It was a Tuesday evening, I was hours from graduation — to becoming a semi-qualified hero — and it was the day I’d die.

“They turn them into supervillains,” I sputtered, face tomato-red, outrage almost suffocating me. We’d just come from of our final lecture, the last secrets of herohood revealed to us during it. ”Gaslight them into become villains. It’s not that they’re bad people, but they’re made bad.”

It was me, Corpse Kenny, and Jen Phoenix. We were stewing together in an empty locker room. They sat on slatted benches, heads down, as I marched back and forth in front of them. We’d gotten friendly over the last few months. Not my initial intention — my intention had been purely to scope out the hero course and to use any knowledge gained to my later advantage.

“We’re not fighting to make a difference,” said Jen Phoenix, not bitterly, just ruefully. A single flame of bright red danced over the fingers of her left hand, back and forth, back and forth.

“We’re fighting to not make a difference,“ said Corpse Kenny. Corpse Kenny was born with two skeletons, an extra on the outside. It was like he was wearing an armoured shell at all times. Not the greatest power, but he was as brave as a bullet.

I continued my polemic, “We wear sponsorships slogans on our cloaks and costumes. Come out of battles looking victorious against the scum of the earth. For what? To sell another cola. This whole thing’s rigged. We’re pawns.” By ‘we’ I’d meant villains — people like me. People tormented by the system, orphaned and mistreated, rejected by society and told it’s all just bad luck or our attitudes. But no, that was a lie; it’s premeditated rejection. Forcing us to become villains so the heroes have someone to defeat.

“People like us are getting used,” said Jen.

The pipes in floor beneath us screeched, twisting in response to my balled fists. I controlled copper. Not much of a power — but if I had a decent power they wouldn’t have made me a villain. I’d have been too dangerous. Too much of a risk to defeat.

”I don’t think I can do this,” said Kenny. “The hero thing.”

”Because it’s not a hero thing,” said Jen. She patted his hand. “And you’re a hero.”

The three of us had grown close, even choosing to group together during some practice missions. There was a purity to the pair of them that I had at one point hated — an innate goodness. I’d wanted to get near to them to slowly corrupt it, to make them see the world as I did.

But I knew better now. There is no world as I see it, or as they see it. There is only the world how the powerful see it.

The pipes groaned under the weight of my rage. I’d need to be careful; a water leak would give us away. And then a thought occurred.

”We could destroy this place,” I said. “We could destroy the Ministry of Heroes. Reset the entire game.“

”What?” said Jen, the flame leaping off her hand and down to the wet tiles where it extinguished in a sizzle.

”We destroy it. We flood it. Or we burn it down. All files and records. And then we show the world who did it — heroes about to graduate from this very institute. We’ll show the system is flawed. We’ll make everyone rethink. Or at least think for the first time in their lives*.*”

”I don’t know if I can,” said Kenny. “Ma thinks I’m a hero. She loves this placed and cried the day I got accepted. If she saw me destroy it…“

”I’ll take the blame then,” I said. “You two just need to help me do it. I’ll say that I forced you into helping me or I’d kill you both.”

Jen looked up. Her blue eyes met mine, hovered. I wondered if she’d imagined the same world I had over these last few months; a world where we graduate and we leave all this behind. Heroes, villains, all in our rearview mirror. We start something new together — a remote gas station far from the city, anything.

”I’m in,” she said. “This rot needs to burn.”

Her eyes flared bright with the hot hope of something better.

I should have known they were listening in. Of course — if they made villains then they knew who I was and would have been monitoring me this entire time. And they didn’t need cameras. They had supers who could feel every word said through the vibrations of the building.

They burst in. Heroes we’d all seen on television. The most powerful, popular.

”Sorry,” said Dr Bend. “But we can’t let you do that. You’d ruin a much too good a thing.”

There were eight of them; three of us.

”You,” Bend said, smirking at me. “You helped us find two more potential villains. Helped us kill them, too. For that, I thank you.”

Kenny charged forward yelling: Bastards.

Dr Bend was too fast.

With the sickening cracks of both Kenny’s spines, it became eight of them, two of us.

The piping in the ceiling, walls, floors, gutted itself as it coiled like an anaconda around the group of heroes, locking them in position, squeezing their life. For a second, I dared think I had them.

