We Were Never Heroes (A Superhero RP) IC

[Beiarusia]

Zaahir

HOA “BLAKE” NZUYEN
Wi-Fi & Chill, Fremont, Seattle, WA

---

Blake wasn’t entirely sold on the idea if Zaahir’s response was the only consolation to be had, but what other choice did she and Zedekiah have in the matter? Driving wasn’t an option and neither was walking, so it was either take the risk and hope for the best, or find an alternate means of transportation. Blake was impatient so she swallowed any doubt and merely did what she did best: dive headfirst into a situation with no safety net. Had worked well so far.

“Just get us there in one piece,” Blake said, grabbing onto one wrist while Zedekiah took another. For good measure she closed the circle by taking hold of Zedekiah’s hand, thinking that a closed circuit may well work better, and anything to improve their chances was good. “Alright. Let’s go then.”

[Ubaria]

Lucio Martelli
'The Twins' Club and Bar
Somewhere in Downtown Seattle

The Twins was the exact kind of place that Lucio was complacent in not ever visiting in his lifetime, the shady club was whisked away in the nook of a back alley and guarded by several brutish bouncers, though not as nearly as brutish when Bloody Mary dispatched them methodically and without remorse, their entry fee paid for in blood and broken bones. The pit of this club was their destination, the dark, dingy and cramped interior filled with the sound of a pulsating bass beat and strobe lights on the dance floor which was filled with practically naked women, this was unfamiliar territory and Lucio had no clue how to conduct himself in such a manner that would not draw attention to himself, the bar was out of the question as he didn't bring any money to buy anything, nor did he want to make conversation with the bartender and was equally unkeen on joining the small group of dancers on the club floor. Instead he made peace with leaning against the far wall, glancing down at his phone to keep as clandestine as possible, though looking comically out of place whilst doing so.

A few moments passed without a hitch, for a minute or two they managed to successfully blend in with their surroundings to a limited degree, but all that went flying out the window when a fight broke out towards the bar. At first it was nothing but the sound of colliding blunt objects and scraping, then the first gunshot rang out sending the whole place into a whirlwind of chaos. Lucio instinctively dived for the floor and pressed up against a low wall, the bullets now starting to pick up in volume and rang out over the series of panicked screams and shouts, whatever plan they had in mind, that was gone and along with Mike Cross too. The place had turned into a warzone real fast, the Benefactor had really picked a bunch of wildcards to be 'heroes', cold blooded murder, that was what this was. Lucio decided that this wasn't for him, he didn't want to be locked up for being an accomplice to a public shooting and decided to escape with the flow of fleeing bar patrons into the cool alleyway above.

[Derelldia]

Avery mostly stayed quiet while they took the bus to the stop nearest Klein's house. Getting off once they reached their destination, the trio just seemed to wander around looking for the house for a while. Eventually they made it to the house. Looking around, Avery spotted the neighbors peaking out at the three of them. Giving a polite little wave to them, they seemed to shy away at this almost like they didn't want to be noticed watching. Avery turned and smirked, lightly entertained by the strangers watching. He grabbed the gloves off Stephen before he walked off towards the house.

"You know, doesn't seem like a bad little house. A tad strange are the neighbors, just watching us with who knows what purpose." Avery spoke as he stood beside Victoria, with Stephen sneaking off towards the house. "I mean, it wouldn't be ideal for them to alert police or anyone to us. Unless our friends have somehow made themselves far more interesting a target to the police here."

[Independent States of Tula]

Włodzisław "Hussar" Sokoloff
Wi-Fi and Chill, Seattle, WA

"Intercontinental teleportation? Well Sarah, that's definitely impressive, no wonder why your color was all gone." Sokoloff replied to Sarah's answer about her variance before adding "Anyway, I think I found something, a club called the Twins. It keeps coming up on local news sources as a suspected criminal front for the Syndicate in Seattle. It's only a few minutes away, you want to take a drive over?"

Sarah agreed and the two left the cafe, getting into Sokoloff's blue Ford Fiesta rental before taking off from the cafe. As they drove Sokoloff kept his eyes on the road and his mirrors, his eyes beneath his sunglasses scanned everywhere as Sokoloff instinctively searched for any pursuers.

Despite that instinct Sokoloff was calm however when he broke the silence and laid out his plan "So, Sarah, I want to check this club out. See what we can see, locate its exits, see who's in charge, and assess security. From there we can plan our attack, we'll break stuff, and see if we can get whoever's in charge to sing like a canary. Even if they don't know about Klein, they'll know about other Syndicate bases of operations, and we can start hitting those. Sound like a plan or do you want to try something else?"

[Rupudska]

Previously in The Twins bar...

"Few machine guns, unless this...Vulcan is a hell of a weapon." said Leonid to Karin. He hadn't noticed she was there, but that's quite normal for him. Just because he is a vampire doesn't means he can detects everyone around him, anyway. "Hell? It's gonna be worse probably, though we are facing normal humans. Not..other Variants," said Leonid, chuckled as he waited for the vodka.

Karin grinned as she followed Leonid inside.

"Oh, I am certain a Vulcan is up to the task."

She went a little overboard and summoned two Vulcans, their six barrels sticking out of a pair of golden circles either side of her.

"Now I consider violence to be a sin, but I believe I and my friends would greatly appreciate your cooperation. No-one has to get hurt here. In fact, I would rather no-one get hurt. Blood's a pain to get out of clothes, and 20x102 is rather easy to identify. And noisy."

She shook her head and spread her arms, as if in mock surrender. "But the choice is ultimately yours. You can cooperate, and hand over Mike Cross... or you could not cooperate, and hand over Mike Cross. If you ask me, it is a simple choice."

[Glaswegistan]

Sarah nodded as Hussar laid down the basics of the mission. ‘Mission?’ Sarah reflected, as she grabbed another two muffins and a bottle of water from the counter. She wasn’t dying, but she needed more than just one in her stomach, and it didn’t sound like Hussar would be stopping for food. A few dollars lighter, she left with Hussar.

