Sunbeams over-spilled from the windows, lighting across the group of them as they lounged across the room, grazing on several bowls of popcorn.

It had been surprisingly easy to get all of them in the same room; maybe partially due to the fact that no one had intended it. Will had invited Ethan over, who had brought Magenta with him, who had only come because Ethan was her best friend, and had naturally brought Zach with her. Zach had been with Layla at the time of the invitation, so that brought her along too, and she invited Warren, who was a package deal with Abby. And so here they all were.

"This seat taken?" Layla asked, smiling hesitantly at Will.

He glanced up, mouth half full, popcorn spilling onto his shirt. Will blinked once. "Yeah." He said suddenly, jumping up as his brain turned back on, and he lurched to the right to make room for Layla. The other end of the couch popped up in the air briefly as Will landed heavily on the other side, but luckily fell back into place without injury. Thank goodness – Will's mom had been getting more than a bit annoyed with all the furniture damage attributed to Will and his dad.

Zach was sprawled on the couch, long legs propped on the table, and Magenta was leaning against him. Both were smiling.

"I guess we should feel honored. You two skipping out on graduation parties to hang with us."

"Eh, we didn't really like those people anyway." Abby said, shrugging. "Besides, it's kind of hard to party when you've got these things on you for the first time." She gestured to her side, where a new cell phone lay. There had been enough lying around Will's house for him to instantly recognize it – the standard super phone. The phone you had to abandon your civilian life to answer.

"Yeah, and anyways." Warren was continuing. "Boomer is notorious for breaking up those post-graduation parties with a barrage of first-time super calls. Like to unclog his toilet."

Yet another image Will wished to permanently erase from his mind. Zach had turned as green as Layla's shirt.

"But anyways, we don't have to worry about that here." Abby said, in an attempt to steer the conversation away.

"And anyways, everyone knows the good parties start next week."

Abby turned to stare at Warren. "Like you would know? You weren't even invited to any of them."

"But you were."

"And that changes something?"

"You have to take me as your plus one."

"Oh really? Says who?"

"I'm your partner now. It's your obligation."

"That obligation's getting a little cocky, don't you think?"

"The obligation just graduated. Give him a moment."

Will couldn't help but smile. He was finding it incredibly weird, his best friend graduating, going on to become a hero. A real hero. An adult. Woah, was he getting old. But it made it easier when they still acted so much like kids. He could almost pretend like nothing had changed.

He guessed he was going to have to start worrying about this kind of stuff one day. Soon. After all, he only had one more year of high school left before he had to head out into the real world and start saving it. But for now at least, he was more than content to hang back, just enjoying the time he had to spend with the people who made the world worth saving.

Good things come to those who wait. So they say, at least. Battle had done his waiting. Almost twenty years of it. And as he was still waiting for the windfall from his patience, he didn't see why others should have to suffer through the drudgery as well.

Really, one would have thought with twenty years, prison décor would have improved maybe minutely, Battle thought idly, propelling himself further upwards. But maybe he was just being too hard on them; he had been rather partial to his own maximum security prison.

Another thing one would have assumed they'd have improved – the security. But alas, no. Childs play.

It hardly even took a thought to eliminate the security cameras, and then with a flick of his fingers decided to take out the lights too for good measure. And that lockdown really worked against them when suddenly all of their security codes were overridden. Ah, the irony – imprisoned by their own chains.

Battle took a second to appreciate the poetic justice, which did a great deal to assuage his disappointment over this not being a challenge at all. He'd always had a strong appreciation of the arts.

But, time to get back to business. After all, someone had to take action in this town. Might as well get straight to the point then.

Electrical wires crackled to life, as Battle swung his arms up, launching forward and burning a hole through the supposedly impenetrable wall. He then set the wires loose, cackling madly down a path through the darkened corridors. Battle was assuming that as nothing else had changed, the route to the cells hadn't either.

They didn't keep him waiting. A few minutes passed before the first figure emerged. Several others soon became clear, following not far behind.

Battle obligingly sent a few more wires to tear up a slab of cement to serve as a platform, the wires then hauling it up to the hole turned exit, where the escapees silently boarded it before it was brought up to Battle's level.

They were silent as they came face to face for the first time. Battle was not displeased with what he saw – of course only the better super villains would have been able to take advantage of his escapades to escape. There was his old classmate, now Royal Pain, and of course, who could forget King Kamau Mayo. This would turn out very well indeed.

"Now let's see." Battle said, bringing the first smile to the group, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Who's in the mood for a little revenge?"

Yes, there's going to be a sequel.

If you've made it this far, thank you so much - I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Okay, that's pretty unlikely. But I do hope that you liked it, and again, thank you glancing at what my head spews out.