Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

After his enthusiastic greeting, Renata turned around, and that was when everything started going downhill. That borderline disgusted look on her face, what was all that about? Had something happened? Was it... because of him? No, no, no. Surely he was just being paranoid, something understandable after the nightmare he had witnessed. Surely she had just encountered some sort of problem and needed his help in solving it, that must have been the reason for her phone call. Thus, Icarus continued approaching-

What's... that? The boy questioned in his mind as he noticed the red dot that had appeared on his face. It looked like one of those laser pointers that snipers used in cheap action movies, except instead of being mounted on a rifle or a handgun... it was coming from Renata's hand, formed into the shape of a gun and aimed directly at him. Why...? He wondered, his smile disappearing like light through a black hole. He knew perfectly why, but he didn't want to face it. He didn't want to think that he was going to lose someone lie Renata when they were just beginning to get to know each other, but in the face of evidence, he was starting to fear the worst.

Still, he couldn't give up. He knew he still had a chance to explain. He knew she'd listen to him. He took a step forward-

That's when the accusation came. Mentioning various charges as if reading them off a list, Renata told him that he was under arrest. It felt like a stab right through the chest. Here he was, thinking he had found someone he could trust, someone that didn't judge him like the rest of the world, someone that didn't regard him as if he was a dangerous animal. And yet, that person was in front of him, proclaiming her intention to bring him to justice... over a news network story that was outrageously false. His face was pale. He felt disappointed, betrayed. Before even listening to his side of the story, she wanted to arrest him, as if nothing that he said had any worth despite all the lengthy conversations they'd had before.

He was mad. 'Three first degree murders', she had said, as if he had premeditated the death of those boys, as if he was some deranged madman that had painstakingly searched for suitable tributes to his madness, before picking a time and a place and cornering them, taking their lives. She had not an ounce of trust or faith, that much was clear. Was this what she thought of him? Had she thought of him this way all along? What were all those conversations, their time spent together, what was their meeting four days ago worth if he was just another criminal on her rise to fame? He was angry, about his wasted time, about his wasted trust. He clenched his fists until his fingernails dug into his palms, a scowl of pure and unadultered wrath on his face.

He took a deep breath. He still had a story to tell, and he would not hold his silence or consent to being ignored. He had a story to tell, but it couldn't be told by the soft-spoken Icarus who wanted nothing more than to clear up this misunderstanding and hold Renata close, go on more adventures with her, learn more about her and confide in her. The boy had gone to sleep in sadness and would not wake up for a while. His story had to be told by the vigilante, righteous, furious, unwilling to capitulate on the matter of his innocence.

"A man warned me." He boomed, taking a step towards the heroine with his fists clenched tightly. "A man warned me that three boys had planned to go out clad in black and assault a felon." Step. "I went there as fast as I could to try to stop them." Step. "But I'm too late. The man has already been beaten into submission, and the boys flee from Warwolf before being cornered." Step. "I was there, watching, but I hesitated. I couldn't just jump in. I couldn't do anything reckless." Step. "Then, I heard the rifle and saw the boys bleeding out on the floor. I couldn't let that go unpunished. I gave Warwolf every ounce of pain I could, and that was still only a fraction of what those boys' families must feel today."

Another step. By now, he was standing face to face with Stella, his tense body inches away from her as he glowered at the heroine. He didn't want to. He desperately wanted to soften his gaze, lower his voice, relax his stance. But he couldn't. The offense had to be corrected, or...

Icarus didn't finish the thought. Instead, he continued. "I've told you no lies, Stella. Having heard what I said, do you still want to arrest me? Do you believe what I said? Did you even listen, or is your mind so firmly made up?" He demanded.

[The Fallen Jedi]

- Snip -

Asumar Masaki

"Well you're half right in that regard Kaban, you could say that I'm a hybrid of sorts." Asumar replied casually, moments before the IFV breached his barricade in only a matter of moments, something that he figured would happen considering the power armored juggernauts that jointed the vehicle. Moments following the firing of the red laser could the elder Masaki realize that the stakes were now very much raised considering the type of weaponry. "I wanted to hold this back for quite some time, but it seems I no longer have a-" Before he knew it, the Red Laser was now trained directly against his chest, slowly but surely peeling away the protective layer of energy armor around his form, the sheer force of the energy forcing him back as he placed his hands in front of him to attempt to lessen the blow. However he would begin to feel a searing sensation tear through his palms as the heat from the laser began to pierce his armor. There was no surer way to see that Asumar was angry, considering that his eyes were now glowing with fury at the pain he had suffered.

"TAKE DOWN THE ARMORED ONE!" shouted a juggernaut through his mic, a group of Warwolf soldiers breaking off from engaging Kaban and now opening fire on Asumar himself.

"Would you like to see something interesting?" Asumar asked not only Kaban, but also directed it to the Warwolf soldiers, his hands tightening into a fist as a column of psionic energy shot up into the heavens like a divine pillar. "Because I assure you, that this time you won't come running back to fight us so hastily." Just as one of the Juggernauts connected his fist with Asumar's armor clad chest would a large sword held by a large humanoid hand slice right through the man's arm, not only cutting his arm off but also instantaneously cauterizing the wound all at the same time. All that could be heard through the Warwolf radio was the screams of the Juggernaut operator as he was suddenly flung right into the group of vehicles that once was the barricade.

"It's not that I don't know that, but using my actual offensive powers can sometimes blur the line between me trying to injure and kill. But perhaps It is time that I kick it up a notch now." He pondered to Kaban telepathically as a clear aura of purple psionic energy began to expand around his form as the upper half of a body began to make itself present, four large humanoid arms complete with an armor clad being that now not only shielded and concealed Asumar from the world, but would also keep him safe from the harmful effects of the red laser. "Since you all wanted to give us a warning, allow me to do the same for you..." The being raised it's arms up, four extremely long ethereal swords manifesting within it's hands. "How about you all leave now before things have to turn really violent, because honestly..."

"This is a power that is hard for me to control properly."

Instead of being graced with a response however, he would receive a renewed volley of oncoming fire from most, if not all of the Warwolf soldiers, with even additional helicopters joining the fray and firing actual missiles at the monstrous construct being. Generating a large debris cloud that obscured all outside view, this not stopping the armored and infantry divisions of Warwolf that had gathered to suppress the two super powered beings. As the dust began to settle however, an ominous purple hue could be seen from within. As some of the nearby soldiers began to stop firing in sheer awe and bone chilling shock at how ineffective their efforts were to kill the being, although this did not stop the helicopters and the IFV from focusing their fire into the debris ball. However a telepathic voice that reached out to all of the soldiers in the vicinity caused their skin to crawl made them dread what was coming next.

"Very well then."

Out of the debris cloud would four massive shuriken-like blades shoot out, all four of them heading towards four targets of his choosing, with two of them meant especially for the IFV and the other two targeting the two overhead helicopters. "EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" Shouted one of the pilots as he attempted to interface with the helicopter controls, intending to avoid the rapidly approaching purple constructs that threatened to practically turn him into nothing more than however he would find that while he could move the controls, the helicopter itself was not responding to any commands as if it were frozen in place. Before he could even consider jumping out of the helicopter, the large construct shuriken would meed it's target, not only impacting the two helicopters but also detonating on impact, utterly obliterating the vehicles and giving the pilots a rather quick and painless death

In the case of the IFV, the oncoming two bladed constructs that was barreling it's way towards the target would be impossible to destroy, but as fate would have it, a chance for them to flee was still there. "GET OUT NOW!" Shouted one of the soldiers, the entire group rushing out of the entrances just moments before the constructs hit their mark, disabling the vehicle but not outright destroying it however.

"This ends now!" Asumar exclaimed, his armored avatar literally leaping from the debris cloud, appearing like a mighty angel of death poised to smite it's foe, two dual-sided blades at the beck and call of the avatar being. The sudden realization of what was about to occur quite literally terrified the entirety of the remaining Division, which saw fit to immedieately turn tail and fall back to a more suitable location, yelling into their headsets regarding the dangerous situation as the construct avatar impacted the IFV, the vehicle being engulfed in a large explosive fireball. Asumar looked up to the Warwolf Soldiers around him, an expression of nothing more than contempt and irritation on his face as he delivered one final warning "I will make this short and simple, leave now and you will be spared, but keep fighting and I will kill you all here and now!"

Kazuko Masaki
Asumar Masaki's San Diego Home

"This is absolutely unbelievable Julia, that purple creature just destroyed two helicopters and an IFV in one fell swoop! We had to back off because a no fly order has just been issued at the request of Warwolf on the intersection of King Street, but even from a mile away we can see what is going on perfectly clear. If anyone is near the intersection of King Street you need to be in your basement right now! There is no other option but to keep yourself barricaded in your homes until-"

*Click*

"We're following breaking news right now about a clash between what appeaser to be a colossal dinosaur-like being and a purple energy entity, there have been no reports of civilian casualties but there have been reports of Warwolf soldiers losing their lives in this battle. While reports are indeed sketchy..."

Kazuko sat quietly on the couch, his free hand twitching somewhat as he turned off the television, looking out to the waterfront with his hands clasped behind his back. As soon as rumors of Asumar getting involved in a fight near a Warwolf Facility reached his ears, Kazuko knew it would be a matter of time before lives would be lost, and oh how right he was. His brother was beginning to cause trouble, and in a city occupied by the Warwolf "Police Force" no less, an organization that held biaS against superpowered beings. Kazuko had been sent to San Diego by the rest of the council in order to gather as much of the Aquilian Refugees as possible and help them back to the mainland before more of their community could be persecuted for their powers and appearance.

Kazuko sighed, shaking his head in apprehension "Of all the times, why do I have to deal with my brother too?"

[Finland SSR]

Yoshiro
Wonder Island, San Diego

---

Alexis

Alex

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Renata's mischievous question landed perfectly - Yoshiro went completely red, flustered and had to defend herself, stumbling with her words over and over until she finally almost screamed out that she had only hit first base with Red. Yeah, that moment in the cathedral which Renata got to witness while dragging a wounded "police officer", right? No juicy details, of course, but it's not like the girl wanted to mentally torture her teammate, anyway - just watching Yoshi get embarrassed cracked her up enough.

Which was a little odd, given that Renata had suffered from other people assuming that her relationship with Icarus has gone deeper than it actually was, namely from Nightshade, but hey, it's a game.

And the game went on. Carter got a fairly embarrassing dare, too - to wear a dress for the rest of the night, and he accepted it as a challenge, even declaring that he will put on makeup on his own accord. Casimir, meanwhile, received something much more vanilla, merely retelling the story of how he ended up in San Diego. Fairly simplistic, just some story time. Renata could have went to interesting places with that one. Alexis received the chance to make an impression of a random person in the room, which she, of course, took as a sign to go completely overboard, creating an entire theatre piece with herself as the only actor, only changing costumes over and over and stepping into different positions. It almost felt like the blonde girl had been preparing this act in advance, for some reason... Renata didn't really have any context on much of the jokes she presented, having only joined a week ago, but the whole ordeal was pretty funny and had a number of amusing scenes which made her chuckle.

The bottle now turned to the most recent newcomer, Alex, who was truthed by Alexis to pick out the most pretty person in the room. Fifteen seconds of intense waiting ensued, and Renata was completely into it. After all, this would be the most neutral answer to this question a person in this room could give - having only been in the team for, at best, a few minutes, and thus being forced to judge solely on aesthetic attraction. If Renata was this neutral spectator, then she would pick, hmmm... Out of the girls, maybe Alexis or Yoshiro... and out the boys... hmmm...

Well, clearly not Alex, because he just picked Elle.

Elle of all people.

What?!

"...What? Elle?" Renata's words echoed her thoughts, her eyes narrowed and shot at Alex. "-I-I mean, I'm not envious or something... but that is some garbage taste..."

Icarus

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Icarus... took that well.

Removing the mask of sarcasm for a second, he really did take it well. By not suddenly lashing out at Renata and smearing her across the ground, which at least a small part of her mind expected him to do. No, he only became furious and started approaching her in the most intimidating way possible, all while recalling his view of the story and presenting it to the heroine. Initially, Renata just held up her finger gun, not actually willing to shoot, although maintaining the appearance of such a threat - the last thing she wanted to see today is a dead Icarus - and waited for the storm to pass, but as Icarus kept coming closer and closer, she instinctively started to take steps back to maintain the distance between them.

His steps were greater than hers, however, so soon Icarus closed the distance, stopping inches away from her and finishing his verbal defense, leaving Renata staring back at him with a conflux of thoughts. This entire situation was already intimidating enough with its complexity, and now you make it even more complicated for Renata to solve?

