Rule #3: Only wear tights if you can pull them off (not everyone can). Tights and/or some kind or spandex are a staple in the superhero outfit. Other than stopping bad guys (I'll cover that more later) and getting the girl (I'll also talk about later), it's what we're known for. But don't be tricked, not everyone can pull these things off. Don't just follow the superhero crowd, we're not always the smartest bunch, look for what works for you. That way you won't look like an idiot (or like someone completely different) in your comic books. It's all about the aesthetics, people.
Like all of Dan's plans, his plan to "convince me that I'm wasting my potential" or whatever (let me ask you, genius, how could I have been wasting my potential when I had only had my powers for like a day) wasn't entirely thought out. It also wasn't entirely rational, logical, or encouraging in any way.
As much as I hated to be there, watching him try to convince me to change my entire life gave me a whole new insight into Dan and it wasn't pretty. Everything did screamed out "THIS IS WHY I'M A HERO THAT CAN'T DEFEAT HIS VILLAIN." Or, at a particularly bad moment, "THIS IS WHY I'M SAD AND ALONE AND HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO MENTOR SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO BE MENTORED."
Sure, you (and Rachel) can say that I only thought this because I was (and am) an asshole who is too stubborn to change his opinion about people. But you weren't there and Rachel's opinion doesn't count so just shut up already. Did I ask for your opinion? Yeah, I thought so.
Anyway, Dan's great idea was to take me to the superhero meeting that was going on the next night (yes, they do hold meetings, more on that mess later). So instead of suffering through school (remember, my mom didn't believe that me BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING BY A STUPID SUPERHERO was enough for me to miss any school) and taking a nap as soon as I got home, I got to go to school and then go straight to Dan's lair to get ready for the meeting. Rachel, who's a Grade A flake, decided that she couldn't go. I guess she had some test or something the next morning. Apparently it mattered that everyone but me had a good night's sleep.
Even better, the meeting wouldn't start until late to allow superheroes with demanding day jobs (don't even get me started on that) to make it. And who knew how long the meeting could take. That meant I would have TWO sleepless nights under my belt and I STILL had to go to school Tuesday morning. Life was completely unfair.
(I'm sorry for all my uses of the "caps lock" button. This whole thing still pisses me off and it's my only form of relief. I guess I could smash my computer but that just seems ridiculous, not to mention expensive. Besides, if I smash my computer, how will you all be graced with my wonderful, may I even say life changing, words?)
There really wasn't anything I needed to do to get ready for the meeting. According to Dan, all I had to do was show up and be convinced. But for some reason, Dan wanted me there while he got ready (I guess the heroes went all out uniform/costume-wise when it came to these monthly meetings). Supposedly he wanted to prep me for the meeting by telling me little tidbits about the heroes I would meet and how their system ran, but he just ended up rambling on and on, showing exactly how nervous he was. The guy should seriously have a prescription for Valium or something.
Anyway, when Dan was finally ready he insisted that we take his car (apparently he was smart enough to hide his car in an underground garage) instead of letting me fly. I guess my flying was too "unpredictable" and "dangerous" for him to trust me to fly there. And he didn't want me to know the location of the meeting, that too. Like I wouldn't figure it out from, you know, DRIVING THERE (again, sorry about the all caps thing).
The meeting itself was held in some office building. Think the building Dunder Mifflin was in in The Office. Just a regular ol' building with a bunch of freaks in it.
When we got up to the third floor, it seemed like all the heroes were already there (apparently they're faster at getting ready than Dan is). I was the only one in normal clothes. And let me tell you, being around all those tights is pretty awkward. Some of them gave me weird looks but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was with Dan. Or maybe they liked being around people in tights. To each their own.
"So why are we here again?" I asked Dan as he led me through the crowd.
"You need to see what the other heroes are like."
"Why?"
Dan continued to lead me until we reached a wall and he leaned against it. "Well, one of your reasons you don't want to be a hero is because you hate me, right?"
"Because I think that you're an idiot but, sure, close enough."
"All bitterness aside, I thought it would be good for you to see what other heroes are like. So you don't waste your potential just because you don't like me."
"And you think this is going to work?" I asked. "Cause I'm looking around this room and I don't see anything too impressing."
I didn't exactly say this quietly and found myself getting looks from the heroes around me. But I just rolled my eyes, it wasn't like I was going to see these people again. This was a one time thing.
"Could you please try to not be a jerk?" Dan said.
