Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Republic of Atria]

Renata

"It was just a joke, Renata." Bael replied. "I'm sure everything will be fine." Before he could continue, he saw Kiris and Viv ambush Renata with a hug and some more encouragement before also questioning some of the concerns Renata had. "Ecuador is supposed to be the most superhuman friendly place on the planet, right? I admit, I'm not fully knowledgeable in the politics of it, but I can't see why it would be any different than it is here. Other than some weird looks, of course." He finished as some of them brought up the suggestion of going to the beaches. He shuddered a bit.

"I don't think going to the beaches in November, when it's going to be close to freezing, is a good idea." He was definitely glad he packed an extra thick robe and some nice shoes. "Maybe an indoor pool or something like that. I don't mean any offense, but you've all seen what happens to me when it comes to heavy cold."

[The Republic of Atria]

N'Toak, Bael and Jason

Orro led the pair to the room where most of the festivities were being held. "If you need help with something, please do not hesitate to ask myself or Bael." Orro said. "Beyond that, I'm sure you will get along just fine if Bael's stories about you are even half true." He said and made his way to what looked like a bar that had several of his friends already drinking and chatting among themselves.

For the first time in his life, Jason felt like everyone was staring at him. They were, but it was an unusual feeling. Despite his usual attention-grabbing attitude, it was almost uncomfortable, and the experience only furthered his understanding of Bael and his general weirdness when it came to people. For once he couldn't think of anything to say. No half-witted one-liners, no zany antics, just... feeling the dozens of eyes picking him apart and making it clear that he didn't belong. He glanced around, to find Bael who had vanished. "Gee. Thanks best buddy. Leave me with a hoard of strangers. Alright. I get it. This has to be some sort of cosmic irony. The one place where Bael's more able to be social than me. Easy. I'll have them all on my side before-" His thoughts were interrupted by Bael tapping him on the shoulder. He jolted. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"...I'm like twice your weight and a head taller. Anyways." He motioned to a dark green female. "This is Tahni. I met her a few weeks ago. Her dad and my biological dad are pretty close friends, I think. Tahni, this is Jason."

"It's good to meet you. Bael kept insisting you were fun to be around, but so far you seem a little nervous." Her tone indicating that she was kidding.

"Come on Jason. Ignore the scaly parts. They're just people. Just don't accidentally grab a tail or something." "In my defense. I think I've got a little reason to be nervous. Kind of just got dropped into a completely new culture with only a thirty-second crash course given by someone who's only slightly more familiar with things than me."

Tahni chuckled a bit. "He did say you liked to talk."

"Oh, this is nothing. Get me uh... Hey, I just noticed, do all drinks glow here or."

"Only the alcoholic ones. And it's to signal just that." Bael explained.

"Follow up question-"

"Yes."

"Dammit. You know me too well. Alright Tahni. Since Bael isn't letting me ask the full question, your guest commands that you take him to your table for drinks, and for him to show you how to play a children's card game. Or Jenga. I'll turn them both into drinking games if it kills me."

[Segral]

Whitney Alvord
October 26th

Angelica was clearly hiding something, even Whitney could tell as much through her own sleep-deprived eyes. Whatever coffee was sloshing around in that mug was obviously not enough to keep the shorter girl from practically drifting in and out of REM, and frankly, she was worried about the wrong person falling over. Whitney was tired too, but a different kind of tired. For every one yawn she made, Angelica made two. For every time she blinked to keep the heaviness out of her eyelids, Angelica let them droop all the way down before shooting back up again. As sorry as she felt for the girl, she couldn't help but also wonder, wonder in some hazy, fogged-out part of her still conscious brain, why Angelica wanted to stay awake so badly. Wanting to help Jacob out might've been part of it, but even the most committed of medical professionals usually took a nap once they got to the point of falling asleep standing up, or teetering on the brink of it. Maybe she was waiting for someone to wake up, one of her squadmates that had gotten injured. The last few hours had been a blur of constant movement and work, but she vaguely recalled the other girl hovering around a few of the infirmary's occupied beds. But if that was why she was really staying awake, why lie? Ugh, she was too tired to make sense of it now.

Actually, she was really tired, so tired that she had to pull her thin glasses down her nose and mash her eyes with a balled-up fist to prevent them from drooping shut like Angelica's. So tired that she nearly missed Angelica's words as they spilled out in a drowsy clump. At least, it sounded like a drowsy clump to Whitney, flowing right in through one ear as her eye caught the corner of a sofa peeking through the living room doorway and flowing right out the other. That was, until the word "eclair" drifted on the air and snagged onto her mind like a fishhook, forcing her eyes open with a jolt and forcing her neck to stiffly snap back towards the other girl with a sharp jab of pain running up and down, glasses hanging almost comically at the tip of her nose. Almost immediately, she could feel her stomach screaming in protest at the mere mention of eclairs...homemade eclairs too. Usually, Whitney bought her doughnuts and anything else at the hole-in-the-wall bakery two blocks away from Gran and Pop's, but sometimes, she would take an extra block trip and go to the local grocery store to bring home a bag of everything required to bake at home, including eclairs on certain days. There wasn't a drop of French blood in the family, but they always turned out great, so warm and fluffy, and with a full coat of chocolate icing...fuck! She could practically feel her mouth watering over, despite her smeared lips doing their best at pursing shut to prevent any drool from escaping out and a few tight swallows doing their best to drain the spit out.

"Y-yeah, alright, let's...let's..." Whitney instinctively started, only to be cut off by another massive yawn that she was forced to try to hide behind a hand. "Let's go get them then. The eclairs, I mean." she said with a small, somewhat wan smile down at the shorter girl as she pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose, a slightly happy face to distract from the distant, melancholy look in her eyes. She could already feel a deep, sinking weight in her gut and that same, ever-persistent voice in her head again as she walked towards and eventually down past Angelica on the way to the library with her hand forming a lazy beckoning gesture, the latter of which was lecturing her for being so hasty. Why had she said yes? She had been so close to the end of the day, so close to making it through, she had even convinced herself to look away from the kitchen, and now, her fat ass would be right back where it started, gorging on most of her teammate's pastries, pastries that her teammate should've never offered to share to a freak like her. Could she limit herself to just one, maybe two? No, it was impossible, she always ended up eating more than that...

She needed to snap out of this, find something to distract her. A slight lull of silence had formed as the two had begun walking, but Whitney broke it with awkward clearing of her throat, tentatively speaking out into the air without ever meeting Angelica's eyes. "So...you and your mom...do you guys like, bake often?" she said, internally cringing at how ridiculous her question. Smooth move, dolt.

---

November 19th

She had been biting her nails more than usual lately.

It was a wholly safe process; unlike most nail polishes, which were packed with every dangerous and highly toxic chemical from formaldehyde to benzene, her homemade stuff was completely devoid of any toxins that would invert her innards if she happened to bite them, and came in sixteen different colors on top of it. This week, it was a dark purple, close to indigo. Whitney had hoped the fresh coat would've brought in a fresh mood along with it, but all it had incited was more biting, regardless of how slightly acrid the taste of the paint was. Really, it was more like full-on gnawing, gnawing all the way right down to the cuticle in two cases. It was an awful habit, and kind of disgusting, but she couldn't help it, it just came about as her mind wandered. It kept her hands busy. Besides, if she only did it in private, who was she really hurting? Some people fidgeted, other people tapped their foot, a few people played with their hair, maybe she just chewed on her nails. A natural thing.

Nobody would ever have to know.

She wished she could've said the same for her anonymity as a Young Bloods member. For a while, she had kept it up; not a soul had known she existed. But of course, she had to go fuck it up as she usually did, and head off to that goddamn shopping mall with Pinkie Pie, Aussie, and Hellhound in tow. No, she was the one in tow, her in all of her sweatshirt-stripping glory. Almost overnight, her picture was plastered as the second or third headline underneath "YOUNG BLOODS GET BEATEN WITHIN AN INCH OF THEIR LIFE" on most major gossip news sites. It hadn't taken them long to match her paparazzi shot to her senior yearbook picture, and her senior yearbook picture to her name. And then, hell had really broken loose. Balls to the wall, shit to the fan, whatever you called it. A storm of fury had brewed in New York City to cross the country via cell phone and crap itself all over her head, and really, she still wasn't over it. At first, she had been angry, and then, she had felt dejected, and now, all she felt was oddly hollow. She wished. she was still angry. Hell, she would take being dejected over whatever sucky feeling this was. Getting up did nothing, taking a shower did nothing, staring at her laptop did nothing, half-heartedly tinkering with her latest experiment, a high-power pheromone booster, did absolutely nothing. All she could think about was that conversation, and if not the conversation, the photo plastered all over the Internet, the photo of her barging through a police barricade in the thinnest T-shirt she owned. God, she looked so sloppy and disgusting in it, all soft curves and no hard edges. Her hips were so wide, and that skin hanging off of her arms...it was nasty, all of it was nasty, why the hell had she decided to take that sweatshirt off? It was like crack, she wanted to look away as much possible, but every time she did, she was right back five minutes later, boring the image right back into her mind if she wasn't already staring at it on some shitty website.

Which is why she had decided to cut herself off from the computer entirely, and head to Angie's refuge; her library. Well, she eventually hoped to reach the library; after realizing her phone was a bloody temptress as well, she had doubled back to dump that back in the lab as well, and was now on her way back up, making her way from lab building to main building as fast as she could without winding herself. Which wasn't very fast. Lately, it felt like everything tired her out, even walking up and down a flight of stairs left her a little dizzy and out of breath. Her throat felt even worse, and so did her stomach. She should probably be seeing a doctor about it, but then she would have to pay out of her nose. No, her grandparent's noses, and she couldn't bear to put them through that. Jacob could probably figure something out, but what if he told someone else on the team? Roy was gone without a trace in the middle of the night, so there was no leader, but what if he told Naja? Or Angie? Word would spread, and everyone would figure out how fucked up she was. It was best to keep quiet about it, figure shit out on her own.

Maybe it was the phone call that had left her like this; ever since that night, she hadn't been able to focus, hadn't been able to keep her head clear. Every time her phone buzzed or rang with some new notification, she couldn't help but jump with fright, and after jumping with fright, waiting for what felt like an eternity before finally working up the courage to look at whatever Hottest NASL Bachelorettes Poll was currently up and running. Which was probably why she jumped in fright as the phone in her pocket suddenly began to vibrate, sending shivers up and down her leg as she froze in place, still halfway down the walkway in between the lab and the Tower. After what waiting for what felt like an eternity, she finally managed to work up the courage to quickly rip it out of her pocket, holding the screen up to the sky to reveal the caller ID. A single, plain, white-text name. "Jake".

Sighing with a hint of relief, Whitney quickly tapped the green "pick-up" button with her chewed-up thumb, bringing the phone up to her ear as she did so. "What's up, dolt?" she asked breezily, her tone light despite the insulting words they carried.

"Pain, unimaginable pain." groaned a slightly grainy voice from the other end of the line, a teenage boy's voice with a slightly nasal lilt. "This week has been the worst of my life. Everything is misery, and suffering an--"

"Yeah, yeah, cut the doom and gloom, Soulless One. What happened?"

"Don't call me that, you know I hate that nickname!" whined the boy on the other end, the slight creaking of bed springs audible on the other end of the line. The lazy fuck probably hadn't even gotten out of bed yet.

"Don't act like such an emo twerp all the time, and I might consider it." Whitney teased back, a small, silent grin forming on her face at his reaction. It was far from the only time she had gotten under his skin, and certainly far from the deepest cut. "Seriously though, what's up? You haven't called in a while."

"I've been busy with certain things...although I guess that's over now." Jake sniffed, a tinge of slightly hyperbolic apathy beginning to creep back into his voice.

"What things?"

"...My girlfriend dumped me, Whitney! Dumped me!" he finally burst out, sounding like he was on the brink of tears as he spoke. However, the reaction from the blonde girl on the end of the line was...less than sympathetic. Not particularly measured either.

"YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND??!!" Whitney exclaimed out of pure shock, her eyebrows practically shooting up into her hairline and eyes widening to the size of eggs as a fresh grin split its way across her face.

