I frowned at my pudding, stabbing the contents with my spoon a few times but it didn't lift my spirits at all. With a sigh, my body slunk down until I was sprawled across the table, my arms straight in front of me and my chin resting on the wood. 

I glanced at my best friend who was sitting across from me, sighing louder this time to get his attention but he didn't lift his gaze from the manga he was reading. I scowled, kicking him in the shin.

He jumped in surprise, dropping the book and scowling back at me. "What the hell was that for?"

"Ask me what's wrong, you ass."

"But I don't care."

My eye twitched and I raised my hand to activate my power but a hand firmly grasped my wrist before I could. I looked at Keith as he settled down beside me, giving me a look of warning which I scowled at. "He deserves it and you know it."

"Whether he deserves it or not, you know it's against the school's rules to use your powers outside of class," he stated calmly, enforcing his role as class president. "Do you want to become a hero or not?"

Jackson snorted. "With those powers? She'll never be a hero."

"You son of a -" I jumped up, fully intent on tackling him to the ground, but something wrapped around my waist multiple times, jerking me backward and away from the table.

"Is there a problem here, Miss Winchester?"

I recognized that voice instantly. Shit. With a sheepish grin, I tilted my head back to look at Akira, the president of the student council. "Uh, nope. Everything is all rain and tacos over here, boss."

His stretchy, rubber arm unfurled from my waist, snapping back into place like... well, like a rubber band. He pushed his glasses up like an anime antagonist before giving me a look that told me he knew I was spewing bullshit. 

"You really should treat your friends better, Winchester. The world of superheroes is an especially harsh place." He turned his onyx eyes to Jackson and then to me before he promptly turned on his heel and continued his rounds around the cafeteria.

Jackson scratched his cheek, brow furrowed. "I don't think he understands how our friendship works."

"Definitely not," I shook my head, picking up the chair that had fallen over so I could fall back onto it.

"Even I don't fully understand it," Keith admitted as he looked between us. "You two are so strange."

"It took you eight years to figure that out, bro?" I laughed.

Jackson clicked his tongue before playfully adding, "And you're supposed to have the genius power."

"Why am I friends with you two?" he muttered under his breath before giving his full attention to the turkey sandwich in front of him. We only laughed in reply because we didn't know the answer, either.

━━━━━━༻*༺━━━━━━

"I can't believe Keith ditched us," Jackson wrinkled his nose, clasping his hands behind his head. School had ended about fifteen minutes ago and we decided we would grab some boba tea to try and combat the summer heat, but the male in question had bailed on us last minute.

"Can't be helped," I shrugged, watching the cars as they drove past us. "He's first in line to take over the student council when Akira graduates."

"He doesn't even want the position. It makes no sense."

"I'm sure he has his reasons."

We arrived at Bob's Boba and I sighed in relief when we stepped inside, a wave of cold air washing over us. As always, the tea shop was pretty busy with the line nearly at the door, but the employees were quick at making drinks and they were typically pretty good at their job too. When we finally got to order, Jackson chose a lemonade with bursting beads and I chose a strawberry smoothie with boba.

"Should we hang out here for a bit?" Jackson wondered before sipping his drink.

I glanced around the room. While the room itself was pretty big, there weren't many places to sit. At the front of the store beside the door there was an L-shaped couch and at the back of the store sat three small, round tables. The tables were full and the two people sitting on the couch were close enough to not give us enough space without feeling hella awkward.

"Nah, too many people."

With a shrug, he started for the door with me close behind. The humidity hit us like a freight train when we stepped outside, forcing a groan from me.

"Man, what I wouldn't give to have ice powers right now."

"Or any power aside from your own, aye?" he teased, jabbing me in the ribs with his elbow. 

I scowled and jabbed him right back, offering no reply because I knew he was right. It doesn't really bother me anymore, though, because my powers are part of who I am. I didn't ask for them and I certainly didn't choose them because they do fuck all, but they are uniquely mine.

Some people are unlucky and are born with only one ability, most are born with two which is the standard, but a very small pool of people can be born with up to five different abilities. According to our boring history textbook, there was even this one guy who lived centuries ago that was reported to have ten, but it's never been confirmed to be true or false. 

Which is honestly weird since it's in the history book, but whatever.

