Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Leo Hanskimida

Leo was able to pushed Floyd away. Unfortunately for him, he managed to get ahold on his torso. An attempt to check for his weaknesses? Couldn't be good for his part. He attempted to make a stand on himself, but it is a little hard with it. Leo was a bit distracted, both by his hunger and by Floyd. Suddenly a swift slash of sword came to him, aimed at his elbow. The sword hit it, and although it grazed Leo, it didn't really grazed deeply. It grazed his elbow, but that's it.

He loudly screamed because of the pain, though the pain is hardly matters at this point. He has no choice, no matter how humiliating this is. He needs to run, and so after that moment happened, he leaped outside, and then he leaped again to the building beside the restaurant, up to the rooftop of that building.

He prepared to run back to his ship.

[Finland SSR]

Leo Hanskimida

Leo was able to pushed Floyd away. Unfortunately for him, he managed to get ahold on his torso. An attempt to check for his weaknesses? Couldn't be good for his part. He attempted to make a stand on himself, but it is a little hard with it. Leo was a bit distracted, both by his hunger and by Floyd. Suddenly a swift slash of sword came to him, aimed at his elbow. The sword hit it, and although it grazed Leo, it didn't really grazed deeply. It grazed his elbow, but that's it.

He loudly screamed because of the pain, though the pain is hardly matters at this point. He has no choice, no matter how humiliating this is. He needs to run, and so after that moment happened, he leaped outside, and then he leaped again to the building beside the restaurant, up to the rooftop of that building.

He prepared to run back to his ship.

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

The strike to the catman's elbow didn't go as deep as Floyd thought, but it accomplished what the swordsman wanted regardless - his opponent roared in pain and backed away. Seeing that he was being overwhelmed in this skirmish - at least that's how Floyd interpreted the reasoning behind his actions - the catman swiftly fled.

Floyd attempted to run after him for the first second, but he stopped as soon as the catman leaped outside. The swordsman had no intention to turn this fight into a cat-and-mouse type of race, so all he did was stop at the window and mutter to himself:

"Oh bollocks. And I forgot to force a name out of this guy, hav'nt I?.. Well that's one prey gone now."

That sure sucks.

[Tomia]

Frost Bite was admittedly slightly amused by Alexis' comments, but said nothing about it and her mask hid the small smile that she couldn't suppress. She shook her head at Alexis' comment. "Freezing it will be difficult. Naja asked for it alive, and it can only be frozen for so long and stay alive. The ice will melt quickly, it's warm out here and this water is a lot warmer than the ice. I can use my ice to stun it and weigh it down, but we'll need another way to knock it out." Frost Bite told her teammate, as she thought about their best options. Meanwhile Casimir showed up and suggested they needed bait. "What kind of bait can we use for a lake monster? I think if we make enough noise, we'll be the bait." She told him as the engine started roaring to life. Once all four of them were in the boat, she started driving forward towards the deep center of the lake. She trusted that that was where this so called monster would likely be. They drove out into the water for about ten minutes or so, Frost Bite was silent for the duration of that time, she wasn't one for idle conversation and she was focusing on listening for noise is the water. Suddenly she heard some loud splashing nearby. She quickly cut the engine and started looking around, but saw nothing in the water. Perplexed, she was about to restart the engine when she heard some kind of scratching noise outside the left side of the boat. She looked over to see a strange creature clawing at the boat, and suddenly it started blowing at it and small icicles started forming around the boat. "Hey stop that!" Angelica shouted, quickly reaching into the water and grabbing the struggling lake creature and putting it into the boat. As she did her best to scrape the ice off the side of the boat she spoke to the group, "If this is what we were supposed to be after I am not going to be happy."

"Nice job Wyatt!" Mars said as he examined his teammate's find. "This meets the description, so I think we've got it." He said, as he looked at what was next. "I'm not sure where any of the rest of these might be, so maybe we should just walk and look around for a little while?" He said as he scanned their nearby surroundings. Suddenly an alarmingly large bug buzzed by them, to Mars it looked like a mix between a mosquito and a dragon fly. It suddenly dove in and bit Mars on the neck. "Ouch!" He shouted, his hand going to his neck, where after a few moments a small but ugly bruise started to form from the bite. "What was th--- oh, I don't feel so good." Mars said, and suddenly his eyes started to lose focus and he had to grab a nearby tree to keep his balance.

Roy nodded at Wendy's suggestion. "You're right, but we do need to make sure we all get there. Well we'll just need to hope Kiris doesn't get lost or distracted." He said with a smile as he lead Wendy towards the cave like entrance to the mountain. The path was narrow but fit them mostly comfortably. The difficulty was however that it was pitch black. Roy had pretty good senses in the dark, but he couldn't outright see in it. "Hey Wendy, any chance you have a flashlight?" He said from in front of her in the single file path. He was stumbling forward for the most part, moving slowly just in case there was a drop off or the tunnel ended for any reason.

[Anxiety Cafe]

On Isla de la Paz

"Yes, she gave us jobs to make meals and firewood collecting," Park answered. "Though, I guess we can start move to the beach and splitting up our job while we are on the way to the beach?"

“For what its worth, I’m not bad at starting fires.” Mike started, and Nathan was glad to see he was back to his normal self “As for setting up camp, let’s see what’s there."

"Well...food shouldn't be a problem. You know, it's a tropical island, bananas, mangoes, coconuts, something like that? Might be some fish in the lagoons and stuff. Anyways, I guess, let's embark on our great firewood collecting adventure!" Carter started, rather hilariously tripping over himself.

They began to divvy up their duties, with Park volunteering to help get animals for food.

"I can help out with gathering food," Nathan started, sighing as they reach the beach. "Not really much I can do without energy anyway. So that leaves firewood for you two!"

He felt a little useless as he began trying to grab fish from the beach, failing miserably each time while Park gathered a pile. Deciding to abandon the fruitless task to join the firewood group, he had an idea.

"Hey Carter!" he yelled, running for their side. "Any chance you could help me out with some energy? Like what you did that fight on Wonder Island, with the air?"

Before his friend had a chance to answer, however, Nathan noticed something strange making its way toward's Park pile of fish. It seemed like almost like a giant...claw! Nathan watched in horror as the claw pinched one of the fish very carefully, with Park's back facing it. It retreated back into the ocean with barely a sound, coming back out soon enough to repeat the process. Nathan almost laughed at the hilariousness of the situation, before stepping back in horror as a second claw rose out of the ocean, then a third, and then a fourth!

"Park!" Nathan yelled, backing away.

Two giant crabs, easily twice as tall as her, climbed out of the frothing sea, their claws making that horrible click sound.

"Carter..." Nathan began. "I could really use that energy now!"

---

On the Algerian Coastline

"I need 14 humans for each week, 2 humans per day," the man answered. "I know, I know, it's hard, it's also very offensive to kidnap people, innocent ones too. But I am trying to make sure I can control this power, this symbiote. And those humans consumption could be very well means less problem for both of us."

Asha was still more than suspicious. She couldn't kidnap two humans everyday, much less innocent ones! Unless...

"What if we get people who are...less than innocent?" she suggested, walking further into his cave. "Convicts? Murderers? Drug lords? Help fix your problem and the world's?"

---

In a McDonald's

Violet nodded as he told the story of his father. She hadn't known he was the son of a criminal, but that actually explained a lot about his awkwardness and tendency towards violence.

"Er, sorry. Come to think of it, I don't know a whole lot about you," Icarus responded to her question, stammering.

She would have laughed at his awkwardness if she thought it wouldn't make him more closed up.

"Well, um, I live with my brother, so not really anything planned. I don't know, I guess I just wanted to relax and have some fun right here in San Diego."

Sighing and stirring her now melted sundae, she joked "We're a couple of boring people, huh?"

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
Somewhere in the Pacific

---

Yoshiro laughed as Alexis whispered her supposed explanation for Frost Bite’s arse-kicking abilities, rolling her eyes at the other girl’s imagination. Although, would it weirder than Wyatt being part of a race of dragon aliens who have been hiding among Earth’s population? The thought gave Yoshiro pause, and her smile wavered ever-so-slightly.

Angelica tensed up slightly at Yoshi’s question about her training, it was subtle, but if one were paying attention they would notice it. “It’s not amazing, trust me.” Angelica said, a bit of sadness in her tone. “Let’s just say I fought a lot as a kid.” She added before walking off at a bit faster of a pace than before.

“Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense.” Yoshiro responded, smiling weakly in an effort to brush aside the awkwardness that now hung in the air. Frost Bite picked up her pace, putting an immediate stop to the fledgling conversation and leaving the empath silently scolding herself.

No, I bet she learned how to fight because she had a very safe and secure childhood which she would just love to relive. And she probably just covers her face because she doesn’t want to run into all the nice friends that she must have – idiot.

Sighing to herself, Yoshiro offered a final stolen glance towards the girl, wondering what her life must have been like in order to create the hard outer shell that she seemed to hide herself behind. It couldn’t hurt to peek. Couldn’t be that hard, like listening in on a conversation from behind a locked door. For a moment, the temptation crept into the telepath’s mind, but Yoshiro crushed it as quickly as it appeared. She’d never deliberately read someone’s mind before, and she’d promised herself that she never would try. All the same, she could still hear the conflicting emotions that often rose and fell in Frost Bite’s head. She knew that it could only help the other girl to open up to the rest of them, especially to Alexis who was trying so hard to be friendly to everyone, but Yoshiro just didn’t know how to convince Frost Bite to give having friends a try.

