Trial by Fire

“Alright, so I packed up the gaming system for the hotel, and I got your favorite bodywash, the strawberry smelling one...” Mason set a duffle bag on the juice bar as he walked into the Olympus labs gym. “The Hero con isn’t for another eight hours, but I figured if we head out within the hour, we can hit Tokyo in time to grab lunch and do some sight-seeing.” He looked over to Lucas, who was currently at the modified bench press, benching weights that Mason could only describe as “the size of a semi-truck".  

“You still haven’t told me your plans for our costumes...” Lucas set the weights on the mantle, sitting up on the bench as he grabbed his towel, wiping the sweat from his face. “I mean, I get the lab has my measurements, but I would at least like to know what you got me dressing up in.”  

“I mean, I figured, we could, you know...” He dug in his bag, pulling out two familiar looking cowls. “What do you think?”

Lucas took a final swig from the bottle of water he had beside him, as he looked over the cowls. “So, you want to go to one of the biggest superhero conventions, our first trip to this thing, and you’re gonna cosplay as Speedrun?”  

“No, you’re gonna cosplay as Speedrun...” Mason tossed Lucas the black and blue cowl. “See, I had a copy of my suit fitted to your measurements, and a copy of your suit fitted for me...” He slipped on the red and blue cowl, a huge grin on his face. “Come on, think about it, we go as each other, it’s the most meta thing we could do.”  

Lucas chuckled and shook his head, looking at copy of Speedruns cowl. “Okay, I’ll admit, that’s a pretty fun idea.”  

Mason gave arm pump. “Hell yeah!” He pulled the cowl off, putting it back in the bag. “Now, you need to go take a shower, you’re all sweaty...” He looked back to his friend as he hoisted reached out for the cowl. “And for the love of all that is good and just, would it kill you to wear a shirt in the gym?” He shook his head. “I mean, who you trying to impress, there aren’t any girls here?”  

Lucas playfully tossed the cowl at him. “I do it for me, I like to see my progress...” He stood up from the bench. “Besides, I sanitize everything after I’m done using it, and I remember catching you taking mirror picks to send some girl you were talking to.”  

Masons face went red as he stuffed the other cowl in the bag, zipping it up, “I told you, I had a concern about a blemish on my right side and sent some photos of it to my doctor.”  

“Uh huh...” Lucas chuckled, tossing a clean towel at the speedster. “So what relation does flexing your thighs and glutes got to do with said blemish on your right side?” He walked around the bar, grabbing another bottle of cold water from the fridge. “So what’s her name?”  

Mason let out a defeated sigh, leaning on the bar. “Her name is Yukio, and I’m meeting her at the Con...” He paused, as he looked to Lucas. “She’s...she’s a huge Frontline fan.”  

Lucas took a drink of the water, which he immediately spat back out, looking to his friend. “What!?”  

“Oh yeah, major fangirl...” Mason explained. “Which is why I decided to go as, well, you to the Con.”  

Lucas started to laugh. “Oh my god, you’re dressing as me to impress some girl you met who lives on the other side of the planet, while I am suppose to go as you?”  

“Hey, what’s so bad about dressing up as me?”  

“Oh, nothing man...” Lucas set his bottle of water on the bar. “I actually think it’s kind of cool, you meeting someone.”  

“You really think so?”  

“Yeah man, I mean, we save the world from monsters and world ending events, and never ask for anything in return, cause that’s what it means to be a hero...” He paused, looking out the one-way windows. “It’s just kinda nice when the world gives back every so often.”  

“Hey...” Mason was suddenly beside Lucas, a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll find someone, I mean, what happened to that ninja girl?”  

“Shuriken?” Lucas shook his head. “She doesn’t think of me that way, we’re just friends.”  

“Well...” Mason gave his shoulder a pat, before he moved back to the duffle bag. “There’s someone out there for everybody man.”

“And here you can see the in-house generators and power plant. Using a mix of thermal energy, wave power, and solar energy the entire facility is self-sufficiently powered and even makes enough to distribute across Manhattan. If we move to the next room you'll see-”

The lengthy soliloquy was cut off by a loud yawn from the back of the group. The woman who had been speaking, a blonde with her hair tied back in a bun wearing a labcoat labeled 'Olympus’, stopped dead in her tracks to stare daggers at whoever dared yawn at her rehearsed lines about the tour. The rest of the people on the tour all brought their eyes to a young Asian woman who quickly adjusted her posture to look more alert.

“Sorry” she meekly replied.

