By far, most supervillains commit bank robberies. It wasn't always their first crime but I thought I might as well start out with that. I didn't become a supervillain so I could steal cars or mug old ladies.

I checked my Google Maps app on my phone for the nearest bank which turned out to be Central Bank of St. Newton. I didn't have an account there because their credit requirements were too strict.

"Time to make a withdrawal," I muttered and thought that sounded quite good. I made a mental note to say that again in the bank.

The Corvette felt quite pleasant to drive with good handling and quick acceleration. I would have to abandon the car since it was a stolen vehicle but I made a mental note to get myself one once I made enough money. Maybe it would be my Painmobile or something like that.

I downloaded a police radio app on my phone and listened to the broadcasts for a few minutes. It would give me an early warning when they would arrive. Sticking my headphones in, I could listen while I worked. I also downloaded a police traffic app that tracked police cars in the area. I measured the distance to the nearest police station, and where the nearest police cars were, and calculated it would be about ten minutes before the nearest car would arrive.

Driving up to the bank, I watched men and women in suits walking in and out of the building, mostly upper-class folks on their lunch hour from stock trading or whatever pathetic job they had. Time to shake up their boring lives.

I found a parking spot and used my phone to study the building in Google Maps. It looked like it had a main entrance and a rear entrance. The rear entrance would be locked so I would have to go through the front door. I would need to make a fast getaway and I figured that Archon Avenue would be best.

Through the window, I could see a security guard standing by the entrance. I couldn't see if there were any other guards but there had to be more.

Of course, the smart thing to do would be to wait until after dark, sneak into the bank, and break into the bank vault. I could easily think of a dozen ways and a dozen tools I could build for the job. I could also have just come in wearing a discrete outfit, handed the teller a note, and walked out with a small amount of cash. Yet that didn't scream "supervillain" to me. A real supervillain would break into the bank in broad daylight, fight the superheroes, and make a getaway.

There's also the fact that I actually wanted to get the attention of the City's Saviors. I wasn't powerful enough to fight them yet but I wasn't going to hide. I wanted them and St. Newton to know the name of Professor Pain.

I checked my appearance in the rear-view mirror, pulled on my goggles, got my cane out of the backseat, and climbed out.

As I limped up to the bank, I started to get noticed. People glanced at me, my cane, my big white hair, and put two and two together. One woman who had been about to walk in the front door turned around and hurried away.

I pushed my way through the revolving door into the bank. The security guard by the door spotted me and narrowed his eyes while reaching for his gun.

"Time to make a withdrawal!" I yelled.

It didn't sound quite as clever as I thought it would but it would do.

I fired my freeze gun at the guard's arm, instantly encasing it in a chunk of ice. He screamed and clutched at his hand with his gun trapped with it.

There was another guard across the bank who had his gun out and aimed at me as he yelled, "Freeze!"

"Sure," I chuckled as I shot his legs.

Ice formed around his legs, pinning them to the floor, and he dropped his gun while yelling and grabbing at them. I froze the gun onto the ground, keeping it from being used by him or anyone else.

With that done, I faced the other people in the bank who screamed, yelled, ran for cover behind desks, and just stared in horror. I had been thinking about the plan and gave a speech based on my own ideas and a movie I'd seen.

"All right," I called out with the freeze gun sweeping the air. "Everyone stay right where you are. Get down on your knees and put your hands in the air!"

The customers glanced at each other and slowly began dropping to the floor. The guard whose arm I had frozen already lay on the ground, gasping in pain. The guard with the frozen legs had fallen over and struggled to stand up, but stopped trying when I glared at him.

It felt good to have these people cowering at my feet, willing to do anything I said. For once, I was the one kicking other people around instead of them kicking me.

I took slow steps into the bank. "I am Professor Pain and I'm not here to hurt anyone. Your money is insured by the federal government, so I'm here for the bank's money, not yours. Think of your loved ones and don't try to be a hero."

I felt more than heard someone coming up behind me. When I turned my head, a security guard rushed up to me, arms wide to tackle me. Before I could even think, I acted, using my mind to send him flying across the bank. He hit a wall and I heard a snap before he collapsed.

He didn't get up, just lying there with his eyes wide and head at an unnatural angle.

