The mountain of a man hefted the crateful of gold bars with ease, removing them from the back of the overturned armoured van. Normally there would have been a crowd to witness the robbery, but a dozen armed gangbangers scared them away.
“Aww hell yeah!” EmCee shouted. “You better run. We’re the new big crime in this city!” The young supervillain had made the most of his prison escape. He had donned a new costume, he was dressed in blue camouflage pants and a white wifebeater. Sitting sideways on his head was his trademark black cap.
“I don’t see why you thought it was necessary to bring him along.” Jamais Vu sneered. “Seizure I understand. Someone has to do the lifting.” The seasoned veteran was wearing his standard purple costume, somewhat dated as he hadn’t worn it in five years. The helmet was something of a sore point, he had had it made during a brief period where headwear was popular.
“Hey! I can hear you!” Seizure shouted, as he loaded the crate of gold into the back of a second, unmarked van. The giant was also content to wear his old costume, which resembled overalls, but no-one was brave enough to tease him for it.
“And I’m here to scan for supers.” Jamais Vu continued. “But what is that idiot even on this team for?”
“He has potential.”Scalpel said. The villain was wearing his signature labcoat over his brand new costume, consisting of interlocking carbon-fibre plates, leaving him, and more importantly, the equipment that gave him his powers, bullet-proof. On his fingertips, hooked up to the apparatus that was contained in his armour, were scalpel blades.
“Thanks boss.” EmCee said. This was his first foray into real super-crime. EmCee had been thrown in Alcatraz for petty larceny. He was excited.
“Behind us!” Jamais Vu shouted, and his whole team turned.
“This is going to be fun. EmCee and Scalpel I recognise… Who are the others?” Mr Perfect said, as his body finished emerging from the ground.
“Seizure’s the big guy, the other guy… Holy crap, is that Jamais Vu?” Mr Universe said.
“Ugh. Children.” Jamais Vu was unimpressed by the team’s entrance.
“Ok, he’s a psychic, Seizure is… Well, he’s the muscle. Stronger than The Basher, probably not as strong as Darklight was.” Mr Universe said.
“Belle, Jamais Vu is yours, keep him off our backs. Fissure and I will take Seizure. Firestorm and Pixel get EmCee. Universe, is Scalpel’s costume metal?” Mr Perfect said.
“Nope. Looks like he learned from his time with Gauss.” Mr Universe replied. “Guess I’m dealing with the minions?”
Mr Perfect smiled. “Can’t risk him getting you with those scalpels. Blackbird, Ice Princess, Scalpel is yours. Watch out for his blades.”
“Are we just going to let them stand there and divide us up?” EmCee asked.
“Jamais Vu is already battling Belle.” Scalpel replied. “We’re waiting for them to show their hand.” Scalpel was intrigued. Why would they want to keep Mr Universe away from him?
Mr Universe flew up into the air, and the hairs on the back of Scalpel’s neck stood up. It couldn’t be. “Boys, fire on the flyboy.” Scalpel ordered, and the thugs didn’t waste any time, opening fire on the teen hero. Mr Universe was unfazed, stopping the bullets in their tracks. Of course, the boy was a magnetic controller. Scalpel had to get to him.
Underneath his armour, the supervillain’s equipment whirred to life; a direct line to his spine hooked everything straight to his nervous system. He could activate it with a thought. He felt a brief prick as a hypodermic needle pierced his skin and injected him with blood. Blood he had obtained from a fight with the East Coast Boomers some ten years ago, and placed in one of his secret stashes across the country. Blood from the heroine known as Minerva. He felt the surge, as his body became much stronger, more durable, more agile. His vision blurred momentarily as his eyes changed to a pale blue.
“Oh wow! How did you change your eyes like that?” Ice Princess asked, as she approached the villain, the air turning to mist all around her.
“He’s using his powers!” Mr Universe warned. “Get away!”
