Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Aidannadia]

Bael

It took her a second, but she agreed and gave a brief rundown of her powers: Sticky stuff and "super hard" armor. So she seemed to basically be Jason though with more defensive ability. Which worked out for him. Though hardly a second after she said she was down for joining in on their sparring, she started taunting him.

"Spyro? That's a new one." He replied. "But hey, you asked for it." With that, he began to walk towards her, thought the rocks and boulders that had survived being shot at Andrew, flung straight at her. He needed to gauge just how tough she was before he opted to increase the amount of force he used. Then again, she was new to the team, so maybe a little hazing wouldn't be too bad...

Aleta braced herself for impact, crossing her arms in front of her and taking the full brunt of the rocks being flung at her. Most of them bounced off harmlessly, but a few nearly knocked her over, so she gripped the ground below with her pitch and held her ground.

Brushing her suit off casually, she looked back up at Bael, gave a shrug, and shot a bullet of tar towards his face. She knew from experience that he'd be able to get rid of it easily, if it hit, but it wasn't to blind him for long, just create enough of an opening...

Paragon bolted for Zoe the minute the tar left her fingers, planning to close the distance quickly and immobilize her early in the fight.

[Galnius]

Mikaela Mynd

The short haired girl sighed as the answer she expected was given in a myriad of words. Jan was going to be all over the place it seemed, even though he said he was her guardian angel. Besides, he says he wouldn't be alone.

Mika tried playing it off like it was nothing, however. Sure, there was a slight disappointment, but she was accustomed to that. "Well, I don't know how big the team is, but I'm pretty sure my mother's snoring could ward off hell itself while it raised the dead. Anyway, thanks for chatting. It gets kinda lonely here at times. Though recently it's been, uh, it's been looking up. So thanks for helping with that angel boy."

Leaning back on her chair and leaving the last slices to sit Mika let out another deep sigh. "You know, I was planning on tailing one of the young bloods tonight, but I don't think I'll need to anymore. Between you, some french chick at school, and a direct link to them, I'm not sure it's wholly needed. I'll try and keep you updated on any going ons with them, alright? Just...just come back and visit pretty often."

Turning away from him and to the computer Mika dismissed the virgil, hoping that ending this conversation on her terms would make the end easier. "Now, if you'd excuse me, my team needs me. They're a bunch of noobs, and I need to grind for a raid tonight. When you leave, don't let the window cause you any pane."

[Finland SSR]

Casimir Herman October 2nd

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Renata shivered a little bit when Casimir pointed out that his remarks were only fitting for the conversations he used to have with Red. That sentence alone made her hope she'd never get the unlucky chance to stumble upon the two of them sharing a bottle of beer. Creeps. At least Casimir was fine with helping out by speaking to Red, trying to assure that he will be discreet about the issue. It, of course, left Renata really skeptical, but, well... He's somehow managed to stay in relationship with Viv for an entire year, right? He must have some clue on how to talk to people.

That's when the bug themed hero suddenly asked her - why does she care so much? As in, why is she so vested in making sure Red and Yoshi stayed together? Renata turned back at Casimir, her face... just confused, really.

"...What kind of question is that? They're our teammates, of course I wanna do something to help them." she replied, frowning. "That goes for all of you - I mean, yeah, we quarrel from time to time, but all and all, you're all still the closest thing I have to friends in this city."

Punctuating her thoughts with a brief sigh, the girl continued. "And besides, the average person probably wouldn't, or couldn't, help us out in the same way we do, but that doesn't stop us from throwing ourselves in danger to make sure they're safe. Why's this any different?"

---

Vince

Jan Sorok, Champion of Heaven!

---

Jan blinked a few times, staring blankly at Vince.

"I-I don't know what Doom is, but I'm going to assume it's something similar." he muttered, scratching the back of his head, and listened to the man's questions. He had two main concerns which had to be addressed - how much time would they need to dedicate to this mission, whether it was going to take months or just a few days, and whether they were the only people who will be tagging alongside Jan in the hunt.

"...I don't know what jackasses are, either, but you're not the only ones I asked, no." the Virgil explained and pulled out a slip of paper attached to his belt, which instantly unfolded into an enchanted map of San Diego drawn on parchment. Alongside Jan, Megan and Mikaela scattered across the map, Vince's name materialized on it, written in thick black ink. "The rest of our team is here, you can see where they're located at, maybe get to know them if that's what you're interested in... I should light up a place on this map in red when we need to gather together, so just pay attention every once in a while."

Jan folded his hands behind the back of his head. "I-I don't think it should take a month or anything. An afternoon, maybe a day at most. I mean, unless we get stuck in Hell somehow. That would be pretty bad."

---

Mikaela Mynd

Jan Sorok, Champion of Heaven!

---

Mika's words have considerable new context for the way she acted in their conversation. She wasn't just needlessly annoying and tried to figure out absolutely everything she could about Jan's new task and mission, she just... wanted to have a chat with someone, didn't she? It gets lonely over here according to her.

That's... awful. Jan was no stranger to feeling lonely - if the situation was reversed, he would have certainly tried to keep an angel Mika as close as possible to push that feeling away. Hearing the girl's thanks, he nodded and stood back up on his feet.

"Just call out to the sky and I'll be there if you need me." the Virgil stated, then turned Mika's chair around and pulled her in for a hug. Well. Unless he's in the middle of a mission, or stuck somewhere he can't escape from. Then he probably can't... After a few seconds, Jan moved back, stepped back towards the window, carefully navigating through the littered floor, and waved one last goodbye before departing.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 2nd

---

---

Megan watched curiously as the Virgil pulled a similar trick to the one before, picking up a small feather that then transformed into something else in his hands, a map. And not just a map, either - this was a map of the city, fairly intricately detailed despite the stylistic licenses. And not just a map of the city, either - it was magical and tracked down the locations of certain people. Just like the one in Harry Potter! The girl thought with amusement.

As the angel explained how the map worked and to keep an eye on it every once in a while, the girl nodded along, noticing that he was preparing to leave.

"I guess I'll see you around, Jan. Take care of yourself. Oh, and if you ever feel like you need a haircut, by all means, drop by. Since you're a servant of God and all, I can do it free of charge so you don't have to break your oath of poverty or whatever." The girl stated, smiling at the Virgil. Noticing his lingering unease, she sighed inwardly. "And if it helps at all, I promise not to pull that stunt again, so don't be a stranger, 'kay?"

Going back to the map, she was about to leave the room herself when something suddenly piqued her curiosity.

"Oh, before you go, who is this Mikaela?" Megan inquired. After a moment, her eyes went wide and she gasped in shock. "Oh, she's not your girlfriend, is she? I'm really sorry if that's the case, I promise not to tell her what happened here." She said before pausing for a moment, recalling that the angel mentioned fearing retribution if their little kiss was found out. "Actually... are you even allowed to have a girlfriend at all?" She asked, curious.

[Galnius]

Andrew

When Bael shot a large amount of rocks at Paragon, Jackrabbit sprang into action. Andrew used the aforementioned stones as a platform to launch himself quickly toward the Dra'Quinni.

"Don't tell me you already forgot about me Scales. I'm not that dimissable am I?" Rising into the air at top speed to try and get above Bael, followed by a quick rocket downward.

---

Mika

Mika had just finished logging on to her game when suddenly her chair was swoftly pulled around. She was trying to ignore the virgil's leaving as much as possible, but he seemed adamant that she pay attention. At least, that's what she assumed until she was pulled into a suprise hug.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing you idiot?! I didn't ask for this! Get offa me!" Jan eventually complied, leaving the dark haired girl alone in her room and shell shocked from what had just happened. "Jeez, a bit of personal space.

"Ohhh? Who was that? Does our Dark Queen have a boyfriend?" The coy voice in her headphones reminded her that she was, after all, logged in. Worse yet, her squad was all there. Still, Mika played it off with a bit of improvisation.

"As if. That was just my brother you dweeb."

"Well then, you still have a chance Marshall."

