Heroes of Tomorrow Redux [IC | DONE]

[Lunas Legion]

Soli Vanhanen-Amori a.k.a Prodigy

Soli said nothing as Alyx moved past her, saying nothing either. There was nothing to say, not really; if Alyx didn't want to talk, well, then Alyx didn't want to talk and she'd leave her to her own devices. She didn't want to drag her into any of this anyways, it was her business, and hers alone. Not Alyx's. Not the Guardians'. Not anyone's. No one else was going to get hurt or die because of her own stupidity.

So she just let out a sigh and shook her head. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do, she could have followed Alyx, but that just didn't seem like a good idea. If she wanted to talk, she'd talk. And Soli didn't really feel like talking either.

So she headed off in a completely different direction, not bothering to pick up a room key, just wandering aimlessly. She'd take whoever she got, some minuscule form of punishment for everything she'd caused. She didn't want to do anything really, she wanted to do something that actually mattered but that was impossible here. There was nothing she could do to get her mind off, well, everything.

So she just kept walking, kept shutting her thoughts out, focusing on nothing but the sound of her own footsteps, the feel of her own breathing, the heat of the sun on her face, the easy, physical things to distract her.

[Forest State]

Ellie Parsons

The technical instructor kept an eye on both Soli and Alyx, watching two of her best friends going in a completely different direction. She sighed softly. She had experienced this before. Her friends branching in different directions, albeit for different reasons. Last time it had happened, it hadn’t turned out well. But then again, last time had been because of different things, and the people involved had been… A lot more volatile. That didn’t mean, however, that she wasn't wary of this falling apart.

Things always seemed like they were going well until they weren’t. They had been tense this week, an even more so the week before that, and Ellie wondered if that was the point where this would fall apart. She knew Alyx better than Soli did, from the time that they had spent in Japan living as roommates before even coming to New York and the Young Guardians Program, and she knew it was a bad thing when Alyx was being like this.

It always took a lot to break the proverbial mask of the one who kept it up at all times. On the other hand, Ellie couldn’t read Soli as well, but it didn’t take a psychologist to see that something was up and that she was having a hard time getting over everything. Both what had happened to her and what had happened because of her.

“Soli-senpai, you should let yourself relax a bit,” Ellie said, moving after her and deciding to find Alyx later. “You’ll have your time in Chicago eventually, until then, there’s no point worrying over it. It will happen when the Council clears it.”

[Lunas Legion]

Soli Vanhanen-Amori a.k.a Prodigy

"And how many more will be dead by that 'eventually'?" Soli shot back, her words full of far more venom than she'd meant them to be. "And that's if, not when. Although even if they say no, I'm going anyways." She wasn't going to let something like bureaucracy get in the way of her fixing a problem she'd caused and she should be responsible for fixing it.

"It's kind of difficult to relax when you know your arrogant bitch of a sister or some of her grunts or flunkies or proxies or whatever could come out of anywhere." Soli added, stopping in her tracks and finally turning around to face Ellie. "Not that I want to, I want to be doing something, anything, just... Something to occupy my fucking time and mind and stop replaying everything I could've done differently or everything I could've said."

She shut her eyes, letting out a sigh. "Maybe I should've gone with her, just given her what she'd wanted. Less people would've died that way and I would feel a hell of a lot less shitty over this entire chain of fuck-ups and failures."

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Alasdair Francis Damon, aka Blackfire
A Resort outside of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
July 3rd, 2024

---

This was not the time for a vacation. That was what Alasdair believed, especially with what happened recently in Chicago. While he understood why they hadn't been sent on missions, the idea of just sitting around not being able to do even the smallest thing to help just didn't sit right with him. They were supposed to be heroes, or heroes in training, after all, and for them to sit around when their skills could be used was just disgraceful. That was what the silent mage was thinking, now would he tell anyone that? No, because he understood that it wasn't his place to bring that up, and if he did start speaking his mind, then there was a chance he'd embrace emotions to much, and lose himself to Penodris.

So, there he stood, in silence as people started pairing off to find rooms. It was as he stood there, watching that he noticed Zekulu scanning the lobby, most likely looking for someone to room with.

"Mr. Nazwari." Alasdair said and approached his peer, "Perhaps you would like to share a room with me for the duration of our stay?"

---

Admina Kyrene, aka Amazon
A Resort outside of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
July 3rd, 2024

---

"Huh?" Admia said and turned to look down at Tadeusz. While she recognized his face, she couldn't exactly remember his name. Then again, she didn't much interact with the person now asking to room with her. But that just meant she'd have to get to know him, and she had been meaning to do more of that for a while now. "Sure. Though, I don't remember your name. Don't take offense to that or anything, I am not good with names."

---

Lora, aka Dichotomy
A Resort outside of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
July 3rd, 2024

---

A vacation. While it didn't exactly feel appropriate, Lora was not complaining. Vacations were just a time to relax, and not worry about the problems of everyday life. No worries plus relaxing also meant she didn't have to really worry about Gwen coming out. Ever since the mission to rescue Soli, she had been on edge. But now, she had no reason to be on edge. This was also her first time visiting a place beyond North America, so she was not going to let Gwen ruin it.

"Dagon..." Lora said as she waved to him, "Since we have to share rooms with other people... want to share?"

