Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Finland SSR]

Modern Day

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

All cool dudes have their off-days. For example, when their supply of cash runs out and they need to restock - only mousetrap cheese is free in this lovely world. It's a good thing that Floyd has never been above petty theft - say, breaking into a B-class fast food joint and cleaning up their cash machines. sure, the cash here was small, but who ever carries thousands of dollars in their pocket anyway?

Breaking into a fast food joint was exactly what Floyd was doing at the moment. The restaurant was empty, the swordsman had scouted that out already - he wasn't sure why, maybe it's closed for health regulations or it's the owner's birthday today or something like that, but it's not like he cared.

The cash machines had 30-40 dollars each, pathetic. What, did someone already empty them before? Or is it hidden for the night? Bastards... He'll have to go check the rest of the building if the latter theory was the case - and that's exactly what he did. Hands casually placed in his pockets, pening one room after the other to check for anything suspicious.

Leo Hanskimida

To be honest, he shouldn't be here. But damn, that frozen burgers tasted weird without being fried! Frozen food in his planet tasted better! He cursed at his cursed chance in here, in this slightly backward planet. He watched as a food joint, a fast food joint. The place's abandoned, it seemed. Leo walked closer, trying to look for the food sector, the food storage. He went to the back, to the back side.

"Oh well, might as well punch the wall," he claimed. His recklessness proved to be nuisances. He punched the wall beside him that connected to the food joint, breaking it completely in the process. He decided to go in.

[quote="Finland SSR";p="33693246"]Modern Day

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Guess what? The kitchens and the back rooms had no cash laying around either. Outside a few cents behind counters, obviously. Now Floyd knew why this particular fast food joint was closed. It's near bankruptcy!

Well, if that's the case, then I might as well end their suffering.

Suddenly, a sound reached Floyd's ears, which immediately put him on high alert. Was that... a wall breaking down? It sure sounded like that. God, if a hero has already caught his location and is hunting him down... then this day would get a little better.

"If you've come to rob this joint, you've come to the wrong place," Floyd exclaimed towards whoever had just broken the wall, pulled out his sword and walked to the corridor. He wasn't sure which wall had just been Kool Aid Manned, though. "I've already emptied everything."

So, in a way, he was shouting at nothing.

[Finland SSR]

4 Years Ago

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Floyd's rant triggered something in Scythe's mind, he straightened up, put on a smirk and spoke:

"I have to say, villain, this is something new. Definitely something new. York doesn't get villains like you often, if ever. I've had to stop mustached French cooks and normal armed thugs for so long that I honestly enjoy this change of pace. So what are you, a some sort of wandering hero killer?"

"First of all, on the villain part..." Floyd almost immediately replied. "I'm no villain. You can call me a villain, but that won't change the fact that I don't consider myself one. I don't care about alignment, I don't care about good or evil, I don't even care if the person whose face I stomp is good or not. I'm just a man making my way through the arbitrary world."

"But-"

"And no, I don't kill heroes. Heroes and villains are both a good source of enjoyment, and neither of them are easily renewable, so killing any of them would just be short-sighted, dontcha think? So... consider myself a travelling independent superhuman."

"...Wow, I must have ticked a nerve," Scythe spoke and grinned. Floyd, meanwhile, was secretly moving his left foot back to serve as a spring for what's about to come. "You were silent this entire fight, and now you're-"

In what was the time of a fraction of a second, Floyd suddenly vanished and suddenly came to a stop right in front of the superhero, with his sword placed a centimeter away from Scythe's neck. And with the pointy end facing him - any sudden movements and he's a blood fountain.

"...letting...your...heart...out?.." the superhero muttered, his bone sword fell from his hands to bounce on the asphalt, while his facial expression was now overtaken by fear.

"Shh...don't move your jaw that much. You'll get a cut on your cheek."

This awkward situation of the hero and the villain locked in this stance with neither one able to move, and the police which had arrived here minutes earlier watching the fight with shock, continued for a few seconds, before Floyd suddenly spoke again:

"To be perfectly honest, I did not want to fight anyone today. Crazy, I know. My plane leaves tomorrow and I can't be sitting here healing any wounds I might have gotten while I could be getting back to America. So let's make a deal, bud - tell whoever you and your buds report to that this was a false alarm, and go back to whichever cave you live, while I'll remove this sword from your cheek. Deal?"

Floyd lied. A lot.

There was not a chance in hell that he could have not wanted to fight an another superhuman. What this was was not a threat to part ways, but rather a test - does this hero have a solution out of such a situation? An another superpower? A some sort of gadget? Floyd's style of battle was always a battle of thrills, especially the thrill of not knowing what you're about to hit by - so could you imagine how frustrated he was inside when Scythe raised his hands and spoke:

"Okay, okay, chap, I'm already disarmed, we can make that deal. I'll leave you alone."

Floyd frowned and moved back his sword, sheathing it. "Cunt." he muttered under his breath, turned around and began to walk away. Well this was ten minutes of my life thrown away like piss in the wind. Hopefully those chips haven't gotten soggy, I'll finish them and-

The villain's ears caught a rapidly approaching barrage of steps, his face twisted even more and he pulled out his sword to block Scythe's incoming bone sword strike.

"THAT was your plan?!" Floyd exclaimed, almost shouting at this point. A few police officers, hoping to put a stop to the superhuman madness, fired a few pistol shots at the villain, although all that they could achieve was to rip up his clothes a little and bounce off the skin. "I give you the perfect opening to pull out a new superpower, I even let my guard down on purpose while holding up my sword, and you gave me THIS?! A god damn cheap shot from the back?! You're trying to make this as least enjoyable to me as possible, are you?"

"How egocentric are you, you madman?!" Scythe shouted back just as loudly, bending and flattening his sword to make a shield in order to block a flurry of his opponent's sword slashes. It tanked the first few attacks, but moments later, the shield shattered from the pressure. "Everything's gotta be all about you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you have a problem with that or what?!" Floyd turned this into a shouting match, relentlessly attacking the disarmed superhero. Deep wounds started to appear on his body one after the other, only barely healed up in time by Scythe's bone regeneration. However, it wasn't the wounds themselves that were putting the primary dent in his defenses - the pain lingered on even after regeneration, weakening and slowing Scythe down. "You have zero clue just how much I suffered before - all I'm doing is taking back that debt the world has collected! All of the pleasure and success it decided to not give me!"

"You're stark raving mad..."

Scythe wasn't wrong. By now, even his regeneration wasn't able to keep up. Far from able to keep up. How could it keep up when the hero was getting ten to twenty bleeding cuts every single second? Out of mercy, or desire to prolong his suffering, Floyd finally slammed his foot into the opponent's stomach, sending him flying across the battlefield and slamming him into a police car, which promptly snapped in two. Sure, it hurt, a lot, and would have probably killed a normal human person ten times over, but at least Scythe got out of the close combat range.

"And the worst part is - lashing out with all my feelings against you wasn't even fun." Floyd muttered, sheathing his bloodied sword and stomping the ground out of frustration, accidentally ripping apart a few police car tires from the impact. This brought his attention to the eight or so police officers which had accompanied the superhero to the site - probably just for show, as Floyd assumed. "Any one of you want to give it a better shot? Maybe with more finesse?"

Nope. Out of sheer fright, the officers scattered off, and with Scythe unconscious in the ruins of an automobile, Floyd was alone yet again.

Well that's a day ruined.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Police Station, San Diego

The man pulled out a cigarette as he stepped out of the building, the nicotine that was contained inside representing one of the few luxuries and, indeed, one of the few pleasures that he was able to give himself. The man was fairly tall, though not exceptionally so, and while his physique was well within regular human boundaries, it was clear that he was no pushover. Judging by the various creases on his grim countenance, as well as the fact that grey strands were beginning to spread through his short black hair, one could easily tell that the man was entering his forties at the very least, or otherwise had a very stressful career; as it happens, both were true. His hat, uniform and insignias denoted his authority, but as he stood by the front wall of the police station, he hardly seemed like someone who took pride in such a thing.

Placing the cigarette on his mouth, he began searching his pockets for a light, but before he could find it, another man approached, setting the tip on fire with a lighter of his own. Glancing at him, the first one took a puff before removing the cigarette from his mouth and releasing a plume of smoke.

"To what do we owe the honor, chief?" He asked, before bringing the nicotine-filled artifact to his lips once more.

"Sanchez. Cheeky as ever I see." Came the reply. The 'chief' was somewhat older than Sanchez, with noticeably darker skin, a similar uniform with a different rank insignia, and a balding head covered by a peaked cap. He appeared far less grim, though his manner of speaking was just as dry as Sanchez'. "I have some business here. Nothing too important, but I decided to do it myself for a change. I did not expect to interrupt your smoke break, though." He stated. Sanchez merely shrugged.

"Well, that certainly explains why it's you dropping by instead of one of your usual errand boys." He remarked.

"Keep it up and you're never getting a promotion." The chief replied. "Anyway, how are things going for you?" He asked, then continued after a pause. "And do you happen to have a spare?"

Sanchez grumbled something unintelligible as he pulled out his half-empty pack of cigarettes and offered it to the chief, who proceeded to take one and light it up. "I'm not doing any better than anyone else here, that's for sure. There's more lawbreakers running around than we know what to do with. There's bodies turning up all over, including Solar's, and to top it off now we've got one of those Young Blood kids locked up." He sighed, clearly unhappy with the current situation San Diego was in.

"You don't think the kid's guilty?" The chief asked, now looking at Sanchez inquisitively. The man simply shrugged.

"What I think doesn't matter much in light of the evidence against him, but I find it hard to believe. If that was his plan all along and he was with the other kids just to avoid suspicion, he would have been more careful. What my officers tased looked more like a kid with anger issues and less like a serial killer." He said as he took a puff. "How about you? How are things turning out on your end, chief?" The chief chuckled.

"Hah, they're turning out as well as you'd expect, which means terribly. I'd have an easier time arm-wrestling one of those alien guys than trying to weed out corruption in this city. Roadblock after roadblock, you know how it is. I'm sure some of the higher ups are in on it, but I'll need solid proof before I can open my big mouth." He spoke, shaking his head.

"Sounds like you have it rough too." Sanchez observed. "I'll keep an eye on my men for you, but I doubt they're up to anything beyond their usual bullshit. They're not exactly the department's finest prospects. Especially Carlson, I'm sure you've heard about the shit he tried to pull." He stated, prompting another chuckle from the chief.

"Why, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you're complaining." He said. A moment afterwards, his borderline cheerful expression disappeared. "Regardless, I've spent enough time out here. Let's go back inside, I have matters to discuss with the captain." The chief stated. Sanchez nodded, walking past him and flicking the butt of his cigarette into a nearby trash can before gesturing towards the police station's doors.

"After you."

[Scotatrova]

Diego Belcourt

The heat of the afternoon sun blazed the back of Diego's neck as he decided to sit down and take a rest. He had been walking for what seemed like weeks. By now, he had safely made it to the outskirts of the city and had decided that he would begin to trek North, up to where the last remnants of his family, or perhaps extended family, lived. Los Angeles. But he knew that he might not make it, not because of the distance, but because this was bounty hunter territory, and not just your average bounty hunter, the ones that were trained and skilled in hunting those with "gifts". At least that's what he knew from his experience in the area, and he would be damn lucky to make it through the day. He followed along a trail that was headed North, and there was also trail of prints, fresh prints. The direction was confusing, as the footprints cut around to head east.

