Friday 26 September 2014

1.2 Partners Part 3

“Actually I'm going with Accelerate as my codename,” says Lucy to Inspector Oakley.

“We got supers of our own and we outnumber you tend to one,” shouts the voice and my armour says it belongs to Kendrick Hall, “So why don’t you kids go back on home and leave this to grownups.”
Kendrick starts laughing again and several of his men join in.

“Inspector Oakley,” I say, ignoring them, “What’s your plan?”

“Well, do you know their powers first of all,” asks Oakley.

“Hall got bolts of lightning and Edison can manipulate time in a small area around him,” I reply, “I got the Sentinel armour while Accelerate got Vibration’s superspeed plus ice powers from her mum.”

“Normally I might ask you to go in and take them down,” says Oakley, “But we got three hostages in there. I was kind of hoping you might have some ideas because we got nothing.”

“I could get the hostages out with my speed,” offers Lucy, “But I will need a distraction.”

“I can engage them,” I say, “I can take the men and Hall easily, but Edison will be a problem.”

“Once I got the hostages out, I deal with him,” replies Lucy.

“I can hack the security cameras,” says Charlie over me and Lucy’s League communicators, “I’ll be able to get some limited information about what they’re doing once I'm in.”

“We’ll hang back,” says Oakley, “None of us stand a chance against them. We don’t even have guns while half of them have sidearms and two have SMGs or Assault rifles.”

“You can dodge bullets right?” I ask Lucy.

“Of course I can,” answers Lucy, “Besides the costume you made me is bullet-proof.”

“It’s resistant to bullets,” I counter, “There’s a big difference, especially if you get hit something with a punch behind it.”

“Good point,” concedes Lucy, “I’ll remember that.”

“Going yet kiddies!” shouts a man from down the other end of the street before he and some of the others start laughing.

“Another thing first Inspector,” I say.

“And what would that be?” asks Oakley.

“Accelerate and I will need to get back in time for tea with our families and we will also want to avoid the media if it’s possible,” I reply.

“I’ll see what I can do,” says Oakley, “But no promises.”

I turn to face Lucy.

“Ready to go in?” I ask her.

“As much as I can be,” she answers.

I dash down the street, aiming my sonics down at the men. I can’t use my lasers on them as someone will definitely die or get maimed. Lucy is a blur, almost invisible as she zooms towards the bank.

I'm in,” calls Charlie, “Eight guys in the bank with Hall and Edison. Two of the guys inside have assault rifles while three have pistols. One has an Uzi. And at least two guys outside have pistols. Hostages are guarded by two guys, one with a rifle and the other with a pistol.”

When Charlie is finished, I'm only half a dozen metres away from the closest men and they are beginning to respond to my charge.

I fire my sonics and the three I am aiming at drop down to the ground, clutching their ears in pain. I notice one has a pistol in his hands before he dropped it. Better do something about that.
Lucy is already inside by now.

A couple of men open fire on me and more gangsters start to rush out of the bank in response to me.

I spot Lucy come out on my HUD with a hostage. I doubt the men noticed at the speed she’s moving at. I wouldn’t have seen her without the armour.

One of the men rushes me with a knife. I turn to face him and kick in the knee. It cracks and he falls to the ground screaming as he grabs his broken knee in his pain.

I flinch at his pain and screams beneath my armour before shooting a Spyder at him.

The spyder hits the man in the neck and delivers an electric jolt to knock him out. Sort of like a taser, but more effective.

As the man goes limp, I notice two other men charging me. Both have knifes and are hesitating at the sight of their fellow’s failure.

At this point I have lost track of Lucy during the fight. I hope she gets all the hostages out.

I rush one of the men into front of me. I slam into him and he goes flying.

I try to ignore his screams as I spot one of the men shooting me. Three more open fire on me as half of men inside the bank are now outside, including one of the men with an assault rifle.

I hear another one the men go down behind me as he’s hit by a stray bullet. Another soon follows him. These fools are shooting their guys. I hope nobody dies and not just because of the bad press it’ll give me and Lucy.

