Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars entered the lobby with the rest of the team who immediately started to engage the soldiers present. Mars wasn't in the best position to fight without Rocket so he decided to look around for different ways he could help. It seemed like the civilians had largely been cleared out already so fortunately they didn't need to worry about hostages. However he noticed a desk clerk knocked unconscious, and decided it would be smart to get him out of danger out of fear of a stray bullet. Mars approached the desk and started to move the unconscious man but he was a bit heavier than Mars could handle easily and so Mars pressed a few buttons on his watched and produced a small anti gravity field that lowered the weight of the man significantly. Mars then managed to walk him out of the building without too much difficulty before returning back into the building. Once there, he saw another soldier who had yet to engage his friends and so Mars did his best to sneak up on the man before taking a grenade out of his pocket and tossing it at the man's feet. It exploded and produced a strange pink and yellow foam like substance that quickly covered the distressed soldier before it hardened and completely immobilized the man.

"Well, those work. Good to know."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 31st

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Noticing Ash's defiant words and behavior, Astrid couldn't hold back a giggle. The sight of her moth friend crossing her arms and asserting the superiority of her costume was nothing if not endearing. "Yeah, I've got to admit it, your ghastly visage is a lot scarier than my dress, mon amie." She conceded, not wanting to rain on her parade. This was Ash's first Halloween, and the mission was to have a good time together. Besides, strictly speaking she wasn't sure she could claim that her attire was any scarier than Ash's, despite the clear relation to a classical horror theme - though she didn't mind that too much. She was still the best looking girl in her group of misfits anyway, what with her other competition being a strawberry and someone who looked like a child.

"There's definitely scarier things than a strawberry at the costume store, though, and I can pay for it too if you want to split the bill, Mika." She commented after hearing out the shorter girl's offer to Ava. "Assuming we want to pay for it at all." She added after leaning closer to Mika, so that the other girls wouldn't hear. She doubted they'd be too stuck up for a little harmless Halloween fun, but they were heroes and all, so who knew? Although with all the underage drinking currently going on, it wasn't like they could claim the moral high ground here. Speaking of which...

"May I?" She said, extending her hand towards the bottle of wine Ash was cradling in her hands to take another long gulp. The sooner this thing got her into a cheerful mood, the better. All the while, Mika was showing off pictures and explaining her real plans for their Halloween night. While she had to admire the girl's dedication, she couldn't help but feel amused by her activity of choice. Haunted houses? Really? Someone loves corny teen movies.

"I call shotgun." Astrid said quickly before walking towards the car and climbing into the shotgun seat, struggling a little due to her flowing skirt. Once inside, she sighed and drank from the bottle yet again. "We'll need to grab another one of these before the night is over. Do you have a photo of your stash or something? I've got an ID if not." She spoke. "Anyways, I vote for the lighthouse. With all the rumors about the moaning heard at night, maybe we'll run into an unsuspecting couple going at it, non?" She added afterwards, lightly nudging Mika's side with her elbow.

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November 19th

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As she completed the teleportation spell, Kirisvala found herself down in the lobby by the entrance to the stairs. Immediately after the transition occurred, Icarus shot forward like a lightning bolt, crashing into an unsuspecting soldier that immediately flew across the room from the impact, knocked out of the fight in an instant. Meanwhile, Shi quickly took charge and shouted at a part of the group to follow her before beginning to head up the stairs in as flashy a fashion as possible. The alien girl couldn't help but admire both for their courage, quick thinking and resolve. She wanted to join them, and seeing as the situation seemed under control in the lobby proper, she was about to turn around and follow Shi up the stairs. However, one look at the rifles these soldiers wielded made her realize that in her rush to get everyone downstairs, she'd forgotten something important.

I don't have time to create it from scratch now! The girl thought, her mind racing for options when her eyes fell upon the two silvery crystal rings still on her index finger - she had made three of each just in case, and she had already used one of these to block the hallway just moments earlier.

Perhaps it was time to use another one.

Gingerly taking it off her finger, she lightly tossed the ring up and then caught it with enough force to crush it. The magical song encased within flowed out and swiftly took the shape of Kirisvala's crystal armor, changing her visage into that of the courageous Crystal Heart. For good measure, the alien heroine took the rest of the rings off her fingers and instead placed them on the newest addition to her armor's design, a pair of bracelets with small curved hooks to secure the rings in place. It wouldn't do if she had to clench her claw to punch someone and accidentally released the magic inside the rings all at once.

The sound of gunfire reminded her of the dire situation they were in, so with that done she chased after Shi and Wyatt. The former had already engaged the enemy while the latter was rushing to catch up, and she didn't want to fall too far behind, so instead of simply running up the stairs, the pink-haired girl used her strength and her acrobatic prowess to swiftly climb up, vaulting over railing and jumping from one end to another until she was just one loop below where the action was taking place. Taking a moment to plan out her next move, she positioned herself roughly on the soldiers' flank and then used the railing to vault herself upwards yet again. The soldiers barely had a chance to react when she pulled one of them towards her.

"Bael, catch!" She shouted before twisting her body in mid air to throw the hapless soldier at her teammate. As she fell, her tail caught onto the railing and she jumped back into the stairway, making sure to move into a covered area in case the remaining soldier was gunning for her.

[Galnius]

Angelica Dalin, October 26th, Library

Whitney somehow came to in almost full cognition, her eyes somehow more alert than Angelica remembered seeing them since they were both kicked out of the infirmary. Sadly, Angelica's was falling in the opposite direction. They were open, but they stared off at a far off nothingness in the direction of the floor. Her chest rose and fell in sharp breaths as she struggled to contain herself.

"I can't sleep Whitney. I just-I can't." Angelica paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath. She wanted to get up, to open a window, but she couldn't find the strength to get up. Instead, she just gripped her skirt right at the bend of her knee, her fingers pressing the cloth into her legs and wrinkling them.

"Have you- ......Have you ever seen someone die? I can't get the sight out of my head. The light leaving their eyes, staring up at you, begging for life, begging for you to save them, begging for one more chance. And it just... That look stays there. You can close their eyes, but they stay there." Angelica's grip grew tighter somehow, and heat slowly emanated from her into the room. Her breathing became sharper, and she hoped for air, any air, but she couldn't get up.

"Mars. Just...I can't help but see him like that. Getting him out of Rocket and just....or Red. He still looks bad. He could've easily...Or Wendy. If they had wanted to kill any of them, could we stop them? I just... Everytime I close my eyes. I can't sleep."

Angelica's mouth felt dry. She wasn't sure when it happened, but she felt the need to try and swallow to bring some semblance of moisture back. Her heart felt like it was trying to break out of her chest, and hot tears fell down her face as she felt her lips go numb. Without any control, her fingers sparked, burning tiny holes through her skirt and marking her skin. Everything went numb. She had to get up. She needed to. She couldn't let Whitney see her like this. Her legs or hands wouldn't move when she commanded them too. She was stuck, stuck with the images she fought so hard to avoid, trying to burn their way into her mind once more.

[The Republic of Atria]

Kiris

Once he made sure the first one was successfully restrained he turned to head back up the stairs to help finish off the other one when he heard something rushing up the stairs. He glanced over the edge just in time to see Kiris shoot by with her rapid ascension. A bit of relief washed over him when he was sure it wasn't more soldiers. She had already made it up where the remaining soldier was at and wasted no time in taking him out. What he didn't expect however, was her to yell at him and throw the guy towards him.

He stuck his hands out as the poor soldier flew and landed in his arms. His life was probably flashing before his eyes in the brief moments where he was over the middle of the stairway. The solider tried to scramble out of Bael's grip, but was lifted off his feet by the back of his armor. An elbow struck Bael's throat and chest, but the soldier hissed in pain while Bael stood awkwardly. "Again, I'm really sorry about this, but we were not expecting all this." He said, grabbing more railing from the stairs and tying the soldier up with it. "You both got lucky that I'm the one doing this, because the others would probably have done something worse. Just... Stay put, I guess. I really don't want to be responsible for an international incident." He said, backing away with his hands up.

He bolted up the stairs three at a time to catch up to Shi and Kiris. "They're both not going anywhere. I hope. Lets get to the roof before more show up."

[Finland SSR]

Shihong Smith

Wyatt

Mars

November 19th

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Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

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The soldiers who had been making their way down the stairs did so with their energy absorbing shields already outstretched - even they provided little help when Shi and Wyatt collectively struck, as much as they might have wanted to use the tight space to their advantage. The heroine swept one of their feet to send the man tumbling down, just in time for her ally to catch him and tie him to the metal railing with sheer physical force.

His comrade, startled by the sudden attack, hopped back, raising his shield and aiming his weapon at the two heroes behind the cover. Again, however, he was caught unaware - hopping up the stairwell, Kiris suddenly tackled him from the side and tossed him to the Dra'Quinni's custody.

Just in time, Colonel Aguinaldo finally stepped down, entering the fray - and without bothering with introductions, the superhero immediately went into action. A blob of flesh-like biomass formed in his right hand which he immediately tossed down the stairwell, past Wyatt, Kiris and Shi - there, as soon as it hit the ground, it popped into a clone of the Colonel. Said clone immediately formed an another ball of cloning biomass and tossed it down, at the base of the stairs, forming a second one.

This clone stepped into the lobby, the scene he had been coming to support finally unfolding before him.

In the time since he got here, two of the three soldiers assigned to him were already out of the fray - one was simply knocked out, whereas the other was imprisoned in something Aguinaldo could only describe as a giant pile of hardened chewing gum. The good news, however, was that the reason why he's here had the decency to show up as well - the third soldier was about to get blasted by her. Without any further wait, the Colonel built up new cloning biomass in both of his hands to start cloning himself.

The same went for the clone which now stood behind Wyatt, Kiris and Shi. The original at the top immediately lunged at Shi, aiming to tackle her to the ground with superhuman might, whereas the clone immediately began building up biomass and tossing it onto the steps. Hadrians could never be underestimated and the Dra'Quinni was clearly strong enough to bend steel, so the Colonel's strategy against them two was to continue cloning himself until he could overwhelm both with sheer numbers.

[Absolon-7]

DELETED

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Following her team leader back into the stairwell, Wendy stayed back near the lobby entrance. She might not have been prepared to go charging rifle wielding supersoldiers with only her staff, but dealing with whatever stragglers managed to survive the combined might of Shi, Wyatt, and Kiris was well within her wheelhouse.

At least it was until the guy leading the capture team revealed that he could clone himself. Throwing a lump of flesh like substance that rapidly turned into another copy of him. The copy immediately began creating more copies in an endless chain. It didn’t take a genius to realize that his plan was to simply drown her and her friends in bodies until they were burnt out and easy pickings.

Wendy lept into action as Casimir dragged three of the clones back into the lobby, using the opening to start fighting her way up the stairs. Catching the nearest one off guard, she drove a kick into its leg that would have shattered it in a normal human before driving it into the wall with her elbow and shoulder. Without a second thought, she placed the tip of her staff against its chest and hit the button that caused it to expand. The clone shuttered before reverting back into a meaty pulp.

“The clones aren’t human!” She called out to the others, retreating back down the stairs as some of the other clones turned their attention to her.

[Bentus]

The Amazing Ashen Moth!
Halloween

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Ash couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride as Astrid complimented her costume. Smiling sheepishly beneath her bedsheet, the mutant also couldn’t help but admire the other girl’s makeup and dress. She hadn’t said anything since it seemed to not really line up with what she thought a Halloween costume was intended to be, but her friend certainly looked pretty. The same could be said for Mika, with the cute dress that she’d chosen for the night being a far cry from the attire that Ash usually saw her wearing at school. She wondered if picking out something like that was allowed? If so, she had to admit that the excuse to wear something pretty like that was quite appealing. However, the group’s discussion about their costumes quickly came to a conclusion as Mika pulled out a series of images and spread them out onto the car’s hood.

Staying towards the back of the group, Ash silently handed the rapidly depleting bottle of wine to Astrid’s outstretched hand. Despite having expected to endure the nighttime chill, the mutant was surprised to find that she felt a ball of warmth growing out from her chest. It was a pleasant surprise for someone who detested the cold, but it still wasn’t enough to stop the slight chill that crept down Ash’s spine.

A haunted house? The thought immediately made her uneasy and Mika’s sinister and foreboding tone as she gave each of their options a brief description didn’t help. Moans? Mist? Spectral figures? The mutant shifted uneasily as a part of her quietly began to doubt how fun being scared on this ‘Halloween’ could really be. But as Astrid seemed to eagerly make a selection and hop into the car, Ash didn’t want her new friends to think that she was actually frightened of any of these places. She was a hero, after all! How bad could it be?

“I too will vote for the lighthouse.” Ash stated confidently, cracking Mika a grin as she made her way into the backseat. Following on from Astrid made it an easy choice, and having such a bright light nearby would almost certainly make it far less scary than Mika implied.

---

Yoshiro Namaka - Psyche
Wonder Tower, After the Young Blood’s Defeat

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As Voice withdrew herself from Yoshiro’s mind, the girl’s eyes flickered open to be greeted by the sight of Naja’s office. The older telepath was seated across from her, a concerned frown etched onto her silent features while the team’s mentor stood with her arms folded across her chest not far behind. Shifting her gaze between the two worried women, Yoshiro swallowed nervously as a sigh escaped from Voice’s lips.

I was thorough. She stated mentally. There’s no sign of the Scarab, it’s definitely gone.

All at once, Yoshiro felt a wave of relief wash over her. She hadn’t even realised that she’d been holding her breath, or that every muscle in her body had been tense with worry. But she stopped short of outright celebration when she saw that the look of concern was still etched into Voice’s features.

“Well, that’s good news, at least.” Naja said, masking her own relief at the news. “You did the right thing coming to us regardless, Yoshi.”

It’s also not that simple, Naja. Voice interrupted, turning in her chair to look towards her old friend, causing the reptilian woman to pause. Frowning, the telepath hesitated as she tried to think of the best way to describe what she’d seen. The Scarab is gone, but its memories aren’t.

