“Don’t tell me I’m the last to arrive again!” Cinder grumbled as she slowly walked up the stairs to their base.
Already sitting inside, hanging around the general area, were Whisper, Snowdawn, Battery, and Myth, all of them in full costume, though they all had their masks off. In Snowdawn’s case, he was sitting in the simple outfit he usually wore under his snowy form. Both Battery and Snowdawn had several chunks of their outfit missing, with parts being half stitched together. It was clear neither of them had managed to get new outfits.
Their suits were still in better condition than hers, though. She wore her outfit but had also thrown on the jacket that was part of her old prototype suit. It clashed with her suit and didn’t really look too good, but at least it covered most of her body up. Her helmet and mask, however, were still destroyed, so she had ripped off more cloth from that old Victorain costume and fashioned a new eye mask.
“Sorry. I think it’s my fault you arrived late.” Paragon stated, following her up the stairs. The girl’s bird Destiny rested on the sleeve of Paragon’s doctor’s uniform. “We had to make a detour to get my costume and bird after all.”
“Paragon?” Myth raised an eyebrow when he saw the Reservoir team member. “Why are you here?”
“I’d guess they’re staying in Oleander.” Battery spoke up. “After all, with Old Dog...” He trailed off quietly. “I ran into Ocean Empress at the very least, and if she’s here, I’d bet her kids are here too.”
“I meant, why is she at our base?”
She shrunk back a bit by the gaze everyone shot her. “Well, she was with me when I got the warning and offered to come. Figured it couldn't hurt.”
“Also, let’s be honest.” Paragon folded her arms, and her bird scanned the room, eyeing all the members up. “You guys don’t have a good track record of coming out of a mission perfectly healthy.“
“Well, I can’t fight that logic.” Whisper cheered and made her way over, patting Paragon on the back. “Dibs on getting healed first. I haven’t had it happen to me yet because, unlike all these scrubs, I’m good at what I do.”
“You always hide in the back,” Snowdawn grumbled. Whisper just poked her tongue out at the boy.
Myth shrugged after some time. “Very well. I will allow Paragon to stay. I doubt it will affect anything. I do expect you to follow orders if it does come to it and stick close to someone if we do fall into combat. From what I understand, you don’t have much combat experience, so we’d do well to avoid getting on Ocean Empress’s bad side and letting you get hurt. Why don’t you begin, Laps?”
That was when she noticed there was someone else in the room. An older woman who was seated at a desk. She looked primarily bored but perked up once she was called on. Laps gave a faint smile as her eyes traced over all the members of Pantheon. “Now that all your members are here, Myth, I’d like to congratulate you.”
“On what exactly?” Myth’s eyes narrowed a bit. She was the reason he had called everyone together. Out of the blue, she had shown up to his base and demanded he get his team together. She apparently had some big news for him.
Laps brushed her hair back a bit and sighed. “I normally wouldn’t come down here for this, but with everything going on with this team, I felt it best to say it in person. Every city, with the exception of Rose City, has two sponsored teams from the Hero Branch. There is the junior team, the Sub Enforcers, filled with young teen heroes, and then there is the senior team. In Oleander’s case, it was the Watch Dogs. The senior team is always run by a member of the Enforcers and is tasked with going on special missions hand-picked by the Hero Branch; they may involve working alongside other Enforcers.”
Battery was the first to pick up on it. His eyes closed, and he sighed. “We’re about to become a lot busier, aren’t we?”
Laps gave a nod, her grin growing. “Watch Dog’s current commander, Bad Wolf, has requested they step down as the sponsored senior team. In its place, Pantheon will be taking over. You guys are officially the senior protectors of Oleander, now.”
“You’re allowed to have a senior team with kids on it?” Cinder questioned.
Paragon was the one to speak up next. “Team Reservoir is Lillian’s senior team and is led by my mom. Despite being underage, both my sister and I are members of it. Normally, kid heroes do work with the Sub Enforcers, but there are a few exceptions here and there.” The healer explained.
“Does this mean I can boss the Sub Enforcers around?” Myth asked.
“I guess.” Laps shrugged.
Myth nodded, and for once, he seemed to sport a rare mischievous smile. “Money Tree is going to hate this.”
