Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Galnius]

Andrew (Jackrabbit) Donovan

Some people say that only those brooding superhero types watch from the shadowed ledges of a high rise building. One would find them sneaking around, angsting away about justice and whatnot. However, there was another type that would find themselves there. Within the superhero community, there were those born with a flair for the dramatic. It was almost like another superpower to them, really.

One such character waited above a developing crime scene. It seemed someone had stolen some expensive suit, made to replace tanks in the battle field. The armor was made to withstand armor piercing rounds, with the guns just as explosive. Said criminals had entered the two legged prototype, and the new LA recruit prepared to make his move.

"Now remember, do what you can to keep the machine in tact. The makers are quite serious about this, and if you wish to get paid you should heed their words."

Jackrabbit snorted, looking at the mech that was his primary target. That was the one part of the community he found himself disagreeing with. For some, the reward was their objective. It was, honestly, a bit sad. A lot of the younger ones were especially guilty of this. It got some killed some 19 or 20 years ago, and now more had appeared. He was unsure of these "Young Bloods"'s motives, but he hoped they were better. "There's civilians down there with it. You know that I'm prioritizing them, yeah? I've got a perfect record when it comes to casualties, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Just...try okay? This might be your mission, but us on the the support staff don't get paid as well as you."

For a moment, Andrew took that information into account before moving. However, the mech had moved on to seemingly go after a young girl who was unlucky enough to be in their path, having not evacuated in time. "Uh, let me get back to you on that." With a grin, the superhero fell from his perch. He fell at an astonishing rate, landing directly between the criminal entourage and the girl, one knee to the ground and his fist impacting. Most would find themselves dead or at least with hurt knees, but all the recoil seemed to go into the ground towards his targets. A cloud of dust and debris showered the mech thieves, causing all but the pilot to be taken out of the fight before it even began.

"What was that sound?" asked the irritated voice on the other side of the radio,

"Uh...I think this was a sidewalk?" Jackrabbit winked at the person he was determined to save as he replied. He knew it irritated his support staff, as they were the ones left with paperwork, but to be fair they were quite annoying at times. He heard a groan from his ear, and his smile widened. It was quickly wiped away,though, when a large barrel was aimed at him. He couldn't dodge, as the civilian behind him would not survive the attack. He didn't quite have the time to turn and save her, either, which left one option. His favorite option, truly.

Andrew kicked off before the attack was made, slamming his fist into the mech's gun. The barrel was sent flying, snapping from it's joint. "Right, I'm in a hurry, so let's make this quick, yeah?" He ignored the now half screaming half sobbing voice on the other wide of his earpiece. the pilot in shock decided fighting back was the best bet, it seemed, and had attempted to pound the hero into the dirt with an arm made for cracking through an armored truck's hull. It was torn like paper.

Jackrabbit had simply leaped forward, using all the force from the blow to propel him forward through the metal appendage. He arrived shortly at the cockpit, and pushed a hand through to grab the man inside. With a quick pull downward, he dragged the man to the ground and the mech. It goes without saying that the criminal surrendered himself rapidly.

As the police arrived to take away the detained, Andrew turned to the civilian he had saved. "So, I need to get you home then get on a flight. What's your address miss?"

"U-um. I'm on Lindley and Valerio", the girl replied. "Than-" The girl found herself cut off when she was picked up, bridal style. Jackrabbit launched off at a high speed, jumping rapidly on air until he reached the tops of the buildings. He made it comfortable, at least, keeping just around 80 and making sure to take the hit for any bugs that may have gotten in the way.

"Sorry miss, but I'm seriously in a hurry. Hell, I may even be late at this point." With a quick arrival (it was only a few blocks away), he set her down and gave a quick 'you're welcome' and a wave.

Jackrabbit quickly returned to his swift movement, moving at his top speed through the city. Shit shit shit, there's no way I'm going to be...

"You're late." Andrew sighed as the pilot gave him the bad news. Looking inside the jet, he found that Captain Quake and the others were already on board and ready to go. "Your bags are already in cargo. Hurry up."

The rookie hero smiled shyly and boarded. He was to head off to his first NASL tournament with the top team and favorite to win. He only hoped to live up to their expectations, and his own.

[Absolon-7]

Angelica

Wyatt

Viviana Couture September 12th
Summer had come and gone for Viviana and to much to her enjoyment it was a complete blast even though things had been pretty quiet when it came to heroics. Whether it was going on dates with Casi, pranking with Mizu, or hanging out with new friends like Angelica this summer had been proving itself a highlight of the year. This particular morning the brunette was struggling to close her brief case for the upcoming NASL tournament. Oh goodness they were going to actually completely in one of the largest events of the year! They'd finally get to show that the team was worth respecting in front of millions of people on the television and streaming. Millions of people. Millions would watch her compete. She paused for a moments of pushing down her luggage's lid to take a deep exhalation.

"Oh boy," hissed Viviana baring her teeth in nervousness.

She shook her head as she turned around and hopped up to land on the luggage. Thankfully it closed this time and this allowed her to zip it up. Now to get out of her pajamas. She quickly went through her morning routine and with a quick touch of make up she was done! She stepped out of her room in a sweater and jeans and found her way to the living room. Looked like it was quickly filling up but she spotted two fellows she just wanted to see.

"Hiya Angie and Wyatt. It's morning!," gleefully said Viviana giving the taller girl a quick side hug, "Good morning to you too Roy! I wouldn't mind having some of them pancakes."

At its mentions she winced at the memory of Casi and Jason mocking Captain Quake but thankfully that was in the past. He couldn't hold a grudge against them right? She tilted her head thinking of which team she'd like to face. Viviana tapped her cheek a few times before she came to a conclusion. She clasped her hands together as she said, "Jersey Jets sound perfect for ya Wyatt. You could wham into them whose the better dragon. I'd like to compete against the Philadelphia Flying Squirrels or the Vancouver Vixens. Both of em are really fun folk and I'd think they'd be pretty swell."


Casimir Herman September 12th
Casimir awoke from his bed with a enormous yawn scratching his scruffy head. He expected to be sore from head to toe but thankfully it seemed his body was slowly getting used to his extensive workouts at Dunkmaster's Gym. God I hate one handed pushups with thousand-pound vests... Every single afternoon since the for the past month and a half had been rigorous suffering for the sake of getting stronger. Bar a few times he took breaks for injuries from certain events that had transpired. Besides that he had also taken to train Ash in how to fight properly to hopefully get her to use her strengths properly. He began to get out of bed but instead rolled onto the floor and hit the floor with a thud with his blankets wrapping around his legs like a cocoon.

"Ah dammit," he cursed to no one in particular, "I expected to Viv to hit on me not the damn carpet."

As he got up he spotted his luggage for the tourney already packed nicely the night before. A smirk planted itself on his face as he thought of the upcoming event. This was it! His chance to get the recognition he deserved among the wider world. He was going to make a name for himself and there was not a damn thing anyone could do about it. He hoped Kiris would be happy for the team once she got back. He understood why'd she left to train for a while but that didn't mean he didn't mean he wouldn't miss his friend. On the other hand of the spectrum he could care less about that coward Carter leaving. After some morning stretches he headed down to the living room to see the team up and ready to eat. A good portion of the team was already there with Mike and Mizu making sandwiches for each other. And there looked to be a group at the table around Viv. He walked over to them and ruffled Viviana's head before he walked around to sit on the table's other side.

"Mornin, guys," said Casimir with a yawn at the end to Angelica and Wyatt.

"Hiya, Casi," greeted Viviana, "We're chattin bout which NASL team's we'd like to compete against."

"I don't really mind who I fight as long as they can keep up with me," said Casimir grabbing a plate of pancakes, "But if I had to choose I'd pick the Baltimore Braves. Those guys are hard as nails. Just perfect for me." He stuffed a pancake into his mouth but a spark of curiosity made him gulp it down, "Hey Roy, since you're our insider on the NASL can you think of any you wouldn't want the team to go against? I know a few are a bit rougher then others."

[Tomia]

In the Kitchen
"Ya I'm good Wyatt. My summer has been a lot less stressful now that Warwolf is gone. Though I've had to deal with the media and some annoying fans since those assholes leaked my identity..." Angelica said frowning at that thought. She smirked when Wyatt mentioned Captain Quake. "None taken, trust me I've wanted to punch him more than a few times myself."

Just then Viv ran up and gave Angelica a hug. It was still a little weird to her, being around affectionate people like this, but it was far from a bad thing to have to get used to. Viv and her had become fairly close in the month that followed the defeat of Warwolf. Between squad training, and hanging out with Alexis, Casimir, and the others, the two had bonded.

"Morning Viv" She said as she watched Roy walk over with a plate of pancakes.

"Here you go." Roy said as he set them in front of Viv and listened to his teammates talk about what teams they wanted to face. Then Casimir came in and asked Roy who he wouldn't want to face.

"Well personally, I'd rather avoid facing the Bluejays. Kylie is a friend of mine and all. Besides that, well I'd rather avoid some of the teams that take this thing too seriously. Like the Braves, the Pyros, the Defenders. I don't want to fight anyone who is willing to play dirty. Also the Freedom Fighters because..." He paused for a moment, realizing he was about to reveal something that was probably best left unsaid. "Well, they lose all the time you know? Would rather see them catch a break."

[Bentus]

Yoshiro/Scarab
August 30
Wonder Tower, San Diego

---

There was a brief, staccato knock on Roy’s bedroom door. Take a short step back, Yoshiro waited patiently as she felt the presence inside the room shift, before rising and approaching her. Offering the leader of San Diego’s newest superhero team a friendly smile as he spied her through the peephole, Yoshiro noticed that Roy seemed to hesitate from behind his door.

“Hey Roy, hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She called out across the barrier, knowing full well that Roy knew that she wasn’t the Yoshiro that she appeared to be. Although his knowing was part of what made it fun, admittedly. “Do you have a moment to talk? There’s something important I have to tell you.” The edge of her lips perhaps seemed to sneak upwards ever so slightly. “In private.”

Eventually, the Scarab heard the sound of a doorknob being turned and the door opened to reveal Nightshade standing in the entrance. “What’s up, Yoshi?”

Not waiting to be given permission, the girl confidently pushed past Roy and stepped into his room. “Oh, you know - the usual. I just wanted to come and check up on how you were doing, what with Kiris leaving and the tournament coming up.” Glancing around, Yoshiro scanned the sight that greeted her. She was almost disappointed to find that the boy’s room was more normal than she had expected. It was kept neat and composed, but there was nothing that immediately would have distinguished it from the bedroom of a regular teenager. Turning to meet Roy’s gaze, she offered him a knowing smirk. “Figured you could use a friend to talk to.”

