Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cameron hated nighttime. Compared to the day, nighttime was boring. He didn’t get to play with his friends at school, run around, kick a ball, or do anything fun. All he got to do at night was eat yucky vegetables, brush his teeth and then go to sleep (which, like everything else, was boring. 

However, on this particular night, Cameron was up later than he normally ever stayed up, even on New Years. He looked over at his alarm clock on his bedside table: 10:00 PM. His parents and Marie were asleep, but he didn’t understand why he couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t like there was anything else to do, but his mind wouldn’t shut off, and Cameron was so annoyed that he protested by staying awake. It made perfect sense to him, in his sleep-deprived state. In reality, this was a poor choice; he had school in the morning, and he needed a good night’s rest if he wanted to coach the basketball game tomorrow and not fall asleep in class. 

And it didn’t take too long for him to realise that fact. His eyes were threatening to close, and combined with his deprivation and his blankets warmth lulling him, made it extremely hard for anyone to get a good night’s rest. But what was he meant to do? He couldn’t go to his mom and step-dad and ask if he could sleep with them; he didn’t want to look like a baby when he was almost ten years old, and it was too risky to head downstairs to get a snack. So Cameron was stuck in his bedroom, and even then, there wasn’t a lot to do here. Most of what he had in his room would be too noisy to play with, like his game console or his touchpad, leaving him frustrated.

“Great… now what?” Cameron asked himself, lying in bed. Turning to his side, his eyes met a window with the moonlight pouring into his darkened bedroom. “ Maybe I can fall asleep if I get some fresh air in this room?” It was a long shot, but he was willing to do anything to fall asleep at this point. With his mind made up, he threw aside his sheets.

Careful not to wake Marie or his parents, he crept across the room and pushed the window open, sticking his head out. Taking a deep breath, he laid his arms on the windowsill as he stared up at the stars in the sky. It was pretty quiet tonight, like it usually was every night in Tarabiscoville, and even though Cameron was confused on why he never heard any cars or people outside at this hour, he appreciated that minor oddity of the town as it meant he could clear his mind.

Suddenly, Cameron heard a small squeak. Startled, Cameron jumped back and turned around, fearing to see his mom opening his door or see one of the awful shadow monsters he was convinced still existed behind him. But he found nothing. “Huh? That’s weird..” He went back to look out the window but heard the same squeak once more, closer this time. 

This time, Cameron paid a little more attention to where it came from. It wasn’t behind him, but right where he was, standing by the window. He rubbed his eyes to double check what he was seeing when he finally laid eyes on what was actually outside the windowsill. A tiny, fluffy rabbit with orange and yellow fur was on a fire-escape near his apartment’s window, seemingly sleeping. 

“Woah. A bunny?” Cameron asked himself, curiously watching the small animal and in awe about the creature’s unique fur-colour. “Where did you come from?” He had no idea where it came from, and how it could have gotten up here. The fire escape steps were too big for a little bunny to climb up, and it wasn’t like it could have flown or anything. Maybe he got lost and was really scared? Curious, Cameron reached out to it. “Hey, little guy. It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Maybe it came from one of the apartments above? Would it be injured if it fell that far? 

As soon as his hands brushed the soft fur, the rabbit awoke, squealing and scrambling back down the fire escape. “Come back!” Cameron shouted, yet hushed in tone. Without thinking, he pulled his legs over the windowsill and ran after the rabbit down the fire-escape. It was much faster than him, and by the time he finally grabbed it, both of them were in the garden below the apartment building. 

Sighing in relief, Cameron smiled at the rabbit who looked back at him with big eyes. “There you are. Now I’ve got y- woah!” Just as he was about to head back, he yelped in surprise as an unfamiliar sensation spread throughout his entire body; a feeling similar to when someone was about to throw up, yet it wasn’t at all nauseating: it was more… warm and fuzzy.. The tingling started with his hands, which were busy petting the rabbit, but soon spread to his arms. In his state of shock, he let it go, and the rabbit disappeared into the bushes as the tingling feeling got stronger.

“W-What’s happening to me?” Cameon exclaimed, looking at his hands. His hands emitted a bright orange light, the same shade of fur the rabbit had. Soon the light became overwhelming, spreading across his entire body and forcing Cameron to close his eyes. Once the light died down, Cameron hesitantly opened his eyes. 

“What… what was that..?” Cameron asked himself. Rubbing his eyes, he instantly felt that something was off; his arms.. They were.. Furry? “Huh?” Looking at his hands, he gasped; instead of his orange and yellow pyjamas with white bunnies, he was instead wearing a strange outfit. His arms and legs were orange, but his torso was white, with a rabbit symbol on his chest. There was a weight on his head, as well as the presence of something behind him, but before he could investigate, the bright light came back. 

