"Chief, we have Entiv." One of the techs leaned out of the van. Chief Thomas hauled himself into the van, fixing his eyes on the biggest screen occupying the far wall. "Two minutes delay on their feed, Chief," the same tech pulled his headphones back on, checking his workstation holding the same video. It was an overhead shot of the intersection, taken from a helicopter. The logo of the station; Epic News TV; briefly flashed up on the screen before cutting to a young woman clutching a microphone and wearing too little skirt to be hanging out a helicopter that high up.

Her voiceover began: "This is Idonia Willis, reporting live from the scene of another Sewer Rat raid. As you can see, our local Epics have already gotten stuck in, with Stark Crusader," the feed cut to the man in question taking off his pants, "up to his usual tricks. He's taken out a horde on his own already, which cements his place on the ENTV ratings as one to watch. He's consistently been in the top-5 of ENTV's ongoing poll Most Attractive Male Epics, trailing consistently behind-" She paused for a moment as the camera caught a wheel of lightning arcing through another part of the horde, frying ten or twenty Swarm rats with a lethally beautiful series of jagged electrical discharges, "Dragon Heart, currently number 2 on the same poll and number one on the most requested guest list for ENTV's Spotlight interviews.

"That shadowy figure you're seeing at the edges of the screen is indeed Phantom, his ghostly form currently just under three stories tall and providing a magnificent distraction to the bulk of the Swarm while our brave PART and ECPD officers evacuate the area." The chief grunted his displeasure. If he had to listen to this asinine commentary during any more ops, he'd take the Mayor's fancy podium and ram it up the man's arse. Budget cuts, his pale hairy ass. "The largest safe zone in the area is being maintained by the mysterious hero Spectrum, shining bright white as they maintain a field large enough to block off the main road. Current poll numbers are still split almost equally between Spectrum's actual gender, though most are leaning towards male.

"And the reason for that, ladies and gentlemen is currently causing utter chaos throughout the Swarm. Traveler, the Teleporting Trickster, has been seen more often in the presence of Spectrum, perhaps signs of a blooming romance? Of course, many of our fans seem to be just as eager for Spectrum to be female for the same reason. Join the debate on ENTV.com." A flare of bright fire coursed up from the ground below, and Idonia announced, with clear pleasure, "Vice has entered the fray! This young Epic has gained a number of fans and ENTV accolades since appearing late last year alongside similar ECPD operations. Though still small potatoes on the Official ENTV rankings, Vice is surely an up-and-coming hero to watch!"

She clears her throat and continues the commentary, but the Chief spots something in the feed. "Move the camera to the far edge of the Swarm," he orders, and the tech relays them to the helicopter.

"-this reporter certainly hopes... By all the High!" A larger rat, standing head, shoulders and chest above its brethren, emerges from the shadows. It wields a club in one hand and seems to be screeching orders at the others. Its tail, however, is tangled with three other equally large Swarm rats, each with their own club, all four acting in a coordinated manner. The worst part was yet to be seen, as the Swarm cleared away from the mutant long enough to see that the creature was floating. "Beware the Rat King," Idonia repeated the warning that the High Clairvoyant had given not an hour ago.
[hr]

Spectrum smiled at Traveler's encouragement, and redoubled the effort put into the shield. The Swarm was powerless to get to Spectrum, or anyone safely within their dome, and that caused no small amount of pride. This pride, of course, flickered a moment later when Dragon Heart appeared nearby. Probably Traveler insisting again, so Spectrum squared the armour's shoulders and lowered arms a little, making it look less necessary.

"Um... Hi." Dragon Heart came over to her immediately, and the blush had nothing to do with the shield getting slightly stronger. Nothing at all, so stop asking. "I was interrupted before, and if you have a moment..."

Did he seem as nervous as Spectrum felt? "Yeah, sure," was the reply. Why did he still look so good, even bloodied and battle-scarred? That had to be against some kind of international law; No looking good enough to make girls' knees buckle in the middle of a fight. Signed, the United Nations Epic Hero Treaty.

He stepped into Spectrum's line of sight, unintentionally giving an even better look at how his shirt had been cut open and hug loosely around his chiseled abs... "-dinner with me?"

"What?"

He smiled an underwear-wetting smile. "Would you like to go to dinner with me?" He repeated, then added, "Sometime soon, I mean. Like Friday?"

Spectrum's brain locked up. "B- uh- um- er-" She stuttered. The sounds eventually resolved into a, "Yes. Yes." 

Dragon relaxed a little, only so much that you'd notice if you were already watching the eye candy like a cat watching sparrows. "Well, that's great." He turned back to the battle, just in time to notice the Rat King ram three clubs into the shield, sending out a blinding flare of light that cast the surrounding area into bright daylight for a millisecond. "That was close. Good thing..." Dragon turned around to see Spectrum lying flat on the floor, knocked out from the feedback. He picked up the fallen Epic, expecting the armour to be heavier than it was, then shouting, "Retreat! Medics! Wounded here!" As the Swarm surged forward, he braced Spectrum in his arms, calling up a bolt of lightning directly for the Rat King itself.