#dispatch livewire

Epilogue

It’s been some time since Shroud’s attack, and so much has happened since then. Just like I had hoped SDN employees got a juicy check after saving the city, Z-team got a slight bonus since we took down Red Ring and fought Shroud which we so earned.

I used that money to get me a better, newly renovated place with a pretty nice view of the city from the balcony. Everyone wanted to throw a housewarming party for me but I knew it was just an excuse for us to party again. After some help with moving boxes and furniture, Punch Up immediately pulled out the drinks.

“Alright, let’s get it started!” He cheered as Malevola pulled snacks out of a portal.

“You guys didn’t bring a crap ton of lamps did you?” I joked, referring to Robert’s party.

“Only food, drinks, and good vibes, babe. Oh, and this.” Mal patted me on the head and handed me a large wine bottle with her tail. “Got you the good stuff.”

I placed the bottle down on the kitchen bar, next to the knife set Coupé and Punch Up brought, and the knitted blanket from Herman’s grandmother. The guests of the party were simply the Z-team. I invited Coupé and Phenomaman as well so that Coupé could feel welcomed back into the group, and Phenomaman looked like he needed some friends. That and Robert requested that I invite him in his absence since he and Mandy had other plans.

As music played in the background we all swapped between dancing and talking in different groups. Several beer bottles were placed on surfaces throughout the apartment, Prism did a brief video for her social media stories, and passing glances were shared between Herman and me occasionally.

We both agreed to keep our relationship within ourselves for the time being since we wanted some time of peace before announcing anything. Yeah, our friends will make a fuss regardless of when we tell them, but why not enjoy the quiet while it lasts?

“So have you two fucked yet or what?”

Visi’s sudden question and appearance caused me to choke on my drink.

“First of all, we’re not even dating.” I lied “Second of all—“

“Bullshit. Waterboy is talking to Phenomaman, his favorite hero that he’s such a big fan of that he turns into a stuttering mess. And yet he’s looking at you the way Robert looks at Blazer.” Visi points at Herman, who takes notice and immediately turns back to Phenomaman. “If you two aren’t actually dating yet then it’s time to wake up.”

“Waterboy has a bit of a staring problem, we all know that…” I deflected while going in for another sip.

“You guys are hopeless…”

Yup. This was the kind of behavior I’m trying to avoid, between Visi prying into people's personal lives, Prism trying to nudge us together, and the teasing Herman gets from Sonar and Flambae. We may just have to cave in far sooner than expected.

Once everything died down and it got dark outside, most went home while some stayed to bum around a bit longer. Phenomaman hovered hunched over in a corner and ate the basket of melons he had originally offered as a gift, Mal watched over a knocked-out Sonar, and Herman volunteered to help me clean up.

“Come on, dude! Wake up!” Mal shook the sleeping bat that finally opened up his eyes.

“Ugh…just give me a minute” Sonar groaned.

“We can’t just stay at her place forever man, that goes for you too big guy.” Mal pointed at Phenomaman who floated in my direction.

“I appreciate you inviting me to this housewarming festivity, I may have snacked on your gift.” He attempted to hand me the basket of arranged fruit.

“It’s alright man, you can keep it.”

I didn’t really want the basket in the first place. It’s not like I’m not a fan of melons or anything, but it was mostly the green ones and those edible arrangements baskets are usually bad by the time you get them.

“Thank you. Hopefully next time we can all play Magic the Gathering!”

“Maybe, Wateryboy is still helping me build a deck.”

Phenomaman followed Mal and Sonar out of the apartment leaving just me and Herman. We both plopped onto the couch with a huge sigh, and the back of my shirt began to soak from leaning on him.

“God I wasn’t expecting it to last this long, we started the party before noon!”

“Well, you know our friends like to party.” Herman chuckled. “W-was Visi interrogating you again?”

“Ugh, yes! Just once I want all of us in one space where we’re not being bothered about our relationship.”

“Should we uh…should we just tell them?”

I hummed, thinking back to when I considered the same thing. “I want at least our first date first, we held off on it for so long due to our schedules and also the whole…” I gesture to the apartment. “…moving thing.”

“Not to worry, I have it all planned out for next weekend!”

I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow in intrigue. “Just what do you have planned, Hermie?”

“It is a-a surprise, all you have to do is look pretty…which you’re pretty good at already.”

“Please, I’m not that good.” I snorted

We just had to last a week…

——————————————————————

It was evening, just an hour until our first date. Everything else was ready, my finest perfume, I wore a dark blue romper with patterned stockings and my strappy platforms, some jewelry, and I even styled my hair into wet curls. I started my makeup with some matching eyeshadow and just some clear lip gloss, there was just one little problem. I paced around in front of my vanity desk, a gift from Prism, while holding a little black pencil.

“You can do this Jenn, it's just eyeliner!”

I approached the mirror again and held the pencil up to my eye, freezing an inch away. After struggling yet again I backed away. I’ve never worn makeup, ever. It’s not like I don’t like makeup, I just never felt the need to wear it. Until now.

“All you have to do is look pretty.”

I know what he said after that, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not just my first date with Herman but my first date period and I need to look my best! I didn’t care about my looks before because all I cared about was what I do, then I was forced to wear a suit that covered my entire body. Because who needs to keep up appearances when you wear a helmet and a full body suit all the time right?! I spiraled for a bit longer until I finally built up the courage to use the eyeliner.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. They were a little uneven but not too noticeable, now all that’s left is the mascara and— *Knock Knock Knock* Shit.

“Heeeeey,” I spoke in a flirty tone to hide my anxiety while leaning against the door.

Herman stood before me with his goggles high on his head. He wore a white button-down that was soaked and would’ve left nothing to the imagination if it weren’t for the blazer he wore over it, which matched my romper, which, funnily enough, wasn’t planned. He had a tie that hung loosely from his neck, he could never get the hang of tying that thing but it’s nice that he tried. His shirt was tucked neatly into his slacks and he had black dress shoes.

The next thing I noticed was the bouquet of blue and white flowers already arranged in a vase and wrapped in a bow. He handed them to me without a word, completely speechless from my look. Here I was stressing about an hour ago when he’s now looking me up and down.

I held the vase in one hand and his face with my other hand. “Awww you got me flowers? You’re so sweet~”

He nodded, face red as a tomato, and steam rising as his mind probably filled with all sorts of thoughts. I walked away and placed the vase on the coffee table, my absence snapping him back to reality.

“Ah! Y-yeah I uh…I made—arranged the bouquet myself. My grandma loved f-flowers and I liked taking care of them, she said I should get you some.”

“Well your grandma made the right call, these look beautiful.” I grabbed my clutch purse and gave Herman a smooch and a smile, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I caressed his face as I closed the door. “I’m ready for our surprise date.”

——————————————————————

We arrived at a nearby Italian restaurant. Herman has some great memory because he mentioned the one off time months ago when I mentioned really liking Italian food. I walked up to the door but was stopped by Herman, he opened up the door and I snickered to myself. Of course, I have to let him be a gentleman and open the door for me.

“Thanks, Hermie.” I nodded and walked inside.

We were guided to our table, a booth, and sat across from each other. We ordered wine and our food and got to chatting immediately.

“I gotta learn how to knit next time I visit you and your grandma.” I sipped my wine.

“She would love that, she has plenty of practice—knowledge that she’s willing to share.”

“Just you wait Hermie, one day you’ll have a sweater made by yours…truly.”

I trailed off when I noticed a familiar couple getting led to their table. Herman took notice and turned to look, sharing the same expression I made. Robert and Mandy. Most likely on a date as well. We’re on a date at the same restaurant Mecha Man and Blonde Blazer are on a date at. Ok yeah, they’re our friends, we see them every day at work but even people can geek out over their celebrity friends right?

They must’ve noticed us staring because Mandy got Robert’s attention. He turned, chuckled along with Mandy, and raised his glass. We raised ours back and swapped our focus back to our own date. We geeked out for a little bit longer before finally getting to dessert.

“So, that little…teleport thing that you do. How uh how does that work?”

“I don’t really know,” I scooped some of the crème brûlée with my spoon. “I think it’s like the flash move in League of Legends but I can spam it.”

“That’s…a comparison.” Herman laughed and got his own spoonful of our shared dessert.

“It was the first thing I thought of! I pouted.

——————————————————————

With our dessert finished and Herman paying the check it was time to leave. We waved to Robert and Mandy and gave a silent plea not let our secret out. When we got to the door we saw that it was raining outside, not pouring but we were definitely going to get soaked. Well, I was, Herman’s already there.

“Whelp, there goes the time I spent on makeup.”

I wasn’t afraid of getting wet, my boyfriend was always wet. It was my makeup I was worried about. Suddenly, I felt the weight of something wet on my shoulders. It was Herman’s blazer.

“You can use this to cover—shield yourself, I’m already wet anyway.”

I was right, his white shirt left nothing to the imagination. But it’ll do me no good just standing here staring when others could get a look too.

“Thanks. Let’s get home quickly.”

I walked inside my apartment while Herman stopped at the door like a vampire waiting to be invited, fiddling with his fingers.

“Herm?”

“I d-didn’t know if— I just thought that—“

I walked back towards him and held his chin with my hand. “Yknow, you’re free to stay a bit longer, maybe even…” I bit my lip while looking at his chest then back up at him. “…spend the night.”

His face turned red, catching what I was suggesting. “I-I suppose I could, Grandma is out of town so…”

“Get in here.”

