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Retired Villain
Chapter 26 - Adeptly Inept

Chapter 26 - Adeptly Inept

Ben sat on the side of the field, barely engaged in the game his team was playing. They were sparring with a group of animal-type super humans, two of whom were animals ingrained to fear fire which Katherine was abusing, but Ben was waiting for the villains to make their play. It had been almost a full hour since he found them, and their speed meant they should have already popped out of the ground. He'd retracted his sight just so he wasn't too prepared for their arrival, but he was starting to question whether they were planning to hit the fair during the day. They were mole people, so nighttime would definitely benefit them.

As a zebra centaur crushed Gary's fortifications, Ben considered activating his watch. He was very careful not to put too much focus on his wrist gadget, aware that he was being videotaped for the fair's promotional video. If he could pretend to check it, away from the camera on top of the stands, maybe he could see what was taking these mole degenerates so long to invade.

Ben glanced up at the stands for the hundredth time, looking just below the skyline where a booth had been set up near the top bleachers containing the commentators and the professional hero. He was keeping a close eye on everything, but the hero behind the stained glass was bothering him more and more. She was one of the heavy hitters, even though she couldn't hit very hard, but her presence bothered Ben to the point of bringing upon his nervous habit of face-touching. His fingers had dug into his eyes so many times, they were starting to get irritated.

Was she here because of the diggers underground? Was it just a celebrity stunt? Was the Hero Association expecting something? Was she just on watch for any villains?

Was she here for him?

All of these factors and unknowns swirled as thoughts in the whirlpool of his mind, until he noticed the grass on the field jiggling slightly.

'They're here,' he thought, fighting off a smile as he prepared the act he'd prepared.

Ben looked left and right, he scanned the crowd on the opposite bleachers, then stood up and turned on the bleachers behind him. He kicked the ground a few times, then asked Stanley who was sitting out, "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Stanley replied.

"The ground is shaking," Ben clarified.

Stanley set his feet firmly on the ground and allowed his feet to feel for Ben's ground shaking.

"Something's shaking the ground," Stanley confirmed, and Ben took that as reason enough to shout at the referee.

"TIMEOUT!" he shouted, crossing his arms in an 'X' over his head in the universal sign to stop. "TIMEOUT! TIMEOUT!"

The ref blew a whistle and jogged his jelly rolls over to Ben's bench to see what was wrong.

"The ground's shaking," Ben stated, nudging the dirt with his shoe tip, "I think someone with a ground power might be interfering."

The ref grimaced at the situation, looking at the crowd to see if anyone was obvious about using their ability. Then he doubted Ben's words, because he couldn't quite feel the subtle vibrations with his meaty feet. He kept an eye on the game while leaning into his radio and calling in Ben's report of the ground shaking. The line-referees and even the announcers took a moment to feel the ground and confirm the report.

One of the line refs, who had cockroach antlers, called back almost immediately, "I feel something. The ground is definitely shaking."

The main ref sighed, then blew his whistle exceptionally hard. He kept it going until the game and most of the stands had paused to look at him. He grabbed the radio, turned it to a specific station, then announced of the PA system, "Could the superhuman with earth powers please stop interfering with the game."

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As the ref's words reverberated through the hastily constructed stadium, the ground movement became more noticeable, and even began to shake the stands.

"Whoever is doing this," the ref said through the PA, "if you don't stop, charges will be pressed and you will be escorted from the stadium."

Ben waved at his team on the field, "Get over here! Get! Over! Here!"

"What is it?" Garrett asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Ben lied, "but I have a bad feeling about this."

The Jefferson High Hero team quickly walked over to the sideline and stepped off the field, with the opposing coach copying Ben's idea as the tremble became a shake. The bleachers started to visibly wobble back and forth, stressing the joints as their foundations moved against their will. People started to get the idea that something was wrong, a few of them having the foresight to get off the wiggling stadium stands.

It wasn't until the ground really started heaving things around, tipping over trash cans and unsecured drinks, that a siren rang out for a potential villain attack. It was a long not that rose and fell in volume, similar to an air raid siren. The crowds panicked, running off the bleachers as the announcers tried to convince the crowds to remain calm and leave in an orderly fashion.

The quaking ground suddenly bulged in the middle of the playing field, so Ben grabbed his team and dragged them away, intending for everyone to run away. Gary, Garrett, Katherine, Stanley, and Michael were too shocked to deny the authority of their coach, so they started to run away as the clamoring of a god-awful machine breached the soil and sucked nearby air into a deep, dark hole. The whole team was already on the other side of the bleachers as the infernal contraption collapsed onto one of the stands, eliciting screams from the fleeing citizenry.

Ben didn't care about the whole situation, his only duty was to get his team to safety.

What did concern him was the hero waiting in the announcer's box and how woefully unprepared the security was for the sudden attack. There was one, singular professional hero, and she wasn't even a direct attack hero. Sure, she could handle her own, but her power was healing.

Ben made sure his team all linked hands, then he pulled them into a crowd around the parking lot as he joined the mass of fleeing bystanders. He was focused on the van and how to get there while leading a line of kids, but he noticed Katherine looking back at the earth-moving mechanical monstrosity as it partially chewed through the bleachers on their team's side of the field. Screams could be heard in that direction, from desperate escapees and those unfortunate enough to be trapped by the mining equipment.

"KEEP YOUR ARMS LOCKED!" Ben shouted behind him to be heard over the mob. "DON'T LET GO! WE'LL MAKE IT TO THE VAN!"

The mosh pit people around him were not making this easy, but the determined councilman was not about to be the mayoral candidate who lost a kid during a villain attack. He struggled his way between cars and around trucks, fighting towards a van at the back of the parking lot. He could already see people in their cars trying to bump their way through the squishy humans. He was amazed people were insistent on using the designated exit rather than mowing down a few rows of corn, but panicking wasn't a good way to think through a problem.

Ben ground his teeth when Michael suddenly turned invisible, but he was at the end of the line, outside of Ben's supposed 'circle of sight'. Ben had to naturally look back and check on the kids, pretending to just now see no Michael.

"MICHAEL!" Ben screamed, his voice cracking as if stress was overwhelming him.

The invisible kid turned visible, and Ben yelled at him, "DON'T DO THAT! THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"

But he knew it wasn't a joke. Michael had turned invisible so he could turn his head and look at the villain situation, considering his options. Of all people Michael would have the worst time against those mole jerks. They weren't reliant on their sight, so invisibility was almost pointless.

He dragged his team to the van and scrambled a bit to unlock the doors as panicked screamers bumped past everyone. He hit the unlock, then screamed at everyone to get in. He ran around to driver's side, only to see Michael turn invisible and break away from the group.

"MICHAEL!" Ben shouted, getting out of the drivers seat, only to pause as he had technically 'lost' the invisible kid. "FUCK!"

The latino teen ran back towards the moles, his practice at dodging while invisible helping him to get through the crowd.

Ben opened the driver's door and pointed to Katherine in the passenger's seat, "Get everyone out of here! I'm going to get Michael. I swear if I see you turn around-!"

The former supervillain stopped himself before he made a threat that would oust him as a supervillain.

"JUST GO!" Ben shouted, then he ran back into the last few stragglers getting to safety.