After looking up how to clean the blood off of metal, stealing the cleaning supplies, and giving his weapon a thorough washing, Ethan went back on the hunt. His latest confrontation with his father motivated him to be more productive. He spent a good hour combing the city until his enthusiasm ran out.

  When he cooled down, he checked with his clone to see what Menelaus added to their punishment. It wasn’t as bad as Ethan thought, at least, it wasn’t bad for the Villain Ethan Sun. Ebenezer Giroux wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

  Menelaus had decided that Ebenezer would continue to do all the house chores even after his suspension was up. This means that on top of going to school and having to deal with an insane amount of homework, Ebenezer would have to slave away at home, never getting a moment’s rest.

  The boy from last week would have broken down again and then received another punishment from his father for his weakness. Ethan had the strength to endure the cruelty and turn the pain into resolve. With his clones, handling all of his tasks would be easy. But Ethan didn’t see things getting better for him at home anytime soon.

  His relationship with his family had been on a downward spiral ever since that day he asked to change his name, and his suspension only sped up the decay. Menelaus was getting angrier and his reactions were getting worse. The boy wonders if he should reconsider running away.

  Ethan searched for a few more hours but didn’t find anyone else to train with. Whether it was a quiet day in Poppytown, or if Ethan’s dry motivation hamper his efforts, it didn’t matter, Ethan was ready to call a day. The tired boy went home, promising he’d search again tomorrow.

  Like every night, Ebenezer went to Mount Huaguo to train. While his sessions with Uncle Sunny didn’t count as dreams it was a nice distraction from his daily struggles. The physical exertion was enough to drive any dark thoughts from the boy’s mind, even with him being so uncomfortable around the Monkey King.

  Ebenezer walked down the path from his entry point to Uncle Sunny’s cave. At this point, he didn’t need Klara or Lucien to guide him. He could walk across the paths himself, and he didn’t even have to worry about getting swarmed by his cousins. After his first few visits the novelty seemingly wore off and they left him alone.

  Or were they ignoring him? While the other Wukong stayed friendly, the boy had to wonder if it was an act. He never answered their questions, and they seemed to have backed off way too easily. Did Uncle Sunny tell them what he was doing? Did they disapprove and were now avoiding him?

  Ebenezer wasn’t sure what was going on and he was terrified to ask. While he didn’t want to get swarmed by curious monkeys, he’d almost take that to being secretly hated. The idea of walking up to a Wukong that was so inviting to him at first and talking to them, only to be dismissed in disgust and hostility broke his heart. While Ebenezer didn’t want to be stuck here, Mount Huaguo was quickly becoming a second home. If the locals didn’t accept him, he would be truly alone.

  Ebenezer shook his head as he forced himself to continue his trek to Uncle Sunny’s cavern. The Mountain was as lively as always and Ebenezer tried not to feel like he was trespassing as he walked through. Uncle Sunny was where he always was, lounging on his leafy bed. When Ebenezer appeared, he stood and walked down to meet his descendant.

  “Hello, Ebenezer,” Sun Wukong greeted neutrally.

  “Hi, Uncle Sunny,” Ebenezer said carefully. He hated how uncomfortable he was around the Monkey King now. Even though he wasn’t getting exiled--as far as he knew--he was still terrified of crossing that invisible line.

  “Are you ready,” Sun Wukong asked.

  “Yes.” And that was all Ebenezer could say before Uncle Sunny came at him. The boy had his staff in hand and met the Monkey King halfway. As they spared, Ebenezer noticed he could keep up with Sun Wukong’s strikes, and even throw a few of his own here and there. He still had a long way to go but he was making fast progress. Almost too much progress.

  What little Ebenezer knew about fitness was that it took a long time to get in shape, but the would-be villain would probably be a Martial Arts Master in a few months. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but Ebenezer had to be a Magic-Type Gifted, and the laws of physics barely applied to them.

  “You’re improving,” Sun Wukong stated after their session was over.

  “That’s good,” was all Ebenezer could say, both due to the awkwardness between them and his lack of breath. Improved or not, Sun Wukong still ran the boy ragged.

  “So how have things been?” the Monkey King suddenly asked. He was back on his lounge and staring down at Ebenezer with his calm yet inquisitive gaze. The boy felt his spine stiffen as if he were suddenly being questioned by the cops.

