The Deep and Translucent! A duo only outshone by Queen Maeve and Homelander himself! They were both on patrol, as scheduled by Vought and their crime analytics team. It would definitely keep both Translucent and the Deep himself on their quotas.
What they knew about it was simple. Drug dealers.
It was a sweet deal for the two of them, as the Deep finally had an opportunity to show off his sweet skills! And Translucent…
"Man, can't wait to get this over with." Translucent remarked with a chuckle as he seemed to be pacing with his power on, meaning the Deep was saved from the unsavory fate of seeing his junk. "Why don't you get in on this? It would make you look a lot better to the other heroes."
The Deep chuckled, placing his hands on his hips. He looked back up at Translucent with his smile planted on his face, "What do you mean?"
Translucent audibly stopped pacing.
"Are you fucking for real? Do you not pay the fuck attention?"
The Deep's eyes widened, holding up his hands in defense. "Woah, bro. Easy! My bad… I've been through a lot today, okay?"
"Yeah, like shitting your way into Homelander's business? I heard about that." Translucent was stifling a laugh before letting out a loud sigh, "When the hell are you going to learn to keep shit to yourself?"
"Yeah, okay." The Deep was already shaking his head with his arms crossed. "So, what's this deal you were making? I thought you'd just stash the drugs for yourself. Y'know, the yoozh."
"Yeah, usually. But this time is different because of Maeve's big save earlier this week, remember?" Translucent explained, "All the other heroes have been blowing up my damn phone because those little bitches were supposed to be for next year's Herogasm! With only a fraction of the pieces of ass we're gonna have then, I promised to grab a crate or two of those pills they have down there to tide them over a little. So, why not distract the cameras a little more than usual so I have some time to grab an extra crate?"
The Deep raised an eyebrow, brushing his chin with his gloved hand. He nodded a little, thinking to himself. This is probably a really good decision.
He turned over to Translucent again, "And I'll get credit?"
"Yeah, of course! I mean, what are teams for, right?" Translucent remarked, giving the Deep a nudge on his elbow, "All the hottest, wettest heroes are gonna be begging for some!"
"Bro." The Deep smiled, reaching for a fist bump, "I got you, T."
The invisible hero met the aquatic hero's gesture, getting a few nods from the aquatic hero again.
"Oh," Deep continued, "Also, great work with that bald kid earlier. You did incredible!"
"Yeah, yeah," Translucent groaned in a lighter tone, "Always hate seeing kids like that. Without hair and all pale and shit – it really gives me the creeps. Sometimes I feel like I'm about to catch something, too, from those little freaks."
"Yeah, bro," the Deep chuckled, turning to face forward, "Tell me about it. They should all just do the world a favor and die and shit. Save us the hassle."
"Thank you!" Translucent replied, nearly spitting as he spoke. "I mean, how much time am I wasting there when I could be saving the world? Or better yet, getting into a few lines of powder to take the stress off from it all! I mean, I'm so sorry you're dying of cancer but I have problems, too! We all do!"
"Yeah, selfish pricks." The Deep chuckled mirroring Translucent.
Both heroes turned forward from their position atop a boat. From their vantage, they had a great view over the docks and a little of the shipping yard. But their target was the warehouse ahead of them where the deal was supposed to go down.
Translucent whistled lightly, "Heads up."
The deal seemed to be starting now, as two men strolled out of the warehouse with guns. Only seconds later, a van was pulling into the open area in front of the warehouse where one of the men in front of the warehouse marched forward to meet the driver. After a small interaction, the van and the two made their ways inside.
The Deep looked to the general area Translucent was talking from. "Okay, T., classic London Bridge, right?"
There was a moment where the Deep really felt like they were on the same coin. This was going to be one of the cleanest jobs they had done in a long time. In just a few minutes, it was going to be time to earn their keep and some crazy good respect from the other heroes!
"What the fuck are you talking about, 'London Bridge?'"
"Well, you know, because there's two sides to a bridge."
"Never, and I mean never, try naming a plan again." Translucent replied with an annoyed tone. "Just get in the water to get behind them. I'll make the first move in the front, okay?"
"Yeah… yeah, you got it bro. Of course."
The Deep creeped backwards. He took his steps back so he was just a few feet from the water. He only needed a little wind up to jump back, leaning backwards as he did so, and letting himself fall down past the ship. He landed in a dive into the water of the bay.
In the water, it was tough to see through. New York's water system was terrible, and always gave his gill-based respiratory system a terrible time. It was something he would consider a cough, though it was more direct on his lungs.
However, he was the expert at moving in the water. None of it would really be enough to stop him, and Translucent would need a few minutes to get there and start anyways.
