"Ah, you're awake?"
Blaze got up to the sound of Bolt's welcoming voice. He looked around to see he was in some kind of makeshift lab, his body covered in bandages.
"Wh... where am I? What are you..."
"Rest, kid. You've had a long day."
"Where am I, Bolt?"
"A lab I made once I got to this city. It's my main base of operations. Or should I say, your base?"
"My... what? Ugh. What happened? I remember chasing someone and..."
"We were having a meeting. I tested you. You defeated Amazo and chased down the Sharkwoman as she tried to escape with his unconscious body," Bolt explained.
"And what happened?"
"Red Shadow stopped you."
That's when Blaze remembered. The punch that could've killed him if it weren't for his suit. This suit...
No.
He didn't dwell on the fact he needed it. Not anymore. That was beneath him now.
His priorities lay elsewhere.
"The Red Shadow and Sharkwoman. Did you capture them? Or did they escape?"
"I let them go."
"What?" Blaze shouted, getting off his bed and pinning Bolt to the nearest wall. "Are you insane?! They'll alert their team, we can't fight them in our condition!"
Bolt laughed.
Blaze, filled with anger, raised his fist to strike, but Bolt saw it coming and raised his index finger. He then used it to push Blaze back to the bed with an overwhelming force.
"How did you..."
"There's a lot you don't know about me, boy. Now, the reason I let them go is pretty simple. I want them to tell Milten I'm coming."
"You..."
"Let me finish. Milten has something I want. My plan was to capture those two and hold them hostage for Milten and I to make a trade, but in the heat of the moment, when I had the chance, I contemplated my decisions. Looking at the kind of scum Milten is, he's sure as hell not going to trade someone that valuable over for anything. Not if he knows its real value."
"So you let them go because you had no use for them?"
"Precisely."
"Then why not just kill them all anyway?"
"I want them to go to Milten. I want them to tell him what happened. I want Milten to be afraid, paranoid. Then we strike his lair with a fury he can't believe."
"Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible, my boy! Think about it. Once we defeat them, our reputation will be known across not just the country, but the world! The Dragon Clan will finally be something worth fearing. No one would step up to us. No one!"
"I... I don't know about this. The Danger Squad has defeated the Broker, the Lost Light, and Galan for God's sake! How can we hope to match them at all?!"
Bolt kept his smile and approached Blaze. Blaze tensed at the old man, but Bolt ignored it and grabbed him by the shoulder. He then led him to the entrance of the lab to see a large abandoned warehouse.
And below lay something Blaze couldn't believe.
His men, Long, all of them, wearing the armor he once wore. The armor that let him battle Amazo and best him.
This was truly an army he could be proud of.
"With an army. A Dragon army."
"N... no..."
"What's wrong?"
"Why us? Why me? Something like this? A screw-up like me doesn't deserve it. I..."
"Because you passed my test."
"That stupid shit?"
"No, not the family test. Once you wore my suit, your doubts made it weaker. You thought you were disrespecting your heritage. While I understand that, you were holding back your full potential. Once you cast those doubts aside, you truly became a warrior worth my time."
"Really?"
"Of course, my good lad! I used to work for the Broker. While he passed the first test, he couldn't ever pass the second due to his own ego and human supremacist beliefs. But you? You're what I've been looking for."
"And I get to lead an army like that?"
"Well, why don't you go ask them?" Bolt said, leading Blaze to a podium in front of his men.
"M... ugh... uh..." Blaze couldn't even speak. This was so sudden. Addressing his own people like this, with so much power at their disposal, was so new to him. He turned to Bolt, who merely nodded and winked. Then he turned to the army before him and saw Long nodding as well.
Blaze smiled for a moment and addressed his men.
"My people, it's been so long since we've felt like this! With all the power! In control! This city is ours now, all we need to do is take it. Its protectors, the Danger Squad, are all that stand between us and becoming this city's new rulers. With these suits, we'll crush that accursed team and take our rightful place! Who's with me?"
"Me!" Long shouted and shot a small fireball into the air. All the men did the same, and the entire base lit up in a cacophony of flames. Bolt was proud. Now was his chance to set it all right and get her back.
And nothing will stand in his way.
No one will stand in his way.
Not even she will stand in his way...
"What are you watching?" Ted said as he drank a gallon of milk he took from the fridge.
Omni-boy let go of Rift and grabbed the remote. Then he quickly paused the news feed from the TV. He turned to Ted with a saddened look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Ted said, realizing his brother was hurt in some way.
"Are we doing enough?"
"Enough?"
"I... I was watching Jake and the team's mission with the Broker again. Fighting the bad guys, saving the city, they were doing all that heroic shit, and here we are, just sitting here watching TV."
"We don't need to do anything other than that, little bro."
"That's exactly my point! We aren't doing anything! We were given these powers, but for what? To sit here and watch cartoons? Get real! Jake and the others rush into danger all the time, risking death! But they don't care! They do it anyway! Why can't we be like them?"
"Because we're just kids. Anyway, I thought we signed off on that super shit? We finally got the chance to live normal lives and you wanna throw it all away?"
"If that's what he wants, why stop him?" Jake said as he and Ivy entered the living room.
"Jake!" Ted and Omni-boy shouted as they raced to hug them. Rift beat them by a few seconds.
"And Ivy!" Ivy said awkwardly. Rift stared at her for a moment and made a giant tentacle. She then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into the hug.
"How was the mission?" Omni-boy asked.
"Alright, but let's not change the subject. It seems you were talking about something important."
"Yeah, it..."
