PZA: The Underpants Boys

Gavin Fulton was crouched in the branches of a tree, waiting for his prey to pass beneath him. It was very rare that he'd be the first one to get to the hideout, but Mrs. King had dismissed 6th period Social Studies early, and he was going to take full advantage of the opportunity. The others might have noticed that Gavin's bike was already gone from the bike rack, but probably not. He'd hid it in a shrub by the entrance to the path to their hideout so they wouldn't be looking for him. Who Gavin's victims would be, he had no idea – whoever was unlucky enough to come by first, but it scarcely mattered to him. Well, he kind of hoped it wouldn't be Rode. Rode would probably pound him, but even so it would be worth it just to scare the crap out of the bigger boy. He heard voices and crouched low on the branch. It's likely that they wouldn't be looking up, but why take a chance?

He recognized one voice, and then he knew right away who the other voice would be. Irving Fischer and Porfirio 'Porf' Reyes. Just the two of them? No, he saw a patch of flaming red hair and realized that it was a trio which included Fox Russell. Perfect!

The three boys sauntered down the path, unaware of their impending doom. Gavin had to bite his lip to keep from giving himself away with a giggle. He clenched the bucket tightly in his hands and waited for the perfect moment just before they passed under the branch, and then tipped it over. Five gallons of water sloshed out and descended in a thick sheet. Gavin gave a war-whoop, causing the others to look up just in time to see their fate. Porf got the worst of it; he was in the middle and dead center of the point of attack, but Fox and Irving did not escape unscathed.

"FUCKING SONOFABITCH!" Porf shouted before starting to swear in Spanish. None of the other boys understood most of his cuss words, but they sounded so much worse than the ones in English. Gavin was howling with laughter; the poleaxed expression on Irving's face was priceless! He swung down from the tree and fell over on the ground, still laughing. "Gotcha good, gotcha good!" he gasped out between peals of laughter.

Fox was the first one to start laughing as well. Irving shot him a dirty look as he was wiping the water from his face, which only made Fox laugh harder. That got Irving started and then even Porf couldn't hold back. The whole forest was echoing with the laughter of boys.

Eventually the laughter died down into giggles, and the boys started walking again. The hideout was only a five-minute walk from the clearing where they kept their bikes, and Gavin had made his attack at the halfway point.

They reached the massive oak tree that held their treehouse hideout. There were three ways up to it: the rope to the trapdoor, the rope ladder to the porch, or the boards that were nailed to the trunk of the tree, which could be climbed. Of course, Gavin had another way, but most of the time he just liked to climb with the other boys. Irving was going up the rope while Fox took the rope ladder. Gavin was waiting behind Fox for his turn (the steps up the trunk were for the little boys) when Porf squeezed his shoulder.

"That was a good one, amigo," he whispered in his ear. "But you know sometime I must pay you back!"

There was nothing Gavin liked more than pranks even when he was the victim. Now he would have the fun of anticipating what Porf would try to pull off for the next couple of days, and try to outwit him. He was so glad to have friends who appreciated his talent and enjoyed matching wits with him.

The other boys were up on the porch when Gavin climbed up. Porf had taken the rope and beaten him to the top. Their hideout would have been the envy of every boy in school if they knew about it, but since The Incident, they had agreed that only their special circle of friends could be invited. It had been built by Rode's father for him and his little brother Leon. Mr. Carlisle was a builder, and he'd had a few members of his crew help him over a couple of weekends. Because Rode and Leon's mother was gone, their Dad went out of his way to do special things for them, but this was the best thing ever.

There was a porch with a railing, ten feet by sixteen feet. The boys had pooled their resources and brought seats from their various houses if they wanted to hang out there. Inside, though, it was even better. The main part was 20x16 feet [6x5 metres]. Mr. Carlisle had set up a solar panel on the roof, and this powered an overhead light and a little fridge in the corner. He had built a set of bunk beds on one side of the room, and there were two large gym mats in the middle. Throw in a couple of tables, some giant beanbags plus some random chairs and furniture the various boys had donated from their homes, and it was nothing short of a boys' palace.

Of course, with a total of nine boys in the club, they had plenty of resources to draw on and there had been lots of other additions over the months. The place now had wireless internet and a flat-screen TV. All the boys had their own key enabling whoever got there first to gain access, so Fox unlocked the door and opened the windows. Porf was stripping off his clothes and hanging them over the edge of the railing.

"You'd be face down on the gym mat if that was the case," Porf said. "But, no, I just want my clothes dry. And plus, I want to get fully charged up."

The brown-skinned boy stripped down to his underpants; a deep purple pair with a white waistband. Fox had brought out the plastic chairs and was setting them about. Porf slumped down in one and put his hands behind his head, exposing as much of his skin to the sunlight as possible, and sighed. Irving was also getting out of his wet things until he was in the same state of undress as Porf; the only difference being that his underpants were a deep green. Fox shrugged and did the same; his clothes were not as wet, but he was happy for any excuse to get out of them. He pulled one of the tumbling mats out onto the porch, and lay down wearing nothing but his fire-engine-red briefs.

Gavin had bumped his head on a low-hanging branch, and snapped it off in annoyance. Being the tallest wasn't always the best.

"You gonna just stand there playing with sticks, amigo, or are you going to take off that ugly shirt?" Porf asked.

"Hey! I've got style!" Gavin boasted, waving the branch at Porf. His shirt was yellow with red salamanders on it. He'd picked it because it was the loudest thing in the store, but he took off everything besides his white underpants and lay next to Fox.

"Rode and Leon should be here any second," Irving mumbled from his chair. "I know Boyd and Cole said they were going to stop at the store and pick up some munchies. You'd know better about your brother than I would."

"Jay was gonna stop home first," Gavin said, "But he's coming. And I think I hear somebody now."

"It's Rode and the brat," Irving said, looking over the edge. "Oh, and your little brother's with 'em."

Rode was up first, pulling his way to the top of the rope and coming up the trapdoor in the side of the porch.

"Already?" he said, seeing their state of undress. "Couldn't even wait for the rest of us?"

"Blame White Boy over there," Irving said. "He was the one who thought it would be funny to dump a bucket of water on us."

"Careful, Brat," Porf said from his chair. "We're twenty feet up, and you can't fly."

Leon apparently didn't feel threatened, as he went over and gave Gavin a high-five. Irving responded by grabbing the waistband of his orange underpants and giving him a world-class wedgie.

"Hey, do that to Gavin, not Leon," Rode said, coming to the defense of his little brother. "He's the one that soaked you."

He yanked Irvin's green briefs up in the same way, exposing his pale white butt cheeks and causing him to howl in discomfort. Rode's wedgie was a lot more forceful than Irving's had been.

"Wedgie fight!" Jay said as he bowled into the group, grabbing Gavin's underpants and doing his best to give his big brother a wedgie as well. He only half pulled it off before Gavin had a hold of his and yanked them up. This was followed by several minutes of mayhem in which only Rode escaped unscathed. Nobody could get behind him as he was too fast and too strong.

Soon everybody was sitting or lying on the mat, laughing uncontrollably. Somebody had depantsed Jay, and he was stripped to his electric blue briefs. Leon had eagerly taken off his clothes and was lounging around in his orange pair, leaving only Rode with pants on. He then took his off, making it plain that it was only happening because HE wanted to – not because of anybody else.

All the boys had chosen underpants that were their favorite color. Rode, always somebody possessed of great self-confidence and an independent streak, had always favored the unorthodox color pink. It would have been impossible to find boys' underpants in pink, and Rode would have killed anybody who suggested he wear panties. Fortunately, he was big enough that he could wear a men's small, and he sported a pair of pink underpants. Not a feminine pastel pink, but a brilliant, rich shade of the color. With his shining black hair and developing physique, all the boys would privately admit that he looked really good in them.

Rode was unquestionably the leader. Once he spoke, the others would nearly always follow. Even Leon, who would usually be the quickest to challenge his older brother.

Cole shot up the rope ladder, and Boyd uncharacteristically scooted up the steps. Both of them had on backpacks; presumably stuffed with goodies.

The TV was set to the NBC affiliate, WUND. A commercial was on. Rode lifted the remote to switch it when the programming came back on.

"This is Angela Antonelli live at Port Disney," the reporter said. "If you are just joining us, we are following the apparent takeover of the Disney Magic cruise ship by individuals who have been described to us as 'terrorists'. The Magic is two miles off the coast, not moving. Reports from the boat indicate that the terrorists took over the bridge shortly after departure, and are threatening to sink her if two prisoners now held in Guantanamo Bay are not released. We are now waiting for a press conference, which we are told will be held by the FBI and other representatives from the Department of Homeland Security as well as a contingent from the Coast Guard."

The boys had all come inside. As the news report went back to the studio, they all started talking at once. Rode let it go on for thirty seconds before raising his hands.

"All, right, all right!" he said, raising his voice to be heard. "Everybody shut up! We need to think."

All the boys raised their hands, requesting the right to speak. Rode pointed to Porf; he was unofficially the deputy leader, and the one Rode trusted most to be sensible under pressure.

"Is this a job for the Underpants Boys?" Porf asked with an excited grin on his face. So much for being sensible.

"Yes, probably," Rode said. "But it's dangerous, and we can't go off half-cocked."

"Gavin, if you interrupt to say something retarded like that again, I will paddle your bare ass, and I'm entirely serious. Cole?"

"We were watching for a bit in the store," Cole said. "The story broke just as we were getting stuff. The terrorists have said that if any boats, planes or helicopters approach, they will blow the ship up and sink it. The captain told the Coast Guard that he's seen the bomb. Somebody also uploaded some cellphone footage; they have guns, but just pistols 'n stuff. No assault rifles or grenade launcher and shit like that."

"All right, useful information, that's what we need. Look, I think this probably is a job for us, but let's take five minutes. Boyd, break out the sodas and pass them around. A couple of bags of chips, too. I'm going to start thinking of a rough plan and I want you all to do the same. Don't say anything just yet – let's all come up with our own plans and then we can share and revise. Okay? And Cole and Boyd, get your clothes off. We're going to need you fully charged; especially you, Cole."

Boyd handed the backpack full of drinks to Jay, who was happy to hand them out. He knew what everybody's favorite was, and the rest he stuck in the fridge. Cole had slipped out of his clothes, and went out onto the porch wearing his jet-black briefs and soaking up the sun. Boyd soon was down to his bright yellow underpants and sitting next to him. All the boys were watching or listening to the news, hoping to glean additional information, but the reporters and talking heads were basically rehashing the same few facts and trying to draw opinions and suggestions from them.

"All right," Rode said during the next commercial break as he muted the TV. "Here's what I think. We go get the van and make our way to the coast. Not right down at the port but a strip where we can park it and not be disturbed. A few of us are going to have to remain there; we need a crew to be online and finding out information about the layout of the boat and any new news that breaks. The rest of us can get out to the boat and gather somewhere out of the way, like up by the smokestacks or something. Then we can take a fresh look at the situation and see how to go from there. Obviously, priority number one has to be to get the bomb and throw it overboard. Thoughts?"

"For sure me, Irving, Cole, Gavin and Jay. Fox is certainly staying; I think we'll all agree that the last thing anybody wants out on a ship at sea if a bunch of fire. I'd like to have Porf out there, too, but realistically, Gavin's only going to be able to carry two people if he's going to fly that distance, and if the bomb is big enough to sink the ship, Leon's going to be the only other one who could lift it. So the two of you and Boyd are going to be our landside team."

"No, he's right, Boyd. I already had the same lineup in my head. We've got limited ways to get out there, and somebody's got to direct things on the ground. You're the best at mapping and navigation; even if you were on the boat, it would be best to have you based in one spot directing everybody from the ship's deck plan. Easier to do that landside where we don't have to worry about protecting you. You'll split into two strike teams when you get on board then, Rode? I'll direct one and Fox will direct the other?"

"Yeah, me, Leon and Gavin as one group. I'll lead that one. Irving, Cole, and Jay in the other. Irving, you'll take the lead with your team. Does anybody have any questions or suggestions? I'm wide open to 'em. I'm the leader but not the dictator."

"No point waiting until night, is there?" asked Irving. "Then we could all get on board."

"No, that's hours away, and anything could happen in the meantime. Doesn't gain us anything."

"Find the bomb. They aren't going to be expecting us, and they sure as hell won't be expecting what we can do. If we're lucky, we'll have them disarmed and locked up before they know what hit 'em. Irving and I are going to study the map on the trip to the coast so we'll have a basic knowledge of the layout already."

Fox opened the locker under one of the bunk beds and started handing out colored pairs of shoes. Each boy had a pair that matched his underpants, as well as an eye mask. Gavin was never sure if those masks were much of a disguise or not – he was sure if his mother saw him she'd instantly know it was him. That was one reason the boys did their best not to be captured by news cameras or photographers; at least face-on.

"Underpants Boys, let's go put some skin in the game!" Rode shouted. Gavin rolled his eyes. So far, they had utterly failed to come up with a catchy battle cry, but Rode kept trying. The boys swarmed down the various exits to the treehouse and ran to the clearing 500 feet away. Rode got there first, of course, and was busy removing the camouflage tarp from the van. It was a minivan, but the engine was gone. It had apparently burned up, and the body was going to be turned into scrap. The boys pinched it from the salvage yard one night and had spruced it up. Fox had even airbrushed some cool stripes down the sides, which stood out against the original black paint. Cole got in front and took the wheel. Rode and Irving got in the middle seat on either side of Boyd so they could look at the map with him. Porf sat in back, while Gavin and Jay were on either side and Leon prepared to jump into the passenger seat.

"Do your thing, Black Hole," Rode said. "And from now on, superhero names only, remember?"

"De-graving now," Cole reported, and the air around his hands started to shimmer. "Superbrat, you ready?"

"Ready," Leon said, and he lifted the car up, his super strength easily overcoming inertia. Pushing off from the ground, he then leaped into the seat and buckled up.

"Seagull, Blue Balls, we're in your hands," Rode said. Gavin and Jay each took one side of the van and began to move upward and forward. With Leon's starting push, it was easy to move the weightless car into the sky.

"Just go east," Rode said. "Battery Boy, bring up the map and let's see if we can find a good spot."

"Just go northeast until you see the Beachline," Boyd said. "I know that much. And then follow it out."

"Stop arguing, you two," Rode cut in. "And Seagull, you know better than to use somebody's real name. Don't make me have to remind you again."

"All right then, fuck you, Slippery Dick," Gavin said, putting an emphasis on the last word.

"Seagull, if you don't settle down I swear I'll paddle your ass. Again. So don't push it!"

Gavin blushed. He'd not exactly distinguished himself on the last mission; not being serious when he should have been and not taking orders. True to his word, when they got back to the hideout, Rode had made him pull down his underpants, and had then given him ten hard swats with the paddle. It had been both painful and embarrassing, and Gavin did not want a repeat of that experience. At least nobody had teased him; Rode had made it plain that anybody who did so would get the same punishment. Jay hadn't even done it when they went home, and he could have gotten away with it as Gavin would have never told on him.

"I see the Beachline down there," Jay said. Gavin looked; yes, that had to be it. He focused his eyes down and was able to read a sign. 528; yes, it was the Beachline all right. He and Jay turned due east and followed the ribbon of tar. Ten minutes later the inland waterway came into view.

"That long, green thing in front of you, dude," Cole said from the driver's seat.

They turned the van and eased it south. They picked up the bridge and flew the van all the way out to the beach.

"See that rectangle of trees just south? That's a park. Find the parking lot and see if there's anybody in it, or find somewhere else to land."

Jay and Gavin started to bring the van down on Boyd's instructions. The street that led into the park was empty for the moment so they landed it with a slight bump.

"Increasing grav to 10% of normal," Cole said. The van coasted into the parking lot, and they eased it under a large, leafy tree.

"Good job, guys," Rode said. "Land base secured and viable. Give us full grav, Black Hole."

"Activating com equipment," Porf said, bringing a set of headphones out of his mask and sticking one bud into his ear. The mic was hidden in the bottom of the mask, and he switched on the mini power pack hidden at the back of the strap. All the other boys did the same.

"I already saw it," Gavin said. "Before we landed. "It's a bit further south out about that way."

"I can't tell that. Easy enough for us to fly out there. And I guess for you and AquaJew as well."

"Carry these for me please, Superbrat," he said as he handed them to Leon. "I'm going to start first, 'cause it'll take me a bit longer."

The ship was plainly visible on the horizon. Irving ran down the beach into the sea and then dived right into the gentle surf. Instantly spray flew up behind him as he started to cut through the water, until he totally submerged.

"Seagull, you're next with Black Hole and Superbrat. Blue Balls will follow and I'll come last. That's only going to take me a few minutes at top speed."

Cole reached around and held Leon around his middle, pulling him tight to his body.

"Shut up, Superbrat," Rode said. "This is no time for jokes. Don't think I won't paddle you, either. Seagull, pick them up and get moving."

"Degraved," Cole announced. Gavin lifted him under his arms and pushed off the ground. Once he got some momentum going it was easy. He couldn't make Cole and Leon invisible but he could blur the air around them, just as he did with the van. Nobody would notice a thing unless they looked right at them, and even then it would just be some unfocused movement. He saw Cole turn to speak into Leon's ear and he strained his ear to hear what he was saying.

Gavin felt the bulge in his white briefs swell. Even if he was not included in the invitation, just overhearing it made him feel sexy and worked up.

They were halfway to the boat when Leon pointed down at the water. "Here comes Pink Streak!" he said. Rode was running at super speed over the water, each supersonic footstep raising a light splash. His body was a blur; literally, a pink streak as he cruised above the surface.

All the boys were approaching the ship, stationary in the ocean. Jay landed first, at the agreed-on rendezvous point behind the last smokestack. As Rode reached the ship, he launched himself up, running up the side of the ship before slowing enough to catch the rail and swing himself vertical again. Gavin dropped the other two and rose back up, fully invisible, now looking for Irving. Just then there was a sudden spout of water and it vomited Irving up, landing him on all fours next to the others.

"Holy fuck, AquaJew! Was that really necessary? What if somebody saw you?" Rode admonished him.

"It just looks like a whale's spout, Pink Streak. Nobody's going to suspect what it really was."

"Team Pink to Land Base," he said, speaking into his mic. "We've arrived at the Fire Pit. Commencing scouting."

"Land Base to Team Pink and Team Green," Porf's voice came. "Update from the news feed. Action must be taken by 6 c'clock or opposing team will begin removing pawns from the board. Over."

Rode looked down at his watch. "Ten after four," he muttered. Gavin saw the tight expression on his face and knew that the older boy was worried.

"Team Pink to Land Base. Pawns removed from the board cannot be used in future games, correct?"

"They're gonna start killing hostages in less than two hours, Rode said. Gavin had figured that out, but clearly not all the boys had. "Seagull, start scouting right now. Check out the bridge first and see who all is there. Find out where they've got the passengers, and see if you can find the bomb. We'll wait here, but hurry!"

Gavin was already invisible and he flew up. He knew where the bridge was and dived down toward it. Just before he got to the side, he slowed and turned himself insubstantial, passing effortlessly through the wall. A few of the crew were still at their stations; most were clustered at one side around a table. There were three dark-skinned men with black beards holding pistols. One was aiming at the group, one was covering the few remaining crewmen at their seats, and the last one was talking to a man who was clearly the Captain.

"If you are going to kill people, I insist that you start with me," he was saying.

"No, Captain," the terrorist was saying, "We need you. We'll find an old Jew and shoot them. You can tell your people on shore that if you like."

Gavin wanted to stay and see if he could learn more, but he was very aware of the limited time, especially after that conversation. He flew up and down the halls of the ship, passing through walls and doors as needed. Twenty-five minutes later, he reappeared by the others.

"Here's what we got," he said. "Three in the bridge. Two outside the theater. Two down in by the infirmary – that's where the bomb is. All of them have pistols and knives. One of the ones by the theater does have some kind of machine-gun, though. The passengers are mostly in the theater and the dining rooms."

"Shit," Rode said. "That's three targets. We can't really split into three teams."

"Theater's gotta be number one," Cole objected. "What if they start shooting into the crowd?"

