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villain-school · 4 months

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Chapter 3: Old Friends, New News

An old friend visits Proton, but she's unaware of his current situation...

(crossposted from ao3!)

It had been a few days since Caesar joined Proton and Switch’s friend group. They had all quickly gotten acquainted with each other, and now they were hanging out at the local mall’s food court.

“So, Caesar, I gotta ask,” started Switch. “What’s it like being the son of two super-famous villains? I mean, your parents are the Rogue and Maelstrom, right? That must be insane!”

Caesar shrugged at the question. “I mean… To me, they’re just my mom and dad. Sure, we have a bit of fame and more money than a lot of people, but…other than that, I have a pretty normal home life. I guess sometimes they get a little busy, being professional villains and all, but they make time for me still.” He gestured back to Switch. “What about you? You’re…interesting, to say the least.”

Switch sat up a bit. “Oh, me? Well, both my moms are scientists, and I wanna be just like them when I grow up! They actually created me in a lab all by themselves!”

That sent a shock through both Caesar and Proton, their jaws dropping.

Proton was the first to address it. “Switch, you’re a test tube baby?!”

Switch simply giggled and winked. “Yeah! Hehe!”

Proton rubbed his neck. “I mean… I guess that checks out, now that I think about it…”

“Proton?”

A voice from behind Proton caught his attention. He swore he recognized it. Wait, could it be…?

He turned around, confirming his suspicions. Standing a little ways away was a girl about their age–she wore fairly neutral clothing, including a pair of glasses and a hijab. Proton knew exactly who this was, and he lit up visibly. “No way! Winnie?”

Winnie smiled as Proton made his way over to her, and they hugged.

“It’s so good to see you!” Proton said excitedly. “I haven’t seen you since sixth grade! How have you been?”

Winnie smiled as they stepped away from each other. “Oh, you know! Just fine. I’m in town for the weekend. I’ve missed you since you moved! How have things been with you? I heard you finally started hero school!”

Proton suddenly seemed a little awkward at that, but he played it off.

“Uh… Yeah, haha! In fact, I want you to meet a couple friends I made there!” He turned around and gestured to his friends at the table. “Winnie, this is Caesar and Switch.”

Caesar nodded to her. “Hello.”

Switch gave an enthusiastic wave. “Hidey!”

Proton was very happy to introduce his old friend. “Guys, this is Winnie! She’s my childhood best friend. She moved away when we were in sixth grade, but we’ve been talking online ever since to keep in touch.”

Winnie waved back to them. “Hi there! Proton says you’re his hero school friends? What’s it like there?”

Caesar and Switch exchanged glances, and Caesar was the first to speak up. “... Uh…”

Switch chose to hold up his finger to correct her. “Well, actually–”

“Uh, hey, Switch, weren’t you working on something cool?” Proton interrupted quickly. “Why don’t you show Winnie?” He turned to Winnie. “He’s sort of a scientist.”

Winnie seemed interested. “Oh, cool.”

Switch blinked, suddenly remembering his project. “Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me!”

… He then proceeded to pull an actual for real bomb out of his pocket. It looked pretty haphazardly thrown together with mismatched parts here and there, but it also looked very functional.

“I actually built this bomb with things I found lying around the house,” he explained. “I need to go test it out before it expires. Time to find a toilet to blow up!”

As he got up and ran off to find a restroom, everyone else watched in confusion. Proton looked more horrified than confused, though…

Winnie also looked a bit concerned. “Uh… Is he going to blow up the bathroom?”

Proton tried to save face. “Don’t worry, he’s just joking! He’s the, uh, local prankster. It’s not actually a real bomb.” He hesitated. “It’s uh…a bath bomb?”

Winnie didn’t necessarily buy that completely. “It looked pretty mechanical for a bath bomb…”

Proton grimaced a little. “He’s…creative. A-anyway, why don’t I get us some snacks? I’ll be right back!” And with that, he hurriedly made his way to another part of the food court to get something to share with everyone. Maybe he could just avoid talking about this until Winnie wanted to leave.

Winnie took this opportunity to sit down with Caesar at the table. “So, how did you and Proton meet? Do you share a hero class?”

Caesar just sighed. “Not exactly.” He decided that if Proton wasn’t going to say anything, he’d have to do it. “Winnie… I think Proton’s a little nervous to tell you what’s going on, so I guess I’ll have to be the one to break it to you.”

That only served to worry Winnie. “Why? What’s wrong with Proton?”

“Nothing’s wrong with him,” he reassured. “It’s just…he’s not actually enrolled in a hero school. In fact, it’s the opposite–he goes to a villain school. All three of us do.”

Winnie was confused by this. “Huh…? How did that happen? I swear, all he ever talked about was how he wanted to become a hero. Did something change?”