Yoshiro reacted with surprise and confusion. “What?” She stated, looking between the two women. “What does that even mean? If it’s gone, then it’s gone, right?”

That’s what I thought at first, yes. But the Scarab wasn’t just occupying your mind, it was actively making changes to your mindscape while it was there. The cynical or sarcastic tone usually present in the telepath’s mental voice was absent as she was acutely aware of how the girl might interpret them. I’m sure you must have noticed them yourself: the pyramid complex that you mentioned you keep being drawn to? That’s a portion of your mind that still bears the imprint of her presence.

At first, Yoshiro didn’t know how to respond, a mixture of emotions filtering across her expression as she tried to process what Voice was saying. So the Scarab was gone, but it had fucked up her head, or something? Was that she what she was trying to say? Yoshiro felt a chill down her spine as she remembered walking through the pyramid with Red.

“I...Okay.” Yoshiro muttered, trying to find the right words. Eventually, she simply swallowed and hardened her expression. “I think I get it. What should I do?”

Voice stole a quick glance towards Naja, who offered Yoshiro what she hoped was a comforting smile. “You should get some rest. This must be a lot to take in all at once, and these last few days have already been a lot. For all of us.”
Yoshiro nodded, although she didn’t immediately get up from her seat. Instead she bit her lip as the unasked question weighing on her mind remained in the back of her throat. Knowing what was eating at the girl, Naja continued.

“If the Scarab’s gone, then I don’t see any need to pull you from missions.” Immediately, Yoshiro seemed to relax, a faint smile inching onto her features.

“Thanks, Naja. Voice.” Yoshiro said, the relief evident in her tone. Her fatigue was also suddenly apparent. Naja was right, these past few days had been draining for the whole team in more ways than on, and Yoshiro hadn’t realised just how tired she was until that moment. “I’ll be in my room if anything comes up, I guess?”

Naja nodded as the girl left. “Thank you for keeping us in the loop, Yoshiro.”

She continued to smile until the door had closed behind the departing telepath, but as soon as it did, concern once again marred her features. Voice let out a resigned sigh as she leaned back in her chair, pulling out a cigarette from her coat along with an accompanying light. Ignoring the other woman’s bad habit for a moment, Naja turned towards her.

“Alright, Beverly. Mind explaining what’s going on?”

Taking a deep drag from her cigarette, Voice looked up towards the ceiling. She stayed like that for a few moments before eventually responding. I’m not sure.

Naja’s jaw dropped. “You’re not sure? You gave me your word that we were done with this!”

The telepath offered her friend an irritated side-eye. Oh yes, because I am such an expert when it comes to ancient, aggressive spirits from long-dead telepaths who believe that they’re some kind of living god. The mental tone was dripping with sarcasm. I said that we were done with the Scarab. And I stand by that. But there was always going to be lingering effects for Yoshi, after what she went through.

Beverly paused, still deciphering what she’d seen while delving into the Young Blood’s mindscape herself. The Scarab wasn’t trying to just control her mind, Nicole. It was trying to turn her into a host, changing it so that it was it’s mind rather than Yoshiro’s. I’ve only seen that trick be attempted by the most powerful of psychics, but even then it’s a delicate process. Once the invader is removed, the original mind tends to reassert itself quite quickly. Thoughts and memories from the foreign conscience are identified and removed, like how an immune system might react to germs. The telepath paused for a moment. But in Yoshi’s case, that’s not happening nearly as quickly as I’d expect - if it is at all.

Naja frowned, surprised to see her usually confident friend apparently as caught off guard by this as she was. She turned to look towards the door that Yoshiro had left through. “So, what am I supposed to do now, then?”

There was a mental scoff.

You promised me that you’d pull her from the team, remember? Voice’s tone was bitter, and when she turned towards Naja, there was a hint of anger in her eyes. I saw the news reports, and the recordings, from the mall. They all nearly died there, and it looks like the villains weren’t even trying all that hard.

Naja bristled at the silent accusation. “You don’t think that I know that? You don’t think that it doesn’t keep me up at night? But you know as well as I do, that they’d keep trying to be heroes whether I was helping them or not. By letting them all be part of the team, I can at least try to help them prepare. So how about you get down from your high horse and stop being a self-righteous bitch?”

Beverly raised an eyebrow as her friend seemed to become genuinely angry at her words. Studying Naja’s expression, and feeling the boundaries of her aura, she had to admit that the other woman really did care for these kids. As mind-numbingly moronic as they seemed to be.

I don’t know what you should do next, Nicole. Voice replied, eventually. And I don’t envy your position, if I’m honest. But you don’t need to worry about any kind of relapse from Yoshiro - the Scarab is well and truly gone. The only mind in that girl’s head is her own. There was a hesitant pause. Except I think that there’s some part of her self-conscience that never got the memo.

Naja sighed, rubbing her temples as she tried to make sense of what she was being told. “What are you saying, Beverly? That one day she might wake up and decide that she wants to be the Scarab suddenly?”

No, the Scarab’s memories are too fragmented for anything like that. But the girl has been through a lot, and this isn’t something that she’ll just recover from overnight. The Scarab was in her head for a while, and the consequences of that are as much a part of her now as the rest of her life. Voice frowned. I think that you should keep her on the team.

Naja blinked in surprise, looking at her friend suspiciously - as if expecting some kind of sarcastic comment to follow. “Really? Why the change of heart?”

You were right. She’s set on being a hero at this point, and kicking her form the team isn’t going to change that. It’ll help her to be close to friends that she can rely on. But you should still keep an eye on her, just in case.

[North America Inc]

Shihong Smith

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With the arrival of her teammates, the fight shifted in their favor. The squad of soldiers had been taken out one by one until only one remained: their Colonel. The fresh-faced officer with jet black hair and a navy blue uniform made his way down the steps just as the last of his men had been incapacitated by Crystal Heart. Shi was the closest out of three, unsure if he had any powers beyond just his rank; though they had yet to face any abilities as of yet she doubted that they would only send in six regulars. He had something up his sleeve. Approaching with caution, Shi held her arms out in a ready position.

Her caution was warranted, large balls of mass expanded out of the man's hand, the Colonel hurling them in a few key locations. Not wanting to break eye contact, she couldn't make out what exactly it was but the bravado in the man's expression told her everything she needed to know. Opening fire with three successive blasts, two hit their mark but the man pressed held firm, lashing out and sprinting towards her. Tackling her, his combined weight and speed flung them over the railing and toward the tile below. With a tight grip around her and the encroaching ground below her, Shi sneered her lips in frustration; this wasn't the best situation to be in. Letting out a jet stream from the soles of her feet, she blasted them onto the uneven terrain of a stairway. It wasn't a comfortable landing for both of them, but it was better than the alternative. That was one issue solved, now for the other. With her free hand she pressed down on the backside of his neck; channeling all the energy she had within her to release one massive jolt. The Colonel only had the sound of crackling electricity as any semblance of a tell, before feeling a burst of energy travel shoot through his system.

As his muscles convulsed, his grip wide open, she pulled away and steadied herself. Standing over him, she gave him no time to catch his breath, slamming a fire infused kick onto the man's exposed back. Followed by a flurry of infused jabs directed at his lower spine. His paralysis was her window, and she planned to exploit it until it subsided.

[Galnius]

Aislinn McHarris, The Limo

Red unprepared

Aislinn blinked as her head tilted, trying to wrap her head around why Mask would ask such a question. "Well, as I have said before, Spectre and I are kin. I'm sure it is no shock to you, with his interactions I just laid out, that he himself is interested in her. If I had to guess, Daniel finds her entertaining in a way. He's rather daft, you understand. Incredibly fun and caring in his own certain way, but daft. "

As the limo rolled through the san Diego scenery, one could see the business centric area start to creep away, as buildings stopped cramming into each other. Yards were beginning to be visible, and the houses became more opulent as the amount of land between them began to spread. Aislinn's eyes were not focused on the land with them, but of some faraway place, where the city smog had never touched.

"Daniel's mind is a bit like that of a mink. He has a curiousity that can't be sated, and a complete lack of regard for his safety in his pursuits. He never really changed from when we were children to now, even as everyone else got older, he only really grew physically. As everyone around us matured, he almost seemed to digress. I fear that he may get himself in more danger than he can handle. When he came home after the radio tower incident, he was just..covered in cuts. His clothes were soaked in blood. One of the maids fainted, but he stof there with the biggest smile. And he's relentless. The only way I- ...we can save him is removing the object of his obsession. If Lisette Aveline is behind bars, locked away in some dusty corner in the middle of the sea, with no money to back her anymore... It'll all be over. That is my interest here. Please do not make me regret asking for your help. "

Aislinn moved closer, leaning up against him. Her emerald green eyes stared into his own and her sunhat was placed across her lap, freeing the full head brilliant red hair beneath.. "You'll help me, won't you?"

---

Andrew Donovan, The Beach

A day on the beach or a day in hell?

Andrew waved off Zoe's lateness and looked to Tidal to tell them exactly what he had planned. Tidal however had already moved, grasping Zoe's hand gingerly and cupping it.

"Hello Impulse. Andrew never told me I'd be hurting a pretty face today. Oh well." Releasing his grasp, the ocean's tide pulled him to a small rock formation a good thirty yards out, never dragging him below three soles of his shoes and never tipping his perfect balance. The nearby ocean swelled as the aquatic hero shouted out.

"From the video that every has seen, it's clear your team has an issue with dodging. Especially Andrew here. So, we are going to work on that today! The rules for the following exercise are simple! You simply have to hit me, projectile or with your hand. However, if you are touched by water, wherever was hit is out of use! A foot or leg means you are on one leg. A hand or arm means it goes behind your back. A chest or head is game over, and you must wait until your teammate is taken down before we restart. Ill dry you off after every round. Snacks are at three. I have sandwiches for five. I can go at this for hours if I must, but I'm not going after sundown. Please beat me by then, or we are going to repeat this tomorrow, starting in the morning. Any questions?"

" Yeah, why are you going easy on us?"

In response to Andrew's taunt, the sea resided to form a large circle of water around the older hero, hundreds of tendrils growing at high speeds and stretching outward. Then, through the tendrils, an answer was given.

"I'm not."

"Oh fuck..."

The tendrils shot forward at the two Young Bloods, coming from every direction but behind. The entire ocean expanse seemed to rush at them all at once, hundreds of gallons of whip-like structures. Then suns rays reflected off them putting on a small light show, but the chance to appreciate it was far from available. Andrew dodged to the back, looking for an opening, but for every move her was just forced in a new direction, even taking to the air not stopping the pursuit. Inside the bible, Tidal deftly used the water to dodge projectiles. The game has begun.

---

Angelica Dalin, The Party

Whitney Alvord
Whitney:

Making plans

Angelica's demeanor fell as Whitney has denied her request. Really, it was understandable. They hadn't known each other for too long, and Whitney's family was far more important. Still, she couldn't just not be disappointed, though she did try not to show it.

Then, Whitney came up with something Angelica was honestly mad she had never thought of. A solution so obvious it was just screaming at her. In sheer excitement, she grabbed both of Whitney's hands and bounced on her toes, rejoicing in her friend's brilliance.

"Of course! The lodge is huge, they rent out rooms all the time Dad says! I'll convince them to let your grandparent come. Please, please say yes. I'm terrible at meeting people. I close up, like a clam, or I talk too much. You being around will be calming. I'll keep you up to date, and please ask your grandparents. It would mean the world to me. "

As she said that, she began planning exactly how she would achieve her goal. She'd probably have to lie, which wasn't good, but it was for a good cause. After all, people who raised Whitney has to be good people. That's just how it worked. At least, Angelica was rather sure it was. Maybe Angelica could say she wouldn't go if they couldn't. Put the bargaining chip out. See how it went. Tell her parents that she met Whitney's grandparents a few times, and that they were great and safe and kind, like they definitely were. She could do this.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

November 19th

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Icarus was glad that he'd chosen to make an energy shield to protect himself after crashing into the first soldier - as soon as his comrades saw it happen, they pulled out a pair of high-tech riot shields and began firing at him from behind this cover with their sidearms. Bullets bounced off of the translucent blue construct, shaped like an ancient hoplon. By the young hero's judgment, it would not have been hard to take care of those two, but doing so without risking having a stray bullet hit one of the Young Bloods was significantly harder, so for now, he was content to sit behind his own cover as the two soldiers kept their attention on him, content to distract them from the other teenage heroes ho were now pouring into the lobby.

Fortunately for him, it didn't take long for them to take action. First was his girlfriend, Renata, who shot a ball of plasma at one of the soldiers, only for it to be seemingly absorbed by the shield and turned into electrical energy. Noting it as a potential source of power, he nonetheless scowled. It would've been very tough for her to deal with something like that if the rest of us weren't here... He thought. They clearly had planned for this.

Next up was Rocket, who, lacking his armored robotic companion, snuck around the lobby and then threw a grenade of sorts that quickly encased one of the two remaining soldiers in a foam of sorts that quickly hardened, immobilizing him. "Nice work, Rocket." He complimented the other hero.

With only one soldier left to take care of, the blond boy glared straight at him. "Don't mind if I do." He said before extending a hand towards the man's shield, stripping it of all of its energy, which was promptly turned into a large disembodied hand that grabbed the soldier by the head and lifted him off the ground. With a flick of his wrist, he sent said hand hurtling towards the wall by the stairwell, causing the soldier to slam into it with tremendous force. He would've been surprised if the man managed to remain conscious after that, but in any case, he was no threat anymore.

"That's all three down." He said, to no one in particular. However, much to his surprise, it turned out things were only getting started. While he wasn't looking, another man had emerged from the stairwell dressed in a more ornate uniform and created a total of four clones from a strange goo he produced. They all began attacking Casimir, who managed to take one of them down. In the meantime, Wendy had managed to take out the man who had entered the lobby, revealing that he too was a clone from someone else in the building - and that the clones would simply revert to goo if defeated.

