SuperVillains

Chapter 7.


"Hey, sorry I'm late." Edward said, panting. "I need one of you to take that car we got off Max and drive it up to the abandoned parking lot near the pier. That way we can hide the truck easy without the police after us."


"What happened to you?"

" None of your business. Well... who's coming? Mel? Lauren? MAY! If you had a brain you'd have come down here a minute ago."

May plopped down on the sofa next to Melissa and I. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The fumes made me want to gag, but that's coming from a kid who'd had years of drug ed. in grade school.

"I'll do it." Lauren finally spoke up, which saved us from the wrath of Edward's famous temper.

SuperVillains

Chapter 6.


I must have been doing well, because I was now allowed to come along with the others. They travel to this black market that's hidden from the public completely. Edward gets the plans on the Art Institute robbing from the owner, and if a rival gang of Villains come in, we have to fight. Edward never mentioned the car mission again, but it was clear I must have done something right judging by the way he treated me from then on. There was just one thing that I forgot to do.


As soon as I saw Melissa, I ran over to where she was and found her drawing on a moldy couch.

"Hey, that's really good." I said, trying to think of a way to describe the beautiful picture.

"Thanks."

"You should be an artist. I meant that." As I said that, I wondered what she thought about the Art Institute robbing. She was amazing at art, so did that mean she had respect for the works of other talented artists? "

"By the way, thanks for saving my butt back there."

"No problem."

She looked different. I noticed that she had no makeup on, and her face looked better that way. She also seemed more serious, her lips in a tight line, and her hands were covered in pencil marks. She'd been drawing Navy Pier by the looks of the picture across her lap.


"Hey, by the way, anyone else here besides you?" I wanted to make sure Edward wasn't here, because I wanted to ask Melissa about some more of how the plan would work."

"No, I don't think so. Why do you ask?'

"Well I was sort of wondering about this whole stupid plan we have and how it will-------

May again. If I had to hear The Real Slim Shady one more time, I would charge in her room and break the radio, oblivious of her powers.


"Turn that loser off!" Melissa was getting annoyed as well.

"Your music sucks! This is talent that I'm listening to!"

"I don't think that anyone with a name that sounds like candy could be considered pure talent. Melissa's right. He's a poser." I knew this would infuriate her. She only had one CD, and played it loud. If her music was gone, all hell would break loose. It was the only thing that kept her calm, though I somehow don't see her music as a way of keeping calm.


May turned it off, and stomped down the stairs to where Melissa and I were. She gave me a cold, hard glare and left the shack without another word.


"I hate her." Melissa said. Her hands had become fists as she stood, gazing at the stairs May had just descended from.

"Anyway, Do you know anything about this crazy plan Edward has?" I hoped to distract her from her strong hatred of May, but I also wanted to get back to my question if I was ever going to understand what was going on.

"I don't know any more than you do about this plan. All I really know is that we're gonna make millions of dollars on the black market." Yeah we are. Stealing paintings and selling them. I thought. Did she know we would be stealing priceless works of art?

We stood in silence. I wondered why I had been at that party in the first place. That seemed like a stupid thing to do now, I mean I've smoked and done bad stuff before, but this was by far the worst thing I'd ever done. May went to millions of parites, all illegal, none safe or nice places to spend a night. What had happened to her? I wondered what her childhood had been like, for her to turn out like this. The silence was only interrupted when Edward came through the door, sweating and exhausted.

SuperVillains

Chapter 5.


The mystery person showed himself. He was a tall man around Edward's age. He wore a long, black trenchcoat and had dirty hair. Both he and Edward, who was growing impatient, looked at me looked at me as if he wanted to punch me in the face. I looked around for an opportunity of escape, but due to the size of the area, and how well the gangs I was involved with now knew Chicago, the chances of freedom and a normal life were slim. I'd remembered back when I lived a normal life, back in Winnetka with my friends and family. Living there wasn't easy, but at least I wasn't a criminal on the streets of Chicago. I began to feel sorry for Edward and the others who had lived this way all their lives.

"So anyway Eddie, you just gotta go down to the garage, the truck will be there, it's a real beautiful machine." How much of the conversation had I missed? I wondered as they were finishing up the bargain.

"Yeah, but I need it now! The garage is miles away from here, Max! How am I gonna get a huge truck and bring it back here in less than an hour?" That gave me an idea.

"I could get the truck for you and bring it back in less than 20 minutes." I wanted to get on Max's good side, especially because we had only just met. I badly wanted to escape with the truck, though that would mean six different gangs would be after me.

"Yeah, right. Like we'd trust you with a high-tech truck?"

"Give him a chance, Eddie. Maybe he'll be good and follow orders. He seems like a good boy."

"Oh, all right! Mark, if you don't come back here I'll come after you, so don't try anything stupid. " I was nervous about my escape plan, but for a while, I thought it would work.

