A/N: Thought I'd do a birthday update ;)

Cuz it's mah (belated) buuurthday <3

*news*: I've been preparing a new version of chapter one now that I understand the protagonist more and can focus on distinguishing the setting of the academy and giving it more character.

In other words, expect a rewrite of chapter one soon :)

Oh—and please remember this isn't such a light story and neither is Archer a light boy.

Trying to give this book a psychotic feel but let's be honest, I'm failing at that right now.

Enjoy!

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+ the 6 with the birthday +

"Sir!"

Mr. Grim glimpsed above the paper and sighed. "Yes, Lance? What useless information must you share among the class?"

With one cheek leaning on his open palm, he sighed. "I think—" His elbow slipped and his chin hit the counter. The class dissolved into giggles.

"Lance," Mr. Grim repeated.

The boy gave a loopy smile and put two flat hands on the desk. "I think—sir—that my desk buddy, Archer, isn't capable of working with this human dissection assignment." He pointed a pen above 'his buddy'. "He doesn't do so well with dead things."

I lifted my knife off the wood and saw Archer jerk his head to the side, smacking the pen away.

A loud crack came off of Lance's wrist, but the rest of the class continued to stifle their laughter.

My giggle hooked onto his attention and Archer made a one eight degree turn in his chair. He watched me blow a big, hot pink bubble gum and pop it with my knife.

He glared and faced the board again, his shoulders tense as my smile burned at the back of his head.

"I'm fine," Archer told Mr. Grim.

His sharp voice split the laughter in half, it dying out into a fizzle of coughs and a shuffling of feet. Lance smugly grinned behind his hand.

Mr. Grim slipped a paper on Archer's desk. "If you are unfit for this dissection please sign the form and hand it to Headmistress. I don't deal with bullshit." The teacher left Archer with clenched fists and he quickly crushed it under his fingers.

My giggle travelled up the aisle again and he quickly spun, catching my cherry glossed smile. I carved curvy F's and U's into the wood, my knife finishing off swirly C and Ks. Then my knife twisted and chipped away, having a mind of its own.

Now—ever tried feeding a cat into a printer?

The human dissection was like that.

Slow. Painful.

And fucking boring.

Drooled coated my papers; Bett'a call the snooze doctor 'cause that assessment needed a serious dose of fun.

Lance snapped me outta snoozeland when he used the liver as a puppet and pretended to make it talk. Then he chased Archer around with it and screamed, "I'm gonna get'cha! I'm gonna get'cha!"

But once lunchtime rolled around, the word 'interesting' was hit outta the ballpark.

I waved a spoonful of blood pudding in Archer's face. "Lookie here. I got your favourite." I tried feeding him, but he leaned away. Warmth bubbled in my stomach as I did it again, watching him squirm.

"Can someone kill this"—Lance whacked the air—"...stupid fly!"

His head kept spinning as Price watched him with a deadpanned face. "Do not ask, Archer. He would keep the fly as a pet." Lance stopped moving and laughed. "Like he did with Lance." Lance dropped his smile and narrowed his eyes.

Archer darkened his gaze at his friends and I quickly took the opportunity to shove a mouthful of blood pudding. "Mhmmm. Taste good?" I asked. He spat it out, red goop landing beside my black pumps. "Do ya mind? I actually worked to steal these shoes!"

His torso still facing the boys, I picked a McMaggot off the tray and waved it in his face. "Here. Eat this. At least it's already dead so ya don't gotta worry about kill'in it."

Lance chuckled. "Kill'in it."

I used my hand to make a gun and put it to Lance's head. "Bam!" He made a girly scream and dropped dead, tongue hanging out before laughing again. Price even cracked a smile.

Archer's fist smacked the table and immediately we froze.

The soft patter of flats made their way over. "Isn't this the freak of freaks." Faith held both hands in front of her, dazzling us with a beauty pageant smile. Her boyfriend shoved his hands in his varsity jacket pockets and Hope stood quietly next to her.

"Forgive me for my rudeness," Faith continued. "Why"—she smirked to her friends—"I should've greeted our new friends to our prestigious school!" She nodded towards the boys. "I hope your stay at Villain Academy is well."

"Our stay?" Lance glanced over the group with a smile and sipped on his milkshake. "You make it sound like we're in a hotel."

"You practically are."

He put his cup down. Faith kept her smile as she spoke. "They say crazy people don't admit they're crazy." The cafeteria chatter blurred out and a tension was built around the table.

She set down one hand in front of me. "As a matter of fact, Miss V. I don't think you're crazy at all. You put on this performance to hide your healthy state of mind. Everyone knows you're aren't a villain if you're sane." She pointed a finger around the group and whispered. "You're all guilty of sanity. The school can sense it."