The rest of the walk to the lake was largely done in silence, broken by a loud whistle from Alexis as the massive lake suddenly burst into view through the undergrowth.

Yoshiro’s eyes widened at the sheer size of the water body. They hadn’t been flying for long enough to get too far from San Francisco, but the island had to be huge to hold a lake like this! Fortunately, there seemed to a boat conveniently waiting for them – a coincidence which caused Yoshiro to raise an eyebrow, especially considering that they’d seen no other sign of habitation up until that point, although she didn’t mention anything to the others. As they all took their places on the boat, she chuckled as the others immediately took the opportunity to goof off – hiding her amusement at Frost Bite’s own efforts at making a joke.

“I don’t know a lot about fishing, but don’t they sometimes use insects as live bait?” Yoshiro looked towards Casimir, not looking forward to their chances if they had to search the entire lake without some way of luring this ‘monster’ out from its depths. Suddenly, the telepath caught herself, recalling her earlier misstep with Frost Bite. “I mean, if you’d be up for it – I don’t know how you feel about sacrificing your insects like that.”

Before the conversation could proceed much further, the boat suddenly slammed to a halt as Frost Bite cut the engine, eliciting a yelp from Yoshiro as she was flung forward in her seat – although fortunately she managed to catch herself before she went over the edge. She was about to ask what had happened when she heard the scratching along the bottom of their hull. The eerie sound sent some of the colour draining from Yoshiro’s face, and she braced herself for whatever may happen next.

“Hey stop that!” Angelica’s shout caught Yoshiro off guard as a series of ice crystals suddenly formed on the edge of the water. The other girl threw her hand into the water and quickly grabbed the strange, unsuspecting creature before tossing it into their boat. It was unlike anything that Yoshiro had ever seen before, almost like a cross between a seal and a deep sea fish. She felt her nerves from earlier melt away at the sight of the small hybrid.

“Oh my God, he’s so cute!” Yoshiro squealed, glancing towards the others with a wide smile. “It’s like one of the baby seals from a zoo exhibit – where do you guys think he came from?”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

Alexis nodded along as Frostbite explained that she couldn't just freeze the lake creature when they found it, for various reasons that all sounded fairly logical. Perhaps if she had been a more powerful cryomancer, she could have pulled it off, but the blonde girl knew she had no right too demand something like that of her; either way, with Casimir's raw muscle, her resourcefulness, Yoshiro's telekinesis and Angelica's power and training, she was sure they could face whatever kind of monster the lake had in store for them and bring it back to Elena alive.

The trip to the center of the lake was quiet enough, and pretty boring, with the young inventor having to resort to checking a few diagrams on her gauntlet's holographic display and planning out a few potential upgrades to her gear, mostly to have something to distract her now and something to work on when the crew returned to the tower.

The way Angelica suddenly stopped the speedboat, however, brought her out of her concentration and made her look around perplexed, hearing the splashing as well. She was fairly confused about the whole thing until Angelica shouted at something and then picked up a small blue water creature that she'd never seen before and placed it on the boat.

While Yoshiro's reaction came fairly quickly and was fairly mild, Alexis' took a couple of seconds to build up, until the blonde finally reached out and picked up the lake creature. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH YOU'RE SO CUTE!" She practically shouted, pulling it close. "What are you talking about Frosty, this is the cutest lake monster I've ever seen! I wanna keep it!" She told Angelica as she hugged and nuzzled the little thing, though she stopped after a moment. "Eww, you're all slimy, but I forgive you, I couldn't ever get mad at something that looks like you!" She stated. Apparently the creature, far from being scared of the four huge things that surrounded it, was pretty content with its treatment, since it let out a couple happy noises and then started blowing bubbles into the air.

"D'awww, you're a happy little boy aren't you?" She said as she pet the creature carefully, avoiding touching the fins on its head. Her smile suddenly disappeared, however, replaced by a curious expression. "...Or are you a girl?" She wondered out loud, raising the blue being into the air and inspecting it for anything ressembling genitals, though she knew she was unlikely to find anything, considering how, despite appearances, this animal was probably a fish.

She didn't get to inspect the creature for very long, though. Suddenly, the water in the lake started moving, softly at first, though the movement quickly became rather violent, rocking the boat and prompting the girl to put down the creature so it would be a little safer. Unfortunately, just then, a powerful wave hit the boat, causing Alexis to lose her footing and stumble back a step, falling down into the lake as a result.

---

---

"I see. That must be... nice." Was the only comment that Icarus made at Violet as she answered his question, explaining that she lived with her brother and didn't have any plans for the summer. The latter part was no different from his own situation, but he could only imagine that the former was probably a lot more fun than having to live with his uncle was for him, or at least less bothersome. Then again, she didn't know what her brother was like at all, so he supposed he couldn't judge like that.

With a small mental shrug, the blond boy dipped one of his french fries into a mound of ketchup and then bit off half of it, while listening to the brunette's remark. A small smile appeared on his face for a moment, though it quickly drifted away, replaced by his usual neutral, slightly harsh-looking expression. "Nothing wrong with that." He stated. "I don't think having a quiet life is something bad. I believe some people might find me interesting, but they're not the sort of people I'd like to associate with." He stated, appearing to stare intensely at his fries before finishing off the one he was holding and picking up another one.

"So... relax and have fun, right? What's fun for you?" He asked, thinking it was a good way to keep the conversation going while he finished eating and she continued playing with her sundae. He saw her often enough that he figured he could stand to learn a little more about her. "I mostly just stay home and read or work on crafting random things. Sometimes I play video games or hang out with friends, but... they've been rather busy this summer, for some reason." He said with a small shrug and waited for her answer.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

And soon enough, they were off.

As much as Carter would've loved to spend all day jumping through treetops for delicious, juicy fruit, with delicate sweetness and that firmness, and that succulent bite that would leave sounds of pleasure gasping out of his....oh god, he needed to stop. The point was, fruit scavenging sounded very fun, but noooo, Nathan and Park just had to run off and collect fish, leaving him and Mike on wood-shop duty.

But it wasn't as bad as he would've thought. Turns out, levitating the wood with air was much much easier than lifting and hauling it, and he could take a nice bundle of it every trip, more than Mike could carry at least. Now that he wasn't focused on lifting his wood, he had time to enjoy the view of the beach and the slowly sinking sun. The almost-white sand, the sea that perfect tinge of teal, the gentle fringe of trees, the bony peak of the mountain rising above it all, the caws of the birds, the tropical fruits, the gentle breeze, the thin wispy clouds, the tropical fruits, the waves crashing the shore, did he mention the tropical fruits yet? Oh and let's not forget about all the wildlife, the bright parrots and macaws, the howler monkeys in the trees, the massive killer crabs....KILLER CRABS?!

Tossing away his planks of firewood with a shriek loud enough to rival Robert Plant, he began to quickly dash towards where Nathan's obviously freaked-out figure was slowly backing away from the massive crabs, big enough to crush his tiny head in one of those pincers. Pulling into his best triple-jump, he let out a scream of: "I'M COMING BABY!!!!!", before scrambling up directly behind Nathan, hands already charging up with the requested energy Nathan needed.

But, he had forgotten about the four or five fish Nathan had collected, and he ended up stepping on a fat, writhing, dorado's head, causing him to take a swan-dive into the sand for the god-knows-how-many-th time today. Instead of hitting the small of Nathan's back and propelling him forward, he missed and hit Nathan's....defecation channel due to his wrist flailing from the impact, and sent him straight up into the air, and he would take a not-so-pleasant skydive into the deadly pincers of the crabs if he didn't do something.

All Carter had to say?

"Oops."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Jonathan Jackson

Jonathan thought hard about it. Innocent ones...that's actually rather working for him. He was able to suppressed the symbiotic emotions inside him, and he had a good time. But those time was the hardest to suppressed, and it was tough for him to controls the symbiotic cells meaningfully. The girl offered convicts, criminals, drug lords. Anyone with the bad side of morality. He never really thought about the possibility of giving in to the dark side, but perhaps, the dark side will offers him the redemption and the control that he needs.

"Agreed," he said, answered the question, the offer. "Yes, let just bring the criminals to me. Convicts, murderers, criminals, anyone who you think is evil enough. I think it will be fine for me, and I hope it is enough for me to control this...power. Oh, by the way, I hope this will be continue for at least two months starting from this month."

---

Park In-hyun

Park was in the beach with the rest of her teammates. She collected food, from the fruits first. But she did realized that many of their meals would need some meats, fishes for the most part. She headed out to the beach soon after. Nathan is...being Nathan, not quite helpful on the fruit part. She pulled out her sword, and with the use of her speed and strength, attempted few times to stabbed the fishes that she noticed. She did get some, which she threw back to the land part of the beach. Until...

"Park!" as Nathan yelled for her. She instinctively turned to the source of the sound, only to saw to her horrifying sight, two giant crabs. She jumped away from their sight back to the land part of the beach. "What are those...giant crabs!?" she yelled at.

