Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Galnius]

Mika
pre-skip
As Floyd took control of the sphinx, Mika was sent into a momentary panic. Shit. Shit shit shit. Searching her general area, she hoped something would come up. It was clear that knocking him off would help, but could she do that? Did she have anything in her deck of pictures? Perhaps if she had some kind of gu-

...

.....

"I'm an idiot!" With these words, Mika pulled the rifle she had on her back and took just a second to aim. She had played enough simulators to get her close, and beginner's luck got her the rest of the way there.

Krakow! Two shots rang out in quick succession. The first was actually aimed well enough to hit Floyd should he not avoid it, while the other flew high. The recoil pushed her small form onto her back, disoriented by the sheer kick the rifle had. "Well, this is how I die. On my back in literally hell."

[Tomia]

Roy
"Good job everyone, Kabuto time for us to get into position." Roy told his teammate as they made their way out of the van. "We need to be focused on the hostages while Bael and Stella keep them busy, is there a back door or something that can get us closer to that desk?"

"Let me check," said Casimir as he walked alongside Roy. Casimir's mind zoned in on the nearest insects besides the flies and it happened to be a beetle hanging out in the alley behind the bank. He ordered it to fly around and soon enough it found a back door where it squeezed in through a gap. From there it looked relatively straightforward route through some ground floor offices and a door leading to the front desk. "Alright got a route for us," said Casimir, "Just follow me."

"I don't think that'll work. I only have a few flies on the inside but I can try yanking their guns away. I just have to wrap webbing around my boots and gloves and crawl on the ceiling," said Casimir as they reached the alley to the bank's back door, "From there its just fishing their guns away. Or just one of the two in the lobby. The other would have enough time to shoot back"

With that the two of them made it to the back door. "Alright Casimir, you go for the robbers I'll protect the hostages and cover you." He said in hushed tones before speaking in his communicator. "Arlight, roof team, time to make a splash."

[New Neros]

Ava and Mark
Return to Thomsen

It had been nearly a year since Mark had set foot on campus, though, little seemed to change from his perspective. Same buildings, people, teachers, all that remained pretty much how he had left it, though Ava was quick to point out some new arrivals, new teachers, statues, and the like. As people passed him by on the way in, though, Mark had a brilliant thought cross his mind as he recalled his early junior year and the previous freshman and sophomore years he had spent at high school. "Ava," He asked suddenly as the girl seemed absolutely giddy that her best friend was back to keep her company.

"Hm?" She asked, "You should know where everything is, it isn't like you're new."

"Nah, I just have an idea for what I want to do on my first day back." He said with a smirk, his teen co-conspirator listening in on the simple, narrow-minded plot he intended to undertake over the next few class periods. Ava glanced over both shoulders after listening and returning to stare harshly at Mark, and gave a single nod of approval. "I just need you to play look out while I do what I need to." First bell sounded, and the pair made their way to their classroom, turning the hall sharply as both of them looked around at the other students, waiting for the coast to clear a bit.

Mark's eye caught his target and he made a straight line toward him, walking the opposite way and looking past the teen to make it seem like he wasn't heading right for him. Mark shoulder bumped the taller, light-haired senior and turned to feign an apology, offering out his hand. "Ah shit man, I'm sorry about that, my name's Mark Nemo."

"What?" The other teen replied, looking shocked and confused as he did a quick glance up and down on Mark. Without providing an answer, Mark grabbed the boy's collar with one hand and slammed his fist into the kid's stomach with his other, utilizing none of his powers and only relying on his brute physical strength. Hitting the kid twice in the stomach rapidly and yanking his collar to the side to meet his side-swinging fist, Mark very quickly bloodied the bastard up, making the young man collapse on his back. Mark finished his assault with a soccer kick to the ribs, thudding hard on the teens' chest and causing him to recoil and curl up with a sob.

"Fuck you, Remi, this is for every time you put me in a headlock until I passed out." He yelled at his downed opponent, "And every time you chased me until I couldn't run anymore and then stomped on my legs. I should put you in the fucking hospital, but I gotta get to class." He said, walking away from the engagement, "Stand the fuck up and if you try to do some more shit to me later, I will break your fucking spine." Mark walked back to Ava breathing heavily, the girl cracking a smile at him this time, stifling a laugh. "What?" He asked, walking together with her to their nondescript classroom.

"Nothing, nothing," She said as they took their seats in the back before the second bell rang. "You just looked really pissed off yet extremely satisfied at the same time. Good job, who's next?" She asked, pulling out a pen and paper and writing down Remi Martinez, only to cross it out. "You had a lot of people pick on you through the years, so it's time you get back at them in the most non-Columbine way possible. I'm proud of you, as disgusting as that may sound." Mark calmed down a bit and smiled wide, nodding in agreement, and began to rattle off names quietly and describe their transgressions, partly doing classwork and finishing the list as time rolled on.

As the classes wore on, Mark repeated his action with other students who had wronged him when he was much less developed and abysmally skinny. It was obviously the wrong thing to do, and getting caught was almost assured, but sticking it to the bullies and feeling that rush of endorphins when you get to fight back was just too good to pass up. Running into two tormentors in the bathroom, Mark effortlessly slammed one into the wall and headbutted the other hard enough to break his nose. When finished, he let Ava know the names and she would strike them out, the pair working together to isolate the bully and ensuring no one interfered with Mark's revenge scheme.

Making it to lunch time unscathed and unpunished, Mark had big plans for the first meal at school, having one major bully left to confront. Matthew Simmons, a well-built wealthy smart-ass who tended to unleash his pent up anger on Mark, and would often ridicule the Young Blood in front of groups of people in order to get off on Mark's embarrassment. He wasn't unaware now, though, word had made it around that Mark Nemo had come back to school was built solid as a rock, and was looking to fight anyone who fucked with him in the past. Some of his classmates recognized that he was in the Tournament and that brought some level of respect and popularity, but the persisting rumor of catching his hands surpassed that.

Still, Matthew and his inner-circle of friends made their way to the cafeteria, looking out for Mark and his little secretary, Ava. As they opened the double doors, though, Mark launched himself right at Matthew with a low tackle, slamming his head on the door out and pinning him outside of the cafeteria as his friends rushed to help. He reached up to claw at Mark and bucked his hips to remove the sturdy lad, but a solid downward punch to the cheek jarred Matthew out of his attempts at reversal. Mark landed two more hits back to back on Matthew before he friends grabbed Mark's arm, with another one kicking him square in the face. More painful without his powers active, Mark shrugged off the hit and yanked his arm free, pulling two more people to the ground and hitting Matthew Simmons with his forehead twice back to back, the first head splitting his nose and the second splattering it everywhere. Fully unconscious, Mark slid off of his bullies' body and eyed the three friends Matt had brought for back up.

The two he pulled to the ground scrambled away while looking back, while the third, who Mark assumed kicked him in the face, stood up with Mark and put his hands up to fight. Mark obliged, and stepped close with his hands up as well, dropped his left to hit the kid's body and quickly swinging his right in an upper-cut to the jaw, cleanly knocking his unnamed opponent to the ground. With his business concluded, Mark then turned and swung open the cafeteria doors, Ava waiting for him on the other side, having prevented people from exiting with some wet floor signs. Handing him a towel, Mark wiped the blood and sweat from his face and hands, and walked to join the food line as if nothing major had happened.

Once he grabbed his tray, though, Mark now had the problem of finding where to sit. After a moment of looking, Ava motioned to a space where Jason, Shi, and her friends were all seated. "Surely they won't kick us out, but if they do, we can always go eat in the bathroom." Ava commented, Mark giving her a concerned look. "What? That's normal, it's okay, there's nothing wrong with eating in the bathroom! I do it all the time! Why are you walking away from me? Mark!" She yelled as her companion walked away, setting his tray next to Jason as Ava sat across from them. "Hello!" Ava said with a wave to her squadmates, extending the wave to Shi's friends as well.

"What's happening." Mark said to greet Jason, extending his hand to slap it with his friend, "First day senior year fever, how's yours going?"

[Galnius]

School Daze

PE class, or physical education, was the place where recess was graded and your place in your high school life was truly decided. Did you dominate the field? Was your quick thinking able to get you out of a jam? Did your raw strength make others envy you as you propelled every manner of ball with lethal force? Or did you fall short of others, partaking only for the grade or fun or not at all? It was here that two young girls found themselves.

One was a blonde named Angelica Dalin. She had had a very jarring summer, but with school back in she decided she would make her life as normal as possible. That meant playing dodgeball, currently. She was far from the athletic type, but that did not stop her from stretching before the match began. Somehow, someway, she hadn't been picked last, and she was determined to prove what meager faith that required that it was right to exist. Now she just had one problem...she couldn't throw a ball to save her life.

The other girl was petite, brown haired, and currently sitting on the bleachers with a video game. Mikaela Mynd, as she was named, had had her mom fill out some bullshit form about how she 'lacked the constitution' for tiring physical activities. Sure, she would probably get a low grade on the class, but she really couldn't care less about that. In fact, her current situation was perfect. She just so happened to be in class with her current target for friendship AND the person who made everything that much harder for her. Better yet, Mika had brought along her camera.

To her knowledge no one knew of her abilities, and with such a crowd of people she could assure that she could deal with anyone in this class' attempts to hinder her. She managed to convince a good few teachers that she was taking pictures for the school newspaper and, eventually, yearbook. It wasn't a lie, as she had made sure to join such club but it was far from the true motive.

Taking the camera out of her backpack, she gave it a test to make sure everything was coming out clearly. She chose a target and zoomed in, maintaining the focus. The lighting in the gymnasium was less than perfect, but she could touch up the photos later. For now....click . Picture #1 of the school year. Subject, Angelica Simmons and surrounding people. Outcome, stellar. It was clear enough to work. This school year was going to change everything...

[Absolon-7]

Roy

Casimir Herman October 2nd
With both heroes at the back door Casimir grasped onto the door handle and with his might he dislodged the lock for them to get inside. As far as collateral damage goes he figured a messed up door lock was as petty as they come. He ran through the back offices before stopping right behind the door to the bank teller's area. He squatted down and waited for his flies to come back from the vault and into the lobby to keep and eye on the gunmen. It looked like the door he was behind was out of their sight but the door to the lobby where they and the hostages where meant he'd have to time his jump to the ceiling perfectly.

Quietly he opened the door and rolled to behind the front desks where he stopped right before hitting them. He then crouched and slowly crawled towards the door that lead to the lobby but stopped right behind it. Casimir proceeded to spin webbing around his wrists and boots as he arranged his flies at one corner of the lobby. One moment to wait. At the exact moment both had their eyesights off the door Casimir pushed it open and leaped upwards to stick himself onto the ceiling. With no time to spare he peeled off one hand from the ceiling and flicked it towards the closest gunman.

Webbing stuck to his rifle and with his prey ensnared he wrenched his arm to the side to slam the caught grunt like a yo-yo at the other one. Both slammed into rows of chairs like bowling balls and their crash gave Casimir the opportunity to jump downwards next to them. He yanked up the one he had caught and grabbed them by the throat to slam them onto the ground. The other one tried pointing their rifle at Casimir but he was close enough where Casimir simply grabbed onto the barrel and bent the metal upwards. He slapped the man to the ground which put them out of commission. Now to just get the hostages up and organized-

"Stay right where you are bug boy!" shouted the surly voice of one man.

With his flies he managed to that one of the hall guards was pointing their rifle at him while the other kept his gun locked on the people on the ground. He figured he could try draw their fire but he had to pick one or the other to let himself get shot at. Due to how some of the structure in the lobby lined up there did appear to be large shadows in the area directly behind them...

