Chapter one

I'm a superhero.

Yeah, I know, isn't that supposed to be a secret thing? Well, to the public it is, but I just thought you'd like to be privy to that. In my normal life I'm a loser. It isn't really that bad, it just means that nobody suspects my secret. I go to school like any other kid, and I talk to one person, mainly.

My best friend. She's a loser too, but I think she deserves to be cool. She is cool, but nobody knows 'cause she's shy.

Sometimes we hang around with a group, but I don't consider us to be part of their group. We tend to sit separately at lunch and in classes.

Anyway, not even my best friend knows about my secret life. I'm not sure she would believe it if I told her.

I mean, everyone thinks Assassin Insect is a sexy-badass genius. Imagine if they realized he was a highschool senior who got his hands on some tech and made weapons with it.

My weapons? Glad you asked, journal!

Made with a bunch of random junk I found and stole, I have twin swords, shurikans, and a signal in the antennae of my costume that disorients and sometimes concusses my enemies. The swords are actually dull, but they send out electrical signals to stun people. Same with the shurikans. And we can't forget the wings!

Especially considering they took so long to make and still aren't quite finished. I've been working on them since Freshman year, but I still can't quite figure out how to make them quieter, and sometimes they short out in the air. Which is when I'm greatful that I installed a parachute.

Most important is my power, the thing that inspired my entire alter ego. Echolocation. An Assasin Insect lures spider's by making the same vibrations as prey on plants and webs. I echolocate by sending silent vibrations out, and if I'm not careful, I can throw out an earthquake level vibration.

Which is why I don't use my power unless very necessary. Like when Decayance, my rival, kidnapped me and I had to use it to escape a dark compound. It wasn't hard to escape and bring reinforcements.

Ah, I have to go! I'm at school!

-

I step off the bus, shoving my composition notebook in my backpack as Caitlin appears at my side. Caitlin is like my school sidekick, as my steady best friend. She worries that it bothers me to have her around but I do get lonely without her.

"How was the weekend?" I ask as we walk into the building.

"Ah, boring. I just drew."

Caitlin doesn't realize how great her art is, which bothers me sometimes.

"We could have hung out if you texted me."

She gives me a small smile. "You're usually busy when I ask. I didn't want to bother you."

I sigh. "You wouldn't bother me, C."

Unfortunately, we have to go to seperate classes. I swear, school is so boring. Except this is my class with Chester Copely. I wouldn't say I have a crush on him, because if everyone in the world does, it just counts as admiration.

I admire Chester. From afar, usually, but in this class my seat is right beside his. I could scream every time he walks in and sits by me. I'm always here before him.

And there he is, after the preppy kids and before the Rebels and Emos. With the popular kids. Despite how his popular friends wear colorful fabrics and accessories, Chester's always wearing simple attire.

Black jeans and a shirt that's either black or white. I've only seen him in one shirt with a different color, and that's just the pocket, which had grey and dark red on it. Today he's wearing a white dress shirt with the cuffs and collar black, and the hem of the two breast pockets.

He sits down, I look away.

I'm just wearing an army green tee-shirt and grey cargo pants. Lots of pockets. Oh, and also my customary grey bomber jacket. I'm an aesthetic boy sometimes.

I peek at Chester from the corner of my eye, he's talking to a friend in the seat behind him, turned completely around straddling his chair and leaned onto their desk. I think the cutest thing about Chester is that he forgets about personal space when he has a conversation. It isn't creepy with him, because you know he doesn't mean to.

The lesson starts, so he turns around. I focus on the lesson as well, because this is Math and I quite like Math. It's helpful when I build my own weapons.

"Hey, do you have a pencil?" Chester asks.

I force myself to stay calm and pass him a pencil from my bag, an unchewed one, and get back to work, only glancing at him.

"Thanks, Rizaldo," He says.

He knows my name! I mean, I hate my name so I use a nickname, but it's cool that he knows my name!

"Just call me Rizzy," I whisper, looking at him as I write.

He smiles, winks, and turns back to the lesson. Instead of swooning---I figure blushing is enough embarrassment---I turn back to the teacher and ask her if she saw that with my eyes.

