(January 6th, 2030)

  The Shining Darkness had returned to base at top speed after Hardwire’s message. He leaped across Hive Town and aimed for the roof window he typically used for coming and going. However, as John promised, five figures stood in the lobby with him.

  As he descended, Shine took as good a look as he could from above to take stock of their guests. However, his concentration broke as his heart skipped a beat at one of their presences.

  More clumsy than he’d ever been since he became the Shining Darkness, Conner landed in the middle of the lobby and startled the gathered Masks.

  While everyone composed themselves, Conner took stock of his visitors. The first was a man with spiked, bleach-white hair, a pair of red shades, and a black bandana over his mouth. He wore a black cape with a red interior and a black and crimson outfit that mixed the Victorian era with a motorcycle jacket. He had handguns and bowie knives at his hips, and a short sword handle stuck out from the collar of his cape. This was Dhampire, a Mask who’d helped Shine capture a child killer. However, they parted after a rather heated argument over whether to kill the killer or hand him over to the courts.

  Beside Dhampire stood his partner in all things, Bowstring, who’d also helped in the prior case. She was a woman of mixed East Asian and European descent who wore a dark blue leather costume that crossed an English highwayman and a hooded ninja. Her weapons were twin handguns, a longbow and a full arrow quiver, and a short sword modeled to look like a violin’s bowstring behind her waist.

  Parallel to those two was another duo in more heavily armored attire. There was a man with a gold and blue suit of steel and Kevlar. The armor was very smooth, with earmuff-like reinforcements on the helmet, and covered everything but his brown jaw. A utility belt wrapped his waist as a sharp and golden cape hung from the nape of his armor’s neck. The firearm he held, which looked like a cross between a rifle and a speaker, told who this Mask was: the Howler.

  By his side was a figure in a similar but feminine suit of armor that completely covered her. Her silver and purple suit had much thicker appendages than Howler’s, a small wing-like protrusion on her head, and a utility belt. Conner was far less familiar with this Mask, but he believed this was Howler’s sidekick, the Silver Siren, who’d started crime-fighting around the same time Conner had.

  The final Mask, seated at the kitchen counter, was the one who’d thrown Shine off his game. She wore something akin to an EOD uniform, colored by red and orange flame patterns. The suit’s glass face was mirrored, while the rest was so heavy that, if she weren’t publicly upfront about it, it would’ve been impossible to tell this was a woman. The suit’s importance was evidenced by her twin bandoliers of explosives. This Mask was Dannie Dynamite, Conner’s favorite since he was a boy.

  Notably, John, who was seated at his computer desk, was wearing a white metal helmet. The top half of the face was made of black, one-way glass, and a black racing stripe went down along its right side. However, the helmet looked to be a size too big for John’s body. Conner guessed it was the helmet intended for his armor.

  Once the Shining Darkness landed, he kicked up a cloud of dust by mistake.

  Crap. We need to clean up in here more. Conner thought as the other Masks coughed and brandished their weapons.

  As Dhampire pointed a handgun at Shine, he exclaimed, “Shit! What’s-…! Oh.” He then holstered it and told everyone, “Alright, cool it, class. The star student’s here.”

  “Boy! What the Hell are you-...? Oh, it’s him,” the Howler said, switching from furious to calm as he recognized the Shining Darkness and lowered his sonic rifle. “So you’re the Shining Darkness… Damn, son! What did your mama feed you?”

  Shine did his best to ignore Dannie, his inner child demanding he get an autograph, as he answered, “Erm… Hello, Howler. It’s a pleasure to meet you. The same goes to the rest of you.” As he greeted everyone and they holstered their weapons, Bowstring nodded back, Dhampire lowered his glasses condescendingly, Howler smiled knowingly, Sonic Siren clicked her teeth, and Dannie Dynamite waved. “Now then, I hope I don’t seem rude or impatient, but could you all explain why you’re here?”

  “Didn’t your tech man tell you, Sparkles?” Siren hissed. “Death Head asked us all to come here.”