[The Republic of Atria]

Renata

Bael
"I don't know." Bael replied to her asking what he would rob is not a bank. "Probably not some place that has enough cameras to make Britain jealous and silent alarms connected to every button in the building. But then again, I'm not a criminal." He finished as they left the van. Then he asked what he thought was a seemingly harmless question turned out to be not so. Renata snapped at him, loudly proclaiming that she's more than capable of getting on top of the roof. "I wasn't-" He sighed. "Nevermind." He jumped and took a very short flight where he gently landed on the roof.

He expected to see Renata, only see her climb over the side of the building. "Hmm." He muttered and went over to the skylight. "Kabuto says that they're in the vault, so we've got the drop. Let's just pop this off..." He said, unlocking the latches that held the heavy hunk of clear plastic in place and as carefully and quietly as he could put it down. There was some carpet he could land on to muffle his landing. All he had to hope for was that no one screamed.

"I'm dropping in from the roof." Bael spoke quietly over his communicator and jumped down the hole in the roof landing on the carpet to the surprise of several of the hostages and a man brandishing a gun, swapping his aim between Kabuto and the hostages, and now him.

"Fuck! They're coming through the goddamn roof!" The thug frantically moving his rifle between the heroes and the hostages. "Either of you move, I'll fuckin' kill everyone in this room! You hear me?"

Bael put his hands up and backed away, and caught a glimpse at the floor: Granite. At least he hoped it was real granite. "That's right... Stay back." The Dra'Qunni prayed that all the practice on precision had payed off and flung one of his hands straight up and a chunk of the floor followed suit, clobbering the man in the head, knocking him out cold and leaving a large cut on the side of his head.

[North America Inc]

9° 32′ 57″ N, 112° 53′ 21″ E
October 3rd, 2011

The fleet of black helicopters descended onto the side of the island, a concrete fortress protruding from the side. Despite its foreboding presence a few elements gave away its age. Construction equipment covered nearly every inch of the interior, tarps strung about, the never ending beat of riveting. Managers watched intently over their workers with only quick commands in Mandarin to finalize appearances. Standing at the outside entrance, a small entourage waited intently as the helicopters landed. One Security Team, specialized in subterfuge, circled around one helicopter; while another team, focused on practicality and intimidation, circled the other. Two women stepped out and the entourage rushed forth to greet them. One was fat and short, the other fit and tall. Nearly every trait were direct opposites of each other yet somehow both exuded the same qualities: determined, menacing, stoic. The Project Director loosened his tie before feigning excitement, "Councilwomen we are honored by your arrival." He bowed slightly, his entourage following suit.

"Skip the introductions, we both know why we are here." Councilwoman 13 said as she walked passed them, C6 towering behind her with a quiet dignity. With her arms back and her head held high, C13 examined the area with a scowl, "We have given you six years and all you produce is excuses. What have you accomplished now?"

The Director rushed from behind to catch up to them, "Yes of course. We have the vehicles over here..." He pointed towards the right of the interior, "I understand that a tour was in order but you must understand the reclamation process has slowed."

"We are aware, your reports never fail to both enlighten and disappoint us." C13's heels thundered across the hastily finished concrete. The security teams encircled around the Councilwomen, and by extension the Entourage, obscuring all from view. The white and black camouflage clashed against each other as the unaware workers whispered amongst themselves, too frightened to meet their gaze. Passing by numerous offline drones and other expensive military equipment, C13 added, "So has 2013 shifted from guaranteed to tenuous like the rest of your deadlines?"

"No of course not ma'am, infact..." the Chinese man briefly bumped against the back of a security member, "In fact, PLAN has informed us that they are confident that they will be able to shift more equipment into the region within the next month or two. Beyond that, a few initiatives are already fully operational here." A veiled guard leaned into C13's ear and whispered something; the director for his part continued to speak but trailed off as he lost the audience.

"Interesting..." She pulled away from the operative. Turning back from the front, "I've noticed Doctor Kohlhaas is not with us. Where is he?"

"He was insistent to meet us later in the tour. He means no disrespect." The Director despised these impromptu tours, they accomplished nothing. If anything these types of shows took him away from much needed work. Reclamation was one thing. An entirely new biome was another matter completely. When the Council, or rather their CCP affiliate, first approached him he was ecstatic. Yet years of constant delays, mission creep, and troublesome oversight had worn down his resolve. He wanted to end this little terraforming experiment before they expected him to create a new continent. He hid his feelings, but he had no doubt that the Council knew of his thoughts. It's not as if they actually cared.

As the team made their way outside, something peculiar stood in front of them: Birch. A group of Birch Trees swayed ever so peacefully against the wind. For an uninformed viewer, they would think nothing of it. They were just trees. In reality, the trees were an oddity. What was a Subarctic tree doing in a tropical environment? Unfortunately for the director, neither councilwoman particularly cared. A veiled operative turned his head to his right, and located the vehicles. The rest of the team immediately knew as well. After fastening the VIPs, the vehicles took off.

As the road turned from dirt to paved, the Director stated, "Doctor Kohlhaas was insistent that we visit the Divi Filius Initiative before any other sites. He didn't give a particular reason however I've been told that the candidates have made great progress these past few months."

C6 finally spoke up and interjected, "You can dress it up in Latin and flower the project with subtlety but in the end those children are abominations." She said with utter disgust dripping from her mouth. Crossing her legs over her innate armor, she looked at her peer and asked, "You can dress children up and call them superheroes but they are simply child soldiers. Your NASL may allow it, we should not."

"Spare me the morality lesson..." C13 said as she stared out the window, "This discussion has been had a hundred times in a thousand contexts."

"The difference now is this size. The first pool was only twenty, its turned into two hundred. Is this how we are to protect humanity? With children shirking in the corner?" Gesturing towards her, C6 inflection changed from regal to concerned, "We have both read the autopsy reports. If not end this project for altruism, end it for efficiency."

Running her hand against the leather of the seat, "End the discussion Councilwoman." The car stayed silent. Minutes went by before the group arrived at the DFI facility: a post modern white structure contrasting against the surrounding Pine forest. Beyond the fallen leaves, in front of the entrance, and above the ascending stairs, the Good Doctor stood alone. No expression, no remarks. The man did nothing but hold his hands in his pockets as the security detail marched towards him. "You better have good reason to make us come to you."

"More than enough. If you chose to see it..." He gazed into the taller councilwoman's eyes, "Is entirely up to you." Walking into the newly renovated laboratory, the three Council members discussed matters amongst themselves. Simple chatter about the inner workings of Washington to the duties' of the Guild's chief enforcer, each Council member discussed their area of expertise. Kohlhaas said nothing but did engage them, probing them to always speaking more than he himself was willing to share. Within a short amount of time they reached the inner atrium of the building as the sounds of grunting and marching coming from below. Motioning to the floors below them, both Council Women were greeted by an expansive training area where candidates were continually refined and edited. Candidates were performing a wider array of tasks, from wrestling to live fire training.

With a modicum of respect, C13 nodded her head, "Impressive."

"Thank you Council Woman."

Eyeing the group a little more intently, Council Woman 6 noticed how odd they all were. Metal protruded from their limbs, their frames tall and lanky; hardly any would be considered normal. "They appear much taller than ten, what is the reason for that?"

"Ah..." Grabbing his glasses from his pocket, the Good Doctor began to clean his lenses, "In order to fall within acceptable standards and time tables, growth has been accelerated. As of now, they should appear three years older, their internal physiology varying and being the main benefactor."

C13 looked down and studied more closely, "Will this affect their appearances in the future?"

"Hardly. For those who will be used for display, final appearance has yet to be finalized. With the right modifications we can achieve any look. The others, well, weapons favor function over form."

"Agreed." C13 remarked, "When can we expect the first units will be ready for deployment?"

As the two talked amongst themselves, C6 watched over the children with utter fascination. In truth, they appeared more than capable assets for her own Phantom Program, but their very nature was...disconcerning. One of them, a girl, stood out to her. It was a simple grappling mat where candidates were pitted against each other. Each opponent seemed to tower over her, yet one by one, a new challenger was sent. After a few minutes C6 spoke up, "That one over there, who is she?"

Looking down at where she was pointing, the Doctor smirked and tapped his ear piece, "Please send up Asset 011." Speaking to his peers he clarified, "One of the more promising cadets of the program. An initiate rather than grown unfortunately, yet she's more than held her own." As the elevator elevator, Asset 011 walked over and took her place near the Good Doctor. "How are you doing Shihong? I hope the new treatments have gone well."

"Yes Papa." She said with the utmost devotion.

Grabbing her by the jaw, he spun her head back and forth, "If you look here, we've added a new implant that runs from the base of the spine to the..." The presentation became white noise as the Enforcer studied the specimen before her. With numerous bruises and surgery marks all over her frail and oddly proportioned body, she couldn't help but feel pity. The young child's apathetic expression said nothing of it's internal thoughts. The Doctor continued to proudly show off his craftsmanship. Their eyes met. She stared into them and saw nothing, both cold and lifeless. It took some time before she realized the girl saw the same.

---

2017
"What are you staring at?" Shi snapped back to reality after having spent the last few seconds blankly watching the floor and sucking on a straw. Olivia leaned against a supportive pillar with only a dead expression and make up on her face. "You trying to intimidate the floor?"

Sitting on top of an outside lunch bench, Shi placed her iced tea next to her and crossed her legs. "I'm disappointed, You don't have a better taunt? Perhaps more visceral."

"It's only noon." Olivia pointed out. "There's still time."

High School was an entirely new experience for all of them. Beyond their training years, tutors had always taken the place the place of teachers and facility. While only of them would admit it, each came in with high expectations. Years of TV and movies had inundated them with ideas of attractive twenty somethings, set social cliques, and actual working restrooms. What they got instead was a student body at the forefront of the American obesity epidemic, dispersed loners, and barely functioning toilets. Shi, for her part, had to deal with multiple fans and stalkers already asking her out. While the campus was pristine, this cafeteria was not. Besides that smell, it was packed with students. The Clique would of been overwhelmed had they not carved out a corner for themselves. Almost of all them hated it, except...

"We should of done this way earlier..." April exclaimed, hand-standing on the table, "It's been so much fun."

"Fun is one way to describe it." Olivia replied as she watched an overweight meta-human guzzle a two liter bottle of soda.

"It is one way to describe it! Let me think of another? Exciting, exhilarating, stupendous!"

"That's not..." Olivia smacked her hand against her forehead, "That's not what the expression means."

"Quiet." Shi ordered and both fell silent. Members of her squad were coming. Jason from one side, Mark and Ava on the other. Having only been made squad leader recently, Shi had stayed relatively subdued. On one hand she had already succeeded implanting herself into a leadership position, but it did come with a cost. It was a dead end. She suspected as much when first assigned, but she was separated from the true inner dynamics of the team. Stuck with four rogue team members would only make her mission so much more difficult. Yet it did present an interesting opportunity. If she could mold them and turn them into the most efficient squad on their roster, than usurping the traditional structure might become practical. Only time will tell.

Well, he didn't feel like sitting alone so he slid into the seat across from her. "Hey Shi and company. How goes the day?"

"Great!"

"Decent."

"Horrible."

"Hello!" Ava said with a wave to her squadmates, extending the wave to Shi's friends as well.

"What's happening." Mark said to greet Jason, extending his hand to slap it with his friend, "First day senior year fever, how's yours going?"

As Jason nestled himself into other side of the table, Mark and Ava quickly followed behind. Mark and Jason talked amongst themselves, leaving Ava alone with the girls. Olivia stood up straight and immediately went over and hugged Ava, "Hi I'm April! I've heard so much about you." Letting go, she eyed Ava's short black hair intently, "Wow I love your hair? Do you do dye it or is that your natural hair color?"

Shi at the very least waved at Ava, but the two other stared into their phones as April had her fun.

