Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Renata shoved her hands into her pockets, stared at the side, grimacing, stayed silent for several seconds after Wyatt finished his statement, then finally broke that silence and began to reply:

"Y-yeah, you're right here and there... I mean, I never tried to imply that it wouldn't be big if we managed to capture Ares. It would, of course - but that wasn't the point I was making... well I guess it kinda was one of the points I was making, but not the only point in my mind, and, well..." Seeing her answer devolve into an incoherent stream of thoughts, as it often does, Renata stopped, sighed, shook her head and continued:

"That's collective merit. That's something else. I... well... how do I say it... I'm trying to be a hero, but I want to achieve something with my own merit, not anyone else's. We could all save the world together and be called heroes together, but all I could claim for myself is that I saved a small patch of it and got a single shot in alongside nineteen others. That... Well, that'd still make me a nobody."

Once again, Renata stayed silent for a few seconds, this time staring at the floor, and collected her thoughts together.

"So, when I first saw Ares, alone, that's when I thought the Universe finally gave me a chance to not let that happen. That's why I said you wouldn't understand it. 'Cause I'm sure it sounds stupidly selfish to you."

[Agritum]

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

Ellery Bastion, the great Shadowkill!

October 2nd

---

Elle's room was cozy. Gentle purple tents hid the pale sun away from the warm lit dorm, orange lights bathing the tartan-patterned bed covering, the red couch tucked in between the two wooden bookshelves she had brought with her, and the white standard issue desk she had placed her laptop, an Ubuntu-running one.

Her signature, purple and black kitty headset clinging to her ears and buzzing soft lo-fi beats, Elle ticked with her fingers on the laptop's stocky keyboard, the blue light of the screen reflecting off her reading glasses.

"Government is simple enough if you memorize the concepts well enough, but taking calculus is a whole other thing. You gotta practice logs and integers well, Rena. I can show you how to do some exercises and practice a while, but you will have to do a bulk of stuff all for yourself. It's a really useful class if you're set for an econ major." She spoke with a calm, wise voice, far away from the vulgar yelling of her costumed self. Her powers were turned off. She was doing her best to keep the ache of her ribs out of her mind, while tutoring her friend.

"That said… I am having trouble studying myself, Rena. Heroics aside, yeah those take time, but I just want to graduate and set my own pace. All this stuff got repetitive in the end and I've got some core classes that I really cannot stomach. English lit is such a pain. So I just end up procrastinating often; it's stupid I know but it keeps the thoughts at bay. Dealing with the aftershocks of my costumed life is painful enough."

Elle took a deep sigh, looking tiredly at the redhead Ecuadorian: "So yeah Renata, I'm not in the biggest mood to study today." She took off her glasses and neatly folded them on the desk. "truth be told, I just want to sleep."

The mention of sleep reflexively got Renata to let out a yawn, but she broke out of her stupor almost immediately after and rose from the mountains of screens and textbooks surrounding her.

“No! Nope, nope, no, nyet, nada.” Renata yelled and slammed her hands down on the table, shaking everything placed upon it. A newly invigorated glare bore towards Elle over the top of the monitor. “We’re studying, Elle. I know it’s not easy to bear, but studying’s not something you do because you like it or not. It has to be done, so that’s what we’re doing. So...”

Renata pulled up one of the textbooks sitting by her side and began pushing through the pages. “Alright, let’s tackle one topic at a time. Government first, alright?”

"Aight. You know what a constitution is, right?" Elle asked. She wasn't treating Rena like a dumbass: rather, she didn't expect the heiress of a Southern American banana republic to have elaborate knowledge of constitutional democracies, checks and balances, and forms of government other than death squads bursting into the favelas searching for dissidents. "First chapter is a newbie's look at the US Constitution."

Renata narrowed her eyes at Elle in disappoinment and sighed. “...Whaaaat, of course I don’t know what a constitution is, it’s not like I have lived a life so closely intertwined with politics that I could probably name all of the National Assembly and- god dammit Elle.” She folded her arms and leaned on her book. “Come on, you shouldn’t be falling for myths at this point.”

Elle snickered. "Not my fault if you come from Tropico and your daddy's El Presidente. By the way, alright, the US Constitution. Checks and balances. Separation of powers. Just think of it like a superhero trio. There's the executive, the leading girl who has responsibility for everyone else and makes the team work, the judicial, the aloof but wise companion and the mind of the group, and the legislative, which is the firepower specialist: she, Congress, shoots up all the laws which make the Nation run."

Elle smiled enthusiastically while bringing up the peculiar comparison: "When the powers are adequately separated, government, courts and parliament are the greatest trio ever."

Renata rolled her eyes at the rather childish explanation of the concept of separation of powers. Sure, Elle clearly didn't mean any malice with it, but through and through, she kept implying that Renata knew about these concepts as much as a little kid.

"If, you mean. Because that's a pretty big if, you know." the pink-haired girl responded calmly, hatching a devious plan to turn Elle's metaphor against her. "The legislature girl is too much of a glory hound and often doesn't help the people they gotta help because she's too occupied with her ratings. The executive girl just doesn't have enough power to get everyone to agree on things, or is just too afraid of the legislature. And the other two girls think the judiciary girl is dumb and should listen to them. Then everyone gets into conflict, they argue, argue, argue, and nothing gets done."

Renata struck a grin. "And that's why superhero teams have someone like Naja, who can whip everyone into shape so they work for the greater good instead of fighting amongst themselves. And, what do you know, the same can be applied to republics, too!"

Elle scratched her chin. “Mh, that makes sense. So yes, the US Constitution, like most constitutions, kinda works that way. There’s some things set in stone there, procedures and institutions which permit these bodies to work together and avoid undermining themselves. They’re like...friendship. They’re like friendship in a magical girl anime.” Elle mused, sticking an odd note in the end.

“Friendship is what distinguishes the Gem Warriors in ‘Gem Senshi no Migotona Tatakai Z’ from the Titanium Tyrants they fight in the series, just like constitutions, working ones at least, are what makes true republics differ from regimes that play fast and loose with laws. Of course, reality is much more complex than that, and there are varying shades on the efficacy of a constitution in doing its job, but...uh…..now I lowkey want to binge on GSMT since the XZ season is out on streaming...you haven’t seen the first one though, did you?”

Renata yawned and laid her head on the table - even she wasn’t sure whether she was actually sleepy or whether Elle’s comparisons were this terrible that they were sucking all of the life force out of her body. She listened to the brunette go on a completely unrelated tirade and responded:

“I don’t think I watched any of their seasons, you dragging me to see a few episodes doesn’t count as season binging… ah, but well, it didn’t look that bad, so I guess I could-”

Renata suddenly slammed the table with her hand, leading to a bang so loud that it was a mystery why it didn’t snap in half then and there.

“Focus, Elle! Don’t act like a child!” she yelled in fury.

"Hey!" Elle yelped in response, glaring at Renata's act of rage. "Don't use that tone with me any more! What's wrong with you?" she continued, slamming the book closed and standing up from her chair. "Look, I'm going through a rough patch already, what with the Warwolf debacle, the attack in NYC and just...just not being taken seriously by most of the team. I'm hating my Shadowkill persona more than I did back when it was just me and dad. I'm looking to relax when I'm not being her."

She clasped her hands, biting her lip, eyes getting wet. "I want to be Elle now, Renata! I want to put a pause on the photographic memory, the super skills, the rapid reflexes, the edginess. I wanna be entitled to laze off like all the skills at school do. I don't wanna another set of expectations put on me. I don't want my best friend to pressure me. I like you, Renata, not because you're an ace at school, not because you're cool when you fight, but because you're fun. Sweet. That's why I want to be Elle, now that I can. I want to enjoy being with a friend, as normal girls, for once."

Elle unclenched her first, wiping a single tear away. The ghostly dark energy of Baal had manifested as an Aura, the result of her angry outburst, just to fade as she calmed down.

"sorry, I'm a mess."

“I-uh...”

Renata’s voice stopped, cracked, and the girl froze, before finally weakly diverting her eyes to the side and releasing a sigh.

“...no, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Just be Elle. Just be a nobody. Someone who can just… relax, with a friend. What a luxury.

“Sorry, uh… if I come off as asinine, I’m not really accustomed to these sorts of things.” Like having just a casual friend from high school, with no strings or additional expectations attached. “I probably drive Al insane with the way I act, too.”

Allowing herself to crack a little snicker with her joke, Renata released a second, defeated sigh. “...I guess we could try watching one episode to cool off. One.”

Elle ruffled through her hair, nodding weakly. "Ok, ok, just one, ASAP" she muttered, sitting at the desk and typing up the name of an Asian snack in her Firefox searchbar. Apparently, said Asian snack also named a streaming service which subtitled Japanese anime in English. "but we can put it in Spanish, if you want." Elle muttered again, before glancing at Renata's uneasy glare and getting back to typing. Not a brilliant idea.

"Here we are."

Gem Senshi Z!

The plot was pretty standard: a young Japanese schoolgirl named Sayori ended up being wounded during an attack by the evil aliens known as the Titanium Tyrants. She was close to death, before discovering that the urban battlefield she had ended up was also the landing place of a Warrior Gem, Topaz. Thus she became the yellow-armored Topaz Senshi.

The scene shifted the headquarters of JEWEL, the organization the Gem Senshi fought for. The other Gem Senshi, Sapphire and Ruby, are skeptical of the skill of their newest member Topaz. Then she breaks into a heartfelt monologue.

"My name is Sayori Kawakami! I'm a highschool freshman! My favourite food is banana split toppled with milk chocolate! I want to be a Gem Senshi to protect the weak and the ones I love ---" etcetera etcetera

Elle looked pretty captivated by the scene, even if she had witnessed it before. When the episode transitioned into a trio battle against the Tyrants to defend a shopping mall from their attack, she began hyping up the supermoves of the heroines and cheering when they kicked ass, almost not caring for Renata's presence.

The episode ended with the revelation that a fourth Gem Senshi, Emerald, was active, but fighting for the Titanium Tyrants! A reveal that surely hooked in viewers. Or repeat viewers like Elle.

Speaking of which, the young ex-vigilante turned her head around to meet Renata's sight, beaming at her.

"So, did you like it?"

Renata’s chin rested on her hands at the end of the episode, staring at the computer screen with a slightly solemn look on her face - and as soon as Elle turned towards her, she began to speak:

“So, uh… some questions first - because this show really doesn’t like explaining them apparently.” Let’s start with… “So I get why the Gem Senshi have their superpowers, but how come there’s a bunch of other people who have powers for no apparent reason, even though I don’t ever recall it being stated that this show’s universe has superpowers… Like that jolly JEWEL leader, you know? Also, how come Japan is explicitly the only country which even has Gems - and if there’s a reason for that, then, if only Gem wielders can ward off the Titanium Tyrants, all the other countries in the world still exist and haven’t been… destroyed, I guess?”

“Yeah, uhm, it’s the first season so of course it has some plot holes” Elle replied. “But the other seasons explain a lot of stuff. And there’s foreign Gems. I mean, Emerald is a foreigner, but, spoilers. And that’s before the Tyrants involve the Rock Regiment. Man, they’re memorable bad guys. But it’s a long watch. Oh yeah, the other powers aren’t…..really explained. But it kinda takes place in a world like our own, don’t you think? People do not really have a reason for their powers all the time.”

Elle put a hand under her chin, smiling playfully. “Aside from that...what’s your favourite character so far?”

Renata leaned back, folding her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling.

“I don’t know...” she burbed under her breath, recalling all the dramatic and action-packed moments bombarding her eyes throughout the episode. “I guess Sayori was nice, but she looks kinda… I dunno, milquetoast. Like, you know, Sapphire and Ruby have all of those extravagant designs and unique colored hair, and she’s just a schoolgirl...”

The pink-haired girl released a deep sigh, not sure what else she can comment. “I mean… I can’t really say anything when all I’ve watched is just one episode...”

“Then let’s watch another episode!” Elle replied in kind, typing faster than Renata could react to. In a few seconds, they were already watching the second episode, which was in itself filled with spins and twists.

The city centre comes under attack again by a mob of Titanium monsters, but Ruby and Sapphire launch themselves from a JEWEL copter in their school uniforms. Elle cheered the on-screen transformations on, pointing out all the symbolic parts to Renata. After a few minutes of asskicking, however, the tone of the episode changed sharply.

A green crystal whip cracks, and the wielder is revealed: it’s Emerald! The Gem Senshi working for the Titanium Tyrants. JEWEL’s chief grits his teeth, the worst has happened! The once disappeared American JEWEL cadet Chloe Vert is back as a fully activated Gem Senshi. Before Ruby and Sapphire can even react, they’re trapped by Chloe’s Emerald Whip, which immobilizes them.

Elle squeeled in a mist of excitation and tension. “This is something no one saw coming, everyone thought Ruby and Sapphire were much more strong than Sayori the rookie, but here they are, about to get killed by one of the very first villains, unless…”

Sayori shows up, transformed in her Topaz form, and starts a monologue about how Gem Senshi are supposed to protect the world, not fight against each other. Chloe snickers, mentioning something about society having betrayed her, and charges at Sayori while J-Pop music blares in the background. Just as the two fighters are about to hit each other with a fearsome attack, the episode fades into a drawn ending art of the two clashing.

Elle, now fully entrapped by the narrative, looked in Renata’s direction. “So, what do you think? Too melodramatic?”

Much like last time, Renata took a few seconds to respond, but finally sighed, turned her eyes from the computer screen and replied:

“Yeah, I guess that scene was pretty cool.” Maybe its impact was lesser than normal since Elle had spoiled the main twist - that Emerald was foreign, and therefore Renata quickly connected her with the American cadet mentioned earlier - but it was still… an interesting scene to watch. Renata raised her eyebrow and continued:

“Let me guess… you watched this show from start to finish at least five times already.”

“Seven, but close. So, we can keep on binging for a while, or we could….try and study?” Elle said, an uncertainty in her tone.

