The train came screeching to a stop, the entire car jostled as the wheels stopped turning abruptly and Endymion jumped a bit from his dazed state. He had spent the train ride staring out the window, watching as the landscape went from a dirty city to miles of forest and long winding hills. He yawned a bit, stretched out and shook out his wings and tail. He was happy to find that they hadn't fallen asleep on him. His white gaze fell upon Skylar, who was still sound asleep. Endymion wondered if the blonde man had slept at all before the train ride. He felt bad having to wake him, but all good things have to come to an end. He reached out and gently shook Skylar awake. 

He winced a bit as his wrist was grabbed harshly. Endymion then realized just how strong the other male was, he could feel muscles flexing in the blonde's hand. He blinked a bit, and he laughed nervously as Skylar sat up, groaning as he blinked away sleep. The blonde instantly let go of his company once he realized he had Endymion in a death grip. 

"Um, sorry about that," Skylar mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck: stretching out. "It was on reflex." 

The redhead shook his head, "It's alright, you didn't hurt me." He stood and began to drag his things down from the cubby that was above their heads. 

Skylar sighed, and he glanced around a bit surprised that he was still alive. He had fully expected someone to attempt to kill him in his sleep. He had never really known just how many enemies his parents had made until he was within their grasp. Spinning around, he kept a watchful gaze on the hall between them and the other side of the train, watching as people streamed by with their things. He attempted to memorize faces for future reference but so many people had gone by him it was hard to keep track of them all. Especially as seemingly ten of the same girl went by. 

"Man, you got a staring problem," Endymion spoke up, appearing before the blonde who jumped. 

The Dair heir shook his head, "No: I don't. I just like to observe what's around me." 

"Which," the dragon-male smirked a little, "Is the equivalent of a staring problem." 

"Whatever." Skylar huffed out, trying to hide the slight snicker he let out. He wasn't exactly sure how he was meant to act. Should he be this stone-cold and unapproachable guy? Or should he just be himself? Was being himself even a good idea? He shook himself from his thoughts, there wasn't time for all that now: he'd go and rethink his entire existence later. Silently, as the flow of students exiting the train decreased, he stepped out into the hall and made his way down and out of the train. The blonde stood at the entrance for a moment before stepping off to the side so that he could gape at the sight before him without being in someone's way. 

Standing about two miles in the distance was a towering grey-bricked and ivy-covered gothic castle, some of its spires were even covered by clouds. Some of its wings were crumbling and looked as if they would be turned to dust the second the wind touched them. Skylar felt his face morphing into a look of disgust. There was absolutely no way that the building was the school, right? He remembered the gleaming silver and modern sleek walls off The Academy of the Valiant's postcard, and he let out a disgruntled huff. He prayed that it would at least be clean and have proper heating. 

"Skylar! Hey, don't leave me behind!" came Endymion's voice, breaking the blonde from his trance. He glanced back watching as the other man hopped off the train, and gave their slug conductor a grin. He rushed up to stand beside the shorter boy. "Woah...that's where we'll be staying? So cool!"

"More like a day away from being condemned," Skylar commented, not relishing in the same delight and awe of his companion at the sight of the castle. He glanced around and found a line had been formed for the first years. A few meters away, a man with long purple hair falling down his back sat at a fold-out table and seemed to be handing out schedules and other important items. Above him was a crumbling banner that likely, in its glory days: had read Welcome First-Years but almost half of the letters had faded and peeled off. 

Now, it said ‘Welco Fist Y’

The blonde dragged himself over there, tuning out Endymion as he began to rattle off history about the school. He was glad that he was near the back of the line - he only caught a few glares: but no more death threats were thrown his way. He stepped up to the table, and the man looked up at him behind heavily shaded glasses. 

"Name?" the man asked, and Skylar caught a nametag haphazard stuck to the edge of his brown trench coat, Perseus. He assumed that it was his villain name. As a punishment, many of the world's most famous villains, after they served their time in prison, were forced to teach the next generation. So, in essence - they were going to be learning from the best in the field. 

"Dair," Skylar answered him, and Perseus rose an eyebrow. 

