Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Republic of Atria]

Andrew

Paragon

Bael felt and saw the black slime from Paragon start to slither up his arms. He summoned some tiny rocks and formed a layer of them from the base of his neck to how lower jaw. It wouldn't work well for armor, not against Andrew, but would keep the tar from getting to his face.

He managed to snag Andrew's arm, but the newbie still managed to get behind and and grab a hold of his wing, lifting him off his feet and flipped him. It took all the focus he had from when he fought The Mountain back in the tournament to maintain his grip. All that mental training with Orro finally came in handy. when he landed on his back, his grip remained firm. "You're not getting out that easily." He than tried to pull his opponent into a death hug and simple squeeze him into submission.

Jason

He blinked a few times as pretty much everyone agreed with his suggestion that he should be the one to go. Other than Mike continuing to be an ass towards Mars, it went over pretty well. "Mike. Shut the idiocy dispenser. Grownups are talking. Alrighty, so Mars and I are the bait and ya'll are the party crashers. Sounds easy enough and I'm more than happy to discuss." He said as everyone made their leave barring himself, Mars and Roy.

"So, do we have a plan, or is it up to me and my ragamuffin charms to convince a guy I wanna buy super drugs?"

[The Templar High Council]

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.

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 crept 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.

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.

Bael felt and saw the black slime from Paragon start to slither up his arms. He summoned some tiny rocks and formed a layer of them from the base of his neck to how lower jaw. It wouldn't work well for armor, not against Andrew, but would keep the tar from getting to his face.

He managed to snag Andrew's arm, but the newbie still managed to get behind and and grab a hold of his wing, lifting him off his feet and flipped him. It took all the focus he had from when he fought The Mountain back in the tournament to maintain his grip. All that mental training with Orro finally came in handy. when he landed on his back, his grip remained firm. "You're not getting out that easily." He than tried to pull his opponent into a death hug and simple squeeze him into submission.

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

Zoe grunted as Aleta tried to duck under her guard, but the other girl's attention being torn by her attack on Wyatt left her wide open. While Aleta tagged Zoe with her sticky residue, Zoe reached down and grabbed a firm hold of her opponent's wrist; she focused on the connection and quickly reduced Aleta's resistance to motion. With her grip tight and her target in sight, Zoe lifted Aleta by her arm with both hands and threw the other girl towards the bridge to get some breathing room. It looked like Aleta was somewhat of a bruiser, which suited Zoe just fine.

"Wyatt! I'm gonna go pin her down on the bridge! Lemme know when you finish up!" Zoe looked down at the goop covering her foot, and stomped her other foot on the ground hard. When her tennis shoe connected with the ground, Zoe redirected the force of the blow outward from her other leg, causing the pitch to splatter outward from her now-dirty shoe.

"Pretty neat, not gonna lie. Now let's see you fight straight up!" Zoe chased down her quarry after she had recovered from the throw, and on approach brought her arms up close to her chest in a more traditional fighting stance. When she got within range, Zoe opened with a hook from her right arm aimed at Aleta's side. She planned to follow this up if it connected with an uppercut from her left, trying to set her opponent off balance.

[Auropa]

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!
"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!"

Mike Mathews

“…Well... M-maybe I have been a bit too -you know- serious I guess.” Mike half admitted as he scratched the back of his neck and turned towards the nearby wall to avoid the girl’s blinding gaze. “-But I’m not doing another interview for a magazine.” He half mumbled as he tried to sink into the couch and gain some protection against Mizu's mercilessly cheerful stare. After that, Mike kept quiet for the meeting as he thought a bit more about her point and how he had been handling himself. He didn’t feel like he had been fully wrong perse, but maybe he had been acting a bit over the top, 'it’s not like I think we shouldn't be allowed to have fun! And its not that I don't think we should reward ourselves or accept the odd gift every once in a while. Its just, there should be a line, or a curve! Or something, somehwere right?' ' he thought to himself. While the whole thing was a pretty simple thought, it distracted Mike for the entirety of the remaining meeting and even robbed him of his chance to keep prodding at Mars. Although the meeting did eventually end with him just as confused on where he stood, he did have one thing decided.

“Hey Mizu!” he called out as team began to file out of the room.

“About what you said back there." He began to say as he caught up to the purple haired girl. "I know I can be pretty hard-headed and a bit stubborn at the best of times but, thanks. It meant a lot to hear you say that.” Maybe it was the left over tension and fear from his out-of-the-blue return, but hearing that at least Mizu was still willing to forgive him was enough to heal his mood and even give him the courage to admit something he’d been considering for a while now. “...And, well, I've actually been meaning to ask you something.” He added before pausing for a bit to make sure the rest of the team had left.

“......I’m really bad at talking to people!” He finally confessed. “I try to give advice and help people where I can but I also want to keep honest to how I see things and how I feel. I mean, I know that I've got a few issues that probably don't really help my case, but I don’t try to start problems with everyone, they all just sort of, happen... Thing is, I have a habit of pushing people the wrong way and I was… Well I was actually hoping that you could maybe… Sort of… help me… with it” He slowly and quietly admitted.

“I don’t mean in a weird way or anything!” He blurted out. “But you were able to arrive, literally out of the sky, make friends with everyone, earn their respect, while still being a great hero and pushing yourself and everyone around to do their best! I mean I couldn't even get Casimir to train properly and here you are being incredible at everything and then some!“ He added before hearing himself and turning a slight shade of red. “And um... I thought, maybe you could give me a few pointers… Or call me out if I’m doing something dumb…” He said as he shifted his gaze once again to try and hide his face.

[Finland SSR]

Hannah

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

Out of all the things which Hannah could have said, she picked the worst possible option and went with it. Not only did she not believe that Jan was actually descended here from Heaven, she did not even want to entertain the thought - after taking it as a joke, the woman told him to leave. He's being a nuisance. "Oh, uh..."