"No, costly," Ted cut in, covering Omni-boy's mouth. "We can talk about it later. We wanna know how your mission went."
"Ted, let Omni-boy go," Jake ordered with a stern voice. Ted was quick to oblige. "Now, Omni-boy, what were you saying?"
Omni-boy was silent for a short moment, but after a quick glance at Ted, he spoke.
"Actually, it can wait. I wanna hear how the mission went," Omni-boy said, winking at Ted. Ted thanked him internally.
"Well, now that that's settled, time to answer your question. Jake was wrong. It was a complete failure," Ivy said, holding Rift's shoulders.
"Oh, really? What happened? Did the bad guys get away?"
"Not quite. While I can't really tell you the details, just know it would've gone a lot better if Jake here came a little earlier. Or was around for the briefing."
"Ivy..."
"Am I wrong, Jake?"
Jake was silent.
"He wasn't? That's weird," Omni-boy said.
"Weird?" Ivy said. "Why is that weird for you?"
"Jake went out in the middle of the night, like an hour or two before the mission alarm rang and you all headed out."
"I see. And did he say where he was going?" Ivy asked. Jake wanted to say something, but she glared at him.
Omni-boy noticed and realized he made a mistake. "Uhh, no..."
"Don't lie to me, boy," Ivy said even more sternly than Jake could, grabbing him by his left shoulder.
"Th... that hurts..."
"Ivy, that's enough. The boy doesn't know."
"Oh, but I'm sure you do?" Ivy said, bringing her face too close for his comfort.
"I..."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Jake said and rushed over to open the door.
It was Surge.
"What is it, Surge?" Ivy said with a hint of hostility in her voice that everyone was quick to notice. "We're in the middle of something here."
"Milten wants to see you now. I believe he made that clear when he called you over," Surge said nervously.
"Oh, yeah, right. Forgot. Okay, kids, see you later," Jake said with a smile and grabbed Ivy by the hand.
"It can wait."
"No, it can't. You know how Milten gets."
"But..."
"I suggest you go with him, Ivy. We aren't going anywhere," Ted said, earning a glare from her that left him terrified. But before she could say anything, Jake pulled her out of the room and slammed the door.
"That was..."
"Weird?" Ted said, finishing Omni-boy's sentence.
"Yeah. She isn't like this at all. She's way more fun usually," Omni-boy said.
"Whatever happened on that mission must've been really bad," Ted continued.
"You're right about that. Uh, sorry for putting you in that situation earlier."
"With Jake? Nah, it's good. But were you serious?"
"About becoming a super?"
"Yes."
"I don't know. I wanna help people, but I still wanna watch cartoons. I just... feel bad, y'know?"
"Oh, I get you there. Maybe we can talk about it more when they get back from their meeting."
"I hope so. What do you think, Rift?"
The two looked around to see she wasn't standing next to them.
After a bit of looking, they found her behind the couch, watching TV. They shrugged and joined her soon after.
"What were you doing?" Ivy asked as the elevator she, Jake, and Surge were taking to the meeting room hummed in a smooth and distracting manner.
"Now, Ivy? We have a meeting to attend and you're..."
"We almost died, Jake. If you were here, that watch-using-fucker wouldn't have had the chance to do that to me or Zack. Speaking of him, how is he?"
"Paulina took him to the infirmary. Milten's staff are treating him now."
"Good. I hope you got a long, hard look at the state he's in thanks to you. If you were there... no, actually, where were you? Omni-boy said you went out earlier than us and I didn't even notice despite sleeping next to you."
"Surge, how long till we get to the meeting roo..."
Ivy quickly grabbed Jake by the chest and pinned him to a wall.
Surge tried his best not to get involved.
"No, no, you're not changing the subject. Where were you?"
Jake tried to look away, but every time he did, Ivy would grab his face and move it closer to hers.
"Talk. Right. Now."
"I went to see Stella, okay!"
She let him go right there.
"I... I couldn't take it anymore. The betrayals, the death, the killing, I just... needed someone to talk to."
"And you didn't talk to me?"
"I... didn't think you'd understand."
"I wouldn't understand? I wouldn't understand?! You..."
"We're here!" Surge said, as the elevator doors opened. Jake gave a silent sigh of relief.
As he stepped out, Jake was quick to follow. Suddenly, Ivy grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him close.
"This isn't over," she whispered into his ear and let him go.
"Ah, you're here!" Milten said from the other side of the long table. Next to him was Max, who was being bombarded with a series of questions from Stacya.
Jake didn't like the thought of them sitting together but kept it to himself.
Next to them was a nervous Paulina who was going through her notes and talking to...
"Zack?!"
"Yeah, Jake?"
"You're supposed to be in the infirmary! Why the hell are you here?!"
"Doctors said I was good to go, so..."
"You got your ass destroyed! No way in hell you're good to go."
"Actually, he isn't," Paulina chimed in.
"Then why is he here?"
"He wanted to be part of the meeting. He feels he failed the team and wants to redeem himself."
"Zack... come on, you don't need to push yourself like this. You're being reckless."
Jake could see him twitch.
"Reckless? Me, reckless? You have no idea how it feels to be this weak! This much of a failure! You have no right to question my commitment! No right to call me reckless! Not after all the bullshit you pulled and got away with! Going after the Lost Light, fighting the Broker on your own... you have no right!"
"That's enough, Zack," Milten said calmly, raising his hand. "You have some... personal issues to work out. All in due time. Right now, it's time for a briefing. Trust me, both of you, you're gonna wanna hear this."
Jake took his seat and so did Ivy. With them all finally here and seated, Milten began.
To be continued...