"Please. He has more of a chance winning the lottery four times than even meeting me. Now, are we going to do this raid or is our very talkative dps volunteering to go scout it alone?"

After some whining and waiting for others to log in, Mika finally went to work, though found herself a bit more distracted than usual.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 2nd

---

---

Alexis ate one of her tacos as she listened to Mars tell her about his grandparents. She was happy to hear they were doing okay, and not at all surprised to learn that he'd had to confess to them his involvement with the Young Bloods. I guess I'm not the only one smart enough to figure we have to do that sooner or later. She thought. Hearing her friend turn the question around, she quickly finished her taco before speaking.

"Oh they're fine, they're fine. I actually visited them earlier today since the coach called off today's practice - well, I visited dad, anyway. Mom was at work as always. I... haven't really seen her a lot recently, she didn't take well to me and Ice Cream Princess dating." She said, clearly somewhat downcast over it. However, just like her father earlier, she was quick to bounce back and smile again. "But dad's doing pretty well, he's a lovable goofball like usual, I spent a good while talking to him today." She said. "And the cat still hates me so you know, everything's normal in the Callaghan household."

---

---

After ensuring that they were both ready, Alexis and Viviana sent texts to Angelica and Casimir, respectively, and then waited expectantly for them to arrive. It wasn't long until one of the two took the bait and headed into the lab. As soon as the ding of the elevator sounded, indicating that someone had arrived, Alexis ran up to the lab's door and stood by with her hands clasped behind her back. If it's Casimir I'm gonna be so mad.

Luckily for her, it wasn't Casimir. Instead, Angelica walked into the laboratory, speaking up only to pause as her eyes fell upon the short blonde. Alexis grinned at her girlfriend's reaction, going as far as to pick up the sides of her skirt and do a little twirl to show off some more.

"Oh, you see, it all started with Vivi here coming down to my lair to practice makeup on me, and before we knew it, we were plotting to charm you two into taking us somewhere nice tonight." The young genius spoke as she walked up to Angelica and pulled the taller girl's arm around her shoulders. "What do you say, hm? And if you want to wear something fancier, there's a lot of clothes back there." She pointed at the back of the lab before looking back at her girlfriend. "Don't worry, I won't peek." She said with a wink.

---

---

---

"Yeah... given what happened at the locker room and a conversation I had afterwards, I don't think I'd be a very convincing choice for a buyer. Plus, I'm a pretty healthy gal at school so people would definitely start asking a lot of questions." Alexis chimed in after Jason had said his piece, shrugging lightly. "I agree, sludgy-boy is probably the best option we have for pulling off Roy's plan. Plus, as long as he keeps his pin on him, he'll be able to call for backup right away if everything goes completely topsy-turvy. I think he'll be fine." She nodded at Jason.

"Besides that, there's a lead I'd like to pursue. The girl that went nuts in the locker room, Coleen... I talked to her after the assembly and we ended up on good terms, so I was thinking she might be able to provide some clues to help us find the suppliers and their stashes." She said. It wasn't a sure shot by any means, and there was the possibility of danger if Coleen consumed again, but she could take care of herself and figured it would be best if people worked on multiple leads at a time. "I'll keep the Young Bloods' involvement under wraps of course."

[The Templar High Council]

Aleta gave Wyatt a nod of acknowledgement, understanding him to be one of the cooler among the Young Bloods, though she didn't immediately answer him in regards to the spar. After all, the guy was huge and while she'd fought bigger, she didn't exactly come away from it without some scars, but just as she was contemplating turning him down, Zoe piped up that she'd be down for a duel, and Aleta couldn't stand being the chicken that said no after that. Fine. She'll give them a duel after all.

"Yeah, sure. We'll need the handicap of not knowing each other anyway. Give us a minute to get acquainted and we'll tell you when it's time to throw down." She wiped some dust off her pauldrons and walked over to Andrew, huddling with him briefly.

huddle huddle

"I can take whatever they throw at me. Let me take the hits and you give them a beating, alright. Good." She clapped her hands together. "Alright, amateurs. Let's do this!" Aleta cracked her neck as she pointed at Wyatt. "Come on. What are you waiting for, Spyro?"

It took her a second, but she agreed and gave a brief rundown of her powers: Sticky stuff and "super hard" armor. So she seemed to basically be Jason though with more defensive ability. Which worked out for him. Though hardly a second after she said she was down for joining in on their sparring, she started taunting him.

"Spyro? That's a new one." He replied. "But hey, you asked for it." With that, he began to walk towards her, thought the rocks and boulders that had survived being shot at Andrew, flung straight at her. He needed to gauge just how tough she was before he opted to increase the amount of force he used. Then again, she was new to the team, so maybe a little hazing wouldn't be too bad...

Aleta braced herself for impact, crossing her arms in front of her and taking the full brunt of the rocks being flung at her. Most of them bounced off harmlessly, but a few nearly knocked her over, so she gripped the ground below with her pitch and held her ground.

Brushing her suit off casually, she looked back up at Bael, gave a shrug, and shot a bullet of tar towards his face. She knew from experience that he'd be able to get rid of it easily, if it hit, but it wasn't to blind him for long, just create enough of an opening...

Paragon bolted for Zoe the minute the tar left her fingers, planning to close the distance quickly and immobilize her early in the fight.

When Bael shot a large amount of rocks at Paragon, Jackrabbit sprang into action. Andrew used the aforementioned stones as a platform to launch himself quickly toward the Dra'Quinni.

"Don't tell me you already forgot about me Scales. I'm not that dimissable am I?" Rising into the air at top speed to try and get above Bael, followed by a quick rocket downward.

Zoe Foster - Impulse
Wonder Tower, San Diego
October 2nd

Zoe rolled her shoulders as Aleta and Andrew huddled up, and she was left with Wyatt to prepare. The dra'qunni explained to her what their opponents could do: Aleta had the obvious armor over her body and could control some kind of sticky substance, while Andrew had powers similar to hers with force redirection. With that settled, the match could begin.

Zoe watched the others at first; Aleta taunting, Wyatt stoning, Andrew jumping, and Aleta turning to charge at Zoe. The red-haired heroine squared up, planting her feet into the ground and preparing to drastically lower Aleta's inertia when the two made contact. The plan was to make her more susceptible to Zoe's own attacks; with the lower inertia anyone could pick Aleta up and throw her around like a ragdoll.

[The Republic of Atria]

Andrew

Paragon didn't seem to want to fight him for some reason. Instead she did the exact same thing Jason usually did: shooting a bunch of gunk at his face, but unlike him she didn't follow it up. The many times he's sparred with Jason gave him a healthy fear to block, bringing up both his arms like a wall, and letting the stick black substance cover his forearms. No big deal, unless it didn't dissolve like Jason's did. Then there would be words exchanged.

Then he saw Andrew dash up well above his head and immediately shoot straight down. His fighting style was similar to Jason, but he didn't have the disadvantage of having to rely on the environment. Also unlike his slimy best friend, Andrew didn't have any range. Andrew said that he had the ability to redirect force. He wasn't sure of the amount he could, so he opted to try to grapple instead. With his left hand, he attempted a grab while keeping his right free for a sweeping blow.

[Absolon-7]

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

Casimir Herman October 2nd
Casimir's sharp eye caught Renata shiver with a slight look at his disparaging joke towards Red. Part of him found it funny but another part felt some indescribable feeling. An almost pit in his stomach feeling over how Renata was reaction. Making her angry he could certainly deal with but this just made him feel like some disgusting thing like a bird. And someone like him could never stand for being considered gross. Her being his best friend's girlfriend didn't really help. Terrible creatures those were. Oh fuck is this how guilt feels like? Casimir rubbed the back of his neck disturbing his messy mop of hair but his attention was soon back to Renata's words.

"I guess that makes sense. People are always whining about their personal lives so I was just confused about what you wanted out of this. But since all you want out of it is being a friend to them I can't complain about getting involved then," commented Casimir before pausing as if gears were turning in his head,"Since we got everything figured out I'll let you be then. Message me once you get to Yoshi."

