“So, then Battery and I got in this super cool chase, and he ran like crazy fast and threw me!” Snowdawn announced proudly. “After spinning through the air I-”

“He crashed face first into a sign, and then I had to catch the speeding car on my own.” Battery finished.

“Hey! That makes me sound uncool!” The snow-covered hero whined. “I prefer to say that I heroically left it in your hands.”

Myth rolled his eyes. “So that’s your excuse for why you have a broken nose?”

“Don’t feel too bad, Snow.” She reached out and patted her childhood friend on the shoulder. “I did nothing as cool as that.”

“It’s true.” Whisper nodded. “In fact, she ditched me.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“No, you didn’t.”

"Yes, I did-”

“Nope.”

“Yes!”

“Can you all keep it down? We have patients trying to sleep.” A nurse hissed, causing all the superheroes to wince.

They had arrived at the hospital as soon as they could. Battery’s group had finished up first and had managed to arrest nearly twenty people. All of which had already been taken away by the police and would probably be getting lawyers sometime soon. Her group had caught a few members of the Bad Timers thanks to Poseidon and Paragon, as well as the few members Whisper had caught. As for Myth, he hadn’t run into anyone and got off easy.

They were all fine, save for Snowdawn sporting a busted nose from ramming into a sign face first. They currently stood in the hospital, waiting for the goon Poseidon had nearly killed. He was in far worse shape than any of the others, and in an effort to get help, he had promised to tell them information about the Wandering Coin. Something he had overheard Polaron himself discussing.

“Think he’s going to be, okay?” She asked.

“He better be.” Myth said, folding his arms. “He’s our best bet for getting answers and finishing the Wandering Coin off for good. Even if he’s part of Bad Timers, I’ll take all the help we can get at this point.” The man was in his own hospital room, which they stood outside of. As soon as he was up, Battery and Myth were planning on having a long conversation with him.

“His body got pretty screwed up.” Battery noted. “What did Poseidon do to him, exactly?”

“I knew it was bad, but I didn’t think it was that bad.” Myth frowned. She stayed silent and looked away.

“I may need to have a word with her as well.” Battery grunted. “Killing supervillains is fine. They have crazy powers, and it’s kill or be killed. Normal humans, though, don’t stand a chance when facing a Super. She had no reason to use that force and could have just knocked them out. What she did was no better than bullying the weak.” He reached down to his pocket, going to pull out a cigarette, only to find his carton was full of wrapped-up suckers. “Are you freaking kidding me? Who did this? Why did they do this?”

Whisper gave an innocent whistle, her body fading out of view as she tried to tiptoe away before Battery could get revenge. “You shouldn’t smoke inside a hospital anyway,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Do it in the car when no one is around like my mom.”

Battery looked like he was about to answer but was stopped when the door to the room the Bad Timer goon was placed in opened slowly. Paragon wiped her hands down on her lab coat as she stepped out, followed closely by Poseidon. “He’s up now if you want to talk to him. I went ahead and fixed most of his injuries and cleared his bloodstream of any substances since we found him in a villain bar.”

“Thanks for coming out for this.” Myth nodded. “I know it’s pretty late, but this was important.”

Paragon just shrugged her shoulders, her mask blocking off any emotion she might have felt. “It was the least I could do.” Her words caused Poseidon to flinch.

“I’ll go ahead and wait for you downstairs, Paragon.” Poseidon murmured and roughly pushed her way past the crowd of heroes.

Paragon cocked her head to the side. “I guess I made her mad.”

“Not to rush you or anything, Paragon, but we have a job to do.” Battery stepped past the girl and into the patient’s room. “Well, you ready, Myth?”

The dark-skinned hero folded his arms and followed after Battery. The inside of the room was bare bones. There wasn’t anything that could be used as a weapon, and there weren’t even any windows. A chair was in the corner, where a tired-looking cop rested, and on the bed, the suspect was handcuffed. He was cursing up a storm, and his eyes glared at the two men as they entered.

