Well, if you asked me the good and bad news, and told me to tell you the good first, I would answer with "The job went according to plan. We got all the money we wanted, managed to get a cute boy's phone number, and even if we hit a bump on the road, we got here all right."
But, if you asked for the bad news, you would be surprised. I would answer with, "Well, after we got the kids back inside the bag, me and Wolf took off in our bikes. We rode for a good ten minutes until we had to stop because of a giant crater on the street. One look inside, and out inner Samaritans came out. A boy, older by a year than Wolf at the most, with black hair, and a black shirt with a Superman shield. We didn't care who it was, nor what could happen, so we joined our bikes in the phase of cars and got him inside. That's how we arrived at the HQ."
They boy seemed stable and didn't have any signs of a concussion or much trauma, so that meant he was only unconscious. Even with that, we still took him to Owl, who told us that he had a broken arm and a nasty cut on his side. Me and Owl bandaged those up as well as we could, then left him in my bed after she along with Eagle carried him up. We were now waiting for the boy to wake up, me and Polar Bear sitting in the chairs next to him.
As me and Cub played rock paper scissors, he started stirring. We both watched him, then I sent Cub to go fetch the rest of the family. It seems Cheetah, Rabbit, and Eagle had gotten somewhat attached to him in the few minutes they saw him, and were now waiting for him to wake up. He continued moving lightly while the whole family ran in, sorrounding the bed. When he first opened his eyes, to say the blue surprised me was an understatement.
They were amazingly blue. Like beautifully blue that could make you want to stare inside all day long and never want to leave the sight. Anyway, no more fan girl now. He looked around at all of our faces, seeming to try to figure out where he was and who we were. Then, his eyes showed fright and shock, but who wouldn't? Waking up in a bed that's not your own with people that you don't know sorrounding it? Yeah, that would make anybody react like that.
He opened his mouth to ask something, but was cut off by Unicorn sticking out her hand for him to shake.
"Hello, my name is Unicorn. I'm the leader, or mom, of these kids." She told him like it was the most normal thing.
He eyed her hand wearily, but then slowly raised his left hand and shook her right.
"Superboy." He answered.
And that made a gasp leave the kids mouth. They stayed at home alone at times, and they watched the news. Which meant they saw all the superhero stories. To say they were fans of Superboy would be like saying the Himalayas were a sandbox.
"That is so awesome!" Cheetah exclaimed in his little kid voice, making Superboy sharply turn to him. Which made him wince.
"You should be careful, Superdude." I told him, turning his head slowly to look at me. "We found you in a crater, and I'm sure that that wasn't very good for your neck." I told him, smiling from underneath the bandana. "Name's Panther, by the way."
"Line up!" Unicorn announced, making us all turn our attention to her. "From left to right, tell your names, powers, and age." She said.
We all lined up in front of the bed so Superdude could see us, and Cheetah started.
"My name's Cheetah, I can run really fast, and I'm seven, going eight in a week." He said smirking.
"Rabbit. I can jump really high and I got good hearing. Seven." She answered with her arms crossed, looking at him as if analyzing a specimen.
"Eagle, I can fly and got very good eye sight, and I'm seven too." He answered in his up beat, peppy voice.
"Meerkat. I'm good with technology and got good hearing. Not as good as a supers, but good enough." He shrugged. "I'm fifteen."
"Bobo the Monkey, I have flexibility and good agility, I'm also fifteen." He answered smiling at Superdude.
"Panda." She nodded at him. "Strength and I'm fourteen."
"Cat, I have flexibility and agility, and I am also fifteen." She told him, giving him a welcoming smile.
"I'm Dolphin, I can breath underwater, can hear what fish say and can communicate with them. I'm fifteen too." Dolphin told him with a kind smile.
"I'm Owl. I can fly, good eye sight, and I'm not bad with technology. I'm fifteen." Owl answered.
Cub smiled at him while bouncing on the balls of her heels. "I'm Polar Bear, I have strength, and I'm fourteen!" She told him cheerily.
"Wolf. Good hearing and eyesight, good speed." He shrugged. "Sixteen."
"Unicorn, fast, good eyesight, and I'm eighteen." Unicorn added from her first statement.
And I smiled at him at the ending. "And I'm Panther. I'm fast, some good strength, good eyesight, and I'm fifteen." I told him with a kind smile.
After roll call was over, he had a confused look to his face. We all waited for him to speak, and when he did, we started laughing.
"Why do you all have animal names?" He asked innocently.