Diego heard male voices farther up the path, and he cut behind a line of thick brush and crept toward them in silence. The men spoke with the uncaring loudness of people who were not afraid to be heard. There were three of them, standing in a clearing formed by the crossroads of two trails. He recogized one of them. He was the old partner of the woman that had been also hunting him, and he knew his name, Matias. His fashioned Arab scimitar was slung from his waist. The others were strangers; big, brutal looking men. One was a redhead who wore a necklace of faded white trinkets. But Diego knew what they actually were. Bone. The other was brownskinned and wore matched .45 automatics in shoulder holsters. He edged closer to listen to their chatter.

"I still don't get why you want to try and sell him to the Bear," said the gunslinger.

"Yeah, why risk it?" agreed the redhead. "Bear don't want to make deals with you, Matias. He wants to feed you to the lions and be done."

"Nah, you guys got it wrong," insisted Matias. "If I bring him Little Belcourt, then it's gonna be forgive and forget. You'll see."

"Seriously man," said Gunslinger, "you ought to cut your losses and head north. Go up to LA or San Francisco. Get outside of the Bear's backyard, cause even if you managed to bring in Little Belcourt, Bear'd just take him from you and do to you what he did to Bobbie Gomez. Stake you out and feed you to the swarm. We tried to tell Bobbie the same thing, but did he listen? Nope. Now look what happened."

"I know," said Matias softly. "That was ugly. Bobbie wasn't a bad guy. And it's not fair for White Bear to blame us for what happened with the Belcourts. Me and my crew were all the way up in Carlsbad when that happened. Nothing we could have done to get there first."

"Uh huh. Bobbie tried to run that by the Bear, and look what it got him," agreed Gunslinger. "The same thing you're gonna get if you don't put a lot of gone between you and the Bear's territory."

"No way," said Matias stubbornly. He produced a piece of paper from a packet and shook it at them. "I know how much the Bear wants Belcourt. You see the price on this thing? You ever saw bounties like that? No! The Bear wants him, and he'll kiss my butt if I bring him in."

Redhead took the paper and read it, nodding "Yeah...a man could retire off of this."

A flurry of thoughts came into Diego's mind. Who was this "Bear" that they kept talking about? Is he really the one that wants him dead, or perhaps even alive? But that soon all faded away. His fear and confusion warped into anger and rage. They want him dead just like they wanted his family dead. Now wasn't the time to run away or hide, now was the time to fight. Fight, or be killed.

"If you're lucky," said Diego as he stood up from behind the bush, "it'll cover your funeral expenses."

The three men spun toward him. The gunslinger made a grab for his twin .45s, but Diego fired a single smooth blast that was too fast for the eye to follow. The blast landed into his forehead above the eyebrow and gunslinger hurled backward. He layed sprawled along the trail. That left Matias and Redhead standing on either side of him, both in wide-eyed horror and confusion. "Holy jeez" whispered Matias. "Belcourt!"

Redhead sneered. "I know who it is." He narrowed his eyes to feral slits. "You just hurt our friend pardner. You don't know the trouble you're -" Diego shot a blast in the dirt between the man's feet. "Save it for someone who cares," he said quietly. "Lose the hardware." The smoking crater of the ground offered no option for debate. Weapons clanked as they fell to the ground. "All of it." warned Diego. They look disgusted but began removing knives, two shot derringers, strangle wires, and brass knuckles from hidden pockets.

"Kick them away. Good. Now listen to me," said Diego, his eyes flat and hard. "You guys have one chance to walk out of this."

"What are you offering?" demanded Redhead warily.

"Straight exchange. You answer my questions and I let you walk out. If you know anything about me, you'll know I'm not one to lie to, and you'll know I keep my word. You walk out and I go somewhere else. I don't see you again. You don't hunt me, or anyone else ever again."

Matias snorted. "What's it to you where we work? Seems you were leaving town."

"Says who?"

"Says everyone. People are talking about it all through the network. Little Belcourt leaving San Diego for good. Going on some quest to find the last of his family, or at least that's the cover story."

"Way I heard it," said Redhead. "is that you lost your nerve, running from White Bear and bounty hunters. White Bear says this whole area is his now. He's bringing in more muscle than you can handle, so you're cutting out to save your butt. The whole searching for your family is just a cover story."

"Does anyone actually believe that?" Diego asked, amused. "I don't know of this 'White Bear' or what the hell he's planning on doing with me."

"Doesn't matter. With you gone, the Bear will own the entire network, and the hunters will believe what he wants them to believe. Bear's like that. Take out the top dogs, and become the top dog."

"Everyone needs a hobby." Diego said neutrally.

"What is it you want to know?" asked Matias. "To let us walk?"

"First, I want that piece of paper," demanded Diego. "It's a bounty sheet, right? Give it to me. Don't get cute about it either. Put it on the ground, weigh it down with a rock. Then step back." Redhead did as he was told. He backed up until Diego ordered him to stop. Diego stooped and plucked the paper from under the rock and glanced at it. The text read:

Reward

Payment on Delivery

Mason Belcourt: 20

Crystal Belcourt: 13

Diego Belcourt: 10

Theo Hale: 5

Diego read the text in his head. There was only one number beside each of the names. "I'm only worth 10 dollars?"

The two men laughed at each other. "Million. You're worth 10 million."

Diego stuffed the paper in his pocket. "Who's looking?"

"Everyone's looking," said Redhead. "The whole network of hunters working your trail."

"You're the first I've seen. Except for Matias' female friend."

"Then you're looking in the wrong place. Everyone knows the routes you've been running, and we got word that you were heading out. Everybody, and I mean everybody knows that White Bear's got a stack of cash on this."

Diego considered. "This is a lot of money. What's White Bear's stake? Especially if I'm leaving?"

Both men looked momentarily confused. "What do you think man?" asked Matias, perplexed.

"If I knew, I clearly wouldn't be asking." said Diego "And you're wasting my time."

"Oh man," said Redhead, "this is great. This is like those comedy shows. This is fricking hilarious." And suddenly Redhead made his move. He kicked a baseball sized rock at Diego and charged forward in a powerful tackle. They must have shared some kind of signal, because Matias was only a half step behind him. Redhead caught Diego around the chest, and Matias slammed his shoulders into Diego's thighs. The three of them crashed backwards into the bushes in a cloud of torn leaves, dust, grunts and yells. And then a single male voice let loose a high pitched scream. A death scream.

Diego Belcourt

Diego crashed backward into the brush with both men clamped around his body. There had been no chance at all for him to avoid the hit, but as they fell he wrenched his hips and shoulders around so that he wouldn't land first. They hit hard, with Diego on top, Matias landing on his left side and Redhead taking the full brunt of his own weight and most of the mass of the others. Redhead's back struck a stone the size of a football and the bounty hunter screamed so loud that it chased the birds from the trees. The scream was almost loud enough to mask the sound of his spine shattering. His arms flooped away limply away from Diego, and he lay gasping, and, dying, under the weight of the boy he had tried to kill.

Diego had tried to ignore the man's screams. Without a moment's hesitation, he twisted sideways and hammered Matias on the ear with the side of his balled fist of hot white energy. Matias let go of Diego's legs and tried to block but Diego twisted around and kicked Matias in the chest hard enough to spill him five yards down the slipe. Diego back-rolled after him and came out of the roll with a ball of energy in his hands, sending it directly into Matias' face. The man's head jinked sideways on his neck, and there was a sharp, wet snap! Matias collapsed into a lifeless sprawl.

Diego relaxed, or he tried to at least. Another one and done. Up the slope Redhead was still screaming. With a grunt of anger and disgust, Diego scrambled up the slope. The crippled man saw him coming, and his scream changed to a whimper. He tried to scramble away but his legs were dead and his arms barely flapped. Diego squatted down and assessed the man's condition. Then he put a finger to his lips. "Shhh". The other man fell silent, though he stared with eyes that were huge and filled with terror. "Your back's broken." Redhead began to cry.

"Listen to me now. You're done. You know that. I can leave you here like this and you can spend your last hours screaming. After that, well, you're going to lie here for the rest of time. Cripple, dead and useless." Redhead was blubbering, mouthing unintelligble words. Diego leaned toward him. "Or...you can buy yourself some grace. You square things with me and I...can ease you down. You'll never feel it. Its your call."

The reality of it all hit Redhead, and he stopped mewling. He stared at Diego with eyes that suddenly possessed a dreadful wisdom about the nature of his world. Diego could see the understanding blossom in the man's eyes. "Okay..." Redhead whispered, then hissed in pain. Diego nodded. He didn't gloat, that never occurred to him. He removed his canteen and gave the man a sip.

"Who's the woman, Matias' partner, the one that is after me?"

"W-White Bear. She was one of Charlie's guys. White Bear is tearing up everyone from Charlie's crew, cause of what happened to Charlie."

Diego thought to himself. He knew the name Charlie, and he knew it all too well. Charles Hendricks, better known as Charlie. He was a well known, powerful sorcerer in the San Diego scene. A necromancer, one that harnesses death magic and Charlie was known for rising the dead to often go about his bidding, along with the rest of his family. Months before the death of his parents, they were tasked with stopping Charlie, by whatever means necessary. A large battle was fought between his parents and Charlie's gang, now known as the Battle at Shadowland. The numbers were in Charlie's favor, but they didn't last long at the hands of the Belcourts. At last, it was between Diego's father and Charlie. Of course, mid-battle, Charlie raised a small legion of undead to use to his advantage. However, it went South, as many of his crew got munched. While his mother was dispatching the rest of the undead, his father had taken the upper hand with Charlie and had seemingly blasted the necromancer off the side of a cliff. The man screamed as he plummeted into the darkness. That was all Diego knew, from what his parents had told him. There had been rumors that some of Charlie's crew that survived the attack have rebuilt Shadowland, and have turned it into something even worse. An arena, where teenagers, powered or not, are thrown into pits and forced to fight off the undead, courtesy of the Hendricks family no doubt. He came back to the current moment.

"Why? Why does White Bear care about what happened to Charlie?"

Redhead almost smiled. "Are you...kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding you? What's the thing between Charlie and White Bear, and most of all, with me?"

"Jeez man, you can see it when you look at him."

"I never met White Bear. You're not making sense and you're beginning to piss me off."

Redhead looked instantly afraid. "God....please don't leave me like this!"

"Shhh, shhh." Diego soothed. "Just tell me about White Bear and Charlie."

"It's all about Shadowland," said the man, and Diego noticed that his voice was beginning to fade. Shock was setting in and he didn't have long. "When your parents fought Charlie and burned down Shadowland, Charlie lost a lot of people. A lot of friends. You know that. But what you don't know is that someone close to him was badly hurt in that battle, burned. Used to go by Big Tim."

Diego grunted. "Big Tim Hendricks? Charlie's brother? He was at Shadowland that day?"

"Yeah. He got messed up pretty bad, too. Face all burned, lost an eye. Almost died. Charlie sent him way over into Yosemite, to a place he has...or had there. Big Tim got real sick. They say he died for a while. They say that while he was dead he had a vision of some old Indian medicine man, and that when he came back he wasn't Tim Hendricks anymore. He was-"

"White Bear." Diego finished, shaking his head. "White Bear is Charlie's brother. I'll be damned. That's why he wants me."

"You...and your parents. He wanted your parents so bad, that when they were killed, it made him even crazier. When he heard that you were running out of San Diego, maybe for good, he put everyone he has out into the field. There's a hunderd pair of eyes looking for you, man. You probably won't make it out of this forest."

Diego didn't comment on that. Instead, he asked, "Why's he killing Charlie's men?"

"Not all of them. Just the ones he thinks should have been with Charlie when your parents got him last year. Blames them, says they should have died protecting Charlie."

"That's crazy."

"White Bear is crazy man. Plays it cool...but he's totally out of his mind. Makes Charlie look like your ordinary citizen."

"Swell. Okay, now tell me one more thing. Where's Shadowland?"

"If I tell you...will you do what you promised? Make it easy?"

