"What are you guys doing?" Ted said as he entered Jake's living room.
"Watching Leo and Henry on T.V. Why? What's wrong?" Omniboy said, as the sounds of their cartoon made noise in the background. Rift had her eyes glued to the screen.
"Well, change it to Empire News now. Jake and the others are on there."
"Oh shit! Really? Okay. I hope the team is okay," Omniboy said, obeying his brother's orders. Rift glared at him with a ferocity in her eyes but stopped once Jake was on the T.V. Her eyes were glued to the screen again.
"They'll be fine," Milten said, leaning on the entrance to their room.
"Why is that? They're facing the Broker here. I don't think they'll walk out of this unscathed."
"Let's just say I have a plan," Milten lied.
"I'm Amy Armstrong and this is Empire News! In today's story, the new Super team for our fair city, the Danger Squad, has made contact with the infamous muman terrorist group known as the Breakers. With them is the leader of multiple of these groups, who calls himself the Broker," a news reporter said as she stood on a helicopter, hovering above the scene at the docks.
Jake and the squad had confronted the Broker at the pier. Broker had his backup: Frostbite, Burnscar, Mighty Mole, Reflector, and Brute. In front of them was Luthor, blindfolded, gagged, and tied to a small wooden chair.
"Exactly 24 hours ago, the Broker challenged the Danger Squad to a confrontation after they attacked one of his own groups, which our sources call the Shakers. In front of them may be the Super Warzone, as it was attacked prior to the challenge. We may be looking at a hostage transfer, but with how supers operate, it may not be as it seems," Amy said to the camera, the whole city watching her from the other side.
Milten took his seat next to Ted. He moved a bit to the left, away from the man.
"Are you scared of me?"
"Uh..."
"Yeah..." Omniboy cut in, facing the T.V.
"Omniboy!"
"No, it's okay, uh... Ted, was it? No need to be ashamed. I'm a pretty scary guy."
"It's not like that, sir, we..."
"I said don't worry about it. Just know you're safe with me. You have the right to be scared. I'd be scared of me too."
Ted nodded and looked back at the screen. He didn't even notice Milten moving toward him. Not even Milten himself knew that; he was too distracted by his thoughts.
The Danger Squad had gained immense public favor after stopping the Kobra Klan and taking out the leader of the Dragon Clan. If they managed to pull a win on the Broker, other cities might begin to favor them too. Milten knew this and prayed his team wouldn't mess up.
He couldn't make a battle plan with how unpredictable Broker's team was. The best he could hope for was a successful negotiation. If it came to blows, it was a toss-up as to whether or not the team would come out on top.
Luckily, with Paulina—the most logical member of the team—as its leader, they had a better chance.
"Well, well, well. So this is the infamous Danger Squad? I gotta say, I'm not impressed," Broker said.
His voice was a deep and guttural noise, similar to Jake's when he was in a foul mood. However, this man's voice sounded like that even when he was casual. "Except you, though. I love the monster aesthetic," he continued, pointing at Jake. "Wouldn't you agree, guys?"
Broker's team all exchanged nods, and Brute let out a large snort like a pig.
"We aren't here for games, Broker," Paulina spoke up, stepping forward. "Give us back our teammate."
"Ah? You must be the leader then. Gotta say, I expected tall, dark, and crazy to be the leader," Broker mused. His team burst into a stream of laughter.
"Shut it!" Jake shouted, prompting the whole area to grow eerily silent. He took a few steps forward, blocking Paulina, and spoke. "We don't have time for this casual crap. Just give us back our friend and get the hell out of our city."
"Shadow!" Paulina shouted, but Jake stood where he was. Ivy, annoyed, stepped up and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Jake," she whispered into his ear. He turned to her and saw she was glaring. Realizing his mistake, Jake quickly stepped aside and let Paulina handle it.
"Sorry about that. We are in no mood to fight you. Just give us our friend and leave the city. We will have no problems then," Paulina continued.
Broker smiled. "Who the fuck does this bitch think she is?" Broker said, facing his team while holding back a laugh. It escaped.