"Really? I thought that Matthew's kid would be taller." The blonde before the man jolted, and he paled a bit. How in the world did this man know his father's real name? Perseus seemed to notice this and gave the young man a slick grin. "Your father locked me up, about, what? Twenty years ago? Don't worry kid: I don't hold a grudge against him. It's just nice to have a Dair back on this side of the tracks."

"Back on...?" Skylar felt like his heart leaped into his throat, "Hold on: what do you mean back, has there been a villain Dair before me?" 

"Set your luggage in the pile: it will be transported to your dorm shortly - next!" Perseus called rather than answering the question, handing Skylar his schedule, a map, and a dorm key. He wanted to stay there and push the man into answering his questions but he knew that it was unlikely he'd get an answer. He huffed and he practically stormed forward towards a strange clearing in the woods. It looked as if it had been manually cleared away, and he spotted a strange ring of stone set in the dirt. All kinds of students were gathering within the circle so he followed their lead.

Endymion had gone quiet after a while, realizing that his companion didn't talk a lot. Despite the fact that he had been ignored for the past five minutes, he still stood beside the shorter blonde. He was determined now, to make Skylar his friend. He didn't care how long it took to get the seemingly grumpy man out of his shell, he would do it. His wings fluttered at the thought of seeing Skylar smile more often. 

"Why...are you following me around like a lost puppy?" Skylar spoke up eyeing the man beside him. "I gave you my watch in return for saving my ass. Now," he gestured with his hands. "Shoo."

Endymion rolled his eyes, "Listen. I know you're trying to be all mean and shit because you got all these issues going on. But!" he pointed to his chest proudly. "I'm your friend now, and there's no getting rid of me!" 

"There...isn't?" Skylar's voice was soft, and he didn't seem angry about it - just confused. "But why?" 

The dragon-male blinked and he felt his face flush a little at the question, his tail swayed and he looked down at the ground. "Um- well, I don't really know. It just feels right!" 

Skylar's face lit up a bit, hope shimmered in his gaze. "Really? You want to be my friend?"

Endymion frowned, "I just said that I was? Have you like, never had friends?"

"Not real ones..." the blonde mumbled and he gave the redhead a shy smile. Endymion swore he felt his heart skip a beat. He was already doing it! His half-baked plan to help this guy out was working! "Thanks." 

"Attention!" 
A loud male voice rang across the clearing: and the sounds startled almost all of the gathering students into silence. A few spoke softly to each other, and Skylar noticed that older looking students were slinking away behind the stone-walls, which only stood about one meters off the ground. He also noticed that the stage up front was clearly moveable due to its small structure and it being completely made out of wooden plants with nothing beneath it. He was almost worried the man atop it would break through the wood. He had a buzz-cut but, his stubs of hair seemed to be grey and his eyes were pure white: there were no pupils in them. 

His gaze swept over the crowd, making Skylar wonder if he was blind: or if his ability had changed the way his eyes looked. The lack of pupils was extremely disturbing. 

The man began to speak again, "Welcome first years, to Wicked! We are very happy to have the next generation of villains joining us today!" His cheery tone was clearly faked, and it made Skylar nearly wince. 

"I am, Fate, your Dean of Students." He gestured to his left. "And allow me to introduce Mistress Hood!" 

The blonde student blinked a little, it appeared most of the teachers were using their villain aliases, but Hood sounded much more like a last name than anything else. The woman who slipped on stage, sent quivers down his spine. He could almost feel the entire crowd around him shake from the mere sight of her. It wasn't that she was some hideous beast, no, Mistress Hood was gorgeous. She had long black curly locks of hair that fanned out down to her shoulders framing her narrow face. Her petite body was framed in a strange Victorian dress that was made of what appeared to be red and gold silk. Her skin was extremely pale, nearly white: and her eyes a sparkling red. As she smiled at the students, she showed off rows of sharp teeth. 

The reason the first years were all unsettled by her presence, was the sinister aura that seemed to roll off of her proud stance. Not to mention, the leather bat wings that hung by her side: twitching every so often. Her voice didn't match this dark aura - it was sweet yet held an air of authority. 

"Thank you, for your introduction Fate." She told the man beside her, who turned away, pulling at the edges of his suit. "Now: I shall go over the very few rules we have here, of course if it were up to us - there would be none, but the government demands structure."

