, 10/25. 0614. Sunlight wake-up. Not enough time for workout befor--" she shut her mouth.

"Get to the point where you entered the building." interrupted an impatient female voice from the other side of the table. She hit her fist on the table and made several coffee mugs rattle. Something animalistic came out from under her voice, the tone Deeping severally. "We did not convene to hear the diary of a school child."

"Oh." Leslie said, a little dejected. Suddenly she felt every bit of the '95 lbs soaking wet' she looked like, and withdrew a little in to her hoodie. She didn't know whom she was talking to, or where they were located, but she knew they were authority on these types of matters and they ushered her in to this room. All she had was the little laptop they had provided for her ontop the fold out table anchored in the bland wall. A microphone ran to the laptop via a wire and another wire lead to a camera perched high in the corner. She settled the microphone back where it was. The laptop seemed to be bolted in. This felt more like a very clean prison then a Super Hero Enrichment Center.

She took a few more moments to flip through the pages. All the expectant faces stared at her through the veils of darkness. Some of their eyes glowed. Some of their auras reverberated. All of them were waiting. "0723. When passing in front of the Newchurch 1st bank I saw a suspicious car with a masked man sitting at the wheel, engine idling." she parsed from her jotted notes. "Big male, Caucasian--"

"Skip." came a bored instruction.

"I'm s-sorry?" the little girl said.

"I said '**Sk-**ip.'" The breathy, non-descript voice came. It came like it constructed the syllables from the very air around it. "We told you to tell us what happened when you got in the bank. We want to know how you killed the two gunmen."

"Killed?" Leslie almost sobbed. There was a reality to what happened, and it was starting to set in. "Very well."

"When I saw the robbers I told them to stop. I s-shouted loudly and clearly that the police were on their way and, a, there was no need for them to increase hostilities, and instead theyshouldjust turn themselves in. T-t-they started laughing. One of them pointed their gun at this little girl's head and I knew what I had to do. I let my mouth hang open." Leslie said, giving a small demonstration, lowering her chin until it touched her sternum. "The longer I hold my mouth open, the more gravity I produce. I become heavy, eventually immovable and then things start to come towards me. T-the one further back noticed it first. His mean friend's hand was starting to bend towards me. He started screaming. By the time the second one started shooting his friend was already gone. ... I c-c-couldn't move away from the little girl in time so I focused on the other bad guy. Once he was gone I closed my mouth an--"

There was a sudden cry of steel as the chair beneath Leslie twisted and collapsed beneath her. The microphone had been obliterated and the laptop was shattered, the shell still bolted to the fold out section of wall, which had half of its hinge busted off. Leslie let out a loud sigh, making sure to breath it out her nose. She looked around the room. There was no clock. There were no windows. She wondered how long it would be before she could see her mother again.

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

Meanwhile, Thousands of Miles below, on Earth.

"You CANNOT keep her UP THERE." Tiger-Mom hissed, slamming her fist in to the table. She let out a guttural growl, which morphed in to words. "She's a little child!"

"A... little child. With a black hole in her ^(throat)." retorted the ethereal Effervescence.

"Bubbles is right, Asami." Dog-Gone Dad chimed in. Both looked at him in disgust; one for using such a derivative name, the other for using her identity.

"A child that stopped an armed robbery without a three hour stand-off resulting in 5 hostages dead and the robbers getting away." TM said, flexing open her palms, extending her claws and raking them in to the table-top. "You should be holding a ticker-tape parade for--"

"A class A type elemental manipulator who tore through half the bank floor, obliterated two bad guys, yes, but also rrrruffled three innocent bystanders off the mortal coil. Two of whom she is apparently completely unaware of. She's a danger to herself and everyone around her. I'm putting my paw down. She stays up there until we can neuter her. Her powers, I mean." the caped canid tried to remain firm after he said he'd 'put his paw down' but the last few words came out with a whimper.

The tiger's claws nearly sundered the table as she stood up in a huff. "Whatever! The Grim Legion will not take the publicity hit for her disappearance. This black-bag bs ends here! We will be in contact with her parents and letting them know where the Justice Doers have stashed their daughter."

