Super Hero High: Prometheus Rising (IC, Open)

[Mighty Asgard]

Dominic nodded, "I see. I thought anyone who died in the simulation would be returned to the white room rather than be booted out entirely." He chuckled, "this is actually the first time that I've had a student die in the simulations."


A security guard was stationed in the simulation chamber, just as a precaution in case anyone tried sneaking in there to harm anyone while they were incapacitated. When Rachael's pod opened he looked over at it, recognizing her as one of the students on the blacklist. Put simply, the blacklist was a list of all the students who had shown signs of wanting to undermine the authority or safety of the Academy, and they were watched more diligently than the rest. He didn't talk to her, that wasn't his job, but he made sure to keep an eye on her so she didn't try anything.

[Firstaria]

Daniel shook his head in fiery disapproval " I can't believe she just left off his team in order to act alone in such an high profile situation. She hates my guts for forcing her to overcome her problems, but this is not the time to be nice. I'll talk with Anderson in order to avoid sending her to a quick grave tomorrow. "

Then he look at the others, and was still disappointed " A little change of the situation has put them in a disorganized way again. This is not good at all, what if the briefing situation goes to hell tomorrow? I really want to see if they can come out of this one. Tara can use her regeneration abilities in many ways to trick his opponents, but the point is to not raise an alarm, and I don't know if they can do it... " He took a pause, then added " I especially don't like Makoto & friends attitude, their bond is way too much developed than the one with the others, and this causes the presence of an internal group that could easily disagree with the others and still have the majority. "

He huffed, and said with a sad tone " I really hope they will surprise me, because for now they don't seem ready at all to take on a real situation... "

[Kershya]

Seeing everyone from what he sees as moving on their own, Antonio and Shade then move and find the patrol group. Shade move through the shadows to find any nearby thugs to test the experimental orange smoke balls.

Finding a lone thug, Antonio turn himself into a shadow and hide in a shadow nearby, while Shade took the form of a young businessman who's picking up millions of dollars in hundred dollar bills, while talking on a Bluetooth.

"-no, no, no! Ay'm not gonna waste a single dollar!" The noise made the thug slowly come behind him. "Ay can't lose single dollar! This is the company's million dollar bail money ya dolt! Darn marbles, why would they even put those here!" Shade said as he drop a number of orange smoke balls in the form of orange marbles on the floor. The thug is standing right behind him and shot him on the back of his head, and Shade fell down 'dead'.

The thug would then grab as much 'money' as possible, only to step on some of the orange smoke balls, releasing the smoke of concentrated pain. As the smoke dissipates, the thug just lie there looking like he's having a seizure. The smoke has cause every pain receptor in the body to send signals to the brain for a whole minute, but the thug simply die as the brain shuts itself down.

'Too much pain, just, too much pain.' Antonio thought as he turns human, in his disguise, and Shade reforms himself back.

"Yeah, I have to agree on that one." Shade said.

'It's like the other ones. Too much fear, send to a rehab center for ridiculous phobias. Too much sadness, committed suicide. Too much anger, life imprisonment for the deaths of 17 innocent random people.' Antonio thought without a feeling of guilt.

"A normal person would be in terror for committing those acts." Shade said.

'Says the one who absorbed my feelings of guilt.' Antonio thought. 'Come, we need to incapacitated the other thugs.' For a moment, Antonio's face seemed to have form ice crystals before disappearing.

Shade is becoming worried about this. And the mysterious voice that greatly influence Antonio and the others. He knows who that voice is. And he doesn't know what to do.

Shade became afraid for himself, Antonio, and everyone else.

[Ularn]

Scott nodded at Daniel's comment, then shrugged at Dominic. "Used to be the pods just shut down whenever a student was 'killed'. Could be that's still the default setting unless you program it otherwise,"

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael looked around the room, noticing the pods' clear lids and how easy it was to see who was unconscious inside. She'd hated being unconscious. She liked to be able to tell what was happening to her in real life, that way she couldn't get killed.
The clear lids seemed to be made of glass, and when smashed it would make a lovely bloody mess of someone. A few of the pods had teachers in; the Moron, Knight Wannabe Kerr, and the annoying Italian guy. She pondered on who'd be the most satisfying victim, and which pod was close enough for her to jump back in this one after stabbing whichever teacher she chose. On seeing the security guard, she growled and settled back into the pod.

