Summary: A photo of LoveHacker and Sergeant Techie kissing goes viral, confirming their super-relationship and distracting the city from the mysterious cases of people falling unconscious in the city.
Ben Park, a California-based comic book artist, hunches over the desk in his studio, muttering to himself as he quickly sketches out the first few panels of his new comic: LoveHacker. “Six friends endowed with super abilities face love, laughter, and wild shenanigans all while fighting the good fight and trying to keep the city of San Francisco safe from dangers seen and unseen.”
While everyone else heads back to the hideout to for drinks and a game of Red Herring, Devi and Mark fall behind, still suited up. There had been isolated accounts of people falling into coma-like states, with reasons unknown, but after consulting the usual suspects, and banding together, the League couldn’t come up with a plausible reason, even though they all suspected the cases to be connected somehow. At least, Blaire Hall believed it there to be more than meets the eye.
Devi takes advantage of the moment she has alone with Mark, coming to terms with the reality of their new relationship. He’d asked her to go steady with him, and she’d thought he’d never ask. “Can’t remember the last time we had a midnight stakeout,” she smirks, leaning close to Mark, hands innocently clasped behind her back. He cups her face, running a finger along her eye mask and down her cheek. A smile tugs on his own lips. “Perks of being a superhero, LoveHaker.” Devi wraps her arms around him, pressing her forehead against his. Finally, their lips connect.
A few blocks away, outside of Solstice, sits a young teen, hardly sixteen-years-old. She yanks her dark blue hoodie over a mop of blue-black hair, to fight off the sudden chill of the night. She tracks the movements of a stray cat, feeling a connection to the malnourished animal. Maybe it was tossed away in the same fashion she’d been thrown out of her step-mother’s house just a few weeks prior. The young teen follows the cat’s path toward her, a sudden panic rising in her chest. “No, no, no, stay back…” she shakes his head, tripping over herself to put space between him and the cat, but in vain. It dives over to the teen, but before it can walk closer, she swipes her hand out, rending the stray unconscious. It falls over with a thud. The teen gasps, scampering away from the cat, ashamed. Not again. She trips in her rush to stand, running past a man with slicked back hair and a calculating smile. Doesn’t notice the way she’s being tracked now. He lifts a finger under his chin, nodding to himself. “Found you, Night Terror.”
The next morning, Devi walks into the ModernGirl office, finding Felix, Leah, and Isabel crowded around the computer monitor. “What? Another H&M flash sale?” she jokes, putting her stuff down on one of the couches and taking a sip of her iced coffee. “Better than that! LoveHacker and Sergeant Techie are a thing!” Isabel cheers, shaking Felix by his shoulders. Devi nearly spits out her drink. “Wait, what?” She dashes to her friends and looks at the computer screen. Sure enough, there’s a grainy, night picture of her and Mark, engaged in a kiss, her arms wrapped around him, in what she’d thought was a private moment. Blaire Hall was going to have her head. “I had my money on her and Heartbeat, but I guess you were right, Isabel,” Leah laughs. As the rest return to their desks to get started for the day, Devi stands frozen in place, staring at the photo in disbelief. “Devi?” Leah calls, “do you have the rest of the pictures we took from our interview with that cupcakery?”
Devi doesn’t respond, instead pulling her phone out to send an SOS to Mark. The League planned to keep all relationships out of the public eye, and while there’d been public speculation about who might be romantic with whom, denying the truth kept the public’s focus on the important things. So much for refusing to confirm or deny, Devi thinks bitterly, composing a text to send to Mark. A message from Cole in the group chat pops up.
Hideout! Come ASAP!