Scalpel’s face lit up as he took off into the air towards Mr Universe, claws outstretched. Midair, Blackbird hit him with a grappling hook, dragging him off course, into the side of a building. “He must have had a stash of blood somewhere.” The African-American vigilante said.
“What? Eww!” Ice Princess shouted. “Why would he have blood?”
“Scalpel can steal someone’s powers if he has some of their blood in his system. That’s his power.” Blackbird explained.
“That is the grossest superpower ever.” Ice Princess was retching.
Scalpel was already flying towards her, having momentarily lost interest in Mr Universe. Blackbird couldn’t react in time, even with Minerva’s powers fading already, Scalpel was too fast. He drew back his hand and swiped across Ice Princess’ exposed midriff, leaving four deep gashes along her stomach. Ice Princess’ shriek was equal parts pain and praying it didn’t scar.
“Oh no.” Blackbird said, as he prepared to fight for his life.
“Oh yes.” Scalpel said, as his eyes turned a deep, dark brown, the mirror to Verona’s.
Blackbird threw a trio of shuriken at the villain, who created an ice-sword from thin air, slashing the projectiles off their trajectory.
“Crap.” Verona said.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Scalpel said, as ice began to build up on his body, until he had a two-inch thick armour covering his body. “I fought Coldstar a lot. I know more tricks than you could dream of. It’s a shame you’re not as strong as he is.”
“Fortunately, she’s just strong enough…” Blackbird said. “Your last power boost lasted how long? A minute?”
“What’s your point?” Scalpel asked.
“It’s been fifty seconds.” Blackbird replied. “I wonder what else you have up your sleeve, because at this rate, it’s going to be stuck there.”
Scalpel didn’t reply. He couldn’t. His icy shell had frozen solid.
Across the battlefield, EmCee cowered in a shell of pure sonic energy, as Firestorm bombarded him with flames.
“I can’t teleport into his shield, I’ll just get smashed with the sound.” Pixel said. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“Go help the other two take down the big guy, I’ll keep this one busy.” Firestorm said.
Pixel nodded and disappeared, reappearing several yards away, where Mr Perfect and Fissure were taking turns at punching at Seizure, who was far from going down.
“Pixel!? What are you doing?” Mr Perfect asked. “You’re going to get hurt!”
“Not bloody likely.” Pixel said, putting on a Bart Simpson faux-British accent.
The smallest member of the Brat Pack latched on to the largest of their opponents and the two disappeared, reappearing some hundred feet above EmCee. Pixel kicked off the villain and reappeared next to Firestorm, just in time to watch Seizure crash-land on top of EmCee, the impact knocking both unconscious.
“Oh. Good work.” Mr Perfect said. Pixel stuck her tongue out at him.
A few yards away, Blackbird kicked Jamais Vu in the back of the head, knocking the psychic unconscious and ending the battle.
“That was easy.” Blackbird said, as he checked Jamais Vu’s vital signs.
The heroes celebrated their win, as unbeknownst to them, three sets of eyes looked down from a nearby building.
“We could just kill them now!” The teenage boy said, as he moved to climb out the window. “They’re right there!”
Daytripper placed a hand on his shoulder. “No. You are here to observe.”
“We could take them. That Mr Universe guy isn’t so tough.” The girl said.
Daytripper suppressed a laugh. “He was holding back. Mr Universe is at least as powerful as you are my dear.” He knew it; these children weren’t ready to fight the Brat Pack. Still, his boss had decided it was time, and Daytripper couldn’t argue with that.
“I’m stronger than she is.” The male, 001, argued. “I’m gonna mop the floor with him.”
“I don’t know about that, but I can definitely take the rest of them.” The female, 002, said.
Daytripper looked his charges up and down. 001 was every inch the hypersoldier prototype he was intended to be. Tall, broad-shouldered and muscular. He was handsome, blue eyes and brown hair and a strong jawline. There was a sneer across the teenager’s face, twisting his handsome features. He was arrogant, that was clear, but if the reports of his powers from the laboratory were any indication, he had every right to be. He had a regal bearing, that was for certain.
