1.33

Clara teleported the team back to Stick’s treehouse. She made the appropriate calls and the relevant teams took care of the fallout.

“You all did really well out there,” said Clara.

“Very proud of you all,” Stick joined in.

“It was tough,” said Silas.

“Assholes,” said Gauzelle.

A flash of blue light burst through the room and Michael stepped into the room.

“Well done everybody, you’ve made me proud.” He wore a large smile and started to make milkshakes for everyone.

“Mom, what’s gonna happen with Cardinal Knight? Why did she do those things?” Hunter asked.

“She’ll be interrogated. I have no idea why she did the things she did. She’s been missing for ten months. She’s great at the doing things like that.” Clara kissed her son on the forehead and gave him a huge hug and then teleported out of the treehouse.

“People are gonna know who we are now. They’ll recognise us on the streets. We still don’t have a team name. What do we do?” Silas started to pace the room; thoughts wrapped up in a public image.

“What now?” Gauzelle asked.

“We take it easy,” said Hunter. Hunter walked by Jimena and nodded to her to follow. Jimena walked by his side and they exited the treehouse.

“What happened back there?” Hunter asked.

“What do you mean?” Jimena refused to look at Hunter. She glared straight ahead.

“You set that person on fire.” He walked around to meet her face, but she pivoted away.

“Your mother gave me those fire pellets. I was only using what I was given.”

“Yeah, a tool to help out. Not set someone on fire. Not to permanently damage someone. You could’ve seriously hurt them. That’s not the way to do things,” said Silas.

“I’ll go as far as I have to. If it means I stop whoever needs to be stopped.”

“You also pulled a knife out on Gauzelle.”

“We didn’t even know her. It had to be done.”

“Violence isn’t the answer.”

“Tell that to the bad guys. You’ve almost been killed. Silas has been hurt repeatedly, and he’s nigh invulnerable. I’ve been badly hurt. The only one unscathed is Gauzelle, but that’s because nobody knows how to hurt a walking pile of bandages,” said Jimena. Anger rose in her voice.

“That’s not the hero way.”

“Some do.”

“We don’t.”

“You speak for everyone do you?” Jimena asked.

“Yes I do.”

“You don’t speak for me. I can make those decisions myself. I saw what had to be done and I did it. I’ve saved your life acting that way.”

“Yes you have. And I’m grateful for that, but you can’t go about being just as violent as the criminals we fight,” said Hunter.

“You sent Copter to hospital the first time you fought him.”

“That was a mistake. I haven’t been that way since. Jimena, you can’t be reckless like the way you’ve been.”

“I don’t think I’m the right fit for this team then.” Jimena stared Hunter down, daring him to disagree.

“That’s –”

“Its pretty obvious. I’m packing my things and going. Its been fun, but I need to find others that will go to the same lengths I will to get the job done. To make sure their teammates are safe.

Jimena turned and headed back into the treehouse. She exited shortly after and walked out of the Primal Lands. Silas and the others came out of the treehouse to see Hunter staring off into the distance.

“Yo, what happened?” Gauzelle asked.

“Jimena just left the team,” said Hunter.

“Now I have to think of new team names. I wa-”

“Silas, shut up,” said Hunter.

“Oh dear,” said Michael.

“What do we do now?” Gauzelle asked.

“Look for a new team member?” Silas asked. Michael, Silas and Gauzelle returned to the treehouse but Stick stayed with Hunter.

“We’re not even a fully fledged team. I’ve already failed as a hero.”

“No you haven’t. Not everybody fits in certain ways. That’s not a negative light on you or on them. It just is.”

“So what do I do now?” Hunter asked.

“Whatever you think is necessary. Downtime, training, recruiting. Homework. Whatever you want. There’s no right or wrong answer. Give Jimena some time, don’t burn that bridge.” Stick patted Hunter on the shoulder and walked back into the treehouse.

Hunter lay down on the grass, looking up at the sky. His mind raced in every direction and he couldn’t pin a single thought down. He had no idea on what to do.

After a few hours, Hunter made his way back inside. Michael stood there, waiting for him.

“Do you want to look at other potential recruits?” Michael asked.

“Bring up Jordana Reyes.”

“We can’t be that quick in blocking Jimena out,” remarked Silas.

“We aren’t blocking her out. There’s nothing stopping her from coming back. We could always become a team of five.”

“Then nothing could stop us,” said Gauzelle.