Those Hated By Light

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, so you're telling me Polaron, as in the guy tied with Green Wolf for the title of the scariest guy in Oleander, is the guy the two of you fought?" Kyle hissed.

Hope winced but slowly nodded her head. Her face was buried in her arms, and she didn't bother eating any of the food she had gotten for lunch. Many of the other students walked about, and never once batted her, or her mini squad, an eye. "Yeah. I wasn't exactly at the top of my game but even despite that fighting him was rough. I hate feeling weak like this."

"You're not that weak." Armin snorted. "I mean I didn't do anything. Battery was the one who did all the heavy lifting."

"Speaking of him, how is he?" Kyle asked. "You said he collapsed randomly after the battle."

"It wasn't randomly." She clenched her hands into a fist and tightened her jaw. "He has heart issues. I wasn't paying closer attentions. I feel like such a jerk. I went and told him I'd make sure something like that doesn't happen then broke it on my first big mission." She'd just have to make sure that in the future he wasn't put in any more harm's way.

It was a few days after the fight, and she was back at school. Needless to say, her mood hadn't really changed since the battle. The villains had escaped, many people were hurt, and worse yet, Mr. Larison had nearly died.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Armin asked. He poked at his food. None of them really felt like eating today.

"Sure. You can try and help convince him to let Paragon heal him or something." She grumbled.

She hadn't gotten to see him after he collapsed. The moment he had hit the ground and blacked out, all of them panicked. Paragon had even tried to heal him while he was unconscious but Mr. Larison was one stubborn bastard. In his battle with Green Wolf he had created a barrier around both her and the villain at one point. The same barrier usually was put around his own body to boost his durability, and stop things from flying into his eyes when he ran at full speed. That barrier made to keep him safe had gone up when he blacked out and stopped Paragon from being able to touch him. It had layered over his skin perfectly, keeping her out. It took both Myth, and Poseidon, working together to get him to the hospital, and even then they couldn't really do anything for him until the shield went down.

"What was meeting the Sub Enforcers like?" Kyle asked in an attempt to change the mood.

She didn't answer, so Armin piped in. "It was super cool. I looked up to so many of them when I was younger, and I'm glad I'm working for Myth. He was my hero when I was a kid. We didn't really get to know any of the Sub Enforcers too much. No clue about their identities and stuff like that. I think I hit it off with BB though. May try asking her out next time I see her."

"Pretty sure she was talking to Whisper." Hope cut in. "It seemed like the Sub Enforcer members all knew her or something."

"Yeah, I got that impression, too." Armin hummed. "When I joined up with Myth, she was actually the one who approached me and asked me to join. I don't know how long she had been working for him, but she was always odd like that."

Kyle rubbed at the back of his neck and shrugged. "I never even heard of a Whisper. Then again, I still haven't even heard of either of you two. No offense."

"Offense taken." Armin huffed.

"You think anyone noticed that Kevin is gone." She asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Like, do you think Kevin being gone has affected the school at all." She looked around the cafeteria, and as far as she could tell, nothing had really changed. The jocks all sat together, the nerds hid away, and the popular kids gossiped. "I thought he was some important cog in the machine, but it looks like everything moved on without him."

"That's most things, actually." Kyle speared a piece of his food with his fork. "I mean, when Full Monarch died everyone thought the world was over, but now we went and got our next number-one hero in the form of his sidekick. In a few years, when the next big villain appears and the Victorian dies, I'm sure a new person will step up as number one. My guess is Poseidon. She was born special after all. Not like any of us."

She didn't respond again. She was silenced by Kyle's words. Did it really not matter? Both Kevin and hero work. Life seemed to carry on like normal. Then she spotted something. "Well, someone seems to have changed by Kevin being gone."

"Who?"

Over at a table by herself, Ashley, the Queen Bee herself, sat all alone. The girl simply sat there. She didn't play on her phone or read a book. She just seemed to be in heavy thought.

"Well, what do you know? Guess she's sad her boyfriend is locked up." Armin snorted.

"He hasn't been locked up, he's in the hospital, and then he'll stand trial." She argued.

