A Villainous Alter Ego

“Before you all leave,” professor Slechtsnor said, after the lunch bell had run at the end of his class, “I will announce something.”

There was a collective groan coming from the class.

“There is no need for such noises.” He said sharply, silencing the class.

He paced back and forth in front of the class, while watching his impatient students.

“I hope you all have been paying attention in your classes,” he finally said, “for the first school tests are coming up. Make sure to prepare well for them.”

There was an even louder groaning.

“However,” the professor said loudly, above the noise, “this does mean one thing. You will need your villainous alter egos for the practical examinations. This includes a villain name, and a costume design.”

Satoku turned around, with an excited grin on his face. Kaden smiled back at his excitement.

“You will hand both in tomorrow. Class dismissed.” The Professor said lastly.

Most students were excitedly discussing their ideas, as they left the classroom. Team Not-So-Bad all went to their usual spot in the cafeteria, which Satoku had dubbed the “Square Cavity”, to discuss theirs. Every one of them agreed that this wasn’t a very creative name.

“I got everything figured out already!” Satoku said excitedly, showing everyone a drawing of a rubber-tipped bullet with wind swirls around it, which he immediately scribbled down after they took their seats. At least, Kaden assumed that was what it was supposed to be, as Satoku’s drawing skills weren’t top tier.

“Are you going to dress up as a bullet?” Kaito asked shyly.

Satoku shook his head proudly.

“This is just a logo, every good villain needs a brand, you know?” He responded.

His answer made Kaden rethink all of his designs. He had thought of a few on his way there, because he wasn’t sure what angle he wanted to take. His designs ranged from complex and intricate, to casual hoodies. Of course, he had to hide his identity, but was he going to wear a mask? If so, what kind of mask would it be? And don’t even get him started on the name, of which he hadn’t the faintest idea where to even start.

Some time passed, where they all were thinking furiously, and occasionally scribbling down their ideas.

Kaden planted his head on the table in a discouraged manner, after having drawn what he thought looked like a black and white bunny costume.

“This was the best you could come up with in that amount of time?” He thought to himself.

Satoku in the meantime, had already drawn up his costume, and thought of his name. It was a completely yellow unitard, with black gloves and boots. He had a black mask and was debating whether to add a helmet, as his signature move involved running head-first into someone.

As for his name, he settled on “The 100-Metre Dash Man”, after much arguing from the others. Kaden was at least glad he didn’t go with any of his other names, like “Running Directional Bullet” or “Unstoppable Fast Dude”, though he agreed that this wasn’t that much better.

Haido told them about when she had to think of her suit and name. She had an idea of what she wanted. Something sleek, dark and intimidating, yet cute, like she was, according to herself. She opted out of a mask, because she believed she would be able to “scare off more maggots” if she didn’t hide her face. She had trouble thinking of a name, but knew she wanted something imposing, but, again, cute. In the end, she settled on the name Barbed-Wire, which made Kaden think that the way her hair looked was completely intentional.

Her villain suit was mostly black, with red motifs. A button-up jacket she could easily open to shoot out more needles, and boots with spikes, of which Kaden wasn’t sure whether they came from Haido or the boots themselves.

Amene was quietly doodling in her notebook, occasionally commenting on the suggestions everyone gave her, though it didn’t seem like she was really paying attention to them much.
Kaito, it seemed, had just as much trouble as Kaden. He was staring at an almost blank piece of paper, occasionally bringing his pencil to it, only to pull it back just as fast. The only thing on there was a name, “The Monster,” which Haido instantly rejected, as according to her,

“It wouldn’t fit the cutest thing in the world.”

Being careful not to alert Haido, Kaden scooted closer to Kaito.

“You getting any closer to an idea?” He asked quietly, as to not scare Kaito too much, since he tended to be a bit jumpy.

Kaito shook his head slowly, still staring at his paper.

“You wanna see what I got?” Kaden asked, sliding his own paper a bit closer to Kaito’s.

Kaito looked up at Kaden and gave him a faint smile, before nodding. Kaden showed off his designs, most of which were just crossed out scribbles at this point.

“I like that one.” Kaito whispered, pointing to a black hoodie with white sleeves.

