Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
Wonder Tower, San Diego

---

Yoshiro was helping with the last-minute decorations for the upcoming surprise party, making no effort to hide her excitement at seeing the team’s plan finally beginning to take shape. She hadn’t been able to get as involved as she’d liked due to her injury, but as soon as Jacob had given her a clean bill of health, Yoshiro had wasted no time in throwing herself into the preparations alongside Kiris and Alexis. The surprise party was a genuinely nice thing for them to do for their teammates, and Yoshiro also couldn’t help but be amused at the amount of effort that Kiris seemed to be pouring into it – although noticeably favouring one of the birthday boys over the other. Tying a knot into the neck of another balloon, Yoshiro released it gently before using her powers to guide it to a part of the room that still looked a bit sparse on colour. She wasted no time in picking up another deflated balloon from its packet, but before Yoshiro could bring it up to her lips there was a bright flash and Carter’s cry of pain rang out across the lounge.

The telepath couldn’t stop herself from laughing at the sight as Carter flailed around wildly in his temporary blindness. She rolled her eyes at his antics, feeling just a little bit sorry for him as he incurred Renata’s wrath. However, her smile wavered as she saw Shadowkill approach the light-based heroine, her expression decidedly unfriendly as the pair seemed to get into an argument. The background din of chatter and conversation meant that she couldn’t pick out any of the individual words that followed, but Yoshiro couldn’t help but frown as she felt the growing irritation and tension between Renata and Shadow. Fortunately, it looked like whatever disagreement they’d had was quickly resolved, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. This was meant to be the team’s way to do something nice for their friends, it would have been absolutely awful if instead they had just ended up fighting among themselves. However, her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Angelica walk into the room. Yoshiro had been waiting desperately to talk to either her or Alexis about the past week, but the young genius seemed to always be busy with this-or-that, and even now she was elbow-deep in preparations for the party. But Angelica seemed to be pretty much by herself at the moment.

Immediately leaving her assembly line of balloons, Yoshiro marched over to where the ice manipulator was sitting next to Roy. Offering the pair a smile, she grabbed onto Angelica’s hand and began tugging her along.

“Hi Roy, I just need to borrow Frost for a bit - won’t be long, promise. We, uh, just need to finish up some last minute preparations.” Dragging, Angelica out of the main conference room, Yoshiro didn’t stop until the pair were standing in the empty kitchen, safe from any prying ears from the rest of the team. Turning back to her friend, Yoshiro had a wild grin on her face, unable to disguise her excitement.

“Ok, so I wanted to tell you this earlier, but I agreed to keep it a secret - which I thought wouldn’t be a problem - but all week I’ve just been wanting to tell someone. But I couldn’t when I was in the infirmary, and then everyone got so invested in this party that I didn’t get a chance. And besides, it’s not like I could just tell anyone, you know?” Realising that she was rambling as the words rattled off her tongue, Yoshiro took a deep breath in order to calm her down. Clasping her hands together, she began to pace back and forth in the kitchen. “Before we went out on the mission, I asked Red out on a date - like an actual, let’s go out to eat dinner date - and he said yes!” She let out a quiet squeal, practically jumping up and down in front of her friend. It felt amazing to get it off her chest.

“We went out to a really fancy Italian place in Downtown, but he took me in this amazing car, and then we just hung out by the bay. I mean, I never really finished the food since for some reason they thought that dessert pasta was a good idea, and he had to carry me back to the car, but it was such a blast! And -” Yoshiro paused as the masked girl continued to watch her. Rubbing the back of her head, she blushed slightly. “And..I should probably let you talk. Sorry, it’s just so overwhelming and so fast, I don’t know what I’m meant to do next, you know? Like, after going out what’s next? I’m so out of my depth.”

[Tomia]

Frost Bite
Angelica was causally talking to Roy when suddenly she was grabbed by the hand by Yoshi and grabbed out of her seat. Frost Bite was annoyed by this, but Roy merely smiled and waved goodbye. The ice hero considered telling her friend off when they got to the kitchen but when she saw the beaming smile Yoshi was giving off she couldn't bring herself to do it. Damn her and that cute puppy dog smile. She thought to herself before Yoshi started explaining herself.

At first she was just rambling really, "That was the longest it ever took for someone to tell me they had something to tell me." She said, a grin on her covered face. When Yoshi finally got around to telling the story, Angelica's smile widened, a rare occasion for her. "Well, I'm glad you finally got around to it. Sounds like you had a good time. Like one of those fairy tales, or that movie with the two dogs eating spaghetti."

"I have no idea what you do next, but common sense tells me... maybe a second date? You two like each other, I'm sure you'll find excuses to be around each other." Angelica said, a bit of jealously edged in her tone. "I mean it's a party tonight right? Hang out with him, spend sometime together, and then just let things come naturally." She said, pondering her own advice and was wondering if she was being a hypocrite. Her expression darkened for a second before realizing the need to change the subject. "By the way, what is a dessert pasta exactly?"

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum-San Diego

There were no words. For what I just witnessed I was a a complete and utter loss. Casimir had approached both me and Renata and asked how we were adjusting to life at the Tower. Typical conversation, expected and all. But before I really had a chance to roll out a response. I watched as Renata blinded Carter, Carter fall over himself and just about everything else. And then the main event. The edge girl who literally busted into the tower yesterday, yeah, she strolls up and thrusts a nail gun in Renata's face. And with me standing right beside Renata I had the front row seat. With the tornado going on around me I did the only thing I cold do. I raised my palm up in front of me. And slowly, and very deliberately...

Planted my face in it.

If the world could see us now. I sarcastically thought at the PR disaster that would follow. We would not even be trusted with a potato gun. Let alone defending a city. But it seemed that everything resolved itself without any one of us being airlifted to a hospital before a birthday party. This time.

Then there was Kiris, who was far more concerned with the fact that Elle was vegan rather than the literal threatening with what could potentially have been a deadly weapon. Not sure about deadly in this case though, for all I know Renata has super durability or something. Who even knows.

And by now, most of the team seems to have shown up, or at least a significant portion of the team. Frost showed up and even helped Roy with some balloons. Yoshi showed up, pulling Frost off to herself and discussing something I could not hear. And really, bless his heart Casimir, after all we have just seen actually invited Elle to help prepare for the party.

Well Casimir, you are a better man than me. Not saying I will exile Elle, but I may wait a bit before I go off alone with her, so to speak.

Which left me in a awkward position.

I had no idea where to go or who to talk to and honestly, the scene killed my mood a bit. This is the team I am stuck with, and if this is how they normally are, I do not see things getting better by just escaping to the roof and getting some air.

So, I glanced over at Renata as everything went back decorating the party.

"I am pretty sure I heard someone mention balloons are needed for this event? Want to lend a hand with that or did Elle get to you?" The question was pretty genuine. I mean, if someone put a nail gun to my face I would be at the very least shook up a bit, especially if I did not have my gauntlet. Which I don't. But then my mind flashed to something Elle said.

She mentioned something about Renata being the daughter of a dictator. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. I considered asking her about it for a moment, before deciding against it. It feels like a more personnel question than I am comfortable with right now. Best to keep things fairly casual.

"We should probably do something to help with the party. I could certainly use a hand, after all we did not have birthday parties back on Aeon." I passively mentioned, only realizing that I had let slip a detail which I had not really talked about to anyone yet. It was common knowledge I came from off world, I did crash land in a space ship. But I have been very scarce on talking about it unless I had to, and so far, I did not have to.

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
Wonder Tower, San Diego

---

Yoshiro blushed slightly as Angelica seemed to be amused at her recounting of the date, with her reference to fairy tales and sharing spaghetti only sending an additional tint to her cheeks. She thought that she could hear something of an edge in her friend’s tone, maybe even a little bit of annoyance, but Yoshiro thought that it was best not to comment. I mean, she had just dragged Angelica against her will to talk about herself, Yoshiro could see how it could have been annoying. And then this was Angelica, the aloof, elusive and mysterious girl who always had those rumours flying around about her. But Yoshiro had felt like she had been treading water for these past few days without really knowing how to swim, she’d needed to try and get some extra help. And who else could she have turned to really?

“Honestly, the menu was completely indecipherable. The whole thing was in italian and I couldn’t understand any of it - I just grabbed the first thing mentioning ravioli that I could find.” Yoshiro offered shook her head as she recalled her own short-sightedness. “How was I supposed to know that there was such a thing as ravioli stuffed with chocolate and caramel? Red said that apparently it was the chef’s specialty to do wacky stuff like that.” She hoped that the story would lighten the mood a little bit, although Yoshiro found herself idly fiddling with her hands as she nervously tried to ask the other question on her mind.

“Yeah, you know a second date makes sense - but would it be fine to do the same thing? Or would that come across as being boring? Like, Red just seems to be this exciting, adventurous person all the time and then I’m just, not. And plus he’s been working so hard on this whole Warwolf thing recently, I kind of want to make it special to give him a break too.” Swallowing, Yoshiro continued, her eyes glancing away from Angelica as she did so. “I’ve actually never, you know, done this before. I’ve never really been in a relationship, so I’m sort of lost. And I kind of assumed that, since you’ve always seemed so confident about stuff, that you may have had some experience that could, you know, help me out?” Yoshiro offered her friend a weak smile, hoping that she hadn’t overstepped.

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

Earlier that day...

Based on the look of shock on her face, Red could tell that she was very much impressed with what he had offered to her in terms of intel. It comforted him knowing that his many late nights working on his investigations had proven to be worth it, but at the same time he reminded himself that he had really only scratched the surface of everything he had available on Warwolf. While Alexis had been given plenty of information on them, Red had purposefully left out connections to Lycan within the mountain of paperwork provided. Quite frankly, the less people who knew was the better, as Lycan was not the type of organization that took their secrets being exposed lightly. Not to mention, the last thing I need is for her hacker friend to find things I'd rather remain hidden, he grimly thought to himself as Alexis looked up from the paperwork to speak up to him once more.

"This is a lot of information you just handed me. You would not happen to have a history with these guys? Would you?"

Red remained silent, his expression neutral at the question. Alexis seemed content with not knowing the answer, however, as she continued.

"Don't answer that. I really do not care if you do or not. But I have to ask, in regards to Warwolf...What exactly do the Young Bloods plan on doing about a private army running our streets? You do not have to tell me all your plans. But at least say you are planning something. I know all of you do not believe the crap they are trying to sell."

This, on the other hand, was something he could answer.

"Right now? Just keeping our heads down for the moment. Things are still a confused mess, and while I don't believe Warwolf will try and pull anything big anytime soon, we're preparing for any possibility."

He clasped his hands together, staring down at them for a few moments before continuing.

"If I'm being honest, I don't know if the team is ready for these guys. While it's true they're just your normal humans on the surface, they have gear specifically designed for counter-meta operations. If we're not prepared...well, let's just say history could repeat itself. That's not something I want to happen, which is why I'm doing what I can to give us as much of a leg-up for when that day arrives."

Alexis seemed to accept his answer, albeit as vague as it may have been, as she explained to him that she didn't want to start any trouble with the Young Bloods, something he was more than happy to hear. If he was being honest to himself, he knew deep down that at the end of the day Alexis and her team were still doing this city a favor. For their sake, however, he just hoped they didn't fly too close to the sun.

