Author's Note

Wanna say, special thanks to CSC and Twilight_Shimmer for ideas on this chapter!

And really, this was just a short comedic piece of a chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

Training Day

Later that day, after the failed attempt to stop the breakout, the girls just went on their merry way and switched back to their real identities. To say they were disappointed in the failure of apprehending the criminal, would be a gross understatement. They were frustrated, and all because those guards had held them back. But they knew the guards weren't to blame; they couldn't help it even if they wanted to. Whatever Fleetfoot did, turned them against everyone else, which was nothing short of mind control.

But they didn't have long to think about their failure. Today, they had other activities ahead of them. Including training the new supers!

One by one, each of the new guys showed up at a local gym where they were told to go. The Dazzlings rented a few rooms for them to use as practice, especially a few courts as well. Equipment included as well, basketballs, dodgeballs, and lots of weights.

The last one to arrive was Silverstream, dressed in a tank top and track shorts. She met up with the other five who were standing around, waiting for their 'teachers' to arrive and instruct them.

"Sorry! Am I late?"

"Nah, you're cool, kid," Inferno smiled. "Arrived on time."

Silver sighed. "Whew! That was close. Sorry, I have a little tendency to be late sometimes."

"Well you're fine, Silver."

"What!?" Tox shouted.

Everyone stared back at Tox who looked confused.

"I said, she was fine!" Inferno replied.

"I'm sorry, what!?"

Inferno groaned and moved closer to Tox, "I said, she's fine!"

"Oh... now I see! Sorry!" Tox shouted back.

Inferno rolled his eyes, looking to his other teammates. "What's up with him?"

"He did smoke, yesterday. Remembering, smoking can take a toll all over your body. Your skin, mouth, face, your eyes, on your ears. By his response, I'm ascertain that Tox may have some slight hearing loss."

Everyone's eyes widened and looked in fear.

"Um... that's not good, right?"

"No, it is not," Blizzard shook her head.

"Attention, newbies!"

The doors slammed open, and the Dazzlings walked through, each of them with their own gym outfits. Aria in particular had a silver whistle around her neck, and a blue cap on her head.

"Line up, ladies!" Aria shouted.

Instantly, everyone got up and stood in a line, straight as they could be. Side by side, from shortest to tallest. Aria just paced side to side like a military instructor.

"If you six are going to be great heroes, then you need to train like heroes! You will eat, sleep, and train hard! We're going to help you with all fields. Some of you may be stronger in some fields than others, but that's okay! Everyone may have different strengths, which is why you will all need to learn to work as a team, and bounce off of each other's strengths and weaknesses! Which is why today, we're going to start with something basic... dodgeball," Aria smirked. "Any questions?"

Only Silverstream raised her hand.

"Yes, Pinkie Pie?" Aria asked.

Silverstream blinked. "That's not my name, but... oh, right! Sorry! Um, shouldn't we... be throwing dodgeballs?"

"Well duh, that's what this sack of wrenches is for," Aria said, dropping a sack onto the table next to her. Then flipping the bag around, a large collection of metallic wrenches all fell out, dropping onto the table, and onto the floor. Several sounds of metal clashing and clanking echoed all through the gym, making some of them cringe from the noise.

Once they were out of the bag, Aria grabbed a gray wrench, gripping it tight in her hand. "Now. This is something I truly believe. If you can dodge a wrench, then you can dodge an incoming bullet!"

Silverstream blinked with a scared look. "Huh?"

Aria didn't give her time to reply, and instantly she threw the wrench towards Silverstream's direction. The little girl shrieked and acting on instinct, jumped out of the way to avoid the wrench. Aria smirked, seeing her miss it.

"Good jump. But your enemy isn't going to play fair, and they won't just do it once!"

Aria threw a wrench again, this time, aiming for Silverstream's stomach. The little girl cried out in fear, rolling over to the side to avoid feeling the pain of hard metal against her tummy.

"Yipe!" Silver yelped.

"Hey, come on now, that's a little--" Inferno protested.

Too late. Another wrench came flying in, hitting Inferno in the head and making him drop the ground. Everyone watched as he fell, to wit, a look of disturbance.

"Aria!" Sonata whined. "You said we'd be taking it easy on them!"

"Life isn't easy, and the world isn't going to be kind to them, so we have to push them to in the same level!" Aria said, winding up and throwing another wrench.

"OW!" Tox shouted as the wrench hit his eye.

"Walk it off!" Aria shouted.

Adagio's hands cupped her mouth in horror. Poor little Silver was nearly hurt! This wasn't a tactic she had planned in mind! This was certainly going to be a while...

Everyone stretched their muscles as they stood at the start of the track. Arms, legs, everything. And Aria stood on the sideline, blowing her whistle.

"Okay! You all are going to run three laps around this track. We have to see how fast some of you guys are. And to make it less strenuous... we will be providing an epic mix to get you in the feel of the adrenaline. Sonata! Hit Retro-Girls Epic Mix!"