“Arrugh!” Covering his eyes once more, it left as quick as it came; and when he opened them for a second time, the outfit disappeared in a flash and was replaced with his normal pyjamas. 

“What the– how did– but…” Cameron was so confused, he couldn’t get a single sentence out. He stared at his hands like he’d just grown extra fingers, wondering what on Earth had happened. As if tonight couldn’t get any more weird, he saw something from above glow; looking up, he gulped once he noticed the light from the windows of the apartment complex came from his room. From his window, he could see someone looking down: his mom.

“Cameron!” His mother exclaimed, looking like she’d seen a ghost. “Cameron, what are you doing outside? It’s way past your bedtime!” She then added. Lately, she’d become acquainted with his weird sleepwalking habits; since last year, they have been getting more frequent, but she only expected him to be downstairs or standing in her and her fiance’s bedroom. To see Cameron standing in the middle of the road with his window wide open nearly made her have a heart attack. 

“S-Sorry! I’ll come back up now!” Cameron called back, racing up the fire escape as quickly as he could without waking any of his neighbours and climbed back over the windowsill into his room. After his mother closed his window, Cameron walked back to his bed, equally as confused as his mother. 

“Goodness, I’ve heard of sleepwalking, but it looks like you were on your own little adventure,” His mother chuckled nervously, grabbing his sheets he threw onto the floor moments before. 

“I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t know… what happened. I think I was sleepwalking,” Cameron fibbed. “I was chasing a rabbit and–”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” His mother frowned in concern, guiding him back to bed to lay down and go to sleep. “We’ll install a lock on your window so it doesn’t happen again, okay? I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Cameron sighed, but smiled at his mother. “Okay, mom.”

Kissing him on his forehead, she got back up and walked back over to his bedroom door. “Get some rest, sweetie. Sweet dreams.”

“Good night.” and with that, his mom closed his door, leaving Cameron in his boring, quiet room once again. This time, however, he was glad he was back as sleep overpowered his urge to stay awake. Yawning, Cameron rolled to his side, back facing the window as he curled into his sheets. Cameron was out like a light shortly after, just missing seeing a small, orange light illuminating from something on his hand that wasn’t there before: a ring.

Chapter Text

Ever since that night with the rabbit, weird stuff had been happening to Cameron. The first thing he noticed was that all of a sudden, vegetables tasted good. No, not just good, amazing . Lettuce and spinach were as tasty as chocolate to Cameron, and he found himself craving the crunch of a carrot whenever he was eating something other than plants. His parents were happy that he was eating healthier, but instructed him to have more variety in his diet after he’d gone through nearly three bags of carrots in only a few hours. 

Another thing was that he could jump even higher than before. Cameron had always been good at jumping (and running, and everything), but now he was even better than Connor AND Amaya, who were the most sporty kids in the whole class. During gym class one day, he could effortlessly do backflips on the balance beam and jump past the meter mark on Teacher’s ruler in long jump. While the other kids were amazed by Cameron’s sudden shift in athleticism, a few were understandably curious. 

“Did you see how far Cameron jumped?” Greg asked, looking back at the boy in question who was being surrounded by other classmates, all asking questions and in a state of awe. “It’s like he bounced on a trampoline or something!”

“Yeah, he jumped pretty far.” Amaya replied, looking over all the student’s marks on the sand. Compared to everyone else, her and Connor’s were tying for second, but Cameron’s took first place since his marks were several feet away from theirs. While Amaya was wondering how he was able to jump that far, a small part of her felt jealous he beat her. Connor, on the other hand, was more than annoyed; it was one thing that Cameron beat both of them at the long jump, but now he was, of course, showing off. 

Ivan rolled up to Connor’s side, noticing how annoyed he was. “You alright, Connor?” 

Connor sighed, crossing his arms. “Yeah.. I’m fine. It’s just…” He looked towards the ground, a frown clear and center on his face. Ivan, however, raised a brow and looked over at what Connor originally was staring at; it only took a moment before Ivan understood why Connor was upset. 

“You’re upset about Cameron beating you?”

“No! W-Well… okay maybe a little,” Connor huffed, feeling his cheeks warming in embarrassment. “But I don’t like how Cameron has to show off everytime he does something. I get that he won, but he doesn’t need to brag about it.”

