Oneshots, etc.

Superhero AU

A/N: Hi again. Uhhh... Merry late Christmas? Happy New Year? Good whatever-you-choose-to-celebrate-this-time-of-year? Not quite sure what to say, so here, have a oneshot after several months of nothing, as per usual.

Warnings: people being drunk (mentioned once, not gone into in detail), choking (as in, a character eats something and then starts choking on it. Again, not gone into in detail, but it's there).

The dark sky loomed overhead, blanketing the bright city lights that were shining harshly into the night. There were no stars in sight - the only things visible were the dusty yellow-orange of the moon and a few stray planes making their way across the sky.

Music could be heard faintly in the distance, accompanied by the howling and laughter of drunken partygoers, but the street below was dark and unlit, without any sign of the people who lived in this part of town - they knew not to go out at night, where patrols were almost never sent, and anyone could vanish without a trace.

Which was exactly why Lucas and his team were here tonight.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Kit asked, crouching on the rooftop behind him. "This doesn't look like somewhere people in the top five would be."

"Trust me, they'll be here. My informant knows his stuff," Lucas confirmed, using his goggles to zoom in on the doorway of a small corner store and failing to mention the fact that his 'informant' was a conversation he'd overheard at the breakfast table that morning.

"Do you know what time?" Revel joined in, adjusting his red and gold mask. Lucas and Kit both thought it was a bit too flashy for a stealth mission, but Revel insisted on wearing it.

Mitch laughed slightly from where he stood next to Morph at the back of the group. "I don't think Gargoyle and Flashfreeze would've thought that far ahead. You newbies haven't met them properly yet, but they're a bit..."

"Incompetent?" Kit offered.

"I was going to say goofy."

"Everyone shut up, they're here," Lucas hissed.

Sure enough, right as Lucas finished his sentence, two figures emerged from the shop and walked out into the street below. One was tall and muscular, with a distinctly overconfident tilt to his stance, and could be easily be identified as Flashfreeze due to the metallic sheen of his skin and lack of a shirt. The second figure was slightly shorter than the first, coming up to Flashfreeze's shoulder, and was built like a dancer, skipping and twirling around the other villain with ease as he talked, his long, whip-thin tail swishing behind him - Gargoyle.

"Let me handle them, you guys go find some other jobs to do. If I don't meet back up with you in thirty minutes, come find me," Lucas whispered to the other four members of his team. Down below, Gargoyle had climbed up Flashfreeze like a ladder, grabbed his cheeks, and was currently shaking him violently. Lucas was glad that his goggles hid the way he rolled his eyes at the antics of the two.

Morph looked nervous, even behind her mask. "Are you sure that's a good idea? They're ranked fourth for a reason..."

Mitch gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow. "It'll be fine. Tide deals with these guys all the time, there's a reason he's the leader." Kit nodded reassuringly, but Morph still seemed anxious. Even so, she sighed and nodded her head, agreeing to the plan.

Lucas decided he probably shouldn't tell her that him doing dangerous things on his own was a regular occurence.

He slid off the roof, landing gracefully in the shadows below and discretely turning off his microphone. No one needed to hear what was about to happen. Once he was sure that everyone else had left, he strolled across the street, coming to a stop in front of Flashfreeze and Gargoyle.