“Dear Lord, what happened to your car?”


    “No time to worry about that!” Justin Time practically jumped out of his destroyed car once he made it to the parking lot of the place he worked.


    Justin hadn’t had a good week. It wasn’t that anything was particularly going bad for him or anything, but nothing was going well for him either. He had been stuck in a rut, unable to think of new ideas for the next big project. That was until just recently.


    Justin ran into the factory he worked at and made his way through the halls, reaching the office. A few people were scattered around, and they jumped a bit when he barged in. “Ah, Mr. Case.” His boss said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s good to see you again. Did you make any progress on the next figure?”


    “I did!” Justin said excitedly, placing his briefcase down onto the table. He worked for Ferros-4-U, a company owned by the Hero Branch that created action figures and other collectibles for the many children of the world that looked up to superheroes. He was a lead designer. In other words, it was his job to create the next generation of toys that would be bought all over the world.


    “I’m glad to hear that you have your spark back.” The boss noted. “I know that you were having an issue trying to select a new hero to create a figure for. After all, there are hundreds of toys out there of the Enforcers, which is why I requested you to find one nobody else was creating. A new up-and-coming hero that could one day become famous. One we can claim we supported first.”


    “I found just the person, boss.” Justin said excitedly. The plump man began to open his briefcase. “I did some digging, and they’ve already made a small name for themselves. They’ve gone up against Intake and even fought off Green Wolf of all people! They’re one of the few people that can claim they’ve fought both the Bad Timers and Zoo and lived to tell the tale about it!”


    The boss’s eyes lit up a bit, and the man folded his arms. “And just who is this new hero?”


    Justin held the newly created art piece up. He had spent all night and most of the day sketching out the art for what would one day hopefully become some of their best sellers. The artwork showed a young-looking hero who was dressed in a blue outfit with a silver helmet covering their upper face. Fire was drawn around their palms and feet, and they were in the middle of a pose.


    “I give you: Cinder!”


    ***


    She woke up to a loud bang on her door. “Rise and shine, Hope! You’ve been in bed all day!” The voice of her mother shouted from outside her door. “Get up, you lazy bum.”


    Her eyes reluctantly fluttered open, and she stared at the face of the Victorian that was placed on the body pillow she was wrapped around. She sat up, feeling her muscles and bones pop slightly. With a groan, she wiped some drool from her mouth and climbed out of bed.


    It was a Saturday, so she didn’t need to worry about school or anything like that. She was glad because the thought of going to class in this state was not something she wanted to do. Last night, she had fought off a drugged-up gang member who had given her a pretty bad beating. It wasn’t quite as bad as the time she fought White Lamb. Her body still hadn’t fully recovered from that fight, but this had been a close second.


    She didn’t have Paragon to heal her, like she did after her battle with Intake. Not that she would have taken the hero’s help even if it had been offered.


    She changed out of her pajamas, getting dressed in a simple pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt that had the image of a hero called Pretty Face. When she stepped out of her room, she was instantly hit in the face by the smell of food. Her mother was cooking breakfast, or more actually lunch, as it was well past noon.


    “What are you making?” She asked, rubbing some of the tension out of her neck.


    “Whatever we have left.” Her mother said sheepishly. Jane stood in front of the oven, cooking what looked like grilled cheese sandwiches. It wasn’t much, but her stomach growled so she’d take it. “The hero Paragon said she took another look at your father.”


    She froze mid-bite of her sandwich. “Did she now?” She already knew the results.


    “She still wasn’t able to cure it.” Her mother winced. “But she said she’d try again. I think she is really giving it her best effort.”


    “Well, her best isn’t good enough.” She muttered.


    When she was younger, she used to wonder why her family was so poor. Her mother worked so much, yet they never seemed to keep any of the money for very long. They had Mr. Moore, Armin’s dad, who would help them out from time to time, but even that wasn’t enough. It was all because of that damn virus. It was what ruined everything. All from a single villain...


    Dad didn’t have enough time to wait on that girl to get better. She didn’t know how much time he had left.


    “How’s the work life treating you?” Her mother asked awkwardly.


    “Fine. I guess.” She lazily shrugged.


    For a moment she couldn’t help but think back to after the fight with the gang had ended. That black car had pulled up and seemingly caused Myth a lot of distress. Her boss had talked to whoever was in the car; all she learned was that it was some woman named Laps. Myth hadn’t wanted to talk about it and ended their patrol there for the night.


