Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Northwest Slobovia]

Sam Croft/Blizzard
San Pharma Raid

Wow! Casimir and Red move fast when they want to! And they sure know how to punch! Sam kept an eye on Wendy while Wyatt changed into one guard's clothes, then he took the other, patting down the guy's pockets first. "Keys, ID... Looks like this guy's named John."

Sam replaced his break-away disguise with John's suit, and put John's earpiece in his own ear; now he was on two comm nets. The suit was a bit tight, especially over his uniform. It would have to do. Sam fetched his bundle of disguise gear where he'd dropped it, added a little make-up to better match John's skin tone, and put on a wig that roughly matched John's hair. So long as nobody looked at him too closely, he'd probably pass. Finally, he did his best to tie the guards up using the discarded legs of the break-away disguise. Sam knew little of knots, but that should slow them down if they came to.

Even with the freelancer coming with him, [Wyatt] still had his reservations. "I hope you know where to go, because I don't. Make sure you guys hide the bodies. Or tie them up or something in case they wake up before we're done." He touched the button on his communicator to radio the rest of his team. "Team A is about to enter the building. If everything goes according to plan, we should be done in about 10 minutes."

Sam didn't look up from finishing the job. "Got 'em tied up. No idea where to head, but security is probably either in the basement or on the top floor, the hardest places to get to."

Sam added an addendum to Wyatt's broadcast. "Squad A has the guards' radios. We'll know if or when we're made."

[Wendy] unlocked the door and pulled up the building schematics. “Okay here’s that door… and here’s the buildings security control center. We going to need to get there first so… here’s hoping they catch my hints on where to go.”

Sam's eyes snapped up as the back door lock clicked open. He readied a freeze, but nobody came through the door. The lock clicked again, and he looked over at Wendy's unconscious form, humming thoughtfully to himself. He looked over at Wyatt. "I think that's our cue.

"Remember, as a guard, you belong here. Walk tall, look like you're just making rounds of the hallways."

Sam opened the door and paused, listening for approaching footsteps, then carefully looked around behind it: thermal vision was handy for picking up all sorts of things and people.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

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Seeing Renata respond to his support with a nod and a smile, the vigilante couldn't help but smile as well, the gesture well hidden underneath his black mask. However, it was quickly wiped from his face the second Roy spoke again. Right off the bat, the playboy hero responded aggressively, far more hostile than either he or Renata had been thus far, and while it gave him a certain sense of superiority for not being the one to resort to cursing and shouting first, it still made him scowl at the hero. That bastard was really so full of himself that he couldn't allow anyone else to interfere, wasn't he? Still, Blackout tried his best not to give in to the hero's insults and taunts. Here he had yet another chance to prove that he was about heroes' petty squabbles and arguments. Here he had yet another chance to be the bigger man.

Then Nightshade accused him and Renata of being lovers, and Icarus' face almost completely turned red, a remote part of his mind once again grateful that his masks covered most of it. Perhaps under other circumstances the thought wouldn't have been unwelcome but of course it was unwelcome and embarrassing there, in the middle of work! And that was without mentioning that he resented the implication that he was doing this out of some low carnal desire rather than the noble duty of returning a favor to someone. Earlier, he had attempted to stay calm, but now he was more than willing to give Nightshade a piece of his mind, with his fists if necessary.

Once more, however, Renata acted faster, this time matching and even surpassing Roy's shouting and hostile tone, though without resorting to F-bombs. The sheer intensity of the girl's retort was enough to make his own anger shrink back a little, and the comment about him being no less experienced than Nightshade made him feel a little self-conscious. Sure, he actually had just as much, if not more experience as most of Roy's teammates, since he had been doing this nonstop for nearly three weeks and not many of them had done much in that time, even being absent for several days. Still, he certainly didn't have as much time under his belt as Roy; he couldn't speak for Renata, since he didn't know her, but if she wasn't bluffing, she was most likely more experienced as well.

Not that he believed this gave Roy any right to boss anyone around, obviously. Or Renata, for that matter, but she wasn't the cause of his displeasure.

Either way, after a brief silence that followed Renata's impressive shouting spree, a fourth figure approached the trio in discord, a robotic brunette in a butler's suit. Needless to say, Icarus had never seen her before, which meant she wasn't a student. And if she was stepping in to assist Roy, then she was a Young Blood, one of the few that didn't come from Thomsen High.

Having been expecting more hostility, Icarus was quite surprised when, instead, the robot offered to shake his hand, greeting them politely and introducing herself. Astonished for a moment, he nodded and shook Cassandra's hand. "Um, hello. I'm I-Er, Blackout." He mumbled, far more softly than intended. Then, she listened to the artificial girl speak, her polite and diplomatic words being quite a big contrast with Roy's. She seemed quite reasonable, though he supposed that was to be expected of a robot, and despite his reluctance to work with the Young Bloods again, he thought it was not too bad a compromise. However, he couldn't help but scoff at the last part.

"Somehow I doubt that." He muttered, before speaking out loud. "But at least we now have someone reasonable to talk to." He said, glaring at Roy for a moment. "I agree, justice is not something anyone can claim rights over, it isn't the domain of any single person or entity. Now, if you have a plan, and you're willing to work us into it, I think that's a decent compromise. Normally I'd shy away from working with you people, but today I'm repaying a favor, so I'll abide." The vigilante spoke. Any anger, it seemed, had faded from his voice by now. He was more focused on getting to kick vampiric asses.

"However..." He added, looking back at Renata. "You're the boss today. I'll let you decide."

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Once Alexis and Kiris made their way back to the rest of the group, the latter was immediately addressed by Mars and Yoshiro, both of whom had compliments and questions to offer to her. Upon hearing their kind words, the alien girl felt her cheeks heat up slightly again, a wide smile forming on her face. "Thanks, guys! I'm glad you like how it looks." She said happily, pleased to know that the team approved of the change cosmetically, even if that was far from the crystal armor's intended purpose. Before answering their questions, however, she noticed that Mars seemed to be a little down all of the sudden, as if something was weighing on his mind. She frowned slightly, wondering what she could do to cheer him up.

"Oh, um, about how I got it, Mars is right, I made it myself." She said, starting a bit awkwardly after realizing that she had fallen silent for a few moments. She glanced over at the boy and offered him a friendly smile. "It's one of a bunch of stuff I can do with my singin'. I'll show you!" She stated, clearing her throat before treating Mars, Yoshiro and everyone else present to a front seat demonstration of the joys of Hadrian singing. In the process, small red crystals began to form on the ground nearby and take on various shapes.

Meanwhile, Alexis, while enjoying the performance, was slightly more concerned with responding to the message that had just arrived. With a bright smile on her face, she opened her comms. "Mike! It's great to hear from you again! I was wondering where you were." She said in greeting. He hadn't been gone for that long, in actuality, only one or two days at most, but even so it was good to have him back, especially considering what had happened when Red got separated from the team for a few days. "Our first Squad--that's Wyatt, Red, Cas, Wendy, Park and a dude called Blizzard, if you missed the meeting--are currently infiltrating and getting a feel for the layout of the building. We're on standby across from the San Pharmaceuticals building, by the cloaked jet. Why don't you come over?" She spoke eagerly. Sure that was kind of a mouthful to say, especially considering those inside would hear the radio chatter as well (she hoped it wouldn't interrupt something important), but it was good to have a friend back and she suspected the others would enjoy seeing him face to face again as well.

[Absolon-7]

Right after Casimir knocked the first guard out, Red barely caught up to him and electrocuted the other guard with a baton thing. Casimir returned the nod to Red before Wyatt was called over to start the next step of the plan. Shortly afterwards Wyatt and that freelance hero, Blizzard, came to pillage the guard's attire and materials. Next, the guards were tied up and two got into their disguises although Casimir turned around to give them some privacy. He noticed some conversation going on but Casimir intended to focus on getting images from the bugs that were already inside. Suddenly the door open by itself with an audible click signifying it. From Blizzard's glance at Wendy, Casimir guesses she was responsible for the deed.

"I already got a look in some parts of the well lit areas of the building. If I seen anyone coming towards you two, I'll give you a heads up," stated Casimir on the communicator to Blizzard and Wyatt as they entered the building. Now Red, Wendy, and himself were left to do other parts of the infiltration and Casimir shared a suggestion to Red. " After we get the go-ahead from those two, we should move Wendy to like some central computer hub or like a server room. My insects can help us find the quickest path to any room that all computer-y and shit. They produce a lot of heat so it wouldn't take too long for the more sensitive bugs to detect it."

[Tomia]

Roy
Roy was about to respond to Renata, still not happy with the two of them when suddenly Cass showed up. His robotic friend told them that they needed to work together. He had to admit, Cass had a point. He was being unreasonable. They clearly weren't going to leave and he couldn't let his anger compromise the mission. "Normally I wouldn't work with people like you either." Roy said, looking at Blackout. "But right now I don't think I have a choice. So fine, we should work together. My team is going to move on the hideout once we've scouted it out. You two can ....join us. He said sounding a bit reluctant before sighing. "Look sorry I yelled before, its been a long couple of days. This mission is important to my team, so if you're willing to work with us and not go rogue. Then fine, let's work together."

Roy was slightly annoyed at Cass' interruption but also grateful. He realized that he was acting rash and irresponsibly. Leading was tough, and it wasn't really until they started this mission that he realized how invested he was in the team's success and well being. Part of it was... Wendy was out there, right now. And if something went wrong if something happened, he wouldn't forgive himself. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. He couldn't risk losing his head, not with everyone counting on him.

Mars
Mars was surprised when Kiris started singing. He knew her powers were greatly reliant on singing, and had heard her do it in battle. But never in the calm melodic way she was doing it now. Mars thought the music was beautiful, angelic even. "Wow, that was amazing Kiris." He said, barely even noticing the crystals that were forming at her feet. After his sudden outburst however his cheeks turned slightly red and he tried to find a way to change the conversation. "Uh, those crystals are really cool. Mind if I studied a sample of it sometime? I'm kind of curious to see what their properties are."

[Finland SSR]

Roy

Icarus

Cassandra

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

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Before the argument could devolve into an actual shouting match or, worse, a slapfight right before the headquarters of the Blood drug cartel, a fourth party entered the fray. It was Cassandra, Roy's servant and combat robot - at least that's how the red-haired girl introduced herself out of nowhere - who had been listening to the conversation and decided to intervene, starting out by extending a hand to Stella and Blackout.

Renata, who had been heated by Roy's insults and accusations earlier, didn't even know how to respond to this at first. Does she treat Cassandra as a hostile or as a threat by suddenly entering her personal space? Or should she accept the handshake and try to calm down a little bit? With so much little time given to her to make a choice, the heroine picked the latter option - however, all that energy she had built up from her anger had to go somewhere, and as such, Renata's handshake with Cassandra looked more like her trying to repeatedly pull off the robot's arm, all while saying:

"Nice to meet you, I'm Stella!"

