Speculation

“It’s a common theme that villains have lairs, not heroes. That’s not completely true. It’s just the hero set like to call their subterranean, hidden facilities Bases instead of Lairs. Even if they sit in it all day and brood.”

“Considering how often it is that they are subterranean, filled with defenses, trophies, and often pets that can take a chunk out of an enemy you begin to wonder how many of the capes were Dungeons and Dragons fans back in their youth.”

Andrew Fitzgerald, Analysis of Public Service and the Heroic Age.

"Favorite? Oh, that was the Green Bay Groovies base. That was a team back in the sixties who were active for a few years, before managing to get so into the LSD scene they misplaced their secret base." Ryan said shaking his head

Lisa launched “Oh wow, what was that like? The sixties were major weird for the super community between the drugs and the speedster wars!”

“I thought the Speedster Wars were in the seventies?”

“I was never certain.” Ryan admitted.

“Man, it was weird." Carl nodded. “Free Love posters next to weapons lockers. I kept thinking about Vietnam war movies while we were there.”

"Keep in mind, we found it after several months of reading team members journals, researching property claims, and even going over Google Earth images. Turned out to be under an abandoned car dealership." Ryan explained.

Emilia nodded. "The layout was something out of the mind of a mad man. All tunnels leading to rooms that seemed to come out of nowhere, the walls were an explosion of colors because they painted, and repainted, it randomly and constantly."

"And they were apparently really passive aggressive at each other, because there were more traps, technically, than in the worst villain lairs. However, they were aggressively annoying pranks instead of remote-controlled death." Carl sighed.

“I hoped you filmed that; it sounds fun. Did you set off any of the pranks?” she asked as she took a bite of cake. “With drugs involved those have of have been some Goldbergian nightmares!”

"I was blue for a week, one of them must have been super science because Ryan's suit was partially invisible in the most embarrassing way possible from a water gun thing, and Em turned into a blonde. My wife really lost the lottery. She got hit by the aerosolized magic mushroom dust and spent most of the time we were exploring talking to the walls really, really fast."

"That had to be hysterical, if a bit unnerving. I didn't know Cassidy went on explorations with you? I would have thought Tailor work kept her too busy.”

"When she's got some down time, she does. And that was an early exploration, before her first collection hit." Ryan said. "If we know we're going to have a lot of tech issues, we wait for her to be free. Carl's good, both of them are unstoppable."

“Most Tailors are Brains of some flavor so that makes sense, or at least that's my understanding.” Lisa said. “I had a cute brain couple I helped house shop about a year ago. They ended up with an adorable tiny home and a custom-built Workshop that was like 10 times the size of the house.”

"Yeah, that's why we live in the school." Carl admitted. "We live in like, what used to be a largish nun’s room or something, but with all the workspace you can't beat it. Plus, we set up the school area with simulated traps, for our own practice and for other groups who do this sort of thing."

“Emilia mentioned that you trained other people. Are you training other urban explorers or first responder types? I can see where police and firemen could really use that kind of experience.”

"Actually, we do both." Ryan said. "And sometimes super teams with better reputations. The city Eminent domained the Groovies base after we located it, and we reset the traps that aren't psychedelic for training. It's popular with police and first responder groups nationwide. Some hero teams have even trained there, and we are contracted to rig it every few months with new layouts."

“That’s a nice side business that I imagine also lets you keep up with what's trending when it comes to traps. I know from talking to another client that, apparently, Pit traps are 'So last season'.”

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"Meh, only for the stuck up. Gravity is pretty reliable."

"Except for killing opponents. For some reason, falling never seems to finish off any type of cape." Emilia mused.

"Probability loves capes. how else to you explain the first hero showing up after a century of being missing, just in time to beat a robotic Kaiju like it was a tonka toy. " Lisa said giving chuck a second piece of cake.

"I know, right? I admit, from what I hear, even my father is freaking out about her turning back up. A lot of the more A and B list villains are."

“Really?” She leaned back doing math, “Isn’t he a bit young to have known her? Or is this because of the rep? A hero that can work with even villains?”

"She worked with villains who followed certain niceties, and only when necessary.” Ryan said. “Pragmatism at its best. A lot of the younger ones see her generation as a mix of a dinosaur and a boogieman because that pragmatism can swing the other way real quick."

Emilia nodded "Keep in mind, the supervils from even as far back as the sixties wouldn't dare do some of the things the modern guys do, Same for the hero side. While they don't break the Elysium, the understood rules of super warfare if you will, they are very ungentlemanly and for her that may very well matter."

