Adrian propped lifted himself onto the counter next to her, and he proceeded to listen to what she had to say. "Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder the same thing about Dillon. She's too... nice to be a minion. Not that it's not refreshing, but I have to wonder why she isn't a sidekick, maybe even a hero. I'm guessing she's fairly strong as well since she's number one."

Adrian's mind wandered back to what she had to say about Willow and herself being together for three years. A small grin crept across his face and he said, "Reminds me of us, right? We've been rivals the moment we stepped into that school, and we've managed to match rank for rank as well. Weird how that works."

"That is weird... It's weird how that happened." Lydia murmured. "I always thought you hated me so much you just purposely kept up with me. It pissed me off so bad that I would fight even harder to go further, thinking that I could break the neck-and-neck pace we had. Usually that just ended with me getting my ass kicked and fed back to me... to no avail. We'd be at the same level anyway. I think... maybe Willow purposely kept up with me all that time...?" Lydia's tone was hesitant. "I don't want to think that, so egotistically... but I really think that it's possible he held himself back to match my pace? But why would he do that? He probably could have graduated already. I don't even know his real name. Until now, I didn't even know he controlled plants... Dillon's a real cutie though. I don't think you could have a better minion." Lydia nodded, leaning back, picking at her bagel. "I'm just annoyed, I guess. I'm annoyed that all that crap happened, and I'm annoyed that I didn't trust him. I'm embarrassed for myself."

"I... don't hate you. You're strong, in more ways than one. You don't take shit from anyone. You're not like the other students who mindlessly follow the status quo," Adrian chuckled. "It almost sounds like I..." But he stopped mid-sentence as he realized what he was about to say. "Admire you," he thought.

Adrian looked over the Lydia, deciding not to finish what he was going to say, "Maybe he admires who you are. Or maybe he likes you, romantically speaking. It seems like the type of thing a guy like Willow would do."

"Dillon is sort of cute, isn't she? I don't trust her either... Could I be wrong in not trusting her? No, Lydia has known Willow for three years, but my mistrust is warranted considering I've only known her for a few days. But Willow? Able to graduate already? No way."

"Y'know what you should do? Ask him for his real name. After you apologize, of course."

Lydia was silent when Adrian said he didn't hate her. She felt an embarrassed warmth in her core, letting his words sink in. She was embarrassed and annoyed when he said that maybe Willow liked her, and that was why he had done what he said. It was likely it was all in her imagination, but she wasn't totally sure if it was or wasn't. I'm so awkward and ashamed right now... Even Adrian's... He sounds so genuine. I can't help but be tricked by that. "Yeah, I guess I will." Lydia looked down at her bagel, her eyes shifting over to look at Adrian out of the corner of her eyes. He was sitting on the counter next to her. Her eyes roamed over him, studying him with interest. She accidentally met his eyes before looking back down at her bagel. She tossed the half a bagel across the room and it landed in the trashcan with a firm thump.

"I need to do that," she murmured, embarrassed that he had caught her looking. She slid off the counter, but leaned against it. "I don't hate you either... I really respect all the work you've done to get as far as you have. As we have... And also, even though I'm your enemy... You still saved me this morning when you thought I was in danger from Willow." Her tone was awkward and formal. "I wanted to thank you for that. It was very... gentlemanly." She looked away from him. "I guess I owe you a favor now." She moved away from the counter, too embarrassed to say more, heading towards the kitchen exit.

Adrian narrowed his eyes as she walked away, "Was she just...eyeing me?" A smirk formed across his face as he watched her walk away. "So she is attracted to me. Glad to know the attraction is reciprocated."

Adrian slid off the top of the counter, and as he did a single file line of scantily clad men and women descended the stairs and out the front door. Behind them followed Benjamin who gave a few of them winks and slaps on the ass, which they responded playfully by flashing him smiles and waving him goodbye. "Come again! Especially you, Kyle," he called out before slamming the door behind them. He then strolled into the kitchen, flung open the fridge, and poured himself some orange juice.

"Y'know, if your jimmies are really rustled about last night's break in; I could give you the keys to the Maserati today in order to make it up to you. After all, you have to go to school, right?"

"I don't care about a damn ca-"

"What about the Ferrari?"

"Again, I don't ca- Wait, a Ferrari?!"