"So, am I to expect regular visits like this? Intel, warnings the like? Or was this supposed to be a one time thing? Because I really would not mind hanging out without shooting being involved, or is that how I have to get your attention?"

Red paused, unsure of how to respond. After a few seconds of pondering his response, he replied to her.

"I'll keep in touch. When things come up, or there's anything more you need me to do for you within reason, I'm fine with having another one of these meetings."

He gave her a small grin, his expression finally lightening up for the first time in some time.

"Just be sure to give me a spare key to the place, as your directions today have been about as user-friendly as Google Maps."

Noticing the train beginning to slow down as it approached the designated stop, Red got up from his seat and grabbed a hold of a nearby pole to brace himself for the stop of the train when Alexis's question caught his attention.

"Hey, before you leave. I have been wondering. That girl you kissed back at the Cathedral...are you two like a thing or...were you just trying to get back at Marionette?"

Red paused, biting his lip as he was unsure on how to answer that question. Given his current situation, he didn't know whether or not he should bring Yoshiro up. Less for his own sake and more for hers.

"If she is that's fine. Just making conversation, since we have business out of the way. We could just talk for a bit, if you want.."

He noted the heavy pause in her voice. What that meant exactly could be a hundred different things, and quite frankly he didn't want to know the answer.

"I mean...I have nothing better to do at the moment."

As the station where he was meant to disembark appeared, Red decided he'd answer her question as best as he could, his voice soft as he spoke.

"Yeah, I guess you could say we're a thing. How a girl like her could ever trust someone like me, I'll never know. All I can say..."

The train lurched to a stop, the doors sliding open as his hands gripped tightly around the pole.

"...is that I hope she didn't make a mistake."

---

Later that day...

"Red! How's it goin'?"

Red's attention turned to Kirisvala, her tone being one of excitement although he could tell by her facial expressions the antics of their newest member, Elle, had upset her. Red almost wanted to roll his eyes, knowing that it took a lot to upset their team's most eccentric member, but decided to not do anything to further upset her.

"Well, considering that Naja decided to replace my rather...expensive gift for Wyatt with sparkling grape juice, it could be better."

He reached into the fridge, retrieving the aforementioned bottle and shaking it, this time rolling his eyes before allowing a grin to appear.

"But I guess it'll have to do."

Glancing over in the direction of the shouting made by Carter as well as Reneta's reaction to Elle threatening her with a nail gun. Jesus, and I thought I was a handful, Red thought as he returned his attention back to Kirisvala.

"Think we should, er, do something about that?"

[Finland SSR]

Elle

Casimir Herman

Scott Green/Spectrum-San Diego

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Renata responded to Elle's continued shit-talking and accusations with a frown and furrowed eyebrows. For once, she decided to take the role of the more diplomatic person in this conversation - so while the edgelord kept accusing her, likely ruining her image in front of everyone (not that she seemed to have one, anyway, knowing how she arrived to the tower yesterday), the heroine acted non-confrontational and just stood there, waiting for her to finish. Not that she didn't desire to just lash out at Elle, plasma blast her through the wall or something - but sometimes, you have to act like an adult.

Don't argue with idiots. They'll drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

Her father knew that acting confrontational and physically lashing out was one of her weaknesses - especially since he saw her as a likely future successor to his rule. What would happen if the new dictator of Ecuador slapped the foreign envoy who informed her about terminated diplomatic relations with Peru or something? Not that he successfully shaped Renata into what he wanted... but the heroine at least remembered his lecturing.

Finally, someone who wasn't Carter intervened into the verbal slapfight - and it was Casimir, who decided to solve this by distracting Elle with preparatory work for the birthday party, successfully, as the edgelord now began to chat with the entomopath about the water pong table she worked on in her spare time. Renata took an easier breath - not necessarily out of relief, but because she could finally move on to something more relevant.

That something soon arrived in the form of Scott, who had apparently facepalmed through the entire conversation with Elle, approaching Renata on making balloons for the party, as well as asking whether she was shaken by the skull maid's threats and nail gun pointing. The heroine turned towards her fellow new member, and her angry frown soon disappeared, replaced by a hearty smile.

"It's nothing, Scott, I'm fine. I've seen even worse reactions when I joined Thomsen High's youth politics club. If I got a sucre for every time they called me a 'fascist', I could probably buy this whole island."

As for the balloons... Renata suddenly ran forward in her classic hyperactive fashion, stopping at the table next to Roy and grabbing a heap of deflated balloons.

"I've got an idea how we can speed this up," she spoke, returning to Scott. "Heated air expands, you know? I can blow up the balloon just a little, then apply some radiation to let the heat expansion do the rest while you quickly tie them before they get out of my grasp. Does that sound like a plan to you?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 14th
San Diego

---

Sitting on the edge of a three-story building with her feet dangling across the air a little, Renata watched the evening sun descend across San Diego’s central business district.

It had been a few days since Warwolf stepped in to replace the city’s municipal police as the primary force of law enforcement, and all of the inhabitants could already feel the effects of this change. Crime rates took a serious dip, dozens, if not hundreds of regular and superpowered criminals were arrested, detained or otherwise eliminated, and for the first time in a long while, the city seemed peaceful than before. Sure, many were afraid of a private military corporation taking over the city’s law enforcement on various grounds, be it a fear of authoritarianism or personal reasons, and, despite openly speaking in favor of Warwolf, Renata felt a tinge of worry about this new order much like everyone else. Still, you can’t deny that this wasn’t just black and white.

Of course, for a hero like her, additional problems surfaced. For example, competing with Warwolf on villain and criminal encounters. The PMC worked efficiently, very efficiently, so much so that there was hardly a place for superheroes to join the fight against crime, at least for the time being. Renata’s usual patrols across the town now more resembled sightseeing tours than actual superhero patrols - with crime rates dropping, she’d usually spend the evening visiting the park, watching the sunset or just leaping from building to building.

Much like she was doing here. After some time beautifully passing between two tall skyscrapers, the sun finally submerged under the horizon. Darkness was starting to set in. Renata swiftly stood up, brushing off a few specks of dust from her costume’s legs, then said to herself:

“Well, time to go.”

“Enjoyed the sunset?” Called out a voice from behind the heroine as a black silhouette dropped down behind her. Perhaps in any other circumstances such a thing would have been alarming or at the very least creepy, but in the past week or so she had grown accustomed to the presence and the sound of that voice, so upon hearing it, Renata turned around, seeing a familiar face before her.

“I sure did, Blackout,” the heroine gave a response, followed by a smile. And, then, a little bit of confusion. “What are you doing here, though? I wouldn’t imagine you as the type to watch sunsets...”

Blackout narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, as if feigning indignation. “Hey now, what’s that supposed to mean? That I’m too dark and brooding to enjoy nature?” He said defensively, before dropping the act and taking a few steps closer to both Renata and the edge of the building, giving an awkward shrug. “...You’d be surprised, but that’s not it. Honestly, there’s just… nothing to do. The city has been awfully peaceful these past few days due to those Warwolf guys, and that’s not a bad thing… But I can’t help feeling that there’s something amiss. Not to mention I’m probably in these guys’ crosshairs.” He commented with a frown.

“Either way, they’ve left me lacking a job to do. I’ve been patrolling for most of today as usual and haven’t found a single issue, even the cops seem to be behaving themselves at this point.” He stated, somewhat more thoughtfully, before looking at the girl and smiling. “I’m glad I caught you here, though. To be honest, with how quiet things have been, I thought I wouldn’t be seeing you for a while.”

Renata responded with a smile of her own. “Same here, I suppose. We never really got the chance to finish our conversation a few days ago, did we?” she commented, with a slight grin, memories of the vigilante suddenly stopping his sentence short and fleeing faster than a speeding bullet upon the sight of Warwolf helicopters flooding her mind already; Blackout, in turn, made a small grimace upon remembering those events. With that little bit of humor done, the heroine’s expression soon grew more serious, and she folded her arms.

“I can’t help but agree on this new order, too. Everything’s become so clean and orderly in just a few days, it’s almost unnatural. Maybe it does feel a little suspicious… but, then again, at this point, anything that helps take care of the mess this city had gotten is a good thing. Not that I wouldn’t like to get a chance to help out, but...”

Renata frowned a little bit for a few seconds, formulating a sentence in her mind.

“...Judging from how they reacted to the Young Bloods back then and how they act now, it’s almost like Warwolf doesn’t want us to be around.”

“Of course they don’t want us to be around, Stella.” The vigilante responded. “I don’t know what their ulterior goals might be, but I’ve heard rumors that they are unsympathetic to superhumans like you and me. Besides, even if they really only wanted to maintain order in the city… well, they must consider us a threat to said order. Unaccounted variants, and teens especially, running around with superpowers… I don’t imagine they trust us a lot.” He said, a deep scowl on his face. “Almost feels like the post-war, all over again.”

The blond boy then gave a sigh, looking up at the sky, where the stars were beginning to shine in the absence of the sun. “I can’t help feeling like I should be doing something, to test if they’re being honest, or to discover what they really want, but… I have no leads or clues. I don’t have anything to go off of.” He admitted with some frustration.

“Well, yeah, sitting around with their arms crossed is not what a hero should do,” Renata responded, her arms still crossed and gaze fixed on the ground. “I’m not sure if the situation is as dramatic as you say it is… but as I said, I agree that it’s quite suspicious.”

Still immersed in her thoughts, Renata finally raised her eyes from the ground, this time turning to Blackout directly. This might be a little awkward…

“So, I suppose, since there’s nothing much to do on patrol now that Warwolf is cleaning the streets… would you, perhaps, want to move the conversation somewhere else? I’d imagine that most cafes and restaurants are still open at this time, we could scout one out.”

Despite the girl’s casual demeanor, the invitation took Blackout firmly by surprise, causing him to become rather self-conscious, not only because a pretty girl was proposing to hang out with him at a cafe, but because, at least as he was at the moment, he couldn’t take up her offer, a fact that he was painfully aware of. Realizing his silence might make things even more awkward, though, the blond boy hurried to respond.

“I-I, err, I… I’d love that, actually, but, you see…” He managed to stutter out, stumbling over his words a little. “...I don’t think that’s going to be possible, frankly. I told you earlier, I’m pretty sure I’m on Warwolf’s crosshairs as much as I was on the police’s. And if we… do this, sit down to talk inside a restaurant or whatever, and they roll over, it’s not going to be pretty. Not to mention that if something happened to y-err, well, I think you can see why I’d rather avoid that at all costs.” He said sincerely, before appearing to fall deep in thought for a moment.

“Maybe… um, this might sound weird, but…” The boy mumbled. He had a suggestion to work around the fact that he was more or less wanted by the state, but he wasn’t sure how she would respond to it, which made him hesitate a little. Damn it, stop acting like a timid schoolboy! He berated himself mentally, before taking a deep breath.

“I know we haven’t known each other all that long, so you might think this is a strange suggestion, and I don’t blame you, but… If you want to chat inside a cafe or restaurant without having to worry about some paramilitary grunts interrupting us… Why don’t we do it out of costume?” He finally suggested.

