“Alright Brats, are you ready?” Mr Perfect’s voice buzzed through the radio. With the noise of the helicopter’s engines, that was the only way the team could hear each other.
“As we’ll ever be.” Mr Universe replied.
“The Boomers are already down there somewhere, but reports say they’re engaged with Castor and Pollux.” Mr Perfect said.
“They should be done with them by now. Castor’s power armour is kept at the Pentagon.” Mr Universe said.
“It is, but as soon as they were free, Pollux took down one of the guards. Guardian armour packs a punch, so Castor’s almost at full strength.” Mr Perfect explained.
“So we should help them out?” Belle asked.
“No, they’ll handle it. We need to get in there and stop whoever’s behind this before they release someone really dangerous.” Mr Perfect said.
“Are the Boomers the only ones down there?” Firestorm asked.
“The only team worth mentioning. Hire-A-Hero sent half their New York and San Antonio branches down here, but they’re getting trounced. Perdition is supposed to be tracking the guys that get away. There are two local teams down there, I can’t remember their names, but they’re small time. We’re needed pretty badly on the ground.” Mr Perfect said.
“What about Captain Awesome, or the rest of the LA office?” Ally asked.
“No word on the LA office, they could be flying out. No word on the Teen Dream Team or Hyper Girl either.” Mr Perfect said.
“Hannah’s trying to get a flight, but Hire-A-Hero wants to keep her in New York, just in case.” Mr Universe said.
“Damn, we could have used her. Or Stratos. Hell, even Rabbit and The Fog.” Mr Perfect said.
“What I wouldn’t give to have D13 watching our backs.” Mr Universe said.
“Amen.” Firestorm agreed.
<><><>
Mr Perfect and Mr Universe hovered above the ground, waiting for the chopper to land. The base looked deserted; there was no sign of The Boomers, or any of the other heroes. Even worse, there was no sign of any villains.
“Dusting off an old chestnut… It’s quiet… Too quiet.” Mr Universe said.
“All the low-security guys are probably all over the island by now.” Mr Perfect said. “Whoever is breaking them out will be inside. They’re our main priority.”
“You would think The Boomers vs Castor and Pollux would be pretty easy to spot though…” Mr Universe said. “But I can’t see or hear any signs of their fight.”
“The Boomers can take care of themselves. We’ve got to stop things from getting worse. First up, we need to know what’s going on inside.” Mr Perfect said.
“And you want me to use my powers to figure it out, don’t you?” Mr Universe asked.
“If you’re up to it.”
Mr Universe grinned. “I’ll manage. If I start to fall, try to stop me before I hit the ground this time.”
“No promises.” Mr Perfect replied.
Mr Universe closed his eyes and reached out with his powers. He could feel every piece of ferrous metal in the base. He could feel the electromagnetic aura of every computer, every wire. It took every ounce of his control to feel it all, to get an accurate picture. As sweat appeared on his brow, he began to see an image in his head, a perfect 3D image of the complex below. Every room, every corridor, every doorway.
“Ok, I’ve got a map.” Mr Universe said. “Crap, a polarity switched… Someone opened a door.”
“That can’t be good.” Mr Perfect replied.
“And there goes what I can only assume was a power inhibitor.” Mr Universe said.
“Crap.” Mr Perfect said, before letting out a few more choice curses.
They watched as the helicopter containing the rest of their team touched down on the ground below, and they glided down.
“We need to move. Universe can see the whole building, and someone’s just been freed.” Mr Perfect said.
“Yeah, first basement level. That’s high-security.” Mr Universe said. “And there goes another one. We’ve got to move, whoever is freeing everyone is just making their way from cell to cell. There’s another basement level after this, and then there’s one cell below that.”
“One on its own?” Belle asked.
Mr Universe nodded. “It’s surrounded by an electro-magnetic disturbance, it’s weird… Whoever is in there is heavy-duty.”