  For a second, Ebenezer was tempted to say nothing was going on but that wouldn’t be smart. He told Sun Wukong about his goals so he wouldn’t accept that answer, and if he started withholding information then what was to stop the Monkey King from withholding his gifts?

  “Things could be better…” Ebenezer began cautiously.

  “How so?” Uncle Sunny pressed. Ebenezer briefly thought about lying to the Monkey King but didn’t trust himself to come up with a believable one on the spot.

  “I… tried to destroy a store…” Ebenezer admitted sheepishly.

  “You tried to rob a store?” Sun Wukong asked neutrally.

  “No… Destroy it.” Sun Wukong stayed silent and waited for Ebenezer to continue, which he did nervously. “The shop belonged to the family of one of my… bullies…” Ebenezer hated that word. It felt childish to use, like its use trivialized his problems. Calling his enemies bullies sounded like all he was dealing with was a bunch of mean kids. But things weren’t that simple and Ebenezer doubted an Anti-Bullying Seminar would do anything to help.

  “So you destroyed it?” Sun Wukong guessed.

  “I tried too…”

  “Can you elaborate?” Ebenezer gulped anxiously as he tried to sort out his feelings.

  “It’s just… They didn’t do anything… I walked in, expecting to be attacked or something but they just ignored me.”

  “So you didn’t destroy the store,” the Monkey King surmised. “But why not? Why didn’t you attack?”

  “Because that’s not what I wanted to do! I want to be an agent of Vengeance, not some thug who just hurts people at random. That’s not the villain I want to be… And even then I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt someone that hadn’t hurt me. That’d be…”

  “Crossing the line?” Sun Wukong finished.

  “Yes.” Ebenezer felt some of the tension he’d been holding onto fade away. It was nice to get all of this stuff off of his chest, even if it might hurt him in the long run. “Then there was the Demon.”

  “Demon?” the Monkey King repeated, sounding a bit shocked.

  “Yeah,” Ebenezer replied anxiously. He had to choose his next words carefully. While the boy didn’t want to lie to his ancestor, he also wanted to avoid the whole truth in case the Monkey King got the wrong idea. “I… wanted wanted to get used to fighting… So I went out and found this guy mugging someone else…”

  “So you saved someone?” the Monkey clarified with a hint of amusement.

  “I guess… Anyway, I fought the Demon… But… then I managed to hurt him… Badly. I mean… He was fine… he ran away afterward so I’m assuming he was fine… But… I didn’t like it… hurting people like that…”

  “I see,” was all Sun Wukong said. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Ebenezer wasn’t sure what to do next. He was waiting for the Monkey King to do something to make a judgment about his actions, but his ancestor just sat on his leafy lounge.

  “Alright,” he finally spoke. “I think you're ready for this.” Ebenezer stiffened as a copy of the Monkey King appeared next to him. Uncle Sunny said nothing and held out his hand to Ebenezer. The boy in question stared at the hand forebodingly before taking it. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he knew better than to defy the Monkey King.

  The sudden feeling that filled his body was hard to describe. The best Ebenezer could come up with was suddenly feeling weightless, like he was about to float up into the air. He stared at the ceiling wall as the sensation briefly robbed him of both reason and fear, leaving only a blank fuzziness in his head.

  Then it was gone. Ebenezer blinked as his thoughts returned and he wondered what just happened. He stared at Uncle Sunny’s clone but saw it vanish, then turned to the real one.

  “What just happened?” Ebenezer asked, still a little dazed.

  “I unlocked another power,” Sun Wukong explained, which floored Ebenezer. That was the last thing he expected. Uncle Sunny said he’d be willing to give him more power despite his disapproval, but he never took it seriously.

  “Wh-... What can I do now?”

  “You can now summon clouds and ride on them.”

  “S-Seriously?!”

  “Indeed.”

  “W… H-How do I use it?”

  “Focus on an area and imagine a ball of water being formed there. That will create a cloud. Riding on them is simple. Just step on it and command it to fly, it should be like controlling your staff.”

  Ebenezer did just that. Staring at the empty space in front of him, he imagined water droplets in the air gathering and turning into a big ball of water. With child-like glee, he watched as a fluffy white cloud appeared before him. The boy was so excited he didn’t even bother testing the cloud before jumping onto it. When his feet hit the cotton-like surface, Ebenezer stayed on top of it. He didn’t fall through, didn’t even bounce.

