"So, you catch that game last night?"
"No, was it any good?"
"I don't freaking know. Why do you think I was asking you, dumbass?"
The underground of Oleander was vast, with hundreds of bunkers, miles of sewers, and abandoned subway stations. In fact, if one were to journey far enough underground and travel well into the depths of the ocean, they would even find the remains of ancient cities lost to time after the first attack by ancient Calamities.
It was here underground that two men stood guard. Behind them was what used to be a bunker, though it had since been hollowed out and turned into a base for them to smuggle goods. Inside were hundreds of crates filled with their newest type of drugs, which the big boss had managed to create, as well as dozens of armed soldiers. This was one of their more significant bases, and the Wandering Coin wasn't too keen on losing it.
"So, any plans for the next game?"
"No, Greg. I'm going to be here, standing guard like I always do. Freaking idiot."
Greg was about to say more but stopped when he noticed a large black wasp sitting on his friend's shoulder. "Oh man, sit still. You got a bug on you."
"Really? Oh hey, you do too?"
"I do!" Greg looked down at his arms, finding three wasps clinging to him. "Must be a nest or something down here. Hey, turn around. I'll see if there's any more on you."
"Good thinking." His friend turned around, and Greg instantly felt his face go pale. "So, are there any on me?" His entire back was covered in them. They all sat there silently, not making a sound or twitching in the slightest. Shaking, he brought his arm up and flinched when he reached his own back. He didn't feel his shirt. "Greg?"
"I think we're screwed."
Instantly, the buzzing pierced their ears. Every wasp on them sprung to life, and from the darkness, a mass of them poured out, swirling in the air. He managed to turn and scream past the doorway to get the attention of the others inside, but it was too late. The wasps all formed together, taking the shape of a person, and instantly Greg was knocked out as a fist slammed directly into his face.
Wasp Nest smirked as he settled into his human form. He was dressed in his hero costume, which consisted of just a basic black cloth he would drag around with him when he shifted in and out of his form since he couldn't bring his clothes with him. The fabric wrapped around his waist, hiding his private parts. His smirk faded when he felt something hit the side of his head.
The goon behind him had drawn a knife and tried to impale the boy's skull, only for the blade to sink into a swarm of hundreds of angry wasps. The bugs swarmed him, and he screamed as he was given the stinging of a lifetime. He managed to jump out of the swarm and crashed into something hard. He looked up just in time to see the fist of Metal Ronin smash directly into his face.
Several guards ran towards the entrance of the open bunker and opened fire on the futuristic cyborg warrior. Before any bullets could land, though, a golden barrier appeared around the hero, blocking the gunfire.
"Sir, my armor is bulletproof. No need to protect me." Metal Ronin said, speaking up.
"If ya sure?" Battery jumped from the darkness behind Metal Ronin, his body igniting with traces of golden lightning, lighting the underground area up. He moved like a blur, casually dodging gunfire as he stepped into the vault. "Now, let's see what we're working with here." He grinned.
The bunker was quite spacious and consisted of only a single floor. Besides the boxes of drugs and the armed dealers, there were a few chairs and tables scattered around, a few TVs, game consoles, and some fridges. Near the very back was also a giant ladder that led all the way up to the roof, which would no doubt open up into the many sewer tunnels and function as a makeshift getaway.
The goons were all wearing makeshift riot gear that seemed to be thrown together and held big guns that fired rapidly and loudly. All in all, he counted about sixtyish men.
Everything slowed to a crawl, and his eyes practically poured lightning. The black lines of his outfit had shifted to gold, and light pumped through his veins as he walked toward the men. He lazily slapped his arm out, a golden chain firing. It whipped through the air and smashed into the sides of about twenty or so men, slamming them all into a wall and shocking them until they blacked out. His other arm raised up, and all his fingers glowed, blasting out beams of energy, which then further separated into five more beams, creating a total of twenty-five that scattered around, knocking more men down.
"Show off..." Wasp Nest muttered. The boy ran into the room and separated into a mass of bugs that swarmed people. His swarm took form and seemed to almost morph into a massive fist that would then ram into people head-on to ensure they had the wind knocked out of them.
A few of the goons made for the boxes and pulled out the jars of orange liquid. They downed them and let out roars, charging forward but didn't get far. Metal Ronin jumped in front of them with a pair of tonfas forming around his arms. They buzzed like tasers, and his shoulder opened up, firing darts. Anyone hit by a dart blacked out instantly, while the drugged-up goons slowed from its effect. He swung his weapon out and slammed it into their heads, and as soon as they hit the ground, golden chains blasted from Battery's hands, wrapping around them.
