Chapter Text
“So as you know, plenty of us have powers. But not enough of us learn how to use them in such a way that they can become superheroes. So. Anybody here think they have super hero potential?” The teacher spoke. Logan Rogers, power of telekinesis. Age 22. Alias, Koios. A boy in the front of the class excitedly raised his hand and everyone laughed. Roman Rivera, power of super strength. Age 17. Alias, N/A. “And why do you think that, Roman?” His teacher asked.
“Because I have the determination. And the need to protect people. With the right hunger, you can accomplish anything.” Roman grinned.
“Good answer, Roman. Now. Anybody here think they could be a supervillain?” The teacher jokingly asked and the class started laughing. But one kid in the back of the class raised his hand. Virgil Volante, power of weather manipulation. Age 16. Alias, N/A. Everyone turned around to see who the teacher was looking at. “Um. May I ask why?” He nervously asked.
“Because I have the hunger. Just not in the right way.” Virgil said. His deep voice had an edge to it.
“Well your power can be used for such good things.” The teacher said.
“How do you know what my power is?”
“Any power can be used for good, Virgil.”
“And corruption can turn anything evil.”
“Wouldn’t you want to help people instead? Seeing people relieved to see you is much better than fear! Don’t you want people cheering for you?” He asked.
“Nah. I think people running away and screaming out of fear is much better. I’d be an amazing supervillain. I could conquer the world.” Virgil said.
“And I’d be an amazing superhero! I could take you down before you did anything!” Roman grinned.
“I’ll see you in the future then, Riviera. You know, when I’m standing over your bloody body.” Virgil said and Roman glared at him.
“Alright. May I move on with my lesson?”
“Sorry Mr. Rogers.” Roman muttered. Virgil rolled his eyes but stopped talking.
~~~
“Janus! I’m home.” Virgil called out, putting his backpack on the floor. Virgil was an orphan. That was until he was adopted by a rather kind man. He never called him Dad though. He also kept his last name because it reminded him of his family. Another amazing thing about the man who adopted him. He was a supervillain and Virgil had beef with superheroes. His parents died because of superheroes. Virgil would do anything to get revenge. His adopted father stepped into the room.
“How was school?” He asked. Janus Darnell, power of manipulation/temptation. Age 25. Alias, Deceit. He always did act like Virgil’s dad, even if the teenager wasn’t comfortable with calling him Dad.
“Good I guess. But in my Hero Studies class there’s this real dick. He’s an aspiring superhero or whatever. Our teacher asked us if we were going to try and be superheroes and he was like ‘Oh yeah, I’ll be such a good superhero!’ so I told him I was gonna be a supervillain and now I’m pretty sure he hates me. Oh and did I mention that it’s Roman Riviera? You know, Re’s twin brother.” Virgil huffed.
“What about me?” A shrill voice said from the ceiling. Virgil looked up and saw a tan boy hanging from the chandelier. Remus Riviera, power of super speed. Age 17. Alias, N/A.
“Your brother’s a dick.” Virgil said.
“My whole family is! Why do you think I got kicked out?” Remus huffed and crashed to the ground. Remus’ family kicked him out when they found out he sincerely wanted to be a supervillain. So Janus took him in. He couldn’t adopt him and acted more like a best friend to him rather than a dad. Boy would Remus’ family be mad if they knew he lived with Deceit. Honestly all they were giving him was a tragic villain background.
“Yes I know. I got a call from Mr. Rogers today. He was talking about how I should make sure you don’t actually want to become a villain. And I’d sure hope you do.” Janus scoffed.
“Where’s Remy?” Virgil asked, sitting on the couch.
“In his workshop making the most noise humanly possible.” Janus huffed.
“I’m not anymore, thank you very much!” A voice grumbled from the stairs that led to the basement. Remy Volante, power of love manipulation. Age 24. Alias, Cupid. Remy was Virgil’s older brother. Janus refused to separate them when he was adopting Virgil. “Did you need anything, Vee?”
“No, I just wanted to know where you were.” Virgil mumbled, pulling out his phone. “Oh, would you look at that. Breaking News, Koios and Melampus saved the elderly this time.” He huffed, reading the headline on his phone.
“I hate those pricks.” Janus hissed.
“Yeah. Titan Lifty Shits is a real asshole. At least from what I’ve seen on TV.” Virgil said.
“He is. Melampus is cute though. And, Titan Lifty Shits?” Remy asked.
“His alias is Koios which is a Titan god and he has the power of telekinesis. Titan Lifty Shits.” Virgil said. Remy snorted and sat next to Virgil. “So you’re simping for superheroes now?” He asked and Remy rolled his eyes.
“It’s more like flirting to get into his head. You know, mess him up in battle.”
“It’s easier to mess with people’s heads when you can gain their trust. Build up false hope. So wonderful job Remy." Janus hummed and Remy snickered.