Cassandra brought in some normalcy to the conversation, speaking in a refreshing monotone and proposing the idea of the Young Bloods, Stella and Blackout joining forces to take down the drug cartel. That was exactly the thing Renata had tried to avoid ever since the beginning, however, with all that had happened since then, and with the heroine calming down a little after her outburst, her opinion had changed somewhat. After all, stubbornly refusing to join forces will do nothing to ease the tensions already present, and having a fight break out in the middle of the mission would be even worse than just being overshadowed by the Young Bloods in the news... And it appears that both Roy and Blackout were no different - both recognized that joining forces, though not necessarily preferable, was the best option they had at hand. The vigilante even turned towards Renata, stating that it's up to her to decide.

The heroine blushed a little at the authority given to her, but quickly regained her focus and clenched her chin. There wasn't much to think about, though. Renata certainly didn't wish to become the odd duck out of the four. As such, she quickly raised her eyes and spoke:

"I share the sentiment. It's unfortunate, but we'll have to join forces in this mission. So I guess it's settled, then."

It's odd how quickly they went from a shouting match to a reluctant mutual agreement. But, then again, now that you think about it, the conflict they were arguing over was pretty dumb to begin with. With that said, Renata turned towards Blackout, speaking:

"We should go find a place to prepare our attack from, then. Something close to that building... As soon as the Young Bloods give the signal, we'll move in, right?"

After all, if they're still stuck in this alleyway when the attack begins, they'll just be laggards. And as such, Renata began to walk out of the alleyway... but not before stopping right next to Roy and muttering to his ear:

"Just, please, don't go around accusing people of being on a date together. What would you think if I said you and Cassandra were lovers or something?"

She just felt that needed to be said...

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Park In-hyun

Park followed the rest of Team A as they did the plan. For this plan, however, Park took a backseat. Nothing out of ordinary, she just little tired from what could be her biggest fight and well, she tried to learn not to handle all things by herself. Wyatt, Casimir, Red, and Wendy did their jobs respectively fine, while Park took a job as the lookout to warn of intruders approaching. Intruders being those who are not YB, obviously. She followed Wendy's next plan, as Wyatt and the other...person, became guards. Disguised as them.

[Turmenista]

Johnny Swift/Brock Spencer

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The Great Floyd Tolson!

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Even when Johnny was down and Brock was going berserk, Floyd was still ready to kick ass. That's what Johnny could admire about the man: he wasn't willing to get his hands dirty when the going came tough.

"I agree with Sugar Rush over here that nobody has won, but I already know who lost."

"Yeah, that bitch Bro—"

He then shut his mouth as Floyd then suddenly rocketed forwards at speeds that even Johnny had trouble keeping up with, stopping in front of one of Brock's cronies and literally throwing the man at him through the hole that had been made from Brock's launch out of there. While Johnny broke out in hysterical laughter over the man flying at him, he only stopped as Brock set up a barrier around him, which locked the man in the air — similarly to how Brock had locked Johnny in the air — above the pool, where he glided safely over the water and dropped right in.

Floyd rushed straight through the hole at the super-powered quarterback, ducking out of the way just in time as a streak of green erupted across Brock's front. He barely missed the green wave of Energy that Johnny — by extent — had to dodge, lest he and everyone else at the party get vaporized (or just a bad sun tan). Luckily the building itself took the brunt of the damage, but Johnny escaped through the blast, speeding his way out to the spacious back yard. "FLOYD! I need to pick up some speed! I promise I'm not bugging out — just need some room to do this! Keep him at bay, please!"

Johnny's uneventful and temporary leave from the party was marked by him hauling ass over the fence and down the street, but the speedster had already gone down several city blocks by the time Brock caught up to Floyd. Seeing his attempt to slide and sweep his feet, Brock leaped over him like a hurdle, as he had done so before to actual hurdles back when he was training, clearing enough distance off the ground to leap right over the sliding Floyd before coming down with a thump. Brock immediately spun back around and charged him, tackling the Brit with all his strength. Though Brock was strong, Floyd was seemingly the immovable object to Brock's unstoppable force, leading the two to become locked into a rather machismo grapple of control.

"You thought that was gonna work?" Brock huffed. "Think again. I think you should just pussy out like Johnny did. Maybe he had the right idea."

__________________________________

At the other end of town, Johnny entered the gas station panting, fumbling through his pockets in hopes that no one tried to steal his wallet while he was... under the influence. After finding it, amid a crushed pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a pocket knife, he opened it up, letting out a low whistle at the numerous portraits of Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Abe Lincoln, and good old George Washington that greeted him.

"Thank you, rich father."

He pulled out two dollars after saying this in a singsong voice, making no note of it whatsoever as he sidestepped his way over to the back of the store, were the cold drinks were. He stopped by the energy drinks section, thinking long and hard of the choices being offered before him: Some ungodly concoction called the "Magnus Super Powered XL Energy Drink with Death Pepper Spice," which had the character of some superhero-based movie or video game that Johnny had played in like 2012 on its face.

Eh. I'll take it.

He set the can down onto the counter, as well as the adequate amount of money. $2 for an energy drink? This was outrageous. "Why's one energy drink two bucks?"

"Yo, I don't know, and, frankly, I don't give a damn," The cashier nonchalantly said, checking him out and handing him the drink. "Some people say they put cosmic dust and shit in it, but that Death Pepper shit'll burn your tongue off, dude. You sure you don't want some water with that?"

Johnny made no mention of it whatsoever, leaving the gas station and opening the drink, while he turned the soda can-sized drink upwards and started to down it. It tasted like a mixture of hot sauce and carbonated soda, burning his throat and giving his tongue the sensation of biting it and pouring lemon juice on it at the same time. But, by the end of it, he felt revitalized: hyper, yes, but the soreness that came with Brock's beatdown was practically non-existent now, as was his desire for water. Right now, everything that was on his mind was testing his speed and making sure Brock knew that this was a night to remember, via an all-expenses-paid vacation to the local hospital.

His mind was racing almost as fast as he had done on the way here. I'd say one minute is a good enough time to gauge how long it'd take me to get from here to Floyd's, barring traffic. If I take the long route, that'd give me enough room to pick up some speed and knock Brock to kingdom come. Hopefully, Floyd can hold up for that long.

Yeah. He'll be able to.

He blasted off from the gas station (much to the cashier's surprise), zipping past cars and pedestrians alike as he bounded across the streets on his path towards the suburbs. Unbeknownst to him, a veritable cone of vapor had appeared around his body as he traveled, but he paid no attention to it. After all, he was halfway to Brock's house already, it seemed...

[The Republic of Atria]

One more deep breath before he entered the building with Sam presumably in tow. It seemed like every other office building he'd seen on TV so far, Amir said that it didn't matter too much where he placed the runes, so long as they were spread out and preferably on different floors. Simple enough in theory. As he was walking, he saw a sign with a left pointing arrow that had the word "stairs" written and the arrow pointing towards the right with the label "Restroom." Fitting considering the sick feeling in his stomach and pounding heart, but upon thinking for a moment, it was a good place to stash a rune. Hopefully no one would come by to clean it for awhile. "I'm gonna go drop off a rune. Be back in just a minute. Before I go, here." He said and gave Sam half of the runes Amir gave him. "In case I get held up or you find a better spot on the next floor." He entered the men's restroom to find the first spot.

There were 4 stalls, the first of which was locked. He'd have to be quiet and find a decent place to hide it. There was a fake potted plant sitting in the corner, as good a hiding place as he could hope for.He carefully walked over and dropped the little magic thing into the plant where it was concealed behind the plastic leaves. Just as he was about to head out, the stall opened and out stepped someone who worked int he building. Clearly not a guard judging by his clothes. Wyatt kept his pace towards the door, until he was called out. His heart skipped a beat and his thoughts raced to figure a way out.

"Hey! Wash your hands." The man said and pointed to the sign the clearly read "Employees must wash hands."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I was in a bit of a rush and it slipped my mind." He replied and headed over to the sink to do what he was told.

"Haven't seen you around, you new?"

"Y-Yeah." Wyatt replied careful to avoid eye contact.

"Ah. That explains it. You probably saw that big fucker in the skull mask they brought in. Don't worry about a thing. Things get out of hand and he'll have it fixed in no time. Try to relax before you have a heart attack. Not good for business."

"Thanks... I'll try." Wyatt replied and left a moment after the man who was talking to him was out of ear and eyesight. The man in a skull mask? That must be the super-powered mercenary they were warned about. Once he met up with Sam, he told him what he found out as well as radioing it to the rest of the team. "They've got a mercenary. Apparently he's got a skull mask. Be on the lookout."

[Charmera]

Cassandra

"Somehow I doubt that." He muttered, before speaking out loud. "But at least we now have someone reasonable to talk to." He said, glaring at Roy for a moment. "I agree, justice is not something anyone can claim rights over, it isn't the domain of any single person or entity. Now, if you have a plan, and you're willing to work us into it, I think that's a decent compromise. Normally I'd shy away from working with you people, but today I'm repaying a favor, so I'll abide." The vigilante spoke. Any anger, it seemed, had faded from his voice by now. He was more focused on getting to kick vampiric asses.

"However..." He added, looking back at Renata. "You're the boss today. I'll let you decide."

"You would be likely correct in that doubt." Noted Cassandra with the same monotone as before. She found that exchange quite acceptable, as fighting before the mission had even got properly underway with two random heroes seeed extremely detrimental to said missions outcome. She decided to continue conversation just to ensure that there would not be any further antipathy. "Please do not take that comment personally. Not out of any real dislike of you, but because I cannot feel grief. I am, after all, a combat robot. Though the loss of human life would be a failure in my mission to protect human life, I cannot grieve, you understand."

"Just, please, don't go around accusing people of being on a date together. What would you think if I said you and Cassandra were lovers or something?"

She just felt that needed to be said...

Cassandra paused as her auditory sensors picked up that little whisper. She turned to Renata. "I doubt it would matter to Nightshade. Given that I am a robot it is extremely unlikely that he has any feelings for me beyond valuing my services as a Combat Butler." She explained.

"Of course he did attempt to woo me before he realized that I was not a biological being." She remarked offhandedly.

Nightraven

Mirage | AWOL
The Nightraven Dances

-Nightraven-

AWOL knew his eyes hadn't deceived him, but what happened pissed him off all the more. "She can teleport, too." He said matter-of-factly, feeling the quill stab into his metallic hand as Nightraven tried to get him to turn his weapon loose, but his death grip on the blade refused to let go, and now he couldn't with his hand basically pinned closed. "That is just gre-wargflfl" He was interrupted by the sudden assault with paper, which latched onto his frame and refused to move even a milimeter, causing him to take a step back. "Paper too! What a gifted little bitch." He thought, feeling his arms pin to his sides, at which, he decided it best to teleport away to save himself from complete mummification.

