The Secrets We Hide:
Everyone has a secret, sometimes mundane other times not so much. For Jaune, his life has one very important, one very dangerous secret: he is a superhero. Taking to the streets of Vale every night Jaune fights the bad element and uncovers plots of super terrorism against the innocent people of Vale. Jaune Arc is the Wizard Hero: Adept!
0-0-0-0
I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock going off, my tired eyes opening to see that it was indeed 5:50 AM and no, I was not going to get an extra 10 minutes of sleep. Which was great considering the whole left side of my body ached from slamming into a brick wall at high speeds last night. I rolled out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs where my sisters were already there.
For being such a large family I can honestly say it surprised me that I was the only one to get superpowers. Hell, not even my mom or dad had superpowers, or rather, if they did, they hid well. Honestly that might explain their views of super society.
"God damn, another attack?" my dad cursed, dressed for his day at the office. "Damn supers."
Like always, a part of me wanted to snap at the man for instinctively blaming supers. This latest attack was perpetrated by a guy calling herself "La Bombarda" who had the power to explode at will. Apparently she had walked right into a police station and reduced it to ash, the government's new super team "The Sentinels" not getting there in time to even catch Bombarda before she escaped.
"I know, and fat lot of good those sentinels did too. Should just round 'em up and lock them in a jail cell." my mom agreed, giving my youngest sister her backpack.
"You think that would hold them?" I asked, failing to keep that thought to my self.
"Whatever, throw 'em down a hole then, I don't know." my mom responded, patting my little sister on her head she giggled in delight. "You mind taking Cindy to her Elementary School Jaune? I can't I gotta get to the office myself."
"Sure." I responded curtly, finishing up the cereal I didn't remember pouring for myself.
These mornings always kind of bugged me out, for one I hated the morning in itself. And not in the "oh darn it I got to wake up and go to work!" way a lot of people do, but I just hated the teeming action of everyone leaving and moving at once. It was all too sudden, too chaotic, and it left my longing for the cool, quiet, dark hours of the night where you could relax without all this motion swirling around you.
I loaded my youngest sister into my car (I pay for it so I get to drive it how I see fit) and left to go pick up my friend. All the while I thought back to my previous fight last night, that Butcher Pete character had been a major pain in the ass. His power wasn't anything special, his ability to throw knives twice as fast as they should was annoying but not really powerful, but the situation he got me into was the problem. Encountering The Sentinels yet again and yet again barely escaping Nike's long winded recruitment spiel for what must've been for the 5th or 6th time.
I sighed, they were probably trying to figure out who I was by this point. If they did I'd be in major trouble unless they didn't notify my parents, but, on the likely chance they did, I'd be spending my nights in my car until I could afford an apartment.
I pulled up alongside the curb, a scraggly looking dude barreling out the door and nearly slamming straight into my door. Sage Ayana clambered into my car and sigh in relief as he buckled his seatbelt.
"You came just in time pal, my mom was reading me the riot act." Sage chuckled, the car pulling away.
"What'd you do this time?"
"Pushed my little brother into the bathtub because he didn't want to get clean before school." Sage grinned wolfishly, my sister giggling in the back seat.
"Dumbass." I grumbled, Cindy gasping as she make exclamations of her displeasure at me swearing.
Eventually I pulled up to Cindy's school and made sure she had everything before letting her go run wild in that Zoo of a school of her's. After that Sage and I pulled into an IHOP for breakfast. Deciding to skip first hour as it was probably some inane bullshit about health that we had known since the fourth grade.
"Soooo, how'd last night go? You get a big haul from your trick or treating?" Sage hissed with a devilish smile.
"Yeah, I got a big haul in the form of Nike's boot slamming into my side. Bitch can hit harder than a freight train." I grumbled again, rubbing the still sore bruise that had long since formed. "All that for some C-list villain. My potential is wasted."