"Yep! Hot pink too!"

Begrudgingly Adrian said, "Sounds good, but I'm not forgetting what happened. I'm still taking measures to prevent this from happening again."

"Of course," Benjamin said as he ascended the stairs. "Do whatever you find necessary to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'll get those keys for you!"

Willow finished showering, and changed his clothes. He stood in front of the mirror, his hands on either side of the sink, staring into it. He lifted the towel around his neck and rubbed it into his hair, drying it off before throwing it aside. He changed his sheets next and flipped his mattress. The side he'd been on was drenched and gritty from drying sweat. He carried all the clothes and sheets to the laundry room, before a servant, a young lady with short brown hair and clear blue eyes, took them from him, offering to do them. Willow nodded, deciding not to press the matter. "It's kind of embarrassing, but... Thank you. I hope you weren't too affected by the vines this morning." He left the laundry room, and ran into Lydia in the hallway.

"Oh, Willow," she looked away from him, awkwardly. "There you are," she muttered under her breath, thinking to herself, trying to work up the nerve to apologize, or to ask him his name, or anything. "I... uh... I didn't know you manipulated plants," she started, crossing one leg over the other, staring down at her feet.

Willow tilted his head. "Yeah?... well, you never asked either. It's where my name came from. The first plant I ever manipulated was a willow tree in my back yard. Until it got cut down, I guess..." The conversation was a bit tense and Willow didn't understand why she had stopped him to talk.

"Oh... I see," Lydia muttered again, looking at her feet. "Um... so, after, the thing... I got to thinking and I thought... we've been... working together for a long time. How long has it been? Three and a half years?"

"Halfway through my first semester, you saved my life from a senior villain." Willow prompted.

Lydia looked up at him, puzzled. "I did?"

Willow looked puzzled now. "Yeah, you did. You don't remember?" Lydia shook her head. "Oh. Well, I was cornered downtown by a fire-type and I was pretty sure he was going to wreck me,"

"Oh, wait," Lydia thought a moment. "Hey, yeah. I remember fighting that guy. He was real waif-y, wasn't he? Skinny but batshit. Like... a starving wolf, kind of. So hey, wait. That kid who was on the ground, that was you?" She frowned. "That kid was a hero though. He told me."

"Was a hero..." Willow crossed his arms. "He changed his mind."

Lydia was silent a moment. "Oh."

"Yeah."

There was a few moments of silence as Lydia processed the information she'd just recieved. She hesitated again. "So, what's your name, anyway? I'm getting tired of calling you Willow."

Willow, almost without even realizing it, brightened visibly at the question, seeming excited to hear the question from her. "Joshua. Josh is okay."

"... Joshua, huh? ... Alright. I can live with that." Lydia muttered under her breath.

"I did want to apologize for this morning too though. I'm going to apologize to Adrian when I see him too... I don't usually have bad dreams like that, I don't know what was wrong with me. It must have been a doozy because I haven't lost control of my powers, sleeping or waking for a few years..." Josh hesitated. "I'm just glad that the only seeds I had on me were my creeping vines. It would have been bad if I'd had some of the other ones. So... I'm sorry that I attacked you like that. I don't know what came over me."

"I'm curious about this girl you were talking about. What's the deal with that again?" She frowned.

Josh looked straight at Lydia, his brows knit. "... I'm sorry. What girl? Dillon?"

Lydia stared back at him. "No, not Dillon. The one on your phone?"

Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking through it. After a moment of fruitless searching, he looked back up at Lydia. "Sorry. I guess I don't remember." he slipped it into his pocket again.

Somehow, Lydia felt disconcerted by Josh's memory lapse. "Oh... you were freaking out about it this morning. You were saying something about a girl at the junior villains matches and you took a picture of her and..." she trailed off, noting the blank look on Josh's face.

He looked back through his photos again, frowning. "No, there's no pictures of any girls on here. I don't just take pictures of girls like that. I'm not a creep."

"Oh... Well, I'm getting ready to go to the sophomore competition. Do you want to come?" Lydia asked.

A look of pure terror flashed across Josh's face for a moment before it disappeared, leaving him with a confused look on his face. "Uh... y-yeah... I'll go. I just need a few moments to get ready."

There's definitely something wrong with him. He doesn't remember anything about this morning? Lydia frowned to herself, watching Josh go into his room.