Roy gave Yoshi a long look. He knew Scarab was up to something but if he reacted too negatively she might be prone to do something rash. He decided it was better to play along for now.

“I’m good. Thanks for checking in.” He said, flatly, not taking his eyes off her.

Meeting the boy’s eyes, Yoshiro studied his deadpan expression. He wasn’t giving anything away easily, and despite his neutral words his whole posture gave off an air of hostility. Sighing, Yoshiro planted her hands on her hips as she turned herself to properly face the hero.

“You’re good? That’s got to be the most non-committal response I’ve ever heard.” She scoffed, allowing a silence to hang as Roy seemed to have no interest in engaging in a conversation. Allowing a hint of irritation to peek through, the girl shifted uneasily. “So, you’re not going to ask me how I’m doing or anything, then?”

Roy looked over at Yoshi, wondering what game the scarab was playing.

"You're right, how rude of me. Is everything alright with you?"
Immediately, an excited smile burst onto Yoshi’s features as Roy popped the question. Waving her hands in the air - as if in exasperation - she quickly began to speak as if the flow of words all suddenly came stampeding from her lips. “Oh, I just don’t know anymore! So much has been happening recently, and while Warwolf were here it was easy to just ignore it all. But now that they’re gone, what we did is hitting me all at once. We went up against an army and won and yet now everyone seems to have just moved on like it was nothing.”

Yoshiro’s smile seemed to waver, with her nerves and concerns starting to appear. “I know that as a hero I’m supposed to be brave and all that, but...I just don’t know how you all do it.” Glancing up towards Roy, the girl offered him a sheepish smile as she listened to any response. However, rather than pay particularly close attention, her eyes lingered on the team leader’s features. Slowly, Yoshiro began to walk closer towards Nightshade.

“And then in the middle of when we needed him most, Red just left without saying anything.” Her voice had suddenly become softer, gentler as she approached the hero. “It kind of got me thinking of how we met back at the party, you know?” Reaching out, one of Yoshiro’s palms pressed itself on Roy’s chest. “It’s silly, but I started wondering how things could’ve gone differently. Between us, I mean.”

Roy flinched at Yoshi’s touch. He knew this was just the Scarab trying to mess, but still, the fact that she looked like Yoshi complicated things. Still, he wasn’t going to let himself get seduced by a monster possessing his friend.

“Well, that was a while ago Yoshi. Lot’s of things have changed, I have a girlfriend and you have a boyfriend.” He said, stepping back from her touch.

“I know. But what if I didn’t care about all that?” Seeing Roy’s reaction, Yoshiro pushed forward with each of his backpedalling steps until the hero found himself pressed up against the wall. With her palm still firmly placed against the taller boy’s chest, the telepath continued moving in close enough that there was hardly any space left between them. Her earlier nervousness seemed to have vanished and there was now a mischievous glimmer in the corner of her eye.

“Well I care.” Roy insisted, feeling increasingly more uncomfortable. He slipped away from the wall and Yoshi, a bit more forcefully this time.

Pouting as her quarry peeled her arm from his chest and hastily put some more distance between them, Yoshiro folded her arms across her chest. Looking over the hero, his reaction seemed to have taken her somewhat by surprise. Considering her options, a smirk slowly grew on the girl’s face as she realised what was happening.

“Oh, cheeky. You know who I am, don’t you?” A laugh escaped from Yoshiro’s lips, the sound of her voice even though she was nothing like the individual now controlling it. “So Naja actually did end up telling some of you? I thought she might.”
“I know who you are, and I know what you’ve done. You’re as clever as you think.” Roy said, anger filling his voice as he dropped the pretext. “I don’t know what you think this will accomplish, but whatever it is it won’t work.”

The Scarab seemed unphased. “Oh come on, you can’t say that you’re not a little bit interested. I have access to this brat’s memories, and I know a little bit of a spark when I see one. Plus, that’s how I know that she had feelings for you back then - even if she was too much of a coward to act on them.” Trying to once again step closer to Roy, she continued. “And this body doesn’t look too bad either, if I don’t say so myself. Maybe we could just have a bit of fun? If you succeed and get rid of me, who would ever know?” The girl grinned, reaching down towards the top button of her blouse. “You could think of it as something of a reward for all the work you’ve put in to the team.”

Roy grabbed Scarab by the wrist forcefully this time. “Interested in sleeping with my friend’s possessed body? No, I’m good. Yoshi might just be a ragdoll to you, but she’s a real person and she deserves better than this. So no thanks on the offer, but you can go fuck yourself instead.”

An irritated look flashed across Yoshi’s face, and for a second it looked like she was going to lash out for such an insult. But taking a breath, she seemed to contain herself and offered Roy a simple shrug.

“Fine then, have it your way.”

Before he could so much as blink, Yoshiro moved to within striking distance of Roy and launched her elbow up into his chin. The surprise blow sent his head rocking backwards and was intended to knock him off-balance. Reaching out with her hand, she planted her thumb and forefinger on Roy’s forehead and immediately punched through his skull with her mind and forced herself into his thoughts. When she next spoke, her words seemed to come from both her lips and echo throughout Roy’s head. It was as if a multitude of voices were all speaking at once, each one layering upon the last.

“I was going to do this the easy way, you know. I wanted you to let me in so that there’d be less risk of damage, but I don’t have time to play around if you’re going to be this obstinate.” As she was talking, the Scarab was pushing hard against Roy’s aura, compressing it and tearing at it as she reforged it to suit her own needs. She could feel a trickle of blood begin to run down her nose, but she ignored the splitting pain in her own head as she redoubled her efforts. As Roy’s features began to contort in pain as he felt thoughts that weren’t his own begin to overwhelm is conscious mind, he saw a menacing grin stretch across Yoshiro’s lips. “Red is up to something, and when he gets back I’m going to need some help to put a stop to whatever stupid plan he’s put together. And you, Nightshade, are going to be my ace in the hole.”

[Finland SSR]

Daniel Alpha, pre-skip

The Outriders, San Diego's first line of (lethal) defense!

August 6th

---

"Calm down, calm down," Isaac immediately started to speak when Solirlus lashed out, pointing his gun at everyone around him, screaming about heretical knowledge. Since when is reality warping a heresy... Since when do marines worry about heresy?! They're not... the Inquisition, right? "There's no heretics here. I mean, unless Sina worships Horus, I have no clue."

"Worship what?"

Dan was the next one on Isaac's metaphorical shit list. The guy had the audacity to neither confirm nor deny Sina's blatant naivete, and then promptly, as if trying to get under the Bolivian vigilante's skin, asked on the team's first mission. He didn't even go as far as to ask on whether he can join the team - hell, he wasn't even invited, and yet he already fashioned himself as one. That...

...what.

"We don't accept guys whose only power is that they're rich and have a death wish." Isaac shot back without hesitation. "Hell, more often than not, folks like you are our targets rather than allies - 'cause y'all are knee deep in the mafia and other shit. So, shoo."

---

Voice
August
Midtown, San Diego

---

Steven Baker.

August

---

Beverly took Steven's rant and the news drop... about as well as he might have expected. Hearing that Angie, after all those years, turned out to be alive, was as unbelievable to her as it had been to him. And, indeed, had Steven himself not witnessed her stand before him, he would have dismissed it as unbelievable, too. But, alas...

"That coffin was empty. They had never found her body, after all." Steven calmly refuted Beverly's response. "I know it sounds unbelievable and I couldn't have believed it myself... but it was her, I swear. As soon as I confronted her about it, she remembered everything - and almost destroyed the whole classroom in the process. As for how she's alive..."

The former hero sighed and slumped to a nearby chair, resting his forehead on his right hand. "I... don't know. I simply don't know." Conceding that he had no clue on the answer was never easy for him - even a slightly more accurate guess was better than simply not knowing. And yet...

A few seconds of silence passed. "...What do you need help with?"

---

Bael

The Mad Lass, Sina As'tari!

August 8th

---

Bael paid no mind to her flailing response and was instead straight to the point. The same coffee shop and diner where they had met the first time, out front, and he's gonna be in his scaleless form. All sounds fair. It still feels really weird to be talking over a distance with these symbols, though. How do the scaleless manage it every day?

Regardless, Sina nodded to herself, put her phone back in her loincloth, then looked down to see where she was at - only to witness nothing but a vast sky and clouds below her and realize that she was still flying upside down. Oh, yeah, right. So, instead, the Dra'Quinni vigilante went for a spin, descending towards the city like a torpedo and finally picking herself up at the last second, speeding past street after street. The place Bael mentioned... wasn't far from here, actually. It was, in fact, so close that she almost missed it - however, she caught wind of where she was heading at the last second, spread her wings to serve as a makeshift parachute, and roll-crashed on the roof of the shop.

While rolling, Sina activated her Glamour spell, and stopped to a halt at the last possible second, on the very edge of the rooftop.

"Ta-daa!" she yelled out, mostly to herself. Now, unless Bael was already here, she had to look forward to a lot of boring waiting time sitting on the edge of the roof and watching the front of the diner...

[Zarkenis Ultima]

September 12th

---

---

"Sure thing, Curiosity." The blonde girl replied without looking at Mars, eyes glued to her cellphone, engrossed in the most honorable task of creating and posting memes to the various Young Bloods fan pages that had popped up all over the internet and its social media sites as of late. Taking a momentary pause from her endeavor, Alexis snapped her fingers instead of reaching for the tool that Mars needed and then quickly returned to her phone. Right on cue, a small, pink winged robot flew up to the blowtorch and picked it up - the tool was nearly as large as it was, but it seemed to have no issues in taking off again and delivering its cargo to the genius boy that stood not far from its master.

Ever since the end of Warwolf's tyranny and the Cabal's terror, Alexis had been happily free from deployment - and, at the same time, she had been busier than ever. To the young tech wizard, having to work on repairs and maintenance for Oberon and the rest of her gear was no surprise, but she hadn't anticipated the sheer volume of help requests she would get, from a ring for one of their newest recruits, Ava Waldstein, to Cassandra's oddly specific 'upgrades', not to mention Mars' requests for help with Rocket's redesign and all the maintenance work she had to do on her companions' gadgets and gear. On the whole, under normal circumstances, this would not have been too difficult for her to keep up... but adding onto it her newfound duties as a squad leader and her unexpected yet fulfilling budding relationship with Angelica, it was too much. She was swamped, and even with a full 24 hours of productivity a day there was no way she'd be able to deal with it all.