"Of course I did!" Jake protested, an light thump audible from the other side of the call as he presumably flopped back onto his bed. "We were together for three whole months, and then last week, out of absolutely nowhere, she texts me and says that we're better off as friends? What does that even mean?! AND WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING??!!" he suddenly cried out, hearing the sound of Whitney struggling to hold back her giggling and clearly getting even further incensed by it.

"I'm sorry, I just..." she said, taking a second to collect herself and mash a fist against her mouth to prevent any further laughter from escaping her lips. "It's just that, well, you're the last person I expected to be complaining about this. Whatever happened to abstaining until college?"

"...I couldn't handle it anymore, I needed relief." Jake replied solemnly, eliciting another loose snort of amusement out of the blonde girl at the other end's nose.

"I always knew you had the hormones in you, little brother." she replied, shifting in place slightly as she switched the ear in which the phone was pressed to. "But really, I think they've got you a little too sentimental, if you know what I mean."

"I'm not overreacting, this was a big deal to me!" Jake complained, another thump ringing from behind the other end. "I gave her everything, I gave her three whole months of my life, and she just cut me away like this! She didn't even explain it, I asked why and all she did was block me! Why'd she do that, Whitney?"

The girl sighed in response, pinching the bridge of her nose before speaking again. "Jake, I...I don't know why she did that, but what I do know is that you're overreacting."

"How am I--"

"Let me finish! All I'm saying is that if this girl, whoever she is, doesn't even care about you enough to break up with you face-to-face, she might not really be worth it at all. High school girls are idiots, Jak--"

"Jacob, you know I like being called Jacob."

Whitney took a deep breath at those words, allowing her chest to rise and fall slightly before speaking again. "...Right, Jacob. I was a girl in high school for four whole years, and I can tell you that 90% of us are idiots. No way around it. You clearly care about this girl a lot, and if she can't even recognize that enough to send you a phone call, then she's an idiot, and you don't deserve an idiot. You deserve so much better than that."

"Yeah, I know, but...three whole months!"

"So?" she asked, letting the syllable hang in the air for a second before plowing on. You're 16, you have decades of girls ahead of you. In five years, you're going to look back at this whole thing as absolutely nothing. Nothing! Don't let one stupid girl break drag you down!"

"I get what you mean, but...I just can't get over her like that, I can't do it right away."

"Well, who's asking you to get over her right away?" Whitney scoffed, a slight smirk forming on her face. "Take some time to cry over it, but don't let it drag you down forever. There's so many other girls out there, girls who are smart and kind and pretty, and who won't dump you over text. I didn't even know you could get one in the first place, so clearly you have the mettle for it."

"Maybe if you actually called us more than once every two months, you would have known." Jake replied curtly, his words carrying enough bite to make Whitney fall silent, her eyes darkening and shadowing ever and her face deflating as her gaze fell to the ground in front of her. An uncomfortably long pause ensued, stretching out for what might as well have been a few years before Jacob spoke up again. "I'm sorry, that was...that was mean, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it was...you're right, actually." Whitney said with a dry chuckle, eyes still focused on the ground. "I should be calling home more often, I've just been...I've just been busy, y'know?"

"Busy with the Young Bloods?" Jake immediately teased back, a hint of playfulness present in his voice that gave her a strong suspicion that he was wearing his widest, proudest, and possibly most infuriating smirk at the other end of the phone.

"...Yeah, I have. Really busy, actually. They've got me by the leash 24/7 at the base, working on all sorts of projects for them."

"More steroids?"

"Haha, very funny, asswipe." Whitney snapped back, her free hand clenching into a tight fist. "It's none of that, it's mostly medical supplies. Blood thinner, painkillers, those sort of things. I'm sure you and your superhero-obsessed ass can figure out why."

"I-I'm not obsessed with superheroes! Stop being an idiot!" Jake stammered, his smirking face now probably turning beet red from behind the other end of the call.

Sensing his vulnerability, the older sister went for the throat. "Uh-huh, and that was why M-, why we found those pictures of Star Queen in your sea--"

"Shut up! That was one time, and I'm allowed to have a celebrity crush or two, right? You're just...you're just a prude! A goddamn prude!" Jake started, an insult that disintegrated at the end thanks to the two finally breaking apart into laughter, Whitney finally unclenching her fist as she doubled over with giggles, struggling to keep the phone to her ear in the process. Jacob sounded like he was copying her; she could hear him wheezing on the other end of the line for a good second or two after she recovered enough to keep speaking.

"Oh God, I miss you so much Jacob, you're a riot sometimes."

"Likewise." Jacob responded dryly, another creak sounding as he shuffled in bed. "I saw the Bloods' press conference today, you going with the rest of the Bloods to Ecuador or whatever?"

At those words, Whitney's head turned to her right, the right in which the Tower's massive airstrip lay. Of course, there was nothing on it to see; the team had pulled out of dodge and headed to a private airstrip before she had even woken up, leaving her and anybody else who had opted out of the trip in the dust. The look was just to confirm what she already knew. With a sigh, she relayed the same information to her little brother;

"No, I'm not. I'm a little too evergreen to head out with the rest of the team on vacation, and besides, I'm not the only one staying back. I'll have plenty to do in the meantime."

"So? Who cares about being evergreen, it's a free trip to South America! I'd take it in a heartbeat." Jake retorted, eyes probably rolling into the back of his head at the sound of Whitney's (admittedly) lame answer.

"Well, I'm not you, y'know, I'm just...I'm just not in the mood for a vacation right now, that's all." Whitney responded bluntly, her voice edged with frustration. Clearly, Jacob was too boneheaded to pick up on it.

"Alright, that's fair, I guess." he started, his voice suddenly taking on a sly tone as he moved into his next sentence. "Now that you're staying home though, I expect more regular communication from you. Although, you might not be in the mood for that either, after what happened two weeks ago..."

"Yeah, I'd rather not bring that up if we could." Whitney responded testily, beginning to fidget in place as her fingertips clenched on the phone.

"It was pretty bad, I could hear it from my room a full floor away. Do you think you're going to call them back, or--"

"Jacob?!"

"Right, sorry." Jake said sheepishly, another long pause stretching out between he finally broke the silence again. "You'll call me though, right?"

Whitney smiled a broad, genuine, smile in response to the question, her voice finally brightening back up again. "Of course I will, Jacob. I'll try to call tomorrow if I can, promise?"

"Promise accepted. Try to call soon though, OK? I...I kind of actually, y'know, miss you, for once anyways. The house is w-way too empty without you." Jake responded, his words beginning to turn into embarrassed stutters as he went along. She appreciated the effort nonetheless.

"Surprisingly, I miss you too." she said, her grin growing even wider at her brother's words. "Take care, Jacob. Stay out of trouble, and for Christ's sake, stop moping around about this girl, alright?"

"Alriiiiiight, fine." he responded, still sounding a bit annoyed with her insistence on the subject, but nonetheless pleased. "You take care too Whitney, try not to get blown up by any big-time criminal anytime soon."

"I'll do my best." she responded, a slight chuckle accompanying her words. "Bye, Jacob."

"Bye!"

*click*

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

"Uhm..." Renata blurbed briefly, hearing Wyatt complain about everyone's plans to hit the beach, stating that November was way too cold for them to give it a shot - all while staring at her team's leader with a confused expression. Surely, he couldn't have come here completely unprepared about where the team's heading, he should know that Ecuador is on the... equator...

"Well, then just make sure you won't be missing out," she stated with a faint smile. Visiting should be a welcome surprise for him, then - maybe not in the mountains, those aren't exactly warm... but for a presumably warmblooded creature like Wyatt, a place where it's just hot all year round with no distinction of seasons should be heaven, right?

The speakers installed over the seats coughed with a mechanical buzz, before releasing a monotone statement:

"The plane will take off in ten minutes, please take your seats." The pilot read it rather slowly, too - from a paper, where he had written down how to give the order in English. For clarity's sake, he also muttered it in Spanish shortly afterwards. Renata stepped forward - she recalled that Elle had a seat left for her right next to her - only to stop when a purple blur began rushing past her.

"Sorry, sorry-I'm not late, right? Well, I guess the plane's still here so that was kind of a dumb question..." Mizu spoke, mumbling under her breath.

---

Ecuador, the Jewel of the Andes

---

The airplane trip from San Diego to Ecuador took seven hours, first over Mexico, and then the endless waves of the Pacific - until the coast and the peaks of the Andes behind them began to unfold. It was there where the plane would begin to finally land, inching ever so closer to some of the Americas' tallest mountains, until a vast valley unveiled itself within them. Standing next to the Pichincha volcano, it was the capital of the country, Quito. Squeezed between picturesque mountains, it was densely packed and hard to miss even from very far away.

Aiming for the airport perched just outside of the plateau, the plane flew across the expanse of the city, easy to watch through the windows. Separated by hills, Quito divided itself into three distinct zones. The centre counted five hundreds years of Spanish colonial and independent history alike, recognized beyond Ecuador's borders as the best preserved historic city centre in the Americas. Dotted by churches, statues, expansive city squares, and palaces from the colonial era, it gave the city a distinct feel which was hard to pinpoint at a first glance. The vast variety of different architectural styles and historical landmarks might make it seem more European, but the chessboard-like street layout was distinctly New World. The north and the south were both residential and industrial areas, but while the south was primarily dotted with working class neighbourhoods and densely packed suburbs, the north was a brand new frontier, a rapidly developing land full of high rise buildings, shopping centers, offices, modern industrial centres and villas. Every street had some construction project going on, either some new enterprise or something being rebuilt - and all the roads from the Mariscal Sucre International Airport in the east had to lead through there. That was the face which Ecuador wanted to present itself to the world with.

Of course, hardly any discussion of the country could take place without eventually addressing its regime - Frente de Salvación Nacional, generally simply known as the Condor regime. Quito was where the effects of two decades of rule by Martinez and his superhero clique was felt the most. Patriotic celebrations were frequent and the city would be overtaken by parades and rallies for important dates several times per year. Ever so often, travelling across the city, a keen-eyed visitor would see posters or plaques adorned by a condor and a coat of arms next to schools, companies and - a sign that the people living or working there owe to the regime's efforts, and a description of what they received, be it financial or other support. A whole network of infrastructure for superhuman individuals, which Ecuador deliberately sought to attract, was dispersed across the city. Making their way through the streets, one could find institutes testing for any held superhuman abilities, specialized training centres for those born lucky, recovery stations staffed by superhuman healers for those who pushed their luck too far, and equipment stores for those who would rather be a bit more prepared. And so on, and so forth...

Was the Condor regime beneficial to the country? Ultimately, it was hard to tell.

On one hand, statistics do not lie. Ecuador left the Cold War as an impoverished dictatorship reliant on oil exports and agriculture, hardly any more prosperous than the rest of South America despite its potential. In the twenty years since the coup d'etat of 1997 and the birth of a new era in the country's history, a semblance of stability finally returned. Drug cartels, criminal enterprises, mercenary super groups were broken up and destroyed one by one, and after a harsh initial period caused by diplomatic isolation, economic prosperity bounced back with some of the most impressive yearly growth in the hemisphere. What used to be an uncompetitive economy reliant on oil export was now vibrant and self-sufficient, no longer inflicted by Dutch disease and rapidly advancing to the ranks of most developed economies.

On the other hand... statistics do lie. Was the share of this growth really equal, did everyone receive their due benefits from the recovery? Not exactly. Martinez's strongest base of support, unlike his predecessors and contemporaries across South America, was cities such as Quito and Guayaquil, and the urban middle class developing within them. Thus, they received the lion's share of the regime's favor - and so, while Quito certainly shines brightly, especially its wealthy sections, the same could not be said for the rest of the country. And even then, in the end... for some people, how much does prosperity really matter when you cannot speak out what you want to speak, and can only hear what they want you to hear? If they live as well off as the West, then do they not deserve the same freedom as the West, too?

Something to leave for thought.

