Young Writers Society

For the first few moments, the only thing that Maahes could think of doing was shielding Molly from the fight. Part of him wanted to make the flames and wind he was so used to having, but the other part knew that was impossible. He was human now. And even if the others had magically gotten powers, Batman didn't have any powers. He just had technology that Maahes didn't know how to use and fighting skills that Maahes probably didn't have.

But then the ceiling started to crack.

And Maahes realized that he needed to do something or else they'd all be crushed.

He darted around the currently immobile villain, gently placing Molly a few feet away from the warehouse when it inevitably collapsed. Then he joined Adrid over by the superhero that had been knocked back into a pillar.


"I can move," the hero said, vision swarming in front of his eyes. It was a miracle that he hadn't gotten a concussion yet - this villain really liked to knock him into things. It was a good thing he had thought of changing his body to something that wouldn't injure as more. "...I'm just a little dazed."

He unsteadily got to his feet, letting steel turn back to regular human flesh.

The villain was down on the ground in front of him, but that didn't make any sense. He hadn't even attacked him. He blinked, looked around the warehouse, and then stared when he saw the boy who was dressed as Thor holding up the roof.

...Like Thor would have.

"I must have hit my head harder than I thought," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. Maybe he did get a concussion. But before he could question it any further, he realized Batman was trying to support him as he stood. The man didn't look like Bruce Wayne, but he had the same kind of kind look to his eye that the hero would have expected from him.

"We should get out of here," Batman suggested. "I'm not sure how long Asher can hold up the roof."

"I...I should be..."

The hero gave a hopeless, searching look at the others in the room. The villain was mostly taken care of, and there wasn't anything they could really do to help hold up the ceiling.

He let Batman lead him to the exit.

Once he was there, however, the hero took a step back towards the giant hole in the wall. He was already exhausted and sore, but he didn't trust that everyone would be able to get out in time. He also didn't trust that the roof wouldn't be dropped on the villain.

Tentacles sprouted from the hero's back.

If he had been paying more attention behind him, he would have seen that the little girl - who he hadn't even noticed - that was dressed as Robin had just woken up. He would have also seen that the girl was absolutely fascinated by the tentacles, and that Batman had to physically restrain her from reaching out and touching one.

The hero focused.

He was straining himself to reach some of the people who were farther inside, and it was nearly impossible to get Thor - or Asher, like Batman had called him - because of how high up he was.

But the hero somehow managed.

He always did.

Once he grabbed everyone inside the warehouse, he jerked them all out through the opening. Each tentacle was supported by a thick extra mass of muscle; it would have been impossible to break out of in the split second he had done it.

Just as he placed everyone down outside of the building, the warehouse went crashing to the ground - the villain just close enough that the warehouse fell down on his legs.

The tentacles retracted in the hero's body.

Letting out a very tired sigh, he plopped himself down on the ground and resisted the urge to lay down.

Ollie was done. She was done falling out of rafters, done having random people dressed as a god of thunder threaten her, done seeing villains and heroes crash through a wall, done having the god of thunder wannabe from earlier save her, and she was certainly done with being yanked out of a crumbling warehouse by tentacles.
Ollie wanted more than anything to go home, see Splinter and Nixie again, argue with Duncan about something pointless, and then eat a truck-load of sweets and go to bed.
Unfortunately, she could do none of that.
What she could do, however, was get some answers.
Forgetting everything she had ever been taught about manners, Ollie marched up to the exhausted hero who had saved them and opened her mouth to ask him where they were.
Instead, every panicked, confused question she had been holding inside of her this entire time came spilling out like water through a broken dam.
"Who the Hades are you?" she demanded, sticking a finger in his face, "Who is he?" she pointed at the monster/villain, "Where in the name of gods are we? And what is going on!?!"

The hero stared at the finger in his face.

"...I'm The Actor," the hero said, sounding a mix of tired and bewildered. If Maahes wasn't wrestling Molly in his arms right now so she didn't further overwhelm the man, he would have gone over to Ollie to get her to move her finger. "I don't know who he is - he just attacked me out of nowhere-"

He paused.

"...You don't know who I am?" he asked. He glanced at the others in the group, almost as if he was trying to get confirmation.

"I've never heard of you before," Maahes admitted.

The man blinked.

