Chapter 35
The pyro cyborg didn’t stand a chance against Lizzy's squad of All-Star ass-kickers. Lizzy’s strikes were fast and precise, leaving her opponent neither time nor space to counter or protect himself. She even found a way to use his flame arm against him, continually shifting into a position to redirect the stream of fire to serve her own purposes, either burning away rubble to allow trapped innocents to escape or creating steam from nearby pools of water to blind him. As she relentlessly disarmed the villain, the other three members of her small specialized squad saved imperiled civilians and protected buildings from destruction. At one point, Gluttony even stepped in to absorb a blast of fire head-on, protecting a building from being scorched and damaged.
Joel watched with a mixture of awe yet crippling disappointment as he stared at the monitors in the panic room. He knew the All-Stars had to be good but had vastly underestimated how many leagues above his team they actually were. They were a well-oiled machine of teamwork and power, clearly capitalizing on their considerable experience as active Heralds. He had thought his team was doing pretty well, considering none of them had been trained, but it was fairly obvious who the winners of this challenge were going to be.
“Wow, that blows,” Bobby half-joked, “and here I thought we had a chance.” His tone made it clear that at no point had he thought they had a chance to win this trial.
“We need to train more,” Ken said, giving a side glance to June, who shot back a nasty look. “I need to train more. Way more.”
“Ya’ think?” June retorted from her end of their row of seats.
Jax cleared his throat and meekly added, “Maybe we need to train together?”
“Maybe we can play some more Ruins and Ravens as team bonding?” Joel said, trying to lighten the mood. He was sitting in between Bobby and Ken,
A brief but still awkward silence filled the air before Bobby chimed in, “Not sure if that’d help us beat the All-Stars. Though it was fun, you know, until the abrupt ending.”
Ignoring Bobby, Jax leaned in to concentrate on the monitors, creating a physical barrier between June and Ken. “It’s crazy how well they work together,” he said, clearly referring to the All-Stars’ performance.
“I mean, it is their job, after all,” Joel said
“Doesn’t mean they’re automatically this effective at it.” June said, “Plenty of useless assholes on Mom's squad. Well, on her old squad anyway.”
Joel glanced over in June’s direction and noticed Jax had done the same. Joel saw a simmering anger in June’s expression that she was trying to keep from exploding outward, and a concerned brother in Jax who was worrying about his sister’s mental well-being. Joel figured that Jax had the situation under control, so he turned his attention back to the monitors. But he made a mental note to check in later to make sure everyone was okay. Though this was a cutthroat competition, he was starting to care about these people. If they all survived, Joel anticipated making a group of lifelong friends bonded together by their hard-fought battles, heart-thumping victories, and, like today, the bitter taste of defeat.
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Joel watched Ashley and Bailey battle against the elemental evils in Cyber City. His brain couldn't comprehend the fact that they were working together so well. As though they had never fought. They seemed to be making the jump from upstart challengers to viable Heralds, and if there was any chance of his team beating the All-Stars, those two were their last hope.
“So, is that why you got distracted and put us all to sleep?” Bobby’s resentment leaked into his joke, and everyone stared at Joel. He typically wouldn't be this overtly snide and he knew the barbed joke would embarrass Joel, but he didn't realize it might hit a real nerve. Unfortunately the blame he was carrying for Joel seeped into his judgement, and his sarcastic nature turned a little mean spirited.
Joel’s face felt red hot, though he wasn’t sure if it was out of embarrassment or frustration. “Bailey and I are just friends, I’ve told you that like a million times!”
“Heh, I knew it! I told you he and Bailey are dating,” Cecilia used the revelation to telegraph her entrance with Megan and Spencer as they walked into the room.
“Well, I knew there were some sparks there,” Megan meekly reiterated.
“Were you trying to hide it or something?” Jax asked Joel.
“No, it’s just-” Joel started to object, but this was a lost cause, so he just stared at Bobby, who grinned wickedly back at him. Everyone in the room joined in.
“I don’t know if Joel fits her brand image,” June’s joke landed fairly well as some muffled laughs tittered around the room.
“I don’t know, with a few more lessons from OnyxTube, he could be just the guy to take her OnyxGram pics,” Bobby piled on. The laughter grew louder.
“Better buy a ring now, Joel,” Spencer’s thick Russian accent boomed through the cackling as he jumped in to join the chorus of jesters. But the moment had passed. The room returned to its previous tense atmosphere when the crowd noticed that Ashley and Bailey had started to struggle in their current battle. No one faulted them, but if the team had any hope, it rested on those two women.
“Hey, I just wanted to say ‘sorry’ to June,” Cecilia whispered from the row behind the Bradleys.
“Ok?” June questioned Cecilia’s intentions. She still held much anger and resentment toward the headstrong Challenger. Not all of her growing ire was due to Cecilia’s mutiny, but there was no denying that their whole group would have been better off had they listened to June in the first place and worked together in small groups, like they now knew the All-Stars did, to great effect.
“I just felt like I really had to prove myself, you know? But you had the right strategy. And, again, I’m really sorry,” Cecilia said solemnly.
June took a deep breath. She wasn’t great at conflict de-escalation. She was used to identifying an obstacle and beating it into submission. Jax was the one who usually cleaned up the messes. “I appreciate that, but I’m pretty pissed right now. Not at you. Just at this,” June gestured to the waiting room they were all stuck in. “I wish we were still out there helping Bailey and Ash.”
Everyone fell silent, each of them could relate to June’s sentiment. Each of them had worked hard to be there, and now they were forced to watch their competition rather than each one of them fighting on behalf of the entire group. Not one person in the panic room could comfortably accept the situation. The powerlessness of it threatened to overwhelm them all.
Ken put a hand on June’s shoulder, “We will do better next time. All of us. I promise.”
His words inspired Joel but only seemed to further anger June, the late timing of the assurance being what it was.
“Oh shit!” Bobby nearly jumped out of his seat. Everyone turned back to the wall of monitors.
Ashley had taken a nasty hit from Torrendous that sent her flying back into a building. She coughed up a huge mouthful of blood that spilled onto the ground in front of her. Before she could recover, a large rock was hurled from the growing tornado and smashed into Ashley’s face. She dropped to the ground as Bailey screamed, pulled out her panic button, and rushed over to her downed ally. Everyone watched with bated breath as the battle looked to be coming to an end. All of them felt heartsick that they could do nothing to help.