“So, anything off the table to get answers?” Battery asked.

“No physical torture.” Myth shrugged. “Now that he’s healed, we have about five minutes before he’s carried away behind bars, so hurry up.”

“Got it.” Battery turned to the others who stood outside of the room. “You guys can go on ahead. Myth and I will catch up.” He closed the door, separating them.

“Man, I wanted to see what they do to get the guy to talk.” Snowdawn complained.

“I bet it’s something boring, like having Myth read a book the same way he gives our reports and bore the guy to death.“ Whisper giggled.

“So do we just leave or what?” She asked sheepishly.

Whisper shrugged her shoulders. “Well, we were given the go-ahead to leave. I’m heading to bed. It’s been a long night, and something tells me we won’t have a lot of time to rest going forward.” The girl muttered. “You need a ride home, Cinder?”

“No, I’m going to wait for Battery.” She said, shaking her head.

“I could use a ride home.” Snowdawn piped up. “It’s pretty late, and I don’t want my dad worrying about me, so if we’re done here, I’m heading home.”

“Alright then.” Whisper nodded. “Give us a call if anything happens; Snowdawn and I’ll turn right around.”

“Right.” She watched them walk away, eventually vanishing down the hall. There was a reason she wasn’t ready to leave yet. She shook her head and sighed as she stood alone in the hallway. Well, not entirely alone. “So, uh, I don’t want to come off as rude, but why are you still here?”

Paragon had stood rooted to the spot ever since she came out and hadn’t said another word. With how still the girl stood, she wondered if she was asleep or something. Paragon’s head twitched a bit at her words, and the girl gave a lazy shrug. “I." That was all the girl said.

“I?” The girl had just stopped talking.

Finally, Paragon let out a sigh. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

Paragon folded her arms and turned away. "I wanted to say thank you. I guess I would have been shot earlier. You jumped in and saved me though. It was pretty cool, and I didn't say thank you for that. I guess my sister also freaked you out a bit, so I'm sorry. It’s the second time you saved me. Also, I guess we started off on the wrong foot, so I'm sorry for that as well. There. I said it."

She gave the girl an odd look. “Thanks for apologizing, I guess."

“I’ve been trying to heal your father.” The words came out of Paragon’s mouth quickly. “I’ve tried! I must have attempted it a hundred times. I care about curing him. I know you don’t believe me, but I do. I don’t like seeing people hurt. I’m going to save his life. I promise.”

She stood there a little stunned. She had always assumed Paragon was forced to help due to the way the girl acted. Constantly holding no emotion. The more she heard Paragon speak, though, the more she was starting to think that’s just how the girl talked. Paragon always seemed tired.

“Well.” Paragon huffed. “Say something.”

She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess.” She really didn’t know how to feel. Should she just turn around and switch the way she felt to Paragon? At the very least, she didn’t think her grudge was really all that important anymore. It was exhausting to try and hate the girl with the amount of times she kept having to spend time with the healer. It would be easier to just start over. “I’m glad you said that. It made me feel better.” She admitted.

Paragon let out a sigh, and the girl looked as if a weight had been taken off of her chest. “I’m still learning how my powers work. I don’t improve as fast as you do. I’m going to get better with them. I promise.”

This time she managed a smile. “That’s nice.” She leaned against the wall and folded her arms. “It’s good to hear you finally sound so passionate, Paragon. You have a cute voice.” Paragon grumbled a few words and rested on the wall next to her. “Did I do something wrong?” She asked. The girl still wasn’t leaving.

“I'm waiting on Destiny. He's my eyes." The healer explained.

“Destiny? Oh, you mean that bird?” Now that she looked at the girl closer, she realized that strange red bird that was always with her was gone. Every time she had seen the girl, it had been riding on her shoulder or on her head. “What happened to him?”

“I let him out to hunt before I came here. He likes flying around the city. When he returns, I can head home.”

“Oh. Wait, so then how did you heal the guy in the room without your pet bird?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“Sorry?”