Casimir gave her a quick wave before beginning to walk away but before he stepped away from her he stop in his track to face her, "So uh I was just trying to throw Red under the bus with that joke about what we talk about. Since we kinda talk shit to each other for fun."

What in the world was he beginning to say? Was he actually considering an apology? To Renata of all people? "Looks like its not your type of humor, eh? So I'll keep it in mind. See ya later"

Casimir headed to take the elevator down but he suddenly got a ping from his phone. Confused, he took out his phone to check and it looked to be a text from Viv. A test that said to come down to the laboratory and decorated extensively with hearts and kisses emojis. One one hand this was really out of the blue since she usually left him alone at this time when he was supposed to be at Dunkmaster's Gym. On the other hand he couldn't really ingore her wanting to see him since it could be important. He walked down a dead end of the hallway where it ended with a window. He opened up the window and swan dived out.

Angelica

Alexis

Viviana Couture October 2nd
Viviana was tapping her boot on the ground nervously waiting for Casimir to show up to the lab. For the moment she just stood next to Alexis arms crossed and repeatedly checking her phone to see if he messaged back anything. She stared herself down and gulped in anticipation as she brushed some hair behind her ear. She was more used to wearing a lot looser or fluffier clothing and this was just a lot. She raised one hand to rest her cheek in and she realized she had been smiling the entire time. The prospect of wowing Casimir was just such an exciting thought and the fact that she had her friend to thank for was just too heartwarming. The sound of an elevator door opening made her whip her head up but it was Angelica which made her snicker at what she about to see on her girlfriend.

"Heya Angie!" cheered Viviana waving furiously at Angelica, "So how do ya like my handiwork. Next DaVinci or what? Oh uhm my work being the make up on Lexi's pretty little face. Oh yeah you should totes dress up with us. There's tons of good dresses and stuff in here. I got this get up from stuff all in here. It's like a fashionista's pirate cove!"

She happily listened to whatever Angelica was going to say next before quickly taking a peek where the entrance led inside. He wouldn't just ignore would he? Suddenly the elevator behind Angelica and Alexis would open up once again for the awaited boyfriend to be right behind them.

"So you guys need some gear stress tested by me beating it up or-Oh" was all Casimir could say when he saw Alexis in her white dress and exquisitely done makeup. He turned his head to see the Frost Queen there, "So did you get a text to come here too?"

Viviana walked up right behind them and gave Casimir a small wave of her finger with a big smile. Casimir stood there silently with his mouth agape like a stunned grasshopper. His mouth began to form a word but it failed on the first attempt by turning to a drawn out 'uhm'. Viviana stepped closer to him to place both of her hands on his chest while fluttering her eyelashes to look at him.

"Gonna say something, tiger, or ya gonna keep blubl blub blub like a Goldfish?" she asked with a cheeky smile.

"You look pretty," blurted out Casimir staring at her lips.

"Hooray!" suddenly cheered Viviana spinning around towards Alexis. She wrapped one arm around the shorter blonde's shoulders to give her a tight side hug, "Looks like our little gambit to make them swoon worked, chief."

[The Republic of Atria]

Jan

Vince blinked a few times when Jan replied saying that he knew neither what Doom was or even what a jackass was. "You're either fucking with me or you actually don't know what either of those are... If it's the former, you're a jackass, if it's the latter... Yeah. I got nothin'. Other than some sympathy for you possibly being the most sheltered kid in existence."

Then Jan explained that it probably wouldn't take more than an afternoon, and that the worst case scenario was that they got trapped in Hell, and even showed him the list of people he's recruited so far. "You know, if you're trying to sell something, you're doing a piss poor job at it, but hey. I've got nothing going on today, so I guess seeing whatever crap this is you're talking about. So far you've almost convinced me that what you're saying is actually true. Do you need to go right now, or can it wait until I grab some stuff? Mostly something for if we do get trapped in Hell. Cause if that happens, I wanna see what happens when you 50 megatons of tnt goes off in hell."

[Finland SSR]

Casimir Herman October 2nd

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Renata folded her arms with a frown on her face, responding to all of Casimir's blabbing about how he and Red exchange shit-talk towards one another for fun and that he didn't know it was not her type of humor with merely a scoff. For all the nonsense which the insect themed hero was throwing at her on a daily basis, he at least understood her motivation and couldn't dare to disagree. When it comes to helping your friends, no cost is too great.

Having finally decided that it was his time to leave - for whatever someone like him does in his spare time, assuming he's not just off to keep on training - Casimir departed. Renata remained standing in the middle of the corridor a few more seconds, her eyes following the teen and then finally rolling with a sigh.

"See ya..."

Maybe... he's not the worst possible teammate this team could have.

"Alright, alright. Yoshi. Now, where do I find her..."

---

Megan

Jan Sorok, Champion of Heaven!

---

"I-I said, there's no problem with my hair..." Jan tried defending himself, before finally letting out a sigh. Well, if Megan is offering her services so vehemently, then maybe visiting her salon once shouldn't be that much of a problem... It's just a haircut, after all. The girl was busy reading the map on the meantime, and one of the inscriptions got her to freeze and speak up in genuine shock.

I-I left Mikaela on the map, didn't I... The Virgil hastily picked up the map and looked it through, instantly registering the girl's name floating on the parchment. Megan instantly jumped to conclusions, assuming that the girl was his girlfriend, began to apologize for the kiss earlier and finally started wondering if he could even have a girlfriend at all. Jan instantly covered up his reddish face with the map and began muttering while under its shade.

"N-no... and it's complicated... Wait, I-I mean that I don't have a girlfriend and that the other question is complicated, not the other way around!" he began defending himself, growing increasingly loud as the sentence went, before he finally took a deep breath to calm himself down and handed the map back to Megan. "She... well, to explain, I think she's the key to figuring out the conspiracy we're trying to stop. She's not a member of the team... but she's been in Hell, which is why she's important."

Is it time to finally make his way out of here? Better now than never. Before stepping out through the window and taking off to the sky, however, Jan briefly turned towards Megan one more time.

"Oh, and, uh... There's no hard rule on letting other people know about me or the existence of Heaven, as long as you don't shout it out of rooftops or something. But, um, try to avoid mentioning it to the people living in this house. They... know me from before."

---

Jan Sorok, Champion of Heaven!

---

Jan's travels across San Diego saw him descend towards a new place - a somewhat run down, yet still up and running gym named after the famous vigilante Knockout - if his map was correct, this was where a new potential recruit for his mission was, and the lights filtering out of the building's windows gave him just enough confidence to proceed.

With a flap of his wings, the Virgil softly landed before the front door of the gym, already with a long flowing parchment list in hand. There were several mental signatures inside the gym which he could only assume were people enrolled. Hopefully, they wouldn't cause that much of a fuss. So far, everyone he's managed to stumble across were all alone, making his job a lot easier, but here...

It... it shouldn't be that much of a problem, right?

Taking a break to collect himself, Jan stepped forward, push opened the door and walked into the gym.

[Tomia]

Team Meeting
"Well, it sounds like Jason has support." Roy mentioned. "I agree, I think you are a good candidate for the assignment. As for you Alexis, that's a good lead to follow. If you need any back up let us know and we'll make sure you have it. Beyond that, we'll need some people keeping an eye on Jason and following any leads he comes up with. Anyone whose identity is safe should stick by him if they can."

"I can do it." Mars suggested. "My identity is safe and while I shouldn't be the one buying the drugs I can be the nervous friend accompanying."

"Well that can work Mars," Naja responded. "What do others in the school think?"

Mars
Mars noticed Alexis' drop in talking about her mother, it was clear she had a bit of a closer relationship to her dad. Mars felt bad about it, but it wasn't as if he could really offer any advice. He didn't know much about having parents or dealing with that relationship. It wasn't really the same with grandparents after all. "Well, I'm sorry to hear about your mom.... It's a shame that some people can't accept how other people feel. I still haven't introduced Kiris to my grandparents. Part of it is her being gone but also, not sure how they would feel about her being an alien and all. But we'll always have the team right? Its nice to know we'll have people who accept us no matter what."

