Fisher stretched out in the radio room, listening to the police band with disinterest. Cars reported stolen, broken restraining orders, the usual. Nothing the Sherriff’s Department couldn’t handle. Nothing that required Fisher’s abilities.
While his teammates were at school, Fisher spent most of his day in the gym, keeping his body in top condition, perfect for combat. After a few hours, he found himself in the radio room, looking for something else to do, an armed robbery he could foil, or a car chase he could end. Something to test his powers. Something to relieve his boredom.
“All units to Big Canyon Drive, responding to a hostage situation. The Human Right Initiative are holding that Washington kid hostage, and threatening to kill him.” The radio buzzed.
Fisher remembered the news report. James Washington was a middle-school student who had manifested his mutant ability of flight the week before, and subsequently gone missing a day later.
Fisher grabbed his cellphone and started dialling Kevin’s number.
<><><>
Kevin sat back, bored out of his mind. He hated pep rallies. He hated almost everything about them.
Except one thing.
Katie led her cheerleaders through their routine, as the crowd cheered and clapped for them. For the millionth time, Kevin found himself staring at his girlfriend, wondering just what he’d done to deserve someone so perfect.
The cheerleaders finished their first routine, and the crowd went wild.
“Now, we’re in for a real treat.” Katie grabbed a microphone. “My friends on the school band are going to join us for the next routine…”
<><><>
“Ally, you need to stop freaking out. You can do this.” Mac said.
“Yeah, you kinda have to now.” Tom added, patting his sister on the shoulder, as she sat hugging her legs in the corner.
“But they’re all going to be able to hear us.” Ally said.
“That’s the point. We’re a band.” Travis said.
“Come on Ally, it’s just a couple of songs. If they hate us, we can just go back to being invisible.” Dylan reassured her.
“Promise?” Ally asked.
“Promise.” Dylan smiled.
“Let’s do this.” Ally grinned, as she sprang to her feet.
<><><>
Fisher threw his cellphone across the room. None of his teammates were reachable. None were answering their phones, except for Matt, who was already on a call.
“I guess I’ll have to do this myself.” Fisher muttered.
“Do what?”
Fisher turned to see Mosley standing in the doorway.
“Shouldn’t you be at school?” Fisher asked.
“I slept in.” Mosley shrugged. “What’s going on?”
“Hostage situation. Human Rights Initiative.” Fisher explained.
“I guess we’d better suit up then.” Mosley cracked his knuckles.
<><><>
“So come take some time and dance with me!” Ally wailed the end of ‘I Love Rock And Roll’ by Joan Jett. She stopped, staring at the crowd, panting to catch her breath. A moment of silence was followed by the thunder of applause and cheering.
Ally smiled at the response, she felt the giddiness rising as the crowd got louder and louder.
She turned to Dylan, who shared her smile, no-one had expected that response.
“Wow. Thank you…” Ally said to the crowd. “I’ll be switching to back-up for this song. Take it away Travis!” Ally pointed at the band’s male singer.
“I’m coming out of my cage, and I’ve been doing just fine.” Travis launched into The Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside’.
<><><>
“… So that’s pretty much the whole situation. Every now and then they bring the kid over to the window, just to prove they still have him.” The officer in charge of the scene explained. “Look, there they are again.” He pointed at the front window of the house.
Fissure and Firestorm both looked through the window and saw the frightened teenager being held up at the window by a man dressed in a power-armour.
“Looks like they picked up more of those Sickle Armours.” Firestorm said. “Shouldn’t be too hard a fight, once we get the kid out of there.”
“Getting the kid out is the trouble.” The cop said.
“Not necessarily.” Fissure said.
“That house is on a concrete slab, isn’t it?” Firestorm asked.
“Yes. I’ll be back in a moment.” Fissure melted down into the ground.
Moments later, there were shouts from the house, followed by gunshots. Fissure rose up from the earth, James Washington clinging to him for dear life.
“Well, that makes things easier.” Firestorm said.
“GET DOWN!” Fissure shouted, as the windows were suddenly lined with Sickle Armours, shoulder-mounted machineguns pointed towards the police and superheroes.
The police dove behind their cars, James took off into the air as fast as he could, and Fissure tore a barrier up from the asphalt in front of him, covering himself and Firestorm.
“So much for easier.” Fissure said, as the bullets began raining down.
“Now what?” Firestorm asked.
<><><>
“Ok guys, one more song. I know you all know it, so join in.” Ally said, as Jacob started playing that unmistakeable beat on the drums. Bass. Bass. Snare. Bass. Bass. Snare.
Within moments the crowd was cheering, as they joined in. Stomp. Stomp. Clap. Stomp. Stomp. Clap.
Ally laughed and nodded. “That’s right!” She soaked in the crowd participation for a few bars, before getting straight into it. “Buddy you’re a boy, make a big noise playing in the streets gonna be a big man some day…”
<><><>
Fissure completed his armour, his entire body was covered in the black asphalt from the road’s surface. “Ready?” He asked.
“Born ready.” Firestorm replied.
Fissure nodded, and charged out from behind the barrier, toward the house. Chunks of asphalt flew from his exoskeleton, as round after round hit him.
The distraction successful, Firestorm stood up from behind the makeshift cover, shooting a huge fireball through the front door of the house, the subsequent explosion blowing the Human Right Intiative members through the windows and into the front yard.
The soil around them exploded, before crashing down on top of them, imprisoning them.
“And that’s how it’s done!” Firestorm hollered. “Let’s see Mr Perfect do that!”
<><><>
“I’d hate to say ‘I told you so’.” Dylan said, as the band filed down the corridor.
“That. Was. AWESOME!” Ally shouted, before doing a cartwheel.
“It’s definitely a rush.” Travis said.
“Ally!” Katie shouted from the doorway.
“Oh my god!” Ally shouted, charging for Katie, the girls hugging.
“Aren’t you glad I talked you into this?” Katie asked, as she let go of her friend.
“I want to do it again. Now.” Ally pouted, before bursting into a fit of giggles.
“Maybe some other time, huh kiddo?” Matt strolled down the passageway towards the girls.
“Did you see me? I rocked!” Ally said.
“Of course, you were outstanding.” Matt said, ruffling Ally’s hair.
“I hate when you do that.” Ally said, but the smile didn’t disappear from her face.
“Matt, you were on your phone for half of the rally.” Katie accused.
“Hey, I had to answer, my girlfriend called.” Matt said.
“Which one?” Katie asked, earning a scowl from Matt.
“Hey, does anyone else have a missed call from Fisher?” Kevin asked, as he joined the group, cellphone in hand.
“Yeah, but when I tried to call him back it went straight to the answering service.” Matt said.
“Can’t have been too important.” Katie shrugged.

“We are re-establishing the East Coast Boomers.”
The sound-bite heard across America a week ago. The press conference was originally to announce Southern Cross’ return to Australia, following reports of an explosion in superhuman numbers. Southern Cross had let it slip that the team was splitting up. The assembled reporters had gone crazy, ready to begin their reports of a ‘Time Without Heroes’. The nation held their breath.
Talon spoke up, to reassure the public. “We are not going our separate ways. The Boomers will still be in operation. Just not all together.”
A reporter spoke up. “Does that mean what I think it means ma’am?”
“Yes. We are re-establishing the East Coast Boomers.” Talon confirmed.
