Morning. Glitch’s screen came on, two big lime vertical ovals he called eyes opened. He sat up and rolled out of bed, hitting the wooden floor of his apartment. He wasn’t a morning person. Not a morning person at all.

He got up, groaning. His voice sounded slightly mechanical and electronic, but mostly sounded like an average person. He walked to his closet to get properly dressed. Changing out of his purple PJs and into a white long sleeved buttoned up shirt, purple overalls that were latched onto his purple pants and brown loafers. He was about to head out when he paused.

“Shit. Almost forgot this.” He said to himself, grabbing his purple bowler hat with a green hatband. He put it on his head. He walked to his mirror. And struck a pose and winked. “Looking good, hot-shot.” He said to himself with what seemed like confidence.

“Shut up!” Yelled a muffled voice from the room next to him. Glitch rolled his eyes, sighing.

He used his ability, a lime green portal opening in front of him. “And here we go.” He stepped inside and was transported to exactly where he needed to be.

The building was magnificent. Dark gray walls. Tall windows on what seemed like the second and third floor that reflected the sky above in the most breathtaking way. The side of the building had a magenta logo, the logo having wings and antennas and looked liked a moth. He stepped inside. Time for the interview.

Days prior, Glitch had received an email from M.O.T.H. wanting an interview with him. Saying he could be useful to them due to his abilities. To Glitch, this was the opportunity of a life time.

He walked inside. The walls were dark gray and metallic, the floor a light grey marble material. The place likely costed millions. Glitch was amazed. He also had no idea where to go. He saw someone nearby with a clipboard.

They were tall, had a glowing yellow lightbulb for a head, a black turtleneck sweater, a white lab coat, a black belt with a golden belt buckle, brown pants, and black leather loafers. He seemed intelligent enough, Glitch thought. He walked up to him, asking for directions.

“Hey, uhm…would you perhaps know where the interview room is ? I-“ He cuts Glitch off. “Yes, yes. You must be Glitch. Right this way.” He spoke in a fancy British accent. Sounded smart, Glitch thought. He followed him down the hall.

“How exactly do you know who I am ?” Glitched asked him. “We were informed of your arrival.” He answered. We walked to a a wooden dark brown door. Above was a sign labled: “INTERVIEW ROOM”. “Well, here we are. Best of luck.” He patted Glitch’s back and walked away. Glitch contemplated if he should just walk in or if he should just stand outside for around a minute. He decided to open the door and walk in. The room was just a wooden desk, and a chair facing a dark side of the room. So dark he couldn’t even see the other half of the room.

“Sit.” Said a male voice on the other side of the table. Glitch couldn’t tell who or what he was. He did as he was told and sat down, facing the darkness which seemed to stare back. “So…” the voice began. They sat there awkwardly, either one not sure how to begin.

“You understand the work we do here, yes…?” The voice asked. “Yeah! You help save the city!” Glitch answered. “True, but we do much more than save the city. We protect it. Guard it with our lives from threats. And we wish for you to join us.”

Glitch seemed stunned, frozen in his chair. He started stuttering, unsure of how to respond to such a request. Him ? Help protect the city ? He was honestly thinking he would have a small job, like an office worker of some kind, not some protector.

“W-Well…I do appreciate the offer. Really. But I don’t think this is for me.” “I believe it is. You just need a little…confidence boost. Here’s a proposition. One day here. Work here for one day and see if you like the position. If not, you can walk right out.”

Glitch contemplated, didn’t sound so bad to him. Glitch nodded. “Fine. One day.” A hand reached out of the darkness. The hand was skeletal, actually looked like a skeleton. But the bone was a lavender color. Glitch shook his hand.

“Great! Dr. Lite will show you the team.” Who ?” Glitch replied. Dr. Lite opened the door, holding a clipboard. It was the person he had met earlier for directions. “Right this way, Glitch. None of them are dying to meet you.”

Glitch followed him out. They walked to an elevator at the end of the hall. Dr. Lite pressed the bottom floor. They descended. They stood there awkwardly, jazzy music playing on the elevator’s speakers. Finally, after a long awkward minute, the doors opened.

