Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Sebastian Miller
San Diego

5 years. 5 years had passed since Sebastian entered a ring for the last time. Now he walked alone, before the gym opened, looking at the ring people used to train. It wasn't traumatic, at least not the construction itself, but it reminded him of what happened. The times he fought, the championships he won... And the death of his father. He exercised and practiced, but never did it in the ring again, against a real opponent. It brought bad memories to him, or at least a certain feeling.

Inside his office, Sebastian unlocked a drawer, looking at an old newspaper. The somewhat yellowed and fragile pages showed in big, bold letters the start of an article about himself...

Ring Talk
At 25 years old, Sebastian Miller announces retirement
By Arnold Morris

After the tragic death of his father and trainer, Gerald Miller, his son publicly announced his retirement. It was a long week of grief for the young star of the MMA world that showed a promising career. With only one loss in his cartel, Sebastian's future is uncertain: The only information he gave away at the interview is that he will be working with the Miller Fighting Academy, a project that he started along with his family. Investors declared that they understand Sebastian's decision, but rumors say that they are unhappy with Sebastian's decision.

Considered one of the best boxers in the MMA department, Sebastian reshaped the heavyweight division with his style. Never abandoning what he called as his "family tradition", his punches placed him on the way to professional and commercial success. The massive fighter was a vision of an exciting past, painted with fresh colors of charisma: As he mentioned once about his line of work, "we must know that the public pays for a spectacle, not a boring dance between two grown men". Taking those words to the heart and to the ring, he fought for three years in way that is rare to see.

We, as admirers of the sport, are pained to see a young athlete leaving so soon. As fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, we offer our condolences to the Miller family.

The article kept going on, listing his accomplishments and the money he won with his fights and bets. That world where people spoke directly about him looked like a fragment of his actual self: Someone that people spoke about, but not mentioning his name or even his nickname at all. In the news, smashed bodies appeared behind pixels. His work - his secret work - displayed, often with the relates of terrorized criminals. A man, made of pure metal, unharmed by the bullets and that simply walked over them. Opinions of experts were divided: A few said that he was a man acting by his own criminal code, therefore, an entitled and empowered criminal. Others said he was doing what the public security wanted to do, but couldn't. His identity? A secret.

Again, the vigilante readied himself for another night. Locking the doors of his gym as he went out, he put the mask on his pocket and a hood over his face, running as an exercise while he entered a less friendly neighborhood. He never knew what would happen, but he was confident enough to look for bigger fish than the usual robber.

[Turmenista]

Johnny Swift

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

For once, the speedster’s mind had managed to catch up with his inconceivably absurd agility, and rightfully so. The old saying went that some people could “think faster than they could speak”– this was true, for Johnny at least, because he had made such an inflammatory and potentially racist remark as “You” when he pointed at Brock, without even taking the time to realize what sort of trap that Brock had already laid for them.

His Photographic memory did it for him. The guys posted at the doors outside, the fake jacket move, even the candy –, it was all planned from the start. Brock knew that Johnny was coming, and he knew he wasn’t coming alone.

He had played them like a piano, and if Brock pulled something off like having his cronies swarm him and Floyd or, even worse, getting the police involved, then his entire plan for humiliating that slimy little cuck known as Brock Spencer in front of everyone here and effectively pulling off a coup d’état on his little friend group would be negated. For all intensive purposes, he wasn’t in the mood to be going home with a cauterized, gaping hole in his chest.

Finger still extended towards the Afro-American titan, Johnny slowly stepped over the small pile of ash in the doorway that had been made when the door disintegrated. By now, the music had since been lowered down to a bearable level, but a veritable crowd had formed in the aftermath of the standoff. He’d almost forgotten that he was supposed to be answering his question, and in that moment he eventually regained his composure.

“What?”

“You heard me, Swift,” Brock replied, folding his arms. “I thought you were coming with some other buddy with you.”

Just then, the sound of electricity fizzing broke his train of thought as everyone whipped their heads around to the speakers situated around the first floor. A black object had been thrown like a javelin, shattering through two of the three speakers with ease before the music cut out, leaving the party without music and everyone confused out of their minds as to figure out who was responsible for killing the music. As if on cue, Floyd arrived, stepping through the crowd and cracking his knuckles as he spoke to the duo. “Oh, he’s got a buddy alright. Though, to be honest, so will you pretty soon. One big red truck with a cross on the side. And no, it’s not Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Johnny grinned at the Brit’s remark, the crowd Ooooooh!ing in response to the threat. Things were about to get rather interesting rather quickly. “That’s right, Brock,” Johnny added on. “I’m your all-inclusive ticket to BTFO-land, buddy. But, if you wanna chimpout early and tell everyone how much of a little bitch you are, maybe I’ll spare whooping your ass.”

Another wince from the crowd, but Brock remained as vigilant and unwavering as a rock. “Alright, Johnny… I can see that you talk the talk,” he began to walk slowly towards the much smaller teen, eventually looking straight down at the manlet, gladly taking in his superior height. “But can you walk the walk?”

Another Ooooooh! from the crowd as Johnny smirked. “I just did. Took out one of your buddies and that door. You’re up next.”

“You know, you really think that you’re all this, Johnny. You think you got all this clout like you can just wave it around from your pants just cause you got a bit of a reputation. I mean, hello? Lemme go ask Clara Mason about you, see who’s the real bitch now, huh? And what’s with that weirdo over there? You tryna tell me that you can’t seriously think of beating me without his help?”

The crowd was absolutely bananas, Brock was livid, and Johnny was seriously looking forward to smashing this guy’s face into the wall. But by the time that the two were practically touching, their allies had approached as well, with Floyd facing off against a large group of similarly-sized titans, all nervous about the situation at hand. “Wait… Brock, just calm down a little..” one paused short, as the QB snapped his head to him, scowled, then turned back to Johnny.

“Listen here, Swift. You’re really in for a world of shit right now, you know that?”

“Likewise, dickhead.”

“And you know what happens to every little shit that tries to speak bad about me?” Brock snapped, to which Johnny simply scoffed. “Lemme guess, you run him over? Stop trying to make me laugh, Brock. I already know you’re all bark and no bite, all brawn but no brain. Where I come from, you wouldn’t last a day, and you know it, going here to this posh little super school. Now..” He paused. “Are you gonna go show all your friends here how strong you truly are and take us on, or are you just gonna sit around like a chum and look stupid?”


Johnny initially thought that he had made a mistake when Brock paused, stiffened up, but laughed as well. Disturbingly so. His gut was telling him that just some measly little green fireball melting a door to ash was only the tip of the iceberg of his powers. If he truly was capable of taking both of them on, then maybe bringing only just Floyd was a bad idea…

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Swift. And ALL OF YOU BETTER LISTEN UP! I’m gonna take these two into that room there, and whoever comes out, comes out. Do NOT - I say again - do NOT try to come in and help me, cause I’m gonna show these fuckers why they shouldn’t mess with Brock Spencer. Alright?”

Taken back a bit by Brock’s sudden change in demeanor, Johnny gladly entered the room, waiting for Floyd to follow in behind him. Once Brock closed the door behind them, locked it, put on some 80s rock music on a boombox nearby, and took off his shirt to reveal a muscular exterior, Johnny began to have sudden thoughts on taking on this guy...

[Finland SSR]

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

-

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Floyd's olympic sword toss - why isn't that an official sport? - and subsequent dissing of Brock caught some attention from the two man-children and the crowd around them, but everyone's focus soon went back to Johnny and Brock throwing verbal shit at each other and trying to raise up the crowd. Floyd was following the "debate" for the first few seconds, only to realize that nothing productive was going to come out of it, so he instead decided to spend the time walking up to the destroyed sound systems and taking out his sword - as expected, the weapon barely got a scratch from the impact. Demon built swords have that quality seal of approval, you see - the swordsman has been using this baby for ten years and it's still in perfect shape.

With the sword safely sheathed, Floyd casually walked back to the shit-slinging battlefield, only to notice that the battle was dying down at last. Thank goodness. After a particularly harsh insult from Johnny's side, Brock seemed to have reached a boiling point and called them both to join him in his little apartment for a fight. And no help for each side from the spectators - that's... honestly disappointing. Floyd would have genuinely enjoyed fighting five or six Brocks, not just one, and with an ally on his side to make it unfair.

Then again, his ally was Johnny, so maybe it was unfair towards him.

After the three combatants stepped into the Royal Rumble Room, Floyd pulled out his sword at roughly the same time as Brock took off his shirt, revealing a muscular exterior. Not that it wasn't already obvious that this is going to be a mountain of muscle. Mountains of muscle are, by the way, easy to land hits on. It's not easy to guard and dodge when you're seven feet tall.

"Johnny. Have you ever been conscripted?" Floyd suddenly spoke, not a tinge of fear in his voice. "I'm gonna assume you haven't, because this means that you'll have to learn how to become a meatshield in five seconds."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 5th
Lake Group, Isla de la Paz

Yoshiro let out a sigh of relief as Frost Bite pulled Alexis out of the lake, and Casimir too felt relieved once the masked vigilante took the initiative and saved her; a drowned teammate was definitely not something they needed right now. But their relief was short-lived, there would be no time for celebrating. Yoshiro watched, mouth agape, as an actual lake monster slowly emerged out of the depths, it’s head towering high above the boat and the young heroes on board as it made a beeline towards their boat. Before she could even properly react to what was happening and overcome the fear which was freezing her in place, Alexis jumped into action, using one of her gadgets to send them rocketing towards the shoreline. The sudden acceleration caught Yoshiro off-guard, and she let out a cry of surprise as she found herself flung forward. Losing her balance, the telepath wound up on the floor of the speedboat, holding on for dear life as they sped away form the immediate danger. Meanwhile, Casimir held his stomach hoping he didn't retch in front of them. The spar with Cassandra had taken a lot out of him and the high velocity of their escape didn't make him feel any better.

Before the speed disoriented them too much, the boat slowed down, allowing them to take a breather. The shock forced her head into gear, and she listened intently as Alexis laid out her plan. The colour seemed to drain from Yoshiro’s face as the younger girl finished speaking, and she glanced nervously at the approaching monster. She’d never even tried using her powers on something that big before. With a stubborn nod of determination, Yoshiro chased away the nugget of doubt. Two weeks ago, she’d passed out just from the effort of catching Mars - but she wasn’t about to let the team down now. Once he settled down, Casimir too listened intently to Alexis plan and nodded in agreement with his role as the muscle of the group. He was tired but it he could power though it if it meant his teammates wouldn't get hurt.

"Seeing as I don't have any ranged attacks I'll be on standby until we're on shore," offered Casimir.

Frost Bite paid attention to the plan as well, and was actually impressed. Getting to the shore was their best bet, they had no chance of defeating this creature in water. She had an addition though, “I can help get us to shore. I’ll use my ice to distract it and block it’s path while you drive.” She said, carrying out her task as the boat sped away at high speeds. She froze the water behind them, as well as sending the occasional shot to the creatures head. Soon they arrived at the shore, and Alexis brought the boat to an abrupt stop. Once they stopped the creature started gaining on them, getting closer and closer.

“Whatever you two are going to do, do it now!” She shouted at Alexis, and Yoshiro, grabbing the young lake creature before getting out of the way of the upcoming attack.

