Ryan woke up.

Which was itself rather surprising. He wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep. Nor could he immediately pin down what had woken him.

From a distance, as if hearing it from the other side of a thin wall, Ryan could hear two voices. One a nervous male, the other an exasperated female. There must have been something in his ears, because they sounded like two angry bees circling one another. It took him a moment to decode the strange buzzing into discernible speech.

“Woah, woah, woah… woah. Hold up. Why isn’t he cuffed?” Asked the male, in a noticeably higher pitch than before. “Didn’t you tell me he was turning the street into dust earlier?”

“According to what Charity told me, yes.” Replied the now clearly irritated female. “Though she conveniently left that fact out until after I’d already gotten my hands on him.”

“Okay, so… let me get this straight. Our guy here can dust anything he touches, and we’re just going to… let him move around? With total freedom? What if he blows through the walls? What if he blows through us?!”

“Look, if you happen to have a pair of restraints somewhere on you that this guy can’t destroy with his bare hands, then you can put them on him. Go ahead, be my guest.”

‘”I’m just saying, if you’re letting him wake up then we should probably… I don’t know… Plan for not letting him kill us, maybe?”

“You’re the plan, Jessie! That’s why I asked for you!”

“Yeah, but what if he--”

“Oh, grow a pair already. We’ve dealt with worse. Just don’t let him touch you and you’ll be fine.”

“‘Don’t let him touch me?’ Bridge, that’s your plan? That’s what you said about the fire-snake yesterday and my food still doesn’t taste right!”

“Jessie, I swear to God. We got you healed up. Whatever’s left is all in your head now just… Look, if you embarrass me in front of him tonight then I promise you tasting snake every time you chew will be the last thing you’re-- wait. Okay, he’s coming out of it. Back up!”

“Oh, now you’re concerned?”

There was a soft whump sound. A stifled chuckle… and then the sound of shuffling feet. Ryan felt sensation spreading slowly outward from his back. An expansion of fire across his nerves that was making its way - painfully - across his face, towards his shoulders, and arcing down to his waist. Ryan tried to reach a hand up to rub his eyes, but they weren’t responding yet.

Unable to act, and not in any apparent danger that he could tell, Ryan remained still. Letting the paralysis slip away and sensation return as he listened for the two not-bees he’d heard earlier.

It didn’t take long for them to speak up again.

“Is… Are you sure he’s waking up? He’s… not moving. He should be moving.” The same hesitant male voice from before pointed out with increasing skepticism of the situation.

“Of course I’m sure!” Snapped the woman, indignant. Her voice was lowered now, but it still echoed around what felt like a large room. “The paralysis is gone, so… so even if he isn’t awake, he will be soon. Some people just take longer, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh. You just didn’t want to be near Dust-boy over there any longer. Which is fine Bridge, I get it. Fear is a perfectly rational emotional response to someone who can fucking vaporize you.”

The pair kept bickering back and forth good-naturedly as Ryan’s senses returned fully to him. For a moment, all Ryan could do was revel in the pure joy of having his body back. Of being back. Then, slowly, he began to take stock of his surroundings.

He’d been placed in a chair of some sort, his head left limp and face down. Opening his eyes experimentally, Ryan could make out the polished wood of a dining table in front of him and some kind of white-and-red patterned rug beneath it. There were other chairs at the table, but only his appeared to be occupied.

Strange… I’d expected a cell. This is… He glanced to either side as slowly as he could, trying to keep up the illusion of still being ‘out’ for the two he assumed were watching him. There were more tables and chairs to either side. A glass window as well, with drawn shades. A restaurant?

Ryan had been captured before. While planning he’d imagined the situation he’d find himself in this time wouldn’t too be much different. Wake up, fight his way out, maybe demolish a house or two along the way…

Only this time he wasn’t laid out on a basement table like some horror show science experiment. Though… just to be entirely sure of that, Ryan checked his hands. Last time his captors had literally threaded wire through them to keep him from moving. A fact that had played no small part in his later decision to go all monster truck through a neighborhood.

… But his hands were fine. Bandaged, even. In fact, now that he looked at it… he was wearing a suit. A nice suit, even. Not exactly fitted, but… it definitely wasn’t the paramedic uniform they’d taken him in. Someone had taken the time to change him. To dress his wounds. To bring him all the way here.

