Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Republic of Atria]

Sina

Bael took another nibble out of his food as Sina explained her time with the Sandstorms. Mostly lamenting the fact that despite being good when compared to everyone else, when compared to professionals, she was completely outmatched. The big fish in a small pond thing. Only now she moved to a bigger pond. "I can't say things are going great back in San Diego either. My team's going through a rough patch and I just needed a break from them. They're my friends and I love them, but... By the Spirits they can be so... Frustrating at times."

But he wasn't alone in his sorrows. Sina also brought up that she really felt like an alien sometimes, being quite a country in comparison to city folk. "Yeah. It just feels so suffocating sometimes. And I just feel like it no matter where I go. The team's been on edge with each other lately and I think we all just need a little space from each other for a little bit." He sighed, snagging a pitcher of some bright blue glowing liquid. He poured a little into his glass and took a sip. The taste was what he imagined glowing blueberries to taste like, and there was clearly alcohol in it if the aftertaste was any indication.

He slammed down the rest and poured himself another glass. If there was ever a time for him to drink it was now. "It's alcoholic. Want some? I think we both could use a drink." AS he offered Sina leaned in close and asked if Yharon knew about him being a "Super Dra'Qunni." "Ha. I'm never calling it that. And he does, because apparently he knows how to detect it or something." He muttered and glanced back at him. Yharon didn't even so much as cast a look in his direction.

"Let's finish this pitcher off, and... I don't know. Do you just wanna go? Don't think he's gonna notice until the end. I just want to get out of these horrible clothes and go... Fly or find a nice rock to sun myself under... And just freaking relax for a few minutes..."

[Finland SSR]

The raid against the warehouse and Ares hadn’t been a complete success - after all, Ares, a professional criminal wanted internationally, had just barely escaped their grasp - but it had nonetheless dealt a decisive strike to the production and distribution to the power drug in Thomsen High and San Diego as a whole. In the end, the team was victorious, and many found in that a reason to celebrate. However, others were not in such a good mood after the mission.

Once everyone and everything had been loaded onto the jet, Alexis had sent Oberon ahead and taken her place inside, sitting by her lonesome at the back of the plane, not bothering to seek conversation as she usually did. The mission had been quite stressful, and she wasn’t ready to start processing through everything yet. Instead, she sat silently until the plane reached Wonder Island.

Once the jet landed back on the island, the team began to depart, leaving only two people within its compartments. Leaning onto her palm, Renata stared at the grass outside of the plane window, any and all enthusiasm completely erased from her expression. She didn’t know if she wanted to leave, or stay huddled up in her lone seat forever.

Eventually, she mustered the bravery to rise up and start to make her way out of the plane. Behind her, the last occupant of the jet soon followed suit, clearly following in her footsteps until the two were out of the vehicle, and the sound of something light and metallic being thrown hard against the hangar’s asphalt floor ringed in the air. The footsteps stopped.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” Came the high pitched, angry scream from behind Renata. “Attacking one of your teammates, when a world-class supervillain is in front of you, just because you want to ‘prove yourself’?” The shorter girl continued, making air quotes. “What the hell was going through your mind that made you think that that wasn’t completely psychotic?! I can’t even begin to imagine it! What, is that a thing superheroes in Ecuador do?!”

During Alexis’s sudden rant, Renata froze, partially turning towards her teammate, but not making any eye contact until the blonde-haired girl finally stopped. In response, she shot a stone cold glare towards Alexis, her fingers twitched and folded into fists. A few thoughts flashed through Renata’s mind, but she shook her head to rid it of them. She’s gotten into too much trouble already.

Faced with accusation after accusation, of being insane and psychotic and Ecuadorian and worse, Renata took a breath through clenched teeth and did the one thing she could think of - turn around and continue walking.

The act seemed to only inflame Alexis further. No longer suppressing her emotions like before, she was simply letting loose everything that had been stewing inside her since the mission started going south.

“Oh no, you don’t get to simply walk away!” The blonde girl growled, walking forward and grabbing her peer by the shoulder. “You put Mars, my friend in danger just because you wanted more fame and renown - he could’ve died when you disabled Rocket! We gotta trust each other on the field to stay alive but how the fuck are we supposed to trust someone like you?!”

Letting out an incoherent scream out of anger and frustration, Alexis shook her head and began stomping off in the direction of her lab, looking back at Renata after a few steps. “I don’t know who you think you are, but if Wyatt or Mars don’t do it, you can be sure I’m letting Naja know.”

Grunting under her breath and glaring to the side under constant verbal assault, Renata finally broke and yelled back:

“What the hell do you want me to say?! Yeah, that...” She stopped for a second, thinking of a description which wouldn’t put her at a fault. “...happened, sure, but what now?! Do you want me to get down on my knees and repent, do you want me to grab a time machine and stop that from happening, or beat me into a bloody pulp, or what?”

“I want you to stop being an awful teammate.” The blonde girl proclaimed before even bothering to turn around, though when she did so she narrowed her eyes at Renata. “You only seem to be able to hurt people. That’s all fine and dandy when it’s the bad guys, but not when it’s another hero, much less when it’s one of your teammates. So that’s what I want. I want you to sort yourself out and stop being an awful teammate...”

Pausing, the blonde girl stared Renata dead in the eye.

“...Or leave.”

“Leave?!” Renata repeated Alexis’s words, with as harsh of a tone as her teammate. “All the things I’ve done for this team, all the times I’ve risked my life, but as soon as I slip up once or twice, I’m suddenly the worst teammate there is and should close the door! Maybe it’s this team that’s at fault here, huh?! A gazillion teenagers all hogging for the spotlight and most of them are just a bunch of high school buds acting like this is a roadtrip, half the squad leaders are freaking braindead, and-”

Calm down. Kiris wouldn’t say things like that. Renata took a deep, frustrated sigh, and continued:

“You know… maybe you’re right. I left my last team for the exact same reasons, what says I shouldn’t do that again?”

“If blaming others for the things that ‘happened’ is the attitude you’re going to adopt…” The blonde girl said, making air quotes again. “...Then I hope you do it, and soon.” She stated, shaking her head and turning around once more, taking a step in the direction of her lab.

“And hey, maybe you’ll catch Ares alone next time, and show him who’s boss.”

Renata did not follow, her eyes merely trailing after Alexis as she ultimately departed from the plane and vanished from view, leaving her alone once again.

“...Maybe I will!” she yelled, sighed, and grunted under her breath. By the time she ran out of the jet with renewed vigor, however, the landing pad was just as empty and barren. Even if nobody was left to listen to her, she wanted to shout anyway. Explain everything in detail and leave that damn blonde bastard with too much time on her hands wailing, just like she should have when she was still here to listen…

And yet, no words escaped her. It wasn’t a defense mechanism this time, she knew she could easily speak out her mind with nobody to judge her, she just… stood, outside of the hangar, gasping for air and yet coming up with nothing in the end.

“...tsk...” she scoffed under her breath, the railing in her hand bending and twisting from heat pressure.

“What, she thinks that’s supposed to be a threat, not a challenge? That I can’t do better than this team by myself?..”

And even that... sounded kinda dumb in her head.

[Galnius]

Mikaela Mynd
October 3rd

Returning home from another day at school, Mika found herself irrevocably bored. It would be hours before any of her teammates were online, homework would just make her more bored, and the house was eerily silent. Flopping on her bed, Mika checked her phone. Scrolling mindlessly was an option, but she couldn't even bring herself to do that.

Usually capable of entertaining herself, Mika knew exactly what was to blame for her current mood. Between going to literally hell, teasing an angel, becoming acquaintances with a Young Blood, and getting invited to a sleep over, her normal routine just seemed...dull. However, as she thought that, an idea came into fruition.

Hey Ashy, it's Mika. Let's do the sleepover, maybe tomorrow? Or tonight? I'm bored out of my mind.

Getting up quickly, Mika sprung into action. There were obvious things that needed to go on a sleepover. Pajamas, a blanket, probably her backpack...

As Mika emptied her backpack from the unnecessary school items (her homework tossed aside to be forgotten with her school books) she remembered the most important thing. Rushing downstairs, she approached the alcohol cabinet. And, for the first time age could remember....it was padlocked. Oh...is that how you want to play it.

Walking back upstairs, Mika fetched an item from under her bed. She looked it over, finding it to still be useful. Mika hadn't thought she'd ever need it, but desperate times for desperate measures. As she returned to the padlock, she lined up the rifle...and fired.

"Well, that worked" replied the small girl, picking herself up from the kick of the gun. Grabbing a bottle of wine for now and a brandy for the sleepover, she went back upstairs and continued packing.

About an hour later, Mika finished. Still, she felt like she was forgetting something. Oh, right! Going to the window, she unlocked it (though she didn't remember locking it in the first place) and took a breath of fresh air.

"Jan, get your ass over here!"

[Finland SSR]

Bael

Sina As'tari, sponsored by the Desert Sandstorms!

---

"Well of course, nobody would call it that. That's what makes it a great safeword." Sina stated calmly, accepting the glass of alcohol offered to her with merely a nod. The drink had the same alcoholic effect all the booze she and the Outriders bought out at the Four Roses, but was wildly different in taste - more refined and aristocratic, if she were to say so herself. While she took a sip, Bael explained that Yharon knew about his gift already - turns out he had a way to detect his Elder powers, or status, or... something.

That's a thing? Sure, Sina wasn't going to question it, but having this sort of technology or ability feels kinda pointless when there's only two Elders in existence... as far as she was aware of, anyway. After finishing a glass, Bael finally blurted out something interesting - why don't they try to sneak out from here and spend their time together, relaxing somewhere far, far away from the ball and from his father - surely, he couldn't find out.

Sina finished her drink, a sly smile formed on her face.

"Well that's out of character for you, I'd be the one asking you this on a normal day," she stated and placed her glass. "Yeah, sure, why not. Where are ya taking me out?"

---

The Raid

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

She should have expected that Alexis won't be the only one. Not long after she returned to the Tower, Wyatt jumped on the chance to rant to her as well. As the squad leader, he demanded her to explain herself, answer for what happened to her in the middle of the fight with Ares, why she shot at Mars, and that she's not going to get away until she tells him something.

With a frown etched onto her features, Renata glared back at the Dra'Quinni, then sighed and sat down on the ground.

"Fine. Then we're going to be here for a while."

And then, she just waited.

---

Mikaela Mynd
October 3rd

Jan Sorok, the champion of Heaven!

---

Jan would visit San Diego more and more often during the last... month or so, as far as he could track. Traversing the town from above the rooftops, spectating events from afar, waiting for the conspiracy which was sure to strike at any moment now - and it was starting to turn out that his suspicions were correct. Demonic energies were starting to converge upon the city, the average person could not feel anything nefarious taking place, but a Virgil such as himself felt shivers running down his spine every time he passed through the gate to enter the mortal realm from Heaven.

There was worry among the Choir of Virgils as well, and rumors were abound that the young psionic soul should receive reinforcement, eventually. Jan hoped that it would not come down to this, however. San Diego should not become a battleground between Heaven and Hell, the mortals he's managed to come into contact with and request the support of need to be enough...

When Mika suddenly called out to him, her voice instantly beaming to his mind despite getting yelled almost a kilometer away, Jan immediately sprung into action. A gate opened before him and the Virgil leapt in, emerging in front of the girl and the open window already in mid-flight.

"What happened? Are you safe?" he immediately called out, in a voice filled with worry.

[The Republic of Atria]

Andrew

Bael almost tripped over himself when he saw Andrew hit the ground like a sack of rocks. A second later the panic set in when he wasn't moving, and he raced to check his pulse and breathing. Both were still going along, so he carefully picked up Andrew and rushed him to the infirmary. "Shit! Shit shit shit!" Bael hissed after he laid Andrew down.

The good news was that Jacob was merely taking a bathroom break and popped in not long after to the now very stressed out Bael. "Alright. It happens. Try to take it easy with hazing the new guys."

"I didn't mean to! He kept insisting that I come at him with everything because he was bored and I just... Knocked him out."

