DC- Second Broalition: Form Up, Boys!

Life was boring when your number of friends could be counted on one hand.

Cameron Makhent tried to fix his problem more than once, but trying to find guys who could hang with him was more or less a lost cause by now.  Still, it would have been nice to have some company on this trip to the H.A.E.Y.P. school.  He hadn’t been there before, but he had expected things to be more exciting than, well…

More exciting than finger sandwiches.

“Is everything to your liking, gentlemen?” Brother Blood asked in a svelte way.  Cameron had to refrain from making a smart-ass remark, mostly because he knew his father would immediately make him regret saying it.  But he was still sorely tempted.

“I don’t know, Blood,” Sportsmaster said, rather acidly, “I don’t know if these little cucumber sandwiches are girly enough.”

“Would you put a sock in it?” Icicle Sr. shot his friend a look of deepest annoyance before offering Brother Blood an apologetic smile.  “It’s all well and fine, Sebastian.”

“Excellent,” the headmaster of H.A.E.Y.P. chirped, folding his hands delicately as he sat down among the Light agents he was entertaining.  “Shall we get down to business?”

Cameron held back a groan.  Really, how long was this going to go on?  Wasn’t this just supposed to be some simple check-in, to make sure Brother Blood and the aims of his school didn’t stray too far form the goals of The Light?  They didn’t have time to just laze about, sipping peppermint tea and eating finger sandwiches!

But evidently he was the only one who thought so.

When no evidence was forthcoming that this posturing would end soon, Cameron rose from his chair and left the room, half-hoping one of the other men would stop him.  They didn’t, and a mild wave of relief spread through him as he took to the halls, wandering around in mild curiosity.

However, his abrupt departure did not go unnoticed, and after a brief word between the Light agents and the headmaster, another teenage boy elsewhere in the academy promptly received orders to find and “escort” Icicle Jr. through the school.

Neither boy was in a good mood that day, but that was all about to change.


The last thing Paxton Kearny wanted was to stop his workout.  Not that he wouldn’t mind an excuse to relax, but there was something about his routine being interrupted that he didn’t appreciate.  Having a mother who was a high-standing school official under Brother Blood and being from a military family meant that Pax was given a certain routine to follow.  He was used to it, and having to stop and drop everything to do something else was jarring, to say the least.

But there was no disobeying a direct order from the headmaster, and Paxton was nothing if not loyal to the school and those who ran it.

Setting the barbells back where he found them, he straightened up, thrusting out his barrel chest with pride, a young man on a mission.

“What are you lookin’ all high-and-mighty about, scuzzface?” A sneer from Gizmo greeted him as he left the gym, but Paxton shrugged it off, used to the diminutive boy’s jibes.  And so what if he did look high-and-mighty?  He had reason to.  After a few turns, he started searching the main hallways, trying to get a glimpse of this boy he had been sent to find.  Surely he couldn’t be hard to spot, from the description the headmaster had given…

He nearly passed by a second hall before he came to a slow halt, his brain processing what he had just seen out of the corner of his eye.  It looked like a few of his classmates arguing with someone matching the exact account Brother Blood had given of this “Icicle Junior”.  Hastily Paxton back-stepped and strode down the hall, realizing just how verbal the argument was getting.

“Hey, cut it out, man!  Can’t a guy just get some directions around this freaking maze?”

“Oh yeah, we can give you directions… out the door!”

“Or right into a trash compactor!”

The H.A.E.Y.P. students started chortling as if they had just made the joke of the century.  Icicle Jr. however, hardly looked impressed or intimidated as he crossed his arms at them.

“Oh, you think this is funny?  You treat all guests this way?  Well, we’ll see who’s laughing once I talk to your headmaster about the fact you’re all acting like a bunch of dicks.” He snarled.  The three stopped laughing at once, their expressions becoming murderous.  Paxton swallowed, knowing at once he would have to step in, and even before he finished thinking as much he moved to get between the other students and the stranger.

“You all oughta be ashamed!” He barked, planting his fists on his hips.  His classmates hesitated a second, thrown off by his sudden appearance and apparent defense of the weird new guy, and he used the opportunity to bellow some more.  “Pickin’ on a guest asking for directions?  You wanna make us look bad?!  No wonder the headmaster’s havin’ trouble recruiting!  Do you have any idea who this guy is?  Do you?!”

