Alison looked up at Cal Richards, noting that while he wasn’t that much taller than her, and that he wasn’t particularly intimidating. He did, however, hold himself with enough self-assurance that she found him quite powerful, and attractive.
“You’re new.” He said, a look of indifference on his face. “Cal Richards. Mr Hart called for me.”
“Of… of course. I’ll just check.” Alison stammered, pressing the button on the intercom. “Mr Hart? Cal Richards to see you.”
“Send him in.” Mr Hart buzzed back.
“Thanks.” Cal said, opening the door.
“Richards, thank you for coming up so quickly.” Mr Hart said, not moving from behind his desk.
“My workout can wait.” Cal shrugged. “What do you need?”
“We have some new recruits.” Mr Hart said. “We’re reshuffling your team.”
Cal raised an eyebrow. “We just got Red Streak settled in.”
“And you’ll keep him.” Mr Hart said. “But we want three of these guys on your team.” Mr Hart threw five folders down on the desk in front of Cal.
“And you want me to choose?” Cal asked.
“It is your team. Figure out who will be the best fit.” Mr Hart said.
Cal skimmed the first file. “Masked Ranger? He’s from San Antonio.” Cal said. “A little old for my team though. He must be in his forties.”
“They’re all from San Antonio.” Mr Hart said. “We’re closing the branch.”
Cal was taken aback. “You’re what?”
“The San Antonio branch is no longer financially viable, so we’re transferring the more valuable heroes to New York and LA. As this is my home branch, I wanted you to have first choice of the transfers.” Mr Hart said.
“And Texas is left with no-one?” Cal asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
“The other employees will be staying in the area, I would assume. They have no other means of employment.” Mr Hart said.
Cal flipped through each file. “Masked Ranger, Clarion, Hellene, Osprey and The Atlantean. Who exactly is left?” He asked. “Quark? Twister?”
“Along with another dozen employees we couldn’t afford to keep.” Mr Hart said. “It’s strictly a business decision.”
Cal turned and walked out the door. “Wait!” Mr Hart said, leaping from his chair, but he was too late. Cal was in the elevator, the doors closing as Mr Hart crossed his waiting room.
Cal reached Level Thirteen, where his team was based. “I’m leaving.” He announced.
“You came down here to announce that?” Lee asked, not even looking up, as he completed his squats, an enormous weight on his back.
“I meant I’m leaving Hire-A-Hero.” Cal said. “I’m moving back to Dallas.”
His teammates all stopped in their tracks. Even Lee dumped his weight and stared at his brother. “What?”
“The San Antonio branch has been closed.” Cal explained. “Their top five guys are being sent here or New York. There isn’t anyone defending the entire Gulf Coast.”
“And you’re going to drop everything we have here, and go be a hero?” Lee asked.
“Haven’t you learned anything?” Cal asked. “The whole time we’ve been here? All those stories Grandpa used to tell us about the old days on Liberty Force?”
Lee bowed his head. “It’s not about the money.”
“Damn right. Now, we have a duty to our home, and to the entire damn country.” Cal said. “I intend to go down there and do what I have to, to keep those people safe. What about you?”
Lee sighed. “I’d better make sure nothing happens to you. I mean, you need your little brother to save your ass all the time up here.”
Cal smiled, and shook his brother’s hand. “The Richards Brothers, tearing up Texas all over again.”
Ossuary cleared her throat, and the two men looked at her. “And what, you were just going to leave me here?” She asked.
Cal was still smiling. “No, I was going to ask you to come live with me in Dallas, maybe help us out.”
Ossuary’s eyes went wide. “You finally want to move in together?” She asked.
“And all it took was moving across the country.” Cal joked.
“I’ll take it. Besides, without me, you boys would be completely lost.” Ossuary said, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and planting a kiss on his lips.
Cal couldn’t take the grin off his face. “Now, as for the rest of you, I can’t ask you to leave your jobs here. You’ve got a good thing going here, I don’t want to ruin that for you.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” Mr Hart stepped out of the elevator. “Because they’re all fired.”
