Big City Villain | BOOK ONE

Revamped Chapter Three: Back in Action

It was at this point of the night that I began regretting much of my recent choices in life, starting with eating an entire pint of ice cream as a second dinner. Next on the docket was my choice of attire. My disguise may be the clichéd high school bad boy vibe, but it was well-known among the normals as none other than Headphones—on the high chance that I'm recognized, this little stunt could easily undo all my hard work to become a fearsome villain.

I stopped in my tracks and frowned. So what business do I even have saving some random person? I was just about to turn on my heels and go back home, when the cry for help came again. Guilt tugged at me. With a huff, I used my super hearing and tried to listen for any help coming the victim's way, but there was absolutely nothing.

"What, is everyone in a super deep sleep or something?" I grumbled to myself. Leave it to me to be a light sleeper.

My dilemma was soon forgotten when I arrived at the house in question. I was half asleep and didn't have much of a plan formed when I pushed open the gate and walked across the dark yard. Maybe I know whoever is harassing the ordinary and I can just tell them to back off.

The thought of telling a villain or criminal to back off and them actually listening, made me laugh. When has that plan ever worked for anyone? And if it is someone I know, they'd just laugh because there isn't a single hero, villain, or police officer who doesn't know I'm banned from using my powers. The perks of being banned continue to grow. As long as it isn't my archenemy, Gust, we're good.

I looked up at the house and frowned. The front door was open and a cardboard box was askew on the ground, half of its contents dumped on the steps. I peeked inside and found that the house was at the stage of either they were moving in or moving out, since the power of deduction wasn't mine, I could only guess. Which I didn't, because honestly, I didn't care.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror and groaned. Half asleep as I was, I had grabbed my glasses instead of my mask. I hid behind the wall and put my glasses in a random pocket in my black sweats. Looks like I'm going to prove whether Superman's disguise works in the real world. The only problem with this plan was that my glasses were necessary.

With my signature red beanie hiding the color of my hair, and as much of my face as possible, I stepped into the house, and wondered if I should be worried that it's been quiet. As if on cue, the girl screamed, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

I tiptoed up the staircase quietly and hunched down to make a smaller target. I could hear footsteps that suddenly turned into what sounded like a full on fistfight. That's it, subtlety is overrated.

I stood up and stomped my feet on the top step, announcing my arrival. "All right, what's going on in here? Show yourselves. This is the—" The what? The villain of King City? Yeah, that sounds mighty fearsome. Stupid Benjamin, why does he have to be such a light sleeper? The whole city could burn down, but his royal highness wouldn't even stir. "The person you don't want to be dealing with."

"Mind your own business freak!"

I whipped around to find a fuzzy, scruffy, masked criminal standing in the threshold of a room. He had what I assumed was a hammer in his hand and a half-filled bag in the other. There wasn't anything remarkable about his appearance from what I could tell. With my poor vision, I could only guess he was your typical brown-haired, maybe even brown-eyed guy out looking for a get rich quick scheme. He wasn't horribly impressive and I found myself trying to hide a yawn.

"You new around here?" I asked. "This is my area."

"And who do you think you are?" he yelled, swinging his hammer to hit my head.