Chapter 4 - Winner:

It’s been a while since I woke up so relaxed. The beds in the hero HQ were the softest things in the universe compared to the stone slab back in my old apartment. In fact, everything was way better in the room assigned to me. Lighting and heat levels were controlled by voice commands, I had a little Roomba always making sure everything was sparkling clean, and the room was perfectly sound-proof, meaning no asshole neighbors playing the guitar at two a.m. waking me up. I could get used to this.

First on the schedule for today, a breakfast. I happened to run into Pearl in the cafeteria, so we sat at the same table and chatted a bit more. It was pretty nice.

But uh, anyway, after the meal, it was time for further power testing for us newbies. I found out I had more weaknesses than I thought. First of all, I needed to stand on solid ground to teleport; I couldn’t teleport myself when I was in mid-air. In other words, if I found myself falling to my doom, I was as screwed as anyone else would be.

And if that wasn’t enough, I couldn’t teleport through solid walls, there always had to be an opening. I could, however, teleport through fences, barred entrances, and even through a tiny hole drilled into a wall.

Lastly, the thing I came here for in the first place, the teleporter jammer. It didn’t work on me. Perfect. Just as I thought, my teleport wasn’t really a teleport. I wouldn’t be easily incapacitated but one dumb machine. And unless I got trapped inside an airtight space, I could always escape. That was very good to know.

Other than my own tests, I also stayed around to carefully watch Pearl’s power testing. Her crystals were incredibly durable and she could make a fair amount of them before hitting her limit. Not to mention she had amazing control over their shapes. Good enough to create perfectly fitting armor for herself.

After the power testing, it was already time for lunch. Once again, I found myself seated at the same table as Pearl and chatting with her. It was becoming a habit at this point. I didn’t really mind. She was nice and cute, although a bit ditzy. But that ditziness made her fun to tease.

Uh, stop. Seriously, I needed to stop getting attached. I was planning on stabbing her in the back. I couldn’t get swayed by her adorable personality.

After lunch, just when I thought it would be time for the dreaded paperwork, we were instead guided to an arena to spar with each other. Not what I expected, but I thought of it as an opportunity. I didn’t think I could beat her in a straight fight, but this was the perfect chance to find any possible weak points.

“Alright, Gatekeeper will be the referee. He’ll use his power, so you don’t need to worry about hurting each other,” instructed one of the unpowered staff members. “The fight ends when you surrender, are rendered unconscious, or otherwise unable to fight anymore.”

Both me and Pearl nodded and Gatekeeper positioned himself just outside the circular arena with his arms crossed, observing us. I sized up my opponent and came up with a few ideas on how to take her down while waiting for it to start.

“Begin,” resounded the deep voice.

His voice almost made me freeze, but I shook it off and immediately made my move. I blinked behind Pearl and wound up my fist, aiming for the part of her helmet that let her hair out, in other words, a weak point.

But my fist hit something hard instead and I yelled out in pain. I realized too late that she created a crystal shield between us. And before I could make my next move, I found myself encased inside a sphere of crystal.

I was trapped on all sides. I couldn’t teleport out.

I lost.

I fell on my butt with a sigh just as the crystal shattered and evaporated. It dawned on me just how more versatile and powerful Pearl was. Not to mention, her reaction speed was very impressive.

She walked up to me and held out a hand. I took it and stood up with a sigh.

“Hey, don’t feel bad, Blink!”

“What? You pitying me now?” I shot her an annoyed glance.

“No, I mean, it was actually pretty close! You surprised me there! I only just barely made that shield when I realized you were behind me. One moment late and you would have knocked me out!”

“Sure, sure.” I scratched my head and looked away.

Hitting something that hard with my fist would have broken a few bones in normal circumstances. But with Gatekeeper around, I only felt a bit of pain and suffered no lasting consequences.

After a moment, I turned back at her. “So, round two?”

“Okay!” she cheerfully replied.

I decided to play it differently in the next round. Just as it began, I teleported behind her once again and she instantly put up a shield. Just as planned, I faked her out.

Before she had a chance to turn around, I teleported next to her into a kicking stance and landed my foot right in the seams where her armor plates conjoined. My kick struck true as Pearl let out a cute yelp and toppled.

It wasn’t over, though, she was already getting up. I wouldn’t let her have that chance, however. I teleported right next to her with my foot high up in the air and slammed it down on the back of her unprotected head.

