Soldier Boy had no problems remaining unseen, even without his years of stealth operations, nothing could have torn the Nubian's eyes off of the ominous form of Shift. Raven remained front and center, but somehow she too was hidden in plain sight. Static electricity was simmering in the air above the rooftops, bolts and streams of light played in the sky, running horizontally above them, in a most unnatural display.

T Bone remained frozen in place, the white's of his eyes almost glowing in stark contrast to his rich black skin and the deep of night. Shift took one thundering stride and then another, deeper onto the roof, and as he did so, his height diminished a bit as four small robotic beings disengaged from his much larger form. Each one of them took a few moments to unfold and engage themselves, before they went spinning off in each direction. Had the knee high bots been featured in Wall-E, they could have been considered cute with their almost intellectual level of quirky movements.

(Curiouser and curiouser,) Raven thought. She was no closer to figuring out if Shift was man or machine, though the way he was splitting off smaller units she was inclined to think more machine than man. Still, she'd have to wait and see. Raven glanced around with as much nonchalance as she could manage, considering her options for causing trouble, or avoiding it. The Nubians were largely irrelevant. The only real threat looked like Shift and the Shiftettes.

The metallic voice split the silence again, and this time it jarred the terrified T Bone out of his paralyzed state. "My Fee!"

T Bone sprang into action and pulled his cell phone back up to his ear. "Bbbomber. He wants the girl and the money." Then he slowly pulled the phone away from his ear and let his hand fall back to his side. Everything about his body language was nonthreatening, it was clear that this man didn't want any trouble.

Raven turned her head to look at T Bone and then at Shift. (Girl?) she thought. Her stomach seemed to sink lower into her abdomen. (Shit.) Shift was taking a girl as payment? This was going to get ugly real quick if that were the case. Raven nibbled on her lower lip as she went over the possibilities once more.

As the leader was talking on the phone, each of the four bots settled onto a corner of the roof and were slowly scanning the area. But for those that continued to watch Shift, they saw a slight shift in his posture as he became distracted by something. His too large, almost bestial nose twitched and his tongue flitted out of his mouth as if to taste the air. Finally his eyes moved from T Bone and swung slowly to regard Raven, he made no move towards her, but his gaze locked with hers and remained there.

Raven contrived to look surprised and nervous when Shift's gaze settled on her. Not good. Not good at all. Was he seeing through her illusion? Recognizing that she was out of place here? Raven drew one slow, deep breath, preparing herself for the possibility of violence. Any. Second. Now.

Between Raven getting the stink eye from Shift and the slave trade thing going on Soldier Boy figured it was about time for his entrance. Raven could use a distraction right now and he was just the guy for the job. He didn't really have much of a plan, so he and Raven would have to vamp their way through.

Soldier Boy bound over the stairwell structure with a flip, landed solidly in plain sight on the roof and stood there proud and tall. He paused a moment for emphasis. "Sweet, suffering shit! Is that Soldier Boy?" Soldier Boy said in a loud clear voice.

The Nubians that were gathered there in a cloister of combined fear, screamed and scrambled in their efforts to get as much distance as they could between the excitement that was Soldier Boy and themselves. About five of them broke and ran heedlessly towards the nearest door, evacuating the area without so much as a second glance. At least fifteen of the gang members remained, but none of them were in enough control of their faculties to be a threat to the seasoned Hero.

"You!" Soldier Boy said as he stabbed a finger at Raven. "The Department of Homeworld security has sent me to pick you up, Raven." He marched toward her with a confident stride as he explained her right to remain silent and the rest of that litany. Soon he was within striking distance of her... and Shift.

The Villainous form of Shift twisted to regard the scene, his mammoth head cocking in surprise, more of curiosity than anger. Something about Soldier Boy, drew his full and complete attention away from Raven, and seemed to hold the beast captivated. A low growl began emanating from deep in his chest and a sequence of high pitched beeps harmonized with the more bestial sound of his building roar.

In a clear response to the beeps, the four bots from each side of the roof, began glowing with a red light as they took to the air. Spinning in saucer fashion as they gathered information from their surroundings. Two of them focused on the approaching form of Mister Amazing and the other two darted further out towards where Heatwave was making her slow approach.

