Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Finland SSR]

October 3rd

---

Vince and Zayda

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

So it really was something related to Megan's powers - as soon as the Virgil pressed her disembodied hand back to the arm stump, it glued itself back together, and the girl promptly waved her hand, all while expressing how sweet it was of him to worry over her so much. Jan's face formed a faint pout and he immediately replied:

"Well, you know, it's not every day I get to see someone pop off their hand like it was nothing, what else could I have-"

His speech got suddenly cut off, however, by a poke to his nose, which got him to recoil ever so slightly and rub the tip of his nose. Right, maybe he should just drop that thought for now, it's not like he was going to convince Megan about anything there, anyway... The girl, meanwhile, took a turn towards the gathering demonic hordes in the distance, showing concern and leaning closer to Jan, pleading for the Virgil to protect her. Seeing her worry - or, at least, pretend to worry - Jan struck a smile and enthusiastically replied:

"Well, that's why we've got a team! You don't have to worry, I'll be by your side and so will everyone else." As if on cue, Megan immediately brought up the team they were supposed to be fighting alongside with. "Uh, well, there's not going to be a lot of us, but-"

Jan's psionic senses activated yet again, this time picking up the signatures of two individuals rapidly approaching the nuclear reactor grounds. On cue, a loud roar burst to life, a car making its way towards them. The Virgil soon figured that it must be their teammates coming in - and he could even guess who they could possibly be. So, he closed his eyes for a second, forming a telepathic link between himself, Megan, and the passengers of the car, speaking:

We're up here, in the tower.

---

Mika

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

"Well, kind of, I guess, I can't say I have a lot of experience..." Jan muttered under his breath, almost defending himself from the "accusation" that he knew how to play the guitar. It wasn't something he liked to flout around - not that he wanted to flout anything about himself around and try to take any pride in it... it just didn't feel like he was doing anything exceptional, after all.

Having gotten that out of the way, Mika kept talking, this time bringing up her plans for the sleepover. While Jan didn't really know anything about who this "Ash" was, as soon as she mentioned Kabuto, the Virgil's eyes opened up widely. Mika kept speaking about all the love triangles she's caught note of, the one between Ash, Casimir and some unmentioned third person in particular, and even began to ask Jan for advice.

"I... I don't know. Ca-Kabuto has a girlfriend already, and I don't think her name is Ash," the Virgil explained. Although, to be fair, he didn't recall Casimir ever giving her name... "And, well, love isn't the sort of thing you can force two people into, you know? To find your... well, soulmate, it's something you gotta search for yourself. Trying to get two people together is just going to make both of them feel worse in the end..."

[Tomia]

Angelica
Angelica laid on the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around her girlfriend who laid on top of her. She found herself casually twirling Alexis' hair, content with their relaxing moment.She then heard Alexis speak and raised an eyebrow at the question. "Uh, well she never mentioned it, but I kind of figured it out on my own. You too weren't exactly subtle about it after all. What made you think of that?" She asked, her fingers continuing to twirl through Alexis' hair.

Roy
"Well... That's a Casimir thing. He's Kabuto, if you haven't met him yet. His powers allow him to control insects, so he has kind of an interest in bugs. I don't know what exactly he has in mind for it to be honest, I guess they are... pets or something?" Roy told Whitney as she seemed intent on not letting the subject go. "So, any non-ant related questions?"

Hannah
The strange map that the strange man had given her had started to glow. She had no idea what to expect, but she decided she would follow where it was leading despite common sense dictating that this was a bad idea.When she arrived she realized she had been led to what looked like a power plant. She still didn't know why she was here but as she walked closer to the plant, a voice that sounded like the man who had come to her gym spoke into her head, leading her to a nearby tower.

She made it to the top until she was in a room with a group of strangers, she only recognized Jan.

"So... Someone want to tell me what is going on?"

[Bentus]

Lisette Aveline - The Nefarious Marionette!
Before the Gala

---

Sitting on the carpet by the fireplace, Lisette rested her chin between her knees. She stared at the flickering flames dancing before her, their crackling being the only sound that echoed through the expansive dining room apart from the continued pattering of the rain outside. Clutching the blanket that she draped over her shoulders, she frowned as she continued to try to chase away the chill that had seeped into her bones. After escaping from the humiliating defeat at the studio, before then storming through the rain after Daniel dropped her off, Lisette hadn’t noticed how drenched and cold she was until she’d already started to shiver. Frowning, the girl’s gaze shifted downwards with a frown as she tried to process the events of the past few hours.

Her costume was draped over the ornate armchair that rested just a little bit further from the fire, slowly drying off even though it was still covered in cuts and scrapes from her battle. She ran through the events over and over, trying to figure out if there was anything that she’d had missed, or if there’d been anything that she could’ve done differently. Vainly, she prayed that she’d find something that would solve all her problems in one fell swoop, but her mind inevitably came up blank. For the first time in what felt like years, she felt entirely listless. She had no plan, no way to hold things together as they seemed to fall apart around her. Marionette was a laughing stock after her bluff had supposedly been called, Weatherman was behind bars, and it was only a matter of days - if that - until the police in New York figured out her identity. Pulling her blanket in tighter, Lisette seemed to sink deeper into her knees as she continued to stare into the fire. How could everything have gone wrong so quickly?

Suddenly, the sound of Captain Quake’s theme song blasted through the air. Nearly jumping out of her skin at the disturbance, Lisette blinked herself out of her reverie as she turned to her ringing phone. Her mother’s caller ID was blinking on its screen, as the device slowly vibrated on the floor beside her. Watchin it ring for a few seconds, the girl eventually reached out and answered the call before resting it beside her ear. “Hello?”

“Lisette, darling!” Her mother’s voice called out across the line, the volume initially causing Lisette to wince before she frowned and returned her phone to her ear. The sound of conversations, laughter and plates being shuffled around could be heard behind her mother, though Lisette made no effort to decipher where she was exactly. It could have been a party being hosted by any one of her parents’ friends or social peers, in any number of cities around the world. “Your father and I just found out about the most splendid news. Jordan Scott - you know the CEO of Scott Industries? - is throwing an absolutely extravagant get-together tomorrow. Everyone in the state is going to be there, so it’s important to make a good impression. I’ve already picked out your dress, so why don’t you try it on when it gets to the house?”

Her frown deepening, Lisette listened to her mother’s excitement with disinterest. With everything that was going on, the last thing she wanted was to put on a smile and be pulled alongside her parents to one of their parties. “Do I...do I have to go, mother?” She answered eventually, hesitating as she spoke. She could practically hear her mother’s surprise across the line, and quickly continued to try and come up with an excuse. “I think I’m catching a cold, and I would much rather just stay at -”

“Oh, nonsense.” Lisette’s mother interrupted, laughing as she rolled her eyes at her daughter’s obstinance. “Lisette, sweetie you can take an Advil if you must, but you simply must attend. Your father and I already told Anthony and Melissa that you’ll be coming! It will be far too rude of us to have arranged everything only to arrive without you. Now, I’m sure that you’ll change your mind once you see this dress. It is to die for! You will be absolutely ravishing, and maybe if that McHarris boy is there -”

“Mum!” Lisette exclaimed, feeling a rush of both colour and anger flooding her cheeks. Her exclamation seemed to cut off her mother’s flow, and there were a few moments of silence between them. Shifting uneasily, Lisette bit her lip before she eventually replied quietly. “Mum, you and Dad love me, right? Like, unconditionally. That’s what parents are supposed to do, yeah?”

Taking a sip from her wine glass as she listened to her daughter, Lisette’s mother was caught off guard by the question. Furrowing her brow in confusion at what brought on such a curious thought, she managed to recollect herself as she replied. “What? Of course we love you, darling. You’re our daughter, are you not? Honestly, whatever has gotten on your mind today. Now, I know it’s late, but you should really try to get some rest and freshen up for Scott’s gala tomorrow. It’s going to be thrown in the honor of one of those hero teams that you like so much, the Young Teens or something.”

Something about her mother’s response didn’t quite satisfy the unease in Lisette’s chest, but she brushed it aside as her own worries. She said that she loved her, what else had she wanted? But when the Young Bloods were mentioned, the girl’s features immediately perked up. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration leapt out at her as a glimmer seemed to return to her eyes.

“The Young Bloods will be there?” She asked curiously, the shift in her emotions audible in her tone.

“That’s right! They’ll be the guests of honour, along with some of the Los Angeles Stars if I’m not mistaken. See, I told you that you wouldn’t want to miss it. Now, your father and I have to get back to things. We’ll be home tomorrow evening to pick you up for the ball. Love and kisses!”

Before Lisette could reply, the line went dead, but she wasn’t planning to say anything more anyway. Instead, her mind was racing forwards as she tried to piece together her plan. She knew that she could convince Red. She had to make him understand, and then they could face this all together. Slowly, a grin began to return to Lisette’s features as she turned to look at her drying costume. They hadn’t heard the last of the Marionette, not yet.

The Amazing Ashen Moth!
Wonder Tower

---

Grinning widely, Ash walked briskly through the corridors as she dragged Mika behind her with one of her arms. She’d been eagerly awaiting the other girl’s visit all day, and the mutant had practically raced down to the Tower’s entrance when she’d received her text message saying that she’d arrived. Breathless, Ash had hardly even given her friend a chance to greet her before she’d begun pulling her on an impromptu tour of all of the Tower’s main sights and attractions. Seemingly unaware of the other girl’s luggage and the items she’d brought with her, Ash had dragged her new friend past the Tower’s security. She’d never told Alexis or Wendy that she was having a guest over, but she supposed that her teammates had friends over sometimes - so it had to be okay! Pulling Mika around another bend in the corridor, the mutant suddenly came to a stop as she gestured dramatically at the spacious room with two of her arms.

“And this is the kitchen!” She declared proudly, showing off what was perhaps one of her favourite places in the team’s headquarters. “This is where Cassandra makes most of our meals. But there are also always many snacks here. Every once in a while the whole team will come here for dinner together. It is always very nice when everyone is together with their friends, yes?”

So far, Ash had pulled Mika past the tower’s gym and the garage, but those had truly only been sideshows compared to the kitchen and dining room. Pleased to have the chance to show things off to her friend, Ash’s features suddenly lit up as an idea struck her. “Perhaps during our sleepover we can cook something together? I have always wanted to make the bacon and the eggs!”

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Hearing a sharp knock on her door, Wendy looked up after finishing adjusting the last piece of her new costume. The one piece black bodysuit with light blue highlights had been designed from the ground up with combat in mind. Gone were the facemask, there was no point to it now that everyone knew her name and face. The suit was made out of some new high tech fiber that she was pretty sure came out of Alexis’s workshop, with ceramic plates sewn in over her chest and shoulders.

“New look?” Red asked, noticing the costume as soon as she opened it, his eyebrow raised at the drastic change in appearance.

“Yeah, I thought it was time for a change.” She said, tying her hair back in a ponytail. “No point in hiding behind my mask and hood when everyone already knows my worst secrets, and my last fight showed me that if I was going to stay on the front lines I was going to need a costume meant to be there.”

“I guess that explains why you asked me for a sparring session.”

“Yeah. This new costume is a little…” Wendy’s face reddened a little. “Snug compared to my old one, and I need to make sure I can still move and fight in it. Don’t worry about going easy on me either.”

“Yeah it’s a bit...snug. But don’t worry about it too much, I think the only person who’ll make a big deal out of it is Wonder Boy,” he replied with a small teasing grin on his face. However, the grin soon faded as a nagging thought crossed his mind. “So, how are you holding up after your identity was revealed? I know Naja has been doing everything she can to keep the media from dragging your name through the mud, but God knows the hungry vultures are willing to do anything to get clicks these days.” Red’s voice was filled with a small amount of concern as he crossed his arms across his chest, his eyes curious to see what Wendy’s reaction would be.

“It’s gotten better after we took down that gang running that power drug in our school.” Wendy replied as the two began making their way down to the gym. “I think that won me more than a little street cred. And I started working with a charity that helps abused and neglected kids.” A smile started spreading across her face. “They’ve got me visiting the kids during special events, writing to them, that sort of stuff. I think it’s helping me as much as I’m helping the kids. You really should see some of the letters they’ve written to me.”

“I’m honestly more worried about Roy.” She added. “Ever since our run in with Flo- Ares, he has been… driven. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Well Ares did put you in a coma for a couple days.” Red reminded Wendy. “I’m sure that got him spooked. As much as Wonder Boy likes to pretend that he’s always calm and collected, it didn’t take much to see that he was worried to death about you.”

“Which is what I’m worried about.” Wendy replied, quickening her step as they got to the gym. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if he got himself killed because he was too busy watching my back to worry about his own.” Walking into the gym, she stood on the far side of it and took a combat stance. “So like I said, don’t go easy on me.”

Shaking his head, Red decided to save the remaining questions he had until after the match. “Alright, but don’t say you didn’t ask for it,” he said with a small shrug, cracking his knuckles briefly before going on the attack.

Without warning, Red quickly closed the distance with two short strides, lifting up his front leg and delivering a sharp front kick directed towards the upper thigh of Wendy. The impact was as harsh as it sounded, nearly sending Wendy down towards the mat as she barely managed to limp backwards several feet into a fighting stance.

“First rule of fighting: Always expect your opponent's strikes to come where you’re least prepared,” Red spoke up, his fists raised in front of his face in a protective stance. “Your fists aren’t the only weapons at your disposal.”

Continuing on the offensive, Red kept on the pressure as he lifted his leg once more off the ground, only to suddenly drop towards the ground in a sweeping kick towards Wendy’s ankles as the girl had flinched up in preparation for what she had expected to be another frontal kick. This time she was unable to keep herself from falling, as all of the weight that had been on her back foot was kicked out from under her, sending her sprawling down onto her back. By the time she had realized what had happened, Red had already assumed a mount position above her, a fist cocked high in the air that remained unmoving as a somewhat disappointed look filled his face.

“Second rule of fighting: Don’t get complacent. Just because your opponent has shown one-”

Using Red lecture as an opening, Wendy grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled downwards, whipping his head into hers for a makeshift headbut. Fighting through the daze she tucked her legs in, landing a kick to Red’s abdomen that sent him rolling onto his back. Rolling to her own feet, she quickly sprung forward to continue her attack. Ducking under a punch aimed at her head. She landed to quick counter jabs on Red midsection, dropping his head down right into her rising knee. “Like that.” Wendy asked with a smirk as Red went tumbling to the ground again.

Getting up from one knee, Red wiped at his nose, glancing down to see a small trickle of blood smeared across his hand. Looking back up to Wendy, an amused grin filled his face as he wiped his hand onto his shirt. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Holding his hands in front of his face once more in his fighting stance, Red closed the distance between the two and immediately began launching a flurry of strikes towards Wendy. While they were mostly intended to be mere distractions to keep her busy, Red couldn’t help but feel a small amount of surprise as Wendy seemed to be keeping up with his assault, albeit with the occasional attack managing to land. Looks like Wonder Boy has been doing a good enough job with her so far, Red thought to himself as he waited for the right moment to go for the next planned attack he had in store.

Lowering his guard slightly after a series of punches failed to connect, Red watched Wendy’s eyes widen as she saw an opportunity to switch from the defensive into the offensive. Red’s own eyes drifted towards her back foot, watching as he saw a slight shift in weight begin to travel through her entire body. A split second later, a sharp jab flew in the direction of his unguarded jaw with the intention of delivering a shattering blow.

“Gotcha.”

Too late, Red’s words alerted Wendy that she had fallen into his trap as she tried to pull back her punch. However it was too late, as Red dipped his head to the side of her oncoming fist, turning and driving his shoulder into her chest with an impact that forced the wind out of Wendy’s lung. Reaching upwards, Red latched onto both Wendy’s upper bicep and wrist, pressing the back of his hip into her groin as he flung Wendy up and over his back, the girl landing with a harsh thud into the mats below.

Choking for breath as Red placed one foot on her, just keeping enough pressure to keep her from wiggling out, Wendy felt herself becoming light headed. “I see that Wonder Boy’s been, and you’re a lot better now than the last time we fought during our team bonding exercises-” The fog clouding Wendy’s mind cleared, causing her to blink in surprise as Red was replaced by an image of Ares standing over her, sword in hand. Without a second though she swung her left leg up into the back of his knee, causing Ares to bend just enough for her to plant her foot in his groin. Rolling out of the way as he fell forward in pain, Wendy didn’t waste any time jumping on his back and landing two quick punches to the back of his head before wrapping her arms around his throat.

“Wendy..” She heard Ares call to her in Red’s voice. “Let go.” Blinking again, she realized it was Red she had in a sleeper hold. Letting go and jumping off of him, Wendy collapsed into a ball as she fought to control her breathing, her body shaking as sweat dripped off her hair and forehead.

Letting out a series of choked coughs as he rubbed at his throat, Red initially felt a sense of anger rise within him, upset that Wendy had gone far beyond what was acceptable in a normal sparring match, even if the two had been going at one another with intensity. However, before he could direct a string of curses at her, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

“Wendy? Wendy? Wendy!”

Getting no initial response, Red reached out with a hand and shook her by the shoulders with a fair amount of force. The sudden jostling seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she was in, prompting Red to lean forward and stare at her, a concerned look in his eyes.

“Wendy, are you okay? You lost it a little back there.”

Wendy’s eyes went wide when she felt Red’s hands on her shoulders. “Im sorry Red… I just… Ares was standing over me and…” She buried her head in her chest, wrapping her arms around herself.

Red stared blankly at the girl for a few tense moments, unsure of what to say. It didn’t take long for him to begin to understand what was going on, given that he was all too familiar himself with what was happening to the girl. Taking in a short breath, Red first calmed himself down before giving the girl’s shoulders a small squeeze.

“Hey hey hey, it’s alright. Ares isn’t here. You’re safe right now, okay?” Red’s eyebrows furrowed as he lowered his head so that the girl would be forced to look directly at him. Studying her expression for a few moments, Red tried to do his best to give the girl a reassuring smile as he gave her another squeeze. “You just kicked my ass, you should feel happy about that, right?” he said in an attempt to use humor to defuse the situation, his voice however faltering slightly as he spoke.

“I know Red. It’s just… When I fought him, I didn’t just lose. The only reason I’m still alive was he wanted to wait until Roy was there to see him cut my head off.” Wendy felt another shiver run down her spine. “He knows about the two of us, I have no clue how but he does, and I’m not going to be safe until we take him down.”

Red bit at the corner of his lips, his attempts at defusing the situation having clearly failed as Wendy remained visibly shaken by her recounting of her memories. When it came with dealing with traumatic events, he knew that the only options available to someone was either to bury it as much as mentally possible, the easier but more painful of the options, or to confront the issue headon, a solution that while could very easily go wrong was undeniably the best option. While he knew what his response to such issues were, he knew he couldn’t do the same to someone like Wendy. Jesus, this couldn’t have happened in front of someone like Alexis or Kiris, could it have? Red thought to himself with a small grimace as he took in a deep breath before speaking.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty fucked up situation. I’m not even going to try and sugarcoat it here by saying that it won’t just be Ares who is going to use that information against you. Every asshole looking for a chink in the team’s armor won’t hesitate to take advantage of your relationship with Roy. Hell, there’s a reason why you don’t often see a stable relationship come out of a hero team, at least one that doesn’t end in someone crying.”