[Northern Dominus]

"Think one of the thugs just shot her as she decided to bugger off," Scott said, adjusting the angle of a screen currently showing Rachael's "corpse" to show the armed thug standing a little further up the street she'd just turned on to. "Either way, shotgun not it," he added sourly, "I've had enough of her attitude for one morning already,"

R

achael looked around the room, noticing the pods' clear lids and how easy it was to see who was unconscious inside. She'd hated being unconscious. She liked to be able to tell what was happening to her in real life, that way she couldn't get killed.
The clear lids seemed to be made of glass, and when smashed it would make a lovely bloody mess of someone. A few of the pods had teachers in; the Moron, Knight Wannabe Kerr, and the annoying Italian guy. She pondered on who'd be the most satisfying victim, and which pod was close enough for her to jump back in this one after stabbing whichever teacher she chose. On seeing the security guard, she growled and settled back into the pod.

Burton shrugged and simply said.

"Okay."

As he began the process to leave the chamber he mused in regards to what he had heard about Rachel. She wasn't a student in either of his Astronomy classes, and the information that was available in the teachers' lounge regarding her conduct and behavior certainly indicated that she wasn't ready for Force Application. At best she was described as a committed troublemaker, at worst...
He didn't dwell on it as the simulated world faded away and he slowly woke up in the pod room. Simply shaking his head towards the security guard he opted not to shake his head to clear the cobwebs out. If some of the inklings were to be believed then Rachel clearly was looking to predate on any sign of weakness.

Still, she also wasn't going to learn anything by simply being told to wait until things were done, and three was a crowd in the simulated control room anyway.
Standing at his full 6'2'' height he clasped his hands behind his back and seemed to scrutinize Rachel as he walked slowly towards the door. When he finally did stop he didn't shout, but his voice carried a certain weight behind it, a measure of something a bit denser than steel.
"Miss Rachel Redwood, I am Mr. Malik, one of the instructors aboard this station. You appear to have disengaged the connection to your simulator pod. Obviously myself and the other instructors want to know why this is, but that is secondary to why you felt the need to strike out on your own during the mission without any sort of caution or reconnaissance work.

Care to elaborate?"

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael looked up at this man. She didn't recognize him, but then again, her memory wasn't always used for remembering the faces of those she planned to get rid of. They weren't worth her time unless they actually took up some of it. This one, introducing himself as Malik, seemed to be trying to intimidate her. He seemed tall, and his chest appeared puffed out with entirely too much pride. His voice was also tailored to try and sound as strict as possible. Trying too hard, probably. It was quite hard to intimidate Rachael, and she just flashed that sweet smile at him, her eyes cold as ever.

"So, you're asking me why I tried to get away from the bunch of idiots you people call students? Is the answer not obvious, or are all the teachers too busy showing off to watch what's going on? Okay, let me explain it to you." She adopted a voice as sugary as the fake smile as if speaking to a small child. "We are all supposed to be catching someone. Tara," she held up one hand, "is bitching about why her plan is so awesome and why everyone should lynch the incest buddies. The incest buddies," she held up her other hand, "are telling their life story. It is boring."
Rachael put away her hands. "So what am I going to learn more from? Learning jargon from the incest buddies, or going to try and practice my powers for tomorrow? I haven't got a clue."

[Firstaria]

"So, you're asking me why I tried to get away from the bunch of idiots you people call students? Is the answer not obvious, or are all the teachers too busy showing off to watch what's going on? Okay, let me explain it to you." She adopted a voice as sugary as the fake smile as if speaking to a small child. "We are all supposed to be catching someone. Tara," she held up one hand, "is bitching about why her plan is so awesome and why everyone should lynch the incest buddies. The incest buddies," she held up her other hand, "are telling their life story. It is boring."
Rachael put away her hands. "So what am I going to learn more from? Learning jargon from the incest buddies, or going to try and practice my powers for tomorrow? I haven't got a clue."

Daniel interjected, arriving near the pod " Since your villainous ways, you could slap all of them and said to concentrate to the mission before getting a bullet behind the head like it happened to you. Let me be perfectly clear what happened in case you missed it: YOU DIED. You were killed, your body couldn't move, and there shouldn't be no one asking what you were thinking because you were going to think anymore for eternity. YOUR EXISTENCE WAS OVER. " he said putting emphasis on the two major points.