    She’d have to remember to ask Lois about it. Armin had no idea who Laps was, but maybe Lois would. Lois struck her as the kind of person who knew more than they should. Just like Mr. Larison.


    They finished eating, and she helped her mother clean the dishes. It wasn’t often that her mom had days off, so it was nice. They washed plates in silence and scrubbed away. Finally, her mother broke the silence once more.


    “Is everything okay, Hope?”


    “Yeah? Why wouldn’t it be?” She asked. Had her mother noticed her limping?


    “I just feel like you’ve been acting different recently.” Her mother hummed. “You’ve been smiling more and more.”


    “Have I?” She reached up and felt her face, trying to find laugh lines.


    Her mother giggled a bit. “Ever since I found out you’ve made friends other than Armin, I noticed the change. I’m glad.” Her mother patted her on the head. “Keep being happy.”


    She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and sheepishly shrugged. “I’ll try?”


    She felt a vibration go through her pocket, and she pulled out her phone. Her mother seemed startled by it. “When did you get a new phone?” The woman asked.


    “A friend gave it to me.” She explained opening it up. “She said I could have it.”


    “Ooh? A friend, huh?” Her mother rubbed her chin, giving a sly grin. “And is this the same girl that you snuck out of the house to go see? Way to go, Hope; she must be loaded!”


    “It baffles me how you and Armin can come to the wrong conclusion every time.” She said flatly. She had gotten a text from Mr. Larison. It read simply as ‘meet at junkyard on beach’. She sent a thumbs up to the man. “I got to go, mom. Some friends are wanting to hang out.”


    “Oh yeah! I’m sure!” Her mother teased. “Don’t take anything that will knock you out-”


    “It’s not even three p.m. yet, mom. I’m not going to party.” She huffed and left her house.


    Once she was out of the house, she began to jog toward the destination. She had been trying to run every day. While her body might have been far stronger and faster than a normal human’s, and she had more than normal stamina, she could still get tired. She nearly passed out every time she used her fire attacks after all, so getting some training in and building up stamina to avoid that would be nice.


    She was following Mr. Larison’s advice and running every day as a way to increase her stamina and get more in shape. Every time she gained a bit more muscle, her strength would skyrocket. Running to the junkyard would be a good way to stay in shape.


    “Well, well, well, look who it is!” She came to a sliding stop as she heard a familiar voice. She turned just in time to feel a pair of arms wrap around her as someone pulled her in for a tight hug. “What are the chances we’d run into you again? This must be fate or something, right?”


    “H- Huh?” She managed to pull her face out of the cleavage of the girl who was hugging her and looked up, finding that she was now in the arms of a bubbly blonde girl. “Am I dreaming-” She shook her head, wiping the thoughts away. "Wait, who are you!”


    The blonde girl let go of her and pouted. “Aw. You don’t remember me or my sister after you totally helped us out?”


    “Sister?” That was when she noticed a second person standing next to the blonde girl. It was a girl her age with reddish brown hair, the same color as Mr. Larison, holding a bird cage. It suddenly clicked in her head who these two people were. They were the very same tourists she had helped out a bit ago. “Wait! Actually, I do remember you guys.”


    Lily and Sky were their names, if she remembered correctly. The blonde girl, Lily, smiled and placed their hand on Sky’s shoulder. “We’re looking for the train station. Any idea where it’s at?”


    “Train station?” Oleander didn’t have any trains. At least not anymore. There used to be a subway station, but that was underground and had been closed off since it found itself turned into a base by several different villain groups. “Are you talking about the subway station?”


    “That’s the one.” Sky said quietly. The girl was still fidgeting and kept her gaze lowered. “We’re a little lost.”


    She rubbed the back of her head. “The only one I know of is on Spider Street. It’s toward this museum that was closed down. I wouldn’t recommend it though.” Spider Street was pretty bad after all.


    “Spider Street.” Lily hummed and wrapped her arm around Sky, dragging the girl. “Okay then! That is where we shall go!”


    “Wait!” She called out. “It’s dangerous-”


    She stopped talking when the red-haired girl lifted their hand up. “It’s fine, Ms. We can handle ourselves pretty well.”


    “It’s so cute you’re worried.” Lily winked at her, and she blushed a bit, looking away. “My sister is right, though. I can keep us safe. Thanks again, stranger! Hopefully destiny will ensure we meet again!”