"I promise."

"Swear it man. I...I'm Catholic. Swear on the baby Jesus."

Diego sighed and held his hand to heaven. He swore. The man told Diego where Shadowland was. Diego swore again, much louder. The man tried to smile, but he was fading like a setting sun. "You know man...I almost wish I could see you go against White Bear."

"Yeah. I'll bet you'd like to see me fed to his undead too."

Redhead gave him a strange look. "No...you...don't have to believe me, man, but I'd kind of like to see you kick that crazy son of a bitch's ass. Him and his whole damn family."

A terrible coughing fit hit him, and he hacked and coughed until blood mottled his lips and face turned the color of pale white. They his eyes flared wide and his mouth formed a small "Oh" and he stopped moving. His eyes stared upward into the vast blue forever. The forest was silent except for the buzzing of insects. Diego's face and body were as still as the dead man's, but inside his heart was hammering with fear. "Oh god..." With that burning in his mind, he got up and turned in the direction of Shadowland. There was no need for LA now. It was no longer a hunt. It was a trap, and he was heading straight into it. But he had to choice. He ran.

[Charmera]

Alice paused, then nodded. This would probably be a great chance to meet and get to know a member of the team. She would have to try her best not to be too awkward and nerdy around him, as he would likely be her gateway to the rest of the group and to generally fitting in.

Though, then again, he doesn't seem especially un-nerdy. She thought. At least it's not that ice lady. I have a feeling she would give me the cold shoulder.

"Um. No, but I'm guessing you want to train with me." She replied. "Amir... right? I think? Anyway you can... go first I guess. I guess that's how this should work... right?" She didn't exactly stutter, but she did seem uncertain and talked with an incredibly fast and frantic pace.

Amir Zairi
"Alright then," I replied to Alice, adding a small courtesy smile. I rolled the sleeves of my jacket. Not out of any fashion statement, but rather to put my pair of gauntlets to view. If the last brawl in that zoo taught me anything, it's that you can never be to prepared. Relying merely on rune-scrolls and basic enchanted object would limit me to prepare only for threats I have advance knowledge of. I could not really afford that. As that one person says, "you never now what's gonna come through that door. That's why I prepared these gauntlets.

I distanced myself from Alice and stood some fifty feet away opposite of her, giving her and myself some room for mobility. I waited until she looked ready, and I asked her one last time for a confirmation. "You ready girl? Let's start in count of three, alright. One," I twisted my wrist around, "two," I shouted at her and pooled my energy on my palm, "three!"

With the last shout, I activated the gauntlet, projecting a sigil right in front of Alice. Light based runes are, complicated, in a way. They are as strong as any other kind of runes, but a lot more delicate and at times unpredictable. Etching the ground would produce a more reliable result, but I was aiming for fast and flashy, and these runes would be adequate. I reached out with my magic along with the light that was projected on the ground, flaring it up into a burst of light and kinetic force, sending dirt and grasses flying everywhere.

I watched intently for the new girl's next move. The aftermath of the explosion left my eyed blurry with the afterglow of the magical energy and floating dusts. I could see her silhouette with my glasses though, and my left hand readied itself on the hilt of my sword. Damn, I wasn't sure what to expect from Alice. I was just hoping her powerset was not something that would turn this into a curb-stomp battle.

That silhouette, however, would look a whole lot smaller than Alice would normally. In fact, it was downright tiny. The mouse sized Alice had evaded the explosion as much as possible, though it had sent her back a ways. As the smoke and dust cleared she managed to make her way back to her original position, now rushing towards Amir as fast as her now small legs could carry her. This might look harmless, even somewhat comical, to an onlooker who saw the mouse sized girl rush towards her opponent.

However with a sudden warping sound Alice grew dramatically. The girl was now at least sixteen feet tall. Her somewhat singed hair and the cuts and scrapes from being flung now much more apparent. She didn't want to sacrifice too much manuverability, but she knew that reach and overwhelming physical strength would be an invaluable, especially against that sword. Following up this dramatic growth, she made a move to grab Amir and... do something? She didn't think that far ahead to be honest.

---

His plan seemed to actually be working since the swarm manged to distract Cassandra long enough for him to block off the pain from his mind. Until she obliterated most of the insects with her cannon. Casimir pouted in frustration since he hoped they would of lasted longer so now he'd have to go on the offensive. The next few seconds would be crucial in the outcome of sparring match. He tried a kick and he tried his insect manipulation which left open palm strikes as the only option.

"I guess it's my turn Cass," he claimed with brevity. Sprinting at full speed he set upon her releasing a fury of strikes against her aiming for mostly her torso. He even included a few false swipes where he immediately changed the direction of the swing. To finish the assault off, he reared back his left arm and darted it forward using as much momentum as he could straight towards her sternum. Well, whatever the android equivalent of a sternum was. The move left him completely open but he'd have to risk it if he wanted a win.

The damage from the strike was punishing, and would have likely totaled a human if not killed them. Cassandra was sent flying and then sliding into a tree with a sickening skid. For a second, she seemed to be knocked out or perhaps even dead. She did not move at all during that second.

But then she got back up. As she did so, Casimir might notice that her eye, that once looked human, had been damaged. The fragile plastic that camoflagues it as a human eye was damaged and now her red robotic eye was visible under it, glowing red as it focused on Casimir. There was another long pause.

"As you humans say." She spoke, suddenly and sickeningly there was a metallic noise from her neck, which was the equivalent of her cracking her neck. "That hurt."

[Exploit distraction opened by quip]
[Limit damage, do not cause serious bodily harm]
[Execute newly calculated manuver]

With a sudden dash Cassandra moved right next to Casimir, then moved to send a punch towards his face. In response to whatever he would retailiate with, she moved to grab him, intending to throw him into a tree as repayment for her eye. She was careful not to seriously hurt him.

[Absolon-7]

---

Casimir's stomach dropped six feet under after he hit Cassandra into the palm tree. He didn't think he hit her that hard but the way she impacted that tree made him wince. If it weren't for her being an android he would have felt worse but once he saw that her eye was damaged as well his guilt grew even worse. He would have felt worse if he hadn't realized it was glowing red.

"As you humans say." She spoke, suddenly and sickeningly there was a metallic noise from her neck, which was the equivalent of her cracking her neck. "That hurt."

Like lightning she went up to him and delivered a strong left hook at his face. Since they were sparring it felt more of a slap than a real punch but it still caught him off guard. Staggered by the blow he wasn't prepared to deal with Cassandra grabbing him and swinging him to the same tree she hit. His limp body collided with the tree not so softly before bouncing off into the sand. He slowly got up swaying around like tree in the wind before raising his hand to point at her.

"I would say that makes us even Cass, but I believe keeping score isn't healthy for any type of relationship. So how about I make the climax of our match worth our time?" he breathed out in between gasps. He darted to her side hoping to pin her down but he wasn't sure if he could actually grab her in time. It was mostly because of how increasingly tired he was becoming.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Leo Hanskimida

To be honest, he shouldn't be here. But damn, that frozen burgers tasted weird without being fried! Frozen food in his planet tasted better! He cursed at his cursed chance in here, in this slightly backward planet. He watched as a food joint, a fast food joint. The place's abandoned, it seemed. Leo walked closer, trying to look for the food sector, the food storage. He went to the back, to the back side.

"Oh well, might as well punch the wall," he claimed. His recklessness proved to be nuisances. He punched the wall beside him that connected to the food joint, breaking it completely in the process. He decided to go in.

Modern Day

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Guess what? The kitchens and the back rooms had no cash laying around either. Outside a few cents behind counters, obviously. Now Floyd knew why this particular fast food joint was closed. It's near bankruptcy!

Well, if that's the case, then I might as well end their suffering.

Suddenly, a sound reached Floyd's ears, which immediately put him on high alert. Was that... a wall breaking down? It sure sounded like that. God, if a hero has already caught his location and is hunting him down... then this day would get a little better.

"If you've come to rob this joint, you've come to the wrong place," Floyd exclaimed towards whoever had just broken the wall, pulled out his sword and walked to the corridor. He wasn't sure which wall had just been Kool Aid Manned, though. "I've already emptied everything."

So, in a way, he was shouting at nothing.

Leo Hanskimida

For once, he was not in a hurry for looking for food. Wall's broken, attentions all around, and he is here. Great, let's move on to the storage. He bet that the food storage has a lot of food in there, hopefully something warmer this time. But then, he heard sounds. Voice. Someone told him it was a wrong place to rob this joint and that the person emptied everything else." He chucked, and howled.

"AUUUUUUU!" loud enough to be heard for everyone inside the food joint. He laughed loudly as he walked to the direction of storage, but since he walked to the back and the voice came from the back, he surely would meet him. "You puny Earthlings! How dare you called me out and think I'm lowly enough for those worthless cash!" he exclaimed, as he walked to the storage section.

[Finland SSR]

-

Leo Hanskimida

For once, he was not in a hurry for looking for food. Wall's broken, attentions all around, and he is here. Great, let's move on to the storage. He bet that the food storage has a lot of food in there, hopefully something warmer this time. But then, he heard sounds. Voice. Someone told him it was a wrong place to rob this joint and that the person emptied everything else." He chucked, and howled.

"AUUUUUUU!" loud enough to be heard for everyone inside the food joint. He laughed loudly as he walked to the direction of storage, but since he walked to the back and the voice came from the back, he surely would meet him. "You puny Earthlings! How dare you called me out and think I'm lowly enough for those worthless cash!" he exclaimed, as he walked to the storage section.

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

The mysterious intruder responded with a loud howl, which forced Floyd to wince from the sheer pressure. Shouting and howling is not polite to do in public, y'know... and unpleasant... Bottling up these thoughts, Floyd for used on the positive result of that howl - he could now deduce exactly where in the joint this person was located, which, in turn, led him to hastily walk to the food storage room, where he met the mystery face to face.

A giant... cat... person. With massive hands and feet, almost humorous in proportion to the rest of his body. Oookay... I'll definitely place this guy in the top 50 of the weirdest things I have encountered. Judging by how he spoke earlier, declaring Earthlings as puny and stating that he has no need for cash, it was fairly obvious that the catman wasn't from around these parts. As in, at all. It was an alien.

"Hate to break it to ya, furry, but on this planet, having cash is everything," Floyd immediately moved to refute the catman's earlier claim. "Well, cash and superpowers, but imma assume you already have the latter."

The swordsman remained straight and firm, but, at the same time, pulled out the sword hanging on his back, letting it sparkle in the artificial lighting of the storage room. Floyd had no intention to strike first, but much like many of his actions, it was a test - if this mystery is frightened by the preemptive aggression and leaves, Floyd won't have to deal with it anymore; if this mystery decides to stand its ground, he might potentially have a fun fight on his hands.

"You came to rob in the wrong neighbourhood, chap."

[New Neros]

-Snake Boy-

Cesar Chavez Park
Training Day

The city was flooded with police units and emergency services, but they were distant and far removed from the lush park, which despite the issues facing the city in the past few days, still had many people out and about going through their various physical activities. From jogging to yoga, the park seemed to be alive and well, and two men who didn't seem too out of place in the scene casually approached both Andrew and his caretaker, Ms. Cartwright. A tall, dark, fairly attractive man who Rango and Andrew would recognize from earlier, John Turpin, quickly introduced himself. "I'm glad you came, Andrew, nice to see you." He turned and gave his gaze to Ms. Cartwright, giving her a sincere and warm smile. "My name is John Turpin, I met Andrew earlier today and we learned a lot about each other."

