"We really need a name for our team," Adrian muttered, half-sprawled on the floor of the hideout, a piece of torn-up blueprint draped across his lap. "We can't just call ourselves 'The Hero Squad' or some like that."
Bobby looked up from where he was welding a custom armor plate, sparks lighting his wolf-themed helmet. "What's your idea, then?"
Adrian raised a brow. "I was thinking… Van Helsing?"
Cassie, sitting nearby sharpening a dagger made of solid shadow, didn't even glance up. "Do we look like vampire hunters to you?" she deadpanned.
Peter, fiddling nervously with one of his new web shooters, chimed in, "What if we call ourselves… The Spatial Crew?"
Adrian blinked at him. "What happens when we get more people with abilities? Are we just gonna be the 'Slightly Bigger Spatial Crew'?"
Peter shrugged. "It's a work in progress…"
Suddenly, Adrian's eyes lit up. He stood, fists clenched. "Wait. I think I got it. The perfect name. But we need to set the mood."
Everyone paused, giving him a confused look.
10 Minutes Later
The four of them stood on the edge of the tallest skyscraper in New York, wind howling around them. Lights glittered far below like a galaxy trapped in glass.
Peter looked down and immediately took a shaky step back. "Why the hell are we up here, Adrian? I swear to God, If you don't bring us down from here I will buy all of those high-quality titanium using your credit card."
Cassie folded her arms, shadow flickering at her boots. "This better not be some dumb 'symbolism' speech again."
Adrian turned to them, his face serious for once. "This is it. The moment our team's born. We don't do this small. We do this like legends. A leap of faith."
Cassie blinked. "Are you fucking mental?"
"You don't have to worry about Adrian," Bobby muttered, his modulator barely hiding his amusement. "He can fly."
"I float," Adrian corrected.
"Same shit, different word," Cassie snapped.
Bobby sighed, setting down his helmet with a huff. "Alright, fine. What's the name?"
Adrian grinned wide. "We are… The Vanguard." Then, without hesitation, he stepped backward—right off the edge of the building.
The others froze.
"FUCKING HELL—" Bobby cursed and leapt after him, activating his spatial jump mid-fall.
Cassie stared. "I can't believe I'm doing this." And she jumped, her body vanishing into a swirl of shadow.
Peter was alone. He paced. "Okay. Okay. Don't panic. They jumped. That's fine. That's… fine." He looked down again. "Goddammit."
Then he whispered in Spanish, "Fine, fuck it," and dove.
Adrian twisted midair, activating Smokescreen and Float. The wind curved around him like a cloak as he sailed with perfect control.
Bobby flashed through the air, using Adrian's old grappling hook to swing sideways, canceling his downward momentum with a spatial blink and a hard boot thruster stomp against the wall.
Cassie appeared in bursts of dark mist, shadow tendrils slinging her between buildings like living cables, laughing wildly as she spun through the air.
Peter tumbled—arms flailing—until instinct kicked in.
THWIP!
His web shooter fired.
Then another.
Soon he was zipping through the city, slingshotting between rooftops, adrenaline-fueled energy crackling under his skin.
From the streets below, people stopped.
Phones pointed to the sky.
A streak of red lightning.
A shadow flying like smoke.
A blur of metal and a howl of teleportation.
A kid swinging wide, screaming and laughing all at once.
The world was watching.
The Vanguard had arrived.
Adrian's voice rang through the comms, proud and full of heat.
"Time for action.