Hood coughed a little, and she drew a piece of paper from her dress: which apparently had pockets. "Firstly, you are required to attend your classes. If students don't show: the government takes away funding." Groans could be heard from the students, and all it took was her smile falling into a slight pout - to shut them up. 

She continued, "Secondly: you are not permitted to commit crimes on your fellow students, or staff and on school property. However - you may go into town and wreak havoc." 

Skylar let out a little sigh of relief at that, his chances of being murdered in his sleep: just sinfigently lowered. Hood scanned over the page, and she rolled her eyes, seemingly not agreeing with some of the rules written upon the page. 

"Lastly, your schedules and maps are nearly indestructible. So, you can't rip or tear them. As well as, they have a tracker in them so if you lose it - the office staff can find it for you. Your dorm key is the same." Hood grinned and she crumbled up the paper, tossing it to Fate. The man caught it, and he clearly grumbles about something: but Skylar couldn't hear what it was. 

The headmistress took a step back, and she raised one of her arms, signaling something. The earth beneath the students' feet rumbled and shook violently. A few people fell as they lost their balance. The only reason Skylar nearly fell was because Endymion grabbed onto his arm to catch himself. Around them, the stone walls started to lift themselves out of the dirt. Grass, and dust cascaded off of them as they rose up - and moved back, revealing stone rows. Behind them, another wall appeared, all of them encircling the students. Within moments, they found themselves inside of a large stone stadium.

Skylar noticed the older students walking excitedly into the rows: making him realize that it was seating. He turned towards the stage in bewilderment, but found that it was gone: Hood was sitting in a tall tower-like structure in the middle of the stadium. The top box, also held, what he assumed here other staff members. The woman grabbed a megaphone that was handed to her by Fate. 

"Here at Wicked we only train the strongest! As of right now, you may fight your fellow students in a battle royale! The longer you remain standing, the higher a rank you shall be given upon entering the school!" She turned towards the audience, "Second to Fourth years are welcome to join in as well, but will be given no special benefits from it.'" 

She flapped her wings, and she lifted herself into the air a bit, "Now! I want to see some bloodshed!" 

People didn't instantly begin to fight each other, they looked around trying to figure out where to start. Skylar could feel his back crawling with the hateful gazes of others. He swallowed, he was going to be a target and it was unlikely they'd all fight him one on one. 

Endymion stood beside him watching as people began to close in. "Oh, shit. Let me guess they're here for you?" 

The blonde sighed deeply, and he took a fighting stance. "Unfortunately, yes. My father didn't make many friends in his life." 

He scanned the people before him trying to judge what their abilities might be, but that wouldn't matter too much. At least he had one advantage on his side - he was raised to never rely on his power. Many of these people didn't even know how to throw a proper punch. Skylar could use his ability to knock them all out within seconds, but he couldn't do so with Endymion so close. While he could control his ability quite well when attacking a single target, doing a move that would affect all of these bastards would likely hit his new friend too. And that was the last thing he needed. 

"You're going to help me right?" The Dair's voice shook a little as he watched them close in, many of them sneering and yelling obscenities at him - that he filtered out. Endymion nodded his head, and his wings flickered as well as his tail.

"As best I can-!" His eyes widened and he swallowed. "Actually...I have a pre-made arrangement." 

Through the circle, a snickering white-haired male approached: his blazer was inside-out showing off the roses that lined the inside. It also simply sat upon his shoulders. His hair was a mess, and his golden eyes burned with clear bloodlust  - and his gaze was directly on Endymion. His pale skin made his eyes only glow a brighter color, and the glasses he wore didn't take anything away from his dangerous aura. Skylar felt a lump in his throat form, and his blue eyes widened as he was caught staring. The stranger looked up at him, and furrowed his brows baring his teeth a little. The blonde's knees trembled a bit: out of fear or something else, he wasn't sure. 

"Who is that?" His voice came out breathy. Endymion frowned deeply, and he looked over, catching the awestruck look upon Skylar's features. He felt his heart do something strange, it singed itself with newfound anger for Tanyin.

"That's Tanyin. He tried to steal your stuff on the train, and I stopped him." The dragon-male sighed deeply, “and I promised him a fight." 