She was quiet in the car. Sarah had stuffed her mouth with what food she’d brought before she’d even properly left the café, but it was obvious that her appetite wasn’t entirely to blame for her silence. In the space of a day, with next to no sleep, she’d gone from Newcastle to Seattle, from the gates of death to riding shotgun with a soldier of many wars and from optimistic curiosity to a creeping terror, or perhaps fear, or perhaps anxiety, that came with the wait before the plunge. Stories were not preparation for battle, training was; training Sarah lacked.

Sokoloff rattled off the plan to Sarah, for someone who, for the better part of a century had ostensibly lived on the battlefield, the Hussar seemed to take to the environment of gang wars and street patrols fairly naturally. The urban jungle was, Sarah supposed, just another battlefield.

“Sounds like a plan, guess we can always improvise, I mean I’m mobile, assuming I’m up to making a jump after earlier, and you can tank more or less anything some street thugs will throw at you, so we’ve got some versatility to toy around with…” She ranted, not pausing for breath. ‘Shit, I sound like a try-hard’

She stopped. Silence again.

Hussar turned another corner, Seattle spun around them.

“Do you remember the first time you went into combat?”

[Independent States of Tula]

Włodzisław "Hussar" Sokoloff
Driving Towards The Twins, Seattle, WA

Sokoloff appreciated Sarah's points on versatility and had been about to reply after he turned a corner when suddenly Sarah then asked “Do you remember the first time you went into combat?”

Sokoloff's facial expression didn't change at the question, though his eyes beneath his sunglasses widened slightly in surprise at the sudden question. The question brought a flood of memories to the forefront of Sokoloff's mind, most of them painful, some of them not so much. Suddenly Sokoloff realized he'd let an awkward silence carry for several seconds too many.

Awkwardly clearing his throat Sokoloff replied "I...uh...I pissed myself, the first time that is."

Deciding not to leave it at that Sokoloff continued "It was September First...Nineteen-Thirty-Nine. I was part of the Sixteenth Infantry Division and freshly out of training as an eighteen year old boy, the unit I was in were able to set up in a village called Dąbrówka Królewska, about eleven kilometers east of Grudziądz...a major strongpoint for the Vistula Defensive Line. Our orders were to keep the Germans from crossing the Osa River, a natural barrier that helped protect Grudziądz. At first we thought we wouldn't see combat, after all the Germans had devoted their main assault towards Łasin, a town about fourteen kilometers to our east. But that didn't last for long.

"The Germans assaulted our village, we tried to hold them back...but there were too many. Out of all the men in my platoon, I was the only survivor, I watched a lot of them get killed...and I was forced to kill two Germans myself in our attempts to retreat. Myself and the other survivors were able to cross the Osa River...but the Germans followed us. By the time the day's fighting had ended I realized I'd pissed myself in the fighting...I was so scared I'd pissed myself...no one gave me any gripe about it though, plenty of even the toughest men had done the same that day. ...Three days later we lost Grudziądz...fifteen days after that the Sixteenth Infantry Division was destroyed in Kampinos Forest."

Sokoloff finished his tale with a sigh, the rest of the story was pretty much well known, Hitler and Stalin had won...and the Poles paid dearly for it in blood and suffering.

[Glaswegistan]

A sigh, and another silence.

‘You idiot’

Sarah waited for a moment before trying to start conversation again.

“Sorry” She tried to get more out, but just looked down at her boot laces. The city went by in a blur in the corners of her eyes. “I didn’t mean to-”

“My dad was in Iraq, told me all about Granby, sorry, this was the first war, not the second…” Sarah floundered her words, appearing to stop and start for a few moments, unsure of what to say, before she looked straight ahead and gazed into Seattle as it moved towards her. “He never told me what it was like going into his first proper fight. My great granddad, he was a Marine in World War Two, told me all kinds of things about what happened, never said what it was like his first time.”

She looked at Hussar, though the shades were angled just enough that she couldn’t get a read on him; “Sorry, I’m just nervous. I didn’t mean to be a dick. Are you all right?”

[Altito Asmoro]

Previously in The Twins bar...

"Few machine guns, unless this...Vulcan is a hell of a weapon." said Leonid to Karin. He hadn't noticed she was there, but that's quite normal for him. Just because he is a vampire doesn't means he can detects everyone around him, anyway. "Hell? It's gonna be worse probably, though we are facing normal humans. Not..other Variants," said Leonid, chuckled as he waited for the vodka.

Karin grinned as she followed Leonid inside.

"Oh, I am certain a Vulcan is up to the task."

She went a little overboard and summoned two Vulcans, their six barrels sticking out of a pair of golden circles either side of her.

"Now I consider violence to be a sin, but I believe I and my friends would greatly appreciate your cooperation. No-one has to get hurt here. In fact, I would rather no-one get hurt. Blood's a pain to get out of clothes, and 20x102 is rather easy to identify. And noisy."

She shook her head and spread her arms, as if in mock surrender. "But the choice is ultimately yours. You can cooperate, and hand over Mike Cross... or you could not cooperate, and hand over Mike Cross. If you ask me, it is a simple choice."

The bouncers are mostly shocked and surprised by the sudden appearances of the weapons that appeared out of the woman's hands, though it is quite apparent that few of them tried hard to not showed their surprise to the weapons.

Leonid turned to Karin, smiled, and then to the bouncers in front of him. "Well, you see my friend already brings out her threat. And ooh, those weapons, look cool, and dangerous. So I suggest you give us Mike Cross, or die trying. I don't much care with what you can try to unleash, I warn you, we can kill all of you and not bat an eye. Capiche?"

"Now...just do what we said...and give us Mike Cross...and no one has to die."

