Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Absolon-7]

Hell's Gate Tournament Saga

Casimir Herman, Undetermined Time in Future
This was a peculiar find. Casimir had gone to the Tower's mail room to pick up a book he ordered on North American insects but instead he found an elaborately decorated note in its stead from something called Hell's Gate. Yawning a big one Casimir eyes focused on the note's contents as he was finally shaken from the tendrils of sleep. It was addressed to the "bug man in Young Bloods".

"I'M MOTHERFUCKING KABUTO!" yelled Casimir at no one but the note in the empty mail room. After calming down he looked up what this Hell's Gate Tournament was online and the results peaked his interest. Its was some crazy of-the-wall martial arts tournament and apparently there was big cash prizes every round with the winner getting a billion. I could get such an amazing gaming laptop with that amount of money, thought Casimir. Not to mention he'd have the chance to get into so many duels and kick so many asses against incredibly varied opponents. What was even better was how powers were allowed!

"Bout time someone recognized how amazing I am," said Casimir putting the note in his chest pocket. He hurried off into his room and got dressed into full gear sans his helmet which he just carried around. He left a text to Naja that he'd be unavailable for the next few days as an personal nonhero matter came up that needed attention. After packing a small luggage bag, Casimir raced off to Viviana's room to give her a surprise goodbye kiss and to explain what was going on. With a few last words he went to his motorcycle, the HMS Winged Hussar, in the garage and revved up its engine and went off to his next destination on the way to the stadium his destiny of greatness.

[Rupudska]

"Here, I'll take you to Naja's office, she's our mother hen. Our overseer, if you will. Afterwards, feel free to yell at the nerds who crashed your pod. For further clarification, one's the tiny girl with blonde hair, one's the medium-height brunette who's kind of quiet, and the one with the shirt that says "LA Stars" is the last one." he explained, directing Nazif in the direction of the elevator.

"Tiny girl with blonde hair, quiet brunette, one with LA Stars shirt. Understood."

Soon, both were inside, as the elevator skyrocketed to high up on the Tower, soft Muzak playing in the back until the car stopped, doors rolling open. They were on the 7th floor, where Naja's office was.

Heading down the hall, the duo made a quick right at the nearest corner and stopped at a dead end, where Naja was. "Well, here you go!" he said cheerfully, gesturing in the direction of the office. "If you need anything, just holler. Name's Carter by the way, nice to meet ya!" he greeted, before turning the other way towards the elevator, leaving Nazif to face Naja.

Carter - That's too plain for a superhe-

He trusted her with his real name. On one hand, that struck Reem as very sweet. On the other, it struck her as very very stupid - even if it was just his first name, he had given away part of his true identity to someone he had just met. Sure, she was trustworthy, according to herself, but still. That was a little odd. She gave him a little wave as he walked away, before turning around to face the door and-

She blinked her eyes and thanked God that Baal was off in the nether realms torturing the souls of sinners, or he would've probably bailed the contract to jump in the lap of the diminutive edge lady in front of her.

".... Are you for fucking real?" Elle asked, letting out the first f-word of the day.

Well.

Certainly not the most polite greeting Reem had ever heard in her life, but it was far from the worst. Sure, most of the ones worse than that were from socially and developmentally backwards government officials, and infinitely more backwards Bedouins in the north of Saudi Arabia, but still. A little odd. Especially since the girl before her was in exceptionally cute cat pajamas.

Enough mental monologuing. Was she staring at her? Reem felt she was staring at the girl. That would not do.

She cleared her throat.

"May I help you?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 22nd
San Diego

It's been several days since I last saw her, huh... Icarus thought as he sat at the table by himself, dejectedly picking at his breakfast, a plate of yogurt with walnuts and a dash of honey. Nothing too elaborate, but filling, healthy and with a good taste. Still, he found it hard to be enthusiastic about it as he recounted the events of the past few days. Not long ago, without knowing how his contact info had been acquired, he had been invited by one of the Young Bloods to what he could only assume was a clandestine meeting regarding an assault on a Warwolf base. At the time, despite his vendetta against the wolves, he had opted to steer clear, and in fact, he had been laying low since then, knowing that Warwolf would only tighten its hold over the city even more as a result of the raider group's open defiance. And then there was that other group, the Cabal, dismantling patrols and even threatening to raid an important company...

The boy finished his meal and stood up, carrying his plate and cutlery over to the sink to wash them. As he did so, he looked out a nearby window, watching the clear sunny day that lay beyond the glass, the sight bringing a somewhat bitter smile to his face. Some lousy teen I am, huh, spending my time doing... all of these insane things, instead of going out there and enjoying the summer. He mused, briefly wondering what his life would have been like if he had never gained the powers that had set him on this dangerous path. He had met his best friends long before then, so that part of his life would remain unchanged, but what about the allies he had met over the past month of summer? What about Renata, would he have met her somehow if he had never gained powers? How different would things be between them if so?

Not that it matters. I'm in this mess now, and it's too late to change that. He concluded, brushing aside his own speculations. The simple truth was that while he remained uncompromised so far, his alter ego had been labeled a criminal and a murderer, pinning on him the blame for a heinous deed that was solely Warwolf's doing. Days of inaction did little to smother his anger, as even though the news had mostly shifted to talk about more recent stories such as the raiders or the Cabal, occasional mentions were still made regarding 'that murderer, Blackout'.

Icarus took a deep breath to calm himself, realizing that he was bound to break something if he didn't rein in his emotions, especially now that he was more than a simple human. I guess you can't just throw a tantrum when you're a hero. He mused, quickly finishing his task and moving on. For the time being, he opted to continue his daily routine in the lonesome house, but deep inside he knew that he could remain inactive no longer.

---

The man in the suit carefully observed the battlefield, eyes scanning the bodies on the other side of the warehouse for any signs of movement. After a few moments of not seeing any, he let out a breath he had been holding, though he did not relax just yet. "Five Goombahs on the meeting, five Goombahs on the ground." He muttered, relieved but hardly satisfied. With a brisk pace, he walked over to retrieve a suitcase that lay by the corpse of one of the mafiosos scattered across the floor, casually shooting one of the 'lifeless' carcasses in the head before it had the chance to stop feigning death and raise a gun against him. Scoffing, he picked up the suitcase and addressed one of his subordinates without looking back.

"Ed, call the cleanup crew, tell them the meeting went wrong. And tell them to hurry up will you? We don't want Warwolf to stick their nose in our business after staying clear out of their radar for weeks. That would piss Jack off." The suited thug ordered as he checked the contents of the suitcase, which consisted of bundle after bundle of bills. He stopped for a moment, and then as an afterthought, added: "And tell them to bring a medic or something. A couple of our men are injured, after all."

"Not just a couple."

Turning on his heels upon hearing the mysterious voice, the man in the suit came face to face with a masked blond boy clad in an all black outfit, standing over the one called Ed, who was now lying on the floor, unconscious. The boy's fists were coated in crackling blue energy as he glared at the man, who, upon getting past his moment of surprise, didn't bother to utter a single word and simply raised his submachine gun. Before he was able to pull the trigger, however, Blackout closed the distance between them and grabbed his hand, ramming an armored fist into his elbow and breaking his arm. Crying out in pain, the criminal dropped the firearm and attempted to back off. He was barely able to take a couple steps back before the boy grabbed him by the collar.

"D-do you have any idea who you're messing with, bastard?!" The suited man lashed out, but his threats were only met with a vicious headbutt.

"Do I look like I give a fuck?" The vigilant replied, glowering at him. The mobster instinctively shrunk away in Blackout's grip, clearly intimidated. He dealt with unsavory characters on a daily basis, but none was really as much of a wildcard as him, the man who had murdered children in cold blood and single-handedly taken out an entire Warwolf convoy. As if that wasn't enough, he was also known to have beaten up a member of the Los Angeles Stars, and had been a thorn on his boss' side ever since he appeared. Certainly not someone to take lightly.

The suited man opened his mouth to try and negotiate with the boy, but before he was able to utter a single word, the vigilante struck his mouth, knocking a few teeth loose. The beatdown continued for several seconds until the criminal was finally allowed to fall to the ground, several of his bones broken. A cellphone belonging to one of his subordinates was thrown at the ground next to him.

"Who do you want to face the least, scum? Me, or Warwolf? You know what number to call if you need their help." The vigilante spoke as he nonchalantly walked over to an empty crate and sat down. "Don't take too long to decide, though. I'm not very patient."

At this point, he certainly wasn't being fully rational. He was fueled by anger and a simple desire to continue to be a thorn in Warwolf's side, as well as to realize his plot of becoming the monster that they had made him out to be with their lies. He was neck deep in shit anyway, what else could go wrong?

---

Well fuck. My expectations have been exceeded. Icarus thought as he dragged himself into a dark alley with some effort, leaning against a wall and taking several deep breaths. Looking down, he saw a couple darts lodged in his arm and leg, and angrily tore them off, grimacing in pain at the sensation but remaining completely silent as he carefully placed them on the ground to avoid making noise. After all, he was still being pursued, and to make matters worse, he was without his trusty electric constructs, stripped of his powers by some sort of Warwolf-manufactured serum that he had learned about the hard way.