A deep, surging feeling of "I told you so" gnawed at the back of her head, kicking it, punching it, tossing it around. If you think about it, Icarus's explanation of how he was framed for the crime made sense. Appear in the crime scene when Warwolf is done killing innocent people - get the blame shifted at you for the crime. It was so painfully simplistic and yet it was the same way the Mask was arrested for a murder he did not commit - and he turned out to be innocent in the end, Renata was there to watch him be acquitted. Icarus had not lied to her before - when he needed to explain that he assaulted police officers and a member of the LA Stars, he did, even though both of those things were the reason he was on the run. Would he lie to her now?

Alternatively, maybe he did lie to her before. There's got to be a reason why people like Aleta are so suspicious of him, after all. Who knows, maybe her friend knew something Renata did not? She never got the chance to figure it out, after all. Everyone else she had known who had some sort of prior opinion on Blackout responded to him negatively, too - she stood out in that regard. In addition... Warwolf may have been suspicious from the get go and did not hesitate to use violence on criminals and vigilantes, but their soldiers outright murdering three teenagers when they could have just as easily knocked them out and taken them into custody? They're law enforcement, not murderers. That couldn't be right... It was the major hole Renata found in Icarus's explanation.

She had been standing there and staring at the vigilante for a good ten seconds now, until she finally managed to mutter something out, in a weighed down, bitter, somewhat defeated voice.

"I..."

Her mind opted to answer the last question Icarus had asked her.

"...I listened, Blackout."

With eyes trailing across the ground, the heroine lowered her finger gun - which, at that point, due to Icarus standing so close to her, was pointing at his chest - and took a breath. One question down. One more to go. Did she believe him? Renata found it impossible for her to say simply yes or no. For yes, she only had Icarus's story of how the clash went. For no, she only had Warwolf's story of how the clash went. Neither one she could completely trust. God... darn it... why does this have to be so complex... It was never this complex in Ecuador... the Condors were the good guys and the bad guys were the bad guys... and not this...

After that brief internal rant, Renata finally raised her eyes to focus on Icarus's face, deciding on changing the subject for a few seconds.

"Do you... remember the promise you gave me a few days ago? Do you... think I asked for it without a purpose?"

She did ask for it without a purpose, but let's not go down that rabbit hole.

"When I heard about the story of Warwolf beating up and injuring the vigilante Duke a few days ago... I thought of you, and how you might share the same fate. When it was explained to me how R-the Mask was accused of murdering innocent people despite actually showing up to protect them... I feared that something similar might happen to you. I didn't want us to end up in this situation, so I asked for that promise - but you broke it and we have ended up in this situation."

With each passing sentence, Renata's words turned more and more somber and defeated. Speaking was growing tougher and tougher for her. A few tears started gathering in her eyes.

"And now, nothing matters... Even if your story was correct, you're now an outlaw, and I am... one of the people who are supposed to hunt you down... And there's no chance for that to change, either..."

The heroine sniffed a little, then suddenly, a surge of resolve entered her voice.

"Why couldn't you wait?! Stay on low profile or something, until Warwolf leaves the city or at least cuts down on their activity?! You were already on the run for assaulting Armorer! What if you get arrested, or die, or... I-I don't know! Why?!"

She already knew the answer. Because what a hero does is save people, by meddling where he doesn't have to. And Renata was sure that if she was in Icarus's position at that moment, having just witnessed the murder of three kids, she would have probably done the same thing as him, too.

But logic be damned, she had a point to make.

[Agritum]

*snip*

Elle had been severely traumatized by the close kiss with Renata. Sure, Stella Martinez surely wasn't a shabby kissing choice, but Elle's sexuality was wired in a way that made every interaction of that type highly awkward and flustering.


It was also wired in such a way that Alex's remarks over her apparent prettyness made her lit up like a tomato under a blood red sky.

"T-thanks I guess" Elle replied, lowering her hoodie to hide her eyes, cowering under the edgy texture. She curled up in a fetal position, wrapping her arms around her knees and rocking back and forth.

"A-alright, who's next?"

[Tomia]

There was pretty consistent laughter among everyone at Alexis' impersonations. Roy, who was the target of much of the impersonation, was laughing hard. He took it in stride, besides being a famous hero and celebrity this was far from the first time he was impersonated. He blushed at the mention of him kissing Wendy. It was pretty lightly veiled, and while Roy knew they had no chance of being discreet with the team, people making jokes about it was a little weird for him.

While these kind of antics clearly weren't Angelica's favorite thing, she had to admit that Alexis was being pretty funny. Her willingness and ability to play along with the game was endearing to her. She didnt seem to care that she was making a fool of herself, and Angelica really envied that.

After people cheered for Alexis, including Angelica, Jacob, Mars and Roy. They watched the other dares, including Carter's amusing appearance in Yoshi's clothes. Soon most people had gone and the game started to slow down and Kiris and Alexis decided it was time to move on.

"Cake Time!" Kiris shouted cheerfully as she jumped to her feet, her tail flapping about.

"Alexis can you bring it out?" The Hadrian asked, realizing that she didnt actually know where the cake was.

Alexis sighed and shook her head in a light headed disappointment.

"Sure thing Kiris, but don't forget we have two cakes!" Alexis said, running into the kitchen, pulling Jacob and Roy with her to help. Soon they came out with two cakes, one for each of the brithday/hatchday boys. Mars' cake rectangular, with the drawing of a red rocket made in frosting. The words "Happy Birthday Mars!" were written at the bottom. Wyatt's cake meanwhile was decoratively shaped like a dragon, icing was used to depict in breathing fire. On the dragon's tail was written "Happy Hatchday Wyatt!".

"Alright, the birthday boy and hatch boy have to make a wish!" Alexis said, when Mars started to protest she gave him a hard stare, "It's a rule Mars!" She said, pretending to be angry before flashing a smile again.

Soon they both had blown out the candles and people starting cutting pieces of each cake off depending on their preference.

Meanwhile Roy went up to Wyatt after having took part of his cake's tail.

"So, what did you wish for Wyatt?"

[The Republic of Atria]

The game had wrapped up with the newcomer, Alex admitting that he found Elle the most attractive and Alexis doing a hilarious one woman show parodying a good number of superheroes from their team and beyond. Try as he might, it was difficult to not snort in an attempt to not laugh and he eventually broke down and laughed with everyone else at both her and Carter wearing a dress. He really went all the way with it too, Wyatt had to give him props for that. When she finished her dare, Kiris demanded cake time. He'd already had some at home, but who could say not to cake? Especially when it was roughly in the shape of him. He had already mostly filled up on burgers from earlier, but another slice of cake wouldn't hurt.

So far, it was a pretty good party, there was lots of fun to be had and his team proved that almost everything he said hadn't fallen on deaf ears. Whether that trend continued after the party remained to be seen, but best to focus on the now. After blowing out he candles, he snagged himself a nice slice of leg. It was good cake, that much he couldn't argue. Mars approached and asked him what wish he made. He never gave it any though, but he did remember you weren't supposed to tell what wish you made. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you not supposed to say what wish you made was or it won't come true?" He asked.

Plus he hadn't really made one, of all the things he didn't really believe in, wishes were probably among the top of the list. He was completely aware of the irony given the world he lived in, but he wanted to see it before he believed it.

Though if he were to make a wish, he'd probably make it for something feasible. Just no longer being invisible to the team was his wish. That was something he had no problem wishing for.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 18th
San Diego

---

"I listened." She spoke, and Icarus softly released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Despite the accusations, despite the mistrust, and despite everything else, the boy was still holding out some hope that not all of the bond they had formed over the past several days was false, and he felt that the fact that she was willing to listen to him was proof of that, more so considering the girl lowered her hand as well, no longer threatening him. Still, it was not enough to soothe his anger. Not after everything that had been said so far.

The girl looked up, locking eyes with him. His glare was not as scornful as it had been before, but to say that he looked at her with anything other than anger would've been a mistake. And yet, when she brought up the promise, he felt disarmed. His vice grip failing, his glower fading, his anger waning. Only for a moment, but it was enough of a show of weakness. Luckily for him, Renata did not press that. Instead, she seemed more focused on explaining her reasoning for asking him to make such a promise, stating that she didn't want him to suffer like Duke and the Mask had...

Right before blaming him for causing the current situation by breaking the promise.

He clenched his fists again. But if her words weren't enough of a stab through his chest, her voice, her expression, and especially her eyes felt like they were punishing him with their sadness. Her speech turned from accusative to dejected and pessimistic as she talked about how, even if he was telling the truth, they were caught on opposing sides in a situation with no exit. And then, suddenly, her voice picked up again, once more accusing and berating him, not because of his supposed 'crime' this time, but due to breaking his promise and risking an even worse fate befalling him. It was a complete change from the cold, judgmental tone she had spoken with at the beginning, and it almost seemed like she was... worried about him?

When Renata finished speaking, Icarus remained silent and motionless for several moments, waiting. Not thinking, but hesitating. This whole meeting had started as a complete train wreck and had wounded him in multiple ways, but after everything was said, he knew exactly what he had to do.

Finally making up his mind, the vigilante took another step forward and took the girl into his arms. "Renata, how can you ask me that?" He shot back, softly. "Why did the Wonder Warriors take up crime fighting, when they could've gone back home? Why did Malthen revolt, one man against a nation?" He paused. "Why did we fight Inferno?" He added afterwards to further drive his point home. "I went out there because it's the right thing to do. That's the reason I fight, even if others disagree. And even if I hadn't been going outside as Blackout at all, when I got that call, telling me that those boys were putting themselves in danger because of me... I couldn't ignore that."

Another pause. Not for dramatic effect or to further prove a point, but because he struggled to speak. "And after seeing what I saw... I couldn't think of consequences, I couldn't think of promises. Could you have? I... I only wanted to try to make things right... Even though it was too late..." He spoke, his voice beginning to break down at times. Even as he was holding her, he was starting to shake violently. "If only I hadn't made that promise! ...If only I hadn't hesitated... Maybe they would be alive..." He continued, his voice growing angrier for a moment before simply breaking down again.

As close as their faces were, Renata would notice something wet running down his sooner or later. "Maybe if I had never put on this mask..." He trailed off.

---

July 18th
Wonder Island, San Diego

Alexis walked into her little piece of universe, her laboratory, and plopped down on her beloved swiveling chair, letting out a sigh of relief. She wasn't tired, not in the slightest, as she was physically incapable of tiring herself out, but even so, spending hours upon hours working on a single project, trying to make a deadline suddenly imposed on her and that was tomorrow of all days, it had a way of stressing out even a prodigious mind like hers. Under Naja's order, she had been hard at work preparing a large auditorium-like room on one of the side buildings on Wonder Island and installing a special type of technology that would see plenty of use during the training exercises scheduled for the following day. Fortunately, most of the groundwork had already been laid out, since she was basing her work off of some odd console the boys had bought out in the city, and that only left the task of improving it in every way possible.

Even so, it had been tedious, long, mildly frustrating work all done under pressure, not to mention the fact that it happened right the day after a huge birthday party: quite the mood whiplash. So what the blonde girl needed was to grab a soda and relax, and that was exactly what she intended to do. Truth be told, her job didn't even need to be that hard: Naja had planned for Mars to help with it too, but Alexi sure as hell wasn't going to let the silly reptilian woman mess with her painstakingly laid out plans, and took a bullet for the team to let him have his date with Kiris, which had been carefully prepared in advance.

"Speaking of which, there's tons of nosy tourists and curious brats in the park and in the zoo, I'm sure someone must've caught something..." The girl mumbled to herself as she swiveled up to her computer terminal and booted up a heavily modified version of Windows, which she had recently dubbed 'Windows YB'. Accessing her social networks, she did quite a bit of clicking and scrolling before stumbling across the exact thing she had been looking for. Her eyes went wide and she squealed loudly at the sight, though fortunately there was no one around to hear.

It was a news article for one of those poorly thought out internet news pages that mainly publicized themselves through Facebook. The headline read Young Bloods Member Found Dating Local Student! and the thumbnail was, as fate would have it, a picture taken at the exact moment Mars had leaned in to steal (or rather, politely take after receiving permission from the owner) a kiss from Kirisvala. After a quick check, Alexis confirmed that the thing was absolutely viral, which greatly amused her.

"I am SO showing this to everyone tomorrow!" She cried enthusiastically as she began looking for other similar pictures she could download to her phone.

---

July 19th
Wonder Island, San Diego

---

As it turned out, Sam's thoughts on the matter were far off the mark by quite a bit; while she was definitely pretty involved in support stuff like developing new communication devices or installing technology in some unused room in the tower, she was also very much a frontline fighter, having been involved in taking down Inferno and all. So when Sam finished his ride on the elevator, he found her in the process of donning her combat outfit.

