Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Bentus]

Red

Yoshiro Nakama - Psyche
The Gala

---

The rush of blood to Yoshiro’s face felt like it was going to burn a pair of holes through her cheeks. Despite the mask that obscured her features, she still felt like a dozen pairs of eyes had suddenly turned to stare at her, even though she knew full-well that their words hadn’t carried beyond them. She wanted to shrink back, or alternatively brush the whole exchange aside with a confident ease, but instead she stood frozen in place like a deer in the street. She struggled to come up with some kind of a response, her surprised expression morphing into one of embarrassment as the awkward silence seemed to drag on. What was she supposed to say that wouldn’t just humiliate her even further? She could hardly imagine how the whole thing could have possibly gone any worse. Why couldn’t invisibility have been her power?

“Ahem.”

Blinking at the disturbance, Yoshi turned to see an immediately recognisable figure standing awkwardly before them. “Red?!” She exclaimed, taken aback to see that the boy had approached them. He immediately started talking to Surge, mentioning something about the press that caused Yoshiro’s jittery heart to nearly freeze in terror. But before she could say anything else, Red reached out for her hand and began to pull her away. Feeling a sense of relief at the last-minute exit route, she nevertheless turned back to offer Surge a sheepish wave as he disappeared into the crowd behind them. But as soon as he was out of sight, she turned around to shoot her new dance partner a scowl. Keeping up with Red’s movements as he led her through the steps, she half-whispered an irritated response.

“Yeah, no kidding.” She scoffed, surprised to feel the mixed feelings quickly resurfacing in her chest.

There was the anger at Red, the pain that she’d felt when he hadn’t supported her when she was benched, and the frustrations that she felt as she’d watched him slide into a self-destructive spiral. But there was also something else. Sighing, Yoshiro averted her gaze for a moment. This all felt like a surreal joke, the whiplash from her conversation with Surge before immediately being thrown into whatever this was had knocked her off balance. But she could also feel a similar sense of unease emanating from Red’s thoughts, his usual confident shell showing its cracks as he was as unsure of his intentions as she was.

Allowing Red to twirl her under his arm, Yoshiro nevertheless rolled her eyes with only partially exaggerated exasperation. “Thanks for that, though. I kind of needed an excuse to leave that conversation.” No, you idiot! Think like Lexi: you can use this. Hesitating for a moment, Yoshiro did her best to casually shrug as they danced. “Though Surge is a nice guy. I can definitely see why everyone’s been crushing on him.”

The Great Bug Boy Kabuto!

Lisette Aveline - The Nefarious Marionette!
San Diego

---

Lisette couldn’t help but offer Casimir a sly smile as he struck one of his power poses, thanking her efforts to correct her parents as they’d misspoken his name. As the hero spoke proudly of himself, she stole a glance behind him towards the rest of the table, raising an amused eyebrow as if to silently ask if he was always like this in person. Though it was unlikely that the hero himself would have noticed as he delivered his powerful lines. When he’d finished, the heiress couldn’t help but laugh as he bemoaned his persona’s PR woes.

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just that it’s crazy that you’re this extra in person as well as on the news.” Realising that her words could be misinterpreted by Kabuto, she quickly continued before he could respond. “But I don’t mean that in a bad way! I mean, I kind of like it. Extra’s a bit different, you know? A lot of the grown up heroes kind of act like they’re a couple of sticks in the mud.” Pausing, the girl stole a chance to scowl at the backs of her parents as they meandered their way through the crowds. “And I’m sorry about my parents. They can be so lame sometimes. You’d think that with all their money they’d be a bit more interesting, but instead they just fly around all the time, visiting their friends or something. They only care about heroes at all because of events like this.”

Sighing, Lisette turned to offer Kabuto a smirk. “Though they have let me go to the NASL tournament a couple of times. I was actually there this year too. Your fights were awesome - the whole team kinda stole the show.” For a brief moment, Lisette hesitated before she forced herself to continue. “Though I thought that it was pretty cool when you teamed up with Marionette at the end. Villain-hero team-ups can be fun, right? And it was neat to see her helping you take down the other villains during the attack. Kind of makes you think, sorta?” Even though her expression remained the same, Lisette could feel her chest tighten as she waited for the response.

[New Finnish Republic]

Yoshiro

As the two continued to make their way around the ballroom floor, Red couldn't help but feel a strange sensation build up within him as he held Yoshiro in his hands. The last time he had held her like this had been before the entire ordeal with the Scarab and her subsequent temporary dismissal from the team. While others may have tried to convince him otherwise, Red was fully aware on both accounts these were both his fault for occurring, and even as he felt the delicate fingers of Yoshiro's interlocked with his, he felt a sense of guilt that was immeasurable.

“Thanks for that, though. I kind of needed an excuse to leave that conversation. Though Surge is a nice guy. I can definitely see why everyone’s been crushing on him.”

A small scowl appeared on Red's face at these words, a strong sense of jealousy burning inside him as he momentarily glanced in the direction of where the aforementioned hero was. Cheating bastard, he thought to himself as a flare of anger erupted. However, the sensation of warm breath tickling at his neck caused him to snap out of his moment of aggravation as he turned his attention back to Yoshiro. The expression on her face was that of curiosity, almost as if she were waiting to see what kind of reaction he would have in response to her words. She's toying with me, Red realized.

Admittedly, Red knew that he deserved the punishment being delivered to him after what he had done. It took him by surprise that Yoshiro would stoop to such levels, but he couldn't blame her in the least. She's changed, Red thought to himself as he pondered on how to react, giving the girl a small twirl in his arms as he bought himself time to think. For as long as he had known her, he had never would have imagined the normally benevolent girl to resort to emotional warfare like this, which caused him to contemplate further. Did the Scarab do this to her, or was it me? The thought did not settle well within him, but regardless of his feelings, he knew that retaliation would only worsen the situation.

"Everyone loves a bad boy," he replied sarcastically as he returned the twirling Yoshiro back to her neutral position in front of him. Weaving their way through the other dancing couples, Red slowly drew Yoshiro closer to him, their faces only inches apart as a small grin appeared on his face. "Unfortunately, they're not all they're cracked up to be. They're reckless, stubborn, and only seem to cause as much trouble as they solve."

As he said this, the current high tempo song that had been played by the musicians changed into that of a much slower and relaxed tone, causing Red to likewise change the tempo of their steps as they adapted to the new song being played. He was surprised to see Yoshiro being able to keep along with the change in pace, being thoroughly impressed with the girl's ability to stay in step. Locking eyes as well as they could through their masks, Red's expression softened, as did his voice as he spoke up once more.

"And most unfortunate, the ones they tend to want the most are those who they deserve the least. People who are kind, caring, and stand with them, even as everyone else condemns them." Red's words trailed as he paused, allowing his words to settle for some time as the soft sounds of violins filled the air from the orchestra. While he was far from knowledgeable on the slow waltzes of the 18th century, he could at the very least understand their appeal as the gentle music seemed to evoke emotions within him that he often kept buried.

"Look, Yoshi, I know that I messed up. Not only with what happened between you and the team, but everything else. Out of anyone on the team, you were always the one who took my side, even when everyone else thought better. The fact that I couldn't do the same for you was...well, it was shitty of me. I'm not expecting you to forgive me, but..."

Red's hand gently squeezed on Yoshiro's as he continued to look down at the girl in his hands. With everything that had happened since they had last been together like this, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of calmness wash over him, a sensation he had not felt in what seemed like an eternity. Especially as he saw her in the eloquent black dress that did little to hide her form, he couldn't help but speak what was on his mind, even as practically every other part of him screamed at him not to.

"...I don't want to lose you, Yoshi. Not again."

[United Kingdom of Poland]

October 6th.
“Morning Jacob.” Naja said as she walked into the med bay.

“Mornin…” Came the sleepy reply from a figure slumped on a desk along the wall. Sitting up, Jacob got out of his chair and shambled over to her, dark bags under his eyes.

“Long night?”

“Early morning.” Jacob responded. “Wendy woke up at about three-ish.”

“Well if someone had let me go to Alexis’s lab to fix my dog like I asked.” Wendy replied from the spot on the floor where she was typing away on a computer. “Maybe you could have gotten a couple more hours shuteye.”

“I told you, concussion protocol. No sleeping…”

“And no powers…” Wendy grumbled. “Your lucky Alexis was nice enough to grab my laptop for me when she dropped off the antidote for Roy.”

“Ever thought of reading a book?” Naja sarcastically asked.

“The only thing in here that counts as literature here is my medical books.” Jacob mentioned. “And I’m only 50/50 on whether she’d read them or use them as a club to beat me with in order to claim her freedom.”

“Not that I’d need it to kick your ass.” Wendy replied without looking up from the computer screen. “You can relax Jacob, I’m not leaving this room until Roy wakes up.”

“We’re all worried about Roy Wendy, but your own safety is just as important to us. Hopefully you will both be back on your feet soon.” Naja told the tech member of her team.

A few moments later Roy began to stir, he groaned slightly as he started to stretch his legs, his eyes slowly blinking open. He had a groggy look on his face but he was conscious.

“I’ve been having some really weird dreams.” He said in a hoarse voice.

Wendy’s eyes lit up as she watched Roy sit up. Before Naja and Jacob could say anything, she had already rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“Hey” Roy said as Wendy embraced him. “Sorry to make you worry, I think I’m feeling better now though.”

“Roy, we’ll need to keep you here for another day or so.” Jacob told him. “We’ve got some tests to run and you need to stay in bed to make sure you keep recovering.”
“Jacob I’m fine really, I’m already starting to feel better. Besides, we need to deal with these drugs on the street.”

“Um… Roy.” Wendy replied. “We kind of already hit their manufacturing base while you were out… and ran into a minor problem while we were there.”

Roy had an expression that was a mix of surprise, relief, and even the slightest disappointment. "Really? Wow that's… incredible." His eyebrow crinkled at the mention of a problem. "What happened Wendy? Was anyone hurt?" He asked, a seriousness in his tone.

Wendy winced, having hoped Naja would fill him in on Ares. “We ran into your psychotic step dad at the warehouse.” She tried to put on a brave face. “I think I can safely say after having some one on one time with him that your family life is even more screwed up than mine.”

Roy’s expression hardened at those words. His eyes, normally gentle, took on a fierce look. “Floyd” He said with a scowl as he tried to push himself off his bed and onto his feet.

“Woah Woah take it easy.” Jacob said, alarmed at Roy trying to stand up.

Roy ignored him. “That monster, if he hurt anyone…” He paled as if the thought just came to his mind. “Was anyone hurt? Did we… lose anyone?”

“Everyones fine Roy.” Wendy assured him. “Well most of us anyways. He knocked me around a little bit and promised to kill me in front of you if we ever fought again.”

Roy's eyes narrowed, rage clear on his face now. "Are you serious? That fucker! I swear the next time I see him I'll…" He started but clearly getting out of bed was not a great idea at the moment as once he got to his feet he was hit with a wave of dizziness and stumbled back against the bed.

Naja and Jacob both moved forward to brace him. "Roy, believe me I understand your anger, but you are in no condition to be doing anything right now." Naja said firmly.

"You were in really bad shape for a little while Roy, you need to give yourself a chance to get better." Jacob added gently.

"How am I supposed to just sit here while that monster is out there somewhere, threatening to hurt the people I love?"

“Because right now you’re not in any shape to protect me.” Wendy told him. “And even if you were we have no idea where Ares is.” Going back to her computer she showed the others what she was working on. “I’ve been trying to create an algorithm to track him based on what was in the tower's database, or at least see where he was and what he was doing in San Diego, but this guys a ghost even by my standards.”

Roy turned to Wendy as she spoke. "Believe me, I've tried for years to track him down. You never find him until he wants you to." He sat down, calming slightly. "If he is after us…we have to be ready."

[The Republic of Atria]

Alexis

"Yeah, but I really don't want to have to drop someone from the team. Renata's relationship is already tenuous at best and that would almost definitely get her to quit the team entirely. Currently, I'm benching her for at least the next mission and plan on having her work through her issues with me and just ensuring she doesn't have the energy to bother shooting a teammate again. Meanwhile, Mike and Red haven't committed offenses that would justify me kicking them out for a bit. So they'll just be taking part in the... Let's just call it intense training. They need to learn teamwork and they're gonna learn it if I have to beat it into their skulls." He replied, sounding confident and then sighed. "I'd prefer NOT to... But I think these three are among the most stubborn people on the team."

"Thanks Alexis. Really." He said and stood back up. He had to go figure out how he was going to pull this off. "Thanks, again, for taking over during the mission. At least the radio silence had a use. Kept everything clear for you to take charge." He said, his tail stirring a bit. "I gotta go figure out how I'm going to wrangle them and what I'm going to do if they all decide to just kill each other rather work together. Hey, if they do that, maybe I won't have to deal with them anymore." He said with a small laugh. "I'm probably gonna go to sleep. Lava burns at a lot by the way. Even if it's fake summoner lava."

Sina

Maybe, just maybe, the girl he was with was a little more insane than he thought, but then again, he was basically invulnerable so maybe a crash landing would do her brain some good. Unlikely, since even her old friends getting killed didn't deter her too much.

His few seconds of thinking came to the same halt that he did, smashing into a massive pile of gravel which broke a decent amount, but not the entire fall. Landing on his back didn't help, knocking the wind out of him, but after a few gasps, began to recover and remember that Sina held onto him for the whole thing. "Sina?!" He shot up, looking around to see if she was okay.

[Absolon-7]

Lisette Aveline - The Nefarious Marionette!

Casimir Herman October 7th

---

Casimir scratched his head when Lisette called him "extra in person" but once she explained herself pride began lighting up inside him like a swarm of fireflies. He couldn't stand how goody two shoes and humble a lot heroes were when it came to their abilities and achievements. Power had to be flaunted or else its like you don't have any in the first place. Her comment about her parents left him feel a bit of pity for her as those rich wet rags seemed about as pleasant as tasting ladybug blood.

"Don't worry a damn thing about it. I just make sure to put enough work to make up for all sticks-in-the-mud out there," said Casimir nodding with his arms crossed, "Well at least they had some sort of enthusiasm..."

Her following comment was a nothing more then welcomed by Casimir as she stated that his fights were awesome and of course they were. But her next comment was a bit more concerning. Casimir tapped the side of his helmet while thinking of an answer but she really showed off her rich girl naivety with that comment. There was nothing fun about it and if anything it was completely shameful. An enemy of an enemy wasn't a friend just someone second in line for a beating. This poor girl probably thought it was like cartoon fights instead of matters of life and death when it came to villains.

"Don't be silly. I hated every moment of working together with that psycho," said Casimir, "It was humiliating working with a bloodthirsty madwoman to fight another bloodthirsty madman. If anything I was hoping either would kill the other off. Especially with the history she has with others like Mask...Wonder where that bloke went...Anyway good to know you thought we stole the show. I just knew I'd bring the edge the team needed."

[Galnius]

Mika

Jan had posed a rather interesting question. One that Mika simply did not have an answer for. What, exactly, did Ash like? She knew that the moth girl liked pizza and school books, but that was about the extent of her knowledge. It occured to Mika that her friend may not have even played a video game before, considering how weird she was.

"Alright, that settles it, I'm bringing everything. At least 3 games, my laptop, a console, and a handheld. I'll make a gamer out of Ash yet."

With a sharp nod, she put a small hand on Jan's shoulder and looked at him intensely. "Thanks angel-boy, you've been a big help. Now, onto the next problem....do you not drink? Or is it that you just don't drink on the job? Don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't even taken a sip of that. Go on, it won't hurt you. Hell, there's not enough wine in that glass to even get you tipsy, unless you have the tolerance of a 14 year old prep school girl."

---

Andrew

Andrew suppressed a chuckle as Bael explained his knowledge of Quake. It was an understandable view, especially with how Andrew had heard Quake teared the Young Bloods at the tournament. "Yeah he can be a real bastard that's for sure. Tough as nails though. Even if you don't respect his morals or attitude you've gotta respect that sheer power."

Bael continued on, talking about his dilemma on his strength, as well as a bit more Draq'uinni culture than Andrew had needed to hear. Then again, he was the one who asked. He couldn't complain when he got an answer.

"Well, ignoring tail flirting, and remind me to go for that in our next spar just to see how you react, I think I might have a solution to your worries about crushing a guy. I had something back in LA, special made for Red, Blue, and I to use to gauge force. You could set it to certain degrees, or even have it choose a random one. It helped me hone my control, and is the reason why Blue doesn't accidentally punt a villain into the Hollywood sign. I'll see if I can get one for here, and we'll practice your control. Until then, practice on me. I want to see if I can push my limits, and I can build up some force for you to test your control. Just...take it a bit easier than your hammer fist back there, okay buddy?"

[Finland SSR]

Bael

Sina As'tari, sponsored by the Desert Sandstorms!

---

The crash went exactly the way one should have expected - sloppy, painful, and dirty, ending up in a massive pile of gravel. Bael's back endured the brunt of the damage, but Sina did not escape unscathed either, falling and tumbling, yet latching onto her peer during the entire time, until she finally landed on his chest. The high octane chasing ceased and the dust began to settle - that is, until Bael suddenly called out to her, clearly worried if she made it out in one piece.