I pulled him in by his tie, causing him to yelp. I slammed the front door shut and dragged him into the bedroom without any objections. I was going to be well hydrated after this.

Episode 6

Royd, Chase, me, and the rest of the team watched Robert enter the mech suit through the glass window. We had to see for ourselves if Robert was actually Mecha Man. Waterboy didn’t join us because apparently he already knew and was still doing janitor work. I wonder if he’s being paid double for this. I promised him a photo at least since I felt he wouldn’t want to miss one of his favorite heroes in his suit.

“Hey everybody, I um, appreciate you all coming here to see this. Your support means a lot.” Robert’s voice came from inside the suit

“More than a lot,” Punch Up started “It means 936 American dollars. Cash, lad.”

“We’re only here because these broke asses want proof before they pay.” Prism huffed.

I knew better than to join in on the bet, I was making guesses on what hero Robert could’ve been but I wasn’t about to bet my real money on it.

“That actually makes more sense,” Robert chuckled.

“I can’t believe you actually hung out with these fuckers…” Chase grunted.

“You jealous old man?” Visi said with her usual smugness.

“Of what? Let me guess, you got into a bar fight? I’m right, right?” He quickly replied.

Chase wasn’t wrong but Robert covered it up by saying he missed 3am tacos, which was nice seeing everyone bond like that. Sure we all hung out sometimes but we usually separated into our own areas of the bar which is what happened but bonding together over tacos and trusting each other with our real names felt better, even if Flambae stormed off.

“Ooooohkay protopulse test 19 ready to commence.” Royd started, pulling me from my thoughts. “We good when you good Mecha Man.”

Purple smoke filled the room and when it started to fade enough for us to see, the suit stood before us flexing and I snapped a photo with my phone.

“See there is that enough confirmation for you cheap ass bitches? Pay me my money.”

Prism smiled, holding her hand out for her prize. Everyone else grumbled and complained before handing their cash over to her. He began shadow boxing as we all watched.

“The smoke is a little overkill though…” Visi squinted.

“I thought so too but the purple was a nice touch,” Robert replied, starting to do jumping jacks.

“What smoke?” Royd questioned before looking up to see for himself. “Shut it down!” He shouted and immediately red lights flashed and alarms blared. Robert started stumbling in the suit and I started backing away.

——————————————————————

I didn’t notice the panic around me as I was too busy being in my own. I don’t do well with alarms, especially when it comes to malfunctioning machinery. It reminds me of the day I got my powers, the day I “died”.

It was not too long after my dad’s death, with no one else to turn to due to my mom passing far before my dad from being ill, I was given a job. I showed promise with my engineering skills that I picked up from my dad and as long as I didn’t ask questions and did what I was told, I got paid a decent amount. The guy I worked for was definitely in the morally grey area, selling gadgets to both heroes and villains as long as they provided the money.

One day one of the machines was malfunctioning and there weren't enough people around to help. There was smoke, red lights, and alarms everywhere just like the scene before me. I knew what I was getting into, I figured if I did end up dying or something I could at least reunite with my parents. If not and things go well, maybe there will be a prize for my efforts. I was doing well until a stray cut wire struck me, sending enough voltage through my body to kill me.

I don’t exactly know how to explain it all, but somehow I was back. Energy running through my veins, I felt like an overcharged battery. I had shot straight up from the floor, shocking the paramedics who had declared me dead. Literally. Before they could even react to me coming back to life, the one who touched me was shocked to death on the spot. That’s when I learned how dangerous I was. I ran off before anything else could happen, needing to find a new way to take care of my brother and me.

I started with stealing from the place I used to work, I didn’t like how on the news he swept what happened under a rug like my life didn’t matter. The rest kind of became history from there.

——————————————————————

When I finally came to from my panic attack I was suddenly in the lounge being comforted by Herman. He was on his knees beside me with a bottle of water and snacks from the vending machine while I was originally curled into a ball, knees to my chest and my hands on my helmet where my ears would be. I don’t really know what happened after I curled up into a corner in the lab other than hearing the explosion. When he noticed me finally loosening up he jumped.

“J-Jenn— Powerline!”

Jenn, the cute little nickname Herman gave me not too long after I jokingly called him “Hermy”.

“Malevola, she warped—portaled you here. She told me to watch you.”

I looked around and saw that it was just me and him in there.

“Where’s the others?” I asked, repositioning into a more comfortable sitting position.

“Some are around in the building, they told me that happened—to Robert. Invisigal also mentioned a housewarming party for him, and to bring a lamp?” He repeated what he got from the text on his phone.

Some silence goes by, mainly because I’m at a loss for words, but then Herman finally speaks again.

“Are you…ok?” I let out a breathy chuckle and shook my head.

“It’s just trauma, I’ll be fine.” I tapped him on the shoulder as he gave me a concerned look. “Thanks for taking care of me by the way, you even got my favorite chips from the vending machine.” I opened the bag up and started eating.

“Y-Yeah well, I remembered your little habit of forgetting to eat so uh, I thought I’d have a snack for you—for when you’re ready.”

I suppose Herman would be used to taking care of someone since he takes care of his grandma, but I couldn’t help but notice him developing this habit towards me a lot as well. Sending me reminders to eat when texting, making sure I’m well before he goes to bed since I don’t sleep, etc. it’s nice but I wouldn’t want him doing too much for me.

“Alright Z-team,” Blond Blazer’s voice spoke through the comms of my helmet, and most likely to the rest of the team as well. “Since Robert is recovering I will take over for him as your dispatcher so make sure you’re all ready to start your shift!” Cool, we get the Blond Blazer as our dispatcher. Maybe our shift will go smoothly after what we all experienced this morning.

——————————————————————

Our first shift was anything but smooth. I love Blonde Blazer, she’s cool, nice, kicks ass, and saved my life. I even have some posters of her because she’s an amazing hero. Just maybe not a good dispatcher though.

Herman and I were sent to handle some Red Ring activity, we held our own pretty well but combat isn’t exactly our specialty. Not only did the guys get away but the building we were supposed to protect crumbled. We got out with Herman scratched up and a bloody nose and me also scratched up with an injured leg.

Herman without hesitation scooped me up into his arms.

“WOAH WOAH WOAH! W-Waterboy what are you— I don’t—my leg isn’t—!” I couldn’t even form a complete sentence, I was just stammering while Herman carried me bridal style like it was nothing.

“Your leg is—I can’t let you walk like that.” That was all he said as he continued to walk back to base, his cracked goggles hanging half off his face.

I accepted that this is what we’re doing now and held onto him properly, sometimes slipping from him being wet. My face burned hot the entire time. I’ve never been held like this before, especially not this caringly! I tried my best not to think about it or how close to his face mine was, even if this stupid helmet is between us. All I could look at was his face, which honestly, Herman’s got quite a nice face. His jawline, the cheekbones, his big nose, those grey-ish blue eyes, those soft-looking lips…

Herman, probably out of instinct, started licking the blood from his nose off his lip. “Wh— DON’T LICK IT!” My voice squeaked, he jumped at the sudden sound, almost dropping me in the process.

“S-sorry.”

After some proper treatment during our break, we were back to work under Blonde Blazer’s dispatching.

“So I’m no dispatch dude, but I don’t know if sending Malevola to sub at Sunday School was the move,” Golem said.

“Alright, what did I fuckin miss?” God I’ve never been happier to hear Robert’s voice over the comms…wait, Robert?

“Holy shit dude, you’re ok?” Visi seemed amused, and I don’t blame her.

“You gave us a fucking scare dude.” Malevola added

“God, I’m glad you’re back man.” I sighed.

“Guess Mecha Man’s a bit sturdier than we thought.”

I had to agree with Punch Up there, between today’s incident and the bar fight I’m surprised he’s not in a full body cast by now. We all expressed missing Robert as well as mentioning the gift left on his desk.

We told Robert about Blonde Blazer’s less-than-ideal dispatching methods.

“I thought it was an easy job.” Golem said

“Well it’s not, I just make it look easy.”

“Shit Robert, are you actually cool?” Malevola sighed.

“He’s not, he’s just been gone all day so it seems like he is.” Visi countered.

Our shift continued as normal, I kinda wished Fambae was here to help with the frozen building but we made do. Robert wished us goodnight, unaware of the plans unfolding. Malevola had the snacks and Punch Up had the booze, now all I had to do was find a lamp and pick up Herman and we’d be good to go.

——————————————————————

Herman and I held our own respective lamps in our hands, mine was a plasma ball lamp because they’re cool and Waterboy had a lava lamp, an equally cool lamp. We could already hear music playing through the door. I knocked and Robert let us in.

“I see the party’s already started!” I laugh and put the lamp in Robert’s hands, immediately joining in on the fun and grabbing a beer.

Herman followed Robert to the collection of lamps, handing him his own. I shared what info I could manage about possible buyers of the pulse, I did have knowledge in buying and selling to other criminals after all. Eventually, Golem, Blonde Blazer, and Chase had shown up. Blonde Blazer brought a very needed couch as the lack of furniture made the place feel more depressing than it was.

It started with Blonde Blazer breaking into a dance and then convincing Chase to join in, eventually, everyone was in the room dancing together. I caught Herman in the sea of people doing what looked like a reference to the robot guy in the Dave Chappelle show, though that could just be a coincidence. I laughed to myself before Prism nudged me.

“You better go dance with that weirdo.” She gave me a smug look.

“You too Prism?” I rolled my eyes and swirled the bottle in my hand.