Angelica
"Well the charming definitely worked," the girl replied with a smile. "I guess it'd be fun to go out somewhere. We haven't really tried a double date yet." She glanced the dresses a bit wearily. "I'll try to see if there's something I like..." She said as she headed towards the back of the lab. She looked through the dresses, not really having the best eye for what looked "good" on her. She was really just trying to remember some of the things her mom had taught her. She eventually settled on a red dress that was flattering and cut just above her knees. Once she was all dressed she returned back, feeling a bit self conscious since she hadn't undergone a make over herself.

"Well, how do I look?"

Hannah
Hannah was training one of her regulars when she saw someone she didn't recognize walk into the gym. She let go of the punching bag she was holding and informed her client she'd be right back. She looked Jan over, very clearly aware that he didn't seem like the type to visit her gym. Plus he had a very out of place look on his face.

"Hi, can I help you with something?" She asked him, a polite but cautious tone in her voice.

[Finland SSR]

Vince

Jan Sorok, Champion of Heaven!

---

"I'm sorry... I've never done this sort of thing before." Jan responded with a glint of shame and scratched the back of his head, referring both to Vince commenting just how poorly he was selling the idea, and the fact that he knew neithed Doom nor the word "jackass". Well, to be fair to the latter... how was he supposed to know? He figured "Doom" was a movie or a game he simply hasn't gotten the chance to see - his childhood kinda got cut short, after all - but "jackass"... Probably a English expression he hadn't heard of before his death, but why does it have "ass" in it?

Thankfully, it wasn't enough for Vince to drop out, he simply made fun of Jan for it and moved on to figuring out the terms of the deal.

"No, no, don't worry, you still have time. Like I said, the map will light up a place in red when we need to gather. I'm trying to find people who would be willing to join." the Virgil explained himself - the last sentence of his explanation got him to peek over Vince's shoulder, however, looking towards Zayda. "And, uh, speaking of that... Is she coming with you?"

---

Hannah

Jan Sorok, Champion of Heaven!

---

The gym was, as Jan expected, busy and filled with a faint, unmistakable stench of sweat, pretty much unnoticeable to a regular, yet very clearly apparent to someone who's never been in a gym before - much like the Virgil. Thankfully, he did not have to make his way deeper into the building and thus draw attention to his winged appearance, because the woman he had been searching for approached him by herself. From the way she had been overwatching one of the trainees and spoke to him, he could only assume she was the one who ran the gym.

"Uh, well..." Jan spoke up, scratching his cheek, then collected himself and raised the parchment list in his hands, all while his feathery wings unfolded somewhat.

"You're Hannah, right? My name is Jan, and well, to be brief, I was sent here from Heaven."

[Aidannadia]

*snip*

Paragon saw Zoe prepare herself, leaving the heroine time to react was a downside to this armor; her movements were slowed. If she was dressed like Pitch, she wouldn't have left an opening for the girl to block. Then there was the problem of her power; The former vigilante still didn't understand what it exactly did from the brief discussion she'd had with her teammate, but she assumed from the girl's stance that she needed to touch her to actually activate it. taking this fight hand to hand might not be the best option, but Andrew did say to take care of the other one and leave the Draqinni to him. The teenager cursed under her breath, slid in the dirt like someone trying to touch base to break up Zoe's defense, and gripped the girl's ankles with her pitch, attaching Impulse to the ground solidly. The moment she touched the girl, her face turned back to Wyatt, and with a flick of her wrist, the tar that was still on his arms creeped its way slowly up her arms, reaching his shoulders. If she wanted to make it move further however, she'd need to spend more attention on it than she currently had available as she left herself open to Zoe's next move.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Roy
Roy knew Wendy well enough to tell that she was trying to change the subject. He was becoming more and more sure about what she was hiding and his mind was racing with anger. He tensed up ever so slightly but tried to focus on her comment about their drug investigation. "Well, the squad leaders had a meeting about it. We're going to call the team together about it later tonight." He paused for a moment, his eyes looking into Wendy's. They had a soft feel to them. "So... Just name calling right? You'd tell me if it got any worse than that?"

"Of course I-" Wendy was cut off as Quinn licked her face, wiping away the mascara from around her eye. Touching the bruise, Wendy gave out a defeated sigh. "Okay, a couple of boys attacked me in the hallway. I didn't get a good look at their faces though. Roy, I'll take care this on my own. You have bigger things to worry about than watching over my shoulder while I'm at school."
---
Later that night.

"I'll try to talk with school officials to see if they have any leads on this." Wendy replied. "The rest of the student body might see me as nothing more than a former scumbag criminal, but most of the teachers seem to still like me."

[Auropa]

---

---

---

Mike Mathews
Team Meeting
Doing his best not to wince at a few new bruises he had gotten himself, Mike joined the others in the living room for the team meeting. He still wasn’t sure what Naja and Roy had come up with but for what felt like the first time, Mike was excited. The drug peddling was something they needed to stop, and unlike most things they ended up doing, this was a clear and straightforward way to help people and make things better. Or at least that was how he saw things.

When Roy suggested that someone could go undercover, he even nodded his head in support to the idea. ‘Makes sense, there’s not really nuch of a chance we’ll find anything if we're going off hearsay and rumours. Better to get involved and find the stuff ourselves.’ He reckoned asJason piped up about their options and even evaluated Mike's own chances at going undercover.
“I can’t tell if I’m hurt or complimented by that.” he half-joked in response to the boy’s somewhat painfully reasonable views of him.

After that, Alexis and Casimir both chimed in their support for Jason going in and while not wanting to push a bad stereotype, Mike couldn’t hep but agree. He didn’t know much about him, which was admittedly close to entirely his own fault, but he knew that the guy could handle himself from the prison job and was able to think on his feet under pressure.
“He can definitely do a better job than I could.” Mike added “If you’re cool with it, I think Jason probably has the best chances of pulling this off.”

Everything seemed to be going well as the meeting progressed, Mike even felt some sense of pride within him for what they were doing and how they were doing it. But when Mars volunteered to give Jason support, he just couldn’t help himself from slipping into his bad habits.
“I know it can be confusing when you don’t have your screens with you Roboboy, but just remember that you’re not supposed to abandon your partner if things go bad.” He said with more than a little emphasis as he glared a few daggers towards the team’s techie.

“As for me, I’m good to help wherever I can. I’m not exactly popular in the school so I can move around without too much of a fuss but I’m also probably not the best 'people' person. Either way, I guess its just a matter of who could use the extra hands.”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 2nd

---

---

Alexis nodded along at Mars' words, not exactly keen on responding just yet. On the one hand, of course she would've preferred that her mother accept her relationship with Angelica with open arms, but on the other, it wasn't as if she couldn't understand why her mother felt this way. She wasn't a bad person by any means but, aside from being the one putting bread on the table instead of her dad, she was a rather old-fashioned woman, and Alexis knew she was one of those ladies whose biggest aspirations in life usually included spoiling their eventual grandchildren.

Not that that was something she'd have to worry about for several years even if she were dating a boy.

Either way, as Mars expressed his concerns about his own relationship and then mentioned the team, the genius girl smiled. "Yeah, it's nice to know I'll always have my BFFs to fall back on and my fellow nerd to talk science with." She jabbed playfully before setting her plate and soda on the nearby table and walking over to Mars, giving him a tight hug. "Thanks for that Rocket-boy, I needed the pick me up." She said.

Almost immediately, she was up to her usual self, springing back and giving the boy a friendly slap on the shoulder. "And hey, don't worry about your grandparents. I'm sure they'll love Kiris when the time comes, everyone does." She assured him. "And if not, well... it's not the end of the world."

