The Indestructibles ☆ Muke

Probation

"You nearly destroyed City Hall! Are you mad?" Mr. Lou shrieked, red-faced and veins bulging. "You should know better than this! I thought I could trust you enough to retrieve Lizzy. You are one of our top performing Supers, Michael, yet you completely and utterly fucked up! I am severely disappointed and furious with you."

"Sorry, sir," Michael hung his head. "Technically I did retrieve her though."

Mr. Lou gave him a disapproving glare. Michael decided to shut up and spare him the extra stress. The man was only in his forties and already had graying hair.

Michael had finally taken off his mask and cape and was now sitting in the leading director of the Corp's office. It wasn't the first time he'd seen the red leather chairs or framed letters of gratitude from multiple city officials. His other visits to the office however had been much more pleasant.

"Sorry doesn't cover it. We got a bill from the city of Sydney. I have to pay thousands of dollars so they can repair their City Hall! Do you know how far back this sets us? I was going to use that money to buy updated software for the Sim Room! Didn't you think to try and chase her away from an important building?" Mr. Lou took a deep breath. "But that's not even what I'm most angry about. Oh no. It's the fact that you nearly fried another Super and member of the Corp! What on Earth was going through your head?"

"I'm truly sorry, Mr. Lou. I lost my temper with him. But you should know by now that Luke Hemmings and I don't get along and that sending him was an awful idea," Michael said.

This didn't seem to make the moustached man any happier. "This operation is built on trust, Michael, and if you can't trust your fellow Supers then I'm sorry, but I have to do something about that."

Michael laughed nervously. The man's tone was almost grave and that was worrying. "W-what do you mean 'do something'?"

"Michael, I am putting you on probation."

The world felt like it stopped spinning. All Michael could hear was a low buzzing in his ears and had to rub his palms furiously against his pants to prevent them from combusting.

"Probation?!" Michael exclaimed. "Mr. Lou, no you can't do that!"

Michael couldn't be on probation! He was so important! Michael had been at the Corp since it began. Mr. Lou founded it when he met Michael and four other Supers named Justine, Carlos, Max, and Tia to provide training and care for people like him. They grew with the Corp and were quickly marked as the top dogs among all of the others. Michael couldn't believe that he was being demoted and more importantly, humiliated, just because of some aggravating rookie who thought he was all that.

"I'm putting you on a Team with three other Supers. This is so you can work on your teamwork skills and learn how to build an essential foundation of trust," Mr. Lou said.

"For how long?"

"As long as it takes," he said. "You will be moving out of your quarters on the top floor to a group room on the sixth floor. You and your Team will do everything together: eating, training, fighting, you name it."

"So I can still go out on missions?" Michael sat forward. He said fighting. Fighting meant missions. Michael always went out on missions and he absolutely intended to continue. He wasn't going to let some ridiculous Team hold him back.

"Not for a good long while, buddy," Mr. Lou said, effectively crushing all of Michael's remaining hope. "Your room is on the sixth floor, number 69." Michel snorted. "Don't be immature."

"I'm an eighteen year old teenage boy, Mr. Lou. It's in my nature to be immature."

Mr. Lou rolled his eyes. "You're moving into your new room tomorrow. Go pack what you need. It's not necessary to pack everything. You will eventually be back as individual fighter but that time is undetermined at the moment."

Michael groaned and stood up. "Can you at least tell me who is on my Team?"

Mr. Lou looked uncomfortably off to the side. Without meeting his eyes, he said, "You wouldn't know them. They're relatively new. But the name of your Team is Team C.A.L.M. It includes all of the member's initials including yours."

"Why am I last?" Michael pouted.

He gave the arrogant boy a look. "Go pack your things, Michael."