With AWOL effectively out of commission for a while, Mirage was quick to ambush the Nightraven as she poured papers out of her hands. He phased himself through the leaflets and attacked her head on, giving her a solid punch to the helmet, and stepping in closer to keep her off-balance as he threw his hands up in a fighting stance. He pressed on slowly and moved in a half-circle to her left, his eyes focused on her head and it's slight motions. The girl was no slouch, however, as Nile was quick to find her hand-to-hand responses more than enough to keep him guessing.

Phasing through a punch and mid-kick, Nile gave the vigilante a goofy grin as he grabbed her leg with it still phased through his torso. He yanked her toward himself rapidly, throwing his head against her helmet, but recoiled quickly and stumbled back. A red spot with a trickle of blood cut it's way down Nile's forehead, avoiding his eye as he severely underestimated the toughness of her headgear. "Now that I did that," He reported, putting his hands back up as Nightraven approached, "I hope you don't think I'm lame or stupid."

The helmet protected Nightraven's nose from breaking, but the blow from the fully grown adult male did leave it a bleeding stinging distraction. Her blows were also quite ineffective, seemingly doing little but wearing her out and providing him opportunity to counterattack. She needed to find a way to actually do damage to him otherwise he was simply going to wear her down, or worse, eat up enough time so that his partner could sneak attack her and end her life.

Then Nile slammed his head against her helmet. She was worried, not for the damage it would do, but that they might see her face. That was not good for a thousand reasons. But thankfully he only managed to hurt himself in the attempt.

"I rarely underestimate trained fighters." She remarked. "Who did you learn from?" She asked. In the time it would (hopefully) take for him to think of a response Nightraven began to think of a plan.

Grabs are out of the question. As are quill attacks as he'll be looking out for them. She thought. However he does seem to favor phasing only for brief periods so he can attack. We might be able to get him as he intends to attack... or counterattack

Suddenly Nightraven began to rush towards him. Distraction and then strike from an unpredictable angle.

The first part of the plan manifested as she created a stream of paper in front of her. A chaotic cloud of tangling paper.

She then proceeded to phase herself. Unless their powers came from the same source and thus they phased into the same dimension, they should simply go through each other as if one were solid and the other were phased. if she was wrong, then she would be the one to face-plant into him.

She was lucky. Their powers didn't seem to be compatible. Though she supposed if they were it could mean she could negate his advantage completely, so she probably should have tried to do this in the first place.

Mother would be unhappy at that sloppiness.

After she phased through him and the papers she whiped around, facing his back now, and then unleashed a single powerful kick to his back. Hopefully it would put him off balance for more hits.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

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"I... see." Was the only thing that Icarus could think of to respond to the robot girl, at first at least. He had to admit, he did nearly take offense to her comment. After all, he didn't think it was a very sympathetic thing to do, admit that she would not be affected if something happened to them despite saying earlier that it would cause them to grieve. But, he supposed that would just be something silly to do, in light of the robot's later explanation. What resulted, thus, was not anger, but rather mild confusion. "We... will take care of ourselves regardless, thank you." He stated.

Then, the vigilante heard Nightshade's comments. The demeaning tone he used when saying 'people like you' nearly inflamed him yet again, even after Cassandra had defused the situation, but he restrained himself, keeping his irritation under wraps; the fact that Roy was a rude prick did not mean that he had to resort to acting the same way, after all, he might lack ruth, but he had manners. Not to mention he didn't want to throw all their efforts on reaching a decent compromise to the dumpster. Thus, even though he would have preferred to speak his mind, he opted to stay silent, simply accepting that Roy was willing to work together again instead of continuing to be stubborn.

When the unexpected apology came, however, a part of him was content: here was another chance to be the bigger man in the conversation. At the same time, despite their mutual dislike, he could feel some sympathy for him, as he was most likely talking about the whole ordeal that ensued after one of their members was sent to jail. Thus, he extended his hand towards the hero. "Apology accepted." He said calmly.

Whether Roy accepted his gesture or not, Icarus decided not to give it much weight and instead turned back to look at Renata, who, despite seemingly being self-conscious about being put in charge by him, quickly assumed her position and agreed to join forces with the Young Bloods. With that settled, Stella looked at him and suggested that they find a place to wait until their cue to move in. He nodded at her, and began following her out of the alley, surveying the area to find a good vantage point, quickly spotting one. For obvious reasons, he didn't quite hear Renata's whisper to Roy, but he did hear Cassandra's response to it, which made him chuckle at how awkward it must have been for the hero.

"...Ahem." He cleared his throat as if to get her ally's attention, before pointing at a building across from San Pharmaceuticals. "That seems like a good spot to wait in, Stella. We have a good view of the surrounding area and can hide by the rooftop access if we want to avoid being seen before the time comes." He suggested, before turning towards Roy and Cass. "I have to ask, though, how will we know when it's our turn?"

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Opening her eyes after her brief performance, Kirisvala could feel a big joyful smile forming on her face upon seeing the enraptured expression that Mars had after listening to her sing, a clear sign that he had enjoyed it. Said smile only grew after hearing the boy's heartfelt compliment, and she eagerly accepted it even as a bright blush spread through her cheeks. Seeing him look away to hide his red face and try to change the subject, though, the alien girl couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, for reasons she suspected but either didn't fully understand or didn't want to admit to herself just yet. Her smile visibly wavered, though she attempted to and mostly succeeded in maintaining a cheerful facade.

"Um, yeah, sure thing! They're easy to make so I don't mind at all, hold on..." She told the genius boy before crouching down slightly and using her claw to scoop up most of the crystals she had formed with her song, blowing on then a little to send any dust flying before clenching her claw with all the tiny crystals still inside. Bringing it closer to her, she sang and held a single note before holding it out. On her claw, there was now a single crystal, larger than the others. "Feel free to do all the testin' you want. If you break it or somethin', tell me and I'll give you more!"

[New Neros]

Mustafa Gaul | Mayla Carter | Mar Martinez | Walt Bismarck
Enter: Artemis

-Mayla Carter-

The battle raged decidedly against Gaul, his most powerful counter-attack leaving no noticeable dent in Mayla's ascended form, a fact that seemed to give pause to Walt Bismarck, who turned to share his disbelief with Mar, only to see her charging forward onto the battlefield. "Goodness, she tanked the hit and just smiled, I'm starting to think this goes beyond super powers and - Mar? Oh, shit." The robot declared, leaping up from the hill he had been occupying, and following the girl into the fray. Making use of his own rocket thrusts to propel himself forward, Mar used the landscape to push herself along, riding on the sand atop a boulder.

Before the final blast could be fired, Mar leapt in front of the floating martial artist, her teeth barred in a snarl, appearing fierce in her defense of Gaul, the boulder she came in on sliding away. She sunk herself in a sand a bit, allowing her power to take control over the grit, ready to make use of it at a moment's notice. Blasting in right beside her was Walt, whose robotic form was distinct and mechanical, with some hints of extremely sophisticated technology at play. "I know it won't kill him," Mar snapped back at Mayla, "And you can take your best shot, but this fight is over. We're leaving." She turned to look at the sorry state Gaul was in, and narrowed her eyes harshly.

Walt beeped suddenly, jerking his head off to the skies behind and to the left of Mayla, "We'd better leave right now."

"On second thought," Mar said with a mischievous grin, turning to look at Mayla, "Why rush? Let's finish this."

"Because we have company." At the end of those words, what seemed to be a missile slammed into the sands behind Mayla, creating a huge pillar of yellow with a cloud to match. Despite the clear night sky all around, a huge bolt of lightning came crashing down at the center of where the missile landed, dispelling the sand in all directions violently, Walt and Mar covering their faces for a moment. It wasn't a bomb, but a man standing before them, plated with distinct armor, unmistakable as one of the most dangerous and world-renowned heroes, Titan.

The hero scanned the battlefield with his own eyes for a moment, before speaking clearly. "Three members of Orion located. All three identified, all three classified as S-Class threat. Requesting immediate mobilization of Artemis." He stated, apparently in communication with some high authority. "You there," He called out to Mayla, approaching the trio as a nearly-comatose Gaul lay writhing on the ground several feet away, "We will talk more later, but we latched onto your seismic disturbances. It appears that you've been in combat with Mustafa Gaul."

From San Diego's skyline, actual missiles seemed to launch from inconspicuous skyscrapers, all rising in the sky quickly before turning in their general direction. "You should step aside, however. I am Titan, and I have formed a team of individuals who seek to put down Orion and their villainous organization before it reaches a critical point. Orion may have been the greatest hunter in all of Greece, but he was felled by Artemis, so we have taken another page from mythology and will make it reality." As he spoke, four large metallic canisters touched down in the sand a little bit away from the main group, all of which hissed open to reveal other members of the apparent anti-villain team.

Sparks and lightning bolts began to stretch across the heroes' body, firmly pressing his weight into the sand as he readied himself for action. "Many crimes have been placed upon Gaul, and by extension, the organization he belongs to. I recognize that technology from the assassin, AWOL, you must be from the same source code. And you, girl, you've turned traitor to heroism in order to serve a murderous villain. Every heartbeat he stole rests on your shoulders as well, including Solar's."

"Who is this guy?" Mar said, leaning over to Walt, who did not for a moment take his eyes and sensors off of Titan.

"He told you his name already, but I'm surprised you don't know about him. He's an lightning-based superhuman, and he takes it upon himself to systematically hunt down the baddest of the bad villains and criminals. Among the underworld, it was considered a great honor to have made his list, but I didn't think we got his attention so quickly. That complicates things, especially since he swallowed his pride and formed a team to take us on." Walt replied, watching as two power armored, bird-like heroes approached from one side, and a giant ice-monster with a woman riding on top approached from another. His fist began to glow with a green hue, initiating a countdown in his own head. "Gaul's master could still be a problem, if she decides to go with them. If that happens, we're running, fast."

A slight moan reminded both of the Orion operatives that Gaul was still very much alive and with them, and had just received the ass-kicking of a lifetime. Wide-eyed, Mar looked at Walt and back to Gaul. "I can heal him enough to fight again, but keep the damage boost. It'll take a minute, if you could hold them off or something."

"Heh," Walt laughed, "I'm a robot up against four superhumans hand-picked by one of the strongest superhumans in addition to one of the strongest normal humans I've ever encounter, who may intervene or may not, depending on how she feels about Gaul being a villain. You have seconds at the most, and you're wasting them by talking to me." With that, Mar whipped around and glided to Gaul, pulling him closer with the sand as well, reaching out her hand to touch him and begin her healing process. Just as she was about to make contact, a boot slammed into her hand from above, the woman who was once riding on the ice monster appearing suddenly and driving Mar's forearm into the sand.

"Don't do that, honey." The woman said with a smirk, leaping off of Mar's arm and disappearing for a moment, re-appearing several feet away. "We can do this nice and easy, no hard feelings, no need to get all fight-like. We'd love to take you somewhere else where you can get help," She began, looking at Gaul for a moment, "But he's a bit out of the question. Just so you know, I'm Impact, nice to meet you, Punk."

"Super speed?" Mar asked, Impact nodding, appearing friendly and inviting under her helmet. "That sucks... So, you're here to detain us, and deliver us to justice?"