That gave him enough to work with.

"Kabuto!" Surge shouted before rushing to his friend's aid, shooting like a bullet towards one of the clones and ramming his shoulder into his foe's chest. He kept going until he hit a wall and then quickly pulled back his hand, forming a bladed gauntlet over it before driving it into the clone's chest. Immediately the form of a man faded away, leaving behind only the same nasty goo that had birthed the clone in the first place.

"This is not a good day to be hurting my friends." The blond boy spoke as he stared at the two remaining clones, who now had two heroes to fight.

---

---

---

---

---

"Way to go, Bael!" Kiris cheered while doing a little hop and raising her fists as she saw her Dra'Qunni friend promptly catch the soldier she threw at him and then leave him safely incapacitated in the same way as the other one. That was another soldier taken care of, and it had been an easy feat, to boot. Maybe getting Renata to safety wouldn't be as much of a challenge as they had anticipated after all?

However there was no time to celebrate. While the immediate threat was taken care of, another emerged in the form of the man in the ornate uniform that stormed down the stairs. He was a superhuman, as demonstrated when he created a glob of a strange fleshy substance which he then threw down the stairwell, past where she, Wyatt and Shi stood. Kiris followed the glob with her eyes and watched as it transformed into a perfect copy of the colonel upon landing. More concerning was the fact that this copy promptly did the same thing, forming another one at the base of the stairwell.

"We can't let them keep makin' more of themselves indefinitely!" The pink-haired Hadrian shouted as she looked back at her teammates. The original colonel was still at the top of the stairs and made a beeline for Shi - he was sure to keep the girl busy for a while, but Shi was a strong and seasoned heroine, and Kiris trusted her to be able to handle him. More pressing was the threat of the endless clone wave - as she looked back, she noticed that the second colonel had already created two offshoots, and globs of fleshy goo were forming in his hands to create two more.

Unwilling to let this continue indefinitely, Kirisvala jumped onto the center of the stairwell with a little flip, waiting until she was angled so that her body was perpendicular to the first clone before kicking off the railing with tremendous force, which sent her speeding towards the clone. Before she could crash into him and send him to the ground, however, another of the clones interrupted her by tackling her into a wall. Caught off guard, the girl could only slide down the wall before rolling down the stairs, though this did not last, as she quickly pushed herself into the air and gracefully landed on her feet in one of the stairwell's landings. The clone was relentless, rushing her and delivering a flurry of kicks and jabs that she was forced to match move by move.

Suddenly, a shout from Wendy informed her that the clones weren't human. Unsure of what this meant, the pink-haired girl glanced down and saw that the hacker had just taken out one of the clones, who quickly degenerated into the same fleshy glob that had created him in the first place.

The revelation was promising, as it told her that she didn't need to hold back against these things, but it also distracted her and left her open to an open palm strike directed at her chest. While it wasn't strong enough to harm her through her crystal armor, it did put her balance in jeopardy, forcing her to flail her arms wildly to avoid falling down the stairs again. The clone went for another blow, but she managed to catch this one and used his arm as leverage to balance herself before using her tail to sweep out one of his legs from under him. The move was clearly unexpected - suggesting that this man had never fought someone with a strong prehensile tail before - and gave her an opening to deal the finishing blow: a vicious choke slam during which her claws sank into the clone's neck, leaving him fatally wounded and causing him to revert to a glob of fleshy goo, just like the one Wendy had defeated.

Sighing in relief as she stood victorious, the alien girl turned around only to notice that in the time it took her to defeat one of them, the first clone had already created two more, bringing the total up to four - one more than before, even counting her win.

It was concerning indeed, but the heroine refused to be daunted by this, steeling her gaze and furrowing her brow.

"Ya tumor people can keep comin' all ya want! I'm not afraid of ya!"

[The Republic of Atria]

"Thanks!" He called back after Kiris's compliment, but he didn't have much time to celebrate his subduing of the soldiers before a much fancier looking man stepped out and immediately started throwing blobs of who-knows-what all over the stairs and then tackled Shi. Superhuman or not, that was probably a bad idea. He looked into his peripheral to see the blobs he threw rapidly growing into copies of himself. "Ew..." He muttered as they began to cover the stairs in more of the blobs. Bael took a few steps back up the stairs. He wanted to fight them, but he wasn't sure of the best way to go about it. There wasn't nearly enough railing for him to restrain all of them, especially at the rate their numbers were growing.

Wendy called out from below, and he looked over the railing to see a defeated clone with no real blood or gore and then her explanation of them not being human. They were just the weird fleshy material. He remembered the classification for this type of superhuman: A "Master" classification. Abilities that let him create or control minions. The best strategy was to take out the master himself and hoped that stopped the clones from replicating, but from the little he saw, he wasn't sure if that would work given the clones ability to replicate on their own.

With confirmation that he didn't need to worry about hurting a "real" person, he looked to Kiris to was already fighting a few, taking out one, but despite that, their numbers had actually gone up one. He charged up the stairs and two of the clones threw their globs at him, which he instinctively ducked under, only for the two clones to almost immediately pop out and surround him with four of them. He realized that he couldn't hesitate anymore or they'd get swarmed.

Facing the ones closer to Kiris, one lunged at him, but Bael caught him by the head and flung him down at the other two. One of them dodged, but two of the clones were splattered into each other. The one that wasn't hit jumped and grabbed Bael by the horns while the one behind him jumped on his back.

Bael slammed his head into the wall and thrust his head upward, his horns impaling the clone, but not killing it if the blob he threw down the stairs was any indication. He threw he head back, successfully throwing the one stuck off and grabbing the clone on his back, slamming it into the ground over his head and stomping on it.

He looked down the stairs to see three more clones ready to fight. He beat four and their numbers had only gone down one. "We need a plan to take these guys out fast." He said. "Even if we take out the original, I don't think that's going to stop them since they can self replicate. I'm open to ideas."

[Tomia]

November 21st
Angelica had spent hours that morning in another grueling training session with Cora and Katie until the pair insisted that she take a break for the day. She was still frustrated with how it was going despite her trainers' insistence that she was making progress. She wasn't just trying to get better for her ego's sake. She remembered the moments where her squamates, her friends were begging for help and she couldn't do anything about it. Every time she thought about it her head filed with rage. Exhausted, she trudged her way upstairs to her room to take a shower. A little while later as she was drying off her hair her dresser started vibrating, signaling that her phone which sat on top of it was receiving a phone call. For a moment she hoped it was Alexis, who she hadn't heard from since that horrible day at the mall. Her hopes were dashed however when she checked her phone and it was a number she didn't recognize.

Is she ever going to talk to me again? Angelica thought glumly as she grabbed the phone. She understood that what she said had been wrong, but she thought they could have talked it out by now. However it didn't seem like Alexis was going to be interested in that anytime soon. She pulled herself out of her thoughts and pressed the green button on her screen.

"Hello?" She said, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt.

"Ms. Simmons? This is Helena Hader, I represent your father Dwayne Maxin."

Angelica immediately scowled. "If he wants to give me another paternalistic lecture he can go..."

"Pls miss, I think you have the wrong impression. Dwayne is in the hospital. There was an... incident last night. Your father is currently unconscious, but doctors believe he will recover. You are his next of kin, so I was told contact you."

Frostbite scoffed at that, "Ya, because I'm sure he and his perfect little step family would love for me to be there."

"Actually, his second wife Regina left him a few weeks ago, he hasn't seen his other children since. I know I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I thought it best that you know. Your father has been in the hospital for two days now, and no one has visited him. I'm sure I don't know him as well as you, but I just feel bad for him. I'm sorry, I've taken up enough of you time. Goodbye Ms. Simmons, have a good day."

Angelica stared blankly as Helena hung up the phone. Were things really going that poorly for him? She felt like she should have just scoffed this off. It was really what he deserved, given how poorly he tended to treat people. But, the idea of him sitting there alone unconscious in a hospital bed. It churned her stomach. He was an asshole, but he was also her father. A man she had seen jump into burning buildings to save people he had never met. She looked up to him once. There was a time where he was her entire world and represented everything she wanted to be. She might have thought seeing him reduced in such a way would give her some sense of satisfaction or revenge, but instead it just made her incredibly... sad.

She lifted her phone again and started drafting a text message. It was one she wrote, erased, rewrote, erased and then repeated the process a dozen times before staring at it for an hour until it was finally sent. It read almost more like a letter than your average text message.

Hi Alexis, its been a while. I'm sure you don't want to talk to me and that's okay. I just got some news that... well my dad is in the hospital. They didn't tell me what happened but he isn't conscious. Apparently his life hasn't been going great lately. They want me to visit him...and well I just don't really know what to do. I don't mean to interrupt your recovery, I just didn't know who else to send this to. Take care of yourself alright? And please, whenever you're up to talking, I'm right here.

Once it was sent Angelica dropped down onto her bed, wiping away the tears that fell across her cheeks.

[Absolon-7]

Part 6

The One Where Casimir, Ash, and Red Start a Detective Agency Part 7 Final
November 5th
Northern California

---

A full moon hung like a gaping white eye high in the night sky as a car pulled up on the large complex’s front street. The front door’s lights were a radiant signal in the night as the car’s rumbling engine shut down. With a pop of the door in the backseat came Casimir gazing up the brick building with its windows covered by ghostly drapes. It was far too much of a reminder of the orphanage he himself had stayed at all those years ago. He walked up to the small flight of stairs leading up to the front door as the others came out as well and barely waiting for them he went up to the front door and knocked on it hard as he held a stash of papers and the photo. Whether he liked it or not Ash was going to have to face her past one way or another.

Soon the front door opened up to see a very disgruntled middle aged woman open the door, “Jeez do you not know how late it is? You’re going to wake the kids upstairs with that banging-oh crap! You’re Kabuto!”

“Sure as hell am,” snidely said Casimir before tugging at his red scarf, “I’m here on a missing person’s case. Well persons.” He flashed out the newspapers clipping to her with the missing persons reports which just happened to mention several coming from the orphanage, “You might say it's a cold case but it just turned hot. Me and my partners need to check the files for the names on this paper.”

“The KP Soneras getting their dues were big headlines but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to show you anything. I mean even as respected as you are round these parts...” she said clutching her cheek in worry.

“I’m about to bring justice to these victims Ma’am. The Great Kabuto will not rest until these missing persons are accounted for,” boasted Casimir with his clenched fists on his hips.

“Well….fine...you can come in if you think you can do something about those poor teens. I’ll bring out the files at the front desk so just come with me,” she said with a sigh mixed of doubt and excitement as she opened up the door to let them in, “Plus not everyday you get to lend a hand to a famous hero.”

The grin on Casmir’s face finally shrunk to a troubled frown thankfully hidden by his helmet. He didn’t know if Ash had made the connection yet but that long lost princess dream of hers was dimming by the second. With a solemn step he stepped inside soon to be followed by the others.

Behind him, Ash was staring up at the decrepit sign hanging above the building’s door. Her furrowed brow conveyed the confusion twisting in her stomach as she repeatedly studied the words. She’d been silent throughout the whole drive, with the combination of nerves and excitement only building until they’d arrived at their destination, but the sight that greeted them couldn’t have been further from what she’d been expecting.

“Mask, why are we at an orphanage?” Ash asked, despite already knowing the answer. She’d already told Casimir of her hazy memories of the large house that she’d lived in. The memory had been fuzzy and distant, and she’d assumed that it had meant that her family had been wealthy and powerful. But there was no denying that the building they were now standing before was what she’d been recalling, and the decaying, poorly-maintained facade of its brick structure told a drastically different story to what Ash had been crafting in her head. “This is...the right address, yes?”

Grimacing, Red silently cursed Casimir for having gone on ahead. Damnit, you know I’m no good with this kind of thing. Shifting uneasily, he stole a glance towards the pained expression on the girl standing beside him. There was no way of sugar coating this. “Yes, Ash. We’re at the right place.” Ash seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, even after Casimir had vanished into the doorway. For a moment, Red wondered if she was about to turn and fly off into the night, but the girl eventually swallowed nervously and nodded.

“Okay.” She said, feeling the pounding of her heart like it was screaming between her ears. “Let us go inside.”

The trio were led some ways into the building to the records room that the woman quietly opened, shushing the trio to keep noise to a minimum. It was an expansive yet claustrophobic room with several rows of file cabinets making it look like a series of walls in the dark. She motioned for Casimir to turn on the light as she held out her hand to Casimir.

“Hand me that newspaper again...Ashley Phillips huh,” said the woman as she opened up a cabinet and ran her finger till a folder with a matching name. She swiftly pulled it out and walked back towards the trio as she looked at it to read the name once more. A dour look flashed on her face as a small frown crept on her face when she took a glance at Ash. She reached out her hand with the folder so Casimir could grab it, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry…”

Once the folder was taken she looked away in distraught as she remembered what was in the folder for the missing girl.

Casimir opened it up so Ash and Red could see. Near the top it listed both parents names; status: Deceased. He said in a hushed mutter, “We’re more alike than I thought….Dammit.”

Red stood silent for a moment, before finally letting out a small sigh as he looked over to the woman in front of them. “What ever happened to her?” he asked, pointing towards the folder. “I know you guys are supposed to keep records on whe- I mean if they get adopted or sent elsewhere. Surely you have some sort of idea?”

“She ran away.” The woman offered Red a pained expression, her tired eyes visible beneath the thick frames of her glasses. She considered staying silent, but instead sighed as she resolved to tell the group of heroes what she knew. “A group of them did, all at once. I’d say that it was a scandal when it happened, but it’s not really that rare. When the children get closer to ageing out, they sometimes decide that they would rather leave on their own terms.” Her mouth twisted into a grimace as she glanced towards the mutant standing silently behind the heroes. “I guess they end up losing hope. The police tried to find them, but the case was closed pretty quickly. At the end of the day, people would rather not worry themselves about some missing orphans.”

