Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew Marks

Andrew just sat there in front of the strange blond woman, lost for words. As Rango slithered back up onto his shoulders and stared at Dante, the boy was lost on what to do. Being in front of a supervillain was enough to almost give Andrew a panic attack. His first thought was to get up and fight. Stand up to the bad guy like one of his bullies. However, before Andrew even got up, his seeing-eye snake spoke up to him his mind. His voice spoke caution. Don’t fight fool! Just run! hissed Rango in his master’s mind, She is too strong for you. Remember that your fangs are venomous, though. So bite her if this freak tries anything.

Andrew nodded and tried to get up, determined to make another break for it. However, before he could get onto his feet, the blind snake boy heard shouting from behind. The next moment, something, like some sort of suddenly strong breeze came and sent them flying. No longer on the pavement near the Reptile House, Andrew and Rango now found themselves in a bush near a cage of colorful, yet very loud birds. “Ugh…” groaned the young teenager in dizziness, “What was that? Came unexpectedly... and...ah good birds. I like birds."

It seems that the good guys have came. Rango replied as he made movement to give Andrew and himself a view of the action, Stay hidden Andrew. These guys must have seen more action than you. ...Not much older than you are though it seems.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

Amir Zairi

Soon enough everybody had turned up to the hangar and we went inside the Jet. I was among the last one to enter and sat on the first seat I found empty. Naja then started to brief us on our mission. As I was positioned mostly behind the others I struggled a bit to have a clear line of sight to the screen behind Naja. The screen changed as Naja talked about the basic overview of our targets abilities. I had heard some of the names before. Weatherman is famous, and I doubted any of my teammates, save for Kiris maybe, didn't recognized him when Naja showed him on the screen. I have also heard of Thunderstruck and some of his ventures. What worried me were Dante and Marionette. I never heard about Marionette before, and what little information I have on Dante from the shady conspiracy blogs and news on various incidents where she was supposedly involved were only made me afraid of her more.

I tried to send the uncertainty away and focused on solving the problem. There were many of them, but there were many of us as well. I was sure we could deal with the henchmen easily, but dealing with the actual bad guys would be harder. Except for Marionette each of these villains were heavy hitter, a dangerous foe on direct combat. I guess I agreed with Roy. If we want to survive our 'debut', we would need to do it together.

Once we took of it didn't take long for us to reach the zoo. I put the headset on and jumped off the jet with the others. There were some people running from the zoo and I could hear the panicked chorus of screams and see Weatherman spinning wildly in the background. Roy instructed us to spread out and go for the bad guys. I went towards the Reptile Walk, using my glasses to scan the area.

The Weatherman looked terrifying when I saw him through the enchanted vision. Vortex of energy spinning around the tornado, Weatherman's power seeping out to power his speed. Say all you want about the class clown of the villains, controlling waves and mastering twisters are not something you can do without expanding large amount of fuel. I could also see some of his henchmen looting stuffs around. I was going to fight them when suddenly the headset blared in my ears.

"Dante, reptile house, over here, need backup now and over!"

I could recognize the voice, even though he did not mention his name. It was Carter. Fighting against Dante. The only person that was described with the word 'kill' by Naja.

God has mercy,

I reached the comm device to answer him. "Carter, this is Amir. Coming for you from the direction of Reptile Walk. Has Dante noticed you?, over." I started to run as fast as I could towards the Reptile House. Luckily it was not very far from my position. Unluckily, I still didn't know what to do with Dante though. I switched to general channel and try to ask if anyone know. "This is Amir. Anyone know more info about Dante? Weaknesses or little trivia we could exploit?, over."

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
San Diego Zoo

"Kabuto here. Alexis is with me as well, Mike. As for what I'm thinking, is that since a fair amount of danger comes from that super strong suit I think it means we'll have to take out the rotors on the arms or legs so he'll be immobilized. Besides punching it harder that's pretty much all I got. You two got any additional ideas? After we get some last steps in the plan we'll strike immediately. Over."

The news that someone else was already here brought a welcomed relief. Relief that was short lived after Carter’s announcement.
"Dante, reptile house, over here, need backup now and over!"
Cursing under his breath, he resisted the urge to respond and instead focused on keeping still. Thankfully, it didn’t take long before Amir responded and started heading after Carter. ‘That should be enough to get them out of danger’ he hoped. Dante showing up this soon was going to be a huge problem. To begin with, he wanted to deal with her last, after the other villains were out of the picture. Even then, they'd still need all the team against her, not to mention they would've hopefully had back-up by then.

Trying to clear his mind and focus, Mike weighed his options. Leaving Carter and Amir alone was beyond risky. The rest of the team had heard their messages though, so the heavy hitters might still be on their way. Adding to that, Dante might not have seen Carter yet, so they might still be able to get away undetected. If not... well he could try to move back and provide some cover. Though doing that risked alerting Thunderstruck, if not, it still meant they they'd have him at their flank when the fighting starts. Worst case, they'd be dealing with both of them at once. Thinking for a minute he finally thumbed open his radio.

“Mike again. I say we deal with this guy and get to Carter. If I can get close, I think can break the armour's joints, maybe weaken the whole thing if I'm lucky.” As he spoke he couldn’t help but look down at his baton, ‘first mission and I’m already outgunned’ he thought as he realized how useless his 'stick' was going to be against an armoured target.
“Problem is, I can’t do much after that and I've got no way to get close without being fried.”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

Alexis nodded to Casimir when he suggested that they wait for others to arrive before trying to take on the big guy. It suited her just fine, as she wasn't looking forward to getting shocked, or spending all of her shield generator's juice on the first boss of the stage, to put it that way. Thus, she was happy to hear that Mike was coming along, though much like Casimir, she was not pleased when she heard that there were some of Weatherman's henchmen lurking nearby. They'd really mess up their groove if they interrupted them mid-fight, but all things considered, it was probably a risk they needed to take.

Hearing out both Casimir and Mike's suggestions and attempts to form a plan of attack, she immersed herself in thought for a few moments before speaking through the radio. "I think the plan is shaping up decently. If you guys want, I can move to a different position and attack Thunderstruck from there to draw his attention; like I said, my shields can probably take a few of his shots before I need to recharge. While he's distracted, Mike can run over and weaken his armor, and once that's done, Casimir can rush out of cover and take him out with by targetting the weak points like he suggested. Thoughts?" She stated, wondering what the other two might think about the plan. "Although... if Nathan's coming, I think he would make for a better fodder than me. I mean, he can just absorb whatever Thunderstruck throws at him, can't he?"

[Tomia]

Mars was pulled out of his own thoughts when Kabuto and Kiris approached him, apparently noticing his small panic attack. He was embarrassed by his show of weaknesses, Roy never acted like a scared kid after all. He nodded softly at his words, doing his best to slow his breathing and focus. Once Kabuto had run off Kiris spoke up as well. He blushed as Kiris flattered him, her words meaning a lot to him evens surprising himself a bit. "You're right Kiris, we can do this. Thanks, I needed that." He said, offering a smile that tried to convey that he was okay. Then when she mentioned Weatherman he remembered their mission and nodded, following her lead as she bounded off towards Weatherman. Weatherman was currently hovering over the concession stands, it was an open area filled picnic tables and and small shack like buildings that held kitchens for people to order food from. The gift was nearby, though it was closer to the main gate than it was to Weatherman.

The villain didn't seem to notice Kiris or Mars, which the boy genius was thankful for. He didn't see any of Weatherman's minions around and he was thankful for that, it gave him time to think of a plan. He realized Weatherman generated most of his power from a stationary position, that made Mars think that he couldn't generate weather events instantaneously, they needed to build up gradually overtime. "Kiris, I think I know how we can stop the Weatherman. I'll put on my suit, then charge him while he is unaware, then you use your voice, and knock him off balance. If we can get him to the ground, and keep knocking him around, he won't be able to generate attacks against us. That should wor--" Suddenly Mars paled a bit as he heard Carter's voice, he'd run into Dante by accident, that wasn't supposed to happen so soon. After what Naja had said about Dante, his friends were in serious danger. Mars turned back to Kiris.

"Carter sounds like he needs our help, but we can stop the Weatherman, what should we do?"

Meanwhile Roy was listening to the comms, doing his best to get a sense of the scene through everyone else's reports. He listened to the discussion regarding Thunderstruck and didn't feel the need to comment. The team seemed to be developing a good strategy, and he would let that play out without his intervention. However when he heard Carter's SOS he went on edge. Roy had fought Dante once before, it was one of his first fights as an honorary Justice Queen. He had barely been able to do anything, but he had watched the scene from the sidelines. He knew what Dante could do, and that terrified him.

"This is Nightshade, disengage from Dante, I repeat disengage! I'm on my way, get to somewhere safe as fast as possible, if you run she probably won't chase you. If she raises her hands towards you, you [i]must[/i turn away and close your eyes and mouth, she could be releasing a biological agent." Roy said, an edge on his voice. Frostbite was standing nearby, she was the only who hadn't moved out yet. "Come on, we need to help Carter." At first Frost Bite didn't move and that got Roy angry.

"Damn it! I don't care if you don't want to take orders from me, our teammate needs our help, move your ass!" He yelled at her, running off before even checking to see if she was following. After a dozen steps or so, he did turn back slightly and was relieved to see that she was actually following. When he heard Amir's question he knew he should be the one to reply.

"Dante is tough, state of the art technology, but she wasn't built as a true fighter. Her armor isn't as strong as Liberty's. Focus on her joints, and any weak spots you would imagine a normal human having, those are the places where Dante's armor is tough but not invincible." Roy said as he ran over towards the reptile exhibit, staff in hand.

At the exhibit Dante had turned to face Andrew, her expression flat as ever as her eyes bore down on him. Her actions indicated she was uninterested in him, but then suddenly he was blown away by a gust of wind. She turned to identity the source, seeing Carter standing nearby with a frightened expression. "You are not my target." She told him, in a monotone voice. "However, your abilities may prove a hindrance. Therefore, you must be terminated." She said, stepping towards him, her hand stretched out menacingly.

Suddenly her hand was frozen in place, and Dante turned her head to the right only to have foot planted in it. It was Roy, who used his staff to land steadily on the ground. "Sorry Dante, you're no Schwarzenegger." He said, knowing she wouldn't get the reference but thinking it sounded cool.

Dante's neck creaked back into an upright position, before she turned to Roy. "Night-Shade, your presence changes nothing." She told him plainly before charging towards him at light speed.

"Frostbite now!"

Suddenly a massive wall of ice rose up in front of Roy, just in time for Dante's fist to smash into it instead of Roy's face. Roy rolled forward past Dante as he avoided the falling pieces of ice. "Carter run!" Nightshade shouted as he himself ran from Dante. The biological weapon creator tried to follow him but the ground in front of her was covered in a thin layer of ice thanks to Frost Bite. Dante slipped, slamming her fist into the ground to stabilize herself. This gave the three of them the opportunity to gt to cover.

Roy made his way inside the aquatic exhibit, a dark indoor location where they could make a plan of attack. He spoke on the general comms line, "Amir, and anyone else not dealing with a villain, we've escaped Dante for now, we're in the aquatics exhibit, meet us there so we can plan an attack."

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

As the jet soared through the air, Red was already busy at work scanning through the small tablet that served as his mobile information relay. While it was much more secure than the average device, he still didn't like normally bringing it along on missions just in case the device fell into the wrong hands, but given the fact that they were more or less going into this thing blind Red had little other choice but to use it. As Naja filled them in on just who they were dealing with, Red was busy pulling up the various files of information he had on each of these villains, searching for any weaknesses that could be exploited in their upcoming fight. Busy in his own thoughts, Red barely recognized the sound of Roy trying to give a small pep-talk before they reached their destination.

