A Bad Villain

The screams filled the sewers as Jack sidestepped the alligator's tail, dragging Hope with him. Myth avoided an attack of his own as the second beast attempted to bite the dark-skinned man in two.

"Why are they so big!" Hope panicked. She was getting flashbacks of Intake and could already feel her heart beating faster.

"Good question!" Jack hissed.

They weren't regular alligators. They were huge, thicker, and larger than any animal should have been. Their skin was coarse and jagged, covered in razor sharp scales. They were a nasty grey color and had a set of intelligent eyes that quickly tracked the movements of the prey in front of them.

"They're created by Red Ape." Myth yelled as he sidestepped the swings and gashes in the ground. Every hit easily tore part of the stone floor, ripping the sewers apart. "His power lets him understand biology in certain animals; his MO is mutating them. This is part of his twisted game. We'll need to take these out and catch up to him before he can escape."

"'We? You're assuming I'm gonna fight them." Jack stated, annoyed.

"You're a big strong tough looking guy. Don't tell me you're scared?" Myth smirked.

"A little, yeah."

"You got to do something!" Hope argued. "We took on that one villain; we can do this, Mr. Larison!"

"Yeah." Jack sighed. He put himself in front of the young girl, eyeing one of the beasts up. There were only two creatures, one coming after him and Hope, while the second followed after Myth.

Hope gripped his arm tightly as she stared at the alligator. "So, uh, what do we do?"

"Remember that Intake guy?"

"Yeah?"

"We do that plan. I'll stun it, and you attack from the rear." The darkness around them was forced away as Jack ignited with a golden glow. As if the sun itself flowed through his veins, it hummed, and he could feel the power coursing his heart, that strange beat getting quicker. For the first time in ages, he felt good. Better than good, actually. Like doing a drug, he was almost high.

Hope decided she would keep a close eye on Jack, just in case.

Superpowers could come in nearly any form. Elemental control, plant life creation, animal-based abilities, there was no count to the number of powers that existed within the World, all of which were said to have come from the four Lords. Some powers had special effects, namely enhanced bodies, the standard strength, speed, and durability.

This is what let Jack go toe to toe with the monster before him. The animal lashed out with its tail, the razor-sharp scales lining the limb able to slice even a Super in two, but they never hit Jack, the man being too fast for it and dodging the strikes at the last second. He didn't fight back at first, leading the creature further back into the sewers as he built up more of his energy.

Finally, though, Jack felt the energy reach a peak inside of him, and he raised his arm, pointing his finger at the animal. "Sorry." The golden glow blasted out of his finger like a bolt of lightning and slammed into the snout of the creature, making it let out a howl of pain! Its body began twitching rapidly as if it had been tased, and it tried to focus, but its head was spinning. "Alright, kid. You're up."

The alligator stopped, its eyes showing a flash of realization at the words, but it was too late to act. Hope was on it in an instant. She still had her backpack since she hadn't had time to drop it off; it was basically the best weapon she had. She swung it as hard as she could, getting a direct hit on its head. It howled in pain, its eyes snapping wide, and Jack winced at the overkill attack. She didn't stop there, though, as she jumped onto the creature's back and got her arms around its snout, keeping them closed.

"Now it's your turn, Mr. Larison."

Jack felt the power ignite with his hand, sparks of what looked like fire or lightning seeping out of his hand as he brought it down as hard as he could directly into the eye of the animal, which Hope lined up for him. The golden glow exploded out, and this time, the creature let out the closest thing it had to scream, thrashing around wildly as its nerves lit up.

Its eyes were wide for a moment before it slowly slumped forward unconscious. Hope practically dropped off of the creature, twitching as she gasped.

"So that's what a taser feels like." She shuddered slowly, standing back up.

"Well, more of a Super Taser," Jack admitted. "Didn't want to kill it so, I set my energy to stun."

"I really want to know what your powers are." Then again, she still wanted to know what else she could do. She hadn't really realized how strong the man truly was. And yet, his weakness was apparent, a pant coming from him as he gripped his left arm tightly, the light fading away from him. "How's your heart?" She asked.

"It's not over yet." Jack snapped. "There were two remember."