When the Deep finally got into position, he used his incredible swimming abilities to push himself through the water and fly out! He landed just behind the warehouse, easy as could be. He took the time to push his hair up and out of the way. Luckily, his hair product would work through the water. It would be necessary to be the face on the cameras.
The Deep approached the doors to the warehouse, taking a breath with his throat. But it was somewhat startled.
He heard sounds of action from inside.
The Deep furrowed his brows, looking the door up and down trying to connect those dots. Once he had an idea about what was going on, he took hold of the doors. He forced them open, slamming both doors against the walls on the outside.
"Yo, bro! What the actual-!" His shouting was interrupted by something dropping from above! "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"
The Deep jumped back, putting his open hands up on instinct. It took a second or two for him to recenter.
He took a look at the object which turned out to be a body being held by a chain latched to his belt. The Deep followed the chain upwards to the darkness above, meeting where the chain was leaned against the railing from the walkway above. But no one was there.
The Deep looked around, and found a similar story around the warehouse. Men lying in crates, others simply on the floor and tied up. It looked like the job had already been done. The van looked relatively untouched, too.
"Translucent?"
"FISH FUCKER!" From directly in front of the Deep, the voice shouted. "What the shit is this?"
"First of all, the name-calling is seriously uncalled for." The Deep started, but once he heard the footsteps marching towards him with what the Deep read as hostility, "Hey, hey, hey, hold up! This wasn't me bro! I just got here."
"Well, these guys didn't just beat on each other for fun!"
Translucent seemed to pause for a second. He could be heard taking a deep breath. After a few seconds of looking around, the body hanging from the chain began to make some noise.
"Oh, great. We can ask him what happened." Translucent started, before quickly jumping back on the Deep. "But I swear to Christ, if you're the one that did this I'll tell all the heroes that you applauded Maeve with her 'great save!'"
The Deep was about to say something else, but was pushed towards the man hanging.
"What?"
"How is an invisible guy supposed to interrogate?"
The Deep gave him a shrug with one shoulder as a response before turning to the hanging man. The Deep grabbed the man hanging from the chain by the bottom of his face, pulling him up to get a good look at him. His eyes were barely open, but he didn't seem to respond much.
"Uh… hey, you." The Deep nervously started, getting no response. His embarrassment was almost immediate, turning to him smacking the criminal with a firm hand. "Wake up, man!"
The criminal began to come to, groaning in pain. "Ah… what the fuck!"
"What happened here, asshole!" Translucent shouted out.
This fully snapped the man out of his confused state. He looked left and right before looking back at the Deep.
"Holy fucking shit! Deep!"
"And Translucent. WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" The aquatic hero countered.
"How long was I out? Is it still here?"
The Deep nodded his head condescendingly. "Yes, we're still here. We're asking about this… thing you were doing here. The drugs. Dealings."
By now the film crew were making their way to the duo. Ashley leading the way.
"Hey, Gabriel, get the Deep's left side! It's where his lighting is best." She shouted, trying to get the crew in the proper filming positions. "Translucent, make sure you stay invisible!"
"Holy shit in a flaming fucking barrel, can everyone shut the fuck up for the love of God!" Translucent resorted to shouting at them. He turned back to the criminal, grabbing him by the neck. He pulled him into the air, "Give me a straight answer or I will tear your head off your fucking shoulders!"
A split second after he threw the threat at him, a loud bang rang out from above! The criminal shouted out again. He was looking up and towards the front entrance to the warehouse.
"NO, IT'S STILL HERE!"
Both heroes followed the criminal's eyes, catching the culprit of the heroics around them.
His black cowl and cape blended into the darkness behind him. But his gray shirt, shining yellow belt, and white piercing eyes were still visible, if only barely. From the little bit of light reflected off the metal walls, they couldn't quite make out who he was. All they could see was him crouched on top of the railing of the walkway.
"Oh, wait! Is that the guy Maeve worked with? Get him on camera!" Ashley seemed to gleam as the crew pointed the cameras up to get a good view of him. "You're the new-!"
Translucent shouted over Ashley, "Hey, asshole! This was our score!"
The man didn't answer at first, but instead he stood on the railings outright.
"You should have been here sooner." His deep voice reflected against the metal warehouse.
He raised his arm into the air, causing him to fly up into the vents above!
"C'mon, Deep!" Translucent shouted.
"What?"
"He's upstaging the Seven on our turf! Fuck that guy!"
At first, the Deep was confused on where they were going, but this was quickly answered when he shoved a few of the crewmen away and became visible again so Deep could follow. This did mean that Deep and everyone had a great view of, well, everything – but clearly Translucent was in no mood to care.
The Deep began to follow Translucent, but did stop at the film crew, "Please tell me you guys did get a good shot of me holding the guy over there."
Ashley pointed at the Deep at first, then to the film crew, "Did you?"
