I whistled as I made my way down the street. The cloudy day was looming with the threat of rain, and thus people were inclined to stay indoors today.

Which was probably a good thing, as my senses could feel how dense the clouds where. They were not moving very fast, but it was just fast enough to hit my neighborhood before the rain really started to come down.

Or not. I had been wrong before.

I giggled to myself as I began to skip down the street.

Today was a great day!

The rain was fun!

I was debating to either go home or to go a that nice cafe a block down when I felt it.

That spike in fear and horror. The desperation that came directly from the soul.

They were close.

I growled as I jumped to the air.

My thoughts. My willpower kept me afloat and I rushed over to where the victim was.

It was in the building for sale. A place that once housed a nice bowling alley before the big shops suck out the money that flowed into the small mom and pop shops that lined the street.

No people meant no business. So this place went belly up a half dozen years ago and now the landlords were even looking to sell.

Not that anyone really wanted to buy it. This neighborhood was a breeding ground for less than legal operations.

Mostly harmless drugs.

When marijuana went legal, it cut into the operations here. The wannabe drug lords began to move out and this place required less police, and hero presence than ever.

Which was why I was shocked when I made my way in to find someone I knew.

“Holy shit Sinclair!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs.

Sinclair jumped and the naked woman underneath him was able to break free and run towards me. I grimaced as I saw the dongles of yet another corporate shill.

“James,” he gritted out. It was half shock and half hate.

The girl broke down sobbing beside me.

I took a good look before rolling my eyes.

Okay.

For all of his faults, and there was a freaking list, he had least had a good taste with this one. Claire was a sweetheart, with a body of an influencer girl. She was new to the neighborhood and Sinclair seemed to like her.

I shook my head to clear my mind. Odd thoughts like that seemed to haunt me. I couldn't stop making then on every pretty girl I came across. It was frustrating, to be honest.

My mind refocused.

Facts. 1) rape was a no-no, and 2) it was on my home turf.

“You shouldn’t have come here, little Jimmy,” Sinclair growled as fire and lightning danced between his two hands. The dancing energy stopped when he realized that his pants were still down. There was a mad wiggling as he had to quickly pull them up.

The idiot was wearing colors now. The logos on his shirt meant that he was a contact point for lawyers of darkness and a local disperser for weed.

“Claire… shut the fuck up,” I deadpanned as I took off my sweater and draped it onto the crying woman.

“Little knight, talking big when he is a nobody,” Sinclair sneered as he resumed his light show.

“You know the rules here. Big Boss will fuck you up,” I retorted as I guided the woman to over to the dirty seats. I pulled off my t-shirt to cover the seat and give her a sense of comfort.

She sat down as her legs gave out. A small cloud of dust made us both cough.

From what I had seen, I had literally got in here in the nick of time.

I shuddered. Shaking hands with Sinclair left me feeling dirty. To have his dongle…

I gagged and swallowed the rivers of vomit.

“Big talk for a ‘D’ ranked shrimp. I don’t know why Big Boss lets you walk around so freely, but I’m branded now, boy!” Sinclair screamed as he threw a bolt of lightning and fire at me.

“Run for it!” I screamed. At least I hoped I did. I don’t fully remember that moment. I was a little busy.

I blocked it with both hands. My psychic shield only covered the first third of me. Looking like a chunk of an orange, it flared to the visible spectrum as the elemental attack washed over me.

I sagged as it finished.

Fuck. Sinclair, or Firestorm, laughed at my fatigue.

“Shit will always be shit!” Sinclair crowed as he unleashed a torrent of power onto me.

My shield flared to life again, but it quickly began to flicker.

The woman screamed and I realized that I couldn’t move.

Sure I was a villain, but I wasn’t a coward!

I endured.

Sinclair stopped, and I fell to my knees and then promptly threw up as I had pulled on more power then I had since the last territorial battles nearly a decade ago.

“Why… have… you run… yet?” I begged out between dry heaves.

I gathered everything I had and stood up.