In terms of who's off the table for consideration, I know that Weatherman is beyond limits. Simply put, his power would be too much for me to try and take on as I doubt the hurricane level winds would let me either land a shot or get close enough to try anything else. Same goes with Thunderstruck, as his between his suit and resilience to electricity my gear won't be able to do much at all. At least in terms of actual malice these two were relatively harmless, meaning I'll feel a little better with letting them roam around for a bit.

The two I'm concerned about is Dante and Marionette. For the former, she is by far the most dangerous in my opinion. Just because she hasn't made use of any biochemical weapons yet doesn't mean she still couldn't. Still, if she was wanting to kill everyone in the zoo she'd set up her devices and detonated them without the help of the others, which means it's likely that she's not planning on anything too severe. At least in that sense she's predictable.

Marionette, on the other hand, is the one I'm most concerned about. She's the wildcard of the bunch, and the one that will likely cause the most death out of any of the four. She's an attention seeker in the worst of ways, so much that leaving a trail of bodies is fine by her if it means someone tries to stop her. Out of anyone here, I'm probably the best equipped to take her on. It might not be the most heroic way to go at it, but I should be able to put enough bullets into her that she'll unable to heal the damage quick enough.

As the plane landed, Red allowed himself to take a deep breath before stepping out with the others. Not one to waste time, he immediately began to make his way across the park. The others fanned out as well, some going in groups while others went on their own. Familiar with working on his own, Red decided that the latter option was the best approach for him. He was used to patrolling the streets of San Diego undetected by the criminals that infested in it, thus making it relatively easy to stay hidden as he made his way to the Northern areas of the zoo. Occasionally he'd find a civilian hiding in fear, in which Red would further frighten them as he practically appeared from nowhere only to then reassure them that he was here to help. He'd send them on their way towards back to where it was safer, receiving timid thanks as they rushed to where he pointed out.

Eventually, Red found himself in what he recognized as the Northern Frontier region of the zoo. Unlike before, this area seemed completely deserted, devoid of any sound outside those belonging to the various animals who were in a panic due to all the commotion. With no sign of activity, he was about to leave when his eyes suddenly noted the all too familiar sign of blood being splattered over the entrance to what Red recognized as the Polar Bear exhibit.

Realizing he was too late, Red silently cursed before making his way over to the building. Within a few feet of the door laid the shredded remains of what he guessed to be a security officer. Based on the laceration wounds and the sheer brutality of the death, Red knew exactly who he was dealing with.

Careful not to step in what remained of the deceased man, Red slowly crept through the interior exhibit. Various belongings littered the floor around him, a clear indication of how the visitors had been so scared for their lives that they had forsaken whatever items they had been carrying during their escape. Unfortunately, Red was met with the sight of yet another dead body, this one cut clean in half at the waist. While he'd seen his fair share of mutilated bodies in the past, the sight still made Red shudder.

He was about to report his findings when his headset crackled to life with the voices of his teammates. It seemed that both Dante and Thunderstruck had been found, which now only left Marionette's exact position unknown. However, based on the fact that the blood looked fresh, Red could bet that she was nearby.

Red reached up to his headset, about to relay the information about the scene before him when his hand was suddenly stopped short. At first confused, he tried to reach over with his other hand, only to find that it too was immobile. Looking down, he realized that a thin red thread was wrapped around his entire body, trapping him in place. It was then when he suddenly was greeted with the sound of footsteps followed by a laugh that chilled him to the bones.

Dressed in an outfit that belonged more on a Barbie doll than a villain, a girl about Red's age approached him leisurely. An eyepatch covered her left eye while curly blonde hair flowed down nearly to her waist. While she at first seemed to possess the elegance that would befit a fashion model, she wore a smile that practically screamed out malicious intent.

While hard to see, Red noticed several lines of thread originating from her fingertips, no doubt the ones currently keeping him locked in place while she walked up to him. She seemed to be amused at the sight of him in his helpless state, no doubt feeling a sense of pleasure as she reveled in playing the villain. She circled around him a few times before eventually stopping in front of him.

Getting up on her tippy toes, she placed her face right next to his. He could sense the scent of fresh strawberries on her, no doubt her perfume that she likely applied before coming here. She made no effort to try and avoid physical contact as she did, one hand on his chest while reaching up towards his headset with the other. She gave him a small wink before pressing the transmission button on the device.

"Your bad boy here is going to be busy for awhile. He's a little...tied up at the moment."

She glanced up at Red, giving him a coy smile before speaking into the headset once more.

"Be sure to hurry up before I end up taking him home with me...or at least what's left of him."

And with that, she suddenly crushed the device in her hands. Red understood exactly why she had done this, and it didn't reassure him one bit. She wanted the others to get worked up over what she was doing, thus getting all of that attention she so desperately seemed to need. The positive side to this was that she'd likely keep him alive for at least some period of time. The bad news would be if nobody could find them and she got bored. If that happened, Red could only imagine the outcome wouldn't be good on him.

His morbid thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Marionette's finger beginning to trace its way down his jaw. Looking at her, he couldn't help but at least appreciate the beauty that the girl possessed, albeit akin to that of a Black Widow. Her breath betrayed the scent of mint, almost like she had just gotten done chewing an entire container of Ice Breakers. The smell of strawberries once again filled his nose, causing his still adolescent mind to nearly short circuit as his hormones dictated he dedicated all his attention to the girl before him. His brain more or less agreed, although this was due to the fact that he saw not the look of attraction from this girl but one of a cat playing with its food. Indeed, when she spoke to him, her voice almost sounded like a playful purr.

"So what did I do to have someone like The Mask come my way? Or should I call you Red, as your friends do? Or better yet, Austin?"

Red couldn't help but let his jaw drop at that. His reaction only caused a fit of laughter from the girl. After a few seconds, she seemed to recover from it, albeit with a playful grin on her face.

"Oh, you're wondering how I know your little secrets? Well, that's a little secret for me to know, and for you to never find out. That is, however, unless you'd be interested in doing me a little favor."

Red had too many questions going through his brain to know how to properly react, but he at least knew enough that entertaining the girl was still his best chance for survival. He'd play along, even if he didn't want to.

"And what would that be, Marionette. Or should I say, Miss Aveline?"

The sound of her actual name seemed to both surprise and amuse the girl.

"It appears I'm not the only one doing their homework, I see."

Red managed to put a grin on his face after the compliment.

"Trust me, I get all A's on my homework too."

The girl chuckled before seeming to get serious, although serious was hard to describe someone as eccentric as herself.

"So, to our little deal. You see, I like playing around with all of you superheroes. I think there's nothing more satisfying than watching the world on the brink of disaster only to find it saved at the last minute by a dashing hero. The thought of it gets me way too worked up, to tell you the truth."

Indeed, the girl was practically squirming in apparent delight at the thought. Red's reports on her obsession with heroes, so much in fact that he thought the reports didn't do her near the justice that they deserved. If he lived through this whole ordeal, he'd be doing quite the update. If I live is the key, he thought before continuing to listen.

"But the problem is that you heroes are too by the book with things. While it's fun to see you guys battle it out with other freaks, what I'd really like to see is one of your own end up betraying their own morals and doing things you heroes consider taboo."

Red an eyebrow at this, knowing where she was going with this. However, he continued to entertain her and responded.

"What's that supposed to mean? No more capes and spandex?"

Marionette's smile disappeared, instead replaced by one of utter seriousness. Compared to before, this was probably the most frightening of them all.

"You should know exactly what I mean, bad boy. Killing those scumbags who aren't even worth the air that they breath. The rapists, the pedophiles, the murderers, and the drug dealers. Bad people, you know?"

Red stared at the girl, somewhat confused as to what she had said.

"You know that would put people like you on the top of the list to knock off, right?"

The girl's usual smile returned, brighter and more malicious than ever.

"Indeed it would. But personally, I don't think any of you so called heroes have the balls to do it. Quite frankly, it pisses me off!"

Red felt the threads around his body suddenly tighten as she stomped her foot at the last bit. Thankfully, she seemed to regain her composure, causing the threads to relax once more, although still restraining him.

"In particular, there's one superhero I'd like see fall. I think you call him Nightshade, am I correct? Or should I go into some more personal details?"

Red couldn't help but bit his lip when she mentioned Roy. Sure, having Wonder Boy end up going rouge would definitely be something to see. But he doubted the guy would ever find himself doing that, regardless of the situation. Keeping the grin on his face, Red did his best to try not to piss the girl off further.

"I don't think that's needed, thank you. But if you know so much about Wonder Boy, you've got to realize that he wouldn't ever end up going into borderline villain territory. It's annoying as hell, but the guy's too good hearted for that kind of stu-"

It was then when the girl place a single finger on his lips, silencing Red in the process. She let out a disapproving tch-tch noise, wagging her finger as she did.

"I know that already, but there are certain things one can do in order to make even a Saint sin. You just have to know what buttons to press. Buttons that I believe you can press."

Red furrowed his eyebrows, utterly confused on what this girl was meaning.

"Buttons only I can press? What the hell does that mean?"

Marionette simply grinned, reaching for one of Red's gun, slowly pulling it out while keeping her uncovered eye on him as she did.

"It's pretty simple, actually. You just get someone he thought he trusted to go kill one of his best friends. And it just so happens that you are just the kind of guy who could do that."

Red's grin disappeared after that. What this girl had just implied meant that the time for entertaining was over. His sarcastic tone was now replaced with one of utter seriousness.

"And you think I'd do that? I hate to break it to you, but I'm kind of done with that sort of work. Besides, as much of an asshole that I may be, I still have enough self respect not to do something so...awful."

This statement only caused Marionette to once again explode into laughter. After a bit, she eventually got to the point to where she could speak again, although needing to wipe a tear from her one exposed eye.

"Oh really now? You see, I'd beg to differ. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're more or less a prisoner on parole right now. Every single thing you do is put under heavy surveillance, and the slightest hiccup will put you behind bars. You're about as free as these animals in the zoo, if you ask me."

Red could only stand there, stuck in place, silently as her words repeated in his ears. He hated to admit it, but she was right. While he was able to live a "normal" life, every single move he made was under scrutiny, and should he break the rules he'd have professional heroes themselves throwing him into chains for the rest of his life. That remained a constant fear for Red, and likely would remain one for possibly forever.

His silence seemed to only reaffirm Marionette's thought, which seemed to please her greatly. She leaned her face in so that it was merely inches away from his. For a third time, the smell of mint and strawberries filled him, causing his hormones to make his brain practically do a backflip in excitement.

"So what do you say, Red? How about I let you go, making it look like you fought me off, and then when you get back to your home base you find a good opportunity to put a bullet into back of that little nerdy kid's skull? After that, you can come work with me and together we can have all kinds of fun together. "

Red stayed quiet for quite some time before a small smile began to make its way onto his lips. He looked at Marionette, who seemed happy that she had indeed finally caught her prey. She slid his gun back into his holster, making sure to maintain as much physical contact during the process as she could.

"I can't really pass an opportunity off a lifetime, now can I? So how about we loosen these restraints?"

Marionette pursed her lips, once again wagging her finger while making a disappointing tch-tch noise.

"Not quite yet. I'll have to make it look convincing that you tried to escape, you know? I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to rough up that pretty little face."

Red feigned being hurt by the words before giving her a sly grin.

"Can I at least get a kiss before then?"

A small hint of red briefly appeared on Marionette's face at the request.

"I suppose I can at least give you some type of payment in advance."

She closed her remaining eye, and slowly began to move her lips towards Red's. The sight was something that most guys could only fantasize about, but here it was, right in front of Red. His hormones seemed to be practically screaming in delight as he slowly moved his lips towards hers as well. He could tell she was a bit nervous, possibly indicating that this may have been her first true kiss.

The thought of that made Red feel just a bit guiltily when he suddenly snapped his head forward, smashing his forehead against hers with an impact that would make the NFL blush.