"Looks liked a few broken bones, maybe a minor concussion. I can fix the worst of it, but he's going to probably be pretty sore for a couple days." He said and went to work. Bael stayed in the room the entire time, waiting, his tail spazzing about out of concern for Andrew.

A few hours passed and Andrew awoke, sleepily mentioning that he overestimated himself. "I am SO sorry!" Bael blurted out and grabbed the side of Andrew's hospital bed. "I didn't mean to! I-I I thought you could take it!"

Renata

Renata replied curtly, saying that they were going to be here all night then, and then she sat on the ground to make her point. Bael rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. "Alright then. If you won't talk to me, maybe you'll talk to Naja." He said and started to text her. "I'm sure she and Roy will have a nice long conversation about whether or not you're going to be allowed to stay on the team. I bet Roy will just be ecstatic to hear about what happened. He'll definitely be in a good mood, having had nothing life-threatening occur recently. I'm sure that temper of his will remain in check." He said, not even trying to hide the thick sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"If only there was someone who's in a slightly more reasonable mood to put up with your bullshit. Someone within earshot that instead might just forward the trouble to someone who'll probably drop you from the team and kick you straight back to Ecuador." Bael continued. "But hey. This is America. Free country. You've the right to remain silent."

[Absolon-7]

The Gala

Casimir and Viviana October 7th
The sparkling Saturday night suddenly started surprisingly well in the gala event the team had been invited to by some rich guy. A bounty of food lay before the Young Bloods who had opted to go and unsurprisingly a decent portion was dedicated to Casimir. The young man was dressed in a shabby tuxedo rented that very morning but he also had his Kabuto helmet which looked quite odd on something not his modified biker gear. The lower half had been popped off to allow him to eat like a vacuum which drew the awestruck yet disturbed eyes of Viviana who had chosen a sparkly mint green dress as well as her usual large domino mask. Casimir didn't care one bit what the whole thing was about and had just been looking at the food the entire time only catching the vaguest hints about what the speech Jordan Scott had given which primarily consisted of "Ares" and "raid".

"Jeez, how do you even have room for all of that," said Viviana staring at her boyfriend consuming half a turkey breast in seconds.

"My body needs food! Plus I basically skipped out on training last week on doctor's orders. I need to prepare to catch up next week," said Casimir wiping his mouth, "Don't worry its not like I'll choke or anything."

"That's what she said," said Viviana spinning finger guns at Casimir and winking.

"Ugh," groaned Casimir rolling his eyes, "I came here for the food not puns that hurt worse then Ares attacks."

"If you say so. So how was that Ares dude. I was busy getting Angie to safety so I didn't get a good look," said Viviana.

"He was tough. Big tall dude with metal arms. Apparently he was out for blood but he could barely do crap to me of course," said Casimir crossing his arms and nodding.

"Ah," said Viviana looking at her food for a second, "Well he seemed pretty scary considering what he did to Angie."

"Eh, I fought worse. Come on let's forget about the raid. We got tons of five star restaurant food to chow down on," said Casimir.

"Yeah, you're right," said Viviana before raising an eyebrow in the distance, "Oh isn't that Icarus over by the LA Stars table? Why don't you say hi to him. Smack a hi from me too!"

"Oh it is," said Casimir popping in the lower part of his helmet, "Let's see if I can swipe a leg of meat from that serving in front of him."

"Well it was nice knowing you, ya scrub," said Viviana waving him off. Her own eyes fell to the enormous windows to the side that showcased the brilliant night lights of the city.

[Galnius]

Andrew, The Infirmary
October 3rd

Andrew found himself a little taken aback from Bael’s sudden, frantic apology. It wasn’t that he was used to getting his shit kicked in, but when it did happen he was more accustomed to being told to either get stronger, or smarter. This was a totally new experience for him, so he responded the way he did to anything that made him uncomfortable. Poorly timed humor.

“Woah there Bael, if you are going to start the waterworks, I might have to ask you to leave. These pants are dry clean only.” Said Andrew. Sitting up slowly, he turned to face his new teammate. “But seriously, don’t worry about it. It’s on me for continuing to overestimate you. If all your team can hit like that I might be stuck as a second fiddle. Don’t beat yourself up over it, alright?”

Stretching slightly, Andrew assessed the damage to himself and his current condition. With a sigh, he figured he oiled be out of commission for at least a day. Still, maybe he could use that time to figure out the towers layout. First, however, he figured he should rest a little bit. “Alright, so it seems I’m going to be stuck in this bed for a little longer today until the soreness goes away. How about we get to know each other a bit more? Tell me something about yourself dude. I’ve got time to burn.”

[Segral]

Whitney Alvord
October 5th

Joining one of the quickest-growing, most popular, and most controversial superhero teams in America was, as Whitney found out, a surprisingly lax affair. It was practically an open invitation just sitting out there for anyone to take. One simple email to former Justice Queen Nicole Reyna and her interview was scheduled for 3:00 P.M on Thursday, just like that. How could it be so easy? Were applications so rare that there was no need to monitor the process? Probably, how many teenage super-humans could there be in one city? Although, there was clearly enough to create an entire team full of them, so maybe they all just lacked balls. Or maybe they were sane enough to avoid sucking themselves down a hormone-filled superhuman rabbit hole, both were likely options.

She probably should've called to schedule the interview, but she hated talking on the phone. She struggled enough finding the right words and articulating her thoughts and dealing with every custom of conversation in person. Talking over the phone, where she could barely hear the other person on the end of the line and didn't have any body language or facial expression to go off of. Things were so much better when you texted or emailed; words were exact, precise, no tone or inflection or subtle context transforming their meaning. Unfortunately, she couldn't text or email in the responses to her interview questions, so instead she was back to struggling to find the right words and articulating her thoughts and dealing with all the customs of conversation. She had spent most of yesterday brainstorming potential questions and practicing her answers to those questions, and she still didn't feel any more prepared than when she decided to embark on this insane adventure two nights ago. Hopefully, her powers would do enough talking to distract from her glaring lack of experience, combat training, and preparedness.

When in the hell did she decide this was a good idea?

Whitney had been asking herself that question for most of the day already, but now, at 3:00 P.M on Thursday, standing in front of Naja's office door trying not to throw up, it really started to sink in. She put her hands on her hips and bit her lower lip, analyzing her current options. She could walk in and ace this interview, walk in and completely bomb this interview, skip the whole thing, or pass out right now and refuse to leave the infirmary until she was granted membership. None of those were good options. Sighing, she lightly knocked on the office door, steeling herself for what was to come.

"Come in." said the voice behind the door. It sounded like a high school teacher's voice, a flinty edge encasing a soft, patient interior. Maybe that was a good sign. Spurred on by that thought, she grasped the doorknob tightly, slowly turning and opening the door wide to reveal...

A regular office.

Sure, there were things that not every office had. Couches, coffee tables, a small TV on the wall. But it was basically an office. An office. She was scared of an office. The thought almost made her laugh to herself at how ridiculous she had been acting, getting all freaked out over something so small. Naja didn't seem to notice Whitney's internal monologue, looking up from her paperwork to briefly size up the blonde girl in front of her, a small smile her only reaction.

"Would you happen to be Whitney Alvord?" Naja asked, her smile friendly but her eyes locked upon Whitney's firmly. Unnerved, Whitney broke eye contact and looked down for a second, nodding with a slight cough.

"Y-yes, that's me. I'm here for my interview." Whitney said, daring to look back at Naja and seeing that the smile had transformed into a slight smirk, probably amused at how Whitney had cracked. Dammit, five seconds in and she had already made a fool of herself. So much for a good first impression.

"Of course." Naja said, turning slightly in her office chair to peer her at her computer. "You're right on time, actually. Down to the exact minute." she said with a slightly more genuine smile, some warmth creeping into her eyes. Would it kill the woman to give a consistent emotional cue? Whitney couldn't tell whether she was dismissive, aggressive, friendly, or all three.

"Thanks. I wouldn't want to keep you waiting, I'm sure you have a busy schedule." Whitney said, still standing with her hands clasped behind her back and matching Naja's smile with one of her own.

Surprisingly, Naja laughed at Whitney's response, and not a fake laugh either, a real, hearty one. "You'd be surprised." she said, still chuckling somewhat. "For the leader of the famous Young Bloods, my schedule's actually fairly empty today, usually it's a little tighter than this. Regardless, I'm glad you have a strong sense of punctuality. I've had issues with certain team members...lacking in the time management department, so it's good that you recognize how important it is." she continued, a slight grimace drawing across her face at the word "lacking", as if a certain Young Blood was coming to her mind. "...Are you going to be sitting down for this interview, or would you prefer to stand?" she said dryly, causing Whitney to blush.

"Er...no, I'll be sitting down." Whitney replied sheepishly, attempting to laugh off the awkwardness as she made a beeline for the chair on the other side of Naja's desk, sitting down as gracefully as possible. Naja surveyed her with a friendly but critical eye, as if analyzing how effective she would be in combat paired with various combinations of the present roster. The scaly woman was probably excellent at poker; her face was an impenetrable shield with a Mona Lisa smile painted on it, no other emotions exposed behind it.

"I can tell you're nervous. Don't worry, this is a very simple process. I just want to get a sense of what you bring to the table, and why you want to join." she said calmly, her soothing voice putting Whitney at rest somewhat. "We'll start with the latter; why do you want to join the team?"

Whitney took a deep breath, a sense of calm coming over her. Finally, she was in familiar territory, an answer she had practiced and gone over. "Well, I think superheroism is something that is extremely beneficial to society, and I feel like with my skill-set, I have a lot to offer to the team and can put forward real change in society." she began, her response sounding a little rehearsed but satisfactory. "The Young Bloods are one of the quickest-growing, most popular teams in North American right now, and I admire the work that the team does greatly. It's refreshing to see a team that breaks all the current molds, all the expectations of what a superhero team should be. Instead of focusing on the paparazzi, the glamorous life, all the riches and rewards of being a superhero, the Young Bloods bring the focus back to where it should be; making society safer for all. It would be a great honor to help contribute to that goal, and I believe I have the drive and skills to help make it happen." she concluded to a thoroughly unimpressed looking Naja, her expression one of polite interest as she appeared to ruminate over Whitney's reasoning.

"I see. Anything else?" Naja asked after a short pause, leaning back in her chair and continuing to survey Whitney with that same polite-but-critical look, indicating that Whitney needed to step up her answers. She knew her answer was terrible, but she didn't know what else to say. She had been practicing her answers as if this was a typical job interview, but had forgotten one important fact; this wasn't a typical job interview. There was no salary for this, no benefits, no employee code of conduct, no workplace safety codes, and no typical parameters. Her answers were too plastic, too robotic for consideration, and even she knew it.

"Say something, you dolt!" she thought to herself, taking a deep breath as she took a second stab at answering Naja's question. "Sure. Of course, contributing to society is fairly decent motivation, but that's not my only reason for wanting to join the team." Whitney started, Naja's interest seeming to come back a little bit, imploring her to go further. "...My main reason for wanting to join the team is because, frankly, I'm lost."

"Lost?"

"Lost. Lost in life to be exact. When I was a kid, everything was so clear. I was going to be a world-famous scientist, a biochemist. I was going to find the cure to cancer, AIDS, people everywhere would be talking about my inventions. I was going to change the world. Even through high school, I never took my eye off the prize. People kept saying I was a genius, that I was going to become rich and famous, that I would go to Harvard, or Princeton. Do you know where I went? Nowhere. I went nowhere. After graduating high school, I just...froze. Never moved out of my grandparents' apartment, never went to college, never even found a decent job. My parents sent me all the way out here from New York to straighten my priorities, and instead they're just as bent as before."

"What do you mean, 'straighten your priorities'? Did something when you were back home."

