Ethan walked around his new hideout, taking in the dusty machinery and the dim lighting. While he was still happy to have his own base, his enthusiasm diminished as he took everything in. He didn’t regret his decision to take this place as his own; it’s just that he didn’t know what to do with it.

  Other than sitting around to hide from the cops or plan crimes in peace, Ethan didn’t see much use for a secret base. He supposed he could try and renovate further, but The Cleaner had already taken care of the basic needs. There was already a kitchen and a bedroom but Ethan had discovered that the men’s bathroom had a functioning shower, too. Though given how scruffy The Cleaner, that must’ve been a new addition.

  Still, Ethan was excited to have a place to call his own. Now he didn’t have to change clothes out in the open anymore! That alone was a huge weight off of his mind. No more having to worry about people somehow discovering his secret identity while he was stripping on a rooftop. And, if the worst happened and Ebenezer had to run away from home, Ethan would have a place to go other than Mt. Huaguo.

  With a content sigh, Ethan took off his mask and relaxed in the living room area. He wasn’t sure where the terrorist had obtained the furniture, especially the flat-screen TV, but Ethan wasn’t complaining; least of all because the place already had power and was on the grid.

  Naturally, a tech villain like The Cleaner would make sure his hideout had wifi and all the other technological conveniences you’d need to launch cyber attacks. Ethan remembered seeing glimpsing a computer in the bedroom and planned to look through it later. For now, he’ll just enjoy his new place.

  As the villain lounged on the sofa and took in the living area, he considered robbing a few electronics stores for a few game consoles to the place. The thought appealed to the teenager, though he'd to wonder if he’d ever use them. Ethan couldn’t just sit around and play video games all day, could he?

  Actually, that idea sounded fantastic. The perfect way to destress after everything that’s happened. He could save it as a mini-vacation after he’s established his reputation as a villain. Hell, he didn’t even have to take a break from crimes. He could have his clones cause some chaos while he relaxed at the base and played all the games he missed out on.

  Ethan felt himself smile as the idea filled him with a rare sense of giddiness for the future. He happily grabbed the remote and he turned on the TV, then his mood returned to its usual melancholy state. It was only natural that The Cleaner would have the news set to his default channel, and of course, the news was talking about the black-out that happened.

  “This just in,” said a female newscaster. “Reports have stated that the sudden power outage this afternoon was caused by a terrorist attack, not an odd grid malfunction. According to eyewitness reports, a man going by the name, “The Cleaner”, has claimed to have caused the brief blackout for unknown reasons.”

  Ethan couldn’t see how the newscasters got eyewitness reports yet couldn’t figure out his motives, other than the obvious reason of course. It figures that the Normalists sympathizers would only show up when you didn’t want them around.

  “The suspect was confronted by the masked vigilante that has been active in the city. There is still no information about this individual, but he was last seen chasing after The Cleaner.” Ethan groaned in annoyance, they still talked about him in that neutral tone that didn’t praise or condemn him. He needed to get a move on with his training; the sooner he could sour his reputation, the better. Luckily the weekend was coming up and Ebenezer should have fewer issues at home to deal with and can focus all his attention on villainy.

  “We also have a comment from Poppytown’s Crusaders on the incident,” the anchorwoman added. Ethan stared at the TV with a mix of hope and fear. He hoped the Crusaders wouldn’t want him running around “saving the day”. That was their job, and any pro bono do-gooders would cut into their revenue. But Ethan feared he wasn’t ready to handle them just yet. He had fought off a thuggish demon and an old terrorist, but they were a far cry from a a group of Superheroes.

  Despite viewing them as sell-outs, the Crusaders shouldn’t be brushed off. They were still trained Superheroes and their corporate sponsors kept them well-funded. If they decided to start hunting down Ethan, he’d be in trouble. The villain made a note to look into the supers and make plans on how to deal with them, and he had a great opportunity right now. He paid close attention to the TV as the smiling face of Paragon appeared.

  Paragon was the leader of the Crusaders and the only member Ethan was familiar with, mostly because he was the one constantly on TV. The others had media presences too, but Paragon was always the one who went on the news and talk shows. Ethan wasn’t sure what his Gift was, but from his bodybuilder physique, he had to be very strong.

  “Paragon!” the voice of a reporter shouted. “Do you have anything to say about this new vigilante?!”

