First Victory

Diana rushed into the battle taking on the heat as one by one all the soldiers from the other side started shooting a hail storm of bullets at her. But without hesitation she blocked it all, taking almost all the damage thrown at them.

"She's really something." Victor watched the scene but not to be outdone, he started rushing in headfirst into the battle on all four with that evil grin on his face as he tore through the enemy's defenses like a monster, killing everything in sight.

James wasn't left far behind either as he gained speed bringing out his claws. Artemis supported Diana from another side taking in a few of the damages herself, as she blocked away all the bullets with her sword. A few groans could be heard here and there from the enemy side as Arthur appeared out of thin air smashing their heads against the wall and then disappearing again.

Steve and Sameer gulped looking at the scene seeing how quickly and efficiently they were handling the situation.

"What are you two staring at?" Howard rolled his eyes, "Chief, since you're trusted here it's best if you lead these soldiers towards the battle as Diana and Artemis are taking in most of the hits."

Chief who was just as frozen as others nodded immediately having the soldiers follow him. Seeing the improvement at what they once thought was a lost cause, their morals were at an all-time high, adrenaline-pumping they rushed into the battle screaming at the top of their lungs. With Steve, Sameer, and Chief leading the battle the soldiers followed them shooting guns and throwing grenades.

Howard coolly walked into the battlezone not even bothering to take out his gun. Instead, he lit a cigarette as he observed the battle walking at the very end of the line.

"Soldier, do you know where's the place they are running to?" He asked a nearby group of soldiers who were firing bullets one after another.

"That's the armory, sir." The soldier said still in the heat of the battle.

"Bingo! Take this- you see this button right here? You go over there and press it, throw the thing and run back as far as you can." Howard said passing over a piece of weird-looking equipment to the soldier.

"Is it a grenade?" The soldier asked looking at the device in his hand. It had complicated wiring and looked like a clock.

"Sure, you can think of it that way." Howard shrugged, "Now, go."

The soldier looked back towards his captain who nodded at him, as he rushed for the armory.

Howard observed the battle for a while when an astray bullet grazed through his cheek. "Brings back memories,"

The wound on his cheek healed instantly before even a drop of blood could spill as he looked at his watch, "It should be over any second now."

He observed the soldier who he passed the bomb to rushing back as a small smirk formed on his face, "5.. 4... 3.. 2 and boom!"

The huge explosion gathered the attention of everyone and soon after only a few screams and the smell of the burning fleshes remained. The defenses had all cleared as Diana and the rest headed towards Veld to capture the remaining soldiers and free the citizens of Veld.

This was the place where his brothers shined the most, jumping into buildings and killing soldiers as if doing a normal chore, the area cleared up easily. After all, their strength shined better in a confined space than an open one. Diana and Artemis were showing their prowess of a true amazon warrior as they headed headfirst into the battle with incredible speed and show of strength as they swept the floor making it look extremely easy.

Steve and the rest weren't far behind showing incredible coordination as they shot through enemy lines, bombing their way through. Even Arthur who was new at this was helping, appearing now and again saving them from any unexpected attacks.

Howard was still casually walking without any worries in the world when suddenly a huge armored vehicle crashed right behind him as he and Diana made eye contact with one another. It was just for a heartbeat but both of them could feel a strange connection at the moment. Howard who wasn't quite swayed away with emotions pointed towards the bell tower where the enemy was firing from.

Diana looked over and nodded as she cleared away the enemy surrounding them using her lasso as she tied one of them up and threw the person towards another group of enemy soldiers.

"Are you serious, right now?" Diana and Howard met back to back as she didn't stop with her attacks, "Why don't you attack?"

"I am observing," Howard dodged a ricochet barely, "And by far I'll give this team a 7/10. We still lack proper coordination but somehow it's working out just fine."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a way of rating... you know what forget it." Howard said, "You remember when we first met and you threw me towards the ship?"

Diana understood what he was trying to do as she swept away the group of enemies, grabbing Howard without hesitation as she threw him towards the bell tower.

*Ring* The bell struck as Howard held his head in pain.

"Ow! She really doesn't know how to hold back." Howard said as he saw two men point guns at him, "And to think, I wasn't going to kill anyone today."

The battle on the ground cleared up leaving only silence behind as screams of two men who were thrown out of the tower to their deaths were heard loud and clear by everyone.

Howard walked out of the front door dusting himself off towards the team, who were all bloody and messy with a smirk on his face.

"Why are you always so clean?" Artemis complained wiping the sweat away from her forehead.

"It always becomes a huge mess when I am involved, so I don't like to partake in such activities as much as possible." Howard pointed towards the still flaming pile that could be seen from a distance of what used to be an armory, "But 5 minutes and 23 seconds to clear the no man's land and freeing this place from enemy's hand, you all should be proud."

The soldiers and the citizens of the place cheered at their victory as the captain who still had some sense left him came towards them, "Who are you, people?"

"You can call us The Irregulars," Howard said making the group chuckle a little.

"The Irregulars, huh." The captain nodded, "Seems like a fitting name, but the things that I saw-"

"Are all real." Howard said as James and Victor tried stopping him, "It's okay, it's time people know but only some people."

"I understand." The captain nodded getting a bit of chill from that unwavering smile Howard had. The boy in front of him looked to be no older than his son but every fiber of his body was screaming that he wasn't so normal.

"People aren't going to believe you anyway, so it's not like it matters." Howard said, "So let it be a myth. It might be the truth or it might not, but it will make people feel at ease. Like those princes and knights from fairytales."

"So the whole keeping a secret thing is coming to an end?" Victor said, "Should I be glad that no one is going to follow us now?"

"Yeah, you should." Howard replied, "We've upgraded to a myth as I figured it's time that we should slowly transition into society, considering our side might not be accepted that well if we suddenly show up acting like freak shows. So consider this a little contribution ahead of time for the future."

"Has anyone seen Arthur?" Sameer asked suddenly as they all looked around to find no traces of him.

"I think I know where he might be." James pointed at the puddle of vomit on the ground, "It was his first time, wasn't it?"

"Leave him alone for a while." Howard said as he looked back at the captain, "You should know what to do, right?"

"We will work on treating the people immediately and capturing any remaining soldiers." The captain nodded, "I don't know if it's just the heat of the moment or I am going crazy but I seem to be dealing well with the situation and so are these people."

"Well, a good deed never goes unnoticed at least for the moment," Howard said as he looked around at the crowd gazing at them with worshipping eyes.