"Nathan, some aid to me here!" she called out for Nathan's assistance. She pulled her pistol and fired few rounds to the giant crabs. It clearly hit them, but their shell is just way too tough for her standard bullets. "They have some tough skins. We may be able to hit their shell and break it if we send in huge power of fists!"

---

Akira Yasunaga
San Diego, outside Thomsen High

Akira was here, and he just arrived from Hawaii. Warwolf called for his service here, and just told him to be prepared. He didn't know what, and he certainly didn't ask for more details. Just be prepared, for that matter. He rented a high-rise apartment and put all sorts of his equipment there. In the meantime, he had heard of this wonderful Thomsen High, and he'd like to sight-seeing while here in San Diego.

As of now, he's in the front of Thomsen High, and he sipped his iced coffee as he looked at the academy from the coffee shop he is right now.

---

Somewhere in San Diego...

"So, what happened so far?" asked Inferno, as a group of vampires, rogue faction nowadays, looked on what could be described as a drug manufacturing factory. Inferno, one of the leaders of Hellfire Gang, looked more as a human than the rest of the group. "Well, as a matter of fact, it was apparent that a young girl was sighted on hunting our dealers. Some died, too. The fact that the ones who know of our activity are just us and the good vamps," as he chuckled bitterly, "meant that she is part of those good vamps."

They want to break the masquerade and return to the era of them controlling the humanity. The 15th century was their peak age and era of vampire lords. But then the humans revolted, rebelled, they were put down and had to hide themselves to avoid war. They lost so much and when they have the opportunity, they decided to hide themselves instead. Some stupid things!

They also got problems with their drugs, the blood drugs. The first batch was just too imperfect. Once being used and the user turned into quasi-vampire instantly. It was supposed to be slower. More than once being used obviously. They already perfected the batch as of now. They also released it to the streets by the use of their drug dealers. As for public announcements, that will cause public war with the good vamps, something they cannot do now.

"Look, I'm all for this cause, but I'm more open for this once this got big and the money," said Inferno. "Relax, you'll get your supports. In the meantime, we want you here because of your presence. You're strong and a great supervillain to counter the heroes. We'll handle the vamps, you'll handle any heroes that come upon us."

"Alright, then, deal's a deal," as Inferno offered their hand, and shook the leader of the rogue vampires, as he stood in the behind, T'Quilcher

[The Templar High Council]

Akira Yasunaga
San Diego, outside Thomsen High

Akira was here, and he just arrived from Hawaii. Warwolf called for his service here, and just told him to be prepared. He didn't know what, and he certainly didn't ask for more details. Just be prepared, for that matter. He rented a high-rise apartment and put all sorts of his equipment there. In the meantime, he had heard of this wonderful Thomsen High, and he'd like to sight-seeing while here in San Diego.

As of now, he's in the front of Thomsen High, and he sipped his iced coffee as he looked at the academy from the coffee shop he is right now.

Leaving the schhool building from an out-of-term meeting with her guidance counselor, Sydney Ramirez made her way across the school grounds to where she parked her bike. The meeting was about what plans Sydney had after graduating high school, to which the Hispanic-American teen didn't have a response. She liked to cook, but couldn't imagine herself as a chef or owning a restaurant. The NASL was also an option, but that was too much spotlight in Syd's opinion. She knew her powers were more dangerous than most, and using them freely would only get someone hurt...

Sydney nearly bumped into the bike rack while lost in thought; luckily she noticed just before and caught herself. Looking at the sky around her, and then her phone, she realized she had a little time to kill before she had to get home to her apartment. Instead of unlocking her bike, she walked across the street from the school to a nondescript coffee shop. "One iced coffee, with cinnamon." She requested, paying for the drink and going to wait near the end of the counter until it was ready. In the meantime, the girl with the somewhat uncommon auburn hair took out her phone to pass the time.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Akira Yasunaga
San Diego, outside Thomsen High

Akira was here, and he just arrived from Hawaii. Warwolf called for his service here, and just told him to be prepared. He didn't know what, and he certainly didn't ask for more details. Just be prepared, for that matter. He rented a high-rise apartment and put all sorts of his equipment there. In the meantime, he had heard of this wonderful Thomsen High, and he'd like to sight-seeing while here in San Diego.

As of now, he's in the front of Thomsen High, and he sipped his iced coffee as he looked at the academy from the coffee shop he is right now.

Leaving the schhool building from an out-of-term meeting with her guidance counselor, Sydney Ramirez made her way across the school grounds to where she parked her bike. The meeting was about what plans Sydney had after graduating high school, to which the Hispanic-American teen didn't have a response. She liked to cook, but couldn't imagine herself as a chef or owning a restaurant. The NASL was also an option, but that was too much spotlight in Syd's opinion. She knew her powers were more dangerous than most, and using them freely would only get someone hurt...

Sydney nearly bumped into the bike rack while lost in thought; luckily she noticed just before and caught herself. Looking at the sky around her, and then her phone, she realized she had a little time to kill before she had to get home to her apartment. Instead of unlocking her bike, she walked across the street from the school to a nondescript coffee shop. "One iced coffee, with cinnamon." She requested, paying for the drink and going to wait near the end of the counter until it was ready. In the meantime, the girl with the somewhat uncommon auburn hair took out her phone to pass the time.

Akira was asked by the Warwolf to looked for a volunteer, a partner, an assistant. Someone with powers should be worried for, but also someone who is definitely not in the list of heroes or villains. Thomsen High is the best place to look for them, but considering the controversial status of Warwolf and how Thomsen High's founder, Craig Thomsen, was a hero, it is in the best interest of his to not attracts attentions. Stupid attentions, at that. Dangerous and stupid.

There's a girl, looks to be similar with his age. She's in the middle of waiting for her drink. Nice opportunity to talk to her. He mingled to the counter, drink on hand. He approached her, smiling. Or grinning. "Hello there. Looking for a nice job with enough payment to rent an apartment room and buy coffee every weeks?" he opened up.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Raven-July 8th(Saturday)

Well, the plans were decided it seemed. And despite my best efforts to pay attention in my half asleep state, I am certain that before this goes down Nick will need to enlighten me again. But until then, I have time to kill. I finished my coffee and donut as I tossed the foam cup to the garbage can as I stood up. "Look, the two of ya'll can finish what you started in the bedroom. I need to get some exorcise." I mused as I strutted away. Yeah, I know that Briana is not banging Nick. But it is fun to tease. Exiting the small apartment and moving down the hallway I entered my own room and picked a fresh set of clothes out as I scooped up my cell phone. Now dressed in a pair of sun glasses, a worn sports jersey and some short jean shorts with a ball cap I knew that I certainly was not hitting the latest fashion trends. But that was of no concern to me. Also, we need to locate a new 'base' so to speak. Maybe we can do that after we get Red out. Slipping on my sneakers I exited the room and then moved at a brisk pace down the hall, through the stairs and out of the front exit.

There was someone that I had not seen in what felt like a forever, but realistically it has only been days.

Working the cell phone out of my right pocket I dialed out and once more had Carter informing me that I had reached his voice mail.

Then the beep came.

"Carter, it's Alexis. Its been a while and well...I want to catch up. I have something pretty big coming up soon and I would rather meet with you before that. Pretty dangerous too. We can meet up in Central Park. Its very public. So, you can know I am not planning anything." And with that, I hung up. I would have left a time, but I will be there all day long. And I should not be hard to spot.

I kept my eyes ahead for the most part. Not really wanting to look at anything else, at least in this section off the city. Its strange, you kinda see things in a different light once you start doing...well, things that I do.

Bystanders could be police, and pedestrians could be some villain you crossed somehow. Or you constantly keep expecting to see some hero when you turn the corner preparing to turn you in.

You may be on edge, never knowing when you could be killed.

But I feel.....

alive.

More than that I feel like I am actually doing something. Contributing something to this world rather than wasting the space that I take up like I was a couple weeks ago. I finally have a sense of direction. Of purpose. Carter may not like what I have become. But I am beginning to wonder, if this was the real me all this time?

Just waiting to scratch it's way to the surface.

It was another hour before I made it to the park. And it was kinda packed at the moment, well it made sense. It was only roughly 11:30ish in the afternoon. I made my way over to a hot dog stand and purchased a pair of them with a coke. Then, found a seat on a bench watching several kids playing off in the distance.

I settled myself in and observed the show, prepared to wait for potentially hours before Carter shows up. I had just finished my last hot dog when a girl, maybe seven years old approached the three boys. I was too far away but it seemed like she was asking to play with them, and from her reaction. They turned her down. Going back to play fighting.

I took a breath and removed my glasses as she cried and walked off in my direction before I called her over.

"Hey kid! What has you upset?" I asked, pretending that I did not know.

The other kids wont let me play with them. They say they are playing 'Hero' and only boys can play.

"Well that is bulls-" I had to stop myself. Language. I honestly could hardly believe that was even a thing. This is 2018 for god's sake and there are many famous female heroes. I guess kids will be stupid. And of course kids. I looked off into the distance at the playing boys before I finished my statement.

"Spit. Bullspit. Anyways, those boys are doing it all wrong anyways. See the way they are punching?" I asked her as I lit up a cigarette and tucked it in my lips.

"Yes." She answered softly.

"If they were fighting real villains, throwing punches like that. Then they would be dead immediately. Also, that one kid who just dropped and is playing dead? Yeah, dying is nothing like that." The girl then swiveled her head toward me.

