“This is gonna be fun.” The Basher cracked his knuckles. “Did you kids miss me?”
“You know you sound like a child molester, right?” Firestorm asked.
“Oh, I’m gonna enjoy pounding you.” Basher said, earning an incredulous stare from Firestorm.
“Does he… I mean…” Firestorm cracked up.
“Serious faces guys.” Belle said. “They’ve got upgrades.”
”Plan?” Belle used her telepathy to open a mental conversation between the whole team.
”I’ve got Redemption. Pixel, keep Daytripper occupied. Belle, Helix as per usual. Fissure and Ice Princess, The Basher, use the Pollux strategy. Blackbird, you get Firefly, you know the family power, and you should be able to play her pretty easily. Firestorm and Universe, you’re our powerhouses, so Firestorm gets Raider, Universe gets Kingfisher. Sorry guys, we just need them kept busy until we can regroup.” Mr Perfect said.
”It’s fine.” Mr Universe said. ”Blackbird, when you take out Firefly, start on Daytripper, bring Pixel back into play, she’s our wildcard. Assess the scene yourself after that, go for battles you can win, not who needs the most help.”
“I think we’ve given them long enough to formulate their plan, don’t you?” Helix sneered. “What, you didn’t think we hadn’t clued on to what you were doing?”
“Kingfisher, attack.” Daytripper ordered, before the Brats could formulate a response.
“Not happening.” Mr Universe shouted, as he seized a pair of cars, slamming them into the villain before he was able to attack. Kingfisher was unfazed by the attack.
“You’ll just be the first one to die.” Kingfisher said, as he flew towards Mr Universe, glowing with green energy.
“Wrong again.” Mr Universe said, as he took off into the air, trying to lead Kingfisher somewhere he couldn’t harm the other Brats.
Kingfisher had other ideas, lunging forward for Fissure, but Mr Universe countered by lifting the rebar from the concrete below Kingfisher, launching him skyward.
“You’re really asking for it?” The villain snarled.
Mr Universe smirked. “Yep.”
The other Brats wasted no time matching up against their opponents. Mr Perfect tackled Redemption with as much force as he could muster, driving the cyborg backwards into the wall of a nearby building. He hoped the occupants had evacuated, there was no time to worry about bystanders. The Assembly had to be stopped.
The Basher was surrounded by ice, as Fissure began pelting him with bowling ball-sized chunks of concrete, which shattered on his skin, barely hurting the behemoth. The Basher charged forward, but slipped on the ice, crashing down and sliding along, towards Fissure, who had, in the meantime, summoned his armour to cover his body.
While Helix and Belle were unmoving, minds locked in a battle no-one else could see, Blackbird was dodging Firefly’s attacks with relative ease, just biding his time for the obvious strike. It didn’t take long, a roundhouse kick to the solar plexus knocked her backwards, and Blackbird dropped a knee on her head to knock her out.
He began watching Pixel and Daytripper, as the villain tried to appear anywhere to aid his allies, with Pixel hot on his heels. But he was forming a pattern. It didn’t take Blackbird to figure out the three positions Daytripper was most likely to appear in. Blackbird wasn’t quite as ambidextrous as he thought he was, but he was more than capable of throwing two shuriken with his right hand, and a third with his left. The trick was to aim above Pixel’s head level, so he wouldn’t accidentally hit his teammate, and to also aim for a non-lethal blow, just enough to shock the teleporter.
He waited for Daytripper to appear, and let loose his attack. Moments later, Daytripper appeared, and one of the shurikens sliced across his cheek. The teleporter raised his hand to his face and looked at the blood on his fingers. He didn’t have time to react to the taser strike, which left him unconscious.
Pixel was already on top of Helix, a sleeper hold applied, in order to distract the psychic, giving Belle the upper hand. He finally broke his battle with Belle, trusting his defensive walls to hold for the moment, and lifted Pixel over his head with his telekinesis.
Blackbird ended Helix’s part in the battle with a well-placed boot to the face.
Firestorm wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to be doing with Raider. He didn’t have any forcefields, but she did. Her attacks were far too powerful for him to withstand. She most likely had him physically beaten too, she was a hypersoldier afterall. So far sheer dumb luck had allowed him to survive the fight.
“Who the hell are you supposed to be anyway?” Firestorm asked, as he tossed a fireball at her, which dissipated on her shield. “I mean, I get that you’re one of those clone babies or whatever, but who is your original?”
Raider ignored his question. Instead, she blasted at him with her radioactive beams, which he narrowly ducked. Pixel had to be affecting this battle; there was no way he was that lucky.
“I’m sure I’d remember a face like that.” Firestorm said. “I mean really, no-one is that ugly. Not on the current scene.”
Raider began unleashing a barrage of blasts, Firestorm ducked behind a car, luckily Raider didn’t see where he had gone.
“Did I hit a sore spot?” Firestorm taunted, as he darted along the row of cars which had parked on the side of the road. Moments later, the car he had been hiding behind exploded.
“I hurt your feelings? Are you sure you’re the badass supervillain you want us to think you are?” Firestorm shouted again, this time darting back a car. The car in front of him exploded. He was behind a car with no cover on either side. He was trapped. But Raider didn’t know that. He created a tiny, white-hot flame and melted a chunk out of the car in front of him. He let the piece of metal cool and tossed it across the now-empty parking space and listened as it clattered on the ground behind the next car.
He dove moments after, as Raider disintegrated the car she thought he was hiding behind, a look of rage and pain contorting her face. He tossed fireball after fireball at her, her forcefield was down to allow her to use her blasts, and even the hypersoldier couldn’t react fast enough to switch back. Firestorm’s quick-fire shots weren’t enough to hurt her badly, but the damage was done. She collapsed on the ground, in tears. A complete failure.
Firestorm approached her quietly, the half-melted remains of the disintegrated car’s tire-iron in his hand. A quick blow to the temple would probably have killed most people, but she was far tougher than them. Still, she was rendered unconscious on the ground.
He looked at the battlefield around him. Belle had used her powers to take down The Basher, effectively putting him to sleep psychically, Firefly and Daytripper were both already unconscious. That left their aerial foes.
Firestorm looked up just as Mr Universe shouted “Look out!”
Kingfisher had shattered half the windows of one of the nearby skyscrapers, and had used his powers to throw a large number of the shards of glass in a deadly cloud at Firestorm. There was no way he could escape the radius of the attack. Firestorm stood there frozen, as he waited for his death.

Lee grimaced, as he pulled his body across the street towards his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend’s motionless bodies. He had to check on them. He ignored the pain in his legs as best he could, as he used his arms to drag his metallic form across the ground. He knew if he changed back, things would only get worse.
The asphalt in front of him twisted and grew, until it took the form of a large man, standing with a slender girl, before turning to flesh, revealing Fissure and Iaso.
“Go…” Fissure said, as he collapsed to the ground, the strain of carrying two people across the country too much for him.
“Lee!” Iaso shouted. “What happened?” She bent over him and her hands began to glow. “Change forms so I can fix this.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Lee said. “I’ll live. Go to the others.” He pointed at his teammates.
“Oh god…” Iaso said, rushing forward to her former leader. She placed her hands over his abdomen, and the glow began again, enveloping his entire body. The glow continued for thirty seconds before fading, leaving Cal in full health, if still unconscious.
Iaso wiped the sweat from her brow. Cal’s injuries were ridiculous. How had he survived? She shrugged and turned to Ossuary.
“Oh god Michelle, what the hell happened?” Iaso looked over the bony exoskeleton that had been crushed around her friend. She struggled to pull away a piece large enough for her to get her hand under. Once she had succeeded, she reached out with her power. The glow began again, but after thirty seconds, it wasn’t done.
“I… Michelle…” Iaso gasped, as her healing energies were drained into the injured girl. They remained connected for a full minute, before Iaso passed out, her job not finished.
Lee shook his head. He was going to have to survive until the ambulance got there. Even then, his legs were in pretty bad shape. Who could guarantee they’d be able to help him? He had to stay conscious to keep his body steel, and intact. He had to wait for Iaso to wake up and heal him. Maybe Fissure could help.
Lee crawled forward another foot, and another, until he could reach Fissure. He slapped the time traveller as hard as he could, but he was out cold. Lee collapsed on the ground, the sudden movement sending a jolt through his broken, twisted legs. The pain was too much. Lee passed out.
His body turned back to flesh, and he began to bleed from the places his bones had broken through his skin.