AntiMatter thought differently. The copper rusted like a dry autumn leaf between a child’s fingers. Dusted to the ground.

I looked at Jen and hoped my look said a lifetime of words. Then I ran at them

I felt my neck click. Then I was gurgling on the ground, coughing up a pool of red.

Someone laughed as I slowly died.

My final memory was of fire. Of the great flame that leapt from Jen, who had become blue and white, as fierce, wrathful, and beautiful as the sun itself.

They screamed as they burned.

​

***

​

Hours later we woke. The three of us. We weren’t fully reformed yet, our dust still pulling together like iron filings to magnets, our consciousness still rebuilding.

Phoenix.

I’d never known she had a second ability.

Maybe she hadn’t either.

For a moment our dust connected — me and Jen — as our minds rebuilt. We shared a single thought, or maybe it was all our thoughts.

An orange horizon unfurling to the distance like god’s palm. Sycamores whisking in a dusty breeze. A little gas station, the only building for many miles, with a cat sitting on the roof. Two people beneath the veranda, lazily rocking back and forth, sipping on iced teas with not a care in the world.

For Red Terror, it was easy to infiltrate the Hero's Society. Suspiciously easy, actually. All he had to do was change his pseudonym and put on a different costume. He had even been given a guided tour by one of the Society's biggest names.

Red Terror followed behind the tall, aggravatingly muscles form of Capt. Justice. The hero had been a thorn in Red's side for far too long. So he took far too much joy in asking the most annoying questions he could. He made his questions fanboy level at times, at least at first. He had calmed down during the tour itself. It was important to learn as much about the enemy's facilities as possible.

"And here we have the assignment room." The hero said. "Here's where you'll get your missions, and what city you'll be assigned to for most of your career."

Red looked in. The room was dominated by a large holographic map of the country, with computer stations set up circling it. All of the major cities were highlighted, and the few stations he could see showed a list of the heroes active in those cities. But there was something about what the Captain had said that tugged at Red's mind.

"Why would I be assigned to a city?" He asked. "All of them are covered by at least two heroes already, and the really big ones have more."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Just know that you'll be working with pros at every moment."

That was not as comforting as it was probably intended. Red knew sinister language when he heard it.

"Well, that's good to know." He said, storing the conversation away for later.

As the two left the room, another hero came down. She was a smaller woman, well, smaller relative to other heroines, in that she was not threatening to bust out of her costume at every moment. Red knew her as Shift, but he had never dealt with her.

"Hey, Cap." Shift said. "Who'd you peeve off to get newbie duty?"

"Hey, I volunteered for this one." Justice said. "He's very promising, you know."

"Uh-huh, sure you did." She said while obviously rolling her eyes. "Anyways, I'm sure you know this, but I'm Shift."

She extended a hand. Red took it and glanced quickly at her hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Red Surge." He said.

As their hands separated, he hid the note she had slipped him. She left without even a second glance. The tour continued. It was not until it was done that he was able to duck into a bathroom.

Looking at the note, he read quickly. 'Want to know the truth?' it said. Then it gave an address and a time. He took some time to memorize the address before disposing of the note. There was definitely something else going on here. Something he wanted to know. A weakness in the Society that could be exploited. And what kind of villain would he be if he did not do just that?

Credit where credit is due: the Hero Agency had some top notch break rooms. I was sitting on a cushioned bench with my mask off, alternating between eating my sandwich and icing my shiner. I had gotten jumped by a low-ranking hero named Titan after I registered with the Agency. At first, I was terrified that my ruse had been discovered already, but that notion was discarded when Titan told me to, "Stay in my lane."

As I wiped the avocado bits off of my chin, two rookie heroes walked into the room mid-conversation and started helping themselves to the fruit bowl. The pair were jabbering happily about sponsorships, endorsements, and the like, prompting me to put my headphones on to block them out. This couldn't have been the Hero Agency, I thought to myself. This was like a fusion of reality TV and emergency services.

My isolation was interrupted by a note getting set on my lap. I looked up to survey the room, but there was nobody else around. I read the words on the note: "Room 0561". With nothing better to do, I tossed my lunch and made my way to the room in question.

