Young Bloods(IC, Reboot Open)

[The Republic of Atria]

Roy

Bael

Once the pair were alone he sighed. "This has been bugging me for a little bit. It really only came to a head in the Reckoning's raid at the tournament. I could have stopped Killswitch easily. I literally had him in my hands, but he got out and wound up causing a lot more damage to the stadium. Almost would have hurt me pretty bad if it wasn't for Renata. So the first question is... How badly are we willing to hurt these people to stop them? For the tournament example, the only thing he accomplished was smashing up the arena a bit. Whatever, I'm sure that place has insurance. but what if he hurt or killed someone? The guy's a self proclaimed assassin... I literally could have snapped his in half. If he kills more people, I... I feel like their blood is on my hands." He paused, realizing that he was droning on.

"My point is, should I have done something to put a stop to him right away? We beat him, but we could have done so much quicker. Should we have used more? Are we responsible for the harm he causes because we neglected in doing something more permanent?" He asked. "I'm a little squeamish, don't like seeing blood, but I'd rather see mine or a criminal's than someone innocent. It was easier in the tournament when I fought Mountain, I knew that he wasn't going to try and kill me or someone else if I didn't stop him, and I'm sure he felt likewise."

"Just..." He sighed again before continuing. "Another thing is. It's no secret that my powers can be a little... Destructive. Back at the bank I used the parking lot to make a tunnel so the hostages could escape and not get shot. I'm assuming that was the right thing to do. I know that the bank owner is probably pretty mad at me, but he can't really give me crap for saving over a dozen people, but... I don't know. There's so much about this whole thing that I'm not sure about. It's not that I don't want to help people. Doing this is a win-win for me, but I want to do it properly. I know we're not supposed to kill people if it's possible to avoid..." He sighed and leaned against the van. Thanks to the sun, it was still pretty warm, and he visibly relaxed a bit.

"Hypothetical. Let's say I did what I thought about doing to Killswitch: I had him in a bear hug and could have broken his back and stopped him right then and there. Let's pretend I did. What would you or Naja say or do? Obviously I saved people since there's no guarantee he wouldn't have hurt or killed someone. But what if he did? Would breaking his back outweigh the potential harm or lives he would have taken? I have to make that choice and... Roy, it's difficult. It really is. Do I cause potentially irreparable harm to someone evil to save the lives of several others?"

[Tomia]

Roy
"You know, I think the biggest lie people believe about being a superhero is that doing the right thing is easy." Roy said when Wyatt had finished. "Everyone thinks you put on a cape you run to where the bad guy are and then boom big applause. Obviously we know differently. I spent pretty much my whole life with someone who was trying to make me a killer, but that wasn't who I was when. When push came to shove, I sacrificed everything to do the right thing. And that wasn't some selfless heroic thing, I just wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I did anything else you know? My point is, you have to go with what is in your gut. There's always going to be someone on the outside trying to make you someone you aren't. but you'll know the truth when you need to. You're a good person Wyatt trust me. But if you want my opinion on these things, killing is never worth it. Once we start justifying it for convenience we won't ever stop. You can't be blamed for someone dying because you refused to kill yourself. Killswitch made those choices not you. You chose to be better than him, and I'm proud of you for that."

He then reached up and put a hand on Wyatt's shoulder, trying to offer some level of reassurance to the clearly troubled young superhero.

Mars
Mars was shocked when his teacher revealed a picture of the Calculator, an original member of the Wonder Warriors. Did that mean Mr. Baker was... Even as he was reeling from that revelation, he was hit with another even greater one. The leader of the Legion of Darkness had been involved in the massacre? "Uh wow, I'm sorry Mr. Baker this is kind of just a lot to process..." Mars said, his heart racing and his thoughts unfocused. "I'm really sorry... About what happened. I can't imagine how horrible that must have been. But, the Young Bloods, they're just trying to do what's right. They don't mean any disrespect. In fact, I think they are trying to honor the legacy of the Wonder Warriors. I'm sorry to press but... Are you sure this Dark Star woman was involved in the original attack?"

Angelica
Soon the dodgeball game came to an end and the boys and girls headed to their respective locker rooms. Angelica headed down along with Alexis, who despite being on opposite sides there was of course no hard feelings between them. When they reached the lockers, Angelica noticed a girl sitting outside her locker. She recognized her as Coleen, a girl her age who was one of the track and field kids. Usually Coleen was a peppy and healthy runner but today her skin was pale and her eyes blood shot. She was visibly shaking and looked like she hadn't eaten or slept in a few days.

[Charmera]

Keone would have felt his knife push forward into his opponent's leg, but his strike would not be rewarded with a spray of blood. Instead, the leg itself crumbled into ash, followed quickly by the rest of what had a moment ago seemed like Makenzie. A moment later a sharp kick would send itself through the haze of ash, aiming itself at Keone's stomach before retracting backward.

"You really shouldn't call people disappointments. It sets you up for ironic beatdowns." Makenzie replied. Her form had shifted, more centered that River Stance and less low to the ground. She sacrificed some of the stability of river form for more mobility, in "Hebi no shisei" or Snake Stance.

Jokes aside, this guy is fast. Really fast. In order to dodge that strike, Makenzie had quickly created an ash clone of herself and then rolled forward, swinging around and kicking out. She had managed to dodge, but just barely. One good hit with those blades and I'm done. The risk of getting knocked down would just have to suffice for the extra mobility.

She needed to make sure he couldn't keep doing that. She decided to follow up with a few attacks, keep him from planning any further moves. Instead of her typical strategy of overwhelming her opponent, she opted for a series of probing strikes. She made long-range kicks and jabs in order to test her foe's defenses. If she could find a weakness in his stance, she might be able to exploit it to paralyze one of his limbs. She made sure to retreat back after every strike, preserving stamina and, hopefully, her life.

"Teaching pays less than Starbucks and I'm very bad with kids." She remarked nonchalantly. "You have to win competitions to make money, and that isn't really a stable way to make money. Meanwhile, there are always villains and you get paid on the regular."

Keone

When the blow came through the ash, Keone barely responded to it by blocking it with the back of his blade. From there, he continued blocking, as she seemed adamant to pressure him. And honestly, it was getting annoying. Keone looked for a split second reprieve, watching her movements and her timing. Luckily, she seemed to be staying at a reach. Good, let's make it a bit more of a stretch then."

Keone turned quickly, and flashed about 20 feet away. Turning once more, he entered a lazy stance, making sure to back up and keep a distance if she were to pursue. "So you're just in it for the money, then. Figures. It's all I ever hear. Tell me...Asp, was it? Have you ever thought what it would be like without this hero-villain culture? Personally, I think there'd be less deaths. Imagine for a second. No powers, enhanced tech going to bettering the world instead of fighting, doesn't that sound nice? I do what I do to work towards that. No one will listen if they could lose their ability to idolize people like you like you're gods. But don't worry, I only planned on slitting one neck today."

One hand went to the outside of Keone's pocket, almost as if for reassurance. The other focused on defense with the blade. Perhaps mother knows what to do here. She has the experience.

Alleyway

"Please." She responded dismissively, taking a similarly seemingly relaxed stance. "Look, I get that the whole hero thing can seem like bullshit, but criminals are going to exist regardless of whether or not there's someone in tights around ready to stop them. Taking heroes out of the equation just leaves us with villains." She began to circle her opponent, keeping an eye on Keone. "And even if they were to suddenly go away, we still live in a world with aliens and magical powers. There are things in this universe only a hero can defeat."

She scanned him, looking to see if he was going to attack. "What's your solution? Kill the villains?" She retorted. "You're not solving anything. All you do is give the morgue more overtime hours."

Well, he seems content to just stand there and let me lead this dance. Makenzie thought to herself. Baiting him was not going to work. Fine. Let's take this up a notch.

Suddenly, Makenzie charged towards her foe, her hands in a defensive guard as she swept round to his side. However, in the middle of her attack, she split into two Makenzie's. They both seemed to exit out of the space she once inhabited seamlessly. One of them charged directly for a frontal assault, while the other was sweeping in for a sidewinding attack. The frontal assault Makenzie unleashed a storm of blows, punching regularly with a fist up to guard her face. Meanwhile, the other Makenzie would wait for an attack and then unleash a devastating kick to her opponent's side.

Red

---

The Next Day...

Sweat dripped down Red's face as he delivered a mixture of kicks, elbows, and punches towards the bright blue heavy bag that sat dangling in the padded section of the workout area of the Tower. The heavy blows he delivered to the bag were muffled by the heavy chorus of drums and guitar riffs accompanied with the harsh vocals of the rock music that blared out from the speakers around him, the fast paced tempo providing the encouragement to continue on with his workout even as his body ached from the effort. Timing his breathing so that it coincided with every time he struck at the bag, his bare chest rose up and down in large but steady inhales and exhales as his lungs struggled to deliver enough oxygen to his fatigued muscles. He was on the tail end of a short yet intense workout, and the strain on his body from the day before was taking its toll on him far more than it usually did.

Finally, a loud blaring horn erupted from the speakers, indicating to Red that the final round of his drills was completed. Red let out a exhale as he bent over, placing his hands on the top of his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. After some time he finally seemed to calm his heart rate down enough that he could stand up straight, still placing his hands up at the back of his head as he walked over to where his gym bag was. Reaching down into the bag, he retrieved his phone and paused the music that had been previously blaring, leaving the workout area eerily silent save for the creaking sounds of chains as the heavy bag continued to swing back and forth.

Tossing his phone down and grabbing his water bottle, he sprayed some of the cold liquid onto his face in an effort to cool himself off before taking a large chug from the container, drinking until his thirst was finally satisfied. Letting out another deep exhale, Red returned the water bottle back to his bag and proceeded to throw on the shirt he had worn on the way in. While he wasn't exactly shy about showing off skin, he knew others within the Tower were less comfortable with seeing each other in such manners outside of the times they spent on the beach. He couldn't exactly blame them, and considering the fact that they were all still teenagers living together, he tried to be as modest as possible when around others. At least, to the extent that he was possible of.

As he was in the process of gathering his things, Red's ears picked up on the sound of approaching footsteps. Turning his head over in their direction, Red saw one of the newer faces of the team coming towards where he was. Given the fact that he had been spending little time around the Tower as of late and hardly interacted with anyone else besides Casimir in his free time, Red wasn't as familiar with her as he was with others, but he at least knew her name.

"Makenzie, right? I'm just getting done here," Red called out to her, pointing with his thumb towards the heavy bag that was still gently swaying back and forth. "I think I've abused that poor thing enough today. Feel free to have the place to yourself."

YB Tower
Makenzie nodded to the Red-haired young blood. She did not know him very well either. "Yep, and you're Red right?" She looked him up and down, seeing an athletically built youth, maybe about a year younger than she was. The fact that he had picked up her normally quiet footsteps was notable, as was his general stance and demeanor, which spoke to the soul and mind of a warrior. She looked over to the heavy sandbag. Her perceptive ninja eyes told her that his boast was not an idle one and that said sandbag might only have gone through more abuse if Wyatt or Casimir had taken a decent swing or two at it.

Better keep an eye out on this guy.

Makenzie stood in front of the sandbag, exhaling softly. She then began a clockwise walk around the sandbag, facing it as she moved. She kept a mobile footwork stance, stepping lightly yet quickly. When she began striking the bag, she didn't so much punch it as tap it. She made a quick succession of small, light jabs. Her movements weren't even pushing the bag very much, simply prodding it rapidly. There was, though, a precise pattern to her movements.

"So, where were you trained?" She remarked conversationally. "Or did you come out of the womb in a martial artist stance?"

"Also, what's up with your name?" She remarked, "'Red'. At least the others have their real name on file... well most of them at least." She remarked off-hand. "If Naja didn't insist I get a superhero name, I wouldn't have bothered with it personally."

