“Where are you leading us?” Kate asked while she and Theo were blindfolded and led along.

“It's a surprise!” Kim said.

“You can open your eyes in three, two, one…now!” Cruz said.

“Woah. What is this place.?” Theo asked.

“We call it Calibre Sanctum. I took inspiration from your old cave and we worked together to make a new and improved base of operations.” Cruz explained.

“This is amazing. Even though it’s different I can still feel the vibes of the old cave. But, why did you build it in the first place?” Kate asked.

Cruz and Kim looked at each other and then Cruz nodded towards Kim. She took a step back and then whistled a tune. All of a sudden, several chipmunks scrambled into the sanctum and Kim’s arm grew into a tree limb that she outstretched to let them scurry up to her face. Then, Cruz cleared his throat and his whole body turned dark. He then dropped into a nearby shadow before jumping out of another shadow a bit farther away and floated in the air.

“Y-you both have powers?!” Kate said, astonished.

“Wait, don’t tell me you guys did what I think you did.” Theo said.

“Uh, yeah so a while ago we went to the cave and we found this machine that gave us powers.” Kim sheepishly said.

“I knew I should’ve closed off that cave a long time ago.” Theo said as he rubbed his forehead.

“Well look on the bright side, no one else will be able to get powers from it since, um…it is in ashes.” Said Cruz.

“What?!” Theo exclaimed.

Kim leaned over and said, “I thought we weren’t gonna tell them.”

“It seemed like the right thing to do.” Cruz said to her quietly.

“Well nobody was hurt so no big deal. But what do you expect to accomplish now?” Kate asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? We are going to be like you.” Kim said.

“We want to help keep this city safe.” Cruz chimed in.

Kate and Theo looked at each other and then sighed before smiling at them. Theo motioned for a group hug and they all got together.

“Be careful out there. This city isn’t what it used to be.” Theo said.

“And there aren’t a lot of people left that would be able to help you.” Said Kate.

“Alright, well we’ll leave you guys to it then.” Theo said before he and Kate left the sanctum.

Meanwhile…

“Here’s your lunch. Now get your butt going.” Gen said as she ushered a girl out the door.

“Bye Mom, bye Dad.” The girl said.

“Oh, have a good day, sweetie.” Said Jeff as he sipped his morning coffee.

“Jeff, did Theo figure out what we’re gonna do about this hero crisis?” Gen asked.

“I haven’t heard from him. I’ll swing by his office when I get to the society.” Jeff said.

“Easy on the cup of joe. You’ll choke if you don’t slow down and appreciate it.” Said Gen.

“Ah, it makes me so happy that you finally have an appreciation for the finer, more exquisite things in life.” Jeff said, twirling his mustache.

She rolled his eyes and kissed him before he took his coat and left the house.

At the Slinky and Laughing Matter Hero Society, people were bustling around the building. Some were delivering paperwork, others were being given assignments and still others were busy working either at their desks or training.

“Good morning, Lauren.” Jeff said as he passed by the receptionist.

“Good morning, former director Jeff. Is there anything I can assist you with?” Lauren asked.

“Oh, nothing for now besides giving that smile.” He said as continued further into the building.

Before getting too far away he could hear Lauren sigh and say “Boy, what a nice, caring man.”

As he continued walking, two people walked by and they stopped their conversation for a moment.

“Good morning Lenno. Knit Knight.” Jeff said as he nodded towards them.

As they greeted him back, Lenno gave him a salute while Knit Knight waved and they continued their conversation as they walked past him.

Jeff passed several offices and as he walked by one of them he spotted Shawn among a large pile of paper.

“Mornin’ Shawn!” Said Jeff.

Shawn looked around the stack of paper and mumbled “I hate paperwork and I hate you.”

“Well, you’re quite welcome for the job opportunity!” Jeff replied as he moved on.

Finally, he approached a larger office and swung open the door.

“Hey there old chum. What’s shakin’?” Jeff asked.

A cloaked older fellow with a mask on his face looked up from his computer and greeted him.

“Boy, aren’t you a hard, stubborn worker.” Jeff said.

“Ah, Hello there.” Said Rhys.

“Have you taken your meds yet?” Asked Jeff.

“Uh. I dunno.” Rhys said as he looked around.

“Hey, where did you get that candy from? Did you open a portal without permission again?” Jeff pressed.

Rhys looked down in disappointment. Jeff walked up to a locked cabinet, pulled out a bottle of pills, and put them in a cup. 

He handed them to Rhys and said “Here take your meds, old man. We can’t have you losing all of your memory just yet.”

Rhys gulped down the medicine with some water and then continued drawing on a piece of paper that he was working on before Jeff had walked in.

“Alright Rhys, one of the girls will stop by to give you breakfast so hang tight.” Jeff said before closing the office door behind him.

Finally, Jeff walked into his own office and began to work. After a while, there was a knock at the door and Theo walked in.

“Oh, what can I do for you, Director?” Jeff asked.

“I wanted to update you on the hero situation. I think there might be a solution very soon.” Theo said.