"Oh, hey there Blizzard. Ready to join a bunch of teenage kids in their training?" She said playfully as she finished putting on a vest with a glowing blue orb at the center of the chest. She had already put on her other signature pieces of equipment, her multi-purpose electronic gauntlets and her rocket boots, so the only thing left was her blue visor, which was on the table next to her.

"How'd my products work out for you? Everything went well, I hope." She asked the man casually, putting on the headpiece and checking her systems' performance on her HUD. "I'd hate to hear that it wasn't good enough to get some juicy information out of Warwolf."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Sam Croft/Blizzard
San Diego
July 17th, evening

Sam was sifting through the day's video catch from Warwolf's HQ when his news-watching alarms went off. He switched the view to the local news channels, blogs, and Twitter feeds. The descriptions and the phone pictures matched Wyatt's summary of Kaban's appearance. Sam sighed and shook his head. "Wyatt thinks smash first and ask questions later makes good back-up?" He rose from his chair. "Time to talk some sense into him before he makes life harder for all us supers." He checked the location of the reports: about a half-mile away. Sam could be suited up and and there in no time.

On the street, Sam found it was late enough that most people were home from work, so he could skim along at top speed on a street-level sheet of ice, using ice ramps to jump cross streets. Radio news reports suggested somebody had joined Kaban, and Warwolf was pouring reinforcements into the area. That would explain why the sky suddenly looked like Apocalypse Now.

"Just one more block! ... Oh... shit!" The air filled with sounds of gunfire, and Sam saw a pair of gunships fire missiles. "This shit is getting out of hand!" He glided for a second to focus on forming up his armor, then poured on the speed.

Out of the debris cloud would four massive shuriken-like blades shoot out, [...] two targeting the two overhead helicopters. [...T]he large construct shuriken would mee[t] it's target, not only impacting the two helicopters but also detonating on impact, utterly obliterating the vehicles.

"Jesus fucking Christ up the ass!" Sam coasted towards the intersection, taking in the scene: far to his left, a tank burned and near that, a bunch of Warwolf mecha were wrestling with Kaban, and in front of him some huge purple demon was bloviating. So, Mr. Demon probably got the choppers and the tank. Right. Let's go with Plan B followed by Plan A.

Sam glided to the end of his ice, filling the road ahead of him with a chest-high, meter-thick wall of ice, which he stopped behind. Now Plan A: he took his best shot, and froze Mr. Demon in place, trapping him in a thick block of ice. (Not that Sam was sure ice would work on demons, or that the guy was actually a demon.) Kaban was a trickier target since he was fighting Warwolf guys, so Sam froze him from the waist down. With luck, that'll hold 'em until Wolfie gets more tanks here, or better, other heroes back me up.

[The Fallen Jedi]

- Snip -

Asumar Masaki

Before he could even consider continuing the fight again, Asumar would feel a sudden blinding pain on the left side of his head, causing him to jerk forward but stopping himself from collapsing outright "Looks like it's time to disengage." he thought to himself, but as he prepared to depart he would notice that a barrier of ice had enveloped the entirety of his construct avatar. He glanced towards the hero who had immobilized him and how additional Warwolf Forces were bound to be dispatched. There was nothing else that he could do offensively without causing further pain to plague him. Closing his eyes would the construct avatar begin to dissolve, turning into the same full body armor that he had been wearing beforehand, keeping his features hidden as he raised his arms up, pointing his palms on either side of his body "If I stay here any longer then there's going to be more than Warwolf in this area." With only an audible grunt would an omnidirectional wave of telekinetic energy impact the ice barrier, shattering it to pieces with some difficulty.

Having materialized a pair of construct wings would the concealed Asumar Masaki soar up into the skies, but not before creating an additional ten construct entities that all matched the same appearance of the armor Asumar was wearing. "Not today." He would mutter as he and the ten construct avatars would scatter in different directions, some of them escaping up into the skies while others would scatter on foot, making it essentially impossible for anyone to track the actual suspect, for all intents and purposes was Asumar long gone before Warwolf could even hunt down the last construct avatar.

After a few minutes of making his way away from the center of conflict, Asumar would land in a relatively well hidden area only a few miles away from his home, dissolving his full body armor as he emerged from his hiding spot walking rather casually towards his house. "If anything that was more than an average exercise for me, I guess just living a quiet and peaceful life has made me lose some skill." Being brought out of his thoughts by a dull beeping sound within his pocket. This was the private communication channel shared only between Asumar and Kazuko, using the Elysian Communication Channel to block out any other outside forces that would be able to listen in on the conversation. "Late as usual brother. I trust you've since seen the news?" Asumar asked, noticing Kazuko's rather irked expression on his face.

"I'm sure that at this point most of the Federal Council has seen the news Asumar." Kazuko replied in kind, giving a sigh of resignation as he turned away from the holographic screen "Just get home, we're waiting for you."

"Wait, we're waiting for you?" Asumar thought before the realization hit him like a train, Kazuko had not been the only one who had been paying attention to the news:

"Shit, Shiroma's going to kill me."

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

While some may have found Casimir's story boring, Carter found it quite fascinating. He liked hearing people's stories, any stories were nice. He even managed to learn a few things, like how Casimir had a girlfriend (surprise surprise!), he lived with his culinary-industry sister, and he got beaten up in a mutant fight once. Honestly, it helped uncover a few things, and Carter did want to know about who his teammates were, especially since Casimir and Carter had never been on the best of speaking terms.

Then, it was dress-up time.

Kiris, Australian-injected as ever, had a very strong opposition to Carter going through her clothes, which was pretty stupid to Carter, considering he wasn't exactly thrilled to become a teenage drag racer either. But just as she finished, she suddenly grabbed Carter by the arm, and started dragging him through the living quarters, eventually finding his way to one of the girl's rooms, a territory he was quite unfamiliar with. Even when Kiris unlocked the door with her weird-alien-sonomagic-thingy-howdoesits, he couldn't figure it out.

But once he opened the wardrobe, it was clear-as-a-crystal-ball clear that this was Yoshi's wardrobe. He recognized at least five of the shirts, and a couple of the dresses...not in that way, just generally speaking...yeah. Alright, here was all he needed; heels, leggings, dress, makeup in the powder-room, and...no idea of how to put any of on. Well, that was fine, Kiris...Kiris...? Wait...no, where the hell was Kiris?! Agh, how was he supposed to do it alone?!

Alright, breathe...he could figure this out...he just needed to do some fiddling. After some indecision, he picked out the biggest dress in the wardrobe, or at least the one that seemed to fit him the best. He would just take off his shirt and pants, and pull the dress on over his boxers. Because there as no goddamn chance in Iowan hell he was wearing women's underwear, no sir Jesus. He had gone above and beyond with his dare, but there was no way he was going to wear ladies' underwear. He was getting pretty female, but he had a standard, and he wasn't passing it!

---

Somehow, he finally got it. He managed to figure out how to button the simple black dress with Kiris' help, got the leggings on, and even managed to squeeze his feet into heels, despite the intense agony it was putting his feet in. Seriously, why did girls' wear these, it's like shoe designers wanted to make girls' shoes living iron-maiden death traps! He even managed to smuggle a necklace out of her jewelry box, a move Kiris approved of. Now, all that was needed was makeup.

The bathroom had a wide array of makeup all across the bathroom counter, of all sorts. Bottles, brushes, tubes, tins, lipstick, mascara, powder, eyeliner, eye shadow, blush, concealer, everything dammit! Why did girls need all this too? It was crazy, who works on their face that much? It was weird, not just because they spent so much money willy-nilly on makeup, but why couldn't you just be happy with your face? Why did you need to hide it? Ah, he was getting all philosophical. Makeup makeup makeup.

First, powder. Taking a brush, he carefully dabbed the brush into the container of powder, a very large amount clinging to the brush, a little more than was probably healthy. With some quick dabs, he began fluffing it all across his face, coating his whole face in a thick layer of powder. His whole face felt really weird and thick and dusty, and he looked burnt in the mirror, but it worked. Next, he opened a box of what looked like rouge, and dabbed a brush of that as well in the box. Quickly, he wiped it all across his cheeks, coating his cheekbones in very inconsistent layers of rouge that made him look like he was blushing two different levels in both cheeks, his right being coated with his left only being lightly skimmed. With a quick hand movement, he snatched up a tube of scarlet lipstick, and rubbed it thoroughly all across his lips, leaving a voluptuous and very punchy-looking thick coat on them, capping it off with a wet smack.

Finally, the eyeliner. This was the one he was nervous, he didn't quite get it. It looked like a pen that you dipped in ink and rubbed on the edge of his eyelid, or at least that's what his mom told him. Choosing a nice black one, he unscrewed the cap with slightly shaking hands, a thick smell enveloping him. Dipping the pen inside gingerly, he removed the dripping pen out of the tiny bottle, and began rubbing it across the edge of his eyelid, as if inking something. The left eye seemed to go smoothly, all he had to do was close his eye and let the pen do the work. Granted, it was really ticklish and made his eyelashes feel weird, but he could live through it.

He then moved to the right eye, moving with a little more speed this time at Kiris' shouts outside. However, he moved a bit too fast, as his right eyelid suddenly began to twitch from the speed of the tiny point scraping across it, jerking up and causing the eyeliner needle to go straight into his eye.

The only thing Kiris would be able to hear was a loud "YOWWWWWWWWWW" for the second time that day, followed by several clanks and crashes as Carter stumbled about, knocking bottles down in the process.

And then:

"Kiris? I need help putting eyeliner on? And...how do you wash makeup out?"

---

Needless to say, the dress was well recieved, including by Wyatt, who seemed to almost suffocate with sheer laughter. In response, Carter did a little feminine giggle and curtsied, eliciting more roars of laughter from the audience, as he pointedly chose not to look in Yoshi's direction for fear that looks could kill. It was really uncomfortable in this thing, but he could handle it, he would be fiiiine...he hoped. His eye was still a tad blurry from scratching himself in the eye with his eyeliner.

He had arrived just in time for cake, and the renditions of Happy Birthday. Grabbing his ukulele from the corner, something he had been playing since he was a wee lad at the age of seven, he began to strum along, singing Happy Birthday in a mock feminine, high-tuned voice, sounding like a weird mix of Taylor Swift and Tina Turner, before ending with a final little improvised pluck solo. The cake was great, being super moist and having awesome icing, which was the best part. But unfortunately, the birthday wish tradition was being ignored, a sad day indeed!

"Aw, c'mon Wyatt." he said, slapping Wyatt on the back. "We can the break rules sometimes, don't be a spoilsport! Tell us the wish, we all wanna hear! You too Mars!"

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt didn't get a good look at Carter until he got much closer to ask him what his birthday wish was. It looked... Odd. Putting down his cake and shrugging as Carter asked him. There was no way he was going to drag the mood down again so he opted to lie instead. "Honestly? For life to get a little easier on my parents and I guess my people in general." That seemed to be the perfect answer, even if it wasn't the whole truth. Made him realize that he was being kind of selfish. "They've been really good to me, but it's hard for them to get ahead because... well... I don't know what the future's going to be like and I don't have much knowledge on how us and humans will get along. Obviously I hope well, but..." He thought about Kaban harassing Warwolf as of late. "I have my concerns from the few I do know."

Would telling them about Kaban and Onu be a good idea? Onu would probably get along just fine, but Kaban was very much... Kaban and about as predictable as the weather. Not to mention his showing up here would probably draw more heat from Warwolf. "So yeah. I just want the inevitable 'us' meeting 'them' to go as easy and as painlessly as possible. I know it's boring and you were probably expecting me to say "Monster truck in the shape of my skull that opens up and shoots fire" which would be the fun answer. So pretend I said that instead." He snickered. "Also with a bottomless gas tank."

"I meant to ask. Are you going to be wearing that dress regularly or is it just a one time thing? I don't judge, and I think I know someone who can get you some more dresses since she doesn't like them anymore." He teases and slapped Carter on the back in return.

[Finland SSR]

Icarus

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

All things considered, despite almost tearing up, Renata actually managed to pull something off with that speech - for one, Icarus didn't look like he was about to deck her in the face at any moment anymore. His expression remained angry and stern, his hands remained clenched, but much like Renata's aggressive, bad cop attitude broke down and melted in the face of the other side, the same appeared to be happening to Icarus's fury and frustration.

