Chapter ten: Heroes and Villains

Roger entered Jump City early that morning. The city was buzzing with activity. It felt almost like home to him. The only real difference, was how clean the place was. No noticeable traces of crime existed. "This would be a nice place to live" Roger thought to himself, "but I have things to do first." He had little inclination as to how he was going to find these three, but not he had all the time in the world to do so.

Roger drove around for the next hour, taking in the sights and got himself acquainted with as much of the city as he could. He took particular note of the giant T off the coast. "Must be a tourist attraction." Once he felt comfortable, and consequently ran out of gas, he made his way to the darkest part of the city. In comparison to where he'd been living, this wasn't bad at all. Still, it was the best place to find the bad men he was searching for.

With the car empty of fuel it was no longer any use, so Roger simply left it along the street. He proceeded to walk along the streets, noting the populace and how happy they seemed to be. It made him feel peaceful. He remained focused however, even if he didn't know what to do next. He came to what looked to be some new buildings being placed in the middle of town. It was strange that new buildings went up in the center of town and not on the edge or outskirts, but it was happening and Roger paid it little mind.

The more he thought, the more he concluded he was now wasting his time. It was such a large city, how could he find three measly people? Whether it was the thought of how impossible his mission was or if it was the aura this city gave off, Roger decided to change gears and start establishing a home. He didn't know where to begin however, as he was now a wanted criminal and so couldn't legally get a home. He didn't have any money anyway so where to begin?

As he wandered, trying to come up with a plan, Roger came to the dockyard. He didn't realize where he was until the smell of fish and oil overtook his nostrils. He looked around here some more for a job offer or something to get him started, but no luck. All of a sudden, a large explosion went off near the end of the pier. Roger raced toward the fireball in the distance, if only to see what happened. When he got there, five teenagers wearing odd costumes were huddled around, watching the flames burn. Roger ran up to them to make sure they were alright.

"You ok?" Roger said panting as he came up to the teens, "Is anyone hurt?"

"Well looky what we have here, a good Samaritan. Lets show him what comes of being "good"." the small one said.

Before Roger knew what had happened, he was on his back a few feet away from where he was standing, unable to breathe. A few more voices could be heard in the distance. Then the clashing of metal and various explosions started going off. Roger tried his hardest to sit up and see what was going on. He watched as some new people shown up. A girl in purple was flying around throwing green balls around that were exploding. Another girl wearing a leotard was floating around, shrouded in black. A green animal thing that kept changing to various animals was rampaging. More was going on, but Roger couldn't focus well enough to see it.

When he came to, Roger ran up to the burning building, dodging the carnage that was going on around him. He grabbed a bit of fire, then put out the rest of the flames. From there, he turned around and created a massive explosion of flames between everyone, knocking them all back. Once everyone recovered, they all stared at Roger, who was now the center of attention.

"What the, who the heck are you?" the small kid from earlier demanded.

"Who are you with?" a boy in red yelled from the other side.

"I like him." a girl with pink hair said.

"Lets get out of here, we did our job." a man in yellow with a shield said.

"Right!" and the first five people Roger seen took off.

"Titans, stop them!" the red boy yelled.

The other four ran off, chasing the other group, while the red boy came up to Roger.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time I guess." Roger responded calmly.

The boy in red looked at the previously burning building, then back at Roger.

"Well, nice work on putting out the fire, but now the bad guys are getting away. I suggest you stay out of the way from now on before you get hurt." With that, the boy in red took off.

Roger turned around to be on his way. He wasn't sure what to make of what had just happened, but he tried to not let it bother him. When he turned around to start on his way again, he was face to face with, what can only be described as, a giant eye.

"Hey there!" the eye said, "Name's See-More, nice to meet ya!" See-More introduced himself and extended a hand. Roger took a few steps back and bumped into someone else. He turned to see the pink haired girl from earlier.

"Hey now, what's the rush? It's your lucky day." she said, "Our employer has taken a liking to your abilities and offers an audience with you."

"Oh really, who are you, and what kind of offer?" Roger said, debating whether it was a good idea to say no to these two or not.

"Oh, just some hired hands. All I can say about the offer is it pays well."

"Alright, well, what if I refuse?"

"Well then," See-More said, "You BECOME refuse."

Roger had since put out his flames and so had no way to defend himself. In any case, he needed money, so perhaps with was indeed a stroke of luck on his part. Although it felt more like a trap.

"Alright, take me to your leader." Roger replied.

Everything went black.

When sight returned to him, Roger was dazed and unable to see clearly. He took in his surroundings as best he could. Even as his vision cleared, it was still to dark in this room to get much detail. The only thing he could see clearly was what looked to be a throne. Upon the throne sat the silhouette of a man.

"Welcome to my home. I hear you're quite the Samaritan." the man on the throne said without moving a muscle. "You interrupted my plans and for that, you should be punished. However, seeing as you have some potential, I think you may be able to redeem yourself."

Roger tried hard as he could to see the man in front of him, but he seemed to be wearing dark clothing that made it nearly impossible to distinguish him from the surrounding shroud. The only noticeable feature was a bright orange potion of the mans head.

"I am willing to pay you handsomely of course. I may also be willing to forget about your, good deed."

"What do you want me to do?" Roger said. He didn't have much choice here, as if he said no he was sure to be killed. Besides, if he can get some easy money to start him off, all the better.

"First, you must show me what you can do."

Roger hesitated, he didn't see any flames anywhere. He reached in his pocket for his lighter but couldn't find it. It must have been taken from him when he was brought down here.

"Got a light?" he said as calmly as he could.

Almost without moving, the man on the throne through something to Roger. If not for a short shimmer of light that reflected off of the metal casing, Roger would never have caught it. He immediately lit it and put on a show.

After a moment, the man on the chair spoke, "Bravo, and good show. I think you could be very useful indeed."

"So what's your name?" Roger said without thinking.

"You will have my name when you deserve it. For now, you will follow these fine minions of mine and do as they say." the man said, almost threateningly.

As he spoke, the five people from before walked up behind Roger and looked at him menacingly. Roger wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into, but he had no other options.