Not sure what to say about this issue. It was a bit awkward to write. Funnily enough, I don’t really have any idea about fashion and whatnot, so Katie choosing her outfit was the result of a quick Google search. No idea what jocks talk about at parties, but figured they’d talk about the (sort of) recent NBA Playoffs.
This chapter was mostly to remind everyone about Katie’s passion for drinking, and Anna’s hatred of her.
Mosley’s appearance proves that even though he’s (mostly) capable of working with Kevin, he’s still not a friend, or even close to the same circle (more Mosley in Issue #019, some time next month (most likely)).
Remember the good old days, when y’all used to ask me questions, and I answered them? Bring that back. Any criticism is welcome too, especially from new readers (judging by the huge increase in pageviews (thank you new advertising campaign ), there’s a lot of you. Even if there’s something I neglected to clear up in old issues, I’d love to hear about it. There I go, comment-begging again.
Anyway, stay tuned, within a couple of weeks, I’ll have posted Brat Pack Issue #018: Suspicious Minds. In the meantime, maybe there’ll be a new <3C Presents. We’ll see.
Later Days,
The Author
<3 Comics

Katie stared into her closet. Which shoes was she going to wear? There were so many to choose from. She’d decided to go with a short blue dress for the night, so she had to take that into account, naturally. She’d already picked out the matching bag. All that was left was the shoes.
Tonight was the night of the biggest party of the summer. Primrose Middleton, the unfortunately named reigning Newport Harbour Senior Prom Queen, was holding a huge bash in her parents’ beach house. Everyone who was anyone in Orange County was going to make an appearance. And that included the King and Queen of the Newport Harbour Junior Prom, Kevin Woodman, and Katie Reynolds.
Of course, they’d never get there if Katie couldn’t choose a pair of shoes.
Katie had been on summer vacation for weeks now, and honestly had no idea what to do with her time. After spending all year doing two things at once, between school, homework, cheerleading, heading the Student Government and chairing the Social Committee, not to mention being a superhero, this sudden break was more than she could bare. The sudden freedom left her reeling, directionless.
To the point where she couldn’t even decide what shoes matched this damn dress.
She thought back to the day she’d bought the dress… What shoes had she bought to wear with it…?
There. The blue DKNY heels. Of course. How could she have missed those?
No matter. She was ready now… Or was she?
She pulled open her desk drawer, and removed the false bottom. Sitting in there, next to her Belle costume, was two-thirds of a bottle of Absolut vodka.
She bit her lip. Surely she wouldn’t need to take it. There would be enough alcohol at the party. Primrose had specifically told her that there would be a couple of kegs.
She longed for the hip flask her ex-boyfriend had left in her room, years ago. She could have taken that, no problem. Unfortunately, Principal Holmes had found it stashed away in her locker one day at school. As fate would have it, as punishment for that, he had placed her in Saturday detention, and it was on that fateful Saturday that the Brat Pack had been formed.
Katie sighed, as she grabbed the bottle and stuffed it in her purse. It couldn’t hurt to take it, just in case.
<><><>
Kevin hummed along, as Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ blared out of his car stereo. He was looking forward to this party. It had been weeks since he had last hung out with the boys.
It was good to get out with Katie too. Especially in public, without spandex. The glamorous life of a superhero was amazing, but sometimes you have to remember to be a normal kid, and have some fun. And, with one year left of high school, the days where fun was an option were running out fast.
He was pretty much guaranteed a spot at Berkeley, considering his dad was the coach of the basketball team, and Kevin himself was one of the top small forwards in the state. He’d have to maintain his grades to keep a scholarship, and between that and his superhero work, he was in for a pretty tough couple of years.
There was never a question as to whether Kevin would continue on as Mr Perfect, even in college. He’d been born with the ability to help people. The ability to make a difference. To ignore that ability, to let people continue with their suffering, would be almost as bad as causing their suffering in the first place. The moment he had discovered his powers, he knew he had to use them. He had to be like the hundreds before him and take up the mantle of superhero.
He pulled up the drive, and sounded his horn. Moments later, Katie stepped out of the door. Kevin’s breath caught in his throat. He was a lucky, lucky guy.
<><><>
Katie was in her element. Amongst the cheerleaders and social elite of Newport Harbour, talking fashion, music and the latest gossip. She had left Kevin the moment they had reached the party, he had headed straight to the basketball team, and her own friends had flocked to her within moments.
It was during a particularly riveting conversation regarding the upcoming Milan fashion show, that Katie noticed Anna staring at her.
Face-to-face with the girl who had kidnapped her all those months ago, Katie couldn’t help feel Anna’s seething hatred. In Anna’s mind, it should have been her in the centre of attention. She should have been the one the girls flocked to. But her place had been usurped by the interloper, Katie. Katie was the most popular girl in school. Katie was the head cheerleader. Katie was Student Body President. Anna had been overlooked. She was a year older, and it was her turn. Now she’d graduated. Finished high school, and not even come up second best. Primrose had beaten her for the title of Prom Queen. All-in-all, it had been a bad year for Anna. But it was going to get better. Very soon. Katie was going to get what was coming to her.