"Yeah. I got...caught up in the wrong crowd, made some poor decisions, lost sight of who I really was. My parents were upset, so they thought sending me here to live with my grandparents would be a fresh start. It wasn't. I'm the daughter of two well-educated professionals who have made groundbreaking work in the sciences, and the greatest level of education I can lay claim to is a high school diploma. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is for them? For my grandparents? For everyone, including my friends? We still talk, but it's never the same. I don't have classes, achievements, and goals like them. What are we supposed to talk about? About how my grandparents are doing? About how the local bookstore closed? There's nothing to say, so we've just stopped trying. Now I'm stuck in a dead-end job that I hate, counting the minutes until I can go home."

"Why did you never go to college?"

"I convinced myself that it was just a gap year. That I had needed to work for a bit to support and take care of my grandparents, save some money up for an apartment and figure out what I really wanted to do. That's what I've told everyone else. But really, I don't even want to go. I don't want to spend most of my 20's in a classroom, only to end up in a boring career with some pharmaceutical company. I want to do something that I love, where I can actually put my talents towards something I'm passionate about. I want...I want to stop counting the minutes down before I can go home. I want to be disappointed that I have to go home at the end of the day. So...that's why I want to join the team."

There was a long pause after this as Whitney attempted to control her emotions, beginning to choke up for the second time in three days. Was it impossible for her to get through a day without crying? Why did she have to pick now to go on an emotional rant about how much her life sucked, during what could be the most important interview of her life. She blew it. All she had to do was stick to the plan, and she couldn't even do that. Why was a simple conversation so hard?

"Would you like a tissue?" Naja asked quietly, cutting through the deafening silence. Whitney nodded with a slight smile of gratitude, currently doing her best to wipe the tears away. Naja smiled back as she pushed the tissue box towards her, the look in her eyes having gone from cold and critical to warm, sympathetic, her smile a lot broader now. Did she just feel sorry for Whitney, or did she actually like that answer? The woman was an enigma. Either way, it was good to have that weight off her chest. She had never confessed that to anyone, not even her grandparents. It felt good, felt relieving. She finally felt relaxed, confident. Ready to answer any question that came her way.

"I must say, I'm curious about these 'talents' you speak of." Naja asked as Whitney dabbed at her eyes. "What exactly are your powers?"

Whitney grinned at those words, as she always did when someone asked her about her experiments. Here was the place where she could really shine. "It's hard to explain," she said, tugging at the sleeves of her black sweater and leaning back. "Essentially, I can sense the chemical makeup of any substance within close range. For example, I can figure out the makeup of your coffee, or the leather covering your couch, or the wood of this table. How many atoms, what elements, the lipids and proteins, the acids, the structures they form, what sugars and alcohols are there...pretty much everything. I've been analyzing your desk for the last little while, and the wood is mostly made up of carbon and oxygen, with some nitrogen, hydrogen, and other minerals as well. It also has crystalline polymers in the form of cellulose, some five-carbon sugars in the form of hemicellulose, and another polymer called lingin that gives the wood its hardness and structure." she explained breathlessly, her words hard to follow judging by Naja's constant perplexed look and heavy blinking. She looked surprised, impressed, and confused at the same time, clasping her hands in thought. "Couldn't I find the same thing with a Google Search?" she asked, clearly trying to test Whitney.

"Sure. But consider three things. Number one, I'm leaving information out of this explanation to keep it simple. I could break it down even more, but then I would just look like an amateur. Number two, yes, you could find the same information from Wikipedia, but you wouldn't know what to do with it. You wouldn't know what a five-carbon sugar or a crystalline polymer is, and you wouldn't be able to apply that knowledge to anything. But I can change that scientific jargon into understandable information, and actually apply it. Number three, this...chemical sense isn't my only power. Once I have a clear grasp on the composition of a substance, I can alter it, tamper with it. I can adjust the structure, displace and move around elements, facilitate new reactions in minutes. It's faster than most scientific studies, and I can use it to create new compounds and substances."

"Like what?" Naja asked, now practically on the edge of her seat. Whitney was surprised by how eager she was; usually this lecture bored the shit out of anybody unlucky enough to ask.

"Like this." Whitney said, pulling what looked like a small pill in a plastic Ziploc bag out of the pocket of her jeans and holding it up so that Naja could see. "This is something I invented when I first started drinking coffee. I loved it, but it never tasted as good when I brewed at home versus at the coffeeshop." she explained as she opened the Ziploc bag and extracted the pill proudly. "So I created this. It's basically a small packet of compound minerals, like magnesium sulfate, calcium sitrate, and sodium. You drop it in, and the bar dissolves, releasing those minerals into the water. They make the coffee sweeter, smoother, and have a better finish." she concluded, offering the bar to Naja. With a thoughtful look, she took it, placing it next to her near-empty coffee mug.

"What else can you make? As interesting as smoother coffee sounds, I doubt many opponents will be interested." Naja said slyly, eliciting another blush from Whitney.

"Uh...a lot of things, to be honest. Poisons, antidotes, corrosives, explosives, sedatives, antiseptics, painkillers, stimulants, cleaners, dyes, even makeup removers. I didn't bring any, because some are highly reactive and I had no intention of torching a former Justice Queen's office, but I have made them, and I'm confident I can make more."

"Where do you experiment? I'm assuming you don't have an apartment-based munitions lab."

"Thomsen High's lab. They give me permission to work there after hours as long as I don't destroy anything and clean up after myself. They even let me store samples in the cold room, so long as I clearly label them to avoid some 14-year old burning his eyebrows off."

"Interesting..." Naja replied, drumming on the table with her fingertips. "How do I not know you're not lying? About these experiments, I mean." Naja asked suddenly, the question catching Whitney by surprise. "For all I know, you could be making all of this up. You don't have any proof." she continued, crossing her arms. Whitney responded with a steely glare, refusing to break eye contact a second time. Why would she lie? She had nothing to lose by this point, she hadn't acted shifty or untruthful, what was with the sudden doubt?

"I'm assuming this isn't your first interview." Whitney responded with her own smirk. "You've probably interviewed several other people in this chair, people who told you they could fly, or open pocket dimensions, or control magma. For all you know, they could've been lying. They could've been amateurs looking for a taste of fame, or spies trying to get a way in. But you gave them the benefit of the doubt, and you trusted them. I don't have any proof, all I can ask is that you put your trust in me and take a chance on me, take a chance like you did for this entire team. Do you trust me?" Whitney asked, a subliminal challenge in her voice. She might have just destroyed her chances of scoring a spot on the team right then and there. All she could do was hold her breath and hope that Naja had some mercy left in her.

"...I trust you, Whitney. You don't seem like the type to lie for a chance at glory." Naja said, once again smiling broadly much to Whitney's relief. "Good answer, I was testing you to see what your response would be. We're almost done with the interview, I just have a one more question."

"Of course."

"Do you have any...combat experience? Your powers are certainly impressive, but I don't know how useful they are in a combat environment." Naja asked, a slight frown working its way onto her face as she peered at Whitney, waiting for an answer. She didn't have one. She was hoping this question wouldn't come up at all, but it looked like she'd have to admit another glaring flaw in her non-existent resume: she had no experience.

"...No, I don't." Whitney said, looking down at her lap in embarrassment. "The only weapon I know how to operate is a gun. I have experience hunting and fishing out in the wilderness, so I know how to shoot pretty well with rifles and shotguns, and I do know some basic survival skills and dos-and-don'ts, but other than that, nothing."

"Hmmm..." Naja muttered, deep in thought. "Well, I don't know how useful that will be. Survival skills are definitely useful, but I've never been a supporter of guns on the battlefield. Too much risk, it's so easy to get trigger-happy and kill someone, and that's not a good look for the press. We don't want blood on our hands." Naja mused, Whitney growing more and more flustered by the second. "It's ironic; superhumans can fly, run at incredible speeds, level city blocks, and lay waste to a city, but bring a well-trained gunshot into the fold and you can end them in seconds." Naja continued philosophize, increasingly unaware of Whitney's presence as she mulled over the interview, a long pause stretching out for nearly a minute before she spoke again.

"...Alright, I've made up my mind." Naja said triumphantly, turning around to briefly rummage through a large filing cabinet before turning back around and handing a thin package of paper to an extremely confused Whitney.

"What's this?" Whitney asked, completely oblivious to what she had just been given.

"It's a contract. Sign it, and you're officially a member of the Young Bloods from now until whenever you choose to leave. I will warn you though," Naja said quickly as she saw Whitney's growing expression of joy upon hearing those words. "You won't be on the field for many missions. The team is eager to keep moving up through the ranks, and there may not be time to properly train you to fight on the field without a gun. You'll definitely be busy, but you'll be spending a lot of time at the Tower rather than fighting bad guys like the others. I'm telling you this bluntly because I don't want you to get the wrong idea and feel like you were lied to. Are you OK with this?"

"Is she crazy? Of course you're not OK with this, are you kidding me? Sitting at home in the lab while everyone else actually contributes, going right back to where you started? For the love of God, don't sign, please, don-"

"I'm OK with that." Whitney nodded, extending her hand out to Naja for a shake.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 7th

---

---

As the magnate in charge of Scott Industries finished his eloquent speech, one of the many faces clapping and cheering was that of a young inventor from the ranks of the Young Bloods, one Alexis Callaghan, also known as Makeshift, who sat on the table reserved for the team alongside the other members that had accepted Jordan's invitation. She had dressed up for the occasion, wearing a long - at least for her size - sleeveless black dress that faded into a neon blue towards the hemline, matching the black and blue visor she wore over her eyes, both to protect her civilian identity and to clearly identify her as San Diego's youngest superheroine; the press and many civilians unrelated to the team were lurking about the ballroom, after all. Completing the look were a black sash and a pair of short black heels that allowed her to walk around with minimal issue.

"Woo! Nice speech. Sure makes me happy I decided to come here." The blonde girl remarked after the last deafening bout of applause had faded away and she could hear her own thoughts again. While it was fairly obvious that she wouldn't have refused to come otherwise - after all, she wasn't going to pass up the chance to meet the face one of the world's leading companies in the tech industry - hearing the host sing praises of her team and thus herself was certainly a nice plus. Taking a sip from her glass, filled with sparkling grape juice in what was undoubtedly an attempt to avoid bad publicity, the young genius looked around, spotting Red, Blue and Surge from the LA Stars on a nearby table amidst all the noisy paparazzis and drab businessmen, as well as Cardinal and some others from the Rising Suns a few tables away from them, though that seemed to be the extent of superhero presence in the gala.

"And there's barely any other heroes, it feels like the whole party's being thrown for us!" She added cheerfully, beaming at the other teens who sat around her. Neglecting the food in front of her in favor of continuing to scan the ballroom - the appetizers that had been offered so far didn't quite catch her attention - the heroine noticed that the wide open space in the ballroom that had been set aside for dancers was beginning to fill in with couples after the conclusion of Jordan's speech. With a gleam in her eye, she turned towards Angelica, who sat next to her, and tugged on her dress.

"Hey Angie, want to dance?" She asked, pointing at the dance floor before a realization dawned on her. "Oh wait I'm not your girlfriend, I'm Makeshift." She said, pouting and resting her head on one hand. "Wow this secret identity thing is bullshit."

---

---

---

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Icarus tried his best not to focus on the speech given by the head of Scott Industries, a scowl appearing on his face as a spotlight was suddenly shined upon his table and a round of applause echoed throughout the entire ballroom, assaulting his senses. Despite his elegant navy blue suit and the obvious care that went into his appearance to keep him presentable, it was clear that the blond hero didn't want to be there. The only reason he was even sent there was because Armorer thought that the fledgling star could use some more good publicity, and the only reason he had actually agreed to attend the gala was the hope of being able to see the girl he loved for the first time since the tournament ended. But he had been led to believe she wouldn't be attending the gala, and as far as publicity went, it didn't seem like he was getting much: even the host of the party either forgot about him or skipped him in favor of America's most famous twins.

While all of that was more than enough to make him feel some discomfort, that wasn't what was really troubling him.

The real issue would come into play only seconds later, when Jordan brought up the attack on Freedom's Nest led by Dark Star. At the very mention of the incident, Icarus' entire body seemed to tense up, his hands clenching into fists so hard they quickly turned white as a deeper scowl than before expressed his anger, directed not at the Egyptian villainess, but at himself, for not being there to stop another of the criminals present.

