The basement access corridor was long and empty. I was expecting to at least hear some noise, but other than the sound of my footsteps the place was eerily quiet. It did not take long before I reached a large room.

The place was filled with pipes and machinery, as well as several wooden crates stacked on top of each other. An open door to the north led into another hallway deeper inside. I decided to check things out for a bit before moving on.

On the left wall was an old cargo elevator. It was empty. The lever was stuck in a downward position, which meant that this must be the lowest floor. The only way to go was up. On the other side of the room I saw another door, this one closed. I was halfway there when I caught something flittering behind me. I turned on my heel just quick enough to see a hand reaching out to me from nowhere.

I dodged to the side so it grabbed at nothing. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity shot from the floating, disembodied limb, leaving a smoking black spot where I had been standing just a few seconds ago before it disappeared into thin air. My heart sank. While this could be an Empowered, the much more likely possibility is....

"Show yourself, Mage!" I yelled, frantically trying to spot my invisible enemy. What was a mage doing here? Was he hired as a guard or lookout? This was bad.

I felt something poking me softly in the side. Before I had time to react a massive wave of pressure catapulted me backward, right inside the cargo elevator. I scrambled back onto my feet, ready to start punching the empty space around me when something touched my arm. I looked down and saw that someone had hooked a little chain around it, at the end of which hung a small stone talisman.

I tried reaching down to remove it but to my mounting horror, I found myself unable to move my arm. Without warning, the mage dispelled his invisibility and appeared before me in all his glory.

He looked like an average guy. No different than any of the goons we had seen in Helios' photographs.

"This is an incomplete Seal of Movement. As long as that chain is around your arm, you won't be able to move a muscle." He scratched his chin. "Well, mostly. I guess your head is fine. I'm not that good at Sealcraft."

I confirmed for myself that I could still freely move my head while he took out a cigarette and lit it with his finger. I was about to ask what he planned to do with me now when the door on the other side of the room opened. My jaw dropped when I saw the person who was emerging for it.

Clad in his reinforced gray robe was the head of the organization that had occupied this factory. The Powerbreaker. His outfit was heavy and unwieldy, but that was because he wasn't a combat kind-of guy. Back when he was a hero, he was mostly an advisor. Secondary support. That is not to say his power wasn't useful, it definitely was, just not for combat or rescue.

He had the ability to tell at a glance how far someone else's power was developed, how far its potential could reach, and exactly what to do to evolve or strengthen it. He was solely responsible for the great spike in power heroes went through in his heyday, as he personally helped many prominent capes to unlock their full potential. Even The One wouldn't be half of what he was now without him.

"Surprised to see me, Satori?" he said, enjoying this situation immensely.

"Repulsed, more like. Have you looked in the mirror lately?" I quipped, trying to hide my nerves. This had the potential to go very very wrong.

The Powerbreaker laughed and gave me a little clap. "Believe me, you looking at me isn't even halfway as painful as me looking at you. There is so much wasted potential in you. Luckily for you, I aim to remedy that. For both our sakes."

My face moved into a grin despite the situation. "Whatever it is you were planning, you're done now. You should've stayed in your hideout writing your speeches instead of risking it all and coming yourself. Now that The One is here you are going to be locked up before sundown."

The old man chuckled slightly and shook his head. "Au contraire, my dear. So far everything has been going swimmingly. You think I'm standing with my back against the wall, but to tell you the truth, this is exactly how I wanted it to go."

My face fell. "What do you mean?"

"I have prepared for this day for a while. I was sure things were going to go off-track and I would have to adapt on the fly, but no....Everything went how it was supposed to. To the smallest detail."

I raised my eyebrow. "You didn't answer my question."

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Now he let out a genuine laugh. "Do I really have to? You do understand that you're not in the position to demand anything, not even that I explain myself. But that is the nature of heroes I suppose. So cocksure." He waved his hand toward me. "Rich, mute her. Let us wait for her boss in silence. If everything goes well, he shouldn't be much longer."

I whipped my head toward the mage beside me, who placed his cigarette into the air where it continued hovering as he approached me, lifted his hand, and gently placed a finger on my neck. I made it halfway through "What do you think you're doing?!" before I heard my voice rapidly lower in volume and it disappeared completely.

Once he was done he leaned back into the corner of the elevator and resumed smoking. I turned back to the Powerbreaker who had taken out his phone. I tried moving again, struggling as hard as humanly possible just to lift one of my legs, but to no avail. All I could do was wait.

I did not have to wait for long. It only took a few minutes before a gleam of white light became visible down the corridor leading deeper into the factory. To my chagrin, both of the bastards present noticed it as well and went to prepare.

The mage flicked his cigarette away, which immediately burst into flame and disappeared and stood next to me. He placed his hands together as if about to pray before moving one into the elevator doorway. After a few seconds, his hand released a sickly green wave that expanded quickly, not only covering the entrance but spreading around the entire interior of the elevator.

Magic was a bit of a knowledge gap for me, so I had no idea what exactly he had done, but It couldn't have been good news for me. The Powerbreaker on the other hand simply stood up and walked until he was right in front of us, on the outside of the green film.

