Thanks so much for all the support you've all given me!

Chapter Two: Insight.

I spent the next day doing some research. Once I started, I found I simply couldn't stop. There was a lot more to all this stuff than I thought there was. For starters, there were ranks - for heroes and villains alike. It was based roughly on power levels and influence.

The lowest rank was Underling, following Average, Knight, Prince/Princess, King/Queen, Tyrant, and Emperor/Empress. I had no idea where I stood on this ranking system - although I wasn't too eager to find out either. It attracted a lot of attention once you were put on the list. Turns out that Superstition was ranked as a Villain Prince. He was notorious for messing about with other supers, having quick flings with them - he was something of a playboy. When he was done with them, he ripped out their hearts and kept them - probably as trophies or something. That was honestly the creepiest thing I'd ever read before and recalling his compliment last night made me shiver. I certainly didn't want to be his next 'obsession'. His longest obsession was with a Hero named Riptide (who was a Knight) - lasting a total of eight months before he publicly announced his love for her and then pulled her heart right out of her chest. Isn't that just so romantic? The hell is with this guy?

Note to self: don't get involved with Superstition. I was coming to regret my words last night, although not completely. I didn't want anything to do with people like that - but I probably should have been nicer in my rejection. Especially since Blackout... is a villain Tyrant. Again, no idea where I ranked in this system, but I managed to piss off a Villain Prince and likely the Tyrant too. This was sure to be good for me, huh? Superstition had three older brothers - one who was also a villain Prince, while the other two were Kings. He also apparently had a younger brother but he hadn't really made his debut yet, for better or for worse.

I really should have been nicer.

All in all, despite the situation I had managed to put myself in - although, nothing was confirmed just yet, maybe Blackout wouldn't be too mad about it, although I couldn't say the same for Superstition - I was fairly calm. There was no point in getting too worked up about it until I saw their reaction. I wasn't all too confident about facing them and surviving but I wasn't exactly afraid. I knew what I would potentially be signing up for when I put on that mask - it was always just a matter of when and how. What was that old saying? You either die the hero or live long enough to become the villain? I wasn't too thrilled with the thought of dying but at least I'd get to see my mother.

Hopefully, she would be proud.

Anyway, it turns out my city had tons of major villains. Since the Hero Agency Headquarters was here - run by a Hero Tyrant (although some sites said he was quickly moving up to be an Emperor), there were also several powerful heroes too. It was interesting to learn. I had only picked up a few pieces here and there, what I heard while I was out a night or what was on the news, but I never truly paid attention. I just thought I never needed to. I was incredibly wrong.

The Hero Agency was run by an elected Hero - which is currently Impact. He's famous for a lot of things - although the thing he's most praised for is finding a ring of human trafficking. He worked with the Police for months and managed to put a stop to it. With his help and the help of other heroes, they managed to shut the ring down and potentially lead them to other Underground activities, although not much else was said on the matter. I assumed it's still a work in progress and they don't want to share too much information, lest they put the whole operation at risk. Which was fair enough. With the few stories I read about him, Impact had already earned a great deal of my respect. I even considered joining the Hero Agency myself - but the thought of how many people I would have to deal with put me off entirely. It sounded like a good deal, all things considered, but I'd rather not join unless I had to.

Although, remembering that I pissed off Superstition made me rethink the decision not to join a few more times. I still decided against it in the end.

Since I was taking the time to research villains, I decided I might as well familiarize myself with some of the other villains. There was Feline, a Queen. At first, she was heavily underestimated because of her cute appearance and cat-like features...Until she clawed a Knight's eyes out and slit his throat with her own claws. She only got worse from there. She was dating a villain King - Misfit. They were dating apparently long before Feline ever became a villain and she climbed the ranks just so she could proudly stand beside him. Guess she accomplished her goal. True love - it'll make you claw someone's eyes out, I guess.

There was another villain named Variant and he was a Tyrant. There wasn't much to be found about him - he only had such a high rank because he nearly killed Impact two years ago. Other than that and a few stray fights - all of which he won without question, killing all of his opponents, there was nothing else to really judge his power on. Reporters guessed his powers were shockwaves - which was either a good power to combat Impact's or a bad one since Impact had shock absorbency. Did he absorb the power or did it cause more damage? No one could really tell but Impact never left a battle with him unscathed - he almost always had fatal wounds on him after every fight. He was the only one who could survive a fight against Variant. Note to self: don't even attempt to fight Variant - or any villain Tyrant.

Villain Prince; Playmate, he could mind-control people. Admittedly, that was kinda cool. Wouldn't want to face him though. I had a rough idea on how to stop people from reading my mind or controlling me, things my Dad taught me but nothing near the level he was at. If it came down to it, I'd probably only be able to hold him off for a few seconds at best. Amusingly enough, there was an Empress named Empress. I bet she changed her name just for that. Pfft, villains. Vilain King, Ringleader, although he was in jail right now. He was one of the primary ringleaders - are all these names really just wordplay? Come on - of the human trafficking ring that Impact took down. There was a---

My phone turned off. I blinked. Tapped the screen. Pressed the home button. What? I held the power button, waiting for it to switch back on. It didn't. I think it just died? I sighed in annoyance, shoving it into my pocket. I was sure it had enough charge earlier. I was really getting into that too. Just my luck.