Chie was just exhausted from a long night on the prowl. Unfortunately for her villainy never rested and she had spent the whole of last night fighting a gang empowered by a mysterious drug. Underneath her modest attire of black jeans and a similarly dark long-sleeved band t-shirt, she was still nursing a nasty bruise from the encounter.

The tour guide rolled her eyes but continued down the hall, her droning voice returning to the never-ending spew of words spoken as if they were gospel. Chie let out a sigh of relief as the crowd followed suit, leaving her trailing behind. It wasn't that she was bored by the tour, far from it. It was a miracle that she had been given a chance to see the inside of this place, potentially even an internship, all thanks to her work with a mysterious Dr.Malcolm just down the street.

The tour went on at a snail's pace as the guide seemed to have a spiel for every floor. Offices, laboratories, cafeterias, Dormitories, each room was treated with the same importance as the last, and over time Chie couldn’t help but admit to herself that it was more than just the lack of sleep, this place was downright boring. Nevertheless, she remained vigilant, the last thing she needed was to get on their bad side before she had even started working.

Finally, the tour brought them to the gym. Chie could tell it was well used by the musk emanating for it. It reminded her of her own gym, and she was curious to see if this one could compare to Nicole’s. As she entered the Tourguide blocked her view of the room.

“Oh you’re in luck! Two of our top heroes are here now!” She mentioned before moving in a grand gesture to expose two strong yet ordinary-looking people, though one was currently topless and exposing his impressive physique. Others in the crowd oggled, a few even snapping pictures. Chie only stared on, perplexed. She could have sworn she had met at least one of these boys before, perhaps from school?

“Right then, if we head over this way you can see the aerotrim, we use it to train heroes who fly or people who might use…” The voice of the woman trailed off as she moved on the crowd going with her. Chie had found something far more interesting than the rest of the tour now, and she stayed back, putting herself just out of sight as the rest moved on. The whole time she looked Lucas up and down. She had met this man somewhere but just couldn’t put her finger on it. Then, it clicked. She had only see his chin and lips, but they matched up perfectly in her mind and so did his hair. Moreover, the physique was certainly the same, something his costume did nothing to hide.

“Frontline?” She thought to herself, a small smirk crawling across her face as she recalled the hero and their escapades together. It was good to see he was doing well. She knew that without her ninja garb, he likely didn't recognize her and a part of her wanted to talk, but she knew better than to jeopardize her alter ego.

Olympus labs, a research front for Anthem Enterprises, had been on Maximilian’s radar for quite a while.

Their research into medical technology had been on par with if not superior to Masters Pharmaceuticals, and their technological department was even further than that. His interest was for the most part business, though he also found himself fascinated with their use of heroic individuals to protect their physical assets. Especially considering the public dissent against the general empowered population. Even still, he had an interesting in forming some business ties with Mister Irons. Much had been said about him, magazines and the occasional internet article about him. Even a few hit pieces, some exceptionally scathing.

Of course, he made sure he had set up a proper meeting. Of course, he had his own reasons for being here, interests that he planned to go through with or without the knowledge of the proprietor of the building. Still now he was the civilian, a rich one looking into potential monetary gain through cooperation. In all things, he had to be smart about this. He was in what he assumed was some manner of observation room, being given the vip tour compared to the more incidental individuals. No matter where, they always worried a little more about the people with enough money in their pockets.

He was dressed up in one of his suits, a three-piece affair composed of the most inane gray fabric. Comfortable enough and, to the eyes he was meeting with, quality enough that they didn’t doubt his means.  He always endeavored to look his best, form the greatest starting opinion, despite what his intentions are. Amaterasu should be here soon, though he didn’t have the dignity of knowing what she looked like beneath the mask. Something about it made seeing anything side from the broad stroke details difficult. Perhaps it was some kind of technology he didn’t know about. A useful little tool that allowed her to walk the world unnoticed when not toppling the cities of man.

Running fingers through his hair he thought back and smiled. This would go smoothly. There would be a tour group coming through soon and he was sure to seed a few of Amaterasu’s followers through their ranks. Once normal people now all too willing to chase the highs of greater power. All he needed now was to wait for the explosion.

As for Amaterasu, she was a little bored with the show. Dressed in what she considered typical civilian fashion she was just following along with an absolutely fascinated expression.  She wasn’t exactly the most imposing person, standing only around 5’2, dressed in tan short and a free flowing blue shirt, visor hat on as if it had been shielding her eyes from the sun not too long ago. One  eye a stroking blue and the other a duller brown. Anyone might have mistaken her for a woman in her early twenties, vasslty interested in something like this.

She didn’t care.

