I walked into the cafeteria, looking pretty, of course, but not too pretty to make Julie jealous. I looked to see my friends Sasha and Penelope at our usual table.

  Sasha was among the most popular girls at school and close friends with Julie. As I recall, they met in middle school. There was nothing particularly unique about her, except that boys referred to her as the ‘dark chocolate’ of the school.

  Penelope is a nice girl but naive. She fell head over heels for Louis, the local loser; seriously that guy was just a thief. The most surprising thing is that she is a hero. However, unlike other stupid heroes, she tries to keep it a secret, but it's damn obvious when you make your theme around gothic rock.

  “Hi, Penelope. How are you doing today?” I asked, sitting down with my lunch box.

  “Fine, Candice. Just that Louis isn’t here...” Penelope said. Why the fuck does she always care about that guy, sure he has a disabled brother, but like... really. Care about your stupid hero shit, rather than some asshole?!

  “Girl, you need a chill pill. There are WAY better guys than that annoying prick. Like John over there,” Sasha said.

  “I don’t care about John, he just a horny football player. Louis is a nice and caring guy,” Penelope said. “Ok, what about what happened on Friday with that Zenaida chick,” Sasha replied.

  She wasn’t wrong. Louis legitimately crashed the fuck out. Honestly, Zenaida deserved someone better. “Hey, at least you aren’t being targeted by the Cliff Predator, Jordan,” I said. Getting some laughter out.

  “Candice, don’t jinx it,” Penelope said. “He is in a fucking cocoon, for god’s sake. What is he going to do? Ask someone to rub him one while holding a picture of you,” Sasha said. “Sasha!! Don’t put those images in my head!” Penelope yelled.

  “Well, at least you’re not a superhero. They have to deal with ‘fan art’ of themselves,” I added. The internet is like a villain’s den, no one there gives a shit about anyone—especially the weirdos who make porn of superheroes and supervillains.

  “Can we change the subject?” Penelope said. Before Sasha and I could say anything else. I saw Julie coming towards us."Heyyyy, Bestie." She said as she sat down next to us.

  “Heyyy Julie. How are you doing?” Sasha said. “Doing well, but man Lucas has honestly been getting on my nerves recently,” Julie said.

  “Well. you gonna break up with him,” I said. I didn’t care about their relationship honestly, it felt like a high school cliche. Sure Lucas wasn’t dating Ari, the captain cheerleader, but he was dating the 2nd hottest girl in the school. I didn’t like Lucas because, honestly, he was just a boisterous type of person. Can’t handle such energy.

  “Sadly I can’t. Because of some personal things with my family. Sure, he is nice and caring... but I just want some alone time. You know?” Julie softly said.

  “Listen, Julie. How about asking him if you can have alone time,” Penelope said. “Sure. Ok, see you guys later,” Julie said. Then she walked off towards Lucas’s table.

  “That was not fucking Julie,” Sasha said.

  She’s right. That wasn’t Julie, she looked weak and scared. It was like a mask, like how I was. I just hope she wasn’t being abused by Lucas or something.

  “Julie said she was fine. I mean, nothing looked wrong with her,” Penelope said. “I Call bullshit, clearing something is wrong!” I yelled. “ugh, whatever. Worry about it later,” Sasha said, pulling out her phone. Likely to scroll on Instagram.

  I disliked school, not because of the academics, but due to the people. Many acted as if they faced significant struggles. Yes, some may have been victims of a villain attack or lived in poverty, but I felt my experiences were more difficult. Reflecting on my past makes me want to throw up and just kill myself. I would rather forget it and not get riled up about it. I just hope Julie wasn’t going through something similar.

  I pulled out my phone to take my mind off this situation. I decided to look through some internet forms to see some of the hot topics.

  Most of the time it was usually some dumbshit. For example, the idea of an ice wall separating us from another world, or the belief that Nazis run the P.W.H. But, I was looking at the Superhuman threads to see any new info or supers around the streets.

  I looked for ‘Chicago’ and ‘New info’ to see if anything popped up. Then I saw a new thread, The Blood Villain.

  That fast!?

