by Smasher
A few short days had passed since the battle against Incursion and the death of a friend. Hero had been put to rest at Christmas, and the MBL had been moving into its new headquarters, which it hoped would not be blown to bits and pieces like previous ones. Smasher had not been seen since he left with the Infamous Bedlam Gang, and there had been little action going on. Only pieces remained from the Boull ship and had been placed in the new trophy room. Some Boull clones were still out there, but their locations were unknown.
The team had been hoping to be able to celebrate New Year's Eve in peace, but they still remained ever vigilant, knowing that although they could rest, the bad guys never would. Nevertheless, several members had taken leaves of absence in order to celebrate the holidays, and the active membership, which had swelled rapidly during the Boull invasion, now fell to a skeleton crew once more.
Hardy New-Born, Agent F7, and Zed were discussing the future of the team at the MBL's new round table in the meeting room.
The Rhymer said to the others, "Are we sure the new members are ready to be active members? I think they should go through more training! Maybe we should set up some sort of VR training room. After the loss of both Hero and Gooz, we can never be too careful!"
Agent F7: "I fully agree with you on this, Rhymer. Zed, would you be able to get some tech from the Matter-Beamers?"
Zed: "I could try, but they are very untrusting!"
Hardy New-Born: "Agent F7 and Zed, you two are big parts of this team... and co-leaders if something should happen to me. I want you two to keep a close eye on the new recruits... and get their profiles on record."
Agent F7: "Sure thing. Little is known about Fleetfoot. He sort of just comes and goes faster then you can say zap. And that Major Man was a large help in the fight against the master Boull. And who is this Nowhereman?"
Hardy New-Born: "Nowhereman... I'm not sure, but he has also been a big help. I have fought with him once before, and I think that we can trust him. And on another note, I think that I may be changing my name back to Rhyme Guardian."
Zed: "Any reason for the change back?"
Hardy New-Born: "Well, this new body... my cloned body doesn't have the large HNB mark on my back. I feels like I have MY body again. Strange, huh? I'm not sure, though. I might keep Hardy New-Born."
In a large building in Thunder City:
"I will have my vengeance! Enough time has passed since my defeat. I will rule again! Once, I owned this city... then my IBG, and my TriVext Corp. lost to the fucking MBL! Well... I'm back!"
Out of the shadows walked General Gerald Forrest.