Spectacular World

Team Pantheon

The bell tolled loudly, signaling the end of school. "So, how's the hero's life been?" Kyle asked as the three headed for the exit.

"Quiet." Armin responded. "It's been a bit since we've even heard a peep of crime. I wanted to go right out in a glorious blaze doing an amazing mission, but our boss keeps wanting us to sit and wait."

She gave a shrug. "It's not too bad. It's been giving me a chance to try and catch up with everyone."

Myth had kept his word when announcing there wouldn't be any hero business until he was finished getting whatever was needed to get set up. At that time, crime had gone quiet. Actually, that was a bad way of putting it. It was still there. A few gang members from the Bad Timers stole a car, a couple of people overdosed on drugs sold by the Wandering Coins, and some officers received death threats from Zoo, but that was it. None of the supervillains had made a move, all seemingly waiting on the others.

"It's been quiet for Dad, too," Kyle stated, frowning. "He's been complaining. He gave his declaration of war, and none of the gangs bothered to bite. I've been listening to a spare radio I 'borrowed' for signs of major crimes. I'll call you two the moment I hear anything."

"Nice, man." Armin and Kyle gave each other a fist bump, both grinning, causing her to snort.

It wasn't very hard to get the two to get along. During the week-long break, Armin decided to reveal himself to Kyle since he already knew about her identity. It was easier than skirting around the questions.

Also, during that time, she had only gotten to see Mr. Larison a handful of times. The man worked the evening shifts, and she had school in the morning. He really wasn't interested in just hanging out but still tried to give her some advice, though. Most notable was what she did every day before school and after school now. Running.

Armin, Lois, and Thaddeus were all pretty fit. Even Mr. Larison was, to an extent. They all had some muscles on them and had built up strength. By comparison, she had almost nothing on her, being only carried by her enhanced abilities. Mr. Larison had instructed her to go for a run every day to start building up stamina and some muscle. It would also help her gain better control of her powers. Just as she was becoming more fireproof with every use of her flame power, if she built up more physical strength naturally, her super strength would also grow with it.

It had only been a week, so she wasn't really seeing any major changes, but it was better than nothing. She'd also go to the junkyard with Armin and Kyle, lifting anything that looked heavy. Her limit was around five thousand pounds at the moment. After all, she had been able to lift up and throw that police car in her battle with Intake.

"So, what's the game plan tonight?" Kyle asked. "You two going to keep doing some light training?"

"I guess." Armin shrugged. "If nothing changes, then yeah. We'll head back to the junkyard. I've been trying to freeze the water and see if I can harden my snow into ice faster, but it hasn't gotten any easier."

"I still need to just build up some muscle." She shrugged. She didn't want to get crazy buff, but something like Lady Time or Victorian would make her more attractive. "Mom already thinks I'm working part-time at the library, and Mr. Thaddeus covers for me anytime she calls up there to check on me, so I'm free for the whole day, basically." She had even convinced Armin to slip her some cash so as to seem like she was getting paid. Sadly, Armin insisted on the minimum wage, so it wasn't a lot of money. The boy's allowance was more than Mr. Larison got paid though, so she was just happy he was giving her small handouts.

Kyle gave a half-nod. "I wish I could help out more, but alas, I am a mere mortal."

"Aw, don't act that way. I'm sure I could call up Metal Ronin and hook you up with some power armor." Armin joked.