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Head in her hands and while staring at the ground, willing her stomach to stop lurching, Mandy vaguely hoped that her amulet would continue to work on hangovers quickly. There was no reason to think it wouldn't, but… fuck, she could already feel the headache bloominh.
“I… really liked that bar…” Mandy's comment slipped out before she really thought to keep it to herself.
Around her, the Z-team looked as roughed up as she felt, bruised, scratched, still drunk themselves. And yet, she was proud.
“Sorry Miss Blazer,” Prism said softly.
“We were wrong,” Malevola said.
“For a gal that doesn’t know coke from crack, you really- ow!” someone smacked Sonar before he could finish. Mandy wasn’t sure who.
Still, she was confused, blinking a bit at the assorted team-members. “What?” she asked.
“When we said yoo’d never scrap,” Punch Up said. “We was wrong. Ye’ a true friend in tat.”
“Yeah, well, you deserve to be allowed in hero bars. You’re all heroes. It was bullshit.” Mandy sighed, rubbing her face. “We tried deescalating, too. It wasn’t-”
Okay, so maybe it was a tiny bit their fault.
“Heroes only. Can’t you stupid freaks read?” The super, tall and with a cape that looked three shades of blue wrong, stared down at the group so many rounds into drinking they were all a bit less than sober.
“We are all heroes here, friend,” Phen said, voice booming. “And all of us can read. Are you in need of assistance learning?”
“Shut up, loser.”
Robert sighed, glaring up at the super as he swirled his drink in a hand. “Look man, it may not look it but-”
“No one asked you, nerd,” the hero snapped. “You don’t even have powers. You shouldn’t be here even more.”
Mandy scoffed. “Sto-” she was cut off too, as Robert shifted.
“Maybe I don’t belong, but I’ll spell it out for you, dipshit. These guys are heroes now. Their pasts are none of your business.”
“It’s absolutely my business. You people don’t belong where we are.”
Robert raised a hand, stopping the team from speaking in a way that made Mandy jealous despite her drunken state. He smirked. “Oh… is this just because Honey-Bee got tired of your tiny dick and selfish bullshit and left you for someone who could actually get her off, Speedtrap? That was years ago. Does it still hurt?”
Embarrassment instantly filled the super’s face. Mandy was more surprised that Robert knew of this hero, Speedtrap- or his love life- than anything. When the man reached out, yanking the dispatcher from his seat by his shirt, Robert didn’t even flinch. “Shut your stupid mouth. How do you-”
The team was on edge, all half rising and ready. Mandy was too.
“I listen to super-chatter all day, Speedo. Wanna test what else I know?” Robert grinned, smug and insufferable and entirely to calm. He took another sip of his drink, playing with it. But she could see he was tensing.
“I’m going to beat you to a smear on the sidewalk,” Speedster whispered.
Robert snickered. “No, you won’t. I don’t need super powers to win in a fight against you. I have two brain cells to your one, buddy.” It was like they were in slow motion as the super pulled his fist back, and as Robert raised his glass, slamming it into the side of Speedtrap’s face. Glass shattered. Speedtrap screamed. Chaos erupted.
Watching a video didn’t hold a candle to seeing the fighting in person. Mandy had seen many fights, of course, and she’d been in hundreds of them- but this was different. This was raw, and wild, and Mandy honestly would never forget it. At some point, she turned to see Robert leaping onto a massive super’s back while simultaneously bringing a tray down over his head. The plastic shattered and the super howled with pain, grabbing Robert with a hand and throwing him across the bar.
“Gotcha,” Golem called, catching Robert in the frey and moving in. Blood was trickling down his face, but he was running right back into the fight, fists flying. Mandy spent an embarrassing amount of time watching him. Even drunk, the man moved his body with a fluidity that only came from years of fighting and training.
…And at the same time, Robert was feral. Again. He bit any time someone’s hand got too close, climbing tall supers like they were trees and using the advantage to do damage. Capes were used to garote some of them- Mandy made a note to rethink her own. Robert took damage, sure, but even against those who were stronger and had real powers, he returned that damage a hundred fold.
Mandy almost forgot to go back to fighting herself, but Speedtrap barreling towards her brought her right back to the frey, Visi right after him.
“It was my fault,” Robert said, hissing as Malevola taped his bloody knuckles. “I should be the one in trouble, not any of you.”
“We’re just going to pretend this didn’t happen,” Mandy said, rubbing her face again and taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to deal with it.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Waterboy said shyly. “I like my job.”
“Aye, lad,” Punch Up pat him, grinning. “We do too.”