The blow caused Marionette to stumble backwards, pain radiating across her head as the attack took her completely by surprise. As Red hoped, this surprise attack caused the threads restraining him to loosen up enough that he could reach for a knife and cut through the threads. They were a lot tougher than he could have imagined, but his knife was able to do the trick. He had just freed himself when the Marionette spoke up, her usual upbeat cheerful voice now replaced with one filled with rage. A small amount of blood trickled from her nose, and a large bump was beginning to form where their foreheads had violently met.

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A LADY LIKE THAT! I'LL DICE YOU UP INTO SO MANY PIECES THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL YOU APART FROM GRAINS OF SAND!"

That threat was all it took for Red to jump behind a pillar, just in time as the spot where he stood practically exploded as a barrage of threads pounded the spot. He couldn't help but whistle in disbelief at what he was about to go up against as he loaded two fresh magazines of live ammunition into his sidearms. He waited for a brief second before rolling on the ground away from the pillar, just in time as it was sliced clean in half by Marionette's threads. Now missing a key structural component, the ceiling above began to slightly sag, something that would be crucial in Red's escape plan as he tossed several explosive charges around both the ceiling and the additional pillars. As soon as they landed, Red pressed the button to his detonation device.

The resulting explosion caused a good portion of the building to collapse, but Red knew better than to stick around and watch it all unfold. This wasn't meant to defeat Marionette. Instead, it was merely a means of cover for his escape as he sprinted back towards where he hoped the others were still at. He doubted he'd be able to completely lose her, but if he could get enough of a head start to stay out of range of her threads that would be more than enough.

Indeed, after only a few seconds of sprinting Red could hear a volley of insults being directed at him as well as several items. With the agility that even Olympians could dream of, Red managed to dodge these oncoming objects as well as even pop off a few shots in her direction, the impact of the bullets somewhat causing her to slow down but still maintain hot pursuit.

As he loaded in a new magazine, Red couldn't help but yell back towards the girl.

"I think I should've waited until after that kiss! Maybe we can try again after I have that little thread of yours yanked out of you! I bet you'd look great in an orange jumpsuit!"

[Anxiety Cafe]

In San Diego Zoo

Violet had been free for most of the day, running around as her superheroine alter ego as she fought petty thieves and the occasional mugging. The text she got on her phone was a stupidly long one, the kind she rarely ever got. It was a supervillain attack, a group of them! She got to the zoo early in the attack, watching the supervillains cause mayhem as she started for Marionette, the unknown variable.

She stopped as another hero turned towards her. The Mask. She recognized him, of course, and while she liked him better than Nightshade, he wasn't exactly her idol. He was almost immediately caught by Marionette's dangerous threads, and they continued to have a long conversation, Violet watching the entire time. She knew she should've attacked while Marionette was distracted, but she couldn't help but notice the awful chemistry between the two.

Ugh, she thought. Idiot. She was more than a little surprised when their impromptu kiss resulted in his quick escape, and while Marionette ran off to follow him, she herself did not know she was being followed. Fuming and with an intent to kill, Marionette continued, but the Mask was far too fast for him. Smiling at the distraction, Violet quickly outstretched her arms, and Marionette's pretty face immediately started floating off of the ground. The girl looked around in anger, even more surprised at the new attack. It didn't take her long to find Violet, obviously struggling with keeping the girl up.

"Let. Me. DOWN!" Marionette screamed, her face flushed red with anger.

"If you say so," Violet responded, dropping her hands just as a barrage of threads made their way for her. The sudden drop disrupted them enough that she could scramble away. She took out one of her metal ball bearings on a string, throwing them Marionette's way and making sure they repelled from her until the girl was stuck to a well.

"As you can see, I've got some fancy threads of my own!" Violet said smugly, taunting the girl and boasting about her victory.

Her joyous mood was soon interrupted, however. Marionette was far more powerful than she had anticipated, and she herself was quickly wrapped in threads, cutting into her skin. Violet attracted and repelled the magnets repeatedly, smashing Marionette into the wall as the pain threatened to overcome her concentration.

"Mask!" she yelled out, feeling a little ridiculous. "A little help?"

---

Also In San Diego Zoo

Nathan listened intently to the debriefing about their enemies' powers, and was especially intrigued by Thunderstruck. When he exited the jet, he felt a little disoriented, watching all the panic. He started for another spandex-wearing super, the villainess Dante, who seemed to be threatening some snake from the reptile department. He was prepared to fight her when he heard about Thunderstruck being found. He turned around quickly, heading for the direction of the thumps that made the ground vibrate.

He met up with Mike there, nodding at their plan silently.

"Alexis, you draw his attention from that gift shop, since it looks like there are no people there. Put up your shield quickly, and I'll be there shortly for when your shield goes out. Mike and Casimir, get ready."

With that, he started for where he saw Alexis heading, tensing his muscles and wishing he had more energy in his tank.

---

On Tolaer

The first spell in the book was a translation spell, and it took up five pages, since it was in so many languages. He stared at it for a second, and repeated the words in a whisper, then again louder. The book shimmered, not glowing but just changing to his own language. He stared gleefully at his hands for a second before continuing his reading. It seemed the magical book had led him exactly to the correct book, an introductory one.

In no time Yierneg had finished the book, going back to read it over again and to try spell by spell. He wasn't sure exactly how to get to the spell-testing wing, so he decided to just try it in the empty room he was in.

He grabbed the clay ball and placed it on the table, staring at it intently.

"Helk" he said, outstretching his arms. If the intensity of his stare counted for anything, the ball would've exploded.

Instead, it grew bigger and bigger, filling the table and about to roll over. He frantically flipped through the pages of the book, looking for a reversal spell, as the ball grew steadily larger. The table was crushed with a loud bang, but the ball continued to grow.

"Um..." he started. Thinking about the ball stopping at its current size, he repeated the spell, arms touching it.

To his surprise, it stopped. Yierneg took a pen and wrote in the margins of the book a note about needing to think about how large he wanted it to be before casting the spell. Without warning it began to tumble and roll through the doorway, toppling bookshelves all the way, and leaving its orange glowing trial behind it.

He ran after, yelling in Loshiak about how stupid the ball was being and about how it should stop, along with some creative words, By the time it got to the front desk, it had left a path of destruction behind it. Noticing the shocked Tolaerans' faces, he walked up to the front desk, and plopped his books on it.

"I'd like to borrow these." After a moment, he continued. "Please."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

After arriving at the area of the Zoo that Weatherman had claimed for himself, Kiris peeked out from behind the picnic table where she and Mars were currently hiding, taking a good look at her surroundings and Weatherman's position before getting back down, knowing that her bright hair and the two pairs of horns poking out of it made her very easy to spot if she stayed out of cover for any significant length of time. She tried to come up with a plan of her own, but, unsurprisingly, Mars devised one of his own first. Hearing him speak, she listened attentively, trusting her friend to come up with something effective; he was one of the team's geniuses, after all. However, just as he was about to finish speaking, they received a message from Carter over the radio, which made her rather nervous as well. They had only just started, and already some people had engaged Dante? That wasn't good.

Hearing Mars' question, she looked at the ground for a moment, and then back at him with resolute eyes. "He might need our help but if we go and this guy arrives things are goin' to get a lot more dangerous for everyone, and there' no guarantee he won't see us while we're runnin' to help. I think we should try takin' him down first." She stated, before repeating Mars' plan in her head and thinking back to what Naja had told them about the villains. According to her, Weatherman was a megalomaniac who loved attention, so perhaps they could get him to the ground without so much violence?

"I have an idea." She told Mars. "I think I can get him down here without havin' you charge him, and if that fails he'll still be distracted with me so we can do your plan. Just be ready to get him when he's distracted and put your headset on him, we can knock him out that way." She stated.

Just then, various incoming radio messages reached them. The first, coming from Roy, was somewhat relieving: he'd helped Carter escape from Dante it seemed, and they were safe for now, so she and Mars could rendezvous with them later. The second was far more unnerving: it came from Red's radio, but the one speaking was a girl with a creepy voice, heavily implying that he was in danger.

"...We should hurry." Was all she said after that, crawling over to take cover behind a food stall some distance away and looking at Mars, waiting for him to give her a signal that he was ready. Once the signal was given, Kiris stood up and walked out into the open, looking up at the villain.

"Oh my GOSH!" She shouted out, acting as if she was very excited. "Weatherman's here? The Weatherman?" She asked, clapping her claws together and looking up wide-eyed, as if in admiration, while making her tail move in circles behind her. "That's amazin'! I can't believe I'm breathin' the same air as my favorite villain! Oh, oh, can you please come down and shake my hand?" She asked of him, hoping her deception would work. "Pleeeeeease~!"

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Carter immediately regretted throwing that kid into the bushes. While it did save his life, now Carter's was in immediate danger. He just knelt there, terrified. He could hear Amir and Roy yelling over the mic, but it just went in one ear and out the other. He was just paralyzed, unable to move. He just shook, eyes wide open as Dante moved towards him, spoke in that horrifying monotone voice, and lifted her hand.

Carter closed his eyes, his breath stopping, just preparing for the gas to envelop him and for him to die. "I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry,
dad. I couldn't make it through. At least I saved that one kid. At least...I died for a good cause."

Suddenly, he heard Roy's shouts and the smashing of ice, and his eyes snapped open. Frost Bite and Roy had just arrived, and were holding off Dante. "Carter, run!" Roy shouted. Carter quickly got up to his feet...er, rollerblades, and shouted back: "Don't need to tell me fucking twice!" He then got a slightly stupid idea. With a blast of air, while Dante was kneeling, he launched a flying kick at her face, knocking her back. He landed perfectly balanced and taunted.

"See that, gassy creep? My signature dish: A big bowl of pain! Courtesy of Chef Graystone!"

He then turned and rollerbladed like hell towards the aquatic exhibit, keeping his line open, before skidding in next to Roy. Pantin heavily, he sat down, leaning his back against the glass, soft blue light flooding his face. "I can't believe it." he muttered to himself "I just...froze. Froze, just...froze. What kind of hero are you, someone who acts all scaredy-cat around every villain. Get a grip!" He pounded the wall in frustration. He would just have to wait for everyone else.

[Andsed]

Garret Opal

Garret had just finished up taking down a mugger when he received the news that a group of supervillans were now attacking the San Diego zoo. He began checking for info and learned that a villain named Weatherman was leading an attack along with some henchmen and three other villains who were not specified. He also learned that a group of heroes had responded and a fight had broken out.

As he arrived he saw a woman slip on ice and slam her fist on the ground to stabilize her self as three other hero,s who looked his age got to cover but before one launched himself though the air and kicked her. He though he recognized the woman from somewhere. But he put it aside and jumped down to where she was began launching blast of fire at her.

She of coursed dodged the blast and turned to face him. Garret then used a blast of air to launch himself at her throwing a punch which missed. He then turned around and got ready to fight.

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew Marks

Andrew Marks kept himself hidden in the bushes while Rango poked his head out to watch the action. Clearly the kid who saved him was a good guy, facing off the creepy blond woman. He wasn t alone ether. Another teenager came into the seen and froze things up a bit to give them enough time to getaway. While Dante slipped and slided on the ice, Andrew took this moment to make a getaway of his own.Let's go where those guys went Andew hissed to Rango, They might actually know what's going on... and where my caretakers are. Haven't seen them since relaxing in the reptile house.

Summoning the boa constrictor onto his shoulders, Andew had Rango look both ways before making a break for it. The blind snake teen ran away from Dante, not looking back and hoping to God she wasn't following. Heading in the direction of Carter and Frostbite, Andrew found them at the Aquatic section. Reaching them, he took a moment to catch his breath, not use to running that fast. Today is clearly being a hectic day for his birthday.