She crumpled and stopped moving. I panicked for a second before remembering we were still inside Gatekeeper’s protective field.

“Blink wins,” our referee simply stated and then walked away.

Several staff members entered the arena and loaded Pearl onto a stretcher… before unloading her in the relaxation room next door onto a couch.

Well, yeah, she wasn’t hurt thanks to Gatekeeper, but she was unconscious regardless. It was impressive that her crystal armor wasn’t dispelled even when she was knocked out.

Right now, she was more or less sleeping. Her cute soft breaths resounded in the otherwise silent room. I couldn’t help but feel she was absolutely adorable like that.

Chapter 5 - Anxiety levels:

As I had already planned, I unmasked to the other heroes. It was all for the sake of gaining trust, and also for the sake of finding out the identities of everyone else since they also unmasked to me in return. That was the kind of information goldmine you couldn’t find anywhere online.

Pearl’s name was April, and jeez, her face was as cute as I imagined it. My ugly mug couldn’t even compare. I felt jealous.

With the unmasking, I could sign the contract with my real name and become an official employee of the Astrith Defenders. It was all fine, though. Once I was done here, I would change my appearance and start a new life under a different name.

From then on, I did my best to integrate myself into the organization. I didn’t want to stand out, after all.

Just as Monarch mentioned in the interview, most of my workday consisted of physical training, practicing my powers, and helping test devices. The paperwork wasn’t even all that bad either. A lot of the inventions I wrote the reports on were quite interesting, in fact. Like the voice modulating choker. What would I have given to have that a few years ago?

Uh, anyway. Other than that, I had my costume upgraded. The cheap balaclava changed to a heat-insulated mask, I got some gauntlets and hard shoes, and the rest of my body was covered in light armor. I was a force to be reckoned with now.

But, well, I didn’t need to be. Whenever there was an emergency requiring a superhero, someone else was sent out. Us newbies stayed at the base.

I couldn’t say it was boring, however. The devices we tested were cool, the sparring sessions were exhilarating, and I was quickly becoming friends with April.

Which… was bad. Whenever I thought about betraying her, my stomach curled itself into a knot. Maybe she would go villain with me if I asked her…?

---------

It happened when we were having a casual conversation.

“But they kept the photo anyway!” She was showing me her photo on her ID card. The April in the photo looked like she was about to sneeze, it was kind of adorable. “Honestly, next time I go take a photo for my ID, I’ll make sure to first get over my cold.”

I giggled, imagining April protesting against keeping a photo like this.

“What about you? I bet you look super charming in your photo!”

“Nah, I look as ugly as ever... look.” I casually pulled out my own ID card and handed it over.

“You’re too harsh on yourself! You look great in this photo!” I scratched my cheek awkwardly. It felt nice to be complimented. “Hmm? Wait... M?” April suddenly looked very confused.

M? What M? What was she…? Oh, OH NO!

I snatched the ID card out of her hands and hit it away from view. But it was too late, the damage had already been done.

I felt the anxiety creep up on me as April stared at me, bewildered.

“Nina… you’re a man?” Those words stung more than I thought they would.

“N...no… I’m not!” Without thinking, I shot out of my seat and teleported across the room to the door. I wrenched it open and kept teleporting until I reached my room and locked myself inside.

I walked a few weak steps and collapsed on my bed.

Why had I done that? Why hadn’t I stayed and explained it to her? Surely, she would have understood. April wasn’t like my parents or my former friends. She wasn’t like the officials who wouldn’t let me change that dumb letter from M to F on my ID.

Or was she? I didn’t know, and that’s why I ran. Back then, I’d thought mom would understand as well, and had paid for it. Back then, I’d been convinced my best friend would hear me out without laughing, and I had paid for it.

I had only known April for a few weeks, and more importantly, I planned on betraying her. There was no way I could trust her, was there? No, running away was the right option.

A knock on the door jerked me from my thoughts. A soft voice resounded right afterward. “Nina? Are you inside?”

I didn’t respond. I wanted her to go away. I needed to distance myself from her. It wasn’t good that we were becoming friends. I was planning on betraying her, after all.

“Bill said he saw you enter your room… please, just answer Nina.”

Why was she still talking? Why wouldn’t she go away?

“I’m sorry… I was just surprised. But it doesn’t change anything for me. I want to be your friend whether you’re a woman or a man.”

“I’m not a man!” I automatically yelled out.

“S...sorry… I’m sorry… I didn’t want to upset you...” She sniffed.