[Finland SSR]

Bael

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

October 2nd

---

Thankfully, Wyatt was too methodical to care about Renata's rather embarrassing attempt at hopping, and so, after pulling herself back onto the roof, the girl immediately erased it from her memory. Right! On to the mission! Casimir had already stormed inside, which meant that it was go time for her and Wyatt to storm from the above. The Dra'Quinni opened the skylight and went first, landing straight in the hostage situation and knocking the armed bank robber out cold with a piece of granite. Renata hopped down next, using two small jets of plasma from her feet to soften her landing, and immediately set her sights on the second robber in the lobby.

He had been pinning down Casimir with a rifle aimed towards him while his buddy was keeping track of the hostages - now, however, that buddy was knocked out and he had to deal with not one annoying teen, but three, which got him in a panic.

The man raised his rifle to his shoulder and was about to open fire, only to instead receive Renata's blast to the gut, flinging him away and knocking the weapon out of his hands. A follow-up laser shot burned through the rifle, cutting it in half and leaving it worthless.

Nice.

"Alright, what's next?"

---

Mika

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

September

---

"Hehe, I could get used to this..." Floyd muttered under his breath as he pushed and pulled his sword, embedded in the back of the Sphinx's head like a steering stick. He didn't need a giant pet for anything, no, certainly not for travel and thus getting the attention of the entire West Coast during a morning stroll, but what's important is that it would be fun. And isn't that what you should seek whenever you can? Unfortunately, Floyd's fun got rudely interjected when a rifle shot suddenly banged at his armor.

"Fuck!" he let out a yell. The shot struck him in the left upper arm and ejected the left side of his body backwards - and despite a set of armor and his natural endurance both protecting him, a lingering pulse of pain got him to wince regardless. Sensing an opportunity, the Sphinx began to shake, aiming to throw off the annoying human stabbing it in the back. Before Floyd could let out a tirade of curses, his eyes caught the culprit - Mika, fallen to the ground with a rifle awkwardly held in her hands.

Of course it bypassed his armor. It's a rifle designed to fight demons. Whose energy Floyd siphoned off of. The playful attitude Floyd's had before then dissipated in an instant. Pulling onto his embedded sword, he turned the sphinx towards the girl - as much as it resisted, the giant creature walked forward.

Just as its raised foot was about to crush her, a voice yelled from behind:

"You're not going to die today!"

Two arms wrapped around Mika's shoulders from the back and yanked her back, straight through a portal - what followed was a rather painful fall onto a flat rooftop and a roll for a few meters before the two teenagers came to a halt. A powerful gust of dust and ash stormed through the portal in front of them, caused by the Sphinx's foot setting down on the ground where Mika had laid a few seconds ago, before it closed and vanished.

Clenching onto his head, Jan weakly lifted himself up from the ground, only to come to a halt when his eyes witnessed where they had ended up.

"San Diego?.." It was definitely that city's skyline... He didn't even know he was going to end up here, he just gated to the last place where Mika had been in the mortal realm... "That's... a coincidence, I guess. It's where I used to live..."

His eyes turned towards the girl he'd just rescued. If she were to take a look to the sky, or a clock, she would have noticed that not a single second had passed during the time she was stuck in the afterlife. "...How did you manage to end up in Hell, anyway?"

[The Republic of Atria]

Shi and others

"Wow! In descending order no less! Understandable, I was never much for school. I find my life to be much easier when I lower everyone's expectations. Makes those moments when I do put in some effort seem all the more worth while." He replied. "So, are you all new this year, or have I just never seen you around before?" He asked, opening his lunch bag and pulling out a salami sandwich and a thermos. "Another question, any 'o you taking or ever take that supers studies class? Signed up for it because it's like the only thing that I have the tiniest bit of interest in."

Right as he asked, his large, muscle bound friend Mark sat down right next to him offer his hand for a high hive, which Jason met with enthusiasm. "Eeeey Marky Mark! Ladies, this is friend of mine, Mark. As you can see, he walks the path of the swole." He spoke and then motioned over to Ava. "This is Ava. I'm less familiar with her, but she's pretty chill. Anyways. As far as first impressions of my grand finale at school go... Dunno. I'm an on the spot learner. Gotta be in the right mood to perform. The mood: Last minute panic. do my best work then."

[Galnius]

Andrew Donovan, Jackrabbit

Dear Naja
It is of an eager heart that I send this to you. You see, I'm....
Andrew stopped, staring at his email so far in visible disgust. "Yeah, no, that isn't going to work. Deleeete." The hero deleted his message and restarted. "Maybe a touch less formal, then."

Hey there Snake Momma. I'm joining up. This obviously would not be sent out either, but the greeting did give him a good chuckle. Quake had constantly stated how the lizard-esque woman was probably like a mother to "the tots in the tower playing superhero", leading to a lot of joking between Andrew, Red, and Blue. After one more clearing, the boy now got serious. He typed it up quickly, and immediately headed out. Hopefully she would get it before he arrived on their doorstep.

Hello, this is Andrew Donovan, or Jackrabbit. After seeing the team in the tournament, I was inspired to leave the shadow knows as sidekick. Thus, after some deliberation, I have decided to join the young bloods. Perhaps it would be easier if you thought of it as switching myself for Icarus, though with a bit of a delay. I know he was not on your team, but I did hear that he helped out. If this arrangement does not work, I'll head back to LA.

P.S. I left without telling anyone but Blue, so if you could inform them I would be happy.

P.S.S. Don't worry, I am not a criminal on the run not do I have any issues with the Stars. I swear.

P.S.S.S. Any chance I can get my own room? The locker room situation has become a bit awkward. Before, even with Red there, Quake and Armorer's old asses kept my eyes from wandering. With the newest addition...let's just say I'm getting tired of changing in the stall.

---

Mika, pre time skip

Appearing back at the rooftop, Mika quickly rose to a seating position. "I'm alive? Oh fuck, oh god, thought I was going to die there." The short haired brunette paused momentarily. It seemed that the angel boy knew about the city. Or at least, could recognize it. "Yeah, this is San Diego. Home of a million losers, even more suckers, and a team named after a massacre of idiotic heroes. Wooooo." Giving a sarcastic finger twirl, she ended her dry narration of the city she called home. It was then that she realized where she was.

"Um...angel boy? Not trying to criticize you, but this seems like the FIRST place he'd look." Mika looked around for a way down, and found nothing. Great. That meant she was relying on someone she had thought about literally stabbing in the back earlier. "I arrived here because that 30 year old edgelord decided to literally drag me to hell, and I don't feel like returning anytime soon. If we could go elsewhere..." With that, she told Jan her address and hoped he could fly her or teleport her there. At the moment, she had no way to get off the roof.

---

Keone, simultaneous with the bank robbery

"Hey! Get off of me!"

"Not until I get what I came for lady. I need to get into your place of work, see, and you would probably like your head attached to your neck."

A masked man moved towards the sounds of the gruff voice with practiced efficiency. He'd taken the time to memorize the alleyways of this particular area, and moved out the moment he heard of some heroes stopping a robbery. It was due to luck, then, that he heard this commotion.

It was caused by a beast looking man accosting some woman. The masked man didn't care about the details. Instead, he time jumped right behind the man. With a meticulous precision, his neck was slit. "Alright, that's taken care of." Keone looked at the body, happy at least that his voice changer was working. He currently sounded like some girl, regardless of his appearance. After some time, his eyes returned to the woman. "Well?!"

"Well, uh, what?" The woman seemed confused. She had been saved, albeit gruesomely, but this man seemed to want something from her. Tentatively, she reached for her purse. "Is it money? Umm..let me see if I brought any cash..."

"Oh for the love of-" Keone raised his blade to the woman's neck, slightly irritated. "I just killed a man. I could kill you. I can promise you I won't be leaving any DNA, as I've been doing this a while. What do you do in a situation where the cops might not help?" He was not going to actually kill her, as she had nothing to do with his plans. However, the threat seemed to work as she screamed, crying for someone to help her. "Good girl."

[New Neros]

Ava and Mark
Lunchtime

As Jason nestled himself into other side of the table, Mark and Ava quickly followed behind. Mark and Jason talked amongst themselves, leaving Ava alone with the girls. Olivia stood up straight and immediately went over and hugged Ava, "Hi I'm April! I've heard so much about you." Letting go, she eyed Ava's short black hair intently, "Wow I love your hair? Do you do dye it or is that your natural hair color?"

Shi at the very least waved at Ava, but the two other stared into their phones as April had her fun.

The horror washed over Ava abruptly as April invaded her space and trapped her in a hug. She tried not to stiffen up at the sudden physical contact, but some habits are difficult to break. What came worse, though, was the compliments and offer at verbal conversation in regards to an aspect of herself. Shi and her friends were really pretty, and that made them intimidating to Ava, especially since April was just so nice. "I! Um, thank you!" She said suddenly in response as she figured it took too long to reply. "It's my natural color, I don't do much to it, honestly."

Ava felt her hair as well, feeling how soft it was, nothing to brag about. "So, um, tell me about yourself, April?" She said in an asking tone, for some reason, a bit nervous when talking to new people, turning away from Mark and Jason's toxic masculinity.

Right as he asked, his large, muscle bound friend Mark sat down right next to him offer his hand for a high hive, which Jason met with enthusiasm. "Eeeey Marky Mark! Ladies, this is friend of mine, Mark. As you can see, he walks the path of the swole." He spoke and then motioned over to Ava. "This is Ava. I'm less familiar with her, but she's pretty chill. Anyways. As far as first impressions of my grand finale at school go... Dunno. I'm an on the spot learner. Gotta be in the right mood to perform. The mood: Last minute panic. do my best work then."

Mark smirked happily as Jason introduced him to Shi's friends, waving at them briefly before giving Jason his full attention. "Regular strength training goes a long way with raging teenage hormones." Mark stated, flexing his bicep, "I have a feeling that I'm not going to make it to the end of the day, honestly. I uh," He said, glancing over his shoulder for a moment and looking back at Jason, dropping his voice. "I started getting revenge on the people who used to bully me when I was a twig by randomly assaulting them. Figured it was better than Columbine shit."

"I'm kinda similar, though," Mark in response to Jason's last comments, "I just go with the flow and let life happen around me. I don't really learn so much as let things fall where they may." He said with a smile, "No use in panicking about stuff out of my control, right?"

[Tomia]

Roy
Before Roy could react to the robber threatening his teammate, Renata had taken care of both him and his weapon. With that threat secured, Nightshade checked on the nearby hostages, telling them to stay down and wait until they had cleared out the whole bank. Then he turned his attention to the front of the building, where the open door revealed a van blocking the entrance, with a number of criminals firing at the police officers outside.

"Kabuto come on, they can handle the interior, let's clear those guys out." He said, pointing a figure towards the door. Nightshade made his way there himself, having the advantage that it didn't seem the robbers outside had noticed him yet. He broke into a sprint, and once he was a few feet away slid into the man guarding the door. Roy slammed into the man's legs and sent him to the ground. At this point the others were alerted. About four others were in or about the car and noticed Roy's presence. The nearest one was docked behind the front of the car and fired at Nightshade. Nightshade deflected three of the bullets away with his staff before rolling away and throwing his staff straight into the man's face. He knocked him out cold as another rushed towards the hero. As the robber went in for a big right hook Roy ducked and kicked out his right leg, sending the man flying to the ground before knocking him out with a hard punch to the face.

One of the last two robbers turned to realize what was happening and panicked. He quickly grabbed something out of his pocket, a syringe by the sight of it, and jabbed it into his right arm. He shouted out in pain and dropped his gun as his limbs went ridged. His muscles started to expand in distort until he was unnaturally bulky. He shouted out again but this time it was more of a roar as he charged at Roy, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him against the van.

