JUNE 21

1142 EST

A shimmering hemisphere of ivy green energy.

That was their target. All they had to do was find a way to disable the energy from its source, and the op would be completed.

Piece of cake, right?

Tristan scoffed at the thought. It wasn't anywhere near simple. In his opinion, the op was useless, but that didn't appear to matter. It was still as difficult as all their other ops in the past few weeks, and for good reason.

The hemisphere was drawn from magic, summoned from the Union's most formidable enemy, Rune. That guy was tough and sneaky and so many shades of mysterious that Tristan didn't even know where to start. And the guy's spells? Forget it.

The Union of heroes was stationed at different points around the blazing hemisphere, trying to compose a plan. They had each individually attempted to break the spell, to no avail. They needed a plan that wasn't going to backfire the second they executed it.

In exasperation, Tristan groaned and pressed a finger to his earpiece. "Regroup by me."

He dropped his hand to the snowflake emblem on his royal blue supersuit, and a hum emanated from it as it began to glow. The beacon informed the Union as to where Tristan was located in the foliage surrounding him.

Instantly, a rumble of footsteps presented the entrance of Bristol, Avi, and CJ. They glanced at Tristan, all expectant of a plan.

Tristan looked at them blankly. "Could you all be any louder?"

Bristol groaned, folding her arms over the golden emblem on her azure jacket. "Is that what you wanted us to know, Deep Freeze?"

Tristan glared at her, the jab of his alias striking a nerve with him. "Not at all, Elemental Empress." He retorted, rolling his sapphire eyes and turning his attention to the rest of the group. "We need a plan."

"No, really?" Bristol muttered under her breath. "But by all means, continue."

Tristan ignored her, turning to Avi, the supercomputer. "Avi, can you run a scan for us? Of the hemisphere?"

"Certainly," Avi responded.

While Avi's scans weren't visible, you could definitely feel them. As she gazed through the bushes at the glowing barrier, Tristan felt the resonation of energy coming from her like a miniature shock wave. Then, as soon as it started, it was over.

"The hemisphere is made up Rune's energy, specifically designed to disable the abilities of those that step inside of it. Any offensive attacks will be reverberated." Avi reported.

CJ, the brown-haired speedster, leant against a nearby tree as if this whole op was a waste of his time. On that note, Tristan couldn't blame him.

"So, what?" CJ motioned to the barrier lazily. "This thing is virtually indestructible?"

"Not indestructible, but incredibly resistant," Avi countered.

"Perfect," Bristol rolled her chocolate eyes, looking to Tristan pointedly. "What plan are we gonna make for this, huh?"

Before Tristan could rebuff her, CJ pushed himself away from his tree. "What if we hit it from all sides? Like we all use our powers at the same time? It would be too incapacitated to send off one individual attack, right?"

"Well, probably, but--" Tristan began, but CJ was already kicking himself into gear.

"I'll get it started, then!" The speedster enthused.

"CJ, wait!" Bristol took a step towards him in an attempt to stop him, but was met with a sudden rush of air as CJ barrelled towards the hemisphere at lightning speed.

CJ was a blur as he ran straight into the emerald barrier, bouncing off of it like he was made of rubber. He yelled as he flew back to the group, landing at their feet.

"Well..." CJ coughed, pushing himself up. "That didn't work."

Avi tilted her head. "You did not wait for the rest of us, Rapid."

CJ got to his feet, dusting himself off. "I was testing a theory."

"And what result did you obtain from this experiment?" Bristol asked, sarcasm lacing her voice.

CJ cocked an eyebrow, smirking as he reclined back against his tree. "I tried and that's what matters."

Bristol took a deep breath, like she was trying not to throttle the speedster. "This is hopeless." She forged forward, and Tristan reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" He asked her.

"Getting a closer look at it. We've been staring at it from too far away. Maybe there's something we aren't seeing." Bristol yanked her wrist from Tristan's grip, shooting him an icy look.

Tristan felt the result of Avi's scans, averting his gaze to the android. "Elemental Empress is correct. There appears to be a gap in my scan due to our distance. The hemisphere is emitting a heat signature."