Not about the tour or anything like that. In fact she was already ready to leave even before the tour could reach the gym. She could already smell the scent of sweaty men from here and it was enough to make her nauseous. The rest of the group, save maybe her little helpers didn’t really see her leave. All too fast for the human eye to catch, dipping into one of the side hall ways too fast for anyone to catch hold of. What was she here for anyway? Information was one of them, the other was technology Iskandar said his plan couldn’t progress without.

What was that anyway? His nanomachine technology was already impressive enough, though it didn’t mean much to her. What kind of security would this place even have? She knew there were some metahumans around, likely nothing to be concerned about but she did have to look into it anyway. Once she felt she was fari away enough from the general populace, she pressed a button on her watch. Liquid metal, mostly composed of millions of smaller machines went into motion and formed into her general personae. Blacks, golds and reds formed into a body conforming suit with a symbol of the sun emblazoned on the chest and a mask that covered the top half of her face.

She had a general idea where the labs were now, and if they had nothing to offer there was an entire building to rip through. A man approached, dressed in security with some kind of weapon in hand. She rolled her eyes. Of course she didn’t look like she belonged. Had no badges and wasn’t with any kind of tour group. He was speaking, though she didn’t bother to pay him much mind, Instead doing the equivalent of pushing him aside, yet that slammed the man into the wall.  A soft thunk and crunch, spine likely shattered from the impact.

”I wonder…” Then she was gone, the sound of walls being smashed and her appearing again in one of the labs. Giving a cursory glance over the now panicked workers around her.

Lucas looked over as the tour stopped outside the gym, as the batch of fresh faces looked in at them. “Oh yeah, that tour was today.” He smiled, waving to the group of new faces.  

“Huh, I totally forgot about that...” Mason shrugged, grabbing the bag. “Well hey, I’m gonna go get a head start, you should grab a shower first and meet me there.” With that, he rushed out of the room, appearing to vanish to the bystanders looking in.  

Lucas took a second look at the crowd, as he took another drink from his bottle of water, finishing it in one swig. He caught something in the corner of his vision, something seemed to move through the crowd at incredible speeds, yet no one seemed to react to it. He rubbed his eyes, thinking it was just the light playing tricks on him.  

He was about to speed over to the showers, but his ears picked up a heartbeat, one he recognized. He looked back, as the group was now heading on to the next part of the tour, but the heartbeat remained just outside. He sped out into the hallway, spotting a young Asian woman, who appeared to be position just out of sight from him and the group, peeking through one of the windows into the gym.  

He looked her over, black jeans and long-sleeved black shirt, she clearly had a particular fashion style. Seeing her without the mask, Lucas could see she was actually around his age, or at least did very well to appear young.  

He moved behind her, putting his hands on his hips as he smirked. “So, boring tour huh?”  

Before she could respond, his attention was drawn to another sound, hearing a guard barking orders at someone, before being apparently throw into a wall, the sound of their spine shattering from the impact made his heart sink. The sound of something, or someone, smashing through the wall of one of the labs followed.  

Suddenly the lab alarms went off.  

Lucas looked back over to Chie. “I hope you brought your suit.” He stated before vanishing again.  

“Every damn time.” He mutter to himself, as he rushed to his suit, slipping it on at superhuman speeds, before rushing to the source of the alert.  

He came across the unfortunate guard, who laid on the ground, lifeless. As more guards arrived, he signaled for them to stay back, as he moved into the lab behind the intruder.  

“Now I’m only going to say this once...” He stated firmly, his tone deeper than normal. “Stand down, before I put you down.”

There was a sudden rush of wind around Chie as she peeked in at her acquaintance. In the blink of an eye he had disappeared and she knew all too well what had happened, even before he had spoken. It dawned on her how things seemed, here she was spying on a shirtless boy.

“So, boring tour, huh?”

Bashfully she chuckled at his words, wondering if he recognized her. If he hadn't, he was certainly acting casual to a stranger.

“Not when I'm aro-” A thunderous crash cut off her catty remark and an alarm sounded off shortly after.

“Hope you brought your suit” was all she heard from frontline before he began moving at blinding speeds she was just barely able to register. So he had remembered her, though Chie questioned just how he recognized her. It would be a question for later, as Frontline was hurrying off to deal with a threat and she wasn't one to stand idly when trouble was afoot. Unfortunately, she hadn't brought her suit, something she was cursing herself for. Hurriedly she found herself scrounging through her pockets. Ultimately a black bandana became her makeshift mask, covering her nose and mouth.

