“Are you insane?” The words had come out far louder than Mark had wanted it to. With a slight panic he searched for surveillance devices in his radius.

Neel grinned. “That’s the reaction we’re going for.”

“You realize you’re talking about the Shield of Honor. You want to attack Honorable Soldier. Fuck, what about Red Robot? What about Gaia? What about- “

“Yes, they’re strong”, Neel said, interrupting him. “That’s kind of the point.”

“They’re not strong, they’re the fucking Shield of Honor. They’re the ones who save the world. And you want to attack them?” Mark was sputtering. So many things were coming to mind that he wasn’t sure which to say first.

Mark was almost as struck by Neel’s change in composure; he seemed excited and emotional where he seemed calm and cool yesterday. It wasn’t hard to read into that.

Neel raised a hand to interrupt him. “We’re not going to fight them head-to-head. We operate the way Scalpel always does. Quick attacks, lightning ambushes. We’re not interested in sending them to the hospital, we just want to run circles around them, frustrate them. Embarrass them.”

Mark put his hands to his head. “What exactly are you planning to do? You said ‘war’, that you were going to humiliate them.”

Neel nodded. “A simple fight doesn’t mean much, even if we win. No, it’s going to be a campaign of sorts- multiple different attacks, over the course of days and weeks. It would prove that we didn’t just get lucky. We need to publicly defeat each or most of the members of the Shield. Our plan is to collect souvenirs and spoils- the Soldier’s jacket or helmet, Slingshot’s slingshot, one of Redbot’s robots, et cetera. Nothing major necessarily, just enough to embarrass them. We were even planning to return it eventually, just to rub it in.”

Mark shook his head. “What the hell?” He looked at the others to gauge their opinion. Laura didn’t seem nervous per se, but she was paying full attention to Neel, as if hanging on to every word. Tom was still grinning, but Mark could tell it was false bravado- there was nervousness underneath. Ayah and Nat were visibly nervous.

“Yes, it’s risky. But we have millions of dollars at our disposal, and a new set of powers. We pick our battles, stick to our objectives, strike them when they don’t see us coming, and retreat before they can react. They won’t even understand what we’re after, which gives us an even bigger advantage. We can do this.”

Mark’s voice was pleading. “Your group only has one heavy hitter”, he said, gesturing to Tom, “and even he doesn’t have actual super strength like you said. What can you possibly do against Gaia or even just the Soldier for that matter?”

“Our group”, Neel corrected, sending another shiver of terror down Mark’s spine. How would they take it if he backed out right now?

“We’re not made for brawls”, Neel admitted, “If we’re in a position where we’re brawling against the Shield, then we’ve done something very wrong.”

“Then you-we’ve done something very wrong?”

Neel didn’t respond; his face had lost some of its emotion again, and he was back to intense stares. Was he having second thoughts about Mark? He wouldn’t be the only one. He noticed that the others were looking at Mark now, instead of Neel. They were evaluating him in a sense, gauging his reaction, and he was almost having a panic attack.

Mark took two deep breaths. “Even if you did this, you’d have to deal with the heat from all the heroes, all law enforcement, and suddenly you’re fighting more than just the Shield.”

But Neel shook his head. “Hero groups go to incredible lengths to avoid stepping on each other’s toes, especially when there’s no loss of life involved. Considering this is the Shield we’re talking about, no one is going to come in and try to upstage or embarrass them. Not even the Unity.”

“So you think everyone else is just going to watch while we go to ‘war’ against the Soldier?”

Lucky spoke up. “Yes. That’s one thing I’m pretty sure we don’t have to worry about. DAD will help them of course, but the other superheroes will stay out of the way. There’s a reason why there’s even teams in the first place rather than just making one big police force out of the heroes- publicity accounts for a big portion of DAD’s funding, and superhero groups need to be public icons as much as law enforcement. And needing to be bailed out by other superhero groups isn’t great for image. So long as we don’t present a threat to civilian lives the other heroes are probably just gonna sit back and watch. They might even be grateful- we’ll be embarrassing the competition.”