“So basically if I become a supervillain, I could play mind games with my brother?” Remus asked.
“Only if he cares enough about you.” Janus said and Remus frowned.
“Oh boo.” He huffed. Virgil rolled his eyes and grabbed Remus’ hand.
“You’ll be fine. As long as you can see certain things coming.”
“I have cat-like reflexes, thank you. I can always tell what’s going to happen.” Virgil nodded when Remus said that and stood up where he had been sitting then picked Remus up and held him over his shoulder. He tossed him to the floor across the room and sat back down.
“Like that?” He asked and Remus huffed at him. He sat up and sat cross legged on the floor.
“Jay, Virgil’s being a bitch again.” Remus complained to Janus.
“Virgil’s just being Virgil. But you two should stop messing around. You’ll need to start working on your aliases and disguises soon.” Janus said, pulling out his book.
“What wait?” Virgil asked. Remus looked at Janus with excitement.
“What?”
“You guys have been in training for a long time now. You can fight, you can work together, and you know how to use your powers with far much more advancement than lots of other people. I think it’s time you guys start helping me take down Koios and Melampus. And Proteus but I'm near positive he's dead because where the hell has he been?” Janus said.
“I’m still uncomfortable with the idea of my 16 year old brother going into battle.” Remy huffed.
“Good thing it’s not your decision.” Janus said.
“Remy I’ve literally been waiting basically my entire life to do this. You are not stopping this now. Besides you make all the weapons and sometimes armour. You can make sure my disguise is safe.” Virgil said. Remy sighed.
“If you get hurt, I’m never letting Janus hear the end of it.” He muttered.
“I have an idea for an alias!” Remus grinned.
“Shoot.” Janus said.
“Rush!”
“Mm. I don’t know. It sounds a little too heroey.” Janus hummed and Remus groaned.
“You never let me do anything fun.” Remus groaned.
“I’ve kind of had an idea for a while.” Virgil mumbled.
“What is it?” Janus asked.
“Paranoia. Because storms can strike fear into people. And they’ll always be scared to hear my name. Maybe even paranoid that I might be around.” Virgil mumbled, biting his thumbnail.
“It’s perfect, Virgil. And it works with my whole thing with my alias being Deceit and everything.” Janus said and Virgil let a small smile creep onto his face. Virgil Volante, power of weather manipulation. Age 16. Alias, Paranoia.
“Ooo! I got one!” Remus yelled.
“What?”
“Duke! Because my brother acts like a spoiled prince and they hold power so people fear to mess up around them!” Remus grinned.
“I love it, kiddo.” Janus hummed and Remus seemed pleased. Remus Riviera, power of super speed. Age 17. Alias, Duke. “You two should work on disguises. Make sure it includes a mask. When it’s finished, bring it to Remy. He can help you make it.” He said, standing up. “I’m going to make dinner now. Virgil, do your homework.” Virgil groaned and grabbed his backpack.
“What do you have homework for?” Remus asked.
“Basically all my classes. You’re lucky Janus homeschools you.” Virgil grumbled
“He only homeschools me because I can’t see Roman at school. And there's a lotta people in school." Remus sighed.
“Yeah but he doesn’t give you homework.” Virgil huffed, grabbing a pencil out of his backpack. He opened his math binder and groaned. “This is going to take me forever.” He huffed.
“Good thing it’s a Friday.” Janus said from the kitchen.
“And good thing you have an older brother who can help you.” Remy said.
“Yeah whatever.”
~~~
“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Roman called out.
“How was school?” His mom asked.
“Great! Mr. Rogers had a lecture all about superheroes and at the end of the class, he said he thought I’d make an amazing superhero!” He said.
“Well of course you would.” His father said from the couch and Roman beamed.
“I’m gonna go do my homework. Can you call me when dinner is ready?” Roman asked.
“Of course.” His mom nodded. Roman ran upstairs with his bag and walked into his room, closing the door behind him. He stared at the side of his room that had a bed with green and black bed sheets on it and sighed.
“Hey Remus! School today was great! Mr. Rogers said I’d make a great superhero! Maybe one day, when you’re a supervillain, I can battle you. I’ll stop you from doing so much evil, just you wait.” He said, setting his bag down next to the chair on his desk. “I’ve got a lot of homework to do though. Oh and there was this really creepy guy who was all like ‘I’m gonna be a supervillain and kill you, mwahahaha’. I think his name was Virgil.” Roman spoke to himself. It was easier for him to live this way. In denial. If he acted like his twin brother and his best friend still lived with him, he could live his life in peace. Remus was the only person who ever truly understood Roman. And now he didn’t have him. His parents had tried cleaning out Remus’ side of the room so Roman could have more space and he made sure they didn’t touch a thing on Remus’ part of the room. In case he came back. It was still a mess, the way Remus had left it. Roman was too devastated to touch anything, afraid it’d ruin the illusion of Remus still being there.