[Beiarusia]

Maria Gonzalez (Bloody Mary)
VIP Section, the Twins, Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

Maria cursed under her breath as things quickly went to shit. Sure, there was likely no way that anyone was walking out of here without knocking a few skulls, but the chaos that took place in the main hall was almost absurd, and the gun-for-hire was tempted to put a bullet into the asshole who had lit the fuse. Even worse he wasn’t even with the group. It was a random explosion of American patriotism, chiefly the right to bear arms and the right to be stupid. Before Maria could even react the man was gone, as were several men and women with the misfortune to be caught in the crossfire. There was little to do now other than to find their man and get going before the police inevitably arrived.

Heading downstairs, Maria joined Leonid and Karin as the two faced down a wall of armed bouncers. Karin, proving once again how useful she was, had already taken the liberty of spawning several gatling-barreled guns with her strange magic circles. The bouncers were scared shitless to say the least.

“Glad you can handle yourselves,” Maria said to the pair in reference to the chaos that had just occurred. Lesser people would have shat their pants the moment lead began to fly. To the bouncers: “Drop the guns. You aren’t threatening anybody.”

The bouncers didn’t need to be told twice to drop their guns.

“Now, where is Cross?”

The quickness in which they betrayed their employer was impressive, as much as it was deplorable. They were paid to do one job: to be loyal. Of course their shameful failure had made Maria’s own task that much easier, but again she was tempted to discharge her weapon. She would have too if not for the fact that time was now a factor to contend with. So the bouncers were, regrettably, allowed to live. The cowards were already running back to the main floor when Maria waved the others along to where they had been pointed.

If they hurried they might just catch Cross.


the Twins, Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

“Easy man,” Mike said as he was dragged up the stairs to the emergency exit. The alarm had already been triggered by earlier patrons fleeing the scene. Stumbling through the still open door, Mike was pushed along by the bouncer while the woman chose this moment in particular to run off for her slice of safety. Mike called out to her to wait up but the bouncer shut him down with another shove towards the street.

Police sirens could be heard closing in from the distance. In another minute the place would be swarming with cops, both a good thing and a bad thing. The psychopath responsible for this mess would hopefully be gunned down by the police if he hadn’t been already; but the Syndicate would suffer a loss as the club likely wouldn’t recover from this.

A black Lincoln Town Car sped down the street, skidding to a halt right in front of Mike and the bouncer. Two casually dressed men stepped out of the car leaving a third behind the wheel. One took Mike and shoved him into the back seat while the other asked, “Is the place clean?”

“I’ll take care of it,” the bouncer told the man, knowing he and the others would need to grab or destroy any incriminating items in the VIP Section.

It was a good enough answer as the man jumped back into the car. A moment later it was pulling off into the street, leaving the bouncer to see to it that those he left behind had done their job. Hopefully they had.

[Independent States of Tula]

Włodzisław "Hussar" Sokoloff
Driving Towards The Twins, Seattle, WA

“Sorry, I’m just nervous. I didn’t mean to be a dick. Are you all right?” Sarah asked as she ended her apology and explanation.

Sokoloff frowned at that before replying "Don't be sorry. You aren't the first nor the last person to ask me that question."

Sokoloff took another turn, they were almost at the Twins, before the silence became too long Sokoloff then added "Most soldiers don't talk about combat...it haunts your soul in one way or another. Even after all these decades those first few years of fighting haunt me to some extent. But the important thing is that I understand where you're coming from, the first engagement is always the scariest, and you aren't the first comrade of mine to be as green as grass. Hold onto that anxiety and that fear, it means you're still alive, not just physically but mentally as well. As long as you keep them in check your fear and anxiety will keep you alert and alive...and it doesn't hurt having me here to help guide you along too.

"Just remember, as long as you don't piss yourself going into that first engagement then you're already doing better than me."

Sokoloff let that advice and his explanation for not needing to be sorry hang in the air, that last sentence there to help lighten the mood. Thankfully it was stated just in time for the Ford to turn the corner to the street the Twins was located on. Immediately Sokoloff could tell that something was off, people were running out of the building in a hurry, and there was definitely a lot of panic in that fleeing. Sokoloff had been so focused on the group though that he almost missed the black Lincoln town car skidding to a halt up ahead on the side of the street as a man was quickly shoved into it. However Sokoloff noticed as the car moved to make a quick exit and so his instincts screamed at him that that car was now his target.

"Change of plans," Sokoloff calmly stated as he hit the gas to follow the town car as it moved to pick up speed "That car has someone important in it. I want to find out who. If you're in make sure you're strapped in tight...if not you might want to jump to somewhere a bit safer...this ride's about to get hectic."

It was hard to tell if the town car noticed the Ford Fiesta tailing it or not, but it quickly began picking up speed, Sokoloff kept pace as his foot depressed on the gas pedal and he began following the town car as it swerved in and out of traffic ahead by about two car lengths.

[Vacif]

Lin Kai Soe
the Twins, Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

Kylen was stunned at what had unfolded, one minute, there was your typical epilepsy inducing rave, the next, screams, and shouts, and not of the party kind. He counted at least 7 corpses, not all of them combatants. Not only would there be a police inquiry, the Syndicate would be alerted of their presence. Luckily, they didn't start the entire fiasco, but by the way his teammates were handling the situations, it would make it look very much like they were accomplices to the crime. Also, with this blatant attack, there would be no way for a low profile extraction of Mr. Cross. The Syndicate would be launching their own investigation, they would not take this lying down. Their man was probably being escorted out of the building by now. His instincts were screaming at him, something was wrong. He turned to the others, but they were already making their way to the basement. He took a step forward, but his gut told him he was going the complete wrong way. So, he took a step back, and was rewarded with a less disturbed gut instinct.

Kylen raced out the way they'd came, numerous people were cowering in the darkened halls, the bouncer BM had rendered unconscious was still out cold. As he slowed his pace, coming out the car, a black Lincoln sped past him. His gut was telling him to give chase. Turning back, he'd "borrowed" the bouncer's side arm, a Glock 17, hopefully he wouldn't need to use it. Unlike the others, that had entered in a limousine, Kylen had followed them on his motorcycle. He ran to the side of the building, where he'd stashed his bike, and hoped on. Kylen put on his black motorcycle helmet (safety first), then inserted the keys. Kicking off the stand, he revved the bike's engine, and pursued the black car down the street. Not so subtle but they needed to grab him now, or they'd have one hell of a time later.