"Damn hero, bastards!" One of the goons screamed in rage. "Cover me. I'm going to show these guys why you don't screw with us!" The gang member ran to a different box as his quickly dwindling men began to drop. On a table, a black suitcase rested, which the man picked up and pressed a button on it. The thing unfolded and began to rapidly grow in size. It twisted over his body and changed colors, locking in place. "How do you guys like me now!"
Metal Ronin was the first to see it, and his eyes widened as his blood ran cold. "That armor. Where the hell did you get it?" The goon was now dressed in what almost looked like a set of knight armor, though it had a far heavier tech vibe to it. It glowed a faint red color and hummed with energy. "That belongs to one of the Pallet Boys! Why the hell does the Wandering Coin have one of their armors!"
"Calm yourself." Battery barked out, though even he was a little pissed. He doubted they just borrowed it. "Remember why we're here."
"Yeah." Metal Ronin stepped forward in his own metal suit and let out a loud roar. "I'll deal with this bastard." The handle of a katana popped out of his leg, which he lifted. It ignited into a beam of pure plasma.
The goon drew his own sword, a prominent shimmering bastard sword that let out a mechanical hiss. Dozens of moving parts ran along the blade, and the Wandering Coin member swung it out. A beam of rainbow-colored energy followed, but Metal Ronin casually blocked it, simply raising his free arm up and causing a blue barrier to appear.
The shoulder of the Pallet Boy suit opened, a large minigun folding out, which began to unleash a hail of bullets around the room. Metal Ronin stopped that as well, activating his gloves, which glowed, and gained a magnetic force to them, suddenly pulling all the bullets out of the air and towards his palm. They twisted into a ball, and with a flick, it blasted towards the enemy suit. It tore through whatever barrier was around the armor and easily blasted the gun off the shoulder.
"I made that after seeing Polaron in action." Metal Ronin announced. He swung his sword and met the blade of his enemy. "You might have a fancy suit, but there is a reason we don't just give things like this to normal people. You're sloppy with it. Wasting all its power and diverting it all over the place. The real Pallet Boys would never make a mistake like you're doing. They'd have torn my barrier down with ease and would up their force field for my own attacks."
"Shut up, you bastard!" The man raised his sword up but suddenly froze. As in, he simply couldn't move. "What happened!" He tried to budge his arms, but his suit refused to obey itself.
"I told you. Used up all its power." Metal Ronin simply tipped him over with barely any force. "See, us Mental-based power users give off a special energy that fuels whatever we create. Sure, a normal person could pilot one of our suits for maybe ten or twenty minutes if they're careful, but without us, the thing will have no way of recharging. Now stay put as I deal with the rest of the trash."
"Screw you!"
Only two men seemed to be left standing. One had been slammed into a wall and barely managed to start climbing up the ladder, making an escape attempt to the roof. The other had been zapped by Battery's beam. Unlike the others, though, he didn't black out, seemingly taking it. Battery didn't move. Instead, he simply watched the man crawl back to his feet and make a break for the ladder, much like his friend.
"So, we're letting two go?" Wasp Nest asked once the two goons were out of earshot and managed to escape through the hatch up top.
"Money Tree just said let a few go. We might have gone a little overboard." Battery smirked.
Metal Ronin marched over, pocketing his gear. "Bastards had it coming. Now come help me with this big guy over here-"
It happened in a flash. Faster than any of them could react, the walls glowed, and a loud beep echoed throughout the room. Then, in an instant, a massive blast shook the room!
***
"So, is anyone else bored, or is it just me?" Snowdawn asked.
"No, this is totally boring." BB snorted.
"Ah, don't be that way. I'm glad to have two elemental users on board." Money Tree said, giving a grin.
"Yeah, because we've been so helpful." Cinder said in a sarcastic tone. She almost regretted her declaration against the Wandering Coin as, so far, she had basically made zero progress. Not much time had passed since the incident at the school. It had only been a day, in fact, but that time felt like it was stretching on forever.
This was partly the fault of the job they now did. Something you almost never see in fiction is just how boring a lot of investigative work really is. Myth had finally called a meeting. School had ended early due to everything that happened, so the hero finally called them all back together.