“Ah, it’s not much of a suit.” Kaden responded, putting his pen to his mouth and contemplating the design again.

“Does it have to be?” Kaito asked nervously, looking back up to Kaden.

Then an idea struck him. Kaden’s power revolved around inverting something, so if he wanted his suit to stand out, he had to make sure it didn’t. He quickly drew his suit, which consisted of the hoodie, with gray jeans, and black and white shoes. He drew holes in the hood, so he could cover the top of his face.

“Thank you…” Kaden mumbled, looking over it once more.

“Ah, but my intention was to help you.” He continued guiltily.

“It’s okay, I think I helped myself too.” Kaito told him in a tiny voice.

He grabbed his pencil once more and started drawing. Kaden wanted to encouragingly pat him on the back, but was met with death glares from Haido, and nervously scooted back over again.

“Great, now I just need a name.” Kaden thought, with excitement, but quickly got discouraged again, as he couldn’t think of anything.

Everyone else, however, seemed to have all their ideas ready already. The other’s tried to help him, throwing out names like Reversal, or Dark Bubble. Satoku suggested “Bubble-Throwing Dude”, which everyone shot down in unison, after which he suggested “Negative Bubble-Throwing Dude”. Needless to say, this wasn’t a much better name.

After classes were done, they all met at the entrance, waiting for the school to land, as it had sprouted wings and started flying. Satoku proposed they all hang out after school sometime, but Kaden had to decline. It most likely wouldn’t be weird for him to be out with friends, but he wasn’t going to give his parents more reason to be suspicious or worried.

He did feel bad, always turning them down, but this was the only way he could keep attending this school, in his mind. So, Kaden returned home alone, like usual.

“So, how was school, Kaden?” Rowena asked after the whole family sat down for dinner.

“Ah, uh, good.” Kaden said quickly, not having expected a question.

He looked down at his food and started nervously playing with it. Just peeking up for a second gave him a glimpse of his mother, who looked at him with pleading eyes that asked him to tell her more. Kaden gulped, and hurriedly made up an answer.

“I uhm, learned about the defeat of the very first villain, in History of Heroism.” He told them, nervously glancing around.

Translation: He learned that the first villain was the younger brother of the first hero, and was always overlooked by his older brother, in History of Villainy.

“I learned how to successfully avoid enemy attacks, in gym class.”

Translation: He was running away from Shisu, who was still angry about his last encounter with team Not-So-Bad.

“I successfully made an antidote, in Biology.”

Translation: He made a successful poison, of which he happened to know the antidote as well.

“Oh and I designed my costume–” Kaden added excitedly, but froze as he heard the words leave his mouth.

Translation: He just slipped up, because he did not mean to tell them about that part.

“A costume, you say?” Axel asked proudly, with a beaming smile on his face.

“Go on then, show me what you have so far! I’ll help you!” He held out his hand to Kaden.

“No, I–” Kaden mumbled, but was interrupted by his father, who had stood up.

“Of course, the future number one hero has to stand out.” He exclaimed with pride.

Kaden wanted so badly to just let his father help him, now that he showed genuine interest in his son. So badly he wished to be the number one hero that his father taught him to be. Kaden clenched his fists tightly.

“No, they’ll for sure find out if I show them. I can’t.” He thought. “Besides, I already have a design, right? I can just say that.”

“Axel, please.” Rowena said softly, pulling on Axel’s arm to make him sit down again, after having seen the expression on Kaden’s face.

“A hero’s costume should represent what they stand for, who could help you better with that than me?” Axel laughed, ignoring Rowena and gesturing Kaden to give his designs already.

“If only he knew.” Kaden thought. “If only he knew what I stood for now.”

“Well, it’s my–” Kaden muttered in an attempt to explain, feeling himself grow more frustrated by the constant interruption of his father.

“No need to be embarrassed.” Axel went on.

“I already–”

“Come on now, just a peek!”

“Dad, will you just–”

“I still remember my first designs, those were–”

“I said NO!” Kaden shouted out furiously, slamming his hands on the table.

A bit of vapour rose up from where his hands had hit. In surprise, Kaden stepped back.