He had barely managed to finish his Trott when the light intensified and filled the room with a flash. When it receded, Ray stood in the very middle of the chamber, looking no worse for wear, even his hair was still in perfect condition. His eyes widened a bit when he saw who was actually down there.

"Herman. I have to say, I didn't expect to see you here. Are you finally ready to turn yourself in? Because that would...." He drifted off when he realized who stood behind the infamous villain. His calm composure shattered instantly. "Satori! What have you done to her?" He shoved the Powerbreaker to the side and reached for me but as soon as his hand touched the green film it met resistance. "Magic? Let her go!" He gave the barrier a solid punch, but it did nothing. Next, he lifted his arm and turned it into light. The glowing appendage did pass through the barrier, but that was it. "I...I can't rematerialize...why?!" He pulled his arm back out and it immediately reconstituted itself.

"Don't bother, Ray. Nothing can breach it. That's why I had it put up." The Powerbreaker moved back in front of The One. "I'm sure you want your comrade back in one piece. I'm willing to negotiate."

Ray crossed his arms. "What do I have to do for you to release her? Let you and your cronies go?"

The villain chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, you misunderstand. I'm not willing to negotiate for her. I'm willing to negotiate for you." This caught both me and Ray off-guard.

He unfurled his arms. "What do you mean?"

"Does the name 'Sunny Mills Village' ring a bell?" I had heard of Sunny Mills. It was a tiny rural community in Texas that had suddenly disappeared one day. I remembered discussing it in between classes in middle school. It was a cold case a long while back. To my surprise, Ray immediately went pale.

"I don't..."

"I'm not done yet. If Sunny Mills doesn't ring a bell, how about Mt. Algernon? The Happy Hills Family Tour? Or maybe...."

"Enough!" Ray yelled suddenly. His eyes were glowing a furious white. It was almost painful to look directly at him. Millions of thoughts rushed through my head. What the fuck was even happening right now? "How do you know about this?"

.

The Powerbreaker smiled. "I'm not the kind of guy who rats out his sources. But what I can say is that it wasn't easy to gather all this information. And I even have proof. Here." He threw his phone in the air which was immediately snatched up by a beam of light. He continued talking as Ray went through its contents. "These photos are pretty damning. I also have some videos and official documents stashed in a safe place. Not just for you either. Most of your crew has a surprising amount of skeletons buried deep in their closets."

The One moved his arm with lightning speed and shattered the phone on the floor. A quiet "Rude." escaped the Powerbreaker's lips.

"Let me guess. If you get arrested or give the order then all of this will go public?" A shudder ran down my back. Ray's voice had lost even the smallest hint of emotion. It was rough and harsh. I'd never heard him like this before.

"You know me so well, Daylighter. I liked that name much better, by the way."

"Cut the crap. What do you want?"

The Powerbreaker gave a signal and the mage dispelled the barrier. The green wave receded back into his hand as he stepped back to make room for his boss. "It's simple. I have rigged this facility to blow. When I give the order the 3-minute countdown will begin. Just go and tell your friends that we plan to detonate the factory. Let my comrades escape in the chaos. Let us leave."

Ray looked at him, face devoid of expression. "What about Satori?"

"Leave her with us." My heart almost stopped. I looked at the Powerbreaker, whose eyes were locked on me. His gleeful expression sent shivers down my spine. "I promise we'll take good care of her."

"If you kidnap one of the country's top heroes your apprehension will be priority number one for a lot of people. Can you afford that?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. We left two corpses in one of the crates here, one of which we put in a, dare I compliment myself, remarkably well-crafted replica of her costume. Tell them she died trying to save one of us. That she died a hero. Isn't that nice?"

I looked at Ray. My heart was beating five times as fast as it should. He looked me in the eyes for what felt like an eternity. Before he finally answered.

"Sure. She knows too much now anyway. Are we done here then?"

My world stood still. This wasn't happening. The mage must've created an illusion of Ray. The real one was still up top, taking down the Society and coming down to rescue me. This was a false reality. It had to be. I was so lost in my delirious coping that I blocked out the world around me.

When I came to my senses I noticed that the elevator was moving. But not up, like I expected, but down. I refocused on my captor who was just finishing relaying a message to someone via his wristwatch. "....he countdown." was all I heard before he turned toward me.

"Rich, make our guest go to sleep, please. I want her to be fresh and fit when we arrive at the base." I felt a hand being placed on my back. The last thing I heard was "We are going to have so much fun together. I have big plans for you. Try not to disappoint me." before my consciousness faded away.

----------------------

Present Day

I awoke with a start, sweat pouring down my body. I fumbled around the bed until I found my phone and turned it on for some much-needed light. I pointed it in the direction of the other bed in the room. Jess was still asleep. I took a deep breath and checked my messages. Nothing. For now. With a sigh, I put the phone down and stared at the ceiling.

If I did nothing all day I knew I would wallow in my misery. I always did when I had that dream. I needed to distract myself.

I had just done a run, but maybe....maybe I should do another. A more low-profile one. Yes. Maybe I should just offer my services for hire. There should be plenty of other villains who could use a Power like mine.

Making sure not to wake Jess I snuck out of our room.

I stretched my arms when the cold morning wind hit my face. With a yawn I started walking. Time to pay a visit to the nearest BHF office. Let's go find some work.