A red light filled the tower as the claxon siren sounded off. Three people in bright colored spandex rounded the corner of a hallway, nearly stumbling over some loose debris.

"How can he be this strong?" Shouted a woman in pink. "He's just some fossil!" A large beam fell from the ceiling, blocking their path.

"I don't think we have time to find out, Autumn." Said the oldest boy of the group. Looking around, he noticed an open elevator shaft. "This way!" He proclaimed. The shaft was empty, but the three of them leapt into it anyway. They quickly began to float up through the tight space, arriving at the roof.

"Oh God," said the thinnest hero. "What do we do?" The more muscular man looked down at him, trying to mask the fear clearly presented on his face.

"It'll be okay, Issac." He said, attempting to sound brave. "We haven't lost to Tregus yet." As he said this, a large dent was made in the metal door cutting off the roof entrance. Autumn's hands began to glow with orange energy.

"Carter," she said. "If you have a plan, now would be a good t-" The sound of breaking metal filled the air. From the hole that used to be a door, stepped a completely black figure, highlighted by red pulsating light. Issac jumped Infront of Carter and Autumn, expanding his arms.

"Stay away from my friends you evi-" Isaac's sentence was cut off by the sound of cracking bone. In an instant, Isaac's head had been turned backwards by a massive shadowy hand. Breaking his neck. Autumn began to scream, and shot her energy bolts at the black and red mass. That is until a spike of dark energy pierced her throat. As her body fell to the ground, Carter had to fight against the coming vomit.

"Just one left." The dark mass said. Carter launched from the roof, attempting to escape. It was no use, however. As he took off, the dark mass sprouted what seemed to be wings and followed suit. The chase didn't last more than two minutes before a shadowy hand grabbed Carter's leg and slammed him back onto the roof. "You self absorbed, power abusing, civilian harming, sorry excuse for a C class hero!" Carter tried to fly away, but the dark mass just broke his legs before he could take off.

"What are you doing, Tregus?!" Carter shouted desperately. "Those were my friends! You killed them!" The dark mass shifted into the shape of a man in a tailored suit. He walked towards Carter, picking him up and throwing him onto Autumn's body.

"Two weeks ago, you and your tactless allies raided a coffee shop." Tregus said, aproaching Carter yet again. "You didn't know for sure if I owned it or not, but you had a hunch that it was a front for something." He grabbed Carter by his hair and started dragging him to the edge of the building. "Only one person was working that night, so you and your pals thought it would be a great idea to break her hands for information. Didn't make any difference, though. She didn't know anything, and what she did tell you was just a lie to get you to stop."

"We didn't want it to come to that! The bitch wouldn't tell us what we wan-AHHHHH!" Carter screamed as both of his hands were broken.

"Call her a bitch again, and you'll end up like Issac over there!" Tregus took a moment to compose himself. "Did you know that Cathy loved to play piano? She had a full ride scholarship to Juliard of all places. It would have been her one chance to leave this godforsaken city. Of course, that's not an option anymore because of you three." Tregus lifted Carter's body over the edge of the building by the hair, and gave him a look even more frightening than the fall. "You can tell me which police officers helped you raid the shop, and I'll kill you quickly. Or you can keep it to yourself, and I'll let gravity do the job." Tears started to run down Carter's face.

"Officers Mehs, Vasquez, and Banks!" He shouted. "They acted without the precinct's permission, and blocked the streets so nobody would walk up on us!" Carter's face turned white, as he began to bawl. "Now please, don't let me fall! Please!" Tregus smiled, with a sinister joy.

"No!" Carter screamed louder than he ever thought he could as Tregus let go of him. After five feet, however he felt a soft pad on the ground. He opened his eyes to see his hands and legs were perfectly fine. In fact, he wasn't even scratched. He was sitting on a red foam pad, in what looked like a gym. As he looked up, he noticed the three Glocks pointed at him. Tregus stood next to the officers, chuckling. "I'm not some demon, kiddo. My powers are dream based. Your friends are alive, and completely unharmed." Tregus began to walk away.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Carter shouted. "HOW COULD YOU SIDE WITH HIM? HE'S A SUPER VILLAIN!"

"Oh, I don't claim to be a saint." Tregus said before he left the room. "I am, however, far from evil. Say hello to your friends for me. They're waiting for you in the squad car." As Tregus walked down the street, he made for the coffee shop that the heroes had raided. In the dining area, sat Cathy, sipping on what looked to be a peppermint mocha. She grasped the cup with both of her palms, her fingers outstretched away from it.

"Mr. Tregus." Cathy said with a smile. "What are you doing here?" Tregus smiled at her, grabbing a candy bar from the rack, and sitting a dollar on the counter.

"Miss Cathy," He said. "Those people who hurt you won't be causing anymore trouble." He showed her a photo from his phone of the three heroes in a squad car. "How long did the doctor say it would take?" He asked, in a conserned tone.

"Two years for the bones to heal fully." She said with a grimace. "Even then, it'll be ages before I can play again." She began to sniffle. "I just don't know how I'm going to keep working." Tregus reached into his coat pocket, producing a blank envelope.

"As luck would have it," he said "I already approved you for two years of PTO." He sat the envelope on the table, and got up from his seat. "Along with a nice bonus for your trouble. I took the liberty of opening it for you" He made his way for the door. Cathy grasped the envelope as well as she could, clearly shocked at it's contents. She may not make it to Juliard as soon as she wanted, but the city's supervillain would make sure she was comfortable while she waited.