Neel nodded in agreement. “All we need to worry about is the Shield and DAD’s money and tech.”

“Oh, is that all?” Mark groaned. “When are you planning to do this?”

“Well, now that we have you, our options have opened up. I have a plan of sorts. We have some prep work to be done, and then we begin. Soon- within a month or so. Sooner, depending on how things go.”

Mark gulped. Absurd. Him, fighting the Shield.

The Shield outnumbered them- not even counting Robot’s army. They were more experienced than them. Essentially every member other than maybe Slingshot was stronger and had better powers. They had the full backing and resources of DAD, and not to mention the love and support of most of the world.

Even putting aside the fact that he would probably be defeated in a nanosecond, he wasn’t thrilled to be fighting some of the best superheroes on the planet. What kind of villain did that make him?

Neel interrupted his spiral. “Want my advice? Don’t think too much about it just yet. You’ve joined Scalpel, so let’s focus on that. We have other things to discuss first.”

“Like what?” He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to not think about this.

“For instance, let’s talk about your apartment.”

“What? My apartment?”

Ayah spoke up. She seemed relieved at the change of topic. “It’s awful. It’s tiny, there’s no bed, and I guessed earlier that there’s a cockroach infestation.”

“Not to mention the gooey residue from that Liquefy guy”, Nat said with a disgusted tone looking at the still glistening spot where Liquefy had liquefied.

“We have a place. It’s bigger, better, and it’s safer for the group to stay at the same place in case we get attacked. And we have actual beds.”, Neel continued.

Mark took a second to focus on what they were saying. “You want me to move in with you guys?”

Neel nodded. “Is that a problem?”

Blinking to focus on the issue at hand, he thought about it. “No, I guess not. This place is pretty bad”, he admitted.

“Great”, he said with a smile. “So, let’s focus on that for now. Think about this job of ours later.”

Mark nodded absently, thinking about this job of theirs.

“It’s best if you move in as soon as possible. How soon can you pack your things? I was hoping we’d have you moved in by tonight. We have a van that we can bring to move your things.”

Mark felt like they were ignoring the world’s biggest elephant in the room. Shaking his head to focus, he said, “I don’t have much stuff- I can be packed by tonight and come over by nine pm-ish? I can use my own car too, no need for a van.”

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He could’ve probably packed within thirty minutes or so, but Mark wanted to get out of his costume and take a shower first, and maybe get some more sleep. Or rather, lay in his sleeping bag freaking out as he tried to sleep. He needed some time alone.

After discussing the details, Scalpel said their goodbyes and filed out of his room. As they were approached the door, Neel stuck around for a second, fastening his mask to his face. He surveyed Mark’s face for a bit and spoke.

“Visualize victory, Mark.”

“Hm?”

“Visualize victory. No matter how unlikely it is, imagine yourself on the battlefield, and imagine yourself winning. Imagine having won. And then capture that feeling. Weaponize it.”

Before Mark could reply, Thinker walked out without saying another word, closing the door behind him.

Mark watched them leave with his cameras. The second they exited the view of his last camera, Mark collapsed onto one of the chairs, burying his face in his hands.

To their credit, they had warned him of the risks. And Mark wasn’t stupid enough to think a job worth twenty-five million would be easy. But still.

Sighing, Mark stood up and peeled his costume off him. Taking a second to enjoy the cool air on his bare skin, he closed his eyes. He imagined winning. He imagined standing by Scalpel’s side, facing the Shield in combat. He imagined exchanging blows with the Soldier, with Slingshot and Zenobia. He imagined a vast battlefield, and him standing over the members of the Shield, relishing in victory.

He placed a hand over this chest. He could feel his heart beating. Fast.

------------------------------------------------------

In the end, it took less than an hour for Mark to pack- moving around so often meant that most of his belongings were usually already in his bags to begin with. Mark stood looking at the duffel bag and two backpacks that held all of his earthly possessions. I’ll be adding twenty-five million dollars to that soon, at least.

