Young Writers Society

Kate Gilman Villains Academy had a warm atmosphere of laughter and the walls were painted in bright colors. It was a school for villains, but that didn’t mean it had to be dark and dull.

Corey was a young-fourteen year old villain in training and a rising star in the academy he had his own team to run and it filled him with pride. His power wasn’t flashy or incredible but it worked. He could see into every multiverse every possible reality for himself so he could make the best decisions in most situations.

The only annoying part was that all the stupid futures came up too, like what would happen if he blinked a second later or if he screamed Alpaca when he was trying to figure out what the right answer on a test was. The Headvillians were smart though and when assigning teams they gave him Steve, whose power was the ability to stretch out and whoever he touched power is boosted so it helps Corey filter out the more unhelpful stuff.

Right now though Corey had a feeling of rubatosis, he was about to walk into the part of the school he hated, completely alone, without his team. His mind was racing. Why on earth did the Headvillians want him, him alone? Why couldn’t his friends be here? He swallowed but his mouth felt dry. He tried to run through the possibilities but he couldn’t focus long enough to use his power. Corey found this unsettling; he didn't like being unsure and found himself oddly dependent on his power at times to feel secure. He hates it here it’s supposed to be the safest part of the school (a bunker in case of emergencies) but it seemed dead in comparison, the rest of the school was painted in a rainbow of colors and warm cream tones but the paint had long since faded and was peeling off the walls to reveal the cold hard steel underneath. The air was thick and it clung to his throat, Corey felt small despite being of average height.

At the end of the hallway were two huge doors or maybe they weren’t huge at all but he simply was so tiny right now that they could appear no other way. He rapped on the door three times and a tall, lean, shrimpy looking man opened it with ease,which normally would have surprised Corey because of the heft and thickness of the door but his time at Kate Gilman Villains Academy has taught him anyone can do anything.

He knew he was a kinda scrawny kid the polar opposite of his brother but now more than ever it was bearing down on him. This feeling of smallness. Gods, he hated thinking about his brother. It made him feel guilty, he had left without saying a word to Mikey or his Mom and it was weird now how things had played out. Mikey being a hero and all. Corey missed him sometimes. He shook his head to clear the thoughts when he heard Kate Gilman or as she’s more commonly known Good Game, chuckle.

“It’s good to see you again Core, the place is a little overwhelming, I know” Corey remembered how petrified he was when he first met her. (a complete accident by the way, he never intended to be a villain) He couldn’t quite get the “ey” out and she won’t let him forget about it. Good Game gestures to the room and for the first time he takes in the grand scale of it. There was a high stage with five seats, lecterns, and bleachers. The ceiling rose high into the air so large he reckoned he could stack about 20 of himself without touching it. The bleachers seemed to seat thousands of kids enough for his whole school and another. A true auditorium though it seemed like it was used more as an office for the Headvillians as of late.

He realized he was still lingering by the door, he forced himself to step forward past the bleachers despite how his stomach was churning with anxiety. He took a deep breath as he stood before America’s top five villains. Wait, wait, wait four villains?! Madame Mouse was gone which was a relief since the stout and short tempered woman intimidated him. Corey still remembered how he could barely breath as her thick muscular fingers had wrapped around his neck. It must have been what, a year now? He focused up. Knowing whatever was about to happen was important, at the chairs which each had a lectern to match they were seated in order, left to right, Ted Mech, Mouse’s empty seat hollow and cold missing her usual fire, Good Game, Orphee and Hellcat.

“Alright Apex let's get down to business, Obviously we called you here for a reason and I’d bet you’d like to know why” Good Game sat up a little straighter, clearly removing any casual air she had before. Her face and muscles looked tense, she was clearly stressed.

“Yes mam, I uh tried to use my powers on the way here in fact” He gave her a little nod of respect.

“Well as I’m sure you can see Madame Mouse isn’t here” Corey hated the formality of her speech, the use of full and proper villain names. He was used to goofing around with her, Good Game helped him adjust to school and he considered her like a guardian. She was usually calm, loose and easy even in the worst situations so seeing her uncomfortable scared him. She continued,

“She’s been captured by the heroes and we don’t know what they want with her or where she is but Echo recently found out that there’s a data file containing her whereabouts in the Sadros Lab. So we want you to prepare your team to do an information retrieval. We- I’m trusting you to handle this you’ve proven yourself time and time again so I believe in you to get Mad Mouse’s location. I’ll fax you the info sheet okay?” Good game pulled out her tablet and started the faxing process, Hellcat smiled warmly at Corey giving him her support.