The answer, of course, was to get some more hands on deck! Now, naturally, not just anyone would do - there weren't a lot of her teammates with the skill required for fine engineering work and the few that did already had their own duties to see to, not to mention her work wouldn't speed up too much. But what if she made her own assistants? It was this idea that led her - and Mars, whose help she had enlisted in exchange for assisting with Rocket 2.0 - to divert some of their time to design and assist Alexis' little helpers. Now, over a dozen of them were currently flying around the lab, most of them gathered around Oberon to do some last minute maintenance for the tournament, while a few other tidied up the place, as now that she had a lab partner she had to take better care of the place. Luckily, the 'robo-fairies' as she'd taken to calling them would make sure that the place stayed tidy while they went off to New York, as well.

"Change this word, put this face here... and voila!" She smiled at her latest masterpiece before uploading it to 'YB memes for faux-depressed teens'. Putting her cellphone back in the pocket of her denim miniskirt - she'd been trying to start dressing nicer since the morning of the 5th - she glanced over at Mars' work.

"Nice work so far, partner! Looks about ready for our trip to NYC." The genius girl said with a friendly smile and a pat on the back. "If you're done here for the moment, what do you say we head up to the tower for some breakfast? You'll need plenty of energy for what's coming." She suggested. She also wanted to grab some breakfast as an excuse to see her girlfriend, of course, but she kept that part to herself. After all, bringing that up might be insensitive, given how Mars' own girlfriend was taking some time away from the team at the moment.

[Aidannadia]

Darkness. Weight. Pitch could feel the debris sharply poking into her, just barely held back by her armor. She struggled to lift it, grunting desperately. The weight of debris meant she could barely breath as she heaved it off of herself and slipped out of it. She could feel the dust gather on her face and looked around. The some of those that had been meeting seemed fine, while others were knocked over by the force of the impact.

"What hit the wall? Some RPG?" She looked out and saw none other than the Goatman, standing proudly, hopping off his hot rod, crackingt his knuckles.

"Hello." The Goat said as his neck cracked sickeningly, still meandering over to Pitch. "I hear you call yourself a vigilante, but you could hardly be called a hero. You break people for the fun of it."

He stomped over, grabbing her by the head and lifting her limp body as she struggled against his grip, kicking and scratching wherever she could reach. "Don't get me wrong; I admired the sentiment, but I thought maybe you'd be someone I could come to respect. Now, I see you are just a child, hardly worth the effort." He stared into her eyes, gently petting her masked face as she stared, wide-eyed and wild back at him. She spit in his face, the pitch covering it completely. The Goat simply tore it off like a band-aid. "That won't work on me little one. Now, let's see if we can get you out of your little turtle shell." He grimaced as he turned suddenly and propelled her through the wall of the building over. Several of the guards looked on, unsure of what contribution was needed on their part, but the Goat waved them off.

The beast closed the gap between the buildings with a few leaps to find Pitch struggling to stand. His eyebrow ridge raised in curiosity. "You can take a hit. I'll give you that." He stomped back over to her and she jumped back, pulling a piece of rubble to collapse on the Goat. At first, it seemed to cover him completely. The room was silent, and then rumbling was heard from the pile of debris. The pile exploded with the Goat's strength, sending several piece to collide with Pitch once more. "Clever, little one, but play time is over."

He lifted her once more. She did not resist this time.

First, he slammed her into the ground. Then, he lifted her again, crashing into her with his horns and sending through the far wall. She raised herself weakly,trying to prepare herself for the impact, barely able to lift her arms in defense. The Goat leaped forward, crashing his fists into her armor and her arm gave way with a sickening crack. Her armor was completely shattered by the impact. She fell to the ground, and the Goat stomped on her chest for good measure, leaving her in a puddle of black ooze on the ground, not even able to control her powers at this stage.

As she lay there in her failure, she cursed the gods. She cursed this monster. She cursed the world for what it was.

And then, she faded off into darkness.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

August 4th

---

As soon as Icarus heard that voice, he turned to look at her. A part of him was happy, elated even, to hear her voice. It was like a soothing song after the hell he had been through - a literal hell, perhaps, he thought as he reflected on his mortal wound. And yet, another part of him did not want to face her. He did not want her to see him, not like this, not after... whatever it was that had happened to him. For a moment, he simply stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do.

"Renata, I..."

He quicky trailed off, not knowing what to say. What could he say? How was he supposed to pick out words to explain something that he didn't fully understand, himself? And if he tried to convey what he did know... how would that make things better? Knowing what his girlfriend was like, if he told her that he had been shot by an assassin from Warwolf...

Icarus let out a sigh. He hadn't realized, but he'd spent a few moments now looking at his feet, a look of anxiety on his face. Suddenly, he looked up and walked up to her, gingerly taking her hand into his own.

"...I'm happy to see you." He said. It was not a lie, at least.

For what seemed like an eternity, Renata had waited for any sort of answer. Seeing Icarus in this state, seeing him here, seeing him struggle to answer, it all sent her heart racing and a million possible answers flooding her mind, each one worse than the last. And, thankfully, she finally received something.

A blush formed on Renata's face as soon as Icarus took her hand and the faintest smile appeared when the blonde vigilante finally finished his sentence. It explained nothing about what had happened to him, but... it assured her that this was still the Icarus she knew.

"So am I..." she muttered. "I ran as soon as I heard about what happened, that you were put to the infirmary, and... Um, what did happen?"

The blond boy smiled affectionately at her as she responded in kind to his words, but as soon as he heard her question what was it that had brought him to Wonder Tower, his troubled expression returned, and he averted his gaze.

"To tell you the truth... I'm not entirey sure, myself." He admitted. He'd been told plenty about what he'd done to his best friend and the people who were with him, admittedly, but he was still just as clueless about the underlying causes of that as the rest of them. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looked at Renata once more.

"I can tell you what I know, but, do you mind if we talk elsewhere?"

"Oh, uh..." Clearly, whatever had happened to Icarus, it was troubling him a lot - the mere mention of it got his face sour and him unable to answer, instead opting to take the conversation elsewhere. That's the least she could grant. "That's... fine. I know just the place."

Carefully grabbing ahold of Icarus' hand, Renata led him forward, passing through a few corridors before finally stopping in front of one of the numerous doors dotting the walls, her room specifically. A faint blush of embarrassment struck her face as soon as the pink-haired girl led her boyfriend inside - not only was she inviting him to her room, but it was also a complete mess. The announcement of the mission had gotten her completely unprepared and she thus had to run out of her room in haste.

"This would be fine, right?.." Renata spoke up, hesitation immediately rushing to her mind. "Or-or do you prefer somewhere else? Outside, or... anywhere which isn't as messy..."

Icarus simply shook his head. "This is fine, don't worry."

The young man ignored the mess and walked over to sit on the bed and then let out a weary sigh, the only sound to come out of him for several moments - he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Eventually, he shook his head as if to clear his mind. "I, er... hell, where do I start..." He muttered to himself, pausing for another moment before fianlly looking up at Renata. "Well... last night, I was home watching the news - that was when that video of what Warwolf did got released, remember?" He said, referring to the footage that proved that it was Warwolf, rather than him, Blackout, who had participated in the murder of three teens.

The teen went on to relate everything else that had happened to him that night: the call for help, his trip to the mountains, his fateful duel and apparent victory against a Warwolf assassin that didn't seem to answer to General Rather and, finally, the moment he was shot through the back and collapsed under the rain.

"I don't remember what happened afterwards, the next thing I was conscious of was waking up here. But... well, if you've talked to your friends, you'll know there was a lot more to it." He sighed. "I... I was out there wreaking havoc for some reason. I hurt them. I could've killed them if they had been just a bit more careless."

His hands clenched into fists, crumpling the bedsheets he sat on. "This hasn't been my best Friday."

"I see..." Renata muttered under her breath as Icarus finished his explanation. Not a great Friday to go through indeed... However, the pink-haired girl's lips slowly curved to a smile. Gently, she wrapped her arm around the vigilante's neck, pulling herself closer to him.

"Don't worry. You're back to your normal self, right? And Casimir and others don't feel bitter about it? That's all that matters." she explained and briefly pecked on Icarus' cheek to help calm him down. "And you know what also matters? Warwolf is gone for good."

The heroine's smile grew just a little bit brighter. "While you were... gone, me and the rest of the Young Bloods got to fight them head-on. The Stars were there, and the Sea Monsters... and Warwolf self-destructed any and all chances they had. Their contract's been terminated. You won't have to hide anymore..."

Renata gently brushed a lock of Icarus' hair away from his face. "...and neither will we."

The blond boy let out a small smile as he heard his girlfriend's words. "That would be nice, wouldn't it?" He said, his voice softer than usual. "...But it's not true. I'm still the man who assaulted cops and fought Armorer, remember?" He continued, chuckling at the memory. It was so distant now. It was so distant, even though it had been less than two month ago - so much had happened since then, things both terrible and wonderful.

Suddenly, Icarus placed an arm around the girl and gently pulled her closer to him, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers. "...I'm sorry, Renata." He said, his voice betraying genuine regret - her words had brought to his attention the fact that she yearned for the one thing he had not given her, the one thing he likely wouldn't be able to give her. "Whatever you thought your first relationship would be like... it probably didn't involve having to keep it a secret from everyone. And yet, here we are." He sighed, pulling away from the girl and looking into her eyes.

"You deserve so much more..."

"What?!.."

Renata tried to raise her voice to make it seem that she was angry, furious that Icarus would even dare suggest such a thing - and yet, all that came out was a weak, defeated voice. Was he not correct? For the longest time, she placed all she had on the hope that, as long as he is acquitted and Warwolf is evicted, everything will go back to being calm and simple again. And yet... it was never going to be that easy.

For a few seconds, the girl remained silent, struggling to even open her mouth, but, finally, she started speaking:

"Icarus... people don't get these sorts of things because they deserve them. Their lives are not pre-ordained." Renata struck an ever so faint smile. "You're the person I love, that's just how it is. And nothing won't ever change that."

Gently, she placed her hand onto Icarus' cheek. "Remember when this was reversed? When I was the one who was afraid that we'll never see each other again, and you were the one who assured me that hope is still out there?.. Can't I ask you the same?"

The young man smiled wearily at his girlfriend's touch, placing his hand above hers. "Well, of course. I'm not scared that I won't see you again - no amount of capes or mercenaries is going to achieve that." He said with a chuckle. "It's just that I'd like to give you what I want... but I can't. Not like this." He squeezed her hand lightly, pulling it away from his cheek but continuing to hold it.