Katie could sense the anger directed at her, but thought better than to use her powers. She might not be able to block everything out, but she wasn’t going to invade anyone’s privacy, even Anna.
Instead, Katie smiled at Anna, and the hatred intensified. Katie fought the urge to laugh, as she excused herself from the conversation.
She walked past Anna, to the kitchen. She glanced over her shoulder. Satisfied no-one was watching, she pulled out her bottle of vodka. Nervously, she unscrewed the lid, and poured the contents into her half-empty beer. She replaced the lid, and stowed the bottle back into her bag, before taking a sip.
She took a deep breath, as she felt the intoxicating feeling wash over her.
<><><>
“Can’t believe you were at the last playoff game.” Mike said.
“Yeah, we were stuck at Mike’s playoff party instead.” Jack said.
“You guys have no idea. I was practically courtside.” Kevin bragged.
“I wish my dad had coached Jerry Buss’ grandson in college. I’d get mad tickets like that all the time.” Jack said.
“We were lucky to get those… But man, you should have been there.” Kevin said.
“Ok, enough about the damn playoffs. Who do you think will win this year?” Jack asked.
“Celtics.” Mike said.
“Nah, I think the Bulls have it this year.” Kevin argued.
“You’re both wrong. Lakers back-to-back.” Jack argued.
“Never gonna happen.” Kevin laughed.
“Kevvvyyyy!” Katie leapt onto Kevin’s back, grabbing him around the neck.
“Woah.” Kevin stumbled, not expecting the assault.
“I lurve youuu.” Katie kissed him on the neck.
Kevin could smell the beer on her breath. “Had a little to drink, have we babe?”
Katie started giggling. “Just a little.”
“Maybe you should have some food. I think Alphonse had a barbeque out on the deck.” Kevin said.
“You’re right. You’re so smart babe.” Katie said, before stumbling away.
Jack and Mike started laughing. “Man, your girl is waaaasted.” Mike said.
“She’s not that bad. She needed a good night out. It’s about time she let her hair down.” Kevin defended.
“Someone thinks he’s getting action tonight.” Jack laughed.
<><><>
The music’s dull bassline thumped through the walls of the bathroom.
Katie leaned over the basin, splashing water on her face. She hadn’t meant to get this drunk. She tried to focus on her reflection, but her vision was blurred, and she could’ve sworn she just saw two copies of her face in the mirror. And two mirrors. She had four hands though, which really threw her.
She removed the bottle of vodka from her purse again. With a shrug, she took off the lid and downed the whole bottle.
She started giggling as she pushed the bottle back into her bag, and stumbled out of the bathroom. This night was just getting started.
<><><>
“What the hell is he doing here?” Jack asked, pointing towards the front door.
Kevin turned around. “Oh god…” He moaned, when he saw who was standing in the doorway.
Clad in torn jeans and a Guns ‘n’ Roses t-shirt, with a leather jacket to complete the look, stood a guy they all knew. His dull brown hair a mess, and an evil smile across his face, Ben Mosley advanced on the room.
“Let’s get rid of him.” Mike said.
“Yeah, before Alphonse kicks his ass.” Jack said.
The two pushed past Kevin, and headed towards the troublemaker. “Mosley. What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Mike asked.
“I’m here for the party. Where’s the beer, pretty-boy?” Mosley asked.
“I don’t see an invitation, do you Jack?” Mike asked.
“No, I don’t Mike.” Jack replied.
“And what do we do with people who don’t have invitations Jack?” Mike asked.
“We throw them out Mike.” Jack replied.
“I think I’ve seen this routine somewhere…” Mosley muttered. “Just stay out of my way boys, and point me towards the keg.” He said.
Jack and Mike lunged for Mosley, who sidestepped Mike, and punched Jack in the solar plexus, winding the larger boy.
Kevin swore, as he pushed through the gathering crowd. As Kevin made his way over to the fight, Mosley tripped Mike up, and kneed Jack in the face, an audible cracking noise was heard, as the blood began to gush from Jack’s nose.
Kevin managed to grab Mosley, as he began stomping on Mike’s abdomen.
“Dude, back off.” Kevin ordered.
“Make me.” Mosley sneered.
“Mosley, I’m not fighting you. Not here, not ever. I’ve got nothing to prove. Now get out, or I’ll throw you out. Or even better, I’ll leave you right here. The rest of the team would love to get a piece of you.” Kevin lowered his voice.
“Let them come. I haven’t had a decent fight in weeks, not that they’ll bring me one either. Maybe when I kick all their asses, you’ll have the balls to fight me yourself, Jockstrap.”
“Mosley, try all you like, I’m not fighting you. You know I’ll win. I know I’ll win. Everyone knows I’ll win. Just leave now.”
“Heeey!” Katie stumbled into the room, drawing attention away from the fight. “Kevin! Look, it’s Fire-BLEAH!” Katie cut off her own words, as she hurled all over the rug.
“Holy crap.” Mosley said. “Did she just…?”
“Yeah, lucky she did too.” Kevin said, before moving towards his girlfriend, who was stumbling around.
Kevin lifted her up. “I’d better get her home.” He said.
“Wheee! I’m flying!” Katie threw her arms out, as Kevin carried her to the car.
As the couple left the party, Anna noticed something had fallen out of Katie’s purse.
An empty vodka bottle. Anna picked it up and smiled. It seemed the perfect little princess had a secret… Now how could she exploit it?