The Dirty Baker’s Dozen stared at their boss in disbelief. “You can’t do that.” Epic said.
“I’m afraid I can.” Mr Hart said. “I own this company. And this team is worthless to me without the Richards Brothers.”
“You’re an idiot.” Cal said. “Tide is every bit as powerful as her sister, Red Streak is unstoppable, LatX and Link are both good leaders. I could go on, but all I’m trying to say is: I’m just another part of this team, no more important than the others.”
“You would disrespect me like that?” Mr Hart’s voice was raised now. “Get out of my building, before I call someone to kick you out.”
Cal rolled his eyes, knowing the only person Mr Hart could call was Captain Awesome. “Move out of the way then.” Cal said, walking towards Mr Hart, and the elevator behind him. Mr Hart dove out of the way, as the rest of the team followed Cal onto the elevator.
Once outside the building, Cal assembled his team one last time.
“Guys, I’m sorry about how that all went down.” Cal said. “But I did what I had to do.”
“We understand.” Melchior said. “You have your duty.” The rest of the team nodded in agreement.
“Besides, now we can finally settle down.” AV squeezed Link’s hand.
“No contracts to worry about, we’ve got enough money for a place outside the city somewhere. We can go get real jobs.” Link said.
“Any of you are welcome to join us.” Cal said.
“Nah, I’m not sure I could put up with a whole state of Lees.” Epic joked, and the whole team, Lee included laughed.
“We’ll survive on our own.” Tide agreed.
As the team said their goodbyes, Epic sidled up next to LatX. “You know, Cal was right.” Epic said. “You’re a leader.”
LatX eyed his teammate for a moment. “So?”
“Well, it seems to me, we’ve got a bunch of superheroes here, without anything to do.” Epic said.
“No.” LatX said.
“But…”
“No.”
<><><>
Adrienne immediately recognised the Richards boys, and the blonde girl who must have been Ossuary, but she knew they wouldn’t recognise her. Lucky, the last thing she needed was for them to spot her at the airport.
Her heart raced, as she hurried out of their sight. What if they did spot her? How would she explain what she was doing? There was nothing left for her in LA, she needed a change. She needed something new. Or something else.
Her heart in her throat, she presented her ticket at the gate, as she boarded the flight to New York.
<><><>
Crackshot’s eyes fought to adjust to the darkness, but he couldn’t make out the man across the table.
“And how do I know I can trust you?” Crackshot asked. “I can’t even see you.”
“You have a reputation.” The other man said. “And I will pay you well for your skills. And your discretion.” The man pushed a briefcase across the table.
Crackshot looked at it for a moment. If it was booby-trapped, surely this man in the shadows would also be affected. It seemed safe. Crackshot opened the briefcase. Even in the low light, he could see Benjamin Franklin’s face looking back at him, dozens of them.
“If my calculations are correct, that’s ten times the amount of money that you earned in a year at your previous employer.” The man said.
“But only three-quarters of what the last offer someone made me for my services.” Crackshot said.
“This is just the retainer. Every two months, you will receive a briefcase just like this one. That’s around two million dollars, you’d have to ask an accountant for the exact amount.”
Crackshot smiled. “And in return?”
The other man laughed. “You kill anyone I tell you to.”
Crackshot only nodded.
<><><>
“It’s ours. All ours.” Linda said, as she stood outside the house.
“Well, mostly the banks’, but it’s a start.” Oscar said. “And we have enough in our savings to make our mortgage payments for a year.”
“It’ll be so much easier when we find jobs.” Linda said.
“I’ve applied to work at the supermarket, on the back loading dock, we’ll hear from them soon enough.” Oscar promised.
“You should apply for that Audio-Visual technician course I saw in the paper. You’ve got the experience.” Linda said.
The retired hero, formerly known as AV shook his head. “I’m going to need to work full time, if we’re going to be raising a family here.”
Linda looked confused. “Family? But we’re not even marr-“ Linda let out a gasp as Oscar got down on one knee.
