Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Earlier that day.

While Wendy might have been joking about her excuse for keeping Mars away from the party preparations, the truth was that they still had a long way to go with upgrading the islands. “When we finally get done replacing these relics…” She growled as the two worked on one of the consuls in the control room. “The three of us are having our own private party down here. Just you, me, Alexis, and the best wine Red can smuggle in.”

“Pretty sure Naja wouldn’t approve.” Mar’s voice echoed from under the console.

“She’s not the one whose had to rebuild, rewire, and recode every inch of this rock.” Wendy replied. “Besides, by the time we actually get done with all this, we might be old enough to legally buy alcohol. This is honestly the first time I’ve run into stuff too old for me to hack.”

“Well, they say old tech is sometimes the most secure, like how the US Military still uses floppy disks from the 90’s.” Mars said as he was busy sorting out a mess of old wires. “But ya, generally I would prefer to work with stuff that isn’t older than I am.”

“It’s a pain in the ass coding wise. Half this stuff can’t even run using modern code for its programing, and meshing the codes together is like performing organ replacement. Then add in all the stuff you and Alexis have made or upgraded and all the problems those bring.”

Mars rolled himself out from under the console, a rebuttal already forming in his mouth only for to die from Wendy’s glare. “Don’t even try to start. I’ve seen what you call rockets programing, and you should be lucky I fixed all the issues before we ran into someone like me who doesn’t share my ideals. I’ve seen Bethesda games with fewer bugs in it.”

“Hey! You try programming an autonomous computer with sensory recognition, a dozen movement drivers, and a muscle memory function! Besides, remember that time you tried to rewire the Jet’s engine to make it more efficient? You got electrocuted so hard I thought I was going to see your skeleton.”

“Point taken.” Wendy admitted. “How about you let me stick to programing and I’ll run any more home improvement ideas by you and Alexis first.”

“Deal. You know, speaking of Naja, I’m surprised she isn’t down here watching us like a hawk. Since we’re two teenagers in the midst of puberty who spend a bunch of their free time together.”

“We’re also both taken, and I really don’t like my odds of survival after getting on Kiris’s bad side.”

“What and you think I’d want to fight Roy? That guy has studied over a hundred styles of martial arts and I’m not interested in being on the receiving end of that education.”

“Exactly, Roy might be a mile out of my league, but I’m not about to go behind his back with his best friend.”

“Hey, I don't think Roy is out of your league… He certainly doesn’t.” He said adding that last part with a smile.

“Mars, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but we both know I’m right. Roys a badass ninja ultimate fighter whose our leader. I’m just glorified tech support who damaged goods upstairs and can’t even protect herself in a fight. You can’t honestly tell me that if you were Roy and had to choose between me and a real hero like Blue or Siren, you wouldn’t leave me in the dust.”

“Uh… I’m going to plead the 5th on that one. But look, Roy clearly has those options. Hell I think Roy told me Siren gave him her number once… But my point is he likes you! You’re not a fallback option for him, trust me.”

“I...thanks Mars. I needed that.” Wendy replied with a week smile. “It’s just that ever since we started dating I’ve felt like the nerdy girl who somehow scored the Varsity QB and at any moment the captain of the cheer squad going to show up to take him back.”

“I know what you mean, it’s how I’ve felt being his friend honestly. But I don’t know, Roy is just different. Maybe it’s because of how messed up his childhood was, but he’s just not into the whole popular scene.”

“Yeah,” Wendy agreed. “He’s something special.” At that moment she received a text from Alexis telling her it was all clear to send Mars upstairs to the party. “Looks like dinners ready.” She told him. “We should probably clean up and head over there.”
----

At the party.

“Of course we remembered your birthday Wyatt.”Wendy said as she walked over to the two birthday boys and gave Wyatt a hug. “And you haven’t been a bad teammate.”

“So this is why you had me rooting around is decades old wiring for five hours.” Mars said with a smirk as wendy walked over to him.

“Only partially, the wiring was that bad, and we know what happens when me and electricity mix.” Both of them shared a chuckle at Wendy’s statement before the two boys went off to grab food and Wendy went to track down Roy.
Finding her boyfriend, and quietly taking his hand, Wendy smiled as Roy turned to look at her. “So,” she asked. “ Did you ask Naja about tomorrow yet?”

[The Republic of Atria]

Wyatt couldn't help but smile at Carter being Carter. Despite bashing his head, he seemed to be okay. Carter insisted that he was a fantastic teammate, despite his feelings. That and the monster hug from Kiris did help lift his spirits. He was still processing the fact that his team was throwing a party for him AND Mars. One for Mars he figured, since he was basically the captain of the team, but him? Maybe Carter was right, he should take the compliments. Wyatt was impressed that Carter actually remembered that the Dra'Qunni called their celebration hatching rather than birthing. A minor and inconsequential detail, but one that made him feel that his team listened to him more than he thought.

Carter mentioned food, which Wyatt was more than eager to have since his only sustenance for the day was most of a beer and a slice of cake. Burgers, as good a delight as he could of hoped for. "Guys, really. This is amazing. You didn't have to do this." Should he be completely honest with his team? It was probably for the best, even if might drag down the mood a bit. Honestly was the best policy. "I'm sorry, it's just... I've been having issues with communication. You guys are pretty much the only friends I've got and sometimes I feel... I don't know. Left out I guess is the proper phrase. I don't know if it's just me being me, because it could easily be that. I don't mean to drag the party down, I just needed to get that off my chest." He said sheepishly.

"I want to be a part of this team, it's the only place where I don't feel like I'm... Weird or alone." He was starting to depress himself. Why was it could get along with Kaban, Onu, literally any of his own people with no problem, but talking with the people he knew for much longer was significantly harder. Why was this so difficult? Why couldn't he just enjoy this? They were all actively showering him with affection and friendship. Why was he trying to drag everyone down?

Then Wendy gave him a hug as well. And just like that, it finally hit him that his team genuinely cared about him and valued him. He couldn't hold back the tears any more and sat down, eyes soaked.

"I love you guys." He smiled and took a moment to calm down and mingle with his team.

A new girl, wearing an outfit he swore was right out of a video game came out, offering him and Mars weapons. Elle was her name and a pistol and a sword were her offers of gifts for their birthdays. It would be rude not to take one of the offers. "I like the sword. It looks pretty cool."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

After casting her question, Kirisvala listened attentively to the red-haired boy, genuinely concerned about Yoshiro and also curious about her relationship with Red; unlike what the boy suspected, she hadn't been filled in on the details of the date yet, mostly due to both her and Yoshiro having been busy, one of them recovering and the other pouring her everything into the preparations for the party. She would've probably enjoyed having a moment to catch up with her friend, but, seeing how calm things had been so far, she was sure the moment would come.

Either way, the Hadrian was quite happy to hear that the couple had, in fact, gone out on a date. One to a fancy place, no less! Granted, she didn't really have much of a concept of what 'fancy' was like for humans, but still, it sounded like things were going well. It was strange, then, that Red mentioned it might not have been such a good thing. Maybe Yoshiro didn't like fancy things? She did seem like a simple girl, so maybe simple things were better.

At the mention of sports, though, Kiris offered Red a bright smile, both to encourage him to continue trying and because she genuinely found some human sports to be fascinating things. "Don't worry, Red, I'm sure she'll love it! You guys have some pretty fun sports. Like, that one where people keep rammin' and beatin' up each other to control a big brown egg? That's pretty cool! And the other one that looks like Telpata, you know, where you jump and smack each other over the head with a ball? You played it at the beach, that was pretty fun too." She said eagerly, before stopping for a moment to think of what other sports she had caught sight of during her time back in Australia, when she lived in New Adai.

"...The one with the clubs and the hoops looked really weird, though." She said, recalling that one time she saw a cricket match on TV.

---

---

---

---

---

After pulling away from Mars, Kiris heard Red's whistle and comment, her cheeks turning slightly redder still. The mention of food did make her remember something, though, and she was about to mention it to Mars and Wyatt when suddenly, the former managed to cast away his shock and addressed her with joy in his voice before wrapping his arms around her, returning the gesture from earlier and kissing her on the cheek. The Hadrian girl momentarily froze, not having expected him to be bold enough to act that way; it was a pleasant surprise, of course, but not one she was prepared for. Still, the hug reminded her of the tender moment the two had shared at the San Pharmaceuticals building 8 days ago and the things she had felt back then. Finally, she responded in kind, gently covering Mars' body with her arms, enjoying the moment.

Before the hug lasted too long, though, the two separated from each other as if through an unspoken agreement, Kiris offering the boy a joyful smile before watching as Wendy walked over to talk with him. As much as she would've loved to just remain in an embrace for a long time once again, she knew that something like that would've been incredibly selfish and unfair towards her teammates, since they had contributed to the party just as much as she had, and were friends of him as well; she didn't mind it either way, she was sure they would spend many more days together.

Since Mars was heading elsewhere now, the Hadrian girl looked around and quickly noticed Wyatt nearby, sitting down in an attempt to avoid being overwhelmed by emotion and tearing up a lot before offering some heartfelt words of affection to the rest of the team. Smiling softly, she decided that perhaps it would be best to put the dragon boy's attention to something else, and so, she walked over to him, gently placing a claw on his shoulder.

"Hey, Wyatt, why don't you come and grab some food? I made a lot of it for the party!" She suggested enthusiastically. "I asked Alexis to investigate your favorites for me. You like cheeseburgers, right?"

---

---

Watching the scene unfolding in front of her, Alexis was pretty busy squeeing at the adorableness of the displays of affection going on in front of her, and especially at the tender moment that Mars and Kiris had just shared right in front of everyone else. As such, she almost didn't notice Jacob approaching or catch the compliment he'd made towards her. Fortunately, she looked in his direction just in time to see him standing there and hear him out, first responding with a smile. "Oh, thanks! It wasn't actually all me, you know, a lot of other people helped out with the organization and all, especially Kiris... buut, yeah, I am pretty amazing with parties, thanks for noticing!" She said with a grin. "Don't know if you've been told, but I actually have experience organizing festivities for the Young Bloods." She added afterwards, referring to the game night that she had organized a few days ago, one of the few breaks they'd had between keeping an eye on Warwolf and organizing the birthday party.

After responding to Jacob, Alexis looked back at the two birthday boys. Mars was conversing a little with Wendy after getting lovey-dovey with his dragon girl, and Wyatt was taking a moment to calm down after having a bit of an emotional overload, but overall, it seemed things were going well, and the blonde looked around out of habit to see if there was anything out of place in the room, wanting the party to be as perfect as possible.

It was while looking around that the tech wizard spotted Angelica sitting on the couch by herself. Recalling that she had wanted to say hi to her earlier before Yoshiro dragged her off, Alexis calmly walked, or rather, enthusiastically sauntered towards her friend. "Frosty! You really came here dressed for battle, didn't you?" The blonde said in appreciation of the masked girl's appealing outfit, plopping down on the couch next to her and immediately swinging an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Why don't you go and give those two some hugs like everyone else? Don't tell me you're too shy for that!"

