A Team Would Be Nice

Cinder steadied her arms, raising them up like a shield. She didn't know much about fighting, but she could tell just from one glance that Green Wolf was far scarier than anything she had seen before.

Battery, on the other hand, was slack. His arms were at his side, the only sign he was ready for combat, a faint golden glow slowly pouring from beneath his skin already.

"Who are they?" White Lamb asked, cocking her head to the side.

Green Wolf took a step forward, and it took all her willpower to not take one back. "These two? Oh, they're going to be my newest entertainment." A green knife made up of that strange energy appeared in his hands, and he flicked it into the air, letting it spin before catching it. "Right, you two."

She tried to say something but found her throat had locked up. "Let him go." Battery said, nodding towards the man who was tied up. "Also, turn yourself in."

"Nah."

"Then we'll use force." Battery threatened.

"That's the plan." Green Wolf snickered.

She didn't like him. He was strong. Almost everyone knew that. At such a young age, he had managed to take over part of the city and swallow up several of the stronger groups. He was only in his twenties and already people considered him to be the next Lucifer, or Emperor. A villain that if you were to kill him, most people would throw you a party. it all came from his superpower.

An absorber, able to take in energy and twist it into bladed weapons. You could punch him, but the kinetic force would vanish instantly, and he'd then have a long sword he could split you in two with. Rumor was this power even let him survive an attack from the Victorian with only a light paper cut.

"Why are you doing this." She finally managed to speak. She kept her arms up at all times ready to block as the man's head snapped towards her. "You're the same as Red Ape."

"I'm the same as that loser?" The bad guy sounded pretty offended being compared to the madman.

"Yeah." She nodded gripping her hand into a fist. "You're hurting someone for no reason. You kill people for no reason. I don't get it. You have powers like me. Why would you ever decide to not use them to help people. What do you get out of being a villain."

The man seemed to pause for a moment. He actually pondered the question and finally found his answer letting out a hum. "It's fucking fun."

"Same answer as Red Ape. You really are no better than he is. We beat him, and we'll beat you too." She declared.

"Lamb, is there anyone else around us?" Green Wolf asked.

"Nowhere near our bubble." White Lamb said, slumping down.

"Good." Green Wolf looked down at a wristwatch he wore. "Then I'll give you both let's say five minutes of my time. That sounds fair, right?" Whether they agreed or not, it didn't matter as a second later the man was already throwing a knife at them.

Battery and Cinder separated, going to the other side of the room. The knife stabbed the back wall and lit up, exploding with a bright green burst of fire. "They explode-" She was cut off when he was on her in an instant, swinging a sword that appeared in his hand. She raised her arms up in an effort to block it, only to realize how bad of an idea that was too late.

Battery fired a golden beam into her stomach that threw her back before the blade could cut into her flesh. She gasped, feeling as if a taser danced through her skin. "His blades can cut through nearly anything. Don't bother blocking, just dodge!" Battery yelled at her.

"Noted." She groaned, quickly rolling away as the villain slammed down with a slash aimed at her neck. She kicked at his legs as hard as she could, but the attack did nothing as soon as she made contact with him. She managed to scoot back and suck in her gut as she slashed at her, cutting through part of her jacket but thankfully missing her flesh.

So much for it being knife-proof, Kyle wasn't going to be so happy about that.

The villain twirled the sword, and even from beneath his mask, she knew he was smirking as he went to bring it down, only for another beam of gold to smash into his back, causing him to stumble. She took her chance and shoved him with all her strength. It didn't do much, but he was pushed a little further away and forced to block another strike from Battery with his sword.

Green Wolf threw a knife at Battery, but the hero blasted it out of the air, the golden energy coursing through his body. Golden electricity seemed to almost dance on his hands and feet. Jack brought the fight to the villain, practically gliding across the floor in a second and reaching the man. Green met Gold as the villain blocked a punch with his sword, unable to cut through Jack as he had everyone he ever fought up till now.

"Ah." The villain seemed happy as he realized something. "Your energy can cancel mine out? Hey, by any chance, are you the son of-"

Cinder dived into the action, grabbing the man by his elbow. He might be immune to her punches, but she could still use her strength in another way. She spun and lifted him off of the ground and then let go, sending him hurling through the air, where he crashed into the wall skull first. White Lamb giggled as Green Wolf slumped down awkwardly from the throw.