The room was a storage unit on the same floor, thankfully. I stepped inside the room and saw about twenty-five or so heroes sitting on the various crates that filled the room. As I shut the door behind me and hesitantly approached, I said to them, "I got your message."

One of them got off of their makeshift seats and pressed a finger to my black eye. Instantly, I felt the pain subside. Once she pulled back, I sighed and said, "Thank you."

The woman nodded. "Don't mention it. I'm Anesthetic. I've got a proposition for you."

"Gonna go out on a limb and assume this is related to your little knitting circle here?"

Anesthetic chuckled. "Not much of a knitting circle. See that guy over there?" Anesthetic pointed towards a man dressed like an old school punk rock fanboy. "That's Powerchord. Hero Agency Insurance refused to cover the destruction of his guitar shop even after working for the Agency for three years. The weirdo next to him is Gnasher." A person wearing a full face dog mask waved energetically. "The Agency denied their request for an investigation into a kidnapping ring, despite the fact it was recorded in their own goddamn files that they got their powers from an altercation with said ring."

I looked over Anesthetic's shoulder at a woman in emerald body armor slumped against a crate like she was unconscious after a bender. "What about her?"

Anesthetic looked at where I was looking and sighed. "That's Saving Grace. Not my place to tell. You're gonna have to get her to trust you to find out."

"What about you? What's your beef?"

Anesthetic grimaced. "Same thing that brought you to my attention. A big, violent thing named Titan."

I winced and rubbed my arm. "Good reason. So what, this is some kind of resistance movement?"

"If you join, it will be. We got the drive, but none of us are leaders. You, on the other hand? I saw how you passed the practical exam. I saw you command those birds. You're what we need to take this to the next level."

"You're asking me to lead you?"

"I'm asking you to help us hit the Hero Agency where it hurts."

I fell silent for a bit. As I weighed the options, I eventually took a deep breath and replied, "Alright, I'm in. But if we're doing this, you need to know: there is nobody named Black Kestrel. I am, and always have been, the villain known as Shikkoku."

Anesthetic grinned. "Oh, I know. Why do you think I asked you in the first place?"

"And here's our newest member. He made it past the three trials showing his loyalty, and is now ready to take the test, to prove he can join us."

That was my queue. I walked up to the podium to start my initiation, trembling like a leaf. "Members of the council, i wish to join."

The council stared me up and down. They had all seen my file and knew today was the day, but they just wanted to act as if i came out of the blue. After some murmurs: What is your name?

I didn't see who asked it, but, i had to answer quickly. "Marsokan".

"Marsokan?" Some members laughed. "What do you wish to do to show you are truly a super villain?"

I saw it that time. The Elemental Queen was asking me the questions. That's perfect, she is exactly whom i wish to impress. She's been my idol for many years now.

"I am going to infiltrate the Super Hero Society."

"And how will that prove anything? You're an unknown, especially to real super heroes, and just need to act good for a while."

The others agreed with her, and she herself had a bit of disgust on her face.

I coughed, both nervously, and to act as if she had cut me off. "I am going to infiltrate the Super Hero Society and delete all the files they have on you in their famed master computer."

That got their attention. Nobody gets near the computer, even most the heroes. Having access to do anything, well, purportedly, only The Parrot has that.

"That would be impressive, and far beyond what you would need to do to join our society. Are you really trying to impress us?"

"Actually, i am trying to impress you."

The queen smiled while the others made some fun.

"So be it. You have your task, and must complete it in one month, or die."

The meeting was over. My reception was mixed. I heard the words: Bold, idiot, show off, prankster, young. And off i went.

I immediately applied to the Super Hero society, and they gave me the usual, "You have to be a proven hero with medals and affidavits to even apply. Please come back after you have achieved more." I hated those wods. I had heard them so many times since i was a kid, trying endlessly to join. No matter what i did, i never got recognized, and i tried charity, disaster relief, stopping small time villains (all the big time one get assigned, and you do not want to get in a super hero's way), and got awards. I even protected Speedster's house once when he was off on a mission, but he didn't even thank me, making it sounds as if i owed him the thanks. I hate them those stuck up brats!

But this time i was prepared. With my mild mental skills, i was able to convince the clerk to sign my application. It went into the small pile behind her. Step 1 was complete.