"Y-you... you saved me." hissed the serpentine boy to Carter, with Rango doing the looking while his milky white eyes gazed off between the two teens, "Thankssss... Uhhhh... I'm Andrew... Andrew Marks... Rango is my seeing eye snake... What'sss going on here? Who was that creepy lady? Why are bad guys attacking? And... have you seen my caretakers? I lost them while in the Snake Housess..."

[The Republic of Atria]

He could have put more armor on, but since he seemed to be the only one besides Naja who could fly he figured that it would make more sense to travel light. Besides, based on the mission briefing, the armor wouldn't do much to protect him anyways. Weatherman, who could control weather patterns, yet seemed to be easy enough to defeat despite that. Wyatt figured that power used even slightly intelligently would be enough to put him at the top of a lot of rosters.

Then he began to question the reason he was a villain. A power like that could easily earn him more money than robbing a thousand banks. Either way, Not the first choice. Assuming he could control lightning would put him at a huge risk if he got spotted flying around. Thunderstruck was the next one. A walking tank that shoots lightning.

What's with all the villains having electricity as a power? He groaned internally. Though he wasn't as bad as a matchup as Weatherman. It didn't seem that he had any flight capacity, which would hopefully keep him safe. Which was assuming that Thunderstruck wasn't all that bright. Not the worst matchup, but definitely not the best.

As he listened to Naja's explanation of the next one, Marionette, he figured he might be able to actually do something against her. She would have to go out of her way to get him which would leave her open to attacks from the rest of his team, plus with his powers reacting to him being in danger or at least the perception of danger, he might actually be able to do something without getting zapped with a lethal amount of electricity. So far she seemed to be the target he had the best chance against.

Last, and based on Naja's constant warnings, not least. Dante. Apparently she has quite the smorgasbord of powers and could fly as well. Flying and super strength did not mix well against him. He wasn't too concerned about any biological agent she could use. His biology was so radically different from that of a human that it was unlikely it would effect him. Unless she made something like mustard gas, which would be just as much of a problem for the rest of her team as it would his team. Ironically, she was a better match for him than Weatherman or Thunderstruck. Though he had made up his mind. He would be going after Marionette first, barring that he would be supplying information to the team.

When they landed, Wyatt took his communicator and clipped it to one of the straps on his armor and the team split up, but he took to the sky. He did spend the few weeks he had prior to practice flying and had gotten significantly better. He could fly much longer than he used to and crashing into the ground only happened maybe once out of every ten landings. A much better number than it being a coin flip as to whether or not he landed on his feet or rather he crashed and tumbled around. His father found it hilarious, Wyatt less so. So taking to the sky felt good. Weatherman was kicking up some strong winds which worked in his favor and kept him aloft.

He was unnoticed thanks to the commotion caused by his teammates. The element of surprise was something he needed to take advantage of. The downside was that it was hard to see exactly what was going on. Hearing it however was a completely different story. He heard a loud request from Red for assistance followed by a chilling voice of a young female.

Wyatt previously thought the stupid colorful costumes that heroes wore were, well, stupid. However, after quickly seeing Red and Violet despite all the commotion quickly made him understand why. He got an idea. A stupid, risky, possibly lethal idea, but an idea nonetheless. Naja was very clear on Marionette's resistance to physical damage. However, he could breathe fire. If nothing else it would serve to distract her for the moment Red and Violet needed.

Wyatt dove towards the ground taking slow, deep breaths. When he got close, he fanned his wings and flew about head level from the side of Marionette and Violet and then pulled up, suspending him in the air for just a moment, the moment was enough for him to let out a large swathe of flame at the psychotic thread woman.

[New Neros]

Mustafa Gaul | Orion
Outskirts of Phoenix

It had been several hours since their departure from Tucson, but those events weren't at the forefront of Gaul's mind. He was breathing hard and heavy, unable to catch his breath, barely limping as he carried himself down the back streets and alleys of an unfamiliar city. His body was destroyed in every sense of the word, bones crushed and reduced to shards, tendons and ligaments torn, his muscles themselves ripped apart from his own strain. The fight with Solar had not gone well, it was nothing short of a wholesale massacre, and he was barely clinging to life. How he managed to escape eludes him, but for the first time in his life, Gaul was seeking the help of his allies. Falling to one knee, he couldn't physically go on any further, any more would be certain death.

Gaul bit his cheek and stood, ignoring the broken bones in his legs and hips, and put one foot after the other, a small trail of bloody leading back to the battle ground. Roughly a city block was destroyed, the most collateral damage Gaul had personally witnessed, and the injuries were simply overwhelming for the villain to face. Gaul held a glazed over appearance as he struggled on, driving forward through willpower alone, his mental state in dire need of rest, his body in need of healing several titanic punches ago, but rather than fight, Gaul was focused on survival at this point. "There he is!" A voice called out, Gaul stopping for a moment and tensing up his body, not willing to die like this.

A pair of footsteps quickly approached him from behind, running to close the gap between them, Gaul listening carefully to know when the best opportunity to strike was. As the pair closed within five feet of the villain, he pivoted around with what abysmally small strength he had left, and swung wild at the man accosting him. It was Nile and Mar, and the hit would have connected before Gaul had realized, but Nile phased his head through the strike, stepping back away from Gaul. The man fell down from the force of his own punch, collapsing in a heap in front of Mar, who instinctively put her hands on the injured man's bare back.

"Oh man..." She said cautiously, wiping away blood from her own face, having been dealt some attacks herself, but nothing on the scale of Gaul. "He's really bad, like, the worst I've ever seen."

"On him?" Nile said, kneeling down to watch the two, and slowly turning his head to watch out for their surroundings.

"On anyone." She answered, "I've seen liveleak videos with happier endings." She pressed hard against Gaul's back, "It's like he's not getting better, what do we do?" Nile kept watch over the street, growing uneasy with how little people were out and about, being just barely after dusk. "Nile!" She shouted, getting his attention.

"What?! Oh, uh," He said, stammering, "We need to get off the street and somewhere safe." He grabbed Gaul's shoulders and picked the man up, slinging an arm over his shoulder and dragging the lifeless body near a house with a for sale sign. "Open the door for me." Mar ran ahead and tried the door, finding it locked. She flashed a look at Nile, who rolled his eyes harshly. Mar smacked her forehead and grabbed the knob once more and turned it, having re-assembled the lock with her powers to stay open. Mar charged in and held the door open for Nile and Gaul, closing the door and locking it back behind them.

Nile placed Gaul gently on the sofa of the living room, Mar quickly running to attend to the villain. She placed her hands on his bare chest, feeling the jagged snapped ribs and torn pectorals across his body. She was glad he was thoroughly knocked out for the next few minutes, as she flinched each time one of his bones audibly snapped back into place, or the velco-like sound of his muscles stitching back together. Nile sat in a recliner facing the duo, watching intently as Gaul's body was re-assembled back to shape, but the man was still comatose. "Fuck..." He said, "We weren't ready. Not by a long shot." Mar nodded in agreement, focusing more on getting Gaul back to health. "Skip this, we need to head out west. We need more experience, more training, and maybe we'll run into some more allies along the way."

"We can't stay in Phoenix, though." Mar said, Nile glancing down, feeling a sense of personal failure for Gaul's condition, wondering why he just let the man challenge and living legend and virtual god at the apex of his power, in the middle of the day, in Phoenix, Arizona. Solar was a living battery for sunlight, and Nile just occupied other heroes and vigilantes to prevent their interference with the battle. Had he been involved, Solar would be the biggest death in the hero community since Wonder Island. "Solar will come looking for us. He doesn't just let fights end, night came and he didn't want to get caught without power."

"As soon as Gaul is healed up, we're heading out." Nile said, Mar agreeing.

---

Team Orion
Headed to San Diego
Yuma, Arizona

A cafe off the side of the interstate seemed as good a place as any to stop for breakfast, with the sun just peeking over the deserted, slightly mountainous landscape. The three villains hopped out of an older styled Ford Focus and limped into the travel stop, stretching their legs and yawning dramatically. Gaul and Nile slipped into a booth at the country-style diner that travel stops seem to be so fond of, while Mar slid into the one opposite of theirs. An older waitress came to the sleep-deprived trio and eyed them all suspiciously, but took out her pen and paper regardless. "What can I get ya?" She asked in a raspy, sixty-year old smokers' rattle.

"Water." Gaul stated quickly, "Give me like four glasses."

"Mhm..." The waitress said in response, writing it down and flashing a look at Nile.

Nile thought for a second, "Uh, you got sweet tea?" The waitress nodded and added it to the ticket, looking now at Mar, who seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep.

"Coffee, some milk and cream, too, please." She said lazily, blending her sentence together as the waitress scurried off, leaving the three to blankly stare at their menus and partially doze off. "That drive fucking sucked." Mar said, sliding down to the other side of the booth she had all to herself, laying there and resting her eyes. "We didn't get all healed up until like three or four in the morning and we just left right after." She complained, curling up on the seat entirely and getting ready to just full-on sleep.

"Yeah," Nile said, rubbing his eyes, "I was there, I drove." The waitress returned with their drinks and set them all around, Mar not even picking herself up to drink her coffee. She began to take their orders, Nile and Mar ordering simple breakfasts with eggs, toast, bacon, those sort of things, but Gaul was the true odd ball. Several plates of eggs and bacon, stacks of pancakes and toast, nothing short of a meal to feed a congregation, while Nile stared at him. The waitress seemed to stop writing down things after a while, looking at Gaul like his order was clearly a joke. "Uh," Nile began, "Do you have the money to pay for all of that?"

"Probably." Gaul said, the waitress looking very unamused.

"Gonna need more than a probably before I cook this up, sweetie." She said, Nile motioning to her that he had the check covered, and slipped her his credit card. "Alright, I'll get this started. It might take a minute, but I'll bring it out as it comes." Gaul nodded, and chugged one of his glasses of water in a single gulp like some mad man, Nile looking at the sight and just shaking his head, placing his head into his hands afterwards.

"I'm so fucking sleepy. We need to go find somewhere to rest, we got another three hours ahead of us and I about ran off the road a few times." Nile said, "I think I'm going to stop at one of the state parks when we get into California, we'll sleep there, sound like a plan?" Mar mumbled something incoherent, having fallen asleep in her booth, while Gaul seemed a bit lost in thought. "Perfect, we're all in agreement." Nile said sarcastically, turning to look at Gaul, trying to figure out what was going on in the other man's mind.

"We need to do some training." Gaul stated directly, looking at Nile and the lump that was Mar. "I'm not used to working with other people and it looks like neither are you two. I'm used to just overcoming opponents with sheer willpower, but now we have to add some team support elements, and work on improving ourselves directly." He turned to fully face Nile. "You said you learned how to fight and how to combine combat with your powers in school, right?" He nodded, Gaul continued, "Then you need to pass that onto me and Mar. I can bring technique and some of my martial arts to the table." Both of them then looked at Mar, who lazily responded in return.

"I can teach you two how to work as a team." She said with a sigh, "Because neither of you have any idea what it's like to fight together or with a group, both of you lone wolf it." Both Gaul and Nile looked at each other for a moment, before Gaul responded.

"Group dynamics didn't exactly work with the Rainbow Warriors or the Rapid Action Battalion. I soloed both at their apex and wiped the floor with them."

"Yeah," Nile agreed, "Back in school, I ran the gauntlet a few times and was untouchable. My specialty was taking down squads of moderately powerful heroes. Our powers and mindsets just don't mesh with teams."

"And that's why," Mar said, still barely awake, "You two together will make a devastating combination... One guy you can't touch and the other guy gets stronger every time you touch him." The pair of men looked at each other with surprise, not realizing how simple their powers could be explained and how Mar may have some weight to her side of training. "So yeah, I'm not that useless." As Mar finished, their food began to arrive, a single plate for Nile and another for Mar, but Gaul had several, and they by far took up most of the room on the table, Nile scooting away to make room. Everyone began to dig in, Mar sitting up and drinking her bitter coffee, but all attention soon turned to Gaul, who absolutely devoured his meal.

