Ch. 5 Rebellion
The day had gone smooth enough.
Sam was able to get to her classes without much conflict. Her mother had called the school yesterday, which meant even the coldest teachers had to give her a layout of what she missed. There were only a few snide comments and shoves in the halls as well. Nothing the blond couldn't deal with. People didn't mess with Sam like the five bullies from a few days ago. Even they would have left her alone if Sam hadn't jumped in and saved that kid.
Sam didn't have, what some would call, 'resting bitch face,' it was more the vibe she gave off. A murderous wave that said 'mess with me too much and I will make your life a living hell.' Because of it, kids only pushed Sam to the edge without throwing her off. The blond couldn't complain, others had much worse.
So, all in all, a good day.
Which is why she decided to stay after school with Kevin.
Sam let her mother know about her plans -not including the robot part - and the older woman was ecstatic. Whether it was because she was hanging out with a friend or a boy, the teen couldn't tell. She was just happy to be allowed this.
"So we're doing this or what,"
Kevin notices her, eyes widened and he smiles, which made Sam smile in return.
"Heck yeah," he threw a fist up, "let's do this."
The two teens made their way off campus and to the train graveyard. Kevin said it was the best place to test the sensors out with various materials. In fact, Kevin was the one who talked the majority of the way there. Spouting off about Wilbert before switching to another project he wanted to do and then to the things happening in his life. It was nice. Sam was simply listening and adding a few comments here and there. She had done enough talking and explaining these past few days. Her mind drifts.
This week really has been a disaster. Full of being berated by Mike, seeing her mother break down, and her siblings helping and yet not. That didn't include her meeting with Liam Harlo, probably the most exhausting of them all.
She bit her lip. The offer was so tempting. Even now his words kept replaying over and over again. But deep down she knew it wouldn't work out.
Or was it the fear of another failure.
"Hey, Sam, you ok."
Kevin was staring at her, head cocked and brows furrowed. Sam laughs, hoping it would ease his worries. There was no need to drag this poor kid into her drama. It was too depressing.
"Just spacing out is all," she looks around and notices they're already at the graveyard, "Come on, I'm dying to see your genius in action."
Kevin opens his mouth to speak. Then, his eyes widened and it snapped close with a click of his teeth.
"Yeah," a new voice spoke up, "let's see this thing."
The air-dropped in temperature. Every hair raising. Skin pebbling. Breath hitching. Her heart seemingly stopped.
Ice cold terror.
Sam felt a heavy weight on her shoulder.
"Long time no see."
No, why.
"Remember us," the pressure grows painful.
It was the same fuckers from a few days ago
Kevin is shaking enough to cause his own earthquake. His face blanched, looking like he was going to hurl. Wilbert clutched in his now bone white fingers.
She needed to get him out of here now.
Sam cranes her head to the leader, eyes sharp "What do you want."
It's the same five as before. The chick who throws energy-based explosives. The boy who can track anyone he touches, now with an angry look and eyepatch. The kid with a fish mutation. The other girl with the seduction quirk. And finally,
The leader flashes his jagged teeth, "Payback,"
Mother fucking Shark Week.
The hand on her shoulder is yanked back and throws Sam back. The teen stumbles a bit before righting herself. Three of the five surrounded her, sporting their own wicked grins.
"Sam."
Her head snaps to the side and goes numb. The boy with the eyepatch has Kevin in a headlock while Shark Week leans close. She can just see the bastard's smug smile.
"Oi, leave him out of this," the girl moves towards them.
Barely takeing a step, Sam was slapped in the face by a wet appendage. It nearly knocked her over, but by grounding her feet in the ground Sam manages to stay standing. The whole left side of her face stung, but she didn't feel any open cuts..
"They hell," Sam bared her teeth at the Fish Boy.
He smirks, "Don't you know interrupting someone's conversation is rude."
"Fuck off," Sam looks back to Kevin.
