Threat Level: E

Destructiveness: E

Killability: D

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Might: F

Survivability: E

Recovery: D

Mobility: E

Spark: D

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Powers: Enhanced Sight and Hearing, Sonic Blasts, Durable Arms, Metabolic Regeneration, Desert Jackal’s Reflexes

Classification: Bruiser/Stalker

The briefing lasted into the wee hours of the morning and left Danny feeling confused. He didn’t know how to process working with supers that had tried to maim him. Roach claimed the Freaks had never killed any civilians. They indulged in thievery to survive—scrounging for food, money, or equipment. If a hero tried to stop or capture them, the Freaks defended themselves. On occasion, they messed with heroes, too.

Apparently, the Freaks rarely hurt civilians unless assaulted first. In most cases, they assumed the attackers were a villain’s henchmen or gang members. Danny wondered whether they’d thought the same about him and Sasha. Roach’s attacks had felt lethal, but he suffered no major injuries. After fighting Malfunction and watching footage of the Freaks fighting Becca’s children, Danny was sure they could’ve taken down Sasha with little trouble.

Then it clicked. The Freaks were toying with her. Roach and Mindpunch likely intended to do the same with him.

They’re like idiot kids messing with a trapped spider.

During the meeting, the Freaks repeated what Malfunction had told him when they fought. The villains had reiterated that they had no squabbles with the League and no agenda besides taking down Power Merchant. They craved revenge and wished to free their friends.

And I thought my childhood was hard.

Danny pitied the Freaks. Power Merchant stole them from their families and put them through torturous experiments, leaving them disfigured, mad, or with powers they struggled to control.

Beta had designed his chest armour to fold in a rectangular backpack. It resembled the temperature-controlled containers high-end restaurants used for deliveries. They were far too rich for a humble Indian takeaway, but Becca considered it a believable sell. The suit’s coat, mask, gloves, and belt comfortably fit in them. In just a sky-blue t-shirt, trousers, and boots, he looked no different from an ordinary citizen. For the sake of security, he kept his palm-mouths open and stuck to the shadows on his way home, relying on his Stalker skills to avoid detection.

Kaka was fast asleep, but had left a cling-filmed plate of rice and an assortment of bowls in the apartment’s kitchenette. Danny only had the patience to heat the daal and chicken. He stirred them into cold rice and tucked into the meal hungrily, while his mind went over the meeting for the eleventh time. Hero work was more complicated than Danny expected.

No official or unofficial records mentioned heroes and villains working together. However, he sensed it wasn’t Fenrir’s first time using such a setup. It suddenly made sense how he’d taken down the biggest drug ring in Liverpool—the country’s capital for illegal substances—with minimal manpower. When the League failed to sufficiently staff his team, he picked up villains who had a bone to pick with his target.

Even though Druid hadn’t mentioned it explicitly, Danny hypothesised the Freaks, and he had worked together in the past. The night when the hero fought Jose, the villain group had stepped in and saved his life. If they wanted to catch Power Merchant, sticking to the shadows and jumping him would’ve turned out better for them.

I really need to talk to him.

As Danny cleaned up after his meal, he thought back to the way Druid had stared at him and Mista Fista. The part-shaven head and scars didn’t suit the hero. He looked colder than Louis O’Connor ever did. More about him appeared to have changed besides just cosmetics. He felt like a different person.

As Druid climbed the League’s heirarchy, the amount he disclosed to Danny had exponentially decreased. Dryad had taken over as his closest confidant. Danny didn’t mind. They were still close friends but lived in different worlds. To some extent, rebuilding his relationship with Druid had been a driving factor behind his aspirations. At times, he had felt jealous of the relationship between the two heroes, too. He understood that Dryad’s fall had taken a toll on Druid. It was another reason for Danny hoped to speak to him.