[Absolon-7]

Bael

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

Roy

Casimir Herman October 2nd
Casimir watched the man sloppily aim his gun towards his back and he figured he could turn on his fly power and dodge it but there was still the second gunman. One wrong step and those hostages on the ground are done for. Casimir slowly clenched his fist but he'd be spared the duty of attacking as Wyatt was quick to signal his arrival before suddenly jumping down from the ceiling followed by Renata. The two made quick work of the hall guards which made Casimir slightly pissed that he needed their assistance.

"The last six robbers are in the vault," said Casimir to Renata checking in on a fly he kept in the vault, "Looks like the guards you took out alerted their buddies though."

While he had been talking to Renata, Roy had dealt with several more robbers he had failed to see in the armored car at the start. Godammit! They must've been inside the entire time! Casimir departed from Renata and was quickly in time to see Roy get thrashed by the muscular juggernaut. There was one last surprise of one of turning out to have powers but there was something off about their power activation.

"Listen you creep! This isn't a body building competition so fuck off to the beach you hear me!" shouted Casimir as he dramatically pointed at the enraged man.

The man simply let go of Roy and charged at Casimir swinging his massive arms like fan blades. Casimir sidestepped at the last minute and moved his foot in front of the man's feet to trip him. The muscular brute hit the floor like frozen ham but like the enraged beast he was he took no time to lay down. Instead when he got back up he lunged at Casimir who returned a spinning knuckle at the brute's forehead. As the man recoiled from the counter Casimir followed up with a clean straight jab at the gut inciting a wet grunt from the robber. Casimir breathed in and swung his leg in the air to smash his knee across the brute's temple collapsing him like a tree.

Vengeance would come in the form of the brute grabbing onto Casimir's shin and raising him into the air like a flailing flag. Casimir was then thrown like a cannonball at the armored car but he flicked his wrists out at the brute to shoot his webbing. His left arm's missed but his right attached itself right to the brute's face. Casimir crashed onto the fortified window creating a cobweb of cracks as he slid down. The bug hero was quick to grab onto the string of webbing and heaved it like a sling. The man was thrown across the air as Casimir fell back onto the ground. The muscular brute slowly got up and wandered off next to where had smashed Roy in. His head bobbed up and down as a mx of blood and drool dripped out. His eyes seem to have trouble opening and every step seemed like he was about to fall.

Meanwhile
At the very entrance of the vault five men armed with rifles were gathering sacks full of money and valuables while one stood outside with his ear to a transceiver. The only features visible on him were two blue eyes as the rest of his head was hidden with a full balaclava and a grey army helmet. He grabbed a syringe from a pack on his belt but his arm was grabbed by one of his compatriots.

"The hell you think you're doing?"

"They already got the guys outside. You five need to use the bomb to blow the back of the building and escape. I'll hold them off."

"Are you insane? They got all the famous ones there."

"I know! Now leave! Go hijack some cars outside."

The other five men nodded and threw their bags over their shoulders as they hustled over the hallway. They reached the end of the hallway and one got to his knees to swing his backpack around. He unzipped it and reached in to grab a mass of black boxes and wires before he stood up and smacked it into the wall. The five men moved to get behind the hallway as the red numbers ticked down to blow the wall outside.

The man who stayed behind moved up his sleeve and injected the syringe in a vein as he winced in pain. Suddenly wide crystalline powder began emanating from his palms before a sheen started to crawl down his arms. In second the dust came out as snowflakes and then hail before fully ejecting out as streams of pure ice that he couldn't stop. He yelled incoherently before wildly swinging his arms in front of him covering the entire hallway in an uneven and jagged coat of ice. Razor sharp icicle would randomly eject from the walls the further he went on in a doomed endeavor.

[Aidannadia]

“And we bring you live to the NASL Stadium where villainess Dark Star is currently in battle with multiple heroes, including the likes of the Young Bloods.”

The Goat may be a simpleton but he was no buffoon. He planned his largest raid in tandem with the attack on the Stadium. She bit her lip in frustration. It seemed like he was heading to a Demeter Project Warehouse that had Warwolf equipment in transit. He may be a strong piece on the board, but she had a few pieces of her own lying in wait. It was time to reveal her current trump card.

She picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Hello, dear… Yes he’s made a move. It’s time to suit up, Paragon.”

---

Dust exploded into the depot, staining the stark white suits of the workers there and slamming them to the floor. The Goatman stood on the pile of rubble, confident that none would stand in his way.

“Fan out. Find the goods.” He shouted with his booming deep voice.

“Boss, over here.” A Ramshead thug called him over. The Goatman lumbered over, the concrete struggling to contain his massive strength. A vault in the side of the warehouse. State of the art. No doubt reinforced with every imaginable safety measure that money can buy. He had to hand it to the Lamia. She was a formidable foe, but this paltry defense would only take him a matter of time to break through.

“The Kool-Aid man called- He wants his schtick back.” A voice chimed out from the hole in the wall.

A black suited hero on an electric bike with a white frame appeared at the doorway.

The Goatman looked surprised. “Eager for another beating? Well, I don’t have the patience for you right now.” He snapped his fingers and a dozen of his men inhaled Poison on the spot. Each one seemed to grow at least an inch, their eyes turning bloodshot and their muscles turny veiny with stress.

Paragon smiled beneath her mask and pressed a button on the bike. In a flurry of mechanical movements and tendrils of pitch, the frame of the bike was peeled away and attached to her body. The armor looked like a skeleton had risen from the dead, a truly intimidating prospect.

One of the thugs ran over to her, punching her directly in the chest, only to grip his hand in pain as it crunched against the armor’s coating. She elbowed him in the neck and kicked him to the ground. Another came over, but he was met quickly with a swift punch to the gut; however, he wasn’t going down that easy.

As the two engaged in fisticuffs, the Goat began working on the vault, forcibly turning the wheel that locked it in place with his massive strength, Struggling to overpower the locking mechanism, he actually tore the massive wheel from the vault door. He sighed and began the grueling work of trying to peel the actual door open.

Meanwhile, Paragon was making short work on her foes. Another couple came at her at once, but she blocked both attacks with her gauntlets and kicked one to the ground. The moment the man hit the floor, another thug came up behind her and locked his arms around her, but struggled to actually lift the armored hero. Her work in gaining muscle mass to actually wield her new armor had remarkable results; it seemed like her body took to working out quicker than most.

She kicked against an approaching thug and slammed the one behind her into the ground with a sickening crack. Another three charge, at which point she pressed a button on her gauntlet, casuing her shell-less bike to ram into one and she grabbed one by the neck, covering it in pitch and attaching him to the wall. It was clear at this point that the Poisoned thugs were hardly a challenge for Paragon, at which point they took out their guns and knives and bats. One metal bat slammed into her armor, the force being almost completely absorbed by the bone armor. A knives plunged itself between the segments of armor and the hero tore it out, the hole in the pitch covering itself completely and stopping the wound. She stabbed the knife back into her aggressor’s leg and pushed him to the floor.

Another thug opened fire on her suit but she raised her arms in defense. Between her chest plating and the gauntlets, she was completely safe beneath the armor. She punched into the air, causing an armored fist to catch the man in the chest like a sledgehammer, and then pulled the armor back into place with a tendril of her power.

The Goat opened the door, revealing the trove of weapons hidden inside. Laser weapons, strange electronics, and the unmistakable smell of lead tinged the air. He turned to see Paragon finish off the last of his men.

“Very well, Pitch. I will acknowledge your strength, but if your think a gaudy new suit will protect you then you are sadly mistaken.”

“The name’s Paragon.” She said, raising her fists in a fighting stance as he charged her with his horns.

The horns clashed against the armor. Paragon could feel the weight of his blow press against the suit, slightly buckling despite its rigidness, but it held nonetheless. The Goat was surprised, but didn’t mis a beat as he came around with a punch to the side of the head, only for it to be met with a gaunlet from Paragon. The armor made a loud clashing sound like metal on metal, but it held all the same. The Goat laughed. “I see now, So you are the Lamia’s pet? How amusing.”

Paragon was in the middle of a retort when a punch to the chestplate sent her sliding back a few feet into the wall. She raised her fists again, getting into the stance that Hannah had taught her and tried to clear her mind. All that mattered was holding this beast right here. Right now.

The moment she took a breath, the Goatman was upon her again, clashing this time into the wall as she rolled away. A gauntlet slung around and caught him in the jaw like a rock on a sling. He held his maw for a moment, inspecting the damage and he spit out blood. “And you’ve gotten a few new moves as well. But do you really think that will make a difference against me?” The Goatman charged again this time hitting a pillar holding up the Demeter Warehouse.

He continued his onslaught, continuing to bash against the armor to no avail, with Paragon occasionally getting a hit in on him, but he was undeterred. He moved forward and forward again, threatening the break the armor clean through. Paragon blocked each time.

Then, he feinted and grabbed her arm, peeling the gauntlet from her forearm and slinging it across the room. Paragon’s eyes raised in surprise and he landed a solid hit on the chest plate again, once more slinging her across the room and hitting her into a pillar. Paragon tried to put up a defense with her one arm, but it was similarly peeled before her. She took another punch to the gut, this time holding her ground and headbutting the beast to no avail. He chuckled darkly, grabbed her chestplate by the collar and ripped it from the Pitch below.

“Little turtle has come out of its turtle shell after all. Looks like next hit will be it, Paragon.” He smiled and charged one more time, Paragon rolled and dodged out of the way, dropping the rest of her armor to the floor, leaving her as Pitch before him again. She stood confidently, despite struggling with a plan. Without her armor, she couldn’t take a punch from this guy without breaking some bones, but without it, her endurance increased immensely. Perhaps if she could just keep dodging, she could come up with an opening and wear him out.

The Goatman charged forward at breakneck speed and charged once more, but Pitch slung herself up into the rafters above, shooting out a slurry of black ichor at her opponent, only to have the man rip it up in a rage. “I don’t care if I have to tear this place down brick by brick. I will walk out of here, and you will not.” He grabbed an inhaler from one of his men and inhaled deeply. He body trembled for a moment, and he grew a few inches. His muscles pulsated and the ground buckled under his weight and he stomp the ground, causing a small explosion of rock to go flying in all directions.

That gave Pitch an idea. She came back to the ground. “Oh yeah, ugly? Well, come and get me, huh!” She dodged out of the way and the beast hurled himself even more quickly against the hero, breaking another pillar in the process. Pitch smiled. The Goatman was too high on Poison to realize his mistake as he crashed into pillar after pillar in his attempt to crush her like a bug. She after he’d cleared the pillars, she attached some threads to him and the ceiling, and he fought to rip them apart, but hte ceiling gave way and crushed the pair of them in an avalanche of rubble. Aleta was ready immediately with a protective coating of pitch to protect herself, but the Goat was not so lucky. The building incapacitated even his durable form, leaving him unconscious beneath the rubble.

---

As first responders arrived on the scene, the Goat had mysteriously already disappeared. Some reports, immediately dismissed, of a limo driving by the wreckage were uncofirmable, but this was an important day for Aleta. She was already crawled out of the wreckage and had put together at least her chestplate by the time the reporters desceneded.

“Hero! Are you the vigilante Pitch?” One asked.

“No. The name’s Paragon, like my mother before me. I’m a new hero, willing to stand up to anyone in the name of justice.”

She lifted her helmet to reveal her face as per her agreement with her aunt. “But let’s be casual here. My name is Aleta Lindell and let me tell you my story…” she continued for a while before another framless bike appeared and she rode off into the sunset, victorious finally.

[Charmera]

Keone, simultaneous with the bank robbery

"Hey! Get off of me!"

"Not until I get what I came for lady. I need to get into your place of work, see, and you would probably like your head attached to your neck."