Yoshiro nodded in response, her eyes closed as she tried to ignore all the chaotic sounds and distractions around her. She just had to focus on the monster - while doing her best to pretend that it wasn’t barrelling towards her with the intention of picking her flesh from her bones.

Shut up, don’t think about it. It’s just like with the chair lift at the zoo, you didn’t let Red down back then - don’t let everyone else down now.

Extending an arm, Yoshiro braced herself and prepared to do everything she could to immobilise the creature - all she needed was Alexis’ signal.

“Yoshi, get ready and don’t do anything until I tell you to.” The blonde girl spoke as she carefully watched the lake beast approach rapidly, swimming in wild pursuit of its offspring. Still some distance away from the boat, the creature suddenly submerged itself into the lake. Then, it suddenly burst forth from the water, leaping onto the four teenagers like a big cat, raining freshwater upon them and looming dangerously. With a determined expression that was quite unlike her usual playful demeanor, Alexis continued watching. The beast fell towards them, and, moments before it reached them and sank them alongside the boat, she raised her gauntlets, wrists pressed together and palms pointed at the monster.

“Now! Push!” She shouted, and at that exact moment, a powerful pulse of energy shot out from the gauntlets; the power cells within them were emptied with that single wave, which resulted in it having enough power to send even something as large as the creature from the lake flying in the direction of the shore. Together with Yoshiro’s telekinesis, the force was enough to push the monster inland a good distance, leaving the monster stunned and out of its element, and giving the team a much-needed advantage, or at least taking away the creature’s. However, the sheer magnitude of the pulse also caused the boat to flip over, taking away the teens’ solid ground and forcing them to swim to the shore in order to meet their wild opponent.

Frost-Bite was watching the scene intently and when the boat flipped over she instantly jumped into the air, creating a patch of ice beneath her before she hit the water. She then proceeded to create a path of since toward the shore, jumping off the ice when she reached her destination, gripping her staff as the lake monster stormed towards her.

“Casimir! Let’s do this!” She said, as ice started growing around her feet. Right before the monster reached her the ice shot up in a spike, slamming the creature in the jaw. It rebounded quickly and jumped at Frost-Bite, who rolled out of the way, freezing the ground between her and the creature to give her a bit of room to breath.

Waiting patiently on the boat, Casimir gulped in suspense as the lake monster swam ever nearer. He tentatively watched the girls prepared their parts in the plans while he just looked at them like some pathetic puppy. This mission did not compliment his skill set well, unless they got to shore. Watching Yoshiro and Alexis prepare in dampening the beast assault. He wished he had some insect abilities besides controlling them. Like making acidic explosions with his fists could be his analogue to Bombardier Beetles or spitting out silk or poison like some other insects would be so cool! For the time being, however, he would have to rely on the others which was he did not mind that much. His wistful contemplation of his situation was quite rudely interrupted by some powerful shock-blast which capsized their boat. Befuddled by his new and wetter situation he swam blazingly fast to shore gasping as he got out of the water.

His exaggerated asphyxiation was interjected by Frost Bite calling out to him. Following the lead on her ice attack, Casimir leaped into action straight at the beast. Dropping and rolling beneath the beast’s arm as it swung at him, Casimir used his legs to jolt his body up once he was under the beast neck. Wrapping his arms close to its neck Casimir locked on to the sides of it neck to anchor the beast in place. He knew, or thought he did, that most quadrupeds couldn't really bend their arms to where he was and he hoped he remembered his biology right. He felt the tremendous bulk of the beast try to jerk him away but using his own tremendous strength he pulled the beast’s neck to the opposite direction it moved meanwhile struggling to keep his own footing.

“Backup please!,” he wheezed out in between tugging the beast’s neck down, “Hit its head while I got it!”

Suddenly Frost Bite could be seen leaping through, as she flew towards the beast’s head her staff was suddenly frozen over, now covered in solid ice as she slammed it down towards the lake monster’s head.

“Take this!”

She shouted as the blow landed. The monster reared back at the assault, clearly wounded but still standing. Angelica then swung her staff up with brutal speed, slamming it into its chin. With that the monster let out a groan and suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

Panting, Angelica took a knee on the ground, clearly having pushed herself close to her limit in this fight. After a moment to rest, she saw Alexis swimming up to the shore along with Yoshiro, carrying the monster’s offspring along with her. “Make sure you bring the baby along with us, we don’t want to separate it from its parent. Let’s figure out a way to move this thing and head back, I’ve had enough fishing for today.”

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

"Red? Hi! What’s up? Naja said that you dropped out of the training mission at the last minute. Is everything alright?"

Red paused, biting his lip as he tried to think of what to say. What could he possibly tell her? That he was locked away behind bars due to him supposedly murdering over a dozen people, including a family with two young children? That he was actually innocent, even though all the evidence pointed at him?

"No, Yoshi, things...things pretty bad right now."

He could imagine Yoshi having a lock of confusion and worry on her face as he took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what was to come.

"I don't know how to even begin to explain this, but before I do, I need you to understand something. Regardless of what anyone else says, I didn't do it."

"Red, what's wrong? And why do you need to explain something? Just tell me what’s wrong."

Red could hear the concern in her voice, which caused a feeling of tightness to grow in his chest.

"Yoshi...They think I've killed people. A lot of them. Including the family of the head of security back at the San Diego Zoo. They somehow managed to drag in evidence showing that I was the one responsible, and now I'm having to talk to you through a prison security phone."

Red was met with silence, which somehow managed to hurt him even worse than any words could have. He felt the tightness in his chest grow, getting so bad that it felt as if his heart was being squeezed to the size of a peanut. His voice shook as he continued to speak.

"Look, I don't have a lot of time to talk, but I just want to let you know that I didn't do it. I didn't kill those criminals like they said I did, and nor did I kill that family. I don't know who’s behind this, but they're trying to set me up for something I didn't do."

The prison guard knocked on the wall next to him, raising two finger to indicate he only had two minutes left to speak. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he finished telling her what he needed to say.

"Yoshi, I don't think I'm ever going to get out of here. I have no way of proving myself innocent now, and there's no way they’re going to let me try to appeal this. To them, I've got the blood of an entire family on my hands, and I deserve nothing better than to rot away here behind bars."

He let out a dry chuckle devoid of all humor.

"If I even last that long, that is. I've put a lot of these people away that are in here, and I doubt that they're going to welcome me with open arms."

He paused, trying to think of what to finish with.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry that I got dragged into this mess, and I don't want you or the others to worry about me. I should have just came with you guys and not snooped around where I shouldn’t have. But I thought I could figure out just what in the hell was happening and possibly find actual justice for that family."

These next words were the hardest for him to say, but he knew that he'd probably never get the chance to say them again.

"Yoshi, I’m...I'm going to miss you guys. Roy, Cass, Kiris, that idiot Carter, and...you. I cherished every second with you guys, and wish I could have gotten more time with all of you."

Red glanced back at the prison guard, who was now looking at his watch on his wrist. He probably had only a few more seconds to listen to whatever Yoshiro had to say. Part of him wanted to hang up the phone right then and there so he wouldn't have to hear what were going to probably be words of disgust, anger, and disappointment. But another, much stronger part of him, just wanted to hear her voice one last time, even if they were filled with venom.

After several seconds, he finally received her reply.

"Red, don't worry. We'll come and find some way to help -"

Her words were cut off abruptly, causing Red to look at the phone in his hand with confusion until he looked up to see the prison guard standing behind him, tapping his foot impatiently. Realizing that he'd ran out of time, he cursed out loud before staring at the guard.

"You've got to give me more time! Just another minute, please!"

Red tried to stand up to get in the face of the guard, only to swiftly receive a blow to the gut via the guard's baton. The strike caused him to nearly puke as all the air left his lungs, making him gasp for oxygen as the guard stood there with a disgusted look on his face.

"Time's up kid."

Dragging the still stunned Red onto his feet, he slapped on a pair of handcuffs onto Red. Herding him along with his baton, he forced him to begin walking back to where his cell was. As Red glanced around, he saw several prisoners, many of which he recognized as former street thugs he'd dealt with in the past, staring at him with looks that spelled trouble. For them, having Red locked up with them couldn't have been a better present than if he'd been delivered by a fat man in a suit with a ribbon tied on the former vigilante's head. Several comments could be heard, all pertaining to all the ways the inmates planned on getting back at Red via less-than peaceful ways. The guard didn't seem to care much for it, as he continued to prod Red with his baton until they arrived back at his cell. Taking the handcuffs off, the guard shoved Red into his cell, a look that almost resembled pity on his face as he did.

"Better hope all that fighting before comes in handy, because you're going to fucking need it to survive."

Ignorant to Red's pleases to allow him another phone call, the guard strolled back to wherever he and his peers gathered, leaving Red once again all alone.

Defeated, Red plopped down onto his bunk, trying his best to not let himself fall into despair as his thoughts returned to the phone call he'd made just moments ago. While Yoshiro may have sounded genuine, he doubted that the Young Bloods would be able to do anything, even if they wanted, to help him now. Besides, once they heard of what had happened and how all evidence pointed to him, he doubted that they'd find any pity for him at all. Quickshot, his own mentor, didn't believe him, so why would they?

Glancing over to the clock above him, Red knew that he'd only have a few short hours until he'd be sent out to the yard for their outside hours. Once that happened, he'd be in for the fight of his life, and it was one fight he didn't think he'd make it through. Only through a miracle would he find his way back to his bunk tonight without his face beaten to a pulp and a shiv jammed into his side.

And for Red, miracles just didn't seem to be his thing.

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
An Island in the Pacific…
Second Night on the Island

---

Yoshiro could feel the aches and pains from the day’s training weighing on her limbs. Alexis’ gadgets could only do so much, and the cuts and bruises were quickly making their presence known. Regardless, Yoshiro was in high spirits as she brushed her teeth near the edge of the team’s camp, far enough from the tents that she could rinse and spit without disturbing anyone trying to sleep. Naja had been running them hard from the moment they’d arrived on the island, and she was still recovering from her first spar with Frost Bite. But she felt like they were finally really beginning to act like a team rather than a group of high schoolers thrown together by fate. The cool night time air was a refreshing change from California’s Summer heat, and Yoshiro still couldn’t quite get over the incredible night sky that shimmered over the uninhabited island. This far from the nearest signs of civilization, out in the ocean, she found herself getting lost in the blanket of stars – wondering silently how many of them had a planet with someone staring back.

The sudden vibration of her phone in her pocket caused her to jump in surprise, the default ringtone disturbing the peaceful silence of the camp. Muttering a quiet curse in Japanese, Yoshiro quickly extracted the small device with her free hand, hoping that the shrill jingle hadn’t woken anybody up. Immediately turning down the phone’s volume, she glanced at the unknown number that was displayed on her screen. For a moment, she hesitated to answer – it was probably some telemarketer and she really was looking forward to crawling into her sleeping bag. Her finger hovered over the decline call button for a few a second or two, the phone now vibrating silently. Sighing, she answered the call, continuing to brush her teeth as she did so.

