Villain's Rising

–A Week Ago–

“That was fun!” Drake was practically jumping up and down with joy while walking through the street.

The trio of Drake, Sam, and Robin were just returning to their dorm after having a fun karaoke evening.

All of them were dressed in wholly informal wear, with bright smiles plastered on their faces that showcased that their evening was nothing but fun.

Sam wore a loose white t-shirt underneath an open black shirt and matching jeans.

Drake’s fiery red hair was tied into a bun today with side bangles on his forehead. Coupled with a red hoodie t-shirt and ripped black jeans that he was wearing gave him a rockstar look.

Robin wore a simple white tank top underneath her short-length black jacket and matching jeans. The black chains on her neck contrasted her fair skin and gave her a cool yet attractive look.

Kiara wasn’t with them. When asked to come, she refused after weirdly looking at Sam.

Robin and Drake thought that maybe she was still angry at Sam for beating her in the Dueling Practice.

Despite her absence, or maybe it was because of her absence, Sam enjoyed himself after a very long time without going on one of his ‘hunts.’

“Calm down, babe. Hehe~” Looking at her sweetheart hopping up and down like a kid, Robin couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sorry, it’s been so long since I did karaoke!” Drake calmed down and said while scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed face.

“Hehe, yeah, same here. Did you have fun, Sam?” Robin turned to Sam.

Before Sam could answer her question, Drake broke in and spoke up.

“Of course he did! Didn’t you look at the way he was singing?! It was like he was performing his own concert!”

“Haha~” nodding her head, Robin chuckled. “Yes, and your voice is actually magnificent, Sam!”_.

“What’s this, Robin? You never praised me for my angelic voice?!” Dramatically pouting, Drake said.

“Angelic, your ass!” Robin scoffed hard before turning to Sam, “He once sang in front of my father. My father’s ears literally started bleeding within seconds!”

“That wasn’t me! You said that was some negative medicinal reaction!” Drake defended himself.

“That was a lie, you big buffoon! Hahaha!” Robin said.

“Yo-You lied to me?” Dramatically putting his hand to his chest, Drake spoke.

“Hahaha!” Sam couldn’t help but giggle at the duo. “Yeah, it was fun. But I feel like a third wheel, hehe.”

“Nooooo!” Instantly Robin denied it. “Your voice was the only reason I survived karaoke with this guy!”

“Yeah, you were the only reason she survived karaoke with m– Oi! What do you mean by that?!”

“Ahahaha!” Sam’s giggle turned into laughter as the duo kept talking.

He won’t lie; the time he spent with them affected him.

He wasn’t turning into a good guy or regretting his past actions like a pussy. But he was still thinking over a lot of things.

Before coming to the Academy, Sam always thought of himself as a God who had only one mission in life– to rule over humanity.

Although he still thinks the same, and it’s evident that his thinking won’t ever change, he did develop some other feelings.

Or rather, to be clear, instead of developing, he simply started to remember those buried feelings.

He started remembering why he needed to achieve his dream and why he needed to do what he was going to do.

There was a reason Sam started viewing himself as a God. It wasn’t always like this. He was a kid, much like all the others.

When his father used to abuse him, he used to pray for a Hero to come in through the door and save him.

Needless to say, no one came to save him. Even his own mother abandoned him just to start a new family.

Through time he started understanding the world. He started viewing the world as broken. And so the ideals of his ancestor, the Progenitor, that his father was teaching him started to prove more and more authentic.

His father taught him that he was going to be a God someday, and it was up to him to make his ancestor’s dream come true.

It was up to him to fix this broken world.

However, as soon as he got his powers, Sam killed his father.

This world and his ancestor’s dream can go fuck themselves. He knew that the world was broken and the Progenitor was right, but he didn’t need to ‘fix’ anything.

Why would he do the work when it was clearly humanity who was at fault here?

Why would he waste his time pursuing someone else’s dream?

He was a God, yes, but he will be a God for himself! He was a God because no other creature in existence could stand up to him!

All he needed to do was do whatever the fuck he wanted.

Soon he met Marcel and Kiara, his first and only crush.

He dreamt about living a life with her, having a few kids of his own, yeah, with that bitch, and teaching those kids how to be a good Supervillain, unlike her mother.