And what was his first mission? To dump them onto the Sub Enforcers.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. They had formed into three main teams. Team One consisted of Myth and Whisper. They weren't in the city anymore. Instead, the two of them went off to go meet the Watch Dogs. She was pretty bummed about that, actually, as she would have loved to see that hero team in person. Team Two had Battery, Metal Ronin, and Wasp Nest. They were somewhere in Spider Street, exploring dozens of warehouses. Team Three was led by Money Tree. It had her, Snowdawn, and BB on it. It was also easily the most boring thing ever.
They stood ducked down behind shipping crates or on the rooftops of buildings and simply watched. There were a few large boathouses and some warehouses scattered about. The piers themselves were large and connected to part of the beach, though the beach was mainly just a trash heap. There were dozens of boats scattered throughout the ocean, some sunk and some sinking. It gave off such a gloomy look. Years ago her dad had worked for the docks, but Oleander had shut them down a few years after he was unable to work due to the dangers of the Beast from Space.
There was heavy mist in the air, and it lightly sprinkled. Combined with the night and the slow winter weather that was approaching every day, it left the docks as a cold mess most people would avoid. "So, remind me again what we're looking for?" She asked, speaking into the radio they all had on them.
Her radio lightly buzzed as Money Tree responded. "Pantheon once stopped a Wandering Coin hideout here." The hero explained. "Wandering Coin can grow insanely fast and seem to have hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bases. See, the thing is, every base in Spider Street is always a minor one used to store their product. I say we need to get to the bottom of a big base."
"And you think that's here?" Snowdawn questioned.
"The base you guys stopped here was much bigger than any of the ones on Spider Street. On top of that, though, when Wasp Nest and Metal Ronin were on patrol, they spotted a few Wandering Coin goons here on the docks, though they quickly lost track of them. So now, we're going to do a good old-fashioned stakeout. I don't care how long it takes. We're going to wait for one of these guys to return and lead us straight to this bigger base, whatever it is. That's where Team Battery comes in."
"Team Battery?" She snorted at the name, though she was a little jealous. Battery got to work with Wasp Nest and Metal Ronin and was actually getting to have fun. There was a light buzz in the air, and BB flew over to her, lightly landing on her shoulder. The girl was about the size of one of her smaller Victorian action figures.
"Team Battery is going to make a series of attacks on those smaller warehouses and capture as many people as they can while deliberately letting one or two escape. Wasp Nest is good at finding these small bases because of his power. Metal Ronin also built a device that will shut off communication, so these guys can't radio each other or call in. Eventually, the goons will have no choice but to return back to base to report on what's happening, and that's when we'll get them." The tiny girl announced.
"Sounds good to me." She said, lightly poking the tiny girl.
"Hey, knock it off!"
"Sorry. My bad, you're just so weirdly small." Her and BB hid together, while Snowdawn was up on the roof of a nearby boathouse. Money Tree had decided on a 'next level' hiding spot, as he put it, and actually went under the docks hidden in the water, ready to strike.
She had bets on him getting a bad cold before the hour was up. "So, how's Oxide?" She asked quietly.
The tiny hero's arms folded, and BB took a seat on her shoulder, letting out a sigh. "Well, she's doing good, I guess. The girl will be returning tomorrow."
"That's great. Though you don't sound too happy." She noted.
"I mean, I'm glad she is fine and all, but Oxide is kind of a pain to deal with when she's out of costume. She is almost like Myth, where she completely swaps who she is. Out of costume, she basically turns into a stereotypical mean girl prom queen type."
"Sounds a lot like Ashley." She said quietly. She didn't notice BB freezing at the mention of the name. "She's a girl at my school, and the way you described Oxide out of costume is her to a T. Guess that's just how some of the popular girls are. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Ashley in a while either-"
"Let's talk about something else," BB said sheepishly. "I saw what you said on the news. Is it true you killed Polaron?"
She winced and made a face. "I don't really want to talk about that."
"If you're sure. You're getting pretty popular though, Cinder." BB giggled and winked at her. "I also saw your declaration."
"Declaration?" Her thoughts went back to what she said in front of all the drones. Her face shifted into a red color, and she covered it with her hands. "I honestly don't know why I thought it would be a smart idea to mention what I was into. It just sort of came out in the heat of the moment."
"Well, I'm sure you got plenty of female fans out there all swooning when they learned you were into girls." BB joked and nudged her ear with an elbow.
"Maybe. Dating isn't really something I'm looking to do at the moment, though." She admitted. "I'm more focused on figuring out this hero stuff. You've been a hero for a while, right?"