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

Red was in the process of preparing to leave when he paused to watch as the girl approached the heavy bag. What drew her attention was the stance in which she placed herself in prior to beginning her strikes, a style which Red immediately recognized as belonging to that of the Eastern martial arts. While a mere few seconds placed in front of a heavy bag was far from enough to get a concrete idea of what specific style the girl was using, Red's initial reaction was that it reminded him of the Japanese style of Gōjū-ryū, a martial arts style originating from the island of Okinawa that focused heavily on a mixture of heavier strikes such as kicks and throws combined with softer prodding strikes that were designed to open up an opponent for further attacks. Red raised an eyebrow as he watched her deliver blow after blow with precise strikes, a small sense of respect being felt within him as she finally finished with her drills.

"So, where were you trained? Or did you come out of the womb in a martial artist stance?"

Upon hearing this question, Red actually let out a soft scoff as he shook his head.

"I took a few classes when I was younger. My teachers were pretty shitty, but I suppose they taught me a few useful things," Red replied, not technically lying but certainly not telling the entire truth. After all, there was no way he would tell this girl the actual source of his martial arts training. The only person who knew such information was Naja, and while as much as that woman hated him, he knew that at least for now his own past was still hidden to the rest of the team.

"Also, what's up with your name? 'Red'. At least the others have their real name on file... well most of them at least. If Naja didn't insist I get a superhero name, I wouldn't have bothered with it personally."

Red merely shrugged at the question followed by the offhand remarks afterwards.

"It's what I've always been known as. Who's to say it's not," Red said, a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice. Glancing over at the heavy bag, which had now once more regained momentum in its swinging thanks to the renewed onslaught put on it by Makenzie, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Say, why don't we spar for a bit? I've got some time to kill before I head out again, and it'd be nice to swing at something else besides that damn thing," he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the heavy bag. His muscles still ached, but the opportunity to actually spar with someone who was equally adept, at least from what he had seen thus far, in martial arts was hard to pass up upon. He hadn't been lying either with stating how he had a small amount of free time remaining before he needed to head out on patrol.

Tossing his gym bag to the side, Red kicked off his shoes and placed himself in a neutral fighting stance, with his feet spread shoulders-spacing apart and his hands held up high in front of him. "Come on, I don't bite. Too hard, at least," he said, mockingly beckoning Makenzie towards him with one of his hands.

[North America Inc]

Aleta

Jason

Ava

Thomsen Cafeteria
Something was wrong, all of them could feel it. But no one admitted it. Walking into the cafeteria only minutes after shooting up, the four junkies tried their best to act their best. Going from one side of the crowded room to the other, they all hung back near the wall. A few tepid steps towards the crowd gave away too them hanging out the middle of the room. They had done this before, however, this quantity was something else. Liane, the smallest and thinnest of the group, was the most disheveled. Despite her hope that it would pass, it was clear she needed some help. Her once pale skin was turning blistering red. "Hey Liane you still with us?" Devon asked as the group took a moment to calm themselves at a nearby lunch table. Her worrying moans and distorted bodily sounds snapped the poor athlete back to reality. Clenching his right fist, he demanded, "Come on let's go outside and get some air." Despite having just came inside.

"Yea...yea." James replied with dilated eyes and a boyish grin plastered over his face. He could hear them. He could hear all of them. The rush of not only the high but the ability to hear the thoughts of students gave James an unbearable sense of giddiness. In this heightened reality, everything felt so real, the flurry of new sensations and feelings. For the first few moments as he followed Devon, he listened too a Sophomore complain about the food, a Cheerleader's internal fear about an expanding waist line, and Spanish. Beyond even the thoughts, this sensitivity was a high unto itself. Anything he felt, they felt; and vice versa.

Holding his fist tight, Devon sauntered his way to the exit; in his confused state, he would lose track of one and then switch towards another. Beyond his profuse sweating and loud heaving, his scowl made sure no one was going to get in his way. His blood was boiling. A new sense of anxiety and irritation washed over him; he was just so pissed off, yet he didn't know why.

Jessica was still at the lunch table, unaware that they had left her several minutes prior.

Across the aisle, Shi's impromptu posse continued to mingle with each other. Pulling her skirt to cover more of her thigh, Shi answered Aleta's question. "A little more basic then what I was expecting but that's purely ancedo...."Without even looking at it, Shi held her poise as a finger blast flung the bread toward an unsuspecting student. "Anecdotal. Would you excuse me a moment?"

Looking over at Jason and Mark, Shi sarcastically remarked, "I know you have trouble with grammar..." before quickly trailing off. Following Jason's glare, she saw the three junkies walk in circles around the cafeteria. She recognized the situation. Turning back towards Jason, "We'll talk about it later." They hadn't done anything confrontational yet but their suspicious behavior more than warranted a closer look. Snapping her finger, April immediately jumped to the right of her. "Keeping an eye on them."

"Got it." A determined expression came over April as she immediately turned around and ran up the adjacent wall. Using the hanging lights and support beams, the ponytailed brunette perched herself in the exact center of the room.

"Out of my way!" Devon demanded as he raised his voice to an unsuspecting freshmen. Before even responding, the freshmen found himself flung a few feet onto the ground. Immediately regretting his actions, Devon walked over to help the young boy, only to be brushed off. "Sorry man. I..I didn't mean to do that. I'm just going through a lot of crap right now."

"What the hell is wrong with you!" A crowd of students circled around Devon, demanding the junkie to calm down. "Do we need to get a teach..."

God what I would do to her... Every single student heard as they were unexpectedly bombarded with James' inner thoughts, unaware and unable to control his powers. Staring directly at the confused Chinese Star, he wondered why everyone else was starring at him as his tirade continued into explicit detail. This went on for several more seconds until he turned his eyes toward Aleta. He immediately recognized her. Suckering in his teeth, he slowly shook his head. Because of her, he had lost not only his side business but also his rep. She had too pay, big time. A searing, unbearable pain immediately manifested in Aleta's mind; as if her lower back was being pressed against a stove. As he watched her nearly collapse onto the floor, he unintentionally broadcasted, Come on die you bitch

"Oh my God...Liane! You're, you're bleeding!"

Liane unable to even speak at this point lifted her hand, only to find no blood. It was worse, her skin was liquefying. The ooze dripped onto the floor, congealing into a melanin colored puddle. People slowly began to back away as her outfit became moist and drenched, no one sure what to do. "I...I need some help." Liane tried to voice before her legs gave out and she slipped; she instinctively reached out towards a table for support, however, something more unexpected occurred. Her skin had immediately dissolved the table, leaving only an increasingly a corroded metal frame. Now people began to scream and run away. "Help me." She voiced as her new found ability ate away at the earth as well.

Clenching both his fists, Devon was having none of this. The screams, these obnoxious screams were doing nothing for his headache. "Shut up!" He shouted as he grabbed a table and launched it at a crowd of students. When it didn't get the response he wanted, he decided that two table were the solution. Smashing his way through, Devon's enhanced super strength rocked the cafeteria with each step he took. "Won't everyone shut up for just a second, I can't hear myself..." Devon was cut off as a kinetic a blast launched him against the wall.

"Ava, Jason, Wendy on me." Shi ordered as she stood up on the table.

[Finland SSR]

Viviana Couture October 2nd

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

October 2nd

---

In response to the Trebuchet Method, Viv implemented the so-called "Chicle Method" - employing her rubbery powers to bounce the ball all around the court, before finally leaping up to the sky, far higher than Mizu could possibly reach, and tossed the ball straight at the board. Slamming with unprecedented force, it slid through the net and popped back on the floor. Point.

"Uwah..." Mizu muttered a few noises under her breath - the combination was so swift that she didn't even have any time to react. But that didn't mean she was going to give up. The illusionist stretched out her arms to the sides and declared:

"And now... the Selene Method!"

Suddenly, a massive flood of basketballs stormed into the court, breaking through the arms and windows and aiming to engulf Viv completely. It surely wasn't going to take long before she realizes the illusion, but before that happens, Mizu knew she had ample time to score an another point, She picked up the real ball, surfing underneath the wave of illusionary balls, and strolled towards the hoop on the other side, tossing it with little pressure on herself.

---

Mars

Steven Baker.

October 2nd

---

Maybe it wasn't that good of an idea to subject Mars to such a revelation - whether or not Steven's guess about his true connection with the Young Bloods was correct or not, he could only assume he was just a completely unrelated bystander, was it right for him to go so far? Alas, he could not turn back the clock, as much as he wished to many times in his life... He merely nodded in response to the teenager's condolences, but his expression soured somewhat when he began defending the team and asking on whether Dark Star was truly involved in that fateful day.

"It's been twenty years, Mars, but my memory has not gotten any worse. Yes, she was there." Steven responded calmly and glanced through the window. "They mean no disrespect, you say? And yet, they chose to adopt the name with which people have dubbed the massacre that day... as if it was a meaningless term, a joke. And it's even worse."

Steven glanced back over at Mars. "If Dark Star is there, that means the villains who led the Young Blood Massacre are still there, they know the Young Bloods exist, and I can only guess they're excited to repeat history again."

[Aidannadia]

Aleta snorted as she listened to some hapless telepath make a fool of himself. "What a joke." She said, apparently catching his attention.

That was when It began. A branding iron strange on her lower back. She grabbed at it helpless, realizing no wound was there. Her powers reacted wildly, coursing black ichor trying desperately to block in the incoming harm to its master, but it was for naught. The attack was mental in nature. Her powers were helpless against it. She stood, now remembering the voice that played in her head as she struggled to get up from the floor, genuflected as she stared down her attacker. "What's the matter, JamJam. Got your feelings hurt? I mean honestly, you should have figured it out on your own, but I guess I shouldn't expect much from a flunkie junkie screw up." She grimaced through the pain, her voice struggling to maintain composure.

"You gonna come over here and fight me like a man? Or are you scared?" She managed to stand despite the pain. "I'm Paragon, bitch. I can take whatever you throw at me."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 2nd

---

---

Alexis' excited smile quickly faded away and was replaced by a pout as she saw Angelica roll out of the way of her attack, which bounced harmlessly off the ground despite the effort she had put into it. Oh come on, the least you could've done was catch it! This is so anticlimactic! The girl complained. Of course, the game was still on, so she couldn't exactly dwell on it. Instead, she moved out of the frontline and quietly observed the opposing team for a few moments before rushing ahead and catching a ball bound for a teammate. Winking at the poor fellow that had to leave the field because of her, she quickly scanned the field and threw her ball as hard as she could at an enemy. When her efforts were met with a groan coming from the other team, she smiled.

"Should have treated it as a street fight, Danny." She said with a cheeky grin on her face. The boy's team was quick to retaliate, but the genius girl nimbly dodged the balls thrown at her.

And then promptly tripped and faceplanted.

"Ow..."

Not long after, Mrs. Rodgers called the match and the kids began heading off to the locker room, with Alexis quickly catching up to her girlfriend and walking alongside her, eagerly chatting away, though she was of course careful not to mention anything related to the Young Bloods.

As they arrived at the locker room, Angelica tapped the shorter girl's shoulder and nodded in Coleen's direction - she was an acquaintance of both, as the three were in the same club. Looking in her direction, Alexis noticed that the usually upbeat brunette was looking much worse for wear. Oh boy, I hope it's not because of what the others are looking into...

Nodding back at Angelica, the young prodigy sauntered up to Coleen and threw a friendly arm around the taller girl. "Hey Collie, what's up! Looking forward to the first practice of the year later?" She said in her usual energetic and cheerful manner. However, far from welcoming her, Coleen jumped slightly at her touch and turned to glare at her with bloodshot eyes.

"...You-you're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"What? No, I-" Alexis began, only to be interrupted as the brunette stood up.

"Oh shut up, you've always thought y-you were better than me because you're the club's rising s-star but you're wrong!" She said, her voice quickly rising to a shout towards the end. "A-and I'm going to prove it!"

Suddenly, a huge gust swept through the room, throwing the kids' belongings around and even knocking some of them off their feet. In response, the short blonde let out a shrill scream and quickly backed away from the now frenzied brunette, who didn't seem to be able to control her powers well, simply lashing out at everything around her.

With everyone's focus on Coleen, Alexis quickly shot towards her locker and retrieved various objects from it, nodding in Angelica's direction before dashing away from the locker room, still playing the part of a frightened teen.

