Heroes Of Tomorrow (IC | Superhero)

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Nev Hurn
Nev slammed his hand on the table as the connection to the HQ's servers was instantly severed and reported a lack of internet connection, remembering a situation similar to this from a long time ago.
"Goddamnit, I knew I should have modified the virus to prevent shit like this!" He shouted, knowing that he would now have to access the servers directly, which meant infiltrating the HQ itself. But now wasn't the time to prepare for that, right now Nev had to make sure his tracks were covered, as this situation was pretty much a repeat of the hack war back at the Academy. With his hands flying across the keyboard, Nev rushed to scramble his IP, changing his virtual location from Iga to Pyongyang to make it seem like a North Korean cyberattack, before initiating a 'blackout' protocol, shutting down his house's power entirely to make himself invisible. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Nev began to code on his device, and watched as red ones and zeroes jumped from it's screen and float to a wall, before combining together to create what he desired. The numbers had stopped, and in front of him was the exoskeleton of a Xenomorph, modified to fit a person to control it from the inside. Nev looked over the creation and was satisfied, before turning around and preparing for the mission ahead.

[Forest State]

Task Force Juliet

Soon after the Task Force and the others reached the rooftop, the Chinook helicopter came into sight. The Huey that the Task Force had arrived in wasn’t large enough to extract the entire team that was waiting here, but the larger transport helicopter could seat more than thirty. Of course, it was also larger and more vulnerable, as a larger target that would be easier to hit if the Kings made one last assault on them during their escape to Macau. The rooftop wouldn’t be an even surface to make a landing on, and so the helicopter would hover and lower down ropes to the members of the Task Force and the Young Guardians that were accompanying them.

“I hope you’ve all trained in climbing,” Bishamon said, gesturing for the others under his command to watch the ground while the students climbed. Everyone knew the Kings were watching this, and one last attack while they were escaping wasn’t out of the question… Riley did his best to set up a shield around the edge of the rooftop, and Ana was one of the first ones to start climbing. She did well at the task, surprisingly, even if she wasn’t the most well known for athletic talent. Both Taylor and Ai Jiang signaled for the others to follow after her, and quickly.

Tee Gallagher

Tee was sulking a bit, the conversation from earlier playing in her mind despite her best attempts to remove it. Someone had the gall to tell her to be nicer? Who did they think they were? Maybe if they were the one that grew up around gangsters, they wouldn’t think that she needed to change. And Brianna was the one breaking her promise to Tee, that she had made before even meeting the other girl that needed help. The idiot girl that couldn’t even find her room, who didn’t even know if she was in the right building.

Tee clenched her fists somewhat angrily, as she started moving the mostly empty boxes to one corner of the room. That was when she heard a knocking on the door, and she wondered if it was Bri. It better be Bri coming to apologize, she thought, but she opened it and found that it was indeed not Bri. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “I hope you’re here to apologize-” she started, before cutting herself off. “Oh, hello,” she added, with a bit of flirtation in her tone.

[Segral]

Grant Miller

Grant rushed up to the rooftop, only to hear the sweet, sweet sounds of a kickass chopper descending on them. The chopper was pretty big, and looked pretty nice. He was daydreaming about what it would be like to ride in a chopper, until the ropes descended. "Ropes? Climbing? Shit." was all he thought. Grant has climbed up ropes a couple times, but he didn't have much practice with it, and wasn't the best at it, mostly due to him being not the smallest fry in the world. He would just have to give it a go, and that will was reinforced when that weird defensive Asian girl climbed up in no time flat. "What in the hell?" he thought in disbelief. "How did she do that?". No...he was not going to let himself be beaten by her of all people.

He quickly dashed up to the rope as soon as he got the command, and leaped onto it, grabbing with his hands and locking it in. He started to climb, using his arms mostly and only stabilizing the rope in between his ankles. But soon, he realized that his strategy was not working. He kept sliding down on the rope, barely inching up. He simply gritted his teeth and started trying to find another way. He decided to get a firmer grip on the rope with his feet, clamping it in between his ankles. He soon stopped sliding down the rope,and stayed locked in place. He grinned with satisfaction before swinging up with his legs and shimmying further up the rope. He kind of fell into this pattern of clamping his ankles, swinging up, and shimmying further. Before he knew it, he had flown up the rope and into the helicopter, panting heavily and nervously awaiting the others.