Next to him was a shirtless man, muscular with some definition but not overtly shredded, with some tattoos and a handsome face, who gave a quick wave to the two. "I'm Nile, I'm a friend of Mar and John. She couldn't make it, so she asked me to fill in, nice to meet you all." He said, recalling the less-than-stellar way he was roped into this training exercise slash recruitment drive. "Are we really going to try and have the albino blind snake boy working with us?" He thought, looking at Black Luminous in his civilian attire for a moment, but turned to look at the two arrivals. "So, who might you be?" Nile said to Andrew's guardian, not intending to be rude, but his direct question could be taken as such.

Earlier
The Labyrinth

Four of Orion's members sat in lonesome, metallic chairs, arranged neatly and uniformly, a few feet from each other and in a dimly lit room within the maze of catacombs that the villainous organization called home. Standing across from them was two versions of Legion, a look-a-like clone of Walt Bismarck in full personal body armor, as well as some mobile sophisticated computer system that Walt was typing away at. "So," Legion began, "Anyone of you care to explain the circumstances facing us right now?" None of the four spoke, causing Legion to sigh harshly. "I had Mar heal you all up as fast as she could and none of you four can give me a word."

"Look," Cannon said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees, "We're not kids, you're not going to paddle us or give us a tongue lashing that we haven't heard before." Legion fell silent as Cannon spoke, his eyes rather perturbed and upset at the current situation. They were forced to take a loss when by all accounts, a victory was well-within their grasp, even just with three members of the group. Had the others involved themselves, the Stars would be completely annihilated, and Orion would have cemented their reputation. "We were winning and then you sent in Black Luminous, what's up with that?"

"Let me run you through the past two days, shall we?" Legion shot back, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Young Bloods make their debut at the San Diego Zoo, several villains are defeated with assistance from the Los Angeles Stars. Mustafa Gaul, a notorious and up-coming villain defeats and kills the Light of the Southwest, Solar. A string of vigilante murders and assaults take place across the city, several named members include Red, Blackout, and Raven, with Red, a member of the Young Bloods, being arrested and put on trial, and now, several million dollars worth of collateral damage is caused in a superpowered brawl between upcoming villain group Orion and well-established heroic powerhouse, the LA Stars."

"Do you see an issue?" Legion stated, "Of course you do, this is unprecedented for superhuman activity, the media is fucking loving it and every crackpot politician wants to push an agenda and every big-name hero or heroic group wants to get involved to get some glory. We are in a bad spot right now because we are riding a high-wave of villainy and criminal behavior. We have yet to establish major goals and methods to achieve them, yet, it's a-OK to just run up on Captain Quake of all people, and start busting his head?" Legion said harshly, staring at Gaul, who mindlessly returned his stare. "We need to lay low and get a handle on ourselves, today was supposed to be a training exercise to get to know each other, not an invitation to fuck up the rest of central San Diego."

"Granted," The Walt drone interjected, "We were able to receive incredible data on the Stars, our own members, and I was able to secure construction contracts to repair the damage you caused. It's a pretty penny for me, and everything will be back to normal in no time for all the collateral."

"Don't encourage them." Legion snapped back, "Look, let's take a breather. Let's take a week, get our heads straight, get our powers figured out, get our goals figured out, get our methods and operations figured out, all that. We need to stay out of the San Diego scene for a little while for things to blow over, for Walt to get things situated, you know? This really fucks stuff up on our end. Can we agree to that?"

The four in-trouble members nodded, Legion turning his head to the door, "Thank you, I'm glad we're in agreement. Take care out there, fellas."

---

Black Luminous removed his helmet sat at the long table, tapping his long fingers steadily against the the oak wood, Mar sitting beside him after a while, staring for a moment at his stern, steady face. "Something on your mind, Luminous?" She quizzed, causing the villain to turn his eyes to her.

"I don't quite like using my powers in such a way." He admitted, "Against my friends and to pin down my enemies. Inside the helmet, I adopt a persona, someone I'm not, because you do what it takes to survive in a villainous world. No one would bat an eye at John Turpin, science teacher extraordinaire, but the strongest of heroes and the darkest of villains have learned to fear Black Luminous. A mighty god of gravity, unrelenting force of nature." He said, using his power to push away his helm. "I carefully cultivated my reputation in such a way, because I want to be left alone, and fear is a great way to enforce that."

"Then," Mar said, turning to fully face and give her full attention to Turpin, "Why do you hang out around these villains?" She said in a hushed whisper, "Your powers could be used to help so many people, there is so much you could accomplish, but if you want to be alone, why do you associate with people like Legion or Cannon?"

Black Luminous sighed, "How could I help people if I can't help myself?"

"That's just melodramatic." Mar snapped, "Everyone is damaged to some extent, we all have our faults and down sides, but, well, fuck. You took down the Los Angeles Stars and three of the baddest fuckers in our group with the flick of your wrist. That's power, that's the potential to change things, to be something more than this."

"Power isn't everything," Black Luminous calmly stated, "But it's a lot of it, and sometimes, you can't help with what you want to be. I have heroic tendencies and actions, I want to help others, but I have my own way of doing things, and that's dangerous for someone as powerful as I am, don't you see?" He seemed to speak from experience, from some events in his past, "You can't go against the rules if you have every bit of power to change them, and every bit of power to challenge anyone who tries to stop you. It's too dangerous."

The words sunk in with Mar deeply, who glanced longingly at her own hands, understanding that the potential within them is great, on the level of Black Luminous, and she has no idea how to wield such power. She narrowed her eyes, and made a decision immediately. "John, I can't go train with you and Andrew today. I'll get Nile to fill in for me, there's some things I need to take care of." She jumped up from the chair before Luminous could get a word in edgewise, and held a brief smirk on his face, knowing that Mar didn't want to train with them, but to train on her own.

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna Erickson

---

"Let me get this straight Miss Shortcake. You are willing to hook us up with an arms dealer that can supply us with whatever we need for the foreseeable future and all you are asking for in return is some privacy so that you can get dumped face to face by your blind date?"

Marionette seemed amused by Alexis's reply.

"Indeed, however what I have planned with our little jail bird will be a bit more...productive than what you would believe."

She licked her lips at the statement, a sadistic gleam in her eyes as she did. Alexis, however, seemed unfazed as she put down a shot of alcohol before going on the offensive.

"Oh sweet girl, where did you get those threads? From the bottom of a Disney rack in the back of a thrift store?"

Marionette let out a high pitched laugh, waving off Alexis's insults with a smile.

"I doubt someone like you could even come close to understanding fashion. I mean, look at yourself. If it wasn't for the fact that I know every tiny detail about you, I quite frankly would've mistaken you for a wannabe punk-band boy. You awful scent doesn't help you in that regard either. I've disposed of dead bodies that smell better than you. But I suppose all that lice and bugs that make your hair their home don't mind."

Alexis shot back, continuing their verbal battle.

"Does Ken know that his precious Barbie is fucking around on him, don't worry. I won't tell. I can keep a secret."

Marionette simply rolled her eyes.

"I think our poor little Ken will be more than happy to live in Barbie's plastic mansion than Ms. GI Joe's garbage dump."

Alexis seemed to be finished with the insults, finally getting around to the offer at hand.

"We have a deal, now here is my condition. My team will be on point in the operation. None of my people take any direction from you. And we make the plans on the prison break itself. Got it? And then after this is all done and over with. And you had some time to get over your rejection and Red is with us...."

She made a motion that mimicked a gun being shot at the screen.

"I am coming for you. And when I find your skinny ass I will shove this gun so far up your ass you'll spit bullets every time your cough."

Marionette backed up slightly away from the camera, just enough that she could be seen curtsying, a cruel smile on her face as she did.

"I eagerly await your arrival. I'll make sure to not to wear white, however, as I'd hate to have my dress stained red in your blood."

Brianna couldn't help but admire Alexis's attitude, although she couldn't help but question how this girl was so calm when dealing with such a sickening creature that was before her. A small grin appeared on her face, content that her initial feelings about this girl had been correct. Valhalla would indeed welcome a person with such courage, albeit being reckless, gladly into its halls.

"So, now that everything is settled where and when do you want us to have our little picnic Princess?"

The game over, Marionette's wicked expression seemed to return to her usual, albeit uncomfortably cartoon-like, excited expression.

"You'll be meeting him by the docks, the specific location I shall send to you via a text message. Oh, and don't worry, I won't bug you with too many messages. It's not like I can ask your opinion on anything remotely lady-like anyways."

The villain stuck her tongue out like a mocking child before continuing.

"You'll know the man when you see him. He's smelly, ugly, and very manly looking. So in other words, just like you my darling!"

Brianna couldn't help but stare at the girl on the screen before her. What could lead to a monster like herself being created? Whatever it is, I don't think I really want to know, she thought.

"Be there at 9 o'clock sharp tonight! He isn't the type you really want to keep waiting! After then, it'll be up to you to put your little peanut brain to work, although with you I doubt you'll be able to plan anything too complicated. However you do it, it doesn't bother me, just make sure you deliver my little present to me at the second location I'll send to you."

She pursed her lips, a pouting expression on her face.

"Just make sure you hurry up. I think my little hero is probably not making too many friends over there. I'd hate to see his pretty little face be beaten up, or for someone else to get a feel for his...well, I'll leave that thought for myself. Until then, ciao!"

And like that, the cartoon-like girl disappeared from the screen, just as suddenly as she had originally appeared.

Brianna looked over to the others, a bit of confusion on her face. Why was this girl obsessed with this "Red" anyways? Was he a former partner? A friend? A lover? There were too many questions for her to try and understand, but she couldn't help but feel as if they were being used. However, if it meant that they could find someone with resources, she supposed she wouldn't mind doing the bidding of this villain as long as she could bash her pretty little face in with her shield later.

Nobody spoke for several moments, until Brianna finally broke the silence.

"So what do we do now? This is obviously more complicated than she is telling us. To be honest with you, I believe it's a trap."

She paused, crossing her arms and leaning against a nearby wall.

"However, I am not one to run away from danger if it means that there is honor and glory in it. While I have my doubts, if you choose to follow this...person's wishes, I shall gladly follow you into battle."

[Tomia]

Training Island
Mars fell suddenly when his vision was obscured by the dirt and his legs were taken out from under him. "Hey! That's cheating!" He called out in response, but Naja who was nearby merely chuckled in response.

"You can't expect your opponents to fight by a rule book Mars. Well done Wendy, that was a smart tactical move." The snake-like heroine said in a complimentary tone.

Mars nodded, "You're right, good job Wendy, I'll keep my guard up next time." He assured before returning to sparring.

Meanwhile Elena was watching the fights, and found herself impressed by the team's skills. They had much to learn but it was clear they had talent. She realized now why Naja had taken the chance on them like she had. In Park and Wyatt's fight she had noticed Wyatt's original hesitancy to use his powers and was glad to see him slowly overcoming that. He was clearly skilled, he just needed to begin to adapt more of a warrior's mindset. Meanwhile Casimir and Cassandra's physical abilities were impressive. Cassandra was especially curious, Elena had worked with androids and AI before, they usually adapted to being around humans differently and so Elena knew it would be best to keep an eye on her social interactions.

Meanwhile Kiris and Carter had engaged in a kind of cat and mouse game that both amused and intrigued Elena. However they were gone for quite a long time, and when they returned Elena gave them a stern look, "Have fun you two?" She asked, looking them in the eyes. "I appreciate your enthusiasm for the exercise but this isn't a playground. No more running off without the others." She told them firmly.

Once all of the sparring sessions had completed, Elena turned to the group, "Well done, I know have a closer feel for the powers and skills that you all possess. I hope this session had made you all more comfortable with them. Now let's move on to something else, we need to work on your abilities to work in groups. So you all are going to split up into 4 groups. You will each be going to a different part of an island, where a different challenge will be facing you. The first group will be Angelica, Alexis, Yoshi, and Casimir, you will be going to the Lake. Mars, Cassandra, Wyatt, and Amir, you will be going into the forest. Alice, Roy, Wendy, and Kiris you'll be going to the mountain. Finally, Park, Nathan, Mike, and Carter will head to the beaches."

