The city was quiet, and the people were just minding their own businesses, going to work, playing baseball in the street, having lunch at nearby cafés, the normal things that people did. The sky was clear from clouds, and only a small breeze traveled past the buildings. For summer, it was a beautiful day. It was the best day for an ice cream cone down at the ice cream shop north of town. School was almost out and when classes were cut short, they ran down to that said ice cream shop for a single cone…or double…or if they really had the guts, their favorite flavor in the shop's Dare Devil Sundae Special, which consisted of any flavor they wanted, bananas, chocolate and peanut butter syrup, and cinnamon sticks that stuck out of the top. It was ten scoops of ice cream and the rest in one large bowl. Whoever was single and stupid enough to eat it all was awarded with a t-shirt and a coupon that allowed that said customer to buy any ice cream they wanted for free twenty times. Any fool was dumb enough to try and fail the Dare Devil Sundae Special Challenge.
Speaking of fools, our heroes in town, X-Ray and Vav, had just entered the establishment to partake in the challenge for the fifth time since the challenge was available at the shop. Each time, X-Ray was getting closer to accomplish the goal, but poor Vav got sick a quarter into the sundae. Why Vav kept doing it was beyond his own imagination. However, he had been best friends with X-Ray for years, and he had no reason to break his friendship with him now. X-Ray was the more determined one when it came to doing something. Whenever he wanted to do something, he would do it without thinking about the why nots.
"And we have a winner this time!" announced one of the employees after X-Ray finally finished his sundae. The shirt cannon went off, slapping the shirt in X-Ray's face, but X-Ray couldn't bother with it. He was only happy that he got his shirt and his coupon.
"Look, Vav!" he shouted, "It's finally mine! Free ice cream for twenty rounds! That will last us two months if we go on the weekends!"
"X-Ray, get that away from me," whined Vav, "I'm still trying to get over the peanut butter sauce."
"On the brightside, Vav, you managed to get in five scoops of chocolate into your stomach."
Since X-Ray was satisfied with what he had and considered that Vav was getting extremely ill, he refused to use his first spot on the coupon and carried Vav on his back out of the ice cream shop. "Make sure you don't puke on me as I carry you home, alright?"
"That's the last thing I wanna do, X-Ray." He choked. "Trust me."
While walking home and past a random restaurant, an explosion burst the doors off the hinges and smacked X-Ray and Vav to the ground. The both of them looked up to the smoke and small flames that were coming out of the building.
"What the hell was that?" X-Ray exclaimed.
"What do you mean, "What the hell was that?" That restaurant exploded like a chemical reaction!" replied Vav.
"That was a rhetorical question, you dumbass. Whatever it is, I'm gonna give the jerk a piece of my mind."
"I'm right behind ya," Vav said, wincing and shuffling forward.
X-Ray ran into the smoke and cleared it with his windy arms. A couple of customers were on the ground, trying to recover from the blast. Standing on the bar counter was a man dressed in green. His jeggings were covered in dollar signs. His heels scratched the countertop as he climbed on and leapt to the floor with a tan bag in his grip. His face seemed as if he got a spa treatment done recently, but that didn't bother X-Ray. What really made X-Ray's blood boil was that this asshole had the audacity to disturb the peace during the summer.
"Aw, look," said the villain, his voice slightly more feminine than the average man's, "It's X-Ray. Where's your little sidekick? Come to stop me alone?"
"Don't give me any pleasant talk, Green Heathen. I told you to get out of my city once, and I won't warn you again."
"Geez, how impolite. I only wanted to enjoy a nice shopping spree, and I worked this hard to only get yelled at. Is there no justice for people like me?"
"The only justice I deliver around here-" X-Ray adjusted his glasses and his frames started to glow red. "-is for those who deserve to eat in peace!" A blast of red lasers shot out and pushed the Green Heathen to the back of the restaurant, crashing through the wall into the back alley. X-Ray followed the enemy, ready to teach more of his lesson when he got back up.
"Ow! I just got these nails done, and you broke them, you son of a bitch!" cried the villain.
"Then, get a job to fix 'em!" X-Ray was about to laser-eye him again until something came out of thin air and knocked him over. "Hey! What gives?" A shadow hovered over him at that exact moment. When the sun struck the figure, X-Ray managed to get the perfect view of the person who pushed him over. It wasn't as tall as the average person, but being almost five foot didn't even make seeing its face difficult to view from the ground. The bust made it clear to everyone in the area about the female gender this person was. Her outfit struck to our leading hero as pink and gold, pink suit, gold boots and gloves, blonde hair, yet her gloves were the only part of the uniform that was white. No mask covered her face, so her brown eyes were darting as night. Her skin was just as pale as Vav's. If only the nose were different, then X-Ray would've assumed that the girl and his partner were long-lost siblings.
