Charlotte could only watch with concern and mild amusement as Jasper climbed over the fence of the balcony, blood running down his cheek and a few obvious bruises dotting the visible part of his arms.

"Sorry I'm late, I got caught up in something." He apologized as he went to sit down at the table with Charlotte.

"I can tell..." she replied, shocked. "What happened to you anyways?"

"I was out with Sidney and a bunch of people with masks who clearly were after us because of the mafia tried to fight me." Jasper replied nonchalantly, taking off his torn jean jacket and placing it on the chair, revealing some more wounds from the fight. "You know, the usual."

Charlotte gave him a weird look. "You didn't think to clean yourself up first?"

"I told you, I'd be late." The brunet replied, grabbing a nearby napkin and cleaning up the blood with it. "I climbed up fifteen stories to get here, be grateful."

Charlotte decided not to engage like that, and quickly changed the subject. "So, since we're at a cafe on the top of one of the biggest buildings in this part of swellview, you want anything to eat?"

"Yes, I'm starving!" Jasper exclaimed and took out his wallet, before Charlotte stopped him and said she would pay for it.

"Really?"

"Of course 'really', who's the millionaire here?"

"You're right, sorry." Jasper replied and sat down a bit uncomfortably.

Charlotte said it was fine and headed inside to order. Jasper looked around, he had never been to this cafe before. He'd heard of it, but quite frankly, Jasper just never bothered. But now, he was glad he did. It was on the top floor of a shopping mall/small skyscraper, and it overlooked the city quite nicely. It had perfect view of the three small mountains in the middle of downtown swellview, giving it a decently scenic look. The only reason jasper was able to scale it was because he had already been on top of another building, which gave him a huge boost.

As for the cafe itself, jasper seemed to enjoy it. String lights weaved through the roof, small succulent plants made nice centerpieces on each table, and gentle music played over the loudspeaker just enough to make the balcony a little less quiet. It was a rather enjoyable environment reminiscent of the inexplicably calm atmosphere his warehouse base had. Felt like home.

"I'm back." Charlotte interrupted his admiration as she sat down. She handed him a sandwich and a curious drink that was white at the bottom, but slowly faded into a deep blue, with small tapioca pearls dotting the bottom, all in a small glass shaped like a lightbulb.

"Don't worry Jasper, it's just tea." The millionaire assured him.

Despite the injuries, Jasper smiled. That same goofy smile that showed immense appreciation for even the smallest of things, reminding Charlotte that the wide-eyed, cheery, bucket loving boy she knew so long ago was still there under that bulletproof vest and soot-stained shirt.

"Thank you, Charlotte." Jasper finally said and began to take a sip from his drink. "So how'd the whole international superhero thing go?"

"It went pretty well. There was a lot of arguments, but we've convinced them."

Jasper nodded in acknowledgment as he started eating. "Alright, so what's your plan?"

Charlotte look down at her phone for a second as if waiting for something.

"The plan is to give the man cave a complete makeover, new look, new weapons, everything. New suits too. And I'm probably going to get them a new mechanic since schwoz works for the international superhero league now." She explained.

Jasper gave her a slightly confused look. "Makes sense, but what about ray and Henry? I don't think they'll be allowed in while you're trying to remodel everything."

"I'm thinking about sending them to agent melty's headquarters to get some experience with more formidable fighters instead of just the same old people in swellview." Charlotte said, subconsciously twirling the straw in her drink.

"Why? The villains in swellview are already pretty much equal to captain man and kid danger in terms of combat skills."

"They'll just get frustrated. I'm bringing them to My place to stay until their base is ready for them to move in to again. melty's base is just going to be more of a day trip thing."

Jasper understood the logic, but knowing those two, they'd get caught up in the excitement of being in a billionaire's house.

"...but what about swellview?"

Charlotte's face fell. "I actually haven't thought much about it."

Jasper grinned, having an idea.

"I could protect swellview while they're gone, you know. I've been doing it for a while."

The millionaire paused for a second, that was a good idea, but would it be worth it? Jasper and the rest of his group were pretty unorganized compared to her business, so it seemed better in theory than in practice. lots of controversy surrounded them, it'd plunge swellview into chaos.

"I can handle it." She replied coolly. Then she leaned in close, and her voice was barely a whisper.