  “All I will say is that vigilantism is a crime,” Paragon said, his smile replaced with a grim frown. “While this individual’s heart is in the right place, he’s still committing a crime. If he wants to make a difference he should focus on helping out his community in non-violent ways.” Then his smile returned which snet a shiver down Ethan’s spine. “Or he can contact us and sign up for membership! We’re always looking for new recruits with heart and talent!”

  Ethan's jaw dropped in horror. It was much worse than he could have imagined. The Crusaders not only didn’t seem antagonized by his existence, but they were encouraging him to enlist with them!

  Ethan hung his head in embarrassment and despair. How do things keep going so wrong?! Granted, Ethan doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but being a villain shouldn’t be this difficult! If this keeps up, Ethan’s going to be stuck defending the city instead of terrorizing it! And if he wasn’t forced to join the Crusaders, he’d probably have his own hero team that was just as obnoxious and cheap.

  Images of Ethan being a hero flashed in his mind. Instead of his comfortable street clothes, he wore spandex and posed in front of flashing cameras. His team would be standing next to him, subtly trapping him in the spotlight and making sure he played the good little Hero for all the normal people who expected him to slave away for their safety. Ethan imagined that his teammates would be people like Roth, Gabriel, Leanora, and Pery; because why not? Of course in that Hellish scenario, they’d be there somehow.

  Shuttering in dread, Ethan shut off the TV and got off the couch. He didn’t have time to lounge around in his new place. The villain needed to focus more on his violence training or else things might take a turn for the worse. Ethan wasn’t sure what the “worst” was but Paragon made him feel like he was on a timetable.

  Grabbing his staff, and re-dawning his mask, Ethan left the factory and headed out into the city. This time, determined to get a criminal record.

  Ethan was on the prowl and his new sense of desperation called for more extensive hunting measures. Ethan made several clones and had them search the city as birds. They’d comb over the town and alert him if they found someone Ethan could beat up without any drawbacks. The villain himself was waiting on rooftops in his own bird form. He had half a mind to join the search but figured it’d be more efficient if he was on standby until called.

  “Boss!” a clone called making Ethan jump. “I found something!”

  “Already?” The boy assumed he’d be waiting for a while considering how his last searches went, but it had barely been an hour and his clones found someone almost instantly. ‘I should have done this before,’ Ethan lamented.

  “What do you got for me?” Ethan asked. He blinked and saw through the clones eyes. There was a brawl happening in an alley, though calling it a brawl would be too generous. Some beefy kids Ethan’s age were ganging up on another one. Ethan watched as the the victim, another kid his age but far more scrawny than his attackers, fell to the ground. The group swarmed the kid like vultures.

  The next thing Ethan knew, he flew to the area as fast as he could. He didn’t wonder about what was going on or think that attacking the thugs would count as heroics again. He just saw one kid being attacked by group of bullies and acted.

  When he reached the alley, it was worse than he thought. Ethan could hear the delinquents before he could see them. The way the gang hooted and hollered like they were at a party, you’d be inclined to think someone punks were just messing around rather than beating someone to death.

  Ethan pirched on the nearby building and looked down, he saw the boy on the ground just lying there, only twitching as the blows jerked him around. He was unconscious, but the bastards were still kicking him. Did they not notice their toy was damaged, or did they just not care?

  The next thing Ethan knew, he was behind one of the thugs in human form. He found himself swinging his staff and bashing one of the bullies in the head. The boy dropped to the ground like a puppet that got its strings cut, and suddenly everything went quiet.

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  They all turned toward the villain with wide eyes, looking like they had just been caught stealing candy from a convenience store. Ethan faced a group of bullies who looked at him with a mixture of shock, fear, and hesitant defiance. One kid had on such a nasty glare that Ethan might have mistaken him for a monster at first glance. There were eleven goons in total, ten since the guy Ethan hit hadn’t gotten up.

  “He killed Rikki…” one of the thugs said in a small voice that Ethan barely registered.

  For a minute, no one said anything. Whatever high the thugs were riding was gone now that they were facing someone who could fight back. Ethan wanted nothing more than to just beat these bastards to a pulp, but he managed to stop himself. How? He wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe that first strike got most of his aggression out of his system.

  ‘Remember why you’re here,’ Ethan told himself. ‘Let’s put these scumbags to use.’

  “Hey, don’t stop on my account,” Ethan hissed to the group. “You looked like you were having so much fun beating a guy to death.” The group flinched back at Ethan’s hostility, whatever confidence they had as a group was gone in the face of this armed individual who was more than ready to hurt them. All except one.