"Why not join The Sentinels if you want a bigger piece of the pie?" Sage advised, me flicking a piece of whipped cream into his hair.
"Then everyone would know and hate me, plus I'd have to listen to Director Ironwood and that guy's a putz."
"I don't think everyone would hate you, just look at Nike!" Sage said, pounding the back of his hand against my chest.
"Oh, the super smart, super pretty, super strong, super nice superhero who saved the entirety of downtown Vale?" I asked sardonically, getting some amusement at Sage's frown. "Somehow I don't think the public will appreciate me in the same way. Hell, they don't even appreciate the rest of the sentinels do they?"
"Fair point." Sage nodded.
"It's fine, I'm still a badass by myself you know? These C-list villains aren't enough to even scratch me."
"Word is that might be changing." Sage said with the casualness someone might mention the weather.
"Scuse me?"
"Jaune, the world is changing for better or worse. The Sentinels are just the start, how long do you think it's gonna be until someone, villain or otherwise, makes their own team of like-minded supers who don't answer to a government? What do you think will happen if Atlas, or Mistral makes their own version of the sentinels? They could be used for to fight eachother to devastating effect! And us normal folk would be caught in the middle."
"What are you saying?" I sighed wearily.
"Maybe it's time to make a game plan, look for the future you know? Where do I see myself in 5 years and all that jazz. Jay, you got some power behind you I'll admit that, but you can't keep playing the vigilante all your life. What if you make a team of your own, one you lead? Then you could do what you want and not have to worry about answering to a higher authority."
"Sounds like the start to a superpowered gang war." I answered him, Sage biting his lip in frustration.
"Look, give it some thought for now ok? But right now we gotta get to class let's go." I nodded and paid the bill, the car ride over silent save for the radio.
Truth be told, he had given me a lot to think about. Admittedly the world was changing and it wasn't a stretch to think that, eventually, someone with actually good powers would come along and disrupt the natural order. It made me wonder how things would turn out in the future, already there were rumors of superpowered people committing crimes in broad daylight. It wasn't a stretch to think that dozens maybe even hundreds more were using their abilities behind the scenes, the thought sent a shiver up my spine.
Even so, I resigned myself to my job and knew I'd be going out again tonight. Things in The Narrows had gotten exponentially worse and I was sure that at least 3 or 4 residents were using their powers to carve out a small gang. From I had gathered the previous nights, they were calling themselves The Chosen, a rather bland name I thought but perhaps it was appropriate. The Chosen viewed themselves as people gifted with powers and basically given free reign over the world as a consequence, like I said, superpowers bring out the inner crazy in all of us.
I mean, just look at me. I run around at night, being a 17 year old boy, in a costume fighting muggers and robbers with actual, physic breaking superpowers and I thought nothing of it. I pulled up into the school's parking lot and automatically checked out for the day while I thought of a good plan to find The Chosen...
0-0-0-0
Later That Night...
Sneaking out had been terribly easy, and not just because I had done it 30 or so times already. I lived in a pretty big house with a pretty big family (7 sisters and parents along with me) so it wasn't unusual to hear a sound or two downstairs. It helped I lived in the basement and had a sliding door right out into our backyard and the subsequent woods that littered the area behind.
Donning my costume, I felt the identity of Jaune Arc fall away to be replaced with the hero persona of "Adept". I had chosen the name myself as well as my costume due to my interest in fantasy games and tabletop adventures such as Mutants and Masterminds and Dungeons and Dragons. My costume was a strange hybridization of a burlap wizard's robe and a ninja's outfit, combining a sort of fantasy aesthetic with the form and function needed to move around and conceal my identity. Around my waist were various leather pouches for my journals on anything I found, some bandages, a few smoke bombs, and a box of matches. My face was mostly concealed by the hood that hung over my face but to be sure I donned a metal visor that cast the upper portions of my face entirely in shadow.
