“The mission will be dangerous. We don’t know the full scope of what these guys can do so we need to be alert and prepared for anything. I want Glowstick and Sheet Shifter with me. Buzzcut and Digi will serve as backup and keep a lookout for us.” Tekashi explained.

They all nodded in agreement and began to prepare. Theo walked over to Tekashi and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Good luck out there.” Theo said before leaving.

After everyone was ready, Tekashi and the team headed out.

“Mr. Tekashi, how do you know where we’re going?” Asked Glowstick.

“We brought in a mind specialist to delve into the captured sorcerer’s mind the other day and we were able to gain sufficient information on the possible whereabouts of these magic users.” said Tekashi.

“So cool! I still can’t believe I’m a hero for the Hero Society. It’s like a dream come true.” Glowstick said.

“It’s great that you’re here. Your abilities are definitely something that can be helpful to us and the city.” Tekashi said.

“I’ll second what Glowstick said. I’m stoked to be a hero too.” Sheet Shifter said as he dodged a puddle.

“Careful.” Tekashi said.

“Yeah, water and I don’t mix well. Also, fire is pretty bad for me. And wind since it can carry my paper away. I, uh, have a hard life.” Sheet Shifter said.

“Wow. That’s rough buddy.” Said Tekashi as they kept moving.

Meanwhile in the suburbs of Salty City…

“Ahh. This is so nice. Thanks for coming with me on this walk. It’s such a beautiful day, don’t you think babe?” Said Kate as she walked down the sidewalk.

“For sure. With work at the society starting to ramp up, I want to spend as much time with as I can. I mean, if there weren't so many important things to do I’d wanna be with you way more often.” Theo said as he walked beside her.

“I know. The Hero Society is important stuff for sure. But I’m happy when we do get to do things together even if it’s only brief.” Kate said.

“Hey look. Want to get some ice cream?” He asked.

“Yeah! Let’s do it!” She exclaimed.

The two of them went inside the nearby ice cream shop and picked out their flavors. Theo paid for the ice cream cones and they sat down at a table just outside. 

“This is so good. Thanks for buying it for me. I love you!” Kate said before kissing him.

“I love you too.” Theo said back.

They finished their ice cream and got up to keep walking. Kate began to grow anxious the closer they got to finishing their stroll and Theo stopped her as they got to a bench.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing. W-what if you just took off of work for a bit? Y’know, a little vacation? I’m sure everyone can handle themselves, right?” She said, sounding a bit desperate.

Theo looked at her and pulled her close to hold her.

“You don’t want me to go, right?” He asked.

She squeezed him and he said “I gotcha. It’s gonna be alright, I promise. I just need to get everyone to where they need to be and help the newer ones get on their feet and then after that, I promise I’ll take a break so I can be with you, Ok?”

She looked at him with sad puppy eyes and nodded.

“Can we sit here for a little bit longer?” She asked.

“Yeah.” He said as he brushed her hair out of her face.

She put her head into his chest as they sat for a while longer. Then they made their way back home and Theo headed to the Hero Society where he found Jeff swamped with paperwork.

“Hey! I didn’t sign up for this!” Jeff exclaimed.

“I know, I know. I owe you big time.” Theo said as he took some of the work from Jeff.

Tekashi led the gang of heroes to a location he pinged a little while ago and told Buzzcut and Digi to keep a lookout while he went to investigate.

“Sheet shifter, if anything moves in there that’s not us I want you to trap it with your paper. Glowstick be ready as well and if you don’t mind I’d appreciate it if you could light our path as it seems it’s pretty dark in there.” Tekashi said.

They nodded and they cautiously made their way into a strange underground facility that was unmarked. The further they went, the cooler the air felt, and the noise of dripping water could be heard in the distance. The walls were cement and had torn pictures on them that were all too illegible except for one.

“Huh, someone doesn’t like Beam and Ceros apparently.” Said Glowstick as he looked at the picture.

“Oh man, we’ve really stepped in it now.” Sheet Shifter said.

They moved further inside and it opened up to a larger room that was poorly lit so Glowstick illuminated the room with her powers revealing a figure on the other side of the room staring at them.

“Who are you?” Tekashi said.

The figure chuckled and didn’t say anything.

“What is this place?” Glowstick asked.