There was a moment of tense silence, before Axel pulled his arm away from Rowena, who had still been holding on to him, and pointed his finger at Kaden.

“You listen here young man,” He said, too angry to raise his voice, which only made it feel worse to Kaden, “just because you’re now a big-shot hero, doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that!”

“I’M NOT A–” Kaden thundered.

He was done. He had enough of lying. He wanted to just tell them everything. If they were disappointed, so be it, right?

But if that were true, why couldn’t he? Why did he stop talking?

Kaden clenched his fist again and opened his mouth, but closed it again before words could even escape it.

“Forget it.” He muttered and stormed to his room.

Rowena stood up to go after him, but stopped at Kaden’s seat, looking at the parts of the table he had vaporised. She slid her hand over it, then looked back up at the stairs Kaden had stomped up. Judgingly, she looked back over to Axel, but he had already sat back down again and started angrily devouring his meal.

The next morning during breakfast, neither Kaden nor Axel said a word, much to Rowena's dismay.

“Would you two just talk to each other?” She said annoyed. “It was just a miscommunication, right? Honestly, why do both of you have to be so stubborn?”

Neither of them responded.

Eventually, even she gave up and stopped talking. She didn't even say goodbye to Kaden, like she usually does, when he went off to school.

On his way, Kaden cheered up a little, however. Not just because he was away from his dad, who he was still irritated at, but also because he realised he got to see his, and everyone else's new villain suits. After last night, he had even thought of a name. He supposed his dad did help him after all.

“Good morning students!” Professor Slechtsnor greeted the class. “If you would please hand in your costume design with me, I will hand them over to our group of tailors. They will be handed out at the end of the day.”

There was murmuring in the classroom. It seemed that everyone was as excited about their suits as Kaden was. He looked around the class and imagined what everyone could look like, until his gaze met Shisu. Shisu was staring right back at him, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, that made Kaden think he was definitely up to something.

The day went by slowly. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the end, so they could finally see their costumes. Meanwhile, Kaden and the rest of team Not-So-Bad, who he told about the glint in Shisu’s eyes, kept an eye on Shisu and his gang.

They didn’t look like they were scheming anything, but Kaden did not trust that look Shisu gave him. After a while, Kaden started to believe he may have just imagined it.

Finally, the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Everyone excitedly gathered in the gym, where they received an official-looking black briefcase, containing their suit. Even Shisu, who normally looked all high and mighty, was not able to hide an excited smirk.

After having changed clothes, Kaden gathered with his friends. The first one to join him was Amene, who wore a dark blue yukata, with a raindrop pattern covering it. She had on tall Geta sandals, that looked like they would be hard to keep your balance in, to Kaden. Yet, she walked over to him gracefully, with her usual blank look. She called herself The Raindrop Villain, Floodstorm.

Second was Satoku, who wore a yellow and black suit, just like he had said he would the day before. It seems like he did not go for a helmet after all.

Lastly Kaito came out, looking quite insecure about his outfit. He wore a white suit, that almost looked like a stray-jacket, and he had black straps, bounding together his body. It seemed strange at first, but then again, Kaito had never shown off his power before, so Kaden didn’t have something to compare it to. He had decided to go against his sister's wishes and call himself the Hidden Villain, Monster.

All of them complemented each other on their designs. Especially Satoku, who called all of them amazing, multiple times.

“And what are you supposed to be, a panda?” A condescending voice said from behind Kaden. He turned around and saw Shisu, Gin and Anoyo giggling to themselves.

Anoyo was wearing a gray tuxedo suit and Gin a silver, scaly outfit, making him look snake-like. Shisu wore a void-like black tailcoat, which looked completely absent of all light. Highlighted with a scarlet pattern, the same scarlet as his eyes, that swirled around his arms.

Kaden turned around, to face him.

Shisu chuckled.

“What’s that supposed to be?” He asked smugly, pointing to the coin, imprinted on Kaden’s chest.

He had added the pattern on his chest, with the letter D imprinted on it. He had done it in reference to his conflict. The two sides that he wanted to show to the world.

“This… represents what I stand for.” Kaden said, more to himself than to Shisu. “It’s the symbol of the Double-Sided Villain, Duplex.”