"Avi's right," CJ walked over to stand by Bristol, joining her as they peered at the hemisphere in the distance. Tristan approached them, with Avi close behind.

"There! How did we not see it before?" Bristol asked. She pointed to the hemisphere. "Look at the base of the barrier. It's flickering as if it were on fire."

Tristan followed Bristol's line of sight and sure enough, discovered that at the base of the emerald hemisphere, were small flames. They flickered like small embers, gems of transparent flames dancing around the rim.

CJ's face lit up. "Bristol! You can control the elements, try and fight fire with fire."

Bristol bit her lip, glancing at Tristan nervously. There was only one person on the team that knew about Bristol's limited control of the other elements, and it was him. To Avi and CJ, the Elemental Empress was exactly that: a master of all four elements.

"Or I can extinguish it with water," Bristol tried, standing up a bit straighter.

"We must implement Rapid's plan, as well. My estimates report that an execution of our powers to all sides will extinguish the flames of the barrier. However, as Elemental Empress is the only member of the Union with hydrokinesis, there would not be enough counterintuitive energy to destroy it," Avi chimed.

Tristan threw his hands into the air. "We don't have time for another plan! I can control ice, I'll go freeze the thing." And as his team protested behind him, Tristan burst into the clearing.

Tristan approached the hemisphere, the heat waves hitting him like a tidal wave. He threw his hands out in front of him and generated as much ice as he could. So help him, he was ending this stupid training op as fast as he could.

However, his plan backfired. His ice was melting as soon as it took hold of the barrier, and Tristan had to duck down to avoid a sudden flare.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" He heard Bristol exclaim. Tristan turned back to the bushes and saw Bristol in her blue uniform, marching into the clearing. She whipped a stream of water at the barrier, which emitted another flare and the Elemental Empress took a dive.

"I got this!" CJ yelled.

Tristan got up in frustration, trying to stop him, but the speedster had become a blur, bolting into the barrier. He bounced off of it yet again, disappearing back into the foliage.

Through the comms, Tristan could hear Avi say, "No, Rapid, you do not even have this."

The barrier seemed to be getting bored, as more flames flicked from its sides.

"Everyone, get down! It's gonna blow!" Tristan roared, bolting from his position and grabbing Bristol to yank her back into safety, but the barrier erupted and they both were forced down.

Based on the amount of heat that rushed over him, Tristan supposed the barrier was a supervolcano in disguise. However, the roar of the fire disappeared, only to be replaced with the sound of slow, cynical clapping.

"Oh, no," CJ groaned through the comms system.

"Oh, yes," A woman sniped.

Tristan sat up and saw Priscilla, the Union's caretaker, marching towards them. Her fiery red hair was twisted up into a bun, and her sky blue pantsuit reminded Tristan of the hottest of flames, the ones that could burn your flesh right to the bone if you got too close. Tristan made a face; the comparison rather exemplified Priscilla's winning personality.

He got to his feet, and Priscilla glanced at him, her crystalline eyes scanning him in a way that even Avi couldn't manage. "I see that making you the leader of this mission was a mistake if this is how you execute a strategy, Tristan."

"Excuse me for trying to make a plan based on the powers of a villain we've already defeated!" Tristan exclaimed.

Priscilla's electric eyes shut him up. Tristan clamped his mouth shut, although he had a few more fiery words to say to her.

"I did not ask for your input." Priscilla snapped, each word clipped.

Tristan grit his teeth, attempting to protest. However, Priscilla held up a manicured hand. "No rebuttals. All of you, come with me. We must discuss your failed tactics and how to improve." She cast an icy look over the four young heroes and turned on her heel, holding a hand out in front of her.

Rays of golden light uncurled from Priscilla's fingertips until a swirling portal materialized before her. "Come on, all of you." Priscilla stood beside the portal, watching them like a hawk.

Tristan cast a tired glance at his teammates before stepping through the portal. Within a moment, he was back inside Headquarters, standing inside the metallic cortex. He sauntered over to a wall, leaning against it. Shortly after him, Bristol appeared, followed by CJ, Avi, and Priscilla, who closed the portal.