"Yep. I was a hero back when Myth was still a teenager." The young girl bragged. "Before you ask, no, it doesn't get easier. Also speaking of Myth, how is he as a team leader?"
"He's really cool but strict."
"Sometimes I wonder how different everything would have been if he was made team leader," BB muttered quietly. "I was still a kid two years ago. Had just turned fourteen. Myth was being groomed for the position of team leader by Red Iron. Then the Beast attack happened. I- I didn't go. I wasn't brave like Poseidon or Wasp. I don't know what happened, but they changed. Not just physically but mentally. Myth changed the most, too. They don't like talking about it a lot, but he did something. Something the Hero Branch didn't like, and just like that, he lost his chance of being a leader."
She frowned, taking that in. Myth had mentioned a small bit about his time on the Sub Enforcers. He never really mentioned why he was looked over for the position of leader, though.
She never got a chance to ask anything else, though. Static filled their radio, causing them both to jump. "We got something coming," Snowdawn said. "Get ready, you two."
"Looks like I'm up. Wait for my signal, everyone." BB said, slowly standing up. Somehow, the girl got even smaller and looked to be about the size of an actual bee. BB's glass wings unfolded, and she gently floated into the air, giving Cinder a nod. The fire-based hero watched her fly off.
"Good luck."
BB danced through the air. The wind bent to her will and created a cradle around her that masked the buzzing noise of her glass wings. She would have to thank Harrison Avalon someday. The wings were perfect and fitted her style fully. "Alright, I see them." The wind also masked her voice from anyone, even those with enhanced senses. Only those who had their radio could hear her now. "They don't look like Wandering Coin goons."
Besides being connected to the beach and ocean, the dock was also connected with the rest of Oleander, and on the side of the road, a very expensive-looking muscle car pulled to the side. Two men stepped out, one nearly dropping to his knees. "Bastard." One of the men growled. "How the hell did those heroes find us? We were underground." Both of the men looked like they had received the beating of a lifetime. They sported black eyes and bruised skin, and just walking caused them both to stumble.
"Look, just be glad we made it out of there." The other grunt walked towards his friend and helped support the man. "We'll get Doc to take a good look at you. You were hit by one of those golden beams. It's a miracle you're still conscious."
"Doc isn't going to be happy." The badly injured man said, letting out a sigh. "We had a ton of sales that just went up in flames because of the heroes. Think he'll report it to the big boss?"
"Nah. Sunshine is likely to blame Doc as well, if the man blabs."
BB quietly snickered to herself as she stayed above them both, staying directly out of their sight and masking in the darkness of the night sky. It seemed Battery's team did their job. Still, she learned something important. "Hey, Money Tree, are you listening in to what they said?" BB asked, flying a small bit closer to the duo.
"Oh yeah, we heard loud and clear." Money Tree said over their radio. "Whoever this 'Doc' guy is, they seem to think he can get a hold of Sunshine. This could be a bigger lead than I thought. Stick close but stay out of sight, BB."
"You got it." BB dropped from the sky and curled up into a ball. None of the men even noticed as she casually dropped into one of their pockets. She rested herself against the man's phone and folded her arms as they began to carry her. She was able to poke her head out just barely and follow where they walked.
"You don't think that golden bastard followed us, do you?" The injured man groaned as he began to walk down the heavy wooden docks, passing by the many boat houses.
"No way." His friend said. "I blew that place sky high. Even if he didn't die, that had to slow him down. Him and that robot sword freak."
BB frowned and folded her arms. Metal Ronin and Battery could take a beating, but Wasp Nest either had the durability of an average human or was millions of bugs. A connected hive mind of wasps, but still bugs in the end. She'd have to tread carefully around Poseidon if he was even slightly hurt. The girl was already in a dark place after the state her sister was in. A bit more of a push, and the monster could fully crawl its way back from the abyss.
The men finally began to reach the pier's edge near where Money Tree hid. The hero was beneath them entirely, and his outfit had changed to form more tendrils off his coat, making him look like a bundle of seaweed. The men didn't even notice him as they walked further down. Many boats were barely held together and falling apart. Some had fully sunken to the bottom of the ocean, while others had crashed into the dock.
The men both stopped, and for a second, they looked around. Their eyes roamed every which way, though they never bothered to look down beneath them. Finally satisfied, they stepped off of the docks and onto a small boat that was halfway sunk, its hull reaching the bottom of the beach floor. It wasn't a big ship. One of the kinds that could fit a few people and had a cabin.