"Looks like you two hit it off!" Tanyin growled out with mockery. "You're Skylar Dair, right?"

The blonde nodded, "Yeah...That's me." 

Endymion jumped into the conversation, "Hey! I'm the one you should be paying attention to!" He stepped forward, his tail slithering on the ground: cracking about behind him in slight irritation. "Sorry, Skylar: but I can't help you until I beat this guy to a pulp."

"Go on ahead. I can handle myself." 
With those words of reassurance, the redhead lunged at the other first year: and they met head on blocking each other's blows. Skylar wished he could watch, as they began to exchange blows neither one slipping past the other in fever, but his crowd seemed to realize he was alone now. The first one to lunge was a male. Skylar incapacitated him with a single blow to the face, watching him crumble to the dirt. A woman came from behind him, nearly cutting him as she slashed at him with...a part of her arm? That was right, her arm had unraveled into thin metal strips. He dodged it: feeling the strings pass by his face by mere centimeters.

It only took a kick to take her out. He spun left and then right, dodging blows: and power shot out at him. A few of his enemies began to actually land blows on him, and that's when Skylar realized that no matter how good he was at hand-to-hand combat: he was severely outnumbered. He'd tire out at this rate. The blonde's hair first stood on end around his body and soft sparks of electricity bounced between his blows and his enemies, feeling like nothing more than a static shock. The air began to hum around him as it was energized by the electricity that began to dance upon his skin making small visible arcs. He watched as a few of his foes noticed and stepped back a bit, it was likely they were unaware of his power. 

His father had always told him not to tell anyone. To pretend he had super strength, just like any good Dair should. He could feel his blood roar in his veins and adrenaline pumped through his body numbing the bruises and various scrapes he had earned from the scuffle. His blue eyes lit up as electricity began to hiss about his body in an aura, nearly an inch away from him. He clenched his fist and took a deep breath, his long-ish hair was lifted from his head now: the strands waving softly. He put his arms up, and them, as if slamming them down upon something he thrusted them down. Blue-white arcs of lightning exploded from his body in a massive circular orb, striking every single one of his enemies. A few attempted to dodge, but the electricity quickly caught up to them. As the dust that was blown up from the outburst of power settled, Skylar fully realized the damage he had done.

Anyone who had stood within at least five meters of him, was now, upon the ground twitching. The blonde swallowed and he swayed a bit, he was starting to feel the effects of exhaustion. While he had been training his entire life to fight, he had never really been in any.  He stared at the circle of downed people around him, and noticed: a lot of the fighting around him had ceased; those with more powerful abilities had made quick work of all the others. A few people, standing on the outskirts of the ring of unconscious students, looked terrified. Skylar glanced at their faces, and he shivered. The looks upon their faces sent a sense of joy rocketing through him. Nobody in this school would mess with him again because of his heritage. 

He had shown then that he wasn't worthy of their hatred, but their terror. A smile slipped on his lips, and he let out a soft laugh. He turned his head, and found that - there was someone who's gaze was intently on him. It was another man, he stood at least three feet taller than Skylar, yet, his face was pale: and it was clear that fear was written upon his features - before it melted into a cold facade. His yellow eyes narrowed and he put himself into a fighting stance, but the soft shake of his hands gave away his nerves. His black hair fell around his head in a step-mullet. Skylar blinked at that, and he tried to give him a smile.

That seemed to only freak him out more. His trench-coat swished about his body from a gentle breeze that had picked up: and the dark turtle-neck he wore beneath it hugged at his frame. His black cargo-pants were tucked into sleek knee-high boots. The entire outfit was put together with an eyelet belt that was wrapped about his waist. The blonde began to walk towards him.

"Oi! Stay back, I'm warning you!" The man growled out, and Skylar paused.

He blinks, and he shakes his head. "Hey! Hey! Calm down, I'm not going to fight you." He says, and gives the other student a smile again - this time it seems to work. The taller man relaxes a bit, and Skylar approaches him with less of a scary look on his face. When he stood before him he outstretched his hand. If he was going to survive, he'd need allies. 

"Skylar Dair." 
The ravenette looks confused, but he still shakes the other's hand. "Kankuro Solitaire." 

"We're friends, now."Skylar declared: it had worked when Endymion did it to him. 