<><><>
“Lee is stable.” Fisher said. “Iaso and I came to as the ambulance arrived. She gave him enough energy to survive surgery. They pieced his legs back together. Iaso regained her strength, and healed them on the spot. Apparently the reordering of the bones would have been the hardest part.”
“Thank god.” Kevin said. “But what we need to figure out is what’s going on here?”
“Sir?” Fisher asked.
“What’s the big picture? Who are these guys? Why are they working with Daytripper? Are they part of the Assembly of Evil? Why did they attack our allies?” Kevin asked.
“I… They do work for Carmichael.” Fisher said. “That much I know.”
“Liar.”
Kevin and Fisher turned to the other man in the darkened office. Matt was not amused.
“Sir, I assure you, that’s true.” Fisher said.
“If Daytripper helped them, they must be part of the Assembly.” Kevin agreed.
“Not that.” Matt said. “That’s not all you know.”
Kevin looked at Fisher. “Is he right?”
Fisher took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“Who is Kingfisher?” Matt asked.
“The first hyper soldier.” Fisher replied.
“What are his powers? Who is hybridised in his DNA?” Matt asked.
“Emerald.”
“The founding East Coast Boomer? No way was she that powerful!”
“She never reached her full potential. And the hyper-soldier process tends to strengthen powers as well as the physical body.”
“So what? Kingfisher led Carmichael’s forces?”
“No. He was the opposition.”
Kevin screwed up his face, as he tried to figure out what was happening. “I don’t get it.”
“He… He was the biggest villain of my time. He killed Captain Awesome. He was Carmichael’s attack dog. He was painted as a villain, and attacked anyone he was ordered to. US Force fought him just often enough that the public didn’t catch on, or even the members of US Force for that matter. He is nearly unstoppable. And a complete psychopath.” Fisher explained.
“And what about Raider?” Matt asked. “Where does she fit in with all this?”
Fisher shook his head. “That I honestly don’t know.”
Matt’s face contorted into a sneer. “Sure, I believe you.” He said. “We’re going to have to face these two sooner or later. What are you hiding? What else haven’t you told us?”
Fisher stared at Matt. “What are you talking about? I’ve told you everything. Raider may have been a failure in my timeline.”
Matt threw his hands in the air and let out a sigh of disgust. But Kevin was the one who spoke up.
“You haven’t told us everything.” He said. He looked Fisher straight in the eye. “We know Matt and I start the new Boomers, and the Rebellion with Cal. Lee joins US Force. Mosley’s there, Blackbird is there, the Sawyers and the band have their place, so does Cobalt. What about the rest? What happens to Katie?”
Fisher doesn’t have a reply.
“Or Verona? Or Hannah?” Kevin adds, earning a raised eyebrow from Matt.
Fisher remains silent.
“What about Aperture? Or Ossuary? Or Epic? Or The Gibbon?” Kevin demands. “What happened? Is this it? Is Kingfisher the reason? Does Kingfisher kill someone? Or Raider?”
“Our timelines have diverged too much. Much of what we have done this past year was not given to me in my briefing.” Fisher said, finally breaking his silence.
“You’re avoiding the question.” Matt said.
“I…”
The alarm began to ring throughout the penthouse. Ally appeared in their midst. “Suit up!” She said.
“The Assembly is here.”

“Ok Brats, we’re touching down in five minutes.” The pilot’s voice buzzed in the team’s ears. “We’ll be landing on the roof of the building.”
“Thanks Steve.” Mr Perfect replied through his commlink. “Ok guys, what have we got on these guys?”
The team looked across the helicopter to Mr Universe. “Ummm… Fissure?” He said.
Fissure nodded. “The Untouchables. They’re middle-range. Nothing spectacular. They’ve fought Captain Awesome a few times. They escaped in the big Alcatraz breakout.”
At the mention of the breakout, the team went silent. Gauss had almost killed Mr Universe that day, and had in fact killed dozens of others.
“Jericho is unstoppable.” Mr Universe took over the briefing. “He’s indestructible. Once he gets moving, you can’t stop him. He’s not exactly quick, but he’s one hell of a battering ram.”
“Bliss controls emotions. This is a psychic ability, not pheromone control, so we’re all subject to it.” Fissure continued.
“Dusk goes intangible. Think Cai of Liberty Force, only nowhere near as deadly.” Mr Universe said.
“And last, but not least, Fallout. He radiates energy at an alarming rate. You cannot stand within twenty feet of him without the temperature becoming unbearable. He wears a costume made of lead to stop himself from being a danger to his teammates, but he can withdraw sections of his costume at any time. Radiation sickness is likely, not to mention the damage from the heat, and the chance of cancer.” Fissure finished.
“He’s our first target. We can’t risk bystanders.” Mr Perfect said. “Belle, can you keep Bliss distracted?” He looked to his girlfriend, who nodded affirmative. “Fissure, I need you to contain him. Just pile on the layers. Keep his costume intact if possible. We need the extra layer. Mr Universe, you’re on that too. Like Hadi at Gitmo. Layer upon layer.”
“Makes sense.” Mr Universe nodded.
“Firestorm, Dusk may be intangible, but fire may affect him, so he’s yours.” Mr Perfect said.
“Sounds like fun.” Firestorm cracked his knuckles.
“Ice Princess, Blackbird, Pixel and I will take Jericho. Same as with Pollux. Keep him off balance with ice, and misdirection.” Mr Perfect finishes.
The remaining teammates simply nodded their assent. “Ok Brats. Let’s do this.”
<><><>
Cal and Lee Richards sat at their desks on opposite sides of the room. Cal was poring over their budget, Lee was on YouTube.
“We’re going to have to pick up some more jobs or something.” Cal said. “The insurance on this place alone is through the roof.”
“Maybe we should have thought this through a little better, I mean, it’s not like this is New York. Supervillains don’t come here as often as they do anywhere else.” Lee said.
“They’re still around though, and the cops aren’t equipped.” Michelle walked in, a tray of coffees in her hand.
“But we’re big time.” Lee said. “I mean, we took down the Order of Darkness.”
Cal didn’t have time for a response, as a car came tearing through their front window. He barely had time to throw Michelle out of the way, turning his own body to steel in the process.
Lee transformed himself, and Michelle covered herself in a bony armour.
“Ok Trilogy, time for us to earn that retainer.” Cal said.
“This is going to be fun.” Kingfisher said, as he lifted another car above his head.
<><><>
“You can’t defeat us!” Epic’s voice echoed from three storeys up, as he swung at the girl attacking his team.
Raider’s forcefield went up just in time to block the attack. “You’ll have to try harder than that.” Raider said, dropping her forcefield and hitting Epic with an energy blast, knocking him on his rear.
“Fuse?” LatX ordered, as he tried to analyse their enemy. If Epic was unable to hit her, then he wasn’t going to be able to do much to her himself. Still, perhaps Fuse’s abilities would fare better.
“One fastball, coming up.” The diminutive heroine said, as she assumed a pitcher’s stance, a ball of energy forming in her hand. With an almost major-league level pitch, Fuse’s aim was perfect. The speed of the attack left Raider with no time to react, and the ball bounced straight off her chest, before exploding in front of her.
The blast sent Raider flying backward, but she managed to catch herself with a shield.
“Red Streak.” LatX ordered, as he slingshotted himself at the villainess, rolling himself into a ball in midair. He felt himself bounce off her shield, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t the real attack. He twisted his neck at an impossible angle and saw exactly what he’d hoped. Her shield was down, and Red Streak was bearing down on her, his own force field was directed straight at her.
“Too easy.” LatX smiled.
Raiders’ eyes went wide when she saw the ginger-haired speedster heading towards her. She panicked, and released energy in all directions, knocking the heroes off their feet.
It was Raider’s turn to smile. “My turn.”
<><><>
“You fight worse than your girlfriend.” Kingfisher taunted, as he hefted Cal over his head, piledriving him into the concrete below.
Cal groaned on the ground, and turned to look at Ossuary’s prone form laying across the street. He had to get to her. He climbed up on one knee. A roundhouse kick to the ribs sent him tumbling back to the ground. “I didn’t say you could get up.”
“You son of a bitch.” Lee said. He lay twisted on the ground some distance away. Kingfisher had wasted no time in disabling the stronger of the brothers, wrenching Lee’s legs out of his sockets easily, even in his steel form.
It hadn’t taken much for Kingfisher to disable Ossuary, using the energy he controlled to bind her, cracking through the exoskeleton she had erected, and crushing her beneath it. She hadn’t lasted long before passing out.
Which left him with only one adversary, and he was savouring it.