A masked man moved towards the sounds of the gruff voice with practiced efficiency. He'd taken the time to memorize the alleyways of this particular area, and moved out the moment he heard of some heroes stopping a robbery. It was due to luck, then, that he heard this commotion.

It was caused by a beast looking man accosting some woman. The masked man didn't care about the details. Instead, he time jumped right behind the man. With a meticulous precision, his neck was slit. "Alright, that's taken care of." Keone looked at the body, happy at least that his voice changer was working. He currently sounded like some girl, regardless of his appearance. After some time, his eyes returned to the woman. "Well?!"

"Well, uh, what?" The woman seemed confused. She had been saved, albeit gruesomely, but this man seemed to want something from her. Tentatively, she reached for her purse. "Is it money? Umm..let me see if I brought any cash..."

"Oh for the love of-" Keone raised his blade to the woman's neck, slightly irritated. "I just killed a man. I could kill you. I can promise you I won't be leaving any DNA, as I've been doing this a while. What do you do in a situation where the cops might not help?" He was not going to actually kill her, as she had nothing to do with his plans. However, the threat seemed to work as she screamed, crying for someone to help her. "Good girl."

"I don't know if not leaving DNA is going to help you much buddy." Spoke a voice from above. If Keone were to look upwards, he would see a young woman leaning on the railing of a nearby steel balcony. She quickly did a hop over the railing and landed on the ground, standing more than ten feet away from the bladed man and his hostage. The woman had what seemed like an orange athletic suit, and her hair was tied in a knot at the top of her head. Her hair had a twinge of purple to it, the mystical energies of her Ninja training having given it that strange hue rather than any dye. "I'm pretty sure I could testify in court."

She frowned slightly as she looked at the woman. She gave a slight nod. "You're going to be okay Ma'am."

Makenzie then turned to her opponent, sizing them up. It was just her luck that a stroll through the city had led her to this. She knew that some of her teammates, as weird as it was to call them that, were dealing with a bank robbery nearby, so she felt confident she could deal with whoever this was. But still, something about him bugged her. He didn't seem like a simple mugger, his blades could attest to that. But if he were a supervillain, then what was there to gain by his actions. If he wanted to kidnap the lady, he would have made off with her by now. Was he trained, like her? Was he a meta or just a normal guy with some fancy knives?

"If you really wanted a superhero, you really should just call them or... I don't know, send a tweet. We have websites and shit." Makenzie remarked. "You've got what you wanted. Let the woman go, or your hospital stay will be considerably longer."

[Auropa]

Kross Mathews
Wonder Tower
October 2nd

The last few minutes had passed in near absolute silence as Naja glared daggers at her visitor and considered the potential fallout from tossing him out the nearest window. Sitting opposite her and having already attempted and failed to break the imposing silence, Kross had instead turned to tweaking his firearm. Being a cobbled mess of human ingenuity, ancient magic and stolen technologies, it did tend to require more maintenance than other firearms would, but the reasoning behind his current meticulous tinkering was clear. Even as a veteran of countless battles, a survivor against demons, kings and more, he couldn’t deny his unease at the situation. As the silence grew however, he eventually reached his limit and caved.

“I did send you a message-“ he began to say.

“It was barely a sentence. Definitely not a message and even a warning.” Naja stated coldly with her eyes unshifting in their gaze.

“Look, the kid was in trouble. I figured he could-“

“He could what?!” Naja interrupted as she rose to her full height and practically slammed her hands against the table “Benefit from abandoning his team? Get used to working alone? Learn what it’s like to lose the trust he had earned in record timing?! Or maybe you thought it would be a good idea to teach him how to run from his problems. God knows it’s a talent you’ve got plenty of experience with.” She added with her eyes somehow narrowing even further on the smaller man across the table.

“I took him out of an unwinnable situation he never should have been in! You know damn well how he feels about hero politics and you practically threw him into the deep end with the absolute worst people I can think of!” Kross snapped back.

“I let him go because at some point he’s going to need to face them Kross! You of all people should be able to understand that! How many times have you told me I’m being too protective of the Young Bloods? Well this was me trying to ease them into the world as a team! Show them a bit of grey and get them ready to deal with more complicated issues while giving them a chance to practice with experienced fighters. And what happens? You panic at the first hurdle and throw a wrench into the whole thing.”

“Yeah, because your plan was working out oh so well. Tell me again how the bug duo’s interview went? Or would you rather I just jump over to the injury reports?”

“You have no right to talk about that when you took away one of my squad leaders! I am trying to help Mike and everyone else become able to work and rely on each other as a team, whereas you just seem dead set on them becoming paranoid, isolationists like yourself! Though being fair I should’ve expected this, what would you know about actually helping a team anyways?” Naja stated with renewed anger.

“And now what do you mean by that?” Kross replied with a coldness of his own as he matched Naja’s glare.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” The reptilian woman replied, tempted to carry on but feeling her anger begin to dissipate after being met with silence. “Kross, this team is a chance to make something better than us and do right by the mistakes of our past. I am trying so hard to keep that hope alive, and despite everything the world keeps throwing at us I still believe in this team. Now I need to know whether or not I can trust you to have-“

“Why didn’t you tell me about Yoshi?” Kross asked flatly, cutting off Naja’s words

“…So that’s what this is all about then.” She eventually replied as she moved back to her chair.

“It’s a pretty damn significant factor.”

“We both know what would’ve happened if I turned her over. Voice told me there was a chance to save her, so I took it.”

“We? All I know is how much damage mind manipulators can do when left unchecked. What I also know is that the monster in that beetle could’ve done a hell of a lot worse if it got full control.”

“Which is why I couldn’t tell you. You would’ve had to take her in, and I would’ve needed to stop you.”

“Nicole, do you really think I would I do that? After everything we’ve seen?”

“I honestly don’t know Kross. I wish I could say that I did, but you’ve made sure that no one really knows what you’re thinking or planning.”

Answering with silence, Kross tried to think of something, anything he could say back to that before finally leaning further back against the chair in a shared defeat.

“So what happens now?” Naja asked towards the PL agent.

“Same as before really. You take care of the future and I’ll do what I can for the present.”

“And Yoshi?”

“Far as I can tell, the main danger has already passed, and we’re stretched thin enough as it is. Leaving her with the team and in plain sight is the safest, cost-effective option available.” Kross said as he rose to his feet and began heading to the door.

“Kross.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, but abduct one of my kids again and I’ll toss you off the roof myself.”

Giving a short nod in response, Kross left the office and began to make his way out of the tower and to the inevitable mountain of paperwork he needed to do. But as he left some of Naja's words still hung on his mind and left him rethinking his options.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sigil Sevens
Wonder Tower
October 2nd

‘Fascinating…’ The robot thought to itself as he watched the other local android work about the tower. Unlike itself, she was made to look and move in ways similar to a human and from what he could tell, she was able to interact with the organics near flawlessly. If the one called Naja hadn’t explained it to him, then there was a good chance he wouldn’t have even noticed she was robotic like him.

‘Interesting’ Sigil thought to himself as he tried to register the emotions he was feeling ‘there is definitely curiosity, but something else mixed in. Awe, admiration, envy perhaps? It is a strange but not unpleasant combination’ It deiced as it rubbed where it's chin would be and displayed a question mark on its monitor to better confirm its state of uncertainty. Whatever he was feeling, he knew exactly what to do.
He wanted to know more about this CASSANDRA but not knowing how to begin communications nor wanting to interrupt her work, he had instead chosen to quietly follow her around the tower to better learn her routine and observe her situational reactions. Several days in and now confident of his understanding regarding her cleaning methods, he decided to make a move and left his hiding spot behind a small potted plant in favour of making his way to the upper floors.

From what he had seen, the Cassandra would clean rooms in a set, ordered, pattern to maximise efficiency. Wanting to help as best he could, Sigil would need to do the same in reverse order. Grabbing supplies as he went, Sigil started going through the rooms and tidying them as he had seen the other android do before him. With the frequency of her cleaning and the current absence of most team members though, the task proved to be relatively straightforward and simple beyond expectation with each room’s cleaning being completed well ahead of schedule. Thinking of what to do with his extra time, Sigil decided to take his cleaning to the next level to make a better impression. Carefully disassembling furniture and electronics to better brush and clean their interiors before wrapping them up in more space efficient packages before finally neatly stacking them in specially organised piles.
‘Perfection!’ Sigil thought to itself as it surveyed its work. The rooms were now completely free of dust and as a bonus, wouldn’t require cleaning for an extended period of time while having a net 83% more space made available for additional team members.

Now there was only one thing left to do. Remembering how the Cass would operate after cleaning, Sigil went to the kitchen ready to prepare ‘the perfect cup of tea’ as documented through several different web searches. Once ready, the robot snatched a dark coloured apron from next to the stove, tied it around its frame, then moved to the room it predicted the Cass would next visit, tea still in hand.
After what felt like a short eternity of waiting later, the door began to open.

“Greetings! The remaining rooms have been successfully sterilized with local dust populations falling bellow 4 percent. Would you like a cup of heated water and leaf essence?”

[Finland SSR]

Casimir Herman October 2nd

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

October 2nd

---

"In the vault, then..." And they had already been alarmed. Surely, they were already figuring out a way to escape - if they haven't ran off to the street already after having rigged the entire building with explosives. And Casimir had to go reinforce Roy, so...

Mierda.

"Faster, faster, faster!" Renata yelled and lunged towards the corridors as fast as her feet would allow. Thankfully, she did not need to bother with figuring out a path to the vaults, as the walls of the corridors were absolutely plastered with directions towards each and every minute thing located in the building - her concerns were quickly set adrift towards something else, anyway.

Everything froze. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, and all the tables, chairs and office plants scattered across the corridor, cloaked in a coat of ice, while a powerful and sharp gust of freezing air rolled across. Renata stopped running crossed her arms to stay upright in the face of the blizzard, her body instinctively releasing a thin aura of infrared radiation to keep her body from getting coated in frost. As soon as the initial icy burst subsided, her eyes caught the perpetrator on the other side of the hallway - yelling, grunting and wildly swinging his arms to summon more ice. It wasn't hard to guess that he was one of the robbers, but where are the other five, then?

"I didn't know these guys had supers among them, eit-"

Renata's thought had to cut short and the girl yanked herself back, narrowly avoiding a set of icy spikes rising from beneath her. He's noticed them too, clearly. More and more spikes shot out from the frost, aiming to strike the heroine, to no avail - they had little chances against laser slashes, the concentrated heat of Renata's attacks melting them pretty much on the spot.

"But it means I can't really advance towards him, either..." she muttered under her breath. Not without having to go through a barrage of spikes and being too close to predict them, that is.

Wyatt could take them. If his species is warm-blooded. Which I...

...never got the chance to ask.

---

Mika, pre time skip

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

September

---

Mika described her home city with sarcasm, off-handedly mentioning the Young Bloods and equating them with the "suckers" and "losers" inhabiting their home. So they're still active, then... Jan assumed as much, it hasn't been that long since his death, after all, but it was still nice to hear. At least, it meant that the Scarab didn't find a way to escape his final gambit and could no longer threaten the team again.

Before Jan could mention that, however, the girl suddenly yelled at him, explaining that dropping her in San Diego was the worst possible thing to do - Floyd was still there, after all, and he was surely going to hunt after her again. For one reason or another, he chose to kidnap her and drag her to Hell, and Mika was convinced that he was going to do that again.

Jan shifted his eyes to the side, his mind lost in thought while the girl was dictating her address. He knew little about what actually happened between them, not did he have any clue what Mika had which made bringing her to Hell necessary, but with the limited information he had, he could only agree. She needed someone to protect her, and someone to put a stop to the actions of that agent of Beelzebub. And as much as his heart wanted to take that burden... a Virgil such as himself was strictly regulated. His task was not to fight off demon agents in the mortal realm, even showing up on Earth was definitely going to earn scolding from the Choir of Virgils.

