"You can say that again," WingHawk agreed. Thundersky levelled a glare at the young hero in charge of public relations. She raised her hands in mock surrender. "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut till he finished.”

“Sorry about that, Nigel.” The Champion apologized on behalf of the hero. “Please continue.”

“Not a problem, Champion.” Ever the professional, Nigel acted as if nothing happened. “I am sure all of you have watched the news and seen the video of the fight between Sweet Fist and Green Leaper.” Nigel pressed a key and a small portion of the screen was taken up by the video of the fight. "The Green Leaper is an up-and-coming hero currently signed with Cracking Action Entertainment, better known as C.A.E. She is listed as a C-list Striker but has a fine array of lower level superpowers. We believed she was stalking the area, looking for Sweet Fist. She found him, and we all saw the result. She graduated from Lantern Hero Academy with middling grades. She did not receive any offers from any of the cities, but a few towns did offer her a spot on their local law enforcement teams. She chose to go corporate instead.”

“Enough about her. What about the Sweet Fist?” Streetman said. “He’s the reason everyone is here.”

“I am getting to that.” Nigel tapped a key and the small portion of the screen changed. It now showed a close-up of the Sweet Fist. “Sweet Fist started out as a low-level muscle in Blue Lake City. Worked alone for a few years before hooking up with the Candy Crew. He was with them for over a decade and gained a reputation as a no-nonsense enforcer. When the villain group went down, he proved that there was still honor among thieves, refusing to make a deal with the authorities. Now, onto the fight. First off, for a man who had spent the past twenty years in prison, and in his early fifties, Sweet Fist is in superb human condition and displayed excellent reflexes. He is tough, taking hits that would had laid out normal humans. For his age, he should not be as fit as he is, but he did not display superhuman speed or strength. At best, we would classify him as a low-level enhanced human. You will notice that he is able to increase his speed at times. The increased speed was explosive, but more information will be needed before we can classify it. Also, we do not believe this armor that the Sweet Fist summoned is real. Notice how quickly it melts when the spit hits it. The Green Leaper’s spit is well documented. It is highly effective against non-organic material and far less so against organic materials like human skin and the bark of a tree.”

"Thank you, Nigel." Thundersky said. “What does your team think about his claims about being a mystic?”

“We do not have a definite synopsis on that. Mystic warriors are rare, and there is no real definition on how one classifies it. However, it is clear that Sweet Fist isn’t a normal human, and given his age, he most definitely didn’t come to his powers naturally. Until otherwise proven, we believe it is acceptable to take him at his word.”

The Champion frowned at that. Taking the word of a villain was not what he had hoped to hear. He was hoping that the analysts would give him a straight answer, but Thundersky also knew that he can’t force them to give him one.

“Thank you, Nigel.” The analyst gave a small nod at the dismissal and the screen disappeared. The Champion turned back to the assembled heroes at the table. They were all leaders in Velocity City, and each oversaw a specific area of concern. Thundersky turned to hero in charge of police enforcement.

“Streetman, what’s the word?”

“The Sweet Fist is setting up an organization. Word is he had sent out feelers and several of the smaller teams in the city had expressed interest. He has a daughter living here, so he’s not considered a total outsider, and he is starting in the King’s. I don’t need to tell you how welcome the people there feels about that.”

“What about the corporations?” Thundersky turned to the hero in charge of the financial side of the Velocity City. “They had six months to buy over the whole of the King. Why haven’t they?”

“Greed.” Lady Numbers mumbled. “They want the property prices to be even lower before going in.”

“Well, if Sweet Fist start cleaning up the streets, the prices will start going up.” WingHawk said. “Sort of defeat the purpose of all the money they had thrown away so far.”

“They do not believe Sweet Fist will be a problem.” Lady Numbers said.

“Why not?” Thundersky asked.

“They believe they can buy him off.” Lady Numbers saw the looks the other heroes were giving her and gave them a helpless shrug. “I know. I’ve been telling them for months to get a move on, but with us on their side, they don’t believe there’s anything that can stop them.”

“We are not on their side!” The Champion thundered. “We went along with their plan because they promised to rebuild the King’s. More housing, more jobs, better infrastructure. And even then, it was a close vote. Tell them to get a move on, or they are on their own.”

“I know. They know the feeling Velocity Tower has about them, but they don’t believe Sweet Fist is a threat.” Lady Numbers complained. “He may be a C-list villain, but they think he is a dinosaur. They are not taking him seriously.”

“He is a dinosaur,” Streetman agreed. “That’s why they won’t be able to buy him off. An old-school guy like him won’t be bought off like Red Maddy.”

“Nothing a bounty won’t fix.” Lady Numbers saw the darks looks of the other heroes. “That’s their view, not mine.”

Quantum Maker laughed. “Shit, am I the only one who is cheering for the villain here?”

Several of the heroes glared at the mad scientist, but Thundersky saw there were a few nods as well. Quantum Maker ignored the glares. His position on the King’s Renewal Plan was well-known and he was proud of it.

“There’s another problem.” Streetman said. “Word is Sweet Fist signed up with H.A.V.E, and they are giving him their full support.”

"Oh wonderful,” WingHawk said. “So, on top of a villain setting up shop in our city, we may have a streaming war on our hands?”

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg, I’m afraid.”