“Oh, well, it’s okay. You guys did pretty well too.” Ivan smiled at Connor, giving him a thumbs up. He’d only been at the school for a couple of weeks, so he didn’t know everyone there. Yet, one student that came up a lot was Cameron. Apparently, Connor, Greg, and Amaya had known him since preschool, and by the looks of it, he’d always seemed to be somewhat pushy and frequently stole the spotlight from the others, as seen today. However, Ivan wanted Connor to not let his day be ruined by something very small. “Come on, lunch’s starting soon. I’ll let you have some of my mom's vindaloo if you want.”

“Really?” That brought a smile to Connor’s face, remembering how much he enjoyed Ivan’s mom’s cooking. Feeling his mouth starting to water, he pushed aside his envious attitude. “Awesome! Thanks, Ivan. I’ll see if my mom packed some frozen yogurt.”

“Ooh! I hope she packed breezy blueberry!” 

And the duo left to join Greg and Amaya, leaving Cameron with a circle of amazed students. The class’ teacher, ironically called just ‘Teacher’ walked over with a satisfied smile on his face. “Amazing job there, Cameron! I’ve never seen a student jump THAT far before; I think you might’ve broken a record there.”

“Woah, thanks, Teacher!” Cameron liked this feeling of pride and attention, but he couldn’t help but wonder about his sudden spring in his step. A few moments later, the bell rang, signalling the end of gym and for lunch to begin. As the crowd dispersed to fetch their lunches, Cameron walked to his locker to grab his lunch. Right as he opened his locker, he noticed something on his hand he never noticed before: an orange ring, with a small bunny in the center. 

“What the?” Cameron looked at the ring, amazed by how cool it looked but also was asking an important question: where did it come from?

“Cam?” A sweet voice came from behind, and Cameron turned around to see it was just Marie. 

“Y-Yeah, Marie?” Cameron managed to give a small smile as he hid his hands behind his back. 

“Are you coming? I wanna have lunch!” Marie asked, before showing off her pink and blue lunchbox. Cameron chuckled at his sister’s eagerness. 

“Just give me a minute, Marie. I just need to do something,” Cameron replied.

“Oh, okay. I’ll save you a seat!” Marie then ran off to join her class outside, leaving Cameron alone in the hallway. Sighing, he looked back at his ring closely, remembering the events that happened last night. It was too weird to be real, but he remembered it all too well. The bunny, the light, the weird fur on his body; it all came and went so fast that he was doubting he ever experienced it in the first place. But if he believed it didn’t happen, why was this ring on his hand?

—----------

Lunch was pretty normal as it usually was; the kids made their way over to benches and tables in the playground and ate their lunches whilst chatting with their friends. Connor, Greg, and Amaya were laughing and talking with each other as they walked over to their table, where Ivan waved to them as he was just getting his lunch box out of his bookbag. 

“Man, I thought lunch would never come. I’m starving.” Greg smiled a mile wide as he zipped open his lunchbox, seeing that his dad packed his favourite marmalade and jelly sandwich shaped like a lizard.

“Yeah, me too.” Amaya added. Grabbing and unscrewing her thermos, she noticed Cameron and his younger sister, Marie, sitting with their friends, with Cameron carrying a rather large grocery bag instead of his lunch box. “Huh?”

“You okay, Amaya?” Ivan asked, worried that his friend had nothing to eat. “You have a lunch, right?’

“Oh, I do, see?” She then showed the inside of her thermos to Ivan, filled with freshly-made kimchi tofu soup: her favorite. “My halmeoni wouldn’t forget to pack my favorite meal.”

“Well, that’s good,” Connor smiled, handing over his yogurt to Ivan. Ivan gasped excitedly before handing Connor a plastic container, a whiff of all the wonderful spices made Connor’s stomach growl in anticipation. “Then what were you so worried about?”

Before Amaya could answer (and before Connor could have one, delicious bite of vindaloo), the four heard a few kids chatting around them, talking about Cameron. Connor groaned in annoyance; not only did he not want Ivan’s vindaloo going cold, but he also didn’t want to waste his lunch hearing everyone gush over Cameron like he was Jayden Houston. Unwillingly pushing aside his treat, Connor looked over to see what the commotion was. 

To his surprise, Cameron wasn’t doing anything like he did at gym, but it was about the kind of lunch he brought. The four gawked at Cameron once they noticed how large his lunch was; he brought a giant bowl filled with lettuce, cabbage, and spinach and a bushel of carrots. 

“Gasping geckos, that’s a pretty big meal.” Greg commented, seeing how the bowl filled with leafy greens was nearly overflowing. “I didn’t know Cameron liked salads.”

