Chapter 5

The New Warriors

At the Institute

Dean was outside the Professor's study. He knocked a couple times in a rhythmic fashion.

"Come in" Charles said.

Dean entered and sat across from him, "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes" Charles said with a bright smile, "I wanted to ask you about your time in California"

Dean nodded, "What do you wanna know?"

"Did you happen to come across any mutants while you were there?" Charles asked curiously.

Dean looked intrigued, "Why, has Cerebro caught something over there?"

Charles nodded, "There's been a rise in mutant activity as of late. I was considering flying over there to look for other recruits"

"You'd be wasting your time, I've already asked" Dean admitted.

Charles looked surprised, "Who did you ask?"

"I came across this group of enhanced juveniles, called themselves the New Warriors" Dean said recalling what happened.

A few months ago

Dean sat, cross legged, meditating. His aura pulsating, in sync with his heartbeat. Simultaneously, his breathing was slow and steady. His aura would slightly grow as he inhaled and shrink when he exhaled.

"You're improving" Yoshi said with pride as he stood in front of him.

Dean opened his eyes and his aura faded from losing his concentration.

Yoshi sighed, "Now if only you could hold onto it" he clenched his fist to signify what he meant, "You'd have the most potent chi out of all my students. Yours has such raw potential, like none I've ever seen" he complimented his student.

Dean grinned, it was nice to hear, "What about those who have colored auras like you? You never explained that"

Yoshi nodded, "Yes, that is something very few can achieve. Colorless auras are far inferior, for they haven't bonded with their animal spirit"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Animal spirit?" He asked curiously.

"Yes. Every individual has a human self and an animal self. The inner beast isn't a path you can choose or a religion you convert to. It is like being human, a part of you that you cannot tear away or pretend that it isn't there" Yoshi said.

Dean nodded, this was completely new to him, "What's it like?"

"When you discover what it is, you can sense the creature inside of you struggling to the surface, for that abandonment of humanity. It's feeling the freedom, the power, the speed—the animal that you are. It is in that sweet indulgence of that animalistic behavior—in the sweetness of being yourself. It is the blissfulness of feeling the wind in your face, the dirt beneath your feet, and the wildness of nature around you. It's in the knowing that you're not bound anymore by human rules and behaviors. It's the blissfulness of the hunt—the thrill of the chase. You feel it in you, around you, as you. It is your animal. It is you and you are it. It is in the depth of your soul, as you are, and it struggles against those bonds of humanity like a caged animal would" Yoshi explained.

Dean tried his best to follow," Ok, how do you find the beast within?"

"You must embark on a spiritual journey, and look deep within yourself. Then, perhaps one day" Yoshi held out his open palm where his pear green aura emerged and took the shape of a turtle, "You will find it"

Dean got up and stared in amazement, "The turtle, what does that mean?"

The turtle in his hand vanished, "The turtle symbolizes patience, protection, and long life. It mirrors myself, like any other who has found their spirit. The more powerful and ancient the animal, the stronger the chi. The two strongest spirits are the Phoenix and the Dragon"

"And when you merge with your animal how does—"

"Oh that's not merging" Yoshi corrected him, "When your aura color changes you simply are aware of your animal and it empowers you. To merge with it is the next level"

Dean looked intrigued, "And what's that?"

"The blending of the human and animal side. Instead of flowing between a human and animal, these individuals have both blended together as an integrated part of their personality, whether natural or accidental. When this occurs, the individual's power grows exponentially and can adopt some of the traits of the animal" Yoshi said.

"Show me" Dean said sounding excited.

"I myself have not reached this level. I have only witnessed this once before" Yoshi admitted.

"Well then, I'll make sure I try my best to reach what you haven't" Dean said with determination.

Yoshi chuckled amusingly, "I am happy to see you so driven. However, you've done nothing but train every day for the last month, leave these walls for a few days and enjoy yourself"

"But you just got me all fired up for this spirit stuff" Dean argued.

