Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park

Wyatt

Wendy

Andrew Marks

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

The initial adrenaline surge faded, and Renata now found herself standing in a battlefield with a raised finger gun and a total of six sets of eyes around her. Two of them were the aforementioned vampire-like creatures, one of them was a winged dragon-like person, while the other three... looked like heroes! Two girls and one boy, to be slightly more precise.

So wait... This might be a dumb question, but who's the good guys here? Is the dragon on their side? Are any of the heroes on the vampire side? Are the vampires the enemies here?

Better ask.

"Okay, so who's for and against the Blood drug here?" Stella exclaimed, slightly confused.

Park In-hyun

Why there is always some disturbance?

Slightly injured but considering her healing factor is kicking in, she moved down by jumping down. The vampire was burned on its thigh, so to speak. Wyatt was on the sky, so to speak as well. There this...new heroine close to them. Hmm, she really good at doing the vampire by herself. However, she asked for explanation and Park could tell it to her since this is a city-wide problem anyway.

"This Blood Drug...it is a drug infused with vampire blood. It is poisonous to the humans, but also very addictive. Anyway, the drug is produced by a group of rogue vampires who want to restore the vampire's influence to be as wide as they used to be when there aren't many aliens on Earth and when it was on 14th century or so. My vampire side wants the status quo to be restored, since it is much more useful for us to stay hidden from civilians, and well....let's just say we don't like harm humans. We don't drink human blood as frequently as it used to be, but you know the idea," she said. "Anyway, those vampires are the bad people and we," as she pointed to herself, Wendy, Andrew, and that guy on the sky, "That's Wyatt, the one with magic, are the good people," she said.

"We need to finish this soon or risk getting this city in a wave of drugs. You join?" she said, as she prepared for her sword for her duel with the grounded vampire. Wounded, still strong and dangerous nonetheless.

[Finland SSR]

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

Park In-hyun

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

One of the... humans in this battlefield, an injured Asian girl, noticed Renata first and began to speak to her. At first, the heroine only overheard a few of the words, a bit more focused on everyone else in this clash, but what the person was saying soon caught her full attention. As it turns out, this "Blood" drug was not ordinary narcotics, but a drug infused with vampire blood, which explained the blood frenzy and superpowers its victims gained.

And the person explaining all this was, apparently, a vampire herself, or at least had a 'vampire side', but fought against the vampires who were producing the drug for their benefit. Her explanation was slightly short and didn't explain everything, but it's not like Renata could beg for more. If they spend too much time explaining this to each other, then they're just leaving themselves open to attack.

"I think I'm ready, yeah." Stella replied to Park's final question. Okay, so the vampire hybrid, the two other humans and the dragon man are on their side. Dragon man... "That's an odd name you gave your dragon, though. 'Wyatt'... Sounds more like a human name..."

"And just so you don't have to ask... I'm Stella."

Alright, here goes.

With a low start, Stella suddenly ran forward, towards the injured vampire, then aimed her finger gun and fired an another sunlight laser towards the monster.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

Amir Zairi
The meeting concluded with all of us agreed that Red was innocent, and we need to do something about it. Problem was, nobody really sure what was the right thing to do. At first I was quite confident I would do anything to help him, but after Park shot in her idea and reminded me there are ideas not worth doing.

Not long after we finished talking, Nama came and brought us a new mission. Damn, I was honestly tired, after the training and this problem with Red. At least I got something to keep my mind off from him though. Apparently this new drug that gives people some metahumans level capability. Oh, and they become violent too. I don't think I need to add that part though, since that is what most of these toxicants do.

The interesting part came when Park explained her side of the story. According to her, the power boost felt by the addicts when they take this "Blood" is not just a mental illusion, but an actual increase in strength due to the drugs are infused with Vampire blood. She also told us that this all had something to do with some sort of Vampiric resurgence movement. Told you it was interesting.

Naja offered us to pass the mission, which I thanked her for. I didn't really want to sit this one through though. I was not in shape to going back to the field, but I thought I could help from my side of business.

I went to my quarter and turned on my PC. Let's see anyone else was reporting this stuff. I'd also need to check some alchemy texts. I got a strong feeling them drugs won't be using your everyday science to infuse the Vampire blood into the drug. Just mixing blood with other substance would not honestly do anything other than making a weed and coagulated blood stew. To make this kind of things, they would need some mojo. Subtle one, the kind that does not require too much effort ordinary people couldn't do, could even something so subtle they didn't realize it was magic.

I browser through news sources and social medias, trying to glean any kind of extra information. Alas, it seemed that the internet was as stumped as I was. Nobody could track where in the world the factory is, and all the speculations were either not worth investigating or not giving me new information. I could try to check the Deep Web, but I didn't want to get on Nana's bad side. Either way, if what Park told us were true than going to Deep Web would not help me any more than the normal internet could.

I spent five minutes or so thinking to find a solution for this problem before an inspiration hit me. If the Blood was infused with blood, that means I could do some simple thaumaturgy to find the person whose blood are used. Yeah, this could work.

I took my phone and dialed Casimir's phone number. The call took some minutes before he answered it, but finally a voice croaked out of the phone.

"Hey Casimir, this is Amir. How's the fight heh? Going well I hope. So I think I find a way to search the factory that produces these drugs but I need you to got me some samples from your little filed trip. Can you do me the favor please?"

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Raven-Warehouse District

The moon has already risen and it was going to be a very long night. We had just arrived at the warehouse where we were supposed to meet the arms dealer and the man was pretty much what I expected. Late 30s, maybe early 40s but extremely fit African American man who was obviously former military of some sort. He was bald, wearing a light and breezy hawaiian shirt and smoking what had to have been an expensive cigar. Nick spoke up from an ear piece as he spotted him from a hacked camera. " "Man wish I had the money to smoke what he is smoking." He certainly seemed to have style. I took a quick glance around and saw perhaps a dozen large cases all carrying what I presumed to be various lethal weapons all already bought and payed for. A couple moments passed as both me and Shield Maiden entered and the arms dealer exhaled a puff of smoke from his cigar. Before he finally broke the silence.

"Marionette told me I was delivering these weapons to some supposedly dangerous killers. Never said anything about handing over military grade arms to a couple of kids." I cocked my head to one side as I responded to him, a hand on my hip.

"Is that a problem?" He snorted.

"Hell no, this stuff is bought and payed for already. Just try not to leave them on the streets for the neighborhood kids to play with." He then opened a case and pulled out a AK-47 and loaded it. Handing the weapon over.

"When that girl calls me and tells me to make a delivery. I learned not to ask too many questions." I picked up the assault weapon and pressed it against my shoulder as I aimed. "I like it, but I am afraid that I will not be able to bring this little number with me tonight? Got anything smaller? And would you have rubber bullets?" The arms dealer seemed surprised at my bizarre mentioning of rubber bullets.

"What, you do not want the live rounds?" I laughed.

"Hell yeah I want the live rounds. They just will not be suitable for what I have in mind tonight." I explained finally laying the gun down.

"I have a more delicate operation that I am working tonight and I would like to keep police casualties to a absolute zero."
He seemed as if he was trying to gauge how to respond to that before finally speaking up.

"Sure thing. I have a case in the truck outside. It's all yours no charge. I honestly was wondering what the hell I was gonna do with em. Came in on a order and I was stuck with em since." He explained as he led us outside. "So, the two of you are not working for that doll girl huh?" I sneered a bit as he opened the truck up.

"Hell no, matter of fact. As soon as we finish what is coming up, I am gonna kill her with the weapons she bought for us. This is just a temporary partnership." He smiled a bit.

"Well, I hate to lose a customer. But I sure as hell won't miss her. Girl gives me the creeps. But I wish you luck on that. You should have enough firepower in these cases t take on a Marine Batallion." He then started to look around as he handed me several small cases of rubber bullets.

"Speaking of, how are you transporting all of this?" I glanced over at Shield Maiden and handed her a couple of boxes to hold. They were rather small, carrying perhaps a couple dozen rubber rounds apiece. Then I pulled a phone out with a free hand and showed him some coordinates. "Actually, you will be moving the product here and Nick will guide you-" The African man backed up.

"Nah mam, I am no damn UBER. I already been payed and this was just a drop off. I do not make house calls."

"Look, I do not have the means to move this shit myself. Drop half the supplies off and keep the other half and re sell em. Call it a bonus. But I expect to return and see some fucking fully loaded assault weapons when I get back from this." He removed his glasses and we met eyes for a second before he spoke again.

"Know what? I like your style kid. No one ever talks to me like that. Tell you what, I drop the weapons off there. All of them. What is your name?"

"Alexis. Call me Raven though." I answered looking up at the muscled man as he closed the truck door.

"Name is Christopher. Was a Army Ranger in a former life. I would not mind supplying someone like you for once. Normally I deal with gangs, mafia and the occasional pirates or rebel groups. But never met anyone quite like you." He then handed me a card with a number written on the back of it as he went about loading cases into the truck to take to the coordinates I gave him.

"Call me if you need anything else."

With that I turned to Shield Maiden and quickly grabbed a AKM and a M4 Carbine along with both live and rubber rounds and loaded them into the Police Prisoner Transport Truck which Nick had arranged for us. Climbing into the driver seat I awaited for Shield Maiden to embark on the passenger side. Watching her finally slam he door I glanced over at her loading my 9mm with rubber ammunition as I kicked the truck into hear.

"You ready for this Brianna? We get out of here and it's nothing but break outs and gunfire." I asked, realizing that this was our first actual mission together.

And what a hell of a way to start off.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

Toiling away inside of her underground laboratory, Alexis hummed lightly to herself as she used a small computer terminal off to the side of the room to manipulate various electronic instruments laid out on a worktable in front of her. Indeed, she was left completely unaware of another's presence as Angelica quietly walked past the old (but well-greased) wooden door that separated the lab from the outside and positioned herself behind her before speaking up. While the tech wizard was obviously surprised at this, she quickly recognized her friend's voice, even if it sounded a little different than usual, and, not wanting to leave her waiting, she left the procedure paused and the terminal on standby before turning around on her swiveling chair, looking at the masked girl.

After Angelica had asked her question, an awkward silence followed. Of course, normally Alexis would've agreed to help out without even thinking about it, both because helping out a friend is simply what she would do and because it sounded like an opportunity to continue helping Angelica open up. However, the whole situation with Red had left her in a wary mood, and she stopped just short of speaking, instead thinking about it. What could Frostbite need her help with, and why couldn't she be honest about it? Most likely due to the same reason that she was unwilling to open up to the team just yet, but what reason was that? Was it something innocuous... or was it something dangerous? And if so, was it right for her to simply keep her distance?

These thoughts occupied the blonde girl's mind as she stared blankly at Angelica, mouth slightly ajar as she tried to gather the resolve to speak decisively. Before she could do so, though, there was a knock on the door, and yet another girl walked into the room, the same one that she'd been trying to comfort earlier, Yoshiro. She seemed to want to talk to her too, which, to a distant part of her mind, was fairly amusing: she was usually the one to approach others, and just when she went off to work on her lab during daytime hours for a change, two people came looking for her all at once. She didn't voice this, though, and simply stood up, walking over to Angelica and placing a hand on her shoulder before looking at Yoshiro, her mind made up.