[Lunas Legion]

Gabriella Michelle Raphaella Bianchi-Costa

Gabriella got off the treadmill with a pant and a stretch of her arms, before making her way to a bench and sitting down with a sigh. Exercise was great and all, but sometimes it was just exhausting. She grabbed a bottle of water she'd filled before coming down here an hour and a bit ago and took a drink. Rest for a bit, then she'd go have a shower, change from her T-shirt and shorts to something more dignified and then go see if the cafeteria was open yet.

She heard the door creak open behind her. Someone else come by to do some exercise.

"Hello." She said, not turning around and instead taking another drink.

---

"Hello." Raphaella cocked her head slightly, smiling. "I heard noise from in here, so I knocked to ask about whatever was happening." She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forwards. "So what are you doing in there, since if it's somewhere as out of the way as here, well, I figure it's probably something interesting and I do quite like interesting things."

[Imperial--japan]

8E

8E had failed in her objective to capture the sniper. Despite previously arriving at the position the sniper had used to take shots at the members of the Guardians, the Android was not able to successfully track him or her. By 8E's predictions, the enemy had managed to successfully blend into the nearby crowds, and despite attempts to scan for any irregularities, she was unable to pick anyone out of the ordinary.

"Preparing for reassignment." 8E muttered before pausing completely, instead turning back the way she came to regroup with commander Taylor and the rest of the Guardians.

---

Sometime Later

As the rest of the Guardians began to ascend the rope, over on the edge was 8E who had quickly scaled the side of the building in its entirety to catch up with the Commander and the Guardians.

"I have arrived to provide support. Pursuit of enemy forces, failure." 8E relayed to the others.

[Wysten]

Frank because RIP Drunk Mason
The long hallways of the HQ made it feel like going to room to room was a whole journey in of it's self. The large Claymore on his back didn't help either even though Frank was used to it's weight it still bothered him every now and then. As he was walking out he saw a attractive woman walking the away walking past her he slowed down just a bit. A little conversation couldn't hurt. He turned around and walked just a little bit behind her summoning up the courage he the picked up the pace till he was right next to her and said. "Hello names Frank nice to meet you." He reached out his hand for a handshake trying to put on his totally-not-fake grin on.

[Zyanica]

Frank because RIP Drunk Mason
The long hallways of the HQ made it feel like going to room to room was a whole journey in of it's self. The large Claymore on his back didn't help either even though Frank was used to it's weight it still bothered him every now and then. As he was walking out he saw a attractive woman walking the away walking past her he slowed down just a bit. A little conversation couldn't hurt. He turned around and walked just a little bit behind her summoning up the courage he the picked up the pace till he was right next to her and said. "Hello names Frank nice to meet you." He reached out his hand for a handshake trying to put on his totally-not-fake grin on.

Yasha stopped and put her things down when the man approached her and tried to make a conversation with her. Huh? A man. For once, I meet at least one when I got here. All the rest were just girls or women or....mga tigulang (The old ones).

The soldier nodded, shook hands with him (quite painfully and tightly) and then said, letting go "Hi. Last name is Yasha. Porphyrios is my first. You must be a member of this organization? Guardians, huh? Like those two girls. I guess they must be Irish. Am I right?"

[Wysten]

Frank because RIP Drunk Mason
The long hallways of the HQ made it feel like going to room to room was a whole journey in of it's self. The large Claymore on his back didn't help either even though Frank was used to it's weight it still bothered him every now and then. As he was walking out he saw a attractive woman walking the away walking past her he slowed down just a bit. A little conversation couldn't hurt. He turned around and walked just a little bit behind her summoning up the courage he the picked up the pace till he was right next to her and said. "Hello names Frank nice to meet you." He reached out his hand for a handshake trying to put on his totally-not-fake grin on.

Yasha stopped and put her things down when the man approached her and tried to make a conversation with her. Huh? A man. For once, I meet at least one when I got here. All the rest were just girls or women or....mga tigulang (The old ones).

The soldier nodded, shook hands with him (quite painfully and tightly) and then said, letting go "Hi. Last name is Yasha. Porphyrios is my first. You must be a member of this organization? Guardians, huh? Like those two girls. I guess they must be Irish. Am I right?"

"As much as the sky is blue." He said looking over to the pair. He gave a sturdy handshake as well. "The name is Frank Copperson I am one of the unfortunate souls here as well. I was wondering umm I was going to a bar I saw on my way here you want to tag along?" He asked his voice sounded a bit nervous towards the end.

[Zyanica]

Yasha stopped and put her things down when the man approached her and tried to make a conversation with her. Huh? A man. For once, I meet at least one when I got here. All the rest were just girls or women or....mga tigulang (The old ones).