Cal struggled to his feet, and this time he made it. Kingfisher made no attempt to stop him. Cal rushed to his girlfriend’s side. Cal let out a sigh of relief when he saw she was breathing, if shallowly. He had to end this now.
Kingfisher’s deep laugh rang through the street, as he advanced on Cal, who straightened to face him.
“We’re done here.” Cal said. “Back off.”
Kingfisher’s laugh just got louder.
“I’m not letting you win here.” Cal said. “Stand down.”
“Make me.” Kingfisher taunted.
Cal assumed a combat pose, as Kingfisher flew forward and seized the hero in a huge bearhug. He tossed Cal into the air, catching him in a tight grip around the legs.
“I’m going to kill your girlfriend.” Kingfisher’s laughter hadn’t stopped. “And I’m going to use you to do it.” The villain raised Cal like a club, readying the death blow.
Cal couldn’t let him do it. He transformed back to his human form. He had to stop himself from hurting Michelle, even if it was going to kill him.
Kingfisher swung Cal downward, crashing him down on top of Ossuary’s prone form.
Kingfisher’s expression turned to rage. “How dare you!?” He demanded. “You want to take away my fun?”
“Kingfisher.” Daytripper ordered.
“What!?” The rage didn’t leave Kingfisher’s eyes, as he turned to face the teleporter.
“You’re done.” Daytripper said. “You’ve passed your test.”
“I’m going to kill them all.” Kingfisher said.
“No. You can’t kill them.” Daytripper said. “The Brat Pack will come looking for us. We need to control the fight. That’s how we’ll win. We choose the time and place. Not them.”
“Let them come.” Kingfisher said, as he reached down for Cal’s unconscious form. He missed, his hand instead hitting the floor of the training area at his headquarters.
The villain screamed in rage as he began pounding at the reinforced concrete, cracking it to the very foundations.
<><><>
Iaso crouched over Epic’s body, her healing energies flowing out, into the unconscious size-changer. “You idiot.” She muttered, as his wounds closed up, and his bruising disappeared.
She turned her vision back to the battle. LatX had wrapped himself around Fuse, to protect her, and was bouncing around the street, as Fuse lobbed her explosive energy at Raider, who was shielding against every blow. Red Streak was having similar luck, as he crashed his battering ram into her forcefield, neither was budging.
But the heroes were weakening, growing tired, while Raider was just as fresh as she was in the beginning. One of Fuse’s shots went wild, and Red Streak was hit in the leg with shrapnel, putting his high-speed running to a halt. Raider took her chance, dropped the shield and hit LatX with an energy blast, knocking him off Fuse, and leaving the two falling from ten feet up. They hit the ground with a loud crack.
“Raider. The test is over.” Daytripper was standing next to her.
“But I almost had them.” Raider said.
“Almost isn’t good enough. Kingfisher has crippled Lee Richards, Ossuary is bleeding internally, and Cal Richards is beaten. The test is over.” Daytripper said, placing a hand on Raider’s shoulder. The two disappeared instantaneously.
<><><>
“It was a simple matter of tactics.” Mr Perfect told the reporter. “We did what we knew had worked for us in the past, from battle and from training. It’s all about the teamwork.”
As the authorities loaded the battered, bruised and inhibitor-collared criminals into their transports, Mr Perfect was dealing with the assorted press that had arrived on the scene.
Off to the side, Mr Universe’s cellphone rang. His eyes went wide. “Perfect… We have to go. Now.” He said.
“What?” Mr Perfect turned from the interview, midway through answering a question.
“Iaso just called. Quintessence just got decimated by an unknown, calls herself Raider. Got teleported out by a guy in a suit.” Mr Universe said.
“Daytripper?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Sounds like it. He said another one guy, Kingfisher, fought Trilogy in Texas, and they’re in a bad way. Iaso wants us to fly her out there.” Mr Universe said.
“Kingfisher?” Fissure’s usually expressionless face was the picture of fear. “Flying is too slow. Where is Iaso?”
“Near Quintessence’s office. Why?” Mr Universe asked.
“If Trilogy have fought Kingfisher, they’re probably dead.” Fissure said, as he melded into the road.

The young villain grunted, as he hefted the ten ton weight over his head, using the aura of emerald energy he wielded. “I’m getting bored now.” He said, tossing it aside.
“Patience. There are only a few more tests.” Daytripper said. His new charge’s powers were exceeding expectations. The trainers at the lab had clearly been doing their job. Daytripper had expected to have to talk Kingfisher through his exercises, that there would be months of training to be done, but here he was, wielding his powers to almost their full potential.
“I’m sick of your little games.” Kingfisher said. “Give me the Brat Pack.”
“All in good time. You must remember: they’ve been at this for a long time. They’ve got the field experience.” Daytripper said. “Power isn’t going to be enough.”
“I’m stronger than Mr Perfect, or Fissure. I’m more powerful than Mr Universe.” Kingfisher smirked. “And the others aren’t worth mentioning.”
“Don’t underestimate them. That’s an error too many have made.” Daytripper had far too many defeats at the hands of the Brat Pack to be quite as cavalier about their abilities.
“How many times have they fought someone as strong as me?” Kingfisher demanded, unleashing a blast of green energy, shattering the enormous lead weight into thousands of tiny shards.
“They’ve defeated almost everything that’s been thrown at them. Gauss, The Order of Darkness, Blue Shift. Castor and Pollux. The Assembly only beat them once, and that was because we had Gauss.” Daytripper said.
“And now you have me.” Kingfisher said.
“And they have the Ice Princess and Blackbird.” Daytripper countered.
“And we have Butterface.” Kingfisher said.
“Raider. Her codename is Raider.” Daytripper corrected.
“Whatever.” Kingfisher shrugged.
<><><>
“Come on.” Firefly taunted, as she tossed another fireball at Raider, who erected a barrier of radiation, dissipating the energy of the fireball.
Raider returned the attack with a blast of her own, but Firefly easily ducked out of the way.
“Is that the best you can do? No wonder Daytripper didn’t want to have to put up with you. You’re pathetic.” Firefly said.
Raider threw both hands out at Firefly, a wave of energy directed at the young villainess, who managed to leap over it.
“You’re completely useless. You don’t deserve to be on the team.” Firefly continued, this time attacking the other girl with a volley of fireballs, which again met their end on a forcefield.
But Firefly followed her attack. Raider had dropped her shield before she realised Firefly was within striking distance, punching Raider in the face.
“The Boss doesn’t want you too roughed up, but I don’t think anyone is going to notice if your face gets any more deformed.” Firefly taunted, as she began raining jabs on Raider’s face.
The hypersoldier designated 002 collapsed and curled into a ball, sobbing.
<><><>
“This one is pretty simple.” Mr Universe said. “Standard crap with these guys.”
He floated in the air next to Mr Perfect, below them was the courthouse, where a crowd of thousands had been worked into a frenzy, a riot threatening to break out at any moment. Barricaded within the courthouse were the everyday employees, including several judges, and the people involved in the biggest case of the year, Anthony Jackson was being tried for the murder of his wife and child. He also happened to be a mutant, with the power to turn his body into glass. While this power wasn’t relative to his case, or even very useful, the case had attracted the attention of the Human Right Initiative.
They had tried the subtle approach, planting members throughout the crowds outside the courthouse, spreading their racist message, putting violent thoughts into the minds of the regular citizens. The spark was lit, and the people began to grow restless. The Human Right Initiative then announced publicly that they were sending a contingent of their Race Warriors, the newly-coined term for their army of zealots, who fought the “good fight” against superhumans using Sickle power-armours bought on the Russian blackmarket after the fall of the Soviet Union. The armours had also now been spray-painted red, white and blue, in case their message wasn’t received by the general public.
The Brats were on the scene almost immediately, just waiting for the Race Warriors to show their faces.
“Ok, we know we can take these guys.” Mr Perfect said. “You’re ok to do crowd control?”
“Of course. They jam my powers anyway. I’ll keep any of their attacks from hitting the civilians, and I’ll use the fences to keep the civilians from getting into the building.” Mr Universe said.
“I can’t imagine we’ll take long to beat these guys. Then we’ll help disperse the crowd.” Mr Perfect said.
“You’d better marshal the troops. They’re coming.” Mr Universe could sense the magnetic distortion from a mile away.
<><><>
“Are they ready for field testing?” Senator Carmichael asked.
“Kingfisher is, without a doubt.” Daytripper said. “He’s a little cocky, but I think we can work it out of him. Field testing should put his powers to the test.”
“And Raider?”
