"Because the thrill of straight-up plunder beats the shit out of any honest production," Ivan Greevs said with a grin.
"That's philosophical. Real deep," Baruk replied, lifting his coffee. "My treat. Grab a beer after shift?"
Ivan shoved his phone screen right in the guy's face. "Sorry, I'm already booked solid."
Baruk stared at the knockout on the screen and scowled. "Damn, our friendship just got cock-blocked by a goddamn smoke-show."
"You'd say no to a beauty who invited you out?"
"Fuck no. I'd roll up with a rose between my teeth."
They locked eyes for half a second, then both cracked up laughing.
...
On the other side of town, Translucent had bailed on a hospital visit for cancer kids, so A-Train got shoved in as last-minute replacement. At first Madeline didn't lose her shit over him going dark—he had a rap sheet of epic benders. Probably face-down in some Jersey dive bar, sleeping it off.
But hours kept ticking and still nothing. No calls, no pings, radio silence.
The upcoming ad campaign couldn't wait. They needed Translucent's invisible ass found yesterday.
Madeline stormed into Vought's tracking department—the unit that babysat every supe's location through the chips planted inside them.
"Pull up Translucent's tracker. Now."
"Got it. Last ping on his chip was three hours ago, somewhere in this stretch of Jersey City." The tech, Annika, spun her monitor around to show the map. "Roughly ten blocks, give or take."
Madeline's expression stayed ice-cold. "That's your best precision?"
"Um.. Could be interference on the signal—" Annika started, but Madeline cut her off with a chop of her hand.
"Send security. Sweep the whole zone. Door-to-door if you have to, but tell them to keep it quiet. I do not need another PR nightmare on my desk—they're already drowning."
She turned on her heel and strode out, heels clicking like gunshots down the corridor.
...
New York City. Midtown.
An outdoor café bathed in afternoon sun.
"I'll have a latte, extra milk, thanks," Ivan Greevs told the waiter.
"And an espresso for me."
Ivan leaned back and flashed Starlight a crooked smile. "Truth is, I can't stand straight black coffee. Needs milk and sugar to be worth a damn. Otherwise it's just bitter punishment."
"You look like you're in a shit mood," he added.
Starlight's jaw tightened. "You're not wrong. Supes are a pack of assholes." Even days later, the memory still made her blood boil.
"Somebody harass you?" Ivan asked, eyes on the cutlery as he lined up the fork and knife with neat, precise movements.
Starlight blinked. "How'd you know?"
Ivan's head snapped sideways for half a second. He felt The Deep's stupid brainwaves drifting closer like a horny tuna. But his face stayed smooth as he turned back to her.
"Pretty girl starts a new job and gets pissed at the whole environment? Sixty percent chance it's sexual harassment. Odds go up with how good she looks. Not exactly rocket science."
Starlight exhaled and slumped in her chair. "Fine, you nailed it. If you hadn't shown up… shit would've gone a lot worse. Still can't believe I almost fell for that fish-faced creep."
"Fish-faced. Yeah, that tracks for The Deep," Ivan said with a low chuckle, accepting his latte from the waiter. "Merci."
Starlight wasn't the wide-eyed rookie anymore. She already had the Seven's power map figured out. "Everyone thinks he's a joke. A guy whose only power is talking to fish."
Ivan took a slow sip, then shrugged. "Crowds don't see it that way. Conquering the ocean has been humanity's wet dream since we crawled out of the mud. He sells that fantasy."
A guy in a tight dark-green wetsuit-looking getup came strolling toward their table like he owned the sidewalk.
"Oh, Starlight, you on a date? Media snaps one picture and the internet will rip you right out of the Seven."
Voice arrived before the idiot did.
"Fuck you," Starlight muttered, shooting up from her chair. The lights above them flickered hard. She was scared—really scared—of losing everything she'd clawed for. Going back to being some nobody from Des Moines would break her.
"No big deal," Ivan cut in smoothly, still stirring his latte with a silver spoon. "Even if they catch us, we spin it easy. I'm the kid from middle school she saved from bullies. Thanks to her, I turned my life around, landed a job at Vought, and ran into my old hero again. Heartwarming as fuck. Once we push that story, her numbers jump triple. Easy."
The Deep's swagger shrank a couple sizes. "You… PR department?"
He hated those PR snakes. They could ruin a supe without lifting a finger. Last thing he needed was them shoving pins under his nails.
"Nah," Ivan said, standing up with a friendly grin. "Vice head of Security. Ivan Greevs. Pleasure to meet you, Deep."
He stuck out his hand like they were old pals. The Deep shook it, clearly thrown off.
"Security? You talk like you belong in PR."
"Merci. I think so too," Ivan replied with a casual shrug. "Who knows? Might get transferred over there in a few days anyway."
The Deep had rolled up ready to start shit. Now he just stood there looking like a fish yanked out of water, mouth opening and closing with nothing smart to say.
"I was just passing by. You kids carry on."
The Deep shrugged like it was nothing and wandered off down the sidewalk.
Starlight dropped back into her seat, eyes locked on his retreating back. "See? Total fucking clown."
Ivan said nothing, just gave a small smirk and took another sip of his latte.
Deep might be weak as shit, but the American public loved him. Way easier to handle than A-Train. The guy's weaknesses were neon signs—especially that octopus girlfriend nobody was supposed to know about.
"Was that your power just now?" Ivan asked, nodding up at the lights. "I'm curious. What exactly can you do?"
Starlight leaned forward a bit. "I absorb electricity and convert it into light energy. The more juice I pull, the stronger my blasts get."
She decided to show him.
Her pupils lit up with white fire. The bulbs overhead started flickering like crazy, then popped one after another with sharp cracks. The moment they went dark, two thick beams of searing light shot straight out of her eyes.
Ivan watched the whole thing without flinching. He'd been trained too well to laugh at shit like this—unless it was actually funny.
___
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69