Ash struggled to listen to the woman’s words, her eyes fixated on the open folder in Casimir’s hands. She felt her stomach had just sunk below her feet, while she increasingly felt like she was going to be sick. Her parents were dead - and had been dead for years? The mutant visibly struggled with this new information, wringing her lower two hands together as she quietly spoke up for the first time.

“Ashley’s parents...do you know what they were like?” She glanced up from the folder. “How did they die?”

A look of surprise flashed across the woman’s features, and she nearly winced at the recognition. My God, she sounds just like her. The girl’s manner of speech and word choice were slightly off, but there was no mistaking that voice. The woman looked towards the other heroes as if to make sure they might step in to stop her from answering, before sighing in resignation.

“They died in a car crash, a long time ago.” The woman explained, trying to be delicate with her words. “I never got the chance to meet them. Ashley was at the orphanage before I even started working here. I’m not sure how much she even remembered about her parents herself.”

It was more bad news. This whole trip was bringing nothing but bad news. Ash was struggling against a wave of panic, inwardly trying to rectify each blow against the fragile, fictional past that she’d been imagining for herself. “I...uh...a car crash…” She managed, trying to maintain her composure as she tried to think of something that she could be missing. She came here to find her family, and so far she was being told that there was nothing to be found.

“Wait! We know that Ashley had a sister, yes? There was a photo of this.” Ash didn’t even wait for permission before she aggressively grabbed the photo from one of Red’s pockets, knowing that he’d put it there after showing it to her and Casimir. She thrusted it towards the older woman, the threat of tears audible at the very edge of her voice. “This is Ashley and her, yes? Who was she?”

Taking half a step back at the mutant’s suddenly more hostile tone, the woman took a breath as she realised that the girl was simply growing desperate. She looked confused for a moment, but nevertheless pushed her glasses up the ridge of her nose as she studied the photo. It didn’t take long before her eyes lit up in recognition.

“Oh, I see.” She muttered. “Ashley never had any siblings, I’m afraid. Her parents hadn’t been together for very long before they passed, you see. That girl was another one of our wards here, a Ms. Cindy York. She was maybe a year or two older than Ashley, but the two were practically inseparable. I suppose that you could say that Cindy took her under her wing, they may as well have been sisters.”

Seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, Ash’s antennae seemed to perk upright with excitement. “Okay! We must find this Cindy then, do you know where she is? Can we contact her?”

“I...no, I’m sorry.” The woman replied, feeling horrible to pull the rug out from under the mutant’s feet. “She ran away with Ashley. If I’m honest, I think the two of them might’ve planned the whole thing since Cindy was getting close to ageing out. They managed to convince a few of the other children to come with them...the two of them did always act like they could take on the world.” Not wanting to be responsible for stealing all of the newfound glimmer from Ash’s eyes, the woman hastily tried to add. “But, I guess if you three were to know what happened to Ashley you might be able to find Cindy. I doubt that they would have split up after they ran off.”

Although the woman’s words were meant to be reassuring, they instead had the opposite effect. Ash looked like she’d been struck by a physical blow. If Cindy had been with her, then she would have been attacked by the same villain that Casimir had fought, just like she had. And if that had happened, then Ash’s friend would have ended up just like all the others: mutated by the villain’s powers into a mindless monster sent to attack the town. And all of those monsters had ended up with the same fate.

Casimir’s eyes widened under his helmet as Ash seemed to stand still with all her seta raised on end. With the orphanage caretaker’s words clicking in his head he quickly placed a hand on Ash’s shoulder as he leaned in, “Whatever you’re thinking you got it wrong. I’ll explain later.”

Casimir looked over to the older woman and asked, “Is there anything left of theirs here?”

“From over a year? I don’t think so. There might be photos,” hesitantly said the woman.

“That’ll be enough,” nodded Casimir, “I think we got everything we need. Just mail those pictures to Wonder Tower San Diego.”

Casimir eased out the file from Ash’s hands so she wouldn’t rip it out of some panic attack and guided her to the door with a nod to get Steven and Red to follow him. It was a silent yet foreboding walk back outside to the car with the orphanage's door closing behind creating the only noticeable sound. Before they got back into the car Casimir grabbed onto Ash’s shoulders.
“All the mutants were guys,” said Casimir before stepping back to let go of her, “Your friend couldn’t have been one of them.”

Out of the corner of Casimir’s eyes, he saw Red suddenly halt in place as he spoke these words, the hair on the redhead’s back visibly raised as he looked back with a pair of wide eyes. Red’s mouth opened for a moment but quickly shut itself, almost as if he had something to say but stopped to consider his words.

“That’s...likely not the whole truth,” Red finally spoke, his voice coming out soft and hesitant as the two other heroes looked towards him with astonished looks on their faces. “It’s something that came up during my snooping around, and I never thought it was worth completely exploring because of the lack of supporting evidence with it. To be completely honest, I was hoping that my assumptions were wrong, but now that we’ve just learned…” Red paused for some time, rubbing at the bridge of his nose for a few moments with his thumbs and fingers before he continued. “...yeah. Yeah, I think it adds up now.”

Red’s final words came out as little more than a mumble as he opened the back of the car to retrieve the small suitcase worth of intel they had brought with them. Given the scarcity of information he had managed to drag up prior to their arrival, it didn’t take long to search through the scant bits of labeled folders to find what he was looking for. Opening up one of the folders, he retrieved a police report that had caught his interest during his initial probings of the area some time ago.

“Some neighbors called the police when a series of roars were heard at dusk at an abandoned apartment. When the police arrived there, no one answered the door, but the windows were all smashed out so they let themselves in. What they found was...well, it wasn’t pretty,” Flipping through the report, Red hesitantly showed the images attached to the reports, Cindy had been smacked against the wall hard enough to kill her instantly and cleanly so there was solace she went out quickly. Red did his best to ignore the look that Ash held on her face as he displayed the images, feeling a heavy sense of guilt that she had to see it. Still, he knew that she deserved to see it, even if it meant consequences thereafter. “It didn’t take a forensic analyst to determine that whatever killed this individual wasn’t human or at least anything a human would normally do. When the police did their DNA sampling at the scene of the crime, they got a hit on their database. And the owner of those remains were…”

Red’s gaze fell towards the ground as he handed off the file towards Casimir, the name of Cindy York being displayed at the top portion of the report. Taking a deep breath, he raised his eyes to meet Ash’s, a sad look in his eyes on his face as he reached forwards to place a hand on her shoulders.

“I’m...I’m sorry. I didn’t want to draw conclusions based on information I didn’t fully know, but now that we know who she is…”

Red’s voice faltered as he realized he didn’t have any more comforting words he can say to Ash. For all intents and purposes, he had essentially cut the last remaining string that held together Ash’s past life to her current one. There was no longer anywhere for her to go back to, and as much as Red could relate to this feeling, he couldn’t help but feel as if Ash’s situation was on a much different level than himself.

Ash’s eyes were glued at the report in the folder. She couldn’t bring herself to look away, not while her mind felt like it was being dragged through a typhoon. “I...I do not understand.” She mumbled, shaking her head as if to ward off reality. “No, this does not make any sense.” A torrent of emotions raced through her head, each of them competing for attention as she struggled to take in what Red was saying.

“I do not understand any of this!” She screamed in frustration, throwing the manila folder at the hero and sending its contents scattering onto the ground. “Why did you not tell any of us this before, Red?!” Ash yelled, her tone filled with anger and accusations as she sought to lash out. None of this was what she had expected. None of it was what she had been hoping for. She had started today with her heart jumping through hoops, a mixture of nervousness and excitement as she stood moments away from finding her parents. But then they’d turned out to be dead. And now she’d suddenly been shown the one other person that she might’ve been able to call family as a bloodied corpse. Suddenly realising that she had closed the distance between her and Red, raising one of her fists as she’d done so, Ash froze.

Glancing at her raised arm, she slowly forced herself to lower it, with the anger that had gripped her leaving nearly as quickly as it had appeared. Instead, she turned back towards Casimir, the tears rapidly welling up in her eyes. “What...what do I do now?” She asked, a pleading tone in her voice as she struggled to deal with the horrible emotions by turning to the other orphan.

Casimir was gripping his fists the entire time Ash was breaking down with his memories of similar events long ago filling and although he had made peace with it it still tasted like bile to his heart. With the faint light of the night shining of his helmet’s red eyes he looked at Ash with a solemn stillness as he raised a clenched fist to his heart, “The same thing when you find out your parents died after you ran away for a night, the same thing when you find out your classmate died because you didn’t stop someone in time, the same thing when one of the closest people to family you have finds out their whole damn dream for their life is crushed cause of fucking playing detective. You don’t stop. You never stop. You gotta do it all for them cause that’s what they’d want.”

Ash was taken aback by Casimir’s confidence, but she’d always found his self-assuredness to be contagious. Sniffling, she wiped away her tears. “Right, never stop, yes?” The words rang true in her head, offering a glimmer of hope that she clung to with all her might. She forced herself to smile. “The report could be wrong...or maybe my parents did not really die, yes? We should keep looking and investigating, until we find out the truth!” Turning, the mutant looked towards Red. “Red, do you have more evidence that you were unsure of? We must not leave any of the rocks untur-”

“Ash!” barked Casimir in frustration, “That’s not what I meant. They're gone. It fucking sucks but they're gone.”

Seeing the exchange between the pair, Red continued to feel the sinking feeling of empathy in his gut. He could see how Ash was feeling from the look on her face, let alone from how she was reacting. More than anything, he wanted to be able to give her the answer that she was grasping for, to provide her with the hope that they’d missed something crucial, something that would set things right after they’d already gone so far off the rails. But he knew that’d be a greater cruelty of its own, no matter how much the truth hurt her now.

“I’m sorry, Ash.” He whispered, his arms hanging by his side. “They’re all gone. There’s nothing left for us to find.”

Ash remained silent for a few moments, her expression betraying her wrestling emotions. For a moment, it looked like she would lash out again, but as she looked between the pained expressions of her two friends, her shoulders eventually slumped in defeat. She wanted to cry, to sob. But instead she just felt an emptiness unlike any she’d felt before.

“Okay.” She said, her head hanging low. “Can we...can we just go back to the Tower, please?” Ash didn’t even look towards the pair as she wiped away some tears. “We never even should have come here.”

Watching the exchange, Steven Short had remained silent. He knew better than to butt his way into something like this, and he couldn’t help but feel his heart go out to the girl - or at least to the girl that Ashen Moth used to be. Cracking out a cigarette, he winced as Kabuto opened his mouth and misspoke, giving the mutant a last gasp of unnecessary hope. Taking a deep drag from his smoke, the reporter took a breath as he tried to go over everything that they’d found so far. No matter how he spun it in his head though, he always ended up with the same conclusion.

“Fuck!” He hissed, kicking the car’s tire in frustration once the kids seemed to be done. That was that, it seemed. The trail ran cold, their leads dried up. Sure he could try to run with what he had on some indie blog that’d take it, but fat chance in hell it’d be enough to make the network grow a pair large enough to stand up to Jordan Scott. Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What a load of wasted time and effort.” Short immediately winced, realising how his words might have come across to the kids. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that this isn’t the kinda story that I needed right now.” Pausing, he seemed to be struggling for words for a moment. “Look, I uh, I’ll stick around here for now. I don’t think you’d want me with you for the car ride back to San Diego.” He rubbed the back of his head, feeling like he should say more. But this had never been the kind of thing that he’d been good at. “Just uh, take care.” Turning, the reporter began to walk further into town, leaving the Young Bloods to their own devices.

“See ya,” said Casimir glaring at the reporter before he opened up the door to the car as the other two got into their seats. This went as bad as he expected it but at least the person that ruined Ash’s life had been long dead by his hand. That was only half the problem however. The was still the Wonder Foundation who had yet to pay for imprisoning Ash for a year like a damn animal. Whether anyone liked it or not he was going to crush them for what they did. Consequences be damned. As they began driving he slowly looked up at a flickering street lamp in the distance with a flutter of bugs around it. With a jolt from his mind they dispersed into the safety of the night.

[North America Inc]

-Part 1-

ft. The Nefarious Marionette and the Handsome Changeling!

"Lesson 1: The Bare Minimum is never enough."
Central California
October 31st
10:01 PM
Six hours before arrival. Having already crossed the halfway point of the state, the train dashed forward toward Seattle with no signs of delay. If everything went as planned, it would pull into the station at dawn. If. Clenching his fists within his pockets, Virgil silently trailed behind the suspected WarWolf agent. If his black on black attire wasn’t enough to go on, his constant whispers into his cuff would more than. The man, for his part, strolled through the cars without even a modicum of paranoia, more focused on laying down than he was checking his six. Virgil had been tailing him for the later half of the past hour, noting their routine. The agent would take a position in the corner of the room, swivel their heads, then head off to the next point. They would do this within each of the compartments, heading toward the engine. With this being the front of the train, and no passenger seats remaining, the agent would, Virgil figured, either do a new lap or enter one of the private dorms. For the exhausted agent, it was the latter. As the man slid the door closed and headed to bed, Virgil canvassed the immediate area, checking the corridor back and forth for any other agents. It was all clear.

While he stood in the center of the hallway with the beige doors on one side and a large window on the other, Virgil turned to look from where he just came, waiting for his shadow. First her boots slid into view, then her right arm grasping the side, finally, her head gradually peeking the corner; Lucy hugged the side as she performed her own imitative reconnaissance with informative observations such as carpet is red and ceiling lights are flosucent. He motioned towards her. She followed, hugging her waist while slipping into his shadow.

He would get to her shortly. For now, he needed to think.

