The Adventures of a Cosmic Girl: Vol. 1

Chapter Five: Partners

"Teamwork is essential! Without teamwork no hero would survive." The professor paced back-and-forth as he gave his lecture. His students sat on the couch, doing their best to pay attention. It had been three days since they had arrived at base, but they still hadn't been allowed on any missions yet. Before they were allowed to do fieldwork they had to complete one week of training.

"As Cosmic Woman once said 'Teamwork is how good heroes become great, and how poor heroes become good'. When we send you out in the field it will always be with your partner! Does anybody know why?"

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, trying to see if someone else raised their hand. Vox acted first, lifting her hand in the air confidently.

"Yes Vox?"

"A partner can get you out of danger if you get hurt."

"Correct! If you get hurt and can't care for yourself, having a partner insures that someone will look after you. Anyone else have any ideas?"

Vine raised his hand tentatively.

"Vine."

"If there are two of you, you have a better chance of winning a fight?" Unlike Vox who had seemed certain of her answer, Vine phrased his more like a question.

"Yes! It is far easier to defeat a villain if you have help. Anyone else?"

Cosmic Girl checked quickly to see if any of her teammates raised their hands, seeing none she raised her own.

"Cosmic Girl."

"Accountability, if someone else is there heroes can be held accountable for their actions if they are not ethical."

Professor Good was about to respond but Void cut him off.

"Heroes are heroes for a reason. They don't need to be monitored like criminals."

Cosmic Girl crossed her arms and glared at the boy. To say that Void and her hadn't been getting along would have been an understatement. Though they they had not gotten into a lot of full on yelling matches, they seemed to be unable to agree on anything.

"Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions. People view heroes as beyond corruption, but having powers doesn't make you automatically good, that's why we have villains."

The professor decided to intervene before the argument got more heated.

"Cosmic Girl does brings up a good point, having a partner does make heroes accountable for their actions. Though accountability is not actually one of the reasons we pair you off."

Void muttered under his breath but let the topic drop. He, and Cosmic Girl spent the rest of the lecture about why partnerships is important giving each other nasty looks.

"Alright," The professor said, finishing the first part of his lecture. "Now that we know why Teamwork is important, let's talk about how exactly we will be incorporating it into your training. Though we will train together as a team, you will go on missions with a partner. Today I will conducting interviews with each of you. Using the information from these interviews, plus your academy records, I will sort you all into pairs of two. You will remain with your partner for the next four years. There will be no trading. The partner I give you, is the partner you get. If you have questions about why I paired you with the person I did I am happy to talk to you about it, but I will not change my decision. Any questions?"

The room was full of silent excitement. Getting partners meant they were all one step closer to actually fighting crime. Vox was again the first to raise her hand.