Four teenagers hung out in the shade of a bell tower, one of them with binoculars in hand. The other three were leaning against the pillars of the tower, trying to fan themselves and hide from the bright noon sun overhead.

“Come on, bro! Why the heck are we waiting?”

“Boss called in some local support, we’re meeting them here.”

“Come on, they’re taking forever! We can take them, I’m dying here!”

“You’re the one who decided to wear black robes.”

“Hey, you try communing with the Lord of the Abyss just to suggest changes to the uniform!”

Pink Star tilted her head.

“You know, I always wondered about that.”

“What?”

“You don’t really seem like some crazy cultist.”

“Hey, that’s stereotyping!”

Chronolock raised an eyebrow.

“Is it really?”

“Come on, just because I study the stars for portents of inexorable doom does not mean I’m loopy!”

“Right…”

“Why are you backing away?! You’re the one who tears apart the fabric of reality on a daily basis!”

“But I didn’t dance naked in the moonlight to learn how.”

“That was a one-time ritual! I’ve never done it since and I’m not doing it again!”

“You the kids?”

The group jumped up and turned around. A man appeared on the edge of the tower.

“Whoa…”

“Wow.”

“Got to admit, that’s pretty nice.”

Chronolock’s face grew red. Pink Star’s heated up a bit as well. Even Wonder Knight nodded in admiration.

A white lucha libre mask, eyes outlined in blue feathers and a gold beak in the center. Blue spandex pants and white boots. A cape of white feathers. A bare torso, blue tattoo in the center of his white chest hair.

The Icy Falcon had arrived.

Voidspeaker snapped in front of Chronolock’s face.

“Hey, his eyes are up there.”

“So they are.”

“What the heck are you doing?”

“Appreciating.”

“Appreciating what?!”

“Art.”

Wonder Knight nudged Voidspeaker. Voidspeaker jumped a bit and then turned to the man.

“Um, hola Señor…”

“I speak English.”

“Oh thank god.”

Icy Falcon shook his head and muttered ‘gringos’ under his breath. Wonder Knight stepped forward with his hand extended.

“You must be Icy Falcon. We're the Aurora Legion. I’m Wonder Knight, this is Pink Star, those two are Voidspeaker and Chronolock.”

Icy Falcon nodded and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you. Where’s the target?”

Wonder Knight nodded and walked to the edge with Icy Falcon. He pointed at the building they had been monitoring.

“We tracked them there. A couple trucks coming in and out, looks like a lot of security? Haven’t seen any supers though.”

Icy Falcon grimaced.

“Head home, kids.”

The team froze. Voidspeaker stepped forward.

“What the crap, bro? We’ve been dying in this heat all day! We’re not just going home!”

Wonder Knight nodded.

“I agree. We came a long way just to give up now.”

Icy Falcon sighed, and turned to the group.

“Look, I know this isn’t your first mission. You’ve fought some supers, you've got some wins.”

He looked them in the eye.

“But this isn’t America, and you don’t know this place like I do. America? In America your villains like to do their own thing. To set themselves apart. To stand above the rabble.”

He pointed at the building.

“The guys here? They don’t care. See, that’s a cartel base down there. The guys down there are not going to monologue, they’re going to put a bullet in your head.”

Chronolock frowned and crossed her arms.

“We can handle ourselves.”

“I know you can, I saw the news. But I’ve seen other heroes too. Heroes just like you. And down here?”

Icy Falcon grimaced.

“Heroes end up in ditches.”

The four looked at each other. Icy Falcon turned towards the building.

“You did good work, tracking them here. But you don’t know what you’re getting into. You’ve been in fights but this is a war. Let the soldiers fight it.”

Wonder Knight looked at each of his comrades. One by one, each slowly nodded. He took a step forward.

“We’re not backing down. These guys came to our shores, if this is a war we’re already in it. Your concern is appreciated, but if you want to help us, then help us win. Because whether with you or not, we’re going to do this.”

Icy Falcon turned back and stared Wonder Knight down. Wonder Knight met his gaze without flinching or blinking.

They stood.

A moment.

Another.

Icy Falcon dropped his gaze and his shoulders and let out a sigh.

“Follow my lead. Let me do the talking. I’m not interested in burying any more heroes today.”