    “Yeah… Destiny…” She stood there a little dumbfounded as the girls left. Seriously, what were the chances of running into them again? That was almost downright spooky. And what did they want with the subway station? She debated running after them. Spider Street wasn’t a safe place for a couple of girls after all. Lily’s words rang in her ear, though. Were they Supers? “Whatever.” She slapped at her face, clearing it of the thoughts and erasing the smell of Lily’s scent out of her mind. “I’m going to be late at this rate.”


    It didn’t take her long to arrive at the junkyard. It was the same one she used with Armin and Kyle. She wondered if her childhood friend had told Mr. Larison about it. When she entered, she ducked and weaved between the piles of junk and soon enough found Mr. Larison near the water’s edge, along with Armin and Lois, who looked like they had both just arrived.


    None of them were dressed in their costumes; all were wearing normal civilian clothes. Mr. Larison wore a white buttoned-up shirt and black pants. He didn’t face them, keeping his back toward them as he felt the wind on his skin and hair.


    “He was like that before I got here.” Armin whispered to her. “And I’ve been here for ten minutes now.”


    “Mr. Larison?” She called out.


    The red-haired man slowly opened his eyes and turned to them, folding his arms. “You’re all late.”


    “You sent us that text twenty minutes ago, though?” Lois pointed out.


    “And that’s twenty minutes too long it took for you all to get here.” Mr. Larison shrugged. “What if this had been an emergency?”


    “Not all of us have inhuman speed like you, you know.” Lois pointed out, letting out a giggle.


    The man nodded. “Myth is busy today, so I’ll be in charge. I’ve decided we’re going to pick up where we left off and do some training.” He called out. She remembered when they first joined, and he had stated he wouldn’t be taking over as the second in command. Those had been good days.


    “Myth knows you’re doing this, right?” She asked.


    "Also, is it really safe for us to use our powers here?” Armin asked, looking around. “I mean, Hope and I do it all the time, but that’s only to lift weights. If we all start really using our powers, it could cause some serious noise and get people to look our way. I didn’t bring a suit either.”Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Jack lifted a finger, and a flicker of gold blasted out. It stretched out across the field they were in and covered half the junkyard. It was just like what Green Wolf had done, forming into a golden barrier. She remembered he had done something like this also in the hospital after the fight with Intake.


    “I put up a barrier.” The man explained. “It’ll silence us and stop us from being seen.”


    "Well, there goes my usefulness on the team.” Lois said, giggling. “You can just put up something like this?”


    “It only works on normal humans.” Jack shrugged. “It isn’t perfect either. Someone could, in theory, step inside of it, as it won’t block them out. It’s not true invisibility like you have, Whisper.”


    “How are you even able to do something like this?” Armin asked in shock. “I thought you were just strong and able to shoot lasers out.”


    “I’m an energy user.” Jack explained with a sigh. “Powers can come in a lot of forms. You and the kid are both elemental users. In your case, ice, and in hers, fire. Green Wolf, the Victorian, and myself are all energy users. Green Wolf can control and absorb kinetic energy, but he isn’t able to create his own form of energy, nor can he control other forms of energy. The Victorian can create and control light energy, which she can use to form weapons, fly, or heal with.”


    “So what’s your energy?” She asked. She had never actually gotten a full explanation of how Battery’s powers work.


    “My energy is Imaginary energy.” The man said, holding up his finger and causing a ball of golden light to appear at the end of it. “I can’t absorb energy like Green Wolf, and I can’t control outside energy like the Victorian, but I am able to create this energy within my body and build it up. It multiplies, growing stronger within me. The more I have, the faster and stronger I get, and the more my heart beats. This energy can then be transformed into other types of energy. I can make it kinetic to blast you full of holes, explosive to blow you up, electric to shock you, or light to heal the same way the Victorian does. I can only control the energy that I create, though. For example, I can’t control all kinetic energy like Green Wolf can; I can only control mine. This power mainly is used to create and destroy.”


    “Why’s it all golden though?” Lois questioned. “It looks a lot like the Victorian’s, doesn’t it?”


    “Why do you guys ask so many damn questions?” The older man rubbed his forehead. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get to work, okay?”


    “What sort of training are we going to be doing?” She asked.


    Mr. Larison looked at her and gestured for her to step closer. She nervously walked forward, standing next to him. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Can you swim?” He asked.


    “Yeah? Why-”


    She let out a squeak of fear as, with one arm, the man picked her up and swung her around. This was the second time that he threw her. He let go and sent her flying forward at fast speeds toward the water. Right before she hit it, he flicked his other hand out and fired out a wave of golden light. It took shape, forming a strange bowl of sorts in the water, which rose up, filling to the top. The bowl was as big as a bus and so deep it might as well have been a pool. She crashed into the top of it and sank into the water.


