Mac woke up in a cold sweat. He looked at his clock. 11.22 AM. He groaned. He was too late. He searched his room for his cell phone. He found it lying underneath a pair of jeans, and hit ‘Tom’ on his speed-dial. No answer. Mac began to panic, as he selected the next number in his speed dial.
It rang twice, before someone picked it up.
“Hey Mac, what’s up?”
“Ally, you need to find Tom and get out of school right now.” Mac said.
“What? Did you have a vision?”
“Yeah. Just get out of school now. Before you get hurt.”
“Mac, I can’t ju-“
“Ally, I’m telling you right now. You’re going to get hurt. You can’t be there.”
<><><>
Kevin closed his eyes and sighed. “So we’re going to get attacked? Here?”
Ally nodded. “I warned Tom, he’s on his way home. You guys need to go get your costumes right now.”
“You don’t need a costume?” Matt asked.
“Nope. I finally figured out how to use my illusion powers properly, I can just make a costume.” Ally shrugged.
“And if you lose your concentration, and drop the illusion?” Katie asked.
“I’ve still got my mask.” Ally reached into her pocket and flashed the green fabric she kept there.
“Ok then. But what if something happens while we’re gone?” Kevin asked.
“We’re not leaving Ally here to fight alone.” Mosley interjected.
“You don’t have a choice. I can look after myself.” Ally said.
“Are you sure?” Kevin asked.
“Definitely. I’ve got this.” Ally stared up at Kevin, a determined look fixed on her face.
Kevin nodded. “Ok, I’ll try to be back as soon as possible.”
“There’s no hurry.” Ally smiled.
“We’re not leaving her here.” Mosley argued.
“Mosley, I’ll be fine. The sooner you leave; the sooner you can come back and fight.” Ally argued right back.
Mosley laughed and shook his head. “There’s no arguing with you, is there?”
“Nope!” Ally grinned. “Now get going!”
<><><>
Gauss laughed as he surveyed the scene below him. Teenagers bustling in and out of buildings, rushing about their miserable existences like ants in their mounds. That’s all they were to Gauss, insects to be looked down upon, not worthy of more than a passing interest.
They could all be dead in seconds. A storm of shrapnel and debris would tear them to shreds, every last one of them. But where was the fun in that? Why kill potential hostages, when they could be used against his enemies? He had spent months waiting for this moment, and he was going to savour it. Today the Brat Pack would pay.
“We have to wait. I’m not detecting any of the Brats yet.” Helix’s voice buzzed in his head. “Wait, there’s Pixel. Still no sign of the others.”
“Good enough for me!” Gauss cackled with glee. This was going to be fun.
“No! Wait! You’ll ruin everything!”
Gauss sailed towards the school, stopping just a few yards above it.
“Gauss, wait for the order.” Helix said.
“I take orders from no-one!” Gauss shouted, as he reached out with his powers.
A piercing screech echoed throughout the school, as the steel supports in the roof of every building began tearing itself from the walls. Everyone stared upwards as the roofs were peeled back like the lid of a can.
“Hello kids! Can the Brat Pack come out and play!?” Gauss shouted.
<><><>
The hallway was chaos. People began running and screaming from the moment the roof began to lift off. People pushed and shoved, as they tried to find somewhere safe, somewhere to hide.
Ally looked up at Gauss and gulped. Mac wasn’t kidding. Of all the people, it had to be him? Why not someone easy, like The Basher? How was she supposed to hold him off? Maybe she should lay low and wait for the others?
She heard a cry from down the corridor, and turned to see Ben Johns, one of the boys in her English class, rising into the air, kicking and screaming as he went. The crowd watched in horror as the boy got closer and closer to Gauss, until he was finally floating next to the villain.
“Here’s how this works kids. I’m going to drop this kid, and another one like him every minute, until the Brat Pack shows up.” Gauss said. “It’s a simple demand really, if they were any kind of heroes, they’d be here already. Too bad about that, I guess this kid’s going to die.”