As I made my way through various walls, I got excited about finally being able to be normal again. I almost ran the rest of the way, with my thoughts of a regular, peaceful life. I would later find this to be untrue, but for the time being, I though I was free. I wasn't looking, and before I knew it, I fell flat on the sewer floor. I looked up, and there was a huge man, with more muscles than Edward. He grabbed me by my collar and shook me hard.

"You're under arrest. I know what you're up to, trying to get into this garage?" Well I'll tell you something, punk, I'm gonna kick your ass!" He was a hero. One of those kids who tries to save people for some kind of profit. I could tell because I could see a loaded wallet in his pocket. Maybe this so-called "hero" could save me from Edward and his gang, I thought.


"Hey, Could you help me? You see Edward and his gang had kidnapped me, so could you take me back to my apartment? It's not too far from here, I think."

"Punk, if you think you can trick me with that lame-ass story, you can think again! I'm gonna beat the crap out of you, and your gang!" He socked me hard in the chest, and I fell back on the floor, but this time, I tasted blood. I tried to get up, but he threw me back down, hard. I landed against a wall, and I could hear his sick laughter. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity, and ran right through the wall. I ran like hell, no matter how badly I was hurting. I could hear the "hero" cursing in the distance. What kind of hero laughs when someone is being beaten? I wondered.

After a while, I could see the garage. I raced toward the rusted doors and slipped through as if they weren't dirty metal. I ran as fast as I could through the rest of the doors in the garage, and then I saw it. The car. It looked shiny, as if it were new, which it probably was. It was huge, and had a label on the back reading "TastyBread," which was the cover-up for what the car really was. I looked at it in admiration for a while, but knew I had to drive it back to Edward, but, well...I could always escape in it...

That's what would've occurred, if not for a thunder of footsteps coming my way, and a deep voice that was getting closer and closer.

"You bastard! There you are, and boy, I'm gonna make sure the judge, jury and executioner throw the book at you!" I just narrowly dodged a punch, but was knocked onto the floor with a powerful swipe.

"Mark! Look out!" I saw a powerful beam of ice hit the hero in the back, and he fell flat on his face. I quickly scrambled up to my feet.

Melissa emerged. She then froze the area around the guy, and stamped on it. The ice broke, and he fell through the garage floor. Apparently there was another layer underneath the garage that was basically dirt and sludge water.

"You can thank me later." Melissa said as she got in another car in the garage and drove away. "If Edward finds out what happened, you're dead!"

Without another word, I got into the huge truck and drove out onto the Chicago streets from the filthy sewers. I was shaking, and I was bleeding as well, but I had to keep driving, no matter what.

Edward and Max were in the vacant, dirty alleyway I'd walked through with Edward earlier. I tried to wipe up the blood as best I could, but I don't think I was very successful. Edward was the first to spot me.

"Hey, Rich kid, did you have any trouble getting to the car? The authorities spot you?"

"No. I had no trouble at all." Was all I could say. Edward probably saw through this lie, because as soon as we got back, he handed me a bandage soaked in water and told me to stay away from heroes next time, though he never accused me of lying or anything.

Supervillians

Chapter 3.


As Edward and I walked through the dark and dirty alleyway, I wondered what he had in mind for me. He kept mentioning my powers so often throughout the walk that I had no opportunity to ask him anything. I was almost afraid to because Edward hated being questioned, and I knew I was no exception. It was beginning to get dark, and the clouds were moving fast. I knew I had to ask him what was up sooner or later.


"Hey, Edward, um..uh..why are you acting so nice all of a sudden?"

" Why can't I show kindness to a friend?" He replied. A friend? Since when was I his friend? I though I was the "rich punk."


"Seriously, Edward. What's this plan you have going on? What do you want with me, and what the hell do do every day? Where do you go? I tried to speak with courage and confidence this time, but this was not an easy task because Edward was an intimidating person. The kind of person who'd beat you for answering back, or just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like I'd been where he'd gotten me a while back.

Edward just laughed. He decided to talk a little. "Kid, you have no idea, and you never will. We need to get rid of some people who think they're doing good, you know, people who think they're "Cleaning up Chicago." We just need them gone, then we'll live like kings off the money we will collect selling paintings on the black market. "

"You're insane! This whole operation sounds insane! We're talking about stealing priceless works of art, and getting rid of good people!" That earned me a smack on the head.

"Listen, punk. Those people aren't good. They were at the same party we went to. They do bad things. They only save lives and fight crime for the rewards they earn. They think saving people from danger is some sort of freakin' get-rich-quick scheme!" He must be talking about the superheroes, people who use their powers for good instead of evil, like us. Did they really just do it for the money? At that moment I wanted to run away, but I hadn't paid my rent in weeks and was probably in debt. Also I'd be questioned by the police, which would mean ratting out Sam and Lauren.