[New Neros]

San Diego
Agents of Orion

Two female forms peered out of a pale window, illuminated only by street lights, watching meticulously as an armored convoy rolled down the mostly residential and commercial street. Turning to face her partner, Crimson felt a bit worried for the girl, wondering how Espina would fare against these foes, knowing her experience with Orion was fresh, and while Crimson was new to the organization also, she was not new to villainy or working with others, and had been in contact with Legion long before either even became evil-doers. "It almost makes you think we're doing the right thing." Crimson teased, "But I think we've done well so far on gathering information, so it's time for the next step." Crimson noticed the girl stiffen a bit, and moved to put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. You'll do great, just follow my lead."

Without hassle, the two women exited the building opposite of the convoy, the entire column snaking around the block, walking quickly onto the street as the lead vehicle slammed on it's brakes. They wore dark hoodies and hid their faces, but without a beat, a commissar for the military group threw open his door and stepped out of the vehicle, a snarl painted on his face. "You two!" He thundered, "You are in direct violation of a city ordinance. As acting military police, we would like to ask you a few questions and let you be on your way as soon as possible." Rapidly, the man approached, his frame covered in military-grade kevlar and militaristic body armor, his face grizzled and full of experience to match. "Let's start by dropping those hoods, if you would be so kind."

Crimson turned to look at Espina for a moment, the younger girl seemed nervous, but ready all the same. Carefully, the witch lowered her hoodie and revealed her face fully, unafraid of the paramilitary force that stood before her. A bright spotlight ignited suddenly and bathed both women in intense, brilliant daylight, Crimson shielding her eyes as Espina removed her hood as well. "Now then, where are you two ladies off to at this hour? Nothing good happens past ten o'clock, you know." The commanding officer said with a chuckle, "Do either of you happen to have identification on you?"

"Don't move." He snapped suddenly, Crimson reaching behind her back and freezing, her eyes adjusting to the light and training them directly on the officer. "Let's run this scenario, you're two girls, young, stopping an entire armored convoy that is currently unloading it's heavy armor and assault teams because you wanted to cross the street. You might have some friends in the buildings beside us, one of which will hit our rear to prevent escape and you'll hit us in the front, and after that, you sweep us up from front to back." He got close and personal with Espina, his imposing figure barely an inch away from her, his holster unlatched and his hand ready on his side arm. "My teams are clearing the houses as we speak, half of my forces are on the street and they're all trained on you. Call it off, walk away, and everyone goes home. What's it going to be?"

Things soured a lot faster than Crimson expected, but honestly, the wit of a private military corporation that has been through several wars and conflict zones shouldn't be underestimated. Sad to say, however, but the Warwolf commander was doing some underestimating of his own. Espina moved first, pushing the commander quickly, using the bone of her finger to drive a hole through the man's vest and stab his chest, granting her control of his body. Crimson dropped low to the ground and slammed her palm against the asphalt as hard as possible, summoning a small puddle of blood from her split open hand. The commander drew his weapon but did not fire at the girls, he turned to face his armored convoy, and raised his own pistol at them.

Espina had him pull the trigger, forcing his bones to move against his muscles and tendons, the man screaming something, but the words were muffled as the bone manipulator kept his jaw clamped shut. He managed to fire three shots before his soldiers returned fire, bathing the street in gunfire, Espina ducking behind the officer as he re-enacted the scene from RoboCop where they damn near killed Officer Murphy. Crimson took this opportunity to build her own arsenal, and ripped the blood out of the man's body through his newly made orifices. Espina used her powers to rip his bones out, using them to give herself some form of armor, the husk that remained just limply falling to the floor, his clothes still holding his rough shape together.

Crimson shot a bullet of blood at the spotlight that blinded them and kept attention focused on the pair, Espina diving to one side of the street and Crimson to the other immediately after she had done so, letting the Warwolf foot-soldiers pop off shots at where they once were, two teams forming up to combat each villainess. Without the light on them, Espina and Crimson were able to see the power armor wielded by the soldiers of Warwolf, watching intently as they closed in. Crimson was fast on the attack, using the blood she had summoned and the one from the officer to slash at the high-tech exoskeletons of the men, her first few hits grazing them, but the next hits digging deep into their flesh. They fired rapidly, their bullets being blocked by a wall of red liquid as the blood witch cackled with delight. "It's more fun when they're scared. Espina, how are you handling?"

The bone manipulator was careful, shooting out a bone spike from her armor and impaling a soldier, turning him into a puppet of hers, and in turn letting him fire on his comrades to cause confusion, where she would rush in to take advantage. Espina's bone armor was hard enough to withstand the high-caliber rounds, but she sure felt the impact that they had regardless. In these kind of situations, people like Crimson and Gaul thrived, but Espina was more stealth oriented unless she had meat puppets in her arsenal, and she was lacking. Still, two Warwolf soldiers were under her control, their weapons and protection were invaluable in surviving. Just as it seemed like the two Orion operatives would drive off the squads after them, a roar of helicopters filled the open air. "Shit," Crimson spat, "They respond a hell of a lot faster than the police used to. I didn't want to use this so quickly."

"Um," Espina shouted, watching close as two Warwolf members approached with strange devices that hummed and gave off strange energy, "They brought out some nullifies."

"I use magic, I'll be fine, thanks for your concern." Crimson teased.

"I don't!" Espina replied, "I'm very much a superhuman whose powers can be shut off, and I have no idea what that would mean!" She yelled, backing up considerably and putting some big distance between her and the nullifiers. "I really hope I don't have brittle bones and they shut me off and I just collapse into a heap on the floor, or I can't manipulate my own bones and get all frozen in my own body. Please do something, I am legitimately scared at this point. What's the exit strategy?" Crimson scoffed, using some of her gathered pool of blood to cut a deep gash into both of her palms, allowing the liquid to ooze from the wounds for a moment. "I really wish we had some back up."

"Ask," Crimson yelled, forcing her pool of blood to shoot out from her body and stab and slice into the Warwolf team haphazardly, waving her hands widely in the air for a moment, slamming them hard on the asphalt as she had done before, her blood tracing out a complex series of magical seals and talismans across the road. "And you shall receive." Rising from the magical glow was ten figures, their faces obscured for a moment until their entire body came into being, the soldiers without a doubt recognizing many of them by their face or by their attire or headpiece, several urgent codes going out to Warwolf upper-command. Legion, Gladiator, Mirage, Punk, Black Luminous, Blaze Luminous, Walt Bismarck, Cannon, AWOL, and Saga, many unmistakable and the entire organization unforgettable.

Enter: All of Orion.

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

As everyone began to grab the various food items that had been prepared, Red glanced around the room until he found who he was looking for. Red had grabbed two separate plates of food, one for him and one for her to eat. He was somewhat uncertain on what she all wanted, so he put a wider variety of food on her plate. Giving her a small smile as he walked up to her with the plates of food, he motioned over to one of the empty couches near where everyone else was at.

"Mind sitting together? I don't think we'll have to worry too much about the others giving us a hard time after what Kiris and Mars's little stunt."

He said the last bit with a wink, his statement not inaccurate as based on the cheers that had been given out the rest of the team had approved tremendously of the two. Even though Red had given them a bit of gruff for it, he too was happy to see Mars starting to come out of his nervous shell a bit. While he had never interacted with him much in school, Mars had always had appeared to just be the shy sidekick to Roy. While the guy had a long ways to go, it was nice to see that he was maturing a bit. And to think it only took a dragon girl from outer space to do it, he jokingly thought to himself.

Yoshiro accepted his offer, and soon the two began to enjoy the food that had been prepared by the others. Red felt a bit guilty for not pitching in, as he himself was actually a pretty damn good chef when he had the time and motivation to prepare anything more complex than fried eggs. If things ever cool down, maybe I can show off a bit the next time we go down to the beach, he thought to himself.

That's a big if, he thought as his mind briefly returned to the topic of Warwolf. While he was having a good time, he knew that his time hanging around with the others meant less time in his investigations. Progress was still to slow for what he wanted to get out of the files he had on them, and he knew eventually he'd need to get some intel on them first-hand. He knew that would be dangerous, however, and considering how things went the last time he went on a lone investigation, he knew that he'd want to clear it by Roy or even Naja first. He was less eager to speak to the latter about it, however, as Naja had yet to comment to the team on what they were supposed to do about the paramilitary organization's takeover of the city besides keeping their noses clean.

Red's somber thoughts on the matter were soon put to the side, however, as Wyatt tearfully thanked the team for what they had done. Red grinned slightly as he jokingly called out to him.

"We'll always have a place for you Dragon Boy. As long as you don't start burning down villages and capturing princesses, that is."

Yoshiro nudged him in the ribs with her elbow scoldingly, causing Red to wince.

"Okay, I deserved that."

He quickly shrugged it off, a somewhat serious look on his face as he comforted Wyatt.

"But seriously man, don't sweat the details. We're all a bunch of misfits, and trust me, you're not the worst of the bunch here."

---

Brianna

---

Opening her eyes, Brianna glanced at the clock above her bed, letting out a groan as she saw how late she had slept in. She had been out late last night, patrolling the territory of one of the gangs that the Outriders had their sights on. Things had gone relatively smooth, save for the man who had thought it had been a good idea to try and demand she go home with him as she was returning back to the hideout. Thankfully for her, it only took putting the blade of her spear tip up next to the man's throat to discourage him from trying anything further.

Letting out another groan, she rolled out of bed and changed threw on a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt over her exposed figure as she normally slept with no clothes on save for her undergarments. Her t-shirt hung well below her hips, contradicting with the rather short pair of athletic shorts he wore. While she was not one to bare much skin, she could appreciate the fact that they were easier to maneuver in compared to the style most males seemed to wear these days.

Walking over to where the bathroom was at, Brianna went through the normal morning rituals of brushing her teeth, washing her face, and brushing her hair back enough for her to look somewhat presentable to the others. She didn't bother with makeup, however, as she saw the use of it as something of a façade to others, comfortable with however she looked without it.

Walking over to the meeting area where they were supposed to assemble, she saw that Alexis and Nick were already present. Brianna raised an eyebrow at the sight of several documents spread out across the table, the word "Warwolf" clearly visible on some of the pieces of paper. Looking up to Alexis with a curious gaze, Brianna motioned to the information before them.

"I see you have been busy, Alexis."

Turning his attention to her, Nick answered her after taking a long drag from what was likely the tenth cigarette of the day thus far.

"As have you, based on the footage you gave me last night. I'm surprised you were able to get that close to that meeting without getting spotted."

Brianna shrugged.

"It wasn't difficult in the least. I think even you could have managed it, Brusi, as long as you could've held off on those death sticks for the few hours I was there."

Nick chuckled dryly at the comment.

"That's a bit too much to ask from me. I guess that's why I stay back here in the dungeon."

Brianna grinned slightly at the reply before turning her attention back to Alexis.

"So what is all of this, Alexis? Nick told me you were going to be busy with something this morning, but he never clued me in on what exactly it was."