I looked around the classroom, even though I already knew what was going on. My eyes were quick to readjust. Say what you want about super senses but sometimes it was more effort than it was worth. Seriously, it was all fun and games until you walked past a busy public bathroom. Then it was just a nightmare.

Without even looking, I caught the waddled up piece of paper before it could hit me in the cheek. I tossed it back carelessly and then turned to the perpetrator. I could describe Tyler Jackson in many, many different ways - I could even mention how he's my best friend, but the real, most accurate way to describe him would be to tell you that he's simply just annoying. We met when I was 12 and he stuck to me like glue and he's been by my side ever since. I have yet to get rid of him - or the four other dickheads that followed me about on a daily basis.

Tyler caught the ball of paper with both hands, a small smile playing on his lips. He knew I would catch it but he still tried, the dumbass. Tyler wasn't exactly someone I could lie to - nor did I want to, so I hadn't bothered keeping my identity from him. He knows I'm Recluse and he knows about my Super Senses. He made it a game with the other four idiots to always try and scare me. It never worked - not when I could literally hear them coming from a mile away, even when they tried to be quiet. Tyler covered for me when I struggled to come up with an excuse; he always had my back.

"What were you reading so intensely?" Tyler asked, fiddling with the paper. At least he didn't interrupt me. I spared a brief glance at the teacher - English class, yipee - then returned my eyes to him.

"I was researching villains," I answered truthfully. I had gotten distracted from my main goal but at the very least, I knew just enough that I knew what to expect from Superstition or Blackout. Although Superstition's name bothered me. All his brothers had names vaguely based on their powers - Phantom, Silhouette, Shadow, but Superstition's was slightly different. The family's powers were mostly based on phasing or shadows. Why did he go for Superstition? Then again, when you have so many villains based around the same powerset, I suppose you'd want a different name too... I guess he doesn't have to choose a name based directly on his powers - not that there were many options left - but something about it bothered me. I just didn't know what.

Tyler frowned at me. "You run into trouble?" The concern was clear and all I could do was shrug. I managed to avoid stress and anxiety by putting my mind to work on something else or rationalising with myself. I simply wouldn't know if I had trouble until tonight - or whenever said trouble struck so worrying over it wouldn't help. All I could do was prepare and hope it was enough. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous though.

"Maybe. Might have pissed off a villain. Not entirely sure though," I admitted, though I was actually pretty sure I did piss Superstition off. Him cursing me out was evidence enough. The bell rang before Tyler could reply.

"Remember, we have a pop quiz tomorrow!" Mrs Johnson reminded us and I frowned as I stood up. I didn't remember her mentioning any pop quiz? In fact, I was sure I-

I snagged my foot on one of my chair's legs, falling forward. My stomach smashed into the corner of the table and in a wild flail, I reached out, grabbing a nearby chair. It fell with me, screeching as it did, landing directly on top of my face. I sat there for a moment, shocked. Tyler was the first one in the classroom to burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. I smacked away the chair, standing up and glaring at him but he wasn't intimidated. Did I seriously just trip on the chair leg? I rubbed at my side, not liking the awkward feeling of brief pain.

"Holy-! Did you- The way you-! HA!" I ignored the traitor and the rest of the laughing room and quickly left, face burning. What the hell was that? Regardless of how far I got from the classroom, I could still hear the laughing, my super senses refusing to let me drown it out. I tried to shove the humiliation down but it was hard when I could still hear the laughter from here.

Did I seriously just trip over a chair? I stormed over to my locker, furious at myself. Clumsy idiot. Don't focus on it, I told myself. I unlocked my locker, grabbing my Science book for my next lesson just as Tyler practically limped his way over to me, wet stains running down his face. I gave him another glare but he was still unaffected. I snatched my books from him which he had thankfully brought with him. I forgot about those in my haste to get away from the damned scene. I could still hear people talking about it from here and it was driving me crazy as the story was retold to others. Great. I threw the books into the locker and slammed it shut loudly, hoping the brief sound would give me reprise from the snickers and turned towards Tyler.

"Would you shut up?" I snarled angrily. My face was going red again. Echoes of comments, laughter as my classmates shared the story around. I tried to focus my hearing closer to myself, instead listening to snippets of conversations in this hallway - where the story thankfully hadn't spread yet - and did my best to drown out anything else.

"How- how can I? That's the best thing I've ever seen! You've never tripped before! That was great!" He snickered and I had to refrain from snarling at him. Instead, I went to walk past him- I was yanked back to my locker, tripping. I hit my head against the metal. I snapped my head towards Tyler to demand what the hell he was doing, only to see he was just as confused as I was. His eyes dropped to behind me and then he burst out laughing again, slapping his knee. Seriously? What was he laughing at now? I struggled to turn around, only to find my white shirt caught within my locker.