  “You fucker!” The kid who glared at Ethan stepped forward. His glower only grew darker as Ethan spoke, and now he was ready to lash out. Clearly, this bastard was the leader, and he didn’t look like the type of person who tolerated backtalk or criticism no matter how valid it was.

  “You don’t mess with us!” he snarled. The kid was large and muscled, he was either an athlete or like being big enough to pummel weaklings. He had a wild mane of blonde hair and wore simple street clothes. This punk wasn’t a supervillain, but a kind of modern evil Ethan was used to dealing with. Instead of some random thug, when Ethan looked at this guy he saw Pery, Gabriel, and a bit of Christian too.

  “Kiss your ass goodbye, bitch!” Then the brute reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. It was a small, black pistol that he must’ve hidden in the back of his pants.

  The last Ethan was held at gunpoint he was facing a crazy old man with a shotgun. Now it was by some violent brat with a pea shooter. The contrast was so strong, Ethan couldn’t help himself. He threw his head back and laughed, a short and harsh bark of mirth that shocked and confused everyone around him.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?!” Ethan asked. “You brought an army of goons to jump this one guy and you still felt the need to bring a gun?! What? Did you have the National Guard on standby just to be safe? You’re pathetic!” The leader was taken aback by Ethan’s words, it wasn’t the reaction he was expecting at all. But he quickly regained his outrage and he raised the gun to Ethan’s face.

  “Oh, now you’re dead, assho-!” Ethan swung his staff as quickly as he could, striking the punk’s hand and sending the gun flying into the wall. There was a crunch of metal as the impact shattered the weapon. There was also a crunch of bone as Ethan’s attack destroyed the bully’s hand. Ethan watched with dark satisfaction as the jerk’s face morphed into a look of horror and pain. He went to grab his mangled wrist and scream in agony, but Ethan wasn’t finished.

  Grabbing his hair, Ethan forced the bully to stand up and then started punching him in the face, over and over again. The first blow shattered the brute’s nose, but Ethan kept wailing on that spot, not stopping even as his opponent’s face was quickly covered in blood.

  “You bastards make me sick!” Ethan heard himself scream between blows. “All you’re good for is hurting people and taking things! And you're fucking proud of it! You think you're such a big shot just because you like hurting people! Well, how do you like it now?! Huh?! Do you still feel good being on the other side of this bullshit?! Are you having fun now?!”

  “Stop!” someone yelled. Ethan snapped his head over to the noise and stared down one of the bullies. He wasn’t as big as the leader but he was big enough to push around a nerd or two. The other bullies were still around, all rooted to their spots and watching the beating in horror. “You’re killing him!”

  The sight of all these thugs looking at Ethan like he was a monster, despite what they were doing a few seconds ago, only enraged the villain further.

  “And what’s so wrong with that?!” Ethan snarled. He threw the leader onto the ground and stomped over to the idiot who spoke. “After all! You guys were killing someone! Is it only cool when you guys do it?!”

  “W-We weren’t killing him!” the boy squeaked. He tried backing up as Ethan approached but quickly hit a brick wall. The shaking thug pressed against the structure as if it’d swallow him up and save him. But it didn’t. “W-we just wanted to teach him a lesson!”

  “Oh, really?!” Ethan almost shrieked as he loomed over the thug. The bully slid to the ground out of fear but there was no running from the villain’s wrath. “You know, he’d have a better time teaching him this “lesson” if he wasn’t CONCUSSED!”

  “W-We went too far,” the punk admitted, tears leaking out of his eyes. “We didn’t mean to-.”

  “Bullshit!” Ethan roared. “You were having the time of your lives kicking him while he was down! You psychos wouldn’t have stopped until his head caved in!”

  “I’m sorry…” the bully whimpered. At this point, he started crying. Broken tears, and quiet sobs filled the quiet alleyway. To say Ethan wasn’t sympathetic was an understatement. He sneered at this pathetic thug through his mask, the bastard’s attempts to apologize after he’d been caught only increased Ethan’s disdain for the group.

  But the tears worked in a way. While Ethan’s anger hadn’t cooled, he didn’t feel the need to keep attacking. He told himself that these brutes should get the same beating their leader got, but what would be the point? The punk on the ground was already beaten.

  Ethan whipped his head up to see the other goons. The other eight were still hanging around the alley. Their fear kept them in place even if running was the smarter option. But like most bullies, they were dumb thugs. So they just stood where they were, all avoiding Ethan’s gaze as if they could pretend he wasn’t there.

