Heroes Assemble!

That's Just Not Right

Speed, reflexes, strength, balance. Not to mention that she can jump three stories. Oh, and possibly talk to animals, Harry catalogued as he set two plates of omelettes on the bench in front of each of them.

Breakfast, then, carried on like normal and before long, Doreen had deposited her plate and mug in the sink and disappeared towards the bathroom.

It was as Harry was about to enter the hallway to return to his own room that something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. There were some sort of marks on the floor, right where Doreen had managed to catch her balance.

Kneeling down, Harry ran his fingers lightly over the ten small holes in the wood.

"Exactly what are you, Doreen Green?" he asked.

ooo00ooo

"You know, I still don't get what changed," Spider-man said as he passed on his upward swing.

A barely heard fwick sounded as the web-head shot out a new line after releasing the one that he'd been swinging on.

"We go weeks without finding the guy ..."

Mage never even turned his head to acknowledge his red and blue partner as he dropped past on his swing, nor as he swung back up and blurted out his next phrase of his one-sided conversation.

"And now we can't seem to not run into him when we're on patrol."

Not one muscle moved on Mage's face, not that anyone could tell the difference with the obscuring charm that hid his face under his hood.

Yeah, it's almost like magic, Mage thought sarcastically. Really, he was surprised that Spider-man hadn't put two and two together, considering how smart the teen was.

"Is he tailing that girl again?" Spider-man asked as he passed on his downward swing.

The unexpected high-pitched yell caused Mage to snap his head down and to the left. His eyes widened at the sight of his partner freefalling towards the ground. A string of webbing flapped uselessly from a red-gloved hand before opening to release it and send out a new web-line at the nearest building.

Instinctively, Mage knew that he was too close to the ground; there was no way that he'd be able to save himself.

The merest thought spun the lightning bolt around and down and Mage flattened himself against the broom, intent on catching Spider-man if needed.

The sound of something passing his head at speed even as a second something slammed into his broom with a solid thunk caused Mage to jerk the broom even further down. A third something flew past, only being seen in his peripheral vision but at least it was further away.

The nose of the broom was nearly pointed straight down now and Mage couldn't help but grin. The black bitumen loomed large in his eyes – not exactly the green grass of a quidditch pitch. At just the right moment, Mage pulled backwards, performing a perfect wronski feint even as a laugh was ripped from him. At speed, he dodged through the oncoming traffic before pulling straight up, his head whipping backwards and forwards.

Mage had no idea what had happened to Spider-man; the kid, he knew, could take care of himself. Spider-man, though, wasn't the one in danger, despite his potential crash down to earth. No, the one in danger was Daredevil – the shuriken still embedded in the shaft of his broom attested to that.

A touch of his wand with the correct mental command had Mage quickly flipping his broom over before rolling back upright. Half a dozen buildings zipped by as Mage honed in.

And then he saw them. Daredevil and Bullseye were going toe to toe, trading blows and leaping about. By the way that Daredevil was favouring his right leg and left arm, Mage guessed that he'd been injured already, most likely by something sharp.