The following day Gabriel retrieved Falco’s goodie bag and rode the elevator to the top floor. Scanning the room, he found the Speedster eating near the windows.

“Morning Falco! How are you today?”

Falco looked up from his pancakes as his friend sat down and removed his helmet. “I’m great, but a little antsy.”

“Antsy?” Gabe asked.

“About the knives. I can’t help but wonder what you did to them. They’re my babies” He grinned sheepishly.

“I’ve brought them, as you can see.”

Falco moved to open the bundle.

“No don’t take them out here. Later. Listen to what I have to tell you first alright?”

Falco hesitated for a second, taking back his hand and nodding. “I’m listening.” He said.

“I’ve coated the blades to make them more resistant. You shouldn’t have them break on you again, even on Quartz.” He smiled.

“I also made it so the metal vibrates, so you can cut into armour or whatever you want to.” Falco looked at the bundle wrapped in cloth appreciatively. “I’ve also included a new holster; it will allow the blades to return to you when they stop moving. This means you will have knives flying back at you during combat.

No, it won’t cut you, I’ve made sure of that. What could happen is you cut one of us when the knives fly back. I want you to refrain from throwing them when you are anywhere near us - at least until you practice enough in the simulation room. Oh, I almost forgot. I took the liberty of making you an armor vest. It shouldn’t impede your movements.”

It was a bit before Falco responded. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Gabe. You really did everything you promised. I have said so before but I’ll repeat it. I am proud to call you a teammate - and captain.”

The Supers sat and enjoyed a large breakfast together before parting ways to head for specialized training. Alfred informed Gabe that his training would take place in training hall b-2, on the 7th floor.

Within five minutes, he stood at the door to the room.

He was anxious. Meeting new Supers had brought so many surprises. That, he ultimately decided, did not matter. He had to train and would learn much from this specialization session. He mentally expressed his will to open the door, and Alfred acquiesced.

A familiar scene greeted him when he entered. The Supers in the room stood separately as if some force propelled them to take seats far away from the others.

To Gabe’s left sat a man in his late 20’s clad in purple combat armor. Gold trim lined the edges of each plate. A silver crown sat high on his blonde head, and he sat elbows on his knees - hands clasped under his chin. A supple, purple cloak hung behind him; it looked armored as well. He had no weapons visible on his person.

To the right sat a girl with an elvish face and white hair around 17 or 18. Her uniform consisted of what looked like reinforced white silk wrapped around her body like a modified greek toga. Criss-crossed on her chest were several straps of blue leather that held four wicked blades. Gabe noted the white fabric was wrapped around her knuckles in a similar fashion to a professional fighter. Beside the girl lay a long, heavy barrelled gauss sniper that was almost bigger than she was.

Across from the Grecian commando, lounging on the sofa, was what Gabe could only describe as a magician. She wore a one-piece tuxedo that hugged her curves. She had pinned a red flower to her lapel and wore her long black hair loose. He could see a small object that looked like a wand sticking out of her waistband.

Standing in the middle of the room was a tall, 6-foot frame covered in trademarked green spandex and camouflaged combat armor on her torso, legs, and arms.

Ms. Liberty stood at attention, unmoving, as statuesque as she appeared in her movies.

Gabriel nodded out of respect. She spoke as he lifted his gaze to her’s.

“It’s good we are all early. That shows promise. As you may already know, I am Ms. Liberty. I would like to take this chance to say it is a pleasure to meet you all. We will begin with introductions. To make sure we can work well together, please state your name, Strike Force, powers, and skills. Outside voices. You, Mr. Purple. Please begin.”

The pensive man nodded and stood up to introduce himself. He spoke with a slight Spanish accent, not strong enough for Gabriel to place his country of origin. His voice was rich and deep; he did not need to raise it to talk across the room.

“My name is Ramon Silvera of Central Strike Force Beta, and my codename is Rey. My mutations are Class 4 strength and Class 5 speed. My power is something I like to call the ‘King’s Law.’ and it’s a manifestation of my will. I can name any rule I want, and it will be so. I may only decree three rules at a time, and each rule’s specific context determines how much energy it draws. I can’t do anything, though. Some rules draw too much for me to decree any others while they’re active.”

Rey was very candid about his abilities; he trusted the confidentiality of those present. Gabriel decided he might as well include Alfred in his intro.

Before Gabriel could speak, the magician hopped to her feet and gave a festive bow. “Hello, all! Nice to meet you! My name is Veronica Dionysus, but my pals call me Mystery. Strike Force Delta. I’ve got Class 4 strength and speed, and I am can use Magick spells and hexes. To cast a spell, I have to keep focussed and direct my will through an object. I mainly use my hat and wand, but I can cast spells on people and physical objects. I can make fireballs and stuff, elements, you know? I can teleport too! But I can only take two people with me at a time, and my max range is only around a hundred miles.”

She sat down, and Gabriel cleared his throat, signaling he would go next. “Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Gabriel of Strike Force Gamma - no codename yet. I have Class 3 speed and strength and mental mutations. My armored suit gives me Class 4 speed and strength, and I fly using an antigravity generator - my maximum speed is around Mach 8. I have variable power lasers on my chest plate, and I use shaped antimatter to fight.

Recently I have integrated with an AI; Alfred assists my reaction times and aim. As such, I can perform around Class 5 speeds as well as interface with technology remotely. OH, and my friends call me Gabe.” Gabriel sat down across from Rey when he finished.

The tiny girl clad in fabric stood to take her turn. Her voice rang high and pure through the air. “My name is Libra, just Libra. Strike Force Alpha. I have Class 4 strength and speed and can project concussive blasts from my hands. My gift is that I control density. I can control my body’s weight as I want, strengthening my punches or making myself faster. I can change objects I touch for a few seconds. I use this to make my gauss sniper cause more damage.” She hefted her rifle.

The four Supers looked expectantly at Ms. Liberty. “Oh, it’s my turn! Well, my name is Roxanne Jeleel, codename Ms. Liberty. My mutations are Class 5 strength and speed. I can also turn intangible or invisible. It’s similar to how Libra’s powers work, but I can phase through objects. I have experience with many weapons, but I prefer to hit things.”

Introductions complete, Ms. Liberty had her students gather around to explain the day’s training. “As you all know, we are here to begin your specialization training. You have all been designated as Jacks. It’s your job to fill the gaps left by the more traditional specializations in any given situation.

You have to be able to take hits as well as dish them out. That’s why we will be practicing as a pseudo-Strike Force, rather than performing solo exercises as the other groups will be doing. Today I want Rey on Offense, Gabriel on Defense, Mystery on Support and Libra on Jack today. Mystery will be team lead.

We will be practicing against standard-issue training sprites, set by the system to Class 4 skills. They’ll look like mannequins, but trust me, they’ll pack the same punch as a Super.

It will be a lopsided engagement, four of you against eight of them. The enemy will have Plasma Lances and psionic energy swords. The leader will have plasma grenades as well, that will be the red one. Straightforward, right?”

The class nodded.

“The scenario is as follows: You have been tailing a group of serial criminals from a bank robbery to their hideout, hoping to discover who is supplying them with orders. You see a second group of Supers enter the lair with someone you believe to be the leader.

Formulate a plan and recover the stolen bank data. It is on a small - wireless capable - device of unknown shape. Do it without a single death, and we can consider the exercise cleared. Otherwise, we will rehash positions and try again. Any questions? None? Good, let’s get started. Remember to state when you wish the simulation to begin. I suggest doing so after you come up with a plan.”

BEGIN SIMULATION