Several hours before the power user trials were set to begin, Joseph Kimball was brought aboard a plane by some of the sons of Purity. It was a small craft, barely fitting five people, and as Joseph sat down, he felt just a little claustrophobic. Before they took off, another man in the compartment took out a device and scanned Joseph’s bags.

“Is that really necessary, gentlemen?” asked Joseph.

“Standard security measure,” said the other man, looking at the screen on his device. “Change of clothing, teeth cleaning materials, deodorant, cell phone, and…what are those?”

“Uh…” said Joseph. “You’re probably picking up my DIY remote controlled car kit.”

The other man raised an eyebrow. “Remote controlled car kit?”

“Yeah,” said Joseph. “It’s a hobby of mine. Building my own remote controlled cars. I was told it might be a while before the trials began, so I brought something to entertain myself.”

The man looked back at the scanner skeptically, pressing a few buttons. After a moment, though, he appeared satisfied.

“Well,” he said. “Scanner says the parts are consistent with that, so I guess it’s okay.”

“Good,” said Joseph. “Good.”

He was glad they hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. This plane didn’t have any windows, which meant that Joseph wouldn’t even know where they were going.

###

Joseph was eventually led through an underground bunker, concrete walls on either side of him. The room he was given had a metal door that groaned when it opened. The room was bare, just more concrete walls and a mattress on the floor. Inside, Joseph unpacked his bags, including the remote control car kit he’d brought with him.

Joseph did, in fact, have a remote control car kit with him, and he understood the instructions well enough to put it together. However, he hadn’t brought it just as a hobby. Joseph had purchased another device, disassembled it, and mixed it in with the kit. Getting his screwdriver, he spent a few minutes gathering those pieces and putting this device back together.

When he was finished, Joseph had a complete emergency SOS locator beacon, which he’d purchased online. With this, if Joseph determined he couldn’t trust the Sons of Purity, he could signal a nearby Superhero for help.

Joseph took a deep breath, hoping that this was a good idea.

###

Patrick Powell strolled through the halls of the Hammerhead News Station with a big smile on his face. SteelStar had been captured by the Sons of Purity. Those power user hating terrorists were a menace, but maybe, just maybe, they’d done something good for a change. As he walked to the newsroom, his assistant Janet strolled up beside him.

“I’ve got the list of the other power users they’ve captured,” she said, handing him a folder.

Patrick took the folder and scanned through the names, humming thoughtfully.

“Blacksting and Beetle Brute,” he said. “One’s a supervillain, and the other is against the power user draft, so he might as well be. Green Angel? That’s a surprise. You’d think a pacifist would be the least threatening power user one could capture.”

“Yeah, I thought that one was strange too,” said Janet.

“Inferno Man? A member of the safeguard program. That’s a shame. That just leaves…Nosfeline.”

Patrick stopped. “Does she support the power user draft?”

“We don’t know, sir,” said Janet. “She doesn’t have a social media presence, and rarely does interviews.”

Patrick hummed, thinking it over. The assistant stood there, feeling uncomfortable.

“I hear she specializes in vampire hunting,” Janet offered.

“Okay,” said Patrick. “I’m sure we can say something in her favor.”

“You’re the boss,” said Janet.

Patrick nodded, and then walked forward, Janet following close behind.

###

SteelStar and the other superheroes watched as the Sons of Purity filed into the room. Soon a few more men brought in a tripod camera and a television set. At first, SteelStar raised an eyebrow, but then the television set turned on, revealing a courtroom filled with people jeering and shaking their fists. Where the defendant would sit, SteelStar could see a screen, and after a moment’s thought, he understood. They weren’t going to risk removing the power users from their cells, so they would be livestreamed to the courtroom.

At the judge’s seat sat Andrew Thornton, still wearing his sunglasses, gazing out at the room with a solemn expression. SteelStar wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. Wearing sunglasses in this scenario seemed odd, but otherwise Andrew seemed to be taking this very seriously.

As Thornton stood up, the men in the courtroom went silent, giving him their full attention.

“My friends!” cried Andrew. “Let this trial come to order! We are here to judge the actions of those who would abuse their power!”

SteelStar grimaced, and he could see the other power users in the room grimacing as well.

“Let their actions be weighed and measured!” shouted Andrew. “Let the weight of their sins be their downfall! Let them answer for their crimes with no powers to shield them from justice!”

