Volume I: The Lost Boys

Shadowhex shrugs.
"You guys should really stop hiding how awesome you really are. If the world has a problem with you, that is their problem..."

She quickly texts back to Marlene
"I'll be coming over for sure. Just have one thing to take care of first."

Then she follows the others, as she always sticks with the team, but actually eager to read the secrets of Grimorium Umbrarum.

"Oh. You saved Angie's cat!" Deion was ecstatic upon seeing the cat. Almost being eaten alive by a Zombie was worth it, in his book, if it meant they were able to save Mr. Sleepy. That did raise another question, though. How did the masked heroine know the name of Angie's cat, and that he was missing to begin with? He didn't remember mentioning him to any of them.

Deion was a sharp boy. The wheels in his head started turning, narrowing down the options, thinking about who he told about the missing cat, and how they might be connected to the Heroes. If they all knew each other from school, then perhaps...

The girl in the baseball mask interrupted his train of thought when she said something about 'keeping it to himself'. That ran contrary to his nature (he was a known blabbermouth), but he promised himself he would do his best - for their sake. They did save his life, after all.

"She's going to be so happy!" he tried standing on his toes to get a look-see at the cat sleeping in the bag, and would have surely lost his balance and ended up flat on his face if it wasn't for the Ogre still holding on to his arm. "You will let her know I helped look for him, right?" he figured he was going to spend the rest of the evening in some kind of a hospital, and then lose his phone privileges once his mother found out the truth about his little adventure.

Though it isn’t visible from beneath the gas mask, Vermite does offer a small smile, amused by Deion’s zeal and dedication.

"I’m just handling the delivery. You’re the one that saved Mr. Sleepy from a cold, harsh life on the streets. It was all you. That’s what I’m telling your friend, and if anyone asks, that’s the story you go with. Got it? We weren’t involved. That way, you keep your alibi in tact."

Deion is a chatterbox who wears his heart on his sleeve, so the simpler the excuse the better. Vermite tucks the cat back into her backpack. As expected, the lazy feline just settles itself into a new sleeping position and conks out almost immediately. Before she leaves, she bids the rest of the team a proper farewell.

"Looks like I’ve got a delivery to make. If you can make sure Deion gets patched up, I’ll make sure his cover story and the cat stay in tact. Hey…uh…good work today, everyone. We can catch up later on what to do with these Lost Boys and their pet zombies."

And my idiot brother. God damn it Chayton. Just had to make things more complicated. Couldn’t just cut class and get caught smoking weed like a regular teenager. Just had to go full-blown necromancer on me. What do I do? Sigh. I’ll have to come up with something later.

"See you around, guys…er, team."

With that, Vermite begins to turn away and head towards Angie’s house at brisk jog.

"Hello, dears" the older woman broke into a smile as soon as she saw Jodelle and her entourage. She was more than happy to offer her shop as a gathering spot for the young masked teenagers. Everything to help her sister in the Craft "I was just closing the Shop, so you're going to have all the privacy you need" she said after breaking from the warm hug to the young girl, who was dear to her as her own daughter "You can head straight upstairs"


The grimoire she mentioned to Jodelle in her text message was already waiting for her on the counter. A heavy, bulky tome with a black leather cover and yellowish pages stained with age. It would have to be handled with care; probably the reason why its owner didn’t want it to travel

"Can I offer you some some tea? Cookies?"

"Hi Marlene!" Jodelle hugs Marlene back. In the Moonstone Grove, Jodelle always seems just a bit more open and relaxed than at places like school. Or like with the freaky scientist. It was here were Jodelle had bought her first spellbook. It was Marlene who had the patience to train her to control the magic (surely there was still work to be done).
"Tea would be great, thanks."

"Come on guys," she said to the others as she headed eagerly to the group's private room upstairs, that Marlene had provided for them. "After today's heroics, we've earned some tea and.... oh wow"

Her eyes fall on the grimoire. It looks so old and magnifiscent that she doesn't dare to touch it.
"This is so awesome, Marlene. Where did you get it?"