Red paused for a brief moment upon saying this, his thoughts turning towards Yoshiro and what Marionette had done to her.

“Sometimes...sometimes it’s better to not have those kinds of relationships for that reason alone, even if your really, really care about that person.” Letting out a soft sigh, Red shook the weight of guilt that had begun to build on him aside, not wishing to set his own personal issues in front of Wendy’s. “From a completely objective point of view, your best option would be to completely ignore every feeling you have for Roy outside of his role as a team member. That way no one can take advantage of either of you by using the other as a soft spot to exploit.”

Although his expression had turned into that of a more somber look as he had said this, it suddenly changed into a defiant smirk as he gave the girl a small smack on the back.

“But hell, if you ask me, anyone who could do that doesn’t deserve to be called a hero in my book. And if you ask me, or anyone else on this team, there’s no question as to what you are, no matter what you did in the past. That’s the whole reason you even asked me to train with you, after all, right? To make sure that whenever Ares or any other asshole out there tries to take advantage of that weak spot again, that they end up biting on more they could chew?” After all, you damn sure know how to hit the weak spots already, based on personal experience,” Red finished, a small roll in his eyes as he referenced the earlier strike to his groin that was still experiencing the aftershocks of the impact.

A small sigh escaped Wendy’s lips as she let out a chuckle. “Great motivational speech Red. I guess I’m just letting him get to me since I haven’t been able to find a single clue about this guy outside of what Roy’s told me.” She shook her head. “This guy’s a ghost even compared to me… and to be honest I’m not even surehere is a safe place for me, nevermind the school or anywhere else in San Diego.”

Getting up, Wendy began making her way to the door. “Thanks Red, and trust me, you and Yoshi will get your happy ending even if me and Alexis have to lock you two in a room until you kiss and make up.” Pausing at the doorway, she turned back to Red, the smile no longer on her face. “And please don’t mention what just happened to Roy. I was telling you the truth when I said he already has enough on his plate.”

Resting on one knee, Red couldn’t help but let out a series of stumbled mutters as he first took in Wendy’s comment about Yoshiro. However, before he could manage to let out a complete sentence, the sudden removal of humor from Wendy’s face caused him to suddenly calm himself as he hesitantly gave Wendy a small nod.

“I’ll make sure to keep Wonder Boy as clueless as ever, as long as you promise not to do anything to stupid,” he finally managed to answer, his cheerful smirk from before likewise being removed. Suddenly finding himself unable to look towards the girl, he felt a small flush of heat fill his face as his final words came out soft.

“And thanks, Wendy. It means a lot.”

[Finland SSR]

Hannah

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

The demonic armies were rapidly engorging in size - already, several hundred demons had crawled their way out of the depths, of various shapes and sizes, ranging from annoying little crab-like buggers the size of a puppy, to muscular goliaths up to three meters tall and powerful enough to punch through walls. Ordered to stay on standby, they merely frolicked in the wide field surrounding the innermost reactor, although a few were already climbing onto the various smaller buildings surrounding the complex. And yet...

"This doesn't look like a city conquering army to me. Hell, I think the police surrounding this complex would put a pretty serious dent in 'em." Floyd commented, smirking, as he watched the assembling demons while leaning by a nearby wall with his arms folded. Meridiana merely scoffed, placed her hands on her hips and replied:

"You'd be right if that were my goal." Her eyes locked onto the distance, catching one of the watch towers surrounding the complex in particular. Do my senses deceive me, or?.. "But there's something in this complex which I need, and I'd rather have the mortals distracted while I'm searching for it."

"You know, if you're here for the uranium, you could probably get it on the dark web with only half the hassle..."

"What, that-I'm not here for the uranium, people piss uranium in Hell, you idiot! I'm here for something a lot more important."

Meridiana suddenly swung her hand across the air, a message for the entirety of the demon horde to rise and begin their charge.

Back in the watch tower, seeing Hannah make her way to the rest of the team got Jan to release a sigh of relief. Now that all of them were here, he could finally explain exactly what the five of them were going to do.

"Someone's taken over the nuclear reactor and is summoning and army of demons around it." the Virgil explained simply, staring towards the depths of the complex. Between the main reactor and the watch tower was a gap of about half a kilometer, scattered with buildings - warehouses, research facilities, secondary complexes and all - and a few layers of fence. "Whatever they might be planning, it cannot possibly be good news. What we're going to have to do is make our way to the core of the complex somehow and stop whoever is casting these Hell gates open. As soon as they're beaten, the gates should close..."

A powerful roar suddenly ringed across the entire complex, hundreds of demons screaming their vocal chords out in unison, and all collectively rode out. A swarm flooded out into everywhich direction, punching through every gate in their tracks, ripping fences into pieces, and starting to make its way towards the police perimeter as an overwhelming torrent.

"Stay calm!" Jan yelled out and stepped back as soon as the first of the demons ran past the watch tower - only a few of the fastest hounds at first, and soon the entire horde. None of them were paying attention to what was happening at the top, thankfully, which gave Jan hope that maybe all they need to do is just wait it out to clear the path.

That hope was dashed when it became clear that whoever was in charge of the summoning knew of their presence - and made this known with a powerful fireball straight into one of the legs of the tower. An explosion rocketed the structure, the beam ended up bent, weakened and broken - a few seconds later, the entire tower was collapsing, straight into the demon hordes.

Oh, that's no good...

"Let's go!" the Virgil called out, immediately running towards one of the windows and blasting it open with telekinetic force. The scattered buildings before them were probably their best best if they didn't want to get mauled by demons...

[Absolon-7]

The Young Bloods’ Last Laugh!
October 9th

---

The Young Bloods’ Last Laugh! Part 1

Casimir scoffed at the newcomer while avoiding eye (helmet?) contact with the woman dressed as a witch while he dared to take a single step towards Red Samson. He quickly went into his own pose to point at them by keeping his chest parallel to the trio and having his hand form a gun, “Your wrath is nothing compared to the asskicking you're going to get!”

Viviana repeatedly looked between her own group while clenching her hands at her own chest as she remained baffled by what just happened. These people came out of nowhere and just took the trinket Casimir wanted! How meaner could they be! She scowled at the other fellow brunette that had winked at her boyfriend but she sighed before speaking to them, “You know, you guys weren’t here but we worked pretty hard to get it so maybe you can give it back? Or like you know it’s clobbering time?”

“Screw asking!” Casimir leaped into the air and in a high speed spin he landed right in front of Red Samson in a handstand to rapidly dishout several kicks at his sides. He then quickly flicked his left wrist out at the brunette witch to shoot a strand of webbing at her ankle.

Much to the woman’s chagrin, the webbing hit its mark, causing her to trip. Before falling over, however, she hurled the Star Chip away to avoid having it taken by the heroes. “Scrawl!” She shouted, before suddenly vanishing in a puff of colorful smoke just like the cat from earlier.

The hooded girl turned around upon hearing the call, and held her hand out to catch the artifact, but before it landed in her palm, the Star Chip suddenly began floating away with increasing speed until it reached the palm of a certain blonde heroine, who had a smirk on her face.

“Nice try, but you’re not going to steal from us that easily.” The genius girl proclaimed.

Scowling, the hooded girl grabbed a small spiral notepad from one of her pockets and tore a page from it before tossing it at Alexis. Much to her surprise, the page suddenly morphed into a strange, poorly drawn black sphere with a striped stick growing on top of it. On pure reflex, she caught the sphere as if she was in a game of dodgeball.

“The heck is this?” The blonde questioned, before the object suddenly blew up in her arms. The explosion sent her flying across the air until she comically crashed into a wall, while the Star Chip fell to the ground, only to be picked up by a black cat with a witch hat afterwards.

Some distance behind them, Red Samson used his arms to block the barrage of kicks that the hero Kabuto sent towards him, before reaching down and gripping the strand of web connected to his wrist and using it to swing Casimir over his head like a flail and smashing him into the ground with enough force to leave a sizable dent on it.

“You were given fair warning, young man. Now face the consequences of your choice.” The red-clad man spoke as he approached menacingly.

“Good luck, assholes!” Scrawl shouted at Casimir and Viviana from beyond the doorway. “You can’t hurt him, he’s the strongest man in the world!” She stated, before turning around and running off with the black cat in tow.

“The fuck are you yelling that at him for? I’m right here!” shouted Casimir at Scrawl as he jumped back to his feet and pointed at himself with his thumb, “As for you…”

Casimir rushed at Red Samson with both fists up to his head like a shield. He quickly sidestepped between sides of the villain like a flickering light before sending forward an explosive left hook at the villain’s temple. However, the man in red swiftly brought up his arm to block the bone-shattering blow and retaliated by sending his knee forward into Casimir’s gut before backing away with an impressive backflip, landing in a perfect pose with his arms crossed once more.

“I applaud your dedication boy, but your efforts are in vain. For as long as my protege’s faith in me is unwavering, I cannot be defeated!” Red Samson boasted proudly, before adopting a fighting stance and daring Kabuto to attack him again. Meanwhile, the chase after the Star Chip continued.

“Get back here!” shouted Viviana at the two women, or cat and woman, who began fleeing out of the factory. She pulled back one arm before flinging it outwards at a great distance until she latched onto the rim of the door they had earlier busted in. She began retracting herself turning into a high speed projectile. She crashed into the steel container they had passed right outside the door but harmlessly bounced off. She got on her feet and proceeded to throw out her arm like a lasso at Scrawl’s neck.

“Shit!” The hooded girl croaked as the arm wrapped around her neck and threatened to pull her away. “Mysticat, run!” She said, promptly released the black cat, who continued running off in hopes of escaping.Then, she slapped another page of her notepad onto Viviana’s arm. Right on cue, the page disappeared and several nondescript black spiders with poorly drawn legs began crawling across and biting the brunette’s arm, staying well away from their creator.

Viviana screamed and immediately released Scrawl in order to try and get rid of the spiders, which allowed her to fish a pencil out of her pocket and hastily draw something on her notepad. Once done, she tossed it at Chicle, causing several bombs to appear, nearly identical to the one she used against Alexis - albeit each with its own unique deformities - but smaller in size. Before they reached her, however, Makeshift herself landed in front of her teammate and sent out a kinetic pulse from her gauntlet, scattering the bombs.

“Chicle! The cat’s got the Star Chip, go after her! I’ll handle this one.” She said, glaring at Scrawl.

“Got it!” complied Viviana as she began running towards the cat in the hat, “Get back here thief!”

Viviana’s arms shot forward wildly like out of control vines and the ends transformed into two big clamps big enough to wrap around the cat's torso. The first clamp went straight for Mysticat to wrap around the black cat and reel the form back in while the other hand would mimic the action but then suddenly slam forward to create a short stop gap with the clamp.

The black cat was promptly pulled back towards Chicle, but just before the girl’s arm had fully retracted, smoke once more appeared and obscured the heroine’s sight as the cat transformed back into a brunette in a witchy costume, resulting in her slamming into Viviana with all the momentum from before and all the weight of her current form. The two girls tumbled across the ground, and with another puff of smoke, several cats with hats replaced Mysticat and scattered in separate directions, only one of them holding the Star Chip.

Meanwhile, back inside the factory, Casimir staggered two steps back as he reeled back from the attack. He gripped his stomach as he sharply looked forward to glare at the villain. In drawn out huffs of breath he said “Don’t get ahead of yourself bitch! You didn't kick me in the gut! I smothered your knee with my stomach!”

Casimir rushed forward again before stopping right in front of Red Samson. He unleashed a fury of ballistic punches all over the center of the villain’s body to test out his defense before stepping back and dishing out a guillotine-like low kick at the side of Red Samson’s knee. He’d follow the attack up with a strong jab right at Red Samson’s head. The man in red deftly blocked the teenager’s punches, only to find himself falling to one knee after taking Kabuto’s kick directly.

However, the jab that followed was swiftly blocked by the villain, who grabbed onto his foe’s wrist to keep him from moving. Then, rising from the ground, he delivered a swift and brutal uppercut straight to Casimir’s chin .

“How crass and immature. I’ve heard better insults from a nun!” The man boomed.

Casimir’s eyes widened as he stared straight at the incoming fist. It struck him dead on and slammed his head back quite far as he faintly felt the taste of blood in his mouth from seemingly biting himself. He used the opportunity of the far reaching attack to tug his arm downwards and instead of trying to escape from the man’s grip he twisted his wrist enough to get space for his own fingers to viciously grip Red Samson’s own wrist locking the two in a duel of stag beetles.

“And I’ve heard better insults from mutes!” shouted Casimir as he brought his knee up to slam into Red Samson’s elbow while using his free arm to shoot a string of webbing onto Red Samson’s face.

The man grunted in pain as the knee made contact with his elbow, though it held strong and the silk to his face didn’t seem to bother him. The man guffawed at Casimir’s insult while suddenly pulling on his grappled arm to bring him closer, his free hand shooting up to his neck as he lifted the teenager off the ground. “You like saying absurd things, don’t you boy?”

Meanwhile, once she had gotten back up from the ground, Viviana was looking frantically at how many cats had suddenly appeared with her head clasped between her hands. She turned from one to the next and the one after trying to spot any difference among them but if she stared any longer then she’d get away!

“Oh screw it!,” said Viviana clenching her fists.

She dropped onto the ground low enough to be on all fours but her left knee rapidly twisted around to create a large coil and once it went up her entire calf she released the pressure to rapidly spin around in place like a top. However, her free leg would extend farther and farther each second from where she was in an aim to land a strike anywhere in the fleeing crowd of cats around her.

The sweeping kick was effective, and no less than three cats were knocked aside as Viviana’s leg slammed into them and then followed its course. One of them immediately changed into a busty brunette as she rolled away, dropping the Star Chip. She was about to get up and grab the trinket to make a run for it once more, but before she was able to do so, one of Alexis’ shock darts hit her, knocking her out.

“Chicle, take the Star Chip and go back inside! Casimir’s respiratory rate is dropping!” The blonde girl shouted from the skies. While Viviana did her best to catch Mysticat, Alexis had been fighting against Scrawl’s increasingly bizarre drawings, from a colony of bats to a giant spider that tried to eat her. Dodging a few baseballs launched from a poorly drawn cannon, she swooped down towards her foe. “Don’t worry about these two, I’ve got it from here!”

“Really? Well alrighty. Chicle to the rescue!” cheered Viviana as she went back inside the factory.

She was met by the sight of Casimir being hoisted up in the air by Red Samson by neck would be really putting the squeeze on him. What could she do? One wrong move and the villain would get pissed enough to pop him! Well she’d have to do something to get the villain’s attention but what exactly? A lightbulb went off in her head as she placed her fist onto her open palm.

“Hey loser! Don’t think you’re all that!” shouted Viviana at Red Samson, “My man right there is the best and strongest hero in the world! Go Kabuto go!”

The abrupt shouting from Viviana cheering on was seemingly enough to inspire a second wind within Casimir with the urge for victory burning up inside him. With his newfound strength he tightly gripped on Red Samson’s wrist digging in with his steel grip. Casimir then aimed a devastating kick right at Red Samson’s visor. The force was enough to stagger him back and let Casimir drop to the ground. He coughed all he could as he could feel the burning in his lungs from the villain’s grasp preventing breathing. Ultimately he ignored it and rushed forward before Red Samson recomposed himself. He ran a circle around the villain and ended up right behind him. With one last immense front kick, Casimir sent Red Samson flying out in a rush of air through one of the factory’s old windows, shattering it, so he’d land near his allies.

“Fuck that guy was a maniac,” coughed out Casimir rubbing his throat.

“You’re one to talk to Mr. Immortal Kabuto,” said Viviana, poking his forehead before she tossed the Star Chip , “Here’s that little doohickey we came here for.”

“Finally! This thing better be worth it on my bike,” said Casimir catching it and immediately putting in a pocket within his belt, “Let’s go help Alexis! The day isn’t won yet!”

The two would run back outside hoping to help out Alexis with her battle and Casimir would front flip forward to then dramatically point at Scrawl. Viviana would attempt her own front flip a few seconds later after taking her cue to mimic his pointing.

“The mighty Kabuto has bested your warrior with his superior might!” shouted Casimir.

“And the timely intervention of Chicle!” said Viviana albeit a few seconds off from immediately following up.

“Surrender now or face the might of not one but three Young Bloods!” finished off Casimir.

“Guys, she’s down for the count.” Alexis pointed out as she held the unconscious white-haired girl up by the neck of her hoodie, which had fallen back, revealing that she was younger than Casimir and Viviana. “Anyway, I recognize these guys from TV, they’re the Last Laugh. Let’s get them back to the cops and we can get them added to the Young Bloods’ list of victories.”

“I wish I could let you do that, young lady, but I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

The three teenagers immediately turned to look at the source of the voice, and saw a well-dressed man holding Mysticat’s unconscious form, and a masked young man next to him, both of them standing in front of what appeared to be a giant set of double wooden doors in the middle of the area. The man snapped his fingers and suddenly, a massive flock of pigeons descended upon the Young Bloods, pecking at them and obscuring their view.

When the crowd of birds dissipated, the two villains were gone, alongside their unconscious allies.

“What the hell was that?” stated Casimir looking where the new villains had been before crossing his arms confidently, “Well it's still a victory. Damn villains.”

“I mean they did escape so…” said Viviana trailing off at the last letter, “Like that big door thing was some getaway thing.”

“Sure but they’re all unconscious. That’s what makes a fight,” nodded Casimir.

“I guess. Oh let’s get that gizmo installed so you don’t drop it later,” said Viviana looking away.

“Sure...what do you mean drop? Nevermind,” said Casimir before turning to the short blond, “Are you up for it now, Alexis? Can’t imagine you’d need the manual.”

“Yeah yeah, I can do without the manual. Now let’s get out of here before another clown decides to drop by.” The blonde replied as she rubbed her temples.

“Good to hear it-” Casimir was interrupted by a coughing fit as his neck was still sore from being choked, “Dumb villains…”

“Oh guys!,” said Viviana as they went to install the Star Chip into Casimir’s motorcycle, “Let’s go to McDonald’s or In-N-Out afterwards!”

And thus the Young Bloods’ escapade into the desert had come to an end with their prize safely in their hands but a score of sore body parts all around.

[Solisian Union]

Yasha and Renato

---

Several days after...

---

"There can be no tyrants when there are no slaves."

Jose Rizal

"My grandparents bowed to the Americans and sought to learn from them. My parents sought to be them."

Alex Tizon

---

The battles one fought in the twists, turns, and turmoil of American cities were unlike the battles one fought in the murky waters, the muddy paths, and the miserable conditions of Filipino countrysides. And that one realized that it was important to keep one's self in the time and place, the whole context, of the American arena. That one was Yasha. But to her superiors and her peers, she was known merely as Marksman. Sometimes, she was called Sharpshooter. Either way she's determined by others, they all agree she was one hell of a shooter.



