"money! NOW!" he, my cliche school bully shouted as he slammed me against a locker, my glasses falling down my nose.
"what? you deaf or something?!" he seethed as he let go of my shirt with his right hand, and punched me across the face, knocking my glasses clean off.
"huh?!" he exhaled, throwing me to the ground.
"answer me motherfucker!" he roared, kicking me in the stomach.
"tch.....worthless, can't even function as a wallet properly!" he clicked his tongue, kicking me again before stuffing his hands into his pockets and stomping away like he was the one inconvenienced.
I groaned, and rolled onto my back, wincing as I held my aching ribs.
"Deadman kicked softer than that......fuck!" I wheezed, wincing even more as I dragged myself onto my knees, reached for and grabbed my cracked glasses, then worked my way back to my feet.
my back once again against the lockers, my knees barely supporting me as I struggled to catch my breath.
"secret identity my ass........high school is gonna kill me before a villain does." I kept under my breath as I pushed myself up and off the lockers, barely steady on my feet as I began hobbling to the closest bathroom.
my arm wrapped tight around my chest as I pushed the door open with my shoulder.
damn near shouting in pain as I felt something crack the moment the door's weight gave way and I practically collapsed inside.
"roid junkie." I cursed quietly as I tossed my glasses in anger and activated my ability, my voice already changing, the pain in my chest transforming, spreading, consuming, and then fading as I, in my other form, stood up and stretched, the once quickly forming bruise from getting kicked basically already gone, the fracture in my ribs already fused back together.
"I swear, I can't wait until he graduates, and I get paid to kick his ass." I let out, my eyes glowing red for a brief moment, only to fade as soon as the injuries were completely healed.
"but.....that's a dream, and I can do that......yet." I spoke aloud as if I was justifying my own thoughts to someone else.
despite no one being there.
I decided to mostly ignore as I de-activated my ability, watching in the mirror as my hair shortened, eyes shifted, and face changed.
"I swear, I can already hear the director." I chuckled, "no ability use in your secret identities!" I mimicked.
coughing and clearing my throat to return my voice back to normal.
"testing, testing." I tried, making sure no one had any reason to suspect I had powers, which, now that I think that, I could speak in an entirely different voice each day and no one here would notice a thing.
I mean, look at me.
I thought while staring into the mirror, my eyes met by a skinny, short, meek looking child, with short black hair, pale skin, and entirely unremarkable features.
"I'm the perfect secret identity, I'm invisible, unremarkable, entirely forgettable." I laughed, hiding real pain.
"oh...well, that's a problem for my benefit provided therapist." I shrugged, deciding that it was more comfortable to not think about it until I was being paid to do it later.
"I have class." I gotta start thinking, instead of saying outloud, I thought, as I left the bathroom, and began making my way to my next class, drowned out in a sea of other kids.
kids that, I could actively hear talking about me.
well, not me, no one here would talk about me, but, well, you know, me.
I wanted to hide and die out of embarrassment as I overheard a group of passing guys heading in the same direction I was, say, "Dude! check out BloodRayne's last fight!!" while they huddled around a phone.
"she got her ass kicked!" they laughed.
"she still won tho!" another defended.
"barely! see, that's why I say she should've stayed as some nobody's eye candy sidekick, she's hot, but, what even IS her power?" he mocked, completely unaware I was literally right next to him.
"I....huh.....I don't even know, I know it rains red whenever she's around but, what even is that, is that the association giving her name a reason to make sense?" one couldn't really deny the question, and instead asked his own.
to which, if I COULD answer him, I'd respond that my ability is technically shapeshifting, but that my only form I can turn into, this strangely specific girl, has the power to absorb strength from making it rain blood, as well as some really minor blood manipulation, yeah it's gotten stronger the more I've fought, but, It's not even close to being good enough for me to admit I even have it.
so I don't.
I kept to myself as the group kept talking, kept adding.
with one even saying, "hero fights aside, she'd make bank if the association let her open an account." not really needing to specify what he meant.
I wanted to vomit, at least, that was if it wouldn't make me a hypocrite.
cause, I'll be honest, when I got the ability in puberty, I can't lie, the prospect of turning into a girl, was.....let's just say, ideas were had, almost tested, and, well, let's just say it didn't go well.
so, yeah, did I myself think of making BANK using that kind of account? you absolutely fucking bet I did, but did I have the balls to go through with it? nope, not even a little.
I thought, surprised at the irony that I didn't have the confidence to be naked in front of a camera in a body that wasn't even mine, but I did have the confidence to nearly die fighting people WAY stronger than me.
I realized, damn near halting in the hallway at the implications of it all.
thankfully for my mental health though, the group still had more to say, with one of them contributing this golden nugget of speech, "do you think the association would retire her if I got my dad to pay to hire her as a private hero? I don't think she'd be able to say no once she met me." with a smirk that should've landed him in federal prison.
I shivered in disgust as one of them replied with, "the official fan page has her sexuality listed as lesbian, it's probably cause she did meet you!" all while laughing his ass off.
and terrifying me.
I mean, that's one accurate fan page.
damn.
I thought, shocked, impressed, and slightly scared of whoever was running it.
but, before I could shake that lovely sensation, it got worse, it got so much worse.
because one of the guys said, "I'm betting I could change her mind." while making very disturbing motions that made me want to gouge my eyes out.
I threw up a little in my mouth, and then, by the grace of God, arrived at and slipped instantly into my classroom, sighing in relief as I walked over to and plopped down behind my desk.
tired of the day, despite the fact that it wasn't even halfway through.