This sounded amazing, but it must have taken nearly fifteen minutes before I was properly able to do more than tremble and wheeze.

“Hey, Jimmy,” Sinclair said as he walked up to me. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

I was dead tired, but I at least could now stand and look him in the eyes. I at least had my pride.

“That wound looks painful, do you need me to call an ambulance?” he asked with concern in his voice.

I looked down. What wou….

I fell down as a dagger of light was somehow sticking out of my right side. My mind informed me that it was the kidneys.

The woman stretched as she stood. Her perfect figure was proudly displayed as she stood on her tippy toes and let the worse see her glory.

I took a glance and then kept staring at my wound. Blood was pouring out and I knew that I was screwed. This Claire was something else. Someone else. Her form shifted, and she somehow became more mature and sexier.

“Did you like that? I don’t know why Big Boss kept babying you, but I know that your death will hurt him…

The front doors exploded and only a touch of light from the outside was able to get in.

The heavy stomps of a big, angry man echoed in the building as the big man ran towards the three people.

Sinclair’s sneer dipped as he still had a healthy amount of fear for Big Boss. An eight-foot man who was mostly muscle and was able to bend steel as one would work with fresh clay.

“Well well well… aren't you a tasty little one?” the woman said as she playfully licked her lips while looking at the man known as Big Boss. They were old friends.

The [A] ranked villain was simple, but an effective one. High strength and endurance.

He was once a thug, but some smart investments had him controlling large chunks of the SW zones of K city.

His tithes per household were only a few dollars each month, but they were relatively villain, crime, and problem-free. A half dozen communities and suddenly he was making a lot of clean money.

“Jimmy!” Brian screamed as he stomped up to me. He was about to scoop me up when I saw my wound and the usually decisive man hesitated.

“Edna!” Brian screamed at the top of his lungs, and a woman quickly floated in.

She was dressed in white, the pristine villain of water and ice. [A] ranked, Ice Queen.

She took one look and began to swear at the top of her lungs. Her first act was to freeze the wounded area to prevent blood loss.

The fact that my face was now turning white was not helping her mood.

“Why are the twins not responding!?” Brian screamed as he nearly broke his phone. He took a deep breath and began to call another number.

“We meet again Ice…” 'Claire' cooed as she tried to focus on the situation. She wanted to greet her old friend and now rival.

The slap caught everyone off guard.

“You fucking whore! Did you know what you just did?” Edna screamed as she made a stretcher of ice. It was with such skill that is seemed to rise off the floor.

Security belts that looked like fabric, but all water, secured the body in place for immediate transfer.

“Cody, call in the boys. We need a direct flight path to the nearest hospital. Bring everyone. We have a issue. Jimmy is down… Cody. CODY. STOP Panicking!” Brian screamed in back in full panic.

They were running out of time. Jimmy was in trouble.

Sinclair let out a shout of triumph as he watched his old ‘rival’ let out his final breath.

Sinclair had grown up in district 22. It was an unlucky neighborhood that was infested with crime and problems. Until Big Boss essentially ate it out from the inside. All extra land was bought, and as foreclosure became an issue, he bought those up too.

Until he owned almost everything.

He charged cheap rent, and ensured that it was patrolled by his boys.

If you stayed clean, there was no problems.

Which in itself was a problem as Sinclair grew up in a household of someone who used to be somebody.

The [C] ranked villain, Concrete Man, was a drunk and angry with life. Sinclair took the brunt of that.

When he joined Big Bosses crew, he had authority issues.

Especially since he got to see the pampered [D] rank, Psychic Chubby, not have to do shit to earn his keep. If anything, Jimmy got spoiled as he seemed to always have his affairs in order.

So Sinclair trained, and then when his powers fully bloomed, he looked up.

A wonderful Pharmaceutical company was always looking for fresh recruits. Especially those who were willing to get their hands dirty.

The [B] rank Firestorm? Easy pickings. The willingness to also mess with Big Boss was a plus.