The plane landed upon an empty runway in the International Airport, cleared on purpose to accept the VIP passenger on board. Ten minutes before, Renata had received a message from her father than they'll be meeting them just outside of the plane - and so, by the time when it touched down on the asphalt, she had already put away her book, packed her bags, and strapped them in over her shoulder, ready to leave - and so, she was the first to exit. Already, two cars were approaching the runway and stopped by - limousins, pristine enough to carry important leaders of state, but discreetly armored underneath. As soon as the first of the two stopped, one of its doors opened.

"Hey, Dad..." Renata spoke up.

Sergio Martinez, dressed in the standard uniform of the Andean Condors, stepped out, folded his arms and replied:

"Last time, you ran straight into me as soon as you arrived, what's up with the change?"

"Come on, Dad, I can't..." Renata clenched her teeth and briefly hissed, looking over her shoulder towards the rest of her team. "...be doing that in front of everyone..."

"So these are Renata's friends?" Olivia spoke as she peeked over the roof of the same limousine from the other side, then carefully hid her flask under her costume and made her way around the car. "Oh wow, I didn't expect there to be so many of you..."

The doors of the second limousine cracked open as well, letting out two more members of the Andean Condors, Gabriel and Emanuel. Sergio flashed a faint smile and stepped forward, speaking:

"Welcome to Ecuador, Young Bloods. Renata has already informed me on the context for your arrival here - and for that, you don't have to worry. I can guarantee you that you will be safe here and you will be able to put your mind at ease."

With that brief introduction, the Caudillo moved on to the rest of the team, offering a handshake to each member - with an ever so slight stumble after each step. The battle with that Hadrian was a few months ago, but his leg was still a little sore.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

November 14th

---

Kiris slowly opened her eyes to the light of the midday sun streaming in through her windows, groggily sitting up on her bed and rubbing her eyes carefully. It took a few moments and a yawn or two before she managed to get her bearings, but once she did, a warm smile appeared on her face - after all, today was a special day for both her and a close friend, and she suspected that it was one for the entire team as well. After staying up late last night eagerly chatting with her boyfriend yet again, the pink-haired girl had returned to her room to prepare for the coming day in the manner that was customary for her: by sleeping in for as long as her body demanded. Now that she was awake, however, she decided that she'd best get ready for a day of celebration, and so, after spending a few more moments adjusting, she made her way straight to her personal bathroom in order to take a shower.

Some time would pass until she was ready to step out of the shower, refreshed and aware. Now that she was fully awake, her excitement began to grow as she considered what the others might have prepared for today. Would it be similar to what they had done for Mars and Wyatt months earlier? Would it be different? The possibilities began swimming through her head, but in the end, as long as she got to have a good time with the people she loved, that was enough for her. For the time being, she simply donned a fancy black sundress with a red flower pattern, which she had kept brand new just for this occasion. Afterwards, she grabbed a small box from one of her shelves and placed it on her desk before sitting down, grabbing a notebook as well and affixing a small black marker to her index finger.

It was an old tradition in Annriven and the lands surrounding it that, after a child learned to read and write, they would perform a small ritual every year on the day of their birth, in which they wrote on small pieces of paper the good things that had happened to them that year, as well as the bad. The good things were stored in a small handmade box which would over time become full of strips of paper containing cherished memories, while the bad were bunched up and stored elsewhere to be buried or burned away later.

That year, though there was no shortage of bad things for Kiris to write about, the good drastically outweighed the bad. From her fateful meeting with the Young Bloods to her steady relationship with Mars and even reconnecting with her family, she had plenty to be grateful for. Once she was done writing, she opened the box and stored half the pieces of paper there. The box was half empty, a result of the years she stopped using it altogether as a result of her uncle's treatment of her, but it was bound to fill up eventually. Smiling at all the new cherished memories, Kiris closed the lid and placed it back on the shelf. Before she could deal with the other half of the paper strips, however, there was a knock on the door.

"I know you're awake, I heard the shower." Her sister's voice called out from outside. Seris had left the day after the trio of Hadrians had arrived at Wonder Island, but only three weeks later she was back to celebrate her sister's birthday for the first time in years. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, sure thing!" The pink-haired girl replied before turning back to the remaining papers. After a moment, she decided to simply drop them into the waste bin. They'd eventually get thrown into a landfill or something like that, so surely it was no better than burial or incineration?

"Hey sis, nice dress. Tryin' to impress that skinny boyfriend of yours?" Seristella joked as she walked into the room. Instead of her usual getup, she wore a red vest with golden ornaments and a red wrap around her waist for the occasion, not wanting to seem so out of place during her sister's day.

Kiris pouted with faux indignation and placed her hands on her hips. "Well at least I've got a boyfriend, Seris. When are ya gonna get one? Or a girlfriend! You're not gettin' any younger ya know?" She shot back, feeling the slightest bit of malicious glee as she saw her sister pause for a moment.

"It-it's not that simple, I just haven't found- and I'm only 21! What do ya mean I'm not gettin' any younger?!" The older sister growled, clearly flustered by the jab, only to realize her defeat as her younger sister simply burst into laughter. With a sigh, the redhead continued. "Look, just... take your crown, stupid pink baby." She spoke as she stepped forward and placed a crown made of reeds and flowers on Kiris' head, another Hadrian tradition - though it took her a moment to adjust it so that the horns didn't get on the way. As she finished, the younger Hadrian seized the opportunity and hugged her tightly, and Seristella's annoyance melted away as she returned the affection shown, a soft smile on her face.

"I brought a spare as instructed." Torvalt's voice caused the two to turn to look at him, and Kiris smiled as she saw the extra crown on his hand.

"Oh yeah, for that other kid, right? The short one." Seris added, placing her hand at about the height of her navel, with the palm facing down, causing Kiris to chuckle. "Speakin' of which, your friends should be done with the preparations, so let's get goin' now." The redhead added, grabbing her sister by the hand and gesturing at Torvalt to lead the way. Kirisvala smiled brightly.

"Alright, let's go!"

[The Republic of Atria]

Renata

He tried to brush off the fact that she didn't seem too interested in his wellbeing, but promised that she would keep it in mind. Not that it made him feel any better about it. So he just sat alone quietly and enjoyed the very nice view from his window seat. The good news was that the flight was pretty uneventful. He checked his phone, seeing that the weather wasn't bad. Mid to upper sixties, but cooled off quite a bit at night. He didn't plan to be out at night much when in a foreign country anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Upon second thought, going to the beach wouldn't be too bad if he just relaxed and sunned himself in the sand.

A few hours passed and the plane landed near the big plateau and gave him a slightly more historic vibe upon viewing it for the first time. The city clearly had a huge amount of culture built into it, kind of like back in N'toak. He was at least a little interested in the city and just curious as to how they would accept him and his people. It was the superhuman capital of the world, so seeing weird looking people was probably a daily occurrence for most everyone. He was glad he elected to wear a robe, but as they disembarked the plane to be greeted by Renata's father and the Condors in their official uniforms, which were strangely tribal, but he understood it. His people dressed very similarly, so his mood lightened a bit. Seeing him around wouldn't be the weirdest thing ever.

Not that he was going to take off his robe in front of Renata's father and the Condors while they were shaking everyone's hands. "Thank you for having us, sir." Bael replied. "I've always wanted to visit."

[Absolon-7]

---

Casimir Herman November 14th

---

The literal buzzing of his alarm awoke Casimir almost slamming his fist at his phone but stopping at the last second. Instead he slammed his hands on his face to rub his eyes as he lurched upwards to sit up on his bed. He swiped his phone and grumbled in annoyance at the reminder for the birthday party for today. Oh right, the birthday part for him and Kiris was today. His birthday had always seemed to be a hit or miss. On one hand it was a day specifically for celebrating his existence but on the other hand their record for whether or not they were worth celebrating was rather spotty. Granted his actual birthday had already passed but he didn't mind arranging it to have it on his friend's one especially since that friend was Kiris.

"Oh fuck it. I'm gonna make this birthday party a blast," said Casimir leaping out of bed and rapidly changing into fresh clothes. He walked into his room bathroom to check himself out in the mirror and satisfied he went out to open his room's door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Casimir fell right on his back as he was tackled to the floor by Viviana who ensnared him in a hug and began pecking him with kisses. He laughed at the gesture before propping himself up on his elbows, "My birthday already passed Viv."

"I know but its a birthday party day thus your birthday. Now get up! We need to do a bunch of stuff today! Like eating cake, opening presents, playing games, eating cake, and eating cake," said Viviana nodding furiously.

"Don't forget eating cake," snickered Casimir as he got up from the ground.

They would arrive to the living room soon after and the place was already dedicated for the occasion with clusters of balloons everywhere and a big banner spelling 'Happy Birthday' all across the wide entrance to the cafeteria and kitchen. The expected array of food and drinks where all arranged in neat rows on the tables while the previously used pong table had been put in place in the living room right next to the giant window bathing the area in sunlight. The most curious of all however would have to be a large sun shaped piñata hovering over among a cluster of ballons. The television meanwhile was blasting music everywhere.

"Tada!" cheered Viviana as she presented the arrangements, "I spent all night setting this up of course with help from a few others! Trickiest part was arranging the food into an eight for your eighteenth. Like yeah it's missing the one and it doesn't fit with Kiris birthday but I had to work with what space I had dangnabbit! Oh oh god the balloons. So many balloons..."

"Couldn't you have borrowed some gadget or something from Mars or Alexis," commented Casimir confused.

"Yes. Yes I could have...but it didn't occur to me. Although half are store bought with helium so I didn't completely fail myself," said Viviana with her hands on her hips, "Plus I did ask Mars to tinker with that piñata I bought for you and Kiris. We can set it up outside before or after we eat I dunno."

"Those have candy right? I'll be able to crack it in a single blow," said Casimir walking up to it. He squinted at it and realized it had miniature rockets on each point that jutted from it, "Wait by tinker you mean turn it into a freakin rocket powered confetti ball?"

"Yep yep," said Viviana going over to the table to get a drink.

"Ha! I knew I could count on you on making this party fun," said Casimir clenching his fists in excitement, "Now to get my present for Kiris ready."

[United Kingdom of Poland]

November 19th, Private Plane
Mars saw Wendy come and sit down next to him and initially diverted his eyes on instinct, but realized he couldn't just ignore her sitting there so he was forced to look up and great her. Ever since the attack, and his argument with Roy he had felt guilty about her. They were still friends of course, but Mars knew that she knew he was the reason that Roy had left the team. He was glad to see she didn't seem to hate him for it, but Mars still felt guilty.

"Uh ya, it'll be nice to get away for a bit. It's been really cool having Katie and Cora around...but you know a break from school and everything will be nice." He didn't want to mention that being around the two of them only made him miss Roy even more. Though Wendy was obviously missing him more and so there was no point in whining about it. "It'll be cool to just hangout, never been on a big trip like this before. My family could never really afford it you know?"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to go on something other than one of my parents business trips." Wendy replied, noticing how Mars was dodging any mention of Roy. " just kind of wish it was a place where it wasn't guaranteed that we'd have secret police following us everywhere we went." Her attempt at a joke fell short as she noticed Mars still staring out the window.

"Screw it." She muttered to herself, deciding she was done beating around the bush. "Listen Mars, Roy leaving wasn't your fault. He's doing what he's doing to protect me. And once Ares is dealt with. he'll be back."

[Absolon-7]

Casimir Herman November 11th

---

On the doorstep to his sister, and technically still his, house Casimir was rapping his knuckles on the door with a dour look on his face. He was not looking forward to this and he never looked forward to this. He did bot look forward to it last year and this year was no different. Granted it was leagues better than being ignored half his life but that didn't mean he'd give her the win and satisfaction that came with it. Slowly the door opened to reveal the smirking face of sister staring down at him. The two stood there for mere seconds looking at each other in the eye before she winked at him and slammed the door shut.

"What the fuck!" shouted Casimir spreading out his arms.

"Kidding!" said her voice behind the door before she opened it again and stepped aside to let him in.

"Ha ha very funny," said Casimir strutting in.