Renata blinked at the suggestion, her eyes widened and gaze focused on the vigilante. Watching Blackout get flustered, mumble and act awkward in front of her did wonders to remind her of exactly what she had just proposed. No matter what way you look at it, she had just asked a boy she had only known for about a few days to go out with her. My god, what was I thinking… Forgetting that he is a hunted man immediately after he explains it… Dummy, dummy, dummy! As such, when the vigilante finally made his suggestion, Renata froze out of a combination of fear and awkwardness for a good few seconds, before finally taking a slightly easier breath, scratching her hair and speaking:

“I-yeah, I suppose you’re right… But, in that case, you’ll have to wait for me for a while. My house is quite far from here, I’d have to get back there to change - all my clothes are back there, and I don’t have anything under my-” Renata suddenly stopped, realizing that she was going a bit too far with this. “...I-I mean, yeah! That’s a good idea. You wouldn’t mind meeting here later today then, right?”

Hearing Stella’s reply, the vigilante smiled slightly. She was responding well to the suggestion, taking it much better than he had anticipated, and for a moment he wondered if perhaps he had been a tad too shy in presenting his idea. Of course, all such thoughts disappeared when he heard some of Renata’s words, the blond boy blushing brightly at the implications of that cut-off statement and looking away.

“S-sounds good.” He nodded. “My home is quite a ways away and I have to change as well, since I don’t tend to bring changes of clothes along with me. So…” He pointed at a street below, with plenty of lights and abundant traffic even at this time of the day. “We’ll meet down there, right? In, ah… about an hour or so?”

Renata responded with an enthusiastic nod. “Sounds like a plan!”

[Auropa]

Mike Mathews
July 17th

It had taken nearly 32 straight hours of labour, but it was finally done. Looking up at his work, Mike felt a ball of pride well up inside his exhausted soul.
The perfect batch of cookies.

It was an odd habit but whenever Mike was feeling out of it, baking tended to be one thing that always helped him settle down.
Despite everything, he liked Warwolf. He had made sure to stay out of any discussions but from what he had seen, they had been doing all they could to help. While they could be a bit over-eager at dispersing criminals and their own security, he couldn't deny their effectiveness. Of course, his feelings weren't exactly shared. Most of the team seemed to be varying from a bit on edge, to full on hating the newcomers. The fact he couldn't figure out why, bothered him more than anything else. As far as he could tell, everyone's distrust seemed to be based on superstition rather than evidence. And in all honesty, San Diego’s law enforcement was in dire need of back up. 'So why was everyone so against them?' he would always end up thinking. Throw in his powers acting on the fritz, new team members and finally catching up on all the details he missed, it was safe to say that Mike had plenty on his mind over the last week. Mars’ and Wyatt’s birthday however, gave him the perfect distraction. While Kiris had the job of getting food, Mike decided to place the all-important task of cookie-crafting upon his own shoulders, and most importantly, without telling anyone. ‘God knows what would happen if they knew’ he thought to himself as he looked back to the deeply scarred and damaged kitchen, imagining the team pointing out the similarities between his baking and a hand grenade. “The price of perfection” he muttered to himself as he uttered a silent thanks to all the utensils that had fallen for his creations.
At that moment his phone started blaring its all too familiar alarm, alerting Mike of his lateness and potential death via angry teammate “Oh…crap.”

After a brief maelstrom of movement, Mike changed into a pair of jeans, a plain shirt and a jacket before going on to furiously comb his messed-up hair and pack the baked goods into an brown paper bag before finally heading off to the tower. Of course his actions resulted in him arriving just in time to witness what may be the strangest standoff of all time. Whether it was from Casimir’s flailing, the tower’s new all-too-charming psycho’s nailgun or the world’s most justified facepalm. The mess managed to break his expectations and sanity in an instant. “Heya everyone” he called out in a perfectly out of place, joyful tone “sorry I’m late, had to pick up a few things from home. Love how the party's looking!”. As he spoke, he cheerfully sauntered past the unfolding chaos stopping only inches from the far end of the room before calmly, yet firmly, bringing his forehead down upon the wall to a barely audible thud.

After a brief pause for him to recollect his sanity, he dropped his rucksack in the corner and drew out its all-important paper contents. So far, it looked like just about everyone had something to keep them occupied, giving Mike what he imagined was the perfect opportunity. While doing his best to avoid most of his teammates and their antics, he inched closer to the food table with the brown paper bag tucked under his jacket and hopefully out of view. Yet soon enough, he was within reach of his target.

The table was nearly covered with different delicacies. Soft drinks, Mac and Cheese, burgers, some sort of handmade dumplings and more. ‘Of course…’ Mike thought as he moved like he were casually pouring himself a drink ‘…its missing the most important item’ and in a flash of movement, Mike placed the brown bag of chocolate cookies next to the basket of burgers as though it had always been there. ‘Perfection’ he thought to himself as his eyes beamed with pride.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Vendetta-San Diego

I really did not want to believe I heard him right. They are laying low? I had hoped he was lying to me because he did not trust me with the truth or something. I definitely did not want to believe that the Young Bloods were sitting on their hands with Warwolf in town. But thinking about it from their shoes, I guess I should have expected as much. The Young Bloods are protectors of the law. And often times that is a good thing. Most laws make sense. But in this case Warwolf not only is legal they essentially are the new law. So, maybe the Young Bloods cannot do jack after all. I suppose that is why San Diego has people like me, Brianna, Nick and Isabelle. While I certainly recognize the importance of law to society, I have not shackled myself to it. Quite the contrary I break it pretty damn often. But I do so with a moral compass, at least the best one I have. I really did not want to think about it right now. The truth is that my team may very well be alone against Warwolf until such a time that the Young Bloods hands are forced.

Red certainly seemed to care for his team, never took him for such a softy. But really, he could easily say the same for me. I listened as he vented his worried over his team having to face Warwolf. And...I really understood. This will be more dangerous than anything they have faced yet. More than the Zoo incident. More so than the Blood Drug raids. This was not a single super villain or even a group of vampires. This was a full organization. A lethal machine designed for the most war torn hot spots on the planet. And they have the sanction and blessings of the city as well. There was reason to be concerned.

Hell, if the Young Bloods screw up, they could be declared outlaws just like us. Wouldn't that be ironic? I wonder how many of them know that. Well, its a useless train of thought. At least for me, there was no way for me to know. Red on the other hand, it seemed to weigh on him heavily. Finally he seemed content with the progress we had made and started to excuse himself after smiling at me and letting me know that if I had any other request or need, within reason of course. I could call him. That was when he heard me ask about Psyche and I could see him pause. And before he even answered I knew that they were definitely dating.

But it felt nice to have him actually verbally confirm it to me. But something about his confirmation felt, off to me. You would expect a man to be excited or even brag about seeing such a nice looking girl. To show some enthusiasm. But Red did not even make eye contact with me when he said it. Even more, he sounded almost worried about it. As if he did not trust himself or did not believe he was worthy of her. That he didn't deserve someone like her.

It was a feeling that I am not unfamiliar with. But be that as it may, it is his problem to deal with. I just know that it is never a good feeling to believe you are not deserving of someone's affection or time.

With him finally gone I passed another look at the file on my lap as I ran my fingers through my hair. I need to get this information to Nick, he will know better what to make of it. He may as well be the one leading this outfit honestly. Leaving the train myself, I made my way to Nick's security room. We have work to do.

---

"This is some very good stuff here." Nick commented on the Warwolf material as we both waited for the others to show up so that we can discuss our plans for tonight. "I know right, I told all of you that-" I was cut off as Nick exhaled a plume of smoke and then interjected. "But he is holding out on us." My eyes got a little bit wider with the accusation. And I was very curious as how Nick could possibly know. "What makes you say that? I knew Nick well enough by now that he never says anything carelessly or without a thought. He placed the folder down on the table next to his monitor and then spread some of the papers out.

"This is good information to be sure. He may be holding out on us, but he certainly did not cheat us. But the biggest clue is exactly on what kind of information he passed along to us." I sat still and listened, knowing that Nick hated explaining things twice and I also knew that I would have never even imagined he would hold out information on us.

But thinking about it, I should not be surprised. We are not his team. And he may not be certain he can trust us yet or something. But speculating would get me no where so I just payed attention as Nck spelled things out for me.

"The information he gave us all concerns various details on how Warwolf operates and what they have at their disposal. Such as their chain of command and specs on what kind of gear they bring ect. But there is simply no smoking gun or dirty laundry here." It was then that I pieced together what he was getting at.

"So you mean that...there is nothing incriminating in this information?" Nick gave me a nod of approval.

Exactly, you see, I have been doing some research into my own into Warwolf the past week and I have honestly found some of the details he handed us here. But Warwolf is secretive and finding out even basic information like this is difficult. So if he could do it so easily, then why is this all he found? A corporation in the business that Warwolf is in has more secrets than most that they do not want anyone knowing. And your friend was able to find everything under the sun on them minus their skeletons? I don't buy it." A look of concern took over my facial features as Nick simply lit up another cigarette with the same neutral expression he always had.

"Don't let it bother you. This is still solid info and some of it checks out to what I have found so I know it is up to date. And to be honest my theory on your informant is just a theory. It is possible that all he could find was spreadsheets on the chain of command ect. But it is not as probable as the alternative. Either way, if he wants us to do the dirty digging in Warwolf's closet then I suppose that is up to you. If I had to guess on why he did not share everything, he either does not trust us with the information of perhaps he simply wanted to give us just enough info to scare us away from Warwolf, you did say that he was adamant we do not go up against them right?" I then reconfirmed that was the case.

"Yeah, he made it very clear that we should be hiding in our hole down here from these guys." Nick then chimed off with a dry joke.

"Maybe he is just worried about you? Does not want his new bestie to get hurt." I was then reminded of how Red basically blew off my invitation to hang out. So I dismissed the idea.

"I doubt it." I uttered under my breath not mentioning that he had another girl weighing heavily on his mind. As both me and Nick waited for the rest of the team to show up after being called so we can get down to business. After this past week and that meeting with Red, I am just itching to get back in the field.

Scott Green/Spectrum-San Diego

Renata seemed to take the whole thing really well. What made me curious is that she made it sound like this was no big deal, that she was used to being treated in such a way from time to time. Back when I was in school, I was bullied around a bit myself, I was lucky to have Sydney around to bail me out when that happened. Actually, I wonder what happened to Sydney? I have not had time to really check up on old friends since I got back. Back to Renata however, its just that fascist is a rather unique insult or bullying term, it is not something I would think of as being thrown around too often. Except by those radical leftists, but then again. The ultra right probably throws communist around just as much. Man I hate politics. But Renata was right back to her normal self and ran across the room in a giddy and hyperactive fashion.

"Well, she certainly doesn't lack for exuberance." I told myself as she easily made it to the table which hosted the pile of balloons well before I did. In contrast to her very excited manner of travel, I simply made my way over in a casual stroll. Hands in my pockets as I reached the table and listened as he presented her idea to me.

"That certainly sounds sensible." I agreed, not really eager to spend a large amount of time prepping balloons anyways. So any way to speed that up worked for me.

So, the two of us went to work. Putting her plan into action as she would inflate the balloons with her abilities, which for something like this probably took a fair amount of control and was somewhat impressive. I mean, I have busted balloons in the past by expanding them manually. And surely enough, the pile of balloons grew ever smaller and smaller until there I tied up the last one and placed it to the side.

Distracted by that same thought which kinda bugged me since it was said. So I just decided to risk it and ask what it was about. If Renata was being actively bullied well, I wanted to know. For no other reason because I know how much it sucks, even if she does play it off as nothing special. I may have been away a long time. But not that long.

