B-Team: The Legion of Squiggle

Trying his very best to move the group along before any more undue attention is paid to the flour baby, Transonic explains to the team that they'll need to undergo a physical exam, hearing and eye tests, and a few physical fitness challenges, just to make sure they're up to the high standard set by the Vigil and, in Frank's case, the The Century Group.

The first two examinations are over with quickly, though Emma and Frank emerge feeling less-than-comfortable with what they'd undergone. Rue attempts to evade the examination entirely, still not comfortable with doctors no matter how long they've known them, though is quickly convinced to return when Transonic threatens to tell Suplex. Rue doesn't make the examination any easier for the Vigil's resident medic, but does end up getting a prescription for sleeping pills out of the deal, so leaves no worse off than they arrived. The final exam is of Mercy, and Transonic leaves Millie to one side as he tries to get to grips with the vampire's undead anatomy, taking note of his recent complaint of a few odd beating sounds in his chest  .

Next up is the physical endurance tests, and Transonic asks the team to start by running a relaxed lap of the track while he has a word with some of the other members of the medical team present. Soon however, it becomes apparent that he can't seem to find Millie and, when he runs back to the examination room to have a look, he finds himself unable to use his super speed.   Suddenly panicked, Transonic cries out for the team to gather around him as he searches the nearby rooms, finding the rest of the medical team absent, and the whole world suddenly seeming washed out and faded. The team asks him what's going on, and while he begins trying to explain, they see some sort of green crayon man perched on one of the nearby buildings, holding Millie in his hand and waving to the group.   The group is perplexed at first, with Transonic quickly identifying the creature as Mister Squiggle, his childhood imaginary friend given life. This does little to alleviate the confusion as the green crayon drawing begins to walk through the air above them, stopping once he stands about twenty feet above the track. Mr Squiggle from his lofty position poses a challenge to Transonic. A game where, if he wins, he can have Millie and all the other missing people back. He announces that the teams would be Transonic, the B-Team and Zero versus his own group, flexing his powers as, at the other end of the track, no less than fifty members of the Vigil hero's rogues gallery appear all at once. The team is given a five-minute headstart and a list of locations around the city to get to without being killed by the army of supervillains. The list contains locations of significance to the hero that act as saferooms; his childhood classroom at the Mary Brennon School, the office of the sports' center, the emergency room at Bathala City General Hospital, Rachel's apartment, and the old willow tree at Brackenwood Park. The team must take Transonic to each of the saferooms and then make it back to the tower in order to win and reclaim the precious flour baby, or Rachel may just kill him.   With the stakes set, and the team not wanting to get into a fight with fifty supervillains at the same time, they make a hasty retreat into the sports center and towards the first safe room on the second floor. They can hear the various supervillains either taking position nearby or moving on to meet them on the way. Transonic makes a feeble attempt of explaining how he tends to attract the stranger villains of the city and that, because he'll generally foil their crimes before much harm is done, they often get short sentences that are easily commutable, landing them back on the streets pretty quickly. Looking at the list, the team decides to make it to the tree next, it being the closest to their current position, but first they have to make it to Warp's car in the underground parking lot nearby.   Resolved to their course of action, the team open the door once again and see a man outside in ripped denim and a beanie hat. Transonic explains that he's the Beatnik Basilisk¹, and that with a look he can turn people to stone. Looking down the other way, they see the Mime Menace², and decide it might be easier to descent straight though the floor of the room they're already in. Warp quickly uses his power to make a hole in the floor, and Zero makes his way down, transforming into his whale form to allow Emma a slide to descend upon without upsetting her acrophobia, but crushing a wall in the meantime and attracting the attention of Willie Wallaby³ as the rest of the team make their way down.   The team make quick work of Willie and move further towards the parking lot, coming across Dame Drizzle⁴, the Cable Guy⁵, and Lady Kaliedoscope⁶ laying in ambush. Rue, Emma and Zero are quickly entranced by the pretty colours and shapes, but Mercy quickly flies in to take down the hypnotic lady. Meanwhile, the entire corridor becomes drenched by spontaneous rainclouds as Dame Drizzle and the Cable Guy prepare a synchronised attack. Electricity surges through the cables snaking around his arms and he starts to thrust downwards into the puddle that the entire group is stood in, but quickly finds himself fighting against Rue's telekinetic power, unable to make contact with the ground until Pagan fires a bolt of magical energy at him, taking him out of the fight.