[Galnius]

Keone

Keone immediately tuned out the hero in front of him when she went on the classic 'heroes are necessary' tirade. Instead, he began planning his next move. She seemed to have a few tricks up her sleeve, however, as she suddenly split into two. "You know, with your morals I think-"

Keone flashed forward once more, just as they were about to strike. However, her knew he couldn't just evade her forever. Still, he wanted to get under her skin, hoping that maybe she would slip up. "- you'd make a great whore. There's good money in it, it's not starbucks, you'll always have desperate husbands, and let's be honest, it's not like cheaters will go away without a prostitute. Might as well be one then, yeah?"

Keone prepared an offensive stance this time. If he could flash once more, closer to her, then perhaps he could get a good cut in. Perhaps then he could take her down and use her to bait out others.

---

Andrew

Almost running out of hope that someone, anyone, would greet him, Andrew was welcomed by the hero known as Kabuto. Well, perhaps welcomed was not the correct word for it, but he took what he could get.

Andrew scratched the back of his neck in mild embarrassment before responding to the much shorter hero. "Nah, I'm not his sidekick anymore. Starting today, actually." Then, he grinned, realizing that Kabuto was the type to banter. Is that what this was? "Didn't you get the memo though? Naja asked me to join to train you guys up. I believe her specific words were 'that bug boy is strong, but his hand to hand is total ass. Can you help the poor boy?' Poor woman must feel like she has to mother you."

---

Angelica Dalin

After receiving what may as well have been a slap on the wrist from the vice principal, Angelica returned to the locker room. It seemed the game was over, but something else had clearly occurred. At least, hearing high winds, screaming, and retreating classmates was not something that normally happened.

It was then that she rushed in, and immediately was immersed by the situation. One girl was on the ground, seemingly unconscious from hitting her head. The brunette she knew as Coleen was sending strong winds around aimlessly, with various objects pelting the walls and people inside. Angelica rushed over to the unconscious girl without thinking, and began healing her.

Soon, the girl woke up, more than a little surprised at the flames near her head that somehow didn't burn, and the person using them. "Oh thank god you're awake." Angelica smiled at her classmate, with a touch of blood going down her lip.

"Woah, are you okay?!" The other girl shouted over the winds, which had momentarily turned their way to them again.

"I'm fine, at least it wasn't a-" book. Angelica's thought was cut off as she torched a flying textbook that was coming straight for her, and called out to the perpatrator. "Colleen, you need to stop!" Where are the teachers?

Mika

Mikaela Mynd waited outside the vice principal's office for her turn in. Angelica Dalin left then, and Mika got up. "Alright, let's get this over with." Walking into the office, she was surprised to realize that she did feel a little ashamed, and when told to sit she immediately complied.

"Ms. Mynd....why are you acting up on the first day of school." Mikaela could only hang her head in shame. She respected the vice principal, personally, as he was one of the few people she could talk to before she got her (still undisclosed) abilities. "Did something happen at home? I know you've been troubled with it before. I can understand that it's hard with only one parent. Is your mother alright?"

Mika smiled a faint smile, pleased that he actually seemed concerned. The vice principal could be a good counterexample to her mom's teachings, if it wasn't for the fact that he was literally paid to care. Still, he at least tried to seem genuine. "Yeah, actually, things have gotten better. She's a lot more active in my life. Perhaps the new boyfriend she has is good for her..." In truth, Mika knew exactly why things seemed better, but she felt like that should remain secret. "I gave a bit more confidence now. Perhaps I uh...got carried away with it though."

The vice principal sighed. "Alright, well, it can't happen again. No fighting with classmates, and you can't be flipping off your teachers. Head to your next period. Oh, but you will still have after school detention tomorrow. I expect to see you there. And for now, let's honor the gym teacher's wishes about the camera."

Mika's nodded, her smile gone. She had hoped that maybe that would not be put through. Still, it wasn't the vice's fault, and she would deal with the problem starting tonight.

With that, Mikaela simply wandered until the next period would begin. However, she saw something she had trained herself to look out for. A single person, alone. Mika remembered them as some french girl, but not much else. Still, there wasn't much harm in having a backup in case Angelica Simmons didn't work out. Taking out her camera, she prepared her shot, shutter sound and flash on. Click.

Mika checked the picture, and became burn instantly unsettled and curious. Somehow, someway, the french girl was missing from the photo. This...was definitely interesting. "Hey, french girl, I got a question for ya!"

[Absolon-7]

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

Viviana Couture October 2nd
Viviana pumped her fist into the air as the ball she had thrown landed straight into the basket making the match transition into a tie. Just had to keep Mizu on her toes and she'd landslide a victory in no time. That would have gone swimmingly until Mizu pulled out her trump card and unleashed a flood of basketballs into the court of apocalyptic proportions. Although they were illusions they still gave the sensation of real basketballs thus she was easily swallowed by the horde. To save herself she shot her arms up extending them to the ceiling so they could grasp onto anything like a ledge. She contracted her arms to pull herself up and was helpless to do anything as Mizu scored another point for herself.

"Darn it. Foiled by the very thing the game uses," said Viviana under breath. She swung herself down to land next to Mizu with a determined smile on her face, "Looks you got the upper hand so far partner. Not many can say they can keep up with one of New Lublin High's star basketball players." Viviana's eyes opened wide before looking down slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah this totes isn't karma..."

Just then a yapping of a small dog could be heard from the entrance of the gym and into the vast room came running a small mass of black and white fur storming into the room like a speedster on sugar high. Quinn the husky barged into the room before heading straight towards the two girls. It circled around both and in between their feet almost making Viviana lose her balance before its attention was suddenly caught by something in the center of the court. It was nothing more then Viviana's phone that had fallen out of her pocket earlier escape of the tide of basketballs. The puppy swiftly then ran out of the room with the phone in its mouth while Viviana tried to shoot out her hands to grab it but they ended up smacking against the sides of the doorframe as it left the room.

"Ouch," said Viviana retracting her arms before bashfully turning to Mizu, "Sooooo mind helping me get my phone back? We can end the game afterwards and you can go back to studying I swear."

Andrew

Casimir Herman October 2nd
Casimir had his arms crossed as the newcomer explained himself as not a sidekick to Captain Quake anymore which was a positive at least. Casimir quickly took out his phone to check for this alleged 'memo' and what do you know there it was. He guessed the morning had been so hectic he hadn't noticed the notification. Beneath his helmet Casimir rolled his eyes at it and guessed the bloke been impressed by the team or something during the tournament. That's what he would've thought until the newbie had the guts to insult his prowess.

"As if I need mothering. I got more fighting experience then half this team combined. I don't need some fancy smanshy trainer," scoffed Casimir looking up at Andrew, "Now let's give you a tour of the place or something. Also we need you set up in the team's private Discord server. Little advice, block the Carter guy. Left the team weeks ago but you're better off doing that."

Casimir would lead Andrew up the road to the island where the main gathering of buildings where located and Casimir stood at the center of the plaza. As it where he was the perfect man for the job when it came to tours or finding places in the location as he could just pop his vision to any insect in his swarm he had discreetly located throughout the premise.

"Alright so this big old heap of glass on concrete is Wonder Tower," said Casimir pointing at the not so tower like building with his thumb, "We got one floor that's basically the living room with a kitchen and cafeteria connected to the side of it, we got a gym and training floor, I think we got a pool somewhere near the top, and we got rooms in lots of it. Though we only use like half the building really. Other places we got are the hanger where we keep the jet and van, the conference hall, and the workshop for the techies. So want to look at one of those places or pick out a room first?"

[Auropa]

---

---

Mike Mathews
October 2nd
Dodgeball
After a summer spent fighting villains, avoiding live fire and dodging debris, Mike couldn’t help but find dodgeball a bit less intense than he used to. As he casually sidestepped a lazily tossed ball, he flicked his arm out and sent his own back to his assailant before hearing a satisfying *thunk* as it hit its target. ‘I wonder what’s for lunch...’ he pondered as he slowly raised a leg over another low throw.

When the game finally came to its end, Mike was more than willing to move on. Thanks to Alexis he didn’t feel nearly as awkward or anxious as he did before but there were still a few lingering doubts on his mind. Moving to the changing rooms to get back into his normal uniform, he took a moment to consider the different things he could do or say before becoming distracted at some nearby raised voices. ‘Huh, that almost sounds like Ale-‘ He began to think before a sudden violent gust of air shook the room causing an unmistakable scream of panic as objects started crashing to the floor.

Knowing the sounds of danger all too well now, Mike scrambled towards the source of the noise. With a thousand thoughts running across his mind, he turned the last corner just in time to have the wind knocked out of him by another sudden, forceful gust. Gritting his teether and urging himself to keep upright and moving, he shrugged off the impact as best he could and continued forward and into the chaos. One of the girls, Coleen, seemed to have completely lost control of her powers putting everyone nearby suddenly into immediate danger. Taking in the situation as best he could, Mike came to a decision. Focusing his powers to his side, he concentrated on an area of damaged wall and pushed it further. Still under the force from the unrelenting winds and Mike's influence, the weakened segment quickly gave way and collapsed, leaving what under calmer circumstances would have been a suspiciously clean hole out of the locker room.

“Everybody out!” Mike called from above the torrent as he gestured to the newly made exit and moved to help a nearby student back to their feet. As some of their friends came to help her away, Mike tried to look for the familiar faces. Even without her mask Frostbite still maintained her seemingly ever cool composure and not too surprisingly hadn’t yet made a single move towards escaping. Alexis meanwhile, seemed to have disappeared before, or in the chaos.

‘Okay, students are getting clear. Now what the hell do I do?’ Mike thought to himself as he looked over the scene in front of him. The problem wasn’t any sort of big evil villain he could just punch away, as far as he could tell, there was just a scared girl losing control of herself and who needed help, badly.

[Aidannadia]

Tadeo was tending to his plants for most of the morning as the rest of the squad was attending their classes. Sometimes, Tadeo wondered what school was like, but he had aged out of classes for a while and quite frankly, he wasn’t sure he’d trade his experiences throughout his teenage years for school. Still, sometimes he wondered how different his life could have gone if he’d stayed in Colombia all those years ago; what he would have become if that day had never happened.

He meditated on the consequences of the tragedy of his childhood for much of the rest of the day, when he felt a presence approaching his hut. He opened an eye and saw none other than the young telepathic hero of the Young Bloods.

“Hello, Yoshiro.”

Pausing at the edge of the magician’s garden, the girl seemed to be taken aback by the greeting. Rubbing her shoulder sheepishly, she forced a weak smile onto her features as a part of her immediately regretted even making the trip. What was she hoping to achieve by coming here, really? She’d hoped that going back to school would have allowed her to move on, but instead the day had left her feeling drained.

“Hi, Tad.” Yoshiro replied, glancing around the boy’s hut as she did so. She hadn’t ever really had a reason to come out to the fairly remote part of the island, and the elusive mage had largely kept to himself. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. But do you have a moment?”

“You are hardly disturbing. Speak your mind.” He said, not opening his eyes or moving an inch.

Taking a breath as if to steel herself, Yoshiro forced herself to spit out the reason for her visit. “You offered to help me with my telepathy, earlier. At school today, things felt different than they did...before.” A grimace flashed across the girl’s feature as unwanted memories threatened to rise to the surface, but she pushed them aside as she continued. “Normally I like being around people. I find their thoughts kind of comforting, you know? But all day I felt like my head was going to explode. Everyone was talking and feeling so loudly that I just wanted to shut them all out. I was hoping you might be able to help me figure out why.” Yoshiro paused as she waited for Tadeo to consider his response. Logically, it might have made more sense for her to go to Voice for help - but she knew that the woman had played a role in the team suspending her, and she couldn’t forgive the older heroine for that. Not yet.

Tad took a deep breath in, then exhale slowly through the nose. At the end of his breath, he stood calmly. “Well, that could be many things. The flounder sees the world differently at the murky depths of the ocean than she does in the brackish waters at the mouth of the stream.” Tad paused. “Or you could be more powerful now than before, which is not unlikely. Muscles tear and come back stronger with each use.”

“However, it more likely a mix of both with the root cause being your experiences this summer. No doubt your perspective on your powers has developed and your abilities have increased. You are a powerful hero.” He turned on his heel and paced for a moment, deep in thought on how best to counsel Yoshiro. “Sit. Let me show you something.” He sat and offered each palm to her to take.