"Could you please let me leave?"
"No."
"If you let me leave, I'll promise to consider training."
"If I let you leave, you'll never come back."
That was so true. Who knew he could be so intuitive?
"But this is boring!" I said.
"The meeting hasn't even started yet!"
"What can they really say to convince me, anyway?"
"Just shut up."
I tried to argue more, something about our banter was pretty fun, but that was, of course, when the meeting began. Some hero in a purple outfit stepped up to a table, his makeshift podium I guess, and called everyone to attention.
"Before we get into our normal business," purple guy said. "I believe one of our own, Daring Dan, has someone to introduce to us. Are you ready, Dan?"
Dan nodded and crossed over to the purple guy, taking his place by the table.
"Hello," he said. "As some of you may know, while fighting Laser Linus-" he paused a moment to let everyone grumble at the mention of his nemesis. "At the movie theater the other day, I shot a teenager with a bolt of electricity. That young man, Matt Miller, is here today."
"Why?" an annoyed voice said from the crowd.
Why indeed, I thought.
Dan did not seem phased. "Because he needs to be convinced to join our ranks. When I struck him with that electricity, he gained powers. But he doesn't want to be a superhero, he wants to be normal."
All at once, all the heads in the room turned towards me. Obviously, they did not approve of me wanting to be normal.
"Don't look at me," I muttered. "I have my reasons."
"What we need to do is convince Matt not to spoil his potential. I'm sure at least some of you can come up with reasons he should embrace his powers."
And Dan was right, the heroes did have some things to say. Actually, a lot of them did. Apparently they were an opinionated bunch, those heroes. I wasn't the best listener but I did my best to pay attention at least a little bit. Most of their opinions were crap and did nothing to sway me, but my stubbornness might have had something to do with that.
"Being a hero gives you a whole new world of opportunities," one in an orange outfit said.
"If you don't train to become a hero, your powers will become uncontrollable. And if you can't control them, you'll put your friends and family in danger," another, this one in a red outfit, with a serious expression said.
"There are lot of villains out there and we need all the help we can get," one of the last ones (they had formed a line behind the table) said.
By the time the line of superheroes had said their piece, I had stopped paying attention. Nothing they said made me want to strap on some spandex or a cape. And the heroes could tell, too. They were looking at me with annoyance, like I was just wasting their time (I was), and many people started calling to move on with the meeting already. The leader of the meeting, I still didn't know his name, granted their request and sent Dan back over to me. I was relieved that the whole ordeal was over but I did feel a little bad, Dan looked so defeated. And some of the heroes were even giving him mean looks, like he had purposely wasted their time.
"Moving on to the reason for the meeting," the leader of the meeting/purple guy (also known as PG) said. "We need to talk about the villain that's been gaining power in this city. We have now learned that her name is Sinister Shadow."
The meeting erupted into chaos.
"Order, we must have order," PG said. "I know that a lot of you are very upset about the rumors that have been circling the existence of this villain, and we need to make sure everyone is on the same page."
The crowd settled down when he said that, seeming appeased that he had taken their emotions into account. Ironically, this was the most interested I had been all night.
"So who is she? Where'd she come from?" one voice called out from the crowd.
"What are her powers?"
"Do we have a plan?"
"We'll address all of that, I assure you. But I need everyone to calm down and take a seat if there is one available to you. Then we can get this business over with," PG said.
Everyone reluctantly listened to him and organized themselves a little more. Some chairs were discovered and a few of them sat but most of them resigned themselves to lean against a wall like Dan and I were doing. Once everyone was quiet, which was a miracle within itself, PG began again.
"Now, to the origin of this villain. We don't know much about her, the villains are not good at a lot of things but they are good at protecting their information, but we do know that she was trained at the supervillain school that was rumored to be created." He paused to give everyone a moment to let that sink in. "This piece of information is a double edged sword of sorts. Fortunately for us, Sinister Shadow being trained at that school confirms the existence of the school itself, something we didn't have before. Unfortunately, we have no idea how the school works and we have no clue what they might have taught her.
"That being said, we do have several heroes risking their lives to find out more about this school and the villains it creates. We are hoping to have some sort of new information by the end of the month."
No one knew exactly what to say. The whole speech had been a mixed back. Many heroes were now shifting in their positions, like they were going to bolt at the next opportunity. But a few people in the crowd seemed even more interested. I was one of those people and that didn't go unnoticed by Dan.