A deep breath. "Sorry if I'm not, well, the same as always. I'm just so... tired." He admitted, looking away. "I haven't stopped at all, not since I got these powers. I haven't had the chance. Everything just kept happening, one thing after the other - hell, now I look like a freak. I couldn't rest even in..." He trailed off briefly, reconsidering his use of the word 'death' and letting out a sigh. "It's all been too exhausting. I'm tired." He spoke. Tired of trying to be a hero, of trying to be strong, of trying to just survive. He would've told himself that it was only since he got his powers, but in truth, everything had been so hard since...

Icarus continued staring off into the nothing for a moment, appearing to be lost in thought. "You know, I... I remember a little more than what I told you earlier. I think I had a dream, some time after I collapsed. I don't remember it well, but there was a dark place, a field of white flowers, and... I saw my mother. She wasn't smiling or anything, I'm not sure if she recognized me or even saw me, but she was there." He paused briefly, looking back up at Renata. "Maybe that's why I was so angry when Casimir found me."

True to his words, he sounded very tired.

"I miss her..."

Renata remained silent for a few seconds, letting the impact of Icarus' confession sink in, while she herself mulled over all the cards which the vigilante put down. What's she even supposed to advise him here? Offering him to rest or take a vacation would be quite hypocritical of her, when she had been gritting her teeth and pushing through adversity on sheer spite alone for the last week or so, wouldn't it?

"You know... I've been feeling the same." the heroine muttered, weakly, while looking down to the floor. "It's been a difficult few weeks over here, too. I've had to worry about you ever since... that happened, all the enemies we're facing are more and more threatening, to the point where my life is on the line. Then one of our teammates gets kidnapped, I keep getting into conflict with the team... it all feels like an avalanche leading to nowhere."

Renata released a defeated sigh. Her hands were tightly clenching onto the fabric of the bed underneath and her mind craved for something to release her frustration against. And yet, nothing came up. "I-I don't know... I don't know what to say... What do you think we should do?"

"Well... nothing." The blond boy stated, looking up at the ceiling. "We still have our problems - Zeus knows I have a whole lot of them - but... Warwolf's gone, the Cabal's gone, all the pressing threats are gone." He spoke. His hand fell on top of Renata's clenched fist, giving it a light squeeze.

"So just... nothing. Just one night. That should be fine, shouldn't it?" He asked, looking straight into Renata's eyes and slowly, almost hesitantly leaning towards her. A deep blush instantly rolled across her face as she came to realize the implication. And yet, against better judgment, she did not try to resist. Seeing her boyfriend slowly inch towards her cleared out all the frustration and all the worry in her mind, her lips curving to a smile.

"I take it you're not tired now, are you?"

What else was there to say? With all the doubt in her mind cleared out, Renata suddenly leapt at him.

[The Republic of Atria]

Sina

Wyatt tried to be quick about his walk over, sorely regretting the choice to not just fly, but he was really trying to avoid attention to himself. The Young Bloods, and by extension, him, were all over the news. Their triumph over the Cabal and Warwolf still had them in the spotlight, for better or for worse. And it was only going to be for a few minutes. He could only hope Sina was nice enough to do the same, but he had his doubts.

Doubts that were confirmed when he saw her sitting on the roof, glamoured, but still on the roof. "Sina!" He called a little annoyed. "This isn't what I meant when I said to meet up here! I meant... Down here or inside! Get down before someone sees you and calls the cops!" He was sure that they had much more to deal with at the moment and would probably push "weird chick sitting on the roof of a diner" down to the bottom of their priorities but he'd still rather not get involved with them. On the bright side, she seemed like she would fit in N'toak just fine.

He still didn't have much of a plan for going there. Maybe he'd just grab some food from his parents and go eat somewhere nice. That sounded like a nice simple date. The term date bounced around his head like a pinball. Sure, he was... Friends with Sina, but she was so unpredictable and it made it difficult to want to hang out with her more often. He didn't want to end up in trouble, especially in a city he barely knew the laws of.

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars thanked Alexis as the robot fairy handed him the tool. It was strange working with AI, but he had to admit they were very useful. He smiled at his fellow techie's compliment. "I hope so. There's still some diagnostics to run though, and I want to run some simulations on the nano-tech's heat resistance, I'm a little worried that intense temperatures will cause molecular destabilization which will compromise the interchangeability function..." Mars rambled off until he finally realized that Alexis had asked him a question.

"Uh sure, ya breakfast, let's do that." He said, still looking a little distracted as he put down his tools and stood up. The pair headed upstairs to the kitchen and they could smell the pancakes and bacon as they cooked. Mars had to admit he was kind of hungry. His non stop preparation had meant that he wasn't exactly eating three meals a day.

When they arrived, Angelica noticed the pair walking in and smiled brightly. Even despite moving out the ice hero still saw her girlfriend pretty much everyday, but still seeing her walk into a room never seemed to get old. She got up from her seat and met them on their way.

When she reached Alexis, she leaned down and pulled her into a gentle kiss.

"Hi" She said, a giddy smile on her face after pulling apart from the kiss.

Mars couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness at the display. He was happy for his friends of course, but it reminded him that his own girlfriend was literally on another planet.

The two techies weren't the only arrivals to the kitchen. a young huskie came rushing into the room. This was Quinn, who Roy had adopted after he and Wendy had taken down an illegal dog breeding ring. Quinn's tail wagged frantically as he rushed up to Roy, who took a break from cooking to pet his new friend.

"Hey buddy, sorry no pancakes for you." He then chuckled at the cute puppy dog look he received in response.

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
Wonder Tower Kitchen
September 12th

Ever since the fight with Icarus and the NASL announcement, Mike had found himself distracted and jumping from thought to thought as he tried to figure out what was best for him, the squad and the team as a whole. His first idea was that practice could help but the training exercise had been… interesting at best. On one hand, pretty much everything ended up backfiring disastrously, and he was pretty sure that Casimir wanted him dead, or at least slightly more than usual. Yet despite the many flops, he felt a little more aware of his team. Tadeo was probably the most diversely equipped but also a bit overcautious at times, Casimir could actually think on his feet and adapt at a moment's notice but was also a complete hotheaded idiot who couldn't follow instructions, Elle meanwhile was great ranged support fighter or at least she was whenever she happened to be around and Mizu…

"There, done! Back on Town Luna, we call this one the 'Apollo Special'! It wakes you up from drowsiness in a single bite!"

Mizu had heart. Even after his dumb exercises, plans and her own sudden extra workload from space school, she still went out of her way to try and keep everyone’s spirits up and help wherever she could. Even now she had agreed to his dumb idea of cooking with her own stupid smile and dumb bubbly warmth. Sure he suggested it and was enjoying himself but that was obviously just because he liked cooking, him asking Mizu to join him was purely for the team. ‘I should really get the others to do something like this too…’ he remembered as he quickly pulled his gaze away from the lunarian.

As great as she happened to sound sometimes though, her good nature was also her biggest flaw. For someone without much experience and stuck with a giant Achilles Heel, she had a bad habit of throwing herself into danger. Even in their training match, she managed to put herself in harms way to try and protect others and Mike still had no idea how he could stop her. The whole thing was beyond irritating for him.

Say ahh~

Maybe it was experience, some hidden sixth sense or him being able to notice a tell-tale glimmer in her eyes but a seed of doubt planted itself in Mike the moment the girl offered him a bite. ‘And that’s the other flaw’ he thought to himself as he raised an eyebrow and came to a decision. Before the other girl could react, he snatched the other sandwich from the plate and popped it into Mizu’s still open mouth as he bit into the bread she still offered him. It might not have been the smartest move but he was at least 90% sure she had done something to the sandwich and if he was going down then at the very least he’d try to take her down with him.
‘Huh… This actually isn’t too bad. Did I make a mist- oh nope there it is. OH MY GOD MIZU WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!?’ he began to practically shout in his head as he tried to hold back a few tears and maintain a poor excuse for a poker face.

“Delishosh.” He eventually managed to mumble through a burning mouth.

[Finland SSR]

Mike Mathews
Wonder Tower Kitchen
September 12th

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

September 12th

---

Out of all the ways how Mike could have reacted to being offered a sandwich from her platter, he picked the one she least expected. Right as she raised the sandwich in her hand to place it in her teammate's mouth, he picked up an another one and shoved it straight into hers. The purple-haired eyes instantly widened with shock - however, much like Mike, she stuck to her guns, even if the spicy chilli underneath the ham was burning her mouth. For a few seconds, the two teenagers stood in awkward silence, munching on the sandwiches in their mouths, until Mike finally spoke up and Mizu gulped.

"...Fine, you won this time." The girl conceded, immediately started panting from the chili and frantically ran to the counter to fill up two glasses of water, one for herself and one for Mike. She didn't even wait for her teammate to say whether he wants the glass or not - with one hand, she extended it to him, and with the other, she swiftly downed her own.

"...Well I was right, wasn't I?" Mizu spoke right after. Even if she got her prank turned against her, she didn't seem to be harboring any resentment for it, and instead struck a smile. After all, that was quite the clever trick. "You're definitely not gonna be sleepy after having that sandwich."

---

Bael

The Mad Lass, Sina As'tari!

August 8th

---

It didn't take too long for Bael to finally show up - however, when he did appear, the first thing he opened up with was demanding her to get down to the ground, before someone sees her and calls the cops. Really? That's the first thing which comes to his mind? Sina didn't see a problem with it, but opted to acquit nonetheless - the Dra'Quinni vigilante leapt down, latching out to the edge of the window below her and dropping down ever so slightly with each step until she safely reached the ground.

"Aw, come on, Bael, you don't need to be so worked up about it," she stated with a smile on her face. "Your human peers do that all the time, too. I even saw one of 'em jump off - he didn't have wings, though, so I have no clue what he was thinking..."

Sina wrapped her arms behind her head. "So, I guess ya lead the way."

[United Kingdom of Poland]

August 9th

“Okay Roy.” Wendy whispered as she watched her boyfriend dart into the shadows of a suspected bank robber hideout. She’d managed to track the gang via the cities CCTV network back to this location, helped by her own experiences as a kid. “They’re still inside, but I can’t see anything inside.”

“Don’t worry about that, Wendy.” Roy responded over their radio. “I’ll handle things on my end just fine once you cut the power.”

“Sure you don’t want Spot as backup?”

Wendy heard her boyfriend chuckle. “This isn’t my first rodeo. Besides, I feel better with him watching your six.”