After Warp takes care of the final villain with a hail of rocks, the team are finally able to make their way into the parking lot, where they are accosted by the Gingerbread Genie⁷. The team now aware of the danger they face, waste no time talking and simply punch the genie into a crumbly mess before quickly piling into the warpmobile. They screech out of the parking lot and away from the building, sparing little thought to Lord Lollypop⁸ and Baron Bubblegum⁹ brawling just outside the building.

It quickly becomes apparent that the city is almost entirely devoid of life, the only exception to this seemingly being the villains that they're forced to avoid as they speed to their next destination. They're confronted by a swirling mixture of colours in the form of a hurricane that Transonic identifies as the Technicolour Tornado¹⁰, a minor villain from his early days that Mercy quickly incapacitates by flying into the eye of the storm and tackling him to the ground with little care as to the man's safety.

When they arrive at the park, they find it being patrolled by a veritable army of barnyard animals led by the Barnstormer¹¹, who calls for the attack as the team shows up. The animals' cries of "Charge!" understandable only to Emma quickly turn into "Retreat!" as Zero turns into a large grizzly bear and roars in their faces, leaving the supervillain with only a pitchfork to protect him from Mercy's oncoming assault. It ends badly for him.

As they enter the park, the team notice the Regal Raspberry¹² and Bumblebaron¹³ having a heated debate, not even noticing the heroes. Between Emma snaring the raspberry and Warp firing shards of concrete at the baron, they provide little distratction, though one of the latter's patented Bee Grenades goes off, stinging Mercy, Emma and Zero. A call for peace echoes out over the group however, as a man in loose-fitted robes approaches, reaching out and giving Zero a few head-scratches as he greets the rest of the team. Warp questions whether this man, the Yogi¹⁴, is even a villain, to which Transonic informs him that the man is a notorious cult leader, earning him a concrete slab to the face as the team moves further into the park.   The old willow tree is an obvious landmark in the park, and the team have no trouble getting to it, though the question is raised about what significance this has to the Vigil hero's life. His answer is vague and he quickly attempts to change the subject, but Emma, ever the gossip, can't help but pry ever-deeper. Even after Rue says that they don't want to know what went down at the tree, Emma asks the old willow and finds out a salacious secret about Transonic and Suplex.   Not wanting to waste any time, the team quickly make their way to Mary Brennon High School for the next checkpoint. Waiting for them there are the Quazar Quilter¹⁵, and Lady Labyrinth¹⁶ who quickly throws up one of her namesake structures. As the mostpart of the team begins pressing through the walls of the labyrinth via holes in the brick provided by Warp, Mercy decides to go ahead and fly over the top, meeting the quilter in the skies overhead. As the quilter activates his magic quilt, the vampire hero finds himself being drawn ineffibly towards it like the event horizon of a colourful black hole. Thinking fast, he decides to use the quilter's gravitational pull against him, flying forward with enhanced velocity and knocking him out of the sky, prompting a quick telekinetic save by Rue below.   Soon enough the team finds themselves face-to-face with the Lady herself, screeching at them that they cheated and should've done the maze properly, but she's quickly knocked unconscious before she has a chance to make any coherent points and the team heads into the school. In the entry hall, they're met by the Fedora Fiend¹⁷, clad in his signature fedora and floor-length black coat, who tips his hat at Emma with a gentle "M'lady."   Suitably skeeved-out, Emma quickly replies with "I have a boyfriend!" but, much to her dismay, the fiend sees right through her lie, unsheathing his katana to do battle for the lady's affections. The team quickly engage, with Zero in rhino form tackling him through a nearby wall and into the boy's daytime maths classroom... Totally by accident.   