"So Mark, we need you to sneak in the back lot, so we can meet with a close friend of mine, who'll lend us one of his trucks. We can use them in case of emergency or something like that."


"But why do you need me?"

"Because you're the only one of us who can walk through walls. Why do you think we even took you to our place?" I wanted to yell at him. This whole time, they were taking advantage of my powers? That was just wrong. Before I even had time to argue, Edward pointed to a manhole underneath a dumpster. He lifted it, and threw it against a wall. Then he pried the manhole open, and pushed me in. He jumped in after me.

"Well, here we are, kid. It'll be a while before we meet up with my "friend." He chuckled to himself as we walked through the filthy sewers of Chicago. We walked for what seemed like ages, and after a while, we reached our destination, which was pretty much just a dead end.

"Hey, Eddie." Came a voice from the shadows.

SuperVillains

Chapter 2.


After a week went by of living with the gang, I'd begun to find out more about everyone there. May, the redhead, could throw fire from her hands, and breathe it as well if she was exhaling cigarette smoke. She was as clean-mouthed as the rap music she loved, and enjoyed loud noise and partying as well. (Her love of wild clubs was probably the reason she had gained her powers from the explosion in the first place.)

Edward, the muscular man, was the leader of the gang. He hated noise and distraction, but was smart and knew the streets of Chicago like his own name. The only reason he had gone to the party in the first place was because some friend of his told him he needed to "Loosen up a little and enjoy life." The accident had actually made him more tense and serious, though. He had never lost a fight before in his life. His girlfriend, Lauren, had blond hair and wore black and pink often. She could move things with her mind, which made her an asset to the gang since she was the most powerful. She was tough, and was always up for a fight.

Melissa, the dark-haired girl, who could freeze any liquid as well as people, was quiet and kept to herself often. She wasn't a pushover and was certainly not a good person to have as an enemy. Despite this, she and May were bitter enemies. She liked Beyonce', May liked Eminem. She hated parties, May loved them. Like their powers, fire and ice, the two were exact opposites. They couldn't find one thing they had in common.

The last member of the gang was Sam, who could run at super speeds. Sam could be mean when he wanted to, but he was the only member of the gang who treated me with respect, aside from Lauren.

The thing that troubled me most about the gang was the fact that they had this secret plan that I knew nothing about. Each day, they were gone for hours and when they returned, they were covered in bruises and bad injuries. One day, I decided I wanted in on this plan.

"Hey, Lauren, I need to know where you guys go each day now that I'm a part of this gang, now." Lauren was the best person to ask, since she was Edward's girl.

"It's a secret. You'll find out soon what it is."

"Whatever. Can you at least help me get into Edward's room?"

"Are you insane? You'll be committing suicide if you enter his room. Even I can't go in there."

"Can you at least create a diversion so that I can get in?"

This she agreed to. While she got Edward to go with her to some movie she had been "wanting to see for a long time," I walked right through Edward's locked door, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. I rummaged through an empty closet in his room, and ended up finding some papers on the plan. There was writing that had to do with getting rid of the heroes and the cops, and also on robbing Chicago's Art Institute of two paintings: American Gothic, and A Day In The Park to sell on the black market for what seemed like billions of dollars. I stayed there, reading for what seemed like hours. Before I had time to leave, there was Edward, right in front of me. He grabbed me by the collar and yelled hard at me. "You! Get out of here or I'll kick your ass! I give you a home and protection, and you sneak around like some freaking spy!

At this point, it was pointless to mention that I already had a home and protection. After Edward had gone downstairs and was out of earshot, May approached me. She had red lipstick on, and a black tank-top. She was probably back from a date or party since her makeup was smudged.

"Way to piss off Edward, ghost." She said with a smirk.

"Shut up, May. You were just at a party. I saw you come in. You know how Edward hates it when you sneak out. Leave me alone, and I won't tell him." I hadn't seen her come in, or known where she was, but I wanted her gone.

"You Bitch." Was all she said to me before slamming the door to her room. I must have guessed right about where she had been.


"Mark, You OK?" Sam had now entered the scene. "Lauren told me you got busted by Edward. Did he give you hell?"


" Sam, this is Edward. What do you expect he gave me?!"


"Sorry I asked. Did May bother you again?"

"Yeah."

"You shouldn't mess with her, you know. She's pretty tough." He said, pointing out the obvious.

"Sam, I'm not afraid of her, her words, or her powers. She just keeps irritating the hell out of me while I don't do anything to her!"


"She's had a tough life." Sam said after a long silence between us. "She has a lot of problems she thinks can be solved by alcohol and parties. She can be a pain, but try understanding things from her point of view." He sounded like a social worker.

"Yeah, ri---" I was cut off by Eminem being blasted at full volume from May's room.

"May! turn the music off now or I'll break that radio!"