Expressions of bewilderment swept over the three H.A.E.Y.P. students and behind him, Paxton could sense Icicle Jr.’s evident surprise.  When no one answered, Pax bellowed again.

“I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, GRUNTS!  DO YOU KNOW WHO HE IS?”

They balked at that, until See-More finally squeaked, “N-no…?”

“This,” Paxton huffed importantly, “is Icicle Jr.  He and his daddy are in the big leagues.  Belle Reve big leagues.  You wanna pick a fight with him it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, because you’ll wind up a windshield splatter anyway!”

They took hesitant steps backward, slowly coming to the realization that perhaps picking a fight was a stupid idea after all.  After a moment or two they turned and walked away while muttering idle threats, and Paxton relaxed.  Preventing a fight and finding this guy was a mission well-done so far.  Even the headmaster would have to admit that!  He spun about, pleasantly surprised to find the other boy grinning at him.

“Dude!  Not sure where you got your info, but thanks for the save!” Icicle Jr. was clearly amused and impressed in equal measure and he gave him a light punch on the shoulder.  Pax avoided his gaze guiltily; he didn’t feel worthy of such a prestigious young villain’s admiration and approval.

“ ‘S’nothin’,” he mumbled.  “Brother Blood filled me in when he asked me to find you and show you around, that’s all.”

“Huh, I’ll have to thank him for that.  Maybe.” The other remarked, sounding surprised.  “So you know about yours truly; what do they call you?”

Pax’s hand automatically shot to his brow in a salute.

“Sir!  Private H.I.V.E. at your service, sir!” he barked.  Icicle Jr. gave a slight wince.

“Yeesh chillax, man.” He half-laughed at his own joke.  “My dad gets called ‘sir’.  My friends call me Cameron, Cam for short.”

He stuck out a hand suddenly, and Paxton jumped in surprise.

“Uh… I’m Paxton and uh,” he stuttered awkwardly as he shook the offered hand, “I… don’t actually have any friends.”

Cameron’s grin broadened.

“Well, Pax buddy,” he said, throwing an arm about the bigger boy’s broad shoulders, “you do now!”


Hasty apologies were made to both the Light agents and Brother Blood upon the boys’ return to the lounge and after a brief promise from Icicle Sr. that he would have a word with Cameron about the matter later, the two were left to sit off to themselves and talk over a plate of sandwiches.    Paxton felt rather awkwardly out of place and went silent upon taking his seat, but Cameron was getting inexplicably animated and could barely contain himself.  He snatched up a sandwich but barely nibbled at it before letting out a gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Paxton asked, suddenly alert.

“Pax buddy,” Cameron began, the fox-like grin returning to his face, “You said you’re kind of lacking in the friend department, right?”

The other boy squirmed somewhat uncomfortably.  “Y-yeah…” he admitted.

“No sweat pal, no sweat.  Yours truly isn’t exactly the most social butterfly in the crowd either.  But that’s what’s got me thinking.  You see my dad, big capo Icicle Sr. over there and his buddies?”

Pax glanced over at the Light agents conferring still with Brother Blood and gave a slow nod.  Cameron took this as his cue to continue.

“I’ve come to think of them as the Broalition.”

His acquaintance turned and raised an eyebrow at him.  “The Broalition?”

“Yeah yeah, just hear me out,” Cam added quickly, seeing his audience’s mild skepticism and knowing he was about to lose his momentum with the idea brainstorm if he wasn’t careful, “They’re the Broalition.  You know, they usually work together as Light agents but I’ve also seen them hang out and be dudebros on the rare occasion as well.”

“Kinda hard t’picture a bunch of hardcore agents like them being all laid-back and chumming it up,” Paxton remarked.  “But I’ll take your word for it for now.”

“You know I like you, Pax.  You’re so agreeable.  Anyway,” Cameron went on, gesturing animatedly with his hands like he was laying out battle plans over an unseen topographical map, “Here’s what I’m thinking.  Neither of us really has a social network of our own or anything, but I’m willing to bet with my powers, your training, and a few other guys who might be able to work well in a group together with us…”

“Assuming there are any guys like that.” The bigger boy muttered gloomily.