Leaning up against the wall I brought it back to the discussion.

"Sorry to bring this up right before a party, but it has been bothering me. Is it really a common thing for people to call you things like fascist?" I asked, leaving out the other colorful words that Elle had called her. I should probably speak to her as well later. Just to get the other side of this, as inappropriate as she was. People do not just say these things for no reason at all, and strangely it seemed like she knew Renata from somewhere.

God I hope that this does not create a constant cat fight between these two. If this is going to be a problem it should be resolved.

"The reason I am asking is back before I was...off planet. I was bullied back in school myself. Nothing traumatic or anything. But some name calling, making me do homework and projects for other kids and this one time I was tossed in the swim teams pool." It took a moment before I realized I may need to explain why that last one was by far the worst.

"I cannot swim." I flatly admitted.

I am honestly surprised that I am sharing some of these personnel details with Renata. I could think of a couple reasons. The first being that these memories no longer really bother me. I have long since gotten over them. And the second well, I have always been more comfortable around women then guys. Not that I am trying to hit on Renatta or anything like that. But my bullying and torment was mostly from other boys. Alphas to my beta so to speak. And speaking to my mom and Sydney, both women used to help calm me down.

"If you don't want to talk about it I get it. But its been on my mind ever since Edgy Elle said what she did and you kinda mentioned it happened often."

Once more, I was surprised with myself for diving into this, but that left me waiting there for Renata to decide if she wanted to talk about it with me or not.

[Finland SSR]

Scott Green/Spectrum-San Diego

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Without trying to argue or propose a different plan, Scott agreed and followed her to the pile of balloons. Great, just like how Renata likes it. The plan they had to speed up the balloon-making process, as she explained, was quite simple - she would blow up each balloon just a little, then place her hand on it and apply infrared radiation, watching it heat up while Scott quickly tied up the end that was sticking out.

It was a quick and not all that time consuming process, although the two teammates did end up losing a few of the balloons in the process, thanks to Renata miscalculating how much heat she applied and thus having the balloon explode in front of their faces. Only a few, however - the rest went more or less fine. Now that I think about it, given that the balloons expanded due to the heat and not due to additional air added, they'll probably deflate really quickly... but knowing that gum is a fairly good insulator, it will likely take a few hours before they do.

With all that work swiftly done, Scott now turned to Renata directly, quickly asking her on whether she got name-called often. You know, the 'fascists' and 'dictator's stooges' and whatnot. Renata raised her eyebrow a little, then shook her head, replying:

"No, I wouldn't say so. Most people, as far as I can tell, don't really care - if they're even aware of my past, of course."

Scott continued by explaining that before he was... off planet, he didn't have a good experience with bullies. Name calling, forcing to make homework, pushing into swimming pools even though he cannot swim... The hero immediately doubled down on it, trying to explain that if Renata doesn't want to talk about it, then they can just not talk about it.

Unfortunately to him, Renata was not the type to just give up on a conversation topic like that. Kind of like her father, really.

"That... sounds terrible, I'm so sorry. I didn't really go through any of this... The insults I do get are not from bullies, but from people with ideological differences."

Hold up.

Go back a minute.

He was off planet.

You sure you gonna just ignore that?

"-hold up, Scott. I might be changing rails too suddenly, but what do you mean 'before I was off-planet'? You mean... outer space or something?"

[Bentus]

Marionette
San Diego

---

Warwolf’s arrival had taken most of the San Diego underworld by surprise, with most of the major players being forced to take their dealings and operations underground while a lot of the street level criminals quickly finding themselves being pursued with a ferocity that they were unaccustomed to. The result: in the space of one short week, the city’s streets had seen a significant drop in recorded crime, even if it came at the cost of civil liberties and averting one’s eyes as military vehicles became an increasingly common sight. In bars and coffee shops around the city, as well as on the news and on talk shows, the effective military occupation was stirring debate and discussion on the rule of law and just how much it was worth giving up. For her part, Marionette had a firm stance on the issue: she thought that it was absolutely, unequivocally and undeniably, boring.

She couldn’t care less about the mob or the gangs who dominated San Diego’s criminal world, but the arrival of Warwolf had left them operating more and more under the radar of the authorities. And that meant that they were choosing to be less bold in their activities, preferring to focus on dealing drugs or racketeering than anything particularly fun. The villainess sighed at her own thoughts, she’d have been willing to pick up for the shortfall in excitement in the city if even the heroes didn’t seem to have been cowed into submission as well. Of everything that had happened in the last week, that was what really drove Marionette up the wall. What was the point of being a villain if the heroes never showed up? And even when Warwolf responded, they were hardly the poster children of heroism, which just made every encounter feel unsatisfying.

A muffled gurgling sound drew Marionette from her reverie, and she shot a scowl to the one remaining guard, shushing him as she did so. The soldier’s eyes were bulging in terror as he desperately tried to claw that the thread that was constricting around his neck. Desperately, he opened and closed his mouth in an effort to cry out for help, to alert his fellows. Marionette paid his struggles no mind, she’d punctured his lung anyway so his throat was probably so full of his own blood that he’d be unable to manage a word even if she released him. The bodies of the two other Warwolf guards lay motionless where they had been cut down, one of them with a still-smoking bullet hole visible in his forehead while the other had been half-mutilated by Marionette’s threads before she had even known that they were under attack.

There was another gurgle, the guard putting in more effort this time to make it louder.

Scowling, Marionette shot daggers at the dying man. “Look, could you please be quiet? I’m trying to concentrate over here, sheesh. Just be patient and you’ll die in a minute or two, ‘kay?” Rolling her eyes, she shook her head at the nerve of some people, choosing to be so rude even in death.

Turning her attention back to the monitor in the isolated guard tower, Marionette looked over the layout of the Warwolf facility, scanning the hallways and corridors of the former hospital in search of her goal. Each room was colour coded on the top-down map, indicating what areas she had access to with the key cards that she’d borrowed from her latest victims, but she was disappointed to find that the grunts didn’t really have clearance for pretty much anything of interest. However, her eyes fell on one particular room which would at least be able to get her a little bit further into the facility. Unfortunately, it looked like it would need some biometric identification in addition to a key card. But luckily for Marionette, one of her new friends had exactly the thing she was looking for.

Turning towards the dying guard, his gurgling having stopped as he felt his vision slowly beginning to fade, Marionette offered him a predatory smile as a thread began to extend from her fingertips. “Just before you go, I’m actually going to need to borrow one of your fingers actually, if you would please be so kind.”

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scott Green/Spectrum-San Diego

Just what I didn't want. To have her feel sorry for me. It seemed that I may have misread how serious the fascist call outs were. I mean, if they are an issue she is surely not letting it on. Insisting they did not come from bullies but people with political differences. Regardless, she has to know that the term is no compliment, especially in America. I was getting ready to return to party talk until she latched on to a mistake I made. She quickly noticed what I said about being off world and then brought our discussion hard to port to follow up on that.

Crap.

I should have been more careful with what I said. But, she seemed surprised at it. On one hand I got it. Not many people get to go into outer space. But on the other hand, I would have guessed she knew that I was found in a space ship. I mean, wouldn't something like that be on the news? Or wouldn't that snake lady, Naja mention it before she went and grabbed me from that Warwolf cell? And further, she is on a team with an actual alien. Someone who was born off planet.

I did not think that it would be this interesting to simply mention that I was off world to her.

But here we are, with the lime light now squarely focused on me when I was trying to keep it on her.

Oh well, I will have to spill something. Enough to satisfy her curiosity anyways. Just skip over all of the bad stuff you want to forget about and tell her about the good things. Actually, that may even be helpful for me. I took a deep breath and started off scratching the back of my head as I broke eye contact and glanced at the floor.

"Well, I guess it was roughly three years ago now I guess. I was actually abducted by aliens." I let that sink in for a moment as that is a big way to open a conversation.

"Don't worry they didn't probe me. Not sure why that was always a thing actually. How much could an alien learn from that." I lightly joked to make myself appear more comfortable with the topic. Before continuing.

"Long story short is that these were not nice aliens. And I spent some time in their prison cells with other beings they had abducted and I cannot tell you how long that was. Time gets funky in space travel. But anyways..." My voice trailed off as I recalled the attack on the Aeon Science vessel which led to me meeting Ayya and escaping the raiders ship.

"There was this girl who found me, Ayya her name was. She was a scientist on a vessel the raiders who captured me raided. She and I escaped together back to her homeworld which is called Aeon." Memories came flooding back from the world. Both beautiful and violent. And I picked only the pleasant ones to talk about and reveal to Renata.

"Anyways, I lived there for a couple years before returning here. Aeon is..." I then thought of ways to describe the world. "Well it was beautiful. The cities were all in the sky. So, I had to get used to heights pretty fast. I am actually more comfortable either high up or flying now. The cities on top of that were populated by towering monoliths that made our skyscrapers look small.I never saw the surface of the world. As far as I know, no one living there has. They had a tradition against it. The native people, Aeon, all had some power of empathy or telepathy. They could sense your emotions, but not read your mind. So they could tell if you were sad or happy or angry. And it made the people very community oriented. But then there were those who cut themselves off from that link voluntarily. Doing so is permanent and very taboo. And most who did were members of a terrorist group. Which also had very different political agendas. So crime was a thing there too, guess some things are constant across the universe." I then tried to think of other more positive details there.

"The food was great, different from earth foods in flavor and style but I liked it. Aeon is a major commerce world. So it is a melting spot of species of sorts, I saw countless types of aliens while staying there. What can I say, it was a place of science, art and entertainment for the most part. Peaceful on the whole as well. The police forces were minimal and while crime was around, it was nothing too major. I honestly considered never coming back. And I doubt that I will ever return, so, here I am back on Earth." I had hoped that was enough for her. I omitted all of the violent details and my relationship with Ayya as well as my efforts at being a super hero there.

But just in case she wanted to keep going with it, I decided to counter by changing the subject again.

I am pretty sure that the party is starting any minute now. We should get ready for that."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

"Sparkling grape juice?" The alien girl repeated as she looked at the bottle that Red had pulled out of the fridge. She didn't really see anything wrong with it at first, though she did notice that it seemed fairly similar to the kind of bottle that usually held alcoholic beverages, so maybe that was why he was upset? Not that she'd know much about that, considering how her only experience with that kind of drink was when Wyatt offered her a bottle back during the Thomsen High unofficial graduation party at Wonder Island, and that hadn't left her a very good opinion of them.

Hearing the redhead's comment regarding the scuffle between Renata and the other new girl, Kirisvala looked at the two of them before turning back to Red and shaking his head. "Nope, I don't think so. It looks like Casimir's got everythin' under control." She said. Indeed, he seemed to have distracted Elle from whatever beef she had with Renata by getting her to discuss the weird game with all the cups arranged in some sort of summoning circle, and it seemed like Renata had forgotten all about it as well by now, what with running off to fill some balloons along with Scott. It was a pretty good thing, too... she would've hated to do it, but if things continued as they were, she would have been forced to take a more claws-on approach in breaking up the fight.

"So! Where's Yoshi? She didn't come here along with you?" The Hadrian asked with an enthusiastic tone, looking around but failing to find the Asian girl, as she had already absconded with Frost Bite a few moments earlier. While Red and Yoshi's little date was so far a secret known only to them, the kiss they shared back at the abandoned cathedral definitely wasn't, and Kirisvala partially regretted staying back home and missing the moment (though not really, since she got to make pasta with Mars). "Have you been spendin' lots of time with her? I think she needed it after the mission."