Mister Amazing landed in the shadows on the far edge of the rooftop. The scene was a picture of confusion, with big names and faces, the lines muddled between sides. Apparently the Nubians had some sort of deal with this mega-bad and they seemed to be well over their head. Among them (with them?) was a young woman dressed in black, her role significant but yet unclear. Between the supers and the gangers and the strange slave/hostage situation, everything was so extremely unclear. Soldier Boy was the only one he recognized, but his presence alone was peculiar enough.

"Huh," whispered Mister Amazing to himself, "I thought he was dead." As the caped hero recovered from his surprise, he saw two bots, blinking urgently with a sequence of red lights appear next to him, floating at about head level. A red laser, reminiscent of a scanner leveled on his head and began the nonthreatening but methodical process of scanning the Vigilante.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed out surprise, "That's different." The scan completed, benign in its apparent effect, but Mister Amazing couldn't help but pat himself down, just to be sure. He had an innate distrust of machines, especially robots. He smirked, backing up warily, shifting his attention between these two and the mega-bad. "You boys find anything interesting?"

It was almost too surreal, the rapid succession of events. With so many faces, key players in a game that he was late in joining, the complete picture was far beyond his comprehension. But it boiled down simply enough; gangs, mega-bad-news, hostage, drugs, and potential vigilante backup.

Mister Amazing rarely initiated violence, but in this case, he saw an exception. He eyed the bots to his flanks, first one, then the next, and lashed out without preamble.

It took a few moments, but he was able to dispatch the first bot with little trouble. The second bot dodged his attack and went into a defensive pattern. It's innocent chirping and cheeping, whirled into a high pitched squeal as it went into offensive mode and targeted him with it's onboard laser. This one, unlike the scan, had the potential to harm. He was able to dodge the brunt of the effect, but it sliced a sizable hole into his yellow cape, barely missing his side.

Shift turned his attention, for a moment from the obstacle in front of him, to regard his bots. A sequence of similar red lights began blinking on the nine foot monstrosity as he synced with his robotic extensions and processed the information that they gave him. His metallic voice rumbled again, this time in near rage. "MY FEEEE!"

"Now, do you understand these rights as I've said them to you," Soldier Boy said as he gazed down upon the tiny woman even as he set his peripheral vision to check for any sudden move from Shift, "or am I going to have to kick you in the head until it stops being funny?"

Just then the door leading to the roof burst open and four Nubians appeared, struggling like mad to keep the hostage that they held between them under control. Whoever this woman was, she was more than four Nubian's hands full. She was gagged and bound, and from her staggering footfalls, quite likely drugged.

The woman was smaller than her captives and it wasn't until they brought her closer to Shift that the others could see her. The men all stalled well before they reached the towering villain, until only two of them inched forward pushing the petite black woman in front of them. She stood a little over five feet tall, her hair was done in a similar style as T Bone's, and she wore a black tux with tails, and a white dress shirt that was tidily tucked into her black pants. Her mouth was gagged and her hands were bound tightly behind her with a thin cutting rope.

As they watched her eyes grew wide with horror as they took in Shift. Nobody was pushing her now and it was almost as if she was stuck in a tractor beam of some sort, walking of her own accord to finish her approach towards the half metallic, half beast villain. His eyes were focused completely on hers now as they somehow commanded her until she finally fell into a struggling heap before him. He absently dropped the cases to the ground as he watched his fee hungrily.

She sat on her knees in front of him, with her head bowed. There seemed to be some sort of silent struggle between them, that she was slowly losing. The pride began seeping out of the woman as they watched, until her eyes finally lifted, despite her battle, to meet his. And, when finally their gazes met he stretched out a metallic hand towards her and the dark abyss of energy above him began pulsing and slowly ebbing closer to Shift.

Raven had no idea what was about to happen to the woman Shift had demanded as his fee. But she was pretty sure it wasn't going to be pleasant, and she likely wouldn't survive it. She couldn't let that happen. There was a devouring hunger in the air now, as the abyss pulsed and throbbed above them. It moved painfully slow, but as it moved it seemed to swallow the very night and anything in its way.