“Then we’ll form the Second Broalition.”

The military brat froze, a sandwich halfway to his mouth as his eyebrows rose quickly to meet his fringe of strawberry-blonde hair.  “Say what now?” He asked in disbelief.

“You heard me.  Come on dude, it’d be sweet!” The young Metahuman’s voice started to become breathless with excitement as he gave the other boy a light punch on the shoulder.  “You, me, and a couple of other guys.  It’s gonna rock!  Nobody’s going to laugh at us any more, we’re going to be a team to carry on the legacy of the Broalition—well, technically I guess this means they’re actually the First Broalition—and we’ll be able to finally hang out with some guys who don’t think we’re total losers.”

“I dunno…” Pax said slowly, hesitancy and skepticism still evident in his voice.  However, his eyes were beginning to shine with something very akin to a wild, fleeting hope.  “How are we gonna pull something like that off?  We’re gonna hafta figure out how we’d all work together as a team.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Cam replied with a dismissive flapping of his hand.  “Worst comes to worst, we’ll elect a field leader and figure out different roles when we need to.”

“What about a base of operations, then?” Pax asked with a slightly thoughtful look, clearly beginning to put more stock behind the idea than before.  “Or… well, a place where we can hang out, I guess.”

“We’ll figure out who lives in the best spot for us all to kind of meet up.” Cam answered quickly, starting to grin.  “Got any more questions to throw at me, big guy?”

The other thought for a moment before rubbing his chin and frowning.  After a moment something seemed to occur to him at last and he gave a small nod again.

“Yeah,” he said.  “Who else are we gonna get?  Like you said, neither of us really have anyone that we just hang out with.  How’re we supposed t’form a ‘Second Broalition’ without more recruits?”

The pale boy’s grin widened as he rubbed his hands together conspiratorially.

“I was hoping you would ask that question!  Because I’ve already got at least one guy in mind.”


Belle Reve Penitentiary wasn’t a nice place.  It wasn’t built to be pleasant, but to serve the sole purpose of housing Metahuman super-criminals.  In all the time Belle Reve had been in operation since being built, there had been numerous escape attempts from the inmates.  Only one had ever managed the accomplishment and even so, they had been a human inmate of no special renown without any powers to speak of whatsoever.  The incident had been very quickly hushed up and Belle Reve’s reputation as the most secure and formidable prison on the East Coast remained intact.

These were facts Tommy Terror went over in his head almost ceaselessly in the long hours locked up in his cell with an inhibitor collar chafing his neck.  The chances he and his sister Tuppence had of ever getting out of this crocodile pit without serving time were slim to none.  They had no allies in Belle Reve and their strength—even combined—wasn’t going to be enough to bust them free.  They needed help to get out and preferably someone with some brains to come up with an escape plan because as it was, Tommy found he was somewhat lacking in the creativity and ingenuity needed for one.

“But we’ll get outta here sooner or later,” he muttered to himself fiercely as he studied patterns in the ceiling above his bunk.  “And then people’re gonna finally start takin’ the Terror Twins a little more seriously.”

That was really the worst part of it.  Not being in Belle Reve so much as the fact the other inmates would often sneer and mock Tommy and his sister for having such “pitiful, basic powers” and parental issues.  At least Tuppy managed to handle most of those jibes with some grace; she got in trouble for fighting with other inmates a lot less than he did.  But it didn’t matter; he was determined to show them all he was a force to be reckoned with.

“Then maybe Pa will start treatin’ us more like his kin again…”

It was the first time he’d spoken the words out loud.  The bitterness in his voice probably would have shocked his twin had they shared a cell and she heard.  But he meant it more than he could really express.  Tom Terror Sr. wasn’t the easiest parent to get along with, his expectations for the twins being more than a little excessively high.  But sooner or later he would have to accept that his expectations didn’t need to be met and he didn’t rule or control Tommy’s life, or Tup’s for that matter.

One day Tommy would make his pa proud and he’d do it on his own terms, being himself.

He was stewing in these familiar thoughts when a guard approached his cell, apparently talking to someone he was escorting.  Tommy fell quiet, not out of any real curiosity so much as a desire not to be heard and laughed at again for any reason.  He continued to stare at the ceiling until the guard let out a cry.

