Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Tomia]

League News Television!

June 21st, 4:00 PM PST, Washington DC

"This is Katherine Anderson, and I'm reporting live from a tense scene here in our very own capital city, where the infamous Hellfire Gang has attacked the Annual Congressional Summer Ball. They appeared to be seeking to rob the party goers, many of which are famous politicians and celebrities when--" The camera shakes as an explosion can be seen behind the reporter. Flames rose in the sky outside of the large amphitheater that lay in the background, faint laughter could be heard near the source of the flames.

Katherine runs forward, clearly shaken, "That was an unconfirmed explosion behind, we believe it to be caused by the gang's leader, Inferno. As...as I was saying. The gang was confronted by group of heroes, we've had confirmed sightings of Liberty, Voltra, and Recharge. The crowd has been evacuated, but the battle is threatening to spill over into the city."

Just then a giant blast of water enters the picture, hitting a flying figure in a red outfit and cape, who suddenly fired back with blast of green energy. The collision between the blast and the water caused the air to fill with steam, the figure in red seemed to almost teleport as she appeared in front of the large man with the water cannon, slamming her fist into his stomach and knocking him to the ground.

"This is live footage of the hero Recharge fighting Hellfire member Hydro....This is coverage you can't get anywhere else folks..." After knocking Hydro out, Cora seemed to notice Katherine and the camera crew nearby. She didn't look happy with them, "Get out of here! You're in the way and in dan--" Suddenly Recharge was struck in the back by a sizable explosion, sending her flying off to the left.

Rocks flew off the ground from the explosion, one even nicking the League News camera. Katherine and her crew ran away a few feet, doing their best to keep a safe distance.

"Recharge!!" A voice shouted nearby, the camera shakily pans out to Voltra, her bright yellow costume almost a blur as she moves towards her partner. After Voltra helped the other hero to her feet, the source of the attack stepped forward. Ignition, the co-leader of the Hellfire Gang had a twisted smile on her face, sparks flickering from her fingers as she advanced towards the pair.

At this point the camera started shaking more violently, and the image of Ignition and the heroes became farther and farther away. You couldn't hear what was being said, but it appeared as if Voltra and Recharge were speaking back and forth for a few moments, almost arguing before there was a large spark of electricity and Voltra was gone. Recharge didn't look surprised however, and now was radiating electrical energy, sparks bouncing off her body every so often.

"Wow..." Katherine said after being silent for a few moments. "They must have fused together! This is their signature move, Voltra turns into pure energy and is absorbed by Recharge. It's a very dangerous and short term process, so they must be taking Ignition here very seriously..." Recharge rushed towards Ignition at a speed that barely registered on the television screen. The villain threw her hands up as fast as she could, sending successive blasts of fire towards the blur that was recharge, but the hero was too quick. Recharge slammed into Ignition, landing blow after blow on her struggling enemy, until grabbing her suddenly and flying into the air before just as quickly zooming back towards the ground and slamming ignition into the rubble. Recharge slowed down, so she could be seen clearly once again. Suddenly there was a flash of light and the two heroes separated, both of them falling to the ground looking fatigued.

Meanwhile another figure was approaching near by from the group, a slumped over individual in their arms. As they got closer it became clear that it was the hero Liberty, an unconscious Inferno in her arms. "The rest of the gang has seemed to fled, I've searched the crowd for them but found no trace." She said to Recharge and Voltra. Just then the news crew started running up to the three heroes, their appearances coming closer into the frames.

"Liberty, Voltra, Recharge, congratulations on this victory! You've saved a lot of people tonight, any chance we could get a statement?" Recharge glared at the reporter as she and Voltra got to their feet. A few locks of her flowing red hair had fallen in front of her mask. "You nearly got yourself killed out there, how are we supposed to do our jobs when you're running around out here like its an action movie! You---" She was suddenly cut off by Voltra, leaving a horrified Katherine Anderson grateful for the interruption.

"Sorry about that, we're both a bit shook up from the fight. It was a tough battle, but we're happy we managed to protect the people of the nation's capital." She said trying to pretend like Recharge's outburst hadn't happened.

The reporter seemed willing to move on as well and had recovered from her shock, offering a charming smile, "It's a rare occurrence to see you two working with Liberty, especially here in DC, is this potentially the start of a new super team?"

She tried to turn to Liberty for a comment, but the android super hero seemed very uninterested in answering questions, so Voltra responded again. "I don't think you should read anything into this other than we're glad to have been around and even more glad that Liberty was here to have our backs. That's all for now, we should really get going." With that all three heroes shot up into the sky hastily, clearly not interested in answering anymore questions.

Katherine Anderson looked a little annoyed that they wouldn't answer anymore questions, but turned back to the camera and gave a joyful smile for the crowd. "Well everyone, this has been another live report from League News Live! Now turning over to John Michaels with a report on the Los Angeles Stars..."

Meanwhile....

Floyd Martin turns off the television after getting bored of the daily "hero" news. He was hoping his old rivals would die at the hands of the Hellfire Gang, but oh well, now he would have the chance to do it himself some other time. He currently sat comfortably in a white laboratory in the deep basement of Westgate prison, his feet on a desk in front of him. He was watching through a glass screen as a group of scientists worked frantically on an arch like machine. Massive wires and tubes ran across it and through it, at the center was a stool that held a strange object. It was clearly a rock, or at the very least some kind of mineral. Floyd never really concerned himself with what exactly it was, but he was assured by his colleagues that it would have the intended effect. The crystal would be able to turn the prison above them into a superhuman factory, and create an army that no league team would be able to handle. It took a lot of resources and favors to pull it off, Floyd in particular was useful, using his connections in the California government to ensure that he would be able to enter the prison unnoticed.

Standing up, he walked toward the glass and pressed the near by intercom, "Is it ready?" He asked in a stern voice, clearly anxious for it to begin. A nearby scientist, who seemed like the lead on the project, spoke nervously. "All of our tests have come back positive... but I've never worked with anything even close to like this before, no one has. So can't be sure what will happen."

Floyd merely smirked, "Life is about risks doc, risks... and making money. And I hope this machine will help me do just that. So fire it up and let's get this show on the road." The doctor nodded solemnly, and him and his staff exited the room, making sure they were at least a few yards away from protective glass just in case.

"Three... two...one"

With a flip of a switch in his hand the room was suddenly filled with a thundering noise as the machine roared to life. Sparks started to fly as massive amounts of power were being pulled from crystal into the machine until there was a huge flash. The scientists shielded their eyes, fearing the worst, but Martin didn't even blink. He stared at the machine, a wide grin on his face. And after the machine calmed down, he waited a few moments until he heard the faint sounds of alarms blaring. He pulled out his phone, pressed a few buttons and was now looking at the security footage from the prison above. Guards were frantically firing their guns, trying desperately to contain the situation. The situation they were trying to contain was dozens of prisoners, ripping off the bars of their cells, some firing lightening or fire as they stormed the prison. It was clear not all prisoners were acting alike however. While some took charge, others cowered in their cells, some tried to runaway, and there were those who were even being attacked by other inmates.

"The inmates are now running the prison." He said under his breath slightly, then to everyone else, "Good work people, time to get out of here, things are about to get messy......"

Wonder Island, San Diego, 7:00 PM PST

Mars Asarin cautiously got out of the passenger seat of a vehicle, wondering what he had gotten himself into. The school year ended just hours earlier, and it seemed that most everyone had decided to come together and celebrate it in spectacular fashion. Specifically, a group of well off teens who went to the school decided it'd be fun to throw a party at the site of the old Wonder Warriors headquarters. Mars could hear loud music blaring as he approached one of the nearby buildings.

Normally this kind of thing wasn't Mars' style at all, but he had been convinced to go by an old friend. "Relax man, you look like you're solving a calculus problem right now." Roy Damon said with a grin as he clapped his hand on Mars' shoulder. Roy, also known as "Nightshade", had met Mars soon after he moved to San Diego, and the two became fast friends. Roy often tried to get Mars to lighten up and this was one occasion where he was at least partially successful.

Roy led Mars further onto the island, and Mars had to admit it was quite the sight to behold. There were at least half a dozen buildings set across the island, at the center however was a huge tower. The tower was impressive, with large glass windows surrounded by metal frames, but it was clear no one had been taking care of it for a long time. The party goers were avoiding the tower, clearly not brave enough to venture into it. The party was mainly being had in a large building towards the front of the island. From the looks of it Mars thought it used to be some kind of loading dock, where vehicles and equipment might be stored. Right now however it was packed with people, most of whom were dancing or mingling around the edges of the large building. Towards the back a DJ had set up, he was currently playing the kind of mindless EDM song people like to listen to at parties. There were also a bunch of coolers that had been brought in, most had both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in them.

Mars felt a little weird about partying on what was pretty much a graveyard, but he couldn't help but feel a little curious about this whole place. As Roy ventured in to the heart of the party to mingle, Mars found a bench to sit on at the outskirts, his eyes looking around the building as he wondered what things must have been like on this island when it was occupied.

[The Republic of Atria]

"You're joking, right?" Wyatt asked.

