*Editing magic performed by Shyqash, plus contributions by the regular gang of brigands and neer-do-wells*

*This tale is a bit tongue and cheek as well as kinky, so be warned.*

*To be needed, or wanted. You decide*

[SIXTEEN BLOCKS OF HELL]

I leapt off the ground once more to do battle. Inside me coursed the greatest energy - the greatest sensation - I had ever felt. I had touched Bonny / Ultima and risked the exchange of memory and power. The solar plasma coursing through my veins was my penalty / reward.

We connected simultaneously like two heavenly thunderheads colliding. Her fist pulverized the left side of my jaw, inner ear and that quarter of my skull. My fist slammed into her gut and propelled her ever upwards as I plummeted back to Earth. I crashed back into the ruins of the Fidelity Insurance Building, digging a trough through the concrete, steel and brick.

She was much better at this aerial combat than I was because pushing me down forced me to relaunch while she dove upon me from on high. I still met her, damn it, trading blows, partially connecting and staying engaged with one another. My 'special' power's creation of an anti-Ultima had gifted me with Ultima-like powers instead.

Perhaps that meant the only way to take her out was to overpower her. I was too disoriented by the power surge to think clearly on the matter at the moment. No, all I had to guide me was fury and hate. Fury ... I was angry with the whole God-damn world for robbing me of my parents from a young age. Hate ... because deep down I knew those heroic types looked down on me because of who my parents were. They pitied, or despised, me for things beyond my control ... and now I could finally make them pay.

"How are you still standing?" Ultima grunted in shear surprise. No non-divinity had gone toe-to-toe with her in my lifetime (19 years).

"My hate is greater than your devotion," I ground out. Man, in a nebulous fashion I realized I was in a super-tanker load of pain, but the amount of anguish I was in failed to register with my combative ability.

Hell, I felt I could fight on until my body disintegrated, I was that high.

"That makes no sense," she snarled then clobbered me a good one, her quantum-enhanced fists glowing like twin mini-Suns. Down I plummeted again.

This time I caught myself before I impacted the ground. She was right on top of me though, giving me no time to rest.

"I hate you. Hate You! HATE YOU!!" I screamed out as I punched back. My rage battered down her guard, pushed through her block and landed squarely against her nose. It was a fountain of vaporized blood, crushed cartilage and shattered bone. I had to chase after her up to the edge of the storm clouds ... to catch her before she fully recovered.

In the periphery of my pain-clouded mind I realized Elite 99, Ultima's teammate, tried to reach us through the surrounding carnage only to be intercepted by a mega-storm sized lightning bolt ... from Lightning Lord ... leader of the Sinister Six and my Godmother's brother. He wasn't so much an ally as an ally of convenience. Against Ultima, I was on my own.

[~]

Beneath us, roughly sixteen square blocks of Megalopolis had been turned into a post-apocalyptical battlefield for over two hundred heroes, villains and vigilantes. It was the chance to settle old scores, or get a leg up on the competition between the various villain factions striving to come out on top of the Megalopolis crime scene after the demise of Kori Ivankov ... a man I had helped kill.

Lost to me was the Orchid and his all-girl squad as well as Arachne and Lucky Dead (late to the dance, but full of her own angsty rage). Freedom Force battled the Nine Nobles Nefarious. Meta-Force One and the Sidekick Super-Squad fought on the side of Humanity against the villains who came out as both individuals and as their own super-groups.

And, above them all, were the Ultimates, who were fighting to enforce the State's Governor's Emergency Declaration which demanded all super-types 'lay down their arms and surrender to the proper authorities' ... aka the Ultimates. This did not unite all the metahumans, augmented humans and what have you into one coordinated force though. No, they still squabbled and fought one another whenever given the opportunity.

Thus the carnage and destruction.

So, why was Lightning Lord helping me out? It went way beyond our shared history (he was the brother of my godmother). I was the one metahuman keeping Ultima busy, thus allowing the others to clear house and stopping the Ultimates from cleaning everyone's clocks.

Most had no clue who I was, only that I was pulling off the impossible - going at it in a seemingly even struggle against Earth's Mightiest Hero. While I kept at it, they had free rein to do as they desired. The moment I was put down, the rest of them were truly fucked ... and they knew it. Ultima would hunt each of them down, one at a time, and bludgeon them into unconsciousness. That was why EVERYONE was propping me up as long as possible.

[~]

"You can't possibly win," Ultima panted. I was really stressing her to her limits ... though I didn't know how, or why. According to my Godfather, Richard Reeds, I didn't have what it took to equal her in destructive potential ... yet here I was.

"I don't care," I snarled as I launched into another series of furious assaults.

My anger seemed to confound her as much as my power. She hadn't really felt it necessary to examine the roots of how much I despised her and her ilk while I was safely beneath her in the hierarchy of power. Her chance to reason with me had past because I had zero desire to talk things out with her right now.

"You are insane ... you are destroying the city ... look around you," she retreated from my advance. She was buying time to regenerate the damage I'd done, not seeking any real understanding.

"Fuck if I care ... this is your legacy, not mine ...," and, "the only thing I see right now is you running away from ME!"

That last bit got to her. Tactically she needed to dispose of me before she could lay into the other big guns opposing her team. What stymied her was the amount of power she would need to exert to accomplish that feat. Deep down I knew she didn't want to kill me. She found killing to be abhorrent ... mainly because she had held the upper hand throughout most of her history.

So few were the opponents she couldn't simply subdue the idea of being faced with defeat, or death, had so rarely come up. Now it was staring her in the face ... in the presence of a young man she actually liked - I had her memories somewhat sorted out now - but didn't respect. Respect still wasn't coming though. She had a truckload of disbelief to work through first.

She powered up her quantum fists and came at me swinging. I charged my own quantum field and met her halfway. Blows were exchanged - either blocked, or giving only a glancing strike. No decisive outcome was reached. She didn't want to kill me and nothing short of death would stop me from coming for her, or so I thought.

"Stop this!" Richard Reeds aka Mentat burst upon the scene from nowhere decked out in a battlesuit, but with no weapons in evidence.

"Get out of the way, or I will arrest you next," Ultima growled.

"NEVER!" from me.

"Ultima, you are killing him," Mentat pleaded. Huh? "Dark Son, your power is consuming your body. If you keep fighting, you will destroy yourself."

"How do I know ... I can trust you?" Ultima blanched.

"What are you talking about?" I gasped. "I feel ... invincible."

"You will have to take this much on faith, though Prodigy can back up my findings," Mentat revealed. To me, "I would never lie to you, Dark Son. If you keep fighting Ultima, you will only succeed in destroying yourself."