"Got it!" Sonata called. She pressed the play button on a stereo, and an adrenaline-rock and roll sounding beat began to play.

"Aww, yeah, gettin' Danger Zone up in here!" Inferno cheered.

"Ready... set... go!" Aria shouted.

The music kicked up, and so everyone picked up their feet and began to run. Hearts began to pound, their bodies all scurrying around the track, all the while their coaches watched.

"Come on, pick it up, pick it up! Nice, Inferno! You've got it! Phantom, come on, gotta keep up!"

Inferno lead the charge, with Tombstone and Blizzard steadily behind. The three of them were on different tracks (like any typical track in a gym) but they constantly fought to hit first place. No one threw trash talk or verbal abuse, but there was noticiable competition between them as they tried to race for first place.

Not too far behind was Phantom who stayed behind the three of them, unable to catch up with them.

"Keep it going newbies! You'll have it in you in no time!"

"You know we will! Right guys?"

Unfortunately what the four adults failed to see was that very far behind, was Tox and Silver. The two of them had stopped their running and were panting heavily, trying to catch their breaths. Silver had her hand over her heart, feeling it pound against her.

"We'll... we'll catch up!" Silver wheezed.

Tox immediately collapsed and fell.

Their next training exercise was taken over to the weight room, where everyone went to use a piece of equipment. The four adults took hold of some weights and started to pump their arms, raising the weights up adn back down. Everyone broke a sweat, but they pushed hard.

Tox laid back on the bench press, lifting some weights up into the air while Aria stood by, helping him in the event he needed it. And as he lifted the weights up, Silverstream clenched her hands onto the pull-up bar while Adagio held a clipboard in her hand, counting the number of times Silver reached her chin over the bar.

"That's it, sweetie! You've got this, that's the superhero spirit!"

Silverstream grunted and wheezed, trying to push herself as she kept working out. She felt like her arms would collapse at any second, but she didn't give up.

"17... 18... 19... just one more!"

Silverstream's head was exploding with sweat. She wasn't sure if she would make it! But she had to, she couldn't give up now! With one final struggle, she pulled on the bar some more, until finally, she reached her chin over the bar once again.

"20! That's perfect, Silver!" Adagio smiled.

Silver's hands let go and she dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Her arms flopped down, adn she panted heavily. Adagio appeared upside down in her vision, but she could tell she was smiling.

"You did it Silver! You've got it in you, I told you you could do it!"

Silver still panted, trying to raise a hand up.

"I... I need a minute! Or... Or two!"

"Just breathe... just take a break, you've earned it."

After a cleanup, and some much needed water, the girls took the supers over to another location. This time, out in a plain where no one could complain about what they were going to do next. Every one of them had a pair of goggles to protect their eyes, and all of them stood together in the same row as they had before.

This time Sonata had the call, wearing the cap and whistle.

"Okay everyone, this is gonna be a lot of fun! Now one thing about being a superhero, is avoiding the onslaught of fire. But its more fun when you're the one making the fire. Some of you have shown that you're not so good when it comes to speed or super strength, but that's okay!" Sonata cheered. "What one lacks, one makes up for! So for this session, we're going to be working on your aim."

Aria lifted a tarp off of a table, revealing a horde of weapons. Guns, rifles, machine guns, Gatling guns, swords, shurikens, nunchuks, and a bunch of other weapons collected. Everyone was in shock and awe at the sight of the weapons before their eyes. So many to pick from, so many to use...

"That's a lot of weapons," Silver commented. "And that's awesome!"

Adagio giggled. "Yes, yes it is."

"Now here comes the fun. We're gonna use a few at a time, and we're going to find out what you're the best at. I can show you what I'm the best at. Which is, well, kind of everything really."

"There's no humanly way you're the best at everything," Tombstone objected.

"Now that's true. But I'm not a human... and I've had several hundred years to practice," Sonata said.

"I'm sorry, what--"

"--I said nothing!" Sonata interjected.

Sonata picked up an axe, clenching it tight. She turned around, and looked at the obstacles and targets several feet away. She took a step back, raising her axe up. And with one step forward, she launched the axe straight in the air and towards the wooden board.

The axe slammed right in the middle of the target beam, blowing a few chips of wood off the board.

"First try!" Sonata cheered. "Aria, my crossbow!"

Aria threw the crossbow at Sonata which hit the back of her head.

"Ow!" Sonata squeaked.

"Oh, sorry!" Aria shouted.

"Oh... Aria, how many times have we told you, you pass the weapons to them, you don't throw it at them," Adagio shook her head.

After rubbing her head and picking up the weapon, Sonata pointed the crossbow towards the next target, holding it tight. Her finger went over the trigger, letting go. As soon as she pressed the trigger, the arrow launched right through the air and shoved right through the next target beam.