"Same thing. Dude got caught at a supervillain drug den. That isn't going to look good no matter how much you tried to help the heroes." Armin challenged. "Why are you defending him? You got a crush on him or something."

"It isn't like that." She shook her head. "I know who he is. This isn't like a random robber or someone. I've seen him in my day-to-day life. Just sitting here knowing that if I said anything, did something, maybe he wouldn't have turned out like that-" She stood up and grabbed her new backpack. "I'll see you later." She muttered before she finished her thought.

"Where are you going?" Armin asked.

"I don't know. I'll text you when I figure it out."

"Did I do something wrong?" Armin asked.

"You think?" Kyle stood up also grabbing his bag. "I'm heading out as well. I think I'm going to call up a friend of mine. Maybe he can help you or Hope."

"Who is it?"

"It's a secret." He winked.

She headed out the door and into the hallway right when the bell rang. Mr. Pluto was her next class. Normally, she looked forward to his history lessons. He always made sure to bring up how Supers affected society, but today, she decided to do something she hadn't done before.

She headed out of the school, skipping class.

Screw the rules. They were overrated. She slapped at her face a bit. She didn't have time to be so bummed out over everything. She needed to fuel herself with something.

"The skies speak of darkness, the beast comes!" She almost jumped when she heard the homeless man. Despite the fact school was still in session, he was here early, shouting his vague and odd warnings. If this was a comic, they would be something that actually comes true. Yet days turned to weeks, which turned to months, and he was never right. Just a rambling madman.

Already, the guards were grabbing him, and she was forced to jump over the stair railing to avoid being seen by them. She crashed to the lawn below and somehow managed to stay on her feet. Getting to the sidewalk and out of view of the school didn't take long after that.

She thought about heading home but decided against it. Her mom would be at work at this time. She didn't have a destination in mind at first, but the longer she walked, the more she began to jog. Myth said they won, Money Tree said they won, and even Mr. Larison said they won, but she wasn't satisfied. Next time she got into a fight with Bad Timers, she would make sure they really won.

She needed to get a lot stronger for that, though.

She arrived at Mr. Larison's and banged on the door. She waited a couple of seconds and knocked again; this time much louder. She took his lack of an answer as him still being in the hospital. Even if he wasn't here, she would have been fine with that other guy. Nick? He had said he worked as a super doctor or something close before. Surely, he would have some idea on at least something she could do to get stronger.

No one answered, however. The building was just silent. "Great. I came all this way for nothing."

"Sometimes life just works out that way."

She jumped when she heard the voice. Her head jerked around, but she didn't see anyone. It took her a second for the voice to click in her mind. "Lois?" The air shimmered in front of her as Whisper suddenly appeared. The girl wasn't dressed in her hero costume but wore a basic street outfit. She narrowed her eyes for a second. "You aren't stalking me, are you?"

"Nah." Lois threw her arms behind her head. "Trust me. If I was stalking you, you'd have no way of knowing."

"That doesn't make me feel any better. So, then why are you here?"

"Well, why are you here?" Lois countered.

"I asked first?"

The blonde girl let out a snort. "Same as you, I bet. Got a little worried after Red B crashed on us last night. Never knew he had heart issues that bad. Wanted to see how he was doing." Lois jumped up onto the railing and practically dangled her body over it. "Guess he's still in the hospital though. I bet Myth is up there, too. He'd never leave a teammate behind. Far too soft for that."

She nodded slowly. "Well I wasn't really here for Mr. Larison, though I would like to know he's doing okay. I came to ask someone else that lives here about getting stronger. You've been a hero for a while, any idea?"

Lois flicked her on the nose lightly. "I have the body of a normal human girl. Best I can do to improve is to work out a ton. You could do that, but it'd only get you so far."

"Yeah I figured. Thought I'd ask. Thanks for trying-"

Lois cut her off, and hit her lightly over the head. "Shush young one. I was not done talking."

"Young one?"

