Rose-Maker opened the double doors and walked into a dark room with minimal amber lighting, followed by Ven and Tamu. The floor beneath them gleamed like obsidian, polished to a mirror finish, echoing every step with solemn resonance.

  Ven’s eyes were widened as he took in the immense room before him. The Assembly chamber was risen like a sanctum. Semi-circular rows of high-backed thrones ascended toward the rear wall, each one carved with unique markings representing a hero’s legacy. Only five of the fifteen seats were occupied that day… but even that was overwhelming.

  On one of the five seats, he noticed Artico, the ice hero known for his serious demeanor and banter with his hot headed wife Ms. Pyra. Surprisingly, she was not there with him. Other Assembly members that were present during that time included Ironbox, Ashiko, Tundross, Sir Lumenblade, and him… the legendary Tala Wolf.

  The hero, Ironbox was an Alpinean man who was a pro boxer that had the power to turn his fist into real iron. He was the type to swing first and ask questions later. Ashiko was a speedster from Bahari that dressed herself in colorful clothing and exotic hair dyes. She was known to be one of the fastest heroes in the world. Tundross was a wildcard, as he never spoke at all. He only held his frost axe tightly, standing confidently. He had strange blue tattoos over one his eyes, and like Ironbox, he too was from Alpinea, but from the mountainside. Sir Lumenblade was an Aerilonian hero second in command to Tala Wolf. Although he was elderly, he could still wield his laser sword and shield efficiently.

  Ven was starring at all of those heroes in awe, and to his astonishment, they were all starring back at him. It was as if they were studying him… watching him. He gulped as he kept following Rose-Maker, her fragrant smelling hair hitting his nose once more. All of the heroes were still silent.

  “Welcome, Rejuvenator ,” a deep haunting voice said from above. Out of the fifteen chairs, he finally looked at the seat that was the highest. And that was when he noticed him. The Crimson Fang, Tala Wolf.

  Tala Wolf was from a nation that mastered the art of living alongside nature, as in they were making their hunter-gatherer ancestors proud. The nation was known as Zahntoka. It was far more west than the other nations. Zahntoka was still a world of many mysteries to most people. With his wolf based powers, Tala Wolf was the strongest known hero at that time. The elderly man was the last surviving member of the First Ten. The fang necklace, and furry cloak added to his aesthetic.

  “…Hello,” Ven said, taking a brief moment to compose himself.

  Rose-Maker gently put her hand on Ven’s shoulder in support, before sitting at one of the seats, now making six out of fifteen members seated.

  “So… you’re the one who defeated Con-Crush,” Tala Wolf said calmly, his hand leaning on his scarred face. “I have to say, I’m not impressed.”

  Ven flinched as his body was buffeted by the raining intensity. He did not know how he was supposed to react.

  “What should we do with him?” asked Sir Lumenblade. He was eyeing Ven as if he were some sort of ruthless villain… Maybe that was all they saw him as now.

  “I’m not dangerous guys, I swear,” said Ven, shaking nervously.

  “Really though?” Ashiko said, who was suddenly right in Ven’s face. He flinched as hard as a boxer bracing for a punch. He did not see Ashiko at all, just a second ago he saw her sitting in her throned seat. He was absolutely speechless; she was way more fast than Choi could ever dream. She was probably only about two inches away from him, her colorful highlights were even more visible.

  “Ashiko, that won’t be necessary. We are about to have a serious discussion. Please take your seat,” Tala Wolf said, fiercely but intimidating.

  “Good luck!” Ashiko chuckled to Ven, before suddenly re-appearing in her seat.

  Ven was now sweating profusely, he looked back at the doors, but they felt like they were several miles away now. He then glanced at Tamu, who was clearly mesmerized by the heroes before her. He gulped once more, he didn’t have a good feeling about all of this. He thought he would go to the Hero Brunch headquarters to ask for help, what kind of nightmare did he find himself in? No way he could ask for help with the terminal under these conditions.

  “So, your real name is Vendel Nguvu and you recently received your powers in the last Emergence,” began Tala Wolf. “A couple of days later, you defeated Con-Crush, a high ranking gang member. I have to say, this is concerning.”

  Ven fought through his fear in order to say something. He was almost shocked that they knew his true identity, “Uh… how is that concerning?”

  “That should be obvious!” Ironbox fussed. “You used your powers in public. That can take you to the Loft. You should know that!”

  Ven gasped when he heard the Loft. That place was notable for being a hellhole. People were known to come out of that place completely mentally destroyed.