“Visi told me everything, I think you two would be cute together.” She made a smoochy face and used a puppy dog voice. I gave her a “really?” look then Visi jumped in.

“I doubt she’d do it, she gets defensive about how she texts him so I know she wouldn’t dance with him in front of us.” She crossed her arms and both girls smirked at me, I knew they were just pressuring me and I hate that it was working.

I was definitely a few drinks in by this point and was feeling a little bit bold anyway. I downed the remaining liquor in the bottle and placed it down,

“Alright fine, but don’t watch us like some sort of creep.” I made the “I’m watching you” gesture towards them then made my way to him.

Herman immediately stiffened at my sudden presence, getting some deja vu here. Without a word I grabbed his arm and pulled him into an unoccupied corner of the room, no turning back now. He looked down at me with a shocked expression and I started to do a little jig, indicating that I wanted to dance. His face turned to a smile as he got the memo and joined in.

We laughed and danced, he even spun me a few times, I also caught glimpses of Prism and Visi giving me nods of approval like proud parents, but eventually the music ended and so did the dancing. Harrman, Golem, Malevola, and I were talking, well more like they were talking. I was just replaying today’s events over and over in my head. Being carried by Herman, him caring for me when I was vulnerable, dancing with him. I couldn’t stop thinking about it all, I’ve never really felt this way about someone before, it was…weird. I don’t even know if he feels the same, sure he gets flustered a lot but he’s like that with everyone because he’s an awkward cutie. God, what am I even saying…

“She said no,” Chase slammed his bottle down on the countertop, getting everyone’s attention.

“Do you understand that or is there too many fucking syllables for you?”

“Why don’t you go walk your ass around a mall, grandpa? Heroes are talking—” Visi jeered

“YOU ARE NO FUCKING HERO!” Everyone gasped at the intensity rising from Chase, Blond Blazer tried to mediate between them.

“She named you Invisigal, you named yourself Invisibitch and you had it fuckin’ right.” Chase poked a finger at her as Blonde Blazer held him back

“Chase, you’re drunk, you need to stop talking.” Blonde Blazer demanded. The intoxicated Chase continued and Prism pulled out her phone to record.

“She thinks she’s like you but she’s not! Robert doesn’t need to keep going out there with no powers putting his life on the line to make up for assholes like you! He doesn’t need to be Mecha Man to be a hero! You playin’ them you playin’ yourself. You think you’re invisible but I fuckin’ see you.”

I winced at Chase’s harsh words, I knew he wasn’t exactly fond of us ex-criminals but he’s always been harsher on Visi.

“You don’t know anything about me.” She argued.

“I know you’re a liar, a criminal, I know you’re fuckin’ dangerous, what else do I need to know?”

He poked once again. Visi turned invisible, and before Chase could have his final word she decked him in the face, sending him backwards before storming out.

“That’s enough for tonight…” Blonde Blazer grabbed Chase. “I’m sorry this turned into… whatever just happened.” She then gave Robert a peck on the cheek, getting a surprised reaction out of everyone.

“Anyone who utters one word about what happened tonight fucking answers to me. Got it?” Yes ma’am. She doesn’t need to tell me twice. After some silence there was a knock, Robert answered and was immediately decked in the face by Flambae. A lot of face punching tonight…

——————————————————————

Herman offered to walk me home, correction, he insisted. Walking alongside me on the side closest to the road. I wasn’t against the company, but his silly excuse of “for safety” becomes null and void when I could just travel home through the powerlines.

“Do you think she’ll be ok?” Herman asked, breaking the silence. “Invisigal, I mean.”

“It’s Visi, the almost 30-year-old who acts like a troubled teenager. I’m sure she’s back at her home or smoking somewhere.” I started, “She’s been doing pretty well so far, I doubt she’d do anything drastic.”

Herman nodded and we continued in a somewhat awkward silence. We finally arrived at my apartment, both of us just standing at my door.

“I uh, had fun tonight, y'know besides what happened at the end.” I looked up at him with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah I…had fun too.” Herman rubbed the back of his neck.

Ugh, please do something you fool! Don’t just stand there while he’s being all awkward and cute! I scrunched my face as I yelled at myself and then finally hugged him.

“Thanks…for everything you’ve done for me.”

He was frozen in shock, then slowly rested his arms around me to return the hug. My helmet made it awkward to rest my head against him and he was too tall to really rest his head on mine. We finally let go and after one last longing look I immediately fumbled.

“OK GOODNIGHT!” I blurted out, quickly ran in, and shut the door behind me.

I looked through the peephole to see him still standing there, hand slightly raised to wave goodbye that would’ve been unseen if I hadn’t peeped. He smiles and walks away. Once he was out of sight, I groaned as I slid down the front door. I buried my face in my knees smiling to myself as my face burned.

——————————————————————

I lay in bed with a goofy smile on my face, looking up at the ceiling. So this is what liking someone feels like. I get a message on my phone, thinking it’s Herman letting me know he made it home safely, I perked up. Another message, then more, and more. I check to see that it’s the group chat, telling by the concerned messages I knew it couldn’t be good.

All that we’re told is that Chase had a heart attack and is being rushed to the infirmary. We all wanted to be there but we couldn’t, not right now. We were then given the full story. Invisigal had gone off on her own to get the pulse, against a direct order, she went rogue. She eventually got caught by Shroud and Chase risked his life to save her. How? Turns out Chase is the Track Star, and as a cruel and twisted fate he ages when using his powers. In conclusion, Chase is getting medical attention and Invisigal is getting suspended.

I sat on my bed, phone long forgotten in my lap. Invisigal. Classic fucking Invisigal. She once again disobeyed a direct order resulting in something bad happening. First, it was Granny’s, then she tripped up Malevola and let the same criminal get away, now this! And look at what fucking happened! Chase could die, Shroud probably has the pulse now, and it’s all her fucking fault!

Chase may not have been the nicest to us, Invisigal especially sure, but I knew deep down he still saw something in all of us. Hell, him sacrificing his life for Invisigal despite everything is proof of that! The thought of him in a hospital bed with hardly any chance of coming back to us because of her recklessness cracked something in me.

I felt the static around me shift as I curled up in my bed, breathing heavily. I could feel my body surging. Normally when this happens it all goes rushing out, causing a blackout, but I couldn’t stop it this time. I just couldn’t calm myself down and braced for whatever was about to happen. Suddenly, something felt like it was rewired. For the first time, instead of bursting out, it all compressed in. I felt myself finally calming down, like I was being stabilized. I uncurled from the fetal position and looked at myself.

“What the hell?” I murmured to myself.

I looked at my hands, nothing. I rushed to the bathroom and looked at my hair in the mirror, no static. Still messy from my little episode earlier but not standing up from electricity. Even my heart was beating at a normal pace.

“Did I just—?”

I rushed over to a nearby lamp and scrambled to unscrew the lightbulb from it. I stared at it and was immediately blinded by it lighting up, dropping it to the floor. That answers that question, I didn’t lose my powers, but what the hell happened then? I didn’t have time to answer that one though. As for another first this night, I felt actually tired. My eyelids became heavy, too much had happened in such a short amount of time. I crawled into bed and for the first time in years, I fell asleep.

Episode 8

I shot awake to the sound of an explosion, breathing heavily. There was a blanket on me that I don’t remember having, it was…wet. I threw it off me and was immediately greeted by Herman, who was carrying his grandmother at the bottom of the stairs.

“The city is under attack— grandma she— I-I need to— she needs to be safe—“ he could hardly get a full sentence out, both from his stutter and from hyperventilating.

“Hey! Hey!” I did my best to calm him down enough to think clearly at least. “Whatever is happening right now we need to focus.” Herman furrowed his brows and nodded.

“Jenn, I want you to go ahead to SDN, I’ll— will take my grandmother somewhere safe.”

“But—“

“N-No, I can do this! Who knows how many z-team members are even there right now, we can’t afford 2 less heroes! One of us—you need to go!”

Tears started to swell in my eyes, there’s bombs going off and I can’t stand the thought of us being separated right now but he’s right. Of course, the city has to be in trouble, a real true threat, before I can even battle with the thoughts of telling Herman how I feel. I grab my helmet, looking down at it for a moment before turning back to Herman with a deep sigh.

“Please just…promise me you’ll be ok.”

“I’ll…try my best.” He attempted a smile to appease my worry, but we both knew it was a promise that would be hard to keep in a situation like this.

——————————————————————

I rushed through the city's power lines as best as I could, getting booted out of the damaged ends at times. SDN was swarmed with heroes running in and out of the building, to the point where the doors were hardly ever closed. I immediately ran in and clocked in for what would be our most eventful shift yet.

“Ah, shit. Is this it?” Robert’s voice caused me to jump slightly.

“Whatchoo mean is this it? Bitch you know what time it is?” Prism sassed

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Thanks for getting out of bed or whatever you were up to.”

“I take gummies to fall asleep so I might be a little…” Golem trailed off.

“You gonna finish your sentence, big man?” Punch Up asked

“Hm? Oh. Shit. I thought I did.”

“Look we’re short-handed—“

“Fuck you.”

“But we should have the rest of the team trickling in soon so we’ll have to make due for now.”

“Luckily for us, we have the best 4 heroes on the roster.” Robert finished.

“We all know you would say the same shit about whoever was here.” Prism popped her lipstick in the mirror.

“Well if we all know, then there’s no reason to point it out. Look alive. We just gotta hold it down ‘til the calvary arrives.”

“Ok, but just so y’all know…I don’t know if I’m making memories right now.” And with that, we rushed out.