Meanwhile, Warp, having taken a moment to catch his breath, finds himself approached by what appears to be a bedsheet ghost with a red-cross pattern on him. The Gingham Ghost¹⁸ remains silent until very close by, at which point he asks "Do you like gingham?" to which Frank replies "I like it, but it doesn't suit you." The ghost takes incalculable emotional damage and retreats, with the faint sound of crying being heard on the wind.   Moving further into the school, the unmistakable sound of EDM music fills the halls, and the heroes are drawn towards the school's assembly hall where a number of suitably-themed supervillains are having a dance party. With the Vinyl Valkyrie¹⁹ in the DJ booth, Duchess Disco²⁰, the Neon Ninja²¹ and Mistress Maraca²² are seen cutting some serious shapes on the dancefloor, but stop abruptly as the heroes enter, with the ninja, covered in the glowing paint that is his trademark, wordlessly challenging Mercy to a dance battle.   The team prepares for battle, with no-one thinking Mercy would be able to outdance the ninja and Rue even taking out their phone to record the inevitable catastrophe. BUT, in the biggest shock since facing down The Joltergeist, the team watched in awe as the vampire busted out a sequence of moves that can only be described as some blessed union between ballroom and breakdancing. The two dancers vibing so thoroughly quickly inspires others to get in on the action, with everyone in the room (save Rue, still recording), quickly getting their groove on. That said, the team quickly realise why Transonic may have been targeted by the dance-themed villains, with Rue making sure to send a video of his crime unto the artform to Rachel.   With the dance villains placated, the team makes it unhindered to the classroom that once housed the young Transonic, ticking off another checkpoint on their list. They decide not to dally, though, and quickly make their way to the Warpmobile, driving towards their next target: the hospital. They make quick work of the Striped Sadist²³, Whistle Warlock²⁴ and Captain Cog²⁵ on their way, but stop as they approach their destination, with Transonic identifying both Lady Lighthouse²⁶ and Granny Dearest²⁷, two serious villains in his books. Though, before they get a chance to deal with them, the Glitter Guru²⁸ makes himself known, landing atop the car and glitter bombing Zero before being summarily dealt with by one of Emma's magical blasts.   The team elect to ambush the two ladies stood guard outside the hospital, with Warp, Emma, and Rue firing from a distance, while Zero and Mercy charge in for a quick takedown. The plan seems to be going well, with the two villains taking a few hits before Granny Dearest transforms into a gangly-limbed monstrosity, and Lady Lighthouse summons an entire tower to throw at Mercy and the other heroes. The team quickly scatters to avoid the flying building, but Mercy fails to evade the projectile and is subsequently crushed beneath its enormous weight.   Granny Dearest and Zero in rhino form clash with a mighty impact, but the villain's gangly body is no match for Zero's tough hide and sheer bulk, quickly finding herself a passenger on the stampeding beast, the two of them crashing into the building and Granny finding herself trampled. Meanwhile, Lady Lighthouse is being bombarded from all sides by Warp, Emma and Rue, the three of them getting the distinct impression that she's there more through obligation than actual malice. Nevertheless, she's soon taken down by a shark bite suplex from Zero, before the team recovers Mercy and makes their way into the hospital.   Transonic leads the team towards the kitchen, saying it's the quickest way to get to A&E, where his office is, at the other end of the hospital. Yelling can be heard coming from within, and the team suddenly finds themselves faced with a veritable smorgasbord of food-themed villains, though the group seems less-than-interested in facing down the heroes. In stead, there seems to be a heated argument going on, with the Spaghetti Saucerer²⁹ and Noodlemancer30 arguing over the best long carbohydrate, while the Cosmic Cucumber³¹ and Emperor Eggplant³² face off over Eudicot superiority. For their part, the feud had attracted something of an audience, with the Muffin Maiden³³, Madame Marmalade³⁴ and Count Cappucino³⁵ taking a seat nearby to watch the fireworks, even offering the heroes some of their respective trademark delicassies for this temporary ceasefire.   