Prior to departure as the good Doctor and his staff got settled, he had Lucy peer into the future. While the Conductor was in awe of the white locomotive’s splendor, it’s future was grim. Multiple cars with exposed hulls, long gnashes cut through the others, two were outright smoldering wrecks. This had racked his mind for the last hour, trying to make heads or tails of the premonition. When his superiors authorized this assignment, they had done so with the express understanding that he would handle this with caution. Only the Doctor needed to be killed, his security was only a secondary concern. Any other casualties were an absolute no go. After his demise, their embedded agents would be alerted and stop the train, confiscating the ‘contraband’ and implicating WarWolf in the process. Outright destroying the train would do nothing but stir the ire of federal investigators and the NASL. Beyond that, this future wasn’t in his character.

For now Lucy had kept her cool because he had been keeping his. He expected that to change as time drew closer. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks, right? I mean you’ve handled worse.” Lucy assured herself as she wrapped her arms around his left. “Like this guy? He’s already dead.”

“Tck.” Virgil gnashed his teeth at the sound of that, misplaced confidence. She apparently had that in spades in everything but herself. Ignoring her point, he instead focused on the topic at hand; backing away to get out of earshot of the cabin, he told her, “Fifteen. Fifteen plain dressed guards in total. Each of them caring only suppressed weapons. No explosives.”

Reaffirming her last point, she said, “So nothing you can’t handle. Right?”

He turned around to her, a solemn look plastered over his face compared to her wide eyed demeanor, “Don’t focus on that, focus on the implication. Whether I can or can not handle that type of heat isn’t the issue. Bring back what we saw prior. A wreck of a train. These agents could not cause that amount of destruction in such a short amount of time, they do not have the firepower or manpower . Which means something else did.”

“But they could be hiding the real weapons in the other three compartments. It’s not like they would keep everything on hand.”

“No but the destruction we saw was not centered on the back half of the train. It was spread throughout all compartments. Wreckage isn’t consistent with embedded explosives or the engine blowing up.” He tapped his chin, “WarWolf is outdated but it’s not stupid. Their doctrine favors overwhelming defense. They wouldn’t spread resources thin to defend the entirety of the train. If it’s not on their person, it’s not going to be used anywhere but here.”

“Okay, okay.” She did her best to keep up, “I can see that. So if they aren’t going to do it, who is? Us?”

Virgil shook his head, they only needed to kill an elderly cripple. “It’s a known unknown.” While Lucy wasn’t aware of the trove of artifacts that the WarWolf agents were protecting, Virgil was. And that made him very apprehensive about this whole situation. Any one of them could go off without a second’s notice. And there was no amount of planning he could do to account for the near infinite possibilities they had in store. Though he could eliminate a few causes, It couldn’t be intentional. His thoughts went over the dossiers on the crew he had read, Beyond their own biases, the crew had only been transferred this last week. Not enough time to have any explicit training.

A snore from the room jerked his head up, startling him for a moment.. Lycan wouldn’t even inform them beyond the basics. Their anonymity and ignorance would be their greatest strength should they be arrested.

The sound of the corridor door caught their attention as an old man and a son passed through. They let them pass, though as man in the walker struggled with the most basic steps it did give Virgil some minor inspiration. The Collector himself? His senility makes him a wild card. Though how in control of the situation is he? Three black agents? A jew? Two women? If this was caused by him, it would be either his last resort or behind the watch of WarWolf. Both possibilities had their own litany of issues.

As the sound of the two men dissipated, Virgil turned his attention back to Lucy, the girl having been staring at her wrist ever since he went quiet. He kept his apprehension about her to himself, hurting her already fragile ego would do little good. Though there was more to this. He tensed his jaw as he watched her daydream. Beyond the years of constant failure, insults, and lackluster results, he saw something. What exactly, he didn’t know. Though he fully intended to find out. “Lucilla.”

Her head perked up, “Yes?”

“Follow me.” They walked back toward the room, an idea already formulating. It only took a few seconds but right as they got within eyesight of the room he pointed towards it. “What do you do from here?”

“What?” She stood there perplexed, the open ended question having a million different answers, “I don’t know.”


“Do you so easily give up without a second thought?”

“What, no. It’s just.” She let go over her grip and took a step forward, “Well I guess the right answer is I use my powers.”

“How?”

She was taken aback by this, that was usually by all and end all to this. “What do you mean how?” She paused to think it over quickly before resigning herself, “That’s all my power does.. I stare at something and see what I see.”

“That’s all?” He asked, his suspicions confirmed more by the second, “That’s all you are good for? Really? Your input doesn’t go further? Your literal insight into the future begins and ends with a glance?”

“Well yea. Investigations aren’t really my thing.” Her left eye shifted color as she stared into the cabin and saw it opens in the next minute. “I can tell you, the door opens.”

He shook his head in disappointment.

“I’m sorry I know you’re mad but that’s all I am good for. What can I say, there’s a reason I was left behind.” She looked down in shame, fiddling with her knuckles rather than stare back at his glare, “It’s just, I know, I’m pretty a disappointing mistake.”

*Smack* With little fanfare or expectation, a hard slap rang across her cheek. For a moment she did nothing, her wide eyed demeanor frozen on her face. It wasn’t until the pain became pronounced in addition to her own self loathing that she began to whimper and cry. Choked up on her own words, she stayed silent as he pointed his finger and stared down at her, “Quit it with the self pity crap. You’re one of us, and we have not the time or the need for that. Leave that drivel for the weak, you hear?”

She rubbed her cheek, a multitude of tears already running down it.

“Now follow along…” He pulled her close and began to gently stroke where he had just slapped. Wiping away a few tears with his handkerchief, she stood there frozen as their eyes met. His had a burning cool intensity, her’s draped in fear and awe. “When a plebian describes how they will attack, they do not sugar coat on the details. Each punch is a jab, each grapple is a choke, each kick is a hook.” His hand traced down her arm, from shoulder to fingertips, clasping her hand into a fist. “Now how can you, one of the most gifted and talented people on this planet, just stand there and do so little?”

Silence hung across the room as Lucy listened. She wasn’t sure what to say, if she should even say anything. “While it may lack your inherent finesse, the plebian does so because they are aware of their strengths and limitations. In a matter of life and death, they act in a way befitting of their kind: nothing held back. You’re gifted with powers few possess but you squander them, never exploiting truly exploiting them. That is what the plebian excels at, and what you fail at. A punch is their most innate power they have yet it has a certain versatility. Look at what they can accomplish with the barest of abilities.”

She had stopped crying though her eyes were red, scrapping her lip to hold it in. “I’m sorry.”

An indomitable figure as always, his tone lost its original luster returning to its quiet timber. Resting her head between his chest and chin, he lightly patted the back of her neck.“Don’t be sorry, I don’t want you to be sorry. I slapped you not because I want to make you feel worse but I want you to realize our reality. Failure will have consequences. Physical consequences. This shouldn’t be treated lightly. The next slap may not come from me and it definitely won’t be so light.” His hand travelled upward as he tugged and played with her cotton candy-esque hair. He tightly embraced her, “Sis, you are so much more than what you think.. Your gifts: premonition, influence, beauty are not what defined you. You define their purpose. But you have to use them.” He handed her his yellow handkerchief, “Do you understand what I am trying to tell you? Your power isn’t your ceiling, it’s your support.”

“Thank you, I needed to hear that. And yes.” She remarked as he let go of her, allowing her time to process everything and clean up. As she dabbed the tissue under her eye, she went over her first true lesson in the field. ‘A base, not a ceiling. Simple enough but how do I actually apply that? It really sounds easier said than done.’ Handing back the handkerchief, she followed up the monologue with a question, “I think I get it. But like…” ‘I really need to think of another word besides saying like all the time.’.

He cut her off, already predicted her question, “Creativity is one of many necessities within our line of work. I can’t give you a specific example, you’ll have to do so on your own when the time comes.” He tucked the tissue back onto his suit “Though in your case you have all the time in the world.” Having finished explaining his own thoughts, he twisted his wrist up to get a good look at the time. “We’ll have to discuss this later. We don’t have much time before the first lacerations.”

“Right.” She slid behind his shadow as he got into position. Though he couldn’t rely on her for this, he had other techniques within his repertoire. Knocking. Walking over to the WarWolf agents cabin, he knocked once. No response. He knocked again.

“What is it?” The man groaned from his bed.

“My key isn nt worrking.” Virgil slurred his words, selling the act with a few uncoordinated bangs, “Open up my, um, cabin.”

The sound of a man’s footsteps got closer and closer to them, followed by a light tap against the frame as he peeked through the eye hole. “Listen man, I’m trying to get some shut eye. If you don’t piss off right now I’m calling security.”

Pressing his head against the peephole to block the view, Virgil knew WarWolf operatives well enough to know that if they could get physical they will. “Cu Come on now do...don’t just let me in thi..this is my cabin.”

“It’s not!” The man’s tempered flared for a moment before he cooled himself. They weren’t suppose to bring attention to themselves, “Listen buddy if you don’t leave right…”

“Or what.” Virgil held his hand toward the door slider.

“Or what? Or what?” The man unlocked it, “Or I’m going to kick…”

Before he could even say anything, the Guild operative slid the door open and pushed him back toward the window. The guard launched a furious punch against his side, throwing in all his weight to knock this intruder down. Though what he expected to stun the man did nothing, in fact his arm wouldn’t even move!

“Wha…” He let out. He tried to retract it, shake it, pull it, and extend it. Nothing. As Lucy closed the door behind them, Virgil had already taken him out of the sight of the passengers, the man finally making the realization about what was really going on. Even if his arm was frozen, he could still fight. This wasn’t over! He threw his other fist right towards the man’ stupid pretty boy face. Though the fist didn’t connect, instead Virgil promptly caught it within his grip. And just like before, stasis. Unable to move or be used. He rammed his shin into the man and found himself stuck balancing on one leg, though strangely enough it didn’t feel like he was struggling to stand. It was if they were holding him there. With everything taken from him, he used the only option he had left. “HEL…” A quick jab to the underside of the jaw slammed and kept it shut.

“Look around for anything of note.” Virgil ordered his sister as his hands traveled upwards to the man’s nose. With a quick against both sides of the nostrils, the man’s eyes widened in fear as Virgil effortlessly suffocated him; his quick glances all across the room all he could do. He tried to move his other limbs, nothing, He tried to speak, beg for mercy, anything but no words left his sealed lips. He even went so far to pick up his left leg, having hoped that without that he would fall onto the floor and exit whatever spell was placed over him. Instead, it was much of the same, floating in air without truly understanding why. The last sensation he truly felt, besides the gasping, was Virgil, casually but thoroughly patting down his overcoat for anything inside.

While the agent hung around, Lucy was trying to put some advice into practice. Within her gaze, she winded back the man’s steps by half an hour, observing his minor interactions with the environment: from the indent of his ass on the seat to the man spilling a coke bottle onto the floor. Most of what she saw was useless chatter but as she neared the room just before the train’s departure she found a leather briefcase flying upwards into the air, having been tucked in between the bed and the wall. Something she probably could have found on her own, but still she was proud of the baby steps she was taking. Taking the same steps, she pulled out the brown bag and laid on the bed.

Noticing her rummaging through the bag, Virgil gave her this opportunity to apply her own input and asked, “Find anything important?”

“No, I don’t think, well... I don’t know.” Most of what was coming out was a bunch of notebooks and printed out PDFs on phone schematics. None of this even vaguely important to the mission at hand. Most of the notebooks were impeccably pristine, having been just purchased. Scrolling through the paper for anything that stood out, she found a company name, Starlight Incorporated, and a name, Daemon Weathers. “Is his name Daemon Weathers?”

“No.” Virgil scoured through his wallet: ID cards, credit cards, Subway coupons, etc but nothing bearing that name. “All of these are under the name David Harris though. Why what did you find?” ’Probably his alias.

“I think I found his alias.” She held up the paperwork towards her brother, “And it looks like we found out the...God, what do you call it?” She snapped her fingers in rapid succession, “The Front company Lycan is using.”

He took it over and began to read through it the company’s supposed financials, “Assuming they actually are real and not just for show, for an operation like this it’s entirely likely this cover they are only co opting a legitimate company…” He trailed off as he saw his little sister disappointed pout, “Though Lycan is thorough so I wouldn’t put it past them to have an entire company already lined up.”

She smiled. Going through the sides of the pockets now, she brought up close to get a good look, “Do they even know what real leather looks like?” She joked, but her audience of two didn’t laugh. Probably should lighten up on the humor. Shaking the briefcase out for any last minute straps, something finally came out. A phone.

“Honing and prioritizing items for a search is a must. That should have been the first thing you looked for.” Virgil held out his hand out towards her.

Ignoring his comment in favor of turning the device on, she was met with a locked screen. “Oh this is one of those creative moments.’ With a quick peek she held the phone out to see when else it had been used. Soon enough her image showed it being turned on, the combination, and it being swiped open. Doing the same, they were met with it’s home screen.

“There may be hope for you after all.” He remarked as he perused it’s content. “Come on, we have all that we need.” The two walked out the door, leaving the corpse where they had left it: in stasis, dangling above the floor. “We don’t have much time left. But I am beginning to suspect that someone else is to blame.”

---

A Haphazard Attack
With an ear pressed against the metal of the doorway, Lisette ignored the rumbling of the train around her as she delicately maneuvered her threads within the locks. Feeling the intricate mechanisms that held the passenger and cargo sections separate, her expression lit up as she felt the last latch shift solidly into place. Sighing with satisfaction as she retracted her fibres, she nevertheless had to put her back into sliding the heavy door open. They’d had to disconnect the power in order to avoid tripping any alarms, annoyingly cutting off the powered-assist that would have helped a regular person open and close the barrier. But fortunately, neither Marcy nor Lisette were normal. The clanging of the door sliding into the wall was muffled by the constant drone of the train’s wheels coasting along the rails - a sound that while muted in the passenger cabins, was all-encompassing in the technical and cargo compartments. Nevertheless, Lisette tried to be as quiet as she could be as she looked down into the darkened interior of the next carriage.

