Volume I: The Lost Boys

Enola gives a loud yawn from pure exhaustion, her eyes lulling around the park as she feebly tries to organize her thoughts. In her hand is a concoction of her own creation, the Overload: coffee, double-shot of espresso, and black tea bag steeping inside. Her rodent scouts had been busy scouring the city the entire night, necessitating her to often cue into her swarmsight to perceive through their senses. After all, rats don't know street addresses. Between that and her consoling her mom about Chayton's disappearance, it had been a sleepless affair. Thankfully, the work paid off. She had managed to find the location of the Lost Boys' newest hideout: the abandoned Neponsit Beach Hospital in Queens. The choice of location makes sense in hindsight, what with its available equipment and abundance of rooms. Problem is that it's a very defensible position. Hospitals are usually built sturdy with thick glass windows and easily controllable entrances to ensure patients can be seen before they leave. Fortunately, the place is abandoned, which means a little structural damage won't be too frowned upon. That only leaves dealing with the doctor and the Lost Boys.

With another loud yawn, Enola retrieves her phone and texts to the group.

Found the Lost Boys' new spot. They're over at Neponsit Beach Hospital in Queens. Place just got abandoned so it's a perfect place to set up a new lab. Heading over there now to do a stakeout. Meet you there.

Seeing the message Min groaned. The timing was terrible. Even ten more minutes of warning would have been enough but she had already said goodby to her mom, now she had to hurry and try to catch her before the first class started and get permission to miss a day of school, while already AT school. Still it was that or a zombie apocalypse. At least she hadn't hidden her powers like a complete idiot so mom would probably let her go. Frustratingly it was also before she had gotten the chance to talk with The Shadow about what the best way to deal with the police would be, she was supposed to meet them tonight after school!

So she turned around and started moving at a hurried clip to try and get to her mothers class instead of her own in time to get permission for being absent so she could go back up Vermite.

"Good Morning!" the two girls bumped into Ms. Hannaford just as they walked out of the school. Their social studies teacher, still holding her morning coffee, arrived a short minute after the bell rang for the first-period - in time to catch the girls playing hooky "Aren't you going to be late for class?" She wasn't so naive as to miss the fact that they were walking OUT of the school, but she gave them a chance to change their mind, and quickly; it was too early in the morning for disciplinary actions, and she much preferred sitting down and having her coffee in the teacher's lounge then start making calls to their parents.

Ogre groaned when he read the text.

Why'd Vermite have to find this out during school!

Even if he managed to get out of school without being sprung they were sure going to notice that he wasn't in class.

There wasn't anything for it but to try and sneak out as quietly as possible. Maybe if he was super-lucky he could just escape without having to come up with a lame excuse.

As unobtrusively as he possibly could Ogre sidled his way to the back of the school where he might have a chance of escape.

Min shot a slightly curious glance in Enola's direction but at least she knew she was covered and had an excuse. Fishing into her pocket for the note she responded. "I've got a note Ms. Hannaford. I'm not feeling well and my mother decided to send me home." Handing over the note was easy. Trying not to look too healthy due to an undisclosed sickness wasn't but at least she had parental back up on her side.

"Not feeling well" Ms. Hannaford looked at Min, rather than the note. It was more than a bit odd to show up for school in time for the first period, only to leave with a note saying you're not feeling well. Ms. Hannaford wasn't buying it, but she wasn't going to stop her from leaving either. She'll sort it out with the young woman's mother, once she had her coffee "Is someone coming to pick you up? Would you like to wait with me in the teacher's lounge? Maybe get you some aspirin from Ms. Moreno? "

"No I'll be fine, I live in walking distance and have my key." Min demurred. How could this be so hard! Why had Verminte made them do this during school. Couldn't Ms. Hannaford just let her go? Of course some of her frustration and insecurity leaked in her tone and posture, despite her habit of being a good dutiful daughter, she was after all a teenage girl so basically everything about her would be subconsciously screaming teen neurosis at an experienced educator like Ms. Hannaford and that while she could probably get the girl to talk it might just be more trouble than she wanted this morning.

Sweet!

He'd absence would probably be noticed, but right now, there was hero-ing that needed doing. He sprinted towards the high fence at the back of the school and launched himself, clearing it in a single bound.

He sends a short message from his phone.

"OMW"

Why can't apocalypses start after school hours?