"But if you want to help out, you can, just stay subtle about it, alright?"

Jasper seemed genuinely surprised by such an offer. Why would Charlotte, a CEO of a powerful company, want to work with a dirty, lowlife, criminal?

"If you help me, I can give you a brand new headquarters. I'm talking armored walls, weapons storage rooms, hidden cameras, and high quality computer monitors. Right next to my place too, nobody will suspect a thing." Charlotte added. Awaiting a reply.

Jasper thought long and hard about this, and finally came to an answer.

"I'll help you, but I don't want any of that high tech stuff," He said, a hint of reluctance in his voice barely detectable. "That shitty old warehouse may not look like much, but it's home for us. Repairs would be nice, but that's it."

Charlotte nodded. "Got it."

* * *

"Remember, Henry! Don't take or drink anything super crazy, try not to start any fights, and I'll come over to pick you up around 2am." Ray said, trying to fight off Piper pulling him backwards while talking to Henry.

"ray, I'm nineteen. I have common sense." Henry replied, adjusting his jacket.

"Common sense can go out the window pretty quickly!" Ray called, but Henry was already gone.

He headed over to his car and drove off, feeling quite confident about the night before him. He had been to a few late night parties, but they've all been with ray until this one. Luckily ray was laid-back enough to let him do his own thing with a few concerned reminders.

This was an opportunity henry jumped on. He put on his best casual yet impressive outfit, asked ray about what typically goes on, and drove off hoping for the best.

It was getting a bit late, and Henry knew he'd show up a little later than everyone else. He didn't mind, however. That'd probably be a good thing. As he drove, he noticed how breathtaking swellview really is at night. The solar panels mosaics on the buildings lit up, bright but still dim enough that one could still get a decent view of the night sky. balconies full of plants with small lights entwined in them, colorful flowers growing out of cracked sidewalks, a perfect mix of the pristine look of an urban environment and the beautifully overgrown look of nature in it's purest form.

He had forgotten how much swellview had changed since he was younger. It left with some nostalgia, yet he also felt it had changed for the better. It was so different than before, sometimes it felt like Henry was barely in the same place. Especially when it came to his friends. So much had happened in those two years. Charlotte started a huge company, jasper disappeared, and he moved into his own little place in the man cave.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden realization that he was in the right spot. He parked nearby, and headed up the nearby stairs and up to the extravagant entrance to the building.

Henry was practically blinded by the lights when he first walked in. There were enough neon lights to light up all of swellview, yet they all seemed to leave the center fairly dark, that area had a huge ring of lights suspended in air. This was nothing like the upscale places he went with ray. The music blared loudly to the point where he could almost feel the sound vibrations all over his body.

His eyes lit up. Sure, the events he'd gone to before were cool and all, but not like this. Henry couldn't wait to jump in.

Unfortunately, that was the problem. Social anxiety had gotten the best of Henry, and he wasn't quite sure how to jump in. He found himself wandering the place for a while, gazing up and that big circle of lights and sitting on the nearby couch and checking twitflash.

As he was wandering and enjoying the music playing, he was stopped by someone.

"Hey, I noticed you were kind of wandering around for a while." A somewhat high voice said. Henry turned around.

Before him stood a girl about his age with pale skin, mid-brown curly hair with a bandanna wrapped in it like a bow. She sported rounded glasses and a red Hawaiian shirt tucked into black jeans. She was beautiful.

Henry blushed a little bit. "Yeah..."

"Have you ever been somewhere like this?" She asked.

"Not really..." Henry lied.

"A little more introverted then, huh?" The girl replied. "Me too, wanna go grab some drinks and talk a little more?"

"Sure thing!" Henry said and followed her to the bar area. She had a lot of confidence, and she was pretty, the perfect combination. Henry couldn't refuse.

The two sat down and the mystery girl ordered two drinks.

"Do you want-"

"It's on me." Mystery girl replied and winked.

Henry thanked her.

"So, what do you do?" She asked.

"I work at junk-n-stuff." Henry replied.

"Junk-n-stuff!" She smiled. "I love that place, there's so much weird, cool stuff."

"Nice..." Henry said, awkwardly taking a sip of his drink and was surprised by the sudden bitterness of it.

"So, it must be fun to see all the weird stuff that comes in."