  With no hesitation, Ebenezer commanded his new cloud mount to shoot up into the air. Once he reached a good height the boy started flying around the cavern in circles. Ebenezer had never even ridden a skateboard, yet cloud surfing came naturally to him. Soon he started going faster and faster, doing sharp turns and twirling in the air. His feet stayed planted on the cloud even as flies upside down.

  Ebenezer was aware that he was laughing as he zipped through the air. He couldn’t help it, riding clouds was so much more fun than flying as a bird. His brain had eventually caught on that he wouldn’t fall to his death as a bird, so the excitement was dulled. But on a cloud, the rush returned tenfold as he was both exposed to the wind in his human body and soaring unrestrained.

  After a while, Ebenezer floated to the ground and hopped off his cloud mount. He turned to Uncle Sunny, an unnaturally wide smile on his face.

  “Thank you so much!”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Sun Wukong replied. Ebenezer could swear there was a hint of warmth in his tone. “But remember. I won’t hesitate to take it all away if you go too far.”

  “I know! I won’t forget!” With a deep bow, Ebenezer bade his ancestor farewell and practically skipped out of the cavern. The unexpected gifted raising his moral and giving him hope to keep going.

  Naturally, Ebenezer’s good mood evaporated when he returned home. But it wasn’t because he had to face his harsh reality again, it was because the hypothetical situation he was afraid of came to fruition.

  “So, you were attacked by a Gifted, Mr. Biskup?” asked the talk show host.

  “That’s right,” Biskup, the guy Ethan had saved from that Demonic Hillbilly yesterday, said with a grave face. Said face also looked much better than the last time Ebenezer saw it. The bruises and swelling were gone leaving the slightly lumpy visage of a middle-aged man with a white beard. He sat with his head held high in righteous anger and pompous pride.

  “No doubt an agent from the other side! He attacked me to stop my plans to pass bills to better Poppytown and its people! He even made a deal with Satan and turned into a Demon to do it!”

  Ebenezer was watching this shlock from behind the living room wall. His family were all gathered and watching TV. Ebenezer wasn’t invited as he had chores to do. That didn’t stop the boy from sneaking a peak anyway while his chore clone handled the messes.

  Ebenezer honestly didn’t give a damn about this man or what he was he was selling but given the circumstances, the boy felt he had to check in on him in case he decided something that Ethan would regret. And sadly, that’s exactly what he was doing.

  “Luckily, there was a true patriot nearby that stopped the traitor in his tracks!” Biskup said proudly as if Ethan’s actions were thanks to him somehow. “A youth driven by righteousness and American pride, he fought back the Demon, saving my life!”

  “That’s amazing!” exclaimed the talk-show host with the authenticity of an automated help desk line. “Who was this Hero?”

  “I didn’t get his name, but I believe he’s the young man that saved that produce store from a werewolf the other day!”

  “Really?!” the host said, sounding genuinely surprised for once. “The newest vigilante on the scene.”

  “I was surprised myself. But there he was, showing up out of nowhere to help a fellow American in need.” Every word out of the politician’s mouth made Ebenezer want to break something. He thought politicians weren’t supposed to help people, just offer lip service until someone pays them! Yet Biskup decides to sing Ethan’s praises out of the kindness of his heart?!

  Despite his rage, Ebenezer managed to return to his room without stomping or slamming his door. Years of making himself as little and unnoticeable as possible had its perks. Ebenezer quickly changed into his villain clothes and flew out the window as a bird.

  He’d love to use his new cloud-flying powers, especially since it’d take his mind off the bullshit that was Biskup’s endorsement. But the last thing Ebenezer needed was for a neighbor to see Ethan Sun fly out of his bedroom window and tell his dad about it.

  Poppytown may be getting gaslighted into thinking he’s a Hero, but Menelaus wouldn’t give a shit either way.

  Ethan quickly flew to his makeshift hideout, where he wasted no time in turning back to his human form and started pacing around the place. The boy could feel his anger boil inside of him. This was the second time someone misunderstood Ethan’s intentions and called him a do-gooder. Admittedly, it was easy to mistake his battle with the Demon-Man as an act of heroism but that didn’t ease the villain’s frustrations.

  It shouldn’t have been hard to be hated in an Anti-Gifted city like Poppytown, so why was Ethan having so much trouble? Just existing should get these people to hate him, and it did at first back at Desmond’s Greens! So what changed?!