"No, we've done extensive reading on the social customs of human juveniles. These parties are a customary celebration for the end of another year of education." His mother replied. "Usually inebriation and, I believe the phrase is, hanging out with friends." She explained grabbing one of her many parenting books and flipping through it. "See? It says right here-"

Wyatt interrupted her. "Mom, listen. I love you, but I'm pretty the party is taking place somewhere that would be considered trespassing if we got caught." He explained. "I think it was that Wonder Warrior island." He hoped to turn her off the idea of him going to the end of school party. His parents insisted that alcohol affected them the same as it affected humans, but even so he wasn't big on the idea.

His father spoke up. "I have read the human's archives on their Wikipedia. It is considered government property, but there is no one maintaining it. It is very unlikely you will be caught. I agree with your mother. We go to social outings with our fellow workers, and I suggest you do the same. It will give you experience with intoxicated humans as well as understanding their courting process." He agreed. Not the response Wyatt was hoping for. "And you might even have fun as well. I believe the humans say: You're only young once. Soon you will be an adult. I suggest enjoying as much of this time as you can."

His parents weren't going to budge. Wyatt loved them, and he was certain the feeling was mutual. In their minds they only wanted to be the best human parents that they could be. The problem was that they were very much not human, and the customs of the Dra'Qunni were all but lost. He grew up around humans, so acting like them came naturally to him, but his parents were adults when they came into this world. They were trying their best and Wyatt realized that he was not going to budge them on this. "Alright. I'll go." He conceded. "But if anything happens. I blame the both of you."

A few hours later

The sun was starting to set as Wyatt arrived at the meeting place. His parents dropped him off a few blocks from the meeting place and he walked the rest of the way. It would be very awkward if his friends saw his parents drop him off. He wasn't wearing anything notable, just a black T-shirt and some blue jeans. He saw some of his friends from school. Roy and Mars was the first ones he saw. "Oh, hey guys. Am I early, or is everyone else late?" He asked. He refreshed his glamour before he left just to be safe. He didn't plan on doing much, if any drinking, but on the off chance he did, letting his secret slip would probably be bad news for a lot of people. Only now did he realize that he probably could have used that to convince his parents to let him stay home. Too late now.

[Anxiety Cafe]

Somewhere in the Canadian Wilderness

"Is this potentially the start of a new super team?" the TV blared, the news anchor on its screen interviewing constume-clad superhumans. Yierneg simply snorted in response. He wasn't a native human, but he knew enough about their history to understand its trouble with superhero teams. They never worked out, and they never would work out.

That's why it was better for him to stick to the shadows, alone in the world. Or at least, that's what he told himself. Although he would never admit it, Yierneg was scared. Not just of his brothers coming for him, which was a worst-case scenario. He was afraid of being rejected by the humans, and becoming an outcast by force instead of by will. His fears, ultimately, were what drove him to live the solitary, and, at times, miserable life he did. His one reassurance was that he wasn't a superhero, like the attention-loving supers of this Earth. He was a prince, of what used to be a prestigious and powerful empire. That was no more. His family had brought the Empire down to nothing. But he hoped he could eventually be the one to bring it back to its former power.

He had heard no news about the Civil War since he had fled his planet. Its fate was always on his mind; had one of his brothers won, or had they torn the planet apart in their greed? No matter his worries, however, all he could do was hide. The Loshiak had known about Earth for centuries, long before his birth. It had been two star systems away from the Empire at its height. If news about him on Earth spread, they'd pin him down in no time. He couldn't go back to the Empire; he was seen as a traitor by most, a prince who had left his people in need. By his brothers, he was seen as a coward, and a figurehead for disobedience. They'd both want his head if he returned.

Yierneg hit the power button on the TV remote as it rambled on about a look back into super history. The broken TV did nothing in response. Grunting, he threw the remote onto the ground and smashed it with his hoof. It was the third he had gone through in the month. Human things were so frail and easy to break. He had only sat on it once!

Sighing in frustration, Yierneg left his small cabin in the woods, enjoying the smell of wilderness. It was part of his daily routine to stay outside and watch the children of the forest play. Most of the animals had grown to trust him, although they knew better than to go up to him and beg for food. Rarely did a dangerous predator come near him or his area of the woods, as if they could sense his willingness and ability to kill them.

Taking one last breath of the fresh air, Yierneg went inside and brought out one of the spellbooks which he had just gotten around to practicing a couple days ago. It had taken a while for him to secure the cabin; he was pretty sure it was some old celebrity's vacation home, almost never used. Reading the instructions for the first spell over and over, as he had been doing for the past few days, he tried to commit everything to memory. It was quite complex, as the spellbook was. Not only did he have to say the words to the spell, written in Loshiak language, but he had to perform complex hand movements as well.

Picking a random rock, Yierneg put the spellbook down.

"Thior lot yad me" he started, touching his fingers together. "Helk kon thel quor" he continued, removing a finger with each word until just his index fingers and thumbs were touching. He then drew his hands apart, closing them into fists at his sides in concentration.

Slowly, the little rock began to rise off the ground. Excited, Yierneg flexed his wings in anticipation, the hints of a smile showing at the corners of his mouth. The rock continued, rising another foot off of the ground. Its rise ended abrupty, as it fell without warning, with a loud and dull thud. Frustrated again, Yierneg picked up the rock and threw it as far as he could into the forest, striking a tree and leaving a mark where the bark was scraped away.

---

On Jith

"Have you found him?" a deep voice rumbled, echoing throughout the chamber.

The room was large and lavish, fit for a king. The floor was made of stone, smoothed out and shiny. Covering almost every inch of it was a beautiful velvet carpet, giving the illusion that the stone walls were painted red as well. Above, the glass roof was spotless, allowing every inch of the room to be bathed in sunlight. The walls were adorned with paintings and tapestries, stories of the past. They showed heroes fighting, wars won, and, right above the thrones situated at the back of the room, a family portrait.

"No. Yshok's team came up empty in the star system.There have been no reported sightings of him in neighboring systems either," another voice responded, equally authoritative.

"Your failures will reduce our kind to nothing!" the first responded, its frustration evident. "Find him!"

"You don't command me, brother. Remember, we are at an armstice. Your attempt to usurp the throne did not succeed," Jlenob asserted, his eyes blazing with fire. His twin, Rjoneb only grunted in response. "Any word on tracking him?"

Rjoneb turned to look at their family, high on the wall. "No," he sighed. "The best sorcerers are working on it, but learning and mastering spells takes time. They say he's still in the galaxy, somewhere, but his magical trail is faint, and pinpointing his location will be considerably more difficult."

"We will find him, brother," Jlenob stepped over to his twin, putting his hand on his shoulder. Rjoneb tensed, but otherwise did nothing. "And his death will prove who truly is leader."

---

In Downtown San Diego

Nathan grunted as the bullets hit his skin, unable to absorb their kinetic energy quick enough. The bruises healed in no time as he jumped to the second floor of the building and crashed through the window. The inside was dark and quiet, entirely empty. Immediately he suspected something, drawing on more energy from the lights down below. The gunmen couldn't reach him in there, which meant they were finding new sniper shots.

Nathan was currently on one of his quests to end Lycan, the group working against supers and aliens and magicians. Working against progress, against evolution, and against nature itself. He couldn't let them continue their mission to destroy supers. They were the leaders of anti-super discrimination, and he had made it his life's mission to stop them.

He poured the rest of his excess energy into his brain and senses, hearing the bullets far before they came. Their energy gave him a needed boost as he ran for the movement he spotted in his peripheral. The incoming bullets only gave him the power to run faster, and become stronger. Soon, one gunman was down, and his tank still had some energy left. The second and last gunman was hiding somewhere, somehow suppressing even his breathing. He was almost invisible to Nathan. Almost. One quick, small gasp gave him away. In no time, Nathan was holding the man by his collar, two feet off the ground. The man was scared—his heart seemed to pulse every millisecond—but didn't show it on the outside.

"Where is Major Phanton?" Nathan yelled into the man's ear, hoping to invoke more fear.

The man's heartbeat only slowed in response, a sigh of relief exiting his mouth. Something wasn't right. Nathan could feel his tank emptying, his senses dulled back to his normal human level. The man began to get heavier, too heavy to hold. Nathan dropped the man on the ground, turning around in fear. There, in the shadow of the building. A blinking green light. He could hear footsteps even with his normal human senses. There were more!

Nathan backed away from the power scrambler, the first he had encountered, although he had heard of them before. Trying to absorb its power seemed to only empty his tank faster. In fear, Nathan turned to run, but was faced with another gunman, tall and muscular. A gun barrel pushed itself into Nathan's head. He froze for a second, before pretending to escape. The gunman pulled the trigger, and the bullet pushed for his skin. It gave him just a little bit of energy. Before the power scrambler could take away that, he poured it into his leg muscles, running at just above an athletic human's pace.

A couple bullets flew towards him, giving him even more of an edge as he ran. The tank's leak seemed to be slowing down. Nathan gleefully continued his run until he was out of the power scrambler's range, and the view of the gunmen. They knew they couldn't match his pace, he had been running faster than the cars rushing by. Nathan slowed to a halt five blocks away, attempting to blend in with the normal humans.

