June 12, 2000
"Heyyyyy…", an obnoxious voice echoed through the grand room startling the superhumans. All eyes were on the source of the voice, a figure finally stepped forward grinning like a maniac.
It is the Architect, Elias Sterling, wearing his outlandish and flamboyant multi layered jacket, asymmetrical clashing colored flowing pants. He surveyed the room with a big smirk on his lips. The henchmen knocked out the headmaster, continuing to secure control over the heroes' agency.
"I was not too late for the party was I?" Elias proceeded to laugh, mocking the people in the room.
He stepped over the unconscious bodies of the trainers and recruiters. Hiro's heart sank seeing his recruiter and mentor just getting stepped on like that.
"Who are you?" Timothy shouted, his shaky voice didn't hide his fear but anger overpowered him, "What do you want!?"
Elias' eyes gleamed with amusement as he raised his hand dismissively. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. But for now, I have something to collect, you know what that is?" Elias looked at each one of them, hoping he could get an answer.
Everyone looked at each other, "That's right, it's you! My dear recruits, or should I say agents? No? Maybe superhumans? To be honest I don't really care what you guys are but to make this speech completely short, you're all part of the design that I am planning. Trust me, you'll want to be on my side."
This was no ordinary villain; this is someone who saw them as mere pawns in a larger conflict.
"I hold all the cards here, so don't you dare be against me or you can and we'll see if you're as formidable as you think," Elias challenged the heroes.
The tension in the room escalated, well, except for Dylan. He took a deep breath, this was his chance for his powers to be useful, "Did you seriously think you're so powerful, right now?"
Elias laughed arrogantly, "I am power itself, why acting so coc-" his eyes went wide…he couldn't control his body.
"What about now?" Dylan grinned as the Architect's demeanor changed, the once-arrogant prick now became lost in thought.
Hiro looks at Dylan amused by what is happening, he then feels a tap from Talia, "Cut your knot, discreetly." She gave him a broken twig with a sharp end to it.
Elias couldn't reply back at him nor can he escape from this trance.
"Now tell me who your targets are."
Elias paused, then replied, "The superhumans in this agency…."
With that, Dylan turned the tide. The Architect is brainwashed by Dylan.
"What are your futur-"
The henchmen finally realizing their leader being brainwashed, immediately aimed their guns at him.
"Get down!" Dylan immediately dived to a table. The other superhumans get freed from their knots and hide on the other tables of the grand room.
Elias still stood frozen but got charged by one of the henchmen, shoving him into the ground. The impact broke the trance Dylan had on him, and the Architect shook his head, turning back to reality.
"What did you do to me!?" Elias growled, the anger in his eyes like a beast untamed.
"Guys, we need to work together!" He yelled, "Now's our chance!"
"Let's go!" Timothy shouted, rallying for everyone.
The Architect barked orders to his men, "Don't let them escape this building!"
"I need to get him again!" Dylan moved through the room, he spotted Elias and locked eyes with him.
"You want power, don't you?"
Elias smirked, not getting outsmarted this time. A gunman spotted Dylan and aimed his weapon at him, the gunman immediately pulled the trigger.
Dylan's heart raced, but before he could react, a sudden movement caught his eye. Sasha lunged forward to protect him, pushing him away. The bullets struck her instead, and she crumpled to the ground.
"No! Sasha!" Dylan shouted, rushing to her side. The room went silent for a moment, the realization hitting everyone hard.
"Sasha!" Dylan called out once more, the rest of the superhumans rushed to her.
"NO! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, I NEED THEM!"
Elias shrieked, enraged at the gunman who had shot Sasha. He lunged closer to the shooter, then fired his own pistol, growling, "You stupid fuck, I needed these superhumans for my plan."
But then, a miracle happened. Sasha's body began to shimmer with a faint glow. Her gunshot wounds started to heal before their eyes and her skin knitted back together, "I'm okay, don't worry about me," Sasha gained consciousness.
"Oh fuck, I killed my soldier over nothing." Elias sank into a deep panic, everything was going wrong.
Hiro, Kristine, and Cathy picked up something off about his distress.
Everyone was momentarily distracted by the commotion, "I have to do this, now!" Bernadette, the old woman, stepped forward. She began to weave a melody that filled the air, hypnotizing the remaining henchmen within the building. For the superhumans, this same music acted as an invisible shield, protecting them.
"Timothy! Use your powers, now!" Bernadette ordered.
"Got it, granny!" Timothy joined the battle, summoning vines from the ground, snaking around the henchmen and Elias himself, trapping them in a solid grip.
"Now that you're all stuck, I seriously need to take a pee!" Timothy called out.
With the henchmen immobilized and Elias struggling against the restraints, they couldn't do anything but to wait until the police came.
The grand room begins to settle, as the recruiters and trainers are gaining consciousness, catching their breaths and exchanging glances as to what just happened.
Max, who got knocked out earlier, approached the captured Elias. He realized something as he looked at him, "This is not Elias…"
The room fell silent, the realization dawning on everyone.
"This is an impostor!" Max shouted.
The superhumans exchanged looks, confused, "How can you know for sure, Max?" Hiro asked.