  “The Loft? Maybe that’s taking it too far,” Rose-Maker uttered.

  “How is that too far!? We’ve sent people there for less! I’ll take him there myself,” said Ironbox.

  “Enough!” Tala Wolf said loudly. His intimidating aura making the potential argument end.

  “This is the law—using powers in public is already a violation, and actually fighting with them? That’s a second offense. Why should The Rejuvenator get a pass when we don’t give anyone else a pass? He is not special,” explained Sir Lumenblade.

  Oh… They brought me up here to arrest me. That makes sense.

  “Lumenblade is right. The law… our law states that Emergees cannot use their powers in public or risk being imprisoned. If you wanted to be a hero, you should have taken the test like everyone else.”

  “Are you guys going to arrest me?” Ven asked nervously.

  “You guys can’t do that!” inputted Tamu, worry written all over her face.

  Tala Wolf totally ignored his question. “Before and during the Emergee wars, many Emergees used their powers to completely change the landscape of our society,” he began with a deep voice that rumbled the entire area. “What should have been an exciting thing became a nightmare, when bodies were littered in the streets every night. This isn’t a comic book, this is reality, and when large amounts of people suddenly receive the power to destroy entire nations, you will have grave consequences. My dear home Zahntoka has virtually been destroyed. This is why it is illegal for one to use their abilities in public, as studies suggest that repeated use of abilities encourages people to cause even more havoc.”

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  Ven took a deep breath. It was time to plead his case. If they were really going to arrest him, then he had to make sure he got everything off his chest. “The thing is, I did not want to fight Con-Crush, I did it to save my friend here,” he said as he put his hand on Tamu’s head, who looked at him back in annoyance. “If I did nothing, she could have been hurt.”

  “It looks like she’s hurt now though,” counter-argued Tala Wolf.

  At that point, Ashiko and Ironbox could be heard softly chuckling.

  “I know… but it could have been worse. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. Con-Crush also abducted her sister so I had to save her.”

  “And you did it?” Tala Wolf asked.

  “Yeah, I did,” smirked Ven. “It felt good saving someone. I’m not trying to be a villain, I’m trying to be a hero. You don’t have to send me to the Loft or anything.”

  Sir Lumenblade interjected. “While it’s good that you were able to rescue someone, you still broke the law. You could have asked someone else for help. What you did is still highly illegal.”

  “I was in the bad part of town. Nobody would have came to help me,” said Ven as anger slowly began to stir up inside of him. Little by little, it was replacing his fear.

  “I do not care what you did with your powers, what I care about is you using your powers in public,” said Tala Wolf. “I do not know you, how do I know that you’re not a soon to be villain? Many villains have started out fighting against gang members like you did.”

  “A villain? What!?” Ven asked while almost gritting his teeth. He was still trying to keep his anger held into its can, but he was not sure how much longer he could do so.

  “C’mon guys,” Artico began. “I myself began my superhero journey fighting against villain gangs before I was a registered superhero. You should give The Rejuvenator a chance, he could be one of the greatest heroes ever.”

  “Artico… thanks,” Ven said softly in disbelief. He thought back to all the times that he watched him fight crime on television. He was never in his top three favorite heroes, but he was always an exciting person to watch. It was such a surreal feeling to be defended by such a celebrity.

  “And remember Artico, you yourself went to the Loft for that,” said Sir Lumenblade.

  “Oh yeah, I remember,” chuckled Ironbox. “Dude came out begging to talk to his mother, forgetting that she died a long time ago.”

  “That’s not funny Ironbox!” Rose-Maker said sternly.

  “It’s alright,” Artico smirked. “I’m in a much better place now.”

  “Man, you’re too nice. I bet your wife walks all over you,” Ashiko teased.

  Tala Wolf briefly stared at Artico before continuing. “Understand this Rejuvenator, Artico served his time just like everybody else. There were no special exceptions for him, and he ended up becoming one of the greatest heroes that ever lived. He’s on the Assembly for a reason.”

  “Man…” Ven said as he titled his head down. If they were really going to arrest him like Artico, then what could he do about it? He squinted his eyes in rage, he had to defend himself.

  “I just don’t get it. Why should anyone be penalized for saving someone? If someone has the power to do something good, but they don’t do it, then they’re no hero at all!”

  “I believe I’ve already explained to you why it’s illegal,” Tala Wolf said as anger rattled in his throat. “Like I said, this law is to protect civilians from potential villains. We do not know you so there is no way for us to know if you’re dangerous or not.”

