"We fucked them up." Prism tells me.
The day went on like that, until Robert said. "Good job team, that's it, you're done for today."
We went back to HQ, hit the locker rooms, and agreed to meet later at Robert's place. Before heading out, I decided to take a quick detour to the hangar to see if Royd was still there. Instead, I ran into Robert holding the head of the Mechaman that had exploded earlier that morning. He looked lost in his thoughts, so I didn't disturb him and left.
Now back home, I got a call.
"Did you already buy a lamp?" Malevola asked.
"No, I was planning to go out and get one. I just sat down at home for a few minutes to breathe." I replied, and as I finished my sentence, I heard someone knocking at my door.
"We're doing that now, come on." she said, and invited me to step into a portal behind her.
"Oh right, you can do that. Good thing you didn't show up in my living room." I say.
"I respect private spaces, don't worry." she replied with a smile. We stepped through the portal and ended up in front of a furniture store.
"That's way too convenient." I said.
"I know." she replied, and we walked into the store.
"I think I'm going to get him that." she said, pointing at it.
"You're getting him a chandelier, isn't that a bit much?" I asked.
"No, don't worry, I know what I'm doing." she replied, brushing the underside of my chin with her tail.
"Alright, if you say so, it's up to you." I said, then started looking for the lamp I'm going to buy. "This one will do."
"A bit too simple. The one on the left is prettier." she advised.
"It's down to tiny details, they're basically the same." I replied.
"Yeah, but that little detail changes everything." So I decided to take it. After that, we headed to the checkout, then make our way to Robert's place. I knocked on the door, he opened it. Inside, Invisigal and Royd were already there.
We got in and set my lamp down, then hanged Malevola's chandelier. "Seriously this place lack warmth, it didn't feel like a home." Malevola said.
"Yeah, I told him that last time I was here." Royd replied while setting up a projector.
"It's even worse than I thought. Not even a couch. I really underestimated it." I said.
"Sigh… why are you here?" Robert asked.
"It's a housewarming party, Robert. I told people to bring a lamp or something." Invisigal said.
"What do you mean people? More people are coming? Here? To my place?" he asked.
"You know what I mean." she replied.
"No, no, I'm really not a party guy, you know." he said, but she ignored him.
Invisigal walked over to the photos pinned on a board. "It's your family photos area? Kinda morbid." she commented, then added. "Which I'm kinda into." Robert pulled the board off the wall and turned it to face the wall instead.
"Is that my work computer?" Robert asked.
"Yup, bruddah. Spidah here found something interesting this morning, check this out." Royd said, projecting a schematic of a new Astral Pulse, not cylindrical but rounder and larger. "I call it the Astral Heart. That's what we're going to put in your new Mecha." Royd explained.
"That's different. How is that going to fit in the Mecha?" Robert asked, stepping closer to the projection.
"Don't worry about it, we've got that covered." Royd told him, still not showing the armored exosuit plans.
"I trust you." Robert replied, intrigued.
"By the way, I've got intel." Invisigal announced. "Royd, show them."
"Right, right. This afternoon she asked me to analyze the energy waves from the Mecha explosion and track similar signatures across the city." he said, projecting a map. "And thanks to that, we know where the original Astral Pulse is located." he finishes.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… it wasn't destroyed?" Robert asked.
"Nope. A bunch of B-grade villains have been trying to unlock its power, only to end up blowing up like you almost did this morning. Then they sell it to the next sucker and the same shit happens." she explains.
'Something doesn't add up.' I thought.
"If you have that information, then Shroud definitely does too." I jumped into the conversation.
"He probably thinks like we do, that it exploded." Royd said.
"So if, like us, he thinks it exploded, how did Invisigal figure out it wasn't? Sorry, but Shroud is known for probabilities. I'd be surprised if that slipped past him." I added.
"Not wrong. He's a smart fuckah." Royd admitted.
"That's why we need to get there first." Invisigal said.
"Which is why we're having a party?" Robert asked her.
"The Z-Teamers all know the low-level supervillains across three counties. We track its location, beat up a few door knockers, crack a few heads, and snatch that shit back." she replied.
"No matter how this goes down, thank you." Robert said. "It's just… I can't remember the last time people did things for m-" Invisigal punched him in the stomach.
"What's your problem?" he asked, clutching his gut.
"Get gushy after we find the shit."
"The last ping we got is located on a boat in Marina Del Rey, which is-"
"Oh, yachty territory…" Malevola said, finishing what Royd was about to say.
"Why is it here, you know much about those guys?" he asked her.
She stepped closer to me and said. "Uh, old money crew, cokehead trust-fund types. Skyler Arcadi runs it now." She turned to me, looked me up and down, then added. "Three generations of that family have been trying to finger me."
"I'm not going to comment on that… but if three generations tried to get you and failed, you're not 33 years old, right?" I asked.
"We'll talk about it later." she replied.
"What does they accuse you of?" Robert asked. She doesn't answer either, and then someone knocked on the door. It's Sonar, followed shortly by Punch up, then Prism, and one by one the whole Z-Team showed up, except Flambae, along with Chase and Blonde Blazer, who actually brought a couch.