One of the men opened the door to the cabin and peered in, making sure no homeless person had decided to call it a home. It was flooded up to the knees, and the man shivered as he stepped down into it. Most of it had been gutted, any valuables were long gone. There was only one thing left—the doors to a closet.
He dragged his injured friend over to the closet door and grabbed the handle of it. Then he spoke. "Warp us to the Penny."
BB felt her blood run cold at that. At first, nothing happened, and she debated flying out, but it was far too late. A blue light shined from the closet and went up and down, scanning the two men. A mechanical voice echoed through the gutted boat suddenly. "Error. Unknown life form detected. Error. Unknown life form detected. Error-"
"What does it mean by an unknown life form?" The goon's eyes went wide, and he suddenly whipped his jacket off. "Shit! It's got to be a Super or something! We really were followed-"
BB grew to her full height, ripping his pants apart. Her foot came up as she rammed it into his groin as hard as she could, and with her other arm, she smashed it back directly into the nose of the other badly injured one before either goon could even think about standing up. A rope of literal money fired through the doorway and wrapped them both up, dragging them out of the boat.
"What now?" BB sighed, following after.
Cinder and Snowdawn popped out of their hiding spot and moved over to the size-altering hero. "I could try and bust the door open," Cinder suggested.
"Nah." Money Tree shook his head. "Sadly, it wouldn't work. It is just a normal closet door until it is activated. Once activated, it overlaps itself with a door that leads into a separate part of reality that is hidden away from this one. Our base is just like it."
"Let's assume I understood what you just said. How do we get it open then?" She asked, frowning.
"Well, the short answer is you really don't. Or at least none of us can." Money Tree said, sighing. "See, Harrison Avalon builds these doors. He provides them to many of the Sub Enforcers of other cities, including several Enforcers. Only one who doesn't use them is the Victorian since she has her precious tower. He made a bunch of these all over the world. If the Emperor had won, the plan would have been to move as many people as possible into them as bunkers."
"Wait, so then Avalon gave this to them?" Snowdawn asked with wide eyes. "Is he secretly evil or something?"
"I doubt it," BB said, throwing her arms behind her head. "He closed down most and got rid of them after the Emperor was dealt with. Usually, he hands them out to big heroes for their bases, though he can't really do that anymore since he can't create them now. I bet whoever the leader of the Wandering Coin is, they must have gotten their hands on it."
Money Tree frowned and looked at one of the goons. "You said, Penny? Penny was the base that belonged to the Pallet Boys. I haven't heard back from them for some time. Care to explain?"
"As if." One of the goons spat onto the man's suit. "You'll only be talking to my lawyer, hero trash-" A wad of cash filled his mouth, silencing him.
"They definitely got this one from the Pallet Boys and took it over." Money Tree winced. "If they did anything to those brothers, I'd be kind of ticked off. I actually rather like them. I guess this explains how we never got to them, though. I bet they targeted many of the solo heroes, or small groups, that had these gates and took them. Chances are the leader's base will be in another one."
"So then, do we just cut our losses here?" BB asked, frowning. "Once they find out we know there is a door here, they'll move the entrance to somewhere else. I doubt we'll get lucky twice in a row."
"There has to be something we can do," She argued. "If Avalon made this, then maybe he could get it open, right? You said something about him not being able to make more. Does that have to do with anything?"
BB shrugged. "Avalon helped build the doors, but not even he is able to create a mini-pocket realm. Only one that could do that was Max Lightning. Apparently, he used to be really strong and could do some crazy stuff. The first Lord of the Sky was said to be able to mess with time and space, and so Avalon used Max to make these during the war, fifteen years ago."
"That's what makes this so tricky." Money Tree sighed. "Max Lightning could easily get this door open, but with everything that happened, villains in every city are rioting. He'll be far too busy dealing with stuff in Gladiolus, so I doubt he'll have time to rush over here and help even if he did, though it would take too long. They're going to move this door in a matter of hours, maybe even less."
"Damn, so we really just lost out on a massive base." Snowdawn kicked the side of the boat in frustration and frowned.
She shook her head and folded her arms. Slowly, she closed her eyes and began to think. "I remember Max Lightning telling me a bit about how his powers work."
That caught the veteran hero off guard. Money Tree raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "You spoke to Max? And he actually talked to you long enough to explain his superpower?"