Yoshiro frowned at the confusing analogy, but didn’t question it as she followed Tadeo’s instructions. Stepping forward, she lowered herself unto the ground such that she was sitting comfortably cross-legged across from the other hero. Reaching out, she placed her hands onto his and immediately felt as if the ground was moving beneath her feet.

As she took his palm, the world shifted. New sights and smells became clear. Wondrous colors she’s never seen before appeared before her eyes. The world began to grow larger, until she could feel the presence of people in the training fields across the island. And then the oppressive feeling of far off worlds just beyond the veil of our own began to press on her mind. And then suddenly the world became small again as Tad removes his hands from hers.

“We are similar. I too wanted to shut my powers from the world, but I learned that if you bottle the world away, it is a burden too great to bear for long. You must continue to embrace your abilities to get used to your senses.” Tad smiled sweetly and continued. “However, there is a danger to that path as you know well. You accept all sorts of things from the world, and some come with ill-intent. You must learn to put up mental barriers to protect your mind from invasion, as I have in my travels.”

Yoshiro had to gasp for air as Tadeo pulled his hands away. She’d felt thoughts before - memories and emotions - but never so much all at once. And she’d never felt something so overwhelmingly alien. Blinking away the stars in her eyes, she forced herself to concentrate on what Tadeo was saying as the magnitude of what he had shown her began to sink in. She’d known that the boy’s powers were being pulled from some kind of alternate dimension, but she’d just assumed it was another alien world like Adai. Instead, she had just been confronted by something entirely different.

Yoshiro turned towards Tadeo. “Could you teach me how?” She spoke with a determined conviction. If he could withstand such an intense aura all at once, then surely he could teach her how to improve her own abilities. “Voice said something similar, too. Back when she was training me. She said that I had to learn how to control my mindscape, and how to shape it into barriers.” Yoshiro shifted uneasily as she sat. “But even that feels different, now. My mindscape doesn’t respond like it used to. It’s like its become sluggish and slow, resistant even.”

“To protect yourself, you must first understand yourself. Take my hands again.” Tad reached out and then continued. “This time will not be so complete. My powers are limited in certain ways. First I must travel to the Realm of Thoughts, then I can enter your Mindscape. You can likely directly access other’s mindscape by follow their trail of thought as it floats to the beyond. I must work around that.” Tad explained as she took his hand once more. The world shifted by this time it was as if the world around her moved and bent in on itself until a strange parallel dimension appeared. It was like the world they came from, but filled with wispy blue lines that coursed through the air. People were ghosts with a faint aura around them, and moving became less mechanical and more mental, almost like swimming rather than walking. “This is the Realm of Thoughts. It is where thought takes physical form. It can be very dangerous, but it is mostly a peaceful place.” Tad’s aura blazed a deep purple as he reached up and touched Yoshi’s forehead while holding one of her hands and the world shifted again to somewhere familiar to the young psychic.

Closing her eyes right before Tadeo touched her head, Yoshiro felt the now-familiar sensation of entering her mindscape. She felt a momentary sensation of falling, as if the ground had suddenly dissolved beneath her, but just as quickly felt like she was standing on solid ground. Slowly blinking her eyes open, Yoshiro looked around to make sure that Tadeo had successfully followed her with his own powers. Seeing the other boy beside her, she offered him a sheepish smile. “Welcome to me, I suppose.”

The pair were standing in the lobby of an older apartment building. The wallpaper was a drab, uniform colour that betrayed its age even if it wasn’t poorly maintained. A set of mailboxes were built into one of the walls, though a single vase of blossoms sat in an effort to beautify the public space. The sound of a train rattled briefly outside, though there wouldn’t appear to be any way out onto the street. Furrowing her brow, Yoshiro glanced around at their surroundings.

“I think this is supposed to be the apartment my family lived in back in Japan.” She offered, stepping towards an old, metal-caged passenger elevator built into the far wall. Looking back towards Tadeo, she sheepishly tried to offer an explanation. “My mindscape used to always start me in a park outside Tokyo. But ever since…you know...it’s been manifesting as somewhere new every time.”

Entering the lift, Yoshiro waited for Tadeo to follow her before allowing the doors to close in front of them. Running her eyes along the buttons that adorned the wall, she reached out and pressed the one for the floor that her family had lived on. But instead of taking them upwards towards the appropriate level, the elevator suddenly began to plummet through the shaft. Letting out a cry of surprise, Yoshiro found herself being thrown around as she felt her stomach get thrown up into her throat. The shaft screeched and groaned around them as the lift accelerated further and further downwards, the panel of buttons all lighting and blinking in a chaotic mess, while glimpses of floor after floor flashed past the metal grating. And then suddenly, there was the sound of metal tearing into metal as both heroes were thrown painfully onto the floor.

Groaning as she opened her eyes, Yoshiro pulled herself back onto her feet. “What...what was that supposed to be?” She asked, peering past the elevator’s entrance only to see a dimly lit hallway leading to a single door. Frowning, she glanced towards Tadeo to make sure he was okay. “See what I mean, though. It’s like I can’t control anything anymore.”
Tad thought for a moment as he caught his breath, slowly rising to attention. “You are always in control of what happens to your own mindscape…. With a few exceptions. The question is what part of you is controlling what. I would suggest meditating on that, and frequently visiting your own mindscape over the next few weeks to identify the culprit. I am simply a visitor in your mindscape; the control that I can extend in this realm is limited.” He felt the door, listening against it for a moment, then move to a safe distance from the portal. “This place is very organized for someone who hasn’t actively set up barriers to protect themselves….”

Tad paced the floor. “A common tactic of an invading force is to convince the mind that it is not the one in control of what happens within it. Perhaps the aftermath of the Scarab has left an impression on your internalized beliefs around your own mind.” Tad explained, scratching his non-existent beard. “But you should know that you are a powerful telepath and that no one but you can truly determine what happens in your own mindscape.”

Following Tadeo out of the elevator, Yoshiro felt her gut twist at his words. His hastily added reference to a ‘few exceptions’ send an unsettling chill down her spine as memories of the Scarab crept into her thoughts. She offered the hero a doubtful glance. She couldn’t bring herself to believe what he said, not really. Not after she’d felt what it was like to have something else tearing and reshaping your mind from within.

But if he noticed her discomfort at his words, Tadeo didn’t show it. Moving a few steps away from the singular door, the hero gestured for Yoshiro to approach it as he offered her an encouraging smile. “Given all that, don’t you think we should see what it is that you want us to find?”

Yoshiro frowned doubtfully at Tadeo, running her eyes along the door as if expecting something to jump out. He’s right, you know he’s right. She wasn’t going to make any progress if she didn’t push herself, and until she made progress things weren’t going to go back to normal. Steeling herself, Yoshiro stepped forward and carefully pulled open the door so that she and Tadeo could peer into whatever lay in the next room.

It was a grocery store, the warm glow of artificial lighting illuminating the tightly packed shelves of goods and produce after the Sun had set. It was a small establishment, clearly a family-owned Mom-and-Pa shop rather than a corporate megalith, but Yoshiro had already known that. A few of the items on the shelves had their labels written in English, but the overwhelming majority were stored in brightly coloured packaging with Japanese characters loudly emblazoned on their logos. Somewhere, a radio was tuned into a local Tokyo station - but it was too quiet for her to make out what was being said. Even if it had been audible, Yoshiro’s attention had become frozen on the man looming over the cashier.

“Your payment is late, Shuzo.” The man’s voice was filled with menace, the beginnings of a tattoo poking above the upturned collar of his jacket. He looked like something out of a neon-filled comic strip, with his black trench coat and sunglasses only looking inconspicuous on the streets of Japan. “The boss doesn’t appreciate tardiness when it becomes a habit.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Shuzo replied quickly, clearly frightened but keeping his voice down. “I tried to send word earlier that I needed a few more days this month. I can pay half now, but my daughter fell ill again - migraines, the doctor said.”

“You used the same story last month, Shuzo.” The man said, his scowl deepening. “We are accommodating, but our patience is not limitless. We provide you with a service, and are entitled to our payment.”

“Damn it, it’s just a few days. Please.” Shuzo replied, thinking quickly as he tried to think of a way to placate the gang member. “This is a matter of family. Talk to your boss, he still knows me. Terada would understand if -” Before he could finish the sentence, a hand shot out and clamped itself around Shuzo’s throat. With seemingly no effort, the gang member lifted his quarry into the air, allowing his feet to dangle as he struggled to gasp for air. The man’s metal fingers were cold to the touch, the cybernetics that made up his right arm easily modulating the constricting force around Shuzo’s windpipe.

“Nobody names the boss during a job, Shuzo.” The cyborg hissed, watching as the colour rapidly drained from the cashier’s face. “You know that there are eyes and ears around. If anybody could have heard you, you’d be in even more trouble than you already are!”

“Daddy?” The quiet voice caused both men’s heads to turn towards it source, and Yoshiro felt herself freeze as she felt the cyborg’s gaze even beneath his glasses. She remembered this memory now, the faint recollections returning to her as she slowly forced her eyes towards the small girl standing at her feet.

Having just stepped through her family grocery’s backdoor, a much younger Yoshiro stood nervously in her pyjamas. She was clutching a stuffed toy in her hand as she looked at the terrifying scene before her.

For a moment, the two men remained locked in their pose, until the cyborg released Yoshiro’s father and allowed him to gasp for breath. Shooting the girl a scowl, it was the aggressor who spoke first. “Your father should have sent you to sleep already, Yoshiro.” Turning back towards the girl’s father, the Yakuza enforcer jabbed a metallic finger towards his chest. “I’ll get you one more day, Shuzo, but that’s the best that I can do. You better have the money by then, or even I won’t be able to do anything to stop the consequences.”

Still recovering from the stranglehold, the cashier’s voice was raspy when he replied. “Thank you, Koetsu.” Simply scoffing in response, the cyborg turned and stormed out of the grocery without a backwards glance. Shuzo watched his retreating back as he exited through the sliding doors, turning and quickly disappearing into the dim Tokyo night. Pushing aside his own thoughts and ignoring the lingering pain in his throat, Shuzo forced a smile onto his features as he turned to gesture for his daughter to approach. “Yoshiro! What did I tell you about staying up past your bedtime?”

Already with some quiet tears in response to what she’d witnessed, the girl didn’t need any further encouragement to run into her father’s arms. “I’m sorry, I wanted a snack.” Her voice was slightly muffled as she buried her head into his shoulder.

Sighing to himself, a genuine smile crept onto Shuzo’s face. “It’s fine, I’m up a bit late too.”

Before Tadeo could watch any more of the memory, Yoshiro slammed the door shut. He would’ve been able to tell that her pulse was raised, and she was breathing a bit more heavily than before. “I’m sorry, you didn’t need to see all of that.” She offered apologetically, still recovering from the vivid emotions she’d just re-lived. And for what? What grand revelation was that fragment of a buried memory supposed to kindle? “I think I’m ready to go now.”

“It is quite alright. It’s hardly the worst memory I’ve seen.” Tad noted. “And alright, but I fear you haven’t had the realization that you would need. I would suggest meditating on this issue closely.” Tad snapped his fingers and the pair returned to the garden. Yoshiro left soon after, and Tad continued to tend to his plants, wondering what it was that Yoshi was meant to see in that memory.

Meanwhile, Yoshiro’s father continued to hold his daughter protectively. “Hey, seeing as we’re both awake anyway - how about we get some extra ice cream? I won’t tell your mother if you don’t.” Pulling away, the young girl sniffled but managed to nod eagerly in response. “Great. But you better start thinking about what flavour you want.” Pausing, Shuzo’s brow furrowed as he noticed something in her palm. “Yoshi...what did we say about drawing on yourself? This is going to take forever to wash out.” He said accusingly, pointing towards the freshly drawn image of a scarab that had been inked onto the girl’s hand.

[Bentus]

Weatherman
San Diego

---

It all happened exactly as planned. At the stroke of the hour for the evening news, when families across the Golden State were settling in for dinner, they were met with a blank screen. It lingered for a few seconds, the silence across the airwaves drawing curious glances and furrowed brows before a sudden flicker caused a change in the scene. Immediately, viewers across the country coughed into their drinks or froze what they were doing as they were met with the confident grin of one of the world’s most recognisable villains.

