The sewers of Mal are a great place to hide from . . . well anything. Its maze-like structure with no lights but the subtle glow of the rare glowing moss, the rats that sometimes wander anyway from the Underpass, the toxic winds that randomly blow from its depths, and most importantly the gunpowder gators and a napalm bear.

It's not something you chase someone into without being prepared nor would anyone want to look for someone in it. So it is a great place to hide but only if you are prepared. Luckily Marionette is always prepared or at least it likes to think it is. It wasn't prepared to be busted out of the star room or have to follow them on its small wooden feet while they were riding a bike. Okay, it didn't have to follow them but it did because . . . well it had its reason.

Anyways, the Marionette was down in the sewers for two reasons. One it is a walking call to the Hero Center and two it needs the gunpowder from the gators if it wants its their plan to work. The plan was quite simple gather heart shards from the beast of an Ice Heart, get the slightly stronger than normal gunpowder from the gators, and steal some steel from a construction yard that was reinforced by some hero.

As for what they would be used fo- a small boom interrupted Marionette's thoughts. Looking at the sludge that some would call sewer water there was a brief glimpse of sliver scales. Maronette being prepared grabbed the white square with what looked like a 1980s version of a ray gun. The tiny tattoo on its body left and jumped to Marionette's left hand enlarging to a normal sheet of paper.

Marionette let part of its power go. It rampaged through the paper inspecting every inch before turning the paper to ashes that quickly scattered to an unfelt wind. What was left behind was a 3D version of the ray gun Marionette drew. It had reserves about firing a ray gun at what might be a random piece of steel so it kicked a small pebble it found right at where the lump was.

When the pebble hit the water nothing happened for a second then a burst of flame broke the surface of the sludge followed by fast-moving pieces of shrapnel. Marionette nodded its tiny wooden head it was definitely a gunpowder gator. The next problem was how was it supposed to get it to the surface there was no way it was going to take random shots at it and Marionette only had a few more drawings.

It carefully set down the ray gun and began looking for a large rock. Finding one didn't take long and right next to it was the other thing it needed. It was a well-known fact (even if you were trapped in a room for a few years) that gunpowder gators have sensitive hearing but it is not because they evolved to live without light but instead, they use their super sensitive hearing to hear the frequency it uses to blow up its gunpowder.

An evolutionary trait that came after the technically powered evolutionary trait of being able to produce gunpowder from nothing. It was weird that they still labeled it as a technically powered trait because they weren't completely sure it was powered but if a sewerage gator can somehow make gunpowder from whatever is in the sewer then people should stop putting whatever they are putting in the sewers.

Marionette slammed the piece of scrap iron down onto the boulder size (to it) rock. When the bang rang out a hulking 6-foot-long sliver gator breached the sludge straight at the opposite side the sound came from. Marionette rolled to its ray gun only to slip on the now sludge-covered concrete. It slid a good foot away from its ray gun. Lucky for it because it blew up from getting wet.

Marionette reached for another piece of stored paper but before it could the sliver gator opened its giant mouth heaving out pieces of sharp metal. It quickly put the metal back in its mouth while a fleshly wall formed before its throat stopping the metal. Black gray powder began to fall from the roof of its mouth then it tilted its head back letting all the powder fall between the gap in the pieces of metal. Its teeth retracted into its gums while its mouth took a more rounded tighter shape.

Finally, with a brief flash of flame, the gunpowder ignited and the scrap metal became a tight wall of shrapnel unlike the shotgun spread it used on its first shot. In those six seconds of preparing to fire a shot Marionette it had used its power on another piece of paper it drew on. A round metal shield that covered its full body was in both hands. It struggled to hold it up but it did and soon it was bombarded with pounds of metal.

The clang of metal on metal rang through the echo-prone tunnel shortly followed by a boom that could be heard from three miles within the sewers.

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Myra was happy not excited but happy. She got her lifelong dream superpowers and better yet she might soon join a group of powered individuals. Today was great was the only thought in her mind while on her walk to class. When she got there she was almost instantly thrown out of her trance by the yelling of her strict teacher about being a fraction of a second late.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The fact that it was a hero ethics class only made it worse because soon the yelling turned into a lesson that the whole class learned a week ago. One which Myra promptly ignored because she had better things to do. After all, she just got her superpower and she has to learn them before she accidentally hurts someone with them.

