I didn't have anything to my name, at least not anymore, especially after that one superhero thought it would be a good idea to 'bring my family to justice'. It's not like they did anything wrong! We weren't cooking drugs or trying to develop some 'super ultra evil nuke formula of doom-struction', they were just being the good doctors that they were, and they had a license to make their own medicines and sell them too. But what was the first thing that Captian Dipshit did as soon as he flew through the window? Destroy any evidence of my parents medical license and them having not sold anything 'helped' in his case, beat my father to a pulp and proceeded to have his way with my mother, and who were the ones to end up going to prison for this? My parents!

'I need to find a way to get back at him!' I thought to myself as I wondered the streets of Neotropolis, 'A weakness of some kind? Or is he one of those types who don't have one?'

All I had on my person was a few bottles of water, a change of underwear, a black t shirt with a fractured red star on it, and a pair of white sweat pants that have turned grey from getting so dirty. I'm seventeen now, I usually go out to buy snacks and I even walk to school, but walking alone like this was really starting to get to me. But I had a plan, I heard that there was a super villain that lived in a black mansion a ways from the central city, a villain so good at being bad that he has killed at least three super heroes in the past. I'll just hope he'll let me live there, It's coming down hard...

Two hours of walking later

I'm guessing that this mansion is made from mahogany, makes me wonder how much this is worth. I pressed the doorbell and a low bell chimed under a bunch of whirring noises, I looked up and saw a comical amount of weapons. Missiles, machine guns, a gauss rifle, I think I saw a giant fly swatter in there somewhere. I didn't have time to think about it though, as I heard several locks being opened. A guy in a blue exploding plane shirt and lab coat with a paper bag over his head peered through the door.

"H-hello?" He asked.

"Is this the home of Black Hat?" I responded.

Paper bag nodded as he opened the door and let me inside, rain water soaking my hair and clothes. I threw my bag of empty water bottles to the floor as I tried to find a seat, I saw one underneath a large painting of a guy in a black and red suit, he had pitch black skin and a large pointy toothed grin, a top hat with a red stripe, and a monocle, I'm guessing this guy is a egocentric narcissist.

"I'm gonna go get a few things, I'll be back in a sec." The paper bag said as he walked into another room.

I sat down in a lovely leather arm chair and leaned back into it when I got adjusted.

"What do you mean you let a child in?!"

"I-I couldn't just leave him outside!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?! We are EVVVIIIIIIIL! We're not supposed to give a damn about this sort of thing!"

"But he said he was looking for you..."

Took less than I expected, I slapped my knees and pulled myself out of the chair, trying my best to fix my hair. Paper bag was pushed violently into the room as Black Hat himself came before me.

"Are you lost, boy?" He asked in a condescending tone.

"No, I'm where I need to be." I replied.

Black Hat chuckled and motioned me to follow, he led me to the dining hall, where there was a large table with a what looks like a Victorian parties worth of food, roast beef, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, freshly baked bread.

"Tell me what it is you're looking for." Black Hat said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

I quickly put the words together and explained my situation, seems that Black Hat actually bought it, because he had this forlorn expression as he listened.

"...So basically, that hero needs to die." I said.

"Fight fire with fire as they say, welcome aboard." Black Hat said as he extended his hand towards me.

My eyes widened as it hit me, this guy actually accepted me into his care. With his help, I'll be able to do some sort of heroic evil. I slowly reached for his hand and grasped it tightly, a black and red gas cloud coiled in a snakelike motion. As it reached my body, it slowly enveloped me. My clothes changed, I got a long black coat, grey pants, and a pair of nice leather shoes, I'm sensing a pattern here. Not bad, if I say so myself.

"So, a villain birthed by revenge, not the worst backstory, but there have been worse. Kind of reminds me of my salad days... When I was the leader of a Mexican drug cartel..." He seemed to be lost in his youth.

Leader of a drug cartel, eh? Guessing he didn't look the way he does now. Aside from that, I rolled my eyes and helped myself to some of the roast beef and bread, never really liked mashed potatoes, sweet or otherwise because I've always been more of a fries and chips sort of guy. Black Hat stood up and tussled at my hair before leaving the room.

"You can have any of the two vacant rooms upstairs, the one with the black door is mine and the one that has metal plating is Flug's." He said before going upstairs.