Nearby, he heard loud party music and a couple cheers. Kid cheers. Everyone knew about the unofficial graduation party for Thomsen High, but Nathan had thought it would be boring and the opposite of fun. At Thomsen High, he was never exactly popular. He was still the loner, a closed-off kid. It seemed almost like a normal school to him, besides the occasional superpowered-accident. Nathan felt much more comfortable alone, and away from school. He would have left, too, if it weren't for the ever-present possibility that he be picked up by some super team. Now that would've been a dream come true for him.

Peering at the party lights, Nathan saw some kids he knew and a lot that he didn't. Thinking that it'd help him blend in from Lycan, who would inevitably come for him, and also wanting to better fit in with his potential future teammates, Nathan forced himself into the party. His entrance went rather unnoticed. He nervously smiled and waved at a few kids he had talked to once, before walking towards a bench occupied by a kid he didn't know.

"Hey, is anyone sitting here?"

[Absolon-7]

Wonder Island, San Diego

The thunderous beat of the music blasted in Casimir's head as he sauntered between the different groups of students and party-goers on his way to a large table filled with food people had either brought themselves or ordered. His thoughts for the past hour had been filled with fantasies of how glorious it would be to fill his mouth with heaping piles of delicacies and junk food but chatting and fooling around with acquaintances had distracted him. Resentment at spending his high school graduation away from his friends and dear girlfriend had been eating him from the inside for the better part of the year but tonight was different. Tonight he would forget it all and enjoy himself for once. Some of the few friends he had made invited him to the party and Casimir could not think of a reason why he shouldn't go.

Gathering the colossal amount of food he would soon be gorging on, Casimir remembered to set any nearby insects on standby in case some drunken fool wanted to start a fight with him. He had already passed by one or two seniors who seemed like they've had too many drinks. Bringing his five plates of food precariously balanced on his arms, he found a nice unoccupied folding chair to sit on with a nice view of the party. It was an especially nice view of some of the better looking girls too. As he wolfed down on food he thought about how the past year had gone for him as a superhero.

He hadn't really done much to further his glory. Heck, it was pretty rare that his name ever appeared on any news platform. He had mostly kept to patrolling the streets on his motorcycle and it had been going reasonably well. Stopping some muggings and rescuing one kidnapped kid was a good estimate of what he had do deal with every school break. Unfortunately it didn't have the same élan as his first tenure as a superhero. Busting a nefarious gang that had a death grip on a once peaceful town. And later having to fight super strong mutants every week that were out for blood. Now that was the life. Full of excitement, romance, suspense ... almost like it came out of a manga, he thought to himself stuffing his face with a steaming hot-dog.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

“Guys, we so shouldn’t be here.” Wendy Felix exclaimed to the rest of her foster siblings as they dragged her across the grounds of the old Wonder Warriors headquarters. Had her “siblings” not tricked her into going with them, she wouldn’t have even been at the party. She was the good girl who ever did anything like trespassing on government property, at least not anymore.

Not that she was worried about being caught. She’d done a thorough scan of the property both with her eyes and her powers. None of the camera’s she seen were active, and even if they had been she could remember the last time she’d seen such antiquated technology. Hacking them would have taken maybe ten seconds tops... fifteen if she was having an off day.

“Oh, shut it goody two shoes.” One of them said as they neared where all the action was going on. “You think mom and dad don’t know what we’re doing. That excuse was so you’d go with us, not for us to try fooling them.”

“Now quit being such a stick in the mud.” Another added before he walked off to join his friends.

“Live a little.” A third added before doing the same. Soon she was all alone as the others walked off to join their respected social circles. Scanning the room, she found another of the social outcasts sitting on a bench at the outskirts of the party.

“This seat taken?” She asked after working up every ounce of courage she could muster and walking over to him.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

I typed the last line of input command in the laser etching machine. The machine whirled as the metal it consumed the metal tube I've prepared for it. Computer-controlled laser beams engraved the circuits and diagrams I have designed to the surface of the iron tube. I tidied up my workplace while waiting for the machine to finish its work. I scrolled the old pages that my abi had collected over the course of his careers. I took etched plates of metals I was using for my experiments and put it back on the shelf, ready to be smelt and re-forged into new plates. The noise of the machine ceased when I was putting the last beryllium-bronze plate to the shelf.

I took the iron tube from the machine and examined the engraving. The sigils on it was a modification of a basic explosion spell. I changed some of the cursives to accommodate with the curvature of the tube. I added two rings of wards to direct the explosion toward one of the open end of the tube. The first one was actually just a protective wards, but the second ring was designed to not only direct the blast but to make sure most of the excess heat was converted to light and force. I looked at it again. The laser made sure that the engravement was accurate, but the fractal sequencing could have developed better. It was a new method I was trying to develop, using mathematical model of a rune and expand to various configuration. Through trial-and-error, I found this particular arrangement was the best one I could have.

I put it on the table and finished up tidying up the rest of the room. I had tidied up the whole basement before I took the iron rod and went upstairs.

---

The roar of the engine ceased as the boat slowly docked to the shore. I hopped down the boat carrying my rucksack on the back. My father turned his head and smiled to me before he turned the engine back on.

"You have brought everything you need?" He asked me between the thunders of the engine.

"Yessuh!" I shouted to answer him. He smiled and gave me a nod before he left me in the shore of Wonder Island I shouted a salam to him, and among the many background noises I could hear his vague reply to me. I turned my head and looked at the looking tower in the middle of the island. I walked towards the faint light show and beating music in the background. It was quite a walk between my landing site and the party center, but I didn't really mind. I wasn't much of a party person after all. The reason that I even came here was that it was practically the biggest event in Thomsen High and some of my friends, or maybe acquaintances, decided to come to the party and they had asked me to join too. Neither the moonlight nor the party-light was bright enough to light the path, so I took my darkvision glasses and activated it. I had enchanted it months ago, using some magic detection runes to allow me see the ambient magic and how the environment affect it. It was useful to see in the dark like this, or to detect some spirits that are powerful enough to hide their presence but not powerful enough to perfectly conceal it. Preparation is part of being a wizard, which is why I also brought a piece of paper with protection ward drawn into it and left a small amount of hair and drops of blood at home to help my family found me if I needed a rescue. I also had an enchanted air horn that originally used to call for attention, although I wrapped it around with a band of dampening sigils so I could still use it for the parteh purposes.

As I got closer the vision from my glasses got blurry and confusing as the flux of lights and emotions obscured any background magic residue. I put it off, thought that I already could see the steps and the tall tower easily and that it is not worth it to be seen using a freaking sunglasses in the middle of the night. I could see some faces, although mostly I didn't recognize them. Of course, there were also faces that I recognized but didn't recognize me, like that superhero kid Nightshade. Roy I think was his name? Anyway he was one of the more recognizable face, mainly because he had appeared in the news a couple of times. I looked around for awhile before I took a can of Pepsi from the cooler (yeah, I drink Pepsi. Sue me.) and walked to a half-buried structure, not far from where that Roy guy and some other people sat, watching the first few eager students dancing to the rhythm of the beat.

[Dernland]

James Packard

James slid into his apartment and closed the door behind him, leaning against it and sighing heavily. He lived alone in the city, as his parents were entirely fictional. The apartment was owned by the Order and was nice but not overly expensive. He left the door and went to take a shower and get ready for that night's party. He didn't have too much of an interest in it as an event, but several of his friends were going and that was enough for him. He tugged off his hoodie and immediately froze in place. A cold chill ran up his spine and he turned around, facing only an empty room. The far window was open and the shades were pulled up casting moonlight into the dark room. James frowned, slowly reaching for the knife he kept in his boot and taking a step forward. With a simple thought he was beside the window, lurking in the deep shadows. His eyes had turned blood red from the use of his power. Suddenly the sharp sound of the door slamming echoed through the room

James spun around to face the room again, his blade shimmering in the moonlight. Standing before him was a sight that made his blood run cold and his insides churn. It was a man, emphasis on was, who dwarfed James' own considerable height. He was slender, almost anorexic, with a drawn and bony face distinguished by a shocking lack of eyes. There weren't even sockets, just smooth pale skin. The being grinned, showing an array of crooked though shockingly white teeth.

"Young master Amandil. It's been far too long." The creature's voice was raspy and low, like that of a man who was suffering from dehydration.

"Ocras? Thought you never left the Sanctuary in Jerusalem." James said, returning the knife to its sheath. This creature was a Fear Gorta, an Aes Sídhe from Irish 'mythology'. There was little mythical about Ocras, aside from his appearance, his magic, and the hungry grass he left in the worst places.

"It is far too arid there for my tastes, though sadly I must return. However, the Council has demanded a report on your doings and sent me to retrieve it."

James sighed and walked over to a nearby side-table, retrieved a loose sheaf of parchment from a large pile there, and gave it to Ocras. "There," He said. "The council should be pleased."

The man turned away and seemed about to leave, but posed a question. "Amandil, remind me of your mission."

It wasn't a question, just a demand. "To start a war." The youth said flatly before returning to his preparations.

Wonder Island

James parked his car and stepped out into the remains of the Wonder Warriors hideout. It was a pretty good place for a bunch of super-powered teenagers to host a party. He took a deep breath and approached the large building around which most of the partygoers were congregated, hoping to find some of his friends in the chaos.