Raven grinned up at Soldier Boy. "Hold that thought," she told him, then leaped over to land by the woman kneeling before Shift. It was only up close that Raven recognized the woman. She'd seen her before--when she wasn't bound, gagged and apparently drugged. It was Mojo, another Hudson City vigilante. She was even wearing most of her costume, though her top hat and cane were nowhere to be seen.

"Don't mind me," she quipped. "I'm just passing through!" She took a solid hold on the kneeling woman with one hand, sketched a salute at Soldier Boy, saying, "Catch you later!" as the two women vanished through the trap door which had appeared beneath them on the rooftop.

Shift blinked his eyes once in surprise, he had been so focused on the woman in front of him that Raven's shocking move had caught him off guard. He roared something that was almost incomprehensible as he turned around in a full circle trying to locate the two women. "GRAAABITCH!"

Soldier Boy couldn't resist smiling. Raven was really a trip. He had been wondering how to signal her to grab the woman and run, but the crazy little nut case was one step ahead of him again. Now there was one thing to do, and Soldier Boy knew he had to move quickly while Shift was still trying to figure out what was going on.

*****

Heatwave saw the approaching bots as they shot towards her in a zigzagging defensive display. They didn't completely close with her however, instead they each initiated a red laser and tried to focus it on her head.

Putting together the little she knew about robots and lasers, Heatwave stopped. Those were the things mad scientists used in the movies. What would a gang of thugs be doing with them? They must be from whatever was causing the freak light show.

No matter who they belonged to, they meant trouble. Making sure there was no living beings nearby, Heatwave focused on a spot between the two robots and sent out a shimmering bolt of heat. The explosive blast seemed to feed off the static tension in the air and sent both of the saucers scittering through the air. One of them stopped blinking and began its fall towards the neighborhood below, but the other one teetered and recovered before flying as fast as it could back towards the rooftop.

"Oh no you don't." Heatwave said after the fleeing robot Taking careful aim she narrowed her beam of heat to focus on the remaining bot, hoping to down it before it whoever had sent it realized anything was wrong. Another blast resounded through the night air, hitting the mechanical saucer, sending it crashing to the ground. In a few moments the whirs and cheeps of it's malfunction were too far away to be heard.

*****

Raven slowed their fall enough to land relatively lightly on the floor. They were in a run-down living room full of battered furniture. It was empty, fortunately. She hustled Mojo--and herself--through the nearest doorway and out into the hallway, to get them out of sight in case Shift decided to come reclaim his prize. She considered vanishing the trap door, but creating and disappearing them wasn't effortless. Raven decided to hold off in case she needed to save her energy for later.

Creating a curved EMT's knife, designed to safely cut seatbelts away from immobile passengers--or ropes away from bound hostages--was much easier. Raven studied Mojo, deciding where to start.

Mojo said nothing as Raven cut away her bonds. Her mouth worked a couple of times as if she was going to say something, but nothing came out. Instead she closed her eyes for a few moments and seemed to relinquish her control to the Mistress of Nightmares. As the last of Mojo's bonds dropped away, Raven released her grip on the knife, letting it vanish back to wherever it had come from.

Raven glanced around, looking for someplace safe--well, relatively safe--to stash Mojo while she got back into the action. The corridor was empty. Either the floor was empty or the few people who lived here were keeping their heads down. No conveniently open doors in sight either. Raven made a frustrated little noise and dragged Mojo toward a door she chose at random.

"You go now. You go." Mojo's voice was both slurred and heavily accented. "I aaight. Dat Sheeft, he a bod bod mon. He steal yo powers now, do-an cha let heem do dot."

Raven gave Mojo an assessing glance. She didn't really look 'aaight' but Raven didn't have time to nursemaid her. She'd have to accept Mojo's claim at face value. "Alright," Raven said. "Later."