  ‘My actions…’ Ethan realized. Right now, Ethan wasn’t a criminal, at least not a known one. The worst thing he did in public was standing around where he wasn’t welcome. Everything else involved saving people, accidentally or not. Aside from prejudice, the public had no reason to hate him. That needed to change soon, but once Ethan had the guts to do what was needed, it shouldn’t be too hard to do that.

  Ethan took a calming breath and got his head in the game. He needed to focus on building his tolerance for violence. Only then can he get his goals back on track.

  He was about to summon a cloud to ride on but thought better of it. It was in the middle of the day, and people would notice someone flying on a cloud in broad daylight. Ethan needed to be inconspicuous while hunting. With an annoyed sigh, he turned into a bird again and flew off.

  ‘Maybe I’ll go cloud riding at night,’ Ethan thought. ‘People won’t notice me then.’ The idea brought a smile to Ethan’s face, which felt weird as he could feel himself grin despite having a beak instead of lips.

  Ethan glided over the city, keeping an eye out for anyone he could attack. After the fallout of his alley brawl, he decided to expand his search and narrow his criteria of acceptable targets.

  Don’t attack anyone who’s beating someone up, even if they have it coming, and make sure there are no witnesses that could misinterpret Ethan’s actions. Ethan believed that “ruining” his reputation wouldn’t be hard when he was ready to do some properly villainous acts, but that didn’t mean he had to give people more reasons to think he was a good guy.

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  He should probably start doing things that turn public opinion against him. But how would he go about that if he wasn’t ready for large-scale crimes and violence? Maybe he’ll just wander around town, hoping someone will start something with him.

  It was a bit of a shot in the dark, but it was all Ethan had right now. Plus, even if nobody bothered him, there was always the chance the extra eyes would make the mall he stole from realize he was wearing their merchandise.

  With a calming breath, Ethan ducked into an alley and emerged in his human form. Ethan casually walked out of the alleyway with his hands in his vest pockets. He forced himself to look relaxed as he started walking down the street like a normal person, dressed head to toe in his villain garp.

  It was late morning and there was a good number of people walking around the city. They all gave Ethan strange looks and wide berths. Some looked at him with suspicion, some with hostility, and some looked at him with interest. There were whispers amongst the bystanders as Ethan walked past, but he couldn’t tell if they were excited whispers or fearful ones.

  Regardless, no one accosted him, which the boy was secretly grateful for. Walking around in broad daylight as Ethan Sun was terrifying! He was so nervous he couldn’t stop shaking, the only reason he didn’t look like a jittery creep was because his clothes hid his trembling limbs.

  As he walked a couple of blocks without issue, the anxiety died down but it was quickly replaced with embarrassment. The more nothing happened, the more Ethan began to question his life choices. Like did he seriously believe someone would just straight-up attack him in broad daylight just for walking down the street? They didn’t do it at Desmond’s Greens, why would they do it now? Maybe he should call it quits and go-.

  Ethan’s train of thought was interrupted when he accidentally bumped into someone.

  “Oh, sorry,” Ethan said automatically. Before he could chastise himself for being so polite, Ethan found himself jumping away from the stranger who was now trying to shove a cattle prod into his face. Ethan stared at his attacker, who stared back with such contempt that, for a moment, the villain thought he was fighting that hellish farmboy again.

  But no, this guy looked more like a middle-aged janitor that just finished deep cleaning of an old gas station bathroom. He wore an old dirty jumpsuit and equally worn and soiled work boots, he also had what looked like a military backpack, and his greying hair was tied back in a ratty ponytail. The man almost looked homeless with how dirty his clothes were, but the cattle prod in his hand looked well cared for, almost brand new.

  ‘This could work…’ Ethan thought cautiously.

  “I said I was sorry!” Ethan shouted indignantly.

  “You’re gonna be sorry, you freak!” the janitor snarled. By this point, the other people on the street started crowding around them to see what was going on, but giving them plenty of room to duke it out. It inadvertently made an arena for the two men and it would make running harder and embarrassing, not that Ethan was going to run away.

  The vagrant lunged forward, trying to stab Ethan with his weapon. His movements were wild and clumsy, making it far too easy for Ethan to sidestep the attack. The man kept running for a few steps, and for a brief instance, Ethan thought he was going to shock someone in the crowd. From the shocked gasps of the peanut gallery, they thought so too, but the janitor managed to stop moving and turn to face Ethan.