Which means they don’t want a hostage. And they don’t want to sell me off… That means--

The bickering of the two from earlier abruptly cut off as a pair of heavy double doors opened up on Ryan’s left. Abandoning his earlier pretense, Ryan raised his head. He wanted to see who was coming. And he had a feeling it would be important not to look weak to whomever it was.

He was right.

An older gentleman with piercing blue eyes and an immaculate grey suit strode in through the restaurant's double door entrance, bringing with him all the tension of an oncoming storm. Behind him trailed two heavily muscled men, each so tall they had to crouch under the doorway and so wide they looked like human pillars. Bodyguards. Ryan guessed.

The pair were dressed in tightly fitted black suits that might’ve been fit for formal attire if not for the large rifle slung over one's shoulder, and the massive steel-plated brass knuckles covering the fists of the other. It was a look that might have been comical, if their faces weren't mirror images of one another. Each held a careful expression that was almost… blank. They scanned the room quickly with their eyes, as if searching for something, before settling back. As far as Ryan could tell, nothing really seemed to register .

They look like minibosses from a video game. Or NPCs. Ryan thought. Which would make him…

Ryan activated his power, quickly scanning everyone in the room to see what he was up against.

Name: Marcus Hamilton

Superpower:

Mental Influence (Touch): Grants the capability to influence the decisions of others towards a set goal or mindset via touch. Influence strength is commensurate with energy expended and heavily depends on the will of both the user and target. Once affected, influence lasts until the target’s will overcomes it.

Mental Status: Confident

Name: Percival Timmons

Superpowers:

Dense Body: Grants the capability to temporarily increase the density of one's entire body, both hardening it against damage and substantially increasing mass.

Twin Form: Grants the capability to form a single, perfect duplicate of oneself. Either twin may reform the other, but only two living forms may ever be active at once.

Super Strength: Grants supernatural strength far beyond human capabilities.

Mental Status: Under Influence, Calm

Name: Bridgette O’Brien

Superpower:

Paralysis (Touch): Grants the capability to paralyze biological entities with a touch. Energy cost to maintain paralysis is lessened if contact is maintained. Otherwise, the effect will wear off quickly.

Mental Status: Excited, Nervous

Name: Jessie Black

Superpower:

Telekinesis (Sight): Grants the capability to move visible matter solely via mental concentration. Requires sufficient energy and will to move target matter.

Mental Status: Nervous, Afraid

… The final boss.

Cold sweat ran involuntarily down the back of Ryan's neck as he met the eyes of his first actual, real life supervillain. The men on either side of Marcus - both copies of Percival, though his power didn’t actually tell him which one was real or not - eyed Ryan… but he didn't spare either of them another glance. All three stopped short as Ryan finished using his power. And for a brief moment, the silence in the room was as taut as drawn wire.

The mayor had finally caught him.

It had taken weeks. Who knew how much manpower (superpower?)... And Ryan was sure a great deal of whatever counted for money these days. But… the mayor had done it. Ryan was trapped. Trapped in a room with nearly half a dozen hostile supers - with who knew how many outside - and no energy left to speak of.

To make matters worse… Marcus also happened to be flanked by one (well, two) of the most powerful supers Ryan had ever seen. The heavily muscled bond-villain level bodyguard(s) standing behind the mayor had three powers! Super strength, density, and 'twin form'... the last of which basically meant unless both copies of Percival went down at the same time, they'd be right back up in short order.

Briefly, Ryan wondered just who he had pissed off upstairs to keep finding himself in these kinds of situations.

Offense, defense, and a way to come back from the dead… this Percival is the perfect bodyguard. Ryan noted, feeling like his mind was going into overdrive trying to figure out how he was going to walk away from this. Percival alone could kill him outright. Probably even by accident. He'd seen what super strength could do to a body before - Lucas had been hit so hard before he’d cracked a tree in half on momentum alone. If Ryan got hit anywhere that wasn’t protected by his kinetic skin… well… he doubted there was a healer in town who would be able to fix the aftermath.

And that wasn’t even counting the other two.

The bee-like pair whose bickering Ryan had been listening to since waking up. Bridgette, the one who’d captured Ryan earlier, was a blond woman with lengthy black highlights, a tactical vest, dirty jeans, and full lips as dark as the pistol held casually in her hands. Her counterpart, Jessie, was a poorly shaven, wiry man in a “Can you HACK it?” hoodie and dark jeans. Unlike most of the others in the room, he had no weapon. Because with a power like telekinesis, what the hell would he need one for? This whole room is a weapon. I could be his weapon!

