Horizon Superheroes

Apart from Ms. Red, four more elite heroes were seated around the obsidian war table....each one a force of nature in their own right. Their presence made the air itself feel heavier. Level 2s and 3s, with ratings ranging from 66 to 80, they weren't just top-tier. They were living weapons.

Silverwing sat with casual arrogance, his upper body bare, muscles carved like marble. A gleaming silver helmet with upward-curving horns crowned his head, and his enormous metallic wings, folded neatly behind him...hummed faintly with kinetic charge.

Beside him stood The Green Witch, wrapped in a flowing forest-green cloak that trailed across the scorched tiles like a living shadow. Her emerald battle dress was reinforced with polished silver plating at the shoulders, chest, and thighs. Her armored boots rang with sharp authority, and beneath the hood, her eyes burned with arcane intelligence. A modern-day sorceress with the combat readiness of a soldier, her reputation was one of precision and ruthlessness.

Across the table lounged The Phantom Knight, clad in a sleek, white armored suit that reflected none of the room's light. His full mask was featureless save for a vertical line down the center, glowing faint blue. Silent and statuesque, he gave nothing away. Not a breath. Not a twitch. Just a white ghost in a room full of storms.

And towering above the rest, slouched comfortably in a reinforced chair built just for him, was The Ten Beast. Today, he had taken the form of a silverback gorilla....massive, barrel-chested, with eyes that gleamed with cruel intelligence. His tailored black suit strained at the seams, but still managed to look expensive. His sheer presence was suffocating...like a freight train wearing cologne.

These weren't heroes fresh out of training.

These were legends in waiting.

And the storm they were about to discuss... would need all of them.

All five of Horizon's top-ranked superheroes were absent.

Valerio Crane tapped his cigar over the ashtray, then leaned forward slowly, his voice cutting through the room like a scalpel.

"Is anyone here not getting paid enough?"

The table fell silent.

They all knew what this was.

They'd heard this tone before.

"I don't pay you to vanish," Crane said. "You're not here to sit pretty and turn soft on full salary."

Silverwing smirked, but Crane's eyes snapped to him....and the smirk vanished like smoke.

"When the top five are MIA, you carry this agency," Crane said, tone sharpening. "But none of you showed up yesterday."

"Red Ray did," Silverwing said. "Still top five, last I checked."

Crane's jaw tightened. "Red Ray is hosting a meet and greet in Atlanta. Signing shirts and smiling for cameras like a goddamn mascot. As if we don't pay him enough to breathe fire on command."

The Green Witch smirked faintly. "A true role model."

"Are we even allowed to do that?" Ms. Red asked flatly.

Crane turned to her. The room tensed.

"No. You're not. And Red Ray will be the last person to forget that."

Empty words. They all knew it. Red Ray brought in too much money to leash.

Silverwing leaned back. "We vanish for 24 hours and it's a crisis. But Firepower? No one's seen him in a month."

He looked toward the silent figure beside him. "Right, White Knight?"

The Phantom Knight nodded once.

"It's Phantom Knight," the Ten Beast rumbled.

Silverwing threw him a grin. "I know, genius."

The Ten Beast's massive fist tapped the table. A deep boom shook the room.

"Boys," Ms. Red said coolly.

Silverwing chuckled. "You sure he's a boy?"

The Green Witch laughed under her breath.

"That's enough," Crane growled, voice low and hard. "This isn't a damn schoolyard."

Everyone straightened.

"Ms. Bennet."

Laura stepped forward, calm and collected.

"I'm sure by now you've all heard about what happened yesterday…"

"The brute in Manhattan?" Silverwing cut in. He glanced at Ten Beast. "Looked familiar."

Everyone ignored him.

"Yes," Laura continued, unfazed. "Since none of you were available, we deployed the new recruits. We told them it was a Level 4 threat… but Big Rick was actually a Level 3."

The Green Witch gave a low whistle. "That's a death sentence."

"We had no choice," Crane snapped. "It was that, or let Rick tear through downtown."

"Fortunately," Laura said, "the recruits held their own. They neutralized the threat."

"Level 5s took down a Level 3?" Ten Beast asked, disbelief in his tone.

"There were three of them," Ms. Red replied. "I met them before coming here."

"And?" Silverwing asked.

She crossed her arms. "They're cocky little bastards."

The table went quiet again.

But the tension was shifting now.

Something was changing.

And they all felt it.

"But that's not the point I came to clarify," Laura said, her tone tightening. "The unit transporting Big Rick's body to a classified research facility was attacked... and wiped out."

"DMA?" Silverwing asked, sitting up straighter.

Laura nodded. "Yes."

"All of them?"

"Everyone except one," she said. "Agent Andrew Thompson. I assume you've all heard of him."

Silverwing smirked. "I know a lot of dwarves, but he's definitely the most famous little guy on my list."

Laura ignored the remark. "Thompson claims the convoy was ambushed by a superhuman.....someone who could manipulate metal like it was clay."

The Phantom Knight finally spoke, his voice low and cold. "That's... new. And dangerous."

Crane stepped in, voice like a hammer. "The bigger question is: why? Why go to all that trouble, risk attacking a convoy of anti-meta operatives, just to take Big Rick's corpse?"

"What does he want with a dead body?" the Green Witch murmured.

"That," Crane said, standing slowly, "is what I want you to find out."

His gaze swept across the room, hard and cold.

"We don't ignore threats like this. Whoever that intruder was....he's bold, powerful, and just made things personal."

The room fell into a heavy silence as the weight of the mission settled on them.

Something darker was coming.

And for once…

None of them had the faintest idea what it was.

Crane broke the silence, his voice sharp.

"There's more. Vanguard reported one of their heroes went missing after a mission in Texas. They tracked him using an embedded locator chip. His last known position…"

He paused, then looked around the table.

"New York."

The 10 Beast grunted. "Who was it?"

Crane's jaw tightened. "Blood Weaver."

Silverwing snorted. "Ugh, the guy they imported from Japan? I remember him. Weird name, weird powers. What's the big deal?"

"You should be worried," Crane said coldly. "Because Vanguard is sending Steelfist to investigate."

The air shifted.

A sudden, invisible weight dropped across the room.

Steelfist.

The second strongest man in America.

And with Firepower still missing, there was no one left to keep him in check.

"He's not coming alone," Laura added. "Vanguard's bringing in fresh blood. Their new rookie… the one they signed for thirty million."

Ms. Red raised an eyebrow. "Electroboy. We've all seen the headlines."

Crane nodded slowly. "New players. New power moves. And a hell of a lot of noise coming to our city."

He leaned forward, elbows on the obsidian table.

"Things are about to get hectic. Keep your suits charged and your egos in check."

The room went quiet again.

No jokes this time.

Even Silverwing didn't smile.