“Don’t get too happy yet,” Laps said, cutting him off. “You see, it hasn’t actually become official yet. While I have marked you guys down at the senior level, there are people above me who have doubts or grudges about this team. They’re halting the work right now, so you guys are still not getting paid and aren’t real heroes yet. Normally I wouldn’t help you guys out at all, but with Battery on your team, I’m willing to lend a hand since he and I go way back.”
“Way back my ass.” Battery grumbled. “You’re just doing this to cover your own ass. Once word gets out to the higher-ups about who I am, you want to make it look like it’s all under your control and that you have a leash on Pantheon.”
Laps' smile didn’t fade. “Maybe. As it stands, though, nothing has been settled yet until the people above me decide.”
“Then why’d you congratulate us?” Cinder frowned. “It sounds like nothing has really changed.”
“I congratulated you guys because you’ve earned the ability to become the senior team.” The woman folded her arms and tilted her head as her eyes roamed over most of the team. “This is something that would normally never happen with the members on your team, yet again and again, you guys have fought off some of the greatest threats in Oleander. The fact your team is eligible at all is a miracle. After all, on this team we have Myth, someone whose actions resulted in his father’s death, who had been a member of the Enforcers two years ago. We also have the daughter of the Victorian, someone who has been thrown away by her mother and left on the sidelines to be ignored. Then we have Mr. Larison, a former monster."
“Whoa, wait! Former Monster?” Snowdawn asked, looking around the room. “So judging by the fact no one seems shocked by this, I’m going to guess you all knew this before me.” Everyone gave a sheepish nod, and Snowdawn sighed, folding his arms. “Yeah, cool, yeah, that’s… Why not? I can be the last to find out about something important again. Not like I’m a member of the team or anything.”
Cinder shot a look toward Paragon at the mention of Monster. She hadn’t thought about it, but hadn’t Max Lightning said something about Nier being her dad, and Nier was the Emperor? That meant her dad had sort of ruined Mr. Larison’s life? Paragon’s bird had its eyes locked onto Battery, and she could tell the girl was shaking a bit. Battery seemed to notice it as well and spoke up.
"Relax kid. I don't really care what your father did to me. He-"
“The Emperor.” The words left Paragon’s lips before he could say them. The girl’s head was bowed low, and her fists were clenched tightly, her body still shaking a bit. “He isn’t my dad. And the Princess of Life isn’t my mom, either. I’m the daughter of Ocean Empress. Even if he was behind my birth, I still don’t consider him my father. The only family I have is my mom and sister. I don’t need anyone else. You being a monster or one of his creations doesn't bother me. I'd never consider you family either.”
“That’s good.” Battery nodded. “I’m glad you see it my way as well, because truthfully, I don’t think I like you.”
“That’s enough!” Cinder almost shocked herself by how loud her voice echoed through the room. Fire had blown off her, burning a bit of the floor, but she quickly stomped it out. “This isn’t the time to be doing this. Ms. Laps was still in the middle of explaining something important.”
Laps gave a half-nod, seemingly amused by the entire situation. “Thank you, Ms. Cinder. As I was saying-”
She didn’t really pay attention to Laps, though, instead shooting a look toward Paragon again. The girl’s arms were folded tightly around herself, and her bird had seemingly shrunk down and was shaking. Part of her had no idea what she could say or do. Her own father was dying in a hospital, and she only really had her mom, but Paragon had even less than that.Her ‘real’ dad was apparently a mass murder monster that almost slammed the moon into the planet fifteen years ago, and her mom wasn’t that much better. Paragon was the daughter of two of mankind’s biggest enemies.
Sky’s earlier words echoed through her head. The girl's power allowed the healer to control cells. If Sky wanted to she could kill with just a touch, right? Another Lucifer, or another Wish. If Paragon decided one day to be evil, would she be one of those two? Or maybe... another Emperor.
She shook her head and reached out, grabbing the girl’s hand. Paragon jumped a bit and turned to stare at her despite being blind. She gave a half smile to the girl and mentally traced the goofy mask Paragon was always wearing. Nah. There was no way Paragon would become evil. Paragon was a hero. A good hero.