<><><>
In the week that followed, the media and internet had exploded with rumours, theories and speculation regarding the new team line-up. They placed everyone from Captain Awesome to The Gibbon to Miss Liberty coming out of retirement. But the Boomers kept a lid on the situation. They instead announced another press conference exactly one week after the first.
Mr Universe was currently the odds-on favourite as a new member of the team. Matt had come into the city days before the press conference, to support Hannah. The press got a hold of him while he was foiling a bank robbery he happened to be passing by.
He denied the rumours, but the reporters wouldn’t let it go. He was forced to stop going out in his costume, instead confining himself to Hannah’s apartment.
“So they haven’t told you who else is on the team?” Matt asked, as the couple watched E!’s Top Ten Boomers Candidates for the fifth time.
“Nope. I mean, I know Talon will be leading it. It’s her team. And I can only assume The Freak will be coming back too.” Hannah replied.
“Maybe someone else from the West Coast team too? Like, for experience or whatever?” Matt said.
“But who? GL leads the team, Corona and Plasma aren’t going to be split up and Nymphette has about a million things going on in Hollywood.”
“Ok… Anyone else from Hire-A-Hero?”
“Nobody on the A-list… I’m not even sure why they’re taking me.”
“Because you’re awesome? Anyway, what about Perdition? He’s like, one of the top ten magicians in the world. Not to mention the whole half-demon thing.”
“And the only high level magician on the Hire-A-Hero roster, at any branch. They need him. Besides, the last thing they want is a ‘reformed’ criminal on the team.”
“Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way. Forget about power levels. Let’s look at what we know. Talon is a tactical genius, martial-arts master and now a cybernetic badass. The Freak is a biologist, and about a ton of pure stone, who can bench-press a semi for fun. You’re an energy controller who has gone toe-to-toe with Radon a dozen times, can beat Arachnophobia in your sleep, and has survived an attack from Constellation.”
“So…”
“So what are they missing? Every team has an array of different powers. We complement each other, cover each others’ weaknesses. Mr Perfect and Fissure are physically strong. Belle is a psychic. Pixel is… Pixel. Firestorm, Fissure and I are all elemental controllers, capable of long-range attacks. Mr Perfect and I are commanders, he’s a leader and I’m a planner. Between the six of us, we’ve taken down just about everything we’ve come across. So what does your team need?”
“Well, like you said: a psychic. Maybe a magician, who knows what we’ll come across.”
“Cobalt? Or Melchior?”
“Doubt it. It’ll be bad enough having one hero on the team who has only been in the game for a couple of years.”
“What about that chick with the Silver Shoes? She’s got some fair magic going on.”
“I haven’t heard anything about her for years.”
“We’re never going to figure it out. We should just wait until the press conference tomorrow, like the rest of the world.”
“Hey, we already know more than the rest of the world.” Hannah smiled.
<><><>
Matt sat up the back of the press pool, trying not to draw any attention to himself. Hannah had managed to snag him a press pass, but it didn’t mean he looked like he was supposed to be there.
The capacity crowd of reporters and cameramen clamoured for a good view, as Talon stepped out behind the podium.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I present to the world, the new East Coast Boomers!” Talon said, to a thunderous applause, as the team filed out and stood in front of the crowd.
First was The Freak, the stone monolith stoic as ever. The least shocking member of the new team, the reporters had little to say. Next was Hyper Girl, who elicited a number of whispers, mainly referring to her age and inexperience.
From there, the surprises began. Following behind Hyper Girl was The Angel of Aquakinesis, The Mistress of Moisture herself, Nymphette. The woman voted Sexiest Superhero by Maxim readers two years running soaked in the attention, as the reporters began asking her about her modelling contracts on the West Coast.
Next was The Gibbon, who got little attention. The press had little interest in the low-profile hero, beyond speculation as to the Boomers scraping the bottom of the barrel in their recruiting. The Gibbon didn’t seem to care, he just looked happy to be there. Matt was happy to see him too, from all Hannah had told him, The Gibbon was a good team mate.
The final member of the East Coast Boomers left the press shocked and in awe, as they all fell silent.
Standing at six feet, three inches, with flowing blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, Thunderbolt stood before the capacity crowd, every inch the Norse god his predecessors were. One of the most powerful men on Earth, so long as he possessed the legendary hammer Mjolnir. Thunderbolt was the latest in a long line of heroes and villains to wield the ancient artefact.
“Any questions?” Talon asked; a slightly smug smile on her face.
<><><>
“I can’t believe they still think I’m on the team.” Mr Universe laughed, as he and Hyper Girl sat down in their limo.
“I know. They weren’t asking anyone else’s date if they were on the team.”
“Not even that girl Nymphette brought.”
“ScienceChick? Man, she’s not even on our level. She’s like a C-lister at best. She used to work for Hire-A-Hero.”
“No wonder I’ve never heard of her.”
“Oh, I forgot. I spoke to GL while you were at the bar with The Gibbon. The West Coast Boomers are signing up Jack Roman and some dude called El Grande Latino.”
“Man, why didn’t we think of Roman when we were thinking of magicians? But who the hell is El Grande Latino?”
“Some guy from San Diego. Super-strong. A young guy too. Apparently he and I are supposed to be learning from the experienced heroes. It’s a publicity move as much as it’s about our powers.”
“Makes sense. All this sensationalism in the press about teen heroes is out of control.”
“You do know you guys will get worse press now. They’ve got someone to compare you to.”
“I know, but we’ll graduate soon, and then we won’t be teen heroes anymore.”
“Always the optimist, aren’t you?”
“Sometimes it’s all you can do.”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” Firestorm shouted.
“Honestly, I’m shocked it took you this long to get here.” Helix said.
“I really should have seen this coming. They’re here to find a replacement for Gauss.” Mr Universe said, as he began gathering iron to himself.
“We don’t need to replace Gauss. We’ll be more powerful than you soon enough.” Helix said.
“What? Without Gauss you’re just another bunch of chumps.” Firestorm said.
“And without Mr Universe, you’ll just be another group of teen heroes biting off more than you can chew.” The Basher said.
“Good thing I’m not going anywhere then.” Mr Universe said, as he began raining pieces of twisted metal down on the Assembly.
Helix’s eyes glowed yellow, as an invisible shield appeared, stopping the rain of debris in midair.
“Not yet you’re not, but we know something you don’t know.” Helix taunted.
“And what would that be?” Katie asked, her eyes glowing pink, as she attempted an assault.
“Honestly girl, didn’t you learn last time?” Helix’s eyes began glowing again, as the psychics began their battle of wills.
The concrete began tearing itself from the walls and floor, as Fissure encased himself in it, building a suit of armour and charging forward to meet The Basher, the two going blow-for blow.
Firefly launched a fireball at the distracted Belle, but Firestorm’s own fire control powers stopped it dead in its tracks, as the two family members locked up, testing each others’ powers.
Redemption and Mr Perfect clashed in the middle, the cybernetic villain had a slight power advantage, but Mr Perfect had the experience edge. It was a fair fight.
Pixel retreated into a back corner, faced with the very likely possibility she would be facing Helix in battle, she froze up, huddling up on the ground.
“Daytripper, move downstairs and release Constellation, we’ll hold them here.” Helix ordered, his powers still actively fighting Belle.
“I was rather partial to standing here twiddling my thumbs, actually Helix. Don’t ever try to order me around again.” Daytripper said, before disappearing…
… And reappearing on the opposite side of the room, next to Mr Universe.
“Yeah, I can’t let you go down there, especially now that I know who they’re keeping down there.” Mr Universe said.