She just woke up, trying to make sure of her surroundings. Her dark eyes opened as she turned from the window, a gentle grumble coming out of her mouth as she scratched the back of her head. Her head was aching. Her arms and the rest of her body too. Yasha narrowed her eyes afterwards, left hand reaching out towards the curtains, twisting something until the light from the outside was dimmed well enough. Then she stood up from the bed, groaning angrily at the pain she felt coming from her legs.

Tangina.

Ga pamaol ko.

Yasha sighed and looked around. Small table near the window, a mirror at the far end of the room, cheap-looking walls, a ceiling fan above the bed, fucked up sheets, a pillow that's dropped at the foot of the bed itself, and her gear. Thankfully, her weapons should be somewhere else; locked up, she thought, and the ammunition stored elsewhere. Standard way of doing things.

There seemed to be a closet at the corner away from the only door around. She chose to walk over to the table, rifle through the drawers, and locate whatever stuff she had. And her head, though aching like she had been through a terrible round of Counter Strike at some cheap internet cafe with horrifying ping while a bunch of fools were arguing about Pacquiao and Mayweather for the tenth time, worked well enough to check her list off.

ID. Wallet. Phone. Spare bra and panties in a black net bag. Holster, two magazines, some loose 9mm rounds, and her Baretta. A smile came to her face. At least her buddies left her with her favorite piece. Important too; what if someone thought they would like to break in and mess with her, a trainee who just got out of the playground for the agents of one of the finest metahuman law enforcement agencies of the USA? Yasha sighed at that and kept rifling through the drawers. There's a pair of sunglasses that one of her buddies bought her. She got it out for a closer look. Looks like Ray-Bans. Not too bad. At least they look sleek and fit for the job. A blush came over her as she kept searching.

Extra documents from home, all kept in a plastic envelope. A laminated picture of herself surrounded by her old friends when she was still in the army. One moment to look at it. Another to take it and put it back into her wallet. There's some a bar of soap, a tube of toothpaste, a disposable toothbrush, and shampoo. A folded note.

Yasha took all that stuff and put it on the top before she stepped away with the note, unfolding it as she walked back to the bed and sat down. She read it over.

Seems like it's from Emma.

"Hey, Yash~

Gotcha a room so you could rest up after all that shit you did. You impressed a lot of people. Mary's got you covered for a bit of time to take a break, and she's trusted me to get you to my place for now. She's got some stuff to handle at her place, and I couldn't just leave you where we were; got word that they're doing some cleaning.

I'm out for a situation out to the east, but don't worry; all your stuff is at the room or at my locker. You'll know where it is. Key's in the closet. Oh, and she's not letting you or me bring out the heavy stuff. Since you're officially with us, some of your babies gotta stay over at the buildings. Just your piece and the other one are around.

I'll be back at 1900. Hope I'll see you before I get back from where I am. Just give me a call if you gotta. In the meanwhile, you've got all the time you need. Just don't forget about locking up and all. I also let your other friends at the place where you stayed over before know that you're with me. They like you too ^_^"

Right.

The Filipina sighed and pocketed the note. She got the soap, shampoo, brush, and paste. Then she went over to the closet, took the keys and a bath towel, and got out. She walked down the corridor and found the door to the bathroom. She got herself a shower and then dried herself before getting back to her room. She changed into her spare bra and panties and put on a pair of running shoes, a silver top (no sleeves), a pair of khaki shorts, and a blue baseball cap. She made sure to pocket her wallet and her holster, putting on a jacket. Won't be too hot out hopefully.

She checked the time. It was just 0530. Quite early.

She checked her stuff again, then herself, went out, got over to the locker, got her other piece, locked it up, got out, locked up her friend's place, and walked down the street to get some food. She was hungry, and she didn't want to bother asking Emma about food at her place.

---

She got herself through safely. Nobody bothered her, and things seemed quiet. Not too many people out. That was a relief. At least she didn't have to worry as much as she did when she was in the cities of Mindanao or the rest of the Philippines. San Diego, to her, seemed incredibly different. Despite the stories some of her buddies told her, and despite tales passed down to her by returning OFWs and FilAms and what not, this city wasn't full of crime. Well, for now. And she'd like it that way for her morning.

Then her stomach growled. She felt her hands shake a bit. A brief spell of dizziness came around her but she caught herself. She was lucky that she was alone; she didn't want to be caught by a stranger for being hungry. Yes, she had been walking for a while but that didn't really get to her. Much of her fatigue came from the weeks of training and exercising and learning more about American weapons and ammunition and among other things. She also had to polish her English skills, read up on San Diego laws and culture, get a handle on crime plus individuals and places of interest, and, most obviously, meet with Mary and then get in touch with the teams that were set up. All this tired her out especially when she had to make use of her powers from time to time.

At least she had Emma and the rest of her friends. Monochrome was interested in her. There were hopes that she would soon be accepted as one of them after her training. All that hard work. Just a few more weeks, several more hours, and she'd make it. Most likely, she would make it.

But right now...food. And water, too. She wished she had drank something before she left Emma's place.

The good news was...there was some fast food nearby. She quickly collected herself and headed over there, stomach quiet again. Hopefully McDonalds will get her up and running good again.

---

"Finally," she told herself, a smile appearing on her face after she found a place to sit down and enjoy her meal. A Big Mac Meal. It was just for about five dollars. That and some water; she didn't want any soda. She was on her own there, munching on her burger or sipping water from her cup, until she looked up and found a naga sliding up to the counter, attracting the attention of the cashiers who had never seen anyone like him. Even Yasha was surprised!
The Filipina stopped eating to look at the naga as he made an order for a Big Breakfast, got it, and slid over to a table close to her own. She saw that he was dressed well. He had a polo shirt on and didn't wear a hat. He had good hair, some big earrings, and light eyes. He also seemed like he's a student. He's got a backpack on.

The naga noticed her and smiled, giving her a gentle wave. The Filipina waved back nervously.

She said, "Hey there. You're a naga."

The boyish naga nodded and said, "Yes I am! I'm from the Philippines." He noticed her accent. It sounded so close to home. He beamed at her and said, "Hey, you must be from the Philippines too, right?"[/tab]

"Y-Yeah," she answered him, a stiff chuckle coming out of her before she paused. She then nodded at him. She wanted to try something. "Maka sabot ka sa akoa?"

"Oo!" The naga said, nodding quite quickly at her. He seemed to forget about his breakfast for now. "Maka sabot ko sa imoha. Taga CDO pud ka?"

"Oo. Taga diyan ko. Ikaw pud?"

"Taga Balingasag ko."

"Ah," she said, realizing that this boy was from the same province but not exactly from her own hometown. She decided to switch. "I see. Well, that's all right. Quite surprising to see you here. Are you a student? You're quite young."

The naga nodded. He gently glanced to his food and picked up his tray, getting off his seat. Yasha noticed this and nodded at him, gesturing at the seat in front of her. He smiled at her and sat there. Now they were together at the same table.

"Thanks. Yeah, I'm a student. I was just getting something to eat before I get back to school."

"Ah, all right. Are you the only one around here or do you have family in the States?"

"Yeah!" He chuckled at her before he dug at his food with his fork and knife. "I'm with my family; we moved out of the Philippines and got here. My grandparents are around here so we're fine."

"Ah really?" Yasha said. She blinked at him before she took a bite out of her burger. She got that down before she continued to speak to him. "How are you doing around here?"

The kid shrugged and told her, "I'm all right. We're doing okay. What about you?"

Yasha chuckled nervously. Then she sighed and told him, "Just me. Family's back home."

"Are you an OFW?"

She shook her head. "No," she told him, "I'm not. Decided to live here. I got stuff to do."

"Such as?"

Yasha paused, then looked at him sweetly and shrugged. She took another bite, then a sip of water, and told him, "Stuff that we all have to do, kid. I can't easily tell you, but here's a little something: I'm just helping around."

The naga looked at her for a moment, then nodded and decided to keep on eating. "Okay," he just said.

The two went on eating until they were both finished. The naga was about to get up with his tray and leftovers when Yasha gestured at him and shook her head. He raised an eyebrow at her but realized that she was offering to handle it herself. She got what he had, stood up, and went off to put away the trays and the leftovers. Then she came back to him.

"Here's to hoping you study well. Quite lucky for you and your family to get in here."

"No big deal. Thank you...um..."

The lady chuckled at him and gave him a pat on the right shoulder. He seemed taller and bigger, but he was quite young. She supposed that it made him happy to see another Filipino around, especially at a time as early as this. "Call me Yasha, kid." She then let go of him and asked, "You got a pen and paper?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"In case you need a friend. Mga kababayan kita. I'm giving you my contact number. A kid like you has to have a phone, right?"

The naga nodded. Yasha smiled and watched him grab his notebook and a pen from his case. She gently took it from him, flipped to an empty page, wrote down her number, and gave him back his things. The naga smiled at her and was about to speak when Yasha turned around and started to get out of the place, saying, "See you around, kid. You take care."

[Segral]

Whitney Alvord
October 8th

OK, so there was a guy named Casimir, also known by the slightly more familiar name Kabuto, and he had a...thing (?) for bugs. She knew who Kabuto was (after all, who didn't?), but the bug thing was a new revelation. From what she had seen from the occasional news clip that made its way into her feed, his usual preference was just to punch skulls in, maybe throw a few webs here and there. But ant-breeding? It was...a little weird, but whatever, maybe they were useful for something. Spying, maybe? Surveillance? After all, very few people noticed ants crawling around, they were perfect spies. But why an entire room of ants? Whatever, she was making mountains out of molehills. Ant farms out of burrows. Beehives out of honeycombs. Whatever other insect this Kabuto guy was into.

"Kabuto, huh..." Whitney mused to herself thoughtfully, appearing to ponder over her thoughts.

"Probably a fuckin' weeb."

Roy's voice snapped her back out of her thoughts, asking if she had any non ant-related questions. Well, how was she supposed to have non-ant related questions if ants were the only thing worth questioning? Agh, she needed to stop focusing on ants! Why the hell was it so weird? Lots of people had weird hobbies, it wasn't that much different from stamp-collecting or coin collecting...although there were very few people who dedicated entire rooms to their stamps and coins. Seriously, what was next, a termite hill underneath the kitchen sink? It was definitely possible by this point. After all, if there was a room-size ant farm, a moth girl carrying a lamp bigger than her with the pride of a warrior that Whitney had seen while leaving the tower one night, and a high-tech lab where teenagers who hadn't seen the sun since the Second Crusade had developed robotic helper fairies and mech warriors...yeah, maybe there was a termite hill under the sink. Maybe she should ask if there were any more insect colonies around the Tower to avoid? No, that was an ant-related question. She could ask if there were any specific characters around the Tower to avoid...no, that would be rude.

"These people are so bizarre, I've gone speechless." Whitney thought to herself with amusement, smirking slightly as the gray metal doors of the elevator slid shut. Or maybe she was the bizarre one here, the average person that didn't belong among her more...enlightened colleagues. Either way, she had so many questions to ask, but none that felt appropriate at the moment, and none that would result in a satisfying answer, given that she had been thinking about ants for what felt like an eternity by this point.

"Nope, no other questions." Whitney lied, nervously folding her arms and glancing up at the little electronic display that indicated the floor number as the gray doors slid shut. "What's next up?"

---

Carter Graystone
Chapter October 24th: An Old Friend

Carter's face broke into a grin as Wyatt picked up quickly, his familiar voice a little bit grainy, but still recognizable. For a call across an entire ocean, it was pretty decent. The draconian wonder seemed excited too, as he was currently busy puking up a stream of word-vomit that involved something related to...druggies, and...supervillains, and...Ares...wait, Ares?! They got to fight Ares?!

"No way, I can't believe they got to fight Ares, the Ares!" Carter seethed, his stomach practically turning with jealousy. "Man, I should've stayed a couple months longer. I missed the tournament, and missed fighting Ares! Think of all the publicity I would get..." Carter mentally languished, groaning as he flopped back on the bed and slammed a pillow on his face. Well, maybe the publicity wouldn't have been great, considering how bad it had been after he had left the team, but maybe it would've been good publicity. Although, maybe the Bloods' publicity wasn't great either? People like Mars and Casimir probably love all the press attention they're getting right now, but he couldn't imagine a Red or a Wyatt enjoying it. Red couldn't even stop himself from trying to beat up the press when they were controversial, imagine the bloody fireworks going off in that flaming head now that they were popular.

"Damn, that's...amazing, Wyatt, Jesus Christ!" Carter said brightly, and it was genuine, even if the jealousy was still burning slightly. "I can't believe the team's been doing all this high-profile shit! I mean, first there was the tournament, where you guys fought that crazy Dark Star bitch, and then you guys fought Ares?! Why couldn't you guys have gotten this done before I got my head bashed in?" Carter teased, practically jumping off of his bed with excitement. Forget about the fact that he was about ready to fall over from today's stunt work, or the fact that Harley was now padding around and wagging his tail after seeing Carter jump up, he was excited..and jealous...and a lot of things, but mainly excited.

"As for what I've been doing these past few months, well..." Carter said dramatically, sitting back down on the bed and rubbing Harley's head to calm him down a little bit. "It's a long story, but I got a job. A job in the...film industry, to be precise." he said, pouting slightly as Wyatt made no reaction at the other end of the line. "I'm in India, Wyatt! I got hired to be a stuntman for a huge Bollywood action movie, I'm talking full blockbuster! And you know what's even better? The Garuda Punch guy is in this movie, I got to meet the Garuda Punch guy!!!" he said with manic glee, knowing Wyatt would be excited by the news. How could he not be?

[The Republic of Atria]

Jan and demons

Vince and Zayda arrived last, seeing a hooded girl with a large scythe, Jan, and some boxer woman. "Better late than never. Traffic still sucks." Vince muttered putting his large duffle bag on the table. Even a loose glance would see the dozens of slapped together IEDs of unknown potency. "Before we get started." He spoke up, reaching into the back and pulling out several earplugs that had clearly been modified. "You're gonna want to put these in your ears. All of you. I can't and won't force you, but I will not be held responsible for any damage done to your ears and brain if you don't."

Zayda walked in right after, the magical projection following her closely, standing firmly on guard. She didn't make much eye contact with the humans, instead choosing to glance over at the ugly facility that Jan claimed was the power plant they were looking for. She could spot several of the ugly beasts that Jan referred to as demons. At least the other humans didn't try to initiate a conversation with her. She had already put in the earplugs Vince had given her. She'd experienced how painful the devices he made could be and didn't want a second exposure. As they spoke, the demons seemed to get agitated after a few minutes and quickly began to rip through the metal fences that separated them. She widened her eyes, bring her projection forward to guard her.

"Holy shit they're ugly and real." Vince muttered, pulling out the makeshift grenade launcher he'd been constantly tinkering with, preloaded with grenades. "Let's make it a contest, kill the most to win!" He shouted, aiming his first shot. "What did I load this with again... Hope it was somethin' lethal." He said shooting a round into the approaching horde. Upon impact, the bomb exploded, letting out a black orb that sucked in all of the nearby demons for a few seconds before exploding in a bright purple explosion.

"Fuck yeah drunk Vince."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 3rd

---

---

Megan was surprised to see that the other people Jan had recruited to deal with San Diego's little demon infestation were nothing like her. One was a toned, attractive blonde woman, with a no-nonsense attitude and the bearing of a fighter. Another was a disheveled blond man with a nonchalant demeanor and wild looking eyes. And the last... well, she had seen enough news about the Young Bloods that the dragon-like creature's appearance wasn't a total shock, but even so, she was by far the strangest of the lot, although she tried not to stare too much - it would've been rude to do so. All things considered, all three of the other members of their little team were a far cry from a humble teenage hair stylist. Then again, none of them had a magical scythe.

Turning her attention back to the leader of their congregation - as well as the second scrawniest person in the entire team - she listened to the summary of the situation. A bunch of demons taking over a nuclear reactor didn't sound like a terribly positive thing, but at least it sounded like they had a fairly easy way of getting rid of the lot of them: sneak past the hordes, beat up whoever had summoned them in the first place, and then, presumably, mop up the remnants once the portals stopped spewing out reinforcements. It sounded fairly straightforward, simple enough that even she could follow.

But of course, it couldn't possibly be that easy. Before Jan could finish explaining the situation, the demon horde was unleashed, dozens upon dozens of nightmarish creatures of all types radiating outwards from the core of the nuclear plant in a deafening stampede. The girl couldn't help but find herself intimidated by this despite her usual carefree, playful demeanor, as she hadn't ever faced a threat like this before, but she steeled herself. It was much too late to back out of something like this anyway. Jan's order helped her remain calm.

If I get in trouble, maybe angel boy will swoop in and save me.

Suddenly, a massive fireball hit the watchtower and caused it to begin collapsing. Jan reacted quickly and blasted a window open so they could jump through as the building approached the ground. Not wanting to be left behind, Megan jumped out after him and quickly found herself surrounded by demons. A creature with four arms and a sword in each hand, some sort of burning hound and a three-legged fleshy spider were only some of the horrors circling her. As they attacked, the girl closed her eyes and, in a panic, swung her scythe around wildly while willing the weapon to grow.

Expecting the worst, she kept her eyes closed, but when nothing happened for a few seconds she opened them. In front of her was the four-armed demon split in half, swords and all. Its severed arms thrashing on the ground while surrounding its head and torso. Looking around, she noticed that the other demons surrounding her had suffered from a similar fate. Stunned for a moment, Megan soon began laughing as adrenaline started pumping through her veins. Who knew combat could feel this intoxicating?

"I guess I'm not so helpless after all, huh?"

---

October 8th

---

---

"What's up next, huh?" Alexis repeated the question and then put her index finger to her chin in thought, pondering the question herself. They hadn't really shown her around much yet, what with Whitney and Roy getting sidetracked talking about ants, ant farms and Casimir. As if he didn't talk enough about himself. She thought, snickering to herself before remembering she was around other people.

"Oh, uhh, well we haven't really shown you much yet, just told you what's on this building. But if you want to take a look at the living room, it's right over here." The blonde girl said as she took over from Roy and briskly stepped ahead, leading the way towards the living room and soon walking through the door. The inside was remarkably clean thanks to Cassandra's constant efforts, projecting an image that was likely a far cry from how messy the place could get during after-mission celebrations. Light streamed in from the wide windows on the walls and since no one was currently in the room other than the trio, the large TV in front of the assortment of couches in the center of the room was off.

"Ta da, here's where we gather for mission briefings and also where we throw celebrations after a successful mission. And I guess you can always find someone watching TV or playing videogames here if there's nothing going on. Most people here don't break their backs for the team like I do." The young inventor said with faux arrogance before snickering again.

"Oh, and the kitchen is right over there." She pointed with her thumb towards the large doorway that led to the adjoining kitchen.

---

October 24th

---

It was another day of class at Thomsen High, and three weeks had passed since the beginning of her fourth and last school year at Thomsen High. Astrid had warmed up to the routine since then, partly due to the fact that most attention was on the Young Bloods now rather than her and partly thanks to Mark's rampage the first day of school putting certain bullies on edge. Perhaps what had helped the most to make school more tolerable for her, however, was the fact that she had gained a few people she could call friends, even though her one friend from before had left her. The annoying photographer Mika, the comically naive Ash and the feminine ruffian Ava had all made her school life less awful and more interesting. And they had gotten her thinking. If her fortune had changed that easily, well, couldn't she change it further still?