002 on the other hand, she had inherited her looks along with her powers. Her face was screwed up, her nose slightly hooked. Her 5’5” body had come straight from her other DNA source, and was curved in all the right places. Daytripper briefly entertained the thought of codenaming her ‘Butterface’, but thought against it.
“I’m not going to say it again. We’re not fighting them yet. You’re not ready.” Daytripper said. “However, the boss wants you to have names.”
001’s sneer was back, but 002 looked excited. “What are you naming us?” She asked.
“001, you’re now known as Kingfisher.” Daytripper said.
The first hypersoldier nodded, and a smile broke his face. “It has a nice ring to it.”
“And 002, you’re Raider.” Daytripper added.
The sixteen year-old nodded, but she looked disappointed. Daytripper didn’t care, Kingfisher was the key to all of this. According to the information Helix had extracted from Fissure, he was the key to a better future, with Carmichael as President of the United States. Raider didn’t show up in Fissure’s memories at all, at least not the ones Helix had seen.
Kingfisher was the future of the Assembly of Evil, he was the face of Carmichael’s opposition. He was US Force’s greatest enemy, and it was up to Daytripper to guide him in the right direction. And that started with the destruction of the Brat Pack.

“I have never been happier to see your ugly mug.” Firestorm said.
“Aww, I missed you too Sparky.” Mr Universe replied, as Castor’s powersuit began to break up around him.
“Pollux! Get him!” Castor shouted, swiping at the pieces of his suit, as they began to float away.
Pollux picked up a piece of concrete from the collapsed building and threw it directly at Mr Universe’s head. It stopped short by two inches.
“Cutting it close there, aren’t you Belle?” Mr Universe asked.
“If you hadn’t insisted on the dramatic entrance, I wouldn’t be focussing most of my powers on the whole levitation thing.” Belle replied.
“Ok, I take it back. Could you possibly deal with him?” Mr Universe pointed at Pollux who was charging directly at them.
“Sure.” Belle dropped to the ground, the pink aura surrounding her body disappearing. Moments later, her eyes flared pink again. Pollux dropped to the ground, clutching his head.
“Dude.” Firestorm said.
Castor dropped from the sky, as the last of his armour was removed.
“Dude.” Pixel agreed.
<><><>
“So they’ve completely rebuilt the security system at Alcatraz.” Matt said, as he laid back in the chair. “Including Gauss’ entire cell. They want me to test it out.”
“Pretty sweet gig.” Mosley said, as he stretched out on his own sofa. “They paying you?”
“Of course.” Matt grinned. “Pretty well.”
“And you’re staying?” Ally asked, sitting down next to Matt.
“Until summer’s over.” Matt ruffled Ally’s hair.
“Ugh. I haven’t missed that.” Ally screwed up her face.
“It’s good to have you back sir.” Fisher said.
“I’m not in charge of the Rebellion yet. Stop calling me sir.” Matt said.
“Sorry. Won’t happen again.” Fisher said.
Matt smiled. “See, you’re still treating me the same, you’ve just taken the ‘sir’ out.” He shook his head. “Anyway, what’s the deal with the newbies? Is that seriously Verona Mitchell?”
“Yeah… She’s something.” Ally said.
“Yeah, she’s something alright.” Mosley said.
Ally screwed up her face again. “She’s not really… She’s not like us.” Ally said. “But she’s a good kid.”
“She’s older than you.” Mosley said.
“You know what I meant.” Ally said.
“So she’s an ice controller or something?” Matt asked.
“Yeah. She’s pretty strong.” Ally said. “She’s not like, Mosley strong, but she’s getting there.”
“She’s definitely coming along.” Fisher agreed.
“And Blackbird?” Matt asked.
“Grade A Badass.” Ally said.
“He’s The Shadow.” Mosley said. “So he’s tough. And the original Blackbird has been training him, so he’s getting better every day.”
“He’s our new mysterious ass-kicker, now that Fisher’s taken over the smart guy role.” Ally said.
