Battle Heroes X Vetera: S01E02

Teatime Takedown is the second episode of Battle Heroes X Vetera. The episode's plot is about a possible connection to the void cloud leading the heroes to a familiar hotspot in the city.

A possible connection to the void cloud leads the heroes to a familiar hotspot in the city.

## The Episode

It was a quiet afternoon for our heroes. Julius was at the dining room table, staring nostalgically at a glass display case.

Behind him, Zack entered with a bowl of cereal. "What's that you got there?"

Julius turned his head to see Zack. "The end of an era."

Zack walked closer and looked at what had his attention. Julius' dual blasters, his weapons of choice. They were cracked and broken, with the barrel of one missing.

"After we blew up Bane's shuttle and saved the Earth, the cleanup crew found them in the wreckage," Julius explained, opening up the glass display and placing them inside.

Zack watched and rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous. Why are you keeping that scrap metal?"

"So I can remember what we did up there," He replied. When Julius closed the glass display case, the blasters levitated in the display.

"They're tools, Julius," Zack bluntly stated. "They're meant to be used, and when they outlive their usefulness, discarded."

"Whatever. I'm keeping them for sentimental value."

From upstairs, Cloud could be heard bellowing, along with the occasional thumping sound. "AHH OW AH CRAP!" The teen tumbled down the stairs and came to a stop before the front door. Zack and Julius gave each other a look that implied that this was a common occurrence. They got up and walked to Cloud's side. "What happened this time, Cloud?" Julius asked.

"I was practicing my...footwork when the stairs got in my way," Cloud said, blowing his hair out of his face.

"Footwork?" Zack asked.

At this time, the doorbell rang. After Julius helped Cloud up, Zack opened the door, revealing Popple. She wore a yellow jacket with a black dress underneath.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"Well, Julius is carrying around junk and Cloud fell down the stairs. So y’know, same old, same old," Zack answered.

Cloud smiled mischievously at Julius. "Hey, Julius, your girlfriend's here," He said teasingly.

"I know," Julius said. He walked over and held her in his arms. "I forgot to give you something yesterday."

Popple smiled and got closer to him. "Really, what might that be?"

"This." The two began kissing and Cloud walked next to Zack. Both were surprised by the outcome. "Cloud?" Zack whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Now that Julius and Popple are together, we need to find something else to clown him about."

Cloud thought for a moment before smiling again. "I've got just the thing. Observe." Cloud looked at the couple kissing. "Hey, Julius, what word did you think Popple said instead of chum?"

As soon as Cloud asked that question, Julius stopped kissing and backed away from Popple. He began to freaked out, eyes wide. "Oh...uh...duh. Duh. Duh. Duh. Duh."

Popple watched him spazzing out, alarmed and partially concerned for her boyfriend. Zack and Cloud were laughing in the background.

"Cloud, you are a genius!" Zack celebrated in between laughs. The two high-fived.

"What can I say, I learned from the best!" Cloud said.

A swift strike from Popple's book stopped his laughter. Cloud rubbed his head. "OW OW POPPLE CAN'T WE HAVE FUN AROUND HERE?!"

She glared at Zack and Cloud. "Why do you guys always have to make fun of him?"

"Because he makes it too easy!" Zack answered.

All four heroes felt vibrations in their pockets. Withdrawing their morphers, they were greeted with Commander Roy's voice.

"Greetings, rangers," He began.

"What's going on, sir?" Popple asked.

"There's news regarding the cloud in space. Get to the SPD base ASAP," Roy commanded.

"Got it," Zack said. The Commander ended the call.

Julius finally snapped out of his daze. *Thank you Roy for getting me out of that situation*, he thought to himself. "Okay, guys. Let's get going."

When they got to the SPD Base, the heroes were led to a meeting room, where Roy was waiting for them. He was seated at a table with two scientists in lab coats. In front of the table, a large computer screen was mounted on the wall.

"Good, you're here," Roy said when he saw them enter. "Have a seat, we're just about to begin the briefing."

The scientists turned on the computer screen with a remote and stood up before the rest of the room. As they did, the lights in the room turned off. Footage of the cloud forming began to play onscreen. "As you all know, at 1:30 PM yesterday, a strange amalgamation of energy, dubbed the void, appeared near Earth. Two hours later, it began to descend and enter the atmosphere."

The screen shifted to an image of the shark. Zack smiled when it appeared. "Thanks to the efforts of the rangers, we were able to obtain samples of the Void and run tests on the infected shark."

The screen changed to a microscopic view of the void and its particles. "The void seems to act as a stimulant when it comes in contact with living organisms, enhancing their physical abilities while also sending them into a psychotic frenzy. SPD technicians managed to estimate where the void will touch down on Earth..."