The men and women in the crew were looking over all their equipment already, confused and some even angry. The man named Gabriel she directed earlier shook his head.
"All our shit started really bugging out when we tried to catch the bat guy." He cursed under his breath, "Everything is fucked."
The Deep clicked the roof of his mouth, "Amateurs." He began to get on the move. The Deep ran out of the front doors and saw Translucent charging between a set of shipping containers closer to the mainland which motioned into a bunch of containers. Like, a whole bunch of them.
The Aquatic hero began to get his cardio in, rushing towards the containers behind Translucent. He moved in, looking between the containers where he could, but couldn't find his teammate.
"Hey, T.! You out here man?" The Deep shouted out at first, "You invisible or something?"
By now, the Deep was stopped in his tracks at an intersection of shipping containers. He was squinting his eyes to get a better view in the darkness. Nothing seemed to stand out to him though.
Another banging of metal rang out above the Deep. It startled him, causing him to bolt his head up but he found nothing. Just the night sky.
The Deep felt a chill run up his spine, but he continued forward anyways. If he didn't find Translucent, he was probably going to be cut out of their deal. But at this point, he was mindlessly walking forward.
He got to another intersection, where he heard the sound of fabric being aggressively moved! He looked left to where the sound was coming from, catching the tail end of a shadow rushing him.
The Deep wailed out! He was pushed into the air by his neck, which winded him. This force kept pushing him until they reached floor of some kind. It wasn't until he was thrown on the floor, rolled a few times until he was on his stomach where his head was facing the crane's edge that he saw how far they had traveled. They were on an entirely different dockyard now. He only just started to pick himself up when he was grabbed from behind.
The Deep was pulled up! It stunned the Deep, mainly because of how fast he was pulled to his feet. Another reason was because he also had only been grabbed like that by one other person.
But once he was more or less on his feet, he got a good look at this figure again. The figure more or less looked the same as before, but he was noticeably less intimidating with a little light on him. His outfit was… "Shitty."
The Deep managed to push off the man, making him fall back a few feet. But he seemed to recover easily, rolling right to his feet.
"What the fuck kind of outfit is that!" The Deep laughed. And how could he not?
It was simple leathers and cloth. Some of the cloth even had stitches and discolored patches sewn on. It was poor even for a self-made hero, like Starlight's costume.
"Okay, so maybe you haven't realized it yet, but you're actually messing with the Seven." The hero began. He raised both of his arms up as to showcase himself better. "I'm the Deep, king of all bodies of water."
The Deep began to take a few steps forward. He gestured to himself again, "If you want, I can smooth things over for you. But, it will cost you, considering you kind of messed up tonight's big hit for Translucent and I."
The man in the shitty costume stood upright. He was tall, definitely taller than the Deep. He stood tall enough that the Deep would have to look up if they got close enough.
"What do you say? Stick around, give us some good PR for some time, and we'll consider letting you off the hook." The Deep put down the ultimatum. "But if you don't, I will fuck you. Big time."
"I mean," Deep caught himself, closing his eyes as he stammered, "I-I don't mean, like, sex. I mean beating you up. Really badly."
"How about a trade instead?" The man began.
The aquatic hero furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"
"I was tracking the van from the packaging location of the drugs. This part of the operation takes place here in New York City and extends the distribution to a national scale." The man explained. "I singled you out because you seem to be a reasonable hero, one who can see the bigger picture."
The Deep's eyes widened a little. He couldn't help but smirk a little at the compliment. But he wisened up much more quickly than his smile creeped on his face. He wanted to command this respect he was receiving.
"Well, clearly you've got a lot of potential, too. Being able to spot something like that so quick. You're thorough." The Deep responded with a nod. He placed his hands on his hips. "Go on."
"Is there somewhere I can easily place the location?" The man asked, "I know the address, but directions would be…"
"Oh, yeah, of course." The hero answered. The Deep pulled out his phone, handing it to the dark figure. The man tapped the screen a bunch of times for a minute or two, then handed the phone back. The Deep checked the information he put in, then nodded when he saw the location really was just placed in Vought's GPS service for the Seven. "Fucking sweet!"
"Uh," The Deep glanced up, clearing his throat and trying to stand as tall as he could without straining himself. "You know, you're not so bad after all."
The two of them were interrupted by Translucent's voice. It seemed he was invisible, but the voice came from beyond the ladder to the crane. "What are you doing? Get him, Deep!"
"Woah, wait!" The Deep motioned between the two men. "It's chill, bro. We worked something out."
"The fuck?!" Translucent became visible, showing how he was breathing heavily and sweating. "What could you have worked out?"
"In a minute, I'll show you." The Deep turned back to the man. "Before we split, what's your hero name, man?"
The figure lowered his head, "The Batman."