" I know simulation can be boring sometimes and people could not realize the importance of them, but you have developed what military call the 'paint syndrome', to be blunt: you are so used to have a second chance in training that is totally possible that you forget there is no REPLAY button down there. It's the reason why is forbidden to military forces such as COM.SUB.IN. to play 'paintball' and similar war games. If it could depend by me, for your own safety and survival, I would deny any future mission to Earth for you until you take things seriously and realize that your attitude and personality is a suicide letter...or worse outside this school. "

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael scowled at Daniel. "I'm awfully sorry, Mario, but you may have missed the fact that I have something people call a brain. Not sure if you've heard of it. See, something a brain can do is tell the difference between real and not real, unless the owner is totally delusional. My brain, for instance, tells me that in real life, death is final, and something I am quite looking forwards to. However, simulations are not real. I did not die. If you think I did, then you are either delusional or lack a brain. I suspect the latter."

[Northern Dominus]

"So, you're asking me why I tried to get away from the bunch of idiots you people call students? Is the answer not obvious, or are all the teachers too busy showing off to watch what's going on? Okay, let me explain it to you." She adopted a voice as sugary as the fake smile as if speaking to a small child. "We are all supposed to be catching someone. Tara," she held up one hand, "is bitching about why her plan is so awesome and why everyone should lynch the incest buddies. The incest buddies," she held up her other hand, "are telling their life story. It is boring."
Rachael put away her hands. "So what am I going to learn more from? Learning jargon from the incest buddies, or going to try and practice my powers for tomorrow? I haven't got a clue."

Daniel interjected, arriving near the pod " Since your villainous ways, you could slap all of them and said to concentrate to the mission before getting a bullet behind the head like it happened to you. Let me be perfectly clear what happened in case you missed it: YOU DIED. You were killed, your body couldn't move, and there shouldn't be no one asking what you were thinking because you were going to think anymore for eternity. YOUR EXISTENCE WAS OVER. " he said putting emphasis on the two major points.

" I know simulation can be boring sometimes and people could not realize the importance of them, but you have developed what military call the 'paint syndrome', to be blunt: you are so used to have a second chance in training that is totally possible that you forget there is no REPLAY button down there. It's the reason why is forbidden to military forces such as COM.SUB.IN. to play 'paintball' and similar war games. If it could depend by me, for your own safety and survival, I would deny any future mission to Earth for you until you take things seriously and realize that your attitude and personality is a suicide letter...or worse outside this school. "

Burton chuckled and shook his head at Rachel's attempt to be annoying. After years of military service and putting up with various subversive attitudes from subordinates dealing with surly teenagers was a breeze.

Before he could reply however Daniel had come out of the simulation and thrown his two cents in. While it was annoying and a bit direct for his tastes, he couldn't argue with the logic. Clearly her attitude was a hinderance and a liability, but there were better ways of dealing with it.

Holding up a hand to politely interject before speaking, he pressed on.

"Well hang on Mr. Mercury, perhaps Miss Redwood had some sort of insight that the other students let alone the instructors in the sim room didn't. Perhaps she has some secret overwhelming power or precognitive insight that she was using or that failed to function.

I can understand her frustration, but let Miss Redwood here at least attempt to rationalize her motivations and actions."
Burton patted Daniel sympathetically on the shoulder while moving to pretend to read one of the gauges on the pod that Tyler was hooked up to.

"Oh, and Miss Redwood, while you consider your answer bear in mind that both Daniel on myself are members of the board that plans and reviews missions. We have input on who goes to earth and is privileged to carry out such missions, and who stays on the station."

[Firstaria]

Daniel had to use a good quantity of his control. Not for the insults, he was expecting way worse...but for the HUGE stubbornness of the girl: she didn't get a single world of his speech, she didn't got the problem at all, and also she called him Mario, even if he only LIVED in Italy, and was not born there at all.

He heard Burton, but he was firmly convinced that he needed a talk with Anderson: those extreme measures he said long ago were definitely the only option possible, other than letting this stupid girl die at the first glance of reality.