---

Kana Kaleikaumaka, aka Gyges
A Resort outside of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
July 3rd, 2024

---

Never had Kana thought she'd be able to go somewhere like this, for pleasure and not for work for the Young Guardians. She was going to enjoy her time, and she wasn't going to let her physical short comings prevent that. But then she happened to look at the pamphlets from the resorts front desk.

"Really?" Kana said to herself, and then chuckled, "Come to a resort... and they have a fucking gym. Probably not designed for people like me. Oh, pools. Now that's actually a little better..."

After her short rant to herself, her attention fell to the others in the lobby who had slowly started to pair up to room together. As they all began to pair up, Kana just sat there, wondering who would want to share a room with her.

[Forest State]

Ellie Parsons

There were some times when Ellie seemed like a loud idiot who was only concerned with whatever seemed cool to her, but there were other times where she was surprisingly insightful and she used her easy to get along with personality as a way to help quell problems when they came up. This was one of the latter times.

Approaching the subject carefully, she took a step forward and put her hand on Soli’s shoulder. “Soli-senpai,” she said softly, her tone shifting from that of a friend to an older mentor or maybe a mother. Which was a bit strange, since usually Ellie was one of the immature ones in their group. When she was needed, though, she could change that reputation, and she was doing it right now.

“You did what you did and what happened happened because of it. That’s the nature of this business. When you deal with saving people and trying to protect them… You aren’t going to win every time. In the words of Emiya Kiritsugu, saving one person means not being able to save another,” she said. “Maybe you should have done this or done that but now that everything is said or done, there’s only a couple of paths you can take.”

She gestured with one hand to indicate the first path. “You can focus on saving yourself first and then save as many people as you can, believing that whoever saves one life saves the entire world,” she stated, before gesturing with the other hand. “Or you can allow this to consume you, which won’t change the fact that you can’t change the past. And Soli…”

Ellie paused, looking for the right way to approach the last subject. “It’s not my place to tell you what to do, but I’ve seen someone consumed completely by their negative emotions before, someone that I cared about very much and… As your friend, I don’t want to see you go down that path.”

[Lunas Legion]

Soli Vanhanen-Amori a.k.a Prodigy

"You might have to." Soli shrugged, turning to look away from Ellie. "How the fuck am I supposed to save myself from, well..." She fell back into silence, her mind straying back into where it had been before Ellie had appeared. She'd never been so... Powerless, before. Not when she still had agency, still had control of her actions, was still free to do as she wished.

It was like knowing an avalanche was coming, and there was nothing you could do about it. It was on the far horizon, the edge of your vision, not there yet, but you knew it was there, and you knew that no matter how hard you tried to get away, to run, to hide, it would still sweep you away. It was inevitable, but you could still fight it in futility.

"All of that?" She eventually said after a few moments of silence. "I'll figure something out. I just don't know what to fucking do now, I can't just sit around and do nothing because it's always on the edge of my thoughts, creeping in when I'm not doing anything about it. I want to smash my head into a wall at the fucking frustration of it all but I know that won't help and its just... Urgh. I might just go sleep, at least then I've only got the nightmares to worry about rather than trying to deal with all this."

[Forest State]

Ellie Parsons

This wasn’t Ellie’s first time dealing with someone who could get lost in their thoughts, and consumed by them. But she had a bad record with helping people like that. Well, a zero percent success rate. Still, she hoped that the experience gained would carry over into this and that she would be able to find some way to set Soli at ease even if it was only for a day. She felt that it was her duty, not just as her friend, but as her instructor.

She had been appointed as an instructor at a rather young age compared to the others, mainly because of her skill and her easy to get along with personality rather than any long career experience, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try her damned hardest to look after the people that were part of the same Program as her, even if they weren’t directly in her technical classes. “You have to stop looking at everything from the big picture and focus on the here and the now,” she said, with a shrug. “You can worry about Chicago and worry about your sister all you want, but you’re still here in Italy right now.”

“And while I would support you making your own choice, I don’t think you have much of a choice. Unless you plan on, say, running back to the airport and stealing the plane that just brought us here, figuring out how to fly it, and making it all the way back to the States and to Chicago by yourself,” she said, her tone making it clear how absurd it would be for Soli to even get back to Chicago right now. “You don’t have the choice to go back, and you’re right here now, so you might as well take your mind off of it and enjoy what’s in front of you.”

She took a look around, sighing as she put a hand on Soli’s shoulder again even as she turned away from her. “Or if going out to the city or going to the beach is too much for you, at least get some rest now and come play STALKER with me and Alyx tonight, just like before everything went to shit.”

[Theyra]

Alasdair Francis Damon, aka Blackfire
A Resort outside of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
July 3rd, 2024

---

This was not the time for a vacation. That was what Alasdair believed, especially with what happened recently in Chicago. While he understood why they hadn't been sent on missions, the idea of just sitting around not being able to do even the smallest thing to help just didn't sit right with him. They were supposed to be heroes, or heroes in training, after all, and for them to sit around when their skills could be used was just disgraceful. That was what the silent mage was thinking, now would he tell anyone that? No, because he understood that it wasn't his place to bring that up, and if he did start speaking his mind, then there was a chance he'd embrace emotions to much, and lose himself to Penodris.

So, there he stood, in silence as people started pairing off to find rooms. It was as he stood there, watching that he noticed Zekulu scanning the lobby, most likely looking for someone to room with.

