I'm back with a new chapter. Got nothing to say really so let's get into it.

Chapter 20: The Sixth's Debut

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Amy took out her phone, went to her contacts and clicked on 'Ana R'. While she had seen the girl in school today and thus could have talked to her then, she knew her friend and thus how her friend would react to the news she had. She pushed the call button and let it ring. After a few seconds it was answered.

"Yo yo yo, whatsapp Ames." Her friend Ana answered.

"No." Was all Amy replied with.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine… so what do you need?" Ana asked.

"Nothing really I need but, you know that girl from the Shadow Stalker video? The one you said might be in a similar situation to you." Amy brought up.

She moved the phone from her ear.

"YES!" Ana exclaimed excitedly.

Amy moved the phone back to her ear as Ana asked, "Did you find anything? Any leads?"

"Oh I don't know I might have something." Amy replied, playing coy.

"Ooooooooooooooh don't beat around the bush and just tell me!" Ana shouted.

Amy chuckled.

"Sorry, had to do it. Anyways Vicky ran into the girl last night. Won't go into the details but they're meeting up again this Saturday at night for a patrol." She explained. "Wanted to see what you wanted to do since it'd be a good time to meet the girl."

She pulled the phone from her ear.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DO I WANT TO DO?! ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?!" Ana questioned.

Amy brought her phone back to her ear and said, "No, that's why I'm asking." She pulled the phone away again.

"GO ON PATROL THAT'S WHAT! I'VE BEEN ITCHING TO GET OUT AND WON'T PASS UP A CHANCE LIKE THIS!" Ana exclaimed.

Amy brought her phone back to her ear and said, "Don't you still have to get your costume and stuff done."

"Darning your right! Okay, here's the plan. You can tell Vicky about the thing but not the whole thing." Ana began.

"You need to be specific." Amy replied.

"Just tell her enough to not make me seem crazy!" Ana shouted.

"Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down." Amy retorted.

She pulled her phone from her ear.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! MY POWERS! DON'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY POWERS THAT'LL MAKE ME SOUND CRAZY!" Ana exclaimed.

Amy brought her phone back to her ear and said, "I know, just felt like winding you up. And what's the big deal anyways. I can vouch for you."

"I'm not confident she'll believe me even with you vouching for me. It took a bit to convince you and you can see the changes Bronya mentioned." Ana pointed out.

Amy rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I won't say anything. What about the rest of the plan?" She prompted.

"Right, tell her I want to join in and that I'll try and be ready by Saturday. I'll text you if I'm in the clear or not." Ana finished.

"Will do. Carol's not home and she is so now's probably the best time. I'll see you." Amy stated.

"See ya, I've got work to do. Bye." Ana replied before hanging up.

Amy ended the call on her end and put down the phone. She sighed, a resigned smile finding its way onto her face.

"Annoying and has more energy and pep than Vicky hopped upon caffeine and sugar, but still the best friend I could ask for." She expressed. "Welp, time to do my part."

She headed towards her door.

Meanwhile…

"This is gonna be AWESOME!" Ana exclaimed, shooting her fists into the air.

She hopped off her chair and ran towards her bedroom door. She burst out of her room and went rushing down the halls. Meanwhile two blond girls about the age of ten who looked nearly identical were about to step out into the hallway. They stopped and moved back a bit.

"Hey Rosa! Leah!" Ana greeted as she rushed past them.

The two little girls peaked out from the door frame to look at the retreating form of their older sister.

"Hey, Hey, Rosa, big sis Ana sure seems excited." Leah note.

"Yes, yes, Leah, she was very excited." Rosa replied.

"Do you want to bet it was…" Leah began.

"Hero related, of course it was." Rosa finished.

"True, true, she was just shouting about it." Leah added.

"Yes, yes, in fact I bet the whole house knows." Rosa also added.

"I'm glad big sis is gonna be a hero. Not just because it makes her happy…" Leah began.

"But because having a big sister who's a hero is the coolest thing ever." Rose finished.

"Glad you agree Rosa." Leah commented.

"Naturally Leah." Rosa returned.