"What is dying like?" I then needed to back pedal a bit.

"One thing at a time. First when you punch, you do so from your shoulder. Like this." I then demonstrated a punch and observed as she tried to replicate it.

"See, already better than those pretenders. Now, are you ready to play?" I asked, snuffing the cigarette and placing it above my ear for later use. "Because I am about to reveal my real secret identity as...." I then tried to think of a villainess name.

"Queen of Blades." I decided, picking up two nearby sticks.

"And what hero is here to stop me?" I pondered, before a look of excitement lit up on the girl's face as she announced her hero moniker.

"Wonder Lass will stop you!"

And with that, an epic clash to decide the fate of the world in the middle of a city park between a vigilante outlaw and a little girl.

[The Templar High Council]

Leaving the schhool building from an out-of-term meeting with her guidance counselor, Sydney Ramirez made her way across the school grounds to where she parked her bike. The meeting was about what plans Sydney had after graduating high school, to which the Hispanic-American teen didn't have a response. She liked to cook, but couldn't imagine herself as a chef or owning a restaurant. The NASL was also an option, but that was too much spotlight in Syd's opinion. She knew her powers were more dangerous than most, and using them freely would only get someone hurt...

Sydney nearly bumped into the bike rack while lost in thought; luckily she noticed just before and caught herself. Looking at the sky around her, and then her phone, she realized she had a little time to kill before she had to get home to her apartment. Instead of unlocking her bike, she walked across the street from the school to a nondescript coffee shop. "One iced coffee, with cinnamon." She requested, paying for the drink and going to wait near the end of the counter until it was ready. In the meantime, the girl with the somewhat uncommon auburn hair took out her phone to pass the time.

Akira was asked by the Warwolf to looked for a volunteer, a partner, an assistant. Someone with powers should be worried for, but also someone who is definitely not in the list of heroes or villains. Thomsen High is the best place to look for them, but considering the controversial status of Warwolf and how Thomsen High's founder, Craig Thomsen, was a hero, it is in the best interest of his to not attracts attentions. Stupid attentions, at that. Dangerous and stupid.

There's a girl, looks to be similar with his age. She's in the middle of waiting for her drink. Nice opportunity to talk to her. He mingled to the counter, drink on hand. He approached her, smiling. Or grinning. "Hello there. Looking for a nice job with enough payment to rent an apartment room and buy coffee every weeks?" he opened up.

Sydney looked up at the blue-haired guy who approached her, managing to stand out even more than she did with her red-tinged hair. His was bright sky blue, and she was instantly suspicious of the sales pitch he was offering. Sydney only looked up to him long enough to confirm that she was the target of his question, before averting her gaze back to her phone.

"Uhm, I think I've got a job that fits that that bill. Otherwise I wouldn't be here now..." She scooted away from him, turning slightly from Akira to seem more engaged in her phone. "And they way you talk about it makes it sound like a pyramid scheme. No thank you, señor."

[Absolon-7]

---

---

---

Casimir felt livid when Angelica rejected his perfectly reasonable idea. Who the hell ever went out fishing without bait? Apparently they were and the noise was all they needed even though that had the same damn chance to scare whatever they were going to catch. He'd have to accept the denial, however, he had only fished a few times but they were all far apart from each other so his reasoning might not be sound as it could be. When he heard Yoshiro's question he was a bit perplexed by her concern over his insects.

"I think that's how I did it back in my hometown, using live insect bait I mean. I don't really feel 'sacrifice' is the right word. It's not like insects can feel the fear of death. They're pretty much either hungry, horny, or hangry" calmly responded Casimir hoping he answered her question.

The conversation with Yoshiro didn't grow past that as he begrudgingly got on the speed boat and stayed quiet like the others while they moved on. It was a pleasant experience since the gentle gusts of air created by their fast movement felt great. This wasn't meant to last as Angelica suddenly stopped the motor to reach over the side for something. Angelica now held whatever caught her attention and placed inside the boat. The true identity of the distraction was some dog like creature with fins and a smooth blue skin. It was the peak of cuteness.

"Oh my god! It's adorable!," said Casimir completely mesmerized by the creature's cuteness alongside Yoshiro before answering her question "It's probably some invasive species from space or something. Don't know how it would end up in the middle of the pacific though."

Alexis response to the blue fish-dog was entertaining to say the least. Her high pitched squeal made him feel like his ear drum had burst. While she was raising the creature in the air to determine its sex, a powerful wave lurched beneath the boat causing Alexis to stumble out of the boat and into the lake.

"Holy shit!" gasped Casimir in terror. He leaned over the side she fell out of and reached out at her hoping she'd grab on before she sank further.

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna Erickson

Brianna's hand slightly twitched at Alexis's comment about her and Nick, the temptation to run her spear through her loud mouth almost too much to bear. However, she managed to control her temper, just enough at least to hold off on her frustrated sigh until the door closed behind Alexis.

Upon her exit, the room fell eerily silent. Nick seemed content to sip on his coffee, which seemed to slowly be bringing life back into his eyes as the caffeine began to work its way into his system. Based on the seemingly permanent bags under his eyes, she guessed that he was more than accustomed to lack of sleep. How these mortals could spend so long staring at electronic screens was something Brianna had yet to understand. She could barely watch an episode of their "shows" without feeling the need to take a walk outside.

After a few more moments of this silence, Nick surprisingly enough was the one to break it, pointing to watch on her wrist, which happened to be Traust in its concealed form.

"You're not human, are you?" At least, not like me or Alexis.

Brianna bit her lip, not knowing what to say. Could she trust this mortal with her identity? Should she even? While she was no longer bound to maintaining her secrecy as a Valkyrie, this didn't mean it was a smart idea to go around telling people she barely knew about her secrets. However, at this point there was little left for her to hide, as he had clearly seen her in action between her fight with Alexis and their...incident this morning.

With a reluctant sigh, she leaned back in her seat before replying.

"That is a...difficult question. But yes, to answer your question, I am not what you would consider 'normal'."

She narrowed her eyes at him for a brief second before continuing.

"I have no doubts you've already done your research on me. Care to share what you've found, Brusi?"

Nick slightly scoffed at the nickname, unsure of what it meant but could tell it anything flattering. Taking one last sip of his coffee, he rummaged through his pockets before tossing a handful of printed off photos on the table before them. Raising an eyebrow, she slid the photos towards her. Her eyes went wide when she saw what they entailed.

Black and white photos of her posing with a squadron of partisan fighters in France during the Second World War. Another one of her once more with the French in Indochina during the Vietnamese insurrection. Another photo, this one colored, of her in Rhodesia during the Bush war. Several others remained scattered about, and all of them equally concerning that he had found them.

She stared in silence at Nick for several seconds before speaking up, hissing at him through gritted teeth.

"How did you find these?"

Nick shrugged as he reached for another cigarette.

"Just a little cross referencing via face recognition. It's a bit hard to do on some of these older photos, but I'm pretty good at digging around for this kind of stuff. Also helped that females haven't had the most prominent roles in our seemingly endless conflicts, so you sort of stuck out like a sore thumb."

He lit up the cigarette in his mouth, pausing to look at Brianna though narrow eyes.

"So I'll ask again: What are you exactly? Unless you've got some damn good wrinkle removers, I find it hard to imagine you're 90 years old."

Brianna stayed silent for some time, contemplating on what to do. For all her countless years in the mortal realm, she had never been recognized once. Not even the government intelligence communities had known about her existence, and if they somehow did, they had never bothered to confront her about it. But somehow, this man before her had managed to find evidence, scattered as it may be, that showed that she indeed wasn't a mere mortal being.

Biting the inside of her cheek so much that she could feel blood beginning to spill, she answered his question.

"I am a Valkyrja, or what you mortals know as a Valkyrie. I won't tell you the specifics, as quite frankly after this I find it hard to find much trust in you, but to put it simply I am no longer welcome in the halls of Valhöll until I prove myself worthy of reentry. For all that concerns you, this means aiding heroes worthy of dining with Óðinn in his feast halls."

Whether this news was anything shocking for Nick was uncertain for Brianna, as his expression didn't change. However, she could practically see his eyes light up from the information. Taking another drag from his cigarette, he continued with his questioning.

"Does this mean...?"

Brianna nodded.

"Yes, Alexis is one of those heroes. And perhaps this 'Red' we are after as well."

At this, Nicks jaw slightly tensed.

"Is she going to die soon then?"

Brianna shook her head.

"That, I have no idea. All I know is that she has the possibility of performing some kind of act that would give her the rights to enter Valhöll should she choose. When this will take place, I have no way of knowing. In the past, it was easy to decide as heroes were often engaged in pitch battles where the chance of death was high. While she may indeed throw herself in danger quite often, it is nowhere near what those before her faced."

She paused.

"Although I do not believe it will be soon. I don't know why, but I think she has much more tasks ahead of here in the mortal realm before her opportunity will present itself to her."

Her words seemed to convince Nick, as he slid back into his chair from the upright position he had taken. As he took another drag of his cigarette, Brianna decided that it was her turn to do the questioning.