With my costume set I snuck out the back and ventured into the woods, feeling my power surround my body as I took off into the night time air. Back when I first got my powers flying was awesome, I mean it still is but with anything the novelty wears off, but I did need to learn how to handle landings better as I regularly crashed into trees and the like when I first started. I crossed the city, too high to be detected by normal folk, and landed in a seedy alleyway where a very confused, very startled homeless man jumped at the sight of me.
"Aw shit!" he hissed, scrambling to get up. "It's the fucking wizard!"
I smirked, glad to be making a name for myself and waved a hand at him, a strong gust of wind slamming into his back with the force of a football player. He hit the ground hard and I walked over to him, lording over the homeless bum and letting my power tint my voice with an aura of power.
"Where are the chosen?" I boomed, looking down on the the man.
"L-Look Mr. Wizard- sir! I-I don't know, I'm just a hobo I swear!" the guy stuttered, and a part of me felt bad for scaring the shit out of him. "If they're anywhere they're down by the docks- b-but don't quote me on that!"
I nodded, maintaining my mysterious yet commanding persona and took off into the night. The man below me heaving a sigh and slumping over in exhaustion, not that I could blame him. I sped off towards the dock at breakneck speed, dimly aware of a group of vans moving below me along the highway in a tight line, The Sentinels no doubt.
I can honestly say I wasn't surprised, we had both been on the same track and were slowly narrowing down the areas in which we could find them. We had both searched high and low and were running out of places to check, however, conversely, The Chosen were running out of places to hide. Still, I needed to avoid meeting The Sentinels head to head.
They weren't very forgiving of my vigilante escapades and Jade had told me that they had orders to take me in by any means necessary. However strong I was, I knew I couldn't face a squad of Sentinels without more planning, especially if they had Nike with them. On the other hand, if things went wrong at the docks, it would be nice to have some backup in the form of a bunch of superheroes.
Landing at the edge of the pier, I took notice of the amount of activity buzzing around. Perhaps 60 or 70 people were all loading cargo to and fro from small ships, they all wore the same uniform: black pants, boots, and a shirt under a white vest along with metal visor not unlike my own, on the back of the vest was a single red hand, fingers splayed and reaching.
In the midst of this sea of people, I noticed two who looked wildly out of place than the others. A tall redheaded man in an expensive looking white suit and his assistant perhaps? She was much smaller than he was, standing maybe 5'1, and a sort of pink, brown, and white color scheme that looked like it cost more than my car. The taller man stood talking to a taller grunt who obediently wrote down orders and conveyed them to his pals.
It was now or never, these guys were definitely The Chosen or else closely related to them. Raising myself up onto a cargo crate, I clapped my hands together and pulled them apart, my staff materializing from the pocket dimension I kept it in. It was my most prized possession, slightly smaller than me it was mostly red wood and a grip in the middle being made of swirling gold spirals and a strip of blue fabric that I held onto. The top of the staff had a sharp green crystal secured by more spiraling gold pieces of medal that seem to encircle the bottom of the crystal. However cool and fantasy-like it looked, it was all for show and was rather ineffectual at actually helping me but I did find it help me sell the wizard illusion and I could even focus some of my power through the crystal at the top.
I slammed the staff onto the crate, eliciting a metal crack and drawing the attention of everyone gathered. I felt my power run through my voice, giving it a powerful reverb that shook my bones as I spoke.
"Chosen! Your jig is up! Surrender peacefully and you will not be harmed!" I ordered, the grunt nearest to me backing away quickly and forming pockets of people. The guy I assumed to be in charge just chuckled as he waltzed towards me.
"So nice of you to join us here Adept! I was wondering how long it would be until you finally sniffed us out!" he smirked before bowing. "My name is Roman- and yes! I am one of the leaders of The Chosen. It is nice to make your acquaintance."
"Surrender Roman! You have nowhere to go and even with your cronies my power exceeds yours." The grunts started back only to be stopped as Roman raised his hand.