Angelica rolled her eyes at this notion of group activities, she worked much better alone. Meanwhile Roy found himself glad to be paired up with Wendy, though he told himself it was simply because she had been a good friend to him so far.

Mars was also happy with his team, though he was a bit nervous to discover what would be waiting for him in the forest.

"Each group will have a objective they need to complete. The Lake team will be responsible for finding and retrieving a creature that lives in the lake, I discovered it many years ago, and never gave it a more clever name than "Lake Monster". It shouldn't be too much of a danger to you if you do not take unnecessary risks but the key thing is I want it back alive."

"Next, the forest group is charged with bringing us back some things for tonight." She said, handing each of them a list of items with descriptions. "Most of these are flowers or berries native to this island. Be careful many native species here are dangerous and deceiving. You'll need to be smart and work together to figure out where to look for these items and make sure you don't chose the wrong ones."

"Next is the mountain group, your task is simple, reach the top of the mountain together as a team. There are many paths and tunnels throughout, or you can decide to climb from the outside. However you do it, you'll need to all get there together or it doesn't count."

"Finally the beach group, your task is probably the most perilous of them all. I want you to set up camp for us, and begin to build a fire and start preparing meals for everyone." Elena said, her face surprisingly serious. Roy at first wondered what she was up to, but then remembered that they were going to the beach, and that there was a reason they hadn't landed the ship there.

"Alright, everyone has their tasks, now get to it!"

[Anxiety Cafe]

In a McDonald's

"I hate those types. People with their sense of self-righteousness so inflated that they're full of themselves, but barely do anything to help others. The world seems full of them nowadays," Icarus responded, seeming more outgoing and passionate than usual.

"Yeah, I agree," she sighed. "But if people still help others, even with their arrogance, I don't think there's anything too wrong with it."

"...Uh, but, I doubt you want to hear me complain any further...How... how about you?" He added, quick to change the subject. "Help any other troubled kids lately?"

Violet felt a little surprised by his joking tone, not used to him being anything other than reserved and serious. She took it as a sign he was opening up, which she was glad to help out with.

"Eh, not really. It's been a bit of a quiet break for me since the summer started. Really boring, if I'm being honest," she smiled.

After placing their orders, the two sat at a table outside, liking the clear skies and warm temperature. Violet swirled salty peanuts and hot fudge into the sundae, while he chowed down. As dejected as she was before, she had hoped the sundae would cheer her up a little bit, but she really had no interest in eating it.

"So, how's your summer? Got any plans with your family?" she asked, breaking the silence.

---

On an Island Whose Name I Forgot

Nathan watched in awe as his teammates fought, showing off abilities he didn't even know they had. He felt a little underpowered compared to many of them, but decided to shrug it off. He'd just have to train harder and find other uses for his powers as well in order to match their level. That couldn't be too hard, right?

His thoughts about who to train with—Red came to mind, but where the hell was he?—were interrupted by Elena's announcement of new objectives. Instead of fighting each other, they were to set out and set up camp. Nathan, who was hopeful they would return to their air-conditioned home after the fighting, was not happy to find out they were staying the night. Still, he was quite happy with his team. He knew Carter and Mike somewhat well, and had a general idea of their capabilities. Park was someone he had no clue about, but he was sure she would be helpful.

"So..." Nathan started as their group began for the beach. "Does she want us to collect firewood and find something to eat?"

He was a little worried that she called their task the most difficult, especially considering one group had to catch a Lake Monster alive and another had to climb to a mountain peak. What could be so dangerous about the beach?

---

On the Algerian Coastline

The man's request was bizarre, to say the least. It was utterly outrageous! He was asking her to give him real, live human beings for him to eat! There was no way she could do that and keep a clean conscience. On the other hand, feeding him a couple meant that he would harm less in the future, and it meant no more of her sea creatures murdered in floating mass graves. Could she do such a despicable thing?

"What do you say?" he asked, his hand outstretched, seeking a handshake.

His question loomed over her, her mind fighting itself to determine the right course of action. Would it be better to sacrifice her creatures, or humans? She was obligated to choose the latter option, and that was the one she leaned towards. But still, she felt reluctant to answer.

Ignoring his hand, she took a couple steps to the side.

"How often do you have to..." she started, openly showing her disgust. "Feed?"

---

In Another Dimension

Yierneg shifted, attempting to get out of the demon's grasp, but a firm tug encouraged him to stop. Jennifer, meanwhile, was considering just leaving Yierneg, but the time it'd take for her to cast the portal spell would be more than enough for the demon to catch her as well. They were both stuck between a rock and a hard place; how could they hope to defeat such a demon?

"We must apologize, my lord," Jennifer began, discreetly grabbing something else out of her bag behind her back. "Our coming to your beautiful realm was a mistake. I was distracted when casting the spell. I also apologize for my friend's insolent behavior. I assure you, he will be punished for his behavior."

The demon seemed to consider this for a second, before breaking out in the most horrid laughter, its rancid breath rushing into their nostrils.

"You may go, child," it quieted itself. "I have no interest in Tolaerans and their realm."

"Why, thank you my lord!" she cried in disbelief, bowing.

"However," the demon's voice turned somber. "This one must stay. I have heard much about this particular Loshiak. He will remain here, and you will leave."

Yierneg's eyes widened in terror and he began to squirm again, his hooves kicking at the demon and just glancing off its armored skin. He knew immediately what had happened: his damned brothers had put a bounty on his head, apparently using their magicians. They wouldn't just kill him; he'd be tortured, and then publicly humiliated and executed! He'd take one less wing over that.

His fear must have been obvious, because the demon let loose another of its horrendously deep laughs. Jennifer's eyes flicked to Yierneg's in confusion, not knowing about his background. She had assumed he was just another magical creature refugee, just more arrogant than most. She came up with a plan almost immediately, but had no way to communicate it with Yierneg. Giving him a slight nod and hoping he saw it, she turned to the demon.

"Thank you, my lord. I shall be on my way."

With that, she began walking back into the forest, and was soon enough back in her home realm.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

It was a tough trip back to the clearing, what with having to navigate the forest's countless obstacles and watch out for any wild beasts all while carrying Carter, but Kiris eventually made it, leaving behind the sea of trees to return to the sandy plains where most of the other members of the Young Bloods were finishing the healthy ritual of beating the ever-loving snot out of each other. Looking around with curiosity to see how her teammates were doing, the alien girl soon spotted Elena, whose stern look did more than enough to convey how she felt about the two of them scurrying off to the forest to punch each other's lights out. Kiris approached the woman with a sheepish expression on her face, taking the scolding and then simply waiting and watching as the others finished their sparring matches.

Before long, all the matches were over and Elena called for everyone's attention, hers included. She listened attentively as the woman explained what their next training exercise would consist of: they'd split up into teams, each with a different goal. And as it often happened, fate decided to smile a little upon her, this time by sending her on the mission she found the most fun, climbing the mountain. As someone who loved climbing during her time in Adai, she was more than prepared for the challenge in front of her.

"Woo! Mountain team!" She shouted while raising her claws, practically brimming with enthusiasm despite being socked in the jaw, knocked off a tree and a lot more in the past several minutes. She quickly stood up with a little twirl and then ran up to Roy and Wendy. "Let's get goin'!" She urged them before looking over at Alice, waving at her. "You too, come on!"

Meanwhile, acting far more relaxed was Alexis, who was still trying to relax a little after pouring all of her (and her gadgets') energy into trying to defeat Nathan, to no avail. Giving the boy she sparred with a pat on the back and a quiet 'good luck', she went looking for her own teammates after Elena was done giving the Young Bloods the debriefing for their next training exercise. The first one she spotted was Angelica, and the blonde girl waltzed right over, throwing an arm around the masked girl's shoulder. "Frosty! Looks like we're gonna be working together. Try not to leave us rookies in the dust." She said in a friendly manner, hoping to continue bonding with the mysterious vigilante.

After thinking for a moment though, she corrected herself. "...Actually, I have a few spare batteries but I mostly spent all my juice sparring with Nathan so, if you want to show off, that's cool with me." She stated. "Just saying."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Leo Hanskimida

This little human in front of him, with swords. And he should be scared of him? But he thought of this again. He needs to keep the casualties low, unless he wants attentions, unwanted attentions. His ship's self-repairing system is slow, but it is making progress day by day. All he needs is to make sure that he gets his food, keeps the actions low enough, and making sure that no one witness his actions. Or at least put a blind eye on him. "I don't need cash in this planet, earthling. All I need is to grab what I need without the need of cash and such," he smirked at the thought.

He pulled his sword, letting a sparkle in the artificial lighting. "Move aside, earthling. All I want is the food at the storage room. And after that, I walk away from here. Don't try to play as a hero here. Hero dies faster facing against villains," he gave him a food of thought. He shrugged, "unless you want to die fast," he remarked.

And now the waiting game began. But he obviously prepared for a fight, his hands and claws turned for an offensive mode in case it is really needed.

---

Jonathan Jackson

She was reluctant to answer. Perhaps it was the result of his unnatural symbiotic cells, and the fact that he hurted her animals, her sea creatures, her she friends. His handshake still stood, in which she never took. But she did asked, "How often do you have to..." and also openly showing her disgust. "Feed?"

"Not much. It was not as many as it used to be at first. I need 14 humans for each week, 2 humans per day," he answered. "I know, I know, it's hard, it's also very offensive to kidnap people, innocent ones too. But I am trying to make sure I can control this power, this symbiote. And those humans consumption could be very well means less problem for both of us," he gave the suggestion.

And it wasn't so bad.

---

Park In-hyun

Elena and Naja stopped the fight. And then split them up, for missions of their own, this time as a team. She will be with Mike, Carter, and Nathan. Fuck, she knows nothing about the three of them, though she thinks she remembered about Carter and how they met back at the zoo. They are to the beaches, and to make a set of camp and meals for everyone. Meals, huh? She could bite whatever animals there and gave them as meals, slightly blood-sucked. Nathan asked about firewood collecting and food-making.

"Yes, she gave us jobs to make meals and firewood collecting," she answered. "Though, I guess we can start move to the beach and splitting up our job while we are on the way to the beach?" she suggested.

[Finland SSR]

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

The catman seemingly chose the correct answer to Floyd's sword-raising action - that is, holding his ground and preparing for battle. Perfect. A battle was about to commence, exactly as Floyd wanted. The superhuman began twiddling with his senses, turning off everything except vision, hearing, balance and limb position - this immediately gave him enough of an enhanced sight to look through the catman's skin, noting the honed claws, bulky structure and numerous potential weak points be could hit in the fur, neck and other places.

Floyd assumed a battle stance, moving his right hand and the sword with it back, while moving his left to the front and clenching its fist, as a preemptive defensive measure. Any strikes coming his way would have to meet with that fist first. But it didn't seem like the catman had any plans to attack first, so the swordsman continued:

"Chap. If you've come to this planet thinkin' you can get by without money and without running into fights every once in a while, then you should probably go back to Peacefull Furry Neverland Planet or wherever you're from." he stated, smirking. "Let's set it straight, - I ain't no hero, but I'll give you a test drive of what Earth's all about."

Within the span of an instant after finishing the word "about", Floyd would suddenly lunge forward at massively superhuman speeds in order to try to graze the giant cat's arm and stop behind his back.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Icarus listened to Violet answer his question, nodding wordlessly. To him, it had been largely the same, a quiet, boring summer. To the him that did not go out into the streets dressed in black to beat up criminals, at least. Not that he would say that going out to hunt criminals and having to fight self-righteous heroes on the way was too fun, but it was certainly far from being quiet and boring.