The girl shrugged lazily. “I can heal people without Destiny. My powers are more than just a simple healing ability. Destiny gets his from me, not the other way around. Think of him as a lesser me. I use him to heal people because it’s less out of control. Against villains, though, I don’t have any issue with messing with their bodies. Also, I’ve healed you before with my power, remember?”

“Oh yeah! I guess I forgot about that.” She hummed and cocked her head to the side. “Wait, so your powers aren’t just simple healing?”

Paragon squeezed her hand into a ball and flexed her fingers. The girl let out a deep breath and finally spoke up. “Whenever I touch someone, my power activates whether I want it to or not. It’s always active. I can sort of see a person's DNA. That’s what told me who you were the moment I touched you. My ability isn’t actually one created for healing; that’s just a second effect I get.”

“What do you mean then?”

“It’s manipulation and creation.” The girl held her hand up and touched a fly that landed on it. The fly began to bubble up, and much to her horror, it popped. “You know how the Victorian can control light or how Green Wolf can control kinetic energy? I can control cells. With my power, I can cause new cells to form into a person's body to heal them, or I could do other things to them.”

“That sounds bad.” She winced.

Paragon nodded her head. “I hate it sometimes. Being able to see everything about a person. I’m scared sometimes that I could lose focus and accidentally kill someone. That’s why I only use it to heal and repair the body. I can’t use my power on myself, nor can I use it from a distance. My body is also quite weak, so I lack the ability to keep myself safe. I’m not that strong, basically, but I don’t need to be for normal people. If I messed up even a little...

“Suddenly, the girl’s costume made more sense. Showing no skin, always wearing gloves, keeping her face covered. “I get it. You said Destiny had more control. I’m guessing he can’t turn a person into a flesh blob like you.”

“He just heals.”

She nodded her head and looked down at her hands. “It was sort of the same for me at first. I’m not trying to say our powers are similar or that my issues were as bad as yours, but I didn’t have a lot of control over my fire. I still don’t fully, but I’ve gotten better at it. If you practice more, would you be able to control your powers better?”

Paragon snorted. “I guess, but I can’t practice much with how they work without risking someone’s life. Unless you’re offering?”

“I’ll pass.” She shivered a bit and folded her arms. “If you don’t mind me asking, have your powers ever gone out of control before?”

A silence hung in the hallway for several moments. Time ticked on, and the healer still hadn’t answered her. She wondered if Paragon got mad at her and decided to ignore the question, but finally the hero spoke up. “Do you know what a Calamity level threat is?”

“Yeah, it’s a world-ending disaster. Things like the Emperor, or the Beast from Space, and stuff.”

“That’s right. There have been other threats, such as Lucifer’s villain group known as the Immortals, but in general we have three main things we consider to be a Calamity. Chrysanthemum’s border breaking, the Beast coming down from outer space, or the Emperor and his army returning. Chrysanthemum’s borders haven’t been broken ever since they were put up. The Emperor is also believed to be dead ever since he lost to Full Monarch nearly fifteen years ago. The Beast, though, is special. He always seems to pop up every few years, and each time we lose so much life.”

“I remember the last time he appeared was just two years ago.” She said quietly. “A lot of people died then.”

“Yeah.” Paragon nodded somberly. “My sister awakened her powers a few days before the Beast appeared. The Beast was actually her first ever mission. A Calamity event. I wasn’t there at the time. I didn’t even have my powers yet. My powers aren’t stable, and they awakened during the Beast attack… I tried to save her life, and… I think… I think I made her into something like a member of the Bad Timers.” The girl whispered.

Instantly she thought back to Mars King, Demonica, and Polaron. All three of them weren’t humans. Not anymore. They were all unstable, both physically and mentally. She still couldn’t get the image of Polaron screaming out of her mind as his powers went out of control or the image of Demonica’s body snapping and twisting constantly. She couldn’t imagine Poseidon being something like that. The girl might have had a temper, but she looked normal enough. She reached out, gripping Paragon’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Poseidon isn’t anything like the Bad Timers-“

Paragon pulled her hand back, shaking her head. “I just told you what happens when something touches me. Why would you think it was a good idea?”