He pushed the thought out of his mind. Every time he thought of his upcoming job, he felt a visceral reaction from his gut. It still seemed nuts, suicidal almost. He had had second thoughts of course, but he wasn’t sure how Scalpel would take it if he backed out now. They seemed almost nice from his meeting with them, but still. They had given him adequate warning about what he was getting into, and they might not take it kindly if he bailed.

Mark thought once again of the consequences of attacking the Shield. Hell, even if they somehow pulled it off, they would probably be the most hated people in the States- in the world maybe. A gang of supervillains who attacked and ‘humiliated’ some of the world’s most beloved superheroes for no discernable reason, and got away with it? Would it even be worth it, reputation wise? It seemed plausible. But it also seemed plausible that they would be hunted forever by the authorities in retaliation.

Mark shook his head. He would think about it later.

Scalpel had sent him the address a while back and had told him to be there by nine pm, sharp. It was currently quarter to eight, and it was nearly a thirty or so minutes’ drive. He figured he better get going.

Mark took one last obligatory look at his apartment, and only felt relief that he was getting to leave. To somewhere better, he assumed. And with actual people to talk to. Mark wasn’t an extrovert, but he wasn’t introverted either, and barely interacting with anyone over the past few months had taken a surprising toll.

Mark heaved his duffel bag over his shoulder, wearing one backpack and carrying the other in his hand. With a sigh, he walked downstairs to his car.

About forty minutes later, he had his car parked in the location they had sent him. Mark frowned; it was a parking lot, and it wasn’t clear which of the apartments nearby was the one he was looking for. He got out to think about it and get some fresh air.

“Computer boy”, a voice called. Mark turned to locate it. It was Nat.

“Mark’s fine.”

“Ok, Mark”, she answered with a grin, walking over. “The apartment’s a block and a half away. We had you park here for safety or whatever. Thinker likes to be paranoid about these things.”

“Makes sense”, Mark nodded. But he dreaded carrying his bags for a whole block.

“I’m here to help you carry your bags”, she said with a slight grimace. She took both of Mark’s backpacks and Mark took the duffel bag.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“Ehh”, she intoned. “I was made to. They like to stick the new ones with the busy work. Even though Tom could probably carry this stuff with his little finger”, she complained.

“Well, I still appreciate it. You’re new too?”

“Not new, but the newest, after you. I joined about six or eight months ago, depending on how you count it.”

Mark tried not to let out a pant as he spoke. “’Depending on how you count it’?”

Nat’s face lit up with delight- this was a question she apparently liked to answer. “Yeah, I wasn’t recruited like you. I infiltrated the group.”

Mark frowned. “Infiltrated? With your power?”

She gave an enthusiastic nod. “I was just curious really. Ended up sticking around for nearly a month before Lucky and Thinker caught on.” Her voice turned dark. “They strung me along for a bit after that and took me on a job with them. And then they had me tied up and left me for the cops.”

Mark raised his eyebrows in surprise. “How are you still a member after all that?”

“It was pretty shitty of them”, Nat complained. “Like I said, my power is much more effective when no one knows I exist, and they nearly ruined that for me. But I wasn’t too pissed- I started it after all.”

“I was more asking about how they let you be a member.”

Nat pulled a face, but responded. “Well, remember that I tricked Lucky and Thinker”, she said, with more than a little pride in her voice. “I guess they thought I would be useful. I was a… ‘probationary’ member for about a month and a half before they figured they could trust me and made me a full member.”

“Hence the ‘depending on how you count it’”, Mark finished. Nat nodded with a smile.

At that, there was a lull in the conversation as they walked. Mark had never been particularly good with girls, and Mark had to admit that Nat was intimidating. She was around his age, maybe even younger, but seemed as confident as Mark was uncertain. He wondered if that was what he would be like in a few months. But Nat was apparently more daring right from the start- infiltrating a supervillain group like she did seemed ludicrous to Mark, and doing it for an entire month?