The boy looks scared shitless. Shark Week was holding his chin tight, tilting it this way and that. Whatever he was looking for the bastard must have found because he let go. He turns to Sam, the biggest grin she'd seen yet.
"You got a thing for the nerd or something."
Sam started to tremble with rage when the others laughed.
"He's not a part of this, let the kid go."
Shark Week held his chin and closed his eyes in an attempt at a thoughtful look. "Hm, I don't know. We're here to put a quirkless with a hero complex back in her place.
His face transformed back into sadistic glee.
"And I think showing her how helpless she is while we beat this kid would be enough."
Sam jumps forwards, dogging another tail attack before she was sent flying by a ball of light slamming into her gut. Dirt and gravel dig in her skin each tumble she makes but doesn't stop her. Digger her palms into the dirt, Sam steadied herself on all fours. She propelled herself off the ground and started running to Kevin when arms caught Sam and locked her in place.
"Let me go you bitch" Sam screams and jerks about in the seduction quirk's arms. Seeing Sam was too strong for her, the bully handed her off to the Fish Boy, who put her in a proper arm lock.
"Wow, look at her go," Eyepatch let out a whistle, "what a lucky guy, having someone who cares that much."
"Yeah," Shark Week snorts, "too bad her hero act has gotten him in such a rut."
Kevin doesn't appear to process their words, simply watching Sam with a mix of fear, worry, and admiration. He couldn't even use the excuse that his quirk was useless for fighting. Because Sam, even though quirkless, was fighting with everything she had. And what was he doing? Standing there like a damsel in distress.
He was pathetic.
"So, now that we've got you seated,"
Sam snarls. Shark Week has turned away from the commotion and to Kevin. The freshman's eyes widen, tears already forming. It makes Sam scream and thrash even more. She hopes, prays, wishes to high heaven that someone at least hears her. That someone will come to stop this. Because if she did. If Sam fought back for real. If she was found out.
There would be nothing left for her.
"Fuck, someone, anyone," her voice if hoars, tears flowing freely, "stop them. Help."
"That's it, cry for help and beg for a real Hero."
Their laughs rang through her ears. They made Kevin sob and scream back. They tried to make her look helpless. They only made her freeze.
'A Real Hero.'
Shark week stands in front of Kevin.
'Just like back then.'
Kevin sobs for them to stop, to let them go.
'When she screamed for a hero and no one came.'
The other four smile like mad dogs about to be fed.
'When they hurt her.'
Sam's left arm begins to burn.
'When they laughed at her cries.'
He raises his fist.
'Just like then, no one was coming.'
And she could do nothing about it.
"Do you know what makes you so likable."
Sam moved her arms away from her eyes. An older boy sat on the park railing, eyes trained on the sky. His warm colored skin glows in the sun, dark messy hair held back by a pair of goggles.
"My good looks and bad pick up lines."Sam snorts and covers her eyes partially to block the sun.
"That too but," he looks towards her, a soft smile gracing his lips, "it's how far you'll go to help people."
The blond stays silent, caught off guard. He hops down to sit next to her.
"No matter the challenge, no matter the consequences," he runs his fingers through her hair, "You'd risk everything if it meant helping someone."
At that moment, his smile was brighter than the sun.
"We can always trust you to be there in our time of need."
'That's right.'
Sam grits her teeth.
'She could do something.'
"FUCK THE HEROES."
'Even if it meant throwing everything away, because...'
The teen dropped forwards, kicking her foot into her captor's shin. They both went face forwards to the ground, and in reaction, Fish Boy threw his arms out. Elbows scrapped, Sam slipped out from him and stood up. Fish Boy jumped up to grab her again but was met with an unexpected visitor.
A right hook right into his nose.
The others watched in horrified awe as he fell on his ass, hands clutching his face. Blood dripped down his face, some slipping through his webbed fingers. The shock had consumed them. But only them.
She would give up everything if it meant helping one last person.'
