AN: File this under fusions that should never be.
ooOoo
The husky boy at the front of the classroom gestured at the projector screen. On display was an enormous criscrossing web of names, connected with lines of varying colors and thickness, all annotated with nearly unreadable handwriting. Our big project for the year was a presentation on "a cape-related topic" that had drawn a wide variety of interpretations. I had mostly tuned this one out, to be honest. Conspiracy theories never really held much interest for me.
"And so you see," he concluded, "the PRT is controlled by a secretive cabal that is responsible for both the Endbringers and the Slaughterhouse Nine. But who is behind this conspiracy?"
He clicked the remote in his hand, and the screen transitioned to an enormous reproduction of the Star of David.
"Goddamn it fatass! This whole presentation was just another excuse to rip on the Jews, wasn't it?"
An angry student spoke up from the crowd before the presenter could continue. Instead of responding, he turned to our instructor.
"Mr. Gladly, Kyle isn't letting me finish."
"Settle down, Kyle," Mr. Gladly said, not even looking up from where he was obviously surfing the web in the front of the classroom. "You'll have your chance to talk when you give your presentation."
I groaned and leaned forward, resting my forehead against my desk with an audible thump. This town was a hellhole, and it wasn't going to get any better if I didn't do something about it. It was time to stop procrastinating. This weekend I would make my debut as a hero.
ooOoo
Lung was going to kill kids?
Taking on Lung wasn't something I had planned for my first night out. Or ever, really. He had fought off entire Protectorate teams entirely on his own. Rumor had it that he had even gone toe to toe with an Endbringer. Attacking him with bugs seemed suicidal. Still, I couldn't call myself a hero if I just sat by and did nothing while he carried out such a nefarious scheme.
"Nobody is dying here tonight."
It wasn't me who spoke. It wasn't a voice I recognized, either, although anybody in Brockton Bay would have recognized the hero that stepped out into the illumination provided by the street lights.
Nobody had the first clue who Mysterion might be. Nobody even knew what his powers were. All they knew was that he was an independent hero, and he was surprisingly effective for a solo operator. It looked like I was about to get a starter class on heroism 101. I thought about sending in my swarm to help him out, but I didn't want to be a distraction. He had his own way of doing things that was working for him so far.
He certainly didn't hesitate before wading into the group of ABB thugs. Mysterion ducked under a wild swing from a tire iron before countering with a punch that caught his opponent in the throat. The goon went down, gasping for air. The rest of them backed away, wary of closing in on the solo hero.
Then Mysterion was on fire. He ran around in a circle for a moment, screaming, then fell to the ground.
Holy shit. Lung had just killed Mysterion. That bastard.
ooOoo