“No, I don’t have any time to co-host TRL! Talk to Mr Universe, or Pixel, I’m sure they’d love it.” Katie yelled into her cell phone.
“But Belle, MTV asked for you specifically, you’re seen as a good role model for girls aged 13-18, and not to mention all the boys that would be tuning in.” Mr Hale, the Brat Pack’s handler replied.
“Look, I know when I signed up for this Hire-A-Hero crap, I was expected to do the promotion, and the sponsorships, but I’ve got the photo-shoot for Belle-Bottoms this week, not to mention homework, practice, my extra-curricular activities… I’m swamped. And the Brat Pack are the on-call team Saturday night. I literally don’t have time to do TRL.”
“Ok, look, I’ll talk to the MTV guys. Maybe they’ll go for Mr Universe… He’s got that whole ‘ironic wit’ thing teenagers are into nowadays, and the media just eats him up.”
“Yeah, he just loves being the mouthpiece.” Katie replied, as she looked out the window to see her dad’s car pulling into the driveway. “Listen, my dad’s just got home, I’ve got to go. Secret identity and all that.”
“Sure, I’ll talk to you later Belle.”
Katie hung up her phone, before stashing it in her sock drawer. That particular cell-phone was strictly for Brat Pack business, and was registered under her ‘other’ identity. Her father finding it, and some of the numbers stored inside, would raise a lot of questions.
“I’m home!” Her dad shouted from downstairs.
“Hi daddy!” She yelled, running down to the living room, where her dad waited with open arms.
“Did you miss me?” He asked.
“You were only gone two days.”
“I could go for longer if you want…”
“No! You spend enough time in San Francisco as it is… Why doesn’t the firm let you spend more time in LA?”
“Because they’re setting up the new offices up there, they need an experienced partner when they get swamped, and I’m the best they’ve got.”
“Still, don’t they know you’ve got a family?”
“Yeah. They also know that my little girl is completely independent, and more than capable of taking care of herself for a couple of days… So how’s school?”
“Well, I got an A- for my English paper, which is pretty good considering I was catching up on my Psych work while I did it. The basketball team barely beat Huntington Beach; Kevin Woodman scored a three-pointer on the siren, which put them up by a point. The entire school’s been riding high on it though. Next week we’ve got Newport Union, which should be an easy one, but the inter-school rivalry thing is in full swing, like always. They’ll get us back come water-polo season.”
“They always do… Kevin Woodman, that’s the captain right? Are you seeing this boy?”
“What? No! We’re just friends.”
“Just friends? I know what you kids get up to. I was your age once, remember.”
“If you don’t believe me, ask Matt. Nothing’s going on.”
“I might… You seem to be talking about him a lot lately. I’ve got to make sure none of those jocks are anywhere near my princess.”
“Don’t worry daddy, I can take care of myself.”
“I know, but it’s my job to worry.”
<><><>
“MTV? Are you kidding? Teen pop stars, rappers and screaming idiots? I’m Mr Universe. Is there any other way to ruin what little integrity I have? MTV barely even plays music anymore, and when it does, nine times out of ten, it’s the same regurgitated crap, and it’s not even good. And TRL is the worst!” Matt practically shouted into his phone.
“Listen, someone has to do it, Hire-A-Hero and MTV have a deal.” Mr Hale replied.
“Then talk to Belle, or Pixel. Hell, even Mr Perfect would enjoy the gig more than me. He loves that hip hop crap.” Matt hung up the phone.
’He thinks I watch MTV? Do I honestly look like one of those… idiots?’ He thought to himself, before heading downstairs to throw on some VH1. ’The classics, that’s the way to go.’
Just as he managed to get comfortable on the sofa, his phone went off. He picked it up to find a text message from Kevin. ‘Dde, chck out th nws on Fox’
“You’ve got to be kidding me… People actually text like that?” Matt muttered, as he switched over, and found himself looking at… Himself.
‘… the teen heroes have been fighting various threats throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, extending into neighbouring counties. The most recent battle was in LA itself, where the Brat Pack defeated the super-criminal syndicate known as ‘Arachnophobia’, leading to their arrests. But is this growing trend of teen superheroes really what’s best for our nation? The Brat Pack in California, Teen Dream Team in New York, not to mention the dozens of solo heroes springing up in states without Persona Registration, it’s clear that this is an epidemic. Many members of the public believe that these children should not be putting themselves in danger, but a growing number also believe that the irresponsibility of youth is causing these ‘heroes’ to cause more damage than they’re fixing.’ The reporter said.
