Cammy walked across the Leafman Memorial Garden with a somber smile on his face.
He stroked the various olive trees and sunflowers scattered all over the place, admiring the Romanesque style of the architecture—a style he believed was lost to time.
As he did, he thought of Zack and the fact that he and his colleagues had saved the world while Cammy was none the wiser. The fact that he had lost a friend… He couldn't help but shed a tear.
He was supposed to be a beacon of hope, a representative of all the Supers. Meanwhile, a group of youngsters had done his job without him even knowing. How pathetic.
Suddenly, he felt his shoulder pad vibrating. He turned to press it and shut it down; he wasn't in the mood to talk.
"What is it, Payne? I'm on my way!" he shouted at the device, expecting Major Payne, his second-in-command, to shout back.
He got a slight chuckle in response.
"Good to hear from you too, Cammy," a familiar voice replied.
"That voice… Archer?"
"The one and only."
"Why are you calling me now of all times? I have a meeting to attend here."
"Actually, that's exactly why I'm calling you now."
Archer, a tall, hooded figure, stepped out of a cluster of bushes behind Cammy and approached him.
"It's time to tell you what I've found."
Meanwhile, at the Main Hall...
A loud noise erupted from the large building as a multitude of voices clashed in a cacophony of arguments and disagreements.
"Canman, that dirty snake!" Goldberg said, his gold-covered teeth shining so bright they nearly blinded Wolf.
"I knew he wouldn't show!" Astound followed, juggling his multicolored throwing knife.
"What a deadbeat!" Battlefield shouted, cocking her massive machine gun.
"Whose idea was it to let him lead us again?" Cloud said, polishing his sword.
"That would be that idiot Bump," Max Flame answered coldly.
"Damn him. This whole country went to shit once that idiot got the seat," Cloud continued with his same old cocky tone.
Vine shrugged while Hydrant hid behind him, surprised they could speak about their leader in such a way.
The sources of this noise were two opposing forces. On the left was Radioactive Man, ten feet tall and one of the most imposing figures in the Super community, second only to the drugged-up monster of a man, Sergeant Strong. He wore a yellow hazmat suit with two red dots where his eyes could be seen. Nothing else was shown through his mask, though.
On the right was Amazo, a six-foot Super with blond hair, wearing black with red lines spread across his suit and an eye-covering mask.
"Are we insulting the president now?" Spectrum Red asked with his arms folded.
"Yeah, what's that about? He's made a lot of mistakes, but putting Canman in charge ain't one of them," Billy Batson said as he fixed up one of his androids.
"Ignore them. These vultures jump at any opportunity to slander the greatest of us all," Bash said, with his team all nodding in agreement.
"Probably to feed their fragile egos," Hummingbird chimed in despite protests from his team. Wildstar was not among them.
"Guys, guys... no need for such harsh words. Let's not sink to their level," Radioactive Man called out.
Amazo and his cause, led by his teammates in Retribution—the gargantuan, block-headed Sergeant Strong and metal-skinned Silverblade—argued that Canman was too late for this meeting and used it as an excuse to call out his incompetence, something more than half the Super community was very vocal about.
Radioactive Man and his cause, mostly led by the Legion—Dr. Hoo, Dr. Small, and partly Sno—argued that this was a gross overreaction and tried to explain that perhaps Canman had better things to do that delayed him.
That was a lie, obviously. Radioactive Man knew Canman was late because he hated these meetings and would spend time at the Hall of Supers to kill time. He didn't want to admit this, though, as that would paint a very negative picture for his best friend—the only one to give him a chance after "that incident."
The debate raged on, with Amazo and his side bringing up past screw-ups by Canman to paint him in a negative light, while Radioactive Man bent over backward to prove them wrong. The large crowd of Supers grew more divided as time went on.
Soon the whole room split into two halves filled to the brim with diverse Supers. On Radioactive Man's side were the following teams:
The Icons: a team of cybernetic children created by the now-deceased Doctor Bolt, consisting of Bash, Smash, Crash, Clash, and Slash.
Spectrum: a mysterious group of colored warriors that can merge to form one entity. Each member has their own color scheme: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Violet.
The Warriorz: a team of teenagers with animal-like abilities they gained from touching a magical rock, consisting of Claw, Wing, Horn, Jaw, and Spot.
The Omens: a team led by the only licensed magic user in Commonwealth besides Magika DeSpell, Mystic Knight, who leads his apprentices Mage and Anymax.
On Amazo's side were the following teams:
K.O.: a team of Mumans Major Payne rescued from a Muman trafficking ring, consisting of Goldberg, Wolf, Astounding, Battlefield, and Powerhouse.