<><><>
Eric sighed, as he stared at the phone. Two weeks ago, he had started placing ads in every newspaper in the city, offering his personal accounting services. The same place he had earned his Bachelor of Accounting was where he had been introduced to the world of the occult. It had both offended his Christian sensibilities, and intrigued him. The next thing he knew, he was signing up at Hire-A-Hero, and never really found a chance to use his Bachelor’s degree.
And he would have to keep waiting. The phone rang.
“Hello, Eric Caulfield speaking.” Eric said.
“Mr Eric Caulfield, formerly known as Melchior?” The voice on the other end asked.
“Y-yes.” Eric said.
“We have need of your abilities, and your experience.” The voice said.
“… What?” Eric asked.
“How would you like to serve your government?”
<><><>
“An office? Are you serious?” Lee asked.
“What? We need somewhere for people to contact us. And we need a public base of operations, we can’t just use our apartment.” Cal said.
“Which will, of course, just be our apartment once you find your own place.” Michelle added, looking pointedly at Lee.
Lee ignored his brother’s girlfriend. “We’re going to need a name. For the business.”
“Richards Brothers’?” Cal asked.
“Two Guys and A Girl?” Michelle asked.
“Texas Trio?” Cal suggested.
“Mid-South Boomers?” Lee said.
“Rose Between Two Thorns?” Michelle asked.
Cal suddenly thought of it. “Trilogy.”
“That’s kind of lame.” Lee said.
“What was dad’s favourite series of movies?” Cal asked.
“The Dollars Trilogy.” Lee said.
“And the last movie was: The Good.” Cal pointed at Michelle. “The Bad.” Cal was now pointing at Lee. “And The Ugly.” Cal pointed at himself.
Lee chuckled. “Trilogy it is.”
<><><>
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” LatX said.
“I can’t believe you just spoke a full sentence.” Epic said.
LatX grunted.
“You were serious when you called us?” Fuse asked.
“Damn right.” Epic said.
Iaso smiled. “You couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
“Nope.” Epic said. “It’s addictive.”
Red Shift shrugged. “It’s a living.”
“Not yet. We need sponsors. And to get sponsors, we’re going to need publicity, and a catchy name.” Epic said.
“Any ideas?” LatX asked.
“One. Quintessence.” Epic said.
“What?” Fuse asked.
“I looked it up. It’s the name of the whole five element belief system thing.” Epic said. “Fire.” He nodded towards Fuse. “Water.” He nodded at LatX. “Earth.” He nodded at Red Streak. “Air.” He shrugged. “And the ether. The indefinable.” He pointed at Iaso.
“It’ll do.” LatX shrugged.
“I don’t understand why you waste our powers like that bro.” Lee said, as he pounded down his fourth power bar for the day.
“I just think I’m strong enough without having to bulk up. I mean, I’m not as strong as you or grandpa, but I’m still stronger than most of the guys we fight. And I am quicker.” Cal replied. “And smarter.” He added, after a moment’s thought.
“And cuter.” Michelle, codenamed Ossuary, said, as she entered the kitchen, wrapping her arm around her boyfriend’s waist.
“Too bad you don’t have a girlfriend to take your side on this one, hey bro?” Cal laughed.
“I have lots, just none of them are allowed in the HQ.” Lee spluttered.
“Sure.” Michelle laughed.
“I believe you. Otherwise the amount of time you spend clubbing would be kind of pathetic.” Cal said.
“It’s just, ever since Lexi and me broke up, I don’t want to settle down. I mean, we got together kind of young, and I can drink now.” Lee said.
“Of course. I really wish you guys had run that by me first though. If I’d known I’d have to pick up another team member to replace Psyke, I could have done some scouting.” Cal said. “Not that this Red Streak kid seems like a bad choice.”
“Sounds like he should be on the Teen Dream Team.” Lee smirked.
“Would that be the same Teen Dream Team that contains Cobalt, who showed you up in the Shadow Plane?” Cal teased.