“What? How?” Daytripper stammered.
“I figured out why downstairs had an electromagnetic barrier around it. It stops people from teleporting in and out. So I copied the effect. You’re not going to get anywhere near that cell.” Mr Universe said.
“You can only catch me if you know where I’m going.” Daytripper said, as he disappeared again, reappearing several yards away. “I…” He disappeared again. “Could…” He reappeared next to Firestorm and Firefly for a moment. “Go…” Back next to Mr Universe again. “Anywhere.”
“Oh, that complicates matters.” Mr Universe said, as he began to try to match his adversary’s movements.
Meanwhile, Belle was fighting a losing battle against Helix, the two doing battle within their own minds. Belle knew she didn’t stand a chance against the much more experienced and powerful psychic, and Helix knew it too.
“You’re pathetic.” Helix taunted. “You have no place in our future.”
“What do you know about the future?” Belle asked.
“More than you. More than your friend has told you. We have our ways.” Helix said, as he launched a final assault, destroying Belle’s makeshift defences.
“NO!” She screamed, as she felt Helix’s mind within her own, as it began to open her every memory, poised to destroy them each, one by one.
Belle collapsed, she couldn’t take the strain anymore, there was no fighting it, just acceptance.
“Pathetic. If I didn’t know you were necessary in the future, I would kill you now, you know that?” Helix said, standing over the young psychic. “But that’s not to say I won’t have my fun first.”
Belle felt his psychic probe within her mind again, as Helix began planning his torture. She heard a faint rush of air, as Pixel appeared in the air above Helix, dropping down on top of him, the two crashing to the ground as one tangled mess.
“You dare!” Helix snarled. “You of all people!?”
“It’s not going to happen again.” Pixel replied, blasting Helix in the face with her flare.
“I don’t need to see you to attack you!” Helix threw Pixel across the room with his telekinesis, but she teleported before hitting the wall, dropping down on top of Helix, before scratching and clawing at him.
This time he tossed her up at the roof, but she teleported back to the ground, kicking at Helix, who tripped her with his powers, but found she was now on the other side.
“That’s it!” Helix was enraged, directing his telepathic powers at Pixel, but encountering a barrier. “What!?”
“Yeah, guess who got her second wind.” Belle said.
“No matter, you won’t ever defeat me.” Helix said, as he began breaking down her defences again.
“Probably not, but I don’t need to.” Belle said, as Pixel grabbed Helix and teleported him to the top of the staircase, rolling him down before he could gather his telekinetic might to break his fall.
He came to a stop at the bottom, unconscious, bruised and bleeding.
“Pixel’s back, bitch.” Belle said.
“You did not just paraphrase Britney Spears.” Pixel said.
“Yeah, she’s back alright.” Firestorm said, as he reached down and checked that he’d left Firefly breathing, after a wicked right hook.
With the numbers strongly in their favour, it didn’t take the Brat Pack long to finish the battle, Belle took down Daytripper with a psychic scream, freeing Mr Universe to team up with Mr Perfect against Redemption, while Firestorm helped Fissure stop The Basher in his tracks.
“What the hell could have possessed these guys to want to free all these villains?” Belle asked, as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Carmichael, of course.” Fissure said.
“Yeah. Without the Time Without Heroes, he doesn’t have a shot at the election. So instead of having less heroes, he creates the same effect by bringing in more villains.” Mr Universe said.
“That makes more sense than I would like it to.” Belle said.
“Right. With the Order of Darkness, Castor and Pollux, Hadi, Extreme, Constellation and who knows who else on the loose, any hero could die in battle, and even if they don’t, the country will need an extra super-team… Like US Force.” Mr Perfect said.
“Well, we stopped Hadi, hopefully the Teens stopped Extreme, and the Boomers should have stopped Castor and Pollux. And the Assembly never freed Constellation, thank god for th-… Oh no…” Mr Universe’s eyes widened. The electromagnetic field was gone from around the cell below, and he couldn’t feel any electricity flowing either.
Helix’s laughter filled the corridor. “It’s amazing what my telekinesis can do, when I set my mind to it.”
“What?” Mr Perfect asked.
“He’s released Constellation.” Mr Universe moaned.
“How? He was unconscious a moment ago!” Belle asked.
“My subconscious is much more powerful than you can imagine.” Helix said.
“Wait, if he’s free, why isn’t he up here?” Pixel asked.
“He’s recovering. Do you know how they kept him contained?” Helix asked. “Of course not, it was classified. They discovered that if his body took enough damage, his super healing-factor would put his body into shutdown in order to repair him. So they used all the resources they had to make a hole in his skin. A hole big enough to get a hypodermic needle through. It took help from Thunderbolt to drive it in there. The needle has been pumping sulphuric acid into his veins for almost five years. And any moment now, he will have recovered.”
“We need to get out of here, now!” Mr Perfect shouted. “Fissure?”
“I can earth-port the team maybe half a mile, no more.” Fissure said.
“It’ll have to do. Everyone, grab on to Fissure.” Mr Perfect ordered.
The team was swallowed into the concrete and disappeared, as Helix struggled to awaken Daytripper.
<><><>
“Who took down Hadi!?” AV asked, checking the villain’s pulse.
“Judging from that metal and rock shell you just pulled him out of, I’d say the Brats were here.” Cal Richards replied, as he joined his team-mate. “We should find them; see if they need any help.”
“Matt said they’d be heading straight for the source, so they’re probably inside.” Hyper Girl said.
“Codenames!” Tide shouted, shooting Hyper Girl a glare.
“Right. Sorry.” Hyper Girl replied. “Mr Universe said they’d find who was doing the breaking out, and try to stop them.”
“We need to head down there now. Hyper Girl, Tide, Lee, AV and Fuse, you’re with me. The rest of you start searching up here, I want survivors, or any villains that are hiding, found.” Cal ordered.
“Does anyone else feel a rumbling?” LatX asked, as the ground shook.
“What the hell is going on down there?” Psyke added.
“Melchior, what can you do about protection spells for the team up here?” Cal asked. “We have no idea what you’ll find.”
“All my defensive magics are stationary.” Melchior replied, as a figure erupted from the ground, showering everyone with rocks and dirt.
“Melchior, get that shield up! Now!” Cal ordered, as he realised just who had appeared in front of them.
Hyper Girl, on the other hand, had no idea who she was facing, as she flew up to meet him..
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” She asked, blasting at the escaped convict.
“You are the best they send against me? You are not worth my time!” Constellation shouted, before unleashing a wave of energy, engulfing everything within a hundred yards in a bright, white light.
<><><>
When Hyper Girl came to, she found herself on a stretcher in a medical tent, along with half of D13.
“What happened?” She asked Link, who was covered in minor burns.
“You tried to take on Constellation, that’s what.” Link replied.
“I did what now?” Hyper Girl asked.
“You tried to take on Constellation. He unleashed some kind of energy attack. Melchior’s shield barely saved us, and the Richards brothers blocked out most of the rest of the team.” Link explained.
“And I had my shield up when I went to face him. That was Constellation? Wow.” Hyper Girl said.
<><><>
“Cal and Lee are still out of it.” Belle confirmed. “But they’re dreaming, so they should be fine. They just took one of Constellation’s attacks head on. They’re lucky they didn’t die.”
Mr Perfect and Mr Universe both nodded. “We’re lucky Perfect thought to get us out of there before he escaped. The Teens had to dig themselves out when the basement collapsed.” Mr Universe said.