Inevitably, the feud broke out into the stands and the Saucerer asks Pagan whether noodles or spaghetti were better. She answers that she finds the former generally more versatile and he attacks her, causing a veritable food-fight to break out, with carbohydrates, muffins and various preserves flying in all directions as the heroes quickly take care of the villains and tupperware the sentient veggies, leaving just Count Cappucino having a pleasant drink with Mercy and Zero. Sighing heavily, Transonic quickly knocks the cups of coffee out of the two heroes' hands, telling them that the Count's mind controlling blend will pretty soon enslave them.   With the Count soon dealt with, the team make their way towards the accident and emergency department, following Transonic towards his office where he has little option but to let the team learn of his secret identity as Doctor Tyler Jamison. He makes no comment on it and quickly directs the team to head to their penultimate stop: Rachel's apartment.   The drive is short, and soon enough the team are once again in combat with a pair of similarly themed supervillains. While the Sock Sorceress³⁶ traps Pagan and Zero in a cyclone, the Sock-Puppet Sovereign³⁷ goes toe-to-toe with Mercy, even managing to knock out the vampire with a concussive blast from one of his magical puppets. Unfortunately though, the pair soon found that with a shared theme comes a shared weakness, and are quickly dealt with via a gout of fire from Rue, thereby allowing the team to enter the building.   After dealing with the Slinky Sultan³⁸ and Velvet Ventriloquist³⁹ in the stairwell, the team enter the hallway outside Rachel's apartment and are surprised to see Suplex herself, or at least Transonic's mental projection of her, doing what could only be charitably called battle with two more villains, kicking the head of Master Moustache⁴⁰ through the drywall before squaring up to the Polka-dot Pugilist⁴¹, barely sparing the team a moment for a cursory wink before continuing the no-holds-barred beatdown. With their path to the apartment cleared, the team make it inside and are finally able to check the last location off their list before starting their journey back to Vigilant tower.   They're forced to drive off Countess Canine⁴² and her army of trained attack dogs, though some scintilating debate by Pagan convinces a few of them to turn coat on their mistress. Soon enough however, the team is on their way with the Vigilant tower soon in sight. The remaining villains have evidently converged on the location, with the team forced to confront no less than seven of the city's most present villains.   With no other option than to fight their way into the foyer of the building, the team charge in to face down the last few villains, with Mercy and Warp rushing in to face down the Turtleneck Tactician⁴³ and Hula Harbinger⁴⁴, while the Sassy Siren⁴⁵ and Dandy Doppelganger⁴⁶ begin sowing discord amidst their ranks. Rue and Emma meanwhile contend with the Cactus Conjurer⁴⁷ and Pinstripe Pixie's⁴⁸ magic and Zero squares up against Sir Thornside⁴⁹. Their resolve proves unbreakable however, and soon the heroes make their way into the tower's foyer where Mister Squiggle is waiting for them, sat in the rafters.   He tells them how impressed he is with their tenacity and concedes defeat, with the team demanding he drop Millie immediately. Naturally, Squiggle takes this as an opportunity to drop the flour baby to the earth, but Rue's able to catch it with their telekinesis before the Balloon Bandit⁵⁰ swoops in, held aloft only by a series of helium balloons and his own dreams of being a big-time supervillain, both of which are quickly dashed by a hail of shrapnel by Warp. As the bandit plumets to the earth, and Millie is returned to Transonic's arms via telekinesis, the team realise that Mister Squiggle has vanished and, a blink later, they find themselves back in reality, surrounded by the usual activity of the tower at the end of the day, their questions innumerable and the whole team ready for a long rest.