---

---

After watching the situation between Ellery and Renata cool down and be resolved by Casimir, and seeing Kiris walk off to talk to someone else after the world's silliest case of culture shock, Alexis looked around for a bit. By her count, pretty much everything was prepared and the party was ready now, the only thing left was for some people to get their gifts, herself included, but that could be done over the course of the party and either way, what was important was the celebration itself. Not much left to do, then, except take a good look around and make sure that nothing was off.

She was in the middle of this task when Roy approached her from behind. Jumping slightly at being suddenly addressed, the girl in the yellow dress whirled around to face the team's official-unofficial leader, making a military salute. "Sir yes sir! The only thing left to do is fill out some balloons for the party, sir!" The blonde girl said, before returning to a relaxed position, an amused smile on her face. "I told Renata and Scotty to get to it, but I think they almost got into a fight instead. Newbies these days, you know? Can't follow instructions." She explained. "Oh, and don't forget your party hat."

Suddenly, one of the neatly arranged videogame case towers behind her fell over, and Alexis instinctively cursed, quickly moving towards it and picking up all the cases as Roy walked away, arranging them in a manner that was at least 47.5% less likely to collapse out of the blue.

Satisfied with her handiwork, she continued surveying everyone else's progress, and noticed Roy by the balloon table, filling them out alongside Angelica, who had apparently arrived just now. Smiling, the blonde girl prepared to tackle her friend to the ground (or try, at least; she was fully aware that her lightness made that unlikely), when Yoshiro appeared and dragged Angelica away, out of the room and to some other place. Alexis' smile quickly died down and she pouted, crossing her arms. "Party popper." She thought, before a grin spread across her face. "I'll give her a hard time later."

"For now, though, duty calls." The girl mumbled to herself, before reaching up and pressing a finger to her communicator. To anyone else it might appear strange that she would be wearing a piece of mission gear during preparations for a party (though they would likely find the fact that she was wearing her gauntlets equally as odd), but it was all part of a carefully crafted plan. "Hey, Naja? Everything's ready, bring 'em in. Over."

[The Republic of Atria]

Bael sipped his beer whenever he felt like it as they watched movies. As it turned out Kaban was not a fan of Star Wars, which he made abundantly through out the various films. They only watched the original trilogy, and Kaban constantly shouted about how he could easily destroy everyone there, which was humorous. For the most part Kaban kept his eyes glued to the "human drek" that he "hated" so much that he never missed a moment. Bael figured that maybe he was overcompensating just a tad, but figured that keeping that little bit of information to himself was the smarter option. Onu was the only person who snarked at him without repercussions, and that was almost certainly because she was his sister. Before they could even start the next movie, Kaban sat up. "No more. I've seen enough of this. Bael! Let's go outside, we must show your parents everything that we've been practicing! Pay attention you!" He pointed at Orro who sat silently enjoying the movie.

Kaban's complaining had gone from amusing to obnoxious pretty quickly, maybe that was the whole point... Plus he always had a bit more fun than he'd admit when sparring with Kaban. Sure the big dragon never took it very easy on him, but it made for better learning. "Alright. I need to stretch my legs anyways." Bael said and grabbed a drink of water before heading out back.

The house came with a good plot of land. Enough that he could learn to fly away from prying eyes, occasionally spar with Orro, and now, spar with Kaban. He made very sure to learn what and how Kaban liked to fight; primarily with grapples and straight blows. Enough that he could visualize what he needed to do, but pulling it off was a completely different story. Kaban didn't want to make it easy because in his own words "No one else will take it easy." Not to say that he struck Bael with full force, but enough that it hurt and made him want to avoid getting hit.

They started a good 5 meters from each other, Kaban with his cocky grin and Bael with a look of determination. Kaban moved first, shockingly fast for anyone his size, getting within arm's reach and throwing several quick jabs at Bael's head, which he had learned to avoid through practice.

Ducking under the first, tilting his head back to avoid the second and bobbing his head to the right to avoid the third. That was where he saw the opening and threw a straight punch with his right hand.

Kaban saw it coming a mile away, and caught Bael's blow with minimal effort. "Worked the first time, try again!" To add incentive, Kaban squeezed hard enough to hurt.

Pain was an excellent teacher, Bael had learned that awhile ago. Almost out of pure reflex, he threw a left jab, which Kaban also caught. "Look at that. Now I've got both your arms."

Bael's mother watched in horror as Kaban systematically dismantled her son without so much as even giving the appearance that he was trying. She knew it was just them practicing, but it still hurt to watch. "Come on Bael! You can win!"

"Isn't that sweet? Your mother is cheering you on. Aren't you gonna do her proud? Just say "uncle" and it stops."

That remark stung just a little. Enough that he knew he wasn't going to give him. He couldn't fly, Kaban was much too heavy and he had no momentum. The only things he could move were his feet. No choice at this point. Grabbing onto Kaban's arms for leverage, he swung his foot up, slamming the ball of his right foot square into Kaban's jaw. Kaban reflexively released Bael who wasted no time in capitalizing on his success.

Charging as much power as he could into his right arm, Bael threw a massive punch, striking Kaban in the same place he did with his foot and pushing his fist with every last bit of might he could. Kaban was lifted off his feet and knocked about 10 meters away, landing on his back and sliding just a bit with a grin. "HA! That was a good one! Let's, see if you can do it again!" He shouted, slamming the ground with enough force that it shook and getting right back on his feet. "Keep it up! Anger is power! Use it!"

"Hmmmmmm, Kaban has been teaching Bael in my absence." Orro mused. "Working on his reflexes."

Bael charged Kaban, who braced for it. His talons digging and scraping the dirt as Bael pushed him back. Kaban slammed his fists into Bael's back. Bael withstood the first, but the second broke his grip, smashing him into the grass. "Get angry! Show me the power of an Elder!" He shouted in some twisted form of reinforcement. "You can do better, I've seen it! So do it! Do it for them!" He pointed at the spectators. "Pretend I'm going to go after them if you fail!"

It dawned on Bael what Kaban was trying to do. Bael rolled on his back and Kaban put his foot on his chest. Once again, enough to cause significant discomfort. "So what are you gonna do?"

Bael summoned a knife and plunged into right under Kaban's knee, severing several tendons and causing Kaban to topple over. Bael rolled to the side as Kaban growled at his lack of ability to put weight on his leg. "Hmph... Hehe. Got me." He admitted and hobbled back to the back porch bleeding all over the place and making Bael's mother have to go inside. "That's 1 to 7! Keep practicing, I want to see just how tough you can get! And happy Hatchday." Kaban said and put his arm around his protégé's shoulders.

"Are you going to be okay?" Bael's father asked.

"I'll be fine. Leg'll heal in a minute. You raised a tough boy."

His mother came back outside with Bael's phone. "It's Naja. She says she needs you to come in for a mission."

"Awwww." Bael moaned. "Alright. Well, I had fun. Really, thanks for this. I needed it. Hopefully this won't take too long." He said and took off towards the Tower.

"Break someone's skull for me!" Kaban called as he left.

[Tomia]

Angelica
Frost Bite couldn't help but smile as Yoshi described the wacky restaurant Red had taken her too for her date. "Well for one I wouldn't go back to a place that thought dessert pasta was a great idea. But generally no I don't think you're supposed to repeat dates. Just don't over think it, do something simple that he might enjoy. Go to a ball game, or hang out at the park. Go to the zoo even, I think they're close to having that fixed up." She said rattling off ideas before Yoshi said she had come to Angelica because she assumed she had experience. That made the ice hero blush under her mask.

"What makes you think I know much more about this?" She asked, surprised and a bit defensive. "It's not like guys line up after the girl wearing a mask all the time who runs out and fight crime." Her self deprecating comment brought a frown to her face. If she was being honest with herself it wasn't the boys she was worried about drawing interest from. In that moment she strongly considering sharing these deeply personal thoughts with Yoshi. She had vented to her after all, Angelica should be able to do the same. Frost Bite knew her friend would be more than happy to listen, but she would also want to talk to Alexis about it and that terrified the ice hero.

Instead she pushed it aside, deciding a birthday party was not the best occasion to let this all hit the fan. "You'll be fine Yoshi, regardless what happens. You don't need advice, you just need to be yourself. Trust me, Red is head over heels for you." She said with a smile her she started to hear everyone tell others to hide.

"Alright, the birthday boys are here. We should probably, you know hide or something."

Naja
Meanwhile Naja was busily working behind the scenes to ensure the two birthday boys arrived on time. Wyatt was out with family and friends, and Wendy was conveniently distracting Mars with an upgrade on the Island's security system. Apparently distracting him with this was not a difficult task. Thus when Alexis was finished, she told Mars to shower and get ready for dinner, while messaging Wyatt to tell him to come to the island. Soon they were both ready and Naja led them to the living room, doing her best to prevent them from checking stories with each other. Once they arrived outside the living room she carefully opened the door and...

Happy Birthday!!!!

[Finland SSR]

July 14th
San Diego

About an hour or so passed, and between running home while avoiding being seen by prying eyes, hiding his vigilante uniform to change into regular street clothes, grabbing some money and other things and heading back to the meeting point, Icarus was only now arriving at the street where he had agreed to meet up with Stella, dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain gray t-shirt with his favorite white jacket over it. His long blond hair flowed freely instead of being tied up in a ponytail; he actually hated tying it up, but he reasoned that this made it a good addition to his disguise.

Between revealing his identity to the one heroine he could call a friend and wondering what effect his reputation might have on her opinion of him once she realized who he was, the blond boy felt incredibly nervous, and noticing that she hadn’t yet arrived only made it worse. ”It was here, right…?” He questioned in his mind, scanning the area for any signs of the pink-haired girl, to no avail. “Maybe she’s still getting ready? Girls tend to take a while with that…” He thought as he leaned against the wall. The wait did little to ease his anxiety, so, in order to distract himself, he pulled out a small, half-finished metallic hoop and some wire, carefully coiling the latter in order to form a slightly ornate ring.

Fashionably late as one might expect, the pink-haired girl in question emerged from behind the farther turn of the street, walking towards the meeting point on the sidewalk. Her clothes were fairly casual - a light yellow blouse, open and revealing a white shirt underneath, a slightly reddish skirt and stockings, and, interestingly enough, a parasol in her hands, resting on her right shoulder as she walked forward. Her hairdo was the same two long ponytails, however.

Renata did have a reason to be late that wasn’t just to make Blackout sweat a little, of course - almost everything went against her back home. The suit is, as always, not all that easy to take off, given that it needs to be attached to the skin at all times to let through radiation. And finding where she tossed her purse the last time she returned to her home wasn’t as easy of a task as it might appear, too… All of that was eventually resolved, however, and after a brisk walk, Renata stopped in the place she and Blackout agreed to meet, a few meters away from Icarus, and began to wait.

Odd, I would have expected him to arrive here first. she thought to herself and began to look around, her eyes stumbling upon the sight of one of her classmates leaning on the wall some steps away from her. It was… uh… Icarus, right? One of those loner types, distant from other students and, as far as Renata remembered, only friends with Casimir and a girl from another class. Oh, and there were some rumors circling about on him being the son of a convicted criminal, though Renata never personally found any reason to delve into it. How did she manage to remember all of that? Well, Icarus is a pretty odd name to have, isn’t it? That’s not to say it wasn’t pretty, even if it did have some… not exactly positive connotations.