[Tomia]

Mars
As all his friends were approaching him and wishing him a happy birthday, the strange new girl who had arrived the day before the party approached him and Wyatt. Ella....Mars was pretty sure that's what her name was. She offered the two of them weapons of their choice, and when Wyatt chose the sword Mars decided he needed to pick a weapon too or else risk looking rude. "Uh, I'll take a sword too." He said, before he reached the food table and was able to distract himself with a the delicious looking mac and cheese. Once he had his food he looked for somewhere to sit. He found Wyatt, Yoshi, and Red together and decided that was as good a place of any to go. "Mind if I join you all?" He asked, taking a bite of his mac and cheese as he stood waiting for a response.

Angelica
Frost Bite noticed Alexis talking to Jacob again and her mask covered eyes narrowed. Jeez, don't those two have anyone else they could talk to? She thought bitterly to herself. Soon after though Alexis was walking Angelica's way. The tech genius had the usual enthusiastic confidence as she walked over to the couch.

"Battle?" Angelica asked in a confused tone but then Alexis had plopped down comfortably next to her, throwing her arm around the ice hero. Angelica nearly jumped as she felt Alexis' arm make contact with her bare skin. A few weeks ago that wouldn't have effected her at all besides her general dislike of human contact. Now however, she felt her cheeks flush and felt a strange desire to lean in to Alexis' embrace. She felt horrified that she had that reaction, she was sure it would only end badly after all.

"Uh ya, you're right I guess." She said in response to her comment about Wyatt and Mars. She stood up quickly but secretly reluctantly from Alexis' arms. "I'm gonna go say hi." She added quickly before walking off to where Mars and Wyatt were currently sitting, grabbing two boxes off the table before she did so.

"Mars, Wyatt, happy birthday. I got you each something." She said, handing Mars a small square box wrapped in red and white paper. Meanwhile Wyatt's was a slightly wider and longer box, shaped like a rectangle. His was covered in blue and white paper.

"Open them whenever I guess."

As she tried to walk away Mars stopped her. "Hey Frost Bite thanks! Why not sit and talk with us for a while?" He asked and she nodded reluctantly, taking a seat next to Mars. Mars figured he should start a conversation so that things didn't get too awkward.

"So, when we're done eating do you guys wanna play a game? It seems like Alexis has set a bunch of stuff up. What games do you like to play"

Roy
Roy was getting himself a soda, talking to some of his teammates when Wendy approached him. He smiled when she discreetly took his hand, he squeezed hers softly in quiet recognition. Then she asked about Naja and his smile wavered slightly. "Uh not yet, was going to wait until the party died down a bit. I don't think it'll be a problem, she let's people go all the time. I just need to brace myself for all the teasing I'm going to get for going on a date." He said, grinning again.

[Agritum]

Shadow had a slightly miffed look after Wyatt and Mars expressed their desire for highly similar gifts. Sometimes these kids seemed more clueless than usual. On the other hand, the homeschooled Ellery had never been a champion in social interaction anyway, and she charted it to simply being an accepted social norm in the circle.

"Alright, lemme pull them out."

Two flashes of hellish light followed as Shadow unheated two Japanese swords out of nowhere, crossing them together with an audible scrape highlighting the sharpness of the blades.

Aside from that, though, the two swords looked particularly brand, spotting plain black katana-style handles and hilt.

"I mean, you can still customize them, like Wyatt, you can put a dragon head or something on it, while Martin... Mars here can put.... A Mars symbol? I don't know. I'm not into your personal tastes." Elle muttered awkwardly, trying to justify the surplus looks of the blades. Admittedly, they seemed to cut very well.

Pleased with her gift-giving, Elle headed to the buffet table, scanning it for palatable treats. The smell of grilled meat reached her nose and unsettled her deeply.


"... Uh, did you cook anything meatless?" she asked awkwardly.

[The Republic of Atria]

"I guess being misfits is pretty much required for being on a team." He replied to Red. One of the person he'd ever truly "hung out" with. Admittedly it was only once for like 5 minutes, but he still counted it. "I guess it was just me being selfish. I'm just glad after these past few weeks that everything's turned out mostly okay." He said before being pointed in the direction of food by Kiris who claimed to have made many, many cheeseburgers.

"You sure did make a lot of food, holy moly. And yes, cheeseburgers are probably the best thing on the planet." He said as he looked over the delectable looking buffet. "The only thing better than them, is having them with your friends, seriously, you're all the best." He grabbed two burgers that he was all too eager to tear into.

Wyatt took the sword and looked at it. Sure, he could just as easily make one with his powers, but there was a certain novelty to be had with holding a real sword. The weight and texture added so much more to the experience, not that he would ever actually use it in a real fight. It would probably look nice hanging on his wall if nothing else. "Thanks, Elle! This is really cool." He said and lightly swung it a few times before putting it back neatly in it's sheathe. He went back to munching down on his burger when he was approached by Angelica of all people. Not that she was bad, but he and her had spoken maybe a grand total of a dozen words to each other since the team started.

Her social skills hadn't improved much. Once again getting an idea he really shouldn't act on, but went with it anyways. After she sat down, he gave her a hug. "Awww... Thanks Angelica. You didn't have to get me anything." He knew there would probably be retaliation if he touched her for longer than a few second, so he quickly let her go and used the talon on his index finger to carefully cut the wrapping paper off. The entire Hobbit trilogy on blu-ray was inside. "Ooooooh... Neat! I've been meaning to sit down and watch more movies. Guess I know where to start! Thanks!" He replied sincerely despite being quite sure the only reason she got it for him was he was called Smaug one time a while ago.

Someone mentioned games and Alexis setting them up. That was all Wyatt needed to hear. "I'm in. If we're playing Super Sonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars, then prepare to get absolutely destroyed!" Alex was one of the tech wizzes on the team, so either she made her own game, which would be really cool, or she just hooked up a few consoles. Either way, he was more than happy to play video games with his best friends.

Next was Carter's gifts. Like Angelica, he had gotten pretty much every movie that had a dragon in it. While he wasn't sure of the quality of all of them, he couldn't help but notice a theme, but it was the thought that counted. Maybe they could do a movie night later on. If the movies were good, then that was great. If they were bad, it would be a lot of fun picking apart how silly they were. Either way, it would be a fun night. "Thanks Carter!" He replied and pulled his air-headed friend into a hug, careful not to hurt him. "We'll have to do a movie night."

[Bentus]

Marionette
San Diego

---

Casually putting away the guard’s severed thumb, safely wrapped up in enough tissues to keep any blood from getting on her dress, Marionette was pleased with how her night was progressing. The dead bodies that lined the upper level of the watchtower wouldn’t be alerting their allies any time soon, which gave her plenty of time to slip in and out undetected, while giving her the freedom to have some fun in the meantime. Marionette was about to make her back towards the stairs when the sound of alarms tore through the base, stopping her in her tracks. Spotlights immediately shattered the moonlit air, casting a harsh glow into the courtyard down below. Immediately, Marionette’s eyes widened in surprise as she turned to look outside of the tower’s tinted windows. There was no way that she had been discovered, she’d been meticulous, and it wasn’t like any of the guards had been expecting an attack to begin with.

"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."

The surprised expression immediately turned into an irritated scowl as the tower’s radio crackled into life. Looking down into the courtyard, Marionette glared at the silhouetted figure that was even now making a mad dash towards the facility’s entrance, carrying a sword of all things. Idiot. She felt an anger rising in her chest. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Clenching her fists Marionette stamped her foot in frustration, groaning at her horrific luck. Of course someone else was going to attack the same facility as her, and of course that someone was going to just run in and alert the entire base. Marionette wanted nothing more than to race out of the tower to try and get her hands on the fool before Warwolf robbed her of the chance to relieve some of her fury. But she doubted that whoever was down there would even last another minute. Typical, just typical. With a sigh, she tried to think of what her next move would be when the radio once again burst into life, resting her chin on her hand as she did so.

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

The girl’s expression became blank as the gears in her head slowly processed the silence that followed. Which tower was she in again?

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

There was the slightest twitch in Marionette’s eye as she realised that perhaps it would have been worth death or capture for the opportunity to eviscerate the idiot running through the courtyard. With an infuriated yell, she lashed out with her threads to grab onto a chair and hurl it in frustration at the tower’s control panels. She stood, breathing heavily as she tried to imagine the satisfaction of payback when another voice blurted out into the room.

“YOU??”

Turning to address the source of her newest irritation, Marionette’s gaze narrowed on the masked figure, at first not recognising him. “I’m sorry do I know you? Have we tried to kill each other before?” It was the voice that gave it away, Nathan’s own surprise at seeing Marionette having pre-empted any efforts to disguise it. With a pained groan, Marionette cursed her luck once again.

“Oh great, you’re one the Young Bloods’ B-listers aren’t you? Have they even figured out what to call you yet?” The villain paused for a second, tilting her head as her eyes roamed along Nathan’s figure. “And what’s with the new look? It’s a bit on the edgy side don’t you think?” Waving her hand dismissively, Marionette turned her body to face Nathan dead-on, threads beginning to extend menacingly from her fingertips. “You know what, I really don’t care. I am sick and tired of how you guys keep treating me. And I am certainly not in the mood to deal with you right now.”

Getting ready for a fight, Marionette paused as another voice came over the radio. Judging by the heavy breathing, it sounded like one of the foot soldiers on the ground.

“Charlie-3 here, update: the scrambler’s taken a hostile’s powers out. He ran into Watch Tower 3. Hostile is wearing a mask and uniform. Charlie-2 and I are in pursuit now.”

Slowly, a wide, cheshire smile began to spread across Marionette’s features, and she turned to look back towards the Young Blood who now found himself trapped with the villain. She seemed to look at him in a new light, more patient and taking her time now that she knew that he was essentially helpless.

“Oopsie, someone didn’t do their homework, did they?” She said, giggling as she began to step menacingly towards the hero. Her threads swayed in the air past her fingers, like snakes that were sizing up their prey. Marionette’s voice was nearly a purr. “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot, I’d hate to not get to know you a bit better. But, let’s just start over, ‘kay?” She was toying with him, and she was making no effort to hide it.

Suddenly, Marionette made a slight motion with her index finger, and at once a thread lashed out to twist itself around Nathan’s neck - attempting to strangle him. The girl continued to walk calmly towards him as he struggled against her attack. “I’m going to make it nice and easy so that you don’t have to strain your teeny little head. You’re going to tell me exactly where the rest of your team is hiding, and you’re going to tell me what your plan is.” More of Marionette’s threads began to encircle Nathan. Her smile was now stretched practically ear-to-ear, a sadistic gleam shining in her eye. “Or, I’m going to gut you like a pig.”

[New Neros]

Orion
Welcome Home

The stunning move preformed by the blood witch was only outdone by the sheer carnage that followed, Crimson collapsing onto her knees with a smirk, her face pale white from blood loss. Cannon rushed forward before the others, demonstrating his sheer destructive ability with a hard punch in the general direction of the armored convoy, his fist igniting the air into a fireball-like explosion, ripping apart vehicles and soldiers alike, blowing them several yards down the street and into each other haphazardly. Even the helicopters hovering in the sky spun out of control, exploding into buildings or each other due to the drastic change in air pressure. Each member of the villainous collective paired up with their usual partner, realizing all too quickly that they were back home in San Diego.