"A friend" Marlene was a bit reluctant to share the owner's name, so she quickly changed the subject "Go right ahead, dears" she shooed them upstairs, so she could go ahead and close down the shop

As they head up the stairs Ogre puts a hand gently on Blacklight's shoulder and let's everyone else get a little ahead of them.

"Hey, I don't think we could have done everything we did tonight without you,"

"Your shadow powers are so cool. They're so useful, and you can turn them off when you're not using them. I just bash things, but when I see you use your powers, I wish I could do what you do."

"I know you could run by yourself. With your background, you don't have to be part of a team. Especially one with a big red freak in it. So, I just wanted you to know that I appreciated what you did for us and for Deon tonight."

While many might be intimidated by having that giant hand on their shoulder Blacklight wasn't like most people. She could feel the difference between the choking grip of the zombie and Ogre's gently care. Something contrasted even more when she considered how strong he must be to have pulled it off and crumpled a garbage can around it. "You shouldn't" She struggles for the right way to say it before just sort of spewing the words, "you're worth way more than that, don't let yourself believe what people say. I, I would have been in real trouble alone." Chewing on her lip beneath her mask a moment she doesn't consciously realize that she's actually leaning into the touch and taking comfort from it though any of the rest of the team who look back could clearly notice as would Ogre if he isn't being a teenage boy at the moment.

"If I had been alone I, I could have died." Her voice is soft. "Sure my powers are incredible but I'm not strong enough to go alone. Today showed that pretty clearly." She could have stopped there but something had her continuing to speak. "I think that's what The Shadow operate how they do, making sure they know everything about a situation before they act. That's not... I can't be a hero like that. I want to be a hero like you who can step in without regard to the threat and make a real difference now when it matters not later when it could be too late."

As Slugger enters the shop, she chokes her grip on the baseball bat, gripping it around the middle and pressing the thick end against the back of her shoulder to avoid knocking something over with it. With a salute to Marlene, she says, "Thank you again for hosting us, Ma'am!" When she was older, she wouldn't mind having a team of up-and-comers hole up in her place... at least, Slugger hopes she wouldn't mind that.

While Shadowhex is staring at the grimoire, Slugger comes up behind her and slings and arm over her shoulder, peering over Shadow's shoulder at the book as well. She notices the witch doesn't touch it, so Slugger refrains as well. "This is an extra-special one, huh? What's in it?" she asks, genuinely curious. "Crazy spells? Magic potion recipes? Secret to immortality?"

Retribution notices, of course. Mask still on, staring eerily from the fringes of the group, it’s impossible to say where she’s looking, or what her expression is... but bets on it being that same blank, wide eyed stare she gives everything. Now, why... that’s a question Beau isn’t prepared to, or able to, answer for herself.

However, the mixture of anger and insecurity welling up in her chest makes her sulky, and, giving no indication that she’s leaving, or even acknowledging Marlene’s presence, she slinks upstairs in silence.

"I don't know. I dare not open it... Grimorium Umbrarum Marlene called it... the Book of Darkness... no... Shadow. The Book of Shadow. I can only imagine what powerful magics are in here. And I'd can only imagine if I am capable and able to learn them."

She glances at Blacklight for a moment, wondering if the magics inside this book are something up her alley as well?

But Shadowhex remains her distance to the book. Wondering how Marlene got it, and not daring to approach or indeed even touch it without consulting her mentor first.

Slugger grins underneath her face mask, close enough for Shadowhex to see it under the face paint and obfuscatory helmet cage. "Of course you're capable; My little league coach set up a pitching machine when I was ready to hit the ball without a tee. She starting pitching herself when I was ready for mixed pitches. Ms. Marlene wouldn't put this in front of you if she didn't think you were ready. She seemed as excited as you did, too." Slugger pats Shadowhex's back and gives it a quick, encouraging rub to try and hype up her self-confidence.