Gauss released Ben, who began screaming as he fell, the entire crowd holding their collective breath. They let out a gasp, as Pixel appeared next to him momentarily, before the two disappeared again. The crowd gave out a cheer, but it was short-lived.
Gauss smiled, as he lifted four more teenagers into the air. “This isn’t a game of catch Pixel!” He shouted. “You can’t just hide and wait for me to drop them. That’s not how this works.”
Pixel appeared on top of a set of lockers. “Put them down, slowly, and I’ll fight you.” The usually happy-go-lucky heroine was dead serious.
“That’s more like it!” Gauss said, as his hostages began falling back downwards in slow-motion, touching down softly. “I’m so glad it was you who turned up first. I haven’t forgotten what you cost me.”
Pixel remained silent, awaiting the inevitable onslaught.
“No jokes today? No clever one-liners? Is it because your team abandoned you? Because you stand alone against the most powerful being on Earth? Just poor little you, all by yourself. The only thing between me and this school, full of young lives, children who haven’t reached their potential. You’re pathetic.” Gauss spat.
“You think I’m alone? You think my teammates abandoned me? Look behind you.” Pixel said.
Gauss flinched, and turned to see Mr Perfect hurtling through the air towards him. The villain ducked out of the way, and Mr Perfect raced past.
“Looks like the cavalry has arrived.” Pixel mused.
“DIE!” Came a shout, and Pixel spun to see Redemption, in his pristine, white armour, flying straight at Mr Perfect, who began retreating, leading the cyborg around in circles.
“What?” Pixel asked. “Who’s that guy?”
“Apparently someone who can’t listen to orders.” Helix levitated onto the building next to Pixel.
“Who the hell? What’s going on here?” Pixel asked, teleporting a few yards back, onto a rather precarious position on top of the ruined walls of the ladies’ room.
“It seems you’re at a disadvantage here.” Helix said. “You’re outnumbered six-to-one.”
“There’s two of us, and only three of you.” Pixel argued.
“You think we’re foolish enough to go after the Brat Pack alone? And really Pixel, your illusion isn’t fooling anyone.” Helix gloated.
Pixel’s eyes widened, and Mr Perfect disappeared. “How did you know?”
“Because Mr Perfect wouldn’t retreat. And because I couldn’t find anything in the way of a mind up there. But mostly because I read your mind, I could feel you concentrating. And now I’m going to take care of that little power of yours.” Helix laughed.
“What?” Pixel’s head swam, images were flying around all over the place. She tried to teleport, to get away to collect her thoughts, but couldn’t. She had no concentration, there was nothing she could do.
“It’s quite cute really, the way Belle has tried to build walls in your head. Too bad I’ll have to destroy them. Nothing personal, we just need to find your teammates really.” Helix said.
“And in the meantime, I’m going to have some fun.” Gauss added, as a half-dozen razorblades floated from his belt-pouch towards the young hero.
Pixel’s eyes widened, as she tried to run away, but she could feel the metal in her clothing fighting against her. He had her.
She fought against the pain, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. The razors cut across her legs, up the back of her arms, across her face. They zig-zagged, tearing through her skin. The look of glee on Gauss’ face filled Pixel’s vision, until there was nothing in her world but Gauss, and the pain. The razors grew hotter, as they scored her skin faster and faster, deeper and deeper. It was more than she could take, and the tears began streaming down her face.
It was then that the sky exploded with light and sound, blinding and deafening hero, villain and bystander alike.
When Pixel’s eyesight returned, she saw Gauss looking stunned, the remnants of a car floating in front of him.
“-I am the master of electromagnetism you fool! You try to sneak attack ME!? With LIGHTNING!? I will destroy you!” Gauss shouted.
“Master of electromagnetism or not, you can’t see a damn thing right now, can you?” Pixel looked down to see The Basher strolling through the crowded corridor.
“Quiet Basher.” Firefly said, walking not far behind him. “Pretty sure you don’t want to piss him off.”
“He can’t hear me, and he can’t find whoever attacked him. He’s just shouting for the sake of it.” Basher argued.
“It was Stratos.” Helix said. “At least, according to Pixel here.”