"They both have to be number one," Rode clarified. "We'll hit them together. Now that we know what's what, I'm going to change up the teams. Superbrat and Black Hole need to go after the bomb. AquaJew, you'll be leading them. Me, Seagull and Blue Balls are going to have to rescue the people in the theater."

"You and I will head there from the theater. We have less than fifty minutes, so we can't spend time trying to plan that far ahead. Let's go, boys!"

Team Green, headed by Irving, found the steps and began their descent into the bowels of the ship. The theater was in the front, so Team Pink actually had the longer walk. Gavin kept them obscured. One thing he noticed had changed: there were now a few passengers sitting very nervously in seats just outside the theater. All were elderly; they must be the Jewish people the lead terrorists had threatened to kill. They'd already been selected. Gavin was glad Irving was not there to see this; he would be very unsettled by it.

"Okay, here's the plan," Rode said. "Seagull, you get up next to that one with the pistol. When you get the signal, grab it out of his hand. Snag the knife, too, if you can, then stand back. Meanwhile, I'll zip over and get that big gun away from the other guy. Blue Balls, then it will be your turn to knock them down."

"I'll stick my hand out from behind this corner. They won't be looking for it and won't notice, but you will. That's the sign."

Just then there was the sound of a ringing phone. One of the terrorists answered it and spoke a few words of a foreign language that Gavin assumed was probably Arabic or maybe Iranian or something like that.

"He's coming down in a few minutes," he said to the other terrorist when the conversation was over. "Time to show the infidels we really mean it."

Fully invisible, Gavin walked silently over the carpet to the spot where the smaller of the two men was standing. Unfortunately, unlike before, he was no longer relaxed. He was gripping the gun tightly; even with the element of surprise Gavin wasn't at all sure he could wrestle it away from him. Unless…yes, that was the best plan. He got behind him. The knife was in a side sheath. Ever so gently, he took hold of the sheath with one hand and the hilt of the dagger with the other. It required a bit of force to pull it out but he managed it without alerting the terrorist. Then he moved to the other side, the knife now as invisible as he was. He waited for Rode's signal, there it was!

He slashed the back of the terrorist's hand with the dagger while grabbing the barrel of the gun with the other and yanking it upwards just in case it went off. Fortunately, the terrorist did not have his finger on the trigger; he screamed in shock and surprise and his hand opened reflexively upon being wounded. Gavin secured the gun with no problem and trotted away. He saw the streak of Rode dashing toward the other one. Too fast to see how he did it, the big gun was ripped out of the hands of the other one and zipped away. He was still armed with his knife, but even before he had a chance to draw it, Jay stepped out into view. In each hand he held a shimmering blue ball of crackling energy, and he threw them full-force. The terrorists screamed with pain as they were impacted in the chest and blue lightning attacked them all over. They went down in heaps, knocked unconscious by the pain but their muscles still spasming in reflex.

Rode had dashed to the side of the ship and had thrown the assault rifle overboard, and now came back. The handful of passengers were staring at the boys in open shock.

"Can one of you gentlemen tie these guys up or something?" Rode asked. "We need to go and try to get the others."

Jay was bending over the bigger one, retrieving his remaining knife. He stood up to find a matronly looking woman with white hair staring at him with obvious disapproval on her pinched face.

"You need to put some clothes on, little boy!" she snapped. "You're nearly naked!"

"Shut up, you old biddy!" he spat back at her. That was NOT the way to thank somebody who just saved your life!

"Be nice, Blue Balls," Rode said as he came over and took the knife from him. "She's scared and in shock and doesn't know what she's saying. We're the good guys, remember?"

The old lady gave Rode an even harder look. The bulge in his underpants was way more prominent than Jay's, and this seemed to set her off even more.

"You should talk, young man. What kind of an example are YOU setting! Go put some pants on over your pink panties!"

"Shut up, you old biddy!" Rode snarled. To emphasize his point, he took his snake-like penis out of the waistband of his underpants and shook it at her. Based on her shocked face, this offended her more than anything the terrorists had done.

"Pink Streak, we gotta move," Gavin reminded him. "The other one's coming this way soon, remember? Maybe we can ambush him."

Rode tucked his large member back into his underpants and left the flustered old bag where she was sitting. One of the crew had already come out of the theater and was moving to secure the unconscious terrorists.

"Hope Team Green got their goal," Gavin said to the others, and they moved down the hallway.

Down by the bomb, Team Green had made their plan. Lacking an easy way to disarm the terrorists, they were going to try a different tactic.

"Okay, we're agreed, then," Irving said. "Black Hole, you do your thing and then get Superbrat over by the bomb. You two get it out of here, and I'll keep those motherfuckers off your backs, okay?"

They nodded. The plan was solid; they just needed to execute it. Cole reached out his hand toward the various lights. Here in the lower decks of the ship, there was no natural light, so it made it easy. Rather than all at once, he made it last a few seconds; the lights suddenly dimmed, went lower and then went totally out. In the pitch black, the two terrorists started excitedly chattering with each other, but it wasn't English, so they didn't understand what was being said.

Cole held Leon's hand as he silently led him across the floor toward the bomb. Cole's eyes instantly adjusted; he could see everything just as if it was broad daylight. All the others were effectively blind. He saw one of the terrorists fumble with the bomb and then push some buttons. He didn't much like that, but there wasn't any way to stop it without alerting them to his presence. They got a bit of a break when the terrorist moved away from the bomb, feeling in the dark for the other one. Cole put Leon's hands on the bomb, and the little boy lifted it easily. He guided him in the right direction, and soon the bomb was moving away. Cole opened the doors, and Leon carried it right out into the hallway. Rather than try to make it up all those stairs, Cole led him toward the closest set of elevators. He had noticed the digital display on the side of the bomb. It was now rather ominously counting down, and indicated a little over four minutes. The terrorist must have armed it when the lights went out, probably planning to stop it if all was well, but certainly Cole had no idea of the code to do so.

Irving was hiding back by the engine room. With Cole's light-sucking influence gone, very shortly the bulbs flickered back to life. The two bearded men instantly noticed that their bomb was gone.

Had they gone in the wrong direction, Irving was prepared to let them go on a wild goose chase. Unfortunately, they started in the direction the other boys had gone, still shouting "Allah Akbar!"

"Snackbar this!" Irving said under his breath as he reached out to the nearest water pipes. He summoned the water and burst the pipes with ease, directing twin sprays at the men with the force of a firehose. They were knocked down, and one of their guns went flying across the floor. Irving grabbed it and headed in the other direction, making sure they saw him. He could easily hold them off, and this would keep them from catching up to Cole and Leon.

Meanwhile, Gavin, Rode, and Jay were heading carefully toward the bridge. They kept expecting to run into the ringleader, but he never showed. Rode was clearly worried that they had passed him.

"Let me go and check things out," he said as they approached the bridge. He turned fully invisible and slipped through the bulkhead. All three were there, chattering away in alarm. The conversation was a mix of English and foreign so Gavin only had a partial idea of what was going on. It seemed that having been unable to raise the team by the theater, the ringleader had returned to the others to take stock of what was going on. The bridge had cameras that could cover much of the ship. One of the terrorists was asking the captain in English to show them what was going on by the theater. The Captain was saying that they only had a camera inside the theater, not right on the outside, but the terrorist didn't seem to believe that. And the ringleader was on his hand-held talking to someone else – Gavin guessed it must be the other group, who were reporting something gone very wrong. Irving's team must have managed to swipe the bomb! But all this was going bad really fast; he needed to talk to Rode and let him know what was going on.

Cole watched the floor numbers on the elevator display creep by. The countdown on the bomb seemed to be moving much faster. This had to be the slowest damn elevator he'd even been on in his entire life! And there were lots of floors to pass before they reached one that opened to the deck, too. Come on, he thought frantically to himself, Come ON!!! At this rate, the thing was likely to go off while they were still ascending.

At last the elevator door pinged open, and Cole led Leon out. He hadn't told the smaller boy about the countdown; he was liable to freak out, and that would be the worst possible thing. There was now just about a minute and a half left: no time to waste! He saw a door to the outside deck and opened it for Leon. By the time he'd gotten it to the edge of the railing, it was counting down just over a minute.

"I'll take it from here, Superbrat," he said in a burst. Go find Pink Streak and the others. I'll catch up to you, soon!"

Not waiting for Leon's response, he de-graved the bomb and took it from him. Then he jumped up onto the railing and over the side. He gave it a bit of grav back until they both fell into the sea. This thing needed to sink and fast! Cole held it and gave it a full-on blast of mega-grav, increasing its weight to ten times usual. It sank like it was rocket-propelled. The mega-grav would wear off in a few seconds without him there to hold it, but that shouldn't matter. He trod water for about thirty seconds before he saw a bright flash deep beneath him. Boom, the bomb was gone and no further threat! Cole degraved himself and started to crawl up the side of the ship, his black underpants soaking wet.

Irving led his two pursuers on a merry chase. Mostly he minimized what he did with his power; he didn't want them to know all his tricks. A bit of water here and there to make them slip, the occasional burst that could be a fire hose. Gradually he led them up and up. When he reached the 14th deck, he ran out to the open – would they follow him? He hid behind a bar and waited for a moment. Yes, there they came, one with his gun in hand and the other with a knife drawn. Just as he hoped, they were running towards the pool area.

"Snackbar!" he shouted, jumping up and holding out his arms. "Snackbar! Snackbar!"

The two terrorists turned towards him and did not see the water rising out of the pool. It hit them from behind full-force, and drove them to the edge of the railing. One went over instantly, screaming as he fell. The other managed to grab the railing even as he dropped his gun. Irving ran over to him and stared down at him. He lifted up his foot and stomped on his fingers hard, saying, "I'm a Jew! Israel! Piss on the Prophet Muhammad!" with each stomp. The bearded man looked at him with hate-filled eyes before falling, bouncing off the side of the ship as he fell.

The first man was clearly in trouble. Irving could tell he couldn't swim. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he found a life preserver and threw it overboard. The drowning man grasped it for dear life. The other seemed to have broken his arm in the fall, but made his way over to it, and they both clung to it. Irving concentrated and formed a current underneath them, moving them several hundred yards away from the ship. They'd be safe there, and he could go find the others.

Gavin had reported back to Rode and Jay, and they were discussing plans for rushing the remaining three terrorists. "I can get in there invisible and disarm one of them," he was saying. "But they're way too alert to be surprised like the first ones. What about the other two?"

"Let's see if we can get reinforcements, Rode said. "Team Green, report. Any of you free to come to the bridge to deal with three unfriendlies?"

"AquaJew here," came Irving's voice. "Just put two in the drink. Be there in five."

"Black Hole on the move. Coming up the side and soaking wet. Firecracker safely extinguished. Be a while before I can get there, though."

"Okay, over," Rode said and then moved his mic away from his mouth. "Seagull, give us an update from inside. If the bomb crew is out of commission, they must be really freaking out in there."

Gavin phased back through the wall. The ringleader was frantically barking into his radio trying in vain to raise somebody. The other two were standing with guns drawn, aimed at the crew. The leader threw down his radio in disgust and was now screaming in English into the ship's radio, threatening that he'd kill the entire bridge crew if the anything had happened to his men. From the sound of it, the people on the other side of his communications were totally perplexed and denying that any forces had been sent against them, which only made the terrorist angrier. Gavin left to carry the news to Rode and the others, carefully noting where the men were positioned. Leon had joined them when he got back, his little body wet with perspiration. Gavin reported, and Rode closed his eyes for a second.

Gavin wetted his finger from Leon's sweaty body and drew a very quick and rough sketch on a table, showing the shape of the room and the location of the three.

"Okay, look. You go back into the room. When you hear me say 'Now!' over the com, do what you can to take away his gun. Superbrat is going to smash down the door and hopefully, that will take out the one next to it. Just as he does that, I'm going to run through full-out and tackle the leader. Blue Balls is going to come in behind and do his thing. We can't wait for AquaJew and Black Hole. Ready? Then go!"

Gavin re-entered the bridge. The first thing he did was make sure nobody had moved. One had, but it was his target so it didn't matter. He crept up behind the guy. He wished he'd kept the knife from the first terrorist, but it had had blood on the blade and he'd thrown it overboard in disgust. The man was gripping the pistol tightly; it would not be easy to yank away. He saw a metal rod about two feet long, and picked it up so it disappeared with the rest of him. He took the best position he could and waited.

"NOW!" he heard Rode say. He swung the bar upwards as hard as he could. It hit the terrorist in his arm, and it jerked up, his gun firing at the same time. Before either of the others could even react, the door blew in, smashing into the one by it as a small boy in orange underpants drove both into the ground. The pink streak shot into the room and knocked the leader flying against the helm, stunning him and causing the gun to fly out of his hand.

Gavin's target was still armed, though. Gavin had become visible and hit him again, this time in the back, but he would not let go of his weapon, and it discharged again, this time ricocheting off one of the walls.

But now the crew was moving; a swarm of them came to Gavin's aid, overcoming the terrorist and driving him to the ground. Jay had entered the room, and shocked the shit out of the one Leon had knocked down. The stunned leader had gotten back to his feet, looking around in vain for his gun, which the Captain had retrieved. He was about to speak when Leon rushed over to him.

He punched him twice, full force. Once in the nose and one an uppercut to the crotch. The terrorist's nose exploded in a fountain of blood, and he fell unconscious to the deck.

"But it's a DISNEY cruise!" Leon said, tears suddenly coming down his face. "It's supposed to be about FUN! Not about FUCKING TERRORISTS! I hope I KILLED him!" Then he started to sob, his body wracked with raw emotion.

"Hey, Squirt, come on, it's all right," Rode went and held him in a tight embrace. Gavin and Jay flanked the brothers, while the captain and crew stared dumbfounded at them; four boys in their underpants who had just rescued them. Five as Irving ran up and joined them.

"Captain, the ship is yours," Rode said as Leon got somewhat under control. "Your crew has charge of the two who were by the theater."

"Gone," Cole said as he walked up. His hair and underpants were still dripping wet. "Over the side. Exploded."

The ship's medic was examining the fallen terrorist leader. In addition to his smashed nose, there was a growing bloodstain on his crotch, and this was there the doctor had directed his attention.

"Captain, this man's testicles are completely smashed and pulverized. Splattered! I mean, that little boy destroyed them, and I think his pelvis is broken, too. With one punch!"

"We're the Underpants Boys!" Rode said. "And we have to get home before bedtime. See you all later."

Even before he could finish, the boys were moving. Cole threw a patch of darkness around the door; it would dissipate in thirty seconds, but that was all the time they needed. On the open deck Cole took the still crying Leon from Rode and held him tightly.

"See you on shore," Irving said as he executed a graceful dive into the ocean. Jay leaped into the sky and followed above. Gavin reached under Cole's arms and launched upward as well.

"All away!" he said to Rode as the older boy nodded and then ran full speed down the deck and then jumped clear of the boat. He hit the water and then ran off, leaving the others in his wake. Gavin saw the two terrorists who were in the water still clinging to their life preserver. He flew low to check on them, making sure that his party was obscured, but Irving had already resurfaced near them.

"Jew!" he shouted at them. "A Jew beat you! A Jewish boy! I piss on you and your prophet! Say hello to my friend!"

Gavin saw a shadow rising under the water and then a large dorsal fin broke the surface and started to circle the two men. Irving gave a high-pitched boyish laugh of delight and then swam off, leaving the terrorists to begin loudly praying for deliverance from the shark. Gavin knew enough about Irving's powers to know that he'd have clearly instructed the shark just to circle and not bite, but the men wouldn't know that. He very much appreciated Irvin's wicked sense of humor in this case, and continued on to the shore. He wouldn't tell Rode about this; he would object and fuss Irving about it. Certainly, Leon wouldn't tattle, and Cole could be counted on to be closed-mouthed, too.

Everybody but Irving was there when Gavin landed at the van. The news on the radio was a confused babble – unconfirmed reports of the terrorists being subdued, along with denials from government forces that they had anything to do with it. The president was silent, and some pundits were making derisive comments about his lack of leadership in the crisis, while others were speculating that he'd sent in some ultra-secret force and should be praised.

"Let's get ready to go," Rode said. "I don't want anybody seeing us, now. Take your positions so we can lift off the moment Irving shows up."

Cole got behind the wheel and everybody else piled in. Rode sat in back and Leon rested his head down in his big brother's lap, still crying a bit. "I'm sorry, Ro'," he sniffled. "If you need to spank me, it's okay."

"Hush, Leon, it's fine," Rode said while stroking his little brother's bare back. "I understand, and we were all charged up. I'm not going to punish you because you lost control of your emotions in the heat of the moment. You're a good boy and you did a really good job today. I'm proud of you."

"He deserved it, didn't he, Ro'? The Bad Guy? I didn't kill him, I just hurt him and he deserved it, didn't he?"

"Yes, Leon, he deserved it. I'm not sorry you did it, and he'll remember us for the rest of his life. Now just relax and be still for a while, okay? You'll feel better. And soon we'll be back at headquarters."

"Here comes Irv… I mean AquaJew," Jay said from the side of the van. Irving approaching the van, trotting gingerly in bare feet.

"Flamer, reach in back and get his towel," Rode said. "As soon as he's in, we're going."

Fox held Irving's towel out for him. He wrapped it around himself as he clambered in.

"Seagull flew us right here," Cole said. "Anyway, it's not like you had to run over rock or anything. Toughen up, tenderfoot. Degraving now."

Without Leon to give the van a starting push, Gavin and Jay had to put more effort into breaking the inertia and getting it airborne, but they managed. Just then they saw a car approaching, and Gavin hurriedly obscured everything. The driver probably had seen them but would think he had hallucinated when they vanished.

"Turn the radio off," Rode said. "They won't figure anything out for a couple of hours, and I'm tired of hearing those stupid news people. We can watch the evening news for a recap and see what they have to say then."

"It's our biggest case by far," Porf said. "You know that means we'll be the big story. All our other jobs have been small local ones, and you know the police chief never gives us any credit."

"It's not like we want credit," Rode said. "Or to be the big story. But, yeah, six boys in underpants with super-powers; somebody is going to put two and two together and see what they can find out about us. The whole bridge crew saw us, plus a few of the passengers by the theater."

"Shutting up, boss," Gavin said with a grin. He knew he'd planted the seed, anyway. Sure enough, it bore fruit.

"Rode took out his dick and shook it as this nasty old bitch," Jay said from the other side.

Rode sighed. "It was in the heat of the moment, Leon. You can understand that, I know. And she was really rude to us just after we saved lives, so yeah, it made me angry. That was just my gut reaction."

"Bet she never saw one that big on a boy before!" Boyd said, playfully clapping Rode on his shoulder.

"Bet she never saw one that big on ANYBODY before!" Fox chimed in. "Our fearless leader is packing one serious weapon."

"And I think I just decided who I'm going to use it on later," Rode said, trying to glare at the red-headed boy but not preventing a smile from breaking through.

"Both," Rode laughed. Leon still had his head in his brother's lap, but now he had his hand there as well.

"All right, come on, guys. We gotta wait 'till we get back to headquarters, okay? Then we can have as much fun as we want."

The boys went silent on Rode's command. But their eyes were darting back and forth to each other. With the adrenaline receding from their bodies, the burning sex drive was the inevitable result. It had been this way ever since The Incident. Gavin locked eyes with Boyd, who was sitting by the window on his side of the van.

"Sure," Boyd whispered back. "But you suck me first, okay? Then I'll do anything you want."

"Deal!" Gavin grinned, and he felt his boy-sized penis stiffen in his white briefs. He thought about all the things he could do with Boyd, and which he'd most like to do. He couldn't wait until they got back to headquarters!

At last, he saw their clearing approach, and he and Jay brought the van down with a light bump. "Degrav off," Cole said as he took his hands off the wheel. All of the boys were moving with quiet urgency, and nobody could help but notice that they were all sporting hard-ons in their underpants. Some, like Leon's, were small and just barely making a pup tent. Then you had Rode, whose thick member was nearly bursting out of his waistband. They quickly threw the camouflage tarp over the van and weighed it down with rocks.