“Hello?” Yoshiro felt a stab of embarrassment as she half-mumbled the word, turning away from her phone in order to spit out a mouthful of toothpaste. “Hello? Who’s this?” She spoke in her usual, friendly tone despite her fatigue. Even if it was a telemarketer, she didn’t see any harm in being nice. However, she was greeted only by silence on the other end of the line. Wondering if someone had accidentally dialled her number, Yoshiro was about to ask one more time when a male voice responded.

”It’s me, Yoshi. It’s Red.”

“Red?” Yoshiro couldn’t hide the look of surprise on her face, but she did her best to try and keep it from appearing in her voice. The masked vigilante had vanished the night after the incident at the zoo, and Yoshiro had silently worried if Mike had maybe been a bit too harsh. Red had only been looking out for her when he’d caused the scene with the reporters…and when he shot the henchmen. “Hi! What’s up? Naja said that you dropped out of the training mission at the last minute. Is everything alright?”

“No, Yoshi, things...things pretty bad right now. I don’t know how to even begin to explain this, but before I do, I need you to understand something. Regardless of what anyone else says, I didn’t do it.”

”Red, what’s wrong? And why do you need to explain something? Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Panic and confusion crept into Yoshiro's voice.

“Yoshi...They think I’ve killed people. A lot of them. Including the family of the head of security back at the San Diego Zoo. They somehow managed to drag in evidence showing that I was the one responsible, and now I’m having to talk to you through a prison security phone. Look, I don’t have a lot of time to talk, but I just want to let you know that I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill those criminals like I said they did, and nor did I kill that family. I don’t know who’s behind this, but they’re trying to set me up for something I didn’t do.”


“Yoshi, I don’t think I’m ever going to get out of here. I have no way of proving myself innocent now, and there’s no way they’re going to let me try to appeal this. To them, I’ve got the blood of an entire family on my hands, and I deserve nothing better than to rot away here behind bars.”

Red let out a dry chuckle devoid of all humor.

“If I even last that long, that is. I’ve put a lot of these people away that are in here, and I doubt that they’re going to welcome me with open arms.”

There was a slight pause, Yoshiro's mind reeling and struggling to keep up with the fusillade of information. She could tell that Red was trying to think of something to say. She wanted to scream at him, to yell at him to stop sounding like he'd given up. He was the one who was meant to cling on all the way to the end, to go in knowing that the odds were impossible and that he'd never receive any thanks for his efforts and yet still come out on top. But the words found themselves caught in her throat, and Yoshiro felt a sense of dread solidifying in her chest.

“I just want you to know that I’m sorry that I got dragged into this mess, and I don’t want you or the others to worry about me. I should have just came with you guys and not snooped around where I shouldn’t have. But I thought I could figure out just what in the hell was happening and possibly find actual justice for that family. Yoshi, I’m...I’m going to miss you guys. Roy, Cass, Kiris, that idiot Carter, and...you. I cherished every second with you guys, and wish I could have gotten more time with all of you.”

Silence hang over the line as the seconds ticked by, the faintest hiss of background white noise rustling in Yoshiro’s ear as she struggled to make sense of what Red had said. It felt as if a train had just slammed into her chest, the sudden shock and surprise leaving her speechless. She tried to think if this could somehow be an elaborate joke, if perhaps she was entirely misunderstanding what Red was trying to say. Her mind grasped at straws in an effort to settle on a plausible truth that was anything except what she had just been told. Words got caught in her throat, and she stood there with her mouth open like a dumbstruck idiot. What was she supposed to say? What on Earth could she say?

Time continued to tick by, the silence nearly becoming oppressive. The thought of what her friend must have been going through tied a knot in Yoshiro’s stomach, and each of Red’s words reverberated around her skull. He sounded lost, as if he had already given up hope and had resigned himself to his fate. The sharp contrast to the confident, assured Red who Yoshiro knew was gut-wrenching.

But what if he was guilty?

The thought was quiet at first, a whisper in the back of her mind that slowly wormed its way forward. It was a nagging question, and played to the image of the Mask that was derided and criticised in the papers and on the news. It was the rogue vigilante which Yoshiro had heard so much about, the menace to society who was doomed to return to his evil ways. She wavered. But that was all from before she’d known him for herself.

Biting her lip, Yoshiro thought back to the events of the zoo, to when Red had threatened the reporters that were harassing them. She had felt overwhelmed, penned and herded by the cameras and the barrage of questions. He’d had to put up with the constant criticism, the never-ending judgments, for years - and yet despite all of that, Yoshiro had no doubt that Red’s heart was in the right place.

Which was why none of this made any sense.

Steadily, and with growing certainty, Yoshiro found herself reaching her own conclusions. It wasn’t just that this didn’t make sense, it was downright impossible. Even if Red was guilty for these crimes, the way it had all been done didn’t line up. He was careful, used to fighting against people who were stronger and more powerful than he was in every sense of the word. He would never have left himself so vulnerable to being found out. And more than that, Yoshiro refused to believe that he was capable of it.

“Red, don’t worry. We’ll come and find some way to help - “ Click.

Yoshiro’s stared blankly as the beeping repeated in her ear. Looking down at her phone, her heart sank as she saw that the call had been disconnected. Feeling a knot of fear as she realised that she had waited to long to speak, that the call must have been cut off, Yoshiro desperately tried to redial the number. The automated response that she received elicited a string of Japanese curses.

Calm down and think. You told Red that you were going to help, so figure out exactly how.

Jogging back towards the camp, Yoshiro quickly made her way towards Naja’s camp - her toothbrush and toothpaste forgotten in light of the phone call. Before she could do anything else, she needed to get back to San Diego.

[Tomia]

Young Bloods Go Camping
After a day of hard work and adventures across the island, the Young Bloods were tired but in high spirits. After their missions were all complete, the team had spent the rest of the day doing smaller exercises, such as rescue training in the lake and stealth training in the forest. Elena was working them hard, much harder than most of them had ever been worked, but each exercise saw the group grow more confident and cohesive.

After training the group relaxed on the now secure beach, where they set up their camp site. Carter, Mike, Nathan, and Park had done most of the work setting up the camp, having started a fire and even created a circle of boulders and logs around it for people to sit on. The rest of the crew pitched in on the cooking however, partially because Angelica tasted the soup that Mike and Carter were attempting to make and subsequently pushed them away from the fire.

Surprisingly Angelica did a lot of the cooking, along with Roy and Cassandra, all three of which had experience with cooking and Roy particularly knew how to cook in the wild. While the three of them cooked, the others were off in small groups. Mars was still recovering from the venomous bite he received, laying on a sleeping bag nearby the fire looking tired and drowsy. Kiris was sitting next to him, anxiously watching him rest as her tail shook back and forth aimlessly. Alexis couldn’t help but snicker when she first noticed it.

Speaking of Alexis, she and Yoshi were currently preoccupied showing the baby lake monsters off to the rest of the team. Once they had captured the lake monster, it turned out Elena was somehow friends with the best, so it became much less hostile when it saw her. The small creature was blowing bubbles and hopping around in the water much to the amusement of the team.

“Do you think we can get Naja to let us keep it.” Alice whispered to Alexis, who was currently holding the cute creature.

“No, and that wouldn’t be right anway. As cute as Bubbles is, it would be wrong to take him from his parent.” She said as she pet the creature’s scales.

At some point the food was ready and they all sat around the campfire, and a silence surrounded them. This silence wasn’t caused by an argument or lack of conversation topics but it was clear that these heroes in training were starving. Carter and Wyatt nearly swallowed his bowl whole as he ate.

“D’is iz really gud Fro Bight” Carter said between gulps, while Cass, who obviously wasn’t eating, looked on disapprovingly.

“You really shouldn’t talk with your mouth full, it’s terribly impolite.” She scolded them.

Meanwhile Kiris also complimented the food, “I think human food is pretty weird, but I actually really like this!” She said, having taken a break from worrying about her sick friend to eat.
“Ya Frost Bite, where did you learn to cook like this?” Alexis asked curiously, her teammate merely shrugged.

“It’s just something you kind of learn when you need to.” She said simply, Alexis seemed to notice that Frost Bite wasn’t eating either. “Besides, it wasn’t just me. Demon Boy and Cass helped me out a lot.”

Roy frowned at the annoying nickname that Frost Bite sometimes used for him but ignored it. “Ya,I learned in the jungles of South America. When you don’t eat for a few days, you start to think about what you can do with squirrel and tree bark.” He said, matter of factly.

A few of his teammates laughed softly, until they realized he wasn’t joking and then a kind of silence hung over the group.

Surprisingly it was Wendy who spoke up to break the awkwardness.

“What do squirrels taste like?” She asked in a quiet but audible tone.

Roy paused for a second, surprised by the question, but eventually he smiled and said,

“Chewy”

Much of the group burst into laughter and after that everyone started chatting excitedly amongst themselves as the sun started to set and darkness began to encroach onto the beach. At this point Mars was feeling better and was sitting on a log next to Kiris and the others. Park, Wyatt, Mike and a few others started an arm wrestling tournament, which only ended after Casimir and Mike struggled for thirty minutes to pin each other. Meanwhile Carter had brought a deck of cards, and decided to set up a poker game. They didn’t have money on them so they decided to bet seashells on the hands. Everyone was amused when Amir bewitched the cards and they suddenly flew into the air to shuffle and deal themselves. In the end Wendy won the big pot of shells after bluffing her way to victory against Frost Bite in the final hand.

After a while as the sun was fully down and replaced by the shining light of the moon. With this change, the team decided they would have a campfire, sitting around it both for warmth and light. Cass had revealed, much to the group's pleasure, that she had packed the ingredients for s'mores. The team crowded around the fire, playfully shoving each other and hitting each others sticks as they all sought the best position to cook their marshmallow.

Kiris looked quite confused, as she was handed a stick and a marshmellow and had no real idea what to do with either of them. Mars stepped forward and showed her how to skewer the marshmallow, and how to cook it over the fire. When it was finally cooked they turned it into a s’more and after Kiris’ first bite her eyes widened.

“Thiss iz amzing!” She shouted, her mouth full of s’more. That made Mars laugh, “I’m glad you like it.” He told her with a smile.

The smore commotion finally settled down and the group grew quite, clearly growing tired after their long and eventful day. Alexis suddenly popped up and looked around the group, curiosity in her eyes. “Hey, I feel like we never really talked about it, what made you all want to be heroes?” She asked, positing an open question. No one answered for a bit, they were all clearly either not comfortable with their answer, or maybe they weren’t sure what it was.

“When my parents died… I was really angry.” Mars said, his tone soft but sure. “I felt lost, like the world was working against me, it was awful. I’ve never been normal, and I never really tried to be. I have gifts that others don’t and I can do things that they can’t. So I feel like, I have to do everything I can to spare people what I felt that day I lost.”

“Are we really responsible like that though?” Carter asked thoughtfully. “I mean, I fight bad guys because I can and it makes me feel good, but should we really feel bad if we don’t? Why shouldn’t we just get to live normal lives if we want to?”

Again there was a short silence, most people there could relate to that idea. Supers often wish at some point in their lives that they could just be like everyone else, fitting in was a lot easier after all.

“Well, sometimes we just don’t get that choice. I mean, look at me.” Wyatt said, pointing at himself as if people didn’t know what he looked like. “The only way I could ever fit in was by hiding. I’m never going to be normal, but maybe that’s okay right? This team gives me a place where it’s cool to be myself. And if fighting villains is what brings us together, then I’m pretty okay with that.”

