Chapter four

The Raven had arrived. From what Renegade copied of him, seeing him from his apartment, his power was that of the manipulation of Dark Matter. Renegade knew his entire team would have to work together and fast to survive if they encountered him. The Raven, self named and self proclaimed ruler of the nation, was very powerful.

And so Renegade devised a plan to defeat the raven with minimal damage. And then scrapped it. Then he concocted another, more discreet plan. Then scrapped it. This process went on for some time. Renegade knew that he was more than powerful enough to take on The Raven. He also knew that it wouldn't be a coincidence that he had the same power Raven had, since in this universe only those related to each other have the same abilities. So he could either take the blame for an out of control family member, which he did not want, as it would throw shade not only on his character but also on his ability as the leader of his team.

Or he could reveal his power. This was problematic in that stage three would be compromised greatly. His greatest advantage was his secret power. To the outside world he was a genius, but that was the extent of their knowledge of him. No family, no friends, it was as if he popped into existence the day he established his hero agency. And renegade needed that secrecy in order for his surprise to actually work. He couldn't have his team knowing he had a power and didn't go into the field. If his team was suspicious, they may betray him faster than he could betray them. And Renegade knew all of this.

He also knew that unless he sacrificed his greatest team member, he couldn't win with his current team. If he did that, his fun in the betrayal would be lessened greatly. Yet he couldn't just make The Raven disappear, since that would raise more problems than most of the other solutions. The only solution was to activate a plan he had concocted a while ago for this very situation. He didn't like it, but it was the best he could do.

He had to create a golum. This golum would be imbued with the ability of speed twice as fast as blur. By the time Renegade finished building it, he had officially "hired" it. He went to the lower section of the building (the barracks were on the second floor, with hundreds of rooms for what Renegade wanted his final battle team size to be. All employees of the hero agency were to live up there.) his team was getting ready when he stopped them. "This is a battle that I have trained this man here for. His name is Golum. Sorry Blur, but he's twice as fast as you. This plan requires the greatest speed. Essentially, he will run The villain into the middle of the ocean and drop him. This villain is too powerful for us at our level." He patted the Golum on the back and it sped away before the team could object. They started yelling at him that they not only didn't know Golum, but they knew the reason Renegade hadn't used Blur in the first place.

"We're too far from the ocean! The villain will realize before he gets there, and he will kill him! You've sent this Golum on a suicide mission! Call him back and let's plan our next moves! With the combined powers-"

"STOP! This villain is far too powerful. I've heard of him before. He can manipulate dark matter. Golum knew the sacrifices he would make before I began training him. He knew what he was getting into. If we all charge at him, he'll blow the area to hell. If you two tag team, he'll destroy Golum and then you'll charge in for revenge and get killed too. I had to make this choice for us all! I am the one whose hands are stained with his blood, not you. So if you want to die halfway to the drop zone, that's fine by me. But we both know

You

Aren't

Fast

Enough."

Renegade gave this speech with a cold voice. He wasn't angry, not really, but he had to act that way in order to not only appear as if Golum was a real person, but also that he felt emotions. In reality, the only thing Renegade lost at this point was a bit of his teams trust and some sleep.

*BOOM*

The team all sat down in defeat. Hearing their opponents power, hearing that even their boss, the genius who had come up with countless unbeatable plans, forced to sacrifice so much, they knew they were out of their league. When they heard the explosion, tears were shed for the life they would never come to know. That night, the only one who could sleep soundly was Renegade.

***********************************************

Two months had passed. Renegades hero agency was finally officially recognized by the police as an agency of people with unnatural ability that could handle situations the police couldn't. This became obvious after the Raven incident. But then, they heard the familiar explosions, and Renegade was a little more than annoyed. So he decided this time he would try to use his team, and when they were almost defeated, he would use a power he picked up from a villain they fought a while back. This villain was called puppet master, with powers that came with the name. It was around this time that his agency had gained more members with better and worse powers. The new arrivals included Blast, able to channel wind with her hands, Ray, who could manipulate sunlight, and Graphline, who could see into the fourth dimension. Renegade used this ability very often not just to see, but to change reality using the fourth dimension. The science was wacc, but this isn't the time to explain. The Raven had returned.

Blur, who had received the worst guilt from the previous incident, had trained like hell for this day. As soon as they heard the explosions,TechnoBlitz was already viewing the scene. "This is bad. He's back! And now he's razed a 50 meter circle where the road was." Renegade already had a plan. "Ok, blur you're up first. Distract him while the rest of the team gets to the scene. Once they make it, run away. But when you are in his sight, never reveal your power. Only speed away once you are out of his sight. The rest of you, get into the cars now. We're going to have to put this man down. It's actually good that he made a clearing. You guys aren't as good in an enclosed environment."

Blur was at the scene in less than 2 minutes. It was chaos. People were running, but The Raven was throwing around dark matter like it was a hot potato. Something about this was very off putting to Blur. The Raven was almost unscathed, though from his experience, without a suit the speed of the slowest steedsper was enough to catch anyone on fire. Air friction was their greatest enemy, and the reason they ran in bursts rather than constantly. But something else was nagging at him as he stepped out from behind an overturned car.

"I see you're very powerful. Would you mind telling me why you are killing innocents and destroying lives?"

"I see you're either brave or foolish. I'm essentially god, so I'm lording my power over you weaklings, as is my right."

'Brave or foolish is so cliché it isn't even funny.' "So then how can we make you stop?"

"You must bow to me and serve my every whim! I am beginning a new era, one in which those of us with power will do whatever we want! Untouched from heroes like you and your association, untouched by the villains and theirs, completely different than what anything this universe has ever seen! My new laws will be followed and punished by death!"

"And what if we heroes stopped you?"

"You can try, but I'll have to end those who fight me."

*crrk* "blur, we're almost there. Start getting out."

"That seems egotistical, doesn't it?"

"If you can stop me, do so. Till then, I'll be as egotistical as I want!" And with that, he blasted at blur with a dose of dark energy. Blur, however, was smart. He used his speed to make time appear to slow, and when it almost hit him, he replaced himself with a brick, making the matter explode, and running away, faking his death. As he turned the corner, he saw the cars with the insignia of the Hero agency. He opened the door and got in.

"Blur, thanks for the help. What happened?"

After a quick rundown, Renegade nodded.

"That was actually really smart. This is perfect Blur. Now guys, here's the plan. We're going to End this fool here and now, and here's how."