Not to mention that he couldn't take on Floyd by himself, either... the man was clearly toying with him and yet he and Mika together could hardly scratch him.

"R-right..." Jan finally responded after Mika finished dictating her address, and carefully picked the girl up in her arms. Now, how much of San Diego's street layout remains in his memory?..

"Maybe the Young Bloods could help protect you?.." he offered as he took off. "Actually... how have they been doing so far?"

[Aidannadia]

October 2nd

"Al, can we head to lunch? I heard there's some fresh meat." Aleta finished her cigarette on the bathroom wall, and sighed.

"Fine, Madison." Madison was a thin waifly girl, but don't let her fool you. She was domineering; from a family full of boys, she knew how to fight and claw her way to the top. Aleta respected her, even if she didn't quite like her. "I heard something similar. A Chinese pop-star of all people." Aleta checked herself in the mirror one last time, unsurprised at her perfect complexion and began to strut her way to the cafeteria.

"Brittney, come on!" Brittney was an absolute bombshell; tall with legs for days and was known for her bright colored wardrobe, but she could drink almost anyone under the table, and was known as a party girl in just about every school in San Diego.

And then there was Aleta. The thin, toned tough girl with perfect features and a bad attitude. She had a tongue that cut like steel. She was the only person that could outdrink Brittney, and pass a test with a solid C the next day. She was also the hero Paragon, which had skyrocketed both her popularity here at school and as a hero. The name brought with it recognition. The story inspired folks here and elsewhere. The pretty face didn't hurt either. She now presented a genuine threat PR-wise to the YBs.

There was, in fact, one person missing from there little squad; Renata Martinez, usually hot on Aleta's heels, was absent today. She was short but fiery and fiercely loyal to her friend. Aleta had her own suspicions about where her friend may be, but she kept them to herself for once. There were a select few that you just didn't gossip about.

"Hey there. I heard you were new and wanted to formally welcome you to Thomsen High. I'm Aleta, this is Madison C and this is Brittney with an E." Aleta spoke as she approached Shi's table, ignoring the others sitting there talking. "We were just heading to our table if you needed somewhere to sit."

[Bentus]

Weatherman
San Diego

---

Sitting in the dimly lit room, bathed in shadows, Weatherman’s mouth was twisted upwards into a sly grin as his plans finally all came together. The few lights seemed to be perfectly set to obscure the man’s face, with the harsh contrast almost allowing him to disappear into the dark recesses of the space - even though he sat prominently as the room’s centre of attention. Weatherman sat calmly, the final seconds before he could reap the fruits of his labor and patience allowing him to even better savour the coming triumph. With this, he’ll show those know-it-alls that dismissed his return to the rear pages of the tabloids. He’ll show them the errors of their hubris and remind the entire world of the greatest villain in history: him!

As the final seconds ticked down on the screen, Weatherman brushed back his hair one final time to make sure that it was flawlessly pristine, and then it was showtime. The lights steadily increased in brightness until the whole room was coated in a clear, engineered glow that best set the scene for the suite of cameras. Just across from the patiently waiting villain, the reporter took one final breath before she heard the news desk pass the baton on to her.


“Thanks, James.” She stated professionally, silently relishing the moment as she was about to show Jim fucking Sullivan what a real scoop was. “Some call him a menace, others cue up for days to get their hands on a signed autograph. Many have called him one of the defining villains of our time, while a few decry him as an example of the cult of personality that has contributed to the rise of celebrity superhumans. Whatever might be your own personal opinions on Weatherman, we are here tonight to get beneath the mask and learn more about the man. Riding high off of his most recent daring escape from the authorities, Weatherman agreed to answer our questions in an undisclosed environment: live, uncensored, and unfiltered.”

Turning her attention away from the camera and towards her guest, the reporter continued. At the same time, the feed shifted to a different perspective, and Weatherman’s wide grin was finally broadcast to all the viewers at home who had tuned in for the interview. “Weatherman, let’s get straight to it. You’ve been accused of a seemingly endless list of crimes: robbery, trespassing, assault, attempted murder and destruction of property to name a few. You’ve also repeatedly gone on record stating that you plead guilty to all of these charges, and yet heroes and police alike seem to be unable to keep you in prison. Why is that?”

Leaning back in his chair, Weatherman chuckled at the question. “The trick is to always stay one step ahead of the competition. Experience is the best teacher, they say, and I’m afraid that many of the up-and-coming heroes these days just haven’t put in the hours to play in the big leagues quite yet.” Glancing down at his hands with a smug expression, the villain continued. “Then there’s also a certain gravitas that one needs in their persona to really succeed in this business. A gravitas which I have been repeatedly informed by my fans that I wield in droves.”

“You’ve often referred to your fans in earlier interviews.” The reporter continued, raising an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that strike you as a strange concept? A Supervillain with fans?”

“Not at all!” Weatherman countered. “At the end of the day, I like to consider myself to be an entertainer. I have the greatest job in the world: going out there and using the world as my stage, while giving the audience around me the best seats in the house. Superheroes and supervillains are naturally exciting and invigorating, and I take the responsibility of serving as an inspiration very seriously, too.”

The reporter nodded along, with Weatherman’s self-aggrandizing response being about what she’d expected. “You have definitely already had a history with some of the NASL’s newest members. Plenty of heroes have weighed in with their thoughts on the controversial Young Bloods, but I’m curious about your thoughts on them as a villain.”

“Well, I like to think that I helped discover their talent back in San Diego. In fact, I can remember my first encounter with them like it yesterday. I do believe it was Kiris who came up to me and asked for an autograph, revealing how I had actually been a role model for her as she’d decided to pursue her career as a hero.”

Immediately, the reporter blinked in surprise, nodding along eagerly as she smelled ratings gold. So far, the interview was going exactly as Weatherman had planned. He was relishing the limelight, and he leaned into his answers with a practiced ease. Airing right in the midst of the NASL tournament’s semi-final, there was no way that news anchors and editors would be able to resist the juicy contrast. It would also make it clear to the heroes that they were fools for ignoring his return for so long. Weatherman felt like he was on top of the clouds, entirely in his element.

“It also seems like you’re not just popular among up-and-coming heroes, either.” The reporter continued, a sly grin spreading across her features as she changed her line of questioning. “In fact there has been plenty of gossip and rumours surrounding the confirmed partnership between you and Marionette. Has it been hard learning how to share the limelight with villain who’s infamy and renown is rapidly growing?”

For a moment, Weatherman blinked in surprise at the question, but he quickly regained his composure. “Well, Robin. I wouldn’t exactly go as far as to say that we were partners. See, I’m the supervillain while Marionette is simply my sidekick. She looks to me for advice and guidance, but I can assure my loyal fans that they can look forward to plenty more of my customary crimes and exploits.”

“Fine, so she’s your sidekick. I can’t say that I’m aware of any other villain-sidekick pairing - don’t you think it’s a rather unusual arrangement?” Flipping through her notes, the reporter hardly gave Weatherman even a moment to find his tongue tied before she pressed on with her questions. “And even though you claim that you retain complete control over your activities, it does seem like the online community has been more closely following Marionette’s than your own. In fact I have a quote from one commenter here who calls your work “old-fashioned” and “dull”, whereas she’s “refreshing” and “exciting”.”

Shifting uneasily, Weatherman replied defensively as his gaze narrowed at the reporter. “I try not to get pulled along by fads - and I hardly need to change my style in order to stay relevant!” The villain shot the woman an angry glare. “But I don’t think that it’s right for me to comment on my sidekick while she’s not here. Maybe there are other questions you’d be interested in asking me? I actually have a few never-before-told stories of my escape from California’s most secure prison, when -”

“Yes, that prison break was well publicised at the time, actually.” The reporter quickly interrupted, cutting Weatherman off. “With many commentators saying that it looked like Marionette was the instigator with the same villain that accompanied her at the Hilton. I must say, you didn’t make much of an appearance in either of those crimes - which doesn’t strike me as your style at all. Were you involved in the planning, or were you just fortunate enough to be rescued by your sidekick?”

Immediately, Weatherman’s jaw dropped to the floor. The woman spoke quickly, not giving him a chance to cut in or interrupt until she’d delivered her harsh accusation. Sitting there, with the cameras fixated on his features, the villain found himself trapped like a deer in headlights. Where were these questions coming from? Didn’t they want to hear about all the exciting things he’d done? “Well...no, but the prison break itself was hardly anything special.”

As Weatherman replied, the reporter was only half listening. Instead, she raised one of her hands to her earpiece as her eyes widened. “Maybe not, but I am getting live information from the studio that Marionette has actually been spotted in New York - at the NASL tournament.”

“SHE’S WHAT?!”

The live feed from the interview cut away to shaky video footage showing Dark Star looming high above the stadium, before slowly zooming in on a separate fight that was developing within the stands. Sounding slightly uncertain as she watched the images, the reporter’s voice nevertheless continued. “I might be mistaken, but doesn’t it look like she’s working with the Young Bloods against the League? Are we seeing a young superhuman team-up happening right before our eyes?” Turning back to her guest, the reporter felt her pulse quicken at the thought of the ratings she was about to get from this. “Weatherman, do you have anything to say about your partner’s appearance alongside heroes?”

For a few seconds, the villain remained silent. Watching the fight play out on the screen before him, he didn’t seem to register the question at first. But then, he scowled irritably at the reporter. Pushing himself suddenly to his feet, he pulled the mike from his shirt as he stormed out of the room. “This interview is over.”

[Absolon-7]

Jerome Blitzer and the Stranger in a Strange Land, October 2nd
The noon sun was generously shining down on San Diego while a certain porcelain fox-masked individual was climbing into an abandoned office building of the now defunct Meier Industries. He knew it was some German tech firm that had gone under and Jerome was just betting there was some good loot left behind or at least information he could sell. His informant said the departure was quite sudden so they were bound to have missed something. That was at least what Jerome was telling himself as the past month and a half he had been laying low during the whole Warwolf occupation and beyond. Maybe he could contact some of the cities gangs but last he heard that Russian mob branch was near extinct from the Outriders. Although they themselves seemed to have been wiped out a few weeks ago themselves.

"Hah, would've loved seeing that from a VIP seat," muttered Jerome to himself as he sneaked through the dark hallways.

He spotted one open door and took a step inside to see a ransacked server room with barely anything worth looting. Except for some graffiti on the wall saying "Littlefinger was here'. He rolled his eyes and decided to move upstairs in case whoever managed the place had some juicy secrets in their office. There was no light save for the harsh rays from the outside invading the condemned building and every step had a certain echo to it. Eventually he found what he was looking for: a big fancy door with the hotshot owner's name. It was surprisingly locked but just one grasp on the door knob. The unpleasant sound of styrofoam ripping filled the hallway as he ripped the doorknob away before kicking in the rest of it.

"Score," prematurely said Jerome.

To his disappointment it seemed the company owner was smart enough to move his own assets as the room was as empty as it could be. He held in a yell as his foot kicked the wall next to him but yelp of pain escaped his mouth like a coyote. He stood still and turned towards the door in case anyone was there but no sound could be heard. He eventually made his way to what used to a kitchen and he sat down on a chair that had been left behind. His prospects where looking grim. He couldn't continue mooching off his friend William's couch because he was certain the bastard would kick him out. He needed a big score. Something worthy of the Silver Fox name.

"Hello there lost one," spoke an almost disembodied voice from behind Silver Fox.

"Holy shit!," yelled Jerome as he fell out of the reclined chair. He scrambled up to lean against a wall, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm known by many things dear one. Almost as many things as happiness is known by," responded an ominous figure wrapped in bandages from head to toe and a oily symbol on his face.