Mars put his hand on Wyatt’s shoulder with a smile, “We’re all happy you’re here Wyatt. I just can’t believe I was friends with a dragon so long and didn’t know it.”

Casimir then chimed in, looking at Frost Bite who was currently sitting quietly on her own log. “What about you Frost Bite? We know nothing about you, what do you think about the team, and being a hero?”

Frost Bite glared at him through her mask, clearly not happy about being brought into the conversation. “It doesn’t matter what I think, you all wouldn’t understand.” She said curtly, it was clear she wasn’t too interested in opening up.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Roy asked. “We’ve all gone through things believe me, I don’t think any of us doesn’t have things that keep in our past that don’t trouble us. Your teammates are willing to open up, why aren’t you?” He pressed her, and that made Frost Bite angry.

“Because I don’t want to okay?!” She shouted, standing now. “What difference would it make? I don’t fit in here, I was never going to fit in here so why should I bother? You know what I think about being a hero? I hate it! I never wanted to be a hero, because all heroes ever seem to care about is themselves. I want to be different than them, but everytime I try I’m told I’m too young, or just don’t get how the world works. So what’s the point in sharing? No one has ever cared what I had to say, you won’t either.” She said before storming off towards the shoreline.


Everyone looked at each other, not really sure what to stay until Alexis jumped up, “I’ll go talk to her don’t worry.” She said, rushing off towards the beach after her.

She saw Frost Bite, sitting hunched over with her hands on her knees on the beach and softly plopped down next to her. “Well, you sure know how to lighten up a campfire.” She said, rubbing the sand off of her hands.

“I’m not in the mood Alexis, leave me alone.”

“Look, something is clearly bothering you. It seems like everytime you’re close to opening up to us you take one step forward and two steps back. I know its hard for you to talk about yourself, but we care about you alright?” Frost Bite scoffed at that and Alexis frowned.

“Hey that’s not fair, I’ve worked really hard to get to know you. You don’t get to just scoff at that when I’m really trying to be your friend.” She said, anger in her voice now. “Fine, if you’d rather sit here alone than with someone who cares about you be my guest.” As she started to get up to leave, she felt Frost Bite’s hand on hers.

“No, stay, I’m sorry.” Her voice was low, like the words were difficult for her to say. “You’re right, you have tried to be my friend, but I don’t have friends Alexis. It’s not who I am.”

Alexis looked at her with a thoughtful expression, “Well, maybe if you took off the mask you could make some, and I’m not just talking about the one you wear on your face.”

Frost Bite was silent for a little while until Alexis finally nudged her, “Come on, let’s join the others again, don’t want them to worry that you’ve frozen me after all.” She said with a smile as she took Angelica’s hand and walked with her back to the campfire. Carter was leading the team in a strange campfire song Alexis had never heard of and it was clear some people(Kiris and Alice) were more enthusiastically participating than others.

Eventually the songs died out and everyone had either fallen asleep where they sat or went off to their tent for the night. The only two left were Roy and Wendy, Roy absently poking at the dying fire with a stick.

“Hey Wendy, something has been bothering me lately that I wanted to ask you about.” Wendy tensed slightly, clearly nervous about the question but luckily Roy didn’t seem to notice.

“Do you… Do you think I’m the team leader?” He asked her, self-consciousness clear in his voice. “Everyone in the media kind of just assumed I was, but I’m not so sure. I’ve never lead a team before, I really don’t have much idea what it takes. What if I’m not ready for the job?”

Wendy who was sitting on the log next to Roy’s looked over to him. “Well… I don’t think anyone is ever ready for something new. But I remember you during the Zoo fight. Everyone was so scared and unsure, but you started firing off directions and I think that made everyone feel better. At least…. I know it did for me.” She told him, blushing slightly at that last admission.

“That means a lot Wendy, for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you’re on the team. I trust you like I haven’t trusted many people in my life.” He told her, and Wendy averted his gaze a bit trying to hide the guilt that she knew was in her eyes.

“Roy…” She stopped herself, now wasn’t the time. “Thank you, I trust you too. I think we should head to bed, we have capture the flag in the morning right?” Roy smiled and nodded,

“You’re right, Wyatt’s pretty excited about that. Well, goodnight Wendy, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, waving to her as he headed off to sleep.

Wendy sat on the log a few minutes longer, thinking about her decision to keep the truth from Roy. She rationalized that he and the others wouldn’t accept her if she told them. This team was slowly becoming her family, and she’d do anything not to lose that, even if it meant lying to them. With that thought, she finally headed off to sleep in her tent, hoping she could sleep before tomorrow came to pass.

[Tomia]

July 8th 2018, Wonder Tower
The team had made the trip back to San Diego after three days of training together. It was a difficult and sometimes daunting experience but the work they did together brought them closer not only as a team in combat, but as friends as well. However, when they returned to their home base, they received very disturbing news. Red had been arrested, accused of murder, and apparently there was a lot of evidence against him. It was all over the news and the paper, many people using it as an opportunity to slander the Young Bloods, some even calling for them to be arrested as well. Naja and Elena went off to Naja's private office in the tower, clearly needing to do as much damage control on the situation as possible, while the Young Bloods were left to figure out what they would do next.

Though they still did not have an official leader, Roy called a team meeting in the living room that day and no one really seemed to disagree. There was a wide variety of emotions on everyone's face, angry, worry, sadness. Yoshi was crying when she walked into the room, being comforted by Alexis, who Roy couldn't help but notice didn't seem to expressing much emotion at all, at least not physically.

Rather than run the meeting, Roy merely just sat on one of the couches towards the side, he didn't want his opinion to too heavily influence the group. Instead Mars stood at the front of the room, and once everyone arrived and started to quite down he spoke. "Well, we're here to discuss Red's arrest. I know it's a really hard thing to talk about, but Red is claiming that he is innocent and that someone set him up for the crime. But admittedly... the evidence looks pretty bad. They found his weapon with his fingerprints next to the victims, so if someone was in fact setting him up they did a very good job of it. It's unlikely that he'll be found not guilty by the court, so if we were to try to help Red it would probably require acting outside the law." Mars said, looking around the room to gauge people's reacts.

"Whatever we decide, we should do it together. What do you all have to say, do you believe Red? And if you do, what are you willing to do to help him?"

[Absolon-7]

The rest of the training exercise went splendidly. They ended the day with a nice campfire which almost ended badly when Casimir had let his curiosity get the better of him when he had the ever brilliant plan asking Frost Bite why she was hero. It...did not go smoothly as planned but it got resolved shortly afterwards. The next few had a bunch of team building exercises Elena had set up for them and for the most part they were pretty cool and he excelled at most of the physical exercises. However things were not so swell upon returning to their island since Red had allegedly murdered a fuck ton of people including an entire family. Elena and Naja had gone off to their freakin' thing in their goddamn office. Him and all his teammates were in the living room to talk about it. Casimir patiently waited for Mars to give them the run down and decided to be the first to speak his mind.

"It's all a bunch of bupkis! Just circumstantial bullshit. I mean, sure I barely know the guy but I could tell that he wouldn't do it. I mean... I guess..." stated Casimir his voice trailing off as part of him, though not conscious of it, did doubt Red's claims of innocence. " As for what I'm willing to do, I'll do whatever it takes."

[Scotatrova]

Diego Belcourt

The fight was going both badly and well. The good news was that Shadowland was disintegrating around him. Diego saw White Bear fall, and a tiny smiled touched his mouth. He would rather have handled that maniac himself, but there was justice in what had just happeend. At least half of his men were down. The bad news was that the dead were like a tidal surge that was gradually pushing the living across the arena. People were falling into the pits, and so were the monsters, and at this point Diego didn't think anyone was coming back out of those holes alive. At this rate the creatures were going to turn this whole place into an all you can eat buffet, and that wasn't part of Diego's plan. A pair of guards rushed at him, both armed with woodsmen axes. Diego parried one ax swing and hit high, ducked under another and hit low, and the two men were down. Behind them were six of the dead, and Diego realized that he was caught with an open pit on one side and the dead on the other. He'd have to fight. He did. But this kind of slaughter burned layers off his soul. He knew that. He blasted at the arms and legs of the creatures, and kicked the limbless torsos into the pit.

Across the field, Ol' Jack strode forward with his saber in his hand. He slashed left and right, cuttin down anyone who stood between his fury and the two teenagers who had just escaped the pits. Veronica howled in fury, and Ol' Jack smiled at her. "Come and get yours, girl," he taunted. "No!" Steven yelled, and snaked out a hand to grab her. He caught the hem of her shirt and yanked her backward just as Ol' Jack lunged forward to try and drive his sword into her chest. The tip of the blade missed Veronica by an inch, and Steven hauled her over him as he did a desparate backroll. He heard the whoosh of the sword and felt the thud of the blade as Ol' Jack tried to chop them as they rolled. Two creatures rushed at the old man from his right. With a growl of annoyance, Ol' Jack stepped into the rushing monsters and cut them down. He then wheeled back on the teenagers, his face almost purple with wrath. "I'm going to enjoy strapping you down and letting them feast on-" Veronica threw a pouch of powder in his face. The old man tried to slash it out of the air, but his blade merely cut it open, and that made it worse. A could of plaster powder enveloped Ol' Jack. He spun away, coughing and gagging, and that fast Steven was up and running. He drove his hands into Ol' Jack's side, and there was a white light which sent the man sprawling. Right into one of the pits. Steven saw the white faces and white hands reaching up for the man as he pinwheeled down toward them, his sword slashing uselessly at empty air.

"We have to get out of here," barked Scott as he raced to intercept Steven and Veronica. "Right now!" Looking around, Steven asked "How? "The dead were everywhere. Before Scott could reply there was a huge explosion, and they turned to see several of the wagons that formed one of the walls disintegrate into a fireball that knocked down at least a third of surviving people in the place. The monsters were flung halfway across the arena, and a dozen guards fell screaming into the open pits. "That's our cue," said Scott. "This whole place is about to blow itself into orbit. We have to go now!"

"But we can't go! Diego.."

"Here," came a reply and they turned to see a running Diego. "Did I hear something about this place blowing up?"

"All to hell and gone," said Scott, grabbing them and shoving them toward the smoking hole in the wall of wagons. "There's five hundred pounds of C4 in the hotel lobby, I portaled it here and rigged it. MOVE!" And they were running. As they raced Diego cut a last look around. Many of the guards were down, and the remaining warlocks were already leaping over flaming wreckage. Scott yelled, "Go...GO!" They ran into the smoke and through flaming wreckage and out into the cool darkness of the big field. Behind them the last of the guards and were still fighting the monsters. Diego wondered if they were all crazy. Did they think they could win? Or were they so locked into the moment that violence was the only response they were capable of? He pitied them and ran from them. Steven ran with his arm wrapped around Veronica. Blu and Dr. Rex were racing each other and laughing and the whole lot of surviving warlocks followed them off to the left. Scott was heading right, straight for the hedge rows and the road. Steven opened his mouth to shout at Scott, to ask him if he was sure that he knew how to rig an explosion, when the world seemed to detonate around him and the entire Wawona Hotel leaped high into the night sky. A massive glowing fireball punched hundreds of feet into the air, igniting the surrounding trees, vaporizing the water in the ponds, and flinging the wagons far out into the fields. Steven and Veronica zigged and zagged as flaming debris crashed down all around them with the force of a meteor shower. The grass caught fire and superheated winds pursued them like a host of demons. Steven heard Scott cry out in pain and saw him stumble, but his brother picked himself up and staggered on. Debris struck the ground all around them. "Go!" Scott growled through bare teeth. They ran all the way to the gates and beyond, and down the road into darkness. Debris continued to fall for a full five minutes, as if the ghosts of Shadowland were hurling artillery at them. They ran and ran until they could not run any more. They were all spread out across a mile of firelit landscape. Diego and his family in the field, the warlocks deep in the forest.

