"Owen, let go of him." I say in a bored tone. They both look up at me, confusion written all over their faces.

"If anyone's going to fight Drake, it's me." Walking over to the two of them, I wear a smirk just like Drake taught me.

Owen lets go of Drake's head and grabs my arm. He whispers, "You don't have to."

I feel like cracking my knuckles but I can never do that without hurting myself. Settling for stretching my arms across my chest, I tell him, "Oh, I want to."

Drake honestly looks terrified. I'm not sure why. Maybe he thought he was teaching me a lesson. I'm about to knock him into next week.

Della, he has super strength, I remind myself condescendingly.

"No powers." I tell Drake, taking my stance to fight him.

"No problem." He smirks and suddenly dives for my feet. I've already established I'm a pretty clumsy person. I fall to my face on the hardwood floor in an instant and watch Drake scurry to his feet.

Drake comes back around the coffee table and looks like he's about to jump on me with his elbow ready to jab my side. My face hurts immensely but I time his fall with just enough time to roll away and watch him plummet to the floor with a loud thud.

I can hear Owen laughing from somewhere in the room as Drake starts moaning. I would laugh too but I think I busted my nose and lip.

I hope Drake broke his arm.

Steadying myself for when he attacks again, I look down at his weak body. He slowly gets to his feet, clenching his right arm with his left hand. He winces when he puts more pressure on his right leg.

"You ready to call mercy?" I remember saying similar words to Red Raven once as I dangled him over the edge of a roof.

Drake walks up to me and looks me dead in the eyes, "That's not in my vocabulary." Then he punches me in the face. If my nose wasn't broken before, it is now. I taste a little blood after hearing a crack.

Owen suddenly comes between us, "Okay, this is too far." Drake and I look at each other and simultaneously step away from Owen to continue our brawl.

"Red's a good color on you." Drake teases, referring to the blood dripping down my face.

Before he can smirk, I let my fist fly into his face. I don't hear a crack, but to my satisfaction, my fist has blood from his face on it.

"I can't say the same for you." I retort. Drake lurches towards me, successfully grabbing my arm but I sweep my foot up to kick him in the stomach. He lets out an oof and releases my arm to clench his stomach. I take this time to stomp on his foot and kick my foot up into his face. He grabs my foot in mid air.

Crap.

He twists my foot and I find myself turned to face Owen. Owen wears a worried expression. He bites his thumbnail in anticipation.

I know exactly how to get out of this, but it won't be very nice of me. Who am I kidding? I'm pretty sure Drake already broke my nose. This is an all out brawl. I have to finish it.

Before I can think my plan through, I dip my hands down to the floor, in a position to do a handstand. With my left foot free, I pop my leg up to nail him in the face. Or stomach. Or anywhere, really. My foot makes contact and I watch Owen's face pale.

All of a sudden, Drake lets out a yelp and drops my right foot. I turn around to see him lying on the floor in pain. My hand comes up to cover my mouth as I realize where I kicked him.

A string of cuss words fly out of his lips and Owen quietly goes to the freezer to get him an ice pack. I make a mental note to never touch that ice pack for any reason.

"You alright man?" Owen crouches down next to Drake on the floor, handing him the ice pack. Drake places it on his jeans and mumbles more cuss words.

Owen looks up at me, "I think you won."

I would feel bad about hitting him where the sun doesn't shine, except it was high time he got what was coming to him. Allowing a slight smile to come to my busted lips, I lean down in front of Drake, eye to eye.

"Call mercy yet?"

"I hate you." He seethes.

I laugh, "No, you just hate that I beat you."

He rolls his eyes, "That's the cherry on top."

Owen speaks up, "Alright, now that we've worked out our feelings, do I need to take anyone to the hospital?" I raise my hand sheepishly as does Drake.

Even supers aren't invincible.

Owen chuckles, making the mood a little lighter. "I don't know how to explain this to the doctors."

"I have a record for mysterious cases there. They won't ask questions." Drake and Owen look at me in a daze.