Casimir went over to the kitchen and sat down on the corner chair for the table while he placed a bag full of food on the counter. Jadwiga walked over to him and tapped on his shoulder before opening up her arms to him. He looked at her with annoyance before slowly getting up and opening up his own arms. Jadwiga immediately set upon like a Venus Fly Trap in him a great hug swinging him from side to side.

"Happy Birthday Casimir!," she gleefully said queezing him tight, "I can't believe you're finally a man now. Or the closest you'll ever be to one that is."

"Oh buzz off!," retorted Casimir, "You know I hate this."

"If you did you wouldn't be returning it now would you," she said with a slight giggle which finally prompted Casimir to struggle away from the hug.

"So is the cake ready yet?" he asked tentatively getting back into his seat and looking away.

"Of course it is. It's me we're talking about," said Jadwiga going over to the fridge to pull out a large chocolate cake, "Made with the most exquisite of ingredients and the most mediocre levels of appreciation."

Casimir glared at her but sighed away at the jab and he stared at the cake before him like a predator as Jadwiga excused herself to get something from upstairs and lumbering from the living room couch came Morgana already with a bottle of wine in her hand half finished. Almost falling over even sitting down she lightly punched his shoulder in a bout of laughter.

"Woohoo! You made it kiddo!" she exclaimed, "From the stories Jadwiga's told me I'm surprised you ain't gone kaput, kapeesh."

"Ha! Very funny," retorted Casimir tapping on the table.

"Oh right. Here's ya go Casi," said Morgana as she wobbly handed out a wrapped box, "Think of it as a bribe for keeping Jadwiga in good spirits with me."

Casimir thanked her right as Jadwiga came hopping down the stairs with her own present held tight in her arms. She went towards them quickly placing it on the counter before almost mechanically getting to work in diving up the cake in even slices for the three of them. Sometimes her skill with a kitchen knife unnerved Casimir. In the middle of eating the cake Morgana had finally passed out drunk and after Casimir carried her over to the couch Jadwiga stammered a bit before speaking up.

"So how have you been recently?" she said with her face fraught with worry, "I saw the news from last month and with the anniversary being so close..."

"I'm fine. Always have been and always will be," he said stuffing his mouth with cake.

"I don't think I've ever been a fan of your optimism," she sighed as she leaned on her hand to rest her head, "I've always found it to be even more annoying then your narcissism."

"Really? I find it quite a good offer to the table," he absentmindedly said.

"Whoosh," hushed out Jadwiga as she moved her fork over Casimir's head like a jet, "But come. Give me some gossip to mull over until the next time you visit."

"Well a friend of mine finally came back. Probably saw her on the news when that building burned down," he said contemplating.

"Oh Crystalheart right? That was pretty great of her. How's my little Vivi?" she finally and abruptly said with a smirk, "I hope you've been treating her right. I'll have a contract for your head otherwise."

"A great girlfriend as always," he boasted but he chewed on his cake slowly as he savored it with a glare, "Fine you win. Your cake is amazing and I love ya for it. Happy?"

"Very," she said ruffling his already messy hair, "You know you'll never win little Kazik."

"Yeah yeah," said Casimir as his glare slowly turned to a slight smile, "Just wait until your birthday."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 31st

---

---

After spending what seemed like an eternity getting ready in her and Lucas' room at the Cabal's hideout - as opposed to her room in her father's house, where she spent very little time - Astrid opened the door and stepped out in order to show off the attire she had picked for the evening, which consisted of a black dress with a long flowing skirt that faded into a pale lilac towards the bottom, long black bridal gloves and matching boots, along with a black choker. She didn't wear much in the way of makeup, as her naturally pale complexion more than fit what she was aiming for, though she had decided to add a little contrast with some black eyeshadow and a matching lipstick. A small purse completed the look, more for convenience than fashion.

"Well?"

The question was addressed at one stunned Lucas, who had been patiently waiting outside in order to give his girl an opinion on her chosen outfit, only to have his breath stolen at the sight. "Wow... you said you were just dressing up to spend the night with your friends right? Is there something you're not telling me?" He asked, clearly joking though his still awed expression seemed to suggest otherwise. Astrid laughed and poked at his chest.

"You'd love that, wouldn't you, mon chéri?" She replied as she reached up to touch his face. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to invite you if something fun does happen." She joked back. Lucas grinned at her playful response, but before he could speak, she continued. "So you like it? And did you get what I asked?"

"I love it. You are one stunning vampire, my dear." The young man said with a smirk before digging into one of his pockets. Upon finding what he needed, he knelt in front of Astrid and held out a hand that held fake fangs for her. "Would you spend the rest of eternity in the dark with me?"

The black-haired girl let out a shocked laugh at the gesture, which had taken her off guard. "Lucas, I love you, but please don't make it weird." She pleaded as she took the fangs, all while he laughed it off and stood up. Once she had put on the fangs, she bared her teeth for him to see. "Well?"

"Spooky." He observed. "They're modeled after mine, so they're as close as you can get to the real deal."

"Good." She replied. "Then I guess-" She continued, only to be promptly interrupted by a soft buzz coming from her purse. Astrid quickly fished out her phone and looked at a text sent by one of her friends, a slight frown appearing on her face. "I better get going soon."

Lucas nodded, and the two made their way downstairs. As per usual, a variety of arcane tools could be seen scattered around the living room in an organized chaos of sorts, though the man responsible was nowhere to be seen - he had been going out by himself quite often as of late, apparently taking care of certain matters he didn't want to get the two of them involved in for whatever reason.

As the young couple arrived at the door, Lucas turned Astrid around and held her face with both hands before kissing her. The girl put up no resistance and smiled with satisfaction as the two parted. "Trying to sweep me off my feet again, are you?"

"Always." He said with a grin. "Have fun. And call me if you're in trouble, I'll be right there."

"Oui oui, mon chéri." She replied and turned to leave. As she stepped out the door, however, she paused for a second and then turned to look at a curious Lucas. "You know, that color looks good on you." She said with a wink before disappearing. It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about, but once he did, he quickly wiped the black lipstick off with his sleeve.

As soon as she left, Astrid immediately took to the rooftops, teleporting from one to the other and pausing only to get her bearings as she made her way to the school, much faster than she would on foot, all while staying conveniently out of sight. It only took her a few minutes to get to Thomsen High from her friends' spell-guarded hideout in the Condemned, and she arrived just in time to see a car pulling up to the school and spot a familiar figure within. Smiling, the girl in a vampire disguise waited for her to be distracted before suddenly appearing nearby, leaning on the hood of her car.

"Of all the places we could've used to meet up, the school is probably one of the most boring." She remarked casually, as if she had always been there. Afterwards, she looked straight at Mika. "Also, you're like twelve, are you sure it's fine for you to be driving?"

---

November 19th

---

---

As the plane landed in the International Airport, Kiris practically bounced off her seat before grabbing her stuff and making her way out, waiting for Mars just outside the airplane. Once he and the rest of the Young Bloods exited, she turned her attention to the two approaching vehicles, sleek, black and shiny. They stopped next to the team, and a pink-haired man in a strange outfit stepped out of the one at the front. The color of his hair reminded her of her father, but really, that was where the similarities ended. The late Teltesser was in good shape, at least the last time she had seen him, but he was no warrior - he was a scholar, whereas the man in front of her was clearly a soldier.

It didn't terribly matter, he was Renata's father and, as far as she knew, the equivalent of a Watcher in this country, which meant they could trust him to facilitate them having a good time. The other people who stepped out of the limousines seemed friendly enough as well - the woman even seemed a little familiar, though Kiris was sure they had never met before. As Sergio welcomed them to the country, Kiris smiled brightly.

"G'day sir! Thanks for havin' us over, I'm lookin' forward to seein' more of Renata's homeland." She said warmly, clearly oblivious to any odd looks she might get due to her Hadrian heritage - she of course did not know about the recent skirmish between this man and one of her own. Rather than shake his hand, however, she simply continued smiling with her hands clasped behind her back. Better to politely refuse the gesture than to accidentally hurt someone.

Meanwhile, a certain blond man made his way out of the airplane, somewhat lagging behind the others despite the comparatively light luggage he carried.

Icarus had arrived at the airplane just a few moments after Mizu rushed inside, and quietly made his way towards Renata with little more than an awkward greeting to those near the entrance - the one person who seemed to hate his guts on the team might have been gone, but that didn't mean he felt at home with them. Luckily, he had Renata, Casimir and Viviana to help make things less awkward for him, though the other hand, he suspected things might get awkward if he had to talk to Yoshiro after what happened at the gala, and he hardly enjoyed Mike's company.

All of that mattered fairly little compared to what was occupying most of his thoughts at the moment, however. Though it had been quite a while ago, his meeting with a certain cat-eared blonde was far from forgotten, and though he couldn't refuse Renata's request to come with her to her homeland - especially since she seemed to be so excited about it - he couldn't help but worry about that woman and that rotten secretariat or whatever that she worked for... not to mention that, judging by the contents of their conversation, she had been under direct orders from her 'Caudillo'.

Well... I guess it was bound to happen. Just try not to think about it for now.

It was that though that led him to bury his nose in a book for the remainder of the journey, though he didn't neglect conversing with Casimir or Renata if the occasion arose. Now that the journey was over, however, it was impossible to dodge the issue any longer, and he could only wonder what kind of welcome he would receive in this place. He doubted they'd be overtly hostile towards him, if only because of Renata, but...

The young man caught up with the others while Sergio shook the Young Bloods' hands. Walking up to Renata, he held her hand and smiled at her. While it was true that he was worried, he didn't want her to know. She needed to relax after everything that had happened, and he didn't want to get in the way.

[Galnius]

Angelica Dalin

Angelica immediately perked up at the other girl's seeming excitement (even through Whitney's shared fatigue). She had found it. The best way to keep herself awake. After all, a busy mind should not sleep, and a proper hostess did not doze off. The perfect reason to ignore all of those reasons to sleep.

"Alright, it's just down the hallway! The library is a bit small, but I call it cozy. All I have to do now is get people to add to the collection."

Angelica smiled proudly as she thought about what she had began to think of her home away from home. Sure, the library still needed some work, and she hasn't actuary slept in the bed here, but it still felt like a place she could count on. A feeling she had once before, in a distant, forgotten memory....

Whitney woke her from her mental search with a simple question, jarring her into alertness. Angelica's dreamy smile quickly turned to one of merriment as she described one of her favourite pastimes.

"Oh yeah, we bake a lot. Before the eclairs we made some ginger snaps, and next we're gonna make pumpkin bread, to get in the autumn spirit. Sure, there isn't too much in the way of seasons here, but it's the thought that counts. Though...I wouldn't mind taking a trip north. Colorful leaves, a nice fire place, some hot coco while reading near family and loved ones....."

Angelica cut herself off, realizing she was falling back into her daydreams that threatened to drag her into the abyss of sleep. "I'm sorry, I was rambling again. Umm...here's the library. The fridge is in the corner over there", she said, pointing to the right, "and the eclairs should be on the middle shelf. Plates should be above the fridge. Um....I'll refill my coffee and grab you some, if you'd like. Or maybe tea? Hot chocolate? My mom got me a keurig with the works, so just let me know."

---

Birthday Party

Angelica buzzed quickly about her room, looking through numerous clothes she had taken to leaving here in case she kept coming here after school. It was her first real get-together with her team that wasn't in her squad or Whitney, and she hoped to make a great impression. There were two birthdays being celebrated as well, so that just made it even more important.

One of them was a pink haired alien girl named Kiris, a beautiful, spunky girl with a love for music and reading. On top of that, she was the girlfriend of Angelica's squad leader. Angelica hadn't hung out with her too much, as Kiris had only recently gotten back and after that the team was recovering from a bad fight, but from what she knew, perhaps Kiris would be a fun person to join in on the library time with Whitney. Thinking of a present was not too difficult, though locating the object was a different story. Still, it had been done, and Angelica hoped she made the right choice. A modernized walkman, with a tape that could download purchased tracks straight from the web! On top of that, it doubled both as a radio and as a digital recorder. Angelica had read something about a microphone too, but she didn't quite know how that worked.