Four of the seventeen men are down along with a possible three.

I spin around to check on the men I took down with the sonics. One is out cold while the other two are getting to their feet.

I fire another two electro-spyders and both are down for the rest of the fight.

A warning flashes in the corner of my HUD. Only one more electro-spyder left in my armour.

Damn you kid!” shouts Hall as he exits the bank.

His hands are crackling with lightning as he raises them at me. 

Tuesday 23 September 2014

1.2 Partners Part 2

“This is Sentinel,” I reply, “The new one that is. All of the old members are either dead or too old for action.”

“Personally I don’t really care who you are or how young you are if you know what you’re doing,” replies the man, “We can’t handle this and you’re a lot closer than the Defenders are.”

“You do realise that we’re not official yet?” I answer, “You might get into trouble if you ask us for help.”

“Can’t be worse than the mess I’m already in,” laughs man grimly, “You coming?”

I look at Lucy and Charlie. Charlie shakes his head while Lucy gives me the thumbs up.

“Vibration’s granddaughter is with me and already suiting up,” I reply, “I’ll take me two and a half minutes to suit up.”

“Do you need to know my location?” asks the man.

“We already traced it,” I answer, “We’ll be about five minutes, maybe six.”

“We’re counting on you Sentinel,” says man before disconnecting.

Technically speaking I was lying to the man when I said Lucy was suiting up, but she did go to change when I mentioned it.

I make my way to the lab and begin suiting up. Great, now the police are calling us for help with supers. I wasn't that to happen this quickly.

I guess this was to be expected. The League of Heroes and Albion Defenders are only major hero groups in England. Of course you have the more minor teams such as Guardians of Ireland and the Scottish Highlanders for Ireland and Scotland respectively. Not to mention about three dozen street level loners scattered throughout of the Isles.

In hindsight I should have expected the authorities to count on us for the stuff they can’t handle since we will often we closer and quicker to respond than the London based Defenders.

Lucy’s Accelerate costume is made of cos-mat like pretty everyone else’s. It is just one colour, a dull yellow that covers all of her apart from her lower face.

Charlie on the other hand wears an upgraded version of the old Bulk armour just as I wear an upgraded version of the old Sentinel Armour.

Unlike Sentinel armour, which you wear like you would with clothing, the Bulk armour you sit in middle of it and wield using controls.

The modern Bulk armour is relatively smooth and slim. While many would consider it angular and blocky, its edges are curved and smoothed compared to its older versions.

As for size, the Bulk armour is roughly four metres tall and about one and a half metres wide.

Like with our advantage with Vistorix, the old Sentinel had the advantage of flight over the old Bulk 
while they were enemies.

Whether or not the new Bulk suit can depends on whether you count being able to hover as being able to fly.

But I can see why Charlie doesn't want to come. Apart from using the armour of a well-known former supervillain, the Bulk armour will be extremely impractical in urban and sub-urban environments.

“So what’s happening?” asks Lucy as she arrives in the lab while I’m still halfway through suiting up.

I'm going to stay here as mission control and back up if needed,” says Charlie from door way.

“So it’ll be just me and Accelerate dealing with the problem,” I reply, “Almost done suiting up. I’ll fly there. Lucy, can follow me on foot?”

“Sure,” says Lucy.

“Come on,” I state as I rush out of the lab now the suit is on.

The flight is calm, but as I reach our destination, trouble is clearly seen below.

A couple of cars are on fire and several more are wrecked or damaged. Eight police cars are parked down the road, the closest two already destroyed.

The civilians have already cleared the area it seems while there are two different groups are at either side of the street.

About a dozen police officers are hanging around the remaining police cars while eight, maybe nine men are down on the other side, hovering by a bank.

I feel uneasy as I take in the scene. I can’t spot the supers that were mentioned in the call and if the men could be dealt with easily, the police would have done it with their superior numbers by now.

Or maybe not. I don’t what procedures they have to follow.

I spot a man waving at me as I land. His uniform says that he is an inspector. Things must be bad if they got someone of his rank out in the field.