  Before he fought back, Ethan took a moment to think about his next move. While he can just beat the guy up; and given his unprovoked animosity, he had no problem doing so. The question was how he should do it. If Ethan gets overly violent it should freak people out, even the ones who saw the whole thing. But the boy didn’t think he was ready for that. All the janitor has to do is plead for mercy and Ethan can see himself lose all of his will to fight.

  No, Ethan couldn’t use this fight to damage his reputation, but he could use it to establish his motives. Ethan wants to be seen as an agent of vengeance, that way when he eventually goes after Ebenezer’s enemies, they’ll know that they’re facing consequences, even if they refuse to openly admit it.

  “What’s your problem, man?” Ethan asked, keeping his tone casual despite him and the old man circling each other. “I don’t like getting bumped into either, but you don’t see me throwing a tantrum over it.”

  “Shut up!” the janitor howled. “You damn mutants! Always hanging around where you don’t belong! Causing nothing but trouble for normal people! And then here you are! Walking around town like you own the place! It makes me sick!” He made another lunge for Ethan, who effortlessly twisted out of the way.

  “I was walking,” Ethan explained slowly as if he were talking to a dimwitted child. “It’s what people do on the streets.”

  “You are not people!” the man roared. Another charge, but instead of dodging, Ethan took out his staff and smacked the cattle prod out of the attacker’s hand. The janitor stumbled backward, clutching his now bruised and empty hand, still glaring at Ethan.

  “So you’re a Normalist,” Ethan summarized. He kept his demeanor calm but on the inside, he was practically vibrating with excitement. This was someone he could be up, and get hate for it too! Poppytown loved Normalists! If Ethan hurt one of them, the people would be demanding his arrest, no matter the context! This just works out!

  “Let me guess,” he continued, adding a note of mock sympathy to his voice. “You had a bad day. So now you're lashing out at the first Gifted that you came across. Am I right?”

  “Shut up!” the man snarled. He made a dive for his weapon but Ethan struck him with his staff. The gold stick hit the man’s cheek, knocking him to the ground and leaving behind a large bruise. The attack drew a collective gasp from the audience, and for a second, Ethan felt horrible for it. The second after that, Ethan got over it as the man got back up with an even more hateful glare.

  “You filthy inhuman!” the man screeched. “How dare you touch me!”

  “You start this fight then start whining when someone fights back?” Ethan stated, not having to fake the contempt in his voice. “What’s next? Wanna start accusing me of random crap you see on the internet?”

  “Fuck you!” the old man screamed. “Your kind think you're so much better than normal people! Walking around, doing things that God hadn’t intended for people to do! You make me sick!”

  “You say that like it’s my problem. Like it’s my fault that I exist and it makes you sad, so I have to be the one to act normal so your pathetic little feelings don’t get hurt. Never mind the fact that I’m just minding my own business and you're the one making a scene here.”

  Murmuring came from the crowd. Ethan glanced at the spectators, hoping to see some unkind looks thrown his way. Instead, they were glancing at his opponent with looks of distaste and caution, apparently agreeing with the masked boy’s words.

  ‘Oh, come on!’ Ethan groaned internally. ‘Why do guys have to choose now to be sympathetic towards the Gifted?!’

  The janitor also noticed the looks he was getting and wasn’t happy about it. His face turned red with anger and he looked ready to explode, but instead he tore off his backpack. He furiously opened it and began rummaging around inside. Ethan tensed up as he watched, he wasn’t sure what the Normalist was looking for, but the boy could tell he was about to escalate things.

  After finding what he was looking for, the janitor ripped it out of the bag and held it up for all to see. Ethan was briefly confused, he was expecting the man to pull a gun or something equally dangerous. Instead, the man held what looked like an old TV remote.

  “You traitors!” he screeched to the crowd as he waved the device in the air. “If you wish to defend this abomination so badly, then you can suffer along with him!” Then he pressed a button with a dramatic flare befitting an emperor carrying out a death sentence.

  For a second, nothing happened, or at least Ethan thought nothing happened. But then he noticed how strangely quiet the surroundings got. Looking around, the boy finally noticed that the city had gone dark. It was in the middle of the day, so nobody noticed right away, but all electronics were offline. Every bit of illumination in the city from electronic billboards to the traffic lights suddenly shut off. The effect was muted in the daytime, but the civilians were starting to freak out anyway.