She lifted her hands off the table, and Hope passed her a handkerchief. She wiped her fingers clean and that loveable smile returned. "Enjoy your stay at Villain Academy, gentlemen." She tossed the handkerchief on my tray and sauntered off with the rest of Glamourous league.

Silence hung over our heads. Lance sucked on his straw, the noise chipping away at the block of tension. "Who put the broomstick up her ass?"

"Probably her mother," I offered and shoved a spoonful of blood pudding into my mouth. It tasted sour.

Price remained expressionless as he watched Archer stand, his chair legs scraping back. "I have work," he grunted and left.

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My eyes clicked into place; gaze held for no more than sixty seconds before locking onto the next little black hand.

Twelve o'clock.

The outside of my body cooled while my mind burned with speed, ticking faster than the clock on the wall. Ticking like it was in a rush, voices swimming next to images as I drifted down a river of memories. Images and voices bobbing up and down; between a clear sense and blurry thoughts; drowning in these fragments of past times until I dropped into this calm pond of consciousness where one memory made sense.

"Come in this room and you'll go from freshmeat to dead meat."

Roger poked his head under my arm. "Whatareya hiding? Coke? Heroine? Baby heads?"

I pressed my palm against his forehead and pushed him past the door. "Drugs? Me? Ha! Don't blame the drugs." I shoved him into the hallway. "Now ya stay. You can't move until I come outta my room."

He shoved his tiny foot between the open crack. "C'mon! Yeowch!"

"I can slam it harder."

"Try me."

My face darkened. "Look, kid. This is my nappy time. My body rests but my mind is more than wide awake. It's a time of peace among the beast and I as I allow it to freely stretch and roam into my mind—I see it's thoughts and it sees mine. I need concentration and strength to keep the beast at a normal heartrate. Interrupting the connection while my body is resting can set off a million problems."

"Like what?"

"Have you ever seen someone unleash Hell?"

"No."

"Then don't interrupt me in the room."

I kicked his foot out of the way and shut the door. "Hey!"

I collapsed on the black oak chair, body beginning to numb. My gaze dragged up the wall, clicking onto the little black hand.

Nine o'clock.

The mental cage opened and the devil with pink hair crawled out.

Tingles moved down my neck and arms, and I wiggled my fingers to feel their movement again. More tingles trekked down my legs and my eyes unlocked themselves from the twelve o'clock hand.

A thin cloth came over my mouth and my breath hitched, sucking in a potent scent. My body stiffened I reached out, failing to catch the intruder. Hot air crawled up my neck, and I lost the feeling from my torso and up. A hand caught the side of my head and my cheek brushed against something hard, smooth fabric on top of it. Two hands scooped under my legs and back, and I watched the world tilt sideways.

But the darkness didn't devour me. Blurs coloured my vision, smudging some parts and increasing the clarity on others. I saw shoes, and flickering lights. My head hung low, body limp and hair dragging across stairs now.

My cheekbone landed on a solid surface, coldness spreading down my one side.

"Leave the room when you think you're ready," a voice rumbled.

Metal groaned, a sharp squeaking noise piercing my ears before I was left in empty silence.

My lips pressed into the floor, icy sensations clearing away the blurry images and revealing true darkness. I rapidly blinked and dragged myself to sit up.

I winced as I heard the pacing of the monster pounding against my head. I placed two hands on my temples to keep it still.

"Breathe, Vhalerie. Breathe."

The footsteps slowly faded and I rolled my neck, rubbing the back as I smelled wet metal.

Wobbling to my feet, I stumbled before having a good foot in the ground. My hand pressed onto the damp wall, and I ran it along until and felt a latch. I pulled and the metal groaned.

"There's our little sunshine," Lance said.

I covered my eyes and nearly walked into a swinging lightbulb. "What..." Bulbs swayed from the ceiling, shedding small lighting on Price and Archer. "Did ya fucknuggets drug me?! Couldn't'cha just knocked on my dorm and asked if I wanted to take part in—in—" I flailed my arms up. "Whatever the hell ya cook'in up in here?!"

Lance wiggled his brows. "Cooking some villain soup."

"Price." Archer flicked a hand in my direction. "Can you tell the bubble gum bitch to shut her trap before she does something stupid?"

I advanced a step but Price put an arm across my chest. "Heya! Mind keep'in your hands off? Private property!"

"Vhalerie?" spoke a soft voice.

My gaze fell to Faith and her boyfriend. The two sat back to back, bounded at the wrists with red blindfolds over their eyes. "Archer. What in the devil's name are ya doin' with these folks?"