A month or two ago, I commissioned the brilliant Storn Cook to create everybody’s favourite leader of the Brat Pack, Mr Perfect. It finally arrived in my email yesterday.

This is the reduced version, the full-size one doesn’t fit on my screen, so I won’t be posting that here.
For more of Storn’s excellent artwork, head over to his website or his thread over on the Atomic Think Tank.
And before you ask: No, I haven’t finished the next chapter. But a picture is worth a thousand words, so this is just as good, maybe better.
Later Days,
The Author
<3 Comics

Looking back, it would have made sense to post the Annual on the one-year anniversary of Brat Pack #001, or at least before introducing The Basher in Issue #015, so his relevance is obvious. But it’s too late now, I guess.
Part 1 was actually the original Brat Pack story. But I decided it was too wordy, and hated it, before shelfing it, so I could refine it, and post it as a special of some description. (Or a flashback… The details are a little hazy). I went and read it again a few weeks ago, and decided it was actually pretty decent. It told the story I wanted, had the Brats interacting (mostly for the first time), and ripped off the Breakfast Club. Yes, the chapter title was also the song from the Breakfast Club, in case you guys didn’t get it…
Part 2 was my long-promised story focusing on the Dirty Baker’s Dozen… It was probably a low point for the Annual really, because even I don’t care that much about Epic (and he’s honestly supposed to be an Author Avatar of sorts). Epic is what I think I’d be like if I discovered I had super-powers. Complaining all the way, and then failing miserably anyway. But still calling it a win when the pretty girl pays some attention my way.
Part 3 was mostly for characterisation of the TDT. Especially Rose. Yes, that’s both her superhero name, and her real name. I do that a lot. I fleshed out Rose’s character a lot when I created her for a game of Mutants and Masterminds. The game didn’t go anywhere, but I had team-mates for her and my joke character Aperture, courtesy of my younger brother. This part was a bit of a downer, but I felt the characterisation was necessary. Thought I’d get it out of the way here, instead of dedicating an issue of <3C Presents to it.
Part 4 was seriously just a last minute thing. All of the background characters had a chapter, except for the one most featured in Brat Pack, Hyper Girl. So I flicked through my iTunes, and found 'Hyper-Insomnia' and decided to write about what Hyper Girl does when she can't sleep. That's about it. Any guesses as to which of the D13 people Matt was talking to?
Later Days
The Author
<3 Comics

PS. Follow me on Twitter. I had originally intended that as an in-character account, but then didn’t use it, so it is now the Official <3 Comics Twitter.

Part One: Don’t You Forget About Me
“I will be checking on you periodically. Enjoy your Saturday.” Principal Holmes said, before strolling out of the room.

“This is bullshit!” Ben Mosley, resident delinquent shouted, as soon as he knew the Principal was out of earshot… It was hardly his first time in Saturday detention.
“Dude, quiet, he might hear you.” Kevin Woodman, star small forward and captain of the basketball team said.
“Or what? You’ll cut me from the team, jock-boy?”
“No need for namecalling. I just don’t want to have to come back again… I was lucky this detention stayed off my record, the next one might not. And I’d like to get into a decent college after highschool.”
“Oh no… Not your record! Anything but that!”
“Look you guys, just shut up. None of us wants to be here. None of us wants to be back. Except maybe you, Mosley.” Matt Appleby piped up.
“You wanna start something emo-fag?” Mosley leapt to his feet.
“Sit down Mosley.” Kevin followed suit, getting between the two.
“The little nerd thinks he can mouth off to me. Get out of the way now jockstrap, or I’ll mess you up so badly, none of the boys will take you to Homecoming.” Mosley threatened.
“I said sit down. Don’t make me put you back down.”
“Oh yeah? You and what army?”
“Would you two just stop it?” Katie Reynolds cut in at this point.
“Oh, it’s the Lady President… Maybe I should stop cutting assemblies, you’re kinda cute.” Mosley said, turning to the Student Body President.
“Oh god… I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.” Katie looked visibly ill, causing Matt to laugh.
“You think that was funny?” Mosley said, trying to get to Matt, but Kevin still had hold of him.
“Yeah, kinda did.” Matt retorts.
“That’s it!” Mosley hit Kevin in the midsection, winding the larger boy, before he charged forward at Matt.
However, as luck would have it, Mosley managed to step on his own untied shoelace, and ended up flat on his face, causing the fifth person in the room, Ally Sawyer, to burst into a fit of laughter, the others joined in pretty quickly.
Mosley got to his feet and walked back to his seat, putting his feet up on the desk and facing away from the others, clearly embarassed.