"Hey Yoshi. Frosty-girl here was just telling me that she might need help with something delicate, but I think I've got a minute to talk before we head out, sure." She said with a friendly smile, not quite as bright as usual, but indicating a much better mood than earlier. She then looked at Angelica. "Unless it's a really urgent matter?"

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna

---

As they approached the warehouse where they were supposed to meet their weapons supplier, Brianna couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. She had dealt with these kinds of people many times in the past and it was never on good terms. However, Alexis thought that she could trust this man, so Brianna had kept her concerns to herself, although she made sure to keep her hand ready to deploy Traust in case things went for the worst.

Exiting the truck, their supplier appeared, and at first glance the man looked like every other arms dealer she had encountered before. He seemed to be in his middle years of life, the grizzled look on his face making it clear that this man had seen his fair share of death within his lifetime. He seemed surprised to see a pair of young girls come out to meet him, a sentiment that carried in his words as Alexis addressed him. Once more, Brianna stayed quiet, although she continued to eye the man in search of any signs of possible betrayal.

Thankfully, she found none, and her intuition seemed corrected as he delivered the supplies as promised to them. Alexis had even gotten the man to agree to bring the supplies to their temporary base of operations, a gesture that Brianna could appreciate. The last thing she wanted to do was waste time hauling around supplies. However, seeing as Alexis had heaped several boxes into her arms, Brianna's hope were somewhat dashed. Still, there weren't too many to grab, and given her strength the boxes were practically weightless to her.

After loading the supplies into the truck, she hopped into the passenger side of their vehicle, accidentally slamming the door in the process. She quietly cursed, realizing she had forgotten to mind just how powerful she was and had done such in front of her comrade. To help make up for her mistake, she began to load one of Alexis's handguns, the process taking her a bit to figure out. She rarely handled such items, and thus she probably looked clumsy for quite some time before she managed to finally get the weapon ready.

"You ready for this Brianna? We get out of here and it's nothing but break outs and gunfire."

Brianna nodded, placing Alexis's weapon on the console in between them.

"I am no stranger to battle, Alexis. I assure you, you do not need to fear for my safety."

She paused, staring at the road ahead as they made their way to the prison where this "Red" was being held. As confident as her words had been, she knew within her heart that they were indeed going to be in for a difficult journey. It had been decades since Brianna had been in such potential peril, and the thought both excited and worried her. Still, with her abilities and Alexis's prowess in battle, she was certain that they would be victorious in their quest.

For some time, there was only silence between the two as they drove. While normally Brianna could have stayed quiet for the journey, for some reason beyond her comprehension she felt as if the silence was too much to bear. With no other choice, she decided to try and start a conversation. She had a genuine curiosity she wanted to know, and seeing as they had time until they would be placed into action, she decided she had little to lose by asking.

"So, Alexis. I have been meaning to ask you this for quite some time: What is your relationship to this 'Red'? Is he your brother, your comrade, or..."

She paused, not knowing if she should finish her words.

"...your lover?"

---

Red

---

The sound of metal grating against the floor was quickly followed by the footsteps and chatter of inmates, as this signaled that it was time for evening yard time. For most inmates, this was a time where they could get a breath of fresh air, albeit all while surrounded by fences guarded with guards armed with rifles. For Red, however, this meant that he was about to be put into the fight of his life.

He'd been given ominous threats throughout the day, his neighbors clearly knowing who he was and why he was here. Some of them Red recognized as being sent her by his own actions, and they most certainly seemed to recognize him. They made it clear to him that they were going to get their well-earned payback against him. He debated not going out and trying to stay in his cell, but he knew the guards would only use this as an excuse to beat the shit out of him for "Not complying". They too had a bone to settle with him, given his crime, which meant Red would find no haven by staying within their sight at all time.

Taking a deep breath, he began to march towards the doors that led to the "Yard", a large open area dotted with basketball courts, weight racks, and benches to sit at. As he made his way their, it was clear that he was being watched closely by the other inmates. His ears picked up on a variety of conversations, some ranging from how they were going to slit his throat to bets on who would do it first. It wasn't the most encouraging thing to hear, that was to say the least.

However, as he made his way onto the Yard, he made it clear that he wasn't going to take it lying down. Reaching into his pocket, he began to roll the long strips of cloth he had torn from his bed sheets around his knuckles, knowing that they would be receiving plenty of upcoming punishment. He had maneuvered himself into a corner of the yard, his back against the wall in an effort to keep his attackers in front of him. His efforts weren't unnoticed, as several prisoners seemed amused that their prey was choosing to fight instead of run or beg for his life. While the latter option would have been a savory sight to see, the former was much more entertaining.

As a crowd began to gather to where he was at, Red glanced up to where a group of guards were standing watch. They knew what was going to occur, however it appeared that they had no plans on stopping it. Red figured that would be the case, but it pissed him off to see the bastards shirk off on their duties so easily. Given what he was accused of, he supposed he couldn't blame them.

Staring at the men gathered around him, Red decided he had enough of waiting around and feeling like a trapped mouse being played with by a cat. With a cocky grin on his face, he yelled out at the crowd.

"Alright ladies, now one at a time. I promise, I'll give you all an equal dose of tender love and care."

The insult seemed to amuse some, as ominous chuckles would be heard, but for others it served as the green light for them to begin their assault.

The first prisoner to reach Red came in with a hard right hook, clearly trying to go for a one-hit knockout. Unfortunately for him, the move was far too easy for Red to read, as he avoided the blow by sidestepping to the right, grabbing a hold of the man's elbow as he flew by. With a sickening snap, he broke the man's arm right at the joint before using his momentum to throw him onto his back in one smooth motion.

The other prisoners momentarily froze as the sound of the man's pained screams reached their ears. However, it wasn't long until the screams filled them with a sense of rage, screaming and cursing as they renewed their offensive.

Red didn't bother to wait, as he drove a elbow into the nearest prisoner's nose, causing blood to spurt in a wide fountain as the man's nose and several teeth were broken with the force of the blow. The man toppled backwards in pain, knocking over several others in the process. But Red had little time to gloat over his attack, as a prisoner attempted to tackle him down. He was met with a knee straight to his throat before being finished off with a roundhouse kick from Red. Using the momentum from his rotation, he drove his fist into the nether regions of another man, the vigilante not being above using dirty tricks to make sure he got out of this fight alive.

Several more prisoners would be taken down in a series of kicks, punches, elbows, and even an occasional headbutt from Red, before suddenly the glint of metal could be seen. Two prisoners, armed with makeshift knives that were made in mass in places like this, charged at him. They seemed to think that their weapons gave them the upper hand, as they were quick to run straight at him. The first one tried to make a low slash at his legs, but Red managed to grab him by the wrist. With a quick twist, he snapped the man's wrist, causing him to drop his knife. It was just in time, as the other armed inmate was attempting to capitalize on the the first attack with an overhead slash. Grabbing the first prisoner's knife in mid air, Red stabbed upwards towards, stabbing the man in his arm. He too dropped the knife as blood gushed out from the wound. Red quickly withdrew the knife and placed it into the man leg this time before kicking him in the chest, sending the man flying into another group of inmates. Retrieving the second knife from the ground, Red flashed the blade at the other prisoners, who were now beginning to realize that they had gotten themselves into more than they could handle. Seeing the sight before him, Red let out a dry laugh as blood not of his own trickled down his face.

"What's wrong guys, I thought you wanted to have some fun? Am I just that good, or are you just that bad?"

With that last insult, the blood lust of what remained of his assailants seemed to be renewed as they charged at him once more. However, their offensive was cut short at the sound of whistles being blown and boots quickly approaching their position as the guards seemed to realize that things had gotten out of hand. They all had weapons drawn, ready to be used in case the riot continued. Out of the corner of his eye, Red noticed that the snipers in the guard towers had their weapons pointed right at him, waiting for him to move a single muscle.

For a brief moment, Red considered fighting back. He had a weapon in his hands now, and all it would take would be grabbing a hostage to use as bait before using the distraction as a means to steal one of the officers' firearms. If he had one of those in his hands, it would simply be a matter of using the crowd of prisoners as human shields as he took out the nearest sniper, and then fight his way to freedom. He had done it twice before as a member of The Five, and he knew that he could do it again if he wanted to. A cruel grin etched its way onto his face as he saw the opportunity before him.

He was about to act on this opportunity, when all of a he felt something...familiar enter his mind. He didn't understand how or why it was happening, but he suddenly felt his racing heart calm down, and his ragged breathing settled into a more relaxed state. His blood lust vanished, replaced instead by a warm feeling that he recognized but couldn't quite remember where it was from. Whatever it was, it caused his cruel expression to melt into a soft smile, as he swore he felt the sensation of a hand brushed his cheek, followed by the hushed voice both familiar and unknown to him.

"No more, Red."

And all of a sudden, the feeling was gone, causing Red to gasp as he reached out towards nothing, chasing after whatever had just experienced. The knife in his hand clattered to the ground, followed by him collapsing to his knees. Much to his confusion, a single tear rolled down his cheek, its cause unknown to Red. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, his thoughts suddenly becoming clear.

He was no longer a part of The Five. He wasn't a killer anymore. He was a Hero.

He was a Young Blood.

Opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of guards rushing towards him, handcuffs in their hands as other guards continued to train their weapons on him. Reaching him, they slammed his head against the ground, causing his vision to blur as the act momentarily stunned him. Through the blur, he saw paramedics rushing over to the wounded prisoners, who laid on the ground writhing in pain. However, as painful as it was, none of their injuries were life threatening.

Red's face was suddenly jerked upwards as several officers dragged him to the main building, making no effort to make the trip a comfortable one. He heard them mumbling about the mess he had made, and how they'd have to keep this incident away from the media as it was clear that Red had been defending himself, albeit by beating the ever-living shit out of the other inmates. While they didn't state it out loud, Red also knew that if video came out showing the guards blatantly allowing the attack to happen, they would be in deep shit as well.

After winding through the depths of the prison, they suddenly stopped in what appeared to be a desolate area of the prison, devoid of any other inmates. It was solitary confinement, with only a single overhead light providing lighting to the windowless corridor. Opening one of the doors, the guards roughly removed the handcuffs from him before throwing him forcefully into the opposite wall. With a large slam, they closed the door, the sound of a heavy lock engaging as he was sealed within. A single officer stared at him through a tiny slit in the door, telling him he'd receive medical attention later.

Red doubted he'd get any, but nonetheless kept his mouth shut as he glanced around the barren room before him. A single worn-out bed was placed in the corner of the room. Adjacent to that a metal sink, devoid of a mirror above it, the sink being secured with over a dozen bolts to make sure nothing could be tampered with. Besides this, there was nothing else in the room, not even a window. The only source of light came from the small stilted opening on the door, leaving Red practically in the dark.