“So that settles it.” Her thoughts were stopped by Myth, and she turned away from Paragon to find everyone else nodding in agreement. Myth folded his arms and looked towards Laps. “Thank you for telling us this. Get ready, everyone. We’re going sailing!”
“Bu wah?” Was all she could say, and for a moment, she regretted not paying close attention to what had been said.
***
“Hey, Mom, I’m going to be late getting home tonight.” She said into the phone.
“What’s happening now?” Her mom sighed from over the phone.
She sheepishly thought about how she should explain it. “Well, it is actually good news for once.”
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“Really?”
“Yeah.” She rested her back against the railing and looked up at the bright sky. “We’ve been called out on something that will be taking us out of Oleander. Ocean Empress agreed to keep the city safe for today while we’re gone in case something happens, but I doubt it. We need to do some big mission or something, and if we do it, Pantheon will be sponsored.”
“That’s good?” Her mother asked.
“It’s more than good!” She grinned. “It means I’m going to be earning money. Like a lot of money! I won’t be making as much as some big pro heroes, but I can finally start helping with Dad’s bills. I might even be able to help pay rent or help us get a bigger house.”
“That is good!”
“Yeah-” A loud horn made her wince as her ears began to ring. “Okay, I got to go. Love you!” She hung up and turned to look out at the docks. The ship was finally about to set sail.
Myth had been serious when he said they were going sailing, as it turned out. They had all gathered at the destroyed docks. It had brought up some bad memories of Wish, but she managed to squash it down. A boat had been waiting for them. It had broken past all the destroyed ships that resided in the water and came to a stop at the docks.
That was the ship she now boarded. It was a large sailboat. One that belonged to the Watch Dogs. It had likely been created by a Super with a Mental power, as the ship had very large cannons poking out of the side of it, as well as what she swore were jet engines stabbing out the back. It had three floors in total, along with a basement, or whatever the basement to a boat was called, she didn’t know. A massive sail poked out the top of it, but it seemed more for decoration, as with all the engines and the roaring it made, the boat appeared to have no issue going forward. It also had a large flag that showed a massive wolf chasing a moon. Despite being the daughter of a fisherman, she had actually never set foot on a ship before, so it was pretty cool.
Team Pantheon, as well as Paragon, were all scattered about on the first floor. They weren’t alone, though. “So a few things.” Backup announced. He was a member of the Watch Dogs and had been the one to get the ship here for them. A sly smile was on his lips. “This thing is piloted by an AI and will not stop if you fall overboard, so please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. Also, I would suggest not looking over the railing and sitting still if you get air sick easily.”
“You mean seasick, right?” She asked.
“Nope.”
Fire erupted out the back of the ship, causing the water to bubble up. The sides of the boat opened and began to unfold. The ship rocketed forward so fast she was thrown off her feet and crashed into the railing. Whisper and Paragon also slipped, slamming into the floor. Poor Snowdawn had actually been almost thrown overboard, but a golden chain wrapped around his waist as Battery pulled him back. Only Battery, Backup, and Myth seemed to be able to stay standing.
It only got worse from that point on, though. The entire ship jerked, and it began to rise up. The lean caused her to almost fall over the rails, but she managed to get her grip around the bars, holding on for dear life. Wings finished emerging from the boat, the kind you would see on a jet, and the ship lifted into the air, picking up even more speed.
Wind whipped around wildly, and she became blind as her hair began to smack her in the face. Finally, though, the top of the ship glowed, and a blue bubble of energy morphed out, surrounding the entire boat in a force field. The wind died down to normal, and the shaking stopped as she fell face-first and hugged the ground, breathing heavily.
“Alright, no casualties!” Backup cheered. “That’s a new record!”
“What the hell was that for!” She yelled.
“You gotta give a way stronger warning!” Whisper screamed.
“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick.” Paragon’s hands covered the front of her mouth as the girl’s body shook.
“Guys! A little help!” Snowdawn hung off of the ship, gripping the rails tightly.
Backup gave a deep belly laugh and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, my bad. It’s been a while since we took this bad boy out for a spin. Fun fact: I built it myself!”