Just by the tree that headquarters was nestled in, a small brook ran. There was one spot where it widened into a pond that was five feet deep in the middle and wide enough to accommodate all of them with room to splash and play around before the water slowly drained out of the other side. The running water kept it clear and fresh, and it was the perfect place to wash off. All nine boys ran and splashed into the pond with shouts of glee. The water was a bit chilly, but it didn't lessen a single one of the boyish erections. Leon cuddled up against his big brother.

"Can I be with you and Fox?" he asked. There was an uncharacteristic note of need in his voice.

"Sure, Leon. We'll both take care of you, okay?" Leon rested his head on Rode's shoulder and closed his eyes in contentment. Fox came up on the other side and snuggled him between them.

Boyd moved over to Gavin and kissed him on the lips. Not all the boys were crazy about it, but Gavin loved to be kissed, and Boyd was one of the best at it. He opened his mouth and let the other boy's tongue inside.

"Me too," Gavin said, squeezing Boyd's stiff penis through his wet yellow briefs. He couldn't wait to have it in his mouth. He looked around. Cole and Jay were already on their way – Jay flying, while Cole had degraved and jumped up. Rode had Leon on his back and was climbing up the ladder, simply to prove that he could, Gavin figured, while Fox was climbing the rope. Porf and Irving would undoubtedly be right behind. Gavin wrapped his arms tightly around Boyd's chest, and lifted him off the ground.

"Don't drop me!" Boyd said, startled. He wasn't used to Gavin carrying anybody without them being degraved, but Gavin was strong enough to carry him a short distance. Outside of Leon and Jay, Boyd was the smallest of the bunch. And Gavin didn't feel like waiting for the others to climb; he wanted Boyd in one of the beds.

He flew over the railing and deposited Boyd on the porch. "Warn me next time, dude," Boyd said as they went inside.

They grabbed a towel and quickly dried off. Gavin saw that Cole and Jay were already naked and that his little brother was about to suck Cole off. He reached for Boyd's underpants and pulled the waistband out, peeking at the bald erection inside.

"My turn," Boyd said, pulling Gavin's briefs out as well, and eagerly looking at the smooth member jutting proudly out from his body.

"Let's get naked, okay?" Gavin said. Boyd nodded, and they each pushed their underpants down their thighs and let them fall in a damp heap on the floor. They looked excitedly at each other as their naked penises waggled in freedom. Gavin went over to the bunks and climbed into a top one. Boyd pulled himself up behind.

"How come a top one?" he asked. The boys enjoyed sleeping in them, but they rarely had sex in the upper bunks.

"′Cause I was thinking… before I suck you, maybe you want me to lick you?" Gavin said with a hot red blush on his cheeks. This was something none of the boys had ever done, but he'd seen it on pornos, and something inside him wanted to try it. Both giving and getting, but he figured the only way anybody would ever do it to him was if he did it to them first. And the only time he'd ever consider it was right after getting out of the water. But it was a deeply embarrassing desire, and he was hoping that nobody else would notice him doing it up here. He was a little scared that Boyd would laugh at him, but if anybody would agree to try it, it would be him.

"You mean… lick me… there?" Boyd said with a little giggle. Now he blushed as well.

"Not if you don't want to. And I won't do you if you don't want me to, I mean…"

"Let's find out," Gavin said, still embarrassed as hell but now really excited, since Boyd was willing.

"Just lie down on the pillow. I'll do the rest. I watched a couple of guys do it last week."

By agreement, the boys were never supposed to tease anybody about anything that went on in one of their nine-penis orgies, but occasionally it happened anyway. Gavin didn't have the ability to shrug off that type of teasing and didn't want to be subjugated to it. Boyd lay face-down on the bed, head at one end resting on his crossed arms. His middle was propped up by the single pillow, and his round, dimpled bottom was lifted invitingly up in the air. He looked back at Gavin, drops of water still trapped in his short blond hair. Gavin gently pried his legs apart, noting his tight scrotum poking out. That's for later, Gavin thought to himself.

He lowered his head. Nobody would be able to see what he was doing now unless they made a special effort. Rode was the tallest, and he was busy stripping his little brother's orange underpants off. Gavin gently pried Boyd's butt cheeks apart and had a look at what was hidden between. Boyd giggled softly in a mix of nervousness, embarrassment at being so exposed, and anticipation. He stared at the pink, puckered entrance. Since The Incident, Gavin had put his finger and his penis up eight other boys' anuses more times than he could count. But he'd never licked one before. That was about to change.

Come on, he thought to himself. It's just as clean as the rest of him. Do it!

He closed his eyes and gave Boyd an experimental lick. Boyd hissed and giggled louder. Not finding any unpleasant taste, Gavin did it again, resulting in more giggles from Boyd.

Gavin resumed licking, now doing so with a bit more vigor. The taboo of the act added to his excitement, and he eagerly probed Boyd's bottom hole. He relaxed back there, and more of the puckered hole was exposed for him to lick. Once he realized that there would be no funny taste, he lost all inhibitions about doing it. It was clear that Boyd liked it. He was giggling and purring and humping the pillow.

Gavin did it about five minutes before lifting his head and stopping. Boyd rolled onto his back and then pulled him up so they were lying on top of each other. Their hard penises rubbed together, and Boyd pulled him down and kissed him long and hard. The two of them rubbed frantically together, and Gavin couldn't help it; he felt a surge of feeling, and his boy erection was pulsing in orgasm. Boyd kissed him the whole time he was orgasming, and that just make the feelings stronger. Boyd knew he had cum, and his blue eyes were dancing with amusement.

"Lie down like I was," Boyd whispered into his ear. "I want to do it to you now."

The two boys traded places. Gavin took advantage to scope the action down below. Rode was sucking his little brother's penis, while Fox had entered him from behind. Leon was clearly enjoying being pleasured by two boys at once. Irving was on his back and Porf was hungrily sucking his cock. Jay was on his hands and knees, and Cole was relentlessly fucking him. Gavin could hear the slapping sound of his little brother being ass-banged, and that made his dick fully hard again.

He turned over so his middle was on the pillow, and he felt Boyd parting his legs. It was funny; in a way, he was even more nervous to have this done to him than he had been to do it. He was very aware that his boy hole was exposed and that Boyd was now looking right at it; studying it. It was as naked as he'd ever felt.

He felt Boyd's hot breath on him, and he shivered slightly. He tightened his arms around the other pillow and closed his eyes. His boy erection shoved into the middle pillow. Then there was the feeling of a wet tongue on his anus. He licked his lips – Boyd was actually licking his butthole! It took a minute to get used to the sensation, but once he got over it, he realized that he loved it. All of the nerve endings packed into his boy entrance were jangling with sensation, and his penis was aching with desire. He was unable to hold back the moans and groans of pleasure. He let Boyd do it for several minutes before he could take it no longer. He raised his arm and signaled for Boyd to bring his head up by his. He turned his head sideways and kissed the other boy; not in the least bit concerned that those lips had just been on his asshole seconds before.

"You got it, buddy," Boyd said. He reached for one of the bottles of lube that they had stashed around the hideout. Gavin had gone invisible and taken them from a drugstore one day, leaving behind the money on the shelf. He squirted some in his hand and coated his turgid penis with it. Then he inserted a slippery finger into Gavin's anus, coating and preparing the way. Then he lay on top of Gavin, front to back. Gavin felt the hard head of the other boy's penis poking at him. He spread his legs as wide as they would go and relaxed. Boyd wrapped one arm around him and then pushed on.

"Oooooooh, yeaaaaahhhh," Gavin said as Boyd's penis slid home. Boyd's penis wasn't particularly big, but like all the boys, Gavin was tight back there, and he certainly felt it. Boyd began to slowly pump him and nibble on the side of his neck. Then he reached around and took hold of Gavin's penis. There was still enough lube on Boyd's fingers to let him slide up and down the other boy's aching penis. Getting it from both sides was one of Gavin's favorite things. Because he'd already cum once, he could hold out for a while and enjoy the feeling of being fucked by Boyd while his member was stroked. His moaning got louder.

"Well, somebody's having a good time," he heard a voice say. He opened his eyes and saw Rode standing up and looking at the two of them in amusement. He smiled back; of course he liked getting fucked; all the boys did. He saw Leon walk over on his knees and wrap his lips around his big brother's hard cock.

He turned back toward Boyd and saw that his eyes were shut and he had a serious expression on his face. By that, he knew the other boy was close, and he started concentrating on the building feelings in his own body. A groan burst from his throat and he felt the wave cresting again. Boyd was slamming inside him hard. Then he gripped him tight, and Gavin could feel the penis inside him twitching. Gavin's butthole clamped down and he came for a second time, biting the pillow as he did so.

Boyd collapsed, lying prone on his body. Both of their breath was coming in gasps. Boyd's penis slipped out, and Gavin felt empty, while retaining the ghost feeling of being fucked. They wiggled so they were lying on their sides, front to front, and kissing again. Even though neither had a desire to cum again, they rubbed their penises together. Why not? It felt good! They heard the other boys still engaged in various sexual acts, but they were content to lie together; kissing, snuggling, giggling and murmuring sweet words.

Eventually, the room fell mostly silent. A TV was turned on, and CNN came on. "Once again, reports from the Disney Magic are not clear at this time," Anderson Cooper was saying. "The White House is denying that Navy Seals stormed the ship. We have received calls from several passengers on board with cell phones, claiming that they were rescued by a group of boys in their underpants. As unlikely as this sounds, we are only passing it on to you because we've had over a dozen reports claiming the same thing, including one from a ship's officer. We hope to soon have confirmation of the truth, whatever it is."

The TV was switched off. Gavin looked down and saw Rode had the remote in his hand.

"It's getting late, guys," he said. "We should probably think about getting dressed and heading home."

"Shut up, brat," Rode said. "Anyway, the snacks will be here for tomorrow. Hopefully, there won't be any crimes we have to deal with then."

"Yeah, I'm sure more people will know about us now. We're the only boy superheroes in the world, and you know some smart-ass reporter is going to try and do a story on us. Up to now, we've only gotten involved in small, local stuff. This was different."

The boys put on their clothes as they talked. Some were excited about their raised profile. Rode and Porf, in particular, seemed less pleased. Boyd asked why.

"There are supervillains out there too, guys," Rode said. "We've never had to fight one. But some of them; well, they might think boy superheroes are easier to beat than grown-up ones. Let's hope we didn't get the wrong type of attention."

With that, they all climbed down out of the treehouse. The shadows were long as they headed back to their bikes. They all lived close by, so it would only be a few minutes before they were home.

"So… since neither of us got to fuck… you wanna do it again after bedtime?" Jay giggled. "I do you and you do me?"

The cellphone footage was unfocused and shaky. Even so, in several cases, it could be freeze-framed. What it showed was unquestionably a trio of boys in underpants. The watcher licked his lips.

"So," he said with an unpleasant chuckle, "Central Florida has its own superhero team, does it? And boy-sized ones at that. Well, just cross MY path, you little brats. I'll be ready for you."

He hit a button, and a piece of paper with the boys' picture on it spat out of the printer.

"And The Spanker…" He gripped a wooden paddle with the words 'Board of Education' embossed on one side as he named himself. "…well, The Spanker knows JUST how to deal with little pests like you!"

I've had these characters in my head for a few years, and I finally decided to let them out to play. Partly it was inspired by how they always have women in fantasy art wearing chainmail bikinis, and I was thinking it was a shame they didn't depict boys in leather ones. I went the superhero route rather than medieval fantasy because there's really no logical reason why anybody, male or female, would sword-fight in briefs. By making their powers dependent on solar energy absorbed through the skin, this explains why they are dressed that way.Yes, there's an origin story – most comic books don't lay it out in issue one (and this is really a comic book story in text) but you can look for it in chapter six. Parts of it will be hinted at along the way. There will be supervillains, too – we'll be meeting some in the next chapter. It's also true that the boys are oversexed, but this is a result of their superpowers, and will be explained in the future. I'll be shifting narrators with each chapter, too, so we'll get to learn more about each boy.

For the most part, the names, colors, and superpowers all tie together. There's no need for the average reader to know that, but for anyone into etymology, it's a nice bonus. I hope you enjoyed the story if you got this far, and look forward to more.

With each episode, I'll do a little write-up on the character who is primarily featured as the narrator, and give you a little insight into how and why I came up with them. For this opening one, it's Gavin a.k.a. Seagull. Every team needs a joker/prankster, and he was the one I chose to fill that role.

With a team of nine, I also needed more than one who could fly. When I was looking up boy names that mean 'white', I came across Gavin, which means either 'white hawk' or 'white falcon' depending on what source you believe, so it then became obvious he should be one of the flying ones. I didn't want to make his superhero name Hawk or Falcon, though – there are DC characters with those names, and it just seemed too obvious. I thought about the seagulls from Finding Nemo who constantly go 'Mine! Mine!' and it occurred to me that Gavin would have found that really funny, so he named himself after them.

Because he's the 'white' boy, it seemed that he should get the invisibility power too, and I threw in the ability to obscure large objects and 'phase' through walls. He's also one of two sets of brothers, so I wasn't able to assign him a last name that meant 'white', as his little brother is Jay, the 'blue' boy, and that wouldn't fit for him. I considered something that suggested the sky (blue sky/white clouds) but then I remembered they both had 'bird' names, and hit upon the last name Fulton, which means Bird-catcher's town. I mean, I could have just given them the last name 'Byrd' or something, but that's just too clumsy and obvious.

The plot of this first episode was inspired by the hijacking of the Achille Lauro, a cruise ship that was taken over by Palestinian terrorists in 1985. They held the ship for three days on the high seas, and also murdered an elderly American Jewish passenger named Leon Klinghoffer, then threw his body overboard. Obviously, I've changed things a bit, but I think one can see the similarities. Leon punching the head baddie in the nuts was not meant to be a reference to Klinghoffer, just a random coincidence.

Chapter 02

Fox Russell sat in the antechamber to Hell studying his shoes. They were a pair of ordinary-looking black Sketchers, and the rest of his outfit was just as unremarkable. Blue jeans. A striped green polo shirt. The one thing that might be atypical for a 5th grader wasn't immediately visible: a bright red pair of Calvin Klein briefs. Most kids have nightmares about being in school wearing just their underwear. Fox wished he was. Because then he wouldn't be plain old Fox Russell, average ginger kid; he'd be The Flamer, super-powered member of The Underpants Boys – the youngest superhero group on the planet.

But it wasn't The Flamer who'd gotten busted for throwing food in the cafeteria, that had been Fox. He didn't think that the rest of the team would appreciate him stripping to his skivvies and burning the school down just to avoid getting chewed out by Principal Schlagar. Well, Gavin and Leon probably would, but nobody else. He'd just have to face the music. Instead of being a boy in his underwear, he had on a blue shirt with a geometric patterns of triangles inside squares, and an ordinary pair of jeans. Nothing special.

He had taken two cups from the water cooler, and was nervously pouring the water back and forth from one cup to the other. The receptionist tapped on the desk and called his name. Fox reluctantly got to his feet and trudged through the Gates of Doom.

Principal Schlagar was crouched in his swivel chair, his portly body spilling out over the sides. He was clutching a pen and making scratching sounds on a paper on his desk. He glared at Fox and silently indicated that he was to stand in front of the desk. There was no seat. Fox continued to look down – he had no wish to try and peek at what the bald-headed beast was writing. It was probably his kill list or something like that. Fox did not want to know how high up on it he was.

"So," the principal finally said after a few painful minutes of Fox standing silently, "Do you think food fights are funny, Mr. Russell?"

"Oh, really? Because according to this report on my desk, not only did you throw mashed potato across the cafeteria, you also laughed while doing so. Is that not true? Why did you laugh if you did not think it was funny?"

"You Don't Know. You… Don't… Know. There is nothing I hate more than improper use of the language, Mr. Russell. If you are going to offer up useless excuses, at least have the decency to do so in proper English!"

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir." Fox kept hoping the ground would swallow him up, but it remained frustratingly substantial.

"Do you know what I am sorry about, Mr. Russell? I am sorry that this county no longer allows corporal punishment in schools. A grave mistake, in my opinion. Rest assured, if that were not the case, I would see to it that you were soundly paddled for your misdeed. A task I would see to personally."

There was nothing Fox could think to say to that. He tried to keep his knees steady, and hoped that this would be over soon.

"However, I do not have that option. I do have the option of having you and the rest of the miscreants responsible for this despicable behavior come into school this Saturday to clean the cafeteria from top to bottom. And you will, Mr. Russell, you will. And you will not leave until the place is spotless and cleaned to MY satisfaction. And I will be keeping my eye on you, Mr. Russell. You had better keep your nose clean from now on. Or else. You are dismissed."

Fox managed to slink out of the principal's office. Cleaning the cafeteria wasn't so bad a punishment, really. At least there would be some of his other friends there, though none of the Underpants Boys had been involved in the altercation. Of course, Schlagar would be hovering over them the whole day like a corpulent vulture to make sure they had no fun or banter, but he'd been expecting days of detention instead. He made his way to his bike and unlocked it. The others would be at the treehouse by now, and he wanted to join them. He had a stop to make first, though.

About three blocks away from his house was the vacant lot where The Incident had happened. And right next to that was the house of Professor Bertrand. Fox leaned his bike against the garage and walked up to the door. There was no reason to knock; Professor Bertrand had motion detectors that would let him know that somebody was there the moment he entered the property. The door automatically opened on his approach, and he walked through, shutting it behind him.

"I'm in the lab, Fox," a voice called out. Fox knew the way well enough, and walked in. Professor Bertrand looked up from a computer screen and smiled in greeting.

The professor was in no way the stereotype of a mad professor. Well, other than the fact that he'd briefly worked as a professor and he did seem to be half cracked. But instead of flyaway white hair, there was a neatly combed jet-black coiffure. Rather than a rumpled white lab coat, he wore expensive designer clothes that showed off his well-muscled form – a product of the many hours he spent in his home gym where he claimed his best ideas occurred to him. Had the man any interest in the opposite sex, there would be women lined up around the block to date him.

"Now, let me see, let me see, here they are," Professor Bertrand said, pulling out various drawers until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a pair of fire-engine red briefs identical to the ones Fox had on under his jeans.

"Let's test these, shall we? Strip down and we'll see how they hold up." The professor took the new pair of briefs and dropped them in the corner of the lab that he'd reinforced with special metal walls for experiments like this. Fox stripped down to his underpants with no hesitation or embarrassment; the professor had seen him in them countless times. And out of them, for that matter.

"When you talked about some of your underpants getting singed at high heat," he was saying, "I had this idea for a new compound to treat them with. How it works is by…"

Fox tuned him out. None of the boys had any idea how Professor Bertrand's various inventions and ideas actually worked, they just knew that they did. They let him explain because it was polite and he clearly enjoyed doing it, but Fox thought even the average genius would have trouble keeping up with Professor Bertrand.

"Okay, Fox, okay, give it all you've got," he said when he was done with the tortured explanation. Fox wasn't fully charged, but he really didn't need to be. He held out his hands and concentrated. Two jets of flame erupted from his hands, and he directed them right at the underpants. The temperature in the room quickly rose, and Professor Bertrand touched a few buttons, sending bursts of cold out of the ventilation system to counteract it. Fox shot fire for close to thirty seconds before stopping. Then he went over and looked at the underpants. Not even a hint of burn showed on them.

"Put them on, Fox," Professor Bertrand said. "I'll treat the ones you are wearing tonight, and you can bring me the rest of them tomorrow."

Fox unabashedly changed his underpants and handed the ones he'd been wearing to the Professor. "They're probably a bit sweaty," he said. "Might want to wash 'em before handling 'em, first."

"I don't care about a bit of ball sweat, Fox, I don't care. If I did, I wouldn't be supervising a group of kids calling themselves The Underpants Boys, now would I? I will wash them first, but that's just because I need them to be as clean as possible for the compound to sink in."

He threw them like a ball, landing them in a basket on the other side of the room. "Good shot!" Fox said.

Sometimes when the professor asked questions like this, it seemed to the boys that he was just going through the motions and he wasn't really interested. Other times it seemed like he really was, and this was Fox's impression today, so he decided to answer honestly rather than the perfunctory 'All okay!' he would usually offer.