The soldier nodded, shook hands with him (quite painfully and tightly) and then said, letting go "Hi. Last name is Yasha. Porphyrios is my first. You must be a member of this organization? Guardians, huh? Like those two girls. I guess they must be Irish. Am I right?"

"As much as the sky is blue." He said looking over to the pair. He gave a sturdy handshake as well. "The name is Frank Copperson I am one of the unfortunate souls here as well. I was wondering umm I was going to a bar I saw on my way here you want to tag along?" He asked his voice sounded a bit nervous towards the end.

She let go and said, picking her things up again "Sure. But I could use some help in getting a room and placing my stuff elsewhere. I don't want anyone to steal from me. And I gotta treat some girl to a drink too. I did a little thing that probably ticked her off."

She liked this one. A foreigner. But she hoped this one was not like the ones her friends gossiped about. Bad husband's, traitorous friends. She wanted to be careful. She added

"How do I know I could trust you though?"

[Wysten]

"As much as the sky is blue." He said looking over to the pair. He gave a sturdy handshake as well. "The name is Frank Copperson I am one of the unfortunate souls here as well. I was wondering umm I was going to a bar I saw on my way here you want to tag along?" He asked his voice sounded a bit nervous towards the end.

She let go and said, picking her things up again "Sure. But I could use some help in getting a room and placing my stuff elsewhere. I don't want anyone to steal from me. And I gotta treat some girl to a drink too. I did a little thing that probably ticked her off."

She liked this one. A foreigner. But she hoped this one was not like the ones her friends gossiped about. Bad husband's, traitorous friends. She wanted to be careful. She added

"How do I know I could trust you though?"

"Ah." He said quickly out a small satchel he was holding on to he pulled out a bottle of Scotch. "This should do for now you want be to carry your bags?" He stopped a bit when she said that last line. "Well I guess we will both have to find that out ourselves."

[Zyanica]

She let go and said, picking her things up again "Sure. But I could use some help in getting a room and placing my stuff elsewhere. I don't want anyone to steal from me. And I gotta treat some girl to a drink too. I did a little thing that probably ticked her off."

She liked this one. A foreigner. But she hoped this one was not like the ones her friends gossiped about. Bad husband's, traitorous friends. She wanted to be careful. She added

"How do I know I could trust you though?"

"Ah." He said quickly out a small satchel he was holding on to he pulled out a bottle of Scotch. "This should do for now you want be to carry your bags?" He stopped a bit when she said that last line. "Well I guess we will both have to find that out ourselves."

"Scotch! I do adore this drink. May I have it?" Said Yasha before she nodded and said, "Oh yes please, carry some of my bags. But not my rucksack. It's mine to shoulder."

Yasha then ignored the rest of what he said, wishing to get a move on before things get awkward or something.

[Wysten]

"Ah." He said quickly out a small satchel he was holding on to he pulled out a bottle of Scotch. "This should do for now you want be to carry your bags?" He stopped a bit when she said that last line. "Well I guess we will both have to find that out ourselves."

"Scotch! I do adore this drink. May I have it?" Said Yasha before she nodded and said, "Oh yes please, carry some of my bags. But not my rucksack. It's mine to shoulder."

Yasha then ignored the rest of what he said, wishing to get a move on before things get awkward or something.

Taking some of the bags Frank hefted them on his shoulder. "Yeah you can have it I have a few at my place. So where to?" He asked.

[Forest State]

Cassandra Durand

Away from Hong Kong, and away from Saitama, something else was happening that would concern the Guardians. Not that they knew it at the moment, of course. In the luxury of Monaco, something sinister was going down that would be the start of the next major challenge for the Guardians. A start that had been building for years, that had been missed by just about everyone. The Durand Crime Family was a ghost, they said. A corpse from the past that would never threaten again. Something that had already been crushed under the heel of the Guardians years ago, in a quick and brutal affair that had seen the most powerful non governmental organization in the world flex its muscle.

All of that was just talk, and it was the reason why everyone ignored it as the internal dynamics in the Durand family changed. Everyone seemingly forgot that even if their organization had been dysfunctional in the past, they still had something that could put entire countries on their knees if used correctly: they had the black blood, and the tremendous power that came with it. A gift that was passed from one generation to the next, the blood acting as the physical manifestation of the inhuman power that was held by those who had it. And now, the head of the family was someone that intended to use the black blood to its fullest extent.