"Good luck with that. I'm sure they'll believe the cavalcade of rouges I see before me. Who's going to place the call? You, Asami? You'd be 2 sentences in to the call before you berated her parents for letting her out of their sight. Maybe Lying Luigi? He could NOT tell them WHEN their SON ISN'T. ... do I need to remind you that one of your members is named the Child Abdu--"

The dogging was cut short by a feline roar. Tiger-mom clawed through the air as if it might injure the hero's argument. She huffed twice and then quickly summoned up all the composure she could manage. She gave a snap. The dark lights all un-dimmed. The shadow assassin nation all fell in line behind her, along with a sheepish Luigi and Steve. She turned and marched out the room.

"I think you sc^(ooo)wed the ^(pooch) on this one, boss. You think she's just reminded of the child you two alm--" Effervescence suddenly felt a large paw on his muzzle.

"Shuda fugup, before I ice-breath you and turn you in to 50 cent yellow snowcones." DGD said, his eyes flaring red.

Continuation of this story

It wasn't long after the funeral that Bassarisk started encountering troubles in his new hero life. Sure, cowing Doomsdayer and killing his mind-reading jackalope sidekick Naysayer was a heck of an entrance onto the stage of the multiple dimensions connected through reality 5265616c697479204e65787573 - his home dimension - and showing the Fur Fighters, a formerly criminal circus of animal-bitten supers that took after the creatures that bit them, how to be a force for good was an additional notch in the proverbial belt, but it was not without its consequences. Heroes were distrustful of him and his new compatriots, partly because they were so new to the heroic side of things, but mostly because of the power he had that cowed Doomsdayer and forced him to go into hiding, aside from an interview with a journalist by the name of Todd Chapman where he quoted the famous line, "I fear no man, but that thing... It scares me."

And it wasn't because he could make duplicates of himself. No, that wasn't the case at all. If they were mere duplicates that could call upon their own powers, it would have been fine and he would have been welcomed with open arms. No, as it turned out upon further analysis with the help of Carl, the new director of the Bureau of Superhuman Recruitment, that power instead turned out to be multilocation. A notable example of this in the days of old, when superhumans were unheard of, was Padre Pio's miraculous bilocation, which allowed him to do two different things in two places at once. This multilocation was taking that and cranking it up well over eleven, as the BSR found that there was no discernable limit to the number of multilocals Bassarisk could create. The second time he had done it to avenge Dr. Frank, the prior director, he had been in 10,000 places at once - 10,001 if they counted the original instance facing down Doomsdayer. Additionally, each had a unique ability, or at least a unique way of performing those abilities, and this revelation sent shockwaves through heroes, villains, and mercenaries alike. When Doomsdayer heard this, he became even more paranoid, not knowing whether that scratching sound in the night was an instance of Bassarisk coming to take him to justice or just a mouse, eventually keeping his helmet with infrared vision on just so he could sleep.

It was during this time that Bassarisk was about to go on stage at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX...or at least what remained of the city after Twister tore a path through it five months ago. He had been there, of course - how could he not with the multilocation? - and the devastation was so great he couldn't even turn back the clock on much of the damage. Anything that wasn't of cultural significance was written off, condemned, and readied for new development. His task there, of course, was to use his shields to protect said cultural sites, and he took great joy in attending Mass at the cathedral while winds in the theoretical F6 range blew outside. He had to come to terms then with the fact that he could not save everyone and everything, and the heroes who lauded him also cursed him under his breath for not helping with the fight against the living tornado.

And here he was again, about to perform the grand act of the Fur Fighter Circus: the one-man trapeze team. It was humbling work, keeping the people entertained through what many considered to be a silly act of theatrics and agility. Focusing backstage, he brought out the multilocals. No powers to put on display, just using the multilocation to keep costs low on an act they previously couldn't perform.

RingLemurr, the alluringly charismatic ring-tailed lemur and the ringleader of their team, announced the upcoming act out in the audience, and Bassarisk did the deed. Instantly, five multilocals appeared in their positions, with a sixth hidden away to keep an eye out for any villains who wanted to disrupt the act.

The circus had been a group of criminals once, before Bassarisk joined them, and they still were briefly after while Bassarisk was coached in the use of his body's natural abilities by RingLemurr while Bassarisk showed them how they could be heroes. Now they helped out with heroes' patrols in the cities they stopped in, occasionally even stopping a criminal or villain before the local superhero team even got an alert. They were appreciated, yes, but only out of fear due to having Bassarisk on their team. His name didn't do him many favors, being phonetically similar to the once-mythological basilisk, but he kept his promise of being a hero.