[Charmera]

Wonder Island, San Diego, 7:00 PM PST

Mars Asarin cautiously got out of the passenger seat of a vehicle, wondering what he had gotten himself into. The school year ended just hours earlier, and it seemed that most everyone had decided to come together and celebrate it in spectacular fashion. Specifically, a group of well off teens who went to the school decided it'd be fun to throw a party at the site of the old Wonder Warriors headquarters. Mars could hear loud music blaring as he approached one of the nearby buildings.

Normally this kind of thing wasn't Mars' style at all, but he had been convinced to go by an old friend. "Relax man, you look like you're solving a calculus problem right now." Roy Damon said with a grin as he clapped his hand on Mars' shoulder. Roy, also known as "Nightshade", had met Mars soon after he moved to San Diego, and the two became fast friends. Roy often tried to get Mars to lighten up and this was one occasion where he was at least partially successful.

Roy led Mars further onto the island, and Mars had to admit it was quite the sight to behold. There were at least half a dozen buildings set across the island, at the center however was a huge tower. The tower was impressive, with large glass windows surrounded by metal frames, but it was clear no one had been taking care of it for a long time. The party goers were avoiding the tower, clearly not brave enough to venture into it. The party was mainly being had in a large building towards the front of the island. From the looks of it Mars thought it used to be some kind of loading dock, where vehicles and equipment might be stored. Right now however it was packed with people, most of whom were dancing or mingling around the edges of the large building. Towards the back a DJ had set up, he was currently playing the kind of mindless EDM song people like to listen to at parties. There were also a bunch of coolers that had been brought in, most had both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in them.

Mars felt a little weird about partying on what was pretty much a graveyard, but he couldn't help but feel a little curious about this whole place. As Roy ventured in to the heart of the party to mingle, Mars found a bench to sit on at the outskirts, his eyes looking around the building as he wondered what things must have been like on this island when it was occupied.

Following both Mars and Roy was a somewhat more formally clad brown haired young woman wearing what was undeniably a butler's outfit. She stood out from the crowd in terms of dress, but she did very little else to draw attention to herself. The girl's eyes moved regularly, as if assessing the room for threats. Cassandra kept close to both Mars and Roy, though seemed to be intentionally rather separate from them. This wasn't the fault of either of them, it was merely in Cassandra's nature to be slightly separate from humans, or at least that's what she believed. Roy had picked her up in San Francisco, and she had been doing her best to perform her function and making sure her new human was provided with her service, though she had been a bit annoyed that his role as a superhero meant he had to get himself in danger, she was nothing if not adaptable. She had insisted upon joining his crime fighting whenever possible, and had learned a bit about how to become a superhero herself. She was programmed to help her assigned humans in any way should could after all. Apparently this meant being a sidekick sometimes, a secretary at others and sometimes a butler.

She then realized that Roy had slipped away from her. She did a brief scan of the room, but found that the party-goers were making it hard for her to locate him. She did manage to find him though after some time looking, and quickly moved between the crowd to follow him.

"Sir, I am concerned about our current venue." She remarked to Roy. "There are considerable numbers of blind spots, the music comprimises senses and the low light would make spotting assassins difficult." She spoke, running down the security risks with a stoic unemotional tone. "Why must we be at this "party" again?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Westgate Prison, San Diego, 4:00 PM PST

Standing just outside the tall walls that separated the dangerous inmates from the rest of the world was a young man with long, unkempt blonde hair, clad in a plain white jacket. He was looking up at the wall, wondering what life was like on the other side, what it truly was like, as he was certain that what was shown on television was an unfaithful account. Perhaps this concern of his was not shared by many, but for one such as him, whose sole remaining parent was currently held within Westgate, it was something very close to his heart. By now, it could almost be considered customary for him to stand there and stare every now and then; he had been trying to actually visit his father, but he would not be allowed inside alone until he was over the majority of age, and his uncle wanted nothing to do with 'that criminal'. Thus, Icarus had been separated from his father for several months now, nearly the full length of the school year. He reflected on all of this as he stood and stared, fists balled up as if to try to alleviate, through them, the feeling of helplessness that arose within him due to his situation.

But he couldn't simply stay there forever, and this was something he knew well. Sighing, he turned away from the high walls and began the trek back to his home, turning his thoughts to the vacation ahead of him. Immersed in different, darker thoughts earlier, he had almost forgotten that the school year was finally over, and in part, he was content with it, as he did not particularly enjoy having to mingle with people that ostracized him for having a father that is a criminal and that some even label a 'villain'. By sheer coincidence, he had heard of the party that was to be hosted later that day, but he had no interest in it; a few people he could consider friends would be attending, he believed, but that was hardly enough to justify having to bear with everyone else for longer. He could always keep in touch with them during the summer, assuming they didn't make a trip out of the city.

Before he got much farther, either with his footsteps or his thoughts, it happened. Something invisible smashed into him, like the shockwave from an explosion, combined with a weight upon him that forced him to his knees. His breath escaped and his eyes went wide in surprise at the sudden impact, but before he could even begin to try to process it, what seemed like a bolt of lightning began coursing through him, branching through his body and burning it, causing him great pain, though he couldn't seem to be able to scream. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared, leaving behind only the echo of a horrible sensation, numbed by a temporary dullness of his senses.

In the silence that ensued, Icarus tried to recover his breath, gasping for air as his senses gradually returned to him, though there was... something else. As his ability to perceive the world around him was restored, there was something that unsettled him, drawing his attention to seemingly random locations all around him, and even to his own pocket. "What... the hell..." He muttered to himself in his mother tongue as he managed to get back to his feet, looking all around him at the spots that 'called' him, only to see completely mundane objects: pay phones, light posts and the like. Confused and now also frustrated, the young man dug into his pocket, only to find something equally mundane, his phone. However, the moment he brought it out, a white crackling substance seeped out from inside, hovering right above his hand. Astonished, he dropped the phone and stared at the thing that seemed as though it was condensed lightning.

Once more, his thoughts, now far more disorderly, were interrupted, this time by the sirens that blared from within the prison. With his mind in disarray as it was and no way to make sense of the situation, Icarus made a run for it, not wanting to reflect on what had happened until he was somewhere safe.

---

Wonder Island, San Diego, 7:00 PM PST

Among the many enthusiastic students who were currently enjoying themselves in the former loading area of the defunct Wonder Warriors, be it dancing or flirting or just talking, there was a young, short-haired blonde girl, clad in a red t-shirt and jeans, and wearing her trademark red-rimmed glasses. She had been among the first teenagers to arrive at Wonder Island, eager to attend to what was her first big party as a high schooler, on an abandoned island no less! It was something that reeked of adventure, of romance and surprises, and even if nothing happened in the end, it was still a party, so she was bound to have a good time.

As one might expect, Alexis had been doing quite a bit of dancing and socializing since getting to the party (the former only after taking off her glasses, of course; she didn't need them to see, and didn't want them falling off), and she wasn't even a little bit tired, as her power core was capable of keeping her up indefinitely. Even so, she had opted to take a small break, heading off to raid one of the many coolers around the loading bay while waiting either for something extraordinary to happen or for the party to pick up some more. Unaware of the fact that beer wouldn't do a thing to her, she decided to go for something non-alcoholic, grabbing a soda from the cooler and then leaning against the wall as she opened the can and took a sip.

"Not bad." She mumbled with a nod before looking around at all the students inside the building. She knew a fair amount of them and had talked to some already, but most seemed pretty busy as it was so she decided to bother them later. Instead, she walked towards a middle eastern boy who appeared to be standing by himself and drinking from a can of Pepsi.

"Howdy!" She greeted him cheerfully as she approached, stopping right where she figured she wouldn't make him uncomfortable. "Amir, right? Watching from afar instead of diving right in, I see. How long ago did you get here?" She asked, figuring it was a decent way to start a conversation. She spoke somewhat loudly in an attempt to be heard over the music.

---

Wonder Island, San Diego, 7:00 PM PST

Unbeknownst to the high school students happily chatting and partying nearby, they weren't the only ones present in the base that once belonged to one of Earth's most beloved superhero teams, nor were they the only ones who were having a good time, for that matter. A lone figure explored the island not far from the noise and cheer of the loading bay, a stranger not only to the teenagers nearby but to the world itself as well. Walking around the buildings and observing them with keen curiosity was a Hadrian girl, of about the same age as the partygoers, with pale pink hair going down to her chest and eyes of a red shade. As she walked around, pointing a small rectangular device at various places, a few of her alien features were concealed by the red circle skirt and the flower-patterned white top she wore, but the most obvious ones—her scaled arms and clawed hands, her horns, and her tail—were quite evident to anyone who paid attention, even in the evening's dim light.

As the Hadrian's small adventure through the perimeter of the island continued, she drew closer and closer to the loading bay, and before long, the music coming from it reached her ears, causing her to stop and appreciate it for a moment. It was quite different from what she was used to hearing, as there was nothing too similar to electronic dance music back on Adai, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate it; it wasn't very complex, that was for sure, but the rhythm made it catchy, even if some of the sounds left her a little confused. Making up her mind after remaining thoughtful for a moment, the girl began walking towards the source of the music, curious about what it was and hoping to see it up close. After all, learning more about humans was one of the reasons she had wanted to travel to San Diego, and surely they were the ones behind that.