Instead of speaking, Sina suddenly cracked up, breaking into a happy laugh. First slow, still held back by her exhaustion, then turning more and more enthusiastic. It went down just as fun as she expected and she couldn't be happier with the result, after all.

Huddling while lying onto Bael and shifting around to make it a little bit more comfortable, she eventually wrapped her arms around his torso with a smile on her face.

---

Mika

Jan Sorok, the Champion of Heaven!

---

Jan looked down at his glass, twirling it a little bit and watching the wine inside lightly splash around. "I-I mean, I've never tried it... and, um, besides, it's not really the most virtuous thing in the world..."

He moved the glass closer to his nose, trying to ignore the sharp scent, and took the first sip.

"I couldn't really afford it in my previous life, that's what I meant. I did get to see bottles of wine nicely lined up and gleaming through shop windows, though - it would keep my thirst up for the rest of the day." the Virgil explained under his breath and put the glass down. "What's a prep school?"

[Galnius]

Angelica Dalin, Interview Part 2

Naja paused for a bit after hearing Dalin's confession. It was a bit to take in, but all in all didn't seem like it would have any major repercussions, and she doubted the girl had anything more hidden. Among the papers Angelica had bright in were her school marks, and she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. She's very thorough and deligent too. Both are definitely something we could use more of in this tower, and she has the right spirit for this type of work. She even brought a signed self typed form from her parents.

Angelica, however, took the silence as a sign of failure. She sat back down in her seat and fidgeted for a few seconds before asking "Umm...is something wrong? I...I didn't think that would be a deal breaker, and I really really really want to do this. I can take the training, I promi-"

Naja held up one reptilian hand to silenced the girl, who instantly resumed her fidgeting. "Well, Miss Angelica Dalin, it seems you're self constructed resume answers the question about what you can bring. On the field healing, flight, though I'm not sure if scouting is a very good idea. I've decided...welcome to the team."

"Thank you so much I can't wait to start you have no idea-"

"Calm down. The road ahead for you isn't going to be easy. You'll need a few weeks of training and you might face of with some horrible situations. Rocket will be your squad leader, and I'm sure you'll meet the rest of your squad mates soon. He should be either watching tv or in his lab. See if he can give you a tour."

"Oh, I don't need a tour Miss Naja. I remember this place like the back of my hand."

As the excited girl left her office, Naja gave a slight chuckle. "So that's who the Calculator was crazy about. I wonder what he's up to these days."

---

Angelica regrettably did not remember this place very well. Between the renovations and alterations and time passed she found herself easily lost, yet still ended up finding the person described by Naja. "Oh, hello! You must be Rocket. My name's Angelica Dalin. I was, uh, told you'd be my squad leader and was wondering if you could show me where my room is. This place is a maze."

[The Republic of Atria]

Andrew

"I'm not saying that he's not strong. I'm saying he's an ass. All the power in the world won't change that." He replied, unsure if he overshared about how his people view using the tails. "By the way, if you do go for it for real next time, I'll make that little bump on the head look like a love tap." He said in a tone that was half kidding, half-serious. "Not kidding. I will laugh about it afterward."

Though Andrew thankfully switched the topic to a device that he could use to better control his strength. One that he used to measure his output. "Huh, that'll definitely be useful, but I've got a decent grasp on that part, hence my grappling all the time. My issue is more... Not every superhuman has the ability to take extreme amounts of punishment. You or me for example. We can easily ignore bullets, but there's nothing to indicate that specifically. Like, you said that your power was relative to the force being applied to you. So I... Overshot it obviously, but there was no real way for me to know what your limit is. Hence pulling punches until I've got a grasp on whether or not someone could take it." He explained.

"It's hard to guess because powers are so random. In some cases, like that fight, if you want to call it that, with Darkstar. Obviously she's strong and tough to a degree where even me hitting her at full strength didn't do more than slightly annoy her, but earlier I fought that... Kill-whatever guy. He could make explosions. You'd think he'd be tougher than a normal human, and maybe he is to a degree, but I don't know that, and it's hard to get a bead on how much strength I should use without accidentally turning the guy into a smear. You get what I'm saying?"

Sina

He let out a massive sigh of relief when Sina popped up with little more than a few bumps and bruises and then started laughing while lying on his chest. He sat up and then Sina gave him a hug with a big silly grin on her face. Her laughter was contagious as he also began to laugh a little, slightly embarrassed at how it all went down. Then without any input from his brain, he met her embrace with his own. Putting both of his arms around her and rocked back and forth a little. "I'm glad you're okay you dolt."

Probably not the best thing to say after what just happened, but he didn't figure she would mind. "So uh... Are we... A thing now? Because... Honestly, I wouldn't mind it..."

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
The gala

Fed up with the situation and his role in it, Mike got up from the table and stormed off. It didn’t matter how Casimir would’ve answered, he knew enough as it was. Wanting nothing more than a quiet place to think and be away from everything and everyone, he wandered the gala. He ignored the occasional greeting sent his way and kept his head down as he went. As he got further from the centre of the event, the crowds around him began to diminish and fade, until finally he found himself alone on a wind-chilled balcony overseeing the city below.

‘Every, single, time.’ He thought to himself as he took of his mask and flipped it in his hand to face him. There was nothing on it, no decorations, no symbols, no names, nothing. All it was, was a practical piece of material made to protect him and his identity. Looking at it sitting in his hands, a part of him wanted to toss the thing over the edge and finally be done with it, ‘if everyone wants to be like this then why should I stop them?! Let them see exactly where it leads them!’ But as he pulled his arm back to throw, he hesitated, then stopped. He needed the mask and the team needed him. Closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh, the anger started to fade, and a new creeping emptiness took its place.

“This wasn’t how it was meant to go.” He muttered to himself as he tried to figure out how he could worm his way out of here rather than face his teammates.

It was then, that Mike noticed someone else sharing the balcony with him. ‘Well that’s just perfect.’ He thought as he turned to see a concerned Mizu behind him. “I know.” He muttered. “But what was I supposed to do? I went to apologise and ended up finding out that no one had told Icarus about Ren! And they’re dating! How am I supposed to bring something like that up? ‘Oh hi! Sorry if I was rude before, also your girlfriend had a break down and shot one of our teammates. Do you think you could possibly check if she’s alright when you have the time’? And what was Casimir thinking just leaving everything unsaid like that!?” Crossing his arms as he spoke, Mike paused for a moment as he considered his thoughts before turning away and continuing.

“I don’t think I can just stand by and let things like this happen. And they always end up happening.” He admitted. “Ren bottling herself up and lashing out is just the most recent problem. Everyone just keeps making these sorts of choices and putting themselves in more and more danger. Red going after Marionette, Mars trying to be the some comic character, Kiris trying to save his dumb ass, even our supposed leader got so focused on covering everyone else’s backs that he ended up forgetting his own. And you do it too. On our very first mission you left cover to stare down a titan of a man and nearly got crushed for it. If we keep going like this then someone is going to end up dead, and I don’t know if I’m willing to accept that... I want to help people and I really think the team can do some good, but we were named after another team getting slaughtered and I think we’re heading for the same end, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

[Bentus]

The Unstoppable Red!

Yoshiro Nakama - Psyche
The Gala

---

Following Red’s reaction to her barbed comment, Yoshiro saw a look of anger flash across his features before it was swiftly replaced by surprise as he realised that she’d deliberately tried to push his buttons. Taken aback by her cold response to his heartfelt approach, Red nevertheless swallowed his pride as he kept up with the tempo of the music. Yoshiro was about to roll her eyes as he indirectly criticised himself, fully prepared to brush aside his comments as just some more talk, until she was led through another turn. When she’d returned to facing Red, she found herself suddenly standing in closer as he met her gaze with her own. The eye contact caused her to freeze as she felt the swirling emotions in his aura, along with the pained expression that marred his features.

"And most unfortunate, the ones they tend to want the most are those who they deserve the least. People who are kind, caring, and stand with them, even as everyone else condemns them."

The moment seemed to draw itself out as Yoshiro’s eyes remained locked with her dance partner’s. She felt the sound and noise of the ballroom around them fade into the background as her heart seemed to skip a beat in her chest. And then, the pace of the music shifted into a waltz and the moment passed. Stepping away from Red’s chest as they continued with their dance, Yoshiro was still left taken aback by her own unprompted reaction to the boy’s words. Perhaps seeing that his words might have been getting somewhere, Red didn’t hesitate before continuing.

"Look, Yoshi, I know that I messed up. Not only with what happened between you and the team, but everything else. Out of anyone on the team, you were always the one who took my side, even when everyone else thought better. The fact that I couldn't do the same for you was...well, it was shitty of me. I'm not expecting you to forgive me, but..." Red’s voice wavered for a moment, his own nerves and hesitation rising to the surface before he took a breath and forced the words out from his throat. "...I don't want to lose you, Yoshi. Not again."

Yoshiro’s eyes widened at Red’s words, and she was left feeling like she was a deer caught between a pair of headlights as a red tint began to colour her cheeks. Why is he doing this now? Of all the times he could’ve done this, why did it have to be now? Instead of an immediate reply, the brief moment seemed to drag itself out as Yoshiro stopped dancing with the music. An uneasy silence began to descend on the pair as a feeling of dryness kept Yoshi’s words in her throat. She felt a sense of vertigo wash over her as she struggled to keep up with the rollercoaster that this night had turned into. After she’d just finished talking with Surge, and after that had ended the way that it had...how could anyone expect her to deal with this now?

And yet, would she allow herself to miss her chance? Tell him how you feel. He’s sorry, you know he is. Looking up into Red’s eyes, Yoshiro bit her lip as she tried to overcome her own hesitation.

“Red, I -”

“Hey, Red!” The female voice interrupted the pair happily, and Yoshiro blinked in surprise as she turned to see the grinning girl standing beside them. Offering Red a wave, Lisette continued as she raised an amused eyebrow at the pair. “I was wondering where you’d run off to.” Stepping closer to Red, the heiress casually placed a hand on his arm. “Sorry I had to run off back there. I was thinking that we could pick up where we left off?” Leaning as she spoke, Lisette practically purred at Red before she glanced towards Yoshiro as if for the first time. “Oh! Is this Psyche? It’s so nice that you guys can still be friends after the breakup.” She offered, feigning politeness. “Mind if I take him off of your hands for a moment? I’m an old friend and we have so much to catch up on.”

Struggling to keep up with what was happening before her, it took Yoshiro a moment to process the question. Glancing towards the girl that had suddenly barged in on the pair, she noticed how casually she seemed to hold herself amidst the crowd. Unsure what to do, Yoshiro turned to offer Red a pleading expression as if he could explain what was going on, only to see that his gaze had become fixated on the new girl. Immediately, Yoshiro’s mind brought up memories of when she’d seen him talking to all the fancy, upper class girls earlier in the night, and she felt a wave of embarrassment threaten to tint her cheeks once more.

“Yeah, of course.” Yoshiro replied, removing her hands from Red and taking a step back from him. “I was getting pretty tired of dancing anyway.” Hesitating for a moment, the girl looked up at Red one more time, as if a part of her was hoping that he’d stop her from leaving. But when he remained silent, her gaze hardened and she turned to leave. “Yeah. I’ll just be back at the table.”

As the heroine walked away, Lisette turned to grin mischievously at Red. She knew that he’d had no choice but to go along with her, not while he didn’t know what she was up to. “Smart choice, hero. It would’ve been awful if I’d had to kill her before we’d even had a chance to talk.” Running a finger along Red’s chest, the girl continued. “See, I was thinking that it was high time that we had a little tete-a-tete. And when I heard about this gala, I thought that it would be perfect.” The girl’s smile seemed to take on an air of menace as she continued. “What, with all the people here. Plus you teammates, who I doubt are expecting there to be any trouble. I’d hate to leave the catering staff with an awful mess to clean up, if you catch my drift.” Lisette winked at Red. “So I figured that you could take me out on a walk instead. You know, give us a chance to be all alone.”

The Incredible Makeshift!

Jordan Scott
The Gala

---

Cracking a smile, Jordan shook his head as Alexis apologised for her tendency to ramble. “Don’t apologise for having more going on in your head than the average person.” He offered, his tone encouraging. “And modesty isn’t always the best policy, Makeshift. You might go to high school and breeze through your classes, while socialising with others your age when you can. But that doesn’t make you a ‘normal girl’. Quite the contrary in fact, if you were to ask me.”

Continuing, the businessman explained. “The things you’ve accomplished would make any engineer twice your age green with envy, and some of them have poured their whole lives into their work. You’ve achieved what you have while also keeping an eye on the bigger picture. What use are all the facts from college if you don’t know how to hold a conversation? What’s the point of being a genius if you’ve got no idea what new technology the world needs most? You might not even have realised it Makeshift, but you’ve been setting yourself up for great things this whole time - but I’d like to accelerate the process a little bit, if you’d let me.” Folding his arms, the corner of Scott’s mouth twisted up into a smirk. “Although, first I want to make sure that you’re committed enough to see it through. Put aside the modesty and humility for a moment and sell yourself. Ten, twenty years down the line, what is it that you want to have achieved? And what motivation is going to push you there? Because even if you’re the smartest person in the world, it’s not going to be easy.” Pausing, Scott remained where he was with his arms across his chest, waiting to hear what the girl would offer in reply.

The Great Kabuto!

Lisette Aveline - The Nefarious Marionette!
San Diego

---

Lisette eagerly nodded along as Kabuto agreed with her on the growing scourge of dull heroes. Sure, the bug-themed hero was hardly the most popular item around at the moment, but she found herself surprisingly intrigued now that she’d technically had two close encounters with him. Although they were both under admittedly drastically different circumstances. He seemed to get it in a way that all the boring people out there just didn’t. Heroes had to be larger-than-life, they had to be flashy and exciting in order to capture the imagination, and far too many seemed to have forgotten about that. But her smile wavered as the Young Blood scoffed at her reference to his earlier fight alongside Marionette.

Doing her best to mask the look of concern that crept onto her features, the girl tried to recollect herself from the body-blow of Kabuto’s unyielding dismissal of her alter ego. “R-right. Yes, of course.” She hastily replied, despite the twisting feeling in her gut that accompanied her words. “That totally makes sense, I’m not even really sure what I was thinking.” Lisette explained, forcing a laugh as she tried to sound convincing. “She’s totally crazy. It wouldn’t even make sense to negotiate with someone like that, especially after everything she’s done.” I’m not crazy. She thought to herself, a hint of desperation creeping into her own thoughts. I know I’m right, I know it. Shifting uneasily, Lisette bit her lip as she continued after a moment’s hesitation. “But, what if she needed help? Even if she’s a bad person, hero’s are supposed to look past that kind of stuff, right? I imagine that the Great Kabuto would have no trouble showing her the error of her ways and...I don’t know…” The girl’s voice drifted off slightly. “...maybe she won’t seem so bad if the team got to know her?”

[Finland SSR]

Bael

Sina As'tari, sponsored by the Desert Sandstorms!

---

What started as Sina's injection of dopamine turned into two of them laughing together, what started as her instinctive pull turned into a hug onto the rubble. After they calmed down, Bael finally began to speak again. And what he wanted to know was whether the two of them were a... thing. A thing?

Lots of things are things. What is a thing supposed to mean here.

"A... thing?" Sina repeated under her breath, staring back at Bael. It took her a few seconds to crack the human lingo, but as soon as she came to realize what he was implying, the girl cracked a playful grin. Briefly, she leaned forward, nuzzling against her peer's snout, and moved back, speaking:

"Not 'till ya show me around the Wonder Tower."

---

Mike Mathews
The gala

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

---

Cornered by a concerned Mizu in the mansion balcony, Mike finally began to let his heart out, the teenager's words hardly relieving her. Taking their team history and ripping it apart with furious words, he may have been harsh, but... there was logic behind he meant. And, above all else, worry. Worry that each and every one of them were putting more and more danger on their shoulders, risking that danger finally breaking them and claiming one of their own. One of them is eventually going to end up dead, overtaken by too much they could chew, and the rest of their team is sure to follow. Just like the team they were named after.

Mizu's eyes shifted to the side, her expression soured, yet she desperately tried to stay collected. This wasn't the time for her to break down and leave, Mike clearly needed someone to stay by his side, at least for once. She made her way to the fellow hero, stopping next to him and longingly staring at the panoramic view of the city beyond.

"What do you think all of us should have done differently?"

Mizu stopped for a few seconds, letting Mike briefly answer with something if he wanted to, and continued to stare into the distance, reminiscing of what, at this point, felt like little more than a faded memory.

"Heroes don't do monumentally dumb things for no reason, after all. When I was out there, fighting possessed Blackout with the rest of our squad... what I saw was that everyone else was in danger. He was shrugging off Casimir and Tadeo's attacks, he pinned you down with two of his arms, he was strong enough to break you into pieces - and I didn't want that to happen, I wanted to do something, and-well, so I ran at him. I didn't ever hold the illusion that it was something safe and that I couldn't get hurt. I could, and I can get hurt in any mission we take, even falling down the stairs can break my bones if I'm not careful - but that's kind of what I signed up for when I came here, you know? I didn't expect this to be easy peasy when I came down to Earth, I knew that heroes have to put themselves into danger or else they won't really be able to save anyone... so that's what I did."

