Junior Armada

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Silver City; a towering symbol of human determination and a testament to the human imagination. The city is protected day and night by the most powerful knights the world has ever seen. They are the Hero Armada. Dozens of heroes united under one roof with a common goal. They protect the innocent, not matter the cost. They are led by the beauty of the battlefield, Warrior Woman, the man who can't be stopped, Mr. Amazo, and the strongest man alive, Omniman. Together from the top floor of Hero Tower they watch over the city and the world, monitoring to make certain all is well. And when something isn't such, they mobilize. But today all would fail to be well from under their own roof as a Latin American young woman in a red and blue tight outfit and brown coat walks into the building through the front door.

Ricochet. Tis true what they say. Hath no fury like a woman scorned. When this woman took up the mantle of the last to bear her title she did so half out of spite. She'd been instrumental in the cretin's defeat. Now she inherited his power and many of the burdens that came with his membership. The Hero Armada was watching her. She had been a valuable member so far but she was being difficult as of late. Soon this would be a problem.

Madam Control looks up from her desk as Ricochet marches through the room to the elevator. When the doors close, she picks up the phone. "She's on her way up and she doesn't look like she's here to sit around the campfire and sing kumbaya."

"All right," Warrior Woman says in response. "Thank you for the heads up."


Some time later the conversation between Ricochet and her superiors enters a heated argumentative stage as the rising heroine slams her hands down, forcefully, on chair's round table and sneers. "You've got to be kidding me! Can't spare the people? Zephyr and Ladybug haven't had a mission in weeks! Lion Heart is pounding on local street thugs and you have me on patrol duty! You're honestly going to sit there and tell me that we can't spare a couple of people for a small strike team?"

"Adrienne, listen," Warrior Woman says.

"In this building it's Ricochet. Mask or no mask,"Adrienne says before a brief pause then doubling back. "Ma'am," she says respectfully.

"Ricochet, Ladybug and Zephyr are both Level 7 Metahumans and have access to a number of missions that we can't give you details on," Owl says.

Ricochet turns to her respected darker superior and stands upright with a sigh. "So because I'm barely a level 4 meta..."

"It's not that. The Deadwave invasion last year...and then what happened with Richard," Omniman begins, "It's an overwhelming burden and we have to make sure we're dividing our resources well. This team is an excellent idea. If we had the people to spare, I'd be more than willing to sign off on it. Be we have the remainder of our heroes on the moon base right now."

"If we had a couple more heads in this building, we'd hand 'em over to ya for your team in a heartbeat, kid, but we don't," Mr. Amazo adds.

Ricochet thinks to herself for a moment then looks away through the window. She could see a few heroes flying about outside. It wasn't an uncommon sight around here. Each of them was on a mission though. She wasn't new to that. She'd had this conversation with the Armada's leaders before. Back then they worried about her mental condition. They were entirely honest and she knew in her heart that they were right then. But now?


Following that conversation, she leaves Hero Tower and decides to go for a freerun along the skyline. She enjoyed it really. Richard was an idiot to turn on the Armada the way he did. He had it made. Everyone loved him and he was in a position to actually receive compensation for his heroic deeds. Whether he liked working with them or not, he chose the losing battle. Of course that wasn't why she became the new Ricochet. She didn't get anything out of the relationship with the Armada like he did. No, she did it for the single purpose of spiting him...and she was entirely okay with that at first. But now? Now she stayed not to make him look bad, but because...it just felt right. She lands on a low rooftop in the city and looks around for a bit. Nothing happening here. She could rest for a bit.

[Attn: All]

Made even more enraged, the alien picks up speed, slicing several buildings in-half as he drags his arms through them. As he arrives at the lot, he slams down in the center of it, causing a minor earthquake and making several car alarms go off in the distance.

As he stands in his second crater for the day, he stares down Twista. He launches off the patch of dented cement and flies straight at the boy at near the speed of sound.

[Attn: All]

"Hey, Earthquakes are MY thing!" The girl in the bandanna shouts.

Suddenly Adam's hand gets between Twista and the alien and after the alien slams into him, he turns that hand into a catapult, launching the alien back before clapping both hands around him like a fly and releasing him to let him drop. Then he raises his foot to stomp down on the alien again.

"Awww!" The boy in the bandanna says. "Isn't that sweet? He remembered you!"

"He missed you sooo much!" The girl adds.

"Dov?" Goldie says. "Makhtal Shor."

[Attn: All]

Goldie looks to the others for a moment then turns and flies up, punching Adam back before he could step on the alien. A second later a gleaming silver chain appears in her hand and she flies circles around Adam, wrapping him in it then flying and wrapping it around the alien, binding the both of them. When she stops, she turns to Twista and points him to the alien before floating over to Adam.

As Adam tries to get free of the indestructible chain, he looks to her and sees that all she is doing now is floating there, looking him in the eye. For a moment he simply stares into her eyes, entirely calm. Then it appears that her eyes glow , if only for an instant, and he is further entranced. Then she closes her eyes and he appears to begin getting agitated again. "Please! You must calm down!" She says. "You are hurting many people and destroying many homes! I know you do not mean this. You are angry because you are afraid and can not think properly but you must stop this now."

[Attn: Twista]

The alien boy stands up and doesn't say anything back to Twista, but he also isn't attacking. He brings his bonded hands up to his face, apparently trying to tell them something.

