Kevin groaned as he turned off his alarm… He couldn’t believe he had let his dad talk him into changing his training regimen, this time starting with a brisk jog. Every morning. At 6.30 AM. He threw on sweatpants and a t-shirt, before lacing up his shoes and grabbing his iPod. As ‘Eye of the Tiger’ pumped into his ears, he began his run.
<><><>
Katie’s alarm went off and she shot out of bed, grabbing her phone and checking her schedule.
‘Oh no… I’ve got to pick up the decorations for the Fall Ball… But I was going to use my free period to catch up on my Psych…’ She thought to herself, feeling a panic attack coming on.
‘Wait… I can do that after school… What do I have planned tonight…’ She scrolled down on her phone. ‘Cheerleading practice, action figure design meeting… Oh crap, I’ve got my meeting with the jeans guys… Still can’t believe they want me to have my own line. But what am I going to do about Psych?’
As she considered her options, she began getting ready for school, opening her closet and choosing an outfit. A moment of deliberating, and she’d made her decision. A pink tank top, white skirt, and pink sandals. And, of course, her trademark charm bracelet.
She glanced at the clock, before sitting down at her mirror and brushing her long, chestnut hair. 6.55, plenty of time. For once.
<><><>
Matt woke up on his computer desk. “Wow… This is embarrassing.” He muttered to himself, brushing his dark fringe out of his eyes. “What time is it?” He looked at his clock. 7.02. “At least I’m up in time for school…”
Disabling the screensaver, he checked that his English essay was saved, as he muttered something about finishing it tonight, before opening his schedule.
“School… Oh, Buffy reruns tonight.” He said happily… ‘Now, for the important things…’ He thought to himself, opening the hidden, password protected page on his schedule…
“Action figures are today? Awesome. Now, coffee time.” He says, logging off his computer and heading downstairs…
<><><>
Kevin stepped out of the shower, grabbing the towel and drying his blond hair, before wrapping it around his waist.
‘Hmmm… Practice tonight. And coach wanted me to hang around later to discuss new plays… And that Trig test tomorrow… Crap.’ He thought to himself, as he brushed his teeth. ‘Better get in early, shoot some hoops before school.’
He pulled on his jeans and t-shirt, grabbed his gym bag, backpack and car keys, before jumping into his truck and driving to school.
<><><>
Matt rinsed his cup, and smiled as he heard the knock at the door.
“Matt, Katie’s here.” His mom shouted, after answering the door.
Matt grabbed his bag and headed out to meet his oldest friend and next door neighbour, Katie Reynolds.
“You all set?” She asked.
“Yep. You good for tonight?” Matt replied.
“My suit’s in the trunk.” Katie said, jumping into the driver’s seat of her pink VW Beetle Convertible.
“Can I leave mine in here too?” Matt asked.
“Go ahead, would be kind of awkward if it fell out of your bag.” Katie replied.
“This is true.” Matt said.
Matt opened his bag and tossed a package in the trunk, before getting into the passenger seat.
“Could this car be any girlier?” He asked.
“You say that every morning.”
“I know. You never answer.”
“Because it’s a stupid question.”
“See.”
“Shut up.”
Both of them laughed, as they drove towards the school.
<><><>
“Aha! Pwned you again!” Ally yelled, throwing the X-Box controller into the air.
“Because I’m half-stoned.” Her older brother, Tom, said.
“You’re always half-stoned. It’s his fault.” Ally pointed at Tom’s best friend, Mac.
“Sure, blame the career-stoner.” Mac said, to a giggle from everyone in the room.
“Uhh, are we supposed to be somewhere?” Someone else asked, Ally had trouble keeping track of Tom and Mac’s buddies.
“Oh crap!” Ally looked at a clock. “School starts in ten minutes!”
“Guess you’re driving sis, no-one else is capable.” Tom said.
“And I’m not legal!”
“You’ll get over it.”