[Glaswegistan]

Asking about the Hussar’s past had obviously made him uncomfortable, even Sarah could see that. The Polish mercenary didn’t show his years, he wasn’t baby-faced by any means, but Sarah had a hard time ignoring the disconnection between his experiences and his apparent age. The Hussar, Sokoloff, had told her not to apologise for asking, Sarah looked back down at her boots. He tried to lighten the mood, Sarah mumbled back something about being glad she’d brought a change of underwear, it wasn’t as witty as she had hoped it might be.

The club brought Sarah’s attention right back to the streets. The noise, the panic; people were milling about outside, confused and scared. Sarah might not have had the tact to recognize a sore point when talking to Sokoloff, but she knew an agitated crowd when she saw one. Someone burned rubber, though she wasn’t sure where.

"Change of plans," Sokoloff said, and something about him seemed to change. "That car has someone important in it. I want to find out who.” he said, Sarah looked around, finding the car in question fairly quickly. “If you're in make sure you're strapped in tight...if not you might want to jump to somewhere a bit safer...this ride's about to get hectic."

Sarah stole another glance at her apparent partner in vigilantism, not seeing his eyes, it made him even harder to read. She looked ahead, grabbing a pen from her pocket and scrawling down the other cars license plate number on her arm. It seemed like a sensible thing to do, somehow.

“Wouldn’t miss it” She said, and felt a very small portion of pride at how cool she felt she’d manage to sound, or maybe it was the fear speaking. “We’ve got the mugshots of some of the people we’re looking for, I can tell you who’s in there.” Sarah yelped; “I have an idea, try to match their speed if you can.”

Hussar must have been on board with whatever she had planned, maybe he understood. The car sped up, keeping pace with its target, their forward momentum more or less even with one another.

‘First mission as an Avenger, don’t fuck this up’

Sarah leaned towards the backseat, hastily unzipping a pocket on the side of her duffel sack. When she faced forward again, her face was covered by a balaclava.

“It’s not a suit of armour and those cool Hussar wings…” Sarah tried to put on a confident smile, even though Sokoloff was probably watching the road, “But it’ll do, right?”

She didn’t wait for a response.

“Try to keep pace, I’ll need you here when I get back”

Sarah looked ahead. Lincoln town car. She couldn’t remember how common those were in the UK, but she’d seen a few of them before. ‘Did Top Gear cover those once?’ she struggled to remember mundane details of how she knew what the car looked like, even as she poised to strike.

“Ok…doing it now!” she called, probably louder than she really needed to.

‘You know, it might have been a good idea to do a test jump first’ some small part of her tried to reason with the absurdity of her decision. Most of her just tried to stick the landing on the Lincoln as she dropped onto the hood.

“OH SHIT!” Sarah hit the bonnet, her legs absorbing the landing rather nicely. Hussar had matched the speed of the Lincoln expertly, she’d barely even needed to alter her momentum to avoid being smeared across the front of the car. The driver, for his part, kept driving, even whilst his jaw hit the floor. Sarah really hoped the balaclava masked her panic, and hoped more she hadn’t wet herself without noticing.

‘Focus’

She crouched, only a split second or two after she’d landed, the stream of air against her back forced her into kneeling as she looked from seat to seat. One of the guys looked kind of familiar. The window was in the way, she could tell for sure. The seat next to him seemed vacant though.

Someone inside the car was reaching for something, probably a gun. Sarah really hoped it was a phone. She leapt up, skimming over the roof of the car, doing her best to twist around until she and the car faced the same direction. Behind Sokoloff’s car, she saw someone on a motorbike, seemed to be in a hurry, maybe someone else looking for leads, maybe another bodyguard, Sarah didn’t know.

‘The seat’ Sarah looked to her immediate right, catching yet another look of confusion as she took a moment to examine the cars passenger; “Thought so!” she blurted out as she leapt away from the car. From the seat next to Hussar, she watched Mike Cross’s bodyguard, or who she assumed to be a bodyguard, point a gun at empty space.

‘Too fucking close’

“Positive ID on Mike Cross, he’s the passenger on the right-back seat. There’s also someone else on a motorbike at your six, I don’t know if they’re part of this though.””

[Beiarusia]

Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

“Hey man, what’s the rush?”

“Just keep your damned head down,” snapped the guard in the backseat. Mike Cross had a reputation within the Syndicate, one that would have seen him sent to the bottom of Puget Sound in lead shoes if not for his being the son of the boss, so as much as the enforcers hated it there was little choice but to clean up after the playboy and his rather spectacular screw ups. Likely he was somehow to blame for the fiasco at the Twins.

“Getting tired of this shit,” muttered the man riding shotgun, a veteran of playing the role of babysitter to the younger Cross.

“You and me both,” agreed the driver.

“Stop the whining and get us to the safehouse,” growled the guard in the back.

The Lincoln sped down the avenue, turning left at the stoplight and cutting off a small foreign compact as police red-and-blue flashed up ahead. The street here was a little less crowded, allowing the getaway car to slip past the slower traffic before slowing down to merge, not wanting to draw unwanted attention from any beat cops that were no doubt rushing to the scene at the nightclub. The guards spoke little as they drove. They were too angry at having been dispatched yet again to grab Cross, and did their best to ignore the drunk man as he continued with his partial high in the backseat.

Mike was looking at himself in the rearview mirror when he said suddenly, “I know I’m important and all” – a small laugh interrupted the thought – “but did you really need to call in the cavalry? Props though for them getting here so fast.”

“What are you going on about? We didn’t call nobody,” said one of the guards.

“Then who’s the little Ford?” Mike pointed to the rearview mirror.

