JSAB Reverse Superhero AU Fanfic: Hero in Training
A gift for @rhyth5 and @aquatic-turquoise!
It’s been a while since I’ve done any Reverse Superhero stuff, and I was in the mood for writing an action scene!
Description: Squog is excited to finally join the Pink Menace in his superhero work. There’s just one problem... he doesn’t know what his powers will be...
Warning for slight violence.
As always, the period after the battle was silent, full of mourning for those lose and heavy with fear for what was to come. Even the normally bustling streets of Paradise City were dark and dreary, the lights all busted or otherwise lacking power. All was still and solemn as the city’s hero traveled, making his long trek back home to face another day and prepare for his next night of fighting.
All was quiet, save for the tinny, echoing voice of a certain newcomer hero...
“Menace… when can I learn how to shoot lasers from my eye?” Squog’s eager voice echoed through the night, his very presence seeming to brighten the otherwise dull area. Quite literally, given that his body gave off a faint pink glow, his fur shiny and reflective and filled with magic.
The Pink Menace paused, turning to face his energetic companion. His eyes slid partially shut with exhaustion, and he gave a small chuckle, reaching to pat the shape dog on the head. “I’m not sure about that, kiddo.” He internally cringed; he was hardly fourteen and already referring to his sidekick as a kid. “But I think I’ve got an idea of one of your powers.”
Squog lit up like a neon sign, buzzing with excitement. “What is it?” His tail wagged madly, its movements a blur from the speed and light that it gave off. “Flight? Telekinesis? The power to bend magnetic fields with my mind?!”
No response came from his partner in crime-fighting. Squog lowered his head, his glow dimming a bit as he fell back into step with the Menace’s lazy gait.
The very aura seemed to change as they set foot in the more damaged end of town, the area closest to the Treeangle and thus the area home to most of the most brutal battles. The carnage was obvious in the infrastructure, the roads peppered with indentations from misfired cannons, stomping beasts, and crushing impacts.
The pair of heroes slid down the sudden incline that marked the edge of a particularly large, unavoidable crater in the street, kicking up ash and faint cyan dust with the movement. They began to trek across the gap, Squog’s paws hovering just inches off the charred, flattened ground. The two fell into an eerie, placid silence, no words needed to be exchanged as the equal feeling of loss settled in their souls. It sent shivers through Squog, and he found himself freezing up, the cold settling in his bones and making him pause with worry as the other hero slowly came to a stop, right in the center of the crater.
Menace chuckled, stretching until the bones in his arms popped softly. He felt his joints disconnect, loosen, a brief burst of energy rushing through his limbs, before he suddenly pulled his arms back, an orb of volatile energy forming in his claws. His sleeves melted away to reveal the segmented, simplistic nature of his arms in their combat form, and a crooked grin stretched across his face as he brought his cannon to eye level with Squog.
The canine hero yelped, jumping back just as the Pink Menace fired, further charring the ground where he’d been standing once before. His ears folded down, and he let out a whimper, his core humming with nervousness.
“Menace?” Squog called. He lowered himself a bit, his limbs shaking. “What are you doing? You could’ve fried me!”
The other hero said nothing, firing another round of blasts in a straight line, the lasers chasing after Squog. The dog could do little to escape as the double blasts closed in, cornering him and forcing him to leap. His fur shimmered in the moonlight, and he felt something snap within him, his body shuddering all at once as he screamed, rolling in the air.
A shadow of emotionlessness fell over his mentor’s face, and Squog’s ears twitched, picking up on the unique, lilting melody of beat magic. In time with the Menace’s heart rate eye, the electric beat slammed with heavy bass, menacing undertones ringing through the air as the unfamiliar, boss-worthy music roared.
Squog landed behind the Menace, yelling again, “Snap out of it, buddy!” He slammed his paws against the ground for traction, rearing up and landing a not-so-harsh kick in his partner in crime-fighting’s side. “This isn’t you!”
The Menace was sent flying, through he soon recovered, his claws shooting forth to dig into the ground. He showed no outward signs of infection from the Cursed Tree, though he lacked emotion as well, his movements cold and calculated…
Squog’s heart sank in terror; this wasn’t how his friend normally fought, not in the slightest.