Meanwhile a boy about Ana's age was leaning against his door frame arms folded. He was well built for his age and had short naturally grey hair. 3, 2, 1… He mentally counted.

"Hey Vlad!" Ana greeted as she blitzed past him.

The boy, whose full name was Vladimir Romanov Jr., shook his head at his sister's antics yet smiled to himself before stepping out in the hallway to go downstairs himself. Meanwhile a beautiful older woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, despite being 37, was working in the kitchen to get dinner ready. She had long wavy blond hair currently tied up into a ponytail. She wore a simple apron over her casual clothes. She didn't stop to turn around as a thud resounded throughout the house from Ana jumping down the stairs. She rushed past the woman.

"Hey mom, going to work on hero stuff!" She quickly stated.

"Don't get too into it, dinner will be ready in about an hour." Her mother replied.

"I'll try!" She shouted back.

Her mother smiled as she disappeared into the basement. Her full name was Carly Romanov. Ana meanwhile rushed down into the basement and towards her work table. In her basement were various machines, their light hum reverberating throughout the room as they ran. Some spat out components while others worked to refine the material she would be using. Still others worked to convert what she had to the material she needed. On the workbench was what appeared to be an unfinished cannon with components and tools around it. She immediately went to it and started working on it.

'What happened to taking things slowly?' The voice of Bronya Zaychik inquired with as much amusement as she could muster.

That was then this is now. This is an opportunity I can not miss. You said it yourself.

'The Bronya is aware. However the Bronya also said to not rush so much that you are under prepared.'

Then I'll just rush so much that I'm overprepared.

'Is not how this works.'

Don't worry, I'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. I know what I'm doing. Bronya had no doubt about this. The girl that was her host already had an active interest in working with various machines. However…

"EPP!" Ana exclaimed as a spark let up before her.

Her host still had a ways to go.

'And this why the Bronya said no rush things.'

"Eheheheeee…" Ana laughed nervously before returning to her work, being sure to go slower and more carefully.

Over the next hour she worked on the cannon before her. While a bit extreme for the vast majority of what she'd face in the city, she couldn't make anything weaker yet. What her powers gave her were limited by the level of Bronya's world and the threats there. Thus it was far more powerful than she actually needed. Even with her past experience she wasn't able to build a weaker one yet. Thankfully she's been managing to slowly pick up things despite going into a trance-like state when she Tinkers. As she was just putting the finishing touches on the cannon, she heard heavy steps coming down the steps. She turned around and said with enthusiasm, "Hey dad! How was your day?"

Her father, Vladimir Romanov, was a large man with naturally grey hair. He had a smile on his face.

"Good, little snow pup. I see you're hard at work again." He noted with a light Russian accent.

"Yep, you wouldn't believe it. Not only might I be going on patrol with Glory Girl this Saturday, that girl who I thought might have a headmate like me is gonna be there as well. Assuming I get everything ready of course which is why I'm going full throttle to get everything done." She declared with a fire in her eyes.

"Well that's good to hear. Explains the shouting your mother was talking about." He noted.

Her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Speaking of, you ran this plan by your mother, yes?" He inquired knowingly.

Ana froze for a few seconds before nervously looking down and touching her index fingers together.

"I-I-I might have forgotten to mention it in my excitement." She admitted.

Vladimir chuckled.

"I'm sure she'll agree. Now come on, it'll be dinner time soon. Your mother made your favorite." He stated.

Her previous bout of nervousness disappeared as stars practically appeared in her eyes.

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She exclaimed and she leapt out of her chair and bolted past her father.

He smiled as he followed after her.

Saturday Night…

Ana smiled confidently after giving her introduction. She had only just finished everything today and had to rush to get everything on. While she had some hiccups in traversing the rooftops, due to lack of experience, she managed without any injury, made much easier given her body was physically much more durable now. Though in the future I'm just gonna do what Bronya did and have Project Bunny carry me.

'You should have done that in the first place.'

I just wanted to try it out. It looked fun. Bronya sighed in her head as Ana lowered her saluting arm. It was then she actually took a good look at her patrol partners. Glory Girl had an amused look on her face while Astre just looked confused. Soooo… What do you think?

'She certainly looks like the idiotka. You will have to check to be sure.'