“That explains a lot,” She muttered. She slowly stood back up, still on slightly shaking legs. Now that the launch itself was over, she had to admit the ride wasn’t all that bad. She stared down at the ocean, which they flew over. It sparkled in the sunlight, and even with the high speeds the ship was moving, the barrier around it kept them all safe. “It’s a little cool, I guess.” She admitted dryly. “Messed my hair up a lot though.”
After the battle with Wish, part of her hair had been burned off. Then she got into a fight with Wyvern, and more of her hair had been torn up. Over the three days since everything happened, she had gotten her mom to cut her hair. It was a lot shorter now, falling just above her shoulders. Due to how much shorter her hair was, she didn’t bother tying it back into a ponytail. It also meant she couldn’t hide the nasty scar she got from Wish either.
The line was still directly across her forehead, a faded red mark that Paragon’s powers couldn’t heal. Every now and then it would twitch or ache a bit. She felt a little ashamed at having the mark on her, but at the same time she had been using it as motivation. After talking with Paragon, she was sure that Wish wasn’t dead and would return. She’d be ready for when it happened. The girl would never hurt her that bad ever again.
“We should arrive at our destination soon.” A new voice called out. A set of stairs led up to one of the floors above, and a young girl walked down them slowly. She wore a black bodysuit, the same kind Snowdawn wore, and she had a simple black half-mask. Her blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, but what was most shocking about her was the fact she looked to only be thirteen years old. Duplicity smiled and gave a half-wave. “In about three hours, we will be docking. If you head below deck, you’ll find a hallway with several rooms. Each door to a room will have your name on it. You’re welcome to stay in your rooms until we arrive. For the adults, the fridge has an assortment of beverages. For the kids, you’ll find a bunch of games to play in the closet. Please have fun.”
“She talks like she isn’t a kid herself.” Snowdawn snorted as he finally managed to pull himself back onto the ship. “Still, I think I’m going to go sit down and maybe rethink my life choices.”
“Yeah, I think I need to cool off as well,” Cinder admitted, slumping her shoulders. “Even for me, this has all been a little crazy.”
“Why don’t you all head down?” Myth nodded. “I’ll have a chat with these two and will let you all know when we get there.”
“Thanks, Myth! You’re the best!” Whisper announced.
She helped Paragon up, who was still shaking from the flight, and began to make their way downstairs with the girl. Soon only Battery, Myth, Backup, and Duplicity remained up top. Battery leaned against the wall with his arms folded and eyes closed. Myth, on the other hand, turned to look at the two Watch Dog members and gave a nod of his head.
“Thank you for agreeing to do this for us.” Myth said.
Backup held a hand up, stopping him. “Don’t mention it. You’d do the same, right?’
“No.”
“Oh...”
Myth snorted and held his hand out. “Still. I heard you guys stepped down. I’m sad it happened, but I’m not disappointed. I hope your group can recover and eventually become great heroes again.”
Backup nodded and took the hand, shaking it. “There’s a lot of issues we have with our team. Issues that only Old Dog could fix. I still can’t believe he’s really gone.” For a moment, the cheerful look in the man’s eyes vanished. Slowly, he shook his head as his smile came back. “I’m going to do my best. I became a hero to have fun. I guess it’s been a while since I have been happy, though.”
“If it were up to me, we’d be helping out more.” Duplicity announced proudly. She glowed, and then suddenly, a second Duplicity appeared. “Sadly, Bad Wolf doesn’t think she can be controlled out in the field without Old Dog, and Roulette and I are a little too strong to be dealing with low-level crime. Only Backup can really help.” The copy explained.
Myth stepped away and folded his arms. “Well, you have my word that Pantheon is going to make a difference. This is where our story starts. We’re going to save Oleander. I know we will. I’ll bet my life on it.”
Backup casually leaned back and sat up on one of the railings. He held half his body over the side of the ship, only using his legs to keep himself held up. “I’ll be rooting for you, then. I guess I’m glad something is finally happening, even if it isn’t good for Watch Dogs. None of it will matter if you don’t step up, though. You guys have to prove you have what it takes. You have a lot of people who are placing their trust in you, who have everything to lose if you fail.”
Myth clenched his hands into a fist and nodded. “We won’t.” He turned away and was about to head upstairs to watch for their destination point. “I refuse to fail again. I’ll make a difference.”