Scott slowed to a walk and then a shaky stagger and finally stopped, waving at the rest to stop. Diego stumbled and collapsed to his knees, shocked that he was still alive. Scott bent forward and rested his hands on his thighs. He looked totally spent. Steven sank to his knees and hugged Veronica. Then Steven heard a sound and saw Scott walking slowly toward them. "We made it!" said Steven, fighting a crazy laugh that threatened to break from his chest. "Yes," said Scott in a whisper of a voice. "We made it." Veronica then said softly "Steven...," and Steven turned as Diego came walking toward them. He looked like he'd been in a war, and Steven figured that was a pretty fair assessment. There was an awkward moment when the three of them stood and stared at one another. Everything that had happend floated like embers in the air between them. They all began laughing. They turned to Scott, beckoning him over, wanting him to laugh, needing to see the grim sadness washed off his face. Steven hugged his brother. "We did it man! Now can we finally get the heck out of this place. Ready for a road trip?" Scott didn't laugh. His eyes were fixed on the burning hotel, now surrounded with police and firetrucks as sirens wailed through the night. "Yes," he said again, his voice even quieter. "I guess it's time to leave..." Veronica agreed. "God yes. I think we just saw the last of our bad luck go up in smoke." Scott sighed, and then he suddenly dropped to his knees. The others stared at him in surprise. "Scott?" asked Diego. Scott gingerly opened the flaps of his vest. "Damn," he murmured. Veronica screamed. Steven saw it then. Blood, so much blood. He screamed too.

Scott coughed and slumped forward. Veronica and Steven caught him and lowered him carefully to the ground. Steven ripped open Scott's shirt. What they saw tore a sharper cry from Steven and another scream from Veronica. When Scott stumbled during the flight from the hotel, Steven thought he had been hit by a piece of flaming debris. But that wasn't it, it was a thousand times worse than that. Scott had been shot. "We have to stop the bleeding!" Veronica cried. She then knelt besides Scott and attempted to use her magic to act as a compress. "Steven," Veronica said urgently as she worked, "this is bad. I can't stop the bleeding." Diego then knelt besides Veronica and began working the same procedure. "Let me help." A voice then roared out of the darkness that seemed to belong to a monster, a demon from hell itself. "BELCOURT!" They all turned to see a tall figure emerge from the smoke, with fires burning the world behind him. Ol' Jack. He held an old-fashioned six shot pistol in one hand and the curved cavalry saber in the other. His black coat was streaked with blood and soot and his face was pale madness in the starlight.

"Belcourt!" he shouted. "Did I kill you? Did I kill the son of the murderers who killed my sons?"

"Steven, Veronica...," wheezed Scott, grabbing Steven's sleeve. "Run!" Steven peeled Scott's hand away. "No," he said fiercely. "We have to stop him."

"You can't stop him," gasped Scott. "He's too fast...too strong. He'll kill us all." As he spoke, Scott tried to get to his feet, but a furious wave of pain crashed him back down onto his knees. Veronica tried to help him up, but her hands slipped on the blood.

"Keep your hands in place," warned Diego. Steven got to his feet and watched Ol' Jack stalk toward him. He knew that Scott was right. None of them were a match for this madman, old as he was. Ol' Jack had been a soldier and killer his whole life. There was no way Steven could beat him, but maybe he could stall the old sorcerer long enough for Diego to wound him. Or kill him. Even if it meant sacrificing himself to make that possible. Steven looked at Scott, injured and helpless. And at Veronica. And Diego. He would die for any of them. He might have to die for all of them.

"You want Scott, you'll have to kill me first." said Steven.

Ol' Jack grinned, and his teeth were bloody. "Hell boy...I'm going to kill you all."

"You won't have time. One of us will get you." Steven said, not sure if it was true. Ol' Jack also had the sword. Diego stood at Steven's side. His eyes glowed as he spoke to the man. "You're mine, old man."

"No!" cried Scott weakly. "No...all of you-run!"

"Not going to happen," said Diego firmly. "I'll die before I let him win."

"This ain't about winning boy," Ol' Jack said with a laugh. "This is about justice. You and your family killed my sons! You killed my whole family. Don't you understand the full weight of your sin? It was you and your family who did what no one could do! You killed the House of Mattias!"

"Your sons were trash," said Steven, his voice heavy with contempt. "Your whole family is nothing but trash. You're everything that is wrong with the world. You want it to be a world about pain, suffering and hurt. How can you pretend to be a man of god, and do the things you do?"

Ol' Jack eyed him with a burning hatred. "You don't speak to me like that boy. You don't dare." And he pulled the trigger. Click! The hammer fell on a spent cartridge. Ol' Jack pulled the trigger again and again and then, with a snarl, he thew the empty pistol at Steven. Steven ducked. Suddenly Diego was running at Ol' Jack, driving a handful of energy toward his chest. The blast was an inch away when he suddenly pivoted and kept turning in a circle as he drove his elbow into the back of Diego's head as he passed. Diego pitched forward onto the ground. Ol' Jack pivoted towards him, raising his foot for a kick that would have shattered his face, but Diego was up and moving faster than Steven had ever seen his cousin move. He dove at Ol' Jack and tried to tackle him. The attack made the kick miss, but it did not take the man down. Ol' Jack caught Diego as he flew at him, and with a snap of his hip sent his attacker pitching off into the grass. Diego landed hard. Ol' Jack stampted down, but Diego rolled away.

Steven was up now and closing in on Ol' Jack's blind side. He jumped forward, blasting at the man's unprotected back, but the man shifted as fast as lightning and flashed out with a backward kick that caught Steven in the chest. Steven flew backward, landing in a heap. Diego climbed to his feet and rushed the old man, faking high and low, and aimed a shot at the man's knee, but Ol' Jack parried it with his sword. No sword would be able to deflect a blast of pure magic, so Diego assumed that Ol' Jack must have enchanted it. Diego rebounded from the shot and blasted again and again and again, and for a moment his attack was so ferocious that the old man gave ground, backing away and parrying the blows as fast as he could, his sword flashing in the moonlight. For a few golden seconds Steven thought that Diego was going to do it, that he was going to defeat the man; but then he kicked Diego and sent him tumbling to the ground. Steven climbed painfully to his feet and tried to flank Ol' Jack.

"Now you boy." said Ol' Jack. "I'll cut you some and then let you watch what I do to the others. When you beg me for death, I'll show you how merciful I can be." Steven had no quip, no smart retort. He knew that he was doomed. He had to stop a man who had killed untold numbers of people. A soldier. A warrior. A sorcerer. A killer, and a man who was the architect of all the pain in Steven's world. With all that, Steven still had to ask the question that had been burning in him since they had first met this man. "Mr. Mattias," Steven said, "do you even believe in God?" Ol' Jack's smiled flickered and then intensified, the orginal secretive grin replaced by a goblin's smile. "There is no god." whispered the old man. The sword glittered as Ol' Jack suddenly faked a few cuts at him, taunting and playing with him. The tip of the sword was a silver blur, and Steven felt a burn on his cheek and knew that he had just been cut too fast to even see.

"Drop it boy." demanded the old man. "Stand down and I really will show you mercy. I'll let you and these other pukes walk out of here. But I want Diego. I want his head and by god I'll have it."

"Never!" declared Veronica, clutching Scott to her.

"Don't..." Scott said weakly as he fought to get to his knees. His eyes were burning and his sweating face was bright with fever.

"Why don't you just give up?" snapped Steven as he backed away. "Your crew is dead. Shadowland is destroyed. Why are you still-"

"I am Shadowland boy! Don't you get that? While I'm alive, it's alive, and I'm going to build it back, bigger and better than ever. I'll build it in the center of San Diego if I have to...and there won't be anyone left to stop me. Not you and not your brother. Look at him! He's halfway to dead already. He just needs a little push."

Steven saw the future. It was as if the whole world had become bright and clear, and in that clarity he saw how this was going to play out. With sinking horror and grief he knew that there was only one path to walk, and that path was a red one. Ol' Jack began began to raise his sword for the final cut. It was all spiraling down. Steven had backed away as far as he could. Scott was beside him, on his knees, blood spilling down his stomach and thighs. "Shadowland is closed, that is the law." he said in a painful whisper.

"There is no law," snarled Ol' Jack as he lunged forward. Steven turned away from the cut, his hand moving toward Scott. Steven turned and Ol' Jack's sword whisteled through the air and Steven turned, and turned. And the moment froze. Ol' Jack stood there, tall and triumphant, his lips curled into his crooked smile. Scott Belcourt knelt, head bowed, hands empty. Steven stood between Scott and Ol' Jack, his right hand extended all the way out to one side, and his blast extended far into the night. Then silence. It was Ol' Jack that spoke first. He said "No." Quietly, wetly. Then his sword dropped from his hand, and with infinite slowness he leanded backward and fell onto the grass. There was a burned hole in the middle of his shirt that went all the way up to his throat. The blast had not burst a hole through the old man, but it had completely shattered his entire midsection. Veronica looked up at Steven and saw that his arm was starting to tremble. Then his mouth. She got quickly to her feet and pulled him to her, pushing his arms down. Tears rolled down their faces as the remaining sorcerers came running from the forest. They sorted through whatever they could to help aid Scott.

"Steven," Scott said, so softly that only his brother heard him. Steven bent close. "I'm here Scott."

"Steven...I...I want you to give me your word."

"Anything, Scott...just please...tell me what to do."

"Keep going," he whispered. "Keep going until you find what you're looking for. You and Veronica. Diego too."

"I will," Steven promised him. "I'll find somewhere we can be safe."

"No," said Scott firmly. "No...find somewhere you can be free. Alive...and free." Veronica began to cry. She picked up Scott's hand and held it to her cheek. "Be strong," Scott whispered. "I...wish that I could go with you. To see you grow up. To see what you'll become." He smiled. "But I guess I have...and I'm so proud of you. Of all of you." Steven caved in over his hurt until his forehead rested on Scott's. Steven's tears fell like rain. Scott raised a finger and wiped one away. He closed his eyes for a moment, and his breath was very shallow. Diego huddled close to Veronica. They were crying, broken sobs that drove jagged cracks in their chests. Diego took Scott's other hand and held it to his chest as if the beating of his heart could encourage his to keep going. Scott opened his eyes again, and it seemed as if he was looking at something far away, over the horizon, fay beyond what any of them could see.

"Steven..."

"Yes," said Steven, his voice nearly shattering on that single word.

"I...I'm sorry." Then Scott Belcourt closed his eyes. A terrible sob broke from Steven's chest. Veronica leaned toward him and held him and Diego too. They held one another as dawn tore open the morning.