*****

Soldier Boy grabbed one of the suitcases and leaped to a nearby rooftop. Shift could be dealt with later, when an actual battle plan was in place. As he reached the peak of his leap, Soldier Boy did a flip, partly to show off, but mostly so he could get a quick peak of the rooftop behind him. He saw a flaming woman blasting at Shift's tinker toys... more power to her... and in a far corner... Sweet crap, was that Mister Amazing?

By the time the monstrous villain turned full circle, he roared again, just in time to see one of the cases lifted from in front of him. He picked up the other case in one of his large metallic hands and swung it with all of his might towards the group of Nubians that stood in near paralyzed fear as they watched the proceedings. A sickening crack could be heard as it bowled through about five of the gang members, splintering bones and one skull in it's wake.

His rage was clearly visible as he swung his full attention to the rooftop opposite him, where Soldier Boy now stood. His arm reached out to point at him threateningly and the swirling dark mass of energy above him began to surge to his command.

Odds were good that the case Soldier Boy swiped contained this Cartel Cocktail that Raven was after, and it would probably have been a good idea for him to just bound into the night and meet up with Raven later, but there were too many unanswered questions. What was Mister Amazing's part in all this? Who was the flaming chick? Hell, Soldier Boy didn't really even know what became of Raven. He decided to stay put for a moment to see how things played out. He was ready to dance with Shift if the freak came after him.

Soldier Boy looked across the gap between buildings to see a raging Shift glaring at him. Soldier Boy gave him a winning smile and the finger.

The voracious hunger of the dark abyss had turned all of it's attention on Soldier Boy. One of Shift's mammoth hand's flicked metallic fingers at the veteran hero and the entire mass of the abyss came down in an attempt to envelope the red, white and blue. By the most narrow of margins, Soldier Boy was able to flip out of the effected area, but even then he could feel a gripping stillness as the ethereal fingers of the abyss slipped from around his heart and throat. He choked and gasped for air as he rolled into his perfect landing.

*****

Having downed both the bots, the shimmering effect around Heatwave faded as she switched from actively heating the air, to using naturally occurring thermals to keep herself aloft. It meant she had to keep moving but, as she intended to approach the roof anyway, it was worth it to make herself a little less visible. As she drew nearer she spotted a red, white, and blue figure leaping acrobatically from one rooftop to another.

Her mouth agape, Heatwave stopped and stared in surprise at the powerful figure. Had she seen what she thought she saw? Had that really been Soldier Boy? Feeling herself falling, Heatwave once more started toward the roof with its strange occupants. The most likely explanation was whoever she had seen had modeled his costume after the famous hero's. After all, everyone knew Soldier Boy was dead; there was no way it could have been him.

As she watched the rooftops in front of her, she saw three more gang members enter, each holding a duffel bag. ...and as she further scanned the area she saw Mister Amazing dispatch of the last bot that was on him.

Mister Amazing caught his breath and did a quick reassessment. He remembered a time not so long ago that he didn't get so winded.

The hostage was noticeably missing, along with one of the good-guys. Soldier Boy (alive and kicking, he left little doubt) had Shift's attention, at least for the moment. It was time to do what he came here for.

Mister Amazing crested the large, apartment-sized HVAC unit and scanned the Nubians for T bone's whereabouts. Spotting him easily, he addressed the group wryly. "Nobody move!" he declared in a voice that resonated. He smirked, as if it might really work. "You are all under arrest!"

The emboldened sound of Mister Amazing's voice rang through to each and every person on the rooftop. Only Shift didn't turn around in awe to look and the caped hero. For the most part it served to break the spell that the Nubians were under, nearly all of them breaking and running towards the door leading back into the apartment complex. The men with duffel bags, dropped them unceremoniously as they turned on their heals, nearly tripping over each other in their quest for survival. T Bone, however couldn't break and run, he tried, but with the full weight of Mister Amazing's charisma upon him, he was paralyzed.

*****

"SOL...DIER BOY!" Shift's words were clear but interrupted by the robotic pattern of his speech. And there was an open struggle on his bestial face as he clenched his hand into a fist, the same hand that commanded the Abyss, now held it still as he dealt with some internal struggle.

