[Into the night to save the day!]
On the phone.
"Unbelievable!" A boy with black hair was walking with a girl and a boy beside him.
He continued, "Can you guys believe this?" showing his phone to the two individuals.
"How on earth are they more famous than us?" he complained.
"I mean, come on, they only ever show up at night, and all of a sudden they are one of the most famous figures in the world? I mean, really, come on!"
The girl looked at the boy, and they both looked at the black‑haired boy and said, "We know!"
The girl responded, "You have been going on and on about them ever since you heard about them."
The boy followed, "Just give it a rest already, Arc. Even if you're right, it doesn't change people's opinion of them."
The black‑haired boy, whose name was Arc, looked at his two friends and sighed. "I guess you're right. I mean, it's just not fair. We all work our butts off for this town and get no attention, but some kids in PJs get more attention than us?"
The orange‑haired boy answered, "I get what you mean, but still, at the end of the day, we are all still heroes, every one of us alike. Don't forget that."
Arc nodded in agreement, and the trio continued to walk.
The trio walked all the way to an abandoned building. If a person were to see that building, the first thing they would think was that it was ugly, and they wouldn't even consider entering it, but this trio entered it because it was simply their home.
"All right, guys, it seems it's time," Arc said.
The two individuals nodded in unison and looked at each other with serious expressions before looking at Arc.
"Don't think I will go easy on you two just because we are a team now, do you?" Arc asked.
"Oh hell no, you can go all out, Arc, but trust me, I will be the one to take you out," the orange‑haired one answered.
"Really, boys? You're really going to ignore me, huh? Guess I should put you guys in your place," the girl replied.
The first ones were Arc and the orange‑haired boy; it seemed they were playing ping‑pong.
"Aah, in your face, Blaze, I WIN!" Arc raised his arm to celebrate his victory.
Then, after Blaze's defeat, the girl was next against Arc.
"Hope you're prepared; this one is extra icy, if you know what I mean." Arc smirked and looked at the girl with a vicious look. She looked disgusted by it and said,
"Wow." Looking dumbfounded and lost for words, she continued, "Why?"
Arc looked embarrassed, cleared his throat, and responded,
"Never mind that right now; I just need to win, that's all."
Arc threw the small ball, and in a second, it hit the girl's side, but unexpectedly, the girl countered it and Arc missed the shot and the girl won.
"Eh?"
"I won! HORRAY!" She looked happy and started to dance her celebratory dance.
Meanwhile, Blaze and Arc looked shocked beyond repair and were wondering what had just happened.
"Best two out of three," Arc said.
"Nope!" the girl responded before sticking out her tongue to mess with Arc.
"Please, Iris, please, I beg of you, just one more round?" Arc asked.
"Hell NO!" Iris responded, giggled, and continued dancing her celebratory dance.
As all this was going on, an alarm rang throughout the building the trio was in.
They all stopped what they were doing and ran to a bookshelf. As they approached it, Arc pulled a book, and as he pulled it, three holes opened in the floor.
The three of them fell inside and ended up in a hideout.
The view of this place was so different from the outside; if a person saw this, they wouldn't believe their eyes that this building was the same abandoned building.
The trio looked at a big screen TV in the middle of the room, which showed a group of crocodile humanoids robbing a bank.
"So they are back to their old tricks again," Arc asked, looking annoyed at what was displayed on the screen.
"Seems like it. They look so creepy and gross," Iris responded.
"Yeah, but I mean, what other choice do we have? It's either this or we run away and let the others do it," Blaze said.
"Indeed, and I say we go at it and teach these guys a lesson they will never forget. How about you guys? What say you?" Arc asked.
"Let's show them a burning reality—" Blaze responded.
"And a lesson they won't ever forget," Iris finished.
The three of them, all at the same time, took a belt and wrapped it around their waists, and together they pressed the button on the belt. In an instant, bright light filled the room as they transformed into their suits.
Arc's suit shifted into a bright blue costume with a bold yellow lightning bolt across his chest, matching the electric energy crackling around him. His mask formed over his eyes, and blue lightning sparked at his fists as he stood tall.
Blaze's suit ignited into a vivid red outfit, flames swirling around him as his mask snapped into place. Fire curled around his arms and shoulders like living energy.