  “Well this law is stupid,” yelled Ven, finally letting his anger slip through the cracks. “I’m glad I did something instead of letting my friends get wrecked by Con-Crush. He was villain, and he deserved what came to him.”

  This only irritated Tala Wolf to a degree that Ven did not want to witness. The wolf’s eyes turned as red as blood, as the intensity in the room began to swirl around like burning coal. The air thickened and sudden wind seemed to have appeared from no where as the behemoth rose from his immaculate seat. Ven felt like he was staring into the heart of a volcano—silent for now, but seconds away from a violent eruption. The lights began to flicker the more Tala Wolf glanced back at him.

  “You are no licensed hero, so we can do anything we want with you right now. We have authority over every hero in the world right now; anyone we don’t have authority over is the enemy. We are doing everything we can to defeat these villain gangs. Do you think that defeating Con-Crush makes you a hero? Do you not realize that I could have taken him out anytime I wanted?”

  Ven fought through his fear and forced himself to reply. “So why didn’t you!?”

  Tala Wolf turned his eyes back to their usual brown and calmly sat back down. The other heroes in the room took a deep breath after the immense pressure vanished.

  “You are not invincible… and neither am I. We are essentially still in the Emergee Wars, but we tell the public ‘everything is fine.’ There are many villain gangs out there, after the fall of Con-Crush, other villain gangs have been scrambling for Cinder Fang’s resources. We cannot stop this as quick as we would want to. Shall we send a thousand heroes to defeat every villain gang? For every hero we send, they send five more… we are vastly outnumbered. The power imbalance within the villain world has been more hectic than we thought it would be. Many heroes have lost their lives from this already.” Tala Fang’s expression was now riddled with sadness.

  Ven’s eyes blew up like a blimp. “So you’re saying it’s my fault?”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what he’s saying,” said Ironbox with an attitude. “Why do you think the other Assembly members aren’t here, they’re out there fixing the mess you made!”

  Tala Wolf spoke once more with melancholy eyes. “Some of these gangs are immensely powerful. They all have different goals and aspirations. Some of them want to return the world into a place where anyone can use their superpowers at anytime. They don’t care who they have to kill in order to achieve their goals. Not even I, with all my power can single-handedly defeat all of these villains. You defeated Con-Crush, but you are still weak. What this means is that your powers simply countered Con-Crush’s powers. Could you defeat a hero who can turn into a living phoenix? You probably can’t, but Con-Crush probably could with his abilities. His sludge could completely hold down the phoenix. The heroes Con-Crush killed simply had their abilities countered by him, as many heroes have also defeated Con-Crush. The Loft did him no good each time he went. ”

  “And he’s back there again, so maybe we should just kill him. Making us Baharians look bad,” sighed Ashiko.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” laughed Ironbox. “There’s a lot of people making us Alpineans look bad too.”

  “We are not barbarians!” fussed Sir Lumenblade. “The Loft shall suffice.”

  “Like that’s any better,” mocked Ironbox.

  After another round of brief silence, Ven spoke again. “So, what’s going to happen to me now? Are you going to send me to the Loft for saving a life?”

  The other heroes all looked at him silently, none of them barely moved an inch. This strange display only further irritated Ven.

  Finally, Sir Lumenblade replied. “Of course we’re sending you to the Loft, why wouldn’t we? We sent Artico there, and for you we shall do the same.”

  “Good luck in there man,” Ironbox said.

  “It’ll be over before you know it… hopefully,” said Ashiko.

  Ven eyed the floor as he tried not to let his rage explode. He understood their laws, but he still found them to be ridiculous. Their strict rules were so off-putting. He just couldn’t make any logical sense that the choice he made in defeating Con-Crush was the wrong one. Perhaps the Hero Brunch was just a den of pharisees.

  He then squeezed his eyelids to keep any potential tears from forming. Could he even survive the Loft? He had spent his entire sheltered existence sheltered from the outside world, so perhaps he was already acquainted with imprisonment. But still, the Loft was a whole other animal. The unfairness was too much for him to wrap his mind around.

  “C’mon, you can’t send a hero to the Loft. That’s stupid!” Inputted Tamu.

  “He’s not a registered hero,” said Sir Lumenblade.

  “So what! He’s still a hero!”

  “Give it a rest kid, there’s nothing you can do,” said Ironbox.

  “I’m sorry… Rejuvenator,” said Artico.

  At least his downcast face let Ven know that some heroes were actually logical. Rose-Maker also had a similar expression, while the other ‘heroes’ probably couldn’t care less.

  Suddenly, Tala Wolf dropped a massive revelation that would change everything in Ven’s entire superhero career.