It was when the act was about to finish that six shots rang out from outside, and the multilocals dropped dead. Security instantly began to try and ferry people out, but Bassarisk sent a mental ping that told them that doing so would put the citizens in even more danger. A multilocal was placed in the basement, a shield surrounding the building, while Bassarisk went out with the Fur Fighters at his side and faced down the one he knew would return: Doomsdayer.

I was one of the few hundreds of people in the entire world who was given a strange power after the Spark. I’ve seen news articles and news reports of the individuals affected by it. One woman in Sydney had the power of a supersonic screech that accidentally caused injuries and deaths at a house party. Another guy in Chicago had the ability to create food for his local homeless shelter. I meanwhile, had the ability to fuse objects together. Honestly seems kinda lame in comparison. First time it happened I fused my sandwich to the plate I was eating it on, meaning I was able to eat half the sandwich before throwing the rest of it away along with the plate that it fused to. See, that’s the issue, I could fuse things together but not separate them again. It sucks too because I look on the news and see the Golden Boy, a man in gold spandex who has the ability to fly, have super strength, and super speed and wonder what it would be like to use my powers for good, but I think that might be a fool’s errand for something like this…for someone like me, just some 20 something nobody working at a gas station in St. Louis.

One day at my job, my boss told me to fill up the soda stations. I went to the back and opened up the door to get some ice from the back when, the next thing I knew, I heard someone else speaking:

“Open up the register or I open up your head!”

I peak around and see a man in a black ski mask, holding up a revolver to my boss’s head. My boss relents as it looks like he’s slowly opening up the register and pulling out the money from inside.

“Any day now, lady!”

My boss looked distressed and worried, as if her life depended on this moment. I was about to head back inside when I realized something: this could be my shot…my true shot at heroism. I put the ice back in the fridge and began to exit from the back. I sneaked my way around the gas station and looked through the corner. The robber was like five feet away from the door, and five feet from a wire stand that had a bunch of chips lined up perfectly. I continue my sneaking job when the automatic door opened, with me just on the left side of the door as it opens. The robber was alerted, looking to the side and pointing the gun outside the door. Now was my chance.

I ran around the door and pushed the man into the chip rack, tipping both over. The next thing I knew, I heard blood-curdling screaming right in my ear as I see the robber, dozens of wire shaped holes in his torso, arms, and legs, with the handle of the chip rack in going straight through his cheek. He coughed up blood as he looked down in horror at himself. My boss came around the corner and let out a horrified scream as she ran away to the back of the store. I’m not quite sure what she was so worried about…I did save the day…right? I was left with the screeching of the robber as the only sounds for a while before all I could hear was gurgling from his throat and mouth. It certainly was t the prettiest solution, but it was the best one I could think of. Hopefully one day I could make it as big as Golden Boy…just need a few more crimes to stop first.