Renata stared back at Elle for a second, confused, before suddenly screaming:

“OH GOD I NEED TO STUDY!” She began scrambling around her desk, shoveling through textbook after textbook in a frenzy. “I forgot everything I forgot everything I FORGOT EVERYTHING! Elle, what was that allegory you used for the separation of powers?!”

“I….I….FORGOT EVERYTHING TOO, RENA!” Elle replied, frantically tearing through her own textbook to find whatever paragraph they had stopped reading at. “I think it was something about friendship, yeah, friendship. Like magical girls. There’s friendship between the executive, and parliament, I mean Congress, and….oh gosh, my brain is fuzzy”

Renata groaned in pain and facepalmed. “That’s not gonna cut it unless the teacher has changed the test to be abount cheesy anime shows...” she muttered under her breath, then finally sighed, slammed her fist down on the table and declared with determination:

“That doesn’t matter! I don’t care if we have to stay here all night, we’re getting through this stupid book!” Renata then shoved her textbook to Elle’s hands. “Let’s just start from the beginning...”

[Absolon-7]

Red

Casimir Herman October 4th

---

Casimir was following along to what Red said and it made sense to an extent. Along with his secret drinking problem Casimir could imagine the guy beating himself up enough over letting one of the team's recurring foes escape to not be fit enough to be on a mission. But the problem still remained where Red told no one about it. Not even people who could actually help in track her down like Wendy or even himself with his grand swarm. He could also sympathize with his last statement as he had a few foes where he'd want a personal stake in taking them down as well. Granted he didn't consider them a threat to himself but the sentiment was the same.

"I guess we have like two dozen but like only half bothered to show up to the raid," grumbled Casimir before being startled at Red's similarly hostile tone. His mouth twitched as he oh so much wanted to bark back with acid but he let his response die in his throat, "No, that's not what I'm saying."

Casimir stayed silent for a few second crossing his arms as he grumbled and grinded his teeth but he eventually, "Listen I had a talk with a certain techie a while back and it helped me think of the team as like a colony of insects. And a colony is supposed to be in unison. You're saying you went off for her for others on the team but don't you think they'd want to take her down too?"

Casimir couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. They made perfect sense in one hand but on the other was also complete nonsense. Sharing the take down of a villain? He'd never put much thought into it but that's what he'd been doing this entire time. Just the thought of being in a high stakes fight had been enough for him but the Kabuto of even the beginning of the year would think of it as unacceptable. He'd just never thought about it.

"If you want the satisfaction of knowing you took her down yourself I don't blame you. I'd feel the same and do the same," said Casimir gripping at his sleeves, "But we're all on a team for a reason."

The Blondes

Casimir Herman October 7th

---

"Well, you're not wrong there," bluntly agreed Casimir on their difference in diets, "Oh, yeah. I'm sure you'd wanna see them."

Casimir wasn't exactly sure if that was the whole reason Icarus was so melancholic tonight but he figured he'd share later if he wanted to. Some stuffy dinner wasn't exactly the right atmosphere for some heart to heart stuff. More positively his plan had worked amazingly and bringing over Alexis and Angelica had lifted his friend's spirits just as he had expected. However, their time at the LA Stars table had to come to an end when some reporters had begun their migration to the table. Icarus wanted to join their table and Angelica obliged him on the team's behalf but her response left him squinting in confusion.

"Did Frostbite just make a joke," muttered Casimir before getting up from his seat, "The glacier melted faster then I thought."

"Oh hey Kabuto right?" suddenly called over Red, "Tell that Chicle girl she was pretty good back at the tournament. Don't think I've gotten someone to get me on my toes that fast in a while."

"Damn right," said Casimir giving a thumbs up, "She was cool as hell there."

"Well let's go to our table then," he quickly turned back to the other three, "Oh right. You three fought Inferno together. Wish I could've been there but I was fighting some stupid vampire that was a total creepshow about my blood." Casimir suddenly shuddered when he flashbacked to getting kicked in the groin by said vampire, "Yeah that was it. Oh boy. So, how's LA treating you? Any better than San Diego?"

Mars

Yoshi

Viviana Couture

---

"Well that's a relief. I've watched Terminator sooo many times I think I can recite the entire script by memory," said Viviana.

What Mars said next was a bit more perplex to answer or at least ponder on. She could see the appeal of being a hero long term but there were lots of other things she could see herself doing. She remembered all those things her schools had done for career preparation or at least fun things to give kids something to imagine about. During kindergarten she had wanted to be a professional basketball player or a lion tamer but neither seemed likely anymore.

"I guess I could see myself doing this for a while. It's got that flare I've always wanted to have in a job but I'm not one hundred percent sure," said Viviana, "I'm still really unsure of want I want to be. Oh! A make up artist for movies would be rad. Oh maybe a stuntwoman! That would be super duper cool too!"

Yoshi interrupting them by saying how Mars would love a robot cutie pie made her face contort in confusion. She looked on at Yoshiro like if she had grown a second head. But her bewilderment wouldn't stay for long as a stranger had approached the table who introduced themselves as Alice Peters. One of the bigwigs had approached them!

"This gala's been pretty neat so far Misses Peters," said Viviana, "The music better could be better tho. Like some salsa music would be great. Ain't that right Mars and Yoshi?"

[New Finnish Republic]

Casimir

Red bit at his lip, a small swell of guilt wallowing inside him as he saw Casimir respond not in anger or frustration as he thought he would, but instead of a more caring tone. He knew that what he had done was reckless, not only the issue with Marionette, but with everything else he was hiding from the rest of the team. While Casimir was certainly pissed off for that reason and probably a hundred more, the redhead could tell that the bug-themed hero was only acting in concern for not only Red but the team as a whole. It was a hard pill to swallow, but Red couldn't help but give a little bit of ground to his friend.

"Look," he replied before letting out a small sigh. "As much as it hates me to say this to the same guy who just compared me to a bug..."

Lifting up his left hand, he rubbed at his hairy chin nervously for a few moments, closing his eyes before letting out a loud groan.

"...you're right."

Shaking his head to clear the feelings of disgust he had from saying those words, Red snapped his eyes open before continuing, his body posture loosening up from the tense state it had been in just moments ago. Had this been anyone but Casimir, Red didn't know if he'd have taken the butt-chewing so easily, but seeing the usually carefree Casimir going to this lengths to speak to him, Red couldn't find the will within him to act any more stubborn than he had to.

"It's just," he spoke up again, pausing mid sentence as he furrowed his eyebrows in search of trying to find the correct words to say, "there's a lot of stuff I feel like it's my fault that I let happen. I feel like if they're my problems, it should be me who fixes them, you know?"

In the back of his mind, Red knew that what he had just said didn't apply just to Marionette, but everything else that seemed to be turning his life into an even bigger of a mess than it had been before. He knew he couldn't confide these thoughts to Casimir, even as much as he wanted so desperately just to ask what the hell he was supposed to do. This inability to communicate caused more than enough stress to begin to build up within him, as was shown in his earlier hostility he had shown. Rubbing at the back of his head, he let out a small sigh before continuing.

"Look, I'll make it a point to be more upfront with the team when I can. Marionette's my responsibility, but that doesn't mean I can't have help solving it. So I guess...I'm sorry."

Red's eyes initially were on the ground as these final words came out hesitantly and under more strain than was expected, but he soon forced himself to look back up to his friend. As his gaze matched with Casimir's, a weak grin appeared on his face as he reached out to give him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Just don't tell anyone I said that, or else I'll make it a point to find a way to kick your ass," he said jokingly.

[Segral]

October 5th

---

For the past several hours, Alexis had been hard at work running simulations on her computer in order to find the best way to synthetize an antidote. The samples she had gotten her hands on, from the power drug and from Roy himself, had been fully analyzed by now but the blonde girl still had no idea of how close she was to to her goal, and the sooner the team had its leader back on his feet, the better - she didn’t want another situation like the one that arose during their last mission.

Drinking from her can of soda while her eyes were glued to the screen, the genius girl almost didn’t notice when her smartphone started vibrating. Blinking, she turned to look at the device sitting on the desk next to her. Who could it be? Angie? Dad? Naja?

Picking up the phone, it didn’t take her long to ascertain that the third option was the correct one.

“Hello! Oh, hey Naja, what’s up? Uh-huh. I’m not sure, it’s going to take a couple more days at least. Really? That’s great! Where can I find her? Alright, I’ll head over. Thanks Naja!”

The brief phone call ended, and two elevator rides later, Alexis found herself on the residential floors of Wonder Tower, looking for a specific room which had remained unused until now. Pushing the door open and walking in, the young heroine found herself face to face with a blonde girl a fair bit taller than her.

“Hey there! You’re Whitney right? I’m Alexis, though Makeshift probably rings more bells. Naja told me you’re really good with chemistry, is that true?” The shorter girl asked right off the bat.

Whitney blinked a few times at her enthusiasm, still reeling slightly from the very sudden experience of a famous heroine barging into her room a mere thirty seconds after she had gotten there herself. “Er...yeah, I’m Whitney. Nice to meet you...Alexis.” Whitney said hesitantly as the shorter girl’s flurry of questions hit a lull, crossing her arms with a smirk as she surveyed her. “And yeah, you could say I know a thing or two about chemistry. Why do you ask?”

“Nice to meet you too! Reason I’m asking is, you know that power drug that was being sold in the city and even got into the school?” Alexis inquired, simply assuming that Whitney was another Thomsen High student without bothering to verify. “Well one of our guys, our leader actually, got stabbed with a syringe of that stuff, and he reacted pretty bad so I’ve been trying to figure out how to make him some sort of cure, but so far I’m pretty lost.” She explained.

“Naja figured you could help me, so she sent me your way.” The young inventor added afterwards, smiling at Whitney. “I’ve got a few doses of the thing and blood samples from before and after Roy got sick, and I can probably get you anything else you need in short order. What do you say?”

“I’m up for it. After all, we can’t have the team leader out of action for Saturday’s big gala, now can we?” she asked playfully, recalling Naja’s invitation to said gala at the end of her interview, right as she was about to slip through the door. “I don’t know too much about the power drug beyond what’s been reported already by the press, so you’ll need to fill me in on the specifics.” she admitted with a sheepish grin, blushing slightly. “Coincidentally, I also don’t know too much about the building’s layout, so you’ll also need to guide me to the lab. Other than that, I’m ready when you are. Lead the way, Makeshift.” she implored, tilting her head suggestively towards the open door and the hallway beyond it. Naja wasn’t kidding when she said that Whitney would be busy; she was clearly a woman of her word.

“Right. Follow me!” The cheerful blonde spoke before turning on her heels and marching out the door. Now with her new teammate Whitney in tow, Alexis began the long trek back to her underground laboratory, first taking the elevator to the tower’s ground floor, then walking from the tower to the lab building - a step of the journey that was much faster when she was by herself, as she usually just sprinted or flew across the island - and then finally taking the elevator to the basement level, where she and Mars toiled away with their projects.

“Here we are.” The genius girl stated, walking out of the elevator and spreading her arms. “You’ll have to forgive me if it’s a little messy, I more or less live down here so I’ve taken some liberties to make the place more comfortable.” She said with a sheepish smile. Indeed, while there were several worktables and computer terminals set up within the lab which made the place seem at least somewhat professional, there were also several cans of soda scattered around a couch and a cooler that sat off to the side, and a good amount of space towards the back was being used for storage, for clothes, old projects and the like.

Ignoring the mess for the time being, the short girl made her way to a desk where one of the computer terminals sat, a small array of test tubes next to it. “These are the samples I told you about, and all the data I’ve gathered is in here if you want to look over it.” She explained, looking back to Whitney. “I should be able to get you anything you need. Think you can help?”

Whitney stared at the desk’s surface for a second with her lips pursed, seemingly lost in thought. She was ignoring the tubes containing the blood for now, focusing instead on the five or six tubes containing samples of the power drug, trying to decipher the structure of it. Her eyes began to glow a light yellow, almost imperceptible at first, but soon growing in brightness and intensity as more and more of the drug’s chemical structure revealed itself to her, an ever-growing 3D model in her head. It was an unfortunate side effect of her powers, but it was still fun to creep people out with. Some bits looked familiar; the rings, the hydrocarbons, the occasional splash of nitrogen that bore some similarities to amphetamines, but it was far more complex than a simple stimulant. It was large, complicated, and would likely take a lot of time to test and sort through. Thankfully, they had a lot of time on their hands.

With a blink, the light in her eyes suddenly disappeared, leaving them their regular shade of brown. “Yeah...I think I can help.” Whitney said after a slight pause, turning towards Alexis with her hands on her hips. “Although, I do need to know one thing. What exactly happened to Nightsh-I mean, Roy, after he got stabbed? How did his body react, what symptoms did he show? In fact, where did he get stabbed? Was it in a blood vessel, or just a random spot on his body?” Whitney asked, the questions tumbling out of her mouth in a rush. She couldn’t help, this was the most exciting project she had tackled in a long time. “Sorry if I’m overloading you.” she added apologetically.

“Girl, don’t you worry about me. If anything is overloading me, it’s being the only person in charge of making goodies to give the team an edge, so having another smarty pants around is going to be a big help.” Alexis spoke casually in an attempt to reassure the chemist. “Now, I could try to answer your questions, but honestly? It’s probably better if you talk to an expert, so let’s get going. We’ll pay Jacob a visit.”

With that, the young genius made her way back to the elevator and, with Whitney in tow, began the trek to the infirmary.

[Absolon-7]

October 9

The sunny San Diego sky shined its plentiful bounty along a plaza deep within the city where a technology expo was being held. It was a showcase by companies, inventors, and others to show off brand new technology to the wider world before release. It ranged from various high tech robots to the revolutionary gaming studio Real Gaming’s new frame that so far was the only to provide fully immersive virtual reality gaming. But none of that mattered to Casimir as he jumped the rooftops overlooking the plaza. He was looking for a certain tent that was hosting the event he was looking forward to and just then his flies spotted the tent.