"Jesus Christ," Soldier Boy mumbled to himself. "Was that magic?" It was certainly possible. One thing was for sure, Shift was a mutt when it came to powers. Cybernetics, some genetic tinkering, and maybe some kind of funky voodoo. That was damned unusual. Shift was getting interesting.

"Hey Shift," Soldier Boy said loudly, "three things. One, you missed. Two, I still have the case. Three, I fucked your mother."

Shift's entire body rattled with rage but somehow he contained himself as he locked eyes with Soldier Boy. A random sweep of his hand sent the magical abyss swirling to the streets below. "Not yet Sold...ier Boy. But you will be mine. Now you can watch everyone else DIE!"

Thankfully the streets below were nearly vacant as the dark cloud of nothing swallowed nearly everything in it's wake. Cars disappeared, some of them to be spit out again in a crumpled mass, others simply got lost forever in the black hole of energy.

"I hate when they do that," Soldier Boy sighed. So far Shift's rampage had just caused some property damage, but it was just a matter of time until someone got hurt. Soldier Boy needed a better distraction. The suitcase was only doing so much. He leaped back across the urban chasm to the Nubian's rooftop, which was probably what Shift wanted. Arcing far over Shift's head, Soldier Boy landed among the abandoned duffle bags. He picked one up and began taunting Shift.

"Your FEEEEEE!!!" Soldier Boy growled before pitching the duffel bag far into the distance. "Fetch, boy."

Shift followed Soldier Boy's movements, a bestial snarl escaping his lips, obviously agitated by the veteran hero's antics, but still unwilling to do anything to stop him.

The shimmering around Heatwave intensified as she began actively heating the air to keep herself aloft. Stopping her approach near the far end, away from Soldier Boy and the reject from a mad scientist's lab, she took in the situation. This was far more than she had bargained for when she took up the mantle of a vigilante and she was glad there were more experienced heroes around to help.

Hoping to give Soldier Boy the advantage, Heatwave sent a concentrated beam of heat at Shift's odd form.

She couldn't tell if it hurt him, but it was certainly enough to get his attention, and he spun around to regard her. His red eyes fixed themselves onto hers as he roared out a command. "Come to me BITCH! You will pay the price for this de...bac...le." His mechanical voice carried a heavy weight as it crashed down around Heatwave. All the while the swirling abyss of energy continued to wreak havoc on the street before twisting out of site around the base of the apartment building.

Was this guy for real? Did he really expect her to get any closer than she had to? She was preparing another blast when she realized that was exactly what she was doing. Without realizing it she had begun to move closer to Shift at his command.

Panic danced at the edges of her mind as she tried to halt her forward movement and found herself unable to stop. Knowing she would be lost if she gave into it she pushed the panic aside and concentrated on a way to break free of Shift's power. The only option she could see was to try and take him down before she was within his reach. With that thought she stopped fighting her forward momentum and raised her hand to deliver another blast.

Soldier Boy had been in this kind of situation a million billion times. It should have come as naturally to him as breathing, but he was suddenly covered with flop sweat. The last action he found himself in, as modest as it was, did not go well at all. He didn't know what he had in him any more. Just for a moment, Soldier Boy locked up.

As he watched Heatwave drew closer and closer to Shift. She was visibly fighting and it was painfully clear that she was trying to escape whatever magnetic pull that was forcing her towards the villain. Another of her blasts hit him and the monster shook his head as if to clear it, but still he didn't release her from his pull. Only seconds went by as Soldier Boy was gathering himself, and even in that brief time he could see the pulsing nimbus of heat that surrounded her, waning. Something that this freak of nature was doing to her, was sapping whatever fueled her powers.

*****

Raven ran toward and then through the stairwell door. When she pushed the door open, she saw several Nubian gang members hurrying down the metal fire stairs. They gave Raven an alarmed look, especially when she started up the stairs. They edged around her but continued on, clearly less frightened of her than of whatever was going on up on the rooftop.

Raven had the stairwell to herself by the time she reached the rooftop, though she could hear the clatter of feet on metal stairs several floors below her. Soldier Boy was back on this rooftop, taunting Shift. A flying woman surrounded by a shimmering aura of heat was drifting slowly toward Shift--not by her own choice to judge by her expression.