Sam was quick, ruthless. She swung her leg into a kick, the heel of her boot connecting with the boy's temple. He let out a shout of pain, followed by the thump of his unconscious body hitting the ground. The other four and Kevin's eyes widen, mouths agape.
"So," the girl starts to turn around, nonchalant and slow, "Who needs a 'Real Hero' now."
Both girls lept into action. Sam caught the first fist thrown, and ducked down to avoid a ball of light. Still holding the other girl's fist, Sam used her free hand and grabbed the upper part of her arm. The girl let out a scream when her body was twisted, pressed against the blond back, and thrown over their shoulder. A gasp mingled with the thud of her hitting the ground.
Sam threw herself down as well, dodging another ball. She was lucky the other girl took time and energy to make those things. At this rate, Sam only had to dodge every thirty seconds.
A hand shot up to Sam's face, but the blond was too quick and pinned it back down. The Seduction girl was staring at her much like a goldfish. Sam would have laughed if not for the whistle in her right ear. She grabbed the girl under her, holding tight as she rolled onto her back. There was a moment of confusion in the other's eyes.
"Have a nice flight."
The ball slammed into her shoulder, knocking the girl off and into the merciless earth. Her body rolled like a rag doll, limbs loose and flailing about. And when she did stop, she laid still like one too.
Shark Week cursed. The Light girl was so preoccupied with her actions that she let Sam charge right by. Now the psycho was charging after him like a bull to red. He plants his feet and raises his fist. The rest of his friends may be weaklings, but he'd been boxing for years now. The bitch would get what was coming.
In reach, the leader feigned a punch to her stomach before driving it towards her chin. His manic glee grew. She wouldn't be able to dodge this. She was too close, too slow, too-
His fist met air.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Sam spin around him.
Her eyes were never on him.
But behind him.
Sam's fist meets Eyepatches face with a CRACK.
Eyepatch felt like his face was going to cave in. He'd been punched by powerful people plenty of times. But the speed and accuracy this girl had. It was fucking insane.
With a cry, he let go of Kevin and reached for his face.
Kevin couldn't take his eyes off her during the whole fight. She was covered in scuffs and dirt. Gaze wild, shining with what he could only see as unbreakable determination. A snarl that bared teeth in warning. Body strong and study, yet suddenly agile and quick. Attacks that were powerful and intelligent. An immovable wall.
"RUN GOD DAMN IT."
He stumbles back, his awestruck state shattered by her voice. Kevin was so memoriezed that he didn't even realise he was released. In that same time, Sam had separated him and the other bullies with her own body. Her shoulders were heaving, hand clenched and shaking.
"Sam, you're hurt," He starts but cuts it short.
Sam had looked over her shoulder.
She was grinning.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Unlike in the fight, Sam was completely relaxed. Not in the sense of her body, but her presence. Like the cool air of the ocean's shore. Gentle breezes that wrap you in a sense of peace. A soft voice that reminds you everything is going to be ok.
"You're more important."
He wanted to cry, to scream, to stay and do something. But there was nothing he could do. At least not there. Not standing around like this. So he turns and runs.
"I'll be back," he shouts, "just hold them off a little longer and I'll be back."
Sam watched the boy until he and his footsteps vanished. She wished he wouldn't get help, but at this point, Sam was already screwed. Getting the Police or another Hero involved would be nice. She turned back to the last three members.
Shark Week was fine - if not livid - while Light girl looked unharmed but out of breath. The only one who looked worse for wear was Eyepatch. The boy was on the ground, still holding his face while mumbling about sand. Sam could run away again, but it would solve nothing. They would just keep coming back again like cockroaches. You can't throw them out or kill a few and expect them to go away.
You have to crush them.
"So," Sam grabs her bandage and fumbles with it, "whose first."
