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COLBY PEEKED AROUND THE CORNER OF THE HALLWAY!

The entire family was on edge since Hartley discovered they were a family of ex-villains. She had a million questions for them about the superheroes.

An incredible idea had graced Eva, the family's mother. They needed to have blackmail on Hartley if they wanted to make sure she wouldn't rat them out.

Hartley was wandering the hallways as Amy, Jake and their father Vic, who had become a substitute teacher, tried to frame her.

The entire family was trying to find dirt since they jo longer trusted Amy to do it on her own. Amy was eager to show that she was worthy again.

Colby was the only person in the family who was trying to find dirt on somebody else.

It wasn't purposely at first. He was looking at regular things like her Instagram highlights or her reposted videos. That led him to Facebook where he was looking at pictures of her uploaded by her father.

Finally, his search concluded in him discovering a sealed record with her name attached to it. Whatever she'd done it, she'd gotten in trouble for it. Enough trouble for it to be sealed away where nobody could see it.

Who really was she, besides a pretty girl he'd annoyed? He was eager to find out.

Cherry and Aria, on the other hand, were completely costumed and sneaking into the superhero headquarters to gain access to the logs of villains, citizens, and superheroes all over the country.

"This is a horrible idea." Aria muttered to herself as she typed the information onto the huge screen.

"It'll be fine if you're quick." Cherry reassured which did nothing to quell the other girls worries.

"I'm going as fast as I can. No results."

"What do you mean?"

"I've searched all of their names. Nothing comes up. Like they don't exist or something."

"But they do exist?"

Aria narrowed her eyes in confusion as she reloaded the searches. Cherry left her post to stare at the empty files. There was absolutely nothing.

"They're definitely hiding something. You saw double Hartley's earlier, didn't you?" Aria looked over.

"Right before that stupid kid took her place." Cherry confirmed.

"Why's he stupid?"

"He just is. I'll tell you later. Nobody can do that naturally, not even a good magician."

"What, you think they've got powers?"

"What else would explain that? Not a trick of the light. You're not stupid."

"Why would superheroes need to be hiding out?"

"Maybe they aren't superheroes."

The girls pieced their theory together. The only explanation for the Madden's display of power was through abilities only heroes or villains had,

Superheroes never went into hiding, but villains definitely did.

"You think they're villains?" Aria guessed.

"What else could they be?" Cherry shrugged.

"What family of villains have disappeared in the last couple days?" Aria wondered out loud, looking back at the computer to return to her search.

Cherry glanced down at the buzzing of her built-in communication device. She huffed at the sight of red-flashing coordinates.

"Disturbance. Why do I always get stuck with the stupid night missions? Do they forget we have school in the morning?" Cherry complained as she tugged the mask over her face.

"I'll keep searching." Aria didn't peel her eyes from the screen as she checked the villain logs.

Aurora darted through the alleyways like a flash of light until she stopped at the precise coordinates.

An older male villain was fighting off a scrawny figure who appeared as though they'd never done this before. They wore a pair of dark wash jeans multiple sizes too large, along with a blank hoodie of the same style.

Surely, the only use the get-up provided was a tripping hazard and not a discreet way to hide an identity.

Before she could interfere, the figure was sent toppling into the concrete floor. Aurora winced from second-hand embarrassment and took over for them, sending successful hits.

She had no idea what the purpose of the fight was, but the kid was basically being pounded into the floor. She assumed they needed a lot more help than the other one.

The villain, empty-handed, decided he was fighting a losing battle and scampered off before the police came.

Aurora glanced towards the floor where the figure was pushing themselves up. "I don't need your help." They informed, coughing.

"Right." Aurora dragged the word for emphasis. "You're welcome, by the way. If you're gonna live out your villain fantasies, you should at least learn to take a fucking punch."

"I wasn't planning on fighting." They stood up from the floor, dusting off their clothing.

"Good, because you're shit at it. What was your plan, then? Rob the jewelry store?"

"Cliché, I know. And it's not robbing. It's more like borrowing, except I'm not going to give it back."

"You're robbing a shop this tiny?"

"So? If it's a chain, it's free rein, blah, blah, blah."

"That's low."

"I can go lower."

Aurora narrowed her eyes at the person's wording. She had no idea what their goal was. To rob a store that wasn't making that much income was pathetic, but what were they looking for with the product?

Their diamonds weren't that expensive. Nothing that could be pawned off for more than a couple hundred dollars.

She supposed there were hundreds of people out there who needed a couple hundred dollars, though.

"Clearly. Are you wearing a Michael Myers mask? How much effort did you put into dress up before you got here?" Aurora mocked, crossing her arms.

"It was all I had!" They replied, a huff accompanying their words.

She'd never seen a villain this immature before. Usually, they went for big things, like gold, or peoples lives. This criminal seemed eager to cause a disturbance, not to get away with anything major.

Before she could question them any further, they gestured with one hand up to their hair. Were those plastic gloves? They put enough effort into choosing black gloves to fit the aesthetic, but not into anything else?

"Red is really your color. You'd look great in this." They said, holding up the necklace. "Shame it's mine."

The piece was beautiful, a dainty red jewel handing from a thin gold chain. That was the piece they'd taken from the store.

The underlying teasing in their tone didn't go unnoticed. Aurora scowled as they turned on their heel with an entertained grin.

"You can't just leave." She argued after realizing she hadn't done anything to stop them.

"Watch me." They said.

Before Aurora could argue, whoever she was speaking to disappeared. They literally vanished into thin air.

A wannabe villain with the power of invisibility. Great. Another thing her and Aria would be searching for. In the meantime, she had to pay back the jeweler for her failure to retrieve the necklace.