Planeteers: a team of elemental Mumans formed by Forest Fire and led by her little brother, Max Flame. This team consists of Vine, Rox, Hydrant, and Cloud.
The Vengers: a team made and led by boy genius Billy Batson, one of Commonwealth's smartest scientists, second only to Milten. This team consists of the androids Weedicide, Build, and Robotosaur.
Gama Squad: another team of youngsters competing to represent the next generation, consisting of Blink, Hummingbird, Battleboy, Battlegirl, and Wildstar.
Caught at the back of this massive debate were Super Nightingale and his assistants, Wield and Scream. Nightingale didn't want to get involved in the politics involving Supers; to this day, he's glad he didn't.
The two scientists, Dr. Hoo and Billy, were trying their best to channel the debate, using holographic images as evidence to disprove the other side's bold claims.
And Major Payne was in the middle of it. He didn't like Canman—not at all. Sadly, Canman was the head of the Super Society, appointed by the former President of the Commonwealth, Andy Hamilton himself. There was nothing he could do about that, no matter how much it divided the community.
He looked to his left and saw Mr. White. He had crossed both his arms and legs with his head down. Whether he was sleeping or not, Payne didn't know and wasn't interested enough to care.
To his right was Forest Fire, the youngest member of the Elite. Despite being much stronger than him—which he knew after their last mission together—she was a child obsessed with fame and her reputation, especially for being a rebel. She usually didn't attend these meetings, so why she was here for once was beyond him. She also had some strange obsession with Canman.
This annoyed Payne to no end.
"Hey! Girly! Why don't you go defend your hero?"
"Sorry, geezer, but I'm not hung up on the opinions of a couple of losers. I know my Canman can't ever do anything wrong! I don't need to prove it, and neither does he," she said, sticking her tongue out like a bratty child before picking up her phone and going on Supergram to text whoever she wanted.
Not a care in the world.
He missed Captain Rocket. God, he missed Captain Rocket. That man had the authority and respect to silence noise like this with a simple order—something Major Payne couldn't do no matter how hard he tried. He was old, yes, but a much better leader and tactician than Canman, and Payne would never understand how he was chosen over Rocket.
Judging by how the community felt, he never would. But Rocket was dead now, killed by that bastard Mr. E. There was nothing he could do about it.
Major Payne had had enough. He wanted to go down there from the platform where the Elite usually sat and slap some sense into everyone.
Hell, why not?
First, he'd slap some sense into that Amazo buffoon. Just because he earned some likability after his mission in Afrikania to stop that demonic invasion didn't mean he got to undermine his superiors. Then he'd slap some sense into Radioactive Man for trying to defend someone as incompetent as Canman.
He stood up—something the crowd didn't notice due to their arguing—and started walking away from the large circular table of the Elite to silence them.
Fire lifted her face from her phone.
"Hey? Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna knock some sense into them," he said with a smirk.
Fire snickered and went back to typing. Typical.
Suddenly, before Payne could leave the table, Dr. White woke up. That could only mean one thing. Payne quickly rushed back to his seat.
Then the doors opened.
The crowd of sixty Supers went silent in just a second.
Major Payne put his head in his hand and frowned. He looked to his left; Dr. White looked at him with a sense of curiosity, or anger, or respect, or admiration, or whatever the hell was going on behind that white mask of his.
Forest Fire watched the entrance with a smile from ear to ear. A sprinkle of red formed on her cheeks as she began to gawk.
Payne rolled his eyes.
Canman walked through the crowd; a long path was laid out for him toward the Elite table. Every Super, no matter their views on him, still feared his power. This man had taken down King Megalo, a being so powerful the government kept his name under wraps from the general public.
It was a battle so devastating it shook the entirety of Commonwealth, an entire continent—an event the government labeled as a mere earthquake. It was a myth to the general public but a fact to the Super community. It was the event that earned him his position as the leader of the Elite, something Captain Rocket hadn't held before his passing.
Everyone knew that even without his position, Canman was a man to be feared.
As he walked through the crowd, he tried to make eye contact with both sides. Sadly, no one returned the favor—not even his friend Radioactive Man. It didn't bother him; his views were controversial, and his power brought fear into the hearts of many. It made sense that they were scared.
He just wished someone saw him as a human being for once. Like that Zack guy did…
After a long, silent walk, he made his way to his seat at the Elite table. The silence still lingered, causing Canman to cough awkwardly while turning to Major Payne.
"Well?" Canman said.
"Well what?" Payne replied, confused.
"Start the meeting!" Canman shouted while tapping Payne's shoulder.