Mr Universe moved across the tent, to where Iaso sat beside Tide, using her healing abilities to repair the horrific burns to most of her body.
Tide’s eyes opened, and she looked up at Mr Universe. “Matt?” She smiled. “I knew you’d be ok.”
“Shh… You need your rest.” Mr Universe said. “And what did I tell you about codenames?” He laughed, brushing the hair out of her face.
“You should probably remind your girlfriend about that one too.” Tide said.
“Oh crap… Hannah!” Mr Universe said; rushing out of the room, as Tide stared at him wistfully.
<><><>
“I’m telling you, I’m fine!” Hyper Girl said.
“I know, I just worry. Tide has third degree burns to most of her body, you took it full force, with only your shield to protect you. You should just stay on that stretcher for a while, at least until the Army doctor checks you out.” Mr Universe said.
“I’m ok. I’m a tough girl, I can take it.” Hyper Girl laughed.
“Judging from what you did out there, I don’t doubt it.”
The couple looked at the tent opening to see GL standing there, Talon close behind.
“Sir. Ma’am.” Mr Universe bowed his head, not making eye contact with his heroes.
“Mr Universe, we’d like a moment with Hyper Girl, do you mind?” Talon asked.
“No problem ma’am.” Mr Universe said, springing to his feet.
“We need to have a chat anyway.” Belle had followed the leaders of the Boomers into the tent.
<><><>
“What do we need to have a chat a-“ Mr Universe was cut off by the huge slap Belle laid on him.
“Would you mind telling me exactly what the hell was going on back there?” Belle demanded.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mr Universe asked, clutching his stinging face.
“With Tide! I don’t need my powers to see it.” Belle shouted.
“Keep it down.” Mr Universe said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The concern. The touching. The way she looked at you when you left. You’re cheating on Hannah.”
“I… But…” Mr Universe sighed. “You don’t get it.”
“Try me.” Belle demanded.
“I love Hannah. Don’t doubt that for a moment. But it’s different with Adrienne…”
“I noticed you were on a first name basis back there.”
“She wanted me. You understand that? She chased me.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You don’t get it. You wouldn’t. All my life, I’ve been invisible. Girls ignored me. I wanted them, they didn’t care. This is the first time that any girl has wanted me first. And only the second time that any girl has ever loved me at all.”
“So just because she’s crushing on you, it’s ok to cheat on your girlfriend?”
“No… Of course not. I didn’t mean to…”
“Then how could you?”
“It was after the Assembly trounced us. I was devastated. We all were. You remember what it was like.”
“I do, but I didn’t do anything that stupid.”
“Didn’t you? Mosley and Fisher both fought it out, Kevin just focused on being better, Ally broke down. What did you do?”
“… I… This isn’t about what I did.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No. This is about you and Hannah, and that slut.”
“Don’t even. You want to talk about this? Fine. I want to talk about your drinking.”
“What? There’s nothing to talk about!”
“Then there’s nothing to talk about here either.” Mr Universe stormed away.
<><><>
Hyper Girl sat on her bed awestruck, as Mr Universe stepped back into her tent, having composed himself.
“What’s wrong babe?” He asked.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Hyper Girl said.
“What did GL and Talon want?”
“Talon’s moving back to New York, and she’s going to be starting a new East Coast Boomers.”
“But what does that have to do with you?”
“They want to buy out my Hire-A-Hero contract.”
“You mean…?”
“Yeah. I’m going to be a Boomer.”

“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.

Matt stepped through the front door of the mansion and his jaw dropped. The entry hall opened on to the most picturesque view of the Pacific Ocean he had ever seen.
“Now this is what I’ve been talking about!” He exclaimed, as he rushed to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that stretched the length of the house’s west side.
“This place is huge!” Kevin agreed, as he joined his team-mate, enjoying the view.
“It gets better.” Katie said. “We also have eight bedrooms, in case we expand the team, three bathrooms, two living rooms, a library, a rumpus room, and a play room.”
“A play room? You and jock-strap planning on starting a family?” Mosley asked, as he followed her through the door, looking unimpressed.
“No. I was thinking we could turn it into a command centre. Fill it with computer gear and radio scanners and junk. The library could be a weight room for you boys; some of you could use the workout.” Katie paused to glare at Matt, who just smirked.
“Sounds like a plan.” Ally said, as she trudged into the room.
“I already bought the house with the last of my Belle Bottom jeans endorsements, but if we’re going to trip this place out, you’re all going to have to put in too.” Katie said.
“Of course. Security systems?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, the best. Not just the usual private gear either. We’re registered heroes, we can apply for military grade stuff. Radar, motion sensors, the whole nine yards.” Katie said.
“We should all have some leftover cash from Hire-A-Hero… Right?” Kevin asked.
“We should have enough.” Matt agreed.
Matt turned to look out the window again, taking in the view. He jumped back a moment later, as Fisher rose up from the ground before him.
“Woah! Dude! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Matt shouted.
“Apologies, but I saw a news report. Long Beach is under attack. Captain Blackblood.” Fisher said.
“The pirate dude? Are you serious?” Mosley asked.
“Looks like I get to cross something else off my “Awesome Things to Fight Before I Retire” list. First ninjas, then dragons and now pirates. Let’s do this.” Kevin said.
<><><>
“That is an honest-to-god pirate ship down there.” Mr Perfect said, as he and Mr Universe surveyed the scene.
“Yep, made from wood and all. Before you ask, no, I can’t just pull all the nails out and sink the ship. They’re stuck in tight, and it would take forever.” Mr Universe replied.
“Well, there goes Plan A…” Mr Perfect said.
“How about Fissure builds a sandbar underneath, beaches the ship so they can’t get away.” Mr Universe suggested.
“And then we take down his crew… Solid plan.” Mr Perfect replied.
“I’ll take care of his cannons, no sweat. It’s the guys on the beach I’m worried about…” Mr Universe said.
“Blackblood is a weather controller right? What about the rest of his crew?”
“Hook has a magical hook, it changes shape. It’s not ferrous, whatever it’s made from, so I can’t touch it with my powers. Davey Jones is super-strong, stronger than you, but not stronger than say, Dark Rose of Blood. Arawelo is a Somalian, she’s a telepath, pretty strong by all accounts, but nothing on Helix. Hiah and Di are brothers, not sure which is which, they’re from Singapore, both speedsters, you’re faster though… I think.”
“Thank god for the internet.”
“Amen… Are you sure Ally’s up to this?”
“She insisted. I’ve got her back, just in case.”
<><><>
“Avast ye, scurvy dogs!” Captain Blackblood shouted, as he swung his sword menacingly at the fleeing civilians. “You bilge rats had better be searching for their valuables!” He ordered his crew.
His crew began scouring the beach for every abandoned wallet, watch and bag, while his super-powered officers looked on. “We be havin’ bigger fish to fry!” Captain Blackblood pointed his cutlass towards his true target. The Queen Mary.
“Cap’n, what be we doin’ with another ship?” Hook asked.
“Aye. We only have enough crew for one.” Davey Jones agreed.
“This ship be worth millions of doubloons! We be selling it to the highest bidder. Yarr.” Captain Blackblood argued.
“But how be we stealing it?” Hook insisted.
“We be sailing it out of the port and into the ocean! How else do you think we be stealin’ it?” Captain Blackblood exclaimed.
“… Sir… The Queen Mary has been docked here for forty years. It doesn’t have fuel… Or engines…” Hook explained.