Unfortunately for her, the suit wasn't the only thing she was missing. She hadn't thought to bring her bladed weapon of choice. It felt wrong to bring to a place of science. She still had her extendable staff, something she always kept as a protective measure. Moving to the gym she hefted a stack of weight plates up, a staggering five twenty-five pound plates now in her hands. They would do for projectiles, for now, limited as they may be. Moving with surprising grace despite her heavy cargo she rushed after Frontline.
“Hey, save some action for me” she called out as she rushed headlong down the hallway after him.

”Put me down? That’s pretty funny kid,” She mused, seeming to smirk at whatever swagger was worked in the words he spoke.  Hands rested on her hips, she was turning fully towards him with head cocked to the side. ”Is that how you think this would go?” A voice called out after him, desiring to be saved some action though she didn’t seem to respond to that.

An amused smirk set itself upon her lips, appraising the young hero skeptically. ”I’ll counter your little offer,” She was a blur, all too fast for even superhuman perceptions to fully follow. The walls around her cracked, a boom that spread outwards and ruined everything around where she moved. Now she was floating before Frontline, maybe afoot away from him ”You back off before I put you and everyone in the building into the ground,” A hand shot out forward, enough strength likely to sending him reeling backwards and into a wall.

”I don’t have time babysit little heroes.”

In the short time that he has been doing this gig, there haven’t been many who could match his power, only one came to mind that overpowered him.

But, as the woman struck him in the chest, surprisingly faster than he could react, he was sent flying through the lab wall. She had moved him with a single blow, as if he weighed nothing at all. Pain spread across his chest, as he was looking up at the ceiling of another lab, having gone through to a second wall, rubble piled on his body.  

“Hey, save some action for me!”

Crap, Shuriken was strong, that wasn’t a question, before he got his powers, she would most easily be able to take him in a fight. But now, there weren’t many who could, and if this attacker could put him on his ass like this, he feared what she would do to her.  

He shot up, floating in the air, his body feeling like a fire was surging through it, the warmth energizing him. As his eyes went from green irises to a blue that seemed to glow, even without light.  

He burst forth, moving faster than anybody could see, as he didn’t give the attacker notice this time, instead pulling back his fist, only appearing right before he would swing a hard haymaker for her jaw. He didn’t hold back, considering that if she was faster, and stronger, than she definitely was tougher, and he would need to go all out.  

Right now, it didn’t matter if this person was stronger or faster, there were too many people here, and she had already killed one. Whoever she was, she needed to be stopped here and now.

Chie's headlong sprint trickled into a light jog when she heard two thunderous crashes just around the bend of the hallway. She was hardly concerned, Frontline had shown her he could take a hit. Better yet, he might have delivered on too.

Nearing the impact zone she crept quietly towards the turn. She did everything she could to stay quiet: controlling her breath, easing into her foot falls. She had dealt with super human perceptions now and she certainly did not want to be caught by abyobe who could rival frontline.

Finally, after she had built up her courage, Chie twisted and with a powerful swing of her arms she turned the corner, pivoted a full 360 degrees and flung her impromptu projectiles at the strange looking figure looming in the barren hallway. She saw that front line was gone now, but the crater in the wall showed her why. Another fight where she was in over her head, magnificent. Her feelings of apprehension turned to hope when she saw frontline return with a strike of his own, something her magnificent eyes where the only thing letting her follow his movements. Both of their attacks converging to flank their villianous foe. A sort of pincer maneuver.

As soon as the weights flung from her hands she ducked back down the hallway, stomping to imitate the sound of running as she clung to the side of the wall in reality. Without her smoke bombs and gear, she was hardly equipped for a true retreat. She was stuck ib this battle now, whether she liked it or not.

”Spare me this song and dance.” Amaterasu muttered to herself, seeming to casually pop her neck. To the human eye Frontline was moving impressively fast, yet to her it was nothing so special. When the fist rose and haymaker came she was an explosion of motion. Something too fast likely even for him, deftly ducking under the young heroes arm and stood behind him. A hand grasped onto his wrist and another his shoulder, spinning the body to block the weights hurled towards her before slamming him hard into the ground. The tiling cracked and cratered inward.

”You’re slow. Painfully so. Like watching an infant crawling.” Her iron grip loosened and she seemed to step back a few feet. ”Are you satisfied? I could start by breaking your arms or...perhaps I could persuade you through your companion there.” Her eyes quickly snapped to Shuriken, red lips curled into an amused smirk. As if she had an idea already in mind. Slipping something into a small pouch on her belt, she disappeared once again. All too fast for human perceptions to follow. A little too fast even for some superhuman perceptions to follow.

A voice queried from behind Shuriken. ”Do you want to try that again or do you want to run while you can? I have a feeling you don’t hold up as well as that one over there.”

”Spare me this song and dance.”