“There’s no way; he HATES eating vegetables.” Connor debated. Cameron would avoid eating them like the plague; one time, he overheard his mom talking to Cameron’s mom on the phone and apparently Cameron’s mom had to sneak in vegetables in brownies and other stuff he liked because of that. So seeing Cameron eating vegetables like it was candy made Connor feel like he was dreaming.

“Well then, why is he eating that much if he hates them?” Amaya questioned. “He’s gonna get a pretty big stomach ache with all that.”

“Maybe his parents want him to be a vegetable-tarian?” Greg guessed.

“Actually, I think it’s called vegetarian,” Ivan corrected, before setting aside his yogurt. “but I can go over and ask!” Turning his wheelchair around, he rolled over to where Cameron was, already finishing his bowl of lettuce.

“Hey, Cameron!” Ivan waved, with a bright smile adored on his face.

Setting down his fork, Cameron raised a brow, yet shared his smile. “Hi?” He stared at him for a moment, trying to recall his name. “It’s.. Ivan, right?”

“Yep!”

“Oh, right! You’re that kid who beat Steven’s team last week; say, you’re a pretty good player. Are you sure you aren’t a professional basketball player?” Cameron asked.

Ivan chuckled at the compliment, but shook his head. “Nah, I just like playing sometimes. I kinda like reading comic books more.”

“Oh cool,” Cameron replied, before grabbing a carrot. Chewing on it, he swallowed before raising his brow again. “Did you need something? Like a carrot?”

Cameron offered him one of his carrots, but Ivan politely declined. “Actually, me and my friends were wondering about you.”

“Me?” Cameron stopped chewing and looked at Ivan, thinking about what could be in his head. “Oh, you must have been wondering how I was so awesome today. That’s easy: I just am.”

Ivan blinked in confusion by that; now he understood what his friends meant when they said Cameron had “a big ego”. Nevertheless, he ignored hearing Connor groan in frustration of Cameron’s bragging behind him. “No, actually, it’s about what you’re eating. We’re wondering why you’re eating.. that.” Ivan then pointed to the empty bowl of lettuce and the carrots. “I don’t know you very well, but Connor said you don’t really like vegetables. So, we were kinda confused when you brought so much for lunch.”

“Oh,” Cameron looked down at his hand, holding a half-eaten carrot and wearing that ring. All morning, he’d been so focused on what had happened at recess and gym, that hearing someone else point everything out made him realize this wasn’t normal. He looked over at the other kids sitting with him, and they were as clueless as he was. He turned over to Marie, who stared at him with equal bafflement. “Uhmm.. I’m not really sure. I’ve just been craving carrots and lettuce for some reason. Maybe it’s because I’m growing up? My mom said some things change when I get older, so maybe this is one of those changes?” 

While Marie just brushed it off for her older brother being weird (like boys usually were, according to her), Ivan felt there was more to that than just ‘random cravings’. With an earnest smile, Ivan replied, “Okay, thanks. Hope you enjoy your lunch.” 

Cameron watched Ivan roll back to Connor, Greg, and Amaya’s table, and they resumed chatting with one another. Finishing his carrot, Cameron rested a hand on his chin, thinking about what Ivan had said. This urge HAD come out of nowhere, and now he didn’t know what was causing these weird urges. Looking at his hand, he spotted his ring and wondered if it was the reason. However, he didn’t have enough time to think before a couple of boys asked him to play a game of four-square on the blacktop. 

“It’s probably nothing,” He told himself as he ran over to play with his friends. “I mean, what else could it be?”

—-----------------------------------------

The next day was a completely ordinary day. Cameron woke up, had an apple-and-carrot salad for breakfast, brushed his teeth, and did everything exactly the exact same way as he always did. However, something felt… off. It wasn’t something that stood out, just this sense at the back of his mind that something had changed. Everything is the same today, so why do I feel different?

The rest of the morning was normal too, but the feeling didn’t go away. His parents left to go to work, giving Marie a lift to school along the way, but Cameron declined the offer to go with them. He liked walking to school: it was a great opportunity to mess around in the park for a bit and have some fun before he had to put aside his playfulness for school. He made sure everything was in his bag, locked the doors, and walked down the stairs to school 

That was when the question of what had changed was answered. It seemed like everything was somehow… louder. He could hear the engines of the cars thundering along the road, the pigeons cooing to each other, the children laughing and talking to each other on their way to school. Sounds that were nothing but background noise on any other day suddenly felt like they were right in his ear. It was uncomfortably loud, and Cameron picked up his pace and walked to school faster to try and get away from it.