With this thought in mind the girl walked out of her classroom as the bell rang. She didn't usually wear clothes that could be considered girly, partly in order to avoid standing out, but today she felt remarkably brave, which led her to choose a denim skirt over black pants and a matching blouse with flared sleeves. It caught stares coming from the normally plain, quiet girl nobody wanted to associate with, but she had learned to ignore such stares a long time ago. Feeling far more confident than she had ever felt before in the hallways of Thomsen High, the raven-haired girl briskly made her way towards the cafeteria, looking forward to lunch with the other outcasts that had taken to joining her table.

As she walked, she saw them some distance away. Blonde asshole and his posse. They had mostly left her alone since the second day of school, when Ava had come out of nowhere to rescue her from their bullying, but today she was nowhere to be seen and they seemed to be itching to pester her like they had many times in the past. While inwardly she felt her anger rising, she simply kept her neutral expression and continue walking as if she hadn't seen them. She could tell they were preparing to make a move, that they didn't notice she had already seen them.

Then, before they could act, she crossed what little distance remained between them with long strides.

"Hey, asshole." She said loudly, stopping everyone around in their tracks. Astrid immediately shoved the leader into a locker and pressed her forearm against his neck, leaving him frightened and his cronies too shocked to react. "I would stay away if I were you." She cautioned him, her voice now normal, creating a chilling contrast. "Or you might just catch a glimpse of the heinous villain you think I am. And if that happens..."

The girl leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I'll be sure to come for you first."

She released the blond boy, who was terrified upon having his power fantasy challenged, and quickly walked away at a brisk pace, once more keeping a neutral look on her face while ignoring all the stares she was getting. Her heart was beating furiously, and inwardly she was very surprised and relieved that it had worked. Perhaps using her reputation to dissuade abusers was what she should've done all along.

It wasn't long until she arrived at the cafeteria, the students around her giving her a wide berth as she put some food on her tray and then made her way to her table, sitting by herself and sipping on a soda. She was sure it wouldn't be long before her oddball friends started arriving as well.

---

---

Alexis chuckled at being called unsubtle, taking what was supposed to be a criticism as a compliment instead. What did subtlety matter when love was on the line, anyway? "Oh well, nothing really I guess. It's just kind of funny. A few months ago I would've been super happy to see you two acting all lovey-dovey like this." The shorter girl said, picturing the scene described in her mind and smiling briefly, though she noted that the thought did not make her giddy like it had in the past, before Angelica's confession and the beginning of their relationship. "With him below of course."

The blonde girl dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, seemingly looking for something. "And I mean it wasn't hard to get the wrong idea you know? You probably don't remember but you looked all heartbroken when you ran out of the infirmary the day he arrived and I started feeding him pizza. Considering I had no idea you were into girls I think it's pretty obvious what my conclusion..."

The young genius trailed off before finishing, finding the video she was looking for. Instead of saying anything, she positioned her phone so that both of them could see it and hit play. The video was footage from one of the living room's security cameras, from the day they had celebrated both Mars and Wyatt's birthdays. Concretely, the video showed the part of their game of spin the bottle where Angelica and Jacob had danced together.

"Tell me you wouldn't have made a cute couple." Alexis grinned. "I mean, if you were into guys that is."

[Absolon-7]

The Nefarious Marionette!
The Reclusive Mask!
The Great Kabuto!
October 7th

---

The Hero Arrives!

Looking up at Red’s features, Lisette waited for his response. She was all but holding her breath, her eyes studying his own as she reached out to try and convince him that they didn’t have to be enemies. Even if she’d approached him with a calm confidence, she knew that time wasn’t on her side. Normally, she would have been ecstatic at a gala like this, where she had a chance to get close to her heroes as Lisette Aveline rather than her alter ego. While she knew that her role as a villain required her to make some sacrifices, she’d always wondered what it would be like if she could have met them under different circumstances. But instead of a feeling of giddiness, every exchange had rung hollow. It was a cruel twist of fate, with Lisette finally being able to meet the Young Bloods right when she knew that it was only a matter of time until she was exposed. She was vulnerable, and for the first time in a while she felt completely helpless as her life seemed to spiral out of control around her. Red was her chance to latch onto something solid, something that she could rely on until she could figure out what to do next. All she had to do was make him see the truth.

"Stop right there psycho-tits!” Kabuto’s voice boomed out across the balcony, causing Lisette’s eyes to immediately widen in surprise. Whirling around, her gaze narrowed as she saw the hero standing defiantly before her, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Don't think I've forgotten your nefarious attempts at seducing me at the tournament foul wench! But the Great Kabuto won't let Marionette escape again! Or should I say Lisette Aveline?"

“Kabuto?” She replied, before frowning at his words. A look of disgust flashing across her features, the girl rolled her eyes at the masked hero as she planted her hands on her hips. “Oh please, I’d rather not get bug cooties, thanks. And I wasn’t seducing you, idiot - in case you forgot, I was saving your life!”

Even though she spoke defiantly, Lisette felt her pulse quicken beneath her facade. This was sooner than she’d expected. If Kabuto knew about her identity already, then it was only a matter of time until the rest of the team did too. That is if they didn’t already. She offered Red another quick glance, although she continued speaking to Kabuto.

“Not that you’d ever reciprocate. You’d never give anyone a second chance, no matter what. You said so yourself, right?” She declared, watching Red’s reaction out of the corner of her eye even as she readied herself for a fight. “Though that must have hurt your pride, huh? I wonder what people must think about the Great Kabuto needing to get help from a villain.” Lisette offered the boy a confident smirk. “Bet they’ll think even less of you when you fail to catch me again, Bug Boy.”

“Uh you saving me wasn’t what I meant….Nevermind! You’ll pay foul fiend!,” shouted Casimir dramatically pointing at her, “And hurt my pride? Never! You can count on the Spectacular Kabuto to always keep his chin up!”

Casimir gritted his teeth filled with bitterness at his failure to do anything about Marionette back in the tournament. How could a hero like him ever rely on a vehicle of pure evil? Once was enough of a disgrace to himself but he’d make sure he’d put the pain in her now that there wasn’t a common enemy to distract him. It looked like her attention was glued to him so hopefully Red would get away because things were about to get messy.

As for Red, he hesitated for a few moments to react as a sense of panic briefly washed over him. He didn’t know how it had happened, but Marionette’s identity had apparently been revealed. Given that he knew Casimir was far from the type to figure out such a vital piece of information, this meant that it had been someone besides him who had managed to follow the cookie trail long enough to find out her secret. Biting at the corner of his lips, Red glanced over at Marionette, the two briefly making eye contact as the thought that she suspected him of revealing her secret made him feel a sense of fear and panic. Not to mention, the fact that Casimir is going to wonder why the hell I was all alone with Marionette this whole time, Red thought with a grimace as his mind began to fall into a descent of frenzied thoughts.

It’s too late now, Red finally managed to convince himself, his fists clenched as he closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. Upon opening them, he did everything within his power to toss aside the implications of Marionette’s discovery and instead focus on the task at hand. This meant that for now, the only thing he had to worry about was how the hell he was going to fend for himself in a fight against someone like her without any sort of gear to either aid him in combat or protect him. After running through a long list of potential scenarios based on what he chose to do next, he eventually decided on the option that was least likely to get himself killed in the process. Glancing over towards Casimir, he gave his friend a small subtle nod, indicating that it was time for action. Casimir seemed to understand, as he drew his attention back towards Marionette.

“Fail to capture you? You’re making a lot of assumptions there,” chided Casimir, “Hell, I’ll have a whole party for beating your crazy ass to the ground.”

Without a word he leaped right towards her with his superhuman might catapulting him like a bullet. He stopped right next to her and he unleashed his first barrage of punches at her before backing away to deliver a front kick at her stomach.

Standing firm under the hero’s assault, Marionette nevertheless found herself on the defensive as Kabuto surged forwards to strike. Parrying the initial flurry of superhuman punches, she stumbled backwards towards the hallway’s wall as the hero’s foot planted itself into her torso. Scowling as she cursed the limited mobility of her dress, Lisette kept both of her hands up in case the Young Blood tried to press his advantage while she glanced over towards Red. The other hero hadn’t leapt into the fray alongside his teammate, and there was a pleading look behind the girl’s eyes as she met his gaze. However, the steely expression that she received in turn was all the response that she needed. A look of pain flashed across Marionette’s features, but they quickly hardened with resolve. Fine, then. If he wasn’t going to realise that she was just trying to help him, and if he really thought that he could keep his past hidden forever, she’d just allow him to continue living a fantasy. She’d never needed his help before, and she’d done just fine. Turning her attention back towards Kabuto, Lisette’s eyes narrowed as she felt the frustration rising in her chest.

Trying to take advantage of the distance between them, Marionette let out a growl as she extended a thread bundle to grab onto a table. Swinging her arm around, she hurled the furniture towards Kabuto before following up with a thread from her other hand. This time, she tried to snare the hero’s ankle and pull him off his feet. If she succeeded, she’d be able to hurl his body into the floor without needing to get within range of his physical blows. Casimir destroyed the incoming table with a single backhand strike at its center right as it almost hit him. This however, was enough of a momentary distraction to have him fail to notice the thread ensaring his ankle.

“Shit!,” cursed Casimir as he flicked webbing at Marionette in an effort to get them both ensnared so she’d be forced to let him go.

Letting out a cackling laugh, Marionette easily side stepped away from the projected web as she pulled even harder on the string, sending the hero hurtling through the air towards her without control. However, just before she was able to take advantage of the now helpless Casimir, something crashed into her back, sending the girl toppling towards the ground as her threads went limp from her hands. Turning around in a state of shock, she saw Red standing over her, holding up the broken off legs of the chair he had smashed across her back just a moment before.

“Red?” She exclaimed, having thought that at the very least the boy would have stepped aside even if he didn’t join her. “What are you doing?”

Ignoring the pain in her voice, both physical and emotional, Red gave the villainess a small shrug of his shoulders as he stared down at her. “You know what they say, ‘Love Hurts’. But you wanna know what hurts worse?” he replied, both humor and hostility filling his voice as the Marionette looked back at him with a look of sheer malice.

“A pissed off Bug Boy.”

“You...ASSHOLE!” Marionette screamed at the redhead, breaking her usual avoidance of using such profane language as she let loose a series of threads directed towards Red, sending the hero shattering into a nearby display case. Shattered glass spilled over the ground as Red let out a pained grunt, wincing in pain as dozens of cuts ran up and down his body. However, the momentary distraction seemed to be enough, as another voice rang out in proud display.

“I’m not Bug Boy!” shouted Casimir stomping next to the two before he looked down at Marionette, “I’m a gracious man. So your arm or your leg?”

Without waiting for an answer Casimir reached down to grab her by the ankle and he proceeded to vault her across the hallway like a runaway javelin. He ran down the hallway at an incredible speed aiming to spin kick her right before she hit the ground, “Come on! Show me what a villain like you can do!”

Lisette didn’t even have a chance to process Casimir’s question before she suddenly felt his hand grip around her ankle. Letting out a surprised cry, the villainess found herself pulled off of the floor and hurled across the room. Trying to react quickly to keep the hero from retaining the upper hand, Lisette pirouetted herself in midair before reaching out with one of her threads. Hoping to grasp onto anything that she could use to maneuver, she managed to snare a light fixture and managed to just pull herself out of the way of Kabuto’s merciless follow-up strike. Swinging herself on her thread, she stumbled slightly in her heels as she landed back on the ground. Scowling as she realised that the hero was faster than she remembered, the girl turned around to look back to where he was standing.

“Oh, you’ll see what I can do alright!” She snarled in response, darting back down the hall as she lifted one of her arms to swing at Kabuto. Now that she knew he had some ranged abilities of his own, keeping her distance wasn’t as advantageous as she’d thought. Better for her to get closer and keep moving to avoid any particularly heavy attacks. Before she’d entirely closed the distance however, Marionette swung at the hero with one of her arms. A trio of threads whipped out from her fingertips and attempted to lash out at his torso and head - hopefully causing him to either dodge or duck before she rushed forward to get into range to try and twist around to kick him in the side.

“Fly Power!” shouted Casimir. It was a gamble using this one time power but he needed it right now to get the better of Marionette. His body became ultra sensitive to the air currents being ripped in half by the incoming threads and with his redirected power he dodged each thread in a blur of movement barely being visible before his powered up dodging ran out in time for her kick. The leg hit his mark and began sending him away with its power but he managed to hook his arm around her leg and bring her with him aiming to slam her on the ground as he fell.

Smirking as she felt her leg connect with her opponent, Lisette completely ignored Kabuto’s shout as she concentrated on her attack. Her confident grin was wiped from her features as she once again felt his arm grapple onto her leg. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” She called out in surprise, waving her arms in a futile effort to maintain her balance before she was pulled down along with the hero. But her narrow heels gave her little traction to resist the motion, and she soon found herself careening towards the ground in a gracless heap. Her flailing around did mess up Casimir’s planned trajectory however, and instead of being slammed onto the ground beside him, Lisette instead found herself falling painfully on top of the hero’s chest.

Wincing as she landed, she opened her eyes to see a surprised expression behind a tinted visor. A hint of colour tinted the girl’s cheeks as she realised how they must have looked lying on the ground like this, but her embarrassment quickly turned to anger as she recollected herself. Scowling at the hero, Marionette pushed herself quickly onto her feet while grabbing onto the cuff of Kabuto’s shirt in the process. With a single fluid motion, she put her strength into swinging him into a nearby wall - the impact causing a spider web of fractures to scatter out into the plaster. Hoping to take advantage of the winded hero, she immediately made to follow up with a clenched fist into his exposed stomach as her threads began to extend menacingly behind her with an eye for the finishing blow.

Casimir slammed his hands against Marionette’s incoming fist like the mandibles of a rove beetle catching it right as it made brief contact with his stomach. He clenched his teeth from the slight pain, yet sort of thankful the pain distracted him from their awkward collapse a few moments ago, but he dared to look straight at Marionette. His hands clenched down on the forearm with his immense might before twisting them in opposite directions.

“Now let me show you why picking a fight with me was the biggest mistake of the night! Mantis Kick!” shouted Casimir as he yanked her arm downward and to the side. Casimir’s right leg would rapidly spring upwards at the incoming Marionette to strike her viciously on the chin.

As soon as Casimir’s knee slammed into her jaw, Lisette’s face exploded with pain. Staggered by the blow, she grimaced as she shook herself out of the resulting daze. Blinking away the stars in her eyes, the girl scowled at the hero as she lifted a hand to her nose to see it come away with her fingertips tainted by her own blood. “What the hell, asshole?!” She hissed, berating the hero as she lurched forwards once again with a vengeance.

Pushing aside the lingering pain in her jaw, Lisette instead focused on her desire to crush the meddlesome hero to a pulp. Launching a flurry of attacks that sought to prod and test his defences, she engaged in a series of rapid, close quarters blows, parries and counter-blows. Fuelled by her anger and what she saw as the hero’s own immovable double standards, Marionette sidestepped one of Casimir’s uppercuts only to strike at his side with the corner of her palm. The blow didn’t do much damage, but nevertheless caused the hero to recoil in pain before he could stop her subsequent attacks and regain the advantage.

“Ameatur!,” blared out Casimir suddenly karate chopping her neck with both arms in swift retaliation and cracking the floor beneath the spot she stood. Casimir swiftly kicked her in the shin and followed it up with a tremendous roundhouse kick at her hip forcing her to crash against the floor busting several rows of tiles. He walked towards her fixing up his messed up collar from the earlier wall slam.

“You know what? I’ll give you a chance,” he said crossing his arms, “A chance to surrender. Or we can keep going at it until our boiling blood splatters everywhere. It’ll be mostly yours though.”

“He’s right, Marionette,” came the cold voice of Red, having finally gotten back to his feet after being tossed by Marionette. Although it was clear he was hurting, he managed to stand up on his own two feet, fueled on purely by his adrenaline at this point. Glancing behind him, the sound of shouts and heavy footsteps rang out through the hallways as it became clear others were beginning to converge on the area. “You’ve got approximately thirty seconds before a whole bunch of pissed off teenage heroes come in. You’re smart enough to realize that you’ve got no chance at getting out of this, so just surrender now.” Red paused for a brief moment, his eyes glancing over at the bruises and scratches that had accumulated over both the girl's face and body after Casimir’s relentless attacks. A small stir of pity accumulated within him as he saw this, an emotion he felt a large amount of disgust towards as well as an even larger sense of confusion.

“Just give up already,” he said again, his words coming out softer than he expected as he stood next to Casimir.

Coughing painfully as she tried to pick herself up from the floor, Marionette felt her limbs aching from the beating. She hadn’t expected a fight tonight, and she was far from prepared for the gruelling slog that she faced. Staring at the ground beneath her hands, trying to catch her breath, she could only listen as first Kabuto and then Red berated her attempts to defeat them. Scowling as Red told her to give up, she clenched her hands as she felt her heart twist at his words. The words themselves would hardly have deterred the villainess - whether they came from Red or his bug-fetishising compatriot. But the hint of pity that had crept into his tone was like a dagger sliding into her chest. Is that what he saw her as? There wasn’t any fear or dread, nor an appreciation of the accomplishments she’s made in her life of supervillainy. Instead they looked down on her as if she the butt of some stupid joke.

“I’m not…I’m not going to give up, idiot.” Lisette hissed through gritted teeth, wiping a trail of blood away from her nose. “I’m never going to give up!”

Roaring with determination, the girl ignored the complaints from her limbs as she reached out with one of her hands. Throwing her anger into her fingertips, she willed her threads to shoot towards the pair of unsuspecting heroes, grasping at their limbs before coiling tight around their necks. Ensnaring their throats, Marionette glared at them with a fire burning behind her eye. Rising back to her feet, the girl snarled at the heroes as they struggled against her.

“I’m sick and tired of everyone treating me like I’m nothing!” She declared, squeezing her hand slightly to increase the pressure of her threads as she glared at Kabuto. “This is all because I tried to help you, you know? And everything I ever get in return is to be laughed at. None of this is fair!” There was a whisper in the back of Lisette’s mind as she ranted to the heroes, even as tears threatened to well up in her eye. She could kill them right now if she wanted. Her threads were strong enough. All it would take would be for her to close her hand and they would tighten until there was nothing left to severe. She’d killed before, and she knew how sweet the satisfaction could feel. No! Her own thoughts forced her to hesitate. You can’t do that...they’re heroes, remember? A look of doubt flashed across Lisette’s features, hesitation causing her concentration to waver.

“HA...now the crazed psycho shows their true self…” managed to groan Casimir before the large mass of threads tightened up around his neck.

Casimir could feel the gathering of threads coiling around his neck acting like a nefarious python that had broken free from a zoo and was maliciously constricting itself. If she was using this much of her threads to stop him then she was definitely getting desperate. A desperate villain that wasn’t thinking straight was what he needed...but it was getting harder to breathe by the second. It was like someone was pressing an entire truck on his throat. His head felt like it was being smashed over and over again while his lungs burned for any hint of air. He heaved his arms towards his throat to pull off the thread from his neck but it was practically a rope’s worth of the material.

