It was hard not to gloat, sometimes, when you knew that you were about to absolutely and completely decimate someone that had gone through all the trouble of fighting you. That extra rise in your chest, tilt to your head, and the urge to make every exhalation a condescending admission that you�re forced to share the same air as someone else. It�s hard not to be a stereotypical bad guy when you�re getting away with it, completely, and in the slickest style since Connery was Bond.

These were all things that Jason Havern was counting on right now, the pulp beaten out of him and his best friend being tortured not six feet away. His arms were more than useless, they were causing a distracting amount of pain, and the thick manacles that bound his hands meant that he couldn�t move them even if they weren�t broken.

�Oh come on, it�s not like it�ll matter in the long run my friends,� their captor spoke calmly, pretending to yawn in order to hide a Cheshire-worthy grin, �I�m going to put bullets into your respective heads in less than five minutes anyway. All I want is the name of the person that gave you this address, and a location where I can find your little friend.�

There was a pause, during which Jason coughed up more blood, but Dr. Shocking just smiled out of what was left of the right side of her face. She tried to speak, no doubt to say something brave and witty, but her lungs had likely been slightly damaged from inhaling too much heat off the torture implements and all she did was cough.

�Fucking superheroes,� the Daimyo, motioning the torturer to continue, muttered, �Always making everything so hard, never thinking of how their useless gestures affect those around them.�

He stood, walking slowly over to Jason and shaking his head as he looked down on the supposed muscle and tactical arm of the little group.

�I have a dominion, a responsibility to those under me, children to feed, and the name of a great family to live up to, but you have to disrupt all that just so you can sleep better at night,� the renewed screams of pain from the woman on the table didn�t even garner a hint of interest as he examined the man broken before him, �How does one grow so foolish? So arrogant? You were strong, but did you really expect that I would not have stronger?�

Showing real interest now, he knelt down to better see this specimen of creature so rarely gathered into captivity alive, and Jason gathered deep breaths. It wouldn�t be long now, even if every second on this floor felt like an eternity, every moment he couldn�t beat the tar out of this criminal a moment in what could only be described as hell.

�She,� the Daimyo continued, motioning vaguely to the Doctor on the table, squirming under the knife, �Was smart � and I stress was� we�ll take extra care to turn her into a whimpering idiot before we actually put her down � but without her ridiculous technology she is just a woman, and women are weak. This last friend of yours � the man who can fly? � he is fast, but can he outrun death? My connections, they will find him, and he cannot out fly a bullet. What good are any of you, now?�

He watched Jason intently, as if the mere act of throwing these questions at the man would produce answers, and after a moment of doing so seemed to feel that he�d gotten the aresults desired. Standing, he motioned another servant to come forward, nodding in approval as the man produced a hand-gun and looked for some sort of instruction.

The gun barrel was to Jason�s temple before he managed to gather the strength for a response. No trigger was pulled as he gasped and shifted so that he could look at the man who would command his death.

�Have you ever thought about what you would do, if you could fly?� he asked, blood splattering out onto his lips as he did so, eyes hardened into diamond-like points. The tall Asian man considered a moment, shrugging with a smirk as he dismissed the question, enjoying the ability to grant silly last speeches like this one.

�Not really, no; it is such a weak ability when compared to the others that some wield, I have never given it a second thought,� he looked with pity on the fool there before him, who had squandered gifts that any of his men would die to gain for their Daimyo had such a thing been possible, �Why do you ask?�

�Because,� Jason said, grimacing in a mask of absolute pain as he struggled to sit back against the wall, his arms bent at an unnatural angle while he breathed deeply in an effort to calm himself, �What does a person whose only power is flight� do? Everyone else� has the power to fly� and something else. How would� someone like that spend� their hours?�

The Daimyo was unnerved to see a glimmer of hope flash in his captive�s eyes, and was tempted to have the man shot immediately, but suddenly the conversation was becoming worthy of dramatic license and curiosity won out over caution. Patiently, as he was in all things, the man that might be called a villain let the speaker continue through wracking and bloody coughs.