The blonde girl folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. "Since we're on the same team and all, I think I'll give you some advice." Lois leaned forward and pointed her thumb out towards the city, more specifically towards the beach. "You know that junkyard spot you go to practice your powers? Don't ask how I know about it; I have my ways. Head on down there, and you might just find a helpful surprise waiting for you."

"That's like uber vague."

"Ye of little faith. Now run along. I got to break into Jackson's house."

"I don't foresee that ending well." Lois just waved her off. With a sigh, she rolled her eyes and began to head down the stairs back to the street. "Just so we're clear, I am only doing this because I have literally nothing else better to do."

If Lois heard her, the invisible woman didn't bother responding. With a shimmer, the blonde girl vanished from sight, leaving Hope alone on the street. She was glad Paragon had ended up healing her as it fixed her ears. With them, she was able to make certain Whisper wasn't stalking her.

The girl's words were weird at best, but she had nothing better to go off of, so she found herself soon arriving at the trash heap. It was odd not having Armin or Kyle around to help her practice; however, she quickly realized she wasn't alone.

"Okay Oppenheimer. Look for anything useful. Next time we go to battle, we're going to make sure you're in one of the coolest mecha dog suits!" It was a mechanical voice she had heard a few times now.

The beach was littered with walls of metal, from old boats to cars. She rounded the corner and spied out at the boy who stood in the center. Metal Ronin was clad in his robotic suit, and as if hanging out in a random junkyard wasn't odd enough, he had a dog by his side. Her eyes lit up when she took a closer look at the animal. She had seen it before.

"Hey, I know that dog!" She nearly froze when she said that out loud.

Metal Ronin had frozen as well and stopped moving. Slowly, his robotic helmet turned and stared at the pile of junk she hid behind. "Hope?"

She felt her heart nearly stop as he said her name. Slowly, she stepped out from behind the trash pile. "How do you know who I am?"

"Relax Cinder." She flinched as he used her hero name. Slowly, Metal Ronin placed his hands on his helmet. "It's me." When he took it off, she gasped at the face she saw. "Remember me? Rowan. We met at the park, and hospital."

"What!" She stared at the boy with wide eyes. "You're that guy, Kyle's friend! Wait, you're a Super? And how did you know I was Cinder? I wore my mask."

"Relax." The superhero held his hands up in an effort to calm her down. "I didn't spy on you or anything like that. Truth is, I had an idea that you were a Super the day we met."

"The day we met. I didn't have my powers then, though."

Her words caused Rowan to frown. The boy scratched at his chin and shrugged. "Nah, you were a Super. I'm pretty sure of that." He folded his arms and seemed to think for a moment. Then he gave up and shrugged. "What are you doing here anyways. It's a school day you know."

"I could say the same to you." She snorted. "Why are you out here?" She placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"While you guys were fighting in the warehouse my own team got into a fight with Zoo. My armor got a bit dented so I'm fixing it. I don't got a strong body or anything crazy like you guys. I have to do everything the old-fashioned way."

"Oh." Now that she looked at him, she noticed a few dents, as well as scratch marks in the metal. Most of his paint was faded and gone, and a few bits of wires poked up. She was sort of glad she didn't get a Mental power. It seemed like such a hassle.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked again. His helmet clicked and slowly unfolded allowing her to see his face. He had his ever present sly smile on it.

"Honestly, I don't know. Whisper told me to come here, but didn't really say anything about it."

"Well if Whisper told you to do something then you do it. She's never wrong." Rowan chuckled. "I'm glad you came here though. I had something I wanted to try."

"What's that?"

He raised his arm and pointed it at her. There was a loud click, and she tensed up, but no gun came out. Instead a weird looking watch morphed onto his wrist. It was like the strange scanner device Nick had used on her. It let out a blue glow that roamed over her body from head to toe. There was another click as he pulled his arm back and stared down at some wristwatch. "Huh. That's odd."

"Oh no. Odd is never a good sign. What's wrong."

"Have you been gaining new powers?" He asked.

"I don't think so- Well actually?" She folded her arms and hummed. "At first I was just strong and stuff. Then I could hear really well, and then after that I was able to shoot fire out my mouth." She allowed a small ember spark to escape her lips showing it off.