All thoughts and movements froze as the boy heard encroaching footsteps, and he pressed himself against the wall in order to avoid being seen, the shadows of the night lending him their aid and keeping him hidden from Warwolf's troops... for now. Hearing the footsteps go away, he relaxed.

What the hell do I do now... Going back home is too risky right now, but staying out here without powers... I might as well turn myself in. He mused. No matter the answer, though, the one thing he knew he couldn't do was give up. There was too much at stake, his life, his promise... He just needed a moment to think. A moment to think, and to rest a little. He didn't know why, but after fleeing from his disastrous meeting with Warwolf, his body felt so heavy...

Unfortunately, time was exactly what he didn't have, as demonstrated by the black bolt that surged out of the shadows and sped towards him. Despite the mounting weariness that took hold of his body, Icarus' reflexes were still sharp enough for him to dive out of the way at the last minute. Frantically looking around to spot the source of this attack, it didn't take him long to notice the man in black armor standing at the entrance to the alley, holding a black bow and sporting a big yellow smiley face on his chest. Icarus frowned, recognizing the man who was in front of him.

"The next one won't miss, kid. Just make this easier for both of us and give up." The armored hero spoke, crossing his arms.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. I have a promise I need to fulfill." The boy replied while thinking of what to do in a situation that had gone from bad to worse. I can barely stand, let alone fight... I need to distract him and then escape quickly or-

His thoughts were interrupted as chains shot out from nearby shadows, coiling around his arms and legs, leaving him immobile. Icarus struggled against his bonds for a moment, but quickly desisted as he realized that the more he struggled, the more his strength was sapped away. Instead, he sighed and glowered at the man in front of him.

"You know, for all the crazy shit you do, I didn't have you pegged as a murderer." Black Arrow stated as he faced the wayward vigilante. "I'll give you a chance. Give me one reason I shouldn't knock you out and turn you in."

Icarus frowned and looked down at the ground. While this particular one had not given him any reason to mistrust him, he still found himself less than thrilled about being at the mercy of a 'hero'. Still, he was given a chance, and he was in no position to waste it. He had to think over his words carefully. Making a mistake or letting his anger get the better of him would only put him in an even worse position.

After several moments, the boy looked up. "I've never used a gun, have I?" He asked, giving the hero a few moments to think it over. "I've been here for a little over a month. In that time, I've done a lot of 'crazy shit', as you put it, but I've never used a gun, be it against civilians, heroes or criminals. Why would I suddenly change my mind just to kill three guys that were only trying to make a difference too? Doesn't it seem fishy that out of everyone present, the only one who didn't use firearms on a regular basis was the one blamed for killing civilians?" He stated, pausing for yet another moment. "Hopefully your judgment is better than 90% of San Diego's population." He concluded.

Including my girlfriend... He added somewhat bitterly, keeping the words to himself.

The dark archer remained silent for several moments, weighing the boy's argument. Finally, he shook his head and chuckled. "Attitude aside, I suppose you did give me what I wanted. I'm not keen on turning you in to those guys after what they've done to a few others like you, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on you regardless. With everything that's going on in the city, the last thing people need is a loose cannon running around. Don't give me a reason to chain you up again." He stated. With a simple movement of his hand, the chains retreated into the shadows they had emerged from, releasing Icarus, who promptly fell to the floor, barely able to hold himself up after so much of his strength had been sapped, both by the chains and by whatever Warwolf had done to him. "Now get out of here before they come back." He said, before walking out of the alley.

"Easier said than done... Asshole..." The boy muttered, forcing himself to his feet with what little energy he still had. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to make it home safely in such a sorry state, he simply dragged himself deeper into the shadows of the alley before promptly collapsing. "Rest... I just need... some rest..." He muttered, his consciousness slipping away soon after.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

---

Alexis listened to Renata's response to her comment as she observed her, noticing how she blushed at the mention of attracting boys. Oh? Not the way your typical flirty girl would react. Maybe there's a specific someone out there that you want to impress? Fufufu, sounds like a job for Detective Callaghan!

Of course, the blonde girl did nothing to outwardly display her mischievous thoughts, simply offering the pinkhead a kind smile and nodding. Afterwards, Renata got caught up replying to the question made by one of the newest team members, Viviana, so she was content to simply step back and let the other two girls chat. The new girl seemed pretty lively and was making friends fast, so it only felt right to let her have the spotlight for now.

As she stepped back and watched from a short distance, Wyatt walked up to her, and turned to look at the Dra'Qunni, a curious expression on her face. It wasn't often that he decided to approach her unprompted, after all, so he probably had something important to say. Indeed, what he wanted this time was to give her a warning regarding some new girl--they sure were getting a ton of new members as of late!--and the fact that the island's defenses gave her a rough time. Hearing this, the tech wizard raised an eyebrow, surprised at the newbie's gall.

"A new girl? And she wants to join but the first order of business is complaining? She'll fit in swimmingly." She said with ample sarcasm, before giving Wyatt a small shrug. "Oh well. Thanks for the warning, scaly boy. If she gets too uppity, I'll just have to make Oberon give her a stern talking, that'll do the trick." She added afterwards with a cocky smile on her face. With all of that said, she figured a little small talk wouldn't be amiss, especially given how she and Wyatt rarely talked otherwise, so she quickly thought of a decent topic. "So, how'd you like the holo-disguise I gave you? Been getting some use out of it?" She asked.

Shortly after that, Casimir came around, clearly feeling worse for wear for some reason. While she wasn't about to question him on that, the fact was that he needed a little pick-me-up. Luckily, Alexis always had her gauntlets on while working, as their telekinetic functions made lab work a lot easier, and since Kiris had quite suddenly stolen her away from it, she still had them on.

"You sure don't look good, Mr. Antman. Don't worry, Doctor Callaghan's got just the thing to help you out." The blonde girl stated as she held out one of her gauntlets in Casimir's direction. It began to emit a green glow which would give the boy some energy and generally make him feel less awful.

Incidentally, it would also help him relax his muscles, which might or might not have unfortunate, perhaps comical consequences in the current situation.

---

---

---

After expressing her admiration for Renata's new costume and prompting Alexis to do the same, Kirisvala gave a quick look around the room, smile faltering ever so slightly as the person she had been hoping to find turned out to be absent. Still, they lived in the same building, so she was sure she'd see him soon, and in the meantime, she could always chat with the rest of her teammates, especially since Alexis had already walked off to do the same, conversing with Wyatt and Casimir. There were also some new faces on the team, so surely it wouldn't hurt to strengthen some bonds! With that in mind, she walked over to one of the new members of the team, Viviana.

"It's fine, Vivi! I'm sure you'll do fine. Plus even if ya run into trouble, we'll be watchin' your back. That's what the team is for, after all!" She said enthusiastically. "Not that I'm even sure if we'll be doin' anythin' tonight, though..." She added as an afterthought, before shaking her head. "Well, even if we don't, it still applies! We'll be keepin' an eye on ya, so don't worry too much, just do your best." She concluded, giving the new girl a friendly smile and a reassuring, and especially very gentle and careful, pat on the back.

Afterwards, she turned her attention on Tadeo, the quirky magician who had at times kept her company during the past few days while she practiced her magic with Casimir's help. Having overheard his conversation with Viviana, she naturally caught the part about him having plans with some friends or family members, she wasn't sure. The idea of hanging out with family briefly brought a frown to her face, but she quickly wiped it away with another smile. "You're invitin' some rellies over? Or are you goin' out into the city to hang out with them?" She asked, curious.

[The Republic of Atria]

CBST, The Warwolf Raid

Wyatt was spending some of his free time in the tower browsing the internet, mostly looking at memes and news reports in different tabs. He was interrupted from his stupor by Nate, who wanted to know if he knew "the big ass dragon man cow tipping Warwolf's junk." It was enough from Wyatt to infer that he was talking about Kaban. There was no need to wonder why he was after Kaban, so he nodded and said that he did. For the first time, he got the idea that maybe he should tag along. Sitting around the tower all day wasn't accomplishing much, with them only occasionally doing some training. Plus Kaban would be there so he'd have backup if anything went too out of control on top of whoever was already going to be there. It couldn't hurt to give his training he'd been getting over the past few days a trial run.

It wasn't like he team was going to notice he did anything. So not only would he get to test out some new abilities, he'd get some therapy. All he had to do was get Kaban to agree which wouldn't take any effort. Especially if he mentioned that he was going as well. Which is almost exactly what happened, except Kaban was wary of his sister who had left that evening to go shopping. The both of them were going to get such a scolding from her, but both of them had quite a bit of steam to blow off. It would be worth it.

The both of them landed at the location Nate had given them, near a cellphone tower where a brown haired man with a sword that matched the description Nate had given was waiting. Even to Wyatt, he didn't look like much, but Nate insisted that he was more than strong enough. Nate had never given Wyatt and reason to doubt his word so he took it as it was.

Kaban on the other hand was much more vocal about his doubt. "You're the little man who's fighting Warwolf? I've eaten things bigger than you."

"That's his way of saying hello. I'm Wyatt, or Bael if you prefer. This is Kaban."

July 23, Wonder Island

"Yeah. A rich girl complaining about how not everything goes her way? Never heard of that before. I wonder how she and our other resident rich girl will get along." He couldn't help but sneer. "Oh, and the hologuise thing works amazing. I had to go get my driver's license renewed the other day and it saved me a heap of trouble." He replied. "Seriously, being able to walk around in what feels like my own skin is fantastic. I'm actually not dreading going to school this year." Oh how he planned to finish high school on a high note.