"Okay.....freakshow...so should I be happy seeing you or preparing to square up?" tentatively asked Jerome as he grabbed the legs of the chair he was sitting on and raised it up like a bat.

"I see you'll need persuasion to hear me out, lost one," coldly said the bandaged man as wraps of cloth started to snake around him. The bands shot out at a high speed and wrapped around Jerome's legs sweeping him up. The chair was dropped as Jerome hanged like a gutted fish with two more strands of bandages snaking their way around to his neck strangling him. They tightened their grip before curling up and smacking Jerome against the floor. They began to move indicating a repeat of the action but Jerome grabbed onto the ones on his neck and they came away as easily as they morphed to styrofoam. Jerome landed on his feet and smashed his hands against the floor concentrating all his will in the floor below them. The floor now quickly morphing to styrofoam proved to fragile to hold their weight and it collapsed in on itself. Both men fell down with it but bandages moved below the stranger in time to make a cushion while Jerome fell flat on his back.

"Can we talk now?" said the man with his voice seemingly not actually coming from the man Jerome was fighting but rather the air around them.

"Ugh...fine..what do you want?" groaned Jerome rubbing his neck as he barely sat on his but.

"A partnership. I assume you know the hero known as Kabuto?" said the bandaged man clapping his hands together, "Quite a figure that one. Have you seen footage of him during the NASL attack? Quite popular he's getting as one of the few heroes standing in the stadium."

"That blowhard? The hell you think you're doing fan girling over him? Self righteous prick practically ruined my master thief gig a year ago," said Jerome his voice trembling with anger.

"My dear lost one. I'm proposing a partnership. I myself was slighted by him some weeks back and was quite seriously injured. I need someone whose dueled with him several times. Plus I need your thieving skills. I have a job for you. A very well paying one if you pull it off," said the bandaged man.

"Now we're talking!" eagerly cheered Jerome jumping to get to his feet, "So what do I call you anyway bossman?"

"My dear," said the bandaged man as he moved his hands to his pockets in an uncannily smooth manner, "Call me. Apotheosis."

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
San Diego

---

Opening her locker, Yoshiro frowned at the sight that greeted her. The rising seniors had all been allowed to keep their personal spaces from the previous year, and it felt uncanny to see the meticulously arranged piles of notebooks, study notes, and timetables that she’d prepared before the Summer. It was like opening a time capsule, the hand-written post-it notes reminding her of club meetings and homework deadlines seemed almost foreign. For a moment, Yoshiro found herself simply standing in the corridor, her mind drifting off to before the crazy whirlwind that her life had become. Her gaze fell upon a picture of her and her friends tat she’d taped carefully to the inside. It was from a time they’d all gone to Disney World, when she’d thought their group would be inseparable. Now, Yoshiro couldn’t even remember the last time she’d given them a call. Looking at the smiling, wide-eyed image of her younger self as she embraced her friends, Yoshiro wasn’t even too sure if the girl in the photo would recognize her anymore.

Suddenly, the bell for the next period tore through the halls of Thomsen High. Blinking as she was pulled back to the present, Yoshiro rolled her eyes as she realized how long she’d just been standing there like a stick in the mud. “Sheesh, get over yourself.” She muttered to herself, quickly grabbing her textbooks before she somehow managed to become late on the first day. Cradling the books in her arms, Yoshiro had just closed her locker when she suddenly felt a chill creep through her body. Freezing, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she shivered silently.

The constant background din of gossiping students on their way to class, of laughing friends and countless teenage footsteps, faded away as Yoshiro felt the pace of her heart begin to quicken. She felt like there were eyes boring into the back of her skull, her skin crawling uncomfortably at the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Clutching her books, she immediately became on her guard as she slowly turned to scan the corridor around her. Panning her gaze between the shifting throng of students, the world slowed around Yoshiro as she an uneasy fear began to set into her chest. She looked around for anything suspicious, her mind racing as she immediately started to fear the worst.

It was common knowledge that members of the Young Bloods attended the school, but what villain would be bold enough to attack in the middle of the day? An uneasy feeling settled into Yoshiro’s stomach at the thought. After what had happened during the semi-finals, would it have really been that far-fetched for the League to attack them here? But Yoshiro’s identity was secret, nobody should’ve known that she was Psyche! Noticing a group of figures in hoodies huddled around some of the lockers at the far side of the room, Yoshiro felt her pulse skip a beat. She couldn’t make out any faces, but she swore one of them had quickly turned away when they’d noticed her looking in their direction. Closing her fist, Yoshiro took a cautious step backwards when she suddenly felt a hand plant itself on her shoulder.

“This is a surprise!”

The happy, playful voice couldn’t have caught Yoshiro at a worse moment, and the telepath pretty much jumped out of her skin at the unexpected contact. Letting out a scream, she whipped herself around and brought up her fists to ward off her attacker – only to be greeted by Ash responding with a terrified scream of her own at Yoshiro’s reaction to her greeting.

Frightened by her friend’s reaction, the mutant hopped backwards as her wings fluttered in surprise. The sudden commotion had caused a brief lull in conversations up and down the corridor as eyes turned to see what had caused the two girls to suddenly start screaming at each other.

Looking over her fellow teammate, Yoshiro allowed her shoulders to slump as she let out a relieved sigh. “Ash, what was that?! You nearly scared me half to death!” She chided as the mutant seemed to regain her own calm.

“I am very sorry! I was trying to surprise you.” Ash offered an apologetic grin. “I think that I may need to practice some more in the mirror, yes?”

Shaking her head at the girl’s antics, Yoshiro couldn’t help but smile at how ridiculous she felt. “No, Ash – you definitely managed to surprise…me…”

Yoshiro’s voice trailed off as she felt a stone sink in her chest. Turning around, she realized that a few pairs of eyes were glancing towards the pair of girls as they talked. Here she was, Yoshiro Nakama – ordinary, average, normal Yoshiro – blatantly talking to a new Young Blood like they knew each other. Immediately, Yoshiro’s eyes shot open as she began to take a few steps away from the mutant.

“I – I need to go to class. It was nice to meet you Ashen Moth, just please don’t sneak up on me like that again.” Yoshiro forced herself to sound nervous. This was Ashen Moth afterall, the heroine that had bit off a kid’s finger during the riots and who wouldn’t have looked out of place in some alien horror film. A puzzled expression flashed across the mutant’s face, but Yoshiro established a mental link before the girl had a chance to respond.

Ash, you can’t talk to me here! She pleaded. People don’t know I’m a Young Blood, and I need to keep it that way.

Realising her mistake, Ash’s eyes shot open as she also began to backpedal away from Yoshiro. Oh no, you are very right! I am making you look very suspicious right now!

Look, it’s fine. Just…just stay away from me while we’re at school, okay? This will blow over soon enough. I’ll see you back at the Tower. And with that, Yoshiro turned to walk briskly towards her next class, hunching over to try and avoid any more people recognizing her. For her own part, Ash couldn’t help but feel horribly guilty. She’d just been so excited to see someone that she recognized that she hadn’t thought things through. Trying to salvage the situation, the mutant offered the retreating girl a half-hearted wave.

“Y-yes. Class is very important, so you should most definitely go to yours…person who I have never met!”

Nearly at the end of the corridor when Ash’s words reached her, it was all that Yoshiro could do to stifle an agonized groan. I’m doomed…

---

The Nefarious Marionette!
San Diego

---

Fidgeting nervously with her hands, Lisette risked a quick glance up to Weatherman only to turn away as the man continued to glower at her in frustration. They’d been sitting across from each other like that for quite some time, with the monotonous ticking of a clock breaking the silence. As if keeping count of each passing second, Weatherman’s finger tapped irritably on his arm. His usual boisterous and jovial personality had been replaced by a disappointed scowl as he stood before his sidekick, with the pair having yet to exchange a word since she got back from the East Coast. During the whole trip, Lisette had played through this scene over and over in her head. She’d rehearsed all the different apologies she would make, and she’d prepared a long list of excuses and explanations that she’d hoped would placate the fuming villain. But when she’d been met by Weatherman’s scowl, she’d found her throat empty, leaving him to wait impatiently for her to explain herself.

Clearing his throat, it was Weatherman who eventually broke the silence. “Well?” He prodded accusingly, putting Lisette on the spot. Almost immediately, the dam that had been holding back the girl’s tongue broke.

“It’s not my fault!” She exclaimed, the hint of a whine in her voice. “I know that I was supposed to keep a low profile, and that you told me that I could go to the tournament only if I stayed out of trouble, but how was I supposed to know that some stupid party-poopers were going to burst in like that? They interrupted everything right in the middle of the match!”
Weatherman’s scowl didn’t show any signs of abating, and Lisette swallowed nervously as she realized that her excuses would have to be better than that.

“I was leaving, I swear. But then I saw the fight happening in the field, and I realized that the idiots were actually trying to kill the Young Bloods. I couldn’t just stand by and let them die, not in such a lame way, anyway.” Lisette pleaded, deciding to try to pull out all the stops as she tried to force some beads of water to pool just at the tips of her eyelids. “I’m they’re arch=nemesis, so I have a responsibility to make sure nothing bad happens to them, right? So..I feel like by that logic I was totally justified in stepping in and helping. Especially since I was in there for only just a couple minutes.”

“Even so, I cannot even begin to express my disappointment in you, Marionette.” Weatherman scolded, jabbing a finger towards the younger girl. “As your teacher, I gave you strict and explicit instructions. And what do you do? You completely disregard them at the slightest provocation! The stadium was swarming with heroes, there was absolutely no need for you to get involved.” Even as he lashed out, Weatherman knew that the girl had a point – but he knew that her actions saving the Great Bugboy was hardly the main reason that he was upset. This was supposed to be his moment to take back the limelight that he rightfully deserved, but instead his interview had been buried under story after story on the stupid League and the god—forsaken tournament. After everything he’d done for the young villainess, this was how she chose to repay him? By one-upping him at every turn? From the papers where everything seemed to be about Marionette-this or Marionette-that, to the reporter that constantly asked him about her instead of the far more important subject: him!

This was the last straw. Weatherman had been excited at the chance to have a sidekick, but a sidekick was supposed to be exactly that: a sideshow that made him look good. Marionette had betrayed him in that regard, and for that he was going to make her pay. But for now, he had to swallow his pride and be patient – at least until he could lay out her just desserts.

Forcing himself to offer the girl a weak smile, Weatherman let out a sigh. “I suppose it can’t be helped. But let this be a lesson to you that you have plenty left to learn. You’re just lucky that you have me to help clean up this mess that you caused, understood?”

Lighting up at the prospect of forgiveness, Lisette’s head immediately started nodding up and down. “Oh yes, definitely! I won’t let you down again, Weatherman. I promise.”

Weatherman’s lips curled up into a smile. “Perfect. If that is all, then I need to talk to you about my plan: with the attack on the NASL, I’ve decided that we need to accelerate the schedule. We’re going to move in two days.”

Marionette’s mouth turned into a perfect ‘o’ of surprise at Weatherman’s words, but an excited grin quickly grew to dominate her features. Squealing at the news, Lisette couldn’t stop herself from rambling eagerly. “Wait, are you serious? That’s awesome! OhmygodI’vebeenlookingsototallyforwardto –“

Stopping herself as she saw Weatherman’s expression. Sheepishly clearing her throat, the girl tried to reign herself in. “I mean: what do you need me to do, boss?”

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Going Back to school had been a mistake. Wendy had thought that maybe with the attack on New York and the praise she’d received for her actions during it, the news of her real identity might have been pushed to the back burner. That couldn’t have been farther from the case.

The teachers had been nice enough about it, likely on orders from Mr. Thompson. Only her homeroom teacher had slipped up and started saying Issabelle, and more than a few had given her sympathetic looks as the chastised bullies going after her. The students though… teenagers were as malicious as ever.

