A Series of Conversations: The First Time We Spoke

“Alan, this is Neveah. Neveah, this is Alan,” Julie introduced us quickly as she grabbed a beer out of the cooler. “She will be in tomorrow’s mission briefing.”

I turned to the newly introduced Neveah. Everyone present at Michael’s house was a superhero in one form or another. Some were aliens, some were humans that some magic or science had physically changed, and others looked like an average human when they weren’t in a mask and cape. Neveah was the latter. She looked normal. A tall, brown -skinned woman, she had about 4 inches of height on me. Her head was shaved, leaving just a black shading on her scalp. She would’ve been an intimidating figure if she weren’t so visibly nervous. Her full lips were pulled down into an anxious frown, and she eyed me shyly. 

“Welcome to the team.” I held out my hand, which she shook firmly but quickly. 

“Thank you,” she replied. 

There was a slight twang to her accent that I wasn’t expecting. It was pleasant.

“Go mingle, Neveah,” Julie commanded as she handed her a beer. She opened her own and took a heavy drink. “We like new hires to get to know their team before their identity is announced.”

“So none of them know who I am?”

“Not a one.”

The nervous way she asked Julie about the team made me wonder if she was a former villain. I watched her walk slowly towards those who would be her teammates: Koral “Nightleaf” Chris, Eunice “Iron Cat” Garbi, Brian “Dragonboy” Stephens, Ernestina “The Illusionist” Todd, and Umar “Fireblitz” Alexander. All led by Julie “The Steel Amazon” Chadwick.

Brian spotted her approaching, gave her a big jovial welcome, and launched into introducing Neveah to the rest of the team. I looked over to Julie and saw she was watching them as well. 

“It’s always nerve-wracking to get new blood on the team,” I commiserated with my fellow team lead. 

“I think Neveah will be alright, this is just very new for her.” Julie sighed heavily, and looked at her new teammate with what I guessed was pity.

“Really dark origin story?”

“Very dark.”

“Who is she?”

Julie hesitated, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to us. She leaned down so she could whisper in my ear, “I know this is against the rules, but you should know that she is The Traveler.” 

The Traveler, daughter of The Marvelous Angel. The Marvelous Angel was one of the most evil supervillians that had ever existed. He was currently imprisoned in the company’s most state-of-the-art facility on Planet 52, and he had been put there by my father, Akar-Tur, aka the superhero “The Protector”. 

“Oh.” I grabbed a beer out of the cooler and drained it in one long swig.