Sheet Shifter took a step forward and swirled some paper toward the figure and plastered paper all over his body to mummify all but his head. The figure effortlessly broke free with a magical energy that surrounded him and then raised his hand towards them hurling a beam of energy.

“Watch out!” Tekashi said as he ran forward to parry the beam with a magic electrical beam of his own.

“Woah. A Beam struggle. That’s dope.” Sheet Shifter said after stepping out of the way.

“Sheet Shifter, focus!” Glowstick said as she started shooting plasma bolts.

“Oh, right!” Said Sheet Shifter who began to hurl flaming paper rockets at the figure.

In Tekashi’s earpiece, he heard Buzzcut say “Sir we’ve got some trouble out here. It’s not looking good.”

“I’m not sure we can hold them off for much longer!” Digi chimed in.

Outside, Buzzcut whipped his hair and batted away some sorcerers but they quickly recovered and came back towards him. Digi summoned a virtual bow and fired at some of the enemies that were closing in on her before the bow was engulfed in pixels and transformed into a katana that sliced through several of them.

Tekashi’s forehead released some beads of sweat as he tried to push the energy beam back towards the figure and simultaneously tried to figure out what to do.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the cavalry has arrived.” Said a voice over the earpiece.

“Ha! About time!” Tekashi said.

An enemy who was fighting Buzzcut was dragged into his own shadow and Cruz leapt out in his place.

“Need some help?” Cruz said.

“Beam! Boy, am I glad you showed up.” Buzzcut said.

“Don’t worry Buzz, I won’t let you lose just yet.” Said Cruz.

As Digi was being overwhelmed, A swarm of bees encircled the sorcerers and they began to panic as they tried to swat them away. Before they realized what was happening they were batted away by a large tree trunk that was attached to Kim’s arm.

“Ceros! I’m glad you’re here. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna make it.” Digi said.

“No problem!” Kim said.

Meanwhile, Tekashi was still holding the figure’s beam as Sheet Shifter and Glowstick were on the ground defeated.

“Why do you resist? Do you really believe you are stronger than me?” The figure said.

Tekashi gritted his teeth and used all his power to try to push the beam more but felt himself growing weak and the beam began to push forward through his own beam and collided with him. Tekashi was thrown against the wall and fell to the ground now weakened.

The figure laughed and said “You will never be stronger than me. The power that I’ve obtained is beyond this world and no one will be able to stop me!”

Tekashi looked up and saw something in the figure's hand. 

His eyes widened and he muttered “No. It can’t be.”

The figure lifted an ornate book from his waist and opened it before casting something that resulted in a magical aura that surrounded him and then teleported him away.

Tekashi‘s head dropped in exhaustion as Kim, Cruz, Buzzcut and Digi entered the room to see Tekashi, Sheet Shifter, and Glowstick all on the ground.

“What happened here?” Asked Cruz.

“Some super strong dude totally cooked us.” Sheet Shifter said.

“Who was it?” Kim asked.

“Not sure. But he was super strong. His magic was able to overpower Tekashi.” Glowstick said.

“Tekashi, are you Ok?” Cruz asked.

Tekashi said nothing and remained on his knees, staring at the floor.

“Hey, man. Are you alright?” Said Buzzcut as he walked closer to him.

“H-he had it.” Tekashi muttered.

The heroes looked at each other in confusion.

Digi walked over to him, knelt down in front of him, and said “What’s wrong?”

Tekashi looked up at all of them and said “He had the book. The one from my world. He…is unstoppable now.”

Buzzcut used his hair to pick Tekashi up and put him on his feet.

Cruz helped Sheet Shifter up and after looking at himself he said “Oh great. I’ve got creases. That’s gonna suck to straighten out.”

“Thanks. That battle kinda sucked.” Glowstick said to Kim who grabbed her hand to help her up.

“Let’s head back to the Hero Society and regroup. We’ll rest and figure out a new plan.” Buzzcut said.

Kim and Cruz said their goodbyes and left for Calibre Sanctum while the rest of them headed back to the Hero Society. Everyone but Tekashi dispersed and he walked through the halls into Theo’s office.

“Oh, hey man. How’d it go?” Theo asked.

Tekashi sat down and looked at the desk with a defeated expression.

“Um, not well?” Said Theo.

“We’re so screwed.” Tekashi said.