The vigilante suddenly moved in to grab hold of her, a combined shock of awkwardness, mental paralysis and fear zapping Renata's body instantly, and continued to speak his heart out. Icarus's words echoed the heroine's thoughts - why did she even think of confronting him on something as central to being a hero as risking his integrity and life? Being a hero without the risk that comes with it makes about as much sense as a bird that flies without wings, or something like that, for lack of a better metaphor... She would have done the same thing in Blackout's case, right? Hear about civilians you swore to protect ending up in danger, witness them being murdered - and even the most cold-hearted hero would drop any restraints he had to take revenge.

She knew all that already.

The real sucker punch came in later.

Not in the form of Icarus shaking violently while still holding her, although you couldn't say that it was comfortable.

No, in the form of him confirming a deep and suppressed thought in Renata's mind. That promise she solicited out of him... it was the reason why Icarus could not save those three teens in time. He hesitated because of it and that's why he only had to step in when three bodies fell to the ground. It was her fault, it was all her fault. She killed those teens, she created the dilemma they were in. And Icarus was clearly distraught by it, too - glancing at his face after his last statement about wishing to have never even put on the mask, Renata noticed tears trailing through the parts of his face which were not covered by said mask. The same was happening to her, except she didn't even have a mask to hide her tears.

Why, why is this happening to me?

Why does everything have to be so... painful?

"You... you shouldn't have... made that... promise?.." Renata muttered out, barely even able to speak coherently in the face of so much mental pain, then leaned forward and began to cry into Icarus's shoulder. It's not easy to take the brunt of a mental meltdown in real time. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, for everything... for making it worse... I just didn't want to lose you... I just don't want to lose you..."

Her words and thoughts were hardly any more coherent, but Renata pulled back regardless. What does she do now?.. In her eyes, she was already really lucky to not have been beaten to a bloody paste by a furious Icarus, for ruining his life. Should she even do anything and risk continuing that trend?

Renata didn't really have a choice in that regard, as even if she might not have wanted to, her mind made an impulsive choice for her regardless. Suddenly, the heroine's hand grabbed onto Blackout's mask, the one covering the lower half of his face, ripping it off in one sweep moments before she pulled the vigilante in for a kiss.

Icarus's lips were pretty warm.

"I'm... sorry for this, too..." Renata muttered after pulling back a few seconds later, still stumbling with her words and tears still running across her face. "It's just that we won't ever be able to see each other again..."

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

Wendy's response to what he had thought to be an innocent question had turned out to him looking like a bit of an ass, even if he hadn't meant for it to be like that. He hadn't known about Wendy's past, as while even if he could've had the ability to discover more about the hacker girl, which he did not, such personal details were a bit...personal for him to look into. Thankfully, Wendy didn't seem to take much offense to it, although her reply was a bit disheartening to hear at the least.

The game progressed, nonetheless, as more requests for truths to be spilled and outlandish dares to be carried out continued. Their team's local Ice Queen denied Wendy's request, unsurprisingly. While Red understood the want for privacy, he couldn't deny that he was curious to see just what was left to be seen underneath her mask. Instead, he was forced to be content with watching her and Jacob, someone Red was surprised to have seen joined them, sing along to a song that made Red wish he had the power to wipe from people's memories.

Renata was next, describing a dream she had apparently had the other night. Red did his best to pay attention, but he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the lack of excitement from it. Still, he wouldn't have to wait long for excitement to bite him on the ass, as the bottle pointed at Yoshiro next. Based on the devilish look on her face, Red knew immediately that something was up that he wasn't going to like. His fears came to fruition, as Renata asked Yoshiro a question that made the tips of his ears burn like a freshly stoked fire.

"So, how many bases have you hit with Red?"

Red stared at Renata with a look of anger, about to scold her for asking Yoshiro such a question when Yoshiro stuttered out a response.

“I mean, it hadn’t been long since we uh - kissed, so I guess that’s first base. And I mean, I’ve never actually gone fur - ”

She seemed to realize she was saying too much, and quickly cut herself short as her face became a shade of red brighter than Red's hair.

“First base! We’ve only gone to first base!”

Red looked around the room to see a series of smirks directed at the two, noticing Yoshiro's notable lack of looking in his direction. The boys in the room were giving Red a series of eyebrow's that read clear as day, Oh really? Red gave them all a death glare, indicating that he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to place a well hidden tear gas grenade in their room if they continued. They seemed to hold their tongues, if not for his glares at least for the respinning of the bottle. The bottle landed on Carter, who's dare was enough to put the attention on him.

Jesus, this is going to mentally scar me for some time, Red thought shaking his head as Carter accepted the dare wholeheartedly. At least he's putting on a brave face, even if I might not be able to look at it ever again when he comes back. Before Carter left, the bottle was spun to him, resulting in him giving a brief explanation of why he was here in San Diego. Red nodded, not finding much exciting about it but paid enough attention to not appear disrespectful.

After Casimir's turn, the gauntlet was handed off to Alexis, who was tasked with the simple request of impersonating someone in the room. What they got was...well, far from simple. While he had to commend her for her performance, he couldn't help but audibly groan at the parts where he was impersonated. Jesus, what do they think I am, some type of pissed-off edgelord? Besides, I would have totally beat Roy in that pushup competition anyways.

Red shook his head disappointedly, as the game moved on to the newest member of the team. Red gave him a death glare as his eyes wandered towards the girls in the room, specifically Yoshiro. While if he picked her, his choice would be correct, he didn't want the guy to think he could try and sneak his way into her heart with a compliment like that. Is that possessive? Probably. Do I care? Not really. With a bit of surprise to Red, the new guy chose Elle. For reasons that could be seen as ironic, Red suddenly found himself angered that he hadn't chosen Yoshiro. Blind bastard, Red thought as he looked over to see Yoshiro had seemed to regain her composure since Renata's question from earlier.

Nudging her softly, he gave her a small wink as she looked up to him.

"I think Renata must've flashbanged him earlier, as I know who my pick would've been."

The small flirtation seemed to do the trick as a bit of red returned to her face, but she seemed to gladly take the complement. It was then when Carter arrived, much to Red's horror. To further add on to said horror, a terrifying realization came to Red as he recognized the outfit Carter was wearing. Shakingly pointing a finger at Carter, he looked over to Yoshiro with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Uh, doesn't that belong to you?"

He better buy her a new outfit after that, Red thought with a shake of his head. Carter seemed to be embracing it fully, much to the eye rolling of Red.

"I meant to ask. Are you going to be wearing that dress regularly or is it just a one time thing? I don't judge, and I think I know someone who can get you some more dresses since she doesn't like them anymore."

Red raised his hand.

"Just for the record, I'm going to judge."

Red was joking, but he still couldn't help but shake his head at the guy. Let's just all pray that this is definitely a one time thing, he thought as he nibbled on a piece of cake.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Having said what was on his mind, Icarus fell silent, both because it was Renata's turn to speak up and because he had nothing more to tell; he had bared his heart and his pain for her to see, what sense would it make for him to pile meaningless words over that? However, the silence continued, and even though he was currently holding Renata close, unable to see her appalled face, he could tell from her demeanor that she too was in pain, something that was about to be confirmed by her words.

When the girl spoke, voice full of regret, the last few fires of rage still burning inside Icarus disappeared. The way she slowly repeated his words made him see that it was as if a terrible realization had dawned on her, and he immediately regretted his words; he lashed out upon being accused of killing three boys, naturally, but he hadn't intended to pin the blame on her. Alas, before he could comfort her, she buried her face in his shoulder to cry, her tears soon leaving it drenched, and it was all he could do to hold her more tightly as she wept.

Renata soon began apologizing for... everything, and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly she meant by that. Was she sorry for asking him to make that promise? For confronting him over the incident? For assuming that he was guilty? All of it, he assumed, and perhaps more, but that brought him no solace. He supposed she believed him now, but at what cost? If he looked at her and himself without context, he would've probably laughed: two teens in disguise crying and holding each other. And he sure as hell wasn't going to blame himself for it, as proving his innocence was exactly what he had set out to do, but he couldn't blame Renata either, not while seeing her like that. It was just a terrible situation to be in, all around, and what little silver lining he found in knowing that she was so scared to lose him was quickly snuffed out. In the middle of this mess, did it matter?

She suddenly pulled away from him, and he didn't stop her, not quite sure what was the proper thing to do at the moment. The two simply stared at each other for a bit, but once that moment was up, Renata's hands touched his mask, pulling it down. Then, before he could stop her, protest, or try to put it back on, she pulled him towards her, their lips quickly meeting in an impulsive kiss. It lasted for several seconds, and after getting over the initial shock and surprise, the vigilante enjoyed it thoroughly, barely registering the coldness of her hands and lips.

Rather than smile, however, he frowned, hearing the words the girl uttered after pulling away yet again. She claimed that they would never get to see each other again, and he had no intention of accepting that, especially not after what had just happened. With renewed vigor, Icarus shook his head.

"That's not true, Renata. I'm not going to let that happen!" He said passionately. "You said you didn't want to lose me, didn't you? Well, I don't want to lose you either. So I'm going to fight Warwolf and I'm going to prove that I'm innocent. I'm not sure how I'll do it yet, but I promise you I will." He continued, his words firm. As he spoke, he wiped whatever tears remained on his face and then brought up his hands to hold Renata's face with them, using his thumbs to gently wipe away her tears as well. "This is a promise I make on my own, and I'm not going to break this one. And I realize that I'll still be hunted even if I get rid of that stain, but I promise you, neither the police, nor Warwolf, nor the Stars themselves will keep me from seeing you again." He asserted, looking right into her eyes, before beginning to lean forward, intending to kiss her again, longer this time. He wanted her to know that he felt the same way about her as she did about him, and what better way to express it?

[Finland SSR]

Icarus

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

If Renata's mind were a voting parish, then you could easily describe her choice to kiss Icarus as a "very controversial policy". Various thoughts and regrets began to flurry across her head even before she pulled her lips away from his. The elephant in the room was, of course, the fact that she had just kissed a person whom she had the legal right to arrest for multiple suspected crimes. What if someone somewhere was filming this without their knowledge? You never know when a random passersby may pull a phone camera on you in this day and age. If that filming then reaches the Internet or, worse, Ecuador, then there's no telling how deep in shit Renata will be.

Renata's mind muted those thoughts, however. Consequences be damned, I have a right to enjoy this.

The heroine's following doom and gloom came into direct contrast with Icarus's opinion on the matter, which, quite surprisingly, was very hopeful. The vigilante cleaned away both of their tears and declared that he doesn't want to lose Renata much like Renata didn't want to lose him, and thus resolved to prove himself innocent and prevent that fate from happening. Was it her kiss which incited such a change of emotion? Most likely, yes.

So clearly, if it had such an effect, the best option would be to repeat it, right? Apparently, that's what Icarus figured, as immediately after he finished his passionate speech, he began to lean forward, clearly moving in for a kiss.

If you're worried about all this, Renata, this is your out! Pull away, stop him, say something... This is your last chance to cash in that get out of jail free card before you do something you might regret!..

What did I say about having the right to enjoy this without consequences?

Renata closed her eyes and leaned forward to accept the kiss. A much longer and more passionate kiss, lasting for a good ten seconds before the girl slowly pulled away yet again. One thing was for sure - she could no longer claim that this was an act of impulse rather than a conscious action. Icarus gave her a choice and she said yet - and that felt both really good and really, really bad.

Renata's expression was still sour and heavy, but after the kiss, through the mental pain, she managed to force out a snicker, speaking:

"If you fail to deliver on your promise again, then I'll kick your ass, you know."

This did raise an equally tough question - how could Icarus deliver on that promise? He didn't seem to know himself, either - and neither did Renata, because it all was so complicated. Red may have gotten into a similar predicament, but at least he had plenty of allies - the Young Bloods, that fake officer and her comrades in the Cathedral, even Naja... Outside of Renata, who was just as powerless as him, Icarus was as alone as a finger. Getting Warwolf concede that they killed three innocent people was easier said than done, especially when they have no concrete evidence to present. Maybe there were security cameras somewhere in the location of the crime... but they would most likely be owned by the municipal police, which, as far as Renata knew, was in cahoots with Warwolf.

The Young Bloods had a hacker among them who could help with that evidence - Wendy - but recruiting her team's help wasn't going to be a wash, either. After all, as far as Renata knew, even directly helping Red when he was imprisoned was a controversial action which could have meant the end of the team as they knew it, and that was one of their own - helping a local vigilante, who, mind you, was seen by Nightshade as a criminal even before Warwolf arrived to San Diego, would garner even less support.

Icarus was confident in his chances, however, and this enthusiasm was starting to infect Renata as well.

