Paulina dodged all of his attacks.
She was training with Zack, making him look incompetent as he attacked her with a flurry of expanded punches to no avail.
"Your hits are slow, Zack. What is this? Why are you holding back?" She asked him in a mocking tone.
"I'm not holding back!" Zack screamed at her, focusing his power into his left fist. He jumped back and let out a finishing blow with an expanded fist 10 times its original size.
Paulina jumped over it and reached Zack's face in half a second. She let out a kick which sent him flying.
"Then this is disappointing. It's no wonder Viper was keeping up with you so well. You've gotten rusty, Zack. Even I, who hasn't been a super for five whole years, am mopping the floor with you."
Zack slowly got up, caressing his aching jaw.
"Don't you think you're being a little mean?" He said, calling for a time-out and heading for a bottle of water.
She rolled her eyes at him.
"Not mean enough. Just because I want us back in this world doesn't mean I want us getting unnecessarily hurt. I want to become stronger, and you said you wanted to as well, but I see none of that drive in you."
"Look, I just need a little time to train. I can-"
"Oh, so the criminals should just wait a bit? You'll become stronger by then? Think realistically, Zack. If we're going to be fighting crime, we have to be in top shape here. That battle we just fought should have told you that we need training. If it weren't for Jake and his friend, we..."
"What are you saying?"
"Jake took you down in one punch, Zack. He took down Sharkman in the same way. You're too weak. We're too weak." Paulina said and turned her attention to the front door of the training room. It opened to reveal an enthusiastic Stacya running toward them.
"Speaking of which..."
Stacya ran over to hug Paulina tightly. Paulina gave her a few pats on the head and pulled her back.
"Did you call him over?" Paulina asked her.
"Oh yes, yes! He'll be here in a second," Stacya said with a wide-eyed smile.
"Who are you talking about?"
Just as Zack asked his question, Jake entered the training room.
The two men stared at each other for a brief second.
Zack then walked over to Jake. Once Zack got to him and got a better look at him, he saw the vast difference between them.
Jake was a full head and shoulders taller than Zack now. His skin was black with blue markings all over it. His head sported two blue horns that reminded him of demonoids he had seen on the news. There was no hiding it here. Jake was a monster.
A monster in a yellow shirt and jean shorts.
Zack turned his attention to Ivy, who was standing behind him. She was trying to whisper something into Jake's ear, but once she made eye contact with him, she looked away and kept silent.
Paulina and Stacya watched in silence. Stacya was about to speak, but Paulina covered her mouth.
"What do you want?" Zack asked him bluntly.
"Stacya said she wanted to train. I can leave if it's bothering you."
"Why would it bother me?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
The two kept silent for a moment. Paulina bit her lip. Stacya was too engrossed in the conversation to remove Paulina's hand.
Ivy wanted to interfere, but Jake wouldn't let her.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Jake said, breaking the silence himself this time.
"Yeah. I think I do." Zack replied almost instantly.
"Well, we're a team. If you have a problem you could always talk to me about it. My doors are always open."
"Last time I went to your room it was locked."
Stacya snickered.
Everyone turned to her, and once she noticed, she buried her face in Paulina's hands.
"Then I'll remember to give you the key later."
"Later? How about we talk now?"
"Oh really? Then what is the problem, Zack?"
The two entered another period of long silence. Ivy was tugging at Jake's hand, but he wouldn't move. All he did was stare at Jake, and Zack did the same to him.
"Why..." Zack fumbled his words for a moment. "Why didn't you tell us you were alive? Why are you with Milten of all people? Don't you trust us anymore? Or is it that your new power places you above everyone else?"
Jake was silent.
"Well? I asked a question. It's your..."
"I was scared." Jake cut him off.
"Scared?" Zack asked, leading to another silence between the two.
"Look at me, Zack! You saw me like this and didn't even recognize me! I'm a monster! A freak! My life was over. Milten had a purpose for me, and I sided with him."
"So he faked your deaths for you and Ivy?"
"Yeah. I was against it, but Ivy insisted on it. Something about us being reborn."
Zack turned to Ivy for a moment, but she kept looking away so he focused back on Jake.
"Your sister thinks you're dead. She's scared as shit here, Jake. What about her?"
Jake was silent again.
"Look, Jake. A lot happened when I thought you were dead. I went to the Super Island. No, Paulina, Stacya and I went to Super Island. We carved your name in their memorial of the first five."