“Jumping Jesus! Red Ring’s swarming all over the fucking city!” Punch Up shouted over the comms.

There was still no sign of Herman, I don’t know how long getting his grandmother to safety would take but I didn’t get any updates from him.

“First things first, yes, half the team is missing. Let’s fix that, immediately. Next L.A. is on fire. Okay, we’ll work on that. Third thing, fucking Red Ring is oozing out of every in this city.”

“Damn, that’s a lot of things,” Golem said.

I thought back to the fight at the bar, and my brother. Marcus was with the Red Ring, he even had augments. I may not fully understand what they do but for some reason, it gave him the ability to send whatever you throw at him right back at you. Fitting for him, you can give and give but he never takes. Just spitting it right back at you like it insulted him.

Prism and Punch Up were sent to get Flambae after Robert got a hold of his tracker, in the meantime, Malevola finally showed up.

“Sorry I’m late, my phone was on do not disturb. Anyway, what did I miss?”

“Oh nothing much, just the end of the fucking world!” Prism snapped.

“Good to know, I reckon we’re gonna try to put a stop to that?”

“Get your ass in here babe, we’re putting in some mad OT.”

Flambae, Prism, and Punch Up returned, they looked pretty injured so I can assume it was a semi-success.

I was quiet for the most part, I responded to orders and spoke when spoken to but all I could worry about was Herman. What if he didn’t make it? What if his grandmother couldn’t make it? What if they’re surrounded? What if—

“Powerline, I got a signal on Waterboy’s tracker. He’s on a train being sent out of town and everyone is busy, think you can handle rescuing him on your own?” He didn’t even need to ask.

“YES— I mean…I got it, Robert!”

“Don’t get distracted.”

That warning sounded…targeted. Does he know? Doesn’t matter. I need to make sure he’s ok.

“If Waterboy is dead or even hurt, Red Ring will know what it’s like to get the electric chair,” I muttered into the comms.

I got to the train station as fast as I could, the train was already moving. I zipped into the overhead lines, following the train until I caught up with it and I tried to disrupt them just enough to send the train to a screeching halt. Once it stopped I went inside and called out to him. I ran through the entire train until I finally heard Herman,

“Up—Over here!”

The second I heard his voice nothing else mattered. I took off my helmet and entered the control car of the train to find him tied to the seat, getting a front row view of wherever the train was going. I was frozen in place with too many things I wanted to do next. I wanted to free him, hug him, cry in his arms, maybe even kiss him. Maybe? No, definitely. But I should absolutely free him first.

I finally released him from the chair and before he could even get the chance to stand all the way up I hugged him, the action caught him so off guard that we both fell.

“Wow! I uh, I didn’t think you’d miss me that much!” He chuckled, looking up at me with those adorable blue eyes.

“Of course I missed you! I was very worried! On top of that, you almost died!”

“Well, it’s…it’s a good thing I have someone like you to come save me.” He smiled and I laughed.

“You just got lucky, everyone else was busy so…” I paused and sat up, realizing that he was most definitely ambushed and brought here. “Wait, your grandmother is she…?” He realized what I was asking.

“Oh! Yes, she’s safe. I was uh, taken after I got her to safety.”

“That’s a relief, I’m glad you both are ok.”

Herman placed a wet hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad you are too.”

We stared at each other, taking a moment of pause as we looked into each other’s eyes. Almost in a magnetic trance, we moved closer towards each other. I start heating up. Is this…really happening? Or am I imagining it? I have to be, there are hearts everywhere, and even a pink background.

“Powerline! What’s the update on rescuing Waterboy? Neither one of your trackers has moved from the area.”

Before we could even fully register whatever it was we were about to do, Robert’s voice coming from my helmet scared us out of it. Herman hit his head on the wall from jumping back so fast and I scrambled to put my helmet back on.

“Yes! Sorry, Robert, I was making sure he was ok and he is so we’ll be back soon!”

I could feel Robert’s face palming from here. We quickly got up and got our asses back to SDN without another word.

Sonar was rescued which meant the gang was all here, well not all but still. With step one cleared we still had the bigger problem, y’know, L.A. being on fire. SDN was spread thin as it was already so this was going to be scary between Invisigal and Coupé being cut and the threat being much bigger than usual.

“Greetings and salutations. I have left the company of my far superior team to assist you. You may call me Phenomaman, for that is my name.”

Holy shit. No fucking way they got Phenomaman on the team. Herman’s gonna freak.

“Ph-Ph-Phenom-nom-aman, big fan! I’m a big Phenomenal Man fan.”

There it is.

“Is that the wet janitor who shakes violently like a small frightened animal?”

“Oh my god! He knows who I am!”

“Waterboy’s very excited to work with you,” Malevola added.

“Phenomenal.”

——————————————————————

“Ugh…great. Well, that’s…a lot of ground to cover.”

“Because fuck us, right?”

“Fuckin cowshite!”

“Oh okay then. I see how it is.”

“God this day will be the end of me…” I groaned as I saw the expansion of the map.

Another explosion could be heard from a distance. “Hey Z-team, get a load of my new friends.”

A familiar voice sent chills down my spine, Coupé’s voice.

“Aw fuck, no way…that can’t be…Coop?” Punch Up asked.

“Yup, with more Red Ring backup. A lot of Red Ring backup. I’m not mad… just disappointed.” Blonde Blazer added.

“Aww…I don’t care.” Coupé’s voice felt cold as ice.

“For fuck’s sake Coop… why’d you have to go and spread those wings of yours?”

“If we want to save the city, we need to take Coop down. Without her, Red Ring will scramble.”

Cool. So we’re fighting Coupé, Red Ring, AND dealing with SDN subscribers.

The city is in danger, Red Ring is running rampant, heroes are spread thin and what am I doing? Getting. Fucking. Coffee.

“Seriously, who the fuck orders coffee in an actual crisis?”

I wanted to curse out Robert for even humoring this, Herman was sent to defuse a bomb and I’m doing a fucking coffee run? I’m sorry Robert but fuck you for sending me on this and fuck Vanderstink’s new girlfriend. We took bets on who would be the last one standing after all this goes to shit, my vote was on Blonde Blazer. She’s cool, strong, can fly, and seemingly the most stable out of all of us. With how things were looking though I don’t think any of us would survive.

“Hey listen up, this isn’t working.”

Damn right it isn’t, Robert.

“This is what they want. To send us to every corner of the city, spreading us thin, forcing us to travel back and forth. No more coming back to base between calls. We stay out for as long as we can.”

“So your plan is for us to get more tired than we already are?” Malevola questioned.

“This is what Shroud does. He knows our procedure so he’s predicting our moves. So, we need to switch it up and be less predictable. Z-team what happens today will live on in—“

“Alright. We get it. First pattern we break can be the one where we say some inspiring shit or try to at least.” We all laughed at Flambae’s heckling of yet another inspirational speech from Robert. He does give team leadership energy with them though.

Herman and I were sent out to rescue some civilians from the collapsing Vincent Thomas Bridge, we moved as fast as we could but hope was lost when it started to fully collapse before we could get the remaining civilians out. As we ran, arms reaching out in vain towards the mother and her children we suddenly saw a flash of light. The rubble was obliterated and the family was saved by none other than Blonde Blazer.

“I’ve got you.” She says as she moves the family to safety.

“BLONDE BLAZER!” I squealed, jumping up and down like a fan girl and scaring Herman.

I stopped myself and covered my “mouth”. Geez, Jennah, time and place. Herman gave me an understanding smile and we got a move on.

“Wait a second, Blazer? Slumming it with the Phoenix Program?” Robert questioned.

“It’s funny, I see you in trouble and I just can’t help myself.” An icon, a legend even. I feel so much better in her presence.

Those good feelings definitely didn’t last long when I was caught off guard by some Red Ring thugs. I was no match for them and was forced to retreat into a nearby building, it wouldn’t take much longer for them to find me.

“Robert, I think I’m done for.” My voice was even more raspy and pained as I sat hunched in a corner.

“Don’t say that, I know you can do it,” Robert spoke in a much more determined tone than I was used to, I knew he wouldn’t just let me rot here but I still wasn’t expecting it.

“I can’t, I feel so…tired.”

“Hey, you’re usually the last one around here to get tired. Don’t you dare lose that spark now.”

Something about what Robert said triggered something in me. Maybe it's because I felt like I was on the verge of death but I swear I heard my dad’s voice.

“You have a spark in you JJ, don’t ever lose it.”

I let out a breathy laugh and got back up, feeling the electricity running through me. “You’re right Robert, I won’t let you down.”

“You got this.”

There was only one guy who finally found me and it was about time I finished this with the newfound confidence I had. He ran at me with a metal pipe and I ran at him with the intention to dodge, instead, I was suddenly behind him in the blink of an eye. Both of us were confused but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity, I removed my glove and grabbed the pipe sending just enough electricity through to stun him. I got the hell out of there, curious about my new ability and if there’s anything else that’s new.

The tides were definitely starting to turn in our favor now. “We might actually pull this off,” Robert said with relief.

“Come on, you heard the man, one last push!” Flambae shouted.

“Yeeeees, let’s get it done Z-team!” I matched Flambae’s enthusiasm, clapping to no one as I ran through the ruined streets.

“I expect the keys to the god damn city after this shit.” Prism added

“All gas, no brakes baby.” Golem said.

“Alright team. Give. Her. Everything. You’ve. Got.” Robert demanded and we delivered. Coupé along with the Red Ring scattered and we celebrated taking her down.

