"Alright!" Delta begins momentarily, gaining the attention of every occupant in the room within seconds. I was already paying attention though, so it was unnecessary in my case. There are five of us in total, and we all have our roles.

"So I have good news and bad news. Good news: last night was a major success. Bad news: last night was a major success." Delta begins, and I realize what she'd been twirling around on her finger is the strap of some sort of touch device that controls the large screen behind her. I've never seen it before, so something tells me this is going to be a different kind of meeting than what I'm used to.

The girl scans the room. The corner of her mouth upturns when her gaze brushes over me before continuing on its way. I already have an idea where she's going with this, she was hinting at it in the call.

One of the interns raises her hand. "What's the bad news?"

Delta points at her. "Last night was a success. Keep up, Bethany."

Bethany frowns, eyebrows pinched together in confusion, one of them slightly raised. I don't blame her, Delta's a great leader, but...

"Now, Saleh and her 'Department of Villain Affairs' AKA fucking heroes are gonna be after us." Delta continues, bitterness in her tone. I already know we can handle it, her concern comes mainly from the fact that Monarch has kept a low profile for a very long time, only recently—when Delta was put fully in charge by her father—did things start to get a little crazy.

"She said it on the news. So, we need to be ready. Any questions so far?"

This gathers one of our three other fellow Monarch member's attention—well, the powered ones, affectionately titled the Supervillains by Delta and her dramatic family. Five of us operate out in the public, everyone else stays here. Like worker bees in a bee hive.

Vec's ability is anger. Yeah, I don't get it either. He basically just loses it and causes many many problems, some of which also end up affecting us. He might be my least favorite just because of how loud he is. He's very strong and very fast, he also turns into a big red monster-looking thing. I just hope he doesn't touch me one of these days, since his control is a bit lacking in that state.

"Like Clover?" The dark-haired, middle aged villain questions.

I frown. Who?

"God I fucking hope not," Delta dismisses. "But either way, it's time to talk about the golden trio. We need to figure out a plan if they ever attack, even if it is a worst case scenario."

She taps the screen on her small device. It flips to an image of a girl with straight, long white hair pulled into a ponytail, probably in her mid twenties, dressed in silver and blue with a visor over her eyes.

"First up, number three: Silver Sphere." Delta begins like she's teaching a class of some sort. She kind of is, everyone in the room is focused on her. Even the ones who probably know this already, unlike me. They're also dead silent, even the people who won't be affected by this at all. I guess Delta has that effect.

The worst we've had to deal with up to this point is the police and the lower-level heroes. We've never done anything of this magnitude before. It's understandable that everyone would be on edge, but I can't help but not feel very intimidated. All I need to do is take off my gloves and touch somebody to win any fight, even if that's not usually the favorable option.

"Now, number two: Lavano," Delta names the second hero, having already finished telling everyone about Silver Sphere, apparently.

I can't help but find Delta's nerves interesting. I really wonder why she's so concerned, we've battled heroes before, and she has me. Then again, using The Executioner on a top hero would be bold. We'd be making ourselves a massive target. Hopefully I can sit this one out. I love it when I'm not needed for a mission and I get to focus on my shop.

"And finally: Clover." Delta's voice drops a bit at his name, eyebrow twitching in displeasure. It is then that I realize I just missed almost her entire class on heroes, too busy staring at the floor and thinking. No: hoping I won't have to deal with anybody advanced. They're so talented. I hate it when I have to...

"Ability: luck. Apparently that's an ability. Do I even need to introduce him? Whatever, he's number one. The golden boy. The symbol of hope. Undefeated." The entire atmosphere of the room has changed with the mention of this guy, it's strange. I don't think Delta's question was even unfounded, even if I don't know who this is, everyone else seems to.

"Never lost a fight, probably never lost fucking anything. Nothing ever goes bad for him, all his hits land, all his arrests are successful, and because he's so outta pocket, Ex gets to deal with him."

What?

At least I didn't zone out as bad that time, but I'm still mildly confused when I hear my name. When I look up, I remember she's been showing pictures of these guys the entire time she's been talking. They're massive, serving as some sort of background on the huge screen behind her.

'Milan "Clover" Wolfe', is printed at the bottom, and the man appears about a year or so younger than me. The first thing I notice is the fact that he's grinning. The second, his colors. Extremely bright, yellow, purple, and green make up his hero suit, and it looks like a circus threw up on him. Like nuclear waste.

It doesn't help that he's... glowing.

Not particularly uncommon. Even people without abilities can be born with strange traits like that, it happens all the time, but I've never seen such a beacon before. He has dark hair, it appears to be a medium brown, with a purple sheen to it and bright highlights the same color. Purple eyes are trained square on the camera, razor sharp teeth flashing with a grin.

He has freckles, which appear to be yellow, and they glow. So do his eyes, and so does his entire body. A golden glow emits from his pores, making him appear strikingly magical, and I've never seen someone with that level of bioluminescence. Then again, he's juxtaposed on a light background, so maybe that adds to it.

"...you want me to execute a top hero?" I ask in disbelief. He looks so full of life. Delta waves her hands, shaking her head and looking at me reassuringly. It works, it makes me feel a bit better. I trust her, and it's not like guilt affects me like it used to, but... yikes.

"Worst case scenario," she specifies. I guess she's right, it's not like luck would counteract my power. My power is certain, touching me is a 100% mortality rate. There is no getting lucky unless that man avoids touching me entirely.

It doesn't feel right, but I don't argue with Delta often. I don't argue often, period, I hate confrontation—ironic for a villain, I guess. Still, like I said, I trust her, so I dismiss my concerns with a hesitant nod. This appears to relax her, moving on, though her gaze lingers on me. I'm sure she'll pull me aside after this.

