Sorry for the mistake with this chapter. In my sleep addled brain I didn't see I copied over part of last chapter with this one so please re-read this chapter now that it's complete.
Dinner was an eventful affair in Matt's eyes. The Pelham's joined the Dallon's and chaos seemed to ensue. The adults seemed to ignore the children taking slight jabs at each other as long as it didn't get physical. Honestly Matt enjoyed himself, he hasn't had a family dinner like this in a long time. He looks down into his plate a smile on his face and doesn't notice the tears forming in his his. He turns his head to his right when he feels a nudge and Amy is sitting there with a napkin in her hand outstretched towards him. He accepts it and quickly wipes the tears away thankful that nobody else had noticed. He mutters out a quick thank you so that only Amy could hear, he then finishes his plate.
A few minutes later everyone has finished their plate. Mike and Fleur move to the kitchen deciding to take care of cleaning the mess that they had created while the rest of the group move into the parlor. Sarah Pelham clears her throat and everyone goes quiet, her eyes then meet Matt's "So Vicky and Amy are vouching for you to join the New Wave, and while I generally trust their judgement I cannot make the offer for you as of now. I do not know you well enough or for long enough to just let you join us. Your powers are indeed very strong and would be very welcome in our group. I just can't take the risk until we have gotten to know you better."
Amy and Victoria both look disappointed but they don't make any move to argue against the elder woman's words. Sarah Pelham, better known as Lady Photon, is the de facto leader of the New Wave and as such her word is generally final. Matt shrugs his shoulders "That is fine Mrs. Pelham I only agreed to hear you guys out anyways. While I don't currently have non-parahuman friends who could be hurt by my identity being public I could make some at some point. I was thinking of going independent anyways."
Carol shakes her head obviously unapproving of his plan "I would recommend against that Matt, it's very dangerous to go at it alone and since you're new to Brockton Bay I know you don't have any cape connections here. I highly recommend you join the Wards."
Matt runs his hand through his hair taking the woman's words into consideration "You are probably right. But, I wouldn't have the discretion to handle situations as I see fit. I would be forced to bend to their regulations which could cause someone to get hurt, because of them forcing me to stay back due to protocol. It isn't an elegant solution but I believe being independent is for the best. At least for the time being that is, I can always join the Wards later if I want to. It's much harder to leave the Wards than it is to join them after all."
Sarah frowns as she takes in the younger man in front of her. Far too mature for his age due to his family situation much like poor Amy. Sarah knew that Carol neglected the teen unknowingly due to her birth father, but it was never more than letting Amy put in more volunteer hours than she should. This was why Sarah never brings this up with her. After a few moments she shakes her wandering thoughts and looks towards Matt once again. There is something in the back of her mind telling her to just accept him into the New Wave. It is quite obvious that Amy has a slight attraction to the young parahuman, so he may end up being connected to them at some point anyways.
Sarah has to do her due diligence first though. She cannot just let anyone join immediately after meeting them. They are all unmasked and as such it is risky for her to trust new people to the point that they join the group. She would however welcome him with open arms immediately should he publicly out himself on his own. It would show true dedication to the base morals of the New Wave, and she would definitely offer the protection that her group provides.
"Anyways I should head out I would like to get home without any issues and I live on the other side of the city." Matt brushes off his pants and grabs his bag before turning towards Amy and Vicky "Hopefully I'll be seeing you two soon. It was a fun talking with you two." Amy smiles and nods and everyone says goodbye as Amy walks him to the door, and what happens next shocks every person there. Once Matt is almost out the door Amy quickly leans in and pecks him on the lips. It was over before Matt had any time to react, an atomic blush covers both his and Amy's faces at her action. Everyone is stunned at the rather aggressive action from the normally timid girl. Amy then realizing what she just did quickly pushes him out the door leaving Matt to think to himself 'Damn her lips are soft'.
Matt hums to himself as he practically skips through the streets of Brockton Bay. He is fairly confident in himself normally, and he knows that he is an attractive guy. However, it's been a while since a girl had approached him like Amy did. It is honestly refreshing, he is used to always being the one to make the first move. This changes things for him though, at first he was looking at Amy as just being a good friend. With the kiss though everything changes. Even if Matt has kept himself distant from most people for the last few years, he is still a teenage boy at the end of the day and a pretty girl liking him affects him.
Matt is broken from his thoughts he hears a crash along with a scream a few blocks over. At first he ignores it not wanting to get involved on his first night, but then he took in his surroundings. He's almost home and this is the Docks so he is in ABB territory. 'Fuck, Lung could be out. I really shouldn't get involved.'
However when he hears another crash along with a roar his body moves into action. He quickly puts his domino mask on, not wasting time with the rest of his shoddy outfit, and rushes towards the sounds of the fight.