“Glad you got here quickly,” says the man and I recognise his voice as the person I spoke to as Lucy stops next to us, “They’re robbing the Lloyds TSB bank down the street. There are nine of them out here and another eight inside. And that’s not including Kingsley Edison and Kendrick Hall.”

At the sound of those names, I cringe beneath my helmet. Those two are minor supervillains, single power Class 3s like most supers. Not that they won’t put a fight and they got seventeen or their lackeys with them. That has to be most of their followers.

I really wish that Charlie had decided to come with us right about now.

I'm Inspector Norris Oakley,” says the man, holding out his hand for me to shake, “I'm a Class 2 by the way. I can set up mental communications and psychically locate someone, but that is it.”

I am about to really reply when another voice rings out from the other end of the street.

“Ah,” laughs the voice, “The new Sentinel and Vibration.”

Friday 19 September 2014

1.2 Partners Part 1

It has been a couple of days since Aunt Mary’s visit on Wedsday and fight with Vistorix the night preceding it.

We have been planning a meeting tonight to find out who wants to join to League of Heroes from the new generation. Once that has sorted, we are then going to have news conference to announce the new members of the League of Heroes to the public.

So far we got me, Sam, James and Sky for certain after the fight. Lucy Baton and my cousin Helen are also joining. The Walter twins are going to join if they can and their parents will hopefully let them. Vance will too. Not sure about Charlie. Maybe even Stefan may join up despite his heritage.
School just finished has finished for today and Charlie and I are walking to the gate together as we usually do on Friday afternoons.

“Hey Daniel!” I hear someone call.

Both me and Charlie stop and turn to face the speaker.

“Hi Lucy,” says Charlie, “Enjoy the Maths GCSE?”

“You bet,” answers Lucy, “Easier than I expected. I will admit they left them a bit late this year. I personally blame the minster of education’s reforms. Congratulations on being named head boy Daniel.”

“And same to you on becoming head girl,” I reply, “Want to come over to base with us?”

“Sure,” says Lucy, “We can talk more there about the other thing that we need to talk about.”

“Kind of why I asked,” I answer.

“So Lucy,” says Charlie as we continue walking again, “What do you think about Sentinel’s performance in the fight with Vistorix on Tuesday evening?”

I glare at Charlie and see a big, stupid grin on his face. Lucy is also looking at him, but with a more thoughtful look on her face.

“He was very good in my opinion,” answers Lucy, “I was impressed when he shrugged off two direct hits from Vistorix. Not many supers can do. A lot would have even been killed by just one.”

“The Sentinel Armour must really good,” I say, grinning like crazy, “Don’t you two agree?”

“Absolutely,” replies Charlie.

“Definitely,” Lucy answers.

“The closest entrance is a fifteen minute walk,” I say, “Give or take.”

From that point on, our topics switch to less interesting subjects than the fight. Such the fact our few GCSE exams this year are now done and what next year’s will be like.

“In here,” I state as we arrive at the entrance.

As the sensors recognise us, the small hatch opens up.

“Down the stairs we go,” mutters Charlie as we begin our single line descent into the base, “You would think we all the advanced technology we have, we would have lifts instead of stairs.”

“The structure of the base hasn’t been updated since the eighties when my granddad retired,” I explain, “The base uses stairs and ladders instead of lifts. Granddad didn’t think they were reliable enough in emergencies.”

“That is a good point,” concedes Charlie as the hatch closes behind us, “I wouldn’t want to be trapped in lift when thing hit the fan.”

“Are you two joining the League?” I ask.

“Sure, but I’m worried about what the public will think,” says Charlie.

“I want to and would, but mum is against it,” says Lucy, “She never wanted to get involved with super heroics despite her powers and wants me to do the same.”

“Same with my mum,” I reply, “But she accepted it.”

“I’m not sure about my parents,” says Charlie, “They were always more worried that I would become a supervillain like grandpa used to be. They will probably be happy that I chosen to become a superhero instead.”

“You can always hope,” I say, “So Lucy?”

“Of course I’m in,” says Lucy.