Standing there for a few moments, he felt a wave of memories reach him. Being sent into the wilderness as a child, with all of his friends dying. Fighting alongside The Five. Seeing them die before his eyes to a man he once saw as a fatherly figure. Quick Shot saving him and offering him a chance at redemption. Going to class at Thomsen High. Fighting off the escaped inmates on the island with. Life at the Tower with the Young Bloods. Nearly dying at the hands of Marionette. A girl in his arms as he danced to the final song at the summer dance. Fighting both against and then with Raven. Finding himself being accused of murder, and everyone believing he was guilty of a crime he never committed.

And now, he was locked up to rot in a dark cell, a place that he would probably know for the rest of his life. It was too much too much for his soul to bear, as he felt it ripping at the core. The wisecracking smartass that never let his guard down felt all the walls within him break down in what felt like a bomb going off in his chest. The explosion of emotions rumbled within him, until his last barrier was finally broke. Red let loose a scream like a wounded wolf caught in a bear trap as his emotions flowed out of him like a waterfall.

His screams reached no ears except his own, even as they echoed down the desolate hallway which was now his home.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Kirisvala smiled when Mars told her she was welcome to tag along with him and Roy, and then nodded at the older of the two boys as he agreed with her suggestion, before following them on their way to the heart of the docks. In the blood-tinted light of dusk, the empty streets and buildings all around them, while pleasant to look at in some ways, had a rather intimidating effect, and she huddled closer to Mars as they walked, wary of the dark corners and plotting shadows, and even of the few people that could be seen walking around at that place and hour, as they did not have any friendliness in their eyes. Before she had to worry about potential enemies much longer, though, actual enemies appeared in front of the group of three, causing her to forfeit her fears as she raised her guard, not against the ragged crowd obviously, but against the three men in front of them; from what she knew, she could guess they were up to no good.

Hearing Roy's instructions, the alien girl nodded, a resolute look on her face. She looked up and at the leader of the other group, scrutinizing him and frowning at what she saw. Whether he noticed this or not, she did not know, but it was clear that he had seen them already, as he ordered them to leave what she assumed he thought of as his turf. Kiris pouted and crossed her arms in front of herself, but said nothing, instead letting Roy handle the retort.

Said retort backfired and the situation took a turn for the worst when the crowd of paupers began lashing out at the three of them due to the dealer's orders. Against the sudden onslaught of deprived addicts, the Young Bloods had no choice but to defend themselves, and Kiris began fighting back, although in the least dangerous way she could manage, using her claws to deflect their punches and kicks or throw them into each other but never trying to rend flesh or cause lasting damage. She tried her best to keep pressure off Mars, since Roy had gone off to fight off the bodyguards and Mars appeared to have a bit of trouble, but the genius boy soon took to the skies, allowing her to focus on her own fight.

When Roy called out to her, telling her to target the dealer now that his bodyguards were distracted, she immediately lifted one of the addicts with her claws and tossed him at the rest of the crowd before backing away. "Got it!" She shouted back at Roy, before dropping down and using her claws to move, which allowed her to advance much faster than she could on her feet. With her new speed, she flanked the addicts and practically pounced on the dealer, knocking him to the ground. She quickly got to her feet after landing, and the dealer did the same, trying to kick the girl before making a run for it, but the Hadrian grabbed the criminal's foot.

"You're not going anywhere!" She shouted at him, before sinking her sharp teeth on his foot. The scream that followed echoed throughout the docks.

[Absolon-7]

Furious at himself he sprinted back to the front yard of the crackhouse where he had left the leader and Casimir froze in horror as Dwayne was nowhere to be seen. A tremendous force collided with Casimir's left side hurtling him out to the yard. Gasping in pain he forced his bruised body to leap up in order to face his foe. As expected his mystery assailant was Dwayne himself.

"Okay. I really did not want to hurt you but your making this especially hard for me, fella," growled Casimir venomously, "I've been holding back hard for your sake but since its seems like your not gonna comply, you're not leaving me any options." His threats went ignored as the snarling menace slowly circled around him before he stopped and stared at him still as a statue. At a standoff they glared at each other for what seemed like ages and not until a hot wind knocked something over in the far distance did they move. At the distant signal they lunged at each other with Casimir jumping up and using Dwayne's face as a stepping stone to get behind.

Grabbing him by the scruff, Casimir swung Dwayne's body straight at the building's chimney before unleashing a devastating spin kick to the back of the head. The red man came back up to bite him but he was greeted with a boot to face instead. Dwayne tried swinging at him but Casimir deflected the hit and returned the favor delivering dozens of punches to his face. Dwayne got a few lucky shots at Casimir's chest leaving Casimir reeling in pain. Nevertheless, for every punch Dwayne gave Casimir could give ten back. After giving him one last jab that sent Dwayne flying, of all things his phone started ringing and it looked like it only made Dwayne even madder. Running back to the street to get away, Casimir leaped up to the grab on to the guard railing of a second floor balcony. Reaching around his belt with his free arm, Casimir grabbed his phone and turned it on meanwhile Dwyane was right below him snarling and yelling for his blood.

"Hey Casimir, this is Amir. How's the fight heh? Going well I hope. So I think I find a way to search the factory that produces these drugs but I need you to got me some samples from your little filed trip. Can you do me the favor please?"

"Oh, hi Amir. Now's not really a good time. I'm kinda facing a gank squad of Blood Drug users right now. Holy shit I still have the knife lodged in my back! Anyways, yeah you're gonna have more than enough once the team's back at base. Bye now." As Casimir hung up and placed the phone back in his belt he felt tight pressure on his legs pulling him down which was Dwayne himself leaping up to grab onto him. With his bloody gloves not being able to grip the railing firmly they both fell to the ground-floor resulting in a hard smack. Unfazed by the fall, Casimir got up and reached over his back to pull out the knife. He threw the knife away as he didn't want to resort to it.

Hearing footsteps behind him Casimir turned to see Dwayne charging at him and he was caught off guard enough to have his shoulders grabbed by the user but not before Casimir clutched his attacker's neck. Casimir collided both their heads together for a standing headbutt, however, his helmet provided a great deal of protection so he felt none of the pain or damage the Blood Drug user did. Casimir stood there confused since there's no way an ordinary human could have taken the assault he had delivered which must have meant Dwayne had superpowers before taking the Blood Drug. Now he sort of got the picture of what life was like here before the Blood Drug.

Dwayne came at him as a lion would for a gazelle but Casimir was no gazelle. He was a goddamn tiger beetle! The two rushed at each other with Casimir dodging a blow and delivering a left hook and a jab instead. Spinning to the side Casimir drove his left fist straight into Dwayne side and followed it up with a blow to the back of the head. Not leaving any time for a counterattack, Casimir bobbed in front of Dwayne and gave another tremendous uppercut at Dwayne sending him back first into the street. Bending over to examine him, this time Dwayne really did look out for the count as his breathing was much shallower and his eyes were glazed over. Casimir limped back to the entrance to the crack house and sat on the stairs.

He swiftly took out his phone and dialed Amir's number. "Hey I got those samples. I'd say a dozen or so 5 milliliter injections. Would that be enough?"

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

One of the... humans in this battlefield, an injured Asian girl, noticed Renata first and began to speak to her. At first, the heroine only overheard a few of the words, a bit more focused on everyone else in this clash, but what the person was saying soon caught her full attention. As it turns out, this "Blood" drug was not ordinary narcotics, but a drug infused with vampire blood, which explained the blood frenzy and superpowers its victims gained.

And the person explaining all this was, apparently, a vampire herself, or at least had a 'vampire side', but fought against the vampires who were producing the drug for their benefit. Her explanation was slightly short and didn't explain everything, but it's not like Renata could beg for more. If they spend too much time explaining this to each other, then they're just leaving themselves open to attack.

"I think I'm ready, yeah." Stella replied to Park's final question. Okay, so the vampire hybrid, the two other humans and the dragon man are on their side. Dragon man... "That's an odd name you gave your dragon, though. 'Wyatt'... Sounds more like a human name..."

"And just so you don't have to ask... I'm Stella."

Alright, here goes.

With a low start, Stella suddenly ran forward, towards the injured vampire, then aimed her finger gun and fired an another sunlight laser towards the monster.

The vampire's wounded, and he was about to unleashed his attacks. Unfortunately, Renata fired her finger gun to him and because of that, he was left surprisingly heavily wounded but not close enough to his death. Sensing that he could be useful if he is alive and not dead, well, he surrendered. "I surrender! I'll tell you anything, just please don't kill me!" he begged profusely, though it was just to reveal enough info to save his own skin.

---

Akira Yasunaga

Akira huddled inside his room, as chaos spread in San Diego. Not his problem, except that Warwolf really likes to be involved or at least, use him as their own asset to take care of this problem. This...this Blood Drug really flowed deep within San Diego. He has no choice but to look at Dark Web for any information regarding the Blood Drug. But given the very recent public announcement of the drug, he feared he won't have enough info to be given to Warwolf.

[Finland SSR]

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

"I surrender! I'll tell you anything, just please don't kill me!"

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

...weird.

Almost immediately after Renata picked up some momentum and fired her sunlight laser at the vampire, he shrieked out if pain again and went to his feet, pleading for mercy and offering her to tell everything he knows in exchange for not killing him.

Is this... vampiric thing... weak to sunlight? Or light in general? That makes sense, at least according to what Stella knew about vampires from fantasy and movies. I guess that means her power is perfect for this mission, right? This does raise the question - since the woman she talked to earlier explained that the Blood drug is infused with vampire blood, does that mean Blood addicts are also weak to sunlight? That's a theory with investigating.

"I'm not-" Stella began to speak, almost blabbering out that she has no intention to kill anyone here before shutting up. If the vampire knew that there is no threat of death, he won't be as honest. "-I mean... good riddance."

The heroine walked up to the creature, stopping in front of him, and aimed her finger towards it's head.

"You can start by telling me where the headquarters of your drug smuggling operation is, how many of you are over there and where are you importing the drug from."

Right about now, she turned her head to the side, towards Park and her allies, while still watching the vampire with the corner of her eye.

"You seem to know a lot more than me about what's happening over here," Stella spoke. "Maybe you've got something to ask?"

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt hoped he didn't kill the poor bastard he slammed into. The amount of scorched stone and metal made him a little uneasy about just how much force he used to subdue the vampire. He looked over the burned body of the unconscious vampire covered in burns and shuddered little. He didn't want to complain, but this was what made him wish that he had a method of taking people down in a way that involve him nearly killing them. After breaking his train of thought, he noticed that Park, Wendy and the new arrival who laser'd the poor bastard Park was interrogating.

"Well, that went pretty well." He said as he walked over. The vampire clearly recognized how outmatched he was, and was spilling out information. As much as he wanted to join in on demanding answers, he didn't even know what to ask him. Fortunately Park and the new girl had that part under control. "Oh, thanks for the backup." She looked a little familiar, maybe he'd seen her in school before? "I'm Wyatt. Yes, I know. I'm a six foot winged lizard with a human name. Might as well get that out of the way now. Sorry, didn't mean to sound so curt. I'm a little on edge right now."

