“My new power is called [Borrow], letting me borrow a random power from another super. Even if it’s for just a limited time, and I don’t have much experience, I still have access to Reload’s [Secondary] power.”

  I sat down on the bed while I let them process what I said. With my current skill level, I could easily use [Take] or [Give] a hundred times before getting exhausted. But that wasn’t the same for [Borrow]. Even if it was just using it twice, I already felt a heavy weight pulling me down. Using Polymeniac and Reload’s abilities just made it worse.

  Reload was the first to speak up, “Wait, so you can do what I do now? Holy shit, that’s double the gunnage.”

  “Well, not exactly double. Not only does [Borrow] take a lot out of me, but I don’t know as much about weapons as you. While I can make some knives, I wouldn’t be able to summon any guns. You’ll need to teach me how to summon guns, and probably some explosives too.”

  “I have a question,” Frank asked, having picked up the blade, inspecting it in his hands. “The power is called [Borrow], so can Reload not use that power anymore?”

  “That’s a good question. Reload, can you still use [Secondary]?”

  Reload reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pistol. “Sure as shit can, which is good. I’m all for sharing, but you’re not taking my guns from me. I got a constitutional right to them.”

  “Don’t think that covers magic guns that you summon out of the air,” I told him.

  “It’s not my fault that the founding fathers have no imagination,” Reload chuckled at his own joke.

  “So, my new power is going to be a game changer for us,” I carried on the conversation, turning to the other two. “But it’s going to take time for it to become powerful. Not only will I need to learn my own limits, but I’ll need to get used to using new powers. Reload, sit still for a second.”

  I knew it would take even more out of me, but there was something I’d rather learn now than later. I lifted my palm towards Reload, activating [Borrow], and grabbing another one of his powers. As my power activated, I learned an important piece of information. I could only borrow one power at a time. [Secondary] faded away, and I gained [Super Stopper] took its place.

  [Super Stopper][Borrowed]: When summoning a weapon, you can enchant it to deal increased damage to Super Resistance.

  Looking over [Super Stopper], I realized that it was completely useless to me. Without having access to Reload’s [Secondary], I couldn’t use [Super Stopper]. It wasn’t uncommon for powers to build onto each other, and that was a problem. If I was unlucky, I could waste my energy pulling useless powers in a fight.

  “I just took Reload’s [Super Stopper],” I explained. “At least for now, I can only [Borrow] one power. They’ve seen Tóxica transform and Reload summon guns, but this is a wild card. While I know all their powers, this is something they could never expect.”

  It was when I took a second to breathe that it hit me. The weight on my body had grown, and my mind was losing focus. [Borrow] drained me of energy faster than I expected, leaving me exhausted after only three uses.

  I let out a yawn, my body desperate for a rest. “Okay, yeah, my power is tiring the shit out of me. We have more to talk about tomorrow, especially our next move, but for now, I’m going to bed.”

  “What?!” Reload exclaimed. “But we were going to watch La rosa de Guadalupe!”

  “You can stay at least for one episode, come on,” Frank joined in.

  “Tóxica is the only one of us that can even understand it,” I argued. “Can’t you just watch it without me?”

  “It would be better if you stayed,” Tóxica spoke up. “Even if you’re tired.”

  With all of them asking me to stay, I gave in. “Alright, I’ll watch one episode. Reload and Tóxica, I’ll need you to make me a list explaining your powers at some point. I know it’s expected to keep the exact details of your powers hidden, but this’ll be for the good of us all.”

  “Sure,” Reload barely acknowledged what I said, already flipping to the Spanish channels on the TV. In less than a minute, Reload and Frank were arguing over whether the fruits in a bowl were oranges or tangerines. Tóxica chimed in to let them know that the murder happening on screen was more important to the plot than the fruit choice.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The last thing I remembered was smiling, despite being in a dingy motel room filled with people I met less than a month ago, it felt like home.

  I woke up to find myself tucked into the motel bed, the last one left in the meeting room. While I wasn’t sure who tucked me in, it was a nice gesture. I crawled out of bed, searching for my phone on the nightstand. That was when I remembered that the Disciples took it. It was the perfect cherry on top of the “fuck me” sundae.

  I walked out of the meeting room, locking it as I left. On the way to my room, I paused. The sun was rising, coming up over the horizon. The streets surrounding the motel were bathed in a golden light.

  Just a few weeks ago, I was an alcoholic henchman who wasted my life working for whatever scraps I could get. But things were different. They were better. I had allies, friends, that were there for me. No matter what, I knew that I could rely on them.

