"But Professor!" Void was the first to speak up. "You can't really expect me to. . . To work with her!"

"I can, and I will. If you would like to lodge a formal complaint with the academy you can, though I would not recommend it. In all my time teaching they have never overruled a partner decision," the professor said, his voice was firm but still kind.

Void did not respond, and instead just glowered. 

Betty was in a state of shock. The idea of her and Void being paired up hadn't even crossed her mind. All the two ever did was argue, and they hadn't even know each other for a full week.

Void spent the rest of their first week doing his best to ignore Betty. She had tried on multiple occasions to pull him aside in an attempt to sort out their differences, but he always seemed to vanish as soon as she opened her mouth. As time went on she got less diplomatic and more pissed off.

"Void!" Betty called after her teammate.

Void, acting as if he hadn't heard her, continued down the hall towards the living room.

"I know you can hear me!"

Seemingly realizing that he wasn't going to escape, Void turned to face her.

"What do you want Micky?"

Cosmic Girl huffed. "First off don't call me Micky! Secondly we need to talk about this whole partnership thing."

The boy took a few long strides towards her until he was towering over her. Betty never considered herself to be all that short, but in that moment she felt quite small. 

"Ok let's talk about this. Let's talk about how I am partners with the only member of our team whose power is useless!"

Betty straitened her back, and looked him dead in the eye, any intimidation she had been feeling gone.

"Oh right because having flight, and night vision makes you a god!"

She could tell she'd hurt his ego.

"At least I'm not a living disco ball! Seriously you are going to get yourself, and the people around you killed!"

That hit a nerve, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

"I have every right to be here. My powers might not be fancy, but I know how to use them. I've been training for this, same as you, and I'm not about to let some egotistical jerk take this away from me! Understood?"

"*ahem* Uh hey guys. . . The professor wanted me to get you two. The tailor is here to get our measurements for the suits."

They had been so engrossed in their argument that they hadn't even noticed Pigeon approaching them. Void gave her one final dirty look, before storming off towards the living room.

"Don't worry Cos, he's a really nice guy once you get to know him. Or at least I hope he is. I haven't really gotten to know him yet, so I don't know for sure, but that's what they always say in the movies," said Pigeon, trying to lighten the mood.

The next morning Betty stood in front of her bathroom mirror feeling a little self-conscious. She wore a skin tight, purple, latex suit that covered everything but her hands, and head. Though she wasn't normally all that concerned with her looks, something about that suit started to make her think of all her imperfections. She pulled her eyes away from her reflection, to put on her contacts.

She was the last student to arrive in the living room for the day's lesson. It became Immediately apparent that they were sitting with partners for the day, so much to her dismay she found herself seated next to Void. He didn't even acknowledge her presence as she sat down. The professor, and a shorter man, who she did not recognize stood in front of the couch facing the teens. The man seemed to be about the same age as Professor Good, his hairline had long ago started to reseed, and his eyes were covered by thick, hornrimmed glasses. Once Betty was seated the professor spoke up.

"Well now that we're all here let us start our lesson for the day. As I am sure you are all aware, today is the first day I will be sending you into the field!" He gave all his students a proud look. "But before that happens Mr. Miracle has come in to show you all how your suits, and various new gadgets work." Professor Good gestured to a table filled with various small trinkets, that had been set up in front of the couch.

Betty could feel the nervous energy of her peers, this was the day they had all been waiting for.

"Now," Mr. Miracle started addressing them. "I will call you each up one at a time, and explain the concept your specific suit." He looked down a piece of paper he was clutching in his left hand. "Trainee 328 please come to me."

They all gave the unfamiliar man blank looks.

"Pigeon," he clarified.

The teen boy didn't hesitate, immediately coming forward, eager to see his new gadgets. Pigeon's suit was gray, and white, with flecks of purple, and green. 

"328 suit is designed to withstand long range gunshots, lessen impacts, and handle extreme weather conditions as are all your suits. If you look closely you will see that though on Initial inspection this looks like a normal latex it is actually nanotechnology. That is why there is a tiny hexagon pattern covering the suit, as opposed to it being completely smooth."