"...But...everyone knows me," The Actor said. "I'm the first superhero. Are you...Are you from another reality? Is that why you look so different? Like why Thor is a teenager and Robin is a little girl instead of Damian Wayne?"

Asher glared at the man who had just called himself "The Actor". He didn't trust this guy. First of all, he could turn into steel, which Asher didn't mind so much. It seemed like a useful superpower, he guessed. He was fine with that part. But when TENTACLES came out of his back?

It just seemed kind of sketchy, not to mention the way he had manhandled Asher out of the building. Did the man think he was a little child? And now he was calling himself The Actor.

Asher rolled his eyes. Obviously no one had taught this man about the importance of showmanship. The Actor was the most boring name EVER. And it didn't even fit with his powers. Unless... He narrowed his eyes at the man. Could he shape-shift?

Asher was musing over this when he heard his new name get mentioned. He strode over to The Actor, who had just finished introducing himself. The first superhero, blah blah blah. Asher didn't care about all that garbage. He wanted answers, like why he had been given these powers and how he could keep them for the rest of his life.

"We're obviously from another place," Asher said as condescendingly as he could. "And the fact that I'm a teenager has nothing to do with how powerful I am as the new Thor."

He jerked his thumb towards the monster. "But like sword girl said before, who is that guy, and why are you so bad at fighting him? You must know something about him."

Cass was feeling horribly ashamed at herself. First some guy had attacked them. Then the building they were in had started to collapse. When they were all frantically trying to save themselves she had seized up. The Flash is supposed to be speeding people out of collapsing buildings and all I did was sit in a corner and try not to cry.

She rubbed the spot where the tentacle had grabbed her as it yanked her out of the building. Oh the embarrassment of The Flash being saved from a collapsing building because she was too slow to react. She glanced at the man that had declared himself to be The Actor.

One hand she was thankful for him saving her but on the other hand those tentacles severely freaked her out. And that really is a very lazy name. I mean Cisco would never let that happen. Wait a minute, Cass. Just because you are the flash doesn't mean Cisco is here.

Then Thor, no strike that, Asher, shouted a question at The Actor. Cass walked a little closer to listen to the answer. She was never going to be brave enough to ask a question herself but that's where people like Asher came in handy.

Adrid sat on the concrete. She had not budged since the long boneless muscle tendril flesh vines had let her go.

No-one will ever marry me now.

That was the thought that was on Adrid's mind. Followed by, 'I can't believe I needed rescuing from such an obviously unstable building, world displacement is no excuse for a lapse in common sense.'

Speaking of which, she scanned the premises for any missing persons- all present, but for the steel man's enemy- and scanned the debris for him. There he was.

Adrid stood up, and approached the steel man. Oh, they were calling him The Actor now. Whatever she was interrupting, it sounded like nonsense anyway.

"Excuse me," she said dryly, (she meant nothing by it, that was just her voice,) "Your enemy is only partially crushed, you may want to keep an eye on him.

But I am far beyond my area of jurisdiction, so I leave your business to you. Thank you for your help."

Adrid bowed politely, and proceeded to walk away.

Four steps in and she already regretted leaving behind the only person who might be able to help her find her way, and prayed that he would call her back.

"I don't think he was criticizing you," Maahes hurriedly said to Asher, trying to dispel a potential argument. "I think he was just pointing out the differences between us and the fictional heroes that he knows."

The Actor sent Maahes - and Adrid, after the hero checked the rubble again to see the villain's current state - a grateful look.

Then he gave a little nod.

"I actually don't know anything about him," The Actor admitted. "I was just patrolling around the city when he suddenly attacked me."

The hero faltered.

"I'm not...bad at fighting him," The Actor hesitantly added. He unsteadily got to his feet. "I was waiting for a chance to attack him. Since I didn't know anything about him, I thought it would be a good idea to wait to attack-"

It was right at that moment that Molly finally broke free from Maahes's grip - and went darting right over to The Actor. Maahes muttered a quiet "Molly no" like he always did.

But, like she always did, she completely ignored it.

Molly ducked underneath The Actor's cape right after he stood up, giggling while she did it. Maahes took a step forward to grab her again, but paused when he saw the look on The Actor's face - he didn't seem to mind at all.

Molly peeked out from behind the cape.

The Actor looked down and gave a little wave.

"Hi," he said.