Benjamin returned, fully dressed in his usual formal attire with button down dress shirt, pants, and vest; he held up a single key, and tossed it to Adrian.

"Thanks," he said.

"No probs! Come on, let's get out of here."

Adrian hesitated, wanting to see if Dillon wanted to come along, but he then realized that she was already somewhat angry with him, "That's a headache I don't need."

"Well," Adrian began. "I think Lydia and Willow will be coming with us. We should probably wait for them."

"Psh, why wait? We want to go now, so we should go now!"

"Are you going to carefully watch how the heroes, villains, sidekicks, and minions fight?"

"Uh, no."

"Then we're waiting for the others."

Josh emerged a moment later, and Lydia was waiting for him. She got to her feet. "Alright, come on, W-... Josh," the sound was clearly odd on her tongue. "Let's see if we can go with Adrian. Ordinarily I'd run, but my whole body is pretty sore after yesterday. I overworked myself and I only have about 20% of my strength left today." She rubbed her shoulder.

Josh nodded. He went into the kitchen, Lydia following behind him. She picked up a banana. "Oh hey, look, just in time. They're about to leave." She peeled the banana, before picking off a small section with her fingers. "Are you guys driving? I kind of overworked myself yesterday. And I can't go running to school with my currently average-human strength. So if you're driving... Willow and I want to go." She purposely said Willow, too embarrassed to use his real name in front of other people. "And which side are you going to? Heroes or villains? Willow and I will take the other." Deciding to wait for an answer, she ate the piece of banana before pinching another piece off.

"Yeah, we'll take you," he said before turning toward the garage. "We'll handle the villain arena. Come on, Benjamin, show us the way."

Benjamin led them to the garage, "Y'know, Adrian, I didn't think you were the type to like hot pink!"

"I don't, but I can appreciate the beauty in a Ferrari, regardless of its color. I'd prefer if it came in black though."

"What is up with you and black anyways?" he asked as he inspected Adrian from over his shoulder.

"I have my reasons," he said as he followed behind him.

"Always with Mr. Mysterious... Well, at least the ladies seem to dig it," he said as he walked through the mansion, descended some stairs, flipped a light switch, and in front of the group laid a huge garage lined with sports and luxury cars.

"Holy shit," said Adrian, amazed at the sight before him."You have a Bugatti Veyron?!"

"Psh, you've seen where I live. This is nothin'."

Adrian hit the button on the keys that started up the Ferrari and Benjamin got the chills, "Listen to that baby purr. Alright, in you two!" he said before opening the butterfly doors.

Adrian drove them to S.U.P.E.S. and hopped out of the Ferrari. "Well, we're certainly drawing attention to us now," he thought as a few stray students became interested in his arrival.

"Well, at least I decided to dress nice today since everyone's staring," Lydia said, dryly, climbing out of the car. "Let's just say if we ever take a vehicle that ridiculous just to drive five blocks again, I'm gonna go ahead and walk... I don't get boys and their fancy cars... in ridiculous colors. What are you, a rich sorority girl?" She smoothed her skirt down. "I'll see you guys after the matches." She headed towards the doors, Josh next to her. They entered the front door and Josh caught something out of the corner of his eye.

A small girl stood in a short black dress, with a white undershirt with puffed sleeves, clutching a stuffed bunny. She looked up through her curtain of black bangs and straight at him. Josh started moving forward faster, pushing Lydia. "Lydia, Lydia, go go-"

"Big brother!" the little girl giggled, running over to Josh, jumping on his back, hugging him about the neck. "Mr. Bun and I missed you,"

"I'm not your brother," Josh said, sounding panicked. Lydia stared at them, confused, watching them interact. "You're her, that girl. That girl who fought yesterday. Void?" Seeing her again reminded him of her.

Void gasped, hugging him tighter. "Big brother! You remember me! No one remembers me," she giggled. "When you took that picture of me, I thought, oh no! I can't let him do that... But I had so much fun last night!" she giggled. "Clearly you did too... you're shaking from excitement! We can play again soon, okay? But not tonight. I have someone else I need to see tonight~"

"Willow. This is the girl who broke in last night?" Lydia narrowed her eyes at the girl, but felt incredibly unnerved, even though the girl seemed so innocent...