A brief pause ensued and Alexis hurried to finish her meal before heading for the kitchen door. "Anyways, nice talking to you Mars but I think I'm going to head downstairs now, got a lot of work waiting for me at the lab." She said. And with that, she was gone.

---

---

---

Hearing Angelica's answer to her proposal, the short blonde did a double fist pump and then waved at her girlfriend as she went off to change her clothes at the back of the lab. Turning back, she watched the last part of Casimir's conversation with Viviana, if it could even be called that - it really just amounted to Casimir awkwardly blubbering while Viviana enjoyed teasing him. She couldn't blame her for that - the guy really made it too easy.

Feeling the brunette's arm wrap around hers, the genius girl grinned. "It sure did, Vivi! Guess we'll have a nice dinner tonight. Maybe seafood?"

After a few moments, Angelica returned, now wrapped in a fancy red dress that showed off her curves nicely. Alexis let out a whistle in appreciation at her girlfriend's new look. "You look like the tastiest dessert in the whole patisserie, strawberry pie." The blonde girl said, running up to Angelica to look at her more closely. "But... hmm, there's something still missing..." She added, tilting her head.

After a few moments spent in silence with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Oh, I know!" She said at last, before pulling Angelica down to her height and giving her a kiss. A moment later, she pulled away, grinning. "Now your lips match your dress."

With that done, the four teens made their way to a seafood grill Viviana recommended, on the way teasing Casimir about how he'd have to pay the whole thing since he was the gentleman in the group. Luckily for him, by the end of their double date, Alexis paid half of the bill, and they all returned to Wonder Tower just in time to attend to the meeting that Roy had scheduled for that night.

---

---

---

Alexis listened to the others chime in regarding Jason's assignment, and was glad to see that largely everyone agreed that he was the right man for the job. Roy seemed okay with her pursuing her own lead as well, so as far as she was concerned, the meeting was going pretty well. Mars offering himself to support Jason while hunting for clues at school and after hours surprised her, but she supposed it was just like him to try and prove himself.

Unfortunately, that was when trouble started for the meeting. I guess we can't go one day without meetings devolving into a grudge fest, huh?

Rolling her eyes, Alexis turned to glare at Mike. "I know it can be confusing when you don't have your team comms, Mikey, but you're not supposed to disappear during the mission and then come back with an attitude a month later." Alexis spoke with biting sarcasm, pointedly glaring at him some more before looking at Naja instead. "I for one think Mars is a good choice to give Jason some support. He's proven himself plenty, so I'm sure he'll come through, and with two pins there's twice as much chances to call for backup if something goes wrong"

[Finland SSR]

Mike Mathews
Team Meeting

October 2nd

---

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

---

Right as Alexis verbally shot back at Mike and pointed out that he vanished during a mission and reappeared a month later, a small girl with purple hair leaned towards the fellow hero from behind, mutteing:

"Um, since that's been brought up... where did you disappear last time, Mike?"

Mizu had been passively watching the debate on going undercover in search of the source of the new superpowered drug. A part of her thought of offering herself to tag along - her powers were pretty much perfect for an infiltration job, after all, and few people in this team could deny that. Not after a month or few of living under the same roof as her and seeing her powers in action, that is... But an infiltration of that sorts was going to be very, very risky, and it'd require her to separate from the rest of the team for a prolonged period of time - and if she got into a fight with no backup besides maybe one or two allies, she... was not going to last.

For now, however, something else was on her mind. She stared at Mike with a worried expression, scanning his every move and awaiting an answer.

"I, well..." Mizu began to explain herself. "I was worried about you and all, a lot... I thought someone kidnapped you or something. And, well, because you vanished somewhere, our team got disbanded and everything, too, and I hoped the squad would have a lot of potential working together..."

[The Republic of Atria]

Aristodragons, Part 1

Bael arrived in N’Toak, to the same living space that he and his adoptive parents moved into. He was supposed to meet his biological father for an evening out. He had been reaching out to schedule something, but with the superpower drug going around, it had been difficult to find time, but he’d finally got an empty evening and managed to meet up with Yharon.

Supposedly, they were just going out to eat, which sounded good to him. As such he arrived only wearing his favorite loincloth and robe. Knowing Yharon was a wealthy man, he figured he’d at least be ready for that since he doubted they were just going to go by a flyby. He flew across the city in search of his father’s penthouse. It wasn’t too difficult to spot, as he was on the outside and saw his approach.

Bael landed gently so as not to disturb the many statues of various animals and exotic potted plants that were around. “Good evening.” Bael spoke.

Yharon’s face lit up and his tail started to wag a bit at the arrival of his son. “Bael! I’ve been waiting for this all day! Please, come in and help yourself to something to drink.” He said and hurriedly entered his home with his son in tow. “The feat we will be attending is quite formal, but I’ve already gotten us what we’re going to wear. We’ve got about an hour, which is plenty of time for us to talk a little and then get dressed. Please, do tell me about your time with humans.” He finished and sat on a large circular couch, motioning Bael to do the same.

“Oh, sure.” Bael said and sat across from him. “Where to begin…”

“You have human friends, yes? What are they like?”

“Well, my best friend is probably this guy named Jason. He’s… Interesting. I don’t really understand him very well. He’s almost always in a really good mood, but he was the first person I could honestly call a close friend. I know he’s got some issues with his parents, but he’s honestly a really nice person to hang out with.”

“I see. You should bring him here one of these days.”

“I uh… He’d probably be okay with it. I don’t really know what we would do. There’s the language barrier, he… Well, he could get around just fine, though it might be a little disturbing for everyone else.”

“Nonsense. I’m aware that some humans have strange abilities. Not so different from yourself.”

“That’s true, but there’s a difference. Some powers change the way they look to be quite…I’m going to call it different. Let me show you.” He said and pulled out his phone, cycling through the pictures until he found one of himself and Jason.

He showed the picture to Yharon. The picture was of Bael and Jason, arms across each other’s shoulder, looking a little roughed up. Though Jason was in full costume. The black tar covering the human head to toe. His teeth quite jagged and snarled. Yharon understood what Bael meant. “I… See.”

“Okay, he doesn’t look like that all the time, most of the time he looks like a normal human. He’d prefer if I kept his identity secret. I know you wouldn’t do anything malicious, but I’m just respecting his privacy.” Bael explained.

“That is very noble of you. I’m sure your friend would be very happy to know you respect him.” He replied. “Any others?”

“Alexis is another one. She really helped me get over the issues I was having fitting in. She’s really, really smart. Hold, I know I have a picture of her mech.” Bael explained and went back to flipping through the pictures on his phone.

“Excuse me, but did you say a mech? I don’t believe I’m familiar with that term.”

“I don’t know the word for it in our language. This.” He said and showed him a picture of the large, pink war machine known as Oberon.

Yharon looked it over. “...This is impressive. A human made this? A young one? You must introduce me to her some time.”

“I would, but I don’t really know when or if it would ever be appropriate to bring them here.”

“The Festival is approaching!” Yharon spoke. “I’m sure you know about it. There will be drinks, a time for meeting new friends. I think it would be the perfect time to introduce them. I’m very certain I can convince everyone to allow it. It will be a fantastic learning experience for everyone. We are sharing this planet with them, we will have to get to know them at some point, and I believe you to know which humans are good and those that aren’t.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll have absolutely no problem with us. I’ll go talk to them and see which ones would be interested in coming. I know for a fact that Jason will want to come along. I don’t know if you’ll like him, but I’m sure he’ll try to befriend you. Anything else you want to know?” Bael asked.

“Final question. I’m aware we’ve got much time before we should leave, but I spent a lot of time choosing our outfits for the feast and I want you to try them on. I believe I got your size correct, but I want to make sure you like it first. I’m aware that you and your friends… Fight would be criminals who also have unique abilities. How has that gone?”