After a short while spent walking, the girl finally came across the place the music was coming from, and observed it from afar. A large building it was, quite similar to all the other ones she had seen that day as far as she was concerned, but unlike the other ones, long-abandoned and silent, this one was as lively as could be, with loud music playing within and dim colorful lights visible just outside. She could see various humans outside having fun as well, and smiled softly to herself—seeing other people happy was always nice. After standing by for a few moments, she decided to approach some more, coming to a stop a few yards away from the loading bay, next to an old tree. Raising her rectangular device, she pointed it at the building, unaware that she could be spotted quite easily by a small crowd that had gathered on a nearby bench that she hadn't yet seen.

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars was sitting on the bench, looking a little awkward before two people came and approached him, one he knew and the other he didn't. The one he didn't approached first, Mars recognized him but had never really talked to him. Nathan, I think that's his name. Mars thought to himself before nodding in Affirmation when Nathan asked to sit next to him. "Sure, you can sit here. You're uh, Nathan right? I don'think we've ever introduced ourselves. I'm Mars, nice to meet you." He said before extending his hand to shake.

Just then another person approached the bench as well, Mars realized he probably wasn't the only person who felt kind of awkward in this setting. The second person was Wendy Felix, Mars knew her better than Nathan. They were both usually the top of their classes, and often competed with each other for the best grades. They weren't super close, but Mars was happy to see a friendly face at least. "uh hi Wendy, ya you can sit here. This is Nathan." He said, gesturing to the boy sitting to his left. "I'm not sure if you two ever met." Then he pauses, trying to figure out how to start up conversation, "So, are you two looking forward to summer?"

Mars eyes wandered towards the open hanger doors, where something caught his attention. A girl he had never seen before was standing against a nearby tree. She was quite strange, not because of her pink hair or red eyes, but because of the scales that ran across her arms leading to claws where a human would normally have fingers. Mars wasn't scared or repulsed by this, but rather curious. Who is she? Or rather what is she? And what is she doing here? He thought to himself. After a few moments he worked up the courage to try to find out. "Uh, I'm going to get myself something to drink, I'll be right back." He said to Nathan and Wendy, a little hastily but mostly calm. He walked causally toward the drink coolers as to not cause suspicion before slowly making his way towards the door. He approached the stranger, not sure if she had noticed him yet, "Umm.... Hi" He said, fairly nervous. "What's your name? I've never seen you around before."

Roy
Roy couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard Cassandra. "Because it's fun Cass." He told her as he danced with the crowd, "Sometimes you just need to let loose, and enjoy yourself. And did you have to wear that outfit here? You look like you're going to start vacuuming any minute now." He said with a smile. Cassandra was an AI that Roy had discovered last year, and while Roy mostly wanted to make sure she didn't fall into the wrong hands, they had bonded somewhat over that time.

As he danced Roy was approached by Wyatt, a friend of Mars who Roy had hung out with on multiple occasions. "Hey Wyatt! Good to see you here, you feel like dancing?" He asked with a smile. Wyatt didn't go out much, similarly to Mars, so Roy was happy to see him. "Mars is probably off mopping somewhere, I was lucky I could get him here at all." He chuckled, starting to dance again as the music started to pic up again.

[The Republic of Atria]

Dancing

Wyatt's question was answered when several other students arrived. Most of them looked like average high school students, with the exception of one girl who seemed to be even more socially inept than he was. Her speech was very meticulous and almost robotic. Which made the fact that she was wearing a maid outfit even more odd. It wasn't the strangest thing he had seen so far, but it was in the top ten. "Oh, hey Roy." He interrupted his train of thought. "Oh umm, thanks but I think I'll dance after I've had a few beers." The humans had more names for alcohol than he could count, the one he preferred was "Liquid Courage." He certainly wasn't afraid of dancing, but based on his research, drinking before dancing often made the dancing better. Plus there was also the fact that it would probably be better to have a partner first. Speaking of getting a partner, a new girl with pink hair, claws, and what really made her stand out, her tail. There was probably some irony in there somewhere.

Wyatt grabbed a few beers. Might as well try to make the most of this forced social interaction. He approached the tailed, pink haired girl and offered her one. "I'm terrible at this so bear with me. Ummmm... Well. My name's Wyatt." He offered.

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

"-and furthermore there's so many other things productive things I could be doing, like-"


"Red. Shut up. You're going. End. Of. Discussion."

"But-"

"If you don't go, you can kiss all of your little toys goodbye, especially your motorcycle."

"...Fine."

Several hours later, this conversation between him and Quick Shot was still pissing Red off. He had just wanted to do his usual routine of patrolling the city, but his "Guardian" insisted that he attend the party being held on Wonder Island. A rather inappropriate place to be if you asked him, but nobody else seemed to mind. No, he had a feeling that there were...other pressing issues on these teenagers minds tonight.

So there he was, dressed in pair of jeans and a Flogging Molly T-shirt that tugged a little to tight around his chest and arms. He'd like to say this was due to an increase in his physique, but it was more along the lines that he hadn't bothered to buy nicer clothes in a long time. He held a bottle of a Boston Lager in his hands, it being the only thing that was keeping him from bailing.

Electronic music blared across the main area where the majority of the partygoers were assembled. Flirting, dancing, and drunken antics surrounded him, and Red couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. It wasn't like he was incapable of social interaction. If this would've been some sort of mission where he was supposed to blend into the crowd or gain the trust of someone, it would've taken little effort to do so. But now that he had no real objective except "enjoy" his night, he seemed a little lost at what to do.

Out of the corner of his eye Red noticed Roy and his usual entourage surrounding him. Red couldn't help but scoff a bit when he saw the others, in his eyes, fawning over a self-righteous prick. Sure, the guy was good at what he did. But could Red take him down if it ever came down to it? The answer was most definitely yes. Could he ever try and prove that without breaking one of his "Rules" and winding up locked up in some cell for the rest of his days? Currently, that answer was most definitely a no, so Red would have to contain his bitterness for the time being.

Red allowed himself to let out a final sigh before deciding to head on over to where most of the dancing was taking place. Sure, he might not have been looking to make friends tonight, but that didn't mean he couldn't at least attempt to try and enjoy himself with some of the girls on there.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

Wonder Island, San Diego, 7:00 PM PST

Among the many enthusiastic students who were currently enjoying themselves in the former loading area of the defunct Wonder Warriors, be it dancing or flirting or just talking, there was a young, short-haired blonde girl, clad in a red t-shirt and jeans, and wearing her trademark red-rimmed glasses. She had been among the first teenagers to arrive at Wonder Island, eager to attend to what was her first big party as a high schooler, on an abandoned island no less! It was something that reeked of adventure, of romance and surprises, and even if nothing happened in the end, it was still a party, so she was bound to have a good time.

As one might expect, Alexis had been doing quite a bit of dancing and socializing since getting to the party (the former only after taking off her glasses, of course; she didn't need them to see, and didn't want them falling off), and she wasn't even a little bit tired, as her power core was capable of keeping her up indefinitely. Even so, she had opted to take a small break, heading off to raid one of the many coolers around the loading bay while waiting either for something extraordinary to happen or for the party to pick up some more. Unaware of the fact that beer wouldn't do a thing to her, she decided to go for something non-alcoholic, grabbing a soda from the cooler and then leaning against the wall as she opened the can and took a sip.

"Not bad." She mumbled with a nod before looking around at all the students inside the building. She knew a fair amount of them and had talked to some already, but most seemed pretty busy as it was so she decided to bother them later. Instead, she walked towards a middle eastern boy who appeared to be standing by himself and drinking from a can of Pepsi.

"Howdy!" She greeted him cheerfully as she approached, stopping right where she figured she wouldn't make him uncomfortable. "Amir, right? Watching from afar instead of diving right in, I see. How long ago did you get here?" She asked, figuring it was a decent way to start a conversation. She spoke somewhat loudly in an attempt to be heard over the music.

As the night went on, more and more students arrive to dance and have fun in the abandoned island. I hadn't seen anyone I am familiar with so I simply stayed lurking in the background with my can of Pepsi. It was then when one of the partygoers entered the building to, surprisingly, talk to me.

The girl was wearing blue jeans and red shirt, a casual. She walked with a sense of confident and cheerfulness that is common among the youth, especially in parties like this. She greeted me and in response I raised my can to acknowledge her. I straighten up my posture as she closed in as a polite gesture. I tried to remember her name, going through lists of female name I have ever heard during my time in Thomsen High. I was sure I had met her somewhere, probably one of those classes. I hate it when I failed to remember something. It starts with A, that much I remembered.

"Yeah, I'm not actually a dancer you know," I answered her question. "I'm just here for the music and the foods." I noticed that the girl (Alex? Alice?) was not sweating very much herself. "I just came anyway, and I'm not planning to dance until later...." This girl seems cool. Too bad I forgot her name. " I'm sorry but I''m not sure if I remember your name correctly, wait don't tell me... It was, ah," My memory started to organize themselves and information began to pop, "Alice, isn't it? Wait, no, your name is Alexis, right? Alexis Callaghan?"