Shark Week was gnashing his teeth, eyes bulging from his skull. "Keep throwing those shitty balls at her, and try not to be a fuck up and hit us." He reaches down and yanks Eyepatch to his feet, "You, get up and beat this bitch with me."
Sam smirked when he glared at her.
"We're going to teach this quirkless piece of trash her place."
Shark week charged forwards first, followed close by an uncertain Eyepatch. The light girl stayed in place, a ball starting to grow. Sam grins.
"Take this, you bitch."
Shark Week actually went for her stomach this time, but just missed when Sam jumped to the side. Eyepatch tried to use that moment to get his own hit in but missed just as well. A ball of light was thrown at Sam's legs. She barely steps out of the way when the two boys attack at the same time. Sam drops down, avoiding both attacks. Using her position, Sam punches Shark Week in the kidney while kicking Eyepatch in the stomach.
Eyepatch falls and curls up cradling his stomach. Shark Week is thrown off for a second before charging back full force. He tries to beat her down with speed, continuously throwing punch after punch after punch To his frustration, she keeps dodging or blocking them all. He couldn't even be satisfied with the red and purple spots on her arms. Her guard never broke or fell, like his hits didn't affect her. He might as well have been trying to break down a brick wall with nothing but his fists.
He jumped back as a ball of light flew between them. Infuriated, he turned to yell at the girl. But he'd never get the chance, a flash of blond coming fast. Sam was on him in seconds.
She pulled her bandage apart, taking it and wrapping it around Shark Week's lower arm. He tried to pull back, but she held strong, yank the fabric to keep him in place. He stumbles, and Sam takes the advantage to wrap his other arm. Both caught in the binding, she pulled it, causing the arms to come together. He struggled against the bindings, throwing a leg to kick her away. Sam catches it, her other hand reaching for his head. Her fingers snagged in his hair, bodyweight slamming into him and sending them both to the floor.
He couldn't move, at the mercy of her every attack. The moment they fell Sam lifted his head by his hair and slammed it back down. Pain exploded through his head, wetness forming on his forehead. Adding to his horror, Sam tied his arms behind his back.
"Call off your mutts" she tugs at the knot one last time, "and we can end this peacefully."
Shark Week was going to curse her out, but she was shoved off. Eyepatch had revived from his fetal position and tackled her himself. As the two wrestled on the ground, Shark week turned to the other girl.
"The fuck, do something."
"I'm trying, but I don't think I can make another attack."
She's panting, sweat soaking her clothes. In her palm is the most pathetic looking ball of light he's seen. He can't even berate her when another weight slams full force into him. With a groan, he looks up and sees Eyepatch laying on top of him.
The fucker is unconscious.
Shark Week struggles underneath the weight when a shadow passes over him. He goes still and looks up. Sam stands above him, arms crossed. He looks towards his last conscious female friend, but she's sitting down. Turns out it wasn't just that she didn't have the energy to fight, but to keep standing.
He looks back to the blond and flinches. She's inches from his face now, eyes dark.
"Try to hurt someone in front of me again," she grabs his chin and squeezes, "and I promise you, you'll wish this was all I could do."
She lets him go and the boy's chin falls to the ground. He's lost and he knows it. The defeat in his eyes was evident, along with bafflement. It was over, they wouldn't come for Sam again.
"How," he rests his forehead on the ground, speaking against the dirt, "how could I be beaten by a damn quirkless girl."
Sam was starting to walk away when the boy spoke up. The moment she heard those words though, she stopped. How many times had she been told that? How many stronger opponents had looked at her with eyes like that? Sam couldn't remember, but she had always told them the same thing. That's why, with her back turned towards him, she says it again with affirmation.
"Because quirks don't measure the capabilities of a person."
With those words, the sound of sirens echoed through the air.
Sam looks just in time to see several police officers practically flying towards them. She curses under her breath, wishing she'd just left. No changing it now., and who knew, maybe with Kevin backing her up she'd get out of this without damage.
And then the flapping of wings came overhead.
