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It starts with Rich having an off day.
He can’t really afford to have those, but when he woke up in the morning he felt shitty. Probably picked up a cold or something. So naturally, when the Squip sends him out on an errand (read: robbery), Rich is less than perfect. Sure, he gets the job done and gets away in the end, but he’s sloppy, and that is unacceptable. As he heads back, he already knows he’s in trouble.
Sure enough, he’s greeted with a nasty shock as soon as he returns to the hideout, one bad enough to make his legs buckle. The shock is followed up by a very irritated Squip, clearly prepared to deliver a lecture. Personally, Rich would have preferred more electrocution.
It’s a very long lecture, and it ends with the Squip giving an exasperated order for him to pay more attention to details. Except he gives the order in that tone of voice, the commanding one that makes it clear that he will be obeying whether he likes it or not. Damn mind control powers.
After that, Rich is allowed to go home. Sure enough, on the way, everything seems sharper, and he focuses more on the details around him. It’s a bit annoying. The next day it still hasn’t worn off, so he’s understandably annoyed when he gets to school.
He takes it out on the anti-social headphones kid, bodychecking him into the lockers as they pass each other in the halls. But to Rich’s surprise, another boy is there, tall and skinny, and he helps the headphones kid up like it’s normal.
He keeps walking, but it’s definitely weird. Since when has the headphones kid had a friend?
That question sticks in his mind, and sure enough, all day he starts noticing the tall kid more and more. In his math class, at lunch, in study hall.
It’s definitely weird. He’s pretty sure they haven’t gotten any new students, but he’s equally sure the tall kid hasn’t been there before, at least not that Rich could see. It bothers him, so much that he skips his last class to go into the goddamn library, pull out the library books, and fucking check it himself.
It takes some searching, but he finds the tall kid. Jeremy Heere, also a junior. And according to the yearbook picture, has been attending Middleburough High for three years. Without anybody ever noticing him. Apparently Rich has been in multiple goddamn classes with him before, and never noticed.
Which is weird. Obviously, he doesn’t know everybody he’s ever been in a class with by name, but after half a year of seeing them almost daily, Rich can usually recognize their fucking faces.
But he’s equally certain he’s never seen Jeremy Heere before today.
Something weird is going on.
~
So Rich spends the rest of the week watching, and slowly reaches the conclusion that nobody can see Jeremy Heere, not really. Just Michael Mell, and lately, Rich. And he couldn’t even see Heere until…
Until he was forced to pay more attention.
He’s under standing orders to tell the Squip if he finds anyone with superpowers, so he passes his research along on Thursday night.
On Friday morning, he wakes up to a message informing him that he needs to bring Jeremy Heere to the Squip for a job offer. That day.
Great.
He spends the day looking for mostly non-creepy ways to corner him, and also wrestling with his conscience. Because… yeah, the Squip is vicious, cruel and controlling. If he brings Jeremy Heere to him, then he’s setting the kid up to be tortured. All in the name of training, of course, except for when the Squip is angry and needs a victim to take it out on, or just wants to electrocute someone for the hell of it. The idea of subjecting someone else to that…
There are scars on his back from electricity burns, like tree roots or lightning strikes, and they itch at the thought of someone else enduring that.
But if the Squip has a new toy to focus on, he’ll pay less attention to Rich. He’ll back off a bit. There’ll be someone else to shoulder the burden of keeping him entertained, of taking the brunt of his anger. Rich won’t be alone anymore.
In math, he gets his chance.
Jeremy gets up and leaves halfway through, quietly, and without saying a word. Sure enough, nobody seems to notice, and he doesn’t seem to expect them to. But Rich notices, and the second Heere is out the door, he sticks his hand up, asks to go to the bathroom, and goes after him.
He follows him to the bathroom, and after a quick check to make sure it’s just the two of them, locks the door behind him.
“Hey. You’re Jeremy, right?”
The kid jumps about a foot in the air, and turns around with wide eyes.
“Um. Y-yes?” He stammers, clearly surprised at being noticed, let alone spoken directly to.
“You’re not used to people just talking to you, huh?”
“No, n-not really. It- this is – this is kind of new.”
Jeremy looks both highly surprised, and a bit terrified. Not the best start.
“Trust me, this is a bit new for me as well. First time I even saw you was on Monday. How long have you been friends with the headphones kid?”
“Michael? L-like, twelve years.”
“That’s what I mean. Far as anyone knows, Mell is weird, antisocial, and has never had a friend in his life. I mean, dude, there’s low profile, and then there’s just unnatural, and you’ve definitely crossed the line. It’s definitely some kind of superpower.”