Step 2 is getting two supers to sign off on my sheet. It's nigh impossible to even get their attention, but i had to do it. I started with Speedster, thanking him for letting me save his house those years ago. It was humiliating bowing before that jerk, and he didn't remember me at all, but i lavished on the praises. I then asked him if i could have the honor of helping him some more, doing menial tasks, or better yet, coming on a mission. He looked at me with disdain and laughed at me.

"Could i at least get you're autograph?"

"Sure kid."

I used my powers to fog his mind ever so slightly, so that when he signed, he didn't realize he was actually signing my petition to join the league. I thanked him profusely and went off to The Brute. He was much easier to manipulate, and i brought him lots of food. He didn't even look at what he was signing when i asked for the signature. And back i went to the clerk.

The clerk looked down his nose at me. "Listen kid, you just used the two easiest members. If i walk into the council meeting on Tuesday with this application, i'll be laughed out of the room, and my job might be in jeopardy."

He started walking toward the nearby trash. I couldn't manipulate him when his mind was made up like this. Instead, i hid, and having thought i left, he went back to business. I stayed until after closing, took my application out of the garbage, stamped it with his stamp, and put it in the council room before leaving undetected. Steps 1-3 in one day isn't too shabby.

Now came the hard part. To join, i had to get most of the council's 67 members to vote yes, and i had exactly one day to do it. I was nervous, but my plan was working perfectly.

The next day, the supers were showing up to a charity event. Having this be the day before the meeting is what made my plan possible. All the heroes would be there, be in a good mood, and if past performance holds true, show off. That's when my super power would come into play.

First came Octopus Man. He got dirty while dragging a train in front of everyone. When he finished, he was filthy, and so i offered to clean his clothes. He allowed me to touch his sleeve, at which point i manipulated the cloth the squeeze out the mud. He had no idea what i did, but was impressed with the results. I told him it would be a great honor if he ever called upon me again. He smiled, and i left. Miracle Woman was next, and she proved just as easy. After the fifth cleaning, all the others had already heard of me and all asked for my service. Perfect. Things were going better than planned.

The following day, i waited in the lobby for the the council meeting to start. There were plenty of people there, hoping to catch yet another glimpse of heir favorite hero. After the meeting started, one of the supers came ut to the clerk, asked him who Marsokan was, and why he didn't hand deliver the application as usual. The clerk was dumbfounded, but i stood up immediately, "that's me sir!"

"You, the dry cleaner, want to join us?!"

"Please sir," i said in a respectful tone, "you are my idol. I want to join to help everyone look their best."

He laughed, but led me into the council room anyway.

"Marsokan, the the dry cleaner wants to join us." He announced.

Everyone laughed. I was used to it by now. I laughed too. They were now manipulatable, due to their light spirits. Luckily, The Parrot was not in the room. I was banking on that. And so i started to manipulate everyone else ever so slightly as i made my case to clean their clothes so they look their best at all times. And it worked. I even got 60 yeas!

The Turquoise Prophet announced my membership. "You are now officially a junior member of the Super Hero Council. Go fetch me a coffee."

> This is my first time doing something like this, but it seemed like a fun idea so what the hell?

Caroline Coleman, better known to the world as the infamous Doctor Vengeance, sat cross-legged on the cold, harsh concrete floor, facing the wall of her bare holding cell. So many lofty plans, and they had all led to this dead end, deep within the super-max security wing of the South City Stockade. As she lowered her head the greying black strands of her hair fell over her furrowed brow, her crows feet intensifying at the edges of her eyes as she glowered, and she felt the familiar sting of the bile rising in the back of her throat that told her the superhuman rage was building within her.

Caroline's thoughts were interrupted by the angry beeping coming from the metal collar clamped around her neck. She struggled to calm herself, her body rigid with tension as she held herself in place. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped her knees, nails biting at they pressed in 'Deep breaths. In... out. You're at the playground. It's a beautiful day. The sun sparkles in your daughter's eyes as she runs towards you. Chocolate smears the edge of her wide smile, the remnants of her birthday cake. The last time you got to see her be that happy.' The beeping stopped. At least she managed to not get shocked by the collar this time.

Outside Caroline's cell was a loud buzz and a metallic thunk, followed by the groan of a heavy metal door swinging open, then a definitive slam shut again. "Is that you, Captain Fantastic?" Caroline asked without turning around. "Come to gloat again? Well you'll forgive me if I don't join in with your childish games."