"I ... don't ... care," I panted. I was really feeling 'it' now.

"Would you leave your father in prison forever?" he countered. That reached me.

"What ... what do you mean?" I grunted.

A levitating Ultima retreated a few paces and regarded us suspiciously.

"There is no victory here for you today, Dark Son," he explained. "Ultima's power is simply too much for you to process. You cannot handled it and its killing you."

"What do I ... do?" I began to feel the residual pain and heat buildup. It was ... uncomfortable - a clear warning sign I had been ignoring up until that point.

"Touch someone else," he advised.

"Who?"

"Someone you have experience with would be preferable," he outlined.

Keeping one eye on Ultima, I scanned about for Angelheart. She was far below us in some trouble fighting the members of 'High Society' ~ the other uptown criminal clique.

"I'm going down to help out Angelheart," I told them both. Ultima nodded.

"They are criminals anyway," she allowed. Off I went, Mentat in his battlesuit right behind me.

I dove into the mass of them like a thresher through crisp wheat. I scattered all five members present then rebounded to reach a badly wounded yet healing Angelheart.

"You came," she sighed in my embrace.

"You looked like you were having too good a time," I joked. I was really, truly in some serious pain now. Mentat was right. I was about to die.

"I need to touch you," I requested. I got a nod. I touched her chin with the ruin of one of my gauntlets then kissed her deeply. The kiss was like plunging into a glacier-fed lake - cold and sharply invigorating ... and then I passed out.

[THE PIECES OF ME]

Even with my regenerative properties I was still in a shitload of pain. Why was that, I wasn't certain. For that matter, I wasn't sure where I was, or how I had gotten off the battlefield. Slowly ... ever so slowly because my ocular orbs were terribly sensitive, I opened my eyes to get a better feel for my location.

Situation update number one: I was submerged in some kind of liquid. I didn't have on a respirator mask, which was kind of odd. My foggy first guess was I was in some sort of oxygen-rich healing goop.

Situation update number two: the lights were very dim yet didn't conceal the presence of four people around me. The gel I was incased in didn't do much to dilute their images, or reduce their perceived volume. I could hear them all quite clearly.

"He's waking up," Skye whispered to ... someone else.

"We can see that for ourselves, you insipid tramp," said someone else - Oh Fuck! It was Theresa Markov aka Princess Penumbra. From the sounds of their voices and the movement of their bodies, I could tell I was on my back - most likely in some sort of medical bay - with the ladies on either side of me.

"Theresa - please," from yet another person in close proximity. This one was my Godmother, Sarah Reins Reeds aka Storm Siren. If she was standing sentinel over my battered form I must have been even worse off than I had feared. She was a busy lady with a usually full itinerary.

"If he had touched me instead of ... HER, he wouldn't need to be in this healing chamber, or have been out for so long," Theresa griped.

How long had I been out? I tried to form words but none came. I had gel, not air, in my lungs.

"So he's going to make it?" the fourth person spoke. Holy Hell! It was Boniface Franklin aka Ultima. Yikes.

"He should, but we won't know his full state until Richard gets back," Susan answered. My, that was good to know.

"Fine. Dark Son, you are hereby charged with multiple counts of property damage and Causing Public Mayhem," Ultima declared. "Step outside this facility, or if I catch you in Megalopolis, you will be detained with as much force as deemed necessary. Do you understand me?"

I nodded because there wasn't much else I could do.

"And ... it's also good to see you still alive. You gave me a good scare there," she softened in both her speech and mannerisms. "Don't do it again, ya here?"

How was I supposed to respond to that? I stared at her. After all, my life plan had just gone down the shitter. My domicile was probably in the process of being confiscated. There was no way I'd ever finish my college career now.

How much more of my belongings were still my own ... I had no way of knowing, and there was no way I could find out stuck here. Still, being stuck here seemed the safer option instead of stepping out with both Princess Penumbra and Angelheart standing about. Damn it, I had no idea how badly I'd been damaged in the fight, or how long I would be in recovering.

I did have one way to speed things along, though it entailed some risk in and of itself. I reached up with my right arm (Angelheart was on my left) only to have it feel like I was pushing through liquid concrete with bones made of sawdust. Mother-fucking shit! What had happened to me?

"Be careful," Angelheart cautioned me. "Your skeleton is still reknitting."

"Oh, be quiet. He's reaching for me," Theresa growled.

With some effort I managed to get my hand to the surface of the goo. Pressing beyond appeared to be too much for me. Thankfully, Theresa made it easy on me and reached in and took my by the hand, palms touching. She pulled my forearm up the rest of the way.

"God, you look so ... so fragile," she nearly wept. "Can't you give up all this do-gooder bullshit and come over the Dark Side now," she half-joked. "We have cookies."

I would have laughed if I could. Instead, I tapped her fingers with one of my own. It felt like a titanic undertaking, yet I accomplished it.

Theresa ignored me ... so I tapped again. This time Susan caught it and figured out what I was trying to communicate.

"He wants permission to exchange powers and memories with you," she enlightened the youngest of the Nine Nobles.

"Oh ... yes ... yes, you can," she squeezed my hand. At least that is what I assumed she was trying to do. It felt like she was crushing my appendage. I activated my power and ... nothing happened.

OH FUCK!!

I tried again, stressing myself terribly hard. This time there was a migraine-like spike in my frontal cortex ... then the dam burst and the exchange took place.

Out of the periphery of my perception I saw a terribly distraught Angelheart who had also misconstrued my gesture.

"Now you can heal him," Susan told Skye. "That is why he had to exchange powers with Miss Markov. While he was keyed on you, he was resistant to your Bio-manipulations."

"Oh," from an upbeat Skye.

"Really?" from a conflicted Theresa.

"He didn't reach for me - his Godmother," Susan explained to Princess Penumbra. "He placed enough trust in you to feel you would be the one he could best exchange memories with."

"Let me have his hand," Skye requested of Theresa.

"Get your own damn hand," Theresa snapped back violently. She even squeezed my palm tighter with the resulting pain for me.

Ever so gently, Angelheart reached into the gel and retrieved my left hand and drew it upward. More bone-shivering pain for me.

She held it tenderly for some time before I began feeling her heat pass into me. Bones were re-forged and muscles rewoven. Last of all - thankfully - my nerves reconnected. YEAH - I was in a ton of pain alright. So much so many of my pain centers must have been overloaded and shut down - or someone had cut them off to keep me from relapsing into a coma. I didn't know.