"Oh? Well, then you must tell me about it. Sit, sit. Let me get you a drink." He pulled out a chair on wheels for Fox to sit in, and then went and opened the lab fridge. It had double doors – on one side were various concoctions that he was working on. On the other side, he'd divided it into nine sections, each with a label bearing one of their names. And in each of these, he had the various drinks and snacks he'd identified as being each boy's favorites. It was both supremely touching and obsessively weird. Professor Bertrand could remember the formula for some rare chemical compound, but he couldn't remember that Fox liked grape soda and Snickers Bars?

The professor handed the boy one of each, and Fox grabbed a cup, popping open the soda and pouring it before taking a large swig and beginning his tale. He was honest about the behavior that had gotten him into trouble, but then found himself going further into depth with how he'd felt facing Principal Schlagar. He'd never have shared that with the other boys; he'd have felt the need to put on some bravado. When he was done, Professor Bertrand took off his glasses and started to idly clean them.

"Fox," he said, "I haven't met this man, but I've dealt with enough just like him. He was probably attracted to his position because he likes power and to control other people. I doubt he has any real interest in seeing young people learn things. But you are always going to run into people like that in the world. A big part of the reason I work alone and at home is because of one too many encounters with similar…"

"Yes, yes, assholes." he agreed. "But there is a skill to dealing with odious individuals like that, and one that is valuable for you to learn. I think you handled yourself quite well. There is no point challenging somebody when they have all the power. One just defuses the situation and does what's necessary to get out of it. And then the best track going forward is to make sure you do not wind up in the same situation again, yes?"

"Of course, the man is a bully and that should never be let go. I know when I was in similar situations, I found ways to get revenge. But the key to that revenge was to make sure I NEVER got caught or even suspected. You're a smart boy and you have allies. I suspect you might come up with a suitable response, yes?"

Fox smiled. Yes, it would feel good to get back at Principal Schlagar. He was sure he could get a couple of the other boys to help him out. And he'd have fun planning it, too.

"Run along now, Fox, run along. Come back tomorrow and I'll have the rest of your underpants ready."

"Mom and Dad are going out next Saturday night. Can I come over and spend the evening with you? You know, and… hang out?"

"I'd like that, Fox; let me just check my calendar." He looked at his computer screen and tapped a few buttons.

Given that Professor Bertrand never seemed to have any social engagements, Fox wasn't at all sure why he bothered to keep a calendar. Maybe he used it to keep track of experiments or something. Fox put his pants back on and left the house. Fox rode his bike to the trail that led to The Underpants Boys' treehouse. As he pulled up, he noticed two other bikes he didn't recognize. His red eyebrows lifted up inquisitively; not only had the boys all agreed that they couldn't have guests over, but these two were clearly girls' bikes. Was somebody spying on them?

Fox could be both fast and quick-witted when he was ready, so he trotted down the trail, looking for signs of any intruding girls. He heard movement ahead of him, and he slowed. Sure enough, he spotted two girls about his own age making their way stealthily down the path. He took out his phone and quickly punched a message into the boys' shared chat.

He followed that up with a quick ring and hang up to Rode's phone to make sure somebody would check the message. Then he resumed trailing the girls.

"I can't wait to see what your brother and his friends do out here all day," one of the girls tittered.

"I know! Like it's some big secret. They probably just sit around doing disgusting boy things," the other said.

Fox ran down the list of boys in his head. Which ones had sisters? Which ones had sisters this age? Porf had a couple of sisters a year or two younger than him, but this clearly wasn't one of them, as the girl with the brother had long blonde hair. Rode and Leon were the only kids in their family. Same for Gavin and Jay. Irving was an only child. Cole… yes, Cole had a sister who was a year older. Fox had never seen her because she went to a different school. Anytime Cole had mentioned her, it was in negative terms; clearly, they didn't get along. Fox thought it was a pity; his own sister was seventeen, but she had always been really sweet to him. Then again, he'd run into lots of bitchy middle-school girls in the last couple of years; if Cole's sister was like them, he could hardly blame him for not much caring for her. He stopped and sent another text.

The female duo and their silent shadow approached the treehouse. Fox could see that nobody was out on the porch. They must be inside, watching the girls through a spyhole.

"Can you believe that sign?" the other girl said. "'No Girls Allowed!' Can they be any more stupid?".

The two girls strode out into the clearing surrounding the tree and went toward the rope ladder. Fox hung back, not wanting to give himself away. Suddenly a window opened and Cole poked his head out.

"What do YOU want, Ursula?" he said. "This is a private club; can't you read the sign? Go away."

"I spoke to Uncle Brian and he said I could come by anytime I wanted," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "So I'm coming up, and I'm bringing a guest."

"He did NOT say that, you liar!" Leon said, angrily poking his head out next to Cole. "He built this for US and it's up to US who we let in."

"Don't call me a liar, you little brat!" Ursula yelled up to him. Rode pulled Leon back from the window and took his place.

"Ursula, c'mon, this is our special place, okay? You wouldn't like hanging out with us up here, and we don't intrude when you go off to do the things you like. We're all coming over to your house on Sunday, right? We can hang out then if you like."

Rode's tone had been calm and reasonable, but the little bitch was clearly having none of it.

Ursula was halfway up the rope ladder and her friend was right behind her when Cole marched out onto the porch. He was holding a super-soaker, and he pointed it right down at Ursula. He gave her no further warning; he simply started shooting.

Ursula let out a piercing, girlish shriek as jets of water started to soak her head. She screamed for Cole to stop, but he kept on determinedly shooting, soaking the friend as well. Both girls had abandoned the climb and were now retreating back down the ladder, but Cole kept up the pressure. He didn't stop shooting until they were off the ladder and running away.

"It'll be filled with piss next time! Stay away from our fort!" Cole yelled back.

Fox moved off the path, approaching the treehouse through the bush; he had no desire to encounter the two wet and furious girls. They went down the path, Ursula screaming threats the whole way. Cole was still out on the porch on guard when Fox ascended to the top.

"Thank for the warning," Cole said. Clearly, he wasn't very happy about his sibling's attempted intrusion.

"No, but we were sitting around in our underpants. Some of us were out on the porch, too. That was the last thing we needed anybody seeing. And that little bitch Edna has a big fat mouth."

"Yeah, I can't stand her. When she comes over, I leave the house and go over to Leon and Rode's place."

"Hey, guys, meeting time," Rode said to them from the open door. Fox and Cole went inside. Most of the other boys were back in their underwear, and the rest were stripping. Fox joined them and sat down on one of the bunk beds next to Irving. Rode had positioned one of the chairs so he was facing everybody.

"Okay, that was a bit of a close call," he said. "We were lucky that Fox was coming late today and was able to warn us. But that might not happen next time. I wouldn't be shocked if Ursula and Edna try to come back; if not today, some other day, just to spy on us. Any ideas?"

"We need curtains on the windows," Irving said. "And any time we're in our underpants or, you know, naked, they need to be closed."

"And they need to be decent curtains, too, not some sheer things that you can see through.," Gavin said.

"I can install curtain rods," Rode said. "I've seen Dad do it before, it's pretty easy."

"If we buy the cloth, I can get my sister to sew some curtains for us," Fox said. "She'd do that for me, and we only need three sets. The windows aren't very big, either."

"What about the porch?" Jay said. "I hate that we can't be out there in our underpants. That sucks!"

"I have an idea about that," Porf said. "What if we got some of that plastic lattice stuff? People would be looking up, so as long as they can't see between the railings, they can only see us from the waist up at best. If we nail lattice over the bars, no one will be able to tell we don't have pants on. If somebody did show up, we'd just go inside and get dressed, and they'd never be the wiser."

"Why can't we put some sort of laser beam over the path?" Leon said. "So, like, if somebody is coming it makes a noise in here? Don't security systems have that sort of stuff?"

"It's not a bad idea, Leon," Rode said gently. "But we'd have to run power out to it, and that sort of thing can also be set off by falling leaves. It's really not meant for outdoors. Good idea, though."

"Then everyone in school will say we're all fags," Rode said. "I don't want that, and nor do any of you."

"No." Porf's voice was firm. "Fags are sissies. We aren't sissies; not even you, Gavin."

"And we'll kick the ass of anybody who calls us that," Porf concluded. "But Rode is right; we don't need the hassle. So we take precautions, and it's all good."

"Are you gonna be in trouble, Cole?" Boyd asked. "Because I'm okay with telling a lie if it'll get you out of trouble."

"No, or at least not much. Mom'll be mad just ′cause she doesn't like us fighting. Dad will think it's funny. I'll just have to keep my room locked for the next week or so until she finds something else to be mad about."

"No, it really wouldn't," Rode said. "That would just make her think she had the right to come up here anytime she wanted without asking. I love my cousin, but give her an inch and she'll take a mile. Anyway, enough about that. I brought the new Call of Duty game – who all wants to play?"

Most of the boys eagerly called out their interest, but Fox wasn't that into the idea of playing a videogame at that point. He was a bit tired out by the stress of the last few hours, so he climbed up onto the top bunk to lie down. He lay on his tummy, occasionally poking his head over the edge of the bunk to watch the other boys clustered around the TV, lying on various cushions, mats, and beanbag chairs.

He noticed that Cole had degraved and was floating up. Cole had a 'thing' about lying on the ceiling; he had a small pocket fan powered by an AA battery which he'd slip into the waistband of his black briefs, and it would be enough to keep him pinned up there. Cole was looking down at the action on the TV, but when he flicked his eyes over towards Fox, the red-headed boy made a show of slipping over to one side of the bed, inviting Cole to join him if he was so inclined. At first, Cole just looked back down at the TV, but then Fox noticed that the boyish bulge in his jet-black underpants seemed to be slightly bigger. Cole reached down and adjusted his little fan, and it gradually blew him across the ceiling towards the top bunk bed. Fox turned on his side and waited for Cole to lower himself down next to him. When he did, he re-graved and turned the pocket fan off.

"Oh, I don't know. Call of Dickey?" Fox giggled at the exceptionally lame pun. Fortunately, Cole giggled as well.

Cole put his hands in the waistband of his black briefs and eased them down. Fox maneuvered on the bed so he was facing it, and started to stroke Cole's bare belly. Cole softly purred as the other boy's hands got closer to their target. The hairless erection throbbed and twitched in anticipation.

Fox let his tongue dart out and touch the end of Cole's penis, inspiring a low moan. Then he started to lick the underside up and down. With one hand, he cupped his friend's scrotum, very carefully massaging the tender eggs, while with the other, he directed the rock-hard member into his mouth.

"Ooooohhhh, yeeeahhhhh…" Cole groaned. Fox used his tongue to trace circles under his exposed cockhead, and then sucked it all the way down to the base. He was only vaguely aware of the sounds of cyber gunfire on the TV, and the encouraging shouts of the other boys to whoever had the controls. He focused his eyes on Cole's face; mouth contorted into a grimace of pleasure, and eyelids tightly closed. Considering that Fox had never had a penis in his mouth before The Incident, he had grown quite skilled at providing the other boys with oral pleasure. Cole's hands were scrunching up the bedsheets and his toes were clenching.

Fox increased the speed he was sucking the stiff prick, and started unleashing some of his favorite tricks and moves. One finger was pressing on the area underneath Cole's scrotum and halfway to his anus. His tongue was rasping its way up and down the other boy's tent pole, and his remaining hand was stroking the bald skin just above its base. Cole sucked in his breath and his whole body stiffened as he thrust forward. Fox moved his hand from the front to squeezing Cole's clenched buttocks. He could feel the pulsing penis as the other boy dry-fired into his mouth. After about twenty seconds, Cole's body started to relax, and he let the penis go.

Fox's eyes just twinkled. He loved making the other boys feel good. And he wasn't at all shy about asking for his turn, either.

"Hey, guys, check this out!" he heard Irving shout from the floor. Fox and Cole looked over the edge of the bed. The others had paused the game and were looking at Irving, who was holding up his tablet.

"Look at these tweets," he said. "Armoured car overturned on the corner of 2nd and Smathers Street. Unknown persons attempting to break in."

"That's very near us," Rode said, jumping up. "Underpants Boys, let's make this brief!"

"Oh, God, that was even worse than usual," Prof groaned as he threw open the trapdoor and the boys started piling out. "Please stop trying to come up with a battle cry, Rode, you're killing me!"

Inside a minute, the boys had uncovered their van, and it was degraved and being pushed up into the sky.

"Yeah, that's right there by the BlackDonalds. We should be there in about three minutes," Gavin said.

"Drop the car one block over. Seagull, you go invisible and fly up and over and tell us what you see. We'll get as close as we can and see what we can do based on what you tell us."

Gavin's power kept the car from being seen as they descended and dropped it in the parking lot of the CVS Pharmacy. The boys piled out and Gavin flew up into the sky. He vanished before their eyes; momentarily leaving only his white briefs visible before they disappeared as well. Fox soon heard his voice in his earpiece.

"Yeah, armored car on its side. Two police cars; one blocking 2nd and the other blocking Smathers on the opposite side to us. A few weird-looking people around the armored car; don't see anybody in the front seat. Cops have their guns out but nobody's shooting and… HOLY FUCK!"

Fox heard the explosion both through the earpiece and through his unobstructed ear. He saw smoke billowing down 2nd Avenue.

"They just blew the FUCK out of the top of the van! I see some money flying around and a couple of them are bringing out sacks… I guess sacks of money. I don't know what's wrong with the cops; one of them is actually puking his guts out. Was that a stink bomb? I don't smell anything other than… you know, explosion smell. The other one has fallen on his ass. Happened after the explosion, but I don't think that's what knocked him over, it's like he slipped."

Rode had already signaled with his hand, and the boys were following him as he trotted up the street. He could have made it in half a second, of course, but he was just moving at the same speed as the rest of them could run. He was expecting to see an assortment of thugs around the fallen armored car but instead, it was a curious collection of middle-aged people. There was a tall, beefy masked man in a black suit, a crone with a pinched face wearing a pair of granny-glasses on a chain, a man in janitor's coveralls, a fat woman with a severe face wearing an apron and a hairnet. Oh, and most inexplicably, a nun. A nun fully dressed in a robe and a habit. With a sack of loot over her shoulder.

The purple-clad boy went over to the side of the road and scampered up a fire escape. As soon as Porf had some height, he started squirting the sacks. In moments, they were covered with slippery slime, and the robbers were unable to hold onto them.

"Superbrat, come with me," Rode said. "Let's stand that thing upright so they can't get any more out!" Leon jumped on his brother's back, and in the blink of an eye, they were next to the armored car, and Leon was pushing it up off of its side. Jay was charging the bandits, blue balls in each hand, ready to unleash them.

"Stop!" the woman in the glasses shouted. She glared at Jay and suddenly he froze in place. His energy balls crackled and then dissipated.

"Good job, Lady Silence!" the one in the suit said. "Let's teach these naughty brats a lesson they won't soon forget. Countess Cafeteria, stop the little one!"

The woman in the apron and hairnet pointed a fat finger at Leon. "Bon Appétit, dearie!" she cackled.

"Oh God, my stomach!" Leon cried. He was about to let go of the armored car, but Rode came to his rescue, giving it the final push it needed to stand upright, bouncing on its flattened tires. Leon was doubled over, groaning in distress.

The nun had moved over and was standing under where Porf was perched. "I'd stop that if I were you," she said.

"So says Sister No-Mercy, the Ninja Nun!" she announced, and moving faster than Fox would have imagined possible, she grabbed hold of the bottom of the fire escape, somersaulted through the air, and kicked Porf squarely in the chin with one of her sensible shoes. He went down, and she careered back down onto the street, robes flying and hands poised for combat.

"Hey! Brat in the red underpants! Do you want to get REALLY red?" Fox turned to see the masked man in the suit pointing at him. He held up his hands, ready to defend against any attack, but he was not expecting it to come from the rear.

"OOOWWWWW!" There was a sudden and brutally unexpected painful smack on his bottom. Before he had a chance to react, it came again, a burst of pain that made his knees weak, "OOOWWWWWWWW!!"

"Face the wrath of The Spanker and my Faculty of Fear!" the masked man shouted. "Enjoy the taste of the Paddle of Pain!"

Fox ran, trying to get away from the horrible, spanking paddle, but it followed him, striking his buttocks every two seconds. He found a car with an unlocked door and threw himself inside, his sore bottom landing painfully on the hot leather seat.

The flying paddle wasted no time, moving on from him and starting to land blows on the plump behind covered by Irving's green briefs. Now that he could think, Fox was able to strike back. "You like a hot seat, do you?" he said under his breath as he concentrated on the back of the man's jacket. Soon it was smoldering, and then suddenly burst into flame.

"AAAAGGGHHHH!" The Spanker shouted, beating out the flames with his hands. Fox scampered out of the car, going towards Rode and Leon, who was clearly still in gastronomic distress.

"Do you need to throw up?" Rode was asking Leon in a frantic voice. "Just upchuck if you can; you'll feel better."

"No. No, I got bad cramps, Ro. It hurts!" Fox heard Leon's tummy make a dangerous rumble, and then there was an extremely loud fart. It started with the sound of tearing cloth, and then quickly devolved into a wet and sputtery long blast. The seat of his orange briefs rapidly browned, and an evil smell filled Fox's nose. Leon burst into tears of shame.

"You bitch!" Rode shouted. All Fox saw was the pink streak as he dashed over to Countess Cafeteria and punched her in the fat tank, winding her and causing her to double over.

Fox heard the wail of approaching police cars. Even under the mask, he could sense The Spanker's look of fury at being deprived of his prize. The man in the coveralls was opening a manhole cover, and jumped down. The old lady with the glasses – Lady Silence – was next. The Spanker tried to pick up one of the slippery sacks, but Irving knocked it out of his hands with a blast of water from a nearby fire hydrant.

"This isn't over," the portly villain threatened as he jumped after his crew. "Your little asses are going to be SO sorry when I get through with you!"

Rode went back over to where Leon and Fox were. Poor Leon had one hand on a utility pole, trying to stand upright. Diarrhea was leaking down his legs.

"Stop calling me by my name, Superbrat," Rode warned. "Come, I'm gonna fix it. Can you walk? How is your stomach?"

"Hold my hand. AquaJew's going to wash you off, okay?" Fox watched as Leon gingerly marched toward Irving, leaving little globs of poop in his wake. He turned to see Porforio climbing down, one hand on his jaw.

"Madre de Dios!" he said. "I just got my ass kicked by a nun! How am I supposed to hit a Sister?"

"Si, Flamer, but I don't think I'm gonna want to eat supper tonight. She nearly dislocated my jaw! Oh, and shit, here comes our favorite police officer."

Down the street strode Captain Ryba Van Dyke, gun drawn in one hand and the sun reflecting off her cropped brown hair.

"You little brats, again?" she growled. "I told you to keep away from crime scenes! That was an order. I should arrest you for failure to comply."

"We just saved all that money from being stolen," Porfirio pointed out in an angry, defensive tone. "It would have all been gone if we hadn't come!"

"Which one," Gavin asked as he flew down. "The one puking his guts out in the gutter or the one face down on the ground?"

"Watch it, you little smartass," Captain Van Dyke threatened. "If I lock you up, you'll have to take those masks off for a mugshot, and your parents will be called!"

"We're leaving now and you can't stop us," Porforio told her. "And you're welcome. Come on Flamer, Seagull. Black Hole, pick up Blue Balls if he's still frozen. Where is Battery Boy?"

"Here I am," Boyd said as he walked up in his yellow underpants. "I just was trying to see if I could light up the sewers where they went, but there's more than one tunnel. I don't want to go down there and get lost."

"No, we need to go back to HQ and regroup," Porf said. Fox saw that Rode had taken Leon's underpants totally off and Irving had sprayed him clean. Gavin thoughtfully went over and took Leon's hand, making them both invisible as they walked back to the car. Once the littlest boy was inside, it didn't matter if he was naked.

Soon they were flying back to their retreat in the woods. With only Gavin to fly the car, it was a much slower trip on the return.

About halfway there, Jay started to move. The boys all started clamoring to find out what had happened and ask if he was okay, until Rode cut them off with a curt command to let him speak.

"That woman with the glasses! She just glared at me and when we locked eyes, I couldn't move! Don't look at her eyes, they are totally freaky!"