Why was she crying? What was wrong with her?!

“I… I want to get to know you better… it must have been hard, right? People thinking you are a man… nobody ever trying to understand.”

Those words slipped through my defensive shell. I stood up and wobbled to the door, facing it.

“What do you… even know...?”

“My… my sister is the same. Everyone insisted she was a boy… even I did...” She sniffed again. “I… I’ve said some things… done some things I regret. But… I’m trying to understand more now. Please… would you give me a chance?”

It was so weird, so unusual. Normally, it was me trying to find the courage to explain it to others… only to be called delusional or a freak. But she… was begging me to help her understand?

I reached out and unlocked the door, trepidation creeping all over me. When I opened the door a crack, I saw April standing there. I had no idea what to say.

“So… friends?” She smiled and extended her hand toward me.

I hesitated. The last time I called someone a friend, they stabbed me in the back when I needed support the most. I was prepared to always be on my own. That’s why I planned on going villain, that’s why I intended on betraying the heroes.

But I knew that I didn’t want to be alone. It was just scary to open up to someone again. Would I risk it? Would it be worth it? Would April toss me aside once I stopped fulfilling her expectations?

I couldn’t help but fear the possibility. Sure, I had told her quite a bit about me already, but all of those were just facts. I’d never truly let her see the real me inside this whole protective shell. That’s what scared me so much.

But I didn’t want to be alone anymore. Maybe I was making a mistake, but I eventually took her hand and whispered, “Okay.”

We enjoyed a silent hug afterward.

Chapter 6 - Attitude:

Even though I told myself I would open up to April and try being a friend again, part of me remained to be vary. I’d been conditioned to expect betrayal too much.

Which was why every time April appeared kind and supportive, it made me feel guilty I was suspecting she would turn on me. Especially since I had been the one planning on doing that up until recently.

Speaking of which, I couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t want to go villain at this point. Not just April, everyone was nice to me. The whole point was to live comfortably as a supervillain on my own without anyone around to stab me in the back… but I’d come to realize that I was already satisfied with how my life was going as a hero. And more importantly, I didn’t want to be alone anymore.

I was content. Nobody needed to know what my initial intention was, and with time, even I would forget about it.

But it seemed like fate had different plans for me.

One day, when I was wandering around the base in my civvies, I came face to face with Monarch again.

“Hello there.” Her predatory smile unnerved me.

“Uh, hi.”

“It’s been nearly a month since you joined us. How are you finding the hero work?” She began walking and I followed her without a second thought.

“It’s been alright. A lot less stressful than I thought it would be.”

“That’s good! I’m glad you’re enjoying the time here.” We walked inside an office as we talked. She locked the door behind her. “It’s a lot better than going villain, isn’t it?”

That sentence made me doubletake.

“I… uh… I wasn’t a villain, so I don’t know.”

Only now had I realized we hadn’t walked into an office, but an empty room padded with steel plates on all sides. There were other heroes stationed around the room, including Pearl.

I stopped in my tracks. Something wasn’t right.

“Sure, you weren’t. But it was pretty close, wasn’t it?” Her expression reminded me of a cat who just caught its prey.

I completely froze. She knew.

“We don’t take kindly to heroes who go rogue, you know?” Began walking around the room, as I continued to stare at the spot she just left. I began to shiver.

“I… I…”

“It was a pretty big risk I took back then. Purposefully letting in someone who planned on going villain? I must have been crazy.” She put a hand on my shoulder from behind, making a chill go down my spine.

My thoughts were stuck, I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t dare to look up and face the other heroes either. Especially not Pearl.

“But hey, it worked out in the end, didn’t it?” She leaned closer while still leaving the hand on my shoulder. “Or? Are you still planning on backstabbing us for your own benefit?”

“That’s… no… I…” The words got caught up in my throat.

She leaned even closer and whispered into my ear, “Just like they did to you?”

Those words stabbed through me like a sharp knife. I fell on my knees as tears began pouring out.

I was the worst, wasn’t I? I was about to become the type of person I despised. I was planning on hurting someone the same way they hurt me.

I hugged myself, still not daring to look up. “I… I’m sorry…”

The terrifying woman crouched down and put a hand on my head. “Nina,” she said in a much softer voice.

I finally gathered up the courage to look up and met her eyes. They were no longer the eyes of a vicious predator and instead had a soft glint to them.