Slowly the pain faded and the warmth strengthened until I felt my own regenerative abilities kick in. They were done with simply keeping me this side of shedding my mortal coil that much was for certain. I had truly traveled to Death's Door. Now that I was safely away from that precipice I was able to focus on Theresa's memories and figure out what had happened.

When I had come crashing to Earth, the villains had figured their time was up and generally fled the scene before a mere handful could be rounded up by the Ultimates. That left the Ultimates facing off against the hero groups ... who were unwilling to allow themselves to be placed in government custody.

Before a second general melee broke out, Mentat and Prodigy (the big, bulging brain of the Ultimates) brokered a ceasefire which allowed the heroic types to vacate the city and pledge not to return until this whole mess was settled by the court system.

The Sensational Six had departed the battlefield with me in tow - none of the hero groups were willing to let the Ultimates put me in custody then and there ... for their own selfish reasons I bet. Richard and Susan Reeds had brought me to a research facility owned by Mentat right outside of Megalopolis and placed me in this experimental healing device ... which was where I woke up.

It had been twelve hours since the big brawl and city services were still crawling over the wreckage to determine if we had killed any people in the fight. So far - no casualties, so no one was facing murder charges. That still put the various personalities down for millions in damages and reconstruction costs.

It looked like the city was going to play hardball too - making everyone pay the accumulated costs of everything despite which side they had fought on. The CCA was going to be put to the test because most of the participants had been 'masked', thus enjoying the protection of anonymity. The plaintiffs - the Big Insurance Companies - were going to want to know who to send the bill to that was for damn sure.

Theresa had found me after she had run across Arachne who had the news about me, though not my location. On her own initiative, Theresa had contacted Susan and here she was, at my bedside, terribly conflicted about why she cared about me so much to the point she was willing to defy her parents about her continuing contact with me.

As far as she knew, Angelheart had been by my side the entire time and looked rather worn down from the ordeal. What this meant for Freedom Force was unknown. If left to settle the damage claims themselves, this could seriously inconvenience Golden Boy, even bankrupt him ... and he was a billionaire. In his favor he had some damn fine lawyers who would probably make sure he only paid his 'fair share' and not a penny more.

As for Arachne and Lucky Dead ... Theresa didn't know much except Arachne was still running around at large in the city with even more warrants out for her arrest. I was sure, if cornered, Lucky would simply fake her own suicide and escape justice that way. It was her thing and she was a freaking fanatic after all. Liberty Lincoln hadn't been involved, so at least she was financially secure ... though her public assets were rather minimal, or so I imagined.

Of course my involvement in the contest was most likely at an end. I couldn't return to the city since Bonny knew I was Dark Son, or so I thought. Besides, I was sure the university had disavowed me by now anyway. On the other hand, I realized why Web Slinger had wanted me to be part of the damn contest - to cross paths with Ultima. The price of this 'favor' was going up, up and up too.

My old life was gone for good. My villain identity was toast. Whatever property the authorities could tie to me would be forfeited until this court battle was settled ... at the very least. Right now if the Night Watchman wanted to screw me, he could. He had undoubtedly hacked his way through my files to the point he could lead the legal snoopers to much of what I owned in the city, if not beyond.

I would have to wait and see just how much he hated me first.

Oh, and I was feeling much, much better, though it had taken Angelheart an inordinate amount of time to repair all the damage I had done to myself. And Theresa still hadn't released my right hand. On the plus side, her worried squeezes were no longer causing me intense agony.

When Angelheart finished, I leveraged myself up until I was chest deep in the goop. Then I vomited forth copious amounts of liquid out of my lungs which left me light-headed for several seconds.

"Well, I'm glad to see Richard's latest effort in 'last ditch' life saving equipment works," Susan commented happily.

"Yeah," I coughed, "but it has a bitter aftertaste."

"Buck up," Susan chided me. "You are lucky enough to be alive enough to taste anything. Be grateful, you brat."

"Yes, 'Mom'," I groaned. Susan was my Godmother after all.

"What about her?" Theresa inquired.

"Which her?" I dared.

"That one," Theresa head-tossed Bonny's way. "Am I going to have to share you with that one too?"

"No," I dispelled that belief. "She either murdered my Mother, or knows who in her close circle of friends who did."

I could see that declaration bothered Bonny. Susan spoke first.

"Sooner, or later, you are going to have to let go of some of that hate," my Godmother advised me. "It isn't healthy ... as we are witnessing right now."

"Well, if someone murdered me, I would hope Rey - Dark Son sought revenge against those who had done me in," Theresa pledged.

"Princess," Susan countered, "we are talking about something which happened thirteen years ago under circumstances he doesn't understand. Seeking revenge will have a higher price tag than he can possibly imagine."

"Can't you let this go?" Angelheart rubbed the back of my hand against her cheek.

"Never," I shook my throbbing head.

"You are being childish," Bonny frowned. "You have no idea what happened. You have no idea what sacrifices were made on your behalf!"

"Huh?"

"Boniface, you've said too much," Susan turned on Ultima. Okay, something passed between those two yet wasn't for general consumption ... despite this being my Mother they were talking about!

"Susan?" I inquired.

"Get dressed," was all she said before she and Ultima turned and walked away together. It fell to Skye to hand me a robe for me to get in before I dismounted the healing chamber.

"You are hard," Skye snickered.

"Get away from him!" Theresa snapped. "He's ... he's too hurt to be up for your shenanigans."

Oh look ... my penis was indeed erect though I wasn't much in the mood for any fucking at the moment. It went beyond my near brush with death and my full body ache. My soul hurt. Susan was keeping something from me and I thought I could trust my Godmother implicitly. What the hell was I going to do now?

[WHAT WAS I DOING BACK IN ...]

So, what was I doing back in Megalopolis? At the damn contest?

To pull this off, Ultima had to abridge her earlier statement to local authorities, claiming she knew the civilian identity of Dark Son, thus freeing me up in my regular persona. She still warned me to behave myself aka no more unwarranted touching. What exactly did she suspect I was going to do? Try to kill myself again?

Why was I doing this? I got my civilian identity back, got to return to college and got to continue my crusade to find who tried to murder Liberty Lincoln. I was hoping the Masquerade of Mystery chose me to be next on their hit parade. I was going to clobber them a good few before turning them over to Ultima.

It wasn't going to be too difficult to turn them over to Ultima because she was going to be staying with me while the Sun was below the horizon. Yeah ... we - as in 'all the contestants' were having one massive sleepover with the World's Worst House Mother (Ultima).

[~]

Now that we were in her dwelling under 24/7 surveillance, you would think some people would have had better sense than to engage in an illicit liaison. But no ... not only did I get a nocturnal visitor, two of my housemates - Louise and Lao - decided to get it on as well. How could that possibly gone wrong? More on that later. I had to deal with my own social crisis.