“Well that’s pretty tucked in there,” noted Casimir as he began making his way to it from the top of the buildings.

When he got to the tents location he dropped down from the building behind it and ambled on to the entrance. Inside there was a small crowd gathered around a platform with several new cars and other vehicles but he cared naught for them. There was a banner hanging from the ceiling that said ‘Sponsored by Meier Industries’ but crossed out by black paint which got a chuckle out of him. That pathetic german dude was pretty connected it seems at least until Drakon caused his company to go belly up. His eyes then darted to the grand prize worthy of someone like him.

“Ticket 1444 by the Immortal Kabuto!,” he shouted at a smaller crowd surrounding a white and red motorcycle.

The apparent host of the tent event was speaking to other workers there but when Casimir made his presence known he flashed a look of fear as he adjusted his tie and messed with his curly sideburns, “So great to see one of the most prominent heroes of the city pay us a visit. So you purchased one of our raffle tickets I see?”

“Damn right. That bike is mine!” said Casimir pumping his fist into the air.

“Well it's nice to see someone so pumped up,” the presenter said with a crooked smile, “Well let's get on with the raffle!”

The blonde presenter hurried off backstage to furiously whisper at some unknown coworkers but soon enough the event went underway and Casimir stared unblinkingly at the cage contraption that had balls matching ticket numbers. He clenched his fists up to his face as he angrily grumbled to himself which made the rest of the crowd keep their distance. As the final ball spun out of the cage, the blond host picked it, and out came Casimir’s numbers!

“And the Cyclone 1410 goes to the hero in a red scarf!,” shouted the host pointing at Casimir.

“Yes I win! I always win!,” shouted Casimir as he jumped on stage in a single bound to vigorously shake the presenter’s hand. Like a leafhopper he then jumped to the motorcycle to inspect every single inch of it, “This baby’s more beautiful than in the email! You guys must be real generous to give this out for free.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure it is,” said the presenter chuckling nervously before mumbling to himself, “It's not like we got it legally...”

“What,” spat Casimir turning back.

“Uh, uh. It’s not like we want to be legally viable so let's get to the paperwork,” said the man grinning desperately.

“Paperwork? The email didn’t say shit about paperwork. Not even the fine print,” said a confused Casimir.

“Oh, of course. Of course. You know what, I'll handle the paperwork. Let’s just get you the key,” said the host clasping his hands together.

Casimir or rather Kabuto was rushed along to get the motorcycle out of the tent which he didn’t mind in the slightest. A huge grin filled his face underneath the helmet as he escorted the motorcycle out of the tent to go out to the wider city. Meanwhile, the blonde man stood at the entrance of the tent rubbing his temples. A much fatter bearded accomplice walked up behind him to poke at his shoulder.

“Hey Matt, is the hero gone?” he said dimly, “We sure got lucky he didn’t notice anything fishy.”

“Whose. Bright. Idea. Was. It. To send the damn email to a superhero!,” screeched Matt through clenched teeth as he grabbed his goon by the collar, “You’re lucky I did my damndest to make us look legitimate. I fucking swear if Meier or Drakon find out...”

---

An hour or two later, Casimir was sitting down on a parking lot’s cement curb observing the front of his new motorcycle although currently it looked much plainer than usual like some black average motorcycle. The day before he had asked Alexis to build him a hologram disc for the motorcycle because as amazing as they both were Casimir Herman and Kabuto needed to be separate and as this bike was apparently one of a kind in the whole world he really needed it. It took some bribing but he got the disk in time for today and for the moment he didn’t seem out of place either as his costume was stuffed into a duffle bag.

He closed his eyes to remember the pristine vehicle when he first observed it. The metallic red and white paint popped out just right along with the silver sheen of the engine. With 250 horsepower and a top speed of over 300 miles he couldn't wait to test it out in the desert outside the city and with a dual purpose super suspension it could go offroad too! There was something about a nuclear engine but he was sure it was just some brand name trying to be cool.

“Casimir is that you?” said a soft and feminine voice from behind him in the street.

“What,” said Casimir, getting to his feet. He was greeted by a tall young woman with dazzling white hair, a loose white blouse, and a blue skirt paired with blue crystal earrings waving at him, “May?”

“Ah you remember me. I thought you’d forgotten sweet old me by now,” she said with about as much sarcasm as possible.

“Like I’d forget the broad that tried stealing me away from Viv for months,” grumbled Casimir crossing his arms.

“What? I never tried to steal you. I tried to steal Vi...oh yes. Of course. That sweet pretty little thing doesn't deserve someone as prickl- I mean princely as you. But the past is the past,” said May flipping her hair away from her shoulder, “So how have you been? Still get into fights with damn near everyone, really.”

“You could say that,” said Casimir shoving his hands into his pockets, “So what brings you to this little slice of hell.”

“Oh, I’m just in town checking the University. But tell me how’s Viviana? Is she still such a cutie pie that I just want to squeeze with a hug,” said May shimming in excitement.

“Oh hell yeah. She'd be adorable as hell,” said Casimir eagerly before barking, “Hey, don’t think your reverse psychology will work on me!”

“Oh fuck off...It’s not as exciting hearing from you as I thought…” said May with her frown blossoming to a mischevious smile, “So where is she staying?”

“At my sister’s place,” lied Casimir, “And why do you want to want to know anyway. So you can harass her with tons of flowers again?”

“No, no. Just asking,” she said before an awkward smile filled her face, “So how have you been?”

“Me?” he said bewildered.

“No, your crappy bike behind you,” she sighed.

“It’s not crappy, it's the best bike in the world. And uh. I’ve been doing great,” said Casimir curtly yet hesitant, “A lot better then back home.”

“I suppose that makes sense. New Lublin always seemed too small for you. But I guess here you can get in all the trouble you want,” slyly said May, “I remember how often you'd get suspended back home or how often people would talk about fights you'd get into. Honestly it got so boring after the tenth time. I’m sure it was boring for you too.”

“Yeah. Yeah. It was always boring,” said Casimir not knowing if he was lying, “Not like anyone gave a shit about me for me to give a shit about people talking about me.”

“Oh that can’t be true I’m sure there were like...some,” said May nodding, “Oh what about Aleksy and Stephen? You were always with those two.”

“Those bastards were nothing but fairweather dandelions,” growled Casimir, clenching his fists before relaxing, “So how are they?”

“Well Aleksy is helping his dad’s business at the fishmonger and Stefan got a job as a park ranger,” said May tapping her cheek.

“Really?” said Casimir before shrugging, “Bunch of nobodies getting nobody jobs.”


“Say why don’t we catch up somewhere less uh ghetto. There’s a Starbucks down the street where you can tell me all about Viviana. Oh and you too I guess,” she said as she whimsically spun around towards the shop’s direction.

“Fine, I got nothing better to do,” shrugged Casimir.

"Oh you're such a louse, Casimir," giggled May.

---

September 28, Afternoon, 2014
It was a cold dead day in the town of New Lublin and a curtain of rain delicately covered the city like a pristine blouse. On a lonely road bisecting a section of the city a lone car drove through the rain acting like a shield for its two lonely occupants. Silence hung among them like an immeasurable weight as the older man stopped the vehicle on a red light. The younger boy on the shotgun seat simply looked out of the window to the street outside. Lonely lights reflected off his worn glasses, the halves only held together by a band of red tape at the bridge of the nose. The windshields wipers went over once and twice before the older man sighed to break the silence.

“Why did you do it?” he pleaded with his fingers grasping the steering wheel even harder.

Silence.

“I said why did you do it? For god’s sake Casimir you gave the kid a permanent lazy eye,” he said his face pained as if he was struck.

“He deserved it!” suddenly shouted Casimir, “He was just a damn bully and a crook.”

“Dammit, if all you did was protect someone from bullying or crime I would've taken you out for ice cream and bought you a video game,” he said looking down with his voice wavering the more he talked, “But there’s limits to what you can do. There’s limits. There’s fucking limits..”

After his pained pleading the silence returned and the pitter patter of the rain overtook them. The red light seemed to not want to change, to stay in place until it decided it should go and not whatever mechanism dictated it. The man in the driver’s seat sighed again.

“Do you think it makes me feel good using my connections with my brother to get you out of jail and not have you recorded? This town’s government is bad enough as it is and I don't want to contribute to it,” he said looking up at the crossroads in front of them, “Fuck how long is this red light going to go on.”

After what seemed like forever it turned green and the car began its long trek once more. Except for the stray passerby on the streets with a raincoat and umbrella the town looked like it had emptied overnight. The car finally stopped in front of the street of a tall, old house as its old weathered skin braved the rainfall. A stone and bush topped wall surrounded the house on all sides giving it the look of an old fortress. The pitter patter of the rain softly continued dancing among the leaves of the bushes before dying in the street below.

“Ever since Agnieszka and Radosław died I promised I’d look after you and your sister but how can I when you’re turning out like this? Your sister’s barely any better. Half the time it looks like she wants to slice my throat with her cooking knives…” he continued trying to smile but it went limp and faltered in time, “I just want to understand. Why do you keep doing this to yourself.”

Casimir stayed silent with the same hawk eyed scowl he had kept throughout the ride, “You don’t have to understand Mr. Buren. Who cares about what some delinquent thinks.”

“I wish I was religious so I could pray for you Casimir,” sighed Mr. Buren as he slumped back into his seat covering his face with his hands, “I can’t keep doing this for you. At this rate you’re just going to prove your homeroom teacher right. And what a laugh he’d get proving the principal wrong.”

Casimir's eyes widened at the last sentence and his mouth twisted into a snarl. He didn’t want to feel this. This disgusting stew of confusion and shame because he knew what he did was right. He clenched his fists before undoing the door’s lock to kick the door open. It was everyone else who preferred being some bystander just because there never were heroes in town. As Casimir exited the car to enter his home a final chill went down his spine as he heard the faintest sentence from Mr. Buren tearing up.

“You’re a disappointment, Casimir.”

September 28, Dusk
The yells of pain could be heard beyond the crooked metal door of the enclosed room. Chairs being thrown and bodies being pummeled senseless was like an ongoing chorus to Bernal as he leaned back into his sofa with feet up on the coffee table. The room was a mess all things considered. Half open pizza boxes and bags filled with trash and other things filled up at least a quarter of it. You had to hop at least twice to get to his computer and desk. But it's not like he really cared. He was going to get out of this town sooner or later. Just then the door to his room was burst open by the body of one of his friends so to speak. The fellow landed just in front of the coffee table with a baseball bat shoved into his mouth.

“Ah, good to see you Casimir,” said Bernal huffing out a cloud of smoke.

“You set me up bastard!” shouted Casimir barging into the room with a black eye and several cuts and bruises all over him.

“Did I? I can’t recall. But let’s say I did. How did you even find this place,” said Bernal slowly getting up.

“Even if he can’t look me in the eye anymore that son of a bitch spilled that you’re the leader of the KP Soneras,” said Casimir, looking down his eyes glistening with the beginning of tears, “How could you make me trust you? When you’re the one who made the town like this!”

“Damn, I was sure no one knew my real name but I guess I must’ve slipped up somewhere,” said Bernal scratching the back of his head, “Just like you did.”

“I didn’t slip up! You set me up! You didn’t tell me the guy was going to have a party,” spat Casimir pointing his finger at Bernal.

“No, I just told you the guy was bad news and needed to learn a lesson. Even with the fake evidence I gave you,” sneered Bernal, “Granted what he did to your favorite teacher was an unintended motivation.”

“Fake..evidence..” said Casimir lowering his fists.

“Yeah, who knew it would be so easy to convince you to mess up people who’ve crossed me and my business. And you’ve done such a good job too. Heck, even I don’t think I would’ve gone so far on some of them as you did,” chuckled Bernal stroking his chin.

“You fuck! You made me attack innocent people then!” shouted Casimir taking a step forward.

“Innocent is such a strong word. Don’t get me wrong Casimir. They were very bad people, a lot of them but perhaps not enough to get you to them without some creative liberties,” said Bernal, walking up to Casimir and patting his shoulder, “Now come on. Let’s leave it in the past. Think of it like a test. And there’s a reason I never told you the past two years. It’s beca-”

A loud smack interrupted him as Casimir’s bloodied fist struck him across the cheek, “Fuck you bitch. I’m getting rid of you once and for all!”

“Really? You think you can take me on? Casimir, I’m the one who taught you how to fight,” said Bernal smirking.

Casimir lunged again but his fist was easily caught and bent backwards by Bernal’s hand. He yelped in pain but was silenced by a knee to the sternum that forced him to fall to his own knees. Casimir lunged again this time at Bernal’s legs but his face was smashed in by Bernal's boot. He fell onto his back, blood streaming out of his nose, but he quickly jumped back to his feet. He threw a fist at Bernal’s temple but the taller young man slid his arms across Casimir’s own and delivered two back to back punches at his face. Casimir staggered back but with a mix of a yell and a growl he rushed forward again to tackle Bernal but his former friend side stepped and tripped him. Casimir crashed against the floor bloodied and exhausted and slowly breathing out.

“Are you really going out this easy? Did you forget all your training?” said Bernal walking over to Casimir as the boy struggled to get up.

“Shut up! I don’t have time to remember and I don't have time to think,” said Casimir as he wobbled up, “All I need to do is kick your ass.”

“There’s your problem. You don’t think. You don’t commit to anything,” said Bernal shrugging.

“You told me two years ago you wanted to be stronger. You wanted to help people. But look at how you’re like now. Just a little bit of praise over time and you turned out to be nothing more than another one of my goons. And a disposable one at that since you’re not officially connected,” said Bernal, “But guess what? You either earn power to help people or you’re born with it. And from the looks of it you got neither. So you grew lazy. You just do whatever I’ve been telling you to do the past two years, slacker. You were born with a talent for fighting but so what? All I did was trim the talent up to look better but what have you done with it? Nothing.”