Giving the robo-wolf next to her a quick scratch behind her ears, She dipped pulled out a notepad and began hacking the city's electrical grid, causing the buildings panel to spark and the lights to go out. Roy disappeared into the shadows, Wendy picking up the occasional sound through his earpiece as he went through the gang like a knife through butter. The harsh growling from Spot drew her attention to something behind her, causing her to turn around to find another figure standing on the roof with her.

He was like a tower, built for battle and possessing the fortitude to match. In his short time, the villain had made quite a name for himself and the team he represented, almost to the point that he required no introduction as he approached the young heroine. “You seem tense,” Mustafa Gaul stated, “Like you’ve seen a ghost.” He cautioned his approach, however, as the girl’s robotic guard dog take stance and growled, the supervillain giving it some pause.

“Hard to tell if you know me or not, but I do know you.” He said with a sinister smile, “Surely you’ve been dreading this moment, when someone finally comes for you, when your past is given up to the world and someone with deep enough pockets and strong enough muscles comes to collect.” Putting his hands up defensively, he had to restate some things, “That came off as a lot more evil than I intended, but let’s just say I heard about your family ties on the television when literally everyone else did, and my associates and I are looking to expand our numbers some.”

“We want you to join Orion.” Gaul said outright, “I’d like for you to come with me, let’s talk about this a bit more in-depth, what it entails, and exactly how much we know about each other.” The words stuck in the air for a moment, Gaul having carefully followed the instructions of Walt Bismarck prior to his mission, the man held no pieces of technology, not even a cellphone, earpiece, nothing, knowing what Wifi was capable of was up in the air aside from assumptions. The girl was the one who broke through the firewalls Leskinen used, which were older, primitive styles Walt sold to the roboticist alongside basic model frames to make his mech-wolf vision a reality, all paid for by the deliciously deep pockets of Lycan for it’s baby, Warwolf. Gaul now stood face to face with the technology, the girl seeming to have made her own touches on the devices. “What do you say?” He asked finally, relaxing his posture, hoping to convey himself as more than just a brutal, hero-killing villain.

Taking a small step back, Wendy looked at her options. She was well aware who Gaul was, and didn’t buy his nice guy act for a second. She really didn’t have a choice but to follow him though. Gaul was so far out of her league it would have been an ant fighting a lion, and she had no illusions that Roy or anyone else would be able to reach her in time. “Roy, are all set in there? I have to check something out real quick.”

“Yeah, I’m almost done here.” Roy replied. “Need me to come over?”

“Just a possible car theft in progress. I can handle it myself.” She replied before turning off the radio. Turning back to Gaul, she crossed her arms. “I suggest we get going… and if you try anything, my dog will rip your throat out.”

Gaul unfolded his arms and gave the heroine a smile, “Usually that takes a bit more time, and often, people want to fight right away.” He nodded for the girl to follow, removing the pair from the rooftops. “Thank you for taking the time to talk this through. Let me be frank and upfront, the world knows who you are and the dark past you wanted to keep hidden. I am with Orion, those dastardly villains, so on, so forth, bottom line:” He said, walking casually beside Wendy, her mechanical companion never more than a single step away.

“We want you to work for us. And by work, I mean actual, paid work. We have several jobs and options that may interest you, we have resources far exceeding what the Young Bloods could bring. We can also offer protection of the highest caliber, no need to worry about your past when your future is secured.” Gaul said with a smile, “You don’t have to come now, but I do want you to mull it over. You don’t need to quit the Young Bloods, either, there’s a special situation we can afford you if you’re willing to play ball with us and them.”

“Let me go ahead and say right now, if you’re thinking it, we don’t have any interest in infiltrating the Young Bloods, gaining information on them, or subverting them. They simply do not interest us, we keep to different circles of heroism and villainy, if you catch my drift. You have an opportunity to expand your horizons immensely, my teammates are very keen to work with you and see what you’re capable of. Give it some thought, let me know what you’re thinking.” Gaul asked, circling the block, trying his best to recruit the heroine. “I have some examples of work you would be doing, if that would pique your interest as well.”

The young heroine stopped in her tracks. She didn’t believe Gaul for a second when he said Orion wasn’t worried about her team, but at the same time couldn’t deny that if her suspicions were right, she’d be in the perfect place to gather some intelligence of her own. “You wouldn’t happen to have those examples on a CD or flash drive?” She asked. “I just want to be sure you’re not asking me to set up assassination attempts against other hero teams. Oh… cut the bullshit about having no interest in the Youngbloods. I can think of at least two people you and your boss would like to get their hands on thanks to their family connections… not that I wouldn’t complain about you breaking one of their necks.”

Gaul put up his hands innocently, earning a growl from Wendy’s companion, which he brushed off. “I will admit that the Young Bloods have come up in conversations and planning, but none of which we are willing to act on. I can’t put it more bluntly, more assholish, than saying you aren’t on our radar as much as you think. How many times has Orion clashed with the Young Bloods, or one of our agents runs up on one of y’alls, or vice versa? We’re on opposing sides but we run in entirely different circles.” He explained, moving on to her next point. “My superiors gave me a run down of what you’re capable of, and advised me to not bring a single piece of technology with me.”

“However,” He continued, taking out a normal pen and sticky-note pad, writing down a phone number. “Dial this in, and we can show you the things we would like done. One of my men helped design the firewalls and protections Dr. Leskinen used, and knew you had breached them. I can tell you right now that assassination isn’t on the agenda, but you can agree that strongest weapon in ones’ arsenal is knowledge, no? If I had to guess, I would assume my bosses want to get more identities known to themselves, but I don’t know. I just follow orders.”

With that, Gaul began to break away from the girl and her mechanical wolf. “I think that’s about it, though. Call that number and await further instructions. Or don’t. All up to you now, Wendy.” He said with inflection and a slight smile, seemingly enjoying himself that he was among the many who knew her true identity now, fading away into a darkened side street, and disappearing altogether soon after.
-------------
“You What!”

Wendy winced as both Roy and Naja screamed at her after she told them about her run in with Gaul. “I was approached by Gaul to join his little villain group.” She repeated as calmly as she could. “And I think it might not be a bad idea.”

“Not a bad idea?” Roy repeated, incredulously. He was standing next to Naja’s desk now. “Wendy these people killed Solar! They are violent, unstable murderers. There’s no way you are just going to walk into whatever hole they hide in!”

“You think I don’t know that.” Wendy gave the two a disgruntled sigh. “I also know that they’re going to be a problem for us eventually. Judging by their attack pattern they’re at least based in Southern California, if not San Diego itself. This is an opportunity to get ahead of the problem for once before it bites us in the ass.”

“Except you have no idea what they actually want with you, or what you’ll have to do to keep your cover. This isn’t something you do lightly Wendy. This is the kind of thing you don’t come back from.” Roy told her, both fear and anger in his voice.

“Wendy, Roy is right. If you really want to do this. You have to be aware of the cost. If they ask you to locate someone in witness protection, or hack a hero’s cell phone to find their location, are you willing to do those things for the sake of the mission?”

Wendy nodded. “I am. This won’t be the first time I’ve had blood on my hands and if I’m in the information loop whoever their targeting will at least have a heads up and a chance to fight back.” She paced back and forth across the room. “I’m never going to be able to escape my past Roy, the last months made that painfully clear to me… but by putting it to good use, maybe I’ll finally be able to make peace with it.”

Roy’s expression softened at that. “Wendy, I know you have something to prove to yourself. Believe me, I’ve been there. But… Do you have to throw yourself into the fire to do it?” He said, worry in his voice. “If I lost you…”

“I… I know Roy.” Wendy admitted after taking a deep breath. “Listen if it makes you feel better Roy, from what Gaul explained I’d be more of an off site consultant. Whoever’s Gauls boss has enough paranoia not to let me into their secret lair on the first day. And if I get even the smallest wiff that their on to me I’ll pull the plug myself.”

With a pained look Roy nodded, “Alright, but I want to be your outside contact. Anything goes wrong I’m coming in to get you.”

The corner of Wendy’s mouth crept up in a small smile. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” She walked to Naja. “I’ll keep you and Roy informed about anything I find, but I don’t want to bring the rest of the team in on this yet. I doubt any of them are on Orion’s payroll, but with our teams size and turnover rate, there's too much of a chance someone will let something slip accidentally.”

Naja nodded grimly. “Very well, this is a dangerous mission Wendy. The two of us will support you the best we can.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.” Wendy replied before walking out of the office. Heading outside she pulled out the phone number Gaul had given her and called it. “Okay. I’m in. Where do you want to meet?”

[Aidannadia]

"Hey buddy, sorry no pancakes for you." He then chuckled at the cute puppy dog look he received in response.

"Hello, Marvin." Tad said, appearing beside him, perched on the bench awkwardly close. "Hello, Quinn." The puppy wagged his tail.

"How is your mechanical monstrosity doing?" Tadeo continued, trying to float a plate of pancakes over to him with the beckoning of a finger. The plate wiggled and buckled, threatening to fall over at the slightest breeze before it landed safely in front of the wizard. "I've heard you've been making improvements to your design for this um.... festival thingy that's happening." Tad waved his fork in a dismissive manner between bites of pancakes. "Honestly, if it wasn't for Casimir and Michael insisting I should think I wouldn't be going at all..."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

August 5th

---

Naja awoke with a start. She'd spent the whole night locked in her office dealing with all the media attention the Young Bloods had gotten during the previous day's missions and while their reception had been positive overall, there was still a lot of work to do before their role as San Diego's heroes would be properly cemented. At some point, she'd fallen asleep, and some time later a knock on the door brought her back to the waking world. A quick glance at the window informed her that it was early morning, the day's first rays of sunlight streaming in through her office's open window. Who could it be? Red isn't back from his trip yet, is he? The snake woman thought, rubbing her eyes. There was another knock on the door, and she stood up from her couch. "Coming."

She didn't expect to see a tall blond boy standing in front of her as she opened the door. She had to do a double take before finally stepping aside to let in her guest. "Come in." She said, directing him to a nearby chair and closing the door behind him.

Icarus walked into the office, keeping his arms to his sides as he took a quick look around the place. He was clearly uncomfortable, though less so because of where he was - after all, he'd already been to Naja's office once before and talked to her alone - and more so because of his attire. Torn pants and a t-shirt borrowed from Casimir, which was the wrong size and tight around the shoulders, didn't make for the best presentation, but it was all he had at the moment. Sitting down in front of the snake woman's desk, he cleared his throat to speak, but Naja beat him to it.

"I didn't expect to have you over again so soon, Mr. Sarantos."