[New Neros]

The mugger waved his pistol side to side, grinning ear to ear as the old bat he was robbing emptied her pockets and unfastened her jewelry into his canvas sack. "Now, now," He teased lightly, "That wasn't so hard, was it? Just a little encouragement," He said, knocking his pistol lightly on his own temple, "And you're eager to please me. What else do you have stashed away in your wallet?" He said firmly, looking down on the old woman as she shook and shivered in adrenaline-infused fear. "Don't lie to me, now, I don't want to hurt ya, but you're hurting yourself if you don't pony up."

"I..I don't have anything else." She stammered, peeling her bracelet off and dropping it into the sack. "Just let me go, I won't tell a soul."

"Oh," The robber said, "There are ways where I can make sure you won't tell anyone, anything, ever again." As he spoke, he pressed the barrel of the gun against the older woman's head, tears welling in her wrinkled eyes. "But let's not turn this robbery into a murder. You sure that's everything of value on you?" She nodded furiously, shaking and silently weeping as the robber put his gun away and smiled. "Good, good, now, let's be on our separate ways. No police, no heroes. They didn't save you this time, and they won't give you back your sense of mind."

Turning and walking away down a dark alley from where he emerged, the old woman was about to turn and run, but a commotion in her muggers direction caused her to pause and cast a look down into the empty void. Some dull thuds and a noticeable, gruesome squish of liquid gave her a more confused face than ever. From the darkness, the canvas bag she had put her valuables and life savings into was tossed at her feet, a few drops of red water doting the side. She breathed heavily, still suffering from anxiety and adrenaline, as she stammered. "W-who... Who are you?" She asked timidly, reaching down to pick up her belongings, but never letting her eyes leave the dark alley.

Imposing, muscular, and tall, a man's face came forth, one she recognized only due to her feverish and dedicated watching of local television and news. His reply was equally grim and coarse, "The Villain." Mustafa Gaul fully emerged from the blackness, revealing that he had put on muscle mass yet retained his over-all figure and ability, effortlessly dispatching the street thug. Without another word, one of the most wanted men in the country turned and walked away down the sidewalk in the open, not giving the old crone another consideration.

Mustafa Gaul | San Diego

Passing from street light to street light, Gaul put several blocks between himself and the robbery victim, generally aimless but casually walking toward the sea-side docks, warehouses, and such, as he intended to hitch a ride back to the Labyrinth all on his own. Suddenly and without warning, a man made a bee-line directly at him from down the street. The stranger ran low and quick, passing from light to light as fast as possible. Gaul glanced around his surroundings also, noticing that not a soul was around either of them. Perfect time for an ambush, of course nothing could go right on the one day he decides to come back from training.

Gaul assumed a combat stance and waited for the attacker to close the distance, his eyes mapping out all the options this stranger had at his disposal, pre-planning the fight from the get-go. The moment finally came and the stranger lunged full-force at Gaul, who responded elegantly with vicious, fully weighted hit square to the jaw. Just before impact, Gaul noticed that the man had viciously red eyes, and mouth full of fangs. The hit landed and shattered the air pressure around the two, sending the aggressor's body flying backwards and his entire lower jaw to the side of Gaul. "Was that a vampire?" He thought, walking toward the body he had just sent soaring.

Squatting over the poor bastard, Gaul nearly evaporated the vampires' entire face, breaking every bone in his neck and face with that one punch, a solid hit, nothing he really put any thought into. He gently poked it's chest, seeing if it was still alive or just playing possum. Still, he was unaware of two people sneaking up on him, until at the very last moment, he heard a shoe slide on pavement behind him. Whipping around and throwing a straight punch at what he suspected was another ambush, Gaul found his fist going through his friend Nile's head.

Stepping out of the thrown fist, Nile circled Gaul for a moment, smirking a bit. "Looks like you put on some weight, huh? Training for Coney Island?" He teased, poking and prodding at Gaul's chest and arms, "Fuck, it's all muscle though." He then commented, "Look, you have to take me to the gym with you, Cannon does the same shit over and over again and doesn't listen to my advice."

"Nice to see you too, Nile." Gaul spat, but then pointed at the nearly decapitated bastard behind him. "What's up with the dracula?"

"That's what we're investigating." A feminine voice declared, the vampire's lifeless body being lifted up on a make-shift concrete pedestal, Mar emerging from the other side of Gaul. "Haven't seen you in a week, you look well." She said with a genuine smile, bringing the vampire to herself by moving the concrete. She lightly touched his gray skin on the forehead and arm, humming a bit as she did so. "Legion and Walt have heard some odd things about this area, weird vibes, vampires, drugs, all that stuff."

"So, you managed to find one, huh?" He said, walking to where Mar was, Nile in tow behind him.

"Yeah, we did, and he started to run. And I guess ran right into you." Nile replied, "We kinda hoped to get him alive."

"Oh..." Gaul continued, "So he wasn't ambushing me... He just ran into me. What shitty luck, well, now what?" Mar typed and sent some information back to their headquarters and flashed a look at both Gaul and Nile. "And what is it Legion and Walt want with vampires of all things?"

"First, we can go find some more if we look around the area, should be too hard. Next question, well," She said quickly, "It never hurts to try and find more allies in the underworld, and if they're not interested, always better to beat a rival before they come up. Those were the orders at least."

"Makes sense." Gaul said, looking around the empty street, "So, should I report back to Legion?"

"Nah, I told him we ran into you. He's down with you accompanying us for bigger fire support if things turn ugly."

"Great." He replied, "Let's go find more draculas."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

The battle that ensued within the abandoned warehouse was harsh and bloody, the sounds of flesh striking flesh and air being displaced filling the area. While the destruction caused was kept to a minimum, it was only due to the fact that the warehouse had been empty to begin with, and even then, as the fight neared the end, the wall of the warehouse was broken again, the bloodied, unconscious body of the Blood addict going through the new hole before tumbling to the ground.

The Blood dealer, who had spent the last couple of minutes trying to recover from the blow he had taken before and was beginning to recover his strength, watched as his former client limply fell to the ground face-first, and then, with growing terror, looked up to see another person walk through the hole that had been made in the wall, one clad in black, with both his mouth and the area around his eyes concealed by black cloth. It was evident that the infamous Blackout had triumphed over the Blood user, although not at a small price: there were several tears in his clothes, though thankfully the parts of his disguise that concealed his identity were untouched, and there were several blood stains on him as well. He was, however, still on his feet, and that was all that mattered.

Watching as the man in black stepped closer and closer, the dealer closed his eyes, hoping that whatever was going to happen happened quickly. But then he felt a pair of hands reaching down and grabbing his collar, using it to lift him off the ground and off his feet. Opening his eyes, he found himself face to face with the vigilante, who had a wrathful scowl on his face. "If you don't want to end up far worse than your junkie over there, you're going to tell me this instant where you get your Blood supply from." Blackout said, blue eyes alight with anger.

"L-listen man, the guy who gives 'em to me is anonymous, really! Just drops by my house every other weekend and-" The drug dealer began, but he was violently cut short when, faster than he could register it, the vigilante withdrew one of his hands from the collar and then socked him in the face, disorienting him for several moments and causing him no small amount of pain, blood trickling down from his nose. Seeing through blurry eyes that the vigilante continued to glare at him silently, he understood that coming up with excuses wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Alright! Fine! I'll talk! Look, it's a warehouse just like this one, but on the other side of the docks; there's tarp all over the parking and a lot of lookouts around it, you can't miss it. Can I go now?" The man pleaded. What he got for his troubles was another blow to the face, and then darkness.

Icarus loosened his grip, allowing the limp criminal to fall from it, and then looked into the distance, in the direction that had been pointed at. It would not take him long to arrive, he estimated, but once he was there, would he be able to finish the job? Battling a single consumer, although a fairly strong and advanced-stage one, had been mildly difficult for him, so he could only wonder what sort of challenge would be taking on all the facility's guards.

The young man crushed all his doubts in an instant, though, fueled by the same resolve that had led him down the path of the vigilante. "This ends now." He said to no one, before storming off towards the Blood production facility.

---

For the second time that evening, Icarus found himself on the rooftop of a building. Far from doing it to fulfill a non-existent sense of dramatism, he had been moving through the rooftops in order to stay out of sight for as long as possible and be able to better survey his surroundings when needed. So far it had worked wonderfully, and in fact, the trip he made from his previous location to the Blood production facility had already come to an end: from his vantage point, he could clearly see the warehouse he sought, with several inconspicuous trucks parked outside and hidden away underneath a massive tarp that blocked out the moonlight, and several men standing guard outside. They were rather strange, with unnaturally pale skin, and he could've sworn that he saw a glint in the mouth of one of them while he talked to another, but the young man simply dismissed it as his imagination. "Odd as they may look, they're still going down." He told himself.

Turning away from them briefly, he looked at an object he held, concealing it from sight with his own body, and his face was soon illuminated by a faint bluish light. Hovering over the palm of his hand was a blue, crackling ball, the manifestation of all the energy he had extracted from a streetlight earlier and compacted into a small, spherical form. He was sure that he must have put a little bit of strain on the city's power grid, but he didn't care; with the amount of electricity he had stolen, he was certain he could take on the guards. Taking another quick peek down, he counted about half a dozen, though perhaps there were more hidden around the place.

For several moments, the young man stared down, thinking of what might be the best way to take them down before moving on to wreck the production facility. Eventually he settled on a plan, and looked down at the palm of his hand yet again. Guided by his will, the sphere of compacted lightning expanded and took on the shape of a large war hammer, not unlike the sort that was used in medieval battles. Gripping it tightly, he stood up on the rooftop and, resisting the urge to let out a battle cry, hurled it straight towards one of the unsuspecting vampires down below. Much to his surprise, the attack was sidestepped by his target, who noticed just in time and displayed speed and reflexes well beyond human threshold. Irritated by the failure that was his surprise attack, Icarus was nonetheless thankful: the battle would've undoubtedly gone awry rather quickly if he had marched in without knowing what his enemies were capable of.

In the blink of an eye, he had leaped down from the rooftop and arrived next to where the war hammer lay, one of its ends partially buried into the broken concrete. Grabbing the shaft, he lifted it and smashed the side of the vampire's head before he could react, knocking him out cold and leaving half his face broken and bloodied. A moment after the body hit the floor, though, Icarus watched with fascination as it quickly began healing from the damage incurred. Looking around at the other guards nearby and noticing that they all had very similar features in addition to the paleness of their skin, he assumed that they all had similar powers.

"I suppose I don't have to worry about using too much force and killing any of you." The young man remarked as he hoisted the war hammer with one hand and rested the shaft on his shoulder. One of the guards snorted at this as all of them began approaching and circling Icarus.