"Oh, honey, no." Impact quickly stated, re-appearing behind Mar in an instant. "We're delivering justice." Titan launched his assault quickly, closing the gap between himself and Walt, slamming his lightning-enhanced fist against a shield the technologist had thrown up from his palm, the electric arcs exploding all around in a violent display. The duo known as Iron Eagle and War Hawk climbed into the sky, arming their missiles and priming their fire-storm generator, preparing to blow away and incinerate the entire area if need be. Their iceberg friend was on stand-by, monitoring Mayla so she would hesitate to interfere. As Mar glanced around, she quickly realized that these were not run of the mill heroes at all, not a strike force of justice.

This was a death squad.

---

Nile Canaan | AWOL
Nightraven: Endgame

-Nightraven-

Shock spread on Nile's face as the Nightraven pulled out another trick, fully realizing that they did not come prepared to battle at all, and that the information war was lost from the start. Despite the papers distracting him for a moment, he could feel it. It was fast, but it wasn't teleportation, and the familiar ghostly feeling of having someone pass through you was not at all alien to Nile, but it was one he could recognize from the get-go. "She can phase through things, too." He thought, eyes wide as his mind raced, "Her arsenal is too big for me or AWOL to handle alone."

Nile felt her leg pass through his mid-section, a well-positioned kick to his lower back that would have been extremely costly in a fight like this, but he had used his powers day in and day out for years, so not only was he trained to fight, he was trained to fight with and against his powers. He quickly clutched onto the Nightraven's ankle, grabbing her combat boot firmly, ready to feel if she would slip through his grab. It was precision that kept some parts of his body intangible while other parts remained corporeal, but it was learned behavior that would tell him when and if she would phase again. "Arendale Academy." He answered as he held on, "A school for heroes back east. That's where I was trained."

Whatever Nightraven planned to do in such a situation, her time had run out as a metallic bar slid slowly between her shoulder and ear, just enough for her eyes to witness the tip of carbon-steel. Behind her stood AWOL, the cyborg assassin, papers still clinging to his body, but his arms mostly free. His hand still held her quill, forcing him to not turn loose of his weapon. "Safe to say, I'm impressed." He commented, moving the blade closer to her armored neck, mostly sure that he could slice right through it if need be. "You took on two superpowered villains head to head, outsmarted both of them, and nearly incapacitated both of them as well. Had this fight gone any other way, we'd have lost."

"But it didn't, and the buck stops here." He snapped suddenly, studying the girl for any signs of movement, wondering if she left any other power in reserve for just such an event. "Let's say we have some dire need or want of information from you. Would you be so kind as to give it up readily? Let's talk about that armor of yours, and we might all just walk away happy as can be. Or we can pry the helmet off of your corpse, find who you are, and go from there. Your choice, really."

"Even I have to admit," Nile said, still holding the girl's boot, "That is a shitty ultimatum, are we that shitty of people?"

"Quiet down, grown ups are talking." AWOL re-affirmed, waiting for Nightraven's answer.

[Tomia]

Roy
Roy grinned at Renata's comment. "Well honestly I'd probably just laugh, since Cassandra here has no interest in any of that." He said before turning to his teammate. "That's not true though Cass, you're my friend!" He exclaimed patting her on her robotic back. He was surprised though when she suggested he had originally been attracted to her. "Uh, that never happened." He said, giving Cass a look before turning to Icarus.

He hesitated for a second before taking the vigilante's offered hand. He didn't love the idea of the two of them teaming up but Roy recognized that Blackout merely wanted to help, even if it was in a misguided and dangerous way. When he asked how they were going to know when to help Roy thought for a second before getting an idea.

"Come with us." He told Renata and Blackout. "You can wait in the jet with us and then attack when we do." He said as he began to lead them back towards the jet. He moved quickly so they wouldn't be spotted, looking back occasionally to ensure that the two of them were still following him.

Suddenly Wyatt was speaking into the comms, apparently having discovered information about the cartel's secret mercenary. "Wait Wyatt did you say a skull mask?" Roy said, a small amount of a shock present in his voice. "Everyone, I know who the mercenary is, and it's not good...."

Mars
"Great, uh thanks Kiris!" Mars said as he accepted the crystal. He did in fact wish to study it, but he was mad at himself for ruining the moment that had been developing between the two of them. Man, how does Roy make talking to girls look so easy? he thought to himself.

Mars' self criticism was interrupted however by Wyatt's discovery and Roy's revelation. "Inferno?!" Mars said into the comms, repeating the name that Roy had said moments before. "He's ranked as a 3 star villian, he's the second in command of the Hellfire Gang. He fought Liberty a few weeks ago!" He said, a bit of panic in his voice.

"But wait Roy, he is supposed to be in prison, how did he get out?"

"I don't know Mars but we don't have time to worry about that now. We need to focus on stopping him. Look the plan doesn't change, but there are a few things Squad B shoild know about dealing with him. Inferno is smart and tactical. He try to draw you into a situation where he has the advantage. He doesn't focus in raw fire power as much as taking the right shot and making it count, so be defensive and don't give him oppurtunities to strike. Use your superior numbers to wear him down and gain the advantage."

[Finland SSR]

Cassandra

Icarus

Roy

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

Unfortunately, Roy did not react to the suggestion muttered to his ear the way Renata had expected. Cassandra managed to overhear the conversation - which is unsurprising, given that she's a robot - and responded by saying that they have no romantic interest towards each other, a sentiment confirmed by Roy, who shrugged Renata's comment off as a joke. No feeling humiliated or embarrassed or anything.

"But... but that was just an... example..." Renata muttered to herself, trying to counter those responses, but it didn't save her from the fact that she lost that match of quips. What was an attempt to get back at Roy for accusing her and Blackout of being lovers ended up backfiring and embarrassing her instead for not knowing anything about either Roy or his butler... As a result, she frowned and decided to move on from this conversation.

With the plan to cooperate with the Young Bloods in motion, the question arose on where will she and Blackout wait for the inevitable assault on San Pharmaceuticals, and both of the heroes proposed ideas of their own. Blackout pointed out a fairly good vantage point in front of the headquarters, with a good view of the surrounding area and places to hide if they want to try not being noticed. Roy, on the other hand, wanted both of them to follow him to the jet, where they'll get the most up to date information on when's the time to attack.

Both of the proposals were sound and had logic behind them, but you can't just pick one of them and disappoint the other side, you know? Jeez, it's like I'm working as a politician or something. Well, Father did say that I'll never be able to just escape my future duties, so I guess I can't complain...

"What about..." Renata began to speak, scratching her chin a little bit, then turning towards Blackout. "While the Young Bloods are doing recon, we wait in their jet, and when the time is up to start the assault, we use your vantage point to plan out the attack in front of the target? Does that sound good?"

Either way, whether or not Blackout agreed to the solution, the two heroes and Roy reached the jet soon thereafter. Huh. It's the same jet she had boarded back in the San Diego Docks and arrived to Wonder Island with. She didn't even know it had a stealth option back when she flew it the first time... Renata sat down on one of the seats, folding her arms and looking down towards the floor of the plane for a good few seconds.

No, simply waiting by sitting here and thinking wouldn't cut it. So instead, Renata raised her eyes towards the vigilante, deciding to ask him about a thing she had bugged herself about for a good minute by now.

"So, Blackout... back when we were still having that shouting match with Nightshade, I kind of made an assumption on your experience to make a point, remember?" the heroine began to speak. "I kind of just assumed that from how skilled and competent you are, you know? But I guess that's not good debating ethic... so, um, how long have you been a vigilante?"

Johnny and Brock

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Using Brock's little bitch as a feint did not work as well as Floyd initially anticipated - Brock, despite being a teenager, was skilled enough to not only put up an energy shield to slide the crony into the pool with no damage, but also fire the green black quickly enough that the swordsman only barely managed to dodge it, leaving much of the building behind them destroyed in the process.

And that party is still going. At this point, Floyd was sure that these drunks would continue partying even if he started slaughtering the guests.

But that wasn't even the worst thing happening at this second - for some god damn reason, apparently to 'pick up speed', Johnny buggered off, leaving Floyd alone to deal with his problems. The swordsman would have probably called the kid to get back here, maybe call him a 'bloody cocksucker' while he's at it, but, unfortunately, he didn't have time for that when he was busy missing his damn leg sweeps against Brock and getting tackled as a result. The tackle was powerful. Very powerful. In fact, it was the hardest thing Floyd had been hit by this week - so strong, in fact, that the swordsman even lost contact with the ground a few times, though quickly regaining his position and using the friction between his feet and the ground to slow down the tackle.

Floyd took a few heavier breaths, then widened his smirk. The battle had turned into a grapple lock, like a slightly shitty version of Superhuman Wrestlemania. And yes, that was a thing. Floyd once broke into one of their championships. That was pretty fun.

"Kid, I've got pubic hairs older than you, I ain't quitting," Floyd spoke back, crackling demonic energy continuing to surge around him. "I've been working in this business for decades. You're just a kid who got a small loan of a million dollars."

But the fact that he's currently pushing at me with full force ain't helping. Can't really get back at my usual rhythm if I have to stand here all the time. So how about...

Suddenly, Floyd would release any grip he had over Brock's arms and drop to the ground. Hoping to use the likely subsequent confusion and unwanted forward momentum from Brock's side to his advantage, the swordsman would suddenly push himself forward with his hands, sliding across the ground on his bottom in between the quarterback's legs and stop right behind the giant.

He might lose a second of momentum by standing up over there, but Floyd placed his bets on Brock reacting even slower than him. As soon he stood up, the swordsman would send a swift spin-kick at the center of Brock's spine.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

Hearing Roy's suggestion of having him and Stella go along with him and wait with the rest of his team, Icarus felt conflicted. On the one hand, he felt it would be awkward and uncomfortable to mingle with the other members of his team, but on the other, if he considered things fairly, the only one who had actually displayed any hostility whatsoever towards him was the same person who was now suggesting that they tagged along. Under other circumstances this would've probably been seen as suspicious, and the vigilante couldn't quite shake off the sensation that Roy would arrange for his team to keep an eye on him and Stella, but given the recent exchange, he was inclined to put just a sliver of faith in the shadow hero. Renata seemed to have made her mind already as well, and so, he followed them on their way back to the jet.

However, it seemed that Renata hadn't made her mind quite as much as he'd thought, since she brought up a compromise plan of sorts as they walked, suggesting that they could wait with the Young Bloods at first and then use the vantage point to plan out and mount their offensive. It seemed a bit more complicated than necessary, but overall he didn't mind it, and nodded at the heroine. "I like that plan. We'll have to see how well it fits once the time comes to act, though." He commented.

Roy, too, spoke up while on his way back to the jet, though in his case he wasn't addressing either him or Stella, or even Cassandra. Instead, he seemed to be responding to long-distance communication--at that moment, Blackout finally noticed the small communicator on Roy's ear--of some sort. That didn't matter to the vigilante, though; what mattered to him was the name that was uttered: Inferno.