"Mr. Nazwari." Alasdair said and approached his peer, "Perhaps you would like to share a room with me for the duration of our stay?"

"Oh hi", Zekulu friendly said and snapped his fingers. He knows this guy, "Alasdair right and I think we were on a mission together? New York City and capturing a new stain of the Slaughterhouse Parasite. Sure I am would like to share a room with you". Zekulu did not think he has spoken with Alasdair since their mission in New York. Well, if trying to coordinate with teammates during a fight counts as talking. "So we should head to our rooms and get unpack and do you have specific plans for this vacation? I got some plans to explore this place and see the sights. If you want to join me you are welcome to".

[Triassica]

Andrew "Snake Eyes" Mark's
Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

A vacation in Italy. Not exactly something Snake Eyes expected after much short time being with the Young Guardians. Especially after hardly doing anything on his first mission, which again, was quite disappointing. Yet, what is one to argue with recreation and relaxation? Though to be fair, Australia, Africa, the Amazon or anywhere where lots of snakes could be found would have been Andrew's choice for vacation, but Italy's nice.

Snake Eyes gently stroked the head of Rango the Boa Constrictor, acting as his eyes, as he followed his group "Anyone want to room with me?" he asked out loud, hoping to actually start making friends. Rango looked around before spotting Sophia, a rather pretty girl... asking for a fight to share a room. The snake man grinned, baring sharp, curved and venomous fangs. "Heh. Sure. I think I can take you on. What are your powers again? Spatial distortion or something?"

[Lunas Legion]

Soli Vanhanen-Amori a.k.a Prodigy

"Being stuck here and unable to do anything is where half the problem is." Soli kicked at the floor, scraping her heel along it. "Even if we were doing literally anything else, completely unrelated to Chicago, then at the very least I'd have that to focus on but instead, I have... Well, nothing." She all but growled the last word out, still irritated. "I know I can't go back to do anything about that, and it just pisses me off. I've already said it'd difficult to take my mind of it all, so..."

Soli fell back into silence. "Yeah, I'll... See if I'm up for that at the time though, you'll probably have to come knock on my door since I'll probably be napping. Or trying to, at least. You might want to go and check on Alyx and see if she's up for it too, but I'm going to go rest. Have fun with whatever." She said the last few words with a hint of bitterness, jealous almost that Ellie could just simply relax and not have all of, well, everything on her mind, as she began to walk away, just heading off to find a room or anywhere comfortable to just sleep the rest of the day away.

---

Sophia Anya Rykova a.k.a Euclid

"Bubbles, but close enough." Sophia shrugged. She just knew her power did a lot of fuckery and was generally pretty strong on the defence. Utterly useless on the offence, unless she was laying traps or whatever, but even still that was a defensive thing. She relied on others fucking up to hurt them, walking into her bubbles or whatever. "Winner gets the room, loser sleeps wherever that isn't in the room and has to get another. You get... 60 seconds?" Her face formed into a confused expression. She hadn't really thought this out, to be honest.

"Uh, I should have thought more about this." She admitted. "Rain check, you keep yourself and your pet to your half of the room or I suffocate you, and you go get key. Deal?"

[Triassica]

Andrew "Snake Eyes" Marks

Andrew's expression of excitement suddenly became that of disappointment after hearing Sophia and turned to her completely, understanding the whole room division. It was a shame really, one that kind of stabbed at his heart a little, but then again, he didn't really have a good track record with girls, or making friends in general outside of his snakes. "I think we had a bit of misunderstanding, Ms." Snake Eyes said, his disappointment clear, "I thought we were going to share a room and be friends and such. The fighting being just a bit of sport..."

Andrew grinned again and got into a fighting position while Rango changed positions to make seeing for him less disorienting. Snake Eyes was the opposite of Sophia in terms of attack/defense, being a poster boy for the glass cannon type, having lethal venomous attacks, but zero defensives. "I'm still willing to have a go with you to share if you are up to it." He said with that fang bearing smile, "Also, I won't bite. Promise. That'd be likely the end of you if I did anyway... Gah... Stupid way to talk to a girl idiot......"

[Forest State]

Ellie Parsons

“Okay. I just hope that you, well, actually rest and don’t just keep beating yourself up over how things happened. Maybe lying down for a bit will make you feel better,” said Ellie, but her words rang a bit hollow because she knew and even Soli probably knew that she wasn’t really going to change much with what she was saying here. Even so, she was going to try, and not just let one of her best friends suffer in her own misery like this.

“And if you want to talk to someone… I’m just a call away,” she added, her voice fading a bit as the uselessness of what she was saying sunk in here.

What was she going to do, reverse Soli’s entire emotional state with just a few words? She wasn’t a psychologist and even if she was, this was a bit of a big problem for just sitting down and talking to handle. She wished there was something more to do, but she was a genius with technical things, not people, nor was she a manipulator of emotions.

She sighed, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she turned off and started looking for her own room, after looking around to see if Alyx was still there and not finding her. Why couldn’t this be simpler? She had advocated for Soli to enjoy the vacation instead of worrying about things, but now she was the one that was sulking slightly as she tried to figure out this situation and what she could do to make it better.

“I’m just a bad luck charm, aren’t I?” she muttered under her breath.

Sometimes, it felt like everything that involved her would fall apart.

