(Midtown High)

"You can't be serious..." Flash Thompson chuckled nearly out of his wits as he watched Mortimer Toynbee, AKA Morty as referred to in Flash's posse, snatch the purse back from down the staircase with his tongue. His skin had turned green, as it had been periodically, and his saliva was thick, gooey and slimy with a toxic substance.

"How many of you can do this again?" Flash asked him.

"Well, John can control fire..." (AN: This is John. A from chapter two, so you don't confuse him - Pyro - with HT)

"That's frikkin' awesome!!! Why can't I do anything?!?"

"It's alright, Flash," John said as he walked up to him. "We'll look out for you..."

"This is wicked... This is just wicked... We need a new name for you, Morty, that just doesn't fit you now..."

"Howabout Toad?" John suggested.

Flash laughed some more, and Morty scowled angrily. "Toad it is!"

"Shut up! Call me Morty..."

"But you're such a frikkin' frog, man..." Morty started to get pissed and was about to pounce on Flash when John pulled out a lighter and a huge flame roared from the small hole. Flash flinched and backed off a little.

"You pull any crap again," Morty threatened menacingly, "And I'm not watching your back again, Flash..."

"Yeah, sure, whatever..."

(H.I.V.E Academy)

Meanwhile in a remote location amongst Manhattan, Jinx was fixing her hair. For the past couple of days the webbing that Spider-Man left in it from their battle at Quest Aerospace, it had caused trouble with her hygiene, and while it was now cleared out the effect of it always stiffened her hair a little and caused it to stick out in places, like she'd been exposed to permanent hairspray. She grunted and growled in frustration as she struggled to put down a particular string of hair that kept popping up and sticking out in an odd manner.

"There's more important things than appearance, Jinx..." A voice boomed from behind her. Jinx flinched, then turned around as she beheld her mentor standing by her dorm's doorway.

"Brother Blood, it is an honor to be graced by your presence..." She knelt on one leg and bowed as she said this.

"Your next training course will be beginning in a few hours, including your classmates, Gizmo and Mammoth..."

"I will be punctual and present, Brother Blood..." She replied in a submissive tone.

"Good. I will be expecting nothing less than perfection..." The figure left down the hallway and Jinx sighed to herself as she eased her posture.

"Great... My hair is ruined by that webbed freak and an exam pops up out of nowhere," she grumbled to herself. "I'm just not in the mood to play any games with that sniveling brat and that overgrown Neanderthal..." She kept trying to fix her hair in the mirror.

After fifteen frustrating minutes, she gave up and headed towards the mess hall, sitting at the table by Gizmo and Mammoth. She didn't bother to get any food. Mammoth was stuffing his face with mashed potatoes like a dog and Gizmo was inspecting his corn like it was a mutilated corpse.

"Just eat the damn thing," she grumbled to him.

"Quit being a buttmunch! Corn is gross..."

"Quit being a bratty little dork or I'll make you eat it," she threatened under her breath. Jinx tapped her fingers rythmetically on the smooth table, looking around the walls. Suddenly a beeping noise went off in Gizmo's direction. He pressed a button on his metallic bracelet and a holographic screen displaying his e-mail came up.

"Aren't you a little young for internet dating?" Jinx said out of nowhere.

"It's a notice, you snotbag!" Gizmo retorted childishly.He poked the part of the graphics that said "New message" and read the text that appeared. "... It says we need more members... We're lacking in quantity..."

Jinx looked around the room at all the adolascent supervillains present. "... I see plenty here..."

"Not enough to fulfill Brother Blood's army, peabrain!" Gizmo whined.

Mammoth reared his head from his tray and licked his lips. "Something about Brother Blood?"

"You really need to get that hair off your ears," Jinx remarked.

"Yeah! Like you ever listen in the first place, you big dumb brute!" Gizmo added. Mammoth simply growled at them both.

"Look, let's talk to Brother Blood about this later," Jinx said. "He has an exam coming up for us in like, two hours..."

Gizmo reacted in surprise, and then said "Uh... Yeah, I knew that..."

Brother Blood unexpectedly hovered to their table and said "Actually, if you want, we can postpone this test until you find our newest recruits, if you're willing..."

(Midtown High)

The trio accepted it in unison. Soon after they had traveled deeper into Manhattan, Jinx sitting on a closed dumpster and watching as Flash and his cohorts passed by. Her eyes beamed when she saw John playing with the lighter and making it ignite more than it should and the green skin of the creepy crawly Mortimer, then she jumped in their way.

"Whoa," John said. "Looks like this girl wants you, Flash!" He said playfully as he lightly elbowed Flash's shoulder, who was grinning and nodding "Yeah... What's your name, hottie?"

Jinx rolled her eyes and uttered a noise in disgust. "I'm not looking for you... It's your friends," she explained.

Flash's expression turned smug and jealous when John and Morty reacted in surprise

"... Huh?" John exclaimed.

"This isn't a date... We need you, and your talents..."

Flash stepped up aggressively. "I'm talented, baby," he said, his insulted feelings lingering in his voice.

Mammoth walked up and shoved him aside. "Keep your hands off her..." he warned.

"Oh yeah? You wanna go?" Flash said as he got in a boxing stance. Mammoth simply grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up and headbutted him so hard that Flash was knocked out cold. John and Morty stared at Flash, gaping in awe as Mammoth dropped his body on the ground like it was a rag doll.

"So... Will you help us? Or does he have to persuade you, too?" Jinx asked playfully as Mammoth cracked his knuckles and clenched his hands into tight, balled fists like steel wrecking balls. John and Morty simply nodded in unison. "Good..."

(H.I.V.E Academy)

"Welcome to the H.I.V.E academy," Jinx said, gesturing to the underground lair of their educational dwelling.

John and Morty scanned the environment. "... Looks kinda weird, but okay... What's the catch?" John asked.

"No school?" Jinx noted as she winked. John and Morty looked at each other with smiles as they nodded. "That's good enough for me... We'll join," John exclaimed, and they were escorted to their dorm.