<><><>

“So, how does the star of the basketball team end up in here with the rest of us mortals?” Katie asked.
“Says the Student Body President, and head cheerleader.” Kevin replied with a smile.
“Touche.”
“The guys had the brilliant idea of hazing the freshmen… As captain, I took the blame, even though I wasn’t involved. The coach sent me to the Principal, he sent me here.”
“And they’re keeping it off your record?”
“Completely. Coach and the Principal both knew I wasn’t involved, but I confessed, and something had to be done. They didn’t want it affecting my future though.”
“Seems to be a lot of that going around.” Matt cut in.
“Huh?” Kevin was confused.
“I was in physics, we were doing some experiment with a bunch of electromagnets… One of your douchebag team-mates tripped me up, I managed to bust up a thousand-dollar piece of equipment… I end up here, he gets a warning. They did keep it off my record though.” Matt replied.
“Oh… That’s pretty lame. Sorry about that.” Kevin offered.
“No big. You’re not their babysitter.”
“Someone has to be, they can’t really look after themselves.”
“They are kind of like giant toddlers, aren’t they?”
“Hey, those are my team-mates you’re talking about.”
“My badness.”
“‘My badness’? Isn’t it ‘my bad’?”
“Ever seen Freedom Writers?”
“Hey, I loved that movie!” Katie piped up.
“You know, I thought you would… Anyway, the chick in the movie said it, I thought it was funny, repeated it, and now it’ s kinda part of my vocabulary. Welcome to the wonderful world of pop culture references.” Matt explained.
“Oh… Ok…” Kevin said.

<><><>

“Back on movies… Is anyone else getting a Breakfast Club vibe here?” Matt asked.
“O-M-G! Yes! I thought that as soon as I walked in!” Katie replied.
“Breakfast Club? That was like, in the 80’s right?” Kevin said.
“Yeah, five kids in Saturday detention, all from different cliques, forced to spend the day together… One of the all-time greatest movies.” Matt said.
“It’s certainly up there… I lost my copy years ago.” Katie said.
“Uhhh, I kind of have it.” Matt replied.
“Oh, right… You borrowed it, and never gave it back.”
“Wait… You guys know each other? Farmer Ted and the pretty-in-pink Princess are friends?” Mosley decides to start again. “Yeah, I’ve seen Breakfast Club too.” He added, when he noticed the looks he was getting from Matt and Katie.
“Yeah, we’re neighbours… We used to be best friends, but we kind of grew apart when our interests changed…” Matt replied.
“You mean when she grew boobs and got popular, and you discovered World of Warcraft?” Mosley retorted.
“Yes, that’s exactly what he means, retard. Don’t you have anything better to do than butt in on our conversations?” Katie asked.
“You’re kidding right? We’re locked in the library. You guys are talking. The weird girl is probably sprinkling her artwork with dandruff at this point. Musclehead is sitting there scratching his head. There is literally nothing else to do in this room.” Mosley said.
“Wait, Farmer Ted? Dandruff? What the hell is he talking about now?” Kevin butts in.
“Well, the dandruff thing was just another Breakfast Club reference. Farmer Ted and pretty-in-pink Princess are too, just a little different… The guy who played the Nerd in Breakfast Club also played a character named ‘Farmer Ted’ in Sixteen Candles. The girl who played the Princess also played the lead role in Pretty in Pink, as well as Sixteen Candles. All three movies are from the same director, as are a couple more. Most of them starred the cast of Breakfast Club, along with the rest of the Brat Pack.” Matt explained.
“Damn you’re a nerd.” Mosley interjected.
“Brat Pack?” Kevin asked.
Matt sighed. “In the 60’s, there was the Rat Pack… Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin etc… In the 80’s, there was the Brat Pack. Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Anthony Michael Hall… Basically the younger actors from Breakfast Club and St Elmo’s Fire. Nowadays it’s the ‘Frat Pack’, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Owen Wilson etc… According to Wikipedia at least… I couldn’t care less.”
“Ben Stiller? Dude, I loved Zoolander.” Kevin replied.
“Yeah, and you were actually starting to sound cool.” Matt said.
“What?” Kevin said.
“Matt’s a movie snob. Actually, he’s also a literature snob, a music snob, and a just about everything else snob too.” Katie replied.
“Even after all these years, you know me so well.” Matt said, somewhat melodramatically.
“Yeah, I’m a regular psychic.” Katie rolled her eyes.