“Shut up,” huffed out Casimir, his voice cracking

“I heard your life story Casimir. From the looks of it you always take the easy way out. Always giving up on your friends, school, your family. All because you think it's too hard. All because its not given to you on a silver fucking platter.”

“Shut up! SHUT UP!” yelled Casimir, grabbing onto Bernal’s collar and the surprise force causing both to collapse onto the floor, “You're no different than everyone else! All of you are the same! Telling me what I’m supposed to be like! Controlling me! You’re wrong! Everyone is wrong!”

“Wow,” said Bernal huffing, “You got enough spunk in you to push me to the floor. Where was this a few moments ago? But let me guess you’re fighting like everything else in your life. Half assed.”

Casimir gave no response as a powerful left hook knocked him off Bernal and sprawled him out in front of the open door. He could barely muster the energy to open his eyes and every inch of his shivering body hurt. His knuckles felt like needles had been stabbed into them, his legs felt like they had gone under a road roller, and his heart was tearing at the seams. The entire day felt like it was a thousand different laughs directed at him. A flashing guiding light to just stop. As if he was nothing more than trash piling up under a bridge.

“I thought of you like my older brother,” he weakly said.

“That’s cute,” said Bernal standing over him, “Wish I could’ve thought the same. But hey it's not so bad. You managed to sneak into my penthouse and beat up the skeleton crew of guards. But I’ll let you in on something Casimir. I understand you.”

Bernal knelt down to be closer to Casimir's crumpled body, “I know what you are deep inside. An animal. A demon. An asura. An ogre. A wild devil that is just itching, clawing to be let out. Like a goddamn psychopath. I’ve seen that smile you have on you whenever you fight. It's like you have absolute bliss beating someone to a pulp,” he paused and looked into Casimir’s blaring eyes boring into him, “So how bout this. Let’s forget you breaking into my abode. I let you into the KP Soneras. You get a cushy job as an enforcer. And then. Finally. You can be yourself. So how’s it sound?”

“FUCK OFF!” roared Casimir as his head bashed up against Bernal’s nose.

Bernal recoiled but was mostly unscathed. He reached down and violently yanked on Casimir’s messy hair to slam his face onto the floor, “Hey did you grow out your hair to be floppy like mine? How adorable. But I’ll let you walk out of here as an olive branch. But let me tell you some words of wisdom. You’ve done everything I’ve asked of you. You were always there when I needed you. You paid attention to everything I said. You never questioned me because you looked up to me. Do you know what that makes you?”

Casimir simply spat blood onto Bernal’s face.

“You’re an idiot, Casimir.”

October 1st, Early Afternoon
A bandaged up Casimir sat idly at his desk on the last class of the day looking out the classroom’s window. He was so entranced he didn’t even notice the bell ringing and the rush of students going outside. He didn’t particularly care either but he saw that two of his friends were still yapping to each other. They had been distant on and off the past few years but lately he thought that they seemed scared of him. He had seen the look on their eyes that was just too easy to not ignore.

“Hey you two want to come over today? I beat the latest dlc so there's tons of stuff unlocked for multiplayer now,” he said turning back to them.

“Uh sorry Casimir, I got like a thing due tomorrow and I really got to work on it,” said Stefan getting out of his chair and rushing out the door.

“Yeah, I got something to do too dude, bye!” said Aleksy as he joined up with Stefan.

Casimir blankly looked forward where they once were and shrugged. He reached out to get his backpack and opened it up where there were several books inside. He nervously gulped before taking them out and holding them close to his chest. His eyes traveled to the teacher’s desk where the person he had been hesitating to meet. Procrastinating couldn’t hold sway over him any longer and so he breathed in deeply and began walking over to her.

“Ms. Lace, I got the books you let me borrow. Well I finished them,” stammered Casimir handing over a bundle of books to his similarly bespectacled teacher, “The middle one was pretty cool.”

“That’s great to hear Casimir. Anything new to you that you liked?” softly said Ms. Lace.

“The part where it explains how nobility worked was cool I guess,” shrugged Casimir, “The book on the Vigilante Crusade was pretty badass too.”

“Quite an indifferent attitude for having read them in only a week,” she giggled, “And full of annotations too!”

“Well they were pretty easy reads. Not like I had to stay up all night on some,” grumbled Casimir.

“At last the castle crumbles,” she teased as she placed the books on her desk. She stopped for a second and looked solemnly up at him, “Casimir I heard about what happened to that boy. I know you wanted to get him to stop, especially after what he did to my car, but it's not right. You can’t just do things like that anymore.”

“But no one else is doing anything,” said Casimir with hurt eyes.

“But why do you have to? You’re just a kid, Casimir. Enjoy yourself. Just let grown up problems to people who can handle it,” said Ms. Lace, “I know you meant well but it’s not right. I hope you understand.”

“I guess,” said Casimir looking away from her.

“That’s all I’m asking,” said Ms Lace with a warm smile, “With all the things happening around town you must feel so lost. But you can do a lot better. You just need to find something to care about. Something to dedicate yourself to. Forget those fights and give it your all to something you care about.”

Silence.

“Oh looks like someone’s waiting for you at the door,” teased Ms. Lace.

Casimir head’s spun around to see Viviana peeking from the classroom’s entrance like a gopher. She waved her hand rapidly at the two which got Casimir’s heart and cheeks to flush red all over. His eyes widened as his eyes accidentally locked onto hers and he wanted to both never look away but also die right then and there. Casimir said his goodbyes to Ms. Lace and was just about to head out when Ms. Lace suddenly called out his name.

“What is it,” said Casimir as he went back to her desk.

“You left one of your own books in the middle of mine. Er, Life on a Little Known Planet? Sounds pretty interesting,” she beamed.

“Oh you think so? It got me hooked on the first sentence. Despite being a scientific book on insects it got like a certain lyrical thing to it in how it's written and it's super detailed too,” said Casimir barely stopping for breath but he stopped when he heard Ms. Lace laughing full of joy, covering her face fully.

“You’re a good kid, Casimir.”

October 5th, Night
Pain and darkness. He couldn’t feel anything anymore. He didn’t even know where he was anymore. Like flames burning holes in paper he had some idea but the whole thing couldn’t be seen. He had ambushed some KP Soneras grunts and he ended up fighting them but he didn’t remember anything after that. But what he could hear right now was buzzing. Lots and lots of buzzing.

He awoke to be surrounded by a horde of giant wasps all around him. To the side, in front, to the back, below him, just everywhere. Wait that wasn’t right. He was a wasp right now. His mind began screaming at him but every single wasp then stood as still as a statue. Did they just react to his fear? His mind calmed and he could feel the wasp body or rather it felt like his mind was wearing some costume of a wasp. He moved a leg and every wasp moved a leg as well. They were mimicking him? No, they were obeying him.

Now, he remembered. The grunts had gotten the upper hand and were beating him mercilessly. He had to get back! A stream of information from every wasp was flooding into his head each scent or image piercing his mind like a knife. And it was only increasing every second as he could feel connected to more and more insects. But he had to ignore it as something much more powerful was filling his mind as well. Anger. Sheer absolute anger. Instinctively, the crawling chaos of the swarm followed him out the hive.

Like a black cloud it gathered and ballooned in size as the forest fed its size. It circled around and around before spearheading back to his body. The swarm overwhelmed the grunts forcing child like shrieks of pain from them. Casimir’s eyes shot open and all he could see was the grey sky above him. Like specks of ash and embers, insects were pouring in from all around him forming helixes around his limbs and torso. He turned his face to look at the three goons shrieking in terror at him but too terrified at the sight to move.

One took out a pistol and took a clean shot at Casimir’s head. He fell over but just as quickly he stood back up. The bullet dropped from his forehead and onto the ground having only grazed the skin there. At inhuman speed he ran up to the grunt and grasped onto the gun’s barrel. His thumb pushed the barrel backwards far enough where the revolver now had a U-shape to it. The goon’s mouth dropped inch by inch as he refused to look at Casimir. His body began to shake and his teeth clattered before he suddenly fell over unconscious.

One of the other goons yelled behind him and followed it up by smashing a cinder block against Casimir’s head. It was the cinder block that broke. Casimir’s hand lunged at the grunt’s hands he held up in defense. A crunch followed and the gangster fell to the floor screaming his lungs out before a kick to his chest replaced them with whimpers. A strange sensation could be felt on top of his forehead as he could slowly feel an open cut slowly attach itself back together.

Casimir stared into his hands, not daring to blink. Strangely enough despite his glasses having been broken in the fight he could see crystal clear now. Slowly he clenched his fingers feeling both his blood and the gangsters drip from them. He’d never put much thought into why he did anything. There was the excuse he used to have about protecting the weak like in his first conversation with Bernal but that was nothing but a fantasy at the time. He was weak. He had always been weak. He was weak enough to believe in Bernal’s lies.

No.

He had been weak enough. The pained screams of the last gangster distracted him from his thoughts. He slowly walked towards the gangster and with a single hand he lifted him up into the sky. His hand slowly crushed the neck drawing out all kinds of screams until he finally let go by throwing the gangster away. The gangster, only a few years older than him, slowly looked up and his eyes met a grey eyed menace covered in head to toe in insects.

“You’re...you’re a monster!”

---

October 9th, 2017, Present Day
Casimir had finally shaken off May who just seemed to really hate Viviana since every other question was about her. No doubt she was planning some nefarious scheme to harm Viviana and steal him away from her with all the information. Of course being as amazing as he was he’d never let anything like that happen. In the current moment he had parked by the shade of a large tree on the way to San Diego’s outskirts. He held a milkshake in one hand and his new bike’s instruction manual in the other as he leaned against the tree.

The entire day he had been looking forward to go as fast as possible but apparently there was some stupid limiter that needed some stupid special part called a “star chip” to break. He never heard of any stupid motorcycle that needed something like that just pop in the key and away you go. He had been tempted to tweak the engine himself but he didn’t want to risk breaking his new toy, or as he now dubbed it, The Winged Hussar The Second. After some page flipping he finally had found the page he had been looking for!

“What? Why the fuck do I have to go to the factory for it? Why the fuck is the factory in the middle of the desert?” shouted Casimir to no one, “Fuck Meier Industries.”

He shoved the manual into his pocket and then took out his phone to go to his contacts. Maybe Alexis could help him with this. She was smart with tech right? Then again he had already asked her for that hologram disc for the bike. She’d have a field day if he had to go crawling to her for help so soon. But was asking for help really that bad? Casimir hid his phone back into his pocket and he began to pace around the tree like a voracious aphid.

All he had to do was just ask. What was asking to the Immortal Kabuto? It was absolutely nothing so why was he hesitating. He looked up at the sky as if looking for an answer in the clouds but nothing came. In frustration he turned around and kicked the tree’s base cratering its base. Maybe Alexis could get it to work without the Star Chip but going there couldn’t hurt plus there was always the slightest chance the vehicle was that fragile when it came to unlocking it.

“I guess I’ll see if Lexi is up for a short road trip,” grumbled Casimir, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

[Auropa]

Casimir - at the gala

Icarus - also at the gala

Mike Mathews
The Gala - Back at the YB table
October 7th

The days after the raid passed by Mike in a blur. After the close call with Ares and a building nearly falling on him, he was happy to spend some time doing as little work as possible. He did consider going after Renata for her outburst in the missions, but in an unexpected twist of fate, the team seemed to be doing it plenty already. It didn’t excuse her for what she did, and it left Mike with dozens of questions unanswered, but he figured that lecture overkill wouldn’t help anyone and ultimately gave up on the idea. Instead, as time continued to pass, Mike eventually got back to training, studying for classes and re-stocking his secret stash, by the time Naja came with the team’s surprise invitation to the gala, he practically fully recovered.

Giving his usual response of 'never' at first, he did eventually cave to pressure and agreed to tag along when the other members of the team decided on going. While he didn’t like the idea of the team being placed in some sort of pedestal, there weren’t many chances to meet Jordan Scott and despite his own stance against them getting too comfortable with fame, he wasn’t against the idea of celebrating. After all, they did a good job, why shouldn’t they get the chance to relax a bit?

And that all eventually lead to where Mike was now, all dressed up with a Forge mask and cowl to cover his face as he proceeded to systematically raid the different deserts around the hall. ‘Overall, not a bad time’ he thought to himself as he slipped some sort of chocolate covered fruit under his mask. ‘Not a bad time at all’. After hearing Scott’s speech and addressal of the young bloods, he was even willing to admit that he was glad he came. Seeing the man vouch to help the city and team, gave him pause and made him think a bit more about how these sorts of things could be useful to people other than themselves. It wasn't so dramatic as to flip his world view, but at the same time, it did make him consider that he might have been a bit over zealous with these sorts of things. At least for now, Mike decided to do what he could to enjoy himself and maybe try a few things he wouldn’t have before.

After his talks with Alexis and Mizu as well as seeing how the team members were able to interact with one another, Mike had been steadily understanding what they had meant. At least in part. He set up huge expectations for everyone and lashed out when they failed to meet the hopes he never even shared with them. Sure, he still felt the team needed to be better, and sure there were a few people that he’d rather put through a wall than have a conversation with, but it wasn’t like they all weren’t trying to do good. If he wanted them to do better, then maybe he needed to talk to them about it more. Do what the others did and reach out rather than just yell at them and hope for improvement. ‘I mean, its worth at least a shot right?’ he thought to himself as he made his way back to the Young Blood table.

‘Okay, lets just get the hardest one out of the way with.’ He thought to himself as he steered himself towards the unmissable bug boy and wordlessly took a seat beside him.

‘Alrighty then. What would Mizu do here? She’d probably try to prank him, maybe steal his food or mimic his costume. I don’t know, but she’d definitely know how to lighten the mood. Should I do that? Actually, no. I’d probably get murdered if I tried a prank. Okay, next idea. When In doubt, imitate. He’s always confident and over the top right? Maybe if I do some of that he’ll listen a bit more and we’ll be able to connect a bit. Yeah that sounds like a not terrible idea! And hey is that Icarus? All the better, come on! Peace making time let’s go!’