Rather than eat, he would scrap a whole plate of eggs into his mouth and swallow them in one gulp, chasing it with water, and doing the same to several pieces of toast at once. The few patrons of the travel stop seemed to marvel at the man as well, watching him cartoonishly devour several times his needed caloric intake for a day. A large stack of pancakes and a plate of still-hot-off-the-grill sausages were also no match, Gaul forgoing the syrup and drinking directly from the pitcher to chase both plates. He finished his last glass of water and neatly stacked his many plates up, wiping his mouth with a handful of napkins. "Uh," Nile said, breaking the tension, "Any reason you picked now to try out for competitive eating?"

"After a big fight," Gaul said with a burp, "I use up a lot of energy, during the fight and healing up afterwards. Like, after I fought Rapid Action, I ate everything in the kitchen."

"That was about two hundred dollars worth of groceries...." Nile said, forgetting about the meals he had brought and everything. "You are absolutely disgusting."

"Eh," Gaul said, at least I'm not hungry anymore, and I actually feel better for once." He motioned for Nile to move and let him out of the booth, which he did. "Now, let's get moving, I don't want to spend too much time in one spot." The waitress returned Nile's card with a concerned smirk, Nile taking it and giving her a tip on the receipt. The three promptly left the cafe and boarded their high-tech villainous vehicle, complete with reclining seats and power windows. Nile topped off the gas tank while Gaul started to doze in the passenger seat, and Mar spread herself across the back seat. He drove for less than an hour past Yuma into California, turning off Interstate 8 and driving down a relatively flat, desert road, quickly winding up deep in the mountainous terrain, parking the car randomly off the side of the road and away from any major traffic. He turned loose of the wheel and locked the doors, resting his head back and leaning his seat back, and immediately falling into a deep sleep as soon as his eyes closed.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

Amir Zairi

From a far I could see the silver suit of Dante, and I was bolting towards her when I saw Roy came and engaged with Dante. I stopped running, trying to find a way to help him without giving away my position. Being hidden is my only advantage over Dante right now, and I am not very good at direct confrontation either. If I'm going to throw punches, it better counts. I observed the clash between Dante and Nightshade, trying to find some gap, when suddenly a wall of ice erupted to impede Dante and the static in the communication line was filled with Roy's voice.

"Amir, and anyone else not dealing with a villain, we've escaped Dante for now, we're in the aquatics exhibit, meet us there so we can plan an attack."

Thank god for the helps, I had a feeling that we would have a better chance with Nightshade and Frostbite, could not afford to get cocky now though. I changed direction towards the aquarium before replying Roy on the channel.

"This is Amir, wilco. Meet you there soon enough, over." Between the run and the panic, I couldn't get any idea to deal with Dante. All I know was she is dangerous, and she is something not human. Correct that, I know that it is dangerous and it is not human. I had read various theories about what Dante actually is. Some claimed that she came from beyond this world, an alien machine or mechanical demon of some sorts. A more credible theory says that Dante is a military android, developed by the government back in the early days of superheroes before it went Skynet and gained the infamy it has now. I couldn't confirm if Dante really is extraterrestrial in origin, but I'm sure as hell it ain't a demon. And yes, I have seen one up close and personal to have the credibility to say that. My best bet was for it to be an android, and Roy did say that Dante is a "state of the art technology". So whatever Dante is, it would be more Terminator and less Optimus Prime.

Classically, people deal with robots by frying their electronic brain out with some strong EMP. The problem with that plant is I had no idea if Dante was protected against it and the possibility that I might fry our communication device, or Cassandra, instead. So I gotta come with a different idea. Going back with the John Connor mindset, we could crush it to death or drown it in a vat of molten steel. That said, neither option was available to us right now. Frostbite could maybe freeze it to heat death, but it requires Dante to be slow enough for Angelica to do it. Roy could hold it down in a skirmish, only if Dante is stupid enough to fall into the trap. Dammit, the more I thought about it the less I think we could survive her easily.

But then, we didn't have to beat her. If other heroes did come, we just have to hold her until they arrive and make sure she would not do much damage. The problem would be surviving until the reinforcement arrive. Guess sometimes you just have to bet on some choices and see for the result.

Soon enough I arrived in the aquatics exhibit. The soft blue light from the aquariums gave the place an interesting lighting. Add the moving shadows of the sea creatures inside the clear glasses and removes the overcrowded visitors, and the place turns into an otherworldly enclave. I was searching for Carter and co. when the soft, eerie voice of a young girl purred from the comm line.

Good news! We have found all the villains.

Bad news! The villains have found us.

I hastened my walk. Between the dark aisles of the exhibition and Marionette's whisper, I wanted to find Roy as soon as possible. Luckily, I heard some banging sound and followed it to Carter, Roy, and Angelica. As I got closer I saw another kid I didn't recognize. No time to ask about him though.

"So guys, what is the plan? I assume you have fought Dante in the past, Roy. You said something about attacking its joint. I could use these roman-candle-on-steroid of mine," I showed them the steel rods I brought, "but I doubt I could get accurate enough to bring it down." I looked around for trash bin, or anything that shaped like a shield or covering. "I think I'll support you from back instead. If we can corner Dante, I could cast a protective shield to cage Dante in. I can also fling set some traps, but we need to get out of the aquarium though, explosions and glasses do not mix well."

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Carter, after his little run for cover, was soon greeted by the same kid and snake he had thrown into the bushes. He burst into the exhibit, before stopping and catching his breath. The poor kid looked pretty winded, and pretty frightened. He mentally waved off his thanks for "saving his life". Anybody could've done it, Roy or Amir would've done it as soon as they came. Carter had been cowardly, hiding behind ice walls and magic to save his own stupid hide, rollerblading away.

But now wasn't the time to be negative. If anything was going to kill them in a fight, it would be their attitudes and mental focus. So he grinned at the kid, and put on a bit of an over-cheery voice.

"No problemo, Andrew. Pretty bad day to visit the zoo, with a chemical terrorist in the reptile house. As for the bad guys...there's a few. That woman was one of them, she has some nasty powers, chemical bioagents and whatnot. Stay away from anyone breaking things or terrorizing people for that matter. This includes rogue tigers."

He did feel sympathy for the kid, only because he knew how scary losing your caretakers was. Once, he had gotten lost from the Wilsons while in a mall, and for half an hour, he wandered around lost and crying. It made you feel like you were being abandoned all over again. It hurt.

"Don't worry, I'm sure your caretakers are fine...if they have enough sense, they'll find shelter. And...seeing eye snake? Can you...talk to snakes?"

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew Marks

Andrew frowned a little in fear. There were more of them? And that woman had some kind of chemical bio power or something? The snake boy didn't have a lot of knowledge on chemistry or biology, but that sounded terrifying. He began wishing he stuck by his caretakers and the other orphange kids. They knew that Andrew was at the Reptile House, but he was still separate enough to have lost them in the panic.

Relax Andrew, everything will be okay. Rango spoke to him, detecting his master's sense of distress, This guy must be right. The caretakers are most likely back at the bus. Just... stick with these kids. They are trustworthy enough.

Andrew bit his lip a little before nodding. When Carter brought up his snake powers, the boy couldn't help but make a fang-baring grin. "Yeah I can talk to snakes." Andrew replied, his mood turning to that of excitement. Carter obviously doesn't think of him as a freak like other kids "Rango is my best friend in the whole wide world and literally acts as my eyes. I'm... blind, if you can't tell. Didn't know I could actually see through Rango's eyes till I turned ten, but he always spoke to me... in my head... since I was little."

Andrew's grin grew as he gave Rango a small snuggle. "Anyway... Think I should stick with you guys?" he asked, "Or should I go hide again? I'm not exactly sure what I can do really except for that..."

[Bentus]

Yoshiro Namaka
San Diego Zoo

---

As she opened the door to the small janitor’s closet, Yoshiro offered a comforting smile to the terrified family that hid in the shadows of the tiny room. The father brandished a broom, determined to protect his wife and child that remained huddled behind him. His fearful look of determination gave way to one of surprise, the teenage girl that greeted him having been the last thing that he was expecting. Nervously, he looked over Yoshiro’s subtly Japanese features and the dark purple mask that helped to protect her identity. She must have been a strange sight, her Kevlar-infused hoodie not making for the most standard of superhero attire. Silently, Yoshiro for the umpteenth time regretted not being quicker in figuring out what kind of costume she’d eventually want – as it was, Naja’s contacts still hadn’t been able to deliver it to the Tower.

“Hey it’s ok, I’m one of the good guys.” Yoshiro raised her hands in an effort to show that she wasn’t any threat, the small child risking the opportunity to peer out of his mother’s arms to see the masked girl that had come to their rescue. She gave him a friendly wink before turning back to the father. “It’s still not safe here, you’ve got to get out of the zoo.”

For a moment, the man appeared as if he was ready to hesitate, to argue that they had been fine so far hiding and waiting for the storm to blow over. However, his opposition seemed to melt away before he could even open his mouth. Nodding firmly to Yoshiro, he lowered his broomstick and gestured for the rest of his family to follow them. It didn’t take long for them to make their way out of the half-destroyed building, Yoshiro using her powers to listen for any other signs of survivors or villains who may lie in their path. Thankfully, it seemed as if Weatherman had already flown past this area – but Yoshiro didn’t want to be caught unawares regardless. She could hear the fear emanating from those following her, the husband doing his best to bury it beneath a calm exterior lest he frighten his child any further. The mother shared her husband’s determination, but Yoshiro could feel the young boy on the verge of tears – his already wet eyes evidence of past tears. The girl felt a stab of sympathy, wondering what the small family had already been through.

As they reached the building’s main entrance, Yoshiro glanced carefully around the outside on the off-chance that a villain lay waiting for them. Thankfully, the whole area seemed deserted. They must have been in one of the zoo’s information centres, but after the devastation wrought by Weatherman’s passage, Yoshiro could hardly recognise it despite her family’s numerous visits over the years. Looking back at the group of survivor’s, Yoshiro used her powers to bring a small Mars bar over from a small concession counter – the glass that had been meant to deter thieves lying in shattered pieces on the ground. The boy watched the floating chocolate bar with a mixture of hungry interest and amazement. He glanced nervously towards the superhero, as if asking permission to reach out towards the candy hovering not a foot in front of him.

“Go on, it’s your reward for being such a brave boy and helping your Mum and Dad.” Needing no further encouragement, he picked the chocolate out of the air and began greedily tearing into the wrapper. At the same time, Yoshiro worked to soothe his frightened thoughts. The mother offered Yoshiro a mouthed thank you, causing the teenager’s chest to swell with a sense of pride.
“The police are setting up a perimeter around the zoo’s fence – there should be an entrance just past the zebra enclosure that takes you away from the fighting.” Yoshiro pointed out directions as she spoke. “You shouldn’t run into any trouble going that way, and you may run into some other survivor’s that I’ve sent that way.”

With an expression of relief, the father grasped Yoshiro’s hands and thanked her for her help. She brushed it aside, a hint of red spreading across her cheeks as she mumbled something about it being nothing at all. As the family ran in the direction that she’d indicated, Yoshiro watched them leave – offering one final wave of encouragement before they turned out of sight.

She stood still for a few seconds, making sure that they wouldn’t be returning before allowing the smile to vanish from her face. The fear and tension that she’d been feeling suddenly burst onto her expressions and Yoshiro allowed the stress and fatigue to sag her shoulders. She’d stopped counting the groups of hiding visitors that she’d tracked down and guided towards the exits, and each one zapped her energy that little bit more. Her powers could help keep them calm and their mind’s clear, but Yoshiro took on a little bit of their fear herself each time she sought to soothe their emotions. She could feel the young boy’s terror at seeing his parents scared, his hunger and sense of powerlessness as the situation deteriorated around him. She could feel them mixing with her own fears, and fought to keep the concoction from rising too quickly in her chest.