I look at her. Lucy’s look is usually, even by today’s standards. Tall and skin, her skin is as dark as her South African grandfather. But it is her eyes that stand out. They are a pale blue, so light they almost look white and are sometimes mistaken for that.

Charlie has more of a bulky physique with decently large muscles. His brown hair is messy and doesn’t quite count as short, but is almost there. He has recently taken up boxing like Sam has been doing for the last few years.

“Any ideas for your codenames?” I inquire.

“I’m going with Accelerate,” answers Lucy, “I prefer it to Vibration.”

“I might go with Bulk,” says Charlie, “But to the public, my grandpa has always been a supervillain. One of the bad guys to be hated and despised.”

“I’ll give you a chance to publically redeem the name if you use,” I point out.

“Yeah, but I might use a new name,” replies Charlie.

“You’ll be using an upgraded version of your granddad’s armour,” I argue, “People will put two and two together pretty quickly.”

“I’ll deal with that when it happens,” Charlie replies solemnly.

“Just remember that regardless of how the public and media may feel about you, we will still trust you with our lives,” says Lucy.

“Thanks,” replies Charlie, “It just really sucks to be the grandson of a supervillain.”

“You haven’t got it as bad as Stefan has,” I counter, “His grandfather’s identity was exposed after his initial capture. He and his family have had to grew up and live with being the descendents of one of the worst people to threaten our country.”

“That does really suck for him,” says Charlie gloomily, “No wonder he turned to cannabis last year.”

“I’m just glad the rest of got some sense into him,” I reply, also feeling unhappy remembering Stefan’s temporary addiction, “He’s still feeling the consequences of his actions even if Granddad’s tech did cure him physically.”

“He should be glad he didn’t get expelled or arrested,” mutters Lucy.

I’m glad Kennet talk sense into him and supported him,” I reply, “It helped a lot with Stefan having his granddad’s arch-nemesis support him.”

“It did leave a lasting impression on him,” says Charlie, “Hey, what’s that?”

Charlie is pointing at the main screen of the base. It’s massive, twenty feet by twenty feet.
We mainly use it as a cinema and for playing games, but right now, a is police symbol is flashing on it.

“Hello,” I say as I answer it. I put it on voice only as none of us are in costume and have set so it disguises our voices.

“Is this the New League of Heroes?” a tense male voice, “We got two super powered gangsters on the loose down here.”

Monday 15 September 2014

1.1 New Beginnings Part 8

I sit in the lab the day after the fight with Vistorix. Today was interesting at school as pretty much everybody, teachers included, were all talking about last night.

It was annoying that I couldn’t say my part in it and instead had to listen to the dumb theories that some of the more stupid students had. One of the downsides of having a secret identity I guess.

Like the whole fight was government set-up to promote a new League of Heroes that was under their control and Vistorix had been hired and was going to be secretly released with a bunch of cash.

As I said, dumb theories and stupid students. Fortunately the majority of people believed Aquiline’s story, thanks to it being something what was plausible and the Defenders backing it up.

I get to work, checking the status of each of our costumes.

The Sentinel Armour was easily repaired as the two dents were barely there at all and nothing else was damaged. I also took the opportunity to look at the others’ costumes as there wasn’t time in the fight to check, it didn’t occur to me late to see which ones they were wearing the videos of us didn’t show clearly.

James aka Vision wore a black uniform-like costume that covered his entire body, including a full facial mask with black lenses over the eyes. No symbols on it at total and was made out of my granddad’s cos-mat, the standard material for League costumes. No damage from the fight.

Samuel aka Lantern’s costume was a variant of the old Lantern’s costume. The new costume is main white costume, but with black upper arms, lower legs and feet. The belt is black and contains a greater number of items with more variety despite Sam being unlike to ever use them. As the original Lantern’s visor was lost with his death, Samuel makes do with glasses with lens made of the same material as the visor and a modern HUD. He also has an earpiece communicator. Despite being up front in the fight, Sam’s psionic field protected his costume from harm, leaving me nothing to repair.