He fell to his knees as his vision was beginning to blur from the edges. This psycho thinks she’s never going to give up? No! He’s the one who will never give up! Him! Smash her! Smash her face in! Smash her vitals up! Smash the shit out of her! Smash out of rage! He clenched his fingers around the threads with a steel grip on his neck and ripped it apart to shreds. With Marionette just in front of him he rocketed up from the floor with his uppercut crushing into her lower abdomen. As his fist gouged into her stomach he threw his shoulder forward and the villain was sent flying off like a missile through the hallway leaving behind a shockwave of air behind her blasting away debris. The villainess crashed through a wall at the end of the hallway leaving behind an open hole to the outside world.

He could track her right now if only he could concentrate but each time he tried wiring his mind to a nearby bug a violent cough would blast away his concentration. He collapsed to his hands and knees and pushed off his helmet to ease his breathing as spit flew out of his mouth. Painful breaths repeatedly escaped out of his mouth as the two heroes were left alone in the hall.

“Fucking damn you,” huffed out Casimir before breaking out in a violent coughing and gasping fit.

Letting out a cry as she felt her threads being ripped apart by the hero, Lisette’s hesitation proved to be her downfall. Stunned by Kabuto’s sudden burst of strength, she was unprepared for the bone-shattering punch that tore through the air towards her. Slamming into her torso like a rocket, she didn’t even have time to register the pain before she was hurled from her feet and through the nearest wall. Crashing through concrete and plaster alike, Lisette found herself tumbling out into the night air and down towards the streets below. Her eyes widening as she saw the ground rushing up to meet her, she reached blindly with her threads before she managed to gain some purchase on the building across from her. Grunting as she suddenly felt her own weight pull on her arms, the girl clung on as she swung away from the sight of the battle before stumbling gracefully into an alleyway.

Clutching her side painfully, the villainess’ breaths were ragged as she fought to keep her eyes open. Looking down at her chest, Marionette whimpered slightly as she saw the grisly damage that Kabuto’s punch had wrought. Hissing as she pressed a hand to stem the blood flow, she knew that it could take days before she was fully healed. But first she had to make it through the night. Glancing over her shoulder to see police lights quickly converging on the tower behind her, she ignored the feeling of her mending bones and she turned to race down the alleyway.

Meanwhile back in the building, Casimir had forced himself back to his feet and began staggering towards the hole all the way across the building. Most of his body was unscathed but a large bruise snaked all along his neck and its effect made itself clear on how erratic his breathing had become. A cold nighttime wind blasted his face once he got to the hole and looked to the city below.

A wobbly hand suddenly rested on Casimir’s shoulder, as a clearly weakened Red leaned up against his teammate in order to keep himself from falling back down onto his face. Unlike Casimir, who was much more durable, the effects of Marionette's attack had severely affected him, his body still seeming to scream out for oxygen as a trail of blood snaked its way all around his bruised neck. His earlier wounds had now stained his clothes with a collection of dark maroon spots, with fresh blood still dripping down to the marble floor below. Still, even in this state, Red’s attention was directed straight towards the alleyway below, his gaze narrowing as he watched the shadowing figure of Marionette disappear into the darkness.

“We...we need to catch her, Casimir…” Red managed to croak out in a dry whisper before suddenly being set upon by a horrific series of coughs as his throat protested his words. Although his body practically screamed at him not to, he began to take a step towards the large gaping hole in the wall, intent on following after the villainess. However, it soon became clear his body’s warnings should have been heeded, as after a first shaking step forwards Red suddenly found his legs going out underneath him. If it hadn’t been for Casimir grabbing a hold of him, he would’ve likely fallen head first into the alleyway below as all the strength in his body was now depleted.

“Let me go, Casimir!” Red protested, his angered words coming out in a horsed yell as he weakly struggled against the grasp of his teammate, his eyes still focused on where he had last seen Marionette. “She’s...She’s…” Whatever it was he had to say was soon cut off as another string of violent coughs erupted, causing his meak struggling against Casimir’s grip to stop as he reached up around his throat.

“Just stop Red,” said Casimir holding him up by the shoulder, “You’re practically two steps from dying literally if you thought going out this hole was a good idea. And I need to get you help.”

Casimir glared outside with fury in his eyes but the pulsating pain in his head still interrupted connecting to nearby insects. Last time he had to go check on Wyatt to see if he hadn’t been obliterated by Dark Star now he had to rush Red to medical aid. So it seemed that Marionette was intent on using one of injured teammates as a smokescreen for her escapes. If he wanted her down he’d have to make sure they were by themselves next time, “Better watch yourself psycho bitch.”

“Red!” Yoshiro’s voice suddenly called out from the hallway’s entrance, causing both of the hero’s faces to turn around towards her. Her mouth was open in shock at the sight of her battered teammates, and she raced over towards them with a look of concern etched into her features. Not hesitating as she tried to help Casimir bear some of the Red’s weight, she turned to glance towards the gaping hole that now led out into the open sky. “Kabuto, what happened?”

“Some bitch happened,” answered Casimir.

[Tomia]

Reject Squad vs Demons
As the hitting exploded around Hannah, she started to wonder what exactly she had gotten herself into. She was no hero after all, used to chasing after the supernatural. The only things she had ever fought before were flesh and blood humans not... whatever these things were. As others charged into battle, she was frozen for a moment. Soon enough though she realized she was being a coward and took a cautious step forward, then another, and another. Soon she stood before an army of demons, and threw a heavy haymaker at the nearest one. It was knocked backwards but not seriously injured. It charged at Hannah in rage but the second punch hit much harder. This time the demon fell to the ground, and came back up a bit more cautious. Hannah side stepped a demonic claw. Another side step, back step, back step, soon she found her opening and slammed a right hook into the demon's jaw. On the third punch she smashed the demon's face in, and it crumbled to the ground for good this time. Hannah breathing heavy now, not because she was tired but because she was exhilarated. Hannah only ever felt alive when she was in the ring, and if that was never going to it seemed punching demons was the next best thing.

Angelica
Angelica listened as Alexis continued to talk about Jacob and the ice hero developed a deep frown on her face. It was bringing up some painful memories, and Alexis was cheerfully discussing it. With the exception of her mom, Angelica had kept her feelings pretty much secret until she started dating Alexis. Having that struggle mad fun of by the first person she openly cared about did not feel good.

Angelica sat up, forcing Alexis to do so as well and looked at her girlfriend with a hurt expression. "Alexis, that's not funny. I know you didn't know at the time, but those aren't good memories for me and the last thing I want is you imaging me with someone else, much less a guy. You have no idea how hard hiding my feelings for so long has been."

[Finland SSR]

Vince and Zayda

October 3rd

---

Reject Squad vs Demons

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

"HAAAAH!"

With a spirited yell, Jan descended from the skies, with a massive psionic construct zweihander in his arms, straight into the face of an unsuspecting demon - a particularly disgusting looking type, one with the bulbous body of a spider and yet a humanoid-like torso and several human-like legs, like a twisted, arachnoid version of a centaur. Immediately, two other demons jumped at him while their peer struggled and flailed impaled. However, as soon as they got too close, they saw themselves suddenly blown back by a telekinetic force.

The demon under Jan's feet roared, its head flailing from side to side, but the weapon piercing through it eventually forced it to gave in, and its body crumbled into lumps of charcoal.

To take the life of a living being was inconceivable to Jan back then and physically impossible to him now - but demons, aberrations in the order of the mortal realm with hardly of a mind of their own, were a different thing entirely. Sparing only a single brief thought, Jan rose up, his zweihander dissolving into nothingness and being soon replaced by a psionic rapier. With a swing of his wings to accelerate, the Virgil lunged forth, piercing deep into the chest of a slowly lumbering demon, resembling a golem somewhat.

It swung its arm, wielding a club of obsidian, only for it to come to a sudden halt. Clenching his teeth to endure the sudden psionic pressure, Jan had raised his free left hand to meet the weapon. The demon winced and clenched its canine teeth as well, pushing with additional force to try to break the telekinetic grip - Jan wasn't going to wait for that, however. Suddenly, he pulled out the rapier and slashed towards the demon's neck, its narrow blade suddenly widening into a cutting edge and cleaving the head right off. With an easier breath, the Virgil stepped away from the collapsing charcoal and turned to the rest of the battle.

His teammates were certainly pulling their weight - it even seemed like they were having fun while fighting. Megan put her scythe to use, cleaving through demons with ease and leaving nothing but heaps of body parts in her wake; Hannah was punching through one demon after the other, her strikes turning more and more ferocious with each passing blow; and Vince tore through their ranks with his explosive weaponry, taking out entire groups of demons with a single shot. If they were in a situation less tense, maybe it'd even solicit a happy smile from him...

Don't spend too much effort there, they'll spawn demons faster than you can kill them. Jan messaged to the rest of the team via telepathy and took off to the sky. The road from the outskirts of the facility to the core reactor had all fences cleared out by the advancing horde, but it was not empty - with each passing minute, a party of demons would charge out from the core, bent to attack any mortal which comes near.

And whatever was waiting for them in the core... Jan could only guess.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 3rd

---

---

Using her scythe to clear out the demons around her with swift spinning attacks and a thorough use of its shapeshifting abilities, Megan was surprisingly having a lot of fun, and risk-free at that - most of these things only seemed able to attack in ways which amounted to either piercing, cutting or bashing, and the many powers that Prince Omega bestowed upon her ensured that the former two would not harm her in any permanent way. The latter was a problem, sure, but by the time any demons willing to smash her into the ground were close enough to do so, they were in range of her scythe and likely already lying on the ground in several pieces. Of course, then there were the ones who were actually a threat, demon sorts that could attack her with fire or acid or who knows what else from afar, but for those... well, she trusted her teammates to take care of those before they managed to take a shot at her, and so far it was working out quite well.

Suddenly, she heard in her mind a message coming from Jan, something she wasn't entirely used to yet, which was understandable considering she had found her way to him without help and thus this was the first time she was contacted via telepathy. Pausing for a moment, the girl acknowledged the order, nodded to herself and then looked up at the sky to notice the Virgil taking to the skies and flying in the direction of the reactor.

"Hey, that's not fair. Most of us can't fly you know, angel boy?" Megan called out to him before focusing on the enemy in front of her. If she kept advancing, they wouldn't surround her - they were too focused on charging towards the perimeter set up by the police in order to break through, they would only surround her if she stayed still but based on their mindless behavior she knew the demons passing by her sides wouldn't bother with a moving target, especially one that was moving in the opposite direction. Thus she pressed on, with calculated yet wild-looking swings tearing the demons to still moving pieces. She was actually doing fairly well in carving a path through the demon horde towards the reactor.

Then it happened. The ugliest demon around, with several spiny growths across its stomach, reared its ugly head and stopped in front of Megan. Straightening up and letting out a sound that was some sort of mixture between a gurgle and a roar, it released all of its bony growths as projectiles, slicing up the girl and leaving her pieces to fall to the ground in a heap.

What would've likely been a lethal incident for anyone else, however, was merely a setback for the plucky young hairdresser.

"Whoops." She said, before her disembodied hand swung Prince Omega at the beast repeatedly, causing it to fall in a heap similar to her.

"A little help here?"

---

October 7th

---

---

After he left Aleta with her teammates and ran off, it didn't take Icarus too long to find where Casimir had gone. After all, there was quite a ruckus going on in some hallway and it didn't take a genius to put two and two together and figure out that that was where the trouble was. And where the trouble was, he would likely find Casimir. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for him, he only found his friend once the confrontation was over and the dust was settled. The hallway was in utter disarray and there was a huge hole on the wall that led to the streets, but there was no villain to be seen anywhere. The only ones present on the scene were the girl he had danced with earlier, Psyche; the boy that had interrupted them, Mask; and Casimir himself, seemingly the least affected of the lot.

I'm not surprised. He's too thick to realize when something's wrong.

The young man approached, for the time being ignoring the others and heading straight towards his friend to ask what was going on. With great detail, plenty of self-aggrandizing embellishments and a healthy dose of cursing, he was told the story of how the nefarious Marionette had infiltrated the Gala and fought him - and the Mask, though Casimir put very little emphasis on that part of the story - before fleeing to the streets.

Icarus had a scowl on his face all throughout. The thought that a dangerous villain like her was prancing around in a place full of high-profile hostages, right under the noses of so many heroes, was very concerning. But the danger had now passed. So, in order to alleviate the tension a little, the blond boy decided to change the topic to something more positive, at least for the two of them.

"So listen, I got permission from Armorer to stick around another day or two, and I was thinking I could use that to visit you at the tower. We can catch up, and you could teach me a thing or two about bikes." Icarus explained. "So what do you think?"

---

October 8th

---

It was about noon and a lone motorcycle crossed the bridge leading into Wonder Island unimpeded, its rider having already been registered as a trustworthy visitor. The lengthy bridge was soon left behind, replaced by the grassy expanse that was the outdoors of Wonder Island, and before long the blond boy found himself coming to a stop next to Wonder Tower, a few paces away from the double doors that led into the building's reception.

Getting off the bike, Icarus took off his helmet - he was a responsible driver after all - and left it hanging from the handlebar. He doubted anyone would steal it, or the bike, while it was inside Wonder Island, and since there was a very thorough defensive system in place, even if someone did, there was a relatively small list of suspects to choose from. He had good rapport with Naja, so he was sure she'd make them pay for it. What he did take along was a small plastic bag filled with several cans of soda, just like the one he had brought to the overgrown hideout all those months ago.

"For someone who doesn't belong here, I sure come here pretty often, huh?" The boy softly spoke to himself as he looked up at Wonder Tower. Most of his visits hadn't exactly been happy times, as he had gone through a rather painful career as Blackout and the leader of the Young Bloods didn't exactly hold him in high regard. And yet, he had several friends in their ranks, not the least of which was his best friend Casimir, and Wonder Tower was the place where something very special between himself and Renata had happened. So on the whole, even if he hadn't been welcome in the past, he had come to miss this place somewhat.

Luckily for him, he was welcome now. One of the many perks of cleaning up his act.

Without wasting any more time, Icarus walked into the reception and saw his bug-loving friend waiting for him there.

"Hey Cas." Icarus greeted his friend as he grabbed a can from his plastic bag and tossed it at Casimir. "I got your favorite."

---

October 24th

---

---

Needless to say Alexis was pretty surprised when Angelica suddenly decided to stand up and ended their small midday cuddle session. Her confusion only grew in intensity as she noticed the expression on her girlfriend's face. It was one of pain and sadness, as if she was genuinely hurt by her remarks about Jacob, as if she had said something far more terrible than what she thought she had said.

The taller girl went on to explain that those were trying times for her and that despite her lack of malicious intent all of her comments had been woefully out of place. Wow... really, was everything I said that bad? I wasn't making fun of her or anything...

"I um, I understand that Angie- or well I guess I don't since I didn't have to go through everything you did and all..." The young genius spoke after several moments spent in silence thinking about what to say. "What I mean is I get that you don't want to be made fun of with everything you went through, but aren't you being a little unfair? I'm sorry for digging up painful memories, I'll try not to do it again but I wasn't trying to mock you or anything."

She tapped her phone a few times to close the video and turn off the screen before pocketing it. "And you didn't exactly seem hurt during that dance..."

[Absolon-7]

Casimir and Viviana, October 10th

---

Casimir looked around the front of the entrance at Birch’s Aquarium avoiding looking at anyone and angrily glaring at anyone who tried staring at him for too long. He was leaning beside one of the columns at the front that had a large welcome sign that was connected to another column offering some shade. This wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time but he couldn’t resist the pleas of Viviana for long no matter how much he was bored by fish. Eventually he sighed and walked forward a bit for any sign of the short brunette but he was in for a shock when he felt a mass tackle him from behind.

“The hell!” he gasped as he staggered a step forward.

“Surprise! Betcha didn’t expect a back-to-back tackle?” said Viviana twirling to a stop behind him.

“Well I didn’t,” grumbled Casimir rubbing his neck, “Wait why did we even arrive here separately? We live at the same place?”

“Cause it’s more romantic this way silly,” said Viviana leaning towards him with a big smile, “So notice anything different about me today?”

Oh fuck…. Casimir looked for any clues on her. Her lips were glossy but that wasn’t different enough. Were her clothes new ones? But he was pretty sure he saw this outfit before. He looked up at her head before noticing a bright yellow bow on her head reminiscent of bunny ears, “You got that bow on you!”

“Ding-ding that's three stars on the Viv-check? Anything else?,” she said swaying slightly from side to side.

“Uh….uh….uh….,” said Casimir trying to turn the gears in his head.

“I got a new lip gloss, dumb dumb,” said Viviana grasping onto his hand to lead the way inside the aquarium.

---

A little while later, the two sat together by a tidepool structure looking for any critters that would get near them. It was an open air exhibit so the sun shone brightly above them shimmering the water beside them. The two clasped each other's hands as Viviana dipped her hand below the water’s surface hoping to get a feel of one of the many stingrays in the pool. However each time Casimir joined her they’d glide away from him so they could be petted by Viviana and other visitors instead.

“You’re so gross even stingrays want to steer clear of you,” said Viviana smiling cheekily at him.

“They do not. I’m just placing my hand in at the wrong time,” said Casimir defiantly, “Let’s get something to eat but not without washing our hands first. Dumb fish”

Viviana would get up and lead him away to a small open sandwich shop and after getting their meals they’d sit at a table near the fountain with a large whale statue coming out of it. The entire complex itself was quite above sea level and the undulating waves of the Pacific could just be seen in the distance. The shadow of a parasol covered them both at a table they were eating offering a cool blanket of shadow to their lunch. Casimir was in the middle of eating his own sandwich when he noticed Viviana staring intensely at him.

“Are you mad at something?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“Do I have something on my face?”

“Yep.”

“Is it food?”

“Something like that.”

“Dammit, I’m not good with riddles. Took me a week to turn in a lymerick assignment back in my english class,” said Casimir huffing under breath.

“Limericks aren’t...nevermind. Okay so close your eyes and I’ll tell you,” said Viviana resting both of her cheeks on her hands.

Viviana was surprised by him immediately compiling but she just stayed there for a brief moment before going back into her seat, “It was your lips! How could you fall for something that obvious! Jeez get a grip Casimir.”

“Well you got me there,” said Casimir with a tinge of red on his cheeks before a smirk emerged on his face, “Or maybe I just let you think I fell for it.”

“Heck you,” said Viviana pouting before sighing into a smile, “But I tricked you right?”

“Yeah, tricked me more then way back when that dumb teacher said I got a good score on a test and all because it was graded on a damn curve,” said Casimir reaching out for his soda.

“Speaking of dumb teachers remeber back when you flipped Mr. Cheswick into the pool? Oh my god his face when he splashed into the pool! It was like some chunky old gopher,” said Viviana clasping her hands together, “Oh that was so loooong ago. Can you believe how long we’ve been together? And like together-together. Not like when we were together all the time in freshman and sophomore and people just thought we were together.”