The Sons of Purity cheered, and SteelStar clenched his fists angrily upon hearing it.

“First!” cried Andrew. “Inferno Man!”

The screen in the defendant’s chair was soon set up with Inferno Man’s face, scowling as he looked away. The crowd jeered upon seeing him, all except for Joseph Kimball, who felt just a little uncomfortable amid all this passion.

“Inferno Man,” said Andrew Thornton. “Two months ago, your actions resulted in a man’s house burning down. You are accused of Arson. How do you plead?”

“That was an accident,” said Inferno Man, rolling his eyes.

“How do you plead?” Andrew repeated.

“We paid the man,” said Inferno Man. “For crying out loud he got a house twice the price of…”

“I’m asking you how you plead.” said Andrew threateningly.

“Oh, go jump in a lake,” said Inferno Man dismissively.

Andrew Thornton gave a hint of a grin. “Poor choice of words, fire boy.”

Andrew pressed a button in front of him, and sprinklers above Inferno Man’s glass cage suddenly drenched him. The moment the water hit his skin, Inferno Man gasped, his arms flailing as he shouted, “Turn it off! Turn it off!” The crowd laughed, loving Inferno Man’s misery. Joseph, meanwhile, felt even more uncomfortable than before. SteelStar and the others watched with pity. SteelStar thought the guy was kind of a jerk, but this was still ridiculous.

The water ceased, and Inferno Man huddled up, shivering as water dripped from his body. “Are you crazy?! That was freezing!”

“How…do…you…plead?” asked Thornton.

“Alright! Alright! I plead Guilty!” Inferno Man shouted. “Is that what you want to hear?”

Andrew grinned. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

SteelStar watched Inferno Man shivering in his cage and grimaced. He wondered if it was a bad idea to plead guilty, but thought better of it. These people probably considered all of them guilty already. He doubted it really mattered in the long run.

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“Next,” said Andrew Thornton. “Green Angel.”

The defendant’s seat showed Green Angel, standing proud and stern.

“Green Angel,” said Thornton. “You have let countless criminal power users escape. Most recently the murderer Silver Snake slipped through your fingers. You could have stopped him easily by disabling his vehicle. Since his escape, he has killed four people. You are charged with the murder of those people. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty,” said Green Angel confidently.

The crowd of people booed, jeering at her and waving their fists. Green Angel didn’t even flinch, and SteelStar had to give her some respect.

“Silver Snake killed those people, not me,” Green Angel replied.

“But if you’d stopped him, those people would be alive,” said Andrew.

“He was out of my range,” said Green Angel. “I can’t control plants at a certain distance.”

“You were surrounded by about twenty unconscious henchmen with guns,” said Andrew. “I wouldn’t accuse you of being a good shot, but you had plenty of ammo at your disposal.”

“That would have killed him.”

“Which would have saved the lives of four innocent people,” Andrew leaned in, his tone serious. “You’re telling me you hold no responsibility for their deaths?”

“I cannot control the actions of others,” said Green Angel, defiant. “Only my own. If I had killed him, I’d be no better than him.”

The boos came quickly. Green Angel didn’t flinch, but this time SteelStar frowned. On this one, he thought that Thornton had a point. She could protest that she’d be no better than a supervillain if she killed, but Silver Snake’s four innocent victims would probably feel differently.

“Is that your final answer?” asked Andrew.

“It is,” said Green Angel. “Not Guilty.”

“Very well. Jury?”

The entire crowd, sans Joseph, shouted. “Guilty!”

The jeers of ‘guilty’ rang out, and once again Green Angel didn’t flinch. From the crowd, Joseph Kimball squirmed, trying not to be noticed. If he hadn’t been having second thoughts about this before, their behavior during this ‘trial’ was giving him second thoughts now. SteelStar, from his cage, grimaced. As he’d thought. As far as the Sons of Purity were concerned, the power users were already guilty. This wasn’t even a trial. It was purely a show.

“Moving on” said Thornton.

“Wait!” said Green Angel. “Please. There needn’t be any enmity between us.”

“Is that right?” asked Thornton skeptically.

“You may disapprove of my methods,” said Green Angel. “But I have committed no harm to you or any of your men, even after they attacked me. Please, I wish to stop dangerous power users from harming others just as much as you do. Surely, we can help each other do that. If any of your men are injured from recent fights, I’d be happy to tend to their wounds.”