"On second thought, I'm okay." I dart towards the same freezer Owen went to and pull out a blue ice pack. Placing it on my nose, I wince at the pain. Yup, he definitely broke it.

Owen asks Drake how his arm is and I hear him mutter something about how he's going to break my face. Owen responds with, "That's not what I asked."

"It's fine." Drake grumbles as he gets up from the floor. I take a few steps back in case Drake comes after me again.

Owen claps his hands together, "I guess that's all for today while your trainer recovers..."

"I'm fine!" Drake yells at the top of his lungs.

Owen chuckles, "Alright, whatever. We have to go. We'll be back tomorrow, if you're up for it."

"I don't know, Owen. He looked pretty down to me." We both let out exaggerated laughs at Drake's expense.

Drake points at his apartment door, "You two have 15 seconds to get out."

"Oh, so, just about the same amount of time it took her to knock your butt on the floor?" Owen mocks.

Drake glares at him, "Five seconds."

Training is off to a great start.

***

Owen and I begin our walk to The Undergrounds in a hurry to get away from Drake. As we exit the building and make our way on the sidewalk, we slow our pace and Owen starts to talk to me.

"That was awesome. You don't need the physical training part."

"Are you saying I still need help with having the right attitude?" I cross my arms over my chest. His gray Vans stay in step with my white Converse.

He stutters, "Oh, no. I just meant, you know-"

"Because I can turn into the Grinch in less than a second." I retort.

"Della, I just meant we need to work on your appearance as a villain. Attitude is clearly covered." He mumbles the last part under his breath.

I chuckle at him, "Can I do anything right in your eyes?"

Suddenly Owen comes to a halt. He holds out his hands like he has an idea, and I inch forward to listen. Once again, he pulls me into an alley.

"What if you fail as a villain?" He blurts out.

"Wow, thanks for that boost of confidence." I sneer.

He waves his hands, "No, I mean on purpose. If you fail on purpose, but make it look like you're just not getting it, then my dad will just let you go."

"That, or he'll train me himself." I think this plan over. This could backfire on us, so we need to think it through some more. But I think we could make something work.

The alley we're standing in is just like you'd imagine it; smelly, filthy, and filled with garbage. Let's not forget the graffiti. Why do we always seem to end up in this setting?

Owen opens his mouth to speak, when we observe a shadow figure skirt across the walls on the buildings surrounding us. By instinct, I lean closer to Owen. Shadow Soldier has haunted enough of my dreams.

"What's Shadow Soldier doing here?" I whisper, looking over both of my shoulders.

Owen shakes his head, gripping onto my arm, "It's not him. He's a 3-D shadow figure. That's a regular shadow. Someone's following us. Come on." He hastens towards the end of the alley to go back on the sidewalk, not letting go of my arm.

"Maybe it's just Drake saying we forgot something." I offer. Owen looks both ways before crossing the empty street. He pulls out his phone, I assume to call Drake.

"Hey, where are you?" Owen asks after Drake picks up.

Something is said on the other line as Owen practically drags me down the sidewalk. He'll probably put a leash on me again soon.

"Okay, thanks." Owen hangs up the phone, then turns to face me, "It wasn't him. He's still at his apartment. By the way, he said he wants a re-match."

I roll my eyes, "Then who was following us?"

Owen finally lets go of my arm and scratches the back of his head, "I have no clue."

***

The Board members are eagerly awaiting our arrival, apparently. When Owen and I enter, four men sit at the table. Each of them sit up straight and have their hands folded on the table, but they all wear a blank expression.

"Owen, Della." Mr. Michaels, a.k.a Blacklight speaks up.

"Dad." Owen retorts dryly. To my surprise, Mr. Michaels chuckles.

"Let's get right to it. How is she progressing as a villain?" He asks Owen.

"She's doing great. As you can see, we've dyed her hair and cut it as well, giving her a new disguise."

"Is the bloody nose and lip part of the look?" Mr. Michaels questions.