“Well, you were wearing gloves?” She shrugged.

“You really are an idiot.”

“I just trust that you won’t blow me up. I doubt you hate me that much.”

Paragon actually seemed to let out a snort and eased up a bit. “The Bad Timers used to be humans.” The girl said quietly. “In fact, almost every monster used to be human. All of them lost their humanity when they joined the Emperor’s army. He had the ability to alter and transform living matter, allowing him to change Supers into powerful monsters. Monsters he then used in his main army and tried to take over the planet with. Even today, many of them still exist. In a way, my power is almost a cheap copy of his. I thought this power would allow me to save everyone during the Beast attack two years ago. Boy, was I wrong.” Paragon shook her head. “Though I guess if you really wanted to know more about it, you could ask Myth. After all, he was there at the event, too. In fact, that’s why he lost his right to be a Sub Enforcer leader. After what he did. He’s lucky he wasn’t thrown in prison.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“What does that mean-”

She never got to ask her question, as seconds later, there was a loud bird-like screech. A nurse who was walking through the halls let out a panicked yelp and jumped out of the way as a red bird came soaring by.

Paragon held her arm out and the bird circled around a bit before landing on her sleeve. “Finally. Look, as much fun as it has been playing twenty questions, I need to go.”

“Wait!” She winced. “I have a favor to ask.”

Paragon sighed. “Yeah?”

“Could you heal me?”

Destiny craned his neck, looking her up and down. “You look fine. Save for a few bruises.”

She rubbed at her arms and shrugged. “That’s sort of the issue.” She had trained a bit with Rowan. Or at least he called it training. It was what had led her to being bruised and tired before the patrol. “I need my injuries to be removed.” She explained. “I haven’t told my parents that I’m a Super yet, and if they see any marks, they’ll worry more. So, could you please?”

“Every time I’ve offered to heal you, you’ve turned me down like that Battery man. I assume he has a good reason, but you? I’m guessing it had to do with your dad.”

She winced a little. “Yeah. I was mad when you weren’t able to heal him. I guess I was mad at you, but I was more mad in general, too. I just, I dunno... I’m sorry.”

Paragon lazily shrugged her shoulders, and her bird held out his wing. It touched the side of her face, and when it removed it, she felt her body ease up and the pain fade. “Done and done. That’s like getting a world-famous bodybuilder to open a pickle jar for you, just so you know. Next time, make sure you’re dying.”

She giggled a bit. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to call you when I lose a limb or something next time.”

Paragon stepped past her about to head out but stopped. The girl seemed to struggle with her thoughts for a moment. “You said your parents don’t know that you’re a Super?”

“Yeah, I know I should tell them, but...”

“I don’t care,” Paragon said, cutting her off. “Look. If you get injured in a way you can’t hide, then I guess it would be fine for me to heal you. But only if it’s something that would get you found out, got it?”

She took a step back in surprise. “Yeah? That, um, that sounds good to me. Thank you?” Paragon huffed and turned away. The girl finally left, marching down the hallway. “I don’t actually know how to get a hold of her.”

***

It wasn’t often that Alexander dreamed. Usually, the noise of the machines would keep him up all night, or the constant flashes of pain would cause him to wake up. Tonight was different, though. Tonight, he could tell right away he was dreaming.

The hospital was gone, and instead he stood out in the fields of his old hometown. In the distance, he saw his town. A small dot of scattered buildings, a gorgeous field of flowers all around them. He saw his beautiful wife speaking to his dad, who had long passed away. That was why he knew it was a dream. His wife had never gotten the chance to see his dad, and he hadn’t been back home for years now. Still, even in a dream, he was happy he got to see his daughter playing with the locals in the fields, something she would likely never even get to do.

It had been a while since he saw her so young. She was starting to not be his little girl anymore.

All of the noise of the city was gone. The smell of pollution, gone. The destruction after a hero and villain battle, gone.