She was there.

She was there.

She was-

"Icarus? Are you feeling well?"

The compassionate voice that brought the former vigilante out of his dark reverie was none other than Blue's, the blonde heroine looking at him with a mixture of concern and confusion. The look on his face when he turned to stare at her was, for a second, not unlike that of a cornered wild animal, though it quickly changed to a similar look of confusion as he realized what was going on and looked away, fixing his gaze on the table below. He noticed that the speech was over now, though he hadn't particularly cared for it before.

"I... yeah, I'm fine." The blond boy replied, nodding as if to convince himself. When he next looked up, there was an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry, Jenny. I just need to..." He trailed off. Shaking his head to clear up his thoughts, he made a decision and stood up. "Excuse me."

Two minutes later, he was on the restroom, a part of him idly marveling at how ostentatious the place was, that even the place where people excreted was built like a palace. The rest of him, however, was focused on the reflection in the mirror. He was breathing heavily and a scowl was perpetually set on his face, that much was evident. Subtler but still noticeable was the shaking of his hands. He was a mess and anyone with a knack for reading people would readily notice, so it was a good thing that he'd gone and holed up in the bathroom before anything else happened.

Stop acting like this. You and Armorer were responding to an emergency, you saved lives.

The boy splashed some cold water on his face, hoping it would help him cool down.

The other heroes handled the situation. They took care of her, she's in jail now.

He did it again, with negligible results.

What were you hoping to do if you had been there? Were you going to-

Splash.

The boy stared at himself for several agonizingly long seconds, and slowly let out a sigh.

Two minutes later, he was making his way back to his table. Thankfully none of the paparazzis and businessmen around had bothered to approach him - he had been a hot commodity during the tournament, but the media's interest in him was apparently short-lived, even if he still had his share of fans. Sitting down, he offered the twins an apologetic smile. "Sorry about earlier."

"It's fine, hope you feel better buddy." Red nodded.

"Is your hair wet?" Blue asked, curious. Icarus quickly ran a hand through his forehead and noticed a few locks of wet hair.

"Ah... yeah. I blame the paper towels."

The other two resumed eating their meals while Icarus gingerly picked at the food in front of him, not hungry just yet. This only lasted a few moments, however, as he soon noticed a familiar face - or helmet, rather - approaching his table.

"If it isn't the Great Kabuto! To what do I owe the honor?" The blond boy said jokingly, though it was plain to see that he wasn't in the best of moods. Gesturing towards the plate in front of him, he continued. "Help yourself. I'm not hungry right now."

[New Finnish Republic]

October 4th

The sound of something rumbling on the desk beside him caused Red's fingers to momentarily stop mid key-stroke as he looked down to see a message notification appear on his phone screen. Glancing back at the wall of text in front of him, he debated on whether or not he should simply ignore it and continue on with report he had been working on since he had woken up. However, his curiosity eventually got the better of him, and thus he reached down to pick up the device while simultaneously reaching for the nearby mug of coffee, taking a large gulp of the hot bitter liquid as he unlocked his phone and read the message.

Meet me at the safehouse. There's something we need to discuss.

-I

Red's gaze narrowed as he stared at the text for some time. The identity of the person behind the text message was clear enough to him, but the intent was far from it. It had been days since he had last helped Isabella with the botched raid on the drug manufacturing facility, and since then he had not had contact with his former teammate. Hearing back from her was a massive surprise in of itself, but the reason behind it further caused a sense of confusion for him.

Staring at his phone, Red contemplated on what he should do. He had already taken a big risk in seeing her at all, let alone helping her. Given it hadn't been that long ago that the team had been battling with the forces of Lycan not long ago in the form of Warwolf, it wasn't that far of a stretch to imagine the consequences of what could occur should they discover he was associating with them once more. An even worse outcome would be if his own past with the group was discovered, the ramifications of that being something he tried not to think about.

However, as much as every logical part of him screamed at him that he should simply ignore the text message and continue doing what he was supposed to, Red soon found himself sitting up from his desk and walking over to his night stand where his motorcycle keys were. As the keys jingled in his hands, a small thought suddenly passed through his mind as his thoughts still remained on the cryptic text message.

Walking over to the pile of paperwork and notes that had slowly began to build up into a mountain of paper, he began to dig through the mess in search of the photograph Isabella had sent him. While he knew Cassandra or Sigil were polite enough to refrain from touching any personal belongings during their routine cleaning procedures, Red knew that having such a sensitive item practically out in the open was asking for trouble. However, as he neared the bottom of the pile, his eyebrows furrowed as he realized he couldn't find the image anywhere.

"What in the..."

Red's words trailed off as he scanned through the pile of paperwork once more, this time taking a more methodical approach as he scanned through every folder and binder that was there, even go so far as to flip through the stapled stacks of paper in hopes that it had somehow wedged itself within. However, as he once more reached the bottom of the pile, his eyes went wide as he began to open every compartment of his desk, eventually moving on to other areas of the room as he practically tore the place apart in search of the photograph.

"Oh...fuck."

It was at that point that Red realized there was only one answer to what had happened to the photograph, and its implications caused what felt like a punch to the gut to wash over him as he stood frozen. Someone has it, he thought, his eyes glancing towards the door of his room. Immediately his mind went into overdrive as he tried to piece together any information he could gather in search of who could have stolen the photograph.

I would've seen any sign of forced entry a long time ago, and even if I somehow had missed it the security systems of the Tower would've been alerted. The only person besides myself who can unlock my door would be Cassandra, Sigil, or Naja, Red thought to himself before his eyebrows furrowed. No, that's not quite true. Wendy could've easily bypassed the security systems since she's the one running the whole security system, and someone like Alexis or even Mars likely wouldn't have any issues with it. Hell, even someone like Casimir could find a way.

Red gritted his teeth as he stared at the mess he had left behind on his desk. He understood the list of potential suspects was as long, if not longer, than the lists of those who were not on it, which caused a sense of panic to build up within him. While he could find little reason why anyone would break into his room in the first place, let alone take an old photograph and nothing else, the fact that someone had caused every hair on the back of his neck to stand up as adrenaline began to pump into his veins.

Shaking his head, Red realized there was little he could do at the moment. He could ask Wendy if he could watch the cameras, but he knew that doing so would only raise more suspicion and unneeded questions. If he wanted to keep things from spiraling out of control, he'd need to find out whoever it was that stole the photograph and have a...conversation with. However, until then, he had somewhere else to be.

Reaching into his pocket, Red stared down at the team communication device that everyone was supposed to have on them at all times. It served as not only a means of getting a hold of everyone, but also to track their positions in case of an emergency. It was useful to most, but now that he had found out someone clearly snooping around where they shouldn't be, it was a dangerous liability for him to have.

Red exited the room, keys in hand and his jacket slung over his shoulder as he tossed the device onto his desk, no longer knowing who on his team he could trust.

---

Taking his helmet off his head, Red scanned the empty streets around him with worried suspicion. Aside from the occasional piece of garbage floating down the sidewalk or a passing car, the area was eerily still, almost as if it were completely abandoned. Putting down the kickstand of his motorcycle, Red tucked his helmet into storage compartment before reluctantly heading towards the door of the small building which he recalled to be the location he had woken up in days prior.

Approaching the entrance, Red's gaze narrowed as he saw the buzzer was devoid of any name on either of the three available options. Unsure of which to press, his finger began to hover over the top of the choices. Before he could press it, however, he heard the distinct sound of a lock being released next to him. Turning around to look at the door, Red paused for a few moments before reluctantly going over and opening it, entering the building.

Making his way up to the third floor, his footsteps echoed loudly in the stairwell, reverberating against the chipped walls around him as he approached the door of the apartment. Standing in front of it, Red paused for a brief moment, taking in a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself. Once he seemed to have gathered enough courage, he reached forwards in preparation to knock on the door, only to have the door swing open.

"You actually came. Looks like I shouldn't have doubted the credibility of San Diego's most famous bad boy."

Leaned up against the side of the doorway, Isabella gave Red a cheeky grin as the redheaded hero rolled his eyes.

"Don't get too used to it," he replied before walking into the apartment, the smirk on Isabella's face remaining as she shook her head and closed the door behind them. Walking into the main living room area, Red's eyes wandered over the collection of weapons, gadgets, and other military equipment that were placed around the room, a reminder to him of the life he used to live and the one the girl still did. Most peculiar though was the small decorations that likewise filled the room, ranging from flowered vases to wall decorations one would expect to see in any college-aged girl's room. Most notable was a large wooden decorated box which displayed the phrase "Live, Life, Love", a series of words that was comically ironic given the circumstances. Placing his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Red turned around on his heels to face Isabella, a warry expression on his face as his gaze fixed on her.

"So I'm guessing you didn't invite me over to give me another tour of the place," Red spoke, suspicion clear in his voice as Isabella gave a reluctant nod.

"World class detective work there, Red," she replied, a small grin on her face briefly appearing before fading away. "No, I asked you to come here for something a bit more...important."

"Important?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow as he was unsure what Isabella meant. The girl hesitated to reply, her mouth still agape as she seemed to struggle to find the words to say. By the time it looked as if she had finally found them, a voice from elsewhere in the apartment rang out.

"We're here to offer you back your spot on the team, Red."

Red's head snapped over to the source of the voice, his eyes widening as a white haired boy appeared around the corner of the room. Following behind him was another figure, a short brown haired girl who seemed to only glare at him as the two stood next to Isabella. Looking over to where Isabella was, Red saw an almost shameful look on the girl's face, no doubt due to the fact that it had now become clear what her intentions had been.

"My spot back on the team? Are you fucking crazy?" Red finally replied in disbelief as he turned his gaze back to Gene. "I don't know if you guys remember, but you guys tried to kill me," he continued, emphasizing the last two words with venom in them. They didn't seem to faze the others too much, however, as Clare shrugged her shoulders in response.

"We didn't try to kill you, Red. Reaper did. We had no idea what was going to happen that day, only that we weren't supposed to intervene," she said, her tone coming out annoyed as she seemed apathetic towards the whole ordeal. Red could barely believe what he was hearing, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared at his former teammates.

"That doesn't help your case."

Clare rolled her eyes at the comment, seeming about to say something snarky in response before Gene gave her a small smack to the backside of the head, causing the girl to direct whatever curses she had planned for Red towards him. Meanwhile, the white haired boy let out a small sigh, rubbing at the bridge of his nose before looking up to meet Red's glare.

"Look, I know this is a lot, Red. I know you have absolutely no reason to trust Lycan or even us anymore. But right now, we need your help."

Red stared at Gene for a few moments, pursing his lips before finally replying.

"My help? For what? Toppling a third-world government? Taking out some journalist who's getting a little too nosy for Lycan's liking? Squaring up against the Condors? Because I'm done with that shit, Gene," he said, barely holding back the anger that was quickly building up inside him as he stared at the others in disbelief.

"It's Reaper, Red. He's the one who got Frank killed."

Isabella's voice caused Red to turn around in shock as he watched her hands curl into fists, biting at her lip as she seemed to struggle to maintain her composure. Red's eyes widened in surprise as he tried to take in the news.

"Reaper? What?" he asked in astonishment.

"He's gone rogue, Red. You should know better than anyone at the skills Frank had. The only way those cartel members managed to get the drop on him was because Reaper told them exactly where he'd be," Clare spoke out, her deep frown on her face as her voice was filled with what seemed to be hesitation. Next to her, Gene gave a small nod before he walked over into the kitchen area of the apartment, only to reappear moments later with a thick yellow binder in his hands before tossing it over to Red.

"Read through the reports if you don't believe us. Lycan managed to pick up enough of his transmissions and movement patterns prior to him going dark to give you all the evidence you'll need. Odds are he was the sniper who tried to take both you and Isabella out the other night. Since then, he's gone off the map without a trace."

Red stared at Gene for a few moments before reluctantly opening up the binder, quickly scanning through the documents. After a few moments, a grim expression filled his face as he was able to confirm what they had told him. Closing the binder, Red eyed the others warily as he contemplated on what to do. Gene seemed to notice his hesitation, as he spoke out once more.