“The great Bug boy!” Mike finally called out after his drawn-out silence. “Didn’t see you there! Or I mean, I DID see you there! Because I, Forge-the-Mighty, see all and know -oh fuck it, I can’t.” He admitted unable to go on.

“Look, I didn’t get to say it earlier because the whole having to hold up a building thing took a lot out of me and I didn't get the chance after. But good work with the drug den mess. Things could’ve gone real bad but you helped pull us through and not a lot of people would’ve stopped to make sure everyone got out okay like you did. So yeah.” He admitted before shovelling some sort of pastry under his mask.

“Undh yuh knu whut?” He began to add before forcing it down his throat. “Maybe I was in the wrong that last fight. You got on the Ares problem fast, you were doing a good job and I threw you off. But I mean come on, who would’ve expected little miss troll-doll-dictator to lose her mind like that? Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand wanting to shoot Rocket but she was practically asking Ares to kill her by taking that pot shot. And while she was right in front him too! Look, thing is, I panicked. I figured that if I didn’t widen the gap then she could’ve died. But my point is, you could’ve handled it and it wasn't fair of me to throw you off just because I had my doubts.”

‘Man, this whole connecting this is easy!’ Mike thought to himself as his confidence grew. ‘I’m on a roll!’

“And hey, Icarus right? I owe you an apology too. I called you out for being a vigilante when we met and it was wrong. You’re trying to putt that stuff behind you and do better. I for one, think that’s great. Not that it excuses what I said but I was having a pretty bad day at the time and took it out on you. Though for real, good work turning your life around. And hey! If anyone calls you out on it again, no matter what they say, at least you didn’t gun down a teammate trying to help. Say what you will about your past, but I don’t see any way people could call you a problem with people like that around.”

‘And I even threw in a joke. Absolutely nailed it.’ Mike proudly to himself as he reached back into his desert pile.

[Finland SSR]

Bael

Sina As'tari, sponsored by the Desert Sandstorms!

---

"You wish. It's more of a restraining jacket than a dress." Sina mumbled under her breath, making a few basic stretches and hearing Bael point out that she must have had an easier time taking it off. She had to put her claws to use to loosen the fabric enough for get to hop out of it - if any partygoer stumbles across the dress tossed at the bushes, they might not get a good idea of what happened there, but whatever, that's a problem for future Sina. Future Sina's a prick, she knows more than Sina does and is probably smug about it.

"You make it sound like I've had anyone to go out to sun with with before you came back," the Dra'Quinni pointed out, but withdrew to her thoughts to recall any sunning areas in their vicinity. Quickly, her mind mapped out their section of N'Toak and placed an imaginary objective marker in the distance. "There. Should be about two miles away. It's actually pretty nice, next to an artificial lakeside and- are you sure you want me to make the countdown?"

Sina grinned and stepped on the edge of the roof of the penthouse, ready to jump down.

"Ten... nine... zero."

Suddenly, the girl hopped down, instantly spreading her wings and shooting straight towards the lakeside in the distance.

---

Mika

Jan Sorok, the champion of Heaven!

---

Right as Jan descended down from outside and stepped into Mika's room, the girl slammed the windows shut and began detailing her plans with glee, which quickly got the Virgil to realize that he had just been tricked. No, she was not in any real danger, just wanted someone to keep her company, complete with drinks. That's... not what a guardian angel is for. Not that he expected her to know... maybe some explanations are in order.

First thing's first - do not use a guardian assigned to you by the Choirs of Angels as a drinking buddy...

Jan briefly shook his head, his mind focusing on one thing in particular - Mika's safe, but she's planning to go out with a member of the Young Bloods and so won't be home one of these nights.

"...I'd rather you hold off on that, or at least be more careful about it." the Virgil suddenly spoke up, his eyes turning to the ceiling while he briefly got lost in thought. "I've been patrolling the city from the sky for a while, and I fear that you won't be safe out there. Even if you have a Young Blood by your side."

[Galnius]

Andrew
Pre-raid
As Bael spilled his hero story, Andrew listened with a combination of curiousity and a touch of restraining his laughter. "You know, I didn't need your backstory, but that's still good to know. As for me, it's nothing really major. Dad was a minor hero, was his sidrkick before Quake picked me up, and now I'm here. Figured it was time to start my own hero career, and you guys did well enough at the tourney to get me interested."

Andrew paused to take a drink of water from a cup on his bedside and became slightly more serious. "So with your strength, why do you grapple so much? You definitely have a lot of control, so wouldn't it be easier to grapple with your tail and pummel, or does your tail not do that?"

---

Mika

Mikaela rolled her eyes at Jan's nagging. She would have thought that letting him know about her plans would help him be a little less uptight, but apparently that was asking for too much. "Relax mom, it would be at the tower, safest place in San Diego. Only reason I agreed anyway. If you are so concerned maybe you should accompany me, though you'd have to sleep outside or something. Besides, if you are going to worry about my safety wouldn't you stick around at the house? It's not exactly difficult to find my address."

Mika flopped onto her gaming chair and leaned back. Her cup tipped momentarily but was quickly recovered, stopping the threat of losing all of its contents. "Now chill out and sit the fuck down angel boy. You won't be any help if your nagging gives me a heart attack or bores me to death. 'Sides, haven't you been working most of the time? Breath a little."

Realizing what she said, Mika paused in a rare moment of regret. "Sorry, that last thing was a little insensitive huh. Unless you do breath. You never explained."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 7th

---

---

---

Hearing Frost Bite, who appeared to be the most aloof of the three Young Bloods keeping him company, accept his request so readily was a pleasant surprise, and Icarus smiled at the frosty heroine, but before he could react to her joke or say anything else, he felt a pair of hands clasp onto his arm and pull him up onto his feet. He barely had time to wave goodbye to Red and Blue as Alexis dragged him off to their table.

"Yeah feel free to come hang out with the team! Us teens have to stick together after all, right?" The shorter girl spoke eagerly, and Icarus had to admit her enthusiasm was contagious, though even still he dug his heels in to slow down the tech wizard.

"Alright, alright, but you don't need to drag me, I'm coming." The young man stated. Begrudgingly, Alexis slowed down to match the others' pace and the foursome began making their way to the Young Bloods' table. As they did, Icarus looked back at Angelica. "I don't think the press would just assume that." He stated, before pausing briefly as a thought struck him. "Although... considering what Quake's sidekick did, who knows."

Meanwhile, Alexis glanced at Casimir as he spoke, a grin appearing on her face at the mention of the battle against Inferno - her first great victory within the team. "Oh, fight him? Bug boy I did not just fight him, I punched him in the jewels." The genius girl declared proudly, making a quick jab at the air with her right hand. "I still haven't washed my gauntlet." She joked afterwards. Hearing this - and the nickname she used for Casimir - Icarus laughed.

"Wow, that's gross." He stated. "Wish I could've seen it, but I think I was on the floor at that point."

After bringing up the fight with Inferno, as well as mentioning what was holding him up during that, Casimir quickly changed the subject, asking him how life had been treating him in Los Angeles as opposed to San Diego. Once more, however, he was interrupted before he could even begin to reply.

"Hey so speaking of our little team up against Inferno..." Alexis spoke up as she suddenly turned on her heel directly facing the former vigilante, a conspiratorial gleam in her eye that Angelica would undoubtedly recognize. "You remember the other girl that was with us, Psyche, right?" She asked. Icarus had barely finished a nod when the short blonde approached him and began trying her hardest to whisper into his ear, a task made difficult by the difference in height. The girl spoke quickly, and just as quickly as she approached, she moved away, grinning.

"I'll leave it to you!" She said before taking off, moving ahead towards the table. Icarus raised an eyebrow, he hadn't quite caught on to what was going on, but he had the feeling he was about to get caught up in something.

"...She's a handful for sure." He remarked to the two Young Bloods still around him, before looking at Casimir. "What were you saying? Oh yeah, how LA's treating me. Well, people there want me to sign them an autograph or rescue their dog instead of wanting me in jail or dead so I'd say it's a pretty big step up. Plus having a little more than pocket change is nice." He admitted. "Oh, that reminds me! I actually got my driver's license and bought a bike so I can come visit more often."

---

---

After being tricked by Alexis to spend a part of the evening with none other than Psyche, Icarus once again found himself sitting at a table in the ballroom, except this time it was the one reserved for the Young Bloods. Indeed, the blond boy was surrounded by various members of the team of young heroes, among them his best friend Kabuto, sitting to his right.

Amidst the feasting and conversation, a new face joined the table, another Young Blood, Forge. Icarus remembered him well. He was there during the tournament, and even as Forge went about with his shenanigans the blond boy felt anger rising in his chest, recalling how he had called into question his commitment to the cause of heroism, despite how much he had sacrificed even when he was branded a vigilante and a criminal.

Looking away in disgust, Icarus paid little attention as Mike addressed Casimir in what appeared to be a strangely worded apology. Concerning himself with the remarkable fruit punch in his glass - of which there was a limitless supply, one of the few advantages of being in a huge table full of people too young to drink - and the feast in front of him, he made a point to ignore the hero known as Forge until he realized that, for some reason, the brunet was now addressing him instead of his friend.

...Apologizing again, is he?

Blinking, the former vigilante stared at Mike for a moment before slowly nodding. He seemed to genuinely realize he had been in the wrong, so perhaps it was better to let bygones be bygones instead of continuing to concern himself with showing anger or apathy.

"...Right. Apology accepted." He stated. Curt, perhaps, but there was little else to say. There was little else to tell. Had they been closer perhaps he would've seen it fit to explain what had become of him, to justify the things he had done that led to those unjust accusations, but the fact was that, beyond a battle he did not remember and an unfortunate encounter at Freedom's Nest, he did not know Mike well.

"So you had someone in your team attack a teammate during a battle?" He added afterwards, recalling one of Mike's comments, though he glanced at Casimir as he made his inquiry, as he trusted the insect hero's input more. "I would get thrown in a cell without a second thought if I pulled that."

[Bentus]

Yoshiro Nakama - a.k.a Psyche
San Diego

---

Yoshiro felt a flush of embarrassment rush to her cheeks as Mars and Viviana looked at her in confusion. Why had she gone and opened her mouth like that without thinking? Being unable to go on missions with the team made her increasingly feel like an outsider looking in on them. Casual conversations which had just flown so effortlessly now flew over her head as she struggled to insert herself into the group where she could. And half the time Yoshiro would just stumble over her words and make a fool of herself all over again. For someone who had always been comfortably popular in school, it was a sharp change to what she was used to. Fortunately, Alice’s arrival seemed to shift the conversation away from her short-sighted comment. Offering the woman a friendly smile, Yoshiro added on to Viviana’s reply.

“Yeah, honestly this is all amazing.” She stated, not needing to fake the sheepish grin on her features. “Mr Scott really didn’t need to do all of this for us. We’re just happy that we can go out there and help people.” Or that some of us can, at least. Pushing aside her inner thought, Yoshiro smiled jokingly. “But I definitely could get used to this!” Before she could hear a response however, she felt a hand suddenly tap her shoulder.

“Hey, do you want to dance? Great, let’s go.”

Blinking in surprise, Yoshiro had just enough time to offer Aleta a confused expression before she felt the other girl’s hand grab her own. “Pitch wait, I’m actually feeling a bit - whoa!” Yoshiro tried to explain as she was pulled from her chair and sent stumbling behind the stronger girl, glancing apologetically back over her shoulder as she was led towards the dance floor.

Raising an eyebrow as one of the heroes was dragged away, Alice did her best to try and not think too hard about how difficult it must be to manage so many kids. She’d never really gotten the appeal if she were honest. People could accuse her of being a workaholic, but when she saw what parenting entailed she grew thankful for her late nights at the office. Regardless, she maintained a polite smile as she turned towards the remaining Young Bloods.

“Well, that’s good to hear, Chicle. If there is anything that isn’t up to your standards or if anything bothers one of your team, please feel free to bring it to my attention and I’ll have someone take care of it.” Glancing around the table, Alice continued. “Actually, I was hoping to have a word with Makeshift?”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 7th

---

---

After setting up a part of her perfectly whimsical and ill-planned idea, Alexis shot forward towards the team table, but it took her no time to realize that Yoshi was no longer there, which prompted her to halt her approach. Confused, the blonde girl shot a glance towards the bathroom. Not likely, I would have seen her walk past me. Next, she looked to the buffet table. Pfft, nah. She's always on some diet or other, she wouldn't break them just because we're at a fancy party. Tilting her head, she continued analyzing the possibilities. If she knew anyone in here enough to head to their table, I would've most likely heard of them. She wouldn't dream of leaving the party early either, this seems just like her scene. So... Glancing this time towards the area set aside for dancers and squinting, it only took her a moment to notice one of the newbies dragging Yoshiro to the center of the dance floor. There she is.

Sorry, Allie, but there's a greater purpose at play here.

After standing still for a grand total of five seconds, Alexis made a beeline for the dance floor, completely avoiding the Young Bloods' table. Walking with a purpose, she easily made her way through the pairs of businessmen and heiresses that slowly danced to the soft tunes playing from speakers somewhere out of sight. It wasn't long until she encountered the duo she was looking for, just as the blonde released her partner.

"Heeey there, Paragon X9, nice to see you're enjoying yourself." The genius girl greeted, making her presence known as she slipped next to Yoshiro and clasped her hand with both of hers. "So listen, funny story here but it turns out I gotta borrow your partner Psykey here for something, it's important so yeah, sorry about the inconveniences, bye!" She said, waving awkwardly for exactly one second before turning on her heel and beginning to drag her friend back to where she had left Icarus, Casimir and Angelica.