The other person being celebrated was Casimir. He was a bit more difficult. Angelica didn't really know too much about him, on account of them never really talking or sharing hobbies, but what she did know seemed pretty standard for most boys. He liked bugs and video games and his girlfriend Viviana. Angelica, of course, thought of the perfect combination of the first two. An arcade game named Centipede. She needed a bit of help from her mom to buy it, and a bit of help from her dad and some teammates to move the wrapped gift into the room the party was being held in, but she was out to make a good first impression, and she truly hoped he liked it.

The only thing left, now, was to pick out a dress for the party. It had been a long, painstaking process, but eventually, she settled on a scarlet sundress with short sleeves. It was simple, but enough to not look like she threw something on last minute. Now all that was left was to meet the birthday girl and boy. With one more double check, making sure her dress wasn't wrinkled and that she had indeed remembered her phone and Kiris' present, she set off to the living room.

Finding the group that had already congregated, she let out a large wave and headed over, adding the walkman, wrapped in pink polka-dots, to Kiris' pile. "Happy Birthday Kiris! Happy Birthday Casimir! And hey everyone, is this all that's coming? Sorry if I'm late."

[Bentus]

The Amazing Ashen Moth!
Halloween

---

With the sound of fluttering wings, Ash set herself down just around the corner from the school’s entrance. Carrying a duffel bag stuffed with her costume and any additional supplies she thought she might need for the night, the mutant quietly leaned around the mason-brick wall that demarcated the border of campus. Making sure she wouldn’t be spotted before she was ready to surprise the others, the girl cautiously peeked out to where she was meant to meet with her friends. Seeing that Mika and Astrid had already arrived, an excited grin inched onto Ash’s features.

Pulling herself back around the corner and safely out of sight, she wasted no time in unzipping her duffel bag and rummaging around for her costume. Ash couldn’t wait to show her friends what she’d decided to wear, having been inspired to put in her best effort after hearing them talk about theirs in the cafeteria. It wouldn’t have been a stretch to say that the mutant had been swept up with all the halloween excitement, and she’d been sure to try and research the best ideas for her costume in advance. While she’d first thought of asking one of the others in the team to help her buy something to wear, Ash had quickly found that most of the premade costumes were poorly designed for someone with her unique frame. Not to be deterred, the mutant had simply decided that she’d just have to make her own costume instead.

Taking her costume out from her bag, Ash pulled the sheet up and over her head with a pair of her arms, allowing for it to rest lightly on her head. The pair of eye-holes that she’d meticulously cut from the cloth lined up perfectly, although the mutant’s wide smile was hidden beneath her new outfit. Pulling up the sheet so that she could reach out with her phone’s selfie feature to get a look at herself, Ash consciously folded her wings flat so that they wouldn’t be visible propping up the back of her costume. Satisfied with her final checks, she pulled her phone back under the sheet before creeping back to where she could see the others.

Three...two…

“Surprise!” Ash called out, jumping out from around the wall in an effort to spook her friends. Decked out in her homemade ghost costume, she was practically unrecognisable with a white bed sheet covering her entire body - save for a pair of shoes sticking out from the bottom, and the holes she’d cut out for her eyes. Of course, there was no mistaking the mutant’s cheery tone of voice. Looking at the others’ costumes, her eyes lit up. “Wow, you both look very awesome.” Grinning, Ash did a quick twirl to show off her own work. “What do you think of my costume? I made it myself.”

[Agritum]

*snip*

Elle eagerly shook the hand of the infamous Silver, otherwise known as Sergio Martinez. The ruthless leader of Ecuador, the terrible superpowered nightmare of Southern America, the tinpot tyrant which made millions of people fear for their very lives.

Also, incidentally, the father of her best friend Renata. Needless to say, all of this left Elle quite conflicted and somewhat wary of who she was interacting with. On the other hand, Renata had taken pains to actually move the entire team to Ecuador, and her father was bankrolling the whole thing. It probably was bad manners to not covertly thank him for that, at the very least.

"I'm Ellery, Renata's best friend." she started, trying her best smile. "I'm pleased to meet you Sir. Renata was really looking forward to this whole holiday, and I am too."

[Galnius]

Andrew Donovan, Jackrabbit
Many years ago
A young boy, about the age of 12 stood up, wobbling slightly. Three men were on the ground, unmoving but breathing. Further down, more men were in similar positions. The boy had no wounds save a small cut on his cheek from a blade her hadn't seen until the last second.

Smoky particulates began to circulate in front of him, slowly taking the shape of a lighter skinned man, though the family resemblance was unmistakable even through both masks.

"Andrew, we talked about this. You aren't ready."

The boy smiled back, unphased by the half-hearted scolding. "Yeah, but I did good right Dad? I didn't hurt anyone too bad, and I only got a small cut."

The older man sighed. "Yeah, you did well. You've got the makings of a real hero. Strong, brave, fighting for what's right....though there's no mistaking you also love the thrill." The boy laughed shyly and looked down in shame, though his smile was still very apparent.

"Fine...I'll start taking you along, but no more solo missions until you're older."

"Yes!" The boy whooped but had his celebrations quickly stopped by the other man.

"However, that means you play by my rules, and you'll do well to remember them. You don't attack unprovoked, you don't kill, and you respect even the villains. And.....you put the civilians first, even before the other rules.

The first day of Thanksgiving Break
Andrew fell at top speed, careening towards the rapidly approaching ground straight as an arrow. His eyes, hidden behind goggles, were focused, steely, and wild. His suit was different today, showing the colors of the late Smokescreen. It was the anniversary of the end of his old man's career, and today he would be making a reappearance.

Andrew struck the earth, covering the entire lot with dust, obscuring vision. Red lights instantly shot out, and thug and robot began scanning for the cause. Andrew slid up behind one of the mercenaries, swiftly dispatching him with a kick to the temple. The robot near him wasn't so lucky, as Andrew went airborne soon after and punched it into two. As the dust settled, all that was in sight was unconscious men and scraps, the attacker having already slipped inside.

Andrew's feet moved silently across the upper beam of the first large hallway, keeping an eye out for his next target. Soon, he found about 5 men leisurly towards the entrance.

"Why is the boss sending us? Don't we have security out front?"

"He wants to be left alone with his 'daughter'. Just means we get some time not watching him play with his toys."

A third man chirped up, in a hushed tone. "Look, he pays well. Besides, you can't tell me you didn't hear that huge boom. Maybe he knows more than us."

"Yeah, whatever", chided the first man. "Think I'll just grab a beer when we get up there and find out his droids just fried some idiot that is playing dress up."

All four were armed to the teeth. Guns, knives...one even had what looked like an electrified bat. Andrew, undeterred, descended behind them, turning on his suit and releasing a small smokey mist. "Mind if I join you for that beer? I worked up quite a thirst."

"Jesus Christ!" The men turned, 3 of them firing at the slightly obscured person who had appeared out of thin air.

Andrew evaded most of the bullets, stopping only two or three before they pierced his skin. He dropped a smoke bomb, and the 5 men instantly stopped firing to cough.

Andrew made his move, going to the right of the group. The man recovered in time to get an elbow to the stomach, followed by a kick to the head putting him out of his pain. The next man raised his gun only for Andrew to slide under him, kicking upward and taking the second man out as well. The next two men went down just as easily, with Andrew bouncing between them with multiple strikes. As he landed, the smoke cleared. The final man swung down his electric baton, and Andrew brought up his arm to take the full blow.

It stopped, unmoving, and Andrew raised an eyebrow. The man look at the baton, crackling and popping with energy, then back at Andrew with fear and confusion.

"Rubber insulated", Andrew said to answer the unspoken question. With one more kick to the temple, the skirmish was over. "Now, let's see what kinda crazy person orders ten illegal droids and stupid criminals as security."

Andrew opened the last door, leading to stairway. As he walked, he checked his suit and gear, making sure nothing was damaged. After a quick affirmation, he made his way to the large, underground library.

Andrew whistled in fascination at his surroundings. The hum of hundreds of machines created a strange symphony with the moving pistons, running motors, and beeping computers. Lights blinked through the entire space, and at the far end an old man crouched in front of a brown haired, childish looking, lifeless android.

"Excuse me, I'm here to speak to the foreman of this operation. HR sent me, wanted me to tell you that your bots and dolts weren't up to code. Would you be the man I'm looking for?"

"I don't have the time for your games", replied the old man. "In just a few minutes my daughter, she'll be back to me. And perfect this time. Perfect..."

Andrew glanced past him again to the out of commission bot behind him. It looked mildly familiar, yet.... "I take it that is your daughter, then?"

The old man sighed. "I'm amazed. They didn't fill you in on anything did they."

"Um....not sure what you mean."

"What I'm saying is...." The old man pulled out a small trigger. "You must be very expendable. They didn't send in MIA or VICTORIA after you, so I shouldn't be surprised."

"Yeah you lost me. Look, I'm gonna have to take you with me."

"I'm not going anywhere." The man stood up and pointed to a layer of bombs sitting on a very dangerous machine. "I will finish what I'm doing, then I'll upload everything to a hard drive. And you'll let me, or we both die and the first part happens anyway."

Andrew mulled over his options. He didn't know what the bot was supposed to do, and the man seemed like he wasn't planning on leaving alive. He couldn't act without a plan.

"Fine. I'll sit here if that's fine."

"Oh, do go ahead. Just keep your mouth shut."

Andrew gave it one minute, and no more, before springing into action. The old man seemed to have relaxed and slipped mostly back into his paranoia, so he didn't have time to react to Andrew disconnecting the droid and grabbing him, launching all of them upwards.

"What are you doing?! You imbecile, detaching her now could ruin everything!"

"That's kind of the idea! Now keep your mouth closed, you don't want to swallow wound splinters. Trust me!"

As the hero barreled through the ceiling the old man reached into his pocket and the basement erupted in fire and debris. Andrew felt a sharp pain in his leg, but continued onward, getting through the building but being knocked off balance high in the air by the shockwave that had helped him go skyward.

In his struggle to right himself, he lost a hold of the offline robot, and the old man cried out.

"Catch her you buffoon! Don't worry about me!"

"Fucking...." Keeping a hold on the man, jackrabbit darted down to intercept the free falling child robot. He flipped around, his back to the ground. The impact put a small crack in the concrete, but the falling trio was unharmed.

Jackrabbit made sure the old man was fine before he turned to the lifeless piece of metal near him. "Say....this kinda looks like..."

Andrew was cut off by the sound of sirens, and quickly handcuffed the man to a street light and left amidst the scientist's cries and protests. Once he was at a safe distance, he found a large sports bag he hid nearby and unceremoniously dumped the offline android.

Shortly after, Andrew arrived back at the tower and searched around. It didn't take long until he found who he was looking for. "Hey Cass, know anything about this?" Opening the duffle bag, a cold, lifeless face stared back at Cass much like her own in an old fashioned dress...

[Tomia]

Mars, November 14th
It was Kiris' birthday and despite the troubles the team had been having Mars found himself very excited. Their relationship picked up right where it had left off and they found themselves spending even more time with each other than usual since their reunion. Still today was different and Mars wanted to make it as special as possible for Kiris.

He woke up early that morning, showering and then getting dressed for the day. Instead of his usual jeans and a t-shirt he dressed in a more formal tan dress pants and a blue button down dress shirt. Mars found himself working with Viv to prepare the party as they were celebrating both Casimir and Kiris' birthday. Plus Mars had been working with Viv on her rocket ship piñata idea for Casimir. As Kiris came downstairs to join the party Mars greeted her and her family members with a big smile.

"Happy Birthday!" Mars said, pulling Kiris into a hug before walking her into the party so she could mingle with the other team members. Angelica had been sitting on the couch with Quinn, petting the cute puppy as a distraction from the awkward fact that it didn't seem like Alexis would be showing up. She was hoping that this would be a chance to catch up and maybe finally talk about what was happening. However it was clear that Alexis didn't plan on coming by the tower anytime soon. Still she couldn't just mope forever and decided to great her friend Kiris.

She scooped up the little dog and walked him over to Kiris.

"Happy birthday Kiris." She said with friendly smile. "Quinn says happy birthday too, well actually you can probably ask him yourself can't you?"

