[Surge of Confusion]

"Please please please...," Icesurge scanned the League's courtyard as soon as he arrived. He'd missed the ceremony but the reception was in full swing. It was a big event with dozens of known Supers on both sides of the law mingling together. It was a beautiful, cool Fall evening, possibly helped along by the League's weather manipulators. Most of the attendees dressed as formally as Icesurge had. He wore a navy blue suit with no mask. He was a recognized Supervillain and had no secret identity to speak of. He was only 14; but, no one cared to make him go to school. On any other day, it might have bothered him to see villains and heroes getting along so well. But, he was there for a different reason.

"YES!" He cheered to himself the moment he found who he was looking for. He immediately moved toward the pair of teenage girls. One had golden-blonde hair and the other had chestnut curls with pink highlights. They were dressed for the event too. The blonde wore an off-white dress with red trim and the brown-haired girl wore a cotton-candy-colored dress with neon pink boots.

"Alis?" he walked up behind them and spoke the name. Both girls turned at the same time. "Mad Doctor?" he looked at the blonde. "Do you remember me?" he asked.

"Yes," the blonde nodded; but, she tilted her head at him in confusion. "You remember us?" When she asked that, Icesurge noticed both of the girls' eyes flash gold. It only lasted for a brief moment.

"Why wouldn't I remember you?" he asked. "You saved my life." she nodded.

"By the way," she offered him her hand with a smile. "My name's Molly, not 'Mad Doctor'," she said. Icesurge shook her hand as she continued explaining. "It's a little complicated," she said. Then, she gestured at the reception happening around them.

"I'm getting ready to work on something, but we'll help you after if that's okay?" she asked. Icesurge nodded.

"I know," he said. "I remember when you were saving my life you said you had to heal during a super battle." Then, he shook his head. "I don't know how I know, but I feel like there's going to be a super battle here at the wedding."

"There is," Molly nodded at him. "It's a scripted event; some troublemaker villain is going to come in and stir things up. Then, everyone takes sides and I have to start healing."

"I'll help," Icesurge nodded. "If you don't mind? You said you needed help staying safe too, right?"

"Thanks!" Molly grinned. "I have the rest of my team showing up to help; but, that just gives you a chance to meet them," she said.

"It looks like everyone's late today...," Alis chimed in. Molly giggled, but Icesurge gave her a questioning look.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, the team can get here pretty fast," Alis shrugged. "So, we're not really waiting on them. But whatever NPC villain is supposed to come and kick things off isn't here yet. The fighting should have started already." Icesurge took another glance around the courtyard, then shook his head.

"It looks like all the villains are already here."

"AWwwwww, wait a minute!" Alis whined. Golden stars glowed in her eyes and she took a careful, slow look around the courtyard. Then, she ended by staring at Icesurge.

"You're the problem!" She said with volume. It would have almost sounded insulting if she wasn't laughing at the same time.

"What?" Icesurge shrugged.

"Yesterday, when Molly healed you, you were still an NPC. Now, you're Awake and not an NPC anymore, but the AlterNet still thinks you are."

"I don't know what any of that means," Icesurge half-nodded and half shook his head at her.

"You don't have to right this minute," Alis grinned as she gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. Then, she flicked her wrist upward at around waist height. A broad, smoky-grey glass pane appeared in the air in front of her and hovered in place.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a Slate," Molly answered as Alis began moving her fingers over the Slate's surface as if she were typing. Then, she flicked her own wrist upward and one appeared in front of her. "All players get one, it's where we access all our menus and inventory and stuff."

"Okay, that should do it," Alis said. She gave a dismissive wave with her hand and the Slate disintegrated into white powder, then disappeared. Molly dismissed hers too.

"What did you do?" Icesurge asked. He was having trouble keeping up, but he trusted he would get in-depth explanations later.

"I told the AlterNet that this quest was bugged and the NPC needed to be replaced," Alis replied.

"Okay... who's the Alternate?" he asked. Both girls giggled.

"Not who," Alis said. "It's more of a 'what'. Or, maybe even a 'where'."

"THIS WEDDING IS AN INSULT TO VILLAINS EVERYWHERE!" a raspy, high voice filled the air. It sounded like it came from above. Everyone looked up and saw a black-caped villain gliding down to the ground as a soft rain began to fall.

"Who's that?" Icesurge wondered aloud. Then, another, older villain stepped forward from the crowd.

"Mind your elders, Flash Flood," the old villain said. Orange flames ignited around his fists.

"Yeah!" Alis cheered and pink flames burst to life around her hands. "Let's get started!"

"I've never heard of this guy...," Icesurge shrugged.

"Why would you?" Molly asked. "You're the one he replaced," she said. As Icesurge tried to comprehend that, he was nowhere near ready to hear what she said next. "He didn't exist until just now."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1733 in a row. (Story #287 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.