When Danny returned to his room, he was ready to strip down, climb under the covers, and sleep past sunrise until sunset. Instead, he froze after getting his t-shirt off. The palm-mouths detected a second set of heartbeats in the room. The infiltrator sat atop the cheap plywood wardrobe. Danny tried his best to appear unaware as he pulled the sheets back onto his bed. Meanwhile, a pair of eyeballs slowly moved down through his arm-hollows.

“It’s best if you don’t try anything,” the infiltrator said. The female voice felt familiar, but Danny failed to identify it. He felt a blade where the back of his skull where it met the neck and another halfway down his rib cage. However, the woman hadn’t moved.

A Controller?

“Relax.” The woman continued when Danny said nothing after a minute. “I’m not here to fight. Can we just talk?” When Danny still didn’t respond, she sighed, hopping off the wardrobe. “Turn around, Rev. Look at me.”

Danny complied. It didn’t take him long to figure out the infiltrator’s identity once their eyes met.

“You probably don’t know who I am—”

“You’re the Freaks’ Mover,” Danny said.

“What gave me away?” She asked.

“Surveillance footage. We have your hair and that coat of yours on file. I knew that you existed. It’s just been tough to put a face on you.”

“That’s not good.” She sighed. “Nothing I can do about it now. The name’s Nyx.”

“How did you find me?”

“I don’t just erase everyone’s memories of me when I teleport,” Nyx answered. “When I cut someone with my psyblades, I see flashes of their latest memories, too.”

“You saw the restaurant?” Danny asked.

Nyx nodded. “The night you and the speedster attacked us, you had the shop’s logo on your delivery box, too. Wasn’t too hard to piece the fragments together.” She put her hands up. “That’s information regarding me that only the Freaks have. It places you in a privileged position of power. You can have it in good faith to use however you want. I hope it’s enough for you to understand that I’m not your enemy.”

“What good is information if I forget it all as soon as you teleport out?”

“That’s an unfortunate side effect of my powers,” Nyx replied.

“What do you want with me?”

“Your trust and help.”

“Well, we’re on the same side,” Danny said. “For now, at least. It’s unlikely you’ll ever have my trust, but you’ll have my help without a doubt.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Nyx sighed. “Involuntarily fucking up everybody’s memories makes life rather unpleasant.”

“Get to it, please.” Danny glanced between her eyes, and the glowing pink blades pressed against his neck. They connected to tentacle-like extensions which disappeared into her frizzy blonde hair.

“You’re not like normal League aspirants. I saw you risk your life to help Druid, and you were still a powerless then. Now, here you are weeks later with no signs of a gunshot wound, powered, and working with an agent. There’s something off about you—”

“You saved Druid’s life, too,” Danny said. “Now that I talk to you, it’s all coming back to me. Getting in the way of someone as strong as Scale can’t be smart.”

“He’s a friend,” Nyx replied. “Or was before what happened to Dryad. Druid watched our backs, so we did the same for him.”

“It’s the same for me. I did what I did to save a friend.”

“That’s what makes you different. Most League aspirants are mostly in it for themselves. I’ve sliced enough to know that they’re in it for fame and glory or to stroke their fragile egos. When not in costume, they wouldn’t lift a finger or risk their lives. It doesn’t benefit their brand. Only a handful are willing to do what’s right. Druid is one of them.”

“So you’ve been allied with Druid for a while now?”

“On and off,” she answered. “He cut off all contact after what happened to Dryad. Malfunction encouraged Roach and I to push and go back to him. I believe you have something to do with that.”

“I’m sorry to tell you but me helping Druid that evening wasn’t an act of altruism. He was supposed to help me get a job with the League. It was a purely selfish act.”

“After how you dealt with Malfunction and Ratling, I struggle to believe that. You’re powerful, but use your abilities sparingly. There were several instances where you could’ve crippled or killed the two—”

“The League wouldn’t let me get away with killing someone. That’s especially relevant for someone that’s not an official hero, yet.”