With a deep sigh, Yoshiro closed her eyes, remembering one of the meditation techniques that her great uncle had taught her. That is when Roy’s voice tore over the radio, responding to Carter’s request for assistance. Clenching her fists in determination, Yoshiro refused to give up while the others kept putting themselves in even more danger. She may not have been able to fight like they could, but she would help however she could – she owed them at least that much. Suddenly, a melodic, feminine voice emanated from Yoshiro’s headset.

“Your bad boy here is going to be busy for awhile. He’s a little…tied up at the moment.”

The sound sent a chill down Yoshiro’s spine, a sense of panic rising in her chest as she realised exactly who’s headset was actively transmitting.

Red…

“Be sure to hurry up before I end up taking home with me…or at least what’s left of him.”

Yoshiro had already begun running further into the zoo, ignoring the fatigue in her muscles. Her heart was pounding in her chest, why had they allowed Red to go out on his own? What if he ran into a group of villains? What did she expect to do if she found him before anyone else? Panting with the effort of her pace, Yoshiro reached out with her mind – hunting for the unique blend of colours and sounds that would indicate the thoughts of her teammate. There was a lot of noise in the zoo, the frightened thoughts of other survivors mingling into a distracting wall of static that she had to push through in order to find...there.

It was faint, but it was unmistakingly Red – Yoshiro was sure of it. Immediately changing course and darting off the paths in a race to get to the Polar Bear exhibit, Yoshiro felt Red’s feelings grow more uneasy and tangled. He seemed surprised, caught off guard – nervous. Yoshiro’s heart skipped as she pushed her legs harder, determined to reach her friend before it was too late. As the exhibit came into view, Yoshiro slowed herself down in an effort to assess her surroundings. By now, she could pick out the two separate minds inside the building, although it wasn’t being made any easier by how close the two were. If the villain was right there, Yoshiro couldn’t just go charging in – she wouldn’t stand a chance. Feeling a sense of powerlessness, Yoshiro desperately wracked her brain to come up with something that she could do to help. Her concern was only heightened by the rollercoaster of emotions that was emanating from Red, definitely not a sign of anything good, but at least Yoshiro could still sense him.

Unable to come up with any better idea, Yoshiro reached out to Red in an effort to establish a mental link – perhaps he knew how she could help. However, before she could say anything, something changed in the flavour of the sea of emotions. Confused, Yoshiro tried to decipher what she was sensing and immediately a flush of colour rushed to her cheeks. Before she could even properly react and account for her own surprise, there was a flash of pain and anger. A fight seemed to erupt within the exhibit and it wasn’t long before Red came racing out of the doorway. He wore a cocky smirk on his features as the building collapsed behind him. Yoshiro’s eyes widened slightly as she saw a furious girl, dressed in eye-watering pink that was now slightly muted by dust, emerge from the rubble.

“Re –“ Yoshiro caught herself. “Mask, over here!” Yoshiro waved at her teammate, reaching out with her powers and trying to subtly alter the path of some of the projectiles that were being hurled towards him.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun
San Diego Zoo

To be frank, she's a lot less excited when she saw the scenes of villains vs heroes. Apparently, there are some sort of heroic group who are about to fight these villains. She had calculated that Thunderstruck seems to be a target she has to fight for, as Weatherman is sort of...up there, Dante and Marionette are two different villains with two different objectives and two different set of powers. Basically, not her side of forte. At least judging from what happened to Thunderstruck, the armor seems to be his strength and his weakness at the same time. Not a good choice for him, to be honest.

Honestly there aren't many arsenals from her side that can be use to bring him down, at least for a moment of weakness. Pistols, submachine gun. Assault rifle is too big to be carried around, same with shotgun. Too heavy, as per her physical condition (in spite of it too, ironically). There he is, Thunderstruck. Fast strikes on him seems to be the best shot for now, but those armor...could be a hinder to her efforts.

"Hey, Thunderstruck or whatever name you are!" she loudly yelled to Thunderstruck, put herself on the exposed position, while Thunderstruck rummaged through the food cart, confused to who called him out. "Must be nice looking through illegally, right?" as she looked quickly through the field. She didn't see anyone else but him at this point, taking him down is a suicide when alone. But surely there are some...people around, right?

"Gotta go," she opened the first attack of hers by put in some rounds from her pistol to Thunderstruck, but she moved from to a cover a bit far after the first attack. She put her abilities to test now.

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

As Red continued unloading magazine after magazine into Marionette, he seemed only to be able to confirm why he hated these impromptu missions. Case in point, had he'd known he'd been going against Marionette, he'd likely brought along HEIAP ammunition for his firearms, their explosive power mixed in with incendiary properties would've been able to do the most damage to someone with limited regenerative abilities like Marionette. But given the fact that he'd gone into this situation effectively blind, he only possessed his standard AP rounds and the non-lethal shock rounds which, while did some damage, didn't possess enough punch to do much to the now rampaging girl.

Had it not been for the sudden help of a stranger who seemed to have telekinetic powers, Red doubted he'd lasted much longer. Fortunately enough, the girl was able to more or less stop Marionette in her tracks, although only briefly as the villain soon responded by wrapping her threads around the stranger's body. Trapped, the girl called out for help.

Before he could, however, a figure came rushing down from the skies above and stopped right next to Marionette. Red recognized the figure as Wyatt, but wondered just what in the hell the kid planned on doing. His question was soon answered, as before the girl could fully turn her head to face the new threat, a massive wave of flames erupted from Wyatt's mouth. Marionette, seeking to protect herself, released the still unknown telekinetic girl and instead constructed a wall of thread in the blink of an eye, more or less negating Wyatt's attack.

Before she could retaliate against Wyatt, Red placed several shock rounds into her back. While not able to immobilize the girl, the rounds seemed to give her a painful enough jolt for the girl to bring her attention back to him. This gave Wyatt and the other girl enough time to regather themselves, but unfortunately meant the resuming of oncoming projectiles towards Red. Rolling out of the way of several of these, Red was prepared to resume his fleeing until a familiar voice called out to him.

“Re- Mask, over here!”

Risking a glance, Red found Yoshiro standing a few yards ahead of him. From the looks of it, she seemed to be concentrating on the wave of projectiles that Marionette was throwing his way, something Red could confirm as the amount of oncoming rubble became noticeably smaller, although he still needed to occasionally dodge items that made their way through Yoshiro's concentration.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Red made his way over where Yoshiro stood. Instead of stopping when he reached her, however, he instead reached out and grabbed her by the hand, nearly dragging the surprised girl before she seemed to get the idea that she needed to run. Although he had to somewhat slow his pace, this was made up for the fact that between the two of them they were able to fend off Marionette's attacks, Red with his pistol and Yoshiro with her telekinesis.

Still, they couldn't keep this up for long. Red could tell Yoshiro couldn't keep up the effort of both running and using her powers, and his ammunition was beginning to run low. If they didn't think of something soon, they were toast. Marionette seemed to realize this, as she slowly began to get closer and closer to the two heroes. Instead of using her threads to lob objects towards them, she had now began to collect them together to form a spear of threads with which she'd be able to quickly skewer the both of them once she got close enough. Red couldn't quite hear what she was screaming at them, but he was pretty sure he heard something about her cutting off a certain appendage of his being the first thing she was going to do.

Not wanting to find out if these words had any truth to them, which he did indeed believe they did, Red began to scan for anything that could save their assess. After a few seconds, he found their salvation, although it was definitely a gamble on whether or not it would work or not. Still it was all they had, and Red liked to think that he at least had some type of luck remaining in him.

Glancing over to Yoshiro, Red began to quickly unveil his plan to her in between ragged breaths as they continued to sprint. As expected, he was given a look that Red couldn't tell was surprise at the ingenuity of it or the shock of just how stupid it was. Still, with little other options, Yoshiro agreed to the plan.

At this point, Marionette was only seconds away from getting into range of the two with her threads, with she seemed to take utter joy in as she began to let loose a laughter that practically screamed "Crazy Bitch". Her prey were beginning to show signs of fatigue, as their pace began to slow down. Not wasting a single moment, she launched her spear of threads towards the two, prepared to make a hero shish kabob when all of the sudden several shots rang out from Red's pistol while the two dove forward in what appeared to be a foolish attempt to evade Marionette's threads.

However, these shots weren't directed at her. Instead, they were directed at the sky above them, right where a metal sky tram seating compartment stood suspended in the air by a metal cord. This cord was soon snapped, however, as several AP rounds landed in quick succession mere inches apart, tearing through the metal as it did. The velocity of the falling seating compartment was increased tremendously thanks to Yoshiro's powers.

Unable to react in time, Marionette's spear of threads was shamed into the ground by the falling object, effectively pinning the majority of the threads. This amount of damage must of resulted in some sensation of discomfort for Marionette as she suddenly cried out in pain, unable to free her threads from the heavy object. While normally she would have been able to simply produce more threads to remove the object, the effect of the drawn out battle had meant that her body was too on the brink of exhaustion. This was part of the reason Red had chose to run instead of engaging the villain, as he knew that time was Marionettes enemy due to the physical and mental strain her powers came with. All he had to do was wait her out until he found a way to someone trap her, which he'd somehow managed to do.

Red would've probably let out some smart remark to the villain had it not been for the fact that he himself was exhausted, unable to catch his breath as he lay sprawled out on the ground just in front of the fallen sky tram compartment. Yoshiro lay next to him, seemingly even worse off than he was as the use of her powers while running had drained her. For several seconds, they both laid there trying to recover, the only sound being their rapid breathing and the occasional fatigued cursing of their defeated foe.

When he finally recovered, Red glanced over to Yoshiro, about to congratulate her on a job well done when he suddenly realized his fingers were still interlocked with hers. For a brief second, they locked eyes, blood rushing to Red's face as they did. This was soon interrupted with a yelp, as he somehow regained enough energy to hop up onto his feet, letting go of her hand as he did. For a brief second, he stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say or do until Marionette's voice rang out, albeit in between loud breaths.

"You...freaking...cheating...bastard..."

With that last bit, the villain collapsed, exhaustion apparently overwhelming her. Her threads remained trapped underneath the sky tram compartment, although it was clear that they were no longer active as they laid their limp. Marionette, at least for the time being, was officially out of commission.

Her last words were enough to put Red's mind back where it should be, as the blood seemed to retreat from his cheeks and his usual composure returned to where it should be. After an awkward cough, Red reached a hand out to where Yoshiro was still laying, this time ensuring that his fingers remained tightly next to each other with no room for infiltration. Yoshiro took the offer, and soon was helped onto her feet. As soon as he was, he was quick to let go of her hand, and was quick to try and bury that awkward moment with words.

"Good job out there, Yoshiro. You kind of saved my ass."

Red briefly grinned before it turned into a small frown.

"In fact, everyone kind of saved my ass. Had it not been for you guys, I think Ms. Psycho over there would've sliced and diced me like an onion."

He scratched the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable with trying to speak so openly like he was. He hadn't interacted with others like this in quite some time, and he was still trying to get used to it. Finding the right words to say was hard, especially when it came to the next ones that came out of his mouth.

"So thanks, I guess."

Before he could say anything that would embarrass him further, a small moan erupted from Marionette. Glancing back, it was apparent the girl was beginning to regain consciousness, but it didn't seem like she was a threat. Still, she needed to be dealt with before she became one once again. Turning back to Yoshiro, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a pair of electric handcuffs. They were more or less similar to the ones used by standard law enforcement, with the exception that they delivered a powerful jolt to anyone who was stupid enough to try and struggle with them on. He dangled them in the air between them, his grin once again returning, this time more sincere.

"You want the honors of locking up our Ms. Barbie Doll? I'd do it, but I feel like I've done enough to ruin her day."

Red's eyes glanced up to his forehead, where he possessed an bump of his forehead identical to Marionette's.