“Wait, what are you—AUGH!!”

Tommy’s eyes widened and he sat bolt upright on his bunk.  A strange crackling sound had accompanied the guard’s cry and suddenly there was a rolling click of a lock unlatching, just faint beneath the loud beeping of a keypad being used.  The door to his cell swung open and a vaguely familiar face looked in.

“What’s goin’ on?” The teenager demanded as he looked into the bright blue crystalline face now smiling up at him.

“Tommy mi compadre, I’m here to spring you out of this bore-atorium and welcome you with open arms into bro-hood.”

“Oh freakin’ fried chicken.” Tommy muttered under his breath.  Suddenly he remembered who this idiot was.  Icicle Jr. was the epitome of wanna-be-a-big-gun and the slightly awkward son of Belle Reve’s prison capo, Icicle Sr.  He had hit on Tuppence once or twice if Tommy remembered correctly, and his feeble attempts to befriend the twins only served to come off as socially inept.

“Don’t you got nothin’ better t’do than pester me an’ Tup?” He asked the icy boy in a flat, dry voice.  Icicle Jr. frowned in a slightly miffed way.

“I didn’t hear a thank-you in there.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I didn’t give ya one.”

“Hmm..” Icicle Jr. said in mock thought, tapping a finger against his chin, “And yet here I stand, with the door to your cell wide open.”

Tommy scowled, unable to think of a retort.  The spiky-headed weirdo had a point there.  Really, why was he even thinking about complaining?  He had an opening.

“Fine…” he muttered, jumping off the bunk.  “I’ll come with ya, fer now.”

Icicle Jr. grinned like somewhat bizarre-looking fox and motioned for him to come along.  The two darted away from the cell and ran down the hall as fast as they could, their haste catching the attention of the inmates they passed.  It wouldn’t be long before the attention of the guards was caught and they would be in some serious crap, Tommy thought.

But where was the security?  Throwing around a few quick glances, he didn’t see a single one.  It felt too convenient.

The two rounded a corner and nearly ran smack into three guards that were moving rather quickly.  There was a moment of stunned surprise in which Tommy opened his mouth to swear, and before he could get out more than the start of a first syllable, there was a loud clanging and the three guards dropped like flies, their eyes rolling up in the backs of their heads.

“Close one!” A muscular boy clad in black and yellow remarked, lowering an arm to which a shield was strapped.  He frowned slightly at Icicle Jr.  “You know when I need to watch your six, I actually need to watch your six.  You coulda been caught!”

“Yeah, but we weren’t.”

“We’re not outta the woods yet, so quit yammerin’ and get us outta here!” Tommy snapped at both of them.  If he was going to get out, the last thing he wanted to do was stand around and chit-chat.  This seemed to do the trick and snapped some sense into the other two, the larger boy giving a curt nod and signaling for them to follow as he turned and charged.  They encountered few more obstacles, but without being asked Icicle Jr. made quick work of Tommy’s inhibitor collar and the Terror twin unleashed his formidable strength for what was the first time in far too long.

It was as though part of his senses had been cut off, and suddenly they all flowed back to him as he felt that rush of his power erupt inside him, cells saturated once more with that feeling of invincibility.  With a yell of delight he brought his fists to the floor, and the resulting shockwave knocked people out of their path.  Now this was more like it.  This was what he should have been doing ages ago.

Breaking out of Belle Reve would finally make Tom Sr. proud of his son.


Cameron was elated; it was plain as day on his face that he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity and couldn’t wait to properly induct Tommy Terror into his “broalition”.  Paxton wasn’t so sure; he had reservations about the matter and he wasn’t so blinded by excitement that he couldn’t tell Tommy wasn’t all too thrilled to be running from the confines of Belle Reve with them.  Something about guy just seemed a little too reserved, too stubborn for their idea, and Pax began to wonder if maybe Cam hadn’t made a mistake in his assumption that Tommy would want to join up.