As such Wendy wasn’t surprised when someone smacked her books out of her hand as she made her way to lunch. What did surprise her though, was the knee to the head that caught her as she dropped down to pick them up. “What where going, thief!” She heard someone shout as her head cleared. Wiping off a thin trickle of blood running along her bottom lip, Wendy picked her things up and continued on to the cafeteria.

Grabbing her food, Wendy began looking for a place to sit before finding Shi and the rest of her squamates along with a couple other students she didn’t recognize. “Room for one more?” She asked, walking over to them.

[North America Inc]

Aleta

Thomsen Courtyard

As Aleta and her friends walked towards the cafeteria, a group of others walked passed them. Each of them wore distinctly different outfits, yet each were in the same state: disrepair. Liane clung to the arms to the arms of Devon, while Adam and Jessica close by. Devon held his death grip around backpack, staying vigilant as they made their way to the bleachers. Adam with his hands nestled into his over-sized hoodie reiterated, "Hey I just wanted to say thanks again man. Us three were just getting a little...well you know..." His sullen eyes betrayed more than a hint of desperation, "Just let those LSG homies know we good."

"Right..." Devon said as they passed the gate towards the football field. With no one insight, he zipped open his bag to pull out a pencil box. "This is from my own personal stache." He looked up directly towards Lian, "So I want all of you to keep quite on it. This..." He motioned his arm in a circle, "Is between us. No one else. Keep your big ass mouth closed."

"Come on Devon don't be like that. We all know how to keep our mouth shut." Liane stuttered to say as as she wiped her nose.

"And because I'm being so generous." The Pencil Box opened up to reveal a vial and multiple syringes. "It's going to be double today."

"Just put it on our tabs. We only got a hundred on us now." Jennifer said as she grabbed a syringe from the box. Unloading her backpack, she pulled out her own zip-lock full of a wide assortment of... medicinal products. As she slid off her shoe and socks, Adam handed their supplier multiple bills of different denominations.

As Devon sat there running through the amount, he looked down to see Jennifer putting away a utensil with her syringe already partly full. "What the hell are all you doing? Why are you mixing?"

Liane quickly chimed in, "Well your product by itself is great. It really gets the blood pumping." Adam wrapped his belt around her frail arm. "But we did some testing. If we topped it off with a little something, it can really...really hit that spot. When's your heart beating at like a thousand beats an hour. You can feel just about anything."

As they handed him their partial filled syringes, Devon added the baby blue secret sauce. The resulting murky blue color swirled in its own distinctive ways. It fascinated him. "So what guys are saying is that if you mix both, you get high but you're still roided up?" He motioned towards Jennifer, "Hmmm....Pass me some."

---

Thomsen Cafeteria

'We all are, I just transferred from..." Olivia stood there like an idiot as Jason turned his attention away from her to the approaching Mark. "Eeeey Marky Mark!" Jason screeched in the most annoying way possible. "Yea it's not like I was just answering you or anything..." Olivia muttered under her breath. As Jason introduced everyone, Olivia quickly waved her hand before slipping back to her default position.

"Uhh, thank you! It's my natural color, I don't do much to it, honestly." Ava stood there awkwardly as the overbearing April made her presence known. Trying to change the subject, Ava asked her, "So, um, tell me about yourself, April?"

"Oh there's so much to tell." April nodded in agreement...to herself. Having realized that she left her phone at the table, in less than a millisecond she grabbed it and held it in front of Ava's face. "You know if you want, I can show you a few products I like to use!" Taking Ava's blank expression as a yes, April kept on going. "Well are we talking about hair or just our routine in general? Oh do you you do an Am/Pm routine. My doctor says it's so important to do both but I get it if you don't have the time." Getting close to Ava's ear, "Being a superhero and all..." Pulling back, she returned to her usual hyper self, "So for AM I like to use Vitamin C serum with hyaluronic acid. I can't help but notice your skin looks a little exposed. Do you use sunscreen? I personally prefer SPF 40 because anything above that makes me break out. But in reality SPF 50 is the way to go. Now for my PM routine I like to use a hydrating cleanser and CeraVe..."

"April."

Already recognizing that voice and tone, April slowly turned to face Shi, "Yes?"

"Slow down." Tilting her head toward Ava, "She get's like that."

"Oh right." April slid her arms behind her back, looking down toward the ground. "Sorry Ava I just get excited when I meet more of my friend's friends."

"Hey there..." Shi heard as she looked behind to see three girls just standing there; expecting her attention presumably. "I heard you were new and wanted to formally welcome you to Thomsen High. I'm Aleta, this is Madison C and this is Brittney with an E."

"Tài hǎo le." Olivia said with a deadpan expression, "I didn't realize the celebrity was going to be so popular."

Wait. Where's the C in Madison?" This predicament brought April deep into thought.

Shi arched her eyebrow, she couldn't help but study them. She instantly recognized Aleta as Paragon, a hero whose popularity and reach ended at this table. Madison was no one special while Brittney had a face perfect for day-time reality television. Her first instinct was to mock them senseless; after all, today has been a terribly boring. But with everyone here...she needed to keep herself tempered. Shifting herself on top of the table to face them, "Thank you! Thank you. American high school is so different from anything I've ever had to deal with. And I'd like too but..." Shi gestured toward her friends and then everyone else, "I'm already sitting here."

"Room for one more?" Wendy materialized behind Aleta's friends, holding a tray of food in her hands.

Olivia was more than done with all this company, and really didn't want to have to deal with this. "Ugh, Wǒmén zǒu bā..." Before letting her continue and without saying a word, Shi gave the same expression towards Olivia that she had done for April. Olivia feigned confrontation and stared back at her. But before long, she looked away. Staring up at the ceiling, "Zhī dào le."

"Good." Returning to Aleta, "Well each of you are more than free to stay."

[Aidannadia]

"Thank you! Thank you. American high school is so different from anything I've ever had to deal with. And I'd like too but..." Shi gestured toward her friends and then everyone else, "I'm already sitting here."

...

"Good." Returning to Aleta, "Well each of you are more than free to stay."

At the offer to sit down with them, Madison giggled. "We're good." Brittney made a small nod with pursed lips, almost posing for an invisible camera and the pair walked off.

Aleta, however, was more... practical. Sure, some of the people at this table were absolute dweebs and losers, but she saw potential in Shi. If there was one thing this teenage girl understood, it was how to maintain an image, and when the time came, how to destroy one. Madison and Brittney were plenty popular school-wide; however, Shi and herself were in a different league all their own. Her old friends simply couldn't compete. Plus, if there ever a time to destroy Shi's reputation to save her own, she'd hardly get any fodder to throw the pop-star's way if she never talked to her. Keep your friends close...

"Actually, I'll catch up, girls." She smiled and sat down with her tray. Unlike many of her stature, she actually partook in the cafeteria food' her powers kept her hungry most all the time and the minimal amount of synthetics in the food would hold her over until she could grab a smoke.

As she chowed down, she eyed those still at the table. Aleta believed that one's name was Jason. He was unimportant, though admittedly he had kind of a punk kid vibe that she found attractive. Not that she'd cross that invisible line of what was appropriate for one with her social status.

Next was Mark; he was cute, but seemed a little dull. She heard a rumor that the reason to bulked up after all these years was because he was in Juvie for part of the time, but he didn't strike her as the type. Too many soft-edges.

Next was another new kid; she couldn't place her name, but she had lovely dark hair and nice features. She looked vaguely familiar, but Aleta couldn't quite place the name. Oh well.

Then there was Shi and her crew. Aleta gave the crew a slight sizing up but quickly moved on to the main course. Wendy Felix. She was in Aleta's class, and she'd been the target of plenty of pranks over the school day since her secret was outed over the summer. Truth be told, Aleta had little feelings about the information; if anything it was far more interesting that she was a Young Blood than whatever her parents had made her do when she was too young to say no. What she needed to do was to go out and do an interview in the press; they were like a pack of feral mutts and sometimes you needed to throw them a bone, but that was job for her PR director, and Aleta wasn't in the business of handing out free advice.

"Hey, Felix. McCrary's a bitch huh? Stuck us with homework the first day? No thank you. I'll pass." Aleta rolled her eyes. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Renata is by the way? I heard she was sick. I'll have to pay her a visit after school." She hinted vaguely about her plans this afternoon, laughing internally at the irony of the situation.

The teen hero turned to Shi. "Anyway, how have your classes been so far?"

[The Republic of Atria]

Mark

Shi, Shi's "friends" and Aleta

Wendy

Jason blinked a few times as Mark mentioned he beat the hell out of a guy who tormented him back before he got his powers. "Alright. Well, I can't say I'm opposed to revenge as a concept. There are certainly myriad jackasses in need of a broken bone or two to ensure the removal of head from ass, but uh... I'm not really sure we, and by we I mean you, should be cultivating that kind of attention. Something something revenge is not the Jedi way. Like, if those d-bags came after you again, by all means, but uh. I very personally do not think that you should be going after them."

Next was that someone else he kind of recognized was the blonde chick that sat down. He couldn't quite put his finger on it until she spoke. It was the chick from their fight with the Cabal! He'd forgotten her name, but he did remember that he accidentally hit her with a manhole cover. The good news was that his ability to remain hidden and completely unremarkable in anyway had succeeded, since she didn't even seem to throw more than a partial glance his way. "Wow. This table got crowded pretty quick." He mused as Wendy came and sat down with them. "Always room for one more. Unless the table doesn't have room. Then you gotta pull up a chair but even then there's limited space for that..."

He trailed off as he looked through the glass to the outside of the Cafeteria itself. He spotted four people moving with purpose. Not the "I can't wait to eat" kind of purpose. No, this was slightly slower, like they were building up to something. A prank maybe? Who did pranks on the first day of school? He tore off a tiny piece of bread and threw it at Shi's forehead. Enough to get her attention. He then motioned his eyes to the four students who looked to be preparing something in hopes that she would also take notice.

Bael

With the two men in the lobby successfully taken down, Bael uprooted more of the floor and used it to restrain them in the event they woke up while they were still fighting. While he was doing that, Stella had already started bolting towards the vault. "Wait- Wait for two seconds!" He grumbled and faced the hostages. "Alright, get out of here, quick!" He said and pointed towards the doors. "Run and don't stop until you're behind the police. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're covered." He said and walked out the front door, The magical glowing covering his armors as he tore apart the sidewalk to make a tunnel that let out near the police barricade.

The hostages all bolted and Wyatt directed them. "Single file, no pushing." He said, only going back inside once the last of the hostages was as safe as they could be at this moment. "Alright Renata... I'm coming!" He said and ran towards the vault. Immediately he noticed the chilled air as soon as he even started down the hallway. There was the tiniest moment of hesitation before he continued. Renata saved his scales when it counted, so he refused to not follow the same example. He rounded the corner and it looked as if there was a blizzard localized entirely within the bank.

He heard that they did have at least one super in their ranks, but the number seemed to be much higher than that. He spotted Renata fighting off the ice with her own heat powers. He looked and saw the ice on the floor. Walking wouldn't be hard, the claws on his feet would really help. But he would still be walking on ice and he could already feel the chill starting to seep into his body. He took a deep breath of frustratingly cold air and dashed in, using his powers to rip up more floor and make a barrier in front of himself and Renata.

Already several hunks of ice crashed into it. "I-I HATE the cold." He hissed. "We need to end this q-quick. I've got one maybe t-two minutes before I pass out. I'm going to launch this at h-him, see if you can get a g-good shot. On three. One, two, three!" He shoved his hands forward, the granite barricade shooting straight towards the Ice super. For a brief moment the wind stopped as he jumped out of the way of the attack.