"I imagine this saves money on fuel." Nile pointed out, "From some backwater Eastern Europe shithole to the greatest city in California, all expenses paid, courtesy of the blood witch herself." Crimson shot the snarky man a smirk, which gave him a smile in return, Nile approaching Cannon casually after his impressive display of force. "Not to be rude, but I think this might be over kill. They're just cops, right? We have the whole damn squad on deck, that is pretty ridiculous." Cannon turned to look at his partner for a moment, his fist still steaming from the energy released.

"These aren't normal cops." The villain replied, "Did you read the reports Crimson was sending back? Legion briefed us before we were summoned."

"No," He answered honestly, "A lot of times, I zone out and just go with the flow and follow what everyone else is doing." This was met with a large sigh, but Cannon was patient with his partner, taking his eyes away from Nile and looking toward Legion and the robot version of Walt Bismarck, noting that he generally assumes that Walt is always a robot and never present in-person. "So, who are these guys then?"

"Warwolf." Legion answered, kneeling down to inspect Crimson a bit, "They're an anti-superhuman paramilitary force, and they are exceptionally good at their jobs." He motioned for Walt to come next to him for assistance, preparing to teleport the girl out of the battlefield as she'd done her service, Espina standing next to the others as she looked on. "We've been out of town for a week, and they really cleaned up the place for us, but we cannot possibly co-exist." Legion took a teleporter from Walt and copied it several times, handing them out to Gaul, Mar, Espina, and other nearby members of Orion. "As of right now, we are officially at war with Warwolf. We shall be returning to the Lab in order to fully assess the current situation, as Crimson and Espina have been hard at work gathering intelligence on the group's ground forces and abilities."

As Legion handed the last teleporter to Cannon, who stared at the device for a moment. "Why didn't we have Crimson summon us back at the Lab?"

Behind his metallic mask, Legion smirked. "We needed a display of force to let these bastards know that it isn't safe anymore. Orion is back and we're not ones to play games." It seemed as if the armored battalion was re-grouping and preparing a counter-attack, quite impressive for a police force, but not so much for the military company itself. They were built to level the playing field between superhumans and regular humans, they could bridge the gap in so many unknown ways, and that lack of vital intel could make or break any engagement. "Do not engage further, Cannon, you've done them a heavy hand as it is. We need to assess the full situation before we rush in."

"Rushing in seems to work out well now and again, especially since we've got some stripes now. What's the worst thing they could do?" Cannon asked, cracking his shoulders and knuckles loudly, itching to level any soldier he could get his hands on.

"They can nullify any power." Legion stated flatly, Cannon raising his eyebrows at the information. "I imagine this changes your tune ever so slightly. We have our own counter-measures to look at, for now, we need to exit." As the armored convoy began to roar to life once more, removing the badly damaged vehicles and coming forward with the ones still in operation, several soldiers of the outfit began to advance down the street, with the distant drum of more vehicles converging on the location. Several helicopters were visible on the horizon as well, Warwolf responding rapidly to the changing situation with their own display of force. One by one, the members of Orion activated their teleporter medallion, phasing out of the city and re-appearing in their subterranean Labyrinth, Cannon reluctantly leaving the battlefield last.

---

[Charmera]

Brianna

---

Opening her eyes, Brianna glanced at the clock above her bed, letting out a groan as she saw how late she had slept in. She had been out late last night, patrolling the territory of one of the gangs that the Outriders had their sights on. Things had gone relatively smooth, save for the man who had thought it had been a good idea to try and demand she go home with him as she was returning back to the hideout. Thankfully for her, it only took putting the blade of her spear tip up next to the man's throat to discourage him from trying anything further.

Letting out another groan, she rolled out of bed and changed threw on a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt over her exposed figure as she normally slept with no clothes on save for her undergarments. Her t-shirt hung well below her hips, contradicting with the rather short pair of athletic shorts he wore. While she was not one to bare much skin, she could appreciate the fact that they were easier to maneuver in compared to the style most males seemed to wear these days.

Walking over to where the bathroom was at, Brianna went through the normal morning rituals of brushing her teeth, washing her face, and brushing her hair back enough for her to look somewhat presentable to the others. She didn't bother with makeup, however, as she saw the use of it as something of a façade to others, comfortable with however she looked without it.

Walking over to the meeting area where they were supposed to assemble, she saw that Alexis and Nick were already present. Brianna raised an eyebrow at the sight of several documents spread out across the table, the word "Warwolf" clearly visible on some of the pieces of paper. Looking up to Alexis with a curious gaze, Brianna motioned to the information before them.

"I see you have been busy, Alexis."

Turning his attention to her, Nick answered her after taking a long drag from what was likely the tenth cigarette of the day thus far.

"As have you, based on the footage you gave me last night. I'm surprised you were able to get that close to that meeting without getting spotted."

Brianna shrugged.

"It wasn't difficult in the least. I think even you could have managed it, Brusi, as long as you could've held off on those death sticks for the few hours I was there."

Nick chuckled dryly at the comment.

"That's a bit too much to ask from me. I guess that's why I stay back here in the dungeon."

Brianna grinned slightly at the reply before turning her attention back to Alexis.

"So what is all of this, Alexis? Nick told me you were going to be busy with something this morning, but he never clued me in on what exactly it was."

It was at this point that Nightraven decided to appear. She arrived via her teleportation, materializing dramatically in front of her new teamates. She wore her helmet to this meeting, given that secrecy was her code. She wasn't sure she could trust them with her real name or face yet. To one such as her it was a weapon akin to a cold knife. She scanned the room, her eyes coming to rest upon Brianna. She had not met the Valkyrie before, so she was momentaily taken aback by a majestic being from myth. She paused, wondering if it was mere artifice or if it could really be one of the warrior maidens of Asgard before her. Given what she had seen, it was not impossible.

"I don't believe Alexis introduced you to me. Though perhaps she has given my name to you." The Raven masked vigilante spoke. Under other circumstances she might offer her hand to shake as a social nicety, but given that she was in a den of her own kind she decided to instead let Briana make the first move, if any. "In either case, it is good to see we have more members."

She then turned to Nick. "It is good to see you once more as well." She commented. Then she paused. "The cigarette less so."

She then turned to Alexis. "I have been keeping tabs on the Dragons. I also followed up that other gang you told me of. The one led by that giant meta." She responded. "From my assessment they seem like they do indeed have their hands in the drug trade, but they also have some sort of lab for manufacturing "Power Up" drugs we may wish to keep our eye on. They have been supplied with scientists and materials I have yet to track fully."

She then paused. "But that wasn't all you wanted me to be here for is it?"

[Finland SSR]

Wyatt

Mars

Elle

Carter Graystone

Wendy

Kiris and Alexis

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

With the initial chant done for, everyone began walking up to Mars and Wyatt, one after another, and greeting them with a happy birthday. Well, Wyatt's happy birthday. Mars's was only coming in a few days. But that little piece of trivia did not take away anything from the atmosphere. After Kiris's heartwarming hugs and pecks to the cheek, other members moved in to congratulate the two, give their gifts, although definitely not as openly as the Hadrian had a few seconds ago.

For the most part, they congratulated the jubiliates, dispelled Wyatt's doubts about not being worthy enough for the team to celebrate their birthday, and handed their gifts. Some surprise came in the form of Angelica, the team's resident ice queen, giving a hug to Wyatt and Mars, and Elle gifting swords of all things to the two - however, for the most part, everything was going pretty standard. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Mars and Wyatt already looked like they were going to melt from all the blushing and all the surprise - any more and they would have to give gifts to two puddles, eh?

Oh, right, speaking of gifts. Renata took out the envelope she kept from public eye safely within her blouse, then suddenly ran forward, speeding past the crowd of teenagers and towards the dragon and the nerd recovering from all the love. From an outside perspective, it might have looked like the heroine was about to tackle and slam into the two, but no, not exactly - she would come to a sudden, screeching halt in front of them and pull them in to a wide embrace. Mars with her right and Wyatt with her left.

"Ihopeyou'renotgettingtiredofthisgettingrepeatedbut- Happy birthday!" Renata spoke out in a flurry, her words barely comprehensible, then pulled back, taking a breath to calm down a little bit, then continued:

"Maybe it's a little bit odd - we've only known each other, as heroes, for only a week, and yet I'm already here in your birthday party... But it's been amazing to live here with you all and be in this community so far! So, as my thanks..."

Renata carefully handed the envelope to Mars's hands.

"This gift is for both of you. Don't worry, it's not just a gift card. We don't really do that in Ecuador."

Nathan

Marionette
San Diego

---

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

The first fireteams of Warwolf soldiers started exiting the central building almost immediately after Floyd burst in, speeding forward across the paved road leading to the front door. Perfect. Not even sarcastically so. In response, Floyd suddenly cocked back his right arm, the one which held his sword, then tossed the weapon to the left in a wide arc, letting it spin and fly towards one of the watch towers. A few of the Warwolf soldiers opened fire on the sword, clearly not accustomed to the idea of it being used as a boomerang - however, having been chucked with superhuman might, it easily sped past any of the rounds coming its way.

Similarly, the sheer force behind the blade cut down two of the four poles keeping the tower standing like paper mache, letting the entire structure begin to collapse. Radio messages burst into the air again.

"Watch Towers 2 and 3, this is Watch Tower 1. Hostile ranged strike dealt heavy structural damage. We're going down, I repeat, we're going down!"

Floyd wasn't sure whether there was any tactical advantage in taking down those towers... but it sure was fun to take out something this defenseless. The swordsman leaped upward, catching the returning sword in mid-air, then descended on the first poor sob who had the idea of getting in closer to the mysterious hostile - two demonic-powered legs slammed into the power armor chassis and began sliding across the pavement, the armor leaving bits, pieces and sparks across the road as it went. More soldiers were coming and pulling out modified firearms, however, so Floyd stopped his slide by stabbing his sword into the ground and using it as a pole to redirect himself and the human snowboard, throwing the body underneath his feet into a nearby grunt and thus tossing them both away for a good dozen meters.

Milliseconds after Floyd's feet reached the ground again, five automatic rifles, modified to fire lethal rounds strong enough to punch through aircraft, opened fire on the swordsman. What an inconvenience. And with his sensual manipulation completely turned off thanks to the power scramblers installed everywhere in this facility... simply cutting down all of the rounds coming his way was no longer a problem. Floyd reacted swiftly, however, grabbing onto his sword's handle and suddenly leaping away. The first few dozen rounds hit nothing but air, but the fireteam wasn't lacking in reaction speed, either - while in mid-air, Floyd found himself forced to deflect a bunch of incoming bullets.

Did he have a plan on where he wanted to leap? Not really, and if he did, he would have probably leaped over the fireteam and gotten closer to the central building, instead of fleeing somewhere to the side? But it turns out that fate had a plan for him anyway, as in the way of the swordsman's arc was one of the three watch towers. This one was slightly distant from the action, but had a fairly good view of the area in front of the main entrance, where the initial fighting took place, anyway.

After turning his head around and learning exactly that, Floyd came up with the plan of landing on the wall of the watch tower and using it as a spring to return to the fight as a human torpedo, but, as it turns out, he underestimated his momentum, (or overestimated the strength of the watchtower walls), as instead, the swordsman burst through, landing on the floor of the watch tower. A fairly wide area, a few dozen meter across. It's just unfortunate that there were only two people inhabiting that wide area, both of them teenagers - a girl in a pink dress and over the top blonde hair, and something which looked like a vigilante. Well, unless you also count corpses, of which there were at least a few. Floyd had no reason to count.