Rowan nodded. "I used to watch this show when I was little. In it they used a device to scan people and come up with their power levels. I tried making one myself, and it didn't work out too well. I can't really tell how strong a person is, more like I can get a vague idea of what tier they are in. When I first scanned you, you were basically one of the weakest Super's I've seen besides the ones who don't get enhanced bodies. Now though, you're just under my level."

She glanced down at her hand, balling it up slowly. "I guess I have been changing a bit." The first night she went out Intake had destroyed her like it was nothing. She hadn't been able to really hold her own against Polaron, but even surviving a bit was better than she had done against Intake, and he was supposedly leagues stronger than a fodder villain like Intake. "Also when I first used my fire it nearly killed me, but now it still hurts my throat badly, but I can sort of stand it. Now that I think about it every battle I guess I grew if maybe only a small portion."

Nick had mentioned something about it, or at least she remembered it when she had woken up in Mr. Larison's house. Her body hadn't been that of a Supers at first. Could she have been slowly turning into a full-blown Super, and getting stronger? Did it work that way?

"When did you get your powers exactly?"

"Well now that I think about it, the first time I noticed anything was way back when we were in the park. My glasses got knocked off but I was still able to see fine without them. Now my eyesight has improved and I don't really need them all that much." She shrugged and pulled off her glasses.

As soon as they were off the device Metal Ronin had beeped once more as it suddenly scanned her. He looked down at it and raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen my mom give that look plenty of times, what is it now?"

"Your reading changed when you removed your glasses."

"Huh?"

"Like it went up. Not by much but your power got a little stronger."

"Seriously? I remember the first time I used my fire breath my entire body felt weird and I didn't go back to normal until I put my glasses back on. Now that I think about it, I never really wear them while I'm using my power?"

Rowan had a larger frown on his face, as the strange watch he wore let out a jumble of odd numbers and letters. "Oh, I think I get it." She didn't have time to ask him what he was talking about. He simply grabbed her, and before she could stop him, he yanked the glasses out of her hand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Personal space." She shoved him back, and accidentally used a little too much power sending him crashing into a wall of junk. "Oh whoops! You, okay?"

Rowan didn't answer her. He held the glasses he took from her and brought his strange scanner up. "Where'd you get these glasses?"

"From my dad?" She gave him an odd look as he stood back up and tossed them over to her. "I don't actually need them though. My powers gave me enhanced senses. Although now that I think about it, I never needed them in the first place."

Rowan nodded his head. "I see. Well just so you know your dad probably knows you have Superpowers."

"Oh. Wait what!"

Rowan's lips slowly twisted into a sly smile and for a moment she was reminded of Red Ape. "I think I'd like to do a test or two if you don't mind."

Her eyes narrowed and she stepped back. "What sort of test?"

"Do you know who the smartest Super in the world is?" Rowan asked.

"Boy Genius?" She questioned.

"You'd be correct." Rowan nodded. "See, Boy Genius is sometimes considered to be the second strongest hero. He came about twelve years ago and is the youngest Super to ever join the Enforcers. He and Victorian are the only two keeping heroes above the power of the villains currently."

She watched Rowan work. He had apparently been using this junkyard for his supplies, and training, long before her. She wondered if that was where Kyle had gotten the idea from. Currently the boy had a large iron table, he had pulled out of the ground. There were dozens of large pits scattered about, filled, and covered up with scrap, and cars to hide them, where he kept his spare gear. He was building something, hammering away at iron on his makeshift table.

"No offense but what does any of this have to do with my dad knowing I have Superpowers?" She looked down at the pair of glasses that were in her hands. She didn't put them on though, even as her headache seemed to slowly start.