His daughter giggled as she floated high into the air. She always did want to fly. Everyone cheered for her and waved as she hopped and spun as if she were a plane.

It was all so peaceful.

His eyes fluttered open as he heard the machine buzzing. He felt as if he were inflating, all the pain shooting through his body. He tried not to gurgle on his spit as everything hit him all at once. “It was nice while it lasted.” He muttered.

“What was nice?”

His heart nearly exploded from fright, and he let out a squeaky ‘eep’ as he sat up fully. His eyes widened when he saw who rested in the chair beside his bed. “Hope?” His daughter smiled at him. She wore a simple T-shirt and a jacket, like usual. He didn’t need to check the time. He could see the moonlight in the window. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the area, so I decided to drop by.” She explained. She fiddled with her glasses. True to his word, Rowan had fixed them up for her so she wouldn’t have to worry about the draining effect, and they looked just as they did before. “How are you feeling, dad?”

Her father gave her a smile as he leaned back on his bed and stared up at the roof. “Tired. I’m feeling... I’m so tired.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I can leave if you want to go back to bed.” She could feel how weak his grip was as he tried to squeeze back. She prayed it was just from her super strength.

Her father shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Nah.” Alexander chuckled. “Once I’m up, I’m up. That’s the way I’ve always been. Does your mom know you’re here?”

She winced a little. “She thinks I’m at work.”

“Work?”

“Yeah. A lot has changed.” She took her glasses off and looked into his eyes. He knew. He had to know. He had known from the start that she was a Super and had been hiding it from her. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Her father did his best to sit back up but gave up halfway through and slumped back down in his bed. “What is it, honey? You can tell me anything.”

“I...” Her throat locked up. She tried to speak, but it wouldn’t come out. She knew what she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t form. ‘I’m a superhero, and I know that you kept my powers hidden for years; now tell me why!’ How does one even say something like that? She took a deep breath. “I’m scared.” The words left her mouth almost as a whisper.

She could feel his weak squeeze on her hand again. “What are you scared of, sweetie?”

‘Scared that mom could be in danger because of me,’ Went unsaid.

“Scared that each time I come here, it could be the last time I see you.”

‘Scared of why you hid the fact I’m a Super.' Went unsaid.

“Scared that I’m not doing well enough. In school, or at work.”

‘Scared that I might not live up to my potential.' Went unsaid.

“Scared that we won’t be able to pay the bills at the start of each month.”

‘Scared that I could fail to save someone, save you.' Went unsaid.

Her father gave a smile. “It’s going to be okay.” She felt his grip tighten. Really tighten. He was squeezing her hand as hard as he could. “I know it’s all going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life. Far too many to count. Raising you might have been the only smart thing I’ve ever done. You’re a smart kid. You’re a strong kid. You’re a good kid. I know for a fact that no matter what’s thrown at you, you’ll beat life at its own twisted game. And as far as I’m concerned, if you can have fun and keep living each day like you have been, then you’re going to do fine. You’ve already come so far. Further than I ever went at your age.” His smile grew as he gripped her hand. “You’re one of the kindest people I know. And that’s what makes you special. So, keep on living. I know you’ll be fine.”

He let go of her hand and slowly rested back in his bed. She stopped holding her breath and tried to nod her head. She slipped her glasses back and tried to give a smile. “I’ll try.”

Her dad’s eyes traced her face before turning to the door. “Friend of yours?”

“Huh?” She looked back towards the door to his room. It was a glass door that was sealed shut since only one person was allowed in his room at a time due to him having the Dead Virus. On the other side of the glass door, Jack Larison stood. He was leaning on the wall, seemingly waiting for her, dressed in his civilian outfit. “Yeah. He’s a friend from work. I’ll have to tell you about my job some other time. It looks like they’re getting ready to leave.”

Her father nodded and closed his eyes. “I’ll see you next time you visit, then. Maybe you’ll have some good work stories to tell me then.” He chuckled.