  While John shifted at Siren’s tone, Shine ignored it and replied, “Hardwire told me that. But you all neglected to tell him why Death Head sent the invite out.”

  Death Head, a former Marine Raider, turned career Mask, turned semi-retiree, was the man who trained most of the Masks in this room. The odd ones out were Bowstring and Siren. Currently, Death Head was in Texas on Conner’s behalf, in search of his friend Carl.

  Carl had been held at a local juvenile detention center for attacking other teens who’d framed him for steroid use and ruined his baseball career. However, when Conner had finally obtained the funds to pay Carl’s bail, he learned his friend had been mysteriously transferred to an institution in Texas. Since Conner suspected the Big Bads' involvement, Death Head, in his civilian identity of Flint Isaiah, went to track him down.

  Howler then patted Siren’s shoulder, calming her as he answered Shine, “I suppose that’s fair to ask. See, Flint told us what you’re up to. Since he’s preoccupied, he asked us to lend you a hand or five saving the world.”

  Intuitively, Shine raised a finger and asked, “You… How many of you know who Death Head is?”

  “All of us, Jumpy,” Dannie called out as she leaned in her chair. “He trained us all, after all. How long’d it take him to tell you?”

  At being addressed by Dannie Dynamite, Shine felt a lump in his throat as he stared blankly and became statue-like.

  Before John could rouse his pal to respond, Bowstring interjected, “Eh, actually, he trained you guys. I got into Mask work with Dhampire.”

  “And Howler trained me,” Siren explained.

  “Yeah, but all the best moves I taught you, I learned from Death Head,” Howler said as he walked away from Siren and toward Shine. As he peered around Shine at Bowstring, he told her, “And you tied the knot with one of his boys.”

  Shine raised a brow at that, glanced at Dhampire and Bowstring, and thought. They’re married?

  While Shine was distracted, Howler patted his shoulder and told him, “Far as I’m concerned, this makes us all one big crime-fighting family. Hell, you could even call this gathering the new Urban Strikers.”

  “I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Dhampire said as he glared at Shine.

  “Seriously. Don’t make me sick,” Siren spat as she turned her shoulder to the Super Mask.

  Puzzled, Conner thought. Okay. I get Dhampire’s beef with me, but what’s up with the metal chick?

  “Ooh. The air’s feeling tense,” Dynamite added casually as she unknowingly made Shine freeze again.

  “Well, you guys showed up out of nowhere, and those two’re being jerks in our house,” Hardwire stated from his chair as he pointed at Dhampire and Siren.

  While Dhampire might’ve rolled his eyes at Hardwire’s rebuttal, Siren stomped her foot and turned back. But, instead of focusing her anger at John, she stared at Conner.

  “Listen, you freak! I-.”

  “That’s enough, kid!” Howler snapped at Siren. “We talked about this before we came here. Leave your grudges at the door. We’ve got manners and a job to do.” He then looked at Shine and said earnestly, “Sorry about that, Shining Darkness.”

  “Um… It’s alright?” Shine replied. “So, what exactly is the plan here? How much do you know about the situation?”

  As Shine's mind speculated, Howler answered, “Well, Flint told us you’re dealing with a group you’re calling ‘the Big Bads.’ A sort of super crime empire that’s trying to smear you.” He then nudged Shine and smirked. “But they aren’t getting anywhere, eh? A man like you’s got too much good in him to look bad.”

  Amused but faintly shy, Shine took the compliment and replied, “I appreciate that. I’ve got my own issues, but I try. But the Big Bads have got more than just crime in their pockets from what I can tell.”

  Energetically, Howler clapped his armored hands and stated, “Right on! Flint said they probably hold some sway in government and some kinda magic tricks. I’m not sure what the plans are for dealing with these scums, but we’re all ears.” Howler’s demeanor lost a touch of bluster as he finished, “Just, uh, I’d like to ask you somethin’ first.”

  “What’s up?”

  With a faint chuckle, Dynamite chimed, “Here we go.”

  “Oh, hush. It’s nothing bad,” Howler replied soothingly before he focused on Shine. “If we’re all gonna help you, I think we should start by getting familiar.”