Thankfully, it was only a short walk to the school, especially at the pace he was walking. Unfortunately, school was just as loud as the walk was, and he’d come too early to be saved by the bell. “ I’m not going to let a bit of noise bother me!” He took a deep breath, just like Mom had always said to do when something was bothering him. He walked over to a bench and sat down, trying to focus on one thing. 

“Did you see the park!? Night Ninja completely covered it in his sticky splats!” Cameron huffed in annoyance, hearing Connor complain as he walked with his friends into the school. How am I supposed to concentrate when Connor’s being so annoying?

“We’ll deal with it tonight,” Amaya promised him. Cameron watched the duo in sudden interest. “ There's nothing to do at night but bedtime.” Unless… Cameron gasped in shock. Are they sneaking out? But that's what teenagers do! And they’re such goody-two shoes! They wouldn’t, would they?

“I guess. I’m just sick of everyone ruining my fun! First Cameron steals the spotlight in gym yesterday, and now the night-time villains are taking away all the other fun stuff we normally do.”

“ Hey! It’s not my fault I’m better than you!” Connor’s whining about him wasn’t the part he was interested in, however. “ Night-time villains…? It sounds like something out of a comic book.”

But then again, it was plausible. He remembered something from a year ago. Those weird kids from Halloween last year were there at night, and they were pretty villainous. Putting them in webs, chasing after them, stealing their candy. Plus, there was something odd about them. The fur on those dog costumes looked almost real, and Cameron had never been able to figure out how the skateboard-thing the girl stood on managed to float in the air.  “ They weren’t actual supervillains though…”

Were they?

The bell suddenly rang, and Cameron put his hands over his ears to block out the overwhelming sound. “ I’ll have to stay up tonight and find out.” He told himself, as he headed inside for math class.

Chapter Text

For the first time in his entire life, Cameron was actually excited to go to bed. Night couldn’t come fast enough, and when the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, he almost jumped for joy. As soon as dinner was over, he ran up to his room and put on his pajamas. Villain hunting time! I’m going to be so great at hunting villains, they won’t know what hit them!

His mind was so focused on what was yet to come, that it took a moment to realize someone was knocking. “Cameron?” Marie was by his doorway, already dressed in her pajamas; an adorable, pink lion onesie. She stopped brushing her teeth once she heard her brother walking in his room, so her mouth had bubbles of toothpaste. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Cameron asked, sitting on his bed. “I'm getting ready for bed, duh.”

Marie raised a brow, but brushed it off and went back to the bathroom to spit out her toothpaste. Cameron lied back on his bed, sighing excitedly for tonight as he kicked his feet eagerly. A minute later, he heard a gentle knock on his door, and once he sat up, he spotted his mom by the doorway. 

“Cameron, honey, are you okay? You’re not usually this eager to go to bed.” She asked, voice laced with concern yet had a droplet of suspicion in her stance. 

“I’m fine, just feeling a bit tired. I think I’ll go to bed early tonight, so I have plenty of energy for tomorrow!” He smiled at his mom, and she seemed to relax at his answer. 

“Well, hope you have sweet dreams, sweetie.” His mom walked over, kissed his forehead, and closed his door slowly. After waiting about twenty minutes to be sure his parents and Marie were asleep, Cameron got up and started to pace around his room again. His mind was buzzing with ideas and questions, like a swarm of excited bees. Should I get changed into my Captain Cameron costume again? He looked over at his closet, but shook his head. Nah, I want to catch them, not scare them away.

He kept planning as he paced back and forth, and by the time his clock struck his usual bedtime, he had decided where he was going to look for villains. And what was a better place to find villains? At the park! Because, despite how everyone else saw it as a beautiful landmark, weird stuff always happened there and Cameron had always found something fishy about that weird totem thing in the park. He always found it weird no one really questioned or investigated the inside of it (if it even had an inside) and no one really knew the origins of the place. A perfect place for villains to be at!

Slowly, he crept over to his window. He couldn’t see any supervillains running around on the street below, and facepalmed when he realized he was actually expecting them to be standing by his apartment. Of course it's not that easy! I have to go look for them, obviously. Not even dumb villains are stupid enough to come near to where the great Captain Cameron lives!

Eagerly, he opened his window and climbed onto the fire escape. Before he could walk down the stairs to the garden, he saw something that caught his attention immediately. In the starry, blue sky, glowing lights like fireworks shot up from the city, but unlike fireworks, they didn’t explode. In shades of all colors of the rainbow, the beautiful display kept climbing higher and higher into the sky until Cameron couldn’t see them anymore. 