Their caretaker turned to them, watching them intently, as if trying to decipher just how their plan went wrong as if it were written on their faces. "Go change, then meet back here. We've got a lot to discuss if you don't want the Contingency on your heels."

---

After the four heroes had changed out of their supersuits and reconvened in the cortex, Priscilla gave them the basis. She had been watching the op meticulously, and thought it was going well until the four had decided to fire individual attacks. She stressed the importance of teamwork, and how it made up with Union. Without teamwork, there was no cohesion, blah, blah blah...

When the guilt trip was over, Priscilla took a deep breath and fixed them with her signature stern look. "You four must learn to cooperate. So, take the day off and go into town to relax. The more you learn about each other when you aren't heroes could be what helps future missions when you are."

No one protested, but Tristan attributed their silence to the knowledge of being shut down by Priscilla. To say that the woman was scary was an understatement. Despite how young she was, their caretaker could be terrifying if crossed.

"Now, go. And be back by dark." Priscilla concluded and turned on her impossibly-high heels.

CJ made a face, calling after her. "Uh, Priscilla? We kind of need the portal."

Priscilla stopped in her tracks, glancing icily over her shoulder. "No, you don't. You're taking the manual entrance." And with that, she disappeared behind a corner.

Silence was left in her wake as Tristan and the others watched her go. It wasn't until Bristol broke it with a single, "I really hate her sometimes."

"Agreed," Avi and CJ chorused.

Tristan pushed away from where he was leaning against the wall. The sooner they left, the better. "Come on, let's just go."

He started down the hall, and it wasn't long until a trio of other footsteps followed. The manual entrance Priscilla had spoken of just so happened to be located beneath the river. If it wasn't for Bristol and her hydrokinesis, they all would have been drenched. Tristan tried to imagine the face of a fisherman alongside the opposite shore, witnessing four teenagers emerge from the rapids. The thought almost lifted his spirits.

Almost.

As they meandered their way through the trees, Avi spoke. "There is a high possibility of being spotted this way. This forest is common for recreational activities, as well as historic tours. Priscilla must not be aware of such statistics."

"Priscilla isn't aware of a lot of things," Tristan grumbled, averting his gaze to Avi.

While Avi was built to be a robot, she had more human qualities than those of an android. Looking at her, you just saw a girl of average height with light brown hair chopped into a bob, with luminous green eyes. The summer sun reflected off her skin, making her glow, but only if you knew to look close enough could you see the green coding beneath her skin.

"So where to first?" Avi asked the group.

No one answered, because Tristan knew that they didn't know. The Union didn't get much time outside of training to hang out like normal teenagers. Especially as of recently. Only a few weeks ago had they defeated Rune, their worst enemy, in the first place. Now, he was contained in a prison somewhere in the Indian Ocean, but Priscilla still made them run ops based around him.

Fueled by his rage for the pointless ops, Tristan asked, "Anyone else think today's op was stupid?" When no one answered him, he continued, his words running into one another. "I mean, Rune is contained. Why are we still focusing on him?" His companions looked at him quickly and nervously.

"Um, Tristan, maybe we shouldn't discuss work when we aren't at work." Bristol said, glancing over her shoulder as if to check for eavesdroppers. Although who was going to eavesdrop on a group of kids in a forest preserve, Tristan didn't know. "Who knows who could be listening?"

Tristan rolled his eyes, and even though he was bristling, he dropped the subject. Eventually, the four reached an arcade that Avi had scoped out on a quick scan of the city. Apparently, Bristol recognized it, because her dark brown eyes lit up as they came across its glowing sign.

"Really? An arcade?" CJ scrunched up his nose in distaste.

Bristol laughed her signature, easy laugh. "Yes, an arcade. Come on, Speedy," She teased, backing through the arcade's doors. "Bet I could kick your butt at air hockey!"

"Oh, you're so on, Avatar!" CJ called after her in return, snide comments regarding the arcade forgotten as he bolted in after Bristol.