Confident that the coast was as clear as they’d been led to believe, the villainess crept forward as her eyes adjusted to her new surroundings. After a few tense seconds waiting for any signs of a reaction to their entrance, Lisette allowed herself to relax. She turned to where Marcy had followed closely behind her, speaking quietly on the off-chance that her voice would carry.

“The guards are most probably in the next carriage along.” They had to keep moving quickly. Eventually, someone would notice that power wasn’t flowing to the door behind them and come to investigate - although if all went to plan, they’d be happily back in their seats with their tracks all cleaned up by then.

Moving forwards, Lisette pressed herself beside the next door. This one wasn’t a bulkhead, and they could force it open easily enough without wasting any time trying to pick the lock. Instead, the next challenge would be what lay on the other side. Peering through the small window into the next part of the carriage, Lisette spied at least a pair of guards standing idly among the crates and suitcases under their watch. Glancing quickly so as to minimize any risk of being spotted, she noted the sidearms that both of them had strapped to their waists. Something about the weapons looked strange, but she supposed that she could hardly be surprised that guns-for-hire would want to customize their tools of the trade.

Pulling away from the window, Lisette lifted two fingers towards Marcy, whispering under her breath. “I’ll force the door open. There’s no way they won’t notice it though, so you’ll have to act quickly to make sure they don’t raise any alarms. Okay?” Marcy gave no answer except for a nod and a tighter grip onto the handle of her parasol.

With the other girl calmly acknowledging the plan, Lisette counted down silently in her head, before putting her strength into pulling the door with enough force to shear its simplistic locks. Even with the sound from the train, there would be no way to hide that sound from the guards, but she had every faith in her partner making quick work of any potential threats to their plan.

Pulling back the tight fitting turtleneck, Mr. Orange let out a low pitched yawn as he circled back from one side of the cart to another. Fifteen minutes prior, most of the team had fallen back closer to the Doctor’s chambers much to his chagrin, this new guy wasn't exactly prime conversation material. Really dampered his mood after an hour of laidback reunions. They had shared a few jokes, a few thoughts, but it tempered out into an uncomfortable lull. The WarWolf Agents had organized the defense of the lower half of the train along-worth, the first cart full of old historical artifacts and more mundane magical artifacts. Though exactly what counted as more mystical was entirely arbitrary, all of this having been determined by straight face technocrats based on eighty year old documents. Regardless of why, this car was more of an eye-sore. Less organized than its two other renovated piers, it contained a random assortment of items, most not even in boxed; instead held back by a bungee rope and sheer faith. The whole operation had struck the agents as half-assed and rushed, the whole mission thrown together in a few days time.

This was no clearer than the powers at be oddly placing a flatcar between the Old Man and the other two, forcing the agents to walk outside in the freezing cold as the train reached speeds of three hundred miles or more. Orange shivered at the thought of being called back there. Sitting down on a stripped bare railseat, the agent looked down at his watch, contemplating how much farther they were from the destination. The other guy took off his coat, his modified pistol brandished on his hip.

Lightly a cigarette in a non-smoking area, Mr. Orange let out another over-dramatic sigh much to the annoyance of the man sitting next to him. The man spoke up, finally taking the hint, “Do you know why the Collector called most of the team back?”

“I don’t know, the Old Fart could have pissed his pants for all I care.” Orange remarked as he took another swig of his cigarette.

“Mhm right…” The agent pulled up his foot and began to pick out some gum that had been stuck at his shoes, “Should we check the other compartment or something?”

“That’s Violet and Gold’s job, not our fault that they got roped into whatever is going on.”

All of this had unfolded in Marcy’s vision as she glanced through the tiny window while Lisette began working on the door. A fairly advantageous battlefield, with enough hazards to give her just the edge she needed to hasten the flow of battle. Granted, all those artifacts dangling about and not-so-safely stored in crates were a double edged sword - all that rusted metal falling to the ground is going to cause some serious noise without a doubt. However, much like Lisette, Marcy figured that their speed was going to be their advantage here, not their silence.

The lady rummaged through her purse and pulled out what seemed to be an electronic cigarette, only to reveal itself as a knife as soon as she pulled it open. As soon as her partner in crime cracked the door open, Marcy opened with the throw of the blade, in the exact same refined form with which Stage Fright terrorized heroes not too long ago. The knife aimed directly at the bungee ropes, seeking to free all the insecurely held trinkets from their suspension and let gravity do its job.

With her parasol in hand and a wicked smile burned onto her face, the villainess lunged forward, running with the speed of a peak athlete - and while it might have seemed that she was armed with nothing but a harmless piece of fashion, a metallic glint reflecting off the lights of the car revealed the deadly blade within it - and she thrust it right towards the first of the Warwolf agents before immediately jumping towards the next.

The hapless agent flopped forward smacking his head against a table as Marcy thrust the blade into his chest. Orange with his legs outstretched on the table was in no better position for this sudden barrage; artifacts strung about fell, a few broke on impact, other’s clanged and smacked against the floor. Orange himself fell, taking one slash before catching her thrust. He laid there, using the entirety of his strength to keep that blade as far he could away from him. “Hey, Hey! Let’s talk about this!” Only mere moments ago he was nodding off, now his body was entering fight or flight.

“Sure, if you have a preferred method of death,” Marcy responded bluntly, smirking. More and more of her magical spell’s prowess was being directed towards her arm - the hand and fingers were rapidly hardening, their push gaining more and more against Orange’s resistance.

The knife drew ever closer to his neck, his options were getting fewer by the minute. His eyes darted around the room, not much to go off of but there were a few items within arms reach. It’s crate had cracked after other artifacts had fallen onto it, a gold tinted vase rolled into view. Covered in glyphs, this priceless relic would have been renowned by many a scholars and archaeologists for its pristine craftsmanship and levant origins; instead it would be used by a guy to bludgeon a teenager. He let free one of his hands to grab it and began to repeatedly smash it against her temple.

Marcy didn’t even flinch, merely winked and moved the beak of her baseball cap back to its rightful place.

It was pressing against his collarbone now. Gritting his teeth, “Kill this bitch.” He shouted in desperation toward a figure behind her.

The agent rose behind Marcy, a little dazed from the head concussion but nonetheless physically fine, his armor having caught the thrust. A relieved sigh nearly escaped from his lips as he thanked God for the blade resistant layer tucked beneath his shirt.

“Hurry and shoot her you Moron!” Orange demanded, knocking the other agent from his daze and back into the pressing situation at hand.

The man nodded at his comrade, regaining his senses as he reached into his coat to reveal a suppressed submachine gun. Marcy glanced over her shoulder, the sight of the fully armed and loaded weapon pointed at her getting her heart to skip a beat, but not to break her confident visage. Instead, the girl raised a signal with her free left hand, a thumbs-up. A look of confusion flashed across the shooter’s features, but he was too well trained to even think about hesitating when he had a clear shot. His finger had just started depressing the trigger when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. The threads darted through the air before wrapping around the machine gun’s barrel. In an instant, they had constricted and crushed the hollow metal cylinder beneath their superhuman force. Unable to even react with surprise, the mercenary’s finger continued to squeeze on the trigger, causing the firing pin to trigger the small detonation that would send the first round flying towards its target. Except now it couldn’t even leave the barrel.

The weapon exploded with a blast. The trapped gasses had been left with nowhere to go, and the sudden increase in pressure was more than the already damaged barrel was ever designed to take. Immediately, the agent’s eyes burst open as a shot of pain tore through his arm. Dropping his gun, he instinctively clutched his bloodied hand as he cried out.

“Oh, fuck!” He screamed, shock etched into his features as his stomach twisted at the almost unrecognisable sight of his own limb. Twisting his head around, he saw another girl standing in the doorway of the carriage, the threads calmly retracting back into her fingertips. Marionette made a show of offering the man a false look of pity.

“Aw, you were really close to having the drop on her, you know. If your friend hadn’t given you away, you might have actually been able to get away with it.” The girl’s smile quickly turned sinister as her threads once again began to spread out from her hands. “I’d say you might have better luck next time, but we’re on a bit of a tight schedule. Are you ready to wrap this up, Changeling?”

Marcy and Orange had been watching the clash between Lisette and the other agent, but as soon as he went down, the villainess stopped playing with her own opponent as well - with a sudden, superpowered swing, she ripped her parasol out of the Warwolf agent’s grip. A spin and an equally swift slash across the air managed to get to her target - the neck, which the blade cleanly split open.

“...yes, of course,” she calmly replied, taking a deep, satisfied breath through her teeth as she watched the results of her strike, stemming the flood of adrenaline before it could overtake her in a trance. Calming herself down before she could take it any further, Marcy turned back towards her comrade, and made a brief fake curtsy.

“The floor is yours, Miss Marionette.”

As he clutched the twisted remnants of his hand, the agent at Marionette’s feet felt his heart sink at the villains’ words. His eyes widening in fear as the parasol-wielding maniac calmly bowed towards her partner, the agent desperately tried to think of some way to get himself out of this situation. “W-wait!” Ignoring the pain shooting through his arm, Orange scratched his brain for something, anything. “You have to be here for something, right? Something that this old prick was transporting in his collection?”

Lisette’s thread had been moving towards the man’s neck, ready to slice through his throat with a flick of her finger. But it paused its sinister motions at his words. His heart missing a beat as he noticed the hesitation, the man didn’t wait to continue to try and plead his case.

“Look, I’m just here for the work - but I don’t want to die for this old shit. I have access to the rest of the carriages, yeah? I could get you in there more quickly if you need me to, and…” A lightbulb lit inside the man’s head. “...and I can help you find what it is you want!” He nodded his head towards the crumpled corpse before Marcy. “If you check his pocket, he should have a tablet that I can sign into. It has the whole inventory listed there.”

Looking up to meet Marcy’s eyes, Lisette didn’t respond at first. After considering the man’s offer, she offered her partner a simple shrug. It wasn’t a bad offer, really. Their initial preparation had included narrowing down the artifact’s location to a particular carriage, but this would definitely allow them to move more quickly. And besides, Lisette’s look conveyed, they could just as easily kill him later.

As Marcy responded with a typically curt nod, Lisette offered the man a grin as she retracted her threads. “Alright, I suppose I can’t argue with that.” She winked at him. “But try anything, and we’ll gut you before you even have a chance to scream. ‘Kay?”

Marcy had already begun to search the body, quickly finding the locked tablet that the man had been talking about and effortlessly tossing it aside towards Marionette, who placed it on the floor for the man to use with his good hand. Ignoring the sweat that was pooling on his forehead, the man rested his thumb on the scanner and nearly sighed with relief as he saw that his credentials were good even for his companion’s device. “Alright, I’m in. What is it that you guys are looking for, exactly?”

---

Stepping past crates, chests, and containers alike, the two villainesses followed their captive agent, as he led them around, back to the cargo car through which they arrived. Tasked with making sure that their “guide” does exactly what he needs to do and doesn’t get any funny ideas, Marcy walked right beside him - with a wet napkin, she was slowly cleaning her hidden blade, making sure its tip was pointed towards the agent.

Until the man finally stopped, getting the trio to halt. Marcy glanced over at his tablet - to her slight surprise, he led them exactly where they wanted to. Perhaps the two girls overestimated Warwolf and their discipline in the face of fear.

“Here we are, miss,” she stated. Before them was a crate like any other, but one which presumably held the reason why they were here raising a fuss in the first place.

Lisette couldn’t hide her giddiness as she hopped up to the crate. With a glimmer in her eyes, she didn’t waste a second before extending her threads through the nearly non-existent seam between the crate’s body and lid. Severing whatever locking mechanism or constraints were sealing the box shut in an instant, the girl eagerly ripped off the lid to reveal the carefully padded interior. Reaching inside the crate to gingerly rustle around to locate its contents, Lisette removed a golden orb, which was a little larger than her closed fist.

A complex set of patterned grooves marred the pristine, and yet aged, metallic surface of the artifact, and the villainess held it up to admire it in the palm of her hand. Slowly, a wide grin stretched itself across her features as she felt a surge of triumph rising in her chest.

And then, the sound of someone clearing their throat tore Lisette from her reverie.

“So, what is it, anyway?” The voice came from the hired gun that the pair of villains had been dragging with them. He tried to speak with a degree of confidence, trying to mask his growing desperation beneath an innocently curious smile. Drawing attention to himself by speaking up was a risk, but he was running out of time before one of these crazies decided that he’d outlived his usefulness. And if there was one thing he’d at least heard about Marionette, it was that she might be liable to running her mouth. If he could get her to at least do that, then it would at the very least give him some more time to come up with a plan. “It must be important for you two to come all this way for it.”

Turning to look at the mercenary, Lisette initially looked surprised to see that he was even still there. Truthfully, she’d nearly forgotten that their quiet prisoner had been standing just behind her this whole time, so eager she’d been to get to their prize. Stealing a glance with Marcy, the villainess cracked her lips into a grin as a smug air of confidence washed over her. She wasn’t stupid, but she couldn’t deny that the opportunity for a genuine villain monologue was hard to pass up. She put on her best, most triumphant voice.

“Oh, this? It’s an ancient artifact, imbued with ancient magic - some say that its origins lie in the halls of Samarkand itself. With it, its wielder can cross any distance they wish in an instant, simply by willing it.” Lisette’s smile had steadily turned sinister. “Nowhere would be safe from Changeling and Marionette now that we have this. No bank, no figure of power, no vault would be out of our reach. And if some heroes ever tried to rush to stop us? Well, we’d be long gone before they even arrived.”

Moving so that she stood beside Changeling, Lisette lifted the orb higher into the air. “Now, I’d just love to tell you more - but I’m afraid that it’s time for us to be on our way.” She offered Marcy a slight nod. Originally, she’d intended to simply kill the guy when he’d led them to the artifact. But the more that she thought about it, the more that she realised how lame it’d be if they didn’t leave anyone to recount the story of their grand heist: the origin story of the fearsome Changeling and Marionette. She offered the man a sly wink before she focused her concentration on their prize, tingling with the knowledge of the unstoppable power that she and her partner now had at their disposal. She centred her thoughts on her desired destination, waiting for the sight of the train to vanish from around Marcy and her.