“But…”
“No time for arguing, we’ll take the van.” Tom said, ruffling his sister’s dyed-purple hair.
<><><>
“Appleby?” Mr Godfrey asked.
“Here sir.” Matt replied, raising his hand.
“Bartel?” Mr Godfrey continued taking attendance.
“So, did you catch the big news?” Jake whispered to Matt.
“Reese Witherspoon just signed on for the Miss Liberty sequel?” Matt replied.
“Cohen?” Mr Godfrey asked.
“Yep.” Jake replied. “That goes for you too. And then there’s the bad news…”
“Matthew McConaughy as Napalm.” Matt cut in.
“Yep. Man, this is worse than that Disney Channel girl playing Ren Kou.” Jake said.
“Why did you have to remind me about that?”
“Just trying to liven up home room my man.”
“Fair enough.”
“Mosley?” Mr Godfrey asked, looking towards the empty chair.
“He’s probably in a gutter somewhere.” Someone joked, to a laugh from the rest of the class.
“Or mugging some poor old lady.” Someone else piped up.
“That’s enough. Does anyone know where he really is?”
<><><>
Ben Mosley woke up, head aching… ‘What the hell did I do last night?’ He thought to himself. ‘Oh, right, patrol… Man, what time is it? 10.02… Shit… I’d better head to school… Wait… What day is it?’
He turned on TV and switched to the news. ‘Monday? Crap… I’ve got something I was supposed to do…’ He looked at his hand. ‘Action figure? What the hell- Oh… Right… The meeting. Well, better get out of here before dad wakes up.’ And with that, Mosley stood up and left the house, beginning the walk to school.
<><><>
The bell rang, and Katie headed towards the cafeteria for her lunch period.
“Hey, wait up.”
Katie turned to see Kevin jogging towards her.
“You’ve got lunch now, right?” Kevin asked.
“Yep.” Katie replied.
“Great, we can go together.” Kevin said.
“Yeah, that won’t get people talking.” Katie laughed.
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked, a little puzzled.
“Captain of the basketball team, head cheerleader, going to lunch together? It’s the stuff juicy gossip is made out of.” Katie explained.
“Oh… They’ll think we’re together…”
“Exactly. Or, they’ll think we’ve recently formed a team of teen superheroes.”
“Heh, yeah, there’s always that.”
“Speaking of, you do know we’ve got the action figure meeting tonight, right?”
“That was tonight? Crap. I’ve gotta hang back with the coach after training… Captain stuff.”
“And you can’t blow it off because he’s your dad’s drinking buddy, and he’ll ask questions.”
“Exactly. Can you cover for me? I shouldn’t be too late. Supersonic flight has it’s advantages.”
“Sure, no problem. They’ll have their hands full with the rest of us anyway, I’m sure you won’t set their schedule too far back.”
“They can wait. I’m the leader, afterall.”
“Don’t let Mosley hear you say that.”
“Mosley can’t do squat to me. He talks the big talk, but he knows it too.”
“Being invincible has it’s perks. Of course, that just means he’ll take it out on me.” Kevin and Katie spun around to see Matt standing behind them.
“Lunch?” Katie asked.
“Don’t mind if I do.”
<><><>
“Hey, Mosley! You going tonight?” Matt yelled across the carpark.
“Yes mommy, I’m capable of remembering where I’m supposed to be.” Mosley yelled back.
“Are you sure? You weren’t in home room this morning.” Matt’s voice dropped, as he approached Mosley.
“What are you, my babysitter? I’ll be there, ok?”
“Man, this is going to be awesome. Our own action figures? It’s a dream come true.”
“Are you serious? What are you, eight?”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Come on. Every kid wants their own action figure.”
“Only for the money they’re paying for my likeness.”
“Dude, you’re no fun.”
“Bite me.”
“Where would you like it?”
“How about my fist?”
“How about- Hey, there’s Ally.” Matt pointed across the carpark to where the purple-haired munchkin was standing.