“…What?”
Jeremy looks and sounds like his entire life just got turned upside down. Rich keeps going.
“It sucks, doesn’t it? Having a power that you can’t tell is a power? Shit, I’m in the same boat as you, until my boss found me, I just thought everyone was an asshole. Let me tell you, I was so suicidal, you wouldn’t even believe, and then I was found by the Squip. He recognized my power as a power, and showed me. Helped me get it under control. I told him about you, soon as I noticed. He wants to help you too, in exchange for some work. Think of it as a job offer.”
“W-wait. You have a superpower? Like what, shoving people in lockers?” Jeremy says, glaring slightly, apparently just remembering that he’s talking to someone who bullies his best friend.
“That’s not very nice.” Rich says, letting a lisp back into his voice. Sure enough, Jeremy immediately cracks up, holding a sink to support himself. He laughs for a while, and Rich just waits.
When he stops, he looks confused.
“Wait, that- that’s just a lisp that’s n-not funny. Why was I laughing at you? …Oh. O-oh my god. Y-y-you’re- you’re Comedy, a-aren’t you.”
Rich winks.
“Like I said. My boss is interested in your powers, and wants to help you get in control. He wants to meet you today, and it’s not an optional offer. Nothing concrete, just one meeting. You in?”
“…Just one meeting?”
“We can go right now. I drive you there, you talk to the boss, I drive you back. Simple.”
~
Jeremy agrees, because of course he does, and within the hour Rich and Jeremy are at the Squips preferred base, and Rich is being sent outside so Jeremy and the Squip can talk alone. He sits, and he waits, and an hour later they both come out and join Rich. Jeremy looks lost in thought, and the Squip looks extremely pleased. He has a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder, and there is no sign of Jeremy resisting it.
Rich has a bad feeling about that, but he pushes it down, and tries not to think about it.
“I’ll be expecting your answer in a week Jeremy. Think about it.” The Squip says, patting Jeremy on the shoulder before removing his hand. Jeremy nods jerkily.
“A-alright. I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask. Comedy, take him home.”
Rich nods silently, nudges Jeremy, and steers him towards the exit. He doesn’t need to look to know that the Squip is watching after them, eyes fixed on Jeremy. He highly doubts that Jeremy is actually being given a choice here. What the Squip wants, the Squip gets. The only control they have is over how much of a struggle it is to get there. Rich is certain that if Jeremy refuses the ‘generous’ offer next Friday, then he will not be leaving the hideout until he is broken enough to accept. The Squip has his ways to convince people, and none of the are pleasant.
~
That night, Jeremy goes home, sits in his room, and tries to process what the fuck just happened.
He has a superpower. His entire life, every time he’s been forgotten and ignored by teachers, students, his own mother, it was because of a stupid superpower that he has. The only people who’ve always remembered him are his parents and Michael.
So much pain because of a goddamn quirk of biology. One that he didn’t even know he had, let alone how to control it.
But he could control it. Sure, it would mean working for and with supervillains, but… it’s a chance to be noticed. For someone to pay attention to him. He shouldn’t, but he wants to.
Michael’s been texting him all afternoon, but Jeremy... isn’t sure how to answer them. For how nice the Squip had been, it was still very clear that he was talking to a supervillain. Mostly by the conversation ending with him adding that, officially speaking, Jeremy would be supposedly be getting hired as an intern for the Squip’s civilian identity. And that if Jeremy told anybody otherwise, then he would be killed. A supervillain had to protect his identity after all.
He’d seemed very serious about the murder threat, and Jeremy would rather not risk it. But at the same time… he didn’t want to lie to Michael.
But not telling him anything was an equally unappealing option, so Jeremy didn’t seem to have much of a choice.
Michael
yooooo dude where tf are you?
u skip class again?
hellooooo
k guessing your not here anymore im heading home
here, heere, haha that will never not be funny
name puns!
anyways u good?
Me
yeah im good, just had a job interview
srry i didnt tell you i was looking for a job, wasnt sure id get any call backs
didnt want to get hopes up
but i got an offer for an internship!!!
seems like a lotta hard work tho, not sure if i should take it
good experience tho, and decent pay
Michael
!!!!!!!
dude!!!!!!!!
congrats holy shit!!!
u should def. go for it i mean in this economy
follow ur dreeeaaams little butterfly
or in this case follow the paycheck and resume padder
Me
so
you really think i should do this?