"Who are you?" X-Ray asked in a quiet, astonished tone.
"Oooooh, look, a pretty girl," squealed the Green Heathen. "Let me guess: you're X-Ray's ex-girlfriend."
The stranger clutched her fists and glared down at the villain. "I would've thought about changing that statement before saying it. This gullible fool is in no relation to me."
"Excuse me?" snapped X-Ray.
"Step aside, princess," gawked Green Heathen. "This business is only me against him. Why don't you go play with your Barbie dolls or something?"
The stranger raised her hand as if she was going to snap her fingers. "I'm afraid I don't have that choice. That will be up to my boys." Her thumb slipped from her middle finger, and a click sounded into the summer air.
A stream of black appeared from the emptiness of the sky, and the only word that X-Ray got out of watching was, "rope." The collection of "rope"s swirled around Green Heathen and tightened her arms to let go off the money bag. The enemy screamed for her clothes started to burn into her skin. The end of the "rope" rope fell along with a boy dressed in black with a silver cape blowing into the wind. A silver mask also covered his eyes as if it was glued there. In his right hand, a pen was gripping onto the "rope" rope.
"Is that ink?" was all X-Ray could ask about it.
A second boy jumped from a nearby roof and landed right in front of the girl of the group. His uniform was barely a uniform at all. It was all just glasses, jeans, a white shirt and a blue and white jacket. His shoes sparkled like metal…in other words, they were made out of metal. His glasses were flickering in the sunlight, making his brown eyes darker than the girl's. His watch stayed in one place as he moved.
"Runner, scan this one down," the girl ordered.
The second boy said nothing as he approached the trapped villain. Green Heathen shivered in his heels as he watched the boy called Runner remove his glasses. His eyes looked a lot blacker without them on.
"Please! Please, don't kill me! I'm only a poor transgender man trying to make a living. You wouldn't take my life for that, would you?"
After staring him down for a split second, he nodded at his comrade, which made the unnamed boy release the villain, who was now too weak to even stand up. "He's not associated with who we're looking for, boss lady. His heart is not dark enough to work for him. Desperate, yes. Smart enough, of course not."
The leader of the group grabs the bag of money into her own hands and said, "We might as well return the money to the owner. Leave him there for the police to grab."
"What about the skinny, green-suited one, boss lady?" the holder of the pen spoke at last.
"If he wants to play with the big boys and girls, he would take care of himself. Now, let's go before something else attacks us."
As they were leaving, X-Ray shouted, "Attacked? You attacked me, bitches!"
Just then, Vav finally arrived, screaming to breathe. "Sorry, X-Ray. I'm here now." He turned to see the villain on her face, and his stomach settled. "Damn, what did you do to him?"
"Absolutely nothing, Vav. While you were puking your guts out, some group of freaks jumped down and choked this heathen 'til he can't move."
"Seriously? Geez, they must've did a number on 'im."
"Are you listening to yourself, Vav?" snapped X-Ray. "We got stood up again! I seriously had this guy on pins and needles and some random freak shows finished the job! What the hell is the city going to think of us when they find out about this, and I swear to god, if you tell Ash, I'll hurt you."
"What makes you think I'll tell Ash anything?"
X-Ray glared deep into his best friend's eyes. Vav and Ash, a local city reporter, have been dating for about a month or so now, and what X-Ray didn't know about the two was that Vav didn't really have to say much in order to get Ash's attention. Yes, she was beautiful and smart, but she also knew that Vav had a kind heart and would do anything just to make her feel special. There were times when Vav gave Ash some things to report, but never did he give any of their secrets away to the public.
"I seriously will not tell her about this, X-Ray!"
"God, you two bicker like a married couple. Why don't you just get married already?" A good friend of X-Ray and Vav's leapt from the roof and adjusted himself to standing straight. That shirtless, bear-hooded, muscular figure was none other than their distanced ally, Mogar, a lone ranger who was raised out in the forest and hadn't thought twice about living with other human beings for the longest time since he lived.
"Mogar?" asked Vav, "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to come back to the city."
"Watching you losers lose…like the usual," Mogar replied casually. "What else do you want me to say? And to remark to that statement, Vav, I didn't, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for you guys."
"So you saw those three show stealers beat up that sack of flour?" X-Ray spoke, pointing to still passed out Green Heathen.
"Oh yeah, and I'm unfortunate enough to say I knew exactly who they were if that helps your case."
"You do?" the twin heroes chorused.
Mogar nodded once, his dark eyes setting aglow.
Along the rooftops in the business district, Mogar brought X-Ray and Vav to the quietest spot in the city. He explained to the others that whenever he did have to visit the city, that roof with the gas tanks was the place where he would watch the action happen. From under one gas tank, he yanked out a notebook Hilda gave him in case he had anything to report to her. Since Hilda was not relevant at that time, I shall explain who she is to these boys later. Mogar flipped to the pages where he kept the information his friends needed.