...You've got to be kidding me.

I grabbed the piece of fabric and yanked it out. TRRR! I stared at the now ripped piece of fabric. Tyler yelled out something incomprehensible and slid down the lockers. For the love of- I unlocked the locker, grabbing the annoying piece of fabric and slammed my locker door shut again. The metal dented and then with a creak, fell off its hinges. I stared at it and Tyler literally screamed at me, getting the attention of everyone in the hallway. I stared at the contents of my locker which was now visible to everyone, almost frantically checking to see if there was anything inside that I didn't want anyone to see. Luckily, there wasn't. I didn't like keeping private stuff at school anyway so I was granted a small mercy.

I stared dumbly for a few seconds more, hands hovering. What the hell is with me today?

I cursed under my breath, grabbing my bag and stuffing any personal items I had into it. Just my damn luck. What was I supposed to do now? I couldn't just leave my locker like this! I wouldn't be surprised if someone took something considering my luck today. I growled, opening and closing my fist repeatedly. The urge to punch something grew and I had to resist it.

Today was just not my day. I spun around, glaring at the people in the hallway. People here were afraid of me - I had gotten in enough fistfights that no one would get in my way. I'd never used that to my advantage before but damn if I wasn't going to do that today.

"You," I growled to the nearest person to me, a boy with brown hair and eyes. He jumped, startled and the fear in his eyes was clear as daylight. Right now, I didn't particularly care.

"I-I didn't- I had nothing to do with-" He started, stammering and taking a step back. He was preparing to run and I knew it. Not allowing him to speak any further or waste any more time, I spoke over him.

"Go get a teacher," I snapped instead and relief flooded his face. He nodded and took the opportunity to run away. He better come back with a teacher. I kicked Tyler in the side, stopping his laughter but only for it to turn to wheezing instead. Bastard. I leaned against the lockers, waiting for a teacher to come and glared at everyone watching. They quickly turned back to what they were doing beforehand, clearly not willing to risk annoying me further. Good.

///BREAK///

My day didn't get better from there. On the contrary - it got worse. I tripped over everything possible, I dropped my phone in my drink and I'm not sure if it's broken completely or not but it won't turn on, got the worst possible variable of food left at lunch, the strawberry milk I bought was spoiled, someone tripped on the wet floor and spilled their lunch all over me - spaghetti bolognese (how come when I went, they didn't have spaghetti? What kind of system was this?) I ended up walking straight into a pole from the scaffolding they had just put up to the side of the school - what was it even for? How did I even miss seeing the pole? I walked under a ladder (a bad decision on my part) at the same time as the man atop it lost his balance and fell. Parts of the roof which were dangerously unstable - of course they were - proceeded to fall on the ladder, which hit me on the head as I was knocked down by it all. I found myself buried and tangled between the ladder and several roof tiles.

It was a nightmare. I was beginning to think I was actually cursed.

It was at the end of the school day that I finally reached the end of my rope - I usually picked Pepper up from school and walked her home. Despite the earlier clear weather, it was pouring down with rain. I didn't have an umbrella so as I trudged towards Pepper's school, I got soaked. I wasn't too fond of rushing there, knowing in this weather and my luck today would result in me slipping in a puddle. I'd probably fall into the road and get run over or something. Needless to say, I was in a pretty sour mood by the time I reached the school.

Now, I usually didn't have any problems picking Pepper up - the teachers knew me. Today, however, there was a new teacher who was stupidly left in charge. She wasn't letting me take Pepper unless I came back with an actual adult - even though it was pissing down with rain. Was she trying to make my day worse? My phone still wasn't working so I couldn't call Scarlett or Toby and Brainiac had already headed home - I had mentioned I was her adopted brother and that had only made her more insistent that she needed an actual adult or a member of her blood family to pick her up.

Anyway, I was pretty pissed off by now. I didn't particularly have any other choice - I would just have to head home and tell Scarlett. After a quick reassurance to Pepper and the stupid teacher that someone would be back soon, I left the school. I didn't even understand why the teacher was being so difficult - Pepper was 11! I knew for a fact that some kids walked home on their own at that age, yet she couldn't be picked up by a teenager? What kind of stupid logic is this?

I looked up at the thundering sky, glaring at the dark clouds. It was somewhere around 3:30 by now - random guess, anyway, since y'know, no phone - yet it was so dark. The heavy rain was not helping with my sight either. Rain always made me feel weird - I liked the rain, I liked the sound of it - hell, sometimes I needed the sound of it to sleep because my senses would be too much and only a soundtrack of constant rain could calm me down enough to sleep and it was something to focus my hearing on, but actually being in the rain was a different matter. It made everything distorted for me. I had tested my hearing and the furthest I could hear was up to four miles. Hearing the exact same sound in all directions for four miles was... well, it was kind of disorientating. It was hard to sense anything around me - even my sight got all weird.

What I'm trying to say here is - maybe that's why I didn't see the car coming until the horn was blaring and the bright lights were right in front of me.