Ever since his fight with Armorer, Icarus had been trying to do a better work watching his back as a vigilante by doing his homework, so to speak, carrying out some research about heroes and villains and keeping abreast of recent activity around the city and, to a smaller degree, the country. His investigations were far from exhaustive, but over their course, he had heard the name of Inferno, second in command of Ignition, and knew what the man was capable of. He frowned at the thought of having to face off against such a dangerous foe, but it was not a challenge he was willing to back down from, especially not when it turned out he had been somehow involved with the Blood dealers. As they continued to walk to the jet, the blond boy listened in on Roy, hearing out what he said to the members of his team who were to fight against the mercenary; much as he refused to admit that his greater experience gave him any sort of authority, he had to admit that his advice could be useful.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the jet, and as they approached, Icarus could see some surprised stares sent his way. He ignored them, though, and instead grabbed a hold of Roy's shoulder, firmly, but not in a hostile manner. "Nightshade, Inferno is a dangerous enemy. Let us know when you encounter him and let us help. The more of us that are fighting against that monster, the smaller the chances of... something going wrong." He said, hesitating at the last part. Even if he didn't consider the Young Bloods friends, the thought of one of them succumbing to the villain was uncomfortable, especially when they were pursuers of justice like him, and, potentially, his classmates.

Having said his piece, the young man didn't wait for a response, instead walking past the other Young Bloods and into the jet, which was thankfully empty, as most of the other members were waiting outside instead of just sitting in place.

Sitting down across from Stella--he briefly considered asking if he could sit next to her, but that would've been a waste when most of the seats in the plane were unoccupied--Blackout seized the moments of silence that ensued by meditating on the task before him and his ally, a task that had become that much more daunting all of the sudden. However, hearing the pink-haired girl begin to address him, he welcomed the distraction and turned to look at her, listening to her words. As the blond boy heard her out, a grin appeared on his face, something she would perhaps be able to infer from the way his eyes lit up slightly.

"Well, I certainly won't complain that you thought from my abilities that I have the same training and experience as someone like Shady Boy over there." He chuckled, before appearing to fall into a more thoughtful mood, looking at the ground. "Three weeks." He finally said. "I only became what I am now three weeks ago. That's when I got my powers... the same day that Westgate was overrun." He admitted, falling silent for a few more moments, a fainter smile eventually appearing on his face, not that Renata could see it. "So, I suppose you were off on your assumption by quite a bit, huh?"

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
San Pharmaceuticals

‘Why don't you come over?’
Something about the straightforward enthusiasm of Alexis’ response brought a chuckle from the unprepared Mike. Maybe it was from his worries and fears being so easily shot down or just the way her invitation was friendly enough to almost make him forget about the raid going on at the same time. “Sounds good” he eventually said after clearing his throat “I’ll be there in a few”.

All things considered, it should’ve be a bit more difficult to walk around a city in combat armour but whether the streets were purposely designed with enough back alleys, or society was just more accepting of heroes and villains, he was able to make his way without much difficulty. At one point, while he waited for a small group of people to pass from the side of an alley, he found himself with a few precious moments to think. He was glad to be back with the team but couldn’t help but feel a little lost. From the radio chatter he could tell that everyone was moving more fluidly and effectively, already team A had started infiltrating the building. Whatever they had gone through over the last few days, they came out of it stronger than he could’ve imagined, of course, that left one problem. Him.

Everyone was working almost perfectly in tandem with one another, what made it even more impressive was that his last memory of the team was them narrowly escaping death at the zoo. Under normal circumstances, he’d be ecstatic about this. Ever since the group’s formation as a team, his main worries were about their lack of coherence and experience. And now, here they are working ever closer and steadily learning as they go. But at the same time, he felt as though he had been moving in the opposite direction. Even with the suit, his powers felt scrambled, it was as if everything was still there but completely re-shuffled, more forward and volatile. And while he knew he should probably mention the issue to the other team members, he didn’t want to get benched again, 'no even so, it probably isn't worth the hassle'. He knew he’d get control back, he always did. Bringing him back to reality, he saw an opening in his path, after taking one last glance around, he broke from the cover of the alley and dashed to the opposing street, taking him a little bit closer to the rest of the team. After a few more minutes of cautious progress, Mike managed to get to the building opposite San Pharmaceuticals and make his way to the rest of the gathered team. As he made his way up though, the news about Inferno came across the radio and brought a new wave of worries.

“And just when I thought I skipped all the hard work” he said jokingly as he approached the jet. At first he couldn't help but eye the newcomers from behind his helmet but quickly decided they had to be friendly in order to be this close. “I know its not the time, but I’m sorry again about leaving without warning. Though I’m here now and I think I can help, I’m good at throwing wrenches in plans and ambushes.”

[Turmenista]

Johnny and Brock

Wrestlemania Superslam

---

Johnny Swift/Brock Spencer

"Kid, I've got pubic hairs older than you, I ain't quitting," Floyd grunted, continuing his grapple with the massive quarterback as red energy crackled around his body. Conversely, a hazy emerald green glow appeared around Brock's body which, when mixing together with the red, made some vomit-colored yellow mixture. Unbeknownst to them, the ground around them was crackling and coming undone — tiles on the side of the pool were being ripped up like they were nothing while grass, dirt, and flowers suffered similar, dirty (no pun intended) fates. "I've been working in this business for decades. You're just a kid who got a small loan of a million dollars."

"Oooooh, yeah, real scary," Brock taunted, pushing up against Floyd's strength with an equal amount of... his strength. "I'm tellin' you, Floyd, Johnny had the right idea, man. He got up out of here when he could, and you need to do the same. Unless you wanna get stomped, that is."

This party is over, Brock thought to himself. All I need to do is slam this fool and tell everyone to go h—

Suddenly, Floyd dropped his grip on Brock's arms. Confused (and now suddenly tipping forwards, Floyd pushed himself forwards, sliding across the ground and right between Brock's legs, stopping behind him. As the swordsman quickly swept himself up to his feet, Brock cursed, attempting to counteract his slow reaction time by putting up a shield on his back at the last minute, though, the attempt was in vain. The shield shattered like glass and Floyd's spin-kick connected with his back, additionally sending him spiraling up into the air (and well over the second floor of the house) thanks to the angle of the kick and rather explosive aftermath of his shield being destroyed.

That wasn't the worst of his problems, though. While Brock could easily just cushion his descent, he was having second thoughts on whether or not to do so, after spotting a blur make its way down the neighborhood in about half of a second, practically smashing its way through the fence as it did so.

__________________________________

That's where the glory of being on the track team came in — long-distance endurance running wasn't a thing to worry about for Johnny, so long as he stayed hydrated. Then again, that wasn't really a thing for him to worry about now at all now that he was back at Brock's house. Time had slowed down around him to such an extent that he'd almost forgotten that he had run straight through the fence, shattering dozens of pieces of wood in every direction as he barreled straight towards the fight in front of him. Floyd had apparently kicked Brock right up into the air, and was apparently either still airborne or falling by the time that he knocked him up... which gave him an idea...

Sprinting across the yard, Johnny slammed his feet down and leaped up into the air, using his speed and momentum to gain some big air time as he approached the side of the house, and fast. As soon as he had done this he immediately tucked in his legs and kicked off the side of the house, gliding through the air towards the falling Brock like a screaming jet — and at the speed of a jet, as well.

Once he was on top of him, chest pointed to the ground and right above the airborne Brock's shielded chest, he raised both arms above his head, shouted "Get some, you little bitch!" and swung down as fast and as hard as he could. The vapor cone around his arms as he performed the volleyball spike disappeared at one as time came back to normal, sending Johnny tumbling to the side and eventually into the pool as Brock, on the other hand, smashing into the ground with a thud, leaving behind a crater and a trench of dirt in the process as he slid towards the now flaming house. Of course — the quarterback was alive, gesturing by the loud groaning and rolling around on the ground complaining about something being broken, whereas the speedster simply flopped out of the pool and onto his back, panting.

"Heh... Hey.. Floyd...," he chuckled weakly, coughing as he leaned up off the pool tiles. "Was that cool or what?"

Judging by the number of people pulling out their phones and either calling someone or taking a photo of the fight's dramatic end, Johnny concluded that it was time to go, lest the first responders and, worse, the police, arrive to question, arrest, and shut this party down. "....We should go now. I think we know who won that fight.."

And, stepping over to Brock, who gave Johnny a spiteful, yet defeated glare as the speedster loomed over his defeated foe. "And who's the boss now. Sayonara, Brock."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Sam Croft/Blizzard
San Pharma Raid

"I already got a look in some parts of the well lit areas of the building. If I seen anyone coming towards you two, I'll give you a heads up,"

Sam nodded, "Thanks, that's a big help."

"I'm gonna go drop off a rune. Be back in just a minute. Before I go, here." [Wyatt] said and gave Sam half of the runes Amir gave him. "In case I get held up or you find a better spot on the next floor."

Sam thanked him distractedly, already focused on the pair of curious objects in his hand. So these are magical? Sam wished he could borrow one for lab study, but it would be easy enough just to ask Amir about them. He straightened up, looked around, and headed off in the opposite direction from Wyatt.

Sam took the corridor at a measured pace, deliberately trying doorknobs "to verify they were locked" and glancing through the rooms' drawn blinds when he could. He clicked his mic, keeping his voice low. "This place looks like a modern lab. There's a wraparound hallway that runs around the building, just inside the windows. Looks like there's just offices and meeting rooms opposite them on this floor. Good security; can't see anything important from ground level."

Sam paused at an intersection, and keyed his mic again. "Oh! There's a crossing corridor, which looks like it leads to the main entrance." There was a faint ding in the distance, and Sam took a couple of steps towards the front doors. "And an elevator bank in the middle of the building."

Sam kept up his "tour of inspection" until he reached the far corner, then slipped into the fire stairs there, feeding the team more information. "Probably stairs at every corner of the building. Aw, hell, cameras on every landing." He returned to the corridor, hoping Wendy had control over the cameras already. Now to find a place for the magic pet rock... He turned the corner and went down the hall trying doorknobs. In the middle of the corridor he was rewarded: an unlocked conference room. He tsk'd to himself as though he was chiding absent workers, and buried the runestone in the trash can under an empty donut box and some styrofoam cups. Another radio call: "Wyatt, second runestone in place, opposite end of the building." He started to retrace his steps to meet up with him, but never quite got there...

[Wyatt was] radioing it to the rest of the team. "They've got a mercenary. Apparently he's got a skull mask. Be on the lookout."

Roy
"Wait Wyatt did you say a skull mask?" Roy said, a small amount of a shock present in his voice. "Everyone, I know who the mercenary is, and it's not good...."[...] "Inferno?! [...]Inferno is smart and tactical. He try to draw you into a situation where he has the advantage. He doesn't focus in raw fire power as much as taking the right shot and making it count, so be defensive and don't give him oppurtunities to strike. Use your superior numbers to wear him down and gain the advantage."