"Oh yeah!" Hope turned, finding the second alligator was still fighting Myth. "Whoa. He's even cooler than you!"

Jack's dodges had been slow and rough, avoiding the attack, but still got hit with faint parts of the debris in the air. Myth, on the other hand, moved with grace like some kind of dancer. He quickly spun out of the way, time and time again, the creature's eyes darting around as it tried to keep up with the hero, and his robes flowed out to mask his movement further.

Myth's eyes left the creature for only a second, spotting them. He seemed to give a sigh of relief when he saw that they defeated their enemy.

He stepped away as far as he could from the creature, reaching up and messing with the little headband that he moved as a set of horns began to slowly form at the top of his forehead. Long and curved like a bull.

It was the time for him to go on the attack.

His robes were suddenly stretched out to their full extent as he grunted and flexed. His posture slumped forward, and he grew in size, dwarfing Jack further. His arms, which were already massive, nearly doubled in bulk, and his legs twisted and curved, gaining hooves. Thick brown fur covered his skin as his face stretched into a large snout, which opened and let out a roar that shook the tunnel they were in.

A Minotaur. The beast from Legends cracked its knuckles as Myth felt his new body twitch.

The alligator stopped and stared at the now nine-foot-tall behemoth of a monster that was in front of it and let out a quiet mewl of fear.

"Yeah, he's cooler than me." Jack nodded off to the side with Hope.

The poor beast never stood a chance. Myth reached down; his hand big enough to wrap around the jaws of the creature. He lifted it, pulled his other arm back, and punched it into the monster's stomach. The animal let out several gasps and gagging sounds before he simply dropped it, the mutated alligator falling unconscious.

It was over in an instant.

The man turned his body around and suddenly shrunk back down to his normal size. He rearranged his robes, making sure he was modest, and turned around to face the two of them. "So, I was right. You did have a superpower. I had my hunch, but why didn't you say anything?" He smirked, looking at Jack.

"You didn't ask." That caused his smirk to fade, and he frowned at the man.

"How do they-"

"I go pew, and then things get shot."

For a moment, silence filled the sewers as the two alligators laid unconscious. "Did we, do it?" Hope asked slowly.

"I guess so." Jack kicked his gator with a bit of force, making sure it wasn't faking. He frowned and bent down, reaching for the head of the animal. He grabbed something that had been stabbed into the skull of the beast and, with a tug, ripped it out. "So, Mr. Greek Monster, what's this." He asked, tossing it to the Super.

Myth caught it and stared down, frowning. It was a small grey hand. No arm or anything, just the hand, made of a strange metal. "Some machine. First time I've seen it. Red Ape is always experimenting on animals, but this time, something was different. These things seemed like they were under his control. He's always had to plan around the wild instincts of beasts, but if he's made a way to control his monsters."

Hope stared at the hand with wide eyes. "I think I've seen that before."

"Have you?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

She stared at it longingly for a moment. Unknown to any of them, in a small storage locker at the edge of a city, an orb made out of a strange metal glowed with a faint blue light. "Nope. Actually, I've never seen it before." She shrugged.

"You're no help."

Myth stared down at the hand, then dropped it, raising his foot up and crushing it. "Look out for more of these. The animals aren't evil. They're being controlled by that cruel man."

"I'm gonna punch him in his face." Jack decided.

"These were just to test us and distract us. It'll get harder from here. Still, you didn't do too bad. I will allow you to come with." Myth sighed.

"Both?" Hope asked.

"Both."

Jack rubbed his neck, letting out a sigh. "I just got suckered into helping, didn't I? Let's just get this over with."

"That's the spirit." Hope smiled, punching him in the shoulder.

They began to walk down through the sewers once more. They expected more beasts to jump out at them, but it was strangely quiet. It made Hope frown as something felt off. She had heard stories of all the villains. It wasn't like them to just let heroes reach them like this.

Finally, though they arrived at the end of the path, the sound had come from. A sizeable rusty metal ladder leading back up to the surface awaited them. "Are we really about to fight a supervillain?" Hope winced. Now that they were getting closer, she felt uneasy. "Shouldn't we call for backup or something?"

