Jason leaned forward, flashing a grin. On the other side of the cell's glass, Hot Blade glared back at him. He was clutching his own cards in one hand; grasping them so tight they were at risk of being crushed. Jason stared into his eyes, noticing the beads of sweat dripping down the burly man's face.
"Alright," Jason said. "On three. One...two..."
They both showed their cards. Jason sighed and shook his head. "Sorry man...but..." He pointed at his own deck. "I got an aces high. And well, that beats you."
"Fuck!" Hot Blade hurled the cards against his cell window. He kicked the floor, his face turning red. "I hate this game!"
Jason chuckled. He placed his cards back into the deck. He was sitting on a stool outside Hot Blade's cell in the holding cells of the Metahuman Agency. Here, rogue metahumans were held by the Agency for an indefinite period of time, unless they proved too dangerous to hold here. Hot Blade, was not very dangerous. He had been a small time crook who had decided to raid the Museum of Natural History and loot some gems there for fast cash. Unfortunately, his only superpower was very specific. He could heat up swords and make them hot enough to slice through most materials fairly easily. But his power only worked with swords and thus, he was fairly useless if he didn't have one. Not to mention he wasn't that bright.
Jason enjoyed the big lug though and in the past month he had been paying frequent visits to Hot Blade. Hot Blade was enraged by his presence at first but after a bit, accepted that he wasn't going to be released anytime soon and had simmered down a bit. He had grown used to Jason's visits and Jason had fun screwing with the guy, whether through subtle mockery or just beating him at petty games. Hot Blade's reactions to being fucked with were priceless but somehow, Jason thought the crook enjoyed his company on some small level. He had grown to enjoy the visits as well. They certainly provided a lot of levity after the nightmarish events of the month before.
Hot Blade plopped back on his bed. He shook his head or at least tried to. The neck brace he wore made that impossible so he was forced to settle for sitting there looking mad. His facial expression made it look like he was taking a dump. Jason chuckled at the image, raising a gloved hand to slightly cover his mouth.
Jason was of course wearing his costume. It was an armored outfit, light brown in color, complete with a mask that covered the upper part of his head (more like a helmet really). The mask sported a pair of oval eyepieces, which were equipped with a night vision setting. A utility belt was strapped around Jason's waist, which sported all sorts of neat gadgets, and a gun holster was strapped around his thigh. That held his grappling hook pistol, useful for all sorts of situations and the thing had saved his life several times over. What drew most people's eyes though was the emblem of an enormous spider on Jason's chest. It fitted with his motif, powerset, etc. Hence his codename: "The Urban Spider".
Jason normally didn't wear his costume inside the base but he slipped it on during his Hot Blade visits. It wouldn't do to reveal his identity to a criminal after all, even if said criminal was locked up.
Jason raised the deck of cards. "So, we done for the day?"
"You cheated!" Hot Blade barked. He twisted around and raised his right arm. It was his only working arm, thanks to his left one being in a cast. The cast and neck brace were all the result of brutal injuries inflicted on him during his capture at the museum. Jason flinched at the memory. His friend, Audrey, had been the cause of it and it had been very unpleasant to see her nearly kill the man, despite him being a "bad guy". Criminal or not, the excessive brutalization on her part toward Hot Blade had been pretty nasty. Had damn near killed him. But thankfully he'd survived, although with some permanent damage.
Hot Blade gave Jason the middle finger with his right hand. The Urban Spider snorted. "Come on dude. I didn't cheat. Maybe its time for you to accept you kind of suck."
"Shut up," Hot Blade snarled. "I know you cheated. I know you did! You've got the advantage being out there, you smug motherfucker, but you didn't slip that one by me. Soon as I get out of here, I'll chop you into pieces. Fingers first!"
"Guess we're done then." Jason yawned and stood. He stretched, contorting his body backwards and touching the backs of his ankles with his fingertips. Glancing through his legs, the Urban Spider smirked as he saw Hot Blade go a bit green and look away. His powers could be a little freaky and it was fun playing that up sometimes.
Jason straightened back up. He waved to Hot Blade and said, "See you around!" He was glad Laureen was back from the hospital. With her as a sort of mentor, he'd finally gotten decent at video games and some other types of games. Now, she still kicked his ass often but he felt confident enough that he was now running rings around Hot Blade. Now, of course, that might not be saying much but it was better than a few months ago, when he could barely comprehend using an Xbox controller.