**
“What you do in your personal time is none of my business,” Blaire frowns from the screen. The team sits huddled at the hideout, feeling the full brunt of her fury from miles away. “But when you put on those costumes and fight in that armor, your responsibility is to the people of San Francisco and San Francisco only, is that clear?” Her sharp, brown eyes slide over to Mark and Devi, who nod, barely able to look at her. “Can’t you give them a break? It’s not their fault they’re obnoxiously cute,” Serena argues, earning a head shake from Horatio, and a glare from Blaire. “Aw, you think they’re cute?” Brooke teases. “No, but it’s not their fault people are fixated on their love lives and even more oblivious to the crimes that roam the streets,” Serena snaps, commencing a stare off with the most stubborn woman. Blaire finally turns her gaze back on Mark and Devi. “LoveHacker? Sargent? Don’t let this impede on your duties.” With that, the video feed cuts out, leaving the room in silence. Cole breaks it first. “Honestly, what did she expect? It’s not like these two could keep their hands off each other. The sexual tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.” He smiles sweetly at Mark, who frowns.
“Is no one gonna talk about the fact that Keo, a run of the mill citizen is married to a hero? Anyone?” Serena gestures to Brooke, Keo notably absent. Devi takes a deep breath before addressing her friends. “If we don’t make a big deal out of it, the public eventually will get bored and move on, okay?” The group looks at one another, unconvinced. Devi crosses her arms, voice sharp like Blaire’s.
“Okay?”
Five heads quickly bob up and down in agreement, fearful.
The following day, it’s back to business as usual. “What kind of name is Sergeant-Hack?” Devi hears Mark sputter through the communication device implanted in her mask, surveying the bank parking lot. They have a tip that robbery is slated for the area in a matter of minutes, but the deadly threat the team nicknamed ‘the nightmare’ still takes up space in Devi’s mind. She crosses her arms, eyes locked on a man who looks behind him, as if being followed. “That’s probably the best ship name I’ve heard,” she smiles, taping her mask to activate the facial recognition program. It scans his face. No match. Devi relaxes her stance.
“LoveHacker! Over here!” Devi whips her head to the source, heart hammering when she spots a reporter and camera team headed her way, the news station vehicle parked not too far off. “Not again,” Devi groans, forcing her mouth into a tense smile. As much as her instincts will her to turn invisible, she knows she can’t hide from the public forever.
“Good thing I’m not out in the field today!” Mark laughs.
“Shut up, Collins,” she hisses, careful to keep her lips turned up as the news team approached.
Across the city at the local college campus, Serena rushes to class, checking the time against her watch. “Who un-cancels a class?” she mutters to herself, pushing through throngs of freshmen. “Move your asses people, or I’ll gladly mow you over!” she growls, and the crowd parts to let her through, some jumping out of the way. Forgoing the line at the elevator, Serena power runs the three flights of stairs to her classroom, hardly breaking a sweat when she reaches the top. As she walks to the door to sneak in without bringing atention to herself, she stops suddenly, taken aback by the lone figure who paces by the water fountain, a troubled look in her eyes. Knotty, blue-black hair and a faded blue hoodie catch Serena’s attention, and something in her mood softens the smallest bit.
“Hey, you,” she calls out, and the girl freezes, as if struck. Her tired eyes find Serena’s, but don’t relax. “You okay?” Serena tries again, and the young girl nods once, quickly. “Yeah.” Serena wasn’t the best with feelings, but the last thing she wants it to leave her there. She reaches into the jean pocket of her jacket and pulls out a granola bar. Wordlessly the teen takes it, then as if remembering her voice murmurs a thank you before quickly walking off. Shrugging, Serena braces herself to enter the classroom, then pushes open the door. Her gaze sweeps the lecture hall in shock. Her white-haired professor along with all nineteen students lay slumped over in their seats, as if taking a nap. Serena runs up to one of them, banging her hand against the chairs. No one stirs. She pushes the face of her watch down to activate it, then raises it just beneath her mouth. “The nightmare has struck! I repeat, the nightmare has stuck!”
Within minutes, the entire team assembles, all suited except for Serena, who impatiently reports what she’s seen to the police outside the building. In the time she took to look for the girl, in case she was in trouble, she’d run into an officer who wanted some answers. “Oh, look! It’s the League,” Serena gestures to her friends, hoping to distract the police long enough to suit up herself, but no such luck.