The ceremony was a quiet one that was conducted in the inner chambers of the Durand family mansion in the richest part of Monaco, with about fifty or so people in attendance, roughly. All of them had their eyes on one person, the charismatic Cassandra Durand, who had just taken up her position at the head of the room to address the gathered crowd. “My people, I think it is a shame that we’ve fallen so far to be referred to as a crime family, of all things. We’re not known for noble blood. Not known for our power. But as a crime family, something that could easily be made from street thugs. It is time for a rival, my family. One that will be lead by myself.”

An ambitious and devilish grin reached the corners of her lips. “Under my hand, our family will expand its power back across France before moving onto Rome, our lands in North Africa, and eventually as far east as Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch. Every land that belongs to us will once again bow to our might, and this time, the Guardians will not get in our way. Our gift is not something that should be hidden, and now that… And now that we have someone in charge who knows how to use it, it will be used to its fullest extent to wipe our enemies from the face of the Earth. We will get revenge for every life that was lost to the Guardian menace.”

She paused, and looked once more over the group of people assembled in front of her. “So right now, I am drawing a line between my followers and those who simply tolerate my rule. If you wish to see our might stretch from sea to sea, and if you’re willing to fight like hell for it, I want you on my side. But if you’re a coward, who thinks the Guardians will destroy us and that my plans are too ambitious, I don’t want to see you asking to share in our spoils. Choose wisely, and if you find yourself in the latter group, leave. We only need those who believe in the restoration, and nobody that will stand in our way,” she finished, and the room erupted into applause. She sat down once more, but kept command of the room. “But before we can do anything else, we need to send a message. We need to retake our ancestral home…”

ARC TWO: FIN.

[Forest State]

Time Skip: 3 Days



Music Hall Putsch

After the chaos of the Saitama attack and the failed mission in Hong Kong that came shortly afterwards, there was finally some downtime for the Guardians. A time to relax, a time when they didn’t have to worry about fighting or missions or infiltration, or anything of the sort. Just about everyone who had any important role in the Saitama HQ was taking a day out of town, mandated by the Council, to attend the Guardians Awards in Tokyo. It was a ceremony attended by many members from across the world, where the best were recognized and where organizational changes were sometimes announced. But for many, it was just a fun chance to let their guard down for a bit and party.

The event was held at a music hall in Tokyo’s downtown area, in a side room that had a stage at the front of the room and an open floor before that. Tables were set up with food and drinks, and the whole thing was a semi formal affair. It wasn’t cheap looking, but it wasn’t incredibly formal, either. A few suits were seen here and there, but for the most part, those who attended the ceremony were wearing button up shirts, or blouses and casual dresses. Only the ones who were taking part in the actual event were dressed up expensively, wearing black tuxedos or luxurious dresses that had been paid for by the Guardians. It was about ten minutes before the event was set to begin, and the large room was filling up with guests from around the world, from every country. Even the small nations, Andorra, Luxembourg, Tonga, they were represented.

Ai Jiang arrived wearing a black and dark blue evening gown, that contrasted with some of the more complex or revealing outfits that her female colleagues wore. She didn’t intend to draw attention to herself with her outfit. When the spotlight was on her, it would be for another reason. For once, she was without her weapons, except for a knife that was strapped to her leg just in case. For a warrior like her, it was like being without clothes, but she forced herself to smile and socialize anyway. There were a lot of people she hadn’t seen in awhile, and she took one drink and made her rounds through the room, talking to them all. It would keep her from looking too tense and suspicious leading up to her plan.

The members of the Young Guardians program also had to attend the ceremony, under official order from the Council. Most of the Young Guardians were here for the social aspect rather than for the actual ceremony, with the younger members who were under the 20 year drinking age in Japan doing their best to nab alcoholic drinks from the drink table without being seen. Others had come already slightly drunk, the Gallagher cousins included. Tee Gallagher was hardly dressed formally, wearing a dangerously short skirt and a white cropped top that was matching. It was definitely meant to attract others. She was near the back of the room, holding and drinking from a bottle of wine that she had managed to take from the drinks table when nobody was looking. The argument with her cousin and her new friend from three days ago was still in the forefront of her mind, and the drinking was helping her to forget about her damaged ego, at least.

Finally, when it seemed that things were about to start, Ai made her way towards the back of the room and took her phone from her handbag, calling a number that was now on speed dial for her. “It’s nearly time. Everything is moving on the normal schedule, so set the timer right now and don’t wait for me to call you again to start things off. I don’t think I’ll be able to,” she said, before listening to the reply of the person on the other end of the line and then nodding and ending the call right there. She returned to her seat at one of the tables near the front, silently waiting for the cue that it was time to act. She was surrounded at that table by members of Task Force Juliet, enemies of her except for their leader, Bishamon Hasegawa. He was the only one who was in on the “plan”, so to speak, and he gave her a silent nod when she sat down. Reaffirming that he was indeed in on this.

