We were in a fast-food place.
"So, first day?" Malevola asked, tapping my shoulder with her tail.
"Honestly, if every day is like this, I don't think I'll have any problems." I replied, taking a bite of my burger.
"You're confident." Malevola said with a smile.
"So, where are you from?" Sonar asked me.
"New York. And you?" I replied.
"I knew it. San Francisco." he answered.
"And you, Malevola?" I asked her.
"I wasn't born on Earth." she replied.
"I see." We kept talking, getting to know each other and making conversation.
"No, seriously, are you really an MIT graduate?" Sonar asked me.
"Yes Sonar...Well, this was a nice conversation with you guys, but I'm gonna head out. Malevola, could you teleport me to the SDN parking lot? My car's there." I asked her.
"Yes, of course." she replied, opening a portal.
"Thanks. See you tomorrow." I said before stepping through it and instantly finding myself in the SDN parking lot.
[ At the fast-food place ]
"Is it just me, or were you two flirting a lot?" Sonar said to Malevola.
"I think so." she confirmed.
[ Miguel's POV ]
I was walking toward my car when, coming out of SDN, I saw Blonde Blazer step outside with a man wearing a Dispatcher outfit. They were talking.
'I'm almost sure that's Mechaman. I only caught a brief glimpse of him at the bar the other night, but his build and the shape of his face… well, not really my business.' I thought.
We crossed paths, and Blonde Blazer greeted me, then made the introductions. "Spider, Robert. Robert, Spider. Robert is the Dispatcher of the Z-Team." Robert and I nodded at each other, then my gaze shifted upward.
"Blonde Blazer." Phenomaman said as he landed. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, then kissed her on the cheek and continued. "Who are they? I thought I'd catalogued all your coworkers."
All of a sudden, there was this awkward atmosphere, even though, to me, there really didn't need to be one. I glanced at Robert, and he looked clearly uncomfortable.
"Robert, Spider...this is my boyfriend… Phenomaman." she said, then turned to Phenomaman and added. "This is our new Dispatcher, the one I told you about, Robert. And next to him is a new member of the Z-Team, Spider."
"The third Robert Robertson? Leader of the Phoenixes? Blonde Blazer told me a lot about you." Phenomaman said.
"Oh? And, uh, what did she say about me?" Robert asked.
"That you're an honorable man who genuinely cares about others. Why are you so small? I pictured you more like the man next to you." Phenomaman replied, looking at me.
"Hey, I already told you, stop asking that." Blonde Blazer said to him.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Phenomaman. You too, Robert, but I'm gonna head out." I said, then reached my car and drove off toward home.
The next day at SDN.
I was with the team members, chatting before our shift started.
"Did you hear? They're going to cut someone from the team." Malevola said, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"No, I hadn't been informed." I said, turning my head to look at her.
"You're probably not concerned, since they just hired you." she said.
"Probably. And honestly, with just my first shift, I'm not really in danger. I'm not at the bottom of the board." I replied. At the bottom of the rankings were Punch Up, Coupé, Sonar, and Invisigal.
"Punch Up has never been this low. But then again, some missions you were given used to be his." she said.
"It's time." Golem said, and we all headed out.
"Sonar, are you okay? Why are you sending a distress signal when you're still in the building?" Robert said through the earpiece.
"Can you send a locksmith downstairs?" Sonar replied.
"What happened?" Robert asked.
"Sigh...Coop seduced me." Sonar answered.
"I said, 'Hey, wanna see something cool?' and then cuffed him." Coupé said in her defense.
"But you said it with a hot voice, so I thought you meant boobs." Sonar argued.
"Alright. Team, I know Blazer mentioned that someone will be cut, but don't let that distract you from your job. That's what you'll be judged on." Robert said.
"What a bunch of bullshit." Malevola commented.
"Sorry? What's a bullshit?" Robert asked.
"This judgey bullshit." she replied.
"Yeah, only God can judge me." Prism added.
"Wrong, because I'm going to judge you, and I'm being judged too, you know? Have you people never had a job or what?" he said.
"None of us have ever had a real job. Is that a surprise to you?" Invisigal replied.
"Don't put me in that basket." I interjected.
"Dude, seriously?" she shot back.
"Alright, ignore the pressure and do your job. You don't need to be first, you just need not to be last," Robert said.
We started dispatching. And, as expected, most of the team members began sabotaging themselves or trying to sabotage each other.
"Spider, can you go pull Golem out of there, please?" Robert asked me after Coupé pushed him into wet concrete.
"Yeah, I'll take care of it real quick." I replied and headed to the location. Once there, I pulled him free and managed to get him out.
"Thank you, Spider. You're really strong." he said.
And the dispatching continued like that. On top of doing my own missions, I also had to get the others out of the trouble they kept creating for each other.
"Uh-huh, this is really funny, guys. Not fucking immature at all." Robert said.
Beep beep* I was assigned to assault a drug base.
"I'll go with you, Spider." Malevola said over comms.
"This is a mission Spider can handle sol-"
"I'm already there." she cut Robert off.
I arrived at the location. Malevola was already on site.
"I'm guessing you don't want to do this quietly, but by going in headfirst." I said.
"Exactly." Without hesitation, we went straight into the base.
Malevola opened the assault by slicing the front gate in half with a single swing of her sword. The metal screamed before collapsing inward, setting off alarms throughout the base. Before anyone inside could react properly, she opened a portal right in front of us and stepped through it, reappearing behind the first group of guards, I followed immediately.