    Seconds later, she poked her head out and glared at the man who had a smirk on his lips. “What was that for?” She demanded. Her clothes were soaked now. The bowl rested on the surface of the water, floating, and her feet weren’t able to properly touch the bottom, so she was forced to swim a bit.


    Mr. Larison held up two phones, and she realized it was the one he and Lois had given her. She felt her pockets and was relieved that they weren’t there. He had snatched them away from her before tossing her into the water. “I told you before, but your body is still adjusting to the fact that it’s a Super.” The older man explained. “Most people get their powers when they’re kids.”


    “That’s true.” Armin hummed. “I got mine around the time I was ten.”


    “You had superpowers for that long and didn’t tell me!” She asked a little hurt.


    "Well, my dad sort of made me promise not to tell.” The boy admitted. “He also has powers, you know. My family is a generation of Supers, though none ever thought about being a hero before me. We’re all pretty cool, pun intended, because we are descendents of a previous Lord of the Sea and Depths. It was like my great, great, times ten grandpa or something!” The boy bragged.


    “For most people, they have a lot of time to build up and get used to their powers.” Jack stated. “Their bodies grow accustomed to the ability and adapt to it the more they use it. You’ve had your power for less than a year, though. That means if we want you to get used to your power, we’ll need to do it fast.”


    “And that’s why you put me in this thing?” She asked.


    “That’s right.” The man gave a grin. “Go ahead and start to use your fire, but don’t spit it out. Focus on building up your body heat.”


    She nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on her ability. The pain in her stomach flared up for a bit, and a small puff of smoke escaped her lips as she felt herself become hot. The water around her began to bubble, and then steam started to rapidly lift off of it, surrounding her face. It was quickly becoming a very hot bath that she was in. “W- What now?” She asked.


    “Now you take a bath.” The man turned his back on her. “Stay tight in there for about an hour. Keep raising the heat up as much as you can and see how long you can tough it out for. The more you use your fire and the more your body is exposed to heat, the faster it’ll grow used to it.”


    “What if my clothes melt?”


    “You’re an elemental user.” The man shrugged casually. “Like energy users, you guys can usually control, absorb, or create your element. See if you can control the heat and make it burn you less.”


    “How do I do that!”


    “I dunno, I don’t have elemental powers.”


    “Mr. Larison!”


    Armin laughed at her watching as the water was brought up to a boiling point. Despite how hot it was, though, she wasn’t really getting burned all that badly. It felt sort of like taking a really hot bath where it stung, but she doubted she’d actually get burned. She tried to focus on making the heat get even hotter only to let out a squeak when her shirt began to get holes burned into it, causing her to drop beneath the water.


    Armin’s laughter only grew, but it stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Mr. Larison staring down at him. “Ah shit, I’m next, aren’t I?”


    “I heard you had an issue getting your snow to turn into ice.”


    “Y- Yeah?”


    “Can you swim?”


    And just like that, Armin found himself in a second bowl next to her, his skin slowly turning blue and his clothing cracking as he piled as much snow and cold air into his water in an effort to freeze it.


    That left just Lois. The blonde girl smiled, and her eyes seemed to twinkle as she stared back at Mr. Larison. “So what do you have for me?”


    “I have the feeling you already know.” Jack sighed and flexed his arms. Then, in an instant, he blasted forward and tossed out a strong punch toward Lois, only for the girl to dodge it at the last second. Lois gave a grin, and Jack entered a boxing stance.


    It was some sort of sparring match. Jack had turned his light off and wasn’t seemingly being enhanced that much, only having the strength of a normal human. Out of all of them, Lois was by far the most well fit, even more so than someone like Myth. The girl had several abs and wore a tank top and blue jeans. Without any enhanced stats, the two began to go back and forth in some sort of weird dance of attacks.


    She was a little jealous if she was being honest. She knew a bit about fighting from the time she and Armin were kids and took a few lessons, but what Lois showed off was insane. The girl was almost like some sort of martial arts master, weaving in and out of Mr. Larison’s strikes with ease and striking out with her legs when even the smallest opening appeared, kicking the older man.


    Jack wasn’t bad himself. He’d likely have won the fight instantly if he were to use his powers even a little bit, but even with no strength and normal human speed, he was moving fast and throwing out punch after punch. No matter how much he was hit, he didn’t flinch and just kept coming, throwing out punches able to dent the metal walls of the scrap, and that was all without his power.