The young man scoffed. "He's in jail if it's him you're looking for." He stated. A brief pause and a sigh later, he added: "How do you know?"

"I'm not a fool, Blackout. You hid your identity from the public well enough but after your last visit it wasn't hard to figure out, especially since I have been keeping an eye on Thomsen High." Naja explained with a smile. It only made sense, given how many of the teens under her supervision went to school there.

Icarus nodded. He supposed that even with Renata and Casimir being careful about using his real name, their displays of affection and camaraderie offered a wealth of information to someone with an eye for detail. "At least it's you who found out about it and not someone else."

"Your secret's safe with the team, Icarus." The snake woman replied. "Now, was there something you needed from me?"

Hearing the fateful question, the blond boy took a deep breath. "Actually... I'm here to ask for help." He admitted. "Don't get me wrong, even if it's landed me in a tough spot, I don't regret all the things I did as Blackout. I still believe it was all necessary. But after what happened yesterday... I'm not sure I can guarantee that I won't become a threat again. I still don't know what happened to me, or if it can happen again." He said, looking down at his hands and seeing the marks - lightning flowers, they were called - that remained all over his body and even on his face. The sickly purple glow was dimmed, but not gone.

The young man considered his next few words, a hint of red appearing on his face. "That and, well, now that I have someone who cares so much about me... I'm starting to regret being an outlaw. I don't think it's fair to her."

Naja looked at him with sympathy after his confession. "You did the right thing coming here, Icarus. It takes a lot of courage to admit when we've made mistakes and when we need others' help. What were you thinking of doing to clear your name?"

Icarus chuckled. "Well, first thing that came to mind was turning myself in to the authorities, but I'd rather not have to spend my time at a correctional facility." He stated. "Not to mention, these powers should be used to help people, but I would hardly be able to do that while locked up there."

"You're right, it would be a waste of potential." The reptile woman nodded. "I don't think anything that drastic is necessary. You value your freedom and the ability to continue helping people, correct? Why don't you join the team? I'm sure we could work something out, and you'd have the Young Bloods watching your back." She offered, but the blond boy merely shook his head.

"I'm sure that'd be a lot of help, and a few people would be happy if I did, but... I'd rather not go down that route. After yesterday, I really don't feel like I should be here."

"Very well. It's your decision, so I won't insist." Naja said before leaning back on her seat, a hand of her chin as she considered other options. "Hmm... I think I have an idea of how you can continue helping people while staying on the right side of the law, but it's going to be a lot of work you'll need to be willing to put up with. And you'll have to trust me. Is that acceptable?"

Icarus looked up. He nodded resolutely, and there was a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Good. Then meet me downstairs in five- no, make ten minutes, alright? I need to grab something and make a call." She said. The boy nodded and excused himself from the office before riding the lift down to the ground floor, wondering what solution the snake woman had devised.

After about twelve minutes, Naja walked out of the same elevator. "Sorry, that took a bit longer than anticipated." She said, before handing him a stack of folded clothes and a pair of shoes. "Here, put this on. There's a restroom over there, you can lock the door."

"Wha- where'd you get these?" The young man asked, surprised. Naja simply smirked.

"It wasn't hard. Roy's just about your size." She said. Icarus looked down at the clothes he was holding, raising an eyebrow as he realized they were Nightshade's. Of all the things I did not expect to wear... He thought, but made his way to the restroom nonetheless. Given she was the only person that was there to help him clean up his act, he thought it best to play along.

A few minutes later, the blond boy returned to the lobby, looking a lot more presentable. "Well, look at you! Renata's a lucky girl." The snake woman said playfully, making him blush. "Now that that's done, let's get going."

She led the way to the island's garage, where her personal vehicle was stored. Icarus chuckled upon noticing the Grand Caravan.

"What's so funny?" Naja asked, oblivious.

"Oh, nothing, it's just... of course you have a minivan." He replied. The snake woman frowned.

"Oh shut up and get inside before I regret this."

Icarus did as instructed, and after a few moments - one of which involved being glared at until he put on his seatbelt - the two were on the road, quickly leaving behind the bridge that connected Wonder Island with the rest of San Diego. Leaning back on his seat, he looked out the window, memories surfacing in his mind. How long had it been since he last was in a car with his family?

The drive lasted a while, and towards the end it became evident that they were headed towards the piers. As Naja parked the car, Icarus turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "We're not here so you can harvest my organs right?" Naja rolled her eyes.

"Get out, we're almost there."

"I'm just saying, driving a kid in a vulnerable position to a secluded area is mighty suspicious." The boy pointed out even as he undid his seatbelt and got out of the car. Ignoring his remarks, Naja walked a short distance with him, until they came across two individuals. The first was a tall, dark-haired man with a baseball cap obscuring his face and a goatee; the second was a beautiful woman in a sundress, with raven black hair and a sun hat over her head. Both had their arms crossed as they watched Naja approach with Icarus in tow.

"Who are these people?" He asked, but Naja said nothing. The man scoffed.

"Don't recognize me without the blue and silver, do you?" He spoke. Pausing in confusion, Icarus looked at his half-obscured face more carefully, to no avail, before turning to the woman for clues. As if on cue, she took off her sun hat, allowing him to see her face more clearly, and making him realize something. He'd seen that glare before.

He looked back to the man, who waited with an amused smile. His voice rang a bell in the boy's head, and then everything clicked.

"No way." He said, almost too slowly, before looking at Naja. "Wh-"

"There's hardly anyone better suited to keeping you out of trouble." She replied, not giving him time to speak up. "Not to mention, if one of your concerns was becoming a threat again, this man knows exactly what you can do and has firsthand experience dealing with you." She stated. "Plus, he was in town after yesterday's operation, so he was the most convenient option."

Icarus remained silent for several moments as he processed Naja's statement and the implications of this arrangement dawned over him. Finally, he looked up at the two adults in front of him. "You agreed to this?"

"Begrudgingly." The woman said, still glaring at him.

"Quinn." The man snapped at her before looking at the boy. "You know, kid, I have to thank you. You reminded me of how dangerous it is to underestimate an enemy." He stated. "I know talent when I see it, and you've got a lot of it. Stop wasting it, play nice with us, and you'll get your second chance."

The vigilante was conflicted. This was a man he'd despised almost immediately after meeting him, and he represented many of the things he disliked about superheroes. After earning his powers, he had quickly learned not to trust those of his ilk... but then, many of his 'ilk' were his friends, were they not? Not to mention, despite their battle and its outcome, he was here, extending this offer.

And at the end of the day, if it was accepting this offer or being unable to help others, was the choice not obvious?

"Then..." The young man spoke slowly. "...I'm in your care, sir." He nodded.

"It's Donovan." The man with the goatee stated. "Donovan Stone."

"If that's all, we should get going before more people start coming here." The woman in the sundress suggested. Icarus nodded.

"Just a moment." He said, before turning around. "Thank you." He told Naja. His tone was sincere - he was immensely grateful for everything she had done.

"You're welcome." The reptile woman said with a smile. "Should I tell your friends anything?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Tell them I'm fine."

For just a moment, he allowed himself to smile. "Tell Renata everything's going to be fine."

[Absolon-7]

In the Kitchen

The Doggoborn Comes

Casimir Herman September 12th
Casimir stuck a fork into his pile of pancakes as Roy listed teams he wouldn't like the team to fight. The first made sense since the Bluejays had an old friend of his and it seemed any outcome was a lose-lose for Roy. The next were what Casimir would call "heel" even if they weren't villainous but were just bad news fighting against in a so called friendly sporting event. The Braves and Pyros were especially concerning as them going against some of the team would be unfortunate but on the other hand were just perfect for him. He'd always dreamt of giving his heart and soul to battle an unstoppable adversary. Lastly, were the New York Freedom fighters and Casimir agreed with Roy. Their performance was just pitiful to say the least.

"Can't argue with any of that, chief. Guys like that who can't just have fun always ruin things," acknowledged Casimir gulping three different pancake halves, "Personally I'm looking forward to knocking stuck up grown ups on their ass. If my squad gets bad luck and fight one of those teams that is."

The team techies, Mars and Alexis, would soon appear and join the gathering group for breakfast. Behind Roy deeper into the kitchen Casimir could hear the excruciating effort Mike gave into not giving in to the pain of chili. He slightly turned his head around to Mizu and Mike and gave his squad leader a dumb grin of satisfaction before he adjusted himself back. Something Casimir didn't expect was the arrival of a husky puppy of all things prancing into the kitchen. I want to pet it. Casimir bobbed his head around to keep track of the dog but it looked like Viv got to it first. Damn it.

"Hey there!," gleefully said Viviana as she got up to get near the dog. She crouched down to pet its head with the husky yapping like a happy alarm clock, "How's little Quinny-quinn-quinn doing today?"

"I'll get his food," said Casimir as he stood up from his nearly extinct breakfast but he saw Mars being moping a bit, "Hey. Mars. Why don't ya come and sit with us? Always room for one more hormonal teen."

He walked over to the sink and opened the doors below it to get the dogfood meanwhile a cohort of ants pushed Quinn's bowl nearby. He went about putting food on it before he went back to sit down. Having a dog had been an on and off want of his for a while. The orphanage didn't allow pets and his sister having a dog allergy meant no such luck in those fronts. Speaking of luck and the tournament, he didn't have the greatest when it came to who he could spar with on his team. Literally he could hospitalize all of them with a not-so-good punch so he didn't really have a way of testing how much he'd grown the past month in working out. That is if an answer wasn't sitting across from him in the table.

"Hey Wyatt I've been doing some thinking, which I know is never a good idea, but how does a sparring match sometime before we have matches sound?" offered Casimir to his teammate, "Figured it'd be a good way for us to get a benchmark or somethin."

[The Republic of Atria]

Sina

Wyatt, Aug 8

She thankfully complied, jumped off the roof and brought up a point that actually made a bit of sense. Jumping off roofs was actually a bit more common than he thought. He did it occasionally, and Jason as well. "That's... A good point, but still. We should be trying to avoid attention." He explained. "At least when we're not trying to go looking for trouble. Anyways, I'm gonna show you where we have the portal set up. A friend of mine did it to get us there in the first place. We just have to complete the runes and it'll work it's magic. No pun intended."

He did lead the way as Sina said, careful to make sure no one was following, though he wasn't sure if they were. It was pretty unlikely, a guy and a girl walking together? That was a pretty common sight. On top of that he wasn't exactly sure how to spot a tail. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that something felt wrong. Maybe it was bringing Sina to a place that was nothing like the environment she had been in all her life? She was pretty high strung. Most everyone he met in his time there was normal, relatively speaking.