"Then rest, ponder, live a little, and return when you're ready" Yoshi insisted.

Dean frowned, "Fine" he hurried towards his bike, "Taking a day off should be easy, it might even be quiet"

Later on in the city

A group of teenagers gathered on a rooftop as the sun was setting.

One of them turned on a camera and began recording, "And we're live!" He said in excitement.

"Can you cut that out Robbie?" One of the girls said with an annoyed expression.

"Hey easy with the names Firestar" Robbie pointed the camera at her.

Firestar had radiant red hair and piercing gold eyes. She wore a yellow skintight suit with crimson red flames around her limbs that highlighted her curves.

"I don't see the point in it" Firestar said with her arms crossed. She was the broody one of the group.

Robbie moved the camera, "What do you think Marvel Boy?"

Marvel Boy stood the tallest at 5,11. He was slender, lean, and was completely covered in a blue and white bodysuit. It even came with a cape and cowl to complete his superhero look.

"I think recording our deeds is a good way to show people the benefit of having us around" Marvel Boy said. He was the conscience.

"Hey!" Someone said before forcibly moving the camera.

"Geez relax Nova" Robbie protested as he moved.

Nova stood at average height and wasn't physically gifted either, the one thing that stood out was his outfit. He wore a sleeveless brown bodysuit with golden wrist and leg braces as well as a golden belt. His helmet was solid gold and had a red star on its forehead that had this subtle glow. It covered most of his face apart from his eyes and mouth, definitely good for concealing his identity.

"Make sure you get the right angle of the main event" Nova said as he flexed for the camera. He was the showoff.

"Yeah sure" Robbie turned the camera while he was flexing, "Namorita?"

"Hey!" Nova protested.

Namorita had an athletic body, from all the swimming no doubt. Her skin was pale, her ears slightly pointy like all atlanteans, and straight blonde hair that was tied back in a long ponytail. She wore what resembled a one piece swimsuit but it was made of emerald green scales. Most odd of all she had ankle wings.

"As long as we sensor any explicit content I don't see why not" Namorita said optimistically. She was the noble one.

"Well then" he turned the camera around to face himself, "Since I, Speedball" he glared at Firestar for saying his name, "Totally agree with this, I guess it's a green light for the New Warriors show!"

Speedball was a little bit shorter than the rest of them, at least in his normal state. He had shoulder length blonde hair and he wore a blue bodysuit with orange bubble designs all over it as well as on his face mask.

Nova exhaled in satisfaction, "Love the ring to that"

"The superhero team of teenagers, ready to fight crime and stop some bad guys" Speedball said striking a pose for the camera.

Firestar rolled her eyes, "You guys are such dorks"

All of a sudden they hear automatic gun fire.

"Duty calls!" Speedball hopped off the ground and was suddenly encased in a bubble of energy surrounded by smaller bubbles. He bounced from roof to roof in the direction of the sounds.

"Hey wait up!" Nova flew after him and the rest followed behind them.

Dean drove down the street in the middle of the city.

'Hmm, what to do?' Dean wondered. He heard his stomach growl, 'I guess I could eat' he looked around until he spotted an In N Out burger.

Dean rode up it in a hurry, parked his bike, and ran inside, "I'm gonna devour some burgers" he said in excitement.

He waited on the line of people until it was his turn to order.

"Let me get 3 double doubles, an order of fries, and a large Dr. Pepper—"

Someone fired a sub machine gun behind him, "Everybody down!"

All the civilians dropped to the floor.

Dean simply stood there, still facing the register, and rolled his eyes, "You've gotta be kidding me" he muttered under his breath, 'Quiet my ass'

The man with the gun pointed it at Dean, "Hey you! I said get down!"

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "You could've went to a bodega, a supermarket, a department store, a fucking bank!" He shouted as he turned around and faced the armed man, "Out of all places, you pick" he said with a low voice as he pointed at his feet, "This place?"