Having explained her side of the story, Mizu took an easier breath and turned to stare Mike straight in the eyes.

"But I don't ever believe I'm always right, so... what's your advice, Mike? If our team running themselves into risk is wrong, then what should they have done differently? What should I have done differently? You remember the scene against Blackout, after all, I was trying to save you there... so if not to run to help, what else? To stand by and watch Blackout beat you to death, to have someone else take the risk instead of myself? To cry? To..."

"...to run away?"

[Tomia]

Mars
"I'm not toying with you, I just... never want to assume the worst you know? I guess I just really don't know why you'd do that." He told Renata. "I mean, you didn't hurt me, so I'm not that mad, its just we're supposed to be teammates. It's a little shocking that disappointing that you'd target me like that." Then she turned the conversation to Ares, "Oh well, his history with Roy and all. I kind of recognized him because of that. Roy doesn't mention him that much, but it'd be hard for me not to know the story."

Mars, Again
A few days later Mars found himself called into Naja's office at the tower. He was a bit nervous, not exactly knowing what this was about. It felt kind of like being called to the principle's office, which was already a rare experience for him. He found himself wondering if he had done anything wrong, He knocked on the door when he arrived at the office, and he heard Naja's voice calling him in. She didn't sound angry or anything, but that didn't fully calm his nerves. He saw Roy was there as well and was now very confused about what was going on.

"Uh, you wanted to see me?" Mars asked, turning to Naja.

"Relax Mars, you're not in trouble." Roy said with a smile.

"Yes, its nothing like Mars. We have somewhat of a good problem I suppose. As I'm sure you've noticed a number of new members have joined our ranks and because of that we need to restructure a bit. And so, we're creating a new squad and are seeking a veteran leader for our new members to follow." She let the words sink in as Mars slowly came to the realization of what she was saying.

"Wait, you want... me to do it?" Mars turned to see Roy grinning.

"I recommended you myself. You're ready." Roy told him, offering his hand to shake.

Mars almost couldn't believe it. The first time he was passed over as a squad leader, he had felt like a failure. Now, he was being asked to take on the role as a leader, and he felt like he had earned it.

Pulling Roy into a hug, Mars had a bright smile on his face.

"I'll do my best Roy, Naja, you won't regret putting this faith in me."

Naja smiled as well, "I know we won't Mars, now time for you to get to know your squad and get to work."

Mars.... Third Time is the Charm
Mars was in his room when he was approached a young looking girl who seemed kind of lost. Then she introduced herself and said that she would be on his squad. "Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Mars!" He said, offering his hand to shake to her. "And sure thing, we have plenty of spare rooms, I can show you to them." He said, leading her through the hallways. "And ya, the tower can be confusing sometimes, took me a while to get used to it." Soon he stopped in front a room that looked much like the others and was fairly close to Mars'.

"Here you go, this one should work fine, if you need anything else my room is nearby alright? Also, we'll make sure you get added to the team group chats."

Mars 2: Roy
After having recovered from the attack that left him bed ridden, Alexis informed him that she had help developing the antidote from a new team member named Whitney. Roy decided he wanted to thank her personally and welcome her to the team and so Alexis showed him to Whitney's room and once they were there Roy knocked on the door. When Whitney answered he offered a smile and introduced himself. "Hi I'm Roy, I heard I have you to thank for helping make sure I could recover from that power drug. I really appreciate your help and figured the least I could do was introduce myself and offer to show you around the tower, what do you say?"

October 24th
To say that the popularity of the Young Bloods was increasing was under selling it. In fact, they had outright gone viral. Between their work at the NASL tournament to the latest busting of a drug ring, and then their well regarded humanitarian efforts, the team had quickly swept the attention of the country. Individually members were getting contacted from agents interested in representing them, Late Night Hosts who wanted them on their show, and even other teams looking to poach them as sidekicks. Naja was insistent that any business offers they were getting needed to be run by her before being acted upon, but even she and Scott Jordan were struggling to keep up with the media demand of them.

Roy found this to be horribly annoying personally. Not only was he getting almost every kind of unsolicited offer available, he was struggling to go outside without being swarmed the media. He even had to wear a holographic disguise just to walk his dog. It was starting to remind him of the Justice Queens. Training Sessions were becoming more difficult to schedule, and interviews were taking up a lot more of people's time. Still, he supposed he couldn't complain that much, on the crime fighting side things were going very good. They were on somewhat of a winning streak. Two weeks ago, Squad 4 managed to save a dozen people from a burning building and later caught the arsonist villain responsible. Meanwhile his own Squad fought the Weatherman, who once again returned in an attempt to go viral. He was happy with their results, but he didn't want to get cocky. Floyd coming out of the woodwork had motivated him and Roy was now spending most of his time either training, or working with Wendy to find the bastard.

---

Mars on the other hand found himself enjoying the new spot light. Twitter was blowing up about them. Huge celebrities were coming out as supporters of there's! When you get Lebron James saying he is a fan of yours it's difficult for it to not go to your head. While Mars was busy with school and regular meetings organizing his new squad, he was very aware and excited by their new image.

After finishing a squad meeting where they focused on familiarizing themselves with each other's strengths and weaknesses, Mars went off to his room to shower. Before he did so however, he shot off a quick text.

Hey Kiris! I hope your training went well today. The new squad is coming along, they seem like good kids and I'm doing my best to be a good leader. You should see the attention we're getting on social media! People have been asking about you too, I keep telling them you're on vacation. I really miss you love, can't wait to see you again <3 <3

---

"Ugh, school was ridiculous today. Having people come up to you and ask you if you know Beyoncé when you're trying to go to math class is so annoying." Angelica sighed as she sat on the couch in Alexis' lab. Her girlfriend was tinkering with something as she usually was and so Angelica liked to hangout there in her free time. "I just want to fight crime, I don't know why people insist on treating me like a celebrity. And the girls who dress up on me on tik-tok... god its the worst."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Third of Fire
Day 3 of Green Light

---

Numb. That was the best way to describe the way she felt at the moment. Numb to her surroundings and lost within her thoughts. For an entire day, she had tried to conjure dark images from the pits of her memories, tried to remember those times when she had been hurt and neglected by the person she trusted and admired the most. She did this in order to take solace in the fact that she had been wronged, to convince herself that she had done the right thing, that her feelings towards her family before today weren't vile or misguided. Try as she might, however, she couldn't. She couldn't shield herself in her anger and resentment. The images that came to her mind were always of kindness and wisdom, of her father being the man he had always been, instead of the man she thought he was. And each and every memory pushed a cold obsidian knife deep into her chest, for each and every memory reminded her that when, in his last moments, he called for her, instead of answering she ignored his message and left him to die.

And the worst part was that there was no way to make amends. When a person breaks another's heart, whether accidentally or on purpose, they can at least offer some compensation in return, but she had killed her father of heartbreak. What was there to do?

Kirisvala pondered this as she lay on her bed, in a room that belonged to her but had long become unfamiliar. On the whole, it was not too dissimilar to her room on Wonder Tower: the walls were painted with warm colors such as milky pink and bright yellow, the shelves by the bed were lined with crystal figurines she had made years ago in the likeness of various people and creatures, there was a heater fan above her bed for the cold season, and a pillow cave could be seen on the corner of the room, though it was smaller than the one in her room in San Diego. For all the similarities, however, there were also quite a few differences. The room was taller, built of ancient stone and crystal like the rest of the Ranwynn halls, instead of the concrete and steel the humans built with. The overall structure was circular instead of square, the shelves were stocked with volumes of lore and arcane knowledge in addition to the crystalline figures, and the many windows that let inside the sunlight showed not the calm waters of the San Diego bay, but the forested foothills of the Pillar Mountains and the city of Annriven beyond.

It was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She knew that it was hers, but it was strange, and she couldn't help but feel that she wasn't fully welcome here, even though there was no one around to tell her as much. Was it just her own mind, or was there perhaps something else at work?

On more than one occasion since she woke up perhaps a couple hours ago, she had tried to get up and do something other than simply lie on her bed, but every attempt invariably failed. Heading out to explore the halls on her own was off the table, as she didn't want to face the people whose hero and leader she had spurned. Hero. Was that what he was to them? It was what she had been trying to become. Where did that leave her, then?

She tried to practice her spellsinging as well, as she would often do in here when she was younger and as she would do in her room at Wonder Tower during the past several months, but no melody would escape her lips when she tried to sing. With her emotions in disarray, she couldn't focus on the arcane discipline that she normally excelled at, couldn't find that spark of divine inspiration within herself that allowed spellsingers to harness the power of a deity.

Studying was perhaps what hurt the most to attempt. Whenever she picked up one of the tomes sitting on the shelves in her room and opened it in order to try and brush up on her knowledge of various affairs or learn more about the intricacies of spellsinging and the crystal magic that her people were masters of, memories came flooding back to her, memories of when her father would patiently teach her everything he knew, when he would praise her for her innate talents and her quick learning. Every memory was another stab through the heart, prompting her to set the book down.

So now she simply lay in bed, waiting for... something. Perhaps she would wake up soon. That would have been nice.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, the clash between bone and wood unmediated by flesh ringing hollow. "Lady Kirisvala. It is me." A grave, raspy voice spoke from the other side, giving away the identity of the visitor. Kiris took a moment to ensure that her voice wouldn't break before responding.

"Come in."

Right as she said it, the double doors leading into her room slid away from each other, and as she sat up on the bed, she saw a giant of a man enter the room. He was seven feet and seven inches tall and muscular, his olive skin covered in silvery lines of scarred flesh. Two long black horns curved upwards above a long mane of snowy white hair that looked almost like wool from afar, and which was complimented by a large beard, similarly white. His eyes were red, of a shade even darker and more intense than hers, like drops of glowing blood. His arms and chest were bare, and a silky red fabric was wrapped loosely around his waist, flowing freely and allowing his tail to flick this and that way underneath. Perhaps most notable was the large white wooden bow on the man's back and the quiver full of equally massive arrows hanging from his hip.

"What is it Torvalt?" The girl asked meekly. Perhaps anyone would have sounded meek in the presence of such an imposing Hadrian, but in her case, it was simply a lack of enthusiasm. She was not intimidated by the white-haired man - she was intimately familiar with him, as he had been in the service of her father since before she had been born, and had always treated her with kindness. However, he was also her father's closest confidant, and as such, she had little reason to think he wouldn't see her as the one who abandoned the hero Teltesser on his deathbed, much like the others saw her.

"Lady Kirisvala." The towering man repeated as he stood hunched over in front of the girl's bed. His tone betrayed neither affection nor animosity, and his bright red eyes were without expression. "Lady Seristella sent me to fetch you for your training." He stated plainly.

"...Can't she wait for a day or two?" She asked dejectedly. With the way she was now, how could she possibly focus on training?

"I apologize, Lady Kirisvala, but I was told to insist." Torvalt replied. After a moment, the girl sighed and stood up.

"Fine. Let's go."

---

"Come on, get up." Demanded the voice of an annoyed preteen, belonging to a girl with short, fiery red hair with a pair of long bull horns. In front of her, sitting on the ground, was a girl of about half her age, with her pink hair tied up in a single long braid and two pairs of lumps on her head which indicated that her horns were yet to develop. The former had a cheeky grin on her face, but the latter was pouting.

"I don't wanna!" The younger of the two said while crossing her arms defiantly. "I don't wanna play Killer Koramel and the Salmon Squire anymore. I'm always the squire!" She complained, glaring up at the older girl, who simply laughed boisterously in response.

"Yeah! Because I'm a killer like Koramel and you're a sissy like the squire." The redhead asserted, before picking up the discarded wooden club next to the other girl and brandishing it like one of the great crystal knights of old. "But we can switch if you want! Let's see how good of a Koramel you are!"

"No! You're just gonna whack me. I don't wanna play anymore!" The younger of the two complained, before standing up and quickly running off. The area they had been playing in was a small clearing in the foothills of the Pillar Mountains, near both the Hadrivan Temple and the much larger Ranwynn Hall. It was a popular destination for the children of the clan, as its relative proximity meant that they could go there and play unsupervised, and the fact that they were surrounded by green grass, tall red trees and the occasional boulder made it easy to imagine that they were out in the wilderness, hunting some great beast or embarking on an epic quest. The young Kirisvala quite enjoyed playing with her cousins there, though they weren't there on that day, and she didn't like it as much when it was just her and her sister. Seristella was bigger, stronger, and much too rough for her.

"Kiris?" The young redhead called out after her. "Come back. We'll play whatever you want!" She pleaded, to no avail. A scowl quickly appeared on her face. "Fine, then go straight back! If I get in trouble 'cause you don't turn up I'm gonna be mad. Super mad!" She warned just as her sister ran past the treeline and disappeared from sight. Upset at being ditched like that, Seristella decided to play as a warrior by herself and began whacking the nearest tree.

Meanwhile, rather than return right away to the halls like she was told, Kirisvala took a detour and wandered up an old path leading up the side of the mountain. Before the hike became too steep, the young girl spotted a building in the distance, smaller than the Ranwynn Hall but still quite large, built almost entirely of black stone, its tall walls topped by a white crystalline vault. The Joyous Dragon, built to hold ceremonies in honor of the Goddess and dating back to the days of Morvathal himself, although it had been rebuilt several times over the centuries - it was not immune to the ravages of time and war, but the Pillar Mountains had been the seat of the Ranwynn clan for as long as it had existed, and so, there were always Ranwynn men and women around, willing to rebuild their divine monument as many times as necessary.

Clambering over a slight raise in the stone path that led to the building, the girl continued on towards the temple, though as she approached, she began to hear something other than the birds, the wind on the trees and the occasional burrowing critter. Voices, coming from the temple. Slowing her pace, she made sure her footsteps were quiet as she walked up to the large arch that was the entrance and took a peek inside. There, by the altar where the singers gathered, were two figures she quickly recognized. The first was the white-haired titan, Torvalt, her father's sworn guardian and faithful servant.

The second was a man nearly two full feet shorter than Torvalt, with six horns running parallel along the front of his head and angling back slightly, almost as if they were the points of a crown. His long hair was the same color as Kirisvala's, and his eyes were of the same shade of red as hers and Seristella's. Both his hands and his eyes were very expressive and flared to life as he spoke with excitement about some project of his. She couldn't make out anything specific from where she was, but she could tell that he spoke very fondly of this idea, before directing his attention to his friend, who spoke in his usual dispassionate manner.

Suddenly, while shifting slightly on her spot, Kirisvala stepped on a pointy pebble and let out a yelp in pain. Realizing her mistake, she quickly hid behind the wall in hopes of not giving away her presence, but it was too late. Both men were now looking in her direction.

"Who goes there?" Teltesser questioned, though his soft tone made it clear that he was not upset, but rather curious.

"It is the little lady, my lord." Torvalt stated.

After a moment, Kirisvala relented and meekly peeked out from behind the wall. As soon as he saw her, however, it was as if Teltesser's face lit up. How could it not? To a proud father, every moment spent with his little ray of sunshine was a gift from above.

"Kiris! What are you doing there? Come give your father a hug!" He spoke with a warm smile on his face as he outstretched his arms. In response, the little girl grinned and ran towards him, jumping at the end and nearly knocking him over. The older Hadrian picked her up and held her close, smiling all the while. "Where is your sister? Weren't you going to play with her?" He asked her, curious about the whereabouts of the feisty redhead.

"I got tired of it. She always beats me up." The pink-haired girl pouted, before promptly smiling again. "I prefer learning stuff with you!"

"Is that so?" The man spoke as he tenderly lifted the girl and then set her down on his shoulders. "If you are as good a student as you claim, then can you answer this? Who built this temple and when?" He asked her, knowing how much she liked to show off the results of her quick learning.

"Sure!" She said with a toothy grin.

---

Kirisvala soon arrived at the same clearing where she would play with her sister and her cousins years ago, trailing behind Torvalt and dragging her feet across the fertile soil that covered the foothills near the Ranwynn Hall. It was the last month of the Third of Fire, which meant that the leaves of the red-wooded trees surrounding the Pillar Mountains were of a vibrant emerald green color, the sunlight that bounced off of them bathing the whole clearing in a faint glow. Had the circumstances been any different, the girl would've been ecstatic to visit a place that she had cherished so much in the past, moreso during a moment of splendor such as this one. As she was now, however, she couldn't fully appreciate the scene.

In the middle of the clearing stood Seristella with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She wore only a pair of baggy red pants and white silken wrappings around her chest, and stood barefoot on the clearing, toes digging into the grass. She glanced over at her sister with a look of disapproval on her face.

"Is that how you dress for training?" The older Hadrian remarked, referring to the girl's orange sundress, the same outfit she had worn the previous day, when she had arrived back in Adai. After the news she had received at the cemetery, she hadn't even bothered to change.