Jack thought about it for a moment, going over the situation. "We could leave and go get someone."

"No." Myth cut him off, folding his arms. "If we leave, he will get away. Besides, you haven't gotten the cat yet, have you?" He smirked.

Jack grumbled. "Kid, you should head back up."

"No! I can fight! You saw me. I need to do this! I want to fight alongside a real hero! You saw how strong I was! And with your power, we can just knock him out right!"

Jack rubbed the back of his head, letting out another sigh. "I guess. But stay safe." He pushed the sewer lid off and stepped onto the road above. He was standing in a city block now—one with many old buildings and empty cars. Parts of the street were destroyed, and there wasn't a sound other than Myth climbing up. They had to help Hope up, and she gasped at the sight of the block.

There were many places like this. Abandoned blocks, and in some cases, even entire cities. Sometimes, it was because the damage was too significant; in other cases, it was because the city could have been filled with radiation, disease, or some other threat. In such cases, they were left to rot away, everyone having to pick up and move. There were just some areas the Cleanup Squad couldn't fix.

Jack found what he was looking for at the end of the street. A small building that could have used to be a clinic was turned into a makeshift lab or rather a zoo. It smelled of chemicals, oil, and dirty fur. Loud animalistic noises echoed through the building and out onto the street.

"This is gonna be a trap," Jack sighed, walking forward. "I've done a fair few jobs with Cleanup in abandoned clinics like this. Last one we did had so many wire traps. Saw a guy trigger one and then... Well let's just say I saw him real well all over the place."

"Yeah, we shall have to keep our guards up."

"And we're just going in!" Hope said with a stunned look on her face.

"Yep."

"So, what are we expecting with this man? Will the other members of Zoo be there?" She asked.

Myth shook his head. "Nah. Zoo isn't really a chummy group. When the members aren't listening to Green Wolf, they do their own thing, and if Green Wolf were here, we'd know it already. He doesn't like playing subtle games like this; he'd rather put on a big show for the entire city. All we got to deal with is Red Ape, and besides his animals, he's just a normal guy."

There were two primary forms of powers. The first and most common was the Physical ones. Things like Jack with his lasers or Myth with his weird body. These were powers that were pretty obvious. They had an effect on the World around them. The second form was what Red Ape had. Mental powers. Things that didn't affect the user in any noticeable way. Powers like these affected their minds and gave them ideas for things they could do. In Red Ape's case, his was a Mental Power that gave him ideas on how to genetically modify animals.

The most famous person with a mental power would be Harrison Avalon. A brilliant man who wasn't a superhero but did provide all the gadgets and gear the heroes needed. He was also the man who owned the Cleanup Squad and Avalon Industries. Boy Genius was another Mental Power user, and he was a member of the Enforcers, ranked just under the Victorian, meaning he was the second strongest Hero in the world.

Basically, Mental Powers could be scary.

"Is everyone ready?" Myth asked, bracing his body up against the door. He took a deep breath when he saw their nods and pulled his leg back. "Let's do this."

The superhero kicked the door down, sending it off the wall. The inside of the lab was the waiting room of a clinic. There was a lot of open space, and many of the chairs' people would have used to sit, had seemingly been thrown out. All the windows were covered with sheets, and many of the doors were ripped off. Cages lined the walls, and animal droppings were scattered everywhere.

The dark room lit up with a bright glow as hundreds of eyes suddenly stared at them from the other side near the back.

Animals all bigger than they should have been. Lions with razor claws, apes with arms the size of cars, cats with their fur standing up on the end, bats with wings as big as a car; all glaring at the humans that entered. The beasts hissed and growled thrashing in their cages, seemingly not caring if they harmed their own bodies.

They weren't in danger, though. All the animals were either chained to the wall or in cages far too small. Scars littered their bodies, and some looked beaten and starved. Myth felt his teeth grind together, and Jack gave an expression of disgust.

Despite the rage the two felt, it was Hope who reacted first. She felt her blood boil at the sight of the creatures, and she stepped past the two men, gripping her hands into a fist. "Hey! Come out here, you freaking jerk!" She screamed, her voice bouncing around the lab.