Robert had congratulated us on our hard work but his voice was cut off, in fact the comms weren’t working at all. Which could only mean something was going down at SDN. But with all of us scattered so far away from base we can only hope we get there in time.

——————————————————————

I could see the Mecha Man suit flying around the SDN building. Glad to see he got the suit, which means he probably got the Pulse. The suit was fighting against a red spider-looking robot guy, I assume that’s Shroud. Blonde Blazer had a plan and told us to go in on her signal.

It started with Prism’s holograph of Blonde Blazer distracting Shroud, then Flambae hit him with some fireballs while the real Blonde Blazer came in for a punch. Everyone started coming in with their own attacks, dealing with as many Red Ring thugs as possible. Before I could even get into the action I was grabbed and then chucked, crashing into the brick wall of the building. God that fucking hurt. I was then grabbed by the collar and was now facing who else but Marcus.

“We didn’t get to finish our little fight at the bar, JJ.” His evil-looking grin was all I could see.

“You…aren’t allowed to call me that.” I choked out

“Why? Because only mom and dad can? Well, they’re not here anymore.”

I made an attempt to zap him but nothing happened. “You know that doesn’t work on me, sis. I go by Reverb now. Ever wondered why your attacks never did anything to me?”

“Because you’re a meathead with a surprising amount of durability.”

“No, bitch. I got powers now too.”

What? Since fucking when? The augments? But only adds to someone’s existing powers so how? Marcus slammed me into the ground with enough force to leave a dent.

“After our little…separation I figured I’d go and get me some powers too like you did. Got my hands on a serum and became a lot stronger.”

“That is literally the stupidest thing you’ve ever fucking done. That could’ve killed you!” I yelled

“You lived.” He shrugged.

“That’s a dumb argument to make, my situation is completely different from yours!”

There’s that sibling bickering that we used to do.

“Argue with this!” He growled as he sent me flying into another wall.

He slowly approached me, cracking his knuckles. I can’t attack him, not normally anyway, I needed to outsmart him which shouldn’t be hard. Time to try out that new ability.

I stood up, discarding my broken helmet. I put up my fist like I was ready to fight, inviting him to charge at me. He took the bait and I ran at him and just like last time I was behind him before he even knew what was happening, he spun around so hard he looked like a cartoon character.

“You bitch!” He got back up and tried to come at me again, it was like I was bullfighting the way we fought.

I was too fast for him and eventually while swinging a fist he instead hit himself clean in the face. I figured if his annoying ass power was just literally “return to sender”, I may as well find out what happens if he hits himself. He was lying on the ground with a bloody nose and had coughed out a tooth. I bowed to the nonexistent audience and left him to feel his own embarrassment.

I wasn’t the only one pulling off new moves, while fighting Marcus I witnessed Herman send himself into the air with a water jet move then slamming his body onto the thugs below him. I was proud that he’s doing some cool shit with his powers. I joined up with him and we combined our powers to fight off more of the Red Ring. We all stopped when Blonde Blazer was sent flying through the building, landing in a hole. We all stepped in after that. Robert threw himself at Shroud, we all pitched in to throw our own hits in but nothing was working. I crashed into a car, and injuries from the fight with my brother were finally catching up with me. While Shroud focused on Robert, Herman came to my side and helped me up and supported me by putting my arm over his shoulder. When all seemed lost a beam of light shot through Shroud’s mech.

“Shroud’s got a new suit now? What the fuck? How long was I out?”

No…No fucking way. Chase? But how? A woman with brown hair stepped out of the building.

“Blazer?” Robert said. Blazer? As in Blonde Blazer? That was definitely her, but she’s different now. We all stared in shock at the sight.

“You’re the only one I told about my amulet so I figured he wouldn’t see it coming.” I looked at Chase, and he was definitely wearing the red jewel I’ve always seen on Blazer.

“Oh shit, look at you!” He flew around Robert’s suit, they were reunited at last but before sentiments could settle in Shroud shot a laser at them.

He got up to try and attack Robert and Blazer, but we stood in front of them ready to protect them. I’ll be damned if Shroud takes out not just Blazer but our amazing dispatcher too.

“Blazer always did have a soft spot for helpless losers.” Shroud snarled.

God that’s such a high school bully statement, isn’t this guy old?

“Fuck off.” Punch Up scoffed

We all ran in, sending in not just separate attacks but combined ones too. Multiple Prisms, Punch Up pulling a pinball move, electrified water, flaming tornadoes, demon sword swinging, an angry bat monster, etc. Herman saw an opening in the mech thanks to Sonar ripping a piece off and shot some water into it. “I’M HELPING!” He shouted. I used the water to zap inside, swinging a clean right hook across his face and getting the fuck out. Swimming through what was essentially Herman’s spit was a choice but at least one that wasn’t predictable. The fight continued, Phenomaman grabbed a leg and then swung the mech into the air. Robert flew up into the sky and sent out basically a whole spirit bomb, sending Shroud crashing into the building.

“We fucked them in the face!” Phenomaman shouted leading to everyone cheering and celebrating.

Before I knew it I let a high-pitched squeak as my lungs were being crushed, I was pulled into a tight hug along with Herman by Phenomaman. My legs dangled above the ground, being the only short person in the hug but I knew Herman would be happy at least.

“Yachow! That’s it! Let’s go again, anybody wanna go again?” Chase zipped around us.

“You good Herm?” I checked, looking at Herman’s tomato face.

“Ph-Pheomaman hugged me.” “I know, I was there.” I rubbed my aching torso. “I can still feel his hug in fact—“

“STOP!”

Chase’s voice cut through the chatter, we followed where he was looking to see what he was reacting to.

Shroud stood above us on the roof, holding Beef. Everyone gasped in horror, it doesn’t take a genius to know what he could do with that dog in his hands.

“Is that…Track Star? Well, that is a surprise.” His voice made me go cold.

“Please…Elliott…put him down.”

“Who? This fat fuck?” He held Beef over the edge of the roof, and everyone went on guard. If anything happened to that dog, hell would unleash that’s for sure.

“Why is everyone so tense? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna drop him. Because TrackBlonde there’ll just swoop in and catch him anyway. So, yeah, no. If I’m killing this dog, I’m gonna make sure he dies.”

“Know this. If you hurt him you will die.” Robert sounded serious.

Shroud laughed, “No shit. So why don’t you, and only you Robert, fly your father’s suit up here and give me my fucking Astral Pulse.”

We were surrounded by Red Ring, Marcus, because he just has to be cruel, held me up by the neck with his arm.

“Oh, and if the rest of you could surrender, that’d be helpful.”

Robert flew up to the roof and stepped out of the suit. “There he is, so predictable. I knew this little, sloppy guy was your weakness. I knew you’d have feelings for Blazer, who I prefer blonde, but to each their own.”

Creepy.

“I knew you’d take, what is it you call her? Invisigal? That you’d take Invisigal under your wing. Teach her the ways. Extra credit. That’s why we planted her here.”

We turned our attention to Invisigal, well, I couldn’t given the hold I’m in. But Invisigal joining Red Ring? I guess if it could happen to Coupé it would eventually happen with her too.

“Yeah, works for us too. She gets two paychecks for the same job, look at her. Aww. She’s embarrassed.”

This guy talks more than Robert…

“So, all that to say, there isn’t a thing you can do that I haven’t modeled out. And once I have the Pulse, I won’t need to predict. I’ll just know. So don’t fuck around, Robert. Not right now.”

Robert stepped forward. “Same time. I just want a fair exchange.”

“Just don’t be an idiot and try to give me the shitty prototype. I’m a bad person, but I’m a man of my word. Give me my Pulse and no harm will come to your stupid dog.”

Shroud turned to us. “You all hear that?” We watched in fear as Robert continued forward ready for the exchange.

“What the fuck is this Robert?” Shroud snided

“You said you wanted the Astral Pulse I gave it to you. One of those is it.”

“They look fucking identical Robert.” We watched Shroud stand there with frustration.

“Maybe we wait til we get home?” one of the thugs asked sheepishly.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Shroud sounded like Marcus when he knew I was winning an argument.

He makes a decision and chucks one away before using the other. We watched the scene unfold as Shroud powered up, and the Red Ring all started glowing red. My brother’s grip on my neck tightened and I felt the pressure in my head.

“You feel that you fuckin’ fucks?” Shroud’s voice roared “I told you! I fuckin’ told you, clowns! You feel the power?” Yup. I sure do. Shroud started spewing more nonsense that was drowned out by my ears ringing, and my vision started to blur.

All my senses immediately returned to me as I fell to the ground, I immediately coughed and gasped for air. Herman helped me up and pulled me away. When I finally gathered myself, I saw that everyone in the Red Ring was vomiting, including Marcus. Thanks Herm for moving me out of the splash zone, you’re a true gentleman. We immediately got to fighting off the Red Ring, flashes of light, fire, electricity, water, and anything else flew across the area as the sun rose.

——————————————————————

Along with the police officers and firefighters, everyone pitched in to do their part in handling damage to the area. Herman was off spraying water to put out fires and clean the vomit so I didn’t bother him. I watched my brother get ushered into the back of a police van along with the arm guy and the weird green guy who had his pork and beans out the whole fight. Gross.

I joined back with the rest of the team as we all clapped and cheered for Visi. Turns out during our final battle she jumped in front of a bullet for Robert, hence why she’s on a stretcher. Prism shot out light, making fireworks that shimmered as they fell.