“Of course they are; this is Guantanamo Bay. Everyone’s heavy-duty.” Firestorm said.
Before Mr Universe could formulate a response, the side of the main building exploded outwards, showering the group with debris.
Standing in the wreckage was a lone man, wearing an orange jumpsuit. His long, wild black hair covered his dark face, a short beard framed his sneering mouth, and he had rage in his brown eyes.
“Uh-oh.” Mr Universe said.
“That’s Hadi…” Fissure said. “We need to stop him now.”
“No, really?” Firestorm mocked his teammate.
“Not the time. We need to take him down before he can duplicate.” Mr Perfect said.
Hadi began laughing, as his body split down the middle, each half regenerating into a full body, before repeating the process.
“Any more bright ideas?” Mr Universe asked, as he began tearing pieces of metal from the wreckage of the main building.
“Contain them!” Mr Perfect ordered.
“Saw that coming. Fissure, you’ve got the first layer.” Mr Universe said.
Fissure merely nodded, as the ground erupted around the four clones in front of them, encasing them entirely in stone.
“Firestorm, I need you to make the hottest fire you possibly can. Quickly!” Mr Universe ordered.
As Firestorm began building a raging inferno, Mr Universe began feeding steel into it. The metal melted down, and began covering the villains’ stone prisons. Mr Universe put layer upon layer over the top, until he ran out of material.
“I don’t know if it’s enough. Pixel, get Belle and Firestorm as far away as you can.” Mr Perfect ordered.
“What? Why us?” Firestorm asked, but didn’t get an answer, as he disappeared, along with Belle and Pixel.
“You guys know what to do? They should blow any second.” Mr Perfect said.
“Contain the debris.” Mr Universe said. “Fissure, can you get another layer on, just in case?”
The ground erupted, as the metal monoliths were encased in more stone. “I don’t know if that will hold them…” Fissure admitted.
The ground shook, as three of the casings exploded, sending rock and metal in all directions, as the two elemental controlling heroes fought to catch it all with their abilities.
Meanwhile, Mr Perfect inspected the fourth shell, as the projectiles bounced harmlessly from his skin. There was a huge crack down the side of it, but it was mostly intact. Mr Perfect grabbed both sides of the crack, straining to open it wider. A few moments of struggling rent the stone and metal asunder, revealing the unconscious terrorist lying inside.
By then, the other three members of the team had returned, panting from the run back.
“Ok, good call on getting us out of there.” Belle admitted, looking at the debris strewn around them.
“Yeah, not a huge fan of getting shredded.” Firestorm agreed.
“He’s out cold.” Mr Perfect said. “The clones destroyed themselves in the explosion, I think he was hoping to take us all out with the bigger explosions, and only blew himself up enough to open the shell.”
“Thank god we stopped him. Can you imagine if he got loose again?” Belle shuddered.
“The last thing we need right now is another Mall Bombing.” Mr Universe agreed.
“Ok, we’re going to have to leave him here, because we need to stop whoever’s inside.” Mr Perfect said.
“Someone’s bound to come across him soon. There are two more free since we started fighting him.” Mr Universe said.
<><><>
The team descended the staircase, and found the reinforced doors to the first basement were torn from their hinges.
“Ok, they’ve just reached the second level, but the last four guys they freed are still wandering around here.” Mr Universe said. “At least, we didn’t see them on their way out.”
They walked into the main hallway carefully, almost tiptoeing. They didn’t want anyone down here getting the drop on them.
They heard the laughter before they saw anyone. Deep laughter that the whole team recognised.
“Well well well. Of all the heroes to find us first… It had to be the Brat Pack.”
Belle and Pixel gasped, while the boys stood their ground as best they could.
“Nightfall.” Mr Perfect greeted the leader of the Order of Darkness. “Darktamer, Shadowjumper and Darklight… I should have known we’d find you here.”
“And at any other time, I would be happy to destroy you all, but we can’t risk the delay. We will find you though.” Nightfall said, his teammates bristling behind him.