But steadily, the seconds of silence after her speech continued to pass. Lisette continued to hold her dramatic pose, until her expression of triumphant began to waver. The uneventful pause soon moved into awkwardness, and the girl’s initial excitement began to give way to confusion. Frowning, she glanced around to see that they were still standing in the middle of a train carriage heading towards San Francisco. “What the hell?” She muttered.

Standing beside the other girl, Marcy silently frowned at the unexpected turn of events. “Miss Marionette, is everything okay?”

Shaking the orb in frustration, as if doing so would jolt it into life, Lisette didn’t immediately reply. “I...I don’t know. I thought there’d be a flash of light or something, you know?” Moving the orb closer to her face as if to study it more closely, she mumbled in confusion. “I don’t get it.”

Shifting uneasily, Marcy stepped closer to her mistress as she tried to make herself useful. “Perhaps there is a spell that goes with the artifact? Some kind of a ritual that activates it.” Already, she began reaching for the artifact - her studies under the Thirteen Points Church did not include handling artifacts, sure, but she figured that she could figure something out regardless.

Lisette immediately grimaced at the other girl’s words, but she shook her head, getting Marcy to withdraw her hand. “No way! The texts that I found explicitly said that the old farts would just ‘will’ themselves to their destination and this stupid snow-globe would do the rest.” However, doubts quickly set in. “Although...I guess I only managed to find, uh, partial extracts from the text. Bits of the synopsis, I suppose. But you’d think they’d put something like that at the freakin’ start!” Thinking it over, Lisette steadily realised that Marcy was almost certainly right. She’d missed something. Something big. And without it, they may as well have done all of this to steal a glorified paperweight.

“SHIT!” She screamed, throwing the orb at one of the shelves that lined the side of the carriage. It knocked over a bunch of smaller boxes in the process, sending old trinkets and antiques tumbling to the floor with the sound of shattering glass. But much to Lisette’s frustration, it seemed to do no damage to the golden orb which simply rolled back to a stop at her feet. Offering the sphere a twisted scowl, Lisette was about to lash out once more when Marcy’s voice interrupted her.

“Um, Li-Miss Marionette..?”

Glancing up, Lisette noticed that the other girl’s eyes were looking past her. Following her partner’s gaze, she turned back towards the shelf that she’d struck with the orb. Lying shattered on the floor was a small mirror, its gem encrusted frame broken beyond repair by its fall. It was surely irreplaceable, and probably worth a small fortune to some stupid collector, but the trio’s attention was focused less on the ruins on the floor, and more by the sinister cloud of sickeningly green smoke that seemed to be rising into the air above it.

Moving with an unnatural intelligence, the cloud seemed to shift and convulse as it was freed from the confines of the mirror. It hung there for a few moments, until the mercenary saw his chance to make a move and he turned to bolt for the exit while the two villains were distracted. He didn’t get far though, except it wasn’t Marcy or Lisette that moved fast enough to stop him. Instead, the cloud suddenly darted towards him and forced its way into his mouth. The billowing smoke didn’t stop there though, flowing through the air and along the floor with a singular purpose as it raced down the carriage towards the rest of the train. Mr. Orange clutched at his throat as he gasped for air, his eyes bulging in his head as his body seemed to convulse uncontrollably. A look of fear was etched into his features as his skin seemed to weather and age, his eyes glazing over.

Reacting quickly, Marcy stepped in front of Lisette. In a single fluid movement, she swung her parasol-blade through the man’s neck. His head rolled onto the floor, with his headless body crumpling down immediately afterwards. The gas that had been released from the mirror was swirled around the corpse. Lisette frowned at the sight, tilting her in curiosity as she watched the cloud shift and shiver unnaturally above the floor. Turning her head, she glanced down the carriage towards where the majority of the gas cloud had already moved towards the rest of the train.

“Hey Marcy, what do you think it’s do - hey!” She yelped in surprise as her partner grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her towards the carriage’s exit.

“I’m not sure, Miss. But we shouldn’t wait here to find out, I doubt that our actions will remain unnoticed for long.”

[Absolon-7]

DELETED

[Finland SSR]

November 19th

---

Shihong Smith

Casimir and Viviana November 19th

---

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

The numerical advantage which the Young Bloods had in the lobby swiftly ended up erased - Colonel Aguinaldo, using his powers, duplicated himself over and over, turning himself into an entire squad of self-multiplying clones. So, the teens had to rely on their power instead - already, Casimir was tearing through the clones, smashing one into goo after another.

Renata glanced over to Mizu and raised her finger - her friend got the signal and snapped her fingers, cloaking them both with an illusion. As soon as four of the Aguinaldo clones lunged towards Icarus, she charged forward herself, building up a blast of plasma between her fingers, and becoming visible once more right in front of one of the clones. The blast detonated straight in the clone's neck, exploding the upper half of its body in the same messy goo.

"Think you guys can take down the rest?" the girl called out as soon as she backed away, gathering more plasma blasts in her palms in case she needs them.

Up the stairs, after a rough landing, the original Colonel got suddenly flung back by a powerful jolt of electricity, and then braced himself for one strike after another. The little heroine packed more of a punch than he anticipated - after several fire-infused punches and kicks, he finally hit one of the walls of the stairwell with his back.

Breathing through gritted teeth, Aguinaldo glared at Shi and pulled out the pistol attached to his belt. It was a last resort, he came here not expecting to kill anybody, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

[The Templar High Council]

November 14th

---

---

"Ya got that right. Never a dull moment!" The pink-haired girl said with a chuckle in response to Zoe's words. She wasn't sure what to make of her comment abut their time together since her relationship with Mars was the only real dating experience she had, but she decided not to think much of it.

"Oooh, the tournament! I've heard about that from the others. Sounded like ya guys had a pretty fun time there!" Kiris spoke afterwards upon hearing the redhead mention the NASL tournament the team had participated in during September. Ava had been the first to tell her about it but Mars and others had filled in some of the missing details. And while much of the tournament and the events surrounding it seemed like a lot of fun indeed, there were other parts that were decidedly less fun, which made her amend her earlier statement. "Um, well, I guess it was a pretty intense time, but it probably wasn't fun getting hurt in the matches. Or dealing with the villains when they showed up..."

The part about Dark Star and her cronies was probably the most worrisome part of that whole ordeal, though thankfully everyone who was injured during that had recovered shortly afterwards. Still, it was probably best not to focus on that. With that in mind, the alien quickly perked up. "But those big flashy battles with two teams working together must've been quite a sight! Wish I could've been here for that." She said. "Did ya fight in the matches too?"

Zoe Foster - Impulse
Wonder Tower, San Diego
November 14th

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn't say it was a great time." Zoe paused momentarily as she recalled the events from months ago. Wow, has it really only been two months? "It was... an experience. It put things in perspective. And I guess it brought me here too. I first met some of the people from here at an arcade in New York, and that was actually pretty fun. I think Naja took everyone out the night before the tournament started to try and take it easy and relax.

"I didn't participate in any of the scheduled matches, but there was an unexpected 'exhibition' fight for me that didn't involve any villains. Turned out Kylie and Captain Quake arranged a fight between me and Icarus, who had like just joined the LA Stars at the time. Who I also just met that week, but he turned out to be a pretty cool guy. He won, but it was super close and also my first time so I can't really be mad, y'know? So to make a long story short: yes, but also not really." She took a deep breath after her long-winded answer, and followed it with yet another handful of trail mix. "Might as well ask, what were you during that time? All I heard was that you were out of town or went home, something to that effect."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

November 14th

---

---

Kiris listened attentively as Zoe talked about her time at the tournament, offering a few more details to the fragmentary picture that the Hadrian girl had of the big event. Hearing that the team went out to have fun on the city before the tournament proper started added just a little bit to her already growing disappointment that she'd missed the whole thing, but it was nice to hear that the team had a good time, before the villains showed up anyway. She tilted her head when the redhead mentioned an exhibition match she had against one Icarus - the name rang a bell, but she couldn't quite figure out why it seemed so familiar. In any case, she was sure he must've been strong to have beat Zoe... not that she knew much about her powers or fighting prowess.

"Oh, um, it's a bit of a long story." The pink-haired girl responded with a sheepish smile as her new friend asked about her time in Adai. "I went back to my planet. A lot of stuff had happened in just a few weeks that left me a little shell-shocked, and I was kinda scared that I might end up hurtin' the team or civilians so I decided to ask my sister to take me back and see if anyone there could help." She explained, doing her best to go light on details so as to not stall the conversation. "A lot of stuff happened there and my initial reason for goin' kinda fell off to the side, but the trip still helped me and now I'm here, better than ever!" She concluded proudly, with a big smile on her face.

"I can tell ya more about it later if ya want, but some of the details might be, um, a little depressin' for a birthday party." She added afterwards.

Before she could say anything more, and before Zoe could reply, something caught Kiris' attention. Viviana and Mars stood together by the entrance to the room, the former holding some sort of colorful solar effigy with some mechanical parts, while the latter called for everyone's attention and announced that they would be participating in a peculiar human birthday ceremony. She was very curious about it from the start, and hearing about the detail of it left her fascinated, so she quickly stood up from her seat, glancing back at Zoe.

"Let's go!" She said excitedly before taking off, trailing behind her boyfriend and Viviana.

---

"HAA!"

The shout came from a blindfolded Hadrian girl, trying against all odds to track down and destroy the rocket-powered solar effigy her love had created for the celebration. In her hands she wielded a wooden stick with streamers glued to one of the ends, and though none could see it, her eyes burned with determination. Her shout was accompanied by a mighty leap into the air as she tried to smash the sun and send it back to the ground, where it would be easier to crush. It was to no avail, however, as while she felt the heat from the rockets, she never felt the stick connect.

"I'll get ya with the next one ya dumb star!" Kiris clamored after gracefully landing. Though she could not see where the figure moved, for she could not use her eyes, the rest of her senses were sharper than ever and helped her track it down, from the sound of the rocket engines that propelled it to the smell of burning fuel and the temperature that rose whenever she got close enough to it. The challenge was very stimulating, in a way she had not experienced since the days she went on hunting trips with her sister and their older cousins, and as a result, she had slipped back into a similar mindset - she wasn't simply a girl at a birthday party trying to get candy, she was a huntress, and the piñata was her elusive prey.

Using her keen sense of hearing to guide herself, she began running towards her target once more, enjoying the feeling of the grass underneath her feet and the breeze that caressed her hair. It was floating in the air a ways away from her, but that was no challenge for one such as her, and she leaped into the air once more, swinging her weapon with incredible speed and strength. The effigy had already begun to move away, but unlike before, it was caught by the very tip of the wooden stick and sent barreling away, momentarily out of control. Sensing an opportunity, Kirisvala broke into a sprint as soon as she landed and pounced on the solar figure. But it changed directions at the last minute, and the girl's weapon merely struck the soil.

"You're running out of time Kiris!" The pink-haired girl heard Viviana's voice say.

"What? No! I've only hit it twice!" She hastily replied. She had managed to hit it once earlier, before this latest success, but the effigy was remarkably sturdy for something made out of papier-màché and streamers, and her glancing blows had only managed to soften it a little.

Annoyed with her lack of success in putting down the sun, she redoubled her efforts, using what she had learned to better predict its movements - whoever was controlling it had been causing it to move in set patterns that she had gotten accustomed to by this point, and so she managed to be one step ahead and deal another glancing blow to the piñata. This time, however, rather than let up the assault or try to catch up and risk it getting away, she hurled her weapon forward with all of her might, hoping it would connect and finish off her prey.

"Time!" Viviana shouted, the time limit reached. Kiris' disappointment was palpable, but then she heard the sound of a piece of wood striking metal, meaning that her desperate attack had connected. Excitedly, she took off the blindfold and then looked at the piñata - it was still in working order, but it had a nasty dent on one of its sides, and the metal of one of the rockets that made it fly around was also badly damaged.

She hadn't managed to destroy it, but it wasn't a complete loss, especially considering this was her first time.

"That was fun!" The girl commented with a smile as she walked back and handed the blindfold back to Viviana so that she could put it on whoever was next.

"Not bad. Maybe ya haven't completely forgotten how to hunt." Seristella remarked as she walked up to her sister and ruffled her hair, having previously watched her partake in the ceremony from the sidelines. It as an odd tradition to say the least, but it seemed harmless and Kiris had fun with it, which was all that mattered. "Nice throw there at the end, that would've put down most things."

The younger Hadrian chuckled at her sister's words. "Thanks sis!" She said with a grin.

"What about the..." Torvalt spoke up as he trailed behind Seris, though he seemed to trail off for a moment as he searched for the right word. "...Swatter?"

"Oh, right!" Recalling that she hadn't fetched the stick used to attack the solar effigy, she let out a soft whistle. After a moment, a familiar azure wolf appeared next to her in a flash of blue light. She barked out a few instructions in her native tongue, and the wolf disappeared, only to return few seconds later in the same mystical fashion, now bearing the ceremonial sun-destroying stick in its mouth. Kiris took it and then tenderly stroked the creature's fur. "Thanks Korin, you're such a good friend." She said. Turning to look at the rest of the team - or those who were present, at least - she held up the stick.

"So who's next?"

---

November 19th

---

---

---

As expected, Casimir didn't delay in heading over to fight the two clones that remained - but due to their pesky replication ability, their numbers quickly grew and while three engaged the insect hero in combat, four more turned their attention to him. Icarus did not hesitate and began charging at the copies as well. His girlfriend seemed to jump into action as well, blasting one of the clones apart, leaving only three for him to deal with.

