#rough rough draft

“According to some rumors, a new super villain is sprouting up here, in [CITY], New Jersey. Little is known about the supposed threat this new antagonist poses, and their motives are completely unknown.  The only evidence supporting this claim is a new warehouse emerging in the nearby forest, along with minor quakes appearing on a regular basis. These actions align strongly with the events which prestaged the emergence of the [NAME] in Australia. Though their reign was short- lived after the Underdogs, a group of superheros, stopped their reign. While the evidence is circumstantial, we now have to ask if there is a new villain in town, and if we’re getting our own group of heroes.”

Nick mindlessly sipped on his coffee as he only paid half attention to the news humming quietly on his phone. It was his routine of sorts, a way to start his day and maybe mention it to his class to pass the time. Today’s news was weird. He remembered hearing about that Underdog group a little while back, but the lack of new news made him believe it just fizzled out. Guess Australian news just doesn’t reach the states unless it’s really cool. 

He swiped up on his news app, now mindlessly choosing to open twitter. At this point Vern would’ve been out any minute, and being honest nothing else on the news would’ve made his day better. With almost comedic timing, his entire feed was just about the rumors he heard on the news.

“What’s this new villain planning?”

“Oh there’s not going ot be new heros, probably some uber rich guy fucking around”

“[idk find more shit like this]”

He shrugged it off, at most planning some jokes to make in his class. Maybe there will be heroes showing up in no-where NJ, but he just assumed that it wouldn’t affect much of his life as a Teaching Assistant. What’s the worst thing some heroes would do? Property damaged? Insurance would probably cover it. He just didn’t really understand why so many people would freak out over the chance of some heroes showing up, just didn’t get the appeal. 

Vern finally emerged from his room, on time for Vern but a bit late for Nick’s standards. “Are you ready to go?” Vern was as chippy as ever, a smile forming on Nick’s face out of pure [copying?? osmosis?? What's the word I'm trying to find??]. “Been ready for about twenty minutes. I was so bored I started watching the news,” his drama was over-emphasis, though quickly followed by an eye roll of Vern. “You watch the news everyday, old man.”

“Yeah yeah whatever. You get all your news from Twitter. At least I use a repeatable source.”

“Ok sure, what did you hear about anyways grandpa.”

“I’ll tell you while we walk. We’re going to be late if we don't start now.” 

Following Nick’s lead, the two left the house, quietly shutting the door to not disturb the others, most likely still sleeping.   

The scene was autumnal, the usually green leaves shifted to a yellow and orange hue. A gentle breeze accompanied the pair as they walked, leaves falling around them. Their conversation continued. “So yeah the news was just about some new super hero. The news, and most of twitter, is obsessed about them and a possible new group.”

“Oh like the Underdogs?? Or Sidequest?

“Yeah, something like those people. Superheroes to beat up the supposed villian. I just hope it doesn't affect us.”

“Is it close?”

“Yeah, it's base is in our city, with some openings in the forest nearby.”

“I think it’ll be cool, it’s like having our own mascots. Plus I’d like to be safe if there is a villain coming.”

“It’s all just rumors. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”

“Well we can hope.”

“you HOPE there’s some uber villian runnin around in our town??”

“ok well when you put it like that I sound bad. Nicolas I HOPE for some badass heroes to stop the bad guy.”

Silence consumed the duo, continuing on their usual path. While it was normal that the pair would find some quiet on.the walk, it was strange this time. It felt like there was a distance between them,the silence now hostile, in a sense,

“How do you think it works? The powers and stuff. Are they like a given, or is it something at birth?” The question was Nick’s solution to the uncomfortable silence. 

“I don’t know. I want to say they just had it since birth, but it's hidden. It’s not till the right moment it comes out, you know?”

“Eh maybe. We could probably ask them. Aren't they all retired and shit?”

“Uhh I think sidequest is, but I’m not really sure.”

“Eh oh well. Anyways see you after class,” Nick started to walk on a different path. Vern continued along the one they’ve been taking. Their conversation felt different today, It wasn’t the light hearted joking bullshit that usually filled the silence as they walked. There was something else there. Vern shrugged it off, he had classes to slog through before he would even see Nick again. Their conversation could wait. Plus, maybe Brent or Sophist knew something else about it. 