Molly, in response, giggled again and ducked back behind the cape. Maahes and The Actor's eyes met for the briefest of moments; Maahes couldn't help but give him a grateful smile of his own.

The Actor glanced at the others in the group.

"The police can take care of the villain," he said. "...But I don't think the police can help you out with..."

He gave an awkward gesture at their outfits.

"...So I'll do my best to help you instead," he finished.

Harper was practically bursting with excitement. Real superheroes and real supervillains, and she was one of them!!!

She giggled, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she sorted through the avalanche of questions rushing through her head. What side was she on? Well, she was dressed like a hero, or a villain, antihero? Scarlet Witch was a little complicated in the movies, but mostly she was a hero, and everyone else was a hero - well, Ash was a little more villain-leaning temperment-wise, but his costume was certainly of a traditional hero - so she was probably supposed to fill that role.

But she was also supposed to be back home before nine o'clock sharp, supposed to stay away from the only interesting people in town, supposed to stop fooling around with Mary every time they could sneak away from church mid-service.

'Supposed to' was among her least favorite phrases.

"Are there other heroes?" she asked, "And what are your powers, exactly?" You dating anyone?

That last question was probably too forward of her. She'd ask it later.

The Actor shook his head.

"I'm the only hero that I know of," he admitted. "...There might be more, but I haven't met them yet."

He gave Harper a tiny smile.

"And I can shapeshift," he said, almost shyly. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, gaze dropping down to the ground. "That's how I was able to turn my body to steel earlier, and how I could make the tentacles. I just can't use the powers of people I shift into - unless it's tied to their physical appearance...."

Cass smiled. It's always so easy. I never have to ask a single question as long as curious people exist. As she thought about what The Actor had said, she had to work hard to suppress the urge to geek out about how that shapeshifting worked. It's so cool. Now if only I can actually use my powers. Everyone did cool stuff and all I did was stand in a corner.

Cass took a few steps back from where she was standing so that she could retreat back to the safety of the back of the group. She carefully looked around to see what where they were, her mind busy analyzing everything as it usually did. As she looked around, she couldn't help but think that she should try and test out her new powers. Maybe I should do something drastic for a change. I'm a superhero now. I shouldn't be scared of trying out my powers.

"Excuse me," Ollie shoved her way to the front of the mob of the warehouse people. When The Actor(why the Hades would he chose that name if he could shapeshift? Even something like Wildcard sounded cooler) looked up at her, Ollie waved. "Yeah, its me, the one who posed the original question. I have another."
She had several, actually, but she would try to be polite this time around. Seeing how the others had interacted with him had showed her that she may have been a tad rude when she started out.
"So..." she twisted her fingers together, "You seem to know who we are. If there are no other superheros, how is that?" And who am I? She wanted to ask that, but decided to put that one on hold. "And, could you potentially know what all of our powers are? You know, for the ones that don't know who they are." Like me. She mentally added. Ollie wanted powers, or, at the very least she wanted to know if she didn't have any. If that was the case, then she could start learning how to use these katanas.
She had always liked swords.

The Actor faltered.

"...You're all from the comics," he said. Maahes gave a tiny nod in agreement from nearby; Molly just kept playing underneath The Actor's cape. "You're Gwenpool. You don't have any powers, really - you're just...aware of your surroundings."

He pointed at Cass.

"She's the Flash," he said. "She has super speed. Batman and Robin-"

"Maahes and Molly," Maahes offered.

"Maahes and Molly," The Actor corrected, "don't have any powers, either. Batman is physically fit. Robin is physically fit, too, but might be more flexible depending on the generation of Robin. The two wearing similar outfits both have the powers of Thor - so electricity - and..."

The Actor gave Harper a confused, searching look - it seemed like she was the one hero that The Actor knew nothing about.

Maahes, thankfully, did know who she was.

"Harper is The Scarlet Witch," Maahes finished. Molly, intrigued by the name and suddenly reminded that her dad was only a few feet away, popped her head out from behind The Actor's cape. "The Scarlet Witch can move things with her mind and telepathically connect with other people - at least in the movies."

When The Actor gave him a grateful but surprised look, Maahes sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"My brother is into comics," he said, "and so are my kids."

He didn't add that he was around for the creation of all of the older comics, either - that was something that really didn't need to be addressed right now.