Cal Richards tried to find a way out of the situation, but there was nothing he could do. His team had arrived at the Hire-A-Hero building, but they’d been expecting them. The Human Right Initiative had a pair of mini-guns trained on the street, and opened fire as soon as the van had stopped. Melchior had reacted quickly, casting a spell, erecting a shield around what was left of the van, but that left the team in a quandary. Nothing could come in, and nothing could go out, without the shield coming down and leaving the team vulnerable to the machine-gun fire.
“Link, how far are the Brat Pack?” He asked.
“A minute, two at most.” Link responded after a short pause, obviously conferring with Belle, the Brat Pack’s own telepath.
“Ok guys, this is it… Everyone get ready for a fight. It’s going to be tough.” Cal ordered.
“Yeah, we’ve got to be ready.” Lee added.
The Richards brothers both transformed into their steel forms, as the rest of their team prepared.
Ossuary spawned a pair of bone swords from her ribcage with an audible cracking noise. Tide’s eyes began glowing, as she drew the moisture in the air towards her. A glowing ball of energy appeared in Fuse’s hand, as she began to choose her target. Crackshot drew and cocked his pistols. AV grabbed a flashbang from his belt, as he began absorbing sunlight, ready to discharge when the shield went down. Melchior prepared to dispel the shield on Cal’s orders, as the rest of the team moved into their battle positions, with Link, Psyche, Iaso and Star standing at the rear, as their non-offensive powers didn’t have much use in a firefight.
They were alerted to their allies presence as the mini-guns opened fire over the top of their shield, hitting Mr Perfect dead-on, as Hyper Girl and the rest of the Brat Pack took cover behind the satellite dish Mr Universe had been carrying his team-mates in.
“Go!” Cal ordered, and Melchior dropped the shield.
Crackshot opened fire on one gunman, his bullets bouncing harmlessly off the man’s Sickle Armour, but a jet of water directed straight at his helmet from Tide managed to throw off his aim completely, taking him out of the battle, as Fuse lobbed her energy bomb through the window at the second gunman, the explosion damaging his gun and armour enough to take him down completely. AV let his flashbang off, absorbing the extra light and unleashing a sonic blast at the first gunman, knocking him unconscious and ending the fight.
“Did you guys really need us for that?” Mr Universe quipped.
“We needed the distraction, those guns were on us, and we couldn’t drop our shield without leaving most of these guys vulnerable.” Cal replied.
“Ok guys, back on track, are we ready to go save some heroes?” Mr Perfect cut in.
“How did you want to do this?” Cal asked.
“Recon first… Universe, Belle, what’ve you got?” Mr Perfect turned to his team mates.
“There are at least fifty people in that building, it’s too crowded for me to get a decent read on any of them.” Belle replied.
“I’m picking up thirty distortions.” Mr Universe added. “There sure are a lot of these guys.”
“Nothing we can’t handle. Are they spaced out like at the studio?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Yep. There’s four guys on guard in the lobby, another eight on the first floor, the rest are on the second floor, I assume they’re with the prisoners. None on the roof this time, but there’s no way onto the roof from inside here anyway.” Mr Universe replied.
“Great, we have to get to those prisoners before they do anything drastic.” Mr Perfect said.
“May I?” Cal cut in.
“Be my guest.” Mr Perfect replied.
“You, Mr Universe, Hyper Girl and Lee head in through the windows that just got cleared, you guys should be able to stop anyone from getting killed inside. I’ll lead the rest in through the lobby and we’ll work our way up. Iaso, Pixel and Link stay back here, if anyone gets injured, just think in Link’s direction, Link can relay the position to Pixel, and she can teleport Iaso in.” Cal says.
“I think we’d be better off taking Star with us… Her powers might be able to stop the terrorists completely.” Mr Perfect said.
“Good point. Ok, Mr Universe carries Lee up through one window, you, Hyper Girl and Star fly in through the other. Let’s go.” Cal said, his order punctuated by a scream from Link and Belle.
“Someone just got shot!” They both said in unison.
“Shit, let’s go!” Cal said, running for the door.