—---------------------------------------------------------------

The alarm blared, the time displayed read 8:30, unfortunately meaning the day had begun, and slumber had ended. The sunlight begged to be let in, but the curtains at every window denied it access, keeping the room in mostly darkness—the only light being that which managed to sneak in around the corners of the curtain. As the alarm continued to beep, until finally Brent managed to dismiss it. 

He sat up, still groggy from sleep with his eyes barely adjusting to the faint sunlight bleeding into his room. He sat up from his bed, the blanket which held his warmth slid off his body, now pushed to the side of his bed. 

It was far too early for him, but according to his job description it was nearly time to start his job. Thirty minutes, to be exact, until his job started, but it was just at his computer and he needed some coffee to start his day.

Forcing his body out of his bed outside of his will, he made his way to the kitchen, nearly running into the peninsula. You’d think living in the same house for a year and a bit now he’d remember the layout, but muscle memory from his mom’s and not yet working brian always seems to make him forget where he actually sleeps.

He grabbed a mug from the cabinet, not really thinking when he grabbed the [insert ringe mug name idk man]. He poured a cup from the coffee he assumed Nick had made earlier that day. Maybe Nick made it an hour or two ago but honestly it was warm enough for Brent and he couldn’t be fucked to make another batch. He just prayed Eevee wouldn't need it as he poured the remaining remnants into his [] cup, or that Nick would be pissy about him stealing HIS coffee. 

He gave a neutral hum as he opened Twitter. He had time before work and might as well just fuck around in the kitchen before forcing himself in his room/office for the next six hours. He pulled up a chair and took a seat, slowly sipping on the plain black coffee as he questioned what on earth people were on. He didn’t care about this villain or whatever hero shit they were on, he just wanted the latest news on [idk what Brent likes tbh, all the info I get off of him are pcpriv and theyre haters idk man kms]. He just ignored the post about whatever he deemed irrelevant and prayed that they’d go away. When, in those few minutes, they didn’t, he just sighed and gave up. 

He put his head down on the table, casting the cup of coffee off to the side for a bit. [insert something about his job idc decide wtf software engineers do and if he game debugs or what idk]  

Then those familiar footsteps echoed through the hallway connecting all the bedrooms.[eh im too lazy to write this, sophist walks in ig]

“Wow you’re up early” - B

“You’re also up,” Eevee took a second, really noticing now how [IDK BRENTS DEAD KMS], “kinda.”

“Yeah but I have a real job”

“Being a youtuber is a really hard job, yk”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Brent replied, now finally lifting his head up and taking another sip of coffee. Eevee, who typically wasn’t even awake for another 3 hours, was oddly put together. He had a nice shirt on, hair well combed and maybe some product in there. “Why are you all dressed up? It’s like 6 a.m. for you.”

“Got some collab with people in shitty time zones, forced to have a face cam too so might as well look half-decent.” Brent only gave a little hum to acknowledge his words, afterwards taking another sip of coffee from his mug. The silence felt awkward, different from the usual calming silence in the morning Brent grew accustomed to. In the absence of Vern and Nick, leaving for their education and job respectively, and Eevee still—typically—sleeping away in his bed, the silence of the morning was comforting, almost reminding him of his college life or when he lived with his mom. 

Today, he lacked that comfort, now replaced with Eevee, visibly uncomfortable. His eyes wandered around the marble table, refusing to look any higher. His hands fidgeted with each other, and Brent could hear his feet tapping on the metal support on the chair. The room was dark, too, only adding to the discomfort. No light but the one directly above the peninsula illuminated the room. Brent never turned another one on in the morning.

“You got any plans?” Eevee finally ended the horrible awkwardness which surrounded the two. “No, not really,” was Brent’s only response. It was true, he didn’t. He had no plans to leave the house for weeks. Though with the dry response the pair fell into silence again. Brent wanted to avoid it now, instead opting to reopen Twitter in hope another five minutes would fix his boring timeline. 

It did, finally. Soon, finally, Sophist got the hint and opened his phone too. The duo now sat like this, neither talking but both scrolling on the same app. It was still awkward, yet neither did anything to fix the situation. 

Finally salvation came when Brent noticed the time ticked over to 8:58. He finally had an excuse to leave this awkward hell he found himself in. It wasn’t anything about Eevee, he loved the guy, but this morning everything just felt off.