Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Templar High Council]

Scott Green/Spectrum

[...]

Scott Green: 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."

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.

Syd nodded at the response on her phone, even after receiving the text she impatiently tapped her foot on the floor while sipping her coffee and waiting for Scott to arrive. "Yeah, well, it sounds too strange to be good." It only took a few minutes for the doofus to show up, Sydney rising to greet him and forcing a smile at his reasoning that she couldn't help but guess he had just thought of.

"Yeah... babe... totally forgot." She bounded out of her seat and over to her high school friend, a slightly younger boy that she just happened to share classes with. "We should probably get going then before the place closes." Hurriedly turning towards the door and dragging Scott by the hand, Sydney made her way outside past a group of similarly-dressed guys and across the street to the school campus proper. It was there that she pulled him behind one of the buildings and rapped him on the head, sharply.

"Girlfriend? Really!? That's the best you can come up with, even with time to prepare? ¡Idiota!" It took Sydney a minute to calm down, before she leaned her head around the building again, looking back at the shop. "That blue-haired guy is acting weird, he's up to something no good and I can feel it."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Akira Yasunaga

Well, she left the coffee shop with her...friend, or boyfriend. He is not accustomed with American's cultural condition. Some stupid thing, he guessed. Date, perhaps, maybe? He drank his coffee for awhile. Oh well, it means he won't meet her anytime soon. Really, the job pays well and she refused it. Wow, either she is an idealistic one or just some....well. Akira finished his drink, but discreetly left a small device on the coffee shop's door. The device won't let go, it sticks. The purpose is to track down that this coffee shop has a delicious coffee.

Then again, perhaps he put in on the door was unintentional activity. He left the shop and returned to the his security team. "Watch the shop, watch the surroundings. If that girl reappears, forced her to accept this job. Any means necessary," which they nodded to, and now, the security team, armed with vests but still appeared as civilians, discreetly spread out to look for Sydney.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum

And there it was. I cannot say I was surprised and I recoiled a bit after she smacked me. It was not the first time after all. Rubbing the back of my head I smiled sheepishly and defended myself. "Well, it worked didn't it? So whats the big deal?" I asked as I thought back to the creeper in the coffee shop. Honestly the dude looked like he was all of twelve years old. And if Sydney could use her fiery disposition to put me in my place, why not her stalker. Seems awfully wrong for me to be the one assaulted and not committing the crime here. But it came with the territory of being a friend to Sydney, and frankly she was a good one. So I'll endure it. Returning the topic to the blue haired creeper I decided to ask her if she recognized the guy.

"So, any idea on who your secret admirer is? Looks like he is old enough to get his lunch money taken in a middle school line if you ask me." It was after that that she brought up the fact that she thought he was up to no good. I observed her as she tried to spy from around the corner of the building. But the way she had said it sounded like she was considering following him or something. Which in turn reminded me...

"Hold on, nearly forgot!" I announced as I slid off my back pack and instantly knelt next to it.

Pushing past my science notes and grabbed up the Emerald Gauntlet. It reached from my knuckles to my elbow and slid nicely onto my left arm. Then, making certain no one could see us behind the building or from the streets I prepared my demonstration.

"Watch this." I announced as I tightened my left fist and focused as green light covered me, forming emerald sunglasses over my eyes and creating a new costume over my normal clothes. I almost struck a pose as I presented myself to Sydney.

"Isn't this awesome or what?!" I kinda got absorbed in the moment as I rambled on a bit.

"I can apparently form anything I can imagine using a hard light substance. Ironically very similar to that hero Hard Light. But not quite that, this thing came from aliens. Aliens that abducted me. I did not have a chance to tell you before now, but since I know about what you can do, I thought you would like to see this ya know? I mean, I am super excited I practiced for like twenty minutes so I think I have the hang of it. And oh-" I then had to stop myself.

"Sorry, but if you think that guy could be dangerous. Then maybe we could...ya know...be a dynamic duo or something?" My tone then softened a little hinting at some shame.

"Its just that...I don't have a code name yet."

[The Templar High Council]

Scott Green/Spectrum

And there it was. I cannot say I was surprised and I recoiled a bit after she smacked me. It was not the first time after all. Rubbing the back of my head I smiled sheepishly and defended myself. "Well, it worked didn't it? So whats the big deal?" I asked as I thought back to the creeper in the coffee shop. Honestly the dude looked like he was all of twelve years old. And if Sydney could use her fiery disposition to put me in my place, why not her stalker. Seems awfully wrong for me to be the one assaulted and not committing the crime here. But it came with the territory of being a friend to Sydney, and frankly she was a good one. So I'll endure it. Returning the topic to the blue haired creeper I decided to ask her if she recognized the guy.

"So, any idea on who your secret admirer is? Looks like he is old enough to get his lunch money taken in a middle school line if you ask me." It was after that that she brought up the fact that she thought he was up to no good. I observed her as she tried to spy from around the corner of the building. But the way she had said it sounded like she was considering following him or something. Which in turn reminded me...

"Hold on, nearly forgot!" I announced as I slid off my back pack and instantly knelt next to it.

Pushing past my science notes and grabbed up the Emerald Gauntlet. It reached from my knuckles to my elbow and slid nicely onto my left arm. Then, making certain no one could see us behind the building or from the streets I prepared my demonstration.

"Watch this." I announced as I tightened my left fist and focused as green light covered me, forming emerald sunglasses over my eyes and creating a new costume over my normal clothes. I almost struck a pose as I presented myself to Sydney.

"Isn't this awesome or what?!" I kinda got absorbed in the moment as I rambled on a bit.

"I can apparently form anything I can imagine using a hard light substance. Ironically very similar to that hero Hard Light. But not quite that, this thing came from aliens. Aliens that abducted me. I did not have a chance to tell you before now, but since I know about what you can do, I thought you would like to see this ya know? I mean, I am super excited I practiced for like twenty minutes so I think I have the hand of it. And oh-" I then had to stop myself.

"Sorry, but if you think that guy could be dangerous. Then maybe we could...ya know...be a dynamic duo or something?" My tone then softened a little hinting at some shame.

"Its just that...I don't have a code name yet."

Akira Yasunaga

Well, she left the coffee shop with her...friend, or boyfriend. He is not accustomed with American's cultural condition. Some stupid thing, he guessed. Date, perhaps, maybe? He drank his coffee for awhile. Oh well, it means he won't meet her anytime soon. Really, the job pays well and she refused it. Wow, either she is an idealistic one or just some....well. Akira finished his drink, but discreetly left a small device on the coffee shop's door. The device won't let go, it sticks. The purpose is to track down that this coffee shop has a delicious coffee.

Then again, perhaps he put in on the door was unintentional activity. He left the shop and returned to the his security team. "Watch the shop, watch the surroundings. If that girl reappears, forced her to accept this job. Any means necessary," which they nodded to, and now, the security team, armed with vests but still appeared as civilians, discreetly spread out to look for Sydney.

A look of surprise, and a bit of admiration, flashed across Sydney's face as she turned around to watch Scott suit up. "It looks pretty cool... wait, you got abducted by aliens!?" In her fit of shock, she didn't notice Akira placing the bug as he left the shop, but turned around just in time to see him talking to the posse of people she saw as they left the building. "I think it's a bit too early to call for a dynamic duo... but the first thing that comes to mind for a name is the Green Guardian. Not that it matters what your super name is if you don't do anything with it. If you're feeling confident, I think we should follow him. See what the heck he's really up to."

Sydney reached into her backpack and pulled out a hoody, though gotten from Thomsen High it was thankfully free of logos. It was made for people with her particular... condition, the material was resistant to heat and burning to a reasonable degree. She pulled it over her head and tucked her fiery hair under the hood. "We ought to look out for those thugs," She added, gesturing to the group of plainclothes men with body armor that fanned out from Akira's position. "I don't like the look they've got, but I don't think we should just leave this guy to his own devices."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum

Wait a sec, did she just look...impressed, for a moment? I think she did in fact look impressed. Score! I had been hoping that she would be impressed by the gauntlet. At this rate, maybe I will get that date. But I cannot drop the ball now, if she wants to take these guys down. Then that is what we are going to do. Because after all, even on a normal day, one does not simply refuse Sydney. They tend to get...burned. I gave a slight chuckle at my inner pun joke as I took several deep breaths and just barely peeked around the corner and saw this group of guys starting to fan out as casually as possible to not draw attention to themselves. Well, it wasn't working, they stand out like a sore thumb. And the creeper is still there.

Well, then we should have the advantage right? After all, these guys are looking for a couple of high schoolers, not two super heroes.

It sounded weird actually thinking about it. Super Heroes? Yeah, I guess we could be something like that. As Syd placed a hoodie over her head I shook my head. I knew that she could handle the heat, pun not intended. But to be wearing a hoodie in July in San Diego? She had to have been drawing some looks. I normally did not need any help to sound optimistic but this moment would have been different.

Had I not been wearing a advanced alien weapon that harnesses hard light. So, I spoke to Sydney with my trademark confidence.

"Don't worry, we got this. After all we have Ember and....Green Guardian, on the case. What can go wrong?" I asked rhetorically as I flashed her a smile. Thinking about it the name does sound a bit...generic?