“Okay. Okay, chill out, weirdos.” Visi looked embarrassed, but I knew she was loving the attention.

We chanted “Not a bitch” In reference to her old name. Once the chant was over, Herman shouted an awkward “Not a bitch!” On his own which got a laugh out of me. We watched Visi get carried into the ambulance, I was proud of her. Despite everything we’ve said, despite the mistakes she made, despite being kicked from the team, she still stood up and redeemed herself. I’d say she earned her way back onto the Z-team, and I wish the best for her recovery.

We gathered for photos that Prism was taking and we could overhear the interviewer asking Chase about the “SDN Dispatcher” that killed Shroud. We knew that was Robert they were talking about, I didn’t think he had it in him to do it but I was proven wrong. Can’t say Shroud didn’t deserve it though and Chase agreed. Suddenly the camera was turned in our direction and we cheered and posed.

“Does your team have a name?” The interviewer asked, and we looked around at each other thinking of a name.

“Uhhh… Z-team!” Herman shouted

“Z-team!” We repeated with heroic poses.

“Whoa hold on, you got the wrong gal. She’s with us” Punch Up stopped the cops that were getting ready to send Coupé away.

“There must be a mix-up. Easy mistake. She looks scary.” Malevola added.

We all pleaded with the cops to let her go, I would love to have Coupé back. Sure she’s scary and attacked half the city but she’s really nice deep down.

“Hey. Yeah no, she’s with us.” Robert waved down the cops, telling them it’s ok to let her go.

Coupé smiled at us and Malevola grabbed drinks. Prism shot more fireworks, Flambae fired up some flames, and I let some sparks fly as we all clinked our bottles in celebration. I downed the entire bottle without a break because god did I need it.

Phenomaman carried Punch Up in the air while Chase zipped around in the sky, we all laughed, cheered, and goofed around with our powers which in hindsight wasn’t the best idea on my end after downing 2 bottles of beer. Moments passed before we started cheering “Robert sucks” to get his attention. Chase picked up Robert and zoomed into the sky, we could hardly see them until Chase came back down and dropped Robert into our arms. We tossed him up chanting “Super Bowl” a lot of chanting today. Mr. Whisky the iconic SDN mascot held up a phone to take photos while Blazer or I guess Mandy now? Mandy joined us in the picture, but our real photobomber was none other than Visi. Poor Robert hit the ground hard as we were all too busy posing for the picture.

——————————————————————

With all the commotion dying down and nothing left to do for SDN’s repairs, we all went our separate ways in groups. Sonar, Malevola, Prism, and Flambae planned to “keep the party going” wherever they went. Punch Up and Coupé went their own way. Mandy and Robert escorted Visi back to the hospital and everyone else went home.

I joined Herman in seeing if his grandmother’s house was still intact and if she was ok.

“So… we had an eventful 2 days didn’t we?” I attempted a conversation, carrying my now fully damaged helmet.

“Oh yeah, big time.” He chuckled.

“I hope we get a raise, that’ll be just the boost needed to finally move out.” I sighed.

“You want to move?”

“Hell yeah, I do! That place is shitty and has bad memories. Maybe I’ll get accepted into more places now that I’m recognized as a hero.” I made extravagant poses that got a laugh out of Herman.

“And with a new place, I’ll feel more comfortable inviting you over.” Herman blushed at my comment and I immediately tried to deflect

“Yknow as well as other…friends!” We returned to our awkward, tension-filled silence as we walked.

Herman’s grandmother was returned safe and sound to her house, and we both sat on the couch with the TV on but not exactly watching what was on it. We were both fidgeting with our fingers on opposite ends of the couch, on occasion glancing at each other. I couldn’t get the moment on the train out of my head. How happy we were to see each other, our hug, whatever it was that Robert interrupted. In a way I wanted to finish what we started.

“Herman…” he tensed up at my voice, “uhm…that moment…on the train, did you also lean forward or did I imagine that?”

Silence.

“When you called me pretty, it was more than just a compliment, right? The blanket when I fell asleep, always doing stuff for me, getting paired on missions together more often after talking with Robert. I could be reading too deeply into all this but…you have feelings for me, don’t you?”

Herman hesitated like he was thinking about something, he closed his eyes before finally speaking.

“I-I have…for a while.” When he opened his eyes I had inched closer to his side.

When he noticed he did the same. “You was—were always so nice and patient with me. Even when we first met you were kind, despite slipping on one of my-my puddles. You were so interested in my powers instead of being weirded—disgusted by them. I did gain an attachment to you—platonic at first, I always looked forward to seeing you at SDN. But after we started texting each other and uh, getting to know more about you I wanted to…to be with you. But because of your powers and you talking about how you could never date— be in a relationship I feared ruining what we had.” He hung his head low.

I remembered telling him about how my powers used to work, how it could kill with one touch. Him especially, since he’s mostly water. I told him that I just accepted growing old alone, I didn’t know my powers could be controlled back then.

“I guess that’s different now though.” He chuckled.

We locked eyes again, now that I had control of my powers I could feel again. It was like a curse was finally lifted. We got closer together until there was no longer a space between us. I really did want to say something here, a cheesy attempt at a flirt, some sort of one-liner to make myself seem as “cool” as he makes me out to be, something. But I couldn’t. Instead, I just grabbed him and pulled him in for a kiss. He accepted and we intertwined our hands together. It started how I expected my first ever kiss to go, a little awkward but we got the hang of it. His lips were soft as expected, water droplets from his hair tickled my face and the world around us disappeared.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that. Minutes? Hours? Hell, it could’ve been days. But it was amazing. We both knew we wouldn’t hear the end of it from Z-team if they found out so we wanted to keep this peace to ourselves for as long as we could.

Episode 4

The golden light of the sun slipped through my window and burned my tired eyes. Why even bother lying in bed if I have too much energy to sleep? I groaned and shielded my eyes as I got up and went to the bathroom. I ran my fingers through my shortened sparking hair and an image of last night flashed in my head, the image of a flustered and overwhelmed Waterboy.

My face burns up again in embarrassment, feeling bad for bombarding him with personal questions about his powers when we hardly knew each other beyond crossing paths. He did look kind of cute though…I shake my thoughts and do my usual daily routine before heading to work.

I walked into SDN and put my stuff in my locker. When I exited, Waterboy did a double-take at me and waved with a shy smile. Surprised that he still wanted to interact with me even after our last one I awkwardly waved back. While making my way through the building, I was caught off guard by the sounds of bagpipes and a man moaning what sounded like pornographic nonsense.

The source was Robert’s computer, he frantically closed whatever was making those noises and awkwardly waved at everyone before slumping into his chair. Malevola and Flambae pointed and laughed at Robert while Punch Up glared daggers at him, presumably the culprit of this prank. That’s right, Coupé was cut, and she was close with Punch Up. So not only will we be dealing with one less teammate but also Punch Up being bitter about it, not that I blame him. Despite her gloomy demeanor, Coupé seemed pretty nice.

The news on the tv showed Phenomaman moping on a highway causing traffic. I remember hearing about his break up with Blonde Blazer, I actually kinda feel bad for the guy. As the news continued the tv was then covered in water, our precious janitor thought it would be a good idea to mop the tv. I grimaced at the sight and decided to move on before it was time for our shift.

——————————————————————

“It’s weird that Coupé’s gone.” Sonar was the first to say something about our missing teammate.

“Glad you made the cut though. Imagine if it were Coop and Visi together,” Malevola added.

“I imagine Coop and Visi all the time.” Of course, Sonar has to be gross about it, but it’s not the time to think about that.

Between the team being spread thin, Sonar pestering Robert about a stapler, and literal bomb threats we were really at our limits here.

“We need you to send somebody else, this is too much!” Flambae demanded.

“We’re out of somebodies, you’re gonna have to make do.”

Gee, thanks Robert very helpful.

“You sound like my first manager, I fired his ass.” Prism said.

"Y'know the last time there ‘wasn’t enough somebodies’ in a place I worked at, I died.” Adding my own petty remark.

Malevola followed. “Really didn’t think this one through did you, Robert?”

Golem let out a snicker as Sonar added “Malevola’s right, if you hadn’t cut Coop this would be a breeze.”

Our gripes over Coupé being cut continued, especially with Punch Up. It definitely didn’t help when we heard that Coupé’s old group was back in town, raising suspicion that she may have returned to villainy. This concerned Punch Up enough to end his shift early, leaving us with even fewer people. Great.

——————————————————————-

Now that our absolute shit-show of a first shift was over, I could finally relax. That was too much even for me. I decided to head towards the break room for a snack only to find Waterboy walking out with noodles all over him.

“Uh, what happened here?” I gestured to all of him.

“Oh, I was— it was just an incident.” He sounded pretty defeated, which honestly broke my heart a bit. I continued to walk with him, forgetting my original intentions with the break room.

“Did you slip while holding your lunch or something?” I asked.

“Flambae, he was…he got mad.”

Yeah, I had a feeling if it wasn’t an accident it would be that dickhead of all things. Speaking of the flaming devil he stormed past us…also covered in noodles, serves him right. I sighed and shook my head.

“I may not have the full context but whatever happened doesn’t give him the right to bully you like that.”

Because it’s just fate apparently that we can never hold a full conversation, my stomach growled from its lack of food. Right, I was going to grab a snack.

“You should probably go eat, I need to—am about to shower anyway.” Waterboy gave me a “don’t worry about me” look and after a concerned look from me I nodded and turned to find Blonde Blazer.

