It was small.

  It fit nothing but a bed, a drawer, a nightstand, and a desk. That was all his so-called accommodation had to offer. This was what Tyler had been waking up in for the last two days of rest he’d been given. The man missed the four grand walls of his penthouse. He missed how his Pomeranians would run around as he schemed, planning which warehouse to steal goods from. The crimson-haired man let out a groan as he threw himself onto the bed, instantly regretting the action. The hardened mattress hit back hard.

  “Christ,” he spat, rolling onto his back and staring at the plain white ceiling. His prison cell had been better than this. Now that he thought about it, he’d just been transferred from one prison to another.

  He lifted his booted feet, stretched his legs, and stared at the ankle monitor. He could go nowhere but the training hall, Maisie’s Burgers, and if he wanted to go anywhere else, one of the heroes assigned to him had to escort him. His eyes drifted to the CCTV camera planted in the corner of the room above the entrance. Every move he made was being watched. When he dressed, when he ate, when he read, hell, even when he slept—it was all monitored.

  He wondered who sat behind the screen, watching everything. Would Professor Halo sit back with a bag of popcorn? Tyler laughed at the thought and got up from the bed. He needed to shower and grab some food. He needed fresh air. He’d been cooped up in here for too long.

  With a deep sigh, he grabbed the pale yellow towel draped over the wooden chair by his desk, along with shampoo and a pineapple-scented shower gel.

  It took him no longer than twenty minutes, and he was done. The young man returned to his room and threw on a fresh white T-shirt, a pair of black shorts, black socks, and his prison boots. With that, he was out the door.

  It wasn’t long before he reached the dormitory’s cafeteria. It was open, with a few heroes already seated at various rounded tables, chatting amongst themselves. Upon Tyler entering, however, the chatter died down, and the tension in the atmosphere grew denser.

  The blue-eyed man paid no attention to them, instead grabbing a plate and slapping a small piece of lasagna, some salted broccoli, and a small bowl of chocolate cake onto it. He made his way to a secluded table by the large windows and sat down, grabbing a fork from the utensil holder.

  From his peripheral vision, he spotted a large, bulky man dressed in a tight red jumpsuit and blue boots walking toward him. A star logo was carved into the chest of the suit. The dark-skinned man sat across from him, his locs bouncing as he did. Tyler paid him no mind and continued eating.

  The man then slammed his fist on the table, knocking the salt, pepper, and Tyler’s chocolate cake to the ground.

  “Do you wanna die?” Tyler asked lowly, his eyes burning with hatred.

  The hero growled and glared back at Tyler.

  “Are you threatening me?” he asked, which earned him a dry laugh from the fire user.

  “I’m just doing what you’re doing, bitch!” Tyler spat.

  The hero stood up, and so did his little friends.

  “Ooo, scary. I’m gonna be tag-teamed,” Tyler joked.

  The red-suited man didn’t seem impressed. Rather, his anger increased.

  “You don’t belong here,” he curtly spat.

  Tyler scoffed, stuffing his mouth with his cheesy dinner.

  “Tell me something I haven’t heard a million fucking times,” he spat right back, swallowing his food. “You heroes really need to work on your originalities.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Tyler then instinctively dodged the punch aimed at his head by sliding his chair back. The red-costumed superhero’s punch missed him and hit the ground, creating a massive crater.

  Beads of sweat appeared on Tyler’s forehead.

  Fucking hell. I almost died, he thought nervously.

  Before the hero could kick him in the waist, the temperature in the hall dropped.

  “Max Man, is there a problem?” Nephele’s voice rang across the cafeteria.

  Tyler looked up to see clouds floating in the air, raining snow. He opened his mouth like a little kid to catch the small white flakes. Max Man, on the other hand, straightened his posture and pushed his locs back, flashing Tyler a mean look. Tyler offered a lopsided, mocking grin in return.