Oh well, we can come up with something different later. Trying to recall my twenty minutes or so of practice I took several deep breaths. And finally, when I managed to make my feet move. Just charged out into the open lit up like a green Christmas Tree.

I was fairly sure I was spotted.

Stopping in the middle of the street I pointed an accusing finger at the group Akira included.

Think, think what would a hero say?

"Whatever schemes your planning are over now....villains! So just, back away, drop any weapons you may have and if you are feeling very helpful just explain your plans please? Isn't that what villains do? Monologue?" And immediately I knew, that I must have looked like...a complete doofus.

Dammit. I scolded myself. I am so not getting that date now.

It seemed for a few seconds at least, the guards did not even know what to make of me. Before they drew semi automatic side arms and began shooting at me. Deploying an emerald force field in front of me to block the bullets I braced for the gunfire as I awaited back up from ember to give me an opening.

"Crap."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Scott Green/Spectrum

"Whatever schemes your planning are over now....villains! So just, back away, drop any weapons you may have and if you are feeling very helpful just explain your plans please? Isn't that what villains do? Monologue?" And immediately I knew, that I must have looked like...a complete doofus.

Dammit. I scolded myself. I am so not getting that date now.

It seemed for a few seconds at least, the guards did not even know what to make of me. Before they drew semi automatic side arms and began shooting at me. Deploying an emerald force field in front of me to block the bullets I braced for the gunfire as I awaited back up from ember to give me an opening.

"Crap."

Akira Yasunaga

Akira already left the scene as he headed back to his apartment to prepare for anything. He is not quite willing to die here, or to blow up his cover. Fortunately for him he has yet to reveal his alignment with a faction, so to speak. Meanwhile, his security team opened fire on the one high schooler that they currently targeted. Few who had yet to pulled their firearms, pulled out their batons instead. "That girl over there!" one of them called out as they noticed the girl who Akira asked earlier.

"Rushed her!" and the few with batons rushed to Sydney.

[The Templar High Council]

Scott Green/Spectrum

Wait a sec, did she just look...impressed, for a moment? I think she did in fact look impressed. Score! I had been hoping that she would be impressed by the gauntlet. At this rate, maybe I will get that date. But I cannot drop the ball now, if she wants to take these guys down. Then that is what we are going to do. Because after all, even on a normal day, one does not simply refuse Sydney. They tend to get...burned. I gave a slight chuckle at my inner pun joke as I took several deep breaths and just barely peeked around the corner and saw this group of guys starting to fan out as casually as possible to not draw attention to themselves. Well, it wasn't working, they stand out like a sore thumb. And the creeper is still there.

Well, then we should have the advantage right? After all, these guys are looking for a couple of high schoolers, not two super heroes.

It sounded weird actually thinking about it. Super Heroes? Yeah, I guess we could be something like that. As Syd placed a hoodie over her head I shook my head. I knew that she could handle the heat, pun not intended. But to be wearing a hoodie in July in San Diego? She had to have been drawing some looks. I normally did not need any help to sound optimistic but this moment would have been different.

Had I not been wearing a advanced alien weapon that harnesses hard light. So, I spoke to Sydney with my trademark confidence.

"Don't worry, we got this. After all we have Ember and....Green Guardian, on the case. What can go wrong?" I asked rhetorically as I flashed her a smile. Thinking about it the name does sound a bit...generic?

Oh well, we can come up with something different later. Trying to recall my twenty minutes or so of practice I took several deep breaths. And finally, when I managed to make my feet move. Just charged out into the open lit up like a green Christmas Tree.

I was fairly sure I was spotted.

Stopping in the middle of the street I pointed an accusing finger at the group Akira included.

Think, think what would a hero say?

"Whatever schemes your planning are over now....villains! So just, back away, drop any weapons you may have and if you are feeling very helpful just explain your plans please? Isn't that what villains do? Monologue?" And immediately I knew, that I must have looked like...a complete doofus.

Dammit. I scolded myself. I am so not getting that date now.

It seemed for a few seconds at least, the guards did not even know what to make of me. Before they drew semi automatic side arms and began shooting at me. Deploying an emerald force field in front of me to block the bullets I braced for the gunfire as I awaited back up from Ember to give me an opening.

"Crap."

Akira Yasunaga

Akira already left the scene as he headed back to his apartment to prepare for anything. He is not quite willing to die here, or to blow up his cover. Fortunately for him he has yet to reveal his alignment with a faction, so to speak. Meanwhile, his security team opened fire on the one high schooler that they currently targeted. Few who had yet to pulled their firearms, pulled out their batons instead. "That girl over there!" one of them called out as they noticed the girl who Akira asked earlier.

"Rushed her!" and the few with batons rushed to Sydney.

"You idiot..." Sydney mumbled, watching Scott run into the open and reveal both of them to everyone in the area. She wasn't surprised when the bodyguards began preparing to fight back, but she did get surprised when a few of them diverted from Scott to run at her. With a snap of her fingers, Sydney produced a spark of fire on her fingertip, lashing out with the lit hand and sending a searing wave towards her assailants. She aimed in front of them, more to stop them from charging at her than to actually hurt them, before turning and running towards Scott. The guys with the guns were a bigger problem, mostly because those would actually severely hurt or kill Scott faster than the baton boys could beat up Sydney.

"Hey, duck!" Flexing her arms as she shouted, Sydney called out to Scott as her hands flared to life once again, this time bringing a lot more firepower to bear against the gunmen. She raised both hands, her pointer and middle fingers extended forward with her thumb half-raised above them. One normally wouldn't be very afraid of a finger gun, except these hands were packing heat with a lick of flame on the tips of her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, Sydney sent the fiery projectile soaring towards her target, the concentrated bead of fire flying as fast and deadly as a normal bullet with the added bonus of a smoky trail following it. Each time her hand recoiled, a new "bullet" was supplied by her pyrokinetic powers, keeping the air filled with sparks as the gunmen sought cover.

"Go and fight the guys with batons!" She yelled again at Scott, looking on with resolve at the line of target practice in front of her. "I don't want to be caught near anyone, it's a lot easier to control my powers when I can think for a second instead of burning someone inside out like those training dummies in gym class. I really don't want to put anyone in a hospital, but if these guys don't lay off we can call it self defense!" As she spoke, the baton-wielding bodyguards resumed their charge from behind the two students. Sydney kept her attention forward, even as civilians continued fleeing the vicinity, trying to keep the gun-toting opposition from causing any serious harm.

[Turmenista]

Johnny Swift

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny Swift

---

The actual plan itself called for humiliating Brock Spencer in front of everyone, but grabbing the attention of everyone currently either in a rave or passed out was inherently impossible thanks to the tinnitus-inducing music downstairs. Kicking his ass upstairs wouldn't do anything either, since, well, nobody was upstairs, save for Brock and his cronies.

Reluctantly, Johnny moved forward, leading Floyd up the winding path of stairs to the top floor. Spencer had since vanished into the presumably guarded door that one of his teammates was sitting in front of idly, likely playing some game on his phone. One guy down the hallway was a piece of cake, but the problem was figuring out whether or not they would fire first, or if the lineman at the end of the hall would.

Johnny placed his bets on the latter, entrusting that his speed would get to him first before any fireball or other projectile would. Making his way down onto the ground slowly, just as an Olympic sprinter would on the starting block, the teen-

"Hey."

He paused, heat flushing to his face. Thankfully the aviators on his face were covering up the worried look in his eyes.

"Hey, lanky. You too, bro." The voice down the hall came again. Johnny awkwardly looked up, thrusting a finger to his chest as he mouthed the word "Me?"

"Yeah, you. This ain't a track meet, what the hell are you all doing here?"

"Um..." Johnny paused for a split second. "I'm looking for Brock. Brock Spencer. You know him, right?"

"He didn't ask for people to meet with him," the big guy returned to his phone. "Bye."

Sighing, Johnny returned to Floyd. "Whelp, that blew it. I'm still going in anyways." Winking (although Floyd probably wouldn't tell he was, in hindsight), Johnny made another turn back to the goliath at the end of the hall. "Well, actually, I wasn't here to do track stuff. More rugby stuff, man. That's kinda like football right?"

Johnny seemed to disappear from beside Floyd as his first stride blasted him down the hall like a missile, leaving behind a simple "whoosh" next to his friend. What he was doing was dangerous - by all laws of physics an object of his size moving at such a high speed in an enclosed space wouldn't end well for whatever was about to be promptly dropkicked through the door. He did so anyways. In a maneuver that would've left any fighter jet a smoldering crater on the ground, Johnny planted his left foot on the ground first, parts of the wooden floor splintering below his boots as he began to spin clockwise. After a nearly full spin, his right foot found itself cozy onto the behemoth of a lineman's chest.

The resulting roundhousekick sent the big dude, easily two times Johnny's size, straight through the door like he was kicking a balloon, and the door subsequently flew off its hinges and landed elsewhere in the room, a nice man-sized hole right in its center.

Johnny stepped into the room and about 8 pairs of eyes locked on him, a mixture of confusion, anger, shock, and humor in their eyes as the person he'd just kicked through the door groaned loudly.