There's a reason people hate police officers.
Sam's was because they tell her brother everything.
Mike landed a few feet from Sam, arms crossed and eyes livid. Cal and Jez landed close behind while the rest of their siblings came running the same way the officers did. Their expressions didn't burn like Mike, but they were equally grim. All telltale signs that they had their judgments set in stone.
Sam was fucked.
"A fight, you got into a fight." Mike snarls.
Sam looks from the teens being taken away by officers then back to Mike. At this point, Sam had given up on saving this situation. She shrugs.
"I don't know, you tell me. You've got eyes right."
Jez and Cal stood stock still as if they had been struck by lightning. Mike, on the other hand, had gone red in the face. If Sam had to guess, he was about five seconds away from popping a blood vessel.
"Holy crap, Sam,"
Lark and Milli had caught up. Examining the bully's damaged forms the eldest spoke up.
"What did you do to them."
Sam's jaw tightens to the point her teeth creak from the strain
"What did I do to them, what did I do," her voice rises till she's yelling with what little voice she had left, "I'm sorry, but I and my friend are the victims here you dunder fucks."
"That's enough Sam," Jez steps forwards, "I don't know what may have happened but."
"This was not the answer," Mike steps in, "what in god's name were you thinking, hu. What made you want to fight them."
"Want, are you kidding. I didn't want to do anything other than hanging out with a friend. They were the ones who gave me no choice."
"And work on a robot."
His words were like having ants poured over her. The goosebumps and phantom touches of a million little legs. Uncomfortable and terrifying.
Mike narrows his eyes, "That's what I thought."
"Sam, you know you're probation,"
"Doesn't allow me to work on gadgets, engineering, or anything mechanical, yes, Millie, I do know."
The girl flinches under Sam's gaze.
"I didn't build anything, Kevin was just a friend who wanted company while testing his new project." Sam kicks a rock, "I wasn't making a bloody death ray."
"How could we know that's the truth, Sam. You're supposed to abide by the rules, not break them constantly." Lark shook his head.
"Oh, so I was supposed to back down and let them" Sam points to the bullies, who were placed in cop cars and driven away, "beat the living daylights out of an innocent kid. Fine, be mad about Wilbert. But that doesn't change the fact that I did this in self-defense."
Her face screws tight, lips forming a snarl. "So stop looking at me like I just beat up some handicapped toddler."
"Sam."
She yanks her head around. Cal wasn't one to speak in such conversations. Opting to sit quietly and wait it out. Yet this time was different. For all of them. Like they could sense a change in the air.
"You have to understand, as Hero's we have to be wary. You did things that can't be ignored. We don't want to do this or think this way, but your actions have put us in a tight place."
"By actions, you mean doing a better job then the rest of you," Sam scoffs, "the only one who's put in a tight situation is me. You just act like it because you can't handle the truth."
An officer walks over but is waved off by Mike. He glowers at the blond.
"Sam, you are a danger to society. A Villian who is only off the hook because of a damn contract agreement when the Shadow Thief turned himself in."
Sam could feel her blood boil with the heat of her rage.
"This is what you get Sam." Mike stretched his arms out to either side, "this is the consequence for your choices in life."
"Fine," Sam's hands clench and unclench, flinching every few seconds with the urge to hit, "then make it about that and not how you want to protect me. Not about how I can't be a Hero because I'm weak."
"You are weak, Sam. Do you not realize this," Mike towered over her, eyes dark and yet filled with tears, "You will be eaten alive out there."
Sam gritted her teeth, never looking away.
"No, you are the one who doesn't realize anything." she took a step forwards, a finger jabbing at his chest, "You are the one who's blind, the one who doesn't see that I am strong." he steps back with each advance, "I am smart," her words grew louder, "I am determined," her gaze burned, "I am durable," his back hit a wall, the smaller girl somehow towering over him. Not in height, but intensity.
"That I," tears flowed down her cheeks, "I am more than just quirkless."