  “The fate of Species Traitors!” the lunatic screamed, waving his hands in the air like he was preaching to the sky. “If you side with the mutants then you share their fate! I, The Cleaner, will send these monstrosities back to the stone age! And you, their brianless sheep, will follow them!”

  The audience started to panic as they started taking out their phones to check for service. Ethan simply stood and took in the crazy man, or The Cleaner, as he’s claimed to be called. He wasn’t sure what the guy was going on about with all of his “stone age” talk but Ethan could put the pieces together.

  “You’re a Normalist Terrorist?!” Ethan stated incredulously. “Why are you here?! Poppytown loves you guys! This place should be paradise for the likes of you!”

  ““Paradise?!”” The Cleaner spat in contempt. “This city is just another hive of hypocrisy and impurity! While it claims to value Real Humans it still bows to the whims of abominations like you and those so-called “Superheroes!””

  “That’s why you’re doing this? You're mad the town has the Crusader,” Ethan groaned. “Then why don’t you attack them?!”

  “The Crusaders are just a symptom of this town’s disease! Only when the true people realize the truth and cast out the filth will our future be secure!”

  “Yeah… that’s… You know what? Nevermind, I don’t care. You hear one Normalist Hate speech, you hear them all. ‘Gifted Bad, Avers Good, Kill or be Killed’ blah blah blah.” The Cleaner’s manifesto had similarities to the Anti-Gifted rants Menelaus went on when he got worked up. And while Menelaus was crude whereas The Cleaner was dramatic, their messages were essentially the same thing.

  “What would you know about protecting the future, freak?!” The Cleaner spat, his voice taking a higher pitch than normal. Ethan guessed that, on top of his normal hatred, the man was genuinely offended that the villain would trivialize his goals.

  “Probably nothing,” Ethan shrugged. “Though, I have to ask; and I don’t mean to criticize or encourage your terrorism. But what exactly have you accomplished? Did you just shut off the power?” Ethan wasn’t an expert on terrorism, but he could guess the point was to scare people into acting a certain way. The Cleaner managed to spook their audience, but beyond them, it didn’t seem like he did much.

  There were no screams of panic in the distance, there weren’t even crashes from unlucky drivers. Behind the Normalist, traffic was piling up as the drivers were confused over what to do about the dead traffic lights. But that’s all they did, they didn’t crash into each other, just slow down and jammed the road. So the Cleaner’s attack did no real damage, at least as far as Ethan could see.

  “I also cut off the internet and cellphone reception!” The Cleaner added proudly. The panicked voices of the pedestrians confirmed the Cleaner’s claim, but Ethan remained calm. The more he looked at the janitor, the less intimidating he was. When you hear about Normalists groups like this, they’re usually big, intimidating group with military weapons, ones that posed some kind of threat to the Gifted. The Cleaner’s lone stature and lack of damage made him seem like a frustrated old man yelling at the wind.

  “Okay… But the power and cell services go out all the time. What’s stopping them from turning it back on?”

  “What do you take me for? Some kind of comic book supervillain? I’m not telling you anything!” Judging by his arrogant sneer, The Cleaner thought this bit of common sense was worth a Nobel prize.

  “Fair enough,” Ethan shrugged. The boy didn’t know what this guy did to cut off the electricity but he doubted it would last long. Even if The Cleaner had some trick to keep the power off, Ethan bet the outage would be gone by tomorrow. Nothing drove people's actions more than upsetting their daily lives, and a city-wide blackout was one Hell of an upset.

  “So, now what?” Ethan asked. He should honestly start beating up this guy, but he couldn’t help but be curious about his plans. While Ethan wouldn’t be a terrorist like The Cleaner, it would be useful to see what other villains did and why.

  “I already told you,” the older man growled, his arrogance quickly turning into annoyance. “The people will either cast out the mutants or go back to living as cavemen!”

  “But why would they do that? Turn on the Crusaders, I mean. As far as the rest of the city is concerned this is just a random power outage.” The Cleaner blinked, his scowl melting into a blank stare, clearly blindsided by this little fact.

  All interest Ethan had in the man as a fellow villain evaporated as he realized how little thought was put into this scheme. The Cleaner was looking less like a hardcore extremist purging a city and more like a frustrated homeless person attacking easy targets.