<><><>
Cal Richards cut quite the striking pose, as he stood in the doorway, reflecting bullets back at the HRI grunts, as Tide blasted a jet of water from one side of him, and Firestorm blasted a pillar of fire from the other. Two energy bombs lobbed by Fuse managed to devastate the enemy forces, as AV absorbed the sound released by the blasts, and shot bright lights into the visors of their enemies, blinding them long enough for Crackshot, Ossuary, Psyke and LatX to disable all four armours.
“Nice work guys, there’s eight more on the next level.” Cal said, moving towards the elevator.
“Uh, genius, you think the elevator’s a good idea?” Firestorm asked.
“What are you talking about?” Cal asked.
“They’ll be waiting for us. We’re dead the moment we step out.” Firestorm replied.
“Damn it. Got any suggestions?” Cal asked.
“Yep.” Firestorm replied.
<><><>
“They’re actually using the elevator.” One of the HRI soldiers said to his partner.
“The boss’ll be happy when we take down a bunch of capes. Good thing we got sentry duty while the others are guarding the prisoner. Bonus points for us.” The other replied.
“Ready?” The first asked, pointing to the elevator as the number changed to ‘1’.
“Let’s waste them.” The second replied, pointing his shoulder cannon at the door.
The door opened and they opened fire, blowing holes in the doorway, and causing dust to fly everywhere. Satisfied they’d destroyed all traces, they stopped firing. The dust cleared to reveal only Cal Richards’ iron form standing there.
“Is that all you boys have?” He asked, before thinking ’Belle, fifteen feet, straight in front.’
The two grunts opened fire again, but not for long, as the floor disappeared from under them in an explosion, causing the two to fall to the level below, surrounded by heroes, who made short work of them.
“Nice work guys, especially Fuse, Firestorm and Melchior, I wasn’t sure you could make a hole that big.” Cal shouted down.
“Neither were we.” Fuse replied with a grin.
Cal waited, as his team mates made their way up the elevator, which was, surprisingly, still functioning.
“Universe said there were eight guys up here, we’d better take care of the other six.” Cal said. “Belle, you picking anything up?”
“We’re close enough… They’re all through that door over there… They’ve got someone else in there… But he doesn’t seem that scared.” Belle replied.
“Ok… Approach with caution guys.” Cal ordered, as he walked towards the door. He wiggled the knob, but the door wouldn’t budge. “Locked… How original.” He muttered, before putting his fist through the door and tearing it off its hinges.
“So much for caution.” Tide muttered.
“Inhuman scum!” The shout came from inside the room, where six grunts stood, with a man behind them, chained to the wall.
“See, that’s just not very nice.” Crackshot commented drily. “I’m completely human.”
“Traitor! Come no closer, or the demon will die!” The lead grunt said, as two of his allies pointed their guns at the prisoner.
“Demon?” Melchior almost passed out, before making a cross in front of him.
“A churchie?” Firestorm scoffed.
“Die? I’d like to see you try to kill me.” The chained up man said, in a clear British accent.
“Don’t tempt us, scum.” One of the grunts with his gun trained on him said.
“You fella’s just aren’t very friendly, are you?” The prisoner taunted.
“Shut up!” The other shouted, firing a shot into the cell, narrowly missing the man.
“Is that the best you can do?” He taunted further.
“Damn it!” Both grunts opened fire, as Cal charged forward, taking out the front two grunts, as Firestorm sent a ball of fire straight into the point where the man’s right arm-chain was bolted to the wall, freeing the arm.
Their new ally swung the chain and got it wrapped around one of his attackers, before pulling the man down to the floor, as Crackshot managed to shoot his other arm free, allowing the prisoner to repeat this feat against his other attacker, before collapsing on the floor himself, shallow breaths barely lifting his bullet-riddled chest.
The remaining two grunts fell, as Fuse, Tide and AV blasted them easily.
‘Link, we need a healer.’ Cal ordered, and within seconds, Pixel appeared with Iaso, the latter kneeling down beside the fallen prisoner and laying her hands on his chest. A white glow appeared at her fingertips, and the man’s wounds healed completely, the bullets moving out of his flesh, seemingly of their own power.
“Anyone else need a hand?” She asked.
“No, we’re fine. Thanks.” Cal said, before Pixel took the miracle-worked back outside.