All three guards looked back to see a Ford Fiesta trailing after them. The driver cursed under his breath as he was told to speed up. The little car following behind did the same. Either a very unlikely coincidence or something was up. Mike Cross was an asshole, but he was their responsibility, so the guards made it their priority to protect him at all costs – seeing as how they would pay the price in the end no matter what happened – and the first step was to lose the shadow. The Lincoln sped up and took another rough turn. The Ford followed and was even closing the distance. It was the motorcycle cutting across traffic to join the pursuit that really sent the guards on high alert.

And then, without warning, there was a masked girl on the hood of the car.

The driver yelled out in surprise, swerving and nearly losing control as the front-right tire hit the curb before correcting his oversteer with a small bump. The other men, especially Mike Cross in his distorted state of mind, were shouting now as well.

“You hit the bitch!”

“I swear I didn’t!”

“She’s right fucking there on the hood!”

“She just… just appeared!”

The driver swerved again to miss a slower car, the woman doing her best to hold on before scrambling up and over to the car’s roof. The man riding shotgun drew his pistol and tried to follow where the woman was through the thin sheet of fabric and metal. She appeared near the trunk, and as the man took aim she jumped, but instead of hitting the pavement the woman simply disappeared. The armed man allowed a string of expletives to flow from his mouth as he caught sight of her in the Ford as it pulled up alongside them.

“That was a cool trick,” Mike said with a sloppy grin.

“Fuck, she’s not right,” the guard with the handgun said. “Ram the bitch!”

The driver looked over to the Ford as if debating with himself. They were going at some speed now, and one car ramming another never turned out as planned. Real life wasn’t like the movies after all. “Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure! Or would you rather me take potshots pass your head?” The man waved the gun for emphasis.

A fair enough point. Hoping for the best, the driver turned hard on the steering wheel and tried to knock the Ford out of the chase.

[United Human Planets]

Zaahir

HOA “BLAKE” NZUYEN
Wi-Fi & Chill, Fremont, Seattle, WA

---

Blake wasn’t entirely sold on the idea if Zaahir’s response was the only consolation to be had, but what other choice did she and Zedekiah have in the matter? Driving wasn’t an option and neither was walking, so it was either take the risk and hope for the best, or find an alternate means of transportation. Blake was impatient so she swallowed any doubt and merely did what she did best: dive headfirst into a situation with no safety net. Had worked well so far.

“Just get us there in one piece,” Blake said, grabbing onto one wrist while Zedekiah took another. For good measure she closed the circle by taking hold of Zedekiah’s hand, thinking that a closed circuit may well work better, and anything to improve their chances was good. “Alright. Let’s go then.”

"Ill try my best," said Zaahir, in response to Blake, "but Im not making any promises. So, if we appear, and your missing a body part, dont say I didnt warn you!" Before either Zeke or Blake had a chance to respond, there was a loud swooshing noise in everyone ears as Zaahir began the teleport, bring them to their destination in a fraction of a second. Well, sort of their destination, they were actually about 100 feet down the street from the house, but they could see it through the trees. Zaahir was taken aback, and looked all over the place trying to understand where he was, before he saw the house and smiled, saying, "see! I can do it!" and started making his way there, continuing with, "so, how are we getting in, should I break the door or something, or what?"

[Altito Asmoro]

Maria Gonzalez (Bloody Mary)
VIP Section, the Twins, Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

Maria cursed under her breath as things quickly went to shit. Sure, there was likely no way that anyone was walking out of here without knocking a few skulls, but the chaos that took place in the main hall was almost absurd, and the gun-for-hire was tempted to put a bullet into the asshole who had lit the fuse. Even worse he wasn’t even with the group. It was a random explosion of American patriotism, chiefly the right to bear arms and the right to be stupid. Before Maria could even react the man was gone, as were several men and women with the misfortune to be caught in the crossfire. There was little to do now other than to find their man and get going before the police inevitably arrived.

Heading downstairs, Maria joined Leonid and Karin as the two faced down a wall of armed bouncers. Karin, proving once again how useful she was, had already taken the liberty of spawning several gatling-barreled guns with her strange magic circles. The bouncers were scared shitless to say the least.

“Glad you can handle yourselves,” Maria said to the pair in reference to the chaos that had just occurred. Lesser people would have shat their pants the moment lead began to fly. To the bouncers: “Drop the guns. You aren’t threatening anybody.”

The bouncers didn’t need to be told twice to drop their guns.

“Now, where is Cross?”

The quickness in which they betrayed their employer was impressive, as much as it was deplorable. They were paid to do one job: to be loyal. Of course their shameful failure had made Maria’s own task that much easier, but again she was tempted to discharge her weapon. She would have too if not for the fact that time was now a factor to contend with. So the bouncers were, regrettably, allowed to live. The cowards were already running back to the main floor when Maria waved the others along to where they had been pointed.

If they hurried they might just catch Cross.

"Cross's gone. There was no way we can chase him with the limousine," said Leonid to Karin and Bloody Mary. James contacted him shortly after the bouncers surrendered, and told him that he saw Mike Cross and few of his security details went inside a car and into the road soon after. He also told him that police is on his way.

"Also, police gonna be here soon. What do you want us to do, Bloody Mary? Finding the instigator of this...accident, or just get out of here while we still can, or...we kill the police? Yes, it will attract more attentions but by this point," as he glanced to his surroundings. Empty, nothing, no one's there.

"I don't think we have something to lose."

[Independent States of Tula]

Włodzisław "Hussar" Sokoloff
Pursuing Mike Cross, Seattle, WA

“Positive ID on Mike Cross, he’s the passenger on the right-back seat. There’s also someone else on a motorbike at your six, I don’t know if they’re part of this though.” Sarah announced as she teleported back into her seat.

"Nicely done Sarah." Sokoloff stated before adding "Keep an eye on that motorcycle just in case that's not friendly. I'll keep focus on the car with Cross."

With that Sokoloff kept up with the Syndicate Car, coming up beside it to confirm Cross's identity as well as the number of occupants.

'One armed man at least, one driver, and Mike Cross. Yup, definitely-OH KURWA!' Sokoloff thought to himself before noticing the car swerving towards him.