He was about to continue when Casimir barged in after what appeared to be an intense workout. A good portion of the team exercised quite often, but he really didn't. Mostly because there probably weren't too many weights or ways to challenge him physically. He considered asking Alexis about it, but that thought was lost to the void when Casimir's legs gave out and he fell on his tail.

Immediately he pulled his tail free of the sweaty Polack and came very close to stomping on him for what was effectively groping him, before his judgement got in the way and stopped himself from attacking his teammate out of instinct. Instead he just breathed slowly and sat down in one of the chairs, his tail resting carefully in his lap.

[New Neros]

Hell's Gate Tournament
New Arrivals

"So yeah, apparently I was invited too. I didn't see my invitation until after you read yours." Nile said excitedly, seated a bit too close to Gaul on their flight. "Kinda odd that they just let us board a plane while being wanted men, and verified on Capestagram." He continued with a smirk, trying to trap Gaul into mindless small talk on their flight from the West Coast to some nondescript island in the Pacific. "Full of mystery, you must be, young Mustafa Gaul!"

"...You're verified?" Gaul finally relented.

"Yeah, I'm surprised myself. Shit post enough and things just happen. Beg enough on emails and you get a blue check. Or so I've heard." Nile replied, "But let's talk strategy! How we gonna do it, let's take this to the end and split the prize money, fifty fifty, deal?"

"You do realize many of this fighters are like, the best in the world, right? Not the best in San Diego or New Jersey. I'm arrogant and full of myself but even I'm a bit worried about what I'm coming up against. Why aren't you? You even said that you watched this tournament since you were young."

"Well, yeah, that's why I'm so excited and ready for it. It's like I've been mentally preparing myself for years." Nile didn't seem phased by the risks involved, and honestly, neither was Gaul, but the supervillain had genuine concerns for his friend. These men and women were feared in all walks of life, and now, even capes would be involved for the prize pool and prestige, drastically raising the odds and the competitor numbers. Gaul was worried that Nile was in over his head, but figured he could handle well-enough. "So, what's the plan?"

"Let's get one in motion when we both get through the preliminaries." Gaul replied, Nile agreeing quickly as the plane began to descend.

---

Exiting the plane, Gaul and Nile were subject to a humid, tropical breeze that assaulted both of their nostrils. "By god," Nile exclaimed, "Paradise feels like I'm breathing through a damp, microwaved sponge." Despite that, the island was a stunning picture of tropic beauty, complete with palms and beaches, some light jungle in he distance. Before them was a recently built airport, except, it seemed more like a processing facility than anything else. A man on the runway quickly approached the two villains as they climbed down onto the tarmac.

"Hello, hello!" The man greeted with inflection, "Welcome to Tropic Island, home of Hell's Gate Tournament! I imagine your accommodated transport was well and good?" As he spoke, two burly individuals flanked him and moved closer, grabbing the luggage Nile and Gaul had brought with them. "If you would please follow me, I will take you to our main room for dissertation and a timeline of events, rules and the like."

"Where's the free food?" Nile demanded, Gaul looking at him with confusion.

"It will be served in the main room. You two are invited guests, yes?"

"Yes," Gaul stated firmly, "I am Mustafa Gaul. You may have heard of me, they say I'm pretty big online."

"Er, I'm not in charge of the selection process, sorry." The man said in an apologetic way, gently conveying to Gaul that he had no clue who he was. Gaul hung his head slightly with a frown, Nile laughing abruptly at the exchange.

"Ha!" Nile replied, "Well I'll have you know that I am Nile Canaan, I run a blog and feature a blue check next to my name on two out of three social media platforms."

"Oh yes!" The man said with excitement, running and clasping his hands around the villain's own. "I have read many of your writings, Mr. Canaan, I also follow your accounts! It, it is such an honor to meet and have you here." One of the guides' burly assistants cleared the throat, allowing the guide to snap back to reality. "Oh, oh, I'm terribly sorry, if you'd follow me, I will show you to your quarters, both of you, I have others to greet as they arrive." He said, motioning to planes and ships appearing on the horizon. "If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask. I am Mr. Thomas, and it will be a pleasure to assist you." He finished, the two men following him closely as his assistants followed further still.

---

[Aidannadia]

Tadeo Baltasar

"Well good thing I'm here, guy, as one of the newer recruits I can just fill your place. Easy peasy," said Viviana although her next sentenced betrayed a sense of uneasiness, "Although, I've only won against two D-tier metas so far so hopefully I won't mess up too bad if I go especially since this sounds important."

"Well this would have been my first outing with the team. It is a little disappointing." Tadeo rubbed the back of his head like an anime character. "I'd even go as far to say I'm uniquely qualified to deal with the gang, given my how they operate too on... higher vibrations." The magician nodded.

"You're invitin' some rellies over? Or are you goin' out into the city to hang out with them?" She asked, curious.

"Oh, hello Kirisvala." Tad smiled. "I will be visiting them." Again, not a lie. They hardly live in town though...

"It is always a time of stress meeting with my "rellies". They are very demanding, but I do enjoy the company." Truth be told, he'd never encountered the phrase "rellies" before and his translation spells didn't register it well, but he could understand it in context. "I'm surprised your voice is not hoarse given how much training you've been doing." Tadeo couldn't help but notice when Kiris was using her spellsongs; the smell of chocolate cookies spread all around the island, and the beautifully colorful visual vibrations hung in the air for quite a while, not to mention the beautiful acoustical presentation. It was like a concert for the seer. "You are quite the sorceress."

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

Red exited his room, letting out a small yawn as he stretched out his muscles that were sore from this morning's training with Yoshiro. He was still uneasy after the revelation of...something possessing her, but he had sworn to keep it between the two for the next three days. It was going to be difficult to say the least, as seemingly permanent sense of worry remained in the back of his mind. Still, he knew that he had to trust her, even if his own senses told him otherwise.

In hopes of burying his concerns as well as shake away his tiredness, he made his way downstairs to get a pot of coffee made as well as get some food in his stomach. He hadn't bothered dressing up, instead choosing to go with a more comfortable outfit of black sweatpants with a Yankee's logo sitting proudly on the hip combined with a plain white t-shirt. He wasn't planning on going on any patrols today, instead deciding to go over the various amounts of intel he had been collecting over the past few days on Warwolf. While not necessarily a day off, it would give him much needed rest both mentally and physically.

As he began to near his intended destination, the sound of voices made it clear that the others were still awake. Hectic as usual, he thought with rolled eyes as he entered the kitchen. It seemed as if most of the team, as well as a few new arrivals, were assembled in the living room adjacent to the kitchen. Red mostly ignored their conversations, giving a small nod to anyone who acknowledged his arrival.

Pouring the freshly brewed coffee into his mug that could have borderline been called a pitcher, Red poked his head in towards the living room to see what all the commotion was about when suddenly his eyes caught the sight of Renata. He raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of her rather...daring new crime fighting outfit, but quickly shook his head and diverted his eyes elsewhere.

This "elsewhere" happened to center on the television screen, where the news was covering the drama that now hung over the Wonders Foundation facility. Red's eyebrows furrowed at the sight, reaching up to take a long and heavy sip of the warm beverage in his hands. While it was far from something he needed to or even had the time to worry about, something about the whole situation didn't set well with him. Attacking a place as heavily guarded as that is one thing, but announcing it several days before? Whatever they're planning, it's going to be big. Red glanced around at the sight of the team mingling in the living room area.

Let's just hope we don't get dragged into it, he thought as he took another sip from his mug. Walking towards everyone, he spotted Casmir laying on the ground in a heap. He seemed to be paralyzed from the look, the sight both amusing and a bit confusing for Red. However, nobody seemed to be too worried about his predicament, so Red merely shrugged at the sight.

"Seems like everyone is up bright and early for a change," he said non-chalantly with a grin.

[Finland SSR]

Alexis

July 23, Wonder Island

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

The initial conversation seemed to have died out and started branching out - Tadeo and that new girl who was with Casimir continued talking about the news on the television, someone brought up that a new recruit for the team has arrived and introduced themselves the Elle way, so on and so forth. Content with the responses she received, Renata sat down on the sofa and pulled out her smartphone, browsing the morning news.

Maybe today will be a more lucky day. Maybe today will confirm that Icarus is safe and still kicking.

Politics... Politics... Even worse, United States politics... Fashion reports... Crime reports... Crime reports... Sports... Hold up. Scroll back. To that headline below the Wimbledon scores. Was that...

She didn't get to check, however, as her ears caught the voice of Wyatt, sitting a few meters away from her, throwing verbal shots at her. Jeez, what's up with him today? This is starting to get a little out of hand. Renata put down her smartphone and turned towards the Dra'Quinni and Alexis, speaking:

"You know, it's rude to talk about someone when they're next to you. I don't even complain about anything not going my way, either..."

Not that she hadn't gotten into conflicts with her teammates before, of course. Let's see, there was the whole clash with Roy which Renata still holds a grudge for, there was all the things that happened during Mars and Wyatt's birthday party, there was the failure to get any teamwork in during the training mission, so on and so forth... but nothing which Renata could ascribe to rich girl behavior.