“What do you mean?” Mr Perfect asked, ready to fight.
“We owe you for putting us here. Unfortunately, we also know that upstairs will be swarming with superheroes, and someone better will be coming right behind you. We can’t risk that fight.” Nightfall explained.
“You won’t need to worry about that fight, because we’ll take you down again.” Firestorm said.
“Only in your wildest dreams boy. At best you’d slow us down. And like I said, we can’t afford to be slowed down. Shadowjumper!” Nightfall ordered.
“Already open boss.” Shadowjumper replied.
“You haven’t heard the last of us. We will have our revenge. So long as those waiting below don’t get there first.” Nightfall said, as he and his team disappeared into the shadows around them.
“Did we just let the Order of Darkness get away?” Mr Universe asked.
“We did not just back down from a fight.” Firestorm said.
“We would have lost, and we have to get downstairs. Now.” Mr Perfect said.
“First cell is open.” Mr Universe said, using his powers to feel downstairs.
They heard the footsteps coming from below, as the next supervillain made their way up to the level the brats stood on.
It was the boys turn to gasp, as their opponent made her way up the stairs. Even encrusted in sweat and dust, and wearing an orange jumpsuit, she was stunningly attractive, the definition of a buxom beauty.
“Men.” Belle sighed. “Focus.”
“Oh we’re focussed alright.” Firestorm leered.
“That’s Extreme, isn’t it?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Yeah. This isn’t going to be fun.” Mr Universe said. “Brats, let’s do this.”
Before the fight could begin, Extreme fell through the floor, emerging an instant later from the roof above, falling through the hole in the floor again, in an endless loop.
“I think we’ve got things covered up here.” A voice said from behind the team.
“Man, am I happy to see you guys.” Mr Universe said, as he turned to see the Teen Dream Team standing behind them.
“Do you know how hard it is to get a flight to Cuba?” Aperture asked.
“Well, it is illegal to come here…” Belle said.
“Still, it’s a time of emergency and all that.” Cobalt said.
“Tell that to Hire-A-Hero. They wouldn’t send out the big guns.” Firestorm said.
“They’re still available for hire though. We shelled out for some backup. Hyper Girl is in Florida now.” Rose said.
“You didn’t bring her with you?” Mr Universe asked.
“Nope, she decided to hire some backup of her own. D13’s jet touches down in Miami any minute now. They’ll be here within an hour.” Balefire said.
“Just in time for cleanup. You guys hold the fort up here; we’re going to go stop whoever is doing this.” Mr Perfect said.
“No problem.” Rose said. “Aperture, you can stop the loop now.”
Aperture grinned, and his portals disappeared, slamming Extreme on the ground. “You’ll regret that.” The villainess said, as her bones cracked back into place.
“Doubt it.” Cobalt said, as he began his psychic attack on the villainess.
Aperture opened a portal in the wall next to him. “It opens at the top of the stairs; it’s the only way past her.” He explained.
“Thanks dude.” Mr Perfect said, as his team filed through, into the stairwell.
<><><>
They found the next doorway in pieces, much like the first, but this time they heard pounding, as though someone was trying to break the next door.
They rushed down the stairs and found at last found the perpetrators of the break out.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” Firestorm shouted.
“Honestly, I’m shocked it took you this long to get here.” Helix said.
<><><>

“Are you sure?” Kevin asked. “Really, really sure?”
“Yeah. Positive. You’re dead.” Matt replied.
“No way! Reinforcements!” Kevin shouted, as Katie and Dylan rushed the room, making short work of Matt.
“Looks like we win.” Dylan said, as he tossed his controller down.
“Again.” Katie added, with a grin.
They could hear sounds of rage, as Mosley swore and threw things in the next room.
“Guess he didn’t like that.” Kevin shouted.
“Nope.” Matt shouted back. “Team Deathmatch does that to a person. Of course, if we hadn’t been saddled with Jay and Silent Bob, we wouldn’t have had the problem.”