Rowan pulled at some wires, and brought his suit's glove up. The finger split apart, and dozens of tiny machines began to rewire whatever it was he was building. "Boy Genius is a Mental power user like me. Us Mental powers are basically just humans. We don't have enhanced bodies, we don't have fire, or lasers, but we are still considered to be Super. Our minds have been altered by our powers, giving us ideas. It's more than that though. You can't learn what we do. It isn't a matter of being smart, and able to put things together. Tech has a weird way of working out for us. We can turn junk into a suit of futuristic armor, even if it just doesn't make sense. We all have something we specialize in. For me I've found I'm good with tech that unfolds. Something small that grows into something big. My suit weighs about five hundred pounds, yet when it's small it weighs nothing. Makes no sense, but that's because powers just don't."

"Okay?"

"You don't have to understand it." Rowan snorted. "It's a little confusing but that's the point. Powers are bullshit. The point I was getting at though is Boy Genius also specializes in something. What makes him so scary, and the reason he is considered second best to only the Victorian, is because he is able to make tech that can counter Supers."

"You mean his tech is able to beat Supers easier?"

"Sort of." Rowan folded the metal into a ball. "How should I put it? Let's say I build a really cool, and badass suit. Then I go to fight someone like Polaron. He uses his metal control and crushes me. I die. Now let's say Boy Genius has the exact same stuff I had, and builds the exact same suit I did. Since we specialize in different things our suits turn out similar but different. He goes to fight Polaron, and his power activates. See when I said Boy Genius counters Supers I meant that literally. His suit would suddenly change. Maybe it would go from metal to plastic, or wood, or stone, or maybe it would mess with the magnetic field, or gain shields. Whenever Boy Genius creates something it's almost alive. He can make something basic like a toy gun, and if he took it to fight a Super, that toy gun would just magically change and transform on the fly. How it does so as far as I know is random. The point is he adapts. Anything he makes can shut down a Super."

"I think I get what you're saying. Why are we talking about Boy Genius though?"

"Sometimes there are people with powers that he can't fully counter. Either their powers are too weird, or too strong, or so bullshit, it causes his bullshit to fail. Someone like the Victorian, the Beast from space, or the Emperor. When this happens, his power takes a different approach. The things he builds begin to let off low waves of energy that weaken and stunt Superpowers. Sometimes it can outright cause their powers to vanish. It's not permanent and the person will eventually build up a counter to it though. Night Shade prison is full of this stuff, causing the villains there to be severely weakened. As a Tech guy myself, I've studied the crap out of that stuff, so trust me when I say Hope. Those glasses your dad gave you. They give off the exact same energy."

"You mean they've been weakening me?"

"Had been." Rowan corrected. "If I had to guess, I'd say that was why you didn't know you were a Super sooner. You technically were, but those glasses were masking your power. When we met, they had been shattered off your face. The next day your powers came back in a stressful situation, and that was all it took. Now even with the glasses suppressing you, you've become too strong for them, so rather than block off the entire thing they're more holding back small portions of it."

"During the fight with Red Ape I used so much power that it nearly killed me. I hadn't been wearing my glasses for a while. After that though I noticed I was never able to produce a blast that strong again. Was I getting slightly weaker each time?"

"I'd say it was more your control was off with that first attack due to the sheer amount of escaping power. That might help explain why you're better with your fire now."

"I'm still not that good..." She muttered. She looked down at the glasses, squeezing them in her hands. "And you're saying since these things affect Supers, my dad knows I'm a Super. My mom to if I had to guess." Her mom's words the other day came back to her. The woman had asked if she was a Super.

"Either that or it's the world's biggest misunderstanding."

"So what happens now?" She pocketed the glasses, sighing. "Do I stop wearing them?"

"You can just remove the lenses, and it will do the trick. All my readings came from them. If you give them to me, I can fix them up for you and make them normal again."

"You'd do that?"

"We're on the same team." Rowan snorted. "Besides. I kind of feel bad for hiding the fact I knew you were a Super. I wasn't trying to be creepy or anything."

She eyed the boy up and nodded. "Well thanks, I guess. Both for not being creepy and helping me so much."

"It's what teammates do. Speaking of which." He finally turned back to her holding up a strange metal ball, that was about the size of a baseball. "You said you were getting better with your fire breath, right?" He gave her an evil smirk and pressed a button on the machine. It let out a beep and suddenly flew high into the air. "Training time!"