“Good evening, Icarus!” Renata exclaimed towards her classmate, waving her hand. “What are you doing out here so late today?”

Hm. Given that he is standing here, maybe he has seen where Blackout went? Renata still wasn’t convinced that she somehow arrived here before him - maybe he had to go somewhere for a few minutes.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Icarus - have you seen someone else waiting here recently? A blonde boy, hairdo similar to yours, but in a ponytail - does that ring a bell?”

“A-ah… Hello, Renata.” The boy greeted back after a few moments of shock. Having gotten a bit too focused on his task, he hadn’t noticed Renata arrive until she addressed him directly, leading him to be taken off guard once more, though on the plus side the ring was pretty much finished. Adding to his surprise, the girl… seemed completely oblivious as to his identity. Actually, that wasn’t quite right. She seemed to have a decent grasp on who he was, something surprising by itself, but couldn’t seem to put two and two together and figure out that he was the vigilante she had been teaming up with.

Come on, Stella. I look just like him, but with different clothes. Is it that hard? He wondered. It was comforting to know that his disguise worked pretty well in throwing people off his trail, even those who were familiar with both the student and the vigilante… but on the other hand, he had the same features as Blackout and was coincidentally standing on the same place where they had agreed to meet up, looking like he was waiting for someone. You’re a little dense, aren’t you?

Still, after getting through equal doses of surprise and disbelief, the boy saw the situation for what it was: an opportunity for a little mischief.

“You look great.” He added casually almost immediately after his greeting and put on a charming smile, his voice noticeably softer than the vigilante’s, as it usually was when he wasn’t getting in a fight with one of Thomsen High’s resident knight templar hero wannabes. He wasn’t lying, either; this was probably the first time he had seen her outside of her costume or her school uniform (he never quite figured out why she wore one when Thomsen High didn’t have an official uniform), and he decided he liked her sense of fashion.

“I’m, ah, you see, I was waiting for someone, but it’s nothing important.” He said as he lightly tossed his trinket up into the air before catching it and shoving it into his pocket. “Someone like me, but with his hair tied up in a ponytail, you say? Hmm… I can’t say I’ve seen anyone like that nearby. Sounds like a dork, though.” He commented with a smirk on his face. “Why, is he your date or something?”

Renata’s eyes instantly widened and heat swelled up in her face, and, ignoring the fact that it was already pretty much night, she exclaimed:

“Why does everyone keep thinking that-”

But suddenly, her voice came to a halt.

Hold on.

Why is Icarus so coincidentally here at this exact moment and this exact place where she and Blackout were supposed to meet outside of costume? How come are they both long-haired blondes, with more or less similar facial structure and voice? Why is he also waiting for someone and poking her like that?

Unless… Unless…

“...You’re Blackout, aren’t you?” Renata muttered, in a slightly irritated face.

Not only did she just appear as a dense dork in front of him, but he also made fun of her instead of correcting her. That was enough for the girl to wince a little, clench tightly onto her parasol and step towards Icarus, raising it as if she was about to smack it across his smirking head.

“It’s not funny!” she exclaimed out of a mix of fury and embarrassment, but soon stopped, took a breath, sighed and lowered the parasol. “...I suppose I did kind of set myself up for this, didn’t I?”

So Blackout is Icarus. The same Icarus from her school, that distant loner she only got a few chances to talk to before. Was this the reason why he thought revealing his identity would shock her? Frankly… half of my classmates are heroes already, so why would he think it’s all that surprising?

“Yeah, you kinda did, Stella.” The blond boy admitted, his smirk having transitioned into a small grin as he watched the reactions of the Ecuadorian heroine upon realizing what was going on. It was very amusing to watch, of course, but truth be told he did feel a little guilty upon seeing her anger, and as she lowered the parasol, he scratched the back of his head and offered the girl a sheepish smile.

“Listen, sorry if I upset you… I suppose it was a bit rude of me to act that way.” He apologized, hoping Renata wouldn’t think less of him because of his little joke. “For what it’s worth, I wasn’t lying when I said you looked great. And, well…” The boy trailed off, his face reddening slightly; without his mask over it, there was nothing to hide his blush and he was much easier to read, a fact he was well aware of. Might as well wear my heart on a sleeve, then.

“Maybe it seemed like the question I asked you was just to poke fun at you, but it’s actually quite a serious question, you know? I’d like to hear what your answer is.” He stated.

“O-oh… You mean the date question, right?..” was all Renata able to mutter out initially.

If one were to watch this conversation from a distance with no context, maybe they’d think that there was a heat wave going on, because both of the people talking were red as a tomato. If it was a competition, though, then she would have been a little redder, because she not only had the question to answer to, but also the genuine compliment to get flustered about.

“I-I mean… I guess it depends on what you define as a date… but, I guess… by the most empirical definition… then you’re probably right...” the heroine attempted to formulate an answer, to little avail.

Get out of this situation. GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT.

“-I-I mean, no matter whether it is a date or not, we won’t really get anywhere by just standing here and talking about it, will we?” Renata continued, finally managing to overcome the awkwardness a little and gather more resolve in her voice. “Do you have anything in mind on where you’ll take us, then?”

Her stream of mind suddenly caught onto something else, though. Namely, that despite both of them now being out of costume, Icarus continued using her heroine name instead of switching to her real one. Twirling the parasol in her hands a little, Renata continued:

“Also, Icarus… Since we’ve gone through all this trouble to meet outside of costume in case you are being tracked… it would be a good idea to not use our hero names, right? So, for the duration of this… date… I am only Renata Martinez and you are only Icarus Sarantos. Right?”

“Hmm? Of course, of course, we’re just a pair of Thomsen High students… out to have some fun, I guess.” Icarus replied. Fun as it may have been to poke fun at her, he had never been a very good actor and without a mask or anonymity shielding him, he was bound to just make things more awkward for himself. Plus, she had more or less admitted that in some way they were on a date, despite skirting around the question so much, and he thought that was enough to consider it a small victory. “I called you Stella out of habit, but it won’t happen again… Renata.”

After that, he motioned with his head for her to follow and began walking down the street. Truth be told he didn’t have a lot of ideas regarding where might be a good place to go, but there was a small cafe not far from his home that he used to frequent, back when he had a social life that didn’t exclusively amount to hanging out with a geeky half-Polish boy, an aloof half-French girl and the family of a cranky Latin-American doctor. It wasn’t too fancy and he had no idea if it would fit Renata’s tastes (he was vaguely aware that she was fairly rich, what with being the daughter of a dictator), but it was an inexpensive and calm place, something he appreciated.

“You know, I wanted to tell you, I may not have been entirely honest with you, though you’ve probably figured that out by now.” Icarus spoke as the pair walked, headed towards less busy streets. Out of habit, he kept an eye out in case a Warwolf patrol approached, but so far, everything seemed calm. “I obviously didn’t know a lot about you back then, but I noticed who you were at the docks, when we were fighting the vampires. I opted to stay quiet about it because… well, because I didn’t expect you to be such a good friend. I basically thought everyone was out for my hide back then.” He confessed, an awkward smile now on his face.

“To be fair, you did give me enough information to google you the very next day, though.”

Renata chuckled in response. “Google is going to be my downfall one day, isn’t it?” she commented, jokingly. Even though that was actually a somewhat serious concern. She was in archived Internet news articles about Ecuador, a bunch of photos from her time in the Condors, and, most importantly, a Wikipedia page, albeit a short one - someone really dedicated on finding out her secret identity could uncover it with a few hours of diligent searching. It didn’t seem like Icarus was planning to use that information for anything, though.

“Well, I suppose I can’t really get mad at you without sounding like a hypocrite - I had been trying to find out who you are underneath that mask, too. That… statement of yours, back in the infirmary, that finding out your identity would shock me - I think that’s what tipped me off, so I started to theorize. But… well, frankly, I didn’t end up as surprised as I thought I could be - and… I don’t think it changes much between us. We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

Still following after Icarus, trying her best to maintain an average speed instead of just running off forward under her own tempo, Renata then suddenly turned towards the boy’s face directly, asking:

“So what was that kingdom you said you were from? It’s not England, is it?”

This time, it was Icarus’ turn to laugh. “England? Oh, no, you went a bit too far North… though I guess you still got a few things right, like the fact that it’s ruled by a queen. And it’s also an island, albeit a much smaller one.” The boy replied, continuing to move forward despite returning Renata’s gaze. “Have you ever heard of Diluvia? It’s a pretty small nation and only came out of isolation in the past… sixty, seventy years or so?” He said thoughtfully, pace slowing down as if to think better. “But Queen Etla is pretty popular. Before taking the throne she worked as a superheroine, and even joined the Confederation of Heroes for a while. Maybe the name Cyclone will ring a bell, that’s what she called herself back then.” He explained, curiosity in his eyes as he waited for the girl to answer.

Renata placed her hand on her chin and looked down, thinking. “Diluvia, Diluvia… Di-lu-vi-a...” Well, one thing’s for sure - she was probably not going to put her finger on who Cyclone was. The Confederation of Heroes had rarely interested her. So many heroes in a single team, the leader rotates every once in a while, even the members change more often than usual… it’s hard to keep up with its membership outside of the most important members. It doesn’t help that Europe is quite distant from Ecuador in general. Not as distant as, say, Africa or Asia, but not a common encounter in daily life either. So instead, Renata turned to other fields of trivia. Where could she have heard of Diluvia before? Diplomacy with Ecuador? International news? Wars? Eurovision?

Eurovision…

“I think… Your country won Eurovision quite recently, hasn’t it?” Renata finally broke out of her trance, raising her eyes to Icarus again. “I can’t remember, though - was it in 2015 or 2016? It was that time when your country’s lead singer dressed up as Prometheus, I think, wasn’t it?“

Oh god, Icarus asked if she knows his country and she responded with Eurovision knowledge. The mere thought of how he might respond made Renata blush and shudder.

“...I must look like I am completely inept in geography, don’t I? I swear, this was just the first think that came into my mind.” She immediately tried to explain herself.

However, rather than respond negatively and confirm Renata’s fears, the boy simply let out another hearty laugh, shaking his head. “Yes, we won last year’s Eurovision. The act was inspired on the Jesus Christ Superstar rock opera, though the songwriter had to get rather creative with the adaptation, since they were dealing with a titan there and not a man.” He explained. Mostly out of simple courtesy and to give context, he told himself, but there was always the possibility that a random bit of trivia might impress her, no? “And don’t worry, even with that I think you know more about my country than I know about yours.” He admitted.

Before the conversation could go on any further, Icarus suddenly stopped moving, grabbing Renata’s hand to stop her from shooting off by herself - or so he claimed inside his head. The reason for this soon became apparent: next to them was a fairly small, yet well-maintained and cozy-looking cafe with a rustic aesthetic going on. Just outside, there was a stylish sign that read: “Arcadia - Cafe & Diner”

“We’re here.”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

"Happy Birthday!" Called out the chorus of excited teens as they raised their guns and pulled the triggers like a trained firing squad, showering Mars, Wyatt and Naja in confetti and rainbow-colored streamers before the whole room broke into applause, celebrating the two boys for becoming a year older. There was abundant cheering among the teens, but one of them in particular quickly charged forward, first zeroing in on Wyatt and stopping right next to him before wrapping him in a tight bear hug and practically lifting him off the ground.