“So which one of you guys wants to finish freeing me?” The prisoner asked, as he regained consciousness.
“Who are you first?” Cal asked.
“They call me ‘Perdition’, I’m a bit of a big deal around here.” The man replied.
“The half-demon guy?” Belle asked.
“The very same. And who might you be love?”
“I might be half your age.” Belle retorted. “Let him out, he’s on our side. Sort of.”
“Sort of?” Firestorm asked.
“He’s on a good behavior bond, he’s working for Hire-A-Hero instead of rotting in Alcatraz.” Belle said.
“I’m a half-demon, it’s not all non-lethal playfighting when you’re taking on cultists and their undead minions. Now take care of these chains, those wankers drugged me.” Perdition said.
“Fine, we could use all the help we can get here.” Cal resigned, tearing the half-demon’s chains from the wall.
“You’re just going to let him go?” Melchior asked.
“Save it.” Firestorm said. “You can go confess your sins later. We’ve got lives to save.”
“But… But…” Melchior spluttered.
“He’s right, let’s go.” Cal ordered.
<><><>
Lee tore the man’s helmet off, cutting off control to his armour, and neutralizing the last man in the room.
“So what exactly can you do? I mean, you’ve got the magnetic powers or whatever… But you’re useless in this fight.” Lee asked Mr Universe.
“And if not for me, you’d still be standing on the ground wishing you could come up through that window.” Mr Universe replied.
“I could’ve climbed up.’ Lee said simply.
“Of course.” Mr Universe rolled his eyes. “They’re regrouping on the other side of that door… I’ll let you go first.”
“You’re not even bulletproof? What kind of a superhero are you?” Lee taunted.
“The kind with his own action-figure.”
“Pfft, those are for kids.”
“Right.”
The two stopped their argument, as Lee burst through the door and drew fire from the five HRI members standing in the next room. Behind them was the unconscious form of a man, handcuffed and gagged, laying on the floor.
“Crap, there’s a prisoner in here…” Lee said.
“Not for long…” Mr Universe replied, using his powers to undo the handcuffs and using them to slap the man awake.
As Lee charged forward to tackle two of the armoured men, the groggy man stood up and cracked his knuckles, before leaping onto the back of a third Sickle Armour, unleashing a burst of electricity into it and shutting down the armour’s systems.
“Haha, now it’s my turn!” Mr Universe said, using his powers to lift up the disabled armour, now without its magnetic disruptor, and tossing it into the remaining two grunts, knocking them to the ground and distracting them long enough for Lee and the freed prisoner to finish them off.
“It’s about time you did something.” Lee said, as he turned back to his regular form.
“What’s your major villain count? How many guys have you taken down?” Mr Universe replied.
“Uhhh… Guys… I appreciate the rescue and all, but they’re killing my buddies in the next room… Can we go do something about that?” The third man asked.
“Oh… Right… Sorry.” Mr Universe said.
“Thanks. This guy goes first?” He asked, pointing to Lee.
“That plan’s worked out pretty well so far.” Mr Universe replied.
<><><>
Mr Perfect stepped through the door first, and was greeted with the sight of sixteen people handcuffed and collared, sitting on the floor, with six men in Sickle Armours standing around them, two bloody bodies laying in a corner.
“Freeze scum!” One of the HRI members said, pointing his shoulder-cannon at the hero, as he stepped through the door, allowing Hyper Girl to step in beside him, with Star hiding in the previous room, her pheromone-based powers ineffective against the airtight armours.
“You know, we don’t like being called that.” Hyper Girl quipped.
“Yeah, we prefer mutant-Americans.” The heroes turned to see Mr Universe standing next to Lee Richards and another, unknown, man.
“We still outnumber you!” The HRI grunt yelled.
There was an audible ‘ding’ as the elevator doors opened, revealing Cal Richards, flanked by his squad.
“We’ll never surrender to inhuman scum!!!” He continued spouting his propaganda.
“What if we outnumber you like, five-to-one?” Mr Universe asked drily, as he unlocked the handcuffs and collars of every hero in the room, the freed heroes standing as one.
“We’d like to negotiate our terms.” Another HRI member said, the others nodding in agreement.