Sam stopped in his tracks, his blood suddenly ice cold. "Shhhhhit!" He strode back to the conference room, quietly closing the door behind him, before swearing under his breath. "Jesus fucking Christ! One of the world's most dangerous fire-supers, and he works for the enemy. Fuuuu... I might just have to earn my superhero pay tonight."

He got on the radio aagin. "Just a second, guys, I might know something about this guy." He glanced around for cameras, found none, pulled off his wig, and pulled a tiny eyepiece down from the edge of his mask. It connected to the phone in his uniform pocket, and Sam pulled up a database entry for Inferno. "OK, I've got something: there's a report that you can put Inferno's fire out if you can get him comletely drenched, but boy, that's going to piss him off. DO NOT turn your back on him if you try that, because you'll never see him get you." Sam folded the eyepiece back up, popped the wig back on, and started again for Wyatt.

[Edit: fixed typos.]

[The Republic of Atria]

Inferno was the name of the mercenary if his teammates were to be believed. Powerful pyrokinetic coupled with impressive physical abilities made him to be quite the powerhouse. Someone they would definitively have to work together against if they wanted to win. He shifted his eyes to make sure that it was clear to speak. "If he's even half as tough as you guys are implying, maybe after Sam and I finish hiding the runes we meet up with B and help you guys take him down." He spoke, realizing that he just volunteered himself to go up against someone who almost certainly has a good sized body count. On the other hand, he was itching to finally put his powers to good use after all this time and that meant he would have to be in on the action.

Same got back with him, informing that he had placed the next rune a good bit away. "Thanks. I'll go plant the next one on the next floor. I guess you and I should meet outside to help with Inferno. The more firepower we have against him, the better." After he finished, he headed towards the stairs. However, right as he opened the door, he almost tripped and had a heart attack.

He'd almost opened the door on a large man, wearing the skull mask that was the conversation topic for the last minute. Wyatt felt his heart rate spike and his legs almost gave out once the revelation finally processed in his brain.

He just opened the door on Inferno. "Umh, ah, ehh... I am, soooo sorry. I didn't know you were here, and you're not gonna burn my face off or anything are you?"

Inferno chuckled a bit. "For what, bumping me with a door? Nah. Plus, I wouldn't get paid, so you're safe. Got a light?" He asked and fumbled in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes.

Light, what does he mean by light? A light bulb? That's stupid, what would he need a light bulb for? Oh, cigarette lighter. "Oh, uh no. Sorry, I don't smoke. Bad for the lungs and all that." He replied. Calm down you moron! He doesn't know you're against him! More casual talk! "So what's going on that the guys upstairs hired you?"

Inferno shrugged in response, flicking his thumb and creating a flame to light the cigarette he pulled out. "No idea. Either they're expecting trouble, or they just want to make sure their top secret whatever the hell goes along without a hitch. Don't care why, as long as I get paid. Speaking of which, I should get to it. Starts soon. Before I go, here." He tossed Wyatt the pack of cigarettes. "You look like you need these more than I do." He said and made his way down the stairs. "I'd better not see those on Craigslist ya hear!"

It took Wyatt a moment to process what just happened and to let his already stressed out heart calm down. Once he caught his breath and heard the door close downstairs, he radioed the rest of his team once more. "Got some news. Sorry if I sound out of breath, I just ran into Inferno and almost had a heart attack. He's none the wiser about us being here, and whatever's going on is happening in the basement. I don't know if their normal guards are allowed to go down there, so I'm not going to follow. Do you still want us to place the rest of the runes?"

7 months ago

"I liked Africa better." Came the voice from the female dragon walking along the sidewalk with her much larger brother. She'd used a basic perception block spell to ensure they didn't get seen. "It was warm all the time." She complained. Despite being covered head to talon in enchanted clothing to keep her warm, she was still cold. "Hurry up and pick a house. I'm freezing my tail off."

The two had been exploring the United states for some time now. Kaban was primarily interested in finding the crappiest place he could and then trying to get any idiot he could to fight him. Fortunately for her goal of remaining at least somewhat hidden, Kaban hadn't picked a fight with anyone as powerful as Atlas, yet. It was only a matter of time before he came across someone who was and they were discovered. Their travels had led them to terrible neighborhoods where they usually stayed for a bit before moving on.

"Fine... That one." He pointed to a decently sized two story house in respectable condition. There weren't any signs of humans living in it, so he figured it would be good enough to appease his whining sister. They approached and Kaban opened the unlocked door. The house was strangely warm for it not housing anyone. He slammed the door and heard voices coming from upstairs. "So there are people in here. I'll go convince them to let us stay." Her older brother slowly thudded up the stairs while she looked around the bottom floor.

The house was an absolute mess. While she didn't care how humans chose to keep their homes, but she might have to be living here for a bit and she was not going to live in a house as disgusting as this one. She entered the thankfully empty kitchen and rifled through the cupboards, finding an unopened box of trashbags. She'd been in enough human homes and seen enough television to know about them. Once she went back into the living room, she used her magic to float all the discarded pizza boxes, beer cans, and myriad else. She'd never been more grateful for her magic.

Meanwhile, Kaban found the room where he heard voices, once he opened the door, he found about 4 men and a woman all shoving money into large dufflebags. They all froze when they saw the gigantic dragon man just barely fit through the door. "Excuse me, my sister and I-" He started, but the largest of the men baring unusually large canines for a human charged at him. Kaban stuck out his massive hand and grabbed the man by his head and squeezed, hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to cause any damage. The man screamed at the top of his lungs, flailing his arms trying to break free, but it was muffled by Kaban's indestructible grip. He forced the screaming man to knees and held him there as he continued. "As I was saying, my sister and I were looking for a place to stay for some time. We've decided that we live here now."

The woman was the first to speak up. "Let him go! You're gonna kill him!"

"No. His skull is much harder than a normal human one. If I squeezed a little harder, then it would pop. You're not normal humans are you?"

"No, we're-"

"Excellent." He released the man's head and moved his face uncomfortably close. "We're going to be living in the same house together. Nice to meet you, I'm Kaban, my sister Onu is down stairs. Glad you're letting us stay with you. Promise we won't get in the way, and if you need help with anything, let me know." He said and was about to leave. "Oh, and one more thing. If you even think about laying a finger on my sister, I will use your body-" He pointed at the man he had the grip on "-to beat the rest of you to death. Or something. You'll die and it'll hurt the whole time is my point. But if you can work with that, I see us becoming fast friends!"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

---

"You're welcome!" The Hadrian girl said to her friend, her smile only slightly less bright than before. However, it continued to decay as an awkward silence, however brief, settled in between them, neither of the two teens managing to say another word to each other. Somewhat disheartened, Kirisvala was going to mumble some excuse to go back to Alexis or perhaps greet the two teenage heroes from the other day, but before she could do so, there was a dramatic reveal over the comm system: the mercenary in the service of the vampire renegades was none other than the infamous Inferno!

...Naturally, this information meant nothing whatsoever to Kiris, who was not well acquainted with the heroes and villains of Earth yet, with a few exceptions such as the Los Angeles Stars and villains such as Weatherman and Thunderstruck, all of them figures she had personally encountered during her stay in San Diego, which spanned three weeks so far.

Still, the sheer tone of alarm with which both Roy and Mars spoke about the villain made her feel nervous, as their attitude was one of fear and respect, meaning that this was a very dangerous person, and one that had earned his reputation. While she still didn't know who they were talking about, she decided to pay all her attention to the advice Roy gave them about the villain. Sure, her team wasn't the one that was in charge of taking down the villain, but if they happened to need any backup it wouldn't hurt to know how to approach the enemy. The fact that Sam had more advice to offer them made the alien feel better about her friends' odds, but it also scared her to know that he was that dangerous even without his fire powers.

"Umm, I guess it's a good thing that we're not in charge of takin' him down, huh?" She said in a small attempt to continue conversing with Mars. Almost immediately afterwards, though, Mike arrived. The Hadrian turned in his direction upon hearing him talk and smiled upon seeing another teammate returning. "Mike, hi! Where had you been?" The girl asked curiously as she approached the armored newcomer.

---

---

---

---

"Great! We'll be waiting." Alexis said in response to her teammate, happy to hear that he'd be arriving shortly. After the good news, however, came the bad. It seemed that she, Carter, Yoshi, Nate and Angie wouldn't be facing up against just any pyromancer, they would be facing against Inferno. The Inferno. The same one that had fought with the Hellfire Gang against Liberty, Recharge and Voltra and nearly got the upper hand on them before being defeated. The same one that had, apparently, broken out of a supermax prison somehow, within weeks of his imprisonment. That really did not bode well for them, and by all means, she should've been concerned, terrified perhaps.

But she was excited.

Ever since the Zoo battle, she had felt cheated out of her opportunity to prove herself a competent member of the team, at least on the frontlines; sure she had done a lot of stuff during their training on the island, and she had also done quite a bit for the team on the sidelines, the latest result of this being the very same headpieces with which the team was communicating at that very moment. But, she wanted to prove that she was capable of fighting too, and this was the perfect opportunity. Taking down Inferno would not only remove a big threat--though she didn't know if he would stay imprisoned for long considering the data they had available--but it would also constitute a huge feat.

Needless to say, the girl eagerly stored away every bit of knowledge and tactics that her teammates had to provide regarding Inferno, wanting to be as prepared as she could for their inevitable showdown. While her equipment wasn't particularly well-designed to counter his powers, she was sure it would give her a pretty decent fighting chance, especially considering she would have the backup of various teammates, among them two that she especially trusted.

As she was considering all of this, Mike arrived. Alexis offered him a smile and a wave to acknowledge his arrival, before turning and walking over to Mars, who was now alone. She directed a pointed look of disappointment at the genius boy and shook her head.

Then, she approached Mike. "I guess the gang's finally all together again, huh? What with Mr. Lone Wolf recently coming back to us after getting himself in a mess." She said with a smile. "It's good to have you back. Did Naja catch you up? Any idea which squad you want to join for the mission?"

[Absolon-7]

A few moments after Blizzard and Wyatt left Casimir noticed that park was right there. It startled him for a bit but he remembered she was part vampire so being stealthy wasn't out of the question for her. Afterwards, Roy spoke into the comms that the mercenary the vamps hired was none other than Inferno. Casimir had heard of the villain before and from what he knew he was nothing but bad news. Like bombardier-beetle-level bad news. But worrying about him would come later and then perhaps a fight, if Casimir was lucky enough for the opportunity. Although, considering his lack of effective long rage attacks beside throwing stuff really, really hard, it didn't look too favorable for him and protecting a comatose Wendy would have to come first. When Blizzard radioed in the buildings layout, Casimir knew that was they had to move now.

"Alright, follow me guys. Red pick up and carry Wendy. Park you can help me keep enemies off our tail," said Casimir before going into the back door himself.