“Oh for the love of…” Matt said, moving to turn the TV off… Then she appeared…
‘Hyper Girl is the latest addition to the New York City branch of the super-mercenary company ‘Hire-A-Hero’, which has opened offices in Los Angeles, New York City and San Antonio. We’ve managed to secure this exclusive, live interview at our New York studios…’
“She’s gorgeous…” Matt said, eyeing the young heroine on his TV screen. She looked about 17, with blonde hair past her shoulders, her slim figure encased in a suit of pure white, with a black ‘H’ printed over her chest. A black domino mask obscured her identity, but didn’t hide the most amazing brown eyes Matt had ever seen.
‘”Miss… Hyper Girl… That’s a Registered Persona, am I correct?” The interviewer began.
“Yes sir. What kind of hero would I be if I couldn’t protect my family?” Hyper Girl replied.
“Indeed. And you don’t think it’s odd that while other girls your age are going to proms, cheerleading and hanging out with their friends, you’re flying around New York City, blasting super-villains out of the sky?”
“Not really. Cheerleaders use their natural abilities to entertain the crowds; I use my natural abilities to protect people.”
“And the property damage that you cause?”
“Is completely taken care of by Hire-A-Hero.”
“Well we have records here that state Hire-A-Hero has contracts with the city, which say that on top of payment for services, the taxpayers will be paying for any damages caused to the city.”
“Would you rather I didn’t try to stop Radon next time he decides he wants to take over the city?”
“Yes. I would feel much safer if you left it to the adults. Experienced professionals.”
“How do you think they got their experience?”
“Uncle Sam, the American Eagle, the Patriot and the rest of the Liberty Force are all armed forces personnel, they were trained before they became superheroes. Where did you receive your training?”
“I wasn’t trained. My powers manifested when I witnessed a mugging. It doesn’t take much skill to shoot a ball of energy at a guy and knock him on his butt.”
“And when there are innocents in the crossfire? When a shot goes stray and destroys someone’s home. Shouldn’t you be doing everything in your power to stop that from happening?”
“I… Ummm…”
“But instead, you rush in, all guns blazi-“’
The screen turned to static for a moment, before cutting back to the anchor in LA.
‘Uhhh, we seem to have lost the feed, we’ll do our best to get it back.’
Matt shrugged and switched back to VH1.
<><><>
“Look, I just don’t think I should go on TRL… It would look like I’d sold out.” Ally explained.
“You go into battle with a big Sony logo on your back. You sold out months ago.” Mr Hale said.
“I meant as an artist. There’s still time for me to release a song.”
“Are you trying to give me an aneurism? It’s just on- What’s that? Oh crap. Pixel, call the others, we need you guys here now. There’s an emergency.” Mr Hale hung up.
“But-… Guys, I’ve got a thing, who wants to drive me to LA?” Ally turned to her brother.
“Don’t look at us, we’re completely out of it.” Tom said.
“Yeah, you should’ve asked an hour ago.” Mac replied.
“Mac, just take care of it.” Ally ordered.
“That serious, huh?” Mac asked.
“Yeah, Hale said it was an emergency. Blow off the buzz and just get me to LA.” Ally said.
“Fine. Can you take it Tom?” Mac asked.
“Is Paris Hilton a skank? Hit me.” Tom replied.
Mac smiled, and looked Tom straight in the eye. The air between the two shimmered for a moment, before Tom said “Wow man, you were more stoned than I was!”
“Of course. You’re a little girl… Crap, here it comes…” Mac said, closing his eyes and grabbing his forehead. After a moment, he opened his eyes again.
“Tom, you’re going to fail Trig. Ally, you’re headed to New York.” Mac said.
<><><>
“Where’s Firestorm?” Mr Hart, the chairman of the LA Hire-A-Hero office demanded.
“He’s on his way. He had to hitch a ride. A lot harder than you’d think it would be, wearing an orange jumpsuit.” Mr Universe replied, to a giggle from Pixel and Belle.
“This is no laughing matter. Can one of you get in contact with him? Tell him to meet us at LAX in half an hour.” Mr Hart ordered.
“LAX? Where are we going?” Mr Perfect asked.
“New York City.” Mr Hart and Pixel said in unison.
<><><>
“So does this have anything to do with Hyper Girl’s interview on Fox News?” Mr Universe asked.
“Among other things… A militant anti-mutant group has taken control of the studio, as well as our headquarters in New York.” Mr Hart said, from the front of the converted Gulfstream V, sponsored by Nike.
“So we’re going to break her out?” Cal Richards, leader of the Dirty Baker’s Dozen, another team under contract to Hire-A-Hero, asked.
“You’re not. The Brat Pack are. D13 will be assigned to our headquarters. Once there you will keep the terrorists busy until Captain Awesome returns from his mission in Hawaii.” Mr Hart ordered.
“Understood.” Cal said.
“Got it.” His younger brother, Lee, piped up.
“So… Why can’t the New York guys bust out themselves?” Mr Perfect asked.