Caesar shook his head. “No, actually. He’s still planning to become a hero. For the record, so am I. We both kind of got stuck in villain school one way or another. But, trust me–he’s more determined to become a hero than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Winnie frowned just a little. “Then why would he lie about that…?”

As if on cue, Proton returned with a tray of loaded fries for the table. “I got us some cheese fries!” he announced. When he saw the look on Winnie’s face, he slowed to a stop. “Uh… Is everything okay?”

“Proton, why didn’t you tell me you were in a villain school?” Winnie asked gently. “That seems pretty important.”

Proton looked like he’d seen a ghost. Then, he sighed, deflating. “Sorry, Winnie,” he apologized. “I guess I just got nervous about what you might think.”

Winnie looked a little surprised for a moment, but then she smiled warmly. “What do you mean? You’re my best friend. Anything you do, I’ll be behind you no matter what. Plus, Caesar tells me you’re still trying to be a hero even in a school for villains. That’s amazing!”

Proton looked up from where he’d been gazing at the ground. “You think so?”

“Of course!” Winnie reassured. “Don’t ever be afraid to tell me things, okay? I got your back, even if we’re far apart!”

That made Proton smile with relief.

However, that relief was short lived, because there was suddenly a huge explosion from the restrooms off to the side. Eventually, Switch returned to their table covered in debris, giving a thumbs-up.

“It worked awesomely!” he confirmed with satisfaction. “We should probably leave now, though.”

Proton just kind of laughed nervously at Winnie, who warily smiled back at him. Caesar just covered his face in exasperation.

–

Later at school, Switch was walking to one of his classes with a tall stack of books in his arms. He seemed to be in a hurry, but he was careful not to drop any of his haul.

Suddenly, a foot jutted out of nowhere and unfortunately tripped him, causing him to drop every single book he was holding. He fell onto the ground as well, and he sat up in confusion. It wasn’t long before he realized who had tripped him, and that it was definitely on purpose.

Above him stood Cindy Rockette, the local school bully. She was smirking down at him with her arms crossed, satisfied with the outcome of that action. Behind her stood her lackeys Lizzie Evermore and Sol Draconia, who were both giggling.

Cindy stuck up her nose at him. “Going somewhere, lab rat?”

Switch nodded. “Uh… Yeah! To class!”

Cindy rolled her eyes. “It was a rhetorical question, idiot. You’d think someone with super intelligence would know that.”

Just then, Proton suddenly stepped in to defend his friend. He looked serious.

“Hey, back off!” he said sternly. “What’s your problem, huh?”

Cindy seemed interested to see him. “Oh, there he is–the hero kid. Come to save the day?”

Proton clenched his fists. “I’ll say it again–back off, or I won’t hesitate to shock you.”

“Oh?” Cindy lifted her head in amusement. “I’d like to see you try. C’mon, give me a little static and see what happens.”

That garnered a frown from Proton, but he decided she was giving him no other choice. This was to defend Switch!

He stuck out his hand and shot a little bit of electricity at her–it wasn’t a lot, and it was just to make her go away. However, her form was suddenly engulfed in rocks, which totally surprised Proton. She had become some sort of rock creature, and Proton’s electricity had no effect.

“Don’t you know?” she teased. “Electricity can’t hurt stone.”

“But wind can.”

Everyone looked to the side as Caesar made his entrance. He stepped between the two groups, giving Cindy and her friends a threatening look. “Stand down, or I’ll erode you away without a second thought.”

Cindy scoffed, but she returned her form back to normal. “Tch! The mighty Caesar Truth defending some nobodies? I guess you really are a loser after all.” She gestured to Proton, who was glaring. “You know Sparky here is spouting nonsense about being a hero, right? You look crazy hanging out with him.”

Caesar took in a breath, which sort of made his chest puff out. “If he’s crazy, then so am I.”

He proceeded to raise his voice just a bit so that anyone in the near vicinity would hear him. “I’m going to be a hero, too!” he announced confidently. “No matter what anyone thinks!”

Everyone around them seemed rather shocked to hear this coming from the son of Maelstrom and Rogue, but Switch and Proton only looked at him with proud smiles. Cindy didn’t really know what to make of this, but she ended up backing off finally.

“Fine,” she said lowly. “I can’t wait to see your reputation crumble to dirt.” With that, she turned and walked off with her group.

Caesar let out the breath he’d apparently been holding. He was a little nervous about what would come from his confession, but he’d made his decision, and it was final. He turned to his friends and smiled at them, and he and Proton proceeded to help Switch pick up his books.

It seemed as though a new wind was blowing through the school, and these three were the source of it.

#villain + school #ch3

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