A sunny Tuesday found Scarlet Warrior walking through the state FBI Field Office. A tall, pristine building of concrete and glass, many of the employees couldn't help but stare and murmur excitedly as she was being escorted by a special agent through the building. The FBI had sent her an urgent request to sit in on a meeting.
"If you'll just wait in here, we'll get started in about half an hour," said the young field agent as he held open the door for her.
"Thanks," Scarlet Warrior said before stepping into the room.
She looked around to see that the room was already occupied with various superheroes and superheroines. They were all socializing, enjoying the refreshments that had been provided by the FBI. She grabbed a plate and started heaping it with fruit, vegetables, and cocktail sausages. Some of the people in the room she had known for years, while others she just recognized from TV and the internet. Many of them came over to speak with her.
One of the new heroines that she met for the first time was Poppy, an extremely polite 18-year-old who had been working for almost a year. She had the power to generate balls of explosive energy. Scarlet Warrior quickly put down her food before she was given a crushing hug of affection from Zagros the Mighty, a superhero that had been magically endowed with superhuman strength. The Bosnian superhero gave a hearty laugh as he released Scarlet Warrior, so happy to see her after so long. Behind him stood Captain Kinetic, one of her oldest and dearest friends.
Aside from Zagros, Captain Kinetic was one of the few heroes that Scarlet Warrior considered to be among the strongest on Earth. However, unlike Zagros, the Captain had occasionally shared a bed with Scarlet Warrior. At 6'2", the brown-skinned superhero was looking good with his mid fade haircut, and rippling muscles. There were times she'd considered sleeping with Zagros, but the guy had a big mouth and bragged often on the women he'd been with. The Captain was discreet, wise, and had great taste in music.
"I knew if the FBI was calling heroes, you'd be on the list," Captain Kinetic said.
"Looks like they have good taste, seeing as how you're here," Scarlet Warrior said, giving him a fist bump.
She really wanted to go somewhere private where they could catch up; it had been almost 2 years since they last saw each other. Even now, while talking in a group with the other heroes, her mind flashed back to their first time being intimate. Seven years ago, they had just defeated the Calamity Crew and saved the whole of Nashville from becoming a giant crater. After their victory, the two of them had found an abandoned cabin in the woods and engaged in hours of raucous sex. Her reverie was broken by the sound of the door opening.
"Oh, shit," muttered Captain Kinetic. "Here come the cool kids."
The 'cool kids' that he had been referring to were the Star Squad, a superhero team that had been assembled with the full backing of the United States Government. They had been established in 2005, and their lineup had gone through several changes. A majority of their members were former military and law enforcement, and they received their missions directly from the government. While most heroes worked independently or in loose groups, the Star Squad was considered to be the best of the best. However, most people, Scarlet Warrior included, saw them as overly showy.
There was their leader, Rising Sun, a Japanese American hero who got his strength from solar energy. Then was Jetstream, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed hero with a winning smile and super speed. Captain Kinetic walked over to greet and hug Milagro, a Spanish superhero with the ability to heal himself and others. Milagro had been on the team the longest and had done lots of charity work. Captain Kinetic received a mischievous pinch on the bottom from Brick House, an older Black woman with the power to turn her body into stone.
The last person noted by Scarlet Warrior was undoubtedly her least favorite member of the Star Squad: Swift Justice. Tall, slim, with long blonde hair, the superheroine was the newest member of the team. Though she was a popular and effective superhero, Scarlet Warrior couldn't stand her.
In her opinion, Swift Justice was extremely conceited. She frequently checked and cited her popularity ratings, did numerous media appearances, and often did good deeds simply for the good publicity. On the seldom occasions when Scarlet Warrior worked with her, Swift Justice always had her support team on standby in a luxury RV somewhere close. When a mission was done, she would instantly be surrounded by her stylist, agent, manager, personal assistant, social media manager, and several other various staffers. On top of that, she seemed to have initiated an extremely one-sided rivalry with Scarlet Warrior.
Though Swift Justice may have been the more popular heroine, it was a commonly accepted that Scarlet Warrior was much more powerful. Most times, when supervillains saw Swift Justice, they came with a planned counterattack. However, most supervillains would run away or instantly surrender at the mere sight of Scarlet Warrior.
"Good afternoon, Scarlet Warrior!" Swift Justice said with frenemy sweetness as she gave her a hug. "How are you?"
"Not bad," Scarlet Warrior said. "How have you been?"
"Ugh, very busy! I've been in talks with Bungie for a video game. Also, Netflix wants to do a miniseries treatment soon. On top of that, they want me to appear on Good Morning America AGAIN! Sheesh, I guess ABC can't get enough of me!"
"How nice."
"I haven't seen you on social media lately. Or television."
"Yeah, I've never really been a fan of either."
"I know how you feel. Still, fame is a burden which we have to bear."
Thankfully, their conversation was ended when a bunch FBI agents walked in and asked everyone to take their seats. A short Caucasian male with glasses and white hair walked to the front of the room. After taking a sip of coffee, he addressed the room.
"Thank you all for coming," he said. "For those of you who have not met me, I'm Senior Special Agent Sherman Pellis. I want to thank you all for coming. You've been brought here because we've received intelligence that a major criminal enterprise is underway."
A projector screen descended from the ceiling and the lights in the room were dimmed. Using a remote, Pellis turned on a projector. The first image on the screen was a group of men in camouflage clothing toting guns.
"I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Cunt Tree Men. They've been on our list for almost a decade for human trafficking, gunrunning, and various acts of domestic terrorism. They are a radical militia group that lives in the woods and hopes to conquer the United States. Thankfully, we've been able to keep tabs on them and build a case against them, thanks to a confidential informant who is a high-ranking member in the organization. Our CI has even been able to get us video footage of their various compounds."
"Let me guess. You want us to help the FBI perform a raid on the Cunt Tree Boys?" Rising Sun asked aloud.
Scarlet Warrior was definitely up for that. Two years ago, she and Phantom Fox busted a bunch of the Cunt Tree Boys trying to buy a bunch of Romanian brides from a slaver. The Cunt Tree Boys used women for manual labor, childbearing, and childrearing.
"Actually, according to our CI, the Cunt Tree Boys have recently been the victims of a massacre."