"...I can go back if you want." Kiris replied with an ever so slight hint of hostility. Not because she held anything against her sister - she was still very grateful over her willingness to help her, even if it had turned out like this - but because she just wanted to go back to her room and continue lying still until everything passed, until Mars walked in to comfort her, until she woke up in her room at Wonder Tower to save the day again.

Until her father told her everything was going to be alright.

"No." Seristella spoke, forcing her sister back out of her somber thoughts. "It's fine. We'll do it like this. You won't need to use your body anyway. You'll need to use your mind." She said cryptically before turning to look at Torvalt. "Leave us." She said. Torvalt stayed put.

"Are you sure, Lady Seristella?" He asked in his usual gravely monotone.

"Yes, Torvalt, leave us!" The fiery redhead commanded. After another moment's hesitation, the giant of a Hadrian nodded and turned around to begin walking away, heading deeper into the woods likely with the intention of hunting down their dinner. Taking a deep breath, the older Hadrian set her sight on her sister. "Now then." She spoke. "I want you to focus. Close your eyes and clear your mind. Parse your thoughts. Rein in your feelings."

Kirisvala decided to listen to her sister's instructions and closed her eyes as the redhead began to pace around her. Though it was difficult to concentrate with everything that was going on in her mind, with some effort, she slowly managed to stop thinking about her father, about her family and about all of the things she hoped would happen. It was harder still to control her emotions, especially for one such as her, for whom emotions served as a font of strength and inspiration, empowering her will and her magic. But all the same, she willed them into submission.

Suddenly, however, the clarity in her mind was replaced by an encroaching numbness that was swiftly followed by a searing pain, shooting through her face. Staggered, she opened her eyes, but they were blurry and muddled with tears. Something warm flowed down into her lips, and once it reached them she was greeted with the unmistakable taste of blood. Through intermittent waves of numbness and pain the girl realized what had happened, and anger welled up in her chest like a wave of fire rising from the pit of her stomach.

"What in Her name was that for?!" She cried out in anger, glaring at the redhead through tearful eyes.

"It is said in Azatello's Book of Horrors that only that monster can be slain which appears clearly in front of us." Seristella spoke in a loud and clear voice, unflinching before her sister's misery. "The purge of our demons begins with their summoning. I summon your anger." She stated. "Face it."

Kirisvala, however, couldn't think clearly, a red cloud of anger shrouding her sight and her thoughts alike. "What nonsense are you saying?! Why would you hit me?! I thought you wanted to help me but you just wanted to beat me up like when we were kids!" She cried out in fury before barreling forward on a wild charge towards Seristella. The seasoned warrior deftly rolled to the side, however, dodging the attack by a wide margin.

"I am the one who caused you pain." The redhead admitted. "But I could drop dead or disappear and you would still be angry!" She stated, her voice booming through the clearing. "I am not the demon you're looking for!"

"Shut up!" The pink-haired girl shrieked, throwing a punch at the other girl, and then another, only to have both caught before promptly getting pulled into a hold from which she couldn't seem to break free, no matter how much she struggled.

"You can't move. You can't fight. But your heart is still your own." Seristella spoke. "Kill the demon, Kirisvala."

In despair and bereft of all other resources, the girl let out a deafening scream.

---

Night had fallen upon the Ranwynn estate and outside the room of a certain young Hadrian stood a massive sentinel, dutifully watching over her late lord's daughter while she slept. There was little of note going on, but soon enough the sound of footsteps gave away the presence of another person on the hallways of stone and crystal that were lit up by large floor lamps lined along the walls. Torvalt turned to look at the newcomer, who now wore a red robe instead of white strips and had a likewise red fabric around her waist, similar to the giant's own wrap. Though his dark red eyes were expressionless as usual, the redhead couldn't help but feel some tension in the air coming from him as she approached.

"How is she?" Seristella inquired.

"More broken than before." The white-haired guardian replied. "I do not think what happened today was necessary."

"Well, she wants me to help her fix her bloodlust and this is the only way I know." The redhead shrugged. "I was trained this way, and it worked for me."

"Your father was alive. Your hatred was just." Torvalt remarked, causing the woman to look down in shame.

"...I did not hate him." She said. "I understood, in some way. I wasn't happy, but..."

"His death did not weigh on you during your training, and you had the chance to feel what you needed to feel on your own terms. A chance she did not get." Torvalt spoke, his voice growing strained as he went on and forcing him to cough as he finished. Seristella sighed.

"Fine, fine! Point taken. What do we do, then?" She gestured towards Torvalt as if waiting to hear a suggestion. "Do we send her on a yearlong journey of self-discovery? Lock her up with the druids so they can heal her soul through asceticism and meditation?" She asked. "Like it or not she has a life with the skinny-arms. I'm just trying to make sure she's got a better grasp on her anger when we send her back to them." She explained, before crossing her arms. "Perhaps this is not the best way, but it's the only way I know, and I don't plan on giving up after just one day."

The red-haired woman walked up to the giant and proudly slammed a fist into her chest. "Remember, Torvalt, my strength wasn't born from kindness."

The guardian looked at his late lord's daughter for several moments before raising a claw to grab hers. "Remember, Lady Seristella." He spoke, gently uncurling her fist before releasing her hand.

"Your kindness wasn't born from strength."

[Auropa]

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

Mike Mathews
Gala

Doing his best to avoid the smaller girl’s gaze, Mike let a short silence hang as he tried to think up an answer to her questions. Part of him still wanted to leave the conversation there and get away from this night in its entirety, but something about her and what she said gave him pause.

“I... I honestly don’t know. Everyone is doing what they do for good reasons and that just makes it all so much harder. I know that every single member of the team is a good person, even that idiot Mars, but all that does is make watching them risk their lives that much worse. And I can’t tell them to stop, because, I get it. It feels good to do good and despite everything I thought would happen, we’re doing good. It’s just… we can't keep up this winning streak. ” Finally caving in and meeting Mizu’s eyes, Mike felt a tight force grip his chest as he went on.

“I know there’s a lot of things I can’t change, but I’m terrified about the idea that there’s something I could do that I just haven’t tried yet. My powers mean that if I’m in the right place at the right time, then I can cover anyone from just about anything. But what about when something happens and I'm not fast enough? I know I’m worrying about stuff that I can’t control again, but what if there really are things we could do to push the odds in our favour? What if we got Wyatt to start dodging more? Or we convinced Red to start asking for backup? We’ve even got a new girl on the team now and I have no idea how she fights! How am I supposed to keep someone safe when I don’t even know what they can do?…” He added somewhat frantically before noticing his own half-panicked tone and letting another silence begin to hang.

“...You know-” He eventually began to say “I’m pretty sure you saved me back there with Blackout. I mean I had no idea how to get out that guy’s hold.” He added as a small grin broke out across his face before turning into an out of place, but warm burst of laughter in the otherwise still night. “-And just a minute ago I went and called his girlfriend a troll-doll! To his face too! Oh my god maybe I’m the crazy one!” He managed to add between his fits of laughter.

“I am way out of my depth! I mean, a year ago my biggest problem was living with a deadbeat uncle! Now here I am at what is without a doubt, the fanciest party I’ve ever been to and all I can do is panic over how I’m supposed to protect a group of wannabe heroes who could all kick my ass to begin with.” He stated as he let out a few last chuckles and turned to properly face Mizu.

She wasn't imposing and she didn't look like the most powerful of figures but from what he had seen, Mike couldn't imagine her as anyone other than the hero Selene, ready to step in and save her dumb teammates from their own stupid choices both in and out of the fights they dragged her into. It might not be the most fair of roles, but he was glad she was there for them. But the thought did leave him with a familiar question.

“Mizu... Why did you join the Young bloods?”

[Segral]

Carter Graystone
Chapter 4: Chaos

"SIC 'EM HARLEY!"

Harley perked up at those words, his ears stiffening as he dropped into what was his doggy version of a combat stance and began to growl, a loud, ripping sound replacing the thin whine from earlier. With cameras constantly following him after his leave, Carter hadn't had much to do but play with Harley, and, when playing got bring, training him. Although, this was actually the only thing he had trained Harley to do, most of the time they just gave up and played fetch instead. But still, he had gotten one panic mode feature ingrained in Harley's mind, and Arun had no idea it was coming. His attention was now completely lost on Carter as he dropped the leash and began fumbling with his Glock, trying to point it down Harley's snout. Time to strike.

"NAMASTHE, MOTHERBUGGER!" Carter yelled as best as he could through a broken nose, pulling his hand back and beginning to draw air into his palm, charging it up like he was Ryu...or Ken! He was Ken Masters, except with less fire, cooler clothes, and fewer muscles! Arun looked back at him in surprise, but he was helpless. His gun was still pointed down, well away from Carter's body. He had dropped his guard, and was going to feel it in his chest soon. This was his time, this was his moment to shine, no Red or Wyatt or Renata or Casimir or Alexis or...whole assortment of people to steal his thunder! No pipe-swinging zombie man to hit him in the head! This was it, this wa-

BANG

Carter yelped and jumped several feet in an instinctual mad dive as the gunshot flew through the trees and missed him by just a hair. He crash-landed hard on the dusty ground, skidding for some distance before coming to full-stop, his elbows bruised and his pride bruised even more. The air in his fist had completely dissipated, he could feel it flowing all over his arm. "Dammit..." he groaned, slamming his fist down on the ground, only to accidentally split his knuckle on a rock with a screech of pain. "Well this is an anticlimactic way to end my life." Carter thought to himself, mentally bracing himself for a bullet through the back of the head. "Where did that bullet even come from?"

"And what's that sound?"

Rrrrrrrrrr-

"Oh my god, is tha-"

RRRRRRRRRR

"YETH, HARLEY, YE-

RRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

Despite the sound practically rupturing his eardrums, Carter quickly began to scramble onto his hands and knees, only to quickly duck as the screaming form of Arun flew over his head, thrown flying by Harley's sonic bark. His fingers were still tightly wrapped around the grip, but it wouldn't exactly help him much, as he was flung dozens of feet before landing with a sickening "CRASH" on the ground, kicking up a huge dust cloud as he continued to roll several feet. "The bastard deserves it." Carter thought to himself irritably as he jumped to his feet, his telekinetic field expanding quickly to restore his hearing and detect any movements, his hands charging up with compressed air. He could feel the same four masses rushing towards him, and his eyes confirmed the suspicion as he looked around and saw, surprise surprise, four men rushing towards him, dressed from head to toe in all...brown, from long-sleeve shirt to pant to boot to kufi. The only parts of their bodies that wasn't a deep, chestnut brown were their hands and faces, and they were covered in sweat from wearing all-brown in the Indian heat. Even their faces had light wraps around them covering the tops of their heads, their chins, and their mouths, just like a ski mask.

Oh, and they all had AK's. Guess Arun wasn't kidding.

One of the men yelled something in the foreign tongue, and the four men spread out, fanning out with two men on either side in the hopes of circling him. But Carter and Harley were having none of it, with the latter quickly bounding to Carter with a bright bark. With a wide swing of his left arm, Carter conjured up a large wave of air, not a particularly powerful one, but enough to knock the two men on that side right off of their feet, sliding back-first on the ground. Simultaneously, he fired the ball of pressurized air in his other arm, a short burst travelling through the air and striking a third man in the stomach. He got thrown back harder, slamming right into a thin tree and slumping over with a groan.

With no warning, Harley suddenly tensed up his hindlegs and kicked straight off into the air, flying directly towards the last man. Carter couldn't see much of his face, but based on how smooth the skin around his eyes and nose were, and the long strands of hair that poked through his ski mask, he looked to be the youngest one. His inexperience showed, as his eyes widened at the sight of the flying Harley, pointing his rifle up to shoot him but failing to lock on his target. The dog ducked, rolled, and suddenly flew straight at the man's head, sending him into a quick roll onto his side to avoid the flying dog. Harley hit the deck hard, letting out a yelp as he struggled to gain purchase with his claws in the loose dirt. The man quickly folded upright into kneeling position with his back to Carter as he hoisted the rifle in his hands, ready to fire with all of Allah's might on this damn superhuman mutt.

Only problem? His back was to Carter.

Suddenly, the shooter's eyes bugged out as Carter landed a direct karate chop on the side of his neck, hitting the bundle of nerves underneath his air. His head snapped back for a brief second, his body knocked off balance, before tipping onto his side and landing face-down in the dirt, unconscious.

"I don't blame ya, bud." Carter said, looking down at the unconscious form with a bit of pity. "I had the same reaction when I first saw dogs fly." he said with a shrug before giving out a quick wolf whistle and snapping, his callsign for Harley to "come back". He turned back around, only to met with a shock; the two gunmen he had initially thrown down had gotten back up, and had their AK's pointed right at him. Shit.

"HARLEY, DHODGE!" Carter yelled before jumping as hard as he could to the side to avoid the oncoming swarm of bullets. He had always been a jumper; he held Thomsen High school records in the long and triple jump. Combine that with a little wind here and there for...aerodynamics, and he was like Eddie the Eagle. Well, if Eddie the Eagle was good at jumping. His jump worked, as he landed lightly on his feet without a sound, the sound of bullets resonating well away from him. Using the excess momentum, he quickly switched into alternating between feet, taking long bounding strides towards the clump of trees that the men had come from. The men were rushing towards him but it was no use, as with one final leap, he leaped up high and kicked off the trunk, grabbing the thickest looking branch he could find. With a little bit of working, he pulled himself up on the branch, perching with his feet. His lungs burnt, and his breath was coming out in heavy puffs, but he still had a bit left inside of him. Once again, he pushed out his field, letting the air molecules spread out and detect disturbances. He could feel the two men, a bit fainter than before, but still there. They were walking towards the treeline, but they couldn't seem to figure out where he was hiding, they kept moving back and forth, stopping and starting, seeing things. That was good. He had time to plan.

Lana's voice echoed in his mind, something she had said the last time they trained together. "There's a few spots that you can hit to make anyone drop." she had said, setting up a dummy after Carter had stubbornly refused to get punched anywhere near his face. "The side of the neck. The face. The solar plexus". He had already gone for the side of the neck, and if he played his cards right, he could hit the other two areas as well...

Meanwhile, the two gunmen outside of the treeline began venturing closer, rifles up and fingers inches away from the trigger as they slowly shuffled forward. "Sana, where do you think he could've gone?" came from one, a deep, gravelly voice with a hint of nerves speaking in Urdu.

"I don't know Bilal, stop asking questions, and focus on finding him!" the other responded, a higher, female voice. Looks like Carter was wrong, whatever cult these weirdos belonged to was clearly an equal-opportunity employer. Thankfully, he believed in equal opportunities for all genders to get smacked around.

Suddenly, with barely so much as a rustle in the leaves, Carter leaped out of the trees feet-first as a blur, slamming his legs down hard into Sana's face and knocking the woman out with a sickening CRUNCH before she barely got out so much as a yell. Bilal was close by, and stumbled back out of sheer surprise, his guard slipping for a moment. That was all Carter needed. He quickly dashed forward, closing the distance quickly and planting his hand on his opponent's shoulder, pulling him in before slamming his fist up into Bilal's solar plexus, that key spot between their sternum and stomach. The blow was hard enough to knock the wind out of the older man, causing him to drop his gun and fall back, wheezing and clutching his chest as he stared at the short blonde boy with growing fear, desperately looking around for one of his four comrades for help. But no help was coming now.

"Salam alaykum." Carter said softly, a grin spreading across his face as he whirled around gracefully and slammed his fist into Bilal's jaw so hard that his head bounced against the tree trunk next to him, his body dropping like a stone. Carter simply stared at the form on the ground, poking it a few times with his foot to ensure that he was truly knocked out. The brown-clad man didn't stir. "I did it..." Carter thought to himself, his smile growing even wider by the second. "I THID IT, HARLEY! I WO' A FIGH'!" he yelled aloud, whooping as he practically skipped over to Harley, his limbs flailing as he jumped up and down. Harley responded with an excited bark, running up to the boy and practically bowling him over. Carter landed hard on his butt, laughing as Harley began licking his face aggressively, his heavy mass pinning his owner down. To placate the excited dog, Carter began rubbing his belly, calming him down somewhat and allowing him to pry himself from underneath Harley. He wanted to celebrate, but there was still more work to be done. He had taken out five men (and women) already, but they had come up from some place in the trees, and who knew how many more were still there?

"Look like my rethiremen' wa' shore." Carter muttered, gingerly getting to his feet while Harley sat up beside him, his leash still dragging in the dirt. Carter grabbed the leash and began to tug Harley in the direction of the trees, the dog eagerly complying and keeping an even trot beside him. Harley loved walks, you could take him for a walk along the 38th Parallel and he'd still be completely oblivious to whatever was going on around him. For all he knew, he could be heading into something just as bad as the 38th Parallel...or worse.