She pointed at one of the buildings they were walking towards. It looked fairly non-descript, identical to the ones beside it. Not necessarily cheap, but definitely not the apartment of multiple multimillionaires. “That’s us. Third floor.”

Mark nodded as they lugged their bags towards the apartment. Mark was grateful for the air conditioning in the lobby as they entered. Setting their bags in front of the elevator, Nat looked at Mark uncertainly as they waited. “So… you nervous about this big job of ours?”

“Yes”, he admitted. “Very.”

“Second thoughts?”

Mark hesitated but replied with honesty. “Many. But… it would be pretty shitty of me to back out at this point, wouldn’t it?”

Nat nodded. “Very shitty. Like, ‘we’d have to deal with you to make sure our plan doesn’t get out’- shitty.”

When Mark gulped, Nat added. “I’m nervous too. Scared shitless, in fact.”

They entered the elevator as it dinged open. “Can I ask- how are you dealing with it?”

Nat shrugged. “I don’t know if I am. Being scared shitless before a job is pretty normal.”

“This isn’t a normal job.”

“No, it isn’t. But the same principles should still apply. And beyond that… Thinker’s good at this kind of stuff. The planning. He’s smart at this. Maybe not smart in general, but smart at this.”

“He’s not smart in general?”

Nat grinned. “The way I see it, if someone is getting ready to fight the biggest superheroes in the world, then they’ve made some dumb decisions in their life to get to that point. And yes, that includes us.”

That didn’t help Mark’s worries. Nat seemed to notice and continued. “One thing I’ve learnt? Showing confidence- even the illusion of confidence- is half the battle. Even for a job like this”, she added, before Mark could interrupt. “I mean that’s the whole reason for the masks and the costumes at the end of the day, if you ask me- so that nobody can see how terrified we are behind them. So it’s fine if you’re scared, so long as you can put on a brave face when the day comes.”

The elevator doors dinged open. Nat pointed the way down the hall.

Mark spoke uncertainly. “This might come across weird, but- I am scared, but there’s another part of me, that’s almost… excited?” Mark thought for a second about how to phrase it, but Nat beat him to it.

“That would be the Abnormal in you.”, she said, with a knowing nod.

“How’d you figure?”

“Well, the way I see it, everyone wants to do something like this, deep down. Abnormal and normal. Everyone, on some level, wants to do something- not necessarily destructive- but loud, crazy, and most importantly, something that makes an impact. Something that tells the world that you actually exist, that you actually matter, and they better pay attention to you.”

“There’s a difference between existential dread and this. I feel like you’re exaggerating a bit.”

“Am I? You ever notice how Abnormals pretty much never have normal lives? Sure, not all of them are masks. But even the faces stand out some way or another. You know how Abnormals and Abnormalities really only started popping up over the last century? There’s a theory that the really great people of the past, the people that really shook things up- Caesar, Genghis Khan and the like- were Abnormals too, just in a more subtle way than the flyers and the acid spitters of today.”

Mark had heard of something like that, but he wasn’t sure he bought it. But Nat continued, getting quite passionate as she spoke.

“It’s because Abnormals are better equipped than most to rage against that good night. Unlike the rest, we actually have the power to single handedly break the rules, to actually make everyone stop and look at us. So that excitement in you, Mark? That’s the Abnormal in you telling you to stand up and do something with those abilities of yours.”

Mark wanted to mount a response to that, but he couldn’t think of a way to phrase it. He didn’t know if he even disagreed- it wasn’t too different from something he had felt before, when he accepted Thinker’s offer at the factory, and perhaps when he ‘visualized victory’.

They had arrived at a door which Mark assumed was Scalpel’s. Nat turned to look at him instead of opening it.

“Well, I hear that voice too Mark, and you know what?” she said, with a devilish grin. “I’m more than happy to oblige.”

Mark couldn’t help but smile as well.