The large room was very high-tech. With metallic white walls and gray marble flooring. The center of the wall had a large screen that seemed like a map with a radar. The first noticeable person there was another robot. His head a white security camera with a yellow circle for an eye on his screen. Above his head was a long curved antenna with a yellow bulb at the end, which reminded Glitch of an anglerfish. He wore a black shirt, an unzipped red jacket, black fingerless gloves, black jeans and black boots. He was sitting on a table, scrolling through his phone. Paying zero attention. He seemed familiar, but Glitch couldn’t quite tell where he saw him from.

“That is Otto. You might know him for his…crimes.” Dr. Lite explained. “Crimes…?” Glitch asked cautiously. “Robbery. Grand theft auto. Etcetera.” He answered

“So this is the idiot, Lite ?” Otto said tilting his head at them, unimpressed. He pushed himself off the table. Glitch snickered seeing Otto’s size, having to look down at him. What was he, around 5 feet tall ? “What’s so funny?” He asked, his eye narrowing. “O-Oh! Nothing. Nothing at all…” He answered, trying to suppress a laugh. Otto pulled Glitch down to his level by his overalls. “Listen, Green-Screen. Don’t you dare laugh at me! I have beaten the living crap outta people, and that does not stop me from being the living crap outta you! Got it ?” Glitch nodded rapidly. “Yes sir! You got it! No belittling!” Otto froze. “Are you serious…?” He asked in disbelief, pissed. Dr. Lite separated them.

“Can you two keep your hands off each other for at least two minutes ?” He asked, annoyed. Otto rolled his eyes and scoffed. He walked off. “Sorry about him. He’s a handful. Only here to get time off his sentence.” “So what exactly does he do…?” Glitch asks, looking at him from afar. “Shoots yellow beams out of his eye.” Dr. Lite answered. “You teleport, yes ?” He asks looking down at Glitch. “Yeah!” He answers, enthusiastic about his abilities. Dr. Lite stood there frozen. “You are very enthusiastic, aren’t you…?”

Heels clacked against the marble floor. In walked a tall figure. Had a large orange flame for a head. Wearing a red blazer, white gloves, black pants, and black…ankle boots ?

“Who’s this dashing fella ?” He asked excited. He walked up to Glitch, bent over, and took out his hand. “Flara!” Glitch shook his hand. “This is Glitch. The recruit.” Dr. Lite answered.

“The idiotic newbie!” Otto answered from his spot on the other side of the room.

The large screen flashed red, a red dot somewhere on the screen. “Ready to show what you’re good for, Green-Screen ?” Otto asks, walking over. Flara smacks Otto on the back of the head. “Ow! What I do?” Asked Otto.

The red dot was in around the upper right section of the city. “Trouble in The Lilacs.” Answered Dr. Lite. “Well team, get to it!” Otto and Flara walked away down a hall. Glitch, not knowing where to go ran over to follow. “Wait up!”

There was a garage, which held what looked like a black S.W.A.T. van, but it had the building’s logo on the side of the van. Otto got in the front seat. “Get in.” Flara waved, signaling Glitch to join him in the back of the van. Glitch got into the back of the van and closed the doors. Otto pushed the pedal to the metal, rock music playing on the speakers of the van. Glitch rolled back and forth in the back of the van from the driving. “Who the hell taught you how to drive!” Yelled Glitch. “Self taught!” Answered Otto, laughing. After a very bumpy ride, we arrive. Glitch getting thrown at the van doors from the sudden halt, face first into the concrete. “We’re here.” Said Otto, getting out of the van. Glitch stood up, dusting himself off. He froze seeing the place. “Woah…”

The buildings were old, abandoned, overgrown by vines and roots. Grass and flowers growing out of the cracks in the sidewalk. Glitch had never been to The Lilacs. Nor has many people. The sector of the city was abandoned ages ago, and no one ever used it. Clearly, nature had took its course here.

The three of them looked around, Flara mindful of where he was near or going. Made sense, he could accidentally torch this place with probably a single flame. Glitch could hear…slithering ? He looks at his feet and saw vines around his ankles. “Uh oh.” He was then yanked and dragged against the hard concrete. “Help!” He yelled, his hands clawing at the ground before being dragged into the darkness of an abandoned building.