It would be go time in only a few minutes.

Ana Henare

Back at the headquarters, Ana Henare was one of the few Young Guardians who had managed to stay in Saitama and skip out on taking the trip to Tokyo for the awards. She was sitting in front of her desktop computer, not wearing much because there was no threat of being interrupted right now, and she had just gotten off of the phone with Ai Jiang. This time, her help involved more than just giving some information on the Council. Her hands glided across the keyboard quickly as she set up the crucial code for this operation, and then leaned back, admiring her own work before clicking the button that would send the command and start a timer until the code activated itself. Just as Ai had commanded her. She also deployed a second code attack, one that was set up more like an elaborate trap to give them an extra asset… The plan relied on her imitation of the Guardians server being accurate enough to the original one to pass completely for it, allowing her to spread a fake file that was hiding a trojan. She sat back and waited.

[Imperial--japan]

8E

Off to the side, dressed in a hardly impressive black dress was 8E, who was content to just stare over the contents of the crowd and conduct periodic scans. The only testament to her status of not being a 'regular' human was the large greatsword on her back that would seem unwieldy for any normal person. As per instruction, after her next periodic scan of the crowd, this time for hidden explosives or weapons of some kind, 8E would dedicate a portion of her processing power to logging in to the Guardians server remotely.

"Accessing via port 22." 8E began her remote connection, and was only suspicious of the fact she had to log in once more. Normally she would be cached in. 8E scanned for any forms of suspicious activity that could possibly of caused her to be logged out of the Guardians Network but found none. It was possible the network went through a full reset if the IT department was conducting maintenance on the physical equipment. 8E then logged her credentials and accessed the network as usual. Within a brief moment of accessing the network, she received an error code that disappeared almost immediately. A few moments further and she forgot an error log had even appeared.

Sofia

Another girl off to the side, dressed in a short white dress was Sofia. Ever since she'd arrived, she'd made it a point to converse with as many influential figures as she could. After all, she needed a backup plan in case the whole 'Guardians' business ever fell through and she needed a handsome lover to support her. Not that she wouldn't pay her dues with her body. It was only after the last man she was conversing with left after Sofia sealed the deal with a kiss, that she noticed a lone redhead around the area of the drinks. Nobody else here was sporting red hair and it felt...exotic.

"You're lucky day." Sofia grinned and walked towards her prey. Wordlessly, she put her arms around the girls waist and whispered into her ear.

"I really need to pay more attention to this little social club...especially when I miss out on the finer things in life." Sofia whispered before smiling.

[Segral]

Grant Miller

Since the shitshow that had become Hong Kong, Grant had been in a pretty disastrous state. Nobody would after watching what had happened. Some french girl had electrocuted people, shots were fired, poison gas was emitted, helicopters touched down, tear gas was thrown, riots were started, people were stabbed in various places, a shooter got killed by some Chinese nationalists, a guy got thrown out a window and they all rope climbed a helicopter to Macau.

All in half an hour.

The presence had weighed on his mind a lot. He couldn't unsee some of the things he had witnessed, like the girl who licked the blood off the knife, the stabbing and shootings, the people being trampled. It cropped up in his dreams, turning his shallow sleep into fitful nightmares, lurking at the corners of his mind. He couldn't shake that feeling that there was something he could've done to save them. As well, his bitter resentment of the Guardians started to grow. He kept thinking that the Guardians only cared about looking good, that they didn't care if one or ten if their trainees died, and this resentment only swelled when several trainees he had seen disappeared, mysteriously gone from the infirmary with no explanation, before returning the next day. The Guardians weren't villains, but they weren't heroes either.

So Grant wasn't exactly please when he was forced to attend a stupid Guardians ceremony, awards for people that didn't deserve them. He wasn't wearing any thing super fancy, as he didn't really own that stuff. He was wearing the nicest, cleanest shirt he could find, which happened to be a gray sweater. The sweater was nice and had a few buttons, so it worked. He was also wearing dark jeans he...borrowed from a store once and conveniently forgot to return, and a pair of slip-on shoes. All of this stuff was stolen. He had managed to comb and gel his hair into something acceptable, but he still looked pretty casual compared to everyone else.