Amir had just saw his best friend get shot in the alley, over a drug dispute. He always felt as though he was different from everyone, but never saw signs of it being true. Well, he when he saw his best friend get shot down and falling with the same smile he'd always had wore, that is what really made him show his true power. You see, Amir was just your typical high schooler. He liked to party, he wasn't very popular and he was a nerd, but he was known as the "smart kid" so he always assumed. He was also the one who always had wanted to be a hero, but never had the guts to try and stop a crime, and never even had a thought that powers existed. Cutting back to the moment previous, he had just saw his friend shot by a someone over a drug dispute, Amir's eyes would turn a dark orange, and orange electricity had been firing off his body since he saw the incident. Amir would think, "What is happening? How am I doing this?", followed by a wave of emotions, some being good and others being extremely bad. He would glance at the person who shot his friend, and some witnesses would say that he had the smile of a madman, some would say the had eyes of the devil, and others couldn't bear the sight of what he had become. He stared down the man who had fallen over trying to get out of there, Amir would yell out in a distorted, raspy voice, "You killed my friend, over something that would end up killing you". Amir had finally blown his last fuse, he charged the man with red tears streaking down his face, and the lightning surrounding his body electrocuted the man so badly the reporters could not determine who the man was, just that he had been singed by the electricity. Amir had found out he had signs of super speed, lightning control and the ability to control his powers into the form of a melee weapon, made from lightning. He ran out of town and to an old abandoned wood shack, where he broke down crying with this mix of emotions. He would have to hid himself now, his face was all over the news and many witnesses who knew who Amir was were there and saw what happened. The Council of Heroes would be on the watch for him heavily, and many of the villain associations would be trying to recruit me. Amir would think the only way to keep everyone and himself safe was to either live his life away from everyone, or take it. He eventually decided he did not want to do it anymore, after all, his best friend had just been shot and nobody else was around to support him. His mother and father had abandoned him and he was forced to live with his friend Eric, who had just recently died. He couldn't deal with the trauma and pain he was receiving. Amir would eventually go to the top of the Council of Heroes skyscraper, where we proceeded to send one prayer to God, "Please forgive me for my sins as I want to ascend to Heaven when my time has come, which is now. I sincerely apologize for my actions recently and hope that I will be joining you and Eric in heaven once I ascend". Amir let out one last sigh, looked down, and took a leap of faith. He was found later, on the ground, dead on the scene. It didn't take long for witnesses to come forward and talk to reporters and say who I was. I didn't go down as a hero, nor did I go down as a villain. But Amir had also had one more power he didn't know how to use well, but figured out how to eventually. He had found out that he could take out his powers from his body, and put something the size of an atom in water or really anything, and once someone consumes it, they would gain his powers and his memories. Only time shall tell till the next Adhira, or the one divine with lightning.

"Hey, new guy, we need to talk."

"Oh, by all means. What do you need to talk about?"

"I've been discussing with the other superheroes about your... accomplishments in the line of duty and we're unsure if we can let you continue work as a superhero."

I was appalled. I worked so hard to become a super hero and when I finally reach my goal, they suddenly just want to take it away from me?! I've stopped so many robberies, defeated tons of criminals, all in the name of good and suddenly my effort means nothing?

"What?! Why?! I've done so many good things. You saw me stop that robbery last week."

"Yes, and we recognize that you work with good intentions, but frankly...your superpower is terrifying."

"Is it that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. Please, answer as truthfully as you can. What is your superpower?"

"Well, I can summon and command up to hundreds of zombies, including undead animals. Any unlucky soul bitten or infected by one is will become a zombie and follow my orders."

"Alright. Now, what did you do with the criminals from the crimes you've stopped?"

Why? I tough ‘I’m a good person I promise ‘I begged , Daughter of Hades good? don’t make me laugh said Cho the leader of the heroes , ‘listen I’m old I know everything and what I know best is never trust a son or daughter of hades’ she said in a stern voice I was trying so hard to keep my tears in ‘b-but my powers can be beneficial I can control the dead and manipulate fire!’ I stuttered ‘exactly all villain horrible powers and your still trying to correctly use them your a daughter of Hades admit it your a villain why don’t you join them’ she said sternly but I could have swore she had a cackle to her voice. My eyes so blurry i could barely see I was so upset yet so mad that the words just spilled out of my mouth ‘y-your a b!tch you know that?’ I watched as her expresión changed from shook to anger ‘KICK HER OUT NEVER LET THIS GIRL INSIDE AGAIN’ yelled Cho to the security I re,ember being picked up and dragged out fine then I suppose I will follow her advice.. reply for part 2

A few of my friends said "Fuck what the hell it that thing" when i first showed them my power the others just straight out fainted or started screaming and scratching at thier eyes

I just never understood why they reacted that way i loved my powers it was always a surprise when i used it but at least my power wasnt something boring like Jakes Paper bending i mean sure he is a high class hero but he cant really do anything exiting with his powers. Other than you know paper armor paper weapons and origami creatures.

I on the other hand my power was way more usefull way cooler and way more versatile and i am going to prove that today so everyone knows that i will be the next guardian of justice.

Looking left and right one last time to make sure nobody will catch me changing into my make shift hero costume in this dark alley i ducked behind a garbage container and opened my backpack pulling out the rest of my Oni Halloween costume and a black hooded cape i bought on Amazon and just a few seconds later i equipped the red Oni mask and was fully prepared to fight crime.