Raven took several silent running steps and launched herself at Shift's back.

"Like hell I'm going to let a little girl show me up," Soldier Boy mumbled to himself as he launched himself at Shift. He was going to let Raven get her attack in, but Soldier Boy was ready to give the follow up all he had.

*****

As far as Mister Amazing was concerned, T Bone was not leaving this roof a free man. Not after his role with the Nubians. Or his drug trade deal with Shift. Or his involvement with Shante and Ricky - another family destroyed.

Fortunately, the other two had Shift well distracted, if not handled. In one smooth motion, Mister Amazing leaped across the rooftop and landed easily in front of his prey. Staring the ganger in his shell-shocked eyes, he produced the dead woman's cell phone and placed a call.

"Detective? I have someone you should meet." He relayed the location of the building. "It's the one with the storm overhead. You can't miss it."

Mister Amazing stopped talking abruptly as he heard the clatter of the door and saw Raven rejoin them. She sprinted across the rooftop towards Shift. Everything was happening so fast and even for him, a veteran of Hudson City Heroes, what was unfolding in front of him was awe inspiring. He allowed the inspiration to fill him and let it ripple from him towards Soldier Boy, filling the red, white and blue uniform with a rush of pride just as he moved into motion.

Shift was so intent on Heatwave as he siphoned her powers that he never once looked behind him. It was easy to assume that the monstrous villain felt no fear or threat for the three that were at his back. Only the flying heroine saw the look of shock and surprise on his face as Raven and Soldier Boy plowed into him. He had been standing so close to the edge that the impact sent him flipping over the side. He roared again in beastial irritation and his hold on Heatwave broke when their gazes separated.

Soldier Boy laughed as he watched Shift go over the edge. There was nothing more satisfying than watching a bad guy take a tumble. "Fucking-A. You hear that, Fugly? Fucking-A."

"In your face!" Raven bellowed as Shift fell out of sight. She stepped up onto the ledge to watch his fall.

The drained heroine, was able to land gracefully on the rooftop, she was very much weakened, but could already feel the energy returning. "Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners? There are ladies present." Heatwave said walking slowly toward Soldier Boy.

Soldier Boy rolled his eyes. Great. A school marm in a skintight leotard. Well, with any luck he would never run into her again after tonight. "Pardon my damned French, ma'am."

"If you're going to dress like Soldier Boy you should at least talk like a hero and not like..." She swept her arm to indicate the general area. "Not like most of the trash that lives around here."

"What? Dress like...? Now you listen here little darlin', I'm... Aw, the hell with it. At least you didn't say I was dead."

The black abyss came rolling to Shift's rescue, eating through the night at an astounding speed to envelope him in it's darkness. Shift's form was completely swallowed and the abyss began to bubble into itself. The lightning from the sky became concentrated over the roiling mass, hissing as they landed and skittered all over the rooftop. Both Raven and Soldier Boy barely missed getting hit by one, Mister Amazing wasn't quite so lucky as one struck him with an electric jolt. He buckled a bit in pain but was able to keep his feet underneath him, the phone in his hand however was destroyed.

With an ear splitting explosion, the abyss seemed to implode in front of them, until it too was gone. A stream of blinding light sucked all of the lightning bolts out of the sky as it trailed behind it's dark mistress, until they too vanished.

...and then there was silence. The four heroes now stood above a mostly serene rooftop, three duffel bags, a metal case and a trembling T Bone remained as the only evidence of the encounter. The street below however, was a different story, if there was any question as to whether their stories were true, that would be their affidavit.

Raven turned and hopped back down onto the rooftop. "We came, we saw, we kicked his ass!" Raven crowed, raising her fists overhead. "It's Miller Time!"

Raven walked over and briefly unzipped the three duffels to check their contents before zipping them up again. Then she tried the metal case. It was still locked. She could have opened it with enough effort, but since the duffels all contained cash, the metal case had to hold the drug. That was all she really needed to know.