"Is that so? Well far be it from me to tell you otherwise." He chuckled mischievously, and I suddenly got the sense that something was very wrong. "But you'll have to prove it first, KILL HIM!"
I expected the grunts to raise guns, knives, baseball bats and the like so sufficed to say I was unprepared when two or three of them near to me released fireballs at where I was standing. I waved my staff and a shield of green energy materialized before me, taking the brunt of the three blasts. Before the smoke even cleared, I pointed the palm of my hand at the grunts and felt a condensed bullet of air fire out from the invisible portal blanketing my hand.
As far as I knew, I drew upon other dimensions using invisible portals to give myself the appearance of "casting spells". If I concentrated I could feel the different worlds and even picture them, feel them, in my mind. As of right now I had something around 23 or 24 separate dimensions that I could use for separate attacks and effects. It was a bitch to explain to people so most often I left my powers as a mystery, garnering something of a mystical rep for myself.
The squad of super grunts jettisoned away as the bullet impacted at their feet. Even so, I saw the other 50 or so move together to secure cover and form even more squads that began to hurl lightning bolts, fireballs, energy blasts, and even what looked like grenades made out of light. I took to the sky to avoid them and tried desperately to stay out of their range, all the way Roman laughed and tipped his bowler hat to me.
So, apparently Roman had recruited a small army of superpowered henchmen which made this whole situation around 10,000 times more dangerous for me and the city. I raised my staff to the clouds above, drawing upon a dimension of ceaseless storms and electricity and creating gateways in the clouds above. Thunder and lightning rumbled above before the payload was released down onto the dock below me. I saw maybe 7 or 8 people fail to get out of the way of the lightning strikes and cars, cargo crates, and other supplies splinter and blow up as they felt the full force of 3 million volts.
Even so, the henchmen were catching onto my keep away strategy and had begun to aim higher and use their long-range fighters to take potshots at me. I took notice of the fact that the grunts below had nearly the same 3 or 4 powers, mostly beams or blasts of fire and energy. I aimed my staff down at the assembled crowd, Roman cackling wildly as the tri-colored assistant put herself between us. I called upon a world mad up almost entirely of fire and burning slag and let it rain down upon the people below me, the sound of sirens closing in from a distance.
As the torrent of flame concluded, I could feel something begin to encroach upon the edges of my fingers and toes. A sort of numbness that was beginning to seep into every part of me. As the feeling intensified I felt myself get drawn away from the fight, flashes of worlds, planes of pure energy and howling wind perfectly visualized in my mind right down to the details on the rocks. I could hear and smell everything from those myriad of worlds, all of them layered over top one another and threatening to enshroud my mind. I was beginning to lose focus.
I was running out of energy.
Dropping down onto another cargo crate, I knelt over to catch my breath. Happy to see that my previous attack had sent my enemies into chaos, the crowds of remaining goons desperately trying to put out the existing fires or otherwise running away from them. Roman, for once that night, stopped laughing and regarded me with the disdain a member of the royal family would have for a cockroach in their bathroom. He jerked his head at me and his little friend came began to waltz over to me, a disconcerting smile on her face.
Whatever she was capable of, I had an idea I couldn't contend with. Despite that, however, I didn't really have a choice in the matter and hauled myself to my feet, ready to face my newest adversary.
That was until a green wall of flame separated us and I heaved a sigh of relief. "Dragon Hero" Jade, a member of The Sentinels, strode behind the wall of fire and turned his attention up at me.
"Adept, good to see that you kept them here for us." he said politely, his dragon-motif silk costume holding tight against him. "We heard tell of something of a rumbling going on down here and thought we'd pay ourselves a visit."
"We? As in the whole team?" I nearly slurred, my visions swimming.
"Most, not all." he responded curtly, turning his attention back to the main area.