People often tell me I'm lucky to be born with five unique abilities, but each one is more useless than the last so I can't bring myself to believe them. In my opinion, it's better to have one useless power than to have five useless ones. People expect less from you.

♫ Pugs and bugs, cats and gnats, bitches and - ♫

"Hello?"

I stared at Jackson with a deadpan expression. "The fuck is your ringtone, bro?"

He ignored me. "When? ... right now? ... do I have to~? ... yeah, alright, no need to guilt-trip me. I'm on my way." He ended the call, sipped his drink dramatically, and then looked at me. "My aunt can't reach the pickles so I have to go home early. Bye~!"

I watched him as he ran down the street, holding my arms out in exasperation. "Maybe invest in a step stool?"

Shaking my head, I continued down the sidewalk, deciding to just head home since both of the boys were now busy. It was also growing more and more humid by the minute, sapping my energy. 

As I turned the corner, a stop sign embedded itself into the brick wall just inches from my face. The bridge of my nose stung and I felt blood dripping down my skin from the cut. 

What the hell?

A man stood in the center of the street, his body so full of muscle that he looked almost mutated but not in a cool way like the hulk, more like one of those fools that inject themselves with cooking oil until they're ready to pop. His skin was green and covered in scales. 

Most of the road had been destroyed and he had flipped over the nearby cars, terrorizing the citizens. Where were the heroes? Normally, they would have been on top of this fool in the blink of an eye, but it seems as if he's been on a rampage for a while now.

Technically speaking, students aren't allowed to interact with villains, but... if he attacks me, that makes it self-defense and that's totally different! I mean sure, he wasn't trying to attack me, but he did. It still counts. 

Alright, let's do this!

I finished off my drink before glancing around. About a foot in front of me was a garbage can, but there was also one across the street, just a few feet away from the villain. Most of the citizens had scattered already, but there were a few still loitering about, too interested in the villain to realize they were probably gonna die. 

No one had taken notice of me yet so I slowly approached the trashcan and, glancing around once more, I picked it up and threw it down the alley to get the villain's attention but he chose that exact moment to pick up and throw a newspaper container, drowning out the sound of the trashcan.

With a scowl, I approached the crosswalk and started toward the opposite side of the street, pretending to drink despite the cup being empty. I felt the villain's gaze on me but I pretended he didn't exist as I approached the bin, dropping the cup inside before turning around to cross the street again.

"Oi, brat."

I held back my grin and continued to slowly inch forward as if I didn't hear him.

"Oi!" The earth shook beneath his large boots as he stomped toward me.

I slowly turned around, giving him a fake confused look. "Hm?"

"Don't 'hm' me! You were ignoring me on purpose!"

"Was I?"

"You little -" he grabbed the collar of my shirt, easily lifting me off of the ground. "Do you know who I am? Huh?!"

"Well... hopefully you're not the pizza delivery guy because I ordered two hours ago and you're not holding any pizza."

His eyes flashed with anger before he threw me back across the street, my shoulder colliding with the front bumper of an overturned car. "You smart ass brat, do you think this is a game?"

"If it is, I'm rating it one star," I winced, slowly pushing myself up. Is this what the trashcan felt when I threw it? If so, I apologize for my severe and continuous  lapse in judgment.

"I am Alfred du pi Mont Le'Pierre Gus, the number one villain in Florida!"

I blinked at him a few times, my expression blank. "Is that... your real name?"

"Of course not," he huffed, trying to cross his arms but his chest was too big and, after a few failed attempts, he let his arms fall limply to his sides. "Only noob villains use their real name!"

"I don't know what's more concerning - the fact that you chose such a ridiculous name or the fact that you just said 'noob' unironically like a five-year-old playing Fortnite."

"You disrespectful little -"

"Hold it!" I barked, holding my hands out in front of me. His body tensed up, not knowing what power I possessed. Clearing my throat, I flipped my hand over so my palm faced the sky, concentrating hard on my first ability. My palm began to tingle as the object took shape and then it exploded into a ball of light.

He covered his eyes at the brightness, peering through his fingers cautiously before he stomped his foot angrily. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"What's it look like?" I managed through a mouthful of the taco that I had just conjured up. Yup, my first ability lets me summon one taco every sixty-one minutes. "Who fights on an empty stomach? Losers, that's who."

"What kind of shitty power is that?"