Belle Reve security was in pursuit, though it was questionable what sort of orders they were operating under.  Warden Strange was a little… well, strange and had appeared wholly unconcerned by their visit and indication they wanted to speak with Tommy.  Now their retreat didn’t seem to be bringing the sort of chase Pax would expect and it had him wondering.  He didn’t have time to ponder on that long however, before the three had to come to a stop to catch their breath in the wooded area a mile or so out from the prison gates.  And it was then that Tommy took the opportunity to confirm Pax’s suspicions.

“This-this is awesome!!” Cameron was saying as he attempted to catch his breath, gripping Pax’s shoulder in excitement.  “We got our third member, we got out of Belle Reve without a scratch—“

“Now hold up!” Tommy drawled sharply, and the H.I.V.E. student’s heart seemed to sink in his chest.  Yeah, he had been right after all.

“I ain’t never agreed to no ‘team’,” Tommy growled, stomping closer and looming into their faces as best as he could.  “Y’all got my thanks for gettin’ me outta the slammer, but I ain’t interested in no little club you losers think you’re gonna make.”

“What?” Cameron seemed to wilt a bit and his eyes widened in that hurt sort of way Paxton thought belonged on a rejected puppy.  “But… but Tommy, buddy!  This is our chance to prove we’re just as good as the old guys.  You know, the big cheese?  Our dads and all?”

Tommy crossed his arms and glowered, blue-gray eyes flashing.  “I said, I ain’t interested.”

Paxton glowered back at him, crossing his own arms and letting his muscles swell a bit.  He wasn’t quite sure he could deal with super-strength if Tommy cut loose, but he wasn’t about to let some ingrate walk all over his first friend.

“Knock it off!” He snapped, some of his rigid militant tone coming back.  “Least you could do is actually show some of that gratitude you say you’ve got!”

Tommy made no response but continued to glare silently, as if unsure how to argue the point.  Paxton spun on his heel and slung an arm around Cameron’s shoulders, preparing to lead him away and offer some condolences.  It wasn’t Cam’s fault; he couldn’t have known Tommy would be such an unwilling candidate.  And Pax felt a little hurt by the open rejection on his friend’s face.  All he needed were some kind reassurances that his plan would still work, that they could find somebody else and it would be Tommy’s loss for not taking them up on the offer.

They didn’t get too far before they were blinded by bright lights and heard the clicking of way too many guns being pointed at them.

“Well, well, well,” a guard said in a slow, amused drawl, “Lookee what we found here.”

Pax reluctantly put up his hands in a show of surrender, and a second later, Cam followed suit.  A grunt behind them indicated Tommy was being shoved and muttered curses under his breath suggested he was also being forced to surrender.

So much for their plan.

“Boys,” the guard drawled on, “I think we gonna get ourselves a promotion.  Deliverin’ one monster and capturin’ some loose inmates?  This is our lucky day.”

I’m not an inmate, Pax’s mind said in feeble protest.  His mouth however, was trained well enough it knew now was a time to keep silent.  Tommy let out a low growl of anger, but he otherwise made no argument.  Chances were likely he’d save that rage to ambush Pax and Cam later for getting him into this predicament.  Cam though, was apparently doing some quick thinking.

“You guys don’t know who I am?” He asked, a picture of innocence.  He received a sharp blow to the side from the butt of a rifle, and Pax had to catch him before he lost his footing.

“Guess not,” Cam said weakly as he rubbed his side.  “But I’ll tell you guys what, I’m feeling generous, so I’ll give you a chance to surrender.”

The armed guards let out a round of chuckling laughter, clearly amused by the young Metahuman’s apparent stupidity.  Pax glanced down and saw a fiendish grin cross his friend’s face.

“Your loss.” He said cheerfully, and with a sharp flick of his wrist, several shards of ice shot forward and slammed into a transport vehicle Pax had barely noticed.  There were cries of shock and fear and Tommy instantly threw off the guards behind them, ready to cause complete pandemonium.  Pax was stunned, unable to move, his eyes locked on the transport van, which had begun to shake and vibrate in a way no land vehicle ever should.

“Uh…guys?” He said, hoping to grab their attention.  He needn’t have wasted the breath, because the screeching and bending of the van’s metal frame did the job.  The three boys stiffened, and the back of the van burst open as a blur of green-and-gold abruptly filled their field of vision.  A shape, a figure moved in the blur, and it spoke with a distorted, jarring voice.