“Oh yeah I remember. Would have sucked having Alexis there knowing how she acts like a superior Cupid,” laughed Casimir pushing himself back from the table.

“Hey! She’s great and you know it! Why else would you let her tease you as much as me?” smirked Viviana.

“That’s not how it's like with either of you,” said Casimir in a hurry looking away to the whale statue fountain.

“Looook at me!” she said grabbing onto the edges of her seat and hopping towards him, “Look at me and my cute face dammit! Look at this face and lie like that again.”

“I said the whole truth,” said Casimir calmly staring forward as he knew Viviana was winning as she began laughing.

Viviana began twirling one of her braids as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t help but admire him but at the same time she slightly wished he sprinkled some of that straightforwardness into their relationship sometimes. Although that kiss at the end of their double date with Alexis and Angelica was a welcome surprise. Ultimately she got why he was this way and it wasn’t her place to push him to places he wasn’t comfortable with. Although that didn’t mean she couldn’t nudge him along.

“So speaking of the good ol times, betcha don’t remember the seaside fair our town had? I thought that night was pretty cool,” she said slyly.

“What festival...oh that one,” he said gulping before composing himself, “Of course it was cool. I was wrecking all those games set up by the pier.”

“Uh-uh,” she said, winking at him but she paused for a few moments to tug at her shoulder braids.

“What’s wrong?” he said, slightly confused in tone.

“Well Casi there’s sorta something I want your opinion on. And when I say opinion I mean opinion like no holds down beat down street fight. Like break their legs over the curb kinda beatdown,” said Viviana in dead seriousness.

“Jeez alright I get it,” said Casimir holding his hand over his mouth to stifle a bout of laughter, “So lay it on me.”

“So I’m not saying there’s a possibility of it or like that's been on my mind. Not. At. All. Woah boy. Just do you think I should quit being a hero?” she said with a half-smile and scratching her head.

“Hold on where’s this coming from?” said Casimir quickly, “Did your brain finally catch up to the rest of your putty-ness?”

“Shush you, I’m being serious. Even if that was funny,” she said with a smile that slowly drooped as she rubbed her arm, “I came into this thing thinking ‘Woah I got super powers that means I gotta put em to good use for the greater good’ but every mission I’ve been on I can’t help feeling scared. Like I just want to run away in the middle of it and just squeeze myself into a box. Like jeez even in the tournament I felt like a wuss. So yeah lay it on me chief.”

“That’s ridiculous. A wuss runs away a hero doesn’t and you didn’t,” said Casimir firmly, “As far as I’m concerned you’re a damn good hero.”

“That’s not really what I asked,” said Viviana with a tinge of guilt over being confused herself thus confusing Casimir as well, “I mean I don’t know. Everything is just so confusing. I’m scared but I want to help. But I don’t want to run away. And I feel like quitting could be an option to stop me from running away.”

“Well do you remember when you got picked to be Point Guard for our school’s basketball team? You were scared then too. And you didn’t quit. Cause you felt like you had to and you felt like you had to be a hero too right?” said Casimir slapping his hands onto his knees as he looked Viviana dead in the eye, “The feeling of duty of needing to use your power to protect others? I felt it too. I couldn’t be happier when I could do what I felt I needed to do. And you feeling it too proves that you won’t run away. But if you ever do I’ll be right there to protect you. I’ll make damn sure I protect everyone I care about, especially you. So don’t quit and prove to yourself you could be as good as you want to be.”

Viviana quietly smiled at him, locking her eyes with his. His whole speech was pretty silly and she wasn’t too sure how some parts were related to what she wanted to hear but hearing his confidence was soothing. There was no such thing as a glass half-empty to him. There was always an option that you could work towards that would bring out a sun to any dreary day. It just burst her heart in glee that he felt the same unwavering optimism towards her potential as well.

“So do you ever get scared?” she said looking up at him.

“Of course not I’m me,” he said without a shadow of doubt.

“Shush you,” she said softly punching his upper arm.

“Hey I don’t lie,” he said crossing his arms.

“Thanks a bunch, scrub. A lot of people may misunderstand you, Casi,” she said holding onto his fingers while using her other hand to wipe away slight tears at the edges of her lashes, “But you’ll always be my number one hero.”

---

It was later in their visit to the aquarium and the two held hands as they entered one of the largest exhibits being the kelp forest tank. It was a dimly lit room with most of the light coming from the tank itself to show itself off. The aquamarine blues of the water and the striking greenery of the kelp created a sort of window to a calmer world around the darkness. Viviana eagerly tugged along Casimir as she went up to the glass to smush her face against it. They were the only two bodies in the room creating outlines of shadow in the middle of the big blue screen.

Casimir looked up at a giant orange fish that glided by in front of them as if they weren’t even there. There were lots of other marine life too with the bed of the exhibit filled with starfish of all kinds. It was actually sort of beautiful to him. He glanced over at Viviana who was busy reading some educational plaque about kelp forests in front of them.

“Hey Viv? You remember that vacation to Poland I went to a while back?” he asked.

“What? Oh yeah. That time you left me alone for a week you mean you nerd,” she teased tugging at his elbow.

“Well I got you something when I went there,” said Casimir, taking out a velvet covered box from his pocket. He flipped it open to reveal an iridescent amber earing that shined in a marvelous soft gold hue, “So when me and Jadzia went there we actually met my grandparents and they gave me my mom’s earrings that she left with them when my dad whisked her away to here.”

“Woah. Woah. Woah. Down boy,” said Viviana in complete surprise as her cheeks flushed solid with pink, “Are you really sure you should be giving something like that all willynillynostringsattachedandnomonkey’spaw either to me?”

“I’m damn sure. Don’t worry my sister got the other one and she was cool with this,” said Casimir with a confident smile, “So it turns out my dad was some college freshman on a trip to Europe when he met my mom who was already six years older than him. And he scored enough to convince her to move with him.”

“Six years damn. Wait. I’m six months older than you,” she said before cheekily pointing at his chest, “I guess liking more mature women runs in your family.”

“You and maturity isn’t exactly what comes to mind,” said Casimir laughing slightly.

“Hey! Not like you’re any better!” she said pouting before a more confused expression flashed itself. She gingerly took the earring box and stared into it for a few seconds before looking up at him, “Thanks a lot. This means so much to me, Casi.”

“Of course. I’d never cheap out on the woman I love,” said Casimir standing proud, “The greatest hero the world will ever now would never make his second anniversary worthless for his girlfriend.”

“You remembered!” squeaked Viviana clapping her hands once.

“Did you think I forgot the entire time we were here?” said Casimir flabbergasted.

“That's up to interpretation,” said Viviana winking and pointing finger guns at him.

The two stood there in silence for a moment before Casimir raised his hand to cup her cheek and raise her head slightly. She got close to him and got on her tippy toes as he leaned down to meet her in a kiss. In the darkness of the room the blue water silhouetted the two figures joined together in a loving embrace. Together in the silence and together in the blue and black void they stood together with bonds as deep as any ocean.

[Galnius]

Mika, her room

Mika tilted her head, pondering what Jan had said. Specifically, about Kabuto's supposed girlfriend. If it wasn't Ash, and he seemed sure of that much, then that meant...

Mika's eyes widened instantly as the realization struck her. "So it's Kabuto that you know! Why didn't you say so earlier? Oh damn now I've got to meet him. And you don't have to worry, I'm not aiming for anything as sappy as soulmates here. Anyone dating the world's dorkiest super is either fugly, or is out of his league and probably just looking for fame or money. I don't care what he looks like, anyone who wears that costume unironically wouldn't have a girlfriend any other way. Well...unless it's Ash, but to be fair she is pretty weird."

Laughing to herself, she downed the rest of her drink and checked her phone. "Oh shit, she finally messaged me! Wonder Tower here I come. Damn...but it's not today. Oh well, I'll just keep this bag safe. So, what did you and "The Great Kabuturd" get up to? How do you know him?"

---

Mika, Wonder Tower

Mika had finally arrived at Wonder Tower, a place that once held a bunch of kids too far over their heads, then to parties for kids who couldn't use their brains, and then reverted to its original purpose with the new team the Young Bloods. She had to admit, it was amazing to look at from the outside.

-For the half a second she was allowed to. Without warning, her host, Ashen Moth, whisked heraway with one of her four arms and just about dragged her from room to room, talking rapidly and excitably. Mika simply couldn't keep up, and despite the mini tour she was receiving she was sure that she would never be able to escape this on her own memory. Ash simply moved too quickly from place to place, from thing to thing. Mika knew she had to do something to gain control of this situation, otherwise nothing would ever get done.

"Ash!" Mika called out and stomped a foot down, trying to plant her feet against the pull of the much stronger mutant girl. "Don't forget I am here for a reason. Let's get to your room so that we can make plans. Kabuto won't just fall into your arms unless you take this seriously."

---

Mika, School

Mika had overslept today, once again. This time, however, she was forced to go to school on time, with her tardies beginning to rack up too high to be believable. Still, she found a way through the first few classes until she had finally made it to lunchtime, a place where she could recharge with food and sneak in another nap. She made her way to her usual table, a place that she had grown accustomed to over the semester. It seemed like Astrid had beaten her there, and it was honestly surprising that she beat the others with how sluggish she was.

"Sup Frenchie, this seat taken?" She asked jokingly. Mika let her body weight pull her to her seat, taking no care to give any semblance of grace. Letting out a deep sigh, she looked over to the other girl and raised her brow. "Woah Tinkerbell, what's with the get up? Feeling adventurous, or couldn't decide between pants or a skirt? Or is it something else. Got someone you're trying to seduce nowadays?"

With a joking elbow nudge, she turned her attention to her food. After shoving a few fries into her mouth and finishing them, she spoke again. "It looks good on you."

[Absolon-7]

Icarus

Casimir Herman October 8th

---

Casimir had been waiting near where Icarus pulled up on his motorcycle thus he cleanly caught the soda projectile tossed at him. He hated how Icarus visit to their table had been single handedly ruined by Mike so he was going to make sure this temporary stay was nothing but smooth sailing for his friend. He remembered Icarus didn't sound too happy about Renata's recent behavior but they could figure it out on their own. Icarus had some sense to him after all. Well whatever. They'll bang it out of their system or something. He undid the cap on the soda and chugged a gulp down before wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Ha root beer! Read my damn-hck," said Casimir before being interrupted by a single cough, "Unfortunately, my throat won't be better until tomorrow so you'll have miss my usual charming enthusiasm."

Casimir hadn't planned at all and had just thought doing whatever came to mind for fun would do for both of them. However, having some sort of starting point wouldn't go amiss, "So feel like doing anything? We got tons of video games at our huge flatscreen in the living room. There's a total VR thing we bought a while back. Although if anyone we meet says shit about an ant room you can ignore them," said Casimir with slight indignation in his voice, "They just don't understand."

Rise of the War Hounds: Episode 1 - The Phantom Glory

Viviana Couture October 24th

---

To say the past month had been going great for the team was an understatement of the century. Viviana was personally glad at all the attention the team they were getting as it pretty much cemented they were being taken seriously as heroes. She fondly remembered back when she joined her high school's basketball team and how they weren't much to most people. But once they started getting to championships then they got the recognition they worked so hard for. It was a sort of guilty plasure but she often stayed late into the night reading what people where talking about when it came to the team in social media or sites like Reddit. For now however, she was in the team's kitchen preparing some baked sweets for later.

She was leaning back on a counter across from the oven scrolling through her phone with an apron on and her hair tied up in a ponytail. Her attention was soon however drawn from her phone to Mike who had just walked into the kitchen area. She looked up at the much taller teammate and waved her free hand at him, "Hey there Mikey-mike? Spot land from up there?"

Casimir Herman

---

Casimir had taken the team's explosion in popularity as well as he could. That being somehow growing even more confident then he already was before. Whether it was a combination of being a pre-exiting hero, a founder, or one of the most active members of the team when it came to beating villain ass he had consistently been in the top ranks when it came to polls and such although the elusive number one spot still eluded him to this day. Dammit! It's always freaking Nightshade, Stella, or Makeshift there. Whatever those polls said he still knew for a fact that he would be kicking ass and taking names from evil doers. Currently he had just finished an intense strength training regime in the team's upgrade gym.

Through a combination of generous donations from Dunkmaster's Gym or Alexis' handywork the gym had a plethora of sets and equipment that could fit a wide variety of powersets. There was stuff like a range that shot off high speed ceramic plates for ranged attackers but by far his favorite were the gravity plates that could be attached to the last plates on any weight set or more compact ones for dumbbells or leg and arm exercises. He had just finished today's scheduled workout of his chest and back and the enormous weights these things could go to now was amazing. Casimir walked out of the gym and took the elevator to a different floor where he had left a valuable bag of snacks. To his unpleasant surprise he had the terrible gift of Mark's ugly mug meet him halfway through the hall.

"Well his it isn't big man himself. Heard you finally got out of detention," said Casimir mockingly as he walked by, "How's it feel being just like your friends you beat up for being so nice to you."

[Segral]

Carter Graystone
Chapter 6: Idol

Carter slowly peeled his eyes open, murmuring to himself as the ceiling came into focus. He had slept like a baby, which might explain the dull, pounding headache that was pressing in on either side of his nose, just behind his eyes. WebMD said that the headaches were a result of sleep apnea, but that didn't exactly help, considering the fact that he had no idea how to get rid of sleep apnea. Usually, the best way to make the headaches and grogginess go away was to stare at his phone for a bit, at least until his eyelids didn't feel like they had dumbbells tied to them. And so, that's exactly what he did, reaching over onto the nightstand with one hand while pulling a free a strand of hair that had stuck to his face thanks to a (very) sticky glob of drool. Grimacing as he wiped his fingers clean on his pillowcase, he opened up the phone with a simple thumb press on the home button and noticed one, two, three, four...a lot of texts. And a few missed calls too. The hell did he want from Carter, it was only 11...A...M...ok, yeah, he was late to something.

"Man, was I hungover or something...?" Carter groaned, looking around at the room. Now that he realized it, he might as well have been hungover. His bags were still unpacked on the ground, lying as still and quiet as Harley beside him. He was still in his grimy street clothes from the previous night, the sunglasses slipping back onto his nose from his forehead as he lifted his head off the mattress. His hair was still a filthy, tangled, matted mess, his breath was awful, he hadn't even bothered to slip under the actual bedspread, he had just fallen over on the bed and called it a day. It had now been...forty-eight hours since his last shower? Sixty-four? Seventy-two He didn't know. All he knew was that he needed one. Right after he took a look at what the hell was so pressing this morning.

"Hello, Carter, I hope you rested well. Please meet me at the Conference Room on the first floor at 11:15 AM, ask Kaushal if you need any directions."

"11:15...11:15?!" Carter practically shouted, waking up Harley with an annoyed bark. Carter didn't even care, already on the ground fumbling for his luggage. "I'm going to be late, holy shit, I'm going to be late!" he yelled, and it was true. He had fifteen minutes to change his clothes, throw some water on his face, and find his way to the room, factoring in the extra five minutes he would likely spend lost. Usually, he wouldn't give a shit being late, considering the fact that he held the Thomsen High Junior record for most late slips in a single year (132, to be exact), but this was a famous guy, a Bollywood director! Sure, he was probably going to be like twenty minutes fashionably late, but that didn't mean Carter could do the same. Imagine the travesty it would be if both him and the famous director made it to the conference room at the same time...no, he couldn't bear it.

Unzipping the trunk as fast as he could, Carter yanked out the first pair of shorts and T-shirt he could find, spending roughly thirty seconds wrestling them on, stumbling and tripping as he ran into the bathroom and nearly smacked his face on the counter. There was no toiletries. He stumbled and tripped back out of the bathroom and dived back into his suitcase, fumbling for his bag of toiletries. Harley was yipping and practically jumping around, but Carter didn't even notice, continuing to grope around like Bill Cosby in the back of a limo until he found a large plastic bag containing his toothbrush, toothpaste, and every other damn thing that his mom had drilled him about back home. He then stumbled and tripped back into the bathroom, ripped the bag open so aggressively that the plastic tore apart, and pulled the brush and tube of paste out, haphazardly squeezing out a spread on the brush. He swished it around in his mouth for a solid thirty seconds before spitting it back out, filling up a glass next to the sink with water and throwing it back like a shot glass to rinse out the toothpaste. He spat it out, reflexively grimaced for the inevitable splash-back, and stumbled and tripped his way out of the bathroom, Nikes still on from the previous nig-...no, wait, something was missing. His face. His face felt like it had been embalmed with dirt, like some freakish living mummy. He needed a wash, but did he have time. Doing the whole cleansing treatment wouldn't fly, there was only one option. The shower had a handheld spray, the brass knob located just to the right of the main ceiling fixture's. He knew exactly what he had to do, and he didn't like it. He was cursed with knowledge.

Sighing, he trudged back into the bathroom. With a blast of air, he pulled the plastic, somewhat tacky curtain open and reached over, grasping the cold, metal spray with a weary hand and pointing it towards his own face. And, with a slight turn of the knob, the cold spray of water sprayed out of the cold spray of metal, jetting into his face hard enough to make his lips pull back.

He had never really been a morning person.

---

Fifteen Minutes Later...

"<Do you think he'll be on time?>" Randhawa pickered in Hindi towards the man sitting beside him. He was certainly fearsome, with his wild hair, untamed beard, piercing eyes, and impressive physique, muscles practically bulging through his thin T-shir. The golden necklace around his beefy trunk of a neck was almost diminished by the perfect tone of his muscles. He was on the shorter side, but he was very stocky, and anybody who dared sneer upon his height would clearly be met with an ass-whooping like they had never experienced before. To some, he was known as "Chatur". To most people however, he was known as "Garuda", the courageous leader of the famous South Asian hero team that was the New Delhi Nagas.

Chatur laughed in response, making a flitting gesture with his hand. "<Relax, what is a few minutes here and there? You movie directors are always so focused on time this, time that, you always concern yourself so heavily with time.>" he said loudly, taking another sip from his scotch glass.

Randhawa pursed his lips. "<Time is money in our business.>" he said stiffly, refusing to take a drink from his own glass.

"<Time is money in every business. Time is life in my business, but there are some places where time matters less than others.>" Chatur quipped back with a silly grin. "<Sometimes, being late is a benefit. The people wait, wait for their hero to descend from the sky, eyes anxiously waiting to see the man himself fly from the sky...and just like that, they see the mighty form of Garuda, and Khanda, and Sura, and Rishi, and their hearts go up and down like a rollercoaster at Essel World!>"

"<...Do you ever actually...wait to save people?>" Randhawa asked in genuine amazement, his eyes focused on Chatur.

"<...No. But the suspense is so real! It really does feel like Sharukh Khan himself is descending from the heavens!" the other man exclaimed, eliciting a hearty laugh from Randhawa. A laugh so hearty that he didn't even notice his young American guest at the door until a somewhat aggressive knock rang from the doorway. His dress was somewhat...casual, and his hair had a few unfortunate drops of water clinging to the ends, but overall, it was far from the worst-case scenario.