Aurora Legion gulped as they nodded.

Aurora Legion kept quiet as they followed the Icy Falcon. He led them to a side entrance, quietly incapacitating the guards. They snuck inside, finding a loading area full of boxes and trucks. Workers were packing the trucks while armed men kept watch.

“Come on.”

Icy Falcon motioned to them.

And then stepped out into the open.

Aurora Legion’s eyes widened, but they followed the veteran’s lead. Icy Falcon came to a stop and let out a cough. Every person in the room froze and turned to look at him.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Señor Icy Falcon himself! You are bold to come here.”

The speaker motioned his hands. The guards stepped forward, guns aimed at Icy Falcon.

“I never thought you’d dare. You know what’s going to happen now, right? Are you prepared for open war in the streets?”

“I’m not here to fight you today.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, Aurora Legion included. The speaker’s eyes narrowed.

“Icy Falcon, not here to fight? That’s a laugh. What then, Señor Falcon? You here to join us? Had enough of the poor life? What else could you possibly be here for?”

Icy Falcon pointed back at Aurora Legion.

“A gringo super shipped something here. And now the gringos want to know what, and why. And you know what happens when gringos get involved, much less gringo supers. Give them what they want, and let them fight their war. Then we can go back to fighting ours, on our terms.”

The speaker rubbed his chin.

“Let gringos fight gringos, eh? I can’t say I hate it.”

The man smiled.

“But there's one thing you didn't consider, Señor Falcon.”

Falcon encased himself in ice as a blade appeared out of thin air. The blade stopped and the ice shattered. Then an armored man shimmered into being and grabbed Icy Falcon’s throat before both of them distorted and vanished.

“You were not the first to talk with the gringos. Kill them!”

The guards opened fire at the stunned Aurora Legion. Pink Star screamed.

“Gah!”

Wonder Knight grunted as he wrapped Pink Star in his arms, wincing as the bullets bounced off his back. Voidspeaker looked up from where he crouched, a sweating Chronolock holding her hands out in front of them both. Vibrating bullets appeared in the air in front of her.

“MOVE!”

Wonder Knight ran, still holding Pink Star behind him. Voidspeaker ran after them, Chronolock walking in step with him. As she moved to the side, the bullets she left behind vanished one by one, holes appearing in the walls and crates behind. The group moved into they were hidden behind a stack of crates, bullets whizzing past and pounding on the other side of the crates. Chronolock fell to the ground panting as Wonder Knight leaned over, hands on his knees.

“What are we going to do, bro?!”

“I don’t know! Let me think!”

“Can’t you just take them out? You’re bulletproof!”

“It still freaking hurts! Can’t you make a shield, send bullets to the void or something?”

“I don’t know how to erase matter, bro!”

“Well now’s the time to figure it out!”

“Eldritch rituals are NOT something you wing, bro! I could summon a black hole or an elder god if I do it wrong!”

“Then what are we going to do?!”

“I don’t know! You’re the plan guy!”

“Then shut up and let me think!”

Pink Star stood up. She placed her hands on both the boys’ shoulders, and then walked past to the edge of the crates.

“Pink?”

“What are you?”

“It’s not that you’re afraid of the bullets. You’re afraid they’ll hurt us if you’re not here to block, right? If we weren’t here, you could stop them.”

“That’s…”

Wonder Knight looked down, avoiding her gaze.

“I will cause a distraction. It will make them stop shooting. Then you go out there and do what you do best. Chrono can keep us safe.”

Wonder Knight looked into her eyes, then down at Chronolock.

“It’s too risky. Chrono can’t stop them for long.”

Pink Star nodded.

“She can’t. So you’ll need to be quick.”

She smiled.

“I trust you. I know you can do it.”

“Does anyone care if the girl on the ground can do it?”

“I believe in you, Chrono. We’re just going to die if you fail, no biggie.”

“Shut up, Void.”

Pink Star turned back towards the edge of the crate. She extended her hands. Her gauntlets began to glow.

“What are you even going to make? I didn’t know you had something bulletproof.”

The edge of her mouth curled up as the glow grew too bright to look at.

“I don’t, not yet. But it won’t matter. Ready, hero?”

Wonder Knight swallowed, then narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“Ready.”

“I choose you, Blue Whale.”

The world turned pink.