[Nakarisaune]

"Actually, leaving me here would be an idiotic idea, though I'd expect no less. You do realize that I've lived in Kildare for the last six years? I am the only student who would know my way around. I am the only student who has encountered the gang before. I am the only student who knows how each member of the gang will fight, and how best to defeat them. So leaving me here is leaving behind what I know."

[Firstaria]

"Actually, leaving me here would be an idiotic idea, though I'd expect no less. You do realize that I've lived in Kildare for the last six years? I am the only student who would know my way around. I am the only student who has encountered the gang before. I am the only student who knows how each member of the gang will fight, and how best to defeat them. So leaving me here is leaving behind what I know."

Daniel answered " Knowledge that you don't put in use during briefing and simulation is worse than lack of knowledge for me. Do you realize that your failure looks even worse on the behalf that you are suppose to be the best one in the situation? A man could have the power to shape reality as he sees fits, but no control on how to use it will still make him a burden in battle. Your powers and your knowledge are not the problem here: your attitude shows lack of concentration, analysis, confrontation, leadership...and control. I can send a powerless to this mission and I'll believe that he has more chances than you to return alive. I will oppose to any permission to be given to you until you realize the error of your ways finally. "

[Northern Dominus]

"Actually, leaving me here would be an idiotic idea, though I'd expect no less. You do realize that I've lived in Kildare for the last six years? I am the only student who would know my way around. I am the only student who has encountered the gang before. I am the only student who knows how each member of the gang will fight, and how best to defeat them. So leaving me here is leaving behind what I know."

Daniel answered " Knowledge that you don't put in use during briefing and simulation is worse than lack of knowledge for me. Do you realize that your failure looks even worse on the behalf that you are suppose to be the best one in the situation? A man could have the power to shape reality as he sees fits, but no control on how to use it will still make him a burden in battle. Your powers and your knowledge are not the problem here: your attitude shows lack of concentration, analysis, confrontation, leadership...and control. I can send a powerless to this mission and I'll believe that he has more chances than you to return alive. I will oppose to any permission to be given to you until you realize the error of your ways finally. "

It was all Burton could do to keep from rolling his eyes at what was taking place. Here was a teacher arguing with an insubordinate student rather than taking control.

Clearly Mercury needed a bit of support, so Burton simply cleared his throat loudly, waited for Daniel to turn, then nodded his head subtly, indicating that he wanted a semi-private conference with the Italian for a brief moment.

[Camicon]

(Posted with MA's permission)

Patrol
The thug that first spotted Tara quickly put his gun up in her direction, thinking that someone was trying to attack them, but lowered it again when he saw that it was just some girl. The other two cautiously walked up behind him to see what all the commotion was about. None of them thought that the crying girl looked much like a threat, and they were momentarily uncertain what to do about her. They had their orders, to shoot anyone they met, but they didn't know if that meant literally anyone or just anyone who looked dangerous. After a few moments of deliberation fear was the deciding factor, because none of them wanted to have to deal with the Midget if they disappointed the boss.

One of the thugs raised his gun again and squeezed off a round at the girl.

Under the shadow of my brow, through the a screen of my hair, I saw the lead thug raise his gun. It was with the utmost difficulty that I forced myself to stay true, and not try to dive into cover.

I didn't have to fake any reactions when the bullet hit me, thank goodness. I couldn't have, even if I'd wanted to. The bullet hit me in the right abdomen, between my lower ribs and the top of my pelvis, entering through my small intestine and exiting next to my spine. It felt like somebody jammed an inch-wide steel rod into my gut, and gave it a wrenching twist. I tried drawing a breath, failed, staggered backwards a step. My hands clutched reflexively around an entry wound that had already closed up and healed. With a second gasp, my lungs filled with air, and I felt the small hole in my back pull closed. What moments before had been a burning, paralyzing, excruciating pain, was only a dull memory. All this in less than a second.

When I knew I had regained control of myself, I curled forward across my stomach, bent my knees like I was about to collapse to the ground, while leaning forward onto the balls of my feet. I paused, waited a second as I saw the three thugs freeze to watch my reaction, watched their guns lower slightly, and then burst into action.

