Chimera was with a bunch of teens doing stretches in a massive training room. The room itself was impressive, easily five football fields in length and about ten in width.

She hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to the others yet since she was put on this team of five, since the trainer was a drill instructor from hell.

Literally, she was some kind of pain-pleasure demon summoned to this existence by Ms. Magica.

“Maggots, I should be hearing some counting, start again!”

They all moaned and grumbled as they started their count again.

Must be about a thousand jumping jacks so far. We’re supposed to make it to a hundred but this blue and black bitch is making it longer!

Not that Chimera minded that much, as she had enough energy to keep going for another month of jumping jacks, but she really wanted to get some new data on these supers.

Which is being delayed by Miss Payne over here!

Said instructor was observing her, moving around and checking her form.

“Why do you not transform cadet?”

Chimera did not stop doing jumping jacks, that was how the sixth restart happened. Instead, she answered.

“Because *huff* I was told not to cheat Miss!”

The instructor nodded, “but you’re not human, correct? Should you follow human rules?”

Chimera almost stopped.

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know.

“I can’t cheat, even if I’m not like the others.”

“Human’s must follow rules, because that is how their society is built. You’re not human, no matter how much you pretend to be, Chimera.”

“B-But she… She would want me to be. I’m not going to be a monster!”

“Losing yourself and not holding yourself back are two different things cadet. Now, transform!”

She made a show of Chimera struggling, until she turned into a combination of a cheetah, gorilla and a cobra.

“One Hundredsss!”

She did her last jumping jack with her ape arms, landing with a thud that shook the whole room.

“Woah!”

The rest of the group was marveling at her transformation, which was little over nine feet. With her Cobra head she turned to stare at the group with a serpentine smirk.

“We finally got done with thissss ssssttupid excccerssssisse.”

The instructor nodded, “it’s a good thing to remember your human limits, but never let that stop you from doing what you need to, especially if it’s crushing your enemy.”

After a few other drills with each of the others showcasing their powers and using their gifts, the group finally got a chance to introduce themselves.

“I’m Bullet, and I’m going to be the next Captain Asta, just you wait!”

The short boy with spikey hair and a mean look to him glared angrily at the rest of the group.

“I’m Glow, and I’m from a family of supers! My grandfather was one of the first alongside Captain Asta, and Ms. Magica is my aunt!

The taller girl towered over her other teen team members, reaching about six feet. She had long black hair with bright gold eyes, and a smile a supermodel would sacrifice her newborn for.

It soon got to her turn, and Chimera made a show of it after changing back.

“I’m Chimera, and I was a pile of sludge like this!”

She showcased it to everyone, the red blob of her Crimson R’s true form. Some were grossed out, but she caught that Glow and the other girl were fascinated by the image.

“Then I met Meghan, and she told me about humans, and how you guys made all of the things! I was really happy… then… Meghan fell asleep… and she wouldn’t get up no matter what I did. It was only later that I found out she died.”

She drooped, returning to her human form.

“She looked like me, and she always talked about being a hero one day. So, I decided to become one, for her.”

She tried to make a show of her trying to smile and lighten the mood, while failing at that.

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“I hope we can become friends!”

She was crying a little, a sniffle there, and a sob there.

Crap, I’m being taken in by my own acting.

Why did she have to make Chimera have such a tragic backstory?!

“T-Thank you for h-having me.”

Once the waterworks started, all the other girls and boys, save Bullet, started joining in. She thanked them for the kind words, and tried to get the topic back to brighter things, like their first mission.

“I can’t believe we’re going to take down a villain’s secret base! This is going to be so exciting.

The one saying that was Chase, a speedster with a lightning bolt living inside her, or so she claimed.

Chimera jumped up at that, “really? Is it one of Dr. Pox’s? I really hate that guy!”

When she said the doctor's name, she got a bit of a reaction from everyone. Spikey hair 'Bullet' spat on the ground, Glow nodded solemnly while chase fidgeted her hands.

Only the other member seemed to be calm when she mentioned him, the only one who hadn't introduced himself yet.

Chase, the small golden-haired teen shook her head, “nah, it’s one of Zlo’s hideouts. He’s got some of his minions working on something there, but none of his right-hand men or women are there. The League told us that it’s a good spot to test out how we should do things.”

Chimera made a show on her face at the news, while inside her mind she was planning on what to take from the Villain’s lair.

Totally snagging some of that super ware!

This prompted the last boy of their group to speak, “still, we mustn’t become complacent. Dr. Zlo is one of the most insidious Masterminds in existence. After the notorious Dr. Pox was brought in, there was very little stopping that mad man with a monocle from taking over the power vacuum. It’ll be safe to say that he will have some surprises for us and that’s not even counting his minions.”

