Good Intentions

Chapter Five: Unconprehendable

Villains aren't always the bad guys, sometimes the heroes are.

I stood up off the chair, rubbing my rope-burnt wrists. I've felt that kind of pain before, but not nearly as bad, seeing as the ropes weren't really tied that hard last time. It was at a camp, essentially boy scouts, but for kids who wanted to be heroes. It was fun, up until I got to be a fake hostage for one of the activities. They tied the ropes way too hard for a child, and I actually wound up doing more harm to myself than my "captor" did. It's a funny moment to remember, but not in this situation.

I followed the Italian man through a maze of halls, twisting and turning throughout several different corridors. After some time, we exited the maze of halls with sore feet and heavy breaths. The room was amazingly large, about the size of a football field, all built below ground. Stalactites covered the ceiling, looking more like a hazard than a design choice. The room was split up into four sections: The training area, in which people train their powers and physical abilities, A relaxation area, in case you train too hard or come back sore, A dining hall, where you get food, and a medical bay, where you get stitched up if you get too injured. And in the center, there was a large, multicolored portal, changing between gradients every-so-often.

"By the way, that's the exit." He said, pointing to the portal. "It's about 30 feet off the ground, so if you're gonna leave, brace yourself."

He brought me over to the relaxation area, grabbing a tray with 2 glasses of alcohol. I couldn't tell what kind of drink it was, but the smell told me it was definitely alcohol.
"Uh, sorry, I'm underage." He gave me a dirty look, and said "Whadya mean? These are mine."

He led me over to an empty table in the far corner of the room. People all around us could be seen drinking, or acting like they drank three and a half kegs of beer in five minutes. Others in the training area could be seen kicking the shit out of each other, or hitting dummies with all kinds of attacks. A group of training dummy carcasses sat in the corner, completely destroyed.

I like the look of this place.

"Glad to know you're already enjoying yourself." The man said, stirring his drink. He held out his hand for me to shake it, which I did. "Gino, Gino Maelstrom. I already know your name, so no need to tell me." Gino said, taking a long all of one of his two glasses.

I was getting impatient, he led me out here to tell me something, yet he's wasting so much time.

"Alright kid, jeez. Okay, this is gonna be a while."

"First, what is this place? Where are we?" I asked Gino.

"Well, this is what we call our home base. We are all people who once trusted the savior of our city, and were either decided by him or used by him. We don't want out city to be controlled by a man who's hungry for power, so we plan

"So, as you know, the council of heroes or whatever the hell their calling themselves nowadays is being spearheaded by the one and only Mr. Xstatic, your father. What you don't know is that they wanted to kick your father off the board about sixteen years. He wanted a way to stay on the board, so he could keep the power the board was giving him. So, he started making rookie villains, so he could stop them himself. Pretty much a douche move, right? It gets worse. He knew it wouldn't work out forever, so he made a supervillain, Jungle Wrath. He made her kill, he threatened her, saying that he'd kill her if she didn't do it. And then he defeated her, letting her live out her life as a hero with a tattered past.

"He lasted like this for thirteen years, up until you began getting your powers. He made sure you would end up a villain, trying to make you want to be evil throughout your life. When it didn't work, he made sure you'd get a villainous power. A power he secretly had. You can guess what he did from there."

His words stung me, burnt me from the inside out. There was so much to take in, all at once. I didn't do this to mom. He did. Gino nodded his head slightly, confirming my suspicions. I was horrified, thinking about how he forced my hand, forced me to have a villainous power. I wonder, what power would I have normally? Would it be one of his powers?

Gino continued on, but I didn't listen. My ears were ringing, my mouth was dry, and my sight was blurred. I couldn't breath easily, I was hyperventilating, and my face was hotter than hell. Gino snapped his fingers in my face, knocking me out of my trance. "Kid, listen to me. He's using you as part of his plan, we can't let him do that. He has control of this entire city in the palm of his hand, we have to find a way to stop him.

My head pounded every time I thought. How are we supposed to beat him? He might as well be a god, he's essentially unstoppable. He's already won.
"Jake, do you know why heroes beat the villains every single time, even though they have the weaker powers?" He said, standing up. He walked to the center of the room, infront of the portal. All the people, Heroes and Villains alike, crowded around him. The people I saw around the room were all "villains" that had been defeated by Mr. Xstatic. There was the Indestructible Fiend, the Calico Killer, The Frantic Flame, Immaculate, and even Jungle Wrath herself. There were dozens of other villains, but I couldn't recognize them, though I was sure that they had also been defeated by my father, and none of them wanted to be a villain. There were at least a hundred of them, all standing side by side. It was inspiring.

"Strength in numbers, that's how." Gino said, rallying the I'm looking crowd. The group of supers cheered for him, all looking ready to go.

"In two weeks time, the so-called 'Heroes' will attack us. They've known of us for quite some time, and they've finally decided we were worth their time. Their attack shall be swift, and they plan on taking us all out. No survivors."

The crowd visibly shuddered. The thought of being raided, beaten, and having people dear to you killed, along with yourself, is not an appealing prospect.

"For the next week, we shall train as hard as we can, and when the time comes, we attack. We protect our own. There will be casualties, that is definite. But in the end, they will be the ones left defeated.

"No. Survivors."

His words seemed to spark something in the on looking crowd, as they chanted inaudible gibberish, all of it mixing together into a bunch of word vomit. Once Gino put up a single finger, they all went quiet, which disturbed me. The fact that they all listened to him, followed his every command, it reminded me of what my father did, sorting out heroes and villains and commanding them like pawns. Still, it wasn't like Gino was forcing them to be the apitonmy of what they hate, just for power.

"So, are you in, Jakob?" Gino asked, his voice unwavering. His blue eyes seemed darker than usual, a maniacal look adorning them. That was the moment that I really questioned it all. What was worse, my father using us all to stay in a position of power, or Gino, planning an all-out-attack to slaughter an unknown amount of heroes?

Power surged through my veins as I felt small slits open through my skins, a crimson river adorning my arm. The blood took it's regular shape, becoming large, long spindles arcing over me.

They were pointing directly at Gino.

The crowd seemed visibly shocked, getting into fighting stance as I slowly approached Gino, the strands of blood still pointing at him. Gino stood still, staring me directly in my eyes, a smug grin plastered on his face. Once I stood infront of him, my blood seeped back into my arms, as I held out my hand for him to shake, which he obliged.

"No survivors."