Obviously, it's a lot easier to judge a person positively when you are that person, but I'm not doing poorly in this field, do I?

---

CBST, The Warwolf Raid

The Great Floyd Tolson!

Four Days Earlier

---

Floyd's eyes caught the sight of two dragon-people flying across the air from a mile away, slightly snickering. Well I'll be damned, Nate wasn't shitting me. Perhaps it should be a little surprising that in all that decade of experience travelling across the Western world and beating the crap out of anyone he could get into a fight in, he had never encountered a member of that species before - but from what the swordsman had been able to gather, they masked their presence in human society quite well.

The two Dra'Quinni, meanwhile, weren't very soft with their introduction. One of them instantly opened up with a comment on Floyd's scrawny looks, while the other introduced who they were. Wyatt, or Bael, and Kaban. Floyd didn't offer much of a response to Kaban's comment and instead opened up by speaking:

"Alright, Smaug and Smaug Jr., I guess we're waiting for Na-"

Floyd's ear caught the sound of a boot stepping on a fallen leaf in the distance, behind the cellphone tower - inaudible to average human ears, but for someone with enhanced senses such as his, it was like an alarm siren.

"-Nate's here."

Soon enough, the energy absorbing hero stepped forward, entering the dim light of the street lamp illuminating the parking lot. He was not in his standard Zeus costume, instead wearing a dark hoodie and a face mask - after all, if Warwolf or the media were to identify one of the assailants as a member of the Young Bloods, their problems would turn ten times worse, which is why Nathan opted to conceal both his secret identity and his hero one.

"I'm sorry, I was a little late - I was almost caught by a Warwolf patrol and had to take a longer path here." Nathan opened up. "Wyatt, Kaban, this is Floyd, the person I was talking about."

Floyd gave a slight nod and began to speak himself:

"Right. I've scouted out the facility we'll be targeting beforehand and came up with a basic plan of operations. This former police station, as far as I'm aware, has been converted into a place for detaining captured supers, heroes and villains alike, and obviously has a lot of security, both on land and in the air, as well as three stationary power scramblers on the roof. I am not affected by their scramblers and I presume you two aren't either, but Nate is and he's a valuable asset, so priority number one is to take out those scramblers. I'm thinking that me and Nate attack from the front to serve as a distraction while you two sweep in from the air, take care of their helicopters and turn those scramblers into scrap metal. Afterwards, the plan is simple - clear out the ground forces, including two Juggernauts and a lot of cannon fodder, then infiltrate the base itself and break out anyone inside."

"Any questions?"

---

Hell's Gate Tournament
New Arrivals

The Great Floyd Tolson!

Date undetermined

---

With a slight frown on his face, Floyd stepped out of the small ferry and stepped his foot on the harbor of Tropic Island, the home of the not-so-humbly named Hell's Gate Tournament. Though following the track record of the tournament for several years in the past, this was the first time when Floyd actually received an invitation through the mail, and accepted immediately. A prize of one billion dollars was nothing to scoff at, but the prize may have been a wet noodle and he would have still signed up as far as he was concerned - he had little need for money, anyway, what interested him far more was the chance to let loose and fight some of the world's strongest without anything holding him back. Well, anything except the rules, but even those were fluid to him.

It's like a dream come true.

A fancy looking fellow, followed by two burly individuals, quickly ran up to him, the former ome speaking:

"Hello and welcome to Tropic Island, home of Hell's Gate Tournament! If you would, please follow me, we'll take you to the main room for all the necessary information and the timeline of events." As he spoke, the two burly men behind him moved forward to try to grab Floyd's luggage, but stopped and started speaking to each other in a language Floyd couldn''t understand once it turned out that the swordsman had no luggage. Even the lead of the welcoming party got a little confused. "You didn't bring anything with you?"

"Was it necessary?" Floyd shot back.

"No, but... Well, fine by me. You're an invited guest, correct?"

"Floyd Tolson, yes."

"Not familiar. Welcome anyway. Please follow me."

Floyd scoffed a little and moved after the welcoming party. Tsk, I'll show you 'not familiar', you wanker.

[Segral]

Sir of Edward Whilton of York
CBST

Chapter 3: An Invitation Upon My Chamber Door

Well, this was a letdown.

After the long, perilous trek to San Diego, after weeks of preparation, hard work, and surprises, after exhausting plane rides and wild goose-chases through airport terminals, he had found hide nor hair of what he was looking for. He had seen the dragons fly to the southwest, which is why he flew southwest to find them, but he couldn't see, hear, smell, touch, or taste them. And good too, he had no desire to taste a dragon! He had been here for days, searching alleys, stores, every building he could for the dragons, msotly at night. He asked around, but most looked at him like he was a crazy man and walked away. One old woman recommended some...sikyatrist, or something like that, and a few people even asked if he was drunk! What ridiculous peasants, thinking so poorly of a royal knight!

For the meantime, in between his searches for the dragons, he stayed in a cheap inn, a threadbare and tacky room with a tiny adjacent bathroom, with a few amenities and cleaning crews. It was affordable and it did the job, even if it was peasantry compared to his beautiful apartment. He had gotten a job working as a janitor/custodian in a nearby office building, going every night to mop and clean the floors. It made him hurl, he hated the job, but he needed it to pay for his inn costs and meals.

And it was at this inn that he received a note that would prove to be right kick in the groin. Figuratively and literally.

One day, still asleep, a sudden knocking came on his chamber door, waking him up with a start. With a groan, he threw the mound of blankets off of him, rolling over onto his back. Propping himself on his elbows as the knocking continued, he rubbed his eyes wearily, shouting "WHO IS AT MY CHAMBER DOOR!" loudly.

A moment of silence followed, probably from confusion over the peculiar response from Edward. "Um...it's hotel staff, you have a letter, sir! The page claimed it was essential you get this immediately!"

Edward moaned, lifting his shirtless form out of the messy bed. "Alright, wait one second, let me dress."

"Oh, if you just woke up, I can come back later, it's quite alright."

"No, it's fine, I'll be there in one minute."

The hotel staff member trusted with bringing the letter stood back a bit and waited, hearing a few noises inside, which she assumed was the man inside dressing. He had a thick English accent, and his name was apparently Edward, or something along those lines. Suddenly, there were several inaudible muttered words from inside the room, followed by what sounded like unzipping and rustling. Then, a yelp and several uttered swear words, followed by the sound of scraping metal and a few clunks. Curiously, the woman stepped forward, only to catch some rustling noises and sighs. Then, a few more rustles, some muttered swear words, and some movement inside. Then, suddenly, a very quick zipping noise and screech of pain, the word "groin", and a very slow unzipping.

Finally, the door opened, and Edward was beyond it, roughly dressed in a green T-shirt and denim jeans, and looking very pained and grimaced. He was walking in a way that suggested some discomfort in his groin, and that fact combined with his unzipped fly was enough clues for the woman. As well, he was holding a hand very awkwardly behind his back, in a way that suggested he hurt himself. But despite the very peculiar mannerisms, it was her job to deliver the note and not ask questions.

"For you, sir. A note from a group calling themselves 'Hell's Gate Tournament'." she said curtly as she handed him the note, before walking off to take care of other manners. Curiously looking at the fancy script, he closed the door behind him, walking inside as he read the note. And immediately, the details leapt off the page. A tournament of super-humans? Well, ever since what they had done to him, he could be considered a super-human, and he was quite strong! A billion dollars? That was even better! He could pay his rent, he didn't need to work as he continued his pursuit! It was perfect!

He definitely liked the sound of this...

---

Sometime in the Near Future

Chapter 3.5: Final Destination (For The Present)

Among the crowd stepping off the ferry, one in particular stood out. After all, men clad in full sets of medieval armor tend to stand out. Especially when they're riding off a skeletal horse, a skeletal horse bogged down with several piece of weaponry, including a one-handed sword, large metal shield, lance, mace, double-headed ax, a dagger, and a crossbow. But that was just a regular day for Sir Edward Whilton of York.

It had been very tricky to find a second flight to Hawaii, but he had managed it, even though it cut his money down to the bone. Hopefully, he could get far enough in the tournament and maybe get compensated, which would at least pay for the flights and rent needed back home. The ferry had been even worse, not by cost standards, but by the fact that Edward was very...seasick. He did not like the water and shaking boats, and they often left him with his knees shaking and face green. It had been awful even more accentuated by the crowd of people on board. In particular, one man stood out as a competitor, with muscles twice as massive as his, long blonde hair, and a steady and calm expression. He looked to be strong, maybe even the physically strongest. But Edward had battle instinct and smarts, so maybe he could win, or at least snatch a prize. He had to do it, he had come too far not to!

As soon as Harold clopped off the boat, three men ran up to him, gesturing at him to dismount. Hopping off Harold's loose saddle, their faces and bodies became visible. One was a pale man dressed in a fine suit, looking very out-of-place among the warriors around him. The other two were big, burly fellows, who stayed silent and stood behind the suited man. They would make good knights, strong people were always needed.

"Good afternoon! Hello, welcome to Tropic Island, home of Hell's Gate Tournament!" the suited man said with a wide, slightly shiny smile on his face. "I presume you and your horse are invited guests?"

"Yes!" Edward said proudly, puffing up beyond his armor. "I am Sir Edward Whilton of York, and this is Harold." he said, gesturing to the bowing horse. "We are here for Hell's Gate Tournament, although I am not a fan of the name."