“The same way they keep prisoners in Alcatraz and Guantanamo Bay, inhibitor collars, drugs… It’s standard operating procedure for dealing with capes. Not to mention, they’ve got a hold of some form of power-armour.” Mr Hart replied.
“If I recall correctly, inhibitors usually work on physical powers, and energy wielders, and drugs are for psychics, right?” Mr Universe asked.
“That’s correct. How is this relevant?” Mr Hart asked.
“I can disable an inhibitor, it’s electronic.” Mr Universe said simply.
“So you can free Hyper Girl, and we’ll have an extra team-mate.” Mr Perfect finished.
“Exactly. We free Hyper Girl, take care of the bad guys, get to be the big heroes, then go home, all in time to go to bed before school in the morning. It’s standard operating procedure for dealing with bad guys.” Mr Universe said, drawing an angry glare from Mr Hart, and a laugh from most present.
“So Captain Awesome is like, two hours behind us, right?” Crackshot, a member of D13 asked, changing the subject.
“As far as we know, yes.” Mr Hart replied.
“And we’re just supposed to sit tight and keep the bad guys busy?”
“Effectively, yes. If the opportunity to save the hostages comes up, with no risk to those inside, by all means take action, but the consequences will be on Mr Richards’ head.”
Mr Hart took one more look around the plane. “If there are no more questions, I’ll retire to the cockpit.” He said, turning and leaving the young heroes alone.
“Sit tight? Is he kidding? Does he know who you guys are?” Ossuary, another member of D13, asked her boyfriend, Cal Richards.
“That’s the main reason Lee and I didn’t take grandpa’s name when we got into this business. We didn’t want to ride his reputation to the top.” Cal said.
“Hey, that was your idea. I’d have taken the name; you’re just the firstborn, so you’ve got dibs.” Lee argued.
“Either way, we can totally take a couple of nutjob, Patriot-wannabes.” Ossuary said.
“Wait… Grandpa? Your grandpa’s a hero? Did you get your powers from him? Does that mean your grandpa’s…” Mr Universe trailed off.
“Yep, we’re Sherman’s only grandsons.” Lee said proudly.
“Holy crap!” Mr Perfect exclaimed.
“It’s not that big a deal. Really.” Cal said.
“I didn’t even know Sherman had kids.” Belle said.
“Mom didn’t have powers, so she was out of the public eye, not like Miss Liberty or the second American Eagle. A generation later, and you’ve got the Richards brothers, leading Hire-A-Hero’s B-Team.” Lee said.
“I wouldn’t say ‘B-Team’…” Psyke said quietly.
“’C-Team’ would be more appropriate… Captain Awesome is between us and you. Remember?” Firestorm said.
“What was that, Sparky?” Lee asked.
“Lee, calm down.” Cal ordered. “And Sparky, you guys might be the flavour of the month, but Captain Awesome’s still the posterboy. Shut it.”
“Either way, you’re still Number 3.” Firestorm muttered.
“ That’s it.” Lee said.
The plane shuddered, as Lee’s mass multiplied tenfold, his body shifting into living steel, and his brother followed suit, as he grabbed ahold of Lee, stopping him from grabbing Firestorm, who looked ready to ignite.
“What the hell is going on back there?!?” Mr Hart yelled from the cockpit.
“Nothing sir!” Mr Perfect yelled out. “Change back. Now.” He ordered the brothers. “And Firestorm, don’t even think about it.”
“Like I listen to you.” Firestorm said, a flame appearing in the palm of his hand.
“Cool it!” Tide said, her eyes glowing blue, as she used her powers to douse Firestorm with water.
“Stay out of this broad.” Firestorm said.
“Ok guys, that’s enough!” Star stepped up into the middle of the fight, completely calm and collected.
“Yes Star.” Firestorm, Mr Perfect and the Richards brothers replied, taking their seats, the Richards brothers reverting to normal.
“Wow, how’d you do that?” Belle asked.
“That’s my power… I can make boys do whatever I want.” Star said. “Straight ones anyway. Lesbians too. Not just because I’m hot either… It goes beyond that.”
“Fair enough.” Belle said, eyeing the other girl’s supermodel-like form, clad in a designer dress, straight from the catwalk with a sceptical look.
“You like it? It’s part of my sponsorship deal. It’s not like I’m much good in combat, so the labels pay Hire-A-Hero, and I get a new outfit every week.”
“So, we haven’t been introduced… I’m Mr Universe.” Mr Universe offered his hand to Tide.
“I’m Tide.” Tide took his hand, shaking it tentatively.
“Sorry about Firestorm… He gets a bit… edgy around authority figures… It’s bad enough with Perfect around, Cal just adds to it.”
“And then there’s Lee, who thinks he’s in charge.”
“Heh, I noticed that. A bit over-zealous for a second-in-command, huh?”