I wasn't really sleeping when I sensed the shadows darkening. Princess Penumbra was paying me a nocturnal visit. The shadows flowing over me before forming a body was something new. Gracefully, Theresa came to rest partially on top of me and partially between myself and the wall-side my bed rested close to.

"Hello," I greeted her softly. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't keep a smile off my face.

"Hello yourself," she whispered. "Have you reconsidered my offer? We still have cookies."

"Ha," I snorted. "I'm sure they are wonderful cookies, but I still have some vigilante stuff I need to handle before I become a full time villain."

"Like ...?"

"Like dealing with the Masquerade of Mystery," I hardened in more ways than one. "They blew up Liberty Lincoln and I am going to make them pay for that."

"Are you and Liberty ...?"

"No. We are just friends. If anything, she's been mentoring me on how to be a better metahuman and one hell of a criminal investigator. I figure from time to time figures will try to wrong me and I want to be able to hunt them down for their impertinence."

"Well, that's nice then," she smiled back. After a long pause, "What about you and Arachne? I think she has a 'thing' for you."

"That's more complicated," I decided to go with some honesty. "She asked me out on a date and I said 'yes'. Does this upset you?"

"Yes ... a little bit," she gave off a big sigh, "but I've come to accept you are going to be out there doing your thing while I'm stuck doing Nine Nobles' business."

"Be careful now," I stroked her from shoulder to the bottom of her ribcage along her back. "The Nine Nobles Nefarious are going to want 100% of your effort and aren't going to accept anything less. I don't want them taking out their frustrations on you, damn it. I've already got too many revenge projects on my plate."

"You would come after the Nine Nobles if they screwed with me?" she brightened up. "Really screwed with me?"

"Damn right," I gave a minute nod. "You have always been a good friend to me and we have even talked about a future together ... in some future date we can safely stand on our own two feet."

The 'good friend' statement made her unhappy, but the 'future together' brightened her right back up.

"I still think about what we talked about that first night together," she sighed again. "I want to feel like I matter to someone outside of my powers. I really do."

"You matter to me, Princess," I assured her.

"You are not just saying that to avoid savage, post-break-up beat down, are you?" she teased me ... sort of.

"Hey now," I verbally held her off. "We aren't a couple yet. We can't have a break-up spat before there is even a relationship to break-up."

"Don't be so sure about that," she gave me a wicked grin. "I'm the girl in this relationship and if I say we are a couple, you had best believe - We ARE a couple."

"So, if we are going to be a couple," I teased, "are you going to let me see other girls? I'm a young and up-and-coming rising dark star on the villain scene and I should be allowed to roam ... a little bit. It is a 'bad boy' sort of thing."

"I'm not so sure about that," she shook her head. "Remember, I can always find you where there are shadows." Okay, I wasn't sure how much of that was a lie, but it was somewhat unnerving.

"That's fine," I grumped playfully, "I'll just have to figure out how to glow like a nightlight at all times - totally subtle like."

"Why don't you simply hang a sign on your breastplate which says 'Shoot Me First!'?"

"I was planning on it ... using the Cyrillic alphabet. I figure half of the time they will be so busy trying to figure out what the sign really means I'll get the drop on them."

"Hehehehe," she giggled. "That's clever."

"Now you are just buttering me up," I frowned. I also ran both my hands along her sides stopping just short of her ass cheeks. Around the hips was 'safe'. Further up ...

"Hey," she giggled softly, "that tickles."

"This," I repeated the gesture, which did tickle her, "or this?" I brought my right hand up and stroked her from ear lobe to temple.

"Number two - I like," she smiled down at me.

"Care if I exchange memories?" I hazarded.

"Okay," she responded way too fast in my estimation. It was almost as if she had been waiting for me to make this move.

Still, I did it. A quick flash and then I was in her mind and she was in mine. Theresa was back to wanting me as her exclusive boyfriend, hating Skye and angry over me spending time with any other woman. Okay - the 'angry about me spending time with other women' was new. The rest I was totally prepared for.

"You really are thinking about me," she exhaled into my face - truly happy.

"Of course I am. You and I have too much common ground to make you any sort of substitute. I'm truly into you," I responded.

"Do you think she is better looking than me?" she murmured. By 'she' she meant Skye.

"I think you are both different and incomparable," I wove deception with the truth. Deep down I really thought Angelheart was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Theresa was a highly satisfactory and respectable 'third' in my estimation behind my godmother, Susan Reeds.

"But if you could only have one?" she pressed.

"We are not going to go there," I cut off that discussion. "I've already made my thoughts clear."

"Hrmphf," she pouted. "I wish your thoughts were clear on this matter. I can't sort through them and figure out if you're telling me the truth."

"I do care about you, Princess," I resumed stroking her side and head. "It is just ..."

The door to our room opened very slowly. Theresa slipped over to my far side - using my prone form as cover. When the door was opened just wide enough, a female figure slipped into the room. It was ... Louise Dresser. If she came my way ... shit would get bad really fast.

I lucked out. Louise scanned my way then back to Lao Ping. Neither bed showed movement so she began padding over to Mr. Ling - thank God. No sooner had she parked her ass around Lao's hip level did he stir.

"Huh?" he mumbled.

"I have this thing for Asian guys," Louis softly revealed.

"You do?" he muttered, still groggy.

"Yeah ... let's do it," she took the plunge both figuratively and literally. She leaned in and French kissed the lucky bastard.

"But ..." Mr. Ping got out before she went in for seconds. She also took one of his fidgeting hands and placed it upon her clothed breast.

"I really shouldn't ..." he tried again.

"You aren't gay, are you?" Louise pressured him.

"No, but ..."

"Then let's do it," she all but squealed. She shimmied out of what I assumed were her panties, pulled back the covers somewhat and jumped on top of the poor Mr. Ling.

"What a slut," whispered Theresa to me.

"Different strokes for different folks, I guess," I replied. Who was I to judge?

"You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

"Of course not," I assured her. "I could definitely kick her out of bed," I added, 'and do it on the floor'. In reality, I wouldn't do - that latter part. I was too loyal a guy by far.

Across the way, Mr. Ling was upping his game after coming out sluggishly from the starting gates. He had one hand inside her sleepwear, massaging her bare breast while the other hand rested on her thigh. A little bit of wiggling and maneuvering and Louise had him out of his pajama bottoms (we guys were wearing pajama bottoms without tops because the house was so warm).

