Lakewood City, 2nd Guild Branch: I stepped into the Guild's local branch, letter in hand. The Guild had taken an old hotel and renovated it to suit their needs, but for some reason they'd left the lobby alone, complete with the long desk for check-ins. There was a significant line in front of me, and all of the couches and chairs in the lobby were filled. There was a college-aged lady standing at the back of the line, browsing her cell phone.

"Excuse me," I asked her, causing her to look up from her phone. "Have you been waiting long?"

"About a half an hour," she replied. "I got off work due to this letter about re-evaluating me. Since I get paid even while I'm here, I don't really care how long I stand in line."

"Has the line been moving?" I asked, looking around at the lobby stuffed with people.

"Not that I've noticed," she said, shrugging. She turned back to her phone, dismissing me.

I contemplated the idea of playing on my phone too, but I caught my image on one of the mirrors that lined the lobby and found myself looking back at one of the most forgettable people I'd ever seen. I never much cared for the idea that I had one of those forgettable faces, but I privately had to admit that I liked being forgettable. With short brown hair of a forgettable shade, cloudy blue eyes, a medium build, and dressed in plain clothing, I was like a real-life NPC, and I liked it that way. I wandered over to the mirror and tilted my head, looking at my chin and cheeks. I was trying to grow a beard, but it wasn't working out very well. For some reason, I got patchy fuzz instead of the thick, manly beard I pictured myself wearing.

I heard brakes squeal and looked outside to see three police cars screech to a stop outside the bank across the street. The police bailed out of the cars and hid behind them, pistols and shotguns and tasers drawn. I watched as the street emptied as people ducked into every available building to get out of the way of any possible violence. Shutters dropped on every building and every window as anti-super protocols were put into action. While there was no indication that the bank situation was due to Supers, it was a handy change that allowed building owners to keep themselves, their customers, and their property safe.

"You've got to be kidding me," the girl in line said as she looked down at her phone and then back at the bank. "Loco was so stupid as to knock over the bank across from the Guild? Seriously?"

"Nobody said criminals were smart." I looked around to see who said that and found Heroes boiling out of the elevators. The Hero that appeared to have spoken had a full body, light gray suit with a thick golden line down the center of the suit and thinner gold stripes down the arms and legs to golden boots and gloves. There were gold and silver fittings on the suit, from the metallic belt and metallic bracers, to a silver and golden helmet that covered the head, complete with mirrored visor down the entire face of the helmet. I recognized BrightGold, one of the rising stars in Lakewood. BrightGold was known for his ability to generate golden energy and not only fly but also fire blasts of golden energy.

Several Heroes headed out to cover the police, but most stopped inside the building. I began wondering what was going on when BrightGold spoke again.

"I know you are wondering why all the Heroes are staying inside. Apparently Loco has hostages. Heroes don't rush in if innocents are going to get hurt."

I joined the girl and BrightGold as we watched the drama unfold. The Guild had placed a camera on the building overlooking the street and they had turned all the televisions on and shared the camera view. The whole lobby watched as the Villain known as Loco came out of the bank, scared woman in front of him as a meat shield. He was dressed in black leathers and covered in tattoos, and I noticed how strong he was to be carrying a backpack half his size while wrestling around with the woman and carrying a crew-served machine gun as if it weighed nothing.

"I don't think I've heard of Loco before," I said. "What's his power?" The girl and BrightGold both looked at me as if I was insane.

"Loco's power is insanity," the girl finally relented. "He's superhumanly strong, agile, and fast, but it comes at the cost of his sanity. When they gave him drugs that dampened his symptoms, he lost most of his powers."

I looked around the lobby and saw everyone watching the screens or pressed up against the glass. There was a space around the three of us that hadn't been there before. I hoped I wasn't making a mistake as I opened my mouth to make a mistake.

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"Hey, BrightGold," I said quietly. "If you were able to get a free shot in on Loco, with nobody in the way, could you put him down on the first hit?" I sensed as the Hero turned ever so slightly to look at me. I felt his gaze, weighing me, even if I couldn't see his eyes.

"I can if it's a full strength blast, but he's abnormally fast. It'd have to be point blank range or he'll dodge it."

I stood up on one of the small coffee tables that littered the lobby. I had just enough height to see over the onlookers, and I watched as Loco kept threatening to kill the girl. I closed my eyes and reached out mentally, looking for Loco's distinct aura signature. What I found when I saw it was enough to make me puke. His aura was shattered, and appeared to be writhing. I forced the beginnings of the connection and then stopped to look at BrightGold.