"You what?!"
"Let me finish. After that, I thought I wasn't worthy of being a super after how I let you sacrifice yourself. If I had been stronger, I could have taken that Mr. E clone down and you would've been..."
Jake looked away for a moment. Then he started caressing his left horn.
"Then Paulina convinced me to get back into fighting crime as a way to honor you instead. Then I fought... you. Now tell me. Why did you tell me that when you beat me? That I should give up?"
Jake was silent for a moment. He turned to look at Ivy, and she looked back at him. She nodded a little bit from side to side.
"Well?" Zack reinforced.
"Because you're weak! Okay? I wanted you to give up because if I can beat you, then many, many others can. I didn't want you to get hurt. I just..."
"You're right. I am weak. But I'm not going to let it define me. Just like how I'm not going to let how you look define you. I'm going to get stronger. I'm going to prove you wrong. I was lazy about it before, but not now. Now I have a goal."
"And what's that?"
"Surpassing you."
Jake saw a sense of confidence in his eyes, like those of a wounded animal determined to fight back.
He smiled, revealing his sharp blue teeth.
"Well, I'm not going to make it easy for you." Jake said with a wide grin.
"Good. I'd end up being lazy if it was easy." Zack responded with another grin.
The two shook hands and Jake pulled him in for a hug, catching Zack off guard.
"I'm sorry, buddy. I really am. I should've contacted you. Talked to you."
"It's okay. Just, next time I think you're dead, give me a heads up if you aren't."
"Noted."
As the two hugged, Stacya tried her best to break free from Paulina's grasp while Paulina tried her best to keep Stacya from ruining the moment.
Meanwhile, Ivy looked on. She couldn't help but feel a twitching sensation at the back of her head. As she scratched it, she kept looking at the two hugging. She felt another twitch at the side of her leg, and as she bent down to get it, she started to feel the twitching leave her.
Once it was gone, she sighed. The twitching only occurred when her mutation wanted to return. When she looked at the two hugging again, she started feeling the twitching again.
"No... why?" She asked herself quietly and felt her collar. Her collar was made by Milten to keep her Mitoxin in check and prevent her from mutating completely. When she placed her hand on it, it felt hot. When she looked away from Jake and Zack, it felt cold.
What was this? Was it... jealousy?
Was her jealousy making her mutate? No... she wasn't jealous. At least, she thought she wasn't.
But every time she watched the two hug and talk in such friendly terms, the collar would heat up and the twitching began.
It was on overdrive.
"I need to get out of here." She said to Jake and turned to leave the training room.
"What? Where are you going?" Jake asked her, but she didn't respond and kept walking away.
Suddenly she bumped into something, or rather, someone.
"Hey. Sorry about that."
She calmed herself as the twitching began again.
"N... no, it's my fault. I should've been watching where I was going," she said as Luthor gave her a hand.
"What are you doing here, Luthor? Didn't think you were the training type thanks to that suit Milten gave you," Jake said with a chuckle.
"Yeah. I'm not. At least not here. But that's besides the point. We need to head out now."
"Why, what's wrong?" Paulina said, removing her hand from Stacya's mouth.
"It's Max. He's found the Kobra Klan. It seems they're having a meeting with the head of the Dragon Clan. If Max is right, this is our chance to kill two birds with one stone." Luthor answered.
"Three birds really! This is our debut mission. If we succeed here, we'll officially be recognized by the public as supers!" Ivy said enthusiastically.
"Well then. That's great. Hey, Zack? You up for this?" Jake asked with a chuckle.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Zack said which got Paulina to laugh.
Stacya rushed ahead with a large smile and passed both Ivy and Luthor.
"C'mon then, friends! This is our chance! The official first mission of the Danger Squad starts here!" She said. The whole group rolled their eyes at how corny it sounded but followed her regardless.
Meanwhile... at the Leading Hall. Home of the President of the Commonwealth...
"You sure about this?" President Bump asked Milten while sipping some coffee.
"Of course! In just a few hours my team would've taken down both those godforsaken gangs." Milten responded while playing with a small pendulum on the president's table.
"Well then, I'll just have to take your word for it," Bump said with a chuckle.
Agent A and Agent B of Alpha Force watched on. The two men kept talking and talking...
Laughing about their newest plan...
To be continued...