[Lunas Legion]

Sophia Anya Rykova a.k.a Euclid

"Stay on your side of the room, keep to yourself, don't bother me. And we'll be fine sharing, da? No need for murder." Sophia said before she shook her head reluctantly. "Fight would be decided in first few seconds, I make bubble around myself, wait 60 seconds, done. Over. Stuff keeps curving back, going different directions, hitting ceiling, floor, whatever."

She shrugged. "Would be different if outside, hate grass, messes with bubbles, leaves gaps under neath, vulnerability. Roll a grenade under and kaboom. Blood splatter and organs and bone everywhere. Anyways, I go get key for room, if fine with you, yes?"

[Skaldia]

Eamon Donovan
Sardinia

He had discovered that he had held some badly misconceived perceptions on the Guardians when he had first joined them. Luckily, alcohol served to obliterate anymore than a casual glance at the problem. Sure, it had been fucked up shooting the Sheba and Emir right in front of the girl. He understood why it had been done but it had been so... ruthlessly pragmatic that it had reminded Eamon painfully of the years as a mercenary. Despite this revelation, he hadn't had enough wherewithal to give two shits about it. After all, his own reasons for joining the Guardians had been purely selfish.

The flight to Italy had been pleasant, on discovering that the flight served bourbon. And oh boi, did he sip it up. When he found out that the person sitting next to him had been up for an impromptu card game of five stud poker, well.. when they touched down in Sardinia, Eamon was approximately thirty seven euros richer and hammered.

He still wore the same outfit he had in the desert, minus his gadgets and weapons. He moved in an alcoholic daze, sipping from his flask, now full of rich whisky, occasionally as he took in the sights. As his eyes roved around, he noticed a couple of plainsclothes henchmen looking fucks hanging around the lobby of the resort. They tried to look casual, wearing vacation wear that did nothing to hide they had been muscle. Who they were muscle for was made obvious when a highly attractive, amazon looking woman smiled over at Eamon. He knew then that the jig was up and he was going to do his best to stay as far away as possible from that crazy hot woman and whatever insane offer she was about to pose to him. No way a woman looked at Eamon like that and didn't want something.

To that end, he ambled over to his fellow guardians, noting how one girl sat by herself. She was confined to a wheelchair and was such a pale, frail thing that it almost broke his heart. She reminded him of his very first kill, a doe found in the woods above his childhood home. It had been wrong to kill something so young. His father had been happy his son had killed something even if a five year old Eamon had done it to make his father love him. His sister.. the one he later killed.. had looked at the boy Eamon with sad eyes..

The fucked up memories that came floating to the top of the bog when someone was ten shades to the wind..

Floating over on a metaphorical ethanol cloud, pursued by the eyes of an attractive woman and her two goons, Eamon walks over to Kana and peers down at, quizzical arch of brow notched ever so slightly.
A small belch,"So, um. Need a roomie eh? Do I pass muster?"

[Forest State]

---

Jessamyn Unchained
Collab with Lunas Legion

---

June 23rd, 2024

For years, all of the children in the Easton-Roux family had been expected to be heroes like their parents and grandparents, and they had all been expected to act a certain way regardless of what their actual personality was or whether or not that way of acting was good for themselves and not just the family name. For years, they had been told to put the family reputation in front of their own interests. For years… Mari Easton-Roux had risen above the others and she had received the largest share of the attention from their parents because of it, as well as the largest share of love from the world.

But that was a risky business for one simple reason. At some point, when you told someone enough that they were a failure, when you ignored them enough in favor of someone more successful, when you denied them the respect that they felt that they deserved... There was a point where they would start believing that there was nothing to lose. They were only a failure, after all, if they decided to play the damn game in the first place, and if you pushed someone far enough, they could quit the game entirely. Jessamyn Easton-Roux was quitting the proverbial game.

As she threw off the expectations placed on her by her world famous family, she found herself in a stronger position than her sister had ever been in. Mari had shackles in the form of expectations and a reputation to protect. Jess was giving up the former and hardly had the latter. And as she decided that she wasn't playing by the rules that others had set for her, and as she was pushed too far by the pressure of being a hero and living up to two larger than life parents, one of the first things she decided that she was going to do was make things right with her sister. Permanently.

She had two pistols in her hand as she banged on the doorway to Mari's room in the middle of the night. This stop, it wouldn't take that long. And then she'd be off, into the night with Gabriella, who was disillusioned with the Guardians for different reasons. One of the pistols was the 'light' one, the other was the 'heavy' one, she'd use either one depending on the situation. One was more precise, the other was perfect for painting a work of art on the ground with blood. No matter which one she ended up using, she was prepared. Her magazines were full, and she had extra. "Sister, open up," she growled, growing impatient after slamming her hand on the doorway and waiting. Mari had been back in the States for a few days now and this would be the first time that they had talked face to face since then. And the last. Ever.

"Go fuck yourself." Mari shouted back, but it was a shout without enthusiasm, without any real energy or emotion behind it. Ever since China she'd been... Broken inside, a light and fire that had been there put out, a drive that had died. She could barely muster any enthusiasm for anything, and even hearing Jess at her door elicited barely any emotion, not even the burning hate she'd felt for her back in China.