Sokoloff hit the brakes, the Ford Fiesta slowing down rapidly, so fast so that the offending Syndicate car missed by inches...before it flew into the other lane of traffic, straight into a white van. The driver had turned his wheel too much, losing control of the vehicle and causing him to crash. Sokoloff for his part just held onto the brakes, stopping the Fiesta just feet before the accident. Sokoloff threw off his seatbelt before yanking on his door handle and practically throwing himself out of the Fiesta. He fast walked over to the Lincoln town car, and yanked on the door handle, surprisingly finding it unlocked...he soon found out why when three gunshots rang out from with the vehicle.

All three slammed into Sokoloff's lower torso before exiting out his back in a brilliant spray of blood and flesh. Sokoloff feel wordlessly to the ground, and lay still as blood pooled on the front of his dress shirt and jacket where he'd been shot. The guard who'd fired the shot then peeked his head out of the back of the car before looking down at the man he'd just shot and killed. ...Only for his look of smug satisfaction turn to shock as he found a WIST94L in his face. A single shot rang out and the guard's head shot back before gravity pushed it back down so that it was hanging limply from the body it was attached to, peering evermore over the edge of the car backseat.

"This was a new suit too you dumb son of a bitch." Sokoloff swore before getting up off the pavement.

Ducking to look into the backseat with his pistol aimed into the town car, Sokoloff spotted Mike Cross unconscious in his seat, he had no seatbelt on so Sokoloff assumed that he'd been knocked out in the crash. Looking to the driver's seat Sokoloff saw him knocked out and bleeding from the head against the airbag. Knowing the threat was dealt with Sokoloff holstered his pistol in his underarm holster before looking back to wherever Sarah had ended up before asking:

"Sarah, come over here and help me load this poor bastard into the Ford. Hurry now, the local police'll be here soon."

[Beiarusia]

HOA “BLAKE” NZUYEN
the Home of Robert Klein, Ames Lake, Seattle, WA

---

Reality turned inside out as the three would-be heroes were ripped free and twisted through time and space. In truth this lasted for only a fraction of a second, though to Blake, and no doubt Zedekiah, this feeling felt much longer, it being difficult to say for sure when one’s very existence was scattered and reassembled somewhere else entirely. Feet hit solid ground and the world came back to focus. They were away from the city proper, and the home of Robert Klein was maybe a hundred yards out.

“See! I can do it,” Zaahir began as he pointed out the house. “So, how are we getting in? Should I break the door or something, or what?”

A panicked yell was his answer. “Why am I naked!” Blake yelled out. Once both men had turned to look the girl laughed, being fully clothed and no worse for wear. “Haha! Made you look.” Playfully she added, “Perverts. Come on, let’s go see what we’re dealing with.”

Blake sauntered up ahead, picking a path through the trees and finding herself in the neighbor’s yard before long. Movement in the window caught her eye and an older woman could be seen staring out. Blake gave a happy wave and continued on as if nothing was wrong. Slipping down the little hill she was on the property of Klein. His car, an older Porsche 911, was parked outside, and while the home looked unassuming there was one thing that quickly caught Blake’s eye: they weren’t alone. Familiar faces from the warehouse, including Victoria.

“What are you guys doing here?” Blake asked with curiosity in her voice.


Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

A headache. That was all Mike Cross could understand and he slowly came to. Perhaps he had overdone it again, too much drinking and partying, but as he slowly opened his eyes he saw the leather of the car and the bleeding enforcers in the front. Still not fully grasping the situation, Cross turned and saw another enforcer splayed out, and the face of someone he couldn’t recognize. It took a moment and a great deal of concentration but the playboy slowly pieced together that he was in a car accident. Perhaps this strange man looking in through the door was a concerned citizen looking to help.

“I need some aspirin,” Cross said weakly and he tried to straighten himself in the seat. He was sore but, aside from his head, nothing seemed too bad. “Fuck. What the hell hit us?”

The driver moaned but wasn’t getting up anytime soon. The passenger was in worse shape. Traffic had come to a complete halt, and drivers and pedestrians alike were now trying to flee the sound of gunshots. Several were already on their cell phones and calling 911.


Maria Gonzalez (Bloody Mary)
the Twins, Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

Maria cursed under her breath. This whole plan was a disaster, and in the end they hadn’t even nabbed their guy. She was very much tempted to find the asshole that had started shooting, but the police would be here any moment and a firefight with them wouldn’t be beneficial for anyone involved. So all they could do was to throw in the towel.

“Let’s get going.”

It was easy enough to loop back towards the limousine using the back alleys, and by the time the police were swarming the building the Variants were long since gone. They would need a new way to locate Klein, and ultimately Ambrose, but doing anymore today was most likely out of the question. Best to stay low and to think things through. Maybe some of the others were having better luck than they were? Hopefully something to make up for this disaster.

[Deramen]

HOA “BLAKE” NZUYEN
the Home of Robert Klein, Ames Lake, Seattle, WA

---

Reality turned inside out as the three would-be heroes were ripped free and twisted through time and space. In truth this lasted for only a fraction of a second, though to Blake, and no doubt Zedekiah, this feeling felt much longer, it being difficult to say for sure when one’s very existence was scattered and reassembled somewhere else entirely. Feet hit solid ground and the world came back to focus. They were away from the city proper, and the home of Robert Klein was maybe a hundred yards out.

“See! I can do it,” Zaahir began as he pointed out the house. “So, how are we getting in? Should I break the door or something, or what?”

A panicked yell was his answer. “Why am I naked!” Blake yelled out. Once both men had turned to look the girl laughed, being fully clothed and no worse for wear. “Haha! Made you look.” Playfully she added, “Perverts. Come on, let’s go see what we’re dealing with.”