The Urban Spider turned to leave. But as he did, a thump suddenly echoed behind him. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. He instantly regretted it. On the opposite wall of cells, inside one to his left, was another prisoner. This man was Brazilian, with a ragged, untamed appearance and several nasty scars covering his face, a metal collar around his neck. He was tossing a baseball against the wall, the source of the thumping noise.
That man was Arthropod. A disturbing lackey of a lunatic metahuman called Akihiro, he had nearly killed Jason and his friends several times. Thankfully, they had apprehended him and tossed him down here to rot. Unfortunately, that meant Jason had to see him every time he came down here. Usually, he tried his best to ignore the fucker but sometimes, Arthropod didn't make it easy.
Another muffled thump echoed from the man's cell as Arthropod tossed the ball against the wall and caught the rebound. The Urban Spider considered approaching the cell and telling the freak to cut that shit. Or maybe he'd threaten him with activating his electrical collar and giving him a good zap. Man, that would be satisfying. Even more therapeutic than fucking with Hot Blade.
But no. Arthropod was probably just trying to bait him. The guy was a seasoned veteran of some sort of military or something similar. Jason had seen his experience first hand when the guy had refused to budge under an interrogation, despite multiple threats, beatings, and a couple of zaps with his collar. He'd probably run rings around the Urban Spider again if he engaged him. Better leave the guy to stew in his own boredom instead.
Jason shot Arthropod one last glare then walked down the long corridor of the holding cells. He passed by multiple cells, a few holding other captured metahumans. Some pounded against their cells, others screamed to be released, while more threatened to kill him. The Urban Spider tuned them out. At this point, their constant barrage of threats was just background noise.
He reached the end of the corridor soon enough. An elevator was at the end of the hallway, flanked by two guards in riot armor. They both gave him curt nods as he approached. Jason gave them each a thumbs up in response before calling the elevator. As he waited for it, he turned to one guard and asked "Hey, what time is it?"
The guard checked his watch. "Ten thirty pm."
"Shit! I'm late." Jason slapped the back of his head. "Ugh...thanks."
The guard nodded in response. The Urban Spider looked at the elevator, willing it to come. Great. Late again and not only that, he was late for a full team session. Man, everyone was going to be so pissed at him...
The elevator finally did arrive after what seemed like an eternity and Jason quickly leaped inside. He hit the button for the thirty third floor. It chugged downward and the Urban Spider leaned against the wall. He cursed himself again for being late...then noticed the deck of cards in one hand. Jason cursed even louder, knowing everyone would see what he had been doing instead of getting his ass over there. He dropped the deck and pressed it against the elevator wall with his foot, trying to force it into some crack to hide it. He didn't succeed but did manage to crush it a good amount, making it appear less visible...at least he thought so. He hoped so.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The Urban Spider jumped and looked up. He awkwardly stared into the room and all the assembled faces of his teammates.
Standing in front of the group was a young woman with dark skin, wearing a costume similar to Jason's. However, her costume's color was bright orange and she had a scale pattern on it that resembled a lizard. Her mask was pulled down, letting her tangled, long messy hair hang freely. She crossed her arms, giving him a look, and took a step forward. She limped as she did so on account of the leg brace she wore around one leg. An unfortunate injury in the field had left her with permanent nerve damage in said leg.
"Jason," The woman, Laureen, grunted. She sighed and said, more calmly, "Okay dude, late again? This supposed to be a little rebellion against me, huh? Just because I've..." She paused. "...taken over doesn't mean you get to relax and treat my leadership like a joke! That's just being a fucking jerk."
Jason raised his hands placantingly as he stepped from the elevator. "No, no. I'm not 'rebelling' against you. I don't slack off...most of the time. I just lost track of time, that's all."
"He sounds truthful," A much taller and bigger figure behind Laureen mummered, her voice much quieter. She resembled a huge beetle standing up like a man, only with less, more humanoid limbs. A black exoskeleton covered most of her enormous form, with only her face still resembling the woman she actually was. A pair of antennae twitched on top of her head, while a large shell covered her backside that hid her wings. She was Audrey. "Maybe cut him some slack."
"Slack?" Laureen rolled his eyes. "I cut him some slack last fucking time. We've been waiting on our asses for you and-"
"Er not to interrupt," A new voice cut into the group. Everyone turned their heads. A young man was standing across from them. He wore a well-tailored suit, complete with cufflinks and a waistcoat. He wore a pair of glasses, a mop of curly blonde hair on top his head. The guy, James, was glancing at a watch on his wrist. "But I think it's a bit counterproductive if we stand here arguing about time when it actuality we're creating more wasted time by arguing about said wasted a paradox yes quite fascinating if I was studying such a phenomenon but er we're here to train not study yes."