The voice for the being in the mask is Rick Miller

There were two doors, one was colored a lovely crimson and the other a pastel green. So, I picked the one that had my colors on it! Inside was a queen sized bed with red bedsheets and white blanket(making me feel like I'm sleeping a a red velvet cake), white pillows, red shag carpeting, a desk and swivel chair, red painted walls, and a mahogany nightstand.

"Finally, a warm place to sleep..." I tiredly said before throwing myself on the floor and feeling something jab into my chest.

I got up and sat on my knees, rapidly patting my torso and eventually caught the feeling of something in my left breast pocket. I reached inside of the coat and pulled out a strange mask, it is of the full face variety, with holes in the nose for breathing, something about it screams 'sacrificial use only'.

I slowly placed the mask over my face, the inside was rather cold, to be frank. I took off my coat and boots. Then dove headfirst into a closet and found the sweat pants I wore on the way here, only they were clean and on the white side of grey. Tucking myself under the covers and slowly drifted to sleep.

Hey...

...

Wake up...

...Wha?

Wake. Up. Now!

What the-? Who's there?

Who I am doesn't matter. Who you are is the more interesting question...

Am I going insane? I'm hearing voices now...

No, I can assure you that your sanity is still intact, I'm just here to make sure something exciting happens

If I can't ask 'who', will you at least tell me 'what' you are?

I guess the only way to describe me is... well, you did call me a voice in your head, so I'll go with that

It still doesn't explain anything

Maybe it's for the best you don't know, answers will come in due time, sleep now, there is much for you in the coming hours

I woke up with Black Hat looming over me, a malevolent grin plastered on his face.

"Morning, Zed." He said, "Flug an' I have a little... experiment we'd like to preform, and you'd be the test subject."

I rolled my eyes and out the bed I went, falling on my face. Black Hat's face went straight and his tone a little more casual.

"There's some eggs and bacon downstairs if yer hungry. But meet us in the lab in twenty minutes."

I picked myself off the floor and walked over to the bathroom, quickly hopping in the shower, brushing my teeth, and did my business. After that, I walked to the kitchen and ate breakfast and necked some orange juice. Sluggishly, I walked into the lab and saw the doc and Black Hat, both standing around a chemistry table.

"...Yes, I know! But it might kill him!" The doctor yelled.

"So? Just another corpse to fertilize the garden." Black Hat nonchalantly answered.

"Seriously, boss?! He might be a reliable asset!" The doctor retorted.

"Emphasis on might. That's only if he survives." Black Hat replied.

I cleared my throat and the both of them turned, the doctor and top hat turned to me, the doctor sweating like a greasy pig and Black Hat with his winning smile. My glances at Black Hat went unnoticed, or he didn't seem to care. Maybe his words hold some weight, if this experiment fails, it could prove to be fatal.

"Good to see your out and about, but before we start, what would your name be?" Black Hat asked.

I coughed, "Alex Blutig..."

The doctor pulled out a syringe filled with a glowing red liquid in it. I could only wonder what that would do. Seems the doctor caught my curiosity, because he started ranting.

"This here is a mutagenic modifier, once ingested, it'll make you stronger and faster without need of a long and tedious workout program."

My mind trailed off shortly after he finished, I noticed the chair in between us, I took a seat and held up my arm.

"Eager to start? Well then... Flug?" Black Hat said.

Flug walked over to me, restraining my arms and legs with belts on the chair. I would've asked what these were for if I didn't remember why these are on wheelchairs for mental patients, keep them from hurting themselves or others. He stuck the needle in my arm and pressed the plunger, whatever was in there, it hurt... a lot! Eventually, I passed out.

I woke up to the sound of dirt being moved out of the ground.

"Well, we tried..." Black Hat's voice said.

"I honestly thought he'd live. We'll need another subject, boss." Flug's voice.

I shot up and gasped for air, clutching my throat and coughing. They both looked at me, Black Hat with a strange form of satisfied surprise and Flug, from what I assume, was horrified to see the 'dead' rise from sleep.

"B..b-b-but you were d-d-dead!" He stammered out.

I looked down at myself, my body didn't change too much, like the doctor advertised. But I felt more energetic than normal, like I ate fifty wheelbarrows worth of pixie sticks!

"You look a bit more spritely." Black Hat said condescendingly.

I smirked in his direction, my way of asking 'what's next?', he caught on quickly. Folding his arms when Flug picked himself off the ground.

"Follow me, there is much for us to discuss... Zed." He said.

A smirk spread across my face, I can already tell that things are going to be a lot more fun.