Lee scowled at his brother but before he could think of a comeback, a siren began to ring throughout the complex.
“Well, looks like that’s our cue. I wonder what’s going on.”Cal said.
<><><>
Adrienne threw her phone into the wall, before engulfing it with water, short-circuiting it.
“Go away!” She shouted at the knocking on her door.
Regardless of her protests, the door opened, and Jesse stuck his head in. “Boyfriend troubles?” He asked.
Moments later, his head was soaked. “I told you to go away.” Adrienne warned. “And he’s not my boyfriend, I was just using him.”
“And he got wise?” Her size-changing teammate asked.
“He decided his girlfriend was better.” Adrienne said, before sitting down on her bed, cradling her head in her hands, and beginning to sob.
“Oh. Tough break.” Jesse said, unsure of what to do. No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than the siren began to ring throughout Hire-A-Hero headquarters.
“Guess we’ve got a job.”Jesse shrugged.
<><><>
Five minutes later, the team were in their uniforms and in the briefing room, Mr Hart, the chairman of Hire-A-Hero LA standing in front of the big screen.
“Well, what’s going on sir?” Cal Richards asked.
“Twenty-five minutes ago, Gauss broke out of Alcatraz. Five minutes later, The West Coast Boomers were on their way to San Francisco, as were all the solo heroes from this branch.” Mr Hart began.
“And we’re still here? After Guantanamo Bay, shouldn’t we have all hands on deck?” Epic asked.
“Richards, quiet the child down.” Hart ordered. “No. We keep someone in reserve at all times. Because there is never just one crisis. Case in point.” Hart pointed at the screen, which changed to grainy security footage. “West 7th Street, Los Angeles. Seven minutes ago.”
The young heroes watched in shock, as Gauss dropped another car to its doom, cackling with glee. “We have to stop him.” Epic said.
“We can’t.” Cal shook his head. “He controls magnetism. Lee and I are useless, not to mention the amount of metal in all our costumes… What’s this really about sir?”
“Castor and Pollux are in San Diego. They’re on a rampage, tearing up every bank and jeweller in their path. We were hired by San Diego County to stop them. There are two choppers on the roof waiting to take you to the airport. Good luck.” With that, Mr Hart left the room.
“Castor and Pollux? We’re doomed.” Epic said.
<><><>
“The plan is pretty simple.” Cal said, as he gestured over the map. “At their current trajectory, by the time we’ve reached them, Castor and Pollux will be at the Chase Bank on Broadway here.” Cal pointed at the map. “Across 7th street is a tall building, I want Bravo Team to hole up somewhere between the fourth and sixth floors, with a window that can at least see the street directly in front of the bank. That’s where Alpha Team will be doing most of the fighting. Charlie Team will be directly across Broadway from the bank, and will be laying covering fire on us. Red Streak, you’ll be in reserve, it’s your first mission, I don’t want anything to go wrong, and so you’ll be on the roof with Charlie Team.” Red Streak nodded, his ginger curls shaking in time. “I trust the rest of you know your team placements by now?” The rest of the team nodded. “Link is in charge of Bravo Team, and Ossuary is in charge of Charlie, naturally I’m in charge of Alpha. Link will keep us connected, so any order from Link or Ossuary may as well be directly from me.”
“We know Cal, it’s hardly our first mission.” AV said.
“It’s the first time we’ve fought anyone this strong without Captain Awesome or the Brats backing us up. I can’t afford to assume anything.” Cal said.
“Ok, what’s the deal with their powers? I was in junior high when they got arrested.” Tide asked.
“More like elementary school.” Iaso muttered.
“You’re right. It was seven years ago, so we pulled the official file. Castor is the one in the armour, Pollux is the other one. They’re twin brothers, but somehow have different fathers. Pollux got superpowers and stole that power armour for Castor. Now Castor might actually be stronger. They’re both about as strong as Lee, which puts us at a disadvantage straight away, because there’s only one of him. They’re bulletproof, so Crackshot’s going to have to start using his trick bullets. Pollux has super-speed too, around the level of Wolf Spider, slightly slower than Red Streak here. Castor can fly, and he has energy blasts, so all teams need to keep an eye on him. Team Bravo, you’ll be firing on Pollux, keep him switching directions so he can’t use his super-speed, which will make him a prime target for Lee. Epic and I will be taking Castor, though I will call in support from Bravo if we need it. Any questions?” Cal looked at his team expectantly.