“Oh, he’s not SIC, that’s Link.” Tide said, gesturing towards one of her teammates, a slightly chubby girl, holding hands with AV, a small man, wearing a black suit with mirrors down it in stripes, eschewing the camouflage uniform the majority of the team wore, to amplify his powers.
“So he just thinks he’s better than everyone else because of his family? Or just because he honestly thinks he should be in charge?”
“It’s never come up… Probably a bit of both. He’s a bit of a redneck too, completely unlike Cal, he’s a metal-head to the bone.”
“Oh wow, bad pun.”
“Ugh, you had to point it out, didn’t you?”
“I was going to make a joke about how ironic it was, but I decided against it.”
“Oh wow, you’re terrible.”
“You guys sure like khaki, don’t you?” Pixel asked LatX.
“Yep.” The tall man said.
“Except for him.” Pixel said, pointing at AV. “And her.” Pixel pointed at Star. “And him.” Pixel pointed at Crackshot, clad in a black bodysuit, with built-in kevlar. “At least they changed it up a bit.” Pixel gestured to Fuse, who had fashioned a skirt into her camo outfit and Iaso, who had a white band around her arm with a red cross on it.
“Yep.” LatX replied.
“So what’s your power?”
“I stretch.”
“Oh, that’s pretty cool!”
“Yep.”
“Oh, that guy’s not in camo either. That’s a pretty cool robe.”
“That’s Melchior. He’s a magician.”
“Wow, five words. You’re learning this whole ‘conversation’ thing pretty quickly, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
Pixel groaned half-heartedly.
“Sorry about all that…” Mr Perfect apologised to Cal.
“No problem… I guess Sparky’s a bit of a hothead.” Cal replied, to a smile from Mr Perfect.
“He’s good in a fight… He’s just not exactly sociable. Listen, if you guys think you can take the Hire-A-Hero headquarters, you should go for it. Who knows what they’ll do when we take the TV station. You guys should bust out as many as you can, if you’re quick, you could overwhelm them with the extra numbers.”
“I’d love to, but orders are orders. Unless an opportunity that’s too good to pass up presents itself, I’m going to do what Hart ordered. We’re going to make sure they don’t do anything, and keep them busy until Captain Awesome arrives.”
“Fair enough. You’ve been doing this longer than I have, so I guess you should know what you’re doing. So, tell me about your team…”
“Well, there’s Lee and myself… You’ve seen what we do. You’ve seen Tide and Star too. My girlfriend, Ossuary, she can grow her bones outside her body, she uses them as weapons. Lee’s girlfriend, Psyke, she’s got telekinesis. My second-in-command, Link, is a telepath, and her boyfriend, AV converts light into sound, and vice-versa. Iaso’s a healer, LatX can stretch his body, Crackshot is a sharpshooter, Fuse can create these little glowing balls that explode and Melchior is a magician.”
“So everyone but you guys have codenames?”
“Yeah, I started out in the San Antonio branch, and Texas didn’t have Persona laws, so I had bank records and everything in my own name, there was no point changing when I got promoted to LA. They gave me my own team, when Lee came later on, there was no point in hiding who he was either, it was pretty obvious we were brothers.”
“So you’re Texan?”
“Born and raised in Dallas. But I’m not one of those flag-waving, deer-hunting, Bush-supporting whackos you hear about.”
“Oh good.”
“My brother on the other hand…”
<><><>
“Well, we’re almost there… Any ideas?” Mr Perfect looked around the back of the van that had been waiting for the Brat Pack at the airport.
“I’m picking up ten magnetic distortions… Looks like the power-armours have magnetic disruptors… I can’t just use my powers to stop them in their tracks… Looks like I’m going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.” Mr Universe replied.
“I’m picking up around forty different people inside the building… about thirty are panicked… Hyper Girl is on the third floor, she’s got a guard to herself.” Belle added.
“She’s the only super in there?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Yep, looks like.” Belle replied.
“Ok, when we get there, I want you to do your thing and load Hyper Girl’s location into Pixel’s mind, she’ll teleport Mr Universe up there, they’ll take out the guard and free Hyper Girl. Where are the other guards?” Mr Perfect began giving his orders.
“Two on the roof, two in the lobby, three on the first floor with about twenty hostages, and two on the second floor with the executives, as far as I can tell.” Belle replied.
“Ok, I’ll take the roof, and link up with Mr Universe and Hyper Girl on the third floor, we’ll move down to the second and save the executives. Firestorm and Belle will go through the lobby, take out the guards down there, Pixel will teleport down to them, and the three will progress upstairs to the other hostages. Don’t risk the hostages, we can’t afford to lose anyone. If they put a gun to anyone’s head, wait for the rest of us. Understand?” Mr Perfect looked straight at Firestorm.
“You think I’m an idiot? Let’s do this.” Firestorm said.
“Alright, let’s go.” Mr Perfect said, as the van came to a stop.
<><><>