Avi walked inside cautiously alongside Tristan. "Remind me why nicknames are a common occurrence?" She asked.

Tristan shrugged. "They're terms of endearment or friendship, I guess. If you don't have one now, leave it to CJ to assign you one. I'm normally Popsicle Boy, CJ is Speedy, and Bristol is Avatar."

Avi watched him with an air of confusion as they passed different games back to the air hockey table. "I do not understand Bristol's."

Tristan laughed. "It's a reference to a popular show." He said. "No worries."

They'd reached the air hockey table, where Bristol and CJ were already duking it out. It must not have been going well for CJ, because Tristan watched as his hand turned to a blur and the puck suddenly flew into Bristol's goal, upping his score.

She looked up at the speedster in equal parts contempt and amusement. "No fair! No abilities!"

"No promises!" CJ retorted, a smirk on his face and a laugh on his lips. "Come on, get the puck!"

Bristol shook her head, plucking the puck back out and placing it on the table. "You know, the fact that you have to use your abilities just goes to show how badly you suck at this game."

"Shut up and play, Vandeviere." CJ said, blushing. "I'm not that bad."

Beside Tristan, Avi laughed. "I predict that Bristol will win the game, if not for her skills, than her ability to verbally weaken her opponent."

At that, CJ's head whipped around to face Avi and Tristan. "No way!" He looked at Tristan with pleading hazel eyes. "Come on, Tristan, help a friend out."

Tristan grinned. "Sorry, man. My money's on Bristol."

Bristol cheered in victory and flicked her hand forward; the puck flew into CJ's goal. He cried out as if he had been shot. "No fair! Rematch! I've been wounded!" He said in mock agony.

"The only thing that's been wounded is your ego. Maybe your dignity. An argument could be made for your pride." Bristol chimed, leaning against the machine with a satisfactory smirk.

"Oho!" Tristan's eyebrows shot up at that. "She is coming for your life, CJ."

"When isn't she?" CJ shot her a look, but he too was smiling.

It wasn't long until Bristol sashayed past to show them other parts of the arcade, and for once, Tristan couldn't find it in him to complain. While the usually was tempered when it came to missions, he thought it was really...relaxing to just be regular teenagers sometimes. He found himself smiling and laughing and having fun, something that an hour ago he thought he would never do for a while.

---

A few hours later, around sundown, the Union left the arcade in camaraderie. They had played air hockey, made bets on multiple games, and tired themselves out from going against Avi on DDR. But it had been a fun day, even Tristan could say as much. With prizes from gathered tickets in their arms and laughter echoing around them, the four started down the sidewalks of Brightbay City.

"We should do this more often," Avi smiled, readjusting where her prize--a stuffed monkey--was dangling from her hands. "Rest and recreation such as this is proven to improve performance."

"Sounds good to me," CJ voiced. "All we have to do is get in trouble with Priscilla again, and we can come back!"

Bristol snorted. "Pretty much."

They passed an alley, lost in chatter and laughter, but Tristan stopped in his tracks as he peered down it. The group stopped around him. Something was coming from it...something that felt scarily like Rune's energy.

"Tristan? Everything okay?" Bristol asked.

Tristan was silent for a while, peering down the brick alleyway. There didn't seem to be anything, and after a few beats, the feeling faded. He nodded. "Yeah, I just thought I felt something."

The heroes glanced at one another, but started off. Tristan cast one more wary glance down the alley before turning on his heel. That was when a feeling like a wormhole had been opened behind him settled deep into Tristan's bones, and before he could act, he and his friends flew backwards into the alley. They ricocheted against the brick walls of the opposing buildings, collapsing to the damp cement ground.

"What the hell?" Tristan barked, pushing himself to his feet. As soon as he did, he realized his mistake. Like clockwork, he was pushed back against the wall. A feeling like fire erupted behind his shoulder, and he hissed in pain.

"Let him go!" Bristol demanded, her voice echoing through the shadows. She stood up, only to be shoved against the wall by the invisible force.