"Thanks for the save." Battery muttered. He was rubbing at his left hand, the one that he had punched with, which was smoking, and she couldn't help but wonder how his heart was doing.

"Be honest, can we win this?" She asked quietly. Green Wolf was slowly standing back up, dusting himself off. The man wasn't even slightly hurt.

"Sure. If we're lucky, he hasn't really harmed us yet after all." Battery noted.

"Well, if you're going to be that way." Green Wolf chuckled. "I'll stop holding back." He threw the knife through the air once more, which Hope dodged just like the last, letting it soar past her head. Then he was gone. Her eyes never left him. One second, he stood there, and then the next, he was gone. The spot he had been standing at now rested the knife that he had just thrown, almost as if he had swapped with it.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she was forced to turn around, meeting the cartoon eyes of his goofy mask; his knife met her before she could even blink. She stared at him and then looked down at where his knife was buried in her stomach. He pulled it out, and nothing happened. It just had a handle. No blade. She hadn't been stabbed. Instead, he had just proved how easy it would have been for him to kill her.

Battery didn't seem to notice she had been almost stabbed, too focused on the fact that another knife was hurled at him. He went to blast it, but suddenly, the spot where the knife had been shimmered, and Green Wolf appeared there, the golden blast hitting him in the chest and bouncing off. The bad guy swung down with his blade and tried to split the hero in half.

Battery's entire body ignited with a golden sheen, and the sword was forced to stop, only slightly cutting into the hero's shoulder. Battery grunted and focused the gold into his hand to sucker punch Green Wolf in the gut. Both of them were affecting the other's energy, allowing attacks that shouldn't hit to do so and attacks that would be deadly to be weakened. When two energy manipulators got into a fight, it always came down to who was more skilled.

"Battery." She called out, rushing forward, and already Green Wolf was gone, swapping with another of his knives. He appeared behind her again, and his sword pressed to her throat. She stood there frozen.

"Now, now, I'm playing with him. Wait your turn."

"Fight me instead!"

"When I'm done with him." He promised, and he was gone. Battery tried to stand, but a knife from behind suddenly buried its way in his calf, and he dropped to a knee, hissing in pain. Green Wolf smashed his sword into his right side, and as he turned to punch him, another knife was stabbed into his left flank, the villain swapping after every attack.

"I said fight me!" She screamed, jumped after the man when he reappeared and even managed to get a punch off on him. Sadly, that punch did literally nothing. "Leave him alone!"

This time, it wasn't a fake knife. The pain seemed to cut off whatever thought she had going as she stared down at her stomach as he pulled the blade out and red followed. She tried not to fall to her knees and gasped, covering the stab wound. Green Wolf stared at her silently, cocking his head to the side.

"Kid?!" Battery was cut off, another knife burying itself in his shoulder. Green Wolf didn't even bother to throw this one. It had simply appeared in the air and flown forward. Cinder was understanding why people feared the man now. He could turn any kinetic energy into a bladed weapon, control those weapons, and even swap places with them. However, teleporters tended to have a weakness. If someone was touching them, they usually couldn't use their power.

Battery gave a slight grin. The pain in his chest began to beat faster, but he ignored it, letting more of his golden energy flow through him. "You said you wanted to fight me, then let's fight."

He rocketed forward with inhuman speeds, lightning gushing from his feet, each step leaving a crack in the floor. He reached the villain, and the man vanished, but that was fine. He kept going, dodging the knife that came from his right, and he reached the wall, hitting it and twisting his body; he bounced off of it and back towards the villain. The man teleported again and again; Battery hit the wall and bounced back faster, and faster, and faster, and faster.

He suddenly took a hard right as Green Wolf vanished and stretched his hand out, wrapping his fingers around the villain's throat and smashing him into the wall with all his force. The force instantly faded, causing no damage to the man or the building, but that was fine. He had him by the throat now.

"Absorber or not, you need air." Battery grunted. He ignored the stab he took from the villain. "You can kill me if you want. I've covered my nerves in so much energy that even if I die my grip won't go. Let's see how long you can hold your breath, big guy." Another gut stab, and then another, and he couldn't help but wince, but he didn't let go, tightening his grip.