There were three masked and armed men with their aim fixed on Dean.

The one in front, who did all the talking, found the boy's calm demeanor disconcerting, he didn't seem to care that he had three machine guns pointed at him.

"Listen just hit the floor before we have—"

"You literally picked the worst place to rob" Dean cut him off as he stared at them with an annoyed expression.

One of the other guys was fed up with Dean, "We don't have time for this shit!" He went to pull the trigger but in the split second it took for his finger to pull back, Dean sped in front of him, grabbed the gun, and back handed him so hard that it knocked him out.

"Shit!" The third guy pulled the trigger and sent a spray of bullets towards the teen.

Dean sidestepped as he pulled the trigger, knocked his arm up to send the bullets towards the ceiling, and struck him in the face with an open palm knocking him on his ass.

The guy who lead them backed away and kept his gun pointed at him, "What the fuck are you?!" He said fearfully.

Dean snatched the gun out of his hands, "Hungry" he said with a mean expression.

Nova burst through the window with his fists pointed forward as he flew into Dean and burst through the wall behind him.

Dean was pushed through the air for who knows how far before Nova let go of him, letting him tumble across the ground.

"Nova saves the day!" Nova flexed his arms triumphantly.

"You went too far ahead!" Speedball shouted from blocks away.

"Whatever just zoom in for this" Nova floated over to Dean who sat upright, "I suggest you surrender and wait for the police to apprehend—"

Nova was struck by a lightning amped fist and sent flying backwards.

Marvel boy levitated out of the way, "Whoa!"

"What the?" Namorita watched Nova crash into a building in shock. She looked back at Dean and stared at him.

Dean got up and brushed his shoulders off, "Asshole"

Namorita curiously observed, something about him was different. Atlanteans naturally sense spirit to a degree, and his didn't feel malicious, or human for that matter.

Speedball stopped and recorded Nova stuck inside a wall, "Oh man you got rocked!" He moved the camera to Dean who had lightning sparking around him, "By a super villain! Holy shit"

Dean looked confused, "What?"

"Wait is that Spiderman's guy Electro?" Marvel Boy asked.

"No Electro's got a different outfit" Firestar said, 'And not nearly as good looking, too bad we gotta take him down'

Namorita whispered to Firestar, "Something doesn't feel right"

"I don't know what you think is going on but—" Dean was interrupted.

"Well either way lets get this show on the road!" Speedball placed the camera at a good position to record everything and bounced towards him.

'Great' Dean thought as Speedball came at him within his energy bubble.

He threw a heavy right hook that hit the energy bubble and sent Speedball bouncing around, seemingly unharmed.

"Feel right? He had a gun in his hand, what else is there to say?" Firestar asked Namorita.

Dean's eyes narrowed at his fist, what was that? It felt like punching a giant balloon.

Speedball bounced around a few times before flying at Dean again three times faster than before.

Dean was caught off guard and sent tumbling backwards as Speedball bumped into him.

"He feels strangely heavy" Speedball noticed as he slowed to a stop, people usually get knocked much farther than he went.

Namorita sighed, "Oh well, you guys handle this, I'll look out for the cops" she flew off to keep watch, they were technically vigilantes and would probably be arrested if caught by the police.

Dean got on his feet again, no worse for ware.

Marvel boy landed and willed his telekinesis to hold and lift him up, "I doubt he's that heav—" he found it difficult to lift him, "You weren't kidding"

Dean, who was being held in place by telekinesis, pointed his finger at Marvel Boy and a mini lightning bolt shot out.

The bolt zapped Marvel Boy, breaking his concentration, and releasing his hold.

As soon as he felt the telekinetic hold vanish Dean rushed over to him and head butted Marvel Boy hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"Damn he's quick!" Speedball said not expecting that, he began to bounce around again.

Firestar flew over to Dean, "Who is this guy?!" She created a large ball of fire in her hand and threw it at him.

