Hello everyone! Thank you for reading the story and liking it so much. Without further ado here is the beginning to Arc 4 and Vespers Super Hero career. It is not exactly what she expected it to be.

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Vespidian, Arc 4, Gonna Need A Hero

Chapter 1

The training ground loomed empty as ever, all around us. The little break we had been taking after the Bug Hunt was more or less over. You could tell these things rather easily by how Chief kept looking at his hud interface and chatting with people over his com system, he was not talking to us mind you. If one paid attention or rather had super senses you could hear the noises of people working on something in the varied buildings. My antenna squirmed trying to figure out what was going on.

“So what is next Chief?” I asked.

“Rescue exercises,” he said, pulling up a map. “I had the boys set up a few tests. First will be emergency response to fires and car accidents. Your job is to save as many people as possible. Work together to achieve this.”

A fire engine rolled up. It was normal for here this armor plated, tank treaded, vehicle that was used as a transport for firefighters. They had the same basic design, but were far sturdier and were a useful thing when having to go into the more treacherous areas. They were more versatile than the usual ones and as of last year they had replaced all of their predecessors in the city. One of the only problems was that they tore up the street a bit, if you were not careful. A crew was sitting there. They were all decked out in the heavy duty gear. Masks, layered suits, helmets and tanks on their backs. Everyone, but me and Glide took a helmet and mask from a side compartment, putting them on. Since my suit was self contained, I doubted that I needed one. So I take this as fire first? Disk and Squeeze hopped on board with the fire crew.

“When do we start?”

“Now,” said Chief, as an explosion reverberated through the buildings.

Fire filled my eyes. Thick, billowing, black smoke gushed out of the windows of a warehouse two blocks down. The others had already started to move, but I was in a trance over the glaring light. My eyes shut tight for a moment, then I started to run after them. Sub did not like fire and as a result all my senses were bristling with anxiety. I knew full well that it was bad and one of our weaknesses. It was still an irrational fear though, we were in a suit that was airtight and climate controlled. There was no way we could be hurt unless the suit was punctured, which would be difficult since an exploding gas station only scratched the surface. Most of my willpower was devoted to restraining Sub, who wanted to flee. If I am scared over this, there would be no way this hero thing could ever work out. What would happen if the person who was supposed to save people ran away? Everyone would die. You are the one who told me we could do this so don't bitch out now, Sub. My admonishing seemed to have an effect and the jumbled mess that was our emotions became cold and calculative.

Sunshine rode ahead, on a giant butterfly made of pink light. It was surprisingly fast for something so big. Glide was even faster though and already waiting for the rest of us in front of the flames. He was messing with a fire hydrant and tying a hose to it. Disk drove up in the fire engine, I did not realize he could drive. He was a support through and through. Squeeze used his powers to drag over a few hoses and start the spray of water into the flames. The fire crew was a fucking machine though. They did shit so quick, I could hardly even follow. They lined up, set the hoses on full and made the fire take it like a whore. I just stood there, not really knowing what to do. I get the feeling there should have been a class for this shit or something. Oh wait, I think this is the class for it. The glowing animals flowed into the building and after a few moments emerged soot covered, dragging out dummies that I assumed were supposed to be survivors. Glide appeared to be having a little trouble with the hose. It squirmed and whipped around before my hands grasped it. He gave me a reassuring nod, I was doing something right. The stream directed steadily onto the flames and since I did not need help with this, in fact I could take another three hoses. I only needed one hand to keep it under control.

The fire was quickly dying down. That stuff coming out of the fire engine was not water, but some soapy looking substance. It snuffed out the fire at an astounding rate. Another roar sounded and two buildings down, a mock office exploded. Glass and shrapnel shot out across the street. The place was starting to look like a war zone. Glide and I made our way over to the front. He pointed for me to go in there.

“Rescue some people, drag them out. I will start dousing the flames,” said Glide, connecting a hose to a nearby hydrant.