After an awkward pause, Johnny stepped forward once again, shaking extra sawdust off his shoes. "Hey, guys. Sorry about the door. My name's Johnny. Johnny Swift. This is my buddy Floyd." He gestured to the aforementioned companion. "I'm here because a lot of people downstairs think that Brock Spencer's a little bitch. I'm here to prove that theory. Know where I can find him?"

The room went silent, each of the equally massive football players in the room looking amongst themselves, then breaking out into laughter. Partially because of the scene they had just witnessed, and partially because of how ridiculous Johnny sounded. "You? You're trying to kick Big Brock's ass?" One of the players cackled. "Either way everyone's gonna be laughing their asses off when this chum gets bodied."

Johnny folded his arms and frowned. "If I can do that to whoever just got launched through the door, then Brock should be easy peasy. He's up here, right? The jersey?"

One of the guys stepped forward. "Uh.. I'm just wearing his jersey 'cause I forgot mine. He's downstairs, in that room with the paper taped onto it."


The words echoed in Johnny's head as he felt one of his eyes subconsciously twitch. The entire fiasco with the fake candy and meeting Clara could've been averted had he followed his gut and went to the obvious room that the focal point of the party had reserved specifically for boning someone. You have got to be...

"Excuse me, guys. Floyd, I'll be downstairs."

Again, the teen seemed to disappear from the room as he bolted down the hallways, simply disregarding the stairs entirely as he bounded down flights of stairs and past crowds of people in his way. His photographic memory found its use as he dodged people and objects alike, eventually ending up at the door in question in about two seconds of real time. The door crumpled up like a soda can after he punched it, and he witnessed it fly off its hinges, but straight into a ball of green fire thrown from inside of the room.

Time seemed to speed back up around him as he skidded to a halt in the room, the door already gone and splintered into several charred embers by the feet of Brock Spencer.

"You." A finger extended at the football QB's chest was all the speedster needed to say. The entire party itself seemed to halt as Johnny took off his aviators, glaring upwards at the dark-skinned football star's confused, onyx eyes. Everyone was watching, meaning this was the perfect setup to his plan. But, there was still one major flaw with his plan, one which Brock pointed out right away.

"Didn't you come with someone else.. Johnny?"

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum

Well, creeper was on the move. And I had a feeling we would be seeing him again. Very soon. But as I tried to think of what I could do from behind my green constructed force field, which was holding off the bullets with minimal issues, Ember came in and bailed me out. Firing her finger like a gun and flames like bullets. I gave a cheer, caught up in the excitement of finally working with her like this for the first time. "Way to go Ember!" However, if I want a repeat of this, I cannot fumble it now. Or whatever other sports metaphors may be appropriate. So, using the opening Ember provided I dashed on over to the group armed with batons, which seemed really low tech for villains really.

But I certainly was not about to complain. It also gave me the chance to try out new constructs.

"Swing batterbatter! I exclaimed as a oversized green baseball bat formed and I swung it in a wide arc like hitting a baseball, knocking the three guys against a wall, and one through a window.

"Woah....well, their out."

It did not take long to see that we had the upper hand. I mean, guess we really caught these guys off guard. I almost feel bad for them. After all, dude was stalking Sydney. That deserved some punching. Looking back at Sydney, I debated if I should get involved or not. I mean, she looks like she is handling herself, and I...dislike potentially stepping on her toes. It normally results in a head slap.

But the odds of me being head slapped were about the same either way. So I tried to think deep on some philosophical advice to help me out here.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission?

Eh, works for me. Just as the last 'shoot out' was about to go down I formed a large green boxing glove and as his attention was trained on Syd I slammed him from behind. Knocking him out.

"Awesome work Ember the Fire Slinger. We save the day and no one got cooked well done. So...what now? Chase the creeper?" I guessed. Only to look around for bystanders to get a close look at the new 'heroes' on the scene.

"Or should we pose for a picture?" I joked smiling.

---

Nick rubbed his temples and stood up and walked over to his computer desk. Talking the whole way over. "Look, Briana it really is no big deal. Besides, your not a guest. Your my teammate. You went to sleep on the couch just outside my door, if anything I should have considered that when I went to sleep...as I did. If you really want to thank me, lets just not mention it again alright?" That was the safest thing for Nick to say. Because while he appreciated her offer. She really did not have anything that interests him...at least not a item that could be given anyways.

And they were having a nice moment and Nick had thought it best not to end that moment with him being impaled by a magical spear asking for that.

After all, he was already dying before his time. No need to tempt fate more than he already has. But just as he was about to get back to work, an idea had crossed his mind. But he was not certain as to how Briana would react. But he liked his odds far better than his other idea. So, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket he pulled two fresh ones out and extended one in her direction in offering.

"Scratch what I just said, how about you have a smoke with me? Smoke one full cigarette with me and we will be even and I will never mention this morning's incident alright? Besides, we still have time to kill before Alexis comes back and all." Nick may not have showed it, but he was very nervous. Briana both excited and scared the shit out of him. Of course, most of the latter was due to the incident this morning but still.

Still offering the cigarette he saw and waited for how Briana would respond.

[New Neros]

Andrew

Training Day
Cesar Chavez Park

John Lee smiled brightly at Margaret, and clasped his hand to heart, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Cartwright," He began, "I haven't known Andrew for long, but I have a knack for finding talent and intelligence." He faded his smile into a smirk, continuing with his warm and open personality. "I used to teach high school science, I love watching children learn and helping them along the way." He turned his eyes to Andrew, however, "But, I am more interested in helping Andrew with his powers. I am also gifted, but I'm afraid for the younger generation of superhumans. Caught between negligent vigilantism and rebellious villainy, many forces are at play to influence and snatch up empowered youth. I'm not here to guide Andrew on a particular path, but to help him become aware of his own potential, so that he can safeguard it and become the man he must be."

Nile seemed more aloof to the inspirational speeches Black Luminous seems to just give out willy-nilly, and opted for a more casual approach. "Well, coming from a hero, life is weird, there's a lot more than just heroes and villains, a lot of times, it's just guys with powers trying to live their lives. John brought me along to er, well, help you develop techniques and exercises to explore and enhance your powers, no matter how limited, into a force to be reckoned with." He turned to look at the tall, dark, and handsome Black Luminous, "If you don't have anything else, I think we should start the training. You ready, Andrew?"

[Insert several hours of physical exercises, hands-on experience, power reveals, and the like]

[Tomia]

Angelica grabbed on to the left side of the boat, bracing herself as the boat rocked violently back and forth. She heard Casimir screaming and that was when she noticed that Alexis had fallen out of the boat. She knew instinctively that that wasn't good, something was coming. "Alexis, you need to get out of the water now." She said, moving past Casimir and pressing her hands against the boat, creating an ice bridge from the boat to Alexis. Frost Bite slid down the make ship ramp that was already starting to collapse, pulling Alexis out of the water and onto the boat. She noticed that though Alexis was wet and had been swimming to keep herself afloat, she wasn't breathing heavily or panicking from treading water. Angelica only had a moment to think about that before there was another wave that rocked the boat again, this time they heard a noise that almost sounded like a roar from the left side of the boat. "What the hell..." She started but was cut off by a giant creature that was now swimming towards the side of the boat. Angelica steeled her nerves and gripped her staff tightly. "Well we've found our lake monster. And I'm pretty sure we've taken it's kid."

The monster reared up towards the boat, and Angelica thrust at it with her spear, pushing the beast to keep it from sinking them. "It has claws, and some kind of scales along it's back. It's got four limbs, like some kind of lake dog. Anyone have any ideas?" She said, turning towards the group while her staff continued to keep the monster at bay. She actually wasn't sure what to do here and was seeking help.

[Finland SSR]

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny Swift

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Johnny rushed forward towards the top floor without even thinking, and after a brief scuffle with the guard who had his head buried in the phone, the kid rushed through the blocker by using his super speed, vanishing almost instantly and leaving Floyd alone on this winding staircase with the indifferent bodyguard.

Even though Floyd could already tell from the hints he saw earlier, the fact that Johnny's superpower was super speed made him raise an eyebrow. That might not be the absolute best superpower to go in tandem with him, but seeing as Floyd's fighting style has always been fast-paced swordplay, having a speedster by his side for scouting or delivering quick sucker punches in critical moments, it's still a good sidekick to have here. Of course, this is also Johnny we're talking about, and not a professional, trained superhuman. It should be obvious that Floyd didn't expect the kid to follow his strategies.

The swordsman glanced towards the "bodyguard", only to see him continue with his fixated gaze on the phone, playing a some sort of undressing game. This guard sucks, even by school standards. Floyd placed his left hand in his pocket and used the right to pull out his sword, just in case things get fun, and walked in. Understandably, he was a little late, as by the time he had arrived, one of the guys in the top floor had been sent through a door and Johnny was introducing them to the surprised massive football players. When the kid introduced his ally to the gang, Floyd merely muttered:

"Sup."

and stopped next to the speedster. Floyd more or less zoned out for the rest of the conversation, only catching Johnny's note that he's gonna go to the obviously suspicious room on the first floor. One, two, three, and Floyd's alone again with a gang of people he has no clue about. A brief, uneasy silence followed.

