People often say that in New Arden, the nighttime is livelier than the day. Is this because of the security a Superhero school brings? Or maybe New Arden has more to offer during the dark? No one truly knows. Some residents even claim it's hard to sleep because of all the noise. One of the culprits is the infamous Club Atimré.

Everyone who has ever attended Paladins has been to this bar at least once. It's kinda like a rite of passage. Stories have been told of drunken Superheroes doing all sorts of crazy things. Some claim they've seen Heroes fight one another, puke out acid, and even pole-danced, all in the same night! The craziest rumor is about the hero teachers who go there. But that would be irresponsible, right? After all, the teachers have their image to uphold. Once you've seen your mentor chug down an entire bottle of vodka, there's no going back.

Usually, the club opens around midnight, with people lining up as early as ten. The bouncers there are pretty lax compared to others, generally letting people in early. Currently, it is around eleven-thirty, with a line as long as a football field. Thankfully, the bouncers have started accepting people. Before he can let them in, he scans people for trouble. Right now, he's checking on three familiar-looking people as he looks at their I.D.

The first guy is Christopher Lowenthal. He has medium-length black hair, which compliments his brown eyes. He has light brown skin and a lean build, with his height being around five-ten. He looks to be twenty-five, and he's wearing a white shirt, black jacket, and pants.

There is a girl on his left named Stephanie Garfield, who has long blonde hair and blue eyes. She's got tan skin, a muscular build, and is around five-eight. She seems to be wearing a red crop top with blue-bottom jeans and looks twenty-six.

Finally, there is another girl on his right. Her name is Amelia Winter. She has short black hair, round glasses, and black eyes. Her pale skin reflected in the moonlight. She sports a black party dress with a silver snowflake necklace. She looks to be twenty-four and around five-six.

They don't seem like trouble; the bouncer thinks to himself as he lets this dynamic trio enter the club.

The three sit at the counter by the bar as electronic music plays in the background. The guy starts looking through the list of drinks.

"I'll have the Streetwise Sunrise. Shaken, not stirred." Chris smiles.

"Oh, Oh! Get me a Sparkplug Sundae!" Steph happily requests.

"And I will have a Long Island Ice Tea." Ame orders.

"Not gonna get the Ms. Winter Mojito?"

"Shut up."

The bartender serves them their drinks. They thank them as they find a table to sit at.

"Okay, we got our drinks, now can we focus?" Ame asks. Slumping her head down so no one can recognize her.

"Come on, Amelia, It's not like we go here every day. Have some fun!" Steph responds.

"Yeah, Amelia. Stop being such a buzzkill, " Chris laughs.

"I hate you both." She replies, slowly sipping the drink.

Chris and Steph laugh as they quickly finish their drinks. They continue to order seconds, then thirds, then fourths. The night quickly passes by as the two hit the dance floor. For people with superhuman reflexes, the two dance like inflatable advertisements outside a car dealership.

Ms. Winter glares at the two idiots as she finishes her drink. She looks at her phone when a man approaches, carrying two drinks. Her eyes widen as she instantly recognizes who she's talking to.

"Hey there sweet cheeks, drinking all by yourself?"

The man appears to have dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. His outfit is a red hoodie, with black pants. Even without his White Mask, Winter easily identifies him as one of the students of Paladin's Academy.

Oh God, Ms. Winter thinks to herself as she tries and finds an excuse to make this guy leave.

"Get lost, loser." She scoffs as she turns her head away.

"Woah, woah, I'm just being nice. It'd be a shame for a girl like you to be alone all night." The man laughs as he sits down.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, EEEEEWWWWW, Ms. Winter reacts silently.

"That name's Trevor, by the way."

"Not interested."

"Alright, Not Interested. Can I call you N.I. for short?"

"No."

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"Got it, haha."

A cold air begins to fill the room, as Chris and Steph continue dancing, not paying attention to their surroundings.

"So, come here often?"

"Yeah, my boyfriend and I do."

"And where is your boyfriend now?"

"Getting our drinks."

Above the dance floor, a small snowball begins to form, as it drops right on Chris' head. The crowd cheers and continues dancing as he asks Steph,

"Winter?"

"Winter," She replies, excusing herself. Chris makes a quick trip to the bar as he returns to their table.

"They ran out of Streetwise Sunrise; seems like it's way too popular. I did get Glance's Gin and Tonic, but I never liked how it tastes!"

Suddenly, Amelia wraps her arms right around Chris, squeezing her chest into his bicep.

"What took you so long, babe?"

"It was a long line, babe~ Sorry I took so long," Chris laughs. Amelia squeezes tighter, almost making his arm blue.

"I didn't realize you had company. I'm Chris, her little boy toy." He laughs hard as he extends his hand out.

"Trevor and I was just leaving. You two have a lovely night. " He smiles, leaving his drinks on the table. Amelia immediately lets go of him as Chris clutches his gut.

"You will remember, nothing," Amelia says, glaring at Chris.