"Happy birthday, Wyatt!" The Hadrian girl exclaimed with glee. Her claws were currently wrapped around the dragon boy's frame, but unlike in other occasions, she didn't pay any mind to this. She knew that Wyatt's scales were tough enough that something like this wouldn't hurt him, and she quite enjoyed having someone to show this kind of effusivity, especially since Wyatt was one of the Young Bloods she was closest to, besides Mars and some of the other girls in the team.

After a few moments, the alien let Wyatt down, before moving onto the other birthday boy, Mars. At first glance, she was much less enthusiastic in approaching him, though a keen eye would be able to tell that she was just as eager, there was simply something else mixed in with her emotions and holding her back: embarrassment. Kirisvala was blushing brightly as she approached the teenage genius, but once she was next to him, she cast aside all hesitation and leaned closer to him, pressing her lips against his cheek and giving him a quick peck before taking a couple of steps back. "Happy birthday, Mars." She said, with a voice that was quiet but full of emotion, a happy smile on her face.

"Now, now, don't hog the birthday boys all to yourself, Kiris!" Alexis shouted from further inside the room, one hand on her hip while the other idly hung by her side while holding her streamer gun. After chiding the alien, she turned to the two teens. "Well? I bet you didn't expect all this, did you?"

[Finland SSR]

Marionette
San Diego

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Two Warwolf soldiers, both wearing light power armor and equipped with modified assault rifles, stood in guard duty in front of the most outer layer of the fencing surrounding the Warwolf base. With nothing else left to do in this late evening, they were chatting about... things.

"Hey, Frank, so I was wondering."

"What is it, Jim?"

"So uh, an interesting question - if you could choose one superpower to have, what would it be?"

"Jim, please."

"Because, like, could you imagine just how complex the powers of those freaks can be? Remember, three months ago, we fought a god damn bullet manipulator. Bullet manipulator. How does his power even decide what is a bullet and what is not? So, like, what's the weirdest shit you could imagine as a superpower?"

"I don't know and I don't care, Jim, because- hold on a moment."

"Hm?"

"Who's that over there."

The two soldiers turned forward. A single man with a white jacket and dark hair was walking across the street which once led to the abandoned hospital. The man didn't really say anything - although, obviously, he was still too far away for him to have a meaningful conversation with anyone - just advanced forward. Frank immediately cocked his rifle.

"Hold your fire, Frank, maybe this is just a civilian who's gotten lost."

"He's got a freaking sword in his right hand, Jim. Unless he's walking to an anime convention, I have all the reason to believe that he's nothing but trouble."

"You can at least ask him first. Nobody wants us shooting civilians just for appearing in our line of sight."

Though slightly irritated that he got outsmarted by Jim of all people, Frank opted to go for his approach - slightly lowering his rifle and walking up to the approaching man, who stopped as soon as he saw the two Warwolf soldiers get closer. And then sheathed his blade - slightly lessening the worries that the grunts had about this being a hostile.

"Turn around right now, you're almost trespassing in private territory," the soldier let out a stern order. Floyd raised his eyebrow, then smirked and replied:

"Bloody hell, I thought this was a hospital? I walked a mile to get my appendix checked and you turn this into a fortress?"

"...This hospital's been closed for years, man. If you walked here with a health problem for this long, I applaud you for your endurance, but not smarts." Jim joined the fray.

"Yeah, sorry for that, but we aren't giving medical check-ups here." Frank added.

Floyd thought this over for a few seconds, then muttered: "Unfortunate."

"Yeah, that's what-"

"Because you'll have to walk even farther than me."

Suddenly, without warning, with crackling red energy surrounding him, Floyd lunged forward and smashed his right fist into Frank's visor, tossing him into the ground, but not dealing enough damage to knock him out instantly. Yes! Even the cannon fodder here ain't cannon fodder! This'll be so, much, fun! Jim instantly lowered his rifle and pulled out his handheld power scrambler. However, this process took so much time that by the time the soldier was ready to attack and depower the assailant, his buddy had already gotten lifted up, slammed back into the ground and a sword stab through his shoulder, letting out a bunch of sparks out of the power armor and causing a bunch of important wiring the get cut off, turning off the machine for good.

"Good luck standing up with 50 kilograms on your shoulde-" Floyd let out a quick comment, only to have it cut off by a power scrambler stabbing him in the back. After a brief surge of electricity, the swordsman collapsed on his knee, blinking a little. His sense of smell, taste and pain had suddenly returned, and his vision and hearing weakened as a result. Superpower erasure... Better hope it's temporary. Floyd clenched his right fist a little - the ever so familiar blood red sparks appeared like normal. That's interesting. It didn't remove the powers I actually need.

"Oh, how tragic," Floyd muttered, placing his hand on the handle of his sword. In one sudden, fast motion, he turned around, sweeping the blade across the air and cutting the scrambler in half. "Instead of fifteen thousand ways to kill you, I now only have twelve thousand."

"What the hell, did it malfunction or something?" Jim muttered to himself, pulling out his trusted assault rifle. Even that didn't help much, as before the soldier could open fire, Floyd placed his left hand onto the barrel, clenching it and breaking it instantly, while moving closer with the rest of his body and slamming his knee into the armored grunt's stomach. Despite the armor taking the brunt of the blow, the impact still resonated across the man's entire torso. Couple it with an elbow to slam him to the ground and a sword stab through a bunch of circuits, and the soldier was left unconscious, bleeding out and weighed down by an unusable set of power armor.

They might still live, but I wouldn't count on it. Not that there will be anyone to give them immediate medical attention.

Well, now that his blade is already bloodied, no reason to continue walking slow. Floyd suddenly rushed forward, cutting through the first layer of fence with a wide sweep and leaping in. Immediately, sirens rang out across the entire facility, and though the long courtyard before the building itself was practically empty, only dotted with a bunch of watch towers, Floyd was sure that reinforcements are coming in soon.

The watch towers already began communicating through radio, all keeping tabs on the suicidal man rushing in alone.

"Watch Tower 2, this is Watch Tower 1. Unknown hostile reported running towards the front door. First layer of fence is down. Over."

"Watch Tower 1, this is Watch Tower 2. We see the hostile. Two guards incapacitated on Calzone St. Health condition unknown. Over."

"Watch Tower 3, this is Watch Tower 1. Unknown hostile reported running towards the front door. First layer of fence is down. Over."

"Watch Tower 3, can you hear us?"

"Watch Tower 3, why are you not responding?"

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

"Nope, I don't think so. It looks like Casimir's got everythin' under control."

Red glanced over to the scene of all the commotion one more time before hesitantly nodding his head in agreement. As...interesting as it had been, Casimir did indeed seem to get thing's calmed down enough. I guess I'll just chalk it up to everyone being excited and wanting to let off some steam after everything that's been happening as of late, he reasoned to himself before returning his attention back to Kirisvala. It was probably better for Casimir to be the one to handle things, as if Red had been forced to intervene he doubted things would've been gone as smoothly.

"So! Where's Yoshi? She didn't come here along with you?"

Red glanced around the room, noticing that Yoshi was absent from the crowd of people assembled in the room. He shrugged, about to respond that he didn't know when Kirisvala's next question caused his ears to turn slightly red.

"Have you been spendin' lots of time with her? I think she needed it after the mission."

He didn't know exactly what to say, given that he was unsure whether or not he should be spilling the beans this early. However, given that Yoshiro and Kirisvala were close friends, he reckoned that the Hadrian girl probably had already been filled in on everything already by now. Scratching the back of his head, he decided that there would be no harm in talking about him and Yoshiro's date the other night.

"Yeah, somewhat. I've been pretty busy with some...work, but I took her out to eat the other night at some fancy restaurant. Might've been a bad move on my part though, since I think the whole ordeal might've overwhelmed her. I'm thinking next time I'll we'll do something a bit simpler. The Yankees are going to be playing a game up here in San Diego in a few days, so maybe that would be a bit better."

He gave her a small nervous grin.

"Although knowing Yoshi, I think she'd probably be equally as lost there, as I don't see her as much of a sports fan."

---

Hiding behind a nearby counter-top, Red made sure his grip on gun was secure. Nothing too tight, but nothing too loose. It was something years upon years of handling weapons had trained him. He kept as quiet as a mouse, his body completely still as he patiently awaited for his targets to arrive. The sound of a door being opened keyed him in that it was time to execute their ambush. The sound of footsteps told him that their prey had walked right into their trap. Getting up from his concealed position, Red brought his weapon up to bear, and with a squeeze of a trigger, fired it with precise accuracy only a proffesional could achieve. And with a large pop, his confetti projecticles succesfully managed to scatter right in front of Wyatt and Mars's faces.

"Happy birthday!"

The two boys stood in the doorway in shock as the rest of the team cheered in celebration, a shower of confetti launched from the toys they had bought welcoming them. Red couldn't help but chuckle at the look on the two boys' faces as well as the overly enthusiatic greeting made by Kirisvala. It didn't take a genius to see the difference in the Hadrian girl's greetings, something that further amused Red. He gave a playful whistle to the two before calling out to them in a teasing voice.

"Save the smooching for after hours you two. Food's waiting and I'm hungry!"

[Finland SSR]

Scott Green/Spectrum-San Diego

Happy Birthday!!!!

Kiris being a qt

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

Well that's a can of worms opened right there. As it turns out, Scott wasn't making a hyperbole or making anything up with his "off planet" comment - he was, in every sense of the word, a space traveler. Well, more of a space captive - three years ago, he had been abducted by aliens, and although no probing was involved, outer space had been his home since then until about a few days ago. More specifically, the planet Aeon, which, now that Renata got the chance to heard it again, was actually mentioned by Scott before, as far as she recalled. She thought it was his hometown or something, though. Not, like, an alien world.

You know, now that you think about it, why would an alien planet be called Aeon, again? That's a Latin word, and the Romans weren't aliens as far as she was aware. Unless it's some extremely lucky coincidence.

Scott took a while to explain his backstory, leaving Renata increasingly nervous - what if, while he's talking, Mars and Wyatt end up opening that door? Though the heroine tried to give a few nonverbal hints to move the conversation somewhere else, for example, by pointing her thumb a little towards the back of the room, it was up to Scott to take the initiative and get them to hide - after his story was finished. Renata could feel that there was a lot left out, though, likely due to time concerns - which is a shame, because her head built up a bunch of questions already, for example, why did he end up leaving Aeon if it was such a good place to live according to him, or what happened to those aliens who abducted him, or that Ayya person.

Extraterrestrials of various types were not an unheard, though rare sight on Earth, but the idea of a person, especially a person her age, traveling to distant planets and returning to tell the story, was probably even rarer, and thus more interesting.

She'll have to squeeze out more information from poor old Scott when they're not about to prepare for a party. But for now, hiding! In Renata's case, it was behind a sofa, and, in unison with the rest of the team, she leaped out to exclaim "Happy Birthday!" as soon as Naja let in the two jubiliates. Kiris immediately ran forward to greet them with hugs and kisses, while Red urged to get done with the greetings and get on with more pressing matters, like filling their stomachs.