“Good evening America!” Announced Weatherman, spreading his arms melodramatically as he stood in front of the camera. “I’m afraid that I’ve had to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring your leaders a very important message. But I am pleased to finally announce to you all that the wait is over. Tonight is the night, of my triumphant return onto the world stage!” Pausing for the sound of an artificial applause that was added to the feed, Weatherman was grinning ear-to-ear from within his secret bunker. In the offices of cable providers across the country, technicians scrambled to try and shut down the broadcast, only to find themselves outsmarted as it seemed like it was being routed through the studio itself.

“Now, now, I could not possibly have made it to this point without the faithful support of all of my fans out there, and I cannot wait to show you the devious plans that I have coming up. I promise you all, the people of California, that you have earned yourselves front-row seats to the great unveiling of my latest invention: a device designed to amplify the powers of a certain, devilishly handsome, one-time-hottest-bachelor-of-villainy-award-winner weather manipulator.” Stepping aside, a spotlight lit up the area behind Weatherman. It illuminated what looked to be an intimidating device that filled the room, the large structure peaked with towering tesla coils like some mad scientist’s frightful dream. “With it, the great city of San Diego is at my mercy - unless your Governor chooses to comply with the demands that I have sent to his office. There are a few minor items on the list, but chief among them is to have a billion dollars wired to my account by midnight tonight.” Weatherman allowed a few moments for his words to sink in, a fiendish grin etched into his features as he gloated before the masses. “And to convey to you all the gravity of my threat, we have my dear sidekick back at the studio. Marionette, care to fill them in on what to expect?”

“Sure thing, boss!” Marionette’s voice accompanied a change in the camera view. Gone was Weatherman’s lair, replaced instead by an initially out-of-focus image of the inside of the newsroom. “I’m fortunate enough to be joined here today at League News’ San Diego studio by a crack team of journalists, and none other than the face of the weather: Christina Garner!” The girl’s happy tone was coming from behind the camera as it shifted slightly to focus on a terrified woman standing in front of a green screen. Her eyes were wide with fear, and her makeup had visibly been affected by earlier tears. Adjusting the camera’s focus just a little bit more so that the scene was perfect, Lisette gestured for the woman to begin reading her lines.

Swallowing nervously, the reporter seemed to shake as she tried to ignore the madwoman that loomed behind the lens. “Th-thank you for that introduction, Marionette.” Christina gestured behind her as the green screen was replaced by a map of southern California, with the weather systems surrounding San Diego overlayed on top. “As you can see, San Diego was looking forward to a lovely night - b-but, we all forgot to prepare for the greatest villain in the world.”

Immediately, the map’s overlay changed into a fairly low-budget graphic that showed a miniature Weatherman cackling over the state’s southernmost city. With a snap of his fingers, a sudden storm burst into existence over San Diego, and slowly began to spread outwards from there. Gesturing with a weak hand, Christina forced herself to continue. “If Weatherman’s demands are not met, then all of San Diego will have to endure a Category 5 hurricane at midnight tonight. San Diego, a city built for earthquakes rather than winds, will have no chance against this ingenious onslaught. There will be total devastation, and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it.” Gulping, the woman forced herself to smile as the stage direction appeared on her teleprompter. “Isn’t that right, Marionette?”

Behind the camera, there was an excited giggle. “Yep! Thanks for that update, Christina - I’m sure that everyone at home is glad to hear about the change in the forecast.” As the computer generated graphics faded from view, a few viewers might have noted the splotches of blood that stained the bottom of the green screen. “And I’ve also just got to say that you’ve been my favourite weatherwoman for ages.”

The woman blinked in surprise at the compliment, the colour draining slightly from her face as it made her feel even more in danger rather than flattered. Oh my god, she really is crazy. “Thanks, Marionette.”

“Oh, no problem! I especially thought that you were the only broadcaster with any style anymore. Your blouses were the absolute cute-est on air, and your fashion was totally on point!” Suddenly, the camera seemed to move around as if it had been removed from its stand. Carrying it in her hand Lisette moved it closer towards the reporter before she turned it around so that they were both side-by-side in the frame. “But I was so excited when you agreed to wear something I recommended on air today. And I was just thinking, that it would be horrible if we didn’t show the fashion statement to all the viewers at home.”

By this point, the colour really had entirely drained from the reporter’s features. Her lips were dry as she slowly nodded, moving her shaking fingers to unbutton her coat to reveal a mess of wires and electronics that had been strapped around her torso. Back at home, audiences gasped as Marionette giggled at the big reveal.

“I think you’re pulling it off amazingly, Christina.” She declared confidently. “And I actually brought enough for the whole studio when I came to visit!” Turning her attention to look straight into the camera, Lisette continued with a sinister grin. “See, just in case any wannabe heroes are thinking of interfering, I figured they ought to know that the beautiful Christina here and all her colleagues are rocking this season’s latest fashion sensation: plastic explosives!” Lisette offered the camera a wink. “And no prizes for guessing who’s holding onto the detonator for safe keeping.”

By this point, Christina couldn’t hold it in any longer and she began to sob quietly behind the villainess.

Rolling her eyes, Lisette shot the woman an irritated scowl at the interruption. She’d have to punish her for messing up her lines later, but for now she continued speaking into the camera. “I’m afraid that’s all we have time for tonight though - I’m sure it’s given people plenty to think about! Until next time, this is Marionette from League News San Diego with Christina Garner signing off on behalf of the greatest villain in the world: Weatherman! Oh, and don’t forget - any sign of trouble…” Lisette moved the camera suddenly so that the explosives around the reporter’s torso filled the screen. “BANG!”

---

As the feed finally cutout, Weatherman couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t have been more pleased with the performance, and while he most certainly stole the show, Marionette had played her part exquisitely. Chuckling to himself from the perfect safety of his bunker, he pulled out a burner phone before quickly dialing the number for the mayor’s office. There was just one final element of his plan that he had to put into motion, a final step that he would get the last laugh.

“Hello, Mr. Mayor? Yes, it’s me. I’d like to offer you a little tip regarding your unexpected problem tonight.” Weatherman paused as the man on the other end of the phone said a few words. The corner of his mouth twisted upwards as he continued. “Those bombs that dear Marionette was waving about on the screen? They’re fake.” And with that, he hung up the phone and tossed it aside.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 2nd

---

---

Engrossed as she was in a long-distance conversation with her best friend, Astrid wasn't as keenly aware of her surroundings as before, happy to get to talk to Icarus even if he was now a two hour drive away and studying at a different school; her meal was being all but ignored, with her only occasionally taking a bite. However, even then it was pretty hard to ignore the loud sound of a shutter going off and the flash that blinded her afterwards. Blinking away the light, the raven-haired girl looked up to glare at Mika. She didn't recognize the petite brunette, but then, she didn't really know a lot of her fellow students, not in any meaningful way anyways. Ironically, she was more acquainted with bullies than she was with the everyday student, and Mika certainly didn't look the part.

Well, she's not getting what she wants either way. The girl thought, going back to her phone, though she seemed far less energetic than before. As she typed away, however, she noticed that rather than go away, the shortie with a camera approached her. Raising an eyebrow, Astrid looked up again. It wasn't often that she was approached without hostile intent, so she supposed it didn't hurt to humor the girl for a moment.

"Let me guess." She started, her naturally soft voice serving to mask her sarcastic tone. "Are you wondering why I didn't appear on the picture you took - for whatever reason - despite me sitting right here in the center of your frame?" She continued with faux interest, before making a dismissive gesture. "It has to do with my powers. It's been this way since I was 15. That's really all I can tell you." She stated afterwards with a shrug, before making a long pause.

"Is that everything you wanted?"

[Tomia]

Mars
"Do you know anything else about them? The people that orchestrated the attack? If you were there then maybe you can help the Young Bloods. Give them the information to be more prepared." Mars said, hoping he might convince Mr. Baker to help. The Calculator was a physic of sorts. Mars wasn't sure on the exact nature of his powers but what was clearly recorded was that he was able to predict the future with startling accuracy. "Mr. Baker, I haven't been completely honest with you... I am actually a member of the team. I didn't say so at first because I wasn't sure exactly why you were asking. But then you shared your secret with me so I didn't feel right misleading you. I understand why you'd be upset about the team name. And I know I won't be able to change how you feel about it. But the team isn't going to change their minds either. We don't want to live in fear of villains, when there is real good we can do in the world. So if you really want to protect us, you should help us against whoever it is that is threatening us."

Angelica
Angelica had just opened her locker when she heard a nearby confrontation between Alexis and Coleen. Air was now swirling around the room as Coleen started to hover in the air. The lockers flew open and anything that was laying around was now flying through the air. The Frost hero was worried about her girlfriend but she noticed Alexis running out safely after stopping at her locker. Angelica felt better knowing she was safe and now turned her attention to Coleen. The winds were getting stronger and stronger, and Angelica was having trouble moving. The locker had cleared out except for a girl Angelica didn't recognize and Mike.

"Mike!" She tried to shot over the powerful gusts of wind around them. She wasn't sure if he could hear her so she needed to just start acting and hope he'd follow her lead. She pressed her hands to the ground and started ice sprouted out. She built up a wall in front of her, hoping to block the wind in front of her. It worked, though she didn't know how long the wall would hold. And so she used this time to move into the next isle of lockers and got closer to Coleen, fighting against the wind as she moved. The doors of the lockers were now flying off, creating dangerous projectiles. She ducked just in time to avoid one before deciding she needed to make a move. She jumped forward towards Coleen, managing to make contact briefly before was slammed against the wall. She was now pinned by the wind and was struggling to move at all.

Wonder Tower
After talking to Wyatt, Roy told those he had gone to the bank with to meet him in the living room in an hour. Roy showered in that time and then gave Fiona a call with the number he got from the card. He decided it would be best if he included the team in on whatever she wanted share. When the hour was up he met with the rest of the team in the living room. Soon a face of woman who looked a few years older than Roy was appeared on the screen. She was blonde and rather than the costume that she was normally seen in on TV she was wearing a simple blouse and jeans.

"Hello Roy, I appreciate your quick response. These are some of your teammates I assume?"

"Hi Fiona, let me introduce Bael, Stella, and Kabuto. So you said you had some information about the new drug we encountered at the bank?"

"I do, but I need your insurance that you won't act upon it rashly. This situation is far more complex than it might appear."

"Alright, we'll be caution when proceeding." Roy promised.

Fiona seemed to accept this and continued. "The United Champions have reason to believe that this drug and its distributors are connected to a secretive and powerful organization. Their existence is difficult to confirm but they have been conducting attacks all across the world. All of them have involved research regarding the creation of super powers. We don't know their motives yet, but we have reason to believe that this drug is serving as some kind of experiment for them. The United Champions need to you hunt down their distributors and discover who they are working for."

[The Republic of Atria]

Roy

Bael listened and nodded as Roy gave him his own perspective on the matter even meeting his should which he appreciated more than Roy would know. Though he felt like Roy didn't really address the issue, saying that he's personally against killing at all costs. Something Bael was unsure was the right call. "I get that, and yes, not too many people realize that this job is filled with those extremely difficult choices. See, a friend, who has killed people, gave me some advice: Being uncompromising in your morals is fine, but if you're not willing to make a compromise to save lives, it's not moral, it's arrogance. He thinks that while conflict should be resolved as peacefully and with as little violence as possible, but that if it's necessary, ending one life to save many is the just thing to do, and that if you find yourself in that position and you've exhausted all other options..."

"He thinks if you're willing to let innocent people die so YOU don't compromise YOUR morals, that it's the supreme definition of arrogance. That your morals are more important than their lives... And I realize we come from two totally different people and have vastly different perspectives... You know me, Roy. I just... I don't want to be looked at as the bad guy if I have to make that choice. You know I'll do absolutely everything I can to keep everyone alive, and pray every day that I don't get put into that situation where I have to make that call. You said that the terrible choices made by other people aren't my fault, which is true... I don't know..."

