After Cecil and the GDA crew rolled out with the mutated villain in tow, I turned to the Teen Team with a big grin.
"Well, looks like I'm officially your part-time MVP now! Not full-time, mind you—I've got jobs to do like collecting paychecks and whatever—but I'll stick around when you need a hand."
They didn't argue much—Rex grumbled, Eve raised an eyebrow, but no one said no. Good enough for me.
We headed off to the Teen Team's secret base—or whatever they called their hangout spot. Eve and I took to the sky, her pink energy glowing as she flew, while I just floated alongside her, Infinity keeping me up like it was nothing.
Down below, Dupli-Kate, Robot, and Rex zipped along on the robot hovering bike—Rex still wincing a little but refusing to admit it.
The city blurred beneath us, all cracked streets and the damage roads and property, as we made our way to Team Teen hideout.
While we flew, Eve glanced over at me, her long pink hair whipping in the wind. She'd been quiet for a bit, but now she spoke up, her voice curious but sharp.
"Hey, Gojo, what did you do back there? With that villain? We saw it throw cars and chunks of road at you, and they just… stopped. Like, inches away from your face. How'd you do that?"
I smirk a little, tilting my head as I floated along, hands behind my head like I was lounging in the air.
"Oh, that? Super simple, Eve! To put it in, like, really basic terms—those things didn't reach me. That's all you need to know! Think of it like… an invisible wall around me that says, 'Nope, not today!' Pretty cool, huh?" I kept it vague, tossing in a little wink just to mess with her. No point in dumping the whole Infinity spiel—she'd figure it out eventually.
She squinted at me, clearly not satisfied, but before she could push, I decided to give her a little show. "Here, check this out," I said, still grinning like a kid with a new toy.
"Touch my hand—go on, try it!" I stretched my arm toward her, floating closer.
Eve hesitated, then shrugged and reached out, her fingers aiming for mine. But her hand stopped, dead in the air, an inch from my palm, like it'd hit glass.
She blinked, pushing harder, but it wouldn't budge. "What the—?" she muttered, pulling back and staring at her hand, then at me.
"See?" I said, chuckling as I wiggled my fingers. "Told ya—nothing gets through unless I allow so! Pretty neat trick, right?" I spun in the air, showing off a little, while she just shook her head, half-amazed, half-annoyed.
"Well… tell you what, I will explain this to you later in more detail."
"Okay! Don't forget!"
"Don't worry, I won't."
….
We touched down at the Teen Team's secret base—a tucked-away spot on the really big bridge and beneath it was their secret base, all concrete walls and blinking tech.
I glanced around as we walked in, the dim lights flickering over a mix of high-tech gear and beat-up furniture.
"Wow," I said, as I spun and looked around.
"This place looks like a secret hideout for some runaway kids who watched too many spy movies. You guys got a secret handshake to go with it?" Eve rolled her eyes, Dupli-Kate snorted, and Rex just muttered something under his breath, but I caught a tiny smirk from him.
Robot, all business as usual, clanked forward and raised a hand to get everyone's attention.
"Team, let us proceed with formal introductions for our new associate." He turned his glowing eyes to me, then the others. "Eve upu can start." Eve went first, crossing her arms.
"Atom Eve—energy manipulation, you've seen it." Dupli-Kate stepped up next, grinning a little.
"Dupli-Kate—I make copies of myself, pretty handy you know 'till they get squashed." Robot nodded.
"I am Robot—strategic coordination and analysis of the team." Then it was Rex's turn. He leaned against a table, still rubbing his healed arm. "Rex Splode—I blow stuff up.."
I couldn't help myself. I clapped my hands a little as I said. "Rex Splode? Seriously? What, you should have been a little creative here like Detonator, Blastforge, Combustor, Shockwave, Volatile, Bombshell, Pyroclash, Explodious, I mean there are so many names? Or did you pick it 'cause 'Rex just because you want other people to know your name or like Rex Boom' was already taken by some guy in a monster truck rally?" Rex glared at me, his face going red.
"Oh, ho verrrryyy funny… very hilarious, white-hair. How about you stick to your glowy tricks and leave the name thing alone?" I just grinned a little as to how easy it is to provoke Rex—too easy literally.
The others started drifting off—Eve fiddling with going to other side, Dupli-Kate grabbing a soda from a fridge in the corner, Rex slumping into a sofa to sulk.
Robot rolled up to me, his metal frame humming softly. "Gojo Satoru," he said, his voice flat but curious. "Your abilities are intriguing. The neutralization of the mutated villain at such an efficiency with any collateral damage and so swiftly, the healing technique applied to Rex—these are very intriguing. I have a request if you don't mind… May I conduct tests on your powers at a later time? Specifically, your offensive and healing power. It would benefit our operational and future mission efficiency."
I tilted my head, gave him a playful shrug and gave a robot shoulder a tap and said. "Tests, huh? Sure, man, I'll let you poke around later—see if you can figure out something more interesting I can do. Just don't expect too much as they aren't that great other than the healing power. Though I can give you an idea of how it works, it will be a little difficult to check as it is something else!" I winked, already picturing him running scans. Robot nodded, probably logging that in his brain somewhere, and I leaned back against the wall, feeling right at home.
'This'll be fun…. Oh! Totally forgot, Mark should have gotten his power by now or maybe sometime later now.'
——
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