Julius' jaw dropped. The screen showed a picture of his city. "We can't catch a break, can we?" He said, rubbing his temple.

"From calculating its speed, it's safe to say we have a month before it makes landfall. If the void touches down and isn't contained, hundreds will be caught in it. Thousands more will die." The presentation ended and the lights turned back on.

Cloud looked around, confused. "Wait, what? Where's the part where you tell us how to stop it?"

The scientists grew worried expressions on their faces. "That's the problem. We don't know how to stop it. We're still learning more about the void everyday. Fortunately, we've gotten some help from a ranger who is experienced in regards to the void."

The door behind the heroes opened. "Here he is right now!" Walking past the heroes was a red ranger. He wore a shoulder pauldron and a bandolier.

"Guys, please, you're embarrassing me!" The ranger said. Julius, Cloud, Popple and even Zack gasped when they heard his familiar voice.

One of the scientists smiled. "But it's true. Your footnotes are rather extensive, Silas."

"Silas?" The heroes asked with mixed emotions. Julius, Cloud and Popple seemed somewhat excited, but Zack was resentful.

"I'm glad I can help," He said, deactivating his helmet. He was a teenager around their age with black hair cut into a fade.

"Silas!" Julius, Cloud and Popple exclaimed.

He smiled. "What's up, gang?"

"You'd know, if you were here," Zack spat out venomously.

Silas' smile faded and the room was left silent for a few seconds. The air was pregnant with emotions.

"Yes, Silas had arrived roughly an hour after the void. As soon as he heard what was going on, he came to help us out in the lab." The scientists began to pack their notes up. "We have to get back to researching. If anything new emerges, we'll be in touch." The scientists left from where Silas entered. All four heroes got up and walked towards Silas.

"It's been so long!" Julius said first.

"How're you doing, man?" Cloud and Silas fist bumped.

"We never thought we'd see you again!" Popple said, giving him a hug.

"Wouldn't have minded, either," Zack said, staring at Silas.

Julius turned to Zack. "Zack..."

Silas shook his head. "It's okay, Julius, I kinda deserve it with how things left off between us."

"Damn straight," Zack agreed, crossing his arms.

Silas sighed. "Look, Zack--" He withdrew his morpher and read a message. "I gotta go help out with something, but we should all hang out sometime. Catch up and everything." Silas walked to the door, but quickly turned around. "Oh! One more thing. While running tests, the scientists and I discovered faint traces of an energy signature that matches that of the void above Earth. There's a chance that the void has been here even before the cloud appeared. Good luck." Silas then exited the room.

The heroes left soon after him and began walking home.

"Nice clue he gave us. Good thing we have no way to track the void on Earth, or else it would have been useful," Zack said with snark and something uncommon for him; frustration.

"You're really proving my theory that it's impossible for you to not be a jerk, Zack," Julius said. Zack didn't answer.

"Alright, guys. Let's calm down and talk about something else," Popple mediated. "Like how are we gonna spend these last three days of the summer? I think we should try something new. There's this great tea shop I've been hearing about from my mom. We have to check it out!"

"Sounds good to me," Julius agreed.

Zack shrugged. "Whatever."

A few minutes later, the teens found themselves in front of a small building. The inside was packed with customers at tables, enjoying their tea and socializing. A sign on the front read 'M. Tea'.

"This place sure looks popular! Why haven't we been here before?" Julius asked.

"Because tea is *boring*," Cloud replied.

Popple looked at Cloud. "Tea isn't boring, Cloud. It's aromatic, calming, and relaxing."

"In other words, boring!"

"Boring is you drinking soda every day." Popple countered.

Cloud huffed. "Well, at least it's not boring, unlike tea."

Zack continued to look at the shop. "I'm gonna wait outside. Something about this place is giving me the creeps."

"Yeah, me too," Cloud agreed. "Please don't order me anything gross, Popple."

Popple and Julius entered the shop and went to place their order, leaving Zack and Cloud outside. Cloud reached into his pocket and brought out a handheld gaming console. As he played, Zack kept on looking at the shop. It had a sort of rustic look to it, as if the design hadn't been changed in years. Something about the place felt off.

Meanwhile, inside the shop, Popple and Julius walked to the counter.

"Greetings, customer! What can I get you today?" The cashier greeted cheerfully.

"I'm gonna go with the acai tea," Popple decided. "What about you, Julius?”

"I'll be honest, I have no idea what to get."

"Hm. How about we just get four acai teas?"

"Sounds good!"

