Chapter Text
The library was lovely.
It was quiet, tranquil, and the place where students run when they need to cram, or just have a place to stay, when they think the world is being too loud for them to think clearly.
He hoped none of the villains, or heroes have a fight near this place. But that was wishing for the impossible. Everywhere the heroes or villains went, there were casualties--deaths, people pinned under buildings, rubble, and ordinary civilians losing their homes.
Parrot knew what losing a home felt like. His parents got divorced when he was only ten years old, his mother found a rich older man and forgot him completely, she moved away to the States--and his father? You would think he would be better, but no, that man hasn't been sober in years. The filth surrounding their house was disgusting, and some will ask--
"How can you live like this?"
Simple, he doesn't.
He was still a minor, but his father didn't care about him at all to notice that Parrot hasn't been home in four years. Parrot had his own tiny studio he lived in, and worked two jobs. One thing he got from his father was his intelligence--he may be a drunkard at the moment, but he used to be a scientist, graduated valedictorian.
By five, Parrot was ahead of his peers academically, he wasn't the best in physical combat. Parrot then channeled that intelligence and landed a tutoring job. And then his other job, the library, Organizing books.
"Done with that stack, Parrot?" Spoke asked. The librarian's son. And you would think, being the son of a librarian, Spoke would be calm, but this boy was the opposite of calm.
Still, Parrot didn't care. Spoke was a great friend, and genuinely an amazing person. Even if his power was a bit annoying, and ridiculously powerful.
"Yup." Parrot replied, wiping the sweat off his forehead, his wings fluttering slowly as he climbed off the highest bookshelf. "Where's your mom?"
Spoke hummed, pushing the last book into its place on the self. "Tea break. Wanna come?" He asked, despite knowing what Parrot would say.
"C'mon, when have I refused some good tea?" Parrot huffed. "And a break." He added, stretching his arms before walking side by side with Spoke.
Spoke was born with a mutant power, although that was not his power. Spoke was just born with void-like skin and plain white eyes, no eyes, just his sclera, and despite that, he can see everything just fine. Parrot stopped questioning Spoke's biology a long time ago, because the more you wonder, the more questions you end up with.
Anyways...Spoke's power was called exploits. He could command anything using a device, someone annoys him! He just flings them, too lazy to clean-up? Jam in a tidying command. But even this strong power had a side effect--Spoke will feel pain every command he types in. A simple auto-clean is a small tingle in his body, but a fling caused his hands to shake.
It was so cool, yet so overpowered.
And then Parrot was just a bird, an avian. He was born with a set of large wings, and another small set sprouting from his nape. They were bothersome, he always had to sleep on his tummy because he simply couldn't lay on his back. They were quite ugly too, very unsightly. His feathers were ruffled, stuck and tangled together, because Parrot doesn't care.
He doesn't have time to preen his wings! Or take care of them, he was a broke, independent teenager, for goodness sake. The heroes won't help him live a better life, most of them only care about fame or the publicity they receive from putting a villain in jail. Even if there was a small part of those heroes that were actually good.
"God, Parrot." Spoke sighed, "Your eyebags are getting worse." He remarked, staring directly at Parrot's face like he was deformed.
Parrot just rolled his eyes. Here they go again. "I'm fine, Spoke."
"Don't you dare give me that 'I'm fine' crap, Parrot." He quickly responded. "I know I can't do anything about your work hours, since we're both just getting by, but...just...stop studying a much and actually get some sleep."
Parrot fell silent. Spoke always worried for him so much. Parrot was always studying, because he needed to get into a good high school. And the best one in Lifesteal City was UU academy--the hero school, but they also offer general education.
UU Academy was best known for producing some of the best heroes currently, but graduating from UU Academy, even from the General Education department was a blessing--any job would take him if they saw what school he went to.
A rather late introduction, but--In this world, Heroes, Villains, and Vigilantes exist. It was simple, the heroes are the good guys, while the villains were the bad guys. Vigilantes were in-between, they use their powers illegally, even if they meant well. Getting a hero license was difficult, three years of hero school, maybe two years of internships, becoming an actual hero, climbing the leaderboard, and all the hijinks.
One day, those who manifested stronger powers than the others ran wild. They destroyed buildings, lit people on fire, and just total chaos--that was when the idea of pro-heroes became.