"Perfect! Okay, who's next?"

Phantom stepped up, nodding.

"Oh, wanna give it a shot?"

Phantom nodded, then pointed to the pistol.

"Nice choice, dude," Aria smirked.

Phantom grabbed the pistol, and pulled the trigger back. He held it in front of him, both hands holding steady. His eyes locked onto the glass jar that was sitting on top of a fence, the target he selected to destroy.

Pulling the trigger, the bullet fired from the barrel and impacted against the glass jar, shattering it to pieces.

"Hey, nice shot!" Aria clammered.

Phantom shrugged.

"You shot a pistol before?" Adagio asked.

The silent man gave a nod, raising eight fingers.

"Eight times, you used a pistol?"

Phantom nodded again.

"Very nice... who's next?"

After their time at their shooting range was done, everyone gathered back to the Dazzlings penthouse for some much needed R&R. But there was still some work to do, thankfully their next activity was going to be a little more fun.

"So, what are we doing now?" Silverstream asked, plopping down into a chair.

"Trust me, this activity we have planned for you all is going to really fun! For realzies!" Sonata smiled.

"Exactly. Now, as a superhero, you're going to need a persona that best makes you stand out. Costumes that make you look dramatic, brave, bold! One of the things you fine young men and women will get to do as a super, is design your superhero costume. All part of the fun of being a hero."

All six of them had big grins on their faces when they heard that announcement. Now they were more than excited to look awesome. And Adagio could tell, her soft giggling when she saw their smiles.

"I see a few of you are rather enthusiastic," Adagio giggled.

"Are you kidding? This is awesome! We're going to be heroes!" Silverstream squeed, raising her hands up like an excited fangirl.

"So, everyone just pick a piece of paper, write down some descriptions of what you'd like to look like," Adagio instructed.

Almost immediately everyone picked up some paper and began writing down ideas.

"It needs to be bold, it needs to be heroic, something brave!" Adagio said with some dramatization.

"Yeah, yeah!" Silverstream cooed. "Something like uh, like uh... Magneto! Oh he's a great superhero! The helmet, the cape, the boots--"

"--No capes!" Adagio said, flinging a crumpled up ball of paper behind her.

Inferno blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Rule of being with us; no capes."

"Isn't it our decision to choose how we--"

"--Are you familiar with Void Master?" Adagio asked, raising a brow. "Wise, quick, nice man, very smart thinking with portals."

"No, and I'm pretty sure that's not a real--"

"Issue #21, made in 1964! All was well, another day saved, when his cape got snagged right on a missile fin."

Blizzard raised a hand up. "Voidmaster was not always the master of his destiny--"

"Syndrome, November 5th, 2004!" Adagio shouted. "Attempted to escape the infamous Incredibles, cape got caught in a jet turbine!"

Silverstream blinked. "To be fair, his ambitions kind of--"

"--It doesn't. End. There!" Adagio said, standing up. She rushed over to one of the bookcases, grabbing a stack of paper. When she returned to the coffee table, she dropped a pile of comic books onto the table, making a loud thud. The thud sounded like she was dropping a heavy piece of metal on the ground, sound of the impact.

The team stared down in shock, staring at the pile.

"Dat's a lot of comic books," Tox commented.

"We've had years to kick around and do whatever, so we've spent our time reading in the worlds of superheroes. But back my point..." Adagio cleared her throat. "Dr. Doom! Stuck in an elevator door!"

"Skeletor! Sword cut a hole!" Aria shouted.

"Megamind! Cape draped over his head, rendering him defeated quickly by Metroman!"

"Okay, so maybe they've had a few incidents, it doesn't--" Inferno started to say, before Adagio got up in their faces.

"Mezmerella, stuck in the door! Underminer, tripped into a fault line! Screen Slaver, electrocuted!"

Silverstream raised a hand.

"Yes, Silver?"

"Um... Screen Slaver didn't have a cape--"

"--His sweater got snagged on a hook!" Adagio shouted.

Silverstream flinched and sunk into her chair.

"Spawn, sewer grate! Dr. Light, snagged on ice shard! Cat Man, sucked into the wood chipper! Bottom line; No capes!"

Everyone was sinking in their seats, horrified at Adagio and her sisters sudden tirade. They went from zero to a complete 360 in a few seconds!

"Um... okay, then," Tox said with a quizzical look.

Adagio sighed. "Sorry, I went a little ballistic--"

"--A little!?" Blizzard asked.

"But my point stands, you can't be wearing capes or loose pieces of clothing during your mission. Even the tiniest thread of cotton could create an accident, and we don't want that to happen to you guys."

The softness in her voice made it clear she wasn't joking. And they understood right away.

"Adagio, I promise, nothin' like that's gonna happen with us. I can guarantee it," Inferno said, calm as he could be.

Adagio smiled back to the man. "I hope so, Inferno. I hope so..."