Ms. Hannaford observed Min carefully, her brow furrowing slightly at the girl's defensive posture. She had dealt with enough teenagers over the years to recognize the signs of underlying turmoil. There was definitely something going on, but after a moment's deliberation, she decided to allow the young teenager to leave, though why exactly Min could only begin to guess

"Alright," Ms. Hannaford said finally, her tone softening slightly "Go get some rest. I'll pass your note to the attendance office"

Min was quick to head home, by way of the alley and morning shadows so she could change. Only then checking her phone to see that of everyone only Ogre seemed to have been able to get free. "Where should I meet you?" Overly wordy and formal for a text maybe but some habits were harder to avoid than others when your mom was an English teacher.

Now dressed the part she headed back out to meet him in the streets frowning a little as she realized most if not all the others were probably stuck in classes right this moment.

Feeling a little mischievous Blacklight is careful to approach from Ogre's blind spot, stepping out of the shadows of an ally. She had planned on saying loudly. "What do you think you're doing!" in her best approximation of an adult tone but mistimed his pacing turn. Not that it would have done much more than startle him but still she ruefully shook her head at not even being able to sneak up on him.

"Unfortunately, looks like everybody else got caught by the fuzz, or in this case stuck in classes so I hope we're enough. Ready to go catch up with Vermite?" The one nice thing about being a teammate with Blacklight for Ogre is no need for taking the city bus to crime scenes!

As they continued on the way towards the Neponsit Hospital, something helped quite a bit by checking google maps Blacklight continued the conversation. "I was really hoping there would be more of us there. I haven't had a chance to warn the police or even get some advice from the rest of The Shadow on how to handle this sort of thing." Ogre being one of the few who knew there were more than one and her connection with them. "Do you have a good idea on how to approach things?"

"Yeah me too," Ogre said, agreeing with Blacklight assessment of their current numbers.

"I don't think that splitting into to two groups is going to work anymore. The best that I think we can do is confront the Doc and try to talk some sense into him. Tell him that he's got to stop his experiements."

"I dunno. Do you think he'll listen to us?"

Ogre frowns.

"If he doesn't, we could go to the police, but I feel like we have to deal with this ourselves. I mean, that's why we became heroes right? We could break his gear, but that doesn't seem right either."

Blacklight nodded. "I know. I mean it's just, we can try and talk him down, and if it doesn't work I don't doubt you and I could stop him. It's just what comes after that? I mean, we can't just let him go to try again and something will have to be done with all the zombies he has."

They were close enough now to see the actual abandoned building from a nearby rooftop where Blacklight stopped portaling so they could finish figuring out the right approach. "So, we go in, try to talk him down..." She bites her lip briefly before going on, "If it works great, and if not we just uh, beat him up and any minions he has, tie them up and call the police?" It's pretty clear that while Blacklight might be a rebel out to do good she's still craves approval from Ogre and the others.

Spotting the fence Blacklight actually see's it as a net benefit. "Nice fence. Think it was the city or the doctor trying to make sure none of the zombies escape? Either way it can only help as long as there aren't any holes."

Harmonia's investigation led her to the abandoned hospital, where she found Ogre and Blacklight discussing their next move in front of the rusting chain-link fence. They were debating how to deal with the mad doctor, unaware of her swift approach.

Suddenly, the sky lit up with a brilliant flash as Harmonia flew in at the speed of light, her pristine white costume and long cloak reflecting the sun’s rays. To the onlookers below, she appeared like a star falling from the heavens, streaking across the sky with a radiant trail.

As she descended, the air crackled with energy. With a thunderous impact, she landed not far from Ogre and Blacklight, breaking the pavement like a meteor striking the earth. Dust and debris flew outward in a shockwave, momentarily obscuring her figure.

When the dust settled, Harmonia stood tall and unwavering, her cloak billowing dramatically in the lingering breeze. Her presence was commanding, and the sheer power of her arrival might have left Ogre and Blacklight momentarily speechless as she just destroyed the street by her landing. She looked at them with a determined glint in her eyes, ready to face whatever challenges lay within the hospital's malevolent halls.

Her voice, calm yet firm, broke the silence. "I take it you’re here for Dr. Harris as well? I'm harmonia, tenth of her name. Let’s put an end to his dangerous experiments permanently, together."

Harmonia is renowned both on the planet and beyond, owing to her predecessor who had once saved the world. However, amidst her fame, none recognize her as the unassuming high school student named Hanna Kim. This alter ego allows her to blend in seamlessly as just another student, quietly observing and learning about humanity in its most ordinary moments.