I only hesitated for a moment, while figuring out where I was going to go in. There was no need to over think this and I went through the door, since it was available. Smoke covered the roof and the blaze spread down from upstairs. Mannequins were placed at various places, some lying on the floor while others were standing. There was a lot in here and this was just the first floor. My fist broke out the window and I started passing the dummies out, onto the street. Glide was there handing them off and our actions seemed more like a conveyor belt, than anything else. The bottom was clear and the ascent into the real inferno began. The whole floor was engulfed. Most of the fake people were already black charred, but in the far corner of the cubicles there was an oasis of clear air. I trudged through the cardboard walls knocking over the little squares of personal space. The path had been carved when I looked over the corner. I was avoiding all of the fire. There was a child sized dummy, with a stuffed bear in its lap. The fires were spreading quickly ,snaking across the floor. I hefted it up, before knocking out the wall and leaping to freedom.

My heels cracked the pavement, I was getting pretty good with the landings. I stood handing off the smoke covered doll. The fire squad had already moved over here and poured the watery foam into the building. They were insanely efficient. They must be Cyborgs or something. At some point Fire Chief had rolled up, in his souped up fire engine and his ten foot tall super suit. The water cannons on that thing could strip flesh from bone with how powerful they were. I know he shot me with them. He stood there like a turret and with a slow methodical movement, set to work extinguishing the fire on the top floor. It took about thirty seconds and he went to the next floor, repeating the process. Now I see where those guys got it from. The fire teams all had his suits, granted they were vastly inferior, but that still put them head and shoulders above normal teams. I suppose they were faux Supers? It did not take long for the fire to be put out.

“Remember, sometimes you will not have the help of the Fire Teams for some time. So you must contain the spread and save as many lives as possible. You are the first responders, until help arrives it is up to you. On average it takes five minutes for them arrive, so account for at the least that much time to pass. That being said, if it looks too far gone, do not needlessly put yourself in harm's way. Focus on containment and in those situations,” said Fire Chief.

We all nodded and the fire crew was lounging around their transport. A dull screeching sound filled the air from around the next corner, then a loud crash erupted. Chief gave us a nod and we set out to see what the hell that was. A car had hit a telephone pole, which then fell into the street crushing another in the next lane over. Crash dummies were sitting there in the cars. The door was jammed so I applied a little force and ripped it off of the hinges. This was rather easy, the fake people were safe and I hauled the cars off to the side. The downed pole was a problem and little Disk had the solution. I held it in place while he welded it back into a steady structure. My evaluation of Disk was going up steadily. He could be rather useful.

The next test was harder. We had to stop a runaway car with the least amount of damage as possible. Mine was a semi truck, luckily it did not have a trailer. I stood in its path braced for impact. I was starting to have second thoughts, I mean that is a fucking truck going seventy. If this was anything like those reincarnation stories I had read, I was about to become another victim of Truck-san and wake up in another world. No! I won't accept this. I just started to get my shit together I won't let you take me! I did the only rational thing there was and threw myself to the side.

“What the hell are you doing?” yelled Chief, standing over me.

“I am not ready. Chief let me do something smaller, a van or something come on man.”

“That truck is within your parameters. You should be able to stop it. I can stop it in this suit and this is the small one.”

“You are a whole rank higher than me!”

“I can stop one that is loaded, so you should be fine.”

“You think I can do it?”

“Yes, you can do it. Now get back up and get ready.”

“Give me a confidence booster or something. Let me do a van first.”

“For Pete's sake, vans don't grow on trees.”

“So what... semi trucks do?” I asked.

“Just get out there, you will be fine.”

“Give me a kiss for good luck,” I never did get it though. He slapped my helmet and shoved me back out there.

I stared down that soulless death machine. It revved twice before careening towards me. Second thoughts lingered. Then Sub started making fun of me for being a coward and I was not going to have any of that. Chief believed in me so that was good enough! Truck-san be damned, I will survive. My legs anchored into place and I thrust out my arms, when it entered my attack range. The front end crumpled up and a slight shock wave radiated out. The groan of metal screamed. I sunk into the engine block and absorbed all of the momentum. Arms were shaking and tingled like they had fallen asleep. Legs went numb and I think I pissed myself, but the thing was stopped. I fell back panting and their cheers erupted from the side. Deep grooves were carved into the road for about ten feet.