“Of course I’ll fill in the team and get them ready to head out by tomorrow morning” Corey turned to go, anxious to read the sheet and learn the more fine-tuned details of his mission. The meeting seemed more customary than actually informational to him. When he turned though, Good Game stood up suddenly. He didn’t see it but he heard the screech of the chair. She spoke in a rushed, stone cold manner,

“You were not dismissed, Apex” She walked briskly towards him, he felt like he couldn’t escape, her sudden intensity surprised and worried him causing what felt like a jolt of electricity to spiral through his spine. He stood, stiff and still, his back remaining towards the villains, he couldn’t show his sudden concern. Good Game whispered close in his ear “Corey, there’s something else, Echo thinks they’re expecting us and sending someone in particular to fix it, they don’t know who were sending but your not gonna like who they’ve picked”

“Who?” He was dreading the answer, who would he be worried about? Good game hesitated

“Corey the heroes are sending Mike” “ We would of preferred to have chosen a different team but yours is best fit for this mission”

His heart stopped dead, that, that just couldn’t be right. The image of his tall muscular brother, who’s face and thick black hair resembled his own, came to mind. Corey wasn’t ready to face him. They’d fought once before, but the stakes felt more real this time if he messed up this mission they might not get Mad Mouse back and without Madame Mouse the balance would start to tip even more.

When it came to Mikey there was no malice in Corey’s heart he hadn’t left out of hatred, Mikey and him hadn’t become villains and heroes because of one of those great epic rivalries. It was because of a prophecy.

Godland, was what both sides agreed to call it, but they argued over the meaning. It was said that the balance of good and evil must remain intact or great, powerful gods would emerge from the earth. Corey and the grand majority of villains at KGV agreed that when the gods emerged a horrible bloody war would break out and the gods would reclaim earth, slaughtering all of humanity in the process. So they did evil things to keep the rest of the world safe. Where many of the “heroes” believed that by doing good they would prove worthiness to the gods and these titans would eradicate all evil and create a world where humans and gods were one in peace and joy. Other heroes cared not for the prophecy but believed that doing evil was wrong so they stopped it.

Corey knew the hero's little fantasy was wrong; he had visions showing the horror and death caused by these gods and he had to do everything in his power to keep the balance and protect the people he loved. People like Mom, Mikey, and his friends.

He’d encountered Mikey twice after they split once in battle and once in a Starbucks. It was awkward and he had to throw his triple caramel venti out after. He couldn’t bring himself to drink it. So how on Earth could he fight him with the pressure, he needed to escape.

He backed away from Good Game and ran down the drafty hallway. He was scared he didn’t want to have to worry about if he had hurt Mike or feel guilty and off focus on a mission like this. He couldn’t afford to slip up. He couldn’t afford to mess up again. He couldn’t afford to be weak, to not be able to land the punch. Corey couldn’t bear the thought that maybe Mike felt guilty for his leaving, he cared deeply about Mikey even if he was annoying and stupid sometimes. He couldn’t face Mike because he didn’t want to know that he hurt him.

Corey hadn’t noticed how far he’d run. He was past the hell halls and near the central plaza. His legs were sore even though they continued to hit the ground with consistency. He didn’t know where he was going but he was nearing the common rooms so he decided to go back to his bedroom and read the fax. Maybe it would calm him down. He doubted it but one can hope. As he ran he got weird looks from some of the student’s on their way to classes or just hanging around. He figured it was odd to be running top speed down the halls in the opposite direction of your next class.

Once he got to the familiar corridor where the boys dorms were located he started to slow down. As Corey slowed he could feel his legs shaking and his heart beating fast. The adrenaline rush was over and the side effects were hitting him. He walked up to room number 417, yanked the door open and promptly collapsed on the floor.

“Bro you good?” Steve, who was Corey’s roomie, stood up and closed the door behind him.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine just dumb, decided to run across half the campus” Corey was already lifting himself back up and onto the bed because that was at least a respectable place to collapse.