That... was going to make things a lot more difficult. Megan and Vince were both willing to listen him out and ultimately came to believe him. What happens when he meets a person who looks at his wings, looks at his magical map and parchment list, and sees a conman?

Jan rolled his list up, it suddenly folding into a tiny slip of paper no larger than a finger, which he attached to his belt.

"Um, miss?" he suddenly spoke up. "I'm sorry about what just happened... Do you still accept people for boxing practice?"

---

Mike Mathews

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

---

The rest of the team meeting passed by in a flash and Mizu stood up from her seat, ready to get back to her room and continue hammering complex geometric formulas into her skull, when a voice suddenly called out to her from behind. And it was someone she couldn't mistake for anyone else.

"Hm? Mike?" she muttered in response and turned around, facing the teenage brunet superhero as he began to explain himself. Hearing his thanks for listening him out and forgiving him for his departure without notifying anyone, she struck a bright smile. Seeing someone feel better thanks to something she has done - not necessarily Mike, just someone in general - it... just fills her stomach with butterflies. As soon as Mike started turning the conversation another way and mentioning how he wanted to ask her something for a while, however, that smile faded.

Uhm... where are you leading at?.. Mizu's mind started to get filled up with thoughts, ideas and the occassional fantasy, all of which began to form an air of discomfort while Mike waited for everyone else to leave from the room. Thankfully, that wait of a forever came to an end, and the teen explained himself - he wanted help on how to talk to people without actively making matters worse for everyone, including himself. Oh. Well, to be fair, Mike really did have problems with how he talked to people sometimes... And, searching for help on how to make himself less of an outcast, he turned to Mizu of all people. To him, she was the perfect example of someone who managed to get along with everyone despite being such a recent member.

"Oh, uhm, thanks..." she replied after the compliment, with a slightly reddish face, her foot now scratching against the floor. She didn't even consider herself doing anything exceptional, just being herself and helping her team wherever necessary, and yet Mike spoke of her as if she was the heart of their entire squad. "That's-that's so nice of you..."

Could she actually help Mike overcome his inability to talk with people? She never considered to to be something which could be taught. "I wonder if I could hook whoever's left of Squad 4 to a cafe somewhere so we could get to know each other like normal people, that usually helps... But, I-I mean, I can try helping out, but there's only so much I can do, right?" she offered and explained herself, then pointed her finger at Mike's chest. "Y'know, all the real change can only happen there. I know you only a little, buuut, I believe you can do it. Just remember that everyone else you're talking to is usually just as confused and flustered as you are."

Mizu suddenly perked up, staring Mike straight in the eyes. "Actually, I wanna tell you something, too..." She leaned forward ever so slightly and her hand reached towards his cheek, before moving beyond it.

"There's a spider behind your ear."

Suddenly, the grinning girl pulled something gummy from behind Mike's ear and began dangling it in front of his face - a lifelike replica of a tarantula, flailed around by her fingertips.

[The Republic of Atria]

Jan

Jan explained that the map would glow when they needed to assemble. "Huh. That's pretty neat." That didn't mean he wasn't bringing any emergency bombs, but so far, the kid honestly seemed far too meek and borderline spineless to actually be a legitimate threat, so he felt reasonably confident that whatever he was talking about was probably at least somewhat true.

Then he asked if Zayda was coming with him. "You wanna go see what this is about what it happens?"

"I'm far too curious as to what your talking about to not come." she replied.

"Roundabout way of saying yes, she's in. So uh, is this map magic or something or do we gotta supply our own transportation? She can fly and I got a car."

[Tomia]

Mars, at School
"Well, I think you should just... I don't know, play it cool? We don't want him to be suspicious so you can't come off as over eager. Maybe just try to slip it into conversation." Mars suggested as the two of them headed towards chemistry class. The bell rang soon after they arrived, and their teacher Mr. Gordon called the class to attention. "Alright class, today we'll be doing a lab. You'll be testing and recording various chemical reactions. So I want you to pair up, grab your worksheets and get to work." With that Mars nudged Jason gently with his shoulder and gestured toward Jake who was sitting at a nearby table. "Partner up with him?" He whispered.

Roy
While Casimir was leading an attack on the front of the building, Roy was waiting near the back exit to take out anyone who tried to flee. He could tell by the loud crash that Kabuto was not taking a subtle approach to this mission. Sure enough two men came scrambling out of the back door, nearly tripping over themselves when they saw Nightshade.

"Surprised to see me?" Roy asked with a cocky smile, as one of the men raised their hand gun towards him. Nightshade quickly grabbed his wrist and harshly twisted it, causing the man to shout and drop the gun. The second man had managed to slip behind Roy and slam a baseball bat into his ribs. Roy grunted in pain as he grabbed the bat and smashed it over his knee. However before he could advance on him he heard the cocking of a rifle behind him. Another guard had came out the door and was pointing a loaded gun at Nightshade. Roy was stopped in his track, looking over his shoulder as he waited for backup to arrive.

Hannah
Hannah eyed Jan a bit skeptically. "You want to learn how to box? Well as long as you have money to pay for lessons, sure." She finally said, walking over to a nearby equipment rack. She picked up a pair of boxing gloves and tossed them to Jan. "Try these on, see if they fit properly." She instructed. "So, do you have any fighting experience? Ever been in a fight before?"

[Aidannadia]

-snip-

Paragon leaned into the punches, and they were largely absorbed by her armor, distributing the force across the piece as opposed to being focused in the fist or palm. She returned with a few quick jabs, but again her armor slowed her down. It was beginning to annoy the heroine.

[Finland SSR]

Vince

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

Vince redirected Jan's question to Zayda, and the Dra'Quinni immediately made her choice, she was going to tag along just from curiosity alone. As soon as she said that, her name materialized on the map in the man's hands, right next to "Vince". He, on the other hand, had questions about how the map worked - was it magic enough to allow them to transport straight to wherever they want? The Virgil instantly shook his head and replied:

"Oh, no, no, it's not that powerful. If it could transport you anywhere, I would probably use one myself - instead of having to spend time to gate everywhere..."