"Look, we both know that things will never return to how they used to be, Red. We're not asking that they do, either. You can continue playing hero with your little metahuman buddies, pretending to be something you're clearly not. All we're asking for is help on tracking him down, and when the time comes, to take him down." Gene paused, a somewhat pitiful look in his eyes as he continued. "I know you have your own score to settle with the bastard, so why not?"

Red's gaze wandered over the group as he saw them all looking at him in expectation. What they were asking of him was insanely risky, not only for himself but for the rest of his fellow Young Bloods. The last thing he wanted to do was drag them into a mess that they had no part in being a part of, but the odds of Reaper doing just that should he get involved was almost an inevitability.

"What happens when he's...taken care of?" Red asked, hesitating to ask the final portion of his question. The others looked back and forth amongst one another, before Gene finally spoke up in response.

"You don't hear from us again. Lycan has enough on its plate right now to deal with, and the Young Bloods are too high profile to be getting their fingers dirty with. You can continue living this new life of yours, or..."

Red raised an eyebrow as Gene's words trailed off.

"Or?"

"Or you can come back to us, Red."

Red's eyes widened as he heard Isabella speak up. Reaching towards him, she placed a hand on his shoulder as she continued.

"It was Reaper who convinced the higher ups that you were too much of a liability to keep around. Now that he's gone, I'm sure that we could convince them to let you back with us. Lycan hasn't been blind to what you've done as a Young Blood. They know damn well that you're still a valuable asset, and with your current influence in the metahuman world, I'm sure they wouldn't pass the opportunity to have another ace up their sleeves."

Giving a light squeeze with her hand, a small hopeful smile appeared on her face as her blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

"We can go back to the way things used to be, Red. All of us, together again. Just like the good old days," Clare spoke up next to her. Clare's cold expression had softened up slightly as she gave Red a small nod, seeming to not want to display too much in terms of emotion towards her former team leader.

Red remained silent for a few moments as he became wrapped up in his own thoughts. After a few moments, however, he finally answered their offer.

"We all know that we'll never be able to go back to those days, Clare. I'm done living that life." Pausing, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening them once more with a heavy expression on his face.

"But I will help you."

The others held mixed levels of disappointment in their faces, but they seemed to accept his response as they looked over at one another and nodded. Isabella seemed the most upset, but reluctantly let out a sigh as she took a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket.

"This is my number. The one I texted you from was a burner. Once you find him, let me know. We'll have things ready to go on our end, and we'll let you know when we're ready to move. Until then..."

Isabella paused before she let her hand fall from Red's shoulder.

"...stay safe, Red."

Red stood still for a few moments, before nodding in response.

"You too, Isabella."

---

Red sat alone in his room as he glanced over the pile of notes in front of him. In light of the reveal that someone had been snooping around his room, he had gone about cleaning up and locking up all of the previous paperwork that had been piling up on his desk, leaving only his current work out in the open for the moment. A fresh pot of coffee was in the midst of brewing next to him, filling the room with its aroma.

A knock at his door caused Red to flinch instinctively, immediately closing the binder in front of him as his eyes snapped over to the entrance to his room. Glancing over at his computer, he pressed the power button on the side to put the screen to sleep and then proceeding to place his notes in the drawer underneath. Getting up from his seat, he walked over to the door and deactivated the lock.

Standing on the opposite side of the door was none other than Casimir, the look on his face making it clear he had something he wanted to talk about. Letting out a small sigh, Red leaned up against the doorway, crossing his arms as he stared at his teammate.

"What do you need? I'm busy with stuff right now, Casimir."

[The Republic of Atria]

Sina

"I guess that's fair. But that's still more noticeable than just being vague. It's not like I won't know what you're talking about." He said and smiled a bit when Sina brought up the fact that he wanted to leave when normally it would be her suggesting that. "Well. After the events of the last few days, I just want to do something I want to do. Even if that something is just lying on a nice warm rock in the park for a little bit while a little drunk because... Sina. I love my friends. I really do. But they can be so... So stupid, obnoxious and frustrating." He said, pouring her a glass. "So drink up. We're gonna go chill out for a little bit and just... I don't know. Talk about stuff."

"There's a park with a sunning area I saw a bit ago. How about we race there and then just... Find a nice big one where we can lie together?" He offered, knowing that she would be unable to resist that. "You can put all those new flying skills to the test. I've been practicing a bit myself. Probably not as much as you obviously, but I've gotten a little better about the turns. After we get out of these awful looking clothes of course. Spirits only know I don't want to be seen like this in public."

Andrew, The Infirmary

Bael sighed a little bit in relief when Andrew responded with a joke and being in relatively decent spirits despite everything. "Again. Sorry." He said once again and then sat back down. Andrew suggested that maybe they share a little bit about themselves to clear the air a little and get to know each other. "I can agree to that. Uh... Not really sure how to start it, but I guess with something simple. Bael's my real name, but I used to go by Wyatt back when I used my human guise all the time because me and my folks weren't sure how everyone would handle the truth, but that's why a bunch of the team still calls me that. Familiarity I suppose. I don't really care which name they use. Even if it feels a little weird. ya know?"

"Now that I know better, and that it'd probably be fine, I do wish I stopped hiding sooner. Most everyone was pretty cool about it. Sure the secret came out at a time when I was the least of everyone's concerns, but hey. Details." He said and paused. "Don't like the cold. For reasons that should be very obvious. I like reading. Jason's my best friend... That's about it from the top of my head. So I guess it's your turn unless you've got a specific question."

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt

Sina As'tari, sponsored by the Desert Sandstorms!

---

So it was more than just Bael being bored by the ball and wishing to go somewhere else. As much as he loved his team and his friends, he couldn't ask for anything else more than to take a break from them at least for a day. Especially when they can be a complete pain to deal with. Sina accepted the glass poured for her, then, when drinking it, overheard Bael offering them to race to one of the city parks with a sunning area.

"Really now?" she called out as she plopped down her glass on the table. "Last time we raced, I was still a newbie and yet I still narrowly won. You're not afraid I'm gonna fly circles 'round ya this tine?" Sure, if Bael wants to lose again, she can humor him. Grinning playfully, Sina leaned back and continued:

"I see, your friends might be annoying and stuff, but you still love 'em... Am I up there in that "friends ya love" category or do I still gotta work my way up there?"

---

Wyatt, again

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Who could have thought that Wyatt, one of the most docile and timid members of their team, could respond so harshly and with such dripping sarcasm? Sure, he clearly was not in a great mood, but this is still Wyatt they're talking about. Faintly scoffing under her breath, Renata pulled herself off the floor and stood back up.

"Fine, fine, Jesus, who taught you to speak like that?.." Renata complained under her breath and straightened, staring the Dra'Quinni in the eyes from down below. Alright, if she's going to be playing like that, then what could she even say?.. The girl stayed silent for a few seconds as she mulled over the scene in her head, before speaking:

"I shot at Mars because he was about to get in the way. It was a tense situation, I was in the middle of a fight with Ares, and he was clearly treating me as a joke. And I wasn't going to let him stand by that. Just letting others fight for me would have proven his point."

Renata's eyes shifted to the side. "You wouldn't understand that feeling. You're just gonna say that I'm a reckless idiot for injuring Mars and that I should either stand down to mediocrity or leave. Just like Alexis did ten minutes ago."

[Tomia]

The Gala
While it might not be as life threatening, Roy wasn't sure if he would chose being stabbed by the serum or surrounded by wealthy donors. Jacob had tried to convince Roy to stay home, but Roy knew he had a responsibility as team leader to go. Besides, he was feeling almost entirely better, despite some lingering aches and pains. Still, he now found himself having to move through a mob of people who all wanted an introduction or to introduce them to their daughter or son who either had some extraordinary power or an incredible personality.... After enough polite disengagements he made his way to the Young Bloods' table, taking a seat next to Wendy. "Hey, do you want to dance? I really need an excuse for people not to be able to come up and talk to me."

At the other side of the table, Angelica smiled at the masked blonde hero next to her. "Hey, you're always my girlfriend." She said softly so that no one would over here. She was wearing a light blue dress that was flattering but also elegant. "I get that you want to keep a low profile though, there will always be other dances." She said, taking a sip of her own sparkling water. "And you're right, its kind of weird feeling like the center of attention in a room filled with all these famous people. I don't know how people get used to this." Then she turned her head to the buffet. "Hey, I think I'm going to go get some food, do you want anything?"

Meanwhile Mars was just coming back from the food line and decided to take an open sit next to Viv at the Young Bloods' table. "Hey Viv, is it cool if I sit here? Isn't this so cool?! I can't believe we're at a party that's being thrown for us, its like we're really celebrities now!"

[Absolon-7]

Red

Casimir Herman October 4th

---

Casimir stood with his arms crossed as he looked up at Red who had the same demeanor as some cave beast that had been disturbed from its slumber. He had spotted Red coming over into the Tower after some momentary disappearance with his swarm and usually he wouldn't think anything of it but his recent discovery of Red's alcoholism didn't exactly instill confidence. Casimir however had a different intention in mind for this confrontation.

"I'm sure you're busy pal but I'm here to let you in on something. Roy's been in critical condition since yesterday. And it was when we were out on a mission. Something you haven't been keen on for a while," said Casimir, "But that was the day after you went off to fight Weatherman and Marionette all by yourself."

Casimir let the information hang in the air silently before continuing, "We got a call from the LA Stars that they would handle it but gee don't you think it would've been over a lot faster if you told us about it. All of us...You've been gone a lot but the Scarab isn't around anymore so what gives?"

Alexis and Icarus

Casimir Herman October 7th

---

"Good to see you being so generous," grinned Casimir as he popped off the bottom of his helmet to chow down on the plate of food.

They hadn't been face to face since the tournament and it looked like his mood hadn't changed since then. He figured this would be a time where he was supposed to be supportive like how Bullhorn Acacia trees support colonies of Pseudomyrmex ferruginea. He rubbed his chin in contemplation as he thought over what he could bring up to cheer his pal up. Perhaps retelling a glorious victory he recently had although most of the chumps he had fought recently were no name thugs who didn't have real powers and he didn't get to beat Ares so nothing really exciting to recount. Dammit!

"Why the long face?" asked Casimir before patting Icarus on the back heartily, "These bigwig parties aren't my thing but I'd figure the food would be enough to be worth it."

A brilliant idea then popped into his head which involved a bit of outsourcing to a certain jovial blonde. Casimir waved his hand in the air and with a bombastic call he signaled over to two of his teammates, "Hey Frostbite, Makeshift! I need you over here to meet someone!"

Mars

Viviana Couture

---

Viviana's staring into the city lights was interrupted by Mars sitting next to her and in complete awe at the party. She wasn't too keen on going to these fancy party but she figured she take any chance she got to dress up. Mars comment on them basically being celebrities got her to thinking how much attention they really were getting. It made her a bit queasy but it was really exciting at the same time. It almost felt like being a bird that only kept itself low to the ground finally soaring up into the sky.

"If we're celebrities then all of us should get a yacht. A fleet of the Young Bloods empire!" snickered Viviana, "But yeah this is soooo fancy. Back home when my basketball team won a championship we'd just get taken to McDonalds or something. Oh, maybe we'll start getting some scandals on tabloids! Like those supermarket magazines just start saying 'Rocket's plans to replace humanity with robots EXPOSED' or 'Kabuto secretly a swarm of sentient insects'. They're so dumb but so fun too."

Viviana took a sip before speaking again, "Uh, you don't actually want to replace humans with robots do ya?"

[The Republic of Atria]

Sina

Bael smiled when Sina brought up the fact that she narrowly won when she was worse at flying than she is now. "Who knows? Maybe I was going easy on you." He teased. "How about this. Let's make it a competition. Winner gets... I don't know. Uh. If I win, you have to come to the Tower back in San Diego, wearing this silly bow and your dress." He challenged. "If you win, well, you'll have to tell me." Maybe it was the alcohol in his system, maybe he had genuinely been driven mad by spending too much time at the Tower, but he was excited to do something with Sina! Not just tolerating her presence and going along with whatever thing she wanted to do.