“Hey guys!” She shouted, rushing over.
“Hey Ally, how you doing kiddo?” Matt asked.
“I’m only a year younger than you. Stop calling me kiddo.” Ally complained.
“Stop being younger than me, and so much shorter than me. Then we’ll see if we can make a deal.” Matt replied.
Ally scowled at him playfully. “Hey, can I get a ride into LA with one of you guys? My brother just flaked on me again.”
“You’ll have to ask Katie, but I’m sure she’d let you ride with us.” Matt replied.
“I was going to catch the bus… And before you offer, there is no way I’m going to be riding in a pink VW convertible.” Mosley said.
“I’ll come keep you company then. Anyway, got to go grab my costume. Bye!” And with that, Ally ran off.
“Hooray.” Mosley said.
“At least you don’t have to ride the bus alone.” Matt said, dodging a half-hearted punch.
<><><>
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you four-fifths of the Brat Pack, sponsored by X-Box 360.” Don Hale, the team’s PR representative said to the assembled designers. “Until Mr Perfect gets here, Mr Universe here is acting leader.”
“Pfft.” Firestorm said.
“Quiet Firestorm.” Belle ordered.
“Make me sweetcheeks.” Firestorm replied.
“Guys, could you quit it for like, a couple of minutes.” Mr Universe snapped.
“Tch. Fine.” Firestorm rolled his eyes.
“Anyway, as I was saying. Mr Universe here is acting leader, and from left to right we have Belle, Firestorm and Pixel.” Hale continued.
“Well, now that introductions are out of the way Mr Hale, my team should start with their work.” One of the designers replied.
“Of course.” Hale said.
“First of all, we’ll need everyone’s measurements-” The lead designer was cut off by a loud crash. “What was that?”
“Uhhh… You’re not going to believe it sir…” One of the other designers was standing at the window.
“Try me.” The lead designer replied, another crash punctuated his sentence.
“There’s seven… Ummm… Giant apes… Running around the street.”
“What? Let me see that!” The lead designer rushed over to the window. “Uhhh… I think this might be your area of expertise Mr Universe…”
“You heard the man guys, let’s go.” Mr Universe said, as he headed for the door, followed by his teammates.
They emerged onto the street, where they did indeed, find several giant apes, easily twenty feet tall, in the streets, demolishing buildings and tossing cars around like toys.
“Ok, Ka- Belle, try and take them down with a mind-scream.” Mr Universe ordered.
“Yes sir.” Belle said, focussing her mental powers into a scream, attempting to pierce one of the giant apes’ brain. Her target turned to the group, enraged, before charging.
“I think you made it mad.” Pixel commented.
“Good plan leader.” Firestorm added.
“Ok, new plan… Scramble!” Mr Universe shouted, using his magnetic powers to lift himself far out of the ape’s reach, using the iron bars implanted into his boots and cape.
“Good plan.” Belle replied, as Pixel grabbed her and teleported the pair to safety, on the roof of a nearby building.
“Sure, leave me behind…” Firestorm muttered. “Hey! Monkey boy! You like toast?” He shouted, before unleashing a burst of flame into the charging ape’s face, causing it to stop in its tracks. When the flames cleared, the ape was somewhat scorched, but still standing. And mad. It took a wild swing at Firestorm, who barely dodged out of the way in time.
“A little help here guys!” He shouted, dodging a second swing.
“On it.” Mr Universe replied, lifting an overturned car into the air and plowing it into the primate, stunning it momentarily and drawing a scream that could be heard all the way across the city.
That was all it took for the other six apes to notice the heroes, and come charging to their brother’s aid.
“Oh crap…” Mr Universe said. “Belle, Pix, I need a distraction, looks like Firestorm and I are the only ones who can hurt them, but we can’t take them all at once.”