"Alright... I suppose I believe you, then." the heroine spoke. It was still a little odd that she had pulled a finger gun on him only a few minutes ago and their conversation had now managed to evolve into this - but that's the game of life for you. "I don't know if there is much I can do to help your case... but I'll try to as much as I can. Assuming you have at least some form of plan, of course..."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun
Wonder Tower

Park took a short leave after the vampire incident, she did the clean-up job together with her father and her father's vampire clan. Truth to be told, it was a good thing. Warwolf arrived was not a good thing, but nothing awful happened. Then again, she didn't get to the Wonder Tower lately since the clean-up process is still ongoing. However, she got the birthday party invitation and regretfully declined. Wyatt's birthday party, as it turns out. Well, she needs to give a gift. A birthday gift.

She was inside a mall, when she tried to look for one. Wyatt's an alien, but one that accustomed to Earth's life and culture. So something....that can be used. She didn't look for long, as she got one soon after, well sorta. She got connections, so she looked to her connections about something similar with Wyatt, and found the ideal properties. Well, she does drinks blood, so there's that. And once she got the gift, of which she will reveal soon, once she reached the Tower. Her clean-up job, her part, is finished and her father let her return. He also gave blood bags, 18 packs. A supply for two months. She thanked him, and hugged him.

She began her walk back to the Tower. Well, not walk, but a cab. But in the cab, she messaged someone. Carter. She got his numbers.

Hey Carter, I got a gift for Wyatt. He's in birthday, right? You guys still in tower? I'm heading there. I got him Dra....Dra'quni? Dra'qunni Blood. Tell him that, okay?

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Wyatt's wish ended up being one that hoped that the meeting between Dra'Quinni and humans would go seamlessly and smoothly, and that his parents could have an easier time. Or a flamethrowing monster truck. The first one was pretty deep, he was surprised at that wish, usually people just ask for "good health and fortune and love" and other stuff like that. When he thought about it, the monster truck would probably be something that he would've said. Not that there was anything wrong with monster trucks, but it made him feel a bit shallow.

However, those thoughts were interrupted by Wyatt and Red poking fun at the cross-dressing, an accusation that made steam come out of his ears. True, he had chosen to enhance his own dare for spiciness, but he still probably looked ridiculous, and it would make him the laughing stock of the team. Well, he already was, but this would just put him in the hole further. But whatever, they wouldn't have had the guts to do what he did. So for now, he could just swallow his pride and laugh it off.

"Nope, this is just for the day...unless you like it, big boy." he said flirtatiously, batting his eyes for a second before leaning back with a bray of laughter. "But seriously, this is just for daresies, I don't need anymore dresses, thank you. And as for you Red, I doubt you'd have the breakneck courage to crossdress, so don't be laughing at my heart and balls of steel, thank you very much."

However, his scolding was interrupted by the sound of his phone buzzing in his hand. Extracting and turning it on, it appeared to be...Park? That was odd, he didn't even know Park had his number. He didn't remember giving it out, either. Weird. Must've been late at night or something.

Glancing at the text, it said something about a birthday gift for Wyatt and...Dra'Quinni blood?! Blood?! Where the hell did she get that, was there a guy in India somewhere selling dragon blood along with child kidneys? And what the hell would he use it for? Dragon Life Rituals? Firecasting? Spinegrowth?

In reply, his thumbs working like lightning, he fired back, heavily autocorrected;

It's Dra'Quinni. We're still in birthday, I'm letting him know now, where did you get Dragon blood.?

Setting the phone down, he turned back to Wyatt, looking very confused.

"Hey, Wyatt. Park just texted me, she's heading back to the tower with your birthday gift, something about Dra'Quinni blood. Make of it what you will, there's some weird-ass stuff on the black-market."

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna

Brianna raised an eyebrow at Alexis's challenge. She looked over at the others, who seemed to be curious to see how the results of the sparring would go. I suppose a bit of training wouldn't hurt. It's been too long since I've had an opportunity, she thought as she let out a sigh.

"That is a fine bet to make, but you would be wise to not take such bets in the future when the odds are so against you."

Taking her shoes off, she hopped into the boxing square, thankful she had decided to wear continue wearing the pair of shorts she had put on this morning. Stretching for a bit, she realized that they did not have any of the sparring gloves that fighters normally wore. Brianna looked over at Nick, who simply gave her a shrug. I suppose the more realistic the training, the better, she thought as her opponent entered the ring.

Brianna gave the girl a rather arogant grin, motioning her to come at her with extended fingers.

"Well, there's no use in prolonging your suffering. Don't worry, I won't cause any permanent damge. I'd hate to ruin your next date with that Red fellow."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun
Wonder Tower

She arrived not long after the cab ride. She was about to get in and to the place of location of the birthday, when Carter texted her back. Dra'Quinni, not Dra'Qunni. Huh, she'd better fix that next time. He also asked where did she get it. She smirked on it. Some things are just not meant to be said or told, but this one is. She texted back;

I have my own connections, and figured out the best gift is blood for him. I mean, it's good for me so I guess it is also good for Wyatt.

Once it was done, she entered the transportation system of the tower until she got to the level of where the birthday happens. She walked to the room, as we speak.

[Bentus]

18th July
San Diego

---

The sun was gradually beginning its slow descent towards the horizon as evening crept over the city. Cars and busses shared the roads as the hordes of San Diego’s workers all began their daily commute back home. Some made their regular stops, pulling into a Starbucks on the corner or picking up groceries before joining the slow moving traffic towards the suburbs. A few teenagers also walked along the streets, chatting in groups and gossiping as they sought to take advantage of their summer break in the cooler temperatures. Warwolf didn’t usually travel through this area as much as others, which made it the ideal place for a patrol.

Yoshiro was crouched on a rooftop overlooking the San Diego streets below, and she couldn’t keep the childish grin off of her face, her eyes gleaming through her purple domino mask. She scanned the scenery, looking down at the figures going about their daily routine while remaining entirely unaware of her presence. Her eyes lingered slightly on some of the teenagers, wondering if she would have been in their shoes only a few scarce weeks ago. Had her life continued on its path, had the party not happened, where would she have been at that very moment?

“Hey, stay focused. We’re meant to be professionals.” Red’s voice spoke into Yoshiro’s earpiece, a twinge of amusement in his words. For a moment, Yoshiro wondered if the more experienced hero had somehow been able to see her excited smirk. Blushing slightly, Yoshiro lifted a hand to her ear before responding.

“I am being very professional, I’ll have you know.” She responded jokingly. “Nothing out of the ordinary over here, how about you?”

Yoshiro could almost hear Red roll his eyes. “Nothing, though that should be expected. Warwolf cleaned up the streets pretty well when they moved in, although they’ve been stretched pretty thin. Keep your eyes peeled though, according to the scanners there’s been a couple of robberies in your area over the past few days.”

“Got it.”

Standing up, Yoshiro began to jog across the rooftops, making her way along the route that the pair had mapped out before going out on patrol. The buildings were close enough - most practically touching - that it wasn’t difficult even for Yoshiro to make her way around while avoiding the attention of the streets below. Still, she could feel her heart beating with adrenalin. This was her first solo patrol, although she’d tagged along with Red a few times before in order to learn the tricks of the trade. The other hero wasn’t too far however, just a few city blocks on a route parallel to her own.

“So, what’s the plan with the double date then?” Red’s voice broke a few minutes of quiet as Yoshiro concentrated on her own movements, while keeping an eye for any activity around her. The sudden choice of subject caught her off guard, she hadn’t expected Red to bring up the vague plans they had with Roy and Wendy. “Weren’t we planning something later in the week? Could be fun to go out to see a movie with those two.”

Pausing to catch her breath after a quick burst of physical activity, Yoshiro smirked. “I’m sorry, shouldn’t we leave personal topics for when we’re not in a professional environment?”

“Fine, I admit it. I’m a hypocrite.” There was a slight break in the conversation. “Can’t blame me for trying to find an excuse to hear your voice.”

Yoshiro was glad that her boyfriend couldn’t see the colour rush to her cheeks, but before she could respond, there was a scream from down below.

“Help, someone! He took my purse!” The cry came from an older woman by the street corner, her expression distraught as those around her looked in shocked paralysis. The thief was dressed in a hoodie pulled low to cover his face.

“Hold on, Mask. Purse-snatcher, talk to you later.” Without waiting for a response over the radio, Yoshiro began racing along the rooftops in an effort to stay parallel to the thief. She had to admit that it was a bit of a cliche way to kick-off the action on her first patrol, but that did little to stop the excited smile from spreading across Yoshiro’s features. Struggling to keep her eyes both on her footing and the fast-moving criminal on the sidewalk, she nevertheless was able to keep pace - but how was she going to get down to confront him?

As she was trying to find a solution to her predicament, Yoshiro watched as the purse-snatcher took a sharp turn down a side alley. Perfect, there’s got to be a fire escape that I can use down there. Looking around, Yoshiro found that the situation was even better than she’d expected. The man must have been hoping to lose any pursuers by hiding in the alley, since as far as she could tell, there was only the one way in and out.

“Psyche, be careful - you’re heading to the edge of your area. I won’t be able to get to you too easily if you go much further.” Yoshiro knew that Red meant well, but she felt a pang of damage to her pride. She could do this, she’d been with the Young Bloods long enough to know what she was doing. She was a hero too.

“I’ve got this Mask.” The brief distraction over the radio had made Yoshiro look away from the criminal and when she glanced back down into the alleyway, she realised with horror that he was nowhere to be seen. No! Damn it, where could he have gone? Suddenly, her attention was drawn by the sound of a metal trash can getting knocked over, with nervous words lifting up from beneath her.

“L-look man, please I just nabbed the purse, okay? I didn’t hurt nobody.”

The voice was filled with fear, causing Yoshiro to raise an eyebrow as she approached the ledge of the rooftop cautiously. “You can have it back, see? All good, right?” The thief continued, throwing the purse at the feet of a tall, chiseled man hidden behind a plain white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. The purse-snatcher gave a weak smile, but grew fearful as the vigilante crouched down in front of him, getting eye level. Armed with piercing blue eyes, the vigilante looked deep into the man’s soul, watching the very sweat drip from his forehead. “W-what’s the ma-”

“The purse doesn’t matter.” A deep, commanding voice rang out in the alley. “The money doesn’t matter, none of that does. It’s what you decided to do with it.” The man reached out and grabbed the thief’s face, “You decided that you needed it more, you needed to hurt someone else to get a leg up in life. Old ladies are always such easy targets, right? Just snatch and grab.” With that, Gaul effortlessly lifted the thief and threw him against the wall on the opposite side of the alley, cracking the bricks and mortar that held it up.

“Have you realized who I am yet?” Mustafa Gaul thundered, knowing that not many people would even be in earshot this far from the streets. The thief groaned and with labored breath, opened his eyes once more to look at his assailant. As he approached, it became very clear: This man was a villain, not just any but the one who took on Solar, the same that took on Quake, and an overall social media superstar of everything wrong with society. “I’m the man who’s going to break you.”

“What about Solar?!” The petty thief cried, trying to make the rampaging juggernaut cease his approach

“What about him?” Gaul answered, grabbing the man’s neck and lifting it high in the air. “I killed a superpowered man with my bare hands. Which side of the law we were on didn’t matter when it was me and him trading blows. We were equals, each one of us trying to best the other in a contest of wills. But you? You’re nothing, a common purse snatcher, what do you mean in the grand scheme of things? What do you stand for? How is this-” He said, holding up the pink and sparkly purse in question, “Going to get you any further in life?”

The criminal stuttered and seemed to struggle with his answer, finding his mind attacked and challenged by Gaul’s philosophy while his body hollered in pain. “I…” he began, Gaul allowing him to speak despite holding him up by the neck, “I’m sorry…” Gaul let his grip go, allowing the man to fall hard on the ground. “I’m afraid of telling you what I wanted to use the money for, because you’ll just hate me, too.”

“More than I already do?” Gaul answered, looking down on the man.

“I needed a fix, man.” Gaul closed his eyes and exhaled, having dealt with drugs and the effects that it has on people, even those close to him. The junkie scooted away from Gaul and leaned his back on the wall. “I, I don’t know what to do now, everything’s just been falling apart since my accident, and my pain just won’t quit.” Gaul squatted down and went face to face with the criminal again, this time, his expression more relaxed and concerned, but the junkie was scared all the same.

“Sometimes,” Gaul stated, “Things fall apart. It’s up to us to pick them back up, but the pieces don’t always come together how we thought they should. You need professional help, not a psychological evaluation from a supervillain in a dark alley on a sunny day in San Diego. Or money from old women.” Gaul added, flashing him a look of anger, but sighing all the same. “I wouldn’t try this again, Warwolf likes to use these same alleys to move around the city, and they aren’t as understanding as I am.” With that, Gaul fled the scene, quickly running through the alleys and back to the streets where the criminal came from.