With that said, Jan stepped back, his wings unfolding, ready to take off.

"If you have anything to ask, feel free to do it now. If not, well... then until we meet again!"

---

Hannah

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

Despite their conversation starting on the wrong foot, Hannah was fine with a boxing match between the two of them - the mention of needed payment did leave the young Virgil worried, however. Not only did he not have any money at hand... he really couldn't, either. That's something he'll have to find a solution to eventually.

Right as she tossed a pair of boxing gloves to Jan, Hannah raised the obvious question - does he have any fighting experience?

"Yeah... some of it. I can't say I'm a professional, I started out just living on the streets, really..." the Virgil began to explain as he slowed the incoming gloves down with his telekinesis and softly caught them, then began putting them on. They were somewhat too large for his hands, but it wasn't so problematic that it'd impede his strikes. "Nowadays I mostly fight demons, though. Including those besieging this city as we speak."

[Charmera]

"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.

"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!"

Makenzie, who was a little overwhelmed by her first real mission, frowned at the idea of a frontal assault. Surely it would be a better idea to try and sneak around and try and takes a few thugs out before they did something like that. She was about to say so in fact, before Casimir jumped across the street.

"I suppose he's the impulsive sort," Makenzie muttered, then shrugged. "I can respect that." She, however, would need a fancy trick or two to get to that window herself. She took a run up and jumped through the air, the arc of her jump leaving her trained legs short until suddenly a clone of ash formed in mid-air and caught her, suddenly using its brief existence to toss it's master towards the window, allowing her to jump through the window with an artful roll.

Once inside, she saw the water manipulator and Casimir. She heard him yell 'Double team time!' and so she complied, assaulting the waterman. He turned to her and attempted to scald her, but all he did was burn an ash clone that took the metaphorical water bullet for her. Makenzie then unleashed a furious combo on her opponent, jabbing and kicking with each move flowing into the next. After she was done, the water man swayed from pain and his arm was suddenly paralyzed by her power. However, his left arm was still dangerous as a torrent of water came for Makenzie. She had to turn herself into smoke to avoid the burning liquid.

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.

Makenzie was jogging on her usual route, well what was her usual route before she disappeared for several years. She had wondered about how sudden it had been, how impulsive and, for lack of a better word, motivated it was, Her decision to join the Young Blood had been similarly impulsive, but not quite as motivated. Makenzie had believed that her father's killer needed to be found and defeated, that the secrets of his life and death needed to be found. Now she didn't know if she believed in anything quite as much as she did then.

In her thoughts, she looked down to see a small bottle of water. She frowned, crouching Someone had dropped it, that much was clear. With some luck, she might be able to return it to the owner.

Who gives a shit? Makenzie thought. He'll drop it again and you'll have done nothing that means anything. No one cares.

Makenzie frowned and decided this time she was going to defy that voice. She was doing this because she wanted to. That could be good enough sometimes.

Idiot.

Shut up.

Makenzie looked down the path and saw a man who seemed to be looking for something lost. She jogged up to him and tossed him the bottle. "Here. I found this down the path."

[Absolon-7]

Makenzie

Roy

Casimir Herman October 3rd
Casimir proceeded to laugh maniacally as he swung from the roof of the biilding down towards the water super once Makenzie was done with him. Before an attack could be made unfortunately his foe used his one good arm to blast the ground with a fountain of his boiling water to get away slamming himself to the back of the store. Casimir cursed underbreath and with a growl he lifted a steel frame of a bed into the air and chucked it at the thug.

The water user didn't even have time for a repsonse as he desperately swung his arm forward to blast apart the bed with a cannon of boiling water filling the area with steam. Hidden in the steam Casimir blitzed forward and to the side of the falling water to get up front to the man. He grabbed the thug by the neck and consecutively spun forward to launch him forward like a shot put. He came to a painful stop when he collided on the ground like a ragdoll. Casimir flicked both wrists forward and pinned the man to the ground with twin shots of webbing.

Casimir proceeded to walk a bit to the storage area but stopped short of the door as he squatted to get another look around with his swarm. With sone flies he checked the back storage and it looked like the remaining drug guards where prepping some ambush. The first poor sod was probably chosen as bait to give them time. It also seemed pretty understaffed probably due to taking place so early in the morning.

However, as he checked the back he spotted Roy being pinned down by some hesitant gunman. Perfect Immediately a horde of wasps that he had been holding in reserve arose from their slumber another building over and like a fleet of fighter jets they swooped down to the gunman to sting his hands over and over again. With yelps of pain he dropped the gun and began thrashing on the ground to get rid of the wasp.

"What can I say but you're welcome," cheerliy said Casimir into the team com to Roy, "So ready for the final push to the back? I'm ready to bust down this side on the count of three. But Asp can do her own thing I'm sure."

[The Republic of Atria]

Mars

"Mate, there's a reason I volunteered for this. BSing stuff like this is my actual superpower." He quietly replied as Mr. Gordon gave them their assignment. Jason, being the completely average student he was, grabbed his stuff with the usual halfhearted attitude and sat next to Jake. "We're partners now, object if you care." He said.

"Whatever man." Jake replied and the two got started doing the assignment. About halfway through the class, while everyone was recording their results, Jason slipped Jake a note when Mr. Gordon was writing something on the chalk board. He took and opened the note which only had three letters: "WTB." Instantly he knew what his partner was after and quickly scribbled directions for a meeting spot after school and slid the note back to Jason who glanced at it briefly before discreetly putting it in his pocket and went back to halfassing his schoolwork.

Once the bell rang, Jason packed his things and made his way to his locker.

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars nodded as Jason expressed his confidence in his ability to convince Jake. For now Mars focused on his work, having partnered up with one of his friends Josh who was also a big science person. When the bell rang and they had turned in their work, Mars watched as Jason headed out of the room. He didn't want to seem too eager but he was very anxious to know whether or not it worked. Once Jason was out the door Mars got up and exited himself, doing his best not to run. Soon he caught up to him, clearly eager to talk.