Before he could continue his panicked musings, something burning and sharp connected with his side. He twisted to avoid it, scraping his stomach against the disconnected arm that whizzed by him. His eyes widened, and he hissed in pain, bristling and stumbling back.
The battle was beginning to wear on him, and he could feel the music growing louder, its presence a tickling, nerve wracking sensation at the back of his mind.
The Pink Menace sauntered over to his dislodged arm, picking it up and reconnecting it to his body with a snap. He slowly turned to face Squog… before his body flickered, glitching out of view.
The heroic dog’s pale eyes went wide, and he darted to the center of the “arena”, tense. He cowered, looking around frantically for any sign of the attacking shape’s reappearance. Hackles rising, the canine pulled his magenta cape tighter against his body, halting his shivering in hopes of listening for the Menace’s song. Paranoia crept through his soul, gripping at his mind; the Menace could teleport anywhere around him, could flicker through him and send him flying at a whim. Squog went pallid, glad that he’d been on the antihero’s side for at least this long…
His ears twitched, and his heart clenched, a sudden terror filling him. Something instinctive screamed within him to move, to run from the spot directly in front of him. He leapt backwards, soaring through the air, away from his would-be attacker. The Pink Menace glitched back into existence mere feet away, swiping through the air with wicked claws.
Squog landed directly on his left foreleg, and a pained howl ripped from his throat. He crumpled to the ground, a loud snap ringing out as he felt his ankle snap. Sensing his weakness, the Menace was upon him in an instant, wasting no time picking him up and tossing him in the air, where he’d be vulnerable to attack… Squog’s eyes snapped open fully, glowing harshly. A feral snarl left him, and he sunk his teeth into the Menace’s shoulder just as he was lifted. The inertia sent the Menace flying over Squog’s shoulder, gravity seeming to warp somehow, just enough so that the antihero was sent careening wherever Squog willed him to be.
That seemed to do some damage, and the traitorous hero stayed where he’d fallen. Squog’s sharp gaze caught the smallest twitch of a finger. His eyes narrowed, pupils pulling into slits, and with a mere thought, the glow around his body hardened into powerful, shocking energy, electrocuting and thoroughly stunning the Pink Menace.
The battle was over.
A minute passed with the fallen Menace making no further attempts to move. Squog’s tense posture relaxed, and his eyes filled with fear. He rushed over to his friend’s side, whimpering.
“Menace?” When no response came, he whimpered, pawing at the other hero’s face. “Menace..?”
Slowly, the young shape’s good eye opened, the heart rate monitor in the place of his other eye returning to a steady pulse. He quirked a small grin and hummed, “Gravity, clairvoyance, and electricity.”
Squog stared at him, his eyes full of tears, which glinted in the low light. It took him a moment to fully process what had been said, before his eyes flickered with insight.
A jolt of that fervent energy rushed across his body, from the tip of his tail to his ears, and a tiny, elated grin pulled at his features.
“It was all a test…those are my powers...” he realized, awestruck. Joy bubbled from within him, replacing the previous anxiety, and he let out a gleeful whoop. “I have powers!”
He was so overcome with joy that he failed to notice, even with his limited clairvoyance, the flickering of spatial energy just in his peripheral vision. He glanced back at the Pink Menace to share the joy, but he squeaked upon seeing that the once exhausted shape had vanished.
Squog’s ears folded down, before a chill raced down his spine. The dark pink tones drained from his body as the sun began to rise, depriving him of his otherworldly form and the excess energy that came with it. Just as he began to relax, however, a new terror filled him, a frown twisting his expression as his eyes went wide.
“I MISSED MY DATE WITH STRAWBERRY!”
With that, the shape dog zoomed through the city, mind swimming with apologies and excuses already. In his rush, he didn’t even notice the sharp pink gaze watching him from the shadows…
Deep within the darkness of the city, something very wrong, ancient and twisted grinned; a new hero was in town, and he’d soon be crushed...