"No, not at all. You should be worried about us killing you, human. The vampires will rise again!" He said, eliciting cheers from the others.

"Vampires? That's what they are? Well, that explains some things. But then, the drug..." The vigilante mused as he locked eyes with the vampire who had spoken, his glare intimidating even the vampire warrior that stood in front of him. While he had newfound suspicions about the origins of the Blood drug, now was not the time to entertain them, not when he was so close to what he assumed was its source. Instead, he brandished his hammer. "Not if I stop you right here, suckers. The media usually calls me Blackout, but you can call me Belmont." He told them before leaping forward and attempting to cave in another vampire's head with a hammer blow.

Inside the Blood-ridden docks of San Diego, another bitter battle began.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

"I surrender! I'll tell you anything, just please don't kill me!"

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

...weird.

Almost immediately after Renata picked up some momentum and fired her sunlight laser at the vampire, he shrieked out if pain again and went to his feet, pleading for mercy and offering her to tell everything he knows in exchange for not killing him.

Is this... vampiric thing... weak to sunlight? Or light in general? That makes sense, at least according to what Stella knew about vampires from fantasy and movies. I guess that means her power is perfect for this mission, right? This does raise the question - since the woman she talked to earlier explained that the Blood drug is infused with vampire blood, does that mean Blood addicts are also weak to sunlight? That's a theory with investigating.

"I'm not-" Stella began to speak, almost blabbering out that she has no intention to kill anyone here before shutting up. If the vampire knew that there is no threat of death, he won't be as honest. "-I mean... good riddance."

The heroine walked up to the creature, stopping in front of him, and aimed her finger towards it's head.

"You can start by telling me where the headquarters of your drug smuggling operation is, how many of you are over there and where are you importing the drug from."

Right about now, she turned her head to the side, towards Park and her allies, while still watching the vampire with the corner of her eye.

"You seem to know a lot more than me about what's happening over here," Stella spoke. "Maybe you've got something to ask?"

The vampire nodded. Fair to say that he was in a middle of desperate situation, one where he couldn't escape without sustaining more injuries and even death in the end. He'd still want to be alive, for one. Well, in the sense of living death to be more precise. "I...I'm not certain where is the exact location, but safe to say it is in the urban part, I mean the crowded part of this city. Docks and warehouses served as side production facilities and storage, but that's all I know! Also, we have a superhuman on our side as well...for that matter. We realized we cannot keep down the attentions any longer so he's there as a precaution," he said, desperate and begged for mercy.

Park nodded. It's a new intel, but it's not exactly enough since they need more info and a more exact location. "Ah, it's fine, girl," as she glanced to Renata. "You seemed to give us all of the information we can get from this one vampire," she smiled. She turned to Wyatt, Andrew, and Wendy, "What should we do with him now that he's in our mercy? Jail, or coffin?" she asked to the three teammates of hers.

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt kept quiet as his teammates handled the interrogating. He wasn't much good at being genuinely mean to someone, even if there was quite a bit of evidence that suggested that they deserved it. Once all was said and done, Park asked if they should leave him for the police or kill him. "I am very uncomfortable with killing him. Like, I get that you're a vampire hunter and all of that, but we're not supposed to be killing people while we're on Young Blood time." Wyatt replied. This only brought up the fact that it was likely Park had killed people before, and she couldn't have been much older than him. He shuddered at the thought that people his age had a body count and how easy it would be for him to get lumped into that.

Now that he thought about it, how Orro killed people and if so how many? Naligura almost certainly had, but she technically was judge, jury, and executioner for their people. It dawned on him that it was fairly likely that he would have to kill someone at some point if he continued down his current path. Not something he was looking forward to.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Raven-San Diego

The ride to the Police precinct was a rather quiet one. I kept my eyes on the road ahead of us, knowing that what we are about to do would very likely get us both killed. I could not lie to myself, there was a bit of fear that went along with that realization. But that is what got me excited. I have no idea how this night will turn out. It's liberating in a way, to not know what the future holds. My heart was racing as I listened to Brianna as she asked me about Red an my relationship to him. It was a fair question, we are risking our lives to set him free. That is normally not something easily done by strangers. I kept my eyes straight ahead as I responded to her very reasonable question.

"It's kinda all three I guess? And none at all..." Fuck it, I am speaking in riddles. Well, I have some time. I may as well go ahead and explain things. "When we first met Red was trying to to arrest me, we ended up kicking the shit out of each other. Then, we were forced to work together when a local gang found us after I killed one of their guys. I saw something in the guy that impressed me. Still does. He moves like he has done what I am doing before. He has all of the skill he needs to do what I am doing better than I am but he for some reason refuses to go that far. It's curious isn't it? That someone who has such power is afraid to use it? I wonder what could have made him hold so much back..." My voice trailed off a bit as my mind wondered away, before returning to the present as I made a left turn at an intersection about half way to the precinct.

"I am confident that when he sees that he can stop holding back. That there are others like him, he will join us and in so doing add his considerable skills to our own. Also, I would hate to fight him again. I hate to say it but he had the advantage when we last crossed paths." My mind then flashed back to the kiss I stole from him, and wondered if I should even share that detail with Brianna. Before deciding that despite being a team, I would like us to be friends.

"There may be something else to it. Won't lie to you. I am attracted to the guy. But I promise that is not why I am doing this. I would not risk your life just to have a man to sleep with. His skill set warrants our attention, not to mention he is in that prison in part because of me. He damn sure is not guilty of the murders he is accused of. Knowing that, I would not just be able to leave him there anyways...it's...complicated." In fact it was. He could be a valuable ally, so I am hoping he will join us after breaking him out. Then there is the matter of letting an innocent man pay for the crimes I committed, well some of the crimes anyways. I sure as hell did not massacre a family. And certain he hasn't either. Then I am lonely. Brianna and Nick are great, but there are some things they just cannot do. Well, Nick maybe but even a blind man can see he has the hots for Brianna.

Pulling into a parking lot I put the vehicle in park as I looked over at Brianna. "Time to change officer." I smirked as I exited the vehicle and moved around the side to the back where there were two small boxes with two sets of clothes. Taking my box and removing the contents I removed my day to day clothes and put on my new Police Uniform. A outfit which was tailored made for a small fee, although not genuine. It was rather convincing and should do the job.

Officer Amanda Sterling.

Well, if it gets me in. I thought as I exited the back of the transport and got back into the driver side. "Your clothes are in the back." As I waited for Officer Bethany Gates I adjusted my uniform a bit. Getting used to it and looking at myself in the mirrors. Finally seeing Brianna in her uniform I chuckled a bit. She looked as out of place as I must have, hopefully the real cops won't notice though.

"You know men love a woman in uniform Beth. We should be real popular ya know?"" I joked as I kicked the transport into gear again laughing at my own joke.

Revving the engine back up again I lead us out of the parking lot and back on the road. It was a quiet ride from there. Then after about twenty minutes we made it to the front gates of the prison. Pulling up to the entrance I quickly looked over at Brianna.

"Now may be a bad time to mention that I have a history with the police. Hopefully no one will recognize me." Just after that I rolled down the window as a the gate guard approached.

"So, what is your business here?"

"Officer Sterling, this is Prisoner transport. We are here to deliver Red to a more secure facility." I answered, hoping that my response sounded natural.

"Red? I have not heard of any orders to move him. I am a new shift though, maybe the order came through last shift. Regardless, the man is dangerous. Let me check the computer for the order now." Leaving me alone with Brianna I could see that a second officer had moved around the passenger side where Brianna was.

After a minute the same officer returned.

"It checks out. Still cannot believe they are moving him, guess that is above our pay grades though. Go on in." I nodded and thanked him. The less I say the better. Driving on in I positioned the truck around the side of the prison and observed the barbed wire gates as I passed through them and finally turned off the vehicle. Turning to Brianna.

"Show time."

With that, I opened the door and dropped onto the pavement illuminated by the lights of the prison. We were met there by two more officers who approached us. Both older men, probably 30s.

"Red was moved to solitary confinement after beating a half dozen prisoners with his bare hands and a make shift knife. We can show you where he is wish he was staying here myself though. Any idea why they want him moved?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Hell if I know. The feds never tell us city cops nothing do they? They say hand him over we hand him over." The man chuckled.

"Yeah, suppose you are right." Then, with that he led us into the compound. We first went through a wing where we were passing by rows of cells. Prisoners occasionally whistling at the two very young and attractive Officers. The lead officer barked out for the convicts to shut the hell up and we eventually entered solitary confinement.

"Red's cell is down this hall and the furthest to the right. Go collect him and we will show you the way back out. We don't want the bastard to get any ideas on escaping." I agreed and with a nod I signaled to Brianna to follow.

"Come one Officer Gates. Lets get this scum bag and get it over with." My pistol bouncing on my hip I made my way to the cell and unlocked the door, opening up. Surprising Red I am sure, as the light drifted in and probably hurt his eyes a moment as they adjusted. I allowed a moment to pass so that the picture of me and Brianna standing before him could sink in.

"Come on out Red. Lets take a walk." I teased with a smirk and my hands on my hips. Eager to see how he would react to being delivered to freedom by Raven and the Outriders.

[Turmenista]

Johnny Swift

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny Swift/Brock Spencer

---

The evidence of Brock’s previous victory over the speedster lay at his feet as he cracked his knuckles to prepare for the next eventual beatdown, in an effort to intimidate the newcomer as much as possible. In terms of the difficulty in dealing with Johnny, Brock concluded that the angsty little Speedy Gonzales was only the mere Level 1 enemy that you discovered on the first level of the game. All it took to take him out was a well-placed stomp, which Brock accomplished via body slamming Johnny through the table.

This new guy? He couldn’t decide between a Level 5 or a 6. No big deal. He’d already put Johnny in his place and he’d do it again with this guy, whilst brawling to his favorite song.

As Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” played on in the background, Brock stepped forth, still somewhat tense from Johnny’s unusually powerful supersonic dropkick which would’ve otherwise sent him through the wall and into the adjacent room. The new guy, apparently named Floyd, had a fancy sword but seemed just as scrawny as his partner. Was this really the guy that Johnny expected would back him up in a fight like this? As it turned out before, Johnny had this weird rationale in his mind in thinking that some speedster on the track team could even remotely have a chance in whooping a 300 pound football quarterback’s ass. Hopefully Floyd would come to his senses and just leave the chum here, because he really wasn’t looking forward to explaining why he put some older guy in the hospital.

"I'm sure you of all people should know that beating up a Johnny isn't going to intimidate anyone." Floyd grinned as he slowly began to unsheathe his sword, much to Brock’s confusion. “So you know what this bitch has been up to, huh? Telling everyone about how much of a pussy I am and how he’s gonna beat me up and shit. He thinks that he can just waltz in and own the place like he’s a god or some shit. You can’t possibly think that helping this kid is a good idea.”

An emerald green aura appeared around his two fists as he raised them in a boxing stance, in response to Floyd assuming what appeared to be a ready stance with his sword. “Back there, I said whoever walks out those doors tonight takes all. You’re not gonna be doin’ that, no. Not on my watch.”