“Hey, we play Halo, not Modern Warfare 2.” Tom argued.
“Yeah, not our fault the controls are all messed up.” Mac agreed.
“Uhhh… You guys do know you can change that, right?” Ally asked. “It’s in the main menu. Of course, it won’t stop me from whupping you both every time. Just like with Halo.”
“Oh, that’s just harsh.” Mac said.
“And anyway, we had Katie and Kevin. It’s totally even.” Dylan said. “They’re total amateurs.”
“Guess who’s never getting a mission with us again.” Kevin said, smacking Dylan on the back.
“Looks like you guys could use all the help you can get.” Dylan replied.
The door opened, and Mosley, Matt, Tom and Mac filed into the room. “Hey, we were only three kills behind.” Matt said.
“And if this jackass hadn’t hit me in the back of the head, I’d have killed Katie, and there would only be one kill in it.” Mosley added, pointing a thumb at Tom.
“Dude, you were totally in my line of fire.” Tom argued.
“Well, if this was supposed to improve our team-work skills, I’m not sure it worked…” Matt said.
“Of course, it doesn’t help that half of each team doesn’t actually go into the field with us.” Katie observed.
“True. Ok, new teams. Me, Katie, Matt and Mosley on one. Dylan, Mac, Tom and Ally on the other. Me and Ally as Team Captains.” Kevin ordered.
<><><>
“Gotta admit Jockstrap, you’re not half bad.” Mosley said.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” Kevin replied. “Watch your three o’clock.”
“Got it.” Mosley replied.
“How are things on your side?” Kevin asked.
“We’re holding our ground. Got a good spot here, for now. Katie keeps taking some pretty serious damage though.” Matt replied.
“That’s my job though. Draw fire while you take them out.” Katie replied.
“Crap, they’re on top of us!” Kevin shouted, as he manoeuvred his character behind a wall, bullets raining down from all four of his opponents.
“Dude, how did they all get together like that?” Mosley asked.
“Teamwork. Those guys have been playing videogames together for years. That’s why we’re against them… Matt, you can see where we are?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, sure, if I screen-cheat.” Matt said, looking down. “You think you can hold them off?”
“We can keep them from killing us. If we take them all out, we win. If they take us both out, we lose. We need your backup now.” Kevin replied. “Mosley, keep the two on the left behind cover, I’ll take the two on the right.”
“Got it.” Mosley replied.
“You guys are screwed!” Tom shouted from the next room.
“Ahh! What the hell!” Mac shouted, as Katie and Matt both busted in, guns a-blazing.
Chaos ensued, as Kevin and Mosley both used the distraction as a chance to leave their cover, blasting the hell out of all four opponents.
“And that’s how it’s done.” Kevin shouted, as the game ended.
<><><>
Fisher stepped down into the kitchen, where the other team-members were busy eating their lunches. “I trust your teamwork exercise was a success?” He asked.
“Looks that way. It’s about time we got on the same page.” Kevin said.
“We’ll see how long that lasts.” Mosley said.
“Gave us a chance to work on tactics too.” Matt added.
“Although, military tactics go out the window when superpowers get involved, I suppose.” Katie said.
“Well, yeah…” Matt said.
“Tell that to Cal Richards. That guy is like, a general.” Kevin said.
“But his team isn’t as powerful as ours, and they use guns and stuff. Squad tactics make perfect sense for them.” Katie explained.
“Well, yeah… But it would still help.” Kevin said, before changing the subject. “Fisher, anything come up on the scanner?”
Fisher shook his head. “It’s a slow day. Nothing major happening within our emergency scanner’s range.”
“Good. Gives us time to get some more training in. Time to hit the gym.” Kevin said.
Matt groaned. “But didn’t we do that yesterday?”
Mosley laughed. “You need to do it more than we do nerd. Let’s go.”
