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.