Blake sauntered up ahead, picking a path through the trees and finding herself in the neighbor’s yard before long. Movement in the window caught her eye and an older woman could be seen staring out. Blake gave a happy wave and continued on as if nothing was wrong. Slipping down the little hill she was on the property of Klein. His car, an older Porsche 911, was parked outside, and while the home looked unassuming there was one thing that quickly caught Blake’s eye: they weren’t alone. Familiar faces from the warehouse, including Victoria.

“What are you guys doing here?” Blake asked with curiosity in her voice.

"The Mother"
the Home of Robert Klein, Ames Lake, Seattle, WA

Victoria was thinking on how to get in. There must be security on the inside and a simple "Break down the door" operation would ruin her chances. But then a voice caught her attention.

"What are you guys doing here?" It was clearly Blake from the voice and as Victoria turned around to greet her, she noticed Blake was not alone. She was surrounded by that scuffy Arab guy that attacked them earlier and some blond dude. Wow that guy is hot. she thought. She shook her head focusing back to the question at hand.

"Whatcha think i'm here to deliver the paper?" She smirked at her crummy joke. "Nah, but seriously I'm here with a couple of friends to find info or something." She looked over to the side where Stephen and Avery were. "Yo guys you can come out now!" She called out. She turned her attention back to her friends. "So who are you guys, I'm getting tired of introducing myself first." She pulled down the bandana and and stretched her shoulders.

[Glaswegistan]

It had happened quickly, so quickly that it might as well have been a blur; to Sarah, it basically was. She’d just landed back in the car and snapped her seatbelt on when Sokoloff hit the brakes, hard. Next thing she knew, she was watching him put a few rounds into the Lincoln, and he was bleeding. Sarah also realized she’d leapt free of the car, a reflex, a product of panic maybe. It didn’t occur to Sarah that she’d performed a jump acting on instinct. Sokoloff looked around for a moment, before finding her, it took Sarah a moment to realize he was speaking to her.

“Help me load this poor bastard into the Ford…”

To her credit, Sarah was quick to respond. She closed the dozen meters between her and the Lincoln, this time by putting conscious effort into performing a jump. She flicked forward, back straight, balaclava well-fitted; ‘I must look so fucking cool right now’

She immediately froze up, wide-eyed when she saw into the car.

‘Oh sweet Jesus’

‘Move, idiot. The police are on the way’

Sarah inched into the car, looking for Cross, and trying her best to avoid the sights of death around her. The car was full of death, like it was swallowing her whole. Whatever Sarah had expected of the mission, it hadn’t prepared her for the experience of sifting through a car full of bodies. Cross was looking around in a daze, understandably. Sarah clicked his seatbelt off and, with a powerful tug that, despite her surroundings, emboldened her with pride, she dragged Cross out of the car.

“Terribly sorry about this, this is an arrest.” she started to drag him towards the Ford; “You, uh, you’re being arrested” she felt it sounded better than ‘kidnapped.’ Sarah leaned towards Sokoloff, trying not to look at the corpses, she whispered; “Don’t suppose you have some handcuffs or a zip-tie or something?”

[Vacif]

“Don’t suppose you have some handcuffs or a zip-tie or something?”

"Yeah, I got some." While the request was a mere whisper, barely audible, Kylen picked it up. He'd been following along the entire time, narrowly avoiding being hit by the Ford Fiesta. "Relax, I'm a friend. Benefactor, and all that." He announced to the two. Kylen reached into his back pocket, revealing some black zip ties. He crouched down, and grabbed Mike's wrists, and fastened them together tightly with the plastic ties, which earned an annoyed cry of pain. Seizing him by the shoulder, and wrists, he lifted Mike off of the ground, and carefully guided him into the back of the car. They didn't come all this way just to give their target a concussion. Or at least a more severe one. With that done, and out of the way, "So, meet at the warehouse?" He wasn't too concerned about anyone hearing him, all civilians had left the area, and no camera, or audio recording device could of picked up his voice from the buildings, or the visible streets. He pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch. "We've got about...two and a half minutes tops before the police get here. Let's get a move on." Not saying anything else, he jogged back to his motorcycle. Eager to leave the scene, he made his escape. If they didn't go to the warehouse, he'd follow him. If he lost them, he'd go to the bunker anyways, no doubt the other team would be there. If no one was there, he would just go home.

[Altito Asmoro]

Maria Gonzalez (Bloody Mary)
the Twins, Downtown, Seattle, WA

---

Maria cursed under her breath. This whole plan was a disaster, and in the end they hadn’t even nabbed their guy. She was very much tempted to find the asshole that had started shooting, but the police would be here any moment and a firefight with them wouldn’t be beneficial for anyone involved. So all they could do was to throw in the towel.

“Let’s get going.”

It was easy enough to loop back towards the limousine using the back alleys, and by the time the police were swarming the building the Variants were long since gone. They would need a new way to locate Klein, and ultimately Ambrose, but doing anymore today was most likely out of the question. Best to stay low and to think things through. Maybe some of the others were having better luck than they were? Hopefully something to make up for this disaster.

Leonid Chernikov

The ride was eventful, to say the least. All were tired, some angry (the incident still in mind), and few were not so much though it was mostly because they weren't involved deeper in the incident. It was mostly with him, Karin, and Mary. Oh well, it could be worse. Leonid turned to James, "What you've heard from the...Twins?"

"It's a mess, sir. Too many victims, Seattle PD gonna get choked with the paperwork and investigation. It's like hell on earth currently, on the field. Nobody like that situation, and not many witnesses...and apparently cameras had been destroyed so no record," said James, thoroughly. "But maybe there will a city-wide manhunt...considered Mike Cross is also missing," said James again the end.

Leonid turned to the rest, "Eh...may not happens. Maybe more secretive operation..." as he gazed through the window to the sky. Something came in his mind, "Where do you want me to drop you all?"

[Independent States of Tula]

Włodzisław "Hussar" Sokoloff
Mike Cross's Wrecked Car, Seattle, WA

The introduction of the mystery man on the motorcycle had been a surprise, especially when he zip-tied Cross and threw him into the back of the Ford Fiesta. Still, Sokoloff wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, so when the man asked if they were off to the warehouse he was quick to reply.