Once he checked and saw that Yharon wasn't anywhere within eyesight, he made his way to the entrance to the roof and readied to fly back to Yharon's place to take off the crappy outfit.

Renata

He was almost surprised that she broke after that. Though immediately after, he turned his phone off and put it away as she explained herself. She was under the impression that Mars was somehow going to "get in the way" and that she just expected him to yell at her like Alexis did. He sighed, his voice taking a much softer, gentler tone. "Renata, I'm not going to yell at you. There's been enough of that today, and nothing is going to get accomplished by screaming at each other for half an hour. Nothing but raised blood pressure and things said that shouldn't have been."

He turned and looked to the side. "Let's go for a walk and talk about this, okay? I promise I won't raise my voice and we both could use some fresh air." He started to walk along the path. "So let's start with what you said. You thought Mars was... Going to get in the way? I can say with absolute certainty that he wasn't. Ares was treating you like a joke? Renata, he was treating everyone like jokes, not just you. And who cares about proving his point? He's a mass-murdering nutjob whose only claim to fame is being a mass-murdering nutjob with metal arms. Of all people you should be trying to impress, HE isn't one of them. He's one of the most hated people on the planet." He said, and thought for a moment.

"Is this a pride thing? Prove that you're a big shot by taking down a world-renowned psychopath?"

[New Finnish Republic]

Casimir

Red's eyes widened at the news of Roy's condition. He had been practically locked away in his room for the last twenty-four hours, intent on following the leads Isabella had provided him over the location of Reaper so much that he hadn't interacted with anyone in that time frame. His eyebrows furrowed, however, as Casimir's voice shifted into a confrontational tone, of which Red had no intentions of dealing with at the moment. Rubbing at the bridge of his nose, he let out a small annoyed sigh.

"Look, I didn't mean to miss the mission. Ever since the reappearance of Marionette, I've been doing everything I can to try and track her down again," Red replied, telling Casimir a lie that was believable enough. "The fact that she escaped, right when I had her cornered, just because I hadn't planned on the appearance of Weatherman has barely let me get any sleep. Every single lead I have, I follow, because she's my responsibility to take down. Not only because of what she did to me, but what she's done to...others on the team."

Red found himself unable to speak Yoshiro's name, his words trailing off as he shook his head. Crossing his arms across his chest, Red stared down his teammate, a small thought crossing his mind to make his story believable. "How many people do we have on this team now, Casimir? More than enough to spread out our responsibilities, if you ask me. Eventually it reaches the point where we need to ask ourselves where we can be the most useful, and we both know that what I bring to the table is a lot different than those on the team like you or Wyatt."

It was Red's turn to turn on the hostility, as he practically glared at his teammate. "Or am I wrong in that assessment?"

---

The Gala

As the lights lit up the table where he and the rest of his teammates were sitting down at, Red had to fight the urge of wanting to vomit as the sound of thunderous applause erupted all around them. Based on the glares and noticeable whispered conversations he had seen take place whenever he walked by some of the people present at the gala, he was not oblivious to the fact that much of the praise and adoration felt for the team was not spread evenly throughout the members of the team. He didn't mind that fact too much, as he felt that as long as he was getting the results he wanted he could care less of the opinions of the masses, but to watch these same people turn around and act like they were nothing less than perfect angels sent from above made him feel sick to his stomach.

Red did his best to give a weak wave of his hands until the applause was eventually silenced by the speaker. The second the attention was drawn away, he let out a small sigh, sitting back in his seat as he played with the long black tie that was practically strangling him. The fact that he had agreed to attend was little more than an effort to make up for his previous disappearance, having been told specifically by non other than Naja herself to be on his best behavior. She had even convinced him to wear a suit and tie, an outfit he was not fond of wearing in the slightest, even as he had kept his attire bland with a simple black and white color scheme. In a small token of attempting to behave, Red had trimmed up the facial hair that had slowly but surely began to thicken up around his face, making him appear at least somewhat presentable amongst the crowds of San Diego's most affluent members.

As the speech ended and those present were free to do as they pleased, Red slowly picked at the meal in front of him, not feeling hungry in the slightest. A small yearning for something other than the sparkling grape juice in his glass filled him immensely, but Naja had already taken prior precautions to ensure that he wouldn't get the chance. Thus, after several minutes of idling away at the table, Red could no longer bother to remain seated, choosing instead to get up from his assigned seating and began to wander about throughout the gala area.

As he slipped through the thick crowd, Red saw more than a few gazes linger over him as he would mutter small and unenthusiastic apologies for pushing past them. He chose to ignore them, pressing onwards towards a much less crowded area of the venue as he sought a small amount of peace and quiet from the scene unfolding around him. He couldn't understand how the others were enjoying this, but he supposed that it likely had a lot to do with how they became so popular to the public in the first place.

Stopping near the much less crowded area around the bathrooms, Red placed his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as he leaned up against the wall, occasionally catching a glimpse of his fellow teammates seeming to be enjoying themselves. He rolled his eyes at the sight of none other than San Diego's former most wanted vigilante sitting amidst some of America's most infamous heroes, clearly seeming uncomfortable with the entire situation. Red felt a little bit of pity for the guy, given that he was in the exact same situation.

As he remained there, he was caught off guard when on several occasions he was asked to either come visit a table to speak or even the offer to dance. On both accounts Red declined as gracefully as he could, even as some of the latter requests were hard to refuse given the beauty of those asking. He felt a little twinge of remorse, but in the back of his mind he knew the only reason these requests came was almost exclusively a means of increasing their own self image, something Red was keen of not involving himself with.

Thus, he remained standing where he was, content for the moment at least of watching the absurdity of the situation he had been thrown into.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 7th

---

---

---

Upon hearing her girlfriend's words of encouragement, a silly grin appeared on Alexis' face, the genius girl having to resist the impulse to pull the taller blonde in and hold her close. There were too many people for that to be safe, though she made a mental note to get a compensation in the form of cuddles later. For now, she simply nodded along to Angelica's words. "Sure there will be other dances but I wanted to show off that my girlfriend is the prettiest girl in all of San Diego you know?" She said, still grinning. "And I like the feeling, it's the good kind of weird. If you ask me, they should celebrate us more. We've only been around for a few months and we've already done a lot for the city!"

Briefly turning her attention away from Angelica to glance at the food in front of her and then at the buffet table, the blonde girl raised a finger to her chin as she appraised the selection of foods available and tried to decide what she wanted without picking out more stuff than the taller blonde could handle. However, what appeared to be a higher priority situation suddenly emerged, as Casimir shouted out and did a silly gesture to beckon her and Angelica. Figuring that it'd either be important or hopefully provide her with a good laugh, Alexis immediately stood up from her seat and grabbed the frosty heroine's arm. "Forget about the food for now, it looks like bug face needs us."

After the few seconds that it took to drag Angelica through the thick crowds of young and old shareholders and entrepreneurs, Alexis arrived at Casimir's side with her girlfriend in tow, noticing that he was in the company of some distinguished people. "What's up, Kabuto?"

---

---

Icarus raised an eyebrow as he witnessed Casimir pop off a part of his helmet and eagerly descend upon the plate of food in front of him. It was a jarring sight to say the least, because it was the exact same thing he had seen every day at lunchtime during the previous school year, but now instead of being in the cafeteria of Thomsen High wearing casual clothes, they were in the middle of a social event normally reserved for the upper class of California. Needless to say the contrast was quite striking, and would have gotten a chuckle out of him had he been in higher spirits.

Grunting as the shorter hero patted him on the back, the blond boy shook his head. "I'm not as much of a food fanatic as you are, remember?" He pointed out. "And I'm not one for fancy parties like this either. I'm only here because I was hoping I'd get to see... well, you know." He said, giving Casimir a credible explanation for his less than cheery disposition. The true reason behind it was not something he wanted to discuss, much less so in a public place like that, surrounded by wealthy donors and gossiping social butterflies he had no reason to trust.

However it seemed like Casimir's attention was instead in calling over some of his teammates so that they could meet him. This was fairly odd, since the older boy had never been one to introduce new people to him when they were together in school - if anything, often it was the other way around - but he opted not to question it. As the two people he had called over approached, though, Icarus had to actively stop himself from chuckling.

"What's up, Kabuto?" The shorter of the two blonde girls cheerfully greeted his teammate. She and her friend - or at least that's what he thought she was - wore dresses that went quite well with their figures, and both were rather pretty in their own distinct ways, making the former vigilante dwell for a moment on how his best friend was quite lucky to be in a team full of girls like that, both their girlfriends included.

More importantly however, he had recognized the two as soon as he had seen them. He remembered them well.

"Hey, girls. Fight any superpowered mercenaries as of late?" The blond boy asked.

"Oh, blondie! Yes actually, we fought Ares a few days ago. We were this close to catching him, but then..." Alexis began, trailing off at the end. Well, it's not like I can just tell him 'your girlfriend blew it', as much as I'd like to.

"Anyway, nice to see you're doing well! When I met you I didn't think you'd end up joining the Stars. How's that going?" The short girl continued. Unlike some others on the team, she had little difficulties with small talk.

"Well, Armorer likes to kick my ass in training, I think it's payback." The boy replied, before glancing at the two veteran superheroes sitting nearby, who had kept silent thus far. "Red and Blue are cool, though. I'll introduce-"

"Actually we've already met." The twins said in unison, looking at each other and smiling in amusement. A high five could be heard under the table.

"We signed an autograph for her, I think she said it was for a friend." Blue continued, nodding in Alexis' direction.

"And she's the big shot's daughter." Red added while gesturing towards Angelica, prompting Blue to turn to look at him.

"You know you shouldn't bring that up, Jimmy."

It was a little hard for Icarus to keep track, as the twins had a tendency to speak rather fast - not unlike the short blonde girl from Casimir's team, in fact - but after the moment it took him to make sense of the conversation, memories of darker times resurfaced.

"Right... the leaks." He said, recalling that he wasn't the only one who had been a victim of Warwolf's slanderous campaign. He looked up at Angelica with a serious expression on his face. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." He said sincerely.

"Well now, that's in the past and we don't need to let someone who's not even here ruin the mood, right?" Alexis spoke up in hopes of lightening the mood, the superhero twins promptly agreeing with her. In the brief lull in the conversation that followed, however, Icarus noticed an encroaching wall of reporters and scowled before turning back to Casimir, Alexis and Angelica.

"Hey, uh, is it fine if I go back to your table with you guys? I think it would take some heat off of me if I wasn't sitting next to these two." He pointed at Red and Blue.

"Your loss." They quipped in unison.

[Tomia]

The Gala
Angelica was suddenly pulled into the crowd by Alexis as she brought them over to the table where Casimir and Blackout were sitting. She soon saw that Red and Blue were also sitting with them. Angelica found them to be nice enough people, though it was a little weird knowing that they worked for her father. That was made weirder when Red mentioned her father. Angelica diverted her eyes a bit especially at the mention of her cover being blown, but fortunately Alexis and Surge thought to divert the conversation.

"Sure Surge, I don't think anyone would mind. Though I'm not sure sitting with the Young Bloods is going to get you any less attention. They might even start rumors that you're joining." She said, smirking at that last thought.

Meanwhile Mars laughed at Viv's last comment. "I'm not trying to replace humans with robots I promise. Though I have to admit sometimes robots make better company." He half joked. "And ya I never went to any kind of parties like this before either. But I guess maybe we'll have to get used to this now that we're heroes and all." He added before pausing. "You think you want to do this long term Viv? Or do you think you maybe have another career in mind?" Mars wasn't sure about his own answer himself. He enjoyed being a hero but he couldn't help but think about the good he could do in the fields of science and engineering. Still, he would certainly remain a hero for now, so he didn't want to worry about it too much.

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt

Sina As'tari, sponsored by the Desert Sandstorms!