Pixel’s eyes widened, as she realised Helix was still in her head, despite what had just happened.
“It takes more than a bright light and a loud noise to distract me child.” Helix said. “Now let’s find those teammates of yours, shall we?”
“Hey, that illusion looks pretty realistic.” Basher said, still standing at ground level. “It actually sounds like footsteps and all.”
“Hey Helix, I think you forgot to switch off one of the kid’s powers!” Firefly added.
Helix froze. “No I didn’t. That’s not an illusion!” He shouted.
“Oh shi-“ Basher was cut off, as a stony fist sent him sailing through the air, landing outside the school.
“No illusions, just me in the flesh. And in the rock. I suppose.” Fissure’s voice boomed from within his rocky armour.
“Fissure!” Pixel shouted.
“I ‘ported as soon as Firestorm called me. Looks like you could use a hand.” The geokineticist said, as he rose on a pillar of earth, to stand level with Helix.
“I suggest you get out of my teammate’s head, otherwise, I’ll be forced to get inside your head. With my fist.” Fissure threatened.
Helix laughed, as Redemption tackled Fissure from atop his pillar, sending both men tumbling to the ground and through a wall.
“Now, where were we?” Helix asked.
“I believe I know.” The look of glee was back on Gauss’ face, as his razorblades began orbiting the paralysed Pixel.
“No… Not again.” The tears began streaming down Pixel’s face again, as the cutting resumed.
<><><>
Mr Perfect fought the urge to scream. Tom had called him moments before he had left. Apparently Dylan had called him, because he knew what was going on at the school. His words echoed through Mr Perfect’s head.
“Gauss has got my sister.”
Over and over again, he repeated those words in Mr Perfect’s head. And each time, Mr Perfect couldn’t help but add “And it’s all my fault.”
He had given the order, he had told them all to go home and find their costumes. He had said Pixel would be fine.
And now she was alone. Against that psychopath. God only knew what he’d do to her.
And that was why Mr Perfect was rocketing through the air, breaking the sound barrier, rushing to get to the fight.
He had to save her.
<><><>
“Katie, drive faster!” Matt shouted.
“I’m driving as fast as I can!” Katie screamed back. “It’s this damn traffic!”
“We have to save Pixel. Tom said Gauss was torturing her.” Matt argued.
“I know.” Katie replied.
They heard the roaring of a motorcycle, and cheered as they saw Mosley overtaking them, weaving through traffic.
“Well, at least she won’t be alone.” Matt said. “Firestorm can definitely keep Gauss busy.”
“But for how long?” Katie asked.
<><><>
Fissure tried to block out the screaming. Pixel was out of his reach. He couldn’t save her. He had failed.
Redemption and The Basher had him on the ropes; he had long lost the element of surprise. Even with his rock armour, both men were stronger than him, and with the added size and weight, they were both faster and more agile than him too.
“You should have stayed in hiding Fissure.” Basher taunted, as he tossed Fissure across the quad. “You escaped us once, you won’t do it again!”
“Oh yeah?” Fissure said, melting into the ground.
He reappeared underneath Gauss, and propelled himself upward, using a new pillar of earth as a catapult. This was it. He had Gauss!
Fissure froze in mid-air.
“You’d be shocked at how much iron is in the soil around here.” Gauss said. “I have nothing against you, but if you get in between me and my victim, then you will be next.”
With that said, he tossed the hero into the parking lot, where he crushed two cars, before coming to a halt.
Within moments, Redemption was on top of him. “WHERE!? IS!? MR!? PERFECT!?” The cyborg shouted, punctuating each word with a punch, cracking Fissure’s armour.
“Right here, jackass.” Mr Perfect hit Redemption around the neck with a clothesline, before flying straight at Gauss, tackling the supervillain out of the sky.
Fissure melted into the asphalt of the parking lot, appearing under Pixel. A shower of gravel pelted Helix, as Fissure climbed up the wall. The gravel ceased, and the fists started, as Fissure pummelled the psychic in the face.
“Pixel! Go!” Fissure shouted, and Pixel disappeared.