The original Lantern covered his body in white with dull blue over the legs and arms and a blue belt at the waist that held a few items. A light blue blocky visor with a limited HUD plus a League communicator earpiece to protect his face and secret identity. It wasn’t made out of cos-mat as it was invented a couple of years after the Lantern’s death. As he died at the end of the seventies with his body lost in action, his costume and equipment has been updated since.

Skyler aka Commando has a costume that is identical to her grandfather’s costume except it’s been 
made to fit her. Both Commandoes wear a patterned camouflage combat uniform with union jack on sides of the upper sleeves. Each set is made from cos-mat minus the first Commando’s earlier ones, which were made from the same stuff that normal army uniforms were made from.

The one worn by Sky pretty much has the right arm ruined. It’s been badly torn and is covered inside and out with blood and muck.

It will to be hard to repair. Easiest way is to just remove the entire arm and add on a new one.

“Hello Daniel,” says a voice behind me.

I turn around to see my Aunt Mary or Warden standing in the doorway.

“Hey Mary,” I reply as I put Sky’s costume down, “I was wondering when you would arrive.”

“I visited your house first,” says Mary, “Only your mum was there and we chatted for a bit. She’s not too happy with the idea of you replacing dad as the Sentinel. Britannia was right about the danger.”

“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t,” I reply.

“But...” says Mary as she enters the lab.

“At least Sam, Sky and James are going to do it,” I continue, “I’m certain more of the others will also join them. I didn’t really want to, but I decided that if I’m needed, I’ll help out. Plus I’m already involved as I effectively run and own the base since granddad died and I also organise all our costumes and equipment. Not to mention I been continuing to supply other supers and foreign governments using Sentinel Tech. I suppose I’ve been already indirectly involved and might as well get fully involved after tonight.”

“Those are good reasons,” says Mary, looking approvingly at me, “Many capes want to fight for fame or glory, sometimes for fun and others simply because they can. Spectre and Multitude do it for fame while Werebeast just wants the riches. Others such as Powerbeam and Green Knight do out of a sense of duty, kind of like you. Britannia does it to help people, again like you. Being a superhero because of a sense of duty and a desire to help people is a good thing and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Any idea what the old League is going to do?”

“They’re going to find out who else wants to join before announcing a new generation to the League of Heroes to the public,” I reply, “They feel that is the best option as actually gives us some help as it means we’re part of an official group rather than a bunch of rookie starting out on our own. And it makes sense since we would be using the League’s resources and reputation anyway.”

“That’ll help when dealing with the police, government and other supers,” notes Mary, “I think Helen might want to join up by the way.”

“She has got grandma’s powers,” I reply.

“Yeah,” says Mary, “Guess we’ll be seeing each other around more then.”

Sunday 14 September 2014

1.1 New Beginnings Part 7

It takes me a second to remember whose voice it belongs to. Laura Aquiline, my tip-off about 

Vistorix, using one of my granddad’s voice changers.

I relax, now understanding the confused reactions of the Defenders.

I give James a mental nudge, something he taught me to do if I want this attention.

As he connects our minds again, I can feel their worry and confusion.

It’s just Laura using one of my voice changers, I tell them.

Huh. From their reactions, you think she’s one of the most feared and dangerous people in the whole 
world, says Sky.

She is, James points out.

Never seen her that way, Sam disagrees.

It makes sense I suppose. It’s just strange to think of kind and caring Laura as a mysterious ruthless and cold blooded killer. But their reactions make sense if they never meet her private side like we have, I say.

I look at Laura as she walks out into the open. Dreadnought backs away fearfully while Green Knight turns to face her, trying to avoid openly quivering and failing. Warden stands her ground as she, like me and others, knows Laura personally. Britannia lands facing Laura.

Laura seems quite amused by the reactions of the Defenders. Not that you can really tell due to her outfit if didn’t know her like I do. Long black robes cover her body along with some plated armour that is without doubt enchanted. An assortment of weaponry and gear cover her body whilst a mask of some sort shields her features from onlookers without actually covering her face from view.

Don’t ask me how that works because I have no idea. All I know is that it doesn't do by using science or following the laws of physics.

