"No! Stop trying to steal food!" Axe shouted, swatting at Vex's hand as it reached toward the smoking ribs on the grill. "It's not done yet!"
Axe grunted in frustration, his enormous frame hunched over the kitchen counter like a mountain trying to fit into a dollhouse. "But it smells ready," Vex rumbled, making another grab for the largest piece of meat.
"Vex, stop being greedy!" Axe snapped, wielding a pair of tongs like a weapon. "You're gonna eat all of it before we can even start!"
The kitchen of Jade's boat was a fascinating blend of old and new—reclaimed wood paneling mixed with sleek metal countertops, high-tech monitoring equipment mounted next to rustic copper pots, and living vines that had been trained to grow along the ceiling beams, giving the whole space an organic feel despite being surrounded by technology.
Jade sat at his command station in the corner, multiple screens displaying various data streams, but his patience was clearly wearing thin as the argument continued.
"Both of you, be quiet and stop yelling," Jade said without looking up from his monitors, his fingers still typing commands. "You're giving me a headache, and if you keep this up, nobody gets ribs."
In the opposite corner, Violet had claimed a small space near the porthole window and was methodically doing push-ups, her form perfect as she ignored the chaos around her. The rhythmic sound of her workout provided a steady counterpoint to Axe and Vex's bickering.
"One hundred… one hundred and one… one hundred and two…" Violet counted under her breath, completely focused on her exercise routine.
At the kitchen table, Kinnetos and Sarah sat watching the whole scene unfold like spectators at a very strange dinner theater.
Sarah still looked a bit shell-shocked from everything that had happened, occasionally touching her wrists where the ropes had been, while Kinnetos kept flexing his hands, still processing the fact that he'd somehow become invulnerable to a blade that could cut through steel.
The boat's main door slid open with a soft hiss, and Jes walked in, followed closely by Monty and Dante. Monty's eyes immediately found Kinnetos at the table, relief flooding his face at seeing his friend safe.
"Man, when I got your text, I thought—" Monty started to say, but he was cut off by Dante's sudden burst of laughter.
"This is amazing!" Dante grinned, taking in the chaotic domestic scene. "I go from fighting a psycho killer to… this?" He gestured at Axe still defending the grill from Vex's persistent attempts at food theft.
Without warning, Dante's competitive instincts kicked in. In a blur of movement, he darted toward the grill, his hand shooting out to snag one of the perfectly cooked ribs.
"DANTE!" Axe bellowed, spinning around and pointing directly at the speedster. "I swear if you take a bite I'm going to shoot you!"
Vex, suddenly finding an ally in protecting the food, loomed over Dante menacingly. "If you take a bite I will shoot you," she rumbled in her deep voice, crossing her arms.
Dante's grin widened. "You know what? Totally worth it."
In one lightning-fast motion, he snatched the rib and took a huge bite before either Axe or Vex could react. The meat was perfectly seasoned and falling off the bone.
"OH COME ON!" Axe shouted, throwing his tongs down in exasperation.
Vex just stared in disbelief, her jaw hanging open. "He… he actually did it, I'm finna kill you"
"Mmm, this is incredible!" Dante said with his mouth full, dodging away from Axe's attempts to grab him. "Seriously, you guys are amazing cooks!"
While the chaos continued in the kitchen, Jes made her way over to the table where Sarah and Kinnetos were sitting. She pulled out a chair across from Sarah, her tactical gear making a soft clinking sound as she settled in.
"So," Jes said, studying Sarah with curious but friendly eyes, "I'm Jes. I know tonight's been… a lot. How are you holding up?"
Sarah looked up from watching Dante zip around the kitchen while Axe chased him with a spatula. "I'm… honestly, I have no idea. A few hours ago my biggest worry was whether my cat had enough food for the weekend. Now I'm sitting on some kind of high-tech boat watching people with superpowers argue over barbecue."
Jes smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, the paradox world has a way of turning your life upside down pretty quickly. What's your background? Before all this craziness, I mean."
"Office work, mostly. Data entry, some customer service. Pretty boring stuff," Sarah said, then paused. "What about you? How long have you been… whatever this is?
"A while now and I'm happy to see you and Ken doing well," said Jes
"Wow, wait Ken how do you know Ken," asked Sarah
"We were childhood friends," Jes said quickly, cutting off the awkward tension before it could build any further. "But let's not worry about that right now. Let's go grab something to eat before Dante and Axe destroy the entire kitchen."
She stood up from the table, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Come on, Sarah. I'll show you how this whole operation works around here."
Just as they were about to head toward the chaos near the grill, Monty appeared beside Kinnetos and grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey, man," Monty said, his voice low but urgent. "Can we talk. Like, now."
Kinnetos looked up at his friend, recognizing the serious tone. "What's wrong?"
"Just… not here. Too many ears," Monty glanced around the crowded kitchen where Violet was still doing push-ups, Dante was still evading Axe's spatula, and Vex was now trying to mediate the rib situation. "Come on."