“Woah! What was that?” When they disappeared, he ran down the staircase and onto the street, only to realize something else when he raised a hand over his eyes.The rabbit ring’s eyes were glowing a pale orange light, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the lights that shot through the sky. Just like last time. Was it really not a dream?

Remembering what he did the other night, he raised a hand above the ring. Touching the glowing ring would cause him to… his mind was still fuzzy about what exactly would happen, but he remembered that it was strange. Well, whatever happened, it won’t stop Captain Cameron! I’m not scared of anything, and especially not a rabbit ring! Let’s do it! Before he could change his mind, he slammed his hand down on the ring.

For a few seconds, nothing happened then his whole body started to tingle, like he’d been zapped with a static shock. The ring emitted orange light, pulsing out and wrapping around his body like ribbon, combining with a weird sensation that could best be described as putting on clothes that were fresh out of the dryer. Cameron froze in place, closing his eyes until the tingling stopped. 

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was that he wasn’t wearing his pajamas anymore. On his hands were over-sized orange gloves, and his arms were pale orange with white stripes. “Woah…” He murmured, inspecting his new outfit further. He had a red belt and metallic orange guards on his knees and elbows, and his feet were covered by perfectly-fitting shoes that had a design on them that made them look like paws.  As soon as he was done inspecting his costume, he twirled around, a red cape flying around him. Cool cape, check. Belt, check. Gloves, check! 

“This is a superhero costume! Awesome!” Cameron cheered. He looked at his hand, only to see that the ring was gone. Aw man, it looked really cool! Oh, well. It must be what gives me my powers! 

Powers. 

That simple one word echoed throughout his mind, causing him to grin like an eager child on Christmas. If the magic ring could give him an awesome costume, it was almost definitely giving him powers as well! 

“Maybe that’s why I’ve had such great hearing, because it’s one of my powers!” Super hearing wasn’t as cool as being an intergalactic space hero like Cameron had always dreamed of being, but it was still a cool power! “ I’ll be able to hear bad guys all over the city!”

He reached up to feel his ears, but they were completely different to how they were supposed to be on the side of his head. Instead of regular ears, they were long and fluffy, going way above his head. In fact, they were almost like…

He spun around, tugging the cape away from his back. Sure enough, there was a tail, short and fluffy… and adorable.

“…Oh no....oh no! No, a-am I actually…?” Looking around, he spotted a puddle; walking over, he gasped at his reflection. What was looking back at him was a kid wearing a bunny suit, complete with a cute little tuft of hair on top and marking around his eyes similar to a rabbit’s fur. His face had the same coloring as the rest of his suit, with his little hair tufts and bunny ears dyed orange and yellow at the tips.

“A bunny?!”

High above the earth and near the moon was a large space station known solely as “Power Q”, the headquarters for a band of brave, crime-fighting heroes of the night. At this moment, the team of eight heroes were working out who got assigned what job for that night, whether it’d be assigned cleaning duties, working on the vehicles, or patrolling the city for any villains (which usually was a tight-packed job with how many there were). A city this big and with so many villains trying to take their chance at taking it over was a hard job, but with so many heroes fighting back, it kept the balance of good and evil at bay. Just as they were finalizing the last of the duties for the night, an alert popped up on their holographic screen, startling PJ Robot. 

“PJ Robot, what’s that?” Catboy asked, paying close attention to the alert on the screen. Random alerts weren’t uncommon when on the job, with how mischievous the villains usually get, but it nevertheless surprised the band of heroes nearly every time.

“Looks urgent. PJ Robot, could you pull up the alert?” An-Yu requested, hearing PJ Robot beep in agreement. 

PJ Robot willingly opened the alert, where the eight heroes watched a rather odd sequence on the hologram; a kid dressed in an orange bunny costume was hopping amuck downtown, bumping and crashing into things like an unstable pinball. The heroes winced every time the boy jumped into the air and fell into another trash can, stumbling around like a leaky balloon. 

“Gasping geckos!” Gekko exclaimed, trying to cover his eyes at the film, but couldn’t help his curiosity by peaking every now and then. “Yikes, that… does NOT look good.” 

“Who is that?” Owlette asked, tilting her head. “Some sort of… bunny boy?”

“Cosmic stars, do you think he’s another n-night-time villain?” Lilyfay asked, biting her lip worriedly. There were already enough villains to keep the eight on their feet; they could not have another one running around causing trouble. 

“Relax, Lilyfay, he doesn’t look like he’s doing anything ‘villainous’,” Newton Star replied. “I mean, look at him! He doesn’t know what he’s doing. And by my calculations…” Newton rubbed his chin in thought, seeing the boy jump into the air whilst screaming before dropping into the moat. “He must’ve gotten his powers VERY recently.”