"Really? What don't you like about it?"

"Well...it almost gives me the impression that I am going to hell, and not that is not a goal one should chase!"

The man laughed, realizing that he had a devout Christian man on his hands. "Rest assured, it is but a metaphor for a boiling pot of danger. Now, come with me, for a timeline and dissertation of main events. And feel free to bring Harold along!" he said, as the two men untied Edward's only suitcase, but backing off the set of weapons once Edward gave them a venomous glare.

"Certainly!" Edward said, hopping back on Harold and spurring him forward, as the duo marched on to meet their fate.

[Absolon-7]

Alexis & Kiris

Tadeo Baltasar

Wyatt

Viviana Couture July 23rd
A small blush of embarrassment appeared on Viviana's cheeks as that flamboyant dude told her he was essentially new too and that this was gonna be his first mission if it weren't for his family thing. Well this was awkward. She hoped he didn't feel like she was gonna upstage him. That was more of a Casimir thing that she didn't want to get influenced by. Although, the last half of his sentence about vibrations was confusing as she had no idea what it meant. Must some SoCal lingo she wasn't familiar with.

"Kinda sucks that you won't be able to go on your first mission dude," said Viviana, "At least you get to spend time with family."

As for Viviana's nervousness, it was quickly quelled when one of the more unique looking Young Bloods came over to talk to her. What she said was actually pretty kind and a definite confidence booster. The girl then gave her a reassuring pat on the back and that's when it hit her that this was Kiris. She remembered Casimir speaking highly of her when giving summaries of the team so there was that as well.

"Thanks, Kiris, That's pretty sweet of you to say. Even if nothing happens I'll give it my best on whatever comes next," said Viviana clenching her fists in readiness.

Casimir Herman July 23rd
Apparently Casimir had interrupted a conversation between Wyatt and Alexis though it seemed Casimir's request of not being stepped was given the cold shoulder so it seemed. They were talking about yet another new girls that was gonna be on the team. Luckily Alexis was apparently in a better mood and had her gauntlets on her in which to heal him at the least. The soft green glow let a soft energy seep through his sore spasm laden muscles. Like smooth butter, the hardness of his recently worked out muscles gave way to a comfortable state of relaxation. Although, he did perk an eyebrow at that Mr. Antman statement. It was always with the puns!

"Thanks a lot Alexis. Sure owe you one," said Casimir letting out a relaxed breath, "Cool of ya to do this since it's pretty much my fault for not working out properly and not some accident." By this time a complete waves of relaxation were lapping at his body. Almost too relaxing. He felt his legs gave way ever so slowly and his body leaned more to the side as the milliseconds went on. His now recuperated muscles had decided that now was an approiate time for a worker's strike as his body hit the floor, if not for some lump that was beneath him. It was actually Wyatt's tail since as the Dra'quinni pulled the tail away Casimir was flipped over to his back. His wet hair from his recent shower soaked the floor beneath his head and leaked on to his forehead from his hair which annoyed him substantially.

Casimir could have sworn he saw Wyatt raising his foot to stomp him but as his wet hair was in his eyes he couldn't be sure. Immediately he got up from the floor brushing off his clothes and crossing his arms in an attempt to regain his composure. Steadily he turned to looked at Alexis and with an expression that was a fusion of embarrassment and prideful indignation.

"You're gonna remember this aren't you?" said Casimir giving a half-hearted chuckle at the petite blond. He then turned his head to Wyatt and spoke, "Sorry about that Wyatt. Wasn't on purpose so no hard feelings right Anyways, Alexis, how's that new robot of yours? Heard it took a real beating."

[The Republic of Atria]

CBST, Warwolf Raid

"What's a Smaug?" Was Kaban's only response. As usual, his priorities were in order. "If you think that-" Just as he was about to show the reason he was asked to show up, Wyatt interrupted.

"Relax." Wyatt stuck out his arm to keep him from doing something everyone would regret. "It's not an insult. I'll show you later. I hear you. Take out the power blocker things on the roof, the grunts, and helicopters. Kaban can deal with the Juggernauts, he's done it before. Last, we bust anyone they've got locked up, out. Got it." He replied. It was a pretty solid plan. Even though he had no information on Floyd's powers, and minimal on Nate's, he was confident that if Floyd managed to make it this far by himself that they shouldn't have too much issue. He couldn't help but wonder how he'd fare against a Juggernaut. Kaban could fight them, but that's Kaban. Why the hell I do want... Great. Kaban's rubbing off on me.

"Why don't we just kill them again? It would be so much quicker." Kaban asked, visibly impatient with getting to see Warwolf and not smash them. "They're very much going to try to kill us. It would be making an example of them."

"Right, and then they'll start making examples of US. And by us, I mean my parents and Onu." Wyatt sniped back. "We've gone over this. I know it's hard for you to avoid making things a bloodbath, but try to focus on the Juggernauts. Those are the biggest things we have to worry about.

Kaban's expression visibly changed to looking frustrated than eager at the mention of his sister. "Fine. I've always wanted to see what those things could do when there's not four of them trying to kill me." It was not one of his prouder moments, even if he did go down swinging.

Wyatt nodded. "We're good to go."

The Tower, July 23

No one had ever grabbed his tail before. His parents always told him that it was a pretty bad thing to do, but he never had to deal with it before now. It was so embarrassing, but he didn't want to make a scene out of it. That certainly didn't help his already sour mood any and neither did Casimir's "apology". His grip tightened on the arm rest of the chair, his claws digging into the wood as he spoke. "Yeah, sure." He couldn't tell if Casamir was genuine in his apology, but even if he was, it didn't feel like it. He tried to focus on getting his heart rate and breathing back to normal when Renata decided to scold him for talking about her when she was in the room.

"It's also rude to eavesdrop, but clearly they don't teach that in Ecuador." He spat back. So badly, he wanted to just snap and verbally lay into her, but she really hadn't done anything wrong and didn't deserve him flipping out at her so he held his tongue. Though his patience was starting to wear thin. "Just... Go away."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

---

---

Alexis chuckled as she heard Wyatt's remarks regarding the newcomer and one of the other members of the team, she felt that he was probably being a bit harsh with Renata, but it was all in good fun, or so she thought, so she didn't really see any harm in it. Hearing him speak wonders of her birthday gift afterwards, she grinned proudly, happy to know that her efforts down in the lab were appreciated. It almost makes the constant unpaid work hours worth it.

Seeing that Casimir was feeling better about the soreness of his body, she nodded and grinned, giving the pale boy an armored thumbs-up... And then watching him promptly lose his balance, falling on top of Wyatt's tail, with the Dra'Qunni promptly flipping him over and nearly kicking him for his trouble. Obviously, the first impression she got from the whole scene was one of absolute hilarity, and she let out a hearty laugh, only briefly pausing to nod again at Casimir as he stood up and looked at her.

"Oh, Oberon? Yeah, it kind of had some issues, I still haven't gotten time to repair it yet. It would probably be done by now if some members of our team were a little bit less needy." She said, playfully rolling her eyes as she spoke the last few words. Oberon's overall performance during the sparring exercise four days ago was still a bit of a sore spot for her, but nothing she couldn't put aside for the sake of tranquil conversation.

Of course, it seemed that things quickly went downhill. Despite Casimir's apology, Wyatt seemed pretty aggravated, and things didn't improve one bit when Renata replied to the remark Wyatt had made regarding her a moment ago, prompting the dragon boy to nearly lash out at her. "Woah, uh, things sure are getting hella tense in here. Let's all calm down a little, alright? No point in fighting your friends when you already have enemies." The blonde girl spoke, hoping that she'd be allowed to mediate between the two parties instead of having her words brushed aside. "Rena, no need to get annoyed about the comment, Wyatt here was just poking fun! You're not a bad teammate, that's for sure." She said to the human one of the team's two pinkheads, before turning to Wyatt.

"And about you, buddy, you feel alright? Did Cas hurt you? Think a walk would help you feel a little bit better?" She asked him, hoping to find some way to cheer him up or, at the very least, make him feel a little less snippy. God knows we don't need squabbles in the team when Warwolf's all over our city and there's a group of madmen out there trying to turn it into a warzone, not to mention these Cabal kids...

---

---

---

---

Kirisvala gave an eager smile and a small wave at Tadeo as the sorcerer greeted her, nodding along as she listened to him. Memories of the rupture between her and her family surfaced once again as the boy spoke about his relatives, and inadvertently, the Hadrian adopted a far more serious expression than she would normally have. She could only begin to fathom how stressful it would be, to meet them again after everything that had happened...

Fortunately, Tadeo's quite opportune change of topic worked like a charm to pull the alien girl away from her dark thoughts, and she smiled yet again, this time even blushing slightly at the compliment. Magic practice was an aspect of her life that she often neglected after having escaped from Annriven and settling down on Earth, and even as a heroine she tended to rely more on her martial prowess than her spellsongs and thus prioritized that, despite the religious and sentimental value that singing had for her. Having found herself mostly forbidden from strenuous activity by the team's medic Jacob after her accident at the sparring match, though, she had found herself with the perfect excuse to continue cultivating one of the traditions that was dearest to her, and it made her happy to hear from someone else that it was going well.