"I bet it just burns you up inside that they caught you, doesn't it?" Said a decidedly not Captain-Fantastic-like voice. "THE Doctor Vengeance, reduced to this. Sitting alone in a cell while they pose for photo opportunities and mock you on the evening news."

Caroline slowly got to her feet and turned to face the speaker, shrouded in the shadows at the edge of the room beyond her cell. "What do you want from me?" she growled, and the collar once again beeped, reminding her to calm down.

"What do I want?" The figure asked, slowly stepping forward. Light glinted off of a pair of glasses, before revealing a slight young woman in a bland suit, auburn hair tied up professionally in a bun, a laminated ID card dangling from a lanyard around their neck. She held a notepad in her hand and a pen in the other. She continued "I'm Viera Vallery, from Bayside Beugle. I want to tell your side of the story. Give you the chance to set the record straight and be heard by the people of South City."

"I'm sorry, what? This is a joke," Caroline almost laughed, taken aback. Whatever she had expected, this was not on the list.

"I'm serious," The woman insisted, slightly flustered. "Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in this city just blindly believes everything they're told on tv. There's something wrong in South City, something rotten. We both know that. And the people of this city need to know it too. I can help you with that."

"You want to hear my story?" Caroline scoffed incredulously as she stared at the young woman, intent on berating the young woman for their audacity to attempt to manipulate her, telling her what she wanted to here so they could use her for some cheap headline to advance their own career. Doctor Vengeance doesn't do interviews, that would be ridiculous. It was beneath her... wasn't it? But as she stared into the reporter's eyes in what was to be an attempt to intimidate the woman, she saw in her eyes and intensity and zeal that was all-too familiar. "Sure, why not? I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sure it looks pretty fitting, the horrible Doctor Vengeance locked away in a cell, but I'm not the one who really belongs in here. You already know the beginning. Talented doctor loses her daughter tragically, the spirit of vengeance awakens within her. She becomes overwhelmed by the tremendous desire to exact vengeance and right any wrongs they encounter."

"Sounds very noble," The reporter says. "What about when you beat Mr. Vincent Price to death for cutting someone off in traffic? Was that a fair punishment?"

"Hey, no one said anything about fair. I'm possessed by a spirit of vengeance, not a spirit of cool-headed and reasonable justice. A wrong was committed, I righted it. But, you know, I've been working on my anger issues. Doing meditation and stuff. It's been a long time since I've killed someone who didn't truly deserve to die."

"Right..." The reporter moved on. "So anyway, what was with the rebranding? Dressing up in a hood and cape, calling yourself The Retributor?"

"What can I say, it gets tiring being hated by everyone in the city. And I would always see all these heroes doing pretty much exactly what I was doing, but everyone loved them. I thought that maybe if I didn't look like Doctor Vengeance, someone who they've fought and hate, I could fit in. And it was kind of nice, you know? It felt good being liked and actually helping. People on the street were happy when I arrived. I just had to control myself. I told myself it would at least make for a funny story; one of the worst villains at large in the city, walking around right under their noses and invited into their corporate headquarters. And it worked too, for a while."

"But something went wrong?" The reporter asked.

"Of course it did," Caroline let out a dry, sardonic laugh. "Something always goes wrong. Or, in this case, someone. I was brought in to the League of Supers to be a probationary vigilante. As part of the initiation, I had to meet with their chief of branding and marketing, Harold Hughes. I knew right away. The spirit within blazed, more intense than I'd ever felt before. This was the man. This was the driver that killed. My. Daughter." The metal collar crackled to life as Caroline seethed, shocking her violently and dropping her to the floor. After a little longer than was probably necessary, the collar died down. Caroline lay on the floor twitching for several moments, before taking a few breaths and collecting herself.

"Are you okay?" The reporter asked, a look of concern on her face.

"No," Caroline answered, slowing picking herself up off the floor. "No, I'm pretty damn far from okay. Just ask your questions."

"Okay," the reporter leaned forward. "So what happened next?"