[Tomia]

Wonder Island, Underground Facility

While dozens of teens had gathered to party frivolously above the island, a sizable group of people had gathered underground. It was a group of sixteen men, who were arguing among themselves. They all wore orange jump suits, with small black numbers printed across their chests. These men were once inmates of the nearby West Gate prison, and made their way to Wonder Island, since they knew no one bothered visit there anymore. They then stumbled upon the underground training facility beneath the main tower, at least what they thought to be a training facility. The place had been emptied out decades ago, so unfortunately there was nothing to steal.

As the group argued about what they should do next, six men in particular stood in the center. You could tell by how they were the only ones speaking that they were the leaders, though by just looking at them it wasn't clear why. Two of them were particularly large yes, but three of the others were average sized at best, and one of them was very short and lanky. He was holding something in his hand however, a strange red rock, that was odd shaped and jagged.

"We can't just wait in this dump of a basement forever!" One of the larger of the six men in the middle shouted. "This is our chance! We can be kings!"

"You wanna just start running around in the open? With the entire country gunning for us? Man no wonder you got caught?" Another of the larger men said. This caused an argument between the two, and a great deal of pushing and shoving began until the first man's arms began to spark with electricity, and he thrust his hand out towards his opponent. The second man grunted as he was hit with an electrical surge, falling to the ground hard.

"You're dead!" He shouted, charging towards the electricity until suddenly he was stopped. A kinetic field of energy popped up between the two prisoners and the smallest of the six leaders spoke.

"Come on guys, there's no reason for us to fight. Besides, with these new powers a fight could get out of hand."

"Who put you in charge?" The two fighting inmates said simultaneously. The electricity user, grabbed the rock of telekinetic man's hands, "We don't need some punk like you telling us what to do. With these powers, no one is ever bossing me around again!"

"Give that back!" The smaller man shouted, using his powers to violently knock him backwards. He succeeded in making him let go of the strange rock, but unfortunately it went flying in the air, only to crash back down on the floor.

Suddenly the earth started to shake and there was a blinding flash of light, accompanied by massive explosion of energy that sent the inmates flying across the room.

"This is really bad..." The short inmate said, rubbing his bruised head.

The Party
Meanwhile Roy felt the floor start the shake beneath him as he danced, and he immediately stopped, it might have been an earthquake, but Roy wasn't so sure. "Uh, anyone else feel that?" He called out to the crowd but no one seemed to be listening. Then when the flash happened everyone seemed to be paying attention. There was a lot of screams and people running around, but Roy merely sighed.

"I thought this was my day off...."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

---

After having pointed her device at the building a few times from slightly different angles, the alien girl decided to look down at the object instead, smiling as she did so, seemingly quite focused on such task. It was because of this that she did not notice the boy who was walking towards her until he was close enough for her to hear his footsteps. Looking up from the device she held in her hands at the stranger, she tilted her head, watching him take a few more steps towards her before stopping, wondering what he wanted. Upon hearing him greet her and ask her a question, though, she smiled, realizing that he only wanted to talk to her.

"Oh, hi!" She replied cheerfully. "My name's Kirisvala." She stated, repeating it slowly afterwards for the human's benefit. "This is actually the first time I've visited San Diego. I was exploring the island and came here to look around because I heard the odd music. What's your name?" She explained and then asked, before waiting for an answer with a smile on her face, figuring it was the boy's turn to introduce himself.

Before she was given an answer, though, Kirisvala noticed another boy walking towards her, this one with darker skin and a couple of glass bottles in his hands. He handed her one of the bottles, and though she had no idea what it was for, she accepted it, listening to the boy as he introduced himself and nodding once he was done. "I'm Kirisvala, nice to meet you Wyatt! You two are shy, aren't you?" She said playfully, before inspecting the glass bottle. "What's this?" She inquired, casually taking off the top with one of her claws and sniffing its contents. "Smells bitter..." She commented, clearly not very eager to try that beverage.

Just then, the very earth beneath her feet shook, causing the leaves above her to rustle and fall and a flash of light that came from further into the island nearly blinded her. Confused, she inched closer to the tree as if to shelter herself under its boughs. "W-what was that?" She asked, watching as some students began to flee from the nearby building.

---

---

---

Alexis listened to the boy as he explained himself and then went through the trouble of trying to remember her name. Rather than be offended or anything of the sort, she found herself quite amused at the sight of it. "Don't worry, I understand, this was only my first year at Thomsen High and in San Diego, after all. And you got it right the second time, didn't even need to take a third guess! Last name and everything too." She stated after Amir was done, and then leaned on the wall next to the water cooler. "So if you're here for the food, how come you're not eating anything yet? You'd think-" She began, but before she could finish her sentence, the ground and the building itself began rumbling, and a bright light blinded her before disappearing just as suddenly as it had come.

"Woah... What the hell was that?" The blonde girl wondered out loud, not thrilled at all to experience what appeared to be an earthquake in the middle of a party. However, her brief musings were interrupted by the cacophony of scared teenagers. Watching them running off in disarray, she sighed. "Well aren't you all brave. No sense of adventure here!" She remarked, before tugging at Amir's sleeve. "Come on, Amir, we should go find out what's going on!" She told him before running off towards the entrance to the building, eager to find out and hopeful that it would be the start of something exciting. Luckily, she had opted to bring some of her more discreet gadgets to the party, in case something went awry.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

“Not particularly…” Wendy trailed off as she took a seat. “I can’t say I really have anything planned for the summer.”

She had no idea who the other boy was, given how much time she spent in advanced classes at school. The name Nathan hadn’t rang any bells, and she doubted their conversation would let her recognize him.

She was glad to see Mars though, even if he was a sort of rival to her. At least they seemed to have a few things in common, and he was kind of cute…Wendy quickly shook that thought out of her head. He would never go for her, especially if he ever found out about her past and who she was. She was so caught up thinking about Mars she didn’t notice the third person until Mars started talking to her. Her eyes going wide with surprise, Wendy did her best to hide the twinge of fear creeping through her. Non-humans weren’t unknown at her high school but some of the girl’s features were a bit unsettling even by their standards.

Before she could comment though, Wendy was thrown to the ground as the earth began to shake. Pulling herself off the floor she hugged the wall as everyone else fled the building except for few brave souls.

[Charmera]

Wonder Island, Underground Facility

While dozens of teens had gathered to party frivolously above the island, a sizable group of people had gathered underground. It was a group of sixteen men, who were arguing among themselves. They all wore orange jump suits, with small black numbers printed across their chests. These men were once inmates of the nearby West Gate prison, and made their way to Wonder Island, since they knew no one bothered visit there anymore. They then stumbled upon the underground training facility beneath the main tower, at least what they thought to be a training facility. The place had been emptied out decades ago, so unfortunately there was nothing to steal.

As the group argued about what they should do next, six men in particular stood in the center. You could tell by how they were the only ones speaking that they were the leaders, though by just looking at them it wasn't clear why. Two of them were particularly large yes, but three of the others were average sized at best, and one of them was very short and lanky. He was holding something in his hand however, a strange red rock, that was odd shaped and jagged.

"We can't just wait in this dump of a basement forever!" One of the larger of the six men in the middle shouted. "This is our chance! We can be kings!"

"You wanna just start running around in the open? With the entire country gunning for us? Man no wonder you got caught?" Another of the larger men said. This caused an argument between the two, and a great deal of pushing and shoving began until the first man's arms began to spark with electricity, and he thrust his hand out towards his opponent. The second man grunted as he was hit with an electrical surge, falling to the ground hard.

"You're dead!" He shouted, charging towards the electricity until suddenly he was stopped. A kinetic field of energy popped up between the two prisoners and the smallest of the six leaders spoke.

"Come on guys, there's no reason for us to fight. Besides, with these new powers a fight could get out of hand."

"Who put you in charge?" The two fighting inmates said simultaneously. The electricity user, grabbed the rock of telekinetic man's hands, "We don't need some punk like you telling us what to do. With these powers, no one is ever bossing me around again!"

"Give that back!" The smaller man shouted, using his powers to violently knock him backwards. He succeeded in making him let go of the strange rock, but unfortunately it went flying in the air, only to crash back down on the floor.

Suddenly the earth started to shake and there was a blinding flash of light, accompanied by massive explosion of energy that sent the inmates flying across the room.

"This is really bad..." The short inmate said, rubbing his bruised head.

The Party
Meanwhile Roy felt the floor start the shake beneath him as he danced, and he immediately stopped, it might have been an earthquake, but Roy wasn't so sure. "Uh, anyone else feel that?" He called out to the crowd but no one seemed to be listening. Then when the flash happened everyone seemed to be paying attention. There was a lot of screams and people running around, but Roy merely sighed.

"I thought this was my day off...."

Cassandra reacted quickly to the blinding flash, moving next to Roy as quickly as possible and looking around for danger. She kept her robotic eyes scanning for potential threats, her left arm morphing into an energy cannon as she sought to put herself between Roy and the danger. She was programmed to take bullets for him if necessary.

"Executing defensive protocols." She spoke in a more digitized version than before. Her eyes flashed blue briefly.

