At midnight, as he exited the factory, Lester didn't know how to feel. What was one supposed to even feel in a situation like this? His career had just been totally ruined. No one would take him seriously after this.
As he started his way toward his place, Lester noticed a young man approaching. The guy was around his age, and the one thing that stood out about the fellow was his right eye. The eyeball was completely black. The guy said to him, "You know, you were supposed to lose. They were most likely even aware of what would happen when that hero guy punched you hard enough."
Lester had figured this might be the case. But why was this guy opening with it? The man definitely didn't seem like a fan. Not that he had any fans.
"Yeah, I know," Lester said.
"It's tough to make it out alone."
Lester didn't say anything.
"Name's Mic Gizmo. I'm putting together a team of villains. Just wanted to know if you are interested."
The thought had occurred to Lester a couple of times. And now, even if he had decided to go on his own, he had to admit that things weren't going his way.
"I might be interested," Lester said, "But now I'm just tired."
Lester saw a slight flash in Mic's black eye, and he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. With a name like Gizmo, the guy had most likely some kind of tech power, maybe tinkering, gadgeteering, or technopathy. Lester took out his phone and looked. There was a message from Mic Gizmo.
"Be in touch," Mic said with a click of his tongue.
Lester nodded and decided to move on. This wasn't the time to socialize. Definitely not after losing the match so catastrophically. He was just going to head to the crappy apartment he called home.
***
Midday, he woke up in his home.
First thing, Lester couldn't help but look at the video of the match on ViralKeg. He watched as the air around Derek flared blue and the guy slammed his explosive fist into him, turning Lester's body into liquid and sending him splashing through the arena bars to form on the floor naked, his clothes still inside the cage.
Lester sighed with a numbness settling within him. This was his villain life. Not as glamorous as he'd expected. He could only hope that this was the bottom. Or maybe something worse was just behind the corner. One could never know.
Lester rolled the video back to the instant he was water. He'd never seen his whole body like this. It was almost formless, but you could still make out a part of a hand there and the shape of a head there. Like normal clear water, just flying there in the air with anthropomorphic parts sticking out.
Lester's attention turned to the video comments. It had been like twelve hours since it had happened, and people were talking.
Lester put down the phone. He felt he'd gotten enough of social media. He was a loser now. People were laughing at him. He was like one of those joke villains. In that sense, it wasn't maybe the absolute worst thing that could have happened. There were comical villains who made their living by losing to heroes. Was this the direction he was headed?
After some time dwelling on the possible life of a loser villain, Lester got up and tried to turn his mind to other matters. He had gotten two points from the fight. He would spend them now. And the attribute he would spend them on would definitely be Will. He needed more control so what happened in the fight would never happen again.
"Villain Interface, put two points into Will."
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Will increased to 8.
Lester looked around, and everything was blue. Blue walls, blue bed, and outside the window, a blue world. Just blue. And then it was back to normal.
"Villain Interface, show me my status."
VILLAIN INTERFACE
Name: Lester Rigby
Super Rank: C
Status: Freelance Villain
Attributes:
Might 10
Vitality 5
Reflex 5
Intellect 3
Will 8
Energy 5
Powers:
Liquid Body
Quests:
You think you're not a clone:
Prove, against all the evidence, that you are not a clone.
Award: 3 points.
Face Derek Stainless in the city-level Super Brawl Circuit.
Award: 3 points and 5 extra points for victory.
Lester looked over his status sheet and specifically at the newest quest.
One day, Derek Stainless, he thought, One day I will defeat you.
But Lester knew he should focus on the moment for now. He'd just put two points into Will, and points there meant that he should be able to use his ability even better.
Lester was about to pump his fists together to cause his hands to liquify, but he stopped. Instead, he just raised his right hand palm toward his face, and he stared at his palm, and he thought. He, most certainly, had the will—at least his Will stat was eight. He would with all certainty be able to turn his hand to water with only his mind. Mind over matter. Mind over hand.
Time passed.
Lester stared at his palm.
Finally, his hand transformed on its own, changing into transparent water. And as Lester let out a happy tee-hee, the hand snapped back to flesh.
"I did it."
But as he thought about it more, Lester realized this was only a small step. If he wanted to prevent a clothing malfunction in the future, he would have to learn to transform his clothing too. That would be his next goal. If it was even possible. Many supers with transformation powers could transform their clothing with them. There were also some special super costumes available that were designed to transform with their wearer, but those were way out of his price range.
Let's try the cheap way first.
Balancing on his right foot, Lester lifted his left leg forward, and he looked at the sock covering his raised foot. He concentrated, trying to will his sock and foot to turn into water at the same time. After a while, it didn't happen. Instead, his foot turned to water and slipped out from his sock, which fell on the floor, being, strangely, not wet at all.
After several failed attempts, Lester sat down on the bed, feeling like giving up. It seemed that his powers had decided that only his body would turn and that the sock was not part of his body. But what was his body anyway? If he ate the sock, would it be part of his body? He would have to eat his sock to find out. Why would he have to eat his sock? What kind of superpower involved eating socks? And what was the difference between eating a sock and having a sock on a foot?
There is no difference.
With his newfound enlightenment, Lester raised his sock-covered foot, and he tried again to will them both to water. And this time it happened. The sock and foot both turned.
Lester let go of his concentration, letting his foot and sock both turn back to solid. He leaned back onto the bed and said, "Finally."
Lying down, Lester stared at the roof, and he saw the colored patch that sometimes leaked drops of some liquid from upstairs. He was here now. This was his life. But he was improving. He was gaining control of his power. He was gaining control of his life.
Lester's phone beeped, and he looked at it and the message he'd gotten.
Greetings, Lester
We at the Super Brawl Circuit have some challenges for you to overcome.
Due to your below-expected performance at your previous match, the Guild of Calamity and Woe is considering downgrading your status to a D-rank henchman and naming you as Mr. Puddles. But fear not, there is opportunity here. We offer you the chance to hold onto your name and rank.
You have the opportunity to fight in the street-level Recalm City Super Brawl Circuit within a month, and if you win, you can then keep your rank and choose your villain name. Failure to appear in the fight would mean losing and becoming a henchman named Mr. Puddles.
If you're interested, send us a reply with the following text:
I, Lester, commit to fighting in the Recalm City street-level Super Brawl Circuit. Also, I confirm that the Super Brawl Circuit is not responsible for the injuries I might sustain during the fights I take part in.
Br. Super Brawl Circuit management
After reading, Lester could feel the indignation of it all. Below-expected performance. The fight had been a setup. There had been no way for him to win. And now they threatened him by trying to rename him as Mr. Puddles.
"Fucking hell." Lester bounced up from the bed, and he managed to just stop himself from throwing his cellphone into the wall.
Then the villain interface flashed a message into his vision.
New Quest: Fight for your name and rank.
Defeat your opponent in the Super Brawl Circuit to keep your rank and for the ability to choose a villain name.
Award: 3 points
As he stared at the text, Lester tried to calm down. It was totally fucked up, but there might definitely be a silver lining in all this. Even if he was technically getting scammed by these Super Brawl people, this might actually be an opportunity to somewhat fix his reputation. Also, the three extra points were definitely a bonus.
Lester sent the accept message to the Super Brawl Circuit.