“She’s emotionally unstable. Firefly was able to reduce her to tears. In the field with us, she’d be a liability. She has the power, but she doesn’t have the self-confidence. Firestorm would break her, and then those imbeciles would probably turn her to their side.” Daytripper said. “We can’t take her with us.”
“Field test her anyway. I want each of them fighting alone. And I have just the targets for you…”
<><><>
“That’s got to be a record.” Mr Universe said.
“What?” Mr Perfect asked.
“The HRI. You guys had them in like, ten minutes.” Mr Universe said.
“Fissure and me took down like, twenty of them in about two minutes one time.” Firestorm said.
“It wasn’t quite that many.” Fissure murmured.
“And the crowd!” Mr Universe said. “Belle, when did you learn to control emotions like that?”
Belle smiled. “It’s not really control. I just like, think warm and fuzzy thoughts en masse. Most people don’t expect it, and just assume it’s their own thought. It’s not perfect, but it helps.”
“I’ll say.” Mr Perfect said.
“So what’s next for us?” Mr Universe asked.
“We’re about due for another big one, aren’t we?” Firestorm asked.
“I hope not.” Belle said.
“Me too.” Pixel agreed.

The mountain of a man hefted the crateful of gold bars with ease, removing them from the back of the overturned armoured van. Normally there would have been a crowd to witness the robbery, but a dozen armed gangbangers scared them away.
“Aww hell yeah!” EmCee shouted. “You better run. We’re the new big crime in this city!” The young supervillain had made the most of his prison escape. He had donned a new costume, he was dressed in blue camouflage pants and a white wifebeater. Sitting sideways on his head was his trademark black cap.
“I don’t see why you thought it was necessary to bring him along.” Jamais Vu sneered. “Seizure I understand. Someone has to do the lifting.” The seasoned veteran was wearing his standard purple costume, somewhat dated as he hadn’t worn it in five years. The helmet was something of a sore point, he had had it made during a brief period where headwear was popular.
“Hey! I can hear you!” Seizure shouted, as he loaded the crate of gold into the back of a second, unmarked van. The giant was also content to wear his old costume, which resembled overalls, but no-one was brave enough to tease him for it.
“And I’m here to scan for supers.” Jamais Vu continued. “But what is that idiot even on this team for?”
“He has potential.”Scalpel said. The villain was wearing his signature labcoat over his brand new costume, consisting of interlocking carbon-fibre plates, leaving him, and more importantly, the equipment that gave him his powers, bullet-proof. On his fingertips, hooked up to the apparatus that was contained in his armour, were scalpel blades.
“Thanks boss.” EmCee said. This was his first foray into real super-crime. EmCee had been thrown in Alcatraz for petty larceny. He was excited.
“Behind us!” Jamais Vu shouted, and his whole team turned.
“This is going to be fun. EmCee and Scalpel I recognise… Who are the others?” Mr Perfect said, as his body finished emerging from the ground.
“Seizure’s the big guy, the other guy… Holy crap, is that Jamais Vu?” Mr Universe said.
“Ugh. Children.” Jamais Vu was unimpressed by the team’s entrance.
“Ok, he’s a psychic, Seizure is… Well, he’s the muscle. Stronger than The Basher, probably not as strong as Darklight was.” Mr Universe said.
“Belle, Jamais Vu is yours, keep him off our backs. Fissure and I will take Seizure. Firestorm and Pixel get EmCee. Universe, is Scalpel’s costume metal?” Mr Perfect said.
“Nope. Looks like he learned from his time with Gauss.” Mr Universe replied. “Guess I’m dealing with the minions?”
Mr Perfect smiled. “Can’t risk him getting you with those scalpels. Blackbird, Ice Princess, Scalpel is yours. Watch out for his blades.”
“Are we just going to let them stand there and divide us up?” EmCee asked.
“Jamais Vu is already battling Belle.” Scalpel replied. “We’re waiting for them to show their hand.” Scalpel was intrigued. Why would they want to keep Mr Universe away from him?
Mr Universe flew up into the air, and the hairs on the back of Scalpel’s neck stood up. It couldn’t be. “Boys, fire on the flyboy.” Scalpel ordered, and the thugs didn’t waste any time, opening fire on the teen hero. Mr Universe was unfazed, stopping the bullets in their tracks. Of course, the boy was a magnetic controller. Scalpel had to get to him.
Underneath his armour, the supervillain’s equipment whirred to life; a direct line to his spine hooked everything straight to his nervous system. He could activate it with a thought. He felt a brief prick as a hypodermic needle pierced his skin and injected him with blood. Blood he had obtained from a fight with the East Coast Boomers some ten years ago, and placed in one of his secret stashes across the country. Blood from the heroine known as Minerva. He felt the surge, as his body became much stronger, more durable, more agile. His vision blurred momentarily as his eyes changed to a pale blue.
“Oh wow! How did you change your eyes like that?” Ice Princess asked, as she approached the villain, the air turning to mist all around her.
“He’s using his powers!” Mr Universe warned. “Get away!”
Scalpel’s face lit up as he took off into the air towards Mr Universe, claws outstretched. Midair, Blackbird hit him with a grappling hook, dragging him off course, into the side of a building. “He must have had a stash of blood somewhere.” The African-American vigilante said.
“What? Eww!” Ice Princess shouted. “Why would he have blood?”
“Scalpel can steal someone’s powers if he has some of their blood in his system. That’s his power.” Blackbird explained.
“That is the grossest superpower ever.” Ice Princess was retching.
Scalpel was already flying towards her, having momentarily lost interest in Mr Universe. Blackbird couldn’t react in time, even with Minerva’s powers fading already, Scalpel was too fast. He drew back his hand and swiped across Ice Princess’ exposed midriff, leaving four deep gashes along her stomach. Ice Princess’ shriek was equal parts pain and praying it didn’t scar.
“Oh no.” Blackbird said, as he prepared to fight for his life.
“Oh yes.” Scalpel said, as his eyes turned a deep, dark brown, the mirror to Verona’s.
Blackbird threw a trio of shuriken at the villain, who created an ice-sword from thin air, slashing the projectiles off their trajectory.
“Crap.” Verona said.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Scalpel said, as ice began to build up on his body, until he had a two-inch thick armour covering his body. “I fought Coldstar a lot. I know more tricks than you could dream of. It’s a shame you’re not as strong as he is.”
“Fortunately, she’s just strong enough…” Blackbird said. “Your last power boost lasted how long? A minute?”
“What’s your point?” Scalpel asked.
“It’s been fifty seconds.” Blackbird replied. “I wonder what else you have up your sleeve, because at this rate, it’s going to be stuck there.”
Scalpel didn’t reply. He couldn’t. His icy shell had frozen solid.
Across the battlefield, EmCee cowered in a shell of pure sonic energy, as Firestorm bombarded him with flames.
“I can’t teleport into his shield, I’ll just get smashed with the sound.” Pixel said. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“Go help the other two take down the big guy, I’ll keep this one busy.” Firestorm said.
Pixel nodded and disappeared, reappearing several yards away, where Mr Perfect and Fissure were taking turns at punching at Seizure, who was far from going down.
“Pixel!? What are you doing?” Mr Perfect asked. “You’re going to get hurt!”
“Not bloody likely.” Pixel said, putting on a Bart Simpson faux-British accent.
The smallest member of the Brat Pack latched on to the largest of their opponents and the two disappeared, reappearing some hundred feet above EmCee. Pixel kicked off the villain and reappeared next to Firestorm, just in time to watch Seizure crash-land on top of EmCee, the impact knocking both unconscious.
“Oh. Good work.” Mr Perfect said. Pixel stuck her tongue out at him.
A few yards away, Blackbird kicked Jamais Vu in the back of the head, knocking the psychic unconscious and ending the battle.
“That was easy.” Blackbird said, as he checked Jamais Vu’s vital signs.
The heroes celebrated their win, as unbeknownst to them, three sets of eyes looked down from a nearby building.
“We could just kill them now!” The teenage boy said, as he moved to climb out the window. “They’re right there!”
Daytripper placed a hand on his shoulder. “No. You are here to observe.”
“We could take them. That Mr Universe guy isn’t so tough.” The girl said.
Daytripper suppressed a laugh. “He was holding back. Mr Universe is at least as powerful as you are my dear.” He knew it; these children weren’t ready to fight the Brat Pack. Still, his boss had decided it was time, and Daytripper couldn’t argue with that.
“I’m stronger than she is.” The male, 001, argued. “I’m gonna mop the floor with him.”
“I don’t know about that, but I can definitely take the rest of them.” The female, 002, said.