"I feel that there's a difference between killing someone out of pure convenience and because there's no other option. I've read plenty of stories about people with guns shooting a would be mass shooter before he could cause more more harm. I feel like that's a similar case here. Those people don't become mass shooters or go on vigilante hunts. They just did what they felt was the right thing to do for everyone. Do you get where I'm coming from?" He asked.

"I just... I don't know. I put myself in the hostages shoes because I only recently got powers back in July. If I were in their spot, I'd want the superheroes to do absolutely everything they could to save me. I'd want them to choose my life and the lives of my family over some psycho." He sighed, wiping his eyes.

"I'm sorry... I. I'm just saying that if it ever goes that far. That I don't want to hesitate. I don't want a family to be broken when I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I can't live with that guilt. I know it's impossible to save everyone no matter how powerful you are, but I just want to make absolutely sure that even if I fail, that I still did everything I could and it truly wasn't my fault. Failure's part of life, even if you do everything right." He paused for a moment.

"Would you think less of me if I had to make that choice?"

Jason

Was Shi about about to give him lip about throwing a breadcrumb at her to get her attention without blowing his cover? He didn't have time to ponder, as the group "attacked." They all had powers, but there was something very off about them. Some girl had the power of acid, but her skin just seemed to slough off and dissolve anything it touched. He blinked and almost fell out of his chair while he attempted to process what was happening. A quick glance over saw another one of the attackers, one of the jocks, with super strength.

Jason slipped under the table and slithered out almost like a liquid and got back on the table. "I'm going after big boy. Meatheads are my bread and butter." He spoke as the brute threw a lunch table at some students, screaming at them to stop talking, despite the fact that there was more terror than actual talking.

He grabbed two more and prepared to launch them at the students who had all gathered in the corner furthest from him. Jason shot two tendrils, one at each table, throwing off their trajectory so that they crashed into the floor well away from the students. "Hey there buddy. Food fights are a no-go. How's about we all take a deep breath and talk this out? I'd rather avoid violence in school..."

Devon spun around to see his inky target saying something that he couldn't hear over the terrorized thoughts of the other students. "SHUT! UP! EVERYONE!" He screamed, grabbing a table with both hands and flinging it at Jason. He caught the table, keeping it above his head for the split second Devon needed to jump and land on top of it, smashing him and the table into the ground.

Jason landed on his stomach, his head having been hit with the table and forced him to the ground. "Alright... Bad cop time."

Devon jumped off of the table and flipped it off of Jason. He went for a stomp, but the slimy hero flipped backwards, avoiding the blow that shattered the tile floor like glass. "Alrighty then. Since asking nicely didn't work. Welcome to Class! today's course is on ass beatings. You'll be given one and expected to write a five page essay on how and why-"

With speed and precision he'd not expected from a screaming newbie, Devon threw a punch. Jason bobbed to the side and threw one of his own that Devon... Dodged.

Not only did the job dodge, he grabbed Jason's arm and flung him across the room, where he hit and stuck to a wall. "...Okay. That... You're a lil' bit quicker than I thought..."

[Finland SSR]

Viviana Couture October 2nd

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

October 2nd

---

Mizu giggled under her breath when she easily scored a point against an overwhelmed and frightened Viv - she even picked the ball which fell back to the floor and readied to score again when her friend landed next to her. Unfortunately, their game had to grind to a halt, as suddenly, Quinn burst into the gym, having likely heard the sounds of the two girls playing and decided to check.

"Awww! Whatcha worried about, we're doing fine!" Mizu called out, crouching down as the husky ran around the feet of the two girls - before she could reach out to pet him, however, Quinn ran off just as swiftly as he arrived. Aw, he must have not come here to play with us... Only when Viv pointed out that her phone was gone and the puppy had ran off with it did she realized what the issue here truly was. Now, how do they get it back?

Mizu's face lit up and the purple-haired girl clapped her hands, declaring the obvious solution:

"We have to prank Quinn! Then, after getting pranked, he will surely yield and give us your phone back without fighting!" Crafting a delicate plan in her mind, the trickstery heroine raised her finger. "We're going to need my phone and a water gun! The former's with me at all times, and do you know where we can get the latter?"

---

Mars

Steven Baker.

October 2nd

---

Mars swiftly revealed everything. He declared that he was, in fact, a member of the Young Bloods, and began pleading for Steven's help. If he can give them the information about all of the members of the Reckoning, then maybe they will be able to prepare for a second Young Bloods massacre more thoroughly. It was the train of thought of someone who was still enthralled in the idea of being a hero and couldn't compromise it to such a point where he was even trying to draw others to the field.

The teacher cracked the faintest smile on his face and replied:

"I already knew you're a Young Blood, Mars. Or, rather, my powers gave it an 87 percent likelihood. Rocket, right?" The same hero in a suit of armor who rescued Kirisvala from the Weatherman's clutches during the team's first appearance, and out of the students in Thomsen, Mars was one of two or three who could have the acumen to build such a marvel of technology. And he was the one in a relationship with the Hadrian hero, so... it was not a hard leap to make.

The faint smile faded just as quickly as it appeared, however. "There's only one way I can help you, and I've already explained it - listen to my advice, and leave this field to professionals. I know you want to help others, I can tell that you have the passion, and I can't deny that it's admirable. But it's a torturous world out there, and once you move past the occasional drug trafficking ring and criminal gang, you'll see it as well. Not everyone's got the guts to keep up that passion no matter what - I didn't, Aidan, the security guard, didn't either, he had to go through counseling for years..."

Steven let out a long and difficult sigh, then turned his eyes towards the clock. "You have a minute before the next lesson starts." Perhaps it's time to put this discussion to a close so the kid could make his way to wherever his next lesson's gonna be. "Look, I know you'll want to prove me wrong and I know that you could possibly be able to - I just don't want you to prove me right."

[Charmera]

Keone

Keone immediately tuned out the hero in front of him when she went on the classic 'heroes are necessary' tirade. Instead, he began planning his next move. She seemed to have a few tricks up her sleeve, however, as she suddenly split into two. "You know, with your morals I think-"

Keone flashed forward once more, just as they were about to strike. However, her knew he couldn't just evade her forever. Still, he wanted to get under her skin, hoping that maybe she would slip up. "- you'd make a great whore. There's good money in it, it's not starbucks, you'll always have desperate husbands, and let's be honest, it's not like cheaters will go away without a prostitute. Might as well be one then, yeah?"

Keone prepared an offensive stance this time. If he could flash once more, closer to her, then perhaps he could get a good cut in. Perhaps then he could take her down and use her to bait out others.

"With my morals?" Makenzie scoffed. She allowed her clone to disappear into ash, allowing her to re-absorb the magically energy that went into creating it. "You really think you have the moral high ground? Mister stab happy, threaten a woman, voice changer. You're a wolf just like them, except you've taken to cannibalism to get your rocks off."

"You know, we've been talking a lot about me and my decisions. What about you?" She asked,

Suddenly Makenzie splits into three clones, each of them heading in a different direction to overwhelm her opponent.

The first Makenzie goes for low strikes, sweeping her legs in order to try and trip her opponent. "Do you have a cause?" She askes, as she sends a low stinging jab aimed for her opponent's lower ribs.

The second Makenzie moves in for a medium strikes, mostly a flurry of strikes aimed at the chest, arms and torse of her opponent. "A list of people to kill for revenge?" She asks after the first Makenzie asks her question.

The third Makenzie hangs back until the other two makenzies are locked into combat. She then sprints forward and unleashes a powerful jab at her opponents left shoulder. A green energy briefly crackles through her fist as she moves forward, then quickly retreats, wounded or otherwise. "Some sort of 'woe is me' backstory?"

Red

---

Red was in the process of preparing to leave when he paused to watch as the girl approached the heavy bag. What drew her attention was the stance in which she placed herself in prior to beginning her strikes, a style which Red immediately recognized as belonging to that of the Eastern martial arts. While a mere few seconds placed in front of a heavy bag was far from enough to get a concrete idea of what specific style the girl was using, Red's initial reaction was that it reminded him of the Japanese style of Gōjū-ryū, a martial arts style originating from the island of Okinawa that focused heavily on a mixture of heavier strikes such as kicks and throws combined with softer prodding strikes that were designed to open up an opponent for further attacks. Red raised an eyebrow as he watched her deliver blow after blow with precise strikes, a small sense of respect being felt within him as she finally finished with her drills.

"So, where were you trained? Or did you come out of the womb in a martial artist stance?"

Upon hearing this question, Red actually let out a soft scoff as he shook his head.

"I took a few classes when I was younger. My teachers were pretty shitty, but I suppose they taught me a few useful things," Red replied, not technically lying but certainly not telling the entire truth. After all, there was no way he would tell this girl the actual source of his martial arts training. The only person who knew such information was Naja, and while as much as that woman hated him, he knew that at least for now his own past was still hidden to the rest of the team.

"Also, what's up with your name? 'Red'. At least the others have their real name on file... well most of them at least. If Naja didn't insist I get a superhero name, I wouldn't have bothered with it personally."

Red merely shrugged at the question followed by the offhand remarks afterwards.

"It's what I've always been known as. Who's to say it's not," Red said, a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice. Glancing over at the heavy bag, which had now once more regained momentum in its swinging thanks to the renewed onslaught put on it by Makenzie, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Say, why don't we spar for a bit? I've got some time to kill before I head out again, and it'd be nice to swing at something else besides that damn thing," he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the heavy bag. His muscles still ached, but the opportunity to actually spar with someone who was equally adept, at least from what he had seen thus far, in martial arts was hard to pass up upon. He hadn't been lying either with stating how he had a small amount of free time remaining before he needed to head out on patrol.

Tossing his gym bag to the side, Red kicked off his shoes and placed himself in a neutral fighting stance, with his feet spread shoulders-spacing apart and his hands held up high in front of him. "Come on, I don't bite. Too hard, at least," he said, mockingly beckoning Makenzie towards him with one of his hands.

"My teachers were pretty shitty" Makenzie was glad that her face was looking at the punching bag, because she could not resist rolling her eyes at that.

Please. You don't get a stance like that with a "few classes" Makenzie thought in derision. The secrecy of the hero business always annoyed her. Everyone had a secret identity, secret powers, secret secrets. She wasn't 100% open either sure, but it felt somewhat pointless. Heroes were celebrities, but no one knew who they were really.

Red's offer to spar, though, earned a raised eyebrow from Makenzie. She stopped her work with the punching bag and turned around back to her would-be opponent. She assessed him once more, finding that annoyingly she wasn't getting much of the information that came easily to her with other opponents: potential weaknesses, favored hands or legs or anything else. The guy seemed hard to read in his casual stance, and the neutral fighting stance he starts with wasn't really helping.

Either I'm rusty as fuck or this guy is sneaky as fuck. Makenzie thought.

Makenzie shrugged. "Alrighty Red, let's do this." She replied, getting into her own battle stance. She decided to mirror her opponent's neutral stance for now and see if she couldn't force Red to make the first move. Perhaps as they fought she could get an idea of who this teacher was and how exactly he was trained.

"So, is this knuckle sandwich going to be plain, or can we use our powers?" A little bit of bait, to see if this Red guy was going to reveal what powers he had.

[Galnius]

"With my morals?" Makenzie scoffed. She allowed her clone to disappear into ash, allowing her to re-absorb the magically energy that went into creating it. "You really think you have the moral high ground? Mister stab happy, threaten a woman, voice changer. You're a wolf just like them, except you've taken to cannibalism to get your rocks off."

"You know, we've been talking a lot about me and my decisions. What about you?" She asked,

Suddenly Makenzie splits into three clones, each of them heading in a different direction to overwhelm her opponent.

Keone
Keone couldn't tell if it the hero in front of him had stopped holding back or if she still had more tricks to pull, but even this Keone was unprepared for. Finding himself more disappointed in his own ignorance now than the fight, he hurriedly dodged what he could.

He barely evaded the trip, knowing that failing to would cause him to be overwhelmed, but couldn't quite bring his blade down in time to dodge the blow to the ribs. He did however manage to use his arm to block the medium strikes. It was the next attack that was a problem.