“Well, we can’t let him get out of control and ruin the city! We gotta help him!” Catboy said determinedly, easily getting the other Power Heroes’ approval. “PJ Robot, is anyone free tonight to check up on that bunny boy?”

PJ Robot pressed a few buttons and pulled up the sheet with all of their names and their assigned duties. Scrolling through for a few seconds, he chirped out a positive response, pulling up who was free that night: Ice Cub! 

“Oh, cool!” Ice Cub cheered, eagerly getting out of his seat and moved over to PJ Robot’s side. “Guess I’m going solo tonight, huh?”

PJ Robot was about to answer Ice Cub’s question before something popped up on another screen; on a map that showed the entirety of Tarabiscoville, a small symbol resembling another member was roaming around town. Ice Cub looked over, his eyes growing wide with excitement once he realized who that somebody was: “Hey, it’s Armadylan!”

“Armadylan’s back?” Gekko asked excitedly. The others were surprised at their allies’ return, but were nonetheless ecstatic. Ever since Bastet explained to the others that he declined joining them and would rather work alone, everytime he showed up around town, even if it was just for a minute, meant everything to the team. 

“Awesome!" Catboy grinned, remembering how much it had been since the two last talked. "Okay, Ice Cub, you go down to the park and see what’s going on. Armadylan should be around there.”

“Got it!” Ice Cub responded before leaving the HQ, hearing his teammates cheering out for support. After a few minutes, he was back on Earth. Once he hopped off his Ice Dasher, the sight of an orange figure a block away flew up into the air, screaming before falling back down. “Shuttering snowflakes! Hold on, I’m coming!” 

Summoning his snowboard, he glided through the streets like he was skating and reached the park's entrance. Strolling into the park, all seemed peaceful; however, in this town, that was usually a once in a lifetime event. At first, Ice Cub almost felt like he was in the wrong spot, but that was short-lived once he heard muffled cries for help.

“Don’t worry, I’m here!” Ice Cub called out before pushing his arms forward to accelerate, dashing down the pavement. He halted his snowboard once he could hear the pleading better. One quick glance around the area, he spotted something rather unusual, yet quite amusing. Sticking from a bush were two rabbit feet, kicking furiously in the air, with only a little, white tail sticking out. 

That was all Ice Cub needed to know who was in trouble. “Hi, there! I’m Ice Cub. And it looks like you’re a little stuck.”

"I know I'm stuck! Now get me out of here!" Cameron begged, kicking his legs whilst trying to untangle himself from the bush. 

"Don't worry, I'm here to help!" With a smile on his face, Ice Cub pushed himself over but stopped dead in his tracks once he heard something rumbling near where he was, and it was getting closer. Looking around, he was a bit too late to get out of the way when a rather large brown boulder slammed into him, knocking both him and the boulder onto the ground like bowling pins. Groaning and holding his sore head, Ice Cub looked at what had hit him. It was only a matter of time when the boulder unfolded and revealed itself to be an old friend of the PJ Masks and the honorary hero they all secretly adored: Armadylan!

“Armadylan! ‘Ice’ to see you again!” Ice Cub greeted, chuckling at his own joke. “Get it?”

“Yeah, pretty funny.” Armadylan smiled back, shaking Ice Cub’s paw and helping each other get back up. “Sorry, I bumped into you; kinda hard to see when I’m all balled up.” 

"Don't worry about it," Ice Cub replied, being an easy to forgive kind of guy. "Accidents happen."

Dusting himself off, he looked at the frosted cub with an interested expression. “Anyways, how’s everything been since the last time I met… with.. uh?” Armadylan’s eyes darted from Ice Cub to the legs sticking out of the bush, a baffled expression gracing his face. “Woah, what did I miss?”

“Oh, him?” Ice Cub turned around and chuckled. “Well, I think he’s a new hero, and one of his powers had something to do with him getting stuck in there.” Ice Cub explained.

“A new hero, huh?” Armadylan grinned eagerly, more than excited hearing that. Ever since he decided to take a break from the night-time hero lifestyle, he unfortunately missed meeting the new heroes and helping them train. But now that he was getting more confident in his powers and himself, a new potential recruit was the perfect cherry on to help influence this brand new hero. “Awesome! Man, I can’t wait to help train him!”

“Uh, HELLO? Forget training, what about me? I’m still stuck!” Cameron interrupted, getting annoyed no one was coming to his aid. What kind of heroes just stand a round and don't help me out?