"Well, at least I decided to dress nice today since everyone's staring," said Lydia.

"Including myself," Adrian thought.

"Nope! I'm just a rich boy," responded Benjamin. "Besides, hot pink is fabulous."

Adrian looked over to find a girl literally on Willow's back. "Is this who broke into the mansion?" asked Adrian as he locked the doors on the Ferrari.

"Apparently," confirmed Benjamin. "I can't see how such a cute thing could scare Willow into submission though, or why she'd break into the mansion just to delete a picture."

Adrian crossed his arms, "Hey, Void, cut the shit. Why'd you break into our home just to delete a picture? What's the purpose behind that?"

"Willow, are you keeping nude pics of cute girls? I can't blame you though. This little thing is gorgi."

"Will you shut up?"

"Anything for you, Mr. Mysterious."

"Mmm. I don't like you," Void said, tilting her head a bit at Adrian and Benjamin. "Either of you. Not my type at all." her arms tightened around Willow's neck. "You should see what I did to the last girl I didn't like. It was so funny. I guess she lived though."

"No, nope. Not funny. It was absolutely," Josh had gone ashen gray. "not funny at all. I saw that."

"Oh! Willow, but didn't you see the beauty in it? The way her organs left a trail like a bloodied slug?" Void raised a brow. She looked back at Adrian. "If you must know why, it's because I was embarrassed. I couldn't believe that someone wanted a picture of me... I didn't know what he was going to do with it!... Also... it's about the only way someone can cut through my Forget-Me waves." she nestled her face in the back of Willow's neck. "I don't mind YOU guys seeing and remembering me, after all, you'll be dead soon enough... But who knows who else he might have shown that picture to? Or what else he might have done with it? I just couldn't stand it... Willow, let's play again, okay?" she hopped down, clutching her stuffed bunny. "But I have to go now. You were so late getting here... I didn't think you were going to show. We'll play again soon!" she waved goodbye and moved back into the shadow of a tree. It wrapped around her until they couldn't see her and the shadows fell back to where they were, leaving the place she had been empty.

"'Forget-Me waves?' What is she talking about? What did she do to the last girl? She seems certain that we'll die. That isn't good," he thought and watched the girl leave before turning to Willow. "Disappeared into the shadows? I can't get a read on her. I need to know more about this girl."

"What did she do to the last girl, Willow?" he asked. "And what were her powers? Recall what you saw exactly. If she's threatening to kill us, we need a good idea about what she can do."

"For something so young and cute she seemed so... odd. Pretty weird too," Benjamin said. "She even called him brother..."

"She did, didn't she? Willow? Is there something we should know?"

Josh knit his brows, thinking hard about the match. "I don't know... it's kind of hard to remember.,,," He realized. "I just remember the body. That image is permanently in my head... I couldn't possibly forget it. I just remember... she had her organs out." He gestured at his stomach. "Her organs were all hanging out and one of them was... blown up. I just... I remember there was stuff, all over her face. Throw up." He shook his head. "The sounds... the sounds from down there were terrible. Gagging, and retching... I just know that I couldn't see. I couldn't see until she came flying out, rolling with her guts out... and mouth... and her eyes, she looked dead. I'd never seen that girl... Void... before then. If I had, I don't remember. I keep... forgetting. I'd forgotten about her until she showed up." He looked at his phone. "I don't know how she came to me last night, but I know the photo's gone."

"Come on, we need to get to the arena, we're going to be late!" Lydia seemed annoyed. "We can discuss this after the matches, and besides that, I'm not scared of a 17 year old carrying a stuffed rabbit. We'll beat her the same as we do anyone else... Maybe when we're done kicking her ass we can tuck the bitch into bed and give her her blanky and read her a bedtime story." She tossed her head and went into the building, headed down the hallway.

Adrian remained deathly quiet as he listened intently, "That's... pretty damn brutal," Adrian looked back to the last spot he saw the girl disappear from. "Hard to believe that girl could be so... brutal."

Benjamin began laughing hysterically at Willow's description of events. "This is a prime example why heroes and their minions shouldn't go to the villain arena! They'll need a fresh change of diapers later!"

Adrian shook his head at Lydia and Benjamin, "I still wouldn't underestimate her. The most vicious, effective beasts and predators are the ones you overlook or don't see until it's too late."