“Pretty good. The powers humans have can vary. I’ve only ever fought two, technically three, but we only traded blows twice before he tried picking on someone else. And another...” He shuddered, remembering the very brief encounter with Dark Star. “She was… Considerably more powerful. I hit her with everything I had and I don’t think it did more than annoy her. She is one of the most powerful humans on the planet. Thankfully she was more interested in doing something else other than killing me.”

“Hmmm… I’m glad you’re okay. Though I do have to ask… Why are you doing this? I understand you want a place to practice with your abilities, but I can assure you that we are far better equipped to help you.” He said as he stood up walking to the back, following him. “Do the humans even care about you?”

“Well… They’re my friends.” Bael shrugged. “The first friends I’ve ever had. I don’t want to abandon them. And they do care about me! I’ve met many who do. I’ve been thanked many times for helping save their lives and they treat me with respect. I love it here, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like… I don’t know, an outsider? I know I’m among my own people, but I’m still learning about everything. That and the whole Elder thing… I know people are still kind of… Afraid of that.”

Yharon nodded as Bael explained himself. “I understand. Hopefully this feast will help you find your place among us. Now then, I want my son to look the best so I spared no expense in ensuring you will be the best dressed out of everyone.” He said showing Bael his clothes. What appeared to be something like a collared dress shirt, but it was entirely ruffled. There was what looked like a coat, but it had quite a few gaudy brooches all across the breasts of both sides. Lastly there was what looked a bit like a large untied bowtie.

It didn’t look completely awful. At least that's what he thought unti; he put it on. The shirt was fine, but the goat was adorned with so many pins and brooches of all sorts of colors and gold. He wasn’t sure if they meant anything, but they looked terrible. His face remained neutral as he looked at Yharon who was all too excited to see him try it on. He put the coat on without a word and picked up the bow. “Uhhh…”

“Oh, here. I’ll tie it for you.” He said, looping it around his neck and tying it into an obnoxiously large bow. “My son, you are going to be the talk of the feast. Don’t move, let me get mine!” He said and rushed into his closet.

Bael looked at the mirror and cringed. He looked awful. Like a jewelry store threw up on a cheap human suit from three hundred years ago. And what’s with the bow? It was pink, and he was blue, couldn’t he have at least gotten one that matched his scale color? And why was it so big?

Out stepped Yharon wearing an equally atrocious outfit. “So, Bael. What do you think?”

This is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen...Just pretend to love it... He looks so happy and spent money on it. He glanced over to Yharon who was still beaming and waiting for an answer. “I… I love it. It’s wonderful!” He replied with false glee. “Yeah. I can’t wait to show my friends!”

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
Team Meeting

---

Visibly wincing at Alexis’ words, Mike crossed his arms and leant back further against the couch. He hated to admit it but he knew now wasn’t the time to vent his issues with Mars, and earning Alexis’ ire in particular left him feeling more than a little down. ‘This is your fault’ he thought as his glare against the boy-genius sharpened and he bit back the urge to say anything that would make his situation worse. It was one thing having to deal with him still being in the team and the building, but getting lectured by Alexis as well, one of the only people to so much as hear him out, that stung. As he stewed in his anger though, someone else snapped him back to the present.

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!
"Um, since that's been brought up... where did you disappear last time, Mike?"
"I, well... I was worried about you and all, a lot... I thought someone kidnapped you or something. And, well, because you vanished somewhere, our team got disbanded and everything, too, and I hoped the squad would have a lot of potential working together..."

And just like that, the anger was replaced by a pit of guilt.
“I uhh, I needed to- I mean my family needed me to… There was a family thing that I couldn’t ignore, and so I left to sort it out.” He said as he tried to navigate the emotional minefield. It wasn’t the full truth, but it also wasn’t really a complete a lie so to speak ‘so maybe that would be enough’ he thought before seeing Naja’s expression. Usually, their serpentine den mother's face always showed off some level of her usual calm and caring attitude, but as he spoke, for just a moment Mike saw something else. It didn’t look like anger and it didn’t seem like disappointment, if anything, Naja looked tired and sad. Like she had seen this exact thing before and knew where it was headed. At that same moment, Mizu’s words started to sink in. He had let the team down. His own squad was torn apart because of it and all their training had come to nothing because he wasn’t there. Even worse, he wasn’t there when they were all in danger, yet somehow, despite all the disaster and chaos, Mizu didn’t even seem angry, despite everything, she looked like Naja, sad and worried.

Breathing out a pent up sigh, Mike came to a decision. Naja had talked to him about this, regardless of how things might feel, the young bloods were a hero team and should know what was going on. Though coming clean about his family felt strange, scary even. It was like he was accepting the team as part of his life and as much as he'd say to the contrary, he wasn't sure if he was ready. But whatever may come, he knew he couldn’t back down from it.

“What I mean is, I was with my uncle. Some of you saw him already, agent Kross Mathews. He was there during the beginning of the Warwolf-Cabal fight, he um, he works for Pandora’s Lock. He’s the one that trained me to fight and he’s the one that gave me my equipment. During the tournament, he asked me to help him on a job and I said yes. It wasn’t anything important, I could’ve said no easily but at the time, after everything at the tournament, I wanted to leave. I needed to get some distance. I mean buffets, Interviews and fans? That’s not what I signed up for, I want to help people and I want people to know that they can do better, that they can be better. That we don’t have to keep trying to mimic a few people in capes and that we don’t have to throw ourselves and our friends into danger for some chance at fame. I just want to do what’s right, and the tournament felt wrong. So I left… And I’m sorry for that. If I knew- if I had any idea about what was going to happen then, I mean you get the idea. Look, I’ll help the team however I can and I’m ready to fight if I need to, but I can’t stand still when I see something wrong. I’m trying to work on it but I’ve got a long way to go, at this point its just stuck in my nature.”

[Finland SSR]

Mike Mathews
Team Meeting

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

---

It took a while for Mike's cold exterior to finally break and for the teen to explain exactly where he had run off for an entire month - as it turns out, he had been approached by his uncle and thus decided to help out with a task for Pandora's Lock. The way he described it as "something not really important" did not really fit well with the entire month it took for him to return back to Wonder Tower, but, well...

Stranger things have happened.

Mike expressed his own frustrations with what had been happening during the tournament, too. Whereas, for example, Mizu was enthralled by the thought that they could finally participate in an event she had been a fan of for most of her life, and the rest of the team allowed themselves to let loose, interact with fans and participate in interviews... Mike saw all of that as simply a waste of time. He signed up for the team in order to do good things and help people, and that's what he wanted to dedicate himself to. To do what's right, which the tournament was not.

Still frowning, Mizu moved her chair to face Mike directly, then struck a smile and spoke:

"I forgive ya."

How could you not forgive someone when they're gone to make the world a better place?

"But, I mean... Sure, we signed up to help others, but we can't help others all the time, right? That's just asking to never give yourself any free time and get completely burned out. Tournaments, interviews and buffets aren't heroic in of themselves, but they still help!" the purple-haired girl explained and grinned with confidence. "You know - meet up with your fans or go out with your friends for a day, and you feel so refreshed that you can knock out three days' worth of villains at once!"

[Tomia]

Hannah
Hannah raised an eyebrow at Jan. Every so often they would get someone walk in on a dare or something and joke off. This was clearly one of those times. "Well Jan, if God wants to learn how to box tell him to set up an appointment himself. Until then scram, I have clients to work with." She didn't know if this strange figure was crazy or just messing with her but either way she had no interest in entertaining this "heaven" nonsense.

Roy
Roy balled his right fist when Wendy admitted that she had been attacked. He was furious, borderline shaking with anger. However he forced himself to take a deep breath for a moment. "Wendy... You don't have to hide things like this from me. I'm your boyfriend, I to help you deal with things like this. I know you didn't want to make me worry, but hiding stuff just makes me worry more. I get it though, I won't be looking over your shoulder I promise. Just please tell if something like this happens again okay?" He asked, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

Team Meeting
Mars shouldn't have been surprised that Mike brought up his misguided attempt to bring back the Warwolf leak. Once again Alexis stood up for Mars, which he greatly appreciated. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Thanks for the advice Mike, I'm sure I can handle it." He said in the politest tone he could manage.