Popple paid for the drinks. "What's the name of the order?" The cashier asked.

"Popple."

The cashier stood completely still for a few seconds. The other employees stopped what they were doing and stared at them. "Excellent! Alrighty, Julius and Popple, your order will be ready shortly!"

Less than twenty seconds later, the cashier returned with four cups of tea. "*Julius* and *Popple*? Your tea is ready!"

"Man, that was really fast. Like really fast," Julius said, taking two cups. Popple took the other two.

"We hope you enjoy our special tea!"

Popple and Julius walked out of the shop with their tea. "Julius, don't you think it was weird the way the cashier said our names?"

"I dunno, but with service as fast as that, they can say it however they want!"

Zack eyed the cups. "Well, what'd you get?"

"Four cups of acai tea," Julius answered, handing Zack a cup. Popple gave Cloud one as well.

"Is it good?" Cloud asked.

Julius smiled. "It's worth a shot. What's the worst that could happen?" He took a sip and immediately did a spit take. "OH MY GOD THATS VILE!"

Zack looked at Popple. "My point from earlier still stands."

Julius coughed. "That was AWFUL!"

"If you don't like it, Julius, just say you don't like it. You don't have to be so dramatic..." Popple drank her tea and froze. She discreetly spat it out. "Alright...that was gross."

"You're being a drama queen, Julius," Cloud took a sip and did a spit take just like Julius. "EWWW!!! ITS LIKE DRINKING LUKEWARM HOT DOG WATER!!"

Zack took a sip of his tea. "Oh, wow. Yeah, this is pretty awful." He stifled his emotions and swallowed his drink. He looked at Julius, who was finally recomposing himself.

Julius emptied his tea on the ground. "Sorry about that, Popple, but that tea was not for me."

"Don't be," She replied, pouring hers out too. Zack and Cloud followed suit.

A white object fell out of each of their cups. Cloud and Popple looked confused, but Julius and Zack looked at each other knowingly.

Zack picked one up. "...Cotton."

"Didn't we have a conversation about this months ago, Zack?"

"Yeah. Something about someone putting gross stuff in his tea..."

They spoke in unison. "Bane."

Cloud looked skeptical. "Bane? Bane has a tea shop?"

"Yeah. It explains why that cashier put so much emphasis on our names. Also why there's doll stuffing in our tea. Bane does that to people he hates."

Popple nodded. "Yeah, and with an operation of his still running, he has to be planning something."

Julius folded his arms and turned to look at the shop. "We need to get in there and figure out what Bane's brewing. We'll come back later."

Zack was visibly grateful for some action. "Sounds like a plan. What do we do in the meantime?"

Cloud started walking away. "I don't know about you guys, but I need a soda to get this taste out of my mouth!" The others followed him.

...

Much later that night, the four heroes met up across the street from the M.Tea. No one was outside at the moment. They quickly crossed the street and stood in front of the door.

Julius began to explain a plan. "Alright, we need to be careful on this one. In everyone else's eyes, this is a successful small business. If we get caught, we'll be in big trouble. So I suggest we take a stealthy approach to entering the shop." As he spoke, Zack walked past Julius and summoned one of his blasters.

"Knock knock," The green ranger bluntly said before blasting it. The door was knocked off its hinges.

"ZACK WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Julius hissed.

"Does it matter how we get in? Once we find out what Bane's plotting, no one's gonna care what we do. No need to pussyfoot around," Zack explained. He entered in and the others came in close behind him. The tea shop was dark except for a light coming from behind a door over the counter.

"What we want is probably behind that door," Julius guessed. The team went over the counter and opened it, revealing a strange sight. The cashier from earlier was attached to the wall with wires imbedded in his wrists and the back of his head. Past him was a staircase leading down. When the door opened, he turned to it and saw the heroes enter.

"INTRUDER ALERT. COVERT PATHWAY ENTERED. LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED," The cashier freed his hand from the wall and charged a small sphere of dark energy in it.

"Get down!' Popple yelled, summoning her blaster. She fired a bolt at his hand and it blew up into pieces. Zack summoned his sword and slashed diagonally, cutting the cashier in half. The upper torso fell to the ground.

Zack bent down and looked at the now destroyed ghostbot. "Hm, looks like M.Tea's workforce is made up of ghostbots.

Cloud turned his attention to the walls, exposed wires intertwining and wrapping around each other like the roots of a tree. "Creepy."

Popple took a wire and looked closely at it. "Guys, might wanna take a look at this." The others got closer and looked at the wire. A purple gaseous substance was barely visible leaking out of the wire. "Remind you of anything?"

A worried expression grew on Julius' face. "Oh boy..."