Max shook his head, "This guy is just a decoy, a con artist. Elias tricked all of us." He didn't even answer Hiro's question.
Before Hiro could rephrase his question to Max, the loudspeaker crackled to life. "Hello, hello? Is this thing even working? The tech is so outdated." A voice, eerily similar to the "Elias" they'd just fought, spoke, "Attention, super-humans and agency staff, this is the actual Architect, the real Elias, checking in on you."
The recruits froze, "Look at all these rookies. Don't bother trying to find me; I'm safely in my own territory. I simply hacked your outdated technology." The real Elias is as arrogant as the fake one.
"My con artist really made a good impression of me, didn't he? But damn, he lacks the brains and decision-making of the real one. Killing one of my own henchmen is certainly not something the real Elias would do. This is no time for celebration, heroes. Did you really think I'd be foolish enough to go out there without observing your superpowers first? That's why I sent my fake to do the job, and now I know your capabilities, especially Dylan, who managed to brainwash me—that's amazing! And Sasha, who seems to regenerate and heal her body. I know a weakness of that power of yours, and perhaps next time... you'll drop dead for good, that is, if you choose to oppose me. This is far from over, heroes. I'll see you soon." He concluded his speech with an obnoxious laugh before cutting the transmission.
"I want to assure you that help is on the way," The headmaster spoke again on his microphone, "We've dealt with the impostor, but we need to regroup and assess any future threats."
The impostor realized he was cornered and had no other way of escaping this mess, "You can't do this! I am just following orders!" He protested.
"And what makes you think you could get away with that?" Max fiercely intimidated the fake Elias.
"You messed with the wrong group, even if the real one shows up, I know whose side will triumph," Dylan got energized after having an impact on this battle.
————————————————————————
The police and the agency's security dragged the impostor and the henchmen, a collected sigh of relief could be heard throughout the grand room. The battle is over, for now at least.
A detective, a tall woman with a commanding presence, came around the scene of the fight, "Thank you for your bravery in handling the situation. I am Ariane, a detective of this city's police department. I need to ask a few questions about what happened here."
Detective Ariane began her questioning, she listened attentively to everyone's accounts of the attack, how they fought the henchmen and the impostor architect.
After listening, she gave them a grateful speech, "This batch will thrive on cases like this, taking charge in a crisis. You've proven that you superhumans are a vital part of society, even if civilians never see your importance."
"Wait, so the police know superhumans exist?" Hiro realized, surprised, as he'd been completely unaware before becoming one himself.
"Of course, since 1964. That includes the government, the media, and the army. Civilians are the only ones who have no idea you guys exist."
"So, for the past thirty-six years, some people knew about superhumans? But how did the media know and never report it?" Hiro pressed for more details.
"They're always ordered by the president," she explained, "And on a smaller scale, like here in this city, the mayor gives the orders to conceal your identities."
Hiro nods, finally understanding this whole thing.
"Any more questions?" Detective Ariane looked at them, no one seemed to speak up so she concluded, "Just know," looking at each of them, "The city is safer because of you, every single one of you and we're here to support you in any way we can."
"We'll keep doing our best."
"We won't let anyone down."
"We're going to protect everyone."
The detective nodded, "We'll be monitoring this situation closely, but having all of you on our side makes all the difference. Keep training and growing, be the hero that this city needs."
"I am going back to my department, I'll investigate this scene further in the upcoming days, I'll see you around." Detective Ariane takes her leave with her police comrades.
"You guys are free to go home, thank you for everything you did tonight." The headmaster announced. Everyone on team A went to exit the building together while team B was still discussing…
"Should we, uh, you know, talk for a little bit or should we just go home?" Talia suggested after what occured tonight.
"Let's discuss some things, I agree. Let's figure some things out." Timothy agreed on her suggestion.
Team B formed a circle discussing their plan, except for Hiro who was squatting on the floor. To him, it was too chaotic for them to actually have a plan.
"Guys, I think the first thing we need to do is talk about how we're going to do whatever we're going to do—you know, talk about the whole process of things." Hiro made the team silent for a while but his suggestion was once again ignored by the whole team.
The whole team proceeds to discuss the things chaotically until Hiro had enough of being ignored by them, "Are you guys all done talking?"
"Huh? I don't know," Timothy replied.
"I'm done talking," Dr. Sheppard looked at Hiro.
The ladies were amused and the men were annoyed at Hiro's entitlement behavior.
"I appreciate what he's trying to point out, unfortunately people like that annoy me." Timothy murmured to Talia who just simply nodded, she kinda felt awkward at Hiro's attitude at the moment.
"I'm just thinking, we're not doing so well," Hiro shrugs.
"Why? Cause we're not talking properly?" Helen confronted Hiro.
"Yeah," Hiro said bluntly.
"Sometimes, you need to do things than all bark, Mr. Hiro. Things can't be that planned out immediately."
"I agree with you on that statement, but the problem with having no clear discussion whatsoever, or lots of people talking about different things is that it leads to nobody working towards a singular goal."
Helen kept listening to his rants.