There was only a small clump of trees, and they weren't particularly thick or tall either. They were thin, scraggly, with chipped bark and parched leaves. They were practically big shrubs. There were fresh bootprints in the dirt, cigarette butts, what looked like a lighter. People had obviously camped here but his air field didn't pick up anything. The smell of cigarette smoke was still fresh in the air, even sharper as the trees began to thin. Soon, the trees thinned even further into a full clearing, a round-ish patch of bare ground, the only trees being ones that had completely fallen over. At first, it looked pretty normal, a few logs scattered here and there, some churned up dirt, nothing too special. Better yet, it was completely abandoned, not a soul in sight. But then he saw the ropes, and his heart dropped.

There was a clear patch of ground with a thick pile of ropes heaped on top of it, and what looked like several squares of white cloth. Blindfolds, gags? Behind the ropes, strung between two of the broader trees, was a white banner, a thick white sheet with bold black script seemingly painted across it. There was some sort of symbol, what looked like two guns crossed together, an arc of stars across the top. There were also words, words in a language Carter had no recognition of, written both in small letters right underneath the guns and in larger ones across the bottom of the banner. A few feet away from the banner and ropes, pointed directly at the spot, was a video camera set up on a tripod, a thin layer of dust collecting on the lens. It looked like the set of some ISIS-like terrorist execution...maybe because it was?

"They were going to kill me..." Carter thought to himself, a sudden odd ache creeping into his limbs. His knees felt weak, his mouth was quickly drying up. Harley was whimpering inquisitively, wondering why his walk had stopped, but Carter barely registered the sound as he sank onto a log, his head sinking into his hands. "They were going to shoot me. They were going to kill me, right then and there". He felt so tired, the exhaustion from the fight, the exhaustion from the jet lag, the exhaustion from everything sinking in. Somehow, there were people in a foreign country who hated him so much, they wanted him dead. Why?

"They were going to kill me."

Sighing, he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, still miraculously undamaged. This was going to cost a lot on his phone bill, but he didn't care. He opened up the Phone app and began to scroll through his Contacts, his movements mechanical and robotic, like it was Cass doing the thinking instead of him. Soon, he found the name. "Weird Indian Director Guy", his contact name for Mr. Randhawa.

Weird Indian Director Guy would have a lot of explaining to do soon.

---

"Yes, yes, of course."

V.K Randhawa's office was a luxurious one, one of the many perks of being one of the most famous moguls in Bollywood cinema. Between the polished mahogany desk, the handsome bookshelf containing several rows of the best in South Asian literature, the massive trophy and awards cabinet just underneath, and the gorgeous, gold-framed depiction of the Goddess Durga on the wall, it was a room that exuded wealth, opulence, and fame. The room of a clean, polished man, one with photos of himself posing with the Indian President and Garuda of the New Delhi Nagas sitting upright and proper on his desk, right next to a photo of his wife and three children. But V.K Randhawa didn't feel clean and polished. He felt dirty, he felt like a man full of sin. No, he was a man full of sin, there was no feelings here. A true man wouldn't throw a boy, a child in danger like he had, thrown him to the wolves jet-lagged off an intercontinental flight. He had promised security and safety. Instead, he had destroyed a life.

Or so he had thought, before he had gotten the call.

"Yes, I will pick you up personally, I know exactly where you are, Carter." he said in perfect English, albeit with a strong Indian accent warping his voice, like warm marbles in his mouth. He wanted to choke on those marbles. "I am so terribly sorry, I will come as fast as I can. You're not far. My office is right nearby, so I will be there very soon, I'm leaving right now." he said, his words rushing and blurring into one another with genuine relief, the creases in his forehead that had been etched their for hours relaxing. "OK...OK. Thank you Carter, I promise this will never happen again under my watch. Goodbye, I'll see you soon." he said at last, slamming the landline phone back down in its place and slowly getting up, his knees trembling slightly. Old age had caught up with him, forcing him to use a cane, but he still had the zeal and vigor he had always had. He grabbed that cane from its trusty spot leaning against the wall, grabbed his hat from its peg, and began to make his way to the door.

However, before he got there, he stopped at the most humble detail of his office; a thick red prayer rug sitting before an altar, as large, ornate as one could be a for a home altar. Two framed glass pictures stood at the top wooden pedestal; Ganesha, the overcomer of obstacles, and Krishna, the god of compassion and love. In a copper dish sat a single unlighted candle, several silver murtis, tiny idols, with spare rice grains and flowers circling and dotting the dish. On a small wooden step sat a silver handbell and a conch shell, tiny religious instruments. And finally, in the middle, the main dominating (and phallic) feature, the milk and honey-stained Shiva yoni linga, the stump rising from what looked like half an avocado, representing the male and female energies of the universe. Such a lovely display of piety and faith, even if it was all just for appearances. Today, he would change that.

Randhawa dropped to his knees, inching his body onto the rug. There was a small lighter sitting right next to the copper dish, almost hidden. With a shaking hand, he grasped the lighter and flicked it, a flame spitting out of the silver tube at the end. He lit the candle with it, heat and warmth beginning to glow in the center of the dish for the first time in god knows how long.

And then he prayed. He placed his hands above the fire and warmed his eyebrows, his face with it. He butchered verses that he barely remembered. He prayed and prayed and prayed that God would forgive him for the sins he had committed.

[Absolon-7]

The Nefarious Marionette!

Casimir Herman October 7th

---

Casimir's face underneath his helmet shifted to an odd mix of complete bewilderment as Lisette fidgeted around her response. She sounded really desperate or uncomfortable at least as if someone had dropped a slug down her back and she trying to ignore it. The conversation took a turn for the bizarre when she was flinging out ridiculous ideas unbelievably naive ideas like helping a psycho like Marionette. The bit about getting to know her was almost burst out in laughter worthy for him. Whatever this rich girl knew of about the world of superheroes it sure wasn't realistic.

"As if," rebutted Casimir resting an elbow on the table, "As far as I'm concerned, a person throws away their chances at help once they hurt people who've done nothing to them. A hero isn't supposed to look past body counts and atrocities. They're supposed to feel a righteous fury at the sheer evil committed by them and put their all in putting them down. Nothing more then predators that need to be cast down." Casimir crossed his arms triumphantly as he continued his point. "If you ask me I'd rather eat a centipede then get to know someone who doesn't put a second thought to hurting innocent for their own pleasure or for whatever crazy reason Marionette does what she does."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 7th

---

---

Needless to say, Alexis was pleasantly surprised to hear that Jordan didn't think anything of her slight tendency to ramble and in fact even put a positive spin on it. Part of her knew that she had more than earned the praise she received with all of her achievements - after all, even if she wasn't the strongest or most popular member of the Young Bloods, what other fifteen year old girl could brag about having her very own functional mech armor? - but even then it was hard not to feel at least a little humbled in the presence of someone like Mr. Scott.

What genuinely left her taken aback, however, was Jordan's statement that he had the intention of giving her a push along her road to greatness, that is, if she could convince him to do so. She was surprised that he was asking her to sell herself, especially since he clearly knew plenty about her achievements already... but if she was getting permission to brag, who was she to complain about it?

"The classic question of where do I see myself in ten years, huh?" Alexis spoke, a confident smile now appearing on her face as she considered what to say. "Well, I've known for a while that I want to eventually break into the industry, I'm sure ten years is more than enough time to do that. And I've got so many ideas I could put to the test if I had the resources. Who's to say what I could do? Better cars, better computers, better homes. Maybe even better spaceships. I can do it, I've got nothing but time and there's nothing stopping me except not having the right tools for the job." She said with a small shrug. "I could probably make said tools myself given enough time but, you know, that takes time too."

The blonde girl then raised a hand to her chin. "About the only thing I don't want to make is weapons. I've made a few to use as a hero and I''m sure I could make a good profit off of it but I don't really want to be remembered as the person who invented the Halo or whatever."

---

October 8th

---

---

After Roy had introduced himself, Alexis peeked out from behind the much taller boy and offered Whitney a friendly grin. "I went ahead and told our fearless leader that you put in as much effort as I did in making him a cure for his little overdose." She commented. "I guess he was feeling charitable and decided to pay back the favor himself." She added before rising a hand to her face and lowering her voice as if whispering some secret to the taller blonde, though obviously Roy was right there and could hear everything. "He's in a pretty good mood, probably has to do with all those girls that asked him out during last night's party." She said with a chuckle, elbowing Roy afterwards for good measure.

---

October 24th

---

---

Like most days, Alexis was down at her lab working on her newest project, the Pegasus, which was taking shape nicely and was now near completion, needing only the finalization of a few details before she could start using it during her patrols and the like. Her fairies were currently hard at work on the steely gray motorcycle carcass, which now looked much more complete than it did several weeks ago.

On this particular day, the genius girl had no club practice and had managed to go home an hour earlier thanks to a project she had presented for class in advance, which meant that she had been relaxing for a while - with her fairies taking care of the job, she was content to lean back on her swiveling chair and look at memes on her phone - when Angelica showed up, plopping down on the couch and letting loose her complaints about her school day, her mounting fame and her presence in social media. The shorter girl was about to respond when something on her screen caused her to laugh.

"Oops, sorry. Frost Bite meme." Alexis said before rolling her chair over to the couch where Angelica sat. "But anyways, maybe you should take a different perspective on this whole thing. I mean, is it so bad that people admire you? I get that the attention is annoying in person when you're trying to do something else but I don't think it's a bad thing that people realize you're special." She stated before jumping off the chair and onto the couch next to her girlfriend, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "And hey, let those girls dress up all they want. You still look better." She said with a wink.

[Segral]

Whitney Alvord
October 8th

"Hold on, I'll be there in a sec!" Whitney shouted as she heard a knock on her bedroom door, getting to her feet and quickly hitting the lever on the toilet to flush away the puke that had been collecting there for the last few minutes. It always seemed like someone was knocking at her door when she least expected it; first Alexis, now god-knows-who. Muttering a string of assorted expletives under her breath, she quickly grabbed the nearest towel and dabbed her lips clean in the mirror with one hand. The other hand was currently being used to fumble for a pack of gum on the counter, trying to pry the biggest piece possible from the pack. With a bit of effort, she was able to pry out a huge chunk, quickly unwrapping the cellophane and popping it into her mouth. Hopefully, it would mask the scent of old vomit in her mouth, which had been getting pretty bad lately. She basically had a pack of Eclipse on her wherever she went at this point, although for this specific occasion, she had opted for a piece of pink bubblegum. A bit of variety never hurts.

With a satisfied sigh, she pushed her hair back and headed out of the bathroom, throwing the door closed behind her with a light thud. The room wasn't massive and didn't take a very long time to cross through, so her visitors didn't have to wait much longer before Whitney opened the door wide, her eyes registering not one but...two people? On the right and hiding slightly behind the much taller figure on the left was a familiar face in the form of Alexis. On the left, a guy a little taller than Whitney, with short black hair. She already had a bit of an inkling of who he was, and his greeting confirmed it; Roy Damon, the infamous Nightshade, coming to personally thank her for helping research the antidote for his little drug scare and offering to take her on a tour of the island as thanks. It was...oddly flattering. And charming.

Before she could even process the request, Alexis quickly chimed in the typical Alexis fashion that Whitney had become accustomed to over the past few days. You tend to learn a lot about a person when you're cooped up with them in a lab 24/7. Even the signature mischievousness was there, as Little Miss 5'0 proceeded to take a jab at Roy for his feminine escapades. Whitney snickered a little at this, raising her eyebrows at Roy with a sly grin of her own.

"Well, you're very welcome Roy." Whitney said with a hint of dryness in her voice. "Besides, I couldn't just let you miss out on the richest girls in the United States, could I?" she said playfully, crossing her arms as she shifted the gum in her mouth to the side. "And yeah, I'd love to be shown around the island, thanks. Maybe even give you another girl at your arm, hmm?" she said with a laugh, joining in with Alexis' teases. She couldn't help but worry she was committing a faux pas by teasing the team leader on her first week, but whatever, he would get over it.

---

Whitney Alvord
October 23rd

In hindsight, it seemed as if she had joined the Young Bloods at the perfect time. When she had gotten the official seal of approval and first descended into that futuristic lab, the team was certainly popular, picking up steam and such. A few interviews here and there, some slightly unflattering paparazzi shots, a few very disgusting pieces of online fan-fiction, nothing too crazy. But between drugs in the school, fights at the Tournament, and some charity work, the team was now a cultural phenomenon. It was practically a ritual for Mars to come bursting into the living room, yelling about which basketball player was a fan of him that day. Interviews here, social media challenges there, the world was going absolutely nuts for the Young Bloods...and it was starting to creep Whitney out. Don't get her wrong, she loved the Young Bloods. Why else would she have joined? But she also hated TMZ, and now TMZ was at the front door every day.

Thankfully, TMZ wasn't trying to grab any pictures of her, at the very least. She was still fresh blood, and was on the support crew, meaning she stayed behind and kept the team's gears running smoothly in the background while the people who could actually put up a fight handled the dirty work. It was a pretty easy, camera-free job all things considered, and she was thankful for that, and how easy it was to get adjusted. She had gotten moved in, which only took a day thanks to Pop letting her borrow the shop's van. She had convinced (and bribed) Mr. Peck to let her take the lab freezer that held all of her samples out of Thomsen High and into the lab, where it was now sitting at the back with the rest of the storage space. And, under Naja's peculiar orders, started synthesizing a whole array of medical compounds and solutions, forgoing her own experiments to instead make painkillers and blood thinners. Very good painkillers and blood thinners, mind you, her substances were stronger and better than anything you could find at the local pharmacy, but still...painkillers and blood thinners. Maybe she just wanted stronger stuff in the infirmary in case the missions ramped up and someone got hurt badly. Either way, it was something to do, which was what she needed right now.

Truth be told, life was still pretty much the same. She had finally handed in her two-weeks notice, and had been unemployed since four days ago, free to spend as much time as she wanted brewing up painkillers and blood thinners in the lab. But really, that just made the day longer. Most of the other team members had school during the day, leaving the Tower almost empty during the week aside from Ginger and a few other gym-happy stragglers. She had no school, no job, nothing. Her research was her job by this point, she was getting room and board for it by this point. But besides a weekly allowance from Gran and Pop, no cash flow. She was practically one of the brokest members of the team. In her free time between lab sessions, she made a lot of coffee, read books, watched a whole assortment of pirated movies that Alexis had gotten her hands on for the team, and purged. She was still trying to stop, but it was so hard, and every time she felt like was taking a step towards conquering Thing #1, making some headway on the rocky slope, the pebbles underneath her feet gave way and she slid back down again. At the very least, she was losing some weight.

But yeah, overall, pretty odd existence. It was almost like she was a ghost in the Tower, a pale, blonde ghost lurking in the lab and living room when all was quiet. Maybe that's how she was staying unnoticed by the media.

Right now, she was continuing to stay unnoticed by the media, sitting in her usual spot with a vast array of test tubes, racks, beakers, hot plates, and everything in between on a wide space of clear desk. She had cleared out a few of the computer terminals to give her a more permanent workspace, and even managed to get her own coffeemaker so she wouldn't have to take trips back and forth upstairs every time she needed a pick-me-up. It was a convenient little space, and it was pretty effective for getting work done. In fact, it was so effective that when it took four rings of her phone to finally snap her attention out of her work, tampering with a blood clotting agent to try to turn it from a grainy powder into a cream form. Much like Thing #1, it was an uphill battle, so a brief break was welcome.

Sighing slightly, she extracted the phone out of her jacket pocket, only to see it was from...Naja? That was odd. She had Whitney's number "in case of emergencies", but there was no emergency. At least not with Whitney, maybe Naja was the one who was going through an emergency situation? Frowning slightly, Whitney hit the answer button and held the phone up to her ear, curious to see what the situation was.

"Hello?" she asked, her frown growing even deeper when Naja responded in a perfectly neutral, calm voice that suggested there was a greater chance of her enjoying a scotch in her office than going through an emergency. "Yeah, I've been working for the past couple weeks on them, I've got a whole spread here...what types? Lots of stuff. Painkillers, antiseptic, electrolyte tablets, blood thinners, a couple of other medications. I'm working on a blood clotter right n-........what do you mean you want me to report to the infirmary?!" she demanded, more surprised than angry as she stood up from her chair. "You want me to stock the cabinet with the stuff? No? You want me to...you want me to what?! Are you sure, I don't know if I'm the greatest nurse Naja, I...yeah, I know some stuff. I can dress some wounds, I can tie tourniquets, some basic sutures, that sort of thing, but I don't know if that's what you guys nee-...oh. A-are you sure? Well...thanks. I guess I could help out a bit, once I finish this current experiment at least..yeah, I know where the infirmary is, Roy and Alexis showed me. His name's Jacob? Jacob Bernard...alright, got it. Take care, Naja. Bye." she said at last, practically feeling out of breath after that whole conversation. What on Earth was Naja thinking?

"Second team medic...fuck me." Whitney muttered to herself with a shake of her head.

[Finland SSR]

Mike Mathews
Gala

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

---

Thankfully, it seems that Mike understood where Mizu had been leading at - that the danger which every one of them puts on themselves while being superheroes was not a goal in of itself, but rather a side-effect, and often an unavoidable one. To be a hero means you have to take risks, increasingly dangerous ones, and Mike conceded on that, unable to offer an alternative. What worried him the most was the times when this danger could have been avoided, and yet was not. And that, in one of those times, the blame would fall onto his shoulders.

