The Junk Block was huge.

And I mean HUGE. I could swear that it was the size of New York City. Homeless people were everywhere, buying and selling various goods using some kind of strange currency. They looked like little rags someone might use to patch a hole in a blanket.

Nobody seemed to question the armor I was wearing; but most of the denizens of this makeshift city were mumbling something incoherent, and their eyes were glossed over so I thought they were probably high on some kind of drug.

I followed Retina past a few little stalls, in which people were selling random pieces of clothing and jewelry, which I assumed to be fake. I was following her because she seemed somewhat familiar with this place, whereas I barely had any idea this existed.

"Should be just down this street. Unless our new recruit is homeless, they probably will be in the Visitor's Center." She said, as she led me down said street.

I was still trying to wrap my head around this place, so I answered with a distracted "Uh huh.. Wait, Visitor's Center?" She looked back at me, her eyes widened from behind her glasses. She seemed surprised at my question.

"Pretty neat, huh? You really didn't know about this place at all?"

"Yeah.. I was in an induced coma for three years, so Behemoth and this other guy could give me my powers. This place is definitely something... Why is there a visitor's center?"

She laughed a little, seemingly amused by my question. "There's a rich man who owns this place. He was very poor for a while, but slowly helped all the other homeless in this part of town, and built up a good reputation within the community as a whole. People would pay him for his services, and eventually, he founded the Junk Block with everything he'd saved up. It's a safe haven for homeless people."

We turned left at a junction, and brushed past some people having a conversation. They seemed pretty drunk- the smell of alcohol permeated the air all around them, and we had to walk right through it.

"Helped them? What did he do, exactly?" I asked, trying to wave some of the smell away.

"He'd bring them sandwiches every day, and help them find shelter. He'd also do all sorts of odd jobs for the other people in town. Lawn mowing, dog walking, you name it. He's kind of a local legend."

I was about to ask another question, when Retina stopped. We'd arrived at what appeared to be a community center. On our side, was the Homeless Metropolis. On the other side appeared to be the open road, cars whizzing back and forth outside the barbed fence that separated our side of the community center from the outside. This was the only building I'd seen so far that wasn't made of scrap metal and bits of cloth.

"Here it is, the Visitors Center. We should just have to-"

She stopped talking because just then, we both noticed something strange. Standing in front of the door to the visitor's center was a young man, seemingly around 20 years old. He was talking to his shirt pocket.

He wore an orange Hawaiian shirt, and cargo shorts. He also had a backpack slung over his shoulder. He didn't seem homeless, but the way he was talking to his shirt was definitely weird. I closed my eyes and began to focus, thinking using my Universal Awareness couldn't hurt.

Sure enough, I felt the same strange connection that bound me to Retina, Blur, and Behemoth. "He's the one." I said to Retina, before jogging over to where he was standing.

"-No, I can't give you any snacks until we beat this guy. I got your favorite- help me out and you can eat as much as you want. Oh, wait, shut up! Someone's coming. " Gary mumbled.

"Hey there, are you Gary Forbes?" I asked him.

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His eyes began to glow bright pink. My armor began to shimmer in response, and suddenly his eyes reverted back to normal, and he fell to his knees.

"Aagh... who are you guys?" Before I could answer, he looked over at Retina, and Gary's eyes began to glow once more.

This time, there was a pink glow from behind her visor, I could tell that her eyes probably looked the same as his did.

After a few seconds, his eyes stopped glowing, and Retina collapsed into my arms. She was lucky my reflexes had been powered up, because I'm pretty sure that's the only reason I managed to catch her. She seemed to have blacked out for a moment, because she was totally limp, but within a few seconds she wobbled back to her feet again, grabbing her temple. "Wh- what did you do? My head feels numb."

He was quiet for a few moments, looking down at the sidewalk. Then, ignoring Retina, he looked back up at me.

"Alright, I'll join you. But you have to help me, first."

I was extremely confused. How did he know what I was here for?

"H- how did you know I wanted you to join me?"

He nodded at Retina. "I probed her mind there. The more information I try to get, the more powerful the psychic attack becomes. You're Chiron Kleinman, and that's Erin Werner. Your codenames are Starlight and Retina. You guys are trying to form some kind of superhero team, right? I'm in, sounds cool. But if you want me to join you, I'm going to need something in return."

Retina seemed pretty angry. "Who gave you permission to do that? Those were my deepest thoughts. I could see everything you were looking at, idiot. Not all of that was exactly relevant information." Her cheeks were red.

"Look, Ret, mind if I call you Ret? It's nothing personal, just.. someone can't be too careful these days. I had to verify who you were. And you should really work on your mental fortitude."

Retina was definitely not pleased with that explanation. "Yeah, right. Don't call me that. Starlight, you help him. Holler if you need anything. I'll, um, keep watch." She went inside the visitor's center.

"You really shouldn't have done that." I told him. Retina was my friend, and it was clear that he crossed a line. "That's not exactly a great way to build trust with your future teammates."

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need the morality police right now. I need the 'Champion of the Universe'. That's what you're supposed to be, right?"

I was upset, but not so upset that I wouldn't be flattered by this. "Sure.. go on. What's the problem?"

"..My grandfather is the problem. He went through a divorce with my grandmother recently, and usually when they fight... well, they have no qualms about getting the public involved, let's say. They're both super-geniuses, and they usually build giant robots fight each other with. They always bring each other to the point of getting divorced, then getting into this huge robot fight, and falling in love and getting married all over again. It's pretty exhausting, if not just a little heartwarming."

"Wait, you mean.. like a giant robot chicken?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, exactly, My grandpa always accused my grandma of counting her chickens before they've hatched.. I'm surprised they haven't had that Giant Robot Fight yet."

It was now painfully clear who the Old Lady in the Robot Suit was. "We actually might have fought your grandmother... she's safe, but she's been taken into custody, if that helps at all."

"No kidding! Oh, nah, she'll just break out. She always does, and he does too. But that's enough about her- He's hatching a plan that is borderline evil, and I really need to stop him. He's having the homeless people in the Junk Block build weapons, and robot parts. I think he's going to attempt to freeze this entire city block, so he can prove to my grandmother that global warming doesn't exist."

"But that doesn't make any-" I replied, but he cut me off.

"Yeah, I know, don't ask me what the logic is. This is just what I've figured out based on the fact that I know my grandparents. Most of their arguments don't make a ton of sense."

"Fair enough. Where is your grandfather?" I asked, hoping we wouldn't have to go too far.

"There's a little hatch on the side of this community center, that leads down to his Underground Lab. He's been homeless ever since his last fight with my Grandma; and every time they fight, he gets kicked out of the house. So this is kind of like his home-away-from-home."

He looked at me expectantly. I glanced at the community center, before looking back at him and nodding. "Sounds like a plan. But just one thing, I'd like to know what your powers are, before we do this. Probably your codename as well."

He stood up straight, and puffed out his chest. "Call me Firebird. And this is Cynder." From within his shirt pocket, came a little bird, but something was weird about it. It had flames where its feathers should have been,

"You have a.. phoenix? Those exist?" I asked, and he just smiled down at the little bird with a warmth that I didn't think a person could be capable of.

"Yeah, this is my best buddy in the whole world. We're psychically linked, and that link grants me my powers. We can even fuse together and become insanely strong- maybe you'll get to see it, if this thing with my Grandpa goes south."

I hoped that wouldn't happen, but I was happy to meet this guy. My Champions of the Universe were coming along quite nicely.

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