They needed to get some more business into that area, but when someone owned all the land… it was hard. Doubly so since Big Boss didn’t allow outsiders to peddle the stuff. He dealt with those issues with a grin.

“NONONONONONO!” Edna panicked as she kneeled and tried to perform CPR. Her perfectly touched lips left blue-white marks as she desperately tried to bring Jimmy back.

Elizabeth, [A] ranked villain better known as Seraphim watched in confused as the two powerhouses she knew were now blindly panicking.

Was Jimmy their son?

Her frown a the surprise slap turned into a forced smile. Her day just got a lot worse, but she had to show a face of power. She still liked Edna, and she would hurt Sinclair later to show him the pecking order.

“You should have surrendered when we last talked darling…” Ellie cooed as Edna began to cry. Though her face was a smile, her eyes didn't reflect it.

“He’s dead… Brian… we failed…” Edna cried as she ran into her husband’s arms.

“Fuck,” was Brian’s eloquent reply. Tears fell from his eyes as he hugged his woman. This was it.

“Hahahaha!” Sinclair laughed as he kicked the dead body. The powered attack shattered the frozen stretcher. Without her dedicated willpower, it broke easily and the body slid across the floor and down the bowling alley.

“Strike!” Elizabeth said as she played along.

“Woot Woot!” Jimmy cheered as he clapped along.

Sinclair screamed as he turned to see his ‘rival’ smiling and clapping.

Elizabeth blinked as she stared at the man who was now fondling her with a queer smile.

“Jimmy,” Brian started but he shut up as the young man simply held up a finger.

Elizabeth frowned but was also fascinated by how the man who carved his name into the history of heroes. The Big Boss, who had fought even the Alliance of Justice on his own once, simply quieted down.

Ellie however did strike out when she felt the telltale tingle in her mind. The odd shiver that ran through her made her reflectively strikeout.

The dagger of light, much stronger than that one attack, shattered as it reached a full inch away from his skin.

“That wasn’t nice,” I said as I leaned back and frowned. These were soft breasts, and the skin was smooth! I nodded to myself as I considered keeping her.

Elizabeth shivered as she met my eyes. To those who I did not like, they were less then human. My amused eyes stared back into their souls. Her soul.

“FUCK. YOU!” Sinclair screamed as he unleashed both fire and lighting at maximum power.

It was impressive considering how much energy was coming out from his hands. Doubly so when you saw that it was somehow contained and in a field. It began to shrink down on him.

I blinked and turned around.

That was some decent power! Something you would expect for a captain of what I considered a proper assault squad.

Firestorm was forced to stop as the backlash from his own energy became too much. He gasped for breath as his insides were still boiling with confusion and hate.

I waited until he was done. Then I lifted my left hand, and Sinclair gasped as he suddenly lost all control over his body. Each limb stopped moving despite his above-average strength.

With my thought alone I overpowered his meager mental barriers. Was this the quality of today’s supers? How sad.

“Brian. How long was I asleep?” I asked as a thought hit me.

To be honest I was still a little hazy. It had been a while since I was last awake and decided to take this unique joy ride through life. To be a nobody doing nothing.

From my memories. It was quite fun to do everyday things that I had taken for granted. It also seemed that my request to the world government, the heroes and villains were taken seriously.

Elizabeth shivered as those dull eyes began to glint with interest. As the heightened thoughts revved my mental engine and she could feel the cusp of that power she had just lorded over.

Sinclair began to scream as his limbs twitched. From the tip of his finger and toes, they began to curl up. Cracks of bones and squelches of flesh filled the room like a chorus to Sinclair’s agony.

I could feel his pain. His delicious pain. Fifty years ago and no one would have had the balls to even defy me like he did unless they had an entire team behind them.

It seems like the world had forgotten, and I found myself elated. This was a new world. Filled with new toys!

Wait... didn't I erase my memories from most people? Except for the core heroes, villains and the family before me?

“Twenty years, big bro. You were asleep for twenty years,” Brian said as he shook in place. He was happy, but he was also afraid. Jimmy was moody at the best of times.

