A New Champions Team-Up

Fazer reached out to Cypher for assistance with locating NAGA stations.
 
NAGA had been raiding XPlore Corp warehouses for weeks, searching for clues about the “North American Eclipse”, an unanticipated darkening of the sky across North America, which had originated from an abandoned XPlore Corp warehouse on the outskirts of Millennium City.
 
After eight raids in two weeks, we needed a new plan…and the members of the New Champions seemed to have stumbled (more like crashed) into a NAGA warehouse in the city while fighting against super powered villains.
 
Though the team was already in the middle of the battle, we joined them instantly via the XPlore Plane. Fazer deftly piloted the invisible plane above the buildings and hovered over the intersection where Wildthing, Maximum Resistance, and the team’s newest member, Lil’Rocket, were engaged in a fight with cat-like woman. Over comms, Sandcrab was audible inside the warehouse, handily crushing the NAGA agents.
 
When we arrived on the scene, Wildthing had been blindsided and knocked back into a car by the cat lady, but Rocket and Max engaged her immediately…leaving the cat lady blinded — she inadvertently walked away from the fray and tossed a nearby vehicle upside down…
 
Even still, she seemed able to sense her surroundings…as she was able to avoid direct attacks from Wildthing and Rocket. Still, Max was closing in on her and the team seemed fully capable.
 
In that moment, Ghost — having been attacked by a muscle-bound German — came crashing through the wall of the nearby warehouse. It is typically Ghost that does the heavy hitting.
 
With that, I portaled out of the XPlore Plane and onto the ground, blanketing the nearby team with innervating rays of energy, bolstering their natural abilities with additional toughness. The wisps of energy bounded around the torsos of Ghost, Wildthing, and Lil’Rocket — but I wasn’t able to reach Max…
 
The battle continued in the streets with members of the team trading blows with the German and the “cat lady” — so I channeled an additional layer of cosmic energy around each of the New Champions nearest me. Wildthing had moved too far from my reach, but Max was nearby…so I added an aura of deflective energy to him in addition to Lil’Rocket and Ghost.
 
“Maybe they don’t need it.” I thought to myself, “But support needs to be there, regardless…”
 
Lil’Rocket had moved over to the car that had been upended by the cat lady…but an explosion from down the street had moved it on top of him, pinning him underneath. He miraculously was able to budge the vehicle and escape unharmed…and then he trained his sights on the NAGA agents down the street causing the mayhem.
 
As he sped off toward them, I portaled to the upturned vehicle. A woman was bleeding and trapped inside the vehicle. Noticing others nearby who were likely her family, I shouted at them,
 
“I am going to heal your wife and then bring her safely to the Millennium City hospital. You can recover her there in ten minutes. Trust me, she will be fine.”
 
Their faces didn’t seem assured as I portaled myself and the lady into the XPlore Plane, flying invisibly above the city. I carried her into the ship’s healing bay.
 
Once there, the Oqthcalian runes immediately noticed an injured sentient being. The walls glowed a bright hue of blue and the bleeding wounds on her neck and waist immediately began to recede. Within seconds, the wounds were no more.
 
She asked so many questions. Clearly thankful, she began to cry, “The city is in terror. But you saved me. Are you a hero? The news will call you a terrorist… Tell me your name…please!”
 
But I spoke nothing to her.
 
Fazer’s thoughts filled my mind, “She needs hope, Runeforce. Give her something.”
 
“I can’t risk the secrecy of the New Champions, Fazer. I’ve already taken enough risk by bringing her here.”
 
The lady, now weeping, still covered in blood from her prior wounds pleaded, “No one else will do anything about the danger we face everyday. My car is destroyed…I was almost killed…We need heroes again or else there will never be justice!”
 
The word “justice” rang in Runeforce’s head as he portaled her into an alleyway behind the hospital.
 
“I don’t need you to know who I am, ma’am. But I do need you to believe this…” Runeforce paused and looked at her intently. She looked in his galaxy-filled eyes as he spoke:
 
“Justice NEVER dies if we keep fighting for it.”
 
And then he portaled away and into the invisible XPlore Plane, high above the city.