The pair approached a surprisingly well maintained house in comparison to the others around it. "Here. She said that she spent a huge amount of her free time enchanting the crap out of the house to keep people who aren't us, out. I'm still a novice at it so I don't really know all that she did. Just try not to break the house I guess." He said as he entered and closed the door behind them, the deadbolt and lock automatically sealing the house. He'd never noticed that before.

The living room was what they were looking for, the furniture had been moved out of the way with intricate arcane symbols having been drawn on the walls and floor. "Where'd I leave that book..." He muttered and checked some of the side tables that were moved. It was sitting on the closest one. "Uhhh... Here we go. Go stand in the circle while I finish the runes. And uh, don't step out. I've only done this with me and my accuracy isn't one hundred percent. Hopefully we won't end up in someone's bathroom."

Wyatt, Sept 12

He was cheerfully chowing down on various breakfast foods in between catching the replies from everyone on which teams they'd want to fight or avoid. Casimir came out of no where, mentioning that he wanted to hit some smug adults right after Angelica said that it was no problem with him insulting her father since she hated him more than anyone. "Glad to hear it." He nodded and when back to eating until Casimir brought up an interesting question.

They should spar. He thought for a moment about it and came to that realization that he and Casimir had never actually sparred. Most of his sparring was with his own squad, most of whom weren't the kind of people who are there to soak up the blows, or with Orro, who could take a few hits, but that was more to hone his martial prowess more than test his strength. Plus Casimir was supposed to be one of the tougher guys on the team so had to worry far less about accidentally hitting him a little too hard. "You know what, count me in." He replied to the Polish hero.

"I've been busting my tail this past month learning how to fight better and on my earth magic. I need to do an actual test fight against someone who isn't squishy. Lemme finish breakfast and we can go out back." They'd need some space where if they broke something, it didn't matter. That and plenty of room to knock each other around.

[New Neros]

-Jason-

-Wendy-

September 12th
Darklight and Cosmic

A vicious prod from Darklight's fork brought Cosmic into the world of the living, jolting him up as he bit hard into an apple, and began to choke on the bits. Forcing a large chunk down, the hero beat his chest a few times to help the edible along. Coughing a bit and giving Ava a glare, he turned to look at Jason with a friendly smile. "Yeah man, the team's been great, been loving the squad dynamic, really calls me back to my space stuff. I like the exercises Wendy puts us through, but mainly, I just love to spar and fight, really sharpen my skills, you know? When I was younger, I never really fought or wanted to, but now it's like a rush getting in the shit." He stated, perhaps oversharing, but Mark always seemed to like talking, it put his own mind at ease for the time being.

"Well!" Ava began as Cosmic finished, replying to Jason's question of hers, "We're all ready to go and I thought it would be kinda... cute... To eat breakfast as a squad and stuff before we headed out." She seemed a little flustered at the notion, but as she spoke, Wendy appeared, giving the girl a jump. "Oh, hey! I was just asking about you, good morning Wendy!" Darklight said, turning in her chair to smile warmly at her squad leader, Cosmic giving a wave and chewing quickly on another part of his apple, struggling to get a greeting out as his mouth was full. "I haven't seen Shi yet, she's the only one missing from our full team breakfast roster!" She said with excitement, "Let's find her so we can all eat together. Shoot her a text."

"You got a phone." Mark replied, earning a death glare from Ava. "What? It's true, we all have phones. Just blow up her messenger or something. Morning, Wendy, sorry, I had to swallow my delicious green apple." He turned to continue talking to Jason, however, letting Ava and Wendy talk to themselves. "So, friend-pal of mine, do you think we'll get anywhere far in the tournament? Can't wait to see what kind of heroes we'll be facing, makes me wonder if all of those sparring matches will translate into real experience, ya know? Anyone in particular you want to punch square in the jaw?" He asked, unaware of Jason's previous enmity towards Captain Quake.

[North America Inc]

Wonder Tower
September 12th
Shi and Friends

"Shi!..." April said with absolute glee as she flung items with the gauntlet, “Where did you get this?” A light blue armor surrounded the brunette as she created a few constructs and threw them into the ocean.

Shi, with passive reluctance, watched her friend mess with her new found toy. Sliding her phone into her back pocket, she replied, “Oh it’s nothing. Won it in a fight with some nobody.”

“Oh really?” The two turned back to see Olivia cowering behind the shade of the closest tree to the beach side, “Was it the same nobody that gave you all those scars last month?”

“I said it was some nobody. Didn’t say it was easy.” She countered. Shi and her two closest friends have, for the better part of an hour, been walking around the Tower catching up. It wasn’t every day she got to hang out with people she actually enjoyed, so she tended to relax a little in there company. April, the airhead brunette, was another meta-human like her with the ability of superspeed and some form of momentum conservation. Olivia, on the other hand, was a magic user. Weirdly enough, she didn’t much more about her abilities’ beyond that.

As April splashed the constructs against the current or flung them in the air, the clique caught up after their rather hectic year. April with her looks and talent was being assigned as an actress, her first film began pre production in the fall; Olivia was assigned as a ‘back-end’ asset, a little more off the radar. Luckily for them, they all were going to attend the same school; April was ecstatic, Shi and Olivia were apathetic.

“What do you mean you two aren’t excited! It has to be better than Ms. Wan back at Guangzhou any day of the week.” The Gauntlet wielder was nearly bursting at the seams as she ran back and forth around them, climbing each and every tree on the island.

“I don’t know, I don’t see the big deal.” Olive said as she fanned herself, the California heat still unbearable in September.

“I’m with Olive on this…” Shi tilted her head to the side, “It’s not like they can teach us anything. We’re stuck in the same, grungy building for seven hours a day with people I only half way tolerate now.”

“You two have to be a little more optimistic.” April countered.

“And you have to be more pessimistic.” “And you have to be more pragmatic.” The two girls said in near unison of each other that both briefly stared back at the other before smirking.

“Think about it. We can hang out with each other like every single part of the day…”

April is cut off by Olivia, “I can barely stand you two now.”

“Anyways...think about it, we can hang out everyday. Then we go to the beach, or shopping. San Diego can be really fun if we really enjoy it!” April said as grabbed the two around their necks and pulled them together, “Now, what’s wrong with that.”

“You’re such a cliche.”

“And some of us have work to do.”Shi pointed out as she slid her head out. Just as she said that, her phone began to vibrate; it’s a text from her teammates asking her to join them. This past month having been so hectic in terms of restructuring, she barely knew most of the teammates beyond their name.“Speaking of which…”

“Who was that?” Olive nestled her hands into her pockets as she preemptively got ready to leave.

“My teammates, they want to go eat with them.” Shi thought it over, she didn’t want to cut this time short but then it would be odd if she continued to avoid the rest of the team. She needed to deal with Renata sooner or later; how she dealt with her was still up for debate. Besides that, Renata really wasn’t really a legitimate reason to not even with them; and she will be seeing a lot more of these two sooner or later. “They want me to meet up with them. I probably should.”

“Aww do you really have to go?” April said genuinely disappointed as she slid the gauntlet off. “Can’t you stay a little while longer.”

“Apparently not.” Grabbing the gauntlet from her hands, “You two know the way out?”

“Yea.” Olive pointed her left hand toward the gauntlet, “So what are you going to do with that?”

“This?” She held it partially up, “I haven’t decided. The first user left the team. Second user tried to kill me and threw a tantrum when I didn’t die. So as of now, I just use it when I’m bored.” Walking out of the small enclave beach and towards their stuff on the green pasture, Shi slid the gauntlet into her purse.

“Did you let them take a look at it.” All three made it to the pavement of the Tower outgrounds.

“A few weeks ago. They gave it back afterwards. It would have been odd if it disappeared in my custody. And who knows, maybe I'll keep it."

A few minutes afterwards Shi walked into the crowded cafeteria scanning the room back and forth for the rest of the squad. Grabbing a fruit bowl and yogurt, she walked around until she found the group. Ava and Wendy were gossiping with each other, Cosmic and Jason where talking about the tournament. "Hey everyone." Shi said with her stereotypical, perfect smile and a sweet, inviting tone. "How's everyone doing?"

[Solisian Union]

Reformation

Where am I?

Catarina thought about where she was, how she was doing, and what she was doing...here. Here meaning a hospital bed. A hospital bed, she thought? What am I doing on a hospital bed? Why am I still alive? Who got me here? Why am I -

"You're waking up," said a voice to Catarina's right. Yasha. Catarina turned her head. She looked at her. She tried to sit up, but her body acted against her, delivering a fresh dose of pain all over her. It forced the Colombian to stay down on the bed.

It was comfortable. The only thing that wasn't comfortable was the metal ring around her wri -

"I'm sorry," apologized the Filipino agent. She was biting her lip. The injuries Catarina inflicted on her were still taking their toll. Catarina could see the bandages all over her upper body. She was wincing. She looked away.

Catarina said, "Don't be."

She sighed.

"Am I under arrest? Am I a prisoner of -"

"I don't know," Yasha said. She looked at Catarina and told her more quietly, "I really don't know, Cata. They're not telling me anything. I still have my job bu - "

"Wow." Catarina gave her a look that made Yasha cringe at herself. Why did she talk about keeping her job?

Thus, the two girls looked away from each other, at anything.

Then Catarina said, "Where am I?"

"At a safe place."

"Tell me the truth."

"I cannot."

"Why can't you?" Catarina asked her as she slowly tried to get up. It, of course, ended badly once more for her. A fresh dose of pain again coursed through her nerves and brought her down to the bed. Yasha opened her mouth to express her concern as she reached out to Catarina with her hand, but the Colombian slapped her hand away and told her, "Enough! You are lying to me by saying nothing! You've betrayed me! I thought you as a friend..."

And before Yasha could even say anything, to defend herself, to say that she was, indeed, her friend, she was quickly silenced by another voice, one familiar to her, one that surpassed her.

"Leave her alone for a while, Yasha," said Director Mary as she stepped into the room, a thin grin on her face, with a dossier in her left hand as her right hand brushed away locks of her hair from her face. She gestured to Yasha to stand, and her agent obeyed. The Director then told her, "Go to the canteen. I'll see you there after I speak with her."

Yasha's face winced, but the Director would not have it. She sighed at her sharply, and the American Filipino agent simply stepped out of the room before her superior could say another word. As soon as she was gone, Mary turned to look at the lying Colombian and heard her say, "Jodido americano, ¿pusiste a mi amigo en mi contra? (Fucking American, did you turn my friend against me?"