I exploded forward, hot rage burning through my veins where moments before I had only known pain. The fighting stick were in my hands, but all of my energy was focused on reaching the lead thug before he managed to raise his gun again. With a diving leap, I slammed one metal rod into the side of his head with a sickening crack. As he dropped to the ground, blood started pooling in the crater that was the left side of his skull. My momentum carried my over the corpse, right into a second thug. My other stick swung forward, cracking along his knuckles with bone breaking force, causing him to drop his gun. I grabbed the front of his jacket, popped my hip out, and threw him into his shocked compatriot. while the two were off balance, without pause, I pressed my attack and launched myself at them with lethal intent. I landed a flurry of blows on them, aiming at their heads whenever possible, hitting their joints (specifically their wrists, elbows, and knees, in that order) when their heads were covered.

It was over almost before it had begun. The other two thugs were left clutching at broken bones, gasping for breath, rolling on the ground as they tried to nurse broken knees and shattered wrists. Disabled as they were, I knew they wouldn't be a physical impediment to our mission. But the noise they were making could draw attention, and push their compatriots to a higher level of alertness. I searched their pockets, came up with a folding knife, and cut the dead thug's shirt into four strips. I stuffed one into each of their mouths, and tied the other securely around their mouths, making an effective gag. In as much pain as they were I doubted they'd try and remove them. Even if they did tried, I still figured they'd have enough trouble with it that it would take them half-an-hour at least. More than enough time to engage and subdue John Doe.

Using the sun, I regained my bearings and started following the streets in the direction I'd seen Cassie, Caitlin, and Tyler follow. If Bramwell was paying attention, and doing as I told him, I'd no doubt hear a message in my head in a few moments to give me specific directions. I wasn't expecting him to, however. He was an unreliable and scatter-brained person as I'd ever met.

[Corrian]

When Bramwell seemed to suddenly have issues about something, Caitlin looked worried, but didn't immediately run over to him to make sure he was okay, because she figured Makato would know what was going on better and how to take care of him. She had no idea what was up with him, until he had recovered and she got his mental image, which made her heart skip a beat, and a pit hit her stomach. She felt so bad for thinking that now. It didn't take her very long at all to start thinking an apology.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that" Caitlin thought, and it sounded as apologetic as your thoughts could possibly sound. "It's just...you know, you can't control your thoughts sometimes, as terrible as it is. I hate how my mind wanders sometimes, but I can't help what my mind feels like doing sometimes" She thought, and let out a sigh not in her head. "And it's fine. You can't help what your powers do all the time" She thought, and smiled. "I am a fan of a load of stuff" She thought in a lighthearted tone. She shook her head, then thought with, "Well, I better get focused on the mission. Sorry again", then stopped thinking about that and back to unimportant things, like the mission at hand.

"See you" Caitlin said in a tone that showed she was a little worried, about Tara going on her own and just the mission anyway, even if it was a simulation. It was very realistic, so even despite the fact you don't actually die, it was nerve racking. Cassie nodded to her, and right as they were getting ready to leave themselves, Rachael seemed to wander off and practically commit suicide. It was as good as committing suicide, with how retarded she was being. "Um...." Was all Caitlin said about Rachael suddenly wandering off and seeming to die, based on the sound that was heard. Cassie thought of Rachael's appearance, and stumbled back quickly after she had focused for a bit. It was weird seeing from the general perspective of a dead person. "Her simulation version of herself died...." She muttered, and shook her head. She couldn't really feel bad about her simulation version dieing, especially after a move like that. And they had a mission to focus on, so Caitlin just shook her own head, and muttered, "We can bury her later", then walked off with Cassie following her, to sneak around to the back.

"Sounds good to me" Caitlin said to Tyler, then stopped suddenly. "Hold on a sec, let me try something I haven't been able to test"" She commented, and grabbed Tyler's arm, then told Cassie to punch him. Which would probably seem weird for Tyler. Cassie looked confused, and was about to protest, when Caitlin more forcefully told her to do it, and she let out a sigh. She did as commanded, punching him in the stomach, and it went right through his stomach as if it didn't exist. As if he didn't exist. That creeped her out, and she quickly retracted her hand back. "Good, it works" Caitlin commented, and let go off Tyler. "Let's go" She said again, and they all headed the 'long' route to get behind the pub, to sneak up on it. Cassie followed, just sort of looking confused about what just happened, but didn't ask any questions. They were too focused on their own mission to be concerned about what was going on with the others right now, and left Bramwell to 'command' them, or whoever decided to argue over leadership next. She hadn't noticed Tara coming back as of yet, and continued onwards to their 'destination'.