Daytripper looked his charges up and down. 001 was every inch the hypersoldier prototype he was intended to be. Tall, broad-shouldered and muscular. He was handsome, blue eyes and brown hair and a strong jawline. There was a sneer across the teenager’s face, twisting his handsome features. He was arrogant, that was clear, but if the reports of his powers from the laboratory were any indication, he had every right to be. He had a regal bearing, that was for certain.
002 on the other hand, she had inherited her looks along with her powers. Her face was screwed up, her nose slightly hooked. Her 5’5” body had come straight from her other DNA source, and was curved in all the right places. Daytripper briefly entertained the thought of codenaming her ‘Butterface’, but thought against it.
“I’m not going to say it again. We’re not fighting them yet. You’re not ready.” Daytripper said. “However, the boss wants you to have names.”
001’s sneer was back, but 002 looked excited. “What are you naming us?” She asked.
“001, you’re now known as Kingfisher.” Daytripper said.
The first hypersoldier nodded, and a smile broke his face. “It has a nice ring to it.”
“And 002, you’re Raider.” Daytripper added.
The sixteen year-old nodded, but she looked disappointed. Daytripper didn’t care, Kingfisher was the key to all of this. According to the information Helix had extracted from Fissure, he was the key to a better future, with Carmichael as President of the United States. Raider didn’t show up in Fissure’s memories at all, at least not the ones Helix had seen.
Kingfisher was the future of the Assembly of Evil, he was the face of Carmichael’s opposition. He was US Force’s greatest enemy, and it was up to Daytripper to guide him in the right direction. And that started with the destruction of the Brat Pack.

“I have never been happier to see your ugly mug.” Firestorm said.
“Aww, I missed you too Sparky.” Mr Universe replied, as Castor’s powersuit began to break up around him.
“Pollux! Get him!” Castor shouted, swiping at the pieces of his suit, as they began to float away.
Pollux picked up a piece of concrete from the collapsed building and threw it directly at Mr Universe’s head. It stopped short by two inches.
“Cutting it close there, aren’t you Belle?” Mr Universe asked.
“If you hadn’t insisted on the dramatic entrance, I wouldn’t be focussing most of my powers on the whole levitation thing.” Belle replied.
“Ok, I take it back. Could you possibly deal with him?” Mr Universe pointed at Pollux who was charging directly at them.
“Sure.” Belle dropped to the ground, the pink aura surrounding her body disappearing. Moments later, her eyes flared pink again. Pollux dropped to the ground, clutching his head.
“Dude.” Firestorm said.
Castor dropped from the sky, as the last of his armour was removed.
“Dude.” Pixel agreed.
<><><>
“So they’ve completely rebuilt the security system at Alcatraz.” Matt said, as he laid back in the chair. “Including Gauss’ entire cell. They want me to test it out.”
“Pretty sweet gig.” Mosley said, as he stretched out on his own sofa. “They paying you?”
“Of course.” Matt grinned. “Pretty well.”
“And you’re staying?” Ally asked, sitting down next to Matt.
“Until summer’s over.” Matt ruffled Ally’s hair.
“Ugh. I haven’t missed that.” Ally screwed up her face.
“It’s good to have you back sir.” Fisher said.
“I’m not in charge of the Rebellion yet. Stop calling me sir.” Matt said.
“Sorry. Won’t happen again.” Fisher said.
Matt smiled. “See, you’re still treating me the same, you’ve just taken the ‘sir’ out.” He shook his head. “Anyway, what’s the deal with the newbies? Is that seriously Verona Mitchell?”
“Yeah… She’s something.” Ally said.
“Yeah, she’s something alright.” Mosley said.
Ally screwed up her face again. “She’s not really… She’s not like us.” Ally said. “But she’s a good kid.”
“She’s older than you.” Mosley said.
“You know what I meant.” Ally said.
“So she’s an ice controller or something?” Matt asked.
“Yeah. She’s pretty strong.” Ally said. “She’s not like, Mosley strong, but she’s getting there.”
“She’s definitely coming along.” Fisher agreed.
“And Blackbird?” Matt asked.
“Grade A Badass.” Ally said.
“He’s The Shadow.” Mosley said. “So he’s tough. And the original Blackbird has been training him, so he’s getting better every day.”
“He’s our new mysterious ass-kicker, now that Fisher’s taken over the smart guy role.” Ally said.
“So long as someone’s keeping Kevin on the right track.” Matt said.
<><><>
“God I missed you.” Kevin kissed Katie, before rolling over to bask in the afterglow.
“I know you did.” Katie said. “I missed you too.”
“Not just this.” Kevin said. “I mean, I love this.”
“What are you talking about?” Katie asked.
“I missed having you around. All the time. Every day.” Kevin said.
“I missed being around.”
“I mean… I’ve been having problems with the team.”
“Oh…”
“We keep getting our asses handed to us. By everyone.”
“You don’t. You keep coming out on top.”
“Only against the small stuff.”
“The Black Dragon Fist are hardly small-time.”
“The moment we go up against something big, we get our asses kicked. Look at today.”
“Kev… We won.”
“Only when you guys showed up. Castor was about to paint the sidewalk with Mosley.”
“Castor and Pollux had just beaten the West Coast Boomers. They’re extra hardcore.”
“You guys kicked the crap out of them.” Kevin sat up, and turned, pulling his legs out of the bed, and grabbing his head in his hands. “I can’t save the world without you guys.”
“Matt is… Matt is ridiculously powerful. I’ll give you that. But he’s not unstoppable. If that had been anyone but Castor, he wouldn’t have stopped him. We were just lucky.” Katie sat up next to him, and placed her hand around his shoulders.
“And you took down Pollux.” Kevin said.
“The big guys always go down to a psychic attack. That’s how we took down The Basher back in the day, remember?”
Kevin shook his head. “Again, that’s you guys.”
“Who cares? You’re good at what you’re good at, we’re good at what we’re good at.”
“We’re not good enough.”
<><><>
“Kevin’s lost his confidence.” Katie said. “Completely.”
“Yeah, Fisher and Ally are the only ones who are really behind him, you know?” Matt replied.
“Mosley’s never going to follow him.” Katie said, as she fell back onto the beanbag.
The two were in Matt’s room, which was exactly has he left it, band posters and all.
“And the other two… They just don’t know him.” Matt said.
“But one of them is Verona Mitchell.” Katie laughed.
“Ally says she’s not bad.” Matt shrugged.
“Still… She’s an airhead.”
“I’m reserving judgement until I get to know her.”
“You’d love to get to know her, wouldn’t you?”
Matt scowled at Katie. “I’m taken.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Tell that to Adrienne.”
“That was a long time ago. I haven’t spoken to her in months, let alone done anything else.”
“Ok… Ok… Does Hannah know?”
“Of course not. Do I look stupid to you?”
“You don’t want to hear the answer to that.”
Matt shook his head. “Look, we can’t just keep arguing about this. It’s in the past. I’m beyond it.”
“Fine. Whatever. What are we going to do about Kevin?”
“I don’t know…” Matt shrugged again. “Back him up while we can. Let him score some wins. Build him back up.”
“We’re going to let him score some wins? How do we even do that? I mean, we’re both stronger than ever. I might even be able to hold my own against Helix. Maybe.”
“That might be pushing it.”
“I know. Still, we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
<><><>
“Sir…”
Senator Carmichael looked up from his desk. “What?”
There was fear evident in Daytripper’s eyes. “Sir… Castor and Pollux…”
“Turned down my offer?” Carmichael demanded.
“No sir… They’ve been arrested.” Daytripper said.
Carmichael slammed his fist down on his desk. “What!? Who?”
Daytripper mumbled incoherently.
“What was that?!”
“The Brat Pack.” Daytripper said.
“That’s not possible. They’re just not strong enough.”
“… Mr Universe and Belle are back.”
Carmichael grabbed the edge of his desk and flipped it over, as he screamed with rage.
“Contact Laboratory F. I want 001 and 002 in the field as soon as possible.” Carmichael ordered.
“But sir, they’re not trained.” Daytripper said, earning himself a glare from Carmichael.
“Give them codenames. They’re the newest members of the Assembly of Evil. And your mission is simple: DESTROY THE BRAT PACK!”

“It’s time we moved up to the big leagues bro.” Castor laughed, as he pointed across the street.
Pollux shared his brother’s mirth, as he looked where he was pointing. A Maserati dealership.
“Is that a truck?” Pollux asked.
“Yes it is. I can carry that out. You load it up.” Castor said. “I’ve always wanted one of these things.”
“Shotgun the red ones.” Pollux said, as he picked the first one up.