Michael
oh yeah totally
dooo it
i mean
side affect is less hang out time for us
but hey i need to get off my ass and get a job too so like
this is inevitable. motivate me by proxy jeremy u have to do this
Me
alright, alright lol
i’ll take the job!
wish me luck
Michael
:D
~
The next Friday, Jeremy goes back to the Squip, and accepts his offer.
That same day, his training begins.
It’s difficult, but he was warned about that in advance. The Squip has high standards, and no tolerance for slacking. Jeremy spends most of the month feeling like his limbs are going to fall off, and at the end of the day he can barely drag himself up to bed. But slowly yet surely, he begins getting stronger, and actual muscles begin to show on his arms.
Physical training isn’t all though. He also needs to be taught what his job will be, and what exactly being a supervillain entails. Avoiding police, handling civilians, fending off heroes, breaking into places… Jeremy learns how to do a lot of very illegal things, very quickly. There’s also controlling his own powers, which, to his amazement, starts producing results. Nothing big yet, but he’s able to start vanishing to most people who could already see him, which makes it much easier to sneak in and out of the house. His dad can’t stop him if he can’t even notice him.
And through it all, the Squip is there, driving Jeremy to go farther, do more, be better. It feels amazing, that much attention focused on him and only him. Sure, he’s an asshole about it sometimes – Jeremy could definitely pass on being electrocuted anytime he does something wrong, and the insults get downright vicious sometimes. But it’s always followed with praise once he gets it right, comfort if he’s pushed too far, and there’s the constant underlying knowledge that everything that is happening is for Jeremy’s benefit. The Squip is doing this for him.
It feels like being given water in the middle of a drought, and Jeremy loves it. The Squip is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, and he’s not giving this up for the world. When he’s declared worthy of going into the field, it’s easy to push down the guilt he feels. It’s a simple deal, training in exchange for villainy, and this has been what Jeremy’s been training for. Compared to how he was living before, anything is an upgrade.
His first heist is hard. He’s sent out without his mask on, to just shadow Comedy as he does all the work. Jeremy is there as backup. Or rather, Tragedy is there as backup, because the Squip is incredibly dramatic, and likes the idea of his underlings having matching aesthetics.
He doesn’t have to step in, but it’s… difficult. Watching how obviously terrified the civilians are, seeing them cower away from Comedy…
It’s hard. Part of his is aching to do something, to help them, but a larger part of him is saying the opposite. These people can’t even see him. What does he owe them? The Squip has given him everything, he can’t throw it all away for some random people who don’t even notice him standing right in front of them.
Jeremy doesn’t interfere.
The second mission, the world is introduced to Tragedy.
It’s easier this time, and it gets a little easier every time he goes out.
~
And then there’s the bank heist, the turning point of it all.
Comedy and Tragedy have been terrorizing the city together for about two weeks, when they draw their first hero. It’s a simple bank heist. Comedy keeps the crowd controlled, making them laugh themselves helpless, revelling in the spotlight, and gleefully egging them on. Tragedy’s mask is off, and he’s invisible to everyone but Comedy, so he feels no shame humming as he shoves the money into the bag. It’s a rush now, and it feels like taking back everything that his powers have stolen from him, and that makes it so easy to ignore the increasingly quiet protests of his conscience. This feels too good to stop.
Once the money is loaded up, they make their exit, Tragedy replacing his mask, as he’s been taught. A good villain knows how to get attention, and when to get it. Presentation is what separates the villains from the supervillains.
They’re headed for their getaway car, when someone steps in their way.
He’s clearly a teenager, and a wannabe hero from how he’s dressed. Sweatpants, a black hoodie, and blindfold, with something about him being oddly familiar. Tragedy and Comedy exchange looks, highly unimpressed, because really? This is the first hero to go after them?
“Put the money down.” He says, voice shaking slightly.
“Kid, you have no idea what you’re fucking with.” Tragedy says, both a warning and an insult. It would be easier for all of them if this rookie loses his nerve and runs away. This kid does not want to find out what they’re supposed to do to any heroes who try and stop them.
He does not run away. Instead, right before Comedy can speak, the hero takes off his blindfold.
Everything seems to stop.
Those eyes are somehow familiar, but all of that is irrelevant to how beautiful they are. They’re the most stunning thing Tragedy has ever seen. He’d do anything for those eyes. He can’t tear his gaze away to see Comedy, but he can tell that he’s having a similar reaction.
“Stop.” The boy with those eyes says, and Tragedy stops everything. He is frozen, not even breathing, because those beautiful eyes want him to stop, so how could he not? Even as black spots begin forming in his vision, he would rather die than move, would rather die than not to anything those beautiful eyes are telling him to do.