Cosmic girl examined her own suit, as he spoke tracing the hexagons with her fingers.

"In addition to the regular suit features there are a couple special features specifically designed for 328's powers. First off when you flex to let out your wings, the back of your suit will automatically open up to accommodate them. This suit also includes extra insulation to help deal with high altitudes."

Pigeon swiftly tested out his new suit by extending his wings.

"Cool!" The bird themed hero exclaimed.

Mr. Miracle did not look impressed. "Yes cool. . . Now that we have your suit out of the way it's time to move on to accessories. . ." This went on for quite some time.

After Pigeon was done Ember went. His suit was crimson, and completely fireproof. Vine's suit was of course green, and it had the ability to take in sunshine that he could feed to his plants. Vox's was a deep blue, and was able to absorb sound waves to amplify her powers. Void's suit was pitch black, like Pigeon's it was made to survive high altitudes, and its color made it easy to blend into the shadows.

"Trainee 333 aka Cosmic Girl," he eventually announced.

Betty was still nervous, but she did her best to push her insecurities to the back of her mind, as she approached Mr. Miracle. 

"As your current powers have no practical use in combat, your suit is mostly standard. I have added more insulation for if your partner flies you anywhere."

Cosmic Girl could have sworn she heard Void snicker. She felt herself start blushing. Though she tried to ignore it Mr. Miracle was right.

"Next up we have your mask," The man continued on.

He held out a flimsy mostly clear plastic looking mask, with splashes of blue, pink, green, and purple.

"This is made of a specialty material designed to adhere to human skin. The mask itself emmets signals to the brain of anyone who looks at your face, causing them to not register your facial features."

Cosmic Girl applied the mask to her face as the older man reached down, and plucked something off the table.

"This is just what it looks like, a utility belt. It has handcuffs, pepper spray, shark repellent, and anything else you may need."

The belt was a bright pink color. She took it, and snapped it around her waist. He bent down to pick up what looked like a smart watch.

"This is what you all will be using to get your mission assignments, and to talk to one another. It has a built in gps to lead you to the source of the disturbance."

Mr. Miracle pressed a button on the side of the watch. A 3D holographic display appeared.

"If the watch's screen is too small then switch it to 3D mode. Any questions?"

The technology lesson dragged on for another hour. Cosmic Girl had checked out at about the thirty minute mark, her ability to listen for long periods of time was limited to say the least.

"Let's all give Mr. Miracle a big thank you for coming out to help us!"

"Thank you," the teen obliged, dully.

The inventor quickly took his leave. He muttered something about "Kids these days. . ." As he went. After the other man had left Professor Good resumed his lesson.

"I am sure you are all eager to do some field work. . ."

"Heck yeah we are!" Interrupted Pigeon. "Oops sorry prof," he apologized sheepishly, realizing what he'd done.

"No need to apologize, I appreciate the enthusiasm! However as we don't control crime I can not guarantee that you will all get a shot today. We will continue as usual, but at some point an alarm may go off. The alarm indicates that the league as given us a mission. I will send two of you out, and the rest of us will continue on like normal. Understanded?"

They all nodded excitedly, all hoping they would be the ones chosen. However their energy started to waver after three more hours of uninterrupted class time.

"And that is why it is important to carry shark repellent. . ."

*Neeo! Neeo! Neeeeeeooooooo!*

That alarm blared out, causing the teens to jolt to attention.

"Well it looks like there will be field work today after all. Cosmic Girl, Void you're up!"

Both teens froze for a second before jumping off the couch. They both hurtled towards the exit without a second thought. Cosmic Girl barely even took note of the stellar city view as she rushed out of the base. Their new home was located inside a mountain that overlooked the city of 'Crowlsburg'. Cosmic Girl immediately darted towards the super sonic elevator that lead to the bottom of the mountain.

"What are you doing?" Void asked, giving her a strange look.

"I'm taking the elevator! What does it look like I'm doing?" She replied, adrenaline clouding her judgment.

"We aren't taking the elevator."

"What do you mean we aren't taking the elevator?! Of course we're taking the elevator!"