"Ah, Carter, there you are. Please, sit down." Randhawa started, but Carter's attention was directed elsewhere, directed somewhere to his left to be precise. He was staring with his mouth somewhat agape at the muscular hulk of a man that was Garuda, no doubt in awe of the world-famous hero. When Garuda's eyes met his own, the boy practically seemed to piss his own pants, spluttering and coughing in a loss for words.

"You...you're...the Garuda Punch guy...?" Carter asked incredulously, his amazement growing even further when Garuda suddenly leapt up and struck the aforementioned "Garuda Punch" pose, an odd stance where one extended and froze a vicious punch in midair, legs separated in a lunge, back tensed, one fist at the chin and one fist extended out in a triumphant gesture. "That I am, young Aeolus!" he said in perfect English, with not a trace of accent. Did every Indian man in this country speak perfect English?

"Wow..." Carter trailed off, suddenly lunging forward to shake the hero's hand. "This is amazing, it's sooooo cool to meet you!" Carter said excitedly, pumping Garuda's surprised hand up and down. "You seem so tall on TV, but you're just my my height! Man, I can't believe I left my copy of Garuda Punch in my room, maybe I should go get it..." he babbled excitedly, causing both Randhawa and Garuda's eyebrows to raise.

"Autographs, huh? The legendary Garuda is always ready for those! But perhaps another time..." Garuda said gently, gesturing towards the seat. "After all, it would be rude to Mr. Randhawa, he went to all of this trouble to book this meeting, let us humor his request, hm?" he said cheerfully as Randhawa blushed.

"Er...yes, sit down Carter, we have a lot to discuss." Randhawa said, leaning back in his own chair. "Do you want to discuss the good, or the bad first?"

"Uh..." Carter started, fumbling his way into a chair, mulling over what felt like a trick question. Bad news? What bad news? Did he want to hear the bad news? Clearly, if it was really bad news, Garuda wouldn't be so rosy-cheeked, but still, bad news wasn't good. Should he hear the good news first? No, what if the bad news was bad?

"Bad news. Let's hear the bad news." Carter started, slouching back in his chair. "...Is the news, like, really bad? Am I going to regret hearing this?"

Randhawa laughed, but it felt a little forced. "No, of course not. Actually, it has to do with why Garuda is here at this meeting today."

"Yup," Garuda started, cutting off Randhawa with a wink that made the older man glare slightly. "Mr. Randhawa specially summoned me here to...interview you."

"Interview me?"

"Yes. We wanted to know...what happened on the highway, when the driver pulled his weapon on you. If it's connected to a larger criminal organization, this information will be very useful to the police and to the Nagas in helping bring them to justice." Garuda started, softening his tone and face upon seeing Carter's startled expression. "I know it must be difficult to remember such an event, but if you could tell us anything, anything at all, I would be incredibly grateful." he said, the look in his eyes one of slight pleading. It creeped Carter out. He was supposed to be the one pleading to a world-famous hero, not the other way around. What creeped him out even more was the memory of the incident, that feeling when Arun had first pointed that Glock at him. Just the thought of it made him tremble a little, as stupid as it was. It wasn't like he was traumatized or anything, this wasn't some stupid drama movie, but still, the idea that people he had never met, never seen before had planned to leave him on the side of a highway with a bullet in the back of his head...well, it was malicious, to say the least.

He glanced at Randhawa. He hadn't told the old fart a thing, he had spent most of his (incredibly expensive) phone call yelling at him about "setting him up", and something about an AK-47. Nobody would know if he was lying. Well, aside from the five bastards with guns, and they were hopefully rotting in police custody somewhere. That was all the confirmation he needed.

He told his story, starting from when Arun had picked him up, and ending from when he had called Arun after knocking out that Bilal dude. The car pulling over, Arun leading him out, Arun breaking his nose, and the scuffle with the four others. He left out the part about seeing the makeshift execution scene, and the part about Arun leading him to the patch in the woods. As far as the two men would ever know, he had just gotten loose from Arun and fought back with Harley's help. Garuda was grim, making several "tsks" and sighs as he scribbled notes down on a pad of paper he had somehow materialized from his pocket. Randhawa looked like he was about to faint, staring at the table and trying his best not to lose all of the color in his face. Maybe he had been too harsh on the older guy. Sure, he'd nearly gotten him killed, but he at least looked...sorry? If he had planned it, he wouldn't look this genuinely upset. He was weird, but maybe not evil-spirited.

"...Is that all?" Garuda asked, bending his head back down and muttering slightly upon seeing Carter nod. "Did any of these soldiers have any uniforms, or maybe symbols or insignias on their clothes?" he asked tentatively, a slight frown distorting his handsome face.

"Yeah, they were wearing all...brown." Carter said, a frown of his own forming. "Brown pants, boots, vests, durags, everything. It was weird, considering how hot it was." he said, hesitating slightly at the end of his sentence. "I also saw a symbol. It was like a circle, with some crossed guns, and some Arabic-type stuff scrawled underneath, I couldn't understand any of it. And...there was an arc of stars...?" he trailed off confusedly as both Randhawa and Garuda flinched, exchanging grim looks towards each other.

"Bhaarateey Muslim Bhaeechaara?" Randhawa asked in Hindi to Garuda, Carter's look of confusion deepening even further.

"Haan." Garuda responded, turning to Carter. "The Indian Muslim Brotherhood. They were originally a political Muslim separatist movement, but have since turned into militarism and organized crime to achieve their goals." he explained, only to be met with a blank look from Carter. "They wanted their own territory, one just for Indian Muslims. When they failed to get what they wanted legally, their more violent members became...terrorists. Criminals. Mobsters. They're everywhere, they're a plague on India's great face." he said bitterly, almost spitting into his glass. "The Nagas and I have been doing our best to deal with them, but they're like cockroaches, they keep wriggling no matter how hard we press our boots against them." he said angrily, quickly standing up.

"Are you leaving now?" Randhawa asked quietly, looking up at Garuda's passing form.

"Haan. I have to check back in with the rest of the Nagas, get the status update. I'll be back in a few hours." he said grimly, his face now hard and steely as he stopped and turned to face the other two. "Young Aeolus, it was a pleasure. I look forward to seeing you around, hmm? Perhaps you can show me some of those powers that the old fart keeps raving about." he said with a forced smile, one that had none of the charisma and enthusiasm that had practically been bubbling off of him earlier. It was all Carter could think about as Garuda gave a slight gesture, turned on his heel, and left the room, letting the door swing closed behind him.

The silence was thick for a few seconds as Randhawa sipped from his scotch glass, which was starting to run dry. "Six months ago, the Nagas lost two team members to a Brotherhood attack. Sarin gas on a small village. The poor souls were corpses by the time backup arrived. They've been stretched thin ever since, and I don't think Chat-...Garuda's ever gotten over it." Randhawa explained sadly, a hint of anger in his voice. Carter simply nodded and said "Oh", his mind too blank to do anything else.

"They are highly dangerous, and vicious too. I don't know what they wanted with you or me, but in any case, you're lucky to have made it out alive." he said, before leaning forward, close to Carter's face. He smelled like expensive things, like cologne, Scotch, and the faint smell of mint, things that Carter could never afford and him very aware of his own "stale-n'-cheap-cologne-and-half-washed-T-shirt" musk. "I promise you Carter, I had nothing to do with Arun, or the Brotherhood. He was a friend, I trusted him...I see now that it was a mistake. I'm sorry for putting you through that, but I can promise you that the security here is top-notch, and very well-trained. There will be not a single peep from any Brotherhood member under my watch, I will make sure of that." he said, before leaning back in his chair, leaving Carter still silent and still in the same position.

"Now, for the good news. I trust that you received the script of the movie that I had Priya send you, correct?" Randhawa said merrily, picking up a fine leather briefcase next to his chair. The briefcase was brown leather, with gold metal studs and intricate zippers. "First his smell, now his briefcase? Is everything about this guy richer than me?" Carter asked himself in awe as he finally managed to croak out a response.

"Yeah, I got the script." he said, coughing slightly afterwards. "I've been practicing it for weeks now, going over some of the stunts that were highlighted. I practiced all the moves, the acrobatics, everything."

"Good, good, I'm glad to hear that. Many of my professional stuntman do not prepare as intently as you do. However, I wanted to give you this." he said, reaching into his briefcase and extracting a thick package of papers that he handed to Carter. "This is the shooting schedule for stuntmen, it goes over the important stunts for each day and describes the exact blocking for each scene. Many of my movie's stunts are done in one take, so there is plenty of room for improvisation. We start shooting in one week, which will hopefully give you enough time to practice and prepare."

"Practice?"

"Yes, practice. The filming location is booked 24/7, so you are free to test out your blocking and stunts on the sets when filming is not ongoing. I'm sure there will be many crew members who are willing to aid someone as famous as you." he said with a slight grin. "It is more expensive, but it makes filming much shorter, and saves us plenty of money in the long term. Any questions?" he asked, a question of courtesy above everything.

"Nah, not really. Thanks, Mr. Randhawa, I appreciate it. Appreciate...everything, really. Thank you so much." Carter said, standing up from his chair with a slightly loud screech as he pushed the heavy structure back.

"No problem. Oh...one last thing."

"What is it?"

"Your nose has gotten much better since yesterday, the swelling's gone down tremendously!" Randhawa said with a silly grin, motioning towards the center of his own face. Carter quickly brought his hand up to his face, up to his nose. It was...whole. The pain was gone, the hot swelling was gone...and he hadn't slurred once that day. He looked in amazement towards the smiling director, his jaw practically plowing through the floor.

"Wha-, h-how did you..."

"I have my ways. Take care of yourself Carter, and enjoy yourself. You've gone through a lot, you've earned the right to relax. Now get on, I have a scotch to finish." Randhawa said jokingly, turning his away attention from Carter and onto the decanter on the shelf behind him, rolling around in his spinny-office-chair to put a hand on it. Carter averted his eyes from the crystal container, giving Randhawa a quick smile as he ducked his way out the door, still touching his nose to confirm that it really was healed. "How in the hell did that bastard get into my hotel room?" he muttered to himself as he ducked down the hotel's corridor, making a mental note to start teaching Harley some guard dog routines. Nothing too crazy, just, y'know, a bark if somebody tried to enter his hotel room in the middle of the night. It was one of the many, many mental notes for today alone, and it didn't help that one kept crowding his thoughts; the one about the Brotherhood.

Why did they want him? Why were they trying to kill him? How did they know he was coming to India? And how did they plan out such an elaborate set-up in such a short amount of time? Something was off, like that time he had hallucinated some girl speaking French after the team had fought those Cabal weirdos back in San Diego. He could've sworn he had cheated off of one of them once upon a time...either way, he was just as confused then as he was now, and equally directionless. Heh. Big word, 'directionless'. Ms. Snell would give that a B+. She would've also loved the irony in this story, if he was ever going to sit down and finish that autobiography, of course. The irony was clear, even if he didn't exactly know what irony meant. And the irony was this:

He had came to India to escape a life of superheroics and punching bad guys, but he had gotten dragged right back into superheroics and punching bad guys.

Was this what it felt like to be Craig Thomsen? Minus the rich part, of course.

[The Republic of Atria]

Reject Squad

It was about as good a start as one could hope for when fighting a literal army of demons. At least until the tower they were in got damaged and then started to tip over. Vince grabbed his duffle bag with one hand, holding the launcher in the other, leaving him without a hand to grab something to keep himself from falling.

Zayda, however, was a bit more prepared for such an occasion. Her wings spreading to give her balance and slow the descent. The others seemed to have it under control... Barring Vince who had his arms full of his explosives. She directed her project to grab him from behind and gently get him out of the collapsing watchtower. She landed, her wings having greatly slowed her drop, and Vince was dropped a few feet off the ground, careful not to drop his bag. She'd known him well enough that even he likely didn't know what everything in that bag was, and having them all go off at once was bad news for everyone. "Thanks Zayda! We're a fucking awesome team!" Vince shouted, cycling the barrel of the launcher to shoot another, when Jan mentioned to not burn themselves out since there's going to be far more of them.

Vince did have limited ammunition and figured that he should save a few rounds for whoever had started the attack. He had a few bombs that would probably instantly kill just about anything, if he had remembered to bring and label them.

Zayda turned her attention to the female human with the large scythe who... Appeared to explode into a pile of her own limbs, much to her surprise. There was no blood or gore, and her limbs appeared to be functioning as her arm was still swinging her weapon at the now pile of demon. It was slightly more disconcerting to see her head asking for assistance. Since no one else seemed to be going to help her, she figured she would. Zayda motioned her projection towards the pile and it carefully picked up the girl's head as Zayda approached. "How do I... Repair you?" she asked, the confusion evident in her voice.

"I gotcha covered Zay!" Vince said, blinking a few times at the oddball sight, but then shot a grenade at the pile of charging demons. The grenade detonated, producing a strange shimmer in the air, not unlike heat waves, and then erupted the ground, a few demons into the air and then they all just froze mid-air. Suspended, as if time itself as stopped in the area around it. "Oh goddammit," Vince muttered. "I was hoping to use that one on a really big demon. Make a big ass demon statue. It could be a tourist thing."


The Tower, Oct 24

"It's been pretty good lately, yeah. Lots of good PR, we're in the process of hammering out some of the... Rougher portions of the team." He replied. Carter really seemed excited about it, probably more than he was which he found to be funny. "We did... And it went... Well let's just say it could have gone worse. We might have been able to beat him if... SOMEONE didn't screw up. No, for once it wasn't Red." He explained. "Despite that, the fight went about as well as it could have gone all things considered. I think both us and him were a little caught off guard by everything that was happening so I think that played a part in things going the way they did." He explained and then Carter mentioned that he, somehow, managed to snag a job... In India.

Which was a lot to process. "Okay, hold on a second. When did you go to India and why did you go to India?" Obviously for the job, he said it was film-related. "Carter, that's amazing and I'm incredibly happy for you!" He said, his tone lightening up a bit. "Stuntman in Bollywood? That sounds really cool honestly, but just be careful man. That crap is super dangerous... I say after just telling you I fought one of the most dangerous men on the planet... Well. I didn't fight him, a lot of the team did. I was running support, keeping some baddies off of them, but that's not the point. You can seriously hurt yourself if you are careful. I know you've got your powers to mitigate some of the danger, but you don't wanna end up like that one stunt double from iCarly. You know, the one who shattered his ribs from that one fall everyone keeps posting online because it's actually pretty funny?"

He also got to meet Garuda? It took him a second to remember her, but he did. Weird friction powers, leader of one of India's premier super teams. "Okay, that's actually awesome. We got to meet Captain Quake... Uh. He was a giant asshole, and Casimir and Jason were NOT taking his crap. Both of them called him Captain Cocaine or something. I hope Garuda is less of an asshole. You know I don't say things like that lightly. Quake is an asshole, and honestly, he's lucky he left when he did, those two would have verbally laid into him nonstop."

[Galnius]

Andrew, the infirmary

Cold? It's not that cold out. Andrew furrowed his brows as he tried to figure out where the Draq was coming from, and he soon realized. "Right, reptilian, sorry. I'll keep that in mind."

With a sigh, Andrew tried to figure out a new plan. He thought best in comfort, and since the waves wouldn't work he would have to find someplace else. "Alright Bael. How about this. Take me to your favourite spot on the island, as long as it's relaxing. We'll walk and talk, see if we can't solve that problem or any others that you might have. I just need to get outta here. Your medic might have the looks and voice to soothe a savage beast, but I don't do bed rest."

---

Andrew, Bridge, post time-skip, 9 pm

In the past weeks the Young Bloods had received a curious spike in good publicity. Magazines wanted interviews, brands were looking for ads, and fanfictions were at an all time high. It came as no surprise to Andrew that he had heard a good amount of buzz about himself. After all, he was a transfer with an already decent fan-base from his time as a sidekick with the stars, the de facto gods of superhero publicity.

Andrew, of course, had every intention to capitalize on this popularity and to make it grow exponentially, all while rebranding himself. He hoped to be seen not as some kid in someone else's backdrop, but as the newest break out hero of the western world, and he was already beginning to do just that. He took missions when some of other Young Bloods were stuck in school, and went out to make rounds late at night, sleeping instead from 6 am to noon. Still, he felt that there was something more he could do.

That is why he found himself here, at the bridge and waiting on two others, the once solo hero Paragon and the other team transfer, Impulse. He had managed to make a deal with the police of the nearby city of El Cajon to get a police scanner. With any luck, with the two girls he could make a three man team and extend the area of influence outside of San Diego, becoming not only the young heroes of the city but of the southern part of the state.

[Bentus]

The Amazing Ashen Moth!
Wonder Tower

---

“Ash!”

Mika’s sudden interruption, and the feeling of resistance on her arm, caused Ash to come to a halt. Turning around to look at her friend with a confused expression, the mutant was surprised to hear the irritation in the other girl’s voice. Listening as Mika chided her for rushing the tour and nearly derailing the whole sleepover, Ash’s wings seemed to droop along with her excited grin. Immediately feeling a surge of embarrassment at the other girl’s words, a hint of colour touched her cheeks as she mentioned Kabuto. She’d wondered if it would have been worth inviting him to their sleepover, since she was certain that he and Mika would have gotten along really well. But something had caused her to hesitate, and she had to admit that the other girl seemed to know what she was doing.

“Oh, yes - you are right.” Ash replied sheepishly, brushing aside her momentary confusion about why she’d want Kabuto to ‘fall in her arms’. She assumed it was a boyfriend thing that Mika would explain later. Offering the girl an apologetic grin as she noted the bags and suitcases that she’d been forced to lug through the tower, the mutant continued. “I am just very excited. You are the first friend that I have invited to the Tower. But I can show you my room right now, yes?”

The Amazing Ashen Moth!
Thomsen High

---

Excited to see her school friends, Ash had nevertheless found herself lingering late after class yet again. Seeing that Mika and Astrid were already at their table, the mutant quickened her pace as her features seemed to light up. Humming happily to herself, she seemed to glide over the last few steps to her seat, her wings fluttering lightly in the process. Planting herself down, she greedily looked over the tray in front of her before turning to beam towards her friends.

“Hello everyone! Your classes are all going very well today, yes?” She asked, starting to dig into the excitingly-named ‘Mystery Meat’ that was served every week. “Did you know that there are Math teams that compete with other schools? Like with the sports teams, but instead of more gym time you get to have extra lessons!”

[Auropa]

Viviana Couture October 24th

---

Mike Mathews
October 24th
The Tower

After the close call in the gala and being able talk things over a bit with Mizu, Mike had taken to his training with renewed vigour. The world seemed just as dangerous and the publicity boost the team had gotten only made him that much more worried about things going wrong but despite all his worries, doubts and concerns, he didn’t feel panicked. After thinking things through a bit, he had a new, unexpected sense of clarity about everything, whatever it was that would end up coming for them was inevitable, until then, all he could do was prepare and be the hero he wanted to be. With his time split between polishing his skills and keeping up with his school work though, his plans to try and bridge the gap between himself and the team continued to be pushed back until finally falling off his schedule all-together. Instead, he did his best to keep out of the limelight and out of the path of more than a few teammates than he’d like to admit. In the end however, probability played out against him and Mike’s attempts to keep to himself came crashing down around him on a simple kitchen run.