As soon as he got close, moving fast enough that the wind pressure around his fist actually created ripples in the air, he was on the ground, his hand elevated behind him as she had him by the wrist. Her other hand pushed on his shoulder as he slammed into the floor, the ground cracking from the force, as more of his ribs cracked, the blood in his mouth thickening.  

”You’re slow. Painfully so. Like watching an infant crawling.”

Lucas coughed, the blood speckling the floor next to him, his chest was on fire as he tried to breathe.  

”Are you satisfied? I could start by breaking your arms or...perhaps I could persuade you through your companion there.”

Lucas eyes grew wide as the woman was suddenly gone, moving fast enough that even he could barely see her, but he saw just enough of a blur to know where she was going. He had felt something hit him before, but he assumed it was just loose debris, but as he spotted the small weight from the gym on the floor a few inches from his face. “No.”  

There was a small shockwave, and suddenly Chie would find herself just outside of the lab, standing in the parking lot.  

“You gotta run...” Lucas collapsed against a nearby car, his legs barely holding him up as he spoke breathlessly, every inhale a soft wheeze, with a light hint of fluid from the blood coming from his mouth. “She’s too strong, I don’t think even I can take her...” He coughed up more blood as he looked down to the ground, every breath was like fire. “I can at least buy you some time...” He looked over to her as he mustered himself back to his feet. “Please, get somewhere safe...” There was a hint of fear in his voice, but his expression shifted as his eyes locked on the lab, his fist clenched. “I gotta get back to work...” He wiped the blood from his mouth, looking back to her with his iconic smile. “Names Lucas.” And with that, he was gone in a gust of wind.  

Inside the lab, as it may seem that the hero had fled, the assumption would quickly be squashed as the ceiling above Amaterasu would explode down onto her, Lucas forcing her down to the ground in a surprised ambush.  

He didn’t hesitate as he knelt over her, swinging punch after punch, laying into her face with everything he had. The force of the blows pushing them down further into the ground as it shockwave after shockwave rippled through the building. Lucas’ knuckles were starting to drip blood, his arms starting to feel weak, but he didn’t stop, he couldn’t stop. It was down to this, he had the advantage, he got the drop on her, and now he was gonna put everything he could into making sure she didn’t get back up.  

He was the one standing, he was winning.

Chie knew she had made a mistake when her heavy weights practically bounced off Frontline, which her target had used like a shield. She grimaced as the punishment didn’t stop there either and Frontline took a punishing slam into the floor that she would wish on even her worst enemies. She started to move away but realized the attempt was futile. This enigmatic enemy had proclaimed Frontline, one where she threatened to use Chie as collateral.

Shuriken managed to catch the movement of the enemy, still too fast for her eyes to keep track of but not fast enough for her to react to. Whipping her head around just in time to see this godly enemy now appear behind her, the young hero in a makeshift costume felt herself go pale. Her legs buckled and for a moment, she felt fear. Even when faced with stacked odds she had never felt herself falter like this but the impending, pragmatic doom this foe offered was too much for her.

” Do you want to try that again or do you want to run while you can? I have a feeling you don’t hold up as well as that one over there.”

Chie attempted a reply, a witty remark or some fiery rebuttal like usual but the words seemed to lump in her throat, choking the helpless woman. She stood there like a deer in headlights, eyes alight with a terror that can only be felt for the first time. She dared not blink, not until she felt her vision blur and the wind stinging her eyes. In a split second, she closed her eyes, she suddenly found that the scene around her had completely changed.

“You gotta run…”

The voice of her friend pulled her out of her haze, and she rushed to his side as he nearly toppled over onto a car. When she reached him she saw the blood and she hesitated from helping him up. Normally she would be proud of him for standing up in the face of adversity, for putting care to the side and smiling in the face of danger, but there was a particular finality to his words that made her eyes water.

“Wait, we can call for help. Do-” She started to protest as fast as she could but he was faster, and he was gone before she could speak reason into the man. She was left there alone in the parking lot. Others ran past her in fear, but she couldn’t help but stare at the building as tears fell on her cheeks. Was this all that being a hero ever got you? Beatings and tragedy. Lucas couldn’t be much older than her, and it seemed as if he wouldn’t get much older either. Her sorrow turned to rage at the injustice of the world. Her tears replaced with a clenched fist as she made a steady pace towards the labs, a harebrained plan already brewing in her head. She wasn’t about to be told what to do by anyone, and she certainly wasn’t going to leave her friend to a preemptive death. If Lucas planned to sacrifice himself for others the least she could was make sure he wasn’t alone. As she entered the building she pushed past panicked researchers, making her way to the stairs.