He mostly walked around a bit, eating snacks here and there. If he was gonna sit through this shitfest, he might as well fill up. He casually strolled over to the drink table, and while no one was looking, grabbed a bottle of sake. Grinning to himself, he popped it open and took a quick swig before pouring some into a glass. Sipping, he decided to start people-watching. He noticed a couple people, such as Ai in her evening dress. He then spotted a hot redheaded girl some ways away, sipping from a wine bottle, wearing a short skirt and crop top. He briefly admired her, his eyes quickly rolling over her, before he noticed someone else. The girl stuck out like a sore thumb, wearing a baggy shirt and yoga pants, in the middle of all the formal people. He sniggered slightly, almost spilling his sake (which was amazing), and decided to make his way over.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one wearing formal crap. Want some sake?"

[Auphelia]

Anika stood awkwardly in the room, wearing a dark green formal dress, feeling like she didn't belong. What was she supposed to do? She had eventually found her room, and basically done nothing but roam the halls and avoid people. She didn't know how to talk to people. As a Young Guardian she was obligated to go to this event, but that didn't mean she had to talk to anyone. A bunch of people she had never seem before came back from Hong Kong apparently, and according to what she overheard around the halls and on the news, it had not gone well. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a Guardian. The others already seemed so cohesive, a unit, even when they insulted each other. She could never be like that with others.
Anika suddenly started briskly walking to her right, as she saw some woman in a dress from India was going to talk to her for half an hour about how beautiful Anika's dress was and how she had a nephew around Anika's age and a bunch of other boring things. This couldn't get any worse . . .

[Forest State]

Evan Riley

A party like this was one of the few things that could get Evan Riley around other people, and despite preferring the isolation that he typically would have on a day like this, he accompanied the others to Tokyo and tried to have fun. To not act as antisocially as he usually did. Maybe it would be a chance to get onto a different path, to change his fates? That was too big of a goal. It would be a victory if he could just have a good time, maybe have a drink or two, and stay the entire time instead of getting uncomfortable being around others and then ducking out early. Not that long after arriving, he decided to find some conversation, approaching the Indian girl that looked as lost as him. “So you had to come here, too? You don’t look like you want to be here, I mean,” he said. “Same situation for me, really.”

[Caruolinda]

Ki Yong-Jin

The entire shitshow that had taken place back in Hong Kong had affected Ki more than he would like to admit. However, the stressful situation of being under siege and seeing so many people, Guardians and civilians alike, losing their lives in cruel and twisted ways did not take as much of a toll on him as the extreme frustation under which he was put. He hadn't been able to save either of the two guardians who were killed outside the motel, he hadn't been able to save Mason. He hadn't taken the initiative or done anything because he had not been told to. And what did the higher-ups do next? They killed one of their own and fed him to an angry mob. Could he even trust the ones in charge and their orders? This had haunted him for minutes, hours, days to the point that he couldn't even sleep properly. It was like the souls of his fallen comrades had come back to perturb his mind, reminding him of how they could be alive and breating at that very moment if only he hadn't been such a lap dog. He ran out of cigarettes way quicker than expected and barely even interacted with the people he actually knew in the last few days, like Erika or De- Oh, no that one was gone too...

And then, there was the ceremony. Indeed, after all that had happened, a fucking ceremony. Whatever, at least he had gotten cheap clothes from that thrift store and among them he could probably find something to use in such an event, although Ki couldn't really care at that point. He got a very dark blue sports jacket with a white shirt underneath it, as well as dark jeans and unimportant footgear. Fuck it, that had to do the trick, not like he was concerned about looking good after the shit the Guardians had been through.

He quickly realized that he had nothing to do. He didn't have any of those weird keyboardless phones everyone seemed to possess and it was really awkward to talk to people he had gotten to know better in Hong Kong due to obvious reasons, so he just used his skilled movement and agility to grab some snacks and drinks every once in a while. He knew when to stop, given that Ki was aware of how much of a lightweight he was and didn't want to make a scene.

As he was looking for a less populated place, however, he noticed one of the girls that Ki considered to be animal enthusiasts sitting all by herself. He didn't get the fad at all, but at least it seemed like he could be able to talk to her about things unrelated to Hong Kong and actually let the time pass. 'Fuck it, why not?' He thought, the quantity of alcohol he had consumed slightly altering his usual attitude. He approached the girl and took a seat next to her, the air around him turning way colder for some reason, but he would have to endure it. "Hey, mind if I sit here?" He said with a friendly smile to the girl whose non-human traits looked... more real than he had previously thought.

[Auphelia]

(Image)
Evan Riley

“So you had to come here, too? You don’t look like you want to be here, I mean,” he said. “Same situation for me, really.”

Anika was startled from trying to see who the Indian ambassador would harass next (a young German man) when another person started talking to her. She snapped out of the future and back into the present and looked at someone's chest. She looked up and saw a hulking mound of muscle standing in front of her.