"I bet you're wondering what's going on right now, I can practically see the dialogue going through your head. 'Alexis, what are you doing?' But don't worry, it's just a little plan I thought of to make Red jealous, you know, maybe get it through that thick skull of his that he could actually lose you and to try harder and whatnot. Just play along and it'll go smoothly, I promise!" The blonde girl spoke quickly and eagerly as she escorted Yoshiro. As they neared the group, Alexis let go of the Asian girl's hand and instead moved behind her, pushing her forward towards Icarus and nearly making her bump into him, though thankfully the blond boy was quick to react and took a large step back, though they still ended up separated by just a few inches.

Seeing Alexis come back and push a girl wearing a dress and a domino mask towards him, it didn't take Icarus long to realize that this was Psyche, the same girl that had fought alongside him and Frost Bite when they were up against the infamous mercenary, Inferno. A grisly memory resurfaced and the young man's gaze quickly shot towards the girl's right leg, though of course, it was undamaged, and the boy quickly realized how silly of him it had been to worry about that - it had been months since that battle. Realizing that the wandering of his eyes could be taken for something different, Icarus quickly looked back up, awkwardly establishing eye contact and clearing his throat.

"Hello. I don't know if you remember me, but we fought Inferno together, back during July." He said, smiling at the girl.

While privy to his part in the plan, Icarus was oblivious to the true motive behind the whole thing. Instead of filling him in, Alexis filled his head with a plethora of half truths - that Yoshi was going through a hard breakup, that she could use a pick me up, that having a guy her age approach her would work wonders, et cetera. The short blonde had assured him that she knew he had a girlfriend and that he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to, but, knowing that she wasn't here, and seeing this as little more than a harmless gesture for a girl that needed it, he didn't see the need to refuse.

So unknowingly, he went along with the plan to make Red jealous.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked her, offering her a hand.

Meanwhile, Alexis had slowly backed away from the group - and thus heading back to the team table - after getting the job done, a grin appearing on her face as she saw the boy offer the girl a hand. Occasionally sneaking glances at the redheaded loner standing by the restrooms to see if the plan was working, Alexis wasn't really looking where she was going, so she was understandably startle when she bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry!" She spoke as she quickly turned around, only to see someone that fit the stereotypical look of an important businesswoman almost perfectly. Oblivious to the fact that the woman had been looking for her all along, the blonde offered a polite smile. "Really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going there." She apologized yet again before continuing. "I'm Makeshift by the way, who are you?"

[Auropa]

Red

Kross Mathews
The Gala
October 7th

After his run in with Naja, Kross took to wandering the hall to let time pass by. He figured that the event would wrap up on its own eventually, maybe Scott would give some sort of ‘thank you’ speech but once it was over he’d be free from this high-society prison. As he meandered through the crowds though, an unexpected sight caught his attention, a lone, unmistakable figure standing beside one of the bathrooms in some attempt to stay away from the focus of the evening. Red was a peculiar case within an already abnormal team, no powers, a messy past and a habit of winning fights he shouldn’t be able to even survive. Since the formation of the Young Bloods though, the kid’s profile had been steadily thrown into disarray with his actions often switching between lone wolf and some sort of crazed guardian. If anything, seeing him separate from the team at what was meant to be a celebration was the most in character thing he had done in a while, but at the same time, it also left Kross with a relatively unique opportunity. After a slight pause to weigh his options, he shifted his course and started moving towards the lone hero.

“I’ve only said this a few times in my life, but you actually look like you need a drink more than I do.” He said as he took a position next to Red and offered a silver flask pulled from his jacket.
“Nik’drazilian. Turns out that with a bit of chemistry the stuff they use to clean their ships can double as half-decent spirit. Tried getting them to set up a trade line for it once but, well let’s just say it got lost in translation.” He added with a half shrug.

“So then, Mask, huh? Founding member of the rising Young Blood hero team. I’ll admit it, this is not that path I was expecting you to take. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad one by any means and it’s a hell of a lot better than following Quick Shot, lord knows that guy can be a real asshole sometimes. It’s just, who would’ve thought that a member and survivor of Lycan’s infamous Five would turn hero? I mean back when you guys were operating, I had some people fully convinced you were all robots. That level of ruthless efficiency though, well, looking back on it I understand where they were comming from at least. Shame about how it ended though. Never doubt Lycan to go and reap their own golden goose huh?” He stated with a quiet, somewhat dry chuckle. Red's time with Quick Shot wasn't exactly the biggest of secrets and while Lycan was a secretive group, they weren't completely unknown either but everything else, calling it lesser known was a gross understatement. For now at least, Kross wanted to know how the once infamous assassin would handle an unknown. Sure Naja had said he was fully readjusted, but she also once told him how a certain scarab was dead.

“Relax kid.” He finally said as he turned his head to face the other Young Bloods across the hall. “I’m a friend of sorts and happen to have a special piece of kit with me, nothing too fancy or hostile but it does make it harder for people to notice us. Really helps when you need a drink, or a few questions answered.” He added as he raised a hand to the sepentine hero only to be passed over without issue.

“So if I've peaked your curiosity, how about a little info swap? I can even start us off with a question I’ve been trying to figure out, why are you still playing hero?”

[Finland SSR]

Mika

Jan Sorok, the champion of Heaven!

---

Seeing Mika suddenly grow frustrated took Jan's mood down as well - with a somber expression on his face, Jan turned his gaze to the side while the girl continued to berate him.

"Sorry, yeah, that was probably too far. I... just want to make sure you're safe, you know? The guardian in my title is not just there for show..." And San Diego was seeing more and more collections of demonic forces by the day - Jan chose to leave that out, however, Mika clearly didn't want any more worries drilled into her head. It did mean that he was going to have to activate the mortal allies he's recruited very soon...

But where are they going to strike first?

Jan sat down on the floor, folding his legs. "Just... don't say words like that."

[The Republic of Atria]

Renata

He waited patiently for Renata to respond. It was obvious that she wasn't very sure how to respond given the delay, and when she did, her tone take taken a more somber and quiet tone even admitting to him that it probably sounded selfish that she wanted some glory for herself. At least now they were getting somewhere. So it is a pride that. That explains a lot.

"Well, Renata. It's a team. We're a team. Teams use their collective skill and abilities to get a job done and then share the glory." He sighed, knowing that he also felt the same way a few months ago. "I completely understand your feelings though. When I first joined the team, I spent the first several missions doing pretty much nothing. I was basically invisible to everyone, even the villains, during our first mission."

"Then we did some raid on the vampires. I smashed some stuff and that was about it. Then came the big raid on the pharmacy place. A huge amount of the team, including people who weren't even on it, were fighting Inferno while I... Just kind of stood outside with my thumb up my ass waiting. You were in that fight, weren't you? Then came the hotel thingy where Marionette was holding some people hostage, which I tried to fight that Floyd nutjob that went nowhere, because some nobody showed up and fought him instead. Not Jason, some chick. Anyways, I got so fed up with not being able to do anything that..."

"I did something, really, really, REALLY stupid. I'm sure you know about that Floyd jackoff. Streams himself doing stupid crap. Well, it turns out he and a few other people were trying to raid some Warwolf base. I... Tagged along for like five minutes before I realized what I was doing was extraordinarily stupid and I ditched, but I still showed up. Naja got on my tail about that. The point is I understand wanting to have some recognition and something to do and also did a dumb thing to try to get it." He said and leaned against a large rock, one of the ones he used for his own practice. "Still pretty ashamed of that if I'm being honest."

"Just trying to snag personal glory is only going to cause more problems, because yes. It's selfish. Especially when you almost drag the entire team down because you felt like you weren't contributing or shoot at someone on your team because you wanted to prove that you're worth something."

Sina's a big fat cheater

Bael took his position as Sina asked if he was sure if he wanted her to do the countdown. All that meant to him was that she was probably going to cheat in some way, and before he could tell her not to do something like that, she started counting down from ten. Bael readied himself to launch, only to be caught off guard by Sina doing exactly what he expected. Even then, he was still caught off guard by her saying zero right after nine. He still grinned as he jumped off the building and dove to pick up speed just behind his friend.

He trailed behind Sina by a little, but had every intention of catching up. "CHEATER!" He shouted and then felt no guilt about using his powers to flap his wings harder than anyone else could, giving himself a burst of speed. "I wasn't going to use my powers this time, but since you've decided that you're gonna be a big ole' cheater, I'm gonna cheat too!"

[United Kingdom of Poland]

The Gala
While it might not be as life threatening, Roy wasn't sure if he would chose being stabbed by the serum or surrounded by wealthy donors. Jacob had tried to convince Roy to stay home, but Roy knew he had a responsibility as team leader to go. Besides, he was feeling almost entirely better, despite some lingering aches and pains. Still, he now found himself having to move through a mob of people who all wanted an introduction or to introduce them to their daughter or son who either had some extraordinary power or an incredible personality.... After enough polite disengagements he made his way to the Young Bloods' table, taking a seat next to Wendy. "Hey, do you want to dance? I really need an excuse for people not to be able to come up and talk to me."

"I'd love to." Wendy replied with a smile before throwing a quick smirk to a couple of the girls Roy had been introduced too earlier. While she was glad Roy had been nice enough to keep her out of his little publicity tour, she couldn't help but notice a few of the girls didn't look like they wanted to join the team as much as hook up with its leader. Getting up out of her chair, she made a sow of kissing him on his cheek before leading him out onto the dance floor. "So how's the recruitment drive going?" She asked, a tinge of jealousy in her voice.

[Tomia]

The Gala
Angelica smirked at Alexis' bombastic story telling regarding her defeat of Inferno. She then raised an eyebrow when she seemed to be interested in getting Surge to interact with Yoshi. Considering what they had previously talked about Angelica was pretty sure she knew what this was about. Normally she'd think it was a fine idea, but given that Red was also here this likely would only end in trouble. I really hope you know what you're doing Lexi, Naja might kill us if we start a fight on the middle of the dance floor.

Mars got the feeling he didn't like salsa music as much as Viv but he figured just agreeing in this instance was the smartest thing to do. "Uh, ya sure, that would be great. But really, all of this seems super genius. I think we're all really grateful for the support Mr. Scott has given us." Mars added respectfully.

Roy raised his eyebrow at Wendy with an amused look in his eyes as they headed to the dance floor. She was being more affectionate than usual in public, and given her question he had a pretty good idea what was going on. "Believe me, I didn't enjoy it too much either. Would much rather be where I am now." He said, pulling her a bit closer for emphasis. "Besides, none of the kids over there seem to have a shred of abilities. One of the guys in the fancy suit tried to convince me that his kid's overbite was really some fantastic new power." He said with a smile.

[Absolon-7]

Mike

Icarus

Casimir Herman October 7th

---

Casimir and the blonde trio returned to the Young Bloods table which left Casimir sitting next to those three. He was pretty glad that Icarus could visit more often but the mention of him getting a new motorcycle left him slightly bitter at the fate of his own. He'd been ignoring it ever since Drakon destroyed it but he really did miss the Winged Hussar. Granted he simply took it from its former owner but he treated the damn thing like a precious jewel compared to the shitty state the gangster who had owned it kept it in. Casimir took a gulp from his punch that the team had been served while Icarus went off to dance with Yoshi and Alexis went to go talk to some business lady. This event was turning out not as exciting he had hoped with not even the remaining food being enticing enough to stave away boredom.

Soon enough Icarus had returned to sit next to him but of all people Mike thought joining them was a good idea. Although his helmet his his face, underneath it once he heard Mike begin lavishing him with praise before giving up once and for all brought on a huge grin to his face. Amusement at the expense of pricks like Mike was always a boon but Casimir's face twisted into a look of sheer confusion as Mike began his verbose apology.

"Of course I had it handled and I'm the one who made him bleed first," said Casimir tilting his head up and crossing his arms before lowering his sights to meet Mike, "But yeah better to protect the squishier ones. Oh and apology accepted...I guess."

He squinted his eyes at the vague allusions Mike was making in the apology before hit hit him that he was talking Renata. His confusion was only compounded as Mike tried another long apology to Icarus. Casimir rolled his eyes at it and just played with his helmet's antenna flicking them with his finger to make them vibrate rapidly. Icarus last comment about getting thrown in jail got him to look over to the two.

"Oh yeah I don't think anyone is letting Renata off for that. She had a talking to from like three people last I heard," said Casimir without hesitation before awkwardly adjusting his red tie, "Oh yeah, I guess that's what Mike meant with 'troll doll'. So Renata sorta fired a warning shot or something at Rocket during our fight with Ares...It was fucking out of nowhere. Mars is my pal so yeah I didn't like it all but I can't help to worry if something is up with her."

[New Finnish Republic]

Kross Mathews

"Jesus, what a waste of time..."

Red's muttered words came out low, being followed by a bored sigh as his eyes continued to scan the crowd around them. On occasion, his gaze would shift over towards what was soon becoming the main focus of the evening outside of the dance floor, that being the table of his fellow Young Bloods. While he tried to force himself to do just the opposite, Red's attention ended up falling upon a certain member of the team. Although every time he caught himself staring he'd quickly avert his eyes elsewhere, he couldn't help but notice the girl's mood seemed almost frustrated in some manner, as he had occasionally caught her frowning in his general direction. What her intentions behind these glances were was beyond him, but every time he tried to think of what it could be, the last words she had spoken to him echoed in his mind, causing him to quickly dash aside his wild conspiracies.

"I’ve only said this a few times in my life, but you actually look like you need a drink more than I do."

Red was suddenly pulled away from his inner turmoil as the sound of a man's voice caused him to snap his head over in its direction, only to find a silver flask being offered towards him. His gaze went upwards towards the owner of the flask, a man who appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties. Based on the ragged appearance, it was clear to Red immediately that this man was far different than the other participants at the gala, seeming just as out of place here as he was.

“Nik’drazilian. Turns out that with a bit of chemistry the stuff they use to clean their ships can double as half-decent spirit. Tried getting them to set up a trade line for it once but, well let’s just say it got lost in translation.”