Right… I got this.

"Soooo… I'm not too late am I?" She asked.

Glory Girl shook her head.

"We only just got here. By the way, this here is Astre, the girl my sister said you recognized." She replied.

Astre's head snapped to look at her. Behind her visor was a look of surprise.

"That's right, and I have to say it's really weird. I know she's a changer, but she looks a lot like a girl I know." Serebrvolk inquired. "Does the name Kiana sound familiar to you?"

Astre looked at the new girl with a look of shock. She quickly shook herself out it.

"Ahhh… I think it sounds familiar, though I don't know why my changer form would look like her. I didn't exactly choose it." She answered. "Speaking of looking familiar. You reminded me of a girl named Bronya."

Serebrvolk smiled at that and nodded. Astre also smiled and nodded back. Glory Girl looked between them with confusion.

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay why do I feel like I'm missing something here?" She questioned.

"Don't worry about it." Astre and Serebrvolk replied.

"Okay now I know there's something I'm missing here. Come on, give me the deets. If it's a secret then don't worry I'm great at keeping those." Glory Girl demanded.

"Well according to your sister…" Serebrvolk began.

"Those were exceptions! Other than those times I'm great at keeping secrets!" Glory Girl shouted.

Astre gave her a flat look while Serebrvolk giggled.

"To be honest it's just personal between us. It has to do with the two girls we mentioned, Bronya and Kiana. I don't know about Astre but I'd like to resolve it personally before bringing anyone else in." Serebrvolk answered.

"Uh… right, what she said.." Astre added.

Glory Girl narrowed her eyes, clearly suspicious. After a brief few seconds of silence, she sighed.

"Fine… I'll let this slide for now. I don't know either of you well enough to barge in on personal matters. Especially Astre since I don't even know her civilian identity." She replied. "Anyways, we've stood around long enough. Let's get this patrol on the roll!"

"YEAH!" Serebrvolk cheered, startling Astre.

"Uhhh… yeah?" Astre awkwardly replied.

"Come on, you need more energy than that." Serebrvolk declared. "Put your heart into it!"

"I… don't think that's how that expression goes." Astre replied while doing her best to ignore Kiana's meltdown.

'This is wrong, WRONG! Why is this girl so energetic while looking like Bronya? It doesn't make sense! Is this a sign? What else will change? Will Aunt Teri be grown up? Will Himiko-sensei not be a drunk? IS MEI-SENPAI GONNA BECOME UNABLE TO COOK?!'

It wasn't easy for her.

"It's the principle of the matter." Serebrvolk declared. "So come on. Put some energy in it."

Astre thought about it for a second.

"Let's just get on with the patrol." She replied before running forwards.

She leapt across the building. Landing on the other side. Looking back she beckoned for the other two to come along. Serebrvolk pout. Glory Girl looked at her shrugged and flew off to catch up. Serebrvolk began floating and flew after them with the help of Project Bunny. Once they were all moving as a group Glory Girl spoke up.

"I already went through this with Astre, but I'll do it again to give you the basic run down." She began. "I break patrols down into two categories. I like to call them fighty and showy."

"Still think what you call them is stupid." Astre added.

"Shush! Anyways, for showy patrols it's more to show the colors, like the name suggests. It serves two purposes, to get people familiar with you and act as a deterrent for would-be criminals. While you can find people causing trouble it's not the patrol to do if you're looking to stop some baddies. I'd also recommend doing it either with established heroes or once you've established yourself as a known hero. Don't want any misunderstandings to occur." Glory Girl added.

"I remember seeing something like that on PHO. Had to suck for that kid but god was that hilarious." Serebrvolk noted.

Astre chuckled.

"I think I know what you're talking about. In my research online before going out it was a prime example of what not to do." She added.

"That'd be the one." Serebrvolk replied.

"Moving on, there's what we're doing now, the fighty patrol. We're more so looking out for trouble to intervene in than anything. If people see you it's not always the biggest deal since it sometimes can't be helped, but it's not the point of the patrol." Glory Girl continued.

"So we pretty much fly slash run around looking for people causing trouble." Astre summed up.