Still, even with all that, those who manifested mutant powers were seen as monstrous, disgusting, and infectious. Those weren't even true. How can his wings infect people? How can claws be seen as gross? Society was just messed up and way too judgmental.
"Spoke." Parrot breathed. "This is my one chance to get into a good high school."
"I know, but you're probably going to die from the lack of sleep you're getting before you take the entrance exam."
Parrot just crossed his arms with a click of his tongue. "Easy for you to say. Your spot in the hero course is basically guaranteed." He murmured, a little bitter about it.
"Fine. Be like that. But you're an idiot if you think you have no chance at being a hero as well." Spoke retorted, "Your power is literally amazing, you have wings, you can save people, do cool shit--but your inferiority complex is getting in the way."
"I do not have an inferiority complex."
"Sure, and I'm Wonder Woman."
Parrot sniggered before bumping his shoulder against Spoke's. "Now...where were we?"
"Tea."
After his shift at the library, he still needed to study for his test tomorrow. Parrot originally wanted to take online courses, but in such a big city, the nearest school from his studio apartment was ten minutes away by flying--and the others? A hour away, and this school didn't offer online courses, but it was a good middle school.
Parrot stopped caring for his dignity so much after having to provide for himself at eleven. Plus, his laptop was stupid and he bought it from a garage sale. Spoke himself wasn't that we'll off either. His father was out of the picture, and his mother only had the library and writing books online. Spoke did try to get money using his powers, but it was pretty much against the law, and the police showed up.
God, his tiny apartment looked like a trash bin. The owner didn't care how old he was when he was renting the spot, he only cared about the money. Parrot kept it tidy, even with its unsightly look when Parrot first rented it, he only heated with it since the rent was cheap, and it was either shitty, run-down apartment or a bench.
Parrot placed his tote bag down and yawned, pulling out the frozen meal he managed to snag at the market with cents--cents. It was a classic cheap, sad meal. He threw it inside the microwave and watched as it melted with the heat. Even the cashier seemed to pity him, whilst Parrot counted cents.
He made his way to the tiny, cramped bathroom and took off his shirt. Yes, the one with holes in it at the back, cut up with kitchen scissors, for his wings. Parrot did have shirts that didn't cover his back, to make stuff more convenient, but he just felt so exposed with random strangers staring at him at the streets like he was weird.
The microwave was beeping loudly, Parrot threw on one of his backless shirts--no one would see him anyway--and headed out. He took his steaming frozen dinner out of the microwave and sat down at the table, textbooks spread out in front of him. Spoke was right, he would probably die from his sleep schedule, but this was his one chance.
The one chance he has to get into UU's general education program. Screw Spoke for thinking he can be a hero--Parrot wasn't a hero, he couldn't be one. Could a hero have a life as screwed up as his?
Parrot did want to be a hero, back when he was a kid. His father still had his job as a scientist back then, he was constantly in the lab and kept his office shut at all times. There was a cat, stuck on top of the tree. Parrot was barely five, having just manifested the abilities that came with his mutant self. He remembered worrying about the cat, asking if the 'kitty cat' was afraid, and not to worry, because he was coming to save her.
His wings were smaller back then, and could barely hold him up, because he wasn't used to it yet. His mother always told him not to use his wings, because things could get out hand if he's untrained with them--and Parrot believed her; because his mother, too, was an avian--a dove--while his grandfather was the same as him.
That was in the past, though. What use was it being a hero? Being in UU alone was a blessing for most, and Parrot was not fit for heroics. He was bound to live a boring life working a nine to five, single and alone. No sane person would love him.
Heroics were for people who were strong, powerful, obsessed with fame and climbing the her ranks--and that just wasn't him. Parrot had long since stopped caring about useless things like that. Even if there was still that small part of him that wished to save lives, and actually make use of his stupid, useless powers and ridiculous wings he was born with.
All he did was flip from page to page, shovelling the bland food into his mouth. The television stopped working a week ago, and he had no AC. Life just really sucked, huh? Maybe only for him.
After his dinner had long since been devoured and discarded on the table, his wall taped with papers filled to the brim with information he needed for the quiz tomorrow and the entrance exam for general education--the entrance exams were in three weeks, if Parrot wanted to ace the test and say 'fuck you' to everyone who ever wronged him, he needed to be on top. That was all he had left.