“You did this?” It asked.  They couldn’t answer, couldn’t find words to make sense of the situation, and it spoke again.  “Hold on to something, and whatever you do, don’t let go.”

Pax felt his heart begin to pound as he gripped Cam, and Cam grabbed Tommy like his life depended on it.  Before Tommy could object to this arrangement, the blur shot past them, toward Belle Reve, then came up from behind them in the blink of an eye, snatching Tommy by the wrist.

And the world vanished in a rush of color and a roar of air.

Pax wanted to scream, but found he couldn’t draw the breath too.  All he could do was keep holding on to Cam with all his might, and pray that he didn’t fall off in the slipstream.  Cameron seemed to be thinking along similarly fearful lines and had activated his powers, attempting to better maintain his grip on Tommy by freezing his hands.

The world spun on an axis as it rotated around the sun.  But you typically didn’t see it actually spinning; you just knew that it did.

For the first time in all three boys’ lives, they could feel the world as it spun, because they were moving so fast the earth felt like it would never catch up.

And then it stopped.

They slowed to a halt in what looked like a forested clearing, and collapsed in a heap.  Pax stayed on the ground laying on his side for a moment, wise enough from his training to know better than to jump to his feet.  Cam was shaking violently as he tried to prop himself up on his hands and knees, and though Tommy got up first, he quickly doubled over and emptied his stomach of what little was in it.

“What…what the hell…?” Cam said breathlessly, and the three of them looked up at the now-still blur of green and gold.  It was a boy their own age much to their surprise, outfitted in a green bodysuit with gold trim and reflective yellow goggles.  He lifted the goggles after a moment, regarding them with curious amber eyes framed by wispy locks of bright golden-blonde hair.

“You’re heavy.” He said by way of greeting before his eyes flicked to Tommy impassively.  “Oh yes.  Suppose I should have warned you.  You’re better off taking it slow for a few moments after coming out of that.  Takes some getting used to.”

He spoke in a very brisk, clipped sort of way as though forcing himself to make sure he didn’t erupt into babbling as fast as he moved.  Cameron looked up, studying the short, lean teenager a second, his eyes widening.

“You’re a speedster?” He asked in surprise.

“Brilliant deduction.” The boy remarked in a way that suggested sarcasm lurked somewhere behind the tonelessness of his voice.  “That being said, wait here a second.”

And he vanished in a blur again, the wind whipping the other boys in the face.  Cam and Pax looked to each other, exchanging wide-eyed expressions.

“Dude,” the Metahuman murmured in quiet awe, “a speedster.”

“Why’d he save us?” Tommy grumbled, rubbing his head.

Paxton thought on it for a second, trying to give himself a moment or two to process what had happened.  “He was a prisoner.  They were transportin’ him to Belle Reve.”

He and Cameron locked eyes again, the same impossible hope igniting in them at the same time.  They didn’t have time to voice it though, before the boy in green abruptly reappeared, sliding onto a fallen log like it was a bench.  He continued to regard them all curiously like they were a mildly interesting television show he had just found, and promptly began munching on what looked like a sizeable plate of chili-cheese fries.

“Where’d you get those?” Tommy asked in surprise, only to get a shrug in response.

“Root beer stand a couple of miles away.  Metabolism burns calories really fast.  Need to eat a lot to keep up with it.  Not used to carrying passengers that weigh over a certain amount of kilos either, so I need something to munch.  You can have a bite; wouldn’t recommend it though.  Gotta wait.  Your stomach might just upchuck it.  You can’t touch my Cheez-Its though.  They’re mine.”

He spoke in a strange, quick rhythm and finished by patting a sizeable box of Cheez-Its beside him that they hadn’t noticed.  For a long moment all they could do was stare at him dumbfounded, before Cameron sat completely up and leaned forward.

“Thanks for the save, bro.” He said with an encouraging smile.  “You got a name we can call you?”

“Thaddeus Thawne,” was the reply between bites of chili-cheese fries, “Thad for short, if you must.  I prefer Intertia when in uniform though.”

Cameron turned and gave Paxton an excited grin before looking back to Thad, barely able to keep still.