Ryan began to weigh his options, hoping dearly that Jessie wasn’t about to start the whole “stop punching yourself” routine. He considered and reconsidered the plans he’d come up with while he was out. Trying to calculate just how much he’d have to sacrifice in order to get out of here. If he even could get out of here.

As Ryan was resigning himself to being the one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest he was sure to lose, Marcus spoke in a measured, almost reproachful tone.

"It's generally considered rude to use your power on someone without asking." Marcus remarked. The corner of his mouth twitched in the direction of a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Given the circumstances however, I suppose it is… understandable. May I join you?"

The hypocrisy of the mayor's first statement smashed Ryan's thought processes like thin glass. Anger and adrenaline flooded through him, but he did his best not to let it show. Instead, he merely nodded, gesturing towards the chair at the other end of the table as if the two were old friends. The editor wasn't in a position to deny the man, something they both obviously knew, but being discourteous right now wouldn’t do him any favors. Despite his warring emotions, Ryan kept his face carefully neutral, even slightly pleasant. As if they weren't potentially mortal enemies gearing up to kill one another.

Marcus inclined his head at the response, a small, cold smile emerging across his face like a shark’s might. His eyes showed some level of approval, though there was something... else... behind them. Some other emotion that Ryan couldn’t quite identify. The mayor pulled a chair out and sat calmly down at the table. Both Percivals followed without a word, taking up positions behind him and resting their hands on their weapons once more. Bridgette's eyes followed Marcus as he passed by her, though he paid her no notice. Jessie looked ready to bolt from the restaurant, looking from the mayor to each of his guards as if he couldn’t decide which was the bigger threat, but the thin man seemed unwilling to risk it for the moment.

Ryan restarted his thoughts as Marcus took a folder from one of the twins and opened it. The editor had prepared for a lot while he was out, and had always figured that he’d have to go up against the mayor eventually. In his mind though, those scenarios had been at the end of a long, drawn out battle. Some epic contest of power. A siege of town hall, maybe. Not just wake up and… what?

… and what?

Why is he even here? Ryan wondered. Is he going to try and buy me out?

Marcus pulled two photos out and casually flipped them across the table towards Ryan. Looking down, Ryan realized each was actually a series of still images taken from a hospital camera. They were all of him, back at the hospital when he’d first woken up. The first set showed the moments directly before and after he’d first blown up Michael’s clone… and the second series showed how he’d first absorbed a dead man for points. His expression was remarkably untouched by what he was doing. Almost callously calm in the first picture as he knelt down. Ryan probably should have found what that said about him more troubling, but he had no time for such thoughts. The man he’d absorbed then had tried to kill him, after all.

“Recognize these?” Marcus asked in a casual tone that made it obvious he knew the answer. Before Ryan could respond, he pulled another pair of photos out and tossed it over. Then another. And… another.

A glance downward confirmed Ryan’s suspicions of the rest. They were all the things Ryan had down in town up until this point. Each revealing some connection or use of his own power.

Wolf-form Lucas and Ryan fighting at the school, shot from a camera that must have been up in one of the trees. Ryan’s disguised face healing a young woman. Wolf-form Lucas fighting in some underground hallway.. Then reverting back to his disguised form. Lucas (still in disguise) meeting that same version of Ryan in the hallway with the rest of the prisoners they’d rescued. Stills from Ryan’s disguised form fighting in the parking lot, bashing through a wall and then holding out an arm that stopped bullets in mid-air without so much as bruising.

There were other details. Little things here and there that Ryan had forgotten to cover up or that could be used to associate the person in one or more of the pictures as him. The biggest being his diamond skin. A mainstay since he’d woken up almost that - thinking back on it now - wasn’t exactly subtle. Taken together, these pictures told a story all on their own. They also neatly and effectively ruined any point in pretending Ryan wasn’t who he actually was, despite his still-worn disguise.

The mayor had clearly done his research. There was no point in playing dumb. Not that Ryan had figured it might work… but he would’ve felt better keeping the option in his pocket all the same.

“I do.” Ryan responded simply. It was clear the mayor had a point he was building towards. Better to hear it than give up any more information. Besides, despite the multiple powers Ryan was clearly displaying in these pictures… Marcus didn’t seem unnerved to be sitting so close to him. His posture was business-like, but restrained. Poised, even. His expression held the same calm look a merchant might have when considering a deal.