Laureen narrowed her eyes. She looked from James to Jason. The Urban Spider gave her a big smile. His best innocent one, although it wasn't his biggest strength. Laureen finally relaxed and sighed. "Okay, thanks to the professor's words making sense, you're off the hook...again. But next time if you slip up-"
"I know, I know," Jason interrupted. "You'll put a boot up my ass or something. You ready to train?"
"Yeah," Laureen grumbled. She shook her head, flashing him one last little glare, then turned to the last person in the room. "Yo Hiroshi, you ready to do this?"
Jason's eyes went to the far end of the room. Standing near the wall was a kid, much younger than the rest of the team as he was only eighteen. He wore a golden armored suit, complete with a long flowing cape and a blue emblem in the center of his breastplate that resembled a cape. Tucked under one arm was his helmet, which lacked any features save for a visor. His uncovered face was youthful and showed his Japanese descent. He had short black hair and multiple dimples covering his soft features. His name was Hiroshi Chinen and he was the newest addition to the team.
Hiroshi had been forced by Akihiro to act as one of his servants, having been kidnapped from his home in Japan and the lunatic had threatened to kill Hiroshi's parents unless the kid complied. Against his will, he'd been forced to carry out acts of destruction and had fought against the Agency during their battle with Akihiro. Yet, the deeds he was being forced to do ultimately caused him to regret his actions and he had surrendered himself to the Agency's custody. Although he had begged to go home, he had still caused a lot of damage and thus, needed to carry out a sentence of some sort. The Director worked out a loophole and determined his sentence would serving on the team for an indefinite period of time.
Jason liked Hiroshi. The kid still seemed a bit nervous around everyone and generally didn't interact with the main group as much, preferring to be by himself but he seemed to be adjusting okay. In fact, it was a miracle he was adjusting as well as he was, considering all the trauma he had been put through. Several weeks ago he had been formely inducted into the team and had begun his training. This was his second training session with the whole group and the Urban Spider looked forward to seeing him action. Of course, he had gotten a good look at his capabilities when they had fought in Colorado but now he'd get to see them when the kid was on his side.
Hiroshi smiled nervously. He nodded and said, "Uh...yeah. Is this another...um...training exercise?"
"Quite correct but a bit more formal than your first one that was more of a test this one is much more hands on and could be quite dangerous for you see this is the Alpha Training Course where our abilities are tested much more throughouly to use a metaphor the kid gloves come off here which perhaps is a bit much for you considering its your second session but I'm not in charge so I don't call the shots." Jason said in a single breath.
Hiroshi blinked. "Um..." He rubbed his head. "What?"
Laureen sighed. "It's a more rigorous training course in there. Sort of like stuff you'll take on in the field. Now, I know you've been informally in the field when you were with..." She paused and said, little quieter, "...him. But this'll get you used to using your powers in a more controlled manner. Look, just watch your back and follow my lead. Got it?"
"Oh," Hiroshi nodded. "Um...okay." He put on his helmet, securely pulling it over his head. Laureen pulled on her own mask and turned to the group.
"Sound off!" She said. She pointed at herself. "Salamander."
"The Urban Spider!" Jason called.
"Scarab!" Audrey yelled, a bit too loudly. She covered her mouth, her cheeks flushing.
"Photon!" Hiroshi said, his voice muffled under his helmet.
"Midnight!" James cried. He adjusted his glasses. "Oh one more thing Salamander why am I going into the course itself I'm field support not a field combatant I can't handle myself in a fight."
"Yeah and that's a problem," Salamander said. "You may be support most of the time but there are times when you're forced to help us out in-person. I want to get you more adjusted to field combat, just in case. Helps to be prepared, you know?"
Midnight nodded, seeming to see the logic in her point. Salamander moved toward the massive doors leading into the Alpha Training course, the others falling in line behind her. Jason walked at the back and grimaced. There was one more member of their team but he wasn't here right now.
Max. Max had been their official team leader for a long while, up until the Akihiro incident. During their final confrontation with the mad artist, Akihiro had been about to kill Jason but Max had distracted him and got under the lunatic's skin. Akihiro had thus cut out one of Max's eyes in retribution. With the loss of one of his eyes, Max had been 'benched' for an idefinite period of time and Laureen assigned in his place. He was undergoing theraphy right now, as the doctors taught him to get adjusted to the world with only a single eye but although he'd been making progress, he'd become withdrawn and sullen. Field work had meant everything to him and now that he was unable to do it...Jason didn't know if he'd ever be the same.