Stepping out on the streets i got some wierd side glances but i didnt mind they probably thought "wow what an amazing hero costume" prodly i struck a heroic pose just to give them a better view. Now there was only one thing that i needed and that was a crime and just at that thought i heared a older woman scream "he took my money someone help"

Thats it my time to shine i turned around and saw him a man covered in what seames to be a layer of stone running full speed towards me in his hand the handbag of the old lady crushed in his thick fingers

So i let my power loose with the full intention to show the world what i was capable of and as always a few things started to happen first the world lost its color then reality itself started to bend and twist translucent tendrils buried themself into the minds of everyone around me searching for something usefull images flashed before my eyes aaaaaannnnddd.... i found it there it was the older man on the other side of the street was just perfect. Instantly all the tendrils let go of the the people and focused on that man penetrating his scull and starting to pull it out while he was screaming in agony

That was the worst part of my power the screaming of my helpers it always broke my heart to hear that sound coming out of someone seeing them crumble to thier knees or roll on the floor trying to stop what my power was doing to them but deep down i knew that it was only helping them that they would be slightly happier after i was done

And just as quickly as it started it ended i got it the thought i was searching for wrapping and weaving themself the tendrils startet to bring it to reality and slowly the colors returned to the world

There it was my new creation ready to receive my orders for a moment i was surprised it was just an ordinary man in his 50s wearing a dirty jeans a green t-shirt some sandals and straw head in his hand he was carrying a garden hoe he just looked like the typical hobby gardener to me but as soon as i lokked him in the eye i knew he wasnt normal and that because he had just one giant eye in his head no mouth no ears just one eye. That was kind of wierd but well i have had wierder nightmares in the past.

With a mental command i told him to stop the stone man and his giant blue eye snaped to the surprised statue man stoping him dead in his tracks as thorny plants erupted out of his mouth. Then out of his eyes then out of his skin blood and stone falling to the ground just to get covered by thorny vines in an instant slowly i bent down to grab the handbag the gardener walking over to me his eye still fixed on the mass of thorn bushes that just slowly rotted away

I walked around stone man remaims and smiling under my mask i handed the terrified, praying old lady her money...

And yeah thats how i got rejected by the hero foundation they told me my powers were not inspiring enough and to creepy for the masses...

And yeah today came the 23rd requests to join the league of villains... Guess i sent garden man and some of my other nightmares over there at least if i cant be a hero nobody should be able to

I wasn’t born to be a hero. Or a villain, frankly. I was born to be nothing, to be ordinary. For 17 years I lived a completely ordinary life, experiencing the daily ups and downs of the world, trying to be good, failing sometimes. And when I failed, it didn’t much matter, because I failed in ordinary ways. Not volunteering enough for charity. Being a little too mean to my classmates with they pissed me off. Forgetting to replace the toilet roll.

But that all changed the day I fell into the toxic lake. We were there on a senior class field trip meant to caution us against the dangers of pollution. I was too close to the edge of the viewing platform, when two big guys in my year, Seamus and John, started roughhousing. Seamus playfully shoved John a little too hard and John stumbled backwards into me. The next thing I knew, I was tumbling over the railing into the glowing green water below. The water did not have a normal viscosity and it was impossible to keep myself afloat. I felt myself being dragged to the bottom. My eyes could see nothing but green. I knew I was dying.

Next thing I knew, however, I was coughing on the lake shore. I was out of the water, but everything was still green.

I was shown tape later of what had happened. I had risen from the lake, glowing as green as the water. I let out an inhuman yell and a blast of energy that caused everything biological within a half mile radius to wither and die. Including my classmates.

Of course, I was taken to a government lab immediately. Subjected to hundreds of tests. My touch alone was poison and if I showed too much emotion, it would leach out of me as a vapor, causing instant death to anything not protected by a hazmat suit. While in the labs, I was tested by some of the most famous superpowered scientists of our day - Dr. Osmosis, SuperNova, and The Great Defibrillator. I tried convincing them that I could help their cause, begging for a chance to use my powers for good. But they shook they heads and said that my powers couldn’t be controlled. Even if I tried to help, I would end up killing innocents.

Then, the villains came. Lord Tech hacked the security system and sent a rogue bot my way, explaining through its voicebox that he could get me out if I swore allegiance. The famous Witch of Wichita enchanted one of my security guards to leave the keys in the door and sent a message through my morning oatmeal that she could enchant then entire compound if I would join her. Every day, I received a new message from a villain on the outside promising freedom in exchange for my power.