"Thanks!" She said sincerely. "Our throats are quite sturdy, so it's hard to wear our voices out. But there's also a few remedies I know that can help with soreness. Luckily I haven't had to use 'em yet." She said, before listening to Viviana and looking at her as she promised to do her best.

"That's the spirit! If everyone feels like that, we'll give anyone who threatens the city a good whackin'! And you're welcome." The Hadrian girl replied, bumping her fists together as if to accentuate her message before offering the new member of the team yet another warm smile.

Afterwards, she just so happened to catch Red's message, which caused her to direct a puzzled look at him. "For a change? I'm always up early."

[The Republic of Atria]

July 23, The Tower

He was nearly about to snap when Alexis asked him if he was feeling alright and maybe they should go for a walk. If nothing else it would give him a moment to vent and cool off. "I think a walk would work, yeah." He muttered and stepped outside with her. "Yes, what Casimir did was effectively grope me. I know he didn't mean to, but that's why I'm upset. I know he had no way of knowing, but I guess that's my fault for not saying anything." He explained in a rather somber tone. "That combined with the fact that I've been feeling pretty isolated these last few days."

"By that I mean that ever since I joined this team, I've been pretty much ignored by almost everyone. You and Kiris excepted. I joined this team because I didn't HAVE any friends and I figured that maybe me no longer being the biggest weirdo in the room would help with that. Instead, all I got was people pretty much treating me like I was invisible and despite my best efforts to socialize, which probably put me in a worse place than when I started. Compound that over the course of... How long has the team been going? Six to eight weeks or something like that. It's not that I don't value you or Kiris, I just know that you're working on your tech stuff for both yourself and the team and me interrupting that would be extremely selfish on my part. As for Kiris, well. She spends a lot of her time with Mars and it's extremely obvious, even to me, that they have something going on between them. It would be extremely awkward for me to try and get between them."

"It's like... Being alone versus feeling alone. I'm not literally alone, but it sure as hell FEELS like I am. I just... I don't know where I fit in. The only people of my own kinda that I know are both adults. One of which is... I'm sure you've seen video of him on the news or online harassing Warwolf. The other one tries, but she clearly has no idea what she's doing and my parents work a lot so I don't want to burden their already huge workload with my problems. I was hoping to feel LESS alien, not MORE. And I'm not even an alien." He explained, exasperated. "Is that selfish? I didn't think wanting someone to occasionally spend some free time together with is that unreasonable."

"I just want to know what the problem is and where I fit in. If it's something I'm doing wrong, I wish someone would TELL me. The only reason I haven't quit is because I don't know where else to go if I do. I'm sorry to drop all of this on you, Alexis. When I woke up today, I put on this dumb suit and decided to speak a little more of my mind. Which meant poking a little fun at Renata's expense, but I figured at least it would be a conversation starter. I did not figure she would have such thin skin, nor did I expect Casimir to fall on my tail."

He sighed and sat down. "What do I do, Alexis? Talk more? Less? Make fun of Renata? I'll take any advice, because at this point, I'm just... Tired and angry and..." He stopped as his voice started to crack. "And lonely."

[Tomia]

July 19th, Team Training
Mars was relieved when Kiris approached him, looking better and more like herself thanks to Jacob's healing efforts. He smiled bashfully at Kiris' compliment, feeling both pleased and a little guilty. "Thanks, I've been doing a lot of work to make sure all of his systems are optimized." "But I guess I went a little overboard..." He added apologetically. "I'm glad you're feeling better though, training like that was actually pretty fun."

July 23rd, Wonder Tower
Angelica had woken up early and spent the morning with a light work out in the team's facilities. The day of training they had done together had taken a bit of a physical toll on everyone and Frost Bite was no exception and so she needed to keep active in order to spur on her muscle's healing process and make sure she kept up her strength. As she approached her room she toweled off the sweat from her forehead before seeing the note that had been placed on her door. In scribbled hand writing was written a ransom note involving Alexis who was playfully being used to have snacks brought to the living room. Angelica rolled her eyes at the childish note, but couldn't help but smile a bit. She recognized the hand writing as Kiris' and though Angelica wasn't the most sociable person around she thought Kiris was a genuinely nice person which was rare in her experience.

Frost Bite headed into her room, showering before changing into a simple pair of black basketball shorts and a yellow tank top and heading downstairs. Based on the note she stopped at the kitchen first as she had kept no snacks in her room. She grabbed a bag of Doritos, a bottle of soda, and a box of donuts she found laying around the kitchen before heading to the living room. The introverted hero was dismayed to see that the living room was crowded with people, all talking in small groups and some shouting in small groups. She elected to ignore all of that and look for Kiris. Once she found her, Angelica dropped the snacks gently on a table and turned to her.

"Hey Kiris, I saw your note. What did you do with Alexis?"

Just as Angelica had asked that Mars came into the living room as well. He wore simple jeans and a t-shirt but was sporting a new accessory as well. It was a string necklace which at it's center sat a bright red crystal ring. Kiris had made it for him for his birthday and he had been wearing it ever since.

[Finland SSR]

CBST, Warwolf Raid

"What's a Smaug?" Was Kaban's only response. As usual, his priorities were in order. "If you think that-" Just as he was about to show the reason he was asked to show up, Wyatt interrupted.

"Relax." Wyatt stuck out his arm to keep him from doing something everyone would regret. "It's not an insult. I'll show you later. I hear you. Take out the power blocker things on the roof, the grunts, and helicopters. Kaban can deal with the Juggernauts, he's done it before. Last, we bust anyone they've got locked up, out. Got it." He replied. It was a pretty solid plan. Even though he had no information on Floyd's powers, and minimal on Nate's, he was confident that if Floyd managed to make it this far by himself that they shouldn't have too much issue. He couldn't help but wonder how he'd fare against a Juggernaut. Kaban could fight them, but that's Kaban. Why the hell I do want... Great. Kaban's rubbing off on me.

"Why don't we just kill them again? It would be so much quicker." Kaban asked, visibly impatient with getting to see Warwolf and not smash them. "They're very much going to try to kill us. It would be making an example of them."

"Right, and then they'll start making examples of US. And by us, I mean my parents and Onu." Wyatt sniped back. "We've gone over this. I know it's hard for you to avoid making things a bloodbath, but try to focus on the Juggernauts. Those are the biggest things we have to worry about.

Kaban's expression visibly changed to looking frustrated than eager at the mention of his sister. "Fine. I've always wanted to see what those things could do when there's not four of them trying to kill me." It was not one of his prouder moments, even if he did go down swinging.

Wyatt nodded. "We're good to go."

The Great Floyd Tolson!

Four Days Earlier

---

The Dra'Quinni seemed pretty sensible - though the larger one didn't appear to be the sharpest tool in the crayon box, his follower (subordinate? child? acquaintance?) spoke for them both and accepted the plan of operations. Truth be told, Floyd expected somewhat more alternate ideas or resistance, given that he came up with the plan pretty much on the fly. The only modification Wyatt made to the plan was assigning Kaban to the ground forces where he would deal with the Juggernauts, instead of attacking from the air. Fine then.

The bigger problem was the issue of whether they should murder the Warwolf resistance - Kaban was in favor and Wyatt was against - and it was an issue on which Floyd had formulated his stance on beforehand.

"I couldn't possibly care less whether you kill the soldiers or leave them unconscious." Floyd spoke nonchalantly. "I do whichever one works best for the situation, myself. Killing might draw a lot more attention to us than necessary, but it also sends Warwolf a very obvious message. And speaking of people likely to die..."

Floyd suddenly turned his head towards Nathan, who tensed up. Wait, what does he mean by that?!

"You didn't come here unprepared, did you? I don't want to have a deadweight trailing behind me before the dragons take out those scramblers."

Nathan didn't say anything, only tapped with his finger on a holster with a loaded handgun kept inside. The Young Bloods would definitely not approve of the way he got the pistol, but Nate was well aware that he needed a weapon in this raid and that man didn't need that pistol anyway. Floyd smirked and slightly nodded, then pulled out his sword, glimmering in the light of the street lamp.

"Right, I believe we're all ready then. The door we'll be knocking at is right over there." the swordsman spoke, pointing to one of the narrow suburban streets in front of the parking lot. A hundred meters or so away from where the team was standing, a tall electric fence separated San Diego from the front courtyard of the facility. Several Warwolf soldiers, unsuspecting of what the group of people in the distance had been plotting, were patrolling the front gate. "Kaban, my dear, if you would be so kind, you can give us a good opening and take down that fence. Not all of us can simply fly or jump over it." he commented, glancing a little towards Nathan. "We can start the first phase of the raid from there."

[Northwest Slobovia]

July 22nd
Justice and Mercy Hospital
San Deigo

Sam turned to face the footsteps following him down the corridor. Yup: still Dr. Li. "You told me yourself I'd heal just as well at home."

The tall Chinese woman didn't miss a beat. "And you told me you were going back to hero work. If your idea of training puts you in the hospital, you may not make it here from your next battle."

Sam held up his hands defensively. "Just keeping an eye on the bad guys for the next few days. I'll be good. I promise."

"I've heard that before." She scribbled something at the bottom of the discharge slip before handing it to him and turning around to head back to the ward. Sam glanced at it; she'd added a new line at the end of post-discharge care:

Superheroic activities, including training, are strongly discouraged, as discharge is already against medical advice. Patient states he will engage in light activities at home. This is strongly recommended to prevent reinjury, especially to the liver.