The siblings found themselves breathless. Before them was a battle, unlike anything they've ever seen. Sam and Mike always fought, but it was the first time the younger blond had managed to silence him. She was not holding back anymore. She was not playing the part of 'Sam' they wanted. She was the Sam that fought tooth and nail like no other.
She was Gidget.
And she was out for blood.
"What more do you want from me Mike," she shoves at his chest, a growl in every word, "I know there is nothing I can do to get past that thick skull of yours. But what right do you have to control and manipulate me. What right do you have to tell me what I can and can't do or be."
Mike doesn't move. He just stares at the tear-stained teen. Like a man slapped while being insulted.
"I may have gone down a darker path then a proper Windsor would, but fuck, did I really have another choice," she looks around, making eye contact with every sibling, "You made me like this. You created this by pushing me over the edge. No better than the monsters that put me in the hospital all those years ago."
There's a tension in the air, and a look in Sam's eye so dark that it seems to swallow all light.
"The same hospital I tried to jump off of. Because no one stood up for me." she waves her hands at the area she had just fought in, "just like now. You all jump to what I did wrong, like being quirkless means I'm always the fucking issue."
She stalks closer to the others, body trembling, "You act like you're doing this to protect me, but I know it's because you're guilt-ridden and scared. You don't want to admit you were wrong, that you put me through hell my entire life because of something so stupid. You don't want to accept that I am strong enough to not only be a dangerous Villain but a better Hero then all of you."
Sam begins to laugh, but the tears don't stop, "because how pathetic would it be to be outclassed by a useless, piece of trash quirkless. What would people think when they realize just how cruel their beloved Hero's are. Adding fuel to the fire instead of putting it out. Pushing their sibling to suicide, and then blaming her for it. Because it was her fault for getting bullied and mutilated. She should have accepted her fate and lay like an obedient dog if she didn't want to get hurt."
Silence.
She looks down, eyes covered in shadows and a hand clenched over her heart.
"There wasn't a Hero then to save me. I had been abandoned by not only the world but my family," she looks up, and the air is sucked from them all. Hellfire raged in her gaze, "only he was there. A Villain was the only one there. He was the only one who saw how damaged and broken I was. Cared enough to risk a visit to the hospital."
She chokes on a sob, "He was the only one who believed in me after Dad died. And he was the one who jumped after me and saved my life. So, of course, I went with him. Of course, I wanted to learn from him. Of course, I chose to be a villain, when every Hero and aspiring Hero has been nothing but cruel to me. All because I was quirkless."
Sam realized something then. Something that changed everything. Like the needed flint and steel to start a spark of hope that would lead to a roaring fire.
"And yet, even after all of that,"
The smiling face of a man with eyes full of honesty and determination flashed in her mind.
"I still want to be a Hero."
The world is cold, and yet Sam feels so hot. She's still shaking from her outburst. Her voice was now shot. Only able to form words that cracked like splitting rocks. All her siblings were still. Seemingly lost for words as they ruminate in their own thoughts. Good, they deserved it. She needed to get it through their heads that this was not what Sam wanted or created on her own. But instead, a creation made from their own selfishness and lack.
And yet one still refused to truly reflect.
"Sam,"
The girl turns around, meeting the second oldest, and self-proclaimed leader of the group. Mike. He didn't stand tall like usual. He hung his head, eyes half-lidded and slightly glazed. The confidence and righteous attitude wiped from exhaustion.
"I will never let you be a Hero."
It was a moment that none of them would forget. Not just because of the words. Not just because of the pure rage and bloodlust that Sam exudes. But because of the next thing Sam did.
She kicked Mike where the sun don't shine.
And there was no mercy.
The others raced to his side the moment they saw him sway to the ground. And the moment they realized they all had taken their eyes off Sam, they looked back. An empty space greeted them along with the whistle of the wind.
The ever-elusive Gidget was gone.