INTERLUDE

Retribution landed in front of Elysium Primary Bank, the outside having been cordoned off by nearly two hundred supers from the Guild of Heroes, along with every law enforcement and military contingent for half a dozen miles. The Guild had responded to the attack with overwhelming force, redeploying nearly every Hero in the financial district to the attack.

The gleaming silver hero stalked over to the Police Captain who was waiting behind a cruiser. “Officer, what have we got?” he demanded.

“Retribution sir, good to see you,” he responded. “We have one, possibly two villains who have taken the main foyer of the bank. The stairs and floor leading into the bank seem to have been melted through extreme heat, however there are no casualties among those that ran. Well, almost. We have a report that one of the bank tellers was killed.”

Retribution grunted. If this was the work of that devil of a man then he was sloppy. Killing civilians was a great way to get plastered on the front of every network everywhere. It paints a target on your back. So either he was, in truth, a novice at this entire practice… or worse. He truly didn’t care.

“Right. Hs anyone gone in after them? Who was evacuating the civilians and workers?” he asked. “I don’t see anyone from the Guild out here providing support.”

The Captain rubbed the bank of his neck, “Well that’s the odd thing. Most of the people escaped after being guided by these little red men. We aren’t sure where they wandered off to either. They all just… vanished,” the man admitted. “It was the oddest damn thing.”

Retribution sighed. There was really no helping it. The cops were, for the most part, not powered. They didn’t have the same capabilities as the Guild had, or else the Guild wouldn’t exist in the first place. But that was neither here nor there. Currently there was a villain inside the most secure bank in the nation doing gods knew-

A massive rolling explosion came out of the front of the building, causing everyone to duck reflexively. Sounds of combat from inside echoed out into the streets as chunks of the building practically disintegrated with the sheer force of the fighting going on inside.

Retribution could see crimson fire sticking to the walls and street as the fighting moved through the building. He was more convinced than ever that it was that scruffy homeless looking villain. He was responsible. He had attacked the bank. He was making the foremost Hero of the city look like a fool.

He was going to pay.

“Who the hell is inside fighting?” he asked loudly as he moved further back with the Captain. “We didn’t send anyone in, did we?”

The Captain paled a bit, “Just the head of the Council,” he said, just loud enough to be heard. That frozen Retribution in his tracks, a fist sized chunk of debris bouncing of his head and doing nothing.

Mr. R was fighting the bum? And was apparently holding his own? Retribution would need to rethink his plan of action. If the homeless villain was this powerful he would need far more heavy hitters. Possibly even calling in the governments most powerful super being. While Retribution lauded himself as the Leader of the Guild of Heroes, he was not even in the top ten most powerful beings in the governments structure. And if this scum fucker of a villain was this strong… he would need help.

He whipped a small cell phone and hit a pre-registered phone number off his contacts. It rang once and was picked up. “You called?” a voice said smoothly on the other side.

“Change of plan. My target is… far, far more powerful than I thought. Minimum Class V,” Retribution said directly, the Captain next to him looking at him oddly. “We need to think of something else.”

The other end of the call was silent for several minutes, the fighting continuing unabated in the background during the time Retribution waited for a response. Finally, the voice said, “No refunds on deposits. We can get you what you need. The price has gone up. Considerably.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Send me the bill. Just get it done,” he snapped. He got confirmation from the other party and then the call was terminated. Retribution crumpled the phone up in his hand. Then he threw it hard enough to exit the city. It landed somewhere in the ocean, miles out to sea.

Turing to the confused Captain, he pondered what to do. His choice, however, was made for him as an ominous creaking sound came from the building the bank was contained within. Retribution turned slowly, just as a crack that sounded like lightning sounded out across the city. Then the building began to tilt.

“Oh. That’s not good,” Retribution said, throwing his hands up in mock panic. Fortunately, the building didn’t tip any further. Unfortunately, it appeared that the foundation gave out, as the entire structure came straight down in place. The massive cloud of smoke, dust, and debris rolling down the streets and obscuring everything.