She had unsummoned the script on her way to class because she got a pounding headache from reading the masked boy's mumble. It didn't do anything for her headache but it kept her from reading something else that would make the headache worse. She was confused why reading the boy's mumble caused such a bad headache but it was a fact she was glad to learn. Just like the fact that after unsummoning the script she couldn't summon it back for some time.

She doesn't know the exact time yet but since she still couldn't summon it after getting to class so she might have to wait awhile. It made her a little mad at herself for unsummoning it but she soon realized that she still didn't know if others can see it. If they can then her run as a villain would have been instantly be over if she didn't unsummon it

At the thought of villain, she began to wonder if she really wanted to be one. The answer she immediately found was yes. The running from the cops and heroes would be fun. The scheming of robbing would be enjoyable. Seeding chaos would entertain her. She wanted to be a villain. How ironic a villain having an "A" in a hero ethics class.

A bell echoed throughout the school and Mrya got up and began walking to the next class. Before she got there the intercom came to life, "Umm . . . do not panic or get excited but we have an aggressive Ice Heart so we have called the Hero Center to take care of it. As of now, no one is allowed in the auditorium and no we are not evacuating."

For a second Myra's heart pounded in her chest but she soon calmed down as she realized there are no cameras in the auditorium and there is no way they are bringing an investigative hero to take care of an Ice Heart. But maybe they did what would she do then? She continued on her way to class while thinking of ways to leave school.

When she got to the metal doorway to her next class a sound of pen on paper rang out in her mind. Thinking it was her power returning she tried to grasp the sound but before she could someone tapped on her shoulder. Stiffly she turned around to face who tapped her and maybe take off running depending on who it was.

She relaxed a bit when she saw it was the boy in the mask without the mask and proper clothes on. As for how she could tell he just felt the same as the boy in the mask. The boy leaned in right past her face and whispered, " I am leaving. I am not taking the chance they don't send Hat. You should come."

Myra didn't know who Hat was but the name alone felt strong. Now that she thought about it she didn't really know many of the local superheroes especially the ones on the MHC rooster. For an aspiring villain, it was quite bad so she resolved to fix it quickly when she got home if she didn't get caught.

Myra nodded and the boy walked off without another word with Myra trailing behind. After four minutes of sneaking around the carpeted hallways of the school, they reached an exit. The metal double doors opened without a sound and they walked out. After getting a few feet away from the school Myra said, "Where are we going?"

"To an abandoned house a mile from here."

"Why?"

"It's today's meeting spot."

"For?"

The boy stopped on his heels and turned around to stare down Myra. Myra flitched for half a second before returning the stare. "Listen I don't trust you I only invited you because I felt bad for getting you into my mess so stop asking questions and find out when we get there."

With a huff, Myra responded, "Fine." The rest of the trip passed in relative silence. That was fine for Myra she passed the time with her thoughts. Mainly who they were meeting. Luckily she didn't have to guess much longer because they were at the house. It was a lonely thing not another house in sight. Its white paint had long since chipped and faded away. Every part of the house had cracks even the columns that held the overhang in front of the front door.

The whole thing screamed will collapse any second but the boy walked in with no hesitation so Myra followed. Inside all the walls had been torn down only leaving the framework to hold up the roof. Where the living room might have been were three wooden chairs, the kind you would put together yourself, sitting in a circle.

The boy took the farthest one from the door while Myra took the closest one. Five minutes of silence pass before something happened. The soft clack of wood on wood echoed into the skeleton of a house. Myra turned around in her seat to face the door but she saw nothing. Then the sound got closer so she looked down more and saw it.

A wooden drawing model walking by itself towards the last chair. Myra rubbed her eyes and squinted at it then turned to the boy. He nodded yes and did nothing more like that explained everything. When the model got closer Myra realized there was something in its fingerless hands. A clear orb filled halfway with a gray powder.

"What is that?" Myra asked.

"The pouch of a gunpowder gator."

Myra went slack jaw and looked back at the model. At first, she thought it was unscathed, which would have been very impressive, but there were cracks running around its body, which only made it impressive. Myra sat back properly in her seat and waited for the model to get to its seat. Once there it placed the pouch next to it and clambered up the chair.

"Alright let's start this meeting," The boy said as he stood up. In response, the model stood on top of its chair and stared down the boy somehow without eyes. The boy sighed and stared at Myra, "This is . . ."

"I am Myra."

"Right, Myra okay and over there is Maroinette and I am Joey now can we start."

The Maroinette nodded yes and Joey sat down while reaching into his pocket pulling out what looks like shards of really clear ice.

"Okay let us start."