<><><>

“So what about you weird girl? What’s your name? Sawyer? What’re you in for?” Mosley asked.
“Guilty by association.” Ally replied cryptically.
“Riiiight…” Mosley turned away, clearly bored.
“I was hanging out with a couple of friends of mine… They were smoking, Principal Holmes caught them. Surprised he found me up that tree though, I’m usually pretty lucky that he doesn’t look up. They got suspended, I got a Saturday.” Ally said.
“You were up a tree? I haven’t climbed a tree since I was little.” Katie said.
“Dude, you wouldn’t even climb a tree back then.” Matt argued.
“Neither would you!” Katie protested.
“And now look at us… Anyway, you’re the only one who hasn’t told us what they’re in for.” Matt said.
“What about Mosley?” Katie asked.
“Everyone knows he’d have been expelled by now, except that’d be a favour to him, so he’s just on permanent Saturday detention.” Matt said.
“Oh great. Now I’m a celebrity.” Mosley said.
“So what’re you in for? Stop avoiding the question.” Matt asked again.
“Nothing major. So minor in fact, it’s off my record.” Katie replied.
“But major enough to land you here? And major enough for you to want to hide it?” Matt continued his interrogation.
“Look, it’s nothing impor-”
Katie was interrupted by a loud crashing sound, as a number of figures burst through the library’s skylight, landing hard on the floor around the students.
“Ok kiddies, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way, you all just climb this rope ladder here, and we take you back to the boss.” One of the figures said. He was a monster of a man, standing at around 6′8″, and clearly very well built underneath his designer suit.
“And the hard way?” Kevin challenged.
“We carry you up there, in pieces if necessary.” The huge man replied.
“Who the heck are you guys anyway?” Matt asked.
“I’m The Basher. You might have heard of me. These are my boys.” The huge man gestured to his four companions, all of them pointing their pistols at the kids.
“The Basher? Aren’t you like, a supervillain or something?” Katie asked.
“I thought he was like, a minor underworld guy at best.” Matt replied.
“That’s right, piss off the guy with superpowers.” Kevin said.
“Trust me jockstrap, he’s not the only one.” Mosley said, stepping forward.
“Oh, the little guy thinks he can play with the big boys, does he?” The Basher said, cracking his knuckles.
“Damn straight he does.” Mosley replied, as a ball of flame appeared in his hand.
“So you’re the legacy… Get him boys.” Basher said, and his goons all trained their guns on Mosley.
Mosley closed his eyes and expected the inevitable… But the shots never came.
“What the hell?” The Basher yelled.
“Uh, boss, my gun’s jammed.” One of the goons explained.
The other three murmured in agreement.
“Oh, that’s right… One of the girls is a luck controller… Guess we’d better take care of them first… Boys, grab ‘em.” The Basher ordered.
His cronies moved forward, two towards Katie, and the other two towards Ally.
“Not so fast!” Ally shouted, holding up her hand, fingers outstretched towards the goons heading for Katie. Out of her hand shot a beam of shimmering light, which hit both goons full in the face.
“I can’t see!” They both exclaimed.
“And that’s my cue to leave!” Ally said, and with that, she disappeared.
Kevin used the distraction to lunge forward, tackling The Basher. Through some feat of strength, he actually brought the powerhouse down.
“Well well well, I guess you’re tough one.” The Basher said. He laughed, before grabbing Kevin and tossing him across the room into the bookshelf-lined wall.
“Hey, I was gonna beat on him!” Mosley said, unleashing a blast of flames at The Basher.
“I guess no-one told you… I’m not just super-strong… There’s not much that can hurt me.” The Basher said, shrugging off the flames. “So we’ve got the strong guy, the fire guy, the crazy power girl, the psychic girl, and I guess that means you’re the human magnet.” The Basher looked at Matt.
“Magnet? What? Like Gauss?” Matt asked.
A table flew across the room, hitting The Basher in the head.
“I guess so.” Matt said, as every table and chair rose into the air, and began to barrage The Basher, who just stood in the middle, taking it all.
“Did he say ‘psychic girl’?” Katie asked.
“I believe so, yes.” Matt replied.
“Assuming she’s not the crazy power girl.” Kevin was back up, as he literally flew straight into The Basher. “Apparently you’re not the only one who doesn’t get hurt by much.”
“You kids can keep fighting all day, there’s nothing you can do.” The Basher taunted, as Kevin ricocheted off of him.
“You’re invulnerable to a lot of things, Basher… But what about…” Katie began… ‘THIS!!!’ The Basher fell to his knees, clutching his head. After a few seconds, he began sobbing.
“What did you do?” Mosely asked.
“I just shouted at him with my mind… I must have overdone it.” Katie explained.
“The Basher’s invulnerable… Maybe he’s never known any pain.. So when he finally did… It overwhelmed him.” Matt theorised, as he pinned The Basher’s goons under the furniture.
Ally blinked back into view.
“Did we win?” She asked.

<><><>

“So these guys took out Principal Holmes, and went there specifically for us… They knew we’d all be there… They knew we all had super powers… It’s a bit of a coincidence, isn’t it?” Matt asked.
“Ally’s a luck controller… Maybe she had something to do with it?” Katie replied.
“I don’t know… It’s a little weird…” Matt trailed off.

The two of them sat in Matt’s bedroom, it had been hours since the incident at the high school.
Upon discovering the unconscious form of their Principal, the teenagers decided to call the proper authorities, dialling 911 and reporting a super-battle, before fleeing the scene, not wanting to be outed as supers on the news. They had all gone their own ways, but Katie opted to head to her old friend’s home instead.