Oh my god. Anika knew he had to be a Guardian by appearance alone. What did he say to me .
. . think! This is your chance to meet someone . . . What had been happening around her while she was looking forward . . . right, she had it. Now say something smart.

"I don't be here want." Why did I say that!? "Erm . . . yeah, this is pretty much not my cup of tea. I mean, I haven't done anything since I got into the Young Guardians and . . . I am so sorry! My name is Anika Singh and I am a new member of the Young Guardians. I don't think we've met. Ugh, sorry. You know, it's weird. I had a vision that I would be alone tonight. Not that you are not company, but yeah . . I mean, nothing is 100% certain, am I right?" Anika awkwardly smiles, knowing nothing she is saying makes any sense. This is why you saw yourself alone. You're going to scare off the only person who has spoken to you!

[Forest State]

Evan Riley

Was he making it awkward? Was it because of how big he was compared to her? Or because he said he didn’t want to be here? Those questions were all running through Riley’s mind, causing him to nervously scratch his hair for a moment, before the Indian girl confirmed that she also didn’t feel like being here. Well, that was quite the relief. He just shrugged at her statements, smiling briefly. “Not my cup of tea, either. I’m just here because the Council ordered all of us here, and maybe talk to a person or two. Used to party more in France, but it hasn’t been my thing since…” he started, but he let his voice trail off. “You know, never mind. It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Evan Riley, I think I do recognize you from classes now.”

[Auphelia]

(Image)
Evan Riley

He just shrugged at her statements, smiling briefly. “Not my cup of tea, either. I’m just here because the Council ordered all of us here, and maybe talk to a person or two. Used to party more in France, but it hasn’t been my thing since…” he started, but he let his voice trail off. “You know, never mind. It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Evan Riley, I think I do recognize you from classes now.”

"Yeah, probably. So, what can you do?" Anika winced at her own statement. Was it okay to ask things like that, or was it rude? "Erm . . . not that you have to tell me. Um, great curtains they have here . . . ha." This may be the worst I have ever been around a person. Anika tried to look into the future to see how the conversation would go, but she was too nervous to focus.

[Lunas Legion]

Nika Rosenal

To say the past three days had been a brief glimpse into hell for Nika would be an understatement. First, she'd had to sign a non-disclosure agreement on the entire Kana situation at HQ. Then it turned out the entire Hong Kong mission had apparently been a colossal screw-up on their part, hell, they'd lost a few people and had gotten a grand total of nothing at all from it. After hearing about that she'd made a resolution to learn to actually use a weapon, since if everyone else was too incompetent to get revenge, well, if you wanted something done right, you did it yourself.

Then, well, the sole piece of good news had happened. That... Parasite-thing had worked. She could walk again. Oh, that had been a good day. She'd practically sprinted down to the motor pool and leapt onto her bike before speeding off. God, she'd needed that freedom, that thrill, after being stuck for weeks immobile in a hospital.

Then she'd learned the Guardians Awards were being held, and she as a member of the Young Guardians was mandated by the Council to attend. And there were no words to describe how much she despised formal or semi-formal events. Give her a good racing suit or hoodie and jeans over her current ensemble any day. Hair in her usual style, not that she knew how to do anything fancy with it. No, the issue with formal events was never the clothes, as impractical as they could be, but rather footwear. She hated heels, but it was either wear high heels or be able to see nothing at all over the crowd, damn her shortness.

So here she was, white blouse and jacket, knee-length red skirt and matching heels, formal enough to fit in, informal enough so that it was decently comfortable and practical. She'd had a scowl etched onto her face ever since she extracted a small bottle of vodka she'd extracted from the alcohol table with meticulous timing. If she just looked pissed off enough and appeared to take frequent sips from her bottle, well, it'd serve to keep people away for now. She was not in the mood to deal with stuck-up foreign diplomats or whatever, but, well, the Council had forced her to be here, never mind they were completely incompetent from what she'd seen so far, and, well, her legs being ruined were partially their fault.

And so here she was, standing near the middle of the room, glaring at people who seemed to want to talk to her. She wasn't in the mood.

---

Gabriella Michelle Raphaella Bianchi-Costa

Gabriella had a problem, namely, how to outfit three separate people from one shared wardrobe. Normally, she'd only bother having one of her three bodies attend a formal event, another sleeping while a third did something more productive, so she only kept one set of proper formal wear on hand, a long black evening dress, which she currently wore. Michelle wore a casual dark purple dress which worked well enough. Putting something together for Raphaella too had been an... Issue, but she'd been able to improvise, so she wore a slightly too-tight white blouse and rather risque matching skirt. As amusing as it would've been to have all her bodies go in matching outfits, she'd have to arrange that for next time since she'd been unaware.