His opponent’s eyes flushed into a blood red as similarly colored arcs of electricity crackled around his body. Immediately red flags shot up in Brock’s mind as he tensed up to anticipate a tackle, but instead had to move back to evade a large leap and a sword being swung down at his shoulders. The energy around his fists flashed almost white hot as Brock seemingly slapped the space in front of him, blasting him backwards to effectively dodge the attack. Once he saw the sword cleaved straight through one of the chairs like it was a hot knife through butter instead of his shoulder, he couldn’t help but smile a bit. Finally. This guy looks promising.

Looking to take advantage of the distance between himself and Floyd, Brock lobbed out two more of his homing spheres, prematurely setting off their first detonation halfway through their flight to break the two up into about twenty four flying blasts. As they honed in on their target like magnets, Brock also sent out another beam to strike Floyd’s midsection and knock him away, hoping to do so whilst he was busy either cutting down the homing spheres or trying to dodge them.

[Scotatrova]

Diego Belcourt

It had been over a week since he had returned back to San Diego, and now Diego was starting to wonder if this place felt like home anymore. It was different not being hunted all the time. The wheel of night began to turn above him, and he made his way through a dead quiet and empty street when he heard a sudden growl. Or was it a moan? He had painful memories of what he witnessed at Shadowland, so he heard them often, though they were mostly in his head. No, this was not a moan, it was a growl. He immediately took out his staff and scoped the surrounding area. There wasn’t much to hide, but he was well aware of the things capable of hiding in the shadows. That was when he saw it. A figure, a man, came out from behind a parked car and stood nearly 20 feet in front of him. It snarled at him. Its eyes were not dead eyes like the ones he saw in the creatures at Shadowland. There was intelligence in them. If not human, then some new order of primitive intelligence. A hateful intelligence. And they were red. A bright, blood red. That’s when Diego remembered too late about what he had been hearing around about people with red eyes.

The man was suddenly on him, and Diego lunged in low and to the left, swinging the staff in as powerful a lateral blow as he could manage. The shock of impact jolted him. The man fell past him and Diego turned, controlling the erratic post impact swing of his staff. As he pivoted, he saw the man scramble to a stop and wheel around. It growled and came charging again, and Diego tried the same trick, aiming lower this time, trying to catch the leg. The man dodged out of the way. Dodged. It… Diego’s brain almost froze. The man grabbed Diego’s shirt with his left hand and jerked him forward, toward its mouth full of blood stained fangs. Not teeth...fangs. Diego had no angle for another blow with the staff, so he punched the man across the mouth with the hand that held the staff. The blow was awkward but powerful, and teeth flew from the open mouth. He, or it, ignored the damage and lunged forward to take a bite.

Diego fell backward with the man, and as he fell he brought his knee up between its legs, hitting him square on the bottom of the pelvis. The fall and the kick gave Diego the power he needed to hurl the man completely over him. He landed with a bone-rattling thud and immediately scrambled to his feet. Diego brought his staff around into a two-hand grip but only got as far as his knees before he realized that he was in worse trouble than he thought. As the man raced toward him again, he snatched up a broken branch from the ground and swung it full force at Diego’s head. Diego managed to get just below the swing of the branch and used his staff to swing just one last time. The now illuminating staff went swinging through the night air and Diego felt the impact as it made contact. The man was now falling. It crashed down a yard away from Diego. The red eyes stared at him, but now there was nothing there. No animal rage. Nothing.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Carter lowered the phone from his ear, letting it drop to the bed like a brick. She seemed optimistic, but Alexis was never optimistic. A dangerous mission with no fired shots? How was that even possible. She was hiding something, she was dropping details. She wouldn’t even promise she would be cautious about it, but, Alexis was never cautious either. She wasn’t a lot of things, not careful, not good at school, not timid.

It only seemed like those things would hurt her, not help her.

He hadn’t lifted a finger all day, but he felt so tired. He felt like he just had too much swimming around in his brain, he just wanted to sleep, flush it out, and never wake up. Slumping back onto a thick pillow, he let his eyes close, letting his own thoughts take a turn in front of his eyes. The thugs at the party. The tire iron. The video of Quick Shot being hit by Iron Chef, what a glorious meme. Dante at the zoo. Andrew standing paralyzed in front of her. Hanging on to a tree in the rainforest. Crabs on a beach. Yoshi crying, his own bitter face unsympathetic.

And that night in the garage.


Li Yang Zhang
July 7
Honolulu, Hawaii

It was early afternoon, but the sun wasn’t shining in the abandoned warehouse. It was an old storage house for a candy company back in the day, but the company was now bankrupt, and there was no more candy. The warehouse still had a few large shelves left, even a dusty old forklift piled up against a wall, along with a rusty trolley. There were no windows, no running water, no electricity. The floors were dirty, unwashed for years, and the walls were just as grimy. Graffiti now adorned the outside walls in multiple colors, and the gates were padlocked and topped with barbed wire, snagging no one. The warehouse doors and loading bays were just as empty, and all that remained outside was a single, disused truck on the gray asphalt. Clearly it was no home.

But Grant Ball didn’t think so.

Striding at a confident pace towards the fence, he quickly leapt upon it, digging his feet into the chainlinks. No one was at the site, it was practically abandoned, meaning no one would see him. Made his job easier than it already was. Soon, he had reached the top, head rising above the wire, neck dancing dangerously close to the sharp teeth of the barbs. Reaching a palm out, there was a slight hum, and the wire seemed to levitate up of its own accord, creating a decent-sized space to wiggle through. But if one concentrated enough, they could almost see the very space around the barbed wire wiggling slightly, the occasional white spark dancing out. Slithering through the large gap without a snag, he quickly switched his position so he could climb down, letting the barbed wire fall. With barely a pause, he scampered down the other half, and leapt off halfway down, landing on his feet like a cat.

Soon, he was at the loading docks, one special one in particular, the one the truck was parked by. This particular loading area’s door wasn’t completely shut, leaving a small gap at the bottom to shimmy through. Wiggling through it, he was soon in the dark, dank interior of the loading bay. But the darkness didn’t bother him. With a snap, a burst of sheer white lightning sparked out of his palms creating enough light to see. He let this light guide him through some doors with cut locks, a few narrow halls, and a final, double door, locks also cut, into the main body of the warehouse.

Holding his hand high to illuminate the various rows of empty shelves, he looked for his special one. Three to the right of the one in front...there it was. Turning into the special row, marked by the forklift and trolley against the wall, he held the light up, focusing on the right side of the shelves. And...bingo. There it was. His bedroom, propped up on the lowest shelf. A thin, worn mattress, a crate with three missing slats containing his clothes, all heaped in a messy pile, an unstable cardboard box for a nightstand, and a few various artifacts propped up behind the mattress, including a guitar and a skateboard. Wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was something.

He was so focused on the mattress he didn’t see the ape behind him.

---

Grant awoke with a start soon after, Li watching him with a small smirk on her face. He had a nasty bruise and a bit of dried blood clumped around the top-right of his head, but it was nothing serious, no concussion. Just a bad headache. Although there wasn’t much he could do in revenge, he was currently chained and locked up to a trolley by his wrists and ankles, which were also tied together, as well as the fact he was blinded and gagged, both with worn, thrift store pillowcases. The biggest blow of them all was the rubber gardening gloves that had been wrestled somewhat loosely on his hands, although it wasn’t as if he could pull it off. He was caught, there was now way out of it.

Grant couldn’t see anything besides a small sliver red in the corner of his vision, where a gap in the blindfold was. His head felt like a ton of bricks, like someone had Floyd Mayweathered him in the face, his vision still swimming slightly. He attempted to turn his head, but a sudden pain jutted out of his forehead and hairline, causing him to lean more than he expected, tilting the three-wheeled trolley on its side and tipping over the whole cart, still chained to it. He yelled through his gag, but it voice was swallowed by the gritty surface rubbing against his palette, chafing his throat, catching in his teeth. The chains were cutting into his wrists, trapping small folds of rubber in them. He writhed and writhed, but he couldn’t break free, the rubber harmlessly absorbing the dark bolts sparking out of his palms.

Li simply sighed and shook her head, watching as the most fearsome gang kingpin in Honolulu, maybe even all of Hawaii, being reduced to kicking and yelling strapped to a broken warehouse cart. What a sissy. This was what she came for? She should just go now if this was how it was going to be.

But something made her stay. Thundershock was a very powerful metahuman, and Li needed allies to take back her child. It was the only way she’d succeed. Moving forward, she roughly grabbed the cart and pulled it upright with a help of some monkey-form strength, swinging Grant upright again. She then roughly undid the blindfold around his eyes, before yanking the saliva covered gag out of his mouth, grimacing as it soaked all over her palm. There wasn’t much light besides a single lantern on Grant’s mattress that Li had brought, but there was enough to see his face, still in shock for a few seconds, tongue aimlessly rolling around in his mouth as if it was a foreigner exploring it after a long time away from home. After a second, his eyes settled down on Li’s face, half a foot shorter than him. This would be difficult.

“Don’t panic.” Li began, before being cut off by Grant. “DON’T PANIC! Ah yes, I’ve just been attacked by some psycho Asian girl, who gave me a concussion and strapped me to a broken package lifter, not to mention you shoved a dirty pillowcase in my mouth, which did not make a particularly delectable culinary feast. Who are you and what the fuck do you want if you’re not trying to pull some weird-ass BDSM sadomasochist kinky rape shit??!!”

Sighing, she tried again. “Let me finish. My name is Li. Li Zhang. And if my sources are correct, you are Thundershock?”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s Thundershock, maybe it’s...Windchill?. How would you know?!”

“Because I saw you sparking electricity all the way there, giving me a serious hint you do not manipulate wind. And that I saw your mugging, very clean that was. Good tactics and use of powers on your part.”

“Wha...you don’t have proof of that, now let me go, you psycho!”

“Oh, so you didn’t steal a twenty-something year old woman’s beige Prada purse? And this woman did not have brown hair was not Caucasian, and was not wearing a red blouse and black leggings, and did not have high heels.”

“Er...sorry, you got the wrong guy.” he concluded, with a slight gulp.

“Thundershock, you are a terrible liar. Admit it, you are the lynchpin of the Honolulu Kings.”

“Alright, so what if I am? What are you gonna do about it? And you haven’t answered my second question.”

“Alright, let me spell it clear for you. Do you know who the Night Circus are?”

“You wanna tangle with the Night Circus? I almost got shot dead by those guys a while ago. They don’t fuck around, they’re the reason I haven’t got all of Honolulu under my fat thumb yet. Are you insane?”

“Insane, and a desperate mother. The Night Circus kidnapped my daughter, only five years old. I need to get her back. I need people like you, powerful people.”

“Ok, thank you for your sob story, but new questions. Why should I care about your missing daughter to get me killed and destroy everything I’ve worked for, and what makes you think you can beat the Night Circus.”