Oh yeah, and one of the two was choking the other.

"Let me guess," Floyd muttered, brushing off some dust off his white jacket. "It's 'Take Your Incredibly Spoiled Child to Work Day' here, isn't it?"

[Absolon-7]

---

Casimir Herman July 17th
Casimir was looked at the big spider Elle had thrown at him and looked he glanced at it as it fastidiously waved its legs around as he held it. There was something quite off about from how it looked. It reminded him of that boring Zalgo meme he sometimes saw online. Considering that and how it big it was, Casimir wan't a fan of holding it. Insects were nice and shiny while while spiders were all fat and hairy like this spider seemed to be.

Casimir opted to ignore the spider while he held and instead listen to how Elle had astonishingly already set up the water pong table. Even going a mile beyond what was needed. It was an incredibly elaborate set up that would definitely make it leagues more entertaining that the normal set up. The only thing he didn't like was the name. 'A-Pong-Alypse Now' made him internally groan in despair but saying anything out loud would be rude.

Soon after, it was time to hide to surprise the birthday boys. As they entered the room a chorus of cheers for the two. Kiris was one the first to directly greet them as she gave them an affectionate welcome, especially to Mars. Adorably, Mars was quick to reciprocate Kiris' affectionate display. Strangely, Casimir found himself absolutely covered in confetti and glitter. What otherworldly coincidence of fate had lead to this travesty of a despicable condition. A completely repugnant state of being to be covered in such glittery mess. To have such a malignant dust of evil on him...It was Elle. He was right next to her as she fired those confetti handguns from hell so he was nothing but a target. Just collateral damage as the government would call it.

Wyatt shared a heartfelt moment with a few other teammates as he revealed his incorrect opinion about him being dead-weight to the team. The moment got really intense once Wyatt started crying. But the situation sorted itself out rather quickly as teammates came to soothe Wyatt. Casimir sighed in relief as he didn't know if he'd be any good consoling someone. If kicking ass was what someone needed then finding someone better than him would be a challenge itself. More delicate matters on the other hand depended on the situation. By now, it looked like everyone was heading over to eat and there would be nothing Casimir would want more than stuff himself. He headed over to the table where everyone had placed the food and mentally savored how great it would all taste. When he heard Elle complain about how there wasn't anything meatless Casimir felt that would be a good opportunity to get folk to eat his homemade pierogi.

"Hey, Elle! If your looking for something meatless try my pierogi. They're basically dumplings with minced potato and fried onion in the inside. Trust me, they're amazing. Made them myself." Casimir felt ecstatic that there could be someone to eat his pierogi. It was the only food he was actually amazingly good at making since everything else looked like something not meant for human eyes.

After giving the suggestion for food Casimir, filled up his plate to the brim with every possible selection of food and overheard the beginning of a gaming session. The call to arms was too tempting to refuse. After Renata wished them a happy birthday and gave her own gifts, Casimir walked to his two teammates.

"Count me in on the gaming guys! Just cause it's your birthday doesn't mean I'll insult you by going easy," stated Casimir while he placed his food on nearby counter for later consumption. "Although before we start, I gotta give you guys my esteemed gifts," said Casimir swiftly handing two wrapped rectangles to Wyatt and Mars. Little did either of them know, that Mars was to receive a customizable Gundam figurine while Wyatt would be the owner of a genuine copy of Drakengard. "Hope I got the right idea of what you two would enjoy."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 18th
Wonder Island, San Diego

It was mid afternoon and Mars was currently outside trying to get some fresh air while simultaneously working on the team helicopter. Someone had rudely hotwired it, damaging its computer. After sending a harshly worded email to the team he went to work on fixing it. He was laying underneath the helicopter, shirtless as it tended to be a dirty job, and had a screwdriver and wrench in hand.

“Hey there, stud.” A voice called out to him as Alexis strolled out of the building and onto the helipad that was attached to it, spotting another teenage genius hard at work underneath the helicopter. “You’re really going the extra mile to get that thing fixed, huh? Such a diligent man! Would you like some iced lemonade to cool down?” She teased him as she casually walked up to the helicopter. Needless to say, she was perfectly aware of who had messed with the helicopter, but she had no intention of letting him know. That would be treason, after all.

“Well, assuming the next person who uses it would prefer actually fly than crash immediately, I don’t have much of a choice.” Mars said before rolling out from under the helicopter so that he was looking at Alexis. “Honestly though, lemonade sounds pretty nice right now. What are you doing here though Alexis? The garage has never interested you much.”

“You’d love an ice cold glass of lemonade, huh? Too bad, I was just teasing you.” The blonde girl said with a smug grin on her face, before coyly walking up to Mars, holding something behind her back. “Anyway, um… I know we already threw a party and all but, you know, since your birthday’s coming up… I thought I’d give you a special gift.” She said, suddenly acting a lot more shy than usual. Before Mars had a chance to ask her what was going out, though, she pulled out the ‘gift’ in question and held it in front of Mars so he could clearly see. It was a photo of the Los Angeles Stars, signed by all of the members of the team, sans Mudslide and Armorer. “What do you think?”

Mars shot up when he saw what Alexis was holding in her hands. “No way!” He shouted excitedly, running up to study the poster. “Alexis this is incredible, Quake, Star Queen, Red and Blue they’ve all signed it. Mudslide and Armorer aren’t there but oh well, these four are the best anyway!” He said glowing at the gift.

He only just then noticed the tone in which Alexis had spoken before, “Uh thanks a lot Alexis, this was great. But uh, it seems like there’s a catch here isn’t there?”

With a smile, Alexis took away the photo. “You’re a pretty sharp one, aren’t you, Marsy-boy? I guess that’s no surprise though, you do have your very own giant robot and helped out with setting up the island’s defenses.” The blonde girl spoke, before taking a few steps closer and throwing an arm around her teammate’s shoulders. “Yes, yes, there’s a catch - big surprise! It’s okay though, it’s all part of your special gift.” She said, smiling mischievously and poking at his naked chest. “Either way, I’m sure a handsome boy like you wouldn’t mind going out on a date.”

Mars paled a bit, “A date? What are you talking about?” He asked, never having actually been on a date before. When Alexis poked his chest he realized he didn’t have a shirt on and quickly felt self conscious, grabbing his white t shirt from the ground and putting it on. “Alexis what are you up to? You did all of this so I’d go on a date? With who exactly?”

“Aw, c’mon, you ask with so much doubt, so much suspicion! Don’t be like that, I’m sure there’s quite a few girls that wouldn’t mind going on a date with you. Who knows, maybe even I’m interested? Perhaps I did all of this so you’d go on a date with me?” The girl replied with the same look of mischief on her face, relentlessly teasing the genius. “But for fun’s sake, I’ll leave the name of your partner a surprise. Won’t it be more exciting that way? And I mean, I’m just asking you to go on a date, it’s not like you’ll pay taxes. I’m sure you’ll have some fun.” She continued, voice and expression a bit gentler this time. “So, what’ll it be? Do you want the photo and the adventure?”

Mars had a bad feeling about this situation, and Alexis’ mischievous smile didn’t help things any. He blushed at the idea that she was the one asking him out, he knew what the much more likely possibility was and that didn’t make him anymore confident. Still, he really wanted that poster and whatever Alexis was planning couldn’t be too bad, right?

“Alright, I agree to whatever you’re planning.” Mars said, snatching the poster out of Alexis’ hands and admiring it for a second time.

“That’s our Mars! All shy and nerdy, but so brave when the moment of truth comes along!” The blonde said with a triumphal smile, content to let Mars keep the poster. She didn’t think he was one to weasel his way out of a deal once he’d given his word, but on the other hand, perhaps a reminder wouldn’t be amiss either way. “It’s later today, a little bit before evening; enough time for you to finish work here I’m sure. Try to be there, okay? Your date may or may not be heartbroken if you don’t show up~” She advised, handing him a slip of paper before poking at his no longer naked chest again. “Oh, and dress well for the occasion alright? Going out there into the fray shirtless probably won’t work as well as it does in the hangar.” She cautioned.

And with that, the lively tech wizard strolled back into the building just as casually as she had come out of it, a little spring in her step as she hummed something to herself, soon disappearing from view. Now by himself once more, Mars couldn’t help but feel like he had just made a deal with the devil… now the only question was if his day would turn out to be a good one or not.

[Bentus]

Yoshiro
Wonder Island, San Diego

---

Yoshiro cheered along with the rest of the team as Wyatt and Mars entered the lounge. The pair of teens seemed to be taken aback by the surprise waiting for them, the duo glancing around in a daze before sheepishly reacting as their teammates rush to embrace them. Yoshiro was content to hang further back, allowing for Kiris to be the team’s vanguard. The telepath smirked as she felt both Mars’ and the alien girl’s auras shift in hue as Kiris kissed the birthday boy gingerly on the cheek. The whole team was abuzz with a warm glow, the party really putting them all at ease given the stress and uncertainty of the past week. Inwardly, Yoshiro was glad that they had agreed to all set aside the day for Mars and Wyatt. It was a kind thing to do, and would probably go along way to helping the team as a whole get a much-needed breather. With the arrival of Warwolf and the clash with Inferno still fairly fresh in everyone’s minds, they certainly could use the break.

As the party goers gradually began to mingle and break up into groups, Yoshiro continued to stand and watch as her friends all joked and laughed with each other. A few of them were stepping aside to get food, while even the new members seemed to be doing their best to get involved - with Elle making friends in her own way. The telepath was content to soak in the background din of conversation and to bask in the glow of being surrounded by so many of her friends, by what was quickly becoming an extended family. Yoshiro’s eyes roamed over the lounge, eventually settling on the large window that looked out over the rest of the island. She couldn’t help but feel her thoughts waver for a moment, wondering if the Wonder Warriors had ever celebrated each others’ birthdays like this. If Voice still had memories of days just like this with her own team. Yoshiro felt a stab of guilt, realising exactly what memories her sudden appearance at the woman’s house must have evoked. Still looking out of the window, Yoshiro thought that she could just make out her own reflection staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

“Mind sitting together? I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much about the others giving us a hard time after Kiris and Mars’ little stunt.” Red’s voice broke Yoshiro out of her reverie, and she turned to offer him a smile, thanking him as he handed her a healthily stocked plate of junk food. She blushed slightly at the implication of his words, but didn’t hesitate to sit next to him on the couch. Wyatt and Mars joined them soon after, and Yoshiro was pleased to see that Wyatt was finally starting to realise how much the rest of the team valued him when Red jokingly teased him, eliciting a swift elbowing in retaliation on her part. She hesitated however as Red responded, his tone becoming more serious as he insisted that Wyatt was by far not the worst of the team’s misfits. It didn’t take a genius, or a telepath, to figure out that Red was referencing himself, but as much as Yoshiro wanted to correct him, she knew that now wasn’t the time. It was better to try and just enjoy the party.