"Shitty?" I replied in disbelief. "Oh, I'll show you a shitty power!" I tugged my pant leg up, lifting my foot before slamming it down against the ground in front of me, making exaggerated hand movements. "Ha!"

He blinked, looking around for a moment. "Nothing happened."

I wagged my finger and tsked at him. "Look in the mirror."

He didn't seem convinced but did as he was told, approaching the nearest car so he could lean down to look in the side mirror. A girlish scream ripped from his throat as he grabbed at his black hair. "What did you do?!"

I grinned at him. "I gave you an 80s-style perm."

"I look like I just stepped out of a Japanese delinquent film!"

"Yes, you do. It lasts a solid three months, too. Shame it doesn't improve your looks any, though."

He let out a guttural sound and charged at me suddenly. For a big guy, he's fast as hell. I just barely managed to dodge out of the way and his body slammed into the car, sending it flying back against the building, exploding on impact.

"Holy fuck, bro," I stumbled backward to put some distance between us. "Don't you think you're being just a tiny bit excessive here? It's just hair!"

"I'm a villain!" he roared with a wide grin and a maniacal look in his eye. "There is no such thing as excessive!" He rushed at me again and I took off running, leading him in circles around the cracked terrain. He may be fast but even he has to slow down to jump over cars and other debris.

I felt a tingle in my brain as adrenaline coursed through my body, causing my next power to activate. "Hey, did you know that the closest lightning strike is only five miles away?"

"Shut up!" He tore the door off of a car and threw it at me.

I cried out, throwing myself to the ground to avoid it. I heard the rush of wind as it passed overhead. "Okay, it's time for me to get serious," I muttered to myself, cupping my mouth with my hand. "Buzz buzz. Buzz~ buzz buzz, buzz. Buzz!"

A hand grabbed my ankle and yanked me into the air, holding me upside down at eye level. "I've had it up to here with your games, brat. If you believe in god, you better start prayin'!"

"Buzz! Buzz buzz buzz!"

"What a lost cause, you are." He reared his fist back but something small darted past me and hit him right in the eye, making him groan and step back. "What the hell was that?!"

The fly, roughly the size of a wasp, easily dodged the man's large hand as he tried to grab it, wings flapping at light speed as he performed loops and rolls through the air. I scowled at him. "Stop showing off and do something useful! Buzz buzz!"

He made a loud buzzing sound in reply before doing a sudden U-turn and barreling straight toward the villain's other eye. He cried out in pain, releasing his grip on me to hold his face and I grinned triumphantly. It lasted only a second before my body hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from my lungs.

"I will not... lose to... a damn fly... and a damn brat... with useless powers!" With every pause, he swiped angrily at the fly and as his anger increased, so did his power level, his body shaking and green scales turning black. Finally, his large hand hit the mark, sending the fly spiraling through the air.

"No! Bu~zz!" I darted toward him, sliding across the ground with my hand stretched out to catch him. Sad violin music began to play as I cradled him. "He was so young..."

"Where is that music coming from? Do you have a radio?!"

"It's not a radio, you uncultured fuck!" I yelled back, pulling the tiny music box out from behind me.

He was in front of me in a flash, slapping the box from my hand. I could only watch as it hit the ground hard, smashing into pieces, the music sounding demonic before finally dying off.

"That's not cool, man. That thing was super expensive!"

His rage was reaching its peak now, his aura practically crushing me. I felt as if I was encased in quicksand and sinking fast. "I'm going to crush you into a million pieces like the insect you are."

I swallowed hard at how deadly calm his voice had become. Shit, I think I may have pushed him a bit too far. What do I do now? I have one ability left but it will take the rest of my energy to manifest it. Well, being crushed while unconscious is probably better than being crushed while conscious.

Time slowed as he lifted his hand toward me. I closed my eyes, focusing the last of my energy into my left palm. My skin grew warm, glowing a soft yellow, but the warmth quickly turned to pure heat and all I felt was pain throughout my entire body. 

It felt as if someone was stabbing me in the back of my skull and I hated the feeling, but I knew this was my last chance. I just had to push myself a little bit harder...

The villain's hand gripped the top of my head, squeezing hard which only worsened the pain I was feeling. I bit my lip, feeling my power begin to break through my palm, steadily growing. The grip on my head paused before disappearing as he began to sneeze violently. I squinted at him, my head hurting too badly to open them fully.