By luck, the old woman was still there, shaken, talking quickly to a police officer with an obvious logo for the private military company Warwolf on his shirt, giving a statement no doubt. Gaul untied his hair and removed his shirt quickly, stuffing it into his waistband and letting his long hair frame his face as he approached. “Hey, uh, I happened to find this a few steps behind a dumpster. I was just clocking out, haha.” He lied, forcing the purse into the woman’s arms as she gave out joyous cries of ‘thank you’, but only gained a suspicious eye from the officer. “Hey, I can’t stick around, I gotta go hit the gym before it gets packed.”

With that, he turned and jogged away, not running so as to not attract attention or trigger a chase scene, though he did blatantly ignore the officers’ orders to stop and remain where he was. Why the officer didn’t pursue wasn’t on Gaul’s mind at the moment, he had better things to think about as he tied his hair back into a ponytail as he walked forward, joining the crowd seamlessly despite his size and stature.

“Psyche, check in. What’s happening?”

Red’s voice was filled with concern, worried about the prolonged scilence. His words snapped the girl out of her shock at the events that she had just witnessed, her mouth agape as she stood frozen in place, watching the mountain of a man confront the thief before returning the purse to its rightful owner. Shaking her head to snap herself out of it, Yoshiro lifted a finger to her ear.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Yoshiro hesitated for a moment, before a look of determination spread across her features. “I think I’ve found Mustafa Gaul.”

“Gaul?! As in Solar-killer Gaul? Orion?” Red made no effort to hide his shock. “Stay right where you are, I’m on my way.”

Yoshiro scowled. “I said I’ve got this, ok? He’s on the move.”

“Psyche, don’t follow him - we’re not ready to mess around with this guy.”

That hurt. Yoshiro knew what Red really meant, that he thought she wasn’t ready to mess with him. Feeling a sense of conviction, Yoshiro began to move stealthily along the rooftops, making sure to stay out of sight of the hulking figure as he moved among the crowd.

“If I don’t follow him, then we’ll lose him. And then he’ll kill someone and that will be blood on my hands.” It sounded like Red was about to say something, but he caught himself at the last minute. “Please, trust me.”

There was a brief pause. “Be careful, Psyche. Please. I’ll try to get there as soon as I can.”

Yoshiro smiled, feeling proud that Red was trusting her to do this, believing in her. “I will. Love you.” And with that, she began her pursuit.

---

The sun was rapidly setting by the time Gaul turned off of his route. Yoshiro wasted no time in following him into the alleyway, determined not to lose him after having tracked him across town for nearly half an hour. As he had moved deeper into the side streets away from the bustle of the main roads, Yoshiro had been forced to move down from the rooftops in order to keep on Gaul’s tail. She had been doing her best to keep to the shadows, hanging back at corners like Red had shown her while seeking cover wherever she could without drawing any unwanted attention. As the sky had turned orange, the shadows stretching across the ground, the dark purple of her super suit had helped her blend into the surroundings - not that it was necessarily the most inconspicuous of outfits. They were getting close, she knew it. Gaul had been deliberately looping back on himself and taking a myriad of unnecessary turns. He was going somewhere, and that somewhere was a place that he didn’t want to be followed to.

It was common knowledge that Orion had made a splash with their return to San Diego, and their activities had quickly been picking up. That naturally meant that they had to have some kind of a base of operations in the area. If that was where Gaul was going, then Yoshiro could bring that information back to the team and Naja could call in the heavy-hitters. It could finally bring the villainous group to justice. Yoshiro was about to dart forward once again, but managed to stop herself at the last minute. Gaul had come to a stop, facing away from her at the end of a dead-end alley.

He wasn’t quite sure when he had noticed his stalker, but she must have been tailing him for quite a while. Gaul was keen to double back over his own path to hide his trail from pursuers looking to find the entrance to Orion’s Labyrinth, yet the action helped him know he was being followed intently. The question remained, what to do with whoever decided to trail him. “I’m not too fond of being followed.” He said abruptly, loud, talking only to the brick walls that were around him, knowing that the person following him was somewhere close behind.

Without warning, he squatted low and jumped high, nearly reaching the rooftops from the amazing height he reached, but he kicked backward, landing several feet behind where he was - pinning his stalker in the alley. With his back blocking the only exit, Gaul landed firmly on his feet, sending some dust flying up, but not enough to obscure vision. Standing before him was a petite girl, clad in purple, blending in with the final shadows of the daylight before night time fully set in. “Who are you, what do you want with me?” He asked calmly, placing his hands on his hips and shifting his body weight slightly, ready to react but at the same time, curious about who this girl was.

Yoshiro’s face froze as soon as Gaul called out to her, the implications of the words not setting in until he had catapulted himself across the entire alley to land behind her. Grimacing, she cursed herself. How did he know I was here? Did I make a mistake at some point? No, I don’t have time to think about that. Turning herself around and immediately adopting a fighting stance, Yoshiro’s eyes scanned the alley, looking for anything that she could use as an advantage. Her hesitant, determined stance must have looked like Gaul’s polar opposite. The villain stood calmly, looking over her with a curiosity that sent a chill down Yoshiro’s spine. Her eyes widened as she realised that she had just walked into a trap, with the mountain of a man, the villain who had killed the greatest hero in the South, now blocking her only escape. He doesn’t even consider me a real threat. The thought made Yoshiro’s heart sink, not in the least because he was probably right. Compared to the likes of Solar and Captain Quake, what chance did she even have? Regardless, the girl stood firm.

“My name is Psyche, and I’m a Young Blood.” Yoshiro forced herself to speak with confidence, doing all she could to keep her fear from causing her voice to waver. “Mustafa Gaul, for your crimes, I’m placing you under a citizen’s arrest.” It was the line that Naja had drilled into their heads, which thankfully meant that Yoshiro could let it roll off of her tongue without much effort. Desperately, she tried to think of how she could follow through on her demand. She was a hero, she couldn’t just let Gaul walk free, and she doubted that she would be able to leave without a fight anyway. Red should be on his way, if I can just hold him up for a little bit longer, then together we can take him down. “I can’t let your reign of terror continue, especially after all the people you’ve already hurt.”

“Oh,” Gaul replied, a genuine look of surprise on his face. He took a few steps toward the girl, Psyche, sizing her up and down as a true predator that had its prey cornered, but he stopped several feet from the girl. “Young Blood, that’s dangerous, too dangerous.” He continued, rubbing his chin slightly, snapping his fingers suddenly. “I remember watching the news that day, well, a taped recording, but you were next to Red when he mouthed off on camera at the Zoo. What sucks is that I don’t have much of an idea about your powers or what use they would have, because the Young Bloods have been careful to keep their information off of the internet. I’m left with speculation.”

“And Nile’s ramblings.” He thought, looking at the wall for a moment and back to Psyche. “But that name, your frame size, and your air of confidence,” Gaul listed off, knowing it was a feint, but not wanting to hurt the girls’ feelings - He was a martial artist, after all, reading someone elses’ body language was a needed skill. “It all points to some sort of mental powers. Telekinesis, telepathy, something like that, unless it’s a curveball and I’m just out of my element.” He walked closer to the girl, standing only a precious few steps from her, looking deep into her eyes, “I’m a bad man but I have more things to do before I serve my time.” He nearly whispered, loud enough for Yoshiro to hear, “I’m going to refuse your citizens’ arrest, and ask that you leave me be.” A thought crossed Gaul’s mind in that moment, just how much has this girl seen of his day? He hadn’t let his guard down that many times in his patrol, except… “Shit.” He thought, recalling his good deed for the day in his mind, and the similar setting in which it occurred.

As soon as Gaul took a step towards her, Yoshiro’s legs backpedalled of their own accord, seeking to maintain the distance between them. However, she immediately found herself backed up against the dumpster that she had been using as cover. Grimacing, the telepath felt her options shrinking around her. Damn it, he’s got to be bluffing. There’s no way that he was just able to guess my powers by looking at me. Right? Gaul seemed to be taking the whole encounter in his stride, speaking with an ease that built a lump in Yoshiro’s throat. Just how out of her depth was she? In her mind’s eye, she recalled the images and videos of Gaul that had gone viral across the internet. Even if the news and the media refused to play the most graphic of his encounters, YouTube and Capestagram had no such filters. His hand punching through Solar’s chest, caught on grainy phone-cam, his clash with the entirety of the Stars, all of it was plastered on the internet for the world to see. Glancing down to her arms, pressed against the back of the dumpster, Yoshiro concentrated to keep them from shaking - not wanting to appear weak. But how could she rectify her knowledge of the villain with what she had seen earlier that day? Think, if he doesn’t know your powers, then you have him at a disadvantage. He doesn’t know what you’re capable of, so use that. Act confident. The only problem with that plan of course, was that Yoshiro was painfully aware of her own capabilities, and how much they paled in comparison to the mountain standing before her.

“I - I can’t do that.” Catching herself, Yoshiro stopped the hesitation in her voice, taking a firm step towards Gaul as she readopted her fighting stance. “I saw what you did earlier, how you helped that woman. You did something good.” I just need to keep him talking. Red will know what to do when he gets here. “Why? If you know the difference between right and wrong, then you know that what you are doing is evil. You have hurt so many people, caused so much destruction, and for what?”

Gaul stopped advancing for a moment as Psyche continued talking, closing his eyes and breathing deeply for a moment as he was right, she had seen his earlier interaction and now has this different opinion about him. Still, it concerned him a bit as to how much she was shaking, how absolutely nervous she was to be faced with a villain, was this her first time on the job? Regardless, he offered her some answers. “I’m a villain, a supervillain.” He answered, narrowing his eyes, “What you saw was nothing compared to what I have done and what I’ve yet to do. This whole society worships superheroes and idolizes them so, so much, and I want to put a stop to it. The world is an ugly, grim place for people without powers, without the blessings that can make someone heroic. And even with powers, people with the wrong deposition or the wrong upbringing don’t just become criminals when they commit crimes, they become villains, and that gives everyone a free rain check to smash the absolute shit out of them.”

“The world is a very mean and angry place, and I’m going to remind everyone that sometimes, heroes can’t save you, sometimes you have to either save yourself or die trying, and that sometimes, giving everything you have just isn’t enough. Why do you do the things you do? What draws you to correct the evils of bad men and women? What paths in your life did you take that led you to a dark alley, face to face, with me?” Gaul stood over Psyche, imposing and determined, passionate about his beliefs and wondering if the petite heroine in front of him was as passionate as he was.

The passion and conviction in Gaul’s voice, as well as the determined shift in his aura, caught Yoshiro off guard. His words were intimidating, they were meant to be, but as he laid out his rationale, a look of confusion flashed across the girl’s face. As the words began to sink in, her expression changed into one of anger. “And so it is wrong to stand up against people who do bad things? You call yourself a supervillain as if it is a badge of honour, when all it really means is that you’re a bully who picks on those who are weaker than you. And you’re wrong that only those with powers can be heroes!” An image of Red flashed into Yoshiro’s mind, and before she even knew what she was doing, she had taken a determined step towards Gaul. “Every time a police officer leaves their home, knowing that they might run into someone like you who could snatch them away from their family without even blinking an eye, or when a doctor pushes themselves above and beyond their limit to save a total stranger, a normal, everyday person becomes a hero. And what, you choose to just brush aside their efforts to stand up for others as nothing? As a sign of weakness because it makes those who they are trying to save somehow weaker?” Yoshiro jabbed an accusatory finger towards Gaul. “Just because you don’t have the strength to use your powers to help others, doesn’t mean that you have any right to criticise those who have to rely on someone else for support. Or those who choose to help them, for that matter.” The girl’s eyes narrowed. “And you don’t know a thing about the path of my life.”

Gaul’s eyes widened for a moment as it seemed as if he has finally poked the bear one too many times. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at the heroines’ sudden fierce response, her picking apart of his motives and reasoning with her own counter examples. Yet, in his mind, was every doctor heroic, even the ones doling out the prescriptions? Does a policeman wake up knowing he’s a hero for giving out a traffic ticket? Is every war veteran a hero just for holding a rifle? Those were words he neglected to say, they were the ones he re-assured himself with. As if he had to prove his own words right to himself, Gaul nodded, and promptly turned away from Yoshiro.

“Strength, weakness, powers, what all does it matter.” Gaul stated, “None of it matters against me. Not even you.” As he took some steps away from Psyche, he shot a look back at her over his shoulder, “You aren’t worth my time, I have better things to do.” With that last stab, he shut her out, ignoring her presence and refusing to acknowledge her argument, despite the sense it made and the holes it poked in his own. Rather than confront his own ideals, he chose to keep them safe in his own mind, forgetting his own assessment of the girl and what she was capable of, and angering her to this point.