"Oh yesssss," Louise hissed. I had to believe penetration had been achieved.

Theresa tilted my head back her way so I could gaze into her wonderful sapphire eyes.

"Promise me," she breathed upon my lips.

"Theresa, we aren't an item yet. There is nothing to promise."

"Well ... promise me if we ... no, when we are an item, you won't cheat on me," she tried next.

"Very well," I allowed. "When you and I become an item, it will be you and only you. That means for the foreseeable future, I will have to play the field like a madman though."

"You are impossible," she smiled. "What if I 'play the field' too?"

"I'm okay with it," left her unhappy, but then, "Just tell me first ~ 'who do I have to kill?' Who is the competition?"

"Oh," she got all sassy, "there are so many guys. I don't want to make you a mass murderer ... or anything like that."

"Fine," I played along. "Who do I have to cripple?"

"I like your enthusiasm," she giggled.

Lao and Louise were too much into one another to catch that so I continued our conversation.

"You give a guy a lot to be enthusiastic about."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Bedlam," she whispered. She had been quiet, yet still Lao's head turned our way causing Theresa to crouch down. We remained still for over a minute until my roommate grabbed hold of Louise's hips and began to thrust up into her like the Energizer Bunny.

"Uh-oh," I groaned.

Sure enough, about fifteen seconds into his frantic thrusting he jerked to a halt, gave it one last upward shove then stopped cold.

"Already?" Louise looked down at him.

"I shouldn't have done this," Lao moaned piteously.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad for me," Louise misinterpreted his melancholy.

"No, you stupid cow," Lao spat. "I'm engaged! I have a fiancée."

'Not my problem', I thought. Besides how angry could this fiancée be ... when this illicit tape went viral ... in under twelve hours? Recall what I said about us being under constant surveillance? That included the bedrooms and I was figuring Louise had pounced on ole Lao to up her popularity for the upcoming elimination round.

[TWO DAYS LATER]

What was I doing at Victor Vaugh International Spaceport? Was I about to seek refuge in a Non-Extradition country to escape my now numerous crimes? Maybe I was just deciding to take an extended vacation, or a hopper flight to Canada. Nope. None of the above. I was at the spaceport to meet with the fiancée of the dear, un-departed Lao Ping.

I hadn't been aware he had a wife-to-be in Mainland China, but then I barely knew the guy. Now the Megalopolis Metropolitan Police Department had decided I would make an excellent addition to the formal delegation sent to meet the lady. Maybe they thought I was simply a kind hearted sort of fellow, or perhaps the reality I - Reynard Haven - was actually 'Dark Son' was deemed more relevant.

You see, Lao's lady was a current member of the Chinese Super Team, the Golden Dragons and rumor had it she was pissed Ole Lao had fornicated with dear Louise Dresser. She - Li hua Zhang - went by the handle 'Shuǐlóng - the Water Dragon and was powerful enough to be on the premier super-team of the most populous nation on Earth ... so how tough could she be?

"So, what do we do if she suddenly cuts loose with a blast of water tough enough to gouge out her initials on a diamond facet?" I asked the dweeb the Mayor's Office had sent along with this expedition.

"Can't you stop her?" the guy gulped. "I mean, you are pretty strong too, right?"

"Reynard Haven is just an above attractive college student, Buddy," I grinned. "I ain't doing jack for anybody."

"Do you think she will attack us ... I mean, according to her dossier she is highly disciplined."

"And she crossed half the world to fulfill some odd requirement of a wedding contract signed by their grandparents ...," I left hanging there. "That sounds like a totally legit reason any sane person would use to utterly turn their life upside down and inside out."

"You think she's unstable?" he looked at me from the corner of his eyes.

"I think she's a lady who has been cheated on ... so yes," I yanked his chain a little more.

"That ... doesn't make much sense. How can being cheated on make her unstable?"

"You don't date much, do you?" I teased him.

"I'm married."

"Happily?"

"Huh? Yes. What does that have to do with anything?" he worried.

"Oh look ... the suborbital from Shanghai is unloading now ... so, if she goes nuts, which direction are you running in?"

"I ... ah ... guess I'll fall flat. What about you?"

"I just wanted to know so I wouldn't trip over you in my own mad dash to escape this catastrophe ... providing she goes nuts."

"You are having one over on me ..." he glared.

"Just figuring that out, huh?"

"Why? We are on the same team here," he reminded me.

"No, we are not," I burst his bubble. "I was blackmailed to be here. On the off chance she gets ... squirrely, certain people expect me to flip out and reveal that I'm Dark Son, thus screwing me over in the long run. I tell you right now, that's not going to happen."

"But you are Dark Son, aren't you?"

The cops around us were also getting a bit fidgety.

"Dark Son wears an armored suit. You see an armored suit on me, or anywhere close by?"

"Ah ... no ..."

"Then you are not going to see me turn into said entity."

"But we could get killed."

"That's why you are going to see me running for my stinking life if this shit goes south," I cautioned him.

"Oh ... then why are you here?"

"As I said, certain people expect me to turn into Dark Son if things get rough."

"Like who? You are kind of an asshole," he remarked. He meant to say I was being a total asshole - which I was - but was being politic and polite.

"Ultima."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You would ... ummmm ... disappoint her? Just to keep your secret identity?"

"I'd disappoint her for a whole host of reasons, that being just one of them."

"That appears to be rather foolhardy. She's the most powerful person in the World."

"But she's not here now. I am and I'm not Dark Son."

"Oh crap," he muttered then, "Let me do all the talking."

"No problem," I agreed while flexing my muscular physique. I wasn't trying to intimidate the smaller guy. I was working out some kinks in case my prognostication turned into reality and I really had to fight a grief-stricken maybe-former fiancée. Despite my earlier words, if the lady did freak out for some unforeseen reason, I was going to try to shut her down - hopefully without revealing my true nature. Instead ...

"Greetings," the Mayor's guy said as the lady finally presented herself then he went into this spiel about how sorry Megalopolis was about her matrimonial tragedy and took a thousand words to say it. All the while she kept staring at him intently. There were three Chinese ladies behind the peeved superheroine, so I assumed we were somehow holding up traffic exiting their flight.

"This one is a junior plutocrat," she turned to me the moment he was finished. "So, who are you?"

"Reynard Haven. I am in the same contest as your betrothed. We're roommates."

"Oh really?" she eyed me speculatively.

"Really," I confirmed.

"Why weren't you there to help out my betrothed?"

"It's not my place to interfere in such things ... especially since I didn't even know he was engaged," I explained. "Besides, I was still recovering from wounds which I received in the Battle for Megalopolis. I got pretty banged up."