"Oh, please. How about we ask a villain or minion then about yesterday's match then? Surely they'd remember such a bloody battle."

"Well, it might be more than we're currently getting out of Willow..." Adrian looked over to Benjamin, "Alright, let's see if they know anything, after the match."

"I'm telling you," Benjamin began as he made his way toward the villain arena. "The lad just needs a new pair of pants. Nothing to worry about!"

Adrian looked back over to Willow, "We'll talk about this later," and with that Adrian followed behind Benjamin.

Adrian and Benjamin made their way to the villain arena, and Adrian and Benjamin pushed past the crowd of villains and minions surrounding them to get a better look at the arena. In the middle of the arena stood Veronica and Frank, and to their left posed a small blonde boy with curly hair and frail arms and build, but he stood proud on top of his platform labeled number one. However, the most peculiar, and possibly disturbing thing about him was that his lips were sown tightly together.

"He's the number one? Not what I expected," said Adrian.

"Me neither. His name is 'S.B.'"

"What does 'S.B.' stand for?"

"Bloody hell if I know. He won't say," Benjamin responded with a giggle.

To S.B.'s right stood a slouched boy with shaggy hair, old, dirtied clothing, and bewildered expression on his face. He looked normal, but he didn't seem to mentally be there at the present moment. He stood on the platform labeled three.

"He looks like you if you didn't have all you money."

"Don't even joke about that."

Finally, to S.B.'s right stood a short, ordinary looking girl with short, brunette hair, pale skin, and brown eyes.

"Tell us, Sleeper," Veronica began as held the microphone up to the boy on S.B.'s left. "Will you challenge the fearless Ghost in combat? Or will you... sleep this one out?"

"Huh?" he said, momentarily confused about where he was. "Oh... Uh..." He stood there for a moment, with a gaping mouth and blank look on his face, then Sleeper collapsed to the ground and began snoring, and medics rushed out to take him away.

"Well, I suppose that answers my question, Frank!"

"It certainly does, Veronica!" Frank said before moving over to the girl on S.B.'s left. "Well, what about you, Disappearance? Plan on whisking away? Or do you plan on staying to fight?"

Disappearance and spoke into the microphone held to her mouth, "I do. I challenge you, S.B., for your first rank." The crowd cheered loudly at this.

"Well folks, looks like we have a match on our hands! Who's ready to rumble?!" The crowd cheered even lowered as Frank rallied the crowd to cheer louder.

Josh ran after Lydia to catch up with her and the two of them went into the heroes arena. There were people cheering and screaming, and there were about twenty people left in the arena. There was a girl standing off to the side, watching everyone fighting and Josh turned bright red. “She’s BEAUTIFUL,” he said, in awe.

“Hmm?” Lydia looked where he was looking. “Yeah, I guess she is…” The girl standing on the side of the arena had soft brown hair and big blue eyes, and a heart shaped face. She looked sweet as an angel, and she had a microphone clutched in her hand. She had a light pink suspender skirt over top of a long sleeved white dress, and her wavy brown hair was pulled back with a pink headband. “I’m guessing a voice power, some kind of magical song?”

“Why aren’t they fighting her?” Josh asked in a stadium whisper.

“Would you fight her?” Lydia stadium whispered back.

“No!” He looked genuinely offended. “I wouldn’t!”

“Too damn bad we might have to,” and that was all Lydia would say, turning back to the arena.

Lightning and fire and ice were flinging around the arena and the magical musician stood patiently, watching and waiting. Finally, the arena was down to two. A hero with a gigantic sword and spiky hair was walking around the ring, crowing and waving his sword. He stopped short when he saw the musical girl standing there, looking at him.

He rushed at her, but she dodged, bringing her microphone to her mouth. She took a deep breath before a sound escaped her lips that brought the sword wielding hero to a stop. She launched into a song that rendered the entire arena silent, staring at her with awe, adoration… and for half of them, love.

“That’s it, she’s perfect. I’m in love with her,” Josh muttered under his breath. Lydia punched him in the shoulder.

“Shut up, she’s the enemy!”

“I don’t care! Don’t tell me who to love!”

“Get out of the arena!” She said, angrily, pointing at the door. “Wait for me outside.”