Li’s jaw tightened as he spoke those words. She could feel her anger bottling up, but she couldn’t lose her temper with him. His questions needed answers. And what an answer it would be.

With a sudden flash of light, Li was...different. Thicker hands and feet, long fingernails, a short tail sprouting out of her leggings, more muscular. With a shriek, she leapt at Grant, nails digging into the front of his thin T-shirt, dragging down both him and the cart, tail wrapping around his legs to keep them from kicking, teeth bared with a deep snarl. Her feet were firmly planted on his hips, hands moving closer to his shoulder to pin his arms. But something was wrong. Grant’s initial mask of fear and shock had now morphed into...a smile?

“So...what else can you do?”

[United Kingdom of Poland]

“Um Park,” Wendy replied. “Wasn’t one of Naja’s rules specifically about not killing people… even undead vampires that would like to use us as a buffet table.”

“That being said though.” She continued as she walked over to the wounded vampire. “Regardless of what they decide, I am going to need something from you.” Before the Vampire could respond, she knelt down on his chest, using her body weight to keep him pinned to the ground while she searched his pockets. “Can’t have you calling your buddies before we go meet them.”

“More importantly,” She said to Prak and the new girl as got off the vampire. “I can’t have you two frying the sim card by accident. You said these guys have humans on their payroll. Hopefully I can use the information on it to start building a case against them.”

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna

---

Brianna rose an eyebrow at Alexis's response, but remained silent as the girl explained her relationship to Red. Brianna could tell she was finding it hard to find the right words, but she seemed to give an answer that at least somewhat answered the valkyrie's questions. While Odin praised the seeking of knowledge, he also praised patience and knowing when it was wise to seek knowledge that should otherwise remain hidden. As she finished, Brianna gave her a small nod before responding herself.

"Indeed, this...'Red' seems to be a complicated person. However, I will trust both your words and my own heart that he is indeed a great warrior and someone we should welcome into our arms readily."

She paused, a sour memory reaching her.

"Although, beware of trusting a man, as his heart can be as fickle as the moon."

Alexis seemed to accept the warning, or at least chose not to respond, as they stopped to put on their disguises. It was a bit tight on Brianna, more than she would have liked, but it would have to do for the time being. Alexis spared no time to make a crude comment about their appearance, something Brianna could have done without.

"You know men love a woman in uniform Beth. We should be real popular ya know?"

Brianna rolled her eyes.

"For our sake, let us hope that our 'popularity' does not draw unwelcome eyes."

The girl simply laughed as they sped towards the prison. When they arrived, Alexis began to speak to the gate guard. At first, Brianna feared that Nick had not been able to give them the clearance they needed to get in, causing her to move her hand slowly to where Traust was in case their cover was blown. However, it appeared that their remaining comrade had managed to do his end of the bargain, as they were let in with no further hassle.

Walking through the prison, the white haired girl noticed all too well the stares she and Alexis were receiving. Although she wanted to gouge out their eyeballs as punishment for their lack of composure, she remained calm as they reached where Red was being held. Based on the darkness and isolation, she reasoned that this Red must have truly done something terrible to earn such living quarters.

The two girls were left to their own devices as their accompanying officers stayed behind, likely wanting to have nothing to do with what they perceived as a dangerous threat. This worked to their favor, as the surprise of their appearance would likely startle the prisoner.

Reaching his door, Brianna prepared for the worst as Alexis opened the door. Light poured into what had previously been a pitch black room, causing the boy before them to squint his eyes as he adjusted to the light. Once they did, his eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. Before he could scream out, Brianna rushed forward to place a hand over his mouth, placing a finger to her own as a way of telling him to keep quiet. After what sounded like a few muffled curses, the boy calmed down.

She had to admit, he looked like he had been through hell. He was covered in what appeared to be dry blood, and several bruises scattered his arms and face. His hair was disheveled, and he looked physically exhausted. What really caught his attention, however, was his eyes. This was the first time she ever got to get a look at them, and she knew from a simple glance that this was no mere boy. His eyes displayed the look only the most grizzled of warriors possessed, however underneath that was a swirling pool of emotion that seemed to barely be contained under the surface.

Removing her hand from his mouth, she glanced over to Alexis to see what they had planned next.

---

Red

---

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Red had expected a pair of guards ready to beat the ever living shit out of him before the doctor had a chance to get a look at him. However, as his eyes adjusted to the light, he received something much different, and possibly much worse.

Standing in front of him was none other than Raven, the girl he had met in what seemed like ages ago in that dark alley. The last night he was truly free, and the night that everything seemed to come crashing down. Next to her was a white haired girl with skin the color of fresh snow, who seemed to gaze at him with a puzzled look on her face. A flurry of questions erupted all at once in his mind, and he was about to let them loose before his words were muffled by the white haired girl standing next to Raven. After she made it clear that he needed to remain silent, he stopped his struggles, but continued to stare at the brown haired girl before him.

"Raven, what the hell are you doing here?"

He nodded his head at the white haired girl.

"And who the hell is she?!"

His eyes narrowed, as he realized that there was only one reason that Raven was here, and he knew it wasn't for idle chit-chat.

"Raven, I know what you're going to try to do, and I'm telling you know: Don't. Get out of here while you still can. I'm already fucked, but there's no reason to drag you and your friend over there into my mess either."

[Tomia]

Roy and Naja at the Tower
Of all things Wendy said, Roy found the first one most surprising. Her name isn't Wendy? He thought in bewilderment. He found that strange, as if in some ways he really didn't know anything about her at all. Someone's name was such a basic part of their identity, if she wasn't Wendy, who was she exactly? When she revealed her actual identity, Roy felt a sense of familiarity about that name. He stayed quite until Wendy finished out of respect and also his inability to think clearly at the moment. When she referenced him specifically he wanted to say something, tried even but the words just didn't seem to come out. He stood in this stunned silence until Naja finally spoke up, her tone soft but her eyes were locked onto Wendy and had a thoughtful tone to them.

"You know, I hunted your parents for a time, with the Justice Queens I mean. They came to New York City, but we never caught them. To think they were using a child all that time... You might not blame me if I kicked you off the team Wendy, or Isabelle if you prefer, but I certainly would. I wish you had come to us early, you need to work on being able to trust this team like family, but I understand why you didn't. Heroes can be intimidating and sometimes it can seem impossible to admit hard truths. But I've always believed in second chances, Roy here is proof enough of that. So if you want it, you can have yours with the Young Bloods."

Naja said, offering Wendy her hand to shake.

Roy still hadn't said anything and he seemed a bit more troubled by the news than Naja. "Wendy, I'm not one at all to criticize someone for their past, but that's just it. Why couldn't you tell me earlier? Wendy isn't even your real name? I feel like I've known someone who isn't even real somehow. I don't care about your past at all, mine is a lot worse believe me. But it hurts that it feels like this is the first time I'm meeting the real you." He told her honestly.

Drug Raid Arc
Roy continued to attack the two large body guards with a flurry of blows, one of them recovered for a moment however and grabbed Roy before flinging him into the air. He braced himself for impact when suddenly he stopped and landed softly on the ground. Mars had sent out a force field that grabbed Roy and broke his fall. Nodding to his friend Roy returned to the fight, a little pissed off that he had let one of the two goons grab him in the first place. He ducked past a heavy right hook before slamming his staff into the man's jaw, knocking him down and hopefully out for the count this time. The other one started charging towards Roy, and Nightshade shouted out, "Mars!" and suddenly he was lifted into the air by his genius friend before slamming his staff down onto his opponents head, instantly knocking him unconscious.

With the two guards down, and the dealer thoroughly bitten, the addicts scattered away, leaving the heroes alone with their target. Nightshade approach, his whole body glowing with dark energy. The dealer looked scared and tried to crawl away but Nightshade easily closed the gap on him and grabbed him by collar before lifting him into the air. "Listen scumbag. The only reason I'm going to let you keep breathing is because I have a job for you. You limb back to your suppliers right now and tell them the Young Bloods are onto them and they better get the hell out of our city. You got that?" The dealer shakily nodded before Roy dropped him to the ground. The man scurried away, limping towards the docks as fast as he could.

When he was out of sight Roy's demeanor turned back to normal and he turned to Kiris, "Let, me know when he stops moving, so we can alert the others and they can come help us shut these vampires down."

Angelica, back at the Lab
Angelica stood there awkwardly while Alexis seemed to think over her answer. Angelica really wanted her to say yes, but there was no way she would express that. She hated feeling vulnerable, even in dire circumstances. Then Yoshi came in and asked why she wasn't at the meeting. Frost Bite didn't respond, she didn't want to say it. When Alexis asked Angelica if what she had to say was urgent she was secretly a little offended. She would have thought Alexis would have been able to tell it was considering how out of character it was for her.

"No, it's not that important." She said, as non-nonchalantly as she could. "in fact, I shouldn't have bothered you with it. I can take care of it myself." Frost Bite said before turning to head out the door.
Before she could step outside, however, she heard the sound of feet stomping and then felt a hand gripping her shoulder. "Hey, don't give me that again!" Alexis said rather forcefully, taking her by surprise. She was no doubt referring to the incident during their first night at Isla de la Paz, though she seemed angrier than that time for some reason. Unbeknownst to Angelica, she was still on edge after the meeting, and the current situation only served to reactivate her dormant emotions. "You think I'm gonna buy that you can just take care of it that easily when you walked in here acting all-!" The girl continued, but cut herself short after a moment, not wanting to mention how vulnerable Frost Bite had been acting earlier now that Yoshiro was here, especially not now that things were tense.

Alexis' hand slipped from Angelica's shoulder before long. "I mean..." She said, her voice much quieter now. "I want to help you, you know? I can talk to Yoshi later if you need me to come with you right away. Just... don't push me away like that."

Angelica was surprised by Alexis' tone, and it stopped her in her tracks. Alexis was right, she was clearly bluffing. "Fine" She said, clearly unhappy but willing to play along for Alexis' sake. She turned to Yoshi. "If you two tell anyone about this..." She said in a threatening ton before sighing, she was too tired for the tough girl act. "Look, I'm on edge, sorry. I need to go talk to my father. I need favor from him. I don't want to talk to him alone..."

[Bentus]

Marionette
Earlier…

---

The prison guard sat idly by the gate, his eyes glued onto the baseball game that was playing out on the gate office’s small television. Taking a small puff from a cheap cigarette, paying no regard for the no smoking sign on the window beside him, the man sighed as the home team struck another clean homerun. Muttering a silent curse, he realised that there was little chance of a comeback redeeming his poorly-placed lunchroom bets. Leaning back into his chair, the guard glanced at the ticking hands of the clock on the far wall of his cubicle. The night shift was always going to be a pain in the ass: the long hours and god-awful pay conspired to make his job worse than it already was. The city never did pay its prison officers particularly well, and the daily toil of keeping an eye on the criminal scum of society didn’t draw as much media attention as the glamorous lifestyle of the caped crusaders roaming the street. Somewhat cynically, the guard couldn’t entirely blame the politicians – photos with heroes won votes, not pay raises for the average Joe. At the end of the day it didn’t really matter to him, over the years he’d found that he could leverage the few perks of his job to help make ends meet.