That was it, the first time I killed someone. You'll forgive the spoiler if I say it wasn't the last.

The bank fell silent as everyone stared at the body lying in front of me. It took even me by surprise since I hadn't planned on using my telekinesis, but it just came out of me. It seemed my mental powers had become a reflex.

I wish I could say that moment felt emotional and catastrophic, that I wrestled with the power over life and death I had gained, that I considered the loss of life and how it would impact the world around me.

All I felt was an incredible rush, like I had released a muscle I hadn't known I had been tensing. All my life, I had thoughts of killing people. Maybe it's a generalization but I think everyone does on some level. That guy who cuts you off in traffic or steals your car or the school bully who mocks you, day in and day out. Sometimes you think of how you could pull a gun or a knife and just shut that guy up for good, but you tell yourself you can't really kill someone. That's a line you can't cross.

Well, I had crossed it. And I knew I would never be the same again.

I looked up at the bank customers and they looked at me with even wider eyes and expressions of fear. They knew I was serious.

I gave them my cruelest smile. "Now I trust we'll have no more heroes."

A few people actually shook their head but the rest just stared at me.

I tossed my backpack onto the counter and pointed at one of the tellers behind the glass. "Fill it up. And if I find a dye pack in there, I will come back and kill every one of you so I suggest you keep an eye on your fellow employees."

As the bank tellers rushed to gather stacks of money and shove it into the backpack, I felt pretty good. Things were going my way.

The chatter of the police radio in my ear caught my attention as the dispatcher said, "All units, we have a ten-three-one B at Central Bank of St. Newton. All units respond."

A "ten-three-one B" was a robbery in progress with a supervillain involved. I'd been ratted out, probably by a silent alarm. Rage filled my body as I spun around to look at the customers but they just looked back at me. None of them had cell phones. I shot angry daggers at the tellers. They all seemed to be busy putting money into the backpack but one of them shivered and glanced up at me. I didn't need to read her mind to know she was the one that triggered the alarm.

With a thought, I lifted her off the ground, slammed her into the ceiling, and sent her crashing back onto the floor.

"Fools," I yelled as I used my mind to smash the glass dividing us. As the tellers screamed and ducked to avoid the flying glass, I reached over the counter, grabbed my backpack, and ran to the door.

I burst out of the bank onto the street, listening to the wail of police sirens getting louder. The Corvette still waited for me, and as I ran to the driver's side, I scanned the skies to see if I spotted any of the City's Saviors flying in. I knew I wasn't ready for Captain Maximum yet but I could maybe freeze him or something. Thankfully, I saw nothing but clouds looking down at me.

I took off from the curb just as a police car came shrieking around the corner. I used my freeze gun on the road behind me, making a layer of ice that the police car skidded on, sending it crashing into the front of a McDonald's. Other cars spun out in front of it, boxing it in.

I drove as fast as I could around the next corner, and the next to try to lose the police but I knew they would be looking for the flashy car so I pulled into an alley and jumped out, then used my telekinesis to put the car back into gear and press the gas pedal.

The car went roaring out of the alley, causing a chorus of horns as it cut off traffic, jumped out into the road, and kept going. A police car skidded to turn after it with lights flashing but I made sure the car slammed into the front window of a gym, causing the front of the building to collapse around it. I knew it would take time for them to sort through the chaos and figure out the car was empty, so I yanked off the white wig and goggles and hurried as fast as my bad leg would let me out of the area.

Without the wig and goggles, I looked a little less conspicuous but I only went a block before heading into another alley to strip off the rest of the costume. Changing back into my street clothes, I shoved the costume into my backpack and walked calmly on my way again.

Walking to the train station made me so scared that my teeth chattered, waiting to feel the hand of Captain Maximum or a police officer grab me at any moment. Nothing happened, though. I listened to the police radio and it was all buzzing about the bank robbery for a few minutes but eventually, it changed to more mundane stuff like domestic disputes and shoplifting. I headed down the stairs into the subway, paid my fare, and stood on the platform waiting for the train to come. When it arrived, I stepped into it, and the train began rolling. That's when I exhaled hard. I had done it. I had gotten away with my first bank robbery.

Since I was the only one in the subway car, I felt safe opening the backpack and rummaging through the stacks of cash. No dye pack exploded so at least I could trust that the tellers had gotten that right. From my brief flip through the money, it seemed I had gotten around eighteen thousand dollars. Not bad for a few hours of work.