“You think someone was after us?” Katie asked.
“That guy knew exactly what we could do. He knew where to find us. And he said his boss sent him after us. It kind of points towards someone being after us, yeah.” Matt said.
“This is kind of surreal… I mean, we’ve got superpowers… Like I needed something else on my plate… But what are we gonna do?”
“Well, we could become super-heroes… But who ever heard of a teen superhero?”
“I don’t know… Remember when Uncle Sam started out on Liberty Force? He was kind of young…”
“And backed up by a team of pros. We probably shouldn’t put on the masks and spandex just yet… But we should probably keep an eye on things, whoever was after us will try again… And next time, we might not be able to win…”
“You’re right… Besides, what would we call ourselves? The Brat Pack?” Katie laughed.
“Has a nice ring to it…”
“It does, now that I’ve said it out loud… Anyway, I’ll be grabbing my video now.”
“Do you even still have a VCR in this day and age?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s the principle of the matter.”
“Right…”
Matt stood up and rummaged through a random pile of junk.
“Here it is. Enjoy.” Matt said, as he produced the worn VHS tape.
“Thank you kindly.” Katie took it. “I’d better head home, it’s been a big day, and I need my beauty rest… I’ll show myself out.”
“See you around.” Matt replied, as Katie headed out.
Matt moved to the window, as he watched his friend walk back to his house… “The Brat Pack… Works as a team name… But what about individually?” He mused to himself…

<><><>

Mr Jones knocked on his boss’ door… He wasn’t going to like this.
“What is it?” His boss’ voice barked from within.
“It’s about the Basher’s attack on the school.” Jones replied, opening the door.
“Yes. I trust the Basher has secured the children?” His boss replied, face obscured by shadow in the darkened office.
“Not exactly sir… As far as our contact in the Sherrif’s Department can tell from the crime scene photos, a super-battle ensued… And the Basher is in a decreased mental state… I assume it was the psychic girl.” Jones explained.
“I don’t pay you to make assumptions, I pay you to keep me informed. Tell me, where is the Basher now?”
“He’s in the heavy-duty holding cell at the Sherrif’s Office, waiting for the State Police to send a team to transport him to Alcatraz… Should I order a break-out?”
“No. Let him stay there for a while. Let him think about the price of failure. Other plans must be made, but in the mean time, I have a meeting in Washington… Send Daytripper up at once.”
“Yes sir. I’ll call ahead and have your office prepared for your arrival. Any other arrangements you’d like made sir?”
“No Jones. Not until after the meeting… It will take too long to move everything into place… And I’d hate to keep the President waiting.”