"So who the hell are you supposed to be, then? Haven't seen you in school anywhere." one of the footballers finally spoke, pointing his fat, muscular sausage-like finger towards Floyd. The swordsman merely grinned, sheathed his sword - surprising everyone in the room, as few even noticed that the person in front of them carried a weapon - and replied:

"Of course you haven't. I'm only here because Big John needs adult supervision."

With that said, Floyd vanished almost as quickly as Johnny did a few seconds ago. He did hear the footballers muttering among each other right before he left:

"What the fuck, man, that guy brought a fucking sword to a party..."

One, two, three, and Floyd was already next to the suspicious looking room on the first floor - and, much like Floyd expected, Johnny was already causing trouble. The door to that room was burned down by what appeared to be green fire - which immediately raised the swordsman's suspicion - and his ally was now right in front of a giant black football star, and one which was noticeably pissed. Despite that, Johnny had guts, even going as far as to point his finger at the energy-manipulating behemoth quarterback. And everyone else, or at the very least everyone around them, was watching this incident.

Floyd's mind immediately diverted to one option - let's make that "everyone" even bigger. The swordsman turned off a few of his unnecessary senses, strengthening the others, but especially vision, then turned towards one of the corners in the room, swiftly pulled out his sword and tossed it towards the powerful speakers stationed there with the precision of an Olympic spear thrower. The sword punched through two of the three speakers and forced a short circuit in the system, leaving the whole room dead quiet.

This one's for you, Johnny.

"Oh he's got a buddy alright," Floyd spoke towards the Johnny-Brock duet from the side, cracking his knuckles just a little bit. "Though, to be honest, so will you pretty soon. One big red truck with a cross on the side. And no, it's not Jehovah's Witnesses."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

After being pulled out of the water by Angelica, Alexis was as fresh as ever (or perhaps slightly more so as the lake was freshwater), not bothered at all by the fact that she had been unable to breathe for several moments; her gear also appeared to be unharmed despite having been submerged along with her, and her clothes were thankfully nothing that might turn embarrassing when wet, so all things considered, falling into the lake was not nearly as bothersome as it might have been otherwise, and as soon as she was pulled onto the boat, she stood up, looking at Casimir and Angelica.

"Awwww, you were worried about me!" She said teasingly, knowing that her many quirks made things like drowning into non-issues, though she was still glad to be standing on something solid, even if it was still rocking violently. Doing her best to keep her balance and avoid falling overboard like last time, she watched as a massive monster that looked like an adult version of the cute little thing they found earlier emerge from the lake, sending drops of water flying everywhere and soaking the already wet Alexis even more. "Wow! Who would've thought Nessie was a weird dog thing and not a weird dinosaur thing!" She commented.

However, it soon became clear that the situation did not call for jokes: the beast was attempting to sink them, and only Angelica was holding it back. Frowning, she pressed a button on her one working gauntlet, ejecting the power cell. Then, she took off one of her sneakers and slid the power cell into a hidden slot, lending energy to the otherwise drained artifact. "Hold on tight, everyone!" She called out, before moving the sneaker into the water behind the boat. The thrusters on the footwear suddenly activated, moving the speedboat away from the lake monster quite a bit faster than the speedboat's engine itself would've been able to.

After gaining some distance, Alexis pulled her shoe out of the water and started up the speedboat's engine instead, which kept the boat moving, albeit a tad more slowly. "Alright, first things first, we have to get it out of the lake where it has an advantage. I have a plan but it might be a little risky." She said as she removed the power cell from her sneaker and put it back on, before returning the battery to her gauntlet. She pulled another battery out of somewhere and slid it into her other gauntlet before continuing. "We hang near the shore until it pounces us. Once it does that, I think I have enough power to send it flying straight to solid ground, though I might need your help, Yoshi." The tech wizard said, glancing at the Asian girl. "Once it's out there, I'm sure you and Cas can dish out the pain, Frosty-girl. I don't know how hard knocking it out will be, but I figure a few good whacks to the head should do it." She concluded.

Looking around to see her teammates' faces after having laid out her plan, the blonde girl noticed the offspring of the lake monster attempting to escape the boat and make it back to its mother (or father). Reaching out with one hand, she scooped the creature up and pulled it close. "You're not going anywhere, water pupper. You're the bait we need right now."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Akira Yasunaga

Akira's car was really fast as it sped up on the streets of San Diego. While the car reached the underground parking lot, it took Akira ten minutes to reached his apartment room, where he actually rented the entire floor for himself and bribed the landlords to ignored his activity. Then again, he also put a signature from Warwolf that he rented it for his own activity, to which his landlords agreed.

Under the guns' threat.

Akira put his suit on active mode, while he panted over the the very physical activity. He did physical training, but visits to gym and jogging didn't help matters as he was quite out-of-physical despite a rather fit physical condition. Fit for civilian, but a very below-average physical conditioning one at that.

Suit Activated.

His suit was activated, and he entered it. While his suit has the capability of flight, and it has been tested, it hasn't been tested for urban environment. Nonetheless, this is the first test for that. His security team was defeated, soundly. No shit, they were just normal humans like him. But he already notified for the second security team to arrived, but this time in a more discreet approach. Only assisting when he needs one.

He soon flew but in a rather low flight height as he approached the coffee shop.

---

Meanwhile, in San Diego, drug dealers had offered, sold, a rather unusual new drugs. A very tasty one at that, and colored red, the drugs were soon bought and sold by its buyers and dealers. The spread is rather small for the time being, but the spread of Blood Drug is expanding, albeit slowly...

[New Finnish Republic]

Brianna Erickson

---

Brianna paused, her eyes widened at the sight of Nick's offering to her. Even after all of these years, she had yet to ever put one of those things in her mouth. While she was more than happy to drink away her nights with even the strongest of alcohols, she always seemed to have an innate disgust towards tobacco. She doubted they'd ever affect her, given her powers, but even still she stayed away from them. However, even though Nick may have thought otherwise, she felt that it was only the right thing for her to do in order to redeem her earlier actions.

So with a shaky hand, she reached out and grabbed one of the small paper sticks, hesitantly putting it into her mouth. Nick raised an eyebrow, surprised that she had accepted his offer. Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, he retrieved a lighter and held it up to the end of the cigarette. Lighting it, he glanced at Brianna's eyes, which in their reflection was both the flame of his lighter as well as a bit of fear. The sight was almost comical for him, but he did his best to hold in any laughter he felt bubble up.

"Now once I light it, just take a slow deep breath. If you breath in too suddenly, you're going to cough."

Brianna gave a nervous nod, ready for Nick to light the object in her mouth. He obliged, placing the open flame onto the end of the paper, causing it to catch fire. As instructed, Brianna did her best to breathe in steadily, but the sensation of smoke tickling her throat caused her to involuntarily cough. Cursing in between coughs, she tried to regain her composure, but the taste of the cigarette made her want to vomit.

Unbeknownst to her, Nick was rolling his eyes. He knew that this was probably going to happen, but the sight still made him grin. After a few moments of coughing, she was about to put the cigarette to her lips once more before it was abruptly taken away from her hands, finding its way into his mouth instead.

"That's enough for now. Besides, I don't want you to waste the thing. That's the one sin I don't think I'd be able to forgive."

Brianna raised a finger in protest, but soon gave up after realizing that she was glad that he had done what he had. Still, the fact that, in a way, their lips had both met caused her face to redden. Standing up, Véurr appeared in her hands once more, causing Nick's smug look to return to an expression similar to what he had worn this morning.

"Don't think you can be so brash with me, Brusi! I know what you were trying to do there, and if you try it again I'll...I'll.."

She let out an angered humph! before returning Véurr back to its usual form.

"I'm going to take a quick walk. I need some fresh air to get that taste out of my mouth."

Walking out of the apartment building, she slammed the door behind her, leaving a visibly confused Nick behind, no doubt trying to ponder what exactly he had done.

[The Templar High Council]

"You idiot..." Sydney mumbled, watching Scott run into the open and reveal both of them to everyone in the area. She wasn't surprised when the bodyguards began preparing to fight back, but she did get surprised when a few of them diverted from Scott to run at her. With a snap of her fingers, Sydney produced a spark of fire on her fingertip, lashing out with the lit hand and sending a searing wave towards her assailants. She aimed in front of them, more to stop them from charging at her than to actually hurt them, before turning and running towards Scott. The guys with the guns were a bigger problem, mostly because those would actually severely hurt or kill Scott faster than the baton boys could beat up Sydney.

"Hey, duck!" Flexing her arms as she shouted, Sydney called out to Scott as her hands flared to life once again, this time bringing a lot more firepower to bear against the gunmen. She raised both hands, her pointer and middle fingers extended forward with her thumb half-raised above them. One normally wouldn't be very afraid of a finger gun, except these hands were packing heat with a lick of flame on the tips of her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, Sydney sent the fiery projectile soaring towards her target, the concentrated bead of fire flying as fast and deadly as a normal bullet with the added bonus of a smoky trail following it. Each time her hand recoiled, a new "bullet" was supplied by her pyrokinetic powers, keeping the air filled with sparks as the gunmen sought cover.