"Prep your biggest attack," I told him. "Aim it at me and in ten seconds, release it. I promise you'll not regret it." BrightGold looked at me for a few seconds before he raised his hands, pointing them at me. Golden energy oozed out of his hands and formed a blinding ball of light as he aimed right at me. I turned and triggered my ability.

I suddenly found myself holding onto a hysterical woman who immediately broke free and kicked me in the groin as she ran for the police. I collapsed to the ground, groaning, as I was suddenly charged by officers and Heroes both. My arms were wrenched behind my back and I was hauled to my feet just in time to see an explosion in the Guild building. A certain tattooed Villain soared through a front window of the building to land by one of the police cars, BrightGold floating out of the hole with both hands shining like suns. The Villain wasn't conscious anymore, which was a good thing, as his jaw appeared to be broken in several places and his arms bent at odd points and in odd directions.

The Hero was suddenly surrounded by other Heroes, all demanding to know how Loco got into the building and how had he gotten the drop on him. I noticed three Heroes who were much more vocal than the others. One was dressed in cargo pants, of all things, with some sort of technological armor over both of his arms and some sort of tech spine following the path of his real spine down his back. I recognized him immediately, as very few don't know Hyper, the hyperactive geek who can take a punch and then kick your butt with household objects, bare hands, or if you are unlucky, his actual weapons. The second was a lady dressed in a maroon uniform with silver accents, who also was carrying more knives than I'd ever seen a person have before. She was Shank, one of the Heroes who was decidedly more lethal than normal. The last was a big man with tattooed vines down his bare arms and a shield that looked like it was made out of a tree stump....for an old oak tree. Eco was big on the whole Mother Earth concept, and the fact that all of his "wooden" weapons could stand up to steel, titanium, fire, ice, and every other damage source made his stance understandable.

BrightGold gathered up his fellow teammates and brought them over as he came over to me. I was in handcuffs, but the police were confused about if they could even charge me, so that was nice, at least. BrightGold made quick work of that, asking them to release me. The cuffs came off as he came over, his team with him.

"I wish you would have warned me about what you were doing," he began as he floated up to me. "But I understand. That was a really gutsy move, switching places with him, especially since I released my power about the time you disappeared. Loco didn't know what hit him. So, before anything else, thank you."

"Um, sure," I said, tongue tied in front of so many Heroes. "No problem. Glad I could help." BrightGold held out a piece of paper.

"You dropped this when you disappeared," he told me as I took it.

"Oh, uh, thanks," I said. "I got some weird letter about reevaluating me. Some, Second Chance program? Anyways, I guess I need to check in and see what they need to reevaluate."

"Oh-hoh, so you are in the Second Chance program," BrightGold said, satisfied for some reason. "I knew today was going to be a good day!"

"That's not what you were saying in the breakroom earlier," Eco said. "Something about watching useless wastes of oxygen failing again and again, wasn't it?"

"Oh yeah," Shank replied. "And 'second-rate wannabees', too, right?"

"Yes, yes," BrightGold waved away their remarks. "But now we don't have to do any of that."

"Oh really?" Hyper asked. "May I ask why not?"

"Sure," BrightGold said smugly. "We were supposed to be observing the Second Chance candidates for one that we could fill our roster with, right? Anyone think they can do better than a candidate setting up an actual Villain to be taken down in one attack while saving a hostage? No? Then I guess we have our candidate," he said, pointing at me.

"That was a fluke," Shank sputtered. "We don't even know if he can be brought up to full usefulness!"

"Maybe," BrightGold admitted. "You saw the roster of candidates as well as I did. Did you see any better candidates?"

"That's not the point," Shank argued.

"Actually, that is the point," Eco pointed out. "The whole reason we are here is to get the best candidate for our team. I can think of few people that would tell BrightGold to shoot at them, even if they were confident they could get out of the way. More importantly, he made the play work. Even if it was a fluke, I can think of plenty of ways he can help us with his quick thinking."

"They've got a point, Shank," Hyper said. "I looked at the candidates. None of them were hopeless, but every single one needs a lot of care to get them to full usefulness. I think maybe this guy is our candidate."

"You are all agreed?" Shank asked, looking at each teammate as they nodded.

"Well, you heard them," she told me extending her hand. "Welcome to the Wildcards."