Part Two: Superhero Sellouts
More often than not, while I’m at work, I have to ask myself one simple question: Why me?
You see, my job isn’t like your job. I don’t go to the office every day. I don’t sit around waiting for five o’clock to roll around. I’ve got superpowers. I don’t need a regular job. I decided to sign up with Hire-A-Hero. I decided that getting payed thousands of dollars for a few hours work every week was better than nine-to-five for less than half the amount.
Of course, stupid me, I forgot to factor in those weeks where you work non-stop for days on end. And, of course, the odds of someone shooting at me.
It was Day Three of our mission to… I can’t remember the name of the country. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t even a country last month. I love South America. The leaders of this country were at war with the previous owners. One of the real countries. I can’t remember which one. So they decided to bring in some backup. They pooled together everything they had, and could only afford us. Hire-A-Hero LA’s B-Team. The Dirty Baker’s Dozen.
We’re the guys Hire-A-Hero sends in for the dirty jobs. The stuff that won’t make the front page. We’re not that marketable. I mean, sure, we’ve got two legacies. The Richards brothers. Grandsons of Sherman, one of the original members of Liberty Force. Sure, we’ve got other guys who are probably strong enough to get a gig on a real super-team someday. Tide and AV spring to mind. But something about us didn’t click with management. We’re a rag-tag bunch of misfits. The leftovers. We didn’t come to them as a package deal like the Brat Pack. We couldn’t hold up on our own like Captain Awesome or Napalm. So they put us together.
So here we were, in the ass-end of nowhere, in some ramshackle house in the middle of some crappy village, where we couldn’t drink the water. The food was bad, the bathroom was worse. I’m pretty sure there were things living in my bed. So much for the glamour of being a superhero.
That afternoon, we were scheduled to attack an installation of some description. Military, of course. Part of the war. Cal Richards, our fearless leader, had put together a plan based on what little intel they gave us. It seemed pretty solid. We split into three teams. Alpha Team’s job was to get into the installation, and blow up some buildings. Bravo Team’s job was to lay the cover fire. Charlie Team’s job was to make sure none of us died.
Of course, there was one hole in the plan. I was on Alpha Team. You see, the other members of Alpha Team, I can understand. The Richards brothers were bulletproof. They turned into steel. Fuse was necessary, she could create these little glowing bombs. We needed her to destroy the targets. But me? All I can do is make myself bigger. Sure, it means I’m stronger. But it also makes me a bigger target. A way bigger target.
Granted, I was no use on Bravo Team with Ossuary, AV, Tide, Melchior and Crackshot. I had no blasting powers, and I sure as hell couldn’t use a gun. But what about Charlie Team? Iaso the healer and Link the telepath were the only essential members of that team. Everyone else just seemed to have been lumped in with them, to keep them alive. LatX could stretch his body. Not much use on the medical team. Ditto for Psyke, who was a half-way capable telekinetic.
But who was I to judge? I’m not the tactical genius. A regular, garden-variety genius, maybe, but not a tactical genius. I’m just the new guy. The fat, nerdy guy who makes himself grow even bigger. I’m just Epic.
So there we were, all in camo gear. We looked like soldiers, not superheroes. We received our attack order, and Cal told us to move out.
We began marching through the rainforest. AV used his powers to absorb the sound we were making, as well as diffusing the light that reflected off us. He rendered us near-invisible, and practically silent. They’d never see us coming.
We reached the installation. It was almost as much of a dump as where we were stationed. Except this place had a big chain-link fence around it, lined with barbed wire. And a tower, filled with gunmen. And dozens of soldiers walking the grounds.
We divided into our groups. Charlie Team found a place to hide until they were needed, while Bravo Team spread out, finding cover.
AV’s stealth cut out and we kicked into action. Cal and Lee’s forms shifted to steel as they both charged through the fence, bringing down the entire mess. I doubled my size, and ran after them, Fuse following behind me as fast as her little legs could carry her. I slowed down, she was barely 18, I couldn’t just leave her to run behind us. The soldiers reacted quickly, opening fire on the Richards brothers. But our guys reacted just as quickly. A group of soldiers to my left all went down, a concentrated wave of sound knocking them out. A soldier fell out of the tower, a gaping headwound pointing towards Crackshot as the culprit. I kept running forward, following Cal, making sure Fuse was safe. I felt the searing pain of a bullet grazing my side. It hurt like hell. Lucky bullets are so small, it barely scratched me. The second time, I wasn’t so lucky. I took a burst of fire to the belly, at least three bullets hit me. I shouted for help, and Cal turned back. Lee kept charging through the fire, towards the buildings. I felt myself shrinking back to normal size, as I fell to the ground. Cal assured me that Team Charlie were on their way. I told him to take Fuse and go on. To finish the mission. He nodded, and turned back to the target. He began to run, Fuse close behind once more.
The pain in my stomach grew, as my body shrunk down. I began losing consciousness, my vision blurred. Through the haze I saw Team Charlie coming towards me. Iaso reached me first, as the others surrounded us. Man she was cute. Deep brown eyes, short dark hair. A teenager, for sure. But something about the way she smiled, told me it was going to be alright, made me feel as though she was older. She laid her hands on my wound, and I felt the glow. The bullets were forced out of me, through holes that weren’t big enough for them anymore. I felt the tearing as they broke through, and the warmth, as they healed shut again.
I stammered a thanks to Iaso, and stood back up, turning in the direction the others had been heading. I saw the Richards brothers charging towards me, Cal carrying Fuse in his arms, as the building behind them exploded, raining shrapnel and fire from the sky. I grew as quickly as I could, putting my body between the explosion and Team Charlie, especially Iaso. Again, I felt the pain, as flaming chunks of the decimated building tore holes in my back. This just wasn’t my day.
I began shrinking back down again, the pain was almost too much to bear. I heard Cal telling Iaso to leave me, he ordered a retreat. Lee picked me up off the ground and we melted back into the forest. I lost consciousness soon after.
I woke up to Iaso looking down at me. I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I woke up to something that nice. Probably never. The pain in my back was gone, and I was back in my scummy bed, in the crappy building the rebel government had provided us with. I looked up at the girl who had healed me, and decided that there was nowhere I’d rather be. I love my job.