As the others continued to chat among themselves and more people joined them by the couches, Yoshiro noticed Angelica sitting by herself. The ice user seemed uncomfortable and out of place, more so even than usual. Frowning, Yoshiro thought back to their earlier conversation. Angelica had seemed to be almost defensive, although she seemed to have really tried to respond to her quiet call for help. And now that she thought about it, Yoshiro had never seen the other girl wear anything even close to her current outfit - not to say that it wasn’t eye catching on her figure. Noticing that she kept glancing away, Yoshiro followed Angelica’s gaze until she spyed Alexis and Jacob talking to each other on the other side of the room.

It was then that it all suddenly clicked together in her head. Looking back at the ice user, Yoshiro smirked towards her friend, wondering how long she’d been hiding away her feelings from the rest of the team. Now that she thought about it, she almost felt guilty for not noticing earlier. Silently, Yoshiro mentally reminded herself to try and do what she could to help her friend out later. Who knew, maybe she could even get Alexis onboard.

“Count me in on the gaming guys! Just cause it’s your birthday doesn’t mean I’ll insult you by going easy.” Casimir declared in his usual loud and boisterous way before handing his gifts to Mars and Wyatt. Yoshiro sheepishly reached over to grab the presents she had purchased, realising that she had completely forgotten to give them to the pair earlier.

“I wasn’t too sure what to get you guys, but I knew that you both liked video games so I asked around and apparently these are meant to be pretty good.” Yoshiro had gotten Mars the new NASL League Manager game, knowing how much of a fan he was for the LA Stars, while she had grabbed Wyatt the latest Fallout title. She didn’t really know much about either title, but Red had pointed her in the right direction for their gifts.

“I also don’t really play much games, but would be totally down to try something.”

[Segral]

Carter Graystone

Uh-oh, his little speech had done the complete opposite of what he had hoped for. Instead of cheering Wyatt up, all had done was made him break down in tears. Although, they were tears of happiness, so that was something. Soon enough though, Wyatt was plenty cheered up, so it seems like disaster had been averted. Munching on a packed plate with a cheeseburger, several pierogis on it, a criminally underrated dish in Carter’s humble opinion, and a few of Mike’s orgasmic cookies, he sat alongside Wyatt, ogling at the various gifts being presented to him.

Movies, video games, swords, kisses from scaly singing aliens, it was all being presented to Mars and Wyatt, the piles of wrapping paper beginning to take shape. And speaking of video games, it seems like Mr. Polish-Croatian-East European-Jewish Cocky Man was...challenging him to a video game contest! The nerve!

“Oh boy, little bug boy, you just wait. Once I get my hands on that controller, you’ll be weeping at the blue screen of death. Get ready to be knocked sideways, BIATCH!” Carter said smugly, tilting his chin at Casimir as if challenging him to some epic duel. “But first...presents for the birthday boys!”

After some precarious digging through the mountain of gifts for Mars and Wyatt, Carter found his own two, which he had snuck back in quickly during the initial party hubbub. One was a very thick, long rectangle-shaped package, the other more cuboidal, but still large. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he had put a lot of thought into the gifts...and precious money. Hoepefully, it would be worth it.

“Alright, here’s your gifts, guys!” he valiantly declared, handing the rectangular package to Wyatt, and the cube to Mars. The rectangular package contained five movies; ”Flight of The Dragons, “Dragonslayer”, “Pete’s Dragon”, “Willow”, and ”Dragonheart”. He thought the would be fitting for his scaly friend. The cube contained a box of brand-new roller skates for Mars, a gift that he hoped would get Mars to get outside more.

“Wyatt, I got these because I know how much you like movies. Mars, I got this because you’re always looking so pasty, you never get any sun or fresh air. Now, open up!”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

---

Kirisvala smiled brightly when she saw Wyatt walk over to the food table and grab a couple of her cheeseburgers to enjoy them, all while continuing to express his gratitude and affection for her and the rest of the team. She was content to nod at him and then watch as he went over to sit with the rest of the team, mingling with the rest of his teammates, clearly no longer as distraught or as overwhelmed by emotion as before.

Feeling she had done her part in cheering up the dragon boy, Kiris made her way to the buffet table herself, looking over all the delectable choices present on it, cooked by herself and others. She was about to make her choice and grab something, when she heard the voice of their newest member, asking if there was anything without meat on it. Of course, the Hadrian still thought that veganism was just about the most alien thing humans had invented that she had heard of, but she also firmly believed that in a party like this no one should be left without something to eat, so she started scanning the table, in hopes of finding something that the others had made that did not contain any meat.

Fortunately, just then, Casimir arrived with the solution, suggesting to Elle the dumpling things he had made, which sounded fairly tasty despite not containing any meat. Once he was done saving the day, Kirisvala approached the newest member of the team as well.

"Hey, Elle. Um, sorry, if I had known I would've made somethin' for you too, but to be honest, you're the first, um... 'vee-gan' person I meet. Sorry about that." She said in a clear apologetic tone, her tail's movements suddenly slow and muted. However, a bulb figuratively lit up inside her head then. "Oh! I made a lot of mac and cheese for Mars, you can try it if you want. I'm pretty sure I didn't put any meat in it." She said. Clearly, she wasn't aware that vegans did not consume animal products in general, deceived by Elle's rather specific request for 'meatless' dishes, and if she was, she probably thought cheese grew on trees or something similar.

Either way, she was content to have provided an alternative, and with that done, she walked over to the cheeseburgers, comfortably fitting two in each claw before walking back to the party, picking a seat that was a small distance away from the main group, which was currently discussing whether to play videogames or not. At the moment, she was content to simply watch and eat, devouring half of a cheeseburger in a single bite.

[Bentus]

Marionette
Warwolf facility, San Diego

---

As Nathan struggled against Marionette’s threads, she paid the continued screeching from the radio little mind. The Young Blood was gasping for air as he felt the binding constrict painfully around his throat, although Marionette was careful to make sure that he was still able to breathe - albeit painfully. Her other threads continued to lurk just beyond Nathan’s reach, ready to pounce should he somehow, miraculously, impossibly, free himself from her initial attack. Marionette smirked as the hero shot her a look of defiance, her smile only broadening at his futile efforts. She couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy, relishing the opportunity to toy with her prey, especially after he’d so thoroughly ruined her earlier plans. Finally, Nathan seemed to make an effort to open her mouth, but with a flick of her wrist, Marionette tightened her threads and cut off the words before they left his tongue. She was sure that it would have been some witty insult rather than an answer to her question, and she wasn’t in any mood to let him have his say. But, she had no intention of letting him give in that easily. Not until she’d had her fill of payback.

“Uh oh, words stuck in your throat? That’s a real shame!” The villain giggled. “Maybe you need a bit more encouragement to give up her friends, hmm?”

Before Nathan could respond, and before Marionette could follow through on her implied threat, there was a loud crashing sound as the wall’s tower exploded inward. Dust and debris filled the control room, and a surprised Marionette found herself coated in a thick cloud of dust. As the smoke began to clear, she glanced down in horror at the state of her dress. The bright pink colour was now a faded shadow of its former self, coated in a layer of dust. All the faces in the tower - or least those that were still living - were turned towards the silhouette emerging from the fog.

“Let me guess,” the figure standing in the gaping hole in the wall brushed off some of the dust from his own jacket, seeming to take the scene that greeted him in his stride. “It’s ‘Take Your Incredibly Spoiled Child to Work Day’ here, isn’t it?”

Marionette scowled at Floyd, “Was that entrance absolutely necessary? It is going to take me ages to get this clean!” She paused as his appearance became more clear, tilting her head in confusion. “Hold on, you’re a bit old to be one of the Young Blood’s don’t you think?” The girl furrowed her brow. “Are you one of their trainers or something? Wait…” Marionette’s voice trailed off as she saw the bloodied sword in the man’s hand, her anger from earlier once again bubbling to the surface.

“You’re the idiot who charged in earlier!” Releasing Nathan, Marionette turned to look straight at Floyd. Taking the severed thumb of the guard out from a pocket, she hurled the limb in frustration at Floyd. “I was scouting this place out all week, you big meanie! Do you have any idea how dull following their patrols and figuring out how to sneak in was?” Storming towards Floyd mid-tantrum, Marionette jabbed an accusatory finger towards him. “But it would have been worth it if you hadn’t gone ahead and tipped them all off with your testosterone-fuelled deathwish! And now they’re going to increase their security and it’ll take even longer to find a way in. Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”

[Tomia]

Frost Bite watched as Wyatt hugged her, frowning under her mask slightly when she saw the hesitance with which he acted with. It was almost as if he was afraid of her. That didn't make her feel much better about herself, but she understood where he was coming from. Angelica was starting to realize that her standoffish and secretive attitude had consequences with her teammates. "You're welcome Wyatt, I hope you enjoy them." She said, doing her best not to recoil at the hug and to have as friendly a tone as possible.

"Thanks Yoshi!" Mars said as he was handed a gift by her. Then he was suddenly wrapped into a hug by Renata, he had been worried she was going to tackle her for a second.

"Wow Renata, that means a lot. I'm glad you feel like you fit in here." Mars said to her sincerely.

He decided he should start opening up his presents as they come, rather than letting them pile up. He started with Renata's.

"Wow, there's a lot of plane tickets in here Renata." He said in shock as he opened the gift with Wyatt. "They're tickets to Ecuador? This seems like enough for the whole team. A team vacation to your home? That sounds like a lot of fun!" He told his teammate. He was surprised at how large of a gift him and Wyatt had received.

Next came Yoshi's gift, unwrapping it to discover the new NASL game.

"Woah, the new NASL! I've been waiting to get this!" Mars exclaimed happily, standing up to hug Yoshi. "This is awesome. Thanks a lot." He told her sincerely before taking Frost Bite's gift in hand. He unwrapped the box and then opened the box to reveal two long and thin pieces of paper. Mars recognized them instantly.

"No way!! Two tickets to the Battle at the Bay!" When he saw the confused look of his friends he clarified. " It's the NASL match between The San Francisco Rising Suns and the Los Angeles Stars! They have one every year during the summer. Frost Bite how'd you get these?" He asked in shock. Frost Bite merely shrugged.

"I know a guy that owed me a favor."

She said simply, shocked when Mars ran to her and gave her a big hug.

"This is so thoughtful, thank you." He said as he hugged her.

While many might have suspected Frost Bite might get angry or push Mars off, but instead she accepted the embrace. She awkwardly but gently put her arms around Mars and returned the hug. "Uh, you're welcome." She said softly, clearly a little uncomfortable. She was happy however and genuinely relieved that he was willing to hug her.

After that Mars turned back to the idea of them playing a game. "Well, Alexis set up a lot of stuff for us. Let's see what there is." He said before heading over the massive sets of televisions and game systems. "Mario Kart looks good, let's start with that." He said, starting up what basically looked like a wii on steroids.

After getting everyone who wanted to play a controller, Mars started setting up the game. When he got to the character selection screen he was shocked.

"Woah! Alexis this is so cool!" He exclaimed. She had managed to modify the game so that the characters looked like members of the Young Bloods.

"I so call dibs on myself!"

