Saving Supervillains 1 Chapter 1 (Patreon)

There was a loud crash, and the floor rumbled.

Becks blurred in front of me and slammed her heel down on the ground, reacting far faster than anyone else in the room.

A slab of concrete broke from the floor and flipped up as a shield.

In less than a second, the rumble escalated to full on destruction. The gymnasium around me was torn apart by a blast wave. Rocks, lockers, books were flying past me as the slab that Becks had raised shielded me.

“Mi—” Ryan coughed, splattering my face with blood.

My arms were around his shoulder, but I was supporting his weight.

Several wet plops sounded at my feet and it was with horror that I looked down.

There was a reason that I was holding his weight, or more appropriately, half of it.

From the waist down, Ryan was gone. His guts were falling out of his chest as he looked at me in stunned horror. The slab of concrete hadn’t been big enough to protect him.

“Ryan.” My voice was horse, cracked, and the words tore themselves out of me.

“Miles.” Becks grabbed my shoulder. There was something else she was supposed to say.

But then her face warped into my uncles. “You’re a monster, Miles.”

The face cracked, and the scene bled away as people rose from the shadows, chanting ‘Monster’.

I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to force myself from the nightmare even as Becks rose in front of me again, her spine dangling out of her chest. “I can’t believe you kill him. He was a hero.”

That was enough, as I forced myself awake.

I wasn’t a monster. He had been the monster, but the world refused to see that.

Letting out a small gasp, I clutched the sheet in a bed that wasn’t mine. It took only a moment for me to calm down, pushing the reoccurring nightmare deep down inside of me, where I didn’t have to deal with it.

A beautiful blonde lay asleep in the bed next to me and I scooted myself out of bed, trying not to wake her.

I checked to make sure she was still sleeping. She had one of those faces that looked like it must have been sculpted. Her plump lips demanded attention against her sharp yet feminine cheekbones and jawline. And if her eyes were open, they would have been a mesmerizing bright blue.

I’d explored every bit of her incredible body as the sheet fluttered back down, including the cute birthmark right above the top of her ass.

As I sat up slowly, I tried to recall her name.

Margaret? It felt close, but I knew that wasn’t it. I was fairly certain it started with an M.

Giving up on guessing it would come to me when I finally needed it, I slipped out of bed. Her floor was freezing, but there was an easy fix to that.

I pushed on the floor, building up a little thermal energy. Not enough to make any lasting impact, just enough to raise the floor a couple degrees above room temp.

Wiggling my toes, I smiled as my feet became far more comfortable.

I looked back at… Madison? No, I shook my head. That wasn’t it either.

She was still sound asleep as I slipped out of the bedroom.

M had a small but nicely decorated apartment. It was clearly updated recently. Everything was in shades of gray, and the furniture was largely square and edgy. It was sleek.

I found my way to the kitchen, which wasn’t hard in the small space, warming the floor before me as I moved. I stopped in the kitchen, wondering what I’d make.

Lifting my hand up, I made the same gesture I’d made a million times, flicking my hand. With the motion, the fridge opened up, all the items within it coming out and floating before me.

“Not much to work with. But eggs always work.” She had three dozen; I had to assume she liked eggs.

I looked through the remaining items. There were more than enough yogurts to use up a few. I’d plate it up with a few cut up strawberries for some color.

Turning my hand over, I pushed the remaining foods back to their original locations, pulling out the eggs, the yogurt, and the jug of milk.

I looked around the kitchen, not spotting the other materials I needed.

I made a gesture once more. I didn’t need to do the motions, but they helped me focus my superpower.

With my hand’s movement, every cabinet door silently opened, and I hunted for the plates before plucking two out. I also found a set of silverware and two little glass bowls.

After I arranged those on the counter, I prepared to cook.

I used my power to lift half a dozen eggs and cut them in half, pouring out the eggs mid air and keeping them there. I sent the shells over to the trash and grabbed the milk, swirling it into the eggs in a little twister.

While they stirred, I opened the fridge with my hands and put the eggs back.

“Oh, orange juice.” I spotted it in the fridge and snagged it, pouring two glasses. While I poured, I separated out the eggs into two separate piles in the air, applying thermal energy to help cook them.

They sizzled and popped midair until they became two perfectly round omelets.

“A little cheese, maybe some spinach?” I continued cooking, speeding the process using my powers.

It wasn’t long before I had two plates set on a wooden tray. I looked down at my work. Two omelets, cut up strawberries, yogurt and orange juice. Not bad, given her limited ingredients. I’d even plucked a single flower from a vase in her home just to make it special.