"Go and fight the guys with batons!" She yelled again at Scott, looking on with resolve at the line of target practice in front of her. "I don't want to be caught near anyone, it's a lot easier to control my powers when I can think for a second instead of burning someone inside out like those training dummies in gym class. I really don't want to put anyone in a hospital, but if these guys don't lay off we can call it self defense!" As she spoke, the baton-wielding bodyguards resumed their charge from behind the two students. Sydney kept her attention forward, even as civilians continued fleeing the vicinity, trying to keep the gun-toting opposition from causing any serious harm.

Scott Green/Spectrum

Well, creeper was on the move. And I had a feeling we would be seeing him again. Very soon. But as I tried to think of what I could do from behind my green constructed force field, which was holding off the bullets with minimal issues, Ember came in and bailed me out. Firing her finger like a gun and flames like bullets. I gave a cheer, caught up in the excitement of finally working with her like this for the first time. "Way to go Ember!" However, if I want a repeat of this, I cannot fumble it now. Or whatever other sports metaphors may be appropriate. So, using the opening Ember provided I dashed on over to the group armed with batons, which seemed really low tech for villains really.

But I certainly was not about to complain. It also gave me the chance to try out new constructs.

"Swing batterbatter! I exclaimed as a oversized green baseball bat formed and I swung it in a wide arc like hitting a baseball, knocking the three guys against a wall, and one through a window.

"Woah....well, they're out."

It did not take long to see that we had the upper hand. I mean, guess we really caught these guys off guard. I almost feel bad for them. After all, dude was stalking Sydney. That deserved some punching. Looking back at Sydney, I debated if I should get involved or not. I mean, she looks like she is handling herself, and I...dislike potentially stepping on her toes. It normally results in a head slap.

But the odds of me being head slapped were about the same either way. So I tried to think deep on some philosophical advice to help me out here.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission?

Eh, works for me. Just as the last 'shoot out' was about to go down I formed a large green boxing glove and as his attention was trained on Syd I slammed him from behind. Knocking him out.

"Awesome work Ember the Fire Slinger. We save the day and no one got cooked well done. So...what now? Chase the creeper?" I guessed. Only to look around for bystanders to get a close look at the new 'heroes' on the scene.

"Or should we pose for a picture?" I joked smiling.

Sydney let out a sigh as the combat came to a close, allowing herself to cool down and survey the scene around her. Aside from scorch marks and the remnants of bullets, the environment was mostly unaffected. Oh, and the window Scott broke, she heard that happen behind her but was too busy to comment on it. After all was said and done, the bodyguards knocked out, tied up, and put together while waiting for the police to arrive, only then did Sydney respond to Scott.

"I can't complain. For the first time I see you using this power, you didn't get hurt." She offered him a thumbs-up, right before the civilian bystanders started to congregate around the heroes. Watching the people approach, some smiling, some wary, Sydney pulled her hoodie tighter over her head in response. The forming crowd circled the group of gangsters, Scott, and Sydney, a fair number of them taking out their cell phones to snap pics of the latest superhero activity. Meanwhile Sydney made it as difficult as possible to get a shot of her. Instead, she busied herself with checking and rechecking the bonds on the criminals, even if some of them were formed out of Scott's hard light. Anything to get her out of this spotlight faster, even going as so far as to not reply to Scott while the adoring public was watching.

[Tomia]

Amir, Cass, Mars, and Wyatt
As Mars struggled to keep himself standing, the nausea and dizziness overwhelming him, Cass approached him, steadying him with her arm as she examined him. Her eyes scanned him, and an unnatural flash even seemed to pass by them. "It seems he is suffering from a toxin in his blood stream. Without a blood test there is no way for me to identity the toxin. Based on his vitals it is not fatal, but he requires medical attention."

"I could work on a spell to stop the poison" Amir said helpfully. "But without knowing what it is, it'll take a while to come up with a way to stop it."

As the two were discussing options, Mars suddenly fell to his knees, vomiting as he was overwhelmed by dizziness. This clearly made Wyatt nervous.

"Guys, we should really go back. Mars sick and we're not any closer to figuring out how to fix it." He said, worry was in his voice and Cass and Amir also looked concerned. While neither wanted to abandon their mission they eventually agreed that they should head back. It was a relatively short walk back to the clearing where Naja and Elena were together.

Elena's eyes went towards them as they came into view. She didn't look terribly surprised or concerned at Mars' condition, if anything she seemed a little annoyed. "Mars got bit by something, he really needs help!" Wyatt said, as Cass gently laid Mars onto the ground.

"And why didn't you help him?" She asked, raising her eyebrow, Amir was the one to respond. "We didn't know how, there was no way to figure out what the poison was."

Naja couldn't help but smile, and Elena continued. "What exactly do you think that list I had given you was for?" The group looked at each other with uncertainty. "I had a thought we might encounter something poisonous, so I sent you out to find the ingredients for an antidote that would help against most things on this island." As she said that she pulled a small vial out of a nearby bag, before uncorking it and approaching Mars with it. She lifted his head and had him drink the strange brown substance. He chocked it down, rolling over to his side as it was clearly unpleasant to taste.

However after a few moments Mars started to look a bit better, his complexion returning and his stomach starting to settle, though the bite mark was still swollen and irritated. The three others diverted their eyes as they realized their mistake, this time Naja addressed them.

"Heroes have to be able to deal with any issues that present themselves. You can't always rely on back up, you need to be able to solve problems with what you have available to you." The team members nodded soberly before being sent off to the beach to help make sure things were settled for the stay while Mars stayed and rested with the adults.

"You always did have a learn by doing teaching style Elena." Naja said as she put her hand on Mars' head to see if he was running a fever. Elena merely shrugged. "The best type of education is one that gives you experience. If your education isn't dangerous, you're probably not prepared for a dangerous career."

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew Marks

Ms. Cartwright nodded and padded Andrew’s shoulders. It seemed that Luminous had earned her trust. “Well, everything seems to be in order.” she said with a smile, “I'll keep watch on all three of you, sitting at that bench. Have fun, Andrew.
”

Andrew had Rango watched as Ms. Cartwright left to sit at a bench under a nearby tree. She peered at him at him with most careful eyes. He returned his attention back to Luminous and Niles and grinned with determination. “Well, I'm ready.” he said with a fang bearing smile, “How are we going to start?”

Almost immediately, Andrew’s training began with exercises of various kinds. Luminous first taught the snake boy various wrestling techniques to use with his serpentine body. Andrew was then made to fight without Rango for eyes, being taught combat in pure darkness with his senses. Afterward Luminous taught the boy the many ways he could utilize his control over snakes for eyes, ears and smell. The training was ultimately concluded with Tupin teaching Andrew the use of fangs, both his own and the snakes under his command. This upset the boy as he found himself reluctant to go around biting people.

As Ms. Cartwright watched Tupin train Andrew an uneasy feeling came upon her. She observed his powers and it didn't take her long enough to figure out who he really was. At the end of Andrew’s training, Ms. Cartwright went up to him and made quick goodbyes to Tupin as if in a hurry. Urgently, she escorted Andrew back to the car without so much as looking back.

“Well, Andrew I assume you had fun with your training?” Ms. Cartwright asked as she glanced at the boy in her rearview mirror. She drove back to the Orphanage, but got stuck in traffic.

Andrew yawned and a bit and merely nodded. He was much too tired to speak after all of that. The boy simply wished to go to his room and listen to some Queen.

Ms. Cartwright smiled. “Well, if you really are serious about this hero business, I’ll get into contact with the Young Bloods.” She said, “I don't want you seeing that Turpin man again.”

Andrew looked up at her and frowned. “Huh?” he asked, “Er… why not? He seems nice.”

“That is just the thing, Andrew.” Me. Cartwright said grimly, “He is not nice. Turpin is a very bad man. A villain named Black Luminous…”

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt kept quiet as Elena basically told them that they royally screwed up. Right. Because we're supposed to know how to make an antivenin for an unlikely to occur event. What if we got stung by a completely different bug? What if we never got stung to begin with? He silently complained. In his mind it made very little sense as a training exercise. "It was a mess on both ends, but I think we should focus on doing better next time. I've got an idea for next time. Most of what we'll be dealing with is teams of evil superhumans and or aliens, right?" He started. "So why don't we do team fights like... Capture the Flag or something? One side is heroes, the other villains. Everything short of lethal force is good to go." He suggested. It had to be better training than aimlessly wandering through the woods looking for weird plants simply because it would be pretty much what their whole purpose was.

"I do think it could have been planned better, but I think you made the right choice. You knew you had backup and decided the life of your teammate was more valuable and ended the mission. Context matters obviously." Orro started. "It would be folly to have your team fall and leave you more vulnerable than you would otherwise be. However, Elena does have a valid point. This is quite the odd world we live in and you should do your best to prepared for strange scenarios." Orro said. He tried to be fair in his criticism of everyone. Yes, they are children, but from his research, superhero work was very dangerous and it was rare that two scenarios were identical. The existence of strange abilities made things incredibly unpredictable.