---

They buried Scott in the field and built a cairn of rocks over him. No one read a service. They were no preachers. Most of them wept. Steven endured it all. When it was over, a sorceress who goes by the name Sally, came over to Diego with a staff in her hands. "This is yours now. It belonged to your father." Steven took the weapon. With it, his father had bested all kinds of warlocks and evil men. He held it out with both hands and fashioned it to his back the way he had seen his father do it a thousand times. Seeing this made Sally cry, and she kissed Diego and turned away. Steven and Veronica then came up next to him, and they set out together, walking abreast down an overgrown road under the bright morning sunlight. Despite everything, they walked with their heads up, tall and proud. Warriors who had come through fire and pain. Diego paused only once at the top of the next rise. He looked back and saw the thin column of smoke that still rose from the ruins of Shadowland. He believed that it was closed for good now. Scott would be happy. Thinking that, he smiled again and faced South. Steven and Veronica were heading North, going back to what was home for them. Waving goodbye at them, he began his trek back down South, leaving only his footprints behind in the dust.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun

The training was...fun. She had a mixed feelings about it, not least because she has been hounded to continue on her investigations regarding the Blood Drug. But things really sketchy and sort out of lead, and her father picked up the pace with sending his people, frustrated by the lack of involvement from the vampire lords. Then again, he understood that this Blood Drug problem really shook the higher-ups so much they were in chaos until now. Nice campfire, too. Kind of topic change, but that needs to be done. Her father approved of her current time, but reminded her that she has a more free time if the Blood Drug issue is done.

Now she is back in the Tower, and Red was arrested. She had no idea who he is since she barely knew the rest of the team, but being the newest addition to the team means she needs to pick up the pace as well, just like her father did. "I'm willing to do anything, Mars. In fact, I'm willing to try to convince my father to help us in this case, he maybe able to help us," she said, looking to the others as well.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Icarus nodded along at Violet's answer. More or less, he knew where she was coming from, he had lived in San Diego for nearly half his life as well, but he hadn't bothered to explore it much, at least not until two weeks prior, when he finally decided to don the black mask. Even then, he wasn't exactly interested in knowing the city better for the sake of it, though; rather, he saw a utility in doing so.

Hearing her question, the boy was a little surprised, and a little embarrassed as well. While there was nothing inherently wrong or uncanny about what he did, as far as he knew, it was still something he usually only shared with the few people he considered close friends. However, he figured there was nothing wrong with sharing his hobby with Violet; he doubted she would think much of it, one way or another. It was with that in mind that he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a couple objects. One was a simple ring made of twisted wire with a few details here and there, and the other was a bangle made of thread and wire with a few metal bits dangling from it. He placed them on the table for the girl to see.

"Just things like these. Nothing too complex, but it keeps my mind occupied and off other things." He stated. As he looked at Violet, however, he noticed a bit of a grimace in her face, and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" He asked.

---

---

As the foreign young woman continued to make her way through the city, away from the alley where the two unfortunate men who had tried to assault her were currently lying unconscious. She had not moved very far from it, though, when she was intercepted, or rather, when her attention was called by someone behind her. Truth be told, she had already noticed a presence there; it was kind of difficult not to realize that someone was flying down towards you, especially with her kind of training. She had decided to ignore it, but now, she figured there was no way she could reasonably continue walking without more inconveniences popping up. With that in mind, she turned around, looking up at the person who had followed her, a blond man clad in a black and red costume. She'd heard of him while trying to inform herself of what she would find across the ocean, but she didn't know much; his name didn't come up as often as some others, and his powers were apparently hard to pin down.

"Yes? Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked politely as she tilted her head, a look of innocence on her face. It was clear she was feigning ignorance, but after a few moments, she simply shook her head and then looked up at him, a confident smile now on her face. "On second thought, I think I would rather save us both some time than play dumb. You must be following me because of the two unconscious thugs back there, yes? If you're still wondering, yes, I did it. I'll also tell you that I did not move a finger until they stabbed me, and that you won't find a single injury on their bodies if you head back to check; I can go with you, if you don't believe me." She explained, pointing down at the blood stain and the knife hole in her top to offer proof of what she was saying.

"With that said, was there anything else you wanted from me?"

---

---

---

"What do you mean 'I guess'? He's one of ours! I refuse to believe he could have done somethin' like that!" Kirisvala spoke with a raised voice after hearing out Casimir's words, clearly feeling inflamed by the accusations that had been raised against Red, rather than saddened by his current situation. Having her speak passionately about some topic during team meetings was apparently starting to become a routine deal. "Are we really goin' to concede that Red did all of the things they say he did just because some old guy in a funny wig said so after looking at a bunch of papers? We know him better than that!" She said, her sense of community clearly far stronger than any doubts she might've had, though this undoubtedly had to do with the fact that she wasn't exceedingly familiar with human trials, as well; she could grasp the severity of Red's plea mostly because Mars broadly explained some things to her before the meeting.

"I mean..." She slowed down, her voice growing a little quieter. "I know we haven't known him for all that long, but hasn't that been enough to judge his character? Would he really have worked with us if he wanted to go around killin' people instead of helpin' them? We wouldn't even be so distraught havin' this conversation if we hadn't formed a bond with him, would we?" She stated, glancing at Yoshiro. "Besides, who assures us that this evidence that they got against him is really reliable? You guys live in a planet with all sorts of superpowers, I think even some people in this room could frame someone of somethin' like that if you wanted to!" She said, pausing a little before concluding. "We have to do everythin' we can do to help him."

Before the Hadrian girl could sit back down, Alexis, who still had her hand on Yoshiro's back as she attempted to comfort the other girl, decided to speak up. "I agree with you guys that we should believe Red, I don't think he did it. Sure the evidence points his way, but Kiris is right, there's plenty of people in this world who could've set up all that, either to get to us or just to harm him." She stated. She was quite unlike her usual playful, carefree self, clearly keeping herself calm and level-headed, both because the situation called for it and to better support Yoshi. However..." She trailed off, looking at Yoshiro for a moment and thinking very carefully about what she was going to say; she didn't want to aggravate anyone, but she knew her opinion wasn't going to be popular.

"Even if we all agree on that, we still have to be very careful about what we're going to do. We can't just waltz in and break him out of there, you know? That would have some serious consequences. If he escapes without being recognized as innocent of all the murders he's been accused of, there's going to be a manhunt. And if we're caught helping him, well, we will be in the crossfire as well; we might have to go into hiding, and either way we probably won't be able to keep helping people the way we have anymore." The blonde girl stated, before falling silent. She didn't have the heart to say any more, but she hoped she at least made some others think better about the matter and be fully aware of the risks involved.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

So apparently, there was a slight Young Blood internal problem. What was that problem, you ask?

THE FACT THAT RED HAD JUST SLAUGHTERED AN ENTIRE FAMILY AND WAS ROTTING IN A JAIL CELL, THAT'S WHAT!

Walking into the meeting, Carter felt furious. With Red, with Quick Shot, with the rest of the Bloods. He hated being angry, but that was all he could help but feel. Red had killed several people, turned the whole population of San Diego against the rest of them, and threw the whole team into chaos, it was almost natural that Carter felt angry with him. But he couldn't help but also feel upset with Quick Shot, his supposed "mentor", and the rest of them. It was clear Red was a bit of a loose cannon from the get-go, but none of them did anything to stop it. They could've done more, way more. Like how Carter could've done more to help...her.

Sitting down, his anger only grew at everyone else's words. He wanted to scream. He wanted to grab them by their collars and shake the stupidity out of them. Couldn't they see it so clearly, were they all so blind?! They kept vainly believing he was innocent and that the legal system was bullshit, despite the mountain of evidence proving otherwise. It was as clear as bloody sunset and sunrise, night and day, down and up, sky and ground.

Swallowing down his words to keep them from bursting out, he tried to speak in a measured tone after Alexis' words of caution, a grim expression on his face.

"Why bother? I hate to say it, I really hate it, but there's nothing we can do to prove otherwise. There is an entire truckload of evidence proving Red killed a family of innocent people, we can't just deny that. We could get ourselves in even deeper shit, if we're not already drowning in it. And he's been the loose cannon from Day 1, I mean..." he trailed, bracing himself for the torrent of chaos to come.

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew Marks

Andrew considred himself lucky that he was allowed to be among the Young Bloods again. He heard on the news that one of them, Red, got arrested and accused of murder. After that, Ms Cartwright was most upset and reluctant to allow Andrew to be among them. She thought of them as a dangerous group after Red's arrest. However, after much convincing, Ms. Cartwright finally relented and gave Andrew a chance.

Being among the Young Bloods now, however, felt a little awkward. He didnt know who Red actually was, having only been with the team once a few days ago. Andrew wasn't sure if they even considred him a member. He did expand on the training Luminous gave him over the week. So he was hoping on becoming a more useful member if given the chance.

Andrew looked at Carter through the eyes Rango, relaxing on his shoulders. Much of what was said about Red didn't make any sense. "How could we be so sure Red actually did it?" He asked, stroking his boa constrictor's head, "Red is one of you guys. A hero. Wouldn't make sense for him to go villian. If... If he did kill those people... He couldn't have done it on purpose could He? Maybe it was an accident..."

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Sebastian Miller

He walked for hours, looking for something: A robbery, a car racing out of a street after breaking in a store, anything. But the streets were unusually quiet. Except for one very particular place: An abandoned building, guarded by a few armed people that seemed to be very eager to shoot down any possible invaders. Certainly someone important was behind them and the reinforced doors of the building's entrance.

Putting on the mask and placing the hood over his head, Sebastian walked towards the building without any hurry. A casual walk, that took a few seconds to be noticed by the "guards" of the place. First warning came. Shouts, threats, everything. And then silence. The disbelief around the situation seemed to shock them considerably, with a logic built around the obvious: Who would be crazy to walk in a lot filled with armed people? Just one guy, at the aim of many armed men. He definitely wasn't invited to their small, private party.

One of them decided to gather up the courage and walked towards Sebastian, who, at that moment, was nothing more than a tall man with a serious wish for death. Aiming his rifle at Sebastian's head, the man kept walking forward, ordering him to leave, that the abandoned building was now property of some gang the former fighter didn't even bother to remember the name of.

He didn't move.

The answer was quick: The man pulled the trigger, convinced that the massive body would drop down... Until he heard the noise of the projectile hitting metal. That particular noise that echoed bigger than the sound that came from the building penetrated their souls. With one quick motion, Sebastian hit the face of his foe with one massive punch that destroyed his jaw, before picking up the body and throwing it against the reinforced doors. It didn't work. A bulletstorm directed at him started as the men got desperate to see if one lucky bullet killed that massive, metallic man that moved like a killing machine: Man after man, Sebastian punched, kicked and smashed the resistance in the outside of the building. The sound of the bones crushing and the screams of agony put the group of bandits in panic. The rather simple act of reloading a weapon seemed to be impossible with trembling hands, and the visage of a man - or a thing - walking towards you with bloodied hands didn't help at all.

The first wave was killed. A group of men killed, their weapons ineffective against the man who just walked in. Inside, the sound stopped. They were expecting him. Just how he liked. He would never admit it to himself, but it always reminded him of the week before his fights. That one week of deep study, of knowing your conflict was at your doorstep, awaiting for you... With one well-placed kick at the doors, they went down. It was like watching a tank passing through a battlefield, unscathed, undamaged by an urgent organization against him.