"They call themselves the Supernatural Experiments," Mogar announced.
Vav scanned over the pages and said, "You only got pictures, names, and what looks like the powers they possess, Mogar."
"I couldn't get much because they only started appearing recently."
"Why do they call themselves the Supernatural Experiments?"
Mogar crossed his legs and responded, "Rumor has it has these three used to be college kids until some science accident cursed them with supernatural powers." He pointed to each picture of the strangers to explain their identities. "That guy in the silver mask calls himself Ghost Writer. With any pen he touches, whatever he says, that pen will complete his commands."
"So that was ink I saw," X-Ray said, touching his chin with his fingers.
"That guy in the regular clothes is Runner Guitar. Like your powers Vav, he controls time onto a person or any object, but not only can he slow down things, he moves extremely fast, so you barely stand a chance if you don't know what he's going to do next."
Vav said, "I get the Runner part, but what's the Guitar part of the name?"
"He also controls sound. With one scream, he could kill you in seconds."
The Brit gripped around his throat and gulped.
"Oh, you're not supposed to be scared of those two. This is the girl you have to stay away from…or at least not make her mad. They call her boss lady, but her name is Shear."
"Shear? What power does she have to be called that?" mocked X-Ray, smirking and crossing his arms.
"To be honest, I have never seen her use powers, but she does seem to have a sharp tongue. Those boys obey her every command, and she makes any enemy cower in fear at her presence. My guess is that you should not make this woman mad, and I say woman because she doesn't like to be called a girl because of her height. Now, why these guys are here is a different story. From what I could gather, they are searching for a specific someone, and they believe that through other villains, they can find the one. Runner Guitar scans each of them to read their thoughts, but so far, they haven't been lucky. They must've come from towns over to reach this city. We might even have their someone under our roofs, and we might not even know about it."
"Perhaps, we should talk to them about this guy they're looking for," Vav suggested.
"Well, Vav," said X-Ray, "you may be onto something."
"You have a plan, X-Ray?" Mogar questioned, tapping his own chin.
X-Ray snickered. "Mogar, you should know by now that I always have something up my sleeve, no matter who I'm facing."
Though X-Ray may look like he couldn't go through with a fight even if his life depended on it, he was always the one who knew how to get into someone's head. The main street was empty by the approaching dusk, and X-Ray and Vav were ready to put the plan into action. The partners in justice borrowed trench coats from Vav's closet, and Ash lent them some fake newspapers to attract their rivals. Of course, much to X-Ray's distaste, their payment was to give their deets on the Supernatural Experiments from Mogar in order to create a legit article. Thanks to Vav though, Ash would let the battle with Green Heathen slip for once. X-Ray was already having a rough day, and he didn't need reporters constantly on his back either.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Vav asked his partner.
"Of course," X-Ray answered with a growl. "Mogar said that they're looking for a mysterious villain, so that's what we'll give 'em."
With that said, Vav rose the newspaper into the air, chanting, "Extra! Extra! New villain has been terrorizing the city!"
"Read it now!" called X-Ray, "Villain last seen on Main Street. Witnesses say, "He might still be in the area!"
"Superheroes needed! Oh, where are they when you need 'em?"
Before they knew it, Runner Guitar and his leader, Shear, landed onto the asphalt, turning heads. The one who spoke was the one X-Ray first met earlier that day. "You called for someone to take care of a villain?"
"That was quick," Vav mumbled to himself.
"Yes, we did," replied X-Ray, clearing his throat first.
"Well…" Shear crossed her arms. "Where's the bastard?"
X-Ray smirked as he removed his sunglasses to flash his laser ones. "Say cheese, bitches!" Red shot out and his rivals flew towards one of the buildings, smacking them into the wall.
Vav stripped his disguises until he was back into his uniform. "Wow, I can't believe that actually worked."
X-Ray removed his trench coat, laughing with pride. "I keep tellin' ya, Vav, that's what makes us town heroes. Quick thinking and unexpected cliché plots."
The two-thirds of the Supernatural Experiments groaned as they slowly but surely got back up on their feet. Runner was mad, but nothing compared to Shear's rage.
"Look, I would hate to see you get severely injured," X-Ray said, "but we want answers to why you're playing the heroes in our territory. If you don't want to talk to us, then leave before I clobber you with my eyes."
Shear's groans became hisses in a quick transition. "Guitar! Deal with the British flag," she mandated. "The Latin chicken is all mine!"
"Sí, boss lady!"
With Runner Guitar battling Vav, Shear and X-Ray were ready to go up against each other. Shear went for her gloves and removed them. "As much as I hate doing this to an idiot like you, the gloves are coming off!" she roared.