Dean jumped over it and her, letting it harmlessly explode under him. He then stepped on Firestar's head and hopped off of it before she even knew what happened.

Firestar visually fumed, flames erupted around her as she angrily searched for the guy who made a fool of her.

Speedball, who kept track of him, bounced towards Dean.

Dean once again punched Speedball once he got close and he was sent bouncing around some more before coming back even faster.

Dean jumped out of the way but Speedball kept coming back, 'It's like that force field keeps building up momentum. And my punches had no effect, it actually looked like it made it stronger'

Speedball started zipping around like a bullet, making it incredibly difficult to dodge.

Dean kept moving around but couldn't help being knocked around every so often, it felt like being inside of a pinball machine.

Firestar stood by charging a fireball incase Dean tried something.

'Maybe It's the kinetic energy, which means no movement, no power' Dean thought as he increased the gravity on his belt to the max and caught the bubble Speedball was in.

Speedball's eyes widened, "What?"

They obviously didn't stop bouncing around right away, but the increased weight and Dean landing against every surface instead of Speedball slowed him to a stop.

When he slowed down the bubble around Speedball shrunk as well, Dean then turned the gravity belt off.

Speedball went to bounce off the wall next to him but Dean grabbed his hands and put him in a sleeper hold.

Firestar then threw her fireball.

Dean moved to the side, avoiding it, "I wouldn't suggest that, unless you want your friend to be extra crispy"

Firestar charged another one and waited to see what he would do.

Speedball struggled as he gasped for air but eventually he stopped as he lost consciousness.

Nova then came flying behind him and knocked him through an entire building.

Dean punched him in the face and spun his helmet around.

Nova, being temporarily blinded, let go of Dean and went to fix his helmet, "Hey!"

Dean put his hands together and struck Nova in the back with a double axe handle, sending him flying into the ground.

Firestar used that opportunity to throw a massive fireball she had charged up.

Dean turned around just as he was about to be engulfed in the flames but instead he turned the dial on his gravity belt which made him drop out of the air fast enough to dodge it.

"How?!" Firestar shouted angrily.

Dean landed with a thud, the ground under him severely cracked, he wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead, "Few" he said in relief.

Nova got up and fixed his helmet, "I need to get a strap for this thing"

Dean turned off his gravity belt again and stared at the two flying heroes, "Two of you are down, one is gone, you sure you wanna keep trying?" He warned them now that he had an opportunity, if they wouldn't listen to reason then maybe a little intimidation would work.

Without even hesitating Nova responded, "Fat chance of that happening, we'll show you no villain messes with the New Warriors!" He flew at him even faster than before, fists forward as always.

Normally Firestar wouldn't enable Nova's prideful antics but this guy has embarrassed her and her teammates, he's going down.

Firestar also flew at him with flaming fists.

Dean shook his head, "Oh well" he quickly climbed up the side of a building and landed on the roof.

Nova flew to his right and Firestar flew to his left. Each of them seemed to be preparing a projectile attack.

"Nowhere for you to run now sparky!" Nova said with a confident grin.

"Just give up now before you get roasted!" Firestar warned him.

Dean summoned a lightning bolt in each of his palms, "I'll take my chances"

"Let em have it!" Nova said as he fired an energy beam.

Firestar simultaneously released a stream of fire.

Dean waited until both attacks were close enough before throwing his lightning bolts.

Nova and Firestar saw him motion to throw the bolts but was engulfed in a minor explosion.

They waited a few seconds before the smoke cleared, there wasn't anything left except a charred shirt.

Firestar looked nervous, "Did we…"

Nova shook his head, "No way, I didn't hit him that hard…unless you…"

Firestar panicked, "I don't know! I was just trying hurt him not incinerate him!"

Nova flew to the center of the roof while Firestar stayed by the edge, waiting to see.

Nova picked up the shirt and saw there was a hole under it, "Huh?"

