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[u][h1]Chapter One[/h1][/u]
[color=00a651][h2]A Green Thumb[/h2][/color]

Spring has finally sprung in Castleburg, and most of the people of Castleburg are quite happy that it has. It was a brutally cold winter that year in Castleburg, with many blizzards occupying the early months of the year. On top of that, the villain Dr. Frost had decided that [i]this year[/i] would be the year his master machination, a machine that would make winter [i]eternal[/i] with just a push of a button on his brilliant climate machine. Thankfully, after a few days of multiple feet of snow, H.E.R.O. managed to smash Dr. Frost’s machine and haul him off to a nice cool cell in Coldwater. 

With that threat out of the way, the citizens of Castleburg were looking forward to the April showers and impending warmer days. Even those with brutal sprint allergies were willing to take one for the team and give spring a warm embrace just to end the cutting cold of winter. This April weekend, the people of Castleburg are out on the streets, ready to head out and tackle spring head-on. 

Unfortunately, because there is no rest for the wicked, there will also be no rest for the people of Castleburg. 

The previous week, there have been higher levels of pollen reported, but nobody really thought anything of it. “It’s springtime, more flowers, so more pollen” was the mindframe, and that isn’t wrong at all. There are a lot more flowers blooming, but not the one that people expect. 

That April Saturday, almost out of nowhere, a large group of Ambleweeds have surfaced suddenly and have ran rampant across the city, most notably in New Athens, though extending elsewhere in the city as well. The Ambleweeds, being stupid, brainless plant leftovers, have gone about flipping cars, chomping fire hydrants, and doing all sorts of other stupid things.

Even more unfortunately, many Heroes who thought they would have at least the weekend to enjoy the late springtime are now being forced to gather their heroic instincts and go off and combat a bunch of walking plants. A shame. Perhaps luckily for them, Ambleweeds are pests, extreme pasts, and some villains may even see fit to help the heroes for a moment and take out a few of them. Then again, the more villainy-minded of the villains might see this as an excellent opportunity to wreak havoc.

Whatever the case may be, it’s going to take a lot more than a green thumb to get rid of this nuisance. 

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[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200403/86a03f169e5f776a56136c9464b0a41f.png[/img]

[color=CC5500]”BURN, YOU FOOLS!”[/color]

Brilliant, scorching ember flames launched from Blake’s, or as he was known to the public, the Firebird’s hands as he melted through dozens of armored robots at a time, his two hands extended, palms out, as the fire swirled in twin arcs, cutting through the army of robots. As the robots fell, Blake saw the [i]real[/i] prize- the Coldwater escapee and one of Castleburg’s most infamous supervillains, Caustic. There he was, standing right there in front of him, his arms readied like he was about to corrode his way through more civilians. Well, that wasn't happening anytime soon. Not while the [i]Firebird[/i] was there to stop it from happening, at any rate. There was no more escape for him, that was for certain. Blake would make damned sure of it. 

Blake rushed forwards, fire swirling at his palms and forming into two fireballs as he rushed after Caustic. As a robot minion jumped in front of Blake, Blake leaped to the side, blasting a fireball into the minion, before landing and sending the second fireball hurtling towards Caustic. The swirling sphere of flames caught Caustic right between the eyes and sent him to the ground, the fire melting clean through his mask and dealing a number to his facial features.

Blake walked over, feeling triumph beating in his chest, as he looked down at the defeated villain. [color=CC5500]”Messed with the wrong hero, huh?”[/color] he said gloatingly, and then he looked up as a small floating robot droid hovered over. It was Samantha, the training AI. 

[color=7bcdc8]“Excellent job, Firebird,”[/color] the AI said in a cool, feminine, robotic voice. [color=7bcdc8]“You handled yourself excellently there.”[/color]

Blake wiped sweat off his forehead. [color=CC5500]“Awe, thanks, Samantha,”[/color] he said, smiling as he took exhausted deep breaths. He was wearing a black tank top and a pair of gray sweatpants and sneakers, his scarlet hair tousled and his body dripping with sweat, but he had that fiery grin still strapped to his face. [color=CC5500]”What’s the aptitude score?”[/color]

[color=7bcdc8]“I have calculated approximately 76 points out of one hundred.”[/color]

[color=CC5500]“76?! WHAT?!”[/color]

[color=7bcdc8]“76.”[/color]

[color=CC5500]“You’re joking! I KILLED that simulation! See all these dead robots!”[/color] Blake kicked one of the downed, steaming animatronics to show.  [color=CC5500]“They didn’t even land a single HIT on me! And you're giving me a 76?!”[/color]

[color=7bcdc8]“First, they did land one hit on your leg early on when you were giving your terrible heroic monologue. Secondly, you lost a significant number of points due to collateral damage.”[/color]

Blake looked down at his leg, where there was a small scorch mark on his sweatpants. He huffed. [color=CC5500]“First off, I think that my monologue was actually really good. Striking fear into the hearts of villain, being the resounding hope for civilians, you know checks all the boxes. But more important! Since when were these training simulations graded off of collateral damage?!”[/color] he asked, annoyed.

[color=7bcdc8]“Since you started inflicting large amounts of it. These are personalized training simulations, tailored to the user. In this case, you.”[/color]

[color=CC5500]“I refuse to be robbed like this!”[/color] Blake said demandingly.

[color=7bcdc8]“Too bad. Now please, exit the room. There are others waiting and there is currently only one training room in our facility,” [/color]Samantha said coolly, not missing a beat. The robot was damned good at her job, that was for certain.

[color=CC5500]“YOU’LL REGRET THIS, SAMANTHA!”[/color] Blake said angrily as he stepped out of the personalized training room and back into the gym. He folded his arms angrily, grumbling to himself.  [color=CC5500]”Stupid robot thinks they can take off points for stupid reasons…”[/color] he said to absolutely nobody, pacing through the gym, sweat dripping from his forehead. As he continued to stalk about the gym menacingly, the gym TVs, which were smack in the middle of an episode of Keeping Up With The Carpathians (Blake heard it was especially juicy this season), cut off suddenly. Blake looked up to a few seconds of static, wondering if they were being attacked, before an image of Hugo Powers appeared on screen. Blake sighed, relieved, before realizing that the fact that Hugo Powers was appearing on screens could only mean there was a problem. Blake pulled out of his phone quickly and saw Hugo Powers’ chiseled mug and hijacked his cellular device as well. All the Hugo Powers began to speak at once simultaneously. 

“Attention, heroes. We’re getting reports of a heap of Ambleweeds running about the city. Apparently, they’re causing a real fuss, and some people don’t like that. It’s not a major issue, but it is a nuisance, so if a bunch of you guys could check it out, that would be nice. Powers, out.”

Blake looked up at the screen.  [color=CC5500]”Ambleweeds, huh…”[/color] he said, thinking, before looking up. [color=CC5500]”Sounds like fun. Maybe it’ll even show that dumb robot what Firebird is really packing.”[/color] He’d stretch his arms.  [color=CC5500]”I think I’ll do it...I was never really all that good at gardening anyway.” [/color]
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