"Well," Rode said, "We've just fought our first band of supervillains. It was a draw, but at least we stopped them from getting any of the money. But we were lucky. That could have gone a lot worse."

"Your jaw? How do you think my ASS feels?" Irving exclaimed. "I got about twenty hard spanks with that paddle before Fox set that douchebag on fire!"

He whipped down his green briefs, and all the boys could see his cheeks covered with bright red splotches.

"Mmmm…sexy!" Gavin said from the window. Everybody laughed and the tension started to melt away. Nobody mentioned Leon's unfortunate accident. It was clear that the poor boy was mortified by the momentary loss of control, even if it was caused by something he couldn't have prevented.

The car touched down, and the boys covered it before jumping into the refreshing lake. Probably because of his earlier fun with Cole, Fox was very ready to pair up. He had someone else in mind, though. He swam over to Irving and put his hand on the seat of his green underpants.

"Is it bad that I really DO find your spanked butt extra sexy?" he whispered in his ear. Irving giggled.

The two boys scampered up the ladder and claimed the bottom bunk. Fox rolled onto his stomach and let Irving lower his briefs. The other boy whistled as he ran his hand over the reddened skin.

After a quick exchange of positions, Fox was gently rubbing Irving's red, rounded buttocks.

Fox reached one hand under him and felt his penis, which had stiffened into an erection. "Yeah, I can tell it does! Can I lie on top of you?"

Irvin nodded, and Fox climbed on top of his friend. The other boys were filing into the room. Porf and Leon climbed onto the top bunk, and Gavin and Rode took one of the gym mats near the bed.

"Yeah," Rode said, grabbing the slim boy around the waist and pulling him backwards against his expanding penis. "You!"

Gavin made a mock expression of fright at his impending impalement. "No! Save me from that big thing! Rape, rape!"

"Oh, shut up!" Rode said, turning Gavin's face toward him and kissing him deeply.

Fox was enjoying the heat of Irving's bottom on his naked skin, and his penis was nicely held between the plump cheeks which the other boy kept flexing.

"I'm cool with that." Fox squirted lube on his hand, applied it to his penis, and then worked it into Irving's winking anus. Then he lay down between the other boy's spread legs and placed the head of his penis against the entrance. One good shove and he was inside.

"Mmmm. Yeah, that's good," Irving said as he turned his head sideways. Fox held him by the hips as he slid back and forth inside him.

Fox settled into a slow, steady rhythm. Every now and then he'd reach under and give Irving's erection a squeeze or a stroke. Irving just seemed content to lie there and enjoy what was happening. His eyes were closed and he was making soft little grunts. Fox looked around to see what everybody else was doing.

Gavin was ass-up on one of the mats being plowed by Rode's massive pink sausage. He was making distressed faces to anybody who would look at him, clearly amused by his performance as a reluctant 'victim' of anal penetration. Rode was making sure, though, that anybody who glanced their way also got a good look at Gavin's rampant penis, which throbbed from each deep thrust into his guts.

He could hear Porf and Leon going at it on the top bunk. From the snatches of conversation he could hear, it sounded like Leon was on top of Porf and they were rubbing dick-to-dick. It was just like Porf to let Leon take a dominant position like that after his unfortunate accident, Fox thought. Over on the other mat, Cole was lying face-down over the beanbag chair with his head buried between Jay's spread legs sucking him off, while Boyd had his cock buried up his ass. Boyd smiled as he saw Fox watching him, and smacked Cole's naked ass just for fun.

Fox couldn't help it; the sexual energy all around him started to make him go faster. Irving noticed and adjusted, lifting his bottom up a bit more and giving easier access to his penis. Soon Fox was fucking and jerking in matched cadence. His toes started to curl, and he knew he was about to crest the wave. He cried out as he dry-fired into Irving's hot anus. Two more strokes and Irving shot his blanks as well. The two boys lay side by side, panting and then kissing. Both were still hard, and rubbed their penises together, kindling their excitement anew.

"My turn now," Irving said and Fox nodded, taking his position on the bed. He heard Irving squirt lotion out into his hand, and then felt it being smeared into his anus. His cheeks were parted, and then he felt Irving's fat cockhead press against him.

No matter how many times he'd been fucked since The Incident, somehow Fox always felt very embarrassed at this moment of the act. I'm about to get FUCKED! he would think to himself. I'm about to let another boy shove his COCK up my ASSHOLE! And I'm going to LIKE it! This time, Irving made it worse by specifically asking permission.

"Ready?" he asked. Fox nodded, blushing in shame at his endorsement of his own buggery. He felt Irving push forward as his penis dilated his sphincter, sliding inside and going balls-deep. His embarrassment faded as he felt the familiar good feelings of being filled up. It just felt so right; what was the point of worrying about it? Certainly, his steel-hard dick rubbing against the bed wasn't complaining.

He looked out and watched his friends. Jay was the one draped over the beanbag chair now, with Cole lustily fucking him. Boyd was kneeling next to them, stroking his penis back into an erection as he smiled. Rode was still fucking Gavin, but as he watched, Fox saw him pull out and shoot his white load all over Gavin's pale white ass. Gavin gave him a moment to rub it over his cheeks before getting up and demanding that Rode submit to his desire to be the top. Rode good-naturedly got on his hands and knees and parted his cheeks for Gavin. His long penis remained engorged, and Fox watched it twitch as Gavin slid himself inside. "Gimme all you've got!" Rode encouraged, and Gavin eagerly began to thrust in and out of him.

"I love this," Fox admitted to nobody in particular. Irving heard him, though, and rewarded him with some extra-powerful thrusts and a squeeze of his penis. He wrapped his arms around the pillow and just enjoyed the ride. The friction of his naked erection against the sheets, combined with the feeling of the hard penis massaging his insides, took him right to the peak. Irving reached under, and no sooner did he grab hold of Fox's boyhood than he felt the rush of orgasm overtake him. He held the pillow tightly as his anus clenched onto Irving's thrusting boy piston, and his testicles tried in vain to pump themselves out.

It was one of his better orgasms, and went on for longer than usual. When the feeling started to recede, he relaxed, his sexual appetite sated, but still able to enjoy Irving's passionate fucking. Irving took another few minutes before he came himself, pressing his whole body down on Fox as he pulsed inside him. Fox watched as, one by one, the other boys came as well; Gavin with exaggerated gusto that made Rode roll his eyes, even as he spilled another load out onto the mat.

Leon climbed down from the top bunk, seemingly unaware that a tendril of Porfirio's sperm had escaped his mouth and was trailing down the side of his chin. Rode wiped it off with a finger, and then, seeing that Leon was slightly embarrassed, sucked his digit clean and made an appreciative comment about the taste. Cole fired up the XBox again, and the boys sprawled around their headquarters naked, flaccid penises dangling in satisfaction.

"So what about those supervillains, Rode?" Irving asked when they were all relaxed and rested. Rode grunted and sat up.

"Not surprised we encountered them. It was bound to happen sooner or later, you know. But we have to work on tactics to beat them. Figure out what their powers are and how to counter them."

"How do you beat somebody who makes you sick to your stomach? You got some Pepto Bismol in those pink underpants of yours?" Gavin asked.

"I don't know. But we have powers, too. Think about it tonight, people. You saw what they could do. And we can't be sure that's all they can do, either. That guy in the Janitor's outfit never did anything, but you can be sure he's got something up his sleeve. Write down everything you remember, and then we'll compare notes. And think up ways we can use our powers to block them."

"You'll hate getting your ass spanked by that flying paddle even more," Fox pointed out. Everybody nodded.

The boys got up and started to dress. One by one they started to leave the HQ. Fox retrieved his bicycle and mounted it. Irving got next to him; they only lived three doors down from each other.

"Bleah. Not really. I have to spend all day Saturday cleaning out the raunchy cafeteria at school," Fox admitted.

"Why don't I show up and help? In fact, I bet all of the boys will. I'll ask them."

"Aw, don't do that," Fox said. "It wasn't you guys who did it, it was me and the guys from science class."

"Yeah, but what are friends for?" Irving said. "We'll all pull together, and you'll get the place cleaner a lot sooner. And that will piss Schlagar off more than anything!"

As the two boys rode silently home, Fox realized that the rest of the Underpants Boys certainly would pull together and help him. And that having friends like that was the best thing in the whole world. If their superpowers were to vanish tomorrow, he had no doubt that they would all stay fast friends and keep on having their fun up in the treehouse. He smiled widely, and wondered if they would help him plan revenge against Principal Schlagar. And he knew that they would!

As I said last chapter, I will be doing a little write-up on the primary character in each episode. In this one, that's Fox. Obviously, I needed a boy with fire powers, and equally obvious, he had to be the 'red' boy. I decided to play against type by making him the calm peacemaker rather than the hothead. There are tons of boy names that mean 'Red' but I went with Fox because I liked it best. His last name, Russell, means 'little red one' which is about as appropriate as you can get. I don't know how widespread it is, but in looking things up, I found that it's also a slang expression for a good penis, as in 'Russell, the love muscle'. His superhero name is 'The Flamer' which is really gay, but neither Fox nor any of the other Underpants Boys had heard 'flaming' as a description for flamboyant gays, so he thought nothing of labeling himself that. None of The Underpants Boys are effeminate, anyway, and Fox would probably toast somebody who suggested he was.

This also marks the debut of the first supervillains. I foresee that The Spanker and his Faculty of Fear will be the arch-enemies of the Underpants Boys. After all, what makes a better enemy to a group of boys than evil adults from school? I don't want to say too much about them as more will be revealed in future episodes. Some things are obvious, such as Countess Cafeteria's ability to make people sick. When thinking of unpleasant people you might encounter in school, a nasty lunch lady is high on the list. In one sense, I can't blame people who probably work for minimum wage to feed a group who constantly complain, for being a bit grouchy. But I'm an adult; as a boy, I would not have seen this sort of character as anything other than a mean old bitch. To some extent, she's based on Miss Breezly from the Archie comics, but in build and appearance, I went with a woman who was more tall and fat (and not so old). I was just going to call her 'The Lunch Lady' but after coming up with 'Lady Silence' for the librarian character, I did not want two 'Ladies'. 'Countess Cafeteria' sort of popped into my head, and while ridiculously ironic, it seemed perfect somehow. I had always planned for her to have the power to make people sick to their stomach – I mean, she's a lunch lady! But then after talking to a friend, it hit me that it would be a nice twist if instead of just being able to make you puke, she could also make you so sick you would shit yourself. Could there be anything more embarrassing for a pre-teen boy than to shit himself in public in front of all his friends? It seemed perfect, and I'm pretty happy with how she turned out, though she might yet have other things up her grimy sleeve. There's also Sister No Mercy, the Ninja Nun. I can't claim that's totally my invention, but the idea of a nun in robes and a habit karate-kicking people just seems so ridiculous, I had to go with it. Don't worry, she and the rest of the Faculty of Fear will be back soon!

This chapter also introduces Professor Miles Bertrand, the mentor of the group. You'll be learning more about him in upcoming chapters. He's partially based on Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, but not entirely.

Chapter 3

Leon's eyes fluttered open. The room was still dim, and he heard the steady downbeat of rain outside. Not really ideal Saturday weather, but he was in no real hurry to get up and do anything. His bed was soft and warm, and even the games on his tablet weren't tempting right now. He looked over at his big brother; Rode was still fast asleep, lying on his side with his arms wrapped around his pillow. Leon thought about calling his name, but he just rolled onto his back and listened to the rain for a while.

Gradually, the sound of the running water made him aware of the growing feeling of pressure on his bladder, so he got up out of bed to take care of that. On his way back into his bedroom, he decided to crawl under the covers with Rode. He cuddled up next to him; playing the little spoon to his brother's big spoon.

"Bit late to ask permission, isn't it? But yeah. You feel nice." Rode wrapped one arm around Leon and pulled him tight against his body. The feeling of his brother's smooth chest against his bare back made Leon feel warm all over. He lay there, still, enjoying Rode's tight embrace for several minutes, with the bigger boy's warm breath blowing against his hair. Rode was slowly waking up, and Leon left him alone as he did so. When he figured that Rode was most of the way there, he wiggled his bottom against his brother's crotch and waited for a reaction. It wasn't long in coming.

Leon just giggled and wiggled his bottom some more. There was no subtlety to it at all.

Leon responded by wiggling his bottom again. This time, Rode gripped him firmly and then ground his crotch against Leon's bottom in return. Leon turned his head and faced his brother. The two boys were smiling at each other. Rode flipped the covers off.

"I gotta go take care of business," he said as he got up. "I'll be back in a minute or two. And when I do…" He pulled at the elastic waistband of Leon's orange briefs meaningfully and then let them snap back. "…these better be off!"

Leon pulled the covers back over him to preserve the warmth. It might be summer in Florida, but Dad kept the A/C cranking. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of his underpants and wiggled out of them. He shoved them to one side of the bed just in case he might need them in a hurry. He heard Rode flush, and then watched as he walked back into the room. His brother always sported a very large bulge in the package of his bright pink briefs, but Leon could see that there was already some extra volume going on down there. Rode raised one eyebrow inquisitively. By way of answer, Leon flipped the covers back momentarily, exposing his naked penis, which was already fully erect.

"I guess I should do the same," Rode said, easing his briefs down and letting his pendulous member flop out. He threw his discarded underpants to Leon, who deftly caught them and stashed them with his. Rode crawled back under the covers, and they resumed the same position they had had before. It was so different now, though. Both boys were naked, and there was no fabric between them as they rubbed together.

Leon opened Rode's nightstand drawer, retrieved the plastic bottle of lube from the back, and handed it to his brother. He heard the splurt as Rode squeezed out a generous portion into his hand and then reached down, applying it to his member. Then Leon felt Rode's other hand on his bare bottom, using his fingers to part his cheeks. A lubricated finger pressed against his pink little boyhole and then slid inside. Leon was used to this sort of intrusion, and he playfully clamped down on Rode's finger.

Leon knew his big brother would never make him do something he didn't want to do, but they both knew that this was something that he DID want to do. Rode probed around in there for a bit, working back and forth until Leon's back passage was nice and slick. Then he withdrew his finger, and the little boy felt something a lot more substantial there ready to take its place. He gave a nervous giggle as Rode pushed into him. After a bit of obligatory resistance, his anus gave way and welcomed the invading penis inside.

"Aaahhhhhhhh," Rode sighed, clearly enjoying the feeling of shoving himself up his little brother's asshole. Neither of them said anything as the bigger boy worked his way in until he was balls-deep. He gave Leon a minute to adjust, and then he started to pump in and out with deep, careful strokes. Leon reached down and fingered his own boy erection. Rode didn't usually take long in the morning, and he wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

Feeling his brother's hands hold his hips as he was fucked, he started to rub his thumb back and forth over his sensitive cockhead. He'd got himself about three-quarters of the way there when he felt Rode gently slapping his hand away. Then his brother wrapped his own fingers around Leon's penis and started to tug on it. Somehow, Rode always knew what he liked best, and having somebody else do it just added to the rush of feelings. His heart started to race, and he opened his legs a little wider. Rode's hard-on was making him tingle deep inside, and then all the nerves in his bald little penis started to fire, and his boy orgasm radiated outward from the source. Sensing what had happened, Rode quickly pumped him three more times before grunting and blasting his hot seed into his little brother's body.

The two brothers lay still as their breathing and heart rates normalized. Rode took a dirty T-shirt from the top of his nightstand and shoved it under their middles as he pulled out. Leon felt his brother's sperm leak out and run down the side of his smooth cheek. Rode dabbed him dry and then rolled onto his back.

"Yeah, but you got the squirt!" Rode teased him, then tickled his sides. Leon couldn't help but burst out laughing under the attack of his brother's fingers, and then the two of them were wrestling naked on the bed. They did this for a few minutes before there was a knock on the door.

"Breakfast, boys," their father said through the door. "If you want to make it yourself, that's okay, but if you want eggs and bacon, now is the only time to place your order."

"We'll be down, Dad," Rode said, pushing Leon off him and heading into the bathroom. He wet a washcloth and cleaned off his dangling penis, then did the same for Leon, front and back, when he came in. Before long, the boys were dressed and marching into the kitchen. Dad had the stove going and bread in the toaster.

"Rode, get juice for everybody, please. I'll take grapefruit. Leon, watch the toast and be ready with the butter."

Before long, everything was cooked, plated and on the table. The three of them laughed and bantered their way through breakfast. Leon loved family moments like this. As much as he sometimes missed their absent mother, there was no longer any of the squabbling that had darkened the household before she had read that Eat, Pray, Love book and gone off to 'find herself' as she put it. Leon understood that Paris was far away, but it would be nice if she could at least call more than once a month.

When they were done, they put the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaned the pans. Then the boys asked if they could go hang out, which they were given permission to do.

"Oh, Rode, you asked about plastic lattice for your treehouse," Dad said. "Look in the garage. One of my crew chiefs over-ordered on the McMaster's job, so I brought the extra panels home. There should be more than enough for what you need."

"Thanks, Dad!" Rode said as he opened the door out to the garage. Leon followed, and they saw about a dozen panels leaning against the wall.

"Let's see," Rode said, counting with his fingers. "We don't need all of this. One, two, front side, three, four…eight should do it. Can you carry half and I'll carry the rest?"

"Don't let Dad see you, Squirt," Rode cautioned. "I mean, maybe you could carry all those normally, but he'd wonder why I'm not taking some."

Leon didn't care – he loved to show off his strength. He was far from fully charged, not having been outside for the day and being dressed, but he had enough to lift these things. If anything, they were more awkward due to their size and being a bit floppy, but no way was he going to ask Rode for help once he'd said he could do it.

They walked into the backyard and down the path to HQ. It was only five minutes, even with the lattice, and Rode walked ahead to make sure no branches were in his way. Once there, Rode climbed up to the porch, and Leon threw the panels up to him one by one. They stripped their shirts off and Rode got out a hammer and some tacks. Leon held the panels in place as Rode hammered them in.

They had just finished the first side when Boyd showed up. He climbed up and helped Leon hold. Gavin and Jay came next, with Fox and Irving right behind. They were nearly done by the time Cole showed up, and were all relaxing on the privacy of their now-concealed deck when Porfirio made his appearance.

Nobody minded. Porf had certainly done his share the previous weekend when they had all chipped in to help Fox with his punishment of having to clean the school's cafeteria. None of the boys would ever accuse him of being lazy.

"What are you all still dressed for?" he asked, stripping down to his purple underwear and lying out on one of the deck chairs. "We're safe from eyes and spies now."

"What if somebody flies a drone over us?" Cole said, dropping his pants to reveal his black briefs.

"This happens," Jay said. He stood dressed in only his blue underpants and threw two crackling blue energy balls into the sky.

"And if he misses, then this!" Fox said. He blasted two bursts of fire skyward, and then rested his smoking hands on the seat of his red briefs.

"Or this!" Leon said, picking up the hammer and preparing to loft it as a projectile.

"No, Leon, don't!" Rode said. "We get it. We have ways to bring down a drone. I don't want to have to go looking for Dad's hammer in the bush."

Leon stuck the hammer down the side of his orange briefs and smiled. He wasn't really going to throw it, but sometimes he liked getting a rise out of his big brother. Rode was standing there with his hands on his hips, his dark pink briefs filled with his exceptional bulge.

They sat out on the porch, talking about the latest Marvel Comics movie. So far, only Gavin and Jay had seen it. They both swore that it was one of the best yet and that all the other boys simply had no choice but to catch it in the theater as soon as possible.

"Hey, guys! According to WUND's twitter, somebody's trying to steal paintings from the art museum!" Cole suddenly exclaimed.

"I'm just getting confirmation… yeah, at least one other source reporting it."

"Underpants Boys, let's show our colors and save those paintings!" Rode shouted, jumping to his feet.

In a flash, the boys were on the ground and uncovering the van. Cole had degraved it and Jay and Gavin were already starting to lift it as Boyd was still scrambling in the door.

"Don't leave me, guys," the yellow underpants-wearing boy said. "If we're going to be fighting inside, you might need an energy recharge!"

"I hope so," Gavin said through the open window. "Because otherwise, I'm just hanging out with a bunch of guys in my underpants for no reason!"