“Oops, sorry!” Ice Cub apologized, still being in a dazed state from being knocked over like a bowling pin. The two heroes waltzed on over to the bush, trying to grab Cameron’s legs, but Cameron was kicking wildly in a desperate attempt to free himself.

“Easy there, little buddy! We’re gonna get you out, okay?” Armadylan tried to ease him down, not looking forward to getting decked in the face with his feet. But Cameron wasn't listening to Armadylan's destressing, as his relentless kicking barely missed hitting Armadylan in the face. “Yikes, hold still!”

Armadylan was getting a little frustrated with the new hero's unwillingness to listen to their orders, but he took a moment to take a deep breath. He didn't want his anger getting in the way when it came to saving others in need, especially after remembering the first night he had with the PJ Masks. For now, he just remembered the clever technique An-Yu taught him whenever he felt a situation was getting out of control, or what she called "letting your inner dragon rest". Deep breaths, Armadylan. Breathe in... and breathe out.. I'm in control... and I'm okay...

After one final deep breath, Armadylan's mind was free of anger and now was filled with a clear understanding as to why the boy was acting so irrational; for all he knew, this was his first night, and like Armadylan, it looked like he just got his powers. And if Armadylan knew anything they both had in common, it was being very reckless and accident-prone at the beginning of being heroes.

After a minute of trying and failing to calm Cameron down, an idea popped into Armadylan's mind. "I got it!"

He turned to look at Ice Cub, with a determined smile. "Ice Cub, use your snowballs to help him 'chill out'!"

"Help me what?" Cameron asked. He couldn't see anything from being stuck in bush, and even if he could, the sound of chilling him out only made him gulp nervously. 

"Got it!" Sliding backwards to give himself space, Ice Cub held up one of his paws. A few glowing snowballs shot out of his paw, two missing his intended target but one managed to hit Cameron's nonstop kicking. His rabbit feet were now frozen in a block of ice, safe to grab without getting hit in the face. 

"Ahh!" Cameron had never felt something this cold before, and his body shivered in response to the sudden and dramatic temperature change in his feet. "I-It's so cold!" 

"Don't worry, little buddy," Armadylan, now knowing it was safe, grabbed the boy's legs and safely pulled him out like a farmer picking out the finest carrot of the patch. "You're free now!"

Setting the boy down on the ground, Armadylan raised a brow as he inspected Cameron. Below him was a boy wearing an orange and creamy-white bunny costume, with streaks of orange, white and, yellow. Apart from admiring the basic superhero attributes like with his cape and belt and that he was a bunny, he had plenty of questions for the former hopping hero. "So, what's your name?

"M-my name?" Cameron's mind drew a blank upon hearing that. With everything that came to being a hero, the last thing that came across his mind wasn't what to call his awesome powers or come up with catchy catchphrases if he ever got a cool new action toy, but his hero name. Thinking fast, he blurted out the first thing his mind came up with. "O-Oh, I'm Captain Cam- I mean, I'm Captain Carrots!" 

Captain Carrots?! God, what kind of hero name is that? Although Cameron's, now known as Captain Carrot, face blushed in embarrassment, Ice Cub and Armadylan only smiled back in response. 

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Captain Carrots!" Armadylan welcomed, shaking the Cameron's hand with a firm grip, being sure not to make Captain Carrots' arm sore by his own brute strength. "I think you already heard our names, but I'll say them again; I'm Armadylan, and that's Ice Cub," Armadylan explained, first pointing to himself then at Ice Cub, who politely waved at the two. "Nice to see another nighttime hero in this town."

"Nice to see you too.. I guess," Captain Carrots replied, rubbing behind his head nervously. "Sorry about all that... I don't know what happened! I found out I can jump really high and far, but I guess I got kind of carried away."

Armadylan laid a supportive hand on Captain Carrots' shoulder, topped with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Carrots. I used to be just like you when I got my powers for the first time; but after a while, it just comes naturally."

"Yeah, it took a while to get the hang of mine too," Ice Cub added, remembering the night he got his powers and how they came both naturally yet unexpectedly for the young polar cub. "But, I'm sure the other heroes would help you figure out your cool new powers. Come on, we'll take you back to Power Q and you can meet everyone!"

"Aw sweet!" Armadylan cheered, excited to see his super-powered buddies after a little over a month. As Armadylan and Ice Cub walked towards the park's entrance, Captain Carrots' felt like he was walking on clouds. He was so excited, he didn't realize he was jumping up and down.

“Wait a minute..” Ice Cub and Armadylan stopped in their tracks, looking back over at Captain Carrots, whose eyes sparkled like the night sky in amazement. 

“There’s other superheroes!?”