A Tale of Two Masks

There was a day when the whole world changed. The first power went viral, and quickly the second and third followed. Just as the sensation reached its peak, SI appeared; Superhuman Industries, a company dedicated to creating and supporting superheroes. With the support of the government, SI became the hub of all activities involving powers in the new world that was to come.

Generations later, Superhero Industries was just as strong as ever. Everyone wished to be scouted by this incredible company. Everyone but Ashton.

Ashton tossed his coat on the floor in frustration. As long as he could remember, his power had been nothing but a curse. When he was a child he had accidentally started a fire that took the life of his family. Since then, he had lived in a government facility for ‘special training’. But now the CEO of that very prestigious company had personally given him an offer.

It was basically “Join me or else,” put in corporate speak. That being said, what it offered was better than his current situation. It had some hefty conditions, but each condition was balanced with a reward of equal or greater value.

Firstly he would have to attend and graduate a college of their choosing. The benefits included an apartment of his choice paid for and free meals on campus for the duration of his study there. He also only needed to graduate with an Associates, which meant he could abandon college life after two years.

Second, he would have to go through an internship at the company during this time to study its workings. He would not be paid, but again, all of his necessities were being taken care of for free. If he did well at this internship he could have his pick of a lifetime job at SI.

Lifetime. The large corporation paid well and had excellent benefits, so that was a very tempting offer right there. But why him? Was the government just delivering him to his new handler? Did it even matter if that were true?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get any more details until he accepted the offer and signed the endless confidentiality agreements that made him feel like he was about to walk into a web of state secrets. But sign them he did.

Next thing he knew he was in the CEO’s office, and the CEO was apologizing to him.

“This wasn’t my intention when I extended my offer, but we are in a desperate situation,” he told Ashton, “We need more villains.”

What? He must have misheard that. “You need more heroes?”

“No. Everyone wants to be a hero,” he dismissed, “I need more villains.”

“And you want me to be a villain? Isn’t that illegal?” Ashton asked, not sure if he should feel incredulous or scared.

“That’s right. You haven’t had your debriefing yet. Let’s start from the beginning. I am Amos Wyndart, current CEO of Superhuman Industries. Here we gather those with talent and powers and train them to be villains. Then we select showy stars to give the media the show they desire and fight them.”

“But if you are training the villains and not the heroes, why do the villains always lose?”

“Because I train them on exactly how to lose, even to an untalented imbecile,” Mr. Wyndart replied with a frightening smile.

Ashton had to think about that for a moment. “So everything is fake?” he clarified.

“That’s right. What better to dissuade real villains than never letting them hit top news? Never letting a villain win. Never even letting them be known as villains.”

That sounded oddly cruel, but it fit well into Ashton’s cold worldview. “But you didn’t scout me to be one of these villains, right?”

“No. And you will not be expected to continue any villain interactions after your internship,” Amos confirmed.

“I would like that in writing,” Ashton told him. Best to cover his bases. Not that it would help too much when the government had Amos’s back.

“Of course,” Amos agreed immediately and printed the paperwork Ashton requested and giving it a quick signature, “Anything else you need?”

“I would still like to learn about my original position,” Ashton told him.

“That is possible, but it might be too much for you,” Mr. Wyndart warned, “You will already be stretched thin with school and villain training.”

“I can do it,” Ashton declared with confidence he didn’t really have, but he didn’t want to have any risk of being stuck as a villain, “Just make my villain appearances a little less frequent and cut down on my other internship time.”

“If you insist. Now the next order of business is selecting your apartment. A recommend this complex. It is close to both the company and the college so it should make commute easier.”

Close to the company, sure. It was almost in the company. The college was also nearby so he couldn’t deny it was close to that as well. Still, there was no particular reason to choose some unaffiliated building and make things harder on himself, so he agreed.

“When do I start college?” he asked instead.

“As soon as you finish basic villain training. It shouldn’t take you long. You are already fit and have perfect control of your powers. All you need to learn is how to create a false identity. A villain must be nothing like his real self.”

Just as the CEO had warned, his training focused on relearning a new identity. The hardest part was disguising his power, electricity. With SI’s endless funds a pyrotechnic device was created to give him the power of flames. Ashton couldn’t stand the sight of flames, so he requested they change the color of them at the very least. A mistake he would quickly come to regret.

Purple flames, complete with a flamboyant black and purple costume that looked like it belonged to a cartoon villain. The long, sweeping cape seeming incredibly impractical, and the flame designs on the mask seemed ready to poke his eye out.

Oh, and his new weakness was light, apparently. How exactly did someone show weakness to light?