“On it.” Belle replied, jumping from the rooftop, using her telekinesis to slow the fall. She broke into a run as she hit the ground, directing her ‘mind-scream’ at the apes, one after the other, as Pixel began teleporting from rooftop to rooftop, firing dazzling lights from her hands into the apes eyes, temporarily blinding them.
Using the car as a club, Mr Universe began swatting at the apes’ heads, attempting to do as much damage as possible, as Firestorm aimed fireballs at their faces, seeking to do the same.
A scream interrupted their fun, as Mr Universe, Firestorm and Pixel turned to see Belle on the ground, having tripped up on some rubble, an ape towering over her, about to strike.
“Belle!” Firestorm and Mr Universe shouted, both running forward, but they knew they couldn’t stop the giant fist from crashing down on their teammate.
Belle closed her eyes and waited for the impact… But it never came.
She opened her eyes to see Mr Perfect standing in front of her, the giant primate’s massive fist held in his own hands, as the hero struggled to repel the force the ape was exerting.
“It’s about time you showed up!” Mr Universe said, tossing the car at the back of the distracted ape’s skull, knocking it unconscious.
“I had practice… So our meeting turned into Mighty Joe Young 2?” Mr Perfect asked.
“I was going to go with a King Kong reference, but yeah, that’s the general idea.” Mr Universe replied.
“And the plan is…?”
“I was going with ‘Have the girls distract them, whilst we hit them hard and take them out.’”
“Works for me. Lets do this.”
Mr Perfect took to the sky and dove at an ape that was bearing down on Pixel, building up speed as he dropped, slamming into the side of the ape, and driving it into a building. He turned and ran at another one, grabbing it by the ankle and tripping it up, before Mr Universe slammed it in the head with a manhole cover. Repeatedly.
“Three down, four to go.” Mr Universe said.
“Make that four down.” Firestorm shouted, as he stepped away from the charred, unconscious body of a giant ape.
“Five.” Mr Perfect said, uppercutting a giant ape, which was stunned by Pixel’s sparkles.
“Six!” Belle shouted, and ape lay in front of her, clutching it’s head and crying.
“Dibs on the last one!” Pixel shouted, rushing to it.
“Is she insane?” Firestorm asked.
“What are the odds of say… That building’s structure being weakened to a point where it would drop debris on this guy’s head?” Pixel asked no-one in particular.
“The hell should I know?” Firestorm replied.
“I’d guess pretty good, with Pixel around.” Mr Universe said.
“Damn straight. I’m one heck of a rabbit’s foot!” Pixel shouted, pointing at the building, as a chunk of concrete fell off of it, cracking the giant ape’s skull and sending it tumbling to the ground.
“Nice work kiddo.” Mr Universe said, ruffling Pixel’s hair.
“Why does everyone do that?” She asked, exasperated.
“Ummm, guys?” The team looked up to see Hale at the window of the building they were in. “The designers want to reschedule…”
<><><>
“Yeah, we made the news again.” Matt said, closing the door to his room.
“Almost the headlining story… Too bad Uncle Sam had that thing in Iraq, otherwise we’d have totally been up there.” Katie said on the other end of the phone.
“Yeah, damn big names. Guess we’ll be in the paper too. Might make front page.”
“Unless some starlet hooks up with someone.”
“Or The Shadow and Pumpkin King duct-tape another drug dealer to a pole upside down and naked.”
“Yeah, I read about that this morning… Crazy stuff.”
“Each to his own. We handle the giant apes, they handle the street-level stuff… Their methods are a little out there though…”
“A little out there? Tell that to the pimp with the hand-print burned into his face.”
“I didn’t say I agreed… But someone’s got to do something. The police aren’t.”
“So they’re judge, jury and executioner now?”
“Maybe… Doesn’t matter anyway, not much we can do about it, the cops have no idea who they are.”
“They’re good at hiding, and their personas aren’t registered, so there’s no keeping track of them.”
“Anyway, onto a lighter subject… How’re you doing on that English paper?”
“Oh no…”
<><><>