“I warned you boy!” Gauss shouted, and Fissure felt his body rising through the air.
<><><>
Mr Perfect wrestled with Redemption in midair. The villain had recovered quickly, prying Mr Perfect away from Gauss within seconds.
“How do you like it when you’re the one being manhandled!?” Redemption screamed, as he wrenched Mr Perfect’s arm behind his back. “It’s not so fun now, is it freak!?”
“Who are you?” Mr Perfect said, as he struggled out of the hold.
“You don’t even remember me. Are you that arrogant? Humans don’t matter to you?” Redemption demanded, punching Mr Perfect in the face, and sending him spinning through the air.
“You’re one of those Human Right Initiative guys, aren’t you?” Mr Perfect asked.
“I was. Now I’m no better than one of you freaks. A cape.” Redemption screamed, hitting Mr Perfect again.
“You’ve got some deep-seated issues buddy, I think you need to work some things out.” Mr Perfect said.
The two clashed in mid air, and at that moment, Mr Perfect knew he was outmatched. Redemption was faster than he was, and stronger. He had to find another way to win…
<><><>
Firefly blasted at the doorway. “Pixel… Come out, come out wherever you are!” She sang, putting her head into the empty room.
She shrugged, and blasted the next door. “I just want to play!”
“Don’t you have any friends your own age?”
Firefly span to see Firestorm standing in the otherwise empty corridor.
“YOU!!!” Firefly charged at her uncle.
“This is either going to be a long, drawn-out fight, because neither of us have powers that can hurt the other one, or someone’s going to make a mistake real early, just like last time.” Firestorm said, as he sidestepped and tripped his niece up, sending her sprawling. “I guess you chose option B.” Firestorm kneeled on her back, before clubbing her across the back of the head.
“And that’s why you don’t f*** with Firestorm.” He chuckled.
<><><>
Fissure gritted his teeth, as he crashed into the side of the building, his armour crumbling around him.
“I told you what would happen, didn’t I?” Gauss was in his glory, smashing the young time-traveller into the side of the building again.
Fissure concentrated, drawing the dirt, rock and concrete around him, rebuilding the protective shell he had encased himself in.
“You can only do that for so long.” Gauss shouted, as he raised Fissure high into the air.
“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your own power level?”
Gauss’ eyes widened with delight. He knew that voice.
“Because there is no-one at my power-level, you foolish little boy!” Gauss tossed Fissure aside. Idle playthings were trivial. His true target had arrived.
“We’ll see about that, old man. Time for the next generation to take over.” Mr Universe said.
Dozens of cars rose up into the air from the parking lot, as the battle began.
<><><>
Belle had found Pixel the moment she pulled up at the school, and had run straight to her. Through the empty corridors, dodging debris and shrapnel from the fighting going on around her.
It took her longer than she expected to reach the music room, to find Pixel’s hiding spot beneath the mixing table. She rushed over and picked the smaller girl up in her arms, cradling her like a child, as Pixel sobbed.
“Honey… What did they do to you?” Belle cooed, as she rocked backwards and forwards.
“Mac warned me… He said I’d get hurt…” Pixel cried. “I ignored him… I’m always the kid… I wanted to prove I was as good as you guys…”
“Ally… You’ve got nothing to prove… You’re just as much a part of the team as I am… Or Kevin… Or Matt…” Belle assured her.
“It just hurts so much…” Pixel broke down again.
Belle sat down with her friend, holding her tight, as the youngest member of the Brat Pack’s body was wracked with sobs.
“Honey, I’ll be right back. I’m going to go make that bastard pay.” Belle said, after a few minutes had passed.
Ally sniffed, and nodded. “Good luck.”
Belle levitated up towards the battle in the sky, as the two masters of magnetism threw everything they had into each other. Neither paid any attention to the girl flying directly at them. That is, until Gauss felt a stabbing sensation in his head, as Belle attacked him with her telepathy.
The villain began screaming, as Belle’s eyes glowed violet.
“Belle, you can’t levitate…” Mr Universe said.