"Bueno, sí, pero en realidad no. (Well, yes, but actually no.)" Mary replied, surprising Catarina. How did she understand me? How come she speaks Spanish?

As Catarina was left speechless, Mary sat down, a handful of meters away from Catarina, with the dossier on her lap. She crossed a leg over the left, and as she opened up the dossier, she told her, "Eres interesante. Lo digo en serio. (You are interesting. I mean it.)"

"Many say so," Catarina said in low English. She tried to shift her body away from her, but the pain paralyzed her, and so she stayed in place, despite the feeling that one of her hands began to tremble, that her lips started to quiver. She said, noticing the dossier, "Is that me?"

"Yes," Mary said to her horror, "this thing, on my lap, concerns you. Este eres tu. (This is you.)"

"What do you want? ¿Úsame? (Use me?)"

"No. Para dejarte ir. (To let you go.)"

"Por que? (Why?)"

"Tus amigos. (Your friends.)"

"No." Catarina glanced around, looking for an exit. She began to sweat. She grunted as she tried to adjust, to sit up a little, despite the pain. She told her, "No, por favor. No me puedes obligar. No lo puedo hacer. (No, please. You can't make me do it. I can't do it.)"

"¿Por qué no? (Why not?)"

Catarina closed her eyes slowly, willing Mary to disappear, to leave her alone. She turned her hurting hands into fists and let go. She let out a shudder. She told her, "Por favor, no me hagan eso. (Please, do not make me do it.) I am no monster, not anymore."

"I will," Mary told her in cold, ruthless English, leaning towards Catarina, despite the distance, the gap between them, as she slowly lifted her body off the chair, and continued in a low manner, "because if you do not, you probably won't understand what I will do to your Filipino friend or to your friends who are on the streets of this city. By law, American law, not Colombian law, I have a disposition towards seeing things, by the instruction of my superiors, through."

Mary stepped towards her, and loomed over her, pointing a hand at her, after she left the dossier at the seat. She told her, "Haré que lo hagas por mí, por tu amigo, por tu propia alma. Hazlo, o puedes entregarte para convertirte en un monstruo. Tu...eres la monstruo. (I will make you do it for me, for your friend, for your own soul. Do it, or you can give yourself up to becoming a monster. You...are the monster.)"

"No."

"Si. (Yes.)"

"I can't be a monster anymore."

"You still are," Mary whispered. She pulled away from her. She turned around, returned to the seat, picked up her dossier, and walked towards the doorway. She stopped there, glanced over her shoulder, and said to her, "Los sacerdotes dicen..."

"¿Que qué? (Say what?)" Catarina asked. Out of horrified interest, she raised her voice, repeating the question, "¿Que qué?! (Say what?!) What did they say?!"

Mary turned. Catarina could see a new expression replace her former one. That expression, marked by her frown, silently informed her of her answer. But she said it anyway.

"It's still inside you," Mary told her, "La monstruosidad todavía está dentro de ti. (The monstrosity is still inside you."

And before Catarina could say one more word, ask one more question, Mary slipped out into the corridor to look for Yasha.

She was not done with her yet.

[Aidannadia]

August 30th
Late

"Roy, I was wondering if you wanted to- Oh..." Tad walked into Roy's room to find it empty. He nearly turned away, without inspecting the room at all, but the faint whiff of rose petals masking the scent of undeath caught his nose. Yoshiro... the entity... He recognized the scent well. What had she been doing in Roy's room? Against his better judgement, he decided to take a look around. Clearly, Yoshiro's body had been here. She used a rather pungent rose petal body wash, and this habit only seemed to strengthen when the ancient being took over. It wasn't uncommon for magical beings to mask their scent or to indulge in the finer things of life. Based on the age of the magic used, he guessed that the being was probably used to incense and the finer things in life at that, so it wasn't completely unfounded.

There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary in the room, until Tadeo caught the faint scent of lavender, a telltale sign of telekinetic forces at play. But what psionic abilities had occurred here? Tad furrowed his brow in confusion. "Maybe they are in the Tower." The magician decided to take a walk around the tower, though most of the rest of the team was asleep at this time of night. The magician had been meaning to spar with Roy and talk with him to get to know him better, but he didn't seem to be in the Tower.

Tad followed the stench of undeath to the edge of the island, but the it disappeared. "What? Well, maybe they're in town?" The wizard considered waiting for them to come back in the morning, Perhaps they were... hanging out somewhere in town. It wouldn't be his business if they were, but something else made him uneasy- that something else mainly comprising of the psionic traces in Roy's room and the malicious nature of the being inhabiting Yoshiro's body.

Tadeo set out to town to try to find the pair, in full Hechicero regalia. In truth, he almost missed days like these; The Young Bloods were good people, but he valued his solitude. So much clutter and noise happened around the island that it was a wonder that anything got done, especially with how many kids there seemed to be in the team nowadays. Tadeo couldn't help but feel somewhat apart from them. He didn't understand people the same way they understood each other. He knew he came off as strange and awkward but he had little knowledge on how not to come off that way. Humans eluded him greatly.

AS the night air began to clear, and the night began to get low on the horizon, Tad's teleporting around town suddenly begat results. The scent of something evil lay dormant under the city. He entered the sewers, and continued to follow the trail. He came upon a long abandoned subway tunnels, beset by guards. I might be able to take them... but I'm part of a team now. I need to tell the others.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

September 12th

---

---

---

Alexis beamed up at her girlfriend as the taller blonde pulled away from their good morning kiss. "Hey there~" She greeted, a wide grin on her face. Despite the tender moment they shared over a month ago on the rooftop of Wonder Tower, their relationship had gone off to a rather awkward start. But they had managed to move past it, and the past few weeks had been some of the happiest in her life. Learning to love Angelica and help her out of her shell had been an adventure, and wasn't that what had led her to join the Young Bloods in the first place?

"Try not to go overboard with the PDAs, alright, strawberry popsicle? Gotta keep some sense of decorum around these parts." She said with a wink, clearly aiming to fluster her girlfriend a little bit - after all, it was usually her who constantly showered Angelica with affection while in public. Walking further into the kitchen, she noticed Viviana petting Quinn.

"Howdy little guy!" She said, approaching to stroke its fur while the team's resident rubber girl continued to caress its head, only to jump slightly and back off as the husky turned to her did something between a yap and a bark - it was still young, after all. "Still doesn't like me I guess." She said a bit sheepishly before wisely deciding to leave the good boy alone. Instead, as Casimir offered Mars to sit with him, Alexis walked up to her fellow genius and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah! Breakfast and a little time with your friends away from the lab is what you need - and sleep, but you'll get that on the plane." She remarked, pushing her friend over to the table and then heading over to grab a plate of waffles for herself, offering Roy a nod as she walked by - the two of them had been working closely together during the past few weeks in preparation for the tournament, and she knew he had been doing his best for the team. Walking back to the table, she set down her plate and then grabbed a container full of chocolate ice cream from the fridge before going on the task of preparing herself an ice cream sandwich.

[Tomia]

Alexis

Casi and Viv

Angelica flushed a bit at Alexis' words, especially her use of one of the many silly nicknames the shorter blonde had given her. "Decorum here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow playfully. "I'm not blowing anything up, or breaking the law so I'm probably okay." She joked as the couple headed over to the table.

Meanwhile Mars gave a polite grin at Casimir's joke. Mars was clearly distracted, but the bug hero was a good friend and Mars appreciated the attempt to cheer him up. "Ya, thanks." Mars said as he sat down next to Casimir. Roy approached, serving his old friend a plate of waffles with a smile. "Hey buddy, excited to head to the city?" Mars nodded in response as he thanked Roy for the food.

"I've always wanted to see a whole NASL tournament. It's hard to believe I'll actually be participating." The tech genius replied.

"I know, I'm looking forward to the opening ceremony myself. Usually afterwards a bunch of heroes head off to a bar but since that doesn't really work for us, Naja and I planned something else instead." When Roy saw Alexis take out the ice cream he chuckled. "Nice healthy breakfast Lex." He joked to her as he leaned down and patted Quinn again.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Wendy frowned at Cosmic's question. The NASL tournament hadn't exactly been something she was looking forward to given the past month, and more than a few times she'd even considered ducking out of it. "I just hope we don't have to face the Pyros." Wendy replied, thinking back to the video she saw. "Their leader wants to make an example out of me, and I don't want to find out whether or not being on camera will stop her. Our best chances are probably against the Braves. I can take Jackal out of the fight early, and handicap Condor as well. You," She added, looking up at Mark. "Should be able to keep Hammer occupied long enough for us to deal with the rest of the team. The fact that one of their members is a healer only would help mitigate the disadvantages my limited fighting skills and Ava's finicky power limitations. The biggest risk with them is Liquid Shelby, especially against Shi, but I'm sure she has a few tricks up her sleeves for dealing with Water types."

Looking up as Shi greeted the group, she put a did her best to hide her concerns. She was one of the leaders on the team, and no matter how crappy her day was, she still had to try to maintain her composure. "Morning Shi, Mind if I ask you something real quick? You have a lot of experience dealing with the press and social media, and well... how do I ride all this out?"

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt, Aug 8

The Mad Lass, Sina As'tari!

August 8th

---

According to Bael, the reason why she shouldn't be sitting on rooftops is so they don't draw too much attention to themselves. Right... he did mention that he and Warwolf were having a lot of problems, weren't they? On the other hand... she also had heard that something happened to Warwolf since the last time the two of them met. Safe to say, she wasn't the type to keep up with the news.

Either way, even if getting too much attention drawn at them was a problem, Sina figured that Bael was overblowing it. Come on, as far as anyone knows, they're just a pair of scaleless teens making their way across the city, who'd ever want to jump on them of all people? The trip went fairly inconsequentially and Bael finally stopped by a rather nice looking house, explaining that the friend of his had enchanted this house to keep out everyone except Dra'Quinni and then leading the two of them inside, where Sina shed her Glamour form and took a look across the room.

The living room had been turned into a teleportation room, the floor dominated by intricate arcane symbols. Quite complex magic, as it seems - Sina had not witnessed such before in her life, but she heard stories from her parents about the pletora of magic users which their species held and all kinds of magic-related hijinks which they got into in the past. Bael's order were simple - stand in the middle and wait for him to finish the runes.

"If I sit down instead of standing, that won't be a problem, right?" Sina called out. This better not take a while... standing and waiting for hours on end would be a nightmare. "Also, hey, so... You said this house is enchanted to ward off all the scaleless, right? Does it, like... zap them if they touch the walls? Because that sounds like it'd attract more attention rather than less."