“Yeah.” Epic said. “Why couldn’t we go fight the prisoners at Alcatraz instead of Captain Awesome? It’d be a fair fight for him. We’re doomed.”
“We make do with what we have. We’re the only option here. I’m going to need you all on your best game today. We can pull this off.” Cal said.
“These guys beat the Boomers in Cuba, and then beat the West Coast Boomers again like, a month ago.” Epic argued. “This is suicide.”
“Then you’d better go down fighting, because I don’t expect any less from all of you.” Cal said.
Epic sighed. “Yes sir.”
<><><>
“Alright bro, we’re done here. Where to now?” Pollux asked, hefting the bags of money.
“There’s a jewellery store down the street. Let’s get us some diamonds.” Castor replied, nodding towards the door. “You go first. I’m gonna level this place.”
Pollux laughed, as he headed for the door. “You got it bro.”
Castor’s hand-mounted energy blaster began to hum, as the bank tellers began to pray.
“Uh bro.” Pollux shouted from outside. “I think you might want to save that…”
“What?” Castor demanded, as he spun to look out the front window of the bank. “Oh. We have company.”
Standing directly in front of Pollux were the Richards Brothers in their steel forms, and standing at around ten feet tall was Epic.
“Castor and Pollux, we have been granted permission from the Californian Government to place you under arrest.” Cal Richards said.
“Oh really?” Castor asked, as he exited the bank. “You and what army?”
“This one, jackass.” Lee said, as he gestured at the rooftop behind him, where seven of his teammates were standing.
“You idiot.” Epic said, as Castor laughed, pointing his blaster at the rooftop.
“Swear to god…” Cal muttered, as he charged at Castor, but he was too late, the air sizzled as the supervillain unleashed his energy blast at the assembled heroes.
The rooftop exploded, sending debris and dust into the air. “Son of a bitch!” Lee shouted, as he charged at Pollux, catching the faster supervillain by surprise.
”Link?” Cal thought, as he traded blows with Castor.
”They’re ok. Melchior had a shield up.” Link’s voice was in his head.
”Give Michelle the order to open fire.” Cal thought back.
”Got it.” Link thought.
“Epic! Back up!” Cal ordered.
“Yes sir.” Epic gladly took a few steps backwards.
“What the fu-“ Pollux was cut off, as he took a high-pressure jet of water to the face which was closely followed by a shower of bone fragments and a series of explosions.
“There’s no way!” Castor shouted, as he too was hit with attacks from above, this time a blast of pure light energy to the chest and a bullet that released a thick viscous liquid that covered his visor, filling his entire field of vision, completely blinding him.
”Tell them to switch to containment. I only want them firing if they try to escape.” Cal ordered.
”You got it.” Link said.
“Epic, help me out. Lee, keep Pollux busy.” Cal shouted.
“Uhh…” Epic hesitated.
Castor laughed, as he broke free of Cal, sailing into the air, as he wiped the fluid from his visor.
“Get him back down here!” Cal shouted.
“I… But…” Epic stammered.
“Goddamn it!” Cal roared. “Fuse! Fastball!”
“Already working on it!” Fuse shouted from the rooftop, as she pitched an energy ball the size of a softball at Castor.
The resulting explosion engulfed Castor, the fireball extending more than ten yards in every direction, scorching the buildings around them.
“So you’re their heavy hitter?” Castor asked, as he rocketed through the flames, snatching Fuse from the rooftop.
“Hold your fire!” Cal ordered.
“Tell your brother to stop wailing on mine too.” Castor said. “Or the girl gets it. And the giant wuss can shrink back down.”