Jack took a surprised step away from the girl. He had never seen her look so mad before. The animals all hissed or growled, backing away or shrinking into their cage. "Are you sure yelling at him is the best idea?" He snorted.

As if on cue, the sounds of rugged boots stomped down the stairs. They finally saw the man who was doing this. The one taking the animals. His lab coat was stained and foul smelling, and the red monkey mask he had on was stretched across his face. In his hands, he held a helmet. It was forged out of the same metal as those hands, and it was made to cover the entire upper face of a person, a single red dot resting in the center, and several knobs off to the side. He placed it on over his mask, squishing it into place, and then gave them a half bow.

His helmet hummed, and a faint red light seemed to shine out. Several floating hands followed the man. Curled in the man's arms, still hissing and clawing at his throat, was the cat they had seen on the poster, leading to this wild chase.

The one and only Red Ape made his appearance.

"Can I help?" The man instantly ducked quickly when Jack pointed his finger and blasted out a thin golden beam of light that smashed into the wall and cracked the stone. "Jesus! Calm down!" Red Ape yelled with wide eyes.

"Why did you do this?" Hope asked, stepping forward. "Why'd you take all the animals."

"Well, I was going to explain my goal before that one shot a freaking laser at me!" Red Ape growled.

"I don't give a damn about your plans." Jack snorted. "I'm just going to kick your ass."

Hope stopped the man with her arm. "Wait." She looked towards the villain. "I need to know. Why? Like why the hell are you doing all of this. Why are you evil? Superpowers are rare, why on Earth would you ever willingly decide to be a villain, when you could help people as a superhero."

Red Ape let out a loud chuckle. "Oh my. Myth you really brought an idiot into battle with you. Why am I evil girl? Because it's fun! I don't get to do half of what I can now as some goody two shoes. I'm rich from all the money we steal, I can have any woman I want by controlling her with these hands, and I get to feel like a God. Why would I ever decide to be a worthless loser of a good guy."

Hope frowned at his answer and folded her arms. "Seriously? Okay yeah kick his ass Mr. Larison."

"With pleasure." Jack began to walk towards the man, his body already glowing as he started cracking his knuckles. "You've hurt all these animals, and I'm a little mad; I really hate villains like you." Before he could throw a punch, Red Ape threw the cat in his arms towards Jack.

On reflex, Jack reached up and caught the cat. As soon as he did, one of the flying hands in the room flew forward. It went to the wall where a large bear was chained up. The floating palm wrapped around the chain and squeezed down, snapping it easily. The bear roared, but before it could move to freedom, the hand jumped forward and landed on its head.

"Stop!" Hope yelled with wide eyes. "What are you doing to it!"

The fingers of the hand dug into the bear's head, causing it to howl in pain. Suddenly, though, it came to a halt, the animal standing perfectly still. Jack held the cat closely, eyeing the brown bear up. Red Ape gave a grin. "Kill the man and the hero but leave the girl." He announced, and as if a switch had been hit, the beast let out a growl and charged.

"Kid! Catch!" Jack threw the cat towards Hope, just in time, as the mighty beast reached him. It raised its arms high and slammed them down, narrowly missing him. Red Ape strolled through the room with a grin. More of the hands flew out, snapping at the chains of other animals and freeing them. All the large ones, lions, tigers, and wolves were all placed under his control and sent after Jack.

While Jack was busy weaving through the horde of beasts, Myth allowed his transformation to take hold. He grew in size, his horns forming out, as the Minotaur cracked his knuckles. "You don't expect me to just sit here, do you." Myth asked, his voice a lot deeper and gruffer now.

Red Ape gave a slight grin. "By all means. I'm ready."

That was all Myth needed. He was on the man in a second, moving fast enough to break the floor. He pulled his fist back and rammed out a powerful punch able to destroy stone. It never reached, though. A blue bubble of energy appeared around Red Ape stopping the fist in its tracks. Myth frowned and threw out another punch against the bubble, shaking it but not breaking it. With a growl, he began to hit it over and over again.

The villain smirked and stood there with his arms outstretched. "If you paid attention to the news, you might have heard about Zoo doing a raid on Avalon Industries. I got this handy helmet and these helping hands from there. It really is quite amazing that man is able to make things that are hundreds of years advanced for us." Several of the hands began to flow through the air, all balling up into fists.