Dean hit Firestar in the back of her head, knocking her out.

She fell on the edge of the roof.

Nova nearly jumped out of his skin, "What?!"

A shirtless Dean dusted himself off and stared at him, "I'm just gonna come out and say it, you guys are green" he chuckled, "Am I like the first powered person you've gone up against?"

You couldn't see it but behind his helmet Nova's eye began to twitch out of frustration, he was the first, "How did you do that?"

"Blasted that hole under me at the last second, then climbed out the window behind her. The shirt was the hard part" Dean said modestly, "Now if you wouldn't mind" he held out his hand motioning for his shirt.

Nova grit his teeth angrily and destroyed it with an energy blast,

Dean rolled his eyes, "I mean I can just get another one" he said sounding unbothered.

Nova shouted as he flew at Dean with full power catching him off guard.

Nova flew past Firestar, grazing her, before knocking Dean right into the pavement.

Dean hit the ground so hard he made a tiny crater.

Nova then started beating on him in a fit of rage.

Dean caught one of his fists and then knocked him on his ass with a right cross.

Nova pointed his fists forward and began to rapid fire energy blasts.

Dean moved back and forth, dodging them all. He then noticed Firestar slowly slide off the edge of the roof, "Hey your teammate's gonna fall" he pointed out.

"I'm not falling for that!" Nova ignored him and kept blasting.

Dean groaned and ran towards the base of the building where she was falling, letting himself get hit by the blasts.

Firestar dropped and was about to hit the pavement before Dean managed to catch her.

Nova stopped blasting once he saw her, "Oh..no one saw that right?" He looked around and remembered the camera was still recording, "Shit, gonna have to edit that" He flew at Dean.

Dean set Firestar down and ducked under Nova before coming back up with an uppercut to the face.

The uppercut knocked Nova's helmet off then suddenly he dropped out of the air and tumbled across the ground.

Dean raised an eyebrow, that didn't seem right. He rushed over to the helmet just as Nova was but he managed to get it first.

"No!" Nova said in protest, then suddenly there was fear in his eyes, "Give it back!"

Dean raised it above his head, "Why don't you fly up and get it?" He asked curiously.

Nova hesitated to move or do anything, what could he realistically do? The Nova corps helmet was the source of his power.

Dean put two and two together in his head. He pitied him for having such an exploitable weakness, but at the same time was infuriated that someone trying to be a hero could be so careless.

"Are you serious or just playing around?" Dean asked plainly.

Nova looked confused, "What?"

"Being a hero, helping people, fighting bad guys" Dean listed, waiting for a response.

Nova still looked a little confused but he nodded, "Of course I'm serious"

Dean walked over to him and shoved the helmet onto his chest, making him take a couple steps back, "Then don't ever let anyone take this" he said in a menacing tone.

Nova took the helmet and put it back on without ever breaking eye contact.

"If I was an actual villain I'd have taken your power and killed your little group of hero wannabes" Dean pointed out.

Nova eyes narrowed, "Oh and I suppose you're the expert" he said sarcastically.

"I know a thing or two, and by the looks of it you don't" Dean claimed from what he saw.

They heard sirens approaching in the distance.

Namorita returned, "Guys the cops are com—" she looked around and saw most of her team unconscious. She then looked at the two boys staring each other down.

"Then let's split" Nova said not even bothering with Dean anymore.

"Get your friend over there" Dean pointed at Firestar, "I'll get the other two" he rushed over to Speedball and put him over his shoulder.

"We don't need your help" Nova said as he picked up Firestar.

"It'll be faster this way" Namorita said as she grabbed Marvel Boy, "I got him, let's go"

Dean also took the camera Speedball left, "Don't wanna leave this behind" he followed their lead.

Dean ran beside Namorita and felt something familiar about her, the scent she gave off, the slight blue tint in her skin, and the not so subtle gills.

"Atlantean?" Dean asked in latin.