Matt uses Victoria's power to fly on top of a building above the fight to take in the situation. It is absolutely the worst case scenario, Standing tall is a half-transformed Lung and a group of teens are shakily standing, obviously exhausted with even a short fight. 'No surprise there Lung is one of the strongest people in Brockton Bay' Matt thinks to himself trying to decide on a plan.
'It seems that Lung is alone so I could probably take him out one on one. But I'm not sure if my power will completely erase the changes he's already gone through or if it will just stop him from escalating further. Damn it this is bad.' Matt curses to himself as the group of teens move to attack the dragon.
Matt is so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that someone is standing behind him now and is startled when he hears a voice that he thinks is familiar "Which side of this fight are you on? Don't move or I will take you down"
'Fuck I didn't notice her. And I can't use my power because she'll attack before I can get her in my sights. I've got to hope she's on my side at least' Matt curses to himself before going out on a limb and telling the truth "Neither, but I'm not about to let Lung kill those kids"
A moment of silence ensues but the unease leaves Matt as she responds "Ok good seems we're on the same side then. So how are we going to handle this"
Matt turns around and takes in the woman's appearance, she's obviously new at this with how shabby her costume is. "I'm a Trump I'll fight Lung one on one and you find spots to assist."
"I have complete control over insects I'll use your distraction to pump him full of poison to hopefully overcome his healing factor and knock him out." the girl responds immediately wasting no time as the battle below them seems to turn south for the teens who are now on their knees.
"I'm Eraser let's do this" Matt immediately flies down and lands between Lung and the group of teens. He quickly cocks his head towards them "Get out of here I'll handle Lung for now" He is then thrown back by a massive fist colliding with his body. He crashes into a nearby building but stands up immediately, brushing off the dust on his pants and cracking his neck. 'Ok so it takes about fifteen seconds for my invulnerability to return. I can't afford to get hit twice then that would definitely kill me.'
He locks eyes with Lung who roars as he is swarmed with bugs. The girl who is now standing across the alley is putting her full focus on Lung. 'Maybe she has a maximum range?' Matt shakes his thoughts off and flies into the swarm hitting Lung with an enhanced punch sending him reeling back a few feet but staying on his feet. 'Fuck it hurts to hit him and I've got Vicky's strength right now. And of fucking course my power won't reverse his transformation.'
Matt then ducks underneath a tail swipe and backflips back onto his feet it is then that Lung screams in pain and falls to his knees. A smirk crosses Matt' face 'She must have gotten a bug into his eyes that's vicious I love it'
It is then that a large armored man comes in on a motorcycle. He gets off and grabs a helbred off of the side before approaching both him and the girl. "What's going on here?"
'Seems he lives up to his reputation of being all business and no fun' Matt rolls his eyes but then answers the man's question "We came here because we heard the sounds of a fight. We saw Lung here fighting a group of teenagers and decided that we didn't want to see them die tonight so we came in to assist. I distracted Lung while she pumped him full of enough poison to kill a herd of elephants. I was about to call the PRT to have them bring in Lung but then you showed up Armsmaster."
"Poison is dangerous it can be seen as lethal force you can get into big trouble for this" the armored man seemed obviously disapproving of their actions causing the girl to shrink back but Matt stays his course.
"That's only if the poison is used on a parahuman not known to have a healing factor. Lung is famous for his ability to heal through anything and he's still breathing now. His healing factor will probably purge the poison in a few hours or so. We are well within our legal rights stop trying to strong arm us into complying with your wishes. You may be the Protectorate head here but you do not rule over every single hero in Brockton Bay. I am not your subordinate so stop treating me as such." Matt steps up glaring at the massive man who grips his helbred tighter in response. Never had anyone been so blatantly disrespectful towards him.
"Anyways I'm going to call this in. First night out and I help take out Lung that'll help out my case and hopefully keep the ABB occupied for a bit so they stop with the extortions for a bit." Matt pulls out his phone completely ignoring the man as he calls up the PRT and roughly five minutes later squad cars are at the scene and Miss Militia comes out looking confused.
She then turns towards Matt "Why did you call this in if Armsmaster was here already?"
"Because the first thing he did when he showed up here was threaten me and my ally here. Honestly I'm glad I chose not to join the Wards if this is how the Protectorate handles things in Brockton Bay. We took out fucking Lung and now we get threatened what the hell."
Miss Militia sends a glare towards Armsmaster "I'm sorry about that. Armsmaster isn't the greatest people person."
"More like a glory hound with a massive ego. How the hell is the Protectorate head not a people person. It seems like it should come with the job" Matt replies flippantly enjoying the obvious rage flowing through Armsmaster who seems to be seething at this point. "But he is still a hero at the end of the day and a damn good one at that. Anyways where do we go to pick up the reward for taking out Lung. I'm pretty sure he has a high bounty at this point."