She stood, picking up one duffel and slinging it over her shoulder by the carrying strap. Spoils of war. Crime fighting cost money, after all. Then she approached the woman in red. "You--Fire Lady. What's your name, anyhow? Can you, like, vaporize that metal case? It's full of a really nasty drug. In fact--" Raven looked around. "Wasn't there a second metal case?"

Heatwave looked over and took in the other female. Fire Lady? What made everyone she came across believe being able to wield high temperatures always amounted to fire? It was like saying a microwave and an open fire pit were one and the same. Still this woman had distracted Shift enough to free Heatwave from his grasp and for that she was grateful.

She shook her head, "I'm afraid not at the moment. I'm a bit weak from whatever that monster did to me." She held out her hand, "I'm Heatwave, and you are?"

"I'm Raven," Raven said, taking Heatwave's hand. "Pleased to meet you. You've already met Soldier Boy." Raven looked at the other costumed crimefighter. "Who's your friend?"

Heatwave looked around puzzled, "My friend?" She spotted Mister Amazing stumbling out of the shadows, "Oh, him. He's not with me but I think it's Mister Amazing."

"Oh," Raven said. "I knew that. Well, I should have known that." It's not like Mister Amazing wasn't a familiar figure around Hudson City, even if Raven had never met him personally.

Mister Amazing stumbled out from the shadows looking slightly worse for wear. He shook his head vigorously and blew out a deep breath. "Anyone get the tags off that truck?" he said, chuckling.

Soldier Boy joined in with a laugh of his own. "Another day at the office. Right, Amazing? Thanks for the boost, by the way. much appreciated."

The gold and white clad hero gave a nod. "Don't mention it."

Soldier Boy walked over to Mister Amazing and handed him one of his new business cards. "Give me a call. I know of a team forming that could use your experience. Hush hush for the moment, if you know what I mean."

"A team?" He took the card and studied it, still a bit shaken by the jolt of Shift's exit. The suggestion had weight, especially coming from the likes of Soldier Boy. Until now, he hadn't given thought to such a thing.

"Thanks," he said while a smile began to form. He tucked the card away and slapped the red, white and blue veteran on the shoulder. That, he decided, was Serendipity.

At the mention of a team forming, Heatwave's ears perked up. Fighting Shift she had realized some of the villains in Hudson City were beyond the capabilities of any one any one hero to take on by himself. Or, by herself.

Feeling awkward but knowing she would never have a better chance, Heatwave walked over to the two men and waited patiently for a break in their conversation. As soon as it came she broke in politely, "Excuse me, did I hear there was a team forming? I'm pretty new at this and could use the help of those with a little more experience."

Soldier Boy winced and wished he could learn how to whisper. He hadn't meant for Miss Manners to hear about the team. All he knew about her was that she almost got herself eaten by a monster. Actually, he had to admit that she did okay. She could have screamed like a girl when Shift got hold of her, but she fought. Soldier Boy had to respect that. He offered her a card and then withdrew it when she reached for it.

"If you make it on the team I'm going make you drop and give me twenty every time you bust my chops about my language. Got it?"

Amazing stifled a laugh behind a hand and a snort.

He gave her the card.

"When I make the team you're going to punish me for pointing out it's not polite to swear in front of a lady. Got it." Heatwave said after taking the card.

Raven watched them for a moment, then walked over and drifted down through the trap door that still opened into an empty apartment. She walked out into the corridor to find Mojo. The woman had insisted that Raven go deal with Shift, but she obviously wasn't entirely over the effects of the drug yet. Now that things were under control Raven wanted to make sure she was going to be okay.

Not a bad night's work. They kept some supermeds away from the gang and kept the bogey man from making his payday. Throw in a little recruiting for the Conquistadors. Not bad at all. At his feet Soldier Boy found one of Shift's suitcases. The same one he snatched earlier. It wasn't the first meta-genetic substance he had come across, but with his powers flagging as they were, it was easily the most tempting. He picked up the suitcase and walked to the edge of the building.

"Remember you two, keep the team thing under your hats," Soldier Boy said to Mr. Amazing and Heatwave as he looked around for Raven. Hard telling where the little nutcase was or what she was doing. "Catch you later, Raven."

Soldier Boy stepped off the side of the building.

File Closed