“Yeah. Next time.” She hesitantly stepped out of his room, the automatic door sealing the room off. “Were you waiting for me?” She asked Mr. Larison.

The red-haired man stared past her and at the man lying on the bed. “That your dad?”

“Yeah.”

“You never said he was in the hospital.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” She admitted.

“Okay then.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sucker, handing it to her. She took it slightly confused, but he was already walking away. “Come on. Car’s already running. Let’s go home, kid.”

She smiled and unwrapped the sucker following after him. “Did you get the answers from that one guy?” She placed the candy in her mouth. It was cherry flavor.

“Yep.” Jack and her left the hospital. His car was waiting on the side of the street, and Thaddeus was already in the passenger seat waiting, also dressed like a civilian.

“What did he have to say?” She asked as they got into the car.

Thaddeus was the one to answer her. He had his collar pulled up to cover his lower mouth and did his best Myth impression. “We were only able to talk to him for a bit before the cops carried him away. The new chief of police likely wants to prove himself to the city and would rather be the one to stop this gang.”

“I wonder how Kyle feels about that.” She muttered.

“We did get a name, though.” Thaddeus, or maybe it was Myth; she wasn’t really sure. “The leader of the Wandering Coin. He’s a Super, alright. Calls himself Sunshine.”

“Sunshine.” She smirked at the name. “Does he have a sidekick named Rainbows?”

“I didn’t consider that.” Thaddeus hummed. “I suppose he could have another Super on his team. Good work, Hope.”

“That was a joke, big guy.”

“Don’t bother explaining it to him,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. The car started up as they backed out of the parking lot and hit the road. “What we know is our guy goes by Sunshine. That worries me a bit. The goofy names are either taken by idiots or dangerous people that don’t care. Judging by the fact this guy has kept completely away from all of Oleander for so long, I doubt he’s an idiot. We’re also behind. From what the Bad Timer grunt said, Polaron has already figured out where Sunshine will next be.”

“So we need to find Polaron if we want to find Sunshine?” She asked.

“That’s right.” Myth nodded. "That's, of course, already quite the challenge. No one has been able to find Bad Timers' base, so we have to wait for Polaron to poke his head out before we can strike. The fact he can teleport, or fly, also makes going after him extra hard.”

“Damn.” She rubbed her chin, nodding. “I wouldn’t have thought there were so many places for them to hide out in the junkyard.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked, frowning.

"Well, you know. Their base is somewhere in the junkyard. I thought someone would have had a clue of where it was by now.” She shrugged. Both men just stared at her. “What?”

“Why do you keep saying it’s in the junkyard like it's common knowledge?” Thaddeus asked.

She sheepishly scratched at her chin. “Wait. Do you guys not know that?”

“No! We didn’t!”

“Whoops. I think I forgot to tell you all something very important.”

“Hope!”

***

“Let me out of this damn box!”

“Shut the hell up already!” Intake screamed. “Just accept that Polaron left us!”

“I’ll kill you!” Mars King screamed. “As soon as Polaron breaks me out of this, I’ll turn your skull into my mug!”

“If he does break you out, any chance he could get me out of here as well?” Red Ape asked sheepishly.

“I’ll kill you, too!”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

Intake laughed. “You idiots. We aren’t getting out. Not this time. Only place we’re ending up is Nightshade. Greatest prison in the world. Built by that damn twelve-year-old. Once you’re in, there’s no escaping.”

“Actually, not true; the villain known as Lucifer managed to escape when he-” Red Ape didn’t get to finish as Mars King began to thrash around and scream once more. The Zoo member sighed, shaking his head. “How did I get stuck with you two?”

The Hero Branch would swoop in and deal with villains once they were caught. After his defeat at the hands of that damn teenage girl, he had been held in a cell for a few weeks, slowly being pieced back together. Same went for that Intake guy, who had taken severe damage from a fight with Ocean Empress, and Mars King, who had several bones shattered by Poseidon. The three of them had finally been fully healed and were now in the back of a Hero Branch van.