Down below the ship, it had been just as Duplicity said. It was sort of trippy, as when they reached the bottom, the hallway within the boat was long and stretched out. It was bigger than the ship. On both sides, there were simple white doors with names carved into them. On the left were the boys. ‘Myth, Battery, Snowdawn, Backup’. While on the right, it was the girls. ‘Cinder, Paragon, Whisper, Duplicity’.
Snowdawn and Whisper both entered their own rooms, giving a half-wave. She stood in the hallway awkwardly with Paragon. “So...” She trailed off. “I didn’t expect the ship to suddenly lift off like that. You doing okay?”
Paragon huffed and folded her arms. “Well. To be honest, I’m rethinking my choice of coming. I don’t hate flying, but that was a little too much for me.”
“Weren’t you launched at like hyper speed by Mr. Larison once?” She snorted.
“That was different! I was ready for that and knew I wouldn’t be in danger! This boat is a death trap as far as I’m concerned!” Paragon stomped her foot down on the flooring a few times, seemingly to get her frustration out.
She nodded but frowned softly. “I’m sorry about what Battery said earlier.” That caused Paragon to freeze up a bit. “I don’t know what got into him. Ever since Wish he’s been... I don’t know why he’s-”
“He’s dying.” This time, it was her turn to be shocked into silence. Paragon turned away from her and shrugged. “I don’t care what he said because it’s just the ramblings of a man running out of time. It must be stressful knowing he’s on a time limit. I guess he didn’t tell you, though, did he? When I was dreaming, I saw through that villain’s eyes. She sees the world vastly different from us. She sees the body for what it is. A collection of cells. That man. His body is barely held together. He has about six months left if he’s lucky.”
She stood there stunned. Paragon didn’t say anymore and simply walked into her own room, closing the door. Slowly, she gripped her hand into a fist. She could feel fire swimming just below her skin. She knew Mr. Larison always had heart issues, but he was seriously dying. Her thoughts went to her father for a moment.
If that was truly the case, then she was even more motivated. She would just find and defeat Wish, then discover the next Lord of Life and use it to heal Mr. Larison, along with her father. It was easy and straightforward. She would save them and anyone else that needed it. She closed the door to her own room and sat cross-legged on the bed. She didn’t play any games or bother with any of the food. Not when she still had work to do.
In her hands, she created an orb of fire and began to play with it. She shaped it, shrunk it, grew it, and whatever else she could think of. She still had to get so much stronger. She’d have to fix everything quicker than she expected now. “I’m going to save them. No matter what.”
Up above the deck, Battery slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t know how much time had passed. He had stayed rooted in place, getting some much-needed sleep after spending most of his nights at Old Dog’s grave. Backup had rambled on to him, but he wasn’t really paying attention.
“-so yeah, that was the point in my life where I got catfished by the hero Fisherman.” Backup explained casually. “What a truly magical experience it was-”
“We’ve arrived.” Battery said bluntly, doing his best to ignore whatever the hell he had just heard.
“Huh?” Backup turned and looked out past the ship. Slowly, a smirk came onto his face. “Oh yeah. We did. Good catch. Hey, that’s pretty cool. How did you-” Battery stepped past him and walked up the steps to where Myth and Duplicity were. The young-looking girl pointed out past the window and towards the destination.
It was massive. Bigger than a city, it floated one hundred feet above the water. It was made out of a solid white metal that reflected light in all directions. The entire structure was perfectly cube-shaped and was made of hundreds of tiny, smaller cubes, though each cube was larger than the average building. It hummed and rumbled with a loud noise, and the water below it constantly swirled around, forming hundreds of whirlpools. Metal drones flew through the air around it, and Hero Branch soldiers stood all along the surface.
On top of the cube, there were hundreds of buildings, some towers, and some more minor in nature. Even along the side of the building and the bottom, there were structures and people who walked, seemingly unaffected by gravity. Built beneath each floor were anti-gravity pads that caused each side of the cube to work as if it were right side up. Constantly, the cube was rotating, softly spinning, and twirling around, and thanks to the pad, the men on it weren’t flung off when it would turn entirely upside down.
“There you have it.” Duplicity announced. “The thing that gave Boy Genius a free pass to join the Enforcers. Nightshade. A prison created for the worst of the worst.”