Kankuro blinked, "Um - excuse me? Who the fuck do you think you are-?" 

"Skylar Dair." The blonde rose an eyebrow, amused by this display of aggression. "I already told you that." 

"Replacing me already?" A voice came into the conversation, and Skylar spun around. He grinned as found it was Endymion, beaten and bloody - but still standing. He walked over to him and went for a hug (not really knowing why he felt so relieved to see him) but the dragon-male stopped him. "Don't...I think I have internal bleeding."

His gaze swept over the mass of people Skylar had taken out, "I saw you take all those guys out. You're terrifying." 

Kanuro stood back, still confused. He wasn't sure if he should try and attack Skylar, it was likely the worst choice he could make. He definitely would get his ass whooped - he had seen the hand-to-hand combat skills the blonde displayed. Endymion looked over at the taller, narrowed his eyes for a moment: but then shrugged. He didn't give off any strange vibes. 

Skylar spun around, and he blinked, realising  that they were the only three students standing. "Would you look at that..."

Hood's voice rang out, "And that concludes Initiation! Congratulations, you three: you're our top ranked first years!" 

Endymion blinked and mumbled, "I only fought one guy..."

"How did that go, by the way?" Skylar asked, as he watched medics swarm into the stadium and began to carry people out on stretchers. The redhead shrugged.

"It was strange. One moment, I was losing - and then, he suddenly started acting like a different person and I got the upper hand." The taller male shivers a bit. "Something is seriously wrong with him." 

Kankuro spoke up again, "Sorry to interrupt: but I am still, very confused."

The Dair looked at him and he grabbed his shoulders,  with some effort and a bit of jumping of course and dragged him down so that his face was level with his. "I told you, "Skylar's voice was a growl. "You're our friend. Endymion, meet Kankuro."

"Are you threatening me into being friends-?" The taller man goes at the pair and he stumbled a bit as he was let go.

The blonde gave him a tight grin, "Yes, you are. This is how my father made all of his business partners."

"It's gonna be us three against the world!" Endymion piped up, his wings fluttering. 

"I still have agreed to anything-!?"

"You don't have a choice." Skylar told him, stuffing his hand into his pockets. That's when he realized he had dropped his schedule and such onto the ground, and he groaned. "Shit, I lost my map, schedule and dorm key. Your first job as my friend: is to help me find my stuff." 

Kankuro was nearly going to blow a fuse, "Why the hell are you bossing me around? Do you not know who I am?" 

"Nope, and don't care." 
 "I'm from the Solitaire family-"
   "Still don't care."

That's when the taller man realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with this. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Skylar, but clearly he had a few screws loose. Sighing and hesitantly giving into his fate, he started to help the pair look for Skylar's missing things. 

[☆☆☆]

The room was dimly-lit by candles that were randomly scattered about, some of them so short: it was clear they were on their last leg. A massive oak desk sat in the middle of the room, where a throne-like red-velvet backed chair sat: carved out of stone.  Mistress Hood sat at her desk, observing the paperwork before her. She carefully shuffled through it and placed them into neat piles, before sticking labels on them. Then, she slid them into her filing cabinet. Fate stood beside her, whose real name she had the privilege of knowing - Daniel, stood at her side like he always had: and always will. 

"Madam,"he spoke up a little and she lifted her head towards him. "Not that I don't trust your scheming, but, are you sure this boy is the key? He's extremely dangerous."

Hood laughed softly, and she patted the man's head watching him flush and turn away. "Don't be such a worry wart Danny! I didn't counterfeit his *Destiny Test* results for nothing! Jane did a lovely job of infiltrating the testing site. Nobody suspects foul play at all, not even his parents."

Daniel shakes his head, "I understand this, my concern is Skylar himself. You really think we can control him? I believe he is as controllable as that bastard Rudy." 

The woman shook her head, and she laughed softly as she stood her dress swishing and her wings sliding against the back of her chair. "Sweetheart, I'm counting on it." 

With a flourish of her wings: the massive stained glass windows behind her flung open - and she was gone soaring into the night. Leaving Daniel alone in the dark office. 

The villain cursed softly, "That woman is gonna get us all killed one of these days..." 

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4,448 words
Edited by Pleasenobodynoticeme