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
San Diego Zoo

All things considered, Mike was feeling good about their chances. Sure, Thunderstruck had his defences but Alexis was a literal genius and he had seen firsthand just how fast Nathan could move after being energized. Between the pair he figured he would be able to get close without much danger. After that, it was a matter of breaking down the armour, then playing keep-away until Casamir could take him down. It was a tight, efficient plan, at least he hoped it was. Clearing his mind as Nathan began to move in, Mike thought back to his lessons. He had to avoid getting lost in the fight, he had to act sparingly, calmly and carefully. If he wasted too much energy, he’d be useless in dealing with the others and only end up hindering the team. Not to mention, how drawing too much attention to himself would just about ruin the whole plan and end up getting himself killed.

He tried a little harder to clear his mind after that last thought. He couldn’t afford to get distracted by the risks. He had to focus on the fight. Then, as he inched out from the safety of the bushes, he slowly made his way towards the food cart. ‘Just stay low and get close’ he thought to himself while slowly letting out a lungful of air. ‘Play it safe and by the book. Keep serene and controlled.’

"Hey, Thunderstruck or whatever name you are! Must be nice looking through illegally, right?"
"Gotta go"

‘Who the hell…’ He thought to himself before being cut off as the stranger unloaded her weapon into Thunderstruck’s armour. “Shit” he cursed under his breath. Whoever this girl was, she was either stupidly brave or bravely stupid. Either way, they had to help her and as he broke into a run he thumbed open his radio.
“Alexis, help the new girl! Kabuto, get close and get ready. Nathan keep Thunderpants off me!”

As he slid past the food stall, he got his first look at the villain. One good thing coming from the stranger’s appearance, was that it made the perfect distraction for him. As he moved in close however, he found his mind flashing back to his fight with the bat-like creature. It already felt like eons had passed since then, but right now, he couldn’t help but see the similarities. Somehow, fate stuck him fighting a large, super-strong foe at short range in order to hit its joints. ‘This is turning into a bad habit’ he figured as he covered the last few steps and launched himself into the villain. What happened next was a blur of movement, light and fire.

The moment he came close enough, he focused everything he could into weakening the metal under the dominant arm before crashing into it. While the impact caused a strong pain to shoot out, he couldn’t help but smile as he felt the armour dent behneath his blow. Noticing the same dent, Thunderstruck reacted. First by lurching forward with a swipe of his armoured gauntlet, then with a clumsy but powerful slam. Knowing a direct hit from either was death, Mike pulled back. Narrowly ducking beneath the first swipe before diving between Thunderstruck’s legs to avoid the overhead. In an instant, the space where he stood moments before was reduced to nothing more than a small crater and smashed tiles. Near death experience aside, the gamble gave him a clear shot at his target’s back. Not wasting the chance, he kicked off the nearest armoured heel and focused on the knee joints. While his powers worked more efficient when he made contact, he figured that pinning his foe in place was worth the extra cost.

As he slid, Mike’s mind concentrated on the metal. He felt the atoms, their number and their energy. He felt how each was strapped in place and went on to focus on that which held them together. Then after a moment’s delay, he felt it change. He felt his influence over them, from one to ten to a thousand to more, his reach spread before it began tearing at the bonds directly. Suddenly the formations, once strong and inflexible, began to bend and tear to his will. As he slowed to a halt and forced himself back to his feet, he felt a wave of satisfaction as he saw the metal behind the knees begin to buckle under the weight it once supported.

Mike wasn’t sure what everyone else had been doing as he swerved and dived, but judging by how blue energy streaks arced out from the behemoth of steel in several directions rather than smite the still stunned Mike. He figured everyone was doing their part to keep him alive. Muttering a silent thanks, he tried to focus his energy starved brain for one last charge. Pushing off at a run, he ducked behneath a stray bolt of lightning and slammed his palm into the remaining un-dented underarm and pushed until he felt it creak before sidestepping a blind swing and backing away as his influence slowly spread out across the whole frame. As Thunderstruck continued to wildly swipe at his attackers, Mike’s handiwork finally announced itself as the once-mighty armour tore at the waist during one of his swings, exposing a coursing blue energy and a small patch of the occupant behneath it. Feeling his vision blur, he figured he had done all he could. As he prepared to make his exit, the world lit up as another energy beam shot inches from his face, yet as he reflexively recoiled form it, he found himself directly in the path of one of Thunderstruck's deadly swipes. Seeing the approaching, unavoidable, train of steel rushing towards him, Mike felt a moment of disbelief then a surge of anger and defiance. This wasn’t how he was going down. Like hell he was dying here! Raising his own arms, he braced as best he could but before the blow could land, blind survival instincts took over.

As Thunderstruck’s fist rocketed down, his mind reached out and went back into the world of atoms. It felt the layers of metal and pumped everything it could into breaking it. This time, the bonds weren’t weakened, instead they shattered. In an instant, thousands upon thousands of patricles across the gauntlet were flung asunder. In that moment of chaos and destruction, the fist seemed to slam against an invisible wall as its knuckles buckled against nothing before being blasted back as a small blast shot from where its front had once been. And instead of being decimated by a solid block of iron, was knocked off his feet as dozens of metal shards cut into his vest and helmet, as much as it stung, he was alive.

Seeing himself prone before the rapidly recovering tower of steel, he quickly dragged himself backwards he shouted out one simple phrase.
“Take him down!”

[Absolon-7]

Things were actually looking up for once. Both Mike and Alexis offered pretty good additions to the plan which would make taking down Thunderstruck far more efficient than his own idea of punching the armor till it broke. Honestly though, he had it up to here with electricity-themed villains because of that escaped inmate from two weeks ago giving him an unwanted electroshock therapy session and back in his hometown the fifth mutant he fought was some electric-eel/orangutan lookin' monstrosity which hurt him so badly he really didn't want to remember what the electricity did to the more "fragile" parts of his body. His self given pity party was interrupted by Nathan checking in with his own addition to the plan that sounded pretty good which made Casimir think that if things went according to plan the fight would be over in the blink of an eye.

Things did not go according to plan. It looked like some upstart heroine was coincidentally in the vicinity and was skirmishing with Thunderstruck. She looked pretty bewildered looking around and her gunshots looked like they weren't doing anything to the villain. Fortunately, that's when Mike decided to strike, gracefully blowing off chunks from the armor and avoiding all manner of deadly blows. However, Kabuto darted immediately once he saw that a piece of the villain real body was exposed.

"Alright you daft świnia! Let's see what your fancy suit does against pure muscle!" Roared Kabuto grasping at opposite ends of the exposed armor. With great effort he ripped off the entire chest plate sending the hunk of metal far into the distance.

"Oh shit! That was expensive as hell you twerps!" Yelled Thunderstruck bringing up his arms to cover his torso, the remaining pieces of armor not really doing a good job.

Kabuto leaped back to avoid any blows but Thunderstruck charged at him immediately. Ramming his horn into the armored plates protecting his chest. Kabuto was sent hurtling towards the bench, where he was originally lurking behind. Good thing it was made out of metal so it didn't splinter but that didn't stop the collision between his body and it's frame from making a sickening crunch sound. Tumbling over the edge in pain, Kabuto grasped at his chest gasping for air.

"Any of you little shits want some?!" Boomed Thunderstruck swinging his body around, building up an overgrowing cage of electricity around himself. Promptly, the eight thugs that Mike mentioned earlier had heard the commotion and were rushing into view with six holding pipes, crowbars, and chains in their hands but two were staying in the back carrying bags filled with stolen loot. "Hahah! You dumb kids are about to get the ass-whoopin' of a lifetime!" Boasted Thunderstruck, apparently oblivious to the increasingly fragile state of his power armor.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

"Any of you little shits want some?!" Boomed Thunderstruck swinging his body around, building up an overgrowing cage of electricity around himself. Promptly, the eight thugs that Mike mentioned earlier had heard the commotion and were rushing into view with six holding pipes, crowbars, and chains in their hands but two were staying in the back carrying bags filled with stolen loot. "Hahah! You dumb kids are about to get the ass-whoopin' of a lifetime!" Boasted Thunderstruck, apparently oblivious to the increasingly fragile state of his power armor.

Park In-hyun

Clearly, she didn't thought about the first action that she did carefully. Fortunately, it seemed there were other vigilantes who brought in their own tastes of actions. For now, it seemed that the armor of Thunderstruck's is no longer in a good state. He is still one powerful villain, though. The fact that there are...seven, eight, thugs. Eight thugs with their own selections of weapons didn't do a lot of good things for them.

For start, the thugs. "Throw in some of them, too, will ya!?" she taunted. One of the thugs rushed into her, but she tackled him down, sending him to the ground. She fired her submachine gun to the thugs, not quite...caring about the casualties, but she already know there aren't many citizens anymore in the zoo. It's mostly just to scare the thugs away, which is working quite well. It seemed Thunderstruck became occupied with more people than he could be attentive for.

"Why you little...!" he exclaimed to her. "I'm not little, per se," she insisted on it. Thugs or Thunderstruck? The two vigilantes before seemed to be wounded, and Thunderstruck's armor is in a fragile state, as it seemed to be. Thunderstruck seems to be more dangerous, but the previous two's attack weakened the armor already. Picking up the crowbar, she started the fight with the thugs, who, despite numerous and bigger in physical size, aren't matched for her dhampir physiology and her enhanced conditions. Soon the thugs were left wounded, and not quite good.

But she also received few wounds, as well. It seemed she really needs more field experiences and fighting close combat with people with bigger physical condition. "Now, it's just you, those two, and me!" as she proclaimed to Thunderstruck. "Surrender now! You aren't quite as superior as when you started this fight!"

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Smiling at Roy’s compliment, Wendy watched as the other filed into the hanger before boarding the aircraft. There though, once Naja told them who they were facing, her smile vanished. She’d heard of all four of these villains before, and each of them sent a chill down her spine.

She’d heard about Thunderstruck’s robberies back when she had been doing the same, and while her parents had scoffed at his lack of finesse, she had grown to both admire and fear his raw power. If there was any good news, it was that he didn’t seem to be all that smart to her. His cool looking power armor that both inhibited his mobility, vision, and was extremely vulnerable to the likes of Wendy so long as she could avoid being flattened like bug or electrocuted in the process.

The Weatherman might have been no where as psychotic as the other three, but she had no defense against his attacks, and with his army of thugs, even if there was sort of tech on him that she could hack she’d never survive the retaliation from them. Truth be told she was glad he seemed to care about getting his 15 minutes of fame, but she also wondered what he was doing with known killers.

Marionette… disturbed her greatly. Her family had run into people like her before, and she had even been forced to work with psycho’s like that more than once. People who relished creating chaos just for the thriller it brought them, who berated her for making sure the alarms were turned off because they wouldn’t have any cops to kill when they were done. Even worse she was infatuated with heroes and knew all about them. Would she see Wendy as the fake she was?

Last, but definitely not least, was Dante. Everything about the woman in the silver costume screamed death. Even worse, she was a living breathing WMD. Even with what Wendy knew about her, she knew that Dante was better left to the big guns like Roy and Frostbite.

Wrapping her scarf around the lower part of her face and throwing her hood over her head, Wendy stepped off the transport with the others. Knowing she’d be far better off playing mission control rather than trying to throw down with the supervillains, she found a nearby spot to hack into the zoo’s system. Unfortunately, the villains in question had been smart as well as vicious, having almost every other camera in the zoo. She’d caught a glimpse of a few thugs but no sight of any of the major players.

Stupid. She cursed herself for the over sight. Stupid rookie mistake. Of course, they’d disable the cameras, you would have done the same.

It was at that point she heard the distress calls. Quickly realizing she needed to help, Wendy went racing over to where some of the others were fighting Thunderstruck. By the time she got there it looked like was almost over, and her friends weren’t winning. Thunderstruck’s armor was in pieces, with chunks of his body exposed. All around him though, were her bruised and battered team mates.