However, a man can’t ever run from his fate, even if that man is a self-proclaimed God.

The reason for coming to the prestigious Hero Academy was only to find out Anthony Willburn’s weakness and kill him before making his big proposal to Kiara.

However, living a life with them and seeing that the other side of the world, the glorious and bright heroic side, was broken too, made Sam realize one thing.

His ancestor was correct.

-Thwack!

Shaking Sam out of his daze was a loud noise like a bag of meat being punched.

“What was that?” Robin looked to her left, where the sound came from.

Sam and Drake followed her gaze, and a frown appeared on their face.

A bald man– a grown adult, would be a better description– was mercilessly beating a scrawny-looking kid who seemed to be around eight years old or so.

-Thwack!

-Thwack!

The man was pinning down the kid on the ground and constantly assaulting him in the face with his fists.

The kid was desperately holding a packet of instant ramen in his hands. That along with the fact that the bald man was wearing a chef uniform, was enough explanation for what might have happened here.

All the evidence was clearly suggesting that the kid tried to steal the packet of ramen from a restaurant’s kitchen, and a chef working there chased after him.

When the chef caught up to the kid, he started ‘punishing’ him.

No passerby dared to step in and interfere even though it was very clear from the kid’s ragged clothes and poor condition that he was stealing to survive.

Crimes, no matter how minor, are intolerable in today’s society and especially in current times.

It wasn’t a surprise that no one was stepping up to help the kid.

(Why are you frowning, Sam? Just because you chose to forget this side for a few months, did you think this side of humanity has disappeared?)

(Look closely. This is the truth of humanity. They are ugly pieces of shit! This is why they need a God. A God that can save them from them!)

(You can’t be a God if you walk among them. Kings walk among their subjects while Gods rule from the sky!)

(Don’t be a King, Sam. Be a God!)

The frown on Sam’s face vanished the moment he heard those words. It was all true—every single word of what the voice in his head announced was authentic.

Starsuper and Starboy don’t understand it, probably because they aren’t human.

They don’t look at humanity with the intention to rule because they only see the good in it.

Sam was different. His father drilled the Progenitor’s ideals into him.

Where everyone was seeing a man pinning down and beating a child, Sam was seeing humanity assaulting humanity.

Because he didn’t consider himself as one of them, he didn’t view them as ‘individuals.’ He saw them all as one single race.

“Stop it!” Drake shot toward the scene, and Robin followed behind him.

Coming out of his daze once again, Sam followed the couple behind.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” With a furious look, Drake grabbed the man’s collar and dragged him off the child.

Robin kneeled down and inspected the kid for severe injuries like a broken nose.

“He stole from my kitchen!” The chef raged out in a thick Italian accent. “And who are you anyways?!”

“I’m from the Academy!” Drake gripped his collar harder. “And for this little stunt you pulled here can cost you three years worth of jail time!”

“Who the fuck gave you the right to put me in jail?! And for lifting a hand on a non-ability user, I can put you in jail for at least five years!”

(Dayum, Uno reverse!)

Drake gritted his teeth and pulled back his arm. He was about to hit the man right in the face when he felt someone grabbing his hand.

He turned around to see that it was Sam.

“Sam, leave!” Drake said, clearly angry. He tried to shake off his hand but Sam’s grip didn’t even budge.

“Calm down.” Sam calmly said. “You won’t get your Hero license if he files a complaint for you hitting him. Even your father won’t be able to protect you then.”

His words were reasonable. Drake frustratingly gritted his teeth and hesitantly let go of the man’s collar.

“Go.” Sam jerked his head sideways while looking at the man, telling him to run off before Drake bursts out again.

“It’s just an instant ramen packet. I’m sure you can help out a desperate boy who was clearly doing what he did to feed himself, right?” He continued.

Sam intentionally framed his words in a way that would make the chef look like a bad guy if he were to continue this matter.

“Tsk,” the man could only click his tongue before leaving while giving Sam an irritating look.

Sam, however, didn’t forget to give him a brain tumor that would grow overnight and kill him within a few days.

“You’re right. This world is broken.”

(And it will remain so unless you fix it)