Meanwhile down stairs...

"We can all use a little help. Teamwork right? You powers are still awesome though."

Ogre starts rummaging through his backpack.

"You know, I got this when I was a kid. It's my favorite"

Ogre rummages through his backpack and pulls out his Shadow trading card. It's a classic representation of Shadow during his "Avenger" period. Pretty good, but there's a lot of artistic licence taken on account of the lack of accurate references. The Shadow is looming in a darkly heroic pose.

"Huh", he snorts, "You know from this pic, I thought you'd be bigger," he says, holding up the card to directly compare card's version of Shadow with Blacklight.

Blacklight laughs out loud at the presentation of the trading card. "Well, you know, the shadows do hide a lot..." Then stepping back she takes the pose from the card, but calls up shadows to bulk out her figure until she's a respectable imitation of it except for the giant floppy shadow bunny ear's she gives herself.

After that she's in much better spirits as the pair head upstairs to join the others. "Coming?" She calls back down the stairs. She decides to keep the comedy ears though lets the rest of the shadows return to normal, well, except for a big fluffy shadowy cotton tail as well. The grin on her face as she joins Retribution and the others obvious even with her mask. "We got Deion to a Doctor, a real one this time and it looks like he should be okay."

"Mr. Sleepy is also safe and sound. Brought him back home."

At some point, Vermite had silently saddled up right behind Ogre and Blacklight, clad again in her oilskin jacket and respirator mask. Originally, her plan was to go home straight from Angie’s, but she then remembered that’d mean coming face-to-face with her brother Chayton. That’s an interaction she’s not particularly keen on, so any excuse to postpone that and spend time with the team is far preferable.

"Glad to hear Deion got home alright. How’s everyone doing? Y’know, since the fight at the junkyard, I mean."

"Oh great... no pressure..." Shadowhex sighs. Feeling even more insure if she wasn't already. "I know you mean well. But what if Marlene means well too, but overestimates me? What if I have powers I can't control? You've seen my raw magic when we fought the zombies..." Shadowhex looks sincerelly at Slugger. "What if I can't control it? What if my magic goes wild? What would you do? I don't know... but you'd best knock me out with your baseball bat."

"Speaking of the zombies..."

Ogre stomps up the stairs behind Blacklight, carefully sidling past his friends and picking his way delicately past furniture until he can plant himself comfortably in the corner.

"What are we going to do about Dr Franken-zombie?"

"I mean, I'm all for saving lives, but bringing back dead people like that? That's not right. And that gang, way too many guns and too much attitude for lab assistants, if you ask me."

"I agree, once you start carrying around guns like that your not assistants your goons. Not to mention it's just a touchy sketchy that his cure is contagious and makes you want to bite other people. I didn't want to say it right there in front of everyone with their twitchy fingers but we have got to put a stop to it before more get loose. Even if he is honest about his goals the way he's doing it is just one mistake away from a zombie apocalypse." Blacklight seems more animated now that they're back at the shop and her little chat with Sonny moving with more assurance as she takes a chair and settles down to look around to the others for their thoughts.

Vermite ponders for a moment. She doesn’t want to give any indication that one of the Lost Boys is her brother. In the other hand, she doesn’t want to see Chayton get the business end of Ogre’s fists or Shadowhex’s magic. This needs to be handled delicately, otherwise she’ll lose more of what’s left of her family. Following the others back upstairs, she finally speaks.

"Perhaps we can go about this from a different direction. They’re coming from a place of grief, right? They’re having trouble accepting their loss, so maybe we can talk them down, y’know? I’ve had some run-ins with them in the past. They’re not murderers or supervillains or anything like that. They’re just regular teens going through it right now. Same for the doctor. As for the zombies…I don’t think they’re cognizant of anything. All they know is moving and eating. I could be wrong about that, but regardless, we can’t let them hurt other people."