"Nah, sister, you aren't getting out of this one so easy," said Jess, throwing one of her pistols back in the holster and charging up with her power, which wasn't hard because of the current emotion that she was feeling, anger in particular, and shooting straight through the lock using her energy. With that out of the way, she kicked the door forward and open, drawing her second pistol again as she walked into the living room, head swiveling from side to side as she searched the area for Mari, ensuring that there would be no quick escape here because of her not paying attention.

"Finally decided to end it all?" Mari drawled. She was lying on her couch, hands behind her head as if she'd just been having a nap before Jess had interrupted her, making no moves to get up or do anything really.

"Just get it over with, maybe you can do something right in your life for once without fucking it up." Mari rolled her eyes as she spoke, not even bothering to try and run or even using her power to see if there was a a way out as she shut her eyes.

"Doing something right is in the eye of the beholder. Unlike you, I don't keep myself bound to the expectations... Not anymore. I chase my goals, you chase nothing more than other people patting you on the back or journalists writing nice things about you or our parents telling you that you did a good job. You've got no more freedom than a rat stuck in a cage, even if you want to act like you're hot shit because of others telling you how great you are," Jess said, approaching Mari with both pistols still drawn.

"And I'm here to give you a reality check," she finished, grabbing Mari by the collar and pulling her up and off of the couch, pressing one of the pistols, the light one rather than the heavy one, against her temple. "You think I'm going to lose any enjoyment from this just because you're playing lame duck right now and acting like everything is fine? It's not going to get you out of this spot, you know."

"I'm not acting." Mari rolled her eyes. "What's the point in panicking? I'm dead either way. I figured I may as well make it quick and easy on the both of us, save you some time. To be honest, I guess I died back in China. Or the me that sought all the glorification did." Mari shrugged. "I just can't bring myself to care what happens to me anymore. I die, I die. I live, I live. So be it."

"Interesting last words."

Jess brought the other pistol up and placed it under Mari's jaw, pulling the trigger and firing the massive antimeta round from point blank range, with predictable results. She'd used that gun instead of the other one for a specific reason. After everything that Mari had put her through, she wasn't going to let her have an open casket funeral. The ribbons of blood stained her clothes but she didn't care, even as her white hoodie was now painted red, and her own face had been hit by the spray. She holstered the pistol and wiped at some of the blood on her face with her hand before licking her finger, as if she'd gain some extra insight from knowing the taste.

"Rest in hell, sister," she said as she shoved the other pistol into her holster too, before going for one of her two blades and kneeling to the ground next to Mari's body, working quickly to leave something that would tell everyone just who had done this. A broken heart, to keep them from being mistaken. That was one benefit of going off on your own. You didn't have to hide your true self... And she didn't intend on hiding her work here. She turned and left without another word, without turning back, and with no regrets. Outside the housing, there was her car waiting for her, with someone else in the passenger seat waiting for her. She wasn't scared of getting busted for this, wasn't scared of anything that was in front of them, really. This was a new life.

And you couldn't start with the new until you killed the old.

---

July 3rd, 2024

The Mystery Club was a strange place. That was the name of a place in Dubai that was both slightly famous and still considered ‘underground’ at the same time, the kind of place where one could go and rub shoulders with some of the most dangerous people in the hemisphere while also sitting down and having an expensive cocktail at a bar that looked like something out of a futuristic cyberpunk movie. That was to say, the place was high class but filled with low lifes, and many of those low lifes happened to be for hire for the right price.

There were different corners of the club and each one seemed to have a different subject at the moment. There was one table where officials from the Emirati government were trying to negotiate with some mercenaries, there was another one where a group who were most likely the villains that had just staged a bank robbery in England talked, there was one corner of the club where some older heroes talked to clients about providing security services, and by the bar, there were all kinds of people talking and mingling. The same could be said for the dance area, which was surprisingly full for a place like this, where most weren’t only here for enjoyment.

But the one thing that set this apart from other places where you could network with and hire metahumans was the dress code. In form with the ‘high class, low life’ style, everyone was in some kind of suit or dress, or if not, some kind of more extravagant outfit that showed off a bit. And there were no faces visible, just white masks of different shapes and designs. Some of them covered more than others, blocking out the whole face. Others were more like masquerade masks and it wasn’t that hard to tell the identity of the person underneath if you compared images. Regardless of the differences in style, there wasn’t anyone there without a mask.

It was a perfect place because of that for someone like Jess, who wanted to start a new life away from the old expectations and away from being a hero. Here, people didn’t know her face. They didn’t know that she was Heartbreaker, the one who came from a world famous family but had gained her own infamy by striking down her sister before she could reach the prime of what looked like it would have been a great hero career. They just knew her as the one that was here in the club right now wearing a fox mask.

And that mask? It matched the one that Gabriella was wearing. Here, they didn’t know her as the defector that had become disillusioned by the Guardians following their failures in Shanghai and ran off to do her own thing with the bad girl that she had become connected to following that mission, where Jess had saved her life. She was just another person here. And that was the great thing about the Mystery Club.

But they weren’t just here to talk with any random people. They were looking for a specific group, which was from North Korea, the faction that Jess had strangely enough been talking to over the past days. She needed to get away from most of the world for awhile, and for whatever reason, the Hermit Kingdom was one of the countries that was hiring aggressively within the past weeks. She was… Interested in seeing exactly what they could provide in exchange for her services as a trained metahuman. And they had already made a couple of promises.

“You’d think they would have made it more clear who they were…” said Jess, looking around for the North Korean group. That was another thing about masks. Sometimes, it made it harder to find who you were looking for.