Gunfire erupted. I dropped down behind two guards, webbing their legs to the floor and slamming their heads together.
More men rushed in from the side corridors. I shot webs across the hallway, creating a dense net. The first wave ran straight into it, getting stuck mid-stride. I yanked the webbing forward, smashing them into the wall in a single motion.
Malevola wasn't slowing down. She opened portal after portal, appearing above enemies, behind them before knocking them out cold. When someone tried to flank her, I caught them mid-air, slammed them into the ground.
One of them fired wildly. I leapt, planted both feet into his chest, and sent him flying across the room into a stack of crates.
'Controlling my strength to avoid killing is truly an ordeal.'
The inside of the base turned into chaos. Drugs, weapons, and cash were scattered everywhere as we moved deeper. I ripped open doors, crushed reinforced locks, and pinned anyone who tried to run.
The last group barricaded themselves in the main room. Malevola looked at me and smiled.
I webbed the door shut from the outside.
She opened a portal inside the room.
A few seconds later, screaming.
Then silence.
She stepped back out, dusting her hands. "Clear."
I checked my device and marked the mission as complete.
Police sirens were already getting closer.
"Good job, Spider. Malevola." Robert said.
"Boberto, can you send me on that mission?" Sonar asked.
Operations resumed as usual.
Beep beep* The culprit from the Granny's mission has been spotted, the alert announced.
"I'll handle it." Malevola said.
"Fuck off." Invisigal snapped.
"What are you doing, Invisigal?" Robert asked.
"Not getting cut." she replied. "Like you said, the only way to win is not to be last, right?" she added.
"That's not exactly what I meant." he said.
A few minutes later, all we could hear over comms was Malevola chasing Invisigal.
"Urgh!"
"Whoa, whoa, chill out!" Invisigal yelled.
"Yah!"
"Sigh. Entire Z-Team, return to base and report to the conference room in twenty minutes." Robert announced, exasperated.
Thirty minutes later, in the conference room, everyone was gathered around the table.
"What's going on?" Blonde Blazer said as she walked into the room, accompanied by Chase and a dog.
"You're fucking wasting my time, say what you've got to say already." Flambae snapped.
"Okay. As you all know, at the end of the day, one of you will be cut," Robert said, which immediately caused an uproar.
"Miss Blazer, maybe if you gave us a Dispatcher who actually knows what he's doing, then maybe-"
"Honestly, the Dispatcher isn't really the problem." I cut in. "If you actually went where you're supposed to go, there wouldn't be issues in the first place. An asthmatic who can only turn invisible by holding her breath trying to fight hand-to-hand, what's the point?"
"Hmm, not wrong." Chase muttered.
"Say that again." Invisigal said. She'd been invisible up until now.
"You heard me. To be clearer, it's stupid. That's the second time you've failed to catch the same guy." I replied.
"Whoa, oookay, everyone calm down." Robert stepped in.
"Yeah, everyone calm down." Punch Up added.
"Cough. If someone walked into this room right now, what they'd see is a bunch of low-level villains. But that's not what I see. When I look at the people in this room, I see potential. I see Phoenixes. And you know what a phoenix represents: rebirth. Basically, we're going to turn you into what you're meant to be." Robert said. "Now go out there and do a second, better shift."
"Fuck, I really need this job." Coupé said, while Invisigal shot me a dark look.
And so our second shift began. This time, everything went smoothly. I didn't have to help anyone out of trouble, so I just chained mission after mission.
Later.
"Are you smoking in a playground? What the hell is wrong with you?" Robert said over comms.
"And here we go, another strike against me." Invisigal replied. "You have to cut someone anyway, I'm just making your job easier."
"No. You quitting makes it easier for you, not for me." he said.
"You don't get it. Some people are born to be heroes, like that other asshole Spider. I'm not one of them." she said, then continued. "I tried, but I'm not made for this."
"Not made for this? What are you even talk-"
"Blazer? Phenomaman? They have superhero powers. Strong. Out there for everyone to see. Flying through the sky. Nothing to hide." she cut him off.
"What's your point?" he asked.
"My power is a villain power. The only thing I can do is steal stuff or watch people fuck. Being a villain is my destiny." she said.
"You create your own destiny." Robert replied, trying to reassure her.
"What, you get that from Kung Fu Panda?"
"The Lion King."
"Boomer." she said, laughing. "You've already been a hero. You can't understand."
"Get out of there. At least you have powers." he snapped. "I had nothing, so by your logic I should've been an accountant."
"You're not that far from it." she shot back.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I've spotted the guy. I'm moving in to apprehend him." I announced as I headed out.
"You were talking about destiny, Visi. He's two blocks away from where you are. Third time's the charm, as they say." Robert added.
"No, Spider's already on it, right?" she said. Robert kept pushing her to go anyway.
Arrived in front of the jewelry store. I stuck to the wall outside, upside down, slipped in and landed on a beam above him.
Inside, the man stood in the middle of it all.
He turned just in time to fire.
"COME OUT, YOU FREAK!" he yelled, swinging the cannon wildly.
I shot a web at the cannon's barrel, yanked hard, and forced his arm upward just as he fired. The bolt slammed into the ceiling instead.
He panicked.
I rushed him, jumped, ran two steps along the wall, and kicked straight into his chest. Passed out, he flew backward and I webbed him and the cannon to the wall in a combo, then I walked up to him squeezed the weapon around his forearm and it died with a sad whine.
"What's the addresse ?" Invisigal asks Robert.
Meanwhile on my device, I marked the mission complete.
"No need, I got him. I'm bringing him back to SDN."