"At least you don't have any trouble getting all the white briefs you need," Rode pointed out. I've got to wear a men's small – oh, and officially the color is 'magenta'."

"They look good on you, fearless leader," Irving said. "But yeah, glad it's not hard to find my green ones."

Leon felt excited. He couldn't help it; every time they went to a fight and did this sort of bantering, it made him happy to be part of the team. Rode had always let him hang out with him, but often he'd felt like a tag-along, somebody who was tolerated but only there because he was Rode's little brother. Since The Incident, though, now he had a power and a genuine reason to be there. It made him feel extra thankful to Rode for having him with him in the first place; otherwise he'd have missed out on getting his power and having all these adventures. Without saying anything, he took Rode's arm and pulled it over his shoulders. Rode, used to these silent demands for assurance and affection from Leon, silently pulled him against him and held him tight.

"You getting anything more, Black Hole?" Rode said to Cole, who was glued to his phone.

"A few more tweets, Pink Streak," Cole said. "They say the Orange City P.D. is there, but they don't seem to have things under control. Apparently, some paintings are being carried out and put in a truck of some type. Blah, blah, robbers are armed, nobody is sure who is still inside the museum, possible hostages…"

"Bullet-resistant," Irving corrected. "Just because they bounce off doesn't mean they don't hurt. You take a bullet to the ass of those red briefs you got on and see the size of the bruise it leaves."

"I think we all agree that we should be careful." Rode cut in. "Nobody's going to get shot for fun. We are going to break into two teams. I'll lead the 'In' team who will go inside the museum. I need Seagull, Superbrat, Slippery Dick and Battery Boy.

"Aquajew, you lead the 'Out' team. Take Blue Balls, The Flamer, and Black Hole. Your goal is to disable their getaway vehicle. If there are valuable paintings in it, be careful. We don't want it going up in flames or getting soaked."

"Why don't you want me outside," Prof asked. "I could just make the ground under the truck slippery and the wheels would spin."

"We might need your power to unlock things to get inside, Slippery Dick," Rode said. "Black Hole said there might be hostages. It's true Seagull can just phase through the walls or Superbrat could just kick the doors down, but let's be safe and have you with us. The art museum is big. I'm going to zip up and down the corridors and see how much I can find really fast, and I need you to be in charge when I'm not with the group."

"If we see Captain Van Dyke, the first thing you do is call her by her proper name, Seagull," Rode growled. "Anybody who calls her 'Dyke' is getting an underpants-down spanking from me when we get back to HQ. She already doesn't like us; we don't need to make it worse. Just tell her we're here to help and do your best to stay out of her way. If she tells you to back off, do it and just come back another way."

"Why haven't the police been able to stop them, Pink Streak?" Leon asked, remembering to call his brother by his superhero name, something that never came easy to him. "If it's just guys with guns, can't they just shoot them?"

"I don't know, Superbrat. We'll find out when we get there. Stick close to me or Slippery Dick; we might need your super strength."

"Take us down, Seagull and Blue Balls," Boyd said. "We're two blocks away, and you can put us on the top of that parking garage right ahead of you. The art museum is that building just next door."

"Oh, crap, not me," Jay said. "I forgot my shoes. Can somebody put them on for me?"

Jay turned horizontal, still helping fly the plane while sticking his feet in the window. Porf found his shoes and slipped them on his feet, then gave the seat of his blue briefs a sharp smack, causing Jay to squeal.

"Out of view; dropping the obscuring field," Gavin said as the two brothers lowered the van onto the concrete parking lot.

"Well, that was a shitty parking job," Cole observed, pointing out that the van was straddling two different slots.

"Kiss my ass, Black Hole," Gavin said. "If you don't like it, get Superbrat to pick it up and move it."

"All right, we don't have time for this," Rode snapped. "Battery Boy, where's the entrance to the museum?"

"Right over there, Pink Streak," Boyd said, pointing down the street. "That's the main entrance, anyway. There's an emergency exit just across from us."

"That's where we'll go in, then. Everybody hold hands. Black Hole, degrav us and then we'll jump off the edge. Seagull and Blue Balls at each end of the line to pull us down. Seagull, obscure us, and everybody hold tight!"

Leon had Rode on one side and Porf on the other. The boys scrambled up onto the edge of the parking garage as Gavin activated his powers to make them hard to see. The weird feeling of being weightless came over him as Cole kicked his powers in as well.

"Jump!" Rode said, and all the boys leaped up and out. Gavin and Jay pulled down on each end, and they floated down to the street. They kept together as they trotted across to the side of the art museum, then clustered together.

"Aquajew, take Out Team and find your target. In Team, with me!" Rode ordered. The five boys ran up to the emergency exit. It was closed, but Porf put his hand on the door and closed his eyes in concentration. Within a few seconds, Leon could hear the sound of a click, and then the Porf wiped his hand on the seat of his purple underpants and pulled the door open.

"Good job, Slippery Dick," Rode said. "Take the team and see what you can find. I'm going to zip around. I'll find you if I find something first."

With that, Rode zipped off, disappearing down the hallway in the blink of an eye. Leon looked over to Porfirio for instructions.

"Battery Boy, do you have the layout of the museum up on your phone?" Porf asked.

"Yes, Slippery Dick. We're here, see? I think we should go this way. That's where the Old Masters exhibit is. Those are probably the most valuable paintings. I read that they had a couple of Rembrandts and a Van Gogh."

"Don't be a smartass, Superbrat," Porfirio scolded. "Lead the way, Battery Boy. Seagull, keep us hidden."

Leon felt embarrassed. He hadn't been trying to be a smartass, he just didn't know what Boyd was talking about. Still didn't, but he figured he better just trail along and keep his mouth shut. They ran down the hall opposite from the one Rode had taken off on and then up some stairs and to the left.

"Nearly there," Boyd said. They turned one more corner and then burst into a large exhibit room. Leon looked around in confusion. There were two toughs unfastening a large painting from the wall. Standing next to them facing outwards was a tall man with jet-black hair and sharp, piercing eyes. He was dressed as if ready for a night out on the town. There were two policemen there, but one was sitting on the ground holding his head in his hands, while the other had crawled into a corner. There was also somebody who was apparently a museum guard, but he was curled up in the fetal position on the floor.

The boys let go of each other's hands, and Porf threw two blobs of slime at the men working on the painting. Instantly, their tools became too slippery to use, and they turned in confusion. The sharply dressed man with the dark hair also turned to notice them, and his gaze seemed to go right through Leon. He could almost sense waves of dark energy rolling off of him.

"So," he said in a deep, rumbling tone, "Who have we here? Aren't you boys ashamed to be running around in just your underpants? You are nearly naked! Have you no dignity?"

Leon was about to make a snappy comeback, but then he realized that the man was right. He WAS nearly naked, and he did feel deeply ashamed. He blushed and his arms dropped to his sides.

"What do you think you're doing, anyway?" the dark figure sneered. "Prancing around in your briefs out in public! You, purple boy, you look old enough to know better. Then again, you're a Mexican, so that explains your stupidity and lack of culture. Can you even understand me, or do you not 'speak the English'?"

"Oh, that's even worse," the man said, focusing fully on Porf. "You are their anchor baby, no doubt. Were you conceived before they swam across the river or did they stop and fuck on the north bank of the Rio Grande? And you aren't the only one, are you? No, I can tell. Your mother probably drops a fresh little spic every nine months. Keep those welfare checks coming!"

"Couldn't afford a colored pair of underpants like your little sissy friends?" the man asked, turning his head towards Gavin. "Are YOU on welfare, then? No, that's not it. Your parents just ignore you. No wonder, nothing very interesting about you. I guess that's why you wear white underpants. Nobody thinks you're funny, you know, so you can stop trying. They don't really like you, they just put up with you."

Leon was feeling like he should go up and punch the man in the face to shut him up, but somehow he couldn't move. He just felt so ashamed of being out in public in his underpants, he just wanted to find somewhere to hide. And he didn't want to draw attention to himself, either, and get a tongue-lashing like the others were getting. Porf and Gavin both looked devastated. And now the man had turned on Boyd.

"And you, yellow boy, what's your deal? Oh, I see. You really aren't part of the group at all, are you? You're only with them by accident. They got stuck with you, did they? And can't seem to find a way to get rid of you? Can't you take a hint and see when you're not wanted? No wonder you've never had friends before; who'd want to be friends with YOU?"

Leon turned to Boyd just as he burst into tears and put his face in his hands. Then he heard a clatter of running steps and Rode ran up next to them.

Instantly, the man turned to face Rode. Leon grabbed hold of his brother's hand in fright as the malevolent waves seemed to increase in power.

"Seriously, BOY?" he spit out. "Running around in your pink panties? Are you the leader of this indecent bunch of brats? How DARE you! You should be more ashamed than the rest of them put together. Showing the whole world your disgusting penis – yes, I can see everything, the way you have it shoved in there. You're not impressing anybody with that thing. You just look like some disgusting little queer. Oh, that's it, is it?"

He looked around at all the boys, staring deep into their souls, it seemed to Leon. Then he burst out laughing. A hard, cruel laugh.

"You're literally a bunch of little faggots! Ass-bandits! Rump-rangers! Butt-pirates! You spend your time sucking each other's little dicks and getting fucked up your anuses! No wonder you like to run around in your underpants; you fairies like looking at each other's asses!"

At this point, Leon wished he could sink through the floor. He had never been so ashamed and humiliated in his entire life. He started to move behind Rode, to try and hide behind his big brother, but the man saw him, and those evil eyes pierced him and nailed him to the floor.

"Hold it, orange boy, you haven't gotten yours, yet. You're the tag-along, aren't you? Why do they even let you come? Oh, I see. The pink sissy is your brother. So they have to take you. They don't want to, you know. You're just a little nuisance. You're not even worth it to them for faggot sex because your dick is so small. I guess your little ass gets fucked, but that's about all you're good for."

Leon held tightly to Rode's hand, trying to die of shame. He wanted to look away, but the man's gaze held his eyes trapped. It was like everything inside him was being turned inside out.

"Oh, but there's more than that, isn't there? Nobody likes you. Well, your brother has to pretend to so you'll let him fuck your asshole, but even your own mother left. It's your fault, you know. One boy was enough, but then when you showed up, that was too much for her. I really can't blame her; who'd want a son like you?"

Leon broke and crumbled to the floor. He started sobbing uncontrollably. He felt totally worthless and ugly.

"You think it's smart to bring your baby brother to crime scenes, pinkie? Are you trying to get him killed so you won't have to put up with him? Because one of you IS going to get killed eventually, you know. And it will be all YOUR fault!"

Leon heard running footsteps, but his eyes were too watery to make out anything.

"Sir Shame," he heard one voice say. "The getaway truck is out of commission. Some kids wearing underpants attacked us and one of them melted the tires and another one fried the engine with this blue lighting or something!"

"Damn it, you three can't even fight off a pack of faggot tykes? What good are you? And you couldn't have at least grabbed one of the Monets? More work for me to deal with, I see."

"There they are; we got them now!" Leon heard Irving shout. He wanted to warn the other boys to stay far away, but he could not stop crying.

"Are you looking for your butt-buddies?" the man (Sir Shame?) said to the approaching boys. "The little faggots are right here. I see you don't have any more decency than they do, prancing around in your underpants. Aren't you ashamed? Everybody can see your little penises."

"Who the hell am I? Who the hell are you, fatso? You should be the last one to be running around with your disgusting body on display. What, do you think anybody wants to see your boy tits jiggling? You… you… ah, yes, you dirty little Jew. No wonder. Too bad your grandparents didn't get pushed into the ovens like all your other relatives."

"Shut your mouth!" Porfirio screamed in a voice that broke. Leon could tell that he was right on the edge of breaking like he had.

"You still talking to me, you greasy little spic? I can see the whole troop of you faggots now. Know what I see? No niggers. So you're the token nigger. Eight white boys and one nigger; that's your role. Well, eight if you count Jews as white. I don't, but too many people do these days. They probably keep him around to count the money and you to be the nigger."

"Anyway, I've had enough of you pansies. I'm taking my paintings and going. Why don't you all run along home to your mommies, put on your dresses and suck each other off? That's all you're good for. All but pinkie and orange; they don't have a mommy to run home to. Come on, men, get the ones we've gotten loose. We'll have to get the ones out of the truck that you stupidly left behind."

"I have enough saved to give them a good blast. Now let's leave these half-naked disgusting little nancy boy butt-pirates to their shameful acts and go."

There was a clatter of footsteps, and then Leon looked up through his tears to see that only the boys, the two policemen, and the guard were left. And none of the adults seemed at all functional.

"We should follow them," Fox said, looking around for someone to lead the charge.

Leon couldn't take it. He scrambled to his feet and ran. He had to get away. Away from the fighting boys and all their yelling. Away from the horrible room where all this had happened. But most of all, away from himself and the crushing shame he felt. He wanted to find some clothes to put on. He wanted to crawl into his bed, pull the covers over his head and not let anybody see him.

Tears still streamed down his red cheeks as he half-blindly made his way through the museum. He knew this wasn't the way they had come, but eventually he'd follow the exit signs and find a way out, and then he could head to the car and hide. Or if he passed a clothes store, he could punch out a window and find something. Even a men's T-shirt that he could cover himself up with.

He found the main entrance and halted. That was a way out, but there would probably be people around. How could he let all those people see him wearing just his underpants? Would they see how small his penis was? Would they laugh at him? But if he stayed here, he'd never get out and be able to find some clothes. He figured the best option was to run as fast as he could. He put his head down and dashed for the door.

He made it out the door and down the steps, but then he ran smack into somebody. He looked up, terrified that it might be Sir Shame, but instead it was a policeman in uniform.

Leon froze. This man was an authority. He was in no shape to stand up to somebody cloaked in all the symbols of authority he'd been taught to respect since as long as he could remember.

"Come along, boy!" the policeman said sternly. "We have orders to arrest any of you that we catch. You are coming with me!"

He took Leon firmly by the wrist and started pulling him along. Leon compliantly stumbled along beside him. The policeman's grip was painful on his arm, but he made no move to loosen it even when Leon cried out that he was hurting him. He was led over to where Captain Van Dyke was standing. She glared at him, and Leon's gaze dropped to the sidewalk.

"Cuff him?" one of the other policemen asked. "He looks like he's seven. Are you serious?"

"These brats are always showing up at my crime scenes. It seems they think that I can't do my job. Well, he's guilty of indecent exposure running around in his underpants. Cuff him, drive him down to the station and book him. Then call his parents. Let's see what his mother has to say about him running all around town practically naked!"

The reference to his mother was more than Leon could take. He burst into racking sobs again.

"No, no sympathy," Captain Van Dyke said when one of the other officers went to comfort him. "Officer Hicks, cuff him and put him in the back of your car. You have my instructions. Carry them out!"

Leon's hands were wrenched behind his back, and then he was cuffed. The officer pulled them as tight as they could go, and then he was led to a police car and roughly shoved in the back seat. There was A/C going in the car, and it was very cold on Leon's bare skin. Officer Hicks climbed in front and started to drive. Leon curled up in a ball and cried into the seat.

"You aren't getting any slack from me," Officer Hicks said through the metal grille. "So turn off the waterworks. I don't care what that art thief said, we don't need a bunch of nearly naked little boys to do our jobs for us. You want to get involved with grown-ups' business, you are going to pay a grown-ups' price. But if you were my son, I'd beat your bare ass with my belt. Hopefully, your father will feel the same way when we call him. I'd pay money to watch that."

The ride was short, and then they pulled up to the police station. Leon was at least glad to see they were in a garage. He'd had this horrible image of him being led into the police station in handcuffs wearing nothing but his orange underpants, while hordes of reporters took pictures of him and uploaded live footage to the national news.

Officer Hicks opened the back of the car and pulled him out. He led him into the station and took him into a room that contained nothing but a plastic chair.

"Wait here," he said, leaving him cuffed. Leon turned and faced the wall, still crying softly. What would Rode and the rest say when they found out he'd been arrested? They'd kick him out of the group for sure. They only let him in because his brother was the leader, after all. Nobody wanted him, not even his own mother.

A few minutes later, Captain Van Dyke came in with two other policemen. She ordered him uncuffed, and then she reached for his eye mask. And that was when the first kernel of resistance appeared deep inside Leon. The last thing he wanted was to be even more exposed than he already was. She tugged at it, but soon realized that it was held snug to his head. Apparently, she thought that the cords were ordinary elastic; she couldn't have known that the band was made out of one of Professor Bertrand's special compounds. All you had to do was click it in place, and it would tighten to a form that was still comfortable but would be rigid and unable to come off unless undone. The Professor hadn't wanted any of the boys' masks to come loose in a fight, so he'd designed them this way. And, as Captain Van Dyke was about to discover, the clip in the back did not respond to ordinary attempts to unsnap it. She fiddled with it for close to a minute before she finally spoke up.

"How does it come off, boy?" she snapped. He wasn't about to tell her that the clip would only respond to his fingerprint, that of one of his teammates or the Professor himself. He clammed up. She tried a bit more, but with her frustration clearly mounting, she gave up.

He was taken over to the sort of wall he'd seen in numerous cop shows, with the lines to measure height. And that was when he realized he didn't want his picture taken at all.

"Superbrat," he said, folding his arms. She could arrest him, but she couldn't make him tell her his real name.

"Boy, the more you cooperate, the better this is going to go for you. What is your name?" she repeated.

"Super. Brat." He folded his arms. It was nice to have something to focus on besides the shame of being in front of a bunch of policemen in his underpants.

One of them put some letters on a board and then held it out to him. "Hold this up, boy, and look at the camera," he was ordered. He refused to take it, and sat on the floor curling himself into a ball so his face was not visible.

"C'mon kid," one of them said to him, leaning over to talk gently into his ear. "Let's make it easy on both of us, okay? You really are too young to get into much trouble. As soon as this is done we can call your parents and get you out of here. Just let us do our jobs, okay?"

"I'm at least going to get his prints!" she said. She grabbed one of Leon's arms and tried to hold it out to smear his fingers with ink. Leon let her have his arm but he held his fist tightly closed. With his super strength, she had no chance of prying it open, though she did try.

"Um… um… Captain? I think you need to stop, now. This isn't the proper procedure for a minor."

"All right!" she growled, releasing Leon's hand and standing up. "But throw him in a cell. He's to have no food and only water. He won't tell us his name, so we can't call his parents. He can sit in there until he's ready to cooperate!"

"Those are my orders. If you don't like it, you can take it up with somebody else. Here, I'll take care of it!"

She grabbed Leon just above the elbow and dragged him along. Her fingers dug painfully into the flesh on his arm as she led him down a corridor lit with fluorescent lights, and then shoved him into a cell with no window and a door with a small window covered with bars.

"I'll give you two hours to think things over, you little brat," she said. "Then I'll be back. If you still have nothing to say, you'll be spending the night here. So think it over."

Alone with himself, all the shame came flooding back. There was nothing in the cell besides a toilet and a hard wooden bench. He badly wanted to cover himself up, but there was no way to do it. He climbed onto the uncomfortable bench and curled into a ball. It was cold, and he was shivering. He wished he'd been given a blanket or something, but he knew that asking for such a thing would only be answered with a demand for his name and home number. And he was not going to give out either.

He did not know how long he lay there, trying unsuccessfully to get comfortable. He could not shut his mind off, and every thought that ran through his head produced a new burst of hot shame. He would think about his mother and the tears would flow. He would think about how worthless he was to the rest of the team and he'd want to die. He thought about how disgusted Rode must be with him, and that was just the worst feeling of all.

He almost didn't notice the tapping on the door. Was the captain back already? He still wasn't going to tell her anything, but how could he spend a whole night like this?

"Psssst! Superbrat! Okay, I found you. I'm not going to go visible in case there are cameras. Can you yank open this door?"

Leon looked up. He recognized Gavin's voice, but he couldn't see him. Of course, he was invisible. Could he open the door? Physically, he probably could, but in his emotionally shattered state, there was no way he was capable of that level of defiance. He tearfully shook his head.

Leon sat up. He looked around and noticed there was a camera up in the corner of the ceiling. He was mortified to think of himself in his underpants being watched by some security guard, but there was nothing he could do.