---

Ever since the Department M raid on Jeju Island, where they had taken… Something from the DRMA site located there, things had been more tense than ever with South Korea. More and more troop movements were happening along the borders, and intelligence reported back more and more that the chances of conflict was at an all time high. There had been tensions in the past, yes, but right now that was turning into tangible troop movements and what looked like more than just saber rattling.

Because of that, the North Korean government was making an effort to bring in as many metahumans as they could to work with their own Department M, bolstering their war efforts by recruiting those who had been trained by the best organizations in the world, whether that was the Guardians in rarer cases, or more commonly, smaller mercenary organizations. So of course, when they realized that they had a chance to recruit an Easton-Roux, they were all for it. Someone from one of the world’s most famous families of heroes would know a thing or to that could be passed on to the metahumans of Department M, and North Korea had put people on getting that deal done right away.

Now, the ‘deal’ was nearly done and they were just sending a pair of Department M agents to Dubai to talk to Jess in person and close things. As they arrived at the club, their appearances reflected the angle that they had been given from up above to have the best chance of success here.

”Subject shows hedonistic tendencies and attitudes. Not as interested in material payment but in physical pleasures and elevated status. Give her what she’s looking for and she’ll be ours. You are to dress accordingly, behave accordingly, and if it comes down to it, take action accordingly. You will also be given $10,000 for any expenses that may come up in the process,” was what they had been told in the brief. And it showed.

The two had rather average white theater masks but that was the only thing that was average about them, everything else about their dress was meant to catch the eye, as they wore cropped tops and matching short black skirts that contrasted the white masks, and didn’t cover too much. They’d get some looks but they weren’t concerned with the vast majority here, however. They were here to close the deal with two people in specific, and they really only had to win over one person for it, so that was why they were dressed this way. To appeal to one person, based on what they had heard from Intelligence.

“Are you going to lose your cool, Ji?” Chae-won Ryeon, better known as Joker, asked in a somewhat teasing way as she placed a hand on the back of Ji’s neck, massaging it slightly for a couple moments. “I know you’re out of your element, but try acting human. Before you scare her out of agreeing to a deal with us by making her think she’s going to be kidnapped by a robot.”

She paused, putting a finger to her own lips. “And I don’t think robots can be sexy, can they? We’re supposed to be going for that.”

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Nev Hurn

After what happened out in the desert, Nev certainly needed a vacation. When he shot Emir point blank, something ended up clicking in him. It was the first time he had ever killed another person, albeit it was justified since he posed a huge threat to the team, but knowing that didn’t help Nev. After that, he never could stop thinking about how he could have done something different, arguing to himself that things could have ended better if he had not pulled the trigger. And the girl, the child that watched as he shot her father without even a moment of hesitation, he couldn’t get her out of his head, when he slept he would occasionaly see the girl’s face in a still image, her face perpetually mortified. This would often leave Nev jolting awake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, and being stricken with insomnia until morning, quickly causing sleep deprevation in the days that followed. This repeating cycle of restlessness has gotten to the point where Nev has foregone his nightly tinkering altogether in futile attempts to get more sleep, and sleeping in class was becomeing more common with each passing day.

When Nev heard the news of a vacation, he thought of it as a blessing from on high. Perhaps the chance to relax and not worry about Guardian business would help Nev forget about it and finally get some decent sleep. To Nev’s disappointment, his bike was to be left behind, the explanation he recieved about it noting that his bike was not only too big to be fitted into the plane, but that the TSA would throw a thousand and two fits about it before ever giving it the approval to be flown. Nonetheless, Nev packed his Modi-tool (A modular tool with various attachments to fit specific needs) as well as whatever he thought he would need and boarded the plane to Italy, keeping himself busy by drawing up blueprints for some new machine he was going to make, as well as playing Metro on his laptop.

When the team arrived at the resort, Nev was at a loss at what to do. People were already getting roommates and the people Nev knew were already snatched up. At that moment, Nev’s ears had picked up the mention of STALKER, and the voice was one he was quite familiar with. Ellie Parsons, the teacher of the one class that Nev pays genuine attention to. Gambling on the hope that she did not find a roommate yet, Nev went in the direction of the voice, coming across a unusually somber Ellie.

“Uchitel, if I may, would you mind if I could be your... well, your roommate? Everyone else I know is taken already and I won’t be too big of a bother at night.” Nev asked, noticing Ellie’s current mood. “Erm... are you ok? I’m sorry if I am butting in on something, but you are normally... how should I put it... enthusiastic, I thought you would be excited to be here and have fun.”

[Segral]

Matthew Langston

The last two weeks had been some of the wildest imaginable. Chicago was in flames, destroyed, reduced to practical anarchy. The amount of energy was so strong that it had torn apart the city, laying waste to thousands of civvies and turning the rest into bandits, lawless wonders. The Armed Forces were trying their best, but with metahumans on the loose, guerilla turf warfare breaking out from all sides, and no end in sight, it didn't look good. Nothing looked good right now. It looked pretty terrible.

There was still no word on whether the Guardians would roll in and aid in trying to restore order in the city. It was easy to see why, they were probably hotly debating it right this second, trying to work out every bureaucratic kink in the book in an attempt to iron out the complex situation. On one hand, they needed all the help they could get. Chicago was a big city, and even with many dead, plenty still remained, and that only meant more violence and chaos. But on the other hand, they were still trainees, they might get massacred on Day 1. Hurt Locker shit.