Every possibility worried him to no end. He was afraid the team's potential was being squandered, that they weren't aware of all the cards in their deck, that he doesn't push himself enough to prevent tragedy... Mike may come off annoying and irritating to the rest of the team, but this, above all else, told Mizu just how much he really cares. He just doesn't express it the right way...

The purple-haired girl struck a faint, apologetic smile and replied:

"There's nothing wrong in worrying for the safety of others, it's what a hero does. You just shouldn't let that control you, or turn you angry. I'm sure you wouldn't listen to someone else's advice if they insulted you, so neither would anyone else in our team..."

As soon as Mike turned the conversation towards her, however, Mizu's smile faded. "Well, I-" Faced with a question about her own motives, Mizu froze, her voice cracked, and the girl finally took a breath, resting her hands on the baluster of the balcony. Her eyes turned to the sky, more specifically, towards the Moon shining overhead. It was impossible to catch right now, but during a lunar eclipse, if you squint really, really hard, you may be able to spot the tiniest glimmer of light coming from one of the satellite's maria.

"I guess this is where I would tell an inspiring story about how the life of a hero chose me, but, well... Back up there, on Luna, I used to read superhero comics a lot, watch NASL tournaments, hear about all the famous heroes on Earth - and I decided that it's what I want to do in my life. But our base is a very calm place - there's no villains and almost no supers - so... I went down to Earth to join a team which I thought would accept me."

Mizu began fidgeting with a strand of her hair with her fingers, a frown forming on her face.

"It kind of makes me feel... selfish, if that makes sense. I'm sure everyone else would be able to tell stories about how they faced injustice and became Young Bloods to stop it, or that they had some great revelation in their lives which pushed them out of their comfort zone to become heroes. And then you look at me, who's here just because she wanted to be a superhero. Who read a lot of comics and began to emulate the people there until she ended up here. That's... not really heroic, is it?"

---

Mars

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

"Right. Teammates, that's what we're supposed to be. Teammates don't target each other like that." Renata repeated Mars's words under her breath, staring at the side. At least Mars was the most forgiving out of the whole bunch who brought this incident up. Perhaps surprisingly, given that it was him who was in the line of fire, but, well... it's Mars.

Turns out he actually knew about the connection between Roy and Ares, too, even if it was something the dark-clad hero was not keen to bring up.

"...What is his history with Roy?" Renata continued asking, then tapped her chin as she recalled the events of the mission. "Well... 'cause Ares brought him up when the two of us were locked into melee-well, I brought him up, he caught onto that, but whatever. He called Roy a coward traitor, so on and so forth..."

[New Finnish Republic]

The Blushing Bombshell, Yoshiro!

The Aggressive Arch-Nemesis, Marionette!

The Clueless Casanova, Red!

As the two ceased moving, time seemed to freeze for Red as the a heavy silence fell upon them. For a brief moment Red thought that the effects of Kross's device had somehow returned, as the crowd around them turned into a blur and the music that filled the air seemed to die down into a low rumble as every single one of his senses seemed to focus squarely on the girl in front of him. Her warm hands that melted into his. The scent of a small breeze of minty breathe that filtered through his nose so much that he felt that he could taste it. The small sparkle that glimmered in her eyes. The sound of her heart beating like a war drum. All of this Red seemed to notice in the most minute of detail as he waited for her response.

"Red, I-"

Whatever it was Yoshiro was about to say was suddenly cut short, however, as a voice rang out next to him. A voice that Red immediately recognized, and one that caused him to let out an involuntary shiver.

“Hey, Red! I was wondering where you’d run off to. Sorry I had to run off back there. I was thinking that we could pick up where we left off!"

As her hand gently placed itself onto his arm, Red had to fight every urge within him to not either gag or scream out, instead doing what he could to move his body away from the extended hand. However, the girl's grip was far too strong and she was far too persistent to allow this to happen as she remained in contact with him, Red feeling the slightest pinch as her nails dug into his coat sleeve.

“Oh! Is this Psyche? It’s so nice that you guys can still be friends after the breakup. Mind if I take him off of your hands for a moment? I’m an old friend and we have so much to catch up on.”

Red remained still as Marionette spoke in a polite yet assertive voice towards Yoshiro. Or rather, Lisette Aveline spoke, as the girl's appearance was not of the flamboyant pink dress that she had worn in the countless fights they had been in together, but that of an eloquent dress. Although he managed to keep himself from showing his emotions on his face it was a saving grace that his mask hid his eyes, as underneath it rested a gaze that was filled with unbridled rage and disgust as the girl continued to speak.

“Yeah, of course. I was getting pretty tired of dancing anyway.”

It took every last ounce of strength within him not to reach out for Yoshiro as the girl stepped away from him. More than anything, he wanted to scream out that what was happening was far from what she thought it was. He wanted to tell her that the girl who had approached them was not some old friend, but the very same woman who had nearly stolen Yoshiro away from him and into the clutches of a demonic being. He yearned with every fiber within his being to warn her, to shield her from Marionette, even if it was at the cost of his own life.

But he could only remain silent, fully aware that this was exactly what Marionette wanted to happen. Or rather, what she was very much capable and prepared for. How many people could she kill before the rest of the team could step in? A dozen? Two dozen? An even more haunting thought ran across his mind, as out of the corner of his vision he could see Yoshiro slip away into the crowd. She wouldn't even touch me, and I know exactly who she would target first.

“Smart choice, hero. It would’ve been awful if I’d had to kill her before we’d even had a chance to talk. See, I was thinking that it was high time that we had a little tete-a-tete. And when I heard about this gala, I thought that it would be perfect. What, with all the people here. Plus you teammates, who I doubt are expecting there to be any trouble. I’d hate to leave the catering staff with an awful mess to clean up, if you catch my drift. So I figured that you could take me out on a walk instead. You know, give us a chance to be all alone.”

Red remained silent for a few moments, his mind racing as he tried to calm the raging storm of emotions within him and consider his options. I could still shout out a warning and try to tackle her. Yoshi's far enough away that she'll have to reconsider her next target after dealing with me, which could give the others enough time to react.

Taking a moment to glance around, Red realized with a grim realization that there was no one from his team even remotely close. Instead, they were in the midst of all of the regular civilians who had no idea just what danger they were in. Even if Red managed to buy a few seconds, he knew that Marionette would have plenty of time to do whatever she wanted before any hero could intervene, which meant that it wouldn't merely be Red's life being thrown away with such a reckless course of action.

Thus, he was forced to go with the worst option possible.

"Fine, let's go," Red said through gritted teeth, grabbing onto Marionette's arm with no amount of tenderness as he dragged her away from the crowd. As he did, he saw more than a few eyebrows being raised at the sight of a Young Blood pulling away the heiress of the Aveline family, no doubt already drawing their own conclusions and eager to spread the rumors far and wide. As much as he wanted to scream and yell that they were dead wrong, Red could only give these individuals the dirtiest of looks he could form as the two made they stepped past these people, seemingly being enough to cause them to avert their gazes

Finally, the two managed to make their way out of the main showroom area of the gala towards the back hallways of the building. Although the occasional couple would walk by, more often than not with at least one being heavily intoxicated, the two were more or less completely alone. This meant that Red could stop holding himself back, as the second they had cleared the area, he practically threw Marionette against a nearby wall.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" he yelled at her, his voice filled with venomous hatred as he stared down at the girl, who merely gave him a sadistic grin in response. This small act caused even more rage to spill out from him, as he momentarily lost control of himself and threw his forearm up against her neck, pinning her against the wall in a choke. While far from enough to cause any actual damage, a look of both shock and glee filled her face as the sudden assault caused her to let out a small gag before she could regain her composure.

"Oh, and what's so wrong with me being here, Mask? I'm simply trying to enjoy a fun night, celebrating the accolades of San Diego's most beloved team of heroes," she replied, both her expression and tone of voice making it clear she was toying with him. Being well aware of this, Red put even more strength into his arm, this time causing the girl to grimace slightly as the pressure on her neck noticeably increased.

"I know exactly why you're here, and it's not to have fun. Now give me one good reason I shouldn't press the alarm on my communicator right now and let everyone on my team know that you're here," Red threatened through gritted teeth. Of course, this was an outright bluff, as he neither had such a device on him currently, nor did he have any intention on doing such even if he had the option, as at this point all that would occur would be his certain death and Marionette's escape.

However, Marionette seemed to see through his bluff without hesitation, as she gave Red another playful grin, albeit with noticeable strain on her expression as she did. "I quite frankly don't think you'd have the guts to do that, Red," she replied, this time using his name instead of his heroic persona's. "And besides, if you did that, poor little Psyche wouldn't be able to dance with her adorable little redheaded bad boy. I suppose though she'd probably do fine though, seeing that her eyes seemed centered on someone else tonight. After all, she only chose you after getting denied by the blonde pretty boy right before you swooped in."

Narrowing his gaze, Red felt a small sense of hesitation fill him upon the implications behind Marionette's words. She's lying. She has to be. There's no way she would... As Red's mind raced, Marionette's smile grew even larger, fully aware that she had hit the target right on the mark. Not wasting a moment the opportunity, she continued her verbal assault.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm always willing to have you twirl me around the dance floor. After all, based on previous events, it's clear that you can't even keep someone you care about safe from harm, so why not allow someone who can...keep control of themselves a bit better?"

It took a half second for Red to realize what Marionette was talking about, but the moment he did, he lost all semblance of control over himself as he pressed even harsher against her neck and leaned in, practically snarling at her as he spoke. "Don't you even say another word, or I'll make you regret every single damn one Mari-"

Before Red could finish his threats, however, he saw Marionette's gaze turn from his and direct itself past him. Her eye widened as she did, and before Red could react, he suddenly felt her hand reach around him and draw him towards her. A split second later, he felt a warm pair of lips meet his. His eyes wide, Red tried to pull away with every ounce of strength within him, but Marionette seemed to be done with playing with him as her grip remained firm. For as much as it disgusted him to recall, this wasn't the first time Red had been in this situation, as he was able to recall the familiar sensation with harrowing detail. For her part, Lisette kept her eyes closed for the first few seconds of the impromptu kiss, before slowly opening them to make sure that the coast was clear once again.

After a few moments, Red finally was able to break free, letting out a disgusted groan as he wiped at his mouth with the sleeve of his coat. Holding back the desire to vomit, he snapped his head back in the direction Marionette had been looking before her sudden assault, seeing a well-dressed couple practically running past them, their hands covering their eyes as they were obviously attempting to shield themselves from what looked to be a young couple's private affair.

Looking back to Marionette, unsure whether or not to feel more disgusted or angered, Red stared at her with an expression of shock on his face.

"What the hell was that for?!"

Turning back to Red, Marionette initially replied to his reaction with a scowl. She tried to ignore the slight flutter in her chest as the thought of what she’d just done threatened to bring on a wave of vertigo, but she quickly regained her composure. “Well, you didn’t leave me with much choice with all your yelling.” She hissed back. “Seriously, I don’t know if you could tell. But I am trying to keep a low profile here.” Even though she felt irritated at Red’s harsh response to the contact, her smirk nevertheless crept back onto her features. “Although I’d be lying if I complained too much about it.”

Stepping closer to Red with her characteristic fearlessness, Lisette placed a hand on the boy’s chest. He instinctively flinched at the contact, while maintaining his cold expression towards the girl. “I really didn’t come here to hurt anyone, Red. I needed an insurance policy to make sure you didn’t overreact when you saw me, but I just wanted to talk...about us.”

At first, Red’s eyes widened in surprise. Where was the threat? The dagger hanging inches from his neck? Looking down at the girl that had stepped up to him, he saw something different in her expression than he was used to, but he didn’t allow his mind to delve into it any further. Grabbing onto her arm, he pushed her away from him as he snarled. “Us? Oh please, I thought I put that deluded fantasy of yours to bed already. You’re crazy, Lisette, but that takes the cake even for you.”

The harsh response hardly came as a surprise to Lisette, but she hadn’t expected the stabbing sensation in her chest to feel quite as painful as it did. She felt some anger bubbling up in her chest as Red practically laughed her off, discarding her as crazy for even thinking something like that could be possible. She clenched one of her fists as a part of her wanted to immediately lash out, but she held herself back instead.

“I’m not crazy. Everyone always says that I am, but it’s the rest of the world that never makes any sense.” She said defiantly. The playful, almost superior tone had disappeared from her voice, replaced instead by an unexpected bitterness. This wasn’t what she had been planning, but now that she had started she could stop the words from flowing out. “When has the world ever done anything for you, Red? Truly, when has it stopped to accept you for who you really are?” She met the hero’s gaze as she continued, studying his expression. “You keep trying to forget your past and pretend that it never happened, but it did - and I know all about it. What do you think would happen if the rest of the world found out about it too? Would they still even tolerate you as a hero, like they do now, or would they turn their backs on you despite everything you’ve done for them?”

“And what about your team?” Lisette declared, a stubborn determination gradually growing in her voice. “How many of them have you told? If they knew, they’d toss you aside in an instant - or worse. Even Psyche wouldn’t even want to look you in the eye, because she’d know that you’re no more of a hero than I am.” The girl allowed her words to sink in, before allowing her tone to soften. “But I get it, and I’m the only one who’s accepted you for who you really are. We could take on the world together, Red. So what if they call us insane, or crazy? You and I both know that everyone else is just as mad beneath the surface.”

Red’s mouth opened, instinctively wanting to vehemently deny what the villainess had just said to him. She’s lying. There’s no way they would...or she would… Suddenly, Red felt his stomach drop as his imagination ran wild, picturing what would occur should the secret he had been holding onto for so long ever actually be revealed. Whatever confidence he had previously washed away from him, leaving him standing there with a narrowed gaze that sunk to the floor.

“Y-you’re wrong. They wouldn’t. They’re my...”

As Red’s words came out soft and full of uncertainty, Marionette couldn’t help but feel a sense of elation as she saw her words had had their effect. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, she continued to strike at the one place she knew Red was the most vulnerable.

“Family? Is that what you think they see you as, Red?” she asked, a small amount of pity in her voice as she cocked her head slightly to the side. “After everything you’ve done, do you think they don’t see you as nothing more than a rabid dog that needs to be kept on a short leash at all times?” Pursing her lips, the girl shook her head, letting out a small sigh as she couldn’t believe the shortsightedness of the redheaded boy. “Tell me, Red. Why do you think they put people like Nightshade, Rocket, and Crystalheart on all of the interviews? Don’t you think that what you do is equally as important?”

Red hesitated to answer, his gaze meeting Marionette’s, who held an almost pleading look on her face as she slowly reached up with the back of her hand, stroking the side of his cheeks. Admittedly, the girl couldn’t help but feel a small rush as her fingers rang through the coarse hair that had collected on the boy’s cheeks, the difference in not only appearance but personality since their first encounter threatening to overwhelm her as she continued.

“I don’t...I don’t care about that sort of stuff,” he eventually replied, his words coming out even quieter as he tried desperately to maintain his composure. Marionette was not convinced, however, as she let out a small tsk-tsk in response.

“We both know that deep down, Red, you do,” she answered him, leaning in close enough that Red could catch the faint aroma of strawberries coming from her every breath, a sensation that harkened back to months prior. “You want to be seen as being just as much of a hero as the rest of your teammates, but you know that there will never be a day that you’ll stand next to them.” Her gaze lingered over Red's lips briefly once more, before her voice softened as she put the final nail in the coffin.

“So why try so hard to be a hero, when it’s clear that you were never meant to be one?”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Surge and Psyche!
October 7th
San Diego

---

“Sure. That sounds like it’d be fun.”

Hearing the masked girl’s answer, Icarus returned her grin with a smile of his own. She’s pretty cute. Whoever gets to be her boyfriend will be a lucky guy. He thought as he gently took her hand and led her to the dance floor, opting for the fringes rather than the center. It was more comfortable there, less packed with bodies, and if either of them decided that they weren’t enjoying themselves or they decided to do something else, it would be a simple matter to leave without having to navigate through dozens of dancing couples.

“You shouldn’t be so surprised I remember you.” The blond boy commented as he placed his free hand on Yoshiro’s waist and opened with a few gentle, easy to follow movements - anything more likely wouldn’t allow for a fluid conversation after all. Despite his relatively lacking social life after coming to America, the Diluvian was moderately skilled in dancing, courtesy of his late mother, and was comfortable with setting the pace and leading the Asian girl. He was understandably nervous, about what ideas those around might form about them for the most part, but he ignored that to focus on making sure the girl had a good time, as per Alexis’ request.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to forget the people who fought alongside me against someone like Inferno. That’s not something that happens very often. Not to mention a couple weeks ago you did great against the Vixens, everyone was talking about it.”

Allowing Surge to lead her along in the dance, Yoshiro allowed herself to fall into the flowing motions of each footfall. She wasn’t prepared for the slight flutter she felt in her chest as his hand rested itself lightly on her waist, hoping that her cheeks didn’t appear too flushed. Come on girl, get a hold of yourself. You’ve pretty much just met this guy! And yet, was it wrong that she was having fun? She couldn’t deny that there was a certain thrill to being the one dancing with the Surge. However, the hero’s next words momentarily caused a look of surprise to flash across her features.

