Prologue

Disclaimer: I have no idea who owns it. I know I don't.

…

Baron Battle was sitting in the shadows of his cell, which was lit by a single flicker of orange flame, conjured seemingly from thin air, smouldering on his pointer fingers.

It wouldn't be long now.

He remembered the day he was captured like it was yesterday, not fifteen years before. His son, Warren, had been only one year old, and he had held his boy, his baby boy, in his arms for the very last time, and had told him that he loved him, he really did, and Daddy would be back soon, as he did every night before he went out to fight the forces of good without his wife finding out.

But that time, she had found out, as the Commander and Jetstream had caught him, lured him into a trap, and he had never seen Warren again. His wife, Su Ann, had made him sign the divorce papers from his cell, and then he was left alone in the dark cell, left alone with his light, and after fifteen years, he was finally going to step outside the cell in which he was imprisoned.

Not long now.

And sure enough, there was the hiss of the door, opening with excruciating slowness.

On the other side of the door was Royal Pain, also known as Gwen Grayson, armed with a Pacifier and freeze ray. They had teamed up: she was going to get him out, and in return, she was allowed to have a free reign over Sky High once he had gotten his son out. He was the only person able to get Sky High sealed off to the outside world, by the use of fire.

Royal Pain had managed to seduce one of the guards, and he had been her lap dog ever since. Tonight was the perfect night to strike, as it was Halloween, and all the free super villains all over the world would be playing up for the night of darkness. It was the most dreaded time of the year for heroes, because they never had enough people to go round.

Baron slipped out of the cell with catlike agility, not making a sound. Gwen was standing above the body of her 'boyfriend', and quickly passed him the pacifier, and together they moved toward the exit, freezing and pacifying any guards they saw. When they were finally out and away from the damned prison, Royal Pain turned to him, a wicked smile on her face.

"Never knew you were the fatherly type, Baron." She muttered, and Baron allowed a rare twitch of his lips to his younger companion, even though they were technically the same age.

"Neither did I."

Royal Pain's eyebrows drew together. "Then why-"

"I've missed his childhood once, I'm not missing it again." He answered curtly, not facing her.

"I wish I'd had a child." Baron turned to her, surprised. She continued "To have someone to love me devotedly, to know that you were their hero, and nobody else. To come home at the end of the day and have someone there waiting for you. My mother-" Royal Pain pressed her lips together, reluctant to say any more.

Baron nodded in understanding. Contrary to popular belief, people weren't born good or evil. They were born wailing babies with big blue eyes. People became what they were because of their genes, their friends, their natures, their nurtures. The things that happened to them, the people they met, and the direction they were pushed in by these people, deliberate or not.

Warren's mind had surely been poisoned by that bitch that used to be his wife, a 'hero', whatever that was. Maybe he had a girlfriend, or friends. Maybe, just maybe, he was a villain, but that was highly unlikely. Baron had never seen a photograph of his son.

The two Super Villains moved in companionable silence, until they were at the edge of the city. Both stared at it, hardly daring to believe the breeze was rushing along their faces, and the horns were actually beeping in a traffic jam, not just an illusion of the mind.

Baron turned to Royal Pain, and brought her hand up to his lips, in a chaste kiss, and she mock curtsied.

"When the Heroes are all weeping for their lost children, we shall meet again." Pain said with a flourish before she disappeared into the night, content to play the waiting game.

Baron Battle looked over the horizon, his eyes searching the dawn, just as the alarm of Warren Peace went off, over a mile away.