Otto, seeing the whole thing, looked annoyed. “You have got to be kidding me…” he said sighing, walking into the building. Otto snapped his fingers a couple of times, getting Flara’s attention. “Flara. Over here.” Flara walks in, his flaming head illuminating the dark room. The walls were greatly overgrown. Otto walks forward Flara grabbing his shoulder, preventing him from moving. There was a massive sinkhole where all the vines seem to descend into. Otto rolled his eye. “I knew that was there. Now let go.” Flara lets go of him.

“So…do we just jump in…or…?” Flara asks, unsure of how to proceed. Otto shrugs. “Bet you five bucks he quits.” Flara smacked him on the back of the head. “Ow! What I do ?” Flara sighed. “Let’s just grab onto a vine and climb down.” “Eh, no fun. I have a better idea!” Otto simple turned around, his back facing the sinkhole and jumped backward into it. “Woo-hoo!” He yelled falling down, his voice echoing. There was a loud thud, then a groan. Flara looked down. “Otto…? Still alive…?” Otto groaned back. Flara climbed down using the vines.

He found Otto on the floor, groaning. “Next time, don’t be an idiot…” He slung him over his shoulder and looked around. A large long tunnel. Vines on the floor and walls that led into the tunnel. Otto tried to push himself off Flara. “I-G-Get off!” Otto managed to get off him, dusting himself off. He looked and walked around. “So the hell’s all thi-“ He steps on a vine. The vine wraps around his ankle. “Shit.” It drags him instantly deeper into the tunnel. Flara runs after Otto. “Got dammit, Otto!” Flara leaps forward and grabs onto Otto’s hands, getting dragged together.

They end up in a large underground area, vines on the floor and walls with flowers and plants here and there. Otto burned the vine off his ankle using a beam from his eye. Flara looks at Otto in disbelief. “You could’ve done that this whole time…?” “Yeah, but…it got us here faster didn’t it ?” The two get up and see…her.

A tall woman with a sunflower for a head, the center having a large yellow eye. Her limbs looked seemingly like vines or flower stems. Her attire was a buttoned up cyan shirt with a yellow flower pattern on it, blue jeans and black sneakers. She sighs. “Great. Now there’s more…” she says to herself. Otto looked at her and immediately knew what he must do. “Well hello…” Otto said getting up and walking over to her. Flara looked at Otto in disbelief. “Otto, what in the actual fu-“ Otto cuts him off, shushing him. “Shh…me and beautiful are having a moment here.” Otto looked up at her. “So what’s your name…?”

“Sunny. And you’re annoying.” A vine grabs Otto’s wrist tightly and tosses him into a wall. Otto groans on the floor. “Noted…” he says weakly. Glitch, dangling on the ceiling from the vines that were around his ankles, clears his throat. “A little help here!” He yelled.

“Working on it…” Otto said, sitting up. Otto gets up and dashes at Sunny to land a punch, but she easily dodges and extends her arm, wrapping it around Otto’s arm and tosses him to the nearest wall. Flara comes out from behind, round house kicking her, but Sunny wraps her arm around his leg. “Shit.” Sunny slams him onto the ground with force.

“What kind of team is this…?” Glitch asked himself. He looked at his vines. He pulled himself up, one hand gripping on one of the vines around one of his ankles and began untying. He then untied the other one, and then proceeded to fall. Before hitting the ground, he creates a portal directly below him and one on the wall. He fell through the portal below, rolling onto the ground through the other. He sees the battle in front of him. He notices how the vines around the room are assisting her fight against them. To assist, he grabs onto one of the vines, which happened to be one of the worst mistakes he’s done. The vine flails around wildly, Glitch flailing with it while clinging on for dear life.

“The hell are you doing!” Otto yells seeing the display. “Helping!” Glitch yells back. “You call that helping ?” “Maybe!” Glitch lets go of the flailing vine and ends up falling onto Sunny. Sunny pushes him off and tries to punch him. Glitch, trying to dodge, fumbles backward onto the floor. Crawling backward when Sunny started walking towards him, her hands in tight fists. A portal is created under Glitch and he falls through, the portal closing. Sunny looked at the ground, baffled. “The hell…” she said to herself.

A portal formed beside her, Glitch dashing out and landing a punch on her. Sunny tries to punch back, but Glitch steps back into a portal he made behind him. Glitch kept dodging into portals, and fighting when coming out of them. A barrage of portals and punches. Sunny couldn’t keep up.