The sword-fighter stared blankly at her, before taking a step back. He seemed stunned to a blank stare by the heroine’s music. Josh angrily stormed out of the arena, unhappily following Lydia’s orders.

The platforms that S.B. and Disappearance stood on sunk back into the ground, and blended and became part of the rest of the arena. Frank and Victoria disappeared in their usual cloud of smoke and only S.B. and Disappearance were left in the arena.

"If Willow really did see someone torn apart, then the medics cleaned this place up pretty damn well," said Adrian.

"No kidding. The arena is spotless. You'd think it was brand, spanking new."

Disappearance stood ten feet away from S.B., facing him. She then pulled out a knife from her back pocket and said, "Don't worry, I'll make this quick."

However, S.B. responded in kind, and pulled out a knife of his own, but Disappearance didn't seem the least bit surprised by this. In fact, she seemed to expect it. S.B. brought the knife to his lips, and one by one he cut the material sowing his lips shut. He took a long breath in, and slowly breathed out through his mouth, but as he did a loud sound erupted from his mouth. It sounded like someone breathing into a microphone.

"The fuck was that?!"

"His voice, lad."

"So his voice is his power?"

"I suppose you could say that, but not really."

"What're you talking about?"

"You'll have to watch."

His tongue went to his lips, exploring the new surface. With each breath he took and then expelled through his mouth the same sound continued to be heard throughout the stadium. Suddenly, Disappearance... disappeared. Adrian narrowed his eyes at this, Did she... teleport?" his eyes scanned the rest of the arena. No, if she did she would've reappeared by now." Adrian then leaned in closer to take a more careful look, and that's when he noticed that the sand covering the arena floor was subtly shifting. Occasionally an entire foot print would appear, and they were slowly advancing toward S.B. She's invisible.

However, this did not fool him, instead he seemed to notice the sand's movements as well. A grin spread across his face at the realization, and with little to no warning S.B. screamed. It was a low, piercing noise, not what you'd expect from such a young, almost innocent looking boy. The scream was almost controlled since he screamed right at where he expected Disappearance to be.

The air itself seemed to quake and fluctuated once the sonic scream emanated from his mouth. It traveled from his mouth and to his opponent in only second, which sent Disappearance reeling onto her side, her invisibility failing upon coming into contact with the ground. The entire audience in the stands jumped back, covering their ears. The audience members who were directly in front of S.B.'s screaming projection seemed to suffer the worst of it, but those directly behind him seemed to be affected significantly less.

"Agh! The fuck is this?!"

However, S.B. did not stop, but continued to scream down at her, and her body convulsed on the ground until she stopped moving completely. That's when the medics had decidedly stepped in to end the match, calling it in S.B.'s favor.

Victoria and Frank, after the various villains and heroes had recovered, appeared again in a cloud of smoke.

"Well Frank, S.B. certainly seemed to make quick work of Disappearance!"

"That's right, Victoria! How 'bout we give it up for him, yeah?"

All the villains and heroes begrudgingly gave another round of applause to S.B. for his win. They were obviously not happy with being caught in the crossfire of his attack.

"He's going to be a real problem."

The heroine suddenly fell silent and then suddenly she opened up with a new song, combined with a dance, and even Lydia couldn’t take her eyes off the lyrical cutie. The arena, which had been dry and barren with only a set of weapons off to the side, suddenly turned green and lush, a sunny field and Lydia didn’t understand what was happening.

As she sang, her words seemed to wrap around the hero, leaving him swaying in the wake of them. He picked up his own sword and pressed it against his stomach. As she sang, the hero suddenly cried out something Lydia couldn’t hear and drove the blade into his stomach, sinking to his knees, before collapsing to the ground.

She finished her song and dance, freezing. The crowd was silent before they began cheering and the medics came out to care for the hero who’d impaled himself. She blew kisses to the crowd who went absolutely wild, and Lydia rolled her eyes. Earplugs? check. Double check. Maybe she’d ask Mythos to deafen her before the match.

She left the arena to find Josh squatting against the lockers, his hands in his pockets, looking annoyed. “Josh, come on. Let’s go back to the car.”

He put up a fuss. “No! I have to speak to her! YOU go back to the car!”