�What does he do? I imagine he spends his time practicing flying, speed and control or some such thing. Is this an attempt to make me afraid of your friend who has escaped? Is his skill at flight of a particularly impressive magnitude?�

�Not really,� Jason said, forcing a small smile now with all the strength he had left. It was important that he smile now, dreadfully important for some incomprehensible reason that no one understood but everyone accepted in these sorts of situations, no matter what it cost him, �Because Samson doesn�t spend all of his� time practicing flight� he...�

The large man broke there, gasping for breath and feeling burning tears slide over his cheeks, trying to breathe through the blood that was slowly filling his lungs. The Daimyo waited, impatient, and was about to have him killed if only to finish the whole business while it could still be done easily when another voice continued the thought.

��spends all of his time thinking of new ways to use flight,� finished a man crouched four feet in the air, beside the torturer�s table. He was plain enough, American to all appearances, and was glaring at the two standing men with an intense hatred in his eyes. He was also holding the dead body of the torturer by the head, which was twisted sharply to the side, with both hands.

The body fell to the floor and the room stayed absolutely still for just a moment. One moment alone, as the Daimyo struggled with the words that had leapt angrily into his throat.

�Kill him! Now!� he shouted, meaning the captured fool as much as the floating one, face red in rage. How dare they attempt to place him in the role of some second-rate serial character! It was his duty, his honor-preserving right by birth, to triumph once more and show the idiots of the world how reality operated under the loving touch of one who knew how to use it. This wasn't how the real world was going to work, and he'd sacrifice every man at his command to make that clear!

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the spell was broken and the gun was raised expertly to the level of the intruder�s heart, a motion that the well-trained bodyguard knew better than the curves of his own signature, and faltered only when the target area began to rise faster than the gun. There was a shot, sounding dully in the mostly empty room.

He had missed, when his master had clearly not allowed any room for mistake in his orders. Cursing his foolishness for not taking his opponents skills into consideration, the man focused his aim and led the target carefully.

It was unfortunate, however, that no amount of mundane training will prepare a man for a target that does not move like a target. Samson let gravity take hold of him for just a moment, dropping three feet before landing on solid nothing, and rolling forward with a solid swipe at the gunman�s windpipe. Not waiting to see whether the stunning blow had worked, he leapt from his crouch, spun into a kick that swept across the man�s jaw in a wave of focused kinetic damage, and landed with his feet at eye level of those still able to stand.

There was a pause as the guard�s neck snapped to the side with a shattering crack, and Samson grinned dangerously down at the shocked Daimyo as his only remaining lackey within one hundred yards dropped with a thud.

�I happen to find the ability to fly quite liberating,� he said with only a minor beat to his breath, �Now, you can surrender yourself to my care, trusting in myself and my comrades to follow only the strictest of legal practices during your apprehension, or��

He couldn't help but chuckle as the single greatest supplier of cocaine in the eastern hemisphere, with well-endowed claims towards the western title, made a desperate leap for the door. At Samson�s level, the kick that followed wasn�t all that different than ones he�d made in soccer for ten years of his childhood.

Thump.

Turning to his friends he carefully attempted to free Jason�s arms first, wincing a bit as his strong friend whimpered in pain with almost every move he made. Shaking his head at offered help, the team�s leader motioned towards the table that held their third partner, who lay with chilling stillness in this new silence.

�She�s still breathing!� Samson exclaimed with a relieved grin after a tense moment with his ear hovering fitfully near her motionless lips, watching his other friend struggle to his feet in blood-stained black fatigues.

�Good,� Jason said quietly, glad in his heart but attempting to concentrate for what he was about to do. There were two loud cracks, followed immediately by groaning screams of pain that were halted only by a firm bite of his own tongue.

�I�ll carry the Daimyo over my shoulders,� he said, trying to keep breathing against the tides of darkness attempting to invade the edges of his vision, �If you�ll carry her.�

It wasn�t easy being a God damned �super hero,� Samson mused as he gently removed his friend from her restraints, hoping with all his heart to get her to the hospital in time, but it was even harder being a criminal when Jason Havern wanted you stopped. Why the fools kept wasting their time and his, Samson would never know.