"So, did he give you the information?" Mars asked his teammate, trying to whisper as best he could.

Hannah
Hannah raised an eyebrow once again at Jan's statement. Jesus, he isn't one of those crazies from the street is he?. She didn't want any scene being caused in her gym. "Look, I don't mean to be insensitive, but are you on medication? You keep talking about heaven and demons, and I can't say I'm not a little worried. I don't want you causing trouble in my gym alright?" She said, wanting a response before she would begin boxing.

Roy
"I should really thank your bees", Roy retorted back with a smile. "But ya, let's do this." He replied before heading further into the building. He joined Kabuto inside the building where the remaining guards had barricaded themselves inside. "On three then." Roy agreed. He picked up a nearby cinder block and readied himself. "1,2,3." On three he tossed the block at the locked door which smashed open. Roy charged forward at the guards who were clearly startled.

"Kabuto, cover me with your bees!"

[The Republic of Atria]

Mars

"Kinda. Like, you said, don't wanna push it. I've got a meeting with him after school with directions." He replied, looking around, making very certain that Jake wasn't anywhere within eye or earshot. "I didn't want to ask him a bunch of questions in the middle of class and get Mr. Gordon's attention, nor make Jake suspicious." He said. "So I plan to go meet him after school with some money and see if I can't pick his brain. Slow and steady wins the race after all. The meeting isn't for an hour or so after school ends, which gives me time to go get the money I can use to prove that I am willing to buy. Just gotta hope he doesn't take me to one of the warehouses the others are raiding." He finished.

"Now, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but I would like to make sure you and someone else is relatively nearby to spring into action in the unlikely event something goes wrong. Cool?"

[Absolon-7]

Roy

Casimir Herman October 3rd
"They're not bees they're fucking wasps," muttered Casimir right as Roy conveniently turned off his team com.

He waited grumbling to himself until the device flashed up again when Roy began the countdown. Casimir rolled his shoulders a few times and hopped up a few times to amp himself up for the final attack. With the sound of crashing and startled grunts alongside the countdown Casimir raised his boot and smashed open a hole in the door to the back storage. He grabbed onto the sides of the hole he made and ripped the door clean off his handles. Casimir still held onto the door and right after he got inside he reached back and threw the busted door right next to last guards.

"Dammit I missed!" he yelled, "And they're not bees they're wasps!"

Upon his final word the swarm of wasps came from the busted doorway Roy had created and they angrily began to swarm around the guards. They waved their hands in front of them to ward them off but reached down to an open box of with several vials. He grabbed them and as his compatriots where distracted he injected them both with the drug. One had his arms rapidly shift to muscular scaly shapes before they fully turned into two powerful boa constrictors. His eyes became bloodshot and his mouth filled with pain and his eyes were set on Roy as the closest victim. The other blasted apart a chunk of the swarm with orange flames.

"You bitch that was my favorite swarm!" shouted Casimir as the swarm fled to the ceiling to regroup.

A fireball roared towards him and blasted the ground in front of him in an fiery show of fireworks. Meanwhile the last guard grabbed the box of needles and headed towards the exit but a final idea to save his hide crept into his mind.

[Galnius]

Andrew

Andrew

Paragon

Bael felt and saw the black slime from Paragon start to slither up his arms. He summoned some tiny rocks and formed a layer of them from the base of his neck to how lower jaw. It wouldn't work well for armor, not against Andrew, but would keep the tar from getting to his face.

He managed to snag Andrew's arm, but the newbie still managed to get behind and and grab a hold of his wing, lifting him off his feet and flipped him. It took all the focus he had from when he fought The Mountain back in the tournament to maintain his grip. All that mental training with Orro finally came in handy. when he landed on his back, his grip remained firm. "You're not getting out that easily." He than tried to pull his opponent into a death hug and simple squeeze him into submission.

Andrew tried to escape throwing Wyatt, but found Bael's grip a bit stronger than expected. He had dealt with something like this before, with Red using strength and durability against him, so it wasn't new, but Andrew was still a tad annoyed by how much he struggled with physically stronger opponents still. So, he turned to Quake's teaching for times like these. Cheap shot.

As Andrew felt himself getting pulled in, my made a last ditch effort to escape the grab. Bringing up his heel, he went for the squishy part of any body. The eye. As he was putting as much force as he could into the subsequent kicks, Andrew would find himself in a rather unfortunate position if this failed. Still, he could try to off balance and distract the opponent with a little taunting.

"Y'know, when you said you'd go all out, I thought I would need to as well. Or is grabbing weakly it?"

[United Kingdom of Poland]

"oh, hey there Angelica." Wendy replied with a smile, happy to see one of her friends. In the back of her mind though, gears began to turn. Angelica had been avoiding most of the rest of the team at school with the exception of Alexis, making sure to keep her new found fame from the rest of them. Why was she suddenly looking after her. She had a feeling Roy was behind that, but decided to play along. "Everything's going fine. Just a couple of the usual name callers. The punches and kicks do't usually start until the afternoon."

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars nodded to Jason, thinking that his plan and general reasoning were very sound. "That sounds like it will work Jason. I can come with you. They might be a little skeptical but I think we can explain it away. Maybe we can have someone tailing us just in case, though they'd have to be pretty stealthy about it..." Then he had a thought. "Well maybe Wendy could help? She probably has the best chance of watching us without drawing attention." He suggested, hoping he might be helpful.