"Oh, you're gonna do my nails?" X-Ray replied sarcastically, "Oh, I'm so scared."
With one flick from both of her wrists, ever nail on each of her ten fingers grew into a daggering, sword-length claw.
X-Ray's heart stopped beating and dropped into his stomach. "Well, shit. Now, I know why you're called Shear."
Vav and Runner's battle involved the air and the windows of the offices and apartments. "You can't run from me forever," was the synopsis of the fight along with Vav's panicked screams. All that ran through Vav's mind was what Mogar mentioned about this guy being very fast and that his voice could kill. Perhaps he could use Runner Guitar's speed to his advantage.
"Oy! Flat foot, I've been told you were much faster than this! What happened? Twisted your ankles or something?"
Runner Guitar's lungs tightened. "Oh, so you're taunting me? Big mistake, you British brat!"
Vav leapt from a fire escape to a flagpole and swung from it. Runner tripped on the metal and started looping around it like a ribbon. "Nice flips, mate, but aren't you supposed to be chasing me?"
Runner forced the flagpole with the speed of sound from his hands, and it snapped.
The metal stick was just above X-Ray's head, and after seeing it fall, he jumped away and lasered it towards Shear at the correct falling point. The blade nails of hers sliced right through the steel as if it was nothing. X-Ray even blasted more lasers than the usual, causing him to lose his footing. However, the leader of Supernatural Experiments kept dodging his attacks until she picked up her rival by the shirt to get them eye-to-eye.
"So you can fight after all. I'll give you that much credit, but if you ever sneak attack me like that again, I swear to Jesus, I'll make you regret you were ever born into this world! Capish?"
X-Ray gulped and nodded as sweat-tears of fright crawled down from his forehead to his chin. The claws broke through his shirt as he fell onto the concrete sidewalk. Mogar was right all along. He was more terrified of Shear than from the first time they met.
It was easy to say that the battle was better for Vav as he kept his challenger running and climbing. Vav was back on the ground while Runner glided down after him. Vav raised his hands to stop the boy from moving. "Hold on there, sonny. You'll tucker yourself out if you don't slow down."
"I swear, you son of a bitch! Let me go, or I'll scream!" the boy angrily shouted.
"Okay." Vav lowered his slow-so down to zero.
Runner was free, but all of his momentum had vanished. "Well, shit." He squealed like a baby on his way down until he corrupted the street with a meteor-sized hole.
Satisfied with himself, Vav cleared his gloves of the dust and debris. "I don't know about you, but I think I won this fight." Before Vav could exactly celebrate, he was suddenly vaulted into the air by his waist. When he was about to hit the ground, Vav was vaulted up again. The cycle occurred two more times before he was lifted to the roof. He was greeted by the chuckling Ghost Writer with the pen in between his fingers.
"My friends always wanted me to play the yo-yo as my talent. Who knew I could just write yo-yo in the air and it would bring me a runt?"
"Hey, I kicked your friend's ass! I'll do the same thing to…" The moment he turned around, he was face-to-face with a tired, yet agitated, Runner Guitar. "Oh…Please don't kill me! I have so much to live for!"
"Boys!" called Shear from the ground. "Put him down. I already gave his sorry friend a warning. He gets the same treatment."
Runner scoffed and glared into the Brit's eyes. "You got lucky 'cause we're letting you go. But I don't wanna see you again, got it?"
"Noted," Vav squeaked with a gasp.
Ghost Writer lowered himself and Vav towards X-Ray and dropped him next to his friend's body. Without saying anything else, Shear snaps and signals her boys to follow.
Vav pushed himself up to sitting, still gasping for breath. "X-Ray?"
"What?" answered his friend in question.
"Do you think Mogar knows who he's up against?"
"I think we tired them out long enough. Mogar will find this easy."
"So we almost got ourselves killed for Mogar to finish them off?"
"Hey, that's what heroes do, buddy. We do the hard work and let the less experienced eat the leftovers.
"I don't get why you let them go just like that, Shear," hissed Ghost Writer as the Supernatural Experiments continued to stroll the city.
"They're stupid, but they make sure this city stays in tact peace-wise," Shear explained. "Runner, did you scan them before they attacked us to say the least?"
"Only the one who let me crash into the pavement," he answered. "He's harmless. Besides, those morons have no clue why we're here in the first place. If they did, they would be scared crapless."
"That's not the reason to be suspicious?" questioned Ghost Writer.
"I guess…"
Shear came to a dead halt, and her arms became a blockade both Guitar and Writer bumped into.
"What the big idea, boss lady?"
"Shh! We're not alone here," she said quietly.
"What does that…"
Shear cut Writer off before he could finish. "Someone's watching us."
"Is it him?"
Her eyebrows arched. "No…"