“Villains are not born, they are made. They have an origin story that society is not willing to listen to. Well at least some of them do, some of us like me, we are born evil.

“Those who are born this way; who do they have to blame? Society? For not accepting them as the way they are. Parents? For giving birth to them? Or maybe the so-called God? For creating them this way.

“I don’t know, all I know is that I was born with the heart of a demon and I have no regrets.” ~Samael Gracefell (During the events of the black moon incident).

***

“Where were you?” a woman, seemingly in her late thirties asked in an authoritative tone.

“Do you mean for the last 8 years?” Sam replied sarcastically.

The woman tried to step into the apartment but Sam blocked her way.

“Where were you last night?” the woman asked again, this time clearly frustrated. “I came here last night but the door was locked and you weren’t home.”

“Why do you care sergeant Angie Rightwill; or do you prefer me calling you mother instead?” Sam sneered._.

“Look boy, I don’t care whether you hate me or not but this year it’s the last chance for you to get into the prestigious Gifted Hero Academy. That means this is also the last chance to remove that stain from your family name.” Angie spoke in a sincere manner.

“I’ll ask again, why do you care? You left me because your new husband didn’t want to raise a child who had the blood of a villain! I survived alone for the whole 18 years of my life, do you think I need you now?” Sam couldn’t help but burst out at the woman standing in front of him.

After a few minutes of silence the woman replied;

“You’re right, I ran from my responsibilities. When they arrested your father and accused him of being a supervillain in disguise, I didn’t know what to do. They would’ve fired me from the force if I hadn’t changed my name, the jury was against me raising you so I had to give up, I couldn’t leave my husband and child for you, I’m sorry!

“I know I don’t have any right to come here and advise you on your life because of what I did, but when Rey agreed to marry me on the condition of leaving you, it’s the only choice I had. I sent you money all these years didn’t I? If I hadn’t changed my name back then, then both of us would’ve died out of hunger on the streets.” a few tears rolled down Angie’s cheek as some of her deeply buried memories surfaced back again.

“…You are right, you have no right to come here and advice me on how to live my life.” without waiting for any further reply from the black-haired woman, Sam closed the door on her face.

Angie thought of knocking but hesitantly slinked her hand back and walked away from the apartment’s door.

“What a way to start off the day!” while rolling his eyes Sam went to the kitchen to make his morning coffee. Before he could do so however he heard a knock from the main door again.

Sam grabbed a kitchen knife and was ready to stab her to death if it was Angie. However, upon opening the door he was met by an unexpected sight of a certain silver-haired girl standing outside.

As the wind creased her silver hair, in her simple light blue tee and black skinny jeans, the girl was looking out of this world.

“What a way to start off the day” Sam commented in awe underneath his breath.

“Hmm?”

“Ahh, nothing! Anyway, what’s the occasion?” Sam asked as he invited Kiara inside and started preparing a coffee for her too.

“What do you mean occasion, I just like your handmade coffee,” Kiara replied with a smirk.

“Well, this one is undeserving of such high praise your highness!” Sam playfully bowed and handed her a coffee mug.

“Haha spending a morning with you is the best way to start off my day.” Kiara giggled lightly.

“Yeah I know I’m great, but coming here means traveling through a whole country every day, it will take a toll on you lol”

“Yeaaaaa you should move near me, move to the US!”

“No thank you, I’m just fine in Alaska lol”

“Fineeeeeee” Kiara said as she gave up on pursuing her best friend to move in near her.

“By the way, I saw her on my way here” Kiara knew that Sam didn’t like Angie being called his mother so she refrained from doing that.

“Yeah… she asked me to join the Hero Academy again, come to think of it her son is also eligible for applying to the academy starting this year. Huh, maybe I’ll join the academy just to kill him.”

Sam commented nonchalantly while taking a sip from his coffee mug.

“Now now, remember he’s your half-brother too,” Kiara commented with a wry smile.

“Very insensitive Kiara, very insensitive try to get a reaction out of me.”

“Fineeeeee jeez I’m just kidding, do whatever you wanna just send me the blood pictures lol. But jokes aside maybe we should consider joining the academy.” Kiara spoke in a serious tone.

“Joining what? Gifted Hero Academy?” Sam arched an eyebrow.

“Yes, it was part of the reason I came here today.”

Sam took a deep breath and questioned the intelligence of all womankind for a moment before opening his mouth to speak again;

“Kiara, you and I, we are what people call vigilantes because of the work we do, that is purging the society of corrupted heroes and helping the weak, of course, we do it for our benefits but let’s not dive into that. Now if you remove the word ‘corrupted’ from the afore sentence, we will become villains.

“No hero’s wrongdoing will ever be made known to the general public, that means there is no such thing as corrupted heroes, they are all good. That also means there is no such thing as vigilantes, we are basically villains.” Sam took another sip from his mug.

“I know dummy, most of it is what I told you in your newbie days” Kiara had a dumbfounded expression on her face.

“Exactly, if you remember that and you know that we are not good guys, we are villains, then why would you suggest us joining the Hero Academy. HERO academy, HERO, the antonym of the word villain.” Sam took a sip again as he emphasized on the word hero.

“Y-Yes I get that b-but I think we could get to know Starboy personally if we get in, the word is, he’s joining the academy starting this year too. O-Of course the knowledge we gain from personally knowing him could be used against him in the future to defeat him.” Kiara raised her index finger and glanced sideways.

Sam didn’t even need his mind-reading to see through this bullshit lie. He was about to outright deny the suggestion until a familiar voice resounded in his head;

“She is right you know. You can actually gain something to use against ‘the invincible’ if you decided to join the academy.” the invincible is one among the many titles held by Starboy.

‘Hmm you’re right, but this plan is a double-edged sword. Just the notion of this dumb girl falling for that bastard more than this is already giving me a headache’ Sam replied in his mind.

“Then just be sure to kill him before it comes to that.” the voice replied nonchalantly.

Sam couldn’t help but roll his eyes, if only it was that easy.

“Sam, what are you thinking!?” Kiara couldn’t wait anymore and decided to wake the black-haired boy from his deep thoughts.

Sam sighed and replied after a moment of wait, “Fine I get your point, maybe we should join the academy after all.”

“Yaaay!” Kiara cheered loudly before realizing where she was sitting and regaining her composure in the next moment. “I mean yes, the right choice.”

‘I know I’ll regret this later’ Sam couldn’t help but sigh helplessly, making the voice in his head chuckle.