“All heroes report for duty in the auditorium at Slinky and Laughing Matter Hero Society.” Theo said in a mass message.

Heroes from within the society as well as others around the city all gathered at the Hero Society’s auditorium. They murmured amongst themselves until Theo stood before them and explained the current situation.

“Listen up. We’ve got sorcerers as well as civilians with magical abilities popping up all over the city so we need to divide and conquer if we are to reign it all in. Snowglobe Gorilla, Snarf-Kai, former Director Jeff and the Brightworlder will be leading teams and will pick heroes according to what is needed for their assignments. Before I leave the team leaders to it, I would like to say one thing. I want to sincerely thank all of you that have volunteered yourselves to help us whether you are part of the Hero Society or not. Now, go kick some magical butt!” Theo said to the large crowd.

The team leaders split off and each of them called out to heroes in the crowd. Snowglobe Gorilla looked at a clipboard in his hands and picked several heroes.

“Buzzcut, Lenno, Ceros, and Kyle.” Snowglobe Gorilla said.

The four of them stood in front of Snowglobe Gorilla, ready for action.

“Hoo! There’s a situation at the Basil Bridge and a bunch of civilians are stuck. We are tasked with a search and rescue operation and we’re instructed to not engage if we see the enemy as it could endanger the people. Team Aegis, let’s move out!” Said Snowglobe.

“Alright, let’s not delay.” Lenno said.

Kyle scoffed and said “Whatever. The second this mission is over I’m gonna go fight some magic dudes.”

Kim made a tree path for them to be able to beeline right to Basil Bridge. Smoking cars and broken bridge sections could be seen as they began to move people away from the bridge. People were frightened and the bridge swayed as it became more and more unstable.

“Ceros, do you think you could make a support beam under that section over there?” Lenno said.

“Yeah, one sec.” Said Kim as she moved a kid to safety.

She outstretched her leg and a thick log sprouted from it and she lodged it into the other side of the broken section.

“Hey Kyle, try to use those martial arts techniques of yours to keep the falling debris from hitting anyone.” Kim said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kyle said as he focused and skillfully punched and kicked any rubble that was falling.

Over their comms, Snowglobe Gorilla said “Team, we’ve got reports that some cars have fallen into the river and there are people trapped that could drown. You know what you need to do so make haste, hoo!”

Buzzcut immediately jumped into the water and used his hair to form a boat while Lenno dived underwater to pull people up and put them into Buzzcut’s hair boat.

Kim called a large bird and she grabbed onto its legs to glide down to Buzzcut. As she landed on the hair boat she made sure the people were alright and then looked around at the boat.

“How is your hair holding up being in the water? I would think it would lose its structure or something.” She asked.

“When you’ve got this much hair you gotta know how to take care of it and what products to use for certain occasions. In this instance, specially formulated firm-hold hairspray.” Buzzcut said as he kept concentrating on the boat.

Lenno came up out of the water with the last person and told Buzzcut to gun it for the shore. Once they were on land, the hair boat receded and the people walked away thanking Buzzcut as they went.

“Hoo! Nice work team. Our work isn’t done yet, however. There’s been a major car accident at the intersection of Mint Avenue and Rosemary Road. Get over there and assess the situation.” Snowglobe Gorilla said on the comms.

Kyle and Lenno met up with Buzzcut and Ceros at the shoreline. Buzzcut grew out his hair into a pair of wings and grabbed Lenno as they flew to the intersection while Kim called out to her woodland creatures and summoned more birds to pick her and Kyle and follow them. Upon seeing the crash at the intersection, Buzzcut landed and noticed one of the cars had been smashed on the driver's side, trapping the driver. He used his hair to grab the door and used all of his strength to pull the door off. The woman inside immediately got out and fell into his arms crying and thanking him. Another vehicle ran into the stoplight and caused a short, resulting in sparks flying onto the street.

“I got this!” Kim said.

“Wait Ceros!” Lenno called out.

Kim quickly made a barrier of foliage to try to catch the sparks from going anywhere else but soon the sparks caught on the leaves and twigs and a fire started which very rapidly turned into a big fire. Kyle looked around and saw a nearby hydrant, took a deep breath, and focused his energy. Then he let out a grunt and sent a powerful kick into the hydrant causing it to burst and spray water.

“Buzz, time to cool things off.” Kyle said.

Buzzcut motioned for Lenno to keep helping the injured people as he approached the gushing water. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and once again grew out his hair and formed a long cylinder that acted like a hose to direct the water towards the burning foliage.

“Ceros, back up a bit in case there are any stray embers.” Buzzcut called out.

Kim moved away as the fire was doused and after disposing of the ash she moved the cars out of the street with tree arms. Soon the police came and took over the scene and the heroes left and regrouped at the Hero Society.

“You all did a good job today, hoo. Those sorcerers are real troublemakers but with heroes like you all I’m confident we’ll snuff them out and continue to keep this city safe.” Snowglobe Gorilla said as he walked towards the team.

“Thanks, General.” Kim said.

“You’re a good team leader.” Said Lenno and then nodded before Snowglobe Gorilla nodded back.

“Can I kick some butt finally?” Kyle asked as he punched his own hand.

Snowglobe Gorilla sighed and said “Kyle, we need to keep organized and if we have heroes going off on their own there could be mistakes and problems that arise. Just hang tight and maybe do some training for now.” 

Meanwhile…

“Sir, Team Aegis was successful in their rescue operation. They are now on standby awaiting anything that they might be needed for.” Lauren said.

“Thanks. Keep me posted if anyone calls in with a problem.” Theo said.

He looked at his TV and observed Team Aegis at the bridge and then at the intersection saving the day. He then switched it to the next feed and looked over at the clock.

“Time already, huh?” Said Theo before getting up, pulling out a bottle of pills, and walked out of his office and down the hall. As he went inside the office of former vice director Rhys, he placed a cup of water on his desk along with two pills. He gently shook him awake and pointed towards the pills.

“Hey, buddy. I wouldn’t do this unless we were in a dire situation but now is probably as good as any. We need you, sir. One last time.” Theo said as he helped Rhys take the pills and swallow the water.

Nothing happened for a moment. Then suddenly Rhys began to wince behind his mask and hunched over. He clenched his fists as energy surrounded him and a light softly glowed out of the eye slits of the mask. Then his body slowly relieved of tension and he sat back up straight.

“Sir?” Theo asked.

Rhys looked at his hands and outstretched one. A rift opened and he looked at it for a moment.

After closing it he said “Theo. Why?”

“We need you. We need the riftmaster, Rhys.” Theo said.

Rhys stood up and put a hand on Theo’s shoulder.

“You’ve got one.” Rhys said.