“You know… while I don’t take kindly to traitors… I also believe in second chances.” She gave me a warm smile. “I allowed you to join us because you didn’t strike me as an inherently bad person… just misguided.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Say,” she continued. “You’ve been eyeing one of the inventions for a long time now. One that could help you with a certain problem of yours.” She put a hand on my shoulder again, this time, it felt much less intimidating. “Would you like to use it?”

I knew what she was referring to. The body modification device, the one I planned on stealing when I betrayed them. But… could I just use it? For some reason, I hadn’t even thought about that. Like it was off-limits. Like I had to steal it to make use of it.

I hung my head as more tears poured out. “Y-yes… please…” I whispered.

---------

I took a deep breath. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I was expecting something to go wrong at any moment. For one of the heroes to whack me over the head and arrest me, for the device to malfunction and explode, for the hero base to suddenly be attacked by an army of villains…

None of that happened though.

“Feel free to enter whenever you’re ready,” said Molecula, the inventor heroine who created the machine in front of me.

I glanced at the human-sized pod and remembered all of the crazy plans I had for actually stealing such a heavy object, but shook those thoughts away. I wouldn’t be stealing it anymore, I didn’t need to.

I reached to my back and unzipped the hospital gown I was wearing. It fell to the floor and I found myself naked. A wave of anxiety hit me as I entered the pod and the door closed behind me. I didn’t have claustrophobia, but this was very scary. I was at the mercy of Molecula. With a press of the button, she could turn me into a blob, or make me even uglier, if she wanted to.

I took a few deep breaths, reminding myself that it was just my paranoid mind starting up again.

“Alright, are you ready?” I heard the speaker inside the pod talk.

I jerkily nodded my head and said, “Yes.”

“Don’t freak out. The pod is going to slowly fill up and you’ll lose consciousness. When you wake up, you should be a new woman!” the speaker chirped.

“Okay,” I whispered as I shut my eyes tight.

As promised, something began to fill the pod. My feet were soon stuck in a gelatinous substance and it was quickly rising to engulf me whole. At the same time, my nose picked up a sweet smell.

This was it. The last waking moment of my old life. The next time I would wake up, I would start a new life.

I took one last deep breath and then blacked out.

Epilogue:

CW: References to mind manipulation

“There’s still one thing I don’t understand… why didn’t you just use your mind control to discourage the betrayal directly?” the man clad in bright green armor asked.

“I keep telling you, it’s not mind-control. It’s closer to hypnosis. I can’t make others do something they wouldn’t do themselves. I can only give them suggestions, nudge them in a certain direction,” Monarch answered.

The man shook his head. “You make it sound very unimpressive, but the fact is that you turned a potential threat into a reliable ally. She won’t be betraying us anytime soon.”

Monarch sighed. “You always talk about it as if people were disposable chess pieces. I just wanted to help, you know? The fact that she’s so dedicated to hero work now is a neat bonus.”

“There’s more to it, isn’t there?”

“Well, maybe…” Monarch’s eyes narrowed as she looked away. “I guess I thought of it as a way to atone. Preventing someone else from going down the dark path. Helping them find themselves. It’s the kind of help I would have appreciated all those years ago myself.”

The man shook his head again. “If the media found out you were this softie, they would have a field day with it.”

“Heh… I’m sure they would.” She smirked.

“So, anyway. How is she doing now?”

“Well, she’d shown us the full extent of her powers since then. It’s more impressive than I first thought. She can toss a heavy piece of rubble without even lifting it.”

“So, superstrength?”

“Not really, she flings it away with her power, she just has to touch it.”

“Hrm… is that what you learned from her helping during that arson incident?”

Monarch nodded. “It was her first real mission as a hero, and she saved a lot of lives there. By teleporting out individuals and clearing the rubble to allow passage. I think she was quite proud of herself.”

The man nodded. “And the other newbie? How is she doing?”

“Oh, she’s on her way to becoming a respectable hero as well. And, well… those two have already become best friends… maybe even something more than that.”

He sighed. “The youngsters and their love shenanigans. Well, at least they are eager about their work.”

“Always so serious… Just let them enjoy their youth.”

“Whatever you say.” The man shrugged and left the room.

Monarch kept sitting there and thought back on the whole situation. The trucker calling in and telling them about a girl he almost ran over; The investigation she ran on said girl; The postponing of Pearl’s initiation, waiting for Blink to enlist. It was all hard work, and she didn’t do anything flashy, but that didn’t matter to Monarch.

For her, it was another job well done as a hero.