Meanwhile at Calibre Sanctum…

“No, no. It’s Ceros and Beam. I’m pretty sure it sounds better that way.” Cruz said.

“Listen. It’s Beam and Ceros and I’m not going to argue with you about this.” Said Kim.

“Whatever. I can’t believe I signed up to be a hero with my annoying sister.” Cruz said in a low voice.

“I heard that!” Kim exclaimed as she elbowed him.

Just then, they got an alert on the sanctum’s computer.

“Hey, let's try out the new system.” Kim said.

Cruz typed on the computer and booted up a program called C.A.D.A. After a moment, a voice spoke to them that echoed from the computer.

“Hello, I am C.A.D.A. Boot sequence initiating. Boot sequence complete. Scanning city. Scan complete.” Said Cada.

“Wow. So cool!” Kim said in awe.

“Hey, Cada. Can you identify the alert that was received?” Theo asked.

“Certainly, Beam. A villain has been spotted downtown causing massive damage to the surrounding area. Please proceed with caution.” Said Cada.

“Thanks Cada. We’ll be back before you know it!” Kim said as they ran out of the sanctum.

Once they arrived at the scene, they saw people running and screaming as a girl was wielding a strange transparent staff.

“Hey! Stop right there.” Kim said.

The girl looked at them and laughed.

“Fools. Die.” She said, menacingly.

She held out the staff and her eyes began to glow as she cast a beam of energy towards them. Cruz immediately dove into a shadow of a nearby car and Kim called upon some birds who lifted her in the air out of the way of the beam.

“What? Heroes? I wasn’t informed there would be heroes!” The girl infuriatingly said.

Suddenly, Cruz flew out of the shadows and punched her into the air.

“Now!” Cruz yelled.

Kim let go of the birds, transformed her leg into an enormous tree, and pushed the girl out of the sky crushing her into the ground. Kim put her leg back to normal to reveal the girl was unconscious as Cruz grabbed her hands and put special tech cuffs on her.

“What’s that?” Kim asked.

“These are power-devitalizing restraints. As long as they remain attached to the person’s hands they sap their powers.” Cruz explained.

“Cool!” Kim said.

As they were restraining the girl, many people approached them and began to clap and cheer.

“The heroes are back!” Said Someone.

“It’s good to feel safe again!” Someone else said.

Meanwhile…

“I don’t understand. Where are these heroes that you’re talking about?” Jeff asked.

Theo chuckled and said “They’ve been here the whole time. Right under our noses.”

He grabbed the TV remote and switched over to the news.

“We have Susan live at the scene. Susan, what is going on over there?” Asked a news anchor.

The screen changed to a reporter who said “Well, Patty, It seems there was an attack here downtown as you can see from the footage that’s playing from a few moments ago, and to everyone's surprise a couple of heroes stepped in to save the day. They have apprehended the villain and are being praised for their efforts and they’ve agreed to speak with me. Tell me, why did you step in like you did?”

“Well because it’s the right thing to do.” Cruz said.

“And this city is in desperate need of people to protect it but there aren't too many heroes left who can do that job so we decided it’s our turn.” Kim said.

“So who are you? What should we call you?” The reporter asked.

“I’m Beam.” Cruz said.

“And I’m Ceros.” Said Kim.

“Well Beam and Ceros, is there anything you like to say before we throw it back to the studio?” Asked the reporter.

“If there’s anyone out there who has powers, don’t be afraid to come forward. You can be heroes too.” Kim said.

“It might not be the easiest job but with your help, this city can be safe like it used to. The Slinky and Laughing Matter Hero Society is welcoming anyone with powers and will train you to be the best that you can be.” Said Cruz.

“Very well said. If you don’t mind me asking, You both remind me a great deal of the famous heroes Thorn and Hip. Are you perhaps related?” The reporter asked.

“Those were our parents. We learned a lot from them and we continue to strive to be like them.” Kim said.

“Well thank you so much, Beam and Ceros, for talking with me. This is Susan, back to you guys.” The reporter said before walking away.

Jeff smiled and said “Ah, I see. I guess there’s nothing to worry about then.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Theo said as he rewinded the news report.

“Hm?” Jeff said as he raised an eyebrow.

Theo stopped at the video of the villain attacking and pointed towards her on the screen.

“See that? That’s no ordinary superpower. That’s magic.” Theo said.

“Ok and why is that concerning?” Jeff asked.

“Because magic isn’t something the society has dealt with too much.” Theo said.

“So what do you suggest we do?” Jeff wondered.

“I think I need to make a call.” Theo said as he walked out of Jeff’s office.

He pulled out his phone and went through his contacts until he stopped. He pressed on the name Tekashi Ryano and hit the call button.

“Hello?” Tekashi answered.

“Hey, it’s Theo.” Theo said.

“Oh hey man, what’s up? I hear you're the big shot over there now.” Said Tekashi.

Theo let out a small laugh and then grew serious and said “We’ve got a problem. A magical problem.”