[Northwest Slobovia]

Sam Croft/Blizzard
Wonder Island
July 10th, 10AM-ish, Comic Book Standard Time

Sam gingerly stepped out of the rental van onto Wonder Island's small parking lot. He was still sore from yesterday's mission, despite a long soak in the Young Bloods' jacuzzi yesterday and more pain-killers than were really good for him. More sleep would have helped too, but after waking up board-stiff just before dawn, he'd started in on a couple of projects.

Project 1 was easier: he needed his own wheels. The kids' jet was great, but it was A) theirs, and B) not the most practical. A motorcycle would be better; a quiet one, probably electric. Fast would be good, too. He'd need to learn to ride, but how hard could that be?

Project 2... well, that's why he was back at Wonder Island: Wyatt's powers included shapeshifting or illusionary disguises, and a partner would make Sam's plan easier. So: first step was seeing if he was interested.

The short walk to the Tower was pleasant, as Sam was just wearing civilian clothes, not a disguise with his uniform underneath. He looked like any other upper-middle class guy on his day off. Two fights in two days was enough for a while. Sam bumped into Naja after getting off the elevator, and she pointed him in Wyatt's direction.

Sam greeted him with a genuine smile; powers useful for disguise work were few and far between. "Hi, Wyatt! Good work yesterday! Real pleasure working with you.

"I had an idea for another sneak job, this one longer and better planned. Warwolf's the target, learning their plans is the goal. I did some checking online this morning, and they're not the most careful about who works for them. I'll bet with some legwork, we -- well, we with some help from Wendy -- can come up with names of highly-placed individuals. Not General Rather's lieutenants -- Rather knows them too well -- but their lieutenants. If we can 'borrow' their appearances, mannerisms, and IDs, we can get into their HQ, into their offices, and learn a lot. If you're interested, that is.

"Oh, and rumor is that Yoshi has telepathic talents. If she can get us some passwords, we're golden."

[Anxiety Cafe]

Upon entering the watchtower, Nathan had a lot of things to think about. Like the fact that he was trapped in an enclosed area with a murderous psychopath, surrounded by enemies who wanted nothing more than to kill him, and, to top it all off, he was powerless. He had nowhere to go, and nothing to fight with. However, his contemplation over his situation was soon interrupted by something Marionette did.

"Wait, wait. B-LISTER? Are you kidding me?" he started, dropping the little hope he had left of concealing his identity. "Listen, lady. I don't know if you've noticed, but my powers aren't exactly bad, you know?"

He expected her to spout of some other mad nonsense and then do her ominous giggle, but instead, she simply smiled as the radio revealed exactly how helpless he was.

"Aw, fuck," he whispered as he eyes her encroaching threads warily, backing himself into the door. Before he could even bother trying to make a run for it, finding a quick death at the hands of Warwolf far more acceptable than torture at the hands of a deranged psycho, he felt a constricting in his throat that signaled the beginning of the end.

Her normally clear voice faded into the background as the oxygen flow to his brain slowed. He could feel his heart beating, as if attempting to force blood into his brain but still failing miserably. It took a little bit for him to understand her words, his already stressed brain distracted by the constant fear that cause him to spasm in attempts to escape the thread. He knew he couldn't give her what she wanted. Although he felt they weren't doing enough in the fight against Warwolf, and weren't taking the threat seriously, they were still the best, the only family he had ever had.

Licking his lips and opening his mouth to tell Marionette exactly what he thought of her and her stupid magic knitting kit, his feeble attempt to speak was interrupted by an earshattering crash as glass fell to the floor. The subsequent snarky comment wasn't hear by Nathan, for he could feel the edges of unconsciousness coming for him, his vision blurring and his movements growing sluggish and weak. However, Marionette dropped Nate on the ground without a care in the world, apparently more interested in their new visitor, which Nathan still hadn't gotten a glance at. Gasping for air and scratching at the thin line of blood Marionette had made, he looked up to see a bloodied sword and an annoyed mercenary.

Oh my God, Nathan thought, peeking over the window of the door and seeing more and more soldiers surrounding the watchtower. I'm either gonna die next to or at the hands of these two stupid fuckers.

Turning back to the two, who seemed to be in some sort of argument about how to best attack a covert military organization, Nathan sighed and put a hand up to massage his temples. The three of them were obviously on the wrong side of Warwolf, but were somehow not on the same side.

"Listen, you two," Nathan rasped, tensing and taking a step back when Marionette turned. "We can kill each other later. We have bigger problems right now."

[The Republic of Atria]

July 10, 10AM CBST, Wonder Island

Wyatt was slightly sore from the previous day, but not as much as he thought he'd be. He'd slept like a rock the previous night and woke up late, but made it to the Tower. He was interested in starting to read the books Onu gave him. Starting with the history book was probably the best idea since he would have all the time in the world to practice magic, and knowing the history of his own people was probably more urgent given the circumstances. So, once he arrived to the Tower, he just went to his room and closed the door. Not like he was expecting anyone to knock. A little time to unwind couldn't hurt.

Onu had clearly spent a lot of time on it, it was clearly tailored for a teenager without trying to hard. Or maybe she was just writing it from her perspective. That was something he'd have to ask her later on. Based on the half an hour he got to read, it was pretty interesting, and not too dissimilar from how humanity started out. At least until the mention of Taurac, and him being powerful enough that he brought the warring tribes together under his relatively benevolent hand and doing away with some of the more gruesome practices that many of them had. Not everyone agreed with him forcing them all to unite, but no one dared challenge him about it.

Just as he was about to get to the part where Naligura came into the mix, there was a knock at his door. In came one of the guys he worked with last night, recognizable due to his being a middle aged man in a tower filled with teenagers. He entered sounding and looking genuine, not something he was used to in the tower. "Good to see you too I guess." He replied and closed his book, carefully placing it on his desk. Sam explained that he wanted to do some sleuthing inside of Warwolf, and had gathered a bunch of information about a good few of them just by looking them up on the internet. Made him very glad that he avoided social media like the plague. "I hate to tell you this, but that's not how my glamour works." And I hate it with a passion. Feels like my tail gets shoved straight up my ass sometimes. "Changing it takes a lot of time and assistance." That was probably the whole Sam came to him.

"I'm still interested, I guess. I know they're not fond of me if last night was any indication. Warwolf uses full body covering armor. Can't see anything on the person inside, so my glamour will still be useful as long as we grab a grunt or two. The sooner we can kick them out of the city, the better."

[Finland SSR]

"Thanks for the gift, Renata, I totally didn't miss you and only notice at the last second"

Renata Martinez, the heroic Stella!

---

"I imagined that you all have been working hard all summer - training, working, going on missions and all - so at least a week of actual vacation would only be beneficial!" Renata exclaimed after Mars gave his thanks for the tickets gift. "After all, if you don't ever have a vacation on summer, it's not really summer, is it?"

Well, at least that's what Renata would make from the situation. Not that she hasn't been guilty of skipping the life-saving need of vacation, either.

With most of the visitors having handed their gifts and congratulated the duo on a happy birthday, the party moved on to the games, prepared by Alexis, and starting with Mario Kart. Everything moved fast enough that Renata didn't get to say whether she actually wanted to play, but she decided to join up anyway - hey, she has played Mario Kart before, it's a fun casual racing game, not something intense like a grand strategy, so why not try it?

And, as it turns out, Alexis had modded the game, replacing the characters with Young Bloods members. Not all of them. The newbies didn't seem to be included, or at least Renata couldn't find them, which solicited a frown from the pink-haired heroine.

"Well, if I can't be myself, then I'll be the next best thing." she muttered, moving her cursor up and picking Kiris.

Marionette
Warwolf facility, San Diego

---

Nate

The Great Floyd Tolson!

---

Bloody hell, he was kidding with that 'incredibly spoiled child' comment, but as it turns out, the blonde dressed in pink was doing everything in her power to make it appear correct. From verbally lashing out at Floyd, to tossing a disembodied finger at him in a frenzy - it bounced off the swordsman's unimpressed face - to finally storming up to him and continuing the accusations while pointing a finger to his chest. Floyd sighed and placed his sword back in its hilt. This might take a while.

Wait... Now that he got a chance to look at the blonde teen's face directly, doesn't it kind of look familiar? Right, he had seen that face before... on television. In reports about the attack on the San Diego Zoo, and some other later events, regarding some random "Red" teenager... The word "Marionette" flew around the swordsman's mind without a body to inhabit - maybe it was related to her, too. The girl did seem to be a thread manipulator, so maybe that's her nickname. Odd, from television, you would get the impression that Marionette is a psychotic, murderous sociopath, but here, she just looked like a bratty teen who wants everything to be handed to her on a silver platter. Guess modern media really does twist the truth.

"Look at this face." Floyd suddenly spoke, pointing his right index finger upwards. "And count how many fucks it gives about your plans, effort, infiltration or whatever the hell you're on about. I'm here to stomp out those Warwolf cunts and I ain't gonna give a shit about whatever fetish for stealth you have. And if you can't adapt to the changing circumstances accordingly, then you should go slap around teenagers at the zoo instead of dipping your toe in professional waters."

Before Floyd could rant any further, however, the person Marionette had been choking joined the fray, returning some common sense to the debate by pointing out that instead of killing each other, they could be killing the people they had set out to kill in the first place. The swordsman shot a faint smirk and turned back to Marionette, speaking:

"Look, that kid is weaker than you and even he has more common sense."

Floyd moved back to the hole he had made in the wall of the tower a minute ago, ready to jump, only to witness that a platoon of Warwolf grunts had already gathered around the building and were aiming their rifles at them. The commander of the unit pulled out a megaphone and screamed "PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" at them, which got the swordsman to force out a grin and glance back at the two teenagers.

"You're right, this attack will make Warwolf significantly increase the security of their base. This will only ring true if there is a base left for them to strengthen, though. If you two have a sense of adventure and don't get scared by thugs with rifles, you can join me in that."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

July 14th
San Diego

Icarus walked into the cafe along with Renata, noticing that it was fairly empty despite it being a Friday night. Behind the counter, an old man with graying hair looked in surprise at the door, but as the blond boy waved at him, he smiled and gave him a thumbs up, as if saying ‘nice catch!’. This caused Icarus to quickly turn away, a blush on his face as he gently led the Ecuadorian girl towards one of the booths nearby.

Obviously, if you think that Renata wasn’t embarrassed by the combination of Icarus grabbing hold of her hand as they entered his chosen cafe and the old man’s nonverbal comment, then you haven’t been paying much attention - however, that blush got soon dispelled by the chance to witness and evaluate the cafe she had brought in. Unexpectedly, Renata could tell herself that she had seen better - but, on the other hand, it didn’t actually look too bad, and Icarus didn’t seem like the type to bring a girl to a fancy restaurant for a first date, if… if we’re going to be calling it that. Plus, judging from how the old man behind the counter instantly recognized Icarus, this was far from his first time here.

So, when he gently led Renata towards one of the booths, she nodded and followed, the two soon sitting down. As would be expected from a cafe and diner, the tables weren’t exactly five-star restaurant grade, but at least they were clean and served their purpose well.

“This isn’t your first time here, I imagine,” Renata spoke, slightly leaning on her chair. “Maybe this is your favorite place to hang out?”

