When I hear this said in my head, I imagine a pathetic, “Yarrr…” moaned afterwards. Maybe he be wantin’ a lawyarrr?

I really liked this chapter. I imagine that you had a hard time keeping a straight face when you wrote this; it’s a very fun chapter to read. The banter is top-notch–especially Mr. Perfect’s grumbling about breaking character or Firestorm’s assessment that they’re nothing but cosplayers.

Keep up the good work!

Also, I get that the Brats didn’t have a perfectly easy win, yet the write up has it fall together all so seamlessly… I can only posit that either this was, all along, that subtly mentionned “plan” ["“Oh, you meant your plan. Sure.” Napalm replied, rolling his eyes."]; or else they’ve been together so very long that synchronicity has become organic. Either way, the Brats have improved – and this was a great presentation of that fact. Firestorm with the bloody solution (pun intended, of course) was kickass; Pixel + Napalm + sewers = epic win. I *heart* Pixel – she’s just so damn cute!

A terrific issue all around.

As for your difficulty defining Pixel, well…

“pix·i·lat·ed or pix·il·lat·ed (pks-ltd)
adj.
1. Behaving as if mentally unbalanced; very eccentric.
2. Whimsical; prankish.
3. Slang Intoxicated; drunk.
[From pixie.]” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pixilated)

Maybe she can join Katie on a bender? … Or maybe have an unforseen facet of her powers develop and be whisked off to the psych ward? Future rock star – drug addiction? Or she could just be a white, female version of Prince. (He wears a lot of purple…?)

The setup with Katie is “fraught-in-the-making”. Excellent.

Firestorm moonlighting as Pumpkin King is also very interesting. Not to mention: “Well, looks like my time to shine!” [...] “The Pumpkin King rides tonight!”, as well as “Just tell me who to punch.” is just too quirky/adorable/oddball/dorky-cute for words. Mosley isn’t just a stereotypical jerk without empathy or interpersonal skills? Shocker. Well done!

Eye of the Tiger? Chuckle. Added to ’Another day, another jog.’, you’re making me think of Juno’s Bleeker.

Matt’s sheer gaming-night geeky goodness brings warm fuzzies to my heart. Matt and Katie’s “way-too-morning” interaction is equally sweet.

And you put in the Huck reference? Daaaw. Yep, definitely quaint.

Cute reference from “Appy”.

Now, about the teeny-boppers:

1- If you grace TDT with a French foreign exchange student, Aperture’s diminutive will really open up possibilities for ‘happy’ puns.
2- The subtle expliciting of the team’s immaturity (relative to the Brats or Cal Richards’ team) is nicely done. The name would just be cute, if it weren’t for their ineptitude, which just exemplifies their delusions of grandeur. And the Teens’ hang-ups on their image, with 2 or 3 or the heroes’ names relating to their costumes… Good!

Which segues into questions about your process as the Author.
- Most of the time, how do you work the code-name/powers/costume trifecta? Do you think of powers and build a character around them and suit the costume to overall? Do you get a visual in your mind and try to fit the name to it?
- SO! As a general, do the names refer to the costumes, or are the costumes a reference to the code-name?

An example as an explanation: how did you “build” Balefire?

Back to the plot.

Tarantula says that his (and his teammates’) “powers aren’t natural.” Are we talking Spiderman radioactive/genetically modified bug-bite origin? (I’m assuming so, as they’re all spiders.

Power Girl states that the Brats “want to take out half the founders of the Rebellion in one fight?” Um… weren’t the founders of the Rebellion the good guys, according to Fissure? Why would you want to kill them? (I think I’m just suffering a momentary bout of stupidity and simply not getting your meaning.)

As a final note, I find it slightly odd that Cobalt is the one who shows promise, even though Aperture is the one with the less blatant, more symbolic ID. Then again, we’re led to believe him a nerd (with a certain stigma of psycho-social retardation) and it is a pretty obvious reference for geeks. (How did you stick on “Cobalt”, anyways?)

I pity the Brat Pack. I mean… Utah? I trust Ally’s exaltation was sarcastic? I mean… it’s… Utah. [shudders]

Another good issue. Like maedel pointed out it was a lot of new information to take in at once but… I’m hesitant to say anything out of fear that I might end up the pot calling the kettle black. I frequently quote that conversation between Miss Piggy and Lady Holiday from the Great Muppet Caper:

“Why are you telling me all this?”
“It’s plot exposition–it has to go somewhere.”