Ten years after the fall of Black Haws,the city changed.The heroes were now celebrites.
Villians crushed,well not all of them some had to hide and pretended to be people they aren't or live normal lives.
Tony is neither one of them.He still has the world domination complex.But he was the lowest and most useless Black Maws grunt.He was so weak that he even barely had the authority to get his own villian name.He was the type who used to file taxes for the real villians make sure their secret bases had working wifi.
Now?
He worked at a convenience store called Heromart,the mst ironic place for a former criminal to end up in.
"Tony!The energy drinks collapsed again!"His manager ,a chubby looking guy who goes by the name Felix shouted from the back.
Tony grabbed the mop,sighing at the same time. "Yea,yeah,I got it."
He mopped where the soda was split and replaced the damaged cans with new ones humming until the doorbell chimed.
A group of Hero trainees walked in laughing having fun,wearing flashy outfits.
One of them pointed at the poster that Felix just put on the wall ealier this morning. "Hey bro,check this out!Heroes Academy's recruiting again."
The other one laughed"Like you would get in,you failed three times."
Tony glanced up from his mop, his eyes catching the poster that Felix put on the wall this morning — "Hero Academy: New Generation of Hope! Apply Now!"
The smiling faces of the five legendary heroes stared back at him, shining teeth stuck out with heroic striking posses.
He rolled his eyes. "Great. More wannabes playing dress-up."
The trainees didn't even notice him. They were too busy joking about who'd get in this year.
"Man, if I get recruited, I'd be unstoppable!" one of them bragged, striking a fake heroic pose.
Tony mummered. "Idiots,why be a hero with in a world without villians".
Felix clapped his hands. "Welcome to HeroMart! Training fuel on aisle three, hero-approved snacks on aisle four!"
Tony leaned the mop against the wall and sighed.
His reflection in the glass door stared back at him messy hair, faded uniform, eyes that looked like they hadn't seen purpose in years.
Ten years ago, he dreamed of ruling the world. Now he was cleaning up spilled soda for kids who wanted to save it.
"Hey, mop guy!" one of the trainees called out smirking. "You ever think about being a hero? You look like you could use a redemption arc."
Tony froze for a moment. Then he smiled, a slow, humorless smirk.
"Nah," he said, turning away. "Redemption's overrated."
The trainees left off, laughing and chattering about training camps and battle simulations.
Tony sighed. "I wonder when i will get paid that fatty still hasn't paid my salary."
"ting-a-ling"
The doorbell chimed again.
Tony didn't look up right away. He was too busy replacing the potato chip bags from the shelves,some where expired,some eaten by mice, he pretended to care which flavors were crooked. But when it was too quite for long, he finally turned.
A man stood by wearing a clean white coat. Too neat for this part of town.
His hair was silver-gray, and his eyes grayish in colour.His presence alone made Tony fear something might happen.
"Let me guess another hero-in-training here for protein bars?" Tony muttered, then sighed Can i help you with something?.
The man smiled faintly. "Yes,you can try ."
Tony blinked. "Okay… weird answer, but sure. What are you buying?"
The man placed a small metallic badge on the counter. It wasn't a coin or an ID. It was old. An emblem cut in half a wing, half a halo.
Tony froze(The hell did he get that from).
When Tony sees the engraved symbol (half a wing, half a halo), he recognizes it as belonging to a different group that existed during the Black Haws' era — not the main villain organization, but a faction with its own philosophy.
While the Black Maws wanted domination, chaos, and power,this other faction believed something very different:
"Balance that heroes and villains both have to exist for the world to stay stable."
The man noticed his silence. "You recognize it."
Tony's voice went low. "Where did you get that?"
"From someone who thought you'd understand what it means." The man's face come closer to Tony's, lowering his voice. "You've been hiding in plain sight for ten years, Tony. But you were never meant to stay small."
Tony forced a smirk."You've got the wrong guy. I'm just the mop guy."
"Sure." The man's smile didn't fade. "And I'm just a customer."
He reached into his coat and took out a small black envelope then slid it across the counter. "Inside is an invitation. Hero Academy. Special recommendation."
Tony blinked. "You think I could pass as a hero?"
"I don't think," the man said replied simply. "I know. And so do they."
Tony opened his mouth to respond, but the man was already turning away to leave. The doorbell chimed softly as he stepped outside, passing through into the afternoon crowd like he'd never been there at all.
Tony looked down at the envelope. The Hero Academy crest it was red and gold. But the handwriting across it made his pulse quicken:
"Balance is dying. Become the lie to save the truth."
– C.
Tony stared at the message.
"C…" he whispered. "Cipher?"
He looked toward the back room, where the the Cipher dissapeared.
Felix's voice cut through the air again. "Tony! Stop daydreaming, man! We've got a delivery coming in!"
"Yeah, yeah…" Tony said absently, tucking the envelope into his sleeve.
But his mind was spinning.
Hero Academy.
Black Maws.
Balance.
He'd spent ten years running from what he was.
Now the world wanted him to pretend to be the thing he hated most.
He looked toward the poster again, the smiling faces of the five heroes who destroyed everything he once belonged to.
Tony smirked.
"Guess I'll play hero for a while."
He flipped the sign on the door to Closed and walked into the back.
Behind him, the HeroMart's lights flickering weakly