About five minutes later he heard Gavin's voice again. "Okay, in a few seconds, Slippery Dick is going to open the door. Then he's going to grab my hand, and I'll make him invisible again. We don't want the cameras to see us. You run to the door, and we'll grab you and make you invisible, too. Then just hold on to me and we'll lead you out."

Leon held his breath and then heard the distinctive click of the lock opening. The door swung wide. He dashed over and felt one of the other boys grab him. Just then a wailing alarm went off.

The two other boys led him down a different corridor than the one he'd been brought along before. He heard running feet and Captain Van Dyke's scream of rage when she discovered that her prized prisoner had escaped. They had to flatten against a wall to let a pair of policemen dash by, and then they came to an emergency exit. With one alarm already going, they just pushed it open and stepped onto a back street.

"Come on, the van's over here," Gavin said. They dashed a short way down the street and into a narrow alley. The van was parked behind a large dumpster, mostly hidden from the road. Rode was sitting on the hood looking when they became visible.

"Oh, thank God!" he said. He rushed over to Leon and picked him up. Leon started to cry again as his brother's arms went around him. Partly from relief and partly from the shame of having to be rescued like the tag-along that he was.

"Let's go," Porfirio said, opening the van door. "I want to get the fuck away from here already."

Rode put Leon in the middle seat next to Boyd, and then got in beside him. Cole took the wheel and degraved, while Jay and Gavin started to lift. Nobody asked Leon to give the van a starting push. Why would they? He was too worthless for even that.

"How did you get caught, Superbrat?" Irving asked. "Couldn't you have kicked the door of that cop car open or something?"

"Who died and made YOU God?" Gavin asked from the window. "Just because you have the biggest dick you think you get to boss us around all the time?"

"What, spank me? How about if I drop this van? Where would you all be without me and my brother to cart you around? I'm sick of being the one you all bully and laugh at all the time!"

"Don't look at me, I'm just the team nigger," Porf said, turning his head and facing the window.

"I think… I think maybe we should all just be quiet until we get back to HQ," Fox said quietly.

"Oh, there goes Mister-everything-is-fine," Irving sneered. "Just ′cause that guy didn't tell you all about your ass. I'd have loved to have heard what he had to say about you. Bet you wouldn't be so calm if he'd let you have it with both barrels!"

"Right now… right now I feel like everyone in the whole world knows I'm a faggot. That I like to lick other boys' assholes. And that if my parents knew, they'd die. I want to find a hole and crawl into it. But what I don't want… what I don't want is to see my friends hurting each other when we're all already hurting so badly." And with that, Fox burst into uncontrollable sobs. Cole tried to comfort him with one arm, but Fox pushed it away.

Fox cried the whole way back to HQ. Leon kept having bursts of tears, and Irving, Gavin and even Porf also had spells of crying. They landed the van, and nobody bothered to cover it up.

Nobody stopped him as he climbed up and got dressed, then came back down and rode away. One by one, the other boys did the same. Nobody said goodbye. Nobody said they'd be back tomorrow. Nobody left with anybody else except for Gavin and Jay, and they weren't talking. Soon only Rode and Leon were left on the porch of HQ.

"It's all my fault, Ro!" Leon blubbered. "They're all mad ′cause you guys had to come rescue me! ′Cause I was so stupid to get caught and then too much of a cry-baby to get away! I'm sorry! You don't have to kick me off the team, I'll just stay home from now on!"

They went inside the treehouse and sat on the bed. Rode pulled Leon's head down against his chest and started to rub his bare back.

"Okay, it's just the two of us. Say what you need to say, and let's have a good cry about it, okay?"

"It's my fault she's gone," Leon blubbered. "She didn't love me enough and I made her leave! Maybe if I'd have been a girl…"

Leon simply couldn't get any more words out. He'd never spoken these thoughts aloud before, and hearing them just made him feel like he was being torn apart. He clung to his older brother as gales of tears sprung forth from him. He didn't know how long it was before he slowed down, but his breath was coming in painful gulps, and his nostrils were clogged with snot. Rode's chest was a wet mess from where his face was pressed against it.

"I don't care. Cry on me as much as you want, bro. Now, are you up to listening for a bit?"

Leon nodded that he was. Rode took some paper towels and wiped his chest clean, and then rested Leon's head in his lap.

"I have a memory from when I was really small. I was like four or so, and mom and dad were fighting. I didn't understand. I was going into their room, and just before I pushed the door open, I heard mom say she wanted to leave and go see the world. I was going to turn around and leave, but I'd already touched the door, and it swung open so they saw me. They thought I had been asleep, but I had woken up ′cause I wanted water or something. I started crying and begging mom not to leave. She swore that she wasn't going to, that dad and her were just having a little fight, but I never forgot it. And it was before you were conceived, I do know that. So it doesn't have anything to do with you; she was thinking about it even before you were born. Honestly, I think she stuck around longer because of you."

"I know, Squirt. It makes me hurt, too. And it hurt Dad as well. I think it's always going to hurt some, but just know that I love you and Dad loves you, and we aren't going anywhere. Even mom loves you, she just loves herself way more."

The two boys were silent for a while, and Rode continued to stroke Leon's short brown hair.

"Because I'm the smallest. ′Cause I'm worthless. ′Cause you guys had to rescue me. ′Cause nobody really likes me; they just let me be a part of the team 'cause you're the leader."

"None of those things are true, Squirt. You might be the smallest, but you're also the strongest. That makes you far from worthless. Yes, we had to rescue you, but that could have happened to any of us."

"But it happened to me. ′Cause I ran off when I should have stayed with you. You told us to stay together, and I didn't."

"It was kind of a messed-up situation, Leon. This whole thing was totally fucked up."

"But you don't let the other boys get away with major stuff like that. You're just saying that ′cause I'm your little brother."

"I'm not, really. What do you want me to do, anyway? Throw you off the team? Spank you?"

"You spanked Gavin when he didn't follow the rules before," Leon reminded him. "How come you let me off easy?"

Rode went quiet as he stroked Leon's hair some more. Leon wondered what he was thinking. Leon really didn't know what was going on in his own brain, though, much less Rode's. All he knew was he felt like a useless appendage to the team, who was only tolerated because of Rode. And he couldn't stand that feeling; he'd rather not be a member. All of a sudden, Rode seemed to come to some decision, because he stopped stroking his hair and clapped him on the shoulder.

"All right, Leon," he said. "You are right. I did tell you to stay with Porfirio and the others. You didn't follow orders, and that was the reason you got caught by the police. I might have been prepared to let it go, but if you feel that badly about it, I think this might do you some good. So, yes, I am going to spank you."

Leon gulped. Did he really want this? No, he didn't, he didn't at all. Did he deserve it? That was a different question, and a part of him deep inside insisted that he did.

"The paddle. Same as I used on Gavin or would on any of the others. And you get the number of your age, which is eight."

"On my underpants?" Leon whispered, though he knew the answer would be in the negative.

Rode gently pushed him off, and then got up. The paddle was stored in a little drawer under the TV. He got it out and then came back to the bed.

Leon crawled forward, draping his middle over his brother's legs. He held a pillow tightly to his chest and felt his heart hammering. Then he felt Rode's hands on the waistband of his orange briefs, tugging them down. His bare bottom was exposed as they slid down his thighs to his knees. His naked penis was resting against his brother's bare leg.

"If you're going to be a member of the team, Leon," Rode was saying. "You have to follow instructions. They are there for a reason. And there's a price to pay for breaking them. Hold on."

There was a burst of hot pain, and his legs involuntarily kicked up. A yelp of pain burst from his throat.

SPANK!!! SPANK!!! Two more spanks fell, both in the center of his round little bottom. His hands were tight fists scrunching up the pillow, and he cried out.

SPANK!!!! SPANK!!!! "Ooooh, it hurts!" he shrieked. Somehow he hoped if he sounded pitiful enough, Rode would have mercy on him and end the spanking early, but this did not happen. He bucked on the bigger boy's lap after the fifth one, but that just resulted in Rode putting his hand on the small of his back to hold him in place.

SPANK!!!! SPANK!!!!! SPANK!!!!!!!! His bottom was a mess of hot fire, and he screamed into the mattress of the bed. Each spank was worse than the one before, and he didn't think he could take any more. But Rode gave him the full dose before stopping. Only then did he let Leon rub his blazing backside and buck around to his heart's content.

After a minute of this, he pulled him back over his lap. For one moment, Leon was horrified that he'd miscounted and he still had another spank coming, but instead, he found cooling lotion being squirted on his reddened bottom. He tried to relax as Rode did his best to massage the spanked cheeks and bring some relief to them. Then he handed him a paper towel to blow his nose into. Two good honks and he was able to breathe normally again.

Leon realized that he did. Nobody could accuse him of special treatment, anyway. But now he felt bad for another reason.

"All I've been doing is crying about me, Ro," he murmured. "I'm being selfish. I guess I'm not even good at sharing."

"Leon, that guy made me feel like the world's worst big brother. Taking care of you is just what I need right now."

"But… but you're a GREAT big brother!" Leon said, turning his head to look up at Rode.

"Well, if you think that, maybe you can understand that I think you're a valuable member of the team, and not some pesky tag-along?"

"Thanks, Squirt. That actually really helps to hear. Because out of everybody in the group, your opinion is the one that matters most to me."

"Because I love you, Leon. You're my little brother. And I really like the way you look up to me. It makes me feel really special, and I never want to let you down."

Leon sat up and wrapped his arms around Rode. The two of them held each other tight, saying nothing but just healing as they embraced.

"Rode?" Leon whispered. "Can you… do it… with me again? But this time… maybe make it really special? Like I was your boyfriend or something?"

"You know," he said. "The other day in one of our 'talks', Dad told me that there was a difference between 'fucking' and 'making love'. I guess what we've all been doing is fucking. And it's fun and I love it a lot. I've never tried making love to somebody before, little brother, but for you, I'll do my best."

"Okay, so if you were my boyfriend, I think the first thing I would do is this." Rode leaned forward and wrapped his arm around Leon's back. Then he pressed his lips to his brother's. Leon wasn't expecting to be kissed. Rode's lips were moist and warm, and it gave him a tingle right down his spine.

Rode leaned forward and kissed him again. Longer this time, and more firmly. Leon closed his eyes and melted into it, only opening them when Rode drew back.

"Leon, next time I do it, open your mouth a bit, okay? I've never tried this and I really don't know how, but let me see if I can figure it out."

Leon felt a warm rush, and his penis started to stiffen. What was going to happen?

Rode came in, and their lips met again. After a moment, Leon opened his mouth. Then he felt Rode's tongue pressing its way inside him. Leon had to move his own tongue, which was in the way, and then Rode was poking around over his teeth. Then he backed away, blushing.

"Yeah, I never really talked much about it with anybody, I just know you're supposed to put your tongues inside each other's mouths."

"Hey, I've had more than your tongue inside my mouth," Leon reminded him. "Can we try again? Let me do it this time."

Leon leaned into him, and as their lips touched, he stuck his tongue out. It pressed against Rode's teeth, and then his brother sort of sucked onto it and it was inside his mouth. The bigger boy held him tightly in an embrace and kept their faces together as they slowly started to explore and find the right way. After a minute or two they broke apart.

Rode pushed him down on the bed until he was lying flat on his back. Then he lay next to him and kissed him again, forcefully. Leon kissed him back, feeling like he could do this forever. But then Rode moved down and kissed each of his hard little pink nipples, making a loud smack as he did. And then the trail of kisses went down his tummy with a special one right on his belly button. Leon thought he knew where he was going, but then Rode diverted and instead kissed the inside of each of his pale white thighs, before planting another smooch on his little wrinkled scrotum. Leon could not help but giggle at that.

Then Rode took his aching little member into his mouth and started to suck. Leon groaned in pleasure as his brother's tongue wrapped around his stiff penis and licked it up and down. The tingles ran up and down his body. For the moment, his raw emotions were forgotten, and he just relaxed while his big brother sucked his bald little cock.

It did not take him long – it never did. Soon he was gasping and quivering as he dry-came in his brother's mouth. Rode started kissing him again, reversing the trail up his body until he was at his lips again.

"I love you, little brother," he said as he tongue-kissed him again. Leon felt Rode's hard penis pressed against his leg, and he started to tingle in another place as well.

"Anything for you, Leon," Rode promised him. Again, his kisses went down his body, but this time, when he reached his thighs, he did not stop. He gently lifted Leon's little legs and pushed them up towards his chest, exposing his puckered pink anus. And then, to Leon's delight, he planted a wet kiss right on his boy hole. Leon shuddered from the unexpected feeling, and his anus pulsed.

Rode squirted out a dollop of lube onto his finger, and started to prepare his baby brother's love passage. Leon was already very relaxed, so it did not take him long to be dilated wide enough to accept three fingers comfortably. Rode scooted up and rested Leon's legs on his chest as he lined up his boy piston against the little boy's hole. Then he locked eyes on him and smiled.

Leon's body eagerly accepted him inside. "I love you too, Rode," he panted as his anus was stretched wide enough for the bigger boy to penetrate him.

Rode slid into him in one long, gentle glide. Leon's eyes rolled up in his head at the pleasure of having his brother's large member inside his body. Rode started up with some slow, steady strokes that made Leon's little dick twitch and throb. His brother leaned down low over him, alternately kissing him and whispering words of love into his ear. Rode's warm breath on his ear and neck gave him shivers of delight, and his pleasure started rising again.

The thrusts increased in speed and force, and Rode took one hand to grab Leon by the joystick. Their lips locked together, and they made high-pitched cries as their pleasure overtook them. Leon's second orgasm ripped through him, and then there were three very hard and deep strokes, and Rode started to fill his guts with his brother sperm. They held each other tight, kissing deeply as they both came, skin to skin in a haze of pleasure. Neither of them was in a hurry to let go, and they kept kissing long after their orgasms had receded.

At last, it started to get a bit uncomfortable, so Rode pulled his deflating penis out of his brother's opened asshole and lay next to him. Leon put his head on his chest and allowed Rode to stroke his hair and bare back.

"I always will, Leon," he said. "You and I are family, and I'll always be here for you. I'll never leave you."

Leon lifted his head and kissed him again before lying back on his chest. It was over an hour before they finally decided to put on their clothes and go back to their house.

The next morning, the boys enjoyed a pancake breakfast with their dad. After finishing, he asked them about their plans for the day.

"I'm going over to your Uncle Steve's to watch the game later," he told them. "Do you want to come and hang out with Cole and Ursula?"

"We're gonna go out riding if that's okay, Dad," Rode said. "We might run into Cole."

"I want to talk to Professor Bertrand. He might have some ideas about that guy we fought yesterday. And he sent me a text about some new shoes."

The two boys rode down the suburban streets until they reached Professor Bertrand's mini-mansion. The door opened automatically as they approached.

"Ah, it worked, it worked!" Professor Bertrand said as he walked into the front room. He was wearing only a pair of boxer-briefs and a towel around his neck. His muscled body was beaded with perspiration.

"I uploaded all of you boys' faces, and hooked up a camera with facial recognition software. So now the door will open anytime you come, even if I'm not here. So anytime you want, just come in and make yourself at home. Anytime."

The Professor went out of the room, and soon came back with a pair of black running shoes with a prominent pink design on the side.

"I've been working on a way to treat the soles so they will hold up better. I've replaced the rubber with a special compound. This will give you better traction, not get worn down as fast, and make it easier to stop on a dime. Your size hasn't changed, has it?"

"No, Professor. And it's perfect timing, because the ones I have now feel like they are soon going to wear out."

"Well, here you go then, here you go. Let me have a look at them when you've used them a few times so I can see if they are working the way I think they should."

"Of course, boys, of course. Come and have a seat. Do you need me to put on a pair of pants?"

"No, it's okay. We're used to seeing guys in their underpants," Rode said, making Leon giggle.

The three of them sat down in the living room, and Rode started to tell him about their fight with Sir Shame the day before. Professor Bertrand listened and then started taking notes, asking the two boys if they could remember the specific words he'd said to them. It was uncomfortable to repeat a lot of what he said, but Leon found it didn't have nearly the sting it did when he had heard it in the first place. Eventually, the Professor was satisfied and put down his notepad.

"A few things are clear to me, boys," he said. "This man isn't telepathic, or at least not in the conventional sense."

"Oh, sorry. What I mean, is he can't just read your mind and know exactly what you are thinking. His powers seem to be very specific. It's like this; imagine you have a box, and inside it you keep everything that you might feel ashamed about, even deep inside. He sees some things that are on the outside of the box, like the fact that you are wearing only underpants. So he throws that at you, and in doing so, it cracks open the box and he can see the other things you keep hidden. That's why he would know that you were upset about your mother leaving, Leon. Or with Irving, he could see that he's a bit chunky, so he starts with that and then digs in and finds out that he's Jewish. But that seems to be all he can find out – I don't believe, based on what you are telling me, that he'd be able to know things like how your powers work or what you might be going to do next. Or even your real names. If it doesn't involve shame, I rather doubt he can tell anything about it."

"But I don't understand, Professor. Irving always seems so proud to be Jewish. How could he make him feel ashamed about it?" Rode asked.

"Because it's possible to both be proud of something as well as to have a bit of insecurity. For example, Rode, you are proud that your favorite color is pink, and you are secure enough to wear it, not just as your underpants, but I know sometimes you wear pink shirts and all. It makes you different, and you celebrate that. I think if some kid in your school came up to you and tried to tease you about it, you'd just laugh at him. But now imagine if you showed up to school, and all of a sudden every single person started pointing at you, laughing at you and calling you names because of it. And nobody spoke up for you, not even your friends or your brother. You might be strong enough to laugh it off, but it would hurt, wouldn't it?"

"So I think this man has that kind of power, probably stronger. To take something like your liking pink, Irving being Jewish, Porfirio being Hispanic and turning it on you. Finding what makes you different and hitting you over the head with it."

"Well, the easiest way is not to listen. I'm going to work on some noise-canceling headphones that you can wear. The ones you have now don't have that feature because normally you'd want to hear things from outside. But I can make some that will switch on at the touch of a button, so if you encounter this man again, you can just shut him out."

"The other thing, and this would be a lot harder of course, would be to simply fight back with your mind. Remind yourself that you are NOT ashamed of whatever he is throwing at you. And that you are all fine young men with every reason to be proud of yourselves. Now, I haven't felt his powers so I don't know how hard that would be, but if you could get past him making you feel ashamed, you should be able to capture him fairly easily. And I do have to point out that he obviously disabled the police and the guards the same way, so you don't have to feel any shame that he got the better of you."

"Oh, probably by next weekend. I want to make a couple of changes with your masks as well, since the police tried to take Leon's off. And I think I can improve the range of the transmitter as well, so you boys can talk to each other over longer distances."

"Happy to help, boys, happy to help. I want you to know I am so proud of you boys. You do things most adults wouldn't do even if they did have your powers. Just remember that, and feel good about yourselves."

They got up, and the Professor clapped them both on the back as they went out and got on their bikes.

They parked their bikes in the clearing, and Rode pulled out his phone and sent a text. Then they climbed up to the porch and waited. About fifteen minutes later, they heard somebody approaching. Leon spotted a flash of red hair in the trees, and Rode nodded.

"That's a really good idea. Do you think we should have a meeting out here on the porch, or inside?"

Rode nodded, and the three boys started to bring out the extra chairs and side tables. Fox was putting out a couple of bowls of chips when they heard more voices. It was Cole and Irving, and then Gavin and Jay came just a couple of minutes later. Most of the boys were really subdued, and Irving in particular looked really uncomfortable. Porfirio came about ten minutes later, apologizing but saying he'd needed to help with his younger siblings.

"What about Boyd?" Cole asked. "Do you think he's coming? He's usually one of the first ones here."

"He thinks we don't like him," Gavin said. "And we're just pretending to be his friends. He sent me a text last night which was kind of painful to read. Here, I'm gonna send him a text from my phone. I think he'll respond to a personal one from me. If not, I'm going to fly over there and bring his little yellow ass back myself."

"Don't worry, I know Boyd better than probably all of you. No way am I going to let him think he's got no friends!" Gavin typed into his phone and then opened a coke. A minute later his phone beeped and he looked at it.

"He's coming," he said. "He just needs to let his mom's boyfriend know he's going out. Give him ten minutes."