“I have a question,” Coupe said, crumpling a wrapper in her hand and cocking her head. “How did you know of his romantic situation?”
Visi snorted. “Yeah, I was wondering that too, Robert. Have you seen his dick or something?”
Robert snorted. “Yeah, sure Visi. I gave him a blow job and couldn’t choke on it if I tried. Totally.” He rolled his eyes. “No. But I did date his ex for a little bit.”
Prism cackled while Flambae made a sound that was very similar to a dying cat. “No way. Seriously? Wait, does that mean-”
“Yep,” Robert went on while Mandy was stifling her own giggles. “It was as Mecha Man. I was trying the dating thing for… well, like three weeks. My god. Honey-Bee wouldn’t stop giving me all the details I didn’t need to know. On our first date she made it clear that if we reached that point, she expected to get off.”
“That is… wow. Girl with standards,” Sonar said, snickering. “Did she have nice boobs?”
Robert shrugged. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, standards are fine, but it was the first date. I was more interested in, you know, her favorite color, food- making sure she wasn’t actually an ax-murderer.” He paused, then went on, “I guess she had nice boobs? Not something I worried about, Sonar.”
“Booooo!” Sonar yelled, giving a thumb’s down.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, Rob Bob, but I’m impressed.” Flambae stretched, eating at a burrito bowl of some sort. “You’re still a bitch though.”
“Noted.”
“The look on his face was priceless though,” Malevola said. “You knew the perfect thing to hit him with.”
“Yeah, well, literally every date and call and talk was about how much he sucked in bed,” Robert said, sipping his soda and sighed as he leaned back against Golem.
Mandy found it so cute. “Is that why you guys broke up, then?” she asked curiously.
“No. Honey-Bee had a chance to move to France and I wanted to focus on rebuilding the suit. It was amicable.” Robert scratched his jaw, looking bored, but giving a little smile.
“We need to branch out, man,” Prism said, shaking her head. “Goddamn, think of all the juicy shit we’ve been missing! Robert! You gotta let me go through your contacts.”
Robert made a face. “I think that would end badly…” he drawled, but then chuckled. “Let me sanitize it first, you monster. Might get us some good PR.”
“Yes!”
“Fuck yeah!”
“That’s a horrible idea,” Mandy said with a soft sigh.
Robert hummed. “Like I said. Sanitized first. Poor Chase doesn’t need any extra shit on his plate.”
“Anyway, you did good, Blonde-Boss,” Sonar said, squeaking before he gave a strange little salute. “You’re part of the family now.”
“The family,” Mandy repeated, unable to help the way her heart squeezed in a pleasant manner. “You mean the team?”
Waterboy nodded. “Yes!” he said excitedly, only to pause and look back at the group. “Right?”
“It’s tradition. Like when the Prince of Darkness offers his lover roses from his personal garden,” Coupé said.
“Fuck yeah!” Punch Up said, grinning.
Golem hummed. “Fuckin’ a-right.”
“Go Blazer, go!”
“That’s so hot.”
Mandy had to smile, especially when Phen smiled broadly. “I gladly welcome my lover back! Oh, this is most phenomenal!” Without warning he pulled Punch Up against him, squeezing him tightly in a hug. It reminded her of why they’d dated.
Then there was excited chatter and Mandy was surrounded.
“This was so much easier than with Robbo.”
“For real. Jesus fuck.”
“Six-seven all the way, baby.”
It felt nice, though Mandy was still drunk. The hero continued to feel that energy, which didn’t really die down, even as they split off in ones and twos. Mandy wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when it was just her and Robert, the latter with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He smiled lopsidedly at her, a soft little thing despite the blossoming bruises on his face and the dried blood in his hair.
“You really proved me wrong, Blazer,” he said. “Sure you want to join us rejects?”
All that came to mind was the cheer of the group. The idea of family, a chosen family, her new family.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m sure.”
“Cool, cool. When you’re sober we should really talk about what you’re getting into,” Robert leaned in. There were glimmers of that feral light in his brown eyes again. “These fuckers never leave your life boring. Anyway, this is like step one, the next step-”
“Robert,” Mandy cut him off, nudging his shoulder gently, before wrapping an arm around him. “Shut up and come flying with me. I already know about their weird poly thing.”
The man let out an honest laugh. “Well, guess I’m the only fucker that didn’t.” He shifted closer. “Wanna drop in on Visi and make her night?”
“Just no more bar fights,” Mandy agreed. Maybe she’d talk to the team about how warm Robert’s fighting made her feel when he wasn’t around.
And maybe she’d see if Prism recorded this one too.