Green Wolf let out his first gasp. Off to the side, White Lamb watched in amusement. "Hey, the Victorian tried to do something similar to you right? She realized you couldn't teleport when someone was holding you and tried to carry you into outer space to kill you. How did you get out of that, again?"

That was all Green Wolf needed. He threw his arm out, throwing a knife that danced through the air towards the downed Cinder. Battery let go and dove towards the girl grabbing the blade out of the air. As he did, the villain appeared above him and came crashing down, stabbing his sword into Battery's back and impaling him to the floor.

"And that's that." Green Wolf was lifted off the ground as Cinder let out a yell and crashed into him. Her arms wrapped around him, unable to hurt him, and he readied himself to be thrown, only to get worried when her eyes began to glow, and what looked like smoke started to seep from her helmet. "Whoa! Wait a second, let's talk."

Cinder let out a scream so loud that if not for White Lamb's power, the entire city would have heard it. It was like the roar of a dragon as she used the same power she had shown in her battle with Red Ape. A beam of flame blasted from her mouth! More like a laser than a stream of fire, it washed over Green Wolf, scorching the stone around him and superheating the air. White Lamb dove down, turning the table over as she stared at the display with wide, unblinking eyes.

Green Wolf's body was yanked out of Cinder's arms, and he was sent high into the air from the attack, screaming his lungs out as he was blasted through the roof of the warehouse.

When the fire finally stopped flowing from her mouth, and the dust settled, she stood there, shocked by the fact that she was okay. Last time, her throat had felt like it was melting. Her stomach ached a little, but that was likely from the stab wound. The attack had taken a toll on her, but for the most part she was fine. She never even noticed that the entire time, during the attack, the helmet Mr. Larison had gifted her had been glowing with a faint blue light.

She breathed heavily, her lungs aching, but still alive. Slowly White Lamb poked her head up from the table she had used as a makeshift shield. "That was so cool! My power had to work double time to keep it all silenced to the outside world! Hey, want to join our team?" She asked innocently.

"You're next." Cinder groaned. She almost fell to the floor, grabbing at her stab wound. She went to take a step but stopped when something came crashing from above. "That ruined my jacket!" Her eyes were wide, but slowly she turned around. Green Wolf had landed on his feet, and besides the fact that the coat of his suit had melted into his white dress shirt, the man was fine, putting out a simple shoulder fire. "Well, that was surprising." The Villian hummed. "I thought the guy was the big threat." He shook his head. "Whatever."

Battery shoulder slammed him, having ripped the sword out, and he burst with a bright golden blast that caused Green Wolf to hit the ground rolling. Then vanishing he once again stood in the corner of the room holding his knives. He stalked low to the ground, watching them like a predator waiting to strike.

"You okay?" Battery whispered to her.

"He freaking stabbed me." She whined, rubbing at her gut.

"Yeah, well, he stabbed me a bunch, too, don't be such a big baby."

"I'm not. Have we even hurt him?" She groaned.

"Maybe a little." She felt his healing glow go through her, and as she stared at her stomach she watched as the wound closed, though it would leave a nasty scar.

"Okay, I think I have a plan."

"Gonna blast him again?" Battery asked.

"No." She shook her head. It might not have downed her, but that single use had given her a migraine. Next time she'd be knocked out for sure. "But I think I have a good plan. Think you can distract him?"

A knife buried itself in Battery's other shoulder, and the man just sighed, pulling it out. It was then she noticed he really didn't bleed. She knew he had blood; he had gotten a nosebleed before, yet all the stab wounds simply didn't gush blood. She wondered if he was healing himself and what that was doing to his heart, but she didn't ask.

Battery rocketed forward, his feet crackling with lightning again as he threw a punch toward Green Wolf. The villain didn't even teleport, choosing instead to lazily dodge it. He tried to stab the man again, but Battery coated himself in his golden aura, the knife bouncing off. The villain created a sword and blocked a punch from the hero, spinning with the blow to slam the blade's edge against the man's leg. It was like a crowbar rather than a claymore, and it caused Battery to drop to his knees with a grunt.

He went to bring the weapon down again but stopped when he saw blood gushing from the man's nose and the fact the guy was gripping his arm. He couldn't help but snort. "Holy shit, are you having a heart attack while we're fighting? Am I so badass I made your heart give out?"