“So bbg tell me what’s up what did the bigwigs want with you?” Steve was already in the kitchen fixing a cup of coffee. Corey’s head hurt and so did his legs he didn’t wanna think about the heist or Mike right now. He pulled the blankets up around him. Quickly in a flash he got an image of Steve burning his hand on the pot.

“Watch your hands idiot” Corey was used to visions by now. As a side effect of his powers he tended to get visions too, especially when someone was gonna get hurt. His friends had just learned to trust his random advice.

“Thanks wonder boy” He rolled his eyes but was extra careful with the pot.

“Anyways we got a mission tomorrow, a big one. The fax is probably already here.” Corey rolled over to face away from the dreaded fax machine. What had been curiosity about its contents had turned to annoyance. This mission was gonna suck and he didn’t want to deal with it. Steve sat down on the bed next to Corey and once Corey had sat up he handed him his coffee.

“So what is it?”

“Information retrieval.” Corey took a long sip of coffee letting it warm his body.

“Bleh boooooooooooring.”

“It’s important though old Mad Mouse is missing and the data were picking up has her location, so we gotta infiltrate Sadros lab and get it.”

“Jesus Madame Mouse is really missing?” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah it seems crazy but the heroes got her I guess” Corey downed the last of his coffee and put the mug in the sink before building the resolve to read the fax. He snatched the paper from the cold metal box, once he did the small flickering green light turned off.

INFO RETRIEVAL KGV ACADEMY 820365

RECIPIENT: COREY WILLIAMS AKA APEX DESTINATION: E,WG R:417

CLEARANCE LEVEL: THETA, MAY TELL ELIGIBLE STAFF/TEAM/CLASSMATES

Corey W.your mission is to infiltrate Sadros Lab, use any means necessary. You must retrieve the data file containing Madame Mouse's location. The data is on a floor in between floors 12 and 14. Please refrain from civilian violence no civilians may be harmed per custom unless there is no other option to keep the majority safe.You have access to weapons vault C and SCUTTLER Y*847 has been prepped and is ready to go at your command.You,ANNIE SELLIS,NELLIE BRINT,STEVE HASENKAMP,and SANDRA(L*ST N*ME UNKNOWN)must report to weapons vault C at 8:00 A:M OCT/07/2023. Please brief your team at this time. Your jet a I wing Horizons resignation number 1102094008 will be ready to leave at 8:45. Your team must be in docking bay Alpha by then or there will be severe punishment.

Thank you for your cooperation.

KATE GILMAN VILLAINS ACADEMY APPRECIATES YOUR DEDICATION.

Corey wished he could forget Mike was gonna be there. He wanted to do good by his teachers and the Headvillians but he wasn’t excited for this mission in the slightest. He handed the fax to Steve who gave it a look.

“These faxes are so stuffy. Gods, what AI writes these?” Steve tried to play it off but he kept bouncing his leg up and down. Corey knew Steve understood the situation and the stakes if they failed, how Godland would be that much closer to triggering.

“Amen they’re bland as I’ll get out.” Corey just wanted to stop thinking about it for a bit. He yawned and stretched out.

“Alright I’m gonna hit the hay, Night Steve.”

“Goodnight Corey.”

In the Sadros lab a tall lean woman with straight blonde hair and high cheekbones was ordering grunts and heroes around.

“You there get the bomb set up!”

“Yes, General Claire.” The stocky little lizard guy with the bomb scurried off. The bomb weighed so much that he had to tilt it onto his chest to not fall over. A young boy who looked about sixteen with thick black hair, an athletic build and a suit that glowed faintly in the dark stood next to General Claire.

“Claire, is this really okay?” He asked her. She looked down at him with an inlay of mild surprise.

“Of course it is, this is war we’re talking about and keeping that wretched Madame Mouse’s location private is critical to our success. The villains they send are going to be horrible people so it’s not really a loss. If we win this war all of humanity will get heaven on earth no more pain no more suffering.” She smiled warmly at him.The boy looked despondent, like he was thinking.

“Yeah I guess so.” He muttered.

“Don’t worry when they come we’ll blow them away along with the bait data and we’ll be one step closer to a brighter future. Trust me it’s for the best, Mikey”

At 9:00 AM Corey Williams and his crew of villains will arrive at Sandros Lab. But first he has to get his team ready. Will they stop the bomb in time? To find out pick up volume #2 of HOW TO BE A VILLAIN!