Roy
"Kabuto get the guy running, I'll deal with Pyro over here!" Roy shouted, clearly he was a better match up than Casimir was. He ran towards the attacker who promptly aimed another fireball. Roy quickly dropped onto his knees and bent backwards to avoid the flames. He moved gracefully but the fire got uncomfortably close, Roy could feel the heat as it flew right over his face. He quickly sprung back to his feet and continued the charge forward. Another fire ball flew towards the ground and Roy jumped over it. He closed the gap further and further until he was right on top of the flaming villain. He slammed his staff at the criminal but the man dodged it just in time. He nearly punched Nighshade with a fiery fist, but Roy spun away just in time and slammed his staff into his foe's stomach. The guard crumbled to the ground. "Glass cannon", Nightshade mumbled as he secured the hands of the guard with a zip tie. He then spoke on his comms.

"Kabuto, you okay?"

Angelica
Angelica frowned at Wendy's statement. She was obviously not happy about the news, she hadn't realized how bad the situation was. "Well, that's not happening today. We're going to stick together today alright? Teammates have to look out for each other you know? And I don't have to worry about my identity being blown anymore."

[The Republic of Atria]

Andrew

Despite Andrew's valiant efforts to break free, Bael's grip held fast. Instead he did something different and went for his eyes. No amount of training would undo the instinctual reflex to guard the eyes and he released Andrew who kicked himself free and then began to taunt him.

"Hm." He started. "Yes, my grip was so weak that the only way you were able to get out was for me to let you go." He replied. "And no, I'm not going all out because based on what you've shown me, I don't think you're capable of taking me at my full strength. This is just some sparring, I'm not trying to kill you. Like I said, you couldn't even break my grip and I wasn't even holding you that hard."

Mars

"No, no. I don't need you to come with me, that might spook him. At the very least it would raise suspicions. Just hang out around the nearest corner and only come if I give a shout or some other signal. Then spring into action. Otherwise, just hang and don't be visible. Anyways, I'll meet you in front of the school an hour after it ends." He said as he grabbed his things from his locker. "Later man." He said and waved as he walked off to his next class for the day. At least it was the one class he legitimately had interest in: Superhuman Studies.

History of superhumans throughout history and theories on how powers work. He popped in and went about his day as any other, school came to a close for the day and he dashed to the Tower as quickly as he could. He'd been sitting on the giant pile of money he stole from a bunch of gangsters when he and Bael went out patrolling for the night. He took about three fourths of it and left himself with a few thousand dollars for spending money. The rest he loaded into his backpack and then headed back to the school to the meeting place that Jake had given him.

Jake had shown up, with a pair of men standing a few meters back, protection most likely. He approached Jake. "Got the cash. I just grabbed a ton because I don't know how much this shit's gonna cost."

"Depends. Don't mind those two, protection and all thing."

"Fair enough." Jason replied. "So I got a few small questions. Price shouldn't be the issue, but is there anyway I can at least choose the powers I want?"

"Kinda. We can get you in the vicinity of a specific power. Can't guarantee anything."

"Is it permanent?"

"No, it's temporary."

"Shit. I kinda needed something more permanent. Protection is a thing I kinda need at the moment."

"A good dose will last several hours. Like four to six hours. You could just buy a gun. I know a couple guys who can get you one."

"A gun won't really help too much against the people that are upset with me. And that's not too bad. I guess beggars can't be choosers. So how much for a dose?"

"Five hundred for an average dose. A thousand for a much better dose and honestly, I recommend that. The concentration lasts longer, is stronger and more stable. Honestly, I don't even know why we sell that other shit. I've seen the crap it does to people."

"Yeah... Me too."

"Anyways, anymore questions or-" His phone buzzed, interrupting him and he took a look and answered it almost immediately after seeing who it was. "What's going on? They're what? God dammit. Fuck! Alright, alright... Let me wrap up here, I've got a buyer." He hung up.

"Everything alright?" Jason asked.

"Not really." He sighed. "Let's see the cash and we'll go get you some." He said and Jason took off his backpack, opening it and showing Jake the money. "Jesus." He said pulling out a few hundred dollar bills and inspecting them to find that they were in fact real. "I can see why you're into getting some protection."

"Yup." Jason replied, taking his money back.

"So there's gonna be a slight change of plans. I was going to take you to a warehouse to get some, but apparently the Young Bloods are on the warpath and are demolishing a shitload of them. So we're going to have to meet up again tonight. This time it's gonna be at a more... Secure place. Here, you still got that paper?" He asked

"Yeah." Jason replied and offered it, again. This time with an address.

"After sundown. Preferably 8ish. Sorry to hold you up, but we've gotta make sure shit stays away from the freakin' Young Bloods."

"Yeah. Though they're just doing their jobs." Jason shrugged. "They are superheroes, and some of them are pissed after that shit that went down in Thomsen a few days ago."

"They just don't want any competition is all it is. They've got the shiny awesome superpowers. Everyone else just has to sit and wait with their thumbs up their asses if some powered up fuck face decides to go on a rampage. Everyone wants to be on that page. Who doesn't want to? Fuck, sorry to hold you up. I'll see you later." Jake said and took his leave as Jason stuff the paper in his pocket.

[Absolon-7]

Roy

Casimir Herman October 3rd
"I'm on it, I'm on it damn," huffed our Casimir as he hung from the ceiling both hands grasping onto two loosened pipes.

After the fireball exploded in front of him he barely managed to leap up to the ceiling to escape. It looked like Roy had managed to dodge snake-hands to fight the pyrokinetic which meant squashing the reptile was up to him. He bent his legs back and then rapidly swung forward letting go into a spinning free fall. The snake handed guard was running back to help his fellow but he was swiftly crashed into by Casimir who used him as a springboard to spin back to his feet. The incredibly muscular snake arms had shielded the man from the brunt of the attack but he still appeared winded. Casimir rushed forward to open palm strike his chest but the opposite snake arm entwined itself with Casimir's right arm and began crushing it.