"You break the radio and you'll wish you'd arranged your funeral in advance Melissa!"

That did it. Melissa came into May's closet-of-a-room and I knew a fight was coming. I decided to leave the hideout for some fresh air for a while, provided Edward didn't see me leave. As luck would have it, he was right by the front door.

"Hey, Mark. Sorry I yelled at you there. Guess I overreacted a little." A little? I thought. "Want to take a walk with me? There's something I want to tell you."

"Sure, I guess." Why was he acting so nice all of a sudden? I wondered. Had Lauren talked with him?

"You know you really need to loosen up a little. You seem tense."

That's when I knew something was up.

SuperVillains

CHAPTER 1.


My name is Mark and I'm a villain. Yeah right, one might think. Sure you are with a name like that. Well I really am one, and those who chose to think in denial can't hope to understand. I'm not normal. Never have been, and never will be. Neither will the others. It all started when I moved to Chicago from Winnetka upon graduation from High School. Towards nightfall, I decided to venture to some party at the house of some teenager who's parents were either away or didn't give a damn about what happened. As soon as I'd entered, the strong smell of smoke blasted me in the face, and music was blaring from inside. I was having a good time, what with the intimidating people and loud noises. After a while, I'd noticed the smell of something burning. I realized it was coming from the basement and decided to check it out. When I got there I had no time to turn back. I felt myself collapse, and everything went dark.

When I woke up, I was back on the streets of the Windy City. I headed for my apartment as fast as I could go. I wanted to clear my head of the night's events and forget it ever happened. When I got to the door, it was locked. I realized that I'd lost my keys at that house, and was even more frustrated after searching my pockets to find that I'd lost another valuable item as well--my wallet. I wanted to bang on the door, despite this being unecessary and ridiculous, because I didn't want anyone coming out. The last thing I needed was more commotion. As soon as my fist hit the wood, I fell right through the door and ended up in my apartment room flat on my face. The door was still locked shut. I quickly got up, confused. How had I done that? I wondered. I ran towards the door, which was still shut and went right through it as if it wasn't even there. Excited, I ran back inside. Who needs stupid keys when you can walk through walls? I thought, laughing.

After a quick nap and shower, I walked through downtown Chicago, like a God among mortals. They had no idea of what I could do. I decided to walk into a nearby alley to test my power out, when I founds myself cornered by five people around my age who looked like they wanted me dead. I tried to run, but looked down and found my feet were frozen to the ground. A girl with fiery red hair came up to me. "Weren't you at that party last night?" she asked.

"Yeah, he was. I saw him there myself. Guess you got powers like us." This time it was a man speaking. He looked muscular, and had a long tattoo down one arm. "What can you do?"

"I can walk through walls." Idiot! I thought. Why tell these people your power when they don't know anything! "What can you people do?" I might as well find out their powers if they knew mine.

The muscular man stepped forward. He picked up a rusty car with one hand and threw it a good distance away from the small alley. "I'm Edward." He said with a triumphant smile on his dirty face. The redheaded girl lit a cigarette and after inhaling the smoke, breathed out fire.

"That answer your question, ghost-boy?" She said this with a scornful tone. Smart-ass, I thought. Then a girl with dark hair and blue makeup approached. She shot a beam of energy from her hands at a huge puddle on the ground next to me. It had become frozen solid. She must have been the girl who froze my feet. Then I heard a siren, which got louder. A police car, or judging my the multiple sirens, three. The gang must have head it too, because they started to run, with me being pulled along against my will by Edward.

"Oh, Crap! Why did I throw that car?" I head him mutter. I tried to yell out for help, but Edward clamped a huge hand over my mouth. I felt like I was about to die. Why is this happening to me? I thought. What had I done to deserve this? Edward dragged me into this dirty looking shack in the back of a longer alleyway, the rest of the gang following behind. I was thrown on to a moldy couch, gasping for air. The revelation that I could have used my power to escape made me groan.

"Baby." The redhead, again.

"Well try being suffocated by some muscled freak!" I practically screamed this. I had had enough of these gangsters. I was then slapped hard by the "muscled freak." It was clear he had lost his patience with me.

"Shut up or I'll make you punk! Do you want the cops to come and arrest us all?" He then turned to the redhead. "And May. If you give him any more trouble you're gonna get trouble from me." May must be the redhead. I thought. At least I know someone here. May angrily lit a cigarette, storming away.

"What's your name, kid?" Edward asked.

"Mark." I said in a timid voice.

Before Edward left, he said something that really made me shiver. "Mark, if you even think about running away, let's just say we're not afraid of beating up some rich punk." He must have noticed my North Face jacket upon saying this. I was left all alone in that dirty room, in a shack where a gang with power lived. I wondered if they knew where I lived?

Later, I would find in that moldy room a phone book with a list of Chicago apartments stapled in the front. My apartment was first on the list.