Popple withdrew her morpher and dialed a number.

"Popple, who're you calling?" Zack asked, furrowing his brows.

There was an answer on the morpher. "Hello?" It was Silas.

"Hey, it's Popple." Zack groaned in the background. "Listen, we might have made a discovery based on what you told us. Can you scan for traces of the void on Earth?"

"Yeah, I'm at the lab as we speak. Anywhere in particular?"

"Our location."

"Affirmative. Over and out." The call ended.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Did we really need to call him? We can do this ourselves."

"Yes we did, Zack," Julius replied. "If this stuff really is from the void, it could be a breakthrough."

"Whatever," Zack said, changing the subject. "That staircase looks promising."

The heroes walked carefully down the stairs. The bottom of the stairs gave them a perfect view of what was going on under the M.Tea. The room was massive. Below them and at the front of the room, a large canister with a purple material inside was attached to the wall. Tubes attached to the canister flowed all around the room, some even leading to the shop above. The canister only had a little of the material inside. Ghostbots filled the lower levels, marching around or working on computers.

Cloud was amazed. "Dang, these guys work hard. Don't they know Bane's in jail?"

The heroes' morphers buzzed. They answered the call.

"Silas here. We ran a scan of your location. Void readings are high. Really high. Where are you?"

"One of Bane's old haunts, a joint called the M.Tea." Cloud answered.

A pause. "That can mean only one thing. Bane had access to the void cloud at some point before."

"How deductive of you," Zack mumbled.

"I heard what you did to Bane. Wish I was there with you to see him finally beat. Anyway, back-up is on the way. This is really gonna help us out in learning more about the void. Silas out."

Julius smiled. "You heard the man. Mission accomplished! Looks like we just need to chill out until reinforcements come."

Cloud pointed at the ghostbots. "And leave those ghostbots intact?"

"You wanna fight them?"

Zack began looking through his weapons database. "Why not? I need to shake off the rust and this is the perfect opportunity."

Cloud grinned as well. "How about in the spirit of getting the rust off, we make this interesting?"

"How so?" Popple asked.

"Let's see who can destroy the most ghostbots. Losers have to buy the winner lunch," He wagered.

Popple and Zack agreed. Julius shook his head. "No way! I always lose these types of things!"

"If you win, Julius, we'll never mention the chum incident agaaain~," Cloud added in a sing-songy voice.

Julius' eyes widened, then narrowed. "You're going down. You're ALL going down!"

The heroes activated their morphers and transformed into their respective forms.

Cloud counted down. "Three...two...one...GO!" The heroes split up to cover more ghostbots.

Zack got down first and stabbed a ghostbot through the abdomen from behind with his sword, scoring first blood. "One!" He looked to his side and was surprised to see Popple rapid firing her blaster, riddling two ghostbots with holes. "Keep up, Zack!"

Cloud summoned a blaster rifle and tore through two ghost bots in quick succession. "That's two!"

Julius sliced a ghostbot through the middle and lunged at another. His sword chopped its arm off, then its head. From above, Cloud leapt and fired a volley of shots below, destroying several in Julius' area.

"Hey! Those were mine!" He complained.

"I didn't see your name on them!" He fired at another ghostbot.

Three ghostbots sent shadow balls at Cloud and he somersaulted behind a large rectangular machine for cover. The ranger rubbed his hands.

"Here we go..." He reloaded and popped from behind to fire, but the ghostbots were already destroyed. Julius holstered his blaster.

"Step up your game!" He said, laughing.

"Yeah, well...I let you get those ones outta pity!"

Finally, what remained of the ghostbots was only piles of scrap metal. The heroes reconvened and looked at their handiwork.

"Alright, how many did you guys destroy?" Cloud questioned.

"Eight," Zack said.

"Eight," Popple said.

"Eight," Julius said.

Cloud dropped his head in shock. "And I got eight, too. No way did we just tie!"

"I would've won if it weren't for you blowing up my ghostbots!"

"I told you, Julius, your name wasn't on them!"

...

Later on, the underground level of the M.Tea was filled with SPD scientists. A hole had been bored from the shop level to the lower level and equipment from Earth base was being delivered.

The heroes climbed up the stairs with Silas. Julius, Cloud and Popple were talking with him while Zack looked at the room.

"So when're we gonna get the recap on what's going on with you?" Cloud asked SIlas.

Silas shrugged and smiled. "Hey, whenever you guys are down to hangout. I'm more interested in what you guys have been going through. Anyway, nice work on another successful mission."

Zack rolled his eyes as they arrived back on the ground level. Without a word, he walked away from the others and into the night.