The Sentinels may have been a bunch of "government-sponsored" heroes, but that didn't change the fact that they could kick some serious ass if need be. I saw a lot of familiar faces pummeling people into the concrete, the most prominent being the red and gold armored form of Nike, lifting metal crate over her head and entrapping a large group of people.
I saw Valkyrie charge her body with electricity before almost casually punching out a wave of grunts. There was Reaper and her supposed sister Dragon mopping up the mooks on the outskirts. And finally there was Gambit, the ninja-girl who was facing off against Roman who proved deceptively skilled with his cane as he fended off the shadowy duplicates the heroe sprouted from her body.
I dropped down near Jade and leaned heavily on my staff as I sidled up beside him. The wall of fire having been erased, I could see how laughably easy it was for the trained team to sweep the entirety of the dock's population. In fact, it was so easy that I soon became aware of the fact that most, if not all, of the assembled fighters seemed to just aimlessly lob their attacks at their enemies, not bothering to really aim or switch of tactics.
"Strange isn't it? A dock full of 30 or so supers and they can't even give one of us a hard time?" Jade asked, rubbing his hand on his chin. "Something about this isn't right."
"I also took notice of the fact they mostly have identical powersets." I told him, the pale boy's forehead scrunching into a frown.
"Something is off." was all he responded.
I would have said more, but the visions were finally starting to clear and I needed the time to get my head together. At this rate I'd most likely be able to fly my way home but then it would be a nice long nap. That is, if The Sentinels allowed me to leave.
The fight had ended soon after, the strangest thing since their arrival happening when Dragon attempted to punch out Roman and his assistant only for the both of them to shatter into pieces. And I do mean shatter, like colored pieces of glass that seemed to fade away after a moment, leaving me alone with a team full of superheroes out to arrest me.
"Adept," Nike started cordially. "Let's not mince words shall we? It's been a long night and I'm sure you had a tougher time fighting this rabble alone."
"Indeed Ms. Nike, I will take my leave." I said, bowing grandly to her.
She scoffed, tired of the same old runaround we were used to. "No, you're coming with us Adept. The Secretary of State would like a word with you."
"Ah, I'm sure she would but I do need to be heading home."
"You're not-" I didn't let the redheaded heroine finish, raising my hand and giving a flash of light so brilliant I was thankful for my metal visor.
By the time their vision returned to them I was long gone, already halfway home and ready to hit the hay for the night...
0-0-0-0
"Fuck!" Nike swore, a sure sign of her grumpiness at losing Adept again. It would mean yet another lecture from Directer Wallace and a few more hours she'd spend not in her bed.
"Like always, that mysterious bastard escapes." Dragon sighed, cracking her neck idly. "Don't worry Pyr, we'll get him one day."
"It's infuriating! Both the fact he won't just come with us, and the fact that I'm the one who always gets yelled at for it!" Nike, or Pyrrha Nikos when not in costume, shouted to her friend. "Doesn't that son of a bitch know how much I hate it when he just up and leaves!"
Jade, or rather Lie Ren, knew that Pyrrha only really got like this when she had been having a bad day. Not that he could blame her, he wasn't even the team leader and today had been an endless series of running around and filing paperwork to the point that Ren cursed the day he got his powers. Not that he would dare say it aloud right now, but Ren secretly understood why Adept never wanted to join them.
"Hey Nike, don't worry about it. Maybe next time I should talk to him? You two didn't exactly get off on the right foot." Reaper offered, a comforting hand on Nike's shoulder.
She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Perhaps that would be best, it was foolish to have simply attacked him the first time."
"So it's agreed! Next time Rubes handles our resident wizard, and don't worry Pyr- we'll weather Hurricane Wallace with you." Dragon, AKA Yang Xiao-Long, smiled, wrapping her two compatriots in a hug.
"Thanks for you're help guys, the lack of sleep has been making my nerves go haywire." Nike smiled wearily, the bags under her eyes looking slightly more pronounced.
And, with that, The Sentinels got into their vans and headed back to the compound, another night's work done...