They can call him a goody-two-shoes or a nerd, but they won't ever understand the need Parrot has to stay on top of his academics. It was all he had. Maybe people won't look down on him so much for his powers if they see that he's smart.
Parrot placed bookmarks between his pages and shut them close, stacking them up and pushing it aside. He sighed, head in his hands, turning to the clock--it had just struck two-thirteen in the morning. He couldn't tell Spoke about the insomnia, because then that idiot would try and teleport inside a pharmacy and snatch every bottle of pills he can for Parrot.
It was sweet and all, but Parrot would rather have a best friend freely roaming the streets rather than behind bars. At fourteen years old.
The chair scraped back loudly, Parrot just carried his feet to the couch and practically crashed down. Parrot just laid there, staring at the ceiling, thinking he was finally going insane with all of his life choices. He could ever sleep properly even if he was so exhausted, because his apartment building was often the target for robberies.
Which...probably started the insomnia. Two armed villains tried to break into his apartment, the other had a lock-picking power, whilst the other one had telekinesis, their plan was to break in and float his belongings out--but as soon as the door cracked open, Parrot screamed and hit the telekinesis-wielding villain with one of his textbooks. The one with thick yellow pages and a hard cover.
Safe to say he did not get robbed. But there were a few more attempts, all unsuccessful, because Parrot's eyes slammed open the moment he heard the doorknob rattle, and had a frying pan in hand ready for battle.
It also didn't help that the police didn't care. They were rejects, the ones who couldn't enter heroics and chose the closest thing to it--being a police officer.
One normal night. Is all he wants. Along with no robbers coming into his building at midnight, picking his locks, and finally being able to sleep for three days straight and not care about anything anymore.
Lifesteal Middle School was a place full of wannabes, people who would peak once in their lives, and then there was ParrotX2.
Yes, he had his own category. Since he was always alone and didn't socialize, everyone thought he was mute until he spoke once, for the bathroom. Parrot didn't like talking to anyone, Spoke went to a different school, so Parrot could only see him during work at the library and free time after school.
Parrot rubbed his eyes and continued walking down the halls, hands gripping the strands of his backpack. The bullies didn't even notice him enough to bully him, which was a blessing itself. People did know about... his other business, and that was doing essays and homework for his classmates for money.
The jocks paid well, and were chill as well. Parrot pushed the classroom door open and stepped inside, ducking his head and practically sprinting to his seat, eager to get a bit of sleep before the teacher comes in.
Parrot laid his head on his desk, using his arms as pillows. His eyes felt like they would crumble at any moment, and his mind ached from the lack of sleep. He yawned quietly and shut his eyes. Middle School was a nightmare he wouldn't wish on anyone.
He wasn't in any drama, because no one noticed him, but there was certainly heaps of drama surrounding the other students. There was a rumor that one of the students from the neighboring school killed a student's mother and ran away.
It was wild. But frankly, Parrot didn't care. He heard that student had a mutant power, making him a predator. The people who were born with mutant powers were always facing the backlash, while the ones with emitter powers get all of the glory.
And then there was PrinceZam from class 3-C, who was getting into a bunch of controversy for his powers. It was an emitter type, but it was also pretty powerful. Something like brainwashing. He once forced a bully to beg for forgiveness on his knees after stealing his friend's lunch.
Said friend was this boy named Pangi, by the way. His power was a mutant type, he had a large tail and tough scales on his arms. Some kids picked on him, and called him 'infectious' when one of his scales fell on the ground. Prince Zam was this rich kid with the blood of actual royalty who stuck to Pangi like they were attached at the hip.
Parrot just hoped he'd get into UU, because it at least meant he could be in the same high school as Spoke. When the bell rang, Parrot groaned internally and lifted his head. He barely got a minute of sleep.
After a minute or two, their teacher, Mr Evbo walked in. Mr Evbo was relatively young, and Parrot even heard he was related to the founder of the middle school Spoke goes to.
Parrot pulled out his textbook earlier than the others. Let them call him a teacher's pet, a nerd, or whatever, he didn't care--Parrot just wanted to get into UU.