“Phew, that was a close one,” the Captain said, having taken cover near the Hero.

As the dust cloud enveloped them, Retribution snagged a large piece of concrete from the air and smashed the Police Captain next to him into paste. “Yeah it was,” he responded cheerfully to the now deceased man. “It was so sad you didn’t make it though. Unfortunately, really,” he quipped.

There could be no witnesses to the conversation he just had. Even in passing.

Retribution squinted his eyes, attempting to see through the debris cloud. He could hear people moving around, responding to others cries for help. He wouldn’t move, not yet. He had to make sure that the homeless fuck had either died, was trapped, and had been apprehended by the council president. Mr. R was not one to let things slip through his grasp.

He walked forward, pushing car sized pieces of debris out of his way as if they weighed nothing. Retribution would be the one to take down that crazy bastard, even if he actually had to get his hands dirty to do. Fortunately, he was stopped before he reached the building itself.

Out of the smoke Mr. R came walking. He was dusting off his lapels, which had gotten quite dusty due to the collapse of a one-hundred and eighty story building.

“Sir? Is that you?” wondered Retribution, somewhat in shock. “Are you ok? What happened?”

The small older man didn’t respond at first, as he took a look at the devastation surrounding them. Everything had been destroyed for half a city block. Cars smashed, windows and store fronts obliterated, and many people injured. However the damage was, remarkably, localized.

“The man you told me about some time ago, the one you encountered during the skirmish with the League. He was here,” confirmed the man in the pinstripe suit. “He was here, and he escaped. Thankfully his destruction of the building was contained. I was not entirely certain I was going to be as successful as I was at limiting the damage.”

Retribution almost snorted, the bullshit was so thick with this man. He wouldn’t believe, for even a second, that Mr. R was anything but phenomenally powerful. Destroying, containing, or even rebuilding a structure like the one the bank was located in would pose no problem for the council leader. He was certain of it.

But one thing really bothered him about what Mr. R had said.

“He escaped? He escaped?” retribution said incredulously. “How, for fucks sake, did he escape? Do you expect me to believe that he fought you, fucks sake, did he escape? Do you expect me to believe that he fought you, you, to a standstill then waltzed out through the building safe and sound?”

Mr. R leveled a critical gaze on the Hero, causing Retribution to sweat. “A more pressing concern, Mr. Retribution, would be to protect the citizens. When a building that size comes down it will cause casualties. The fact there were no deaths, minus the one teller that is, is nothing short of a miracle.”

“A miracle?” Retribution repeated back at the short man. “A miracle?” he snarled, repeating himself once more. “A miracle would have been the building being plated in gold after a single night. A miracle would have been catching that homeless fucking villain! This was no miracle; this was ineptitude of the highest caliber. And you were directly involved! Director!”

The pinstripe suited man nodded, replacing his bowler cap carefully on his head. “Oh yes. Yes I was quite involved. A shame about the building really. Were they one of your sponsors? Perhaps seeking a different bank, one with slightly less of a high profile, will benefit you in the future,” Mr. R said lightly. “Now, off I go. Things to do. People to talk to.”

He patted the enraged super on the shoulder then simply vanished, reinforcing the overwhelming power that Mr. R commanded. It simply reinforced that if a skyscraper being dropped on his head didn’t even so much as scuff his suit, there was little Retribution would be able to do.

This was completely unacceptable. Elysium Primary Bank was nearly a full quarter of his total sponsorships. With the amount he was making that was no insignificant amount of money. Once again that villain was costing him. Personally. And now Mr. R seemed to have some vested interest in the situation. The Director was, if anything, a highly intelligent and diligent individual. Retribution couldn’t underestimate him. However, he was no God.

“Fuck!” he yelled, smashing a newspaper box into crumpled metal. He needed a plan B. Maybe C and D as well. This wasn’t working so far, not in scope and not in speed. Sighing, Retribution decided to give in.

He would go talk with Death.