  None of them stepped up to defend their buddies and Ethan didn’t feel the need to teach them a lesson despite his disgust. He wasn’t sure why but figured he just wasn’t ready to take things further.

  “Take them to the hospital,” Ethan ordered. “Especially him!” Ethan jabbed a finger at their victim. As if a switch had been flipped, the gang of brutes were suddenly filled with hope and life. They scrambled to grab their fallen friends and their broken target before rushing out of the alley. The sight of them in high spirits and looks of relief made Ethan’s blood boil. He wasn’t going to let them go thinking they got away with this.

  “Hey,” Ethan called out. He didn’t shout but his tone was so icy it froze everyone in place. They all turned to face him, eyes wide as the fear returned. “If I find any of you out here again… Doing anything like this again… Then next time… I won’t stop no matter how much you beg me. Do I make myself clear?” The boys all nodded, their faces white and their bodies trembling.

  “Good,” Ethan growled. “Now get out of my sight.” The gang turned to leave but were stopped by a different voice.

  “Kill… him…” a raspy voice laced with pain hissed. The group's leader had woken up and was pointing a shaky arm at Ethan. The lone eye that wasn’t swollen shut glared at the villain with so much hatred that Ethan felt his hand tighten its grip on his staff. “K-Kill him!”

  Ethan shifted his footing, ready for these bastards to obey their stubborn boss and rush at him. Ethan stared back at the spiteful bully, his desire for violence reignited as he glared into that hate-filled eye. This would be it, this would be how Ethan build up his tolerance for violence by slaughtering these scum-.

  “Shut up, Jordan!” the thug carrying him exclaimed. He quickly dragged the leader out of the alleyway, a task made more difficult by Jordan’s squirming and hissing. The others followed suit, eager to get as far away from Ethan as possible.

  The villain was left standing in an alleyway, his hand clinging to his staff in a death grip. The sudden halt the escalating conflict left the boy stunned as his built up rage now had nowhere to go. His breath came out in ragged gasps and he was shaking. Why was he shaking? And why did he feel like he just ate something that wasn’t sitting well in his stomach? He should’ve felt great over beating that bastard Jordan to a pulp, but instead, he felt like he was going to be sick.

  “Boss?” a clone called to him, a note of concern in his voice.

  “I’m fine!” Ethan snarled. He tells that lie so often it becomes second nature just to spit it out, no matter how clearly not fine he was.

  “Okay,” the copy replies without question. Ethan couldn’t tell if he imagined the double sounding attacked but decided to ignore it. “Do you want us to look for more targets?”

  “More-?!” Ethan nearly screamed. He forced himself to breathe until he was calm but it didn’t help. His body wouldn’t stop shaking and he felt ready to throw up at any minute. The anger and confusion weren’t going awya either which made everything worse.

  “...Would you like us to keep an eye out while you take a break?” the double offered hesitantly. “You can just ask whenever you're ready.”

  “...Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

  “Alrighty then! Just let us know when you wanna keep going!” Alone again, Ethan found himself sliding to the floor while he continued his breathing.

  His sudden bout of sickness still wouldn’t go away. The villain couldn’t understand why, this should’ve been a milestone. Going out of his way to attack people without remorse, that was what he was looking for. He should be thrilled, excited, liberated by unshackling himself from his social constraints, not be ready to vomit in an alley.

  So, Ethan just sat there. Breathing until the nausea disappeared and the shaking stopped. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there but eventually, the sickness faded away and Ethan could move without shivering.

  He still felt like shit though. Like back when tried to get out of doing Christian’s homework but worse. It was a feeling of guilt, Ethan realized, which made him angry. What the hell did he have to feel guilty over? Those jerks got what they deserved, and he only beat up two of them! If anything they got off lightly!

  Ethan’s outrage overshadowed the guilt, but it didn’t get rid of it entirely. It left the boy confused and disheartened. Was this what he could look forward too if he kept trying to be a villain, or was this the Nice Guy in him getting in the way again? Ethan couldn’t tell and the answer wasn’t going to pop into his head.

  Eventually, the villain just sighed to himself and stood up. Moping in an alley wasn’t going to cheer him up, but getting productive might help. Ethan turned to a bird and flew away. He didn’t look for more targets, he felt like he had done enough training today. Instead, he decided to look into what game consoles were available in town and how best to steal them.

  Suddenly, Ethan’s idea to do nothing but play video games all day sounded very appealing.