"I couldn't have held back even if I wanted to. We both needed vengeance, and nothing was going to stop us. Nothing, that is, except for Captain Fantastic. I consider myself to be pretty powerful, as far as Supers go. There's not much that can stop me if I don't want to be stopped. But Captain Fantastic, he's on a whole different level. He stopped me dead in my tracks. I begged and pleaded, told him Hughes murdered my daughter. It didn't matter. Apparently it was far from the first time something like that had happened in the League of Supers. But Hughes was valuable, irreplaceable. And I was not. So they revealed my identity and threw me in here. That's my story. I suppose you're going to go and report it or something now?"

"Well, not exactly," the woman in glasses smirked. She clicked her pen three times, and a static sound came out of Caroline's collar before it fell to the floor. "I said I was going to help you tell your story, but I never said I was going to report it. You're going to go out there and share it yourself. Come on, we've got some vengeance to take."

[removed]

I once was a supervillain, with a heart full of hateI caused chaos and destruction, it was my fateBut one day, I had a thought, a joke in my mindI'd go undercover, as a superhero kind

I put on a costume, and a smile like fewI joined the hero society, it was all newI thought it would be fun, a game to playBut what I discovered, made me want to sway

The system was corrupt, the heroes were not pureThey used their powers, for their own lureThey took advantage, of the innocent folksAnd I couldn't stand it, I had to invoke

I saw them taking bribes, and turning a blind eyeTo the suffering of the people, it made me sighI saw them using their powers, for personal gainAnd it left me feeling, so much disdain

So I rallied a group, of like-minded soulsWe were determined, to break the heroes' holdsWe fought for justice, and for what is rightAnd in the end, we brought on a new light

We exposed the corruption, and brought it to lightThe people were outraged, and joined in the fightWe took down the corrupt heroes, one by oneAnd soon the hero society, was undone

Now I'm still a supervillain, but with a new goalTo make sure that the justice, takes its rightful roleI lead the new hero society, with fairness as our guideAnd the people are safe, with us by their side.

I often reflect on my past, and how it led me here
From causing destruction, to bringing forth cheer
I may have started as a villain, but I ended as a hero
And that's something, that I'll always know.
Our society may not be perfect, but it's a start
And as long as we strive for justice, it'll be a work of art
I may have never expected, to end up where I am
But I'm grateful, for the opportunity to make a stand.
And so I will continue, to lead with my heart
And make sure, that justice never departs.
Our new hero society, will always be fair
And the people, will always have someone to care.

The appalling violence of the Great Super War, lead by the United Supers Front, was tolling on the American society. Anyone who spoke out against it, was consequently targeted by supervillains, and then a superhero would destroy the whole area to kill one villain. As destructive as the policies were, people thought that they were being kept safe, when in reality the Super heroes had gambled away any possibilities for a sustainable society.

I'm the Gnome Guardian, a garden gnome brought to life by magic, and a verifiable super hero. This story isn't about me, but the one who liberated all of us, Red Mask. Red Mask, or Red, was a detective vigilante, and bonified humanitarian. See, Red Mask used to be an expert marksman. He would quickly end hostage situations, and stopped crime without killing a person.

After the War Red mask stopped using his sniper, and started a shelter to feed and house indigents. Red Mask was able to direct large charitable donations, and began to start a job program for the unemployed. He provided resources for all the criminals in the city, and my lawn was looking happier than ever.

Soon the U.S.F notice a decline in the budget provided by the government. It seemed to them that because crime was going down, less resources would be needed to allocate to the USF. That was when the Super Villain Marauder Hijacked a nuclear missile and begin the nuclear apocalypse.

Everyone watched in horror, the meeting was called for all Supers to report to our headquarters. Everyone was there, except Red Mask. We saved the world, and Marauder was brought to justice.

The Super Hero Captain Stan, head of the USF, was making an announcement. " People of America, the world is safe, and it is all thanks to God. He lead us to the evil Maurader and guided our hand in striking him down. So I ask everyone, is the USF not the good that we can give to the world. Is it not obvious that God has given us a sign." He looked up to the sky, and suddenly a recording came on, "Get Maurader, tell him plan Delta is a-go, launch the Nukes!, Woo Hoo. Ah, after this, those sheep will triple our funding."