Zack wanted to step forward and punch that asshole into the ground for laughing at his girl, but he knew Paulina would hate him for it. For now, all he could do was stand there and watch.
"Well, we ARE in the mood to fight. You took down my Kobra Klan. I send my Shakers to check on things and they get massacred."
"Wait!" Paulina said, her arm outstretched. "It doesn't have to be like this..."
"Why not? This bastard murdered an entire team I own. If I let that slide, I'll never hear the end of it from the other new gangs joining the fray. An eye for an eye, eh?"
"Luthor wouldn't do that," Jake said, stepping forward again. Ivy nudged him so he'd step back. He ignored her, much to her shock.
"Oh? Are you implying my subordinate is lying?"
"Yeah, I am. Ask him," Jake answered, to the shock of his team. Max chuckled.
"Oh, okay then. Simon. Is THIS the guy who killed your team?" Broker asked the boy.
"I... I... uh..."
"Speak up, boy!"
"Yes!" Simon blurted out and retreated to the back of the group.
Max smiled.
"Bullshit!" Jake shouted, but Broker scoffed.
"Sorry, but I'm taking his word over yours, friend."
"Please let him go," Paulina said, taking center stage again. "It's not worth it, Broker. He's only human."
"Well, now you've gone and ruined it. I kind of have a thing with humans," Broker said, smiling. He put his index finger near Luthor's head.
It crackled with black lightning.
"And what's that?" Paulina asked, slowly realizing where this was going.
"They're all better off dead."
Broker then placed his index finger through Luthor's neck. He disintegrated instantly.
"NO!" Jake roared and lunged for the Broker.
"No, not now! You heard what Milten said!" Paulina shouted, then signaled Zack to intervene with her fingers.
"Fuck Milten!" Jake screamed, dodging Zack's gigantic fists, and in seconds, he was inches away from the Broker. "What the..."
Jake punched him square on the jaw, sending him flying through multiple warehouses across the docks. As Jake prepared to chase his target, he looked around and realized he was surrounded by Broker's men.
"Get him! Kill his ass!" Brute screamed, and the team lunged for him, only to be blinded by a beam of light shot by Paulina. The beam narrowly hit Jake on the leg, but he avoided it. Jake, who used his blue energy to enhance his eyesight and prevent the light from affecting it, took the chance to head for the Broker with his super speed.
Reflector was the only one unaffected by Paulina's beam due to his ability to manipulate mirrors. He removed a small mirror from his green utility belt and stretched it out, doubling its size.
He tried to throw it at Jake, but he felt a red beam of light hit him in the back, causing him to stumble and miss. He felt his back stiffen and even begin to harden. That's when he noticed his back was turning to stone.
"What the hell?!" he shouted as the stone quickly consumed his arms, legs, and torso.
"Don't hold back! Go lethal if you have to!" Paulina's voice echoed in the air as the battle truly began.
Reflector noticed a shadow looming over him and looked up. To his horror, it was Ivy lunging at him with a giant hammer in hand. She crushed him with one hit, scattering his rock parts across the area.
"How dare you?" Brute said, lunging at her, only for a giant fist to slam into him mid-flight and send him crashing into a nearby warehouse.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Zack shouted, angrily approaching her.
"What? What did I do?" Ivy asked.
"You didn't have to kill him."
"Didn't you hear your girlfriend? Go lethal."
"If you have to! You didn't have to kill him."
"Are you insane? These monsters killed Luthor and you're debating me on whether they get to live?"
"They killed him, I know, but they're still people too. We aren't the police. We have no actual authority to take their lives."
"Unbelievable! I'm gonna go look for Jake. Have fun defending your friends," Ivy shouted and turned away.
"No. Stay here so we can finish these guys."
Ivy left then and there.
"Fuck! What the hell does he see in her?"
Frostbite shot a beam of ice at Zack's giant arm to freeze it in place. Paulina saw this and threw a small shield, made from her left arm, that blocked the ice attack. She then morphed her right arm into a plasma gun.
"Burnscar, stop her..."
Paulina unloaded three shots at Frostbite's left arm, ribcage, and neck respectively. She died instantly.