  “The implication being?” Shine asked cautiously.

  “You see, most of us already know each other’s real names. I’m hoping if we share that with you and Hardwire, and you boys do the same, it’d help us all work as a team.” Howler then put a hand on his helmet and offered, “I can go first if that’d help.”

  Raising his hand, Shine stepped back and replied, “Hold on. I respect all of your work, but I don’t know if we should trust any of you with our secret identities yet.”

  Conner's biggest concern, however, he kept internal. I can tell Dhampire and Bowstring are the same from before, but I can't be sure the rest of you are who you say you are.

  “Oh… Sorry about that,” Howler said as he lowered his hand. “Suppose that was a bit forward. I was just trying to be, well, blunt but casual. Maybe we should make plans and get some missions done before-.”

  “Why wait? I already know who he is,” Dhampire cut in coolly as he leaned against a supply crate. “You want to let everyone know, or do you want me ta tell them, kid?”

  While everyone looked at Dhampire with various tense emotions, Bowstring chided him, “You don’t need to be rude.”

  As she sat up straight, Dannie Dynamite asked, “You know who he is? How’d you do that?”

  Proudly, Dhampire raised his arms and declared, “I’m a detective. The best damn one in this whole state. Hell, maybe even the country.”

  Powering through the nerves Dannie set off, Shining Darkness folded his arms behind himself and retorted, “Really now? Alright, let’s hear your guess. Who am I?”

  “Shine? You sure?” Hardwire questioned as he, presumably, glared at Dhampire.

  Putting a hand on Shine’s shoulder, Howler told him, “Seriously, pal. If you don’t want us to know yet, Dhampire can keep his mouth shut.”

  Dhampire shrank at Howler’s tone, as Shine stated, “If he really knows who I am, it’s better to deal with the consequences now than wait until later. C’mon, let’s hear your guess, Dracula.”

  Reflexively, the fake vampire rested a hand on one of his knives before he replied, “Well, to start, I figured you’re most likely Incognus. He vanished, and you showed up half a year later. Considering where Incognus first showed up, he must be a Hive Towner. Death Head usually prefers to train teens or young adults, so I checked all local high schools and colleges for any students who bulked up in the past three years. Then I cross-referenced for reduced academic performance before comparing my suspects' known schedules with known times Incognus and Shining Darkness were working. Finally, I found that you were ditching class the same time the Shining Darkness was doing his big bridge rescue. Am I spot on, Conner McClain, high school senior?”

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  At once, Conner and John lost their composure and slumped. Plainly, all the other Masks could tell Dhampire was on the mark. Evident by her laughter, Siren was overtly amused.

  Shit…! The rescue. Running out of school like that was careless. Conner thought as he bit his cheek.

  Clearing his throat, Conner composed himself, undid the latches inside his hood, pulled it down, and took his mask off. His shoulder-length white hair flowed free as his eyes glowed a touch more intensely.

  With a faint growl, Conner said, “Good guess.”

  “Oh… Wow! Not sure what I was expecting, but that’s something else,” Bowstring remarked.

  “No kidding. Those eyes and hair are mesmerizing,” Dannie Dynamite admitted with an amused chortle.

  Dhampire tilted his head as he stared, remarking, “I wasn’t expecting the white hair. You copying my look with dye, or is it something about your powers?”

  “My powers,” Conner answered sternly.

  "They’re why you’re so big, too, right?" Dhampire asked with faint confidence, only for Conner to give an otherworldly glare and snuff it out.

  After a moment of awkward silence, Dhampire snapped his fingers and exclaimed, “Oh! And Hardwire’s probably Conner’s friend, John Fable. High school kid, too.”

  Everyone then looked to John, who was seething in his chair. “I’m not taking my helmet off if that’s what you’re waiting for.”

  More silence fell on the room then.

  A bit surprising, Sonic Siren was the one to break it as she addressed Conner. “Hey, uh… How do you keep so much hair in your mask?” For the first time, her tone wasn’t venomously hostile.