As the third Asp's fist was suddenly charged with an unknown energy, Keone lifted his blades to block. Even then, he was unsure if he could take the hit, so he dropped back releasing them a split second before. Or so he thought. The blow would strike the blades, but he could still feel the strength behind hit. Soon after Asp seemed to step back, and Keone was left bladeless.

She's fast! Keone was stunned not by the attack, but by the speed off the onslaught and the clones. I won't be able to do this for much longer. I better make this quick.

Flashing forward once more, Keone appeared directly in front of the previous attacker and dived low for an uppercut into the lungs. That however was a feint, as it was followed by a knee that would extend to a full kick when she hopefully dodged back. He just needed one blow on her shirt or blade, it didn't matter to him which. If he could just use his psychometry. "Don't worry miss, my reasoning here is all for you right now."

---

Mika

October 2nd

---

---

Engrossed as she was in a long-distance conversation with her best friend, Astrid wasn't as keenly aware of her surroundings as before, happy to get to talk to Icarus even if he was now a two hour drive away and studying at a different school; her meal was being all but ignored, with her only occasionally taking a bite. However, even then it was pretty hard to ignore the loud sound of a shutter going off and the flash that blinded her afterwards. Blinking away the light, the raven-haired girl looked up to glare at Mika. She didn't recognize the petite brunette, but then, she didn't really know a lot of her fellow students, not in any meaningful way anyways. Ironically, she was more acquainted with bullies than she was with the everyday student, and Mika certainly didn't look the part.

Well, she's not getting what she wants either way. The girl thought, going back to her phone, though she seemed far less energetic than before. As she typed away, however, she noticed that rather than go away, the shortie with a camera approached her. Raising an eyebrow, Astrid looked up again. It wasn't often that she was approached without hostile intent, so she supposed it didn't hurt to humor the girl for a moment.

"Let me guess." She started, her naturally soft voice serving to mask her sarcastic tone. "Are you wondering why I didn't appear on the picture you took - for whatever reason - despite me sitting right here in the center of your frame?" She continued with faux interest, before making a dismissive gesture. "It has to do with my powers. It's been this way since I was 15. That's really all I can tell you." She stated afterwards with a shrug, before making a long pause.

"Is that everything you wanted?"

Mikaela listened to the explanation and resisted rolling her eyes. Having mastered the art of a false tone, the brunette identified the veiled sarcasm nigh instantly. However, a response would give the other girl control of the conversation, and Mika had not willingly been dismissed since she discovered her powers. Well, not counting the vice principal.

However, Mika played it cool and sat down lazily, adopting an act of curiosity. It wasn't fully false however, as she genuinely was. "Not exactly Frenchie", she began. Altering her tone, she became more animated and dramatic with her speech, as if introducing herself in a television show. "My name is Mikaela Mynd, photographer extraordinaire. I am here for a story on the dark side of Thompsen high, and you my friend are the perfect first interview. As you can see, I am a journalist, braving many dangerous lands, such as high school. Can't you see me in the little hat, with that feather thing sticking out?" Striking a pose, she pretended to take off a cap and bow. "A regular Elena Fisher, waiting for a charming Nathan Drake to whisk me off my feet."

Mika paused with a mock girlish eyelash flutter, before snorting in laughter. "Damn, I can't do that with a straight face. Anywho, there's word in the grapevine that Aleta Battle Angel has chosen you as her target many a time. So what's the story behind those foreign eyes? Dead parents? Villainess mother? Secret lovers with the bully? Tell it to me, and we'll make you a stah." Pulling out a pen and pad she clicked it a few times. "And don't leave out any delicious details. If Aleta's reputation is still alive after this I'm gonna be quite disappointed. Bonus points if you take down the shortie track star in the process. So, whataya say? Oh, and uh...what's your name again?"

---

Andrew
Slightly disappointed by Kabuto's lack of response, Andrew followed him in and listened. Soon though, Casimir asked him where he wanted to go first.

"You know, I could use a room to drop off my backpack. Maybe a shower. Someone to join me if ya have them. I kid. Wouldn't mind meeting the others though." As he walked behind, he tried to memorize the pathways to make sure he didn't get lost. It had been a while since he was a newbie, and he wanted that part over as soon as possible.

However, he soon grew bored of this and instead tried to strike up a conversation. "By the way, you guys killed it in the tournament. It was quite impressive, with you guys forming so recently. Don't let anyone tell you differently."

[Absolon-7]

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

Viviana Couture October 2nd
So Mizu had accepted her recruitment into rescuing the phone from the fluffy clutches of doom that was Quinn's snout. Mizu began concocting some scheme to get it back which involved her own phone and water guns. Viviana rubbed her chin in recollection of where that sort of stuff would be located. Upon realization her mouth formed into a small gape as she moved her hands parallel to herself upwards and pointed two fingers upwards.

"To the pool floor!" eagerly said Viviana, "We keep all our beach equipment there and I think I saw tons of water guns next to the folding chairs. Sooo to the elevator we go!"

The pool floor in question was right in the middle of the tower directly above the gym floor so it wouldn't be that long of a trip. Upon exiting a small hallway from the elevator revealed the spacious area in general that was dominated by white and aquamarines tiles that surrounded a vast pool filled with water so still it looked like a sheet of glass. Viviana ran up to the large windows surrounding the entire area and squished her face flat as a pancake against it. She hadn't really bothered to come up here that much but the view of the island and city itself was incredible!

"Oh right, the water guns," mumbled Viviana as she peeled her face off the window.

The plastic crate of water guns just happened to be in a corner filled with pool and beach side equipment and accessories but her attention was on the guns. She flipped the lid open and grabbed two water guns: one a small double barrel pistol and another a more traditional rifle design.

"Alrighty Mizu, pick which one works and we'll be set on that plan of yours," affirmed Viviana moving the water guns up and down dramatically.

Andrew

Casimir Herman October 2nd
"Yeah every room has their own shower so don't worry about it," said Casimir silently glowering in distaste, "Not sure how many of us are actually here since most of the team goes to school."

So the new guy wanted a room of his own first which made enough sense to Casimir. Carrying around his bags the entire tour would be a bother anyhow. Once they actually entered Wonder Tower on their way to any unoccupied residential floors the new guy thought to bring up conversation about the tournament. This favorable change in topic prompted Casimir to dramatically swish his motorist scarf around his shoulder as he was filled with pride from the event.

"Of course it was impressive because I...and my squad opened up with a complete win. Iron Rhino and the rest of the team were pretty tough so the whole match was a morale boost. Although I gotta say I was jealous of some of the other heroes the team fought. I'd sure as hell like a gamble against Mountain or Ultra. Anyways, almost everyone put their best foot forward back then," said Casimir crossing his arms after he pressed the door to the lobby's elevator, "Thanks pal on behalf of everyone else. We're going places for sure."

At the end of his all too excited rant over fights one of the elevators opened up for them to step in and take a ride. With a few floors up Casimir stopped the elevator at a floor he knew some of other guys lived in. Casimir was the first to step out and he waved a hand at the hallway.

"Step right this way and you'll get a room better then most hotels if I say so myself," presented Casimir before he kept walking forward, "Say what made you quit the Stars? At this point their still a bigger name in the country."

Wonder Tower

Casimir Herman, one hour later
After the ones who had stopped the bank robbery got Roy's message to assemble Casimir was the first to arrive in the living room still in full costume. While they waited for the others to arrive Casimir hopped into the main couch and leaned back to scroll through his phone. Once the other two arrived and Roy had made the call the superheroine who had wanted to make contact was screen on the television. Casimir gave a quick wave with his hand as Roy introduced them and just as quickly he put the hand away. She proceeded to give the lowdown on the situation revealing this superpower drug was part of elaborate evil scheme.

"Sounds easy as pie for I am here," boasted Casimir, "Just gotta match the scent of the sample we have with my swarm throughout the city and once I detect the bugs closest to them finding these distributors should be like fat sitting ducks."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

October 2nd

---

---

Astrid couldn't help but find herself curious about the small girl's intentions as she saw her sit down at her table instead of simply going away. She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at the nickname used and the overly dramatic tone that the girl began using afterwards, though she did briefly smirk at the reference. However, a slight but noticeable scowl appeared on her face when the girl known as Paragon was mentioned, and even more so when the self-proclaimed journalist managed to get a hit on a part of her story, apparently entirely by accident.

After the girl's brief speech, Astrid stared at her intently, not speaking a word for several moments.

"My name is Astrid." The black-haired teen commented. "And I'm not interested, sorry. My school life is hard enough without adding in the complications of someone's imagined media circus. I'd rather stay under the radar, you see." She stated. "Je suis désolée. If you want someone to help you bring down Gish and the short kid, you'll have to look somewhere else."

A brief pause followed, with Astrid resting her cheek on her hand. "I appreciate the company, though."

[New Finnish Republic]

Red

---

"Let's keep things simple. Keeps things more interesting that way," Red responded as he remained in his stance. He watched as she seemed to be warily eyeing him, likely trying to discover any notable weaknesses to exploit as she did. Based on her expression, she seemed disappointed to find none, much to Red's content. Unfortunately he wasn't able to feel too good about this, as he was also unable to note anything that seemed exploitable based on her own stance. She's probably going to play it safe in the beginning and try to feel me out, Red thought to himself. Well, better not keep her waiting then.

Without warning, Red stepped forwards and immediately opened up with a feint jab with his right hand, only to bring the actual strike with the other as he sent a left cross directed at her jaw. While he wasn't going full force with these punches, as doing so was a taboo in most sparring situations, his fist went flying forwards with blistering speed. Makenzie was quick to counter this easily seen through opening move, however, as she used her palm to misdirect the strike away from her and used the momentum to throw a quick jab towards his throat. Bobbing his head to the side, Red narrowly avoided the strike but used the opportunity to grab a hold of her arm as well as her opposite hip, checking his hips against her groin before letting out a grunt as he tossed her over his back. This was known as a tsuri goshi, one of the most basic yet effective moves in judo used to get an opponent onto their back.

His throw was somewhat successful, indeed managing to toss Makenzie onto the padded ground below with a loud thump as she landed. However before Red could capitalize upon this further, he suddenly felt an ankle hook onto his own as she swept his legs. Crashing onto the ground next to her, Red let out a groan as the impact briefly took the wind out of him. In that split second, he felt Makenzie attempt to close in the distance, and thus out of instinct Red went into a butterfly guard in an attempt to hold her at bay. He managed to lock his legs in place in time to avoid further assault, but he knew this would only keep the girl at bay for only so long.

Surely enough, he saw Makenzie cocked her arm backwards and send down a punch at lightning speed towards him on the ground. Red's eyes widened as he barely managed to move his head in time, feeling the heavy impact land mere inches away from his right ear. A small curse escaped his lips as he reached over with his right hand to wrap around the now lowered arm of Makenzie, and before the girl could react he abandoned his butterfly guard and transitioned into an arm bar, wrapping his left leg around her back as his right leg swung upwards to trap her arm within.

Red immediately brought his weight backwards as he set the submission hold in, a battle of strength between him and Makenzie as it now was a matter of whether he could settle into position before Makenzie could slip away. The two struggled for a few moments until Red suddenly felt his body begin to rise in the air. He didn't even have enough time to let out a curse before he felt his back slam against the mat, causing his grip to falter. Surely enough this provided Makenzie with enough room to escape from, quickly back peddling away from Red as a means to get distance.

Damnit, there goes probably my best chance, Red thought with frustration as he too got onto his feet and got back into a stance. She seems to be competent both on her feet and on the mat. And for as light as she looks, she's damn strong. Red bounced on his feet a few times, waiting for Makenzie to make the opening move this time. He knew she'd be watching out for another throw, so he decided he'd switch to a more conventional style of staying on his feet. He planned on reverting back into a standing game, using rapid crosses and jabs combined with leg kicks and knees that would overwhelm her defense. It was one of his more favored styles of attack, the concept known as retzev in the Israeli martial art of krav maga.

As he waited for her to come at him, Red took several deep breaths as sweat tricked down the side of his face. "You're pretty damn good, I'll admit that," he spoke out to her, no hint of sarcasm in his voice as he was being truthful with the complement. This was going to be a tough sparring match, but the thought of that managed to bring a sense of excitement into him. Martial arts was a means of escape for Red, ironically enough, as it made it impossible to think of anything else besides his opponent. And right now, Makenzie was tough enough to warrant his full and undivided attention.