Lydia realized he was standing next to the exit and she scowled at him. She grabbed him by the arm and they struggled for a bit, before the lyrical number one sophomore hero exited the stadium, humming happily to herself. Josh pulled aggressively away from her grip - somehow pulling away, to Lydia’s surprise - and running over to her. “Uh! Wait, hi. I’m… I’m Willow. I’m… uh. I’m the number one sidekick of the senior grade.”

“Nngh-” Lydia ground her teeth, looking annoyed.

“Oh? It’s nice to meet you, Willow.” She smiled at him, her hands down in front of her, fidgeting with her microphone. “My name is Melody.”

“Melody? That’s perfect!” Willow insisted. “You’re so beautiful, Melody. I- I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen!”

“O-oh?” Melody turned bright red, before suddenly looking up at him, looking a little spooked. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m… I’m not actually… I’m not actually a girl,” the words seemed to explode out of them, and he stood awkwardly, fidgeting with his microphone. “I… I appreciate your kind praise though, I really get that a lot.”

Josh stared at him, confused, before Lydia began snickering behind him. “I but… really?”

“Um, yes, really. I’m sorry if I’ve misled you.” Melody’s long fingers continued toying with his microphone, silently staring down at it. One of his hands lifted to tuck his long brown hair behind an ear. “Oh but… we’ll be competing against each other in the exit exam, right? Good luck!” He straightened up, giving him a beautiful smile.

“Uh…” Josh stared at him, continuing to be confused by the whole thing.

“Willow, I think we should go to the car now, don’t you?” Lydia tugged his arm. Josh didn’t resist this time, he let her pull him away, and walk him out of the building.

"But... she was so..." Josh tried. "With the... long hair... and that dress... and voice..."

"I'm sorry that you fell in love with a trap." Lydia patted his arm.

Josh blushed crimson. "Don't EVER tell anyone about this... Ugh, I am having a TERRIBLE day! I think it's probably the worst day of my life."

"If it's any consolation, I bet the two of you would have had lovely babies. Oh, wait..." And Lydia burst into laughter.

"Hey, you," said Adrian to a minion. "What do you remember about a girl in the junior matches yesterday. A girl named Void?"

"Whoa! You're Abaddon!"

"I am. Now answer the damn question."

"Oh, uh... Void? I don't even remember a girl named Void..."

"Come on, short, innocent looking? I heard she made a real impression.

"Well, I stayed to watch both the villain and minion fights and didn't see anyone named 'Void.'"

"This is weird. We just saw her," said Benjamin.

"Yeah, we did. Are you sure you don't remember?"

"Positive."

"Dammit," Adrian said as he walked out of the arena to ask someone else, then another, and another, but the response was the same each time. They didn't even remember her.

"This is really weird," said Benjamin. "No one seems to even remember her."

"Yeah, we'll have to ask Willow about this then."

Adrian and Benjamin made their way outside to the school parking lot where Lydia and Willow waited for them.

"Willow, no one seems to be able to remember Void at all. Do you know what's going on?" Adrian asked.

Josh frowned to himself. “... No, I don’t know. I guess… Oh yeah. I think… I’m pretty sure even Veronica and Frank didn’t know who she was.” he offered up. “They looked really confused to see her there in the number three position. She wasn’t in my database… and she’s gone from it now. She must have removed herself.” he opened his phone and scrolled through it. “See, here, it says the number one villain is Firecracker, when I know it’s Void.”

“Must be some kind of mental power… Her forget-me-waves or whatever she was saying.” Lydia said, sitting on the hood, looking around the parking lot, bored. “I just know that I want to go home.”

“What about the sidekick matches?”

“Yeah? what about them?” Lydia asked, absently. “What, you just want to go see your girlfriend again?” Josh gave her an angry look. Lydia pretended not to see it. “While we’re sitting around watching Jim Jr and co throwing their little toys and pretending to be big boys and girls, I could be out exercising. Or something. Unlike the rest of you, I’m not afraid of the bitch. If you’re all going to sit around fearfully discussing her, I’d prefer to do that on the ride home. Or even at home. Where I can walk away and not be bored by it.” Josh didn’t even know what to say to her. While he was thinking of something, she went on. “And I can’t even believe you’re in the middle of this now, Adrian. Looks like we’re gonna have to break out the nightlights tonight, because you're all scared shitless of a little girl.”