  ***

  Topic: Superhumans -> USA -> Illinois -> Chicago -> information -> Villains -> Blood Villain (NEW)

  Yolksause999: Any dam info about the new blood villain? (13:05)

  JoyRideOcto23: No. only some rumors around some circles that he killed a hero (13:08)

  Hidder_of_the_wind_village98: he fucking did. I swear! stupidly it was the first day too. (13:09)

  Limido23 (MOD): Hey. We don’t talk about speculative deaths here or unknown information, please give us useful information that could be used. (13:09)

  anonymous(213): Listen I work at the P.W.H. and currently losing their minds over there right now. (note: this user is banned from this thread) (13:10)

  Vivio (Verified Hero): No there is not. Omega Overdrive is back from South America. Yeah... The Blood Villain did kill people, but mostly villains. So currently he is not a ‘kill on site’ and honestly isn’t going to hurt you unless you were trying to go after him. (13:11)

  Yolksause999: o--o Vivio. I heard some rumor that the Blood villain was in the Bitchgirls. (13:11)

  Hidder_of_the_wind_village98: Oh yeah one of the few Villain groups in the country to be all girls team. If he was in the villain group his rizz had to be on a damn whole new level to get all of them. (13:12)

  JoyRideOcto23: or be a gay (13:12)

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Limido23 (MOD): Oh sure. The leader, The White Serpent, is one of the most dangerous people in the world who should be classified as an S-class villain. Would let a inexperienced brat into a group. Right now, all of the core members are at least B class, where he is a D class. (13:14)

  Yolksause999: First. Some mistakes, he is a C+ class they forgot to update it on the wiki. Also, he can kill fucking superhumans. Like, look what happened in the Void District on Friday. He sliced Noorman in half. Also *an (13:16)

  (Yolksause999 was muted for 12 hours. Reason: spreading misinformation. Date: Nov. 25, 2024 at 13:17)

  Hidder_of_the_wind_village98: ok you mute Yolk for your EGO. But you don’t mute the guy spreading misinformation. (13:18)

  (Idolsmaster69 (HEAD MOD), removed Limiido23 Moderation role and Muted for 24 hours. Reason: Abusing power and suppressing valuable information. Date: Nov. 25, 2024 at 13:20)

  (Idolsmaster69 (HEAD MOD), Banned anonymous(213). Reason: suppressing information and fear-mongering. Date: Nov. 25, 2024 at 13:22)

  (Idolsmaster69 (HEAD MOD) Unmuted Yolksause999. Date: Nov. 25, 2024 at 13:25)

  Yolksause999: WWWW. THANK YOU SO MUCH. (13:26)

  Idolsmaster69 (HEAD MOD): Not a problem, and thanks for that info. But I do want to ask where you got that info from. To make sure this is correct. (13:27)

  Yolksause999: I got the rank info on TV; it appeared on the news Sunday, but I think the wiki for the Blood Villain was recent. Also, I had a friend who was in the Void district and he saw the Blood Villain kill Noorman by slicing him in half. (13:29)

  Idolsmaster69 (HEAD MOD): Ok, checked it over. Yep, the rank is legit; however, I don’t know about him killing Noorman, I will have to look into it. (13:30)

  Vivio (Verified Hero): It’s true. That he killed Noorman. In fact, I was fighting him at the time but... yknow. (13:31)

  JoyRideOcto23: Go queen. Sorry that you couldn’t catch him, but hey maybe one day (13:32)

  ***

  “What up Sasha.” I set my phone aside and glanced up at Diego, who was such a nuisance. “What do you want?” Sasha sighed.

  “Have you seen Louis and Jake today?” Diego said. Louis and Jake, were you typical losers of the school? Jake was a weed addict. While Louis was more of just someone who was connected with these two. Sure I don’t like him. However, people around the school were more neutral towards him. Until last Friday.

  “No, they’re just probably being gay or something,” Sasha said while laughing. “Louis and Jake are not fucking gay, bro. Also, this is serious. I got no calls from both of them.” Diego retorted back.

  “Don’t worry, they will be fine. They’re just likely sick or something,” Penelope said. “Fine,” Diego said as he walked back to his lunch table.

  “Hey, are you doing anything later today? I was down to go to the mall and get some new clothes,” said Sasha.

  “I can go,” I said. Though I wasn’t lying. I did have to take care of my sister. Especially after the fact she only has a flip phone and a TV to entertain her. I mean, yesterday she embarrassed me in front of Louis. But she can warm up something when I'm gone. I hope.

  I don’t want my sister to end up like me; I want her to be different from me. Someone who has their own identity, and a normal civilian with a life.

  I heard the bell ring, signifying the end of lunch. “Ok, four o’clock at the Burry Mall,” Sasha said.

  “Sure. Penelope, you want to come?” I said. “Sorry, I got work to do,” she replied.

  “Ok, see you guys later.” After Sasha said that, we all got packed up and left lunch for our next class.

  ...

  It was around 6:30 p.m.

  During the winter, the sun goes down earlier than in the summer. Making it pitch black by about 4 or 5 p.m.