[Altruistic Paladins]

Bramwell and Makoto

"This message goes to Caitlin, Tyler, and Cassie. Head down five blocks and make a right at an alley. There you need to continue until you reach a fork, in which case make a left and follow it until you exit at a wooden building. These directions go out to Tara. You need to turn to your right, head down two blocks and make a left, proceed down one block and make a right, keep going for three more blocks and you should see an alley, and sally into it. I can repeat these message however many times you may need me to." Bramwell thought in a telepathic message. Odly enough, his thoughts themselves were of a droning monotone. He could hear the arguement happening outside, and it annoyed him. Despite how much Bramwel would prefer the ability to filter unwanted data, he does not. Due to this, the simulation was never quite real to him because he was always able to feel the fact he was in the pod despite the attempts to send sensory information to the contrary, which was outright uncanny to him.

[Kershya]

Antonio and Shade continue searching through the shadows for more thugs to put down. When Antonio saw Rachel's 'dead' body and the thug that 'killed' her, he didn't feel angry, since his anger would be absorbed by Shade through the disguise. But he wanted retribution.

Since Shade has a physical form, right now, he can only hear snippets of thoughts from Antonio. But he could think without the others knowing.

'Frost, you know what to do.' Antonio thought.

"Shade, you go defensive." He said. Antonio's face start to freeze with ice crystals, giving the look of an ice statue, and his eyes glow a light blue color. Frost, the ice elemental, is in control.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Frost scream at the lone thug. The thug shoots at him with the pistol but Shade redirect the bullets away. Frost's surroundings starts to freeze as the two eskrima sticks both starts to be covered in ice and took the form of spears. Frost then point at a spear at the thug as it glows brightly. "Winter's Judgement." He said a one-liner as a concentrated beam of cold hit the thug, freezing him in place. "For the murder of Rachael, you are sentence to 120 years imprisonment through cryogenic freezing. Any attempt to escape would fail as this is design to free you after the given time ends." Frost said to the frozen thug as he head to Rachael and turn himself back to Antonio as Shade watch close by.

"It's not your fault that she's 'dead'. And this is a simulation anyway." Shade said to reassure him.

"Tell me, can an illusion be more real than reality? They say if you die in a dream, you die in real life. She may be outside the simulation, but let's give this 'her' a proper parting." Antonio said.

'Fire, since we can't give a proper burial. We'll give her a cremation.' He thought as he pull out the gloves and both of his hands turn to fire and his eyes glow red slightly. He burn the body at such a heat that even the bones turn to dust.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you were made from the Earth, and to the Earth you return." Fire said through Antonio as the fire ended and Antonio put back the gloves on.

"Your... getting good." Shade hesitantly said.

"Thanks... we need to finish this before more people die." Antonio said as his eyes glow white for a second.

'I need to strengthen the seal after this.' Shade thought as they move on.

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael half-laughed. "Please, inform me on how knowing Kildare would help me in that simulation. You may not have noticed this, but that wasn't Naas. That was some randomized run-down town. How am I supposed to recognize that? Because I know one town, doesn't mean I know them all. I'm not omniscient. And knowing one gang of superheroes doesn't mean I automatically gain knowledge of an AI superhuman."
"And, I'm guessing they have some kind of psychological profiles that become available to all teachers? Look up mine - I think you'll find it's handy to know that I'm not exactly afraid of dying, even if it would put a little black number in the dreaded death toll and make the school appear a little worse. Still, you two look like you could do with some bonding time, so I'll be off."
She grinned at them one last time and made her way to the door.

[Mighty Asgard]

Tyler
Tyler, Caitlin and Cassie soon reached the place they were supposed to be, a partially collapsed store behind the pub where John Doe was hiding, only separated from it by a small alley. The pub itself wasn't in the most defensible location, with several blind spots behind buildings that were easy to exploit when sneaking closer, so they hadn't been spotted while moving. Now they just needed to wait for the others to get into their position, and for Tara to arrive, before they attacked. Tyler had heard a couple of gunshots while walking, probably from the patrol encountering Tara and trying to fight her. She'd be all right though, with her superhuman healing and everything.