Soon as he stepped inside, more bullets flew at his direction. His shirt, his pants, everything had holes that came from the bullets. The mask was merely figurative by now. Again, he waited patiently for the end of the loud sounds of the bullets flying and meeting his impenetrable resistance. Once it stopped, he began: In an almost ritualistic manner, he always gave them the chance of using something to put him down before he marched towards them. Using his knowledge of fighting, he wisely employed jabs, uppercuts, suplexes, knee hits... No one that watched it could doubt that the man made of steel had some serious formal training. Not only he was dangerous with his body, but his strength was absolutely brutal. Bodies were thrown against the walls, guns were broken by Sebastian using his bare hands.

Level after level, Sebastian continued his march of death. His body became stained by the blood of his enemies, before reaching the one that could be called the leader of those people. Of course, he offered him may things. Money, a monthly share... Then, after the bargains, it came the questions. Who sent him? What kind of animal he was?

Silence met those questions. Without any explanation, Sebastian lifted the man and slammed his head against the wall, before breaking the wall with a series of punches and throwing the dead body down. The long fall wasn't pleasant at all, and made the body look worse than what it was after his head met the wall.

Looking around, Sebastian now had to change his clothes. Undressing one of the dead bandits, Sebastian did the best to leave in a hurry before any policemen could reach the place. Another night of violence, yet he asked himself if all of these murders actually solved the problem. Year after year he kept walking, looking for criminals and killing them without batting an eye. Yet the number or crimes never dropped. Back to his home, he returned to his home and natural form, before he took a bath and slept.

The next morning...

Being the owner of a place and a former fighter had some benefits. One of them was the money he saved through the years, which allowed him to rest. His empty apartment offered him the sadness of a lonely life and the tranquility of not having to deal with another people after his escapades as a vigilante. While he was making his breakfast, the television announced a "deeply disturbing massacre", with commentators saying their opinions about the matters. One cherished him as a hero, a man imbued with powers to make the good citizen feel safe again. Another asked for his prison, stating that he was breaking the law, and because of that was an assassin as well. The doubt existed in his heart as well, but something told him that in this particular occurrence, something went wrong. His instinct kept bothering him through the whole meal.

Decided to take the day off, he sat at his couch and observed the news about the city, trying to see if something interesting happened at all. He wanted to keep his mind empty, away from the doubts of his own morality. After all, he was a villain dressed as a hero or a hero that adopted the ways of villainy for himself? Only time held the answer, and he would need to have the patience necessary to wait for it,

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt was more than happy that his idea for super powered capture the flag was taken and used. He played a few rounds and it was by far the most fun he'd had in a long awhile. As exhausting as the training was, he knew that that effort would be worth it when they went on their next mission. Some levels of team coordination had been formed. It would take experience and time to fully make them come together truly, but a start was a start and for once, he had no complaints.

Being back home was nice. As was sleeping in his own bed and seeing his parents again. Unfortunately, there was bad news. Naja called them together to inform them that Red had been imprisoned for murder with evidence strongly suggesting that he was definitely the one who did it. Red seemed pretty nice from the limited time he'd spent with him. He certainly didn't seem like the type of person to murder an entire family. Carter certainly seemed to think that he was responsible. Kiris, Casamir, and as much as he wasn't sure, he wanted to believe that Red was innocent. He didn't know what to say. "Okay sure, Red might have been a little more aggressive than the rest of us. But I don't think he'd be the kind of person to murder an innocent family. He seemed pretty pragmatic to me, and murdering an entire family for seemingly no reason is the opposite of pragmatism. I don't know..." He trailed off.

"Maybe he was framed? He was active before we started this group, right?" Wyatt suggested. "Could be that maybe he ticked off someone with more influence than expected and... Yeah. It's a long shot, but it's the only thing I've got that makes sense. What do you think Orro?" He asked his mentor.

Orro responded with a shrug. "Most of you claim that he wouldn't do something like this, but the evidence indicates that he very well might have. In situations like this, I suggest you all listen to your instincts. They tend to be right more often than not." It wasn't much, but he didn't know anything about Red beyond what Wyatt told him, and Wyatt had only known him for a few minutes. The bit about listening to their instincts was something he believed in. Doing what his subconscious suggested helped him more times than it harmed him. "I realize that my experiences may be alien to all of you, but when we were around, some people could tell that there was something amiss with a specific person. It wasn't always accurate of course, but more than half of those... Wyatt, what do humans call it?"

"Gut feeling." He responded.

"Gut feelings were accurate. Most of you don't believe Red capable of such savagery. I say you listen to those feelings. If you're wrong, you've learned a lesson. If you're right, you've helped acquit a friend and learned to trust your instincts."

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

Amir Zairi
After three hard days, our little study tour was finished and we all return to San Diego. Have you ever been going out of town just for a few days, and when you return it seems like everything has changed around you? I got that feeling when we were going home to San Diego. Maybe it was me getting too used to sleeping in island, and maybe some other things too. I tried to convince myself it's not because one of us apparently murdered a bunch of people.

I felt... A bit hurt actually. Upset. It's not that I didn't believe him, but if he had gone with us to the island he would have an alibi. And for all I know the person behind this might not even target him as individual, but to paint a bad light over our group. Just because of Red being all upset and angry over the zoo mission.

I looked around at the meeting room, the looks of everyone's faces seemed to suggest they felt the same as I did. Yoshiro is the one that was affected the most though. Damn, I feel bad for her. I'm no romance guru but I am sure anyone could see the way she and Red acted at each other. We need to find a way out of this mess soon.

"Ain't nobody knows where was he when we were back in the island?" I asked at the YBs. "If we had a phone call, or maybe a picture or something, anything really, that could prove that he was somewhere far away from the crime scenes when it happened, that would mean he had an alibi." I have only known the guy for a few days, but for some reasons I felt something fishy was up in this case.

I thought about what Wyatt and his friend Orro had said. What does my instinct say on this matter? Working with the supernatural, I know that what they had said is true. We spent hundreds of years evolving each part of our physiology, including our instinct. That's how most people could survive the things that goes bump in the night without any arcane skill. They listen to their instinct, choosing a different route, walking away from creepy places.

So, Id, what do you think about Red?

"I, I really don't believe, no, I refuse to believe any one of us could do such, such massacre. This is The Mask Sure, he might be quite the hot headed guy and would not hesitate to shoot someone down if it's necessary, but he won't just spilling blood right here and there like it's nothing. Wyatt's right. He's pragmatic, he is not sloppy like this." I looked at Mars. We might not have any formal leader, but at the moment Mars was in control. "Do we even know what are the evidence? Does Naja have any information on it?"

[Tomia]

YB Meeting
"Well, as far as I know Amir, the fingerprints on his gun that was found on the scene as I mentioned before is the strongest piece of evidence the prosecution has." Mars told him as the conversation went on. "We have to admit, that's strong evidence, and difficult to plant. If someone was trying to set him up they went to a lot of effort. So I guess we're all in agreement for the most part that we think Red didn't do it?" He said glancing at Roy, who hadn't spoken yet. Mars knew Roy and Red had a history, and he had a feeling like Roy's opinion might effect the team a lot.

Roy didn't answer at first, sitting silently and looking pensive. "I believe him." He said simply. "I don't know why really, this just doesn't seem like him. Red has never backed down on him being justified to kill. I've never seen him kill someone who he didn't think deserved it. Killing innocent people in cold blood... it's just not what he would do. And it isn't like he'd be terribly hard to set up, it's not like he has a good reputation. Anyway, ya I believe him."

Mars nodded, "Okay, but that still leads to what we can do about it. I mean, even if we believe he's innocent, the government isn't likely to agree. It seems like the only way we can help him is by... well breaking the law. It just seems like if we do something like that, we'll all get in trouble and we won't be able to be heroes, we'll become criminals on the run. I just don't know if we can risk that, with all that we've done to get the Young Bloods started."

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew Marks

Andrew raised his hand to Mars as the conversation continued. Fingerprints were certainly tough evidence from what he learned from crime shows. However, something just wasn't right, especially from what he heard about Red. "So like I said it must have been an accident..." He spoke out, before taking a moment to let Rango tell him something, " Or maybe...."

Andrew's milk white eyes widened and despite his blindness looked directly at Mars. "Could Red have been set up by someone?" He asked grimly, "I mean was he tricked by someone who wants to ruin you guys? You are all future heros... I could imagine someone villainous wanting to tarnish your reputation before you even begin... What do you think?"

[United Kingdom of Poland]

As she listened to the team banter back and forth about what to do with Red situation, Wendy herself felt torn over what side to take. Red had never been the easiest teammate to deal with and he’d made it clear his displeasure with the no killing rule she and the other followed. Truthfully, he was just as much a criminal as she was. Even worse, anything they did for red was likely to bring them under increased scrutiny, and at that point it would only be a matter of time before some made the connection between her and her parents.

But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving him to rot in prison without being sure that he had done the deed. “Honor among thieves” might have been an old joke, but it was still a known rule that you didn’t hang a member of your group out to dry if you could help it. And she knew how well cops could change, add, or remove evidence to fit the narrative they wanted to tell.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about the fingerprints Mars.” Wendy replied absentmindedly. “If the police had a copy of his prints, which is likely given his history with them, than it would be child's play for someone to copy them. All you would need to do is create a rubber mold of the pattern and add a little oil to it, and that's assuming we’re talking about a full print and not a partial...”

Wendy quickly shut up as her brain realized she was talking out of her wheelhouse, her mind racing for an easy excuse to explain that away. While the conversation from most of the group made her feel better about revealing her past to them

“Or at least how people have fooled thumbprint scanners before. Growing up I wanted to be a CSI tech, and started reading a lot on that. I can take a quick peek inside the SDPD servers if you want me too Roy. That way we can see if this really is a set up before we do something rash.”

[Bentus]

Yoshiro sat quietly as the team shared their thoughts on Red’s arrest, the news having caught all of them by surprise. She had not been able to sleep since the phone call and her talk with Naja, it was impossible to get any rest after everything that had happened. The murder, Red’s imprisonment, the mountain of evidence that seemed to be piling up against him, and the fact that Naja had known and chosen not to interrupt their training. Yoshiro felt drained, a pair of bags under her eyes betraying the sense of mental and physical fatigue that was weighing her down. She did her best to offer Alexis a thankful smile as she tried to comfort her, although the half-hearted action lacked her usual energy. Glancing around the room, Yoshiro looked at the gathered team members. All of their minds were clouded, their emotions uncertain and worried.

Mars had been the one who had taken the initiative, doing his best to steer the conversation towards a final decision. Casimir hadn’t waited a second to respond, but his initial passionate defence of Red soon gave way to foggy doubts that caused his voice to waver. Looking over towards toward where Roy was sitting, Yoshiro noticed that the older boy had seemed more than willing to hand over the responsibility of the meeting to his younger friend. She could hear the conflict that he was wrestling with, his own personal mistrust and history with Red battling with his desire to believe that their teammate couldn’t have done what the evidence indicated. Carter didn’t hesitate to speak his mind, shrugging as he pointed out what Yoshiro was certain everyone else had been thinking, but had been unwilling to say for themselves. She felt the same stab of pain in her chest that had been twisting her stomach for the past day. The unavoidable, inevitable conclusion that she’d been trying to avoid: even if Red was innocent, there was nothing that she could do.