“I thought you’d see it our way.” Mr Perfect said.
<><><>
“You kids did well today.” Mr Hart said, shaking Mr Perfect’s and Cal Richards’ hand.
“Thank you sir. I’m sorry I ignored your order to wait.” Cal replied.
“You made the right choice.” Mr Hart said. “Now, as for Mr Universe… What’s this I hear about an exclusive interview with Fox tomorrow night?”
“Don’t worry, it’ll all be good publicity, I promise.” Mr Universe said.
“It had better be. We’ve got a room booked for you at the Four Seasons, your handler will give you the details. The rest of you have a plane to catch.” Mr Hart said, dismissing them.
“He’s right, you guys were all great today.” Cal said to his team as they watched their boss walk away.
“Same goes for you guys.” Mr Perfect said to the Brat Pack.
“Wow! I got a compliment from Mr Perfect! I feel awesome!” Firestorm said sarcastically.
“Shut it.” Belle said, half-heartedly.
“Cal, it was great working with you guys, I hope we can do it again in future.” Mr Perfect said, extending a hand.
“Likewise.” Cal replied, the two leaders shaking hands.
On the other side of the congregating heroes, Hyper Girl was thanking Mr Universe.
“It’s no big deal. Saving people is the whole point of the hero gig.” Mr Universe said.
“I know, but I’m not used to being the damsel, you know? How can I make it up to you?” Hyper Girl asked.
“Well, I’m in the city until tomorrow night, and I don’t know where anything is in New York, I could use a tourguide.” Mr Universe said.
“Done. Where would you like to go first?” Hyper Girl asked.
“Well, I’m kind of hungry… Know anywhere we can have dinner?”
“I know just the place…” And with that, Hyper Girl grabbed his arm and led him away.
Firestorm looked on with disbelief. “Did the nerd just manage to score a date with her!?!” He exclaimed.
“He’s not that big a nerd… He just has confidence issues. I’ve been trying to get him out of his shell for ages. Guess all it took was the right girl…” Belle said.
“You sound a little jealous.” Pixel taunted.
“Are you kidding? He’s my best friend, I don’t think of him like that.” Belle spluttered.
“Of course not.” Firestorm said.
“Fine! You want proof?” Belle stormed over to Mr Perfect, planting a kiss on the stunned hero. “Happy!?!” She shouted.
“More confused than anything…” Mr Perfect replied.
“Not you!” Belle shouted, exasperatedly.
“I’m happy.” Pixel said, before doing a cartwheel.
“Bunch of weirdos…” Lee Richards muttered.
<><><>
“Mr Universe, thanks once again for your help yesterday, I know we all owe our lives to you and your teammates, but it’ll take more than that to change our standing in the teen hero debate. Why do you believe what you do is right, when you know full well that your lack of experience could risk the safety of others?” The interviewer asked.
“Wow, you don’t fool around, do you? Straight to the killer question, not going to dance around me until I’m almost in tears like a certain teenage girl you treated like a criminal the other day… Why do I believe what I do is right? A wise man said ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’, I don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want evil to triumph. As far as I’m concerned there is no question. I do what is right because it’s right. Anything I could do as far as collateral damage is far overshadowed by what the other guy is going to do to the people.” Mr Universe replied.
“So you advocate masked vigilantism? By children no less?”
“If masked vigilantes are what it takes to take down the super villains, then so be it. Police, hell, the army, aren’t equipped to handle guys like Radon, or Arachnophobia, or The Order of Darkness, or the hundreds of super-human crazies running around. As far as kids go, yesterday, you had limited choices. Let the Brat Pack save you, or wait hours for Captain Awesome to arrive, or the third option, pray the East Coast Boomers got back in time to save the last of you from those terrorists. The fact is, sometimes we’re all you’ve got. You’ve got to learn to live with it, because there’s more of them than us right now, the good guys need all the help they can get.”
“Moving words, especially poignant in these troubling times, with the recent updates on the East Coast Boomers disappearance…”
“Disappearance? What are you talking about?”
“It’s the biggest news story of the weekend… The East Coast Boomers disappeared in Miami yesterday. The nation’s top independent super-team has vanished without a trace…”
<><><>