Then they struck out, slamming into the head of Myth and causing the hero to stumble. Hundreds of them began to flow from the cracks in the roof or the stairway Red Ape had come from. All of them struck at the hero, clawing, and punch, and poking, each hitting hard enough to break bone.

The Minotaur howled and swatted several away, able to destroy the swarm easily enough, but they just kept coming. "You think these weak things can hurt me!" He roared.

"Nah." Red Ape shrugged his bubble fading away as he reached up to his helmet and turned a knob. "This can, though." There was a bright red glow from the dot of the helmet, and suddenly the machine roared as it blasted out a beam of plasma. The laser cut through dozens of the hands and slammed into the beast before him, setting the animal's fur on fire, and lifting him off the side and throwing him off of the ground and into a wall.

Myth was smashed against the wooden barrier, and with a loud crack the wall gave way as the beam carried him outside and finally went out, leaving him crashing to the road, twitching and groaning, his stomach smoking.

"It's even better than I thought," Red Ape muttered. "I'll have to try and make my own improvements".

A fist smashed into his side, throwing the man over the room and into a wall. He screamed in pain as some of his ribs were shattered in the impact, and he was doing his best to get air into his lungs. His eyes glared up at Hope, who had delivered the punch.

Hope opened her bag and placed the cat into it. "You stay here." She reached up and tightened her mask, and stepped towards the man, who flinched. "You're going to pay for what you did."

"Some rookie wannabe hero thinks they can stop me?" Red Ape hissed. "You just got lucky that I had my gear switched to beam instead of bubble." As he spoke, he twisted a switch on his helmet and fixed his monkey mask. "You won't be doing that again."

Hope ignored him and smashed forward, punching as hard as she could. She had never thrown a proper punch before; hell, she never got into a real fight before, so her swing was sloppy and full of mistakes. She still had super strength, though! Her punch began to slowly push through the energy bubble, getting closer to the man whose eyes snapped wide open at that.

She gritted her teeth pushing her feet further into the ground as she attempted to ram her fist into his face.

"Don't just stand there save me!" Red Ape screamed.

Before Hope could move back, one of the hands smashed into her face, wrapping around her head. It wasn't the only one. Dozens of them began to claw and grab her. It didn't seem like they could take over a human, but that didn't mean he still couldn't use them. With a command, the hands all glowed and then exploded!

The building shook as the blast went off, and Hope let out a loud scream as she was hit from all sides.

"Kid!" Jack yelled, seeing her in trouble. The bear let out a roar and threw a clawed paw out, but Jack easily sidestepped it and knocked it out with a solid punch to the head. Next, he backhanded one of the wolves, slamming it into the ground. After that, he dodged the maws of the lion and tiger as they chased him around the room. He proved to be too fast, though, weaving between them with inhuman speed and faster than a bullet, slammed his elbows down into either side of them, dropping them. "And now for the boss."

Jack turned just in time to see Red Ape reach up to his helmet, twisting a knob, and in a flash, a giant red beam exploded out of the center of his metal visor. It smashed into Jack, and it blasted him through the lab, and into a wall which collapsed on top of the man. The building, already nearing destruction, barely held its pillars as it shook from the blast.

"That man was interesting. His powers were neat." Red Ape hummed, putting out a few small flames from the heat that appeared on his mask as smoke rolled from the center of his helm. "I wonder if he is related to-"

From the smoldering hole, the explosion had left her in, Hope leaped out, covered in ash, and her clothes still on fire. Red Ape didn't even have time to process the fact her fist smashed into his face, and she literally ripped the helmet off of him, tearing it apart in her hands, never even noticing how the strange metal almost seemed to glow blue when she touched it.

"Do you know how expensive that thing was!" Red Ape screamed; his eyes wide with rage.

She rammed her other fist into his face, praying she broke his jaw so she wouldn't have to listen to him speak anymore, and the force of the attack was enough to smash him into the back wall. He let out a gurgle, and blood began to flow down the bottom of his mask.