“Sure, you can have them. I’ll just get first pick of the Ferraris.” Castor said. “We’ve taken out all the heroes, this city is ours until Liberty Force comes back from wherever they are.”
“Wrong on so many levels.” Firestorm said.
“Firstly, there’s Hire-A-Hero. Captain Awesome, you might have heard of him.” Pixel added.
“Secondly, you don’t think the first thing Jack Roman did when he got back to Boomers Headquarters was call in the East Coast team?” Ice Princess asked. “Thunderbolt is probably on his way right now.”
“And thirdly, it takes more than that to take down the Brat Pack.” Mr Perfect finished.
The twins looked at their teenage enemies. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Castor said. “Back for another beating?”
Mr Perfect smirked. “Something like that.”
“Uhh… Bro?” Pollux said.
“What do you mean?” Castor asked, ignoring his brother.
“I mean I’m here for a beating, but I’m not the one getting beaten.” Mr Perfect said.
“That’s the best you can do? Really. That’s your line?” Castor asked.
“Bro!” Pollux shouted.
“Quiet.” Castor said. “I’m taunting the kid.”
“And you’re doing a terrible job of it.” Mr Perfect said.
“And you taunt like you fight.” Castor retorted.
“Castor!” Pollux shouted.
“What!?” Castor spun and glared at his brother.
“The ground…” Pollux pointed. The entire ground was covered in frost.
“I wasn’t taunting you. I was distracting you.” Mr Perfect said.
“You’re using the same plan as before? That’s never going to work!” Castor said, rounding back on Mr Perfect. Too late he realised Blackbird was missing.
“I wouldn’t be too sure.” Blackbird was perched on Castor’s shoulder, as he dropped a trio of disruptors onto the villain’s armour, shutting it down with a faint buzzing sound.
“Don’t worry bro, I’ll save you!” Pollux shouted, charging towards his brother’s motionless body.
Mr Perfect was too fast, and airborne, he collided with Pollux and sent the supervillain sliding across the ice, crashing him into a nearby car.
“Yeah, we’ve got a new plan now. Castor’s out so long as those disruptors are intact.” Mr Perfect said.
“So we’re going to make sure they stay intact.” Pixel said, as she grabbed Castor, before disappearing.
“So now he’s off somewhere safe, we get to wail on you for a while.” Firestorm said, as he began blasting fireballs at Pollux.
“It’s going to take more than that.” Pollux said, as the fire hit him in the chest. The villain almost ignored the attack.
“At least your aim is getting better.” Blackbird said, as he threw a flashbang at Pollux, the sudden bright light blinding the juggernaut.
Pollux laughed. “It doesn’t matter if I can’t see! You still can’t hurt me.”
“We’ll still try.” Fissure said, as he dropped half the parking lot on top of Pollux.
It only took Pollux a second to turn the chunk of asphalt into gravel, exploding from underneath and charging straight at Fissure, who had already adopted his stone armour. There was an audible crack as Pollux shoulder-tackled him, sending him flying through the air and into the side of the car dealership.
Fissure groaned, as he rebuilt the front of his armour, preparing himself for the second attack. It didn’t come. Blackbird glided towards Pollux, landing on the behemoth’s shoulder and punching at his face, with little to no effect.
Pollux tried to grab at the hero, but The Blackbird managed to maneuver out of the way, causing Pollux to lose his balance, which was disastrous on the frost-covered ground, forcing the giant to come crashing to the ground.
“You’re just pissing me off.” Pollux said, as he managed to strike Blackbird full in the chest. The masked vigilante went tumbling across the lot, coming to rest after he crashed through the windshield of a new-model Maserati.
Pollux was back on his feet when Mr Perfect tackled him again. This time, Pollux had grounding, as his fall had broken the ice beneath him. Mr Perfect bounced straight off.
“Now, I know you’re tough… But how tough are you?” Firestorm asked, as Pollux was surrounded by flames, which began to burn hotter and hotter. Pollux began to sweat. It was getting hotter and hotter.
“At the very least, I’m going to cut off your oxygen supply. You’ll pass out, and we win.” Firestorm said, as he focused his powers more and more.
Pollux fell to one knee. The heat was unbearable, even for him. And the brat was right, it was getting harder and harder for him to breathe. There was only one way out. Using the last of his strength, Pollux leapt straight through the flames.
He hit the ground outside his prison, and sweet oxygen filled his lungs. He lay on the ground panting.
“Give up yet?” Firestorm taunted, unable to see the smile on Pollux’s face.
Pollux ran as fast as he could to the nearest car. Firestorm only saw a blur. Fissure barely had time to earthport Firestorm out of the path of the car, as it flew as hard as Pollux could throw it. Instead, it crashed through the dealership building, and through a wall.
Pixel appeared next to the heroes. “You guys almost killed me!” She shouted.
“What?” Mr Perfect asked.
“I had Castor in there, that car came crashing through the wall. What the hell guys?” Pixel asked.
“Wait… Castor was in there?” Blackbird asked. There was another crash, as the roof began caving in.
“Oh crap.” Firestorm said.
“You’re screwed now.” Pollux laughed.
Castor emerged from the wreckage of the building swiftly, flying into the air as quickly as he could. “I’m going to enjoy this.” He said. Suddenly, he was flying directly at Firestorm, fist outstretched.
Mr Perfect wasn’t fast enough to save Firestorm from the deadly blow, neither was Pixel or Fissure. Firestorm closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable.
It never came. Firestorm opened his eyes to find Castor hovering in midair, fist not an inch from the teen hero’s face.
“As much as I enjoy watching Firestorm get punched in the face, I’m less partial to him being turned into pudding. Figured I’d better save him.”
“No way!” Pixel squealed.
Everyone turned to see their saviour, but he wasn’t alone. Back to back, floating in the air behind the Brat Pack, in full costume were the last people they expected.
“You guys seriously can’t survive without us, can you?” Mr Universe asked.
“Ok Brats, reunion comes later.” Belle said. “Let’s do this.”

“Don’t be so down on yourself kid.” GL said, placing a hand on Mr Perfect’s shoulder.
“We should have been able to win this.” Mr Perfect said.
“No. No you shouldn’t.” GL said. “Castor and Pollux have had us on the ropes for months. All we’ve been able to do is keep them on the run.”
“I thought maybe it would be different.” Mr Perfect said.
“Look, you kids have come a long way, and I don’t doubt that one of these days you’ll be taking over my job, but trust me on this one: Castor and Pollux are out of your league.” GL said. “They’re out of our league at the moment.”
“Talon’s team has all the firepower nowadays.” Corona complained.
“And she took the only eye candy on the team. It’s a total sausage fest.” Plasma added.
The two team leaders ignored the reformed criminal brothers. “Look kid, you lost one. It happens. You can’t let it get you down.”
“You expect me to just ignore the fact we were getting our asses kicked?” Mr Perfect asked.
“No. You lost. You’re right. That’s a big deal. But you know what? You can learn from it. Improve yourself. So that next time, you can put up a bigger fight. Make them retreat of your own accord, or at the least, hold them off long enough for backup to arrive.” GL said.
Mr Perfect was silent, deep in thought. GL nodded, and took his hand off Mr Perfect’s shoulder.
GL turned to the rest of the Brat Pack, who were watching. “What happened here was no-one’s fault.” He said. “You were outmatched, that is all. You went in prepared, but you just weren’t good enough this time.” He looked at each Brat, making full eye contact. “But you did what few others can. You stood against two of the strongest villains in the world, and here you are, completely intact. You can be proud of that.”
Fissure and Pixel stood in awed silence, staring at the legendary hero in front of them, giving his speech. Ice Princess looked bored, like she had somewhere else to be. Mr Perfect and Blackbird both didn’t seem to be listening, instead concentrating on something else. Firestorm…
“That’s a load of crap.” Firestorm said. “We’re not here for the ‘Most Improved’ trophy. We’re here for the win. We’re here to kick ass and take names.”
“Firestorm…” Fissure warned.
“No. You come down here from your ivory tower and you want to tell us that we’ve tried really hard, and we’re going to be ok? That’s a load of bull.” Firestorm said. “Perfect screwed up. We shouldn’t have been here. We don’t need to be coddled. We don’t need to have our hands held. Stop treating us like children.”
“Look, I understand you’re ang-“ GL was cut off.
“No. You don’t. When was the last time someone talked down to you?” Firestorm demanded. “You don’t remember, do you? No. Because you’re fricken’ GL. You’re a Boomer. That’s it. You’re on top.”
“Last warning.” Fissure said.