I went back to the dog groomer and picked up my dog Brutus who looked cleaner and happier.

The groomer said, "Thanks for bringing him in. He's a real sweetheart."

I picked Brutus up and put him under my arm. He smelled like lavender and vanilla as his tail wagged. "Thanks for taking care of him."

I dropped a twenty dollar bill into the tip jar which made her eyes bug out as she said, "Thanks so much!"

I waved over my shoulder as I walked out. "No, thank you."

From there, I walked with Brutus in my arms and whispered, "We need some wheels, right, boy?"

He licked his lips and looked up at me with his tail wagging. I took that to be a yes.

We went on to a Chevy car lot for a new car. I felt tempted to buy a fancy car like the Corvette but decided to keep it inconspicuous for now and bought a black panel van that I could modify later. It raised a few eyebrows when I paid in cash, but no police showed up when I drove off the lot so it seemed all right.

From there, I went to a nearby Heavenly Terrace motel to get a room, just for a few days so I could lay low. The room was small but it would suffice for my purposes. I had plenty of time to get something bigger.

I used Grubmates to order a meal from the Golden Panda Palace, a Chinese place I could never afford to eat at before, and also had some gourmet dog food delivered from QuikCart.

As we sat down to our meal, I rubbed Brutus on the back and said, "Things are going our way, buddy. And that worries me because things never go my way."

He wagged his tail while wolfing down his food.

I settled back on the bed, eating the food right out of the carton, as I turned on the television and flipped to the evening news. It didn't take long before a story came up on my robbery.

The news anchor Alexandra Andrews said, "And there was a daring bank robbery today at the Central Bank of St. Newton."

Black and white video appeared in a corner of the screen that had obviously been taken by an overhead security camera. It showed grainy footage of me in the bank, holding my freeze gun.

Andrews continued, "Police say the man seen here identified himself as Professor Pain, a supervillain that has not been seen in St. Newton before. According to witnesses, he allegedly used a freezing weapon that caused life-threatening injuries to two security guards and seemed to have mental powers that killed a security guard and a bank teller. Police are continuing to investigate but the suspect remains at large."

I clapped my hands. "Perfect."

Andrews brightened with a smile. "And coming up after the break, don't miss another exclusive interview with Captain Maximum. This week, I'll be visiting his underground fortress and talking to his sidekick, Kid Maximum, about how he became a part of the team."

I turned off the TV in disgust. Alexandra Andrews and Captain Maximum had become pretty close over the last few months with her getting exclusives and breaking stories about the hero's exploits weekly. Like many in St. Newton, I thought perhaps Alexandra was banging the superhero on the side but she insisted it was just a professional relationship.

I sat back to consider my next move. I'd made some money and gotten on the news but I felt like I had taken only one small step towards my ultimate goal. If I was going to kill Captain Maximum and take over the city, I would need an army. Rather than try to recruit other people to my cause, I had a better idea. I would build an army.

I got a pad of paper and a pen from the room's desk drawer and sketched out a design for a robot soldier. It would be semi-autonomous, equipped with weapons, and made of easily available parts so it would be quick to build in large numbers. I had the basic design in an hour or so but I would need a place to build them and more money. Lots more money.

I looked down at Brutus and considered what I had resisted thinking about earlier. I never knew what happened to put him in that trash can I found him in, and probably would never know, but I guessed he had a rough life. Maybe it had been even rougher than mine. I wanted him to get tougher and more powerful just like I had become.

I had an idea how to make him bigger, stronger, and smarter. I could use the same process that happened to me on a smaller scale to make Brutus more intelligent. It wouldn't make him a human-level genius like me but it would make him a much smarter dog. More than that, I could increase his muscle and size in the same proportion. He could be more than just a companion who I talked to but couldn't understand. He could be an ally in combat and life. It seemed crazy but the more I thought of it, the more it seemed to make sense.

I rubbed his ears. "Whadda you say, boy? Wanna be a real annihilator? Kick other people around instead of getting kicked?"

He tilted his head to one side and licked his lips.

I nodded. "Don't worry, I won't experiment on my only friend. I'll test it first. But let's do it. Let's both be bad."