“You heard him.” Cal said. “Stand down.”
Reluctantly, Lee let go of Pollux, and Epic shrank back down to normal.
“Now, I’m going to keep hold of this girl until we’re long gone. Just to keep you from doing anything.” Castor said.
“She’s kind of cute bro, we should probably have a little fun with her too.” Pollux laughed.
“Way ahead of you bro.” Castor said, groping Fuse, as the teen whimpered in his grasp.
“NO!” Epic shouted, instantaneously growing to gigantic proportions and back, sending himself sailing through the air, directly at Castor, grabbing the startled villain around the head, twisting himself around so he was hanging behind him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing boy?” Castor asked.
“Testing the upper limit of your flight capabilities.” Epic said, as he began to grow.
“You idiot. You’re only going to kill yourself.” Castor said. “I can survive the fall.”
“I’m counting on it.” Epic said, as they started to drop.
Epic hit the ground hard, screaming as he felt his legs shatter, but he clung to Castor, bringing the flying villain down hard on his back, protecting Fuse from the fall, while still sending enough of a shock through Castor to make him let go.
Fuse was up and running seconds before Cal Richards came crashing through, tackling Castor before he could get back to his feet properly.
”Link! Epic needs Iaso now!” Cal thought, as he watched Epic shrink back down, as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
”On our way.” Link’s voice buzzed.
Moments later, LatX slingshotted himself and Iaso from their vantage point, wrapping himself around the healer to protect her from the impact.
They landed next to Epic, and Iaso wasted no time laying her hands on his broken legs. “One of these days, I’m going to be the one saving you.” Epic laughed weakly.
“Sure you are.” Iaso smiled, as she used her powers to heal his wounds.
“Pollux! Get the healer!” Castor ordered, as he wrestled on the ground with Cal Richards.
“You got it bro!” Pollux hit Lee with a haymaker, stunning the powerhouse, before charging towards Iaso.
He stopped short, when he found Epic towering over him. “I hesitated once. You’re not going to get her.” He said, cracking his knuckles.
“Kid, get out of my way before I throw you.” Pollux said. “In fact, I just might.” The villain advanced on the goliath.
“Not on my watch. Red Streak! Plan B!” Cal shouted, as he held Castor back.
“You got it Cal!” Red Streak called, using his powers to create a forcefield in front of his face.
“What? What’s Plan B?” Epic asked. “What does he even do?”
Red Streak rushed forward, faster than any normal man could, faster than most race cars. He hit the ground running, and was just sort of the sound barrier when he drove his forcefield directly into Pollux’s face, sending the villain tumbling through the window of the store nearest him.
“LatX! Get her out of here!” Epic yelled, and LatX wasted no time obeying, grabbing Iaso and slingshotting the two to a rooftop.
Castor elbowed Cal in the face, breaking the hero’s grip, before taking off into the air. “As fun as this has been kids, I think it’s time my brother and I split.”
“Not on my watch.” Cal said.
“I think it will be.” Castor’s blaster began to hum again.
“Someone stop him!” Cal ordered, but he was too late. The air sizzled, as Castor fired into the side of a nearby building, disintegrating a sizeable chunk out of three storeys.
“So your choice is to stop us, or evacuate that building. What’s it going to be?” Castor asked.
“You’re insane.” Cal said, as he stared up at the villain.
“No, I’m just a man who knows how to get what he wants.” Castor said. “Better hurry, that building is burning pretty fast.”
Cal cast one more glare towards Castor, before giving the order. “Fall back. We need to save those people.”
<><><>
“You had your orders boy. You were to stop Castor and Pollux. You had the warrant for their arrest.” Mr Hart said. “The city has firefighters trained for rescue. You could have stopped them.”
“We were stalling. You knew we had no chance out there. The best we could do was slow them down until Captain Awesome was available again, so you could hire him to the city too.” Cal said.
“And he would have completed the contract. You disobeyed orders. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Mr Hart said.
“But sir-“
“Never again.”
“Yes sir.”