“Fisher, you can go join them, I’ll keep watch on the scanners, I’ve got homework to do anyway.” Katie said.
“We’re going to head over to band practice, if that’s cool.” Ally said.
“How come they get out of weight-training?” Matt asked.
“Do you have any other responsibilities? Do you have anywhere you need to be?” Kevin asked.
“What about Mac and Tom?” Matt argued.
“When was the last time they went into battle?” Kevin asked.
“Hey, we totally beat Rose that time!” Mac joined in the argument.
<><><>
“There is no way you’re not using your powers to lift that.” Matt said, as he stared at the barbell Kevin was pressing.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Kevin asked, lifting the 180 lb weights with relative ease.
“You should see him do a leg press.” Mosley added, as he hefted a pair of dumbbells.
“I’m pretty sure that thing weighs more than I do.” Matt said.
“It does. Way more than you do.” Kevin said.
“Yeah, you really need to bulk up.” Mosley added.
“Working on it. My parents think I have a tapeworm.” Matt said, drawing laughter from Mosley and Kevin.
Fisher, on the other hand, lifted weights in silence, focussed entirely on his workout.
“Hey Kev, he’s lifting more than you.” Matt pointed at the barbell Fisher was lifting. 220 lbs.
“Look at him. He’s a tank. Of course he’s lifting more than me. Fighting for survival after the apocalypse will do that to you.” Kevin said.
“Any excuse, huh?” Mosley teased.
“It wasn’t the apocalypse. It was a dystopia.” Fisher said.
“There’s a difference?” Kevin asked.
“The apocalypse is when most of the people of the world die off, or the world ends. Dystopia is like, the opposite of an ideal society.” Matt explained.
“The more you know.” Mosley muttered.
“Ok… Matt, I think it’s time you started on cardio.” Kevin said.
“Damnit, I hate that stupid treadmill.” Matt moaned.
<><><>
“Ok, who wants lunch?” Matt asked, opening the fridge.
“There’s no food in there, Fisher and me ate it all.” Mosley said.
“Fisher and I.” Katie corrected, as she rejoined the group.
“Whatever. Let’s order pizza.” Mosley suggested.
“1…2…3. Not it!” Matt said.
“Not it!” Kevin, Fisher and Katie chorused.
“Damnit.” Mosley said, heading upstairs to find his Firestorm costume.
“Who’s bright idea was it to announce this was our base?” Matt asked, looking square at Kevin.
“I just thought it would be good if people had a way to contact us.” Kevin explained.
“And after that fight against those sand people on our front doorstep, it was a dead giveaway.” Katie added.
“Still, makes it a pretty big effort to get a damn pizza delivered.” Matt complained, switching on the TV.
The team stared at the message appearing on the screen.
“Mosley… Cancel the pizza, but keep putting your costume on.” Kevin shouted.
“Why? What’s up?” Mosley shouted down the stairs.
The TV kept playing in the background, repeating itself:
“This is a Public Service Announcement. Moments ago, an unidentified group of super-powered individuals began an assault on Guantanamo Bay. Repeat, there is a break-out in progress at Guantanamo Bay. The US Government requests that any available super-teams please make their way to the scene as soon as possible, in order to contain the super-powered prisoners. This is not a hoax. This is not a drill.”
“Call Ally, tell her to suit up, we’ll pick her up on the way. We’re heading to Guantanamo Bay.” Kevin ordered.

As the clock ticked around to 9PM, the loneliest New Year’s Eve party in Newport Beach reached its eighth round of Halo. Dylan was winning, with Ally close behind. Tom and Mac had been blazing up periodically, so they were lagging somewhat.
Mac suddenly sat up straight, his eyes glazed over. Onscreen, Tom beat him over the head with his pistol.
“Melee kill!” Tom shouted, turning to taunt his friend. “Whoa… What’s up with you?”
“And lo, the Vanguard shall find itself in perpetual Midnight.” Mac declared, his face showing no expression.