  Conner untensed a bit at that question, and started, “My hair? Oh, well I-.”

  “Wait! Is this it?!” Dhampire snapped as he looked around in disbelief. “I proved these two are just brats, and that’s all any of us have to say?”

  Before anyone could think much on this, the Shining Darkness addressed Dhampire with bloodthirsty tension, “Right… So, when are you coming after our families?”

  Dhampire would have spit-taked if he could have then, as he shot back, “I- What?! No! Your families?! Are you crazy!? W-Why would I hurt your families?”

  “Your lifestyle revolves around hunting down and murdering people. What makes this any different?” Shine retorted callously.

  “Hey, I only hurt criminals and Crooks! I’d never lay a hand on a Civi.”

  Folding her arms, Bowstring sounded genuinely hurt as she asked, “You really think we’re that bad?”

  “You both dislike me, and I try to be cautious in general,” Shine stated as he kept the orbs of light in his head locked on them.

  “And you blew our secret identities!” John growled as he kicked an empty soda can across the room. “Asshole!”

  “Hold on a sec,” Howler said as he stepped between Shine and Dhampire. “We know your name, but we still don’t know who you are. And that’s still up to you to share or not.”

  Conner calmed down at those words. He still frowned as he looked over Howler to stare at Dhampire as he realized that this killer of killers almost certainly knew his personal details, too.

  He then sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he stated, “To be frank, I’m nobody. Just a random Hive Towner Death Head picked up cuz I could throw a punch better than most. Admittedly, I’m a bit unique in that I’ve got a family that loves me, and I love them back… Dhampire.” Shine stared at the Victorian biker expectantly, waiting for his next move. In turn, so did the rest of the Masks.

  Dhampire and Bowstring then exchanged what seemed to be guilty looks before Dhampire took off his shades and bandanna, revealing his brown eyes and sharp jawline, while Bowstring took off her hood and eye mask, revealing her brunette hair bun. Both looked to be in their mid-twenties.

  “The name’s Leonardo Cardi. My friends call me Leo,” Dhampire explained bluntly. “I got into the game eight years ago, back when I was studying to become a police detective. Me and Death Head found each other when I figured out there was a drug ring on campus. Flint was investigating at the same time, so he recruited me. The rest’s history.”

  “My story’s not as cool,” Bowstring admitted, a touch shy. “My family’s upper middle class, and I was always into combat sports and the violin. I already knew a lot of martial arts and archery when Dhampire stopped a Crook called Acapella from robbing a charity orchestra I was in. I helped beat up Acapella’s goons, Dhampire found me later, and offered to train me to be a Mask. That’s how Rachel became Bowstring.”

  “Ooh! I’ll go next!” Dannie Dynamite called out as she pulled her helmet off. Underneath, the upper left quarter of her face was horribly burnt, complete with a milky blind eye. The other three-quarters of her head belonged to a lovely woman in her late twenties. Her right eye was a lovely green, and she had short red hair. She seemed confused for a second when she noticed Conner staring at her before she shifted to a warm smile.

  “Aw. You’re sweet, kid.”

  Puzzled, Conner let out a confused exclamation as Dhampire ribbed him, “That’s adorable. Brat has a crush.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Dude,” John called out as he pointed at Conner’s face. “Youuu’re beet red.”

  Feeling his face, Conner realized he was blushing, which only worsened at the realization. Not helping matters was Siren and Bowstring laughing at him.

  Shit…! I guess I’ve really got a type.

  Desperate for an excuse, Conner told Dannie, “Sorry! I mean- no! You’re just… You were always my favorite Mask when I was younger.”

  In good humor, Dannie replied, “Well, that’s very sweet of you. I think I’ll save you a bit of trouble and get on with my story.”

  “Th-thanks.”

  Dynamite rested an elbow on the counter as she put a finger to her bottom lip and pontificated, “Let’s see. Where to start…? Well, my name’s Demmi Tyson, and my mom was an explosives expert for the Army before she started a demolition business. I picked up her fascination, and I was gonna take over the business eventually. But she was killed when I was seventeen by a Crook called Wicked. She was this lunatic who mixed a witch motif with being a skateboarder. It’d have been hilarious if she hadn’t killed twenty-eight people.”