  “Th-The People!” said homeless man suddenly shouted. “The People will spread my message to the city!” The Cleaner turned his maddened eyes to the spectators, who, to the terrorist’s credit, were still scared due to the lack of electricity. “Spread the word, traitors! Tell your friends and loved ones that The Cleaner has come to your city, and he brings Judgement! Tell them that the only path to light and salvation is to-!”

  And then the lights came back on.

  It was as silent as when they went out in the first place, but their return was heralded by the cries of joy from the drivers who were now out of the traffic jam. The cars moved forward and life returned to normal, leaving the Cleaner standing in the middle of an antagonized crowd facing an apathetic villain.

  “Well,” Ethan began after a moment of silence. “That’s unfortunate.” The Cleaner had frozen mid-rant, his hands raised in the air like in prayer and his mouth open to scream. His eyes were wide with shock and horror as he realized his evil plan fell to pieces. The crowd, no longer fearing for their bandwidth, all glared at the Normalist. They looked at him like he was a child that just broke something expensive.

  Slowly, The Cleaner lowered his arms. He gritted his teeth and glared at Ethan with renewed hatred.

  ‘This is the part where he blames everything on me.’ the boy thought wearily. ‘I guess that’s what I get for just standing here.’’

  “Dammit!” The Cleaner swore before diving into his backpack again. This time he pulled out what looked like a thermos, then removed something from it and threw it at Ethan’s feet. Now, the villain didn’t know what gadget the would-be terrorist used, but he knew the basic movements involved with using a grenade.

  “Shit!” Ethan screamed. Acting on instinct, the villain swung his staff like a golf club and sent the object flying into the air. The people panicked and ran away like spooked chickens. They didn’t care if their routes took them into buildings or the street, so long as they got away from the explosive.

  Ethan watched the bomb tumble into the air, which was a mistake. Instead of a fiery explosion, there was a flash of blinding light. Ethan recoiled as the gleam burned his eyes. His mask blocked some of the glare but the Wukong was still stunned. There were cries of surprise and pain, some of the peanut gallery got hit as well.

  When Ethan could see again, he was greeted by the sight of the stragglers rubbing their eyes and moaning in discomfort. The Cleaner, however, was gone.

  ‘Oh, he’s not getting away that easily.’ After enduring The Cleaner’s open hatred and being disappointed with his half-baked villainy, Ethan wouldn’t let The Cleaner escape. With the crowd still blinded, he felt comfortable shifting into a bird and flying into the sky. He knew the normalist couldn’t have gotten far so Ethan began flying in circles as he scanned the area.

  He quickly found the Cleaner, sprinting through the alleys, trying to get across town before anyone could stop him. Ethan had half a mind to just jump the guy in the street but decided against it. It would be far more villainous to attack the older man when he thinks he’s safe.

  The Cleaner kept running until he hit Poppytown’s industrial district. He finally slowed down but kept to the shadows and backroads, which were much more covering thanks to the factories and warehouses. Ethan watched as The Cleaner made his way toward an old plant that had clearly been abandoned for some time. The normalist opened a hidden passage on the side and crawled in.

  ‘Secret lair,’ Ethan realized, slightly impressed. ‘Hope he can build bases better than he can build schemes.’ Returning to his human form, Ethan followed his prey’s path and entered the abandoned factory.

  Ethan wasn’t sure what to expect from a secret base, but he felt The Cleaner’s was a good start. It was still an old and dusty manufactory on the inside, with plenty of rusted machinery hanging around being unused. But some places had been cleared to make room for facilities. One corner held a makeshift living room, another held a barebones kitchen area, and in the back was a little workshop. All in all, it could’ve been a worse supervillain lair.

  “You?!” Ethan turned his head upwards and saw the Cleaner poking his head out of a second-story window. The manager’s office no doubt. The normalist’s eyes were wide with unhinged horror and Ethan could tell he was on the verge of a breakdown. “How did you find me?!”

  “If you aren’t going to tell me your evil secrets,” Ethan replied with a smirk. “I won’t tell you mine.” The Cleaner howled in frustration before retreating into the office and slamming the window shut. Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at the futility of the gesture. One staff ride later Ethan was on the second-floor catwalk and kicking down the office door.

  Ethan wasn’t surprised to see The Cleaner had turned the manager’s office into his bedroom. He was more surprised that the man had grabbed a shotgun and was now pointing it at him.