It had been that realisation that had kept her awake. That explained why Naja had chosen to keep the news from the Young Bloods during the training exercise. What good would knowing have done them, anyway? Damn it Red, I’m sorry but I just don’t know what to do. What would you do if you were in our place?

“I believe him.”

Roy’s voice broke through the discussions that were still going on, the attention of the team turning towards their de facto leader. Yoshiro felt a fist clench her chest as he seemed to indicate that he wasn’t willing to risk their reputation to try and save Red. The words struck the girl like a slap to the face, and before she quite knew what she was doing, Yoshiro had stood up.

“Well if you believe him, then we have to do something about it!” She yelled at Red, unable to contain the anger and stress. “Why should we care what everyone else thinks about us? I thought what makes us heroes is whether or not we do the right thing, no matter what. Red is in serious trouble, even for him, and we’re sitting here wondering if we should hang him out to dry because we might get some bad press?” Yoshiro looked around, trying to find an understanding face. “Andrew is right. He must have been framed, Roy. I’m sure that you both have enemies by this point, it would make sense that one of them would try to set Red up like this.” She paused for a moment as an idea began to form in her head.

“Wendy, you said that you know a bunch of this CSI-type stuff? Red didn’t come on the training mission because he was investigating something about the zoo. What if whoever was behind that framed Red since he was digging a bit too deep? If we picked up where he left off, maybe we can find out who framed him and clear his name.”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"Yoshiro, please calm down." A voice spoke, belonging to none other than Alexis, who was sitting next to the Asian girl, struggling to pick out her words with utmost care. It was one thing to offer a word of caution to some of the most hot-headed among her teammates, but it was another to speak directly against the one person she had been trying to comfort since the meeting began, and that made her feel quite conflicted, though the others likely wouldn't be able to infer that much from her stoic expression.

Resting her chin on her locked hands, the girl continued. "I understand you're upset about this, I think we all are." She said, pausing for a moment, wondering if anyone would hold her own lack of expression against her after she said that. "But that's no reason to dismiss the dangers involved in helping him out. It isn't just some 'bad press'; like I said, if we make a misstep, we likely won't be able to continue being the Young Bloods again. Plus, even if we know who set Red up, I doubt we'll be able to do anything too quickly. We'll need to gather evidence, which will take a while, and I don't think the testimonies of a bunch of teens who are concerned for their friend will be taken very seriously by the authorities." She explained, before thinking of how to better express her concerns.

"I'll consider the best and worst case scenarios if we help him, assuming we can't prove him innocent, because we don't have any idea of how to go about that yet. Best case scenario, we'll break him out without harming anyone, and none of us will be caught as being involved. Red will still be hunted by the law and won't be able to help us out as a member of the Young Bloods anymore. We may be able to have him here in the Tower, where he'll be safe, but this would also be one of the first places that would be checked for any signs of him. Even if we were able to keep him hidden, though, we'll never shake off the suspicion that we might have been involved, a situation that won't be resolved unless we prove him innocent at some point." The blonde girl stated and then paused, giving the others some time to digest her hypothesis.

"Now, worst case scenario. Our attempt to break him out fails and he's kept imprisoned. Some or all of us are caught and thrown into the slammer as well. We won't be able to continue being the Young Bloods at all, and even if Red is proven innocent, we won't be because we attacked a prison. Our identities will undoubtedly be exposed to the public as well, which has its own host of problems; I know I don't want the bad guys to know who I am and who my family is, and in the cases of some of us, the PR of an entire race might be at stake too." She said, glancing at Kiris, who looked down in frustration upon realizing the truth of these words.

"I... I don't know. I might be able to rush and refit the drones I was making for Wendy and build a few more things we can send there to try and breaking him out remotely while keeping ourselves uninvolved, but it'll take a while... We don't really have any easy way out here." She admitted at last, her facade breaking slightly and turning into a frustrated scowl as she continued to think.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

It was no use. They were already discussing how best to break Red out, and it was already everybody against him. Nobody would just quit with their naive, rose-tinted views, and take a look at this through the clear picture. Everybody kept telling him to not act stupid and use his head, but now nobody was exactly intent on using that particular tool. It wasn't fucking fair, finally, he found people like him, who had the same passion as him, he had found a place where he was useful, needed, even wanted by a very select few. And now they were going to blow it all up over some...murderer, some killer.

A final look of defeat on his face, Carter just slowly shook his head, a sigh of defeat exiting his lips. Quietly standing up, with an almost worn out posture and sagged shoulders, he spoke in a dead, bitter voice.

"Well...I suppose nothing will change your minds. Not a murdered family, not a heap of evidence, nothing. Now you want to break him out and destroy the team." he said, voice cracking slightly. Steadying himself with a cough, blinking away the moisture behind his eyes, he continued. "Well, fine. Break him out. But I won't be a part of it."

With that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room, trying to bite back the words creeping up his throat. He didn't stop walking until he found his room, before promptly collapsing on his bed. So much of him was here. The massive set of video games on the TV console, the stack of comics on the shelf, posters of random things on the walls, the rollerskates hung on the wall. This was his home, more than the shack in Iowa, more than any foster home. And it could all be taken away from him...

His thoughts were soon interrupted by his phone buzzing. Procuring it out of his pocket, he quickly checked who it was. It was none other than...Alexis. The very name sent a chill up Carter's spine, remembering their last meeting. He could picture it all so clearly. The cans of beer on the table. The motorbike in the corner. The tracks he had left on the ground. Did he even want to talk to Alexis again? Was he ready to hear she had killed someone else, stole another life and proclaimed herself the Messiah of Life?

But what did he have to lose? He might as well keep the few friends he hadn't alienated yet.

Here went nothing.

"Hello?"

[Anxiety Cafe]

Wonder Island

After three fun, hard days of training, Nathan's muscles were still sore as he entered the meeting room, a little grogginess persisting even though he had had a rather peaceful sleep the night before. His entrance was met with loud arguing and yelling that certainly didn't help his sleepiness, as he zoned out for most of the conversation, only hearing a few points.

"I think," he began, a little nervous. "You have all brought up valid points. It was very stupid of Red to not go on the training mission with us, because then he would have an alibi, if he didn't do it. He has always been a loose cannon, acting independently of us in different, more brutal ways. I think he is quite capable of murder," he paused. "However, I do not think he killed these people. Red is too smart to leave such evidence just lying around if he were to kill. I think he's being framed, to put us in a bad light. It could be villains, unhappy with our performances so far, or even local vigilantes, reluctant to share a city with a superhero team. Either way, we can't do anything rash. Everything we have to do must be done by legal means, or the true perpetrators of this crime will have won in their attempts to foil this team's reputation. We will try our best, but if we fail, we fail. I hate to say it, but this is a superhero team. Losing members was bound to happen eventually, it's just happening much sooner and in much more suspicious circumstances than expected."

Satisfied with his short rant, he sat back and awaited the responses, still trying his best not to doze off.

---

The Algerian Coastline

Asha simply responded with a nod, beckoning the stranger closer towards the shore. She felt vulnerable and exposed on land, even though her home was only a few feet away. Besides, in the water, if that thing took control again, she could dispose of it quickly and easily. Actually, now that she thought about it...would killing the man, Jonathan, end the creature's life? Could she save the lives of so many others with one quick move?

She wasn't sure if the creature would live on and find a new host, if such action would even be worth it. She shuddered as she imagined what the creature would be able to do with abilities like hers. She wasn't really worried about the ethical dilemma of killing the man; it would save the lives of many more. It would weigh on her conscience, for sure, but eventually she'd get over it. She almost asked the man whether or not the creature would survive, but bit her tongue for fear of being insensitive and scaring him off. At least next to her, she had some control over what he did. Alone...she couldn't imagine what he'd do, except perhaps a repeat of the scene that had drawn her there.

As the two stepped into the water, she told him to wait as she swam a little farther out, trying to get a feel of where the city was. She didn't learn much from the fish, except that it was west. After telling her whale friend where she was going, she returned to the coastline and started swimming, using the water to propel them a little and making no attempt at conversation.

---

New York City

The woman's sudden and confident response threw Atmo off a little, and he actually took a few steps back and tripped over his cape. Standing up and brushing himself off, he looked at the woman again, who was waiting expectantly for an answer.

"Well, uh...uh like, I thought you were...I mean, like, I was hoping," he stammered. Clearing his throat and shaking his head, he looked at her again. "Who are you?"

---

Mickey D's

Violet was more than a little surprised when Icarus opened up once again, showing her his many crafts.

"Well, I'm not one for crafting, but occasionally I do paint. Abstract, mostly because I'm quite rubbish at it."

Finishing her sundae and setting it aside, a sharp pain distracted her from his response. It originated from her point of injury at the zoo and radiated throughout the rest of her skull, resulting in a throbbing headache that blurred her vision and made her nauseous. Grimacing a little, she blinked and looked up at him.

"'Yeah, it's uh, probably just an ice cream headache," she started, blinking. "I should, um, probably start heading home, if that's OK. It was nice seeing you!"

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun

Alexis, who was seated beside her, stood up and countered Yoshiro's statement. She pointed out several things, like how upsetting the situation is and how upset the members of the YB are about Red's current situation. Park didn't quite felt the same way, though it is more because she still a newly-appointed member and even then her status is still on the edge, with the disapproval from Naja about her killing policy. Two scenarios on how to free Red. Best thing ever, Red's free and no one harmed in the process. But there is no chance Red will be able to operates legally anymore and YB will be the number one suspect as they are the only connection to Red and it obviously means they will be suspected, maybe even heavily suspected. At the same time, worst thing ever, some of them will be imprisoned and Red's failed to be freed. Even if he is proven innocent, some of the other YB members will be not.

A Morton's Fork situation, as her father always said. Damned if you do, Damned if you don't. Carter won't have any of it, though. Justice must be served, and if they keep on insisting on freeing Red through illegal means, he's off the table. "I have an idea," Park said, after Nathan was finished with his...statement. "I...am not sure this is the best idea, that we free Red, or try to free him. However," she continued. This is a hard one. "We can dressed as a new group. Let's say that we dressed very differently, perhaps an all-black costumed people. We go to the prison, we kill everyone inside or at least gravely injured them and we left the prison with Red on tow. And then the media will said that a new villain group is breaking someone out, a YB member."

"I know, I know, this is not the best idea. In fact, this is the worst idea. But if you all keep insisting on freeing him while also trying not to taint the YB's name, well, this is the perfect idea," she said, finishing her statement.

---

Akira Yasunaga

Akira left the scene soon after, though he was hounded by reporters who were struck by his look. A new hero, they asked. Not a hero, nor a villain. Just someone doing his job and got paid with cash. He returned to his apartment, put the suit back to its compartment, and put an order for a new security team to be prepared, and to be better-armed.

The hunt isn't over. In fact, it just been started.

---

Jonathan Jackson/Symbiote

Jonathan nodded along as he swam slowly while waited for her directions. Soon after the girl did her thing and he just followed her directions. Not in the mood of speaking, too.