Looking back at the kitchen, I made sure everything was closed and left no sign of my passing before returning to… Megan? No, that wasn’t it either.

“Uh? What?” She groaned as I kicked the door closed behind me. Her beautiful blue eyes peeped open, and she pulled the covers up with a yawn as she saw me walking back in with the tray of food.

The food seemed to wake her up, her eyes becoming clearer and a smile gracing her beautiful face. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“Nonsense. It was a great night, and I’m an early riser.” I gave her a warm smile, setting the tray down as she scooted up into a sitting position on the bed.

“I didn’t even hear you get up.” She rubbed her eyes. “Sort of thought you’d be the type to slip out. I mean, this was a no strings attached sort of thing, right?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy some morning cuddles.” Slipping back under the covers, I pressed up next to her, pulling the tray so it ran across both of our laps.

The night had definitely been about having a bit of fun and satisfying my needs, but I tried to at least be a gentleman. I may not want to be with her forever, but breakfast didn’t bother me, as long as she didn’t get the wrong idea.

But it would help if I could remember her name. I looked around the room, seeing if anything would jog my memory, but it stayed elusive.

If I had a shrink, they might theorize that I subconsciously push women away by doing something as simple as forgetting their names.

And there might be something to it. I hadn’t had a serious relationship since… well… since my powers blossomed that horrible night as a teenager.

Dark thoughts of that night threatened to rise back up in the dark corners of my mind, and I slammed them back down. I was not about to go down that deep, dark rabbit hole.

“Are you really not super, just enhanced?” She bit into the omelet, moaning a little. “Because this is fucking amazing.”

I smirked. “Yeah, just enhanced.”

Enhanced was what we called those who had the super gene, but their level of powers weren’t quite ‘super’. It was also a blatant lie. “I think it makes life easier not being super.” My powers were a secret from the world and only to keep that secret did I justify lying. Someone was only as good as their word.

She shrugged with a big smile on her face as she ate the breakfast and spared a few glances at the flower. She leaned into me, snuggling up.

I’d meant it; I enjoyed a good snuggle. But the look she was giving me told me she might develop more than short-term fling feelings.

If she did, I’d have to stop seeing her casually. Which was a shame. She was one of the prettier ones lately and had been fantastic in bed.

“Not that my B grade powers are doing me much good. I’m still stuck modeling in crummy commercials.” Her face became a cute type of grumpy.

“You know, you could put on a cape with at least a C grade power. Sign up with the SHB and save a few kittens, score some photo ops, and really launch your modeling career.” I suggested.

Maradith… no, that wasn’t it either, frowned. “That doesn’t feel like what being a superhero is supposed to be.”

I shrugged. “I just finished a commercial with Miss Point City, and I can tell you that she didn’t put on a cape to save people. She did it for fame.” And Miss Point City was a bit of a bitch. But I politely left that out.

My date looked at me in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah, people become heroes for all sorts of reasons.” I speared a few more of the strawberries. Some of them are not so valiant.

“Huh, I’ll have to think about it. But I have another topic.” She paused. “How would you feel if we made this thing more regular?” There was a sparkle of hope glimmering in her eyes.

Melody! That was her name. I almost cheered, but realized that would be poor timing given the topic she’d just led us into.

I looked down at her, trying to figure out how to let her down gently.

“Listen, Melody—”

She took in my face and jumped in. “Fuck. Fuck. I’m sorry, forget I said that. We can just—”

I held up a hand to stop her. The damage was done. “I get it. But I’m just not at a place where I’m ready for a commitment like that.” I didn’t mention that I hadn’t been ready for over twenty-five years.

Melody shook her head, tossing her blonde hair. “Damn. Tell me what girl messed you up, I’ll go beat her up for all womankind. You were the perfect date last night.”

I used the oldest excuse in the book. “I was just trying to get in your pants.”

She hit me with a pillow. “Bullshit. Miles, do you realize how many guys have hit on me? You were genuinely the sweetest, most caring date I’ve ever had. That and then the sex? This food? I’d like to see anybody not fall for you.” Melody was clearly frustrated, but she didn’t aim it at me. She seemed to aim it at the hypothetical woman who had broken my heart, even though that wasn’t what had caused me to shut down.

Not wanting to get into it, I just took the excuse.

“I’m not a psychopath. Just not looking for commitment.” I tried to reason with her.

But I could still see the wheels spinning in her head, trying to figure out what was ‘wrong’ with me so she could fix me. Damn, I never liked the ‘fixer’ type of girl; they could get too close to the truth.

She was gorgeous. Always dressed well and put together. I had hoped she’d be a little more focused on herself and less on me.