Ryan imagined there was good reason for that.

This was the man who had taken over Arborville. Who, based on everything Ryan had heard, had ruled over its thousands of super powered inhabitants from the very moment he'd emerged from his own shell. Who had taken over the town’s government then killed or rallied the remnants of its entire shattered police force behind him in less than a week. Who had subdued, imprisoned, or outright executed practically everyone who had tried to stand against him.

...

And who had apparently felt secure enough in his position shortly thereafter to put an open bounty on high powered supers like Ryan. A fact that had made the editor a juicy target prized by bounty hunters ever since he had woken up. Presumably, so that Marcus could just rewire Ryan’s brain into joining the mayor’s side whenever he was found. Like he’d clearly done to Percival… and who knew how many others.

“Excellent.” Marcus said, steepling his fingers on the table in front of him. “Then with that out of the way, allow me to be blunt. You and your little friends have stolen my property, attacked or killed a number of my operatives, and seem intent on continuing to do so. Normally, this conversation wouldn’t even be happening. You would have woken up with little doubt as to who is in charge here.”

“However, Ms. O’Brien and her team over here...” Marcus gestured with one manicured finger towards the woman standing against the wall, who straightened visibly.

“And what my men have gathered of your abilities...” He gestured again with the same finger towards the pictures in front of Ryan. “Have made clear how risky a proposition that attempt could be.”

The mayor’s cold eyes narrowed for the first time as he spoke with hard intent. “I do not care for risky propositions. So tell me, Mr. Reynolds, why I should not have you killed here and now for being one.”

Ryan’s rising fear at the mayor’s presence slowly faded away as he realized the odds of being mind controlled into a slave in the next few moments weren’t as high as he’d expected. He may not have the points to back up the threat of disintegration right now - a fact Ryan was deeply thankful the mayor was unaware of - but he would happily dust his own leg for fuel if it came to it. Both of them, if he had to.

Anything was better than being under this man's control.

The two men stared at one another as the tension within the room inched up another notch. Neither flinched however, and neither man looked away for a long moment.

Ryan kept his expression as calm and confident he could, but inside his mind and heart were racing. This… was bad. He glanced over at the twitchy telekinetic, to the woman who’d just paralyzed him, to the towering nigh-invincible forms of the Percival twins… and then back to the man who’d directly or indirectly been the cause of every problem Ryan had ran into since waking up. Each had their own unique way to take him out… or worse. Percival probably had a dozen ways.

Percival! Ryan’s gaze returned at the two men as a flash of insight struck him. Then he turned back to Marcus.

“You didn’t put a bounty on people like me to just have us killed. You were looking for allies.” Ryan commented as he worked towards the conclusion. “You’re afraid of something.”

To his credit, Marcus didn’t so much as crack an eyebrow at the accusation. “Not some thing, Mr. Reynolds, some one.” He corrected, raising a finger.

“Who then? You’ve got these two knuckleheads.” Ryan flicked a finger at the Timmons twins standing behind the mayor, who glowered at him in their first actual display of emotion. “Not to mention however many more you’ve managed to brainwash by now. The police. The ones we couldn’t rescue. So...”

Ryan leaned forward and layered as much scorn and contempt as he could into his next few words. “Who’s got your number, big guy?”

Again, Marcus seemed utterly nonplussed by Ryan’s words. Instead of getting defensive, the mayor spread his arms wide across the table as if to gesture to the entire world.

“All of them.” Marcus intoned, his calm voice taking on hints of practiced recitation.

“... What?”

“Look around you, Mr. Reynolds. As far as we have been able to determine thus far every single man, woman, and child on Earth was affected by whatever it was that gave us these abilities. Not a handful of ‘holy’ chosen, not a single town or sovereign nation, not even just our own species… All of them. Every creature on Earth is now a credible threat to our survival.”

“You think the entire world is--”

Marcus waved away the rest of Ryan’s question before it even left his mouth. “Of course not. I meant they are now a threat to us. To mankind… and its continued survival. We’re at a crossroads, you see. A pivotal turning point in our species’ history - and we will either pass this test… or die out.”

Sensing the mayor was building up to something, Ryan waited for the man to continue. As he did, Ryan surreptitiously activated his power on the table’s surface through his wooden arm. Mercifully, his power began to work every bit as silently as he’d intended.

Sure enough, Marcus appeared to take the pause for interest. The mayor glanced at Ryan’s arm, but said nothing. Merely bringing his hands back together as he continued.