Firestorm turned to look at his teammate, and realised the whole team was staring at him. The Boomers were doing the same. Firestorm just smirked.
“So how about you guys do your job? You guys take down Castor and Pollux, instead of showing up at the last minute to claim all the glory, and tell us that we’re not good enough.” Firestorm asked.
“Perfect! Stop him!” Pixel yelled.
The assembled heroes turned to look at Mr Perfect. Firestorm looked ready for a fight.
“No.” Mr Perfect said, to a stunned silence.
“Sir…” Fissure said.
“He’s right. Fissure, take the team back to the Penthouse.” Mr Perfect said, his voice hollow. “We’re done here.”
Before Fissure could respond, Mr Perfect took off into the air, disappearing into the blue as quickly as possible.
Fissure looked at GL, almost apologetically, before the team disappeared into the ground. The last thing the Boomers saw was the shock on Firestorm’s face.
<><><>
Mr Perfect couldn’t believe what had just happened. He had stood by and let Firestorm talk down to GL of all people. And then he had agreed with him!
The entire world was falling apart. The Brats were in way over their heads, and it was his fault. He was too overconfident, he made too many mistakes. He wasn’t fit to lead them. Maybe it was time for Fissure to take over? He had led the Brat Pack in his own time, he knew the tactics, and he was far better at field command than Mr Perfect was.
Mr Perfect took a lap of the city, before touching down on the balcony of the Brat Penthouse.
“Sir?” Fissure was waiting for him. “All due respect: What the hell was that?”
Mr Perfect looked at his teammate. “I was making a stand.” He said. He had to back up his actions now.
“Against who? Last time I checked, GL was on our side. He’s treated us a lot better than we ever deserved, and you’re just going to throw that away?” Fissure asked.
Mr Perfect shook his head. “We’re fighting on the same side, but they’re treating us like rookies. Like we don’t know what we’re doing.”
“Because we don’t!” Fissure shouted. “You taught me that.”
Mr Perfect stood in stunned silence. Fissure had never raised his voice at him before.
“You were the one who set the age limit on the Rebellion. It was you who decided that kids shouldn’t be fighting, because kids weren’t up to it. You kept us apart from everything. Mr Universe saw it the other way. The number of times you almost split over it…” Fissure just shook his head. “The fact is, sir, we’ve still got a long way to go.”
“You said it yourself. Kids aren’t up to it. We’re not kids anymore.” Mr Perfect said.
“Ally is. And when we were old enough, we didn’t go straight into battle. We didn’t lead groups of teenagers into battle. We were trained. We followed orders. We always had someone with more experience backing us up. We were a unit.”
Mr Perfect scowled. “You were sent back in time alone.”
“I was the last resort. And I was a Brat. That meant something where I was from. Don’t ruin it now.” Fissure said, melding into the tiled floor and disappearing.
Mr Perfect sat down and buried his face in his hands. It had been a long day.
“I knew you’d regret it.”
Mr Perfect looked up and saw Mosley standing there. Mr Perfect just scowled at his teammate.
“But you know it’s right. And I saw it in your eyes. You’re sick of this crap too. We’re not kids anymore. They need to stop talking down to us.” Mosley said.
Mr Perfect sighed. “We were disrespectful.”
“And so were they!” Mosley said. “Who took down Gauss? Who took down the Order of Darkness? Hadi? The Assembly? I’ll tell you now, it wasn’t GL and the Boomers B-Team.”
Mr Perfect shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you? Those guys are small time. GL has fought Constellation, Extreme, Malachi. GL has saved the entire world, dozens of times.”
“Umm…” Ally stood in the doorway.
“What?” Mr Perfect asked.
Ally pointed at the television on the wall, Mr Perfect hadn’t even noticed it was on. The news showed a battered and bruised West Coast Boomers being teleported off a battlefield by Jack Roman.
“They took it to heart.” Mosley said, heading to his room. “I guess he was right. The Boomers aren’t any match for Castor and Pollux.”
“We are.” Blackbird stood on the balcony.
“What? Weren’t you there?” Ally asked.
“I was. Our plan was solid. We just need to be more careful.” Blackbird said.
“Oh hell yes!” Mosley said. “You guys call Fissure and IP back, I’ll get changed.” Mosley ran out of the room, pulling his shirt over his head as he ran.
“Kev?” Ally asked.
“Mr Perfect when I’m in costume. And go change into yours.” Mr Perfect said. “L-“
“Let’s do this!” Mosley shouted from the other room.

“This is like taking candy from a baby.” Pollux said, as he crashed through the bank wall.
“You said it bro.” Castor said, as he followed behind.
The brothers looked up at the vault before them. “You’re gonna have to take this one.” Pollux said.
Castor’s main cannon began to hum, as it charged its blast. “This is gonna be a big one.” Castor said.
“It’ll have to be.” Pollux said.
Beneath his helmet, Castor smiled. His cannon had reached maximum charge. He braced himself, and unleashed the blast. The air all around him sizzled, as the hot plasma arced out of the cannon and hit the vault door, which vaporised before them. As the smoke cleared, the brothers were surprised to find that the blast had barely left a scratch on the vault door.
“What the hell?” Castor was stunned. Nothing had ever stood up to his blast.
Pollux grabbed the nearest security guard. “WHAT IS IT!?” He demanded, screaming in the man’s face.
The man looked like he had just relieved himself. “… It… It’s… Some new security system. Nothing can break through it. Five Star Technologies installed it a month ago.”
Pollux tossed the man aside, his body hit the ground with a loud thud. “What now?” Pollux asked, not giving the motionless body of the man any more thought.
“We try again.” Castor already had another blast charged, which he unleashed directly at the same point as the first.
The vault door had a crack in it now. “That’s more like it!” Pollux said. “Now we just need to pull it open.”
Castor nodded, and the brothers each grabbed hold of one side of the crack, and began straining, as the vault door shifted, the crack widening a few inches at a time, until finally it was wide enough for the brothers to walk through.
“Piece of cake.” Pollux said.
“Not so fast.”
The twins turned to see Mr Perfect standing in front of them, the rest of the Brat Pack close behind.
“The Brat Pack? You’ve got to be kidding.” Castor said.
“Yeah, what happened? Did daycare let out early?” Pollux asked.
“Come on. We’re clearly all adults.” Pixel said.
“Says the youngest…” Firestorm muttered, earning a punch in the arm from Pixel.
“Guys. Professional.” Mr Perfect hissed.
“Oh this is too precious.” Castor said. “You think you can play with the big boys?”
“I think we need to teach them a lesson.” Pollux said.
“Brats! Let’s do this!” Mr Perfect said.
The teen heroes charged forward, all guns blazing. The villains laughed, as Pollux’s natural invulnerability soaked up the brunt of the attacks, while Castor’s power-armour’s forcefield deflected the rest.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that kids.” Pollux said, as he cracked his knuckles. “But it’s too late.” The larger of the brothers rushed to meet his opponents, arm swinging. His blow caught Fissure’s armoured form, cracking through the rock and concrete and driving the hero straight into Mr Perfect. The two continued in their path, Pixel narrowly teleporting out of the way, before they came to a rest, hitting Firestorm and landing in a tangle on the ground.
“Worst idea ever.” Ice Princess remarked, as Pixel appeared next to her.
“Plan B.” Blackbird said, tossing a small electronic device at Castor. The device ignored the armour’s forcefield, and latched directly onto the carapace.
“What th-“ Castor’s voice amplifier was cut off.
“Bro?” Pollux asked.
Castor’s voice was faint, but could be heard from within the armour. “My armour’s been shut down!”
“Oh hell yeah!” Firestorm shouted.
“What did you do!?” Pollux was enraged, turning to face the heroes, who were back on their feet, if a little shakier than before.
“My mentor had a backup contingency in case of anything. That includes the possibility of The Junker going rogue.” The Blackbird said.
“IP, start icing the floor. Fissure, Firestorm, start hitting Castor with everything you’ve got. It shouldn’t take long to break that tin can open now.” Mr Perfect said.
A light fog began to form around Ice Princess, before condensing onto the ground and then freezing, the ice patch increased in radius at an alarming rate.
Meanwhile, Fissure began seizing chunks of rock from the piles of debris that surrounded them, and tossing them at Castor’s motionless figure. Firestorm followed in suit, his fireballs sailed through the air towards the trapped supervillain. Pollux was too quick, he was in front of his brother, absorbing the attack before it could hit the helpless Castor.