"Let's see what you've got, now," Red taunted towards her, once more motioning towards her with his hand as he got into his stance.

[Tomia]

Roy
"Wyatt you're just a person, not a god. And a good person at that. All you can do is make the decision you think is right. Obviously I can't recommend that you break the law, but I trust you to make good decisions and know when too far is too far. So when you have to make a tough call in an impossible situation, we'll be there to be back you up whatever you chose to do." Roy said reassuringly.

Mars
Mars shouldn't have been surprised that the person who was once the Calculator had been able to guess his identity. He was sad to see though that Mr. Baker was stilled determined to convince them to quit. "Well, I appreciate your concern Mr. Baker, I didn't think this was what you wanted to talk to me about but I certainly learned a lot. The team isn't going to stop operating, even if I wanted them too I don't think I could convince them. But I'll take what you said to heart, we'll be careful I promise." Mars said before getting up and heading off to his next class.

[Finland SSR]

Viviana Couture October 2nd

Mizuma Ishiwara, the trickstery Selene!

October 2nd

---

Viv didn't take long to figure out where to fetch the equipment needed - although perhaps Mizu should have realized by herself that the pool is where water guns would likely be stashed. After the two girls ran up the stairs and Viv spent a few seconds gawking over the scenery outside the window, they pulled open a crate of water sports equipment and began arming themselves.

Between a pistol and a rifle, Mizu immediately went for the latter, snatching it out of her friend's hands and filling up the cartridge with warm water from the pool. As soon as she loaded the weapon and closed the lid, the purple haired girl handed it back to her friend, saying:

"We only need one. Now, let's go find an ambush spot." For that, they had to descend back to the ground floor and set up a firing spot at a crossing between two corridors. Everything was proceeding just as she had foreseen...

"Alright, here is what we're gonna do!" Mizu exclaimed and clapped, then pulled out her phone and began browsing through YouTube. "We're gonna play barking sounds and I'm gonna transform to attract Quinn here - you're gonna hide and then, when the two of us are running by, you spray Quinn and leave him defenseless! Just remember to shoot the right doggy!" All she needs to do now is open up the video, let it run at full volume and...

Presto! With a snap of her fingers, Mizu transformed, shapeshifting into a puffy, small white spaniel, and ran off. A cacophony of high pitched barks from her phone filled the air - and not long after Puppy Mizu vanished within the tower's corridors, she ran back, Quinn running right after her, with Viv's phone still resting within his maws. Now, it's up to Viv to fire on the right dog...

---

Mars

Steven Baker.

October 2nd

---

Mars dismissed Steven's advice just like a politician - essentially, he stubbornly refused doing anything which the teacher advised him and his team to do, but declared that he's taken his words to heart and will be more careful from here on out. Either a politician or a teenager, it wasn't easy to distinguish the two sometimes.

Steven said nothing when the young hero finally departed from his classroom, merely nodded. Ultimately, there wasn't much more he could ask for - Mars was stubborn, but there was one thing he was right about. Even if he somehow changed his mind, his teammates would be even harder to convince. Especially when they are likely still in their high after having achieved so much in the NASL Tournament...

Hoping that they would not prove him right was pretty much all he could do.

[Bentus]

The Mystifying Ashen Moth!
San Diego

---

Stepping into his classroom just as the bell sounded through the halls, Steven slammed his textbook on his desk loud enough to draw the eyes of chattering students. Scanning his eyes across the room, he cleared his throat to make it clear to the last few lingering stragglers that class was in session. “Alright everyone, as much as it must pain you to bring those riveting conversations of yours to a close, we have a lot to cover this semester.” The sound of a few chairs being repositioned accompanied the students shifting their attention towards the whiteboard. Near the front row, some of his more attentive pupils flicked open their books to where they’d left off the day before. Grinning at the sight, Steven was about to begin when the door suddenly burst open to reveal a breathless figure.

“I am sorry for being late!” Ash called out, a pair of her arms cradling a chaotic stack of books, pencils and papers that she’d struggled to find her new class’ location. Blinking, she realized that all the eyes in the room had turned in unison towards her. Feeling a rush of embarrassment, she nervously stepped towards the one remaining desk in the front row. “It will not be happening again.”

“Ash, right? So glad that you could join us today. I understand that…other commitments…meant you couldn’t attend our first class of the year.” Steven stated. A part of him shifted uneasily at the presence of the confirmed Young Blood, but he forced himself to push his concern with the young team to one side. For now, Ash was just a new student. And one who he’d been informed might need some special considerations. “Ms. Charlie?”

The girl sitting beside Ash immediately perked up. A pair of circular spectacles rested on her nose, and she held herself confidently right at the front of the room. “Yes, Mr. Baker?”

“We don’t have time to go back over the material, but could you share your notes with Ash after class?”

“Yes, of course.” Rebecca Charlie, one of the better performing students in her grade, offered the mutant a friendly smile.

A look of relief seemed to spread across Ash’s face at the prospect of some support. Steven offered the bespectacled girl an appreciative expression of his own. She was a reliable student, and it took a weight off his shoulders to know that the Young Blood would have a helpful role model to lean on as she got used to her new environment.

“Good. In that case, let’s get back to quadratic equations.” Removing the lid from his marker, the maths teacher proceeded to draw out a simple plot on the board. “Can anyone remind me of the form that all quadratics take?”

Rebecca’s hand shot up immediately. “It’s y equals ax squared, plus bx, plus c.”

“Perfect. And what do each of those terms mean?”

Ash offered the other girl a quizzical glance, noticing the pleased grin on her face as she answered correctly. The lecture continued unabated as the mutant began to slowly catch on with how the class worked. The teacher would talk about something, and then at some point ask a question on it to the students. Everyone would then race to put up their hands and be chosen to try and answer. Ash realized that it had to be a game, like hide and seek or tag. Games were fun, and if she’d managed to figure out the rules, that meant that she should be able to play. Leaning noticeably past the side of her table, Ash drew a few curious glances as she peered at the textbook page that the student beside her had open. Cautiously, she flicked through her own copy until she landed on the same page. Met with a sea of organized text, Ash was undeterred as she scanned through the notes. There were a lot of words, many of them ones that she couldn’t even pronounce. But there were also pictures, and pictures were something that Ash could understand.

As Ash silently grinned at the prospect of playing her first game of maths class, Steven had continued with his lecture. By this point the board was pretty much filled with his handwriting, but now it was time to start introducing more of the exciting topics. “How about we take our quadratic – x squared – and multiplied it by a number. How should I draw the new graph?”

Wearing a cocky smile, Rebecca calmly started to raise her hand to reply. But another voice stole her chance before she’d even risen her arm above her shoulder.

“It gets stretched!” Ash replied breathlessly, throwing one of her hands up as she spoke. Surprised by the eager response, Steven raised an eyebrow.

“That’s right. Every value would get multiplied by 2.” To emphasize his point, Steven drew a narrower curve on his plot. “Nicely done, Ash.”

Grinning at the praise, Ash was too busy enjoying herself to notice the irritated scowl from the student beside her. Rebecca didn’t know what the new girl’s problem was, but she hated being shown up like that – especially since she’d just yelled out the answer like that. Irritated, the nerdy girl shifted in her seat as she redoubled her focus while their teacher continued. But the first upset would prove to not be an isolated event. Rebecca would get a few questions, but Ash’s hand would always shoot up at every opportunity. The mutant would wave her hand around eagerly to try and get Mr. Baker’s attention, a glimmer in her eye as the class wore on. Rebecca found herself having to race the superhuman, her frustration increasing as it seemed like the other girl was enjoying hogging all the attention. It got to the point that she was putting up her hand before she was even sure of the answer, desperate to get a split-second advantage as she continued to solve the problem.

“Not quite, Ms. Charlie.” Rebecca blinked in surprise, the teacher’s response like a punch to the gut. She…got something wrong? Sitting in silence as Mr. Baker scanned the room for any other takers, the girl struggled to recall the last time she’d been wrong in class. It…it wasn’t fair! “Anyone else want to give it a try?” Steven queried, seemingly oblivious to the frustration emanating from his top student. “There’s no harm in giving it a go.”

Slowly, a seta-covered hand gingerly rose from the front row. “Yes, Ash?”

The girl frowned as she focused on the board. She didn’t actually know the answer to this one, but the teacher had asked them to try anyway. “Um, well I do not really know.” She admitted. “But, when we only had the x, the graph was a line, yes? And then when there was a square x, the line became bent. So I suppose that this cube x would make it bend again?”

Steven’s face lit up as the girl explained her reasoning. “And you would be completely right, Ash – well done. And good job. It’s fine to not know something, nobody knows everything. But the best lesson I could teach you is to be willing to go out on a limb and try to figure it out yourself.” Just then, the bell sounded once again. Glancing at his watch, Steven sighed as he realized that he didn’t get through quite as much material as he’d hoped. Immediately, he had to raise his voice over the sound of closing books and students pushing themselves onto their feet. “We’ll look at cubic functions in more detail next lesson, but for now – dismissed.”

---

Moving through the cafeteria was like pushing through a swarm of locusts. Gripping her tray, Ash forced herself to smile as she nervously made her way through the thronging crowd of students. Everyone seemed to walk purposefully through the melting pot of the campus, with all the students congregating around the rows of tables during their break. Everyone had somewhere to be or somewhere to go, leaving Ash standing helplessly in a daze as she struggled to figure out what she was supposed to do.

She watched as a few boys clasped each others’ hands in an intricate series of motions, culminating with a firm contact between their fists. To her right, a table erupted into laughter after a girl told a joke, but not before Ash was able to overhear a separate group of friends debating the latest NASL rankings. It was nearly overwhelming for the mutant, and her wings fluttered uneasily as she struggled to even hear herself think amidst the constant conversation. Looking around the room as if hoping to spot a friendly face to come to her rescue, Ash’s face lit up as she saw a group of her teammates gathered together. Raising a free hand and about to call out a greeting, the girl froze as she remembered her earlier encounter with Yoshiro. She hesitated. What if her friends didn’t want to be exposed?

Realising her near-mistake, Ash lowered her hand. Besides, it didn’t look like they were expecting her anyway, and it would be rude for her to just interrupt their conversations. Looking left and right again as her smile slowly wavered, Ash finally spotted someone else that she recognized. “Rebecca!” She called out, not wasting a second before she began to approach the girl and her friends.

Sitting at a table, Rebecca glanced up from a conversation to see the mutant striding towards her. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she glanced around desperately. Ash didn’t notice the girl’s discomfort at her appearance, Ash was just about to take the seat beside her when Rebecca suddenly planted her bag there instead. The mutant stopped herself in her tracks.

“Oh hi, Ash!” The girl said, offering Ash a sweet smile. “It’s good to see you, I missed you after class. Sorry though, seat’s taken already.”

Stealing a quick glance at Rebecca’s bag, Ash felt a nagging suspicion at her words. She wasn’t sure if the seat really had been taken, but why would Rebecca lie? She’d lie if she didn’t want you to sit with her. Offering the other girl a weak smile, Ash shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, my mistake. I shall have my lunch elsewhere in that case. I will see you in the next class.”

As she turned away from the table, the mutant’s smile fell almost immediately. Her first lunch was not going how she had expected. If she couldn’t sit with her teammates, and her classmates didn’t want to be with her, what was she supposed to do? By this point during the break, nearly every school clique and group had claimed their table, leaving the mutant standing around awkwardly with her untouched food. Trying not to let the uncomfortable feeling in her chest from drawing all her attention, Ash looked around for any free seat, any free seat at all. And eventually, she was lucky enough to find one. Not wanting to waste a second more, she pushed aside any hesitation she might have had and walked straight up to the pair of girls who were already there. They were sitting a bit towards the edge of the cafeteria, slightly separate from the real hustle and bustle, but Ash was just pleased to have found a table.

“Hello, I am sorry to interrupt – but can I sit with you?” She asked, trying not to let a hint of desperation creep into her tone. “Oh, and my name is Ash. I am new.”