Meanwhile Katie and Cora as well as Naja had also decided to attend the party and were talking together in the corner.

Mars meanwhile left Kiris' side for a second to great his friend Cas and wish him a happy birthday as well. "Cas! Happy late birthday!" He said, pulling him into a hug. "Viv did a lot of work for the party, just don't stand too close to that Pinata." He said jokingly with a smile.

November 19th
Mars reluctantly looked back at Wendy as she brought up Roy and his leaving. "Maybe you're right... But we really didn't leave on good terms. Even if he comes back, I'm worried we just won't be friends anymore." He admitted to her a bit quietly.

After a good few hours the trip came to an end. During that time Mars found himself sitting with a few different people, Wendy, Mizu, Casimir, and of course Kiris. It was a fairly fun trip overall and it definitely helped Mars get into the vacation mood despite his tense conversation with Wendy at the beginning. As they started to land, the first thing that Mars noticed was the incredible view of the Andes as the passed. Eventually they had landed and were unpacking their bags before leaving the plane. They were greeted by Renata's father and behind were what seemed like a number of members of the Condors. Mars had of course read up a bit before they traveled and the situation in Ecuador seemed well... complicated to say the least. He had never really talked to Renata about it, but based on how Renata was reacting to her father she seemed to agree that things were complicated.

As he watched his other teammates greet the Condors, Mars followed their lead as he exited the plane with Kiris and greeted Renata's fathers and the other Condors in turn. "Thank you for this warm welcome sir." Mars said respectfully. He was a little concerned at the mention of safety, as it seemed to indicate there were reasons not to feel safe but he pushed that aside for now.

[North America Inc]

Ecuador, the Jewel of the Andes

Shihong Smith | Mark Nemo
November 19th

Soaring across the cloudless blue sky, two streaks of light flew low at an unimaginable break neck speed. One higher than the other, a bright yellow sheen enveloped the figure; the other flew lower, it’s tailend a litany of bright blue to fiery red. They were fast approaching the Ecuadorian coastline, the landmass dominating the forward horizon. The second figure held straight, a sole focus on its mind. The other more casual. Shi watched as Mark performed a few tricks and turns as she passed him, though she knew she wouldn’t lose him for long. Ordinarily Shi wouldn’t even be able to keep up with her subordinate, her propulsion lacked the speed and maneuverability of his Cosmic gifts. Not to mention flying this high posed it’s own challenges: ie falling. Outfitted in an exo-frame, her limbs were retrofitted in a specially designed polymer perfect for her own brand of lightweight flight. Highly experimental and expensive, this frame provided her the stability she needed: from landing, to energy conservation, to handling g-force. A nice gift from her parents she had told Mark and the rest of the team.

After a brief stop in San Jose to visit this marvelous restaurant she knew, the two heroes were on a fast track to Renata’s getaway tropical paradise. Now while Shi’s attitude towards Renata was layered, how could she turn down this opportunity? They were teammates after all. The added benefit of getting close to one of the Guild’s areas of interest hadn’t crossed her mind at all. Wiping off the water vapor from her visor, Shi pressed against her headset, “We are forty minutes out. Over.”

Mark enjoyed the winds cutting across his body’s energy, pleasant memories of only a few months prior coming back of flying on alien worlds. Still, Earth was simply breathtaking from every angle, so much so that he nearly ignored his captain’s words. “Ah!” He exclaimed, “Surely we checked in before heading into their air space,” Mark commented, “Either way, they should know we’re about to make landfall.” He gave Shi a warm smile as he lazily turned his body while still moving forward at impressive speed, “This was the best way to get here, thanks for talking me into it.”

He felt somewhat empty without Ava at his side as she elected to stay behind in San Diego, he nevertheless would have fun and meet with the powerful locals present in the dictatorship. “Are we going to meet the team on the runway, or meet up with them at a different spot?” He asked, bouncing his head side to side. “Depending on if the Ecuadorians send in a few of those Condors to escort us off their territorial waters, haha.”

“Runway.” She didn’t bother to respond to his other comment. She had already cleared their late arrival with Renata, no need to worry about jets scrambling though she wouldn’t put it past her. As they streaked past the coast and into the interior, the ground became a strangle blur. The monochromatic characteristics of the pristine ocean gone, instead at these high speeds nothing stood out beyond the most basic of colors. She had heard the propaganda, both for and against the regime, yet up here she saw nothing but shades of green and brown, specs of grey, and occasional sound of traffic. Mark continued to do his showboating, probably more so with an audience down below. Though she didn’t care to leave the rest of the squad in San Diego after the whole Warhounds incident, her own instinct told her otherwise. Such a small group of Young Bloods separated from the rest of their peers was a perfect opportunity to dig her claws into them. Months of meandering in the periphery was over, she needed to supplant herself.

The two heroes exchanged a few words as they ascended the steep peaks of the Andes toward Quito, the expansive hills of the Capital dotted with homes was an absolute treat for Mark and an eye sore for Shi.

“It’s gorgeous.” Mark commented, a glitter in his blue eyes as the peaks and cityscape reflected in them, his body floating behind Shi as he became increasingly distracted. “Nothing ever beats it,” He said to himself, flashing back to otherworldly views and sights he had seen, not that he needed to remind his superior of that. The pair neared the runway where the rest of the team were located, their jet parked and already emptying out their luggage and other oddities. Shi and Mark decreased speed and lowered their altitude further, coming in softly for a landing near their team, with the Ecuadorians close by to meet with them, Renata at the center to act as the middle man.

Mark raised his hand with a friendly smile to his peers and new-found friends in the foreign land, no words, understanding he would probably say something stupid and get them in hot water, preferring Shi to do the talking and leading the way.

A gust of wind blew her luscious silk hair into the breeze just as she removed her helmet, a cherry on top for an already grandiose entrance. The two just as Sergio introduced himself and the team were giving their own introductions and thanks, making their way at the shoulder ends of the group. Shi bent her head down slightly, not wanting to disrespect their host with eye contact. “Thank you for your hospitality.” The line spoken in a distinct Castilian accent.

“Yes thank you for your hospitality.” Mark followed in the footsteps of his Captain, his Spanish much more Chicano.

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt

Casimir and Viviana November 19th

---

November 19th

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Elle

November 19th

Shihong Smith | Mark Nemo
November 19th

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

The act of shaking hands was more than just a greeting gesture - Sergio, having only heard about Renata's circle of friends from espionage reports, was eager to see who his daughter had gotten in cahoots with. With the little time he had, however, a handshake was a better option than any - even from something as simple as that, you can learn a lot about the person in front of you.

Some of Renata's friends were more reserved, others were eager to introduce themselves and show off their excitement. That's... good. They really shouldn't worry. When this is the sort of pressure they're dealing with... it's better to take your mind off for a little while.

Better to have a break than bring more and more responsibilities upon you without any reprieve, act overly hasty, and so lose someone really important to you. Sergio knew that very well.

The superhero responded to Wyatt's greeting with a simple nod, though a Dra'Quinni being among their ranks caught he and the rest of the Condors' attention. While the draconic race was not unheard of in Ecuador and some of them found a home upon the peaks of the Andes, it was nevertheless interesting to see one in person. Cracking a faint smile after Viv's excitement, Sergio then raised an eyebrow after Casimir's blunt statement.

"...thank you," he muttered after a second of uncertainty.

"I mean, he's not wrong," Gabriel commented to Emanuel, who cracked a snicker and replied:

"I'd ask him after he spends a night in the Deep South first."

Sergio moved on to Kiris, who, much to his initial surprise, refused his handshake - and yet acted almost more friendly than anyone else, exclaiming how excited she was to visit her friend's homeland. The hero didn't take long to figure out why, however - the horns on her head and scales running down her arms revealed her alien nature quite clearly. Recognizing her unspoken worry, Sergio fainly smiled and replied:

"Don't worry, my hands are a bit tougher than usual. If you're still worried about hurting me, though..." he made a brief salute with his hand instead. The next to shake his hand was Elle, who immediately introduced herself as Renata's "best friend" and got both her and her father to stop for a second. Renata sighed and looked away with a smile on her face, while Sergio merely blinked a few times before responding:

"Nice to meet you, too."

Mars was next - and Sergio did not stay by him very long, politely nodding to the teenager's equally polite greeting. Before he could return to the limousine, however, two more of Renata's friends suddenly appeared literally from thin air - or, more accurately, leapt down from the skies and joined the rest of the team, hailing the hero and his team in Spanish - even if clearly not native. Sergio raised his eyebrow and turned towards Renata, speaking:

"These two are yours too, right?"

"Uh, yeah..." she mumbled. The girl did recall Shi informing her that she and Mark will be meeting them in the airport after travelling there by themselves - what she assumed, however, was that they'll get there... normally. Not by literally flying down to meet them on the runway. "They've got a flair for the dramatic." That got Sergio to strike a sly smirk - the hero then turned towards Shi and Mark and replied:

"I hope you enjoy your stay, then."

Renata turned to the side as soon as she felt a familiar hand slip in to hold hers, and was greeted by Icarus's smile - and responded in kind. Her boyfriend did not seem to try moving in to shake her father's hand, though, which got her to speak:

"You sure you don't wanna introduce yourself? I mean, you'll have to do it eventually..." Not that she couldn't understand not wanting to open that can of worms in front of the Young Bloods, of course. It seemed her father was hesitant, too - as soon as he turned back to the team, his eyes caught Icarus's presence among the crowd, but he merely sent the blonde-haired boy a narrowed glance before moving on.

"There will be a private bus just outside the airport which will take you to your hotel. As soon as you come to the checkout, the staff will recognize Renata and hand each of you the keys to your rooms. From there, the week's all yours. Stay safe, have a good time, and make sure Renata doesn't get to any trouble."

"Daaaaaad..."

---

The drive from the airport did not take too far - only a few kilometers, as their hotel, much like the airport, was on the north side of the city. JW Marriott Hotel was one of the most luxurious places for accommodation which money could buy in Quito - today, off-season, it might appear rather vacant, but summer would see it fully booked by some of the wealthiest tourists in the Americas, to whom no price was too large for comfort. The rooms were for two persons and exactly enough of them were booked to fill each one - but all of them were certainly spacious enough to accommodate the visitors. Each one with several rooms, a plasma TV, a minibar, tea and coffee-making facilities, some were even equipped with whirlpool tubs. The amenities provided by the hotel were nothing to scoff at either - dining options included a restaurant, a steakhouse, a cafe and the lobby bar serving sushi and cockktails, all visitors had access to a gym built to withstand superhuman strength, a hot tub and an outdoor pool, a spa and saunas. And a meeting and event space.

Which was where Renata called the rest of the team to gather as soon as they finish settling in at their new quarters. There, standing by the coffee table, she slammed three booklets down, speaking:

"What do we do today? I know, our options are basically unlimited when we're running off Dad's money, but we gotta choose something." With her finger, she pushed the first booklet to the center of the table.

"We can go on a trip around the mountains, there's hiking paths all around Quito and you can go there either with or without a guide. Some of them even lead up the Pichincha, and if I make goggly eyes at the right people to let us through in places we're not allowed to be, I can get us to make our way up to the caldera and look down to see the magma. Not that it'd be much of an achievement to reach it for some of us," she glanced at Shi and Mark specifically. "But an active volcano is not something you see often, right?"

She then pushed the second booklet to the center.

"Out on the other side of the city is the Outskirts Battledome, which I guess is best described as the dream place for our muscleheads. My dad personally oversaw its creation, it's the biggest superhuman training complex in Ecuador, which also regularly does arena matches and fighting events. Basically the NASL Tournament if it was happening all year round - every day is a different event, and every week it holds invite matches against some of the Battledome's top ranking. Since Dad's government already pretty much owns it, he could get us to cut in line if we wanted to, and so let us give it a shot. Worst comes to worst, we can drop Casimir off there while we go do something else."

And finally... the third.

"Or... we can hit the beach. The bus to Esmeraldas is... four hours, I think? It's the closest beach to Quito, I've been there and it's beautiful. And I am pretty sure we've arrived at the whale watching season, too - so that's something we wouldn't want want to miss, either."

