If pressured to be honest, this was not how Alfred had pictured his demise would eminently transpire. He could envision tomorrow's newspaper headlines around the world, mourning the loss of their savior and hero, Eagle of Freedom (Alfred's superhero name). He was currently bounded in the middle of some sort of underground room, with stadium-like seating containing countless villains he had fought over the years. Even though he hailed from America, his duty rested with protecting ALL countries from harm, and coincidentally, there was at least one major villain from each country which meant the Eagle of Freedom had spent a lot of his time saving people all over the world.

He struggled once again with the heavy cuffs around his wrists and ankles, but the cuffs were made of the toughest minerals and materials that even the world's renowned superhero could not break free with his super strength or manage to fly away. He was in an upright position, his ankle cuffs shackled to the floor and his wrist cuffs suspended high into the ceiling; he hung his head in utter shame. This was the first time he had ever been captured by these villains, the only time he ever lost. In the end, it had been the notorious Bad Touch Trio that had captured him, consisting of 'Awesomest Evil' (some psycho with white hair and red eyes), 'The Tomato Crusader' (some weird always-happy Spanish guy), and 'French Assassin' (a not very modest French man).

Awesomest Evil was currently giving some type of proud victory speech to the surrounding villains and villainesses, claiming that "their time has come" and "now that the hero is out of the way, they'll band together to wreak havoc throughout the world" and blah blah blah. Alfred had stopped listening after a while, too caught up in his paranoia and despair. What would happen to all the innocent people of the world without their hero to rescue them?

The Eagle of Freedom glanced up to take in his surroundings one last time, it would be the last thing he saw anyway. His eyes made their way across all the faces of villains he had defeated during his many years as a superhero, he saw the Swiss guy who could quickly construct a deadly weapon from any type of material, he saw the crazy Hungarian lady that had tried to chop off his head using a frying pan, he saw the big and terrifying Russian man that could freeze anything he touched, and then his eyes landed is favorite villain, the 'English Gentleman'. Alfred managed a tentative smile as he looked over the British villain he had battled time and time again, the man had on his trademark black and green suit, slim fitting in all the right places. The English Gentleman was a surly and dangerous man, possessing the power to control objects with his mind. He was Alfred's favorite villain because even though he used his powers to commit crimes, he never really tried to hurt anyone, in fact, it seemed that he spent more time playfully bantering with Alfred than he did actually causing damage.

Looking at the English Gentleman currently, Alfred realized he actually wanted to know more about his favorite villain. What did he like to do for fun? What made him become a villain in the first place? What was his real name? Alfred grew even more melancholy with these thoughts because he knew he would never get the chance to find out. The Bad Touch Trio made it perfectly clear he would be disposed of in front of the entire group of villains, and not surprisingly, they were all thrilled to see the world's hero come to a violent and permanent end.

Alfred tuned back into the villain's speech, where Awesomest Evil was still giving his exceedingly long oration.

"Aaaand finally! The moment you've all been waiting for….", Awesomest Evil supplied, pointing his finger at Alfred, "We will destroy this idiotic nuisance, Eagle of Freedom, once and for all!" Alfred raised his head high to face his last few moments with dignity.

Awesomest Evil then turned to the others. "Tomato Crusader and French Assassin! Help me out over here!" With that, they leveled the death machine so that it was facing Alfred. All the villains cheered and screamed their support.

"Say adios, amigo!" The Tomato Crusader said gleefully, beginning to pull down the giant lever. Alfred's eyes grew misty as he took his final breath…

All of a sudden, every light in the room blew out, causing sparks and sizzles to wash over the crowd of villains. Everyone began panicking with confusion, including Alfred. That's when Alfred felt the cuffs securing him being broken free and a hand grab a hold of his arm to pull him away from the room at an alarming speed.

As Alfred ran with the mystery person who was guiding him out of the darkness, he heard the French Assassin screeching for someone to get the lights back on, and to make sure the Eagle of Freedom had not escaped. Too late, Alfred thought, as him and his savior quickly migrated through the maze of corridors until they safely made it out of the underground villain hideout.

In the light of the outdoors, Alfred finally saw the face of his mysterious savior, and breathed an audible gasp. "You!" he proclaimed, taking in the sight of the English Gentleman, his cheeks puffed from their hasty retreat and his eyes narrowed with caution. "You saved me?" Alfred asked in awe.

"Well I couldn't just let them dispose of you in such a tasteless fashion. A villain's life would be dreadfully boring without a hero to fight," the English Gentleman began, eyes still glancing every which way to see if they were followed. Finally, he relaxed a bit and their eyes met. Alfred smiled the warmest smile he could muster.

"You're my hero, now."

The English Gentleman smiled back. Maybe being a hero wasn't so bad after all.