Blakeney, Percy! Shepard, Jason!” They were called back an hour after the written test was over, escorted into a room with the woman who’d vouched for Jason earlier.

“Hello hello! Welcome to the physical portion of the exam! If you’ve made it this far, congratulations potential heroes! You’ve passed the first test!” she said brightly.

“Why thank you miss! What does the physical portion entail? It’s my specialty, so bring on whatever you’ve got!” Max said, equally as bright as he flexed his bicep, nearly tearing his sleeve.

“Oh my! You certainly seem like you have a handle on it!” Both she and Max burst into uproarious laughter, and Jason slumped down. Their combined energy was overwhelming. “Now then, I’m Vivian, Vivian Weaver! But you can call me Viv. We’ll be working together if you can pass the test! I sincerely hope you can.” She smiled and pointed a gun at him.

“Uh, miss I think you should-” Max cried.

“Too late!” she said cheerfully. Max rushed her and-BANG!

“Whew. That was close. I’m sorry for startling you Viv, but it was best.” Max apologized. Vivian was standing stock-still, hair blown back form the wind of Max’s palm, slapping down the bullet that had bounced off of him. It rolled on the floor into the wall. Jason, nearly panicking, saw that it was made out of rubber.

“Ahh. N-Not quite fast enough to stop a bullet, but very, very fast regardless.” she said breathlessly, fixing her jacket. “As you can see, the physical test will deal with common situations that a hero will run into, chiefly seeing how you deal with guns.”

“I see! But you might want to watch out how you fire. It was a bad angle; it would’ve ricocheted straight back to you.” Max said. Viv gave him a thumbs-up.

“You’re already proving yourself a hero! Good job! I suppose it’d be a little pointless to see how you handle a knife if you’re bulletproof…” she said, drawing a hidden blade and poking his arm. A cement wall gave more. “Moving along! I know I can’t hurt you, but I’m a little curious myself. How would you pacify an unarmed assailant?” She threw the knife away, balled her fists by her chin, and bounced on the balls of her feet. “C’mon c’mon, hyah!” Viv jabbed the air.

“If the attacker isn’t as durable as me, extremely cautiously!” Max said, cracking his knuckles and sinking into a low, wide stance. Both had the same manic grin on their faces that was making Jason nervous.

“Uh, guys, you don’t need to get so fired up-” he started, but they cut him off.

“Heroes do!”

Viv faked left, throwing a barrage of kicks with her right leg. Max parried every one, knocking them aside as gently as a summer breeze. His own offence was a wide sweep knocking her off her feet. Rolling expertly she heaved up, pressing her hands and shoulders into the ground to kick vertically at his face, but Max had seen through it.

He leaned his head so she hit air instead of chin, then grabbed her legs and twisted, heaving her up and over his shoulder. Then stopped, not slamming her into the ground.

“My my my! It’s so refreshing to see a strongman-type not relying on just their muscles, but skill too!” Viv chirped, still in his arms.

“Thank you. I pride myself on the techniques imparted by my master. Also, it seems you weren’t entirely truthful.” he said, nodding to the pistols in her hands.

“Oh, silly me! You got me so excited I went and forgot it was supposed to be hand-to-hand!” she twittered as Max set her down. Jason wondered if she was really an assassin. “Now then young man, are you ready?”

“Are you gonna pull a gun on me like him?” he asked.

“Oh, no no no! Well, yes.” she admitted, picking up the one with rubber bullets. “I was only excited to see his skill level. I’ll be sure to only go as hard as the test requires, I promise.”

“Go for it!” Max cheered him on. Jason swallowed hard, but nodded. Viv raised the gun and fired.

BINK!

The rubber bullet bounced off his body, hardened into concrete in Jason’s shape. There was a rumbling, grinding noise as he blinked, watching the bullet roll away.

“Wow, that’s amazing! I thought you’d try to dodge it or something, your powers are even more versatile than I thought!” Viv gushed. Jason scratched his head, with a horrible noise.

“Yeah. Dunno how it works exactly, but they said I could alter every molecule of my body, not just change it around.” he said.

“Quite impressive! Although please change back before the other test. Knowing how fast you can shift is also valuable!” she said. Jason turned to normal, and she raised the knife. “Ready?” He nodded, and she lunged. Then stumbled, missing as he abruptly shrank, turning into a cat.

“How cute! But just because you can avoid it doesn’t mean you can-!” Viv kicked at Jason, enough to move him, not to hurt. She wasn’t prepared for how solid that tiny cat body was. Jason stared at her as she tripped, rubbing her leg.

