PROJECT: PYRO

Clayton West saw a lot of weird things on the job, he was used to it, and every hero was. but he’s not sure any hero, including him, expects to see a scrawny teen squatting in a dumpster in an alleyway at midnight.

it all starts one fateful Thursday, it has been a slow day at the Heroes Guild, meaning Clayton could spend the whole day chilling in his office while his poor underpaid assistant did all his paperwork, “Jace, if you file those TPS reports as ‘apocalyptic events’ one more time, we’re going to have issues,” he told his assistant, narrowing his eyes at the lanky man, “understood, Mr. Hyperion, I shall rename them ‘mundane catastrophes’” Jace replied dryly, not missing a beat as he continued to sort through the mountains of paperwork.

“Thanks, man,” Clayton said, letting out an over-dramatic sigh of relief. he was just about to succumb to the embrace of a midday nap when the office door burst open, startling Clayton so much he fell straight out of his chair.

“Hyperion!” Clayton’s coworker and indie hero Hydrangea blurted when he entered the office, “Ultranium wants to see you, right now!” his chest heaved as if he had run like a track star to get to Clayton’s office, and his eyes sparkled with what could only be described as sheer panic.

“Hydrangea! Ever heard of knocking?” Clayton quipped, though his demeanor shifted slightly at the sight of his coworker’s panic, “Did you run here? you can literally manipulate water- slide your way through halls or something,”

“Real funny, I’m laughing my socks off,” Hydrangea deadpanned, hands on his hips as he tried to gain his composure, “but seriously, Ultranium is going off and your name is on the top of his shout list.”

Ultranium, the CEO of the Heroes Guild and number 1 hero, was the villain’s and vigilante’s worst nightmare, and Clayton’s boss.

In short, Clayton felt as if he were going to piss himself, not that he was going to let anyone know that.

“Alright, I’m coming,” he spoke with faux nonchalance, finally getting up off the floor and brushing off his jeans, he didn’t bother to wear his hero uniform that day. He shot Jace a look that said ’I don’t get paid enough for this’ then followed Hydrangea out the door and down the vast halls of the Heroes Guild, his sneakers faintly squeaked on the freshly polished floors. The building itself was one of the tallest buildings in the city, “I should’ve just played sick,” Clayton whined, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black hoodie, “I could be at home right now, controller in hand, bullying nine-year-olds in Fortnite,”

“that’s not very ‘heroic’ of you,” Hydrangea muttered under his breath, “oh please, no hero is actually that good of a person outside of the guild,” Clayton rolled his eyes, “as soon as I strip my suit off, morals can kiss my-” his smirk fell when they finally rounded the corner to the elevators.

“Is there a fire drill I didn’t know about?” Clayton was more than shocked to see every single hero from the eighteenth floor crowded around the two elevators, their chatter rising like an unruly ocean. When the elevators dinged open, he only had a second to regret all his life choices before the crowd surged forward in a flurry of colorful costumes.

“Hydrangea!” Clayton called out, trying to keep track of his companion’s distinct blue and white hair, but the current of bodies pulled them apart, “whoa, easy-” he began to protest, but his words were cut off when he felt something, or someone, latch onto the back of his hood, he yelped as he was pulled backward, the collar of his hoodie nearly choking him, he coughed a little when he hit the ground of the…elevator.

Clayton looked around and sure enough, he was on the floor of one of the elevators. He had a second to look up and see the baffled faces of Hydrangea and the others before the door slid shut with a satisfying swoosh.

“You okay?” a smooth male voice sounded from behind, Clayton whipped around with a delighted gasp, “Nick!?” he exclaimed, a grin splitting across his face before quickly being replaced by a faux glare, “you nearly strangled me!”

standing there leaning against the elevator was Nick, a hero from the thirtieth floor, called Mania, “sorry about that, Clay,” Nick scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “but sheesh, they were like wild animals back there,” he shivered as his gaze flickered past Clayton for a moment as if seeing the hoard through the steel doors.

“Tell me about it,” Clayton grumbled, still thinking about how easy this day would have been if he had only called in sick. “Speaking of wild things,” Nick suddenly spoke, leaning back, “have you heard about the vigilante spike?” he asked.

Clayton’s brow furrowed, “vigilantes? I didn’t think they much of a problem,” Nick rolled his eyes, “of course you didn’t,” he chuckled, “you might want to start paying more attention, they’re getting bold- too bold, it’s starting trouble,”

“Trouble and I are on a first-name basis,” Clayton quipped, opting to ignore the strange feeling of unease in his chest. “Still dense after all these years,” Nick sighed, but there was a playful edge to it, so Clayton didn’t feel too offended, but before he could respond the elevator dinged, signaling their arrival, the doors slid open revealing Ultranium’s office.

The walls were lined with monitors and the latest tech gear, displaying maps and stats that buzzed with activity. Clayton stepped out of the elevator, scanning the room. Faces he knew well, Heroes who had fought alongside him on multiple occasions- filled the space, the looks of determination and concern doing nothing to put Clayton at ease.