"What were you - the college student - doing in such a war zone?" she kept hammering away with the questions.

"Being misplaced," I lied.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care," I fired back.

"If I discover you had anything to do with Mr. Ping's unfortunate situation, I will not be happy with you," she threatened.

"I repeat: I don't care," I shrugged. "Care to move this along and get you situated in a hotel room the city has set aside?"

"Very well. We will talk more later, Mr. Haven."

"I'll work to fit you into my busy schedule," I glared right back.

"We will endeavor to make sure Mr. Haven is available," the dweeb interjected himself.

"With any luck I might get voted out tonight then I'll no longer be part of this madness," I turned on him.

"Like you should get so lucky," he zinged me back.

[~]

Lucky? See, they were letting the on-line public vote for us every afternoon and at six o'clock, they were reducing our numbers by two ... the least popular boy and girl. Sadly for me and my desire to quite this catastrophe, I had 'won' round one so I had a 'bye' which would allow me to escape one rounds' elimination.

There were a variety of other contests we had to participate in ... the obstacle course, a cooking contest and a stint working for a charity. Despite my poor showing (in my opinion - hey, I was trying to lose!), I remained surprisingly popular. Aaron Quartermaine and Donna Pierre had gone in round one. Inez 'The Cop' Neustadt and Barry 'The Brush' Bushnell had already been eliminated last night.

My outlook was bleak. I had accidently come in second during the cook-off and Bonnie and I had blown everyone away during the obstacle course ... earning me a second 'bye'. Ugh. Personally I was praying Kyle would win. He was the nicest of us. If not him, then India as she was truly the cutest. If this city chose me, I would be highly irate - that was for damn sure.

Unfortunately, as of the last time I'd checked, ole Lao was trending downward after some popularity yesterday. Kyle and I were neck and neck. On the girls' side, Louise was still on top with India a solid second. I guessed that meant Julie Feldman was going home tonight.

[~]

We had taken Ms. Water Dragon to her hotel then proceeded to Lao's place of employment because we contestants still had lives to lead, grades to make and paychecks to earn. I was seriously thinking about a way to exit this calamity, but Bonny was off doing Ultimates stuff and there was no other hero on call to perform the firefighting duty should things explode.

Better yet, the three ladies I had witnessed standing behind were part of Li hua Zhang's entourage, not solely other passengers. Their purpose in life was uncertain ... beyond their personal beauty and gentle mannerisms. Their existence did force the Mayor's dweeb to scoot about and get three extra (and smaller) rooms for the expanded party.

"So, what are you doing here?" I broke down and asked one of them. She stared at me and then said something in Chinese which probably meant 'I don't speak English'.

"She is here to be an acceptable choice of one of my fiancée's concubines," Water Dragon responded to my question.

"What?"

"Huh?" from the dweeb.

"The American woman is of an unacceptable moral character while Chao-xing Chen is of fine breeding and from a good family," she explained.

I assumed 'good' translated over as 'Chinese' somehow.

"Are all three of these ladies choices for concubines?" I pressed ahead. "How many choices does he get?"

"Two of the three. My fiancé needs to start practicing moderation," Li hua stated authoritatively.

"The Mayor's female constituents aren't going to like this," the dweeb muttered.

"Ya think," I teased him.

"You are of not help," he glared my way. "You do realize Americans don't allow things like concubines," he tried to reason with Water Dragon. I knew that was a lost cause from the get-go. Besides, was he forgetting polyamory?

"Your culture, or lack thereof, is the reason I have had to make this decision."

'Ouch'.

"You can't blame all of the United States for the actions of one woman," he pleaded.

"Why not?" was her reply.

"Well, now I know why Lao is terrified of you," I shrugged.

"He is not terrified of me. He has as healthy respect for my position in our homeland," Li hau corrected me.

"Yeah," I muttered. "That is why he's here right now instead of me."

"What was that?" her eyes narrowed.

"I've been bullied by far better people, Lady. Give it a rest," I shrugged.

"I am not bullying you."

"Do you think you are better than me?" I inquired.

"I know I am," she was relentless.

"Then you are bullying me," I let my eyes narrow. "Also, you are not better than me. You are a jilted lover - nothing more."

"What does this 'jilted' mean?" her eyes mirrored my own.

"It means another woman sampled the treats of your guy before you did and now you are worried he might not want you anymore," I sort of explained.

"I have not been jilted then," she threatened me with her gaze alone.

"Give it a rest ... before I have to put you back in your cage," I promised.

"You think you can?" she smiled wickedly. "Does this city of yours have an arena where we can test your ... quaint theory?"

"I don't do arenas ... but I'll check you right in this car if that's what you want," I leaned forward.

"Hey now," the Mayor's dweeb interceded. "Let's not have any hostilities here."

"I don't need any powers to defeat you," she leaned toward me.

The taxi stopped suddenly.

"Oh, Thank God! We are here," the dweeb informed us. We were at the skyscraper which housed Lao Ping's place of business.

"Don't think I've forgotten our exchange," Li hau said.

"Pity. I'm working overtime to forget about you," I yawned.

"Stop it right now, Mr. Haven. Ms. Zhang is an honored guest in our city," the Mayor's diplomat tried to push me back.

"Whatever," I shrugged. I also got out and held the door for Ms. Zhang and her three concubine nominees while the dweeb paid the driver. It had been a crowded ride.

She didn't get snarky, so I didn't act the butt-monkey as we entered the skyscraper and proceeded to the elevators. Only once the dweeb had punched the correct button - number 32 - did she decided to mess with me again.

"You can be polite when you want to be," Water Dragon looked my way.

"I was raised by kinder, gentler folk," I replied. "Normally I'm not as rude as I am today except I was dragooned into this mess and resent it."

"Dragooned?"

"Forced - blackmailed - shanghaied - given no other choice."

"Oh ... I thought you would consider meeting me to be an honor," she smiled.

"You? Hardly. I don't know you and don't want to know you. You think you are better than the average metahuman. I tremble to think what your real opinion of regular people is," I countered.

"Chinese, or others?" she inquired clarification.

"Chinese," I played along.

"Party members, or non-Party members?"

"Regular Chinese folks ... non-party members."

"There are a billion of them and while they serve some basic function, they are also replaceable," she enlightened me to her world view. "They are still better than non-Chinese people though."

I looked over at the dweeb.

"You aren't going to champion Mankind?" I goaded him.

"No. We have Ultima and the rest of the Ultimates for that," he coughed.

"Yeah, that's right," I turned on Ms. Zhang. "Be happy Bonny doesn't consider you replaceable. After all, if she took you out, what could the Chinese Communist Party do?"