The rest of the meeting doesn't have much to do with the heroes, mostly just some new rules to be stricter on safety and access to the building. I miss most of it because I'm strangely distracted, unable to stop thinking about what I'd do in a confrontation with someone so capable. Sure, I'm technically powerful, but I'm not bulletproof.

Then, she notifies us of the upcoming mission, which I probably should've been expecting. Of course Delta wouldn't want to lay low, despite quite literally having the mayor after her.

"Anyway, next job: we need a new target. I'm thinking the super asylum back on Cypress Road or whatever it's called. We've already found multiple inmates who are falsely locked up, we just need to steal more of the medical records and free the people who don't belong there—there's also rumors of experimentation. Oh, and steal any money you find, I spent like a hundred dollars on a stuffed llama this morning."

I don't know what's wrong with me. Something about this just feels off, and judging by the looks on my team member's faces, they agree. It is very risky to pull another massive stunt like the one last night so soon. The heroes are going to be on high alert.

"Isn't this a little risky? Soon?" Vec asks, and if Vec is concerned about safety then something is definitely wrong.

"Yes, and that's exactly why it'll work. We'll catch them off guard," Delta reasons, which I can understand to an extent, but I still don't feel like I'm ready for this. I don't want to underestimate a hero, especially if he's number one in the city. If I want to avoid killing him, though... he might actually get some lucky shots. My knives aid me quite a bit, but I'm not invincible.

There are conflicting murmurs about the plan, but pretty much everyone seems to ultimately get on board and even appear excited. The meeting ends once everyone agrees on the time, and then, as expected, I'm being motioned over to Delta as everyone stands up.

I make my way over, already ready to get out of here. I want to go home and see my fish, I didn't get to spend as much time with them today.

"Everything ok?" Delta asks as I reach her, and the girl is currently fixing her hair despite the fact that there are no mirrors nearby. She seems to be doing a fine job either way, so I guess she doesn't need them.

"Yes," I nod, but I'm not a good liar. She gives me a doubtful look and it doesn't take me long to cave. "Just... doesn't feel right. Killing him."

Delta sighs, glancing around the room as people either leave or chatter amongst themselves. I hear the rolling of chairs and the tapping of buttons as I watch the girl finally frown. Then, she settles her gaze back on me.

"You know what the number one value of Monarch is? What we value most?"

Easy. "Fairness."

"Right," the girl nods, and something about the look on her face feels meaningful. I feel kind of bad for questioning her—especially when she's only asking me to fulfill the purpose she hired me for in the first place. "The heroes have never been fair to us. That's why we do what we do. Clover is the most powerful man in the city, and you're walking biological failure. Trust me, Sunny. It's a fair match."

Ouch. I still don't want to do it, but then again, when have I ever? Just because I can ignore it, just because for my own sanity I don't let the lives I take affect me anymore, that doesn't mean I enjoy it. I don't enjoy hurting people to begin with.

I suppose I'll do what I have to, though. "Alright."

By the time I'm parking on the side of the road outside my shop-slash-apartment, it's around 9 PM. I'm tired as I take the steps that line the side of the building, entering my apartment a moment later. It's only a few minutes after I set my stuff down that I decide to go check on my fish.

They're fine. Swimming around, although two of them—who usually stick together and are friends—have been staying on opposite sides of the tank recently. I find this concerning, I've actually been meaning to look into it.

Not right now, though. I make sure the fish are fine before I exit their bedroom, heading to find my watering can so I can take care of my plants. The last thing on the list. This goes fine, at least for a while. I'm nearly finished when my hands are getting sweaty inside my gloves—I'm not wearing any of the more breathable ones, those are in the wash.

So, I decide to keep watering with no gloves on and just be careful. It's not like I haven't done it before, this is not the first time, but as I finish watering the last plant, I can't help but pause. I've been trying not to think about it, but Delta's words from earlier echo in my head.

Walking biological failure.

I don't know why that kind of bothered me. Why it causes me to feel this pit in my stomach, because it's not like she is wrong. Maybe it's because I don't like to think about my power affecting anything that isn't human, and 'biological' includes plants. I'm immune to the deaths of people but I can't stand it when bugs and animals and plants get hurt.

Biological failure.

My power has only gotten worse with time, though it's stayed stagnant since I finished puberty. Sometimes I wonder if I've lost my ability. If I'm finally free of this burden, for no reason. It's just wishful thinking, but maybe this time... she won't die.

My power has only gotten stronger, but maybe it's gone. Maybe it's shut off for now.

I slowly reach out with a trembling hand toward one of the leaves. The shaking does not help with precision, which is kind of important. So, I reach up and grab my arm with my other hand. This helps keep it steady, and I don't touch the plant.

I just hold my hand near it. My palm, right next to one of the leaves. I move it closer until it's about an inch or so away, because that's the danger zone.

Slowly, she begins to shrivel—not the entire plant, though that would be the case if I made real contact. Just the leaf.

I pull my hand away like I just got burned, guilt setting in at the sight of the plant's partially-withered leaf. Instead of fussing over it, I cut the leaf off with a sigh and toss it through the window. It's autumn, anyway.

I decide to just take a shower, which I do in the dark. I don't keep any fish or plants in there, and I don't really like to see myself without clothes. The more of my skin I see, the more uneasy I become, even if I know everyone's safe. It's best to just not deal with it, and hey, I have my whole bathroom memorized! Which I think is pretty impressive.

I fall asleep at my desk, painting. That'll be a fun morning.