Nearby students watching the scene unfold, catch sight of LoveHacker and Sergeant Techie with the other League members. “Oh, God,” Techie groans, turning his head away from the sudden onslaught of cell phone flash photographer. “Can’t take y’all nowhere,” Captain Hustle snickers, as HeartRate searches for their missing member. “Where’s Lady Rev?”
“LET ME THROUGH!”
Five pairs of eyes turned to see Serena restrained by two officers. “Found her,” Mixologist points. LoveHacker ignores the calls from the crowd, addressing her team. “We don’t have much time. Our person of interest could still be here, and we have no idea who or what to look out for. Techie, Captain? You guys, um, rescue Serena,” she shakes her head. “Everyone else? Follow me.” The group splits up, and LoveHacker leads her half inside the campus through the nearby café entrance, side stepping the caution tape.
“We’ll take it from here, officer,” Sergeant Techie addresses the brunette officer, jutting his chin towards Serena. “We apologize for…her,” Captain Hustle adds, both guys smothering laughs as Serena glares at the officer until she lets go. “What happened to you?” Hustle questions, pulling Serena away before she causes more trouble. She turns to her friends. “The entire third floor, guys! Everyone was out like this,” she snaps her fingers to illustrate. “I was running late for class, and when I got inside…” Serena shakes her head, thinking of the tattered looking teen.. “I wonder what happened to that chick I saw.” Techie’s head jerks, stopping Serena. “What chick? Who’d you see?”
Back at the top floor near Serena’s classroom, HeartRate, LoveHacker, and Mixologist walk down the halls, footsteps reverberating against the carpeted floor. Mixologist’s pace slows, until he’s no longer walking. His eyes close, perfectly picturing a layout of sorts of the building in his mind. A moving figure just outside the large mass of student spectators pauses, and a pounding sensation in Mixologist’s temple causes him to collapse. These “apparitions” never seemed to lessen in pain, though constant meditation helped him to work through the sensation in crucial moments like these. “Mixologist!” His friends double-back to him, HeartRate crouching down to his eye-level. “The…the others!” he manages to gasp out, LoveHacker helping him to his feet. “She’s going to strike again! We mustn’t wait another moment.” HeartRate and LoveHacker give him blank stares. “She, who?” HeartRate questions him.
Outside, the figure in question is Night Terror, watching the swarm of police. She replays the arrival of the League, and the memory of snuffing out the stream of conscious of the people in the third floor of the building she’d left. The kind gesture of the girl with the jean jacket offering her the granola bar made her crumble with guilt. The Commander of Madness had promised shelter and food if she trapped LoveHacker, but too many innocent people keep getting in the way of her objective. It was too much. “Hey!” Night Terror’s head snaps up, scanning the crowd. She pulls her hood over her head in one fluid motion and runs off, failing the Commander yet again, tears in her eyes. She just wants to get her curse under control.
Just a hundred feet away, Serena calls again, recognizing the hoodie from earlier. “Hey, wait up!” Serena, Hustle, and Techie are over taken by HeartRate leading the charge. HeartRate zooms up to catch up with the girl.
Night Terror’s hood falls as she turns around, heart sinking when she notices how close the League is. “Get away from me!” she screams, throwing her hand out. “I’m dangerous!” Her arm swipe brings down the pack of confused boys she runs through. They all fall to the ground in a heap, sleep claiming its victims. HeartRate halts, stunned. The rest of the League catches up to her, watching the girl run farther and farther away. “It was her all along!” Serena looks to her teammates, all mirroring HeartRate’s expressions of clarity and horror.
Back at the hideout, the team and Keo sit in a circle, all attention on the hologram of Blaire Hall in the center. “She’s just a kid,” Serena argues, but Blaire shakes her head. “Who know what else she’s capable of. She’s dangerous, and she must be contained.” Horatio clears his throat.