He was finally getting a crystal clear picture of the parts of the building where his insects were located. Their combined scope of vision fused together to something reminiscent of a panorama video. Usually when he looked through the eyes of insects it was like changing channels really quickly but since they were all in close proximity this time, it fused into a single continuous scene. He remembered how it was really trippy the first few time but he had gotten used to it over time. Furthermore, he could sense that some insects in the second floor. It was a warm soothing feeling that enveloped him, washed over him, and drew him ever closer. A dark plastic corridor of shining lights and welcoming silicon sheets. A low, quiet, hum of fan and the delicate dancing of air that came of it. The musky scent of some unwashed IT guy. Six dainty legs and crisp membranes covering wings sheathed.

A few more eyes entered the same room and from where they were and others were moving from in the walls and below the floor, Casimir guessed that the control room was on the second floor across the elevator. Taking a second step into the building, Casimir walked cautiously along the wall paying attention that the flies in the halls were keeping watch for any of the building's night crew. The trip to the elevator went smoothly and from the insects outside the door no one was to be seen. Upon exiting the elevator, the door to the control was opened and Casimir moved to the side of the door so the single person inside wouldn't notice him or the rest of the squad. Now came the part of incapacitating the poor fellow. If his experience in street fighting had taught him anything then it was how to choke someone out so fast that they didn't know they were being suffocated in a strangle hold. Casimir prowled on all fours along the ground hiding behind the single occupant of the room. They were facing away from Casimir and typing some code onto a PC but a swift struggle and collapse followed. They were dressed heavily so Casimir used the jacket the guy was wearing to cover the guys mouth and eyes. Next Casimir took the guys belt and fastened it around the ankles.

"Holy hell that was some intense sneaking around. Park, you close the door. Red, go place Wendy on a chair near the servers or PC. I'll report in to Roy, " an exasperated Casimir whispered before activating the comm device, "Yo, the rest of Squad A is in the control room. The rest of you can do what you gotta do."

[Finland SSR]

Icarus-chan

Renata Martínez, the heroic Stella!

---

As soon as Renata and Blackout arrived to the surroundings of the jet, it was hard to not notice that everyone's attention was swirling around news sent by the recon team - apparently, the vampires had acquired the help of a supervillain by the name of Inferno. Inferno, Inferno... That was not a name Renata was familiar with - which was more or less a given, seeing as she was a fairly recent immigrant - but the name thrown around indicated a some sort of fire manipulator, which brought good news. After all, fire throws out a lot of electromagnetic radiation, especially infrared and visible light, and since they were currently operating at night, Renata needed all the refueling she could get.

Even Blackout joined the discussion, requesting Nightshade to seek out their help if they ever end up facing off against the villain, which slightly lowered the heroine's enthusiasm. After all, if this Inferno guy is so powerful that even Roy and Blackout are worried about their chances, then it's likely that even her advantageous match-up against fire manipulators won't be enough to tip the scales all on its own... Renata quickly killed off all of that anxiety, however - no, this is going to go well, don't worry. There's one of him and ten of us, after all...

With all that dealt with, she and Blackout sat down in the jet, and a conversation began.

After a quick quip about being compared to Nightshade, Blackout gave a laconic answer. Three weeks.

That's- hold on a second.

Three weeks?!

But that's... not even the whole summer!

And what's even more interesting, and yet shocking at the same time, was that this wasn't just some random date or anything - even if that was the same day when Westgate Prison was overrun. That's when Blackout acquired his powers.

Either his superpowers only manifested really late - which was extremely rare, in fact, it's even considered a medical condition and has a specific name, as far as Renata recalled - or there was something else at play here. But seeing the way Blackout spoke about it... in such a thoughtful mood, as if remembering something impactful, led Renata to resolve that this probably wasn't a part of his backstory she should poke, at least not now. But don't forget about that, either. Who knows where it might lead...

"Oh, definitely, I suppose I was using myself as a measuring stick here," the heroine replied, grinding the floor with her foot again. "I've been a hero for four years now, myself. Both here in America and back home... and there, I suppose, it kind of runs in my family, that's why I started at such a young age."

Hm. They've been fairly open to each other ever since they met. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to be a little less reserved here.

"You know Ecuador, right?" Renata suddenly spoke up, giving the vigilante a few moments to formulate an answer, if needed. "I've seen it mentioned a lot here in America, especially when people talk about superhuman rights... Well, you see, I'm the daughter of its dictator, the hero Silver. It's where my career as a hero stems from - I've always been surrounded by other heroes, I got to watch their deeds first hand and learn about their way of life from up close, so all that experience pushed me to become one as well. And I suppose that's why I... lashed out so much against Nightshade back in that alleyway - I've been working as a hero for so long that I couldn't let myself be so overshadowed by such a new team..."

Johnny Swift/Brock Spencer

The Great Floyd Tolson

---

Success! The spin kick tossed the hulking quarterback into the air. Moving into a crouching post and raising his sword, Floyd prepared himself to leap forward and cut Brock up into a lovely American kebab. From what he had seen of the energy manipulator throughout the fight, he had no way of steering his flight or avoiding the swordsman in any way while in mid air - which was very good for him.

I mean... he could theoretically generate an energy shield or something, but not when he's milliseconds away from certain doom.

Unfortunately, moments before Floyd was about to leap upward, a third party jumped in and ruined his day. God damn Johnny suddenly returned to the fight, pile driving right into the flying Brock and slamming him into the ground, leaving a large crater and sending him into a flaming house. The bastard was alive, and while the volleyball slam was certainly satisfying, watching someone else win the fight is never, and I mean never, as satisfying as doing it yourself.

Floyd sighed and sheathed his sword while Johnny crawled out of the pool. When the youngster asked whether that was a cool moment, he simply responded with:

"No."

He stole his moment again.

Floyd would have slapped him back into his pool had Johnny not pointed out a bigger problem - people were starting to call the police, first responders, likely some superheroes, whatever. Oh, and the party was packing its stuff, the music was shutting down, the atmosphere was dead so on and so forth. Oh so Johnny can kill the party, but not him? Hax. I call hax.

While the swordsman would have probably enjoyed staying here and beating the crap out of anyone who dares to say "FREEZE!" on him, he also vividly remembered the last time he got too carried away and decided to do that exact thing. Long story short, they eventually sent the Los Angeles Stars on him and it didn't end well.

"...He's gonna beat your ass back to submission as soon as September arrives." Floyd commented on Johnny claiming his superiority, then put his hands in his pockets. "Right, if we're leaving, then we're leaving."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Raven-San Diego

It felt good to be back on my bike again, it provided some sense of comfort as I finally pushed myself to do something that I have been wanting to do for some time. Parking my bike in the overgrown drive way of my old home, I looked up at the two story building with white paint that was flaking off of the house. There was a busted window next to the modest front porch which led to the doors that I have been trying to escape from most of my life. I did not move at first, rather I just sat there on the bike and observed the home one last time before I let myself into the garage and helped myself to the gasoline and matches I have stored in there for a time like this. So I can finally burn this place down...and get on with my life. Bury my past so to speak.

I was about to swing my leg over the bike when something caught my eye. There was a faint light, which illuminated inside of the house. It is curious because this house is abandoned.

"Probably some damn neighborhood kids looking for a thrill. Explore the haunted house." It would not have surprised me if the home had gained such a reputation. After all, it was every bit of that to me.

Moving in closer to the front porch I pressed my hand against the handgun on my hip, not that I planned to use it here but, well, you just never know. Placing my hand on the handle I paused for a moment, as the touch of the cold metal chilled my hand. And my mind flashed back to when the authorities came and picked me up after I watched my father bleed to death after Alexander ran off into the night. Taking a breath, I opened the door and stepped inside.

My eyes traced against the living room and catching sight of the dining room towards the back. But there was no obvious sign of anyone inside of the house which, bothered me. It's quiet now, but I know what I saw. And that light seems to be in the dining room. Moving around the couch in the living room reminding me again that all of the furniture was still in the house. As I stepped forward I nearly tripped over something causing me to investigate the offender.

What I found was a box of pizza, an empty one. That settles it, there is definitely someone in this house. Before I could hardly finish the thought I heard a sharp cry and looked just to witness a someone swinging a baseball bat in my direction. Thinking quickly I ducked and the assailant flew past me and landed on the couch. Pulling my gun and aiming it I stopped just in time to see that it was only a boy, perhaps no older than thirteen or so before I relaxed the tension on the gun.

"DAMMIT! You have no idea how close I was to just shooting you!" The boy said nothing in response as I picked myself up off the floor. I could almost feel the presence of the other children before I heard them. A sharp gasp here and there as they watched.

"You can come down from the stairs, I won't hurt you." I waited for a moment as the child with the bat stood very tense but silent, unwilling to give up his weapon and no one came down the stairs. Glancing at the gun in my hand I shrugged. "Oh." Placing the gun back on my side before plopping myself down on the chair and throwing my feet up on the dusty coffee table.

Slowly I listened as the children descended down the creaking stairs and the child with the bat straightened up and stood across from me. Before I bore witness to five children ranging from ages between seven, eight to ten and the eldest one with the bat. I am still guessing roughly thirteen or so. Three boys and two girls and it was obvious the eldest boy was the 'leader' from how they crowded around him. Breaking the silence I finally spoke up.

"Welcome to my home." I stated very simply sparking resistance from the eldest boy.

"Nonono, this is our home lady! What are you doing here!?" He seemed very possessive of the claim. Making sure I knew that I was trespassing. The thought had never occurred to me that a bunch of homeless kids would actually take shelter in this shit hole. But then again, when you have no home at all. Even this could look like a Hilton. With apparently a matter of fact tone I stretched out on the seat and continued.

"Hate to break it to ya, but you are just renting. Don't worry though, I did not come here to collect or anything. Fact is, I lived here well before any of you showed up. Back before the lights were cut off and the dust didn't count as a second layer of carpet." The kid certainly had spirit as he shot right back at me.

"Well, things change lady and we are not leaving so get out of here." And just like that I decided that I liked this kid. He reminds me of...me. And that, could be a very scary thing.I never even thought of what I would do if this house was being used by someone else. And thinking about it now, there was no way in hell that I could finish what I came here for. Not with this place keeping five children out of the rain. I mean, I came here to burn this place to the ground for every terrible thing that has happened to me inside these walls. But like it or not, this is no longer just about me. I was still running my train of thought when one of the younger girls spoke up.

"Missus, if you used to live here...could...you give us a tour of the place?" The question was so sudden and unexpected I was caught by surprise. Before a soft smile slowly flooded my features in the half darkness of the room as I answered with a simple word.

"Sure."

Mayla Carter/Wonder Warrior-Outside of San Diego

As expected, the Gaul's allies did not back down. Well, he has at least found dependable associates? Friends? However Gaul would describe them, they were strong of character. That was to be expected. What was not expected was the arrival of new combatants. Still in my Awakened State I turned to face the new arrivals. They struck the ground like lightning and personified shock and awe. I however found little use fr such theatrics. As the scene progressed in front of me the leader of the group had ordered me to step aside in a similar fashion as I had commanded Gaul's allies. At first, I thought these were heroes who had come to apprehend Gaul and his friends. As such, I was nearly inclined to let them try. But as soon as I had considered leaving my Awakened State and stepping aside, the battle broke out between Gaul's side and the new arrivals.