"Alright so it sounds settled then." Roy interjected as it seemed like the meeting was starting to diverge into tangents. "Mars, Jason, stay back, we'll talk about the details for tomorrow. Everyone else, you're free for the night." With that the team dispersed for the night.

After he had talked to Jason and Mars, Roy took out his phone and sent a message to Angelica. "Hey, I need to ask you a favor. It's about Wendy..."

The Next Morning, Thomson High
As the school was coming to life that morning, Mars stood at his locker. He was trying not to act nervous but he wasn't sure it was working. Last night Roy had told him and Jason that they had a lead that senior Jake Wrightman was someone who knew how to get the Power drug at school. Mars had remembered that Jason and him and second period chemistry with Wrightman. That would be a perfect opportunity to approach him but they would need to make sure they do it carefully. After grabbing the books he'd need for the first few period the boy genius headed towards Jason's nearby locker.

"Hey, so... How do you want to handle talking to Jake? What are you going to say?"

Meanwhile, Angelica was at her own locker, having finally managed to escape the crowds of admirers that once again greeted her as she entered the building. A few lockers over was Wendy, and the thought of the message she had received from Roy was fresh in her mind. She closed her own locker's door, and stepped over a few feet to Wendy.

"Hey Wendy, how's your morning been?" Angelica knew this wasn't usual behavior for her so she tried to play it as casually as possible.

[Galnius]

Andrew

Bael

Andrew careened towards Bael with an accelerating speed, hoping to bait out a collision attack. What he had not foreseen was the dra'quinni going for a grapple instead. One of his arms were swiftly caught, and Andrew had to think quickly or have his mobility removed.

With that in mind, Andrew changed tactics by changing direction. Using the force he had already accumulated with that pulling him down, he changed direction to move towards Bael's back. Grabbing his wing, Andrew attempted to flip the other hero and hopefully escape.

Still, he could tell this match wasn't going to be easy. Andrew knew he could brawl with best of them by keeping on the move and relentless assaults, but he had to use as much power as he could currently muster just to try his plan. Shit, he's not kidding about his strength. Don't usually have to go full force to escape a grab.

---

Keone

Keone stopped to take a breather to the side of one of San Diego's many park paths. He had been getting up at 5 in order to do his normal routine, but found himself running an hour late. It was an acceptable margin, considering his late excursions the night before. He was tempted to see if they had found what he had left for authorities, but looking it up only a few hours later might cause suspicion, if there was anyone paranoid enough to check for that sort of thing. Still, the bandage on his side reminded him how hard fought it was.

A shark man wannabe hero and the escaped minor villain P.T. Why was the shark harder to deal with. Letting out a mildly pained sigh, he checked his wound. It was only a small cut, explanable by any muriad of means. He had chosen to simply call it a work out accident, scraping his side against the weight set when he went too far. The truth was a near death experience with razor sharp teeth and a burning shark fin.

In his reminiscence, he reached for his water. He found it not quite there, meaning it had dropped on the track. "Figures." Turning around, he went to search, asking whoever he passed if they'd seen it.

[Absolon-7]

Casimir Herman October 3rd
It was a cold morning in San Diego and right around the time classes would start in Thomsen High a particular raid was about to commence. The target was a mattress store that had yet to open and in Casimir's reconnaissance had been discovered to hold a massive amount of the power drug. It was a dark and dimly lit building with large 'going out of business' banners in the front windows that showed their age in the amount of wear and tear on them along with their sun bleached colors. High on the San Diego rooftops crouched Casimir with his hands cupped in front of his face to mimic binoculars. In reality he was checking out the perimeter of store for any possible getaway locations but something that bothered him was the few vehicles in the back that reeked of that drug stench at least to his swarm it did. Those were likely to be getaway vehicles it appeared.

"Okay, from what I gathered yesterday these scumbags have crates of the drug all in the back instead of king sized beds," commented Casimir to his team comm, "There doesn't look like there's any normal workers in there besides six or so shady looking guards in storage."

It was a fairly large and expansive building and the front of the store looked like any other mattress dealer except for the fact of being closed and breaking in through there first seemed like the most effective way to get attention from the guards. The back was dominated by a sheet metal garage door that offered the most direct way to the drugs but it had the highest chance of destroying evidence and the drugs if it was discovered first. The third looked to be a side entrance to the office for the building and that would offer a more unorthodox way of entry. The final method looked to be to break in from a rooftop entrance which could offer both elements of surprise and a threatening entry.

"I call dibs on breaking in from the front. Me and Asp will give those losers a bigger wake up then any coffee could. Ain't that right, Asp?" said Casimir into the team com while he gave the ninja a thumbs up with his gloved hand before turning it off. He hopped onto the railing of the roof and held onto it in a squatting position like a gargoyle, "Ready on the count of tree to dive bomb those windows. One..two...three!"

With his immense might in his legs Casimir spun like a cannonball across the street and boots first into the building shattering one of the top windows. He rolled along the floor before jumping up to dramatically point at the sky. "THIS A RAID YOU BASTARDS! TIME TO GET KNOCKED OUT!" boomed Casimir into the almost abandoned building. Almost immediately a goon came out of the back wielding a pistol but Casimir spin kicked the top of a lamp off to hit the man dead in the chest shattering the lamp. After him came out a man with bloodshot eyes who threw his arms forward and out came a torrential fountain of boiling water.

"Shit!" Casimir jumped upwards to dodge the dangerous water and he ended up grabbing onto a pipe for the sprinkler system in doing so, "Double team time!"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Third of Fire
Day 2 of Green Light

---

She had done this before, but it always was an almost dream-like experience. The sudden feeling of separation, the state of nothingness that one was temporarily immersed in while traveling across light years in a span of time far too short to even have a name. The weightlessness that came with having one's mind and body reduced to an incantation, and the eerie tranquility, as if one's passions were placed into stasis. Then, the light, shining brighter and brighter and consuming one's being, heralding the feeling of reunion as one became whole again, far from home - or perhaps returning to it.

It would perhaps be strange to those unaccustomed to such experiences to see how many people underwent the same procedure with regularity. But for the Hadrians, and especially for those who traveled between Adai and its colonies often, it was simply a common aspect of their lives, in no way abnormal.

As soon as she stepped out of the large metallic arch inscribed with arcane sigils that served as a gateway between New Adai and Annriven - capital city of Tortaris and seat of the Ranwynn clan - Kirisvala looked at her surroundings, feeling slightly disoriented. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, and in fact it was very exceptional for a Hadrian, commonly a powerful magic user, to display no adverse effects after using an archway. Kiris was no such mighty sorceress, but her prior experience with gateways and her frequent use of the Waltz made her more resistant to disorientation than most Hadrians, and so she snapped out of her daze fairly quickly.

The room she found herself in was fairly utilitarian. White and sky blue walls offered a tranquil, friendly ambiance to visitors and residents alike, and a plethora of welcome signs could be seen on one of the walls, along with instructions on how to get help if required and on how to learn about the city's spots and landmarks, all rendered in dozens of different languages for the convenience of non-native visitors who were not as adaptable. Of course, those were largely in place for the sake of curious visitors or as a failsafe of sorts in case an attendant was not available to welcome new arrivals, but this was not the case. A young woman with azure hair, curved horns and scales of a very dark blue color walked up to the heroine with a friendly smile. She wore a modest light yellow uniform that naturally left her arms and shoulders bare.

"Hello there, miss! My name is Valtiva and I'm happy to welcome you to the city of Annriven!" She spoke in the language of Tortaris, Lokwynn, with a polite and lively tone, a twirl of her tail accentuating her friendly appearance. "Would I be correct in assuming you're familiar with the city already?"

"Yup!" The younger Hadrian replied cheerfully. "I'm actually here with my sister. Did you see where she went? Red hair, Taratelian garb, really tall and grumpy?" She added afterwards, chuckling to herself at the last bit. Valtiva smiled at the joke and nodded.