"So what about you, Brusi? You are not destined for Valhöll, yet you keep company with warrior like herself. Why do you do this? I am sure someone with your talents could easily find a much safer and more rewarding way of life than this."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 5th
Abandoned House, San Diego

"Alright, Lucas, I'm taking position right next to the door, you keep to the corner and cover the hallway. I'm certain there's an ambush waiting on the other side. If we want to win the match, we have to play smart..." Astrid's voice cautioned. Indeed, on the screen, a soldier armed with a shotgun was crouching next to a thick wall, right by a slightly ajar metal door that led out onto a seemingly abandoned field dotted with all sorts of obstacles that provided varying degrees of cover. A radar on the screen revealed the location of two nearby allies: one, a few paces behind her, seemed to be moving around wildly, while another one located further away was completely still.

No sooner than she had finished talking, the closest ally rushed out the door and into the field beyond. Sounds of heavy gunfire soon followed, with the soldier shying away from the door momentarily to avoid possibly taking a stray bullet. Not a second later, the dot denoting that ally's location on the radar disappeared without a trace, making it very clear just what had happened to the reckless one.

"...Merde." The girl muttered after witnessing her ally's death, shaking her head as she checked her options. Not far from her, a few clicks heralded more gunfire, though it came to an end rather quickly.

"Why do we always get the noobs on our team?" Lucas' voice came from somewhere below and to her left.

"Must be because of you. Now get over here." She replied, counting her grenades. After a moment, the soldier on the screen switched her shotgun out for an assault rifle.

"What?! But I just shot down someone trying to sneak on you!" The boy complained, clearly indignated by the comment, though he still complied with the order given, another soldier moving up to the first and waiting.

"I didn't say you were as unskilled as them, I only said it was your fault. Your rank is still too low." Astrid stated calmly. "Anyway, listen up. There's four of them and two of us, so it's an even fight. When I run outside, wait a few seconds and then follow suit and target the ones on the left. It's pretty much our only chance at winning this match, so try not to mess up." She instructed. Upon receiving a grunt of agreement in response, she nodded, beginning to count down from five.

She was at two when she started hearing loud cursing next to her. Surprised, she stopped paying attention to the screen of her laptop to look at the source of the cursing. Next to her desk and sitting on the ground was Lucas, who was currently watching as a wooden spike protruded from a magic circle on the floor of the abandoned house that the Cabal called their headquarters, skewering his own computer . Glancing back at the game, she noticed that his character had disappeared, leaving the match as one on four. She frowned at this, turning back to try and salvage the situation while next to her a distraught vampire continued to swear.

"I told you to get a desk." Remarked another voice.

"Well it's not my bloody fault that I didn't know you were going to order the floor to murder my computer, Hex!" Lucas shouted in reply as he glared at the approaching figure, a scrawny boy a couple of years younger who had his characteristic hood pulled down, leaving his face and his white hair exposed. The boy, Adrian, better known as Hex, simply shook his head at his partner's complaints.

"And it's not my fault that, out of all the space we have here," He began, gesturing with heavily-tattooed arms at the area all around him: the abandoned house was quite large, and since most furniture had been removed and their equipment and goods were stored in other rooms, the living room was very spacious, with Astrid's desk being one of the few things present on it besides the three teens and four wooden spikes protruding from the ground. "you chose to sit on the third corner of my magic circle. I'm not going to put preparations for our great plan on hold just so that you can play a game."

Walking up to the spike that had impaled Lucas' computer, Adrian harshly plucked the laptop from its new pedestal, causing various chunks of circuitry and a couple of keys to fall through the hole in the center. Suspicious, the young vampire stared at the boy, who simply held it in one hand. Suddenly, the intricate patterns etched into the skin of his arm began shifting as if out of their own accord, producing a pattern that was entirely different, but no less coherent. Suddenly, the runes and markings on his arm began glowing, and the broken laptop slowly began regenerating as though it was a living being, the keys and circuits that had fallen earlier floating up and returning to their proper places. Before long, the artifact was good as new, and Hex unceremoniously tossed it at Lucas, who slowed it down with his power before snatching it from the air.

"...Thanks for at least taking care of repairing it, I guess." Lucas told Adrian as he attempted to turn on the computer, glad to see that it appeared to work as well as usual. The boy, meanwhile, withdrew a walkie-talkie from his pocket and fiddled with it for a moment, before placing it on the ground and kicking it off to the center of the magic circle.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't move the radio. I have to test if this works." Adrian stated dismissively as he walked to another room in the house.

"Must be eager to test out if our plan can actually work out or not." The vampire said to his insides as he watched his associate leave the living room. With a sigh, he closed his computer and tucked it under his arm. The match was probably long over and he didn't feel very good about having his participation interrupted. Glancing over at Astrid, he noticed that she was typing rather than playing, which only confirmed his suspicion.

"Hey, sorry about ruining your promotion match. I guess I really should have grabbed a desk." He said to his girlfriend in an apologetic manner, though he had to admit he felt slightly annoyed when she didn't even look at him, instead simply continuing to type.

"Oh, it's not a problem, don't worry about it." She said after a pause as she hit the return button and then turned to look at him. "I did win after all." She stated. Evidently perplexed, Lucas could only stare at Astrid with a puzzled expression on his face, causing her to let out a giggle. "I'm this group's sharpshooter par excellence. Are you really that surprised I won a shootout by myself?" She told him, feigning indignation for a moment before breaking out into a smile. "Come on, let's go get some sushi. My treat." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along towards the front door, barely giving him enough time to put his laptop on the desk, next to hers.

As the couple stepped out the front door and past an even larger magic circle that ensured the complete secrecy of their occupation of the abandoned house, Lucas thought back to the mission ahead of them, and the things they had done in the past and were still doing to ensure its success and the fulfilment of what he believed was a higher purpose. As his girlfriend continued to walk with him towards a nearby restaurant under the cool, merciful moonlight, however, it all seemed like nothing more than a distant mirage.

"Want to swing by the theatre first? My treat." He offered after a long, but not uncomfortable silence.

"Hmm? There's nothing good out right now, though." She replied, pulling out her mobile and making a few searches to confirm her belief.

"Ah, that's right. Well, how about the arcade after, then?" He asked, figuring it was a far safer alternative.

"Sure!"

---

July 6th
New York City

"This is such a pretty city. Funny that I was never sent here in the past." The hooded young woman said to herself as she weaved her way through the many streets and alleys of New York City, her eyes taking in every single detail in her surroundings with something that appeared to be a mixture of childlike curiosity and analytic zeal. The cool air that currently swept through was a blessing on someone like her, who was used to colder climates despite having traveled all over the world, and the rain, despite being well on its way to drenching her jacket, did not bother her much. Beneath her hood, a mocking smile formed on her lips as she walked. "Then again, that is probably due to the quality and renown of the heroes of this place." She concluded, a soft chuckle leaving her at the thought of such heroes. She wondered how she might fare against her, but then, that was not her mission. Not anymore. In reality, she didn't have anything she could call a mission anymore. What had led her to arrive at New York by sea and beckoned her to head further West was more akin to a simple whim than any sort of higher purpose.

Getting there had been easy enough, all things considered. Throughout her time serving ideals she didn't believe in, one of the things she had been taught about was resourcefulness, a trait vital to anyone who had to travel undercover and had to do it often as well. Thanks to that, obtaining the papers required to step on the soil where she now treaded had been a relatively simple matter, as had been making her way to England to board a passenger ship to take her to her destination. Perhaps the most difficult part of her journey had been attempting to avoid drawing any attention to herself, as she tended to stand out simply due to her appearance. Thankfully, that was nothing that a dash of heavy clothing couldn't fix.

"Not that it is not strange to be dressed like this during the summer." She admitted to herself as she walked. Indeed, a black jacket that looked a couple sizes larger than her and had a matching hood that obscured her face was not the most inconspicuous of fashion choices, but she much preferred to look like someone who had something to hide, as there were many such people in the world.

Either way, she was here now, and while there was that pull towards the other ocean, where all sorts of troubles and adventures were brewing, she also had a feeling that she might stand to gain something if she spent a while exploring the city; no sense in leaving right away, especially when she had no clear way of getting to her new destination quickly. Thus, she continued walking haphazardly, occasionally twirling on her feet to take a better look at a detail that caught her eye in passing, changing her path to avoid oncoming passerby or skipping past the small puddles that formed on the streets due to irregularities in the terrain.

This continued until the young woman's aimless wandering led her to darker and more isolated areas of the city, where two unknown figures soon began stalking her. Discreet and cautious, they followed, trailing behind the seemingly careless woman as she passed countless joints nd streetlights, until eventually she arrived at a completely deserted part of the city. Resolutely walking up to the dead end, she turned around to face her two stalkers and pulled her hood down, revealing long flowing hair the color of snow and a pair of piercing blue eyes.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked them with an innocent voice and the fairly thick accent of her homeland, though the knowing smile on her face was not the result of a cheerful disposition, but rather a result of being well aware that the two men in front of her didn't simply want her help with something.

"There's definitely something you can help with, miss." One of the two men said in a jesting tone as the two approached menacingly, but the second one of them attempted to grab her, his hand was immediately seized, and the sharp pain of a broken wrist soon followed. The attacker was pushed off as he cursed profusely, and his ally immediately rushed to his aid. When the two looked back at the woman, they noticed that her smile had become mocking, and her eyes, between curious and amused, observed them expectantly, which only served to make them feel even more aggravated.