Owen bites his lip nervously, "Ah, no. We were training."

"Why don't you have any cuts?"

"I'm just that good," Owen dismisses all further questions. "Now on to her suit-"

The Board members nod their heads in approval, but one man interjects, "I think she needs colored contacts. We don't need her friends recognizing her at all."

"Okay, noted. As for her new mask and suit, they're almost complete." Owen is subtly perspiring. If my dad was my boss, I'd be nervous too.

"Great, but what are we going to do about her powers?" Another man pipes up.

"I'm going to drain her powers, excluding the weather control. The public hasn't seen her use that ability." Owen answers. I hope he's lying to please them.

Mr. Michaels leans back in his swivel chair, folding his hands across his stomach, "Excellent. Now how is she at hand-to-hand combat?"

Owen doesn't miss a beat, "Fantastic, despite her bruises." I allow a small smile to come to my lips, but they haven't acknowledged my presence so why would they see my smirk?

"Okay, let's see it." Mr. Michaels comments. Owen's jaw clenches.

"Now?" His eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Mr. Michaels nods, "Yes, now. Is there a problem?"

"Who will she fight?" Owen asks.

Mr. Michaels ushers his hand towards Owen. Owen takes a step back, and I realize why. He doesn't want me to beat him up in front of his dad. He also doesn't want to beat me up and prove I'm less than 'fantastic'.

"Well? Go on. This space is pretty empty other than this table." I watch Owen turn to face me and his Adam's apple bobs down and up.

Do I take it easy on him or fight harder than ever? Maybe this is when I'm supposed to put our new plan into action. But we didn't discuss it very thoroughly.

Owen looks at me with wide eyes. He subtly points downwards and shakes his finger, indicating 'no'. I hold back a laugh. I make no promises of where I kick you, Owen.

He gives me a nod and I get into a stance before I give the same nod. He starts off the fight the same way Drake did; by attacking my feet.

Obviously, he knew that move worked on me. I fall to the floor but catch myself with my hands before my face could get scarred anymore. Owen picks himself off the floor and comes at me again.

He lifts me off the floor by tossing me over his shoulder. I'm not sure what he's going to do with me in this position, but I manage to think quick and flip my legs over. I end up back to back with him and kick my heel in the back of his knee and hear him fall to the floor. This isn't hardwood, this is concrete. I'm suddenly much more worried about falling.

I turn around quickly and find Owen is lying on his back. His feet pull on mine in a blink of an eye and I lose my balance. Why do people always target my feet?

Landing on my butt is almost worse than landing on my face.

All of a sudden, Owen has me pinned by holding down my arms and legs. His eyes are wild to the point I don't even know what he's thinking.

In my hesitancy, Mr. Michaels hops up from his chair and delcares Owen the winner. The Board leaves the room without another comment, but I see Mr. Michaels give his son a smile and a thumbs up. I guess I did right by losing this fight.

Owen's face is still over mine, with his hazel eyes staring into my own. I don't think he realizes he's cutting off my circulation.

"Um, can you get off?" I whimper.

He helps me to my feet and nervously laughs, "I guess you saw my bad side today. I don't like fighting, I usually can't stop when I do."

I pretend to dust myself off, "Yeah, I can tell."

He gently shoves me, "I think we found your weakness, though."

I roll my eyes, still slightly upset I let my guard down so fast, "And what's that?"

"Ironically, your feet."

A/N - PLEASE READ
Would anyone be interested in sketching some super suit designs for Della's new suit? I thought about making this a mini contest. Anybody who submits a sketch will be mentioned in the designated chapter and the winner will be given the chapter dedication and a follow from me. The suit is totally up to your imagination, just keep in mind she's only using her weather control now. If anyone's interested, please comment here. (P.S. you will have to add the picture to your own work for me to view your sketch 👍)

Anyways, I think this is the most kick-butt chapter for Della so far in this book, what do y'all think? Who do y'all think was following Della and Owen? Comment questions and theories!

Thanks for reading!
Always, Sunny