The last boy with them was an intellectual by the look of him. He had blue hair, sharp looking glasses, and an arm that was covered in super ware. Circuits, devices, and what looked like a laser cannon were strapped to the appendage, and it glowed with a blue light.

He was also the second tallest in their group, save for Glow.

The glasses oddly enough masked his eyes from her, and she couldn’t use her template to see through them to reveal their colors.

Super tech, probably from a scientist! Wow this is already amazing enough, maybe we’ll get some gadgets for the mission!

She jumped up and down at the thought.

“Yay! First mission, lets wreck some villain stuff!”

Blue hair marched over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, a nice ‘not currently wearing a glove’ hand.

Oh baby, give it to me!

The template from her scan rushed inside her body, data streaming into her database faster than she could process it.

W-What the hell is he? This stuff is like several people worth of DNA!

She felt her face line with panic as the deluge of data flooded her thoughts.

The hand left her shoulder, and she soon felt the information slow down enough for her to process it once more.

Holy hell in a hand basket… he’s artificial!

She recognized it, as Crimson R was part of a series of super armor made to enhance their host to incredible levels, Crimson R being even more so.

Since it affected the host's DNA, she could tell when DNA had been ‘structured’, fitting a little too well in places it really shouldn’t.

The gadgets and the sharp glasses, hell even the cannon must be all for show. He had enough juice in him to bench press several tanks with an oil tanker truck on top of them.

Well, thank you for the meal.

She thought of a villain who sucked people’s energy away in order to become stronger, doing a laugh in her head.

And now your energy is mine! Mwhaha!

She finally compartmentalized the last of the DNA, and returned to her thoughts about the boy.

And boy howdy did it make her scared, because she recognized something from the boy that she saw in one other boy.

Namely… her brother.

“…Are you alright Chimera? You seem stressed about something…”

Blue hair was moving closer, concern on his face.

Sarah knew though, she could tell.

Chemicals worked wonders inside the human body, allowing it to feel and experience all sorts of wonderful and terrible things.

So, when Sarah got the DNA template from Blue hair, she noticed something very ‘off’ about his DNA, rather, what it seemed to lack.

Why does it feel like he’s faking everything, down to his own emotions?

Because she knew the teen had only one feeling in his mind, since she briefly sensed it through the exchange.

He loves to kill… like, obsessed with it. Why?

What concerned her the most was what she found inside the teen boy’s body, the familiar work of a certain madman that had killed her family and almost her brother.

Why is Dr. Pox’s work inside this bastard?!

…

Gideon Garson stared at the living monster with a look of pure concern, not matching the true feeling he felt behind it.

Wonder.

She reminds me of what Father was trying to do, creating a perfect being, a monster with a human’s face!

Gideon smiled, a legitimate one this time, as he consoled the beast in front of him.

Oh, if only Father hadn’t been taken, I could bring this one to him, and perhaps he would give me her gifts. The wonders I could wrought on innocent flesh!

He had to keep himself from feeling too joyful, as he knew it caused many of the humans around him to look unsettled by his rapturous face.

Nope, he must control his face muscles.

“I’m Gideon Garson by the way. Pleasure to meet you all, especially you Chimera.”

Chimera nodded, but her face was unreadable, as if she wasn’t all there, thinking of something else.

What goes on in a monster’s head? I only have the one reference… perhaps I should reveal myself to her.

He shook his head of the thoughts.

This mission comes first, then we can regard flights of fancy.

He turned to the rest of the group, “the mission begins tomorrow. Bring your suits if you have them, if not, its your duty to get into costume. If you are unable, you must sit out of this one. The danger of Zlo’s hidden lair cannot be underestimated.”

He saw the humans nodding to him, the spikey boy with an ego smirking with self-aggrandizement.

You will be the first I butcher, so-called future Captain Asta. One moron with a cape and a hero complex is enough, thank you very much.

It was a shame that the others had to die as well, considering that he needed to be sure none of them could trace his real reason for this mission.

He felt himself gazing back at Chimera, the oddly placed monster in a group of young heroes.

Could she be a plant? Someone meant to keep me in line? Is one of those fools onto me?

His paranoia spiked for a moment, a necessary but annoying quirk his creator installed inside him in order to be prepared for any unknowns.

She’s nothing but a foolish girl, even if she’s especially gifted. I’ll just bring her into that chamber, and she’ll be soup. So sorry monster girl, it simply must be fate for you to die.

He smiled, genuinely once more as he imagined the colorful ways he would make ‘art’ out of his teammates.

“Be ready for tomorrow everyone. This mission is definitely one you won’t want to miss.”

Smile, remember to smile.