We laughed and laughed out loud, filling our room with laughter that hadn't been there for a long time. It had been way too long since any of us had had a good laugh. When we finally came off of our laughing high, Superdude looked annoyed and somewhat worried.
"You don't know us?" Meerkat asked, being the first to get serious.
Superdude shook his head, "No, am I supposed to know you?" He asked.
We looked at each other for a while, then I turned to him and nodded. "Well, you are supposed to if you are one of the cities heroes. Hasn't Superman told you about 'Los Animales'?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "Well, he told me they are a group of shape shifters, but didn't tell me anything else. Neither did any of the other Leaguers." He answered.
I nodded, then looked at my friends. Owl nodded at me, then she left the room.
"Um, Superdude, you might want to know your injuries." I told him, then sat down on the foot of the bed. "You have a broken right arm and a gash right there." I told him, pointing to where it was.
His eyes widened in surprise, then raised his arm to see the truth. Sure enough, it was bandaged up, but not in a cast. He then got up, wincing slightly to the cut on his side, then lifted his shirt to see it. It was also bandaged, not showing any signs of bleeding. It reached from his rib cage to his left hip.
"Uh, Supermuchacho, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but," Wolf started, sitting right next to me. "How did this happen? Me, Panther, Cheetah, and Cub were returning from a mission when we found you in the middle of the street like this, so we took you in." He told him, Spanish accent coming out.
Superdude gripped his head with his right hand, trying to remember. "I-I don't remember. I... I remember being in Metropolis with Supergirl and Flash and hanging out, but then, nothing." He answered, looking at us with a lost look in his eyes.
"We can worry about that later, Superboy, you have to eat something. None of us know if you're Kryptonian heritage will make you heal faster or not, but if you're like a speedster, you need to eat something to keep your metabolism up." Owl told him, walking in with a steaming plate of homemade chicken soup.
"Aww, I wanted the soup!" Cheetah whined from his place next to Superdude's head.
She glared at him, then handed Wolf the soup. "Cheetah, you know we only make soup when someone is wounded, it's not for people that are fine enough to whine." She scolded.
Wolf and I chuckled at the scene, then Wolf got up and put the tray on the nightstand on Superdude's head. I got up and got some of Cub's pillows and stuffed them under his torso so he could be comfortable to eat the soup. Cub brought in a tray we used for putting the art things and put it on his lap. Wolf put the bowl on the tray and gave the spoon to a bewildered looking Superdude.
"What's wrong, muchacho?" Meerkat asked from his place gripping the door frame.
"I-I... I'm just not used to having so much people caring for me..." He mumbled while looking embarassed.
We all smiled at him. "Come on, Superdude, you shouldn't be feeling embarassed. This is what we do." I told him.
"Yeah, that's what we're all about." Cub continued.
"We find random people on the street, then give them medical attention and smother them in kindness." Wolf finished with a chuckle.
Superdude cracked a smile at the joke, then started eating his soup. We all stayed in the room with him, but gave him his space. When it hit one o'clock in the morning, we had to fight with Eagle, Rabbit, and Cheetah, but they still ended up sleeping in their room after saying bye to Superdude. One by one the oldest left, leaving me, Wolf, Cub, and Unicorn in the room.
When he finished eating his soup, Unicorn took the bowl out of the room, then told us goodnight. We all replied, then we turned back to Superdude. He eyes all three of us wearily, the asked,
"Why do you all do this to complete strangers?"
We all smiled at him, then each other. "It's simple really," Cub started.
"We are this nice and awesome, mostly because," Wolf continued with a smirk.
"We were born and raised in Puerto Rico. Which means we were taught to be nice and helpful to anybody we meet." I finished.
He nodded, understanding what we were saying. I can't believe that we are so comfortable with a hero living in our house. And it's not comfortable with how we act, but with everything. Owl even let us dress comfortably, letting him see what we looked like without any costumes, makeup, or animal parts.
"Well, I think it's about time we leave Superdude." I told him getting up from my chair. "I hope you don't mind, but Cub'll be staying here because it's her room. C'mon Wolf." I told him, walking towards the door. "Cub," I called before I crossed the doorway. "Don't prank him or anything, he's already scarred enough." With that I left the room, Wolf following me.
We walked towards his room, then I threw myself at the couch we had put there. He put a blanket over me, then jumped in his own bed.
"Good night, Pantera." He said in Spanish.
"Buenas Noches, Lobo." I answered, then fell into a deep sleep.
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