While waiting for the others he busied himself with examining his pistol, noticing that it wasn't the same kind that he had used during the operation against the vampires. Despite the strength of his powers, far beyond those of any man-portable weapon, he still felt better when carrying a gun, even just a pistol loaded with nonlethal bullets. It provided a more accurate way to take down the bad guys than his powers, avoiding collateral damage, a way to protect himself without hurting anyone he didn't want to hurt.

"When we get the signal to attack," he said to Cassie, "make sure you stay behind me, okay?"

John Doe
John Doe was starting to freak out for real now, pacing nervously among the tables in the main room. The patrol hadn't come back, a fourth man had disappeared somewhere, and there had been gunfire somewhere outside. Add to that the fact that someone had tried to mess with his mind, and he was starting to get scared, really scared. When weighing his options that fear pushed him over the edge of reason, into the territory of desperate measures. With unsteady hands he pulled out his phone and dialed a number, and a very brief conversation later he put it away again.

"The Midget will be here in fifteen minutes," he said to one of his men, "make sure no one gets close to this place before then."

[Altruistic Paladins]

Bramwell and Makoto

"Get down. We are going to crawl forty yards along this stone wall. We will stop on the notice when we arrive. When the go order is given, we will all get up to start the attack. Keep at least four feet of space between you and the other people. Just in case, avoid using powers. Whoever this Midget is, we should be finished with these jerks before he arrives. Just in case, we need this done quickly," Bramwell said to the people behind him as he and Makoto started making an effecient crawl to the location. Bramwell and Makoto were dead silent. With no patrols outside, they had room to operate.

[Kershya]

The two went behind a wall near the pub.

"The pub's within range. Do it Shade." Antonio said. Shade then spread his influence through the nearby shadows, then return. "Is there any openings other than the doors and windows?"

"There's a chimney at the front part of the pub." Shade replied.

"Good, they would never see it coming." Antonio said as his eyes start to glow slightly light blue, Frost's influence. "Bring me there."

Shade then bring them through the shadows to the roof of the building. Antonio pull out two smoke balls of each color, except red, and throw it at the chimney, releasing the smoke at the first floor for five seconds.

'I need to stop this soon. Frost is obviously not himself. He would usually follow proper protocol, not commit a roguish act like this. I need to end this soon, and strengthen the seal. Sure it'll greatly pull back Antonio's power to before Academy levels, but to prevent future devastation, anything would do.' Shade thought as he fix his sleeves, making sure the plan would go smoothly.

[Northern Dominus]

Rachael half-laughed. "Please, inform me on how knowing Kildare would help me in that simulation. You may not have noticed this, but that wasn't Naas. That was some randomized run-down town. How am I supposed to recognize that? Because I know one town, doesn't mean I know them all. I'm not omniscient. And knowing one gang of superheroes doesn't mean I automatically gain knowledge of an AI superhuman."
"And, I'm guessing they have some kind of psychological profiles that become available to all teachers? Look up mine - I think you'll find it's handy to know that I'm not exactly afraid of dying, even if it would put a little black number in the dreaded death toll and make the school appear a little worse. Still, you two look like you could do with some bonding time, so I'll be off."
She grinned at them one last time and made her way to the door.

Rachael had gotten to the door when Burton, who had seemingly been lost in the shuffle during the juvenile spat between her and Daniel that shouldn't have happened, decided to inform Racheal just where her mouth had gotten her.

"Your psychological proclivities have been noted Miss Redwood, as have your anti-social tendencies. Since you clearly refuse to take the training halfway seriously or value yours or any other students or instructors lives, consider yourself scrubbed from this and every other mission. Maybe extended time attending to your studies and in the simulator will make you an effective mission planner in lieu of your lack of viability to conduct missions."

[Mighty Asgard]

The two went behind a wall near the pub.

"The pub's within range. Do it Shade." Antonio said. Shade then spread his influence through the nearby shadows, then return. "Is there any openings other than the doors and windows?"

"There's a chimney at the front part of the pub." Shade replied.

"Good, they would never see it coming." Antonio said as his eyes start to glow slightly light blue, Frost's influence. "Bring me there."

Shade then bring them through the shadows to the roof of the building. Antonio pull out two smoke balls of each color, except red, and throw it at the chimney, releasing the smoke at the first floor for five seconds.