A pair of headlights turning into the prison entrance pulled the guard’s attention away from the game. Squinting into the dark, he recognised the logo on the side of the truck as the catering company that supplied the prison cafeteria each night. With a grin, the man pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his holster from his desk. They were a bit behind schedule tonight, but that wasn’t his problem. Stepping out into the warm Californian Summer night, the guard waited for the truck to pull to a stop in front of the prison gates before he walked up to the driver-side window.

“Hey Ed, run into traffic or something? You were meant to make the delivery fifteen minutes ago.” Glancing into the shadowy interior of the driver’s cabin, the guard tried to make out the features of man behind the wheel. He and Ed had figured out years back that they could make a healthy pension on top of their pay cheques by smuggling in the occasional item each night. Their little operation had earned the duo a healthy profit, but business had really picked up in the past few weeks. Apparently there was some new drug that people were willing to pay a lot of money to get shipped behind the prison walls. “Did the pickup go as planned?”

The driver remained motionless, the sound of the truck’s idling engine reverberating into the night. Beginning to feel uneasy, the guard reached down to retrieve the flashlight from his belt, the smile disappearing from his face. “Oi, Ed – did you hear me?” Still no response. Forcing himself to laugh in an effort to allay the tense feeling in his chest, the guard turned on his light to illuminate the interior of the cabin. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?”

The sight that greeted the prison guard caused him to jump back in shock. His friend was looking straight at him, his face and what he could see of his arms covered in brutal cuts and bruises. Ed’s silence was immediately explained by a deep red thread weaving in and out of his lips, sewing his mouth firmly shut with a gruesome efficiency. The man’s eyes were alive, even while his hands remained motionless on the wheel. Dry tears were welling up as a panicked and pleading gaze bore into the guard’s own shocked expression.

“Oh don’t pay him any mind. Poor Ed’s been a bit naughty I’m afraid.”

The guard whirled around to look at the source of the feminine voice, his hand racing to the pistol in his holster. However, as his eyes settled on the small figure standing quietly beside him he froze in terror. Marionette stood with an amused smile on her face, dressed in the uniform of the prison’s catering company rather than her usual costume. While she wasn’t especially happy with the ghastly clothing that she’d been forced to wear, fortunately the ends justified the means. Watching as the guard’s mouth opened and closed, unable to come up with any words to address her, Marionette simply rolled her yes. Typical – what a disappointment.

“See, I paid you and Ed to do a teensy-weeny little job for me: I give you the product, have it loaded onto your lovely truck here, and then all you have to do is get it where it’s needed. I know that you both overcharged me, but I honestly could care less about the money. Although I do like holding those working with me to a certain set of standards – nothing too strenuous mind you. I just asked you to follow three little rules.” With a sense of melodrama, Marionette wiggled three of her fingers in front of the prison guard, counting each of them down. “Don’t ask annoying questions, don’t betray me, and don’t ever try to steal from me.” Pausing, the girl allowed for her words to sink in before continuing. “So imagine my surprise when I caught our friend over there pocketing some of my product to sell for himself?”

Glancing over towards Ed, still sitting silent in the driver’s seat even while his eyes screamed out in agony, the prison guard swallowed nervously. He felt his stomach twisting itself in terror, a sense of unequivocal dread paralysing his limbs in place. Fuck, fuck – how did she find out? Goddamn it Ed, how did you screw this up? “I – I swear, I had no idea. I would never do something like that.”

Marionette’s sadistic grin seemed to widen at the man’s desperate pleading. “Oh, I know. You’re a smart man, aren’t you? You wouldn’t do something so rude, because you know that liars never prosper. In fact, I hope that this is going to be a learning experience. See, Edward Wright’s gone and done something very stupid because I’m going to have to make the punishment for breaking my three little rules abundantly clear.” Leaning in closer to the guard, as if she were whispering a closely kept secret, Marionette continued. “If you cross me, I will find you and I will make the last moments of your life as unimaginable painful as I can. And then, before I kill you, I will hunt down and do the same to your family, your neighbour and your fucking pet rabbit just because I can.”

The threat was filled with venom, and for a moment the thin façade of innocence completely vanished from the young girl. But then in a moment it was back, and she was once again smiling sweetly at the now suitably terrified border guard.

“But I know that you wouldn’t ever do something like that!” Almost unconsciously, the prison guard shook his head vigorously, much to Marionette’s satisfaction. “Awe-some, that’s what I like to hear!” Without wasting another moment, the young girl turned around and blissfully returned to the passenger seat as if nothing was amiss. Buckling her seatbelt, Marionette watched as the guard opened the gate, his eyes trying to avoid the doomed man sitting in the driver’s seat. The truck continued on into the prison, the guard trying not to think why anyone would want to deliver so much Blood to a prison in San Diego.

---

The breakout…
As Red reacted to the sudden arrival of his unexpected rescue, the single dim light hanging above his cell flickered slightly. A power surge rushed through the prison’s internal systems, the local generator immediately kicking into gear in order to deal with the unexpected spike in demand. If the trio were to listen, they could perhaps hear raised voice in the distance, guards reacting in surprise as chaos began to spread. In another wing of the prison, a siren began to wail as someone thought to trigger the alarm. Unbeknownst to the trio in the relative isolation of solitary confinement, those prisoners who had been subjected to a steady, regular supply of Blood were suddenly starting to feel the adverse effects of the vampiric drug. A sudden, potentially lethal large dose was all that had been needed to push them over the edge. The prison’s medical staff were the first to realise that something terrible was going wrong, a surge in patients to their wards leaving them with too little time to recognise the symptoms until it was too late. Prisoners called out in desperation for the guards, trying to get their attention as they watched their cellmates convulse and spasm with the drug’s effects, before eventually turning to their fellow inmates with murderous intent. The guards, irritated at the sounds of another brawl breaking out so soon after the incident in the court yard, moved in quickly to break things up.

Somewhere, someone fired a shot as the prison break truly began.

[Finland SSR]

Park

Wyatt

Wendy

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

Everything flowed... really fast. The vampire blabbed out all the information he could muster in the span of a few seconds, stating that the docks only serve as storage and production facilities while the heart of the operation is in the urban areas. While this wasn't enough information to point her directly to where they need to go next, it was still new intel, and knowing that Renata entered this mission almost blind, "beggars can't be choosers" applies. After all, at least now she knows that she needs to search the city itself after this is done with...

The three "allies" of hers, who had been fighting the vampire before Stella showed up, started to discuss on whether or not they should kill the vampire they had taken down. While they were laying down arguments on either killing it or arresting it, Stella was keeping a close watch on the victim himself, continuing to point her finger towards its temple and ready to fire at the first sudden movement. The vampire clearly knew better than to try to fight four superheroes at once, though, so the heroine never got the chance to do so.

Maybe it would be better for her to give her own opinion on the matter.

"Personally, I agree with everyone else," Renata spoke, raising her eyes towards the others. "Heroes are supposed to fight for the law, not execute their own. It's up to the authorities to decide if this vampire needs to die or not."

Something much more important was on her mind, though - she barely caught it being said, but it instantly draw her attention. And for that, she turned towards Wyatt and spoke:

"Hold up... You just said something like 'on Young Blood time', right?" The Young Bloods were all over the news and rumors recently! A recent jumped-up young hero squad from San Diego, who named themselves after the massacre of an another teenage superhero team a few decades ago... This trio, they certainly didn't look like the ones Renata saw on the news, but still... "You're the Young Bloods? The same ones from the Zoo?"

Johnny Swift/Brock Spencer

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

The fact that Brock was able to evade the incoming shoulder slash via the use of a strategic thunderclap brought good and bad news. The bad news was that didn't help to test the quarterback's endurance, but the good news was that the boy proved himself to be actually quite fast, breaking the stereotype of the slow, but powerful big dude. Then again, Floyd could have also inferred that from Brock's fight with Johnny... but he has always been a man to enjoy uncovering mystery by himself.

Brock's counterattack consisted of releasing two green orbs of energy, one of whom detonated in the middle of the way to Floyd, breaking up the other into two dozen smaller, faster, homing blasts. An interesting, though not completely unique technique. The swordsman straightened his stature, allowing his right hand, which held the sword, to move freely.

The homing blasts were fast, but Floyd's enhanced eyesight was faster, and when the first of the attacks started to close in on the swordsman, the space in front of him turned into a slashfest, one blade zigzagging faster than the untrained eye can see and cutting across blast after blast. At first, Floyd struggled a little bit to catch all the incoming attacks and not let a single one through, but soon, inertia picked up and instincts took the wheel, so he barely even had to thing. An outsider might even think that all of the blasts coming towards Floyd got cut up to multiple pieces all by themselves...

Unfortunately for the swordsman, Brock knew about this strategy as well, so Floyd wasn't adequately prepared when the quarterback released an energy wave to finish the job. A few thoughts immediately flashed across his mind.

Oh, cock. It's going to take too much time to just stop my arm and deflect that blast... guess I'll-

BOOM!

The energy wave detonated with a powerful burst - not strong enough to turn the building they were in, but definitely potent enough to shake loose the fillings of some of the partygoers. As the dust cleared up, however, Floyd was still on both of his feet, having slid back a few meters from the force of the blast. His left forearm was stationed in front of him, the fabric on it burned away and smoke coming off the revealed lightly tanned skin.

And at the very last moment, too...

What the hell was he doing here, letting Brock pew-pew against him all he wants, anyway? Trying to tire the bastard out? That's always a valid strategy, but never an enjoyable one. He set out from the beginning to maintain a short distance between him and the quarterback to nullify their ranged advantage, and that's what he needs to do, dammit!

With that in mind, Floyd suddenly lunged forward, running towards Brock at superhuman speeds yet again. No jumping this time, however. The swordsman would make a sudden slide stop mere meters away from the quarterback, grab onto the tip of the blade with his left hand and, with a quick thrust, slam the flat side of the sword forward, aiming to break the opponent's guard by pushing it away, as well as confuse the opponent. The feint would be followed by a left shoulder slam.

[The Republic of Atria]

Renata

Everyone seemed to agree that killing the vampire was not the right idea, which was probably music to the terrified vampire's ears. He needed to watch what he said more often. Not that he was opposed to possibly adding Renata to the team, the more fire power they had better. "I probably shouldn't have said that, but yeah, we're the Young Bloods. The very same ones from the zoo, though if I'm being honest I was a complete liability at that point in time. Just got my powers a few weeks ago and I'm still figuring them out." He replied. Wow, he was certainly being generous with the private information today. Hopefully she wasn't some sort of super villain hoping to massacre them.

Changing the subject was probably a good idea. "You look familiar, did or do you go to Thompsen High?" Not too many people went to that school and had bright pink hair. "I went there, obviously not looking like this. Magic is a beautiful thing."