In a rare occurance in Paragon City, a villain's potential crime spree has been stopped after he was turned in by his own henchmen. Claiming mental anguish and physical cruelty, the henchmen of Master Pain reportedly contacted heroes and officials and directed them to his secret base, promising they would testify against him.

The Beholder has managed to speak to one of the henchmen who worked for Master Pain. She did not wish to be named, so we will refer to her as Jane X.

"I come from a long line of henchmen - my grandpa was a henchman, dad was a henchman, mother was a small-time villainess - so it's kind of in my blood. So I know the score. I can accept the 'death is the price of failure', getting beat up by heroes all the time and all the other guff that comes with the job. But this Master Pain... he just went beyond it... making us work all hours with no rest... not providing adequate food in the cafeteria... making us pay for our own uniform and repairs..."

At this point Jane X needed a moment to steady herself.

She continued, "Master Pain also ran a sweatshop making knock-off streetwear. He expected us to work all day in the factory then go out and support him at night. We were exhausted and haggard all the time."

"He was also very cruel to us. If you showed any weakness he was there with the putdown - one of the guys put on a bit of weight and Pain insisted we all call him Fatty and Blobman until he slimmed down. I once dropped a particle rifle so he made me wear a sign saying 'Clumsy Oaf' and taped oven mittens to my hands for an entire day. Then there was that time he found that one guy kept donuts in his foot locker..." Jane X says she still gets angry at the repeated humiliations that Master Pain put her and fellow henchmen through.

"Look, I'm a full-time henchman - I can put up with a lot. But insult after insult, putdown after putdown... it all adds up. So we turned him in," Jane X says with pride.

Master Pain will be charged with repeated violations of workplace safety and business management laws. If found guilty he faces hefty fines and a possible criminal sentence of up to 3 years.

In the latest of a string of appeals against his 2567-year prison sentence, the mass murderer and Rikti sympatheser known as X-tinction is seeking his court decision be overturned on technical grounds - that the Controller who brought him in violated his civil rights during his capture. If successful, X-tinction would be allowed to walk free of his ultra-maximum security cell currently submerged somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

X-tinction claims that when En Vogue L (a hero with known Controller abilities) halted his rampage in Florida last year she violated his right to "freedom of speech and thought" as guaranteed by federal law. Although heroes' do have scope to use mental powers in order to stop villains from committing crimes as determined by the Supreme Court in Smith vs The Red Brain in 1974, this precedent did not state the extent to which mind control can be used to protect civilians. X-tinction, acting as his own legal council, claims that when En Vogue L manipulated him into saving those trapped in fallen buildings caused by his assault that she violated his civil rights.

Civil rights lawyers are divided as to the potential of this appeal to succeed. "Much as I would hate to see this creature released, his appeal looks strong," says L. John Jones, president of the Paragon Civil Liberties Commission. "Thus far the courts have really only had to deal with heroes that manipulate a villain into fighting another villain or into confessing to their crimes. Judges have generally sided with heroes on the issue of mind control, provided other hard evidence has been present to corroborate the hero's story and justify their actions."

"But I've never heard of a hero actually making a villain attempt to repair the damage they caused. I'm sure it has happened, just never on this scale or to such a powerful villain. En Vogue L may have thought she was doing the right thing at the time, but every time she made X-tinction save a life or prop up a structure she was violating his right to freedom of action."

Erin DeLacey of the Paragon Prosecutors disagrees. "Even if the courts did find that En Vogue L's mind control did possibly cross the border between manipulation and outright control, it would be ludicrous to think that X-tinction will be allowed to walk free. It is more likely that the judge will find En Vogue L to have acted in the greater good - a key aspect in any hero court case - and to have acted as a reasonable superpowered person would have."

If X-tinction's appeal is successful his arrest would be declared invalid and a possible re-trial required to determine the extent of the evidence left against him. In the meanwhile X-tinction would have to be released from incarceration.

X-tinction rose to noteriety when he assisted the Rikti in assaulting populated sections of Florida - the first Earth villain to actively fight on the invaders' side. Apparently originally created to kill rats in sewers, X-tinction self-evolved through an unknown process to a killing machine that has stated he wishes to "wipe the planet clean of life".

Giant monster specialists from Japan have arrived in Paragon City as part of the Mega-Sized Earth Creature Convention 2003, often refered to as MegaCon. Paragon City has been selected as host for MegaCon03, which will see experts on the subject gather from around the world.

Japan is recognised as a world leader in the area of Mega-Sized Earth Creatures, having dealt with many assaults on their cities and population in the past. Giant lizards, turtles, moths and other creatures regularly attack or make nests in major Japanese population centres. Over time this has become almost a normal part of Japanese living, with contingencies developed to minimise the damage such events can cause.

Dr Taki Takimazo (through translator Richard Burr) said that a number of strategies are used to try to move Mega-Sized Earth Creatures away from populated areas. "It is not an exact science, but we are getting quite good at stopping these creatures," he says. "We've found that building a giant robot to fight off the invader just causes more damage, so recommnend others learn from this example. Calling in the military should also only be a last resort, with nuclear weapons always being a big mistake - some Mega-Sized creatures absorb radiation, so h-bombs will only make them more powerful!"

"One strategy that is particularly effective is getting some children to befriend the monster and perhaps even form a psychic link... but this is risky. After one or two mishaps we recommend only using orphans to do this. Also important is making sure the creature is really dead after you think you've killed it - so often we think a monster has been destroyed, only for it to turn up a year or two later! That's very frustrating," says Dr Takimazo.

Topics to be discussed at the conference include 'How to Find the Monsters' Alien Masters', 'Are Giant Tapeworms Mega-Sized Earth Creatures?' and 'The Use of Giant Eggs for Feeding the Homeless'.