“Then we’ll tow it out! Onward!” Captain Blackblood charged towards the decommissioned ocean liner.
“You guys really thought this through, didn’t you?” Belle asked, as she stepped out from behind a nearby lifeguard station.
“It really puts Mr Perfect to shame.” Firestorm agreed, leaping from the observation deck.
“Could we stop the banter? It’s a little unprofessional.” Mr Perfect said, as he landed in front of his teammates.
“And totally lame.” Pixel agreed, as she appeared next to Firestorm.
“Yarr! What be the meanin’ of this?” Captain Blackblood demanded.
“We be here to be puttin’ you away!” Mr Perfect said.
“Aye. Be that so matey?” Blackblood asked, a wicked smile appearing on his face, as the sky began to darken.
“Yarr. That be so.” Mr Perfect replied.
“You are having way too much fun with this.” Belle muttered.
“I know, right?” Mr Perfect replied. “Damn, I broke character.”
“Can we just keelhaul these guys already?” Firestorm asked.
“Fine…” Mr Perfect said.
“You’ll be the one getting keelhauled matey!” Hook shouted, as his right hand melded into the form of a giant sword, which he swung at the young hero, who ducked it easily.
“You’ll have to do better than that.” Firestorm laughed, as he blasted fire into the villain’s eyes, sending him staggering backward, blinded temporarily.
Mr Perfect fought against the gale-force winds that were directed at him, as he struggled to reach the Captain. Hampering his movement even further were the speedsters, Hiah and Di, who were attacking him from both sides, using hit-and-run tactics to keep from his reach.
“I think I’ll be makin’ you walk the plank boy!” Blackblood shouted, as the young hero continued to fight his way towards him. “Or maybe I’ll be takin’ the easy way out.” Thunder boomed in the sky behind him.
“Not on my watch!” Pixel shouted, and suddenly Blackblood’s vision was filled with bright light.
“Get her!” Blackblood ordered, and Davey Jones charged forward, eager to please.
Pixel froze, as the giant bore down on her.
“Pixel! ‘Port!” Mr Perfect ordered.
Pixel snapped out of it, and disappeared, Firestorm and Mr Perfect both heaved a sigh of relief.
Firestorm’s reprieve was short-lived, a blow to the side of the head leaving him seeing stars, as he turned to see Hook standing beside him, his hook in the form of a club.
“Ok, no more Mr Nice Guy!” Firestorm snapped, as he began gathering flames around himself.
“One of the best parts of having a magical hook… It can’t melt.” Hook taunted.
“That’s ok.” Firestorm replied. “The fire wasn’t for your hook.” Firestorm unleashed the inferno onto the sand around Hook. The flames cleared out within seconds, and as the air cleared, Hook realised that his feet were now encased in glass.
“What the f-“ Hook got cut off, as Firestorm pounded him in the face with his fist.
“You know, it’s kind of funny how you all drop the pirate act when Blackblood isn’t listening.” Firestorm commented, as he landed blow after blow on the villain. “He must pay pretty well to turn you all into cosplayers.”
He pounded the pirate into unconsciousness, and turned just in time to see Davey Jones swinging at him. He ducked under the blow and stepped around the hulking brute, getting behind him. As Davey Jones turned, Firestorm ducked down again, this time sweeping the legs. The towering beast left a crater in the sand as he fell on his back. Firestorm mentally thanked The Shadow for teaching him that trick, before moving to finish the job.
The flame-enshrouded teen fired off a quick succession of fireballs, spraying sand all over Davey Jones. He then engulfed the fallen giant in a blazing shroud, encasing the villain’s body in glass, leaving only his head free.
“How’re things on your end jock-strap?” He shouted.
“Been better.” Mr Perfect replied. In the minutes since Firestorm last looked, Mr Perfect had walked all of ten feet. “Check on Belle for me.”
Firestorm obeyed, turning to the third teammate on the battlefield. The young psychic was in bad shape. She had broken out in a sweat and as down on bended knee. She had not broken eye contact with Arawelo since the battle had begun. Arawelo, on the other hand, stood strong, no emotion on her face.
“Ok, I’ll take care of this too. Time to go three for three!” Firestorm shouted, as he began firing at the African psion. His attack backfired, as the fireballs hit a wall of wind and blew back at the hero, who merely absorbed them on his skin. “Huh.” He mused. “So much for that.”
“Argh! Ye children are beginnin’ to irritate me!” Blackblood shouted. “I’m gonna end this fer good! Starting with yer Cap’n.”
Mr Perfect’s eyes widened as he realised what was coming. They widened further when he felt the hand grasping his ankle.
“We be eatin’ barbecue tonight!” Captain Blackblood exclaimed, as he summoned his control over lightning.
Mr Perfect smiled. “Is that what they serve in Alcatraz on a Saturday?” He asked, as he felt his body turn to stone.
“What do ye think yer doin’!” Blackblood demanded, but it was too late. The lightning bolt hit just as Mr Perfect faded into the sand.
“You’re getting really good at the whole ‘last-minute save’ thing, aren’t you?” Mr Perfect asked Fissure.
“Yes sir.” Fissure said.
“You think I can’t hit you over there!” Blackblood shouted.
“Oh look, you’re out of character. Minus a Hero Point.” Mr Universe joked from overhead. “Good thing for me, none of you are out of costume.”
The pirates felt as their belts, swords and anything else made from iron began dragging them up into the air and turning them upside-down.
Arawelo’s concentration was broken, and her struggle against Belle ceased, the young psi taking her chance and knocking her opponent out with her own mind.
The speedsters moved to unbuckle their swords, but found themselves on the receiving end of both of Mr Perfect’s fists, rendering them unconscious.
“It’s just you captain, and honestly, you can’t think you’ve still got a chance.” Mr Perfect said.
“I’m more powerful than the lot o’ yeh!” Captain Blackblood screamed.
“No point getting back into character now. Your ship is beached, your cannons are in the ocean, your crew are unconscious or trapped or both. You’re done.” Mr Universe said.
“And you can’t concentrate hard enough to use your powers.” Mr Perfect added, and Belle smiled. Creating confusion was an easy enough task for Belle, even after her long battle against Arawelo.
“I think I be wantin’ a lawyer.” Captain Blackblood conceded.
<><><>

Sweat beaded on Mr Universe’s forehead, as he fought to keep his barrier intact. A latticework of coins, paperclips, and anything else containing ferrous metals surrounded the bank, supported by Mr Universe’s control of magnetism. Nothing larger than a cat was getting in or out of that crime scene, so long as he held.
“Guys, if you could just catch this dude, I’d be much obliged.” He joked.
Mr Perfect stood next to him, body tensed, ready to pounce. “Any second now…” The team’s leader said.
Firestorm barely stifled a yawn. “Is this seriously how we’re going to do it? Wait for him to tire out? You guys are geniuses.”
“Well I can’t catch him, can I?” Mr Perfect argued. “If you’ve got a better idea, I’d like to see it.”
“Allow me to demonstrate.” Firestorm said. “First, I turn up the heat.” The team’s bad boy snapped his fingers, and flames began to leap up from the ground surrounding the team. “Now, see, he can’t stay in here indefinitely. He needs to make his move. He needs to take down Mr Universe to escape. Otherwise he might get burned.”
“Wait, you want me to let him take down Mr Universe? You’re insane!” Mr Perfect exclaimed.
“No… I get it… Belle, link with Perfect and scan at a radius of twenty feet. We’re only going to get one shot at this.” Mr Universe said through clenched teeth. “And I’d prefer not to take a hit from this guy.”