“Dude, you took a hit without me? What are you babbling about?” Tom asked his best friend.
Ally shook her head. “He hasn’t had a hit in over an hour… He’s not stoned… He’s having a vision.”
“Oh… So not awesome.” Tom said.
<><><>
“I have no idea what it means, I keep telling you.” Mac explained, as the van took another left.
“Well, neither do I. Aren’t your visions usually better than this?” Matt asked. “I mean, Midnight is probably a new year’s thing, considering that’s tonight. But what’s the rest mean?”
“I can’t believe we’re all sitting in the back of this damn van picking up the team. What is this, Scooby Doo?” Mosley asked.
“Shut up dude. We’re working with what we’ve got. We need to get Kevin and Katie from Logan Cooper’s house, and we’ll make a plan then.” Matt said.
“But what are Jay and Silent Bob doing here?” Mosley asked.
“Mac is here because it’s his vision and his van. Tom is here to drive, and because he’s lucky, we might come up with something.” Matt explained.
“And what about Hendrix?”
“I wasn’t hanging out alone on New Year’s Eve. I’ve got my costume, I’m ready to go.” Dylan said.
“Ok, we’re here.” Tom said from the front.
There was a banging on the side of the van, and Mac slid the door open, revealing Kevin and Katie waiting.
“Ok, what’s going on?” Kevin asked, as he climbed in next to Matt.
“Yeah, that was a totally awesome party. Too bad Cooper’s a jerk.” Katie giggled.
Matt raised an eyebrow at his best friend, but then turned to Kevin.
“We don’t know anything beyond what I told you on the phone. I’m pretty sure that Midnight is about New Year, so we need to move fast.” Matt reported.
“We just need to know what the Vanguard is supposed to be, and we should be able to stop this vision.” Fisher broke his silence.
“We’re going to Vanguard? No way did you guys get tickets!” Katie exclaimed.
“Is she…?” Matt trailed off, as Kevin nodded.
“A little bit.” He replied. “Honey, what is Vanguard?”
“Only the most exclusive nightclub in LA. Their New Year’s party is supposed to be the best, too bad tickets sold out months ago.” Katie said. “So did we get in, or not?”
“No, we didn’t get in. But I think we can change that. Ally, can you give us a dividing wall or something, we need to suit up.” Kevin asked.
“You got it.” Ally said, as the air in the middle of the van shimmered, an opaque black shape filling the space between the boys and girls.
“Tom, we need to get to LA, think you can manage?” Kevin asked.
“Your wish is my command.” Tom replied.
<><><>
“And so you see, if I am not paid 10 BILLION dollars by midnight, I, the Chronomancer, will freeze this entire night club, and all of these lovely people inside, forever!”
The villain cackled, before ordering the camera man to shut off his camera. “Was that live?” He asked.
“Uh… I think so.” The cameraman replied, quivering with fear.
The Chronomancer stroked his long beard, a smile appearing on his face. “That money will be mine soon… At least, you had better hope it will.”
The club was chaos. People screamed and ran around, panic was rampant. Each door was guarded by a trio of Chronomancer’s minions, all wearing purple and gold robes, to match their master. No-one was getting in or out.
“And now all we have to do is wait. Someone fetch me some food!” Chronomancer ordered, clutching his golden amulet.
One of his minions was in front of him in moments, carrying a plate of pastries.
“Excellent.” He said, reaching towards the plate.
“Hold it!”
The Chronomancer was stunned, as he looked to see the Brat Pack standing in the middle of the dancefloor.
“You might not want to eat that.” Mr Perfect continued. “I know how you villains love to monologue, and I’d hate for you to have to do it with your mouth full.”
“Burn…” Mr Universe muttered.
“No… This is a burn!” Firestorm shouted, launching a fireball at The Chronomancer.
Chronomancer threw up his hands and caught the fireball, which stopped immediately. “Sorry, you’ll have to do a little better than that.” He taunted, as he dropped the ball, which dissipated on contact with the ground.