Namorita was surprised he spoke her language, "Yes, but how did you know?"

Lightning sparked in Dean's eyes for a moment, "I think you know"

Namorita nodded, she had her suspicions.

They returned to their secret hideout, an old abandoned clock tower in the middle of the slums.

"So…" Speedball said awkwardly, "Sorry about that" he laughed, "We thought—"

"I know what you thought" Dean stopped him, "Hopefully your judgement improves"

"You were holding guns" Nova protested, that was totally a fair assumption.

"Whatever" Dean knew he'd never admit making a mistake, "Can anyone give me shirt?"

"Yeah please" Firestar muttered, she was trying her hardest not to stare at his chiseled abs.

Marvel Boy looked through his things.

"So lemme see if I remember correctly" Dean said before pointing at Speedball, "Lab experiment gone wrong" he pointed at Firestar and Marvel Boy, "Mutant, mutant" he pointed at Namorita, "Atlantean hybrid whatever" then he pointed at Nova, "And space magic helmet, did I get that right?"

Everyone nodded.

"The Nova Corps helmet is made from alien technology" Nova corrected him.

Dean rolled his eyes.

"And you're the son of Zeus" Firestar said in amazement, that definitely explained the physique.

Nova crossed his arms and looked away as he muttered something about having cooler origins.

"Well I know someone in New York who'd love it if you all joined his group. He's gathering mutants for a good cause, but is not limited to just mutants" Dean pointed out.

"I've heard that gimmick before with Emma Frost" Firestar scoffed at the idea.

"Who's that?" Dean asked.

"She's a powerful mutant who tried to sell me the same story, only she ended up wanting to create a team of mutant assassins. So I bailed" Firestar said with a hint of anger in her voice, must be a touchy subject.

"Well I can assure you it's nothing like that, but it's entirely your choice" Dean said.

"I think we'll stick with our little group here" Speedball said who seemed to speak for all of them.

Marvel Boy passed him one of his blue shirts, "Here's one, I like baggy shirts anyways so this should fit"

Dean put it on but it was still a little tight.

"I guess not big enough" Marvel Boy laughed.

"It'll be fine for now" Dean said trying his best to stretch it.

Namorita suddenly felt hot. She looked over to Firestar who unbeknownst was releasing heat waves, "Hey I'm drying up here"

"Oh sorry" Firestar stopped and still tried not to stare.

Dean sighed, "Well, if you're really serious about being a team, then I'll help you out for a few days. That is, if you even want my help" he looked around to see their thoughts.

Marvel Boy and Speedball didn't object, Firestar just seemed to be ignoring him for some reason, Nova immediately rejected the idea, and Namorita was all for it.

"We don't need his help! We've been doing fine on our own" Nova protested.

"We've barely done anything" Namorita reminded him, "He has experience in dealing with villains and being on a team" Dean and her exchanged some stories on the way, "We definitely need that"

Marvel Boy put his arm on Nova, "Look, we're in this mainly to help people. I don't see how learning a thing or two can be a bad thing. Sometimes we have to let go of our pride to make the right decision"

Nova sighed, "Fine"

"Then lets do it" Dean said looking forward to it.

Over the next few days Dean put them through some basic training.

They familiarized themselves with fighting enhanced individuals by sparing with each other, first one at a time then in teams. It helped with learning their teammates skills, strengths, and weaknesses as well as learning their opponents mid battle.

Then each individual faced the rest of the team to improve their fast thinking and reacting.

Finally, Dean gave each of them a few pointers on how to use their abilities together.

Then Dean sparred with them again and they actually managed to subdue him.

Author's Note : I am not dead! lol Just swarmed with various projects to the point where it takes almost 3 years to finish a chapter. I ended up splitting it in 2 so here's something for now. Next Chapter coming real soon! And for those of you who read New Warriors comics might guess what comes next. Who was the first bad guy they ever faced? I wonder...