"Yeah, it is!"

"What's the weirdest thing that ever came in?"

"Probably a Zbox designed to Look like a cereal box. When I first saw it I almost asked if I could have it for myself."

"I definitely would have. By the way- what's your name? I almost forgot to ask."

Henry took another quick sip. "It's fine, I'm Henry."

"Crystal."

That's such a pretty name... Henry thought.

And so they spent what felt like hours talking about all kinds of stuff, when suddenly, crystal asked A somewhat sudden question.

"Hey, Henry?"

"Yeah?"

Crystal's gaze softened and she smirked. "Would you like to take this outside?"

Henry felt a hand on his thigh as she leaned in. "There won't be anyone there."

Henry's face went beet red. "I mean... alright..."

Crystal grabbed his hand and led him out to an alleyway. It was just them.

Henry leaned in for a kiss, but instead was met with a burning punch in the face.

"Ow!"

Crystal took out what looked like a walkie-talkie. "Target acquired." She whispered. Henry slapped it out of her hand before realizing what he did.

"What do you mean targ-" crystal kicked him in the stomach.

"I'm sorry about this!" Henry shouted and fought back. Crystal grabbed his hand and tossed it aside and aimed for his throat. Henry tried to avoid it. His powers failed him. He gasped for air as crystal landed another blow.

Henry aimed for the side of her jaw. Crystal hissed and landed several blows to Henry's chest.

Henry tried to kick her in the stomach. Crystal avoided it and kicked Henry across his face, sending him down.

His entire body ached as he hit the ground. Crystal pinned him down as she took the bandanna out of her hair and was about to use it to blindfold Henry. Luckily, she was shoved off by an incredibly pissed off ray.

* * *

Ray gently placed his hand on Henry's shoulder as he lie there. "Henry, are you okay?"

"I...I don't know..." Henry replied.

"Hang in there, kid. I'll make sure she doesn't get away." Ray said softly, getting up with a protective look in his eyes.

Crystal smirked. "So daddy had to come fix everything for you?"

Ray squared up. "If you want him, you'll have to get through me first!"

"Won't be an issue." Crystal smirked. "I'll take down your old man as easy as I did you, blondie!"

Ray aimed for her nose. Crystal ducked out of the way. Ray looked around before getting kicked hard in his back.

Ray gasped for air and aimed for her head. Crystal landed several well-aimed blows on his lowers chest. Ray hissed. Crystal charged and elbowed him in a spot you wouldn't want any kind of weapon near.

he was perfectly confident in his skills, However. He was indestructible, no way was he losing this fight.

"I can do this forever, you kn-" ray stopped mid sentence as he was met with a taser shock from crystal.

"Since when did you have a- OH SHIT!" ray yelped mid sentence as he got hit in his lower chest again.

Crystal tased him again and again, until she finally hit him right on the back of his jaw, sending him to the ground.

their opponent was about to drag both of them off, but ray was glad to see agent melty's armored figure rushing to their defense. Apparently just the sight of the New York superhero was enough to scare her off. She didn't want any more trouble.

"You alright?" Agent melty asked a barely conscious ray. "I saw that really nasty blow that knocked you down, indestructible or not that must've hurt."

"I just... blacked out." Ray said, catching his breath. "It wasn't for long was it?"

"Not at all, you were out for a few seconds." The superhero said and helped ray up and over to the car, then going back for Henry.

Once everyone was in the car, they began to make their way to junk-n-stuff, where a medic would be.

"Are you doing alright, Henry?" Ray asked, seemingly surprised when Henry snuggled up against him.

"my nose hurts, and I'm really, really thirsty." Henry said, sounding like he was doing better, although ray had his doubts.

"Does anyone have something to drink?" Ray asked, noticing Piper sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Henry's sister here does." Agent melty said.

"And I'm not giving it up." She snapped.

"Come on, Piper." ray pleaded. "Your brother got hurt pretty badly."

"Ugh, fine." Piper sighed and handed ray a can of lemon soda.

The two in the back looked at the can and then at each other.

"Yeah, no." Henry sighed as ray gave his friend's sister the drink back.

Henry winced a little from the pain of the fight and ray immediately pulled him a little closer in comfort.

"it's okay, kid. we'll get you home and patched up."