Then, naturally, she'd begun to circulate in the crowd. Raphaella had gone off to acquire enough alcohol to share between all three of her bodies, while the other two set up an arrangement that could best be described as 'tag-teaming'; separating, and then whenever one or the other got to a point in a conversation where things became... Unpleasant or awkward, the other would move in to pull them away. Simple, effective. Raphaella had returned after a brief absence, a trio of champagne flutes held triumphantly in her hands, and handed one each off to the others as they made their way backwards through the room. No need to be near the front, she wasn't involved in this.

And when they ran out of alcohol, well, one of them could head back over to the bar and acquire more alcohol. Otherwise, well, she'd get bored soon enough, and then this entire thing would just be boring. And she couldn't have that.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

"Choris de Ignotis"
Kachina, Child of the Occulta Vulgares
A Music Hall, Tokyo, Japan

---

Well, in the crowd of people within the music hall, there was one who stood out more than the rest. While some wore suits and dresses, and others wore more casual outfits, only one was wearing dusty, old grey robes. However, one could be forgiven for missing her, as she stood along one of the walls, watching the crowd. This was all pretty much new for her, the music hall, the clothes, and so much more. It was fair to say that if it wasn't for the familiarity of her robes, she would have completely overloaded. It also didn't help that they didn't let her keep her swords.

After a few minutes of standing alone, and becoming more familiar with everything around her, Kachina decided that she should probably try and interact. So, she looked over the crowd, and set her sights on a possible person. So, she approached Brianna, and smiled when she got close enough.

"Hello." She said and waved to Brianna, "So, theres a lot of people here right?"

---

"Assoluzione Attraverso la Punizone"
Axelia Rossi, Healing and Bleeding
A Music Hall, Tokyo, Japan

---

Axelia stood there, in one of the many duplicates of her favourite dress (for good reasons), by the drink area, watching as people talk with each other and caught up. You see, she only joined up with the Young Guardians so she didn't really known anyone yet. As superhumans grouped up, some people would have been intimidated when it came to introducing themselves. But Axelia was not intimidated. In fact, she was about to go introduce herself, when she felt something start to run down her face.

So she turned, and was trying to hide the crimson tears, simply because it would have made a bad impression. She was about to head to the nearest exit when she felt someone grab her from behind. There was a slight panic, not only because she didn't know who was grabbing her, but also because if it was someone trying to be friendly, she didn't necessarily want them to see her bleeding eyes. But it was unavoidable, so after the stranger spoke, she turned her head ever so slightly to see the stranger.

Well, Axelia had to admit, this stranger was definitely attractive, and pink hair was quite unique. And much to Axelia's delight and surprise, she was flirting with her. In her surprise she forgot that her eyes where bleeding.

"Now, don't beat yourself up. I just joined up not that long ago." She said, with a smile, "My names Axelia... would you mind letting go of me now?"

[Forest State]

Evan Riley

“I know it looks like I’m a weightlifter or something, but most of the time in the field, I just sit behind shields. That’s what I can do, create forcefields that block bullets and whatever else. Didn’t always have that power, but that’s the wonders of science,” he said with a chuckle, taking in her awkwardness and feeling a bit more at ease himself. It was nice not being the only one that wasn’t great with formal events like this, and talking to new people. “And you? I’m sure whatever ability you have is more impressive than mine.”

Brianna Gallagher

The green haired half of the Gallagher cousins had her mind on other things as she stood around near the drinks table, deciding not to drink much more because of how she was already feeling pretty buzzed. She was definitely a lightweight that showed a lot of effects from a little bit of alcohol, but even the drinks from earlier weren’t enough to distract her from her fight with Tee. She couldn’t help but feel that maybe she had acted wrongly, and that her small betrayal was a bigger deal to Tee than it was to her. After all, she could see that her cousin was sulking, across the room near the back. They were no longer joined at the hip, like they would be on a normal day.

But she perked up when someone finally approached her, like she was drawing good vibes from their presence. She wasn’t that familiar with this girl, but she recognized her from being around the Young Guardians, and naturally wanted to learn more about her. That was how she felt about everyone, really. She smiled, offering a drunken wave. “Yeah, I wish there was enough time to talk to them all,” she said, her words almost slurred because of the alcohol in the system. “You’re uh… China, right? Like the country? Please tell me I got it right!”