Void rolled his eyes, something Cosmic Girl was beginning to think was his favorite pastime.

"Why the hell would we take the elevator,  when one of us can fly?"

"Oooooh," she said, finally realizing what her teammate meant.

"Yeah, oh indeed. Let's just get a move on Ok?" Without waiting for a response, Void scooped her up, and rocketed off into the sky.

The closest thing to flying with Void that she had experienced, was the time one of her foster families took her to ride a rollercoaster. After that experience she had started vomiting, and crying uncontrollably, so her view of flying wasn't exactly positive.

"Oh god I'm gonna throw up!"

"You'd better not!" Void growled.

Void took them into a deep dive, down towards the city. Cosmic Girl felt like she was dying.

"Where are we headed?" Asked Void, in their rush to leave the base, they had forgotten to look at their destination.

Cosmic Girl's eyes were watering from the wind, but she managed to find the gps button on her watch.

"Your destination is 'Little Johnny Big City Restaurant'," said a calm female voice.

The teen girl kept her eyes screwed shut, as her partner zoomed through the city, weaving between buildings. Just as she felt she would pass out, she felt Void descending slowly. She cautiously opened her eyes. They were nearing the ground in front if a restaurant with a tacky, purple, and orange neon sign that read 'Little Johnny's Big City Restaurant.' Cosmic Girl wriggled out of her partner's arms as soon he touched ground.

"Thank goodness that's over," she muttered, getting back her barings.

As soon as the world no longer felt like it was shaking, she made a beeline for the restaurant.

"Wait," said Void, putting a hand on Cosmic Girl's shoulder.

"Why?" She asked, irritated but listening

"We need a plan of a attack. We can't just rush in through the front door. Our suits might be bulletproof, but we aren't."

The blonde teen nodded "This restaurant probably has a back door in that alley, that leads into the kitchen . I say we go through there, and catch him off guard," she said, gesturing to an alley opening to the left of the restaurant.

Void nodded "Agreed."

They both darted into the alley. It didn't take long to find a door into the restaurant, of course it was locked but it only took Void a few seconds to pick it.

"Wow nice work!" Cosmic Girl said, surprised at how genuine the complement was.

Void rolled his eyes. "This is lock picking 101. You'd be able to do it to if you actually paid attention at the academy."

Any warmth she had been feeling for her teammate instantly drained from her, and she scowled.

"Follow my lead," he whispered, as he opened the door.

Cosmic Girl did not enjoy being bossed around, but she knew that now was not the time to start a fight. She followed her teammate through the door. The moment they walked in they were hit with the smell.

"*Cough* Oh god!"

Large amounts of food had been left burning on the stoves.  It was a wonder that nothing had caught on fire yet. They both quickly rushed to turn off the stoves, it would be pointless to save the restaurant only to have it burn down. After dealing with that disaster they both inched towards the kitchen doors.

"Everyone get down or I'll do it again!"

"Oh god please no! Not again!"

Cosmic Girl tensed, she had been preparing for this moment for as long as she could remember. Now that the time had actually come for her to be a hero, her stomach felt like it would explode. Void's reaction was to attempt to brashly push though the doors. Cosmic Girl's arm shot out to block his way. 

"What are you doing!" He hissed.

"Saving your sorry butt. Like you said earlier we can't just go rushing in. We need a plan." Void seemed to agree with her, he stepped back from the door.

"What would you suggest then?"

Cosmic Girl paused for a moment, turning over the situation in her head.

"I'll blind him, and then you can go on the offensive."

"Ok that works. On three?"

She nodded.

"One. . ." the teenage girl was trying to be calm but she could feel herself shaking.

"Two. . ." She sucked in a deep breath. She had been training for this moment for years.

"Three. . ." They both burst through the doors, and took in their surroundings. A man was standing atop a table brandishing something at the restaurant patrons. At the sound of the doors banging open he turned to face them. Cosmic Girl wasted no time and threw her palms up towards his face.

"Ach!" He yelped, as the light hit his eyes.

Void did not miss a beat, literally flying into the man, pinning him to the floor.