I have not given a response to anyone yet. My whole life, I have tried to be good, but I have failed occasionally. Now being bad means freedom that good cannot provide. The choice to be good becomes harder.

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Some NSFW language.

"I TOLD YOU I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP, UNLESS YOU CAN STOP IT!! I'd let you just take this from me if I could, PLEASE, stop trying to "help shape me" and just tell me who can make it stop!" I begged, for the sixth time that hour. Finally letting my neck give way, my face in my hands, hair falling to a near cloak, curtaining my rambunctious facial expressions of impatience with this conversation.

"One doesn't, just "accidentally" wake up with this kind of knowledge and power, alone, if it isn't energy palpable of the sorcery of deities, or some absolutely wack government experiment shit, kid. So, if you think someone as respected as me in this place, knows anyone who knows anything about how to honestly stop, let alone transfer that shit?? It's just not possible. I am fighting the urge to call a fucking crisis line in fear for my fucking sanity after what you just showed me. But I'd rather just be able to do that myself. And the way you keep just making it disappear JUST when I reach for it is really pissing me off. Just. Imagine you're me or something, do your fucking trickity-do-da, and give me whatchu make. I ain't even want the power, I just want you to learn to use it for the people who will actually help you back for helping them out..." He swirls the contents of his glass, the ice clinking as the cup rotates, and tries to push the sack of money between our feet underneath me, again, as if to show these requests wouldn't be demands unless I wasn't capable of ending him during his measured slow inhale....

"Look. You've been drinking ... But, the only people that happens to are always a certain kind of way.... Like you, again, no offense! And I'M STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE CORRELATION between that. I didn't even know THAT could happen until YOU started trying to "TEACH" me how to produce desires instead of necessities. And ever SINCE THEN, the local law enforcement, my landlord, AND SuperherosAnon, have ALL restricted my access to volunteer positions, I CAN'T EVEN GO HELP fight active crime of HARMFUL villains because YOUR midlife crisis somehow involves MY... whatever the fu-.... Astral.... pubescence...??? Ew... You know what, scrap that. I'm going to call it a metamorphosis like a butterfly.. even though it's not my BODY metamorphisising ... But speaking of puberty...." I shove the money bag back hard with both feet and jump out of the booth, and startle him with my quick jump up, before nodding my head towards the restroom sign. He crosses his arms, with an audible"Hmmph" and rolls his eyes back to the drink menu.

I have to pee.

As I'm washing my hands I peer into the mirror, and I have to look away quickly, in shame. I made eye contact with myself. That reflection is always so beautiful and strong, a fraud, I am ashamed of how beautiful that animated corpse I call my body looks back at me. I am ashamed that I see beauty in my body that does these things I can't seem to get control of or master, how could someone with so much power be so ungrateful, he's right about that.... I'm too sad. It's like mourning life for being to beautiful. Or mourning wealth for having too much money.

I'm selfish.

I take a deep breath, and head back out to the booth.... He left a card, a hefty tip, and the sack of money.

The card says "You are loved."

I run out to the parking lot and stall his truck by brainstorming ways to stop him from ditching me all the way on the outskirts of the furthest town from the central city we just came from. He's yelling in the truck before he hops out, while the aged door to the '69 Chevy, root beer brown truck creaks open, and he is hollering. "I LEFT THE DAMN SACK SO YOU COULD BUY A NEW RIDE."

"DON'T LEAVE ME LOVE CARDS AND MONEY AND BAIL LIKE THAT, JERK, I KNOW WHAT YOUR ANGLE IS!" I start shouting as I jog towards the open door.

"Love cards?? LOOK I have been know to kill other villains kid, that's a sign of support, no romance, you already know what I want romantically and you know you ain't it, and you insist you aren't making the thing disappear when it goes, so take the money, think about it, and when I find you next time, you can still say no. I grant you more respect than my son, who's older than you. Because you won't take a bribe but you got rejected by the damn underpants revenge nerds or whatever. Take it, build a bunker or some shit. Expect me later."

He flips me off, hops back into the truck, and turns the key several times, glaring at me in the side mirror. I focus on playing with the power on the open sign of the little diner bar, so his truck will start as I head back towards our table to grab the Kickstarter fund I just earned by a supposed supervillain, and contemplate having the money checked by the bank, shopping around for the cheapest hotel I can find.

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