It was a heavily armored car, though he didn’t get to see too much of it. They were in what he was calling the iron maiden. It was a massive metal suit that didn’t allow for any movement, leaving them stuck standing in place. There were some wheels on the bottom so that a Branch officer could roll them around. The suit was built by Boy Genius and was made out of the same material as the prison they were heading toward. It shut down or weakened their powers, and the suit was constantly vibrating, actively repairing itself at all times.

The three of them were all simply stuck in the back of the van, awaiting their trip to hell. There would have been more, but the Branch didn’t want to put Red Raptor, White Hummingbird, Black Skunk, and Red Scorpion all in the same van together with Red Ape for fear of the Zoo members teaming up. Not like it truly mattered, though.

Nightshade was basically death row for Supers. A lot of heroes didn't have an issue with killing bad guys, especially those that have already killed, but every now and then they find they have a use for the villains. That was where Nightshade came in. It was built by Boy Genius and would either hold tricky to deal with villains like Mars King that had healing powers that let them keep coming back, or it would be used as a means of getting information out of evil Supers.

Once you were in Nightshade, there was no escaping, so you either had to 'help' the Hero Branch out with the information they wanted, and in return they'd give you a comfortable place to spend the rest of your life, or if you wanted to not do that, they'd send you to the place many Supers feared. The cell block that held the villain Uriel, member of the Immortals...

“Intake.” Mars King grunted. “You become things you touch, yes? Become metal, kill the drivers, and bust us out. I’ll kill you painlessly then.”

Intake rolled his eyes. “Yeah, not happening. This van doesn’t have any human drivers. All robots are built by either the second-strongest superhero, or Harrison Avalon. The moment we try to break out, this whole thing explodes in a blaze of glory.”

“I will survive the blast!” Mars King roared.

“I won’t!” Red Ape panicked.

“A small price to pay!”

“A big price to pay! A massive one!”

Intake snorted. “How’d you do it last time, Red?”

“Huh?”

“Last time you were captured by some cops, right? You’d have been in this same vehicle. How did Green Wolf get you out of this place, then?” Intake asked.

“He teleported the van.” Red Ape explained. “Then he shut down the robots and disarmed the suit.”

“Wait a sec, I thought these vans had anti-teleport tech? Same type they use at Nightshade.” Intake asked, a confused look on his face.

If Red Ape could shrug, he would’ve. “Yeah, I didn’t want to question it at the time. I was just happy to get out of the suit. You’ve got no idea how satisfying it is to scratch an itch you’ve had for the most of a five-hour drive.”

“And you didn’t think to ask him after you were out?”

“Not really. The guy can be scary. Especially if he can teleport into areas specifically designed to not allow teleporting. You know who was the only other person who could do that? Only the freakin’ Emperor.”

“Any chance Green Wolf will do that again?”

“You don’t get second or first chances from that psycho. Next time he comes for me, it’ll be to kill me.” Red Ape grumbled. “I was only let out the first time because he wanted to test some new product from his ally. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“That settles it. Nightshade, here we come.” Intake grumbled. “I knew Bad Timers wasn’t a good idea. That asshole Polaron forced me to join. He didn’t even bother helping me when I was nearly killed by a glowing man.”

“I will not end up there!” Mars King roared. “I am the son of Alien! My father fought in the Emperor’s grand army to take over this filthy world! Polaron’s mother did as well! Polaron is my brother-in-arms! He will come! We will get this world ready for the Emperor’s return-”

“Your buddy could care less about that.” Red Ape said, rolling his eyes.

“I will kill all humans!”

“My guess is you guys are just insane.”

“All of them! Cattle to be slaughtered and eaten.”

“Insane for sure.”

“We aren’t escaping this van.” Intake huffed. He was getting annoyed at just how dense this villain was. “Face it; we’ve lost-” Everything shook as a blast hit the side of the van! They were thrown against the wall as the thing rolled and began to crash. “What the hell!”