“You’re all going to pay.” Pollux shouted, as he lifted his brother over his shoulder and began to run, ducking and dodging out of the way of the oncoming attacks, more to protect his brother than himself. It didn’t take him long to hit a patch of ice and slip over though, his brother went sailing through the air, as Pollux rolled across the ground.
Mr Perfect seized his opportunity to grab Castor, carrying him into the air, and away from his brother’s protection. “We’ve got this one in the bag Brats, keep Pollux off his balance.” He ordered from the sky.
Pollux was enraged, as he fought to regain his footing, unable to get a solid stance on the icy floor. This was not helped by the constant bombardment from Fissure and Firestorm, only serving to anger the giant further.
“I’m going to kill you!” He raged, as he finally reached his feet again.
“Bring it on.” Pixel said, taunting Pollux from twenty feet away. The villain charged, slipped and hit the ice, sliding straight through the space Pixel had been standing in moments before, until she had teleported to the other side of the room.
“Good job guys. Keep it up, he can’t fight forever.” Mr Perfect said.
“He won’t need to.” Castor said.
“What?” Mr Perfect asked, as Castor’s weapon began to hum
“Your little jammer was broken when I hit the ground. My suit has been rebooting.” Castor said, as he fired a blast at Pixel, who barely had time to teleport out of the way. Castor followed that up with a punch to Mr Perfect, sending the near-invulnerable hero spiralling out of control, the pair crashing into the vault door before Mr Perfect let go of his enemy.
Castor landed beside his brother and helped him to his feet. He then blasted the ground, melting the ice around them.
“We’re going to end you.” Castor said, as his blaster began to hum again.
Mr Perfect struggled to his feet. “We have to finish this.”
“No we don’t.” Blackbird said.
“You’re going to retreat? Good luck.” Castor said.
“No. We just need to hold you for a minute or so.” Blackbird said.
“What?” Mr Perfect was as stunned as the twins.
“The Sonic Boom took off from Las Vegas about ten minutes ago. The West Coast Boomers defeated Apophis. Hell, GL is probably around the corner.” Blackbird said.
“Oh hell yes. The cavalry is on its way!” Firestorm shouted, as he threw a volley of fireballs at Castor, who ignored them.
“Screw that.” Pollux said.
“Amen.” Castor said, as he took off into the air, Pollux running as fast as he could to escape.
The Brats looked at the wreckage around them. It was going to be a long day.

Ally slammed her fists into the punching bag, one after the other, as Fisher looked on.
“No… Hold it like this.” Fisher said, grabbing her arm and changing its position. “If you start here, you get more power.”
Ally nodded, and tried again.
“Much better. Can you feel how much harder you’re hitting it?” Fisher asked.
“Yeah. Thanks.” Ally said, slightly out of breath from the hour she had spent in the gym.
“Personally I think it’s about time we did this. The team needs proper combat training. Mag…” Fisher paused for a moment. “… Miss Liberty made sure all of our team knew how to fight properly.”
Ally looked at her oldest teammate thoughtfully. “You miss her, huh?”
Fisher looked away. He was not an emotional person, and he wasn’t about to start now.
Before Ally could push him for an answer, Mosley walked in. “Clear the way. I’m going to hit something.” He announced.
Fisher took a step back, while Ally darted the other way. Mosley let out an animalistic roar, before slamming the punching bag as hard as he possibly could, following it up with another blow, and another and another.
“You know how much energy you’re wasting with those punches?” Fisher asked.
Mosley glared at him. “I’m not here for a lesson, I’m here to release some anger.” He turned and punched the punching bag again, letting out another scream.
“Don’t you usually just go on patrol when you’re mad?” Ally asked.
“Don’t you usually dress in black and get all emo after Gauss attacks you?” Mosley asked.
Ally’s face fell, and she ran out of the room. “Ally…” Mosley said; the regret obvious in his voice.
Fisher just shook his head.
<><><>
Kevin rubbed his eyes, his hand grazed the stubble that was accumulating on his face. He was tired, but he shook it off. He had work to do.
He stared at the computer screen, the familiar black and white of Wikipedia stared back at him. The world’s information at his fingertips. Everything he could ever want to know, right there. It was about time he put it to use.
He had spent days, ever since that night with Puck, over a week doing nothing but research. He had missed classes, practice, everything. None of that was important.
What was important was the lives he was going to save, the villains he was going to defeat. He was finally doing his job as leader. He was supposed to know all about all their opponents. He was supposed to be prepared. He had to know it all. Every strength, every weakness. He had to have a plan for every one of them. Gauss, Constellation, even Emcee. He had to know them all. He couldn’t risk the team. He couldn’t risk the innocent lives that could be lost because of him. It wasn’t enough to rely on Fisher anymore. It was finally time for him to step up and face his responsibility.
And so he sat there, reading pages about The Chronomancer, and Arachnophobia, into the early hours of the morning, until he fell asleep at his desk.
<><><>
Blackbird’s Nest came to life. The computer systems whirred, as lights flashed and screens glowed. The Blackbird walked through the main door. “Computer, run a full police scan.”
“Yes sir.” The computer said, in its calm, monotone voice. “Scan complete. Four armed robberies in progress. Two within range. You can reach one before the police arrive.”
“Transmit the address to my headset en route, and any changes to the situation.” Blackbird said, pressing a button on the adjacent wall. The wall opened up, revealing a window in the side of the building the original Blackbird had built the Blackbird’s Nest in.
Blackbird took a running jump into the night, his cape acclimatising to the freefall, forming a hard aerofoil, allowing the young vigilante to glide through the air.
He reached the convenience store in minutes, as a man in a ski mask ran out of the door, a bag in one hand, a shotgun in the other. The Blackbird landed next to him. “There’s only one of you?”
The crook jumped back a few steps and levelled his gun at the hero. “Don’t make a move. I’ll shoot!”
Blackbird smirked. “Go on. I dare you.” He took a step forward.
The gunshot rang out into the night, the blast cracked The Blackbird’s body armour, he felt the pellets tear through his skin, but he didn’t flinch. “You’ll have to do better than that.” The Blackbird could already feel the pellets sliding out of his wounds, as his body rushed to heal itself.
In one fluid motion, The Blackbird disarmed his assailant, delivered an elbow to the head, and had him on the ground, his arm across his throat. “At least if there were two of you, we could have made a fight of it.”
Seconds later, the police arrived. The robber was taken into custody, the officers thanked The Blackbird, and he was on his way. Back to the Nest, to find the next criminal.
<><><>
Verona’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. Kevin. She took a deep breath to compose herself, and another, before answering.
“What’s up?” She asked, fighting to stop her voice from trembling.
“Team meeting. Penthouse in fifteen?” Kevin replied.
“S-sure.” Verona said.
She looked in the mirror as she hung up. Her makeup was a mess. She sighed, as she began to wipe the mascara from her cheeks.
<><><>
“Castor and Pollux are back in the city.” Kevin said. “Computer, show the video.”
A projector dropped down from the ceiling, and the images appeared on the nearest wall. The obvious aftermath of a super-battle is shown.
“The infamous duo of Castor and Pollux, shown here on file photo, have stolen over two-point-five million dollars worth of merchandise in their crime spree in Downtown Los Angeles. While the West Coast Boomers were unavailable in Seattle, another group of heroes known as Quintessence tried to stop them.” The reporter said.
“Quintessence? Aren’t they…?” Ally trailed off, as Iaso’s face appeared onscreen.
“Someone had to fight. We knew we didn’t have much of a shot, but we had to try.” Iaso said. “I’m at my limits keeping these guys alive.”
“Computer, stop.” Kevin ordered. “Well?”
“Well what?” Mosley asked.
“LatX, Iaso, Fuse and Epic were in Salt Lake City with us. That makes them family. I don’t know Red Shift, but if he’s on their team, he’s one of us too.” Kevin said.
“We’re going old school on them, aren’t we?” Ally asked.
“They send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of theirs to the morgue.” Mosley said.
“Not that extreme. But you’ve got it.” Kevin said.
“This isn’t just Captain Blackblood we’re talking about here.” Verona said. “Castor and Pollux are as tough as they come.”
“D13 fought them to a standstill. We can beat them.” Kevin said. “Trust me.”
“Are you sure?” Fisher asked.
“I did the research. Individually, they’ve got us beaten for raw power, but as a team, we’ve got it covered.” Kevin said.
“I could see what I’ve got laying around the Nest…” Blackbird said. “I might have something heavy-duty for the occasion.”
“We need all our resources on this one. Let Hire-A-Hero handle the small stuff for a while. We’ve got one goal. Castor and Pollux will be in Alcatraz, if we have to carry them there ourselves.” Kevin said.