Red looked at the flask apprehensively, his gaze shifting past the man towards the crowd to see if this was some sort of trick crafted by Naja or Roy as a means of entrapping him. However, seeing that these two aforementioned individuals seemed to be busy in other affairs, Red's gaze centered around the flask once more. After a small pause of consideration, he gave a small shrug, taking the flask from the man and taking a small gulp from within. The second the liquid began to pour into his mouth, his nose was immediately assaulted with the foreign fragrance the spirit gave off. A second later, his tongue was the next to receive the assault as he fought back the urge to gag as what felt like flames trickled down his throat and settled into his stomach. A small shiver ran up his body as he let out a small grunt, banging out his chest with his fist as he handed back the flask to the shady man.

"Jesus, I think that stuff just burnt a whole in my gut," Red said with a grimace, shaking his head as he tried to recover from the effects. The man seemed pleased enough by his response, likely fully aware of what he had done. However, as Red prepared to ask the man just who the hell he was, he began to speak.

At first, on the mention of Quick shot Red could only roll his eyes. The two's pairing had been brief, but there had been enough incidents on the incursions that was well known to the public that it didn't surprise him to hear someone giving him a little grief about it. After all, there was a reason why the media had been so aghast upon learning of him being a member of the otherwise seemingly flawless team of teenage heroes, and why they had been so quick to turn against him when Marionette had more or less successfully planted the blame on him for the deaths of Romero family.

However, upon the mention of Lycan, and subsequently the Five, Red's heart seemed to stop as the dismissive expression he wore on his face soon froze into that of dread. His entire body tensed up as his fight-or-flight reflexes went into overdrive, his mind racing as he weighed the options of what could happen next. No one really knew about his past, even Quickshot and Naja only knowing only small glimpses of the life Red used to live in the not so distant past. Snapping his head over to where the rest of the team was mingling about, the fear of his secrets having somehow been leaked filled him.

“Relax kid.”

Red's gaze snapped back to the man, who seemed to understand just what kind of verbal land mine he had just stepped on. "I’m a friend of sorts and happen to have a special piece of kit with me, nothing too fancy or hostile but it does make it harder for people to notice us. Really helps when you need a drink, or a few questions answered.”

Red glared at the man for a few moments before his eyes followed the hand gesture of him, noticing the fact that Naja had completely ignored the two even when they should have clearly been noticed. A look of both confusion and concern filled Red's face as he looked back towards the man, crossing his arms slowly as his fists remained clenched.

“So if I've peaked your curiosity, how about a little info swap? I can even start us off with a question I’ve been trying to figure out, why are you still playing hero?”

Red was placed off guard by the simple yet complicated question the man had posed him. While part of him practically screamed to get the hell away from this conversation while he could, a much larger portion of him was intent on finding out just who in the hell this man was that he knew about something so secretive. If this man was a friend like he claimed to be, he knew a lot more than any normal person should know. If he wasn't, the chance that this man posed danger to not only Red but the rest of the team was far to high to ignore. Thus, with a great deal of hesitation, he reluctantly answered his question.

"According to everyone out there, that's what I am," he replied, nodding in the general direction of the crowd. "Either they're too stupid enough to realize differently, or I'm too blind to recognize they're right," he continued, his gaze narrow as he stared at the man. After waiting for a response, he decided to switch from the defensive into the offensive, his voice low as he spoke up.

"My turn. Who the hell are you, and what do you want? Because that kind of information is something only someone with intention to use it would knowingly let slip," he asked, his gaze momentarily slipping past the man as he eyed the crowd warily, looking for any further sign of trouble as he waited for an answer to his questions.

[Auropa]

Red
"According to everyone out there, that's what I am. Either they're too stupid enough to realize differently, or I'm too blind to recognize they're right.
My turn. Who the hell are you, and what do you want? Because that kind of information is something only someone with intention to use it would knowingly let slip,"

Kross Mathews
The gala

Keeping his back relaxed against the wall and ignoring Red’s gaze in favour picking some lint from his jacket, Kross tried to covertly guess the Young Blood’s thoughts. ‘He’s an inquisitive one, that’s for sure. Half expected him to storm off while flipping the bird.’ He figured. ‘So at the very least this means he’s not stupid enough to start a fight with too many unknowns, but he doesn’t seem smart enough to run to Naja or his team for backup. Or is this a matter of Pride? Trust maybe? Whatever the reason, its still pretty far from the worst start to a conversation I’ve had’

“So, you’d leave it the others to decide? I guess after everything you’ve seen, following orders would come a lot more naturally thank making any choices for yourself. But who am I to comment, I mean at least you’re doing what the good guys tell you to this time.” He stated before mockingly feigning surprise at a thought.

“And what do you mean by ‘that kind of information’? Have you not gotten around to telling your snake mum and the others about who you are? Or do you actually think you can just keep all the nastiest bits hidden from them? Huh, I honestly don’t know which of those is sadder.” He added as if dragging his thoughts along and showing no sign of acknowledging Red’s questions, until finally-

“But it’ll still pass as an answer.” He admitted. “As for me. 'Who am I, and what do I want?' Those are two pretty ambitious asks for in return for an optimistic take on your friends’ opinion on you. Still, it’d hardly be fair to leave ‘em unanswered.” He half muttered as he straightened from the wall and lazily worked a crick out from his neck.

“Right now, what I want is to know is if you and your little group of friends over there, are really worth all the headaches. Don’t get me wrong, breaking and entering, obstructing justice, leaving weapons in the field and even dropping the odd building or two doesn’t bother me, in fact, I couldn’t care less about what puberty has you lot doing. But hiding an ancient genocidal psychic, working with a man who can walk in and out of hell and don’t even get me started on all the different types of unpleasantness you’ve forced out into the open. That shit has consequences. Which brings us to who I am. Putting it bluntly, I’m the person that gets sent in to contain these sorts of problems and remove the people dumb enough to cause them. But you can just call me Kross.” He added as he reached into his jacket and pulled free a single, half crumpled cigarette.

‘That should be enough background for now.’ he decided ‘Time for the not so nice bit.’

“Now here’s where it gets complicated. These problems, they’re all usually handled with a bit of quick, often messy work. I’m a fan of the simple and effective sort of approach." he added with a shrug.
"Though as luck would have it, I happen to owe Naja, so said standard approach is very temporarily off the table. But one day soon, the draq, the hadrien, the mage, maybe even the little telepath, someone will screw up again, and they’ll screw up badly enough that they'll need to be… removed. Which of course brings me to ‘my’ next question. And it’s a real important one, so while I know it’s hard, I’m gonna need an actual answer from you this time.” He began to say before finally locking eyes with the young hero beside him.

“What are you going to do about it?”

The answer might not have been all that important and the question wasn't there for much reason other than to piss the kid off. But dangers were coming. Maybe not today or tomorrow but they would still come in the end and despite what Naja said and did to protect them, Kross decided that they needed to know and have the chance to prepare. As for his style of forewarning though, if his own experiences had shown him anything, it was that people reacted to threats more than warnings.

[New Finnish Republic]

Kross Mathews

Red's expression hardened as the man's tone changed from that of casual, albeit mocking, conversation to that of a clear and obvious warning. While the man's answers had been vague, he had shed enough light for Red to understand that he should take his word's carefully. Whether or not they held any actual weight was up for debate, but given who he had mentioned, Red was not about to take his chances.

"If you even fucking thing of coming near anyone, especially her, I'll show you just how 'Nasty' those bits about me really are."

Red's voice was relatively calm, although the venom behind his words was clear and present as he stared directly into the eyes of Kross. He wasn't blind enough to recognize what this man was trying to do, even if it made Red want to bash his head in. He was testing the waters to see if Red would do just that, for what purposes Red still didn't know. If he was looking to get a rise out of Red he had done his job perfectly, but it was clear to him that there was much more to this man's questioning than that.

Still, the concept that this man knew about what had happened to Yoshiro had put him in even more of a panic than his own past having been revealed. To his knowledge, what had occurred had remained under wraps within the team and the select few heroes who had involved themselves in the affair. Red knew that things had almost reached the boiling point with the Scarab, with Red and those with him only just containing the otherwise cataclysmic events that could have occurred should they have failed. If this man had found out about this, the thought of how many others who may have discovered this and may not have had as much patience with the matter caused a great deal of concern to build up within him.

Looking out to the crowd, Red couldn't help but scan for where Yoshiro was in a panic. After a few moments, his eyes fell upon the back of her head. His expression softened for a brief moment as he saw she was still safe, but as his gaze went past her, his mouth turned into a twitched frown as he saw what she was doing. A flare of anger roared within his chest at the sight of none other than the blonde-haired vigilante with his arms around her, the two sharing smiles as they danced to the music. However, a sinking feeling replaced this sensation of anger, calming him down enough to think clearly and focus on the current conversation.

"So what do I need to do to keep her safe then, huh?"

Red's words came out soft, his gaze slowly returning to Kross as the look of distrust and anger he had previously held for the man was replaced with something akin to a lost child, unsure of what to do.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone
Chapter 2: Highway to Hell

Carter staggered through the airport terminal, dragging two large trunks in one hand and the leash of a very fidgety German Shepherd in the other. He couldn't exactly blame Harley; the poor guy had been stuck in his travel carrier for the past two days, and travel carriers were never fun. Especially if those travel carriers had been placed in the dark, sweaty, cramped cargo hold of a plane, with the only sustenance being some ice cubes Carter had snuck into the water tray. He hadn't even been able to stay with Carter at the hotel in Japan; they had a no-pet policy, and the room was barely big enough to fit Carter, let alone a massive German Shepherd with him. So Carter had spent his free time running across Tokyo to find a boarding kennel, running back to the hotel through a subway system that barely made coherent sense, and finally crashing into his bed at 1:00 AM, only to wake up just seven hours later to prepare for his morning flight to New Delhi.

So yeah, he was about ready to fall over right now.

"Come on, Harley!" Carter half-demanded, half-pleaded as Harley began veering off in a different direction again. "I need sleep, not a duty-free watch. I have a duty-free watch already." Carter moaned as he tugged on Harley's leash despite the many whimpers of protest that occurred somewhere to his left. He didn't even know where he was going by this point, all the white tile and religious icons and Hindi signs around him blurring together and confusing him even further. His eyes stung, his throat burned, his stomach growled...he needed food. That was what was missing. Food.

"ALRIGHT, you big baby!" Carter snapped at Harley, who was trying to go somewhere else for the fifteenth time that day. "We'll go get something to eat, and then maybe you'll finally shut up? Deal?" Carter asked as loudly as he could without drawing public attention, which resulted in sort of a whisper-scream. Despite the insult, Harley seemed very pleased, giving an affirmative bark as Carter dragged the dog and his luggage towards the nearest KFC.

---

A whole bucket of Original Recipe Chicken in his stomach later, Carter was feeling remarkably more peachy, rolling his luggage towards the airport's taxi area with a renewed vigor, significantly aided by Harley actually working with him as opposed to vigorously resisting him. Randhawa had given him a call while eating, and told him to look for a taxi driver waiting in the lobby with a big "Graystone" sign. Apparently it was some close friend named Arun that he had asked to drive Carter up to Chandigarh. Must be a pretty close friend, considering that it was a four and a half hour drive on a major highway. Either way, he wasn't complaining, he'd prefer an air-conditioned drive to a 5:30 AM train ride the next morning.

Soon enough, he had crossed enough walkways and bridges to find the final lobby, where a throng of taxi and limo drivers were furiously clamoring at one side of the room, all holding up their own black-font-on-white signs indicating their chartered customers. Anyone who wasn't lucky enough to call ahead for a cab was stuck waiting in a massive line outside for one. Carter was lucky enough to have had a cab charted, but the issue wasn't getting one, it was finding his driver within the crowd of signs. It was even harder for his driver to find him, considering he was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses to hide his face, as well as a bandanna to tie back his hair in the hopes of not being assaulted by a group of fans. Would he have to show his face to find his driver? It would make his life a lot easier, but from what Randhawa told him back in San Diego, he was apparently wildly popular here, and he might get mobbed if he took the glasses off. He came to India to escape his reputation back home, not to keep hiding from it, what the hell was Randhawa thinking when h-

"Hello, Mr. Graystone."

Carter jumped at the soft voice behind him, twisting around to see a dark-skinned man that appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties grinning sheepishly with a sign in his hand, a sign with "Graystone" marked on it in bold, black font. How did this guy creep up on him like that?

"Don't panic. My name is Arun, V.K sent me here to pick you up. You looked a little lost, so I decided to spare you the trouble and come fetch you personally." the man said in perfect English, with a light accent distorting his pronunciations slightly. He was thin, but wiry, with muscles rippling behind his white shirt. Close-cropped, dark hair, dark eyes, and a hint of stubble. He looked like a normal dude. That was a good sign. A wave of relief ran through Carter as he recognized the name, the name of his guardian angel, his savior from the land of crowds and airplanes. He practically wanted to cry with joy. Instead, he just let out a sigh of relief, enthusiastically shaking Arun's hand.

"I'm so glad to see you, man. I feel about ready to faint." Carter confided with a laugh, prompting a smile from Arun.

"I can imagine. My cab is waiting right outside, I'll get your bags in, and we can head off. Vikram is very excited to see you, as I'm sure you can imagine." Arun said, grabbing one of Carter's trunks and his travel carrier for him.

"Vikram?"

"V.K, as you know him. On his birth certificate, it's Vikram Kerala Randhawa. Not great for press releases." Arun said with a bark of laughter as he made a beeline for the doors, most likely aiming for his cab. Carter followed, the other trunk and Harley not too far behind him. Finally, some rest, cool air, and peace.