"Don't worry, it's just like old times. Wanna see if he spiked the drink?" He asks.

"Fifty says he did."

"You're on." Chris immediately drinks both as he munches on some chips. Steph returns as she drinks one of the cocktails Chris brought.

"So, any updates on our fella?" Steph asks.

"None. It's radio silent." Ame replies.

"I mean, what kind of guy needs all three of us present?" Chris wonders.

"The midnight kind," Ame clarifies.

"Seems a bit overkill, innit bruv?"

"Better safe than sorry,"

"Whatever. As long as this counts as extra hours."

Meanwhile, Club Atimré has seen its fair share of heroes. Rumors suggest that the bar is secretly home to villains as well. The heroes have no concrete proof, so they leave the club alone. But tonight, a villain makes their grand debut. The crowd runs away screaming as a colorful band of bad guys step onto the stage.

"Good evening, New Arden! My name is Frisbee, and these are my comrades, Spray Tan and Jagging Pants. We are here tonight to audition for The Twelve, so please help us by calling the local heroes."

Frisbee is wearing a bright yellow body suit. In the middle, there is a big circle cutout, to show his chest. Spray Tan is wearing brown spandex, sports black hair, and glasses. Jagging Pants wears a T-shirt and short shorts. He's got brown skin and is wearing glasses, too.

"So that's what you meant by midnight news." Chris points his finger. "I thought one of the twelve was showing up. Turns out it was about an audition!"

"Okay, so maybe I was worried for nothing." Ame shrugs. "Still, it was info about the twelve, soooooo."

"These guys look fun! I call dibs." Steph giggles as she runs outside. She stumbles and falls on the way out.

"I think we should help her," Chris remarks as he removes his jacket.

"Fine," Amelia says while running to the bathroom.

The villain, Frisbee, starts throwing circular constructs made of light. Damaging the walls and bouncing off civilians. Spray Tan coats a number of people in a bronze shade. And Jagging pants, the most dastardly of the lot, forces people's clothes to morph into Gucci jogging pants.

"No need to fear! For Sparkplug is here!" She screams as she is met with applause. She rushes over to Jagging Pants and hits him with a kick. But Jagging Pants catches her off guard, and changes her lower wear into branded jogging pants!

"Silly Villain, I'm already wearing jogging pants." She remarks as she punches him in the jaw, sending him flying across the room.

"Catch this hero!" Frisbee screams as he chucks a yellow frisbee made of light right at her. A wall made of ice emerges from the floor, blocking the hit. A woman with long white hair, and glowing blue eyes steps forward. Her dress was white as snow, and her jacket was blue as the frost.

"Ms. Winter! Finally, a worthy opponent!" Frisbee exclaims in glee as he throws more disks at her. She dodges effortlessly as she freezes Frisbee in the blink of an eye.

"Frisbee, Jagging! I'll avenge you, my bruddas!" Spray Tan promises as he shoots brown mist at the two heroes. Ms. Winter creates a wall of ice to block the smoke.

"I thought I called dibs?" Sparkplug whines.

"I'd rather finish this quickly." Ms. Winter reasons.

Out of the smoke, a glowing white rope appears, wrapping around Spray Tan and binding him. The rope is tugged on by a man wearing a dark grey and yellow suit.

"Streetwise!" Spray Tan cries out as Streetwise winks at him. "You think this can hold me?" Spray Tan complains as he struggles to set himself free.

"Yeah, I think it will." Streetwise laughs as he uses his tendrils to group the three villains."Now tell us about this audition, or Ms. Winter will freeze your fingers off, one by one."

Ms. Winter begins to form a small snowball in her hand, as she slowly reaches for Spray Tan's hand. He starts squirming before he finally breaks,

"Alright, alright! It was posted on Reddit, okay? Said the Twelve was looking for new members. We weren't thinking straight, is all."

"Reddit, huh? Guess we'll have to take a look." Streetwise comments. He grabs a steel rebar and wraps the three villains up.

"Now stay here and wait for the cops." He says, removing the dust from his hands. The three heroes leave the scene as the police arrive and arrest the villains. The heroes reconvene on a nearby rooftop as Streetwise removes his mask and vomits into a bag. Sparkplug laughs as she pats him on the back.

"God, I remember why we stopped doing this," Chris whines as he continues to vomit.

"But you gotta admit, that was fun!" Steph replies, helping him out.

"While the night did have some inconveniences, it was indeed wonderful," Ame replies, reverting to her black hair.

"I wouldn't call a student hitting on their teacher an inconvenience," Chris laughs as he wipes his mouth.

"Wait, what?" Steph questions.

"It was just a small misunderstanding, really." Ame shrugs. "Maybe I'll tell you about it the next time we go out."

"Yes! We should try a bar next time. I hear Nawhrey's where it's at." Steph says as she hugs the two other heroes.

Chris laughs as he reciprocates the embrace while Ame begrudgingly taps their shoulders. As the sun rises on a new day, a friendship once thought to be lost has rekindled in a newer, more substantial way.