"Yeah, we'll meet you there comrade." Sokoloff stated before looking around his surroundings to make sure the three Variants and their prisoner were alone.

Seeing that everyone had fled Sokoloff motioned for Sarah to follow before he crossed the several meters over to his rental and got in the driver's seat. He waited for Sarah to get in before they sped off, Sokoloff slowing the vehicle down once they were a few blocks away so as not to attract attention. He did it just in time as several police squad cars went by in the opposite direction towards the crash site with sirens and lights flashing.

As the adrenaline died down from the short engagement Sokoloff broke the relative silence by looking over at Sarah and saying "Jumper...keep an eye on our guest, lets make sure he doesn't try his luck with the pavement at speed. ...Also...you did good with that jumping thing onto their car. I'll admit that I'm impressed, especially considering this is your first time in a combat-like situation, I just wish I wasn't an idiot who got shot three times in the guts."

[Glaswegistan]

Sarah was on the run. Whatever she thought she’d be doing when she’d gotten up a day and a continent earlier, narrowly avoiding arrest and speeding away from a crime scene wasn’t it. ‘At least mum and dad don’t know’ she smirked, quite earnestly for the first time since the chase had started. Hussar told her to keep an eye on their captive, it occurred to her that leaving him on the backseat alone might not have been the best idea. Her apparent mentor did himself down, even as he shrugged off wounds that would have hospitalized lesser men, he told her she’d done good though.

“Thanks, Hussar.” Her smirk grew a little, ‘Oh God, I got to use the cool codename’; “Though to be fair, if I could walk off being shot in the gut, I’d probably take bullets more often; build up an immunity or something.”

‘Really, that’s the joke you’re going with?’

Cross wriggled on the backseat. Sarah unbuckled her seatbelt, and began to try to clamber over to sit down next to him, the easiest position from which to keep him in his place. She soon thought better of climbing between the seats of a moving vehicle; sitting back in the passenger seat, she straightened her back, and picked out her landing through the rear view mirror. Cross gave her a confused look as she appeared next to him (he was probably still dazed, Sarah reasoned), she fastened her seatbelt, paused, and made sure Cross was wearing his.

“Safety first, love.” She tried to put on a reassuring smile, if she was going to engage in illicit kidnappings, the least she could do was be polite about it; “Sorry about this, I should probably search you.”

Sarah awkwardly fumbled through Crosses pockets; “Try to keep still, I can let the big man do it if you’d like.”

As she conducted her search, the previous minutes quickly came back to her. The blood, the lights, the noise, was all fresh, but she finally had a moment to think about all that had happened. Some small inkling of excitement at the superhero act found its way back to her, and Hussar’s words only a few minutes before came back to haunt her.

“Wait…Jumper? The hell with that, I’m picking a proper name when we get back to base…”

Cross, at this point, looked positively baffled.

[The Warriors of the Sun]

Zedekiah McMurry
Fremont, Seattle

Zedekiah stayed quiet as Zaahir gave a few short instructions on how his teleportation worked. After which Zedekiah followed Blake's example and reluctantly took hold of the man's exposed wrist. Zaahir's overly gleeful smile right after telling the them that he once left a jacket behind because it wasn't touching him concerned Zedekiah.

Was his phone going to make it? While he didn't talk to anyone with it besides his boss on occasion, it still proved to be a useful tool from time to time, being a map or quick access to the internet. As Zedekiah's concern raised he decided to hold onto the phone just in case, but before his hand could dive into his pocket he felt a soft warmth embrace his hand. He glanced to his hand to see the small hand of Blake holding his just moment before the three disappeared...

Ames Lake, Seattle

Zedekiah barely managed to catch himself from stumbling when the trio arrived near their destination. There was no significant force that pushed him, but the experience itself was disorienting. But his mind quickly wandering to a much more important event as he looked to his hand that Blake had let go. Why was she holding it? Perhaps she was scared of teleporting, but she seemed pretty brave to Zedekiah. Scared of teleporting didn't seem that probable for Blake. But why else would she? Perhaps she thought he was scared? Which was reasonable as Zedekiah knew he didn't exactly emit an aura of confidence. The possibility that Blake was trying to close the circle never crossing his mind.

"Why am I naked!" yelled Blake. Zedekiah immediately turned to look, the meaning of the words not being processed until he was already looking. She wasn't naked, but that fact didn't process either until his face was red as a tomato and was quickly turning to look away. "Haha! Made you look. Perverts. Come on, let’s go see what we’re dealing with," said Blake in response to his own looking and probably Zaahir's as well. Blake didn't seem to take the offense too seriously, passing it off as a joke. But Zedekiah's spirit still fell a bit more. "I-I-I-I, um I d-didn't, I mean I-I uh..." stammered Zedekiah trying to think of some sort of saving grace to repair what little of a relationship they had that Zedekiah now believed he jeopardized once again.

Blake took off towards the home was Zedekiah admitted to himself that he probably was a pervert, why else would someone look? Ignoring the fact that he himself looked mostly because she was yelling, but he still believed he would've looked no matter the volume. Zedekiah awkwardly followed Blake a few paces behind, too embarrassed to be any closer. As his face slowly turned to its usual pale color he tried to deduce whether Blake was disgusted with him to no avail.

When Blake called out to some familiar faces he had seen earlier in the day he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Hopefully this was enough of a distraction to help both Blake and himself forget about his perceived blunder. Zedekiah stopped a step behind Blake and a bit to her side in attempt to try to obscure himself from those talking yet still be apart of the 'group.'

The girl Blake went up to, Victoria, said, "So who are you guys, I'm getting tired of introducing myself first." Zedekiah instinctually looked to Zaahir expecting him to introduce himself first. Zedekiah silently hoped to himself that things would turn out just like the last time Blake and himself joined a new group where he was never able to introduce himself due to various reasons. Maybe Victoria's companions would find some sort of clue or villain just before Zaahir finished his own introduction.