"Hey, the Deep, the Batman! I can see where you got your inspiration from." The Deep started, "Maybe look out for the other members of the Seven next time, huh? Let us know you're working with us when you do. Just not Homelander or Black Noir. They will let you know if you're working with them, if you catch my drift."
"Or me, asshole!" Translucent shouted at the Batman. "Stay out of my way next time. I can handle my own shit!"
The Deep shrugged, placing a hand out, "Well, if you wanna work with a pro, you can count on me."
The Batman took the man's hand with a firm hand, "It's an honor. I look forward to it."
"Just, y'know," The Deep kept the other man's hand, pointing to him with a serious face, "Let me call the shots when we do, 'kay?"
The Deep chuckled, "Only kind of joking, buddy. And hey, we're square now, alright?"
"Hold the fuck on." Translucent pushed the Deep, facing him towards the naked hero. "Since when are you calling the shots, here?"
"C'mon, bro," The aquatic hero scoffed under his breath. He pointed towards the Batman and began turning back to him, "Not in front of-!"
The Batman was gone, without a trace in the world. At first, the Deep looked up, thinking that he flew away. But there was no sign of him.
"Creepy." the Deep remarked.
Translucent cursed under his breath. He turned back to the ladder, beginning his journey back. "Sometimes I wonder why we keep you around."
Well, some people can see me for who I am deep down." The Deep began. He followed behind Translucent down the ladder, "You know, that guy called me the most reasonable hero in the Seven!"
"Yeah, sure he did." Translucent mocked, "You definitely didn't hear him right."
When the Deep explained the situation to Translucent, Ashley, and the rest of the filming crew, there was a mixed reaction.
Ashley began, "And he just gave it to you? Just like that?"
"He also said his hero name was the Batman!" the Deep explained, pointing a thumb to himself. "He told me his name."
Ashley gave the Deep a half smile with a nod, but spoke with almost a sarcastic tone, "That is amazing. But we got that during Maeve's report with him. Including a video of him saying his name, which we showed all the members of the Seven individually."
"Yeah, but he said 'the' when he told me. It's more official."
Translucent groaned in further frustration, "Somehow, you put Ashley and I on the same side here, Deep. Who gives a shit?!"
Ashley looked like she had to physically push herself to ignore the dig from the invisible hero.
"I'll have crime analytics take a look at it." She said harshly.
The Deep took a breath of contempt, "Why do they have to look at it? I can do other crimes that aren't water crimes, you know."
"Yes, I hear you," Ashley replied. The Deep hoped this meant good news. "I'll put Translucent and A-Train on it, considering the scale of it, if true, will be much larger."
"What?" The Deep whined. He couldn't believe that the information he traded for peace between him and the Batman was going to someone else, "C'mon! T. and I are right here! We can take them down tonight and go over our quota, you can get new equipment to get it all on camera for the viewers. Win-win!"
"We'll consider it." Ashley stated flatly. She turned back to the filming crew, getting them packing and returning to Vought Tower.
Translucent was handed a suitcase with his outfit, which he began to slip on so he didn't have to stay invisible. As he did, the Deep turned over to him in a whisper.
"Isn't this a bunch of bullshit, bro?"
The invisible man began to chuckle. Once the bottom half of his suit was pulled up, he motioned to sit down since he didn't have much time to catch his breath from earlier. He also let his visibility switch on.
"You're coming, right?"
"What do you-?"
Translucent leaned his head back with a bored look on his face. "It'll take them until tomorrow to get the information if they get any at all. By then, those guys will be gone. If they really are packaging the shit in there, that means they're gonna have probably five times more of it right there."
"Okay, yeah, that's why I was trying to push it for us, bro." The Deep whined again.
"My God, you are a moron." Translucent whined to compliment the Deep. "We can go there now, grab way more of that shit for Herogasm than just two boxes worth, and come up as heroes among heroes."
The Deep's eyes widened. He steeled his emotions quickly to get a look in Ashley's direction, who was too preoccupied to pay attention to the two heroes. He turned back to Translucent.
"And you want me to help you still?"
"I need someone else to help me pack it all up, yeah. And you're here now." Translucent explained. "Besides, we're teammates, right?"
The Deep grinned widely. "Fuck yeah, bro."
The aquatic hero held out a fist, which the invisible hero met with a fist of his own.
Translucent motioned to the Deep's hand, which still had his phone within. "Where is it, then?"
"Oh, right." He pulled up his phone. When he opened his phone, it took a few seconds longer to unlock, but it still did. He opened the location that the rookie hero gave him. He showed Translucent the location, which he responded with a nod. "Where's that? Chinatown? I know a guy with a van around there. I'll call him on our way there."
The two heroes went their separate ways from the rest of the crew and began their misadventure to win over the heroes for the Seven again!