“Yes! Yes!” Mars King screamed. His cage crashed back and forth, ramming into the walls as they continued to roll down what felt like a hill. “He has come for me! Polaron has come to bust me out of here!”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Red Ape gritted his teeth as his stomach shook from all the spinning they were doing. He was rattled around inside the suit and lost the fight, vomiting. “Oh God, it’s everywhere! Oh God-”

The van finally came to a crashing stop on its side. Intake squeezed his eyes shut, ready to be ripped apart by an explosion, but it never came. The vibrations on the suit stopped humming, and a quiet click echoed out in the room as the suits’ backs opened up. “What the hell happened?” He climbed out of his suit, shaking.

“Ahhh!” Red Ape was next; his gray jumpsuit caked in his own vomit. “Gross.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Mars King didn’t even bother waiting for his suit to open. The thing suppressing their powers had clicked off when the van crashed, and simply by flexing, he tore his way out of the metal armor. “I am free! Free to slaughter as I please-” A metal fist rammed into his face, and Mars King was punched hard enough to send him through the wall of the van. He crashed out and landed in a field of sand. “You dare?!”

Intake stepped out of the van, sunlight dancing off his metal form. He flexed and began to grow in size, getting bigger. He flashed back to that beating he had taken from that glorified janitor and Ocean Empress. “I will never lose like that again.” He got to about twelve feet, his body absorbing more of the metal from the car. “I’m Intake! I am a warrior of Oleander! Face me, Mars King! I’ll slaughter you and make my way back to Oleander and kill that damned golden man, and Polaron!”

“Uh, guys, can we not do this? Also, aren’t you two on the same team?” Red Ape stumbled out of the wrecked car. He didn’t have any of his gear. All of them only had faded blue jumpsuits they could wear. Already Intake’s and Mars King’s were ripped apart as the two men grew in size, about to duel. “Listen, the explosive system has been shut off! Only Green Wolf could do that! That means he has to be here! He’ll kill us all! We need to team up!”

Mars King and Intake roared, and both charged at each other. Spikes erupted out of Mars King’s body, and Intake’s metal fist smashed into the side of the Bad Timer’s head.

“Guys!” Red Ape screamed louder. “At the very least, do that once you get me away from here! There is a signal or something in the van! It’ll be calling for help! The freaking Victorian, or something, will show up if we don’t hurry!”

Intake threw Mars King away and grunted. “That is a fair point. We should get the hell out of here. Speaking of which, where the hell are we?” He looked around but only saw sand as far as the eye could see. They were in the middle of nowhere.

Mars King grunted and stood up, sniffing the air. “Teleporter smell.”

“Teleporter smell?”

“Ears has a power that lets us teleport.” Mars King grunted out. “He listens, and when he hears our signal, he teleports one of us. When he does this, the air heats up for a bit, leaves a funky smell that I can sense. This is similar. Different but similar. Teleporter smell.”

Red Ape snapped his fingers. “Someone must have teleported the transport vehicle while it was on the road to Nightshade. Nightshade is somewhere over the ocean, so I bet we were heading to the docks or something when we were moved. The sudden shift is likely what caused the blast and might have fried the systems. I bet this is the same way that Green Wolf got me out last time.”

“You bet?”

“How’d he get this power?” Mars King spat out. “Wolf can’t teleport.”

“He can now.” Red Ape shrugged, folding his arms. “He ended up befriending some high-up dude. That guy has one of the strongest teleportation powers I’ve ever seen. Maybe on par with the Emperor’s. Green Wolf has been abusing it and getting around the world.”

“Right you are, Red.” Red Ape froze when he felt the arm over his shoulder. Mars King and Intake both also stood straighter and glared at the man standing there now.

“G-Green Wolf?” Red Ape whimpered. The man had his head cocked to the side, his wolf mask blocking his face. One of his arms was thrown over Red Ape’s shoulder in a casual manner, while his other hand gripped a long knife, swaying back and forth.

“Hello, boys.” Even with the mask, they could all tell Green Wolf was smirking. “I’d like to make a deal.”