So for now, they held their tongues and went to Italy on vacation.

---

Jesus, this place was a friggin' greenhouse.

Utah was a hot place in the summer, but with freezing cold winters and 10-feet piles of snow dropping in on you every winter, you were always more preoccupied with the cold rather than the heat. It was always wet too, so some of the dryness was cut by the moisture in the air. But this place? It was hot and dry, with seemingly no cloud in the sky to provide even the slightest bit of shade. The plane had been decent enough at keeping things cool while he watched Wes Anderson flicks the entire flight, but as soon as they hit the airport, the heat had started to kick in. Hard.

One uncomfortable taxi ride later, they were at the resort lobby. Even with the existing doom and dread of the situation in Chicago hanging over his shoulder, he had to( begrudgingly) admit, the place was beautiful. He almost forgot about Chicago, gawking at the towering villas, the clean white sparkle of everything, the sun shining off of every surface. A trip here couldn't be that bad, it looked like a fairly decent place. It looked very expensive and luxurious, far more luxurious than any hotel he's ever been to.

However, then the problem came. He needed a roommate. Didn't matter with who, he just needed a roommate. Oh crap. Yeah, considering the fact that he was a new recruit and hadn't spoken to a single soul in the little time he had spent with the Guardians, he was pretty much screwed. Especially considering how badly he was sweating from the heat, nobody would be exactly thrilled to join him. Well, maybe somebody else was also searching for another roommate, and maybe they weren't that picky either. Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but that still didn't mean it wasn't possible.

Scanning the room, his eyes soon fell across a very short girl sitting in a wheelchair, one who also looked as if she was searching for a roommate. What was her name again...Kate? Katherine? KANA! Yeah, that was it! She was quite short, appearing kind of sickly with one missing eye and one missing leg, probably from some accident or shit like that. Worth a shot?

Sauntering over, Matt looked down to face her, trying his best not to twitch uncomfortably. "Hey, Kana, right?" Matt asked, bending over slightly to face her. "Do you need a roommate or something? I can't find anyone, so, just wanted to know if you were available, or whatever..." he trailed off nervously, going back to his old antic of rubbing his neck.

[Endem]

---

Admina Kyrene, aka Amazon
A Resort outside of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
July 3rd, 2024

---

"Huh?" Admia said and turned to look down at Tadeusz. While she recognized his face, she couldn't exactly remember his name. Then again, she didn't much interact with the person now asking to room with her. But that just meant she'd have to get to know him, and she had been meaning to do more of that for a while now. "Sure. Though, I don't remember your name. Don't take offense to that or anything, I am not good with names."

---

Tadeusz Rybinski

"Why would I take it as offensive, my name is Tadeusz"

He said with a slight smile

"I'll get the keycards to the room"

He then walked over to the reception and asked for the keycards, after both were given to him he walked back to Admina and gave her one of the keycards

"All information should be on it regarding the room"

He then walked in the direction of the room, and when he walked there, what can I say, it was nice two beds, a minibar, and other such luxuries that were common in luxurious places, Tadeusz quickly unpacked and seeing that it was still very much early he decided to test the water in the Mediterranean.

He took out his swimming pants and in the toilet got them on himself, he left the clothes that he wore before in his bag and with sandals on his feet, swimming pants on, a shirt that barely covered him and a towel in hands he started walking, he bumped into some of the fellow recruits along the way ( which names I would tell you but I didn't ask for permission from their authors ) always with the same "sorry, I'm just going to the beach".

When he finally got there he threw the towel on the sand, got sandals and shirt off and jumped into the water.

[Union Princes]

Szarlota Raczkowska
Ah, Italy, more specifically, Sardinia. Szarlota has heard of an exotic cheese that found local on this island though she had forgotten the name. But nevertheless, this was a vacation to a European beach and she needed to enjoy it. A shame her sister couldn't come along but Andżelika wasn't part of the Young Guardians program. Szarlota promised herself to get a souvenir or two and bring home a bunch of pictures.

That's why she occasionally snap pictures on her phone of the room she was staying in, the view of the beach, and the scenery of Cagliari in the distance. As for her roommate that she will be sharing the room with, it will be Evelyn. Szarlota didn't talk to her much before so she hoped this time she will make a friend out of her. The Polish girl took the bed closest to the window and set down her luggage on it. She didn't bring her Jester outfit and mask (she entrusted it to her sister) but instead brought her normal clothes, a couple deck of cards, two-piece bikini and an old beach umbrella that her parents never got the chance to use.

She went into the bathroom to switch into her red and white bikini and to put on some sunscreen all over her body and legs. Szarlota wished Andżelika was here to join in on the fun but instead, Andżelika has to be content with a selfie pic that Szarlota took of herself. After putting on a white shirt over herself and grabbing the umbrella, towels and cards, she then proceeded to make her way over to the beach to claim her spot in the sand.

[Lessoni]

Jack Dredd

Jack had always been forgetful. It was just in his nature. And he forgot his damn bathing suit. He'd searched for the better part of half an hour, but he finally concluded it was back in New York.

Well, looks like a trip to the store, he thought to himself.

Luckily, a store on the resort carried them, though he had trouble finding his size. He inspected himself in the mirror, admiring his admitablly huge muscles.