"Listen, we tried to play nice, but if you don't cut the crap we're going to have to get nasty." The uninjured man growled as he pulled out a long knife. The woman looked down at it, then back at the man's face, and the only change in her expression was that her smile had become wider.

"I'd love to see you try." Was all she said, causing the man to scowl so hard his eyebrows nearly fused.

"You must think you're too good to get in trouble, bitch. Well, you've got another thing coming." He threatened, before rushing towards her. Despite the speed with which she had reacted to the previous attack, this time she made no effort to protect herself, and so the man quickly closed the distance and then thrust forward, cutting into her stomach. Despite her apprent bravado, the woman couldn't avoid letting out a gasp upon being stabbed. A brief silence followed as the two men stared and silently deliberated on what to do with her; as they heard a soft giggle coming from the woman, however, they couldn't prevent terror from creeping into their faces.

"That's adorable. You really did think you could kill me with that." She teased. The man attempted to pull away and run, but before he realized it, the woman's hand was firmly gripping the arm which held the would-be murder weapon.

Some time passed, and the two men wound up sprawled on the ground, unconscious, though they did not have a single bruise, wound or mark on their bodies even after the brutal beating they had been subjected to. The woman, meanwhile, stood a few paces away from them, dusting off her hands and then glancing down at herself. Thankfully, her wound had healed quickly enough that the stab only drew the slightest amount of blood, which meant that her clothes hadn't been as utterly stained as they could have been otherwise, though the knife-shaped hole remained. Sighing, she pulled up her hood and began to walk away from that area, unaware that she was being observed yet again.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Nick continued to smoke his cigarette, holding it in between his index and middle fingers as he puffed out another breath of smoke. Briana had asked a fair question, and Nick decided there was no harm in telling her. She had after all, revealed her secret, even if it was after he already discovered evidence. "I suppose we should keep it even." Nick admitted. Then flicking ash into an ash tray he gave the short answer, but knew that he would need to explain further. "I guess I was bored." Nick knew that such an answer would be unsatisfactory for the Valkyrie so he finally snuffed the finished cigarette and spoke without looking her in the eyes. "This may shock you, but before I met Alexis, I wasn't really doing anything or going anywhere. I was surviving. But not really living. I made some money using my computer hacking skills, but all I ever did was rot away here. Trying to keep out of the public eye. Then along came Alexis, needing to hide out in my room from the Police." Finally, the ghastly eyed boy glanced over at his new ally. "She eventually tells me she is doing crazy shit. Killing anyone who lives to victimize others. Well...I have used my hacking skills to aid far worse than her I'll say. Nicholas glanced off into the distance, his unbrushed hair falling over his eyes a bit.

"Alexis has given me a direction in life for the first time. And she is not bad on the eyes either...when she first asked to come into my room..." He chuckled at the memory. "I thought she was a hooker."

Nicholas finished his coffee, cold by now and stood up to open a drawer in the small kitchen and revealed it was filled with cigarettes. Discarding his empty box he picked up a new one, it would have to painfully obvious to Briana that he was a chain smoker now. Going through close to four packs a day on average. Far exceeding anything Alexis hoped to do.

Coughing as he opened another pack and stuck the fresh death stick into his lips he patted himself down for a lighter, realizing he left it back on the table. Rather than move the several steps to pick it up, he raised a hand to his cigarette and a flame crackled to life in his open palm, which he used to light the cigarette before snuffing out his own magical flame.

"Lets keep that I showed you that between us, Briana." Nick requested as he retook his seat.

"I really don't like using my...magical gifts." He finally settled on a word to describe them, although he certainly did not consider them gifts.

"I guess we all deserve each other. As much as I am just a Brusi to you. Me? My mother was in a was in a Satanic cult. Before my delivery, they talked her in to offering me up as a vessel for demonic power. She must have thought that sounded like fun. Cause why not? Well, turns out their hocus pocus bullshit was very real. And I somehow came out of it with the ability to harness magic." Then, if Briana was paying attention, she may have noticed subtle changes around Nic's eyes as his expression changed very slightly from one of boredom to one of pain remembering.

"She must have had a sense of humor too. Because when I was just seven years old. She took me off to Catholic Orphanage." Nick then gave a sarcastic sneer. "Bet she lost points with the Devil on that shit. Anyways, the Catholic Missionaries were no better. When they found out about my special nature They thought that I was possessed by a demon. Maybe I am, who cares. So the only cure they knew was to beat me, force me into hours of prayer and send me into constant isolation closets. I didn't run because I was too afraid. Until I was fourteen years old that is. Finally had enough, so I left and used what skills I was able to develop in computers t make a living for myself. Well, as much as I could." Nicholas then motioned around his humble abode. Before he finally finished his story in payment for Briana giving her own.

"I have always been afraid my entire life. As a child, it was of my mother's cult. In the Orphanage it was of the nuns. And before I met Alexis, it was of practically anyone. I guess at the end of the day, if she is taking out the assholes. Then I may not need to be afraid no more. And I can get behind that." Then exhaling cigarette smoke again. Nick gave a rare genuine smirk at Briana.

"Besides, without me watching her back. Pretty sure she will be going to warrior paradise or whatever the hell a lot sooner than she would admit."

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna Erickson

---

Brianna nodded at Nick's words.

"Fate is cruel, is it not?"

She couldn't help but sympathize with him, understanding all too well the feeling of abandonment and having a lack in purpose in life. She had been living with these mortals for over a century now, and there had been countless times where she had questioned whether or not her efforts were ever going to pay off. She'd been through countless conflicts, seen death after death, and still to this day had yet to accomplish the task set by Odin. Had it not been for the fate of her parent's souls on her hands, she likely would've succumbed to despair herself a long time ago.

However, her discovery of Alexis and this 'Red' had given her hope. While she didn't know if it necessarily meant her hour of redemption was near, it was the closest she had been in decades. There would be no way that she would squander this opportunity before her.

Staring at the now empty cup of coffee in her hands, Brianna allowed silence to envelop the two for quite some time before she spoke up once more.

"Tell me, Brusi, why do you not fight? I can understand wanting to keep painful things hidden, but magic is a gift that should not be wasted. Óðinn himself hung himself in the branches of Yggdrasill for nine days and nine nights in order to learn the secret of the magical runes. What is stopping you from using your abilities for your own honor? Valhöll may not be where you spend your days in eternity, but I'm sure that you could earn yourself enough fame to live a lavish lifestyle here in the mortal realm."

[Turmenista]

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny Swift

---

The one good thing that Clara had done at this party was relieve Johnny of a potentially dangerous and furthermore embarrassing drug trip, but nonetheless, he wasn’t too happy to know that she was here. This party, and his reason for being here, wasn’t her concern at all, though it did raise the question for the young speedster: Why was she here, anyways, and what interest did the Weirdo Clique - a bunch of nobodies, for all he cared - have in a regular party that their members rarely even went to, if at all?

He never bothered to answer his own question, as doing that would easily lead to him getting sidetracked from the more pressing matters at hand, which were finding Floyd, and finding food. He found the latter in the form of a rather unsavory sandwich, and after devouring a few of the bite-sized party snacks, he was back in action and ready to find his partner. Fortunately for both of them, they found each other, though Johnny still debated on whether or not Floyd had found him first.

Regardless, the Brit had him pulled aside from the party, and since the music was much less deafening up here than down on the second floor, he could finally hear the man speak clearly, albeit in a much quieter tone than before. He raised his eyebrow when inquired about any recent school massacres, a worried look plastered on his face as he said this. Was Floyd really planning on turning this party into a shooting gallery, or was he only just playing around with him?

“Uhh…” the teen pondered on the question, still a bit loopy from the fake candy from earlier but otherwise in control of his composure. “Aside from those school shootings in Florida and other places, not recently around here, but those are ‘normal people’ schools. A place like Thomsen High? Well, they’d have to get through an entire school’s worth of human superweapons, dude. And people like Brock? A guy who’s the star player on the football team and could body anyone with the flash of his hand? They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

He lowered his voice as well. “This place has mostly people from Thomsen High. Usually folks with pretty scary powers. Everyone here doesn’t have batshit fast speed like me or… whatever you have, but they can hold their own. Besides, man.. I’m not trying to end up in a hospital. That spot’s for Brock. Speaking of which…”

Eyeing the jersey of their man once more going up one more level of the house, Johnny pointed to the stairs. “That’s our guy. I’ll do the talking to this chum. We take him on, show everyone here how much of a joke he is, and that’s one guy down.”

[Finland SSR]

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny Swift

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny wasn't all that happy with the idea of turning this floor into a pile of limbs, it seems - he quickly talked Floyd's idea down, explaining that the students participating in this party are all from Thomsen High, and Thomsen High has some serious firepower under their sleeves. Floyd sighed. He really didn't want to be lectured on the strength of that damn school by an 18 year old who looks like he barely scraped 16 and is trying to act 2 years older.

"I know what Thomsen High is made up of, thank you. I didn't suffer three years in there to be clueless on what it's all about," Floyd shot back, slightly irritated, but mostly keeping up his apathetic exterior. "We're not talking about crybaby idiots with their dad's assault rifle here, anyway. Of course you can't mow down this country's luckiest with bullets."

