Chapter 7.2

(I tried my best and made these changes. I can't do anything if you don't like them.)

As I was playing with Margaret, Maria came to the room with bloodied hands. She was shivering when she looked at her hands. Actually, her reaction is normal and it should have been my reaction too when I first killed those runaway superheroes.

I was expecting my first kill to cause me some discomfort, but it hardly affected me. I was slowly starting to see others as someone different from me and I didn't even care about them.

It might be the addiction of the power though, because when someone has seen life and has gone through oppression from many people the power, to do anything and command anyone, becomes too addicting.

I walked to her and gave her a hug. Margaret also came to Maria and hugged her leg. I said to her "It's fine, he didn't deserve to live anyway. Also, the thing you did today was something you always wanted to do. You also knew that he didn't even have the slightest care for you. So, don't feel bad about doing what you just did."

I know I shouldn't be saying stuff like this to her, but she already killed someone. Anything else will only make her feel worse.

She slowly hugged me back and stayed like that for a while. She then got up and said "Let me clean things downstairs and get some pizza."

I stopped her and said "Don't worry about that. I can ask men at Vought to get it cleaned, or we can move to a better house. It will also help you forget about him."

Maria thought for a while and asked "Do we really have to waste so much money for a new house?" to which I replied "You don't have to worry about money. Just tell if you like the idea."

She agreed and I made a call to Vought about this. I asked them to coverup for the death of Gunpowder, TNT twin and Hank, and asked them to get me a new house.

I was already given 30% shares and the money from all that was being deposited in an account, which I can't use till 18 or without a legal guardian. Since Maria and Hank didn't officially adopt me, I was still an orphan on paper. I could ask Vought to take care of all these papers, but I didn't feel like I needed money as of now.

I also gave back Mindstorm his power and let him go, not before breaking two of his fingers. It will remind him not to go after Maria or Margaret again.

In just two days, we got a new house and I was looking at the news. The news reporter said "As you might have probably heard, a house in Modesto, California, was burnt down due to short-circuit.

A family of four were trapped in the burning house and the Payback arrived on the scene to rescue them. Although they managed to save the two children and their mother, their father already lost his life when the Payback arrived.

It is devastating to know that two of the Payback members, Gunpowder and TNT twin lost their lives while saving them. These brave heroes went straight into the burning house to save them, without any regards to their lives.

Mindstorm and the family that survived, both are mentally recovering from this shock and have refused to talk to the public."

Then an advertisement started playing, in which they showed a small life story of Gunpowder and the TNT twin. They then said "The funeral of two of the greatest heroes will be held in the XXYY hall, passes are available."

Vought was completely using even their deaths to earn money. Anyways, I was comfortable in the new house and I think Stormfront, or Liberty, didn't want to meet me again. I think she didn't like me leaving her to her driver at that time. I didn't care about her life though.

My life resumed as it was, I was sent to middle school, which I again bribed the school for grades and attendance. It really is pathetic to sit in school again, that too with kids whose behaviour will piss you off even more.

With nothing else to do the whole day, I decided to go on a world trip. I would fly to different places in the world everyday. Since I can fly, I can reduce the travel time a lot and visit a lot of places.

(Before I get any hate for the next few lines, I have to tell you that I don't watch sports and I don't know anything about basketball or any sport.)

*Time skip 10 years, Year 1998*

I could hear the crowd cheering and screaming for me while I was in the middle of the basketball court, dribbling the ball.

The opponent team players were prepared to block me. I ran towards the hoop dodging everyone swiftly and when I got close, I jumped, switched the ball from my right to my left, and slammed it into the hoop.

The majority of the audience watching the game stood up and cheered for me while I was hanging onto the rim. I then got down and the cheers slowly died down after the coach said "That's enough for today."

I was walking out of the court when a girl came running to me and hugged me. I returned the same and after a few moments, she moved back and I pulled her closer for a kiss.

As this was going on, people nearby were staring at us, which made Kate uncomfortable. She pushed me back and ran to her little friend group she hangs out with. I just smiled and walked to the locker room.

If I have to introduce my girlfriend to someone, it would be pretty awkward because it is a weird way to fall in love with someone.

Her name is Kate Bishop, who coincidentally looks like Hailee Steinfeld and is an expert Archer. I guess this made me interested in her in the first place, but except these similarities, she is different from the Marvel Kate Bishop.

To explain how I met her, I should talk about my little sadistic act after joining the Private high school. This school was prestigious, with many kids with rich background studying here. It was the time I found out that I quite enjoyed the look of despair on someone's face. This happened when I was killing a bomber who I on my world tour.

