Teddy reminded herself not to insult the Heroes or anything, even if they ended up being disgusting capitalists.

Emily and Teddy picked some seats way off in the back, near the big guy in the black-gold armor. He turned their way, his armor scraping around his neck. “Hey,” he said.

The Boss swallowed audibly. “H-hi.”

“Hey!” Teddy said right back.

“So, which one of you called me a brick shithouse?” he asked. His voice was real cool, all rumbly and deep.

“That was Melaton,” Teddy said. “But it’s stupid because you don’t look like a house, you look like a person.”

The man snorted. “Cute. I’m Slaymaker,” he said.

Teddy approved. “That’s a cool name,” she said, then whispered, “I’m, uh . . . Boss, what’s my fake Hero name?”

The Boss shifted on her seat. “Um, Ursa Minor? That’s the name a lot of people use online.”

“Ursa is ‘bear,’ right?” Teddy asked.

The Boss nodded. “It is. Ursa Minor is a constellation of stars.”

That was supercool. “Yeah, I’m Ursa Minor,” Teddy said to Slaymaker. “I turn into a bear.”

He nodded. “That’s kinda neat,” he said. “I punch things hard.”

Teddy huffed. She could do that too. It was hardly impressive. Bears were known for their incredible swiping prowess. She bet she could outslay Slaymaker any day of the week. His name was cool and all, but he was still just a Hero.

Teddy was going to ask Slaymaker if his power was really just punching people—given what she knew about powers, they were usually a lot more complicated than that—but she was cut off as a weird man stepped into the room and walked up to the whiteboard at the very front.

The Boss gasped.

Teddy was too busy staring at the guy. He had a big helmet on, with a bug-eyed visor, and a pair of articulated metal antennae sticking out the top. He was wearing a lab coat over pajamas, and he had big fluffy moth slippers on his feet with their own antennae wiggling about.

Unlike most of the Heroes around, this one had his nameplate up.

Quantum Mothman

Paragon, Level 4

“Who’s that?” Teddy asked. He was probably important. Only important people could get away with looking so silly.

“That’s the Quantum Mothman,” the Boss said. “He has a lot of powers and has been around for a long time. He’s kind of a local celebrity.”

Teddy shrugged. Just a big-time Hero. Probably a bit too big-time for the Boss to face off against, for now, but still. She’d keep her eyes on him in case he tried any funny business.

The Quantum Mothman cleared his throat. “Yes, hello, everyone,” he said. “I’m me, this is an introduction, and now let’s move on to the important parts, yes?”