[Galnius]

Aislinn McHarris

A drift of grey clouds floated high above the McHarris estate, threatening to dampen the light of of the rich Southern Valley. The sight reminded the woman staring out from one of the many windows of the autumns back home, where the leaves would take on the same fiery color as her hair and the pastures would turn into a deep green, signalling a time for harvest before the chilly winter winds overtook them. Here, however, she was only entreated to a 6 month long rainy season, reminding her more of a warmer London. Luckily, the forecast had no such weather.

With a deep sigh, Aislinn returned her attention to the mirror before her. She had pondered her next moves carefully, making absolutely sure they were necessary before she acted. However, her cousin had sown more and more erratic behavior recently. He left every night, searching offline for his current obsession.

Aislinn hoped to be of help, but in his rashness he had evaded even letting her know when he was leaving, let alone staying in contact. In a way, Aislinn was impressed with his drive. From what she had gathered from him and his emails, he had set up an ever growing perimeter, and was reaching into the darker portions of San Diego for information. He even scheduled a visit with the Avaline family, to talk about a not unwise but very misguided partnership in order to keep them from the financial recoil their daughter had gotten them in. Still, Daniel was being too careless, acting as though his life were merely something to play with.

So, Aislinn made her move in response. Something to deter him, by removing the object of his focus. Lisette Avaline had to be put away, and while she could send out people and drones to scour for her, Aislinn knew that locating was far from what she needed. For that, she contacted someone who had fought and won not once, not twice, but three times against her, regardless of the difficulty.

The hard part here was convincing the boy's care-taker, the hero Naja, to let Aislinn borrow him for a while. However, the donations to the Young Bloods, the aid with PR after the loss, and the accrual benevolence Aislinn already had and gave to the team of teens certainly helped, and the offer to simply hire him as a bodyguard against kidnappings and Lisette as a clever and mostly true lie clinched it.

Now, all she needed to do was pick him up and tell him the real reason she asked for him. First impressions was the key here, so Aislinn, having researched Mask and his time with Quick Shot, decided to dress down like she usually did for socializing with the more simple people that worked for her. She wore a flannel, emerald shirt to contrast with her hair, with expertly fitted dark blue jeans. Her pale face was expertly done with the assistance of some of the girls that worked at the estate, showing off her mature yet round face with a light blush to accentuate her alabaster skin tone.

After some time, she found everything to be satisfactory without being too attention grabbing, capable of blending in yet capturing the attention of those she spoke to. As a final touch, she grabbed a straw farmer's hat she had received as a going-away present from an old butler who had helped raised her, and saw her as the daughter he had never had. After gving one last glance towards the mirror, she turned to meet her driver.

---

The venue Aislinn choose as a meeting place was called Lofty Coffee Company, one of the Aislinn's favourite places to visit before and after classes. She sat at their patio, with one leg crossed over her other knee, leaning back with a rich, caramel induced frappe. Contrary to her relaxed look though, her eyes darted everything, waiting for the hero known as Mask to join her.

[New Finnish Republic]

"You've got to be kidding me. I don't care how much she's donated to the team, I'm not going to spend my time babysitting while I have a lot more important things I could be doing."

A soft sigh escaped Naja's lips as she sat with her elbows resting on the table in front of her while her hands remained clasped in front of her. Rubbing briefly at her temples, she looked up at the boy standing in front of her. She knew that Red wasn't going to accept her proposition easily, but she hadn't counted on how stubborn the redhead could be.

"It's not 'Babysitting', Red. You're supposed to act as her escort while she goes about her business. Now I understand that you might have other matters you'd like to attend to, but given the fact that the majority of the team is occupied in Ecuador, I can't just pass this job onto someone else. Besides, she asked for you specifically, so it's not like we have a choice in the matter anyways." Although she tried her best to hide it, a slight hint of annoyance was present in her voice as she continued to stare him down.

Red looked at his team's overseer with a look of bewilderment on his face as he motioned over with his free hand towards his other arm which still rested in a sling. "Do I look like I'm in any sort of state to be protecting anyone? The doc told me I'm supposed to not do anything stupid for at least another week, and-"

"And when have you ever let something like that stop you in the past, Red?"

Naja's soft words caused Red's eyes to widen for a moment as he opened his mouth to speak, only bite down on his lip and avert his gaze as he knew he couldn't refute what she had said. The impact of her words hadn't escaped Naja's notice, who gave Red a small encouraging smile as she reached for a small vanilla folder resting on the table next to her.

"Look, Red. I get that you're frustrated right now. Everyone is, including myself. But we can't let what happened at the mall affect what we do as heroes. At the end of the day, we're doing what's asked of us from the public. That includes offering protection for those who ask for it."

Handing the envelope towards Red, Naja waited patiently for the boy to accept the offer. Although his expression was still filled with that of hesitation, he reluctantly grabbed a hold of the folder, placing it in his arm sling before giving Naja a small glare.

"Fine," he finally replied, his annoyance still present in his voice albeit at a much more simmered down level than it had been before. "But don't expect this to become a regular occurrence."

Naja held an amused look on her face as she sat back in her chair, clearly satisfied at the outcome of their discussion.

"Trust me, I don't plan on it."

Red paused as if to say something in response, but instead held his tongue and proceeded to walk out of the office room, the door being not quite slammed behind him but certainly being given much more force than was necessary. Naja waited a few moments to ensure that he wouldn't make a sudden reappearance before letting out another sigh, this one more dread filled than exasperated as her one previously had been.

"If only that poor girl knew what she was asking for," Naja said quietly to herself before turning her attention back to other matters at hand.

---

Later that day...

Standing directly outside the entrance to their designated rendezvous area, Red took a nervous glance at his reflection in the glass door in front of him. His attire was meant to both blend in with the crowd while also providing adequate concealment of his identity. Thus, in addition to his outfit of plain white t-shirt layered over with a light jacket accompanied with a pair of jeans, he wore a large pair of aviator sunglasses that was complimented with a ball cap emblazoned with the logo of the New York Yankees. While far from the level of both protection and concealment that his exosuit offered, Red could appreciate the fact that he could walk around the streets of San Diego without getting the stares that he usually did.

Taking a deep breath, Red pushed open the door of the coffee shop and made his way inside. Glancing quickly back and forth across the booths filled with patrons, a singular figure sitting in the patio area caught his attention. Reaching into his arm sling, he retrieved a small photograph that had been a part of the limited information Red had been given and made a quick check over to verify that he had found who he was looking for. Even if she's doing her best to conceal it, there's no way someone could miss that face, Red thought to himself as he tucked the photograph away and headed towards where she was.

Taking a seat across the table in which she were sitting, Red discretely pulled out his communicator device which held the logo of the Young Bloods on it. While technically not a guaranteed means of identification, he understood that in this situation it would be more than enough for the young woman sitting across from him to recognize who he was. The second she noticed it, he quickly put it back in his pocket so that others in the shop would not see it as well.

"So, Ms. Mcharris, what sort of venture do you have planned that requires the help of people like me? I agreed to do this, but if you're planning on exploring the dark and treacherous criminal underbelly of San Diego, I'm afraid you've picked the right person at the wrong time," Red spoke out to Aislinn so that his words would only be audible to the two of them. To emphasize his point, he waved his free hand in the direction of his arm sling with a small sarcastic grin on his face as he did.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

November 14th

---

---

---

---

The trio of Hadrians made their way towards the living room, not encountering any of the team's members on the way there. On a normal day, such an occurrence would've been rather odd given the sheer number of Young Bloods around and how sociable some of them were, but today, it only made sense. The walk from Kirisvala's bedroom to the living room wasn't long, and eventually, she stepped in through the door with Seristella and Torvalt trailing behind her. Immediately, she saw the festive ambiance that had been set up by her teammates, with the large banner, balloons, food and more.

"Wow!" The pink-haired girl exclaimed, starry-eyed and blissful upon seeing the effort her friends had put into this for her - and for Casimir as well of course. As soon as she stepped in, Mars walked up to her and pulled her into a hug, a gesture she was more than happy to return. "Thanks, darlin'!" She replied with a bright smile, giving the dressed up boy a quick look over. "Ya look great in blue." She added with a wink.

Walking up to the rest of the group while holding onto her boyfriend's arm, she saw that Casimir was present already, as well as Naja and their two new caretakers, Cora and Katie, who were over by the corner socializing. Viviana and Angelica were there as well, with the latter walking up to her to wish her a happy birthday. "Thanks Angie!" She replied, before looking at the puppy in her arms. "Hey Quinny Quinn, thanks to ya too." She said, lightly poking the husky's nose while making sure not to hurt him. The puppy barked in response and Kiris laughed.

Before she could move on to Casimir and Viviana, someone else walked into the room, a new member of the team - relatively speaking at least - by the name of Angelica Dalin. She had been here for a while already, but as Kiris had only recently returned, she didn't know the other girl well, not to mention the issue presented by the fact that she had the same name as the other blonde girl in the room. Still, she was more than happy than even someone she didn't know that well was so eager to show up to the party, and with the same enthusiasm as before, Kiris walked up to her and gave her a big hug. "G'day Angie! Thanks for comin'!" She said. She'd probably have to think of a different way to call her, but that was a problem for future Kiris.

"Hey sis, aren't ya forgettin' somethin'?" Seristella spoke up, interrupting her sister's little parade of happiness and bringing attention to the crown made of flowers and reeds that she held in her right hand. "I'm sure ya didn't have Torvalt make this one in vain, did ya?"

"Oh, right!" The pink-haired girl nodded and bounced over to the redhead, grabbing the crown from her hands before making her way towards Casimir. She was about to place it on his head, but after a second she thought better of it and offered the crown to Viviana. "Ya wanna do the honors, Vivi?"

---

November 19th

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---

---

Seeing the gesture Renata's father made instead of the usual handshake to compensate, Kiris grinned and imitated it as best as she could, a salute that was somewhat sloppy in spite of the enthusiasm that went into it, though she didn't really expect to get it right the first time anyway. A few moments later, as the handshakes were drawing to an end, two new arrivals quite literally descended from the sky in spectacular fashion: Mark and Shi. While some of the Young Bloods were surprised and the members of the Condors were on edge by the sudden arrivals, Kirisvala immediately recognized her teammates and eagerly clapped at their grand entrance.

Meanwhile, Icarus listened as his girlfriend pointed out that even if he avoided the Caudillo for now, he'd likely have to have a conversation with the man eventually, whether friendly or otherwise - and otherwise seemed far more likely, as he did not miss the hostile glance the older man cast at him upon noticing his presence. Far from wanting to aggravate the situation, however, the young man simply brushed it off and shrugged. "There's likely a lot to talk about, asteri mou, and I'd rather not hold the group back when they're all here to have fun." He stated.

Some time passed after that, and the group arrived on a bus at the luxurious hotel where they would be staying for the duration of their trip. After spending a bit getting settled into their room and unpacking, the group met at the behest of Renata, who asked an important question: what to do?

"Well the hikin' and the battledome are both in or around the city right? But the beach is a four hour bus ride away, so maybe we can go there today and get started on that other stuff tomorrow?" Kirisvala suggested, still in her usual cheerful mood - if anything, she was even more giddy now that she had seen the level of comfort that would be available to them throughout their vacation. A part of her was even wondering if it might be a good idea to simply stay back in the hotel to relax and watch TV, possibly convince Mars to stay with her... but it was drowned out by the other part of her, the part that was eager to explore a whole new nation and see what it had to offer. "If ya guys want I can teleport us back too when we're done so we don't have to stop havin' fun four hours earlier just for the bus ride." She offered. She'd gotten much better at using her magic since the last time she was with the team, so it wouldn't be hard, she would just need a bit of time to prepare, but far less than four hours.

"The beach sounds good for the first day." Icarus concurred. He was far more relaxed than he had been before, no longer putting up with the tension of being in the presence of Sergio, but he still felt... off. After joining up with the Stars, he had reluctantly grown accustomed to a certain standard of living beyond what he had before, but this far surpassed even that, which made him feel somewhat self-conscious. Adding to that the fact that this was all being bankrolled by a certain pink-haired tyrant... he felt out of place, despite his best efforts to appear calm and contented.