“Are-are you okay?” he said, shifting back to human.

“I’m fine! I just wasn’t expecting that is all.” she said, still cheerful.

“I actually have a theory about that.” Max suddenly piped up. “He can rearrange his molecules into whatever shape he desires, but his overall mass remains the same. If he shrinks himself down, say into a cat, that cat will have all the mass of a twelve-year-old boy, compressed into a feline form. That’s why it’s harder to go bigger, because you can’t gain more mass, but you can contract and concentrate what you have. Which means there’s a limit to how small you can make yourself, too.” he explained. Jason mulled it over, nodding.

“Yeah, makes sense. If I’m not concentrating, I’m generally the same size, no matter what I turn into.”

“Very nice! But we can explore the full extent of your powers after a thorough exam. For now, I need to see how you’d deal with an assailant.” Vivian said, putting her dukes up. The boy stared at her, nonplussed. “Fine. Hah!” She threw a right cross, and Jason reacted.

He flinched away, but his entire upper body fused and lengthened like snake. Vivian was so shocked he could wrap himself around both her hands, corralling her tight. She tried, but couldn’t budge her wrists.

“Fantastic! You’ve certainly proven your worth. I’d say you passed with flying colors!”

“Woo-hoo! Wonderful! I look forward to our new partnership!” Max said, flexing in triumph. Viv smiled wider.

“Excellent! Welcome to the team! Please get cleaned up and join us in the main hall for our welcoming party. We’ll have many things to go over. Also, refreshments!” she chirped. At the mention of food, both their stomachs growled.

“YES!”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detective Kenneth Armstrong shuffled through the station like a zombie, collapsing in his chair with a sigh and flopping back like the folder he dropped on the desk. He took a long, long drag on his cigarette, burning it down to nothing. It had been another all-nighter, and at this point he was only powered by nicotine, coffee, and spiteful rage against sleep.

But at least the case was closed. He ran a hand through his short hair and leaned forward, typing the final report on the Dodson case. One down, and...he glanced at the files he’d been handed this month. It was closer to being measured in feet rather than inches. He sighed. Five hundred more to go.

“Hey Ken. Looking rough, eh?” Sheila said, bringing him another cup of sweet, sweet, life-giving caffeine.

“Thanks. You know it. All these missing kids...it wears on you. Nearly ten this week. It’s rough. Haven’t even gotten to my backlog yet. Though no leads on any of ‘em. Probably never gonna see ‘em again.” he said dourly.

“Cheer up. You never know what could happen.” Sheila said. He snorted.

“Yeah right. Got seventeen probable runaways, four confirmed abductions, and one total vanishing when it comes to kids since the start of the year.” he said, and she frowned.

“Total vanishing?”

“Yeah. The Shepard case.” Armstrong answered, and she winced. “I know. House catches on fire, both parents buy it. Nobody knows where he runs off too, probably croaked. No friends or relatives stepping forward for custody, either. Ehh. All that, it’s enough to kill your faith in humanity, is what it is.” he said.

“Well, maybe due for a change. The spring weather’ll bring sunny skies and good luck. Maybe even the Shepard kid!” Sheila said pluckily. Armstrong just chugged his coffee.

“Yeah right. If only it were so easy. My luck’s never that good.” he groused.

Suddenly his phone vibrated on his desk. He checked, but didn’t recognize the number. He rolled his eyes as he answered. Probably a telemarketer.

“Detective Armstrong speaking. Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh.” He made a disgusted face, and whispered ‘Intrepid Inc.’ at Sheila, and she nodded with her eyes rolled too. Superheroes were glorified rent-a-cop publicity stunts. “Yes, this department handles missing persons. Uh-huh. So...ah.” Detective Armstrong was the picture of boredom as he downed the last of his coffee. “Mmm. Mmm-mmph!” His coffee spewed out as he lost balance and fell back on the floor with a bang. The entire department watched as he sputtered, trying to talk, get up, and gape in disbelief at the same time.

“Ack! Hold-yes, I’m alright! What was that about the kid!?” He listened in rapt attention as he frantically took down notes on his pad. “Yeah, yeah. Right! Don’t let him leave, whatever you do!” Armstrong hung up and dashed to the door. Then just as quickly came back to a bewildered Sheila. “They said it’s him! The kid! The Shepard kid! At Intrepid Headquarters! Right now! Gotta see if it’s true, we got him back if it is! Some big guy brought him in, they’re applying!”

“See, I told you-” The detective ran out the door again. Then ran back in to a smirking Sheila, grabbing his coat and hat.

“Not one word. Not one.” he said.