He held in a painful yelp and quickly returned several lightning fast jabs at the snake arm with crushing force. With the slightest bit of loosening Casimir drew back his arm and back-flipped some distance away. A snap of fingers later and the now regrouped wasp swarm dived straight down to pepper the unscaly parts of the man with blistering stings. Casimir rushed in again and dodged the incoming fangs of one snake hand by leaning back sharply. He used this momentum to spin to the side and deliver a kick to the thug's chest midair in the middle of his revolution. Much to his surprise both snake arms lunged out and ensnared his foot locking him in with tremendous force. The man heaving out his lungs raised his arms up and smashed Casimir against the floor. Gritting his teeth Casimir flicked a wrist out and covered the man's face in webbing muffling out yells. He'd have to breathe sometime and let go of Casimir's leg so he just had keep squirming on the ground.

Casimir could hear his comm lit up with Roy asking if he was okay but seeing as he had to keep himself aloft with both hands on the ground while he used his other legs to keep kicking the snake arms around his other legs he couldn't exactly respond. We're in the same damn storage room you over professional spaz! Meanwhile the last guard had been circling around the two using the racks of items as cover to get closer to Roy. He just needed to keep buying time to escape and that Kabuto hero was much swifter then he anticipated. He needed a distraction and what better way then his own teammate. While Nightshade was busy checking on his comm he shuffled forward and swung down the last injection he had on him right at Roy's neck.

Meanwhile, Casimir violently twisted his hips around and as the guard's snake arms were still tightly coiling around him the poor fool spun like a pin wheel as he was launched several feet away. Casimir fell on his back and after gritting his teeth he swiftly got back up and made his way to Roy.

[The Templar High Council]

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

Zoe grunted as Aleta tried to duck under her guard, but the other girl's attention being torn by her attack on Wyatt left her wide open. While Aleta tagged Zoe with her sticky residue, Zoe reached down and grabbed a firm hold of her opponent's wrist; she focused on the connection and quickly reduced Aleta's resistance to motion. With her grip tight and her target in sight, Zoe lifted Aleta by her arm with both hands and threw the other girl towards the bridge to get some breathing room. It looked like Aleta was somewhat of a bruiser, which suited Zoe just fine.

"Wyatt! I'm gonna go pin her down on the bridge! Lemme know when you finish up!" Zoe looked down at the goop covering her foot, and stomped her other foot on the ground hard. When her tennis shoe connected with the ground, Zoe redirected the force of the blow outward from her other leg, causing the pitch to splatter outward from her now-dirty shoe.

"Pretty neat, not gonna lie. Now let's see you fight straight up!" Zoe chased down her quarry after she had recovered from the throw, and on approach brought her arms up close to her chest in a more traditional fighting stance. When she got within range, Zoe opened with a hook from her right arm aimed at Aleta's side. She planned to follow this up if it connected with an uppercut from her left, trying to set her opponent off balance.

Paragon leaned into the punches, and they were largely absorbed by her armor, distributing the force across the piece as opposed to being focused in the fist or palm. She returned with a few quick jabs, but again her armor slowed her down. It was beginning to annoy the heroine.

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

Zoe parried the strikes as best she could, keeping pace with her opponent but neither of them gaining a clear lead. They traded blows, each of them taking turns pushing the other back before an attack was deflected to create an opening. Zoe did her best to use Aleta's blows to fuel her own, redirecting the force through her to land a stronger strike every so often.

"Seems that we're pretty even so far..." Zoe stepped back to assess her opponent's guard, giving each of them a moment to catch their breath. She felt fine in regards to her defense, but didn't have an easy way to break open Paragon's armor while trying not to hurt the girl inside. The break in the fighting was primarily to ponder that. Zoe looked her opponent up and down, trying to discern a way in without brute-forcing Aleta into the pavement.

The red-haired heroine looked away for a moment at the other battle going on, Andrew performing some high-flying maneuvers and Wyatt doing his bruiser's best. She nodded, to no one in particular, letting her mind get a little distracted from the fighting and the planning before she snapped back to the moment to resume her thoughts.

[Absolon-7]

Part 1

Jerome Blitzer and the Stranger in a Strange Land, October 3rd
At last the extremely grueling sixteen hour flight had concluded and Jerome had gotten through the Minsk National Airport relatively unscathed. His unique coloration and eyes had drawn some unsavory looks but that ID he was given by Apotheosis seemed to work wonders in enchanting people to let him go where he wanted and too bad it had limited uses. He also had some enchanted ring that could translate any language so that negotiations could go smoother. For the definition of a stereotypical eastern European dictatorship the city so far was a lot better looking then he was expecting. Going to some place to eat would be nice but he had an urgent mission to get a train up north. He turned around into an alley to angrily mumble to himself while nervously checking his phone every few steps.

"Fucking partnership he say. Fucking shoves me on a flight halfway across the world first thing after I get in the car," he spat with acidic venom to no one in particular, "I hope this bastard is worth it."

Suddenly there was a ring.

"Shit. Hey there, so finally gonna give me some answers?" he bitterly asked, "Cause when you said you needed my skills. I thought you'd want to to rob some government vault or something. Not send to some shitty country in the middle of nowhere."

"Patience my dearest friend," spoke the ominously polite voice of Apotheosis from the phone, "Your real task will come later. For now I need to test you."

"Test me? Are you some fucking college girl with daddy issues that thinks playing hard to get is how you get a man?"

"Very funny. Now to get to business I want you to go meet a certain infamous Eastern european villain. Through certain markets I've found out he's planning to stage a Pan-slavic uprising in northern Belarus. Now he just needs a certain item I'm in possession of and I need his brute force."

"What the fuck? Do you mean I need to talk to Bogatyr! He'll fucking snap my spine! He's crazier then you!"

"Well you'll have you use that impeccable charm of yours to recruit him to our cause, my dearest friend. Remeber Silver Fox. It's all for the sake of world happiness."

click

"He hung up....he hung up...wait I though this was to kill Kabuto," Jerome sighed deeply before resigning himself to his fate.

From the looks of it he was trapped in between a skewing place and a snap your spine place. He could just try to ditch this stupid partnership but there was just something that gripped at his heart about thinking of betraying Apotheosis. Plus that bandage psycho organized all his travel expenses to and back from Europe. Hell he probably forgot his wallet at his friend's place. The coldness of the city didn't scratch his thick purple coat but he couldn't help feel like ice as digging in between his bones. He was all alone in a foreign city that had no one he knew.