    Lois flipped back and gracefully twirled around, ramming a knee into Jack’s face only for him to use the force of the attack to headbutt the limb. Bruises, broken bones, even stab wounds—it seemed like none of it was enough to slow the man down. She was reminded of how many times he had been sliced open and gutted in the fight with Green Wolf yet kept marching forward. It was hard to imagine the man as being human.


    Lois came to a stop a few meters away, panting softly. The fight had gone on for long, and she hadn’t even been properly hit, yet her hands and feet were stinging from how much they had hit the giant of a man in front of her. “Is this enough?” She asked.


    Jack just let out a grunt. “You’re pretty quick on your feet.” He noted. “Is that your other power?”


    “You know that I have more than one power?” The girl asked, giggling.


    “It’d be weird if you didn’t. After all, your parents had a lot of different powers.” The girl’s eyes flashed for a bit, and she turned away, grumbling.


    “How do you even know half this stuff?” Lois mumbled, kicking a can.


    “Just go do some laps. There really isn’t much I can do for you if I’m being honest.” Jack shrugged. “You’re already strong.”


    Lois nodded and began to run around the beach doing loops. While the girl did that, Jack turned to look back at her and Armin. She hadn’t even realized it yet, but an hour had come and gone. With a flick of his hand, the bowl vanished, and she and Armin dropped down to the ocean. Instantly a mini explosion went off as boiling, and ice-cold water merged with the ocean.


    Her and Armin crawled onto the beach, grateful that it was over. She looked down at her hands and was shocked to see that her skin was only a little red. That water would have killed a normal person. It had started off as almost too hot and had only gotten worse the longer she was in it, yet somehow she was fine. Her heat resistance had simply grown faster than it could burn her. She wondered if the next step would be taking a dip in lava.


    “Still no ice!” Armin grumbled. The boy had his hands out and was trying to make the area around him cold enough to freeze the air. Frost would grow across the ground and his flesh, but it wouldn’t stay for long, and instead drops of snow would spew out. “What am I doing wrong? I can get it crazy cold, but I still can’t make enough ice to use it. Ice is just slightly harder snow, right?”


    “I don’t know.” She murmured, looking down at her hands. She spat a small ember of fire, which landed in her hand. The fire didn’t go out, and it didn’t burn either. It stayed in her palm, and she played with it for a bit, allowing it to move between her fingers, the thing almost seeming alive and solid as it followed her. “Wicked.” She punched her fist into her open palm and made up her mind. "Alright, Mr. Larison! Let’s fight!”


    “What?” Everyone stopped what they were doing and all turned to her. Jack raised an eyebrow at her, and her smile only grew.


    She walked past the man and grabbed a large metal table and slammed it down in front of the man and placed her hand on it. “You kept pushing us this far, but I want to know how strong you are also. Let’s see who has more super strength!”


    “That’s not how my powers work, you know.” The man snorted. “I picked the name Battery for a reason. Unlike you or Snowdawn, my strength constantly rises and gets higher-”


    “Sounds like you’re a chicken.”


    Jack rolled his sleeve up and placed his arm on the table, a burst of golden lightning blasting out of him. “I’m going to destroy you, kid.”


    “You can try. But when I win, I’m going to start calling you by your first name. Jack!”


    “You can do that now; I literally don’t care what you call me.” The man said flatly.


    “Nope! Only after I beat you!”


    The man shook his head, and with a grin, she took his hand. Both Armin and Lois stopped whatever they had been doing and watched the amusing sight. Instantly, she felt her strength flare up. She had picked up two different cars, had shattered a wall, and shook the ground with one punch. She was strong. Super strong. And all that strength began to be pushed into Mr. Larison’s arm. She gritted her teeth and began to slowly move his arm.


    Jack’s other hand gripped the table as he tried to get some leverage. The golden lightning around him compressed around his arm, crackling out wildly, and she felt every second that this went on, for he was getting stronger. It was getting harder and harder to shove his hand down. Steadily, he began to move her arm back.


    She winced and felt the hair on her arm stand up as the man began to push her back. His strength was doubling every second. First it was that of a normal human, then higher, then a lot higher, then it was half of hers, then it was exactly as strong as hers, then it was surpassing her. Faster and faster, stronger and stronger, he was building up power. She didn’t give up, though. She gritted her teeth and felt that fire in her stomach return.