"...Boring, huh." He mumbled. Come to think of it, while he had run into one of his few friends recently, it had been quite a while since he last hung out with one of them. Silently, he wondered if maybe one of these days it would be better to try to get in contact instead of going out on his usual patrolling runs.

"Then again, isn't that what I'm doing right now?" He pondered. He supposed he was technically hanging out right now, though he hadn't thought of Violet as a friend before. Rather, she was just a nice girl he often met due to various circumstances.

Before he gave the matter any more thought, it was his turn to order. He didn't complicate himself, simply asking for one of the combos on the menu and then heading off with Violet to sit at a table outside of the locale. Much to his surprise, their orders were delivered fairly quickly, and, hungry as he was, he immediately set to the task of wolfing down his burger. The taste wasn't great, as expected, but it was something going down his stomach and that was all that he wanted. Plus, he did like fries, so he left them for last.

Shortly after he was done with the burger, the blond boy heard Violet's question. By all means, it was a perfectly innocent question, and yet it caused the boy to practically freeze up for a moment. "Uh, plans... with my..." He mumbled, looking down. "...No, not really. I wanted to visit my father, but I'm a minor and my guardian wants nothing to do with him, so that's not going to happen this summer." He explained, sounding a little frustrated. "Come September, though, I'll get to visit him whenever I want so, I guess that's something to look forward to."

Realizing that he was getting carried away again, he decided to try steering the conversation back to what he assumed might be a more cheerful topic. "What about you? Any..." He began, trailing off after a moment as he realized something. "Er, sorry. Come to think of it, I don't know a whole lot about you." He admitted, hoping he wasn't coming across as too awkward.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Raven

I was slightly disappointed that our little verbal sparring match was over and seemed to end in a standstill. With no one really gaining a real advantage. It would have been fun to draw some humiliation from the crazed killer before we use her for our own ends and kill her. Because after we are through with her, she will wish she was still back home dressing dolls. Perhaps I should have let loose that at least one of us knew what Red tasted like, and it certainly wasn't her. But no, that was too low. Even for me. As she vanished from the screen it did not take long for the debate to begin.

"So what do we do now? This is obviously more complicated than she is telling us. To be honest with you, I believe it's a trap." Briana remarked as Nicholas just nodded along in agreement.

Well, I owed the team some explanation. So I decided now was as good a time as any. "It most likely is a trap, but I doubt that will be until after we free Red. If Marionette could get this done herself I am certain she would. Why recruit us otherwise? This is just going to be a game of who uses who better." I sat down on the couch, while Nicholas sat in his computer chair as I continued.

"As for who this 'Red' guy is? He is some local hero, well, former hero now. And don't worry too much about him not being trustworthy, he is innocent of all the charges they slapped on him." Nicholas finished his soda and tossed it to the side in a trash bin.

"Well, how would you know that?" He questioned, sliding back in his chair.

"Because most of the murders he is accused of I did." I knew that there had to be some context placed on that statement, so I followed up.

"We briefly joined forces when we crossed paths and a pack of gangsters found us. I aimed to kill, and he aimed to maim. His targets he tried to leave alive. You think a man with his skills aims for the shoulder one night and then goes out and murders a dozen people? No, he has skills. I am certain he has been trained. But either he is a softie, or something is holding him back. Either way, he will make a great addition to round out our roster." With that done with I took a quick sniff of my shirt, and then glanced at the clock.

4AM in the morning, we still have plenty of time until 9 tonight. With a yawn I stood up and headed for the shower. Addressing Nicholas as I made my way to the bathroom.

"You are in charge of our planning from here on Nick. Figure a way to get us into the prison and out of the docks in one piece as well. I suggest we use this calm before the storm to rest up, eat and prepare. So..-" I yawned. "I am hitting the sheets after the shower. We have a big night ahead of us." Finally closing the bathroom door behind me I slid out of my sweaty and dirty clothes. Alright, I may have sweat some but....

I do NOT have lice.

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
On an Island somewhere in the Pacific

---

Yoshiro felt a surge of triumph as she saw Frost Bite’s attention following her feinted right hook. The other girl’s gaze tracked the motion of Yoshiro’s closed fist, right up until the point when the telepath shifted her weight over to her left foot. She could practically hear her great Uncle’s voice in the back of her head, questioning her form and criticising her footwork. Aikido prioritised fluidity and flexibility, and Yoshiro moved effortlessly as the countless hours practicing the same moves made her feet move instinctively. In the split-second that it took for Yoshiro’s feint to reveal itself, she had stepped closer towards Frost Bite, well within the other girl’s defences and close enough that the building momentum behind the telepath’s left jab would deliver a painful bruise. She could taste the victory, throwing her full weight and strength into this one punch. In the two weeks since the party, Yoshiro had trained as much as she could – determined to be able to be able to hold her own rather than pull the team down in a real fight. This would be the culmination of her efforts, proof that she really was part of the team.

And then Frost Bite’s gaze shifted.

The other girl moved with such speed that Yoshiro had trouble even following. With a graceful elegance, the hero stepped into Yoshiro’s feint, brushing aside the lacklustre strike while dodging the surprise attack from the left. Caught unprepared, Yoshiro’s eyes widened as the momentum of her own punch carried her fist, arm and eventually her entire body on a course that sailed right past her opponent. Almost in slow motion, Yoshiro could feel herself losing balance, realising that she had overcommitted with a sinking piece of lead in her stomach. Out of the corner of her vision, she could see the look of bored contempt that was etched on Frost Bite’s expression, and she felt a growing sense of dread at what would inevitably happen next.

Frost Bite had sighed inwardly as she effortlessly avoided Yoshiro’s clumsy attacks, the other girl’s limited experience giving her every intention away entire seconds before she’d even made up her mind. Swinging herself around with a calm efficiency, Frost Bite thrust an elbow directly into Yoshiro’s path. She deliberately avoided aiming for the other girl’s head, knowing that Naja would be all over her if she went too far. Instead, the off-balance telepath felt a piercing pain erupt in her chest. The blow sent the wind fleeing from her lungs, and left her gasping for breath. However, Frost Bite offered no respite, and her elbow immediately shot upwards, catching Yoshiro’s unprotected chin and sending her head shooting backwards. The impact sent the girl reeling, and left her vision in a daze. Acting in desperation, Yoshiro threw a wild punch that swung wide – a rookie mistake that drew a grimace from behind Frost Bite’s ever-present mask. Parrying and grabbing onto Yoshiro’s flailing arm, Frost Bite pulled the other girl into one final strike that slammed mercilessly into her gut.

The blow caused Yoshiro to keel over in pain, her mind a confused whir as she tried to piece together what happened. She noticed the unmistakable taste of blood in her mouth before feeling a sharp shove in the small of her back. Yelling out in surprise, Yoshiro watched effortlessly as the ground rushed up to greet her. Unable to catch her fall, the telepath felt her pride sink as she realised that this was how she was going to end the fight: sprawled unceremoniously on the dirt. Shutting her eyes in an effort to brace for the coming pain and embarrassment, Yoshiro tried to wish that she was somewhere else. And then she felt the painful moment of impact.

Time seemed to speed up, regaining its usual pace as the adrenalin left Yoshiro’s system. She could feel the new set of bruises adding themselves to the countless others that she’d already earned in the sparring session. It had been only a few brief seconds since she had thought that she’d finally attained the upper hand, but it had simply ended like it always did: with Frost Bite outmanoeuvring her and dealing out a brutal punishment in response. Despite the persistent aches in her limbs, Yoshiro forced herself to move once more, gradually trying to lift herself onto all fours. But even that effort seemed to fail her. With a sense of disappointment and defeat, Yoshiro allowed herself to flop onto her back – ending the fight.

“I yield, you win Frost.” The Japanese girl offered a weak smile, ignoring the numb pain that had seemed to spread over her entire jaw. “Almost got you that time though!”
Angelica let out a sigh in exasperation, offering Naja a silent grimace. Win? She could hardly have called this a fight, as one-sided as it had been. Throughout the entire session, Yoshiro had never once managed to make a connecting hit that Angelica had not easily brushed aside. Despite her power – if she had used it at all – Yoshiro’s inexperience made her easy pickings for the trained hero. Stepping over silently to offer her teammate a hand back to her feet, Angelica knew that Yoshiro would have been dead many times over had she been a real opponent. Seemingly realising that the fights were all reaching their conclusions, Elena turned to address the group.

“Well done, I know have a closer feel for the powers and skills that you all possess. I hope this session had made you all more comfortable with them. Now let's move on to something else, we need to work on your abilities to work in groups.”

Taking Angelica’s offered hand with a thanks, Yoshiro pulled herself back to her feet. She could feel her entire body aching, but tried not to let it show. She listened as Elena announced their next activities, feeling a slight sense of nervousness at the prospect of hunting for some kind of monster – especially after she had so thoroughly had her butt handed to her. Alexis waltzed over to the pair before either Yoshiro or Angelica had a chance to react. Yoshiro couldn’t help but laugh at her entrance, although the action made her aware of a whole new set of aches in her chest.

“Don’t sell yourself short either, Alexis. I could’ve used some your gadgets to have a chance against Frost Bite before!” Yoshiro was doing her best to try and appear friendly to the rest of the group, acting as if the fight was already out of her mind – but the reality was far from it. She could feel that brief moment of triumph, of having proven herself, drifting further away than it had ever been before. She knew that Angelica had gone easy on her, and yet still she hadn’t stood a chance. Even doing what she could to predict what her opponent would do next was worthless when she couldn’t get her body to react fast enough. What good would her powers be in a real fight? What must the rest of the team be thinking after her abysmal performance?

Silently, more than anything else, Yoshiro was just glad that Red hadn’t been there to watch her embarrass herself.

[Auropa]

Mike Mathew
Island in the pacific

After Roy agreed to spar he went into his own stance and moved in close.
Before anyone could so much as blink, Roy, had launched his attack. Seeing the incoming strike, Mike prepared himself and raised his baton to deflect Roy’s staff, only to be caught painfully in the side as the wind was knocked out of him. From one attack, he had practically confirmed what he already knew, he was outmatched. The thought brought a wryly grin to his face, a challenge was exactly what he need right now.
Focusing back on the fight, Mike pulled his defence back together and did his best to block the next torrent of blows. From what he had seen and heard, Roy’s main advantage was his speed and accuracy, even without his powers,. Adding to the problem was the fluidity of his staff. Unlike his short stick-of-a-weapon, Roy’s staff could be eloquently used to carefully control the direction of the fight. As the lower end of Roy’s staff landed another blow past Mike’s guard, he felt a plan finally come into his mind.

The next time the staff moved in to strike, he raised his free arm at the last second and let the blow fly straight into his exposed side. Fighting back a grunt of pain, he pulled his arm down to lock the staff in place before slamming his foot into Roy’s to pin it down. In an attempt to seize the initiative, he went on to launch a sharp uppercut with his baton into the side of Roy’s exposed head. In the time it took his baton to reach its mark though, Roy’s defences were back up and while still grappling for his staff with one hand, Roy was able to bock the strike with the other. Refusing to give up his assault, Mike launched two more blows against Roy’s arms before finally getting one past his guard and into his lower chest before the staff was wrenched from his grasp. At the same time, he found himself nearly toppled completely after a flash of movement lead to a kick being landed squarely in his chest.