“Blaire, if I may interject—”
“You may not, Mr. Santos. Devi,” Blaire turns her attention to the leader, who’s been silent since the team got back. “I expect you and the team to take care of this problem once and for all. We still don’t know the all the side effects of the girl’s… powers. From the offical test reports we received three months ago, when attacks were first reported, those victims are only now awakening from their.. slumber so to speak.” Devi stands, nodding. “We’ll take it from here, ma’am.” Bliare gives a nod of her own and Devi shuts the hologram off. “Serena has a point, she’s a kid. And from what Brooke told me, she seemed pretty scared and shaken up,” Keo offered. “And that exactly why she’s a threat! You guys heard Blaire! Her victims from months ago are just now waking up! We don’t know anything about this kid. I say we find a way to take her down,” Cole glares. “Accident or not, we have to stop her. Maybe we can use that to lure her to us,” Mark agrees, looking to Devi, but her mind is elsewhere. “Or, we do something dumb like that and spook her off! Where does that leave us?” Serena yells, sitting back in her chair with a huff.
“Devi, I don’t think—”
“Devi, are you seriously gonna—”
“Maybe we should contact in our backup team from London—”
“EVERYONE SHUT UP PLEASE!”
The yelling and arguing cease as Devi throws her hands up in the air. “Blaire expects us to take care of the problem? First thing, we stop calling this girl a problem.” Brooke sighs in relief. “Secondly, luring isn’t the word I’d use but it’s our best bet right now.” Keo and Brooke share confused glances. Mark sits up, as if reading her mind, watching the way Devi eyes Horatio. “Devi, you sure that’s a good idea?” he asks, and Cole looks from Devi, to Mark, and then Horatio. “I don’t follow. What idea? She hasn’t said anything.” Devi ignores Cole. “Guys, when we discovered our powers, we had each other.” The team collectively reflects on that fateful day. Brooke takes Keo’s hand in his, and gives it a squeeze. “This girl, roaming around the city? She has no one.” She turns to Mark, and his gaze softens. “We’re behind you, Devi. One hundred percent.” He takes her hand in his. Cole and Serena share confused glances of their own. “So…is anyone gonna explain what’s going on?” Cole reaches over and grabs Serena’s hand for kicks. Serena snatches her hand away, smacking his shoulder. “Don’t touch me!”
**
Night Terror stands in front of a fountain at the park, starring down at the layer of coins at the bottom. Wishes made by countless others. She wonders if any of them have come true. “Excuse me?” Night Terror startles, turning to see the girl with the jean jacket, two blondes, one of the holding hands with the Rock’s doppelgänger, the other holding hands with a man in a checked blue shirt. Next to him, a black guy with a friendly smile and a man with a green beanie.
Night Terror’s first instinct is to run and put as much distance between her and them. As she inches away, the girl with the blonde bob speaks, voice gentle but pleading. “Please hear us out. We just wanna say one thing, and then if you still want to walk, we won’t push.” The black guy frowns.
“We won’t? Ouch!” Jean jacket girl elbows him in the ribs, but Night Terror’s attention stays on the woman who speaks. “My name is Devi, and we’d love to have you join the League.” Devi lets go of the checked shirt guy’s hand and turns invisible, then visible again. “I think there’s a place for you on this team, and we want to help you learn more about your powers. You don’t have to be alone in this.”
Night Terror stands frozen. This is her chance. The LoveHacker is right there, guard down and vulnerable, and she can easily take down the rest of the team. But the thought turns sour in her mind, and it’s then that she realizes she can’t go through with it. She’s tired of running away and somehow, Devi and her friends seem a lot more trust worthy than the Commander. Without putting a coin in the fountain, her own wish is answered, just like that.
The group waits for her response, and Night Terror figures she has nothing left to lose. Why else would they reveal their identities to someone who should be an enemy? Night Terror hugs herself, starring at the ground as she kicks a stray pebble.
“I don’t always have control over my powers,” she admits, but a low chuckle brings her eyes back up to see the beanie guy smile. “I believe I could be of service, if you’d like.” In his kind eyes, she can see her own internal struggle reflected. “Please join us. We could honestly use another girl,” Jean jacket girl groans, and the last of her reservations drop. Her gaze settles on Devi. “Okay. Um, I’m Arielle.”
Checkered shirt shares a smile with Devi then looks at back to her. “Welcome to the League, Arielle.”