[Anxiety Cafe]

Isla de la Paz

Many things went through Nathan's mind as he flew through the air. He admired how blue the sky was, how calming the sound of the ocean's waves were, and how serene everything seemed from how high he was. And then there was the seemingly unending stream of curses exiting from his mouth, which was mostly aimed at Carter and his stupid butt air.

Flailing his limbs and trying to swim through the air away from the crab, he watched in horror as Park's bullets did nothing but anger one, with it making it's horrible click click sound as it advanced. Meanwhile, the other one was still under his thrashing body, prepared to grab him with its ugly pincers. Nathan couldn't help but wonder if it would eat him. Were crabs carnivores? Were these ones?

His thoughts had to be cut short, however, as he felt a little wind push him just slightly out of the way. Carter! Finally, coming to his senses. He fell inches from the claw, his shoe stuck in the pincer while the rest of him lurched into the water, spitting up saltwater and blinking his stinging eyes. It didn't hurt all too much—Carter must have softened his fall—but it still ached with a passion. And with the chaos from being shot up in the air, he had forgotten to absorb whatever he could.

"Carter," he yelled, shaking a bit from the shock. "I'm gonna kill you if this crab doesn't first!"

---

The Algerian Coastline

"Hold on there," she started, cutting him off at his two months comment. "I'm not making any long-term agreements here. I will get you two humans right now, and maybe tomorrow. You learn to control it by then. If I see any more mass graves like this again, you will be its last body."

She felt a little bad, telling him off like that, but she knew there was nothing else she could do. Even prisoners didn't deserve to have their life force drained out of them like some sort of sick battery. She felt a little sick to her core that she was even offering him four.

"Do you know how to swim?" she cleared her throat, beginning for the water again. "I know Algiers is near here. They have to have a prison."

---

McDonald's in San Diego

"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," Icarus responded, seemingly lost in thought.

She wanted to question him further about it, for it seemed like an interesting way to think about things, but she wasn't one to push when he obviously didn't want to explain further.

"So... relax and have fun, right? What's fun for you? 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 shrugged, changing the topic quickly.

She took her first spoonful of sundae, enjoying the sweetness and shoveling more in her mouth.

"I dunno, I guess I just wanted to explore San Diego or something. I've lived here a while, but you know, it's a big city," she started, thinking about his last comment.

She knew some of the people he was talking about, through simple observation. The fact that they were all busy unnerved her a little bit, although she couldn't put a finger on why.

"Anyway," she continued, slurping up another spoonful. "What do you like to craft?"

---

NYC, the one and only

It was Atmo's turn in the body, and he did what he always seemed to do: fly around the sky for no reason other than to feel the wind in hair that was not his. He seemed to like the dark areas of the city the best; it put the others to sleep and gave him some peace and quiet, not to mention privacy. And then there was the way the entire area seemed devoid of life, which calmed his mind more than anything else. At least, it usually did.

But today, he heard a scream echoing throughout an alleyway, interrupting his thoughts and even waking Psy up. She groggily slurred some thoughts into his head, and he sighed and decided there was no way he was gonna get any quiet anymore. He headed over to where the scream had come from, and saw a flash of white hair exiting the alley. Checking it out, he found the two broken bodies of what looked to be criminals.

A vigilante! he thought, silently following her from the sky. She pulled up her hood to block out the brightness of her hair, but she had already been seen. Touching down right behind her, he cleared his throat and crossed his arms. He was still in costume, so he wasn't worried about his identity, or at least Daniel's. But he couldn't help but hope it was someone from his old life, who could help him out of his dilemma.

---

Another Dimension

The demon had its hideous hand on Yierneg's pristine, white wing for what seemed like ages, doing nothing but starting off into space, yet somehow staying completely alert whenever he tried to escape. Cursing himself for his stupidity, he glared at the demon with open contempt, getting a laugh in return.

"Spare me your foul gaze, prince," it said. "Your planet has been searching for you. Even I have heard of their attempts. I will give them you, and in return..."

The demon discontinued, seemingly happy to leave Yierneg wondering. Yierneg had no time to wonder, however, as he continuously squirmed and came close to seriously injuring his wing. His brothers wouldn't just kill him; they would smear his wings and fur with dirt. They would publicly shave his fur and cut off his wings. Then they would carve his tattoos from his skin, before throwing him off Thol's Mountain. The humiliation would be far worse than the pain. He wouldn't have it!

He just needed to wait, and hope.

---

Tolaer

Jennifer's loud footsteps interrupted conversations as she sprinted across the plaza before the portal even closed. Many stopped to stare in wonder; she was always calm and collected, and to see the woman who had saves a number of them fearful was worrisome. Still, she continued on without even a glance, towards her father's abode.

"Hel-" he started, interrupted by her slamming the door shut and panting heavily.

"The Loshiak was taken by the demon. His brothers-" she started, hands on her knees.

Her father, the man who had brought Yierneg to Tolaer, stood up and pushed her on the chair, his eyes widening.

"If his brothers find him...he might" he warned, already grabbing various magical items.

"I know," she responded, standing up next to him. "Let's get him back."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum

She gave me a thumbs up? OK, well I am satisfied now. Taking a look around, I could see that we managed to end the fight without too much damage. Well, Ember did. I did manage to break a window. She seemed a bit more practiced. But even still, no one is seriously hurt. So, thats a win right? Of course it is, maybe I am suited to this hero gig after all. As I watched the crowds close in and surround us, I prepared to take a spot light, but as I was about to begin speaking to a reporter, I could see that Sydney was doing her best not to be noticed. The ear to ear grin started to recede as I thought about what she would want, obviously she would rather stay away from the paparazzi. But if I do the same, and tell everyone to back away, it's not as if they actually would.

Everyone wants to be the first to see a new hero in action. If I pulled back, they would only move in closer and likely try to satisfy themselves with Sydney, and that would not go over well at all.

Thinking about it, it would probably be best for me to do my best to satiate their appetite until the proper authorities arrive and arrest these men. If their attention is focused on me, it won't be on Sydney. Of course, its not like I am used to being the center of attention. After all, no one cares about what the science geek says or thinks in school.

Its a welcome change.

"My uh...ally here is very busy with important work keeping these men restrained. Please be considerate of her and direct all your questions to me. I will do my best to answer as many questions as possible until the Police arrive." And with that, the flood gates opened.

"Are you related to the hero Hard Light?"

"No, um, no relation at all. It's coincidence more than anything that I resemble her power set." OK, easy one. Good start.

"So, where do your powers come from then?"

"Its very advanced tech, that is all I can say for now. Next please." A photo flash accompanied the next question as the interrogation continued.

"So, the two of you are partners, are you lovers perhaps?" Oh, crap.

NEXT! And the questions continued to pour in.

Honestly, I didn't mind it at all. After so many years of being invisible in school. It feels nice to finally be seen.

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

"Well, that could've gone smoother."

As was said by Carter Graystone as he procured himself from the sand, slightly spitting out a few loose grains, and witnessing the slightly off-target trajectory that his air had sent Nathan's body on. Stupid fishy, why did it have to get in his way? Park only angered the crabs with her bullets, and Nathan had completely missed and crashed into the water, Mike was...somewhere else entirely, and Carter was still lying down in the sand.

With Nathan's death threat still looming over his head, Carter quickly scrambled to his feet, fatigue beginning to settle in. The fight with Kiris had drained him well, especially that massive gale in the trees. Not to mention the energy spent levitating firewood, which wasn't exactly light. If he ran out here again, there was a good chance he'd become crab-dinner.

With a swishing of his arms, he attempted to throw the crabs back into the rapidly approaching wave with a gust of air emitting from his palms. However, a small knockback wind was all he was able to muster, and the two crabs fell back about five feet before collapsing back in the surf still writhing. Hopefully, someone else could swoop in and finish the job.

---

Li Yang Zhang

They weren't here.

All those hours of flying in planes and sleeping in dirty motels. Whining of children, airsickness, and rowdy blue-collar perverts, all for what? To arrive at Wonder Island and see that the Young Bloods...were gone. Perhaps they were on a training exercise, on a mission, or just taking a break. It didn't matter, the point was that the Young Bloods weren't here, and Li's potential allies with them.

She just kept staring at the building, as if waiting for one to walk out, some miracle. She stood like that for ten minutes, unwilling to let go of the prospect. She couldn't beat them alone...could she? No, it was five dangerous superpowered criminals against one of her, she needed help.

Six days left to go, before the greatest thing in her life was gone forever.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 5th
Mountain Group, Isla de la Paz

"Yeah! And there's lots of trees and chirp-chirps and there's a big river too! I'll try to get some images to show you soon." Spoke the cheerful Hadrian in her native language as she smiled and looked into a device she held on her hand, the same one she had back during the escaped prisoners' attack on Wonder Island. Occasionally, the sound of voices different from hers could be heard coming from within the device, the voices of two adults speaking the same alien language as her. The girl and her two interlocutors continued eagerly conversing, and several minutes passed before another figure showed up on the side of the mountain. This time it was another girl, a human one with black hair and yellow highlights, who was struggling to scale up the mountain and eventually stopped to rest on a ledge several meters below.