The swordsman placed his hands in his pockets, looking to the side for no discernable reason. "Calling these kids with powers 'human superweapons' is quite an exaggeration, too - throw any of these untrained students into a pit and they'll piss themselves in fear - but fine, end of discussion on this topic." Floyd turned back towards his partner for a second, listening a little bit on Johnny's plan to humiliate Brock in front of everyone, scoffed a little bit and continued. "Just go, do it. Before I change my mind on beating up your least favorite school bullies."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Brianna Erickson

---

Brianna nodded at Nick's words.

"Fate is cruel, is it not?"

She couldn't help but sympathize with him, understanding all too well the feeling of abandonment and having a lack in purpose in life. She had been living with these mortals for over a century now, and there had been countless times where she had questioned whether or not her efforts were ever going to pay off. She'd been through countless conflicts, seen death after death, and still to this day had yet to accomplish the task set by Odin. Had it not been for the fate of her parent's souls on her hands, she likely would've succumbed to despair herself a long time ago.

However, her discovery of Alexis and this 'Red' had given her hope. While she didn't know if it necessarily meant her hour of redemption was near, it was the closest she had been in decades. There would be no way that she would squander this opportunity before her.

Staring at the now empty cup of coffee in her hands, Brianna allowed silence to envelop the two for quite some time before she spoke up once more.

"Tell me, Brusi, why do you not fight? I can understand wanting to keep painful things hidden, but magic is a gift that should not be wasted. Óðinn himself hung himself in the branches of Yggdrasill for nine days and nine nights in order to learn the secret of the magical runes. What is stopping you from using your abilities for your own honor? Valhöll may not be where you spend your days in eternity, but I'm sure that you could earn yourself enough fame to live a lavish lifestyle here in the mortal realm."

"Maybe living with fame or lavishly does not interest me nearly as much as being valued." Nicholas drummed his fingers on the table, and if one looked close enough, they would be able to see evidence of possible fractures and broken bones in his fingers. Likely a result of the Catholic mission. Running a hand through his hair he gave a heavy sigh. Knowing that he had started something with those photos and now Briana would likely not be satisfied until he fed her enough information to be satisfied.

It was a pain in the ass. But, he did start it.

"What I am about to tell you stays between you and me. Meaning that Alexis does not find out about this. Am I clear?" He then gave her a moment to confirm that she understood before he continued.

"If this was a gift, then I wouldn't be paying for them. But I am. At least, it's my theory..." Nicholas breathed and continued smoking, this conversation was going much farther than he had wanted. He wished she was satiated with what he had told her so far. But it would not be that simple.

"You may not have noticed. But I am not in the best health. Its unclear how much is self inflicted by lifestyle and how much is a result from my...magical condition. I am not even twenty and already my health has declined to a point where even running from here to the front entrance of this building would nearly kill me. It's my belief that while the ritual I was put through as an infant, while successful...has had unforeseen side effects. In short Briana...I'm dying."

Nicholas again made eye contact. "I do not want Alexis or anyone else, you included worrying about me. I have already come to terms with it...for the most part. I'll be lucky to see thirty. Besides, even if it wasn't killing me. I would not use it anyways. It's something that was pushed on me, I never asked for it and I sure as hell don't want it. Every time I use it I am reminded of what the cult wanted me to be or of what the Catholics thought I was. Not for what I am. But computers? That is something that I learned. Something that I chose. It's the one thing where I feel like I have any control. And if I were to tell you the truth..." Nicholas suggested, taking a breath.

"Alexis nor you needs my magic any more than I do. Between Alexis' gun work, your martial skills and perhaps maybe even this Red fucker or whoever we will have plenty of people fighting the good fight. But who is gonna be the one making the plans? Watching your backs? Keeping our secrets? Or finding information on our targets? I may not be able to throw a punch, but I am certain none of you can hack the City Governments networks either." Then with that, Nick finally felt like he may have satisfied Briana's questions.

After all, there was nothing else to really say about it.

"So, Shield Maiden...why don't we call it even?"

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna Erickson

Brianna remained silent for a few moments before speaking up, her voice soft.

"Aye, I think we are even...Nick."

In order to truly gain knowledge, one needed to be willing to sacrifice something in return. This was a common principle among Brianna's people. And to this day, that principle continued to hold up, as was evident with her knowledge of Nick's power. Or, as it seemed, curse. While she was no stranger to seeing young men die before ever gaining a grey hair, it pained her greatly to see the young man before her that was practically dying as they spoke. She had, in one form or the other, existed for over 1000 years, yet the man before her was likely never going to receive another 10 years of him own.

Based on what she had seen countless times throughout history, most mortal men wouldn't bother to care for the well-being of others. They would choose to instead act on whatever selfish desires they had, caring not for whom they hurt in the process. But instead of doing this, he instead had chosen to do what good he could still do with his remaining time. Nick would likely never earn his way into Valhalla, but deep down Brianna prayed that the Gods, or even some of the others that existed, would take pity on this man's soul when he eventually faded from this world and went on to the next.

The silence of the room continued on, a feeling of awkwardness hanging in the air so thick Brianna felt as if she could have cut through it with a knife. She did not want to bring up anything further about Nick's past, and nor was she wanting to drudge up anything further on her own. So instead, she decided to do what she should have done a long time ago.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she locked eyes with Nick, forcing the words out of her mouth even as they seemed to taste like poison to her.

"I apologize for what occurred this morning. I should have been more considerate as a guest, and should not have overreacted when I saw..."

She couldn't finish her sentence, a slight tint of red appearing on her face as the memory resurfaced in her mind. Apologizing was not something she often did, and given the situation at hand, the difficulty was raised ten-fold. However, she was determined to make things right, no matter how agonizing it would be. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"If it would make things 'even', as you call it, then I would like to repay you with a gift of your choosing. It is only the responsible thing to do as a guest."

---

Red

Red stared at the screen in front of him, doing his best to not scream as the stone-cold face of Quickshot looked at him. His face was a mix of anger, disbelief, and most damning for Red, disappointment.

"Quickshot, you've got to believe me. I didn't do this. If you can just have a competent investigator look at my cas-"

"Red. Enough is enough. You should know that the amount of evidence they have on you is beyond enough to show that it was you who did it. I mean for Christ's sake, they have your own gun with your finger prints all over them next to a pile of dead bodies! How the hell do you explain that?!"

Red's voice was panicked as he tried to defend himself.

"I lost it during the fight, and by the time the police were there I couldn't get it back! But I swear, it wasn't-"

"Red, it's time to stop trying to lie and own up for what you did! You're lucky they didn't put you in the chair for the trail of corpses you left behind, especially for that entire damn family!"

Red froze, his eyes pleading as he tried to convince the man he had seen as a mentor, as brief as it had been, completely deny him of his opportunity.

"You can't possibly think that I would have done that! I wouldn't even think about doing something like that!"

Quickshot's face hardened as he stared at Red through narrowed eyes, his voice cold as ice.

"You did it before. What would stop you now?"

Red stayed quiet for a few moments, Quickshot's words piercing through his heart like an iron spike.

"I-I've changed. You got to believe me."

Quickshot raised an eyebrow, a disgusted scoff coming out at Red's reply.

"Yes, that's why you nearly killed several low-level thugs at the Zoo and then threatened reporters with your gun afterwards. Not to mention your track-record even before you joined up with the Young Bloods."

He let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing his temple as he seemed to try and collect himself before continuing.

"Look, Red, this is partially my fault. I should have known that you weren't cut out to be a hero. While it doesn't excuse what you've done, given your history I can't say what has happened is any surprise. I should have either locked you up to begin with or made sure you never put on a mask ever again."

He looked at Red, and for a brief moment, a small amount of pity could be seen before his face once more hardened up.

"I can understand why you would have killed those goons. I just can't wrap my head around why you would have done that to a family. If you'd just tell the authorities why you did it, if someone hired you or whatever, we could try and see if we can get a lighter sentence on you. Lead them to whoever hired you so that we can make sure this sort of thing never happens again. Maybe then we can get you out on parole in 20 or 30 years."

His eyes suddenly turned into one of pleading.

"I'm begging you Red, just cooperate and we can at least try and get some type of justice for the Roberto family. If you've got any ounce of a hero left in you, do that much at least."

It was Red's turn now to reply with a cold stare. He knew that this man wasn't going to believe him, so he saw no more point in trying to plead his case any further.

"I wasn't hired. Nor did I kill that family, or those goons. That's the truth, and if you don't believe me, join the fucking club."

Quickshot's expression returned to one of contempt, seeing that any chance of redemption for the boy. With a sneer, he ended their conversation with one last bit of parting words.

"If that's all you're going to say, then don't expect to hear from me again. Or quite frankly, anyone else again. I suggest you get a hold of your former teammates before they get wind of what's happened. Naja already knows, but she's decided to hold off on telling them until the training exercise is complete. Quickshot, signing off."

And like that, the screen in front of Red went black. Staring at it for several seconds, Red suddenly slammed his fist onto the metal table with enough force to put a huge dent in it. A nearby guard, hearing the noise, walked over to where Red's booth, a pissed off look on his face as he stared at the damage Red had caused. He was no doubt considering throwing Red in solitary for his actions, but decided against it as it just meant more paperwork for him to do later. Looking down at his watch, he glanced back up to Red.

"You've got three minutes left to talk with whoever. Then your ass is back in confinement."