“When our race discovered that guns allowed the common man to kill his betters as readily as he pulled the plow, we turned on another. There was an upheaval of armed conflict that forever changed the very landscape of society. Now that same man might crush his neighbor with an errant thought. Firearms you might regulate, sure. You could control who has them. And through that control, order might be restored. But with these gifts? With ‘super powers’?”

Marcus stood, pushing his chair away from the table. Then he walked over to Jessie, one of the twins trailing him like an overly hulked-out shadow. The young man looked up at the mayor with the same apprehension one might give a venomous snake. Jessie was about to say something when his eyes flickered to the looming shadow of Percival. And for the first time that evening, the young man chose to keep quiet.

The mayor regarded Jessie for a moment, his expression studious. Then, as Bridgette seemed almost on the verge of interrupting for his attention, Marcus turned back towards Ryan.

“What keeps this man from killing his neighbor over bread? Over a woman? Over any reason he dredges up to suit his actions afterwards?”

"Empathy." Ryan answered quickly, in spite of himself. "The law." He added a little less emphatically. Even Ryan had to admit the latter held little weight these days. He’d broken quite a few laws himself since waking up. Most without a second thought. The fight or flight response had been strong… and it hadn’t cared if his actions were ‘right’ or not.

Only if they kept him alive.

To Ryan's surprise, Marcus actually seemed to entertain the response. The mayor folded his arms, his expression twisted slightly as if tasting something sour. "If this were a... comic book, or some fantasy movie, I might agree with you. But the real world has never been so idealistic. ‘Empathy’ has only ever held back those who have it. And the ‘law’ has only ever held as much meaning as the power backing it.”

Ryan could tell by his tone that Marcus expected him to disagree here, or deny his words. But the truth was… he wasn’t entirely wrong. By and large, some people just sucked. That had been true as long as there were people. The mayor’s monologuing was giving Ryan the cover his power needed to literally turn the tables here though, so… he played along.

“Neither of those things have changed.” Ryan pointed out. “Even with super powers, you can’t just force people to do what you want. They’ll fight back.”

The expression of distaste vanished so quickly Ryan thought he might’ve imagined it. In its place was a twisted grin completely at odds with his earlier demeanor. “Will they?”

Before anyone in the room could react, Marcus reached out and grabbed Jessie by the throat. Bridgette let out a startled cry of surprise, but before she could respond further the Mayor had already let the young man go. Jessie’s eyes began to glaze over. His expression becoming more and more vacant as his body slowly rocked in place. A few seconds later and his posture stilled. He looked towards Marcus as if asking for direction, all prior fear gone from his face.

“What’d you--” Before the clearly frightened woman could get another word out, Marcus had one of her hands in his own. The mayor patted her hand slowly, reassuringly, the way one might a small child’s. Bridgette dropped the gun she’d held almost immediately.

“Hush now. Calm… calm. There we are.” Bridgette’s expression went slack. Her body rocked on its feet as Jessie’s had just seconds before. Soon her gaze affixed the mayor with the same waiting question her partner’s held.

“Stand here, and keep watch for trouble.” Marcus instructed them in the tone of a father issuing orders. “If that man at the table comes for me, I want you both to prevent him. Kill him if you must, but only if you must to keep me safe. Do you understand?”

The pair nodded in unison… then turned to stare unerringly at Ryan. All traces of humor, of hesitation, of the camaraderie from earlier… were gone. After apparently determining Ryan wasn’t about to leap at Marcus, they both began to scan the restaurant in earnest as if on the lookout for some unseen threat. Ryan noted their gaze still returned to him every few seconds.

What in the… unholy fuck? Ryan thought in bewilderment.

He’d read the mayor’s power… but this… seeing it in person was… different. Way different. Watching someone lose their own agency of self was so much worse than hearing about a power that could do it. They may have been his captors, but until just a minute ago Jesse and Bridgette had been their own people.

Now… neither were.

“You see?” Marcus asked, a hint of deranged mania slipping into his cultured voice. He turned back towards Ryan with a slow flourishing step.

“They won’t fight. Because they can’t. And if you don’t give me your answer soon Mr. Reynolds, I’ll make sure you can’t as well.”

The mayor gestured with a finger towards one of the Percivals, who dutifully unslung their weapon and pointed it directly at Ryan’s chest. The other twin took a menacing step forward, fists raised into a boxer’s stance.

“One way or another.”