The question put a thoughtful expression on Icarus’ face as he rested his arms on the table, “I… hadn’t actually thought about it that way, but I suppose it is. I used to come here pretty often some time ago, to eat with my father or hang out with my friends, I even came here with my ex a couple of times…” He explained, but rather than smile at those memories, he frowned slightly, looking at the table instead of Renata. Meanwhile, the ‘my ex’ comment solicited a raised eyebrow from the girl. “I… stopped coming here or going out at all a while ago, at around the start of this school year.” He said, a melancholic look on his face.

His mood improved, however, when he noticed the waitress approaching their booth with a couple of menus and a notepad in hand, straightening up and looking up at her. “Welcome, welcome! And here I thought we wouldn’t be getting any more customers tonight.” The woman said in a cheerful and light-hearted manner as she handed the two teens their menus, before looking at Icarus, her smile replaced by a look of surprise. “Oh, what happened to your face?” She asked after noticing his scar.

The question made the boy feel visibly uncomfortable, and he looked away slightly, pulling some locks of hair to try and conceal the injury. “Oh, um, nothing Important, just an accident. I’d rather not talk about it.” He said, not in a rude manner, but clearly enough to dissuade any further questions. Instead, he grabbed his menu and quickly scanned through it; familiarity made it a simple process, so it only took him a few seconds. “I’ll have the grilled meat skewers and a soda, please.” He stated. The woman nodded and quickly scribbled it down, and then both pairs of eyes were on Renata.

The heroine took a lot longer to pick her meal - though all of the dishes presented in the menu were familiar, she hadn’t gotten enough time to even look through the whole thing, much less pick out her favorite, by the time Icarus stated his choice. After some thinking, “umm”s and “uhh”s, Renata finally stopped in front of the dish which looked the most exotic to her.

“Cold beetroot soup with potatoes, please. And a soda.”

With the choices of both visitors recorded, the waitress nodded, picked up the menus and left the booth, leaving the two more or less alone, again. The chatter that ensued between her and the establishment’s owner, who went to work on preparing the teens’ meals, ensured that the couple would at least have some measure of privacy while conversing.

“So, you said you stopped visiting this place about a year ago, then?” Renata opened up, following the same thread of conversation from before the waitress’ arrival, resting her face on her right hand. Why let go of it when there still were so many questions unanswered? “Did you just not have the time to come here anymore because of school... or did something else happen?”

Icarus leaned back onto his seat, sighing and looking at the ceiling for a few moments as he formulated the answer to Renata’s question inside his head, before looking down at the girl. “Well, um… I don’t know if you’re the type to pay any mind to these things, but you might be aware that I don’t exactly have a great reputation at school. There’s a lot of unsavory rumors about me, and all of that started shortly after the beginning of this last school year… you see, my father was convicted for residential burglary.”

After that, the blond boy paused for a moment to let the revelation sink in - assuming that she hadn’t heard about it before, of course. A faint smile appeared on his lips. “You can probably picture it: there I am, minding my own business, and suddenly rumors start spreading about me being the son of a criminal and potentially a troublemaker myself.” He told her. “In a school full of goodie-two-shoes and cocky superhero wannabes, I’m sure you can see why that was the perfect recipe for disaster.” He said, before pausing yet again. Thing were getting a little bit too heavy, so maybe it was time to try and make the conversation a little more light-hearted.

“Anyways, after that, I lost a lot of friends, got dumped, started getting into a lot of fights, blah blah blah. You know, the whole package. It did help me realize who exactly I could count on during the hard times, though, so that’s something.” The boy stated, his smile no longer faint as he attempted to make light of his problems; and the truth was that, when compared to where he stood at the moment, all those things did seem fairly small. “And that’s why I stopped coming here or going out as often.” He looked meaningfully at Renata. “Though that might change again in the future.”

In response, the girl snickered and spoke:

“Hehe, sure seems like it.”

Her mood and voice swiftly went lower, however, and Renata looked to the side, thinking for a few seconds, attempting to set everything back in place after the barrage of revelations, and then speaking:

“So it was because of what your father did that you had to retreat into yourself, then… You’re right, I did hear from a few of my classmates that you’re uh, and I’m trying to quote, ‘really fishy’. I think some of them joked that you were going to pull out an AR-15 on them any minute now… But I didn't really pay much attention to those rumors - and, honestly, they just sound really silly in hindsight, you know? You're a long way off from being a villain."

Though Renata gave a hearty smile afterwards, her mind, and by extension her eyes, quickly wandered off. The whole idea of being judged based on the actions of your father, both by the public and by your peers... wasn't exactly unheard of for her. At all.

"My story may not be nearly as tragic as yours, but I can't say that I haven't been judged based on where I'm from or who my parents are, rather than what I am as a person, either."

Hearing this, Icarus slightly raised an eyebrow, but quickly remembered the conversation they had on the Young Bloods’ jet five days ago, where the girl had revealed quite a bit about herself. “...You’re referring to your father, Silver, right? The dictator of Ecuador?” The boy inquired. “You told me about him a few days ago, about how being around him and his team shaped you up to become a heroine. But I guess that’s not the only way being his daughter has affected you.” He said, pausing for a moment. “Um, well, I guess that was obvious…”

Renata’s gaze returned towards Icarus for a few seconds, and the girl shot him a faint smile. It was his turn to act like a dork now, huh?

“Mhm. It’s nice to hear that you remembered it, by the way.” the heroine replied. “And yeah, you’re correct, it’s not the full story.”

Stopping for a few seconds, Renata looked to the side yet again, this time thinking how to even formulate her point. Explaining her relationship with her father to a third party was never an easy task to her - there were just so many factors, concepts and a conflux of emotions at play.

“...You see, even though I love Ecuador and I only wish the best of times to it, I didn’t end up in the United States for no reason - to put it simply, I’m here as a way to escape it. Remember, back in the jet, when I told you I’ve been working as a heroine for four years? Well… um… that’s not exactly right. I’ve been a member of the Andean Condors for four years, but I was hardly allowed to be a hero. I wasn’t allowed to battle or get myself at risk, and, at best, helped with some utility tasks.” She began to explain, then stopped for a few seconds, taking a breath and returning her gaze to Icarus’s eyes yet again.

“Nowadays, I’ve come to realize that my father was grooming me to become his future successor, but not necessarily a hero like him. If the media or the people ever talked about me, they would always have to mention who my father is, judge all my actions by comparing them to his, ask whether if, if I ever take the reins of the country, my style of rule will be the same… It’s just… frustrating, you know? Thousands of people my age could do anything to become a member of a famous team of heroes just like I did, and yet I had about as much control and the power to make change as everyone else.”

“So that’s why I came here, to San Diego - to escape my father’s omnipresence and try to carve out a path of my own to becoming a hero. He doesn’t really like it, though - every week, he calls me and asks who I’m hanging out with, what suspicious people have I talked with, where in United Statesian media have I appeared…”

Renata leaned forward a little, placing both of her elbows on the table (instead of just one) and holding up her face with both her palms. Still looking at Icarus, however.

“Maybe that’s why I instinctively said you were on our caliber back when we were arguing with Nightshade,” She continued. “I have gotten the chance to personally learn that years of service isn’t everything in this field.”

“...I still think it’s a killer compliment to someone who’s only been at it for three weeks, though.” The boy replied with a smile on his face, before leaning forward slightly, trying to process everything that the girl had confessed about herself. Even though most of it was a continuation of what they had discussed at the plane, and by all means he should have surmised some of it already, it still took him by surprise, causing him to pause several moments before looking at Renata and speaking again.

“Anyway, that’s… quite the story you’ve got there, Renata. I think you made the right choice, though, coming here to become a heroine and all. I mean, if you didn’t have the power to make a difference despite your position and despite being around so many heroes, there was clearly something amiss there. And, well, you’re already making a difference here.” He said earnestly. A moment afterwards, he blushed, realizing that she might think he was simply talking about them and not about more important matters. “I mean, like… you made a pretty big difference against Inferno, you know? I don’t think I could’ve gotten as far as I did without your help.” He added quickly.

“Still, it’s… it’s a little hard to believe, you know?” He said thoughtfully, before looking up at Renata with a grin on his face. “That I’m on a date with someone who’s going to lead a country one day.”

[The Rebel Alliances]

Alexis Cain/Vendetta-San Diego

And just like that, the whole gang was here. Myself, Nick, Brianna and the new girl NightRaven whose real name we still do not know. And only with us all here at the same time did I realize just how imbalanced the team was with the boy-girl ratio. It was nothing important, but it was a curious note. But we have work coming up soon and so I wanted to get this out of the way first an foremost. So that we can get it over with and spend the rest of the day off. Probably gonna be the last break we get in a while. I was just about to start when NightRaven suggested that I did not introduce her to Brianna. Did I not? She has been here with us almost a week and I could have sworn they met. Perhaps introductions are not really my forte. I thought thinking back to how I met both Nick and Brianna. Pretending to be dating the former and challenging the latter to a fight. Eh, suppose I could work on that. Aside from that I noticed Nick give NightRaven a dry smile when she mentined his cigarette. I chuckled slightly at the two as I started up the meeting.

"Well, a contact of mine in the Young Bloods has just stopped by and delivered some handy information on Warwolf. Good information but Warwolf is going to have to wait. Because tomorrow we are going into action finally. The Triads have a mob bank on East and 6th and while Warwolf is focusing security on the rally tomorrow, we are going to rob the bank and get out quickly as possible. But we will be doing so disguised as a rival gang. This will hopefully be enough to push the local power dealers into conflict, and we can take advantage. Of course, with Warwolf around we may need to prepare for a follow up operation if the robbery itself is not enough to do the trick." It was then that Nick, whose plan I was presenting spoke up.

"Warwolf has pushed business for these gangs underground, but they are still operating. The fact of the matter is that Warwolf for the past week seems to be keeping a 'out of sight, out of mind' approach to these gangs. As long as they do not make bad publicity or make themselves obvious. They look to be leaving them alone. What we will be doing as Alexis said is making life hell for these gangs until they cannot keep it under wraps. If we are lucky, we may even be able to use Warwolf's forces to our advantage and have them intervene and break these groups up for us. But..." His voice trailed off. And he started again.

"Something tells me that these gangs will fight, but they will lkeep the war as underground as possible. What worries me is that instead of car bombs and drive-bys we will see poisoning and perhaps home assassinations. Not to mention the entire success of this rides on these gangs never learning that there is a third party behind these attacks. But, given that most of us are unknowns as far as I can tell, maybe that will not be so hard." Snuffing the cigarette out on his desk he then looked around at all of our faces and added one last thought.

"Only thing left to do is decide what gang we will be trying to pass ourselves off as tomorrow. I mean, we could try going the free lancer route, but I think it would be best if they believed that we are legit members of a rival gang." His eyes then connected on NightRaven.

"You seem familiar with the Dragons, think we could pass ourselves off for them?" I followed his gaze and wondered the same thing, I certainly do not speak Russian, so that is most likely out.

"Sooo...what do you think? Can we do it?" I asked our new teammate, wondering exactly how much she knew of the dragons, and for the sake of our lives I hoped it was quite a lot.