"Sorry. It gets that way when I'm around men trying to overcompensate for their tiny peckers." Battery grunted, only to be smashed in the face by an even bigger sword. "See what I mean?" He collapsed on the ground gasping.

Green Wolf nudged the man with his foot, but the hero didn't respond. "Well, you're clearly having a moment." He shrugged and stepped by, only for Battery to kick up with his golden leg right into his junk. He gasped a little and stumbled, only absorbing most of that energy, thanks to the hero's weird powers.

"Knew it was small."

"You'll die for that!"

And then a loud scream echoed out. Green Wolf snapped his head over just in time to see Cinder ram her fist into the face of White Lamb. The girl was just a regular human in terms of physical attributes, so she was unconscious before she even hit the wall. Instantly, the sound of loud sirens from outside hit their ears, and Cinder took a deep breath.

"Oh, don't you freaking dare!"

Green Wolf wasn't fast enough. "Help!" She screamed, using all her super strength in her lungs to really scream it, the noise rippling out, pushing away the nearby dust and even shattering a nearby window.

She, however, made one little mistake. Her ears nearly exploded from the force of the yell, her enhanced senses not doing her any favors for this. All noise cut out, and she could even feel blood running down part of her face as Green Wolf jumped towards her. He luckily never made it.

The roof was blown to bits instantly, water crashing down in waves, and the gravity in the room seemed to double, triple, and got so bad it forced them all to kneel. Three figures floated down.

Cinder was glad she was wearing a helmet cause her eyes were shining with joy when Ocean Empress, followed by Poseidon, carrying Paragon, came down slowly. She struggled to speak, hearing nothing but a loud ringing. "We- We're heroes! Was the ones to call cops." The ringing in her head got worse, but she did her best to point at Mr. Larison.

She could see the three heroes all look at each other and discuss something, and then the gravity seemed to let up on her and Mr. Larison. As for Green Wolf, his mask covered his mouth, so she could tell he was screaming something, though she couldn't tell. She looked up when Mr. Larison placed his hand on her shoulder, struggling to stand and still clutching at his heart. He said something, and she had to shake her head and point at her ears.

Frowning, Battery let some of the golden glow seep out, and she winced as a loud pop went off in her ears, and the sound came blasting back. "I asked if you were alright?"

"I am not. Yelling with enhanced lungs is something I shall never do again."

Ocean Empress landed softly on the floor her hair swirling around. She glanced at the young female hero, then the older male hero, who collapsed and grabbed his heart. Then finally, in the center of the room at the man who was chained to the chair. "You two shouldn't have fought this villain. You should have gotten the hostage out of there as soon as possible."

"He teleports." Battery grunted just in time for Green Wolf to vanish from where he was standing.

He appeared next to White Lamb and grabbed the girl. "Warp us home." He called out, and before they could even move, he and White Lamb suddenly vanished.

"Damn it!" All the girls screamed while Ocean Empress and Battery just sighed.

"Since when can he teleport," Paragon muttered. She stopped when her sister nudged her, and she turned to stare at the new hero, who was helping the man off the floor. "Right. Destiny, can you heal them?"

"No." Paragon and her family seemed taken aback when the red hero spoke. He was covered in stab wounds, which weren't bleeding all that bad, but he was breathing heavily and had to be practically carried by the young girl.

"What do you mean, no?" Paragon snapped, and even the other new hero seemed confused.

"I mean, no. My name is Battery. This is Cinder. We're new heroes, and I am using my right to refuse service. Legally speaking, a person has the ability to turn down assistance from a doctor, and this is no different. I don't want your healing."

"Dude you're covered in holes, and your daughter doesn't look much better," Poseidon said a little ticked off. "I'm guessing this is your first day right? Your costumes are a mess, and you two got in over your head. It's fine. You're not in trouble. Why, on my first day I tried to take on a Calamity and nearly-"

"I refuse your help."

Poseidon's eyes twitched, and Ocean Empress couldn't help but give a slight snort. "Okay, sir. We won't help you."

"Mom?"

"If he doesn't want help, then we won't. The last thing I want is a lawsuit on our hands because we healed him." The hero folded her arms. "That said, just because he is refusing help doesn't mean you have to." It took Hope a second to realize the question was at her. Once again, she was talking to one of her childhood heroes. "You said your name was Cinder, right? Do you want my daughter to heal you?"