  An awkward, silent mourning filled the room, and any memory of Conner’s embarrassment was pushed out to make space.

  “Anyways, my mom’s business partner kicked me to the curb, so I dedicated my life to revenge and made my early costume. Death Head came to town around then and found me when I got jumped by some assholes who wanted to prove they were tough by beating a Mask up. I didn’t really know what I was doing back then… But he trained me, and we tracked Wicked down. Turned out she was hired by my mom’s old partner to get rid of her and keep me out.” With a flourish, Dannie gestured to the burnt part of her face and explained, “Wicked tried to get away after we got that info out of her, and I got this lovely makeover making sure I blew her up. Then we ruined the career of the asshole who hired her, and I got my mom’s company back. Unfortunately, it also took a hit from association with a Crook, but I managed to keep it afloat with my Mask funds until the company turned profitable again a few years ago.”

  “That’s… very impressive,” Conner remarked tactfully.

  “And depressing!” Dynamite retorted as she gestured jovially.

  Conner jerked back at that attitude, unsure what to make of his childhood hero.

  Surprisingly, it was Dhampire who broke the tension and explained, “Yeah. She’s, uh, just kinda like that.” To which Dannie shrugged in amusement.

  To help move things along, John knocked on his helmet to gather attention and said, “Well, uh, if we’re sharing, and you guys know my name anyways, I’m aaaa friend of Conner’s. Grew up around here as a preacher’s kid. Iiii also always loved tech. Um, I followed Conner when he first went to start training with Death Head, prrretty stupid of me. Death Head picked me up, too, cuz he thought my tech skills could help. Once I upgraded his gear, he called me Hardwire. But pretty soon, I’ll have a full suit of power armor and be in the field.”

  “Oh, a fellow techie in the making?” Howler remarked enthusiastically. He then turned a lock on his helmet and pulled it off to reveal an older face. Nowhere near as old as Flint, only in his late thirties or early forties. His head was shaved clean, and, notably, he was wearing hearing aids.

  “I’m Adelio Liam. Friends call me Lio, but, eh, that’d probably be confusing with Dhampire over there. So just call me Ad if Howler’s not your cup of tea.” Patting his sonic rifle, he explained, “I was a wiz for gizmos growing up, so I used to own an electronic repair shop. I even designed my own security system. Death Head found out about me when he tried to stop some punks from robbing my store, but they all got chased away by the traps I set up. He found me later and asked if I could help him with his gear. I agreed and got so into it that I made my first prototype Howler suit. Just armor at first, then I upgraded later to include some strength enhancers, nothing amazing, but I could arm wrestle Death Head and win. But after I heard about you, I made the suit strong enough to lift a full ton.”

  “Just a ton?” Shine heard Hardire mutter.

  Howler then looked at the Death Head and Incognus armors kept in a case and pointed to them. “Death Head liked the sound filters, and he rocked the plated armor, but he preferred his standard weapons over my sonics, and he said the powered suit was too slow. He had a point. The armor I used with him was too slow, and if it weren't for Siren’s help improving this thing, I’d be totally deaf by now.” With an embarrassed shrug, he finished, “Unfortunately, we had a bit of a falling out, cuz I liked testing my weapons on criminals a bit too much. I’ve mellowed out since then, and we buried the hatchet over a decade ago, but he’d moved on to training Go Man by then. Course, I have my own protégé now.”

  Howler then chuckled proudly and rubbed Siren’s armored head, who quickly and brashly pushed his hand away.

  Irritated, Sonic Siren took her helmet off to reveal a pretty, but angry, face underneath. She was black, like Howler, and had short frizzy hair. Unlike Howler, she was very young, perhaps late teens to early twenties. Based on how recently she started fighting, Conner guessed she was about his age. He also noticed she was staring at his hair now, and realized, perhaps, having to cut her own hair short was why she asked how he managed not to.