It was supposed to be a simple job. Go undercover into the super training academy, access their databases, get the schematics of various power inhibitors they used on their super powered inmates, get out and get paid. It took nearly 9 months but I finally got the data. But my dumbass wanted more. I looked into various other files, maybe I was curious, maybe I wanted blackmail or extortion material, I dont know, but what I found was too much even for scum like me.

9 months back some rich cunt sends his lawyer to my regular diner with a job offer, it's a long con but the pay is beyond my going rate so I agree. My powers aren't anything special, I'm big, I can take a hit, and bit back harder, basically I'm more of a bigger goon than villain. That made me perfect for this job, no one knew me, no one would suspect me. I got forged papers courtesy of my new employer, and I was off to the races. I tried to keep a low profile, older generations of hero academy graduates and alumni walking around making sure the young blood remember their place in the hierarchy. I put up a "big brother" act to keep people from suspecting me and thinking I was up to something shady. Looking back those two philosophies were incompatible.

Around the 3rd month at the academy, alot of these people were either absorbed into established teams or taken on as a ward by another established super, another way the older generations kept the younger ones in line. My big brother act backfired here as not only had I managed to make friends, but my friends decided it would be a good idea to form a new team with me as the leader. Along with me there was Persephone, she controlled plants. THE BOULDER, a dude who could turn his skin into any kind of natural rock. Katie Creek, or KC as she went by, who could put herself into any amount of liquid no matter the size. Ever been drinking water only to have a full grown woman punch you in the mouth, the mental damage alone is wild. And then there was Omm, a super genius who added cybernetics to their brain to make them think better whcih also somehow gave them psycho-kinetic powers.

We went through alot in the next few months, we all moved into a shared home. We started training together, and we even came up with dumb names for combination attacks. I had the time of my life, but I still had a job to do. I convinced Omm that I needed schematics of the academy for reference since I wanted design ideas for when we graduate and get our own base. Broke my heart to lie to them like that, they seemed so happy at the idea of our team having a base all our own in the future. I promised myself that I'd use some of the money to buy the kid something nice. Heh, if you cant earn love you can buy it, great message there captain jackass.

But there I was, finally getting the files I was hired to get, but something compelled me to get more. And boy did I find more. I took as many files as I could fit onto as many hard drives as I had and got back to the house. Omm was the first I spoke with, I needed their brain to tell me what I saw was real. And they confirmed it. Embezzlement, bribing government officials and politicians, funneling money to offshore accounts, financing PMCs, known criminal associates, cartels, insurgent cells, so much money involved and barely any effort to hide it. The hero organizations were financing chaos to keep themselves employed and keep government grants coming.

Ofcourse Omm asked me how I got all this, and I couldn't lie to them anymore. I swear I heard their heart break as they learned their leader, their friend, their brother, was a double agent. The kid cried into my arms for what felt like hours, begging me to tell them that this was a bad dream, that heroes would never do those things and that I was still the person they knew me as, but I couldn't lie to them, no matter how hard I wished I could. When they finally calmed down enough I asked them to look over all the files as fast as possible, and that we needed to have a team meeting. Once everyone was together, I once again told them the truth, that I was a double agent and showed them the files I stole, with Omm explaining what those files meant. THE BOULDER nearly sent me through a wall, calling me a traitor. Persephone tried to strangle me with tomato vines before Omm convinced her to stop. KC just looked at the floor, not reacting to anything, like time stopped moving for her.

The next few hours were a hurricane of emotions, confusion, panic, and uncertainty. What were we gonna do? How deep does this go? Can we even stop this? At some point Perse threw up from anxiety and THE BOULDER had a panic attack. We decided to all head to bed, sleep on it and figure things out when we woke up.

When that time came, we all gathered again and agreed on a few things. We need to release those files; we need to send a message that this system has got to go; and that we need to find a safe place to stay in the meantime. THE BOULDER and Persephone would work on getting a secret base up and running. Omm would help with that while also doing a project of his own. And KC would scout out an alumni to take out to send a message. And as the "leader" I was given the task of creating the message that would rally people to our cause.

The day finally came, the base was ready, our target was chosen, Omm's project was finished, and my message was ready. I rehearsed over a hundred times and I still felt a pit in my stomach, but the time was now. I put on a steel helmet, fashioned in the shape of a wolf, turned on the camera and began the message.