I have been in many such battles, and it became apparent from the way these heroes moved and from the potential lethal nature of their attacks that they were not here to arrest anyone.

They were here to kill them.

This was something that I was not going to allow.

This still presented me with a, interesting situation. As it stands we have essentially a three way battle and Gaul is in the middle of it. And even in this form, I cannot take on both sides at once. Which meant that, the only solution to getting Gaul out of here. Is to fight alongside him and the others.

I did not like it, but it was far better than the alternatives and hence an easy decision to make.

My eyes scanned the battle as it unraveled and the man who revealed himself as Titan clashed against Walt and the speedster intercepted the woman who was attempting to heal Gaul. That left two airborne enemies that would need to be dealt with and some iceberg mutant watching over me. If they had really wanted to keep me out of the fight, they should have tasked the Speedster to watching me, as this ice warrior I doubt has the speed to cover me.

That being said, that still left two viable options. Tactically their air support should be dealt with first, but from the look of it, that woman trying to help Gaul could be having issues with the speedster. Making my decision I rocketed towards the speedster in what was going to be a sneak attack, if I move quickly, I can take her out of the fight and move on to the sky. She turned to face me just in time and was quite unprepared to meet me. We locked eyes as she moved to counter as I drew back my fist, however as I delivered it pain shot through my body as I made a realization.

My time in that form, was up.

The force of my punch was drastically reduced and while it still connected it was not the one hit KO I was hoping for. Instead, it knocked the woman back some ways but she was still very much in fighting shape as I collapsed on the ground. Bleeding from my nose and one ear despite not really taking any hits. And the area which Gaul had hit before, was now screaming in pain.

Then, in a blur of movement the speedster delivered a kick to my chin throwing me backward and into the grip of the ice man. They were clearly used to operating as a team. As the grip around me tightened I struggled to break free. With a cry of pain I tensed up as the being seemed content to simply hold me and keep me from the battle itself. Concentrating ki energy in one of my hands I blasted it into the ice fighter and slipped through his hand as he loosened his grip. As I was about to counter attack, an ear splitting scream shook the field as I covered my ears on instinct. The sonic scream appeared to have slammed the ice warrior in the back, knocking him down, but he was already standing back up.

But something abut that attack was...familiar. Then, I heard the her voice.

"I escape from prison and hear rumors that my ex's new wife is in town and I find you in this sorry state? What would Daniel think?" The voice belonged to Jessica Wheeler. My husband's first and ex wife who has been locked up in San Diego Prison until...the breakout it seems. How she found me is anyone's guess but it does even up the playing field a bit.

"What are you sitting in the dirt for, aren't you supposed to be some master fighter or something like that?" A smirk spread across my face as I thought of this make shift alliance I found myself in.

"Just giving them a handicap." I piped back to the 38 year old meta human who wielded sonic screams for a power. I will have to deal with her later, but right now its in our best interest to work together to fight off Titan and his team. Locking my eyes on the sky above us, I summoned my abilities for flight as I blasted off in their direction, ki blasts sailing from my hands as the battle was kicked into its next round.

---

Nick sat there for several minutes after watching both Alexis and Brianna walk out. With silence falling over both him and Sebastian as Nick peeled over Alexis' 'plan' in his head. Well, less an actual plan and more of just an idea. It was not as if they had actually worked out a way to bring that idea into a plan but of course, it would no doubt be up to Nick to make sure that plan does not become a suicide run. If he was being honest, he did not like how dangerous this would be. Taking on a single or even a group of super humans like Marionette was one thing, and even that did not go the way they had wanted. But this? Something of this magnitude? Well, it was a kick into another league. Nick considered for a moment telling Alexis they should try something else, start smaller. But she was stubborn, and he was not certain how stubborn. He had no idea if she would attempt this by herself or not. And if it was to be any success at all, he needed to be involved.

Nick had considered discussing what was on his mind with their new arrival. But the older boxer seemed to be in a world of his own. So Nick chose to pursue the more dangerous option, Brianna.

Standing up and walking out of the room he addressed Sebastian as he left.

"I will be back in a few minutes. Gonna go check on Brianna. Don't touch the merchandise while I am gone." And with that he was out of the office and down the hall.

Making his way to Brianna's 'Room' he took a look around their new home. On the up side no one would bother them down here, besides the occasional rat. And there were no bills to pay. If he had no joined up on Alexis' crusade, he would still be in that shitty apartment. Alone and by himself. Considering that, he liked things here.

Approaching Brianna's door he realized that he was still smoking and quickly snubbed the cigarette out. Knowing that she was not a big fan of the habit and would likely appreciate not having the smoke fill her small room. Knocking on the closet door He could hear her stirring on the other side, and the door slowly opened to reveal a slightly annoyed Brianna.

“What do you want, Brusi?”

Recognizing the term of endearment, I offered a response to gain entry.

"Just making the rounds, I wanted to stop by and check on you. Discuss a few things, if you are feeling up to it." She seemed to consider it for a moment then opened the door wide enough for Nivk to enter. He did so with a nod and looking around he found few places to sit down so Nick just kept standing for the moment.

"That was some fight you were in last night, you holding up OK?" Not knowing what to do with my hands with no cigarette or keyboard he simply placed them in my pockets as I continued.

"Aside from checking in I wanted to discuss this team we have going here, if thats what it is and what Alexis proposed earlier." With the opening out of the way he waited for Brianna to respond.

Alexander Cain/The Saint-St. Petersburg, Russia

WIP

[Tomia]

Roy
Roy listened to Blackout, surprised that he sounded concerned about the YB's prospects in facing Inferno. He couldn't help to agree however, Roy was concerned as well.

"I appreciate the offer. You're right, Inferno is no joke. He's a legitimate villain and he won't hesitate to kill anyone of us if he gets the chance. So ya, when it's time you should go after Inferno, if I'm being honest I'll be relieved to have you watching my teammates backs." He told Blackout. But he had something else to say as well and he turned to look him in the eyes.

"But I need you to do that Blackout. I'm trusting you here and you know that's not easy for me. So I need you to work with us, because there's nothing I care about more right now than there saftey." He said before going off to sit with the rest of his team as they waited for the signal from Squad A.

Just then Mike showed up, and Roy stood up to greet him. "Mike, it's good that you came. We can use all the support we can for this mission." Roy said before filling him in on the mission details.

"So I think you should stick with me in Squad C, and you can keep your oppurtunity to help others if it arises."

Mars
Mars nodded to Kiris, "Ya, but I'm worried about our teammates. I think we can handle it though, we've grown a lot over these last few weeks. I'm glad you're on my team though Kiris, you seem like a good person to have watching your back." He said, trying to steal his nerves and make small talk with his friend. But then Mike came and Kiris was gone, Mars wasnt even sure she had heard that comment. He sighed, seeing Alexis giving him a disappointed look, that made him blush slightly as he became aware that others might have caught to his feelings for Kiris. All he could manage was a shrug as he looked away to avoid her gaze.

Frost Bite
Frost Bite was mentally preparing herself for the mission. The discovery that Inferno was the villian they would be fighting raised the stakes significantly. She was now driven to put that monster behind bars and preventing him from hurting any of her friends as he would certainly try to do.

Following that thought, Frost Bite turned to to Alexis who was sitting has been sitting next to her. "Hey Alex, make sure you take care of yourself against Inferno okay? He won't hesitate to hurt any of us, and well... I don't want anything to happen to you." She said, blushing a bit under her mask at her show of concern for her friend. Alexis was by far the closest friend Angelica had ever had, even with the short time they had known each other. The thought of losing that connection weighed heavier in her mind than most anything else.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

"Holy hell that was some intense sneaking around. Park, you close the door. Red, go place Wendy on a chair near the servers or PC. I'll report in to Roy, " an exasperated Casimir whispered before activating the comm device, "Yo, the rest of Squad A is in the control room. The rest of you can do what you gotta do."

Park In-hyun

Park accompanied the rest of Squad A to the control room. Park kept her senses on sight. Park of course was a little bit rattled than usual. Those rogue vampires hired Inferno, a villain with impressive amounts of fire-based abilities that reach beyond her current level. Zerg rush is the best tactic to defeat him, if the other Squads able to defeat him properly. He is too dangerous as well, to be let alive. "Alright, Cass," as they reached the control room and then she closed the door. She stood guard near the door, keeping an eye on those who may close enough to approach them.

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

As Wyatt and Blizzard took on the appearances of the guards they had taken out, Red and the others stood watch. As he stood there, Red couldn't help but worry for the two being sent in, especially for Wyatt. While he was no pushover in terms of combat ability, the soft-spoken dragon hybrid was far from being the smoothest of talkers. As long as he keeps his head down and stays the hell away from the fire user, he should be fine, Red thought to himself. Now whether or not he'll be able to do that is what I'm concerned about.

It didn't seem to take long before his worries manifested, as his headset soon began to crackle with life with the news that they had found said fire user, and it couldn't have been any worse news to hear. Red cursed, mumbling under his breath.

"Jesus Christ, Inferno? Might as well buy a lottery ticket with our luck."

However, even with the news, it was clear that it was time to continue their plan as the layout of the building was radioed in by Blizzard.

"Alright, follow me guys. Red pick up and carry Wendy. Park you can help me keep enemies off our tail."

Red nodded at Casimir's suggestion, walking over to where Wendy was slumped over. With a small grunt, he heaved her onto his back, grabbing onto her legs while her arms hung limp over his shoulders. She was surprisingly light, something he was thankful for. With Casmir leading the way and Park covering their backs, the group made their way into the building, following the layout that had been provided to them. After a short while, they entered the control room after a quick dispatch of the crew inside thanks to Casimir.

At his suggestion, Red carefully lowered Wendy's limp body on to the nearest chair. Rolling his shoulders a bit to loosen them back up, he glanced over at the screens that covered the wall in front of them. He couldn't help but admire Wendy's work, as there was no sign that anything was amiss on the cameras. In today's modern age, a power such as this was more than helpful. And all I can do is punch people and make them piss their pants with tasers, Red begrudgingly thought to himself. The missing weight of his sidearms at his waist seemed to increase at the thought, forcing him to shake his head to clear his mind.

With a sigh, he leaned up against the nearest wall, watching the various activity taking place on the screens in front of him. If anyone began to make their way over to where they were at, they'd be able to see them coming a mile away, an advantage Red was content to have. Given that everything thus far had gone to plan, however, it didn't look like they'd have to worry about getting into any trouble. At least, for now.

Glancing over to Park, a small but humorous thought crossed his mind. Pointing a thumb to Wendy, he spoke up with a sarcastic tone to the team's expert on all things undead.

"You know, Wendy is pretty easy to pick up. I'm surprised it's taken Roy this long to do it."