  “Okay, I guess I’m going last,” Siren stated with more nervousness than she probably intended. “The name’s Ella Liam. I prefer Sonic Siren, or just Siren. I was two when my old man started out, so Mask stuff was always a part of my normal.”

  “As a father, I never wanted her involved in any of this, but she was insistent. And I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t at least train her after she started helping me improve my gear.”

  Impatiently, Siren snapped, “I was gonna say that.”

  “Oop! Sorry, kid.”

  “Tch! Alright, yeah. When I got to middle school, I started learning about sonics from Howler. Because I wanted to stop my dad from losing his hearing, I eventually improved his weapons in a way that makes it so that the harmful sections of the sound waves only travel forward from his gun and my limb cannons.”

  “Oh, that’s why the armor on your arms and legs is so thick,” John said with intrigue. “Your weapons are in there. Man, if your sonics really do work that way, that’s… incredible. I didn't know sound could do that.”

  Siren looked a bit flustered from John’s praise as she stated, “There’s no ifs about it, Hardwire. Heck, our weapons could punch through a foot of concrete if we turn them up to ten.”

  In response, Howler raised his rifle sheepishly and pointed to a dial above the grip along the barrel. “We typically keep them at one or two to avoid killing anyone.”

  Sonic Siren then gave Shine an expectant, mocking look, as if she’d wanted a rise out of him. When he only returned her anticipation with confusion, she hissed under her breath, folded her bulky arms, and looked away.

  Seriously! What is your deal? Conner fumed to himself.

  Leaping off the crate, Dhampire said, “Okay, cool. We’ve got the meet and greet done. Wasn’t exactly what I hoped for, but whatever. What’s the plan to take down the Big Bads?”

  Brought back to the matters at hand, a thought struck Shine. As he raised a finger, he replied, “That reminds me. Big Bads was always just a placeholder name, and I just found out one of their leaders goes by Mr. Ravage, so I thought we could call them ‘The Ravagers.’”

  John relaxed a bit at that and remarked, “Huh… It’s a bit better than Big Bads at least.”

  “That’s fine,” Bowstring added casually. “I don’t think it makes a difference.”

  Dhampire, however, was grinning as he replied, “Mr. Ravage, huh? Looks like we’ve got a starter clue. This’ll be too easy.”

  “Okay, Ravagers, cool,” John remarked excitedly. “So, if we wanna make plans, I’ve got some ideas.”

  Chipperly, Dannie replied, “Hey, you boys know this situation best. We should follow your lead ‘till we get a better hold of things.”

  With a thumbs up that embarrassed Siren, Howler added jovially, “The new Urban Strikers have got your back!”

  As Shine gave Hardwire a proud nod, he went on, “Alright, cool! So, I have a list of shell companies I’ve tied back to the Ravagers. Shining Darkness, Dhampire, and Bowstring can start investigating-.”

  Suddenly, John’s laptop blared an alarm so loud the young man jumped from his chair. When he took a breath and looked back, he froze.

  Conner vaguely knew what this was as Bowstring asked, “What the Hell was that? Is your computer busted?”

  Hardwire ignored the question to type away as he opened the alert, so Shine explained, “It’s an alarm he set up recently to let us know if anything important comes up about that King Chaos guy in the news.” Every Mask but Conner and John flinched at that name with mixtures of discomfort and admiration.

  “Whoa, yeah. That… Super Crook and his pack,” Howler said with a frown.

  “I gotta give you credit on that one. You fought like Hell that night,” Dhampire praised genuinely.

  With blatant curiosity, Siren asked, “Hey, how did you recover so fast from that?”

  Uncertainly, Conner scratched his cheek as he answered, “Uh, I think it’s one of my powers.”

  Siren seemed especially rankled at that and asked, “You think?”

  “Well, look, it’s-.”

  Stopping Conner short, John yelled, “Fuck, fuck, fuck! Everyone shut up! Listen to this!”

  Although some were a touch annoyed by Hardwire’s tone, they all voluntarily clammed up when he played an active news broadcast. The topic: “The Shining Darkness breaks King Chaos out of prison.”