Standing before the villain was a woman dressed much like herself, only in the color violet. “Hey,” She shouted to her new friend. “I’ll take out his suit, you knock him out.”

Turning back to Thunderstruck, she summoned all the courage she could muster. “Hey ugly, it’s a shame your suits trashed. Don’t worry though, I’m sure you’ll look great in an orange jump suit after I’m done kicking your ass.”

“Why you little…” He replied, charging down Wendy with no regard to anything else.

If he was shocked by the fact that Wendy refused get out of his way, he never let on. Wendy smiled as her mind wove its way though his suits security, almost laughing at how easy it was. Million-dollar hardware, she thought to herself. Hundred-dollar software. Without warning, Thuderstruck’s legs stopped working, sending him tumbling to the ground mere feet from where she stood.

“Anytime you want to put him to sleep would be good right now.” She said to the others as Thunderstruck lay twitching at her feet.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Standing before the villain was a woman dressed much like herself, only in the color violet. “Hey,” She shouted to her new friend. “I’ll take out his suit, you knock him out.”

Turning back to Thunderstruck, she summoned all the courage she could muster. “Hey ugly, it’s a shame your suits trashed. Don’t worry though, I’m sure you’ll look great in an orange jump suit after I’m done kicking your ass.”

“Why you little…” He replied, charging down Wendy with no regard to anything else.

If he was shocked by the fact that Wendy refused get out of his way, he never let on. Wendy smiled as her mind wove its way though his suits security, almost laughing at how easy it was. Million-dollar hardware, she thought to herself. Hundred-dollar software. Without warning, Thuderstruck’s legs stopped working, sending him tumbling to the ground mere feet from where she stood.

“Anytime you want to put him to sleep would be good right now.” She said to the others as Thunderstruck lay twitching at her feet.

Park In-hyun

Someone came, apparently the ally of the previous two vigilantes who were wounded and not for the lack of trying. She motioned for her to finish Thunderstruck off after she did her part. "Sure, would be a welcome party for him," she answered. Whatever happened to their short and close encounter, it sure made the armor that Thunderstruck wore died down quickly. Unmovable legs, and all of these things.

"With pleasure," as she walked to him. Thunderstruck's confused and twitching, "Good night, Thunderstruck, have a good sleep," and with a heavy blow to the head, she knocked him. To an unconscious state. "I think that's too much for a heavy blow from my fist," she muttered.

"Thanks for the help, by the way," as she looked to the girl. "You...are their friends?" as she pointed to the two, wounded vigilantes.

[Bentus]

Yoshiro Namaka
San Diego Zoo

---

Yoshiro allowed herself a smile beneath the mental strain of trying to deflect all of Marionette’s projectiles. She felt a sense of relief at seeing her teammate emerge relatively unharmed, having feared the worst when that chilling voice had first crackled across the radio. She opened her mouth to speak as the hero approached her, but before she could utter a word Yoshiro felt Red’s hand clasp around her own as he raced past where she was standing. A puzzled expression flashed across the girl’s face, her mind only able to slowly process its surroundings as it dedicated itself to the fusillade of rocks and rubble that was still flying towards the duo.

Letting out a surprised yelp, Yoshiro was tugged forcefully along by her teammate’s momentum – the sudden force propelling her back into action as she pumped her legs in an effort to keep up with him. It was all that she could do to concentrate on nudging the trajectories of Marionette’s projectiles, entrusting Red to guide her along as they ran. Fatigue and exhaustion was quickly beginning to take its toll, and Yoshiro couldn’t even manage the breaths to warn Red that she wouldn’t be able to keep up her powers for much longer. Seemingly realising that she was fast approaching her limit, Red hastily spoke to her between ragged breaths.

“I have an idea – but you’re probably not going to like it.”

Yoshiro’s eyes widened as she tried to follow along with the hero’s plan, and she indeed most certainly didn’t like it. Hardening her expression, the empath simply responded with a firm nod. They were quickly running out of options, and this was going to be the best chance they got to put the rampaging girl out of commission. A burst of excited laughter came from the pursuing villainess as if to confirm Yoshiro’s fears. Right on cue, Red stretched out his arm to aim his pistol at the steel cable. The entire world seemed to slow around them, as Yoshiro closed her eyes to concentrate on the sky tram. Ignoring the deep red spear that she could sense hurtling towards them, its point threatening to skewer the pair of heroes, she felt the weight of the tram in her mind’s grasp. As the last of the supporting cables shattered, Yoshiro threw her mental energy into accelerating its descent. She could feel Red jumping forward to avoid the falling object, and Yoshiro allowed herself to be pulled through the air along with him. She felt herself beginning to black out from the effort of her powers, from the strain of forcing down such a heavy object, but she refused to relent until she felt the ground race up mercilessly to greet her.

Opening her eyes wide as the painful shock of the impact brought the world into focus, Yoshiro was greeted by a scream of pain. At first uncertain of the source, and worried that they had somehow failed, she forced herself to look back to see Marionette writhing as the sudden disconnection of so many of her threads sent a wave of loss through her body. Yoshiro winced as she felt some of the other girl’s pain, feeling a moment of guilt that she quickly brushed aside.

As the pained cry died down, Yoshiro and Red both lay motionless. Each panting heavily as they sought to regain their breath. Unable to keep a giddy smirk from her expression, Yoshiro felt like she wanted to cheer at the realisation that they had survived the encounter and emerged victorious, but she didn’t even have the energy to pull herself to her feet. Red turned his head to look towards her, opening his mouth as if to say something before their eyes locked. Suddenly, a rush of colour surged into the boy’s cheeks and he quickly pulled his hand away from hers as he pulled himself to his feet. Yoshiro felt a moment of irritation as he pulled away, before coming to her own senses and feeling a flush of embarrassment. Stupid, you can’t feel this light-headed after just one fight. There’s still more villains out there.

“You…freaking….cheating…bastard…”

Marionette glowered at the pair of heroes, visibly unsteady on her feet. She paused for the briefest of moments as she looked at them, realisation dawning behind her eyes. With a menacing expression, she glanced towards Red with the beginnings of a mischievous smirk before she collapsed. Silence reigned for a few seconds with no sound coming from the defeated villain.

Yoshiro let out a sigh of relief at Marionette's defeat, lying on the ground as she felt the weight of her limbs hanging from exhaustion. An awkward cough grabbed her attention, and she turned to see Red offering a hand towards her. Responding with a weak thanks, Yoshiro returned her teammate’s grasp and pulled herself back to her feet, brushing some of the dust and dirt from her clothes as she did so.

“Good job out there Yoshiro. You kind of saved my ass.”

The praise sent a rush of colour to the girl’s cheeks, and she turned away sheepishly. She really didn’t think that she deserved the thanks. As far as Yoshiro could tell, Red seemed to have had the situation under control before she’d even arrived. All it looked like she’d done was get in the way.

“I – It was nothing. I heard her on your radio and came to help, but it looks like you guys had everything pretty much under control.”

A small moan from Marionette ended the conversation before it could really begin and caused Yoshiro to nearly jump in surprise. She looked over towards the still-unconscious body with a concerned expression. Looking like he’d just had another one of his ideas, Red reached into his jacket to reveal a pair of handcuffs that he offered to Yoshiro. She raised an eyebrow in response to the boy’s grin, not yet having figured out his intentions.

“You want the honor of locking up our Ms. Barbie Doll? I’d do it, but I feel like I’ve done enough to ruin her day.”

Guiltily, Yoshiro glanced towards the bruise on Red’s forehead. She shifted awkwardly at the offer, though probably not for the reason that Red thought. She recalled the emotions that she had felt emanating from Red and Marionette while they had been in the Polar Bear exhibit. Pushing aside the thought, Yoshiro assured herself that she must have been mistaken – after all she’d never really sensed someone experiencing the heightened adrenaline of a real fight before. Besides, the two of them had been trying to kill each other mere seconds later. Surely she was just reading too much into nothing?

Noticing that she was just standing around as Red waited for her to take the handcuffs, Yoshiro forced herself to respond.

“Umm, yeah – sure!”

Lying motionless on the floor, her face hidden from the triumphant heroes, Marionette bristled at the Mask’s casual reference to their earlier meeting. The sheer nerve was infuriating! She wanted nothing more than to leap up and skewer him where he stood, to relish his look of surprise as he realised how wrong he’d been for betraying her trust. The Mask hadn’t been noble or heroic, he had been downright cruel and mean. But she could feel that she was at her limit, her body crying out for a respite from the brutal activity that she’d been putting it through – and oh her poor clothes were absolutely ruined! It would be practically impossible to get all the blood stains from her still-healing bullet wounds out of the pink dress, not to mention the dried blood from the first few security guards that she'd encountered.

Channeling her anger into a determined focus, Marionette carefully guided one last thin thread from where she lay. With painstaking effort, the thin fibre snaked its way along the dirt-covered ground while Yoshiro and Red were distracted. Slowly, it snaked its way up the boy hero’s leg – its light touch unnoticed amongst all of his aches and bruises. Bemoaning how easy it would have been to butcher the unsuspecting hero then and there for his crimes against her, Marionette wished that she wasn’t so zapped of strength that she could barely even control the thread mere feet from where she lay. As it were, her powers were weak and draining fast. Simply guiding the thread was all that she could manage, let alone launch any form of attack. Working quickly as Yoshiro approached, Marionette waited until the girl had knelt down right beside her, ready to place her thin wrists in chains.

Smirking at the inexperienced hero’s obliviousness, Marionette struck. With the last of her energy, she had her thread wrap taught around the Mask’s still-holstered firearm. In one fluid motion, the red fibre retracted back to its master and Marionette shot to her feet, elbowing Yoshiro harshly in the face.

The blow knocked the girl off-balance and sent her vision spinning. Before Red could even react, Marionette had wrapped an arm around Yoshiro’s neck, keeping the hero positioned as a human shield as she pressed the barrel of Red’s own gun against her temple. The villain offered the Mask a sly wink, a smirk betraying her sense of satisfaction at having turned the tables away from the jaws of defeat. Looking towards the wooded areas that bordered the demarcated path, Marionette made out several of Weatherman’s henchmen moving to get a drop on the group of tired heroes. Shaking her head in mock disappointment, she chided the Mask.

“Uh oh, didn’t you ever learn that cheaters never prosper, Mask?” She opted to refrain from using the hero’s real name, deciding to keep that little shared piece of information as their own personal secret. Despite her seething anger, the thought of keeping the forbidden knowledge of his identity to herself did send some butterflies spinning in the girl's stomach. As the hero looked to make a move towards her, Marionette cocked the loaded gun with a practiced ease.

“I wouldn’t be quite so forward, if I was you. We wouldn’t want anything tragic to happen to such a beautiful face, would we? Especially since it’s your team’s great big debut!” Marionette practically squealed, having pieced together the existence of the Young Blood’s over the course of the day. There was simply no other explanation for so many heroes – many of them unknown – being in one place and working together. “I’m really excited to see how it all turns out. I’m expecting big things from all of you – though I hope we’ll be able to play together again sometime.”

The girl’s last jab was directed straight at Red and loaded with double-meanings. Yoshiro felt herself beginning to panic in the villain’s grasp, but was unable to concentrate enough to use her powers with the ringing in her ears from the blow to the face. A slow trickle of blood was making its way down her nose, and it was clear that she was on the verge of exhaustion. Marionette offered one final, flirtatious wink towards the Mask before a low thumpth sounded from the treeline, and a metal canister landed amidst the teenagers, billowing a dense cloud of smoke. The initial smoke grenade was quickly followed by others as the henchmen made their presence known. Taking advantage of the cover, Marionette pushed Yoshiro towards Red, causing the girl to stumble as she made her escape – although she took the Mask’s gun as a small souvenir.