"Sort of." She opened her eyes, and they seemed to shimmer with a red luster. "He said he uses the wind to move these things called Paths. I guess these Paths are more like molecules in a way. Something we can't see but still exists around us, going through space and time. I don't understand it fully, powers are sort of bullshit at times, but he said he can shift them. You said he could open this door with his power, right? Well, BB, you also have wind-based power, so do you think you could use it to maybe move the Paths and force the door open?"
BB let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Look, Cindy, I'm flattered you think I'm even remotely that talented, but there are dozens of things wrong with that logic. First of all, I have two powers. Some Supers like me can have more than one, and it's really not that good of a thing. I can mess with my size and also control wind. Since I have both powers, the energy I have is split between them. The split also isn't even. I'm more like seventy percent size-changing, with thirty percent aerokinesis. That said, even if I did have full aero-based powers, Lord stuff works differently. Poseidon explained it a bit to me, but basically, they give off this weird aura that affects stuff, and this stuff can only be affected by other Lords. Things like blood control or the like wouldn't work on a Lord because of this unless it was able to reach the power of a Lord, and only a handful of people can claim to do that."
"Okay, but what if you had the energy of a Lord?" She asked slowly. "Like if you had just the energy, do you think you could combine that with your wind and make the Paths shift, even if it's a little to recreate Max Lightning's power?"
"I dunno. I've never had the energy of a Lord." BB shrugged.
"There's no telling." Money Tree put his two cents in. "It could work, but it could also not. Not a lot of people who have the energy of a Lord are willing to share it, even if it is temporarily."
She rubbed the back of her head and then finally shrugged. "I'd like to try something." She said sheepishly. "I think with BB's help, I could maybe get us into that base."
***
Whisper let out a loud whistle as she looked up. "So, this is the base of the Watch Dogs, huh?" The girl asked, craning her neck.
"This would be the place." Myth nodded.
The two of them were on their own little team. He had left most of his crew to aid Money Tree in a sting operation the man had wanted to do. Currently, he and Whisper were out at sea. They hadn't gone through the docks, and instead, he had been forced to change into a very strange form.
A dolphin.
Well, he wasn't just a dolphin. He was far bigger, big enough to carry Whisper, and like all his forms, he could still speak. He had semi-legs and arms, and he swam through the water heading towards their destination faster than any boat. The downside was he looked goofy.
It was either the dolphin or one of his other sea monster forms, and he honestly wasn't confident he could control anything cool-looking due to how big those forms got.
"So, their base is just out at sea for anyone to come take a look at?" Whisper asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Watch Dogs were created by Old Dog. He doesn't like leaving Oleander if he can help it, and that includes going into pocket realms." Myth explained as he swam through the sea and neared their destination. "This place was gifted to him by a hero named Levithan. She made a makeshift island with it, and they built their base on it."
In front of them was the island in question. It was on the border of Oleander, at the edge of the sea between it and Lillian. It was a massive chunk of ice. One that caused the water around it to freeze slightly. It was about the size of two, maybe three, city blocks and seemed to have its own mini weather around it, a black cloud above raining snow onto the ice island. Dirt and other such things had been layered onto the weird island, and it had a mini forest around it. A large dock also poked out of it, where a big ship resided.
In the dead center of the island was a large stone building, which had the logo of a wolf on it. As they neared, she could hear the sounds of loud music and childlike laughter.
Myth gradually came to a stop next to the dock, and she climbed off of him. He crawled his way out, and his body reverted back to his human form, his white robes totally soaked. "Can we fly next time?" She joked. He shot her an unamused look, and she just grinned wider. "So what now?" She asked.
"Now." Myth cracked his knuckles and stared at the building further into the weird forest. "Now we find out why the Watch Dogs haven't done jack shit for months, and if I don't like the answer, we give them the beating of a lifetime."
"Oh, look at you all, pro-violence." She nudged his shoulder, and her grin grew. "Dibs on breaking their legs."
"Sure. Just so long as they can explain themselves."
They stepped off of the dock and made landfall, looking towards the series of trees that blocked their way to the heroes base. "So, have you ever actually been here before?" She asked quietly.
"Nope." Myth shook his head. "But how bad could it be-"
A loud roar pierced the air, and dozens of trees suddenly exploded into a hail of wood as something came tearing its way toward them. Whatever it was, it was big, and its eyes glowed with anger as it tore its way out of the foliage.
"Seriously." She yelled. "Has being a hero taught you nothing? Never ask how bad could it be!"