Red fought the urge to direct a fist at the man's jugular, barely able to contain his frustration as the guard stepped away. Cursing under his breath, he did his best to regain his composure, although after that call with Quickshot there wasn't much left for him to get back. After a few moments, he managed to get his brain back on track as he debated on who he should call, if anyone at all. There was no point in calling Naja, nor were there many others on the team who could help. Even if they could, he doubted he'd receive any. If Quickshot didn't believe him, why would these people think any different?

After a few more seconds that equaled wasted time, a small whisper of a thought seemed to crawl into his mind. It was a single name, and why it had crept into his thoughts was beyond his comprehension. However, something inside him told him that this whisper was correct, and that if he ignored it he'd fully regret it.

With gritted teeth, he began to punch in a series of numbers belonging to the name which was whispered into his mind. He knew they were busy, and that likely they wouldn't even pick up the phone. However, Red prayed to as many gods as he could think of that there was some small sliver of luck left in him as the phone began to dial. Every time the phone gave a small buzz to indicate the call was still waiting to be answered, he felt his heart sink lower and lower. This isn't going to work, he thought as the phone continued to ring, likely only having one or two rings remaining until he the call went to voicemail. A feeling of dread washed over him, more than anything he had felt before as his thoughts had already conceded to failure. Why would she even bother to-

"Hello?"

Red's face remained frozen, his voice unable to materialize the words that his brain tried to spew out.

"Hello? Who's this?"

Something seemed to kick in within his brain, almost like a car squealing off of a starting line as he managed to speak, his words coming out softly.

"It's me, Yoshi. It's Red."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Akira was asked by the Warwolf to looked for a volunteer, a partner, an assistant. Someone with powers should be worried for, but also someone who is definitely not in the list of heroes or villains. Thomsen High is the best place to look for them, but considering the controversial status of Warwolf and how Thomsen High's founder, Craig Thomsen, was a hero, it is in the best interest of his to not attracts attentions. Stupid attentions, at that. Dangerous and stupid.

There's a girl, looks to be similar with his age. She's in the middle of waiting for her drink. Nice opportunity to talk to her. He mingled to the counter, drink on hand. He approached her, smiling. Or grinning. "Hello there. Looking for a nice job with enough payment to rent an apartment room and buy coffee every weeks?" he opened up.

Sydney looked up at the blue-haired guy who approached her, managing to stand out even more than she did with her red-tinged hair. His was bright sky blue, and she was instantly suspicious of the sales pitch he was offering. Sydney only looked up to him long enough to confirm that she was the target of his question, before averting her gaze back to her phone.

"Uhm, I think I've got a job that fits that that bill. Otherwise I wouldn't be here now..." She scooted away from him, turning slightly from Akira to seem more engaged in her phone. "And they way you talk about it makes it sound like a pyramid scheme. No thank you, señor."

Hmm, what is more to offer...? He thought about it for awhile. She obviously rebuffed his offer. His genuine offer of job. He cannot revealed that he was hired by Warwolf, but to offer more than that, well, that's not quite within his contract. Warwolf also definitely won't like the use of superhumans but thankfully for him, he is just a hired freelancer and they cannot really quite kick him out because of that. "Well, I can offer you more than just that," he continued.

"I can offer you...well, what do you want? This job is going to be easy, physical-only job. I am in need of someone to assist me in placing several surveillance devices atop buildings here in San Diego. I work for a security company that is hired by the San Diego's officials for precautions in case villainous acts happened and they can act fast," he continued, insisted it is merely a physical job. Warwolf is for security-related focuses, after all. He also has the permits of access to buildings, should be easy. "I'll coordinate how to place each devices in each buildings, and you are just there place the devices. There'll be no danger, too."

"So. What do you say?"

[The Templar High Council]

Sydney looked up at the blue-haired guy who approached her, managing to stand out even more than she did with her red-tinged hair. His was bright sky blue, and she was instantly suspicious of the sales pitch he was offering. Sydney only looked up to him long enough to confirm that she was the target of his question, before averting her gaze back to her phone.

"Uhm, I think I've got a job that fits that that bill. Otherwise I wouldn't be here now..." She scooted away from him, turning slightly from Akira to seem more engaged in her phone. "And they way you talk about it makes it sound like a pyramid scheme. No thank you, señor."

Hmm, what is more to offer...? He thought about it for awhile. She obviously rebuffed his offer. His genuine offer of job. He cannot revealed that he was hired by Warwolf, but to offer more than that, well, that's not quite within his contract. Warwolf also definitely won't like the use of superhumans but thankfully for him, he is just a hired freelancer and they cannot really quite kick him out because of that. "Well, I can offer you more than just that," he continued.

"I can offer you...well, what do you want? This job is going to be easy, physical-only job. I am in need of someone to assist me in placing several surveillance devices atop buildings here in San Diego. I work for a security company that is hired by the San Diego's officials for precautions in case villainous acts happened and they can act fast," he continued, insisted it is merely a physical job. Warwolf is for security-related focuses, after all. He also has the permits of access to buildings, should be easy. "I'll coordinate how to place each devices in each buildings, and you are just there place the devices. There'll be no danger, too."

"So. What do you say?"

"I'm not interested in the sketchy sales pitch, okay?" Sydney insisted, grabbing her drink as it came off the line and offering a thank you in response. "Look, if you need help with your security job or whatever, then post an ad instead of trying to solicit high schoolers near a school. That's super weird and might even be worth calling the cops."

After she finished her rebuttal, Sydney moved away from the counter to sit down. Unbeknownst to her, the seat she took was right next to Akira's belongings, and one of the only empty seats in the house. She sighed, and looked down to her phone for something to actually distract her from this conversation. A notification popped up on her phone, one of her close friends from high school had just gotten online for her to message. Sydney hurried to send Scott a text, seeing if he was nearby and/or if he wanted to hang out.

Sydney Ramirez: Hey Scott, it's Syd. Are you near school? Wanna hang? I'm chilling at the coffee shop across the street and some guy is being super creepy about some job. ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum

I was just on my way back to the house after attending a Alien Rights gathering. Despite the enormous contributions to society and our understanding of the universe and our place in it by alien life forms they are still not officially citizens in most nations and even in the United States are relegated to legal residents. It was preposterous. This was 2018 for gosh sakes, not the 1950s! It was insane in this day and age to keep immigrants down no matter where they come from. Or if they breathed through gills or absorbed solar radiation or had blue skin or whatever. I mean the extent of knowledge that the human race could gain from these individuals was endless. If we allowed some of their minds into organizations like NASA we may even be colonizing other worlds right now. Or wiping out hunger and disease on the planet or eliminating the need for war. I mean sure, there are just as many aliens who are dangerous but it was German scientists which helped us develop the Manhattan Project which in turn helped us end World War II.

Who is to say that the next great human advancements did not come from alien minds?

Well, thats a question for another day as I made my way around the corner noticing that Sydney's favorite coffee shop was just around here.

Which was strange as my phone received a text as I puled it from my pocket and saw a number I did not recognize. But upon reading the text I realized that it was Syd.

"I really need to make my contact list." I told myself as I sent a response.

[Scott: Sure, I am actually down the street on my way home. I will swing by and save you from the creeper. Besides, I wanted to show you something I picked up recently anyways.]

I then turned left at the intersection and made my way at a brisk pace to the coffee shop. Adjusting my back pack with my gauntlet inside of it. I have been taking it with me as much as I could lately just in case I needed to...I don't know? Save someone? Show off to a friend? Something like that.

Oh, I gotta come up with a cool code name. All heroes have a cool code name. And who knows, after seeing that new young hero team on the news a couple days ago. The Young Bloods? Maybe I can get in on that? But first thing is first, have to rescue Syd from the creeper.

I entered the shop and a automated bell went off signalling the staff a new customer had arrived. Pulling the strap on my back pack I quickly looked around the booths and counter before I spotted Syd. She stood out, especially with blue hanging so close to her.

That had to be the creeper.

Moving on over I moved in between the two and began to talk to Syd. Ignoring her stalker.

"Hey Syd, I got worried when you forgot..." I stumbled a bit as I tried to come up with an excuse to get her out of here. "Our date. Yeah, that's it. Thought I would come in and check on you. So, wanna go ahead and pay your tab and blast out of this place?"

OK, so what we are not actually dating. But its the best I could come up with on short notice. Here is to hoping she does not blow a volcano or something at me once we get out of here. I mean, she is literally a hot head after all.

"Come on, I have found something I think you will want to see anyways."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Akira failed. Oh well, it's not like she is important. But the fact is that it is actually a real job and not a fake job. But Akira wouldn't surrender just because he failed the first time, as he went to his table, only to saw her again. Apparently she took the seat next to him. Well, this is not entirely unsurprising. He quietly took the seat on his table, as he drank his own coffee. He didn't expect anyone else to come, but they did come anyway. A man came soon after, took a seat next to Sydney. Akira notified his security team outside, as he worried that dangers may took a higher level:

Heads up. Prepare for extraction and any threats.

He activated his suit, which stored at his rented apartment. Online way, it's activated and ready to be use but he still has yet to install the A.I inside the suit to send the suit here automatically. He took a deep breath, while his security team, humans and armed with batons and tasers, moved to the café, though rather discreetly to avoid attentions.

"I'm not asking you to do something dangerous here," as he addressed Sydney who seated next to his table.