"Oh, there's somebody else here, so I should lend a hand. I'll call again later!" The alien girl spoke into the device before uttering yet another word in her native language, causing it to shut down. Placing the artifact inside one of her pockets, she stood up and waved at Alice, who looked up. "Hey there! I was wonderin' where you were." Kirisvala said in a friendly manner as she looked down at the girl.

"Sorry, I fell behind a little bit and I didn't want to take the tunnels." The human girl apologized before trying to look around for any signs of the other two members of their team. "Er... where are Roy and Wendy?" She asked, a little confused.

"Those two? I was waitin' for them to get here, actually. I think the tunnel they took comes out here and then they have to take another one, so they should be here soon." Kiris replied to the other girl, glancing down the tunnel she expected her friends to come out of, before looking back at Alice. "Do you want any help with gettin' up here? It's much more comfortable if you want to wait, there's a lot more room for sittin' down." She offered with a smile. Tilting her head, Alice appeared to become immersed in thought for a moment before looking up and nodding.

"I'm going to try something, okay? Just hold out your hand." She stated, with Kiris gladly obliging. Alice then held out her hand as if to reach up to her teammate despite the distance that separated them, and Kirisvala witnessed how she started growing just like she had done back at the Zoo incident, becoming far larger than any human had the right to be and certainly large enough to reach out and grab her hand. Then, just like that, she shrunk again, still holding onto the alien's claw. In fact, she had now become small enough to fit on Kirisvala's palm, and as the pink-haired girl looked down in fascination, Alice simply smiled.

"Pretty cool, huh? And I think I have a pretty good idea of how to make this a lot easier for all of us!" She said excitedly.

"Um, what? I can't hear you." The alien stated. From her perspective, Alice's voice sounded very weak and distant. Realizing this, the small girl frowned and began running up the length of Kirisvala's arm, with the confused Hadrian trying to keep it as still as possible to avoid accidentally throwing off her teammate. Soon enough, she arrived at the shoulder, and spoke again, this time much closer to the alien girl's ear. Kiris listened attentively to the plan, nodding along and smiling at the end, fairly content with her role in it.

"I like the idea, let's do it!" The horned girl shouted in excitement. Immediately, Alice began speaking into her ear once again, this time berating her for being so loud. "Oh, whoops. Sorry." She said in a much quieter voice.

Not long after the plan had been established, the two girls heard some voices coming from the nearby tunnel. As the sound grew nearer and nearer, it became evident that the voices were two, and that they belonged to a boy and a girl, respectively. This alone was enough for the two girls to figure out who was coming, though as they approached, the topic of their conversation made it even more obvious.

"That's how I met her, ya. She's been a really big influence for me since then." Roy's voice spoke from within the tunnel, and Wendy's sounded soon after as well, continuing the conversation. Only a few moments passed before the two became visible from outside the cave, and as they looked up, they noticed Kirisvala patiently waiting for them. It took Roy a little, but he was able to spot Alice as well, seeing her sitting on the Hadrian's shoulder. The two emerged from the tunnel, and Wendy turned off a small flashlight she held on her hand before pocketing it.

"Look who's waiting for us." The black-haired girl said, her tone a bit dry as she resented having been put on edge by the alien's shenanigans, not to mention that climbing a mountain was not quite a relaxing activity. That small measure of hostility, however, was lost on Kiris, who simply waved eagerly at them.

"Hey! Now that we're here, we can keep goin' together!" She said, clearly excited to continue the climb, though Roy and Wendy simply stared at her, the latter letting out a sigh and the latter simply giving her an awkward nod. Before either of them could say anything, Alice spoke into her ear again, causing the alien girl to look more carefully at the pair that had just emerged from the cave. "Oh, Alice wants to know if you're together or somethin'." She said with a snicker, pointing at their hands, which were intertwined. The two looked down and immediately moved away from each other in embarrassment.

"Oh, that's... just so we wouldn't lose each other. It was pretty dark down there." Roy stated calmly, trying to keep his cool as much as possible, while Wendy simply looked away, hoping her hair would hide the red on her cheeks. Giggling at their reactions, the Hadrian simply nodded. "Anyway, any ideas on how to continue? Are there any other tunnels nearby, or are we going to have to start climbing up the side of the mountain?" The boy asked in an attempt to change the topic. Hearing the question, Alice jumped off of Kirisvala's shoulder, slowly growing to her normal size.

"Actually, I have just the answer for that!" She stated. "Since Kiris here is the best suited to climbing and all that good stuff, we can just use my powers to shrink down and let her carry us all the way up there. Sounds good?" She explained. Wendy did not seem too enticed by the idea of having to ride on the shoulders (or wherever else) of the girl who had been jumping from tree to tree so frantically during their walk to the mountain, but in the end, it beat having to climb up the mountain herself. Roy did not seem to have too many qualms either, so, eventually, the two of them nodded in agreement. "Good! Just hold still..." Alice spoke as she took one of her shrinking bombs from her belt and tossed it at the floor. Smoke emerged from it, and in an instant, the three teenagers became the size of a mouse.

Giggling in amusement at the odd sight, Kirisvala crouched a little and set her hand down in front of them. The three tiny teens quickly climbed up onto it, and once they did so, she moved her claw up to her shoulder so that they could move onto it. Roy and Wendy quickly obliged and were content to stay there and hold on to the best of their ability; Alice, on the other hand, opted to climb up Kirisvala's hair as though her locks were ropes, and settled down on her head instead, growing a little and holding onto her horns. Not entirely content with this, Kiris was nonetheless eager to continue moving, and so the climb began, the girl using her claws to quickly move up the face of the mountain.

Needless to say, while frantic and full of mild turbulence, the trip to the mountain's summit was not too interesting, at least from the perspective of the three teenagers that were no larger than a rodent, and Roy and Wendy opted to simply distract themselves with small talk and a bit of deeper conversation, getting to know each other more and strengthening their bond, though there was only so much they were willing to talk about while so physically close to someone else's ear. Alice, meanwhile, was content to watch the scenery around them. Several minutes would pass before the group was able to reach the mountain's summit.

"We're here!" The Hadrian girl exclaimed, stunning everyone with her loud voice as she came to a stop on a relatively flat surface that seemed to have been prepared in advance at the top of the mountain. The wind that blew so high above the forest was quite different, and the sights all around them were breathtaking, which appeared to make the alien quite happy. While she looked all around, Alice quickly jumped off of Kiris' head, returning to her usual size as she landed on the ground.

"Kiris, let 'em down." She instructed, and Kiris nodded, using her claw to transport Roy and Wendy from her shoulder to the ground once again. Once there, Alice took another one of her bombs from her belt and threw it at the ground near them, taking good care not to hit them with it. This time the bomb returned them to normal, and the two sighed in relief at not being fun-size anymore.

"So... we're here. Now what?" Wendy asked. Indeed, besides the clearly unnatural flat rock platform at the center of the summit, there was nothing there, nothing of note whatsoever. The other two humans looked around too, noticing the same thing.

"Well... We should get something to prove we were up here, but... I'm not sure what. She's going to give us a hard time if we just give her a rock or something like that." Roy stated, trying to think of how to wrap up the training exercise.

"Why don't we just do what she's doing?" Alice suggested, pointing at Kiris. While the three teens were busy figuring things out, she was walking around the edge of the stone platform, holding the same device that she had when Alice came across her and pointing it in various directions, uttering the same Hadrian word every now and then. While the specific mechanism might have been slightly different, the three teens didn't have a hard time noticing that she looked just like an eager tourist: she was taking pictures.

Roy nodded. "That will do. Hard to accuse us of being lazy if we take a picture of ourselves all the way up here." He commented.

"I don't like pictures..." Wendy stated, clearly feeling far less willing to go along with the idea.

"It's for a good reason, though, we can head back down as soon as we do this. Plus don't you think it would be a nice memento? It's not everyday you climb a mountain." He said, trying to convince the girl. She simply let out a small sigh and then nodded, prompting him to turn and nod to Alice as well.

"Alright then. Kiris! Come over here!" Alice called out to the Hadrian, who turned around to look at the other three and quickly walked back to them, still holding her device.

"What's up?" She asked, and Alice quickly explained the idea to her. The alien girl's face lit up, and she nodded eagerly, a smile on her face. "Let's do it! I just need you all to get in position." She said, quickly moving the other three teens around while being careful not to hurt them with her claws, though her attempts to get Roy to put an arm around Wendy were less than welcome. After a moment, the four of them stood together, and uttering the same Hadrian word as before, the girl took the picture.

"Well, that was fun..." Wendy said, surprisingly being only half-sarcastic. "How do we get back? Please tell me we're not taking the Kiris express again..."

"Oh! Don't worry, that's easier." Kiris said in response to the black-haired girl. Pocketing her device, she cleared her throat a little and then began singing, her breathtaking voice uttering an ancient Hadrian song of power. Several moments passed with the other three teens simply listening and waiting, and as the song reached its climax, all four of them were suddenly gone from the summit, arriving near where Elena and the others were. Momentarily disoriented, the three humans were quite surprised to be back so quickly, and Wendy turned to stare at Kiris.