"So are you finally realizing that we're not boring?" he asked teasingly.
"Maybe."
"I knew you'd come around eventually."
"I'm not coming around. This part of the meeting is slightly more interesting, that's all," I protested.
Our conversation was interrupted when one of the heroes had collected themselves enough to say, "So we don't even know what her powers are?"
"Not yet," PG said. "But we are hoping that the new information we will gain this month will include what her powers are. This is a process, everyone, and we have to be patient. Without patience, we won't be able to defeat her."
"So do they even have a plan?" I asked Dan, less impressed.
He shrugged. "That's not for me to say. It depends on what they know."
"It doesn't seem like they know anything."
"But they're trying to get information, that's something," he said.
"How are they supposed to protect anyone when they don't have a plan?"
"They know what they're doing."
"That's ridiculous."
"That's how we run things. Like he said, it's a process."
"I can't stay here for this," I said, stepping away from the wall. "You guys are even stupider than I thought before.
Not caring what any of them thought (I hadn't really cared that much before but until that point I had at least had some feeling of politeness), I started to push through the crowd to get to the door. I didn't look back to see if Dan was following me, I knew he would eventually. I was almost out of the room when PG called after me.
"Mr. Miller," he said. "Leaving so soon?"
"Yes." I was not in the mood to give any reason for my actions.
"Nothing we said tonight swayed you in the slightest?" He had moved away from his table and was now standing a few feet in front of it in the center of the room. Everyone had gone quiet.
"For a little while there you had me but then I changed my mind."
"What in the world could make you change your mind once you had it made up?"
"Well, I don't know," I said. "Maybe the fact that you go on and on about how you have to do something about this hero but you have no plan? That you know she might hurt however many innocent people and you don't know what to do?"
"That seems a little unfair."
"Does it? Tell me, is there a plan that you haven't disclosed? Are you guys anything more than freaks in costumes?"
"What gives you the right to judge us?" someone said, stepping out from the crowd.
"What gives you the right to demand that I join your ranks when you give me no reason to even trust you?"
"Then tell us what you want. What will make you want to join us?" PG asked.
"I don't know!"
"Then we can't help you."
"Fine, whatever, I'm leaving then." I turned and had made into into the hall before someone called after me yet again.
"Wait!" It was one of the younger looking heroes, wearing a blue outfit, and he had a sheepish look on his face as he stepped out from the crowd. Everyone watched him with interest.
"Yeah?" I said.
"I know a reason you might want to be a hero."
"Oh really?"
"Really," he said.
"Then what is it?"
"Uh..." He hesitated, looking embarrassed. "It's kind of random but I think you'll appreciate it."
"Are you going to tell me or..."
"Chicks love heroes."
"What?"
"Girls love heroes. They go crazy when they see you in uniform."
"Uh, okay."
"I've noticed that too!" another (guy) hero said.
"And not just the girls, the guys like it too," a female hero said laughingly.
"That's, um, nice..." I said, not knowing what to make of any of this.
But then I remembered Faye Donovan. A girl in my class that I had been in love with for years, she had always eluded me. It seemed unlikely, almost impossible, that me putting on tights would make her like me. But if these people swore that girls liked heroes, then maybe I could consider their proposition. I'm ashamed to admit it now (okay, not really), but this was the beginning and the end of my considering my options. If they said that I could get girls by being a hero, then I would be a hero. Besides, think about Peter Parker, he was a huge dork but he got a bunch of girls. That's all I needed to know. So I made my decision.
"All right, I'll start training and help you guys out. But just on a trial basis."
"That's all we can ask for," PG said, smiling.
And that, everyone, was the beginning of my grand adventure as Mighty Matt.
(Believe me, I did not pick my name.)
+++
Hey! How was everyone's week? I leave for college on the 24th so right now I'm in the middle of a packing/shipping nightmare. But that will all be over soon so yay!
As with the last update, I'll be deciding who I dedicate the chapter by the comment section: whatever user comments the most on this chapter or comments the funniest thing will have the chapter dedicated to them. So let me see those comments!
P.S. You can now register for #NYCWattCon! It's on October 1st in New York City and you guys should try to go! I'm going and a bunch of other awesome Wattpaders are going as well. Tickets are completely FREE and you just have to register so they know how many people are coming. Here is the link to register:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nycwattcon-a-day-of-all-things-wattpad-tickets-26972273797