“Thad my friend, it seems to us you’re a pretty solid guy.”  He said as he got to his feet a little shakily and took a seat next to the speedster on his log.  “My buddy Pax here, he and I are considering forming a little faction—a ‘broalition’, if you will—for us solid dudebros who don’t have anyone else to hang with and possibly cause some mayhem together and do stupid guy stuff.”

“Stupid guy stuff?” Thad echoed inquisitively, and now even Tommy seemed to be listening a little more intently than before.

“Yeah, you know… like going to a mall and finding a sporting goods store with an open display of tennis balls and chucking them at each other across the displays until we get chased out.  You know, stupid guy stuff.” Cameron explained.

“Sounds stupid.” Thad said with an agreeable nod and an interested tone of voice.  “Stupid isn’t really in my self-applicable vocabulary.  There is, however, entertainment value in some non-violent harassment in order to stave off boredom.”

A moment of silence followed this declaration, in which the Metahuman and his uniformed friend exchanged a puzzled expression, and their reluctant companion stared in a way that suggested he was having second thoughts.  Thaddeus Thawne merely finished off the remainder of his chili-cheese fries with a contemplative expression, humming tonelessly as he thought.

“Why not?” He finally remarked.  “Might as well.”

“Wait, what?” Cameron said with a startled blink, as Paxton blurted out, “But he hasn’t even asked you yet!”

“Didn’t need to.” Thad answered, scooping the box of Cheez-Its into his lap and popping it open.  “Not really any reason for me to say no.  I have nothing better to do, anyway.  Might as well make some allies, and you seem like you won’t let it get too boring.”

He popped a few little squares of his snack into his mouth, making quick work of them before adding in a less-rapidfire voice, “Besides… I’ve never had any friends before.  Haven’t had anyone, really.  Maybe it’ll be a beneficial experience.”

There was, the other three realized, finally some real emotion in the speedster’s voice rather than just a casual tone of polite interest or amusement.  It hinted at possible unhappiness, despite the carefully neutral expression on the shortest boy’s face.  Cameron recovered quickly though, grinning and clapping a hand on Thad’s shoulder.

“Oh dude, I promise you it will be!” He said reassuringly.  “Trust me, Speed King.”

“Unless I ever get the ludicrous notion to start a drug cartel,” Thad said in a flat voice, “don’t ever call me that again.”

“You got it, pal!” Paxton said enthusiastically, extending his hand for a shake.  Thad stared at it for a second like it might possibly bite him but wound up giving it a strong, rapid shake that left the H.I.V.E. student feeling his arm might fall out of its socket.

“All right!” Cameron shot to his feet triumphantly, punching the air with both fists.  “Talk about some serious luck, Pax!  The Second Broalition now numbers at three!  Now all we’ve gotta do is—“

“N-now wait a second, hold up!”

Silence fell around the clearing as they all turned to look at Tommy, who instantly had the sense of mind to look guilty and shuffle his feet in an awkward sort of way.  He glanced down and examined the dirt under his shoes as his face flushed, mouth quivering.

“Y-yer just gonna leave me here…?” he mumbled, rubbing an arm.  Cam and Pax shared a confused, skeptical glance.  What was this about?

“Thought you didn’t wanna join.” Pax said coolly, folding his arms.  “Remember?”

Tommy scuffed his foot as he lowered his head to better hide his face, mumbling.

“What was that?” Cam asked, cupping a hand around his ear.

“I said, maybe I’ve changed my mind.” Tommy mumbled a little louder.  He looked up after a second, his cheeks and ears a healthy scarlet color.  As if it were all the explanation in the world, he tilted his head in a backwards nod to indicate Thad.  “I mean… if yer gonna have a speedster… ya might need a strongman too.”

Thad lifted his slender eyebrows in a mixed display of mild surprise and amusement, but said nothing as Pax went slack-jawed in surprise and Cam grinned broadly.  The pale Metahuman seized the three of them in a group man-hug, squeezing them tightly around the shoulders as his eyes went glassy with unshed tears of joy.

“Guys… we’re gonna be best friends.  I can tell it.  Welcome to the Second Broalition.”

Perhaps they didn’t have many friends between them…but maybe it was better that way.  Maybe, just maybe, a few best friends were better than a whole social circle after all.