  “You ruined everything!” The Cleaner hissed. The way he was shaking, Ethan suspected the man would start foaming at the mouth any second. Which made the situation even more terrifying. Looking at the shotgun barrel, Ethan broke out in a cold sweat. Somehow, facing an armed bigot was more frightening than fighting a large Demon. Probably because Ethan could dodge monster attacks but not bullets.

  ‘Stay calm,’ Ethan told himself. ‘Keep him talking and look for an opening.’

  “You give me way too much credit,” the Wukong began coldly. “That half-assed stunt of yours was never gonna work.”

  “Liar!” The Cleaner screamed. “You did something! I know you did!”

  “And what exactly did I do?”

  “I don’t know, but it had to be something! That’s the nasty thing about you freaks, you never know what they’re capable of until they decide to ruin your life!”

  “Is that why you're doing this? A Gifted “ruined” your life and you decided to get revenge by harassing everyone? I get middle age is the time for crises, but don’t you think you're jumping the gun a bit?”

  “Shut! Up!” The Cleaner snapped, stomping his feet as he fully lost it. “What would you know about struggles?! Like you can even fathom how much normal people-!” Ethan whipped out his staff and caught the terrorist by his side. The Cleaner flew into the wall, his shotgun falling to the ground. The man scrambled to his feet to try and retrieve his weapon, only for Ethan to get their first and kick it out of his reach.

  “I struggle too,” Ethan began coldly. “I struggle having to deal with people like you who think they’re better than me!” The Cleaner shrieked in anger. He grabbed the nearest object he could throw, a table lamp, and chucked it at Ethan. The villain easily dodged and lunged for the terrorist, only for the man to sidestep the move and rush to the window. Before Ethan could stop the man or try and figure out what he’s doing, the terrorist does the unthinkable.

  The Cleaner jumped out the window, smashing through the glass and landing hard on the factory floor. Ethan stared dumbfounded at the broken window, only breaking out of his trance when he heard the Cleaner’s cries of pain.

  “What the hell were you expecting with that stunt?!” Ethan asked in befuddlement. Glancing out the shattered aperture, Ethan saw The Cleaner lying on the group. His body wasn’t broken beyond repair but it was clear the fall did a lot of damage. The villain could already see small puddles of blood forming in various places.

  Shapeshifting into a bird, Ethan flew down to the floor and returned to his human form next to the fool. The Cleaner let out a groan when he saw Ethan’s feet and started to crawl away. The boy wasn’t sure what to do with the broken man.

  There was no point in continuing to fight as The Cleaner essentially defeated himself. Yet Ethan wasn’t sure if he should let the terrorist go after all he did. But even if he captured him, what would Ethan do with a terrorist? Go to the cops? Hell no! That would only worsen his Heroic reputation. The only other option worth considering was imprisoning him himself, but what would be the point in that? Ethan did not want to babysit a psychotic Normalist.

  With nothing better to do, he just watched The Cleaner struggle to his feet.

  “You haven’t seen the last of me…” he wheezed. When he managed to stand, The Cleaner started hobbling towards the far side of the factory, where there was a lowered shutter. He forced himself to lift the metal sheet to reveal a jeep on the other side, clearly his getaway vehicle. Ethan watched The Cleaner crawl into the car and start it. The vehicle roared to life and the villain could hear the rattle as another shutter opened nearby.

  Before he drove off, The Cleaner threw one last hateful glare at Ethan, who just stood by and watched.

  “I’ll be back! And I’ll get you, freak!” And then he was gone. He slammed on the gas peddle and drove out of the factory, and Ethan was certain he wouldn’t stop until he was out of Poppytown. Ethan stayed where he was and waited until he couldn’t hear the engine anymore. Once all was quiet, Ethan was left alone to contemplate a few things.

  Everything to do with the Cleaner was a waste of time, as his attack and plot didn’t amount to anything. Honestly, Ethan was ready to just go home and call this outing a failure. But then he looked around at the factory he was in. The place was still half-abandoned but the other half that was renovated wasn’t bad. Maybe there was a way to get some worth out of this mess.

  “If he’s just going to leave this place,” Ethan said thoughtfully. “It’s alright if I take it, right?” While a dusty old factory wasn’t Ethan’s first choice for a supervillain hideout, it did check all the boxes. Abandoned, secluded, and scary enough to turn away most people. Plus, it was halfway renovated. It would be a waste to let it go back to collecting dust.

  Ethan couldn’t help but giggle as he finalized his decision. He now has his Secret Villain Lair.