  “Just giving our new guest a warm welcome. That’s all,” Max Man replied.

  Tyler and Nephele were now the only ones left behind. The two stared at each other for a moment before Nephele dispelled the clouds and left the cafeteria.

  “Odd,” Tyler mumbled.

  He then made his way back to the food stand and grabbed another bowl of chocolate cake and a spoon from the table Max Man had been seated at.

  ####

  Tyler’s eyes twitched. It was seven in the morning, and he was running on fumes. He’d had an impromptu midnight class covering the rundown of heroes and their classes—information he already knew. However, what had piqued his interest was how heroes climbed the ranks. They were given something called a system, and after each mission, they were awarded points. Each class had a set number of points required before a hero could join it. The whole thing felt convoluted to Tyler, but he had no room to argue.

  Back to the training session—Nephele was once again in charge. This exercise involved saving people from falling buildings. However, this time, Tyler would have to fight and rescue dummies at the same time.

  Exhausting.

  Still, the silver lining was the chance to go up against sweet ol’ Electria. The thought of beating down the blonde woman gave him a jolt of energy.

  His thoughts drifted toward the blue-haired girl. She’d known he was in the cafeteria and had been quick enough to stop Max Man from causing more damage. The far-off look she gave him confirmed his suspicions—Nephele had to be the one behind the camera in his room. Was her kindness a tactic to lower his guard? He inwardly groaned. He couldn’t think about this now. It was giving him a headache. All he had to focus on was getting through the training.

  Escaping this crap doesn’t seem like a possibility anymore, he thought bitterly.

  The session started quickly. Electria and Tyler immediately exchanged blows. A punch from Tyler connected with the side of her head; a kick from Electria landed square in his stomach. She then materialized into lightning and shot up the fake building. Tyler followed, flames lighting up his feet.

  Dino Man and Crow exchanged glances and nodded. They began hurling dummies off the roof.

  “Hold the fuck on!” Tyler shouted, eyes wide. The shadow of a dummy loomed over him before crashing into his face, nearly throwing him off balance. Swearing under his breath, he shoved the dummy away and continued his pursuit of Electria, who was already at the rooftop.

  Nephele furrowed her brows as more dummies crashed to the ground. She blew her whistle sharply.

  “Tyler Blaze, save the goddamn dummies!” she yelled.

  Tyler ignored her, focused solely on Electria. Once alone on the rooftop, he fired off a barrage of flaming bullets. Electria dodged gracefully and lunged forward, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. They were so focused on hurting each other, they completely ignored their surroundings.

  “Take this!” Electria screeched childishly.

  Tyler rolled his eyes. Her voice was starting to grate on his nerves.

  Before she could materialize, Tyler grabbed her head and smashed it into the rooftop. He’d figured out during their first encounter that she couldn’t transform into lightning while being physically touched. He didn’t know why, but he was grateful for the loophole.

  The wind was knocked from Electria’s lungs as blood trickled from her forehead. Cracks spidered across her goggles.

  Tyler didn’t know what came over him. Maybe it was the frustration of having to play nice, or being watched like a hawk all over again, or the looming threat of being thrown back into prison—but Tyler was done. He was angry.

  He continued to beat down on Electria, each strike causing her to cough blood. Then, he lifted her by the neck and walked to the edge of the rooftop.

  Electria choked out incoherent words as drool spilled from her mouth.

  Nephele looked up, horror striking her face as she saw her friend dangling from Tyler’s grip. She rushed upward on her clouds, while Dino Man and Crow leapt into action.

  The dinosaur hero transformed into a triceratops and slammed into Tyler’s side, forcing him to release Electria. She immediately turned to lightning, zipped to the ground, and collapsed back into her normal form, coughing violently.

  Above, Crow extended his black wings and flung steel feathers at Tyler. Nephele wrapped a dense cloud around his head, suffocating him. Within moments, Tyler lost consciousness and crumpled to the rooftop.