"Of course I can deal with them!" He spoke up in response to Renata as he approached the nearest copy. The energy that formed the bladed gauntlet he had used to take out one of the copies earlier was swiftly repurposed, transforming instead into a large war hammer that he swing horizontally with all of his power. The sheer force of the blow sent the false soldier flying at the wall, where he became a stain, a bundle of biomass splattered against the wall. Seeing two of their comrades be dealt with back to back, one of the clones opted to stay behind and begin producing more of his kind, while the other continued heading towards Icarus, producing a single blob of biomass from which another copy arose.

The two attacked Icarus in tandem, but the blond boy remained undaunted. His hammer quickly became two swords, which he used with surprising skill as he stabbed and slashed at the clones. They were remarkably agile and adept at combat, which allowed them to dodge several slashes, but Icarus was not one to give up easily. Using a burst of speed, he charged at one and thrust both blades into his chest, causing him to revert to its previous state. Without missing a beat, he tossed both swords at the other clone. He was hit and, like his ally, turned back into a small flesh-colored blob.

Using his power over his constructs, he recalled the swords and turned back to look at the remaining clone. As it had been replicating itself, however, Icarus found that he stared not at one, but nine copies. All of them immediately rushed him, attempting to take him out by attacking in sync overwhelming him with numbers. It was not an unsound plan - many of the Young Bloods would likely be unable to react to such an offensive.

He was not one of them, however. Seeing the impending threat, the electric hero called forth all of the energy within his portable batteries, and some from within. The purple markings across his body, concealed by his shirt but visible on his face and arms, glowed brightly as he harnessed all of this power and created a myriad construct arms to block the clones' attacks and immobilize them all, turning them into sitting ducks.

"Someone finish them off!" He called out to the others.

---

---

When Wyatt asked the others for a plan to deal with the replicating menace, Kirisvala did not respond. This was not because she had no plan, however, or because it was not one she wanted to share. Rather, she did not respond because she was reciting one of her ancient spellsongs.

Earlier, after taking out the first clone and defiantly staring down the ones that remained, she had been prepared for a physical confrontation. But seeing Wyatt quickly move to engage them, she opted instead to adopt a more supportive role in the battle, and began singing the chorus of crystal. Though the clones' numbers continued to increase, if she could immobilize or imprison them, then they wouldn't be able to continue fighting.

Shortly after the Dra'Qunni boy had finished speaking, Kirisvala's spellsong reached its crescendo and began to exert its effect on reality. Large crystal walls began to rise up around the three clones, trapping them together. In a last ditch effort to continue the fight, they began trying to toss globs of biomass at the stairs beyond the white crystal walls, but every time a jagged spike suddenly shot out from the walls, impaling the blobs and thus preventing them from serving their intended purpose. After a few moments, the space above the copies was blocked off altogether, leaving all three of them - and whatever clones they had created - imprisoned and unable to harm anyone or continue being a pain to deal with.

The song finished, and the Hadrian heroine turned to look at her teammate with a grin on her face. "Ya wanted a way to stop them, ya got it!"

[North America Inc]

-snip-

Shihong Smith

---

Even as the man stood up, she gave him no room to breathe. Swiping at his knees to keep him stationary, following with a few more towards his neck and chest. For a brief moment, the man was able to keep up ever so much after regaining his composure. He himself had all the agility and strength of his clones; a fact that Shi had learned with passive glances to her periphery, having wondered where the rest of her team had gone off too. Well it was a null point regardless, for the masses of copies he had at his disposal, he was alone with her. No one, not even himself, could save him. After the fourth concussive attack towards his breathing pipe, the man's defenses completely collapsed. She took her time, letting him throw in the odd punch before punishing him intensely with a more precise strike. A charade, she knew she shouldn't play with her food, but as long as she kept the act modest no one would suspect that she could of ended the fight an odd thirty seconds back.

With the sounds of the clones becoming louder by the moment, she knew that this play had reached its end. Taking a few steps back, she unleashed she pounded him with one large strike; he flew up the stairs, smacking against the wall behind, and leaving a nasty dent on the drywall. He was heaving now, his uniform now a singed mess though his person had very little in regards to actual burns. He was lucky that she had learn to extinguish fires at the point in impact, third degree burns rarely played with the focus groups. With a hand on the rail, she made her upstairs to meet him, a pistol now brandished in his hands.

"Huh hu-...huh." He was exhaling way too loud for her to make out what he was saying. But she could guess. With his left wrist broken, he struggled to even pull the hammer back, trying desperately in vain to tug it with his arm. As the sound finally clicked, she quickly rushed him and twisted it out of his grip. His finger caught on the trigger, twisted along with it; had he been able to feel it through the adrenaline, it would of been quiet painful.

"You know..." Discharging the magazine onto the floor before doing to the one in the chamber, "...next time you plan on kidnapping a Dictator's daughter, try to bring more men." She looked up to see Wyatt and Kiris effortlessly fighting off the onslaught of clones, "It would made for a more entertaining fight." Pistol whipping his temple, the man instantly fell down unconscious. The clones expressing the same look of disbelief as he did, before disintegrating in front of the rest of the team. Shi stood over him, Wyatt making his way down to restrain him.

[Finland SSR]

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Once Aguinaldo was knocked out and his clones dissolved one after the other, the immediate thread receded, and so Renata ran outside, where Mars had left the lobby clerk to keep him away from the danger. Already, as she came closer, the clerk arose back to his feet, immediately tensing up when he saw the pink-haired girl approach.

"Miss Martinez! Is everything alright?" he called out. Renata glanced back towards the lobby and her teammates there, then replied:

"It is now. Don't worry, we dealt with the super and his soldiers," The news got the man to take an easier breath, he stepped forward and made his way past Renata, back into the hotel. Renata, meanwhile, continued speaking. "Do you know what happened here, sir? What did they need me for?"

The clerk did not pay attention to her initially, immediately making his way to the desk. "I have to get all the clients to evacuate, immediately - who knows how long I have before they send more of them to pay me a visit..."

"Who is sending soldiers? For what?"

The clerk opened his mouth and was about to respond, before he was responded by a sudden chirp. It came from Renata's phone - and soon it would come from any other devices which could connect to the mobile network. Their screen would be overtaken by black, before a voice began to speak from all of them.

---

"I speak to the citizens of Quito."

The Quito National Radio, TV and Communications Tower, towering above all other buildings in the city, was now occupied by several soldiers in uniform, holding the workers of the state broadcasting corporation at gunpoint to make sure the service does exactly as told. At the seat where the radio show host would usually sit, before the microphone, a bearded man in heavy power armor sat. A general's insignia was attached to his shoulders and his voice could not be heard to thousands of people across the city.

"The sons and daughters of Ecuador, having finally realized that the bloodthirsty Martinez's regime has only brought ruin and terror to the country, have finally chosen to take matters to their own hands and act. The situation in Quito is currently under control, martial law is instituted across the city until further notice, and all citizens are required to remain at their duties. Please stay at your homes and remain calm. Any signs of sabotage or rebellion will be dealt with without hesitation."

Smiling faintly, the commander finished his speech. "This has been General Xavier Torres, the leader of a nation which has finally chosen to resist. Stay calm, and long live Ecuador."

The signal went down once again. Satisfied, General Torres rose from his seat, immediately approached by several of his lieutenants, each one armored as well. Truth be told, when he first decided to go with this reckless plan, he couldn't have imagined that they all would be clad in some of the most advanced technology Earth has available - but ever since they made their first contact with Lycan, such nigh-divine bounties came one after another. Ecuadorian technology was hardly much worse, sure, but it was harder to safely get access to in all the plotting.

"What now, Caudillo?" one of the General's lieutenants spoke up as their commanding officer walked past, and they received an answer:

"The Carondelet Palace still hasn't cracked, has it? Well, I suppose it is time to try our new gadgets against the Condors themselves."

---

The transmission from the radio tower served as a call for the Anticondoristas to rise to action once again. One way or another, Amadeo and Miguel made contact with the rest of their fellow partisans scattered across the city - stumbling across them hiding on the streets or catching them in designated meeting spots, above all else. Nobody of them knew what they should do, either, the coup in Quito caught them completely unprepared.

The end of the transmission put an idea in Amadeo's head, and as he, Miguel, and a few of his fellow resistance fighters stayed by the side of an inconspicuous construction site not far from the tower, the Hadrian suddenly spoke up:

"I have a feeling that General Torres himself was there, in the tower. Which means that if there's going to be a lot of people leaving the Tower right now..." As he spoke, armored personnel carriers drove past them, stopping by the site of the tower, as several heavily armored soldiers made their way out of the tower inside. "...they're heading somewhere. They want to reassure the people that the situation is under control while they fight off against Martinez's forces, and so, by the time they're finished, any resistance is pointless. Which means, while they're fighting, the Tower will be lightly defended and..."

"We should try to capture it now." Miguel responded.

"Best chance we have to send a message to the world, I think."

"We're way over our heads here..."

---

So it really was a coup d'etat.

Renata listened to the message coming from her phone in silence - the voice she heard was familiar, but she only came to realize who was speaking when the General gave his name. In the past decade or so, General Xavier Torres has been an important player in Ecuador's political games, an influential commander within the Army despite a lack of superhuman powers - and yet, despite being named as a possible successor to her father by Western politologists who didn't know any better, he was mostly an enigma. Renata only got to see him in person once or twice.

To see him lead a coup was... not the most unexpected thing in the world, but still shocking. The hotel clerk, having understood that he no longer needs to detail the situation, folded his hands, struck a solemn frown and spoke up:

"Your father is in the Carondelet Palace, alongside the rest of the Condors, barricaded there. At least that's what I heard from a friend in the National Assembly before the wires got cut. I don't know how long they'll hold out, but Torres and his putschists seem to have drawn a lot of the military to their side, so... it won't be forever."

"He's in danger." Renata mumbled under her breath, then suddenly called out. "We have to go help him!" The clerk she yelled at stayed silent, so Renata turned towards her teammates instead - then, however, she froze instead of repeating herself. The realization caught up to her - she was about to involve her friends from the States into political games they never should have touched, or even been aware of.

"I can make sure your friends get out of the city while they can - it's only fair, they quite likely just saved my life," the clerk spoke up again. "I'm in charge of the hotel grounds for the night and there's several company cars in our garage - buses and trucks as well. Torres's men have locked down the streets, but they can't be anywhere at once, and I've heard you Young Bloods are crafty enough to slip by them to the road to Guayaquil. There, you should be able to find a way to get back to the States."

Trying to suppress a conflux of feelings in her mind - frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, all washing over her at once - Renata sighed and muttered:

"...I'm sorry, guys. I'm so sorry. I... thought this would just be a peaceful vacation, a chance to have a rest after all that happened, but all I did was make things worse..." Her voice was cracking and trembling. "I understand if you will just take the bus home, but I'm going to go there, to help my dad, and I hope you guys can join me too."

[New Neros]

October 31st

Mika, Astrid, and Ash

Ava

The continuous barrage of insults stabbed the young heroines' heart directly, having loved the costume she picked out and worn when she was a kid "But..." She said quietly, "It's so cute though..." Her words trailed off, snatching the wine bottle away from whomever it had fell to and drank a dizzying amount, exhaling deeply as she wiped the hurt-go-away juice from the corners of her mouth. "Maybe I'll get a grape costume instead." Ava rolled her shoulders and tilted her head side to side, her cheeks flushed and breathing becoming regulated and manual.

"Oh man, that was a bit much." She thought, shuffling into the back seat and unceremoniously taking off the green leaf hat she had on. "That Lighthouse sounds cool as hell, I've only heard moans like that on the internet." She said after collecting her words because she didn't want to sound tipsy just yet. She then slid her arms into her little strawberry costume and shuffled out of her by pulling it over her head, asking all the while, "So what kind of cool, edgy, angsty costume should I get? Thanks for the offer, but I have some money from my folks." Cutting her eyes out the window as Mika drove towards the city lights, "And some I borrowed from Mark."

[The Republic of Atria]

Kiris

Shi

Just as he was about to head down the stairs to deal with the rest of the clones, Kiris starting to do one of her songs, which wound up solidifying pretty much every single clone in a large chunk of crystal. He wondered if it was a long term thing and how it would get cleaned up for a moment before speaking. "Huh. That works too. You've really gotten much better at that." He said and turned to see Shi had already disarmed the Colonel and taken his gun. "You know, maybe I should've stayed in the lobby. Seems like you two had this under control, but just to be save."

He did feel a little bad about what was, technically, vandalism, but it was preferable to letting a presumed high ranking, superhuman member of a coup chase them down. He managed to hear Shi dressing the guy down about it and he nodded as she moved out of the way for him. "I don't even know if this is gonna be good enough to hold you, but." He said, grabbing the gun Shi took from him in one hand and crumpled it like a paper ball and discarded it in much the same way. "I would avoid chasing any us down. That includes Renata." He said, coiling the metal railing around the man.

"Great work Princess. You think we should check on the others?"

[Absolon-7]

DELETED

[Tomia]

"...I'm sorry, guys. I'm so sorry. I... thought this would just be a peaceful vacation, a chance to have a rest after all that happened, but all I did was make things worse..." Her voice was cracking and trembling. "I understand if you will just take the bus home, but I'm going to go there, to help my dad, and I hope you guys can join me too."

With the attack over, it was clear that the trouble was far from finished. A broadcast alerted them that a coup was in progress. It seemed like anti super factions in the country were trying to create change by force. Renata was understandably shaken by this. If he was honest, Mars had no idea what to make of the political situation, what was right and what was wrong for Ecuador. What he did know was very simple, his teammate was asking for help. Mars knew if he wanted to be a leader, it was moments like this that he needed to reach out and show it.

"I'm staying." Mars said in as firm a tone as he could muster. "We all should. Look I know this isn't the vacation we might have expected, but if we want to be heroes we can't just do it when its convenient. And besides, Renata needs our help. That's all the reason I need. Renata, what's our next step? I want to help, but I have to admit I'm not sure how. Just tell us what you need and we'll back you up."