---

Hearing Bael's half of the racing bet, Sina scoffed. "What kinda loss is that? I wouldn't mind checking that tower of yours either way. Maybe not in this block of cement they pass for clothes, but, y'know, can't win 'em all." What was she gonna challenge him to do if she won the race, though? Bael left the decision up to her to decide, which got Sina lost in thought and scratching her chin with her claw for a second. "Ya know what, I'll keep it a secret. If I win, I'll tell you."

She took one last swig of her drink. "Besides, your challenge assumes I ain't gonna shred this thing as soon as I get out of here."

As soon as Bael arose from his seat, Sina followed - thankfully, it appeared that the rest of the hall was busy eating and chit-chatting and did not turn their eyes to see two of the ball-goers sneaking out towards the roof. Before she even made it there, she was already trying to unbutton her dress and shove her arms out of it, all while lightly cursing the sturdy construction under her breath.

---

Also Wyatt

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

With a bitter taste still left over in her mouth, Renata walked after Wyatt, sighing and staring to the side of the road as the Dra'Quinni repeated her points and tried to use his logic to make sense of them. Of course, just as she expected, he didn't get it. He wasn't as harsh as Alexis when it came down to it, but that didn't change the fact.

"No, I'm not trying to impress him, no, it's not a matter of pride..." she answered and sighed. It wasn't just her treated as a joke, it was all of them, she couldn't deny that... Suddenly, Renata ran forth, stopping in front of Wyatt in order to stop him, and continued:

"And, well, you just said what the problem is! I-I mean... we're heroes, right? And not just any heroes, you know? We're the team responsible for the safety of a city with three million people, we've beaten some of the most intimidating villains in California - and yet everyone thinks we're kids first and heroes second. We've got teammates who can demolish buildings and tackle giant monsters, and yet Ares thinks we're a joke, Quake thinks we're gonna be epitaphs, the NASL sees us as a fad..." After the outburst, Renata's voice receded, she began to stare to the floor instead. "...and my father probably thinks I should much rather be locked up like a princess in a tower, and groomed to be a dictator instead of a hero."

Her eyes once again shot at Wyatt. "When I was down there, in the basement, I... didn't really think I can win, not by myself. But I would have refused your help regardless. Because if twenty of us went against him and won, all that would prove is that one of him is equal to twenty of us. But if I was there, alone, and pushed him harder than a "joke" would, even if I lost... then he'd think differently."

[Bentus]

Yoshiro Nakama - a.k.a Psyche
San Diego

---

Yoshiro couldn’t keep the grin from her features as she did her best not to gape and stare at their surreal surroundings. It felt as if it was something ripped from another world, with the lavish wealth on display all around them causing her eyes to sparkle in awe. The waiters maneuvered through the crowds in their crisp vests, bearing shimmering trays of calamari, prosciutto and deserts while the guests worked their ways through the buffets that had been presented to each table. A hint of colour had flushed Yoshiro’s cheeks as the spotlight had turned towards their table, and she had instinctively shrunk back into her chair as their host directed a round of applause towards the young team. This is crazy, how did we end up here? Yoshiro thought to herself, doing her best to mask her giddy smile by taking a sip from her glass.

Watching Alexis and Angelica’s exchange as the applause finally died down, Yoshiro couldn’t help but giggle at the pair. She rolled her eyes as Alexis moped quietly about needing to keep their relationship a secret, suspecting that her friend might at least be slightly enjoying the added romantic flair of it. But despite the late night she’d had to pull on chemistry again, Yoshiro was glad that her friend had talked her into attending. If she’d missed this, she would’ve been carrying the regret for weeks! The rest of the team also seemed to be enjoying themselves. If nothing else, it was nice to see how much of a difference they’d been making already. For all the bad press and the constant focus of the tabloid pages, there were people out there who believed in them and were willing to step up and show it. However, Yoshiro’s attention was pulled back to the table as a deep sigh followed by a scraping chair sounded from beside her.

Turning towards Red as he left the table, the psychic frowned at his retreating back. In typical fashion, he hadn’t said a word since the team had left the Tower, seemingly more than content to simply keep to himself. Scowling, Yoshiro turned back to her food as she cut into her steak. Fine, two can play at that game. If he’s not going to talk about it, then neither am I. He can just be bored by himself while the rest of us have a blast. See if I care! Chewing aggressively as she thought to herself, the girl nevertheless glanced up from her plate as she stole a glance towards the other hero. Almost immediately, she nearly began to choke on her food in surprise. Already Red had been approached by a few girls their age. Recovering quickly, Yoshiro could only watch as the debutantes laughed playfully at whatever he was saying, flicking their hair while one even went as far as to casually brush her hand across his shoulder.

Feeling her grip tighten slightly on her cutlery, Yoshiro quickly pulled her gaze away. Forcing a smile onto her face she - perhaps a bit too desperately - pushed her way into the first conversation she could. “I bet you wish your girlfriend was a robot!” She started jokingly towards Viviana and Mars, gesturing towards the boy wonder with her fork. But she immediately realised her mistake. Her smile dropping in horror, Yoshiro tried to apologise as she remembered Kiris’ absence. “Oh Rocket, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by...I just...” Her voice trailing off as she realised that she was only making the situation worse, Yoshiro silently scolded herself for not thinking. Normally she was better at picking up on stuff like this! What was wrong with her lately? Fortunately, another voice nearby came to her rescue.

“I hope that I’m not interrupting anything.” Alice announced, offering the table of heroes a friendly smile as she approached, her heels clapping lightly on the floor with each step. Her dress had an elegant simplicity to it, betraying its wearer’s tendency towards the practical. And yet, the simplicity helped it stand out against the often flamboyant competition elsewhere in the room. Reaching out, she offered to shake the hands of the gathered teenagers. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Alice Peters. I work with Mr. Scott.” Looking around the table, she noted that the specific kid she was looking for was conspicuously absent. “I hope that you’ve all been enjoying yourselves so far?”

[Aidannadia]

Aleta pulled up to the Gala with the rest of the Young Bloods in a black Lolita dress that was just at the edge of appropriate for the occasion, accentuating her legs and matching the color of her former costume as the vigilante Pitch. She waved kindly as their table was spotlighted; it was strange, as someone so versed in guerilla media, to have the actual media bending over backwards to get to you, but she did have an image to maintain now. The name Paragon was a lot to live up to, but she was determined to maintain the legacy that was laid out before her.

Another big shot from across the room, this one in stark white and a large hat eyeing the room like a predator. Alcyone Naftis was in attendance, naturally. There was hardly a place on the media circuit that she wasn't nowadays, as he popularity too had begun to soar in response to the Demeter Project's increasing influence across San Diego. She sipped her glass casually as she watched her niece from across the room approach the reporters and begin giving a statement that announced the fruit of the last few days talks with the government and Naja. Alcyone had known the serpentine woman through mutual friends, but they had become close in the last few days as these talks continued. Alcyone saw in her much of herself, as a fellow successful woman trying to make her way in the world and do good for everyone involved, but her scope was so limited by these children. Could she not see the base root of the problems with this city? Did she really think heroes alone were the solution to keeping everyone safe?

Regardless, Aleta gave her statement. "...As you can see, I've joined the Young Bloods after extensive talks as to my status as a hero."

"Will you be serving time for your work as a vigilante?"

"I guess you could say I'm working off my time with the Young Bloods, though I'd hardly call it anything like punishment."

The questioning went on for a bit longer before Aleta managed to scrape the last reporter off of her and slink back towards the Young Bloods table, sipping something sweet.. Was it fruit punch?

As she continued to glide effortlessly between social groups with a few 'hellos' and 'goodbyes' between them, she noticed a familiar face from across the room.

Icarus. She looked him up and down, maintaining her distance as he approached her table with a few of her newfound teammates in toe. She remembered their last conversation before splitting ways once and for all as partners... It was shame, truthfully. Their powers, their style, their methods all seemed to match pretty well, but she supposed they were too similar. She thought approaching him, trying to mend whatever bridge was still there, but she felt something keep her back. Perhaps it was her knowing that she'd eventually blow up at him again, or perhaps she was afraid.. No. She didn't need him anyway. What would she be afraid of from someone like him anyway? I mean, look at his hair for crying out loud. Nevermind. Aleta skipped her way to the other side of the table, trying to keep her head down to avoid locking eyes with him as he approached.

She tapped the shoulder of the nearest Young Blood, perhaps they were in as much of a jam as she, and said confidently. "Hey, do you wanna dance? Great, let's go." She said as she pulled themup from their chair and onto the dance floor.

[Auropa]

Kross Mathews
The gala

“I’m sorry sir but I don’t think I can serve you any more drinks.” A somewhat scared waiter finally announced as Kross downed another glass of champagne and began motioning for another.

“Don’t doubt yourself.” he stated as he deftly grabbed another glass from the tray. “See. You did great.”
With his prize in hand, Kross turned on the spot and began to walk off in search of another unsuspecting tray to raid. Suffice to say that galas like this weren’t usually the sort of event he attended, this one however, had the unique trait of being hosted by one Jordan Scott. While not an enemy per say, the figurehead of industry was far from a friend and not the type of person to throw pointless parties. If this was him finally making a move on the Young Blood front, then it was too much of an opportunity to miss. Wearing a mostly clean shirt, a loose tie and an old black suit jacket, Kross looked as close to cleaned up someone like him could, while still maintaining some of that ever-present dishevelled, scruffy feel. Though so far, the gala had gone mostly as advertised, fancy drinks, some select cameras and more than a few key figures dotted around the room. Despite his concerns, everything had been more or less focused on selling the Young Bloods to the public and apart from Scott casually throwing around how well informed he was about the team’s actions, nothing he had said or done had been overly worrying or threatening. Swapping his now empty glass for another unguarded drink, he took a glance at his watch and considered making an early exit. While not entirely unhappy to for it, Kross was beginning to doubt this gala had any underlying, earth shattering objectives. Whatever long term goal Scott had, this was looking to just be a publicity stunt of sorts, one that Kross quite frankly didn’t have the patience for.

“Is that really the best you can you do?” A dissapointed, familiarly voice asked.

Recognizing its owner and knowing what was likely to come, Kross let out an already defeated sigh, downed his fresh drink and turned to face the snake hero Naja.

“You do know how a tie is supposed to look right?” She added with a half-cocked eyebrow.

“And hello to you too.” Kross muttered as he returned the empty glass to another passing waiter.

“I’ll be honest, this is not the type of place I would’ve expected to run into you.”

“Free drinks.” Kross remarked with a shrug “What’s your excuse? Scott manage to dig up some dirt on you?”

“I’m just here to help a friend, and besides, the team could do with a bit more - exposure practice.” She said with an almostly imperceptibly small hesitation to her words.

“What? Is your team of high-powered, battle-happy teenagers not always sticking to the script? I’m shocked.” Kross remarked with a wryly smirk as he looked off towards the hard to miss sight of the young blood table. Whether they were dancing, laughing or mercilessly devouring a plate of food, the group was hard to miss in the otherwise irritatingly pristine hall.

“They’re good kids.” Naja eventually commented as she followed Kross’ gaze.

Giving a wordless grunt in response, Kross let a short silence hang as he tried to considered his own words.
“You’re doing a good job.” He eventually admitted.

“Oh?”

“The team managed to start shaking things up and they didn’t fall apart in the process. There aren’t many who can do that. I’m not saying I was wrong, but its not a small feat either."

“No quips or rhetoric? Careful Kross, if you keep talking like that you might actually be able to make a friend one day.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it. People tend to say a lot of stupid stuff.”

“And you don’t?” Naja commented with an exaggerated eye-roll.

“Please, I practically say stupid stuff for a living, I just do it with more charm. So what comes next for the team?” Kross asked in a more serious tone.

“Hard to say. Breaking up that drug ring was a win for sure but I’m worried about Ares showing up. It could be nothing but big-timers like him tend to bring problems where they go.”

“Fair enough, I’ll see if I can't get some people looking into it. We can’t do much force wise against him but I’ll send word if we find something.”

“I’d appreciate that. And speaking of which, how are things going with the whole you-know-what?”