“You watched the fight?” She replied, not really thinking before the words sprung from her lips.

Of course he watched the fight. He was at the tournament too, you big dummy. No, Yoshiro’s real surprise went unsaid: he’d watched her during the fight. Recovering, the girl couldn’t help but smile sheepishly as she felt a swell of pride. Ever since the Scarab’s appearance, she’d felt a cloud hanging over her shoulders. Even if the team were mostly kind and understanding, Yoshiro still knew that they worried that she was a liability. She’d been benched, and even her closest friends hadn’t shown any signs that her presence was missed during missions. But now, a hint of red coated Yoshiro’s cheeks as she felt a mixture of pride and embarrassment at the praise.

“Wow. That’s...I don’t even know what to say.” She said, a wide grin spread across her features. “I mean you’re you, you know? The great Surge himself! You’re a real hero out there, and you have been ever since you were still Blackout.” Yoshiro’s voice dropped slightly, and she glanced away sheepishly for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve done anything even close to the same level.” A smile quickly returned to her face however, and she laughed as she remembered their earlier encounter while the pair continued to sway to the music. “Heck, I didn’t even make it all the way through the fight with Inferno.”

A wide smile painted itself on Icarus’ lips as he saw the results of his words reflected on the girl’s features. He did not think of his words as the glowing compliments she seemed to take them for, but it was a pleasant sight nonetheless. His smile thinned, however, as Yoshiro spoke up and began offering heartfelt words of praise. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate them, of course. Not a lot of people had called him a true hero before - some even said he had joined the Stars out of a desire for fame, absurd as the notion might be for him - and even less had done it while speaking of his past as a vigilante. He took no shame in those days, but they were dark ones for him.

“Yes, well, not a lot of people agreed with you back in the day.” He remarked as she looked away, clearly in an attempt to make light of the situation, though he said nothing else before she continued. At her next sentence, the young man raised an eyebrow. She was clearly being a little hard on herself, as far as he could tell, but that aside, to his knowledge the girl was a telepath. Comparing their achievements when their gifts varied so much didn’t seem very logical to him.

“You say that, Psyche, but from what I remember of that fight, you linking our thoughts together was a big help in beating up that guy. And I heard that after I got knocked out, you woke up and used your powers to set him up for the final blow. I’d say you did a pretty important job” The blond boy recounted as he continued to lightly step left and right, forward and back. “In the fight with the Vixens, too, you were the one who snapped the others out of their hypnosis, weren’t you? I don’t think you guys would have won that otherwise.”

Icarus stopped talking for a moment and gently led the girl into a twirl before falling back into their previous rhythm and continuing. “You’ve done plenty for your team as far as I can tell. Maybe you’re not the one beating up the most bad guys, but fights can get tiring quickly. Trust me, I’ve had nothing but fights for an entire year.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Yoshiro replied, a shy smile creeping onto her features as she genuinely felt touched by the other hero’s comments. She was happily impressed by the other boy’s ease on the dance floor, with the twirl in particular causing her to raise an amused eyebrow. It’s fine, I’m sure he would’ve done that with any girl. Quit reading too much into anything. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, wondering if she was being maybe a bit too forward. “It’s just...I don’t know.” Yoshiro admitted, shrugging her shoulders as they continued to sway back and forth. “People don’t seem to care about that side of things. I mean, I get that there’s more to being a hero than fights and beating up villains - so much more.” She hastily added. “But if I can’t hold my own in a fight, everyone just ends up treating me like some kind of a liability.”

Realising what she was saying, Yoshiro felt a rush of colour flood her cheeks once again as she laughed at her own words. “God, I’m sorry. You’re probably here trying to dance and have a good time, and I’m here just venting about my own personal stuff.” She offered her partner an apologetic smile. “I totally get it if you’d rather find another dance partner. I kind of feel bad hogging you all to myself, to be honest.”

Icarus felt conflicted when he noticed that his dance partner continued to act somewhat despondent, in words if not in expression, despite his attempts at making her feel more confident as a heroine. On one hand, he didn’t want his words of encouragement to be mistaken for something else - and the girl had already made it clear that she had a high opinion on him, despite just meeting him - but on the other it also felt wrong to simply leave the topic at that and move on, especially since she seemed fixated on what the public thought of her.

Or at least, that’s what he thought, but her words soon made him believe that the issue was, at least in part, also related to her standing on the team. He wasn’t privy to the inner workings of the Young Bloods, of course, as he only knew a handful of their members, and was close with less than that number, so, with some disappointment, he realized there was little he could say to help with that at the moment.

The girl’s sudden nervous laughter took the young man by surprise, however, nearly causing him to misstep, though his muscle memory thankfully kicked in to avert a mishap. “Oh, no, don’t worry about it, it doesn’t bother me.” He said, flashing Yoshiro a reassuring smile. "If anything, I feel more comfortable talking about you. I’m pretty sure most other partners I could find here would be all over me and that… well, that’d be uncomfortable.” He chuckled, immediately hoping that the comment didn’t come across as a boast.

“Though, it’s fine with me if you want to talk about something else. Talking about work can get tiring at times, huh?” He offered, trying to think of another, hopefully more casual topic they could find some common ground in. “What about, ah, school? Are you a Thomsen High student as well?” He asked after a moment. “I had to change schools after joining the Stars and moving away, but I actually know some of your teammates from there.”

Yoshiro’s eyes widened at the question. “No way, you’re joking?” She managed, clearly taken aback at the revelation that Surge was yet another one of her classmates who had chosen to don a mask. “You went to Thomsen High, too?” She couldn’t help but try and think back to whether she’d heard of anyone suddenly disappearing in the middle of the year, leaving classes unannounced, but she swiftly stopped that train of thought. If Surge wanted her to figure out his identity, then he’d just tell her. “That’s crazy.” She managed eventually, before offering him an amused smile. “So we could totally know each other out in the real world, and just not realise it?” Yoshiro shook her head. “Wow, I never realised how surreal all this hero stuff would feel.”

Pausing, she realised that Surge had deliberately been avoiding turning the conversation towards himself, but she couldn’t deny that she had some curiosity about the mysterious hero. “But in that case, why’d you move to join the Stars? If you know some of the others, I bet you could’ve easily joined the Young Bloods if you wanted.”

Icarus chuckled at the suggestion, not seeming to mind having to talk about himself. “Believe me, you aren’t the only one who has brought that up. But I don’t think that would’ve been the best thing for me.” He stated. “For one, if your leader even accepted me it would’ve been begrudgingly, the guy’s hated me since the first time he saw me. And after what happened at the end of the Warwolf occupation… I really didn’t feel like I belonged there. Sure I had friends in the team, but I felt like I’d just end up causing trouble.”

A brief moment of silence followed as he continued dancing with Yoshiro, though it wasn’t an awkward silence, at least for him - he felt remarkably at ease. “The only reason I ended up becoming a Star is because I went to Naja for help, and after I told her how I felt about joining the team, she instead got in contact with Armorer, who decided I deserved getting a second chance even though I kicked his ass.” He joked with a grin on his face.

“And, honestly? It’s probably for the best that I had to move to LA. I don’t think I could’ve stayed out of trouble if I stayed at Thomsen High. Too many wannabes who like to bully others. I got into way too many fights last year because of them.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Yoshiro replied, her smile wavering slightly as a look of concern passed over her features. She remembered the aftermath of Mark and Ava’s rampage through the school earlier, and couldn’t help but understand where Surge was coming from. Even though she knew that the kids the pair had beaten up hadn’t been saints themselves, that still didn’t excuse their actions. Not in the slightest. “But I suppose that’s the kind of place that convinces people to be heroes, huh? Takes someone who’s seen some of the problems in the world to be willing to risk their lives in order to improve things.”

Thinking about shifting the topic to something a bit more lighthearted, the girl continued. “But what’s it like living in Los Angeles? I’ve only ever visited a few times with my parents, but it’s always seemed to be so glitzy - especially near where the Stars are.” A smirk inched onto Yoshi’s features as she remembered her family vacations. “I actually begged my parents to get us onto one of those tourist-y tours that go through the team’s museum. I couldn’t tell you how excited I was. I thought that I might run into Armorer or Star Queen or someone famous while I was there.” A slight chuckle escaped from her lips as she shook her head at the memory. “It was pretty silly now that I look back on it.”

The blond boy let out a chuckle to echo Yoshiro’s. “I don’t think it’s silly you were hoping for something like that. It was clearly a special occasion for you and who doesn’t want a miracle to happen on a special occasion?” He said reassuringly. “Besides, I may not view those specific persons the same way you do, but I know what it’s like to admire someone. When I was a little kid, I was infatuated with Cyclone. I remember I would constantly tell my parents about the Hero Princess and her latest exploits, stuff like that.” He related, smiling fondly at the memories of what he regarded as a better time. “That was before I moved here though, and she wasn’t much like American heroes.” He added after a moment, his smile fading slightly.

“Uh, but you asked about life in Los Angeles, right? Well, the view from the Stars’ skyscraper is breathtaking, and the facilities are really nice, but I’m not sure what else I could tell you. Whenever I’m not at school, training or working, I usually just stay home. I’ve lived in San Diego ever since I moved to America and I still haven’t gotten used to LA, so I don’t know a lot of people to go out with over there.” He explained. “Boring, I know, but I think my job provides excitement enough.” He added with a smirk on his face. “Not to mention I’m often forced to attend events like these, so I appreciate moments of peace and calm.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it was silly in a bad way!” Yoshiro hastily added, a hint of colour returning to her cheeks as she realised how she must have been coming across. Smiling sheepishly, she continued. “It’s just that it’s weird how differently actually being a hero is compared to what I thought it was like as a kid. I always thought that things were kind of - I don’t know - simple, for heroes? Like they always seemed to know exactly what to do, no matter what. But now that I know some of them, I’m realising that they’re often making things up as they go as much as the rest of us.”

As Surge switched to answering her question about Los Angeles, Yoshiro imagined what it must have been like living in the Stars’ headquarters. Sure, Wonder Tower was incredible, but the towering skyscraper in Los Angeles was on an entirely different level. When the boy jokingly referred to his day-to-day life as being boring, Yoshiro couldn’t help but chuckle as she shook her head. “Wow, the great Surge is secretly a couch potato in his free time? I can see the two-page tabloid spread now.”

Continuing to smile, she cast an idle glance around at the extravagance around them. “Though I don’t know how you could complain about having to come to things like this. I’ve not been to anything like it before. Makes me feel like I’ve stepped into a movie.” She admitted. “It makes me wonder though if this is really the best way for us to help others. Like, as much as I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying myself, it feels messed up that we have to prance around looking for ‘sponsors’. I know that we need the money to do our jobs, but…” Yoshiro nodded towards their surroundings as they continued to sway in time with the music. “...do we really need this much money? What if we were holding fundraisers for schools or hospitals, instead of trying to get a grant for a new team jet or fancy gadget?”

“See, that’s exactly the problem. Helping out heroes who are just starting out can be a good thing, but there comes a point when rich people with more money than they know what to do with keep throwing it at established heroes who don’t need it for status. And those heroes sometimes worry more about fame and riches than about helping the people they vowed to protect, and…”

Icarus cut himself short before his rant went on for too long. The topic struck a little close to home and his views about some of the top members of the NASL, his own captain included, and while he was happy enough to find someone who seemed to share some of his views at least on the surface, he did not want his mounting anger to drive her away or frighten her. Thus, the blond boy took a deep breath and then shook his head.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away there.” He apologized, offering the girl a sheepish smile. “But yes, I completely agree, there are much better uses for all this money than new planes or fancy tools. Good luck convincing them of that, though.” He nodded in the direction of all the rich couples dancing away their worries all around them in the ballroom.

“As for complaining about being here, well, I’ve never been a fan of fancy black tie parties like this, to tell you the truth. Too much flamboyance for me.” The young hero stated. Then, suddenly, he led the girl into a twirl again before smiling at her. ”But occasionally you can find an interesting dance partner.”

A look of surprise flashed across Yoshiro’s face as Surge reacted with an immediate passion. She’d accidentally stumbled on a topic that seemed to be close to his heart, and she felt an uneasy feeling in her chest as she realised that he shared some of her concerns. Sure, now that she’d been seeing the world of heroes from within, she’d been thinking more and more about where its priorities seemed to lie, but she’d assumed that she’d just been missing the picture. To see a more established and well-known hero like Surge to share her initial concerns made her wonder how far off the mark she really was. However, her distracted thoughts were pulled straight back to the present as the boy tried to shift the conversation to a different topic.

Led through a twirl by the other hero, Yoshiro couldn’t hide the sheepish grin that spread across her features as he casually offered her a smile. “Oh...I - uh - thanks.” She mumbled through her words, colour flushing her cheeks at the unexpected compliment. Interesting? What does he mean by that? “You’re pretty interesting yourself, Surge.” Recollecting herself, she offered the hero a smirk. “I’m glad it turns out that you’re not just some stuck up celebrity.”

Glancing around at the pairs moving on the dance floor around them, Yoshiro paused for a moment before continuing. “Hey, it’s kind of hard to dance and talk like this. How’d you feel about grabbing something to eat? In return, I’ll give you twenty questions to try and figure out whose homeroom I’m in.”

Nodding, the blond boy took his hand off Yoshiro’s hip, and took a moment to separate his other hand from hers. “That sounds fun so, sure. Let’s go."

[Aidannadia]

...And with that, he walked away from the table and looked for a spot to clear his mind.

Aleta, having her forced dance partner ripped from her clutches, decided instead to hang around the punch bowl. Luckily, Yoshi had been practically pushed into Icarus by Alexis, so her issue with the great and mighty Surge had cleared itself up. She stood there, brooding for a moment over her situation. While she didn't like how things had ended with Icarus, she also didn't like the prospect of causing a scene in such a place that was swarming with media left and right..... Though now that she thought about it, it would increase her standing to the public, whether or not it ended badly; The Stars had a rabid fanbase and Surge was livening up to his namesake in public opinion polls. Even a photo together could do wonders for the brand, and though it would also remind people of their past collaboration as vigilantes... It was a tricky calculation to make for sure, but the old Pitch brand wasn't exactly a big issue for most individuals. As much as public relations was a game of small numbers, bigger small numbers would notice her if they got a picture together.

Plus, it wouldn't be awful to catch up with him after all.

As she noticed the vigilante approach the YBs table once more to speak with Ant-lad and the Magnificent Mullet, worked up the nerve to go over to him, but just as she was standing up, Icarus stood abruptly and absconded from the table, leaving a frustrated Mike in his wake. Smooth move, mullethead.... She rolled her eyes and glided her way through and around a crowd of people to cut off the blond hero, before she came to meet him face to face. There was a moment of silence exchanged between them, but Aleta could hardly read his expression.

"Hey." She said, breaking the silence as the words she'd been planning to say immediately left her mind.

[Auropa]

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

Mike Mathews
The Gala

’You’d be surprised.’ Mike thought half-jokingly at first as he listened to Mizu’s points about his 'less than polite style' of advice.
‘But then again, I haven’t really been having much luck getting people to listen so far… And I probably wouldn’t handle my own style the best way either.’ he ended up admitting to himself.

It wouldn't have been too difficult for him to say that he wasn’t a fan of the harsh, hard liner approach to leadership. If he was being completely honest, he didn’t even understand how it was supposed to work, so far all making a fuss and calling people out had done was turn half the team against him and distance himself from the rest. The problem was that despite however much he hated to admit it, he knew it was what his uncle would do and while he still thought of him as just about the worst example of a living person in close to every scenario possible, people followed him without question and he always got results. But that didn't mean it was the only way to do things. After all, he was just trying to keep people safe, lord knows he didn't want to be a leader after his time running a squad and for sure there were other ways to get his points across without all the confrontation, it was just a matter of figuring out how. Despite everything though, some part of him still hoped he was getting closer.

As Mizu continued however, Mike couldn’t help but notice her expression darken as she turned to the sky and began to talk a bit about herself. She explained how she was inspired by comics and stories of all things and how it eventually made her chose to come down to earth to seek out adventure through heroics. What he couldn’t understand though, was how she seemed to look down on herself because of it.

“Mizu, you chose to leave your home, put yourself in danger and protect people just because you wanted to. I don’t know if that’s the smartest thing you could’ve done, but it couldn’t be further away from being selfish. I can’t really speak for everyone out there, but I always figured a hero was just meant to be someone willing and able to do some good. Whether you’re doing it for yourself, for others or anything really, so long as you’re doing your best and helping those you can, then I figure the why doesn’t really matter so much.” He added as he moved beside Mizu and followed her gaze to the moon.

“I know it doesn’t mean much coming from the grump of the team, but you’re one of the most heroic people I know, and I really hope you can see why... I’m not much of a fan for the whole NASL thing but, if it helped bring you here, well maybe it’s not all bad. Might even try watching it next time.” Mike added with a shrug and a small blush as his mind very slowly began to catch up and process what he was saying.