"We're all superhumans now, so the question that we always keep in mind is: why are we here? What is our purpose of being a superhero? And if we don't-" Hiro was cut off
"I figured that out long ago before I went here in this agency."
"For you, yes."
"You haven't, Mr. Hiro?"
"I'm trying to. My point is, we, as a team, haven't figured out that question collectively: what is our purpose as a team? We have to function together or we fail."
"What do you think we're doing now?" Helen slightly raises her voice at Hiro.
"Not functioning together at all."
"I genuinely thought we were doing good. Hiro, being a team-person is actually putting efforts together." Helen started to walk away from Hiro, "Action, kid! You didn't even do shit earlier."
"I know that, but we don't want to act ahead without a collective plan." Hiro smirked in disbelief, he knew she was older and quite dangerous but Hiro couldn't just believe their mindset at the moment.
The team distanced themselves from Hiro, continuing their chaotic discussion. Hiro watches them from a distance and can't help himself, "Can I help?" Getting the attention of his team, "I can seriously help with how we can do this."
Hiro walked to where they were gathering and began his pep talk, "If a team aren't working towards the same direction towards a particular destination then things that individuals do kind of get in a way, sort of a hindrance to the whole team, and I think it's important that what we decide, be decided as a team."
Helen nods, finally getting Hiro's point. Talia and Timothy are still processing Hiro's words. Kristine, William, and Bernadette, however, were smiling as they listened, seemingly convinced by what he was saying. Dr. Sheppard, on the other hand, appeared to be lost in thought, clearly just wanting to go home.
Bernadette, who had been quietly listening since the start, "Hiro has a point. We've got to trust each other and have a guideline for when things don't go well. It doesn't mean we can't adapt; it just means we're prepared.
Kristine nodded in agreement, "I get his point, we need to do this as a team."
The tension began to ease as the others exchanged glances.
Hiro's expression softened, "I just want all of us to be on the same page."
Team B began discussing their ideas, the conversation shifting from disagreement to collaboration and understanding, slowly forming a cohesive plan that they all felt good about.
As the discussion wrapped up, Hiro smiled, feeling the weight of their argument earlier disappear into thin air, "I'm so sorry for how I acted earlier and thank you for hearing me out, everyone."
They gathered their things as they got ready to go home. They walked out of the agency, the sun was setting.
Hiro felt a tap on his shoulder, it was Kristine, "Let's meet tomorrow, agency's library." She planned.
Hiro was confused but accepted, "Sure…"
————————————————————————
The next day, the agency's library was quiet, filled with a scent of old books. In the middle of it, there is Kristine, who was surrounded by a stack of textbooks, trying to absorb as much information as possible after the chaos of yesterday.
The door creaked open, and Hiro entered, still sweaty from his own training. He approached Kristine, "Am I late?"
"No, I wasn't even expecting you to come."
"But you invited me–"
"I know, but it wouldn't have mattered to me if you hadn't come anyway."
Hiro took a seat, "So why did you invite me here?"
"Nothing really, I just wanted to know you better? Anyways, I'm Kristine Sampson and I have enhanced intelligence as my superpower, not that exciting and powerful but hey at least I don't get out there and tire my body out. This library is already my training camp, let's just say I am the "genius" of this whole batch."
"Uhh, nice to meet you-"
Kristine chuckled, "I know I talk a lot but how can I not be? When all my superpower does is process information quickly and analyze situations on the fly?"
"So…like a detective?"
"A detective that already knows everything that is."
Kristine leaned forward, "I just wanted to say that I admired how you stood up to your stance yesterday. It takes a lot of confidence to assert yourself in those kinds of discussions, and from the looks of it, you're not typically confident on a daily basis."
"What does that mean?"
Before they could delve deeper into their conversation, the loudspeaker crackled to life, interrupting their moment, "Attention, all recruits. This is the headmaster. I need your immediate attention. We have a critical situation."
Hiro's heart dropped, both him and Kristine exchanged glances as the headmaster continued, "Ramona and Kenji are in danger. One of Elias' right hand men, a highly skilled sniper, codename: Blood, is targeting them. I need all available superhumans to assist them immediately!"
"Gather the team, everyone who's available, now!" Kristine declared as they both ran out of the library.
————————————————————————
A loud bang echoed through the car, making Ramona flinch and close her eyes. Her heart pounded as she tried to understand what had happened. When she opened them, she saw a horrifying sight: the taxi driver was dead, slumped over the steering wheel with a bullet hole in his head. The car was hurtling out of control towards a distant tree, its horn blaring. Ramona tried to grab the wheel, but it was too late. The car crashed violently into the tree, and Ramona felt her body thrown forward, losing consciousness.
In a dazed state, Ramona felt someone pulling her out of the car. She struggled to open her eyes and saw someone's face helping her.
It was Kenji, the martial artist from Team A. He noticed Ramona was awake. "Now leave this place and stay away," he urged her.
Weakened and traumatized by the sight of the dead driver, Ramona was unable to move. Despite Kenji's warning, she remained frozen.
"LOOK OUT!" Ramona heard Kenji scream.
Kenji saw a red laser dot aimed at Ramona's head, who seemed oblivious to the danger, he dashed and jumped forward to reach her...