"Obsidian?!" Zack shouted at her. Paulina shrugged.
"She was going to kill you."
"Yeah, but..."
"Sister!" Burnscar screamed and produced a stream of fire from her hands, shooting it at Paulina. Paulina morphed her other arm into a plasma cannon and fused the two together. She then fired the giant cannon at Burnscar, and their beams quickly cancelled out.
Burnscar then shot a barrage of fireballs at Paulina, who in turn separated her cannons and began firing at the fireballs. Again, they cancelled each other out. As the two clashed with ranged attacks, Paulina rolled away from a barrage of more fireballs and streams. What she didn't notice was a figure lurking underground: The Mighty Mole.
"You heathens dare to stop us? Pathetic! You all will die and your city will burn! Just like your pathetic friend. Such is the will of the Broker!" Mole said as he appeared out of the land and charged for her.
Paulina then turned and unloaded another set of blasts, only for Mole to dodge them all. He then leapt for her, targeting her exposed neck. Just as he turned his fingernails into claws, Stacya appeared from the ground below his feet and tackled him away. He sunk his claws deep into her back, but she barely flinched and sent them both into the sea.
"Stacya?!" Paulina shouted, forgetting to use her codename. She ducked under another set of fireballs and let out three more precision blasts at Burnscar. Burnscar, in turn, dodged them as well.
Zack ran towards Paulina, expanding his arms to help deal with Burnscar. He suddenly stopped when he felt a strange presence from the warehouse he had punched Brute into. Once he turned to face it, he saw the warehouse was glowing green.
"Damn, you pack one hell of a wallop," Broker mused as he recovered from Jake's attack. Jake was already upon him.
"You're gonna die for that. You hear me? I'm gonna kill you!" Jake snarled and ran towards his target before he could speak. He led with a punch, but the Broker quickly dodged and tried to tackle him to the ground. Jake ducked out of the way and managed to get a hit on Broker's side. He then gave him two punches to the face and a kick to his jaw, sending him flying.
"H... holy shit! You're good. You must've really liked that guy."
"Shut up!" Jake screamed, lunging at Broker with another set of punches. "Shut the hell up!"
The Broker's veins began to glow a bright green, and his tubes started pumping a green liquid into his body. He screamed in ecstasy. Once he saw the punches coming, he smiled. Then, he dodged them all.
"He had a family. A wife! Kids!" Jake continued as he leapt, sending punches charged with his blue energy at the Broker. Just like the first wave, the Broker smiled. He dodged them all.
"And you took them away! You killed them! You..."
"Oh, cry me a river," Broker said, dodging another punch, grabbing Jake by the face, and slamming him to the ground. The slam had enough force to create a small crater. Jake screamed in pain.
"H... how..." Jake barely managed to say as he coughed up blood.
"Oh? You really wanna know? Well, it's not often I get to tell this to anyone not in my inner circle. I'm a muman. I mean, we both are, so our powers run on M-cells," Broker started enthusiastically. Jake tried to get up, but Broker placed his foot on Jake's chest, keeping him in place. "What if I gave them a boost? That's where the Mutoxin comes in."
"Mut... mutoxin? Mr. E's mutoxin?"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot your team killed my dad."
"Your dad?"
Broker smiled. "Yeah. Well, not really. He made me in a lab with a friend of his. I was his first experiment. Luckily, I escaped, taking a shit ton of Mutoxin with me. I researched its properties and made my own version of it."
"Wh... why are you telling me all this?"
"Well, you know what they say: dead men tell no tales."
Broker then raised his arms, and the tubes began pumping more mutoxin into them, doubling their size. Then, he charged them with the crackle of black lightning. The same black lightning he used to kill Luthor.
"My muman ability allows me to adapt to any situation after repeated exposure. Add the mutoxin, and that adaptation quickens tremendously."
Jake charged his fists with blue energy and tried to punch away Broker's leg. His attacks didn't do a thing.
"I wonder how your friends are dealing with my soldiers, since they're as enhanced as I am," Broker mused and let his arms fall.
To be continued...