"People of the world, you have been lied to. The superheroes who should be protecting you are the ones allowing you to live in danger and fear. They allow chaos to spread so they have a means to justify their existence and their paychecks. The heroes of the world have funded cartels, terrorists, created conditions that allow villains to be born, grow, and thrive. These heroes value their own livelihood and wealth over your lives. We are here today to say 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'. WE ARE HERE TO SAY 'THIS SYSTEM IS BROKEN, IT IS TIME TO GET RID OF IT'. WE ARE HERE TO END THE RULE OF THE HIGH AND MIGHTY AND RETURN TO THE PEOPLE THE PEACE AND SAFETY THAT THEY HAVE STOLEN. AND TO THOSE WHO WILL CLING TO THIS BROKEN, CORRUPTED, VILE SYSTEM, WE WILL COME FOR YOU TOO. TO THOSE WHO SEEK TO DEFEND THOSE WHO HAVE STOLEN FROM THE PEOPLE, WE WILL COME FOR YOU. TO THOSE WHO GORGE THEMSELVES ON THE SUFFERING OF THE PEOPLE BY TURNING SUFFERING INTO A BUSINESS, WE WILL COME FOR YOU. I AM FENRIR, AND WE. ARE. RAGNAROK."

So. This writing prompt may as well have been straight up lifted right out of my discord servers premise for a game of ASCENDANT: Infinite Possibilities. With an 'old' Oyabun resurrecting his Yakuza syndicate in order to bring peace and stability back to his home in little tokyo from oppressive Supers Ala The Boyz....For everyone's enjoyment I've copy and pasted the opening post for that PbP RP:

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SilverNights Game Nights Presents:

Ascendant Supremacy
Issue #1: Tokyo Blues and Two left shoes!
Little Tokyo, San Franciso, California, 20XX
Cho's Noodle Shop, Basement, 8am
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The light tapping of a cane on concrete heralded Mr. Yagami's slow measured walk as the old man entered the basement of Cho's Noodle Shop. It was tucked away in Little Tokyo, and he was the master here. The Oyabun of a small Yakuza Syndicate that had long since laid as fallow as the fields of in which his ancestors had once cultivated.His offices were quiet this morning, a welcome change from the previous night in which he had helped the trio of Main-Land Japan's refugees who'd arrived here in the back of a box truck with the most recent shipment of product for the noodle shop above. Thus he headed to the hidden third level, triggered by flipping a hidden switch behind the watercooler in the breakroom.

The Basement contained two levels, one for offices, and a third, hidden level in which the influence of ancient Japan on level two gave way to living quarters and a communal gym, a communal central living room, communal showers, an Onsen of all things and a rather comfortable suite of rooms that were comfortable and built with each occupants particular...proclivities and powers in mind.A light tap on each door may as well have had the power of thunder behind them as he moved to situate himself on the floor at the head of the communal living rooms coffee table.

A light flick of a wrist, the swirl of some smoke and breakfast was laid out. Behind him, in the ancestral shrine was an empty pedestal, the thin glass case that had once housed something of great importance to him lay shattered, the glass untouched and a fine layer of dust covering the shrine attested that whatever happen, was long since in the past.

"Raise and shine, children. For it's time to begin our work."

If anyone is interested in this? I'd be happy to continue it.
Edit: Formatting, really shouldn't C&P directly and hit post.

I stepped into the fog of my breath. I removed my otter mask. My heart was a chapter from an audiobook about betrayal and abandoned love. A bat had been projected onto low cloud like a tattoo that comes off in the shower. It began to rain and the rain tasted like the makeup my cousin left in my mouth when we kissed on a mound of decaying Phantom comics. Her name was Pennyroyal. The past tense is a grave. I looked into my myself like a pilgrim on the way to an ashram in a mapless country where the birds sing phrases from every hero franchise in every format including the secret code in the introduction, in 1962, of Spider Man, which can be found in the facial lines of the character Richard Wentworth, aka The Spider, who now resides behind a sheet of obsidian in the head of an Australian poet who makes the word ‘obscure’ seem like child’s play in a game of Russian Roulette using white ghost desert scorpions. I am in trouble. If anyone notices the smoke from my distress over any city with a name that sounds like Carrion, please help. I have a revolver loaded with metaphors and I’m not afraid to use it

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

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