“Now, you will have to bow down to the might of the Chronomancer!” The villain raised his hands and lightning crackled from his fingers, arcing towards the heroes.
Stratos yawned, as all the energy redirected itself at him, his powers absorbing the charge. “And you’ll have to do a little better than that.” The rock-god-in-the-making laughed.
“You think I only have one trick up my sleeve?” Chronomancer shouted, as he disappeared from view.
That is, the view of all but Mr Perfect. He could see The Chronomancer coming towards him. Fast. He just had enough time to react, the teen reaching out and grabbing the villain just inches away from hitting him.
“You don’t do your research, do you?” Mr Perfect asked. “Speaking of… Universe, what do you know about this guy?”
“Chronomancer is a magician, specialises in time control, but that’s not all he can do, in case you didn’t notice, what with the lightning and all.” Mr Universe explained.
“It’s like our own Wikipedia.” Firestorm commented.
“ATTACK!” Chronomancer shouted, as he grabbed at his amulet once more.
His minions charged from their stations, swarming the heroes.
“That’s new.” Mr Universe said.
“My mind-controlled minions will destroy you!” Chronomancer cackled, as the mooks began punching and kicking at the heroes, who fought back in earnest. Pixel took one blow, and disappeared.
“Mind-control? Belle, that’s your department. What can you do?” Mr Perfect asked, as he struggled to ward off their attacks, whilst keeping hold of the wizard.
“Ummm…” Belle closed her eyes tight. “Uh oh.” She began giggling.
“Crap. She’s still drunk.” Firestorm said.
“Babe… Can you do anything?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Err… No.” Belle said.
“GET HER!” Chronomancer ordered, and his minions all switched their attention to the intoxicated psi.
“NO!” Mr Perfect shouted, throwing The Chronomancer aside, charging to his girlfriend’s aid.
The Chronomancer stopped moving in midair, his magic allowing him to levitate. He began an incantation, and Fissure and Firestorm both froze, completely unmoving.
“Oh crap. That’s his signature spell… They’re stuck in time.” Mr Universe said, as he began surrounding Belle with floating cutlery, to protect her.
“Stratos, we need you to get Belle out of here.” Mr Perfect ordered.
“You got it bossman.” Stratos said, rushing forward.
“Keep her out there. If things go south in here, I don’t want anything happening to the others.” Mr Perfect said.
“Got it.” Stratos began leading Belle out of the room, as Mr Universe warded off the Chronomancer’s minions with his floating utensils.
“So touching.” Chronomancer said. “Too bad that distraction will spell your doom!” He began his incantation again.
“Interrupt him!” Mr Perfect shouted, but before Mr Universe could react, Stratos hit the villain with a bolt of lightning.
“Insolent fool!” Chronomancer shouted, as Stratos ducked out of the room, Belle in tow.
“Don’t you worry about him.” Mr Universe said. “You’ve got bigger fish to fry in here.”
“Not to mention your little blackmail scheme has kind of evaporated…” Mr Perfect added, gesturing around the room, which was empty except for the super-powered individuals, and the mind-controlled slaves.
“What!?” Chronomancer demanded, looking around for the first time, and realising his hostages had escaped.
“Yeah… They all booked it as soon as you took the guards off the door. Rookie mistake really. How long have you been at this?” Mr Universe asked.
“No matter! I will destroy you fools instead!” Chronomancer grabbed his amulet. “Get them!” He ordered.
Mr Universe laughed. “I know it’s pretty obvious by now, but I’m pretty sure-“
“He’s controlling the slaves with the amulet? Yeah, I got that too.” Mr Perfect joined in the laughing.
“Too bad my powers don’t work on gold, or whatever cheap crap it’s made out of. Guess we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.” Mr Universe said.
Mr Perfect nodded, as he leaped over the crowd of mindless drones, rocketing towards their master, and tackling him to the ground, before grabbing the amulet and ripping it from the magician’s neck.