“Woo! Hell yeah!” Otto yells from the sidelines. Glitch comes out of a portal behind her to land a punch, but Sunny catches it and twists his arm. Glitch lets out a yelp in pain. Sunny lets go and kicks him in his stomach down to the ground. “Oof. Nevermind.” Otto says, chuckling.

Glitch sits up, about to get up, but Sunny extends her arm, her hand around his throat, and keeps him down on the ground. Her grip slowly got tighter. “You had me in the beginning there.” She admits, chuckling to herself. Glitch thought he was done for.

Otto and Flara try to dash over to intervene, but vines wrap around their ankles and wrists, binding them both to the ground. Flara had an idea. Surely these vines and plants were burnable. He uses his ability, his outfit and body burning bright. The vines were set ablaze and let go of them. Sunny, noticing, lets go and looks back. “You’ll pay for that!” She yells. Flara simply walks to her. More vines move to attack, but burn when near Flara. He got closer and closer. Sunny tried to land a punch, but Flara caught it, burning her hand. She fumbles back in pain. Flara deactivates his ability, his outfit completely fine. He helps Glitch up. Otto looks up, tapping Flara’s shoulder repeatedly. “Uh…guys…” he says, pointing up.

Sunny stood on vines that were ascended upward that supported her. “I won’t…let you leave…here alive…” she says weakly. She sends multiple vines at them. Flara reactivates his ability and sends a large beam of fire at her. The aftermath leaving her on the ground, slightly scorned and burned here and there. She groaned in pain. “So…how are we gonna get her outta here…?” Otto asked, looking around. Glitch simply made a portal to the police department and tossed her inside, closing the portal.

“So, that was fun.” Said Otto. Glitch looked down at him. “Fun…? You call that fun?! I was nearly killed!” “I mean…yeah, but you did beat the living shit outta her.” “Barely! Flara was the one who took her down. Not me.” Glitch sighed. He created a portal that lead back to M.O.T.H. “This was not what I signed up for.” He said stepping through, Otto and Flara following behind.

Dr. Lite awaited them. “I assume the threat was taken care of…?” He asked, looking at the three, dirty and roughed up. “Yes. Also. I quit.” Glitch said walking toward the elevator. “Why exactly…?” He asked. “I could have died back there!” “Well, that’s part of the job. Risking your life to save others. What would you have expected…?” “I-I don’t know, I-I just-…” Glitch sighed. “I just don’t think I’m cut out for this…” he said quietly, looking down.

“Bullshit! Did you see yourself out there! The way you went in and out of portals landing punches! You’re a natural!” Otto said, before clearing his throat. “I-I mean…not as much as a natural as I am…but you’re getting there.” Flara nodded. “Yeah! I’m sure you’d be great! But…decision’s up to you of course…” The three stood before him, waiting for his answer.

A few silent seconds passed. Glitch looked at them. “You really think I’ll be good at this…?” He asks quietly. Otto nods furiously. “Hell yeah, dude! Of course you would!” “Then…I’m in.” The three cheered, happy to have a new member on the team. “We’ll assign you your own quarters.” Said Dr. Lite.

“Quarters…?” Glitch asked. “Why of course. Crimes and threats could happen anytime, so we all have our own quarters here to be ready for anything. They each come with their own bed, shelf and bathroom. Here’s your keys. The quarters are all down that hall.” He said, handing him his room keys and pointing to the hall to the left of the room. Glitched walked down the hall. Opening the door labeled: “3”. He stepped in.

The room was modest, having a bed in the corner of the room, a shelf on the wall above the bed, a few boxes by the bed, a black coat rack near the door, a wardrobe next to a full-length mirror on the wall next to the bathroom door which was all on the wall facing the bed. “Hm. Not bad.” He said aloud. On the bed was his purple PJs from his apartment neatly folded. There was a sticky note on the PJs, that read:

“Broke into your house to grab all of your belongings. Hope you didn’t mind.

—Lite”

He unpacked his things, sorting them in the wardrobe. He then later changed into his purple PJs, hanging his other outfit on the coat rack and got into bed. His lime eyes closed as he went to sleep.