Villainous

Chapter Four

Chapter Four- Word count: 742

Khalix

    I woke up to the sound of Steven knocking on my door and telling me to, “Get out of bed, kiddo, it’s 11 already.” Remembering what happened last night, I did as he said. Better to start getting on his good side now. 
    I unlocked my bedroom door and swiftly walked down the hall to the kitchen, where I knew Steven would be waiting. When I entered the room, Steven was sitting in a chair, a cup of coffee and newspaper in hand. He always was old-fashioned.
    Steven dramatically flourished the newspaper and said, “Hey, kiddo, do you happen to know anything about this article?”
    He pushed the newspaper towards me. It was open to the third page, and I saw the article he was talking about. Another version of the article I had seen last night, this one more detailed. The picture was of the mugger being shoved into a police car, it read:

Late yesterday night, Aegis saved two defenseless citizens from an alleyway mugger. The mugger was identified as Aydin Khey, someone with past run-ins with the law. According to one of the victims, “I was walking down the street when I saw a cat run into an alleyway. I wanted to help it so I  followed it in, but then this ghastly man threatened me at gunpoint. Not too long later a teenager entered and bought us time. Then Aegis arrived, and saved the kid from being shot! After the kid left, I saw Aegis scratching his head and muttering something to himself something like, ‘Where have I seen him before.’ I wonder what he was talking about.” Who is this mysterious boy? Will we ever know? Anyways, this is another example of the fine Heroes of our city. 
    I blinked and let what I had just read sink in. I was a fool to think that the article I had read would be the only one. Aegis was popular after all. It also didn’t help that he mentioned recognizing me.
    I gulped and looked up at Steven. “Uh… I don’t think so? What made you think that? Haha..ha..ha...” 
 He looked at me with an I’m-not-buying-any-of-your-shit stare. “Kid. I‘ve said this over and over and over again. And it looks like I’ll keep on saying it. You can’t lie to me. Also, you kinda mentioned it last night. So, care to explain?”
    I sighed. “I… Yeah. That was me. Some lady was being mugged so I decided to help her. Not my fault that the guy had a gun. Besides, there was an 83% chance that a Hero would save us, so I was safe the entire time.”
    Steven face-plamed so hard I thought he was going to break his nose. “You had…. AN 83% CHANCE! Khalix, that’s still a 17% chance of failure. I know that you’re young and think you’re indestructible, but there’s always that 17% chance. One day, your streak of luck is going to break. You never know when it’s going to happen, and that makes me fear for you. With the way things have been going, it’s making me fear for your life.”
    I blinked, speechless. How do you reply to something like that? You have to break the ice. “At least that 17% is better than the 13% chance that we would be saved before I used my power.”
    “What--” Steven started, his volume increasing, “THERE WAS A 13% PERCENT CHANCE?!” 
    I could tell he was about to ground me until hell froze over, so I decided it would be a good idea to try and clear up a few things.
“Uh, let me clarify. There was a 13% chance we would be saved before I used my powers. Once I used my powers, it shot up to 83%”
    Steven let out a long, heavy sigh. I got the feeling that he was disappointed in me. Not sad, not angry, just a little bit disappointed. I assumed that his next words would be, ‘That’s not the point, kiddo, if you keep throwing yourself into dangerous situations, you’re going to give me an early mid-life crisis.’ But instead, he just said, 
    “Kiddo, you may drive me up the walls with worry, but I’m proud of you. You don’t hesitate to help people, and you should be proud of it. Just, for the sake of my sanity, please try and protect yourself more often. Superheroes won’t always be there to save you.”

A/N:

Short chapter this time! We have a really long chapter next time tho. Lots of..... stuff goes down. Also I didn't really edit this format so if it looks weird comment on the part where it looks weird.