I froze like a deer in headlights while she asked if she could speak to Waterboy. We must’ve both been in shock because she reassures him that he’s not in trouble and I scurry off after a wave to them both. Witnessing the mess in the break room and a snack later and I’m ready to face our next shift.

——————————————————————

“Hey team! We appreciate you doing your best last shift under the circumstances, but we’re here to help. More specifically, Waterboy is here to help.”So that’s what Blonde Blazer was talking to him about, good for him. We could use a new—

before I could finish my thoughts the chat filled with complaints, which I should have expected.

“He may be new to this, but Robert and I think he will make a great addition to the team.” Blonde Blazer reassured.

“This is bullshit.” Naturally, Punch Up would have a problem but I’m just happy to have another person fill the void honestly.

“Good…good morn—eve—Hello!” Waterboy’s cute attempt at an introduction unintentionally made me smile a bit. I'm sure this opportunity to be a hero cheered him up after the incident during lunch.

“This is a joke right?” Visi said

“I don’t…is it? A-a joke?” Oh, sweet boy I hope not.

“Nope. Waterboy, it's not a joke.” Blonde Blazer clarified

“Oh. C-cool…io” Adorable.

————————————————————————

“Puddle! Guys, watch, look out—“ Waterboy warned

“Ow, dude what the fuck?” I can only assume that was Golem slipping on one of Waterboy’s puddles…good thing I started wearing my nonslip boots.

“S-s-sorry, I’m apologize. I…It’s my fault, mistake. I get w-wet wh-when nerv…nerv…ous” poor guy sounds like a scared chihuahua.

Flambae breaks the silence by asking if we were regular civilians what job we would have. I answered by bringing up the engineering job I had before becoming a villain. Waterboy mentioned being ok with being a janitor but always wanted to be a hero. Because everyone’s being more of a dick than usual they started ragging on him like it was an impossible job to achieve, we used to be villains and now we’re in a program to rehabilitate us into heroes! Why can’t he become one too?

“Powerline, do you mind joining Waterboy on this dispatch? I’m not saying babysit him, just some backup. Yknow?” Robert asked me directly.

“On it boss!” I saluted with a silly voice. I make my way to Waterboy who seems pretty eager. “Alright, big guy looks like it’s you and me this time. You ready?”

“Wet and ready!” He responded with full confidence. I had to fight demons not to laugh, not because I wanted to mock him or anything but that was just…

Our mission went well thankfully, and he seemed to get some good experience out of it as well. That was the last call of our shift so we went our separate ways once we got back.

“G-great- good shift uh- sh-shift every- g-g-go Z-Team!” My smile at Waterboy’s cheeriness was cut short by Puch Up’s response

“Did you hit your head slipping on one of your own fuckin’ puddles?” Jesus man…

——————————————————————

With another shift over and my stuff gathered, I started heading home. I tried finding Waterboy but he was nowhere to be found so I figured I’d find him tomorrow. At least now I can sit back, relax, and— Fuck. I left my keys…

I rushed back to SDN through the power lines across the city, hopefully I won't get in trouble or something for returning like this after hours especially for my keys. I made my way to my locker and grabbed what I returned for, I started to rush my way out before crashing into something wet.

“Powerline?” I recognized that voice immediately.

“Waterboy?!” I grabbed his hand as he helped me up.

“Why are you— what are you doing here a-after hours?” I could ask him the same thing, but telling by the janitor's cart I’m assuming he’s still on cleaning duty.

“I left my keys. I was…looking for you, earlier.” Waterboy’s eyes lit up

“Me? Uhm…what for?”

“I wanted to check on you, the team was unfairly harsh towards you.” I started fiddling with my fingers.

“Oh, that. It’s…alright. Robert and I talked about it earlier and I shouldn’t worry about what they say anyway.” I gave him a little smile, not just because he had someone to talk to but because that’s probably the longest I’ve heard him speak without too much stuttering.

“I also want to say—tell you that I uh…appreciate you being nice— and patient with me.” The blush that was always on his face became even more vibrant, how is it possible for a man to be this cute?

“No problem man.” I stopped to think for a minute before finally asking. “Hey, you want my phone number?” Waterboy turned into a flustered stuttering mess, I’m not even sure there was a sentence let alone a word in there.

“Relax, I have every Z-Team member’s phone number I just figured since you’re part of the team now I could have yours as well, if you wanted.”

I did have everyone’s number but that’s mainly because we’re in a group chat and on occasions go out to drink together at bars I rarely text someone one-on-one unless I need to and the others seem to do the same.

“Uh…yeah! I can- I can give you my number!” Waterboy squeaked. We exchanged numbers and I labeled him as “🦦Wetboy💦” before finally parting ways and heading home.

————————————————————————

Episode 5

Out of all the members of Z-Team, the last one I expected to be texting late into the night was Waterboy. We exchanged numbers last night and he sent me a message as soon as he got home. It started awkwardly since we didn’t know what to say just yet but then suddenly were talking about our favorite heroes, the metal bands he has posters of which is a side of Waterboy I didn’t expect, I told him about how my powers work and why I wear a helmet all the time, and he told me about his grandmother and her many cats. Eventually, he had to go to bed which was understandable, but while he was awake he definitely made my night feel less lonely.

My morning was the same as any other as I got ready for work. I texted Waterboy some more on my way to SDN, eventually receiving an adorable photo of an orange cat lying on its back with the caption, “The reason I couldn’t get out of bed on time.” I giggled as I put my stuff in my locker, then our favorite disappearing and reappearing ex-villain showed up, scaring the shit out of me.

“What’s got you giggling like a teenager?” Visi pried.

Y'know, she really isn’t proving those allegations about people with sneaky powers like hers wrong.

“None of your business…” I deflected, closing the messaging app and putting my phone away.

“Nah I already saw, had no idea you and Wateryshitboy were close.”

I’m going to ignore that nickname, knowing her, she probably did snoop in the men’s bathroom at some point.

“We’re not that close, I just figured since he’s part of the team now we could exchange numbers as I did with everyone else.”

I tried walking away from the conversation but little Miss “I don’t understand boundaries” just had to keep going.

Mr. Cat was returned safe and sound and Robert warned us about the floodgates that will open once he gets the power back on.

“You don’t even text us that much, I just assumed you were distant from the group. Some sort of ‘I’m better than you because I’m nice’ thing.”

I let out a frustrated grunt “Why are you in my personal business anyway? Shouldn’t you be stalking Robert?”

Ok, maybe I got a little too defensive. I don’t hate Visi, but sometimes that girl just doesn’t know when the line is crossed.

She put her hands up and backed away “Oookay, I see I struck a nerve.”

I sighed deeply “I’m sorry, I got a bit too defensive.” Visi softened and patted me on the shoulder.

“I was actually here to mention that we were considering going out for drinks tonight, if you’re interested. We can even bring Waterboy along.” It felt like she was jingling keys in front of me but honestly, I could use a night out.

——————————————————————

“Yo, you ever notice the Torrance vibe is like…rancid?” Prism was right, but I didn’t really notice till she said it.

“Between the dead fish at the harbor, and the giant refinery you can’t tell who’s to blame.” Punch Up replied.

“Dang that’s some nasty shit.”

“Man, I love the smell of the refinery,” Golem added.

“I’m used to the industrial smell, it’s the dead fish at the harbor that grosses me out” I gagged at the thought, the smell, the look of dead fish, it all could—

“Alright, everybody. Respectfully, shut the fuck up.” Robert intervened. Damn someone’s pissed.

“Who pissed in your cereal?” Visi chuckled.

“Now that is some nasty shit” Golem said.

“Who’s the most bullyable on the Z-team?” Malevola asked.

“It’s Waterboy obviously.” Visi chimed in.

Oh boy, here we go.

“Oh uh, I-it’s an honor to be n-nominated.”

“Definitely not something you want to be nominated for Waterboy.” I quickly replied

“Actually I’m pretty sure it’s me.” Robert volunteered.

“Yeah, at least Waterboy can get a girl wet.” That’s…better I guess. I really didn’t want him to be put through the wringer again. Also maybe it’s just me but it feels like Robert has been pairing me with Waterboy on more missions lately.

Our first shift was honestly uneventful besides the shit we had to do for people who called, once lunch hit I joined Prism and Malevola in the break room. We started taking bets on what superhero Robert used to be and when he came in for his own lunch he didn’t really give much to work off of, he just said he was double-jointed.

——————————————————————

“So, how do you feel about day 2 of being on Z-team?” I leaned against the lounge wall next to Waterboy.

“It’s uh, it’s a bit better than yesterday. I-I think they’re warming up to me.” I smiled

“Good. Hey, we’re going out for drinks tonight. Wanna join us?”

“Oh uh, I would have to- need to put my grandma in bed first but I could- can go tonight.” He made an attempt to also lean against the wall but slipped, I let out a slight chuckle before standing up.

“Sweet, hopefully I’ll see you there.”

“Evening folks welcome back.” A slightly more polite hello from Robert compared to this morning,

“We’ve gotten a few guesses of your identity, leading one right now is Blue Balls Man”

I don’t remember that discussion Visi…

“Let me guess his power is not being able to nut?” What else could it be Robert?

“Nah his balls are literally blue dude,” I see. “Get your head out of the gutter.”

Waterboy and I were on our way to save poor little “Mr. Cat” when suddenly the lights in the streets were cut off, everything was cut off. A blackout in a time like this. Well, it’s a good thing my helmet’s camera has a night vision mode, and I got a flashlight in my utility belt if someone needs it. Waterboy somehow already has a flashlight and spares. I don't know where he could’ve kept them but it’s good to be prepared.