“I pulled a few strings and did a few favours.” Kross stated. “You won’t have to worry about us kicking down doors or trying to grab anyone in the dead of night. Though considering all the attention the team is getting, I’m pretty sure you didn't have much to worry about.”

The short comment left a second hanging silence between the two. While catastrophe was ultimately avoided by a hair’s breadth, the whole Scarab event left a bitter taste. If things had gone even slightly differently, if information had spread just a little faster or the team had responded just a little slower, then there was a good chance both their sides would’ve been forced into conflict. And the thought of that left a worryingly unanswered question that neither wanted to think about.

“So how about you then?” Naja finally asked after grabbing a drink of her own. “What’s next on the agenda?”

“Honestly, I’m figuring that out as I go. A lot of things are starting to move and people are getting bolder. We even had a situation with one of our ocean facilities but, well it’s a slow burner.” He admitted.

“In that case, have you considered coming by the tower? Lord knows I could use some help dealing with the paperwork.”

“Hah. Wait, are you being serious?”

“The team keeps getting bigger and pretty soon they’re going to run into problems they can’t beat with force alone. And I happen to know for a fact that dealing with problems creatively is your specialty. But mostly I need someone to dump paperwork onto, do you have any idea how many different forms I need to fill out every time the team levels a building? I’m telling you, whatever the situation, that’s the real crime.” Naja scoffed.

“… Huh. I guess I’ll see what I can do.” Kross eventually managed to say, “The legal stuff should be easy enough and I know a few suppliers who could lend a hand but as for the team itself, I mean I can try to sort a few of them out but they definitely won’t like it.”

“Just try to remember they’re kids.” The serpentine hero answered as she tried to suppress a smile. “Speaking of which, I’ve got to get back before they start any fires. But first-” taking a sudden step closer, Naja's hands shot up to Kross' tie before pulling it sharply into place and tucked under his collar before the seasoned agent could even begin to object. “Check mirrors or grab a clip-on. You trying to wear a tie just is tragic to watch.” With her comment made and Kross suitably unable to think of a reply, Naja flashed him a warm smile then turned back the way she came.

‘…Alright, maybe these sorts of parties weren’t all bad’ he thought as he loosened his tie.

[The Republic of Atria]

Sina

He grinned a little. "Go for it. I'll find you something equally appalling to wear to the Tower when you lose. Or maybe I'll come up with something. Dunno, kinda spur of the moment." He said, with a tiny bit of slurring evident in his words. "Aww, come on. That's just mean, but it won't matter cause you're not winning." He said as he took off and headed towards Yharon's penthouse. He landed and quickly got out of the stuffy clothes, grabbed his loincloth and stepped outside. Once again feeling the warmth of the sun on his body.

He actually wasn't sure he'd be able to beat Sina despite all his bluster. Then again, he had been practicing his flying a bit, and there was the bit where he could always use his powers to even the odds. Though he couldn't help but wonder what Sina would have him do in the event she won. Oh well, that was a problem for future Bael. He flew over to their agreed-upon meeting place seeing his more or less girlfriend already there. "Hey! You got here fast. Then again, it was probably easier to take off that dress than it was to get out of that thirty piece suit Yharon crammed me into." He said as he landed.

"Alright, it's a race, and I presume you know where to go since you've been here longer than me. The first one there wins. You wanna do the countdown, Miss Professional Racer?"

Renata

He held his tongue as Renata denied everything. Well, almost everything, she did come out and admit what she thought the issue was: They were heroes, but everyone else treats them like they're just kids. Ares included. "First of all. Quake's an ass with very little room to speak about immaturity. For all of our faults, we will, hopefully, never be caught naked and high on drugs. He only said that because Jason and Casimir weren't afraid of him and was mad about some teenagers having more common sense and balls than he did. They punched up, he punched down. It's not their fault he can give but not take. A sign of immaturity."

"And again. Who the hell cares if it takes all twenty of us to take Ares down? He'll be the one locked in a rock so deep he won't know which way is up. Presuming they don't just execute him for being a mass-murdering psycho. Anyways, acting like the kid he claims you are isn't going to change his mind. He's not stupid. Just throw out a few insults, see what strikes a nerve and hammer it. Calling you a kid and treating you like one because well... you were acting like one." He spoke in a matter of fact tone. "By doing what you did, you proved him right." He said and just barely heard the last thing she said after her outburst.

"Renata..." He spoke, a little bit more gentle and put his hand on her shoulder. A lot of what happened finally clicking into place. "How would it prove that? It would prove that a bunch of supposed kids playing superhero took down ARES when every other superteam on the planet couldn't! The whole point of a team is to help each other. Because we definitely could have taken him down if we just communicated a little. After all, he had more of his cronies there than there were Young Bloods."

"If you want to stop being treated like a child, you're going to have to act like you're an adult. And that means doing a whole bunch of crap that you don't want to instead of trying to prove a point to some nutjob who probably stopped thinking about you the second he got away. Don't let him live in your head Renata. You do that and he's already won. Don't let what other people say discourage you from doing the right thing. Whether that be accepting help even though you really don't want to."

"I want to believe in you Renata. You've saved me a few times. I think you're a hero. Who's thoughts matter more. Mine, or Ares's?"

[Galnius]

Mika

Mika slammed the windows as soon as Jan entered, hardly able to contain her excitement. He seemed to think something might be wrong, but on the contrary, it seemed everything was finally going right. On top of that, the virgil had kept his promise to show up should she call.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine angel boy. Just thought I should let you know I won't be home one of these nights. See, I'm finally getting in with the Young Bloods thanks to a moth girl. I figured that it was cause for a celebration, so...I got drinks."

Presenting two wine glasses, Mika filled them generously. "Hopefully it'll be tonight, so I wanted to let you know. Besides, drinking alone is lonely. Go figure. Now sit your ass down and let's find out if angels have any tolerance."

[New Neros]

Mark Nemo
Calamity, Part One


Nodding off, the relatively empty room Mark Nemo called home in Wonder Tower seemed to spin gently and softly enough to lull him to sleep. He rested on his bed, sporting a tank top and sweatpants, his usual lounge wear, closing his eyes for longer and longer intervals. One last check on his phone gave the time, eight at night, not his usual bedtime, more likely the time for one of his myriad of snacks throughout the day. He fought the good fight, yet succumbed, fully shutting his eyes and slipping out of consciousness.

“Welcome, welcome,” A dreamy voice stated, Mark visualizing the room he had met with Dr. Murray just a few hours previous for yet another therapy session, “Let’s go over some of the things you really want to talk about, shall we?” Konrad said with a smile, Mark robotically moving to the sofa and laying down on it, his eyes unfocused on the soft edges of the dream he inhabited. “Let’s talk about heroes.”

“Heroes…” Mark repeated, “Everyone has a definition of it, usually has to do with doing the right thing, right? Then people get caught up on the small details.”

“Semantics, yes, continue.”

“Yeah, semantics. What’s right to one person isn’t right to the other, there’s so many ways to fry an egg, too, you know? No one has the answer and people want to say they do and call themselves a hero. I want to be a hero because I want to help people, but what I ended up becoming is an interstellar soldier, fighting for justice on unknown worlds and moons. I don’t think a lot of the things I did were right or justified, but the cheering voices of those supporting me told me it was the right thing to do.”

“What is this organization called?”

“The Ultra Corps. They give you a link and bury it deep in your chest, they call it a conduit. That conduit is connected to different dimension filled with abundant and free-flowing energy, and Corpsmen are able to use that energy to amplify their bodies, blast energy, and more adept members are able to shape the energy into powers not too far from the ones we have here on Earth.”

“How did you get selected to be in the Ultra Corps?”

Mark turned to look at Dr. Murray, explaining simply, “A Corpsman crashed on Earth and saw him fall. I ran to him, thinking it was a meteorite. He had fought another Corpsman and lost, and he gave me his conduit before he died. The Corps came and got me a few days later, and I spent the last year fighting alongside them, to the point that I was able to go against the man who killed the Corpsman whose conduit this originally belonged to. This conduit belonged to Lorn Zol, and he was killed by Hasht-Zy-Lok. I put a hole in Hasht’s chest the size of a basketball with my fist when I fought him, he nearly killed me in the process, but I lived and he didn’t.”

“Chilling, Mark, that is absolutely a traumatic event for someone so young to experience.”

“It felt right, he was a traitor and murderer, I earned a vacation back to Earth after it happened.”

“So, you came back to Earth immediately after the fight?”

“Once I was healed up, yeah. Needed some processing time, rest and recovery, that kind of experience is what they told me.”

“So, this entire hero business on Earth has been a… Vacation, for you?”

“I guess so, I haven’t really gotten really serious about anything here on Earth. The threats out there are just so over the top that this kinda stuff a bit relaxing, punching out a robber or a dude in a mech suit is fun when you’ve been dealing with interstellar warlords that enslave planets and crack moons in half.” He paused briefly, sighing out loud and sitting up, “Dr. Murray, I have some bad news for you, and I’m not entirely sure if you’ve already figured this out, but -”

“It’s alright, I know about the Young Bloods and most of what’s been happening with you,” Dr. Murray reassured Mark, quickly adding, “Naja filled me in a lot of the finer details.”

“Well, you see, it isn’t about that. It’s that I know how to lucid dream, and one of the biggest things they taught me in the Corps is how to handle mental intrusions, since mind-based attacks are pretty great at disabling a warrior that can shoot lasers from every corner of their body. I imagine it’s a pure coincidence that Naja sent me to you, but I know you’ve dug into my mind deeply, and you’ve been looking for information on the Young Bloods. Naja doesn’t give out info like that, either.”

“Oh dear, it seems you’ve caught me, Mark.” He said with a chuckle, “Yes, I’ve been looking for something in particular, it just seems that you don’t happen to run in the same circles.”

“They shouldn’t trust me with confidential information, they aren’t stupid, my codes are tied to me only so they’d know who’s compromised immediately as well.”

“I’m not looking for codes or defenses, those can be bypassed, I’m looking for an individual in the group.”

“Well, you’re double fucked there because I don’t talk to my teammates that often. Regardless of the mind tricks, I feel like I’ve been doing better in therapy, I won’t lie, but I think our time is done. Tell Naja that I’m safe to return to activities, and we won’t have to bring any of this up again.”

“That can be arranged, it’s been a pleasure, Mark.”

“I don’t know who you’re looking for, Dr. Murray, but one of the first things they taught me when someone is messing with your mind from far away, is how to find them.” At those words, Mark stood up from the sofa and took a few steps towards Konrad, reaching out to touch the figure in his dream, causing Invader to cut off the dream immediately, flashing his eyes open as a bead of sweat rolled down his brow and onto his nose, staring intently at the concrete wall as Cosmic’s final thought flashed through his mind, “Found you.”

---

A giant cut in the water across San Diego Bay split the water from Wonder Tower to Coronado Island, a flash of yellow light preceding it before it dove deep into the ground, sending debris and dust flying in the harrowing dusk. The concrete wall Invader had stared at moments ago suddenly burst apart, the seated man remaining motionless as the energy-bathed hero now floated before him, wearing his lounge wear still, but prepared to deliver this message in person.

As the perimeter was breached by an unknown assailant, a deep purple color filled the room and entire complex suddenly, a droning alarm sounding as well as Cosmic spoke, “Who are you, Dr. Konrad Murray? What is this place, and who do you work for?” Flashing a devilish smile, the villain-aligned psychologist replied quickly, maintaining eye contact with Mark.

“I am Invader, my powers are mental, as you can see. You are currently within the Labyrinth, the semi-permanent residence for my benefactors,” His smile grew wider as he revealed his employer, “You are in the headquarters of Orion.” As he uttered their name, a massive fist blindsided Mark and smashed the side of his head, sending it crashing through the walls of the underground complex as Invader remained motionless, the titanic shape of Mustafa Gaul being the first villain to respond physically to the hero.

“Orion,” Mark spat as he flared his aura and stopped his momentum in the next few rooms, spinning back to face his first opponent, “Never heard of you.”