Belle and Mr Perfect stared at him blankly, the plan not yet fully formed in their minds.
“Belle will be able to pick up when he’s on his way, and then you’ll hit him. Get it yet, jockstrap?” Firestorm taunted.
Belle and Mr Perfect’s eyes widened as realisation dawned. “Oh yeah. I’ve got it.” Mr Perfect grinned.
“But you just blurted out the whole plan. He knows what we’re doing.” Belle said.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already got Fissure working on Plan B.” Mr Universe said.
“You think that will still work?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Damn straight it will.” Mr Universe said. “Now, for the love of god Firestorm, flush him out!”
Firestorm laughed, and the flames began burning hotter, their patterns more erratic, until it seemed as though the entire bank was surrounded by a raging inferno.
Mr Perfect lunged forward, and their opponent appeared, as his forward motion was stopped, just millimetres away from Mr Universe. He instead began moving sideways, in the direction of Mr Perfect’s punch.
Blue Shift was unconscious before he hit Mr Universe’s barrier.
Mr Universe fell to his knees, and the barrier came crashing down around them. The crowd of onlookers surged forward, cheering for the heroes. The media pushed their way forward, asking their questions.
But they all hushed, as a huge shadow was cast over the top of them. The hush was quickly shattered by another cheer, as the crowd recognised the Sonic Boom, the custom jet belonging to the Boomers.
The Sonic Boom hovered a mere ten feet above the crowd, who parted in a hushed reverence, to allow the country’s foremost superhero team to land in their midst.
The door on the side of the jet opened, and by the time the ramp had lowered itself, the crowd was roaring again, chanting for the Boomers.
The first out the door was GL, the fastest man on Earth, and the leader of the Boomers. Close behind him was Talon, former leader of the team’s East Coast branch, and current second-in-command of the united team. They were followed by the other members of the team: The Freak, the other survivor of the East Coast Boomers’ tragic journey into the Shadow Plane, over six feet of solid rock; Plasma and Corona, the brothers were former criminals, Plasma able to blast energy from his hands, and Corona with the ability to harness the same energy, augmenting his strength and agility; Next was Southern Cross, Australia’s foremost superhero, who had rejoined the team in their hour of need, the handsome man drew man screams from the assembled ladies, while his powers of super-strength and energy blasts had drawn many screams from his enemies. The final member of the team was Maxim’s Hottest Superhero three years running, the United States’ only bisexual superhero, the Mistress of Moisture, the Angel of Aquakinesis, Nymphette.
“We were held up in Savannah, but came as soon as we heard something was up. Looks like you had things well in hand.” GL said, his smile beaming at the young heroes.
“Y-yes sir.” Mr Perfect said. “We heard the reports too; I guess we were just closer this time.”
“You answered the call. What more can we ask of our heroes?” GL asked, and the crowd cheered.
“You did a pretty decent job of it too.” Southern Cross said. “Hey GL, isn’t Blue Shift one of your rogues?”
“One of my greatest enemies. The Brat Pack did very well to take him down so easily.” GL said.
“There should be more of you.” Talon said. “Where are Pixel and Fissure?”
The ground parted beside Mr Perfect, as Fissure’s body oozed from within the asphalt of the road.
“Ma’am, I was just setting to rights our contingency plan. I couldn’t in good conscience leave a six foot tunnel hidden just below the surface; it could have collapsed at any time.” Fissure explained.
“I don’t know… I think a moat would be a vast improvement.” Southern Cross joked.
“And as for Pixel, she’s taking some time off, for personal reasons.” Mr Universe said.
“I see.” Talon said. “I don’t believe I ever got the chance to thank your team for rescuing The Freak and I from the Shadow Plane.”
“Like GL said, we just answered the call ma’am.” Mr Perfect said.
“And I’m alive, and here, because of it. I can never thank you enough.” Talon said.
Corona made an audible gagging noise, as he made the gesture of sticking his fingers in his throat. Plasma started laughing, earning both brothers a smack across the back of the head from The Freak.
“Anyway, I’m glad to see that California is in good hands, even while we’re away.” GL said. “And it’s especially good to see that the world will be safe long after we retire.” The hero extended his hand to the leader of the Brat Pack, who stared at it in awe for a moment, before shaking it.
“Sir, I don’t know what to say.” Mr Perfect said.
“Just soak in the moment kid.” Southern Cross said.
“We’re holding a fundraiser at Boomer’s Plaza tonight, how would you like to be guests of honour? Think of the publicity.” GL said.
Mr Perfect was stunned, unable to form a thought, let alone a word.
“We’d love to.” Mr Universe stepped in. “But do you know anywhere I can rent a tux at this hour?”
<><><>
“What? Of course not!” Matt shouted into his phone.
“Then what? You weren’t flirting with her?” Hannah shouted back.
“What? No! I was talking to her!”
“Then why did you dance with her?”
“Because she asked me. It was her favourite song, and she couldn’t go dance on her own, she’d get mobbed.”
“A likely story. You’re telling me you’re not attracted to her? Hell, I’m almost attracted to her.”
“Of course I’m attracted to her, she’s freakin’ Nymphette! Everyone’s attracted to Nymphette! But not everyone is already in love with the most beautiful girl in the world!”
“So you’re not into her?”
“Of course not.” Matt’s phone beeped. Call Waiting. He checked the caller. “Crap… Babe, hold that thought, I’ve got a call on the other line.”
“Ok, don’t take too long, we still need to talk.”
He sighed, as he pressed the button.
“You danced with HER!?”
“Yes…” Matt sighed.
“Of all the people in the entire world, you picked her!”
“Well, when Nymphette asks to dance, you dance. You’d have to be an idiot, or gay, not to.”
“It’s not enough that I’m the other woman, I have to play second fiddle to Little Miss Perfect, Hyper Girl, but now you’re out dancing with my sister!?”
“Look, I don’t have time to have this conversation right now. I’ll talk to you later.”
“You’re talking to Hyper Girl, aren’t you? Is she as pissed off as I am?”
“Not anymore. I’ll talk to you later.” Matt hung up, before switching over again.
“Sorry about that babe, damn telemarketers won’t take no for an answer.”
“No, I’m sorry… I overreacted. I know you’d never cheat on me. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“No, you were right. If I saw you on TV dancing with Southern Cross like Nymphette was dancing with me, I’d probably freak out too.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“Ok babe… So… What was that about you being attracted to Nymphette?”
“Ugh… Men!”

Brat Pack Issue #022: Back in Black
Kevin paced backwards and forwards, running a hand through his hair.
“You know why they’ve forgotten us?” Kevin asked. His teammates were seated in Fisher’s living room, the television playing softly in the background.
“We got our asses kicked.” Matt replied.
“That’s not it at all.” Kevin stopped pacing and leaned over the table. “It’s because we’re not out there. We’ve been sitting back and dealing with our issues.”
“And whose fault is that?” Mosley asked.
“Mosley, back off.” Katie said.
“No, let him say it.” Kevin said.
“You split us up. You gave the order to leave Ally behind.” Mosley stood up from his chair.
“I didn’t see you taking charge.” Kevin replied.
“You never give any of us the chance. You just start giving orders. This isn’t your damn basketball team!”
“Look, I made a mistake, I admit that, but we have to move on. Ally’s recovered, it’s time to go out there and remind everyone we exist.”
