THE MOMENT
"Oh," the girl's voice sounded flat when she noticed BodyBuilder was the only hero in the room. "Can I help you?" she asked. She wasn't what BodyBuilder expected either. All his snooping around indicated that he was contacting a powerful corporation named Sharp Development. The teen girl wore the white suit with red scissor logo that he associated with the corporation; but, she was just too young. She couldn't have been older than 14 or 15. If thing were more normal in his world, he might have completely doubted she should even be working at a company. But, Supers were common enough and he knew first what the kinds of things he could do with a some flesh. The fact that her long straight hair was a white shade of snow and her eyes glowed red with power definitely gave her the necessary credibility to establish that she was whoever she said she was.
"You're from Sharp Development?" BodyBuilder asked. It was apparent that she was; but, it was a good way to get the conversation going.
"You made an appointment with Sharp Development at this time. I'm here at this time and I'm wearing the uniform," she tapped the red scissors stitched on the front of her blazer while she laid out the facts for him. Then, she summed up. "Yes, I think it's safe to assume that I represent Sharp development," she nodded. "My name is Rhapsody; why am I here?" she asked.
"My name is-," BodyBuilder began to introduce himself; but, Rhapsody shook her head.
If I didn't know who you were, BodyBuilder, I would have asked already," she said. "Your leaders work very closely with Sharp Development; I have access to the full roster." He was only surprised that she brought it up so casually. He expected to have to get her talking more in order for her to reveal what he already knew. But, now that it was out he could pounce on it.
"I know the Corps.' secret!" he said.
"Great," Rhapsody shrugged at him. "Why am I here?" she asked again.
"Don't play dumb with me," BodyBuilder laughed. "I know you're working with the Superhero Corps. to stage fake battles! I found the paper-trail," he said. "They pay you to provide "villains"," he added a mocking tone and air quotes to stress the word. "I want a cut off the top or I expose them and your company," BodyBuilder said.
"Huh....," Rhapsody tilted her head at him in confusion. Then, she reached into her blazer and pulled out a translucent red node. BodyBuilder watched her fidget with great amusement. He'd put her on the spot and she was trying to stall while she figured something out. But, as he enjoyed the warm glow of a plan going right, she looked up at him with a smirk.
"I think your boss needs to give you another evaluation," she said. "Your 'Intelligence' stat listed is way too high compared to...," she giggled as she gestured at him. "..the reality."
"I see," BodyBuilder chuckled. "So, you're pretending you don't care that both the Superhero Corps. and your precious Sharp Development are about to get dragged through the mud?"
"No, BodyBuilder," Rhapsody shook her head at him. "I legitimately don't care because you're not even close to threatening all that you think you are," she said. "Tell me, you're so convinced you can tear down the Sharp Development name... have you ever heard of my company before going through the Corps. files?"
"No," BodyBuilder grinned. In his mind, that's why it would be so easy to ruin. They were a brand new company barely getting started and all he wanted was a little payday.
"That's because we haven't established a presence on this Earth yet," Rhapsody said. "But we do have offices on several millions of alternate Earths in other realities."
"Other...?" BodyBuilder started the question but didn't finish it. Rhapsody kept talking.
"Oh yes, other Earths exist," Rhapsody said. "Your team leaders have done such a great job with the villains on this Earth that they needed more challenge. We send them villains from other Earths. Other, real, Super villains," she clarified. "There's nothing staged or faked about those fights. Do you have any other business with Sharp Development?" Rhapsody asked. It wasn't until she voiced the question that BodyBuilder realized he had nothing. Thinking back on the last few fights he participated in; it was easy to believe they were a real threat. And, he had nothing to threaten Sharp Development with anymore. He never did.
"No, I guess not," BodyBuilder shook his head with a sigh. For one of the first times in his life he was glad for his greedy streak. If he'd gone public without trying to earn something for himself, he would have embarrassed himself on a much larger scale. She was just a teenager, he couldn't feel too embarrassed in front of her. He also felt guilty about distrusting the Superhero Corps. He had no idea why he found it so easy to doubt them. He was sure something triggered his intuition; but, now he just felt silly. "Can we keep this between us!?" he asked.
"Sharp Development always prioritizes our clients and their wishes," she said as a black portal opened in the air next to her. BodyBuilder sighed with relief. He'd only recently learned his team were clients but he was thankful at that moment. "Well..," Rhapsody smirked as she walked into the portal. "...good luck, goodbye," she waved and disappeared.
"So, B.B., I hear you're trying to bargain with team secrets?" BodyBuilder spun around when he heard the familiar, stern voice of the team leader. He wasn't alone. Hero Captain, commander of the Superhero Corps. was flanked by his two most powerful Supers.
"Hero Captain! I can explain!" BodyBuilder tried to defend himself but Hero Captain shook his head.
"Don't bother," he said. "Rhapsody cast the meeting to me as soon as she saw it was you. I'm sorry to say, there's no room for someone like you in the Superhero Corps.," he said. "Please clean out your quarters and turn in your security cards."
"No, wait!" BodyBuilder begged. "It won't happen again! I'll never doubt the team!" But, Hero Captain actually chuckled as he shook his head.
"Wow, I'm really embarrassed all of a sudden," he said. The heroes on each side of him giggled lightly.
"B.B., I'm not kicking you out for trying to sell us out," he said.
"Then why...?" BodyBuilder asked. He thought he'd been doing okay with keeping up. Despite the deluge of information he'd learned recently, he didn't let the things he didn't understand slow him down. But, if they weren't kicking him out for his scheme, he had no idea what other reason there could be.
"I'm kicking you out because you THOUGHT you could sell us out. You thought there was profit to be made but you didn't study the details at all."
"Huh?" BodyBuilder asked. It sounded like they were kicking him out for thinking he could come out ahead; but, somehow they weren't kicking him out for actually trying it? That didn't make sense at all. "I don't get it...," he said. Hero Captain nodded and placed a large hand on BodyBuilder's shoulder.
"...and that's why you gotta go," he said. "I'm sorry. If you were smart enough to know why we're kicking you out, we wouldn't have to."