We were in a huge building he tried to bomb. He wasn't a suicide bomber, so he tried his best to escape from the building after he planted the bomb, but I chased him everywhere, making his escape impossible. That's when he had given up all hope of escaping and broke down. The look he had on his face was something I enjoyed.

Since I can't go around destroying random people's lives, I decided to try out the sports in school. I made sure to control my strength so that they don't suspect I am a supe. I first tried out football and dominated the other team, so much so that one player gave up playing the sport.

After that, I went around playing various sports, dominating the game every time and that's how I met Kate, who was practicing archery. I tried competing with her, but she didn't back off.

I did various tricks like the s-curve and other difficult ones that only professional archers could do. The surprising thing was that she also did them and with ease. She was a real genius.

When I first talked to her, I could easily tell that she was lying. The only thing she didn't lie was about her name and a few other minor details. The curiosity of finding out who she was and what she was hiding, was what attracted me to her and before I knew it, I fell in love with her.

Before this, if someone came to me and said that they like a girl just because she is lying to him, I would have taken him to the doctor or pitied his single lonely life.

I could tell that she knew my real identity. The only reason I asked her out, even knowing that she is hiding something, was because she showed genuine feelings for me. This is something I learnt from Mindstorm's powers.

His powers revolved around the brain waves and the electric pulses travelling through the nervous system. If you can study it properly, you can tell the state of their brain and figure out if the feelings are genuine. If only Homelander learnt this skill in the show, he wouldn't have been manipulated by Madelyn Stillwell.

*Back to the present* I was in the locker room when Lyra stood at the door and said "I would like to have a word with James."

The team players smirked at me and left the room. leaving me alone with Lyra Heth, the popular girl of the school. She was from a family that struggled to climb up the corporate ladder. Her father got her into the school in hopes of building connections and helping the family.

Lyra only had her body, which was enough to easily raise tents in young teenagers' pants, but I had seen many women who look way better than her. Lyra had blonde hair with brown eyes and her body was in perfect shape.

Lyra walked towards me as she unbuttoned her shirt and said "James, I had a crush on you ever since you joined the school and I don't think I can hold myself anymore. Even though I know that you have a girlfriend, I am sure I am better than her in everything."

I got up and walked towards her, which made her smile. I walked towards her and she moved back when I got closer to her, till her back was against the wall.

I caught her chin and said "Nice try Lyra, but Kate is better than you in hiding stuff. She does a very good job keeping secrets and hiding stuff. Now stop the camera before you waste any more film."

Lyra had a shocked look on her face before calming down. She said "Fine, even without any recording, you would still want to do it with me, right?" but I was in no mood to have sex with someone who tried to record me having sex to use it against me in the future.

I assume she played the same trick with others as well, but I don't know how she could hide such a huge camera. In my case, she used the locker, but if the location changes, it is difficult to set up a camera secretly.

I was actually holding back from killing her, but let he go because I am still in a good mood. I caught her neck while I pushed her against the wall and said "I don't care if you want to trap boys to get rich, but you should learn that there are some people you shouldn't mess with. You are lucky that I am not in a mood to do anything."

I then pushed Lyra to the side and walked out of the room. Outside the locker room, a malnourished kid with black hair was waiting for me. He is Max Clark, a kid who follows me around everyday. I also quite liked this kid's behaviour. I have noticed that every kid who bullied him, never bullied him again.

He is very good at taking care of people silently. As for me, three kids tried to bully me, but they all ended up on the streets. He liked how I dealt with those bullies and followed me since then.

Max said "It was a good choice to do that. She really thought it would work on you after seeing how intimate you are with Kate. I would prefer you beat her up, but it will allow her to use that against you."

"Forget about that woman. Let's head to the casino. I found another casino where we can go." I said and Max replied "Didn't you say that it's Kate's birthday tomorrow and you have a date with her tonight."

"Yes, but that's at 10 pm. We still have a lot of time." I replied while walking with Max. "Did you think of any gift?" Max asked and I replied "No, I am not good with these gifts, especially when it comes to girls. So, I will just take some flowers with me."

"I feel bad for Kate." Max said and we headed to the casino I found. We had fake identities to get us inside and we both took $10,000 with us. With my powers, winning wasn't difficult. I also loved to play poker, where the dealer would try all the tricks he knew to make me loose while I cheat without getting caught.

We stayed there four hours, till 8 pm and I won $50,000 while Max won $25,000 before we got kicked out. Max went home in his car and I flew home. I went to my room and got ready for the date. I wore a white shirt and white suite.

I flew to the fancy Italian restaurant where I booked a table for us. I picked up a bouquet on the way, paying three times the usual rate since I had to get the florist to make the bouquet while he was having dinner with his family.