“Newsflash Jockstrap, Fisher and me have been out there all month. We’ve been fighting, we’ve been keeping the streets safe, or have you forgotten what this job is all about?”
“You think I don’t know why we do what we do?” Kevin leaned in close.
“You seem pretty damn worried about our public image.” Mosley bent across the table, until his face was mere inches away from Kevin’s.
“Someone has to be. The bad guys have to know we’re still here. We can’t just fight them as they show up; we have to be a deterrent.”
“Been reading Matt’s copy of Quoth the Blackbird have you? We need to inspire fear in our enemies. Of course we do, that’s what Fissure and me have been doing while you sit at home crying about your sponsorships.”
“Do you want to take this outside?”
“Damn right I do Jockstrap.”
“Guys, shut up and look at the TV.” Katie said, pointing.
The Brats instantly recognised Newport Beach; the teens had obviously spent much of their lives in the sand and surf there.
“What the hell is that?” Mosley asked.
“There’s more than one of them.” Matt added.
“Sea monsters? Seriously?” Katie said.
“Looks like it. It’s only half a mile away, let’s do this.” Kevin ordered.
<><><>
“Wait, so Katie can’t levitate anymore?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Nope. She was just really angry, so she overextended herself.” Mr Universe explained, the two sailing through the air towards the beach.
“Oh, damn. We could really use the extra power.” Mr Perfect said.
“On the bright side, it keeps her close to Ally. I’m not sure she’s ok yet.”
“I know what you mean. I can’t believe she changed her costume to all black.”
“Dude, that’s all she’s been wearing lately. Black everything. Even her hair.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon, do you?”
“We’ll find out. We’ve got her back. Better to find out now, against some mindless sea monsters, than up against a world-class supervillain.”
“Not like this will be a hard fight.”
“Exactly. We’ve got this.”
<><><>
The beach was cleared. The first thing Mr Perfect had done was distract the sea monsters long enough for Mr Universe to herd the bystanders off the beach, to the safety of the streets.
“The others are still a couple of minutes away.” Mr Universe said, spotting Fissure’s van a number of blocks away.
“Guess we’ll need to get started without them.” Mr Perfect smirked, as he stopped weaving between the sea monsters’ heads, darting for the nearest target and punching it in the jaw.
The sea monster roared in pain, but struck back, using its head as a battering ram, its long neck giving the blow enough power to send Mr Perfect tumbling through the air, splashing into the ocean.
“Ok, so you’re a little tougher than we thought.” Mr Universe quipped, before using his powers to lift a beach umbrella, swatting at the sea monster’s head with it. The monster squealed, confused by the brightly coloured weapon stinging its face.
“You’re just making it madder.” Mr Perfect said, as he sprang out of the water.
“I’m keeping it busy. There’s nothing else around to hit it with.” Mr Universe retorted.
“Go grab a car or something. I can’t do all the work here.” Mr Perfect ordered, as he landed on the first monster’s back, grabbing hold of its scales with one hand, and pummelling its neck with the other.
“Fine.” Mr Universe said, as he began searching for a parking lot.
Mr Perfect let out a shout, as the second sea monster grabbed his cape in its mouth and ripped him from its cousin’s back, tossing him through the air in the process.
“Oh, we’re going to fight dirty are we?” Mr Perfect asked, diving fists-first for the second monster.
He hit the side of the monster, and actually felt its ribs crack under the blow, as the monster shrieked, its tail lashing at the hero. Mr Perfect managed to dodge this blow, and grabbed the offered tail.
He grinned and took off into the air, straining to lift the monster from the ground, to no avail. He did managed to drag it a few yards, before the third monster slapped him with a flipper.
“Got things under control?” Mr Universe asked, as he plowed an SUV into the back of the third monster.
“I was just saving some for you.” Mr Perfect retorted.
“Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.” Mr Universe said, sending another monster reeling with a headshot from the SUV.
“Run into a little trouble did you?” Firestorm asked, as another sea monster burst into flames.
“We were just getting a handle on things, actually.” Mr Universe replied.
“I can see.” Firestorm said, eying Mr Perfect laying in the sand.
“We thought we’d save you some fight.” Mr Perfect said, using his powers to float to an upright position.
“We heard you the first time.” Belle said, as she started using her telekinesis to hurl rocks at one of the sea monsters.
“Looks like we arrived just in time.” Firestorm added. “Looks like you guys needed some saving.”
“We were doing fine.” Mr Perfect said, socking a sea monster in the jaw.
“Sure you were Diet Awesome.” Firestorm scoffed.
“Diet Awesome? What the hell?” Mr Perfect asked, landing another hard blow on the sea monster.
“Like Captain Awesome, only less awesome.” Firestorm explained, as another sea monster burst into flames.
“Oh, you of all people want to tell me I’m a knock-off? Napalm Junior?” Mr Perfect rendered his target unconscious with the third blow.
“Oh that’s it!” Firestorm shouted, advancing on Mr Perfect.
“ALLY!” Belle shouted.
The whole team looked at Ally, who stood frozen, as a sea monster was bearing down on her, mouth open wide.
“Teleport!” Mr Perfect ordered, but she didn’t budge.
“She’s not moving!” Firestorm shouted.
The sea monster almost had her in its jaws, as a dome appeared over her, the sand of the beach shielding her from her attacker. Fissure appeared next to it, his rocky armour making him strong enough to lay the monster out with one blow.
“See what you did!?” Firestorm turned back to Mr Perfect.
“What I did?” Mr Perfect asked.
“You’re fast enough to have saved her, but you told her to teleport instead.” Firestorm said.
“It was quicker.” Mr Perfect argued.
“Not if you’d moved quick enough.” Firestorm retorted.
“If I wasn’t being distracted, it wouldn’t have been a problem, would it?”
“So you’re putting this on me?”
“Certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?”
“Would you two shut up? We’re done here.” Belle ordered.
The two heroes looked away from each other momentarily, taking in the gargantuan unconscious bodies surrounding them.
“We’re not done yet. We’re only just beginning.” Firestorm cracked his knuckles.
“You want to fight? Here?” Mr Perfect asked.
“It’s about time we threw down.” Firestorm shrugged.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.” Mr Perfect rolled his eyes, landing on the ground in front of Firestorm.
Firestorm shoved Mr Perfect, who barely moved. “This is going to be awfully one-sided.” Mr Perfect taunted.
“Stop it, now.” Mr Universe said, landing in-between the two.
“Or what? Back off you little geek, the big kids are talking. You can’t stop us” Firestorm said.
Mr Universe ignored Firestorm and turned to Mr Perfect. “Kev, you guys have to stop.”
“Hey, I was talking to you!” Firestorm shouted. “You’re too weak to stop us. Hell, you’re too weak to stop Gauss.”
There was a loud cracking noise, as Mr Universe’s fist connected with the side of Firestorm’s face, flooring the loud-mouthed hero.
“Oh, you’ll pay for that.” Firestorm climbed to his feet, but found his legs buried in the sand. He tugged at his bonds, but was stuck tight. “Fissure, let me go!” He shouted.
Mr Universe smirked, before taking off into the air in complete silence.
“Wait! Matt!” Belle shouted after him.
“Let him go.” Mr Perfect said. “Where’s Pixel?”
The remaining Brats looked around, but their dark-haired teammate was nowhere to be seen.
“She must have ran away. The fight was too much for her this soon, I think.” Belle said. “I can search for her if you want.”
“No, let her be. She’ll come back in her own time.” Mr Perfect said. “In fact, I think we could all use a little cooling off. We’re done for the day.”