“I can do a lot of things.” Belle said, as the glow extended from her eyes, to surround her whole body.
Gauss doubled over, as the pain in his head was matched by a pain in his stomach.
“I’m glad I paid attention in science class. That stabbing pain you feel is your appendix rupturing. Isn’t telekinesis fun?” Belle asked.
“Belle, chill out… We just need to stop him, not murder him.” Mr Universe said.
“Chill out? Have you seen Pixel?” Belle demanded.
“No…” Mr Universe hung his head.
“If this is your full potential, I weep for our future.” Helix said, still perched atop the school building.
“I’ve got this!” Firestorm shouted, as he launched a volley of fireballs across the hallway, straight towards the enemy psychic.
Helix laughed, as his telekinetic shield deflected Firestorm’s attack.
“Now now children, play nice.” Helix said, his own eyes flaring a yellow colour. Belle’s eyes widened, as she felt his presence in her own head.
“What have you done asshole!?” Firestorm shouted. “What happened to my powers!?”
“You were being immature, so I cut them off.” Helix said. “And in moments, I will do the same thing to your friend.”
“Not on my watch.” Firestorm said, charging forward.
Unluckily, it was at that point that The Basher slammed Fissure into the side of the building, sending shockwaves through what was left of the structure. Firestorm lost balance and fell to the floor.
“Well well well… Now who’s made the mistake, Uncle Ben?” Firefly gloated, standing over the unconscious form of Ben Mosley.
<><><>
“Hey Perfect!” Mr Universe shouted.
“What?” Mr Perfect replied, as he ducked a blow from Redemption.
“I’ve got a plan!” Mr Universe replied.
“What?”
“SWITCH!”
Mr Perfect grinned, as he rocketed towards Gauss, who was slowly recovering.
“You can’t use your powers on me.” Redemption said. “That was the first thing they tested. I’m as safe as a Sickle Armour.”
“Pretty sure I beat you guys in the Sickle Armour anyway.” Mr Universe taunted, slamming a car into the villain.
Redemption laughed, as the car crumpled around him. “The Sickle Armour was inferior, made by Russians, what do you expect?”
Mr Universe barely dodged a punch from Redemption. “Wait, so you’re not only racist against non-humans, but you’re racist against Russians? It just doesn’t end with you, does it?”
“You can try to distract me all you like, but I’m still going to kill Mr Perfect.” Redemption said, turning away and flying towards the leader of the Brat Pack, who was fighting off incoming projectiles, as Gauss hurled anything he could reach with his powers at him.
“Perfect! Look out!” Mr Universe shouted, just in time, as Mr Perfect managed to turn Redemption’s momentum against him, sending him crashing through the wall of the gymnasium.
The momentary distraction was all Gauss needed to snatch Belle out of mid-air, her body motionless, as her mind waged an internal war against Helix’s powerful psionics.
“There is no shame in taking the vulnerable target.” Gauss said, as he gathered surrounding debris towards himself.
“Making you both suffer.” Gauss cackled, as the shrapnel floating around him formed into the shape of a lance, pointed directly at Belle’s heart.
“NO!” Mr’s Perfect and Universe shouted in unison.
“YES!” Gauss screeched with glee.
Neither hero could move in time, as the lance plunged towards its target. The moment the metal pierced Belle’s skin her eyes opened wide, as she returned to the conscious plane.
It was also at that moment that a fireball enveloped Gauss, forcing him to drop the lance, which disintegrated into its component parts as it hit the ground below.
“Belle is mine!” Firefly shouted, her eyes burning with hatred.
Mr Perfect moved to catch Belle, but Redemption blocked his path, forcing him to watch as his girlfriend fell to the ground, an audible cracking noise was heard, as her legs both broke.
“Your insolence will be dealt with soon enough.” Gauss scowled at Firefly. “But my moment of triumph is at hand! Mr Perfect and Mr Universe are in my grasp, their team-mates will fall with them. Revenge is mine, starting with the pathetic imitation.”