The boys sat in their chairs. There was a bit of conversation about the movie Rode and Leon had seen the night before, as well as the football games that afternoon. Really, they were just passing time until their ninth member arrived. Leon kept checking the path, and finally they saw Boyd approaching. He looked like he'd been crying all night.

Gavin didn't wait for him to come up; he flew down and hugged him, and then whispered something into his ear. Boyd nodded at him with a tight little smile, and the two of them climbed up the rope ladder together.

"It's okay, and we would never have started without you, Boyd," Rode said. "Sit down and grab something to drink."

Gavin had already opened a Snapple, and gave it to him, directing Boyd to sit in the chair next to him, and then gently massaged his shoulders as they all turned to look at Rode.

"Okay," he said, sounding uncharacteristically awkward. "Yesterday was the first time we lost a fight. I mean, I guess it was a tie, since Sir Shame didn't get to steal all the paintings, but it still felt like we lost to me. Leon and I went and spoke to Professor Bertrand this morning. He had some ideas of what happened and how we can deal with it."

Rode gave them a brief description of how the Professor thought Sir Shame's powers worked, and how they might counteract them. Porf nodded his head.

"Sounds like it makes sense. But, man, did he ever make me feel bad. I don't think I've ever felt worse in my life."

"It was… rough," Irving said. It was clear that none of the boys wanted to talk too much about what had been said. Leon certainly wasn't going to bring any of it up.

"Ah… the art museum is being robbed again. From what the reporter says, it's the same guy."

"We can't go. We aren't even charged up!" Gavin said. "We're all still dressed."

"And Professor Bertrand said he's making us special headphones, and that we shouldn't fight him without them," Fox added.

Leon looked at Rode. He didn't want to go either. But then his brother's eyes met his and locked on. Suddenly he understood that it was all up to him. Rode was the leader of the Underpants Boys, but he was also Leon's big brother, and he wouldn't do anything that would cause him to be hurt. Even if it was wrong for the group, he would do what he thought was best for Leon. Leon felt a flush of conflicting emotions; love for Rode that he would put him first, resentment for being put on the spot, fear of what might happen next. And shame, of course. Shame as he remembered what had been said to him yesterday and fresh shame in how frightened he was. But he knew that doing nothing would not make the shame go away.

"We have to go," he said. He tried to make it sound bold, but it was hardly more than a whisper. He tried again.

"We have to do it. Otherwise, we're just a bunch of wimps, not heroes. I don't wanna be a wimp."

"Aw, fuck you, Leon," Gavin said, putting his head in his hands. Not unkindly though, more in a resigned tone.

"He is right," Rode agreed, in a far more confident voice than anybody else had used. "We gotta go. Nobody else has to, but I'm going. We're going to save those paintings!"

He pulled off his T-shirt and threw it on the porch. Then he undid the button on his shorts and pushed them down, revealing his pink underpants.

"Underpants Boys, let's get on top of this!" he called out, grabbing their bag of shoes and masks from inside the door.

"Your stupid battle cries are what you should be ashamed of," Gavin said as he stripped down to his white briefs. "That one doesn't even make sense."

"He said 'on top of'" Jay explained to his brother as he slipped on his blue mask and shoes to match his blue underpants. "Like under from underpants and on top of, sort of like opposites."

"Oh, shut it, Seagull," Porfirio said as he adjusted the waistband of his purple briefs. "If you don't like Pink Streak's stupid war cries, come up with something decent."

"Not exactly the backup I was looking for, Deputy," Rode grinned as he swung over the side of the porch. "But I'll take it."

Leon saw Gavin turn to Boyd and wink. They all understood that his banter was supposed to break the tension, and it mostly worked.

Boyd was the last one to get his shoes on, and Gavin gave him a smack on the seat of his yellow briefs before he and Jay each grabbed an arm and flew him down to the ground. Rode and Porf already had the van ready before Cole slipped behind the wheel and degraved it. Cole looked absolutely sick to his stomach, Leon noticed, as he grabbed the back bumper and lifted it up, getting underneath it before giving it a mighty shove upwards. Gavin helped him into the back before he and Jay started flying it in the direction of the downtown.

"We're not going to split up this time, Slippery Dick. We might need numbers. Park where we did before, fly to the same side entrance, you get us in, and then we run around until we find him."

"Rush him. Hit him with everything we've got. Well, not you, AquaJew, and not you, Flamer. We don't want to ruin the paintings. But the rest of us, go all out at him. Don't worry about his henchmen, we can deal with them when he's down."

"Hope it works," Cole muttered under his breath. Everybody heard it, but they all pretended they didn't. They were likely all thinking the same thing, Leon figured. He looked over at Rode for reassurance, and his brother squeezed him with his left arm.

Leon smiled and nodded his head. He flexed his arms, thinking how strong he was. But then he caught sight of himself in the rear-view mirror. He was just a little boy wearing nothing but a pair of orange underpants; what was he thinking?

The van bumped down on the top of the parking garage, and the boys all piled out.

"Huddle up!" Rode said, and they all grabbed on to each other. Leon felt the funny feeling in the pit of his stomach as Cole degraved them, and he pushed off with his feet. Gavin and Jay flew them down to the side door, Gavin's other powers making sure nobody noticed them.

"Take over, Slippery Dick," Rode said, pointing to the door. Porf felt it but then suddenly just yanked it open.

"They didn't even lock it back from yesterday," he said. He went inside, and the Underpants Boys followed. Rode signaled for quiet as they moved down the corridor. Soon they heard noises, and wound up in a large gallery space. Sir Shame was there, directing some of his thugs as they worked a painting off the wall. Two security guards were wrapped in fetal balls on the floor.

Jay held out his hand and created an energy ball, throwing it at him. At the last moment, Sir Shame saw it coming and threw himself to the side and then turned toward them. Leon felt a staggering blast of emotion as the man directed his gaze at the boys.

"You little queers, again? Shouldn't you be somewhere dry-humping each other's dirty assholes and then sucking the shit off of your filthy little cocks?"

All the boys stopped in their tracks. Leon wanted to run up and slug the guy but he felt an overwhelming urge to go and hide.

"And you, you little shit," Sir Shame said, turning fully on Jay, "What's your role in this merry band of ass-bandits? Oh, I see; you're the stupid one. Do you ride the short bus to school, you retard? You're not going to pass your classes this year, you know, and you'll get held back. Not that anyone in your class will miss an imbecile like you. Dummy."

The energy ball that Jay had been forming dissolved, and he put his face in his hands, staggering backward.

"Who else is new?" Sir Shame asked, looking over the cowering boys. "Oh, you, the ugly one. Yeah, don't pretend you don't know who I mean, ginger. What's your superpower? Do you try to stun people with your ugly face? Unleash the freckles! I bet your little butt-buddies always make you go face-down so they don't have to look at you while they ride your Hershey highway. Or else put a bag over your head."

"And you, blackie! Wow, you might as well be holding up a sign, you're so guilty. Do any of your friends know you're a dirty little thief? Daddy not bringing home the bacon so you helped yourself to your friends' cash? You sure picked the right color underwear. Might as well have gotten a striped pair; boys like you always wind up in jail. At least you won't mind getting ass-raped when you go, though."

"Don't think you're in much of a position to complain about people stealing," Rode snapped. Cole had put his arms over his head and had sunk to his knees. Sir Shame turned and glared at Rode.

"I'm not stealing from my friends, eel dick," he snarled. "You brought your flock of fairies back for a second round with me? Didn't get enough the first time? Well, it's on your head, Pinkie. So what else is going with you? Oh, ha-ha, that's too much!"

Leon tried to move. He didn't want Sir Shame unleashing more bile at Rode, but he just couldn't seem to make his feet work.

"So that's why you don't mind that your little buddy is a sneak thief; you get to spank him! And you like that! You don't just like to fuck your friends up the ass, you like to whack them, too! Quite a racket you got going there, nancy boy."

Leon felt a wave of rage. Who was this man to be saying all this to them? How dare he talk to his brother that way?

"You SHUT UP!" he screamed, finally making his feet move a couple of steps forward.

"What's that, pipsqueak?" Sir Shame said. "Oh, that's right, the big sissy is your brother. Ah, and I see he reddened your ass just recently, too. Do you like getting spanked, or does your brother just do it for his own kicks?"

"My brother LOVES me! Leave him ALONE!" Leon was able to take two more steps. Sir Shame's eyes were now drilling into him.

"He loves cornholing your little asshole, I'm sure of that. Did Mommy know? Is that why she ran off? Because she was disgusted that her sons were faggots?"

"I'm not afraid of you!" Leon snapped, creeping ever closer. He noticed Sir Shame's gaze was starting to falter.

"You should be!" the man yelled. "You should all be afraid. Running around in your underpants. Little dicks. You should be ashamed of everything about yourselves!"

With a violent tug, Leon grabbed his orange briefs and yanked them off. He was totally naked except for his shoes and eyemask, but he suddenly felt strong and powerful. It no longer felt like he was trying to push through a wall. He took eight running steps, and he was right in front of their enemy. Sir Shame panicked and tried to move backward, but Leon made a fist and smashed him full in the stomach. He heard the whoosh of air as the breath left the man's body. Sir Shame was paralyzed with pain, and could only hold his middle where he'd been slugged.

And something else was happening. Leon blinked as the person he was looking at changed in front of his eyes. Instead of a powerfully built figure with jet black hair and nice clothes, he was now looking at a skinny rake of a man dressed in black rags, with scraggly brown hair. His face was pockmarked with scars, and his ears stuck out too far from his head. And he smelled terrible.

"Duck, Superbrat!" he heard somebody say, and he did so just as a blue energy ball came whizzing by. It hit Sir Shame, and as the electrical charge went through his body, he collapsed on the floor, temporarily immobilized.

"Get him," Porf said, and the boys swarmed forward. Rode ripped one of the raggedy sleeves off Sir Shame, and shoved it into his mouth. Irving went over to one of the shivering policemen and acquired a set of handcuffs. Soon the super villain was bound and gagged, and the boys stood around him. He looked up at the boys with naked fear in his eyes.

"You're the one who should be ashamed," Gavin said. "You're an ugly, smelly piece of shit!"

Leon had gotten his underpants and was about to put them back on, when he had a sudden urge. Without asking Rode's permission, he sauntered over to Sir Shame and pointed his little penis at him. Within a moment, urine started to flow, and he aimed it at the man's chest.

"Good idea, Superbrat!" Rode said as he withdrew his own penis from his pink briefs. A yellow stream was soon flowing from him as well, and one by one the other boys were whipping their dicks out. Gavin and Cole both deliberately pissed in his face, while the others covered him from head to toe. All he could do was close his eyes and try to wiggle out of the way. When the last of them was done, they moved back, leaving him in a large puddle of pungent urine.

Two of the guards had recovered enough to draw their guns, and they were holding Sir Shame's henchmen at bay. The boys walked down the hall until they came to the emergency exit. As they stepped outside, the Police Captain was there getting ready to rush into the building.

"Thanks, Seagull, I'm handling this," Rode said. "Captain, we're going now. We don't want to cause any trouble. We didn't do anything wrong, and you can't stop us."

"Write us a ticket. The name is Pink Streak and The Underpants Boys. Good afternoon, Captain."

One by one the boys filed past. Captain Van Dyke was clearly seething, but she didn't seem to know what to do. None of the other policemen were making any moves toward them. They went into the parking garage and held hands as Gavin obscured them. Rather than fly up to the top, they simply walked up the ramps until they reached their van. Once Gavin had obscured that as well, they were flying back to headquarters.

"No, that was a tough one," Porf said. "And thanks to our little hero for being able to stand up to him and shut that pig up!" He put his hand out to Leon and high-fived him. Leon felt a rush of pride. All the boys congratulated him, even Cole, who looked like he was about to puke.

"Hey, relax, Black Hole," Irving said to him. "We're all still friends, right guys?"

All the boys chimed in their agreement, but Cole just shifted in his seat and cast his eyes downward, holding tightly to the wheel as he kept the van degraved.

Even though they had won, emotions were still raw, and it was a mostly silent trip back to HQ. They landed the van and carefully covered it back up before ascending into the treehouse.

"I did." Gavin cut in. "I lost $10 last week. I just thought it fell out of my pocket or something."

Cole continued to look at the floor. Silent tears were falling down his face, and his cheeks were flushed with shame.

"Dad had to cut off my allowance the other week," he said. "Because work had to put him on part-time. I… I don't have any good excuse. I just wanted to be able to do things with you guys. I was keeping track, see? I really was going to pay it back when I could."

He opened his velcro wallet and took out a folded-over piece of paper. He passed it to Rode, who opened it and quickly scanned it.

"Twenty from me," he said. "Hmmm, never noticed. Ten from Irving. Ten from Gavin. Ten from Fox. Five from Porf. So fifty-five in all."

"All right, all right," Irving said. He went over and rubbed Cole on the back. "I for one believe you were going to pay it back, otherwise you wouldn't have been keeping track. Doesn't make it right, but it's worth something."

"It's good that you feel so bad about it, Cole," Porf said. "I wish you hadn't done it, but I'll forgive you. We're friends, okay? Just don't ever do it again."

"You're still gonna have to find a way to pay it back," Rode said. "But we'll give you time to earn it or something."

"It's just… nobody do anything like this again, okay?" Fox said. "We have to trust each other."

"Yes, he does," Gavin agreed. "And, sorry Cole, but it should be double. I mean, it's stealing."

Leon looked around. It seemed fair to him, and the other boys were all nodding. Twenty spanks with the paddle did seem like a lot, but stealing was way worse than just not doing what you were told.

"It's okay, that's fair," Cole said, wiping his eyes and trying to look brave. His trembling lip gave him away, though.

"Oh, fearless leader," Gavin said, rolling his eyes theatrically. "None of us care if you enjoy it or not. You spanked me, and when you were done you had a raging hard-on. Think I didn't notice that? You aren't spanking us for kicks; you only do it when somebody fucks up and needs it, and it's not just your decision. The only time Porf is going to be spanking anybody is if and when YOU fuck up. You're the leader, and it's your job. So grab the paddle and let's get this over with. ′Cause, honestly, all that using my power has made me horny as hell, and I really need to cum soon!"

Rode looked really embarrassed, but he got out the paddle anyway and patted his lap for Cole to come and lie over it. He pulled down his cousin's black underwear and jacked him up over his knee. Nobody said anything as the spanking started, and the treehouse was filled with the sound of wood striking naked buttocks and Cole's anguished howls of pain and releasing guilt. By the time it was over, his bottom was cherry-red, and he hopped about with his little penis jiggling around.

"I know who I want," Gavin said, grabbing Boyd and stripping his yellow briefs off. Leon didn't waste any time. As the 'hero of the day', he knew he could probably get any boy he wanted, but he went right for Cole. Cole was still rubbing his blazing bottom, but Leon took hold of his other hand and looked meaningfully at him. Just then Irving came up beside them.

"As long as it's good with Cole," Leon agreed. Cole silently nodded, eyes still glistening with tears. The two of them took him to the unoccupied bottom bunk and got him to lie face down. Leon got the lotion Rode had used on him the day before and squirted some on his hand before handing the bottle to Irving. Then he started to gently rub Cole's angry, hot bottom. He could feel the heat radiating from the spanked red cheeks. Irving got some lotion as well and started to do the same. None of them said anything as they eased some relief into Cole's crimson backside.

Leon looked around; Gavin and Boyd were going at it on one of the mats on the floor, and Rode was busy sucking off Fox on a sleeping bag nearby. Jay and Porf had climbed up into the top bunk and were getting busy up there.

Cole was now completely relaxed, so Leon started to move his hand down into the cleft between his buttocks as well as lower, going between his legs and then under, fondling his tight scrotum. He and Irving were still in their underpants, but they were tented out with boyish erections. He'd had enough of that, and he stripped his off and then, while Irving continued to work on Cole, he eased his green underpants down and off.

They rolled Cole onto his side, and Irving got behind him. Cole scissored his legs open, granting access to his secret spot. Leon shifted so his head was down in front of his crotch so he had a close-up view of what was going on. Irving squirted more lotion on his hand and applied a generous amount to his fat penis. Leon started to flick his tongue over the head of Cole's stiff little prick. He saw as Irving pressed his member against Cole's puckered anus and started to push. He didn't have much trouble getting it in, and Cole's dick twitched as he was entered. Leon let the whole thing into his mouth, and bobbed his head up and down. Cole put his hands on Leon's head and held onto him as he sucked his stiff boy penis. Cole started to moan and grunt as his little cousin slurped on his hard organ while his friend plowed him from behind.

Leon remembered how much Cole liked having his balls sucked, so he made sure to give them plenty of attention as well. Before too long, Cole was pushing himself forward, desperately trying to get relief inside Leon's mouth, and then he came all at once. Irving wasn't quite done, and fucked him for another three minutes before he dry-fired inside him.

He and Leon eagerly switched places, and the youngest boy had no trouble slipping his little penis inside Cole's boy hole. Because of the size, Leon really couldn't do deep strokes, but he got far enough inside the other boy's anus to get some good friction going. Cole clamped down on him, enhancing his pleasure. He felt the heat from the other boy's spanked bottom as he pressed against it. He held Cole by the side as he humped and pumped. Since he was the only one of the three not to orgasm already, it took him less time, and soon he was experiencing his own dry orgasm. But even after he came, he sort of rubbed Cole's back and bottom for a while until Irving sucked another orgasm out of him. Then the three boys just lay together and relaxed while the other boys finished their assorted sex acts around them. Leon watched as Boyd pounded Gavin's ass until they both collapsed in a tangle of arms and legs.

When at last they were all totally spent, Rode fired up the Xbox, and they started playing games. Nobody seemed to want to talk about any of the things Sir Shame had said; they just seemed like they wanted to forget it ever happened. But Leon wasn't quite prepared to let it go. He crawled over to where Fox was lying on his belly, draped over a bean bag chair, head propped up on one hand.

"I think you're very handsome," he whispered in Fox's ear. Fox just looked at him and blushed, his cheeks getting nearly as red as his hair.

"Really?" Fox asked, looking into his face for signs of sincerity. Leon was notorious for not being able to tell even a convincing fib and for once this played to his advantage.

"Thank you, Leon. I still kind of wish I looked like Rode or Porf, but… thanks. That… that means a lot."

Leon just smiled and squeezed Fox's bare butt. Nobody was going to make the Underpants Boys feel ashamed if he could help it!

In this chapter, we learn how Leon sees things. There is simply no name that means 'Orange', so I started thinking of things that were that color. A lion was an obvious one, and Leon means lion. Of course, a lion is also famed for being strong so it made Leon an obvious choice to be the team's strong man (every team needs one!) I figured it would be a nice twist to have it be the littlest one who is also the strongest. The smallest one in a group often does have a chip on their shoulder and feel the need to prove themself – especially when he's also a little brother.

In many ways, Leon is the easiest character to write. Originally, I was going to have their mother be dead, but then I figured having her abandon the family would give the boys some vulnerability that I could use. Also, I couldn't resist taking a cheap shot at the author of that feminist drivel, Eat, Pray, Love. As for the name 'SuperBrat'; before they got superpowers, everybody used to tease him and call him 'brat', both because he was the youngest and prone to losing his temper. So when he became so strong, he decided to keep the 'brat' part and throw it back in their faces, so to speak.

Sir Shame was an interesting character – a friend of mine suggested him and described how he should look. I added his ability to mask his looks so you don't see him as he really is until the end. Somebody ugly like that; well, he's literally projecting and trying to make up for how he looks by surrounding himself with beauty. Of course the problem is internal, and can't be fixed with all the stolen paintings in the world. But he also gave me the ability to fill in some more of the details of the boys by revealing their deepest insecurities. Originally, I had this dreadful scene where the boys sat around in this ad hoc therapy session going over what he had said about them and working it all out with group hugs and tears before I realized that boys simply don't do that sort of crap, and I deleted the whole thing with gusto. Some of those issues will come up in future chapters, but they'll work through it like boys.

Ivan Winter The Underpants Boys

Edited by Cal

Category & Story codes

Summary

Characters

Disclaimer

Chapter 01

Chapter 02

Chapter 3