“So long as someone’s keeping Kevin on the right track.” Matt said.
<><><>
“God I missed you.” Kevin kissed Katie, before rolling over to bask in the afterglow.
“I know you did.” Katie said. “I missed you too.”
“Not just this.” Kevin said. “I mean, I love this.”
“What are you talking about?” Katie asked.
“I missed having you around. All the time. Every day.” Kevin said.
“I missed being around.”
“I mean… I’ve been having problems with the team.”
“Oh…”
“We keep getting our asses handed to us. By everyone.”
“You don’t. You keep coming out on top.”
“Only against the small stuff.”
“The Black Dragon Fist are hardly small-time.”
“The moment we go up against something big, we get our asses kicked. Look at today.”
“Kev… We won.”
“Only when you guys showed up. Castor was about to paint the sidewalk with Mosley.”
“Castor and Pollux had just beaten the West Coast Boomers. They’re extra hardcore.”
“You guys kicked the crap out of them.” Kevin sat up, and turned, pulling his legs out of the bed, and grabbing his head in his hands. “I can’t save the world without you guys.”
“Matt is… Matt is ridiculously powerful. I’ll give you that. But he’s not unstoppable. If that had been anyone but Castor, he wouldn’t have stopped him. We were just lucky.” Katie sat up next to him, and placed her hand around his shoulders.
“And you took down Pollux.” Kevin said.
“The big guys always go down to a psychic attack. That’s how we took down The Basher back in the day, remember?”
Kevin shook his head. “Again, that’s you guys.”
“Who cares? You’re good at what you’re good at, we’re good at what we’re good at.”
“We’re not good enough.”
<><><>
“Kevin’s lost his confidence.” Katie said. “Completely.”
“Yeah, Fisher and Ally are the only ones who are really behind him, you know?” Matt replied.
“Mosley’s never going to follow him.” Katie said, as she fell back onto the beanbag.
The two were in Matt’s room, which was exactly has he left it, band posters and all.
“And the other two… They just don’t know him.” Matt said.
“But one of them is Verona Mitchell.” Katie laughed.
“Ally says she’s not bad.” Matt shrugged.
“Still… She’s an airhead.”
“I’m reserving judgement until I get to know her.”
“You’d love to get to know her, wouldn’t you?”
Matt scowled at Katie. “I’m taken.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Tell that to Adrienne.”
“That was a long time ago. I haven’t spoken to her in months, let alone done anything else.”
“Ok… Ok… Does Hannah know?”
“Of course not. Do I look stupid to you?”
“You don’t want to hear the answer to that.”
Matt shook his head. “Look, we can’t just keep arguing about this. It’s in the past. I’m beyond it.”
“Fine. Whatever. What are we going to do about Kevin?”
“I don’t know…” Matt shrugged again. “Back him up while we can. Let him score some wins. Build him back up.”
“We’re going to let him score some wins? How do we even do that? I mean, we’re both stronger than ever. I might even be able to hold my own against Helix. Maybe.”
“That might be pushing it.”
“I know. Still, we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
<><><>
“Sir…”
Senator Carmichael looked up from his desk. “What?”
There was fear evident in Daytripper’s eyes. “Sir… Castor and Pollux…”
“Turned down my offer?” Carmichael demanded.
“No sir… They’ve been arrested.” Daytripper said.
Carmichael slammed his fist down on his desk. “What!? Who?”
Daytripper mumbled incoherently.
“What was that?!”
“The Brat Pack.” Daytripper said.
“That’s not possible. They’re just not strong enough.”
“… Mr Universe and Belle are back.”
Carmichael grabbed the edge of his desk and flipped it over, as he screamed with rage.
“Contact Laboratory F. I want 001 and 002 in the field as soon as possible.” Carmichael ordered.
“But sir, they’re not trained.” Daytripper said, earning himself a glare from Carmichael.
“Give them codenames. They’re the newest members of the Assembly of Evil. And your mission is simple: DESTROY THE BRAT PACK!”