“I figured you two could take him,” says Laura to me and Sam.

“Wait what?” asks Britannia nervously.

“Laura was the one to inform me about Vistorix,” I state.

“Laura?” asks Britannia, confused.

“We’re on a first name basis,” explains Laura, “Of course I don’t use his when we’re in costume. I don’t mind because I don’t have secret identity. Never felt a need to hide you I am.”

“You’re on a first name...” starts Green Knight before trailing off, his voice shocked.

“Yep,” says Laura as she bends down and inspects Vistorix.

She looks up and turns to me and the rest of our group.

“You ought to go before the police or somebody decides to start causing trouble,” says Laura.

“Now wait just one moment...” begins Britannia before faltering at a glare from Laura.

“What about public story?” inquires Warden, the only unfazed Defender.

“HEY!” shouts Laura suddenly to the crowd watching them, “Vistorix showed up to attack Brockenhurst! Some of the grandkids of the League of Heroes risked their lives to stop and protect people! And they did it without collateral damage to anyone’s property or anyone getting hurt!”

The crowd bursts out in cheers.

The rest of us, Defenders included, are too shocked at Laura’s unexpected and blunt approach to the situation to stop her.

“Now you should go before the press wants any interviews,” says Laura, “I never really got along with them. Guess I killed too many of them for them to ever like me.”

“Good idea,” I reply, “Let’s go. Vision, use your telekinesis to carry Skyler. Flying off will is our best bet as they can’t follow.”

With that I activate the rocket pack and zoom off into the air. I look at the others. Sam is next to me with James trailing behind us and Sky is behind him.

A message notification shows up on my HUD. I open it up. Text message from Warden.

We will take care of the police and press.
Aquiline’s cover story is holding.
Green Knight and Dreadnought are impressed by all of you.
Britannia is still angry, but don’t worry about it.       
I will visit you tomorrow. We’ll talk more then.
Good luck and good night.

I close the message. Things are going well. The public believes Laura’s story. We impressed Green Knight, Dreadnought and Warden. Britannia is angry with us, but that was to be expected. No surprise there.

It takes about couple of minutes of flying before we land at an entrance. Me or Sam could have made it one.

“How’s your arm?” I ask Sky as the entrance opens up for us.

“Could have been worse it weren't for my regeneration,” answers Sky, “Thanks for saving my life back there.”

My reply is a simply solemn nod as we enter the base. It hasn't really hit until just now that Skyler was almost killed by Vistorix. I guess I was too focused on the fight to realise that at the time.

While we did take down an experienced Class 4 in our first fight, we almost had our first death as well and Sky would have been maimed if it wasn't for her regeneration.

“That was awesome!” shouts Sam once we’re far enough underground, “We kicked Vistorix’s arse! Even the American heroes have trouble taking him down.”

“It was pretty good despite my arm,” agrees Sky.

“It was kind of exciting,” admits James, “I'm not sure if I would want to do it again however.”

“Yeah,” I agree, “It was fun. Especially when I kept blasting him.”

“And when I kept swooping in and beating down,” laughs Sam, “He was so angry.”

“Nothing compare to the look on his face when he realised his punches did nothing to me,” I say, “Priceless. I didn’t even get a bruise. Heck, my armour got nothing more than a dent.”

We all start laughing, giddy in our victory. We had successful first super fight and it was genuinely fun when we look back on it.

1.1 New Beginnings Part 6

I look up to see Britannia, the nation’s number one superhero, floating down. She also looks very angry with them as she lands in front of me.

Britannia or Elizabeth Greene if I remember correctly has a similar power set to Vistorix. A reverse in similarities compared to Sky and Vistorix’s close power set as Britannia is much stronger version of Vistorix. She is one of the few class 5s in the country or even the continent.

“Vigilantism is illegal,” says Britannia in a harsh and unkind tone as Samuel and Warden land near me and Britannia respectively, “What do think you were doing?”

“Stopping a Class 4 villain going on a rampage,” I retort, “Vigilantism isn't a crime by itself. It just happens to involve breaking the law most of the time.”

