Dylan's POV

Why'd I mug someone out of costume?

Two reasons. One, I genuinely needed the money. Or more accurately, my bosses needed the money, and they weren't particular about how they got it.

    And two, I needed to draw the heroes out of the woodwork. It had worked, partially. A handful of Crane Creek's heroes had responded. First Static Steele and Celeste, then Levitation and Golden Ember. I needed to eliminate the whole lot of them, and I knew precisely how to do it.

    But before I could get to the fun part, there was other business to deal with.

     My phone beeped twice, signaling a call from my least favorite boss, Pharaoh.

    I accepted the call and asked sarcastically, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

    "None of your lip today, boy!" Pharaoh snapped. "The Serpent Heads will be visiting your lair today. Prepare food for us, and accommodations."

    "It's a lair, sir. Not a five-star hotel," I replied, hanging up before he could respond. I was in no mood to entertain his arrogance after the day I'd been having so far.

    I sat down in my lair's foyer, idly sharpening a knife. Once the blade had a better edge, I changed into my super-suit and headed up to the Blackout Chamber, AKA the place where I kept my important prisoners. Superpowers were negated in that area via a series of power-disrupting devices.

Currently the Blackout Chamber held four captives: a hotheaded heroine called Silver Wolf, the mayor's son who I'd been paid a decent chunk of money to hold captive, and finally my VIPs: a pair of heroes named Firefight and Neutrio.

    I winced as my powers were canceled out, causing a jolt of pain. No matter. I held the weapons, both physically and psychologically.

    I strolled up to the third and fourth cells, where Firefight and Neutrio were kept.

Firefight was a former military officer whose temper often led to destruction, essentially harming far more than he ever helped. His red hair, which had once been fiery-bright and cut short, now fell to his shoulders in a dull tangled mess. He had a lean muscular frame and a pale, freckled complexion.

Neutrio had telepathic powers, making her a much larger threat to my operation than her pyrokinetic husband. Her dark brown eyes were still sharp after the time she'd spent as my captive, and she silently glared when I approached. Her black hair nearly reached her waist, and her complexion was a light beige shade.

    "And how're my favorite prisoners doing?" I asked.

    Firefight glowered at me. "We were fine before you walked in. Now it reeks in here."

    I chuckled. "Of course, you have every reason to be rude to me. I just hope, for your sake, that you hold your tongue when my employers arrive."

    Neutrio spat at my feet through the bars of her cell, silently fuming.

    I continued on as if she hadn't acted. "I wonder how your children are doing. Twins, correct? What are their American names again... Dylan and Autumn?"

Looking directly at Neutrio, I asked, "And what about the Korean names you gave them? Myung-Jun and Seon-Mi, is that correct?"

She didn't answer. Then again, she never spoke aloud these days.

    Firefight spoke in a low, menacing voice. A muscle in his face twitched with rage. "How dare you speak their names, you mongrel! How do you even know about them?"

    I whipped off my mask and grinned with the predatory intentions of a practiced killer.

    "Hi, Dad," I said, relishing in his shocked expression.

    The old man's eyes bugged out. For a long moment, he seemed too stunned to speak.

Then he snarled, "You're no son of mine, Pariah. You're just that—an outcast. A blemish to society. How could you do this to us?!"

I stared him down, deadly calm in the face of his anger. "The axe forgets, but the tree remembers. You hurt your children, Firefight. You got drunk and decided that beating your pre-teen son and daughter into the ground was a better alternative than getting the help you needed. I'm keeping you alive because I'm a better person than you could ever hope to be. You'd better show some gratitude instead of running your mouth."

Neutrio's dark eyes—a feature I'd inherited from her—went wide when I mentioned the beatings my sister and I had endured in our childhoods.

I rounded on her. "Did you ever know about that? Did you even care? You were supposed to protect us, not leave your kids at the nonexistent mercy of a monster!"

    I heard the window on the third floor shatter, and the whoosh of a flying super rushing in. Golden Ember, presumably.

Perfect.

    "HEY, PARIAH!" Static Steele yelled from upstairs. "READY FOR A REMATCH?!"

    I slipped my mask over my head, which activated my voice modifier.

    "Do you have to be so damn loud?" I asked my best friend. "And you could've just used the front door like a civilized mass-murderer, Steele!"

    I could hear his sharp inhale, and I called, "You can't hide from me, you little false hero. You may be powerful, but you're outclassed."

    I walked out of the Blackout Chamber, enjoying the adrenaline rush as I reclaimed my powers. I flicked the metaphorical switch to trigger my super speed, then dashed to the third level, where my opposition waited: Levitation, Golden Ember, Static Steele, and a teen hero-in-training called Crystal Shark, who wore armor and wielded a trident.

    I nodded to them, theatrical as always. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted you could come. Shall we begin?"

    Crystal Shark, ever the impulsive young wannabe hero, rushed in and jabbed at me with his trident.

    I dodged almost subconsciously and then slammed an elbow into his face. He went down hard with a grunt.

He scowled at me, but quickly got up. As he tried for a second thrust, I evaded his weapon yet again and struck him in the temple. Unconsciousness was immediate.

    Static Steele roared like a heel-clad bear and aimed strike to my gut, but my leg flew upwards and connected with his chest before he could hit me. He grunted, stumbling backwards.

    Next, I took a throwing dagger from my pocket and flung it at Levitation. She wasn't expecting it, and it grazed her side. While she was distracted, I moved in and grappled her. She was muscular and hefty, but not to the point where I couldn't pick her up and throw her directly at Static Steele.

    Levitation collided with Steele, knocking him down. They lay there in a heap, groaning and shoving while they tried to get up.

    Finally I faced Golden Ember, who stood by with a quiet rage, fists clenched.

    "Nothing to say?" I asked, casually striding up to the brightly-clad hero. Golden Ember tried to punch me, but the caped crusader's hit was easily blocked and countered with a kick to the knee that made the pyro stagger back a few paces.

"You can do better than that," I chided.

    I ripped off Ember's mask, revealing the stunned face beneath, and then took off my own.

     "Hey, Autumn," I said mockingly, a grin on my face. "Fancy seeing you here."