"You can come with us to headquarters to fill out some paperwork then you can receive your reward. I will warn you though that there will be a media interview afterwards. Taking out Lung is a big deal and might paint a target on your back" Miss Militia warns the teenage parahuman
"It will also give me a massive amount of respect with the gangs here which is the most important thing. If I can stop some gangbangers just by showing up then good. It makes life easier for me and for potential victims. I'm a hero and being in danger comes with the job. If I wasn't willing to put my life on the line I wouldn't have chosen this line of work." Miss Militia just nods and they go to the PRT building.
Matt shakes his wrist out and winces slightly 'wow paperwork sucks. I was hoping it would be one or two pages'. Matt looks to his right and holds out his hand to the girl sitting beside him "Sorry I haven't had the chance to introduce myself properly I'm Eraser"
The girl smiles behind her mask and shakes his hand happily "I'm Skitter thanks for the assist there."
Matt shrugs "Any time Skitter. I'm always willing to help out another hero. Well shall we head out there? I'm sure the media is waiting for us."
Skitter shudders and nods "We have to. Even though I don't really want to talk to them"
Matt pats her back once and smiles trying to ease any of the tension that she has "Don't worry I'll try to keep their attention as much as possible. I'm pretty good with people so I don't really mind"
Skitter nods as the two walk out the front door and are immediately surrounded by a mob of reporters. Several cameras surround them taking in every move that the two young parahumans make. Two PRT guards immediately create space between the reporters and the two teens, they then allow one representative from each network stand close by to ask their questions. Matt is actually impressed by this 'Wow they act quickly and efficiently'. Matt takes a breath and allows a smile to come to his face "Hello everyone I'm Eraser and the girl to my right is Skitter. We will be glad to answer your questions but I do ask that you keep to one a piece, we do have class tomorrow morning afterall."
The crowd chuckles a bit and an older man asks the first question "Jason Tyler from BB5 News, how did you manage to take out Lung?"
The crowd goes quiet waiting on the answer to come "Well it was a simple but effective plan. I distracted Lung while Skitter here managed to neutralize him from a distance. Not that it was easy mind you. If it weren't for a bit of luck on our side I'd be nursing some pretty bad wounds. The man sure hits like a truck"
The man looks as if he is about to ask a follow up question but Matt holds his hand up stopping him from continuing "As I said only one question per person please. It's rather late"
An attractive looking blonde woman goes next "Eraser, Jenny Richards from the Brockton Globe here. What are your powers that allow you two to take out Lung?"
Matt smirks liking the woman's question "I'm a Trump so my powers have interesting interactions with other people's powers. And as for Skitter it isn't my place to explain another parahuman's powers so you'll have to ask her."
Jenny looks towards Skitter expecting an answer from the younger girl who obviously looks uncomfortable with all the attention she is now getting "I uh..I control insects"
Matt once again stops the reporter before they could ask follow up questions. "Alright last question we need to make our way back home."
"David Rich from Brockton Daily, are you two related to each other? You just said that you have to make your way back home."
Matt rolls his eyes before answering the non-question "No. I was just saying that we both need to go to our own respective homes. We are not another family crime fighting group. In fact this our first time meeting each other. It just worked out that we seem to have good combat synergy. Now we will be taking our leave."
Several more questions are shouted out at the two as they start to surround them. Matt clicks his teeth and quickly takes Skitter into his arms and flies away.
Matt touches down a few blocks over and sets Skitter back on her feet "I'm sorry about that, but it seemed to be the path of least resistance to getting out of there without incident. I hope you forgive me."
Skitter shakes her head sighing "No I'm not mad at you. I was just so out of my element there." She takes a moment to recollect herself before looking Matt in the eyes "Thanks a lot for the help tonight Eraser. I was in way over my head and honestly I wouldn't have been able to handle Armsmaster like that. I probably would have let him walk over me. I would like to go out on patrol with you again. It's safer with us working together."
Matt smiles widely and nods "I agree. I never would have been able to handle Lung on my own. He would have eventually taken me out, so I'll absolutely want to have your help again." Matt extends a hand towards her "So do you want to make a team?"
Matt couldn't see it but there was a massive grin on Skitter's face as she takes his hand and shakes it "Partners then"
"Partners, so how shall I contact you?" Matt replies putting his hands in his pockets
Skitter puts a finger to her cheek obviously thinking it over "Well damn I don't have a personal cell phone so it won't be easy. Can I just have a way to contact you until I have one?"
Matt nods giving her his contact information "Yeah it's not a problem. Just let me know whenever you have one just in case I need to call you for backup on something."
Skitter waves him off "No worries I'm hoping to do it with the money we got from Lung. I just need to do it discreetly. I don't want to involve my father in the whole parahuman thing." Matt nods and says goodbye before flying away.