"What do you want with us?" CJ snapped, hauling himself to his feet. A hand emerged from the shadows, moving like that of a magician's or puppeteers, and CJ was the marionette it was trying to control. But if CJ was anything, it was fast. He dashed out of the way, becoming a blur of hazel and denim.

The owner of the hand gasped.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Union..." A masculine voice thrummed through the shadows, tickling a memory at the back of Tristan's mind. He tried to fight against the invisible restraints, but as if sensing his attempts, they pressed him back harder.

"Yes...yes, I recognize you all." The hand swept in an arc, as if gesturing to each of the four heroes. It pointed at CJ. "Rapid...yes, I remember you."

"Me?" CJ echoed.

While CJ had the man distracted, Tristan racked his brain. That voice belonged to one of Rune's minions, he was sure of it. However, the pain in his head and his shoulders distracted him from placing a name to the voice.

He cursed under his breath, switching gears into trying to devise a plan. With CJ arcing through the alleyway, lightning bolts in his wake, it was up to Tristan, Bristol, and Avi to get them out of here. But how?
Tristan glanced to Avi, the natural strategizer of the group, and found her jerking her chin towards the hand in the shadows and back towards Bristol, who was pinned against the opposite wall. However, it wasn't Bristol Avi was regarding; it was the puddle at her boot-clad feet.

Of course, Tristan thought. He did what he could to snag Bristol's attention, and at last, she averted her piercing brown gaze towards him. He couldn't tell her what she needed to do, but with careful directing from his own gaze, she glanced down, saw the puddle, looked back up, and nodded.

Slowly, Bristol inched her hand down to her side, fighting the invisible restraints. She took a shaky breath, and flicked her hand forward. Tristan watched as the water in the puddle obeyed Bristol's command, flying at the man in the shadows.

For good measure, Tristan willed himself to break through the restraints. He threw his own hand forward, and froze the water into a mitt around the man's hand. The invisible grip on the Union was severed as their captor was incapacitated.

"Go!" Avi shouted, and the group dashed away from the man in the shadows.

---

They deemed themselves safe upon entering the forest and finding themselves amidst the fog.

"Did anyone else recognize that voice?" Tristan asked, his voice silent.

His companions nodded.

"That was one of Rune's lackies, wasn't it?" CJ asked.

"Psyche?" Avi offered.

Bristol groaned in ralization. "Of course it was Psyche! How did we not know? How did we defeat him last time?" She asked as they came to a stop near the river.

CJ shook his head. "Don't know, don't care. We need to tell Priscilla about this."

At the mention of their uptight caretaker, Tristan bristled. "And just why do we have to do that?" He asked. "We should go back there and take care of him ourselves."

Avi glanced at Tristan, something akin to sympathy in her glowing green eyes. "Tristan, don't you remember? All of Rune's minions were taken prisoner alongside Rune himself. They all have some form of psychic bond, connecting them together. If Psyche is out..."

The realization hit Tristan as forcefully as he had rammed into the alley wall. "Then Rune's out." He breathed.

Bristol clambered atop the rocks, and upon finding the correct one, the Contingency's insignia shimmered at her feet. A thin sheet of white light materialized before her, and she turned back to Tristan and the others. "It's a possibility, but let's hurry up before someone less than friendly spots us." She cast her watchful gaze out to the rapidly darkening forest.

The Union followed Bristol through the portal, emerging into the cortex of Headquarters. As they entered, Tristan's heart hammered in his chest, sending matching pulses of pain to his shoulder. They had barely defeated Rune the last time without losing their lives. It was a battle that had waged for days, and frankly, Rune was the one thing Tristan feared. He was manipulative and mysterious, as easy to capture as a cloud. He could unleash a torment of different energies and spells at multiple places at the same time, making him even more unpredictable, and therefore, dangerous.

And Rune knew his own power too. He'd given himself a name that matched his own impossibility to decode and to find. Just when you thought you understood, the meaning dissolved into smoke. How could you find someone who kept disappearing? Tristan didn't know, but he had a feeling he was going to find out sooner or later.