Part Three: That Teenage Feeling
“Remember when we fought Arachnophobia? Now that was a fight.” Aperture joked, as he leapt through his portal, coming out the other side at a 90-degree angle, kicking his opponent in the head.
“Or the Order of Darkness? Back when fights were challenging.” Balefire replied, as she hogtied a pair of crooks.
“Where have all the supervillains gone?” Cobalt asked, as he put a half-dozen armed robbers to sleep.
“Are you guys done complaining?” The Dark Rose of Blood asked, as she punched the final enemy through the bank window, sending him sprawling across the street.
“I guess so.” Cobalt said, looking around at all the downed bank robbers.
“Good. I think I need a shower after that workout.” Rose replied.
“Yeah. And I could use something to eat.” Aperture added.
“Meet at Mickey D’s in an hour?” Cobalt suggested.
“Sounds like a plan.” Aperture agreed.
<><><>
“So there I was, surrounded by zombies, when all of a sudden I remember my pipe-bomb.” Dan said.
“You’re not seriously going to start telling video game stories again, are you?” Kenny complained.
“Hey, video games are my thing. If I didn’t play video games, I wouldn’t have this awesome codename, and I wouldn’t have got into contact with the Brats.” Dan argued.
“And then we wouldn’t have been in Salt Lake City.” Fiona added. “We wouldn’t have been able to help.”
“And I wouldn’t have these voices.” Rose said quietly.
“Voices?” Fiona asked.
“Not really a voice… But it’s like I have extra feelings. There’s conflict, you know?” Rose replied.
“No, it’s safe to say I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dan said.
“When Darklight’s powers didn’t all go away, something else stayed with it, didn’t it?” Kenny asked.
Rose nodded.
“Would you like me to take a look?” Kenny asked.
Rose nodded again.
Kenny closed his eyes, focusing his mind-reading abilities on his team-mate. Minutes later, he opened them again.
“It’s a mess in there.” He said. “There’s more than just you and Darklight in there, isn’t there?”
Rose nodded again.
“Who? When did you absorb someone else?” Kenny asked.
Rose shook her head. “It was a long time ago.”
“Fiona knows. Remember Salt Lake City? They mentioned it then.” Dan said.
“Oh yeah… Fi?” Kenny asked.
“It’s personal. If Rose doesn’t want to tell, then I’m not going to either.” Fiona said.
“Rosie? You can tell us. We’re your friends.” Kenny said, putting a hand on Rose’s shoulder.
The girl turned and looked up at her team-mate, through her pink-coloured fringe, tears welling up, and threatening to streak her heavy eye-liner.
“A few years ago… I was about twelve…” She began, as the tears started falling.
“Honey, you don’t have to…” Fiona reassured her friend.
“No… They had to know sooner or later…” Rose said.
“Ok…”
“I was walking home from my friend’s house. It was getting late, like nine thirty or something… I decided to cut through the park… I didn’t see him coming… He grabbed me from behind and dragged me into the bushes…” Rose began sobbing.
“Oh God… Rose, I’m sorry.” Kenny said.
Rose shook her head. “It’s not your fault… I tried to scream, but he held my mouth… He r-… He had his way… I was crying, clawing at him, but there was nothing I could do… Until my powers manifested… Neither of us knew what was happening… By the time he realised anything was happening, it was too late… He couldn’t get away… And I was nearly catatonic… My powers kept draining him and draining him… Until there was nothing left… He died inside me…” Rose broke down on the table.
Fiona put her arm around her friend’s shoulder, as the sobs racked her body.
“So that’s why you’ve always been stronger than you should be.” Dan surmised.
“And why you’re always so withdrawn.” Kenny added.
“I killed him… And I have to listen to him every day… He’s in my head… I have to share my whole life with him…” Rose said.
“That’s… I can’t even begin to… Wow.” Dan said.
“Yeah…” Kenny said.
The group sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, as Rose sat with her head in her hands, tears splashing on the table.

Part Four: Hyper-Insomnia
Hannah threw her pillow across the room. It was 1 AM, and she couldn’t sleep. She’d been tossing and turning for the last three hours, and nothing.
She sighed. It was still 10 o’clock in California, maybe Matt was still awake.
She dialled her cell phone, hoping for an answer.
“Hey, you’ve reached the number you dialled. Leave a message after the beep.” Buzzed out of the other side the moment the call connected.
’Weird… His phone is never off, but who would he be talking to at this time of night?’ Hannah thought to herself, as she hung up the phone.
’Well, what now?’ she looked around her room for something to do. ’Damn caffeine will be the death of me.’
After trying to read a book, and finding herself unable to concentrate, she made her decision. She donned her Hyper Girl costume and took off into the night.
’Nothing clears my head like a good fly.’ Hyper Girl thought to herself, as she sailed above Broadway, watching the cars go by.
At 2.32 AM, she saved a busload of people from burning to death, following a huge crash. She burned her way through the side of the bus using her ‘Hyper-Blasts’, as her action figure called them, before herding the people out to safety just in time, the bus exploding into flames moments after the last person got to safety.
By 3 AM, she was bored again, and still too wired to sleep. She began flying patterns in the sky, leaving a trail of energy behind her. Figure-eights quickly evolved into letters, and by 4 AM, she was writing messages in the sky, for anyone who was looking up. Quotes, proverbs, even jokes, whatever popped into her head.
5 AM rolled around, and after finishing a particularly hilarious joke about a lady who walked naked into a bar with a poodle and a three-foot salami, our hero decided she was done for the night, and flew home.
As she climbed in the window, she changed out of her costume. She noticed her phone had 1 Missed Call and 1 Message.
She opened the message first. It was from Matt. “Sorry I missed you babe, was talking shop with one of the D13 people.” It read.
Hannah smiled and shrugged, before falling into her bed, and falling asleep straight away.
<><><>
She awoke to her mom banging on the door. “Hannah, wake up. School bus is here in ten minutes! I thought you went to bed early last night!”
Hannah groaned, as she rushed to get dressed. It was going to be a long day.