SteelStar grimaced. She couldn’t possibly think that helping the people that captured them was a good idea, could she?

Andrew Thornton smirked. “And give you back your plants so you can use them against us? Do you really think we’d fall for that?”

“No,” said Green Angel. “I assure you…”

“Enough,” said Thornton, pressing a button on his desk. The feed from the defendant’s seat cut off immediately.

Green Angel looked frustrated, while SteelStar sighed. He wasn’t surprised they hadn’t believed her.

“Next,” said Andrew Thornton. “Beetle Brute and Blacksting.”

The camera was pointed at both of them, still immobilized in their cages. Beneath their chitin masks, it was impossible to tell what they were feeling. They just stared forward stoically, gripping the arm rests of their metal chairs with what little muscle they could control.

“So,” said Andrew Thornton. “Both of you have quite the careers. Blacksting has put no less than thirty three notable power users behind bars.”

SteelStar couldn’t help but note that he hadn’t mentioned the hundreds non power users Blacksting had put away. He doubted they’d even mention the crime bosses or mad scientists.

“I do my part to make the world a better place,” said Blacksting.

“Stuck up little goody two shoes,” muttered Beetle Brute.

“Shut it,” said Blacksting.

“And Beetle Brute,” said Thornton. “You’re kill list is as long as my arm. Quite a nasty character, aren’t you?”

“Why don’t you take these restraints off and see how nasty I can be?” growled Beetle Brute.

“Oh,” said Thornton. “That won’t be necessary. Your rap sheet speaks for itself. One would think that you and Blacksting here are polar opposites.” He leaned forward, grinning. “But we know better, don’t we?”

“What are you saying?” asked Blacksting.

“There’s a little town out in Mexico,” said Thornton. “Out in the middle of the desert. That town was thriving, until it was taken over by the supervillain Red Scorpion, or El Escorpión

Rojo, in your native tongue. That town was called Santa Cano, was it not?”

The crowd began jeering again, though SteelStar barely noticed. He just turned to Blacksting in surprise. He had no idea that Blacksting and Beetle Brute were from Mexico. He casually wondered how many other superheroes hid their nationality as well as their identity.

“How do you know about this?” Blacksting demanded.

“It wasn’t easy information to come by,” said Thornton. “But we finally tracked down where you to first emerged. Once we figured that out, it wasn’t hard to connect a scorpion supervillain to two other insect power users. Blacksting here didn’t start as a superhero, did he?”

“No!” the crowd cried enthusiastically.

“No,” said Thornton. “He and Beetle Brute started as Red Scorpion’s enforcers, recruited from the very village he took over!”

“That was a long time ago,” said Blacksting angrily. “I’m a different man than I was back then.”

“Yeah,” said Beetle Brute. “You lost your spine.”

“Cierra la boca por una vez!” shouted Blacksting.

Beetle Brute shouted back, and the two of the began arguing in Spanish. A part of SteelStar wanted to know what they were saying, but he didn’t dare ask. The Sons of Purity, meanwhile, began laughing out loud.

“Order!” shouted Andrew Thornton, smiling. “Order! Blacksting! You are accused of murdering and oppressing the people of your own village. How do you plead?”

“I am guilty of that,” said Blacksting. “I do not deny it.”

“And yet you never served time for the crimes you committed, did you?”

“Could I have captured those thirty supervillains from behind bars?” asked Blacksting defiantly.

Andrew stared for a moment, then smirked. “Fair point, power user. Fair point indeed.”

SteelStar sighed, exasperated. Andrew Thornton was clearly enjoying this.

###

After a few quick repairs, Goldarms returned to the bridge of the Iron Eagle where everyone else waited for him. As he entered and sat down, the eyes of Coppershot, Ironmind, and Goldshift turned to him, concerned. Only Silverwing didn’t look back, her attention focused on piloting the ship. Goldarms looked around, confused.

“What?” he asked.

“You did something reckless again,” said Coppershot.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Goldarms protested.

“Noted,” said Ironmind. “But Coppershot has expressed some concern that the risk was unnecessary.”

“Ironmind would have come up with a plan,” said Coppershot. “Probably came up with one in the meantime, didn’t you?”