Mr Perfect tossed it backwards to Mr Universe, who caught it. “Stop!” He ordered, and the minions did.
“It is no matter! My master spell is already long in place! This nightclub will be frozen in time forever, the moment the clock strikes midnight!” Chronomancer said.
The heroes looked at the clock on the wall. “11.59?” Mr Perfect said. “You’ll be trapped too. Fix it.”
“I am more than happy to be immortalised.” Chronomancer said.
Mr Perfect punched the sorcerer in the face, Chronomancer screamed, as blood poured from his broken nose.
“Ok… Ok.” Chronomancer began the incantation, as the clock began to strike midnight.
The air around the combatants began to warp, as the spell began to take hold, fighting against the counterspell.
“Dude, it looks like a music video.” Mr Universe commented. His eyes widened, as a thought struck him. “If I’m going down, I’m going down in style!” He said.
“What are you talking about?” Mr Perfect asked.
Mr Universe held the amulet high in the air. “TIME WARP!”
The mind-controlled drones snapped to attention, as they began singing the Time Warp, with perfect pitch and timing. Their dancing matched the moves from The Rocky Horror Picture Show perfectly.
“You’re an idiot.” Mr Perfect said.
“Hey, if his spell doesn’t work, we’re screwed.” Mr Universe replied, as the air began changing colours.
Chronomancer continued his incantation, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Damnit! Hurry up!” Mr Perfect ordered.
The Chronomancer fixed him with a glare, not breaking his incantation for a moment.
Suddenly, the various special effects stopped, and the clock continued its ticking.
“There. Now, release me.” Chronomancer ordered.
“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t part of the deal.” Mr Perfect said.
“Pretty sure there wasn’t a deal.” Mr Universe added.
Chronomancer began to splutter an argument, but Mr Perfect clubbed him across the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.
“Villains talk too much.” Mr Perfect said.
“And we don’t?” Mr Universe asked.
“We’re not as bad as they are.”
“You did point out our weak link to the villain a few minutes ago…”
“Belle? He’d have figured it out pretty quick.”
“Can’t believe we let her in here in that state. I didn’t think she was that drunk.”
“Me either. She hangs in different circles to me at those parties; I have no idea how much she drinks.”
“Let’s try to remember that next time we pick you guys up at a party.”
“So what are we going to do about these two?” Mr Perfect pointed at Firestorm and Fissure.
<><><>
“We could have just left Mosley as is.” Katie said.
“He’d have made a nice ornament in the Brat Cave.” Matt agreed.
“First of all, screw you guys. Second of all, Brat Cave?” Mosley asked.
“Figured we needed a name for the mansion. Thought that was catchy.” Matt said.
“Right…” Mosley muttered.
Kevin entered the room. “Ok, I’ve squared it with Hire-A-Hero. Unfortunately, we’re out of money again. I just spent the last of the team fund on them flying Perdition out to break that spell.”
“Now, if we’d left Mosley frozen, we could still have money.” Matt said.
“Could we sell the nerd? Surely there’s some villain that’ll pay top dollar for him.” Mosley retorted.
“At least my arch-nemesis could pay good money for me.” Matt said.
“My arch-nemesis is on Hire-A-Hero payroll. Earns more money than your megalomaniac.” Mosley said.
“Your arch-nemesis is a teenage girl.” Matt argued.
“No, Firefly’s my arch-nemesis.” Katie said.
“I thought Helix was yours.” Matt asked.
“No, he’s mine.” Ally spoke up from the couch.
“I can’t keep track anymore.” Matt said.
“With any luck, neither can they.” Kevin said.
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” Fisher said, pointing at the newspaper.
The headline read: “Assembly of Evil Swears Revenge”.
Below was a photo of the aftermath of the Brats’ defeat at their school months before. They didn’t need to read the article to know what it said. There was one question on all their minds.
“Who do they have to replace Gauss?” Matt asked.