Still, he wasn't one to mope, and the idea of getting out of the city was appealing to him. Not to mention the idea of seeing his girlfriend in a swimsuit wasn't unpleasant either. "We'll have plenty of time to see the sights inside the city later, won't we?" He spoke. "Besides, if I wanted to fight another super I'd just make fun of Armorer's goatee again."

[The Republic of Atria]

Jeez that's a lot

Bael was a little disappointed he didn't get much more than a nod when he spoke up, but instead opted to just stay quiet until the group moved on. The Condors were probably just busy and whatnot. The good news was that a fancy private busy had arrived and with Renata's father telling them to keep her out of trouble, he snickered a bit. "Don't worry. We will."

One bus ride later, they arrived at a very nice hotel, with Renata bringing out some pamphlets with several potential places they could go. The mountains. While they were reasonably close to where Sina said she was from, he doubted that anyone wanted to go that far out of their way to see if it was true. Though looking inside of a volcano would be cool for a little bit. The Battledome sounded pretty cool to him. Sure, the whole reason they were on vacation was to get away from the fighting, he didn't see any reason why they couldn't combine the two. He had plenty of fun sparring with his friends. Last was going to the beach, which he already wasn't a big fan of due to the cooler weather. Though just relaxing in the sun was always a nice time for him.

"Well. I wouldn't mind going to the Battledome." He said. "I'm not as into it as our resident blood knight, but I wouldn't mind having a chat and having a few matches or even just watching them. The Volcano... I think it sounds cooler on paper than it would be to see it. The beach... Well, I've made my thoughts on the beach known already. Which I know was already disregarded, but even so, I don't feel like sitting down for another long trip." He said. "I'm more than happy to compromise."

[Tomia]

November 14th
Mars' smiled at Kiris' flirty compliment as he walked over with her to greet the rest of their friends. He was happy to let Kiris lead the way on her birthday, and certainly hoped the day would be a fun reprieve from their troubles. His gifts, and others were stacked on a nearby table and while Mars was eager to give his to Kiris' he didn't want to interrupt her socializing. Speaking of that, Naja, Katie, and Cora made their way over to the birthday girl and boy as well. Naja greeted them both with a smile.

"Happy birthday to both of you. And Kiris, I'm glad you were able to come back in time so that we could celebrate with you. How do Hadrians usually celebrate their birthdays? Is it similar to humans?"

Meanwhile Angelia smiled and then turned over to Casimir. "Happy birthday to you too Cas. Though I guess you'll just have trust that Quinn is wishing you a happy birthday." She joked with a smile.

November 19th
Mars travelled with the others to the hotel, equally if not more impressed than the others at the luxury they would have access to for the weekend. He ended up deciding to share a room with Casimir and soon after they settled in they had gathered back together to discuss their plans.

"Well a beach sounds cool, but 4 hours is a long time. After the plane ride here and all doesn't that seem like a lot of sitting around?" He inquired to the group. "But, spending time at the beach would definitely be fun so if other people are up for it I am too." He said to the group. The beach indeed brought to mind pleasant memories of hanging out at Wonder Island together with the team. Though those thoughts were bitter sweet these days.

[Galnius]

Mika, October 31st

Mika sped off towards the school at top speed, only slowing down at points where either she knew cops stayed, or traffic forced her too. Still, she was surprised to see that she had seemingly arrived first. No one was around, and even the usual idiots that hung around the school yard at night were out being idiots somewhere else. Nice, pleasurable silence.

She stepped out and began enjoying the crisp October air, making sure her costume wasn’t crooked or loose anywhere, and inwardly jumped out of her skin when Astrid suddenly appeared. It’s cool, you’re cool, you just tensed up a little. Besides, you can get her back later.

"Of all the places we could've used to meet up, the school is probably one of the most boring." Astrid remarked casually, as if she had always been there. Afterwards, she looked straight at Mika. "Also, you're like twelve, are you sure it's fine for you to be driving?"

“Oh haha. You’re comedy is groundbreaking. LA is to the north. Anyway, I figured Ash could find this place without getting lost. That, and I was gonna see if we could get inside. Who knows what this place has after dark.”

Mika gave an impish grin as she revealed the first step to her plan. “Empty classrooms, Baker’s rumored porn stash, lost and found, and maybe even a vengeful -JESUS CHRIST!”

Mika turned a very furious glare towards the figure who had jumped out to scare them, ready to fling a barrage of curses and a possible knife until she realized who was under the sheet. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Mika tried to reprimand Ash as kindly as possible.

“Ash...I’m just going to say this once, okay? Don’t scare me. Never, ever scare me. I might stab you on accident. I’m serious. You can do it to other people, but never me, it’s just not funny. Alright? Alright. Glad we got that out of our way.”

Looking around, Mika confirmed an absence. “And it looks like Ava will be carrying our extra shit, so that’s nice.” Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a large bottle of wine and offered it to the others. “Liquid courage anyone? We’re about to have one hell of a night, and it’s just that much better half lucid.”

---

Angelica Dalin, November 14th

Angelica felt herself get overwhelmed by a powerful force of nervousness as more people funneled in. Looking around, she suddenly felt extremely out of place. Sure, she knew Naja and Mars decently well by now, and Mars has talked about Kiris enough that Angelica felt decently comfortable with her presence, but with the presence of two other Hadrian’s, two ex-Justice Queens, the older Angelica from the team and school, and Casimir and Viv, there was simply too much. Her demeanor turned more to a skiddish mouse than what she had hoped gave off confidence when she first came in.

Still, after finding a corner to hide in (trying to mimic Frostbite's couch claiming) she tried to distract herself by fixating on the crown the older Hadrian had handed Kiris. It was beautifully made, and Angelica quickly noted that Kiris herself wore one. A Hadrian birthday tradition, maybe? It went against the generally bestial descriptions she had heard about the culture, but that wasn’t too much of a surprise. Especially when you had Kiris as a reference point. Still, if there were two crowns, that meant the other one was for...

Angelica surpressed a giggle as Kiris approached Casimir, wondering how the pink haired Hadrian and Casimir's girlfriend would get that on his head. From what she knew, he outwardly showed two emotions. Raw infinite confidence...and grumpy sulking. Still, with two pretty girls asking him, Angie wondered if he could refuse.

---

Aislinn, November 20th

Aislinn looked up with a smile as her entourage for the next few days arrived and introduced themselves, all the while sizing up his physique and build. He certainly seemed like he could be the famous (or infamous, depending on who was asked) Mask. He walked the same, had the same manners in speech, and had a similar injury to the one that Mask had suffered in the previous month. Over all, she believed him. Still, she wanted to see I just how real he was.

“Hmm, I never expected you to be a fellow redhead. Still, in that uniform I can’t confirm anything, especially with how carelessly you flash that device. Tell me lad, why should I believe you? Also sit, please, before people start payin' attention. Grab a coffee. Relax a bit. After all, you have an elegant older woman across from you. Unless you like the stares.”

Aislinn took a long sip from her coffee and looked once more. “He know, now that I keek atcha, I’m less and less convinced that you are who I’m lookin' for.”

[Absolon-7]

---

---

---

Casimir Herman November 14th

---

Casimir was just about to pull away when he got a surprise hug from Mars congratulating him a late birthday. He could definitely see the point about how Viv put in the work for the decorations. Making the rocket piñata out of the blue was pretty swell from Mars too. The quip from Mars got him to sarcastically laugh for a bit. But this whole arrangement felt quite comforting which was quite odd.

"I'll keep that in mind. Extra roasted bug isn't on the menu as far I know," said Casimir with a grin as he patted his friend on the back before he went off to the incoming Kiris.

Meanwhile, Viviana was busy serving herself a plate of food until she noticed Kiris offering her a flower crown. She looked on in bewilderment as she looked at the crown and back to Kiris and then again to the crown and back to Kiris. Suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head and she happily received the crown.

"Don't mind if I do. Oh before I forget...happy Birthday Kiri!," said Viviana before quickly giving Kiris a big hug. She quickly let go and went behind Casimir holding the flower crown in both hands and extending out her hands to quickly plant it on his head. "A gift from the Lady Ranwyn, scrub."

The blond newbie who was also named Angelica soon came right after and Casimir was distracted enough from her greeting that he failed to notice the nefarious symbol placed on his head by Viviana. "Hold the fuck up," said Casimir turning around to see Viviana grinning at him and fluttering her eyelashes. He looked around to see that Kiris had a flower crown as well so he grumbled away his frustration.

"Oh come on. No need to be such a grump" chided Viviana nudging her elbow at his chest, "Are some pretty little flowers enough to best you?"

"Nonsense! It's just a crown of flowers. If anything I'm pulling it off," said Casimir crossing his arms.

Viviana could barely hold in her laughter as she leaned over to Kiris, "He's always been easygoing if ya frame anything as a competition."

Naja and Angelica were the next to come over to greet them a happy birthday and Casimir rubbed Quinn's head while he was being held up by Angelica, "Well I hope the rascal is happy for me. He still owes me a pair of chewed up shoes."

[Finland SSR]

November 19th

---

Bael

November 19th

Casmir and Viviana November 19th

---

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

"Huh, whales?!" Mizu suddenly called out, her head popping up from behind Viv and Casi as soon as the former repeated Renata's comment about whale watching. The purple-haired girl was one of the last to assemble, having stayed in her and Viv's room for a few more minutes and only returned when her friend was already explaining the three options for today. "Yes, let's do it! If we arrived at just the right season, then we can't waste any time and potentially miss it!"

"That's one more vote for the beach, then..." Renata muttered under her breath, observing the team one more time. Most of her peers were either in favor of taking the beach or weren't against it despite it not being their top option. Kiris and Icarus made a good point, after all - because the coast is farther from their place of stay than all the other activities, they'd be better off if they took the bus trip now and saved the rest for later. Wyatt and Mars both voiced their hesitation with how long said trip would be, but...

"Well, I mean, four hours isn't the longest trip in the world," Renata muttered, shrugging. "Besides, like Kiris said, we'll only need to make our way there once, and she'll be able to take us back. Alright, so with the power of democracy, we have made a decision!" Once again, the girl slammed her hand down on the table, and picked up the flier for the Esmeraldas beach resort this time. With her other hand, she was already searching for her phone, ready to make the call to get this happening.

"Oh, and by the way, if one of you would like to do something else instead of tagging along with us, then that's all fine by me. I'm not your supervisor," Renata then explained, before raising her phone to her mouth to speak.

---

Standing by the sea in the Ecuadorian north, Esmeraldas was famous for several things, but the beaches by its shores were definitely among those reasons. A resort town, it attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, and today was rapidly approaching the winter vacation season - not as massive and overwhelming as summer, but nevertheless pretty full of visitors from all around the world.

The first thing one could notice as the bus descended from Quito was the rapidly building up heat. Quito was rather chilly despite standing right on the equator - being lodged in between the Andes mountains had to do with it - but the coasts were toasty, day and night, with little to no variation throughout. Not a single cloud was in the sky to block out the sun, either. As Renata reclined in her seat and stared through the window, though, she couldn't help but notice that the road from Esmeraldas was oddly busy today - and from the other side, cars making their way to the capital, too. If this were July, then she wouldn't bat an eye, the road would sometimes get choked by the amount going on both sides, but... it was November.

Odd.

The group's private bus dropped them off at the resort's bus station, only a short walk away from the shore itself - a long sandy beach, interspersed with palm trees, red crab colonies, vendors and beach volleyball nets awaited them just a few minutes up ahead.

"All riiiight!" Renata exclaimed as she pulled her bag out of the bus's compartments and tossed it over her shoulder. "There's a bit more people here than you guys are used to in Wonder Island, but it shouldn't be much of a problem, should it?"

Mizu, meanwhile, strolled up to the bulletin board plastered onto the wall of the bus station, and then called out:

"Here's the whale watching, Viv!" She pulled off the small poster with the tour company's address and number and walked up to her friend. "Says it's only for an hour because it's in protected waters... but it includes snorkeling, too!"