She didn't go after him. She couldn't. Her legs gave out as she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and her skin burned. Most of her clothes were literally beginning to melt or were on fire from the blast. But all of it paled in comparison to the fire in her stomach pounding inside of her as if a sun was begging to be let out.

Red Ape couldn't speak. His jaw had nearly been torn off from that last attack, and his mask was practically falling apart. He was still conscious, though. He had no choice. He'd be forced to use 'it' after all. He reached into what was left of his lab coat and pulled out a syringe filled with orange liquid. He jammed the needle into a vein in his arm and shot it up.

There were dozens of popping sounds, and Hope stared up with wide eyes as the man's broken body began to snap back into place, and he started to laugh. "Ah. I was worried for a second there." He announced. "It would seem that 'man' didn't lie. His drug really is amazing."

She tried to get back to her feet, but he stomped towards her and kicked up with his leg, smashing it into her gut and causing her to gasp out. He began to viciously kick her over and over again, his broken mask showing off the sick grin he wore. His foot stopped when he heard it though. The faint sound of a giggle that escaped her lips as Hope stared up past him.

"What is it?" His smile faded though when something occurred to him. This entire time, Myth had been quiet. Too quiet.

The shadow of a bull appeared above Red Ape as the Minotaur came crashing down from the roof in an elbow drop. The doctor screamed in pain as the horned monster slammed into him. By all accounts, if he had been a normal human, that would have either snapped his spine or outright killed him.

It didn't end there, though. Myth sat on the doctor's chest and pulled his fists back. He unleashed a flurry of blows as fast and hard as he could, striking the man with the power of nature, each punch more than enough to kill a man in one go. Hope felt her stomach almost turn at the brutal display of it.

"What are you doing!" She managed to stumble to her feet barely and grabbed Myth's arm, holding it back and stopping him from delivering the killing blow.

Myth turned back to her, his snout letting out a snort. "This bastard has killed dozens of people. Zoo are insane. They aren't like the Bad Timers. They don't rob or steal; they only kill. Men, women, even kids. This man has personally killed more children than I can count. He deserves no mercy."

"Heroes don't kill," Hope said sternly.

"This isn't a comic book." The hero snorted. He forced her grip off his arm and turned to look back towards the villain. "I will admit I got carried away. It's hard to control my emotions. I shouldn't kill in front of a kid. I'm better than that." Myth froze when he noticed it. He stared down in stunned silence. Not only was the doctor still alive he was smiling, laughing even. "How?"

Red Ape sat up, and Myth did his best to keep the mad scientist pinned, but it didn't work as his body was forced off. "Oh, I guess I forgot to mention hero. They aren't the only ones doped up." He raised his arm as his sleeve ripped and tore, his right arm getting bigger and muscular. "Did you think I wouldn't prepare for you!" He hissed as he picked Myth up off of him and hurled him across the room.

The Minotaur smashed through the wall, slumping into a pile. Hope stared up at the villain with wide eyes, backing away slowly.

The madman gave a loud laugh and turned to look at Hope. "You next?" He smirked. He flexed his new muscles, and even from beneath his helmet and mask, she could tell he was smirking. "See, I got this stuff from a new guy. The newest gang in our little city, the Wandering Coin, aren't half bad. Their leader is sort of like me. He invented a drug. Unlike me, though, his stuff is made for humans. I've managed to skyrocket in power."

Hope pretended to listen as she tried to think of a plan. She was physically weaker than Jack, who in turn was weaker than Myth, who in turn was apparently weaker than the doped-up madman. Now would be a good time to awaken lightning, or bone spears, or something cool.

"What's your name, brat? Your hero name, I mean." Red Ape asked. He didn't seem like he was about to attack; he was far too high on his own power, which was good for her, as her headache was still killing her, and that burning was getting worse and worse.

"I'm still coming up with it. I haven't really settled on if I'm willing to be a full hero or anything yet." She groaned, clutching at her stomach, and resisted the urge to vomit. The kicking he had done had only made it worse. "I'll fight you, though."

That was all it took. Red Ape moved so quickly the part of the floor he had been standing on exploded, and he threw out a mean right hook. She barely had time to try and awkwardly raise her arms up to block it. His arm was growing in size as he pressed down against her. She gasped, struggling to hold it back, and then she gave a smile.