  I had people that I could trust. We were not only at war with the most powerful gang in South Rain city, we were winning. The Disciples had deep pockets and a practical army of henchmen, but we were chipping them down day by day.

  We were making more money than ever before, getting stronger, and letting all of South Rain know that there was a new group on the scene. As long as I could breathe, I would use everything I had to keep going forward.

  I went into this just wanting to survive, desperate to see the next day. Even if the others weren’t fully aware of it, we were fighting for something so much more now. We were going to become the strongest villain gang in this city.

  I walked into my room, a smile relaxing on my face. When I went to the bathroom, I discovered that Reload had written “Dick Taker” on my forehead. Even if he was my closest friend and the first person to help me after the Disciples’ betrayal, I was going to kick the shit out of him.

  The first thing I did after waking up was heading to Frank’s room. After knocking, it took him a few minutes to come out. He was half dressed and half awake, likely having stayed up too late watching TV with Reload and Tóxica.

  “Sorry to wake you up, but I needed a favor.” I handed him a stack of hundreds. “My phone got lost in the fight, go out and buy a couple of burners. Losing access to a phone happens too often to not be prepared.”

  “Alright, I’ll do that in a minute. You need anything else while I’m out?”

  “Nah, that’s all. Make sure to take a weapon with you, and try to keep a low profile.”

  Frank went to get himself ready for the day as I went back to my room. Looking out over the parking lot, I noticed that this motel was practically dead. Other than our cars placed around, there were only two cars in the parking lot. One of them belonged to the kid who worked at this place, which meant they only had one other renter.

  It was upsetting that the owner refused to take my money. Moral objections are one thing, but he has a family and a failing business. It was a good reminder, however, of how dangerous pride could be. I’d never let myself be one of those assholes who choose to go hungry because of their pride.

  Without anything else to do, I decided to watch the shitty TV in my motel room. Reload and Tóxica were both sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake anyone else up. Most of the channels had useless garbage, and I was even jump scared by Kramer’s face at one point. I finally settled on the news channel, hoping to see something important.

  It took me a few minutes before something useful showed up. “Now, we’re covering the latest surge in supervillain crime. We have eyewitness reports about unprecedented increases in activity in the Hail District. From mass shootings to bombings, we’re seeing a crime spike that nearly rivals the Summer of Flames that occurred seven years ago.”

  The Summer of Flames was when Agony appeared. From what I knew, he had signed on as another villain working for the Bloody Guns. They were a powerful group amongst villains, but they were losing ground to the heroes.

  When Agony arrived, he quickly moved his way up the totem pole. He killed every person who stood in his way, making an endless assault of power grabs. By the end of the summer, the Bloody Guns were no more. He took the remaining members and created the Disciples of Agony.

  It was only under his rule that the distribution of power shifted in South Rain City. Heroes were scared to approach him, afraid of his harsh retaliation. But he stopped expanding, likely when enough money to satisfy him started coming in.

  Most of the old gangs and factions fell apart or left the city. Any groups that remained weren’t under his control, but none of them dared to do anything that would force him to get involved. He was the reason the Hail District would always be considered Villain Territory.

  I switched the channel once they were talking about the newest mayor’s plans to deal with villainy. It never mattered what these types said, because none of them followed through on it. If we stayed out of the Sunshine district, then they would stay out of the Hail district. And yes, I understood how dumb the names were, but I wasn’t the jackass who named them.

  While I was looking for another channel to waste my time on, I heard a knock on my door. It was too early for Frank to have returned, and I doubted that Reload or Tóxica would knock instead of sending a message. I grabbed Vance’s pistol from my drawer and slowly cracked open the door, my gun at the ready.

  It turned out to be nothing to worry about, as I saw Vance himself standing out front. He wasn’t wearing his gang’s iconic yellow puffer jacket, was wearing a face mask, and his tattoo was missing. After squinting my eyes, I realized that it wasn’t actually missing. He was wearing makeup to cover it.

  “If you want a job, then I’m not interested.” I fully opened the door, meeting him face to face.

  “I’m not here for that.” He looked over his shoulder, scanning the parking lot. “Can we go into your room? I can’t have anyone seeing me.”

  His panicked look drew in my curiosity, and I ushered him inside. Whatever was happening, it made him have to hide his affiliation. When you signed onto a villain, that’s a commitment that you couldn’t just put away.

  I shut the door and locked it. “Okay, what’s happening?”

  “Surge sent me, it’s about the Disciples. They’re making a move and he wanted me to tell you about it. They might have eyes looking here already, and I couldn’t be—”

  I cut him off. “Just tell me everything you know.”