She doesn't answer. I guess I'm not telepathic. Equations are better than telepathy, though, so I write those down.

When class is over, Chester hands me back my pencil.

"Thanks, Rizzy."

I think of asking how he's going to manage other classes without a pencil, but by the time my brain catches up he's already started walking away. Perfect. I can't wait to tell Caitlin!

I hurry to my next class, and slide into the seat beside her, grinning. I wait for her to ask why.

"Bro, what's up?"

"I spoke to Chester!"

She looks confused for a moment, then nods. "The guy you like."

"Yes, Caitlin, him. He's like the most popular guy in our school?

She shrugs, and I smile. One of the best things about Caitlin is that she doesn't think about status. I wouldn't say she doesn't worry, because she's told me that she's always thinking that everyone is judging her. 

But most people like Caitlin.

-

It's the middle of Family Dinner Night when I get the text. From my burner, where all the emergency calls for Assassin come. I instantly tell my family I have a headache and head to my room to 'sleep it off.'

I check the text.

Emergency meeting at The Guild of Heroes. I pull on my suit, arm myself, and hurry there. In my car, because I don't want my wings to bust out and for me to be stranded. I get to the base quickly, and head inside. Everyone is there, so I guess I'm late.

"Assassin, glad you could join us," Juno says.

He's the current leader of the Guild while the real leader, Tiger, is away healing from a big fight. And Juno hates me. I'd say he's my hero rival. You have a hero rival, just a trivial jealousy thing where you don't really want anything bad to happen to them, and then you have a villain rival. Some of us don't, it's usually the higher ranking, more popular heroes who end up with villain rivals.

Villain rivals aren't something you choose. I never wanted one, but a lot of these criminals get obsessive when someone messes up their plans, and Decayance is one of those types. Not only is he evil, he's also infuriating. Not just because he's insane, but because he's so cocky.

He doesn't even get angry when you foil his plans, he's STILL sure that the next one will be better! Even when I easily get rid of the stuff he summons, he's just having a great time and cracking jokes. It makes you feel a great need to hate him.

But in the Guild, we don't hate anyone, or at least we don't act on it. I never hated people anyway, so that mindset wasn't hard to get into.

Anyway, I sit down beside my friend Water Strider. He hasn't been doing this long, but he's a real up and comer, and he's getting popular fast. He said I was an inspiration to him! Can you believe that? Me, an inspiration! He even chose his theme to match mine. (We're both bugs!) He's one of the ones who mainly uses his ability, which is Hydrokineses. Control of water.

Cooler than Echolocation that can shake the world.

"Now that the Prince has decided he could make it," Juno huffs, "We've got news that the villains are orchestrating an attack."

Everyone stops talking and waits to hear more.

"Rumors are that they're pairing up in twos and each group is attacking a different place in the city. Now, if they pair well, this could be catastrophic. There will be no backup when we go in to take them down. Here are the suspected pairings," He passes back a stack of papers.

When I get one, immediately my eyes drop to Decayance. He's paired with Sparky. Not good for me. Sparky may be young, but her power is control of electricity, which I rely on to get rid of the summonings of Decayance.

"Don't look so worried. I'm sure you can handle it," Strider whispers, smiling encouragingly.

I smile back to reassure him, and turn back to the front as Juno starts again.

"I've decided we might as well use the same strategy as them. I'll choose partners for each of you according to strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Strider would be paired with someone strong," He says.

"Don't be so snide, it doesn't suit you," I snap instantly, glaring at him.

Mock me, that's fine. But my friends? Don't try it.

Juno rolls his eyes. "I'm sure he knows I'm kidding. Strider could be paired with someone who has electronic powers or someone who can also use water related things. I'm not sure if we have any, though."

People start looking around, considering who they could be paired with. I start trying to think of anyone who could A) incapacitate Sparky or B) destroy Decayance's monstrosities while I focus on Sparky. Obviously, Water Strider couldn't come, because of how Sparky could take advantage of his water.