His eyes snapped to the dandelion that had grown from my palm, his eyes turning red and watery. He tried to speak but couldn't form words between his incessant sneezing. For a minute, I just stared at him trying to figure out what his problem was. 

It took longer than normal for it to click because it was hard to focus on anything but the pain. He's allergic to the flower! The corner of my lips twitched up and I took in a deep breath before blowing as hard as I could, sending the petals of the dandelion into the air.

"A-A-A-ACHOO!" He sneezed so loudly that the car windows shattered and then his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his body falling backward onto the ground. The overwhelming pressure of his power slowly faded and his scales returned to their grass green hue.

"Shit, I should have started with that. It would have saved me a lot of trouble..." Darkness dotted my vision and I slowly fell backward. As consciousness left me, the last thing I saw was the stem of the dandelion landing on my face.

━━━━━━༻*༺━━━━━━

I shot up in bed, breathing heavily with sweat covering my face. Sometime during the night, the fan had stopped working, making the room unbelievably hot. My head was killing me and I struggled to remember my dream. 

I could recall flashes of the dream, but it was like pieces of a very complicated puzzle and they were fading fast as my body started to fully wake up. All I knew for sure was that it was a crazy-ass dream that left me feeling exhausted despite having been asleep for several hours.

I threw the comforter off my body and slid out of bed, stifling a yawn. The house was dark, Jackson's soft snores breaking the silence of the night. The wood floor creaked beneath my feet as I walked down the hall toward the kitchen, wanting to get a glass of cold water to try and cool off. I doubt it'll help, but I knew I wouldn't be sleeping so soon after a dream like that.

I had just filled up the glass when I heard the hall floor squeak, Jackson appearing a moment later. His hair was sticking up in all directions and looked as if he had stuck his finger in a light socket. "Nice hair, bro."

"Shaddup," he muttered, taking the glass from my hand before downing the contents. "What are you doing up?"

"You first."

"I had a weird dream."

I glanced at him. A weird dream... there's no way it could be the same one, right?

He noticed my look and quirked a brow. "What?"

"Tell me about it."

"Why?"

"Fine, don't tell me." I started to return to my room but he grabbed my arm, tugging me back into place.

"You're so impatient," he huffed, settling down in front of the island. "I don't remember everything, but I know it was strange as hell. We were back in high school, but... we had abilities, I think."

My brow furrowed, my attention fully on him. There's no way...

"Keith was there, too, and some kid named Akira. He had these stretchy arms like the guy from Fantastic 4 but more nerdy, which is weird because the F4 guy is super nerdy. And..." His eyes met mine. "You were there, too. I was making fun of you for... what was it? Uh..."

"Because I had five useless abilities?"

"Yeah, that's it!" He snapped his fingers and it took a moment before he realized. "Wait, how did you know that?"

I ran a hand through my short hair, exhaling slowly. "We had the same dream, man."

"What? How?"

"I have no idea." I fell onto the stool beside him, laying the upper half of my body across the cool wooden top of the island. "Maybe Keith was right when he said we shouldn't watch Boku no Hero Academia and eat tacos at three in the morning."

"I think you're right." He paused for a moment. "But it was kinda fun. I had super strength!"

I scoffed, burying my face in my arms. It was fun for him because he didn't get his ass beat by a mutated lizard with anger issues. And those powers... what the hell was that about? First off, I was able to snap a taco into existence which is amazing, but only once an hour? That's lame as hell. 

Second, I can give people perms... am I a hairstylist from hell? And the third one, what was it? I closed my eyes, brow furrowed in concentration. Knowing where the closest lightning strike is, I think? Great, I can be a weatherman on my days off at the feckin' hair salon.

And the fly! What the hell was with the fly? Talking to flies is one thing, but talking to them by saying buzz a bunch of times? That is the lamest superpower I've ever heard of. Who the hell thinks of this bullshit? Clearly, they've got a few screws loose. 

The final power was growing a dandelion, I think. Which, okay, it's a decent power on the micro chance that the enemy has a pollen allergy, but that's less likely than winning the lottery.

I exhaled tiredly, wanting to go back to bed but I certainly didn't want to continue that story. Why couldn't it have been a dream about being on a deserted island in winter with a mountain of Dr. Pepper? That's a true dream.

"I'm going back to bed. Night, Jen."

I just grunted in response, listening to his footsteps fade as he headed back down the hall.