  Often, this makes people worried about the night when villains and non-superhuman crime ramp up. Superhumans only need two to four hours of sleep. Allowing them to stay active at night, though it takes years to get used to, but most superhumans die beforehand.

  I stroll down Evalin Ave with trash, homeless, and buildings with broken windows. Yeah, Chicago wasn’t the best city to live in, but hey, it wasn’t a fucking dead zone. Where you got man-eating Ravagers looking for people to kill and eat.

  I reached my apartment, which at first looked like a run-down building with boarded-up windows and some graffiti on the sides of the building.

  I entered the building using my fingerprint. Usually, it is a precaution in case someone tries to open the door using lock picks. Also, it allows me to not keep track of keys.

  I walked up the stairs and entered my apartment. It was a decent-sized apartment with a table, a couch, two beds, a bathroom, a kitchen, and an extra room; mostly used for a storage closet.

  However, I noticed someone in my apartment, someone I didn’t want to see here right now. Sitting at the table in a chair.

  The White Serpent.

  “Oh, how was that shopping trip with one of your friends? Sasha or the target?” Serpent said.

  “First of all, what are you doing here, Serpent?!” I yelled. “Shhh. You’re going to wake up Hailey,” she replied. I stared with anger, as I still wasn’t happy with the recruit coming on the team.

  “I guess I should get straight to the point. Cherry, you should understand that in the last two missions. You and Murder Jungle weren’t doing poorly on your missions,” Serpent explained.

  “So what, you’ve added a nobody to our team? A person who has been on Zero missions,” I argued.

  “Don’t be slick and change the subject. This is about you and Murder Jungle. First, you failed to obtain the cargo at the docks with Murder Jungle, due to some interference with heroes. Secondly, you caused the alarm to go off at the bank, and Murder Jungle nearly got captured because of your mistake,” Serpent said.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I’m not going to get out of this punishment.

  “Come on. I was stressing about exams,” I said desperately, trying to avoid punishment.

  “Don’t try to get out of this. Both of you fail your team and my organization with these last two missions. So this time, I will put you through a test. One where you can die,” Serpent said. My heart started to race fast hearing those words.

  “what will I be doing??” I asked, now scared of what’s coming.

  “Just be at my main hideout. Tonight at 10:30 P.M., be there sharp.” Serpent said.

  After she said that, she smoothly backflipped over the chair and hopped out of the window with zero sound. Then she closed it. Going out into the night.

  “Fuck!” I said to myself. Smashing my hand on the table, causing some cracks to appear. Then I heard a door open near the bedrooms. “Sis?” said Hailey, peaking around the corner where I could see her.

  “Oh, sorry. Just go to bed Hailey,” I said. My sister wasn’t perfect. She often tried to pry into my business and was a spoiled person. “Your villain friends again. Of course. Just give me my phone tomorrow. I’m tired of texting on this dinosaur fossil,” she said, annoyed.

  “Not after how you acted when we went shopping at Targs,” I said. On Sunday, she was misbehaving and even swore at my classmate, Louis. Sure, he was a dick. I would have done the same thing. But the difference was that she was only eleven and shouldn’t be swearing, for fuck's sake.

  “Piss off,” Hailey said, slamming the door. God damn, what am I gonna do with her? I mean, I try my best to be a role model, but I’m not a mom, just her sister.

  But I rather be a role model, than deal with my father.

  I sighed in frustration. I pulled out a little device from my backpack. It was like a brace band, with the only difference as the brace was thicker and there was a plastic cap covering a red button. I went to my room and took off most of my clothes.

  I looked in the mirror. Compared to the goddesses known as Julie and Ari, I had a small cup. I mean... the one benefit is that people won’t be coming after me in droves, but also certain people will like my type, especially my blond hair. The only thing that makes people attracted to me is my sizable ass, which is a pain in the ass, literally.

  I put the device on my right arm. Then I flipped the cap open and pushed the button. Then, my suit covered my entire body. It felt like fabric covering my body slowly as if I was putting on clothes without moving.

  I looked in the mirror to see my costume; it had a red and black color scheme, and there were armor pieces on my legs and arms which were fully black. The costume was bombproof, bulletproof, and cut-resistant. This is so I could take minimal damage, and so my costume didn’t get exposed to the elements.

  I looked towards the window and opened it to feel the fresh night breeze without the cold of winter. I checked my phone. It was 7:03 p.m.

  I felt my power aching, as I felt the little explosions in my arms and legs ready to be unleashed. I will pass this dumb test. I mean, what will I be facing anyway? Just hope it was a piece of cake. Please.