"What-"

The orb glowed and a small blue spark blasted out, and she let out a yelp as she felt a powerful shock go through her body.

"Ow!" She yelled. The machine blasted out several smaller beams, and she tried to block it, wincing. It flew around her and zapped her butt knocking her over.

"Training time!"

"Rowan!"

***

Jack groaned as his eyes opened. They instantly closed as the bright light drilled into his skull. "A hospital?" He could hear the beeping of his heart monitor, and the room he was in had that strange sickly smell places like this seemed to always have.

"I brought you here after you collapsed. Your barrier finally turned off, but don't worry I didn't call Paragon in. I'm guessing she's what caused it to turn on in the first place?"

His eyes snapped open again, and he shot up. He winced and grabbed at his chest, looking around. He was in a small room with only a bed, a desk, and a TV that was on some news channel. The usual reporter woman was giving some speech about how Old Dog's retirement was going, but he didn't pay it much mind.

Sitting in the chair still in full costume was Myth. He himself was also still in his red suit, though parts of it had been removed once they were able to hook medical supplies up to him. His mask had remained on hiding his identity.

"How long have I been out for?"

"Two days." Jack closed his eyes and breathed in. "Why didn't you tell me just how bad it was?" He opened his eyes and saw Myth holding something. It was an X-ray. "You shouldn't be a hero with something like this inside of you."

The X-ray was of his heart. Shriveled and small, it had turned an ugly black color a while ago. Jagged cuts ran along the organ, and sections of it were gone. The thing in the middle of it though was most eye-catching. A jagged shard of golden metal. One that radiated a light that went through the heart and his veins. One that was burning what was left of the beating organ, flakes of ash constantly coming off of it.

Even a Super could only take so much damage. Something like this was... Jack's eyes sparkled with a rare amount of emotion as he stared at the picture of his heart. "It's not that big of a deal-"

Myth's hand slammed into the wall next to him. "Not that big of a deal? I thought you just had heart issues! This is something more though isn't it! What the hell is inside of you and why won't you let Paragon heal you- You need to get it out! You need an entirely new heart!"

"I can't."

"Why not? Paragon could-"

"No."

"Why!"

"I can't say-"

"Why." Myth's tone said that he wouldn't ask a third time. "I'm ordering you. As the leader of Pantheon. Tell me."

Jack rubbed his neck again. He could really go for a smoke about now. His hand came up and brushed the scar. "It won't let me." He finally said. "I wasn't the one who put my barrier up. The shard did it."

"The shard?"

"The thing in my heart." He sighed and slumped down staring at the ground. "It isn't just any random piece of shrapnel. It's aware. It lets me use my power to partially heal myself but never enough. That golden light I have isn't mine." He looked down at his hands watching the small sparkles of gold that danced on his fingers. "I get this light from the shard. My power is based around energy absorption. I can absorb most forms of energy and then convert them into other forms of energy and blast them out of my body. It's why I picked the name Battery. I charge up. This thing in my heart is also sort of like my own battery. It supplies me with that golden energy. It also stops me from fully fixing the damage though. It created a barrier when Paragon tried to heal me. If we were to force it I think it could blow up, and with the amount of energy inside of it… If I let Paragon heal me, she'd die. I would die, too." Jack shrugged. "I still have some things to settle on this world. Not a lot, but a few. So, I can't die yet. Not while the Kid still needs so much help."

"That Hope girl. Who is she, exactly?"

"I can't say. I won't either."

Myth frowned but nodded. "Then who are you? If such a thing found its way into you with such intent to cause pain, you couldn't have been a nobody. Who are you, Jack Larison?"

Jack looked down at the ground. "You really wanna know?"

"Would I have asked if I didn't."

"Fifteen years ago." Jack said softly. "Fifteen years ago, I wasn't exactly on the good guys' side."

"Are you saying that-"

"I was a member of the Organization and part of the Emperor's army. In other words, fifteen years ago, I was a villain that tried to help take over the world."