Renata, for the time being, said nothing. She considered herself too new to the team to be among the first to rush in and greet the two boys, especially not so enthusiastically.

[The Republic of Atria]

Arriving at the outside of the Tower, he saw Mars heading inside as well. It was in the evening, so maybe he decided to leave and got called back as soon as it happened. It happened surprisingly often. Oh well, a mission was a mission, supervillains didn't take days off for birthdays so neither could they. The idea of asking Mars about what the mission could be crossed his mind, but he ultimately decided against it, he'd find out in a few minutes anyways. Plus he didn't want to draw too much attention to the fact that he hadn't been spending as much time at the Tower as he should.

As soon as he and Mars entered the den, both of them were assault by a cacophony of loud voices all yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" at them. He froze and flinched when he heard the *pop* of Red shooting a party gun at him, covering his head in colorful streamers. Even before he could react, Kiris had already trapped him in a bear hug of doom. It took a moment to process everything that had just happened, and when he realized it... He didn't know what to feel.

Happy was the first. "I... You guys... you remembered? I thought... Nevermind, this is..." His eyes watered a little bit now that he felt bad for brushing them off and them actually caring more than he thought. "I don't know what to say... I guess, why? I haven't exactly been the best team member... And then you go do all of this?"

[Tomia]

Mars was shocked when the door opened, and for a second he forgotten his birthday was in a few days and fell into a state of panic. Did I just ruin Wyatt's surprise? He wondered, but he almost instantly called down when he realized his birthday was only a few days away. Great job genius! This party is for both of us! With that revelation a huge smile fell onto Mars' face as he looked out at the crowd of all his teammates who showed up to celebrate with him. Then Kiris ran towards them, giving Wyatt a huge hug before approaching Mars more cautiously. The young genius was shocked when she kissed his cheek, wishing him a happy birthday.

Mars' cheeks went bright red, he couldn't believe Kiris had just kissed him. "Th-thanks Kiris" He said barely retaining control the English language. Roy approached gently poking him on the shoulder, hoping to bring him back to reality. Mars seemingly did shake off his shock and turned back to Kiris. "This is really incredible, did you set all this us? My birthday isn't for a few days so I was really surprised!" He said happily. He then gave Kiris a big hug in return, kissing her cheek as well, eliciting a bunch of cheers and "awws" from their friends around them.

Meanwhile Roy approached who seemed to be questioning the team's desire to throw a party for him. "Happy Birthday Wyatt, you're part of the team man, of course we were going to throw you a party!" He said, clasping Wyatt on the shoulder which was admittedly a little awkward considering Wyatt's size. "Come on Red is right, let's get some food and get this party started!"

Angelica was still just sitting on the couch after having had shouted happy birthday to her teammates. She wanted to approach and say hello, but it felt so awkward that she chose to merely stay in the background for now.

Jacob had arrived just before the birthday boys, and approached the group that was now forming around the two of them. "Hey Alexis, great job with this party, looks like it'll be a lot of fun." He said to the techie who had helped organize the party.

[Agritum]

A couple of festive, glittery powder gunshots erupted from the game-side of the common room. Casimir was soon covered in colorful confetti.

"Happy birthday guys, and thanks for the invite. Pretty thoughtful of you all, especially given my botched entrance yesterday, enjoy the party!" Shadow exclaimed, rolling the handguns in her fingers, swapping them with a juggling game, and blowing the imaginary smoke off their barrel with a last roll. "By the way, Casimir, sorry for the glitter."

The reluctant vigilante tossed the two party guns off, a small, spiral portal to an hellish dimension opening. Bloodcurdling screams from another plane of existence were heard before the confetti pistols fell in the spiral, and it closed with one last, resounding evil laugh.

Shadow looked awkwardly at Casimir and the rest of the room, coughing before approaching the two birthday celebrities. "....it tends to happen. But let's just ignore that. So when do the gifts come up? Say, Wyatt or, who's your name, Martin...Mars, would you enjoy an antique pistol? None of you two are into katanas? That kind of stuff? I've got some good quality spares, see."

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

All of his residual anger and annoyance melted away quickly as Naja opened the door, and the two birthday boys, completely oblivious to the rest of the team's plans strolled in. Carter, who had been hiding behind the same pouffe he had done his awkward little somersault over, leapt out with a blast of air, simultaneously firing off his pistol into the air. Streamers and confetti blasted out in all directions, flying all across the room with the help of his gusts.

"HAPPY BIRTH-OWWWWWW" he yelled among the raucous chorus of gleeful teammates, his celebration being cut off abruptly as he misjudged his leap and slammed his head right into the ceiling, coming back down onto the pouffe with a loud thump, small pieces of popcorn ceiling raining down with him. A large bump now growing on his head, a size relative to the amount of pain he was experiencing, he rubbed his temples vigorously trying to restore his blurry vision back to normal. He could vaguely hear Red saying something about smooching, and Kiris running past, probably delivering said smooching to Mars, and skull-girl talking about pistols. Eventually, with a great deal of effort, he lifted his head up...only to see Wyatt, who looked so...unhappy. Carter couldn't believe it. The poor draco-kid was still sad and overwhelmed on his birthday, and saying he didn't deserve it?! No, no, this would not do, only positive vibes on birth-hatchday.

Sidling up to Wyatt and Roy, he gave a huge clap on Wyatt's other shoulder, wincing slightly due to Wyatt's much larger size and scales, stretching his own shoulder quite a bit.

"I gotta say Wyatt, this thing about not being the best teammate and asking why you deserved this...it's the biggest pile of shit I've heard since my daddy got drunk and started quoting the I Ching. Wyatt, how can you not be the best teammate? You're always there and reliable, you're a fucking powerhouse who looks cool, and, you work super-duper hard! You're a man after my Iowan Gramps' own heart!" Slapping him on the back again, he continued. "Trust me, you deserve way more than this, you're part of our team! Now c'mon, we hatched some serious plans, it's your damn hatchday, take a break! Now let's grab some grub!" he said, making a beeline for a particularly juicy burger.

[Anxiety Cafe]

Wonder Island

For the week since Warwolf had come to San Diego, Nathan had been steaming mad. He knew for a fact that the Young Bloods needed to kick this threat out just like all the others, before they began consolidating their power and taking on supers. He had brought up time and time again what a bad idea sitting around and doing nothing was, but his pleas for action never amounted to anything. He understood that the team's reputation was shaky, especially considering how they recently broke out Red. But how could their reputation possibly be harmed by kicking out an invading military force that was hostile to supers? It made no sense whatsoever.

However, it didn't take long for Nathan to realize that it was clear the team wasn't going to do anything. It pissed him off to no end, but his unsuccessful attempts to convince them otherwise did not hamper his determination. While the rest of the team seemed without a care in the world as they organized the surprise party, Nathan had spent very little time on Wonder Island.

Most of the time, he was out in the city, following soldiers during their patrols in attempts to pick up valuable information. It was a learning experience for him, to say the least. Back when he fought Warwolf before the Young Bloods, he had mostly used brute force to get information out of soldiers. He was caught a couple times, but luckily the soldiers were more bored than angry.

He had barely made it back to the tower in time to yell a big "Surprise" for the two birthday guys, and, despite his consistent foul mood for the week, he did manage to crack a smile at Kiris' antics. However, his general opinion of the party was not good. Of course it was a good way to socialize and show how much they cared for their teammates, but they really did not have the time to do so with a hostile force taking over the city. Of course, Nathan would've never mentioned that to anyone, knowing his teammates would definitely react badly.

Nathan had grown quite frustrated with the occurring events by the time they began eating. They just were acting way too casual considering the dire situation, and the fact that they refused to act only angered him more. He felt as if they didn't really care about the threat, content to have fun rather than doing their jobs and protecting people. Making a spur of the moment decision, he snuck out of the party and up to his room, donning his navy blue spandex costume, equipped with a utility belt for storage of the two batteries he had had Alexis create. They were rechargeable and high capacity, allowing him to artificially extend his tank, although together they only filled him up to a quarter full. Still, he knew they would prove invaluable.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Nathan did feel a little bit of excitement. The mask, which covered his entire face below his eyes, was the same color as the rest of the costume. It was stealthy enough that he wouldn't be noticed trying to sneak into the base he had heard about, some former hospital that had been converted. He hadn't had the time to case it out, unfortunately, so he just had to hope it wasn't too heavily defended. Charging into it without support might seem stupid, but he didn't really think he could fight the entire base and succeed; that'd just be stupid. He was hoping to instead scare Warwolf enough for them to leave.

As he exited from the Wonder Island compound, feelings of guilt began to creep in. There was nothing saying Young Bloods couldn't take on side missions, he tried to reassure himself. And besides, no one could recognize you with your new costume anyway. You're doing what needs to be done when other people aren't willing to. However, the thoughts of the potential repercussions of what he was doing still persisted.

Upon getting closer to the base, he noticed a flurry of activity, alarms blaring and such. Aw, shit, he thought, eyes widening with panic. How did they know I was here? Soldiers began pouring out from the entrance, powered armor and guns at the ready. He caught glimpses of bodies around the outer fence, and, despite his initial confusion, knew that they weren't there for him. A wave of happiness overcame him as he realized he wasn't alone in the fight, and that he had someone else to support him. That someone else, however, was already inside, and they likely needed help!

Maneuvering around quickly to another section of fence as soldiers rushed to secure a perimeter, he pushed his way through, using some energy he had stored up beforehand. He ran as fast as he could without using his energy through the rapidly filling courtyard, hoping no one would glance over to the then unsecured area and see him. Unfortunately, Nathan had not accounted for the watchtowers, keenly eyeing all the hustle and bustle. Two soldiers advanced on his position as he neared the main building, blocking his way in. They looked armed and pissed off.

Neither were carrying the dreaded power scramblers, fortunately. Perhaps they were merely reinforcements, not equipped with everything outdoor guards were. In any case, Nathan beckoned them towards him, preferring to stay silent so as not to reveal any clues about his identity. One rushed forward with a jump, punching Nathan in the gut and pushing him back a little bit. It hurt like hell, but provided a replacement for the energy he was rapidly funneling into his arms and legs. Except...he wasn't. Nathan realized all too late that the soldiers hadn't needed power scramblers because as soon as he entered the fence, he had come upon the effect of one. He ducked under a punch from Goon #2 and grabbed Goon #1's leg, attempting to trip him. The soldier stood strong, however, and with a brief, whispered expletive, Nathan was off, running away from the courtyard towards one of the pesky watchtowers that had noticed him before. He could hear the soldiers behind him, and without his powers, he was basically dead meat. Luckily, though, the heavy armor managed to slow them down enough for him to barely stay ahead.

He had no hope of not getting captured without help, and he reasoned that he could probably see help better from a higher vantage point. Besides, soldiers that high up were likely less armed, if they had their armor on at all. Rushing in, tensed and ready for a fight without his powers, Nathan's jaw dropped. Istead of finding the standard Warwolf soldiers, he found quite a different site. Bodies, on the floor, with a girl standing over them, read threads lazily twirling.

"YOU??" Nathan gasped, backing away.

While he hadn't had any personal experience with Marionette, he knew enough. I can't believe I went through all this trouble and the person I wanted to help is this psycho bitch, he thought, eyes wide in fear of her. With someone like that, one could never judge their true allegiance and Nathan was wary of her turning on him.