Ironmind sighed. “I had one, but it was risky. We had to get the enemy ship in range of our working guns. It would have involved slamming on the breaks. A risky maneuver, but given the superior maneuverability of a Thraxian Striker, I couldn’t think of anything else in the time we had.”

“So, we had to take a risk anyway,” said Goldarms.

“Risks are a part of the job,” said Goldshift.

Coppershot grimaced. “You could have at least consulted Ironmind first. You know, our Captain? You can’t keep acting on your own like this.”

“Lay off him,” said Silverwing, scowling as she piloted. “He saved us, and besides, we were pressed for time. One wrong move, and that striker would have destroyed us.”

“Oh?” asked Coppershot. “Are you telling me that you, the great pilot Silverwing, would have made a wrong move?”

Silverwing hesitated. “I mean…no, I wouldn’t…”

“You would have gotten tired eventually,” said Goldshift.

“Yes…tired…” said Silverwing. “That will make anyone mess up.”

“The point is,” said Goldarms. “Drastic problems require drastic solutions.”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” said Coppershot. “These risks you’re taking are getting more and more extreme. It was you’re…”

Coppershot hesitated, and Goldarms raised an eyebrow.

“My what, Copper?”

Coppershot sighed. “It was your idea to go after Rage Rider.”

Goldarms stared at Coppershot and pursed his lips. Silverwing sighed in exasperation, Goldshift looked away uncomfortably, and Ironmind watched Goldarms thoughtfully. All of them were suddenly reminded of an army of men on rocket bikes shooting the Iron Eagle down with micro missiles. They’d barely escaped with their lives, and repairing the ship had taken weeks.

“You’re right,” said Goldarms. “That was my idea. We bit off more than we could chew, and our ship suffered as a result.”

Everyone remained silent for an uncomfortable moment, and then Coppershot took a deep breath.

“Carl,” she said. “I am grateful that you saved the ship. If I give you a hard time about taking risks, it’s because I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Goldarms looked down and laughed. “Funny. The reason I stepped outside the ship today is because I didn’t want to see the rest of you get hurt.”

Coppershot surprised, looked away. Goldshift kept looking away, and Silvering smiled affectionately. Ironmind considered everything, then made his decision.

“Goldarms,” said Ironmind. “From now on, when you have a plan, you relay it to the rest of us first. We’re a team, and every member needs to act like it. Other than that, good work out there.”

Goldarms saluted. “Aye aye, captain.”

Meanwhile, Coppershot looked down at the floor, lost in thought.

###

“I want to talk about your philosophy in life,” said Thornton as Blacksting’s face remained on the screen. “In many of your public appearances, you’ve stated that the best way to get stronger is to face greater and greater challenges.”

“I believe that with every fiber of my being,” said Blacksting defiantly.

“But you gained strength through your powers,” said Thornton. “Something you didn’t have to work for. Those powers were given to you and allow you to overcome challenges that are beyond the rest of us. Some might call it condescending to suggest that the key to getting stronger is through overcoming challenges.”

“Tell that to the Silent Wraith,” said Blacksting. “Or Cybergun, or Blue Boa. All superheroes that built their powers from the ground up through their own ingenuity. Not that you’d understand. You didn’t build any of the technology you used against us. You stole it from more men who had to work for their intelligence.”

The crowd booed loudly, shaking their fists in anger. Andrew Thornton just shook his head. Joseph Kimball was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. That sentiment from Blacksting had always been uplifting to him. This news about his past was shocking, but that did seem to be in the past.

“Of course you wouldn’t understand,” said Thornton. “Your power blinds you to the struggles the rest of us must face. Now you…”

Before Thornton could continue, a light flashed on the console in front of him. Andrew scowled as he pulled up a communicator.

“One moment,” he said, putting the communicator to his ear. “What is it?”

“Sir,” said someone on the other end. “Our advance forced was destroyed by the Fullmetal Force. They’re still heading this way.”

Andrew frowned, rubbing his chin. From their cages, the captured superheroes waited with bated breath and Thornton considered his position.

“Something has come to my attention,” said Thornton. “Court will recess until further notice. Don’t worry, my brothers, we’ll bring justice to these power users soon enough.”

From his cage, SteelStar sighed. By now, he just wanted to get this over with. He had a pretty good idea of how the Sons of Purity were going to treat him, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. Still, maybe now they’d have more time to plan some sort of escape.