“Leave! Never rob this bank again, and – and keep doing all your usual bodily functions, oh my god, please keep breathing and blinking and stuff!” He says, and Comedy and Tragedy breathe again, turning to go.
The second they turn around the spell is broken.
Holy fuck.
That boy. He’d just – he’d just mind controlled them. Mind controlled them so hard they’d stopped breathing on his command.
Holy fuck.
Tragedy drops the money and runs for his life.
~
The Squip is furious, of course.
It’s the first time Jeremy’s seen him truly angry, and it’s terrifying. The machinery in the hideout practically buzz from the force of his anger, and Rich and Jeremy are helpless under the force of it. He yells for a while, verbally flaying his shaking subordinates, and then the electrocution begins. It’s the strongest shock Jeremy’s been given, and he screams his throat raw, writhing on the ground, before mercifully blacking out.
It’s not for very long, only a minute at most, and he wakes up again to more agony. The Squip has him by the hair, and is physically dragging him down a hall. Jeremy tries to fight back, but his limbs are weak and shaking from the brutal shock he’d just received, so his struggles are brushed off like nothing. The older villain is stronger than him anyways.
And worst of all, the Squip isn’t even looking at Jeremy, completely ignoring him apart from the dragging, not reacting the yelling and flailing.
They reach a door, and the Squip opens it, physically throwing Jeremy inside of the room. The walls are heavily padded, and there’s no light switch, and Jeremy has a terrible suspicion about what this is.
“I’ll be back when you’ve learned how to obey.” The Squip says with a sneer, before closing the door, and leaving Jeremy alone in the darkness.
It’s horrible.
He tries to stay calm, but that fails him quickly. Time seems to stop, and his world is just a tiny dark box, where he can barely hear himself scream. The padding on the walls and floor means that even when he throws himself against them in desperation, there’s barely any feeling. For a while, he’s screaming, but eventually that is reduced to sobbing and then begging. He sleeps fretfully, unable to tell how long he spends sleeping, and losing all sense of time. Has he been here for hours? Days? Weeks? He doesn’t know. He can’t tell.
When he sleeps, he dreams of Michael, and when he wakes he cries again.
He’s going to die in here, alone in the dark, and Michael will never know what happened to him.
~
When the door opens again, Jeremy flinches away from the light, crying out as it burns his eyes.
The Squip is standing in the doorway, too bright for Jeremy to look directly at, a carefully neutral expression on his face.
“Are you ready to behave now?” He asks, the sound painfully loud after so much quiet.
Jeremy breaks down sobbing again, and practically throws himself at the Squip, crying and pleading. He’s sure the words are incoherent between the crying and stuttering, but he desperately hopes that the Squip understands that yes, Jeremy will behave, he’ll obey, he’ll do anything, just please take him out of here.
A hand runs through his hair, in a comforting gesture. When Jeremy looks up, he can see through his tears that the Squip is smiling.
“There there. I know you’ll do what you’re told now. Don’t worry. If you just obey, you’ll never have to go back in there again. Now let’s get you cleaned up, you look pathetic.”
The Squip half-carries him away, Jeremy’s legs too shaky to really support him. He’s shown to a bathroom, where a hot bath and a change of clothes are already waiting, and is left to his own devices. He rushes through cleaning himself, irrationally terrified that when he exits the bathroom the Squip will have left him again. But when he bursts out, dressed in simple street clothes again, the Squip is still there, and still smiling indulgently at him.
He makes Jeremy eat some plain oatmeal, and drink some water, and then they move to the couch. They stay there for almost an hour, the Squip just holding Jeremy as he huddles against him, and Jeremy is slowly able to convince himself that this is real, and he’s okay. He wasn’t abandoned in that room. The Squip still wants him. He’s okay. He’s okay. Everything’s okay. He just has to obey.
~
When Jeremy is sent home, he finds that was in the room for most of the weekend, and his father was told that Jeremy was sleeping over at Rich’s house. Upon entering his house again, he’s greeted with a hug from his father, which he gladly returns, and has to reluctantly force himself to end. Jeremy claims exhaustion, and slips up to his room.
It’s too quiet, so he turns on some music, gets into bed, curls up and falls asleep.
Tomorrow morning he will go to school, see Michael, and pretend that everything is fine. Tomorrow evening, he will go back to the Squip, and do whatever he needs to do to get back in his good graces.
Jeremy is okay.
Tragedy is okay.