"Why didn't you just do that to get up!" She asked, rather annoyed.

"Because that would've been cheatin'." Was the response.

[Scotatrova]

Diego Belcourt

"Now!" bellowed Diego, and gunfire erupted from four windows in the hotel, and the front rank of guards went down in a bloody tangle. The explosions were enormous. Then there was a chorus of screams from the guards over by the tent, and immediately the screams were drowned out by the moans of the dead as dozens of them swarmed over them. Two men in carpet coats and football helmets were hacking and slashing at the cloth strips that held the creatures in their chairs. The men were laughing as they worked. Then the back door of the hotel burst open, and Scott Belcourt, Steven's brother and Diego's cousin, led a team of unaffiliated warlocks into the fray. Diego leaped from the front porch and slammed into the stalled and shocked guards, his eyes bright white.

---

Steven and Veronica crashed into the first of the creatures. It was too small to be Charlie Hendricks, which meant that it didn't have a nail vest or an armored skullcap. Steven rebounded from it and shot first one lower blast and then another at his own head height. There was a light crack as the first hit something, part of an outstreched hand perhaps, and then a much heavier CRACK as the second one hit something too solid to be a head. A shoulder? Steven raised both his hands and brought another blast down above the shoulder level, and there was a wet crunch. Then the creature was falling, brushing past Steven as it collapsed. "On your left," Veronica said from that side, and he heard the whoosh of her blast and the crunch of its impact. Energy met lifeless skin and shattered the dead bones underneath it. Fighting wild and partially blind except for the light of their blasts, they pushed forward, taking turns to blast one-two, one-two, breaking arms and wrists and fingers in order to reach skulls and necks. Steven's arms ached, particularly his left arm, but he kept going, kept blasting. Veronica was growling like a hunting cat, grunting with each swing.

Then there was a light. Not the reflected glow of the torches at the end of the pit, but huge yellow light. A ball of fire came bounding into the tunnel. Literally a ball of fire. Steven saw that it was some old sports ball, a cricket ball or a softball, that burned with intense flames as it rolled. Steven could smell smoke and the stink of pitch. The flames illuminated the T juncture of the tunnels, and Steven's heart sank as he saw that there were dead in every direction. At least twenty of them, and five rows back on his left was the towering form of Charlie Hendricks. A second flaming ball dropped through the ceiling twenty yards down, and it landed on the back of one of the undead in a suit. The creature caught fire almost at once. Steven shot Veronica a quick look. Was this some new twist on the game? Did Ol' Jack want to burn them or kill them with smoke if the monsters couldn't do the trick? Or was Diego trying to help in someway they didn't understand? Either way it didn't matter, there was no way to fight past all the dead that clogged the tunnels.

---

Diego began fighting his way through the crowd towards White Bear. He wanted that man, and his psychotic father. Diego wanted to destroy the Hendricks plague for good. His blasts were like living things, firing without conscious thought. A man rushed at him with an ax, an suddenly the man was sent into the dirt. Another man raised a pistol, but pistol and man suddenly flew away amid a shriek. Three creatures came at him, two shambling slowly and one moving with speed. Then they were gone, falling in pieces. Diego sculpted a crooked path through the melee and nothing alive or dead could stand before him. Four guards rushed up to shield Ol' Jack with their own bodies, and in a tight knot they ran from the center of the arena to the protection of a far corner. There was a crack and one of the guards fell, half his face shot away. "Go, GO!" growled Ol' Jack and the others didn't hesitate or falter. They ran. Crack and another went down, his thigh pumping blood. Then they were in a cleft formed by the edge of the bleachers and a wagon. There was no angle for gunfire from the hotel. Ol' Jack breathed in and out through his nose like a furious dragon. He was seeing everything he and his sons had built being torn down, again, by the Belcourts, again! He wanted Diego and his family dead so badly it was like acid in his throat. Ol' Jack grabbed the shoulder of his closest guard and spun him toward the aluminum siding that covered the wagon. "Tear this off," he ordered. The guards set to work to open a doorway out of the kill zone.

---

"What's going on up there?" Steven demanded. Everything above them was a single wave of confused noise: shrieks and gunfire and the whips of hex blasts. "How could Diego be doing all of this?" Before Veronica could say anything there was a different cry, a weird whoop of what sounded like pure joy, and then a figure dropped down through the pit opening. Tall, thin, wearing a football helmet and a carpet coat. He landed feetfirst on the shoulders of one of the dead, and the impact snapped the creature almost in two. He clutched a spear in his hands.

"Hey! Little wizard dudes!" shouted the man known just as Blu.

"How...?" demanded Veronica.

"Where..." began Steven.

"Surfs up!" yelled the man as he swung his broad-bladed spear over their heads. He spun in place like a dancer and suddenly two creatures were falling sideways while their heads fell in opposite directions. A thousand questions burned on Steven's tongue, but more monsters closed in and there was no time to do anything but fight. Steven and Veronica fought back to back, blasting at legs and necks and heads. Blu worked the other tunnel, and despite the young man's laid back persona, he fought with the speed and precision of an experienced killer. He shattered bone with the reinforced butt of the spear and cut off hands and heads with the blade. The burning monster had crumpled to the ground, but not before two others bumped into it and caught fire. Heat and smoke were becoming a real problem.

"We have to get out of here!" Steven yelled, then broke into a fit of coughing.

"Waiting for a ride," Blu shouted back.

"What?" As if in answer, a length of knotted rope flopped over the edge of the pit, and the man known as Dr. Rex poked his head in. "Um...dudes? Stop screwing around. It's getting gnarly out here." Then he was gone; a second later someone screamed and one of White Bear's guards dropped bonelessly into the pit.

"You climb," Blu yelled. "I'll hold 'em off!"

Blu held the monsters off as Veronica and Steven climbed out of the pit. Blu came up right after them. Steven and Veronica stared around them at the absolute carnage. Scores of people lay dead. Hundreds of dead filled the arena, and hundreds of people fought them and fought one another. There didn't seem to be any sense to it. No battle lines. "Where's Diego?" yelled Veronica. Steven shook his head. "I don't understand," said Steven, but Veronica just shook her head. White Bear's guards, the ones who still had guns, kept trying to shoot their way into the hotel, but there were sharp cracks from one of the upper hotel windows, and one by one the armed guards pitched backward, dead before they hit the ground. "Where's Diego?" asked Veronica again. Then she grabbed Steven's arm and pointed. "Look!"

"SCOTT!" Steven whirled and yelled, but if his brother heard him, he had no time to respond. A wave of guards were closing in on him. They were armed with spears, swords, knives and pitchforks. Steven saw Scott smile. Steven had seen his brother fight before. A dozen men closed in on Scott, and he smiled. Then his body became a blur of movement. As a man with a reaper's scythe came at him, Scott lunged in and down and his hand whipped a line across the man's midsection. Without even watching to see the effect, Scott rose and parried a pitchfork thrust and blasted the man through arms and throat in a single move. A burly guard ran at him with two yard long blades, but Scott darted forward between the weapons, and his blast rose through chest and chin. The blasts were fast and elegant, worlds away from the awkwardness of Steven's, but Steven knew the hits. He practiced them every day. Steven was very good, but Scott was a master. Scott moved like a dancer, seeming to skim along the surface of the ground, turning gracefully to evade, using each turn to put incredible power into his blasts. It was ugly and beautiful at the same time, a ballet of destruction that pitted Scott's lifetime of dedication to magic against brute strength and seemingly overwhelming odds. Yet with each flickering second of time the odds became less and less.

"This is nuts," Steven said. Veronica simply shook her head and then looked past him and screamed. Steven whirled and saw Ol' Jack pulling off aluminum siding on one of the wagons. He was seconds away from escaping. Without even thinking what they were doing, Steven and Veronica launched themselves that way. Would they be enough against the old man? It was one of the dead that changed everything. Had Ol' Jack not seen the monster, he might never have seen Steven and Veronica, and everything would have ended there. But just as the old man tore off the last piece of siding, a hand clamped around his ankle. The old man looked down in mild surprise and irritation. He jerked his foot free, turned to reach for his saber and saw the two teenagers running straight at him. He picked up the saber and finished the monster with a quick thrust. Ol' Jack grunted. It was not the first time he had seen this. He shrugged, turned and strode forward to slaughter the Belcourt children.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Akira Yasunaga

To his dismay, both of the people he saw were crowded by the journalists and reporters. There are no ways for him to attack them and cause unwanted attentions. That will be a stupid and reckless way of dealing with those who he wants to recruit. Akira already arrived at the scene, though he decided to land on the ground and stood beside the nearest pole. While looked at the two, that's it. There's no way he can intervenes now.

They have potentials, they can still be diverted to his ways.

---

Jonathan Jackson

Jonathan resigned at the whole thing. "It's better than nothing, I guess," he resigned to the whole situation. "I'll try to do my best to control from four humans, if that's fine for you," he said. She asked if he knows how to swim. "Of course, I know how to swim, but I'm not some Olympic-trained swimmer who can swims far," he said again. "Why?"

"You want me to swim with you to Algiers and to prison?"