In an instant, Roy had taken back the initiative. Darting in and out of Mike’s reach and defences, Roy alternated from his staff, fists and legs as he launched a near endless stream of acrobatic attacks against Mike ever crumbling guard. At first, he managed to hold his ground, parrying the first few punches, dodging the follow up swings and narrowly avoiding some kicks. But as the fight drew out and Roy’s barrage only increased in intensity, the fight’s end began to look inevitable. Mike steadily became disoriented and while he was able to land a few decent hits, Roy was always able to slide, flip and dart out of any unfavourable engagements. All the while he continued to land his own fast, unforgiving strikes on any, and every opening. Despite how it looked, though, Mike was far from giving up.

Eventually, his opportunity came as Roy moved in to finish him off with a strong overhead blow. At the last instance Mike surged forward and launched a tackle into his attacker. In addition to feeling like slamming into a brick wall, it didn’t take more than half a second before elbows slammed into his exposed back. Taking the pain as best he could Mike closed his eyes and slammed his opponent into the ground. The moment his body touched the floor, a blinding light shot out from earth as Mike’s last-ditch effort became clear.

From the beginning, he realised he’d lose in a fair fight. Taking that into consideration, he tried pinning Roy down to limit his speed but found him too difficult to keep locked in one place for long. From then on, he’d been trying to find a way to get him into a more secure grab while striking out whenever he could. Realising no opportunity would show, he ended up taking matter into his own hands as he focused his powers on a small patch of ground. Ever since his practice session with Nathan, Mike had been trying to work on different uses for his power. One he had been meaning to try, being the equivalent of a flashbang. As the fight with Roy dragged out, he poured what little energy he could into setting a charge of sorts into the ground before finally setting it off as he physically forced Roy ontop of it.

Not wasting a moment to so much as see his plan’s effect. Mike rolled off Roy, re-oriented himself and launched into his own volley of attacks. As it turned out, the flash had worked better than he could’ve hoped. While he had managed to get up, Roy appeared almost completely disoriented and exposed as Mike un leashed his flurry of attacks. Despite his state, Roy managed to bring his arms up block the first blow from the baton but left himself open to a low punch from the other side followed by a knee to the gut. For a few seconds, the path of the fight had completely changed. Roy’s movements had become sluggish and slow as he struggled to recover as Mike continued to launch heavy attacks aimed at ending the fight. But when before long, as Mike pulled his arm back to launch another strike, he found his balance broken by a quick jab to his striking shoulder and two near simultaneous blows to head. Pulling back, Mike knew the sudden attacks were a sign of Roy’s recovery. Now, it was a matter of attrition. Roy had taken a few hits and his speed was still lower than It was before, but Mike had still taken too much damage and was close to being on his last legs. Deciding on a gamble he charged in to attack in the hopes he still held the advantage. He managed to block the first and second swings from the staff and even managed to narrowly dodge Roy’s short jab, but as he launched his own hook, he found his fist meeting nothing but air. Roy disappeared from his sight as he darted around and reached his exposed back like a coiled viper. In the next instant, Mike found himself face first in the ground after Roy easily tripped him over from the side with the end of his staff.

Flipping onto his back, panting with exhaustion, Mike raised his hands in defeat. He knew Roy could’ve taken the chance to land a dozen blows into Mike’s already weakened body and bring the fight to a more painful end, no matter how he put it, it was his loss. “I really thought I had you for a moment there” he said beneath a smirk as Roy helped him to his feet. Despite losing, Mike felt good. After everything that happened at the zoo and yesterday’s argument with Red, he needed a chance to get out of his own head. In the end, he figured he’d apologize to his teammate the next chance he got, sure he still believed in what he said, but Red wasn’t at fault.

As he stretched out his freshly bruised chest, Elena spoke up about the next task. After hearing the jobs of the other teams, Mike couldn’t help but breathe out a relieved sigh. After his spar, he’d be more than happy to take the easy job.
“For what its worth, I’m not bad at starting fires.” He said as he caught up to his group. All things considered, he liked his group. He’d gotten along with Nathan since the team started and Carter was... well, Carter. Park was still a new face and maybe a little wild for Mike’s usual sense of order, but he couldn’t deny that she knew how to take care of herself. “As for setting up camp, let’s see what’s there”.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Carter would've loved to walk into camp with a triumphant smile and self-assured stride, dragging Kiris' worn, battered body behind him into the clearing with muscular strength. A few cuts and scrapes to show the perilous treetop battle he won, his hair flowing in the wind.

Unfortunately, the real image was one of Carter being carried into the clearing by Kiris, a nasty cut under his eye, a leaf caught in his hair, and generally looking like he was about to vomit at any second. He hadn't really remembered much of the trek back to the clearing, he kinda blacked out during it, his double vision still lingering slightly. Then, Kiris decided to drop him face-first on the sand in her excitement, resulting in a slightly bulky amount of sand entering his mouth, before being promptly spat and coughed back out. Pushing himself up, he got to his feet slightly unsteadily, eagerly awaiting the new exercise. Visions of volcanic climbs, Tarzan swings, living Leviathans jumping out of the babbling brooks.

But, as it turns out, he got the oh-so exciting task of building fires.

"WHAT!!" he half-screamed as she finished, barely even caring about his group. "W-what is this?! ARE YOU FECKING KIDDING ME!" he continued at the top of his lungs before kicking a sizable rock, and receiving a toe stub in the process. Continuing to mutter words such as "firewood", "coconut", and "fuck" under his breath, he hobbled over to the group, a slight expression of pain twisting his face.

"Well...food shouldn't be a problem. You know, it's a tropical island, bananas, mangoes, coconuts, something like that? Might be some fish in the lagoons and stuff. Anyways, I guess, let's embark on our great firewood collecting adventure!" he promptly said before hobbling towards the beach...and promptly toppling over. Quickly flushing, he scrambled back up to his feet. "Uh....pretend you didn't see that."

[Scotatrova]

Diego Belcourt

Mariposa County, Central California

Steven and Veronica passed through the south entrance to Yosemite National Park and walked along a road that was virtually weed free, the first clear road they had seen out here. They encountered the first fence two miles up the road. It was a heavy chain-link affair similar to the one that surrounded their town, but it was hidden between two rows of thick evergreen hedges that acted as screens. A sign told them that the hotel was two miles along the road.

The road led through a complex network of trenches. There were rows of trip wires, and deadfall pits covered by camouflage screens. Directions for navigating the road safely were written on large wooden signs. Instead of building defenses that were based on the way people protect towns and forts against attacks, this one was specifically designed against an unthinking, yet unrelenting enemy. Subterfuge was unnecessary. Steven and Veronica peered into some of the trenches and saw heaps of old bones, eloquent proof that these defenses worked. But against what?

"Seems like these...pits, proved useful." said Veronica. The winding path was lined with hundreds of trees, ancient oaks and many younger trees planted in the last decade or so to reduce visibility. In the distance they could see much larger trees rising up above the forest, monstrous sequoias that towered more than 250 feet into the blue sky. Then the forest opened up and the big Wawona Hotel rose above them like a promise of warm beds, country breakfasts and civil conversation. "Finally," breathed Veronica, exhausted from their long hike. The Wawona Hotel had a double row of verandas, one on the ground level at the top of a short flight of steps, and the other built directly above it on the second floor. Whitewashed columns rose to the pitched roof, which was covered in gray shingles that, though weathered, looked to be in good repair. Tall willows blocked most of the view of the upper floor and roof, and these softer trees lent the place a quiet and rustic appearance that was as calming in its way as were the fortifications, and...weapons. Because of the trees, all they could read of the hotel's name was a large black W painted just below the edge of the roof. Beside the hotel was a corral filled with horses, most of them standing with heads down as they munched the green spring grass; a few stood by the rails, watching with brown eyed curiosity. Beyond the corral stood more than two dozen armored trade wagons. In the distance, off behind the big building, were party sounds. Loud voices and laughter.

"If I'd known what this place was like," said Steven. "I'd have tried to get a job here instead of apprenticing with Scott."

"Really?"

"Sure. I'll bet everyone out here talks about the way things are, instead of going on about how things used to be. You'd have enough stuff to fill up your journal in a week."

Veronica smiled at the thought. "There seems to be a lot of people here."

They were still sixty yards from the front steps when they heard a sound behind them. A soft football, and they turned to see three men standing on the grass verge behind them. Steven realized that he and Veronica had been so focused on the hotel that they must have walked right by them. Two of the men were strangers with the hard faces of bounty hunters, one was a brown skinned brute with a flight of ravens tattooed across his face and down his throat; the other was a hulk of a white man with no neck and little pig eyes. They studied Steven and Veronica with unsmiling faces. The third man however, was smiling, and he was known to Steven. They called him Ol' Jack.

"Well, well, if this ain't cause to say hallelujah," said the man. He had eyes the color of deep winter ice, cold and blue. As if conjured by his dark magic, a chilly wind whipped past them, rustling the leaves and sending the birds shrieking into the air. Ol' Jack's pale eyes sparkled with pleasure, and when his lips writhed into their twitchy smile it revealed teeth stained with chewing tobacco and black coffee. "Now," he said softly, "how is it that I'm blessed with the company of two such fine young people here on my own humble front lawn?"

"What are you talking about? What front lawn?"

Ol' Jack chuckled and lifted his chin toward the house. "Funny, you being the son of Samuel Belcourt, the brother of Mason Belcourt, and him supposed to be smart, I'm downright suprised you ain't figured things out yet."

"That's impossible!" Steven shouted.

"Nothing is impossible in this world of wonder, young Steven Belcourt," said Ol' Jack with a soft chuckle.

"I don't understand, my uncle said-"

"Your uncle ain't been out here for a long time boy. In fact, he isn't up to much these days isn't he?"

"Good thing too," groused the black man with the raven tattoos. "Used to be a man couldn't piss in these woods without Mason Belcourt giving him a crap for it. Your uncle's a pain in everyone's butt out here, kid."

"Was," corrected Ol' Jack, holding up a slender finger. "Mason Belcourt's days are over. None of our fellowship need that man or his violent ways. In fact, I'm sure to assume that his boy, your pain in the neck cousin is on his way now. But sadly, he'll follow the same path as the rest of his family. A bright new day has dawned out here in paradise. Believe it, for it is so."

Veronica curled her lip in distaste. "Really? What I believe is that when Diego gets here he's going to kick your-"

Ol' Jack suddenly stepped forward and struck Veronica across the face with an open-handed slap that was so shockingly fast and hard that it spun her around and dropped her to her hands and knees. Steven cried out and tried to catch her while also trying to counter. He failed in both attempts. The white man with the pig eyes grabbed Veronica by the hair and pulled her away. Steven instantly stopped fumbling and punched the man in the abdomen. The man's torso was sheathed in hard muscle, but his father had taught him how to use his whole body as a conduit to put enough mystical energy into a punch. The little pig eyes bulged, and the man coughed and released his hold. Steven slammed him backward with a two-handed blast, that sent the thug crashing into the black man. They both went down in tangled limbs and vile curses. Veronica struggled to get to her feet, but she was dazed and bleeding. In a fit of rage, Steven used all his strength and fired a blast at Ol' Jack's grinning mouth. It never connected.

Ol' Jack was old, as his name implied, in his sixties, with a face as lined as a road map and a body as fragile looking as a stick, but he stepped into the blast and caught Steven's wrist with one calloused hand. The sudden stop jolted Steven, but the shock of it, the impossibility of it, froze him into the moment. He stared at the arm that gripped his and the looked up into Ol' Jack's face. That smile never wavered. "Surprise, surprise," whispered the man. With his free hand he punched Steven full in the face. Steven reeled back, bright blood spurting from his nose. He suddenly fell, and his left arm struck Veronica across the temple. They both crashed into the grass.