    Jack’s eyes went wide for a bit as he saw something that Lois and Armin didn’t. Unknown to Hope, her eyes were starting to flicker with a fiery red light. Just as when she used her power on Red Ape or White Lamb for the first time, her power was skyrocketing. It wasn’t just her body''s fire resistance that was growing fast; it was everything. This short exchange was making her stronger. Her muscles were starting to overflow with more strength, and she began to slam Jack’s hand down.


    It was all over in an instant.


    A flare of blue suddenly took form in the golden aura around Jack. This time she felt a powerful burning sensation in her arm. One that went far beyond how hot the water had been. The blue only shimmered for a moment, but in that single instance, Jack’s power went from doubling to being multiplied by a hundredfold.


    She was literally lifted off her feet and slammed through the table, hitting the ground so hard the red in her eyes faded and the beach shook, large piles of trash crashing down around them. The man let go of her instantly, and she grabbed her smoking arm, which had turned a nasty red from how hot the air around them had gotten. The blue in Jack’s aura was gone, and soon the light faded out.


    “Are you okay, kid?” The man asked in concern. “I didn’t mean for my power to jump that high. I got carried away.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she gave a sly smile.


    “Are you kidding me? That was so cool! You’re way stronger than I thought you were, Mr. Larison! How did you do that!”


    The red-haired man let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she wasn’t hurt. He stood up and turned away. “Do what?” The man lazily shrugged. “All I did was beat a child at arm wrestling. It’s not that impressive.”


    ***


    “How have you been, Myth?”


    Myth took a sip of the tea and let out a satisfied sigh. “I’ve been well, Mr. Grove; thank you. And might I say, this tea is as amazing as ever, sir.”


    Mayor Grove was a man that most people didn’t truly understand. He was quiet and not very talkative. Despite that, though, the man had managed to win the election and become the mayor of Oleander City. A feat most people couldn’t boast of. He also held the honor of claiming he was friends with Myth.


    “Tell me, friend, why did you come here?” The mayor asked.


    Myth let out a tired sigh. “It’s the Hero Branch. They found out I was building a team faster than I thought they would.”


    He was at the mayor’s manor, inside of the man’s dining hall. It was wide and filled with many pictures of different hero teams from all over the world. The mayor himself wore a simple suit and had his black hair combed back. The man tapped their fingers on the table as Myth spoke. “We always knew this day would come. The reason I had to gift you land and fund your little team was because the Hero Branch refused to trust you.”


    “I can’t blame them.” Myth muttered. “After what I did two years ago... my father...”


    The mayor stood up slowly and moved to his wall of pictures. One of the old Sub Enforcers teams, led by Red Iron. In the back, a young-looking Myth stood awkwardly next to a young Money Tree. “You saved my life two years ago. To hell with what the Hero Branch thinks. You’re one of the good ones, Myth. That’s why I believe in you and your team.”


    “With Laps on our trail, I don’t know how much longer my team will last, though.” Myth sighed. “I don’t even know how that woman figured out I was starting a team in the first place. What could have possibly gained her interest?”


    “Maybe it’s one of the new members you have on your team.” The mayor hummed. “After all, you did tell me you picked up two new members, did you not?”


    Myth frowned. “So what?”


    “Do you truly know who they are? After all, they could be hiding secrets.” Mayor Grove let out a low chuckle. “You never know what someone will truly hide about themselves, after all.”


    Myth rubbed his chin as instantly the face of Jack Larison came to his mind. That golden light and power that went far beyond anything a normal Super should have. “It’s true. Maybe there is more I should know about my fellow teammates.”


    Meanwhile, back at the junkyard, she threw her arms behind her head and began to walk back home. Mr. Larison had said that training for the night was over. It was about time as well as the sun was starting to set. She knew her mom would likely get the wrong idea, and she’d have to explain that she wasn’t out partying. Knowing the woman, her mother would think she was hooking up with someone.


    Armin, Lois, and Mr. Larison had all walked their separate ways, leaving her alone once more. She hadn’t been able to beat the man in terms of strength. He was just too strong. That image of the flashing blue light also wouldn’t leave her mind. It had been pretty in a strange way.


    “I need to get stronger.” She stated, looking down at her hand once more. She felt her power flare up a bit. Sometimes it seemed like she would suddenly burst with strength and get way stronger than she was previously. There was still so much she didn’t get about her powers. “I’ll just work twice as hard until I’m sure I’m able to beat him next time!” She announced.


    She suddenly stopped, though, when her powers went off on their own. Her enhanced senses were seemingly warning her of something. Telling her there was danger.


    It was a deep rumbling noise. The sound of an explosion going off.


    Then the entire street began to shake.