I nodded to myself and I was smiling as I felt the joy rise in me as I thought of them. They had taken good care of me when I was… napping.

Days of parks, and kites. Of hikes and joy rides to the world at large.

There was parenting too. They had taken some firm actions to prevent me from going into crazy places and that created boundaries. I wonder how afraid they must have been to put their foot down.

Ellie swallowed as reality hit her. Two [A] ranked villains. Experts to the game were as docile as caged rabbits while the person she had stabbed. She had killed was now turning her little understudy’s arms and legs into fruit roll-ups.

It was only when he had reached the torso that he stopped. That he decided to stop.

Sinclair had stopped screaming so that he could throw up everything possible.

I smiled. A soft gentle smile. Sinclair was a work of art! My eyes lit up with joy as I let out a satisfied sigh. I moved over to the two who were shaking like leaves in a hurricane.

They were afraid of me. Which I understood. I had raised them once. Taken from orphanages from around the world. I trained them with a firm hand, but I had never killed those from failure. Only those who betrayed, and those who wished to fail.

I was wrong. My perception was wrong. My time as little Jimmy had taught me that. What they needed was a firm, and loving hand. Not a tolerating fist.

They were not enemies, but family. When I lost that viewpoint? Or perhaps I never had it until they raised me?

I hugged them. They were warm in my arms, and they hugged me back. Their minds were a mess as the two images of a hard old man, and a curious young child conflicted.

I nestled in and tugged at Brian to go down. The big man didn’t posture and kneeled right away.

Elizabeth had seen strong men and women. Through fear and torture, she had seen them also lose bladder control.

These two?

She was sure that if Jimmy farted and made a face… then they would have shit themselves.

“You two have taken very good care of me. That Jimmy loved you two like his own. Which means that I love you two as well. I won’t hurt you,” I said as I gave each one a kiss and then walked towards Sinclair.

They sagged with relief but remained still. Old habits died hard.

I had enough of this. Art time was coming to an end.

The young man had regained most of his bearings and was now having a nice, gentle, breakdown.

“Oh, Sinclair. You had such cool powers, but no discipline. The fact that Big Boss and Ice Queen were panicking should have been your first clue,” I lectured as I lowered the crippled man down to eye level.

That cocky young man was gone. Shattered into the voids of his new PTSD.

“Second is that the momentary gain of killing important kin should be followed up by killing the target. Revenge is so cliche, but it is also a truth,” I said as I nodded to himself.

I had made that mistake many times. They always came back stronger, harder. It was fun at first but became tiresome when the flavor of their hate did not change.

Touching Sinclair’s jaw, I tore it off and the cripple moaned loudly. His mental screams however were louder than before. He understood a portion of the truth. Of his impending death.

Then I touched his heart.

It beat and pulsated.

I could feel the rush of blood as it pooled and then was expelled into his arteries.

I took my time, wrapping my will and thoughts throughout the vulnerable area. Then I gave it a nice, soft tug.

The wrenching sound of his chest and ribs were loud as I tore out the beating heart. Then with absolute gentleness, I placed it into the man's mouth, and secured it there was the tongue. I fused the flesh together to ensure that it didn’t accidentally fall.

“Haha. He can now taste what comes from the heart! The flavor is most likely… regrets!” I joked and clapped myself on the back.

Sinclair was less amused as he gargled and convulsed.

Elizabeth threw up. She bent over and simply let loose. She was no stranger to torture… but this… This was her fate.

“Now then. Who is she?” I asked. Everyone left froze at my question.

Elizabeth snapped up. Her [A] rank was earned, not simply assigned, and she knew that the next words would be what determined her future.

“Uh,” Brian started and he actually felt sorry for his wife’s rival. Elizabeth was giving them panicked looks.

“She is the ‘A’ ranked villain, The Seraphim of Light,” Edna began and she felt sorry for her onetime friend. They had met in junior high and made it until they graduated from Super University. Ellie had gone corporate and turned into a narcissistic shill, but they had never tried to actually destroy each other.