“Oh, y’all can’t see? I’m a human nightlight. I don't got those problems.”

I figured Prism having light powers would be fine. Same with Flambae and his fire, Malevola mentioned that she can just straight up see in the dark, and Punch Up got mad at us for having the ability to see.

“Alright fuck you guys.”

I was prepared for a floodgate of civilians and whatever blackout shenanigans that would follow, I was prepared for increased crime during the blackout, I was not prepared for catching a whole fucking plane.

“My pants are wet… for human reasons this time.”

Normally I would be grossed out by the fact that Waterboy pissed himself but honestly if I were sent to catch a plane, which I am, I’d piss myself too. It was me, Waterboy, and Golem. Golem was prepared to literally catch the plane, I did my best to repair the runway lights and Waterboy helped. It was scary but thankfully we managed.

Next mission Waterboy and I were sent on was to search for some missing teens at the beach, this time with Punch Up. Naturally, they were all on drugs.

“Th-they were high?” Waterboy sounded pretty concerned, which was expected.

“Yeah man, teens get high sometimes. Didn’t you?” Robert asked

“I-w-well I’m a uh-not-uh I haven’t really ever been high before…”

“I never recommend this to anyone, but I think you specifically should try getting high.”

I grabbed Waterboy’s shoulder to get his attention “I could get my hands on some edibles if you ever wanna give it a try” I laughed at Waterboy’s flustered expression as Punch Up simply shook his head

“I fear the lad will experience things he can’t come back from if he did.”

——————————————————————

With the power restored and our shift ending, I was definitely looking forward to a night out with drinks. Unfortunately, Flambae was banned from Crypto so we’re heading to the Sardine, a villain bar I haven’t been to in a while. After some pressure from us, Robert was also joining us. Golem was left outside and I helped Waterboy get in since I knew how strict the bodyguard was. Waterboy offered to get drinks for us while I found a seat so I plopped into a nearby booth and relaxed.

A little bit of time passed and I was honestly a little worried for my watery friend, before I could get up and find him Robert walked over and offered me a glass of whiskey. Not my usual drinking choice but hey I wouldn’t turn down a free drink.

“Yo, Robert. Have you seen Waterboy? He offered to get us drinks and hasn’t returned since.”

“Oh geez, you lost him? I’ll send him your way if I find him.”

Robert looked around with worry, I raised my glass as thanks while he disappeared with the other glasses in his hands.Waterboy meekly made his way to me with his own glass of whiskey and sat next to me

“You good? You were gone for a while.”

“I uh…couldn’t get the bartender’s attention.” Waterboy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Yeah, this place is kinda loud. You gotta speak up in a place like this.” I chuckled.

“Speaking up isn’t exactly my strong suit…” Waterboy sighed and I got ready to comfort him but I noticed a familiar large man in the distance.

He was laughing with a group I’m assuming he was part of, he looked just a little bit different, slightly bigger and more muscular, but there was no mistaking it. Marcus. Here. He should definitely still be in prison! Did he break out? Why here of all places? Is he seeking revenge? Waterboy must’ve noticed my internal panic because he tapped me on the shoulder.

“Are you—is something wrong? You’ve been staring at him—that guy for a while.”

“Oh him? Don’t— d-don’t worry about it. As long as he doesn’t know I’m here there’s nothing to worry about.”

Because I’m just so good at hiding my emotions today I downed the entire glass of whiskey, a chill going through my whole body as a few sparks escape where my mouth is.

“Who is he? I-if you don’t mind me asking.” Waterboy fidgeted with his glass

“That’s…my brother. When Blonde Blazer offered me an opportunity on the Z-team, he declined it. Last time I saw him, he tried to kill me because without me he wouldn’t know what to do as a villain. But he sure did find something anyway.”

I leered at him happily hanging out with whatever group he’s a part of now, that dumbass would’ve ended up without me anyway if he did succeed but that’s why he needed me. He doesn’t think, just do. No brains, just muscle.

Waterboy didn’t question or comment on the subject any further, this is probably the most pissed he’s ever seen me. His attempt at changing the subject to cheer me up was lost to the sound of Robert being thrown across the room. Some guy with giant robotic arms grabbed Visi and everyone in the bar had all sorts of red tech glowing on their bodies, including my brother.

——————————————————————

So much shit was going on at once.

Bodies flying, fists and objects being thrown, a coked-up mega-bat form Sonar flying across the room, and Prism killing it on stage with her holographic clones. Waterboy hid in a corner while I got up and joined the fight, I held my own pretty well despite being somewhat drunk from the whiskey and dancing to Prism’s music. Then in the corner of my eye, I caught Marcus creeping towards Waterboy. Hell. No. I zipped over using my powers and chucked a chair in his direction with all my might, it bounced off him and flew back towards me. Thankfully I dodged it and it hit some other Red Ring thug but why the fuck did it do that?

The chair still got his attention though so he turned and looked at me surprisingly it didn’t take him too long to recognize me.

“JJ? Is that you?” He chuckled.

I shivered at the nickname. Something only our parents called me, I knew he was just trying to get under my skin but I won’t fall for it this time.

“Look at you, playing hero now?” He got closer, directly into my face. “That won’t hide the fact that you became a villain after villains killed our pops.” After that, all I could see was red.

——————————————————————

We all sat outside the taco joint tired and bruised. My helmet’s screen was cracked preventing it from showing anything on it but the camera was still working thankfully. I don’t remember much from the bar fight past Marcus once again successfully rage-baiting me but I do remember being carried by Golem once I was brought back to my senses. He held me by the neck of my suit like I was just some cat he found.

“Is the— can I— spends-spends reporting—expensable? Can I get my money back? Paid? Please?”

Waterboy brought us our food and I paid him back what I owed. He immediately tried to backpedal and say I didn’t have to but I insisted since I knew if the others witnessed that we would never hear the end of it.

I also just noticed he was a bit scuffed up too, which the idea that someone possibly did put their hands on him made me twitch a little. We gathered, grabbing our food while other perspectives of the bar fight were being recalled: Prism permanently blinding a guy for trying to interrupt her performance, Punch Up doing his signature move while also accidentally hitting Robert with some friendly fire, Malevola setting up a portal to let Golem in, Waterboy getting scuffed by attempting to pull me off Marcus, and Visi and Robert breaking both of a guy’s arms.

“Both arms? Y’all are fucked up.” Prism said.

“Weird thing was how easy it was. This churro wasn’t as soft as his noodle arms.”

Visi’s description had me imagining actual arms made of churros.

“Maybe next time give us a heads up before you start a fight, I wanted another drink,” Golem stated.

“You’re heroes now. You don’t start fights, you finish them. Everyone laughed and groaned at Robert’s cheesy remark.

“Well, not many finish a fight against the Red Ring.” Malevola took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, why do you have beef with them Mr. Dispatcher?” Prism questioned.

“Yeah, we know this Robert guy is a front. Who are you? Really.” Punch Up added.

“You’re right, it’s a front. Robert is a mask.”

We all listened with anticipation as Robert continued, “He’s not real. He’s the guy who sits behind his desk, biding his time, dreaming of the day he gets back in the fight. I haven’t told you who I was because I’m kinda starting to like you all, and I’m not sure you’re gonna like the real me. But the difference between this team getting by and this team being great is trust, so you should get to know the real me. Um, I’m Mecha Man.”

Shock was all over my face, even if the rest couldn't see it. Punch Up stood up.

“No fuckin’ way…can’t be.”

“Could be.” Malevola added

“That’s like a real superhero.” Prism chimed in.

“I don’t normally say stuff like this but you gained mad respect from me when you beat up that reporter.” I chuckled.

Robert gave me a disapproving look before Flambae stood up. “It is you, you little shit.”

Uh oh, I guess Flambae would have some beef with Mecha Man. He flamed up and shot his fire at Robert, who was thankfully saved by Golem. Flambae got ready to attack again before Waterboy stood up and put his fire out with his water, threatening to do it again if needed.

We all laughed as Flambae cussed us out and flew off into the night like a comet. He’ll be back, he just needs time.

Robert thanked Golem for literally saving his life and then turned to us, “So, um, I expected to be burnt to a crisp by now, and I didn’t plan any of this next part, um, does anybody else got something to say?”

“Um, my name’s Courtney.” Visi was the first to reveal her real name.

“Nice to meet you, Courtney.” Robert smiled.

The others then started revealing their names “Herm.” Waterboy stood up. “Sometimes Herman. Or Hermy. But my grandma calls me Herm, so, Herm.” And not a single stutter either.

“My name’s Victor. Cause I’m a fuckin’ winner.” Sonar slammed the table with his fists.

“I’m Alice.”

“Bruno.”

“Malevola. My last name’s Gibb.”

“My name’s Colm.”

Guess it’s my turn now. “Jennah.” Putting up a peace sign with my hand.

“So what now? Orgy time?”

With all of you at once? Absolutely not. Thanks for the offer though Visi.

“Right. Mega fuego sauce and ass play sounds like a great combo.”

Don’t encourage her Robert, I wouldn’t even do normal ass play. With the mood lightened we all went into our own conversations.

“I uh, I like your name. It’s nice.” Waterboy sat down next to me with a smile and I think just a little bit of fear from my actions at the bar.

“Thanks, I like your name too, Hermy.” I chuckled as Waterboy became as red as a tomato. I’m definitely making that his name in my phone now.