Radioactive Man laughed loud enough for everyone to hear. His group followed suit.
"Well, Canman, we were just talking about the war we have on our hands," Payne said with a smirk.
"War?" Canman said with a smile and an eyebrow raised.
"Yes. I'm sure you're aware of the death of the Guardians, right?" Payne asked, the smug expression still written all over his face.
Canman's smile quickly faded. The Guardians were a B-rank team. There were four ranks of Super teams: C, B, A, and S. C-teams were the most numerous, consisting of newer one-to-three-star Supers. They still did their part to keep society safe. A-ranks were more experienced teams like Retribution, but they weren't the best of the best.
That title belonged to the Elite, the only S-rank team of five-star Supers.
The Guardians, despite their rank, were extremely popular with the public, being the government's go-to underdog team. It also helped that its members—Slimjim, Techrex, Puckball, and Blam—were funny and charismatic enough to win over even the hardest of hearts.
Hearing of their deaths devastated not only the Super community but the public eye as well. Payne had wanted to bring this up during the commotion before but was saving it for Canman. His frown was priceless.
"Well, what most aren't aware of is how they died. You see, a new criminal organization has appeared in the Commonwealth, originating from the foreign land of Dragonia. They are the Dragon Clan."
"They went on a rampage, forcing smaller gangs and organizations to bend the knee or get obliterated. It seems this gang has some sort of control over magic, something only our own Magika DeSpell and Mystic Knight are capable of. Speaking of which, is she here?"
The crowd looked around in confusion.
"I guess not. Typical. Anyway, the gangs were in trouble and needed someone to turn to. One gang, the Flathead Gang, had the help of a drug created by Mr. E called Mutoxin."
Payne paused despite himself. What Mr. E did to Captain Rocket had crushed the morale of the society for a long time. Even mentioning him opened old wounds. He knew he wasn't the only one who felt this way, so he continued.
"The gang soon disappeared along with Mr. E only a few days ago, as reported by the Legion when they investigated Mr. E's island."
"What does this have to do with the Guardians? That seems like fairly recent news, doesn't it? Wasn't the search after they died?" Canman interrupted, causing Payne to smirk again.
That was the only quality of Canman that Payne liked: his impatience. It was so easy to use.
"I'm already there. You see, most gangs didn't trust Mr. E's drug and turned to other ways to combat the Dragon Clan's magic. That's when they turned to him."
"Him?"
"We know very little, but from what we've gathered, he is an immensely powerful being. We sent the Guardians to a warehouse where this boss of theirs was hosting a meeting of all the biggest gangs, and when the team was discovered…" Payne said, then paused, wiping a tear from his left cheek.
He then faced the crowd. Some of them had somber expressions; others began to sob. Payne didn't much care for all that. This was a war, and these people were merely soldiers doing their job. They weren't Rocket. They were expendables. He wasn't. What a bunch of babies.
However, if looking like he gave a sh*t made him look more sympathetic to these babies, then so be it.
"Well, they were ripped apart limb from limb."
"I see," Canman finally said.
"Yes. These gangs have someone capable of tearing apart an entire team of Supers single-handedly. No matter how weak they may seem, this is still a problem and needs to be dealt with. Whoever this boss is, he's uniting the gangs not only against the Dragon Clan but us as well. We could only imagine…"
"Yes. I figured as much. So he was right," Canman interrupted.
"I'm sorry, 'he'?" Payne asked after being cut off.
"Yes. He. I'm sorry, Payne, but it's time we heard from a more experienced source."
"Experienced?"
Canman snapped his fingers, and another figure emerged from the gates of the hall. A tall, hooded figure in golden spandex with a robotic arm walked across the hall. Most Supers were shocked to see him. Some were appalled. Some even vomited.
Payne was fuming.
"CANMAN?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRIMINAL DOING HERE?!" Payne shouted, slamming the table and pointing at Canman.
"He is a street-level vigilante. I contacted him in hopes he could give us more insight into the situation," Canman responded plainly.
"But he's unregistered! He's a vigilante! He's an enemy of the government! He's…"
"He's our only chance of stopping this war, Payne. Now sit down."
Payne looked at the crowd. They were all silently staring back at him. Amazo didn't even look at him. Amazo always looked at him. Payne sat down and heard a short snicker from Forest Fire.
If he ever got his hands on her…
"Okay, Archer. Sorry about that. Now, can you get us caught up to speed?" Canman asked with a big smile on his face.
"Of course, Cammy. Now, since your friend has already covered a good chunk of the problem, it's time I bring up the main shit."
Payne was appalled…
To be continued...