Iris's suit shimmered into a white-and-blue outfit with a scarf, a plaid skirt, and tall white boots. Snow‑like particles floated around her as her mask formed, and frost gathered at her fingertips.
The three entered a car at once, and the one driving was Arc as he zoomed out of the building and into the streets.
…
In the bank of Valley Central, trouble lay as a group of humanoid crocs could be seen holding guns in their hands, asking the bank clerks to give them the money. The bank clerks all went to their knees on the ground as the crocs told them to, and now the crocs were making them give them a sum of money. A man in a grey suit and red tie could be seen shaking as the crocs told him to give them the money.
"Give me all this damn money NOW, human!" the croc leader said.
"..." The man in front gave him the money and put it in the bag.
Many hoped to call the superhero hotline, but alas, the crocs stopped them from doing so and threatened all of them in the bank, telling them to lie on the ground, except the one they were talking to.
As they were about to fill the first bag, a crash came from the window, and a blue vehicle appeared.
"Not by the hair of my chin‑chin—zap!" A shockwave came out of the vehicle and zapped one of the crocs.
"Who goes there? Little piggy, come out, come out wherever you are," the croc leader said, holding the gun and pointing it at the vehicle.
Then ice came out of nowhere and, with full force, hit the crocs, and half the crocs were frozen.
"Oh!" the leader croc exclaimed. "Oh, it's just you guys. Well, whatever." He turned around, ignoring the team with powers behind him, and focused on his burglary. "All right, now give me everything you got!" he said, giving the bank clerk the bag to put the remaining money in.
"So he just…?" Arc asked with an incomplete sentence and looked at the croc leader with an unfazed look.
"Pretty much ignored us, yes?" Blaze completed his sentence.
Iris looked at the crocs with annoyance and rage and said,
"Then I say we go all out and finish this fight!" Iris responded, having ice fill both her hands, her eyes turning completely white.
"Hey, what are you doing, ice girl?" Arc asked, trying to stop her.
"Yeah, don't you remember what happened last time you did that?" Blaze asked, trying to stop her.
"Hey, crocs, have an icy night!" And after that, everything was frozen.
Arc sighed. "And this is why villains don't take us seriously."
Blaze could be seen in the distance, melting the ice off the bystanders with fire.
The police sirens could be heard from a distance, and the team left while they were coming.
[Another terrible save by the team Toxic—damn, this is the fifteenth time in a row. Can you be that bad at heroing?] A newscaster laughed as he said that over the phone.
"Another bad reputation for the team Toxic," Arc said and sighed.
"I'm sorry, guys, it's just those jerks. How dare they with their annoying—" Iris apologized.
"It's not your fault, Iris. We get it," Blaze consoled.
"Indeed, we are a team. I get what you were doing; even I would have done the same," Arc said, accepting and consoling her.
"But now we have to think of a way to make our team outshine the other heroes, but how?" Arc asked.
"How about we have a joint save?" Iris suggested.
"Pfft, lame. That doesn't work. Even if we join with a popular hero, we still end up getting no recognition," Blaze replied.
"I guess you're right, Blaze, but then do you have a better idea?" Arc asked.
"The coolest—I suggest we stop a big‑time villain," Blaze answered with a smirk.
The two looked confused at first and then laughed.
"Seriously, a big‑time villain? Do you think those guys will even pay attention to us? I mean, come on," Iris asked.
"And not only that, if no‑time villains like Crocoid and his team don't even see us as a threat, what makes you think big‑time villains will?" Arc asked.
"That's the thing—they won't pay attention to us. But we can use that and—" Blaze showed the two of them his hand, squeezed his fist tight, then released it. "Boom! We sneak from behind, and we win. So?" Blaze asked.
The two thought for a moment and nodded at each other in unison.
"It's worth the shot, I guess," Arc was the first to speak.
"Yeah, we can try it since we have no other idea," Iris said.
So the three of them decided they would fight a big‑time villain.
"Now that I think about it, which villain are we fighting?" Blaze asked.
"Depends. I mean, I can take on the Joker?" Arc said.
The two laughed as he said that, and Blaze responded, "Yeah, buddy, keep telling yourself that."
"How about—"
END OF CHAPTER 0.