Despite the fear, despite the pounding in her chest, Yoshiro's jaw dropped as Gaul turned and simply began to walk away. He was done with her, offering her nothing but a dismissive wave and a backhanded comment after deciding that she wasn't a threat to the likes of him. The heroine was left dumbfounded, standing in shock at the sudden turn of events. Gradually however, as the adrenalin seeped its way from her system, she felt an anger begin to take the place of her earlier fear and apprehension. Red, Voice, Naja, none of them really thought that she was able to pull her own weight, none of them thought that she was really ready to be a hero. And now even the villains refused to consider her worthy of their time. They treated her like she was something that had to be watched over, protected during battles since she was incapable of looking after herself. Clenching her fists, Yoshiro felt the rage building up in her chest. She knew that they meant well, that they were just looking out for her, but she knew that she could do more. And this was her chance to prove it.

Before she could think through her actions, before she could realise that Gaul walking away was probably the best way that the encounter could have ended, Yoshiro began to march after him. “Hey, stop!” Her voice rang out down the alley, but Gaul didn't even offer her a backwards glance. “Are you even listening to me, you jerk?”

Gaul rolled his eyes, allowing himself to feel a petty sense of satisfaction as the girl became increasingly upset at his unwillingness to fight. He had no intention of beating some little girl within an inch of her life, maybe this would teach her to give up on this summer fantasy and go back to a quiet life of normalcy. Although he wondered what Nile would end up making of this chance encounter.

“I said STOP!”

Her frustration having reached a peak, Yoshiro extended a hand out towards the steadily retreating figure. Her words sounded layered in Gaul’s mind, as if a bunch of people were speaking at once. His brow furrowed in confusion at the sensation, realising that he had actually only heard a single voice and that the others were all echoes reverberating within his mind. Before Gaul could fully appreciate the fact that he was being attacked, he felt a new sensation enter his conscience: pain.

Every muscle fiber and nerve in Gaul’s body suddenly throbbed, veins popping out of his head head and arms as the contractions forced his hands to his head, the source of the pain he was currently under. The whispers in his head had suddenly exploded into a cacophony of shrieks and wails that tore past him like a hurricane wind. He had heard of telepathy, of mental attacks, but this was his first and only time ever experiencing them, and it was far worse than he could ever imagine. Gritting his teeth to the point that they were on the verge of shattering apart, Gaul forced his body to twist and turn in order to face Yoshiro once more, willing himself to open his eyes and stare daggers at the young, noble, and brave Psyche as she continued her mental assault on him. It was like being under a hydraulic press, but only in your mind, and Gaul struggled to keep thoughts on the surface as Psyche seemed to just wipe them out and replace them with a searing, burning pain that rocked every nerve in his body.

By sheer willpower, he took a step towards Psyche, fighting against the invisible force that was slamming into his thoughts, clenching his eyes and holding his head harder, pressing his own fingertips into his temple so hard that little drips of blood began to race down his face. His ears also began to bleed, the echoing voices within his head tricking his auditory senses that they too were under assault from all angles. “Pain…” He managed to spit through clenched teeth, “Too familiar…” He continued, struggling to take another step forward, “To me…” He finished, spitting wild like a frenzied animal, spreading his feet shoulder length apart and giving the girl a low growl as he continued to fight and resist the mental lashing he was given. It became a contest of wills, but more importantly, Gaul was laying his soul to bare and showing Yoshiro just how willing he was to follow through with his twisted ideology, that he fought because he thought he is right, and that over time, he will make a better world in his own way. Cracking apart the concrete that separated the two, Gaul took another step forward toward Psyche, locking his own blue eyes with her, allowing her to feel the mental energy he gave off to its fullest extent.

Yoshiro stood firm, refusing to take a step back as the villain’s eyes bore into her own with a murderous intent. Gritting her own teeth, she instinctively continued to pour her energy into the mental onslaught, seeking to overwhelm her opponent through a sudden and relentless barrage of thoughts and sensations. It was the same tactic that she had used against Inferno, another time when she had faced a physically superior foe, but immediately she felt that this time was different. While the balwarts of Inferno’s mind had collapsed almost instantly, giving way to the flood waters of Yoshiro’s aura pressing outwards and forcing the villain into unconsciousness, Gaul remained standing. The girl could feel herself being rebuffed and turned aside, rejected through sheer force of will as Gaul chose to stand and bear the mental typhoon rather than give in. A small drop of trickle of blood began to emerge from one of Yoshiro’s nostrils, but she paid it no mind, instead forcing herself to redouble her efforts. As she pushed harder, she began to fall deeper into Gaul’s own aura: his thoughts and emotions. She could see his motivations, his drives, and the unrelenting self-confidence in his own belief. The realisation of what the lengths that he was willing to go, the deeds that he was willing to commit, sent a chill trickling down the back of her spine.

I - I can’t let him win. Not him.

Digger her heels into the ground, Yoshiro reached out with a second hand as the exertion of her efforts made itself clear in her determined expression, beads of sweat dotting her forehead. Gaul took another step. His whole mind was filled with a singular goal, his titanic will bending itself towards its one objective: to close the distance. His eyes never once left Yoshiro’s, locked onto their target as he forced himself inexorably closer. All it would take was one blow, one strike and the battle would be over. Even if the gap felt like a chasm, even if each step was like wading through a raging torrent, he would never yield. He would win.

But gradually, Gaul began to realise that the outcome to this fight did not lie in his hands. A cold grip worked its way into his chest, a sensation that he had not felt in a while: helplessness. A darkness began to creep into the edges of his vision, steadily migrating towards the centre as his mind shut itself off and gave in to exhaustion. Gritting his teeth and putting all of the strength that he had left into the effort, Gaul fought to ward off the inevitable, but he was reaching his limits. All the times before, when he lay battered and broken on the ground, no matter the odds that were stacked up against him, his body would always rise to the challenge and his will would rise to match it. But now, with his damage empowerment not being triggered by the mental onslaught, he was being pushed past the brink.

Yoshiro smirked, feeling the weakness that was creeping into Gaul’s mind. She felt fatigue slowly beginning to claim her own limbs, but she had no intention of letting up on her opponent. This is it, I can do it. She once again met the eyes of the villain, but this time it was she who was looking at him from a position of strength, her glaring eyes shining with the will to achieve her victory. She was going to win.

And then she felt something slam into the back of her head, giving her just enough time to cry out in pain before the whole world went black. Like a brick wall, the titanic figure of Mustafa Gaul fell as Psyche did, collapsing into a heap of flesh and bone that struggled to breathe in and out gasping for air and clutching the broken ground around him. His savior was an unlikely source, Mar, his partner in Orion and one of the few he could actively call his friend. She held a look of indifference, but it was more to hide her disgust. A man she had followed from Texas to California, one who she had personally seen wage war on several heroes at once and even go toe to toe with the most powerful forces on Earth, was done in by a high schooler with telepathy. “Look at you,” She teased, “Beaten by a girl that didn’t even lay a finger on you. There’s a joke about heartbreak somewhere in this, I just know it.”

Walking away from the girl she had incapacitated from behind with a quick, telekinetically-enhanced punch, Mar knelt down next to Gaul and put a hand on his forehead. “For all of those muscles, you couldn’t use your brain and resist, huh?”

“I did.” Gaul weakly replied, struggling to lift his body up, his mental exhaustion far outweighing any physical ailment he had ever gone through, including his near-death experience in challenging Solar. Mar sighed as she watched the man struggle for a moment, relenting and picking him up, letting him use her shoulder as a support. She took a wayward glance at Psyche, the girl responsible for defeating the supervillain, and looked at Gaul for advice. “Ergh,” He sighed breathlessly, “Not worth it, she probably has someone coming. Back up. Or a mental link. I don’t know.” He said carefully, taking long pauses between words to catch his breath and rest. Mar’s eyes drifted back towards the motionless body of the heroine, a feeling of unease forming in her chest. She opened her mouth to say something more to Gaul, but a voice yelled out from the rooftops before she got a chance.

“Psyche!”

Red froze as he saw Yoshiro’s prone body lying motionless in the alley, the mountainous form of none other than Mustafa Gaul being helped to his feet by the former hero Punk. Mar cursed under her breath, offering the exhausted Gaul a sideways glance. He was in no position to fight in his current state, and who knew how many more of the kids would be on their way. She couldn’t defend her fellow villain while taking on a whole team of heroes by herself. Meanwhile, Red’s eyes widened as he made out a red liquid on Yoshiro’s face. His jaw setting with determination, he wasted no time in whipping forward a flurry of his rederangs in a series of fluid, connected movements.

The sharp projectiles sped through the air towards his opponents, and he leapt from the rooftop to slide down a fire escape, looking to press the surprise of his appearance with an immediate offensive. Knowing that she was in a losing position, Mar didn’t hesitate in slapping the emergency teleport band tied to Gaul’s wrist, causing him to phase out of existence just as a rederang flew through the air that he had occupied moment’s before. She hardly had enough time to activate her own teleporter before the weapons meant for her similarly struck empty air, only a shimmering haze remaining where the villains had been standing.

Red didn’t stop, not caring about where they may have gone as he rushed towards Yoshiro’s side. Skidding the last few feet he crouched down next to her, his panicked eyes looking over her body for any signs of injury. Her blood nose was already beginning to dry, a sure-sign that she had been pushing her powers hard. “No, no. Come on Yoshi, talk to me.” Carefully, in case she had suffered any spinal injuries, Red made to cradle the girl’s head. As he placed a hand behind the back of her neck, he immediately felt it wet with a small amount of blood. Pulling his hand away, his eyes narrowed at the red liquid. The injury didn’t look too bad, but it was probably what had knocked her out cold. Suddenly, a groan escaped from Yoshiro’s lips.

“Yoshi!” Red’s eyes lit up with joy as Yoshiro began to move, her eyes fluttering open weakly to see him crouching beside her. Red couldn’t keep the relieved smile from spreading out across his face, letting out a breath that he hadn’t even known he was holding in. “Move slowly, you got hit pretty hard in the head.”

Letting out a pained sigh, Yoshiro lifted a hand to her forehead as she squeezed her eyes shut. A throbbing pain pounded just behind her skull. “Ergh, hi Red.” As memories of the battle began to surface, Yoshiro couldn’t help but feel a sense of giddy excitement. “This is the worst hangover ever.” There was a moment of silence before she could no longer hold back a weak laugh at her bad joke. Her voice reverberated out into the empty alley, her tired - but happy - tone catching Red off guard. Slowly, his mouth began to turn into its own smile. Having feared for a moment that he had left Yoshiro alone to face a villain that she was ill-prepared to fight, Red couldn’t help but allow a series of chuckles to rock his own body as he enveloped the exhausted Yoshiro in a tight embrace. The two of them stayed like that for nearly a minute, holding each other close as relieved tears streaming down their cheeks.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

After such an intense scene, after so many moments of high tensions and rampant emotions, so much burning anger, so much trust betrayed, so many threats made... Icarus couldn't help but chuckle at the heroine's latest thread, Stella vowing to give him a good smacking--of a kind different than the one they had just finished--if he failed to fulfill his promise again. He definitely wasn't planning on finding out whether she'd make good on her word. Not that she would have a chance if she really failed, but best to keep away from somber thoughts like that. They had gone through a lot just to get their spirits a little high again.

Finally, she said it. She believed him. It was like a massive weight lifted off his shoulders, and that only made him feel more determined to fight back against Warwolf's oppression. He was not going to let them get away from this unsullied.

Alas, Renata was right, he needed a plan. Fortunately, his thoughts were as much into overdrive as his hopeful beating heart, and after pacing for a few moments he turned towards the pinkhead, resolve in his eyes. "I do have a plan." He declared. "They've made me out to be a monster, Renata, and that's not likely to change soon. Even if I could somehow get... I don't know, footage or whatever, I'm unlikely to get much support. Plus, even if I were able to prove that I'm innocent of those charges, Warwolf would still have grounds to hunt me for what I did to Armorer and several police officers. There's no easy exit here." He lowered his gaze for a moment, as if disheartened, but this was only a feint.

"So I'll give them what they want." He began pacing again. "Not myself, of course." He added, a fugacious smirk crossing his face. "I'll become the monster they claim I am. I'll destroy their patrols, I'll appear wherever there are corpses. I'll make the people so scared of me Warwolf won't know what to do." He said, stopping and looking up for a moment.

"I won't hurt anyone that's innocent, mind you. But either way, it won't be easy." He took a deep breath, considering the consequences of his words even as he spoke them. "It's a surefire way to get them to come after me with more than just their gun-toting footmen. But it's also the best way to lure potential allies to me. I can't be the only one not content with their damn occupation, I can't be the only one that's been wronged. If other heroes come to me, I have a shot at convincing them of who the real enemy is." He stated, before walking back to Stella, taking her hands into his and looking her in the eye.