[Absolon-7]

During Casimir's one man smorgasbord a cold sweat developed on him causing his body to jerk upwards spilling his food on the floor. A sense of imminent danger throbbed in his mind as nearby insects in the area pleaded to him as if their little souls cried out in terror at what would become of their master. But immediately as it appeared the feeling faded.

"Kurwa! The hell was that?" he gasped as he crumpled to the floor.

He looked up and saw a few party goers looking at him and whispering among themselves. Ashamed of his outburst, he scurried off with his head down hoping to avoid anyone he knew. Walking away from the site of his faux pas, Casimir noticed an interesting crowd congregating on a bench as he passed by them. He recognized Roy and Mars but he'd never actually talk to them but they seemed like dependable sort. Roy went off to dance as Casimir began walking in their direction. He also noticed some girl in what looked like a maid outfit next to Roy, "Hmm, nice taste in clothing", he thought approaching them, still shaken by his earlier outburst.

Unfortunately he wouldn't have chance to strike up a friendly conversation with them as a blinding light pierced his eyes and the ground heaved under him. Screams rang out in the night as the crowd's realization of danger hit them and they all started bolting to the door. Casimir, surprised but not frightened, calmly dashed to the entrance of the building placing himself in front of a group of cowering students. His body tensed up for what he expects to be an attack with his killing intent radiating from him.

[The Republic of Atria]

So far so good. The pink haired girl introduced herself as Kirisvala and seemed quite friendly. "It's an okay city. As long as you stay away from the shadier parts of town at night." He replied. "And these-" Motioning towards the beer bottles. "Are what are supposedly going to turn this night into something fun." Taking a bottle and opening it, he caught a whiff of the bitter drink. It couldn't be all that bad, right? Wyatt took a big gulp and immediately began to regret that choice as he almost choked on it, and spat out about half of the amount that he drank. "Holy crap... This stuff is nasty... Ughh." He shuddered. People drank this for fun? How could they get past the taste? It was awful. Not the worst thing he ever tasted, that award goes to some liquid medicines, but it was a contender. Maybe the trick was not to drunk so much at once? It was worth a shot. He braced himself for another try at the beer when the ground shook.

Wyatt stumbled and heard the excitement. He should have just told his parents that he wasn't going under any circumstances. His gut had to be trusted. Something was going to go wrong and he KNEW it! Escape to safety. He had to escape and get back to the mainland. However, fate had a different idea in mind. Just as he got the idea to run for his life, he saw the light tear through the ground and envelop him. He instinctively shielded his face. It felt odd. Like his body was covered in a thin plastic, and said plastic was being peeled off his body. Not unlike a candy bar. When the light faded and he opened his eyes, something was different and it took a second before the realization hit him: His glamour was gone. Whatever that light did, removed his glamour. Should he just close his eyes and just hope this was a bad dream? Nope. Not a bad dream. He was going to have so much explaining to do. He opened his eyes and looked around the panicking teenagers and wondered if he should just take to the skies and... Abandon his friends.

No. He wasn't going to abandon his friends. They would accept him as he was, that much was clear. The secret was a much different story, but that was quickly becoming the least of his worries as he noticed that his hands were glowing and the rocks and rubble were floating around them. He panicked and shook his arms to try and get the rocks off, only to have them ignite. It didn't hurt which was what surprised him, however, the beer bottle he spilled ignited which caused him to jump back. He re-positioned his tail to keep his balance and stood up awkwardly with the fires on his hands dimming.

"I have so much explaining to do don't I?"

[Anxiety Cafe]

"Sure, you can sit here," the guy said, extending his hand. "You're uh, Nathan right? I don'think we've ever introduced ourselves. I'm Mars, nice to meet you."

Nathan stared at the hand awkwardly before reaching out his own, sweaty hands to shake it. He wasn't exactly the best at social interaction, but one of his goals in coming to the party tonight was to improve those skills.

"Yeah. Um, yeah. It's Nathan. Nice to meet you. Too."

Silently cursing himself for stuttering out the weird sentences, he tried to wipe the grime off the bench before taking the seat next to Mars. Thankfully, after another awkward moment of silence, another girl walked up. She was pretty, but she still seemed like one of the more "edgy" type people. Definitely not the crowd Nathan would hang out with, if he hung out with anybody at all.

“This seat taken?” She asked.

"Uh hi Wendy, ya you can sit here. This is Nathan." Mars said, taking the initiative, as if he knew her. "I'm not sure if you two ever met."

Nathan politely nodded to show he noticed her presence and simultaneous slowly waved his hand. He pretended to cough into his arm to mask the motion, hoping no one had seen. Wendy and Mars seemed to know each other, which meant he might have to be a third wheel to people he didn't even know. The three of them sat for a moment, not speaking, just watching their peers on the dance floor, their bodies gyrating to the tune of the loud music. There was a lot more drinking going on than Nathan had expected.

"So, are you two looking forward to summer?" Mars said, clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the silence.

Nathan would've been fine with the silence, but the whole point of going to the party was to get out of his comfort zone.

“Not particularly…” Wendy trailed off. “I can’t say I really have anything planned for the summer.”

Nathan was about to respond, afraid of seeming anti-social at a bench of social outcasts, but Mars abruptly excused himself and walked away. He sighed. Everyone found their crowd eventually. And that would just leave Nathan alone. He considered following Mars through the crowd, but he could build up enough courage for more social encounters.

Resigning himself to be alone once again, Nathan glanced over at Wendy just at the Earth below him rumbled, like it had some sort of stomachache. Laughing at the comparison, it rumbled once again, much more forcefully. He was thrown off the bench, his head thrown into the hard floor before he could absorb the energy. Slowly getting up and massaging his temples, he watched in horror as student after student attempted to rush through the building's exits. It was like a stampede!

He absorbed some kinetic energy from the running students, healing his bruises and enhancing his hearing, if only for a couple seconds. He was prepared to warn everyone if another tremor came tearing through the island, possibly weakening the campus's foundations. What he heard, however, was not another tremor. He heard heartbeats, beating fast, far below all of the students. Before his hearing faded back to normal, Nathan heard "This is really bad."

Suspicious and angry, Nathan stayed while the last of the students piled out. Trying to absorb as much of their kinetic energy as he could to fill up the tank. It was barely a quarter full when the last had left. He was tempted to stay in the building as a show of bravery, but he instead ran out after his fellow students. He wouldn't simply abandon his peers and escape the island, however. He stayed with a crowd that got increasingly smaller, and prepared for the worst.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

-Snip-

Well, I remembered her name correctly. That's good. Now it's just a game of choosing the right dialogue options. She leaned on a nearby wall before questioning me on why hadn't I taken any food if I was there for the food. She hadn't finished her sentence when the ground started to tremble and a sudden coruscation glared my vision.

When I had returned to my senses, I was lying on the ground and my pocket felt really hot. I stood up and checked my darkvision glasses. The inscribed runes was burning brightly, and a touch to its lenses confirmed it to me that the bright flash had indeed het up my glasses. That's bad. The runes were supposed to detect esoteric energies, like the magical and emotional energy frequently used by mages or the innate aura of the metahuman and allowed me to see it. It seemed that whatever that flash was, it was no your ordinary light. The girl I was talking with, Alexis, didn't stumble during the quake and had already stood. "I don't know what was that, Alex. It was nothing good though,"

(Yeah, earthquake and mysterious light is nothing good. Well done, Sherlock!)

Some of the students that were partying inside the building were already hurrying themselves out of the tower, which was a wise thing to do during an earthquake. Apparently, I wasn't one of those person. Nor was Alexis.

She dragged me inside the building against the torrent of partygoers pushing their way to safety. I tried to loosened her grip once we were inside so I could reached the firework rod I had prepared. Not that it could stopped another tremor, but it was the best offense I had. I wore the glasses, still glowing slightly from the blast, and scanned the area. Through the dust I saw some figures, each one glisten with the faint glow of a metahuman save for a girl near that group. Not every students in the school was a metahuman so I wasn't really surprised. I have to say though, it was very brave for a mundane girl to stay inside while everyone else had escaped.

"Hey Alexis," I called at the blonde girl. "You think we should go at them?" I said while pointing at the other group of other students.

[Tomia]

Wonder Island
Mars was about to introduce himself to Kirisvala, she seemed nice and he was very curious to learn more about her and where she was from. He was interrupted however when suddenly a pulse of energy surge through the island. Mars shot to the ground, having no idea what this pulse was and what it might do. He looked around cautiously as he laid on the floor, until slowly rising to his feet it seemed like the pulse had stopped and nothing had happened.

"Uh, everyone alright?" He asked nervously to the group around him. It seemed like everyone was okay, until he realized Wyatt was gone and where he was now stood a large scaly dragon. That wasn't even the strangest part, suddenly fire started spreading from his hands. Mars was concerned at first, but it seemed like Wyatt, at least what he hoped was still Wyatt. "Uh... Wyatt you okay? What happened to you exactly?" He said, wondering if somehow the explosion had caused him to transform into some kind of dragon creature.