“And why did you take it upon yourselves to deal rather than leave it to the proper authorities?” demands Britannia as James and Skyler come out of the woods.

“They did call us,” points out Warden before either me and Sam can reply, “That’s why we got here so quickly. And we all know the police couldn’t do much against Vistorix, but die. Plus they kept it away from public and private property with effectively no collateral damage.”

Britannia shots her teammate a look before turning back to me and Sam. Her glare has seemed to have lessened. Not Britannia seems to be any less angry with us mind you.

“None the less it was still illegal what you did!” Britannia shouts at us, “And you could have been killed!”

“You make sound like we’re a bunch of kids who have no idea about what we’re doing!” angrily shouts Sam, “We spent our entire lives involved with super stuff even if we weren’t actively fighting the bad guys!”

Technically not true. Our grandparents have only been involving us since we were about ten, but we did grow up knowing about their superhero lives.

“Vistorix is a Class 4,” rebukes Britannia.

“So am I! Sentinel is a Class 4 too!” retorts Sam.

“Actually you’re a Class 4 with Class 5 and 6 potential,” Warden cuts in.

“And I actually saw some of the fighting,” continues Warden as Britannia turns to her, “Sentinel took two direct blows without a bruise and blasted Vistorix while he was knocked off his feet.”

“Actually I fired the sonics and Psychic’s grandson used his telekinesis to aim them at Vistorix,” I say.

“If I'm going to use a codename, it’ll be Vision,” dryly states James, “For reasons.”

“Brit, you know that is nothing to laugh about when it comes to Vistorix’s punches,” says one of the other Defenders, a man with the name of Green Knight and a power set a lot like Skyler’s, “It would have taken myself down and out. Same with everyone else on the team apart from you and Dreadnought.”

“And I can say from experience that even though I can take the punches, they still hurt,” says the other Defender with them, a woman in a steely grey costume, “Sentinel being able to take two head on and keep fighting as if they were nothing is really impressive.”

“Besides they right when they say they know what they’re doing,” says Warden, “I also grew up like they did. Being amongst the League of Heroes and all that it contains. It may not mean they have gone and out fighting villains, but they won’t make the mistakes of normal rookies and they all at least have decent idea of what they’re doing and how to it right. Don’t forget how good I was I when I join up with the Protectors.”

“I’m sure Bolt, Vibration and Psychic will give them their support,” says Green Knight, “I’m certain that they got all the stuff of the League.”

“Yeah, but,” says Britannia, clearly unhappy, but without a point to press.

“Looks they actually did pretty good, they know what they’re doing and they’re trustworthy,” says Green Knight, “The old League is pretty much gone, but these kids are attempting to use their gifts and inheritance to help people. In fact I’d been disappointed if they decided not to live up to the League’s legacy.”

“Don’t give them any encouragement,” says Britannia, her voice low and harsh, “They need to stop.”

“We didn’t choose for Vistorix to show up,” protests Sky, “We just stopped him before he could cause any major damage. He would have been in Brockenhurst before you showed up.”

“Actually if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have known about him until he was in Brockenhurst, let alone show up to stop him in time,” says Warden before she glances at her fellow Defenders, “I only knew as early as I did because Sentinel told me. He also told me that he and the others were going to try stop and him.”

“You know this line of work is dangerous and often doesn’t have happy endings?” demands Britannia, but much softer than before.

“Look at my arm,” says Sky, holding out her right arm, showing where her costume was destroyed and her arm is only just finishing reforming, “I lost my grandfather because of his duty as Commando. I also got my powers solely because the government gave them to me.”

“As you also know I never got to even meet my granddad,” says Sam with a tint of sadness in his voice.

“Beside we know how good it can go as well,” I feel compelled to add, “My grandparents lived long and happy lives as did the rest of the League.”

“I can barely believe it,” says a deep voice suddenly.

Britannia flies up, desperately looking around for the speaker. Green Knight draws his shield and adopts a defensive stance, looking shaky while Dreadnought seems to freak out. Warden for her part looks confused, as if she can’t place something.