When I came to, I was sitting in a rather comfortable chair in a well appointed office-like room. Taking a bewildered look around, I noticed that there were no windows, which suggested we might be underground.

How predictable, I thought sarcastically. For surely, this was a Villain lair.

Though my first instinct had been fear at passing out and waking up in an unfamiliar place, that fear was quickly being replaced by anger, as it tended to be with me. Did I have some sort of Super and Villain lure on me that I didn't know about?

Across the desk from me as if we were in a business meeting was the Gareth lookalike, flanked by a Villain I recognised as Electron, and a female Villain I'd never seen before. Behind me, blocking the door was none other than Dopey. Sonic, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen. I didn't relish the thought of hearing her terrible scream ever again.

I glared at them all. "You have a lot of nerve, Gareth, or whoever you are. Where the hell am I? Obviously underground, because you lot have no imagination."

He smiled, spreading his hands apologetically. "My name is not Gareth, though I can see how you might think it is. I am sorry for all of the subterfuge. I do understand that you're a bit ... difficult ... but really, we mean you no harm. I'm sure you're aware that we'd prefer nobody know our location until we know that they can be trusted."

I snorted. "Of course. Now, what do you want? Spit it out."

The woman in red laughed. "She's got a temper."

"Well, Poison, do you blame her?" the man asked, with a chuckle that I didn't find pleasant at all. "I'm sorry that we had to use Poison to render you unconscious, but what we really have for you is more of a ... business proposition."

Poison winked at me, and blew out a little red cloud. That explained the dusty feeling. I made a mental note to stay away from her.

I focussed my glare back on 'Not Gareth'. "Why would you have any kind of proposition for me? You know nothing about me."

His smile widened. "Oh, Kenna, but we do. I know exactly who you are and I'll tell you right now that it would be very useful for us if you were to join our efforts. It's unfortunate that we had to get off on the wrong foot like this, but our other efforts to contact you have failed, so we got a little more proactive." He pulled out a black folder and flipped through a few pages for my benefit, where I could clearly see my name and some information written below it. It looked suspiciously like the file I knew that the Supers had on me.

My fury intensified. "I don't know how you got that, and to say I don't appreciate it is an understatement. I presume you'll have seen in there that I have no interest in getting involved in this world, and I suppose that's where you've learned that I'm 'difficult.' Let me tell you a few things in no uncertain terms. First, if you think that just because I'm not interested in joining the Supers I'll be interested in joining whatever nefarious scheme you've cooked up, then you really do know nothing about me. Second, if you don't back off and let me leave right now, you'll find out just how difficult I can be." There was no point in mincing words; they obviously knew what I could do from the file.

I stood up, letting the chair scrape back loudly. I noticed Electron flinch a little beside the Man.

The Man motioned to Electron. "I'm sorry to do this, Kenna, but I really must insist that you do reconsider and stay to hear us out. As you were present at the museum the other night, you'll know that we failed in our objective of securing the amulet. Your talents would be enormously helpful to us in this. Since you insist on being 'difficult,' as you say, Electron will have to make sure that you don't leave quite yet."

"Sorry," Electron mumbled, and I saw the now familiar green glow begin in his hands and eyes. The mist spread out, and like last time, was strangely repelled by me. I moved its energy out of the way, loathe to show my hand but too ready to get out of there to care.

I crossed my arms and laughed mirthlessly. "Coercion; so charming. I'm still not in the mood." I stepped forward, noticing the shock on Electron's masked face, and concentrated on the Man in front of me. He lifted in the air a little and flew back into the wall, not forcefully enough to hurt much, but enough to keep him pinned there. "Now, whatever your name is, it's time to let me go. Do I make myself clear?"

Poison started forward but instantly whirled back as if she'd been struck by wind. Electron didn't move, watching me warily from where he stood. I knew that Dopey was somewhere behind me but wasn't sure how much damage he could actually do, since his main ability seemed to be jumping.

Despite this, I was rusty and had never actually learned how to fight since I'd taken no training, so I didn't know how long I could keep moving them around and holding them back. I also didn't know how many other Villains there were lurking about here. If I could just get out the door, I figured I could pull my way through space and avoid most of them to find my way out.

Fortunately, the Man didn't seem inclined to put up a fight. "Electron, you're becoming less and less useful to me," he said cryptically, before fixing that creepily pleasant smile back on me. "Of course, you've made yourself clear, Kenna. Clearly you need some time to think about things. Calm down, and we'll take you back home. Stand down, everyone. If you'll just release me from these very impressive bonds, Jumper will teleport you out of here."

I looked at him suspiciously. "How do I know you're telling the truth, or that Do-Jumper will take me home safely?"

"I'm afraid you don't, but you'll have to believe that I don't wish to harm you, and I simply hope you'll think about what we've told you tonight. You are too potentially useful to us."

Slowly, reluctantly, I let him drift back to the ground, still keeping my senses on high alert. True to his word, however, he motioned Dopey forward. "That was quite exhilarating, Kenna. Poison, if you'll return her cellphone to her I would be much obliged." It was a little unnerving how unflappable he was.

Poison stepped forward and I tensed. "Don't even think about trying it," I muttered.

She grinned, revealing white, slightly sharp teeth. "Easy, tiger."

Her extended hand held out my phone, as promised. I took it and stuffed it in my pocket.

Jumper stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. He looked nervous, which gave me a sense of satisfaction.

"Goodbye, Kenna. Thanks for dropping in. I hope we'll be seeing you soon," The Man said pleasantly. "Oh, and my name is Morgan. I know you were curious."

"Get bent, Morgan," I growled, as the room started to melt away with a jolt in my stomach.

The last thing I heard was him laugh before I found myself back outside the apartment.

"Thanks for the ride," I said sarcastically to Dopey. "Now get lost, twerp."

"Yup," he answered hurriedly, and then he disappeared.

Wondering what on Earth had just happened to me, I glanced down and saw I had a couple of missed calls from Seb. I'd forgotten to leave a note of my own for him and he must be seriously wondering where I'd gone.

"Kenna!" He practically shouted when I came through the door wearily. "Where have you been, and why weren't you answering your phone? I was seriously about to round up some Supers."

"Funny you should mention that. Maybe you should sit down, because I'm about to say something I never thought I ever would, and you probably never thought you'd hear it." I took a deep breath and forced the reluctant words out. "I need to talk to Gareth."

*****

A/N: Those Villains and their silly lairs. A shorter chapter today, but one that starts a whole new web spinning. Anybody have any guesses about what's going on? Who is this guy? Obviously nobody told him that kidnapping does not a business meeting make.

My sincerest gratitude to anyone reading/voting and leaving me their thoughts! It brightens my day just so much!