Gauss began showering Mr Universe with tiny fragments of metal, from paperclips to needles, anything he could find. The projectiles formed a cloud in front of the hero, as he tried to defend against the onslaught.
Mr Universe knew it was hopeless. He couldn’t stop every individual piece. He yelped as the first attack broke through, cutting him across his cheek, gritting his teeth as more and more came through, cutting at his costume and skin indiscriminately.
This was it. This was how he was going to die. Shredded by Gauss, in the sky above his school, while his best friends lay crippled, tortured and beaten below him, waiting for their own ends to come.
Suddenly the attack stopped. Mr Perfect placed his body in the line of fire. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead let out an unintelligible scream, as he clutched his head.
The scream was replied to from the ground, the combatants turning to find Helix in flames, running around in circles, screaming for mercy.
“Firefly! What the hell are you doing!?” Basher demanded.
“I… I didn’t do anything.” Firefly stammered.
“Then who did it? Firestorm’s out of action.” Basher asked.
“The original, and the best.” Napalm climbed on top of the walls, granting himself a better vantage point.
“Oh crap…” Firefly muttered.
“Excellent! You’re all here!” Gauss cried with joy. “This day keeps getting better and better!”
Napalm smirked. “I didn’t come alone.”
Suddenly, Redemption disappeared.
“What the fu-“ Basher’s reaction was cut off by a sonic boom.
An explosion of dirt and rocks followed the boom, the dust settling to reveal Redemption unconscious in the bottom of a crater.
“Who could even do that?” Firefly shouted.
“Captain Awesome.” Mr Universe said, mouth agape.
“Who!?” Gauss demanded, before doubling over.
“I believe he said ‘Captain Awesome’.” Captain Awesome said, his fist embedded into Gauss’ stomach.
Gauss dropped from the sky, unconscious from one blow.
Basher and Firefly screamed, before Daytripper appeared, grabbed them, and disappeared once more. Moments later, he did the same with Helix, and lastly, Redemption.
“They left Gauss behind.” Napalm said.
“Who cares? We need a medic now!” Mr Perfect flew down to Belle as fast as he could, followed closely by Mr Universe. She had to be ok. She just had to.
<><><>
“Say what you want about Cal Richards, but Iaso is definitely my favourite member of D13.” Katie joked, as she stretched out on her sofa.
“I’m kind of leaning towards Tide myself, but then again, Iaso didn’t heal my ability to walk, so I may be biased.” Matt replied.
“Uh huh.” Katie rolled her eyes. “Hey, how’s Ally?”
“I talked to Tom yesterday, he said she’s still a bit quiet. We’re hoping another week off school with Mac, Tom and the band will get her back to normal…”
“Poor thing, she went through hell. But she’s not the only one.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, Mosley’s daddy issues are back in full swing, or at least, I think they are. I’ve hardly seen him in days. That just means he’s blowing off steam somewhere. And then there’s Kev…”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He lost. He doesn’t lose. He’s perfect. It hit him pretty hard. He couldn’t beat Gauss, he couldn’t beat Redemption. He couldn’t save me. He gave the order to leave Ally behind.”
“Yeah, that’s a lot to deal with…”
“He’s in a pretty dark place right now… I don’t know what to do.”
“We’ll all get through it, it’s what we do.”
“I hope so.”
<><><>
“So Gauss practically carries the entire battle on his own shoulders, and that doesn’t warrant a get out of jail free card?” Basher demanded.
“Bosses orders.” Daytripper said.
“He’s too unstable. Driven by revenge. And completely insane.” Helix explained.
“And Redemption and Firefly aren’t?” Basher asked.
“They’ve both seen one of the bosses’ faces. Redemption has tech that can be traced back to us, and Firefly knows too much about the Brats. We can’t let them go now.” Daytripper explained.
“Still seems a little low…” Basher said.
“Newsflash: We’re the bad guys. We do low things.” Daytripper said.
“At least, when we have a full team…” Helix mused. “Who can we get to replace Gauss?”
“The boss has something up his sleeve…” Daytripper said, before vanishing with a laugh.
“I hate it when he does that.” Basher muttered.