With that, Mr Perfect took off, leaving Belle speechless on the ground, watching as he disappeared into the sky.

“You seem tense babe…” She said, sliding down from her perch atop him, and snuggling up to his body.
“It’s been a long couple of weeks.” Matt replied, still panting.
“The Gauss thing? Still?”
“Yeah… It was kind of a big deal… Captain Awesome had to come save us… I thought we were untouchable. I mean, we saved the Teen Dream Team from Arachnophobia that time… We kind of had it in our heads that we were above the whole ‘teen hero’ thing.”
“It’s not like you died or anything.”
“Well, Pixel was pretty beat up… She’s still recovering.”
“Didn’t Iaso heal her?”
“That’s not what I meant… It’s a psychological thing. She got tortured physically and mentally… I’m really worried about her.”
“She’ll get over it…” She snuggled closer.
“Yeah, I’m sure she will.” Matt replied, not sure he believed his own words.
<><><>
“Seriously, black!?” Mac shouted.
“I don’t see what the big deal is…” Dylan replied.
“Dude, my sister’s hair hasn’t been black since the day mom decided she was old enough to dye it.” Tom explained.
“So she went natural, what’s the big deal?” Dylan asked.
“And the songs she’s added to our setlist? Evanescence? Simple Plan?” Travis asked. “I can’t sing this crap!”
“Look, she’s got some stuff going on right now, so she’s a little dark… But she’ll bounce back. She’s a tough kid.” Tom said.
“What’s the deal with her anyway?” Jacob asked.
“It’s kind of personal.” Mac shot Tom a glare. “So we’d rather not share.”
“Oh, ok…” Travis said, a confused look on his, and the rest of the band’s, face.
<><><>
“They could have been the next Air Jordans!” Kevin complained.
“But they were called ‘Picture Perfect’… They wouldn’t have sold.” Katie replied.
“They’re being called ‘Awe-mazing’ now, because they gave the deal to Captain Awesome instead. And besides, you want to talk to me about bad merchandising names? What about ‘Belle-Bottoms’?”
“They didn’t want to renew the deal… Apparently we’re not relevant anymore.”
“I know. It’s like, one loss and we’re nobody again.”
“Yeah, we’re out of the Top 20 on HeroRater. Nobody cares about us.”
“HeroRater?”
“It’s some website Matt told me about. It gives a weekly ranking chart for all the heroes, based on their power, and what they’ve accomplished that week. There’s a Top 20 Teams chart, a Top 50 Individual chart, and a Top 20 combined chart. Before the thing at the school, the team was ranked seventh on the Team chart, and thirteenth on the combined chart. You and Matt were ranked at twenty and twenty-one individually, and Mosley was thirty-eighth. Now we’re off all the charts.”
“Wait, Matt beat me?”
“He is more powerful than you…”
“But I’m the leader.”
“Let it go honey.”
“Fine… Hey, have you heard from Mosley or Fisher lately?”
<><><>
“Three approaching your four o’clock.” Fissure warned.
“Thanks.” Firestorm replied, as he pivoted to face his targets.
He unleashed a massive fireball, engulfing all three men, burning their flesh and drawing screams from within the inferno. Moments lately, the flames disappeared as quickly as they materialised, and the three men collapsed.
“One more behind you.” Firestorm said.
“I know.” Fissure said, melting into the ground beneath him, and springing up behind the final thug, who he clubbed across the back of the head with his fist, crumpling the enemy to the ground.
“That’s a lot of men for just a bank robbery.” Fissure commented, looking at the pile of unconscious bodies they had left on the lobby floor.
“In this town, you need this many guys to make the heroes even pause. They don’t stand a chance.” Firestorm explained.
“Makes sense.”
“Besides, gave us some extra cannon fodder, to work out all the rage.”
“Rage?”
“After the whole Gauss thing. When I’m angry, I like to take it out on the bad guys, you know?”
“Of course. Makes sense.”
“And really, it was these guys, or Perfect.”
“Mr Perfect? Why?”
“He gave the order to leave Pixel at the school. It’s his fault.”
“But surely, he didn’t know what we were up against… He couldn’t have.”
“He still knew it was something big. We shouldn’t have left.”
<><><>
Ally skulked into the room.
“Wow… New outfit?” Dylan asked.
“… Huh?” Ally said, and looked down at her clothes. Black Chuck Taylors, black stockings, a black skirt, and a black t-shirt. “Oh… Yeah, I guess.”
“Are you ok?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ally replied.
“You sure?” Mac asked.
“I’m fine!” Ally shouted.
“Ok…” Tom said.
“Look, are we going to jam or what?” Ally asked.
“Sure…” Jacob said.
“Ok, My Immortal, from the top.” Ally ordered.
“On guitar?” Dylan asked.
“Just do it.”
<><><>
“So is Ally any better?” Kevin asked.
“I spoke to her yesterday… She’s still not her usual self.” Katie replied.
“Oh?”
“She’s sullen and moody. And she snaps. I don’t like it.”
“She went through so much… I can’t believe I let her stay behind.”
“Don’t go through this again. You can’t keep blaming yourself.”
“I was the only one who agreed with her. Everyone else insisted she either come with us, or we all stay. I gave the order.”
“No-one blames you for what happened.”
“Mosley does. Matt probably does, but has enough of his own issues to deal with. And Fisher probably just doesn’t want to question me, he’s weird like that.”
“Mosley’s an idiot. And Matt and Fisher don’t blame you, they’re reasonable people. They know you made the decision you thought was right, and they don’t blame you.”
“And what does Ally think?”
“What? She pushed you to the decision. She doesn’t blame anyone but herself. You need to get over it.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Kevin stood up. “I got Ally into that whole mess. I let Gauss and Helix almost kill you. I led us into the most one-sided battle we’ve ever been in. I should have had a plan. I should have got us out of there. It’s my fault. I failed.”
Kevin stormed out of the room.
“Wait…” Katie said, half-heartedly, but only heard the slamming of her front door.
She sighed, as she found the key to her father’s liquor cabinet. She had finished her bottle of vodka the night before, and hadn’t had a chance to buy another. She’d have to settle for scotch today.
<><><>
“Did I tell you EB wanted me to be their spokesperson?” Matt asked.
“No you didn’t. What happened?” His lover asked.
“They gave it to Aperture. Apparently I’m not cool enough anymore. Aperture’s the new ‘cool geek hero’. Their words, not mine.” Matt replied.
“Oh, that sucks. There will be more campaigns, I’m sure. You guys will be back on top of the world in no time.”
“I’m not sure we will. It’s hit the team pretty hard.”
“You guys will bounce back, you always do.”
Matt was silent.
“I’m going to get a drink. Want anything?” She asked.
“No, I’m fine thanks.” He replied.
She shrugged, before climbing out of bed, and strolling across the room, completely naked.
Matt stared at the open doorway for a moment, before his phone rang. He picked it up, and read the caller ID before answering.
“Hi Hannah… How are you?” He asked.
“How am I? We haven’t spoken in days. How do you think I am? I’m worried about you.” His girlfriend replied, from across the country.
“Oh… Sorry… Just haven’t felt much like talking.” He said. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks.”
His lover stepped back into the doorway, the sultry smile on her face turning to a frown, as Matt turned away from her, giving all his attention to Hannah. She turned back around and left the room in silence. Of course he didn’t love her, he still loved his girlfriend, he just needed someone right now. That was the best she could hope for.