"Hey there Mikey-mike? Spot land from up there?"

A cheery voice called out to him as he entered the room ‘this kitchen is cursed’ he thought to himself as he instinctively winced at the memories of all his embarrassing moments and the odd poisoning he suffered in the room. For a few seconds Mike instinctively let a silence hang as he waited for the inevitable lecture about how badly he had treated Casimir and his friend at the gala, about how he shouldn't have stormed off midway through the event or really on any one of the many slip ups he had done, but instead the ever cheerful Viv just seemed a bit confused by his silence.

“……No?” Mike slowly answered as he unsuccessfully tried to navigate what he decided couldn’t not be a trap. Thankfully saving him from his self-inflicted trance and snapping him back to reality, was a sudden realization as he connected the dots between the girl’s apron, the smell of sweets and the familiar hum of the oven.

“Are you baking something?” He asked as he unceremoniously climbed a chair and began to push back a tile in the roof.

“Because if you are and casimir's swarm haven't found them yet, then I might just happen to have a few nice ingredients stashed around here.” He began to say as he reached up and excitedly pulled a few small sealed bags free from their hiding place. “I got some cassia cinnamon from India, a whole heap of different sugars and another bunch of different chocolates, there’s also some hadrien sweeteners around here somewhere that I’ve been dying to try out... but apparently its can turn explosive soooo maybe not for baking then. Also please don’t tell Naja about it. Or Cass. Or Casimir actually.”

[Tomia]

Angelica
"That's not the point!" Angelica shouted, getting angry now. "Of course I didn't look hurt, I was trying to hide it. What do think being in the closet means?" She was upset that Alexis really didn't seem to understand this. She knew their experiences regarding liking other girls was very different, but it seemed like Alexis was oblivious as to what she actually went through. "It's not unfair to want you to understand what I've been through. I thought you of all people would get it... I've finally started being myself, I don't want someone making light of who I was forced to pretend to be. You can joke about me looking heartbroken because that's all it is to you. I didn't just look heartbroken Alexis, I was heartbroken! How could you not see that? Just because you've never had feelings for anyone before doesn't mean other people didn't." Angelica shouted. She was red in the face and breathing heavily. "I'm leaving, have fun with your machines." She said before storming out of the lab, tears streaming down her face.

Hannah
Hannah saw the strange things that were nearby with her supposed allies. One of them seemed to a head on a pile of limbs and another was shooting bizarre grenades at the demons. She approached them, deciding that they needed to get on the same page. "We need to keep moving!" She called to them, trying to ignore how strange the head was. "You, grenade guy, if I charge in and start punching them to clear a path can you cover me?"

[New Neros]

Ava Waldstein
Thomsen High | Cafeteria

She was oddly energetic today, waking up alert and ready to start her day before the alarm stopped blaring, which gave Ava a positive outlook on all the extra helpings of bad luck she encountered. Her stepdad's car had broken down on the way to school and she did what she could to help - which was absolutely nothing - but opted to walk the rest of the way and explain the situation. No mercy there, she was given a tardy and written up for it as well, which earned after-school detention that would severely cut into her regiment. Unphased, Ava continued to attack the day, getting through one or two classes, but still finding some problem arising in each one.

First period, all of her pencil lead was broken, and she had to borrow some from a neighbor. Caught talking and told to move seats in that same interaction, causing some kids to snicker and laugh at her embarrassment, of course. Ava continued, undeterred, and finished the assignment for English. She then got back a grade for yesterday's assignment, and it was a mockingly low 46. The bell rang and she protested the grade to the teacher, who went point by point why he marked her down so severely, and in a round about way, told her that he just didn't care about what she wrote. That took some time, making her late for her next class.

Tripped in the hall on the way there, also. Completely to the floor and scattering her book bag and it's contents. Most people were cleared out of the halls at that point, but the few who did see chose not to hide their laughter and amusement. She made it to class and got a tardy, forcing her to go to the office and pick up a yellow slip, eating into her classroom time. Upon returning, Ava had to turn in yesterday's homework, which was oddly missing from her bag. Must have dropped it in the hall when she fell. Immediately marked as a zero, with no chance to make up for the grade. Ava sunk down in her seat, unmotivated at continuing for the day and it was only second period. Two more to lunch, four more to detention, then to home.

Though unnoteworthy, the next two classes were somewhat unpleasant, made more so by the beginning of the day souring everything and then some. Even dropping a pencil was seen as bad luck continuing, at least in Ava's eyes, and she honestly thought about skipping the rest of school and going back to sleep to see if she could try again. She was held back when lunch sounded, one of the teachers talking about an upcoming project for far too long, forcing Ava to find her place in the lunch line at the far end, taking her a decent amount of time to slug through and get her rations.

A dark cloud followed her, and it was almost ingrained to eat alone when those feelings took over, but a ray of hope shined at a table of chatting girls she knew and particularly liked, ones she could actually call friends. Ava fought past her slump and smiled, approaching the table with Astrid, Ash, and Mika, sitting down quickly next to Ash with a loud sigh. "Fuck..." She breathed, "Today has been amazing." Sarcasm to ease the pain, better than morphine. "Please let me go back to sleep." She leaned over and put her head on Ash's fuzzy shoulder, feeling the urge to cry, but keeping it together by comedically feeding herself sideways from the goop served from the cafeteria, trying her best not to drip it on Ash.

"How're you guys doing, though?" She asked, genuinely concerned about her friends well-being despite her own garbage day. Missing out on the prior conversations, Ava chose to listen until some big, interesting discussion came up.

[New Finnish Republic]

Opening his eyes, Red was surprised to find himself no longer being slung across Casimir's shoulders, but instead standing alone in a dimly lit hallway. Above him, fluorescent lights dimly flickered and let out a soft ominous hum, causing a sense of unease to build up within him as he tried to get some sort of bearing for where he was. While he was still unsure, his surroundings seemed vaguely familiar to him, almost as if he had been here before. While devoid of any notable markings that would have otherwise revealed its identity, based on the amount of trash and decrepit state of the cracked walls and hanging ceiling tiles above him, it was clear that this building had seen better days.

A small blur of movement in the corner of his vision caused him to snap his attention to his left, causing him to let out an involuntary gasp. Out of reflex he reached towards his hip, grasping onto the object placed there and holding it in front of him. It wasn't until a few moments later when his breathing slowed that he realized he was holding onto a pistol, the weight of the object suddenly feeling much heavier as he stared down at the weapon in his hands. His gaze lowered down towards the rest of his body, finding that instead of the torn up suit and tie he had put on for the Gala, he was instead decked head to toe in combat attire. However, it was not the exosuit Alexis had designed for him, nor was it even the minimalistic outfit he wore during his initial days as a hero. Instead, this was the same gear he often wore before his time as a Young Blood.

Back when the word "Hero" was not a description for what he was.

"What the-"

Red's mutters were soon cut off as the blur from before remerged once more out of the corner of his vision, this time from the other direction. Red's instincts kicked in once more as he raised his weapon in front of him, glimpsing a shadowy figure disappearing behind the corner of the hallway. Letting out a small string of muttered curses, Red reluctantly began to walk towards the direction of where he had seen it disappear, keeping his pistol trained in front of him. While the question remained on whether or not he would actually use it was something he chose not to ponder over, he understood that in the current situation it was the only weapon he possessed. Based on the fact he knew neither where he was, how he had gotten here, or who that shadowy figure was, his only choice at the moment was to brush aside his internal worries until he knew what was going on.

Making his way down the hallway, Red slowly peeked his head around the corner, prepared to duck back around in case he fell into an ambush. However, as he glanced down the hallway before him, a sense of confusion filled him as he saw nothing but bare walls in front of him. Slowly lowering his weapon, Red hesitantly stepped out in the open, carefully walking forwards as he tired to discern where the figure could have disappeared to.

The sound of a door slowly creaking open behind him caused Red to snap around, aiming down the sights of his sidearm as he suddenly found himself staring down another hallway. A small bead of cold sweat ran down his face as he realized this hallway hadn't been there before when he had turned around the corner, with the only option been going towards the right like he had when he had first traveled down from his initial location. An looming sense of unease chilled Red to the spine as he tried to find some way to make sense of the entire situation, but no matter how many times he tried to convince himself he had somehow missed this path, he knew that this hallway shouldn't have been here.

Taking a deep breath, Red attempted to calm himself down, his combat instincts that had been seared into mind and body kicking into overdrive as he scanned for any sign of threat. Similar to the hallways from before, this one too possessed a run down appearance, with trash and debris scattered across the floor. However, what was different this time was the presence of a singular metal door that lay wide open, rusted and filled long scratches that ran up and down its entirety.

For several moments, Red stood where he was, waiting for something to appear from wherever the door led to. However, after being met with no sign of movement and hearing nothing other than his own shallow breaths, he realized that whoever had opened that door didn't plan on exiting out of it. Glancing back towards his left, Red saw that the intersection he had initially entered through had disappeared, causing a further sense of dread to build up within him as he understood that he had been given no choice in what was to come.

Magic? Mind manipulation? Something else? Red briefly thought over just what it was that was happening to him, but it didn't take long for him to resign to the fact that he had no way of counteracting whatever it was that was causing it. Letting out another muttered string of curses, he reluctantly began walking towards the doorway, keeping his weapon trained on the entrance in case something appeared.

As he approached the edge of the open doorway, Red tried to listen for any sign of movement inside. Unfortunately, all he could hear at this point was the low hum of the lights flickering lights above, which somehow seemed to have increased in volume as he neared the entrance. With every single step he took, the ominous hum increased until it felt as if it no longer came from above, but all around him. A chill ran up and down his spine, every single survival instinct in his body telling him to not get any closer to that doorway. And indeed, he likely would have done just that, had it not been for the soft, choked out words that somehow rang out through the nearly deafening hum around him.

"Help me..."

Red's eye's widened, as he immediately recognized the sound of the voice inside. Pushing aside the hesitation and fear he felt, he bolted around the corner of the door and into the pitch black room inside, the hum now turning into a roar that seemed to shake the building itself as he let out a scream.

"YOSHI!"

The moment he screamed out her name, the door behind him slammed closed with a screeching jolt. As the light from outside went away, so did the roaring hum from before, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the pitch black room with only the sound of his heavy breaths that seemed to echo all around him. Taking a hesitant step forwards, Red felt more trails of cold sweat run down his face as he tried to search around for where Yoshiro was. While he couldn't see, he could hear the faint sound of what seemed to be muffled cries somewhere near him, prompting him to walk blindly in the direction that they came from. As he continued to stumble his way in the darkness, he slowly began to realize that while he could still recognize the sound of what seemed to be Yoshiro, he could hear the distinct sound of something else.

Or rather, someone else.

Before he could recognize this other voice, however, the room suddenly brightened to a blinding glow, causing Red to reflexively shield his eyes as the sudden onset of light blinded him. Rubbing at his eyes, his vision slowly returned to him. As it did, he felt his heart leap out of his chest as he saw what was before him.

Sitting on a metal chair with her hands zip tied to the back plate behind her was a visibly beaten Yoshiro, with cuts and bruises filling her face as she seemed to barely be holding onto consciousness. What was more surprising, however, was the sight of Marionette sitting next to her in a similar state, a small trail of blood running down her nose as she hazily looked up to look up at Red.

"Please...save me..."

As he stood there frozen with wide eyes, Red didn't know how to react as he saw the two of them sitting there, seemingly barely hanging by a thread as they looked at him with pleading expressions on their faces. After a few moments, he finally seemed to be able to muster out words, as his voice came out in a choked stutter.

"What hap-"

The distinct sound of a safety switching off behind him caused Red to turn around, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun only inches away from his face.

"Nice to see you again, Red."

Red stared in disbelief as his gaze was met with the sparkling blue eyes of Isabella, an expressionless look on her face as she stared back at Red. Motioning her weapon downwards, Red hesitantly complied as he dropped his own weapon out of his hands, maintaining his shocked gaze at Isabella as she kicked the gun away from the two and slowly began to circle around until she stood behind both Yoshiro and Marionette. Her gaze narrowed for a moment as she seemed to study Red briefly, before she suddenly pointed the barrel of her pistol towards the back of Yoshiro's head.

"Choose."

As she said this, she directed the barrel of her weapon back towards Marionette, who let out a muffled sob as tried to flinch away. Staring at the two, Red struggled to even speak as his words came out in a stutter.

"W-what do you mean?"

His answer seemed to displease Isabella, as her finger noticeably squeezed even tighter against the trigger of her weapon, leaving only a hair's worth of space before it would go off.

"One of them, Red. Show me just how much of a hero you really are," she said, her voice filled with irritation as she kept her eyes center directly onto him. "Choose her," she said as she kept the pistol pointed towards Marionette, "and prove that at the end of the day you've never changed since you left the Five. Choose her," she continued, turning her weapon towards Yoshiro, "and prove that you don't really care about those around you, as long as at the end of the day you still get to retain your image of someone who possesses those stupid ideals heroes like to uphold."

Red remained frozen in horror as he looked back and forth towards Yoshiro and Marionette. There was no way of somehow salvaging this situation, no backup plan to fall back on, and certainly no one to ask for help. It was up to him to decide, right then and there, who would live and who would die. While part of his mind screamed at him the seemingly obvious choice, another part of him screamed back, the image of the person he considered his worst enemy pleading to him to save her etched into his mind. Finally, he made up his mind.

"Me. Shoot me, Isabella."

As his words reached her, Red watched as her expression soften into a look of both sadness and disappointment.

"That was what I was afraid you were going to say, Red."

Before he could react, he saw Isabella's hand move upwards in his direction. However, her aim did not settle on him. Instead, he looked on in horror as the barrel of the pistol rested beneath her jaw. Rushing forwards and reaching out towards her, Red let out a scream as he tried to stop her, time seeming to slow down to a crawl as he was inches away from grabbing onto her hand.

Only to be too late, as a gunshot rang off.

---

Red let out a loud gasp as he sat up from his bed, still reaching out towards the empty air in front of him as he could feel sweat dripping down from his face. Letting out a series of heavy breaths, his eyes remained wide and unblinking as he struggled to recompose himself. After a few moments, of struggling to catch his breath, he finally managed to calm himself enough to think clearly.

Once he did, he immediately noticed a sharp sense of pain emanating from around his body, causing an involuntary wince as he moved too quickly. Muttering out a string of curses, Red opened his eyes back up to see his bare torso was covered in bandages that wrapped from his shoulders down to his hip in both directions, dull crimson stains dotting across the areas where he felt the sharpest amount of pain. Ignoring the protests from his body, he reached up towards his neck, feeling a line of cloth that likewise wrapped around.

Immediately, the memories of his fight with Marionette returned to him, as did the girl's subsequent escape. He vaguely recalled feeling his body feeling heavy immediately towards the conclusion of the fight, making it obvious to him that he had likely passed out from his toll taken on his body from the encounter. Based on his surroundings, it was clear that that Casimir and the rest of the team had managed to get him back to the Tower's infirmary, where no doubt Jacob had done his best to stabilize his wounds. Based on the amount of pain he still felt, he must have came there in rough shape, as Red knew the guy's abilities were top-notch.

Reaching for the covers over his the lower body, Red let out a small sigh of relief as he saw that they had at least given him the dignity of putting on a pair of shorts on him. For his sake, he hoped that it had only been Jacob doing this, as the thought of someone like Cassandra doing it caused more than a fair share of shivers to build up within him. Glancing over towards the table next to his bed, he was allowed to let out another sigh of relief as he saw that it had only been a day after the Gala, meaning that he hadn't been out for too long.

However, as his gaze moved from the clock towards the remainder of his room, Red's heart skipped a beat as he saw, sitting curled up in the small chair next to his bed, Yoshiro. Although her soft breaths indicated to him that she was asleep, a large frown couple with scrunched eyebrows filled her expression. Whether this was a result of the seemingly uncomfortable position she was arranged in or something else, Red didn't know, but the sight of her laying there caused the memories of his dream to return to him like an oncoming freight truck. Feeling his heart flutter for a brief moment, Red tried to shake off the panicked emotions that suddenly rose within him as he tried to reassure himself that what he had just seen was nothing more than one of his bad dreams, albeit one that caused a great deal of concern.

Almost as if in response to his troubled thoughts, Yoshiro's frown deepened as she moved around in her sleep, the thin blanket that she had draped over her body falling down towards the ground below. Upon this, Red saw that Yoshiro was still dressed in her attire from the night before with the exception of the domino mask which concealed her face. Glancing over at the table between them once more, he saw the aforementioned accessory laying on the table next to her communication device. Red frowned slightly at the sight, not having to guess to hard to realize that Yoshiro had likely stayed next to him ever since they had gotten back. He didn't know how late she had stayed up, but based on how she had remained asleep even through his dramatic awakening, it was clear that she was likely far past her limits of exhaustion.

As he continued to stare at her sleeping face, Red's thoughts came back towards his earlier dreams, the sound of Yoshiro crying out for helping still echoing in his ears. Without even thinking about it, Red suddenly found himself slowly pushing himself out of his bed, taking care not to make any sounds even as his body ached with every step. Stopping directly in front of Yoshiro, Red knelt down and picked up the blanket from the ground, placing it gently over Yoshiro's sleeping figure.

As he finished placing the thin piece of cloth over her body, Red suddenly found his face only a few mere inches away from Yoshiro's, close enough that he could feel her soft breaths tickle against his face. He suddenly found himself unable to move from the position, as the images from his dream continued to flash before him. I had to choose, Red thought to himself, staring at the sleeping face of Yoshiro with a sense of unease.

Did I make the right choice?

Before he could answer that question, however, he noticed a small stir come from Yoshiro as her eyes slowly fluttered open. A moment later, Red found himself staring directly into her eyes, the two remaining their gazes for a few moments, until finally Yoshiro's seemingly confused expression turned into that of pure and utter surprise.

"AHHH!"

Yoshiro's startled scream caused Red to likewise let out a startled cry, sending him tumbling backwards into the side of the bed. Immediately his body shot up in pain from the impact, causing him to let out a loud wince before gritting his teeth. This reaction caused Yoshiro's look of shock to turn into immediate concern, as she practically leaped over towards Red was placed her hands in front of her face as her eyes went wide in shame.

"I-I'm sorry Red, y-you just surprised me and-"

"It's fine, it only hurt-" Red replied, another small wince causing him to pause before he could continue, "-a lot."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to steady himself, Red eye's shot towards Yoshiro the moment they opened, a soft expression filling his face as he stared at the girl standing above him.

"Besides, you're not the one who needs to be apologizing right now, Yoshi. I...I knew it was Marionette the whole time, but I thought I could get her away from everyone. I didn't want her to hurt anyone, but sort of failed at that. Both for myself and...others."

Red's gaze lingered over Yoshiro as he thought back to the look she had given him when Marionette had cut their dancing aside at the Gala. Red had wanted so bad to tell her the truth then, but he had thought the only way he could have kept her safe was to remain silent. Now, as he sat there wrapped in bandages, he couldn't help but think that he had made the wrong decision after all.

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry, Yoshi."