Worms of flame twisted through the air in front of Steven's eyes, and his whole head seemed to be filled with bursting fireworks. Next to him, Veronica groaned softly and rolled onto her side. Ol' Jack stood over them. "Oh, how strange the world must be to you young people. Strange, and wonderous and full of mysteries," he murmured. Weird shadows swirled in his pale eyes. "I know what questions must be screaming inside your heads right at this very moment, indeed I do."

Steven spat blood out of his mouth. "You don't know anything about us."

"Actually my young buck, I know more about you than you know about me...and that's going to be so unfortunate for you."

Steven cut a glance at Veronica. The bleeding had slowed, but her eyes were wild with hatred and terror. It made him wonder what lights burned in his own eyes. Aloud Steven said, "What are you going to do with us?"

"I think we all know the answer to that question. Purgatory awaits all sinners." Ol' Jack rose and nodded to his men. "Bring them."

---A Short Time Later---

Diego came out of the clearing and turned toward the hotel. The chilly wind was blowing through the weeping willows, lifting the leaves to reveal the upper story, and he could see with terrifying clarity the words that had been painted there. The black W was not the first letter of "Wawona Hotel". It was the first letter of "Welcome." The location Redhead had given him was correct. Diego could feel his insides turn to ice and his hands had lost their crushing force as he read the three words painted across the front of the hotel. Welcome to Shadowland.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Hearing the voice of another girl addressing her, Alexis straightened up and looked around, quickly spotting a smiling Yoshiro who proceeded to compliment her gadgets. Returning the smile with her own cheerful grin, the blonde girl was quick to respond. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure of it Yoshi. And I would have loved to fight Icy Daisy here instead of a boy who just cannibalizes my batteries, but we can't always get what we want. You can't win 'em all after all!" She said, clapping Frostbite's shoulder for emphasis and then letting go of the masked girl, focusing her attention on Yoshiro. Now that she was paying attention, she could notice that the other girl was fairly beat up, and she let out a whistle as she approached.

"But girl, damn, you look like something ran you over." The young engineer stated, glancing back at Angelica. "What did you hit her with, the weight of your indifference?" She said teasingly, before checking a few indicators on one of her electronic gauntlets and then turning back to Yoshiro. "Fortunately, you're right that I'm pretty resourceful and industrious, and I've got just the thing to help you out after being given the cold shoulder. Just hold still and you'll start feeling better..." She added, trailing off as she held her gauntlet, the same one that she had fed a fresh power cell after her sparring match with Nathan, in front of and fairly close to Yoshiro's body. The gauntlet began emitting a soft green light, and she began holding it over various parts of the girl's body that she suspected had been affected.

Just as during the night of the battle against the inmates on Wonder Island, the gauntlet wouldn't instantly heal all of Yoshiro's wounds and bruises, instead simply improving her natural regeneration by a little and sending some extra energy to her brain and the rest of her body. However, the design had been improved since that night, so the gauntlet would now provide an analgesic effect as well, alleviating the girl's pain in addition to its other effects. All in all, Alexis hoped it would help Yoshi feel a lot better than before.

"Well? How do you like it? Try not to get hooked, if I get crazy I might start charging." The blonde said with a playful smile.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

--Snip--

Amir Zairi,
a couple minutes ago
The giant growth spur shocked me for a moment but I quickly focused on her attack. I tried to evade her by somersaulting backward, but her size means I was not very successful at evading her. She failed to grab me but she managed to send me flying. The protective runes on my back absorbed some of the energy, but it was never meant to hold off blunt implements, so I was still left with aches once I landed back on earth. At least now I got some distance away from her. Alright, time for a plan.

I ran a quick calculation on my head. I got the advantage of firepower and range, but she got mobility and raw strength. I had no idea if she know any jujitsu or karate, so I should put that into consideration just in case. I could give her a barrage of my previous attack, but as she had just proven she could easily shrink her way out of that. I could set up a trap and lure her in, with her trailing behind me. The problem was, well, she was trailing behind me and giving me no breathing room to set up one. She's coming closer though, and I needed to find a solution now.

I tried to glean for more information using my glasses. Maybe there's something around here that I could use, maybe old forgotten bear traps or something. Unfortunately, we were in an open field and there were nothing that could help me, as far as I could see. Dammit. I got no option but facing her directly then. I scrambled to switch the rune on my gauntlet and change it to a different one. I aimed it right in front of me, all the while channeling some arcane energy to the circular sigil. The pattern shone upon the grasses, a derivative of the futhark letters Eihwaz and Algiz. Strength and Protection.

Faint green light crept around the edges of the circle before it shot up to the sky. A pillar of green light shot up before it spread up to my left and right. The light got dimmer as it is converted to a curtain of pure force. It was still quite visible, there is no way I could completely turned the energy into kinetic force, but hopefully it would be enough for me to hold Alice down for awhile.
"Come girl," I taunted her.

---

Now,
"So...."
I looked at Wyatt, Mars, and Cassandra. After finishing my brawl with Alice Elena had put us into different groups with different tasks. I got into the Forest Group and was tasked to find some wild berries and herbs. I idly brushed the fresh bruises on my arm, courtesy of the recent fight. I wasn't really sure what was Elena storing for us. Other than my lack of botanical knowledge, our task didn't seem like something particularly troublesome, at least compared to climbing a mountain or retrieving a "Lake Monster". But I know right from the start it would not be as simple as taking a stroll in the park. "Anyone familiar with the lists?" I asked my group. I looked at Cassie, hoping that she might have some data regarding the forest.

[Turmenista]

Johnny Swift

---

"No means no, Swift."

"Pardon?"

"Don't act all fancy with me, son. I said you're not going to the party."

Johnny blinked. His father sat on the couch in front of him, crossing one leg over the other as one hand was used as a rest for his chin, the other clutching a cold bottle of some unknown and expensive glass of wine as he looked back at his son with a sly grin, his beer belly producing a sort of pregnant affect on his stomach as Johnny glowered at his dad.

He was in all the right positions to be mad at the Vietnam war vet. He could still remember his drunken swearing and constant reminder that "you always have to be the best, better than everyone," but at the same time remembered his more violent and racist words rather than his "reassuring" language. This man was his father, and he was his son, but as of now, they were enemies. One wanted to go to a party with a bunch of Thomsen High kids, and the other wanted to watch a baseball game.

The argument wasn't going anywhere, and hadn't been for the past five minutes. Johnny sighed. "I'm going anyways, dad."

"No you aren't."

"Why the hell not?" He challenged, folding his arms. Arguing with his dad was getting very irritating, but the older man stood up suddenly, raising his voice ever so slightly. "How many fucking schools have you been taken out of, Johnny? That I had to bail your ass out of so it wouldn't go on your permanent record?! Go on, answer me."

Johnny's mind raced back all the way to his first expulsion, then to the latest school since he had been accepted to Thomsen High. "Eighteen."

"You're 19 goddamn years old, Johnny. You're going in Thomsen High as a senior. You really think those pretentious pieces of shit over there are gonna let you just walk off from an expulsion like nothing happened? Fuck no! You get kicked out of there and you're fucked for the rest of your life, man. And you wanna know where I think you're getting all these rebellious desires from?"

Johnny almost broke out into laughter as he gave his best comeback yet. "Let me guess... Video games?"

"No, you dumbass. These stupid-ass parties you're going to - and now you're telling me you're trying to go to a party with superhumans? And I gotta turn around in my bed wondering about what sort of mutants you're going to try to fuck today? Vietnam was bad enough getting disrespected by the kids, but this?"

"Dad, you're overexaggerating this situation to fucking 11. I'm gonna be fine."

"Just think of what your mom's gonna think about this when she gets ho-"

Johnny didn't know when he snapped, but he had found himself up in front of his dad suddenly, a finger right in the geriatric vet's face. "Don't you bring mom into this - this is between you and me, you drunk asshole! Leave her alone!"

"DRUNK?" The man's acrid breath in his face was like a chemical agent used in war. "I'm hardly even drunk, Johnny! You on the other hand - oh, it's on you if you get into this shit at a party, I know you've already tried it before. Don't expect me to pick your ass up at whoever's house it is if you're busy praying to the porcelain gods. That's all the more reason that I don't want you there."

Johnny felt like punching his father, laughing in his face as he watched his black air cavalry baseball cap fly off his head and away, giving him some well needed payback for the last 18 years of a shitshow that he had to put up with him. He was about a nanometer away from doing so, but stopped himself from doing so. He had to realize that the man was his father at the end of his day, and he was his son. His dad was the same man who'd been there in full uniform to stand up for Johnny at his first expulsion, taught him how to ask a girl out, and trained him to be the fastest person on the track team of every single school he'd been to, even without his powers. As much as he disliked the man, Johnny still had at least a modicum of respect for him and what he had done for him in the past.

So, with a deep breath, he backed up from his father, jamming his hands into his pockets as they both calmed down slightly. "Dad, you can trust me. I promise."

"Yeah, tell me that, and then see what'll happen when you come home with.. what's her name? Clara Mason. Keep that witch bitch away from my house."

"Goth girls aren't my thing," Johnny was obviously fibbing.

"Who cares? You know what - you've tired me out, kid. Get going. Go to the goddamn party if you want, but don't expect me to bail you out if something bad happens or if someone mentions it at school. You got a battle buddy?"

"A what?"

"Designated driver. Whatever it's called."

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I got one. His name's Floyd."

"Well then, your ass is back here as soon as it's over, Johnny." His dad sat back down in his seat as the boy stepped over to the front door, pulling on his army jacket. "I won't be out late. You don't need to worry."

"Tch. Whatever you say," his father scoffed, not even bothering to wave goodbye to the boy as he left the house.

[Tomia]

Kiris and Alexis

Training Island
Roy was caught off guard my Kiris' enthusiasm but it certainly wasn't unexpected from his teammate. "Glad to see you're excited Kiris." He said with a smile. "You're right we should get going. The mountain is a bit of a walk from here and it might take a while to climb."He said to the other four that had began to gather around him. Roy started gathering supplies they'd need, like some water and snacks that Naja had brought along for them, as well as climbing hooks and rope. As he collected their things, his thoughts starting moving towards how they could use everyone's powers effectively.

Their walk through the forest to get to the mountain was fairly peaceful, despite the occasional root sticking out that threatened to trip an expecting traveler. It was sunny, and a soft breeze ran through the trees around them. "Nice day," Roy commented aimlessly to the group as they walked together. They walked for about two miles, which took them around twenty minutes or so. After that time they reached a clearing, the sun growing thicker on their eyes as they walked out from under the cover of the trees. Despite the sun they could see the mountain they were meant to climb in the near distance. Mountain was a bit of stretch of terms but it was still large and Roy could already see the entrances to the internal tunnels that ran through the mountain. The mountain itself appeared to be around 2,000 by Roy's estimate. It wasn't too tall, but it was quite steep and didn't seem to have a clear path to climb. "Well, what do you all prefer, inside or outside?"

Frost Bite scoffed as Alexis threw her arm around her, pushes herself free of the other girl's grasp. "I didn't do anything she didn't sign up for when we agreed to spar." Angelica said defensively. "And don't call me Frosty." She actually did feel slightly bad for hurting Yoshi, but combat was combat. She'd never go easy on someone even in training. If you weren't giving it your all there was no part in doing it at all. "Come on, let's get started already." He told the group heading off towards the lake and assuming they would follow. The lake wasn't far, and Frost Bite could tell it was close by the humidity. The lake was large, and she couldn't tell the shape of it because she couldn't see the other side. She sighed, this hunt would take forever. As she walked towards the shore however she saw a dock that had a small row motor boat attached to it. It wasn't much but it certainly beat swimming. "Come on, we have a monster to catch!" She shouted to her group as she sat in the driver seat, putting a hand on the motor. "I'm the captain now." She said softly to herself, smiling at her own little reference.