“Onee-sama is amazing I don't think any of us have even tried to stop a semi truck before.”

“Biggest we did was a short bus,” said Glide.

My antenna squirmed happily when Chief said, “See you can do it.”

He dragged it away and Sunshine was up next. She stood in the center of the road with her eyes closed. She summoned a phalanx of knights in shining armor with huge shields that interlocked. They stepped forward and she made a second row behind them. All of them braced their stances ready to receive the impact, in a wedge formation. Sunshine did not want to be outdone by me, as a result she had a semi truck come barreling towards her as well. She started to panic when it got near and made two more rows of knights, she needed them. The first and second walls were breached almost instantly, but they did slow it down immensely. I moved without realizing it and tackled her out of the way. How could I just let her get squished like a bug? The third was broken after a shriek of metal resounded and finally the fourth wall of knights held fast. They were pushed back five feet, but ultimately stopped it. She breathed a sigh of relief under me.

Looking up and seeing that the last row had stopped it, I felt rather foolish. With a helping hand she got back up and I pat her head, “You did good.”

She rubbed her nose with a smug look, “Did you doubt Sunshine desu~?”

I nodded my head. Sunshine pouted and scowled for a moment. Words of praise started to rain down from the group. She triumphantly did a peace sign and I wanted to just carry her off somewhere. Sunshine was putting Ichigo to shame with her shower of cuteness. I held back and settled for rubbing her helmet. We sat to the side watching the next person go. It was Gravity Squeeze and for once his pompous attitude was well warranted. He did an awesome job here. The whole van lifted up and the ignition turned off, before he set it back down parked. Nobody else could get that amount of precision. Sure it was not a giant truck, but there was literally no damage to anything. I would have smashed the front in my attempts to stop that thing. If I was behind it, there would be a massive gouge out of the back where I clamped on.

Disk was not even worth mentioning. he just turned on the parking break and cut the motor. Really it was cheating. He could only do this against the newer cars though. If there was an older one, pre 2010, when they mandated all cars have a computer in them to help with traffic safety, then he was useless. He might be able to fuck with the electronics, lock the brakes, take over power steering, but there were no guarantees. Thoughts started creeping in. Disk needed a suit or robot he could control. If he sucked up to me, I might put in a good word with Neon Nurse. Oh hell, I would probably do it anyway just so that the team worked better. Come to think of it, I was always like this. If somebody had a problem in my games I would help out, but only if it benefited me. Towards the end of the game though, I would not help anybody since I usually already had everything that I wanted or had the power to obtain it. I guess I am kinda greedy aren't I? Then again nothing is free, so why should I not expect a return on my invested time.

Glide was pretty cool he dove into the side of the window and drove the car. It came to a nice easy stop and Squeeze got in, then leaned out the window, pointing at me, “Stop, drop, and roll baby. You are on fire.”

Damn it, that was actually kinda funny. I know you are playing me, but what the hell, might as well have fun with this. I leaned in, “When I first saw you, I knew we could win the cup for tonsil hockey.”

“Tonsil hockey?” asked Sunshine.

“Don't worry about it, I was joking.”

Glide smacked Squeeze on the back trying not to laugh, “Better luck next time.”

He tried it play it off all cool and stuff and I laughed so hard that I had to hold my side. This was the last of the tests and we had all done good. It appeared that my stock with the team was rising as well since I could do things that were troublesome to them before. I think, I might actually really like this place. Good people as far as I can tell. They are all weird in their own way, but that is fine since that is what makes them interesting. Mostly it is a surprise that we all function so well together. We must be on the same wavelength or something. Maybe the Scrubs ain't so bad after all. Hell, I could probably get used to this.

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I know it is a little short but that is why you guys get 2 :P

Hope you enjoy as always tell me what you think.