Sam cracked a smile and continued to the front desk and the exit.

[The Republic of Atria]

CBST, Hell's Gate

Wyatt was about to charge headfirst towards the Hell's Gate arena, until he google the address and found it to be quite far away. He was relatively sure that there was no way he could afford a plane ticket and decided to go talk to the only person he knew that had money to burn: Onu. One short flight later, he had arrived at her home, and just as he was about to knock, he was greeted by a slightly rushed Kaban who was just about to leave, but brandishing a piece of paper awfully similar to his. "Wait, you got one too?" Wyatt asked. It didn't surprise him too much, Kaban was making very little effort to stay hidden or off the news.

"Yes. I'm surprised you received one as well." Not because Wyatt was poor at fighting, but rather because Wyatt had made some effort to remain hidden. Even though they attacked a Warwolf base together, Kaban had by far most of the coverage when it came to lambasting. "Did you intend to go?"

"Yeah. Turns out it's a bit out of the way and I don't have any money for travel."

"And Kaban was about to rush off without knowing where the address was, nor the capacity to read it." Onu spoke from behind. "I was going to wait until he realized that and came back to ask for help, but you saved me an hour or two." His sister called from behind. "Bael, look up the location for me. I'm going to prepare a spell to get us there without having to rely on human transportation. Not that you or I would have issues, but..." She stopped, Wyatt clearly inferring what she was talking about.

"But what?" Kaban asked. "I wouldn't do anything-Oh. Shut up."

Onu grinned as she pulled the coffee table and rug out of the center of the room, revealing the ceramic tiled floor beneath. "Hmmm... It might have to be bigger than normal... But it should work." She muttered to herself as she grabbed a permanent marker from the junk drawer and started to carefully and expertly draw arcane symbols all across the floor. "Bael, have you found a good picture of the location?" She asked.

"Better." He replied. "They're live-streaming everyone's arrival. that'll work right?" He asked as Onu took his phone and examined it.

"That's indeed better. Stand between the runes I've drawn on the floor." She pointed and the two males did as she asked. Carefully, she placed Wyatt's phone on one of the runes. Shortly after, they all began to glow and with a quick, bright flash, the trio was whisked from a living room to a beautiful and populated tropical island, scorching the very same runes she used into the sand and frightening many onlookers and those nearby. "This place is nice." She mused, happily letting the warm sun heat her body.

It took mere seconds for the greeter to notice and approach them. "Excuse me." He spoke. "This is invitation only."

"We know." Wyatt replied and showed him his. Kaban followed suit. "Figured you might recognize the bigger one of us."

"The news won't stop comparing him to some sort of psychotic super killer."

"I've not killed any humans. Intentionally." Kaban grunted.

"Your invitations check out. I am Mr. Thomas, and welcome to Hell's Gate. Feel free to mingle and help yourself to some food while we get the logistics sorted out. We're going to be doing a preliminary to eliminate some of the... Lesser fighters. Far more contenders showed up than we expected. I hope this doesn't inconvenience you."

"That's fine." Wyatt replied. "I could go for a snack. Stick together, or at least within earshot. Kaban, please save the threats of grievous bodily harm for the arena. I'd rather not get kicked out because you wanted to try and break your record for "asshole thrown the farthest." At least there's an ocean for him to toss people into...

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

"Aight! We'll be right back, then." Alexis said, half to Wyatt and half to the others, namely Casimir and Renata, as she walked towards the door of the living room alongside the Dra'Qunni. Originally, she had intended to head outside with him to get some sun and fresh air, which she hoped would aid in calming him down, but it seemed the dragon boy didn't have that much patience, so they wound up strolling through the hallways of Wonder Tower instead, the blonde girl listening as Wyatt began to drop all of his complaints and burdens on her, starting by explaining that touching a Dra'Qunni's tail basically amounts to groping them.

Well, we're off to a great start already. The tech wizard thought, keeping the words to herself. It would have been incredibly rude and counter-productive to interrupt Wyatt, and as she had offered herself to take a walk with him and help him relax, she had a duty to listen to him.

At the end of a long rant where he confessed that he was lonely and upset due to feeling that the team was ignoring him, the dragon boy sighed and sat down on a nearby stairwell, asking what he should do. Unfortunately, Alexis didn't have the answer to that, but there was something she could try to cheer him up a little.

"Real sorry to hear you feel that way, big boy." The blonde girl told Wyatt as she gently hugged him from behind while he sat, possibly the only practical way a small girl like her had of hugging a Dra'Qunni. "I don't really have an answer for you, so sorry about that. I hope getting all that off your chest helps you a little, though." She said, patting him on the back and then walking past to sit down on the stairwell alongside him.

"Y'now, as far as I'm concerned, feel free to drop by the lab to visit whenever. I've made a lot of friends since joining the team and moving to the tower, and I hang out with them often enough, but it would surprise you how little visits I get when I'm down on the basement working - unless someone needs something from me, that is. So yeah, you're more than welcome to swing by." She offered, smiling at him before looking elsewhere.

"But this isn't about me." She stated. "I just wanted to let you know that I sympathize, but this is about you and your feelings of not fitting in. Well, I'm gonna sound like one of those motivational characters straight out of a crappy teen flick, but you don't have to fit in y'now? It's fine to be yourself. If someone to hang out with is what you want I'm sure there's plenty of candidates out there. I've already offered, for one. Kiris spends way too much time hanging out with Mars sometimes, so I'm sure it'll be fine to ask her to hang out with you now and then, plus you know how she is, I doubt she'd say no."

At this point, the young inventor leaned back and thought over her next few words carefully. "I guess my point is that maybe what's wrong here isn't so much your actions as your expectations. Maybe if you give up trying to reel in a random person and start trying to build upon the bridges that are already there, you'll start realizing there's people you can call friends. It's not just me and Kiris either; maybe having a little honest chat with Renata or explaining to Casimir what exactly went wrong there are good places to start building new bridges. There's other people too: Roy's our leader, so it's his job to listen to you and help you out, and I'm sure Naja has a lot to say about the whole feeling out of place part."

Suddenly, the girl jumped to her feet and pointed at Wyatt theatrically. "So! Don't give up hope, Wyatt! And above all else, don't quit. Maybe you don't think so, but that'll make some people sad."

A pause went by with Alexis holding the position. Then, she chuckled and let her arms fall to her sides, putting her hands in her pockets. "God, I sound like a preacher. So this is what Amir feels like on a regular day." She joked. "Maybe it would've been better to get Kiris here. She would've probably thought about her words a lot less, but she has a way of cheering you up. Anyways, hope all that helped, Wyatt. You think you're ready to go back in now?" She asked. "Or not. I don't really mind staying here with you a little bit longer."

[Charmera]

Jane Rolfen

Jane stood in the door between herself and the Wonder Tower living room for some time. She was dressed in the white of a doctor's lab coat and had made sure to present a professional look in her attire and her general aspect. She felt that seeing a competent doctor was a relaxant for most people. It wasn't one of her verified and researched opinions, but her own anecdotal experience seemed to prove it right. Though perhaps that was indulging in a sort of arrogance, giving her recent failures. Perhaps this was all just monsterous hubris on her-

"Stop that." She muttered to herself. She straitened her coat and nervously cleaned her glasses.

She had not met one of the young bloods before, and this was her first meeting with them. Ever since the meeting with Naja it was a nervous reality. She was not quite sure how they would recieve her, or how she would receive them. What even would a superhero teenage be like to meet? People with amazing powers still looked normal on the new, but she somehow expected more from proper superheros.

In the end, she decided to rip off that bandaid. She strolled into the living room and introduced herself imediately, nervously and awkwardly to whoever would listen:
"Hello... My name is Jane Rolfen." She began nervously, but then returned to a degree of professionalism. "I am your new doctor. I will be in charge of providing medical care to you all."

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

"For a change? I'm always up early."

Red was about to reply when a suddenly a burst of commotion caught his attention. It didn't take him long to read the situation. Casimir had done something to piss off Wyatt, and had it not been for Alexis offering to take him out on a walk, things could have potentially gotten out of hand very quickly. Everyone seems on edge this morning more than usual, he thought with a grimace. He glanced over at Casimir, shaking his head slightly as he lifted the mug up to his lips.

"Well at least the two of us seem to be morning people," he muttered quietly before taking another sip.

The tension was thankfully shattered with Wyatt and Alexis's departure. Red watched as they left, quietly questioning himself if he too should have intervened. Not really my specialty. I'd probably just piss off the scaly bastard even more, he thought. Besides, if anyone could cheer him up it'd be that crazy scientist. Before he could think further, an unknown voice suddenly caught his attention.

"Hello... My name is Jane Rolfen. I am your new doctor. I will be in charge of providing medical care to you all."

Red turned around to find the source of the voice, and to say what he saw made him raise an eyebrow was an understatement. A doctor? She barely looks my age. Before his surprise could linger, he remembered just what kind of people made up their group. But I guess that's not the most outlandish thing here. As long as she doesn't turn into a monster or shoot laser beams out of her eyes, I suppose I can deal with it.

Red raised his free hand in what could be considered an acknowledging wave.

"Er, welcome aboard...Doc?"