“True, but you’re still a protected class,” Nyx said. “They make allowances and excuses. As long as there is no evidence that you were using restraint and the death was an accident or caused by the villain’s own recklessness, you can get away with it.” She sighed. “That’s not important right now. You could’ve continued beating Malfunction and driven her into submission, ensuring she no longer poses a threat. When you realised she’s just fourteen, you stopped. Most heroes don’t do that. Talon didn’t do that.”

Danny stared at her, struggling to decide what to make of Nyx. He didn’t know what to make of the conversation. “Fine. I’m different. Care to tell me what you want from me? There’s been a whole lot of beating around the bush and not enough getting to the point. What is it you want from me?”

“We need you to join us.”

“What?!” Danny exclaimed louder than intended. He and Nyx froze, listening to the apartment’s background sounds. The hand-mouths assured Danny that Kaka was still asleep. “Are you insane?” He continued at a lower volume. “You’re criminals. Despite what Roach and Malfunction say, they used lethal force against me while I was in and out of my suit. Joining you won’t just endanger my family, but ruin everything I’ve ever worked for.”

“We need people like you, Rev. Roach tries to help, but he’s too immature. Given what Power Merchant did to him, he can’t go out either without every local hero descending on him. That leaves me to take care of fifteen underage supers. They’re all fucked up in one way or another. Some more than others. Most of the crimes we’ve committed have been out of necessity to keep them safe and alive—”

“Does that involve sabotaging Talon’s tech or stealing from organisations that have done you wrong?”

“We weren’t targeting anyone but Talon!” Nyx hissed. “He might put on a great front, but the bastard is a bigoted arsehole. He put two kids in the hospital. They did nothing wrong. I took them out for ice cream and one of them got brain-freeze. The little guy lost control of his powers and Talon filled him with so many fucking feathers…” Her voice cracked. “He lost a hand and a kidney. Lily tried to protect him and a feather sliced her femoral artery. She almost bled out.”

“I’m sorry.” The words came out in a whisper.

“We were looking to steal from Talon after what he did. Bumping into Golemancer’s children and you was an accident. How were we supposed to know that he’s an agency hero?”

“I sympathise with you, Nyx,” Danny said. “Honestly, I really do. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on what I’m working towards. The League is a fucked up organisation and to accomplish my goals I have to join them. There’s no way around it.”

“I’m not asking for a lot, okay?” Nyx said. “Join the League. Get a licence, but since you’re with an agency, you’ll get to pick where you function. Stay around Islington and Hackney. When there’s an alert about the Freaks. Run interference. Don’t let the other heroes beat up children. If you take out a gang and find their loot, contact us so we can take some of it first. It’ll help feed and clothe people who’d otherwise end up in a secret prison under the Thames or English Channel for no crime besides existing.”

“Are you serious about surrendering yourselves to the League once we take down Power Merchant?”

“I might not look and sound it, but I’m just nineteen. My life shouldn’t revolve around taking care of a bunch of unstable teenagers. Someone my age shouldn’t be equipped for it and I’m constantly teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown. Once we’ve taken down Power Merchant and freed all of his living victims, the Freaks are going to be disbanded. We’ll hand ourselves over to the League whether Fenrir holds up his end of the bargain or not. Until then, we need you to help us.”

“I’ll think about it,” Danny said. “That’s if I don’t forget you and everything we just discussed the second you teleport out of here.”

Nyx smiled. Her psyblade-tipped tentacles retreated, and she stepped close to Danny. He froze as she leaned forward and kissed him. Her tongue parted his lips and before Danny knew it, he was kissing her, too. Then good sense snapped him back to reality, and he pushed her away.

“Not bad, Rev.” Nyx chuckled.

“What the hell was that for?”

“Well, I needed to give you something to remember me by.”

“So if you don’t kiss people they forget you?” Danny backpedalled when she leaned in once again.

“A peck tends to be enough,” Nyx replied, laughing. Then she exploded into a cloud of purple smoke and disappeared.

Danny waited for the memories to fade, but they didn’t. The kiss and conversation remained fresh in his mind as he processed everything Nyx had said.

I’m not going to get much sleep tonight, am I?