A few hours later
It had taken some crafty theft and pick-pocketing but he had managed to track down Bogatyr's base of operations for this plan: an abandoned KGB outpost in the border between Belarus and Poland that had since been overtaken by forest. He had already been given the location but actually getting there was a whole other matter. What was important was he had gotten there with no bullet wounds but would that hold for the next few minutes? It was a large fenced in compound with at least a guard at every corner. Like a fox of legend he slunk through the woods looking for any opening and there just happened to be one in the back. A large tree had fallen over and was pushing in the fence but it was stopped in its tracks by some barracks.

He darted masterfully in the shadows before getting right next to the fence and with a wipe of his fingers it came off in ribbons of styrofoam. He ducked under the hole and rolled over to the barracks. One more breath. The crawl along the wall was tedious but as he got closer to a gap between the barracks and another building he started to hear a large crowd of men chanting Bogatyr's name over and over again.

"Sons of Svyatogor! I have come here to accept your invitation and thank you in helping in my eternal quest of reuniting Mother Russia. My cause..."

Jerome didn't bother listening anymore to the rest of the dumb political rant and instead cursed under breath. The mummy nutcase said Bogatyr was organizing this uprising but these Sons of Shibainu-whatever sounded like the one's behind it. Either the nut got his information wrong or this was some other test. Why couldn't he just rob Fort Knox or something? He sighed and kept crawling behind the buildings and hopefully he be able to track wherever the villain would be staying. Unfortunately, he would not be so lucky. A trembling from the ground caught his attention and before any curse could escape two gloved hands grasped at his feet like pincers. From the disturbed dirt out popped a gasmask and hardhat wearing man furiously cackling.

"Yes-yes! The mighty Karzełek, faithful disciple-student of Bogatyr, has caught an interloper-spy!"

"Oh you got to be fucking kidding me," sighed Jerome.

[Finland SSR]

Hannah

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

The thought occurred to Jan that he could perhaps convince Hannah that he was a real angel if he pulled off something spectacular - after all, right now, he could be any young boy with a set of feather wings. The issue with that was that... Virgils like him did not have anything to write home about. A real angel could reasonably shed their mortal form for a second and show themselves in their bright, divine glory, he could not.

Maybe he could open a gate to Heaven... That's going to require a lot of focus however, and that, more critically, is going to have to take time. And he needs to stay here for all the time he needs to open that gate. And Hannah was, obviously, still difficult. She even went as far as to imply that Jan was crazy and should be taking medication - all he does is speak of angels, demons, so on and so forth...

Jan scratched the back of his head and replied:

"Did-did I say something wrong? I mean... the Young Bloods are in this city, right? And they fight villains even crazier than that. What's hard to believe about fighting demons, then?"

The young Virgil clenched his gloved hands into fists. "I used to team up with them from time to time too, actually - from back when Warwolf was still around..."

[The Republic of Atria]

Aristodragons, Part 2

"Wonderful!" Yharon replied. "Now then, let's get ready to go." He said, making his way to the roof."Bael, you have no idea how I feel now." He stopped and turned to face his son. "The last time I saw you, you were but a hatchling, and now... You're fully grown." He voice took a somewhat more somber tone. "I missed so much, and while I can be nothing short of absolutely thankful and grateful to your adoptive parents for taking care of you and raising you, I do wish that it could have been me. I apologize for my excited behavior. I just couldn't be more existed to see my son again."

"No... No... Don't feel bad at all. I understand." Bael replied, grabbing Yharon's shoulder. "I'd be excited too. Let's go to that feast party thing." He did realize that there wouldn't be anyone he knew where his father was taking him, which let him breathe a small sigh of relief. At least if he was dressed this badly, it'd be among others who were as well. He just had to pray that Yharon wouldn't ask that he actually show it off to his friends. "Before we go, I've never been to one of these, is there anything I should be aware of?"

"Ah yes. Do feel free to mingle and speak. I've noticed that humans seem to be far more... How do I explain this. Openly social with one another? We're far more private with some special occasions."

"So this is a social event? An excuse to meet new people?"

"Exactly. And to show off one's wealth and prestige of course. If you have no further questions, let's go!" Yharon said and took flight. Bael reluctantly did the same. Of the people he knew, Kaban did not seem like the type of person who would go within ten feet of a party like that. Onu, maybe. If only for an excuse to dress up and show off, but he was pretty sure that she was still back in San Diego. His parents were likely working, and Sina... Same as Kaban. She would definitely detest something like that. So he just had to tolerate a bunch of poorly dressed people for an hour or so. Simple enough.

The pair landed near the peak of an elegant looking tower, a large, flat and round area that looked over almost the entirety of the city and slowly rotated. Bael saw a few more people arriving and making their way inside. "Now, just be yourself." Yharon spoke up, straightening both his and Wyatt's bows. "I'm sure you have many stories to tell of your adventures with the humans."

"I do... But most of them would probably point out the... Um. You know."

"Hmm, yes. That is true. I'm sure you have plenty of tales that don't reveal that. Just tell them about your friends. Leave out their unique abilities and just discuss their personalities and why you're friends with them. Like the one you mentioned... I forget his name."

"Jason?"

"Yes! Him. I'm sure you two do more than battle criminals. Now, food will be brought out, simply take what you think looks appetizing. I suggest you do it quick or you will not get any." He said and made his way to the entrance, with Bael following. They entered the pristine tower, and Bael had to pause to take it all in.

The inside of the tower was carved with a near pure white stone. The windows were tinted dark enough that you could still the city, but it heavily limited the sunlight, instead letting the magical orbs floating around the ceiling on top of what looked to be a large candlesticks. A massive banquet table carved out of wood that was clearly from before modern times. Pictures of other wealthy families adorned the supports and walls, he even saw a picture of Yharon, though his picture was just him, making Bael feel a pang of sympathy and redoubled his will to tolerate whatever this was going to be. Yharon seemed to just be a very generous man who just dearly missed his only son.