Monty started steering Kinnetos toward a quieter part of the boat, away from the domestic chaos and the conversation between Jes and Sarah.
"Man, I was really worried about you," Monty said, his voice heavy with emotion. "When I got that text about Sarah being kidnapped, and then everything went quiet… I thought the worst thing possible had happened. So I'm really happy you're still alive."
Kinnetos felt a wave of gratitude wash over him. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it. It was scary. Not gonna lie. I had no idea what I was walking into, and for a while there, I thought we were both dead."
Monty nodded, then looked at his friend with a more serious expression. "Well I'm happy you are safe, having my friend here is great," said Monti
"Yeah so am I," replied Kínitos
"Please tell me your gonna stay" said Monti a little concerned and hope in his voice.
The question hung in the air between them. Kinnetos knew what he meant - stay with this team, this world of paradoxes and dangerous people with impossible abilities.
"Actually, you know what? Yes," Kinnetos said, his voice becoming more resolute. "The killer's out there, and he's coming back for me and Sarah. I'm gonna make him pay for targeting us."
Monty grinned and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "We're gonna do this together, man. It's us against the world."
Kinnetos couldn't help but smile back. "Also, I couldn't just let you have an ability and be better at using your powers than me. You know I hate losing at anything."
"There's the Kinnetos I know," Monty laughed. "Always gotta make everything a competition."
"Damn right," Kinnetos replied, feeling more like himself than he had since this whole nightmare started.
The two friends headed back toward the kitchen, where the chaos seemed to have reached new heights. They could hear Axe shouting something about "proper barbecue etiquette" while Dante was apparently still evading capture. Violet had moved on to sit-ups, and the sound of Jes explaining something technical to Sarah mixed with Vex's occasional grunts of agreement.
As they walked back into the warm, chaotic space, Kinnetos felt a strange sense of belonging. This wasn't the quiet, predictable life he'd been trying to return to, but maybe that life had never really fit him anyway.
Suddenly, Jes stepped back from her conversation with Sarah and did something unexpected. She pushed back from the table and stood up. But instead of her feet touching the floor, she began to rise into the air, floating gently above her chair as if gravity had simply decided to let her go.
"See?" Jes said, hovering effortlessly a few feet off the ground, her arms spread slightly for balance. "With these powers, we get an opportunity to do things we weren't able to before. Whether it's because of our jobs, or circumstances, or even just life itself."
Everyone at the table looked up at her, captivated by both the casual display of flight and the conviction in her voice.
"Yeah, we do have to leave our old lives behind," she continued, slowly rotating in the air to look at each of them. "But we're chasing a new one. A better one. One where we can do anything we want, be anywhere we want, see anything we want. And help everyone who needs help."
Her gaze settled on Sarah and Kinnetos, who were both staring at her with a mixture of awe and uncertainty.
"This power comes with responsibility and it's a gift," Jes said, her voice growing more passionate. "And we should use it like it's intended."
The kitchen had fallen completely silent except for the gentle hum of the boat's systems. Even Dante had stopped eating, watching Jes with respect. Violet had paused her exercises, and Jade had turned away from his monitors to listen.
"So the question is," Jes said, slowly lowering herself back toward her chair, "what are you going to do with yours?"
Kinnetos thought for a second, Jes's words echoing in his mind. Then a memory surfaced from deep in his childhood—he couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old.
He was walking home from school when he heard crying from the playground. A group of older kids had cornered a girl his age, pushing her down and taking her backpack. Without thinking, young Kinnetos had run over and helped her up from the ground, standing between her and the bullies until they got bored and left.
"Who are you?" the girl had asked, wiping tears from her eyes as she looked at this boy who had just risked getting hurt to help her.
"A hero," little Kinnetos had replied with the absolute confidence that only a child could have. "A superhero."
The girl had smiled through her tears. That girl had been Jes.
Kinnetos blinked, coming back to the present moment. Jes was still floating slightly above her chair, waiting for his answer, and he realized she probably remembered that day too.
"I want to be what I said I was when I was eight years old," Kinnetos said finally, his voice growing stronger with each word. "A hero."
Jes looked back at him, and suddenly he was eight years old again, standing on that playground. But then he snapped back to the present as Jes floated down toward him, her hand reaching out.
For a split second, as she descended, Kinnetos saw her as she had been that day—a scared little girl with tears in her eyes. Then the image shifted back to the strong, confident woman she was now, still reaching out her hand to him, just like he had reached out to her all those years ago.
Kinnetos stretched out his own hand toward hers. "A hero," he said.
Their fingers touched, and in perfect unison, as if they were those eight-year-old kids again, they both said: "A superhero."
Jes gripped his hand firmly and began to rise, pulling Kinnetos up with her. His feet left the ground, and suddenly they were both floating together in the middle of the kitchen, suspended in the air by her power and their shared memory.
"A hero it is," Jes said softly, as they hovered together above the table.
Everyone in the kitchen watched in awed silence as the two childhood friends flew together, the moment marking something profound—not just a reunion, but the true beginning of something new.
This was the start of Para D. A superhero team.