She was about to answer but stopped. Paragon was silently staring at her, and for a moment she couldn't help but remember her father's state. She clenched her fist but took a breath. "I'm good."

"Seriously!" Poseidon threw her hands up. "God, you two are idiots. No wonder you tried fighting a freaking supervillain like Green Wolf!"

"Fine." Paragon turned away. "I won't heal you."

Cinder couldn't help but notice Battery let out a sigh of relief at that, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had seemingly gone more tense than ever as soon as Paragon entered the building, and she noticed his eyes never left the girl, as if waiting for her to strike or something.

"So, what's up with him," Poseidon asked, letting out a sigh as she poked the man in his underwear. He had fallen unconscious a while ago.

"He's in worse shape." Paragon shrugged.

"He was the leader of this base," Cinder explained. "Those two guys we called about told us about him. They're part of the Wandering Coin, so we came to try and interrogate him. Turns out that villain beat us here." She winced.

Ocean Empress gave a nod. "We heard the Wandering Coin was nearby. The other Sub Enforcers were busy dealing with a villain they captured the other night, so we came instead. Imagine my shock when I find the two people I saved the other day." So, she knew who they were. That was. "I should ask. Are you two interested in joining a team?"

"Don't the Reservoir only offer spots to heroes with water abilities?" Battery asked slowly. He was awkwardly resting in the arms of Cinder and had given up on dignity.

"I wasn't talking about our team." The hero said, folding her arms. "Though, we have let others in ever since my other daughter awakened her power. I more thought your daughter could join the Sub Enforcers." Clearly, Ocean Empress didn't know everything about them. "It's safer, and you'll have access to more resources."

"I'm good," Cinder said, a stubborn look on her face. Sure, the Sub Enforcers were cool and all, but they were kids only, so Mr. Larison wouldn't be allowed in.

"You two are so frustrating." Poseidon sighed.

"Actually, Blue Girl has a point," Jack muttered.

"Blue Girl!?" Cinder decided she never wanted to hear Ocean Empress sound ticked off ever again. The hero looked ready to murder Battery at his words.

"What do you mean she has a point? I don't want to join the Sub Enforcers?" She muttered.

"Who said it had to be the Sub Enforcers." Battery gave a sly grin. "Someone we know is needing members for their new team, after all..."

***

"This is a new level of humiliation," Jack muttered.

"I will drop you." Hope threatened.

They were taking the rooftop way, as she liked to put it. It had been the only way to get out of there before the cops and others showed. Currently, she was holding Jack in her arms in a fireman carry. He might have been strong and fast, but he didn't have crazy hops like her, plus he looked like hell after the amount of power he'd abused. With her strength carrying him, it took next to no effort.

The heroes seemed content with letting them leave, likely so they could get the glory of capturing a high member of the Wandering Coin, which would boost team Reservoir's rep. On top of that, they'd be able to get the information on where the gangs were.

That was fine with her, though. She had fun, got some drugs off the street, and came out alive, so that was enough for her. "Is this the place?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as they landed on the roof of a building.

"Yeah. This is the spot." Jack nodded.

They were no longer in their 'hero' clothes, having taken most of it off, and redressed like normal Civilians. Most of her wounds were small scars, though she was still very sore, just as Paragon had claimed, and Jack finally got his heart to settle down. He was lucky he was a Super with some healing because she was pretty sure he'd be long dead with the number of attacks he went into.

It took them a bit to climb down to the street, but when they finally did, they now stood in front of an old-looking library. Jack was the first to enter, and she followed, pushing her glasses up as her eyes adjusted to the light.

It had a musty smell, and everything seemed to be carved from wood. There were dozens of shelves, as well as two floors, a basement, everything covered in books from all over the world. Oleander Library wasn't a popular place, but it made more than enough money to get by. She had used to visit a few times with her dad. It was run by only one person who stood behind the counter. He looked just like he did the last time she saw him.

He was dressed in an old brown suit; his shoulders were slumped, and his head was bowed. He wore a pair of heavy round glasses, and his skin was dark. His hair was wild and untamed, unlike the last time they saw him. "Hello. How can I help?" The man stopped when he looked up and saw the two of them.

"Hey." Hope grinned. "So, is the rumor of you starting a new team true, Myth?"