It looked like it was time to bail. And I had to admit, I was a little bummed. I’d been hoping this would last two or three dates before she tried to make it more.

I looked over at the clock; it was seven, giving me a perfect excuse.

“Look, I have to get to work.” I finished the last of my food and pushed the tray off of me, fully onto her lap.

“Sure.” She eyed me suspiciously. “What was it you did again?”

“Marketing, some PR. The firm is retained by the BSH and the government, so it’s mostly boring marketing.” I grabbed my pants the night before and pushed a little thermal energy into them.

It had taken practice to just put enough into them to iron out the wrinkles, and not set them on fire. But I shook them out, and all the wrinkles were gone.

“Damn, not a single wrinkle.” Melody watched my pants.

“New travel style. Wrinkle free. Can’t live without it.” I lied, doing the same trick to my button-down shirt and getting dressed.

Melody put the tray on the side table and watched me with a half lidded look. Something told me she was on the prowl, wanting to solidify something more with a little bit of fun woven in.

It was smart, but I actually needed to get to work.

Sure enough, Melody came over to the side of the bed, her finger tracing my package under the work slacks. “You know, maybe you should stay a little longer.”

She didn’t paw me for long. Stretching out on the bed, she let the sheets fall below her chest, revealing plump mounds topped with perfect little pink nipples.

“Tempting, but I really have to get to work. Maybe another time.” I tried to let her down easy.

“Uh, huh.” She didn’t sound convinced, but she wasn’t about to throw herself at me anymore. Melody wanted me, but not at the cost of her dignity. “Get going. Last night was fun, even if it’ll linger like a finished cup of ice cream that you regret not buying the bigger size.”

I smiled, ducking in to kiss her cheek before heading to the door.

Moving through the apartment, I headed out and towards the train station.

As I strode through the streets, downtown Point City was coming alive. Everyone hurried out of their apartments and headed to work.

Something broke the sound barrier far above my head, and I wondered what super was off to ‘save the day’, as they called it. I called it public property destruction in the name of a photo op.

They were always so messy with how they solved any problem. Sometimes I wondered if their salaries were based on how much wreckage they could cause. At least that would explain it.

I only had to go a few blocks further from Melody’s place before getting to the train, which was just pulling up to the station.

I jumped on, heading to work in midtown.

The train was always an eclectic group of citizens. This time, it ranged from a woman in the business suit and a twenty thousand dollar watch to a hobo still sleeping across benches, still in the same place they’d used the night before.

I tried to avoid scanning the ads that coated the inside of the train car. There were images of superheroes endorsing about every product possible. Eat your Oaties cereal, Captain Frost, giving a big thumbs up. Or go to the local theme park where you may just meet Zappy.

But there was one common theme in the ads, the sheer number of women. The same was true on the train.

After all, women outnumbered men nearly seven to one now as a result of the advent of super powers. They ran on the X gene for humans. If I remembered anything from biology class; it was the slightly super sperm carrying the X gene that normally won out in pregnancies.

And being one of the few men and what I liked to think was a rather good-looking one, I was always getting quite a few side glances. I stared at my shoes, not wanting to get into anything on my way to work.

I remained balanced as the train did a small jerk, coming to a slow stop away from any station.

“The PCPT would like to apologize to all passengers. Bactimen are on the tracks ahead of us. Burning Girl is on site clearing them, but there will be a small delay.” A voice over the speaker announced. Not just humans had gained super powers, animals, monsters and even bacteria like what has become know as Bactimen could get powers.

Passengers grumbled, and a few pressed themselves up against the window, their phones out, hoping to get a pic of Burning Girl.

I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t even a top tier hero.

But the Bactimen bacteria were becoming a real problem lately. The sewers of Point City were supposedly overflowing with the superpowered bacteria, and it was infecting the city like a giant sinus infection. I knew SHB was doing everything it could to rid us of it, but it was taking a while.

And if the recent news was anything to believe, the bactimen were growing resistant to multiple forms of powers after a few cells survived each attack. Those cells grew more of the green blob men that then rose base out of our sewers, resistant to yet another form of their destruction.

Burning Girl had an obvious reason to be the one responding now; fire killed most things.

I shuddered to think what would happen once the first bactimen became heat resistant.

As the train continued to stay stuck, I checked my phone. “Damn, I’m going to be late, aren’t I?” I really hoped that Burning Girl didn’t melt the tracks or do something else that would make it take longer than it needed to be.

A ding got everyone’s attention, as the PA system announced. “We are told the tracks are clear and will be proceeding to the next stop.”