[Absolon-7]

The Young Bloods’ Last Laugh!
October 9th

---

After some calls and bribes a trio of Young Bloods had arrived at the seemingly abandoned factory where the desired part for Casimir’s new motorcycle was apparently located. The giant rectangular building had a large sign on the front wall with the same slogan as their office building in San Diego that being Meier Industries: A Step to Beyond the Future but no lights or sounds could be heard from inside. An even larger gate surrounded the factory’s perimeter and inside there were a random assortment of smaller buildings. In full costume Casimir stood with his arms on his hips at the gate entrance as a wild gust of wind dramatically buffeted his red scarf from side to side and the sun’s rays shined off his helmet a bit too much.

“It’s here,” he said dramatically, “I can feel it.”

“Says here in the manual that the Star Chip should be inside locked in some safe box in the top office,” said Viviana also in costume but also with a straw hat on, “So I don’t think you’re feeling anything. Unless it's the heat. Oh I knew I should’ve brought some water for us. Now we’re gonna dehydrate!”

“Fine,” grumbled Casimir, crossing his arms, “Well I know this was some robot manufacturing company that went under. But there’s gotta be someone in there I can yell at for this dumb device.”

A faint clatter of metal on pavement could be heard in the distance but the source of it plus the actual entrance was obscured by large crates. Casimir commandeered a nearby horsefly to zoom over to investigate and there appeared to be a tripod robot turret guarding the entrance. There was a fully functional robot right there in a factory that was supposed to be abandoned. This defunct robotics company was just pissing him off more and more every time he got exposed to it. Casimir stood straight by the gate rubbing the temples of his helmet in frustration before he turned to the two girls.

“So big news. Took a look with a horsefly….There’s a goddamn robot turret guard thing blocking the front door,” said Casimir in frustration, “My plan is to jump on top of those crates and smash it from above. It’ll never see us coming.”

“Come on, beetle boy, don’t get worked up so early. Girls don’t like that you know?” Alexis quipped as she walked up behind her teammates, standing proud while fully decked out in her mission gear. “Let’s try out the Makeshift method first, it’s less likely to get us shot.”

Without missing a beat, the petite blonde snapped her fingers and, right on cue, three of the pink robotic fairies that were a common sight on her laboratory flew up to her from some unseen crevice and then continued on to the facility, preparing the tools they normally used to work on their mistress’ projects and flying high as to avoid detection. Alexis hummed a catchy tune while waiting patiently, and sure enough, after a minute or two, the unmistakable sound of something heavy falling apart could be heard nearby. Grinning, the girl looked at Casimir again.

“See? Got him, and we didn’t even have to risk being seen.”

“Well this works too,” grumbled Casimir who gave a timely sigh.

The trio would walk around the crates blocking the view to the entrance and in the space between the crates and the buildings they met the results of the fairies work or at least the heap that remained of it. The door to the factory itself however was bolted shut but Casimir eagerly took the chance to rip them off and throw them away like a limp bandaid. The inside of the abandoned factory was pitch black save the columns of light that came in from the dust caked windows that lined its length. Vague shapes and silhouettes could be seen hinting at abandoned machines and hardware everywhere before them but the grand of light from the now missing doors showed a flight of stairs leading to upper floors.

“Woooooow. Anybody in there...there...there,” said Viviana faking an echo as she peeked inside.

Casimir stepped inside to observe the state of the factory and the lack of light was quite frustrating. He regretted not bringing more of his swarm as he only saw fit to bring the fastest fliers so creating a mental map of the place would be difficult. His best hopes lay on the directions in the instruction manual being at least somewhat helpful. He recalled it saying that the Star Chip could be requested from a manager of an upper division. Whatever that meant he guessed it was in some bigwig’s safe somewhere.

“From what the manual said it needs to be in some room with a safe. And with my flies and the fairies helping covering ground should be snap,” said Casimir snapping his finger once for emphasis, “All in a good day’s work.”

“That mean robot in front looked pretty suspicious tho,” commented Viviana hoping besides him, “Unless somebody turned it on for fun but I haven’t seen any corpse of that unlucky fellow.”

“Maybe it was supposed to guard this place before it went bankrupt,” shrugged Casimir, “Doesn’t look like anything else is moving in this dump.”

“Nothing except us at least.” Alexis commented as she too looked around the building, the night vision setting on her visor allowing her to see her surroundings more clearly, though in truth there was very little to be seen. She did, however, spot a light switch on a wall by the entrance and walked over to pull it, to no avail. “Hmm…”

As soon as she had walked inside, the genius girl had sent her fairies to do some reconnaissance, and as luck would have it, they spotted an old fuse box hidden away nearby.

“Let’s see if we can fix it…” Alexis said while seemingly standing still next to the switch. In the meantime however, by the order of their mistress, the fairies went to work fixing the fuse box. After a minute or two, the blonde girl pulled the switch down again, and this time the bright lights on the ceiling lit up, flooding the warehouse.


“Ow, fuck!” The girl cried out, quickly covering her eyes. She’d forgotten to turn off the night vision. “Ugh… you guys see anything?”

“Oh wow look at all this junk!” beamed Viviana as she squished her cheeks in amazement, “It’s robot emporium galore!”

Before the trio, and taking up a majority of the factory, was a sprawled mess of assembly lines, crates, and the unfinished husks of robots that were never assembled. The view to the ceiling was almost uninterrupted save for a spider web of catwalks that connected different points on the second floor. The factory, for the moment, was theirs for the taking. Casimir pulled out the manual from where it was rolled up on his belt and with the new lights he skimmed it over.

“Let’s check the manager’s office first. Good place as any to start,” said Casimir listlessly flipping through pages.

“Hey, that camera thing has been looking at us funny since the lights turned,” said Viviana pointing at a large metal cylinder sticking up from the ground with an enormous camera lens on top.

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!” it mechanically screeched as its cylindrical body popped itself open to reveal another tripod robot. As its eye began glowing a deep red, the robot lighted up laser target dots at each of their foreheads.

“That is not a good robot. Repeat not a good robot!” shouted Viviana as she backed away from it.

As it was charging up its attack Casimir rushed forward and scooped up Viviana to throw her into the air. The rubber girl extended her arms all the way up to grasp onto a catwalk’s railing. While she hoisted herself up Casimir kicked a loose chunk of debris right towards but right before it hit an plasma blast obliterated it.

“EXTERMINATE!”

“What the hell did this company do with robots!” shouted Casimir as he kicked up a loose cement tile to take a plasma bolt for him.

Meanwhile, Alexis had taken off with her rocket boots as soon as her sight recovered, frowning at the fact that the robot had managed to hit her with a plasma blast before that, draining part of her shield. “Don’t ask me, you’re the one who’s dealt with this company before!” The blonde girl shouted back. For the time being, the robot seemed preoccupied with Casimir, so before it had a chance to set its sights back on her, she flew through the air and positioned herself behind the tripod robot, before spinning in the air and kicking it, causing it to fall over.

“How’d you like that, huh, tin can?”

Instead of a response the robot squealed its high pitch motors as its legs flailed wildly like an upturned bug. Casimir retaliated by also leaping into the air and landing next to it only to grab onto one of the white plates that extended from its body to rip it off. He spun it in the air to catch with his other hand before he plunged it downwards like a knife at its exposed entrails. The tripod robot screeched at the attack before the red light in its camera eye waned to nothing.

Casimir let go of the plate and slumped forward while he sighed, “Now that our warm welcome’s over I’m gonna try looking at places where my horse flies scouted. I think there’s some fancy room upstairs.”

“Don’t forget meeeeee!” beamed Viviana as she plopped down from her hanging spot next to the robot before giving it a good kick to the side.

“Kick a man while he’s down? Damn, Vivi,” laughed Casimir before he dramatically pointed his hand towards the stairs, “Our next stop is to the top!”

The trio’s next stop would be a formerly luxurious but obviously abandoned office on the second floor. A thin blanket of dirt covered everything and created a low lying cloud when disturbed by their entrance. Viviana grimaced at the sight and chose to just tiptoe around the room looking behind furniture. Casimir stood with his arms crossed as the horseflies zoomed around the room for any potential safes. Soon enough they found a large black door behind a worn out bookshelf. Casimir eagerly yanked it downwards to reveal a shiny black metal door with some form of electronic lock in the center.

“Ha, they think something like this can keep me away!” said Casimir stretching out his arms as he prepared a lightning fast blow at the door which proved to be futile as there was only a fist shaped dent in the dense metal, “Well shit.”

Clap. Clap. Clap. “You know ladybug, if you keep that up you’ll end up breaking the star chip before you break through the safe. Don’t you ever stop to think things through?” Alexis quipped as she walked up to the metallic door and raised a hand to her chin as if in deep thought.

“Okay, I think I got this.” She stated, raising her right index finger, activating a small plasma torch that she used to try and burn a hole through the safe. “This is going to take a while.” She told the others.

“Not like we got anything going on,” commented Viviana patting Casimir on the shoulder as he steamed to himself cross armed, “I spy with my little eye something yellow.”

“A lightbulb?” asked Casimir, flicking his helmet’s antenna.

“Correcto-bingo!,” cheered Viviana but the room soon returned to silence for some time.

“So I’m slowly checking out all the other rooms. Doesn’ look like there’s much else besides lots of crates filled with parts and all those scrapped robots down below. Office rooms just have rotten papers in them,” said Casimir sitting on the room’s desk.

“Ew you’re gonna get your butt all dusty,” grimaced Viviana trying to pull him away by the scarf, “Oh are there any toy sized robots? I’d love one for the novelty! But the rest can go to Lexi. All that scrap would be great for the lab!”

“Yeah if we could grab all of that dirty ol’ scrap metal for the lab I’d have a lot of materials to use on different projects. I could even make you guys something as a reward if you want.” Alexis chimed in while continuing to work her magic on the black safe. Eventually the thin line she had been melting through the metal made a full circle, and the young inventor quickly hopped back before using her gauntlet’s traction module to pull the metal circle away and let it drop harmlessly on the floor - she didn’t want it to fall in and crush the chip, after all.

Speaking of the chip, as Alexis approached the now open safe, all she saw was a tiny golden disc with a stylized star stamped on it. Surprised, she raised an eyebrow at it. “Oh wow, that’s different than I thought… and doesn’t really look like a chip at all.” She said, before shrugging.

“Oh well, whatever, we got it. Catch, beetle boy.” She said before casually throwing the Star Chip at Casimir and walking towards the door of the office. Just before she reached it, however, there was a loud rumbling that shook the entire facility and took her completely by surprise.

“Uh oh.”

Casimir’s eyes flashed to a fly he kept below to check what was happening, “Oh fuck! Oh fuck no!”

The building trembled again before the room’s floor was ripped up beneath the trio like a peeled off cross. The whirling sound of cables retracting back to their source was mixed into the chaos the teens fell downwards onto the lower floor. Casimir spun downwards and landed on his feet while Viviana fell behind him and bounced upwards towards him. She ended up tackling his back forcing both to fall down a pile of rubble. A giant construction robot stood before them creating a menacing mechanical hum from its internal processes. It raised its mighty fist and slammed it down at the two but the mechanical heap was stopped in its tracks with the force of its punch blasting air around its target.

Casimir had rolled up to his feet and was bracing the fist with both arms outstretched to meet it. The machine raised its fist up to back away leaving Casimir to fall flat on his but after stumbling back. The machine began moving forward faster towards the heap of debris where they stood and it slammed its fist down at them. Fortunately, both of them dodged in opposite directions separating themselves. Meanwhile, the robot was struggling to get out of the ground as it had punched hard enough to get stuck.

“Whew, that was close. Good thing I can fly.” Alexis quipped as she hovered above the big bad robot, her three fairies floating close by. Observing the robot from behind, she noticed a few loose plates that seemed to protect some wiring on its back. Grinning, the girl put a hand to her ear. “Hey, I think I found its weak spot, but I’m gonna need you to keep it distracted, alright Cas? Just… you know, do your thing. It’ll probably target whatever’s loudest and you’re obnoxious enough.” She remarked over the comms.

With everything said, she swooped down towards the large construction automaton while her fairy helpers flew off to hide in safe locations. Using her rocket boots, she hurtled straight towards the loose plates on its back before suddenly turning in mid-air and delivering a powerful rocket kick to it. It didn’t seem to be quite enough to knock it off, however, and worse yet, she had seized the attention of the robot, whose arm lumbered towards her with surprising speed, sending her flying off and causing her to crash into a nearby wall.

“Ouch.” The blonde girl groaned. “Now, ant boy!”

“GAAAAAAAH!,” shouted Casimir as he leaped all the way back to the robot to slam into the giant robot’s hand with both boots.

He immediately bounced off as the robot retracted its giant metal fist to shield it from further damage. The machine then began screeching its baritone motor as it wrenched its other arm from where it had been stuck. A shower of concrete and debris sprayed all over the vast floor as it regained its footing. It lumbered forward to strike Casimir but he dodged each attack as smoothly as a water strider on a pond. Suddenly the row of lights on top of its mass brightly shined like a row of miniature suns. The intense beams were enough to stun Casimir long enough for the giant machine to swat him away like a pesky gnat.

“Rifle Beam!,” shouted Viviana, who had jumped in front of the robot, as a high powered coiled arm smacked right in the chest which didn’t do much, “Oh…”

The robot smashed its fist at Viviana, squashing her against the floor but the elastic girl sprung back up shaking her head. The sound of a barrel sized piece of concrete debris shattering onto the robot’s back filled the air Casimir yelled after throwing another chunk. The machine began running back to Casimir but a long stretch of arm shot out from the side by its knee's level. The arm coiled around a support pillar and held firm as the machine tripped over the obstacle and in a spectacular crash hit the ground. The arm retracted back to a scowling Viviana who blew a mocking raspberry at the machine.

“That’s what you get for being a mean tin can,” she called out.

The machine began getting up on one knee first and used one hand to grasp onto the top of a large conveyor system. Casimir rushed forward and then leaped into the air to flick both wrists to ensnare the robot’s hand in webbing. Upon landing in front of the robot it tried to punch him with its free arm but Casimir bobbed under it to deliver a mighty uppercut that severed one of its two fingers.

“Come on you throw away bucket of bolts, I’ve seen minivans be worse trouble then you!,” he shouted. Casimir then hooked his left arm around the remaining finger and used his other hand to shoot webbing at the floor to anchor himself, “We got it back under control! Do the thing again!”

“You got it!” Alexis replied as she flew out of the shadows again, hovering above the robot for a moment before diving towards it and delivering another rocket kick, then a third for good measure. Sure enough, this time it seemed like she had done enough damage to knock the protective plates loose, causing one of them to fall to the ground and clatter loudly for a moment.

Well aware that the robot wasn’t yet defeated and could retaliate at any moment, the genius girl knew that she had to act now. She would have preferred to deactivate or dismantle the machine with some semblance of care, but the situation didn’t allow for it, so after spending a moment to consider what course of action was best, she raised both of her gauntlets and fired several shock darts into the exposed wiring and circuitry. It seemed to do the trick, as after convulsing for a few moments, the robot fell to the ground, inert.

“Huh.” The girl looked at her hand. “That was pretty cool. Maybe I should make these directly shock people when I touch them. Wouldn’t have to keep making ammo that way.” She mused, before flying down to where Viviana and Casimir were standing.

“Alright, robot’s down and I gave you the Star Chip, which means we got everything we wanted from this place.” She said, before glancing at Casimir. “You did catch it, right?”

“Oh you better Casi! I didn’t get squashed like a tomato for nothing,” said Viviana poking at his helmet’s cheek, “Well not like it did anything but scuff my costume but you know.”
“Never fear! I have it right here! Mission accomplished guys!” proudly proclaimed Casimir holding the star all the way up in the air, “Let’s see what this baby can do to my bike!”

As Kabuto held up the Star Chip, however, a meowing cat could be heard behind the Young Bloods. A second after that, a brown tabby cat jumped over the group, snatching Casimir’s sought-after treasure with its mouth and then running off towards the entrance, where two figures were waiting. The first was a voluptuous brunette with a witch-themed costume that would’ve been right at home in a Halloween party, while the other was a girl wearing ripped jeans and a black hoodie that was pulled up, allowing only a few loose strands of white hair to be seen.

The cat ran up to the first woman and then jumped towards her, vanishing in a puff of brightly colored smoke as it touched her. When the smoke dissipated, she was holding the Star Chip.

“Thank you for retrieving the Star Chip for us, Young Bloods. We appreciate it very much!” The brunette purred, winking at Casimir before turning around and making a run for it, her hooded associate quickly following suit.

“Hey, no way! Give that back!” Alexis shouted at them, taking off to chase after them with the aid of her rocket boots. Casimir and Viviana moved to follow her, but before they were able to do so, the ceiling shattered with a loud crash, and another newcomer landed in front of them, this one wearing a skintight suit of red and white spandex, as well as a helmet with a glowing green visor.

The man immediately struck a dramatic pose, puffing out his chest and pointing at the couple.

“Not one step more, heroes, or you will face the wrath of Red Samson!”