“Neat. You can do shit with light. What else?” I asked as he looked at her in the eyes. Her thoughts were open to me, but they were panicky and fluttered about in a flood of fear and self-loathing.

“I can make solid light, and fly. I can create force fields. I can also bend light,” she answered immediately. The quivering Sinclair was in the corner of her eyes, and it looked like he had he was throwing up a little. There was now also brown goop dripping onto the floor.

I stared at her for a long moment. Then I nodded. She wasn’t lying or leaving anything out by choice.

“What is your name?”

“Elizabeth Victoria Blake Black,” she replied as she repressed the tremblings her body demanded. She tried to focus like she had to when the Servants of Evil gathered to mess with the Alliance of Justice.

“Excellent, no lies so far,” I said with a nod and Elizabeth felt something letting go as I withdrew a strand of my mind.

Her mind and body suddenly relaxed as she realized that I was inside her mind. From that initial tingle, he had not only gotten in, but she didn’t even realize.

I smile at her insight, but it did not help her self esteem.

“Your new name is Hoe. As in my Hoe. You live to serve me, and if you do it right, you will earn your freedom,” I said as he moved back to Sinclair. It was an old offer I had done to many a would-be rival or hero.

She looked like she could keep me warm at night, and she would gain the courage to resist. Not that I minded. I did always have a weakness for the spicy ones.

Wait… I was forgetting something…

Sinclair was crying hard enough to go blind. His sight was restored with a though from me, his tormentor. He shivered as he could see the unfriendly smile on my face.

Then I plucked eyeballs out, and Sinclair Smith, son of Cement Man, got to see his torso undergo the same crushing force. The slow ripple of his flesh moved upwards and with the grace of an iceberg floating away.

Sinclair’s final moments were the sight of him vomiting out his own organs and the artful position of his head on top of the mound of himself.

Death came as his body finally realized that something was wrong. Calculated his health, and then gave up.

Elizabeth trembled as she watched her new master gently pop the eyes back into the skull. The frozen horror. The eyes that had been shown torture…

I slapped my hand together. It was a job well done. A bit rushed, and not to mention sloppy, but good work nonetheless. I brushed off the invisible dust since had worked so hard.

The moment was broken by the loud rumbles of dozens of powerful engines. There were a lot of people coming in… wait… was that Cody?

Brian suddenly remembered who he had called, and kissed his wife before rushing outside. Jimmy had always like Edna and he wouldn’t kill her without reason. Especially since Edna did a lot to spoil Jimmy.

Who knew that her motherly instincts would be their salvation?

“I am going for a walk. Edna, please get Hoe settled down and… wait. Is my secret lair still around?” I asked as I turned pensive. Did I need to hollow out a mountain again? How was the surrounding area?

I had a very nice balcony that oversaw the ocean and I would hate to have to move. Or move whatever was obstructing my view.

“We have up kept everything you liked. Please enjoy your walk Jimmy,” Edna said with a smile.

She could still see it. Parts of the Jimmy she had cared for.

I nodded and gave her a hug. I let out the old Jimmy, that innocent me, for a brief moment.

Edna returned it with her heart this time. No fear, no hesitation.

I left with a thought.

“What happens now?” Elizabeth whispered as she sat down on the dirty t-shirt.

“Now I will teach, and you will learn,” Edna said as she stared at what remained of Sinclair.

Elizabeth looked over and nodded.

—

I stared at the world before me. The round world shone under the sun. I stared at its beauty as I laid on the surface of the moon.

I wouldn’t rule it. Not again.

I had been a child.

So… should I help govern? Become a businessman?

Or…

Hmmmmm.

I smiled.

I didn’t have any plans, but I am sure that Brian had some problems. Let us start there.

I yawned as weariness took over me. The world still looked the same from up here, but I knew progress had continued without me. Yet humanity had not changed since I first awoke so long ago. I doubted that it changed that much since my nap.

I closed my eyes, letting my thought still and sleep take hold.

The sun was warm, and the surrounding space cool.

Tomorrow was going to be another nice day.