"Makes sense, sooooo… like those guys trying to mug that girl." Serebrvolk pointed out.

Everyone stopped and looked where she was pointing to see three young men who were around a blond girl who appeared to be in her teens. Two had knives while one had a gun. Despite this, the girl looked more annoyed than anything.

"Yeah… something like that." Glory Girl noted.

"Leave it to me then!" Serebrvolk exclaimed before rushing towards them.

Meanwhile…

Lisa Wilbourn felt her one eye twitch with irritation. I come out to get some air and relax and this shit happens. Does the world hate me or something?

"'lrigh 'ow li…. li… li… isten h.. her gurlie yv'ive us… da guds." The man with the knife slurred.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. His partners just looked at him.

"I think you meant, 'Alright now listen here girly, you better give us the goods.'" She noted.

"This is why I said let me do the talking." The man with the gun muttered. "Yes, as you've just stated, that is what we want you to do so you'd best get to it."

Lisa gave him an unamused look and then smirked.

"Don't think I have to." She replied.

The men were confused, until a large robot suddenly grabbed the man with the gun and slammed him into the ground. Before his partners could react, Serebrvolk was on them. She quickly disarmed the man to the gunman's right. Kicking the knife a way, she slammed him towards Project Bunny who brought his cannon arm down on his head just hard enough to cause him to crumple. As this happened, Serebrvolk was already on the final mugger. He tried to swing at her in desperation. She easily dodged his poor swing and grabbed his over extended arm. He cried out in pain as she twisted the knife out of his hand. She flipped the man over her head and slammed him onto the ground. A quick punch knocked him out.

"And that's that." She declared before turning towards Lisa. "You aren't hurt are ya?"

"Nah, you got here before they could try anything. Speaking of, you should probably tie them up before they get up." Lisa noted.

"Oh right…" Serebrvolk replied before taking out three zip ties.

She got to work tying up the crooks.

"I can call the cops if you want." Lisa added.

"Already taken care of." A voice spoke.

She turned and her eyes widened in surprise as Astre walked up to the scene with Glory Girl touching down next to her. Before anyone could say anything they heard a cry of pain from one of the would be muggers.

"Silly criminal, surprise attacks only work when you are not expecting them." Serebrvolk chided.

"My arm…" The man moaned. "GAh! Ah! Hey be careful I think you broke my arm just now and now you're tying it too TIGHT!"

"Oh don't be a baby. I didn't hit you hard enough to break your arm. That's more Vicky's thing." She noted.

"HEY!" Glory Girl shouted.

"Oh sorry, I mean Glory Girl's thing." Serebrvolk corrected.

"That's bet… wait, THAT WASN'T THE PROBLEM WITH THAT STATEMENT!" Glory Girl shouted.

"But I thought I heard Amy say…" Serebrvolk began.

"Not everything Amy says about me is true. I do a perfectly good job of calibrating my strength." Glory Girl declared.

"As someone who uses PHO fairly regularly and follows Cape news, can confirm that's not the case." Lisa noted with a smug grin.

"Quiet you!" Glory Girl ordered.

Lisa snicker.

"So, on a slightly related note, I know Glory Girl already, obviously, but I'm guessing you two are some new heroes on the block."

"Yep!" Serebrvolk spoke up as she hopped next to Glory Girl, having just finished tying up the would-be muggers. "Serebrvolk's the name, heroics are my game."

She flashed a grin and a peace sign.

"Astre," Astre added with a raised hand.

"I see." Lisa replied with a nod. "Names Lisa and before anything, gotta say nice costumes."

"Thanks I made mine myself." Serebrvolk replied.

"Same, though it won't be my main one. Still waiting for that to get finished." Astre added.

"Huh? What's wrong with that one?" Serebrvolk questioned.

She tilted her head and her facial expression changed as though listening to someone. Then a look of recognition came on her face.

"That makes sense." She noted with a nod.

Glory Girl looked a little confused while Astre had an amused smile on face. Unseen by the trio, was the smirk on Lisa's face.

And that's a wrap, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Till next time. If you want me to be able to produce more content, please consider supporting me on subscribe star. (search zmanxv and the link is on my deviantart page).