Relic-Verse: Champions of Hope

Chapter 6

-- Part 1 --

Cardinal flew slowly overhead District 9, the evening sunlight reflecting off of her red armor as Avery and Juliet followed behind her. Avery was in a charcoal black outfit, with a matching face mask and a scarf that flowed behind her, her hair concealed beneath some wrappings, all of which made her look like a flying shadow. Juliet on the other hand was in a bright multi-colored outfit with built in lights that change colors in sync with her wings, and a beak shaped mask covering her lower face.

Avery's eye twitched as the loud buzzing of Juliet's wings got to her. "How have you not learned how to fly quietly?!"

"I've been trying, I promise!" Juliet raised her hands in surrender.

Cardinal turned around and sighed, "It is a problem, if you can't get your noise under control, stealth will be impossible for you."

"I just don't know how to fix it..."

"Have you tried moving your wings slower?"

"Yeah-! But I end up going extremely slow..."

So we have some problems to work on before aerial training... Cardinal smiled softly, "Don't worry about it too much. Just keep working on it! I'll have to figure out some exercises to calm your wings down."

Avery let out a sigh and crossed her arms, "So what are we doing tonight?"

"Mostly just patrol. But actually I need you both to give me your hero names, while out in public like this, it is best to refer to each other as such."

"Mine's Phoenix." Her tone seemed to soften after that, slightly slowing down.

"Oooo, like the flaming bird! Love it! And yours, Juliet?"

"Oh uhm... Hummingbird!"

"At least people will know what to expect from you." Avery smirked as Cardinal glared at her.

"Hey! Be nice to each other. Hummingbird is a fine name, she just needs more practice flying."

Hummingbird's wings flashed brightly as Phoenix huffed and started to pick back up her speed. "So we're just gonna fly around?"

"Pretty much! At least unless something happens. It is best to be mobile and ready to swoop down at a moment's notice!

Juliet started staring down at the buildings as they passed above them. "Hey Cardinal, I was always wondering... According to news reports you were one of the handful of heroes who stayed back during evacuation efforts. What did you do while there?"

The hero's eyes went blank as she recalled the events around the evacuation. "Oh... Not much really. Stopped a few crooks here and there. Nothing that interesting really."

Phoenix piped up, "Did you happen to work with Captain Cosmos? I heard he went into retirement after everything was all said and done over there."

"Yeah I... Yeah. Retirement." The hero immediately turned around. "Stories for another time, girls. Apparently the police are on the tail of an active hit and run suspect. Let's go!" She swooped down towards the city streets, leaving the two students alone, both sharing a similar look of mixed confusion and worry before diving down after her,

"It wasn't just me right-? Something was definitely off about her just now?" Hummingbird kept her eyes on the red blur below them.

"Yeah... I don't know what to think about that..." Phoenix lit her wings on fire and sped up, and shortly after both students landed on the ground with soft thuds.