He circled around them. "Nothing yet. I was waiting for you." He opened out the inside of his jacket and displayed a wealthy collection of blades.

My voice rose. "Answer the question!" I struggled against Price's arm.

"Well sweetie. You have your freak show"—Archer took out a jagged blade—"and I have mine."

Lance removed the blindfolds off, revealing a villain-trained smirk and an irked face.

"I knew there was something off about you," Faith spat, furiously twisting around.

Her boyfriend whispered her to shut up but she kept spitting vulgar curses.

Archer began to pace again, his finger running along the jagged blade. "You should listen to your fuck buddy. He knows what he's doing."

"Banish yourself to heaven and bath in holy water you fu—" Steel sliced across her neck and her chin lowered in a short gasp.

Archer clucked his tongue. "So sensitive. The knife hardly went deep."

Her blue eyes burned behind the curtain of blonde hair draped over her face.

Faith's boyfriend thrashed under his restraints. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he screamed at Archer. "You're dead. Dead."

Archer laughed and then sent a kick into his stomach, her boyfriend quickly hunching over in pain. "Dead? It'll take more than one villain to take me down." His veins darkened down his neck and my stomach twisted into a knot.

"What'cha going to do to 'em?" I never heard my voice so quiet.

Archer smiled. "Giving them something they deserve."

"Because they're villains?! Is that why?!" A spark of fury lit up my eyes. "Are you doing this to prove you're a tough guy? That you don't actually have a heart and you're capable of pain and even killing someone? Is this your way of sending me a message?!"

He barked a laugh. "Of course you think it's all about you. Here's a wakeup call, princess. This isn't the Vhalerie show." He turned to Lance and Price. "See. I told you. It was a bad move to bring her along. She wouldn't understand."

"Archer—" Lance began.

"Understand?" I shrieked, my voice cracking. "You promised me knowledge in exchange for your trust. I'm having a hard time trusting ya if you haven't told me anything."

Any earlier amusement died in his eyes and he grabbed a swinging bulb in his hands before crushing it. "Gods of Justice, you're so fucking impatient. That's why we brought you here." He looked at Price. "Make sure she doesn't interfere." He looked back at me. "Pay close attention."

The boyfriend lowly whistled. "Wow. A real Hero in Villain Academy. I never thought I'd live to see the day."

Faith giggled, her normal glamour returning with a dark sparkle. "Neither have I." Her fangs grew out of her teeth, and her boyfriend's spine jerked, fur sprouting up his neck.

I was surprised she even called on her beast when this had hardly begun.

Were they that afraid?

Archer tapped the end of the blade on her nose. "A little angel told us you know what we're looking for?"

Faith opened up her big, doe-like eyes. "Whatever do you mean?"

He growled and swiped his hand across, staining her knee-high socks with blood. She screamed, head bent forward as he lowered a bit. "I heard you talking about the Beast," Archer clarified.

The boyfriend lashed out. "The only beast here is you."

"Heroes are the saviours," Archer spoke.

"Heroes are the killers."

"Can I shut this fucktards up," Lance said but Archer lifted one hand. He turned back to the boyfriend and pushed his foot into his neck, creating a gap between him and Faith. Archer rested the tip of the blade on his skull, and the boyfriend flinched. His blade lightly ran down his neck, swirling it down the spine and stopping at the lower back.

"Play dumb and you'll find yourself without fucking legs," he whispered.

Faith snorted. "You're the fucking dumb one if you think we'll tell you anything."

Archer removed a gun from his belt and pressed the cold barrel to her throat. "Try me."

"You can't kill me. You have morals." She spoke of it like it was a disease and threw her head back with a cackle. "Rumours fly faster than witch brooms at the academy."

"Then you must know people have a knack for changing here." His eyes glimpsed over the fur spreading down her boyfriend's back. "In more ways than one."

The apples of her cheeks spread upwards. "Well what do you want us to tell you?"

"Who is it?" Archer asked.

She batted her lashes. "Who is what?"

"Who is the Beast?"

The boyfriend raised his voice. "Which one?"

Archer's silence made the villains cackle again and they exchanged smiles. "He doesn't know," Faith said.

A grin spread across the boyfriend's face. "No, he doesn't."    

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A/N: The next chapter is practically done so expect another update in 3 days! (YES!)

That was my last '8track takes forever to update' period. I swear. Updates will be regular now!

Love you all so much!

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Fun question of the chapter:

Would you rather be a hero or a villain? (Anti-villain isn't an option.)

Xx8tracks

j~rhF1