The Urban Spider gritted his teeth, getting angry just thinking about it. He punched his fists together. Akihiro. That bastard was responsible for tons of bad shit that had been forced to cope with during their battle with him but what he had done to Max was the worst. He'd escaped in their last struggle and despite the Agency's extensive efforts, he hadn't been found. Jason knew he was out there, somewhere, and when he showed his fucking face again, he'd make him pay for everything he'd done.
Jason felts his face flushed with anger and took a breath. No sense getting pissed now, right before a training session. He'd save his anger for when he found the son of a bitch. For now, he pushed his dark thoughts away and turned his attention to the Alpha Training Course's entrance.
A gigantic door loomed over the group, covered in hazard tape. A sign was plastered over the door, which read: "CAUTION: Live ammo permitted beyond this point."
"Live ammo...?" Photon said. His voice cracked slightly. "That seems...um...dangerous. Very dangerous."
"No less than what we'll be going up against on missions," Salamander replied. She placed a hand against the door. There was a whirring sound and multiple camera emerged from the door. They scanned her and a robotic voice boomed from the intercom.
"SCAN COMPLETE. SUBJECT: LAUREEN OAKLEY. CODENAME: SALAMANDER. SUBJECT AUTHORIZED ACCESS TO TRAINING FACILITY."
"Great! Then open up."
The doors hissed and creaked open. Beyond them was a massive dark room. Salamander waved a hand and she ventured inside. Scarab strode after her, antennae twitching this way and that. Photon paused, his expression unreable behind his helmet. After a moment, he slowly followed them, looking around. Jason moved forward, Midnight moving alongside him.
"Oh dear I'm quite nervous I'm caught without the majority of my gadgets on the rare occasions I do get involved in combat I'm usually in a vehicle or at least equipped with some sort of weapon now here I am striding into a potentially lethal exercise with nothing but this cell phone!" Midnight pulled an iPhone from his pocket, waving it in front of Jason's face. "I'm scared Jason what if I get hurt what if-"
Jason placed an arm on Midnight's shoulder and his friend quieted. "Dude," Jason said. "You'll be fine. Besides, if there's anyone who could cause a ton of damage with just his wits and a cell phone, that's you. You're like that guy. In the TV Show. Who...uh...does smart things with everyday appliances and gets himself out of bad situations."
"Ah yes!" Midnight snapped his fingers and grinned. "MacGuyver hm yes I suppose I am I'll keep that in mind thank you Spider thank you kindly."
They went through the doors. Jason looked around. The room beyond was a single large room, with a very tall ceiling but nothing else. No doors, windows, or evidence of any traps.
"Hm," Jason muttered. "Strange. Last time I was here it was a very different layout. Wasn't just one room."
"Gather in the center!" Salamander ordered. Everyone did as she asked and they all formed a circle. Jason eyed the walls, looking for the first sign of movement. He knew from experience this place wasn't to be screwed with. One wrong move and you could be dead.
"I don't like this," Scarab hissed. She twiddled her huge fingers together, her exoskeleton making a scraping noise as bits of it rubbed against each other. "I really don't like this."
"Agreed," Salamander grunted. "Eyes peeled, ladies and gents. You see something, say something. Stay alert and be ready for-"
Suddenly, the door hissed again and slammed shut. Everyone went quiet. Jason began to sweat, growing hot under his mask. He resisted the urge to itch. Midnight cowered nervously and gulped. They all waited, the air thick with anticipation, but nothing happened.
"They're fucking with us!" Salamander hissed. "Trying to make us frightened before any shit happens. Don't fall for it. Just stay alert and be ready."
There was a loud ring across the room, sounding much like a school bell. The robotic voice returned, saying: "EXERCISE BEGINNING. SCENARIO C. THE HORDE."
"The horde?" Jason muttered. "Oh, I don't like the sound of that."
The walls of the room opened up. From there, there was a series of whirring noises before a multitude of humanoid robotos emerged. They were carrying various blunt weapons: axes, baseball bats, pipes, clubs, and even shovels. There were dozens of them, all marching as one, their blank faces all staring at the group. The small army of robots moved toward the group, circling around them.
Jason tensed. He gritted his teeth. Yep, he really didn't like the sight of this.
As one, the robots all raised their weapons and attacked.