[Aidannadia]

"Thanks!" She said sincerely. "Our throats are quite sturdy, so it's hard to wear our voices out. But there's also a few remedies I know that can help with soreness. Luckily I haven't had to use 'em yet." She said, before listening to Viviana and looking at her as she promised to do her best.

The magician realized for a moment the Hadrian's forlorn expression when he discussed visiting 'family,' though he couldn't put together why what he was saying was sorrowful. Her expression seemed to improve once the subject was changed. Normally, he'd bring the issue to the forefront of the conversation, but he'd come to understood that many beings didn't enjoy such a direct approach after a confusing conversation with Casimir one day.

"There are many medicinal nectars available." He nodded in agreement, beginning to feel a lull in the conversation as the pair moved onto other people to talk with. "I put a few plants in the garden with that in mind. Plenty of sage as well to ward of any unwanted visitors." The speech was distracted, trailing off as if he were talking to himself primarily. "You must be channeling higher level beings with your calls, but I've not seen such a unique focus for contacting a patron. Miraculous, don't you think?"

"Hello... My name is Jane Rolfen." She began nervously, but then returned to a degree of professionalism. "I am your new doctor. I will be in charge of providing medical care to you all."

His physical form faded out of reality, then appeared nearer to her, flashes of light heralding his return to this plane. Tadeo waved at the doctor. "Hola. Welcome, Doctor Rolfen. The team seems to get themselves hurt rather readily, so I'm sure you'll have plenty to do soon. I guess Jacob has caught you up with everyone's condition?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

---

Hearing Tadeo continue to speak, Kirisvala listened, nodding along, though she slightly raised an eyebrow when he mentioned sage and its intended use. Unwanted visitors? What does he mean by that? She wondered, but before she had the chance to ask, the sorcerer continued to speak, this time as if he was talking to himself and not her, though she had the feeling that even if not to her, he was still talking about her, specifically her magic.

Whatever the case, Tadeo soon disappeared, eventually rematerializing in front of yet another newcomer, a woman in a lab coat who claimed to be their new doctor. She would've walked over to greet her as well, had it not been for Angelica, who walked into the room bearing the promised snacks.

"G'day Frosty!" She greeted the aloof blonde girl. "I did nothin' to Lexi, she's right-" She began, but cut herself off when she realized that Alexis was nowhere to be seen. She glanced around the room several times, to no avail. "She was right here just a minute ago... Ah, well, no worries." She mumbled, closing her eyes as if to focus. After a moment, she opened them and looked at Angelica. "Oh, she's outside with someone else, right by the stairwell on this very floor. Can't miss her! And thanks for the snacks!"

Afterwards, she walked over to Jane, as it was only polite to introduce herself to their new doctor after she had done the same. "G'day, doctor! I'm Kirisvala, but you can just call me Kiris. Nice to meet you!" The Hadrian girl spoke, cheerful as always. "Would've been nicer havin' you four days ago, though." She said with a chuckle. Indeed, it would've been convenient to have more than two or three people capable of dealing with injuries after the sparring matches, but it obviously wasn't something under Jane's control, nor something that should be held against her. "Oh, we have snacks if you want some." She said, backtracking a little to pick up the box of donuts and offer it to Jane, though she paused briefly and smiled to herself upon noticing that the person she had been looking for had recently entered the room. "Here." She handed the donuts to Jane before heading off.

"Mars!" The alien greeted her boyfriend enthusiastically, enveloping him in a firm but gentle bear hug. "Guess who's all healed up!" She exclaimed, lifting him up and spinning him around once before placing him back on the ground. Rather than hold anything against him or try to keep her distance, she had been showering Mars with affection ever since the sparring matches ended, hoping to wash away any feelings of guilt he might've had over her injury; she didn't blame him for it and didn't want him to do so, either.

After releasing him from the hug, Kiris glanced down, noticing that Mars was wearing her gift again today. Looking up at him, she grinned happily.

[The Republic of Atria]

Alexis

It did feel nice to get his feelings out in the open. The hug Alexis gave him also helped him calm down considerably. "It does, really. I know I shouldn't have dumped all this crap on you, but thanks for listening. It helps a lot and means quite a bit to me." He replied and hugged the petite girl back, careful not to squeeze too hard. "There's a good chance I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill, but I'll definitely stop by your lab more often. Can't say I'll be much help, the most engineering I've ever done is swap out some computer parts, which is basically just a slightly more expensive Lego project." He halfheartedly joked. "But if there's something I can help you with, don't be afraid to ask."

Alexis suggested that maybe he explain to Casimir about the issue of his tail, and try to talk things over with Renata. "I'll definitely do that. I know I'm more than a little weird sometimes. I was pretty sheltered until I was a preteen, a preteen that was raised by people who knew nothing about what they were doing and were basically aliens. Middle and most of high school were... Not good." He admitted. "The only problem with being myself is that it's what got me into this mess, but I'll definitely try to extend some olive branches and see if that doesn't help me out a little." It couldn't make things worse right? When you're at rock bottom, only place to go is up. At least that was the theory.

"Yeah, she and him spend a lot of their time together, but I'd hardly call it my place to tell them that they're spending too much time together." He snickered a bit and sighed. "Naja doesn't count, she's more powerful than all of us put together if that crap I've read online is true. Fitting in isn't much of a problem when you can juggle aircraft carriers and have millions of dollars or however much she has. Which I can't do... Yet." Maybe he should talk to Onu about exactly what it was the Elders could do. Naligura was deliberately vague about it. More self exploration couldn't hurt... As long as he did it with some distance between himself and population centers.

Alexis finished sounding pretty corny, but it made him feel a little better, so he wasn't going to complain. "I'll go talk to both of them. Hopefully I'll run into him before her. I'd rather her cool off for a little bit before try to explain things. Thanks, again Alexis, for letting me get this off my chest. I don't feel like I'm going to explode anymore. Kiris is good at cheering people up, isn't she?" He thought and remembered the time she helped get him back on his feet when he was having issues. "I think I've relaxed enough not to have another freak out." He finished taking a few deep breaths and standing back up. "Since I'm trying to move on, quick question that's going to seem ironic given what I said to Renata a few minutes ago, but do you like my suit?" He asked as he made his way back into the tower with her.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Suddenly, there was a massive commotion as the living room got more and more crowded, and more and more tired idiots lumbered inside. To be precise, the tired idiot was Casimir, stumbling around and passing right out on the floor. However, the exact spot where he fell happened to be...Wyatt's tail. Ohhhhhhhh crap...this was bad. Wyatt had once told him something about Dra'Quinni, something about...not touching or grabbing tails. It was like taboo for them! He wasn't even sure how he remembered that, usually he drifted off when Wyatt was embarking on long explanations of the Dra'Quinni. But somehow, he did remember that little detail, and oh boy, Casimir was going to get torn apart.

Or...not, as Wyatt carefully removed himself from Casimir, snapped at Renata, and sat in a chair sulking, before heading off on a walk with Alexis. Why was Wyatt so pissy today? He had been a bit sulky and moody ever since the sparring exercise five days ago, much like Carter had been before beginning his training. But ever since then, Wyatt's mood had gone up and down, while Carter's had improved back to its regular cheeriness. So what was up with dragon guy? Carter knew he was a little upset with the team ignoring him and not paying attention to him, but it wasn't like Carter or a good chunk of them team had been doing it to him? Right? Right...oh.

Oh man. When Wyatt had come out with him to meet Nazif, did he even say a word to him? Crap...he had completely ignored Wyatt. He couldn't believe it, he had completely ignored the poor guy and taken Nazif upstairs without saying a word to him or even acknowledging his existence! The more he thought over what had transpired, the more certain he became of the fact that he didn't speak to Wyatt.

The thought made him feel horrible inside, especially as Wyatt was possibly his best friend on the team. The thought of how upset Wyatt was made him feel even worse, the easy smile on his face that had been present quickly evaporating and melting to a nasty scowl, but one that was directed towards himself.

"You're such a scumbag!" he said to himself internally, berating himself for his idiocy. "Now he's not even gonna look at you! Congratulations, you've really screwed yourself over this time, buddy." he thought, his face now looking very bleak and conflicted.

This scowl only worsened upon seeing Kiris first get all friendly and bubbly with Angelica, before running up to Mars and deciding to give him another bear-hug, for like the 67th time today, and flaunting and showing off and getting all touchy and huggy. Seriously, did every goddamn team member need to preform constant PDA's in front of the entire team?! So goddamn disgusting....ugh.

He was so caught up in his internal anger and disgust that he didn't notice the woman in the lab coat enter until she spoke, something about the new team doctor. Doctor, huh...poor Jacob, did Naja fire him? Ah well, it didn't matter to him on a personal level anyways, he liked Jacob and all, but he didn't exactly know him well. As for the new doctor, he didn't exactly have too strong of a preference. In fact, he barely cared, still in a jealous, sad, and generally bad mood.

However, he still greeted her, lifting up his hand in a weak wave and a quiet "Hey Doc." before turning away, trying to see the baseball scores. And...the Twins lost...to the fucking Mets. Great. What a great start to the day, he just hurt his best friend, got to indulge in a live sex demonstration, and his team lost to a bunch of hat-wearing miserable sods. Unbelievable.'

But, as they say, there's nowhere to go but up from here.