Of course, Juno takes control of the room again, clapping his hands to regain our focus. He starts listing off names.

"Assassin is with Dusty...."

Dusty? Not anyone I remotely expected. He can control earth, but it isn't a strong control. He usually can only move little particles, which is why he's called Dusty. I try to think of any way he could help, but of course none comes to mind.

Well, at least he doesn't just have his power. He also uses a tranquilizer gun and poisonous powders. The poison is similar to chloroform. We aren't killers here.

Dusty approaches me, and sticks out his hand for a shake. I decline, his hand is kind of dirty.

"Oh, sorry, I was gardening. So, we're going for Decayance and Sparky?"

"Yeah. You'll have to go for Sparky, she'll disable my weapons and I'm not sure poison works on Decayance's..."

"Demons?" He supplies.

I wince. "I don't like calling them that, but sure."

"Aren't you worried about Juno's Intel being wrong? What if Decayance is paired with someone even more powerful? Like their leader."

I shiver. The leader of the villains almost seems like some wives tale. Nobody knows his power, or his name, because nobody survives to tell. I'm not sure I even believe it.

"I hope it's not wrong. I'd prefer familiar powers any day. At least I know Decayance's brand of evil."

"Why do you bother going after him anyway? I swear, I don't get the rival thing," Dusty says.

"Because I know better than anyone how to beat him. Zap the monsters, buzz his brain or wait for him to run. Easy, in and out, and I only need assistance when there's a lot of monsters," I shrug.

It really does feel that easy sometimes. It gets harder when he's summoning while I'm trying to knock him out, I really have to focus. The device I made to knock people out is difficult to operate, and it needs to be done carefully, or else I'd knock myself out.

Now, with the addition of Sparky, I would be forced to use my powers in some way, were I alone. And that doesn't end well when I use them in combat. The only option is to stomp and hope they fall over, unless you want me to break something.

If I use all my strength, it could open a crack and swallow them up, but I avoid that. It's messy, and could become fatal easily. Plus that power is an Ace card, nobody knows about it. Or my echolocation, really. I just pretend I don't have a power. Just my gadgets.

Thankfully, Dusty's tranquilizers can take care of Sparky as soon as we hit the scene.  If he has good aim, at least. I sigh.

"So, we're going to deal with Decayance and Sparky, then go help the others with the more difficult villains, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," Dusty says, "Jeez, I feel like the Robin to your Batman right now."

"Let's not get the sidekick tropes started. Look, I have to get back home. See you when the villains strike?"

He nods, and I try to head out, only for Juno to block the way. Great, now he wants to talk to me I guess.

"Hey, you know I didn't mean what I said about Strider, right?" Juno asks.

"Yeah, okay. Maybe you should be telling him that."

He looks down at his feet. This guy wears legitimate light up shoes. LED.

"I did."

"Dude, what's the matter with you? Aren't you usually a jerk to me? Are you okay? Do you have a concussion?" He can tell I'm teasing, pushing away my hand as I wave it in front of his eyes.

"I'm fine. But you know, if the villains manage to take over the city, I want to have a clean conscience."

I sigh. "They won't take over. We've handled them before, haven't we?"

He shakes his head. "Not like this. And not to this caliber without Tiger."

"We can handle ourselves without him. Me and Dusty already have a plan for Decayance and Sparky, and if that's not the pairing, I can handle his monsters easily!" I give him a thumbs up.

I don't feel it, though. Why did I start doing this, anyway?

Justice, Rizzy, justice.

"This is one of the reasons I can't stand you! You're always acting like everything's peachy-keen, like there's no way we could die! You have no sense of your own mortality!" Juno shouts.

I glance around. All the others have left already, so his outburst won't be so important.

"Look, I am well aware of mortality," We could die at any second, I try not to dwell on that, "But really, positivity is no reason to despise me!"

He glares at me.

"You're so idiotic. You don't realize anything that goes on! Clueless!"

Juno storms out, and I sigh, leaning against the wall.

Well, now at least I know part of why Juno hates me. God, I miss Tiger. Especially with such a giant problem. I know he'd be here if he could.