"Who is 'Bonny'?"

"That is Ultima's Christian name. All of her friends call her that."

"The Ultimates wouldn't want to go to war with the People's Republic of China," she countered, yet there was some unease behind her confident façade. "Besides, how are you Ultima's friend?"

"She paid a million dollars for me," I sighed. "Our relationship has been all downhill from there."

"That makes no sense. You gained Ultima as a friend. How can that be going downhill?"

"Well, it brought me here - today - dealing with you. I call that downhill."

The elevator chimed and then the door opened ~ very smooth.

"Oh, Thank God! We are here," was becoming the Mayor's man's mantra. We all stepped out into the hallway. Lao's office was to our right so off we went.

"I am finding you to be more interesting than I initially envisioned, Mr. Haven," Li hau regarded me. "I think there is much you are hiding from the world."

"Lady, I've been being an asshole so you would want to be quit of me," I groaned. "I want to get back to my regular, mundane, humdrum life."

"No chance of that now, Mr. Haven. I've seen through your mask and I want to know more."

"If these walls weren't glass," I lamented, "I'd bust my head up against one."

"But they are," she pointed out. "I am glad your abrasive attitude doesn't continue on to anarchistic tendencies."

"Eeeehhhh ... I've passed my collateral damage allowance for the week," I fabricated.

"What have you been destroying?" she inquired.

"We are here to see Mr. Ping," the dweeb told the receptionist.

"He's right around that way," she indicated over her left shoulder.

"My alien ant farm," I lied. "It was precious to me."

"You had a farm made out of alien ants? How did that come about and why did you destroy it?" she pressed.

"Would you just stop," the Mayor's guy hissed.

"I can't. I'm a smooth criminal."

The dweeb groaned.

"Well, I'm beginning to think you are something of a criminal," she grinned. "But I don't know about you being all that 'smooth'."

"Ms. Zhang, Alien Ant Farm is a musical band in the United States and 'Smooth Criminal' was one of their hits," dweeb ratted me out.

"Why did you lie to me about this?" she demanded to know while grabbing my elbow. I imagine it was supposed to hurt ... but it didn't. I'm a lot tougher than I look.

"Hey - Lao," I called out. He looked up, somewhat annoyed initially then gulped and let his face drain of blood when he saw who was attached to me.

"What are you doing here?" he swallowed with some difficulty.

"See," I triumphed, "he is terrified of you."

"No! He is not ... and I wanted to see where you worked," she added to ole Lao.

"Lao, who is this woman?" this hot Asian number - my bet was Korean - addressed Lao while staring daggers at Ms. Zhang. Oh ... side-piece! Lao was dumber than I thought he was, or had at least far less common sense.

Water Dragon said something in what I assumed was Chinese (of the Mandarin variety). Side-piece didn't seem to understand it as well, but Lao did. He looked even more noticeably shaken.

And all the while a film crew was capturing this for posterity - how nice.

"Keep this conversation in English for the viewing audience's viewing pleasure," I interjected myself.

"I said, 'Fiancée, who is this woman?'," Li hau clarified.

"I thought you said your fiancée was some sort of rural village girl ...not ... this," Side-piece turned on Lao.

"This is not good," the dweeb finally caught on to the fiasco approaching us all.

Lao was still ... quivering in stark raving terror.

"Answer me," Li hau seethed.

"Hello Miss," I interjected myself physically between the two women, "this is Ms. Li hau Zhang. When she isn't scaring Lao straight down to his tighty-whities she goes by the handle of 'Shuǐlóng' on the Golden Dragon's Chinese National Superhuman Team."

"She's a METAHUMAN!" Side-piece shrieked. Lao flinched while still being unable to take his fear-widened eyes off of his bride-to-be ... or his assassin, or maybe both.

"Yes, I am a metahuman," Water Dragon hissed steam out of her mouth.

"Please don't hurt me," Side-piece blathered to Li hau. "We were never serious."

"I should kill you," Li hau seethed.

"It's not her fault (much)," I placed a hand on the Water Dragon's upper arm. "Besides, her life matters to me so I'm not going to simply allow you to waste her."

"Are you sleeping with this whore too?" Li hau's eyes riveted onto me.

"No. I don't even know her name. What I'm try to tell you is every life is important to me - on some level - and I'm not going to let you randomly start gakking folks."

"Gakking? What does 'gakking' mean?" she simmered.

"Kill - murder - maim unto death ... gakking," I defined the word for her.

"Why can't you simply say 'kill' then?" her temperature rose. "Why must you be so obtuse?

"I'm an obtuse kind of guy. If it is any consolation, my girlfriend also finds me to be a bit annoying too ... and she actually likes me," I reasoned.

"I doubt that," Li hau spat. "She probably wants you for some financial gain."

"Not likely," I grinned. "Also, she's not a great liar."

"You ... you are distracting me from my fiancé," she pieced together, "and his whore."

"Yeah - pretty much," I exhaled. It had worked after all, or so I thought.

Man, oh man, was she fast. The jet of water came out of her hand and blew me across the office space in the blink of an eye.

I had also tumbled a half-dozen people along with me as well as shattered work stations and two nice sized plants (bushes really). She wasn't done with me either. Using her control over water, she whipped me up and through me into the extended ceiling. Her mistake was letting me fall back down. That allowed me freedom of movement and I went right at her.

Well, not 'right at her'. I had to maneuver away from the spots where water sat on the floor. I wasn't afraid of me slipping. I was afraid of her using the water control to snare me again. Still, Water Dragon wasn't terribly concerned about me until I got within ten feet. That was when she launched another jet of water at me from her other hand.

I corkscrewed in midair to avoid the blast then impacted her. We tumbled over - I was fortunately stronger than she was - and I let my secret power take hold (once we were out of view of the film crew. Sadly, the powers it gave me were control over flame, flame generation and 'Body of Flame'. None of those powers I could use subtly.

I didn't long to decide what to do either. The second she regained her senses, she blasted me up into the ceiling with two jets of water then took hold of my person and hurled me against an exterior wall ... and then through the walls and into what could have been a thirty-two story plummet to my death had she let me go. Still, since I had some maneuvering room, I flexed to break free ... and nothing happened.

Next, since I was below the view of people in the room, I activated my Body of Fire which was taking longer to perform than I thought it would because I hadn't really understood what I was undertaking. I turned into a flaming Asian DRAGON! Yikes. Glad nobody saw that, I guessed. Up I went just in time to see Li hau running to the hole she'd blown in the wall.