"Yes, in fact I did. She went to the entrance without speaking a word, however. If she's waiting for you, she should be there." The attendant answered.

Kirisvala's heart sank as she heard the woman's reply, however. "Oh, I see." She said as her gaze lowered. Mumbling a word of thanks, she stepped past the woman and out the door of the archway chamber, onto a large hallway that connected several such chambers and held a steady stream of inbound and outbound men and women, Hadrians, humans and even a select few who were neither. However, Kiris was no longer paying attention to her surroundings or the people around her, instead simply shuffling along on the line leading out of the archway halls.

All things considered, she was surprised that her sister had even agreed to help her after the disaster that was their previous meeting. Seristella had never been a particularly patient woman, and after the things she had told her... Kiris wouldn't have blamed her sister if she had refused to help. But not only did she listen, she actually picked her up at Wonder Island the very same night her message had been sent. The Hadrian girl had to wonder, was she waiting for contact? Or perhaps... she had already planned to return to the island for some reason?

She didn't know. But what she did know was that despite her willingness to help, Seristella was... distant. She had barely spoken a word to her, and clearly, that didn't change when they arrived to Annriven. A sad look appeared on the young sorceress' face. It's my fault, isn't it?

Soon enough, Kiris left the hallway and found herself at a lobby of sorts that wasn't too different from what her human friends called a museum: while there was a part of the room devoted to the sale and regulation of archway tickets, the rest of the large enclosure held an exhibit of sorts about Earth, humanity and the First Contact. One of the walls was taken up entirely by a mural depicting two maps of Earth - one was the standard Mercator projection, while the other was a cylindrical projection that was instead centered around Australia and the colony of New Adai. Not far from there, she spotted a model of the Eye of Morvathal, the exploration vessel that first came into contact with humanity, and the pedestal it was upon had a computer terminal which displayed pictures of the ship's crew and their biographies. Elsewhere, she could see various models of strange animals unknown to Hadrians and miniature representations of some of Earth's most notable cities.

A small smile crept onto the pink-haired girl's face as she walked through the exhibits, her fondness of Earth and the friends she had made there warming up her heart. But as she approached the entrance of the Annriven Travel Center, she spotted her sister leaning on the doorway, her usual arrogance replaced by a sort of melancholy that was evident in her posture and in the way her unfocused gaze remained glued to the floor.

"...I''m sorry, Seris."

The smaller Hadrian's heartfelt words brought Seristella away from her unknown musings, and she looked up at her sister, whose red eyes looked at her expectantly, an apologetic look on her face. Stepping closer to the taller woman, Kiris wrapped her arms around the redhead.

"I know you're upset at me. I was angry and scared to come home, but I didn't have to take it out on you... and you agreed to help me despite that..."

Seris was surprised when her younger sister hugged her tighter still. "Just... please talk to me."

Kirisvala suddenly felt a hand on her head. "No, I'm the one who's sorry. I'm not quiet because I'm angry at you." Seristella confessed. "I'm sorry, but endure the silence a little longer, will you?" She added, before taking her hand off of Kiris' head and softly prying her off.

"Now let's go."

---

The walk from the Travel Center to the Ranwynn estate was long, she knew that well - she had done the exact same trek in the past after all, just in reverse - but the fact that it was uphill added a whole new layer of discomfort to the experience. The trip downhill hadn't been exactly pleasant itself, the winding mountain path was rough and the boiling pools that dotted the landscape filled the air with strange aromas, albeit luckily harmless ones. The sisters had already left behind the lush foothills that served as the hunting grounds for the mountain clan and were ascending up one of the lesser peaks of the Pillar Mountains that dominated the landscape to the north of Annriven.

Of course, to a Hadrian with strength like hers, this was not a very difficult challenge - she had gone on plenty of hunting trips with her family when she was but a child, and had gained a very athletic condition that she retained to this day. Her elder sister was even less fazed about the whole ordeal, calmly walking forward without so much as a grunt of effort. I guess it makes sense. You have to be super tough to get to be named a member of the Thunderlords when you're not Taratelian. Kirisvala thought. And you were always stronger than me...

In the distance, the girl saw the top of one of the crystal spires that dotted the mountainside, which brought her fond memories of when she used to climb them freely, before things went wrong and she wound up escaping from that place. Now she was back... would anything have changed?

Before long, however, Kirisvala realized that her sister was no longer following the path up to the Ranwynn halls, the redhead instead taking a well-maintained side road leading elsewhere. The young Hadrian was confused, but the gravely silence that had persevered since the two women left the Travel Center had made her too nervous to ask what was going on. Instead, she followed along quietly, until eventually they arrived at a place she recognized from her childhood, although the memories weren't fond. Neither were they sad or upsetting.

The sisters stepped into the Ranwynn cemetery, where statues were raised to all those of their clan who had gone off to the Dragon Soul to live with the Goddess herself. Her people didn't make a habit of disturbing the physical memory of the dead except on special occasions, as the story of their life and deeds was recorded elsewhere, but Kiris remembered visiting this place a few times, either by herself or with her father. The first time was when she asked where mother was, prompting her father to take her here and show her the corresponding statue.

"Your mother was very sick, Kirisvala." Teltesser had spoken, with grief in his voice, though there was something else in it, a glimmer of light. Suddenly, he caressed a younger Kirisvala's hair. "With the last of her strength, she produced a small miracle before leaving this world, to remind me of her."

Kirivala recoiled at the memory, anger welling up in her chest. Some precious reminder I turned out to be...

She turned to look up at the redhead. "Why are we here?" She asked. In response, Seristella simply leaned on the stone wall that enclosed the cemetery and nodded her head towards the statues, prompting her to go inside and find out herself.

With a sigh, Kiris obliged and walked further into the cemetery, looking around at the various crystal figures, either created by the clan's sorcerers or sculpted directly by the hand of those close to the person in question. They were not made in the likeness of the deceased, but instead were allegorical in nature, alluding to the person's name, or occasionally to an important achievement that marked their life. At the very back of the enclosure, looming over everything else, was a massive sword made from black crystal, a red crown hanging off the handle. Further at the front of the cemetery was the figure of a large emerald on a small pedestal, her mother's statue.

Then, at the very front, she saw one that she did not remember seeing there before. Did someone die while I was away? Kiris wondered as she analyzed the statue. A white crystal mirror, displaying a black cloud of smoke within. She pondered the meaning of this new statue for a moment.

Then it hit her.

Teltesser.

"He spent years trying to gather evidence of our uncle's plans of treason, playing the part of his confidant to eventually dismantle his whole conspiracy. That's what Torvalt told me, anyways." Seristella began explaining without prompting. She had seen the expression on her sister's face change suddenly, which meant it was time. "He had been playing the long game, but when his little ray of sunshine decided to run away from home... he couldn't take it anymore." She continued, unable to keep a hint of bitterness from leaking into her voice, though it was quickly suppressed. "He walked into his brother's study and struck him down before turning to the authorities and giving them all the information he had been able to gather. The witch hunt is still ongoing, I think, but most of Telthalos' co-conspirators are in jail now."

Seristella paused her tale as she walked up to her father's monument, knowing that her younger sister needed a moment to process everything.

"Everyone called him the hero of the clan, and he was even suggested to replace Telthalos in the Watcher Council. But a few weeks ago, he fell terribly ill." The redhead continued with a rueful smile. "When I visited him, he... told me that he wanted nothing more than to see his little girl again." She said, a grimace on her face. She sighed. "That's why I tried to get you to come with me back then."

Several moments passed with both of the Hadrians in utter silence after that, the seconds seemingly turning into minutes until eventually, the younger of the two fell to her knees, a shaking hand reaching out to touch the mirror's surface. Seristella looked down at her with grief. She pitied her, and she pitied him. She pitied everyone whose lives had been irreparably damaged by a single man's greed.

She reached down and caressed her sister's hair.

"I'm sorry."