"I got him!" He exclaimed.

"Yes!" Yelled the other teen, running over to her partner.

When she reached him she noticed something that caused her pride to disappear. The man pinned under Void couldn't have been younger than forty. He was short, and round, with a receding hairline. The thing he had been brandishing had been a simple notebook. Looking around Cosmic Girl realized the restaurant patrons seemed more annoyed than scared.

"Thank goodness you finally showed up! I don't think I could have handled another pun!" Said a disgruntled woman.

"Pun?" Asked Void, confused. Her partner was clearly starting to realize the strangeness of the situation as well.

"Yes!" Croaked the man pinned by Void. "It is I! The Pun Master! Here to make you fall to your knees from my witty word play!" The whole crowd groaned.

"You mean. . ." said Void, clearly annoyed. "That the only thing he was doing was telling bad puns?"

"Well yeah," one bystander said, obviously not seeing the problem.

"Hey my puns are amazing!" The bad guy objected.

"Oh will you shut it!" Replied Void.

"Why didn't you just call the police?" The crowd stared blankly at her.

"Can one of you please call the police? We don't have our own private prison for this guy. And even if we did it wouldn't be worth it." The 'villain' objected again but the male hero wasn't listening.

Cosmic Girl and, Void awkwardly waited for the police to arrive. Everyone's eyes were on them. The blonde girl suddenly felt self-conscious in her skin tight, purple suit. Void had it worse, he had tried to get off the man assuming he wasn't a flight risk, but the moment he felt the hero's weight shift, the Pun Master tried to escape. So Void had to keep pinning the b-list villain to the ground. It was a huge relief when the police finally arrived.

"We can take it from here," an officer said, finally letting Void release the man.

Both Cosmic Girl, and Void had to answer a few basic questions before the police would let them leave, but soon to their collective relief, they were allowed to leave.

"I can't believe this!" Void ranted as they slowly walked towards the base. "I mean I knew we wouldn't be fighting Overshadow, but The Pun Master? Really?"

"For once I actually agree with you."

The teens walked in silence for a bit. Void could fly them back, but both heroes were in  need of a little extra time to blow off steam.

"How incompetent do they think we are?" Void asked, kicking a rock on the sidewalk.

"Apparently very," Cosmic Girl replied, her own irritation obvious.

She started to notice people openly staring at them as they walked down the street.

"Void I think it's about time for us to fly back. These suits are bound to attract strange attention." No sooner had the words left her mouth then a stranger reached out and grabbed her elbow.

"Hey!" She yelped, pulling her arm free, and spinning to face her assailant.

"I'm sorry dear! I didn't mean to frighten you."

Standing there was an old woman. She retracted her wrinkled hand, and smiled. She was dressed strangely, in a brown robe. Void gave his teammate a sideways glance.

"Oh no I'm sorry! I didn't realize. . ."

"It's quite alright dear! Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Zerell?"

Cosmic Girl blinked, at a lost of what to say. Luckily for her Void chimed in.

"No I'm afraid she doesn't. We have to be going."

He grabbed the blonde teen's wrist, and attempt to drag her away. The old woman's hand sprung to action, latching onto her arm again.

"Please! It will only take a minute!" Bystanders started murmuring.

"What are they doing to that poor old woman!"

"That's no way to treat your elders!"

Cosmic Girl looked into old woman's pleading eyes, and sighed. "I really have to be going. Do you have a pamphlet, or something?"

The old woman's eyes lit up. She clapped her hands together, releasing the young hero's arm.

"Yes! Yes! Let me find it." She ran her hands through her robe, looking for the paper.

Void rolled his eyes. "Don't encourage her!" He whispered, harshly in her ear.

"What do you want me to do? Fight her?" She shot back. 

"Aha! I've got one! Here you go dear. If you have any questions our covens address is on the back. You and your boyfriend have a nice day!"

"Oh we will," replied Void, his voice dripping with sarcasm, as he grabbed his teammate's arm to drag her away.

As the heroes faded from her vision the old woman's mouth twisted into a sinister grin. "I'm sure you will."