Our eyes met - mine in anger and hers in disbelief. My biggest initial problem was I was now too big to engage her in combat on the firm's floor. Not only would I set everything on fire, I had no headroom.

Li hau said something to me in a language I didn't know except I heard it translated over as 'what are you doing here?'. It wasn't Chinese. I knew that much.

I had to think fast.

"You apologize to everyone you have embarrassed," I bullshitted. "I'll go get the male", and down I went before she could figure out I wasn't who she thought I was.

I then went diving down toward the largest water feature I could find close by then plunged into it. The large fountain I impacted exploded into an upsurge of steam as I turned back into my human form. The steam cloud made sure no one could see the real me until I had exited the area. I had to run up the street to the building where I belonged then took the elevator ride upstairs to discover what I had missed.

I was still dripping wet when I stepped onto the 32nd floor once more. 'Stunningly', the rest of the floor had been evacuated except for those few trapped in Lao's office. Most of employees were looking over the scene of their ruined office space while a few were still getting over Li hau's profuse apologize.

"You lived!" squeaked the dweeb. "Oh. Thank God you lived."

"I'm feeling pretty good about it too," I allowed. "What did I miss?"

"You're alive," the dweeb repeated as he hugged me. "I thought my career was over."

"Well, glad you have your priorities straight," I joked.

"I don't know how I let you slip," Li hau turned to me. "I apologize for my rude behavior and the risk I put your life in."

"Big Flaming Dragon Guy," I used as an explanation. "A friend of yours?"

"Yes. Is he still about?" she requested to know.

"The last thing I recall perfectly was hitting a fountain across the street then everything was steam and boiling water. I'm just happy to be alive."

"I really thought I had killed you," she regarded me.

"I'm harder to kill than you might imagine," I grinned.

"I imagine you are," she studiously regarded me.

"Has anyone else been hurt?" I inquired.

"No ... just you."

"Well, I'm soaked. Why don't you and the Mayor's guy go back to your hotel while I go back home and change into something less damp," I suggested.

And for once, everyone did what I asked. What I didn't know was my attempt at an intervention and plummet to my supposed death propelled me to the top of that night's rankings. Kyle remained in a comfortable position, so Lao got sent 'home' to spend time with his 'betrothed'. Likewise, Louise remained in the lead on the lady's side with India closing in (as the 'good wholesome' choice), so Julie Feldman was exiled from our company.

[LATER THAT EVENING]

I escaped from our latest contest in last place without it looking like I'd thrown the game to any of the others. India won, so she got to spend time in the limelight. I went up to the roof and hung out enjoying the sounds of the city and the lack of company. Nothing good lasted for me, it seemed.

"You did well today," Bonny aka Ultima greeted me.

She was hovering there in air, decked out in her trademark costume - a medium blue bodysuit with blood red boots and shoulder pads. A big 'U' was on her chest in copper trim.

"You think so? I was lucky no one saw me do anything," I griped.

"Still, you intervened to save several other peoples' lives."

"Yeah, tell me about it. On second thought, don't tell me about it. You will just find a way to think I was acting heroically again when I was simply acting in a manner to keep myself out of the spotlight."

"Even 'Shuǐlóng' should be happy you behaved in the manner you did. She could have gotten in a whole lot more trouble ... had she attacked anyone who wasn't you."

"That sucked. She's way more powerful than I am normally," I shrugged. "Being tossed around like a sock-puppet should have hurt my popularity more than it helped it."

"People saw you acting bravely and rewarded you so," Bonny explained. "No matter how much you try to avoid your heroic nature, the common man sees through your obfuscations to the real hero you can be."

"Don't make a habit of it - throwing me into those situations. I'm bound to disappoint you. So, why weren't you there to save me?"

"A volcanic eruption in Chile," she smiled. "Thousands endangered. I had to redirect some lava flows and knock down a few dozen lava bombs."

"Just another day saving the planet, eh?" I chided her.

"Don't be like that," she settled down beside me. "I don't do it for the adoration. I do it because I have the power to do it and it needed to be done."

"Why couldn't you have let nature take its course? I mean, can you imagine a world where there are no superheroes? Natural disasters would still happen."

"But the world DOES have superheroes, Reynard. Because of that, we have to try and do what needs to be done," she riposted.

"Speaking of another grave injustice, Kyle lost tonight. With my two 'byes', he's eliminated no matter what I do. Then it will be me and India in the final round."

"Oh ... India won so gained the 'bye'," Bonnie put things together. "Good for her."

"Yeah. It seems even with Louise's 'little' trick with Lao didn't win her the contest. Tomorrow she gets to go home too."

"See, sometimes the selfish way isn't the way to win. Sometimes the good guys, or gals, come out on top through their own efforts," Bonnie shoulder-bumped me.

"You keep believing that," I grumped. "I'll keep my faith in duplicity and the ability of people to disappoint you."

"Even your heroes?"

"Especially my heroes."

[END]

[5+1G] The Sidekick Super-Squad

Night Owl ~ a borderline metahuman super-skilled person ~ former sidekick of the Night Watchman

Nova Blaze ~ an alien with cosmic whoop-ass powers

Starling ~ teleportation and darkness powers plus some magic

Techno ~ cybernetically-enhanced human ~ former sidekick of Prodigy

Animal Lad ~ can shapeshift into any known animal ~ former sidekick of Animus

A graduated sidekick who occasionally helps out:

Nightingale ~ previous sidekick of the Night Watchman before Night Owl

[15G] Metahuman Team-X 'bold' = original team

Ruby Lenses ~ fires lethal eyebeams of destructive power

Seraphim ~ angel-winged metahuman acrobat and charismatic face man

X-Girl ~ telepathic and telekinetic metahuman wonder-kin yet to come into her own

Animus ~ engineering genius who can assume the powers of various animals

Deluge ~ metahuman mistress of the Elemental Storm

War Cry ~ sonic powered nativist metahuman

Phantom Girl ~ metahuman able to control her density

Weapon-Y2 ~ a 2nd, female attempt at the Weapon-Y project ... using a young metahuman girl with rage issues ...

Gremlin ~ a metahuman with the ability to jinx others as well as alter her own luck

(2) Futurista & Warbeast ~ a metahuman girl able to utilize super-science equations (they appear to be magic) plus her pet baby dragon-like creature

Chromium Steel ~ a metahuman who can transform into a living Chromium Steel colossus

Star Stepper ~ metahuman misfit with the ability to rapidly teleport around as well as possessing superhuman agility and coordination

Soul Stealer ~ touch mimicry with a cute Cajun accent

Bon Jour ~ mysterious luck powers with the ability to super-charge a bowling ball