“Wow never thought I’d miss paperwork,” he murmured as he and Nick made their way over to the long table in the center of the room and sat down, the feeling of worn-out leather seats was familiar to him.

the low murmur of voices in Ultranium’s office was abruptly cut off by the thunderous bang of the door swinging open, a tidal wave of heroes from the eighteenth floor flooded into the room, their expressions ranging from confusion to outright pissed off, a collective glare seemed to fixate on him and Nick, who were seated innocently near the front, Clayton had to sip his complementary cup of water to keep from snorting.

Then he caught sight of Hydrangea who, looking slightly ruffled from the elevator ordeal, made his way over to the table. his gaze snagged on Clayton for a moment. Clayton felt kind of bad for leaving the poor dude alone in that horrendous crowd, though technically it was Nick’s fault.

Clayton turned his attention back to the front of the table, where Ultranium was expected to appear at any moment.

“they’re all bent out of shape over us getting here first,” he muttered to Nick, “it’s like they’ve never seen someone use an elevator before,” he had to suppress a laugh, knowing dang well why they were angry.

“Maybe they just don’t like you,” Nick mumbled back, his face red from holding back laughter. to everyone else, they must have looked constipated.

“Hilarious,” Clayton rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching despite himself.

just then, the door opened one last time, a tall buff man in a black-green suit walked in, his jet-black hair slicked back, and his beard braided.

Everyone stood, giving a solute to Ultranium.

His voice, deep and resonant, cut through the atmosphere like a knife. “The vigilante situation has escalated beyond our predictions,” he announced, standing tall at the head of the table. “So, I’ve decided, that every one of you will be assigned a target, the vigilantes think they’re above the law, it’s our job to remind them they are not,”

Clayton shifted in his seat; his gaze locked on Ultranium. It was like he could feel the room’s collective focus, each hero hanging on their leader’s next word, around him, there was the subtle rustling of fabric as heroes sat up straighter in their seats, ready for orders. “who’s up for taking on Pyro?” they all sat back down, all except two, “I’ll do it,”

Pyro was a newer vigilante, yet somehow the biggest menace of them all. The first sightings of them dated back only two years ago, they were mostly popular in the poorer parts of the city, the slums.

some saw them as a beacon of hope, and others saw them as a roach that needed to be stomped on. Though one thing everyone knew for sure, no hero that had taken on that case had ever been able to catch them in all those two years.

So, you might be wondering why Clayton announced he’d do it, just like how he was wondering why Nick had also stood up.

Everyone turned to look at the former duo who were currently standing next to each other with their hands raised asking for the same case.

“What!?” Nick whisper-yelled at him incredulously, “I could ask you the same thing!” Clayton whispered back, eyes narrowed, “Since when were you interested in the Pyro case?!”

“Since when were you?” Nick spat back. “Since just now!” he replied.

“Good, you both get the case,” Ultranium said simply, looking between the two of them, unfazed. While Clayton and Nick turned to look at their leader, completely flabbergasted along with everyone else in the room.

“you two are the most qualified to catch Pyro,” Ultranium explained, “I’m sure with both of you working together we will have Pyro in a cell before the end of the month,”

Nick doesn’t reply, instead he slowly lowers himself back into the seat. Clayton wants to argue, but he knows better than to test Ultranium’s patience, so he sits back down next to Nick, but the friendly aura is gone.

As the meeting carried on, heroes were being matched with names that Clayton does’t bother to memorize. Instead, he is busy forming a plan in his mind on how to catch Pyro before Nick does.

Though he does spare a single glance towards Nick, who has the same look of determination. Usually seeing Nick so determined would also motivate Clayton, but seeing as they were currently going up against each other, it felt different.

But that was okay, because Clayton was already pumped and ready-

Clayton hates his job with every fiber of his being. He has spent hours trying to find a single thing that could lead him to Pyro. But the guy was impossible to track down. Even Hydrangea and Jace volunteered to help him, but even with all three of searching through the files, they aren’t able to find anything on the vigilante.

Clayton sighs as he slumps onto his black leather chair, he was ready to just give up and give let Nick take care of the case.

He pulls out his phone and opens Twitter, it was normal for him to Doom Scroll when he was stressed or upset. For some reason his intrusive thoughts kept repeating the word ‘Pyro’ over and over again, until finally he caved and pulled up the search and typed ‘Pyro’

His jaw hit the floor when a certain account popped up.

PYRO:)@TheBestVigilante

“What the Frick?” Clayton asks no one in particular, but Hydrangea and Jace stop shuffling through more files to stare at him, bemused.

Clayton pays no mind to their confused glances as he clicks on the account, maybe it was just a fan account or a troll, but when he scrolled to the latest post, he pales.

It’s a picture of Pyro, the Pyro, sitting on the roof of a Mcdonalds holding a milkshake in one hand and flipping off the camera with the other, he’s wearing his signature red and black hoodie with the hood over his face, a black mask and goggles is hiding his face.

Clayton hears a muttered, “What the heck?” Hydrangea came up behind him and saw his screen.

“Is that really him?” Jace asks as he too peeks at Clayton’s phone.

“Yep, it’s him alright,”

Clayton can’t hold back the grin that splits across his face the longer he stares at the photo.