---

They had been on the road for roughly three hours now, a never-ending stretch of reddish plains only broken up by the occasional patches of grass or gas station. NH 44 was apparently one of, if not the longest highways in India, and Carter was certainly feeling the length. He didn't really mind it though. The fresh air was nice, and so was getting to look at something natural for a change instead of the concrete jungles he had been wading through for the past few years. The ride was mostly silent, as Harley had decided to spend his free time sticking his head out the backseat window instead of barking like usual, which Carter was grateful for. It let him think...and sleep. He had been drifting in and out of a stupor for the past two hours, and now beginning to wake up again, his surroundings turning from blur to sharp details as he came to. The water bottle Arun had passed him earlier had helped; he hadn't realized how thirsty he was.

"Someone's tired." Arun commented from the front with a smirk into his rearview mirror.

"Yeah." Carter simply replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I've barely slept in the last few days, I've always had trouble sleeping on planes, and I didn't get much chance to get shut-eye in Tokyo."

"Tokyo? Why were you in Tokyo?" Arun asked with noticeable interest.

"My layover was in Tokyo. I figured I would take a night to get some sleep, but I got none of that. It took me forever to get through the subway system alone, hauling my ass through the streets was even worse." Carter said with a chuckle.

"Did anybody recognize you while you were in Tokyo?"

"No, nobody. They're all busy people, they have better things to do, I suppose." Carter said, scratching his neck. "I prefer it that way, to be honest. I hate it when people notice me in the street, nobody knows me as Carter Graystone anymore, it's all 'Aeolus' this and 'Aeolus' that. I just want to be Carter again."

"But you revealed your identity to the press, right? At the zoo, where the Young Bloods made their debut." Arun said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I didn't realize the deep shit I was putting myself in by doing that." Carter said with a sigh, absentmindedly scratching between Harley's ears. "Suddenly, I had polls comparing my attractiveness levels to the other male members of the team that I always scored insultingly low in, gossipy romance reports, people banging on my family's door for interviews, cameras wherever I went...it was a nightmare, a living nightmare. I wanted out. Soon enough, I had an excuse."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know about the Warwolf occupation in San Diego?"

"Of course, the siege on the San Diego town hall was all the international press could talk about for a few days. The Internet is a beautiful thing, we were getting live footage of the events streamed in full HD!" Arun chortled as he began to lightly press his foot into the brake pedal, slowing the car slightly.

"Well, I was on that raid, but I got separated from my teammates. Civilians had been pumped full of some serum, and it caused them to begin rioting in the streets. I was supposed to help bring the situation under control. I ended up losing contact with my teammates and got surrounded by a swarm. I don't remember much of what happened, but apparently, it looked like someone hit me in the head with something heavy and knocked me out. I still have a scar from it. I sort of...stumbled into a building for help, and eventually, through some way or another, I ended up at the hospital."

"You don't remember what happened?"

"Bits and pieces, but nothing concrete. Apparently, I suffered a mild brain injury. Nothing severe, it was basically just a bad concussion, but I had bad headaches, vertigo, and...memory loss. Even now, remembering things is hard. So is concentrating. For a while, I could barely talk because I would keep getting confused every time a conversation changed topic."

"Is it still a problem?"

"No, not really. It's a little more difficult to keep track of things, maybe I get some dizziness every now and then, but overall, I'm recovered. But immediately afterwards, I was a wreck. I couldn't fight, couldn't work, couldn't do anything. So I made a decision. I told the team that I was quitting, that I had to look after my health and focus on my personal life instead of superhero work."

"You told the press the same thing, didn't you?" Arun asked after a short silence, his eyes still focused on the road.

"Yeah. It was true, too." Carter said, resting his head on the windowsill. "I wanted a break from it. I was tired out, always losing sleep, working out like a maniac, taking so much stress, and for what? To be eclipsed by all of my teammates. None of them even bothered to check up on me while I was in the hospital. I needed to go my own separate way, you know? Find myself, find what I really liked doing, and not what was fun until I got neck deep in it. I needed to start over.

"Sometimes it's good to start over." Arun said wisely, beginning to pull over on the side of the road.

"Yeah, sometimes it is." Carter said, looking wistfully at the landscape outside, only to begin furrowing his brow as something occurred.

"Arun, why are we stoppin-" Carter said, only to be cut off as the muzzle of a gun was pointed directly at his chest, a small clicking noise resonating throughout the car.

"Don't move."

[Bentus]

Surge and Psyche!
San Diego

---

“Paragon, hold on a second. Can’t you at least slow down a bit?”

Yoshiro spoke in a hushed tone to the other girl, acutely aware of the pairs of eyes that were glancing towards them as she was pulled towards the dance floor. This was not the kind of attention that she wanted right now. She just wanted to sit with the rest of the team, where she could at least fade a little bit into the larger-than-life shadows that they tended to cast around her. But instead, Yoshiro could sense the raised eyebrows and curious glances that were being shot her way, and she could only imagine the whispered gossip and comments that would have accompanied them. Aleta didn’t seem to mind the attention at all. If anything, Yoshi would have bet that the other girl couldn’t have cared any less about what the rest of the party-goers thought about her. Fortunately for the telepath however, a knight in shining armour quickly arrived by her side.

"Heeey there, Paragon X9, nice to see you're enjoying yourself." Alexis flashed an innocent smile as she seamlessly slid herself between the pair. "So listen, funny story here but it turns out I gotta borrow your partner Psykey here for something, it's important so yeah, sorry about the inconveniences, bye!" In an instant, she had extricated Yoshiro’s hand from Aleta’s with her own and was guiding the relieved heroine away from the imposing menace of the quickly approaching dance floor.

Offering Paragon an apologetic look as she was led away, Yoshiro turned towards the young genius with a sigh of relief. “Oh my God, Lexi you are a lifesaver. This is all just feeling like it’s too much for me at the moment.” She said, content to allow the other girl to pull her along. “I’m thinking that I might just say bye to everyone and head back to the Tower, you know? Get some rest and maybe do some homework before -”

Waving a hand, Alexis quickly cut her friend off as she seemed to be enraptured in her own unfolding plan. “Oh come on, you’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. Just trust me for a minute, ‘kay?” Offering her confused friend a wink, the blonde girl continued. "I bet you're wondering what's going on right now, I can practically see the dialogue going through your head. 'Alexis, what are you doing?' But don't worry, it's just a little plan I thought of to make Red jealous, you know, maybe get it through that thick skull of his that he could actually lose you and to try harder and whatnot. Just play along and it'll go smoothly, I promise!"

Despite Alexis’ reassurances, Yoshiro’s eyes immediately lit up in horror. “What?!” She exclaimed, just as her friend repositioned herself behind her and began to push her towards the team’s table. “Alexis, what are you talking about? Why would you think that I’d want to make Red jeal...” Turning her gaze forwards just as Alexis delivered the final push, Yoshiro’s eyes widened as she saw a confused expression staring straight back at her from only a few inches away. “...ous.”

Surge offered her a warm smile, clearly as surprised by her sudden appearance as she was. "Hello. I don't know if you remember me, but we fought Inferno together, back during July." He said.

Immediately, Yoshiro felt an instinctive hint of colour touch her cheeks as she realised how closely the pair of them were standing together. The vigilante-turned-young-hero-sensation had been a hot commodity from the moment his position in the Stars was announced. It was a real rags-to-riches story and a gripping origin tale for a young hero’s meteoric rise, and it had gripped the hero-focused media for weeks. It also didn’t hurt that the strapping vigilante wasn’t hard on the eyes for certain demographics. He does look pretty cute in person, too.

Even if it was just a thought, it was enough to cause Yoshiro to immediately start to talk as if to bury the voice in her own head. “Oh yeah, hi. That seems like it was absolutely ages ago. Honestly, I’m surprised that you remember me!” She offered the other boy a friendly smile, already wondering what on Earth it was that Alexis was thinking when Surge did the last thing that she had been expecting.

“Would you like to dance?”

Blinking in surprise, Yoshiro’s jaw dropped slightly as she stole a quick glance over Surge’s shoulder towards where Alexis was returning to her seat. Was this what she was talking about? Thinking for a moment, remembering how she felt sitting on the table and watching all those girls walking up to Red and playing with their hair...she returned her masked features towards the other hero and flashed him a grin. Reaching out, she took his offered hand.

“Sure. That sounds like it’d be fun.”

---

Back near the Young Blood’s table, an accidental collision had just occurred. Feeling someone bump into her, Alice turned around in surprise to find an apologetic girl quickly regaining her footing. Having been making to brush aside the apology politely even though she inwardly bristled a bit at some stranger’s inability to watch where they’re going, she paused as she recognised the heroine.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. No harm done.” Smiling in amusement at the fortuitous encounter, Alice adjusted her glasses after the collision had knocked them ever-so-slightly loose. “And I know who you are. I was actually just looking for you! My name is Alice Peters, I work as a representative for Mr. Jordan Scott. We’ve heard a lot about you and Mr. Scott was hoping to steal you away from your friends for a quick introduction.” The businesswoman flashed a sly grin as she followed where the teenager’s gaze had so clearly been riveted. “That is assuming it won’t conflict with whatever it is that you’re up to?”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 7th

---

---

The second Casimir let slip the identity of the person who had attacked another Young Blood during their mission, Icarus found it impossible to hide his surprise, his eyes wide open in shock. Despite all the things his girlfriend had done, threats, mistakes and whatnot, actually lashing out against someone on her side was the very last thing he expected. Perhaps it was in part due to his own fairly unique situation - after all, he was not kidding earlier with the comment that he would be imprisoned without a second thought, as he was certain that an act of aggression from a former infamous vigilante would not be seen with kind eyes - but there was also the fact that, in all of their previous conversations, she had taken heroism very seriously, and had even berated him about neglecting teamwork once. It simply didn't seem to fit in at all.

But... we don't see each other anymore. She might have changed. Or...

Silently looking back down after the shock wore off, he continued trying to process this new information. "Yeah... something's probably up with her. I don't think she's the kind of person to do... something like that, just because." The blond boy stated, though there was a distinct lack of conviction in his words that the others would undoubtedly pick up. Almost as if looking for something to fixate on so that he could stop thinking about it for a moment, he realized the insult thrown earlier was directed at Renata, and looked up at Mike with a scowl.

"And don't call my girlfriend troll doll, assholes."

Taking a deep breath, the young man looked back down, not sure what to do. It wasn't his fault, of course, but he couldn't help feeling that he should do something about it. She had been so intent on making him a better person in the past - another reason he found the news hard to believe - so he felt he could at least do the same for her.

I should talk to her. But this is too delicate to handle over the phone, and I can't just sneak out of here... things would be much easier if she was here.

---

---

Alexis at first felt mildly surprised that the woman claimed to know who she was, though it was perhaps a silly thing to feel, considering they were now famous heroes and this ball was basically being thrown in their name. Then, however, she became positively astonished when the woman claimed that she worked for the Jordan Scott, and even more so when she claimed that the man himself had heard about her and wanted to meet her! The first part was perhaps not surprising considering he was one of their sponsors and thus would undoubtedly have at least superficial knowledge of all the members of the team, but the latter made her feel like it was Christmas. If someone had told her at the start of summer that she would end up meeting the man behind Scott Industries in person, she would've probably laughed in their face.

Hearing the woman ask if she would be fine with going, Alexis was brought out of her astonishment and quickly glanced back to Yoshiro and Icarus, who seemed to be hitting it off nicely. She looked back at Alice, then glanced at the two dancers again, before making up her mind.

She's a smart girl, she doesn't need me to babysit her. Have fun, Yoshi!

"Oh don't worry, they'll be fine on their own. Plus, as much as it hurts to throw away the chance to say no to a celebrity, getting to meet Jordan Scott sounds too good to pass up. So lead the way, Alice! Or should it be Ms. Peters? Well, either way, I'm right behind you." The blonde girl said, her quick speech betraying her excitement as she waited for the woman to start walking.

[Auropa]

Red
"If you even fucking thing of coming near anyone, especially her, I'll show you just how 'Nasty' those bits about me really are."
"So what do I need to do to keep her safe then?"

Kross Mathews
The Gala

Slowly twirling the cigarette between his fingers, Kross let out a slow, exasperated sigh at Red’s question. He expected the kid to get angry and threatening, he was ready for curses, insults and even violence if it came to it, but what he wasn’t ready for, was honest fear and doubt. The question was even a fair one, pretty important too but it wasn’t the type of thing a kid should be asking.
‘Naja, what the hell are you thinking?’

“If you want my honest-to-god opinion, run. Break up the team and get everyone out before it goes any further than it already has. Finish school, go to college, make families and live your lives as best you can. You aren’t responsible for how the world is and you shouldn’t have to take the fall trying to fix it.” He answered with a more honest and tired voice.

“But, since I doubt you'll listen to me or do any of that, then all I can say for sure is that the answer isn’t at the bottom of any bottle out there.” He added as he finally placed the unlit cigarette loosely between his lips and followed Red’s gaze to the dance floor.

“If you’re going to keep going down this path, then I can only give you one piece of advice. Clean yourself up. Pull your head out of your ass, take your foot off the door and commit. Like it or not, just about anyone on that table would throw themselves into a fire for you, and no matter how much you try or how much you run, you won’t be able to stop them. Sorry to say it kid, but you’re in a special kind of hell and there’s no way out. But if for some ungodly reason you end up enjoying this mess, then protect it. Watch everyone’s back, and don’t let the world push you guys into the dirt. When you happen to get those odd brief moments of victory though… Well, at the very least don’t let some asshole dance with your girl.” He added with a half-chuckle before a slight humming started to emit from his jacket.

“Nothing really does compare to that emptiness of being the last man standing, eh? Don’t let it happen here kid, that’s my advice.” He said before the humming ended and the world around them seemed to become a little more vibrant and connected.

“I’m afraid that’s time Mask. We’ll see each other again, just try not to do anything too stupid until then.” He said with a crooked smile as he stretched once more and turned to leave.

“Oh, and while my people don't know where you're going at night, I'm pretty good at guessing. Tell 'em I said hi and that one of these days, I’m gonna come for their boss.” He added as he waved back and faded into the crowd.