He glanced at some of the strangers who were all talking with one another. Some adorned with jewelry dangling from every limb, clanking when their tails flicked around or when they tilted their heads and the length pieces of gold clattered against their horns. Most of the women seemed to be wearing some sort of robe, most of which seemed to be sown from what he assumed was gold or something resembling gold, that accentuated their tails. The men who wore slightly tighter, but similarly gaudy to show off their well maintained bodies, or hide the lack thereof. Though he noted most were wearing either gold or some neutral color like black or white, and even fewer had bows at all. He looked around to try to find Yharon who'd already vanished, leaving him to stand amidst a crowd of people who he had nothing in common with.

One bit of cosmetic that he found to be interesting was the use of magic. A few people had thin chains linked between their horns, and a tiny, but noticeable glowing orb between them. The orb seemed to match the scale color of the wearer and he couldn't help but wonder why Yharon didn't use that. Too distracting maybe?

He glanced around the room further to try to find someone within his age bracket, but so far it looked like everyone was already talking with their friends or had already found someone new to meet. So he opted to just sheepishly look at the floor. Which was carpeted in some unknown, thick brown hair. Fur maybe?

His floorgazing was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder. He spun around to see a woman with a small smile, dark green scales and a golden dress. "Um, hello." Bael started.

"Greetings." She said politely. "I hope I wasn't interrupting your admiration of the floor."

"No, not at all." Bael replied. "I'm here because my father insisted I come."

"Ahhh, you must be Yharon's son. I can't believe I didn't see it. You look just like him, though it seems you take somewhat better care of yourself. I apologize, my name is Tahni."

"Oh, my name is Bael."

"I notice your accent is odd."

"I've... Spent a lot of time around humans. Most of my life, actually."

"Ah, that explains it. I like it. It is different. Do you want to sit together?"

"I, uh, sure." He replied, noticing she was one of the handful with the tiny glowing orb above her head. Though he watched as it gently spun and became three even smaller ones before spinning again and merging back into one. "Oh, I like your head piece. I've never seen anything like it."

"I'm glad you like it! My mother insists that it's nothing more than a fad."

"I don't care if it is. I want one." He said as he took his seat next to the girl.

"I will tell you where I got my headpiece, but I want to know some things about the humans first."

"Ask away." Bael replied.

[Tomia]

Hannah
"Let's just say I'm not exactly what you'd call a believer." Hannah told Jan. She raised another eyebrow at his claim about the Young Bloods. "Seriously, you worked with those kids?" She asked, though it ultimately didn't seem that surprising. He clearly had super powers and seemed around their age. "Alright then mister superhero. What brings you to my gym then? Seems like you should be able to take care of yourself just fine no?"

Roy
Nightshade had been looking around for the final culprit and waiting to hear back from Kabuto when it turned out that his target had in fact been following him. He grunted in surprise as he felt something heavy land on him. Before he could respond he felt a painful stabbing in his neck. He fell down to a knee as his heart started to beat at an alarming rate. His senses were suddenly heightened, it felt like he could hear the very pulse of the criminal next to him. As Roy clenched his fists his eyes turned an ominous shade of black. He grabbed his attacker with incredible speed, lifting him in the air with ease. Roy then tossed him aside like a rag doll, as he tried to force himself to come back to his senses. Soon Kabuto approached to investigate what was going on.

"Cas, something is... really wrong." Roy barley managed before falling back to his knees and passing out on the ground.

Later that Night
"Well, I've managed to keep Roy stable, but he is in and out of consciousness. Whatever that drug is exactly its wreaking havoc on his body. I've been looking into an antidote but I would need more information about it in order to make any progress." Jacob was speaking to the assembled team. There was clearly a nervous and somber attitude filling the air around the group. "Thanks to Jason we have a clear target. We've scoped out the location and its clear that this place is where they are producing the drugs. We hit them hard, all at once and find the information we need to help Roy."

"Mars, there's a problem though. Roy is always the one quarterbacking on missions." Angelica pointed out. "Who is going to do it without him?"

[Finland SSR]

Hannah

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

"But you live in a world with superpowers and magic. Why is the existence of angels and demons the line at which it becomes hard to believe?"

The next question which Hannah posed was a lot more important, however. If she were to believe that he was a comrade of the Young Bloods in his past life, then it's reasonable to ask why he's even here, right? He should be competent enough to hold his own in battle, he doesn't need any further help. Hearing it, Jan scratched the back of his head and explained himself:

"Well... First of all, I came here to recruit you, too - I'm trying to gather a team of people in this city who'd be willing to help me defend it from an incursion - and this city really is in grave danger... And second, of all, well, I-I'm not actually that good. I mean... I can swing a sword and everything, but-"

To show what he meant, Jan extended his hand forward and coalesced his psionic energy into a construct rapier, which he swung across the air for a few seconds before dissipating it. "-well, it's just street brawling experience."

---

Later that Night

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Another day, another set of raids - and this time, they came and went while Renata stayed back at base. The team meeting called in their aftermath brought both good and bad news. The good news is that Jason managed to figure out a clear target which the team could go down and decapitate this drug ring once and for all. The bad news is that, on an unrelated mission, Roy caught a rather bad case of drugged up. Jacob managed to keep him stable, but from the looks of it, they were going to do their next operation without him.

Renata folded her arms, frowning and leaning on the nearest wall. They're going to do the next mission without a clear leader, too... Out of this entire room, aside for her, she wasn't sure who she would pick to have that role. Maybe Mars or Wyatt?.. But both of them were rather... soft. For now, she said nothing - just darted her eyes from one person to another.

Hey, silver lining. If Roy gets carried out of a mission passed out on Casimir's shoulder and I leave a mission victorious, that proves something, doesn't it?