"What's so funny?!" He hissed.

"You never learn."

"What?"

A beam of golden light smashed into his back, and he screamed as he felt his nerves ignite. It was like a taser. They danced through his body, and even Hope felt herself get affected, though she was ready for it from the last time it hit her. Jack stood behind Red Ape, his hand blasting out the crackling gold beam, giving a smirk even as he gripped at his chest.

As soon as the beam died down, Myth came roaring forward, grabbing Red Ape and literally smashing him through a pillar that was in the room. Hope almost fell forward once more, but Jack caught her. "You, okay?" He asked. He held his hand out, and faint golden light danced over her, and she felt her body mend itself together. It wasn't like with Paragon. This was slow, and it hurt. It was less healing and more easing the pain.

But this was something she had seen before.

"That's Victorian's thing." She murmured. The Golden Woman did the same thing to her mom in the bank. That healing light. "Mr. Larison, who are you?"

She was cut off when Jack let out a gasp and clutched at his chest. She could hear his heart twitching wildly, and already blood began to pour down his nose.

"Mr. Larison!"

Myth flew past them and smashed into the floor next to them, kicking up wood. The Minotaur was already back on his feet, wiping away at the blood that dripped from his snout. "This is bull crap!" He hissed. "That drug made him tougher than me! How can something like that just exist!"

"I'll kill you all!" Red Ape roared. His body had gotten bigger, and steam seemed to slowly rise off of it. His skin was a nasty red, and his muscles were swollen like a balloon. He stomped forward, and Jack went to take a step forward, his skin starting almost to look golden.

Hope stopped him with her hand, shaking her head. It had gotten too much. She pushed past Jack facing Red Ape, and she stopped holding it back.

"You're dead!" Red Ape roared. "I'll rip your head off!" Hope opened her mouth on instinct as it finally escaped her. It was like a rocket taking off! Fire erupted from her mouth, scorching the area around them and burning so brightly, that everyone had to shield their eyes. The madman screamed as he was drowned in it. When the fire finally did stop flowing from her mouth and the dust settled, Red Ape stood there charred black, and shaking. "Wha-" He smashed face first into the ground, not moving.

Myth blinked a few times, his snout snorting. "What just happened?"

Hope dropped to her knees again, gasping and grabbing at her face. Smoke was rising into the air, and the skin around her mouth had become black and burned, blood pouring down her nose.

It would seem she wasn't fireproof.

Myth and Jack stood there with wide eyes, staring at the now possibly dead villain. Slowly, the minotaur form shrunk down back to Myth's normal human size as he pulled a cellphone out of his robes. "I'm going to go ahead and call the proper authorities."

"Yeah, you do that." Jack said, feeling his heart begin to slow.

***

Meanwhile, far away at the edge of the city, in a lab that was sparkly clean, a man in a lab coat leaned back in his chair. "Oh my." He hummed. All around his room, floating hands went back and forth carrying his stuff.

"What happened?" In the corner of the room, a man in a suit with a cartoon wolf mask covering his face stood, waiting for the scientist to finish whatever it was he was working on.

The man in the lab coat gave a half grin, his hand coming out and allowing one of his machines to grasp onto it. "It seems someone decided to ruin my test run."

"Red Ape go and get himself beaten?" Green Wolf asked, folding his arms. "I knew I shouldn't have bothered breaking him out of prison."

"Yeah, that really was a mistake. Oh well, I can't stick around to help clean up your mess. I've got a meeting with the mayor. He apparently wants to discuss that new group that's popped up. The Wandering Coin. Think you can give me a hand with digging for some dirt on them?"

Green Wolf shrugged. "Sure, I've got nothing else interesting planned. And before you say it; yes, I know, don't get caught. You don't want the mayor knowing you hang out with a known terrorist."

The hands floated over to the man in a lab coat, following his every command. He was the one who made them, after all. "Well, I do know something that might interest you. From what my hand tells me, a glowing man helped beat Red Ape." Green Wolf seemed to freeze in place at those words. Then, slowly they began to laugh.