Still looking good, he thought.

He went to the beach, not bothering with sunscreen. He never burned. When he arrived, he spotted some of his teammates, swimming and relaxing. He, for one, would be in the water. He loved to swim, and water in general.

[Endem]

Tadeusz Rybinski

Tadeusz was relaxing in the water as a squid camouflaged into the rocks, he didn't bother with most of the things, the water was just perfect, especially since most of the water he was ever swimming in was cold Baltic, he then spotted some movement over the water, some red and black flashes, probably just a piece of clothing, then a second figure appeared.

The second figure was heading straight for the water, nearly into the same spot as when Tadeusz was resting his tentacles, he needed to stop the... someone before he would stomp on him and so he transformed into himself just seconds before he would be stomped on.

"Woah, easy there you don't want to crush anyone under your feet"

Before the surprise wore off from the man before him he used the chance to get a glimpse at his belongings, Towel, Shirt and Sandals were still on the sand, he looked who was the second person on the beach, and to his surprise it, was Szarlota, now back to Jack.

"Where are my manners, my name is Tadeusz, and yours is?"

[Lessoni]

Tadeusz Rybinski

Tadeusz was relaxing in the water as a squid camouflaged into the rocks, he didn't bother with most of the things, the water was just perfect, especially since most of the water he was ever swimming in was cold Baltic, he then spotted some movement over the water, some red and black flashes, probably just a piece of clothing, then a second figure appeared.

The second figure was heading straight for the water, nearly into the same spot as when Tadeusz was resting his tentacles, he needed to stop the... someone before he would stomp on him and so he transformed into himself just seconds before he would be stomped on.

"Woah, easy there you don't want to crush anyone under your feet"

Before the surprise wore off from the man before him he used the chance to get a glimpse at his belongings, Towel, Shirt and Sandals were still on the sand, he looked who was the second person on the beach, and to his surprise it, was Szarlota, now back to Jack.

"Where are my manners, my name is Tadeusz, and yours is?"

Jack Dredd

Well, this was a surprise.

"Oh, hey, I'm Jack. May I ask... I'm sorry, but what were you doing?"

How strange. He hadn't even seen him until he'd been almost directly in front of him. How had he missed him? Then it clicked. This guy was a shapeshifter. Jack had read his file.

[Endem]

Tadeusz Rybinski

Tadeusz was relaxing in the water like a squid camouflaged into the rocks, he didn't bother with most of the things, the water was just perfect, especially since most of the water he was ever swimming in was cold Baltic, he then spotted some movement over the water, some red and black flashes, probably just a piece of clothing, then a second figure appeared.

The second figure was heading straight for the water, nearly into the same spot as when Tadeusz was resting his tentacles, he needed to stop the... someone before he would stomp on him and so he transformed into himself just seconds before he would be stomped on.

"Woah, easy there you don't want to crush anyone under your feet"

Before the surprise wore off from the man before him he used the chance to get a glimpse at his belongings, Towel, Shirt and Sandals were still on the sand, he looked who was the second person on the beach, and to his surprise it, was Szarlota, now back to Jack.

"Where are my manners, my name is Tadeusz, and yours is?"

Jack Dredd

Well, this was a surprise.

"Oh, hey, I'm Jack. May I ask... I'm sorry, but what were you doing?"

How strange. He hadn't even seen him until he'd been almost directly in front of him. How had he missed him? Then it clicked. This guy was a shapeshifter. Jack had read his file.

Tadeusz Rybinski

"I was relaxing in this spot as an octopus”

Tadeusz said while pointing just below his right foot, now that he said that there was probably no questions what his power was, so why won't ask Jack for his

"I guess you already figured out my power, what is yours?"

Tadeusz said with a slight smile, the smile was always on him when he was talking it was his way of getting people at ease

[Lessoni]

Jack Dredd

Huh. Well that was... a little odd. Still, wasn't the weirdest thing he'd ever seen.

"I got superstrength and unbreakable skin. Well, not quite unbreakable. I've never had it pierced, but I'm sure there's an upward limit. And of course, I have to activate it. As for the superstrength, I'm thinking the max I can lift is 6000 pounds, though I'm sure I could bring it up."

[Endem]

Tadeusz Rybinski

"Nice powers, if you will excuse me but I would like to go back being an octopus for a little longer"

With those words, Tadeusz transformed into the octopus, wrapped around Jack's foot and used it as a point from which he could propel himself, this time he got into a location near the shore, to keep watch of his belongings and nearer to it. After he got himself into a comfortable position he got out of the water a tentacle and waved both Szarlota and Jack, he then transformed into some Mediterranean fish and promptly hidden in a small carving on the side on one of the rocks and decided to rest there for some more time, ten minutes at best

Elek Mohave

Elek unpacked and seeing his roommate already left decided to follow him, locking his room he thought about getting something to drink, he wandered off to the cafe on his way to the beach and ordered there a juice of some kind, or smoothie, whatever he couldn't remember the name, when he finally arrived at the beach he spotted Jack in the water, some kind of commotion in the water like a small animal and some girl, then a tentacle extending from the water and waving, strange.

At first, Elek was quite confused at what he was supposed to do now, but after seeing what others did he assumed that probably for now it was better if he got his towel on the sand and sat there, good he bought himself shorts and a T-Shirt, it was blazing hot.