Mars figured he should give Wyatt a moment to compose himself, and staring probably wasn't a good idea, so he looked around to make sure Wendy and Nathan were okay. At this moment, Mars really wished he had brought Rocket. His mechanized companion would be very useful in this situation. He had stored a set of body armor and a few weapons in Roy's trunk, but he didn't want to run off at this moment, who knows what was actually happening.

Meanwhile Roy turned to Cassandra, he could tell she was preparing to go terminator mode. "Relax Cass, we don't know what we're up against yet. There might not be any threats." He said as he looked across the now emptying hanger. Most of the people that were left gravitated around Mars, I wonder what they all must have in common?, he mused to himself.

Suddenly he looked outside, and saw a large group of figures moving in the distance. "Uh-oh, I might have spoke too soon Cass. There's a group of men wandering this island. They're not students, but they're wearing uniforms." He told her ominously. Roy's power gave him the ability to see in the dark, and he saw the prison uniforms of the men who were now walking freely across the island. They weren't exactly being quite though, so he was sure he wasn't the only one to notice them.

"Cass, no one leaves, make sure these kids stay safe." His tone growing serious as he walked off towards the exit, once he left the building he'd disappear, get his armor from his car and then take down these inmates who clearly weren't where they were supposed to be. However right when he got to the door he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Mars.

"Where are you going?" The boy genius asked his friend.

"There are guys out there that are trouble, I have to go take care of it." Mars was about to respond but Roy cut him off before he had the chance. "You're not coming with me Mars. I'm serious. You're not ready for something like this, it's safer if I do it alone."

That stun, and Mars frowned. Hearing his friend didn't want his help made him feel more like dead weight than a superhero. Before he could respond though Roy stepped into the shadows and was gone. Mars cursed under his breath, he hated when Roy did that.

He turned back, sulking a bit until he remembered who was around him. Kirisvala and Wyatt clearly weren't "normal", but he wondered about the others. Why were they still here? He knew why he hadn't run, and he wondered if they had similar reasons. "So... This may be an awkward question, but do any of you have... you know powers? We go to Thomson High after all, and there's trouble going on on this island. So... Anyone like to volunteer?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

Still sticking as close as she could to the tree but no longer nearly hugging it to feel a little safer from the tremor, Kirisvala looked around, seeing the other teens around her recover as well. It was then that she noticed something rather odd around her, namely the fact that the human boy who called himself Wyatt appeared to have gone through a transformation into a being that was a lot scalier than even her. Of course, having different sensibilities than human beings, the girl didn't find herself scared or anything of the sort, merely curious, tilting her head as she watched Wyatt seemingly begin to levitate rocks and set things on fire without meaning to. Needless to say, she didn't really know what was up with that, but it was a lot less scarier than sudden quakes and flashes, and he even seemed nervous about it, judging by the manner in which he spoke.

"I'm not sure an explanation would make me understand anyway, but those are nice scales. I bet you'd be a celebrity back home!" She told him with a reassuring smile, hoping to comfort him, what with him having just turned into some sort of draconid. She noticed that the other boy, the one who hadn't introduced himself yet, was worried about Wyatt as well, though he seemed to focus on other things rather quickly and eventually headed towards yet another boy who was just emerging from within the building, far calmer than his peers who had run out as fast as their feet would take them. Keeping her distance, she watched the whole exchange take place, frowning sligtly; she didn't know who the older boy was or why the younger one wanted to go with him, but seeing the latter so dejected afterwards was something she definitely didn't like.

It was precisely because of this that, when he asked for volunteers, against her better judgment, she immediately raised her hand. "I don't know what Thomsen High is and I don't even have your name yet, but if there's goin' to be trouble on the island then I want to help even if I'm not dressed for action!" She said decisively as she slammed a clawed fist into a scaled palm, as if she was someone different from the person who had gotten spooked by the tremor a few moments earlier. Of particular note was that, now that she was talking more enthusiastically and more often, a soft accent was becoming more noticeable, the girl's voice rising towards the end of each sentence.

Either way, after expressing her intention to help, she raised one of her claws and waved it a little. "These count as 'powers' for humans, right?" She asked with a bit of a smile, and then slammed her fist into the tree next to her as if to demonstrate, causing it to creak loudly and shake quite violently. "Ow S-see? Cool, right?" She said, trying her best (and likely failing) to impress Mars and the others and to hide the fact that the punch had hurt her a little as well. As if to further undermine her efforts, a loose branch fell from the tree and whacked her on the head at that exact moment. "...Ow. That didn't go as planned..." She said very quietly as she plucked the branch from her head and threw it away. "Um, anyway, what are we volunteerin' for?"

---

---

---

After going through the trouble of dragging Amir to the heart of the party even as everyone rushed outside, Alexis stood still, crossing her arms over her chest and staring straight ahead with a serious look while thinking "On second thought, maybe it was a bit of a dumb idea to come back here when the source of whatever happened is clearly not here.", though she obviously didn't want to speak that out loud because it was kind of embarrassing. However, her train of thought was interrupted when she heard Amir calling out to her. Leaving behind her silly antics, the blonde girl looked around all over to spot Amir and then quickly walked over to him, before listening to what he had to say. "Go at who?" She asked as she followed the direction marked by the boy's finger and saw a group formed by some kids from school and some alien looking people; for some reason, the latter bit troubled her far less than it should have. "Oh, yes, let's go at them, good idea! If they stayed behind, they must be looking for adventure like us!"

Strolling over to the group, the girl heard from a distance that Mars was calling for volunteers to do something. Her hopes growing, she hurried her pace, arriving next to the group just in time to see an alien girl with some sort of Aussie accent get hit on the head by a small tree branch. Holding back a snicker, Alexis waited a moment and then cleared her throat as if to get everyone's attention. "Hey, Mars, Nathan, Wendy and people I don't know!" She greeted everyone, always happy to flaunt her good memory... and thanking her stars that it didn't decide to fail spectacularly afterwards. "I heard you were looking for volunteers. Are we going to do something? Is this an adventure?" She asked eagerly.

[The Starlight]

Caleb Thomsen
Wonder Island

It just seemed sorta disrespectful to him, partying on the ashes of the Wonder Warriors. If he was honest, the name wasn't the greatest, but while they had never been his heroes, they were still heroes. The engine of his mom's car stopped abruptly, and Caleb lifted his head to her cheery "We're here!" He hadn't thought that his mom would approve, but when she heard the words "party" her eyes had lit up in a way they only did when she was truly excited. The chance for Caleb to socialize with other people was too high to refuse, and so she had packed him into the sedan and off they went. It wasn't like he was anti-social or anything like that, but more people meant more sharing, and more sharing meant less food for him. That had ended up with him basically taking over the school kitchen as an alternative to the cafeteria food. He couldn't get any money from it because of the no soliciting rule, but he hadn't gotten some recognition and some funds from the school.

Caleb hopped out of the car and opened the trunk to find his homemade cupcakes thankfully still intact. Lifting them out with one hand and closing the trunk with the other, Caleb then walked the rest of the way to the island, waving goodbye to his mom. It was slow from there on, as he wanted to make sure he didn't drop the multiple trays of cupcakes. He saw people dancing nearby and walked a little faster, not wanting to miss out. Suddenly, the earth beneath his feet trembled, and he stumbled, though he managed to save the cupcakes from utter destruction. Something weird was happening. Then all of a sudden, near him, there was a draconic-looking person and another girl who punched a tree for some reason, with a branch falling on her head.

Figuring that they might know what was going on, he walked over there. "Anybody know what's happening? And, uh, anyone want some cupcakes?" He asked, presenting his assorted cupcakes with a smile.

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't realized how numb to weirdness everyone actually was. All he got was some strange looks, but that could be due to the strange earthquake and lightshow that exposed him. Mars was the first, and only one, to ask about it. "I'm fine Mars. I guess there's no use lying. This is the real me. Whatever happened must have disrupted the spell I use to mask... Erm. This. " He motioned to himself. "I promise I will explain everything when we're no longer in the middle of whatever is going on." He explained and almost didn't hear Kirisvala compliment his scales.

"Oh..." He felt his face heat up. "Thank you. That's very kind. Your tail is very nice." He offered in return. "And your claws are very... Sharp." A master of the English language he was. She offered a demonstration of her formidable strength when Mars asked about powers and managed to shake a tree with her blow, but it seemed to hurt. He was stronger than an average human, but he wasn't that strong. As he was about to speak, he felt something welling up inside him, like something that needed to escape. It was going to be released whether he wanted it to or not, so he pointed towards the sky and hoped for the best. Out came a massive plume of flame that burned a bright orange for a few seconds before it stopped. It took a moment before his heart stopped beating like it was trying to crawl out of his chest.

"The fire and rocks thing is very, very new." The only thing he had to go off was his parents telling him about the Elder Dra'Qunni who were both loved and hated at the same time. Strength of gods and magic prowess unmatched by any other. While he could believe the part about magic, he didn't feel any stronger. One thing he could do was fly and unfurled his wings. "I can fly. Mostly. I'm not the strongest flier so I can't carry anyone. It would be smarter for me to remain in the air anyways. At least until I can get this magic thing under control so I don't accidentally burn down the island." Wyatt offered. It was better than nothing. Maybe he would be able to relay information or something. Or set something on fire. People tended to avoid large flames, so maybe he could use that.