"Even though I've been fighting and fending for myself much of my life, I know I can't do this alone. But with you standing here next to me, I know I don't have to." He smiled briefly, his resolute expression soon returning to his face. "I know you work solo and may not have a lot of connections, but if you could get in touch with the Young Bloods or other groups nearby, that would be golden. Convince them that Warwolf is a threat and not something to be welcomed or taken lightly. Don't do anything that would expose you or put you in danger, but undermine their credibility. If we get Warwolf under the constant scrutiny of the hero community, I'm sure they'll slip up at some point, and the more they do so, the more their true colors will show."

He had grown rather passionate by now, with this plan that was more of a speech than anything all that concrete or viable. Aware of this fact, he took a deep breath to calm down, before speaking his conclusion. "I'm not going to be anything more than a big bad wolf to the people of San Diego for now. But if we can do this the right way, one day they'll see who the real monster is."

[Finland SSR]

Icarus

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Maybe asking Icarus for whether he had a plan might not have been the best idea for Renata, or at least for her emotional stability - he did, and a somewhat concrete one, but it instantly scared the crap out of her. The vigilante came to the same conclusion as the heroine that there were few ways out of this mess, so he opted to take the absolute worst one - continue fighting Warwolf, make their life hell, all while consistently trying to convince the hero community that his cause is the more righteous one. Presumably by making Warwolf slip up and thus exposing their crimes to the public, hopefully leaving Blackout as the lesser evil in their eyes by the end.

What happened to his resolve to not lose her, to be able to meet her again? Because this is the complete opposite of that promise. This is just a one way ticket to getting buried six feet under. Renata had generally considered herself to be an optimistic person, not really lacking in ambition... but to her, this was neither optimism nor ambition, this was just suicide.

"Icarus... you're crazy." Renata muttered, staring into the vigilante's eyes - or at least where his eyes should be, were they not covered by a domino mask. To further drive her point home, the heroine grabbed onto his collar and lightly shook it. "That's crazy, you're crazy! That's exactly what Warwolf wants you to do - ruin your reputation, fall into their traps and die against them! Snap out of it, you're..."

Renata knew it was no use. She knew Icarus too well to believe in the illusion that she could change his plan with a mere rant. And so, she suddenly came to a verbal halt, letting out a sigh, and continued after a few seconds:

"...you're not going to change your mind, I know."

The heroine removed her hands from Icarus's collar and glanced to the side, mulling over the role the vigilante placed on her in this quest against Warwolf. If she can't stop him from this suicidal plan, then the best she can do is to try to make sure worst doesn't come to worst. Joining Blackout in attacks on Warwolf was out of the question... but his offer to try to convince the hero community of the threat Warwolf holds was more realistic. Even if her power there was very limited.

"You're right, I don't hold much clout in the San Diego hero community, being a recent arrival and all," Renata confirmed Icarus's worries about her lack of influence, then turned her eyes back towards the vigilante. "My team has had some bad experiences with law enforcement, too, so I don't think they would endorse this, either. I can't promise to tear down any mountains, but I'll do what I can."

[Absolon-7]

Casimir Herman July 17th
"Well, okay! I'm just going to warn you, you're getting a lot more than you bargained for."

Casimir had held Alexis in quite high regard since the team had first joined. People like her were always good to have around in a group of friends as they could always liven things up. And as the dare she was doing kept going, the girl went above and beyond any expectations. The first offensive was a clever parody of the team's Fearless Leader and the lines of battle gave way to a crescendo of laughter from Casimir as the gates could not be held. The next battle was a furious exchange between caricatures of Yoshi and Roy. Wait, was there anything between them before Yoshi hooked up with Red? That's what the subtext seemed to imply. Red's parody made a surprise ambush of push ups as well.

The next few imitations were a bit more difficult for Casimir to interpret. It was about some socially awkward girl or something. The next counter-offensive was much clearer. Poor old Mars and his affection for Kiris. He was calling someone for advice on girls with tails. With the conclusion of her one girl theater, Casimir let out an absolute cavalry charge of laughter as he joined in on her applause. This performance sure exceeded his expectations. Casimir had expected a short stint about one of the more extravagant Young Bloods but this blew it out the water.

"Bravo, Alexis! Knew you wouldn't let me and my dare down," called out Casimir in the applause. Once she was finished, fate had decided it did not like that new guy at all as Alexis made him tell the truth on who was the most attractive girl in the room. Such a fundamentally complex question. Each girl in the room had something about her that would definitely qualify them as the prettiest in the room. Alexis had a petite but graceful demeanor that was quite fetching. Renata was a well endowed bombshell of a beauty, could never go wrong with her. Wendy was average looking in Casimir's opinion but that definitely had its own appeal. Frost Bite possessed a really great figure and she was for sure good looking under her mask. Elle was quite a stunner as well. Yoshi was a textbook example of adorab-HOLY shit she coud be reading the boys minds right now couldn't he? Fuck, fuck fuck! Stay cool Casimir. Don't look her in the eye. Hell, maybe she's respecting everyone's privacy?, thought Casimir.

The new guy looked panicked as well and he eventually chose Elle as the prettiest. He sure looked like a tomato right now. Elle looked equally embarrassed as she curled up to fetal position. As the game continued, Carter and Kiris returned with Carter fully clad in a dress. Casimir forced himself to hold in a laugh. Wouldn't want Carter to shout at him now that everyone looked pretty happy. Cake time followed quickly after and Wyatt and Mars blew the candle all the while Carter amusingly played his ukulele. Casimir thought that this was quite a pleasant party. He'd never been invited too many. How freakishly intense he could be tended to scare away normal folk when he was at school. Not that he cared. Casimir was awesome enough by himself. Besides the two friends who invited him to the Wonder Island party were pretty cool. There was Icarus as well. Casimir wondered how he was doing. Besides a few texts here and there they hadn't really planned anything for the summer. I'm sure he's not doing anything too risky, thought Casimir. Interrupting Casimir's thoughts were a mention of Park getting Dra'Quinni blood for Wyatt.

"Wait Carter, she can't be serious can she? Maybe it's a prank...or well maybe not," said Casimir slightly grossed out.

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Alexis Cain/Vendetta-San Diego

Well, isn't that a pleasant surprise? We will need to find a way to make use of Brianna's language skills. Having someone here who could speak English, Russian and likely other languages as well is going to be useful. As far as that goes, the Dragons may not be our best option. NightRaven seemed kinda hesitant about using her abilities to infiltrate the team to any degree. And I certainly do not want to risk anyone of us for this mission unnecessarily. Well considering her language skills, we could probably pass off for the Russians. But as I considered it, I quickly realized that it may be better to delegate this to someone more capable.

"Nick, think you can come up with a plan for tomorrow? It's honestly not my area of specialty." Nick chuckled in response sarcastically.

"Why is it that despite there being four of us I do all of the planning?"

"Because if I do the planning, I will get everyone killed." I shot back with a smile. He muttered something about there not being any arguments there and I almost seemed content to resign myself into my room, that is until Nick stopped me.

"Well, look at that." His little announcement was enough to draw my attention.

"What is it?" I asked slightly curious.

"Remember the reinforcements your guardian angel sent when you were about to be killed by Marionette?" Nick teased while flicking ash from his cigarette as I mentally scowled at him reminding me. "Well, guess who just decided to message me? Turns out he has an answer for our offer to join the team and wants us to meet him at his Gym." Well...that certainly sounds like something that I could get into. I was just going to go and read my favorite book or something for a while but this sounds like much more fun. Plus, we are likely getting a new recruit out of this.

"Well, lets not keep the guy who saved our lives waiting. We can see what he wants and blow off some steam before we blow off the mafia tomorrow." I proclaimed as I grabbed a handgun on the way out, leading the rest of the team across town as we left to have some fun and hopefully gain a new ally.

---

An hour and a half later we were in front of the Gym that the address supplied led us to. All of us showed up, even Nick was convinced and or threatened to pull away from his computer. I knocked on the door firmly to announce ourselves and awaited for Sebastian to let us in. After he opened the door, I wasted no time strolling in and immediately whistled at the sight of the boxing ring. Setting down the case of liquor I brought along with me and spotting a speaker system with a shelf of music CDs next to it.

"Well, play first and work later. Lets get this party started." I announced as I opened up a bottle of Bacardi and took a swig, then glanced over at Brianna and pointed to the ring.

"Twenty dollars says I can last five minutes in the ring with you." I would have gambled that I could knock her on her ass. But as much as I hate to admit it, she is better in hand to hand than I am. We kinda met in a similar fashion. So, I have learned to temper my expectations a bit.

"Any takers?"

Sebastian Miller

"Twenty dollars says you fall at three minutes."

The voice came from a set of stairs that lead to an office that overlooked the gym. Looking from the outside, one couldn't exactly see who was inside. Opposite to the office, there were giant photographs of Sebastian's victorious yet short career in the MMA, shown in chronological order. It was a considerably big space, which gave away that the ex-fighter wasn't exactly someone poor. Replicas of his belts were displayed in a trophy room, but the most notable feature was the ring.

It had a certain vintage air, that reminded people around it of the old times of boxing: Sebastian always defined himself as a boxer, and his earliest memories were always tied to the ringside. Even if it sometimes reminded him of the tragedies in his life, it also reminded him of the opportunities he had. The young group seemed to make the sober place a little bit lighter, even if their last encounter was almost lethal to most of them.

"Well, I see that you accepted my invitation to come over here today. First of all, I'd like to answer the offer you made to me. And the answer to that offer is yes, I will join you in your plans against the crime in this city. I can accomplish more in a team with your qualities than I was doing alone.

But I guess that means we need to properly introduce ourselves first. It is always better to do that while drinking and betting, so... Shall we see who will win the five minutes bet?"

[The Republic of Atria]

Two Juggernauts were down, two were left. One tried to get a grip on Kaban's left arm, only for the dragon to have it slip out without a hand to grab for leverage. Kaban used the stump of his arm to bash the juggernaut with less force than he wanted to, but enough to stagger it for the few vital moments Kaban needed to grapple with the remaining juggernaut, hitting it in the face with his stump to stun it, grabbing it's leg with his still intact hand and finally smashing the giant suit of armor into the other one. The initial shock of getting blasted with a powerful laser had worn off, but he was still quite infuriated and despite only being able to emote with half his face, fury was visible in his one-eyed gaze.

However, as much as he wanted to continue smashing the juggernauts until their pilots were little more than paste, Kaban did want to keep his word to Bael and Onu in that he wouldn't kill anyone. He'd come pretty close so far, so it was probably time to take his leave. Doing so would have been much harder had Asumar not smashed the laser IFV, the helicopter and killed a bunch of them to top it all off. As he was about to take his leave, ice covered the lower half of his body. A superhuman was the cause, which erased any and all doubt that he should remain and fight. Smashing through the ice took minimal effort, but it seemed to impede Warwolf just enough for him to escape. Kaban leaped with such force that the ground shattered beneath his feet. He spread his wings to catch as much wind and directed his path away from the area as quickly as possible. Tracking him would be difficult with all the traffic.

Onu was almost certainly going to pitch a fit about today, even if Kaban had no way of knowing how everything was going to transpire. She was almost certainly going to make him stop running around and having his way with them. In a way, he almost preferred being back down there getting blasted by the laser, since at least he wouldn't have to be listening to his sister go on and on about how irresponsible he was being.

He screwed up royally, and as he flew over his home, he saw Onu on the front porch, arms crossed and looking mad even from the sky. His landing was less that and more a restrained crash. Onu greet him by shouting native expletives and smacking him into the direction of the house. Reluctly, he walked into the house, Onu still berating him until he sat down on the couch. "I made a mistake."

"I know! It was broadcast across the country!" She hissed and gripped her head in frustration. "Kaban... I've told you this no less than a dozen times: Think before-"

"Think before I act, I know." He muttered.

"You're not just making life harder on yourself, these Warwolf soldiers are after more than you. Think about the other humans whose lives you've just made harder, think about Bael and me." She said.

Kaban flinched when she mentioned herself and Bael. Why he just realized now that he was very much impacting her was beyond him. "I... I am sorry."

"Everything isn't about y- What did you just say?" Onu interrupted herself. "You're... Sorry? You're... apologizing?"

"Yes." He grunted quietly.

Onu sighed and sat down. "You're lucky you're my brother you big dumb idiot. Please just... Stop. Let the humans work out their own issues. It's not our problem unless they make it."

"I know. I know."