“Well I’ll leave you alone now so I can do my homework. Oh and, stop eating my deodorant. It’s weird.” He huffed and opened his Science notebook and textbook, starting on his work.
~~~
“So would you rather want to be an undisguised hero or a disguised hero?” Mr. Rogers asked. Roman excitedly raised his hand. This was his favorite class.
“Roman.”
“Undisguised! If you were disguised, how would you get recognized for all the glory?” Roman said.
“You make a valid point. Anybody else?” Mr. Rogers asked. “Ah. Virgil.” Roman turned around to see the black haired creep who sat in the back of the class with his hand raised. “Remember, superhero’s point of view.” Mr. Rogers said.
“I know. I say disguised. If you were undisguised, every single villain would know your real identity. Not to mention you’d be on live television all the time. Which means every villain would know your exact location. You’d have to keep your guard up at every given moment, basically just living your life in fear. Not to mention social media. If you were an undisguised hero and had an Instagram, well that would just be asking for it.” Virgil said and Roman glared at him. Virgil gave him a sly smirk and looked back at the teacher.
“You make a very good point, Virgil. I’m interested in hearing what your opinions on this matter would be as a villain.” Mr. Rogers spoke.
“Still disguised. Say you’re just walking down the street, doing your everyday tasks. Suddenly you’re surrounded by police cars and are imprisoned for life. Bad idea. And again I bring back the point of social media.” Virgil said. Roman huffed.
“It is indeed safer for heroes to remain anonymous. While the glory can be nice, it is also extremely dangerous.” Mr. Rogers continued on with his lecture. Roman was embarrassed. Embarrassed that an aspiring villain showed him up in Hero Studies. About 30 minutes later, the bell rang. Roman started gathering his stuff as the other students poured out of the room.
“Roman may stay for a bit. I need to talk to you.” Mr. Rogers said.
“Um… okay.” Roman nodded and sat down. Roman watched everyone walk out of the class. Virgil walked over to Mr. Rogers and handed him something.
“What is this?”
“My project. You know, the one you assigned me to make up for all my missing work.” Virgil said, crossing his arms.
“Ah yes. Thank you. And you know, being good never did anybody any harm.” Mr. Rogers said to him.
“Yeah, well... being good doesn’t bring my parents back.” Virgil said, his voice shaking. Mr. Rogers looked the boy in the eye for a second before Virgil turned around and walked out of the room. Roman watched him walk out before he cleared his throat.
“So um… What did you need?” Roman asked.
“You know of the superhero Koios, correct?”
“Of course I do! He’s only the greatest superhero of all time!”
“Well thank you.”
“Um… you’re welcome? You’d have to be a fool to say he’s a bad hero.” Roman said. “He’s on the news almost every day! I wish I could be like him!” He added.
“You know, people have said I look like him.” Roman tilted his head when his teacher said that.
“Mmm. I can’t see it.” Mr. Rogers pinched the bridge of his nose and opened his desk. He pulled a dark blue and silver masquerade mask out of his desk and tied it around his head, pushing his hair in front of his face.
“Oh woah you do look like him! Exactly like him! Why’d you have that mask?” Roman asked.
“Roman I am Koios.” Mr. Rogers sighed and looked at a stack of papers. Soon the papers were floating in circles around Roman until they neatly stacked on top of each other right where they had been.
“Woah! No way my teacher this entire time had been my idol?! Wait, why are you telling me this? Am I gonna die?!” Roman gasped, standing up.
“No no no! You’re not gonna die!” Mr. Rogers said and took his mask off. “I’m telling you this because recently Melampus and I have been looking for a new hero. We need an uneven match if we’ll be able to defeat Deceit and Cupid. And I think you have great potential. Not to mention you know how to properly use your powers because of the lessons your parents pay for.” He explained.
“You want me to be a superhero with you?” Roman asked and his teacher nodded.
“I’ve already had a meeting with your parents as my alias. They said they’d be delighted to have you working by my side.”
“I’d love to! I’ve literally dreamed about this!”
“Okay that’s- that’s a little weird but I’ll ignore it. There is one small matter that your parents said you might not like. You’ll have to move into the hero’s base. Where Melampus, Proteus, and I live. It’s to avoid anybody finding out about who you are and things like that. Also, you don’t have to call me Mr. Rogers unless we’re in class it’s just weird.”
“I don’t know your name.” Roman mumbled.
“Right. Logan.”
“Okay. Um, I have to move?” Roman asked. He didn’t want to leave Remus’ stuff behind.
“Yes but you can bring anything you’d like.” Logan said.
“Um… Can I bring my twin brother’s stuff? He doesn’t live with us anymore. I just feel weird without his things there.” Roman mumbled awkwardly.
“If that’s what you need to feel comfortable, sure.” Roman nodded. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Roman Rivera. A superhero.