“Well, that could be interesting. Maybe the fear of the Original Girl is what the red capes need. Oh, speaking of, I did try to do some research on Mister Lizard. Apparently, there were rumors that Pablo Escobar hated him and was suspected in his death.”

"Pablo Escobar? Damn, even Super Villains didn't piss that guy off, generally. He's almost the personification of why the Cartels are as powerful as they are. The Black Hand was powerless against him from some of the rumors that still get around."

“Yeah, I don’t know why but apparently there was an intense mutual hate, I found references to Escobar calling him Senior Pollo, Mister Chicken.”

"Huh. going to have to research that. I'm just legitimately curious." Carl admitted

“Me too. Maybe we’ll find out why at the house. Oh, I’m going to put some breakfast burritos in the fridge, if whoever gets up first tosses them in the oven on low, we can munch them on the road.”

"Sounds good. I'm going to lock the bus down, so we can sleep tonight." Carl said, heading once more for the cabin. A few moments later all the lower-level windows had their shutters drop, and bars slid across the door.

At Lisa's shocked expression Ryan shrugged. "We stopped at a Walmart. The night crowd can be weird there."

“Okay, fair. Walmart is Walmart.”

"Pajama pants and crocks, as far as the eye can see."

The next day they drove through an overgrown, tree lined road the branches banging on the bus before pulling up to a sprawling wood and glass house that looked like a cabin designed by Frank Loyd Wright on shrooms, with plenty of glass, exposed beams, and odd geometric edges.

“Wow, the pictures don’t really do it justice, and those windows must be some super material to not be broken after all these years.” Lisa said grabbing her shoulder bag with her kit in it

"Man, that's just impressive." Carl nodded. "And yeah, they aren't quite transparent enough to be real glass. Still, lots of supes use odd materials for their homes and vehicles, even civilian stuff."

"Well, let's pop the drones, and do an orbit, see if anything looks particularly weird in the grounds." Ryan said, though he was thrilled that the bus hadn't been shot at by any sentry weapons as they came up the drive. The days before Door Dash led to villains making rather reckless driveway related decisions."

Lisa pulled out a note pad. “I’m going to need someone to come trim back the trees, and obviously get a landscaper out. The lawn looks like it used to be a beautiful, intimate area.”

"Yeah, and the trees are looking healthy from above, if overgrown." Carl said, a pair of goggles allowing him to see from the drone eye view. "I'm also seeing some deer on the property. That would suggest there's not any active, lethal deterrents. Non-lethal, there's a thick bramble thicket along the border of the property. Not precisely a bad thing.”

“No, clean it up I can market it as a privacy fence.” Lisa said, Looking out the bus’s window. “There is an overgrown area about twenty-ish feet from the door. I’m guessing there is something like a fire pit or maybe a fountain there.”

"Fountain. That's a baby willow growing in it, and they love wet." Ryan said

After an hour of flying the drone around, they piled out of the bus, in their suits. They were all reminiscent of motorcycle armor, Ryan wearing a bronze-brown outfit, with Carl in Yellow. Emilia wore a bright blue and they'd given Lisa a red suit. The colors were bright so they could see each other easily, even in dim lighting. Stealth wasn't the goal, since they weren't breaking into an active base.

Lisa chuckled. “I feel like a power ranger. She joked. “Or Target Girl if you go by Star Trek logic. So which way first.”

"Considering the deer, I'm pretty comfy with saying the grounds are safe, so I'm thinking we open the front door and poke around. On the first trip we go in, set up some cameras while avoiding touching anything. That way we can check footage in case something is moving around we aren't immediately spotting ourselves. Get a good, accurate map of the house. Then we'll break for lunch and discuss the next step based on what we saw."

“Okay, we don’t have keys so,” she pulled out a set of lock picks. “Do you want to open the door, or you want me too?” She asked with a smile.

"Oh yeah, you do it." Ryan chuckled

"I'm timing her!" Em said, switching her smart watch to stopwatch mode.

Lisa walked up onto the porch jumping a bit to test the wood “Porch seems solid, I do see some planks that critters have gotten to but it’s a patch job not a replacement.” She made another note before handing the pad to Ryan. She slipped her tools into the lock.

“Oh, this is a good one. A bit rusty though.” Twelve seconds later the lock opened with a soft popping sound as the mechanisms broke free. “Got it!”

Emilia whistled. "Nice, Twelve point two. And with an old lock, quite impressive."

Ryan chuckled as he pushed the door open carefully.