"Come on, dance with me." I said, taking Malevola's hands while she was talking with Prism off to the side.
"With pleasure. I didn't think you had that in you." she said as we start dancing.
"I'm not named Miguel for nothing." I replied.
"Okaaay latinooo."
Shortly after more people joined us on the dance floor.
After pulling off a few moves, I sat down next to Chase and grabbed myself a drink. He was watching Robert, who was dancing with Blonde Blazer, then switched to dancing with Invisigal.
"Tss… look at him." he said. I assumed he was talking to himself, but I decided to engage.
"Does it bother you that much, he's spending time with Invisigal?"
"I don't know… I don't feel good about that girl, but I can see the kid is warming up to her. I'm telling you because you don't seem close to her." he replied, then grabbed a beer from Punch up as he walked past us.
The night went on. I was playing cards with Royd and Sonar when we started hearing raised voices.
"Look, it's really good work, but doing this tonight is out of the question." Blonde Blazer said to Invisigal. "Hitting an extremely secured place like that in the state some of the team members are in is a bad idea."
"You're kidding, right? There's enough firepower in this room to take down a fuckin' kaiju." she replied.
"A bunch of drunk-ass Z-Teamers, please. You wouldn't even make it past the front door." Chase cutted in.
"Who asked you to open your mouth?" Invisigal snapped at Chase.
"Hey, no need for that, calm down." Blonde Blazer intervened. "We take time to prepare tomorrow and go get it after."
"Tomorrow night?!"
"It's incredible, Visi, but Blazer is right." Robert said, then added. "We make a plan, no need to rush."
"Are you sure?" I asked, then continued. "Like I said earlier, when not everyone was here, maybe Shroud is already on it. We take the sober ones and go. It's your call."
"No, I think it's better if we prepare." Robert stated.
"But-"
"He said no. Do you not understand that word? Or does it have too many fuckin' syllables for you?" Chase said, cutting Invisigal off.
"Why don't you drag your old ass back to a mall, grandpa. Heroes are talking." she fired back, stepping toward him.
"You're not a fucking hero! If Blonde Blazer and Robert hadn't played favorites with you, you'd already be gone." he said, stepping toward her as well.
"Whoa-hey, really, stop it." Blonde Blazer said.
"She named you Invisigal, you named yourself Invisibitch! And you were fucking right."
"Chase, you're drunk. You need to stop talking." Blonde Blazer advised him.
"This is craaaazy…" Prism said, pulling out her phone to film.
"Robert, without powers, without a Mecha, is a superhero, not an asshole like you. You think you're invisible, but I fucking see you." he said.
"You don't know anything about me." she replied.
"I know you're a liar, a criminal, that you're dangerous. What more do I need to know?" he finished. She turned invisible, and he continued. "And now I know you're a cowa-"
She punched him in the face mid-sentence and walked away.
"Visi, wait!" Robert shouted.
"That bitch sent his ass airborne. How are you not dead?" Prism said.
"Chase, are you okay?" Robert asked. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Robert went to open it.
"Invisig-"
He got punched. It was Flambae.
"So yeah, I might have to do this once or twice a month to vent my hate, but maybe with a little time you'll be less of a bitch in my eyes. So yeah, happy housewarming... Your place kinda sucks." he said to Robert, who was on the floor.
And just like that, the party came to an end.
"Do you want to come over to my place afterward?" I asked while we helped clean up the apartment.
"I was actually about to ask you the same thing, so yeah, sure." she said.
"Robert, should I leave the computer here or not?" Royd asked.
"You can leave it, I'll bring it back to the office tomorrow." he replied.
After helping out a bit more, we all leaved Robert's apartment. Malevola and I were now at my place.
"It's a shame the party ended on such a bad note." she said from the bathroom of my bedroom, while I'm lying on the bed.
"That's true, but those are things Chase would've said to her sooner or later anyway." I replied.
She came out of the bathroom wearing just a towel. I looked at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Malevola, let's change the subject."
"…I know that look, Miguel."
[ Robert's POV ]
"Visi, it's in the safe." I told her through the comms, after helping her infiltrate the secured site where the Astral Pulse was located, since she'd decided to go alone and not wait for us.
"The safe? I don't know how to open a fucking safe." she replied.
"Fuck. Let me see what I can do." I started hacking from my computer, and after a few minutes I managed to open it.
"It's good, you did it, it's open. Take the win." she said.
"Okay, now you just have to sneak past the-"
"Why did it stop? There is no more noise." she cut me off. Through the cameras on site, I started watching what was happening.
"Robert, what's going on?" she asked, because in front of her there were bodies that hadn't been there before. She kept moving forward when I spotted something.
"Invisigal, move! Shroud is behind you, shit." I warned her, but she got grabbed and thrown down the stairs by him. "No, no, no, no, no."
'Think, damn it. Spider was right, shit...Shit! I need to contact Malevola, see if she can teleport there with him.' I thought.
[ Miguel's POV ]
We were in the middle of having sex when her phone received a call.
"Ah… who is it… who's calling… ah… at this hour?" Malevola asked beneath me, with my hand gripping her neck.
I grabbed her phone with my other hand off the dresser with a web and looked at who it was.
"It's Robert."