'I need to stop this soon. Frost is obviously not himself. He would usually follow proper protocol, not commit a roguish act like this. I need to end this soon, and strengthen the seal. Sure it'll greatly pull back Antonio's power to before Academy levels, but to prevent future devastation, anything would do.' Shade thought as he fix his sleeves, making sure the plan would go smoothly.

John Doe saw a cloud of multicolored gas suddenly erupt out of the fireplace, engulfing one of his men before he could react. His borrowed powers let him see that the man was overcome by enormously powerful sadness and pain at the same time, obviously something to do with the gas. Reacting instinctively he protected himself and the rest of his men from the effects of the gas by scrubbing their minds of any awareness of its effects, effectively rendering it inert. It was too late to do much to help the last guy though, he was already convulsing on the floor in pain and sobbing pathetically, so Doe simply shoved a napkin in his mouth to shut him up and took his gun.

Reaching out with his mind he felt a person nearby who shouldn't be there, skulking about on the roof, and decided that he'd had enough of people messing with him. Especially some annoying little kid with imaginary friends. With a great push he struck back at the kid, flooding his mind with thousands of images and sounds at once.

[Kershya]

The two went behind a wall near the pub.

"The pub's within range. Do it Shade." Antonio said. Shade then spread his influence through the nearby shadows, then return. "Is there any openings other than the doors and windows?"

"There's a chimney at the front part of the pub." Shade replied.

"Good, they would never see it coming." Antonio said as his eyes start to glow slightly light blue, Frost's influence. "Bring me there."

Shade then bring them through the shadows to the roof of the building. Antonio pull out two smoke balls of each color, except red, and throw it at the chimney, releasing the smoke at the first floor for five seconds.

'I need to stop this soon. Frost is obviously not himself. He would usually follow proper protocol, not commit a roguish act like this. I need to end this soon, and strengthen the seal. Sure it'll greatly pull back Antonio's power to before Academy levels, but to prevent future devastation, anything would do.' Shade thought as he fix his sleeves, making sure the plan would go smoothly.

John Doe saw a cloud of multicolored gas suddenly erupt out of the fireplace, engulfing one of his men before he could react. His borrowed powers let him see that the man was overcome by enormously powerful sadness and pain at the same time, obviously something to do with the gas. Reacting instinctively he protected himself and the rest of his men from the effects of the gas by scrubbing their minds of any awareness of its effects, effectively rendering it inert. It was too late to do much to help the last guy though, he was already convulsing on the floor in pain and sobbing pathetically, so Doe simply shoved a napkin in his mouth to shut him up and took his gun.

Reaching out with his mind he felt a person nearby who shouldn't be there, skulking about on the roof, and decided that he'd had enough of people messing with him. Especially some annoying little kid with imaginary friends. With a great push he struck back at the kid, flooding his mind with thousands of images and sounds at once.

Suddenly Antonio's mind got filled with random images and sounds. It was dizzying but the pain he should have felt got absorbed by Shade through the disguise, but the never ending torrent of pain is making Shade reach his limit.

"We need to get out of here. I can't control it much longer." Shade said as thoughts from Antonio's mind is easily heard from the sudden mental overflow.

'No, go on, the criminal is still there.' The voice whispered. 'Freeze the whole building to end the criminal activities of this rogue super.'

'Yes, we must push on. I will not rest until the law is upheld. Even if it'll cause collateral damage.' Frost said, completely unlike him.

'Yes Frost... you are right... and once we reach the first floor, we'll blind him with bright light...' Antonio's thought would sound like it has a slight monotone while he tries to stay standing. Shade realize the plan would need to happen much sooner.

'I was hoping to do this at the first floor, to give a more valid excuse...' Shade thought as he shakes his sleeves. He then manipulated the shadows of the nearby emergency stairs, to give the appearance of someone going up, while slowly opening the door that leads downstairs.

"There's someone going up the emergency exit!" Shade shouted as Antonio look at the shaking metal bars, but too disoriented to tell.

'They're coming for you... the vampires are coming for you.' The voice whispered, sending the fear to Shade, increasing his burden. Shade pulled an athame from his sleeve and send it through the shadows, throwing it from the open door.

"Antonio! Look out!" Shade shouted but he vanish as the athame hits Antonio at the back of his neck, killing him instantly by slicing through his spine.

Antonio's pod then opened, showing the shadows that covered him slowly moving away.