[Attn: Twista]

"Remove my shackles," the alien says (rather too the point, eh?) in his native tongue to Twista.

[Attn: All]

The alien looks back at all the destruction he caused. His emotionless face seems to falter for a second, showing one of pain and sadness. "I was... afraid. I am not entirely fond of the chains and of the shackles. I did not know that those strange structures were your peoples' houses. I am most sorry."

"Yes," came the curt response. "Just... please get this weird metallic object off of me."

[Attn: All]

As goldie looks Adam in the eye, he feels a sense of tranquility. At last he is calm again. His body then begins to retract, shrinking to its regular stature as the chains loose their grip on him and he drops to his knees. She then helps him up. "You are...okay?" Adam looks into her face and says nothing. He only nods. She then retracts her chain from the alien as well when she sees Twista remove his shackles.

Suddenly a portal opens in the lot and from it emerge Ricochet alongside fellow Hero Armada members, Alakazam and the remote controlled Avatar drone as piloted by Madam Control herself. "Top floor; women's hosiery and insane metahuman battles," Ricochet says as she steps out. "The kid over there in his underwear and the orange one."

"Yes, I saw the footage. Excuse us, kids," says the Avatar. "Sorry to interrupt, but we're going to have to bring these two to Hero Tower with us."

[Attn: All]

The alien boy looks like he's about to say something, but then suddenly collapses where he stands.

[Attn: All]

Avatar watches him fly off. She'd known what he was but, then again, she helped Mr. Infinity catalog all of the alien races in the cosmos that his vision could find. Of course, even one as omniscient as he could not see beyond the boundaries of space and time where many were liable to dwell. She picks him up and walks back into the portal. Ricochet watches her leave then turns back to the kids. "Chair member. She's not going to offer but I will," she says, handing each of the kids still there an Armada Com. "As far as I'm concerned, you earned it. You're all honorary members as of now. I'll be in touch." With that, she and the world's greatest magician were off, back into the portal to Hero Tower with Adam.


Hours later, Adam and the Attramanian are placed into a spacious room alone, both having been given non-tattered clothing. Adam didn't speak over the course of this. Suddenly Ricochet walks in, accompanied by Atta-Girl. "So I'm told you two had something to say about your little tantrums earlier?"


Outside, the bandanna sporting young ones were still roaming around the streets, causing mayhem around Tomorrow Foundation establishments like a regular Bonnie & Clyde duo.

[Attn: All]

"Uf na bane'nal," the alien asks... well it sounds like a question, anyways.

[Attn: Kal]

"I am afraid that we do not understand you," goldie says to the attramanian with a concerned and confused expression.

"Well, this is getting nowhere fast," Ricochet says.


As the two finish defacing another Tomorrow Foundation statue, they give one another a confirming high five and run off, ditching the bandannas as they turn into an alley and in the basement reached through a doorway in that alley. The place was rather large and spacious though rather lacking in...anything. There was at least a sofa and a rather old television set but little else. "Gotta love that we found this place," the guy says.

"Totally," the girl confirms.

[Attn: Atta-Girl]

Suddenly, the boy gets up and flies over to Atta-Girl. Before she can react, the boy kisses her on the lips for a few seconds, holding her head in place until finally letting go.

Suddenly a very audible sound is heard coming from the young boy's abdomen. "Please," he says in English, "I am quite hungry." His voice speaking English sounds very different from his native tongue. While before it sounded rather gruff and vulgar, his voice is quite sing-songy and somehow relaxing to hear.

[Attn: Kal]

"Holy Crap!" Ricochet exclaims as goldie is essentially pounced. "What in the-"

Goldie stands there, relatively confused for a moment after being so suddenly orally assaulted. "Um...was that a practice typical to your people?" She asks Ricochet.

"He's not one of our people," Ricochet explains. "He's an alien."

"I understand," the girl responds.

Meanwhile, Adam watches in disbelief as all of this unfolds in front of him. "Anyway," he interrupts. "I don't know what you did but you got in my head and...look, you know I didn't mean to...I mean..."

"We know what you mean. The story is that both of you were just hyped up. That one was having a panic attack but you?"

"Have you ever heard of Atlas?" Adam says. "A highly volatile drug that, if left unchecked, activates permanently in the user's system. When it activates...well...you saw what happened. I couldn't think straight. Everything was just...just noise and blurs..."

[Attn: All]

"It is how my people understand other languages. Please, forgive me if I intruded in any way. My name is Kal'Andr." He says this all very matter-of-factly.

[Attn: Kal]

"Well...it is most wonderful to meet you both."

"So here is the deal. You're gonna be in here a while, got it?" Ricochet says. I don't know when they plan on letting either of you out of here. If you need anything just ask. I've been assigned to watch over you. Goldilocks isn't supposed to be in here but I was having a little talk with her so I have to get her out of here. Food's on the way," Ricochet says before leaving. All she wanted was a confirmation on a gut feeling she had. Their responses to her and the girl proved to be all the evidence she needed. With that the two left.

Adam sits down at one of the tables in the room and stares at the ceiling.

[Attn: Adam]

The next thing Adam knows, Kal is floating above him, blocking his perfectly good view of the ceiling. "Please, can you tell me what planet I am on?"